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The Evangelicism of Lefèvre d'Étaples: 1525

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2019

Henry Heller*
Affiliation:
University of Manitoba
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Extract

Several excellent studies of the theology of Lefèvre d'Étaples are in print. Although they approach his work from a variety of perspectives all it seems reach essentially similar conclusions. They all take for granted that Lefèvre's application of humanist principles to the study of the Bible marked a notable break with the past. All admit that his stress on the inner reception of the Word, his consequent insistence on a hermeneutic which was at the same time more direct and more spiritual, and his more or less exclusive evangelicism represented a clear departure from the established modes of religious thought. On the other hand, Hahn, Dörries, and the others all agree that Lefèvre's thought must be clearly differentiated from the more radical evangelicisms of Luther or Calvin.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Renaissance Society of America 1972

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References

1 Spiess, Karl, Der Cottesbegriff des J. Faber Stapulensis, (Marburg, 1930)Google Scholar; Dörries, H., ‘Calvin und Lefèvre’, Zeitschriff für Kirchengeschichte, XIV (1925), 544581 Google Scholar; Hahn, Fritz, ‘Faber Stapulensis und Luther’, Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, LVII (1938), 356432 Google Scholar; Dagens, Jean, ‘Humanisme et évangélisme chez Lefèvre d'Etaples’, Courants religieux et humanisme à la fin du XVe et au début du XVI’ siècle (Paris, 1959), pp. 121134 Google Scholar.

2 The Movement Toward Catholic Reform in the Early Sixteenth Century (London, 1914); Les Origines de la réforme, Vol. III, L'Euangelisme: 1521-1538 (Paris, 1914).

3 Dörries it is true does consider the latter work but only in a marginal way and in order to differentiate Lefèvre's work from Calvin rather than for its own sake. Two rather superficial recent studies do show some awareness of the importance of these later works. See Richard Stauffer, ‘Lefèvre d'Etaples, artisan de la réforme’, Bulletin de la société de l’histoire du protestantisme français, CXIII (1967), 405-423; and Cameron, Richard M., ‘The Charges of Lutheranism Brought against Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples (1520- 1529)’, Harvard Theological Review, LXIII (1970), 119149 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4 9 vols. (Geneva, 1866-1897).

5 Lefèvre to Farel, 6 July 1524, Herminjard, 1, no. 103, 225-226. Cf. ibid., 1, 228-231.

6 Farel to Corneille Schefer, 2 April 1524, ibid., I, no. 97, 205-206.

7 Roussel to Oecolampadius, 24 August 1524, ibid., I, 277-278.

8 Aux Sources françaises de la Réforme (textes etfaits): La Brie Protestante (Paris, 1968), pp. 14-95.

9 Facsimile reprint with introd. by M. A. Screech (Geneva, 1964). For the terminus ad quern see P. Féret, Histoire de la faculté de théologie de Paris et de ses docteurs les plus célebres: époque moderne (Paris, 1900-1910), 1,140, n. 4. On Simon du Bois see Tricard, Annie, ‘La Propagande évangélique en France, l’imprimeur Simon du Bois (1525-34)’ in Aspects de la propagande religieuse, ed. E. Droz (Geneva, 1957), pp. 137 Google Scholar.

10 See the testimony of Jean Lecomte d'Etaples who was one of Lefèvre's assistants in Vuillemier, H., ‘Quelques pages inédites d'un réformateur trop peu connu’, Revue de théologie et de philosophie, XIX (1886), 337 Google Scholar.

11 Ep. & ev., Screech introd., p. 10. For the decree of 13 December 1523 see Chrètien Du Plessis, Michael Toussaint, Histoire de l’église de Meaux (Paris, 1731)Google Scholar, n, 559-560. Cf. Herminjard, 1, no. 81, 171-172.

12 For the earlier phases of reform at Meaux see Henry Heller, ‘Reform and Reformers at Meaux: 1518-1525’, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, 1969, pp. 66-95.

13 In 1526 after the Epistres & evcmgiles had been confiscated and after his own difficulties widi the Parlement Briçonnet was to assert that they had been published because the preachers had failed to bring about an improvement in the spiritual life of the diocese. He said not a word about the heterodoxy of the preachers or his decree of December 1523. Cf. his remarks at the diocesan synod of 11 October 1526 in Bretonneau, G., Histoire généalogique de la maison des Briçonnet (Paris, 1620), pp. 167168 Google Scholar.

14 Ep. & ev., Screech introd., p. 11.

15 Roussel to Farel, 6 July 1524, Herminjard, 1, no. 104, 233.

16 Idem, 24 August 1524, ibid., 1, no. 117, 272.

17 Ibid., 1, 234, 236, 277.

18 Roussel to Oecolampadius, 24 August 1524, ibid., I, no. 118, 276.

19 Roussel to Farel, 24 August 1524, ibid., 1, no. 117, 271-272.

20 Lefèvre to Farel, 6 July 1524, ibid., 1, no. 104, 233.

21 Commentarii in epistolas catholicas (Basel: A. Cratander, 1527).

22 Herminjard, 1, 226-227, 236. See also BN MS.Fr.11495, f- 329f.

23 Less than a year before Lefèvre had dedicated his Latin psalter to Jean de Selve, premier président of the Parlement, with the same purpose in mind. See the preface to Psalterium David Argumentis fronti cuiuslibet psalmi adiectis, Hebraica & Chaldaica multis in locis tralatione illustratum, (Paris, Simon de Colines, 1524). Cf. Herminjard, 1, 233.

