ANNALS OF DE NORMANDIE

PREFACE

A few copies of this book have been made, with a view of preserving the data and documents it contains, by printing what has had in existence in a single manuscript only.

It is not pretended that the book contains a narrative, nor would it be desirable to attempt to construct one from the materials here given. These materials explain themselves in the light of history, and especially after a study of the ancient government and polity of Geneva.

To such as are descended from the DE NORMANDIE this book will be valued, as containing incontestable evidence of their relation genealogically to families and personages of the highest distinction, and their ancestral connection with the Reformation, that most notable event since the fall of the Roman Empire.

ARTHUR SANDYS
Bermuda Islands,
January 1, 1901.


INTRODUCTION

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It may with truth be said, that no family in America represents more of what is interesting than does that of DE NORMANDIE.

This interest does not depend on great public services rendered by its members to the colonies, or later to the United States, nor does it share in that lustre and unique
Distinction enjoyed by such families as represent the first planting of European civilization in this western world; yet its noble origin, feudal traditions, splendid
Alliances; its ages of patrician position, of polite and gentle living and finally that supreme quality of distinction inherent in its members, do appeal to our entiment an warrant the claim we have made.

Apart then from the genealogical interest naturally felt by those who are descended from the family of DE NORMANDIE, there is much of historic value in its annals which can engage the attention of others. The former importance of the family can be deduced from its name, as also from its rank and alliances during the feudal age, but since 1460 we have data which outline clearly, and as time goes on define more and more fully

P. 2.

The history and role of DE NORMANDIE. To comprehend the history of the DE NORMANDIE family, we must study principally such of its annals as are included within the period that dates from 1460 and ends with the year 1707; because it is during that term of two hundred and forty-seven years, that the family took a part, as active as brilliant, in that great drama called the “Reformation of Religion.” Especially must we study its history during the years between 1548 and 1788, at which latter date died LUCRECE ANGELIQUE DE NORMANDIE, the wife of M. GAULIS DE CASSONAY, and so extinguished in the highest degree, of two hundred and forty years.

That during the middle ages DE NORMANDIE was a seigneurial family we are assured. The claim that it descends from that of the DUKES OF NORMANDIE through a cadet line is well founded, and is sustained by high authority in Europe, as well as by the universal law in feudal times, - that the landed families derived their name and rank from their principal seigneuries, and thus the LORDS OF NORMANDY alone with their descendants bore the name of DE NORMANDIE.

Among the annals of the family we find that in or about the year 1470, when GUILLAUME DE NORMANDIE was the King’s lieutenant and seneschal of Noyon in Picardie, he deposited the records and charters of his family in the Hotel de Ville of that city, and, - as DAVILLA in his old history further relates, ‘ “ during the civil wars of

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the kingdom, between the Huguenot and Catholic lords, the Hotel de Ville and other public buildings were burned,” and thus by the loss of those ancient documents we are no doubt deprived of many evidences relating to the DE NORMANDIE of a remote period. These are now beyond our reach, but circumstantial proof regarding the position of the family during the middle ages is sustained by traditions that may be accepted without reserve, if one considers the name, the offices held, and the alliance made by GUILLAUME DE NORMANDIE.

The sources from when I have obtained the data here presented are the following:
Firstly, a number of parchments and papers, which were brought from Geneva by ANDRE DE NORMANDIE, when in the year 1708 he came to America. To only a small part of these I have had access. On the death of ANDRE in 1724, they were no longer kept together, but were distributed among his descendants. Such as fell into my hands were those that were given to or bequeathed by DR. JOHN ABRAM DE NORMANDIE to his niece, the wife of DR. SAMUEL BARD, of Hyde Park, N. Y.
They consist of treaties of marriage and commissions under the great and privy seals of HENRY 1V. of France and Navarre, which last are signed by the king and countersigned by the secretary of state. There are wills and genealogies of the family, together with historical notes and letters in autograph, from FREDERICK WILLIAM 1, King of Prussia, to ANDRE DE NORMANDIE.

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The oldest of these parchments are the treaties of marriage, which date from 1540 and later. They are written in mediaeval French, and are fine specimens of the work of the old notaries. Some of the parchments are so cramped in the writing and so archaic, that I can make nothing of them in detail, nor could so erudite and accomplished a scholar in the University of Princeton, obtain any better success.

