During the fifteenth century, many all over Europe suffered for Christ’s sake. In 1432 a Carmelite friar named Rhedon went to Rome and was horrified to discover that the city of St. Peter was a hotbed of vice and corruption. His spirit was stirred within him, and he preached against the prevailing enormities. Rome’s answer was to degrade him from the priesthood and commit him to the flames.
Better known is Savanarola, an Italian monk, who preached boldly in Florence. The Pope’s legate arriving in the city, he and two companions were charged with heretical teaching, among which the doctrine of free justification through faith in Christ was specifically mentioned. All three were burned to death in 1499.
Among the faithful witnesses for the truth during this century, John Wesselus of Groningen deserves special mention. He stands out as a man of solid piety, well versed in the truth of Scripture and celebrated for his talents and learning. He lived from 1419 to 1489. In so many respects did his teaching anticipate the truths that came to light at the Reformation that he has been called the “Forerunner of Luther.” Luther himself was astonished to find in his writings the very truths he himself was led to proclaim. “It is plain,” he said, “he was taught of God, as Isaiah prophesied (Isa. 54:1313And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. (Isaiah 54:13)) Christians should be. As in my own case, so with him, it cannot be supposed that he received his doctrines from men. If I had read his works before, my enemies might have supposed that I had learned everything from Wesselus, such a perfect coincidence there is in our opinions.” In spite of this, Wesselus seems entirely to have escaped persecution. He does not seem — and here may lie the reason — to have discerned the iniquity of the Papacy. Soon after the inauguration of Sixtus IV, the pontiff told Wesselus he would grant him any request he should make. Wesselus replied:
“Holy Father and kind patron, I shall not press hard upon your holiness. You well know I never aimed at great things. But as you now sustain the character of supreme pontiff and shepherd on earth, my request is that you would so discharge the duties of your elevated station that your praise may correspond with your dignity and that when the Great Shepherd shall appear, whose first minister you are, He may say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; ... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord’ (Matt. 25:2323His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (Matthew 25:23)).”
The Pope’s answer was, “That must be my care, but do you ask something for yourself.”
Wesselus then asked for a Greek and a Hebrew Bible from the Vatican library.
“Foolish man,” said Sixtus, “why don’t you ask for a bishopric or something of that sort?”
“For the best of reasons,” replied Wesselus, “because I do not want such things.”
Honest John Wesselus could have had little inkling as to the true character of the man he was addressing, for the history depicts the career of Sixtus in dark colors.
It has been said that with the pontificate of Sixtus the Papacy entered a new phase, in which it appeared chiefly as a great secular power, to which the spiritual character was merely attached as an accident. But light from God was about to shine which would bring into evidence the works of darkness and expose the system and its head before the whole world. But more: That divine light was to shine brightly into the hearts of thousands and bring in a liberty unknown since the days of the apostles.
Before closing this brief review of Christendom in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, mention may be made of the fact that an attempt was made in the fifteenth century to unite the Greek and Roman Churches. It was a failure.
The Turks who had overrun the eastern portion of the old Roman Empire previously subjected by the Muhammadans captured Constantinople in 1453. Thus the last vestige of the empire of the Greek emperors disappeared. The Turks were also harrying the southern borders of Europe and causing a good deal of anxiety both to the Pope and the secular princes of Europe. The fifteenth century also saw the British arms overrunning France under Henry V, culminating in the tragic episode of Joan of Arc, who was burned as a witch by the English in 1431.
In the midst of all these tumults, Providence was preparing the way for the coming great revival of scriptural truth in the next century. Printing was invented about the middle of this century and this was to play its part in disseminating those liberating doctrines, based on Holy Writ, which characterized the Reformation. The truth was to set men free from the bondage of Rome, and the Holy Scriptures were by means of printing to become available to an extent hitherto undreamed of. The capture of Constantinople resulted in a mass of learned refugees fleeing to Europe with their books. The knowledge of the Greek language and literature was thereby disseminated in the West and contributed to a revival of learning.