They burned books in Amiens. . . and people, too.
A pioneering study of the Book in the life of 16th century inhabitants of Amiens published in 1971 by the late Albert Labarre, longtime conservator at the main public library in Amiens, fails in one important respect to do justice to its subject.
Labarre exhaustively examined hundreds of inventories after death in Amiens households between 1503 and 1576 to determine what books people of various classes owned. [see book cover illustration] What is missing from the study was serious attention to the rise of Protestantism and to the ways in which, despite efforts by judges, church leaders, and government officials to suppress them, books functioned to help create and sustain a new religious movement with descendants ultimately spread all over the globe.
Here are some subjects which deserve additional attention as a complement to Labarre’s study:
The influence of the learned nobleman Louis Berquin, author and translator of Erasmus and Luther into French, resident in Picardy in the 1520s. His books were burned by order of the Parlement of Paris on several occasions, and he himself was condemned by the Parlement to be burned at the stake in Paris on April 17, 1529 after he refused to recant.
The extensive library of Jean Morand, the high placed Catholic churchman, who first preached Protestant propositions in Amiens 1533. Morand was arrested, tried, pressured to abjure and his books and manuscripts were burned -- 6 books and 5 mansucripts on October 7, 1534 in Paris and 48 books and 5 manuscripts on October 20, 1534 in Amiens. Before they were burned, they were catalogued and the list has been preserved. We also have a record of many of the purported statements from his controversial sermons.
In the 1540s mass roundups of Protestant suspects occurred, and the role of books was scrutinized by the Catholic judges of the Parlement of Paris and the theologians of the Sorbonne. Anthoine Bailly, from Amiens, saw his books burned in Amiens along with his case materials. Protestant works translated into French that were being offered by the book dealer Jacques Chevalier in the Amiens area were confiscated by the authorities and burned in Paris. The Parisian publishers who had produced these editions were ordered to bring their stock to the authorities to be burned.
At least three individuals from the Amiens district were sentenced by the Parlement of Paris to be burned at the stake during the 1540s: Adam le Maistre (1 November 1544), Matthieu Glenard (21 March 1549), Jehan Dessars (21 March 1549).
In 1560, as Calvin’s Geneva became the seed ground of French Protestantism, a book handler froim Geneva was arrested in Amiens before escaping from the Belfry in his nightshirt, and two Protestant brothers from Amiens who had moved to Geneva in the 1550s returned to the city perhaps repeatedly with supplies of books.
In June 1562, just after the Catholics took control of the Amiens city council, the authorities ordered a city-wide search for Protestant books involving many officials and sergeants probably over a number of days. The books they found were burned en masse. The general censorship and black-listing of Protestant books as well as the bonfire of 1562 would have materially affected the outcome of Labarre’s study of book possession especially among the cohorts of people who were inventoried between 1562-1576.
Louis de Berquin
Luther's De Votis Monasticis (On Monastic Vows) shown here in a Latin imprint from Basel in 1522 was one of the works critical of traditional religion that Louis de Berquin translated into French. No copies of Berquin’s translation appear to have survived.
Before Jean Morand, there was an erudite nobleman and lawyer by the name of Louis de Berquin (b. ca 1490?), whose outspoken attacks on Catholic orthodoxies caused him to be imprisoned and threatened with execution a number of times and his books to be burned by decision of the Parlement of Paris. He translated works by Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus from Latin into French and carried on a significant correspondence with Erasmus. He also produced a number of original works which have not survived.
His connection to Amiens and its region is somewhat indefinite. A bygone historian of Amiens, Father Daire, asserts that Berquin preached in Amiens, but, as he was not a clergyman, and his sojourn there is not otherwise documented, this assertion seems questionable. On the other hand, Berquin seems definitely to have been present in the region in 1526 and it was the complaints of the Bishop of Amiens about him that led to to his arrest around that time. According to Albert Labarre, his books were confiscated at the Château of Rambures near Abbeville in Picardy where he was staying when he was arrested. After he refused to recant, Berquin was burned at the stake in the Place de Grève in Paris on April 17, 1529. A document from the Criminal Registers of the Parlement of Paris in 1530 shows that his opinions and his death were influential particularly around Amiens and Abbeville where certain noblewomen were reported to be advocating heretical notions and asserting that Berquin had died a “martyr” “like St. Larence.” (see Rumblings of Dissent in the Countryside).
Château of Rambures, Picardy, where Berquin was arrested
Jean Morand
If the presence of Louis Berquin in Amiens proper, as distinct from the region, is difficult to document, the presence of Jean Morand, the high placed Catholic churchman turned proponent of Protestant ideas, is not. Morand was a canon of the cathedral chapter and the vicar of the Bishop of Amiens, when his Advent sermons in the church of St. Leu (shown below) and others in 1533 left impressions which echoed years later.