24 Comm. in epist. cath., f. ii v: ‘Neque addubitent reges, praesides, senatus, & potestates verbum Dei in suis regnis, dominiis, terris, iurisdictionibus sinere passim & libere invulgari, quin id ipsum magis adiuvent, nam tanto magis honore & debita reverentia per ipsum digni habebuntur’.

25 Ibid., f. iii r: ‘Et ut paucis omnia complector verbum Dei est omnis status rei publicae stabilitas, soliditas, & confirmatio’.

26 Ep. & ev., f. cxxxvi r-v.

27 Another work which tried to accomplish the same end was Zwingli's De Vera et Falsa Religione the preface of which is dated March 1525, virtually contemporaneous with the preface to Lefèvre's Commentaries. It was dedicated to Francis I at the suggestion of French evangelicals in contact widi the reformers at Meaux. Cf. Herminjard, 1, no. 146, 350-351.

28 Comm. in epist. cath., f. 8v: ‘… perinde atque olim iudices qui in iudicio acceptabant personas, quod in veteri lege prohibitum est, sic dicente domino in Deuteronomio (1:17), id est seconda lege, quae legis evangelicae typus est, & etc….’ Cf. Commentarii initiatorii in quattuor evangelii, (Paris, Simon de Colines, 1522), f. 21r: ‘Si legem antiquam: nihil aliud legem novam esse quam lucem & perfectionem eius, eandem’.

29 Ep. & ev., f. ccxxiiii r.

30 See, for instance, the preface to his Commentaries of 1522 in Herminjard, 1, 93, his (pistre exhortatoire introducing his translation of the Bible, ibid., 1, 133, or his letter to Farel, 6 July 1524, ibid., 1, 220.

31 Comm. in epist. cath., f. 69V: ‘O nunc quam felices sunt homines, quum deus se manifestat innovare velle suum evangelium, peregrinas & abductitias a deo doctrinas tollere …’.

32 Ibid., f. 75V: ‘Et circa ultima tempora adolescentis ecclesiae, institerunt tempora periculosa, circa etiam ultima tempora iuventutis, ad quae nos pervenisse arbitror quae sunt initium senectae eius, instabunt periculosa circa quae fides Christi, quae pene absoleta erat, est restituenda, quum Christus per evangelium suum rediturus est in mundum.’

33 Loc. cit.: ‘Et certe nunc his, & longa ante tempora inter Christianos multi regnant impostores, qui se ultro a Christo & evangelia eius segregant, homines animales, homines spiritus non habentes, sed & an spiritus sit ne quidem scientes aut scire volentes, ambulantes in impietatum suarum, & suarum inventionum desideriis.’

34 Ibid., f. 66v: ‘Qui enim vere christianus est, non solum suae gentis christianos dilectione prosequitur: sed & Indos & Aethiopas, & Asianos, & Aphros, & qui insulas habitant separatas, & qui terras sub occiduo tot seculis ad tempora nostra incognitas… .’ Cf. the preface to the Commentaries on the Gospels in Herminjard, I, 93. On the connection in humanist thought between the spread of the Gospel throughout the world and the expectation of the Day of Judgment see Bataillon, M., ‘Evangelisme et millenarisme au nouveau monde’, in Courants religieux et humanisme à la fin du XVe et au début XVI’ sikle, (Paris, 1959), pp. 2526 Google Scholar.

35 Comm. in epist. cath., f. 46r: ‘Et in eo exaudimur, quia ipse est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris… & non solum pro peccatis nostris … sed pro totius mundi, imo si infiniti essent mundi.’

36 Comm. init., f. 206r: ‘… voluit ut deus dei fdius fieret homo cui data sunt omnia pro omnibus etiam infinitorum mundorum si essent aut futuri essent, hominibus.’

37 On the doctrine of the plurality of worlds in scholastic thought see Duhem, Pierre, Etudes sur Léonard de Vinci, (Paris, 1955)Google Scholar, II, 55-96, 408-423; and Koyré, Alexander, ‘Le vide et l'espace infini au XIVe siècle’, Etudes d'histoire de la pensée philosophique (Paris, 1961), pp. 3394 Google Scholar.

38 ignorantia, De docta, II, chap. 12, Haec accurata recognitio trium uoluminum operum clarissimi Nicolai Cusae Cardinalis, (Paris, J. Bade, 1514)Google Scholar, f. xxii v. Cusa it is true speaks of an indefinite rather than infinite number of worlds. On his cosmology see Koyré, , From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe, (New York, 1958), pp. 524 Google Scholar; Lovejoy, Arthur O., The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea (Cambridge, Mass., 1942), pp. 112115 Google Scholar. For Cusa's influence on Lefèvre see Weier, M.R., Das Thema vom verborgenen Gott von Nikolaus von Kues zu Martin Luther (Munster, 1967)Google Scholar.

