Schaff - History of the Christian Church Vol. 8 - Media Sabda Org

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Bertault and Courault, were permitted to ascend the pulpit in Paris. f426 The
king himself, by his opposition to the German emperor, and his friendship
with Henry VIII., incurred the suspicion of aiding the cause of heresy and
schism. He tried, from political motives and regard for his sister, to
conciliate between the conservative and progressive parties. He even
authorized the invitation of Melanchthon to Paris as counsellor, but
Melanchthon wisely declined.
Nicolas Cop, the son of a distinguished royal physician (William Cop of
Basel), and a friend of Calvin, was elected Rector of the University, Oct.
10, 1533, and delivered the usual inaugural oration on All Saint’s Day,
Nov. 1, before a large assembly in the Church of the Mathurins. f427
This oration, at the request of the new Rector, had been prepared by
Calvin. It was a plea for a reformation on the basis of the New Testament,
and a bold attack on the scholastic theologians of the day, who were
represented as a set of sophists, ignorant of the Gospel. “They teach
nothing,” says Calvin, “of faith, nothing of the love of God, nothing of the
remission of sins, nothing of grace, nothing of justification; or if they do so,
they pervert and undermine it all by their laws and sophistries. I beg you,
who are here present, not to tolerate any longer these heresies and
abuses.” f428
The Sorbonne and the Parliament regarded this academic oration as a
manifesto of war upon the Catholic Church, and condemned it to the
flames. Cop was warned and fled to his relatives in Basel. f429 Calvin, the
real author of the mischief, is said to have descended from a window by
means of sheets, and escaped from Paris in the garb of a vine-dresser with
a hoe upon his shoulder. His rooms were searched and his books and
papers were seized by the police. f430
§ 75. PERSECUTION OF THE PROTESTANTS IN PARIS. 1534.
Beza in Vita Calv., vol. XXI. 124.—JEAN CRESPIN: Livre des Martyrs,
Genève, 1570.—The report of the Bourgeois de Paris.—GERDESIUS,
IV. Mon. 11. HENRY, I. 74; II. 333.—DYER, I. 29.—POLENZ, I.
282.—KAMPSCHULTE, I. 243.—”Bulletin de la Soc. de l’hist. du Prot.
franç.,” X. 34; XI. 253.
This storm might have blown over without doing much harm. But in the
following year the reaction was greatly strengthened by the famous