“Did he know Morand in Amiens?” the Catholic judges of the Parlement of Paris questioned Jean Warocquier, an accused Protestant from Amiens in July 1544, ten years after the event. “Did he (Warocquier) say that ‘Soon the truth would be known and that Morand had begun to open up the truth?’”
Exterior view of the Church of St. Leu where Jean Morand preached. Antique postcard.
Interior view of Church of St. Leu where Morand preached. Recent photo.
We know the titles of the books Morand owned. He had accumulated books in Latin by Luther, Zwingli, Bucer, Melanchthon and less well-known Reformers, books the authorities enthusiastically burned along with irreplaceable religious writings of Morand’s own. We know some if not most of the propositions he put forth in his Advent sermons. There were informants in the audience.
We have the account of his arrest and of his pressured recantation. We see that the forces of order had to be called out when he was publicly condemned, in order to quell the expected popular protest.
The historian of the Book in Amiens the late Albert Labarre chose not to delve into this particular history of book owning, book burning and historical consequence. Louis Rossier, the Protestant pastor of the 19th century who researched the early history of the faith in Picardy gave more appropriate space to Morand but reproached him for a lack of pastoral courage.
I won’t try to second guess Pastor Rossier. Had Morand not recanted, however. it was spelled out to him by the Parlement that his case would be turned over to the secular authorities for a punishment that would probably have been similar to the one administered to Louis Berquin.
The part of Jean Morand’s story that lies beyond his removal from the Church has not attracted much attention except in certain erudite Protestant circles. After mandatory confinement in a monastery for a year and a prohibition to preach thereafter in France, Morand went to Switzerland where he ministered to a Protestant congregation in Cully, married (as pastors were encouraged to do) and started a family. Interestingly, in 1538, when John Calvin and William Farel were on the outs with the Genevan city magistrates, the latter invited Morand and Anthoine Marcour to replace the more famous church leaders at the head of the Genevan church establishment, an arrangement that lasted about two years. After Geneva, Morand continued his pastoral activity in other Swiss villages, at least until 1553 when information about him ends.
The Books and Manuscripts of Jean Morand
Canon of the Cathedral Chapter
Inventory of the books of Jean Morand which have been ordered to be burned in this city of Amiens
Secundum alphabetum
A IIe , ung livre couvert de vert, Johannis Hus.
Ung aultre merqué B IIe Vesselli et Colampadii
Ung petit livre merque C IIe, Branchii in Ecclesiastem.
Ung grand livre merque D IIe de Potestate pape.
Ung petit livre merque F IIe Vivo discedentium.
Ung livre merque H II, Bucherii in Matheum
Ung livre merque J IIe, Collampadii in Danielem
Ung livre merque K IIe Martini Bucherii in Johannem.
Ung livre merque L IIe Andree Altameri
Ung livre merque M IIe Melanthonis et Lutheri ad Romanos.
Ung livre merque N IIe Johannis Branchii (not Martini?) in Johannem
Ung livre merque O IIe Johannis Agricole in Lucam
Ung petit livre merque Q IIe, Matini Cellarii
Ung livre merque R IIE Lutherii in allegoria psalmorum
Ung livre merque S IIe, Annotatines in Detronomium, la ou le nom de l’auteur est dechire.
Ung livre merque T IIe Vellani De libero arbitrio, et Branchii de Republica
Ung livre merque V IIé Tropi in sacra
Ung livre merque par dessus X IIe, Quingentorum articulorum Martini Lutheri
Ung livre. merque Z IIe Melanthonis de Legibus
Ung livre merque X IIe nomme Psalterium pellicani
Ung livre merque 9 IIe, Urbani Regii de doctrina nova, et Ferrago Francisci Lamberti.
Declaration des livres….Jean Morand, lesquelz sont ordonnez estre brûlés en ceste ville d’Amiens
Primes, ung grant livre couvert de cuir rouge : Martini Lutheri in Psalmos, merqué par dessus A
Item ung petit livrea marqué B qui est Branchii et Martini Lutheri
Ung aultre petit livre, qui est Lutheri in Genesim, Zingli (sic) in Exodium merqué C
Ung autre Pomerani in Psalmos, merqué D
Ung aultre merque E, Martini Lutheri et institutione pro conjugio sacerdotali.
Item, /ung autre merqué F, Zinglii in Genesim.
Ung aultre petit livre merque G, Branchii in Job.
Ung aultre Bartholomei Vostanni Tropi Scripture, merque H
Ung grand livre Zingli in Prophetas, merque J
Ung grand livre merque K, Publicam in librum Josue.
Ung petit livre merque M, Collampadii in Osiam.
Ung petit livre merque N, Martini Brancheri in Matheum
Un petit livre, Melantonis in Genesim, merque P.
Ung petit livre, merque V, Martini Bucherii in Epistolam ad Epheseos, et Melanthonis ad Collocenses.