39 God's majesty and expansive goodness are fundamental themes in Lefèvre's theology. Cf. Speiss, pp. 60-61, 76, 96-97, 100-101.

40 Comm. in epist. cath., f. iov: ‘Et qui docendi, imo dominandi sub autoritate doctrinae, cupiditate aguntur, similis scribis & pharisaeis frequenter varias peregrinasque doctrinas loco verbi dei inducunt. Et cum dominantur, alligant onera gravia & importabilia, & imponunt in humeros hominum, quae digito suo nolunt movere. Omnia opera sua faciunt, ut videantur ab omnibus, & reliqua omnia quorum habent dominum nostrum Iesum Christum verissimum prophetam, testem & iudicem suae condemnationis. Et cum in multis offendant omnes: ipsi in verbo, id est doctrina, gravius caeteris offendunt, docentes quae non oportet, & multitudinem seducentes, detrahunt omni statui, omni dignitati, omni personae cui non bene afficiuntur: invident aut male volunt: inobedientes aut male affectos reddunt auditores suos erga potestates & eos omnes quos deus ipsis praefecit, & quos spiritus Christi ad vere ducendum imbuit.’ See also ibid., ff. 4or, 42V, 43r, 56V, 49r.

41 Comm. init., f. 4ir (Matth. 10:17-18): ‘Quae praedixit dominus suis apostolis eventura: certissimus rei probavit eventus … Et certe qui apostolicas legere volet historias: invenient eos ante reges & praesidos ductos in testimonium illis & gentibus, adeo ut ne unum quidem verbum exciderit exiis quae dominus praedixit eis.’

42 Ep. & ev., ff. civ r - clvi r (John 16:2-4): ‘En l'evangile nostre seigneur premunit et conforte ses apostres et disciples contre les tribulations qui leurs estoyent à venir en portant tesmoignage de luy, et la parolle evangelique. Et en eulx, ceulx qui viendroyent apres eulx purement portans sa parolle et la verité evangelique jusques à la fin du monde … . Quant nous voyons purement annoncer l'evangile, les petis estre enflammez et immuez, et les grans enflez de la science de l'homme et du monde y resister, et la puissance du monde y adverser: c'est signe que ce grant consolateur, c'est esperit de verité est venu, portant tesmoignage de Jesuchrist.… Et nostre seigneur enseigne ses apostres et disciples, et ceulx qui estoyent à venir apres eulx, en eulx affinque quant l'esperit de Dieu se manifestera et que on announcera purement la verité evangelique, nulz disciples de ce temps ne soyent scandalizez, c'est à dire pusillanimes et delaissans la verité, ou à announcer la verité pource que on les excommuniera et mettra hors des synagogues.’

43 Comm. init., f. 6ov: ‘Hie obiter admonemur: eos maxime omnium graviter ferre & offendi qui sectas & doctrinas hominum semel amplexati sunt, quamprimum secta vel doctrina ipsorum taxatur. Immo multo magis, quam si verra & divina offenderetur. Nam divinam quam suam laedi malunt. Siquidem pro hac aut neglecta aut laesa, tacebunt: pro ilia vero, hostiliter & implacabiliter decertabunt.’ For Lefèvre's earlier views with regard to scholasticism see Weier, p. 21.

44 Ibid., f. 303V: ‘Adeo stolide agunt, qui sua intelligentia, divina & ea quae sunt supramundani spiritus, capere satagunt: acsi cervus aut ursus suo sensu capere vellet intelligentiam hominis, quam ipse suo spiritu, suoque sermone depromit. Et sacrorum voluminum intelligentia ab eo ferme tempore labefactata est & iacet: quo coeperunt studia, humana indagatione illam velle capere. Et sane humana ratio stulta, stolida, & temeraria est: quae credit suis machinis, suis disceptationibus ac ratiociniis, posse illam eruere, suam propriam ignorans incapacitatem. Quia verba spiritus: non sensu nostro, non ratione nostra capiuntur.’

45 Preface to the second part of the New Testament, 6 November 1523, Herminjard, 1, no. 79, 161.

46 Preface to the first part of the New Testament, ibid., 1, no. 69, 135. Cf. Comm. init., f. isir ; Comm. in epist. cath., f. 43r.

47 Comm. in epist. cath., ff. 56v-57r: ‘Lux vera, & regula omnium doctrinarum, sacra scriptura est: adest ad quam caeterae collatae si sint adversae, diabolicae sunt & fugiendae: si non adversae, sed non ex ea sunt, neque ad lucem servientes faciunt: vanae sunt, aut parum curandae.’

48 Comm. in epist. cath., f. 41: ‘Haec sapientia, haec divinae voluntatis intelligentia, hie scripturarum spiritus, non a nobis est, non ab hominibus, sed perinde ac fides & spes divinum munus est.’ Lefèvre's ideas at this point are very much in accord with the Augustinian idea of wisdom. As such they represent a sharp departure from his earlier views. See Rice, Eugene F..Jr., The Renaissance Idea of Wisdom (Cambridge, Mass., 1958), PP- 313 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. 89, 126-127. Cf. Weier, pp. 47, 49, 166.

