Montreux, painted by JHardwicke Lewis & May Hardwicke Lewis; described by Francis Gribble . rdly ride through it abreast, and a strong gatebarred the path to those whom the garrison did notwish to pass. Those were the days of the feudal hierarchy, andof Savoyard overlordship in the Canton of Vaud—an overlordship restricted, more and more as timewent on, by the delegation of certain rights to theBishop of Lausanne, and to such seigneurs as thoseof Chatelard and Blonay, and by the recognition ofcertain other rights as vested in the burghers of thetowns. They were also the days of the invasion of
Montreux, painted by JHardwicke Lewis & May Hardwicke Lewis; described by Francis Gribble . rdly ride through it abreast, and a strong gatebarred the path to those whom the garrison did notwish to pass. Those were the days of the feudal hierarchy, andof Savoyard overlordship in the Canton of Vaud—an overlordship restricted, more and more as timewent on, by the delegation of certain rights to theBishop of Lausanne, and to such seigneurs as thoseof Chatelard and Blonay, and by the recognition ofcertain other rights as vested in the burghers of thetowns. They were also the days of the invasion ofCharles the Bold, defeated successively at Morat,at Grandson, and at Nancy, and, later, of thestrenuous endeavours of the Dukes of Savoy tosubjugate and oppress Geneva. One of the incidents of that struggle is theimprisonment of Francois Bonivard, the prisoner ofChillon par excellence, celebrated in Byrons famouspoem. Byron apparently believed Bonivard tohave been a Protestant martyr for conscience sake ;but it is hardly an exaggeration to say that Byron MONTREUX FROM THE LAKE: AUTUMN. THE CASTLE OF CHILLON 11 knew nothing whatever about him. Not only didhe credit the prisoner with three wholly imaginarybrothers : he was entirely wrong about his religiousopinions. It was not until after his release fromprison that Bonivard embraced the Protestantfaith, and the Dukes quarrel with him was ofa purely political character. The true version ofhis story was told, from contemporary documents,some years ago, by J. F. Chaponniere, in one ofthe publications of the Genevan Historical Society,and from that source we may construct an abridgedbut authentic biography. 2—2 CHAPTER III BONIVARD Born at Seyssel in 1493, Bonivard entered, ata tender age, upon the peaceable possession ofa sinecure. At seventeen he succeeded his uncleas Prior of St. Victor, a large monastery, long sincedemolished, situated to the east of Geneva, onthe site where now stand the Russian Churchand the hotels of the
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