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CHAPTER IV.

A VIEW OF THE STATE OF THE CHRISTIAN PROFESSION FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE NINTH TO THE END OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY.

A. D. 800-1200.

SECTION I.

A concise description of the vallies of Piedmont, and of the Pyrenees; with some account of the life and doctrine of Claude, bishop of Turin.

THE principality of Piedmont,* derives its name from the circumstance of its being situated at the foot of the Alps-a prodigious range of mountains, the highest, indeed, in Europe, and which divide Italy from France, Swisserland and Germany. It is bounded on the east by the duchies of Milan and Montferrat; on the south by the county of Nice and the territory of Genoa; on the west by France; and on the north by Savoy. In former times it constituted a part of Lombardy, but more recently has been subject to the king of Sardinia, who takes up his residence at Turin, the capital of the province, and one of the finest cities in Europe. It is an extensive tract of rich and fruitful vallies, embosomed in mountains which are encircled again with mountains higher than they, insected with deep and rapid rivers, and exhibiting, in

The term "Piedmont" is derived from two Latin words, viz. Pede montium," at the foot of the mountains."

strong contrast, the beauty and plenty of Paradise, in sight of frightful precipices, wide lakes of ice, and stupenduous mountains of never wasting snow. The whole country is an interchange of hill and dale; mountain and valley-traversed with four principal rivers, viz. the Po, the Tanaro, the Stura, and the Dora, besides about eight and twenty rivulets great and small, which, winding their courses in different direction, contribute to the fertility of the vallies, and make them resemble a watered garden.

The principal vallies are Aosta and Susa on the north -Stura on the south-and in the interior of the country, Lucerna, Angrogna, Roccapiatta, Pramol, Perosa, and S. Martino. The valley of Clusone, or Pragela, as it is often called, was in ancient times a part of the province of Dauphiny in France, and has been, from the days of Hannibal, the ordinary rout of the French and other armies, when marching into Italy. Angrogna, Pramol, and S. Martino are strongly fortified by nature on account of their many difficult passes and bulwarks of rocks and mountains; as if the allwise Creator, says Sir Samuel Morland,* had, from the beginning, designed that place as a cabinet, wherein to put some inestimable jewel, or in which to reserve many thousand souls, which should not bow the knee before Baal.

Several of these vallies are described by our geographers as being remarkably rich and fruitful-as fertile and pleasant as any part of Italy. In the mountains are mines of gold, silver, brass, and iron; the rivers abound with a variety of exquisite fish; the forests and the fields with game; while the soil yields every thing necessary to the enjoyment of human life,—abundance of corn, rice, wine, fruits, hemp, and cattle. Throughout the whole terri

History of the Churches of Piedmont, p. 5.

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tory, except on the tops of the mountains, there is to be found great plenty of fruits, especially of chesnuts, which the inhabitants gather in immense quantities, and after drying them in an oven or upon a kiln, they manufacture from them an excellent kind of biscuit, which in France they call marroons, and where they are in high, estimation as a species of confectionary. They, first of all, string them as they do their beads or chaplets, and then hang them up in some humid place for their better preservation. As the bread made from the chesnut constitutes a considerable part of the food of the inhabitants of Piedmont, it is a common practice among them, after reserving what may be necessary for their own sustenance, to sell or exchange the surplus with the inhabitants of the plain for corn or other commodities.

In the patriarchal age of the world, when the people of the east had parcelled out the country into many separate states, some savage and others civilized, it is said of the Hebrews, that they went from one nation to another; from one kingdom to another people. In the middle ages, the same spirit prevailed over the west. Petty chiefs assumed independence, and formed a vast number of separate kingdoms. Reputed heretics, like the ancient Israelites, emigrated from place to place, taking up their abode only where they could enjoy the privileges of religious liberty.

The Pyrenean mountains, which separate France and Spain, extend from the Mediterranean sea to the Atlantic ocean, that is, at least two hundred miles, and in breadth at several places more than one hundred. The surface is, as may naturally be expected, wonderfully diversified. Hills rise upon hills, and mountains over mountains, some bare of verdure, and others crowned with forests of huge cork trees, oak, beech, chesnuts, and ever-greens. When travellers of taste pass over them, they are in raptures,

and seem at a loss for words to express what they behold. The landscape, say they, on every side is divine. More delightful prospects never existed even in the creative imagination of Claude Lorraine.* In some places are bleak, perpendicular rocks and dangerous precipices; in others beautiful, fertile, and very extensive vallies, adorned with aloes, and wild pomegranates; enriched with olives, lemons, oranges, apples, corn, flax; and perfumed with aromatic herbs, and animated with venison and wild fowl. Numerous flocks of sheep and goats enliven the hills, manufacturers of wool inhabit the vallies, and corn and wine, flax and oil, hang on the slopes. Inexhaustible mines of the finest iron in the world abound there, and the forests supply them with plenty of timber. There are whole towns of smiths, who carry on the manufacture of all sorts of iron work, especially for the use of the military and navy, and their workmanship is much extolled. This chain of mountains runs from the Bay of Biscay to the Bay of Roses, and the sea-ports about both were accustomed to be crowded with inhabitants, commerce, plenty and wealth.

A spectator, taking his stand on the top of the ridge of these mountains, will observe, that at the foot, on the Spanish side, lie Asturias, Old Castile, Arragon and Catalonia; and on the French side, Guienne and Languedoc, Toulouse, Bearn, Alby, Roussillon, and Narbonne, places all of which were remarkable in the darkest times for harbouring Christians who were reputed heretics.+ Indeed, from the borders of Spain, thoughout the greatest part of the south of France, among and below the Alps, along the Rhine, and even to Bohemia, thousands of the disciples of Christ, as will hereafter be shewn, were found even in the very worst of times, preserving the faith in its

• Swinburne's Travels ch, xliv, + Robinson's Eccles. Researches, p. 280.

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purity, adhering to the simplicity of Christian worship, patiently bearing the cross after Christ: men distinguished by their fear of God, and obedience to his will, and persecuted only for righteousness' sake.

Voltaire has so justly and beautifully described the general state of Italy as it existed at a period some little time subsequent to that of which I am about to treat, that, I shall here introduce his words. "In the beautiful and trading cities of Italy," says he, "the people lived in ease and affluence. With them alone the sweets of life seemed to have taken up their residence, and riches and liberty inspired their genius and elevated their courage. Notwithstanding the dissensions that prevailed everywhere, they began to emerge from that brutality which had in a manner overwhelmed Europe after the decline of the Roman empire. The necessary arts had never been entirely lost. The artificers and merchants, whose humble station had protected them from the ambitious fury of the great, were like ants, who dug themselves peaceable and secure habitations, while the vultures and eagles of the world were tearing one another in pieces."*

This pleasing picture, which, no doubt, is very correct, as it respects the civil affairs of men, is equally applicable to the inhabitants of Piedmont and the Pyrenees, as to those states of Italy of whom Voltaire speaks; but if applied to the concerns of the kingdom of heaven, the felicity resulting from it will be found to have been almost exclusively theirs, during several of the succeeding centuries. I shall not, however, with the view of justifying this remark, here anticipate occurrences which will come more properly under the reader's notice in prosecuting that branch of ecclesiastical history, on which we are about to enter.

The former chapter affords an ample insight into the

* General History, ch. 69.