49 Ep. & eu., f. vii r: ‘L'homme ne vit point seullement de pain mais il vit de toute parolle qui procede de la bouche de Dieu. Les sainctes escriptures doncques sont le vray pain de doctrine, et la vraye pasture de l'ame. Parquoy chascun se doibt eflforcer d'en avoir, et de la savoir aflfin que puisse vivre en l'ame et spirituellement. Affin aussi… que par patience, et consolation des sainctes escriptures, nous ayons nostre fiance en Dieu, et esperance de la vie eternelle.’

50 Preface to the Comm. init., in Herminjard, I, 90-91.

51 Ep. & ev., f. cli v: ‘Et qui n'a point de foy il est infidele, et infidelite suit eternelle condemnation. Dieu nostre seigneur Jesuchrist a commande que on presche ce par l'universal monde. Bien maleureux sont doncques et infideles ceulx qui ont voulu empescher de prescher l'evangile, et encores qui le vouldroyent empescher.’

52 The influence of the Church fathers on Lefèvre is discussed by Rice, , ‘The Humanist Idea of Christian Antiquity: Lefèvre d'Etaples and his Circle’, Studies in the Renaissance, rx (1962), 126160 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

53 Renaudet, Augustin, Preréforme et humanisme à Paris pendant les prémières guerres d'ltalié: 1494-1517, 2nd ed. (Paris, 1953), p. 625 Google Scholar.

54 Erasmus’ influence on Lefèvre's New Testament has been pointed out by Mann, Margaret, Erasme et les debuts de la réforme française: 1517-36 (Paris, 1934), pp. 6768 Google Scholar. For Erasmus’ effect on the Commentaries of 1522 cf., e.g., Matth. 26, Novum testamentum in Desiderii Erasmi Opera Omnia, ed. J. Clericus (Leyden, 1705), vi, cols. 131-138; and Comm. init., f. 77V. See also Graf, Karl Heinrich, ‘Jacobus Faber.Stapulensis; ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Reformation in Frankreich’, Zeitschriftfur die historische Theologie, xxi (1852), 24 Google Scholar, n. 59. We must therefore discount Lefèvre's assertion in the preface (ibid., f. sig. a iiii) that'… neque aliorum laboribus incubimus … .’

55 Graf, pp. 25-27. Cf. de Lubac, Henri, Exégese Médévale: les quatre sens de I'Ecriture (Paris, 1964)Google Scholar, n, 411-414. Lefèvre's exegetical views are conveniently summarized-by Briconnet as follows: ‘Car toute l'escripture saincte est ou spirituelle seulement sans intelligence litterale ou litterale sans la spirituelle (et bien peu) ou litterale et spirituelle ensemble Moings, se trouvera de paissages qui se puissent seullement entendre litteralement que des aultres deux.’ Briconnet to Marguerite d'Alencon, 16 January 1523, BN MS.Fr. 11495, f. 222r-v.

56 In fact there are only two such references in the whole of these two works. In the Ep. & ev. (f. cxxv r), he noted that according to Jerome Emmaeus was called Nicopolis. In the other work (f. 39r) he recalled that Irenaeus, Eusebius, and Epiphanius like scripture itself had denounced the teachings of false prophets. In contrast in the Evangelical Commentaries he refers to at least nine patristic sources as well as several modern authors. See Heller, pp. 190-193.

57 Cf. ibid., pp. 142-143; Spiess, pp. 83, 101-102.

58 Ep. & ev., f. iii v.

59 Ibid., f. clx r.

60 E.g., Cotntn. init., ff. 30V, 168r.

61 See the preface to the Comm. init, Herminjard, 1, pp. 96-97. Cf. BN Ms.Fr.11495, f. 222r.

62 The first indication of a real change in this respect may be found in the preface to Lefèvre's translation of the second part of the New Testament dated 6 November 1523 where he admitted with all due caution that understanding of the secrets of revelation were fully open to the understanding of ‘un simple personne’. See Herminjard, 1, 167.

63 Hahn, p. 358; Speiss, p. 26.

64 Mann, pp. 24-26.

65 See Comm. init, ff. 104V, IIIV , 4r-v.

66 Spitz, L.W., The Religious Renaissance of the German Humanists (Cambridge, Mass., 1963). pp. 40 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 34o; Speiss, p. 93.

67 Ep. & ev., f. xi v.

68 Cf. Renaudet, pp. 628-629; Comm. init., ff. 283r, 371r:.

69 Ibid.: f. 230r: ‘Atque haec fides de qua dominus toties dicit, Fides tua te salvum aut salvum facit non est credulitas solum, sed cum credulitas plenissima fiducia spesque perfecta’.

70 Hahn, p. 377.

71 Ibid., p. 381.

72 Thus, in the Catholic Epistles (f. 26r) he relates fear to the separate stages of spiritual progress: ‘Si etiam timori miscetur phantasia offensionis & deliquendi metus: non est pura reverentia. Primus timor, in vita spirituali est incipientium. Secundus est proficientium. Tertius est perfectorum.’