What other documents ANDRE DE NORMANDIE may have brought with him cannot now be known, as some of them were destroyed when the house of DR. JAMES DE NORMANDIE was burned, as also were three portraits of great value.
One only was saved, and is now by inheritance in the possession of the REV. JAMES DE NORMANDIE of Boston. This portrait is evidently that of the DEMOISELLE ANNE GRENUS, the wife of MICHEL DE NORMANDIE, and the picture represents the said lady in court dress, at the time when her husband was sent as ambassador to LOUIS X1V., King of France.

Secondly, the records of Noyon in Picardie, those of the Parliament of Paris, and some rare books in the Grande Bibliotheque de France, yielded matter that confirms much of what is herein presented, and the works of PERE MORERY, DE THOU, LALANNE, BASLE, SENEBIER, and others, throw side lights on the great families with which the DE NORMANDIE were allied by blood or marriage.

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Thirdly, the old records of the city of Geneva, and the rich collections of ancient charters and genealogical evidences in private families of that city, furnished all the facts and proofs needed to fill out sufficiently a history of more or less full at different periods, yet complete in its outline, from a time anterior to the Reformation.

It may be said with confidence, that no city in Europe is so full and continuous as to its civic records as is Geneva, or more rich in genealogical data relating to its ancient families. The city of Geneva for many ages so ably defended itself against its enemies, that it has known no sack or destruction of public property, and thus it has been enabled to accumulate a great and uninjured store of records, which have been by its many learned and cultivated citizens sifted, deciphered, translated, quoted, and printed in a vast number of published books, which treat fully on the laws, customs, manners, actions and policies of a long past.

Original research among the archives having been thoroughly made, the results, now in print, are embodied in a literature rich and varied, and thus the student has at his disposal far more than he could obtain by a personal examination of the old public registers.

Among those who by their work in various fields of learning have adorned Geneva, the name of M. J. A. GALIFFE stands preeminent. This distinguished man was summoned to England by the House of Lords, on the trial of QUEEN CARO-

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LINE, the consort of GEORGE 1V., to settle some questions relating to that issue, and he returned to his native city with the reputation of being the most erudite genealogist in Europe. His monumental work, the “Notices genealogiques sur les Familles Genevoises,” is a collation of genealogical facts, based on the public records, old notarial instruments, and family documents.

This work, now rare and out of print since 1830, is held at Geneva as an absolute authority, and thus it is here quoted very largely. Together with the old journals, order books, and minutes of the three councils, and the secretarial books of the executive departments of the Geneva government, it supplies a mass of fact and evidence relating to the families herein treated that cannot be contested, doubted, or gainsaid.

The fourth source of direct and positive information consisted of letters and parts of old epistolary correspondence, dating from 1740. These letters, written by members of the DE NORMANDIE to those of the BARD family after their intermarriages, were in English, and threw much light on the views and feelings of a family, the members of which, while alive to the welfare of the country of their adoption, and to the interests of the social life about them, yet lived on the traditions of a past much at variance with their present experiences. Notes were taken from these letters, which were loaned by aged ladies, descendants of COLONEL PETER BARD of Burlington in New Jersey. On the death of the survivor among them, the

P. 7.

Letters went beyond my reach and were probably lost or destroyed.

It is a matter of deep regret that the vestry books of ST. JAMES’ church at Bristol on the Delaware no longer exist. It seems that many years ago the then rector of that parish, influenced by feelings aroused in contest with his vestry, threw into the fire the early registers of the church, and thus we are deprived of whatever information those books contained.

The family, however, kept such notes and records during the colonial period that we are enabled to establish the descent genealogically of all those who are of the name now living in the United States.

The intermarriages with the BARDS, then of Burlington in New Jersey, later of Hyde Park in New York, effected a close union and intimacy between the families that lasted for two generations, and supplied voluminous materials of a private and documentary nature, on which to establish the descent of all such as are derived from that source. We have, however, no knowledge of others, - if there be, - who may have descended from members of the DE NORMANDIE family, who married, and of whom we know no more.

To those, then, who are of the name, or who are descended from the DE NORMANDIE, I offer the following historical and other notes. The perusal of them will show how much, in the obtaining of them, we are indebted to the preservation of

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Ancient documents, to the work of the early notaries, annalists, and genealogists; but above all else, to the intelligence and civic pride of the inhabitants of Geneva.
Their city never lacked a large number of intellectual men, who appreciated the priceless treasures of the past contained in their public archives.

