to fylle their bootes ful of boyling grease, and to cause them to be pulled on, and to be holden before a great fyre, and so to ende their lyues, whereof the kyng beyng aduertysed, commanded that he shoulde be cast in pryson and condēpned. MarginaliaThe terrible death of De rom. Wherof he hauing knowledge withdrewe hym selfe to Auinion, where as within a shorte space, he fel sycke of a terryble disease, vnknowen to any physition, extreame paines and tormentes, weare in all his bodye, and there was no oyntment nor fomentation that coulde ease hym one minute of an houre, neyther was there any manne that coulde tarye neare about hym, wherefore he was caried to the Hospitall, and there commanded to be wel intreated. But no man durst come neare vnto hym for the great stynche that came out of his body, in so muche that the fleshe fell awaye by great pyeces and gobbettes, his body was repleat with sores full of vermine and wormes. And oftentymes in great rage he would saye, in what payne and torment am I nowe? Now I remember the great euilles and oppressions that I haue done vnto the poore men, & know that for that only cause, I am assailed on euery parte, who wyll kyll me, and delyuer me out of this distresse, that I languishe not in these tormentes? And he hymselfe not beyng able to abyde the stynche of his body, assaied dyuerse tymes to kyll hym selfe, but he had not the power so to doo. Thus this cruell homicyde and blasphemer, receyued confusion as a iuste rewarde of his cruelties. After this man De roma, the moste famous persecutour, there succeded, one maister Iohn Miners, Lorde of Oppede,
Here, Foxe refers to the arrival in post of Jehan Meynier, sieur d'Oppède in December 1543 as premier president of the Parlement of Aix-en-Provence. He held lands in the region between Cabrières d'Avignon and Mérindol and, as Foxe was only too keen to emphasise, had material interests (in addition to the fears of the apparently increasing dangers of heresy and division in the province). In addition, however (in a way that protestant accounts did not mention) he was concerned about rumours that the Vaudois were organizing themselves for self-defence, taking advantage of the natural strongholds I the Luberon. There were rumours that they intended to rebel and turn Provence into a canton after the Swiss fashion. Later in 1543, the Vaudois of Cabrières successded in fortifying their village, whilst those of Mérindol pillaged the abbey of Sinanque. The fears of a rebellion akin to the Great Peasants' War of 1524-6 in Germany were important in enabling Meynier to secure the letters-patent of 1 February 1545 by which the original arrêt of 18 November 1540 was to be enforced.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaIohn Miners.This yeare the xii. daye of Aprill Iohn Myners presydent of the councell at Aygnes, callynge the Senate, readeth the kynges letters, commaunding them to execute the sentence geuen. MarginaliaThe Cardinal of turnon. Whiche letters, this Miners had obteyned by the meanes of Cardinall Tournon, through a fyt sollicitour, Philip Cortin. Ther fore where he receiued them in the moneth of Ianuary, he shewed them not by and by, but kept them for a tyme conuenient to worke the feare. When the letters were read, certayn of the Senate were chosen to execute the matter: whō the President Miners MarginaliaMiners Presidēt of Aigwes. promised to assist, for that in the absence of Grinian the gouernour of the Prouince, he ruled the common wealth. MarginaliaHe leuith a power against the Valdois. Nowe had he euery where by the kinges commaundement mustered men before, for Thenglyshe warres, but he used them for this his purpose: Moreouer at Marselles, Aignes, Arles, and other great townes, he toke vp all that were able to weare armure.
The execution of the letters patent of 1 February 1545 were delayed until April 1545 to allow the military forces under Antoine Escalin des Aimars, baron de la Garde ( known as 'Poulin de la Garde') to be mustered. From 18 April 1545 the army moved along the southern edge of the Luberon ['Libron']. Mérindol and Cabrières were among the last to be devastated. La Motte, Lourmarin ('Lormarin'), Villelaure, Saint-Martin de Castillon and other villages were caught up in the operation. Its savagery became widely noted through Europe: 'Crudelitas plusquam Scythica' comments the marginal gloss in Pantaleon's account (fol. 144), which Foxe follows closely in his narrative. For details of the military operation, see P. Gaffarel, 'Les massacres de Cabrires et de Mérindol en 1545' Revue Historique 101 (1911), 241-64.
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