Ung autre merque X, Melantonis super Proverbia.
Ung autre merque Z Martini Lutheri, de Sacramento Altaris
Item, ung aultre merque X, Pomerani, in Deuteronomium.
Ung merque 9, Pomeranim in Epistolam ad Romanos.
Tertium alphabetum
Ung livre Johannes Agricole de Epistola ad Tithon , merque G IIIe/
Ung livre merque J IIIe Zinglii de Eucharistia.
Ung livre merque O IIIe, escript dudit Morand.
Ung livre merque S IIIe escript dudit Morand
Ung livre merque T IIIe esrcipt dudit Morand
Ung livre merque V IIIe escript dudit Morand
Ung livre merque Y IIIe escript dudit Morand
Ung livre Wandalmi Repigii. Quod expedit magis audire verbum Dei uam missam, merque Z IIIe.
Ung sacq cotte & IIIe, auquel sont plusieurs letters missives et apiers escriptz de la main dudit Moran merquees de ces motz de ces motz : Pater noster qui es in celis. Ung livre merque par dessus de la latter de 9 IIIe, Policani in Rut et Frederici Nausee in communes Evangeliorum locus.
Morand’s Books and Manuscripts burned in Paris
Livre imprime Propositio ecciana and Ennarationes epistolarum et evangeliorum quas postillas vocant domini Martini Lutheri marque A IIIe.
Livre imprime D. Erasmi Rotherodani Ad collations Titelmani opus rescens marquee D IIIe
Livre imprime Pro inscriptione ejusdam epistole Martini Lutheri epistola, etc.
marque F IIIe
Petit livre imprime De vera libertate evangelica sub duodecim assertionum et viginti
errorum positionibus eilquata lucubratio, etc. marquee H IIIe.
Livre imprime Ad victoriam super cerva matutina psalmus David, etc marquee M IIIe
Livre imprime Cristus semel pro peccatis nostris mortuus est Justus pro injustis et
De Christi supllicio dicturus, etc. marquee N IIIe
In epistolam D. Petri priorem argumentum…Simon, fratrer Andree, etc. quottatus P IIIe
Legis antique quadripertito fiebat transgressio, etc. …Alias vero non est omnia esse de lege nature que in hiis scribuntur, etc….quottatus Q IIIe
Genesis ca, h….Adam vixit, etc. quottatus R IIIe
Memor esto verbi tui servo tuo. in quo michi etc….Malchus rex consilii vel princeps festinator, etc., quottatus X IIIe
Some of Jean Morand’s books burned in 1534
Martin Luther (1483-1546), On the Sacrament of the Eucharist (pub. Wittenberg, 1526)
Martin Bucer (1491-1551), Commentary on the Gospel of John (pub. Strasbourg 1528)
Johannes Bugenhagen (Pomeranus) (1485-1531) Commentary on Paul’s Letter to the Romans (pub. Haguenau, 1527)
Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531), On Genesis (pub. Zurich, 1527)
Kaspar Schatzgeyer (1463-1527), On True Evangelical Liberty (pub. Tubingen, 1525)
Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457), On Free Will (pub. Basel, 1518)
François Lambert (c. 1486-1530), On the Gospel of Luke (pub. Strasbourg)
Huldrych Zwingli, On the Eucharist (pub. Zurich, 1525)
Johannes Bugenhagen (Pomeranus), On the Book of Psalms
Otto Brunfels (1488?-1534), Letter to the Bishop of Basel, (pub. 1523?)
Martin Luther, Commentary on the Epistles and Gospels (pub. Wittenberg, 1521)
Martin Luther, On the Power of the Pope (pub. Augsburg, 1519)
Texts condemned by the Parlement of Paris and ordered to be burned in the 1540s
The Fountain of Life
Published in French in Lyon in 1549.
Read more about Jean Warocquier’s interrogation for possession of this text before the Parlement of Paris on the Translations page.
Freedom of a Christian by Martin Luther
Translated into French. Originally published in Latin.
The Psalms translated by Clement Marot
One of the Colloquies of Erasmus
Translated from Latin into French by Clement Marot
A Genevan Book Handler Escapes from an Amiens Prison
7 August 1560
Ordinance of the City of Amiens
“Anyone who knows the whereabouts of a man named Adrien Sanson… living in Geneva, purveyor of false books and false doctrines who, night just past, escaped from the prisons of the Belfry, dressed only in his nightshirt, to which prisons he had been confined for the crime of heresy; a man of medium height, black hair, a small beard, and a broad face, about 32 years of age; such person or persons should immediately come forward, while ensuring that the said Adrien is safely in custody, in which case a reward of 10 écus soleil will be forthcoming from the treasury. However, if it should come to light that any person has hidden or concealed him, or in any way assisted in rescuing him, that person will be punished with the same punishment that the said Adrien merited for having fostered and espoused his crime of heresy.”