Had not the blind passion engendered by the civil and religious wars of France destroyed the larger part of her ancient records, we might to-day be in possession of a genealogy of DE NORMANDIE reaching far into the early middle ages.

Irreparable as was the destruction wrought by the sack of Noyon, yet the arms and tombs of his ancestors, his dignity and high offices, his marriage into a house of exalted rank, and above all his name, in itself a title of high nobility, remain to sustain tradition and attest to the origin and character of GUILLAUME DE NORMANDIE.

To be continued on page 59. LAURENT DE NORMANDIE.

P. 59.

Such then, was the city of Geneva, when into it came LAURENT DE NORMANDIE, just before Christmas in the year 1548. He came from the Episcopal city of Noyon in Picardie, and of his family I will now treat.

GUILLAUME DE NORMANDIE, seigneur de Porquer

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ricourt et de la Motte, was during the earlier years of the Episcopate of GUILLAUME MARAFIN (1473-1501) called or summoned from Champagne, to assume by appointment of FRANCOIS 1. the office of Royal Lieutenant of Noyon and Seneschal of Picardie, to which great office was later added that of Maitre des Requetes.

As seneschal he built new and enlarged bastions to the fortifications of Noyon, and as the King’s lieutenant he added to the public buildings of the city a new Hotel de Ville.

In his private capacity as a Catholic seigneur, he built and endowed the Lady Chapel in the cathedral church of ST. MARTIN de Noyon, in which chapel he was buried, and in which the tombs the arms of GUILLLAUME DE NORMANDIE were fully displayed. These tombs were probably obliterated at the time of the French Revolution.

As was said before, the documents relating to his family were deposited by GUILLAUME DE NORMANDIE at the Hotel de Ville, and were destroyed in the sack of Noyon. To that great loss must be added the further destruction of the ancient public records during the civil wars, and finally the almost complete obliteration of the tombs and monuments of the city, during the period of the French Revolution.

These ancient charters, preserved with such religious care by the old noble families of France, consisted of grants of lands by royal gift or author-

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ity, inheritable rights of river or forest, or else of an honorary nature, grants of nobility, official appointments, deeds, treaties of marriage and genealogies.

GUILLAUME DE NORMANDIE married the demoiselle PERRINE DE MAILLI of the house of DE ROYE, both houses being of the most ancient, noble, and powerful in the kingdom.

The great seigneurie of DE MAILLI, included the town of that name near Noyon.
The seigneurie and title merged in the house of CONTI, and later by the marriage of an heiress, both titles came into the house of DE ROYE; and finally the titles and all the chief seigneuries of DE MAILLI, CONTI and DE ROYE, by the marriage in 1551 of ELEANOR DE ROYE, eldest daughter and heiress of CHARLES COUNT DE ROUCY, to LOUIS DE BOURBON PRINCE DE CONDE, MARQUIS DE CONTI, COUNT DE SOISSONS, peer of France and governor of Picardie, went into the House of CONDE.

PERRINE DE MAILLE was the daughter of the Seigneur DE MAILLI, D’AILLY et Montescourt, a noble whose vast estates – aat least those from which he obtained his titles – were all in Picardie. He had evidently married a lady of the neighboring family of DE ROYE, previous to the time when, for lack of male heirs, the title and estates of DE MAILLI went by marriage into the house of his wife. This matter is very clear to the genealogists and involves no doubts. The old authors

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who have treated on the ancient feudal families, gave their attention largely to the elder line, and left much to be desired regarding the younger branches.
These families from which sprang the demoiselle PERRINE DE MAILLI, - and we may with assurance include that also of GUILLAUME DE NORMANDIE, - were among the most distinguished and – during the feudal age – productive of men who made the country great, fighting her battles and leading the people. They filled the highest offices with honor, lived on their seigneuries, intermarried, built all the churches, and in fact did all the things that great feudal lords were strictly bred up to do, rarely going to Paris, except as summoned by the King to some great office, or to a sitting of the parliament to register the royal decrees.

By the demoiselle PERRINE DE MAILLI, GAULLAUME DE NORMANDIE had HILLAIRE DE NORMANDIE, from whom by marriage came RICHARDE, seigneur de Porquerricourt, and JEAN DE NORMANDIE, seigneur DE la Motte.