73 Comm. in epist. cath., f. 5or: ‘Iustitia ergo, est facere quod nobis in evangelio mandat faciendum, quod nemo facit, nisi qui ex deo natus est: nam solus talis spiritum fidei accepit, per quern operatur iustitiam & opera fidei, per quam iustificiatur.’

74 Ibid., f. 9r: ‘Sed qui fidem habet, dum tempus adest operandi, opera bona habeat necesse est: & qui bona opera habet, fidem habeat oportet. Proinde inquit Iacobus: Ego ostendam tibi ex operibus fidem meam. Sunt enim opera bona, signa fidei. Ostendam, inquit, fidem meam. Sunt & boni fructus, bonam declarentes arborem. Alia autem opera quae non sunt ex fide, etiam per dilectione, sed humanum, qualia opera virtutum moralium secundum philosophos, etsi bona esse videantur, revera bona non sunt. Et habere fidem sine operibus, ut credere duntaxat scripturis, & verbo fateri, id non iustificat.’

75 E.g., Comm. init., ff. 76r-v, 78r, 272r, BN MS.Fr.11495, ff. 106r, 166r, 370r.

76 Thus, for example, many years later Guillaume Farel referring to the period prior to Lefèvre's removal to Meaux recalled that Lefèvre ‘par sa parole me retira de la fausse opinion du merite, et m'enseigna que tout venait de grace et par la seule misericorde de Dieu, sans qu'aucun l'aie merite’, ce que je creu si tort qu'il me fust diet.’ See Epistre à tou seigneurs, ed. J. G. Fick (Neuchatel, 1865), pp. 166-167.

77 See Strohl, Henri, Luther jusqu'en 1520 (Paris, 1962), pp. 5962 Google Scholar.

78 Comm. in epist. cath., f. 7 r : ‘ … & haec, & omnia superiora in spiritu sunt intelligenda, & non secundum animalem, id est, rationalem hominem, de quo & cuius operibus loquuntur philosophi, quae & magnifkiunt, nos autem hie minime.’

79 This viewpoint emerges with particular clarity in the preface to a commentary on Aristotle's ethics by a close associate of Lefèvre, Roussel, Gerard. See the Corpus magnum moralium Aristotelis, (Paris, 1522)Google Scholar. On Roussel see Schmidt, Ch., Géard Roussel, predicateur de la reine Marguerite de Navarre (Strasbourg, 1845)Google Scholar.

80 On Caroli see Roman d'Amat, ‘Pierre Caroli’, in Dictionnaire de biographie française, ed. Prevost, M., et al. (Paris, 1956)Google Scholar, vn, col. 1194.

81 For these proceedings see Clerval, A., Registre des procès-verbaux de la faculté de théologie de Paris (Paris, 1917), pp. 354355 Google Scholar, 399, 419, n. 37. The conclusions of the Faculty may be found in Determinatio Facultatis Theologiae Parisiensis, super aliquibus propositionibus certis e locis nuper ad earn delatis, de ueneratione sanctorum, de canone missae, deque sustentatione ministrorum aitaris, et caeteris quibusdam, (Paris, 1523).

82 The details may be found in Charles DuPlessis d'Argentré, Collectio judiciorum de novis erroribus, qui ab initio XIIII saeculi usque ad 1713 in Ecclesia proscripti sunt et notati (Paris, 1728-1736), n, 21-30.

83 DuPlessis d'Argentré, II, 28.

84 Loc. cit.: ‘… praecepta, Evangelium, quod est virtus, meritum fidei haec omnia nobis a Deo data veniunt ex fide, quia fides cum confidentia facit nos Deo gratos; nee potest intelligere quod fides infusa possit esse sine charitate, quia tenet virtutes esse connexas’.

85 Loc. cit.: ‘Haec propositio quantum ad hoc quod dicit fides cum confidentia nos facit Deo gratos, modus est loquendi Lutheranorum improbandus; et quod ait assertor, quod non potest fidem infusam posse esse sine charitate, ex affectata & damnabili iuris divini ignorantia procedit; nee ratio quam affert de connexione virtutum, loquendo de virtutibus theologicis propositio conducit, imo doctrinae apostolicae contraria est’.’

86 Ibid., p. 37; ‘Haec propositio quoad primam partem in qua dicit, que Dieu ne demande que foi pour tout, est manifeste haeretica’.

87 Hahn, pp. 373-374.

88 Comm. in epist. cath., f. 5v: ‘Concupiscentiae radix, fomes est peccati omnibus a protoplastis insitus, nisi quern deus liberarit, qui & concupiscentia, cum eruptura est in actum. Parit autem, cum exit in actum, qui peccatum est non originale, sed ex originali actuale’. Cf. Ep. & ev., f. lviii v-lix r.

89 Dialogue en forme de vision nocturne, v. 534, ed. P. Jourda in Revue du seizieme siecle, XIII (1926), 1-49. For a discussion of this controversy see Harry McSorley, J., Luther Right or Wrong? An Ecumenical-Theological Study of Luther's Major Work, The Bondage of the Will (New York, 1969)Google Scholar.

