-. 1 REESE LIBRARY tfl UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, THE EARLIEST AGES THE BY THE REV. GEORGE TADDINGTON, M.A. FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND PREBENDARY OF VERRING, IN THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF CHICHESTER. PUBLISHED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. LONDON: BALDWIN AND CRADOCK, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCXXXIII. i LONDON t Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES, Stamford Street. COMMITTEE. Chairman The Right Hon. the LORD CHANCELLOR. rice-Chairman The Right Hon. Sir HENRY PARNELL, Bart. M.P. Treasurer WILLIAM TOOKE, Esq., M.P., F.R.S. W. Allen, Esq., F.R.& R.A.S. Rt. Hon. Vise. Althorp, M.P. Thomas Falconer, Esq. I. L. Goldsmid, Esq., F.R. and J. W. Lubbock, Esq., F.R., R.A.,&L.S.S. Chancellor of the Exche- R.A.S. H. Maiden, Esq., A.M. quer. B. Gompertz, Esq., F.R. & A. T. Malkin, Esq., M.A. W.B. Baring, Esq., M.P. Capt. F. Beaufort, R.N., F.R., R.A.S. G. B. Greenough.Esq., F.R.& James Manning, Esq. J. 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Newcastle James Losh, Esq. John Wood, Esq., M.P.' THOMAS COAXES, Secretary, No. 59, Lincoln's Inn Fields. ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. PAGE THE Author's reasons for abandoning in this work the usual method of division by centuries . . . . . i This history is divided into five parts or periods, ending respectively at the establishment of the Church by Constantine ; at the death of Charlemagne; at the death of Gregory VII. ; at the secession of the Popes to Avignon ; at the beginning of the Reformation . 2 The study of ecclesiastical history teaches religious moderation . 3 PART I. CHAPTER I. The Propagation of Christianity. A.D. 60 The Church of Jerusalem. James the Just its first President or Bishop ..... 5 65 Secession of the Christian Church to Pella No tabularies or public acts preserved by the primitive Christians 134 Foundation of /Elia Capitol ina by Adrian 40 Church of Antioch, founded by St. Paul and Barnabas There the Converts first assumed the name of Christian A Schism was the consequence 177 A persecution in Gaul by Marcus Antoninus Irenaeus was subsequently Bishop of Lyons Some reasons why the Church of Alexandria was probab y mime rous at an early period St. Mark, the first Bishop G 107 Ignatius, the second Bishop, suffered martyrdom in the persecution of Trajan ....... 7 The pretended correspondence between Jesus Christ and Abgarus, Prince of Edessa in Mesopotamia, proves the early introduction of the faith into that country . . . . .8 The Church of Ephesus, founded by St. Paul, and governed by St. John . . . . . . .8 166 The Church of Smyrna governed by Polycarp,~till his martyrdom under Marcus Antoninus . . . . . 8 The Churches of Sardis and Hierapolis. Melito and Papias. Con- version of Bithynia ...... 9 107 The testimony of Pliny the Younger, contained in his Epistle to Trajan ....... 10 The difficulty of establishing the Church at Athens may be ascribed to the speculative character of the people . . .11 95 Greater facility in the conversion of the Corinthians. The dissensions of the converts were censured by St. Clement, Bishop of Rome 1 2 165 The seven Catholic Epistles of the Bishop Dionysius . .12 64 The persecution at Rome by Nero is related by Tacitus, with little humanity. St. Peter and St. Paul are believed to have suffered on that occasion. Testimony to the numerical importance of the Con- verts ....... 13 196 Victor, Bishop of Rome, addressed an order to the Asiatic Bishops respecting the celebration of Easter, which they refused to obey 14 14 15 15 15 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE T Testimony of the Emperor Adrian, respecting the religious character ^ f the Catechetical School, and subsequent la- bours of Pantamus, Clemens, and Origen . . 16 CHAPTER II. On the Numbers, Discipline, "Doctrine, and Morality of the Primitive Church. 200 The great extent over which Christianity was spread before the end of the second centuiy . . . . . 17 The earliest converts were chiefly of the middle or lower classes ; the cause of their obscurity . . . . .17 The great facility of intercourse throughout the Roman Empire, the zeal of the missionaries, &c. . . . . .18 On the miraculous powers claimed by the Church, and the period to which they were most probably confined . . .19 They appear to have ceased with the immediate successors of the Apostles ....... 20 The episcopal government generally established after the death of the Apostles ... A perpetual succession of Bishops traced up to that time in most of the Eastern Churches and in Rome 20, 21 On the temporary ministry of the prophets . . .21 On the subordinate office of deacon, and the extent of the spiritual duties assigned to it . . . . 22 Very early origin of the distinction between clergy and laity, esta- blished by the Act of Ordination . 22 The Bishop co-operated with the Council of Presbyters in the government of his Church, and was elected by the whole body of the clergy and people . . . . .23 \5Qetseq. Origin and composition of the first provincial assemblies or synods ; they rose in Greece . . . .24 From these synods proceeded the title and dignity of the Metro- politan, and the general aggrandizement of the episcopal order . 25 Excommunication the oldest weapon of the Church . . 25 Community of property had not universal prevalence . . 25 The primitive institution of the Lord's Day . . .26 The two most ancient festivals were those of the resurrection and of the descent of the Holy Spirit . . .26 The only public fast on the day of the crucifixion . .26 The variety of early creeds, and primitive use of the Apostles' Creed. The sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist . . .27 Nature and use of the Agapse, or feasts of charity . . 27 Exemplary morality of the early Christians, proved from the writ- . ings of St. Clement, Origen, the Younger Pliny, Bardesanes, Lucian, and Justin Martyr . . . 28-31 Charity the corner-stone of the moral edifice , . . 28-31 CHAPTER III. Progress of Christianity from 200 till Constantine's Accession. The first appearances of corruption in the Church necessarily pro- ceeded from the increased numbers and more varied character of the converts . . . . . . . 32 313 Before the time of Constantine, Christianity was deeply rooted in the eastern provinces of the Roman empire ; it had also spread among the northern and western nations . . .32 Some vague pretensions of Rome advanced and resisted '. . 33 ^nian Synod against Novatian was attended by sixty Bishops 33 203 Qngen was mau> Presi4ent of the Catecli2tical School, and re- ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii A.D. PAGE mained so for nearly thiriy years. His great diligence and er- roneous principles in the interpretation of Scripture. He was successful in converting some Arabian Heretics . . 34 192 Tertullian was made Presbyter of the Church of Carthage. He fell into Montanism about seven years afterwards. He was of a vio- lent, inconsistent, and powerful character . . .35 250 Cyprian was raised to the See of Carthage . . .35 The dignity of the Metropolitans was exalted, and the general dis- tinction between Bishops and Presbyters widened during the third century. Cyprian instrumental in this . . 35, 36 Some inferior classes in the ministry were instituted ; the distinc- tion between the faithful and the Catechumens became prevalent in this age ; and some mistaken notions were encouraged respect- ing the nature of baptism, as well as of the Eucharist , 36, 37 The sign of the Cross was employed in the office of exorcism . 36, 37 The connexion of religion with philosophy occasioned the origin of pious frauds and forgeries . . . . .38 The sect of the Eclectics, founded by Ammonius Saccas, tended to 1 the injury and corruption of Christianity. His successor, Ploti- nus, made a compromise with his religion . . .39 The Millennarian opinions prevalent in the early Church should pro- bably be ascribed to the error of Papias . . .40 CHAPTER IV. Persecutions of several Roman Emperors. The theory of pure Polytheism permits an unlimited reception of divinities, and, as such, is tolerant ; but the Polytheism of Rome was a political engine ; the laws were rigid in excluding foreign Gods ; and the practice of the Republic was continued in the em- pire . . . . . 41, 43 The Number of Ten Persecutions became popular after the fifth century. The name of persecution should be confined to four or five 44 64 Whether the persecution of Nero was general or confined to Rome, and whether his laws against the Christians were more than an application to them of the standing statutes of the empire . 44, 45 94 or 95 The grandsons of St, Jude were brought before Domitian, and dismissed in security . . . . . 45 The Rescript of Trajan enjoined death as the punishment of a con- victed Christian ; forbidding, however, inquisition . .45 138 161 The Christians suffered, during the reign of Antoninus Pius, through popular violence, rather than legal oppression . 46 162 181 The first systematic persecution was that of Marcus Antoni- nus, and it lasted during his whole reign. He encouraged in- quiry after the suspected and inflicted every punishment. He cen- sured the enthusiasm of the martyrs, yet not himself free from the charge of superstition, though adorned by many virtues 47, 48 202 21 1 The Edict of Severus against the Christians remained in force ; it was most destructive in Egypt .^ , . .49 250 Decius pretended to constrain all his subjects to return to the re- ligion of their ancestors ; many perished ; and many fell away from the faith . . . . . .50 258 Cyprian suffered martyrdom in the reign of Valerian, on his re- fusal to sacrifice . . . . . .51 303 The teachers of philosophy were instrumental in bringing Diocle- tian to begin his persecution. It was continued for ten years, with a severity comprehending every form of oppression ; and ceased not till the accession of Constantine . . .52 313 The early unpopularity of the Christians is accounted for by an- cestral prejudices, the fame of peculiar sanctity, converting zeal, b 2 PAGE viii ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. Jewish hostility, and various calumnies ; the exclusive character of the religion, aversion for idolatry, &c. . 53, 54 The Church learnt from her sufferings the lesson of persecution, which she practised in after ages . . .55 Contumacy the pretext for these Pagan inflictions . 56 Various false notions respecting the characters and ends of the em- perors who persecuted and who tolerated . . 56 These persecutions were not, upon the whole, unfavourable to the progress of religion . . . . . .57 CHAPTER V. On the Heresies of ihe First Three Centuries. The original meaning of the word heresy is choice ; it passed from philosophy into religion ; and various senses, no longer indiffer- ent, were then attached to it . . . .58 The earliest fathers strongly opposed erroneous^opinions ; yet per- mitted no personal severities . . . .59 The names of dissent were in no age more numerous than the ear- liest proving the numbers of the early converts . .59 Some errors probably older than the apostolic preaching . 60 The Church suffered from the absurd opinions of some of the heretics who were confounded with it . . .60 Mosheim distinguishes the early heretics into three classes . 61 A different view is taken by Dr. Burton, who traces all the most ancient heresies to the Gnostic philosophy . . .61 The division of heresies here given is rather in reference to their subject than their supposed origin . . . .62 The vain inquiry respecting the origin of evil ; it is ascribed to matter : hence the eternity of matter, and supposition of an evil principle . . . . . . .62 The association of this philosophy with Christianity occasioned many gross errors, as the rejection of the Old Testament as the work of the evil spirit, and the denial of the humanity of Christ : these were held by the Gnostics . . .63 Simon Magus was classed among these ; and his disciples are thought to have been very numerous at Rome . . 63 120-1 Saturninus introduced the opinions into the Asiatic, Basilides into the Egyptian, School ; and Carpocrates and Valentinus further ex- tended or refined them. Cerdo and Marcion introduced them into Rome . . . . . . .64 172 Tatian, disciple of Justin Martyr, founded on them the heresy of the Encratites, who professed meditation and bodily austerities 64 The Doeetae (Phantastics) were of very early origin ; they had a sys- tem of emanations from the Divinity, called ^ons, of which Christ was one ; while Jesus was the mere man, into whom the yon de- scended. They disbelieved, in consequence, the atonement . 65 72 The Ebionites, who denied the divinity of Christ, were of very early origin ; they were chiefly confined to the Jewish converts, and were disclaimed by the Church . . . .66,67 200 Theodotus was expelled from the Church of Rome, while Victor was bishop, for asserting the mere humanity of Christ . 67 269 Paul of Samosata was deposed, and removed by Aurelian . 67 The creed of Tertullian in his answer to Praxeas . .68 250 Sabellius denied the distinct personality of the second and third persons, considering them as energies, or portions of the first : hence his followers were called Patripassians . . .69 170 Montanus began to prophesy in Phrygia, in company with Maxi- _ milla and Priscilla. Tertullian became a convert and advocate . 69 ntroversy rose about the baptism of heretics, in which Ste- phen, Bishop of Rome, displayed some violence . . 70 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS ix A.D. PAGE The Novatians, the earliest ecclesiastical reformers, were con- demned by the Church ; they subsisted till the fifth century . 70 Observations on the character of the early heresies, and the man- ner in which they were opposed by churchmen . .71 The degree of respect due to the early Fathers , , .71 On the epistle of Barnabas, the shepherd of Hennas, the epistles of Ignatius, and that of Polycarp ... 71, 72 140 The two Apologies of Justin Martyr and his dialogue with the Jew Trypho . ..... 73 178 Irenaeus was made Bishop of Lyons. He wrote five books " Against Heresies" . * . , . 73, 74 PART II. CHAPTER VI. Constantine the Great. 312 An inquiry into the miracle of the luminous cross ; it rests on very insufficient evidence .... 76-7 313 Publication of the edict of Milan an edict of universal toleration . 77 The suspicions of Constantine's sincerity are founded on the inade- quacy of his morality to his profession ; and are counteracted by many particulars of his conduct and character . . 78 Before Constantine, neither the authority of synods or bishops, nor the property of the Church, was recognized by law. Here is the earliest vestige of distinction between spiritual and temporal power . . . . . . .80 n what the strength of the Antenicene Church consisted. That strength, as well as the peculiar qualities of Christians, influenced , Constantine to legalize Christianity , . . .81 He received the Church into strict alliance with the State ; investing the Crown with the highest ecclesiastical authority, with great mutual advantage . . , . . .81 321 The internal administration of the Church remained in the hands of the Prelates. Permission was granted to bequeath property to the Church; also exemption from civil offices, and independent jurisdiction . . . , . .82 The Emperor assumed the control of the external administration ; the right of calling general councils, &c. . , .83 This right was the creation of a new power, not an usurpation on the Church . . . . . . .84 Constantine, in the ecclesiastical, followed the civil, divisions of the empire. To the three leading Prelates of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria, he added the Patriarch of Constantinople . . 84 A thousand Bishops administered the Eastern, and eight hundred the Western, Church . . . . . .84 The establishment of the Church was, upon the .whole, favourable to the concord of Christians. The persecutions which have fol- lowed it were not its necessary consequence , . 85-6 Various sources of the Romish corruptions . . .86 Note. On the historical respectability of Eusebius ; to what his professions are confined, and how far he fulfils them . . 87-8 CHAPTER VII. On the Arian Controversy. Those metaphysical controversies, which exercised only the wit of philosophers, engaged the passions of Christians. They were pro- longed by the neglect of Scripture, and inflamed by the national characteristics of the disputants . . . .89 Constantine presently published laws against various heretics . 90 > \ x ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. A D PAGE 319 Arius promulgated his opinions at Alexandria, and had many - fol- - lowers in Asia and Egypt. He was excommunicated by Alex- ander Bishop of Alexandria ..... 325 Gonstantme reluctantly convoked the Council of Nice 91 The variety of motives by which its members were probably influ- enced. The dissensions of the Bishops, who finally pronounced the Son consubstantial with the Father Gibbon's account examined (note) Temporal penalties were inflicted on the contumacious, but revoked, as soon as their inefficacy was discovered The character of Arius, according-to Epiphanius . 94 336 Constantius encouraged Arianism in the East . . .95 326 Athanasius succeeded Alexander in the See of Alexandria. He was degraded ; restored ; and again degraded ; and passed his exile at^Rome ... ... 50 349 He was again restored to his throne ; and, m seven years, deposed for the third time ... . . . .96 The difficulty with which Constantius accomplished his depo- sition, proves the diminution of the imperial despotism, through the rise of the Church . . . . .96 362 Athanasius was again restored, on the death of Constantius, and, after eleven years, died in his See . . . .97 Difference among the Arians as to the likeness between the two per- sons ; leading to divisions . . . . .97 The Semiarians, Homoiousians, Anomoians, or Eunomians . 97 358-9 Synods of Ancyra and Seleucia . . . .97 360 The Council of Rimini established Arianism (or rather Semiari- anism), in the West , . . . . . .98 370 Valens persecuted the Catholics throughout the East . . 99 383 Theodosius the Great generally restored the Catholic belief . 99 381 The Council General of Constantinople established the divinity of the Third Person . . . . . .99 Damasus, at Rome, and Ambrose, at Milan, zealously defended the Consubstantialist doctrine . . . . .100 370 TJlphilas ponyerted the Goths to Arianism ; other barbarians sub- sequently adopted the same opinion ; and in the fifth century it again became general in the West . , . .100 527 et seq. Justinian sustained the Catholics , . . 101 589 The Council of Toledo extirpated Arianism from Spain; and the Lombards soon afterwards embraced the Catholic doctrine . 102 The Arians may have been free from some of the superstitious . corruptions of the Catholics ; but the merit of tolerance cannot be ascribed to either party . . . . .102 Note on Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, and other ecclesiastical writers ...... 104-5 CHAPTER VIII. The Decline and Fall of Paganism. The overthrow of Paganism contemporary with the Arian dissen- . sions . . . . . . . .105 321 Constantine published an edict in favour of divination . .106 333 He began to attack the temples and idols, and generally condemned the rites of Paganism. Constantius, the Arian, followed his ex- ample . . . . . t .106 The supposed motives of Julian, and his character, as compared to that of Marcus Antoninus ..... 107 The policy of Constantine contrasted with that of Julian . .108 The successive penalties and disabilities by which Julian attacked ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xi A.D. PAWE the Christians, and the great knowledge which he showed of the theory of persecution -. . . . . .109 His endeavours to reform Paganism were directed to three points ; in a great measure borrowed from the ecclesiastical system of the Christians . . . . . . .109 363 He made his celebrated -attempt to rebuild the Temple of Jeru- salem. The historical facts of this attempt are founded on the combined evidence of four contemporary authors, one of whom, Ammianus Marcellinus, was a Pagan . . .110 The question whether the phsenomenon which interrupted the work was natural or miraculous . . . . .111 A recent explanation of it is attended with some difficulties, and - still leases room for uncertainty . . . .112 Valentinian I. practised universal toleration . . 112-3 392 Theodosius published his famous edict against polytheism. It was - effectual in diminishing the numbers of the Pagans, and con-" fining them chiefly to the villages ; whence the name , 113 The religion may be considered as extinct from this time . .113 Some heathen superstitions were communicated to Christianity. The veneration for martyrs encouraged by the Fathers r and carried to excess by the people . . . . .114 404 Honorius abolished the gladiatorial games , . .116 388 Christianity was established by the Roman Senate . .117 Note on the writings of Julian, Ammianus Marcellinus, and Zosimus. Julian's hatred of Christianity was not the contempt of a philosopher, but the passion of a rival ; a passage in the Mis- opogon proves his own superstitiousness or hypocrisy ; his cha- ritable "edicts were derived from the Christian practices 117-18-19 CHAPTER IX. From the Fall of Paganism to the Death of Justinian. 370 600 The various barbarian tribes were converted, some before, some after, their invasion of the empire , . .120 496 The probable account and consequences of the conversion of Clovis. The first connexion between France and Rome . .121 The natural causes which facilitated the conversion of the bar- barians ; their respect for the grandeur of the empire, for the sacer- dotal character, for the imposing ceremonies of the church 121-2 The opinion of Mosheim as to the probability of supernatural inter- position in aid of this work . . . . .123 The internal condition of the Church was still further corrupted by the admixture of another superstition . . .123 427 Symeon the Stylite, a Syrian monk, commenced his method of peni- tential devotion, and obtained the admiration of the people and the [respect of the Emperors ..... 123-4 440 Leo the Great was raised to the See of Rome ; zealous in the re- pression of error both in the East and West . . .125 And in the aggrandizement of the Roman See . . .125 Leo encouraged, or instituted, the practice of private confession, so useful to sacerdotal power . . . . .126 451 The substance of the 29th canon of the Council of Chalcedon re- specting the relative rank of the Sees of Rome and Constanti- nople . . . . . . 125-6 527 Justinian ascended the throne, and held it for nearly forty years. He assailed various heretics, Arians, Nestorians, Eutychians ; received from the fifth General Council the title of " Most Chris- tian," and died in the heresy of the Incorruptibles, or Phantastics 127 On the system of persecution adopted by the Christian Emperors. Theodosius II. embodied the various barbarous edicts in the ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Theodosian Code, and instituted inquisitions for the detection of heresy ...... 127-8 The decline of the Roman literature was previous to any influence of the Christian religion, and chiefly caused by despotism 129-30 350430 Many eminent Christian writers flourished, and were the best of that age ..... 129-30 398 The Council of Carthage prohibited the study of secular books by Bishops; great ignorance followed, though not in consequence of this decree . . . . . . 130-1 The 'Seven Liberal Arts,' ' Books of Martyrs,' ' Lives of Saints,' &c. 130-1 529 Justinian published the edict which closed the School of Athens 132 Religion in its purity had been connected with philosophy in its cor- ruption and abuse . . . . . .132 The effect of Justinian's edict has probably been much exaggerated 133 The moral delinquencies of the clergy were not so great as some have represented them ..... 133 The miseries of the age were ascribed by many to the overthrow of the idols ; and Augustine combats this notion in his ' City of God' . . . . . 134-5 Note on certain ecclesiastical writers . . , ^134-5 310, &c. The 'Divine Institutions,' and 'Deaths of the Persecutors,* the works of Lactantius . . . . 134-5 362, &c. Gregory Nazianzen wrote some Discourses against the Em- peror Julian ; he exalts in lofty language the authority of the Church . . . . . . .136 374 Ambrose raised by the people to the See of Milan ; he was not then baptized. In 3*90 he imposed an act of humiliation on Theo- dosius the Great ...... 136 Chrysostom combined great eloquence, zeal, and piety, with some extravagance ; he died in exile on Mount Taurus. His opinions on the Eucharist, on Grace and Original Sin, and on Confession, have been the occasion of much controversy , 138-9, 140-1 390 Jerome, in his convent at Bethlehem, exalted monastic excellence, and attacked the reformers and heretics, Jovinian, Vigilantius, Pe- lagius, &c. His Latin translation of the Old Testament less fa- vourably received at the time than his polemical philippics 141-2 CHAPTER X. From the Death of Justinian to that of Charlemagne, 567814. 596 St. Austin, with forty Benedictines, introduced Christianity into Britain. His miraculous claims may be rejected ; but the work was accomplished without violence. Gregory the Great was Bishop of Rome ..... 142-3 Some of the original Christians remaining in Wales retained the Eastern error as to the celebration of Easter . . 142-3 715723 Winfred (Boniface), an Englishman, called the Apostle of Germany. He was raised to the see of Mayence, and (755) mur- dered by the Frieselanders . . . 144-5 622732 The Mahometans conquered Persia, Syria, Egypt, (through the co-operation of the Jacobites) the northern parts of Africa, and Spain. They invaded France, and were defeated by Charles Martel ...... 145-6-7 772 Charlemagne converted the Saxons by the sword; and had reason lo complain of their contumacy . . . .148 Gregory the Great was raised to the Roman See ; he pos- 1 some good and great qualities, and applied himself to orm some abuses. He was charitable, zealous for the propa- gation of Christianity, and the unity of the Church . 149-50 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xiii A.D. PAGE The charge against him of having burnt the Palatine Library is probably unfounded . . . . . .151 He encouraged the use, and prohibited the worship, of images . 151 He inculcated purgatory, and pilgrimage to holy places . . 152 His extravagant letter to the Empress Constantina on the bodies of the Saints and the sanctity of their relics . . 152-3 .^_ Worship was still celebrated by every nation in its own language 153 Gregory instituted the canon of the Mass, and added splendour to the ceremonies of the Church .... 154 588 The title of (Ecumenic was conferred by the Emperor Maurice upon the Patriarch of Constantinople. Gregory vehemently dis- puted the propriety of the title, without claiming it for himself 155 Gregory first claimed the power of the Keys for the successor of St. Peter, rather than the body of the Bishops . . 155 The use of papal envoys and advocates, and the practice of appeal to Rome, became more common during the pontificate of Gregory 156 Of his claim to the title of Great, and the mischief occasioned by the superstitions encouraged by him . . . .157 604 770 No character of ecclesiastical eminence from Gregory to Charlemagne. But many changes were silently introduced into the Western Church, through the barbarian conquests. The East remained unaltered . , . . .158 The lower orders of the clergy were greatly debased in the West. The office of priesthood was commonly conferred on the serfs of the Church . . . . . . .158 A number of laymen were connected with the Church by the giving of the tonsure ....... 159 The principle of the Unity of the Church, now useful in associating the barbarians, prepared the way for the papal despotism. On some Councils held in Spain . . . . .159 The process by which the Popes usurped the authority of the Me- tropolitans . . . . . . .160 Princes usurped the appointment to vacant Sees, with great detriment to the Church, in_those ages , . . .161 The power and corruption of the episcopal order. The military cha- racter commonly assumed . . . . .161 635 Pope Martin was carried away to Constantinople, and died in exile in the Chersonesus ...... 162 754-5 Pope Zachary, having contributed to raise Pepin to the throne of France, was rewarded by the donation of the Exarchate of Ra- venna ...... 163-4 800 Charlemagne was proclaimed Emperor of the West. He exerted great munificence towards the Church ; still, however, retaining Rome as a part of the empire. His object was to civilize his sub- jects by means of the clergy ..... 165 789 The Councils of Aix-la-Chapelle and (794) Frankfort assembled for the reformation of the clergy. CHAPTER XI. On the Jjissensions of the Church from Co7istantine to Charlemagne. 311 The principal cause of the schism of the Donatists was a disrespect shown to the Numidian Bishops. The principle which it pleaded was the invalidity of the ministry of the Traditors . .167 Constantine interfered, by synods, first at Rome, then at Aries ; lastly, by personal investigation. He decided against the Donatists, and used the secular power . . . . .168 But he presently repealed the laws against them. They were per- secuted by Constans ; restored by Julian ; they then flourished, xiv ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. A D PAGE and quarrelled. Presently Augustin assailed them ; and they were 411 condemned by the Council of Carthage, and persecuted. Great ravages were committed by the Circumcellions . .169 354430 Augustin, a Numidian, embraced the Manichean opinions. He returned to the Church ; was made Bishop of Hippo ; reformed the abase of the Agapse ; and became celebrated by his Catholic zeal, and his writings .... 170-1 Erasmus had drawn a parallel between Augustin and Jerome Some particulars relating to his private life . .173 380 Priscillian was condemned on the charge of Manicheism by the Coun- . cil of Saragossa, and executed at Treves, by Maximus, four years afterwards. He is generally considered as the first martyr to reli- gious dissent. It is disputed what his opinions were . 174-5 390 Jovinian-was condemned by a Council held by Ambrose, at Milan, and banished by the emperor. He wrote against celibacy, and religious seclusion ..... 175-6 405 Vigilantius wrote against the temples of martyrs, prodigies, vigils, prayers to saints, fasting, Sec. . . . . .176 412 The opinions of Celestinus were condemned by a Council at Car- thage. Augustin then accused Pelagius before two Councils, in Syria ; but he was acquitted in both. Zosimus, Bishop of Rome, at first declared in his favour. But an imperial edict was obtained against the heresy, &c. ..... 176-7-8 What is the substance of the Pelagian opinions ; and what seem to have been the real sentiments of Augustin j . . .179 428 The Semipelagian doctrines began to spread in France, and seem to have had earlier prevalence in the East ; but they were equally condemned by the Church of Rome . . . .180 The doctrine of the * One Incarnate Nature' was first avowed in Egypt by Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea, the friend of Athanasius ; but condemned in Asia and Syria . . . .181 428 Nestorius was raised to the See of Constantinople. He maintained that the Virgin Mary should be called the Mother of Christ,' or even ' Mother of Man ;' not ' Mother of God.' Cyril of Alex- andria opposed him ..... 181-2-3 431 He was condemned by the General Council of Ephesus, and died : in the deserts of Upper Egypt. But his opinions spread throughout Asia . - . . : . . 181-2-3 The doctrine of the Nestorians, according to the Councils of Se- leucia ....... 181-2-3 449 The Monophysite opinions of Eutyches were confirmed in a Council held at Ephesus ; but rejected by that of Chalcedon (451), which established the doctrine of Christ in one person and two natures 184 482 Zeno published his Henoticon, or Edict of Union . .185 629 Heraclius proposed the question of the single or double will of Christ; and the latter was established by the sixth General Council at Constantinople, held in 680 .... 185 Some remarks favourable to the parties engaged in these controversies 1 86 726 Leo the I saurian attacked the worship of images, established in the East before 600 ...... 187 And was resisted both in the East, and in Italy, and by Gregory II. 188 754 An assembly near Constantinople decreed the destruction of images (hence the name Iconoclasts) ; but Irene restored them by the General^ Council of Nice, in 787; the seventh, and last, of the Greek Church. Some remarks on those Councils . 189-90 Pl.c Iconoclast heresy was renewed by some folio- ing emperors; but finally repressed (842) by the Empress Theouora . .191 754 John Damascenus, the last of the Greek Fathers . . 191 The miracles in this contest were chiefly claimed by the friends of ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xv A.D. PAGE the idols, who, in the East, were for the most part the monks and lower people. In 'the West, the Papal Chair zealously sup- ported the same cause . . . . .191 . 794 But the Council of Francfort, under Charlemagne, was much more moderate ..... 192-3 CHAPTER' XII. On the Schism between the Greek and Latin Churches. Some political causes which accelerated the division between the Churches ... . 193-4 320 451. The extent and authority of the See of Constantinople in- ; creased widely, and its jurisdiction was confirmed by the Council of Chaicedon, in spite of the Legates of Leo the Great . 193-4 588 After continued disputes, John the Faster assumed the title of Uni- versal Patriarch, which led to fresh quarrels. The internal dis- sensions of the Greek Church always gave Rome an influence in 8 its affairs ...... 195-6 767 The doctrine of the double procession, having been previously- agitated in Spain, was received by the French clergy at the Council ^ of Gentilli, and advocated by Charlemagne at Aix-la-Chapelle, in 809 . . . . . . 196 853 Photius was raised to the See of Constantinople, and then he and Nicholas I. excommunicated each other . . .197 Photius charged the Roman Church with five errors . .197 There were, besides, differences about the limits of their respective jurisdiction. Photius was deposed, and the act confirmed by a Council held at Constantinople, in 869 ; but this had no effect in healing the schism . . . . . .198 1054 Another dispute between Michael -Cerularius and Leo IX. completed the division ; and the Latin Act of Excommunication was placed on the grand altar of St. Sophia . . . 193.9 CHAPTER XIII. The condition of the Church at the Death of Charlemagne. , The subjects of this Chapter are chiefly retrospective . .199 1313 The nature of the primitive ecclesiastical government. The ele- ments of three forms of government may be discovered in it the Episcopal, the Presbyterian, and the Independent ; but they im- mediately resolved themselves into aHimited episcopacy . 200 The rise of synods ; their co-operation for the union of the various churches . . . . . .200 The principal bond of union was the catalogue of the Sacred Books ; and perhaps the salvation of the Church may be ascribed to that union ..... . 201 201 202 203 203 204 Several literary forgeries disgraced the Antenicene Church \ 204 The distinction of the converts into Catechumens and Faithful, was as early as Tertullian. Its motive two-fold . . 205 There were two original sacraments or mysteries ; but the ceremo- nies of penitential absolution, ordination, &c., were concealed from the uninitia M ; and even baptism and the eucharist were sur- rounded with some superstitious reverence . . 206 The birthdays of the martyrs were of early institution ; and honours k were offered at their tombs . , , . 206 An opinion of Semler considered, Note The writings of the Antenicene Fathers contain the most important doctrines, but no theological system Miraculous powers falsely attributed to the early Church at least after the middle of the second age The nature of those which it asserted On Exorcists and Daemoniacs. The words of Cyprian XT! ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. A.D. The use of prayers and offerings for the dead, and the practice of occasional fasting, was very early . , . . .207 Some of the forms of the external economy of the Church are to be sought in Jewish, some in Pagan practices. On the distinction between clergy and laity, the power of the presbytery, liturgies, the sacrifice, votive donations, &c. .... 