JEAN DE NORMANDIE, above named, lived and died either near Noyon on one of his fiefs, or in the city, where it is known that he held high office. It is probable that he was born very near or about the year 1485-90, and thus his whole life was passed amid the distractions of the civil wars, and he no doubt witnessed the sack of

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Noyon. He belonged to the Catholic party, and CALVIN has made his personality very distinct to us by the statement, in his dedication of the work, “De Scandalis,” that JEAN DE NORMANDIE is reported to have died of grief on account of his son’s defection from the Catholic faith and flight to Geneva, or words to that effect, which will later be quoted. He married JACQUELINE MOREAU, evidently a lady of a noble family, but but this fact we cannot prove. She died before 1540, leaving three fiefs to her eldest son, and property to her other children. By her JEAN DE NORMANDIE had two sons and two daughters. He signed, by the hand of the notary, in September, 1540, the treaty of the marriage of his eldest son and heir, and he died in the early months of 1549. Records state that he was buried with his ancestors in the chapel of Notre Dame, founded by his grandfather. His second son MARTIN continued to live at or near Noyon; how long the family remained at Noyon after the death of JEAN DE NORMANDIE is not known, but it is certain that three members of the family from Noyon visited Geneva in 1566, probably on invitation of their relative, LAURENT DE NORMANDIE.

LAURENT DE NORMANDIE, eldest son and heir of the above JEAN DE NORMANDIE, was born at or near Noyon in Picardie about 1520. His mother was JACQUELINE MOREAU, an heiress, or at least a lady of a large property.

P. 64.

LAURENT DE NORMANDIE, over and above the fiefs that came to him from his mother, inherited the title and seigneurie of la Motte from his father, but as his
Father died a few months after the conversion of LAURENT to the Protestant faith and flight to Geneva, the signeurier of la Motte was probably confiscated by the crown; and as the attainder issued against LAURENT DE NORMANDIE was never, by pardon of the King, swept from the records of the Parliament of Paris, the title and estates of la Motte were not among those that were restore to him by HENRY 1V., through the good graces of the dowager queen of Navarre. He never used the title at Geneva, although he was always recognized as “noble” and so called, as also were his descendants.

On the third day of September 1540, he entered, by authority of his father, into a treaty of marriage with the Noble ELOI DE LA VAQUERIE, for the hand of the demoiselle ANNE DE LA VAQUERIE. It is noticeable that in the treaty the adult contracting parties are introduced as “honorable” men, and LAURENT DE NORMANDIE, being a minor, is styled “Master.”

It was not the usage in France, as it was in Italy and at Geneva, to use the title of “noble.” In fact the style “honorable” was often given in old documents to seigneurs who owned fiefs, for all fiefs did not carry a title with the land.

JEAN DE NORMANDIE, the father of LAURENT, was a younger son, but evidently had not, on the day he joined in the contract of marriage, as

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yet come into his inheritance of the seigneurie of LA MOTTE, and unless he inherited that title form his mother or maternal grandfather, we are bound
to believe that his father, HILLAIRE DE NORMANDIE, was also alive on the date of the marriage contract cited hereafter.

LAURENT DE NORMANDIE was certainly the most interesting of all those distinguished men who found a refuge in Geneva during the early years of
the Reformation. A descendant of the great feudal families of Champagne and
Picardie, a grandson of a seneschal of the latter province, he filled the high office of royal lieutenant in his native city, and then surrendered his honors and estates, to meet obloquy and condemnation to death for the sake of religion. I will here give an account of him in the form of a monograph read by M> HEYER before “La Societe d”Historoire et d’Archeologie de Geneve,” and printed in its transactions.

AMONG the number of Frenchmen of varied merits who retired to Geneva during
the earlier period of the Reformation, there is one - it appears to me – worthy of being considered by himself apart.

“In seeing him mentioned by CALVIN and BEZA, rarely it is true, yet always with expressions that give evidence of a high esteem and a sincere affection, one is naturally brought to believe that some research among our public registers would

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Suffice to throw light on his proper value, and on the position he held among other distinguished men.

“The year of the birth of LAURENT DE NORMANDIE is nowhere recorded to my knowledge. One cannot deduce it from the date of his death, as the register stating the latter does not mention his age. One knows only that he was born at Noyon in Picardie, and that his father, JEAN DE NORMANDIE, belong to a noble and honorable family.