90 Marguerite's interest in Lefèvre during his years at Meaux may be seen from Herminjard, I, nos. 55, 59, 84, 89. As is well known through Briconnet's letters Lefèvre's ideas had a major impact on Marguerite. Cf. Jourda, Pierre, Marguerite d'Angoulême, duchesse d'Alençon, reine de Navarre (1492-1549): étude biographique et littéraire, (Paris, 1930)Google Scholar, n, 1071; Febvre, Lucien, Autour de I'Heptameron, amour sacre, amour profane, (Paris, 1944), pp. 3638 Google Scholar et passim; Le théâtre profane, ed. V. -L. Saulnier, p. xiv; Sckommadau, Hans, Die religiosen Dichtungen Margaretes von Navarra (Cologne and Opladen, 1955), p. 32 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

91 Comm. in epist. cath., f. 5v: ‘Consummatur aut peccatum, cum illi voluntas consentit, quod & plerunque in opus ipsum externum egreditur: sed nihil refert, egrediatur vel non egrediatur, consentiente voluntate, peccatum consummatum est, dominatur & regnat. Sed si non consentit, sed spiritu supprimit et mortificat venenatum fomitis concupiscentiaeque partum, peccatum non imputatur, neque dominatur, neque regnat…. Mortificatio enim, generose volentibus venire ad vitam, necessaria est: & haec est dei munus’.

92 Ibid., f. 2r: ‘Quod si vetus Adam & caro dominetur: novus homo & spiritus non manet. Non enim possunt simul regnam’.

93 Ibid., f. 44V: ‘Cum ergo ipse sit lux, & deus sit lux, & lux immensa, in eo tenebrae non sunt ullae. At quomodo tenebrae essent in eo, cum tenebrae luminis & boni privatio sit, in eo autem nihil boni deese possit? Cum ergo ita sit: si consortium eius habere volumus, nobis in luce, bonitate, veritate, fide, charitate, & id genus ambulandum est. Nam si dixerimus nos cum eo consortium habere, & in tenebris… mendaces sumus falsitatis operatores … ambulamus, si autem in luce ambulamus sicut ipse in luce est est: nos adinvicem, id est, ipse nobiscum & nos cum eo consortium habemus.’

94 Ibid., e.g., ff. 25v-26r, 59r-60v.

95 Tr. Woolf, Bertram Lee, Reformation Writings of Martin Luther (London, 1956)Google Scholar, II, 290-291. Cf. D. Werke, Martin Luthers. Deutsche Bibel, (Weimar, 1931)Google Scholar, VII, 12-14.

96 Comm. in epist. cath., f. 25V: ‘Primus: Timor est offendendi deum, quandoquidem potestatem habet offendentem mittere in gehennam, & punire etiam si vult in perpetuum. Et sic timeri debet offendi: attenta ilia immensitate potestatis, & ratione potestatis, non autem ratione gehennae ignis & punitionis. Secundus: Est timor offendendi deum propter ipsum solum, quia est infinitae bonitatis, idque indignissimum esse tantam offendi bonitatem, maiestatem, dignitatem. Tertius: Est timor non offendendi, sed syncere sancteque colendi …’.

97 Ibid., f. 59r:'… adhuc servilis est, qui filios non decet, sed aut servos aut libertos, qui nondum sunt perfecte liberi, aut qui nondum suam intelligunt libertatem, & perfectum domini sui bonitatem, qui ipsos adoptat in filios.’

98 See Weier, p. 51; also Lefèvre's preface to the Commentaries on the Four Gospels (Comm. init., f. a ii r) in which he implicitly accepts the hierarchy of Dionysius. Cf. Briconnet, , Sermo Synodalis R. in Christopatris D. Guillermi, Meldensis Episcopi, habitus Meldis, anno 1519 die 13 Octobris (Paris, H. Estienne, 1520)Google Scholar Briconnet, , Sermo Synodalis R. in Christopatris D. Guillermi, Meldensis Episcopi, habitus Meldis, anno 1519 die 13 Octobris (Paris, H. Estienne, 1520)Google Scholar, f. vi r.

99 Comm. in epist. catk, f. 23r: ‘Et hoc sanctum & spirituale sacerdotium, ad proprias sui ipsorum offerendas hostias acceptabiles deo per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, omnibus fidelibus commune est, suntque vere fideles omnes spiritualia templa, spirituales sacerdotes spirituales hostiae … Et hos sacerdotes Christus universaliter novit.’

100 Loc. At.: ‘At particulate sacerdotium, quod vel solum vulgus novit, quod quidem cum ignorantia scripturarum iam plurimo tempore suam dignitatem ignoravit & neglexit, relapsum prorsus in primae nativitatis carnalem conditionem, ex scripturis tarn admiranda circa se beneficia Christi nesciens: sacerdotium inquam particulare, non omnibus commune est, sed iis solis qui vulgo sacerdotes & presbyteri dicuntur, quibus praecipuum munus est alios in verbo dei syncere instruere, ut firmi sint in fide, spe & charitate dei & proximi, & sacramenta ministrare: quod sine fide & altiori quidem fide, & ampliori unctione spiritus sancti, quam in iis qui instruuntur, fieri aut non debet, aut non potest.’