208 Two conclusions may be drawn. (1.) That the Antenicene Church was not a perfect model of "a Christian society. (2.) That the fundamental doctrines of Christianity are steadily perceptible from the beginning. The corruptions, which were even then in exist- ence, might have been easily corrected on the establishment of the Church ...... 207-8-9 320 604. A great progress in abuse during this period . 210 The monastic system took root in the 4th and 5th ages . .210 The celibacy of the clergy was treated in the Councils of Ancyra and Nice, and in that of Constantinople in Trullo , .210 The exertions of Pope Siricius and Gregory the Great . .211 The penitential system was maintained in full vigour, till the insti- tution of private confession by Leo the Great . . 211-12 The doctrine of purgatory was first expressly laid down to the Church by Gregory the Great . . . .212 A great number of Pagan ceremonies found their way into the Church in the 5th and 6th centuries ; and, among other evils, the use and abuse of images ..... 213 The origin of the spiritual power of the Christian clergy ; a power unknown to the Pagan priesthood. To what objects it was directed before Constantine. The popular influence which t it conferred . . . . . . '.214 Other motives afterwards combined to raise the authority and in- fluence of the hierarchy . . . . .215 The great number (1800) of the Bishops increased their weight in . the commonwealth ; but this was diminished by their intestine dis- sensions . . . . . . .215 .The ill and wicked policy, which led the Church to appeal to the temporal sword . . , . .216 The influence of the Presbytery in the government of the diocese gradually decayed ; and the authority of the Bishop rose far above the inferior clergy . . . . . .216 The Bishop of Rome was exalted as the Bishop of the Imperial city, as the only Patriarch of the West, by the absence of the Imperial Government, by the especial claim of St. Peter's protection, and of the Keys ; hence he derived respect, which he converted into authority . . . . . . 217-8 600-800 A vast field for ecclesiastical exertion, for good as well as for evil, was opened by the barbarian conquests ; the inordinate growth of episcopal power was another characteristic of this period ; an- other was the establishment of the Pope's temporal monarchy by the donation of Pepin .... 218-9 The Athanasian Creed, originally written in Latin, is commonly attri- buted to Vigilius Tapsensis, who lived at the end of the fifth century ; ' the principle of this creed is the exclusive salvation of those within the Church. The truths which it contains are not expressed in the words of Scripture ; it was composed many ages after the apostolical times, when evangelical purity was in no prevalence . 219-20 Constantine instructed the magistrates to execute the episcopal sentence, but he restrained their power within narrow limits. Some decrees of subsequent emperors on the same subject and with the same view ..... 221-2 Justinian enlarged the jurisdiction of the Bishops, and entirely ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xvii A.D. PAGE exempted them from the lay courts, and there the matter rested in the Eastern Church ; in the West, Charlemagne increased their privileges to an inordinate extent, which their territorial pos- sessions stretched still farther ..... 223 The foundations of the Papal omnipotence were laid by the for- geries of the donation of Constantine, and the False Decretals ; how far Charlemagne may have been influenced by the former 224 1 325 The Antenicene clergy were supported by voluntary oblations. Constantine opened a variety of new sources . . 224-5 What exemptions the clergy soon afterwards enjoyed . . 226 The ancient manner of dispensing the church funds . . 226 470 (about.) A law for the quadripartite division of the funds was enacted in the West . . . . ; . . .227 Changes introduced by the system of feudalities . . . 227 Foundation of benefices and right of patronage . . . 228 The territorial and other possessions of the clergy were very con- siderable, even before Charlemagne, and not always acquired by worthy means ...... 228 Much on the other hand was derived from fair and honourable sources ; and all was liable to plunder . . . 229 No tithes were paid to the Antenicene Church ; but both Ambrose and Augustin inculcated the payment vehemently, and pressed the divine obligation. Chrysostom and Jerome were more mo- derate . . . . . . .230 Some special endowments may have been made before the end of the seventh century ; but the first legislative act which con- 778 ferred the right was that'of Charlemagne. Other constitutions fol- lowed, but the payment does not seem to have been commanded 1215 ' as a duty of common right, 1 till the fourth Lateran Council, under Innocent III. (Canon 54*) . . . 231-2 The power and influence of the Church, at the period of the bar barian conquests, were the instruments by which the religion was preserved ....... 233 It afterwards conferred great benefits on society by the general exercise of charity, by the severity of its penitential discipline, by its more civilized principles of legislation, by attempts to abolish slavery, and to diminish civil outrage and international warfare, by preserving the ancient writings, and disseminating the im- perfect education of the age . . 234-5 PART III. CHAPTER XIV. The Government and Projects of the Church during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries. The contents of this Chapter are divided under three separate heads: . . . . . . .237 I. The original law of Papal election continued to the time of Charlemagne, and was not disturbed by him. It became, in two respects, offensive to the Popes ; they began to dispense with the Imperial confirmation under the Carlovingian princes, and Charles the Bald (875) resigned his right . . .238 960 Otho the Great, after a long prevalence of disorder in the pontifical elections, resumed the privilege of the empire, and extended it so far as to appoint Popes by his own authority . .238 1047 59 The liberty of the See was gradually recovered, and the ap- pointment vested in the College of Cardinals by Nicholas II. . 238 Remarks on the fluctuations of the contest, and the causes which produced them . , . . .239 * 4 Quod Decimee ante Tributa solvautnr.' xviii ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE ' II. The encroachments of ecclesiastical on civil authority were of various descriptions . . . .240 Evils proceeding from the indistinct limits of spiritual and secular jurisdiction ; yet these were not very perceptible till after the death of Charlemagne . ' . . . 24 On the increase of power and privilege conferred on the higher clergy, by the establishment of the feudal system. They became an Order in the State, &c. . . . - 241 They gradually assumed the military character . . .242 The superstitious method of trials was useful to priestly authority, yet, on many occasions, it was opposed by the clergy . . 242 The intellectual superiority of the clergy naturally and necessarily enlarged their influence and power . . . .243 The property of the church was liable to perpetual spoliation . 243 833 et seq. On the deposition, penance, and temporary humiliation of Lewis the Meek, by the episcopal authority. This act had a pre- cedent in the deposition of Vamba, King of the Visigoths, in Spain, at the twelfth Council of Toledo (682) , . .245 These were episcopal, not papal, usurpations . . . 245 842859 Other instances of the power of the Bishops and the weak- ness and dependence of the Crown, in the reign of Charles the Bald 245-6 Pope Nicholas I. interfered respecting the marriage (870) of Lothaire, King of Lorraine, and Adrian II. in the succession to that throne . . . . . 245-6 880 Hincmar, of Rheims, employed strong expressions and a fortunate prophecy against Lewis III. . . . 247-8 Charles the Bald accepted the vacant empire as the donation of John VIII. This precedent was of great value to the Popes in after ages . . . . . . . 247-8 Further progress of ecclesiastical usurpation " . . 249 978 Robert of France put away his wife and performed penance in obe- dience to the interdict of Gregory V. . . .249 III. The progress of Papal authority was not rapid until the for- gery of the False Decretals ; and even these were not brought into full operation before the time of Gregory VII. . .250 Some French Prelates retorted the threat of excommunication against Pope Gregory IV. .... 250-1 862, &c. Pope Nicholas I. restored to his see, by his own authority, a Bishop who had been' deposed by Hincmar of Rheims, and, had appealed to Rome . . . . . .251 Five years afterwards the Pope gained another triumph over the Archbishop . . . . . . .251 845882 Hincmar occupied the See of Rheims the great Churchman of the ninth century . . . . . . 252 A vague notion of the Pope's omnipotence was gaining ground among the laity in this age . . . . . 253 876 John VIII. appointed the Archbishop of Sens his permanent vicar and legate in France, in spite of Hincmar and the clergy. The pontifical power was further advanced by exemptions of monas- teries, by the principle that Bishops derived their power from the Pope, by the exclusive convocation of councils . 253-4 CHAPTER XV. On the Opinion*, Literature, Discipline, and external Fortunes of the Church. The- vicissitudes of religion, during these ages, in the different countries of the West/generally corresponded with their literary revolutions .... 256 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xix A.D. PAGE A half- enlightened age is more fertile in controversies than one of perfect darkness . . . . . .250 It is a question whether the bodily presence was universally re- ceived in the beginning of the ninth age . . .256 831 846 Paschasius Radbertus originated the controversy concerning the K body and blood of Christ . . . . .257 His doctrine is expressed in two propositions. Ratramn and John Scotus were ordered by Charles the Bald to write on the same sub- ject. The controversy," died away before the end of this century, without any result, and reposed during the tenth . . 258 848 Godeschalcus advanced predestinarian opinions, which were con- demned by the council of Mayence, convoked by Rabanus Maurus. Next year he was again condemned by Hincmar, deposed, flagel- lated, imprisoned for life, and deprived of Christian sepulture 258-9-60 960 1000 Bernard, a Thuringian hermit, preached the approaching end of the world ; the opinion generally spread and produced great commotion and mischief to society . . . 260-1 800 999 Letters, somewhat revived by Charlemagne, partially flourished during the ninth century ; they then expired. In the mean time, the Arabians diffused them in Spain ; thence they passed into France, and ascended, with Sylvester II., into the Papal Chair 261-3 The prostrate discipline of the Church, raised by Charlemagne, was supported by numerous councils during the ninth age, espe- cially in France, and through Hincmar. In the mean time, the False Decretals were making silent progress . . 264-5 817 Benedict of Aniane reformed the monastic order . 264-5 The election of bishops was nominally restored to the chapters, and their translations vainly prohibited . . .266 896 A posthumous insult was offered to Pope Formosus, who had been promoted from the See of Porto to that of Rome . . 260 956 John XII. introduced the custom of assuming a new name on ele- vation to the Papal Chair . . . . .267 830 Claudius, Bishop of Turin, the Protestant of the ninth century, opposed the use of relics and other corruptions . .268 Christianity was generally introduced into the north of Europe before the middle of the eleventh age ' . . . .269 830 854 Ansgarius attempted the conversion of Sweden ; that of Russia may be assigned to the end of the tenth century ; that of Poland was somewhat earlier; that of Hungary somewhat later 270-1 On the contemporaneous progress of the Normans and the Turks 271 CHAPTER XVJ. -The Life of Gregory VII. SECTION I. 1049 Leo IX., appointed to the see by the Emperor, is recorded to have taken Hildebrand with him to Rome, from his monastery at Cluni ....... 272 1054 Victor II. succeeded, on the recommendation of Hildebrand . 272 1059 Papal election was confided to the Cardinals by Nicholas II. Of whom that body then consisted .... 273 The consent of the rest of the clergy and people was required ; but Alexander III. afterwards removed that restraint . . 273 The original method of popular election had gradually fallen every- where into disuse ...... 274 The necessity of imperial confirmation was virtually abolished by Nicholas II. at the same time .... 274 The Norman Duke of Apulia received his territories as a fief of the Roman See . . . . . . 275 1061 Hildebrand succeeded in placing Alexander II. in the Chair, ruled xx ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. A.D. the Church under his name, and developed, during this Ponti- ficate, the leading schemes of his own ambition . 275-6 1073 Himself was raised to the See, and took the name of Gregory VII. 275-6 SECTION II. Pontificate of Gregory. 1074 The Pope assembled a council against the concubinage of the clergy and simony . . . . . . .277 A great relaxation in the morals of the clergy during the tenth cen- tury ; the Popes, from Leo IX., had attempted to correct it, but with no effect . . . . . . 278 Gregory endeavoured to enforce his decree, and great confusion ensued . . . . . . .278 The princes, long before Charlemagne, had gradually usurped the most valuable Church patronage, and frequently abused it . 258 It was Gregory's object to recover it from them ; the question about investitures was only the means to do so . . 279 From the time of Otho I. the sovereigns had performed the office of investiture with the ring and crosier, symbols of a spiritual office; this was the point ostensibly disputed . . . 279 Henry IV. resisted Gregory's demands, and the Pope deposed some German prelates, and menaced anathemas . . .280 Gregory summoned Henry to Rome, to clear himself from certain charges alleged by his subjects . . . .281 Henry assembled a Synod at Worms to depose the Pope . .281 The Pope excommunicated and deposed Henry . . .281 A civil war in Germany followed, and a council was appointed, in which the claims of both parties were to be referred to the deci- sion of the Pope ...... 281 Henry crossed the Alps, and made submission to the Pope at Canossa, and was restored to communion . . . 282 The civil wars were then renewed, and three years afterwards (1080) Gregory bestowed the crown on Rodolphus . . 283 Gregory extended his claims of temporal supremacy to the crowns of France, England, Naples, and many inferior dukedoms and principalities ....... 283 He designed to regulate the affairs of Christendom by a council of bishops periodically assembled at Rome. Some circumstances which ought to be considered in passing an opinion on that project 284 What were the grounds on which Gregory founded his pretensions to this universal dominion ..... 285 The power * to bind and to loose ' extended to the oath of alle- giance ....... 285 Matilda, Countess of Tuscany, consented to hold her domains on feudal tenure from the Pope j . . . . .285 It was the object of Gregory to destroy the independence of the national churches, and lead the whole hierarchy to look to Rome only as its head . . . . . . 236 The objects and some of the contents of the False Decretals . 286 1082 Henry advanced to Rome, and after two repulses, in two successive years, obtained possession of the city. Gregory retired to the Castle of St. Angelo, and was relieved by the Normans, under Robert Guiscard . . . . .288 1085 Gregory, having retired with the Normans, died at Salerno. An examination of his character as a churchman and as a Christian 290-1 His private morality was marked by the austerity of the cloister . 292 SECTION III. 1045 Berenger, Scholastic at Tours, published his opposition to the doctrine afterwards called Transubstantiation ; he was condemned ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxi A.D. PAGfi at Rome five years afterwards, and a^ain by some French councils, especially tha't of Tours; he retracted, and immediately returned to his opinion ...... 294 He was summoned to Rome by Nicholas II., when he again re- tracted, and again abjured his retractation . . . 294 1078 Gregory VII. required his subscription to a profession, admitting the real presence, without mention of the change of substance, and he subscribed. In the year following he subscribed to the whole doctrine, without any reservation ; and then, returning to France, taught as before ...... 294 1088 He died in peace, at an advanced age .... 294 Gregory's moderation has occasioned a suspicion that he shared the opinions* ....... 295 The use of the Latin Liturgy was imposed generally upon the Church by Gregory VII. In a letter to Vratislaus, Duke of Bohemia, he declared the policy of closing the Scriptures against the people. Both were contrary to the practice of the early Church . 296-7 Note respecting the reputed inscription to Simon Magus, dis- covered at Rome in 15 74 . . . . . 297 Misrepresentation by Mosheim of a sermon of Eligius, Bishop of Noyon ...... 298-9 PART IV. FROM GREGORY VII. TO BONIFACE VIII. CHAPTER XVII. From Gregory VII. to Innocent III. 1087 99 Urban II. pursued the schemes of Gregory, and in 1095, he held the councils of Placentia and Clermont, and set on foot the first crusade . . . . . . 303-4 The notion of a crusade was first started by Sylvester II., and taken up by Gregory VII. .... 303-4 1099 His Pascal II. (like Gregory and Urban, a monk of Cluni), re- vived the contest with the empire .... 305 Henry died under the sentence of excommunication, with his son in arms against him, and his body was kept for five years in unhal- lowed ground ...... 306 The contest continued with Henry V. . . . 306 The regalia were grants conferred on the bishops by Charlemagne, partaking of the privileges of royalty, and the emperors claimed the right of confirming them ..... 307 Pascal il. agreed to cede them, on the Emperor's ceding the right 1110 of investiture. The ceremony of coronation was to follow ; but a dispute arose in St. Peter's, and the Pope was carried away pri- soner to Viterbo, where he made every concession . . 307 A Lateran council was assembled, and cancelled the treaty . 308 A disputed succession was still usual at the death of almost every Pope . . . . . . .808 1122 JThe Investiture question was reasonably arranged in a council or diet held at Worms, under Calixtus II., a relative of the Emperor 308-9 Some remarks on the arrangement thus adopted . . 308-9 1123 The first Lateran (ninth Latin General) was held for the general regulation of ecclesiastical matters . . . .310 1124 1154 Rome was disturbed by uninterrupted discord and convulsion. Arnold of Brescia was distinguished during this period . 310 1155 Adrian IV. placed the city under an interdict, and so effected the expulsion of Arnold, who was presently delivered up to him ;. by Frederic Barbarossa, and burnt alive. The probable character of Arnold . . . . . . 311-12 xxii ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. A.D. 'AGE Barbarossa held the stirrup of Adrian . . . 311-12 Alexander III., after a long conflict, reduced Frederic Barbarossa to terms favourable to the Church. In 1179, he held the third La- teran Council, and enacted the final regulations respecting Papal election. He was a zealous patron of letters . 313-4 Three descriptions of disputes distracted this period: those be- tween the Popedom and the empire; those between rivals for the See ; those in various states between the ecclesiastical and civil authorities ...... 315-6 The general correspondence between religion and literature, in their progress and decay, admits of many particular exceptions 315-6 After the first barbarian conquests, the whole office of public instruc- tion fell into the hands of the clergy ; and no subjects were treated, or lessons delivered, except with a view to theology. The invasion of the Lombards was destructive to all learning in Italy 317 The exertions of Charlemagne had much more fruit in France _ than in Italy during the ninth age .... 318 In the tenth, everything degenerated in both countries ; literature and morality ; laity and clergy. Yet the literary condition of France was not lower at the accession of Sylvester II., than at that of Charlemagne ..... 319-20 On the other hand, the ecclesiastical compositions of those ages had commonly a practical tendency, and were directed to moral improvement ...... 320-1 From the Saracenic conquest of Egypt, papyrus began to be dis- used in Europe, and parchment was the substitute ; so that MSS. could not multiply or spread with any rapidity. An instance of their scarcity . . . . . 321-2 This evil was removed in the eleventh century by the invention of paper ...... 321-2 About eighty councils were held in France during that age. On the three characters or aeras of theological literature; that of the ecclesiastical Fathers ; that of the collectors and compilers ; that of the Schoolmen . . . . . 323-4 On the Trivium and Quadrivium . . . 323-4 1091-1153 Note on St. Bernard. He founded Clairval, and, in the course of his life, about a hundred and sixty other monasteries 325 He was very influential in establishing Innocent II. in the disputed See ; and through his numerous ecclesiastical merits, he is deno- minated the last of the fathers . . . . 326 In his opinion respecting grace, he followed St. Augustin . 327 1140 He entered the lists in public disputation against Abelard, at Sens; but the latter declined the controversy, and appealed to the Pope 328 He was a zealous supporter of Papal authority and adversary of heresy. Various expressions from his writings on both these sub- jects ....... 331-2 He likewise denounced, with great indignation, the numerous abuses prevalent in the Church at that period . . 332-3 On his mingled good and dangerous qualities, and the wide extent of his personal influence ... . 334 CHAPTER XVIII. The Pontificate of Innocent III. (1198-1216.) 1083-1198 Considerable improvement had been effected in the Church system between Gregory VII. and Innocent. Three Lateran coun- cils assembled in the twelfth century . . . .334 1151 Oral ian published his famous collection of canon law . 335 -ions of the clergy were greatly increased during the same period; and the ecclesiastical jurisdiction had made wide encroachments on the secular 336 ANALYTICAL TABLE OP CONTENTS. xxiii A.D. PAGE Various instances of the persons and causes which had been in- sensibly drawn into the former courts . . .337 Thus the clergy exercised, at Innocent's accession, a greater con- trol over society than at any former period . . .337 His designs may be classed under four heads . , . 338 I. The character of the Roman people, according to the expres- sions of Luitprand, a Lombard of the tenth age . . 338 According to those of St. Bernard, addressed to Eugenius III. 339 The turbulence of the Romans was excused by the weakness, capri- ciousness, and uncertain character of their government. Some vi- cissitudes in its form, from Charlemagne to Innocent. The latter at length entirely shook off the imperial claims, and deprived the Prefect of his power . . . , . 339-40 Yet other changes and tumults succeeded, and were not appeased till the middle of the fifteenth century . . . .341 The circumstances of the empire were favourable to the project of Innocent. He obtained from Frederic a confirmation of the donation of Matilda . . . . .342 II. Innocent exercised his temporal authority in the disposal of the empire. Through what causes that authority ever acquired any strength, or received any obedience . . , . 342 Many imagined that the ceremony of coronation by the Pope was necessary for the legitimacy of the emperor . . . 343 In a contest with Philippe Auguste of France, Innocent threw an interdict over the whole country, and the king made his submission 344 He published some general assertions of his power over thrones ; and interfered in Arragon, Navarre, Bohemia, Wallachia, Bul- garia, and Armenia . . , . . 345 The resistance and final humiliation of John of England . 345-6 III. It was necessary for the success of Innocent, to hold the hierarchy in subservience, He endeavoured to usurp all import- ant patronage ..... 345-6 He imppsed a regular tax (the Saladin tax) on ecclesiastical pro- perty. The power, which the Bishops, as a collective body, had lost, passed into the possession of the Pope . . 347 1215 The fourth Lateran Council met for the recovery of the Holy Land and the reformation of the Church The name of transubstantiation was introduced into the vocabu lary of the Church Sacramental confession generally imposed 347 348 348 Reformation in the faith of the Church only meant extirpation of heresy. The substance of the third canon of this council on that subject ....... 349 IV. From the controversy about images, fill the twelfth century, the Church had not been stained by any rigorous persecution 349 1110 Pierre de Bruys originated the sect of Petrobrussians, who rejected some superstitions, and advanced some errors. He was burnt in a popular tumult ..... 4 359 1148 Henry, from whom the Henricians were named, was Opposed by St. Bernard, and died in prison . . . . .351 Both these heresies prevailed chiefly in the South of France, as well as some others of no name, and perhaps of no very definite tenets, but professing an apostolical character and origin 351 The Cathari, or Gazari, See., may probably have descended from the Paulicians of the East, and may thus have been Semi- Maniehseans ; but it would be absurd to charge this error upon all the heretics of the twelfth century . . 352-3 1160 Peter Waldus commenced his preaching, and caused some part of the Scriptures to be translated into the vulgar tongue : but the C 2 xxiv ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. A D PAGE Vaudois, or Waldenses, were of earlier and immemorial "origin, though it is impossible to trace them to the apostolical times. The opinions ascribed to them . . . 353-4-5 Albi^eois, or Albigenses, was the common name for the various heretics of the South of France at the end of the twelfth century 353 1017 Some persons of good condition, charged with Manicheism, and probably guilty of mysticism, were condemned by a synod at Or- leans, and burnt to death ... 353 1163 Alexander III. published, in a Council at Tours, an edict against the heretics of Toulouse and Gascony, and afterwards attacked the Cathari in his Lateran Council . . . .356 1198-1207 Innocent III. attempted to reduce the Albigeois, first by legates, and then by missionary preachers, under the name of Inquisitors, of whom Dominic was one : but failing, he appealed to the sword of Louis Philippe . . . . .357 Simon de Montfort then led the crusade against them, with bar- barous success . . . . .358 1229 A system of inquisition was permanently established at Toulouse, by a council there assembled. The Scriptures were strictly pro- hibited to all laymen .... . 359 1216 The circumstances of the death of Innocent are variously recounted. His private character should be distinguished from his ecclesias- tical ; the former had many good qualities, the latter abounded^vith crimes ....... 360 : His policy was strictly temporal. The taxation of the clergy was the principal change which he introduced -into the economy of the Church . . . . . .360 A comparison drawn between his public character and that of Gregory VII. is to the advantage of the latter . . .361 CHAPTER XIX. The History ofMonachism. For what reasons any general notice of the Monastic Orders^has been deferred till this period of the history . . . 362 SECTION I. 250 The practice of seclusion was indigenous in the East ; the testi- mony of Pliny the philosopher .... 362 The original Therapeutse or Essenes were probably Jews ; but in assuming Christianity they may have retained their eremitical habits . . . . . .364 The Ascetics were Christians ; they were the most rigid among the converts, but were not recluses. Their origin ascribed by Mosheim to the double doctrine of morals .... 36^ 250 el seq. Many flying from the persecutions of Decius and Dio- cletian adopted the anachoretical life . . . . 36i The first institution of Coenobites is attributed to St. Anthony, the contemporary of Athanasius ; and Egypt was the country wherein it rose . . . . . . . 36< 395 Cassian made his visit to the monks of Egypt. They were divided into Anchorets, Coenobites, and Sarabaites. A passage respect- ing the first of these . . . . . . 36( The numerous establishments and moderate discipline of the Coeno- bites. The times and manner of their devotion. The four objects comprehended by their profession. A great portion of their time was devoted to manual labour . . . .36- The Sarabaites are probably calumniated both by Cassian and Jerome ; what they seem really to have been . . . 36i 360 et seq. Basil, the patriarch of Monachism, is believed to have delivered a Rule, and established the obligation of a vow ; yet this is not certain . 36$ ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxv A.D. PAGE All the Fathers of that age encouraged the growth of Monachism ; yet their motives were not selfish nor sordid, nor such as are com- monly ascribed to them ..... 369 The earliest form of Monachism was subject to many wholesome restraints, which were first weakened by Justinian . . 370 The original Monks were laymen .... 370 Monastic austerity was not carried to greater excess in the East than in the West, since a variety of motives, derived from Papal principles, gained influence in the latter, which had no existence in the former . . . . . . .371 The institution of Nunneries is also attributed to St. Anthony; but it never attained such prosperity in the East as in the West 372 SECTION II. 341-430 Monachism, said to have' been introduced into Rome by Atha- ' nasius, was diffused through the North of Italy and the South of France ...... 372-3 The love for insular retirement, which prevailed among the recluses of the East, was imitated in the Adriatic, and on the western coasts of Italy ..... 372-3 The general spreading of Monachism was contemporaneous with the barbarian conquests ; and those establishments were of use in preserving religion, and relieving individual misery . .374 The Rule of St. Basil was that first professed in the West . 374 529 Benedict of Nursia instituted a new order . . .375 His object was excellent, and the principle of his establishment beneficial in those ages . . . ..375 Some account of the ' Rule of St. Benedict :' the times of public worship ; duty of mental prayer ; of manual labour ; of reading ; of rigid temperance, rather than abstinence ; of silence, serious- ness, and obedience; difficulties offered to the introduction of novices ...... 375-6-7 The Monastery of Monte Cassino was founded by Benedict, and his Rule spread into France, and elsewhere, though it may not have been universally received in the West before the ninth century 378 817 Benedict of Aniane reformed the Benedictine Order, and his regu- lations were confirmed by the Council of Aix-la-Chapelle . 379 900 &c. The order of Cluni, in Burgundy, was established, and was very celebrated for about two centuries. It then became wealthy and corrupt. Gregory VII., Urban II. and Pascal II. were educated there ...... 380 1098 The Cistertian Order was founded in its neighbourhood, and ho- noured and advanced by St. Bernard . . . .381 1178 The Order of the Chartreuse, which had been founded by St. Bruno in 1084, was sanctioned by Alexander III. . 381-2 The rivalry among these and other orders, all Benedictines, was of advantage to the discipline of them all ... 382 1040 The distinction between monks and lay brethren was first intro- duced at Vallombrosa ; and it secured the corruption of the former 382 The Abbot was originally subject to the Bishop of the Diocese ; the practice of Papal exemption occasioned extreme relaxation of dis- cipline ....... 383 The prevalence of monastic corruption was acknowledged by councils held early in the thirteenth century . . ". 383 SECTION III. The order of Canons Regular, professing the institution of St. Au- gustin, is of uncertain origin. A general rule was imposed on xxvi ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. A.D, PAGE them by the Councils of Mayence and Aix-la-Chapelle, early in the ninth age .... . 383 1059 They were subsequently reformed by Nicholas II., and were first subjected to a vow by Innocent II. . . 384-5 SECTION IV. The Monastic Orders were powerful instruments of pontifical ambition, through their wealth, their obedience, and their popular influence ....... 385 The confusion of the military and ecclesiastical characters had preceded the foundation of the Military Orders . . 386 1050 Four merchants erected a hospital at Jerusalem, which was en- dowed by Godfrey of Bouillon ; and then rose the Knights of the Hospital, afterwards known as the Knights of Rhodes and Malta 386 1118 The Knights Templars were founded. Their Rule was written by St. Bernard ; their office and corruption . . . .387 1192 The Teutonic Order received its Rule from Celestine III. After- wards (1230), those knights converted Prussia by the sword ; and joined the Reformers in the sixteenth age . . 387 SECTION V. 1217 &c. The number and variety of Heresies made a new order necessary for their extirpation. St. Dominic instituted that of the Preachers, and it was sanctioned by the bull of Honorius III. . . 388 1210 Innocent III. established the order of St. Francis, which was originally founded in poverty only . . . .388 The Testament of St. Francis did not enjoin mendicity . . 389 These two orders adopted each other's characteristics, and presently became both Preachers and both Mendicants . . .390 The severity of the Rule of St. Francis occasioned many dis- sensions among his disciples, and great insubordination in the Church . . . . . , 390 The Dominicans were more orderly and obedient . . .391 St. Dominic was not the founder of the Inquisition . . 391 1228-1259 The Dominicans became learned Scholastics, and contested the theological chairs with the University of Paris . 381-2 The good proceeding from this struggle. The prophecy concerning the 'perils of the latter times' was applied to the Mendicants by a doctor at Paris. A general remark on Millennarians . 392 1274 Gregory X. suppressed several Mendicants, and distributed the sect i into four societies : Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Hermits of St. Augustin ..... 393 1209 Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem, gave a Rule to the Carmelites, confirmed in 1226 by Honorius III,, and afterwards interpreted by Innocent IV. . . . . . . 393 Alexander IV. collected various Hermits into one order, called the ' Hermits of St. Augustin' , 394 The earliest Dominicans were distinguished by great talents and merits, and professional zeal . . 394 Great jealousy was occasioned among the Ancient Orders and Secular Clergy, and violent disputes followed . . . 395 The influence of the Mendicants depended almost entirely on their merits and activity ...... 395 Yet they soon be"came liable to many reproaches . .396 SECTION VI. On the ' Holy Virgins' who existed in the Antenicene Church , 397 350 St, Syncletica is said to have founded the first nunnery . . 397 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxvii A.D. PAGE In Egypt, Marcella, a Roman lady, introduced the institution into the West, and it spread rapidly .... 397 The Rule of the Nuns was formed upon those of the Monasteries 397 The necessity of a ' Vow of Chastity' strongly urged by St. Basil . 398 The Canon of Chalcedon was moderate in the penalty denounced against its violation ; but Innocent I. increased its severity, and subsequent ages still more so . . . . 398-9 The imposition of the Veil was earlier than St. Ambrose . 398-9 The age of taking it varied at different times and places . 398-9 The order of the Nuns of St. Benedict was instituted at the same time with his first monasteries, and rose in importance and pride 398-9 There were also Canonesses, Nuns of the Hospital, Nuns of St. Dominic, following the various monastic denominations 400-1 1537 The Ursulines were a truly ascetic and charitable institution; indeed the Nuns were generally free from many of the vices charged against their Monastic brethren. The Protestants have imitated those virtues ..... . 