“He made advanced studies in the law, and either through his own merit or through the influence of his parents he was received a doctor. Later and through his own merit he obtained important employments. He was the king’s lieutenant, and mayor of Noyon, and according to THEODORE DE BEZE, he, in the office of Matire des Requetes, served HENRY 11. King of France, as also JEANNE D’ALBRET, later the Queen of Navarre and mother of HENRY 1V. of France.

“LAURENT DE NORMANDIE married the demoiselle ANNE DE LA VAQUERIE, of a family merged into the dukedom of ST. SIMON.

“It is not known precisely at what time his religious convictions became fixed, but at least in 1548 his mind was made up, so abandoning all chances of advancement in his public employments, he left his home and country, and followed by his wife, who was suffering from an illness that later ended her life, as also by his children, he sought refuge in Geneva.

“He arrived in Geneva probably about the end

P. 67.

Of October of that year 1548, that is, about the same time as did BEZA and JEAN CRESPIN his two friends, and he found himself reunited with the family of JEAN CALVIN which he had long known, but it was not till the 2nd of the following year, that he was admitted an inhabitant of Geneva.

“Since the first month of his arrival, LAURENT DE NORMANDIE was called on to bear the most cruel reverses. The death of his father, - of whom it was said he died of grief, - the loss of a beloved child, and finally that of a young and distinguished wife, are circumstances that called from JEAN CALVIN a letter, in the form of a dedication to LAURENT DE NORMANDIE, in his celebrated work “De Scandalis.”

“JEAN CALVIN TO LAURENT DE NORMANDIE HIS SINGULAR AND ENTIRE FRIEND, GREETING!

“Monsieur and well loved brother : Seeing that for some time I have wished from my heart to dedicate to you some of my books, I have chosen this one from among them, because your example can well serve the great purpose of better establishing the doctrines herein contained and treated.

“Because, having of your free will abandoned the country of your birth and come here to inhabit as a stranger, it is thus that you and I can render certain testimony as to the grievous assaults made on you by the evil one, which have been severe, and however hard they have been to

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bear, yet there are also others of which we can speak.

“Four months after your departure thence, the news came of the death of your Father. It could not be but that the reproofs of the evil disposed made you thoughtful, knowing that he died of sadness and melancholy, the blame of which seemed a reflection on you. At the end of two months occurred a tragedy still more grievous: your wife – I know not why, when virtuous men all long for fellowship – was taken from you in the flower of her age.

“Again : it is impossible but that on this point the spirit of a man, if not blunted, should be agitated by violent emotions. You are as certainly possessed of the calumnies of the evil-minded as though your very ears were hunted. It is as though you had left the country of your birth, through misfortune to die here in a region which to you is as another world. Nothing remained to you but a broken heart, as such medicine would seem to show that your venture had brought on you the curse of God.

“I omit speaking of your private feelings, for if widowhood is a misfortune and hard to bear, it was no small distress to lose the fellowship you had, and to fill the measure of that grief, your little daughter died at the same time as your wife.

“In the meantime SATAN has not ceased to make the most violent assaults, to overwhelm if possible your whole spirit, which had already been so tormented. To sum it up, you have had

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in half a year to endure more grief and adversity than many experience in a lifetime, who yet are commended for great-mindedness.

“I remember, that when I announced to you the death of your father, I brought before you the example of ABRAHAM, who was charged by the evil-minded ones of his time with being the tormentor and murderer of his father. He too languished far from his native country, and being decrepit and broken by age, died in the midst of his journey. You then quickly agreed with me in this - that God being your witness and approving your actions, you would not long care for the babbling of gossips. You suffer in that your father did not come hither with you, so that you might be likened unto ABRAHAM, to whom you are not too nice or too affected to be willing to be compared, or to feel as humiliation that which is honor in the sight of God.

“As for your wife, before she left us she gave you no small comfort, for the grief her death has brought on you. One cannot desire any medicine better than the sentiments she expressed when near her end, when, holding my hand, she gave

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thanks to God that He had brought her to a place where she could die with a quiet conscience, grieving meanwhile that she had been so long in the idolatry of Rome.
She cried out? Oh, how happy I am to be now delivered from this my last prison, and that I was set free from captivity of Babylon! Alas? that is so was that when in Noyon I dared not open my mouth, even to confess my faults, but that the priests and monks about me broke out with their blasphemies, and here only am I free to glorify my saviour, and through your pressing exhortations to come boldly before him!