101 Ibid., f. 33v: ‘Et haec paraclesis et exhortatio qua exhortatur, ne coacte intendant gregi, ne ob turpe lucrum, neque ceu dominantes in cleros, in sortes & haereditates Christi praesint: non tarn ad eos quos scribebat pertinet, quam praemunit eos qui futuri erant presbyteri sive episcopi, quo non coacte alimoniam vitalis evangelicaeque doctrinae praestarent, sed in fide & charitate, etc'

102 Herminjard, I, 229. In assenting to the Theses of Breslau drawn up by Johann Hess, a close friend of Luther's, it is by no means clear that Lefèvre agreed with everything that was being said or done by the German or Swiss evangelicals. Cf. Heller, pp. 311-393.

103 Comm. in epist. catk, f. 33V: ‘Nam oves Christi non noverunt vocem alienorum, nolunt ad alium duci, nisi ad solum Christum: nolunt alium praedicari, sed solum Christum.’

104 Ep. & ev., f. xi r-v.

105 Ibid., f. cciii r.

106 Comm. in epist. cath., f. 33V: ‘… Si gregi superintendant & eum moderentur non coacte, sed voluntarie, non ab turpe lucrum, sed prompto animo & charitate, non dominantes, non dominum exercentes in eos qui ad fcrtem & haeridatem aeternam vocati sunt, quibus divina ordinatione praefecti sunt pastores, sed fiant exemplaria gregis, Christum imitantes, qui non venit ministrari sed ministrare, & dare animam suam redemptionem pro multis.’

107 Ibid., ff. 61V-621: ‘Ex iis qui veniebant ad sacrum baptisma, quidam ficte aggrediebantur & non credebant Iesum, esse Christum … et hi ex deo non recipiebant generationem. Qui autem non ficte veniebant, sed ut catechumeni ad fidem instructi abluti sacris undis, firma fide, spiritum fidei accipiebant, credebant Iesum esse Christum.’ Cf. Ep. & ev., f. lxxi r-v.

108 Herminjard, I, 208.

109 Guillaume Farel 1489-1565: biographie nouvelle écrite d'apès les documents originaux par un groupe d'historiens, professeurs et pasteurs de Suisse, France et d'ltalie (Neuchâtel, 1930), PP-155-160. Cf. Staehlin, Ernest, Oekolampads Beziehungen zu den Romanen (Basel, 1917), pp. 1718 Google Scholar.

110 Ep. & ev., introd., p. 17.

111 Ibid., f. clxxi v.

112 Herminjard, I, 229-230.

113 Oecolampadius to Lambert, Francis, 13 January 1525, in Briefe undAkten zum Leben Oekolampads, ed. E. Staehlin (Leipzig, 1927), 1 Google Scholar, 340: ‘Nam carnem et sanguinem Christi hoc modo sacramentalibus signis assignare, quo modo doctus est hactenus, non modo contra communem sensem sed et contra Christi gloriam facit, et nescio, an aliquid pestilentius invehi potuisset. Etenim dum adhesum est carni et sanguini, quomodo in pane caliceque delitescerent; oblivioni ferme tradita fuit immensa charitas, qua caro immolata et sanguinis effusus: quorum tamen memoriam in hunc usum santificatis pane et vino subinde refricari Christus voluit.’

114 Comm. init., f. 3381“: ‘Ubicunque sane Christus est: Christus incarnatus est: Incarnatus autem: sine corpore non est. Et magna est fides, cognoscere Christum corporaliter esse ubi sacramentaliter est: sed maior est cognoscere absolute ubique corporaliter esse. Nam hoc, est sine modo cognoscere: illud cum modo. Fides autem quae est absque modo, maior est: quam quae modum habet. Et illud: quodam modo propter hoc est, ut contractum propter absolutum’.

115 Cf. these views with the entirely traditional view he took only a few years earlier in the De Maria Magdalena et triduo Christi, (Paris, H. Estienne, 1517), f. 28v: ‘… cum esset ante sacratissimam dominici corporis teletam, omniumque augustissimum maximeque venerandum sacramentum … Se illic adorare Christum Christique praesentiam corporaliter, non autem sic in aliis locis. Nam non solum illic esse Christi praesentiam qui ubique est, sed etiam Christi praesentiam corporaliter… .’

116 BN MS.N.Acq.Fr.6528, f. 24or.

117 Annotationum Natalis Bede … in Iacobum Fabrum Stapulensam Libri Duo et in Desiderium Erasmum Roterdamnum Liber Unus (Cologne, 1526), f. cxv r.

118 J. D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, cujus Ioannes Dominicus Mansi et post ipsius mortem Florentinus et Venetianus editores ab anno 1758 ad annum 1798 prioresjl tomos ediderunt, nunc autem continuata etfavente Deo absoluta (Paris-Leipzig, 1901- 1927), XXXII, col. 1179.

119 Comm. in epist. cath., f. 65r: ‘Sic sacramentum corporis, sic area testamenti novi, signum est praesentis qui nusquam non adest Christi. Hie ergo ante signum totum cor effunde ad deum, non signum, sed eum qui praesens est & ubique adorans Christum … Ad hoc enim ipsum instituit dominus, ut in memoriam redemptiones nostrae sumentes, illi uniremur unumque corpus eius efficeremur. “Hoc,” inquit (Luke 22:19), “fecit in meam commemorationem,” de sanctae & testamentariae coenae mystica institutione loquens.’