402 The Benedictine, the Military, and the Mendicant orders, were all peculiarly adapted to the age and circumstances in which they flourished, and the qualities required for the support of Papacy ; as were the Jesuits at a later period . . . 402-3-4 The Monastic System was only perpetuated by a succession of re- formations and regenerations .... 402-3-4 Such was the history of every order, and none could have long subsisted otherwise ..... 404-5 Many advantages were conferred on society by Monachism. Tracts of land were brought into cultivation ; hospitality and refuge afforded to the wretched ; charity largely distributed ; spiritual consolation commonly administered to the lower orders ; and an example set of piety and humanity. Education was intrusted to the Monks ; and manuscripts, profane and sacred, were preserved and multiplied by them ; so that, if they were only useful in bad ages, then at least they were seemingly the best members of society ...... 405-10 Yet they were the steady defenders of every superstitious abuse, and the sworn enemies of all general reform. The system of exemption made them firm supporters of the Papal system ; and in recom- pense, indulgences, private masses, and many of the worst abuses of the Church were sustained, chiefly for their profit, by Pontifical authority . . . . . . 411-13 CHAPTER XX. From the Death of Innocent to that of Boniface VIII. The interests of the Church of Rome were becoming at variance with the peace of Christendom .... 414 Frederic II. long deferred his promised departure to the Holy Land 415 1227 Gregory IX. was elected ; the ceremony of his coronation . 415 He excommunicated the Emperor. Frederic wrote to the King of England in reprobation of the Church . . . 416 He proceeded to Palestine ; he made an advantageous treaty with the infidels, in spite of the Pope's persecutions, and returned to repel an invasion of his territories . . . .417 1243-1245 Innocent IV. continued the quarrel with Frederic, and as- sembled the first Council of Lyons. It professed three objects. The Emperor was summoned before it, and on his non-appear- ance, deprived of his crown . . . . .418 Innocent vainly attempted to seduce the Emperor's son into an alliance against his father ..... 419 1250 Frederic died in adversity, having been virtually deposed by the sen- tence of InnoQent . . . . . .419 The real merits of this quarrel ; in what respects Frederic justly of- xxviii ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. A.U. PAGE fended the Church ; the fierce edicts against heresy, by which he aimed to support it, and by which he deserved his future mis- fortunes . . . . - -420 Some points by which this dispute between the Church and the Empire is distinguished from that commenced by Gregory VII. 421 Taxes were rigidly levied by the Pope upon the clergy, and a crusade was preached against the Emperor . . . .422 Innocent returned to Italy, and after some successes against the king- dom of Naples, died in 1254 . . . .423 His temporal ambition and policy, and triumphant pontificate . 424 Alexander IV. continued the struggle for Naples . . 424 1261-1268 Urban IV. and Clement IV., two Frenchmen, introduced the French into that kingdom . . . . .425 1273 Gregory X., a pious enthusiast, was raised to the See'; and la- boured earnestly, and with promise of success, to excite a grand crusade ....... 426 1274 He convoked the second Council of Lyons for that purpose, and for the reformation of the Church. The canon was then enacted, which imposed severe restraints upon the conclave . . 427 The Pope died before the expedition set sail, and it immediately dispersed . . . . . . .427 Martin IV., a Frenchman, accepted the office of senator, and held it for life . . . . . .428 1294 The circumstances of the election of Pietro Morone, CelestineV. ; his utter incapacity ; his simplicity, piety, humility, and good in- tentions ; his resignation and the pontificate ; and imprisonment by his successor Boniface VIII. . . . 429-30-2 The lofty and various pretensions of Boniface; in whose reign the Papal supremacy probably attained its highest elevation. His authority recognized by Albert of Austria . . 433-4 The condition of the Gallican Church at that moment . 433-4 1296 Boniface published the bull Clericis Laicos, against all who should exact contributions from the clergy .... 435 It was chiefly levelled against Philip of France. A dispute was the consequence, but it was soon suspended . . . 435 1301 Philip arrested the Bishop of Pamiers. Boniface published the bull Ausculta,' Fill, demanding his liberation, &c. ; , and^ it was publicly burnt by the king ....*. 436 Philip was supported by his barons. Some of the Clergy attended the Pope's summons to assemble at Rome ; and under the name of this Council, he published the bull Unam Sanctam, asserting the unity of the Church, and the use of the double sword . 437 13Q3 William of Nogaret and Sciarra Colonna surprised the Pope at Anagni ; but offered him no bodily injury. He returned to Home \ and died. The circumstances of his intrepidity, and of his death 439-40 CHAPTER XXI. SECTION I. 1215-1270 Louis IX. of France was one of the few monarchs, who founded his policy on religious considerations, and whose life is thus closely connected with ecclesiastical history. The excellence of his private morality .... 441-2 In what language he is characterized by Hume . . 441-2 His various legislative attempts to extend the civilization of his subjects ...... 442-3 Much superstition was mixed with his piety ; exemplified in his ac- quisition and reception of the Crown of Thorns. He instituted Icstivals, in its honour, &c.' v .... 443-4 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxix A D. PAGE. He died before Tunis, and was canonized twenty- seven years after- wards by Boniface VIII. The Bull of Canonization . 444-5 SECTION II. St. Louis confirmed the institution of the Inquisition in his domi- nions ....... 446 "What was the extent of the commission of the first Inquisitors ; all trials were still conducted in the Episcopal Courts . 446 1229 The council of Toulouse established a sort of committee of Inquisi- tion, the foundation of the court .... 446 The court was still episcopal; but Gregory XL transferred the power to the Dominicans, who acted more immediately under Papal authority . . . . . . .446 1244 The edicts of Frederic II. assisted the progress of the Inquisition. Innocent IV. established it in the north of Italy, and it spread to some other countries . . . . . 447-8 SECTION III. 1263 The general contempt of excommunication then prevalent is in- stanced in a conference between Louis and his prelates . 449 1244 Innocent IV. requested a refuge in France, and Louis eluded his solicitation ....... 450 Before he set off on his last crusade, Louis published his Prag- matic Sanction. It consisted of six articles, which were chiefly directed against the usurpations of patronage by Rome and its pecuniary exactions . . . . . .451 A spirit of opposition to the See was occasionally exhibited by the French clergy . . . . . 451-2 SECTION IV. The character of the first crusade ; the battle of Doryleum ; the capture of Antioch ; and cruelties committed at the storming of Jerusalem ....... 452 St. Bernard preached the second crusade with success ; his pro- phecy ; its falsification ; and the authority which he pleaded in his defence ...... 453-4 1189-1291 The third crusade was that of Richard of England ; the fifth and sixth were projected by Innocent III. ; the disastrous expe- dition and captivity of Louis in Egypt : his second against Tunis may be considered as concluding the history of the crusades 455-6 Among the causes of the crusades, the earliest was the practice of pilgrimage ; the Saracens tolerated the visits of the Christians to the Holy Sepulchre, and they were multiplied by the fanaticism of the tenth century ; but towards the close of the eleventh, the Turks got possession of Jerusalem, and persecuted the pilgrims 457-8 Warlike spirit and superstitious zeal were characteristics of the same ages, and co-operated to the same end, so that the minds of men were prepared for the preaching of Peter the Hermit 458-9 The object of the first crusade was wholly unconnected with reason, ambition, or policy ...... 460 The objects of those which followed became diversified by new cir- cumstances ; the Latin kingdom was then to be defended ; the in- terest of princes became engaged ; and general views of conquest were formed . . . . . 460-1 Innocent III. preached a crusade against Heretics; Innocent IV. against the Emperor of Germany . . . 45.2 It does not seem that the crusades produced any one general advan- tage to Europe or to Christendom, either in promoting commerce or advancing the arts . . . 463-464 xxx ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. A.D. But they introduced new barbarities into war, and inflamed the character of religious persecution . . . . 465 They ruined the discipline of the Church by the introduction of the plenary indulgence, and the subsequent sale of it . 466 The possessions of the clergy may have been augmented, but the imposition of a tax more than counterbalanced that gain . 467 Note A. On the first Decretals of the Pope . . .467 1151 The collection of Gratian was published; divided into three parts ; abounding in errors ..... 468 1210 The Roman collection was published under Innocent III.; the Liber Sextus under Boniface VIII.; the Clementines under John XXII. ; and the Extravagants presently followed . 468-9 Note B. The Academy of Paris first took the name of Univer- sity; its classes and lectures ; the four faculties . . 469 The institution of four degrees ..... 469 Paris was chiefly eminent for its theological proficiency, while law and medicine were more successfully cultivated in Italy . 470 1250 Robert of Sorbonne founded the college known by his name . 470 Note C. On the Character of the Philosophy adopted by the early Theologians ; in the eleventh century Aristotle took possession of the Western Schools, and introduced endless perplexity and ab- . surdity . . . . . . 470-1 1150 Peter the Lombard was raised to the See of Paris the object of his Book of the Sentences, and the end to which it was turned 471-2 1224-1.274 Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican, carried the system to its utmost, perfection . . -. . . 472-3 Contemporary was Bonaventura, a Franciscan, a man of great piety as well as learning, and more inclined to- Mysticism than Scholastic subtlety . . . . . . .473 1320 &c. John Duns Scotus and William of Occam were Franciscans, and headed the faction of the Nominalists or Scotists ; the Realists, the supporters of Aquinas, were called Thomists. Some points on which they differed, the Immaculate Conception, &c. . . 474 PART V. CHAPTER XXII. residence at Atfignon. SECTION I. 1305 On what conditions, made with Philip of France, Clement V. is be- lieved to have accepted the pontificate ; how far he fulfilled them 477-8 The Pope took up his residence in France, and finally at Avignon ; he revoked the decree of Boniface . . . 477-8 1311 A general council was assembled at Vienne, with three professed objects . . . . . . 477-8 It condemned the Templars, and there is every reason to believe un- justly ; it refused to insult the memory of Boniface VIII. 479-80 Many ecclesiastical abuses were exposed to the council, and some insufficient attempts were made to restrain them . .481 1315 John XXII. was chiefly characterized by his avarice ; he extended the rule of the Apostolical Chancery, and abused the patronage of the Church ...... 482 1323 The contest between Louis of Bavaria and John was not marked by any decisive advantage on either side ; Louis profited by the divisions of the Church, and John by those of the Empire 483-4 The Pope was formally accused of heresy by an imperial Council at Milan, though. without result; but afterwards he expressed some erroneous opinions about the Beatific Vision, which produced a great sensation in Church and State ; he retracted, not very satis- factorily, and is supposed to have died in error . 484-5 ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxxi A.D. PAGE Benedict XII. made some attempts to reform the Church abuses, but with no great effect . . . . .486 1343 Clement VI. published a bull to institute the Jubilee on the fiftieth year, and laid down the doctrine of supererogation and the trea- sure of the Church . . . . . .487 Account of the Jubilee from Matteo Villani . . . 488 Clement renewed the disputes with Louis, and bought the city of Avignon of the Queen of Naples .... 488 1352 The first instance of an obligation undertaken in Conclave by the future Pontiff; it was immediately violated by Inno- cent VI. . . . . . . .489 That Pope's transactions with the German clergy . .90 1367 Urban V. removed his residence to Rome, but after three years returned to Avignon and died there ..... 490 1376 Gregory XI. finally restored the papal residence to Rome ; Catha- rine of Sienna made an embassy to the Court of Avignon ; her singular fanaticism .^ 491-2 SECTION II. I. On the decline of Papal power ; the Popes were engaged in conti- nual and fruitless wars in Italy ; their rapacity and the profligacy of the court surpassed all former excesses, and diminished the force of the prejudices which supported them: they forfeited their inde- pendence by residence in a foreign kingdom ; there were some violent dissensions within the Church . . 492-6 II. The attempts which were made to remove the acknowledged abuses were sometimes insincere, and always feeble . . 497 III. The principles of the rigid Franciscans scandalized the luxury of the Hierarchy, and some Popes tried to persuade them to relax their Rule; but no one persecuted them before John XXII. His famous bull Gloriosam Ecclesiam. The spirituals became more obstinate, and sought the protection of Louis of Bavaria; the Dominicans supported the Pope, and the contest continued until Charles IV. made peace with the Popedom, and the heretics were delivered up to its mercy ; after much bloodshed the dispute ended by an authorized division of the Order into Conventual Brethren and Brethren of the Observance . 497-501 The Beghards and Lollards; their mystical opinions were distorted and exaggerated by fche Churchmen ; some Church supersti- tions of this age ..... 501-2 The imputed opinions and savage persecution of Dulcinus . 503 1340 The Flagellants re-appeared in Italy ; their discipline, practices, alleged opinions, and persecution . . . 504-5 Some comparison of the above heresies with those of the earlier ages of Christianity ..... 505-6 In what light ecclesiastical abuses ought to be regarded by Church- men ....... 505-6 Notes (1.) On the Franciscans and other Mendicants ; the Fratricelli disclaimed any right even to the use of property . 505-6 1210 The Eternal Gospel propounded the doctrine of three dispensa- tions ; it was republished by the Franciscans in 1 250, and was pro- bably a Franciscan fabrication . . . .507 1290 Pierre Jean d'Olive, a spiritual reformer . . . 503 (2.) A contest arose between the Mendicants and the parochial clergy respecting the receiving of confessions, and occasioned a number of contradictory bulls during the thirteenth and four- teenth centuries . 508 xxxii ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIII. Grand Schism of the Roman Catholic Church. A.D. A representation was made by the magistrates to the Cardinals, of the evils suffered by Rome through the absence of the Popes, with a petition to them to elect an Italian for Pope . 510 A certain degree of intimidation was unquestionably exercised by the populace over the Conclave . . . . .510 It is not, upon the whole, probable that the conclave, uninfluenced, would have chosen an Italian . . . .511 A Neapolitan, the archbishop of Bari, was at last elected, and took the name of Urban VI. . . . . .512 A man of exalted reputation and severe temper ; he began his reign by some harsh censures on the disorders of his court ; the cardinals soon afterwards withdrew to Anagni, and annulled the election of Urban . . . . .512 1378 Thence retiring to Fondi, they there chose (Sept. 20) Robert of Geneva, Clement VII. . . . . 513-4 As the cardinals had previously confirmed the election of Urban, a great part of Europe continued in obedience to him ; France de- clared, on the other hand, for Clement ; the kings of Scotland, Castile, and Arragon, the counts of Savoy and Geneva, the duke of Austria, and others, finally joined the same party 515-6 Clement established his residence at Avignon . . 515-6 1386 The cruelty of Urban towards some cardinals suspected of having conspired against him . . . . .517 1389 Boniface IX. succeeded Urban ; he appointed a jubilee at Rome for the year following, and granted the same privilege to certain cities and towns in Germany .... 518-9 1394 The University of Paris began to take serious measures for the heal- ing of the schism . . . . . 518-9 And proposed, as most likely to be effectual, the method of Cession 518-9 Clement was succeeded by Peter of Luna, Benedict XIII., who swore in conclave to make every exertion to restore the union of the Church . . . . . . .521 A solemn embassy was sent from Paris to Avignon, and its demands were refused or eluded by Benedict .... 522 1398 The French published the Subtraction of Obedience, and block- aded Avignon; in 1403 Benedict contrived to escape; he found many adherents, and the Subtraction was repealed . 523-4 The government of Boniface, the Roman rival, was directed by one principle only, to raise as much money as possible, by any means whatsoever, within the limits of his obedience ; thus he held a se- cond Jubilee in the year 1400 .... 525-6 1406 Election of Angelo Corrario, Gregory XII., and his previously unsullied reputation ..... 525-6 1407 A conference was agreed upon at Savona between the two parties for the extinction of the Schism ; Benedict presented ^himself there, but not Gregory ; their collusion was now obvious to all the world ...... 526-7 Benedict was then compelled by the French king to take refuge at Perpignan in Spain, and the cardinals convoked the Council of Pisa, (1409) ..... 527-8 The Council deposed both rivals, r and elected Alexander V. ; but the former still retained all their claims, and some of their adherents 529-30 1410 Ballazar Cossa (John XXIII.) succeeded to the See, and Sigis- nioud to the empire; it was agreed that a new council should be s>uii>moned v and Constance was selected as the place; that spot ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxxiii A.D.' PAGE had some general advantages, but was wholly unfavourable to the Pope's interests ..... 531-2 1414 The objects of the Council were the extinction of the Schism and the reformation of the Church . . . 531-2 The different principles on which the Pope and the most distin- guished doctors proposed to accomplish the first; soon after the arrival of Sigismond the Council declared for the method of Cession, and the Pope was compelled to abdicate . 534-5 Presently he escaped from the Council, and fled, first to'Schaff- hausen, afterwards to Brisac ; but was then restored to Sigismond byjhe treachery of the Duke of Austria . . . 536 He was then accused of several enormous crimes, deposed and placed in rigorous confinement . . . 537-8 Gregory had also resigned : Benedict now remained the only obstacle to the unity of the Church, and Sigismond went in person to Perpignan, there to terminate the affair . . . 539 Benedict clung to his dignity with extraordinary tenacity ; at length he fled to Paniscola, and was then formally deposed . .540-1 1417 Nov. 11, Martin V. was elected Pope, with very general appro- bation .... . 540-1 Benedict lived six years longer at Paniscola, and anathematized every day the rival Pontiffs. John XXIII. was presently released from confinement, and threw himself at the feet of Martin, who treated him with generosity and raised him to dignity. John, though stained by many vices, has still been much calumniated by party historians ..... 541-5 Note on the White Penitents, &c. Account of three descriptions of Enthusiasts, who rose in the fourteenth century . 546-7 CHAPTER XXIV. -Attempts of the Church at Self-Reformation. Many Roman Catholic divines were anxious for a partial Refor- mation of their Church; in fact, the principle of Reformation had ever been acknowledged, and even practised by Churchmen. Very general complaints against ecclesiastical abuses had been inces- santly repeated in all countries, from the days of St. Bernard to those of Gerson; but they were directed against the Clergy, rather than against the system, which was still held sacred 548-52 They attacked the scandals even of the Vatican ; but did not question the inherent power and infallibility of the Church . 548-52 The attempts of the Council of Pisa were nugatory ; but some Anti- papal principles were broached, if not established there . 548-52 In that of Constance, Papal delinquencies were denounced in very strong language . 553-4 1415 June 15. A Committee of Reform was appointed for the considera- tion of all remediable abuses. Some expressions of Gerson ' De signis Ruinse Ecclesise' .... 553-4 1417 On the vacancy of the See, the question rose, whether the election of a new Pope, or the Reformation of the Church, should be first entered upon ; and in this, the whole question of a real or false Reform was involved. After many disputes, the anti-reform party, in spite of the influence of Sigismond, prevailed, and Martin was elected . .... 555-6-7 The Italian Clergy, as well as the Cardinals, were almost unani- mously opposed to reform . . . . .558 A project of Reformation was broached, containing eighteen ar- ticles, regarding respectively the Pope, the Court of Rome, and the Secular Clergy. By what limits this Reformation was con- fined . .... 558-61 In what manner it was eluded by Martin ; and what was the sub- ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. A.D. PAGE stance of the Eight Articles and the separate concordats which he published in its place .... 562 1417 The bull by which he dissolved the Council . . . 563 Some disputes respecting Annates, particularly between the French and the Pope . . . . * -563 A decree for the Decennial Meetings of General Councils was pro- mulgated at Constance ..,.. 564 1431 The Council of Basle assembled . . . 565 Circumstances under which Eugenius IV. was elected, and his inca- pacity . . . . . . . . 565 After a vain attempt to crush the council, he appointed Julian, Cardinal of St. Angelo, as the president. The three purposes for which it was convoked ..... 566 The first two years of its session were spent in disputes with Euge- nius ........ 567 The prophetical warnings respecting the dangers of the Church, .which were addressed by Cardinal Julian to the Pope, and the disregard with which they were received . . 568-9 1435 Jan. 23. Some edicts were at length published for the refor- mation of abuses ; and others were added during the fourteen fol- lowing months, in spite of the struggles of the Papal party to prevent them. They respected matters of very secondary import- ance ; and were interrupted by a second and final breach between the Council and the Pope .... 570-1-2 1438 Jan. 10. After having been cited before the Council, and con- demned for contumacy on his non-appearance, Eugenius annulled all its future acts, and opened the Council of Ferrara. He was joined by Cardinal Julian . . . . .573 Questions on the legitimacy of the Council of Basle . .573 The Council then deposed Eugenius and elected Felix V., and presently dissolved itself. But Eugenius retained almost all his power till his death; and on the accession of Nicholas V., Felix abdicated in his favour .... 574-5 On the diet of Mayence assembled for the arrangement of the affairs of Germany. On the Council of Bourges, for the establish- ment of the Pragmatic Sanction in France. The two great principles on which the Sanction rested . . 576-7 On the question whether the Decennial Meetings of Councils, as decreed at Constance, would have conferred any great benefits on the Church . . . . . . .578 On the general principles of the Councils of Constance and Basle. The decree of the former, on the violation of faith with heretics. Discovery of the art of Printing ... _ 579-81 CHAPTER XXV. History of the Hwsites. 1324-1384 (I.) The early reputation of Wiclif, his advancement, oppo- sition to Papacy, persecution and death . . j 582-3 His opinions at direct variance with some of the innovations of Rome ; not so with others; his abhorrence of the Court of Anti- christ; objection to ecclesiastical endowments; translation and circulation of the Bible ..... 584-5 (II.) The opinions of Wiclif were introduced into Bohemia, and propagated byJohnHuss; his character and early preaching at Prague . . . . . . 585-6 Disputes in the University of Prague . . . 585-6 Huss preached against the crusade of John XXIII., and some dis- orders followed. John cited him to Rome in vain . . 587 The tenets imputed to Huss, and for the most part disclaimed by , ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxxv A.D. PAGE him"; his opinion on the nature of tithes. The demand for the restoration of the Cup to the laity did not originate with Huss, but with another preacher, named Jacobellus of Misnia 587-8 1414 The nature of the safe-conduct, in faith of which Huss presented himself at Constance ...... 589 His own confiden-ce and enthusiasm . . . .590 He was presently placed under confinement, accused of various heresies, 'and brought to trial : his appeals to Scripture were disregarded, his reasonable arguments derided, and he was finally condemned to death ..... 591-2-3 His conduct from the time of his condemnation to that of his exe- cution; attempt of Sigismond to induce him to retract; interview with his friend, John of Chlum .... 594 1415 July 6. The sentence passed on him; his degradation and exe- cution ....... 595 What were the two heads under which his real differences with the Church were comprehended . . . . .596 (III.) Jerome of Prague, after being condemned by the same Council for nearly the same offences, retracted (Sept. 11, 1415), but in the course of a few months recalled his retractation, and was like- wise consigned to the flames ; testimony of Poggio, the Florentine, and yEneas Sylvius, to the constancy of both these martyrs in their last moments . . . . 596-7 (IV.) Insurrection of the Bohemians ; the necessity of the Double Communion was the point round which they united ; their mili- tary triumphs under Zisca .... 598-9 The Adamites, the Orebites, and Orphans . . 598-9 The grand division into Thaborites and Calixtines . 599-600 1433 Their fruitless embassy to Basle, and the four points in dispute with the Council ; the latter then sent an embassy to Prague, which led to the renewal of hostilities ; several thousand Tha- borites and Orphans were destroyed by the treachery of the Catholics . . . . . . .601 1436 The compact of Iglau between Sigismond and the Hussites; the description of the Thaborites by JEneas Sylvius . . 602 Continued disputes between the Popes and the Calixtines; the at- tempt of Paul II. to transfer the crown to John Huniades . 603 Many of the Hussite opinions were preserved, and published by the Bohemian Brothers in the following century . . .603 CHAPTER XXVI. -History of the Greek Church after its Separation from the Latin. On the origin, progress, and sufferings of the Paulicians ; on the opinions usually ascribed to them, and those which they seem really to have professed .... 604-6 How early the use of the Bible was prohibited to the Laity in the East . ...... 607 The disposition to Mysticism generally prevalent in the East was never quenched in any age of that Church ; the Euchites, or Messalians, were an early sect of Mystics: in the fourteenth century arose the Hesychasts or Quietists (Umbilicani), and occa- sioned an important controversy . . . 608-9 The Bogomiles combined Paulician with mystical tenets . 610 The controversy concerning the God of Mahomet . 611 On some of the essential differences between the Greek and Latin Churches. The former always subject to the state ; absence of feudal institutions; education more extensively prevalent in the East ; the Decretals never received there ; greater consistency in the reverence for antiquity . . . . 012-3 xxxvi ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS; A.D. PAGE The foundation of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem and introduction of the Roman Church into those provinces; the dissensions thus occasioned . . . . . .614 Latin conquest of Constantinople, and consequent establishment and endowment of a Latin Church there ; various disputes and other evils, which seem to have been occasioned by it 615-G 1232 Mission from Home to Nice for the reconciliation of the Churches ; some particulars of the negociation and its entire failure 617-8 The attempt was repeated by Innocent IV. and other Pontiffs, with the same result, till the second Council (1274) of Lyons, when an insincere accommodation was effected and soon afterwards broken off . . . . . 619-20 The same negociations continued under the Avignon Popes, and were at length renewed by Eugenius IV., who summoned the Council of Ferrara for the termination of the schism . .621 The principal parties there present ; the points chiefly debated ; the nature of those debates; the respective opinions of the Churches on Purgatory; conduct of Bessarion of Nice, and Marc of Ephesus . . . . . . .622 1439 The Council was iremoved to Florence, and after great debates a common confession of faith was agreed upon . . . 623 Treaties of union followed ; according to one of which the Pope was bound to furnish succours against the Infidels . .624 Among the controverted points transubstantiation was not one|; but it led to an incidental discussion, and Bessarion made an affirmation on the subject satisfactory to the Latins; the Decree of the Union was then finally ratified . . . . .625 The concluding history of the Cardinal of St. Angelo . . 625 Violent dissensions arose in the East ^on the return of the deputies ; the very great majority of the clergy and people declared against the Union . . . . . . . 626 Fortunate prediction of Nicholas V. .... 627 The violence of the Greeks continued to increase; they opened nego- ciations with the Bohemians . . . .627 Glosed the Churches against all who were polluted with Romanism ; and were thus disposed, when Mahomet II. assaulted Constan- tinople and overthrew the empire .... 628 Note (1) on the Armenians ..... 628 1145 A mission of Armenians, with a view to an union with Rome, seems to have been without result . . . . .628 1170 Negociations were opened between the Armenian and Greek Churches ; what were the principal points of difference between them . . . . . . .629 1199 Overture of Leo, king of Armenia, for a reconciliation with Innocent III., and seeming reconciliation .... 629 1341-51 Renewed negociations and correspondence between Armenia and Rome ; the errors then charged upon the former and the ex- travagant demands of the latter . . . .631 Note (2) on the Maronites . . . . .631 On their name and origin, and the circumstances of their connexion with the Roman Church .... 631-2 CHAPTER XXVII. From the Council of Basle to the beginning of the Reformation. During the remainder of the fifteenth century, the Popes invariably eluded the duty of summoning a General Council, and ruled as despots ....... 635 Nicholas V. was distinguished by his learning, and several excellent qualities ; but in the great object of his policy, the preservation of ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxxvii A.D. PAGE the Eastern Empire, lie wholly failed : his death was by some attributed to disappointment proceeding from that cause 636-7 1435 Calixtus III. (Alphonso Borgia) succeeded, and may perhaps be considered as the introducer of the system of Nepotism, which thenceforward prevailed in the Vatican . . . 638 1458 ^Eneas Sylvius, after having been engaged in the service both of the Emperor and the Holy See, was at length raised to the pontifi- cate ; the recorded circumstances of his elevation ; he took the name of Pius II. ...... 639 1459 June 1st. He opened the Council of Mantua, and exerted himself to raise a confederacy against the Turks, but without any permanent success . . . . . . .640 1460 A deputation from the Princes of the East arrived at Rome . 641 Catharine of Sienna was canonized by Pius II. . . 641 1463 Pius II., originally the advocate of the Council of Basle, after having gradually adopted all the High-Papal principles, published his celebrated Bull of Retractation, condemning his former act's and expressions; his professed and his probable motives 642-3 He then prepared to conduct in person an expedition against the Turks ; proceeded to Ancona, and there died . . 642-3 He had some points of resemblance, both with Nicholas V. and Car- dinal Julian ....... 644 After confirming on oath the Capitulation drawn up in Conclave, Paul II. was consecrated to the See, and immediately violated his oath; remarks on those Capitulations . . . 645 Paul II. turned the arms of Corvinus, son of Huniades, from the Turkish war against the Bohemian Schismatics, and after seven years of warfare, failed in his purpose . . . 645 He persecuted a literary society established at Rome, and tortured several of its members ..... 646 He reduced the intervals between the Jubilees, from thirty-three to twenty-five years ...... 646 1471 Sixtus IV. succeeded. The circumstances of his dispute with Flo- rence, and the obstinacy with which he persisted, till Otranto was taken by the Turks . . . . .647 He surpassed his predecessors in the practice of Nepotism . 647 His vigorous, though unprincipled character; and some works of art which he accomplished ..... 648 1484 Elevation and character of Innocent VIII. . . . 649 1492 Circumstances of the elevation of Alexander VI. . . 650 Some of the earliest acts of his Pontificate . . . 651 His overtures of alliance against Charles VIII. to the Sultan Bajazet 652 1493 He bestowed the newly-discovered regions on the Crown of Spain. The donation was contested by the Portuguese : on what ground 653 1494 He concluded a treaty at Rome with Charles VIII., and received his homage ....... 653 Zizim, brother of Bajazet, who had been the Pope's prisoner, was given up to Charles, and died immediately afterwards . . 654 The Duke Valentino ; his character and projects . .654 1503 The circumstances of the death of Alexander VI., as they are variously related, with different degrees of authority . 655-6 Some expressions of Guicciardini respecting his character 655-6 Pius III. was elected as his successor, and died in twenty-six days 657 Julius II. was then raised to the See . . . 657 A proof that the spiritual authority of the Pope was not yet by any means disregarded, in the conduct of Louis XII. of France 657-8 Success of Julius in recovering possession of the States of the Church ; by what methods he accomplished this ; the power and versatility of his character , . . 658-9 d xxxviii ANALYTICAL. TABLE OF CONTENTS. A.D. PAGE 1511 The Cardinals summoned a Council against Julius, which met at Florence, and adjourned to Milan, and thence to Lyons. It pub- lished no edicts of importance .... 658-9 1512 But Julius in defence was obliged to convoke the Fifth Lateran Council, and died the year following . . .660 Leo X. continued to direct the Council. It then issued some de- crees to alleviate the least important abuses of the Church, and some general declarations against the immorality of the Court of Rome ; it restrained the license of the Press ; it abolished the Prag- matic Sanction ; and renewed the Constitution Unam Sanctam, of Boniface VIII. . - . . . .660 1517 It was then dissolved, as having done all that was necessary for the perpetuity of the Church. Luther began his preaching the very same year ...... 661-2-3 [ Gradual depravation of the See during the last fifty years ; the in- crease of Nepotism; the scandals of the Conclave and the Palace ; literary Popes; the great use which the Pontiffs made of the terror of the Turks to support Ecclesiastical Abuses, and avoid a General Council ... . 664-5-6 They succeeded, and through their success they fell . .667 CHAPTER XXVIII. Preliminaries of the Reformation. SECTION I. On the Power and Constitution of the Roman Catholic Church . 667 I. The temporal sovereignty of the Pope was never before so extensive and firm, as in the beginning of the tenth century, to which result Julius II. chiefly contributed . . 