“Because of the lively feeling of her soul, - speaking with a countenance transcending beyond what was merely feminine, of her sinfulness, of the utter damnation we merit, of the horrible retributions of God, magnifying the grace of Christ, and taking refuge in a courage of which it were hard to say whether confidence exceed humility.

“ I pass over even now a part of your sorrows; I only say this, that Satan having cast about you a network of scandals, you have in such wise freed yourself from them, as that your case will not only encourage many, but will be as a reflection on those who are too weak to follow your example. In fact, a spirit attacked, if well established, is, as you have proved, a strong fortress, insomuch as having abandoned your country, and with it all those things that could spur your ambition, you held fast to others which, while they

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impoverished you, yet without regret or complaint, and thus your renunciations have come to a good ending.

“Now that I receive profit and pleasure in your piety, it will not appear strange that I touch on matters of which I desire others in common with me to share my joy. Whereas in place of what was heretofore, when you were the lieutenant of the King at Noyon and mayor of that city, it grieved me to see you estranged from Christ.
Now I hold you to be fully with us and welcome, as belonging to the church and as having come over to God’s side.

“Removing all hindrances thereto, I intend this book to reach those to whom you are unknown, as a witness of the love I bear you, and I know you will ask no other proof to assure you of it. There are between you and me many close ties, nor could even those of blood surpass our friendship, for you need only consider that my own brother wishes that equally with himself you shall share in my affection, knowing well that in return you love him as he desires.

“The tenth day of July, which is the day of my nativity. Geneva, 1550.
JEHAN CALVIN.

“DE NORMANDIE early showed his intentions of establishing himself at Geneva. He brought at public sale a house having a court and garden, in the street before the temple of ST. PIERRE, for the price of three hundred ecus d’or, plus a small

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annual rent. This house belonged previously to the Chapter of ST. PIERRE, since that time to the secretary of the council RUFFI, and after him to the family of DEODATI. It has been since replace with a modern structure, the property at the present time of the family of DE CANDOLE.

“LAURENT DE NORMANDIE lived very near the Rue des Chanoines, in which street lived some of the pastors, among others, JOHN CALVIN. He was equally well placed as regards many of the refugees more or less distinguished, such as
the brothers DE BUDE, CHARLES DE JOINVILLIERS, GUILLAUME DE TRIE, and directly next door to him we find FRANCOIS BERCHANTEAU, seigneur de ST. LAURENT, replaced later by ANOINE DE LAUTREC, and a little distance off lived the distinguished Neapolitan GALLACIO CARRACCIOLI, Marquis de Vico.
Some years later, DE NORMANDIE bought, outside the city near the Porte de Rive, an enclosed garden, and in the year 1659 he added to it the land that adjoined it on the south side.

“The same year in which he made his chief acquisition, that is in 1550, he married ANNA COLLADON, the daughter of LEON COLLADON, Doctor of Civil Law, belonging to a family from Berry in France, but a short time com to Geneva, and which had always held an honorable rank. The marriage took place in the temple (cathedral) of ST. PIERRE, at the morning service, on September 14, 1550, JOHN CALVIN officiating as the minister.

“These were new and proper ties to fix within our walls the ancient mayor of Noyon,
And we

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also see that on the eighth of September, in 1551, he showed a desire to obtain citizenship. The council deliberated on his request and on that of other French refugees who, like DE NORMANDIE, had rendered good services to Geneva. The fee fixed for the privilege of citizenship was high enough, but in DE NORMANDIE’s case the council reduced it from sixty to forty ecus.

“For reasons now past finding out he was in no haste to accept, and not until April 25, 1555, when he renewed his demand, was he really received as a citizen of Geneva, and then the reduction was made, as above mentioned, ‘in consideration of his handsome service.’ (Registers of the Council, Vol. 1., for 1555, page 57)

“What were the services rendered to the republic by DE NORMANDIE? It would be difficult to answer that question precisely. It is probable that his knowledge of the law was put into contribution. In fact, since 1550 a grave difficulty had been before our State for settlement. The BERNESE, who had conquered the lands on the Savoy, unjustly forced the Genevese proprietors to pay taxes. Deputies were appointed to settle the difficulty, and they were advised ‘to consult Monsieur DE NORMANDIE,’ but the matter was settled before the day that was set to adjudge the case. The Council of Twenty-Five, which in high affairs of State had judicial functions, always on such occasions obtained the advice of competent men, and had already availed itself of that of LAURENT DE NORMANDIE, and we see his name

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three cases, in the registers of the same year. First, a criminal process. The case of
ANDRA DARBEY, twenty-ninth of May. Accused of insults and resistance to public authority. Ordered to the torture. Signed by GERMAIN COLLADON, ANTOINE CHEVALIER DE LAUTREC, and LAURENT DE NORMANDIE.