120 Ibid., f. 17V: ‘Et hoc quia amant vitam carnis: de ea autem quae spiritus est & quae aut in deliciis indeficientibus aut suppliciis manet aeterna, nihil aut parum curant. Sic stultorum & nunc pure carnalium mentes, insania versat. O tempora: O mores.’

121 Ibid., f. 18r: ‘Fiebat etiam olim inuicem mutua offensarum confessio, & fraterna reconcOiatio, sequendo evangelicam doctrinam, mandante e domino, ut prius reconciliemur fratri, quam nos nostrave deo praesentemus… . Et talis olim erat inter fideles confessio. Nunc autem remissa fide, aut prorsus in plurimus extincta, quam Christus Iesus per suum verbum & suum spiritum exuscitet, est alius confessionis peccatorum modus, quern etiam misericordia sua acceptet, & parum nunc fit aut quod hie Iacobus monet, aut quod Christus ipse praecipit.’

122 See above, p. 43.

123 Les choses contenues en ce present Uvre. Une epistre comment on doibt prier Dieu. Le psaultier de David (Paris, Simon de Colines, 1524), f. 304r.

124 Les choses contenues en ce present Uvre. Une epistre comment on doibt prier Dieu. Une table pour facilement trouver les pseaulmes. Le psaultier de David (Paris, Simon de Colines, 1526), f. iv v-r. An edition of this work was printed at Antwerp on 20 June 1525 by Martin l'Empereur.

125 Ep. & ev., f. xxiii r.

126 Ibid., ff. xxiii v - xxiv r.

127 Comm. in epist. catk, f. 65r: ‘Superstitiosi, simulachea aurum & argentum opera manuum hominuum, quae os habent & non loquentur, oculos habent & non videbunt: quae omnia per apostolum spiritus hie prohibere videtur, tarn quae tunc a gentilibus, aut domi, aut foris, aut in phanis, delubris, lucis aut usquam alibi colebantur, quam quae in futurum declinante fide ritu gentium coli potuissent. Hac prohibitoria adhortatione vetat Ioannes coli quicquid non est deus, cui nullum poni potest simulachrum.’

128 Ep. & Ev., f. clxx r.

129 Lefèvre to Beatus Rhenanus, 9 April 1519, Herminjard, 1, no. 20, 45.

130 Thus, Beda in his Annotationum noticed a similarity between Luther's definition of penance in his Resolutiones… de indulgentiarum virtute (1518) and that found in Lefèvre's Evangelical Commentaries. Cf. ibid., CLI r; D. Martin Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe (Weimar, 1883- ), 1, 538; Comm. init., f. I2r. See also Imbart de la Tour, m, 169-170.

131 See his concern for the unity of the Church in Comm. init., f. 203V. His attitude resembles that of Erasmus toward Luther. Erasmus to (Artlebus of Baskowitz), 28 January 1521: ‘Quod hortaris ut Luthero me iungam, id facile fiet, si ilium videro in parte Catholicae Ecclesiae’. Opus Epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami denuo recognitum et auctum, ed. P. S. Allen et al. (Oxford, 1906-1953), IV, no. 1183, 442. Hans J. Hillerbrand has rightly stressed the fragmentary understanding of Luther's theology in the early years of the Reformation, a factor which probably accounts for Lefèvre's initial enthusiasm toward him. Cf. Hillerbrand, , ‘The Spread of Protestant Reformation of the Sixteenth Century: A Historical Case Study in the Transfer of Ideas’, South Atlantic Quarterly, ucvn (1968), 265286 Google Scholar. The spread of German evangelical literature to France has been studied by Moore, W.G., La Réforme allemande et la littérature française: recherches sur la notoriété de Luther en France, (Strasbourg, 1930)Google Scholar, passim; and Febvre, Lucien and Martin, Henri- Jean, L’Apparition du livre, (Paris, 1958), pp. 423477 Google Scholar.

132 See ‘Zwinglianisme’, in J. Pollet, V.M., Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. A. Vacant, et al. (Paris, 1950)Google Scholar, xv, cols. 3757-3762.

133 La Religion de Marot (Geneva, 1960), p. 50.

134 A Monsieur Bochart quoted ibid., p. 97. Recently Screech, M. A. has questioned whether or not this poem refers to events of 1526. See Marot évangelique, (Geneva, 1967), pp. 2728 Google Scholar. For a convincing defense of this traditional date see Françon, Marcel, ‘A propos de l'Enfer de Clement Marot’, Renaissance Quarterly, XXII (1969), 229233 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

135 Lucien Febvre, ‘Un Question mal posée: les origines de la réforme française et le problème des causes de la réforme’, Revue historique, CLXI (1929), 1-79. Reprinted in Au Coeur religieux du XVIe siècle (Paris, 1957). See esp., ibid., pp. 58-59.

136 Febvre's work is far more insightful.

137 Jourda, II, 1046-1047.

138 Ibid., II, 1049-1050.

139 Ibid., II, 1053.