Translation: David Rosenberg
Beza, Histoire Ecclésiastique des Eglises Réformées au Royaume de France
In Amiens -- La Forest was minister at the time – the dissipation began on May 13 [1562] with the search of books of the Holy Scriptures, specifically Bibles, New Testaments, and Psalms. The books were seized in a house to house search by the civil lieutenant and his sergeants, and burned that very evening in the Market Square (Place du Grand Marché). The next day, a band of lawbreakers gathered at the house of the Vidame, where Protestant services had been held.
They broke in, seized the pulpit of the minister, carried it to the Market Square and burned it.
The Mayor, Provost and Aldermen, who were in charge of the police of the city, knowing the crazed humors of the people of Picardy, and fearing that having begun with books and wood the mob would end by burning people, stripped the Protestants of all their weapons and commanded them to leave town, whether they feared open warfare given the large number of Protestants who were capable of resistance and wished to spare them or that they preferred to see them massacred in the countryside rather than in the city, whatever was the case, a large number of Protestants saved themselves by this means.
Théodore Bèze (1519-1605), Vol. 2, pp 433-434, ed. Baum and Cunitz, 1883-1889.
“
”
Confiscation and burning of “censored and erroneous books”
13 May (?) 1562
The account books of the city Series CC record payments to the sergeants who rounded up books from Protestant homes.
The deliberations of the City Council Series BB 35 contain a notice of payment made to the city executioner for burning the books.
The Exceptions and the Rule
Whether the bonfire of sacred books in Amiens occurred on May 13, 1562 as the Histoire Ecclesiastique claims or in mid-June as seems in some ways more plausible, remarkably few Huguenot bibles or psalters turn up in the postmortem inventories between that point and 1576, the closing year of Albert Labarre’s study of book ownership in Amiens. The two inventories that do have them in a sense “prove (i.e. “test”) the rule.” Both are inventories of wives of merchant wool combers and fall oddly only a week apart.
On February 28, 1567, the inventory of Colaye de Vaulx, wife of Jehan de Bethencourt, merchant wool comber of the parish of St. Remy, recorded “a large Bible published by Henri Etienne and a psalter in the translation of Clement Marot and Theodore de Bèze. “A week later on March 6, 1567, in the parish of St. Leu, at the death of Flourye de Malle, wife of the wool comber Nicolas Gervois [mistranscribed in the inventory as “Pernois”], the appraiser took note of “a Bible published by François Perin, a New Testament in French, and a book of psalms collectively valued at 8 livres.”
Were the books in these two inventories saved from the bonfire of 1562 or had they been resupplied during the years since? In any case, what is interesting is that they appear in the interval between the first and second war of religion when protestant fortunes, though no means untroubled, were at their most “legitimated.” It was during this period from about 1563-1567 that the Register of Baptisms was kept and submitted in due course to the authorities. It was in this period that the non-decorators who had been fined in 1562 were reimbursed the amounts of their fines.
Finding these books open to the view of the city appraiser does not seem surprising at this juncture. However, a year later in the Easter holidays of April 1568, Catholic crowds perpetrated a massacre against the Protestant population. The Protestant Temple in a refitted barn on the outskirts of town was demolished by order of the Catholic city council and the lumber placed in storage for reuse by the city.
In his study of the Book in Amiens, Albert Labarre could have asked why in a church with several thousand members (based on the number of baptisms in the 1564-65 register) only two postmortem inventories prior to 1576 possessed Huguenot bibles and psalters? The bonfire of Protestant books in1562, never mentioned, might be part of the answer. Despite the many virtues of the study, questions of book burning and government and church censorship and, ultimately, of the importance of the Protestant book and the Protestant movement in 16th century Amiens are not engaged.
Note: After yet another religious cease-fire, in 1576, Jehan de Bethencourt, one of the wool combers with a Protestant Bible noted above proposed his house as an in-city meeting place for the Protestants. The town council rejected the proposal despite the language of the latest peace treaty authorizing the principle. Nicolas de Bethencourt, grandson of Jehan, was a refugee in Leiden in 1622, and his mark figures among the array of signatures and marks in the exhibit.
The postmortem inventory of Anne CHRESTIEN, wife of the weaver Jean DE BOUBERT, 10 March 1583, contained “A book, entitled the Bible in French and three other small books.” A.M. FF 420/23. Minor children: David, Ester, and Judith.
The weaver (former wool comber?) Pierre BEUGER died on or shortly before 10 February 1583, a couple of years after his signature on the act of the notary Lymeu. His post-mortem inventory contained mention of several books, displaying his continuing connection with Protestantism : “a bible, a book of epistles, and some other small books written in Latin and covered in parchment.” (FF 420/5) The small Latin works are mysterious.