“Secondly. The case of CLAUDE DE GENEVE, commonly called ‘the bastard.’
Dated eleventh of June. Accused of acts of sedition. The onion, evidently drawn by DE NORMANDIE and signed by COLLADON and DE LAUTREC, recommends the penalty of death.

“Thirdly. The case of twenty accomplices of one PERIN, called the trial of the Libertines. Dated twenty-second of July. Signed by three jurisconsults above named – recommends the penalty of death for all three of the prisoners.

“In the old time, there were in Geneva no idle persons. The men belonging to the best families, if at any time they were not serving the republic as magistrates, in the church or academy as pastors or professors, or if they were not engaged in one of the liberal professions, lived by commerce or industry. Another reason, their fortunes generally were but moderate, and many noble and other refugees were hurriedly obliged to leave the country of their nativity, without bringing with them sufficient resources. However well this reason may apply to such an emergency, yet the custom of active employment existed in Geneva during the XV1 century, and before that time it was

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more than a custom, for in a case judged in 1488, public decrees were issued by the bishop, vidome and syndics, enjoining ‘on all idle persons, or on all such who do not occupy with or live by some industry, to leave the city promptly, or else to suffer three lashes with the whip.’

“As a doctor of the civil law, DE NORMANDIE had a profession very available, and being by reputation an able jurisconsult, he could easily establish himself as an advocate. In fact, having presented his request to the Council of Twenty-five, he was admitted a doctor of laws on the first day of October, 1556, and took the oath required. However there is nothing to prove that he ever practiced the profession of the law in Geneva, nor in any public office did he ever rise higher than as a member of the Council of Two Hundred, to which he was called on the seventh of February,
1559. His activity was directed into another channel. He edited and published the books which he sent to be sold in France and other parts. The first mention relative to this is dated the 17th of September of the year 1557, when DE NORMANDIE and PHILBERT GIENE asked the privilege of six years’ publication of the ‘Commentaries of CALVIN on the Evangelists,’ also for the privilege of three years would be accorded, ‘if agreeable to M. CALVIN.’

Outside his private affairs, DE NORMANDIE is again mentioned in the registers of the council,

P. 76.

and those of the Bourse des Pauves Francais. It is in connection with this last, that under date of June 16, 1650, we see he had imprisoned ROGETTE, the wife of MICHEL MANI, by reason – ‘She had refused care to a little maid confided to her husband.’ Reg. of Council, Vol. of 1561.

“If one will refer to the registers of the notaries of that time, he will obtain further indication of the employments that engaged DE NORMANDIE. In the registers of the notary J. RAGUEAU, amid the good acts concerning our Picardian refugee, a certain number are found, in which special mention is made of books or operations in books, as the following notes will show: -

“August 25th, 1558, DE NORMANDIE received from the executors of DIMANCHE BONNEYVE, 11 sous 6 deniers, money of Geneva, for a copy of a book, De L/Harmonie des quatres Evangelistes.’

“July 17th, 1563, he received from BERNARDIN DE CANDOLE, who was security for BOURDEAU DE CHASTELLERAU, sixty-five livres for books. Again, in December, 1563, he remitted to JACQUES BERNARD and ANTOINE VALLEAU, inhabitants of Geneva, seventeen tonneaux and four bales of books, to be conveyed into France, and there to be distributed in the provinces, at the same time sending 224 livres to defray the charges thereon.

“July 5th, 1566, DE NORMANDIE acknowledged having received, from the noble JACQUES SPIFAME, seigneur de Passy, forty ecus d’or, on account of the total sum due as a pension to the very illustrious HENRY, MONSIEUR DE NEMOURS, for the

77. To be continued.

77.

half year beginning on the second of the present month.

