EPISODE · May 5, 2025 · 12 MIN
Deep Dive into Foxe's Book of Martyrs by John Foxe - An Account of the Persecutions of Calabria
from Reformed Thinking · host Edison Wu
The Waldenses emigrated from Pragela and Dauphiny to Calabria, settling on waste lands with the permission of local nobles. Through industrious cultivation, they made these barren areas fertile and became valued tenants, described by the lords as honest, quiet, and industrious. The local priests, however, complained about the Waldenses, not for any bad actions, but for what they did not do, such as not being Roman Catholics, not attending Mass, and not bowing to images. The lords initially dismissed these "negative complaints," noting the Waldenses' harmless nature and their payment of tithes, which increased priestly revenues.The situation escalated when the Waldenses sent for clergy from Geneva and determined to make a public profession of their faith. Upon hearing this, Pope Pius the Fourth determined to exterminate them. He dispatched Cardinal Alexandrino, described as a violent and furious bigot, with two monks to act as inquisitors.At St. Xist, when ordered to attend Mass, the people fled into the woods. The Cardinal then proceeded to La Garde, where he used the falsehood that the St. Xist people had complied to deceive the inhabitants into staying. He then sent soldiers into the woods to hunt down those from St. Xist like wild beasts, with orders to kill everyone.The persecution involved extremely brutal methods, including hunting for sport, hanging, burning alive, hacking to pieces, throwing from towers, and extensive torture like the rack, under which several died. A monk even cut the throats of eighty people, whose bodies were quartered and displayed. Despite these horrors, the Waldenses unanimously refused to renounce their religion. The persecution, led by the Cardinal, Viceroy of Naples, and finally the Marquis of Butane, continued with such barbarous rigor that not a single person of the reformed religion was left alive in all Calabria. The source identifies this as the worst kind of ecclesiastical tyranny, aimed at controlling the mind and soul as well as the body and property.Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologianPatreon: patreon.com/edi_reformed
What this episode covers
The Waldenses emigrated from Pragela and Dauphiny to Calabria, settling on waste lands with the permission of local nobles. Through industrious cultivation, they made these barren areas fertile and became valued tenants, described by the lords as honest, quiet, and industrious. The local priests, however, complained about the Waldenses, not for any bad actions, but for what they did not do, such as not being Roman Catholics, not attending Mass, and not bowing to images. The lords initially dismissed these "negative complaints," noting the Waldenses' harmless nature and their payment of tithes, which increased priestly revenues.The situation escalated when the Waldenses sent for clergy from Geneva and determined to make a public profession of their faith. Upon hearing this, Pope Pius the Fourth determined to exterminate them. He dispatched Cardinal Alexandrino, described as a violent and furious bigot, with two monks to act as inquisitors.At St. Xist, when ordered to attend Mass, the people fled into the woods. The Cardinal then proceeded to La Garde, where he used the falsehood that the St. Xist people had complied to deceive the inhabitants into staying. He then sent soldiers into the woods to hunt down those from St. Xist like wild beasts, with orders to kill everyone.The persecution involved extremely brutal methods, including hunting for sport, hanging, burning alive, hacking to pieces, throwing from towers, and extensive torture like the rack, under which several died. A monk even cut the throats of eighty people, whose bodies were quartered and displayed. Despite these horrors, the Waldenses unanimously refused to renounce their religion. The persecution, led by the Cardinal, Viceroy of Naples, and finally the Marquis of Butane, continued with such barbarous rigor that not a single person of the reformed religion was left alive in all Calabria. The source identifies this as the worst kind of ecclesiastical tyranny, aimed at controlling the mind and soul as well as the body and property.Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologianPatreon: patreon.com/edi_reformed
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Deep Dive into Foxe's Book of Martyrs by John Foxe - An Account of the Persecutions of Calabria
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