668-9 The argument ,'by which the possession of such power by the Spiritual Chief is defended ; yet it led to great and necessary evils, which were reflected back upon the See itself . . 670-1 II. The progress of the Spiritual Supremacy of Rome, and the full extent to which it finally advanced. The usurpation of the Church patronage was one of the chief instruments for its support 671-2 On the Pope's pretensions to personal infallibility . .673 b On the command he acquired over the morality of the Faithful ; yet his spiritual power had somewhat decayed before the time of Luther, though still strong ..... 674 III. Attempts of the Popes, from Gregory VIL, to usurp authority over Civil Governments. How far they were aided by the dis- sensions and weakness of the Princes themselves . .675 Their political interference has been sometimes used for a good purpose, though their principles were frequently worse than the ordinary principles of the age ..... 676 IV. On the Constitution of the Church. The origin and gradual growth of the dignity and power of the Cardinals. The attempts made in Conclave to impose obligations upon the future Pontiff, which were invariably violated or eluded . . .677 The relative situation and mutual influence of the Pope and the College. What were the means by which the Pope maintained his authority over the Consistory . . . . .679 The place which General Councils held in the economy of the Church 679 The dignities of the Roman Catholic Church were accessible to all ranks: a circumstance of immense advantage, as long as they were obtained through personal merit, and no longer . . 680 Legates a Mere ; Mendicants. The extremes permitted in the dis- cipline of the Church ; some maxims of Papal policy . . 681 A Note on the nature of one branch of spiritual jurisdiction, as exercised in England ..... 682-3-4 On the vicarious^haracter assumed by the Priesthood of the Greek ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. xxxix A.D. PAGE and Roman Churches, and the temporary reverence with which it surrounded them . . . . . . 684 On the advantages conferred on the Church by the humble origin and conversation of a branch of the Clergy ; and the close and firm connexion thus established between the Hierarchy and the People. The spiritual despotism of the Pope rested at the bottom on a popular ground .... 685-6 SECTION II. On the (1.) Spiritual Character, (2.) Discipline, and Morals of the Church. I. The essential doctrines have been preserved by the Roman, and also by the Greek Church, with some variation in the manner . 686 On the original system of Penance .... 687 680 Penitential of Theodore of Tarsus, and various abuses which grew up soon after its introduction into the West . . . 687 The early origin and gradual perversion of the indulgence . 688 The professed doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church respecting Purgatory . . . . . . .688 Several changes in the object of the Plenary Indulgence . . 689 Translation of that which was sold by Tetzel . . .690 The origin and abuse of Private Masses . . . 690 On the practices flowing from the doctrine of Transubstantiation. The Elevation of the Host was introduced by the Latins into the East . . . . . . .691 On the retrenchment of the Cup, probably the least politic among all the innovations of Rome ..... 691 The practice of prohibiting the general use of the Bible was of very early origin, both in the East and in the West. False Miracles. Abuse of Images, &c. On various Festivals, and childish Dis- sensions. The Stigmata of St. Catharine. The Feast of the Im- maculate Conception, Difference respecting the kind of worship due to the blood of Christ. The original inscription on the Cross. The head of the True Lance, &c. . . . 692-3-4-5 Reciprocal influence of the superstitions and the power of Rome . 695 II. The general demoralization of the Roman Catholic Clergy admitted and deplored by the Catholics themselves, from St. Bernard downwards ...... 696 A seeming exception in favour of Cardinal Ximenes, and the Spanish Clergy. ...... 697 Yet the Church in different ages has forwarded in various man- ners the ends of morality ..... 697 The original principles of Monachism promised great advantages to society in its early ages, and no doubt produced them. The Mendicants have done good service both as Clergymen and as Missionaries, especially during the thirteenth and fourteenth cen- turies ...... 698-9 Even at the beginning of the reformation, the Church was not wholly destitute of piety; (1.) the principles of Mysticism were perpetuated through all ages of the Church, and this tendency " upon the whole was greatly favourable to religious excellence ; (2 ) the lower orders of the Clergy, where the great mass of the piety of the Church doubtless resided, are necessarily condemned to obscurity, while the more ambitious and less spiritual part of the Ministry is that which alone meets the observation of the his- torian ...... 700-1-2 SECTION III. On various Attempts to reform or subvert the Church. I. On those which were made by the Church itself in the Councils of Pisa, Constance, Basle, and the Fifth Lateran. To what a xl ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. A.D. PAGtf narrow field they were confined how feebly they touched even that which they designed to heal how they were arrested and eluded by the Papal party .... 702-3 That resistance occasioned the Reformation, since which event many great improvements have taken place in the Roman Catholic system ...... 704-5 II. Many attempts have been made to trace the continuity of the Protestant principles to the Apostolical times, principally through the Vaudois ; yet the existence of these cannot be ascer- tained with any historical confidence before the twelfth century 705-6 7 If any connexion with the earliest times could be made out through the Albigeois, or through the Mystics, still this would not be a connexion with the Apostolical Church . . 707-8 A Note on the Eleventh Book of Bossuet's Variations . . 705 III. On the treatment of Heretics by the Church . . 709 The third Canon of the fourth Lateran Council received the sanc- tion of the Civil Authorities, and thus united them in the same conspiracy. On the principle of the necessary ' Unity of the Church,' persecution could not be avoided ; the Laity co-operated ; and the spirit was never more decided than in the fifteenth age 709-10 IV. Some individual reformers of the fifteenth century. John of AVesalia was condemned and imprisoned. John Wesselus of Groningen is mentioned with very high respect by Luther. An instance of his disinterestedness . . . 711-12 John Laillier published at Paris some opinions which were cen- sured by the Faculty. He was condemned, and subsequently re- tracted. Jerome Savonarola obtained extraordinary influence as a prophet and a demagogue at Florence. His interview with Charles VIII. of France, and address to that Monarch. The circum- stances of his overthrow, condemnation and execution 713-14-15-16 John Reuchlin and his admirer Erasmus . . .717 V. The abuses of the Church were particularly felt and detested in Germany. The political interests of the Empire and Popedom had been almost always at variance. The Concordats had been violated or eluded by the Popes. The people of Germany had become more generally enlightened, and thirsted for the Scriptures. The Church reposed in indolent security. Leo X. had not the cha- racter which the exigencies of his establishment required ; and the moment for the Reformation was arrived. 717-720 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. INTRODUCTION. AN attempt to compress into a few of these numbers the ecclesiastical history of fifteen centuries, requires some previous explanation, lest any should imagine that this undertaking has been entered upon rashly, and without due consideration of its difficulty. This is not the case ; I am not blind to the various and even opposite dangers which beset it ; and least of all am I insensible to the peculiar and most solemn importance of the subject. But I approach it with deliberation as well as reverence, willing to consecrate to God's service the fruits of an insufficient, but not careless diligence, and also trusting, by His divine aid, to preserve the straight path which leads through truth unto wisdom. The principles by which 1 have been guided require no preface ; they will readily develop themselves, as they are the simplest in human nature. But, respecting the general plan which has been followed in the conduct of this work, a few words appear to be necessary. In the first place I have abandoned the method of division by centuries, which has too long per- plexed ecclesiastical history, and have endeavoured to regulate the parti- tion by the dependence of connected events, and the momentous revolu- tions which have arisen from it. It is one advantage in this plan, that it has very frequently enabled me to collect under one head, to digest by a single effort, and present, in one uninterrupted view, materials bearing in reality upon the same point, but which, by the more usual method, are separated and distracted. It is impossible to ascertain the proportions or to estimate the real weight of any single subject amidst the events which surround it it is impossible to draw from it those sober and applicable conclusions which alone distinguish history from romance, unless we bring the corresponding portions into contact, in spite of the interval which time may have thrown between them : for time has scattered his lessons over the records of humanity with a profuse but careless hand, and both the diligence and the judgment of man must be exercised to collect and arrange them, so as to extract from their combined qualities the true odour of wisdom. It is another advantage in the method which I have adopted, that it affords greater facility to bring into relief and illustrate matters which are really important and have had lasting effects ; since it is chiefly by fixing attention and awakening reflexion on those great phenomena which have not only stamped a character on the age to which they belong, but have influenced the conduct and happiness of after ages, that history asserts her prerogative above a journal or an index, not permitting thought to be dispersed nor memory wasted upon a minute narration of detached incidents and transient and inconsequential details. And, in this matter, I admit that my judgment has been very freely exercised in proportioning the degree of notice to the permanent weight and magnitude of events. B 2 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Introcl. As regards the treatment of particular branches of this subject, all readers are aware how zealously the facts of ecclesiastical history have been disputed, and how frequently those differences have been occasioned or widened by the peculiar opinions of the disputants. Respecting- the former, it is sufficient to say that the limits of this work obviously prevent the author from pursuing and unfolding all the intricate perplexities of critical controversy. I have, therefore, generally contented myself, in ques- tions of ordinary moment, with following,, sometimes even without com- ment, what has appeared to me to be the more probable conclusion, and of signifying it as probable only. Respecting the latter, I have found it the most difficult, as it is certainly among the weightiest of my duties, to trace the opinions which have divided Christians in every age regarding matters of high import both in doctrine and discipline. But it seems needless to say that I have scarcely, in any case, entered into the argu- ments by which those opinions have been contested. It is no easy task, through hostile misrepresentation, and the more dangerous distortions of friendly enthusiasm, to penetrate their real character, and delineate their true history. For the demonstration of their reasonableness or absurdity I must refer to the voluminous writings consecrated to their explanation. This history, extending to the beginning of the Reformation, will be divided into five Parts or Periods. The first will terminate with the acces- sion of Constantine. It will trace the propagation of Christianity ; it will comprehend the persecutions which afflicted, the heresies which disturbed, the abuses which stained the early Church, and describe its final triumph over external hostility. The second will carry us through the age of Charlemagne. We shall watch the fall of the Polytheistic system of Greece and Rome; we shall examine with painful interest the controversies which distracted the Church, and which were not suspended even while the scourge from Arabia was hanging over it, and that especially by which the East was finally alienated from Rome. In the West, we shall observe the influx of the Northern barbarians, and the gradual conquest accom- plished by our religion over a second form of Paganism. We shall notice the influence of feudal institutions on the character of that Church, the commencement of its temporal authority, and its increasing corruption. Our third period will conduct us to the death of Gregory VII. And here I must observe, that, from the eighth century downwards, our attention will, for the most part, be occupied by the Church of Rome, and follow the fluctuations of its history. About 270 years compose this period the most curious, though by no means the most celebrated, in the papal annals. From the foundations established by Charlemagne, the amazing pretensions of that See gradually grew up ; in despite of the crimes and disasters of the tenth century, they made progress during those gloomy ages, and finally received development and consistency from the extraor- dinary genius of Gregory. Charlemagne left behind him the rudiments of the system, without any foresight of the strange character which it was destined to assume ; Gregory grasped the materials which he found lying before him, and put them together with a giant's hand, and bequeathed the mighty spiritual edifice, to be enlarged and defended by his successors. 'I he fourth part will describe the conduct of those successors, as far as the death of Boniface VIII., and the removal of the seat of government t<> \ M^uon. This is the era of papal extravagance and exultation. It during this space (of about 220 years) that all the energies of the in full action, and exhibited the extent of good and of evil of which it was capable. It was then especially that the spirit of Monachism Introd.], A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 3 burst its ancient boundaries, and threatened to quench the reviving sparks of knowledge, and to repel the advancing tide of reason. The concussion was indeed fearful ; the face of the Church was again darkened by the blood of her martyrs, and the rage of bigotry was found to be more destructive than the malice of Paganism. The last division will follow the decline of papal power, and the general decay of papal principles ; and in this more grateful office, it will be my most diligent, perhaps most profitable, task, to examine the various attempts which were made by the Roman Church to reform and regenerate itself, and to observe the perverse infatuation by which they were thwarted ; until the motives and habits which attached men to their ancestral superstitions at length gave way, and the banners of reason were openly unfurled in holy allegiance to the Gospel of Christ. There is a sober disposition to religious moderation and warm but dis- passionate piety, with which the book of Ecclesiastical History must ever inspire the minds of those who approach it without prejudice, and meditate on it calmly and thoughtfully. May some portion of that spirit be com- municated to the readers of the following pages ! May they learn to dis- tinguish the substance of Christianity from its corruptions to perceive that the religion is not contaminated by the errors or crimes of its pro- fessors and ministers, and that all the evils which have ever been inflicted upon the world in the name of Christ, have invariably proceeded from its abuse! The vain appendages which man has superadded to the truth of God, as they are human so are they perishable ; some have fallen, and all will gradually fall, by their own weight and weakness. This reflexion will serve, perhaps, to allay certain apprehensions. From the multitude of others which suggest themselves, I shall select one only. The readers of this work will observe, from the experience of every age of Christianity, that, through the failings and variety of our nature, diversity in religious opinion is inseparable from religious belief; they will observe the fruitlessness of every forcible attempt to repress it; and they will also remark, that it has seldom proved dangerous to the happiness of society, unless when civil authority has interfered to restrain it. The moral effect of this great historical lesson can be one only uncontentious, unlimited moderation a tem- perate zeal to soften the diversities which we cannot possibly prevent a fervent disposition to conciliate the passions where we fail to convince the reason ; to exercise that forbearance which we surely require ourselves, and constantly to bear in mind that in our common pursuit of the same eternal object, we are alike impeded by the same human and irremediable imper- fections. GEORGE WADDINGTON. Trinity College, Cambridge. 132 PART I. FROM THE TIMES OF THE APOSTLES TO THE ACCESSION OF CONSTANTINE. CHAPTER 1. The Propagation of Christianity. M, n H of trofttimr the subject. (1.) Church of Jerusalem Its earliest members Death of St. J -ime< SuccSn of Svmeon-Destruction of the city by Titus-Succession to Pella-Bishops The"circumcision Destruction of the city by Adrian JElia Capitolina-Second succession of Bishops-Conclusion. (2.) Church of Antioch-Its foundation and progress-Ignatius-Theo- 5 _MesoDotamia Pretended correspondence between the Saviour and Abgarus, Prince of Edessa (3 ) Church of Ephesus The Seven Churches of Asia The latest years of St. John- Piety' and progress of the Church of Ephesus Polycrates His opposition to Rome. (4.) Church of Smyrna Polycarp His Martyrdom Sardis Melito Hierapolis Papias Apollinans Bithyn'ia Testimony of the younger Pliny. (5.) Church of Athens Character of the people Ouadratus Aristides Athenagoras Their apologies Other Grecian Churches. (6.) Church of Corinth Character of the people Nature of their dissensions Clemens Romanus His Epistle F orm of Government Dionysius of Corinth Seven general Epistles Remarks. (7.) Church of Rome The persecution of Nero described by Tacitus Martyrdom of St. Paul and St. Peter- Probable effect of this persecution Extent of Romish superiority over other Churches Contro- versy respecting Easter Conduct of Victor, Bishop of Rome Irenseus France Church of Lyons. (8.) Church of Alexandria St. Marc Its increase and importance Epistle of Hadrian Remarks on it Education of the first Christians Panttenus Clemens Alexandrinus The Church of Carthage. CHAPTER II. On the Numbers, Discipline, Doctrine, and Morality of the Primitive Church. (1.) General view of the extent of the Church Facility of intercourse favourable to Christianity Other circumstances Miraculous claims of the Church To what limits tbey ought to be con- fined. (2.) Government of the Primitive Church During the time of the Apostles After their Death Deacons Distinction of Clergy and Laity Earliest form of Episcopal Government Independence of the first Churches Institution of Synods Their character and uses The evil supposed to have arisen from them Metropolitans Excommunication Supposed community of property Ceremonies of religion Feasts and fasts Schools. (3.) Creeds The Apostles' Creed Baptism The Eucharist The Agapse. (4.) Morality of the first Christians Testimonies of St. Clement Pliny Bardeanes Chastity Exposure of infants Charity The earliest con- verts among the lower orders The progress of the faith was upwards Testimony of Lucian in history of Peregrinus Suffering courage. CHAPTER III. The progress of Christianity from the year 200 A. D. till the Accession of Constantine, A. D. 313. Incipient corruption of the Church Reasons for it Its extent External progress of religion in Asia and in Europe Claims, character, and prosperity of the Church of Rome That of Alex- andria. Origen his character Industry Success Defect The Church of Carthage Tertul- lian His character Heresy Merits. Cyprian Government of the Church Increase of epis- copal power, or, rather, influence Degeneracy of the Ministers of Religion exaggerated Insti- tution of inferior orders Division of the people into Faithful and Catechumens Corruption of the sacrament of Baptism Effect of this The Eucharist Daemons Exorcism Alliance with philosophy Its consequences. Pious frauds Their origin Excuses for such corruptions Eclectic philosophy Ammonius Saccas Plotinus Porphyry Compromise with certain philoso- phersThe Millennium The writings of the early Fathers Apologies. CHAPTER IV. On the Persecutions of several Roman Emperors. Claims of Roman Paganism to the character of tolerance examined Theory of pure Polytheism Roman policy Various laws of the Republic continued under the emperors Mectenas Re- marks The ten persecutions how many general That of Nero its character Of Domitian The grandsons of St. Jude The epistle of Pliny to Trajan His answer Real object of Trajan- Letter of Serenius Granianus to Hadrian Antoninus Pius. Marcus Antoninus Gibbon's par- tialityReal character of this persecution compared with those preceding it His principles and knowledge, and superstition His talents and virtues Connection of his philosophy and his intolerance Commodus Decius His persecution accounted for its nature Valerian Mar- tyrdom of Cyprian Persecution of Diocletian Its origin and motives Influence of Pagan priesthood Progress of the persecution Its mitigation by Constantius, and final cessation at the accession of Constantine. General remarks Unpopularity of the Christians accounted for Calumnies by which they suffered Their contempt of all false gods Change in the character of their adversaries Philosophy Excuses advanced for the persecutors their futility General character of persecuting emperors Absurd opinions on this subject Effect of the persecutions upon the whole favourable For what reasons. CHAPTER V. On the Heresies of the three first Centuries. Meaning of the word Heresy Charges of immorality brought against Heretics Their treatment by early Church Number of early Heresies Moderation of the primitive Church Three classes of Heretics. (1.) Two kinds of Philosophy Gnosticism Origin and nature of that doctrine its association with Christianity Moral practice of the Gnostics Their martyrs Various forms of CJnoBtlciHm Husilides. Carpocrates Valentinus Cerdo and Marcion Tatian and the Encra- te. (t.) The Kbionites Eusebius's account of them Conclusions from it The Heresy of Artemon revived by Paul of Samosata his sentence and expulsion how finally enforced He- nueas Doctrines of the Church stated by Tertullian Sabellius his opinions Patro- ans. (8.) Simon Mugus Montanus his preaching and success Controversy on the Baptism eticH The Novutians their schism and opinions Conclusions respecting the general he early Heresies, and the manner of opposing them On the Fathers of the primi- irch Real importance of their writings Shepherd of Hernias Epistle of St. Barna- bas Jgnatiubl'ulycurij Clement of Rome Respecting their doctrine Ireneeus. PART I. FROM THE TIMES OF THE APOSTLES TO THE ACCESSION OF CoNSTANTINE CHAPTER I. The Pro2^agation of Christianity* IT is our object in this chapter to state what is material in the early history of such of the Churches of Christ, whether founded by the apostles themselves, or their companions, or their immediate successors, as were permitted to attain importance and stability during the first two centuries. For this purpose we have not thought it necessary to describe the circum- stances which are detailed in the sacred writings, and are familiar to all our readers. The Churches which seem to claim our principal attention are eight in number, and shall be treated in the following order : Jerusalem and Antioch, Ephesus and Smyrna, Athens and Corinth, Rome and Alexandria ; but our notice will be extended to some others, according to their connexion with these, their consequence, or local situation. It is thus that we shall gain our clearest view of the progress made by infant Christianity, and the limits within which it was restrained. (1.) The converts of Jerusalem naturally formed the earliest Christian society, and for a short period probably the most numerous ; but the Mosaic jealousy which repelled the communion of the Gentile world, and thus occasioned some internal dissensions, as well as the increasing hostility of the Jewish people and government, no doubt impeded their subsequent increase. The same causes operated, though not to the same extent, on the Churches established in other parts of Palestine, as in Galilee and Caesarea, and even on those of Tyre, Ptolemais, and Csesarea. About the year 60 A.D., James, surnamed the Just, brother of the Saviour, who was the first President or Bishop of the Church of Jerusalem, perished by a violent death*; and when its members t subsequently assembled for the purpose of electing his successor, their choice fell on Symeon, who is also said to have been a kinsman of Jesus. Shortly after the death of St. James an insurrection of the Jews broke out, which was followed by the invasion of the Roman armies, and was not finally suppressed until the year 70, when the city was overwhelmed by Titus, and utterly destroyed. During the continuance of this war, as well as through the events which concluded it, the Holy Land was subjected to a variety and intensity of suffering, to which no parallel can be found in the records of any peoplej. * Le Clerc, H. E. (vol. i. p. 415) ad aim. 62, in which year he places the death of St. James, and affirms that nothing is known respecting its manner. The state of the question is this : Eusebius (lib. ii. cap. 23) , on the authority of Hegesippus (a Jewish convert who wrote under the Antonines) gives a very long and circumstantial narration of the Bishop's martyrdom ; of the circumstances many are clearly fabulous, and all may be suspected ; but the leading fact, that St. James was killed in a tumult of the Jews, it would not be safe to reject. His violent end, with some variation in particulars, is confirmed by Josephus, Antiq. b. xx. chap. 9. f Eusebius (lib. iv. cap. 11) places the election of Symeon (&>s Xoyos xurl%&i) after the destruction of Jerusalem, which he makes immediately subsequent to St. James's martyr- dom ; the Jewish rebellion probably was so. In the same book (cap. 32) he relates the martyrdom of Symeon during the reign of Trajan, at the age of 120 again on the autho- rity of Hegisippus. This author wrote five books of ecclesiastical history. Such a work by a judicious writer of that age would have been invaluable, but the fragments preserved to us by Eusebius persuade us that Hegisippus was not so. It is sufficient to refer to the history of Josephus, 6 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. I A short time before the Roman invasion, we are informed * that the Christian Church seceded from a spot which prophecy had taught to hold devoted, and retired to Pella, beyond the Jordan. From this circumstance it becomes at least probable, that the Christians did not sustain their full share of the calamities of their country ; but though their proportion to the whole population may thus have been increased, their actual numbers could not fail to be somewhat diminished, since they could not wholly withdraw themselves from a tempest directed indiscriminately against the whole nation. During the next sixty years we read little respecting the Church of Jerusalem, except the names of fifteen successive presidents, called ' Bishops of the Circumcision ;' fourteen of these only belong to the period in question, since they begin with James : and they appear to end at the second destruction of the city by the emperor Adrianf. But the times of these successions are extremely uncertain, as the first Christians had little thought of posterity^, nor were any tabularies preserved in their Churches, nor any public acts or monuments of their proceedings. The Church over which they presided seems to have perished with them ; but there is still reason to believe that it was riot numerous, and we may attribute its weakness partly to the continued action of the two causes abovemeritioned, and partly to the absolute depopulation of the country. Yet it would appear from Scripture that some sort of authority was at first exercised by the Mother Church over her Gentile children j and that ' the decrees ordained by the apostles and elders which were at Jeru- salem ' found obedience even among distant converts. On the summit of the sacred hill, out of the ruins which deformed it, Adrian erected anew city, to which he gave the new and Roman title oi jiElia Capitolina||, thinking perhaps that he should erase from all future history the hateful name of Jerusalem, or that a city with a more civilized appellation would be inhabited by less rebellious subjects, or that the contumacy of the Jews was associated with the name of their capital. A new Church was then established, composed no longer of Jews, but of Gentiles only, and was governed by a new succession of bishops, as obscure and as rapid as that which we have mentioned. Their names are also transmitted to us by the diligence of Eusebius ^[, but none with any distinction except Narcissus, the fifteenth in order, who flourished about the year 180, and of whom some traditionary miracles** are recorded. * Euseb. lib. iv. c. 5. Le Clerc places this secession in the year 66. Semler (sect. 1) fixes the beginning of the Jewish war in 64. The Christians probably retired, as the war became more obstinate, and advanced nearer to Jerusalem. | Euseb. lib. iv. c. 5. { This is the complaint of Le Clerc, ad aim. 135. And in fact the two most prominent features iu the histories of Christians, during the three first centuries, are their divisions and their persecutions. These subjects we shall examine in separate chapters, and all that can be confidently asserted on other points we are contented to glean from Eusebius and some writers of ambiguous authority who are quoted by him, from the apologies, epistles, aud treatises of the early fathers, and from a few fragments of profane antiquity. $ Acts xvi. 4, || Kcclesiastical writers differ about the date of this event. Semler (cent, ii.) places it in 1 I VIMF 119. Fluury (liv. iii. sect. 24.) mentions yElia Capitolina as existing previous to the rebellion of Barcochabas, but still as the work of Adrian. Le Clerc (ad ami. 1 19) teems to waver (ad ann. 134) decidedly fixes the foundation for that year, and attributes the ' ;"' "MI s of the Juws to that cause. Those commotions certainly broke out in 132, aud IT soon fluelbd ; but both Mosheim and Uasnage (Ann. Polit. Eccles. A. 132, vol. ii. ' . . . 7'lj consider llm foundation of the new city to have been immediately subsequent to the rebeUbm. Probably Le Clerc is right, as he admits too that the city was finally esta- blished in 1 7 1, iiftt-r the insurrection (ad ami. 174) See Euseb. H. E. lib. vi. c. 6. ff II. K. lib. v. c. 12. ** Kusebi n. E. lib. vi. c. 9. Chap. I.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 7 Such are the imperfect accounts which remain to us respecting the early history of the Church in Palestine ; but, imperfect as they are, we are enabled to collect from them that the progress of Christianity in that stubborn soil was slow, and its condition uncertain and fluctuating. And this conclu- sion is confirmed by the direct assertion of Justin Martyr, a Samaritan proselyte of the second century, our best authority for that age and country, who expressly assures us that the converts in Judaea and Sama- ria were inferior, both in number and fidelity, to those of the Gentiles. ' We behold the desolation of JudaBa, and some from every race of men who believe the teaching of Christ's Apostles, and have abandoned their ancient customs in which they fell astray. We behold ourselves, too, and we perceive that the Christians among the Gentiles are more numerous and more faithful than among the Jews and Samaritans.' He then pro- ceeds to account for the fact, ' that none of these have believed excepting some few,' by appeal to the prophetic writers*. (2.) From the spectacle of the infidelity and devastation of Palestine, foretold by so many prophecies, and truly designated by Jortin as an ' event on which the fate and credit of Christianity depended/ we turn to the more grateful office of tracing its advance, and celebrating its success. We may consider the neighbouring Church of Antioch to have been founded about 40 A. D.t by St. Paul and St. Barnabas. It was there that the converts first assumed the name of Christian, and the first act which is recorded respecting them was one of charity to their suffering brethren in Judaea. In a mixed population of Greeks, and natives unfettered by the prejudices of Judaism, our holy faith made a rapid and steady pro- gress. In the residence of the Prefect of Syria, under the very eye of the civil government, it is probable that the infant society was protected against the active hatred of the Jews ; arid there can be no doubt that its early prosperity was greatly promoted by the zeal of its second bishop, Ignatius. This ardent supporter of the faith, the contemporary, and, as we are informed, the friend of some of the Apostles, presided over the Church of Antioch for above thirty years, and at length was led away to Rome, and perished there, a willing and exulting martyr. He fell in the persecution of Trajan, in the year 107 J. During his journey through Asia to Rome he addressed epistles to some of the Christian Churches, in which we may still discover the animated piety of the author, through the inter- polations with which the party zealots of after times have disfigured them. The fourth bishop in succession from Ignatius was Theophilus, a learned convert from paganism, more justly celebrated for his books to Autolycus in defence of Christianity, than for his attack on the heresies of Marcion and Hermogenes. Under such guidance the Church of Antioch became numerous and respectable; and from the ordinary course of events we may reasonably infer, that the religion which was popular in the capital of Syria obtained an easy and general reception throughout the province . * Apol. i., ch. 53. f Le Clerc, Hist. Eccl. t. i., p. 347 (ann. 40). Semler places the foundation of the Church in 39. In spite of Scripture (Acts xi. 21, 22, &c.) Baronius claims the honour for St. Peter, and is confuted by Basnage, vol. i., p. 502. (ad ann. 40). $ Le Clerc (Ssec. Sec. ann. 116) fixes this event after the earthquake in 116, which destroyed a great part of the city, and was attributed by the heathen priesthood to the ' impiety ' of the Christians. Pearson, Pagi, and Fabricius are of the same opinion. But that of Tillemont, Du Pin and Cave, which we follow, is more probable, and is confirmed by Lardner (p. ii., c. v.) But Basnage, after all, is right, when he candidly places ' the year of Ignatius's death among the obscurities of chronology.' Hist. Polit. Eccles., ann. 107, sect. 6. Even before his journey to Macedonia we read that ( Paul went through Syria, and Cilitia, confirming the churches,' Acts xv, 41. 