“Here is a question : whether the above Monseigneur DE NEMOURS was a son of JACQUES DE SAVOY, who in 1565 was declared illegitimate. His mother, FRANCOISE DE ROHAN, was a daughter of RENE DE ROHAN and ISABEL D’ALBRET, which last was a cousin german of JEANNE D’ALBRET, dowager queen of Navarre and mother of HENRY 1V., king of France and Navarre. HENRY DE NEMOURS was sent to Geneva in 1564, by JACQUES SPIFAME, seigneur DE PASSY and bishop of Nevers, who after joining the reform became a refugee in Geneva in 1559, and the bearer of a letter from the queen of Navarre to the council, recommending the young Monsieur DE NEMOURS to its care.

“July 13th and August 5th, 1566, THEODORE DE BEZE, in the name of and as attorney of J. CAVET, receiver of taxes at Vezelay, acknowledges having received
2133 livres, one sol, together that which Monsieur DE NORMANDIE has on hand, belonging to PERRONE DE PISCELEU, dame DE CANY, sole heiress of CARDINAL DE MEUDON. DE NORMANDIE acted in the case for SANGUIN, bishop of Orleans, since bishop of Toulouse, and created a cardinal in 1538.

“August 11th, 1567. The registers of the council show, ‘that Monsieur DE NORMANDIE has requested to make a journey into France on his urgent affairs.’
Resolved : ‘that his request be granted on condition that he promises to supply and equip a mounted man.’

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“Later : It being commonly reported that Monsieur LAURENT DE NORMANDIE intends to abandon this city altogether, he has been asked to reply to this fully and conscientiously; on which he answers, ‘ that he contemplates no such thing, and that when he made his request, he expected to be gone but one year.’ Resolved : ‘that the refusal be here rescinded, save that on such revocation he shall be obliged to maintain a mounted man.’

“Again : LAURENT DE NORMANDIE has requested that he be permitted to make a journey into France on his pressing affairs : Resolved : ‘that the council confirm the permission, and rescind the requisition, that he maintain a mounted man, by reason of his pleading his great necessities.

“By a decree of the Parliament of Paris, dated September 7th, 1552, it ‘condemns Monsieur LAURENT DE NORMANDIE to be drawn upon a hurdle to the market-lace of the city of Noyon, and there to be burned alive, as guilty of having fled the kingdom.’

“As DE NORMANDIE was safely lodged within the walls of Geneva, and beyond the power Catholic authorities of Noyon, the sentence was carried out in effigy, but later the protection of those high in power reinstated him in royal favor, and in the possession of his confiscated estates.

“Two documents we stop to describe were written upon the occasion of journeys back and forth, for the settlement of his affairs in France.

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The first is a letter from THEODORE DE BEZE to JEANNE D’ALBRET, the dowager queen of Navarre.

“This letter, embracing details of interest, has been given us by M. GALIFFE in his ‘Notices genealogiques.’

“Madame : The weakness of this poor world is of such sort, and of it I know you have learned both from books and by experience, that none have more need of faithful adherents than those who are elevated in a high degree. For my part, having been favored by being among the number of those among whom it is not displeasing to you to command, and yet not always having means of serving you, should it please God, as I would desire, I considered that in default of ability to engage myself therein, at least to seek what means I could to let you know what I might and would do for the honor of God and the settlement of your scruples.

“Madame : I pray you to recall to your remembrance a personage LAURENT DE NORMANDIE, who was brought to your attention by my late good father M. CALVIN when you were at St. Germain, before these late troubles, for that he had need of letters to the late king your father, so that he might have his estates restored to him, of which he was deprived for having retired to this city. In addition, he long served the late king your father in the office of Maitre des Requetes, in which office, Madame, he was continued by the late king your husband, as well also by you,

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Madame. He has always managed great affairs for the late king in Picardie, and since then in these parts for six years past he has so carried himself, that I shall never find it difficult to answer for his prudence, experience and diligence; therefore at this time having obtained letters which call for his reestablishment in his rights, it is necessary for him to make a journey in to Picardie, and I would not fail, Madame, to give you a notice thereof and in writing also a word to M. DE PASSY, who knows him as well as I do or as he knows me, for the assurance I have, that he will do you good service as occasion may permit, to the glory of God and to your satisfaction.

“From Geneva, this last day of June.
“Your very humble and obedient servitor,
THEODORE DE BEZE.

“The second document is the will of LAURENT DE NORMANDIE, dated the sixth of September, 1565, which at the same time tells of an expected journey.

“The opening clause of the will is as follows:

“To ALL UNTO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, GREETING:

“The noble LAURENT DE NORMANDIE, doctor of Laws and a citizen of Geneva, who, considering

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