DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.63221#0164
126
THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE
Reform—the Reformation might have taken root in France.
But as it was, the typical Frenchman could not impose
Protestant thought upon his nation—a sign, maybe, that
such beliefs were not made for it and could not have
flourished in its midst. It never took hold of the French
people, but remained, from first to last, the concern of the
cultivated aristocrats—an intellectual conception lacking
democratic sinew. Excepting for a brave little band of
weavers and cloth-workers at Meaux, and a few stray
artisans of later days in Paris, the poor had nothing to
do with this period of the French Reformation : the only
period when it might have had big issues. Luther was the
son of a miner and he needed the help of the German
people to spread abroad his religion. It was a faith which
depended on confident deed rather than on beauty-loving
form. And thus it was that he succeeded where a thinker
like Erasmus must have failed.
In 1525, there occurred an event which proved of signi-
ficance to the Reformers—the fatal battle of Pavia. The
war with the Emperor, which for the last ten years had
been continued almost incessantly in Italy and the Nether-
lands, was now approaching a fresh crisis. Francis had, off
and on, himself conducted his campaigns and had had his
share of hard fighting. In 1524, he once again crossed the
Alps and led his army in person against the forces of
Charles V. He undertook the long siege of Pavia, which
culminated in the great battle at which he was defeated
and taken prisoner. It was a catastrophe for France, and,
had they known it, for the Reformers: marking, as it
did, the close of their best days—the days of tolerance and
THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE
Reform—the Reformation might have taken root in France.
But as it was, the typical Frenchman could not impose
Protestant thought upon his nation—a sign, maybe, that
such beliefs were not made for it and could not have
flourished in its midst. It never took hold of the French
people, but remained, from first to last, the concern of the
cultivated aristocrats—an intellectual conception lacking
democratic sinew. Excepting for a brave little band of
weavers and cloth-workers at Meaux, and a few stray
artisans of later days in Paris, the poor had nothing to
do with this period of the French Reformation : the only
period when it might have had big issues. Luther was the
son of a miner and he needed the help of the German
people to spread abroad his religion. It was a faith which
depended on confident deed rather than on beauty-loving
form. And thus it was that he succeeded where a thinker
like Erasmus must have failed.
In 1525, there occurred an event which proved of signi-
ficance to the Reformers—the fatal battle of Pavia. The
war with the Emperor, which for the last ten years had
been continued almost incessantly in Italy and the Nether-
lands, was now approaching a fresh crisis. Francis had, off
and on, himself conducted his campaigns and had had his
share of hard fighting. In 1524, he once again crossed the
Alps and led his army in person against the forces of
Charles V. He undertook the long siege of Pavia, which
culminated in the great battle at which he was defeated
and taken prisoner. It was a catastrophe for France, and,
had they known it, for the Reformers: marking, as it
did, the close of their best days—the days of tolerance and