idols, but to deliver the pure word of God ". In order to avoid such a propaganda, the bishop ordered to empty the courtroom of outsiders. Catholic officials accused Franco of a conspiracy to kill the Queen, the royal prince or the bishop. Even after torture Franco did not confess to such a conspiracy. Many Polish–Lithuanian Protestant noblemen stood up in Franco's defence, but Calvinist magnates Radziwiłł did not support him because of his low descent. Franco's case was referred to the Pope, and Piotr Skarga personally interfered to obtain a death sentence. Execution and aftermath Franco could have saved his life by converting to Catholicism, but he refused. According to Janusz Tazbir, Franco through his action wanted to change the passivity of Polish Protestants in face of triumphs and progresses of the Counter-Reformation. The execution took place in the vault of Vilnius Town Hall as the officials were afraid it could provoke outbreaks of violence and arson. First the executioner tore Franco's tongue out (it was a customary penalty for the blasphemy). Next his body was chopped to pieces which were hung on the pillory. Then his body was burnt, and ashes were thrown into the river. Soon after this execution, on 2 and 3 July, a religious riot broke out in Vilnius, during which the Calvinist church was plundered and burnt, and one minister was killed. Franco's case fired up religious disputes and worsened the situation of Protestants in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Numerous pleas of Protestant gentry to the King and the Sejm brought no result – the gentry did not manage to pass a bill against riots. Afterwards, Franco was forgotten in Poland, but West-European Protestants (e.g. David Pareus), and Polish Brethren (e.g. Andrzej Lubieniecki), who stigmatized the Counter-Reformation, wrote about him. References 17th-century Protestant martyrs Italian Calvinist and Reformed Christians 1580s births 1611 deaths Protestantism in Poland Executed Polish people People executed for blasphemy People executed for heresy Executed Italian people People from Friuli People executed by torture 17th-century executions by Lithuania