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

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During the trial of Servetus the political and religious Libertines combined
in an organized effort for the overthrow of Calvin at Geneva, but were
finally defeated by a failure of an attempted rebellion in May, 1555.
§ 109. THE LEADERS OF THE LIBERTINES AND THEIR
PUNISHMENT: — GRUET, PERRIN, AMEAUX,
VANDEL, BERTHELIER.
We shall now give sketches of the chief Patriots and Libertines, and their
quarrels with Calvin and his system of discipline. The heretical
opponents—Bolsec, Castellio, Servetus—will be considered in a separate
chapter on the Doctrinal Controversies.
1. Jacques Gruet was the first victim of Calvin’s discipline who suffered
death for sedition and blasphemy. His case is the most famous next to that
of Servetus. Gruet f739 was a Libertine of the worst type, both politically and
religiously, and would have been condemned to death in any other country
at that time. He was a Patriot descended from an old and respectable
family, and formerly a canon. He lay under suspicion of having attempted
to poison Viret in 1535. He wrote verses against Calvin and the refugees
which (as Audin says) were “more malignant than poetic.” He was a
regular frequenter of taverns, and opposed to any rules in Church and State
which interfered with personal liberty. When in church, he looked boldly
and defiantly into the face of the preacher. He first adopted the Bernese
fashion of wearing breeches with plaits at the knees, and openly defied the
discipline of the Consistory which forbade it. Calvin called him a scurvy
fellow, and gives an unfavorable account of his moral and religious
character, which the facts fully justified.
On the 27th of June, 1547, a few days after the wife of Perrin had defied
the Consistory, f740 the following libel, written in the Savoyard patois, was
attached to Calvin’s pulpit in St. Peter’s Church: —
“Gross hypocrite (Gros panfar), thou and thy companions will gain
little by your pains. If you do not save yourselves by flight, nobody
shall prevent your overthrow, and you will curse the hour when you
left your monkery. Warning has been already given that the devil
and his renegade priests were come hither to ruin every thing. But
after people have suffered long they avenge themselves. Take care
that you are not served like Mons. Verle of Fribourg. f741 We will
not have so many masters. Mark well what I say.” f742