8 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. I. A correspondence between our Saviour himself and Abgarus, a prince of Edessa in Mesopotamia, is delivered to us at the end of the first book of Eusebius, as copied from the public records of the city. The genuine- ness of the correspondence has long ceased to find any advocate, and this is probably among the earliest of the many pious frauds which have disgraced the history of our Church ; but the existence of the forged record in the archives of Edessa has never been disputed ; and, as it is clearly the work of a Christian intending to do honour to the founder of his religion, it proves at least how early was the introduction of that religion into the province of Mesopotamia. (3.) The seven Churches of Asia mentioned in the Revelation are, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. Of Pergamus and Thyatira little subsequent mention is made in history ; the other five, and especially the two first, are distinguished among the most fruitful of the primitive communities. The Church of Ephesus, which was founded by St. Paul arid governed by Timothy, was blessed by the presence of St. John during the latest years of his long life. Of him it is related, on sufficient authority, that when his infirmities no longer allowed him to perform the offices of religion, he continued ever to dis- miss the society with the parting benediction, ' My children, love one another !' and there is nothing in the early hisiory of this Church to persuade us that the exhortation was in vain. In fact, Ignatius, during his residence at Smyrna, addressed an Epistle to the Ephesians, bearing testimony to their evangelical purity, and to the virtues of their bishop Onesimus. And it is important to add, that two other Epistles addressed at the same period to churches at Magnesia and Tralles (or Trallium), of more recent foundation, prove the continued progress of our faith in those regions, even after the last of the apostles had been removed from it. At the end of the second century we find that Ephesus still remained at the head of the Asiatic churches, and we observe its bishop, Polycrates, conducting them in firm but temperate opposition to the first aggression of the Church of Rome. (4.) It would appear from the Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnal order, and that his object was rather to increase the authority of the whole ministry than to elevate any branch of it. Chap. II.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 25 world, and the Bishop was not likely to disclaim the homage which would occasionally be offered to him. But it was not until the habit of acting in bodies made them sensible of their common interest and real power, that they ventured to assert such claims, and assumed a loftier manner in the government of their dioceses ; so that, though these synods were doubtless indispensable to the well-being of Christianity, they seem to have been the means of corrupting the original humility of its ministers ; and the method which was intended to promote only the eternal interests of the Church, promoted, in some degree, the worldly consideration of the order which governed it. This change began to show itself towards the end of the second century ; and it is certain that, at this period, we find the first complaints of the incipient corruption of the clergy*. On the other hand, there can be little doubt that the increased authority and influence of the hierarchy was highly serviceable to the whole body in periods of danger and persecution, and that in those times it was gene- rally exerted to excite the courage, and sustain the constancy of the faithful. Excommunication was the oldest weapon of ecclesiastical authority. Doubtless, every society has the right to expel its unworthy members ; and this right was of extreme use to the first Christians, as it gave them frequent opportunities of exhibiting to the heathen world the scrupulous- ness of their moral purity. But afterwards we know how dangerous an engine it became when wielded by weak or passionate individuals, and directed by caprice, or interest, or ambition. The question has been greatly controverted, whether an absolute com- munity of property ever subsisted in the Church. That it did so, is a favourite opinion of some Roman Catholic writers, who would willingly discover, in the first apostolical society, the model of the monastic system; and the same, to its utmost extent, has been partly asserted, and partly insinuated by Gibbon. The learned argument of Mosheimt disposes us to the contrary belief; and if the words of Scripture in one place J should seem to prove that such community did actually exist among the original converts in the Church of Jerusalem, we are obliged to infer from other passages , not only that it did not universally "prevail as one law of the whole Church, but that it gained no favour or footing in the several Churches which were founded elsewhere. This inference is generally con- firmed by the uninspired records of Christianity ; and it is indeed obvious that a society of both sexes, constituted on that principle, could not pos- sibly have had a permanent existence. The truth appears to be this, that the ministers of religion, and the poorer brethren, were maintained ,by contributions perfectly voluntary, and that a great and general intercourse of mutual support and charity prevailed, as well among the various Churches, as among the members of each. It is probable that the ceremonies of religion had somewhat outstripped their primitive simplicity, even before the conclusion of the second cen- tury. Some additions were introduced even thus early, out of a spirit of * From the moment that the interests of the ministers became at all distinguished from the interests of the religion, the corruption of Christianity may be considered to have begun. t Dissertationes ad Hist. Eccl. pertinentes, vol. ii. Mosheim's object is to prove that St. Luke means community of use, not of possession. Some suppose the passage in Acts v. 4 to be at variance with that opinion. I Acts iv. 32, 34, 35. Acts v. 4. ' After it was sold, was it not in thine own power ?' 26 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. II. conciliation with the various forms of Paganism which were beginning gradually to melt into Christianity ; but they were seemingly different in different countries; and it is not easy, or perhaps very important, to detect them with certainty, or to enumerate them with confidence. We shall, probably, recur to this subject at some future period, when we shall have stronger light to guide us. The first Christians were unanimous* in setting apart the first day of the week, as being that on which our Saviour rose from the dead, for the solemn celebration of public worship. This pious custom was derived from the example of the Church of Jerusalem, on the express appointment of the Apostles. On these occasions, portions of Scripture were publicly read to the people from the earliest age. The two most ancient feasts of the Church were in honour of the resur- rection of Christ, and of the descent of the Holy Spirit. At a period when belief must almost have amounted to knowledge, the first Christians, the companions of the Apostles, perhaps the disciples of our Saviour him- self, were so seriously and practically earnest in their belief, and so satis- fied of the generality of that belief, in the truth of those two mighty miracles, which have presented, perhaps, the greatest difficulties to the sceptical inquirers of after ages, as to establish their two first festivals in solemn commemoration of them. We find no mention of any public fast, except on the day of the cruci- fixion. The superstitious multiplication of such acts of mistaken devotion was the work of a later age. Christian schools existed in the second century, as well at Rome, Ephesus, and Smyrnaf, as at Alexandria; they were conducted on the model of the schools of philosophy, and even the terms, by which the different classes of the faithful were designated, were borrowed from these latter. There appears to have been as yet no costume peculiar to the ministers of religion. The bishops usually adopted the garb of the heathen phi- losophers. (3.) The first Christians used no written Creed ; the Confession of Faith, which was held necessary for salvation, was delivered to Creeds. children or converts by word of mouth, and entrusted to their memory. Moreover, in the several independent Churches, the rule of faith was liable to some slight changes, according to the opinion and discretion of the Bishop presiding in each. Hence it arose, that when the creeds of those numerous communities came at length to be written and compared together, they were found to contain some variations ; this was natural and necessary; but when we add that those variations were for the most part merely verbal, and in no instance involved any question of essential importance, we advance a truth which will seem strange to those who are familiar with the angry disputations of later ages. But the fact is easily accounted for, the earliest pastors of the Church drew their belief from the Scripture itself, as delivered to them by writing or preach- ing J, and they were contented to express that belief in the language of * Mosh. Gen. Hist., 1. i. p. ii. c. 4. t Iron, ad Florinum, ap. Euseb. 1. v. c. 20. Mosh. Gen. Hist., c. i. p. ii. ch. 3. t It is expressly affirmed by Eusebius (E. H. book iii. c. 24) that the four gospels were collected during the life of St. John, and that the three received the approbation of that apostle. And though there is great difficulty in ascertaining the precise period in -which all the hooks of the New Testament were collected into one volume, it is unquestionable that before the middle of the second century the greatest part of them were received as the rule of faith in every Christian society. Mosh. c. 1. p. ii. ch. 2. US fo " Chap. II.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. ^&7 JkJ^-^fr, 4J* y* Scripture. They were not curious to investigate that which is not clearly revealed, but they adhered firmly and faithfully to that which they knew to be true ; therefore their variations were without schism and their diffe^ ' - rences without acrimony. The creed which was first adopted, and that " perhaps in the very earliest age, by the Church of Rome, was that which is now 'called the Apostles' Creed, and it was the general opinion, from the fourth century downwards, that it was actually the production of those blessed persons assembled for that purpose ; our evidence* is not suf- ficient to establish that fact, and some writersf very confidently reject it. But there is reasonable ground for our assurance that the form of faith which we still repeat and inculcate was in use and honour in the very early propagation of our religion. The sacraments of the primitive Church were two those of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The ceremony of immersion (the oldest form of baptism) was performed in the name of the three Persons of the Trinity ; it was believed to be attended by the remission of original sin, and the entire regeneration of the infant or convert, by the passage from the land of bondage into the kingdom of salvation. A great proportion of those baptized in the first ages were, of course, adults, and since the Church was then scrupulous to admit none among its members, excepting those whose sincere repentance gave promise of a holy life |, the administration of that sacrament was in some sense accompanied by the remission, not only of the sin from Adam, but of all sin that had been previously com- mitted by the proselyte that is to say, such absolution was given to the repentance necessary for admission into Christ's Church. In after ages, by an error common in the growth of superstition, the efficacy inherent in the repentance was attributed to the ceremony, and the act which washed away the inherited corruption of nature was supposed to secure a general impunity, even for unrepented offences. But this double delusion gained very little ground during the two first centuries. The celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist was originally accom- panied by meetings which somewhat partook of a hospitable, or at least of a charitable character, and were called Agapa; or Feasts of Love. Every Christian, according to his circumstances, brought to the assembly portions of bread, wine, and other things, as gifts, as it were, or oblations to the Lord. Of the bread and wine such as was required for the admi- nistration of the sacrament was separated from the rest, and consecrated by the bishop alone ; its distribution was followed by a frugal and serious repast. Undoubtedly, those assemblies acted not only as excitements to ardent piety, but also as bonds of strict religious union and mutual devo- tion, during the dark days of terror and persecution. It was probably on those occasions, more than any other, that the sufferers rallied their scat- * Ignatius, Justin, and Irenseus make no mention of it, but they occasionally repeat some words contained in it, which is held as proof that they knew it by heart. See Cent. Magdeb., cent. i. lib. ii. c. 4. f As Mosheim, cent. i. p. ii. ch. 3 ; admitting however, (c. ii. p. ii. ch. 3) that the first teachers inculcated no other doctrines than those contained in what is commonly called the Apostles' Creed. I ' Whosoever are persuaded that those things are true which are taught and incul- cated by us, and engage to live according to them, are taught to pray to God, fasting, for the remission of their former sins, while we pray and fast with them. Then they are led by us to some place where water is, and are regenerated even as we ourselves were regenerated : f jV _ __ J 1 _ _ ' h J * il . J .il _ PJl 1T1J1 niljl T l,~i for they are then immersed in the water, in the name of the Father of all, the Lord God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Ghost.' Justin Martyr, Apol, i. ch. 61. Mosh., c. i. p. ii. ch. 4. Justin, Mart. Ap. 2. p. 98, 28 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, [Chap. II. tered ranks, and encouraged each other, by one solemn act of brotherly communion, to constancy in one faith and association in the same afflic- tions. We observe, moreover, that as the dangers passed away from the Church, that more social form* (if we may so express it) of eucharistical administration gradually fell into disuse. (4.) The morality of the primitive Church is the subject to which we proceed with high confidence and unalloyed satisfaction Morality, for since, in the various history on which we are entering, our admiration of the excellence of Christianity will be sometimes interrupted by sighs for the degeneracy of its professors, it is delightful to pause on that period when the faith, yet fresh from heaven, did really carry practice and devotion along with it a period which pre- ceded the birth of intestine persecution, and was unstained by the furious contests of sectaries ; which did not witness the superstitious debasement of the Church, or the vulgar vices of its ministers, or the burning passions of its rulers. We are taught, indeed, humbly to believe that at some future, and probably distant period, the whole world will be united in the true spirit and practice of Christianity ; but in reviewing the history of the past, we are compelled to confess that the only model at all approach- ing to that perfection is confined to the two first centuries of our faith, and that it began to fall off in excellence even before the conclusion of that period. But transient as it was, we still recur to it with pious satis- faction, and we rejoice both as men and as Christians that our nature has been found capable of such holy exaltation, and that our religion was the instrument which exalted it. Certainly the character of the first Christians, and we are not without guides who make us acquainted with it, presents to us a singular spec- tacle of virtue and piety, the more splendid as it was surrounded by very mournful and very general depravity. We cannot read either St. Cle- ment's description of the early condition of the Church of Corinth, or Origen's panegyric on that of Athens, without recognising a state of society and morality such as all the annals of paganism do not discover to us, and such as its principles (if it had any fixed principles) could not ever have created. The following lines are a quotation from the former. * You were all humble in spirit, nothing boasting, subject rather than subjecting, giving rather than receiving. Contented with the food of God, and carefully embracing his words, your feelings were expanded, and his sufferings were before your eyes so profound and beautiful the peace that was given to you, and so insatiable the desire of beneficence. Every division, eveiy schism was detestable to you ; you wept over the failings of your neighbours ; you thought their defects your own, and were impatient after every good work,' &c. It is true that soon after the period celebrated by this glowing descrip- tion, some dissensions disturbed the peace, and probably the morality, of the Church of Corinth but we have no reason to believe that they were of long duration, or left any lasting consequences behind them. The above passage refers to the Christians of Greece ; and there is a sentence in the letter of Pliny to Trajan, already quoted, giving still stronger testimony to the virtues of the Asiatics. ' They bind themselves by an oath, riot to the commission of any wickedness, but not to be guilty of theft, or robbery, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor to deny a pledge committed to them when called upon to return it/ * Acts ii.42. Mosheim, 1. c. Hinds' Early Ch. ; vol. ii, p. 211, &c. Chap. IT.] A HISTORY OP THE CHURCH. 29 Bardesanes *, a learned Christian of Mesopotamia, who lived in the time of Marcus Antoninus, has the following passage, preserved to us by Eusebius. * Neither do Christians in Parthia indulge in polygamy, though they be Parthians; nor do they marry their own daughters in Persia, though Persians. Among the Bactrians and the Gauls, they do not commit adultery ; but, wheresoever they are, they rise above the evil laws and customs of the country.' This is not only a very powerful, but almost an universal testimony in favour of Christian morality ; and there are some to whom its truth will appear the less questionable, because it comes from the pen of a heretic. The virtue of chastity, which however it may have been celebrated in the heroic ages of paganism, was certainly little reputed in the east, during the more enlightened rule of philosophy, was very rigidly cultivated by the primitive converts. This truth, which is generally attested by the passages above quoted, is made the subject of peculiar exultation by Justin Martyr f. But the continence of the first Christians did not dege- nerate into any superstitious practice ; yet it seems certain that, in the ages immediately subsequent, the simple principle of the Gospel began to be unreasonably exaggerated ; and somewhat later the progress of monas- ticism was forwarded by the exalted value placed on that virtue. So that excess of admiration blinded enthusiasts as to its real nature and cha- racter, and led them to invest it with perfections and pretensions which were at variance with the advancement and happiness of human society. The heathen governments, even the Roman, in its highest civilization, tolerated, and perhaps encouraged, the unnatural practice of exposing infants who in that condition were left, as it might happen, to perish from cold or starvation, or preserved for the more dreadful fate of public prostitution. This practice was held in deserved detestation by the fol- lowers of Christ J. Charity was the corner-stone of the moral edifice of Christianity, and its earliest characteristic ; and as this is still the virtue by which it is most distinguished, both publicly and privately, from every false religion, so we need not hesitate to avow that this of all its excellencies was the most efficient under Divine providence in its original establishment. Every Christian society provided for the maintenance of its poorer members ; and when the funds were not sufficient for this purpose, they were aided by the superfluities of more wealthy brethren . The same spirit which * preached the Gospel to the poor,' extended its provisions to their tem- poral necessities ; and so far from thinking it any reproach to our faith that it first addressed itself, by its peculiar virtues as well as precepts, to the lower orders of mankind, we derive from this very fact our strongest argument against those who would persuade us that the patronage of kings was necessary for its establishment : it rather becomes to us matter of pious exultation that its progress was precisely in the opposite direc- tion. By far the majority of the early converts were men of low rank ; and their numbers were concealed by their obscurity, until they became too powerful to dread persecution. Every step which they took was upwards. Until the middle of the second century, they could scarcely * Euseb. H. E., 1. iv., c. 30. t C. 15. Apol. A. I Justin Martyr, Apol. A., c. 27. Our readers will recollect that Dionysius of Corinth, in his Epistle to the Romans, desires them to continue the custom established from the beginning 1 , ot % sending charitable contributions to all churches. 3o A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. II. discover among their thousands one learned man. From the schools they advanced into the senate, and from the senate to the throne ; and they had possessed themselves of every other office in society, before they attained the highest. It is important to attend to this fact, that we may not be misled ; it is important to observe, that the basis from which the pyramid started up was the faith arid constancy of the common people the spirit of the religion, and the earliest government of the Church, was popular ; and it is in its earliest history that we find those proofs of general moral purity on which we now dwell with the more pleasure, because, in the succeeding pages, the picture will never again be pre- sented to us. We will make one short extract from the writings of a very witty pagan of the second century, which throws great light on the character of the Christians of that age. Lucian, who considered every form of worship as equally an object of ridicule, tells a story of one Peregrinus, who had been expelled from his country, Armenia, for the most horrible crimes ; who thence wandered into Palestine, became acquainted with the doctrine of the Christians, and affected to embrace it. Being a man of talents and education, he acquired great influence among their illiterate body ; and, in consequence, he soon attracted the notice of the Roman governor, and was thrown into prison for being a Christian. In prison he is repre- sented to have been consoled by the pious charity of the faithful : * There came Christians, deputed from many cities in Asia, to relieve, to encourage, and to comfort him, for the care and diligence which the Christians exert on these occasions is incredible in a word, they spare nothing. They sent, therefore, large sums to Peregrinus, and his con- finement was an occasion of amassing great riches ; for these poor crea- tures are firmly persuaded they shall one day enjoy eternal life; therefore they despise death with wonderful courage, and offer themselves volunta- rily to punishment. Their first lawgiver has taught them that they are all brethren, when once they have passed over and renounced the gods of the Greeks, and worship that Master of theirs who was crucified, and regulate their manner and conduct by his laws. They despise, therefore, all earthly possessions, and look upon them as common, having received such rules without any certain grounds of faith. Therefore, if any juggler, or cunning fellow, who knows how to make his advantage of opportunity, happens to get into their society, he immediately grows rich ; because it is easy to abuse the simplicity of these silly people.' We have no reason to complain of such description from the pen of an ad- versary ; for, on the one hand, it attributes to our ancestors in faith boundless charity, zeal inexhaustible, brotherly love, contempt of death, and of all earthly possessions, and a steady adherence to the faith and precepts of Christ ; on the other hand, it lays no charge against them except simplicity, the usual associate of innocence. There is one quality mentioned in the above passage which we shall take occasion to notice hereafter, without entirely overlooking it now, the suffering courage of the persecuted. We consider it a strong proof of the lively faith of the sufferers in the atoning merits of their Saviour, since it could seldom proceed from any other conviction than that the change which they were about to undergo would lead them to a state of recompense ; a confidence which seems scarcely consistent with the con- sciousness of unrepented sin. Such, at least, we know to have been the impression sometimes produced on the more enlightened, even among the heathen spectators. The ancient author of the Second Apology, attributed Chap. II.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 31 to Justin Martyr, urges this proof with much fervour and reason * ; and the conversion of Justin himself is, in a great degree, ascribed to the persuasion of Christian excellence and sincerity, wrought in him by those awful spectacles. We shall conclude this chapter by a quotation from his First Apology (c. xiv.) : * We who formerly rejoiced in licentiousness, now embrace discretion and chastity ; we who rejoiced in magical arts, now devote ourselves to the unbegotten God, the God of goodness ; we who set our affections upon wealth and possessions, now bring into the common stock all our property, and share it with the indigent ; we, who, owing to the diversity of customs, would not partake of the same hearth with those of a different race, now, since the appearance of Christ, live together, and pray for our enemies, and endeavour to persuade those who unjustly hate us, that, by leading a life conformed to the excellent precepts of Christianity, they may be filled with the good hope of obtaining the same happiness with ourselves from that God, who is Lord above all things f.' CHAPTER III. The Progress of Christianity from the year 200, A.D. till the Accession of Constantine, A.D. 313. Incipient corruption of the Church Reasons for it Its extent External progress of religion in Asia and in Europe Claims, character, and prosperity of the Church of Rome That of Alex- andria. Origen His character Industry Success Defect. The Church of Carthage. Tertul- lian His character Heresy Merits. Cyprian. Government of the Church Increase of epis- copal power, or, rather, influence Degeneracy of the Ministers of Religion exaggerated Institution of inferior orders Division of the people into Faithful and Catechumens Corruption of the sacrament of Baptism Effect of this The Eucharist Daemons Exorcism Alliance with phi- losophy Its consequences. Pious frauds Their origin Excuses for such corruptions Eclectic philosophy Ammonius Saccas Plotinus Porphyry Compromise with certain philosophers The Millennium The writings of the early Fathers Apologies. RESERVING for subsequent consideration the persecutions and the heresies by which the early Church was disturbed, we shall now pursue its more peaceful annals as far as its establishment by the first Christian emperor. We have found it almost necessary to separate, and indeed widely to dis- tinguish the events of the two first from those of the third century, for nearly at this point are we disposed to place the first crisis in the internal history of the Church. It is true that the first operations of corruption are slow, and generally imperceptible, so that it is not easy to ascertain the precise moment of its commencement. But a candid inquirer cannot avoid perceiving that, about the end of the second and the beginning of the third century, some changes had taken place in the ecclesiastical system which indicated a departure from its primitive purity. Indeed, such a state of society as that which we have recently described could scarcely hope for permanent endurance, unless through a fundamental alteration in human nature and in the necessary course of human affairs. In addition to this, the very principles of Christianity prevented it from remaining stationary ; the spirit of the faith is active, penetrating, and progressive ; and thus, as it expanded itself in numerical extent as it rose in rank, in learning, in wealth as it came in contact with the people of all nations, and with all classes of the people, a great variety of human passions and motives was comprehended by it, which had no place * Cap. xii. f See also Lactant. Div. Inst., lib, iii. ; c. 26, 32 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. III. in its early existence. As it increased in the number of converts, the zeal of brotherly love and ardent charity became more contracted, since it could no longer be universally exerted. As it rose in rank, it lost that perfect equality among its members which formed the very essence of its original and best character false learning corrupted its simplicity, and wealth undermined its morality. If it gained in prosperity and worldly consideration, it resigned the native innocence arid freshness of childhood. We are far from intending to assert that any sudden demoralization or violent apostacy from its first principles took place in the Church during the third century far from it we feel even strongly assured that it still continued to embrace the great proportion of whatever was truly virtuous and excellent in the Roman empire*. But, in closely attending to its history, we observe that it becomes thenceforward the history of men rather than of things ; the body of the Church is not so much in view, but the acts of its ministers and teachers are continually before us. We read little of the clergy of the two first centuries ; they appear to have dis- charged their pastoral duties with silent diligence and disinterested piety. We learn their character, for the most part, from the effects of their labours ; and we find its ample' and indisputable record in the progress of their religion, and in the virtues of their converts. The progress of religion, indeed, continued, under easier circumstances, with equal rapidity ; and we have reason to believe that, before the time of Constantine, it was deeply rooted in all the eastern t provinces of the Roman, as well as in the Persian empire. Gibbon J has candidly acknowledged his error in attributing the conversion of Armenia to the reign of that emperor; and, perhaps, a more impartial reflexion on the mission of PantaBnus, which we have no reason to believe fruitless, would have led him to doubt his own accuracy when he makes a similar assertion respecting ^Ethiopia. The light of Christianity had certainly penetrated, with varying splendour, among the Bactrians, the Parthians, the Scy- thians, Germans, Gauls, and Britons ; the Goths of Mysia and Thrace were converted by missionaries from Asia, and laid aside, on the reception of the faith, the primeval barbarity of their manners . While the Church of Antioch retained, after the fall of Jerusalem, a nominal supremacy among the Christians of the east, that of Rome con- * ' Who will not confess (says Origen to Celsus) that the worst members of the Church, who are few in comparison with the better, are much more virtuous than those who compose the popular assemblies ? The Church of God, at Athens, if you will, is tranquil and peaceable, searching only to do God's pleasure: the Assembly of the Athenians is seditious, and bearing no comparison to it. The same is true of the Churches of Corinth and Alexandria, compared to the popular assemblies of those cities. So that, if we compare the senate of the Church with the senate of every city, we shall find the senators of the Church worthy to govern the city of God ; while the others have nothing in their morals which fits them for their rank, or places them above the ordinary qualities of citizens. And, if we carry the comparison further, we shall observe the immense moral superiority of the most dissolute and imperfect of the bishops and presbyters over the civil magistrates.' See Fleury, lib. vii., sec. 18. f Dionys. ap. Euseb., H. E., vii. 5. Dionysius was Bishop of Alexandria during the middle of the third century. Tillemont (vol. iii. p. 405), on the authority of Origen, asserts that the Christians, before the middle of the second century, not only had built a number of churches, but. had ventured in some places an assault upon temples, altars, and idols. | Vindication, p. 74. We give him credit for this admission, because the error was of his own discovery. He adds, ' The seeds of the faith were deeply sown here during the last and greatest persecution. Tiridates may dispute with Constantine the honour of being the first Christian sovereign.' Mosh. Gen. Hist., c. iii., p. i., ch. 1. The progress of Christianity in Gaul was not rapid. Kyen as late as the reign of Decius, we observe that it was necessary to send fresh missionaries from Home for the complete conversion of that country. Chap. III.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH* 33 tinned to advance, among the western churches, certain vague assertions of authority. On one occasion indeed, in the conviction of a heretical bishop, Paul of Samosata, its claims appear to have been indirectly en- couraged* by the Emperor Aurelian ; but they were not then acknow- ledged by any Christian Church, and were very warmly contested by Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage. That prelate maintained with equal zeal and truth the primitive equality of the churches. If the early Christians had for the most part derived the rudiments of their learning t from Alex- andria, their charitable exertions had been principally animated by the wealth and munificence of Rome. Those two cities appear still to have maintained their respective advantages. During the suspension of perse- cution, in the reign of Commodus, many great and opulent families were converted ; and we learn from an epistle of Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, that it was among his duties to provide for the maintenance of more than 1500 widows and mourners. J The excellencies of the religion con- tributed to its progress, and so rapid at this period was that progress, that at the synod assembled at Rome in the year 251 to pronounce upon the heresy (or schism) of Novatian, sixty bishops, and a greater number of presbyters and deacons Were present, though the rustic pastors in the other districts held their separate meetings respecting the same question. Under such of the emperors as were not decidedly opposed to Christianity, a considerable number of its professors were to be found in the army and even at the court, since their profession did not exclude them from public preferment; and their assemblage for divine worship, in certain houses || set apart for that purpose, was permitted by the connivance of the civil magistrate.^ The best history of the Church of Alexandria during the first half of the third century, is furnished by the life of Origeri. That extraordi- nary person, the most eminent among the early fathers, was a Origen. native of Egypt,the son of one Leonidas, who suffered martyrdom in the year 202. "When in prison he received an epistle from his son, of which one sentence only is preserved to us. * Take heed, father, that you do not change your mind for our sake.' Origen was then about seventeen years old his religious instructions he had received from Clemens Alexan- drinus, his philosophical lore from Ammonius Saccas, and such proficiency had he made in both those studies, that he was called to preside over the Catechetical School of Christianity at the age of eighteen. He filled that office for nearly thirty years, and discharged its duties with zeal and genius so distinguished, with such fruitful diligence of composition, such persuasive- ness of oral eloquence, as to make it a question whether our religion was ever so much advanced, in point of numbers, by the mere intellectual * Euseb. H. E., 1. vii., c. 30. Pagi. ad aim. 271 , n. 3, 4. f The Catechetical School there established, was clearly the most important among the early literary institutions of Christianity. I faifioftivai. See Semler, vol. i., p. 66. The clergy of Rome then consisted of forty- six presbyters, seven deacons, seven sub-deacons, besides the inferior orders. Euseb. lib. vi., c. 43. Euseb., H. E., vi. 43. Novatus originated the heresy; Novatian carried it into a schism. See Tillem., vol. iii., p. 433 to 493. |l Mosh., cent, iii., p. ii., ch. 4. ^[ Mosh. c. iii., p. i., ch. 1 . The emperors during this age who were most favourable to Christianity were Caracalla, Heliogabalus, Alexander Severus, Gordian, and his two successors, the Philips. Respecting the first of these two, a great mass of authorities is adduced to prove that he had actually, though secretly, embraced the religion. D 34 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. III. exertions of any other individual.* He merited the honour of persecution, and had the double fortune to be expelled from his chair and country by the jealousy f of the Bishop Demetrius, and to be tortured in his old age by the brutality of a Roman emperor.! The works of Origen exhibit the operation of a bold and comprehensive mind, burning with religious warmth, unrestrained by any low prejudices or interests, and sincerely bent on the attainment of truth. In the main plan and outline of his course, he seized the means best calculated to his object, for his principal labours were directed to the collection of correct copies of the Holy Scriptures, to their strict and faithful translation, to the explanation of their numerous difficulties. In the two first of these objects he was sin- gularly successful ; but in the accomplishment of the last part of his noble scheme the heat of his imagination and his attachment to philoso- phical speculation carried him away into error and absurdity : for he applied to the explanation of the Old Testament the same fanciful method of allegory by which the Platonists were accustomed to veil the fabulous history of their gods. This error, so fascinating to the loose imagination of the East, was rapidly propagated by numerous disciples, and became the foundation of that doubtful system of theology, called Philosophical or Scholastic. The fame of Origen was not confined to his native country, or to the schools of philosophy, or to the professors of the Faith. MammaBa, the mother of the Emperor Alexander, sought a conference with him in Syria ; he was held in high repute at Rome ; his personal exertions were extended to Greece, and among the most fortunate efforts of his genius we may be allowed to mention, that when a numerous synod was twice convoked in Arabia on two occasions of heresy, Origen, who was present by invitation, was twice successful in convincing his opponents. His school gave birth to a number of learned men, Plutarch, Serenus, Hera- elides, Heron, who proved the sincerity and multiplied the followers of their religion, by the industry with which they adorned life, and the con- stancy with which they quitted it. The Latin Church of Carthage attained little celebrity till the end of the second century, when it was adorned by Tertullian ; Tcrtullian. and we find that, about that period, Christianity, which had already scattered its blessings along the banks of the Nile, and into the adjacent deserts, also made great|| progress along the * The diligent distribution of his translation of the Scriptures was among the most certain means of accomplishing that work. t Mosheim appears to think that, because Demetrius patronized Origen in his youth, it is not probable that he was jealous of him afterwards. I Decius. The reader may find a satisfactory account of the life and writings of Origen in Tillem. Mem., vol. iii. p. 494, 495. " He was followed by the same fate (says that author) after his death as during his life. The saints themselves were divided on that subject. Martyrs have made his defence, and martyrs have written his condemnation. The one party has regarded him as the greatest doctor possessed by the Church since the apostles : the other has execrated him as the parent of Arius and every other heresiarch, &c." Tillemont takes the favourable side. Euseb. II. E. vi. 19 and 37. Origen had also the credit of converting various other heretics, especially one Ambrose, whose errors had some celebrity at the moment. (] Tertullian in several places indulges in somewhat exaggerated descriptions of the multitude and power of the Christians throughout the empire. But when he tells Scapula, proconsul of Africa, that the dlcrt of continuing the persecution against the Christians would be to decimate the inhabitants of Carthage, he probably does not exceed the truth. Yet Carthage was at that time one of the youngest among the Churches. See Bishop Kaye, p. 92. Chap. III.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 35 northern coast of Africa. Tertullian is described by Jerome* as ' a man of eager and violent temper;' and he appears to have possessed the usual vice of such a temperament inconstancy. The same is the character of his writings ; they contain some irregular eloquence, much confidence of assertion, and a mixture of good with very bad reasoning. He wrote many tracts against heretics, and then adopted the opinions of the least rational of all heretics, the Montanists. But in spite of many imperfections, his genius, his zeal, and his industry place him at the head of the Latin fathers of that period; his moral writings must have been eminently serviceable to converts who had been educated with no fixed principles of morality j and his " Apology" is among the most valuable monuments of early Christianity. He appears to have been made a presbyter of the Church of Carthage about 192 A. D., at the age of forty-five. His secession from the Church may have taken place seven years afterwards, and some of his most valuable works were probably composed during the period of his heresy, f The fame of Tertullian was succeeded in the same Church, but not surpassed, by that of Cyprian, an African and a heathen, who was con- verted to Christianity late in life, and presently raised to the see of Car- thage about the year 250. It is said that he was exalted to that dangerous honour rather by the popular voice of the Church than by his own incli- nation : it is certain that, after a very short and disturbed possession of it, he suffered martyrdom with great fortitude in the reign of Valerian. An interesting and probably faithful account of his sufferings will be found in a later page. The government of the Church at the beginning of the third century was nearly such as we have described in the last chapter. The more important Churches were severally superin- Government. tended by a bishop, possessed of a certain, but not very definite degree of authority, who ruled in concert with the body of pres- byters, and even consulted on matters of great moment the opinion of the whole assembly. The provincial synods, of which we have spoken, com- posed of those bishops, assisted by a few presbyters, now began to meet with great regularity^ and to publish canons for the general ordination of ecclesiastical affairs. The Metropolitans gradually rose in consequence. Their dignity seems to have been conferred for life ; but their legitimate power was confined to the calling and presiding in councils, and the fraternal admonition of offenders. Still it was the natural consequence of this system, acting on human imperfection, that the occasional presidents insensibly asserted a general pre-eminence over the other bishops, which it became their next step to dispute with each other ; and that the other bishops, being now constantly distinguished from their presbyters by these synodical meetings, assumed both over them and the people a degree of ascendency not originally acknowledged, but which it was not difficult * Catalogus Script. Ecclesiast. f We acknowledge great obligations to Bishop Kaye for the manner in which he has brought within the reach of ordinary readers of theology the works of Justin and Tertul- lian. Whoever shall imitate his example in the treatment of the other principal Fathers, examining with the same learning, judgment, and moderation their merits and defects, and sifting from the various contents of their folios what is really valuable to the history and right understanding of religion, will complete an undertaking of incalculable use in the study of early Christianity. And at the same time he will perform a secondary, but not unworthy, office that of placing those writers in their just rank in literature a rank from which they are equally far removed by the enthusiasm of those who reverence them too highly, and by the ignorance of the more numerous party who scorn them altogether. $ Twice every year in the spring and autumn. D2 36 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. III. gradually to convert into authority. If we are to bestow on any individual the credit of having accomplished a change so natural and so nearly insen- sible, that distinction may possibly be due to Cyprian ; certain it is, that lie pleaded for episcopal supremacy with much more zeal and vehemence than had hitherto been employed in that cause.* It seems clear, indeed, from several of his epistles, f especially that addressed to Rogatian, that bishops possessed in his time, or at least in his Church, the power of sus- pending or deposing delinquents among the clergy ; yet even this was liable to some indefinite restrictions as to circumstance and custom, and to a direct appeal to a provincial council. And it does not appear that such power was frequently exerted without the consent of the presbyterial college, or * senate of the Church/ From these facts, compared with the assertions afterwards made by St. Jerome and St. Chrysostom, (which we have already mentioned,) we infer that the actual progress of episcopal usurpa- tion, during the third century, was much less than some have imagined or at least, that the power of the bishops grew chiefly through the growth of their influence, and was not yet publicly acknowledged by the constitu- tion of the Church.:}: We admit, however, with sorrowful reflection, that the individual con- duct of some, perhaps many, among the directors of the Church, during the course, and especially the conclusion, of this century, deserved the reprehensions of contemporary and succeeding writers. Some assump- tion of the ensigns of temporal dignity the splendid throne, the sump- tuous garments, the parade of external pomp indicated a departure from apostolical simplicity ; and a contentious ambition succeeded to the devoted humility of former days. And though we believe this evil to have been exaggerated by all the writers who have dwelt upon it, since the abuses which we have noticed could scarcely be carried to violent excess by an order possessing no legally recognised rights or property, we may still be convinced, by the institution of certain inferior classes in the ministry, such as subdeacons, acoluthi, readers, exorcists, and others, that the higher ranks had made some advances in luxurious in- dolence. || This deterioration in the character of the ministers was attended by a * Mosh. Gen. Hist. c. iii.p. ii. ch. 2. f Bingham, Ch. Antiq. b. ii. ch. 3. The apostolical canons confirm these pretensions, and so do certain canons of the councils of Nice, Sardica, Antioch, Chalcedon, and others ; but, according to the first and second councils of Carthage, the consent of three bishops was necessary for the censure of a deacon, of six for that of a presbyter, of twelve for that of a bishop. ' Ileliquorum Clericorum causas solus Episcopusloci agnoscatet finiat.' Cone. Carth. iii. Can. 8. Cyprian himself (Epist. v. p. 11. Ep. xiii. p. 23. Ep. xxviii. p. 29, and in many other places) avows that he cannot act without his council of presbyters and deacons, and the consent of the people. See Mosh. (De Reb. Christ, ant. Const, sec. iii. sec. xxiii. xxiv.) for a full examination of the principles and conduct of Cyprian. The writings of that prelate seem to have been more effectual in exalting the episcopal dignity in following times than during his own. ^ I We are disposed to attribute much of this increase of influence to a cause not suffi- ciently attended to by ecclesiastical writers, the judicial, or rather arbitrative, authority originally vested in the bishops by the consent of their people, and which would naturally extend its limits, as it was confirmed by time and usage. Origc.n. Comm. in Matthaeum, par.i. app. p. 420. 441, 442 ; Euseb. H.E. 1. viii.c. 1. Cyprian himself rates his contemporary prelates with great severity. (Laps. p. 239, &c.) The language of Mosheim, who is always extremely violent on this subject, will not bear CBnftd examination. GL-II. Hist. cent. iii. p. ii. ch.2. See also Tillem. vol. iii. p. 306. Tin.- jiniisu which Origen has bestowed on Christians generally, may be contrasted with his censures OM tin- clergy, and they will serve to moderate each other. || Mosh. dc Keb. Ch. ante Const, sec. iii. sect. 23. Chap. III.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 37 corresponding 1 change in the ceremonies of the Church. The division of the people into two classes, the Faithful and the Cate- chumens, was the practice, if not the invention, of the third Catechumejis. century. It was borrowed from the pagan principle of initiation ; and the outward distinction between those classes was this : that after the performance of public worship the latter were dismissed, while the former, the true and initiated Christians, remained to celebrate the mysteries* of their religion ; and this term is by some thought to have expressed not only the administration of the sacraments, but the delivery of some doctrinal instructions. The original simplicity of the office of baptism had already undergone some corruption. The symbol had been gradually exalted at the expense of the thing- signified, and the spirit of the ceremony was beginning to be lost in its form. Hence a belief was gaining ground among the converts, and was incul- cated among the heathen, that the act of baptism gave remission of all sinsf committed previously to it. It was not fit, then, that so important a rite should be hastily performed or inconsiderately received ; and, there- fore, the new proselytes were, in the first instance, admitted into a proba- tionary state under the name of Catechumens, whence they were chosen, according to their progress in grace, into the body of the Faithful. As long as they remained in that class, great care was taken to instruct them in the important truths, and especially in the moral obligations, of religion ; yet doubtless there would be some among them in whom the love of sin survived the practice of superstition,^: and such would naturally defer their baptism and their pardon until the fear of death, or satiety of enjoy- ment, overtook them. It is true, that baptism was not supposed to bestow any impunity for future sins ; on the contrary, the first offence committed after it required the expiation of a public confession, and the second was punished by excommunication. But if the hope and easy condition of pardon for the past tended, as it may have done, to fill the ranks of the catechumens, we may reasonably indulge the belief that the great majority were amended and perfected by the religious instruction which was then opened to them. About the same time, and from causes connected with this misappre- hension of the real nature of baptism, and the division of the converts, a vague and mysterious veneration began to attach itself to the other Sa- crament ; its nature and merits were exaggerated by those who adminis- tered and partook of it ; it was regarded with superstitious curiosity by those to whom it was refused ; and reports were already propagated of the mi- raculous efficacy of the consecrated elements. An opinion at this time became prevalent in the Christian world, that the demons, the enemies of man, were, in fact, the same beings whom the * The term mystery is in the Greek Church synonymous with sacrament. See Semler, Cent. iii. p. 63 ; and particularly Le Clerc, cent. ii. ami. 101. and ad aim. 118. Neither were the catechumens allowed to use the Lord's Prayer, which was even denominated ti>%v vno-Tuy, the prayer of the faithful. Chrysost. Horn. ii. in 2 Cor. p. 740. and Horn. x. in Coloss. For other references^see Bingham, Ch. Antiq. h. i. ch. 4. f Cyprian, Epistle 73. ' It is manifest when and by whom the remission of sins, which is conferred in baptism, is administered. They who are presented to the rulers of the Church obtain, by our prayers and imposition of hands, the Holy Ghost.' See also Euseb. H. E. 1. vii. c. 8. Mosh. c. iii. p. ii. c. 4. Compare Cyprian's language with the passage of Justin Martyr, on the same subject. J Origen, however, assures us, that among his converts there were more who had pre- viously led a moral life than of the opposite description a fact which may serve as an an- swer to one of Gibbon's insinuations. SeeCels.l.iii. p. 150,151. Tillem.Mem.vol. iii. p.116. Called 38 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. II I heathen worshipped as gods, who inhabited their temples and animated their statues. It became, therefore, the duty of the soldiers of Christ to assail them under every form, and expel them from every residence. That, indeed, which they are related most frequently to have occupied was the body of man,* and from this refuge they were perseveringly disturbed by the piou exorcisms of the clergy ; and this practice was carried to such superstitious excess, that none were admitted to the ordinance of baptism until they had been solemnly delivered from the dominion of the Prince of Darkness.f The Sign of the Cross, which was already in much honour in the time of Tertullian,J was held,to be of great effect in the expulsion of demons, and in other miracles. We also find that the use of prayers for the dead obtained very general prevalence during this age. A dispute had divided the Church during the second century, as to the propriety of adopting, in its contests with the heathen, the Philosophy, weapons of philosophy, and it was finally decided by the authority of Origen, and the superior loquacity of the phi- losophical party. By this condescension the Christians gained great ad- vantages in the display of argument, in subtlety of investigation, in plausi- bility of conclusion, in the abuse and even in the use of reason ; but they lost that manly and simple integrity of disputation which well became, in spite of its occasional rusticity, the defender of truth. It is to this alli- ance that some are disposed to trace the birth of those pious frauds which cover the face of ecclesiastical history. The original source of this evil was at least free from any stain or shame. It had long been a prac- tice among ancient philosophical writers to ascribe their works to some name of undisputed authority, in order to secure attention to their opinions, though the opinions were well known to be only those of the writer ; but the consequences which flowed from it have infected the Church of Christ with some of its deepest and most dangerous pollutions. Books written in later ages were zealously circulated as the writings of the Apostles, or of the Apostolical Fathers.|| The works of these last were altered or in- terpolated, according to the notions of after times or the caprices of the interpolator ; but usually for the purpose of proving the antiquity of some * Celibacy, though under no circumstances considered as a duty either by clergy or laity, acquired some unmerited honour during this age, through the absurd, but general persuasion, that those who had wives were peculiarly liable to the influence of malignant demons. At least Mosheim (cent. iii. p. ii. ch. 2) asserts this on the authority of Porphyry, rip Avo^ris' 1. iv. p. 417. In the time of Irenseus, (1. i. c. 24.) the profession of celibacy was a heresy. f Mosh. Gen. Hist. cent. iii. p. ii. ch. 4. J De Corona, cap. iii. Semler, Hist. Eccl. cent. iii. cap. 3. Le Clerc adjudges to an earlier year (ann. 122) the celebrated forgery, under the name of Hermes Trismegistus, of which the object was to trace the doctrine of Christ to a much higher period than his incarnation, and thus to increase its sanctity. The inter- polation of the Sibylline Books is referred by the same historian to the year 131. This latter imposture, as foolish as shameful, was warmly patronised by a host of Fathers, in- cluding Clemens Alex., Tertullian, Eusebius, Jerome, Augustin, &c. and thus occasioned much scandal to Christians in general among their enemies in that age, and no little dis- repute to its ancient patrons among candid writers of every age. See Le Clerc, vol. i. p. 106. Jortin, Remarks, &c. vol. i. p. 188. 1 1 Such, in the second century, were the celebrated Apostolical Canons ; and, after- wards, the Apostolical Constitutions, attributed to the diligence of Clemens Romanus ; and such were the False Decretals in the eighth. Mosh. G. Hist. c. i. p. ii. ch. 2. Le Clerc (sec. i. ad ann. 100) supposes the Canons to be of the third, the Constitutions of a later age. Jortin, supposing that the Canons may have been forged, some in the second and some in the third century, refers the Constitutions to some period after Const antine. vol. i. pp. 152, 185. Chap. III.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 39 new opinion, some innovation in discipline, some usurpation in authority. The practice was justified by the detestable, but popular principle, * that truth may be defended by falsehood ; it was encouraged by the difficulties of detection in ignorant ages ; and it continued for more than six centuries to disgrace the Roman Church. It was the same principle, pushed a little farther, which has stained the writings of so many among: the early Fathers with statements at least doubtful, if not with palpable falsehood, But, on the other hand, we should ever recollect that Christianity in those days was chiefly in the hands of Greeks and Africans,* men of subtle intel- lects and violent passions, whose habits and whose climate too often carried them into the extreme either of metaphysical sophistry or wild enthusiasm men who could speculate on their faith, or who could die for it, but who were little calculated for the tranquil equanimity of sober and reasonable belief. We should recollect also, that some of our best and commonest principles of action were then unknown or partially received ; and that, in fact, many of them are the result of the patient operation of Christianity on the human character, through a long succession of ages. We shall never do justice to the history of our religion, unless we continually bear in mind the low condition of society and morals existing among the people to whom it was first delivered. During the concluding part of the second century, a philosophical sect arose at Alexandria, who professed to form their own tenets, by selecting and reconciling what was reasonable in the tenets of all others, and re- jecting what was contrary to reason they were called the new Platonics, or Eclectics. What they professed respecting philosophy, they easily extended to religion, since with them religion was entirely founded on philosophical principles. It is strange that the great founder of this sect, Ammonius Saccasf, had been educated in Christianity ; and he seems never to have abandoned the name j of the faith, while he was disparaging its doctrines and its essence. A sect, which was founded on the seductive principle of universal concord, soon made extraordinary progress. In his eminent disciple Plotinus, Ammonius left a successor not inferior to him- self in subtlety of genius, and power of profound and abstruse investiga- tion ; and next to Plotinus in age and reputation, is the celebrated name of Porphyry. The efforts of these philosophers were for the .most part directed against Christianity, and the contest was waged with great ardour during the third century. But as Origen and his scholars, on the one hand, adopted into the service of religion some of the peculiar principles of their adversaries, so, on the other, certain disciples of Plotinus assumed the name and professed the faith of Christians, on condition that they should be allowed to retain some favourite opinions of their master || ; an * It is certainly very remarkable, that for the first three centuries) Rome produced no ecclesiastical writer of any merit, excepting Clement ; and the western provinces not one of any description : Rome was very nearly as barren during the three which followed. f Mosh. Gen. Hist. c. ii. p. ii. en. 1. Memoires de Tillem. torn. iii. p. 279. J Porphyry asserts that Ammonius deserted Christianity, Eusebius that he adhered to it. To these two opinions, variously advocated by most modern divines, others have added a third, that Eusebius mistook a Christian writer of the same name for the heathen philosopher ; and this is warmly maintained by Lardner (Collection of Heathen and Jewish Testimonies.) The question was not worth one page of controversy ; and, in our mind, Christian writers would act a more politic, as well as a more manly part, if they at once disclaimed their ambiguous defenders. Mosh. de Reb. Ch. ante Constant, sect, iii., xxi. || August. Epist, 56, ad Dioscor. Mosh, c, iii. p. ii. ch, 1. 40 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. Ill accession which was only valuable in so far as it swelled the body and increased the lustre of the church.* It has been too hastily asserted by some historians, and too readily ad- mitted by others, that the expectation of the Millennium, or Millennium, presence of Christ on earth to reign with his elect, was the universal opinion of the ancient church. The fair statement of that much-disputed question appears to be this : Eusebiusf informs us that Papias, * among certain parables and sermons of the Saviour, and other seemingly fabulous records which he professed to have received tra- ditionally, said, that there would be a thousand years after the resurrection of the dead, during which Christ was to reign bodily upon the earth ; in which I think that he misunderstood the apostolic narrations, not pene- trating what was mystically spoken by them ; for he appears to have been exceedingly limited in understanding (oyu^os TOV voiv"), as one may con- jecture from his discourses.' The historian then proceeds to attribute the general reception of this opinion among ecclesiastics, and particularly by Irenaeus, to their respect for ' the antiquity of the man.';}: To Papias, then, we may attribute the origin of the belief. It was first adopted by Justin Martyr, next by Irenaeus, and connected by both of them with the resurrection of the flesh. But the passage of the latter]] plainly declares * that there were some in the church, in divers nations and by various * works, who, believing, do consent with the just, who do yet endeavour * to turn these things into metaphors ;' which proves that even the orthodox were divided on the question at that early age, though the names of the disputants have not reached us. The first distinguished opponent of the doctrine was Origen, who attacked it with great earnestness and ingenuity, and seems, in spite of some opposition, to have thrown it into general discredit ; and, probably, we shall not have occasion to notice the opinion again until we arrive at the tenth century. Dr. Whitby expresses his belief that the Fathers who adopted that doctrine * received it from the traditions and notions of the Jews ;' and he proceeds very truly to assert that that error ' will not invalidate their authority in any thing delivered by them as witnesses of what they * To give some idea of the nature of Christian literature in this age, it may be worth while to mention the subjects of some of the most celebrated productions On Temptations The Baptism of Heretics Promises Chastity The Creation The Origin of* Evil The Vanity of Idols The Dress of Virgins The Unity of the Church Circumcision Clean and Unclean Animals The Lapsed, or those who had fallen from the Faith during Persecution The Millennium ; besides numerous books against heretics. f H. E. lib. iii. c. 39. On this important subject see Whitby's excellent ' Treatise on the Millennium,' at the end of vol. ii. of his ' Commentaries.' This obscure doctrine was probably known to very few except the Fathers of the Church, and is very sparingly mentioned by them during the two first centuries. And there is reason to believe that it scarcely attained much notoriety even among learned Christians until it was made matter of controversy by Origen, and then rejected by the great majority. In fact, we find Origen himself, in his Prolegomena to the Canticles (69 B.), asserting that it was con- fined ' to those of the simpler sort ;' and, in his Philocalia (c. xxvi. p. 99) he directly de- clares that the few (rmj) who held it did so with such secrecy, that it had not yet come, to the ears of the heathen... . In all fairness, then, we must consider )v wttpeirccfyv, u; el X^/o-r/ava;, aXXa XiXeyiffjU.ivus, Kit} a.rtt.ytolui. The word which we have rendered ostentation, parade in this passage usually interpreted obstinacy. xxt Chap. IV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 49 man could bestow, was armed with the highest temporal authority and permitted to direct it against theinfancy of our faith. From the splendid imperfection of Marcus Antoninus, from the perseverance of his powerful enmity, from its final failure, we may learn what narrow limits have been assigned to the virtue and wisdom and power of unassisted man ; and we derive a new motive of gratitude for that heavenly aid, which has fixed our social happiness on a certain and eternal foundation. The greatest prince of antiquity was succeeded by a son, who neither inherited his virtues, nor imitated his crime ; so far from this, that we might almost imagine it to have been the object of Commodus to redeem his numerous vices by his humanity towards the Christian name. Severus ascended the throne in the year 193, and is represented by Tertullian * to have bestowed testimonies of approbation on several dis- tinguished Christians, and openly to have withstood the popular fury which assailed the sect. But this account will apply only to the earlier part of his reign ; for in the year 202 (about the time of the publication of Tertullian's Apology) he issued an edict, which indirectly occasioned a variety of inflictions, the most barbarous of which appear to have been perpetrated in Egypt. The professed object of that edict was only to prevent conversion either to Judaism or Christianity ; for the fears of the emperor began to be awakened by the extraordinary progress of the latter. Its effect was to oppress and torture the most zealous ministers of the faith, and to inflame the prejudices of the people against all believers. This enactment continued in force for about nine years, until the death of Severus ; and from that period, if indeed we except the injuries inflicted by Maximin f (from 235 to 238 A. D.), and directed chiefly against the instructors and rulers of the churches, the Christians, though occasionally liable to popular outrage, had not much reason to complain of the injustice of the government until the accession of Decius, in the year 249. Decius, like Marcus Antoninus, is also ranked, and justly'ranked, among the most virtuous of the emperors. The virtues of a pagan were usually connected with his philosophy, and his philosophy taught Decius. him to despise every form of worship. Perhaps, too, an imperial eye might view with natural distrust the free and independent principles of Christianity, which were now spreading into more general operation and notice principles which acknowledged an authority superior to the throne of man ; and though they devoted the body to Caasar, yet set apart the soul for God. It would be observed, too, with some jealousy, that the pro- gress of that worship was rapid and universal, in spite of ancient law, popular opposition, and imperial edict. Its truth was seldom investi- gated, because it was not yet sufficiently distinguished from surrounding- superstitions, which laid no claim to truth, nor even professed to rest on any evidences ; and thus the prejudices of the schools at once assumed that the worship of Christ was no better founded than those of Jove and Serapis J. * Tertul. ad Scap., cap. iv. Sed et clarissimas feminas et clarissimos viros Severus sciens hujus sectoe esse non modo non laesit verum et testimonio ornavit, &c. His affection for the Christians is attributed to a cure formerly performed on him, by the application of oil, by a Christian named Proculus. We must be careful not to confound this medical use of oil with the practice of extreme unction, which did not then exist f Euseb., H. E., lib. vi. c. 28. Tillem., torn. iii. p. 305. I In the entire pagan scheme (could we properly consider it as one scheme), religion and philosophy together professed to furnish that, which Christianity supplies to us : the 50 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. IV. These reasons, carefully considered, will partly account for the peculiar suspicion which armed itself against the ' Christian superstition,' and at the same time will exhibit to us the motives, through the influence of which some of the wisest and best among the emperors unhappily num- bered themselves among our adversaries *. The persecution of Decius proceeded on a broader principle than that of Severus, as it pretended no less than to constrain all subjects of the empire to return to the religion of their ancestors t ; it was also strictly universal, as neither confined to particular provinces nor classes, but extend- ing from the lowest confessors to the highest authorities of the Church. Several were consigned to exile or death : Fabienus, bishop of Rome, Alexander of Jerusalem, Babylas of Antioch, were among the latter ; and the celebrated Origen was subjected to imprisonment and torture J. At Alexandria, in the year preceding the accession of Decius, some Christians had been massacred by the hatred or the avarice of the Pagan mob ; and as such fatal outrages, in addition to authorized injustice, were rather tolerated than promptly repressed by the government which succeeded that sanguinary reign, it was much more calamitous to the faith than its short duration of three years would lead us to apprehend. Indeed, the unusual number of those who fell away from their profession in the hour of trial, by which this persecution is distinguished from those preceding it, is a sufficient proof of its intolerable barbarity . We pass over the comparatively lenient inflictions of Gallus and Volu- sianus ; but the sceptre of Valerian was more darkly stained Valerian, by the blood of Cyprian ||, bishop of Carthage, a man of learning and eloquence and piety, whose blameless life and final calmness and constancy have escaped the censure and almost the sarcasm of history. It will be instructive, as well as interesting, to transcribe the simple narrative of his martyrdom. On the 13th of September, 258, an officer with soldiers was sent to Cyprian's gardens by the proconsul to bring him into his presence. Cyprian mysteries, which also held the place of doctrines, the ceremonies, and the name were pro- vided by the religion ; the ethics by philosophy. We need not particularize the numerous points of advantage which both branches of the Christian system possess over the corre- sponding departments of paganism. But the distinctions chiefly to be remarked, arc, that the religion demanded no belief, proposed no creed, inculcated no faith > but was, in fact, identified with its ceremonies, procession and sacrifice ; and that the philosophy which undertook the whole charge of morals, in vain proposed an elaborate series of barren rules and lifeless exhortations, since it possessed no substantial motive whereby to enforce them. "When we reflect how essential are these distinctions, we shall see reason sufficient for the jealousy with which Christianity was assailed both by the one and the other. But their incongruity and incoherence with each other formed the most striking and hopeless defonnity of the system ; for philosophy lived in open warfare with her senseless associate, and employed a great portion of her diligence and her wit in exposing the multiform absurdities of polytheism. ' Quinimo et Deos vestros palam destruunt. . . . laudantibus vobis !' Tertul. Apol., c. 46. * Eusebius (H. E., lib. vi. c. 39.) very concisely attributes the persecution of Decius to the hatred borne by that emperor to his predecessor Philip. Cyprian considers it as a divine chastisement for the sins of the Church. f Tillemont, vol. iii. p. 310, on' the authority of Greg. Nysseiisis. who gives a very vivid description of the effects of the edict. \ Alexander and Babylas died in prison. Some of the sufferings of Origen arc par- ticularized in Kusebius, loc. cit. ; and those of the most celebrated martyrs who perished 'his occasion occupy above a hundred pages in the Memoires ole* Tillem. vol. iii. The fable of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus belongs to this persecution ; the supposed rtyrdom of this Theban legion to the reign of Diocletian. . from Cyprian's Epistles that, in his Church at least, the full severity of the persecution scarcely raged for more than one year. See TiUem., vol. iii. p. 324. [Chap. IV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 51 then knew his end was near; and with a ready and constant mind and cheerful countenance he went without delay to Sexti, a place about six. miles from Carthage, where the proconsul resided. Cyprian's cause was deferred for that day. He was therefore ordered to the house of an officer, where he was detained for the night, but was well accommodated and his friends had free access to him. The news of this having 1 been brought to Carthage, a great number of people of all sorts, and the Christians in general, flocked thence to Sexti ; and Cyprian's people lay all night before the door of the officer, thus keeping, as Pontius expresses it, the vigil of their bishop's passion. On the next morning, the 14th of September, he was led to the pro- consul's palace, surrounded by a mixed multitude of people and a strong guard of soldiers. After some time, the proconsul came out into the hall, and Cyprian being placed before him, he said, * Art thouThascius Cyprian?' Cyprian the bishop answered, ' I am.' Galerius Maximus the proconsul said, ' The most sacred emperors have commanded thee to sacrifice/ Cyprian the bishop answered, ' I do not sacrifice.' Galerius Maximus said, * Be well advised.' Cyprian the bishop answered, ' Do as thou art commanded ; in so just a cause thou needest no consultation.' The pro- consul having advised with his council, spoke to Cyprian in angry terms as being an enemy to the gods and a seducer of the people, and then read his sentence from a tablet, ' It is decreed that Thascius Cyprian be beheaded/ Cyprian the bishop said, * God be praised ;' and the crowd of his brethren exclaimed, 'Let us too be beheaded with him.' This is the account given in the acts of Cyprian's passion, and that of Pontius is to the same purpose*. For nearly fifty years after this outrage, the peace and progress of religion were not seriously interrupted. The earliest portion even of the reign of Diocletian was favourable to its security, and it was Diocletian. through the weakness of that prince, rather than his wickedness, that his name is now inscribed on the tablets of infamy as the most savage among our persecutors. Two circumstances may be mentioned as having engaged his tardy consentf to the commencement of a plan into which he appears to have entered with the most considerate calmness, though it is also true that during its progress some incidents occurred which enlisted his passions in the cause, and even so inflamed them that, in the height of his madness, he certainly proposed nothing less than the extermination of the Christian name. The influence of the Caesar, Galerius, who was animated, from whatsoever motive, by an unmitigated detestation of the worshippers of Christ, and who thirsted for their destruction, was probably the most powerful of those circumstances. But the second must not be forgotten. In the disputes, now become general, between the Christian ministers and the pagan priests, the teachers of philosophy are almost invariably found on the side of the latter ; and as it is not denied not even by Gibbon that those learned persons directed the course and suggested the means of persecution, we need not hesitate to attribute a considerable share in the guilt of its origin to their pernicious eloquence. Diocletian published his first edict in the February of 303. Three others * Lardner, vol. iii. p. 141. The more usual date of Cyprian's martyrdom is 257. }- Galerius represented to him that the permanence of the Roman institutions was incom- patible with the prevalence of Christianity, which should therefore be extirpated. Dio- cletian proposed the subject to a sort, oi' Council, composed of some eminent military and judicial officers. They assented to the opinion of Galerius ; hut the emperor still hesi- tated, until the measure v, as sanctioned and sanctified by the oracle of the Milesian Apollo. E 2 52 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. IV. of greater severity succeeded it ; and, during a shameful period of ten years, they were very generally and rigorously enforced by himself, his colleagues, and successors. It is needless to particularize the degrees of barbarity by which those edicts were severally distinguished ; the sub- stance of the whole series is this *. The sacred books of the Christians were sought for and burnt ; death was the punishment of all who assembled secretly for religious worship ; imprisonment, slavery, and infamy were inflicted on the dignitaries and presidents of the Churches ; every art and method was enjoined for the conversion of the believers, and among those methods were various descriptions of torture, some of them fatal. During the preceding ninety years, the Church had availed itself of the consent or connivance of the civil government to erect numerous religious edifices, and to purchase some landed property ; these buildings were now de- molished, and the property underwent the usual process of confiscation. A more degrading, but less effectual, measure attended these ; Christians were excluded from all public honours and offices, and even removed without the pale of the laws and the protection of justice ; liable to all accusations, and inviting them by their adversity, they were deprived of every form of legal redress. Such were the penalties contained in those edicts; and though it be true that in some of the western provinces of the empire, as in Gaul and perhaps Britain, their asperity was somewhat softened by the character and influence of the Caesar, Constantius, we are not allowed to believe that their execution even there was generally neg- lected, and we have too much reason to be assured that it was conducted with very subservient zeal throughout the rest of the empire. In process of time the sufferings of the Christians were partially alleviated by the vic- tories of Constantine ; but they did not finally terminate till his accession. That event, which took place in the year 313, and which Accession of marks the first grand epoch in ecclesiastical history, ended Constantine. at the same time both the tears and the sufferings of the followers of Christ, and established his worship as the acknowledged religion of the Roman empire. As the account here given of the persecutions of the early Christians differs in some respects from the views usually taken of this important portion of our history, it may be proper to close this chapter with a few additional remarks. 1st. Contemporary evidence obliges us to admit, that the Christian name was for many years (so late at least as the reign of Unpopularity Decius) an object of decided aversion to many of those of Christians, who did not profess it; whether of the learned, who scorned the origin, were ignorant of the principles, and feared the progress, of the new religion, or of the vulgar, who be- lieved the calumnies so industriously propagated against its professors. Hence proceeded those popular tumults, which, during the first two cen- turies (if we except from them the reign of Marcus Antoninus), may have destroyed as many victims as the deliberate policy of the emperors, or the established system of religious government. Still it must ap- pear singular that a body of persons, distinguished by the moral qualities which are almost universally attributed to the first Christians, should have incurred the hatred of their fellow-subjects, rather than the :i/ivi the first corrupter of the Christian doctrine : these are said to have been numerous, especially at Rome j and the ce- lebrity of their master has been considerably increased by an error of Justin Martyr, repeated by several of the fathers, who mistook a statue inscribed to Semo, a Sabine deity, for a proof of the deification of that heresiarch J. Nicolas, one of the seven deacons mentioned in the Acts, is asserted to have misled the sect called Nicolaitans ; Menander, the pupil of Simon, perpetuated his teacher's errors, and through him they were transmitted to Saturninus, who disseminated them in the Asiatic, and to Basilides ||, who may have introduced them into the Egyptian school. In this prolific soil, equally favourable to the growth of evil and of good, they became, among the gross disciples of Carpocrates ^[, the * In Diocletian's persecution, Peter and Asclepias, the former a member of the Church, the latter a Marcionite Bishop, were burnt. ' Peter ;' says Tillemont, ' went to Heaven, and sisctepias to hell-fire' That intemperate bigot might have taken a lesson of moderation even i'rom the language ct'Eusebius : ' With Peter suffered Asclepias ; through a zeal, as he thought, for piety, but not for that which is according to knowledge ; however, they were consumed in one and the same fire.' Jortin, Rem. Eccl. Hist., book ii. p. ii. f ' Simon Magus taught in Samaria that he was the Father, in Judsea that hp was the Son, among the Gentiles that he was the Holy Spirit.' Iren., i. c. 20. Tertull. de Prsescr. Her., c. 45. Simon Magus ausus est summam se dicere virtutem, i. e. summum Deum, post hunc Menander, discipulus ipsius, eadem diceus quse Simon ipse. He denied that any one could be saved unless baptized in his name. J Justin asserts that a statue was erected in his honour bearing the following inscrip- tion in Lathi, Simom Deo Sancto. This was generally believed until, in the year 1574, a st;.tue was discovered in the island of the Tiber having au inscription beginning thus: ' Semoni Sanco Deo Fidio Sacrum.' We cannot think Dr. Burton successful in his attempt to defend Justin. This appears to have been the same with the heresy of Cerinthus, against which St. John is by many believed to have written his Gospel. || See Le Clerc, H. E., ad aim. 78 and 118. ^[ Iren. lib. i. c. 25. Euseb. lib. iv. c. 7. This] reproach is shared with the Nicolai- tans. Burton, Bampt. Lect. V., conclusion. 64 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. V. principles of deliberate immorality, while * they received from the inge- nuity of Valentinus such refinement, as to call on that writer the particular attention both of Irenseus and Tertullianf. Cerdo, and after him Marcion, the most distinguished among the heretics of his day, introduced the same delusion, with certain J variations, into Rome during the reign of Antoninus Pius. Here the doctrines were immediately disclaimed by the prelates of that Church, and confuted by the ablest Christian writer, Justin Martyr. They were afterwards made the subject of a separate treatise by Tertullian. It has been inferred from the discovery of some Gnostic medals in France that the heresy was at one time generally dis- seminated in the western provinces. But this fact, liable as it is to some dispute, is not sufficient to counterbalance the silence of history confirmed by the certainty of the early disappearance of the sect. In the mean time we do not dispute that the philosophy of the Gnostics had some prevalence throughout that part of the empire during the first and second centuries, but it was not until the end of the second that Christianity can be said to have made any progress there. Soon afterwards, in the year 172, Tatian, a man of some learning, and a disciple of Justin Martyr, built on the basis of Gnosticism the heresy of the Encratites. These sectarians professed the simplest principles of the monastic life, meditation and bodily austerity. It may be said, perhaps, that under the names of Essenes and Therapeutse such enthusiasts existed in the very earliest age of Christianity, and even before its foundation ; but it is certain that it was at this period, and under this designation, that they first attracted serious attention ; and it is not disputed that they met with utter discouragement and condemnation from the Church. For the birth of monasticism was not destined to take place in an age of piety and sincere devotion ; and when at length it was produced by fana- ticism infuriated by persecution, its growth was still slow and unequal, keeping pace with the corruption of religion and the degradation of the Church. It is a strong, but scarcely exaggerated expression of St. Jerome ||, that the body of our Lord was declared to be a phantom while the Apostles were still in the world, and the blood of Christ was still fresh in Judaea. The Phantastics, under the denomination of Docetse, were, indeed, a sect of very early origin, and we connect their opinions with one peculiarity of the Gnostic system which we have not yet mentioned. Certain among those philosophers, in order to remove the Author of good to an immeasurable distance from the contact of matter, imagined a vast succession of created but superhuman beings, as the agents of * Le Clerc places Carpocrates at the year 120 A.D., and Valentinus in the year fol- lowing aut non multo serius. f Our information respecting Gnosticism is chiefly collected from the writers who opposed Valentinus, and especially from Irenaeus. | Cerdo and Marcion appear to have asserted the doctrine of the two principles with more boldness than the Valentinians ; but both parties agreed in teaching that the Father of Jesus Christ was not the Creator of the world nor the God of the Old Testament. Tertull. c. Marc., lib. i. c. 15, 16. Iren., lib. i. c. 47. Burton, Bampt. Lect., p. 50. It appears that one of the grounds on which Marcion resisted was the refusal of the Church to make any concession to the Jews, or conciliate them by any compromise of the pure faith. This appears to prove that the principal success of the Gnostic heresy had been among the Jewish converts. Probably it was most prevalent in Judxa and ^87P* > .hut we also learn that the Church of Ephesus was early tainted by it, and probably it had gained some footing throughout Awa Minor. Marcion was a native of Fontuf. The work of Justin is lost. |l Advers. Lucif. xxiii., vol. ii. p. 197. Chap. V.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH- 65 communication between the Supreme God and the world, or at least its Creator. These were emanations from the Deity; and they appear, when their office was discharged, to have been restored to the Pleroma, to the presence of Him who sent them these beings were called /Eons. Among- them a very high rank, possibly the highest, was assigned to Christ ; but from this point the Gnostics broke oft' into two different and almost opposite theories : many imagined that Jesus was a mere man, and maintained that the 32011 Christ descended IMOU the man Jesus at his baptism and left him immediately before his crucifixion, so that Christ was not, in fact, subjected to pain and death ; while others held that the body, with which Christ appeared to be invested, was not really human and passible, but unsubstantial or sethereal, or at least immaterial : these last were called Doceta?. At the same time, both parties alike mis- understood that which the Church considered to be the peculiar doctrine and object of Christianity ; for they agreed in believing that the mission of Christ had no further intention than to reveal the knowledge of the true God ; they denied the resurrection and the final judgment, and by explaining away the death of Christ they deprived his religion of the doc- trine of the Atonement. From the above brief and very general outline of the Gnostic Heresies which differed again widely from each other in many subordinate opinions we perceive how very far they were removed from the precincts of reason and truth. Indeed, they retained so much more of Gnosticism than they assumed of Christianity, that it was only in the ancient and very broad acceptation of the term that they could be fairly denominated Heresies, and thus we are less disposed to censure the severity of those Fathers who refused them the name of Christian. For however cautious \ve should be in withholding that appellation from those whose errors are founded on the mere perversion of reason, we may safely disclaim our fraternity with men, who substitute for the fundamental doctrines and the clearest truths of the Gospel, wild visions and theories which have not any ground or existence, except in vain and lawless imagination. We shall do well to conclude this subject in the words of Le Clerc one 01 the most rational and faithful among our historical guides. * I am wean of the Valentinians, (thus he begins his account of the year 145,) and so 1 imagine are my readers ; but the history of the second century is so crammed with them, and the Fathers, both of those and of later times, so often refer to them, that it is necessary to expose monstrous opinions, which in themselves do not merit one moment's attention.' In truth, their principal, if not their only claim on our attention, is, that the Books of the New Testament appear to contain some allusions to them, which it is our duty to examine and understand *. II. We have just observed, that among the earliest corrupters of the Christian doctrines, there were some who disputed the human nature of Christ. It appears to us equally clear there were also others who denied his divinity. The oldest and perhaps the most numerous among these were the Ebionites. Tertullian considers them as a sect of Judaizing Christians, named from their founder Ebion, who strictly maintained the Ebionites. observance of the ceremonial law, and rejected the miraculous * Any one desirous of more ample details respecting the Gnostic Heresies may safely consult the learned author iu the Encycl. Britaa.. pp. 24, 25, 26. F 66 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap.V. conception and the divine nature of the Saviour.* Eusehius, in his Eccle- siastical History, (book iii. c. xxvii.) describes them in these words : ' The Ebionites were so called from the poverty and meanness with which they dogmatized concerning Christ ; for they considered him as a mere man born of the connexion of a man and Mary. And they thought too that the ceremonial law (VO/JLIKIJ Optjoiccid) was to be followed ; as neither faith in Christ, nor the life led through that faith., was sufficient for salvation. But there were others bearing the same appellation, who escaped the extra- vagant absurdity of these former, since they did not deny that the Lord was born of a virgin and the Holy Spirit. But neither did these, acknow- ledging his pre-existence, arid that he was Logos and Sophia, (the Word and the Wisdom,) turn entirely away from the unrighteousness of the former, chiefly because they too were careful about the bodily service (ffiafimiKijv \drpciav) of the law. These then did not receive the epistles of the apostle, calling him an apostate from the law, and only used the gospel according to the Hebrews ; but they observed Sunday in commemoration of the resurrection, keeping the Jewish sabbath.t' This description agrees in all material points with the account of Ter- tullian ; and without proceeding to deeper investigation, we may safely infer from it two historical truths thr.t the peculiar opinions of the Ebionites were confined (or nearly so) to the Jewish converts and that they were neither wholly nor in part the doctrines of the ante-Nicene Church. It is well known that the high antiquity of the opinions of the Ebionites has been held by some to be an evidence of their truth ; but the same in- ference might be drawn, with the same reason, respecting the delusions of the Phantastics, which had at least as early an origin. The Ebionites probably arose after the publication of three of the gospels. The Gnostic errors of the Doceta? may even havef preceded the preaching of the Apostles ; they were certainly contemporary with it. Again, if it be admitted that the Apostles were the interpreters of God's word, and if it be not proved that the sect of the Ebionites was founded by any one of them, and if it be certain that the fathers who subsequently directed the Church, and explained its doctrine, did invariably disclaim that sect, we may fairly con- clude, that its opinions were neither favourably received, nor at all com- monly adopted. On the other hand, it is endeavoured, by confounding the Ebionites with the Gnostic Heretics, to make them in some degree accountable for all the absurdities of the latter ; and these, it is truly urged, liad all a tendency to the opposite extreme, to spiritualize the body rather than to degrade the divine nature of Christ. And it is hence inferred, that it was Jesus alone to whom the Ebionites attributed a human nature, while " * De Prescript. Heret. c. 33. ; De Virgin. Veland. c. 6. ' Quam utique Virginem fuisse constat, licet Ebion resistat.' De Game Christi, c. 14. 18, 19. The Ebionites are classed by Mosheim among the Judaizing sects ; and Ebiou, if he existed at all, was probably a Jew: the numbers and influence of those sects diminished so rapidly during the second century, after the promulgation of Adrian's Edict, and are consequently so little noticed by the fathers of the third and following ages, that it seems unnecessary to bestow a separate notice on them. t Le Clerc distinguishes the early from the more recent Ebionites, placing them respectively at ami. 72 and 103. The former he considers, on the authority of Jerome, to have been merely Judaizing Christians who, as that Father remarks, in their wish to be both Jews and Christians, were neither. Le Clerc considers the Nazarenes to have been the same sect as the early Ebionites, ami. 72. Mosheim (De Reb. Christ, ant. Const, i. sect. Iviii. and Sec. n. ; sect, xxxix., xl. ice.) refers the rise of the Ebionites to the second century. Chap. V.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 67 they acknowledged the uncontaminated divinity of Christ. It is possible that there were some, calling themselves Ebionites, who were in fact merely Gnostics. But in the face of our direct authorities we cannot admit the hypothesis in question. What Tertullian and Eusebius* expressly tell us to have been the Ebionitical opinions respecting- Christ, we cannot suppose to be meant of Jesus as opposed to Christ. And we feel obliged to believe, that those are as far removed from truth on the one hand, who dispute the early existence of the Unitarian opinions, as those are, on the other, who assert their early reception by the Church ; they have existed from the beginning, and from the beginning they have been condemned. Again, the doctrine of the mere humanity of Christ, separated from the Judaism of the Ebionites, was advanced towards the end of the second century by Theodotus and Artemon ; and during the episcopacy of Victor, the former was expelled from the Church of Rome for that error. Euse- bius in this place designates him as the * father of an impious apostacy,' and in so far as he had divested the old opinion of its Judaism, and advanced it nakedly in the very face of the Church, the assertion is true. For any claim, which it may have advanced to a previous existence at Rome, or in any of the European Churches, is sufficiently answered by reference to the writings of Justin, and Miltiades, and Tatian, and Clement, and Irenaeus, and Melito, ' by all of whom (says Eusebius) the divinity of Christ is asserted.'* In the next century the heresy of Artemon (it became more generally known by his name) was revived by Paul of Samosata, Bishop of Antioch.j A synod of Bishops, Presbyters and Artemon. Deacons was convoked at Antioch in the year 269, to take cognizance of the offence; and Eusebius notices the eagerness with which they hurried ' from all directions against the defiler of Christ's flock.' In a numerous assembly, in his own metropolis, the Bishop found many defenders, but he was at length convicted and sentenced to expulsion from his throne. But as he resisted the execution of the sentence, and as the Church was not yet able to enforce its own judgments, application was made to the Emperor Aurelian, whose authority' finally removed the refractory offender. These facts are suffi- cient to prove beyond controversy, that the opinion in question, whatever may have been the zeal or number of its individual supporters, was not at any period acknowledged by the Church. The controversy respecting the nature of Christ's existence on earth, which presently so branched out, as to involve the doc- trine of the Trinity as well as the Incarnation, may be said Praxeas. to have first assumed a tangible form under the pen of Praxeas, a writer of the Grecian school. He published his opinions * See also Irenaeus L. iii. c. 24, and Epiphanius. Hseres. 30. f" iv 01V u.wa.ffi Sio'b.ayitra.i o Xgiffrog. End of ch. 5. J We follow in this statement the authority of Eusebius, and the opinion almost univer- sally received. But it is fair to mention that Dr. Burton ingeniously argues, from a care- ful examination of contemporary evidence, compared chiefly with the assertions of Athana- sius, that ' Paul believed Jesus to be a mere human being, but conceived him to become Christ, by being united to the eternal Logos of. God.'" (Bampt. Lect. viii. notes 99. 102.) It does not appear that the contemporaries of the Heretic placed that construction upon. his doctrine. And Eusebius (H. E. L. vii. c. 27) expressly says rovrouTs. TK^HVO, #< ^Kfjt,a,i7fi7yt vrtpi TOV XptfroV VTKOK iv Ix&X'/itrioio'riK'/iv ^t&u.a'Ka.Xux.v See Mosheim, l)e R. Christ, ante Const. Ssoc. in. sect. 33. The different opinions, or rather the different shades of the same opinion, which have been ascribed to Sabellius, are there accurately treated. || \Ve perceive how nearly this opinion approaches to the old Gnostic heresy, which con- > '1 Christ as an vEon or Divine Emanation united for a time to the man Jesus but for a time only the Gnostics withdrew the ./Eon before the Crucifixion, and thus avoided the conclusion charged against the Patripassutns. Chap. V.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 69 And in the same manner he considered the Holy Ghost to be a portion of the everlasting- Father. This error, into which he was led by an excessive fear of Tritheism, (the acknowledgment of three Gods,) was liable to the inference, that the Being who suffered on the Cross was in fact the Father ; hence his followers were called Patripassians. He was confuted by Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria. III. We shall not dwell upon the varying shapes of mere frenzy. The deliberate errors of an informed and serious mind, however in appearance remote from reason, always merit some sort of consideration ; but the dreams of an ignorant fanatic can have no claims on our time or reflection. Perhaps we should place under this head some of the wilder of those heresies usually called Gnostic; and some would refer to the same origin the opinions of the Manichsean sect ; but we shall here confine ourselves to those of the Montanists. About the year 170 A. D M a vain and superstitious enthusiast, named Montanus, began to prophesy in Phrygia and other provinces of Asia Minor he professed to be the Paraclete or Comforter, the same* who had descended upon the Apostles, and whose return on earth before the second coming of Christ, for the purpose of completing the divine Re- velation, was expected by many of the faithful ; and his trances, and exstatic raptures, and fanatic ravings, were probably regarded by the credulous and wondering multitude as the surest signs of divine inspiration. Certainly there were many in those regions who followed him ; and his success was prpmoted by his association with two prophetesses, named Maximilla and Priscilla, who confirmed his mission, and shared his spirit. Another cause of the temporary fame of Montanism was the severity of the morality inculcated by it ; the strictest celibacy and the most rigid fasts were exacted from the proselytes, and this circumstance threw an ap- pearance of sanctity round the sect, which seems to have deadened the penetration of Tertullian, for he presently professed himself its advocate. To that circumstance perhaps this heresy may be indebted for most of its celebrity ; for it was condemned by certain Asiatic councils at the time of its eruption, and it appears to have made very little progress after the second century, and at no time to have found general reception beyond the pre- cincts of its birth-place, though some remains of it subsisted there for two or three ages, t Before we quit the subject of Heresy, we must mention a controversy which divided the Church during the third century, respecting the form of receiving a converted heretic into the number of the orthodox. The Churches of the west| were, for the most part, of opinion, that the baptism of Heretics was valid, and that the mere imposition of hands, attended by prayer, was form sufficient to solemnize their introduction within the pale : whereas the less moderate Christians of Asia decided in council, that their admission must be preceded by repetition of baptism ; and this decision was approved and enforced by Cyprian in the Churches of Africa. Stephen, Bishop of Rome, who was at the head of those who held the * See Bishop Kaye on Tertullian, p. 23 et seq. f We observe the name of Montanism among the heresies stigmatized in the Theodo- sian Code. J We may account for this greater moderation of the western Churches, by their hav- ing escaped some of the most extravagant and revolting] among the early heresies- these, as they chiefly originated in the fanatic imaginations of the east, were for the most part confined to those regions. The council of Carthage held by Cyprian, on this question, was in the year 256. Mosh. Gen. II. c. iii. p. ii. chap, iii. 70 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Ch-ap.V. contrary opinion, conducted his opposition with injudicious violence ; he excommunicated ail who differed from him, ad discovered, even thus early, the germs of papal arrogance.* The mention of this controversy is im- portant, at least on one account, as it gives us an additional proof of the very serious view in which Heresy was regarded by the Churchmen of those days, and the scrupulousness of their care to preserve the purity of the,true faith. We may conclude with some notice of the sect of the Novatians, who were stigmatized at the time, both as schismatics an,d heretics ; f Novatians. but who may perhaps be more properly considered as the earliest body of ecclesiastical reformers. They arose at Rome about the year 250 A. D. ; and subsisted until the fifth century throughout every part of Christendom.^ Novatian, a Presbyter of Rome, was a man of great talents and learning, and of character so austere, that he was unwilling, under any circumstances of contrition, to readmit those who had been once separated from the communion of the Church. And this severity he would have extended not only to those who had fallen by deliberate transgression, but even to such as had made a forced compromise of their faith under the terrors of persecution. He considered the Christian Church as a society, where virtue and innocence reigned universally, and refused any longer to acknowledge, as members of it, those who had once degenerated into unrighteousness.|| This endeavour to revive the spotless moral purity of the primitive faith was found inconsistent with the corruptions even of that early age : it was regarded with suspicion by the leading prelates,*]" as a vain and visionary scheme ; and those rigid principles, which had characterized and sanctified the Church in the first century, were abandoned to the profession of schis- matic sectaries in the third. From a review of what has been written on this subject, some truths may be derived of considerable historical importance ; the following are among them : (1.) In the midst of perpetual dissent and occasional controversy, a steady and distinguishable line, both in doctrine and practice, was main- tained by the early Church, and its efforts against ( those, whom it called Heretics, were zealous and persevering, and for the most part consistent. Its contests were fought with the ' sword of the Spirit/ with the arms of reason and eloquence ; and as they were always unattended by personal oppression, so were they most effectually successful successful, not in establishing a nominal unity, nor silencing the expression of private opi- nion, but in maintaining the purity of the faith, in preserving the at- * This controversy resembles, in two points, that before mentioned, respecting the cele- bration of Easter. The Roman was right perhaps in the principle, but overbearing and insolent in the manner. t Cornel, ap. Cypr. Ep. 50 (or 48) ; Cyprian, Ep. 54. As to the latter charge, even their adversaries do not advance any point of doctrine on which they deviated from the Church. See Note 4, or p. 33. supr. I (Mosh. Gen. Hist. Cent. iii. end) Especially, as it would seem, in Phrygia where their rigid practices brought them into danger of being confounded with the Montauists. Lardner, Crcd. Gosp. Hist. p. ii. ch. 47. Kuseb. II. E. L. vi. c. 43. Jerom. de Vir. Illnst. c. 70. He is believed to have been a convert from some sect of philosophy, probably the Stoic. Lardner perseveres in culling him Novatus ; not, however, intending to confound him with an unworthy associate, ; .- of C,;irtli:i^e, Blw named Novatus and severely censured by Cyprian. See Tillem. Mem. II. Eccles. vol. iii. p. 433, 435, ad. ann. 231. |1 His followers called themselves Cathari Puritans. II It should be mentioned that Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, the principal opponent of Novatian':, opinions, had motives for personal enmity against that Ecclesiastic. Chap. V.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 71 tachment of the great majority of the believers, and in consigning, either to immediate disrepute, or early neglect, all the unscriptural doctrines which were successively arrayed against Hi (2.) The greater part of the early heresies was derived from the impure mixture of profane philosophy with the simple revelation of the Gospel. Hence proceeded those vain and subtile disputations respecting things incomprehensible, which would indeed have been less pernicious, had they only exercised the ingenuity of men, without engaging their passions ; their bitter fruits were not fully gathered until a later age : but they served, even in their origin, to perplex the faith, and disturb the harmony of many devout Christians. (3.) No public dispute had hitherto risen respecting the manner of salvation for the conclusions deducible from the Gnostic hallucinations are not worthy of serious consideration ; the great questions respecting predestina- tion ano* grace had not yet become matter of controversy, nor had any of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity been assailed, excepting the Trinity and the Incarnation. (4.) There was yet no dissent on the subject of Church Government. It was universally and undisputedly Episcopal ; even the reformer Novatian, after his expulsion from the Church, assumed the direction of his own rigid sect under the title of Bishop ; and if any dissatisfaction had existed as to the established method of directing the Church, it would certainly have displayed itself on the occasion of a schism, which entirely respected matters of practice and discipline. As we have made frequent mention of the principal writers, commonly called Fathers, of the ancient Church, we shall subjoin to this chapter a very short account of some of the earliest Early Fathers. among them. We do not profess any blind venera- tion for their names, or submission to their opinions ; but we are very far removed from the contempt of either. For if we are to bend to any human authority (as in such matters some of us must always do, and all of us sometimes), those are assuredly the safest objects of our reverence, who stood nearest to the source of revelation, J and received the cup of knowledge from the very hands of the Apostles. They were erring and feeble mortals, like ourselves ; much inferior in intellectual dis- cipline, and vitiated by early prejudices necessarily proceeding from the oblique principles and perverse systems of their day. Nevertheless they were earnest and ardent Christians ; in respect at least to their religion they had access to infallible instructors, and the lessons which they have transmitted to us, howsoever imperfectly transmitted, should be received with attention and respect. The Apostolical Fathers are those who were contemporary with the Apostles ; some of whom are known, and all of whom may be reasonably believed, to have shared their conversation, and profited by their instruc- tion. These are St. Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Hennas, Ignatius and Poly carp. They were all (excepting probably Clement) natives of the east, and all originally wrote in the Greek language. The works which have reached us under their names are not numerous ; and though the genuineness of some of them has been justly suspected, there is no reason to doubt the very high antiquity of all. They were composed with various objects, according to the dispositions or circumstances of their writers. The design of the epistle attributed to St. Barnabas was to abate the respect for the peculiar rites arid institutions of the Jewish laws, and to shew that they were not binding upon Christians. The ' Shepherd of Hermas' consists of three books, in the first of which are four visions, in the second twelve commands, in the third ten similitudes. The first and 72 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. V. third parts are of course very fanciful, yet were they not perhaps unsuited to the genius of the countries and the age to which they were addressed; the second contains some excellent moral precepts ; and all abound with paraphrastical allusions to the books of the New Testament. The epistles of Ignatius have su fered many obvious interpolations and corruptions ; but learned and candid critics, who have distinguished and rejected these, still leave us much behind of undisputed origin. The author was Bishop of Antioch ; he suffered martyrdom about the year 107 A. D., and the opinion that he invited, rather than shunned this fate, seems to be consistent with the ardour of his character. The genuineness of Polycarp's epistle to the Philippians has scarcely been questioned ;* it was written (soon after the death of Ignatius) in the spirit of sincere piety; it abounds with scriptural expressions and frequent quotations of the recorded words of Christ. Polycarp was Bishop of Smyrna on the appointment (as is asserted without any improbability) of the Apostle St. John ; and he suffered martyrdom, as we have already described, in the reign of Marcus Antoninus. But the most important record of the apostolical age remain- ing to us is the ' Epistle of the Church of Rome to the Church of Corinth,' written about the year 96 A. D. by Clement Bishop of Rome. Its object was to allay some internal dissensions of the Corinthians, and it contains many useful and noble truths, flowing from a vigorous mind and purely Christian spirit, in language never feeble, and occasionally eloquent. Those pious persons wrote before any association had taken place between philosophy and religion, and were better instructed in the knowledge of Scripture than in the lessons of the Schools; and their method of reasoning, no less than their style, attests the want of pro- fane education ; still it possesses a persuasive simplicity well suited both to the character of the writers, and the integrity of their faith. The fundamental doctrines of Christianity are clearly and scripturally incul- cated by them ; and these are every where so interwoven with the highest precepts of morality, as to prove to us that the belief of those men was inseparable from their practice, and that it had not ever occurred to them to draw any verbal distinction between these ; they delivered the truths which had been entrusted to them, and associated their moral and doctrinal instructions as inseparable parts of the same scheme. This perhaps is the most peculiar feature in their compositions, and that in which they most resemble the inspired writings. Another is the utter neglect of formal arrangement in the display of their argu- ments, or the delivery of their rules of conduct; a neglect which unques- tionably exposed them to the contempt of the philosopher, who sought in vain for a system in their lore, but which well accorded with the plain and unpretending character of truth. But that merit by which they have conferred the most lasting advantage on Christianity, (at least the three last of them,) and which will make them very valuable monuments, in every age, is their frequent reference to almost all the books of the New Testament, such as we now possess them. Thus they furnish us with de- cisive evidence of the genuineness of those books ; and their testimony is liable to no suspicion, because it was not given with any such view. The principal Greek writers, who immediately succeeded the apostolical Fathers, were Justin Martyr and Iremeus. Justin Martyr was a learned Samaritan, who, after having successively attached himself to the Stoics, the Peripatetics, the Pythagoreans, and the Platonists, discovered the irisuffi- * Larduer. : Cred. of Gosp. Hist. p. ii. ch. vi. Chap. V.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 73 ciency and emptiness of philosophy. His attention was called to Christianity by the sufferings inflicted upon its profession, and the firm- ness with which he had beheld them endured. He inferred that men so contemptuous of death were far removed from the moral degradation with which they were charged ; and that the faith for which they died so fear- lessly must stand on some foundation. He examined that foundation, and discovered its stability.* The sincerity of his conversion is attested by his martyrdom. He was executed by the Emperor, whose philosophy he had deserted ; and he perhaps never was so strongly sensible of the superiority of that which he had preferred, as at the moment when he died for it.f He wrote two apologies for Christianity, the first probably addressed to Antoninus Pius, the second to Marcus ; and a (supposed) dialogue with a Jew named Trypho. This last contains many weak arguments, and trifling and even erroneous interpretations of Scripture, mixed up with some useful matter. The two former are more valuable compositions ; they were so in those days because they contained the best defence of religion which had then been published, maintained by arguments very well calculated to persuade those to whom they were addressed ; and they are still so, because we find in them many quotations from the same four Gospels which we now acknowledge ; they relate many interesting facts, respecting the religious customs and ceremonies of the Christians of those times; and they prove the general acceptance of all the fundamental articles of our belief. As Justin flourished only one century after the preaching of Christ, (his conversion is usually placed at the year 133 from the birth of our Saviour,) we are not extending the value of tradition beyond its just limits, when we consider his opinions as receiving some additional weight from their contiguity to the apostolical times ; and if it vvere possible to mark by any decided limit the extent of traditionary authority, we should be disposed to trace the line immediately after his name ; for admitting that Irenaeus, who presently succeeded him, by his oriental birth and correspondence may have received some uncorrupted communica- tions transmitted through two generations from the divine origin, we shall still find it very difficult to distinguish these from the mere human matter with which they may be associated ; and this difficulty will increase, as we descend lower down the stream ; so that we may safely detach the notion of peculiar sanctity or conclusive authority]: from the names and writings of the succeeding Fathers, though they contain much that may excite our piety, and animate our morality, and confirm our faith. Irenaeus was Bishop of Lyons, about the year 178 A. D. He is chiefly cele- brated for his five books ' Against Heresies ;' containing confutations of * See Jortin Remarks, &c. B. ii. p. i. A. D. 150. Also supra pp. 30, 31. } It has been often asserted, and we believe without contradiction, that no man ever died in attestation of the truth of any philosophical tenet But those who lay much stress on this fact should show, that an opportunity for martyrdom has ever been afforded to any philosophical sect. | We might divide the first 313 years of the Christian sera into three periods, in respect to its internal history. The first century was the age of Christ and the Apostles, of miracles and inspiration inherent in the Church ; the next fifty years we may consider as that of the Apostolical Fathers, enlightened by some lingering rays of the departed glory, which wers successively and insensibly withdrawn ; the third was the period of severe probation and bitter anxiety, unalleviated by extraordinary aids, and so far removed from human consola- tion, that the powers of the earth might seem to have conspired with the meanest of its progeny, in order to oppress and^desolate the Church of Christ yet even this was not without the Spirit of God. \ 74 A HISTORY. OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. V. most of the errors which had then appeared in the Church. Though the language which he employs in this contest is not always that best adapted either to persuade or to conciliate, his sincere aversion from religious dis- sension is not questioned. It is proved indeed by the epistle which he ad- dressed to Victor, Bishop of Rome, on his insolent demeanour in the con- troversy respecting Easter, and which breathes a generous spirit of Christian moderation. And in good truth the individual exertions of Churchmen against the progress of unscriptural opinions were in those days the more necessary, and their warmth the more excusable, as there were yet no articles of faith to trace out the limits of orthodoxy, nor any acknowledged head, nor any legally established system of ecclesiastical government. The unity and purity of the Church were chiefly preserved by the independent labours of its most eminent and influential ministers, divided as they were both by language, and manners, and distance, and entirely unsupported by any temporal authority. So that, if we were still disposed to feel any surprise at finding such numerous forms of heresy, so very near both to the time and place where the Revelation was delivered, the above considerations would tend to remove it; while they certainly teach us, that such errors cannot permanently or generally prevail against scriptural truth, as long as they are steadily opposed by temperate and reasonable argument, and by no other weapon than argument only. END OF PART THE FIRST. PART II. FROM THE ACCESSION OF CONSTANTINE TO THE DEATH OF CHARLEMAGNE. CHAPTER VI. Constantine the Great. The Luminous Cross Edict of Milan Character, Conversion, Policy of Constantine Changes in the Constitution of the Church Imperial Supremacy Rights of the Church Its internal Admi- nistration External Conclusion. CHAPTER VII. The Arian Controversy. Controversies among Christians accounted for Conduct of Constantine Alexander Arius Council of Nice Constantius Athanasius Council of [Rimini Theodosius Council of Constantinople Arianism of the Barbarians Justinian Spain Council of Toledo Termination of the Contro- versyObservations. CHAPTER VIII. Fall of Paganism. Policy of Constantine of Julian Designed Reformation of Paganism Attempt to restore the Temple of Jerusalem Gradual Decline of the Superstition and virtual overthrow by Theodosius. CHAPTER IX. From the Fall of Paganism to the Death of Justinian. Conversion of the Northern Barbarians Superstitions of the Church Leo the Great Papal Aggran- dizement Justinian his Ecclesiastical Policy Established Laws against Heresy Literature, Profane and Christian Causes and Periods of the Decay of either Moral Condition of the Clergy and People Note on certain Fathers of the Fourth and Fifth Centuries. CHAPTER X. From the Death of Justinian to that of Charlemagne. 1. Mission of St. Austin to England of St. Boniface to Germany Mahomet and his Successors- Victory of Charles Martel Charlemagne. 2. Gregory the Great his Character Policy its per- manent Results Council of Francfort Deposition of Childeric Donation of Pepin Charlemagne's Liberality to the Church. CHAPTER XL The Dissensions of the Church from Constantine to Charlemagne. 1. Schism of the Donatists St. Augustin. 2. Priscillian his Opinions, and Death. 3. Jovinian Vigilantius St. Jerome. 4. Pelagian Controversy Councils of Jerusalem and Diospolis St. Au- gustin. 5. Controversy respecting the Incarnation Apollinaris Nestorius Council ofEphesus Eutyches Second Council of Ephesus Council of Chalcedon The Monothelites Council of C. P. 6. Worship of Images Leo the Isaurian The Empress Irene Seventh General Council Empress Theodora Observations. CHAPTER XII. Schism between the Greek and Latin Churches. Origin of the Dispute Council of Chalcedon Title of Oecumenical Bishop John the Faster- Gregory the Great Procession of the Holy Spirit Photius his Fortunes Michael Cenlarius Anathema by the Legates of Leo IX. CHAPTER XIII. The Constitution of the Church as fixed by Charlemagne. Retrospect of the Condition of the Church at preceding Periods at the Accession of Constantine the Death of St. Gregory the Accession of Charlemagne The Judicial Rights of the Clergy \inder Constantine Justinian Charlemagne The false Decretals Donation of Constantiiie The Revenues of the Church their Sources and Objects. 76 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. VI. CHAPTER VI. Constantine the Great. Victory over Maxentius supposed con version the miracle of the luminous Cross evidence for and against it the latter conclusive. The Edict of Milan its nature and effects union of the whole Empire under Constantine His moral character sincerity of his conversion unjustly disputed Remarks on his policy power of the Christians Alterations introduced into the constitution of the Church Its na- ture at Constantino's accession spiritual and temporal power union and strength of the early Church how cemented View of the Church probably taken by Constantine he sought its alliance Three periods of the ecclesiastical life of Constantine How circumstanced wiih regard to the state Constan- tine found the Church He assumes the supremacy Rights of the Church Its Internal administra- tion little altered in theory permission to bequeath property to the Church Independent jurisdiction of the Bishops on what founded External subject to the Emperor what particulars included in it General observations Constantine usurped nothing from the Church Indeterminate limits of the civil and spiritual authority Alterations in the titles and gradations of the Hierarchy pre-eminence un- attended by authority Conclusion Note on Eusebius. DURING the early part of Diocletian's persecution Constantius Chlorus ruled, with as much humanity as circumstances permitted him to exercise, the provinces of the West. On his death, at York, in the year 306, the army proclaimed Constantine, his son, Emperor. In the mean time, the provinces eastward of Gaul were distracted by the dissensions of rival emperors which favoured the growing strength of Constantine. In 311, Galerius, the fiercest among the assailants of Christianity, died, and his dominions were divided between Maximin and Licinius ; Maxen- tius had already usurped the government of Italy and Africa. Presently Constantine, justified, as most assert, by sufficient provocation, marched into Italy and overthrew Maxentius in the immediate neighbourhood of Rome ; that tyrant (as all admit him to have been) was drowned in the Tiber, and his dominions were added to the possessions of the conqueror. This event took place in the year 312 ; and it has been usually assigned as marking the period of Constantino's conversion to Christianity. A mira- culous story* is connected with this epoch in our history. As the Em- peror was marching toward Rome, at the head of his army, he beheld a luminous Cross, suspended about noonday in the air, and inscribed with the following words To^ro; v/xa ' By this conquer.' The phenomenon con- firmed his uncertain faith, and afforded him the surest omen of victory. But this was not all : during the ensuing night the form of Christ himself pre- sented itself with the same Cross, and directed him to frame a standard after that shape. And it is certain that, about that period, and possibly on that occasion, a standard was so framed, and continued for many following years to be displayed, whenever it became necessary to excite the enthusiasm of the Christian soldiers but the extraordinary appearances to which its adoption is ascribed demand the most rigid examination. In the first place, the story which we have shortly given is related by no contemporary author, excepting Eusebius ; next, it is related in his Lifet of Constantine, and riot in his Ecclesiastical History ; it is related in the year 338, or six-and-twenty years after the supposed appearance ; it is related on the authority of Constantine alone, though it must have been witnessed by his whole army, and notorious throughout his whole empire; and lastly it was published after the death of Constantine. In an age, wherein pious * In the relation of this story we have ventured to omit the dream published by Vie un- ci-rtam author of the book De Mortibus Persecutorum, as well as Nazarius's army oi'divine warriors. We confine ourselves to that, which appears under the more respectable au- thority of Eusebius. See Gibbon, chap. xx. f Euseb. Vit. Const. 1. 1., c. 28, 29, 30, 31. Chap. VI.J A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 77 frauds had already acquired some honour ; by a writer, who, respectable as he undoubtedly is, and faithful in most of his historical records, does not even profess those .rigid rules of veracity which command universal credit;* in a book, which rather wears the character of partial panegyric, than of exact and scrupulous history a flattering- fable might be published and believed; but it can claim no place among the authentic records of history, and by writers, whose only object is truth, it may very safely be consigned to con- tempt and oblivion. t The defeat of Maxentius was followed by a conference between Con- stantine and Licinius, which led to the publication, in the March of 313, of the celebrated Edict of Milan. This Edict was a proclamation of universal toleration ; but its advan- tages were of course chiefly or entirely reaped by the Chris- tians, as theirs had been the only religion not already tolerated. Edict of It gave back to them the civil and religious rights of which Milan. they had been deprived ; it restored without dispute, delay or expense, the places of worship which had been demolished,' and the lands which had been confiscated and free and absolute power was granted to the Christians, and to all others, of following the religion which every individual might think proper to follow. Immediately afterwards, Licinius, who was no friend to Chris- tianity, overthrew the eastern Emperor Maximin, who had been its savage adversary, and became master of the empire of the east. A war fol- lowed between the conqueror and Constantine, which terminated, in 315, to the advantage of the latter, who on that occasion extended his empire to the eastern limits of Europe ; eight years of peace succeeded, which were employed by the Christian Emperor in securing the real interests and legislating for the happiness of his subjects. This period of rare tran- quillity was succeeded by a second war* with Licinius, which terminated in 324 by his submission and death, and by the consequent union of the whole empire under the sceptre of Constantine. The year which followed the final success of Constantine was disgraced by the execution of his eldest son; and it is not disputed, that the progress of his career was marked by the usual excesses of intemperate and worldly ambition. Some of his laws were severe even to cruelty, and the * Eusebius says, that Constantine related the story to himself on oath. May we not believe Eusebius in this ? And may we not also suppose, that the Emperor deceived him in some moment, when enthusiasm, or indisposition, or mere human weakness had brought him first to deceive himself ? He may really have recollected some uncommon appearance about the Sun, not strongly noticed at the moment, but which the imagination of memory heated by exciting events, or by passion, or by feverish sickness, may have converted into a miracle. The story of the vision (which stands indeed on rather better authority) might be merely the exaggeration of a dream. At least this supposition has nothing in it unnatural ; and it is the only supposition which can save both the intention of the Em- peror and the veracity of the historian. See Note at the end of the chapter. f It is somewhat singular, that on this same occasion, Maxentius is related by the Pagan historian, Zosirnus, (who makes no mention of the Christian miracle, lib. ii.,) to have carefully consulted the Sibylline books, and credulously applied to his own circum- stances a prediction which he found there. \ This is considered by Eusebius (Vit. Constant, lib. ii.) almost in the light of a reli- gious war the first, if it was so, among the many by which the name of Christ has been profaned. Nevertheless, the general spirit of his laws was decidedly humane and favourable to the progress of civilization for instance, he made decrees tending to the termination of slavery ; he abolished some barbarous forms of punishment, as branding, for instance ; he restrained exorbitant usury, and endeavoured to prevent the exposure of children, by relieving the poor. See Jortin, Ecc. Hist, book iii. Fleury. Hist. Eccl. L. X. Sect. 21. Baronius, ad ami. 315. Sect. 30. 78 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. VI. general propriety of his moral conduct cannot with any justice be main- tained. Hence a suspicion has arisen as to the sincerity of his conversion chiefly, as it appears to us, or entirely founded on the inadequacy of his character to his profession. But is there any page in Christian history, or any form of Christian society, which does not mournfully attest the possi- bility of combining the most immoral conduct with the most unhesitating faith? Or is this a condition of humanity, from which monarchs are more exempt than their subjects ? We should recollect, moreover, that the character of Constantine, notwithstanding its grievous stains, will bear a comparison with some of the best among his pagan predecessors ; while it was free from those monstrous deformities which distinguished not a few of them, and which have indeed been rarely paralleled in Christian history. But even had his conduct been more reprehensible, than in truth it was, it would have furnished very insufficient evidence against the sin- cerity of his belief. Again, it was usual in those days, in continuance of a practice of which we have mentioned the cause and origin, to defer the sacrament of Baptism until the approach of death, and then once to ad- minister it, as the means of regeneration and the assurance of pardon and grace. In compliance with this custom* the emperor was not baptized (he did not even become a Catechumenf) until his last Mlness ; but no argument can hence be drawn against his sincerity, which would not equally apply to a large proportion of the Christians in his empire. In his favour the following facts should be observed. For many years he had publicly and consistently professed his belief in Christianity: in a long dis- course, which is still extant, he even expatiated on its various proofs ; he began his reign by protecting the Believers ; in its progress he favoured and honoured them ; he inscribed the cross on the banners of the empire ; he celebrated the festivals of the Church ; he associated in the closest in- timacy with Christian writers J and prelates ; he inquired into all the particulars of their faith, and displayed what some have thought an incon- siderate zeal for its purity. By such reasons, according to every fair prin- ciple of historical inference, we are precluded from any reasonable doubt on this subject ; nor need we hesitate for a moment to acquit a wise and, in many respects, a virtuous Prince of the odious charge of the foulest description of hypocrisy. * Constantius in like manner put off his Baptism till his last illness, (Athanas. lib. de Synodis) so did Theodosius the Great, until the illness which he mistook for his last. Socrat. 1. v. c. 6. f From Euseb. de Vit. Const, lib. iv. c. 61., it appears that the Emperor, just before his baptism, received for the first time the imposition of hands, usual in making a Cate- chumen. But in the same work, (lib. i. c. 32,) it would seem that he was xoirn%niis on his first profession of Christianity, immediately after the vision. We are disposed to attach greater credit to the former account. See Fleury, 1. xi. sect. 60. J Lactantius possessed his confidence, while his command was confined to the West, and Eusebius enjoyed throughout his life great influence at the Court of Constantinople. The respect which he paid to the festivals of the Church, his ' diligence in prayer/ the issuing of medals throughout the Empire, in which he is represented in the attitude of de- votion, are facts mentioned by Euseb. Vit. Const. 1. iv. c. 1 5 & 22. A vain dispute has been raised as to the probable moment of his conversion, into which we shall not enter, because the truth is not discoverable, and if it were, would still be unprofitable. Gibbon affects to set. some value on it, because he would willingly prove that Constantine was no real proselyte. Two facts he mentions in support of his suspicion that Constantine ' persevered till he was near forty years of age in the practice of the established religion,' especially in the worship of Apollo; and that in the same year (321) he published two Edicts, the first of which enjoined the solemn observance of Sunday, (Eusfb. Vit. Const. 1, iv. c, 18,) and the second directed the regular consultation of Chap. VI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 79 At the same time, we are willing- to admit that his conduct to the Christians was strictly in accordance with his interests ; and it is very pro- bable, that the protection with which he distinguished them may in the first instance have originated in his policy. But this is perfectly con- sistent with his subsequent conversion. And we may here remark, that those who assign policy as his chief or only motive, bear the strongest evidence to the power and real importance which the Church of Christ had acquired before his time ; they attest, that its stability had not been shaken by the sword of Diocletian ; that by its own unassisted and increasing energy it had triumphed over the fury of the most determined of its persecutors, and that its claims on the justice and respect of the Throne, though only urged by perseverance in suffering, could no longer be over- looked with safety. And this fact is of much greater historical importance, than the motives or sincerity of any individual can possibly be. Let us now proceed to ascertain what was the condition and constitution of the Church, as Constantine found it ; what were the principal alterations introduced by him, and in what form and attitude he left it. We have already described the free and independent constitution of the primitive Church ; the Bishops and teachers were chosen by the clergy and people ; the Bishop ma- Constitution of naged the ecclesiastical affairs of his diocese, in council the Church. with the Presbyters, and * with a due regard to the suf- frages of the whole assembly of the people.' Again, the great ecclesiasti- cal divisions of the empire appear from the earliest period naturally to have followed the political ; and thus for the regulation of matters relating to the interests of a whole Province, whether they were religious controversies, or the forms and rites of divine service, or other things of like moment, the Bishops of the Province assembled in council, and deliberated arid legislated. We have also remarked, that during the course of the third century this constitution was so far changed, that the episcopal authority was some- what advanced, at the expense of that of the inferior ministers and the people. But in all other respects the government of the Church remained in reality the same, and perhaps even in this respect it was apparently so ; for the forms of the lesser or diocesan councils were still preserved, though the relative influence of the three parties composing them had undergone a change. And here it will be proper to examine how far those are correct who consider the Church at that period, as a separate Republic or Body-poli- aruspices. Both are literally true ; but the inferences drawn from both are false Con- stantine did not profess his religion, perhaps he did not adopt it, until the campaign against Maxentius in 312 he had previously protected and favoured the Christians, but till then he did not proclaim, nor could he perhaps safely have proclaimed, his own belief; but he seized the earliest moment to do so, and duringthe twenty-five following years, he maintained his profession with ardent and active perseverance. By bringing forward the second fact as an argument against his belief, the historian has forgotten that the Edict of Milan was an Edict of universal toleration, protecting all Pagan, as well as all Christian, cere- monies ; so that the two proclamations, which he is willing to expose as inconsistent, were only the necessary consequence of that generous policy, which had been so little under- stood by the Pagan Emperors. Before we quit this subject we should mention, that Zosimus (lib. ii.) attributes Constantine's change of faith to the persuasion, instilled into him by one ^Egyptius, a Spaniard, that the remission of sins attended the act of conver- sion to Christianity. Thus it appears, at least, that the Pagan Historian did not doubt the reality of the conversion, though he may have mistaken its motive. * Mosheim, Cent. iv. Part 2. C. 2 80 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.' [Chap. VI tic distinguished from the empire. In the first place the synods which we have mentioned, local as well as provincial, assumed the office and power to arrange ecclesiastical affairs, and to punish ecclesiastical offences. But neither was their power acknowledged by the civil Government, nor were their awards or censures enforced by it. Again, the Bishop, through an authority which professed to be derived from Scripture, and which may certainly be traced to the earliest age, exerted a kind of mediative inter- ference throughout his diocese, in the civil disputes of the Christians, to which they very frequently appealed, and admitted his decisions as con- clusive ; but no such jurisdiction was recognised by the Government, nor were any such decisions legally valid. Moreover, some of the Churches had become possessed, as corporate bodies, of considerable property in land or buildings purchased from the common fund, and applied to the purposes of the society; but the Government never formally acknowledged the legality of those acquisitions, and availed itself, as we have already seen, of the first pretext to confiscate them. It is in this condition of ecclesiastical affairs, that we may discover per- haps the earliest vestige of the distinction, which will hereafter become so familiar to us, between spiritual and temporal power though in the pre- sent indefinite shape and imperfect development of the former, we can scarcely trace any intimation of its future proportions and magnitude. We perceive also, on how strange and irregular a foundation the security of the early Church was established in fact, to a statesman of those days, before the force of religious union and the intensity of religious attach- ment were generally known and understood, the society or communion which rested not on a political basis, would naturally appear to possess no principle of stability. To the eye of a Pagan its strength was imperceptible, as the elements which composed it were concealed from him ; and it w r as this circumstance which encouraged Diocletian to an aggression, of which the barbarity indeed shocked him, but of which he never, perhaps, doubted the success, since the power which resisted it was unseen and in- comprehensible. In the mean time, the public discipline, which had been made necessary by the neglect of the civil power, was cemented and for- tified by its opposition ; and the private sincerity of belief, which could not be understood by a Pagan, because Paganism had nothing to do with Truth, was animated into contumacy by the sense of injustice and injury. It is even probable, that the union of the scattered Churches was facili- tated by the increase of the episcopal authority in each ; for they thus acquired that decision and steadiness of continuous exertion, which marks individual superintendence, and which would scarcely have been so constant and uniform, had the government of the dioceses retained, in its utmost strictness, its original popular character. The power of the Bishops made them formidable only to the persecutor; their interests demanded their union; and their union was then the only security for that of the whole Church, and thereby (without the direct interposition of Providence) for its actual preservation. ;** To us, indeed, it seems nearly certain, that these powerful but latent principles of ecclesiastical stability, which repelled the assault of Diocletian, would have preserved the Church through a much severer trial, if the genius of Constanline had not discovered its real strength, and courted its friendship and alliance. It is true, that in becoming acquainted with its strength, he also discovered its virtues ; in the excellence of the Christian i, lie perceived a great omen of fts perpetuity he saw too, that, as a rule for civilized society, it was more efficient than any human law, because Chap.'VI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 81 more powerful in its motives to obedience; and perhaps he remarked also, that the energy of Christians had hitherto been confined to submission and endurance to unoffending, unresisting- perseverance and this out- ward display of loyalty might lead him to overlook that free spirit, which pervaded both the principles of the religion and the government of the Church, and which in later ages was so commonly found in opposition to despotism, Constantine admired the morality of the Christians, he loved their sub- mission to arbitrary power, and he respected that internal and advancing vigour, which had triumphed over so many persecutors. These, we doubt not, were the motives which induced him to seek the alliance of the Church, and to confer on it advantages, not more substantial, perhaps, than those which he received from it. We are disposed to divide the ecclesiastical life of Constantine into three periods. In the first of these he confined himself, at least ostensibly, to the impartial toleration of all religions, though he legally established that of the Christians. This extends from the Edict of Milan to the council of Nice in the year 325. His next occupation was to define the doctrines, and thus to preserve the unity of the Church, which he had esta- blished. It was not till the third and latest period of his life, that he at- tacked the superstition of his forefathers, by edicts directly levelled against Paganism. The Arian controversy and the overthrow of Paganism will form the subjects of separate chapters at present we shall endeavour to point out the most important alterations introduced during this reign into the constitution of the Church, and their immediate effects upon its ministers and members. Constantine found the Church an indepen- dent body, a kind of self-constituted commonwealth, which might some- times be at peace, and sometimes at variance with the civil government, but which was never acknowledged as any part of the whole body politic ; it had a separate administration, separate laws, and frequently (through the perversity of its persecutors) separate interests also. The Christian, as a citizen of the empire, was subject of course to the universal statutes of the empire as a member of the Church, he owed a distinct allegiance to the spiritual directors of the Church ; and though this allegiance was never inconsistent with his civil obedience, except when that obedience would have deprived him of his religion, it was founded on more commanding motives, and was one from which no earthly authority was sufficient to ab- solve him. Thus far, and thus far only, his ecclesiastical divided him from his civil duties ; to this extent they placed him, at all times, in divergency from the State, and, in times of persecution, in actual opposition to it. And so long as the Church which he honoured was disclaimed as a part, or associate, of the State ; so long as the space between them was broad and distinguishable, so long the limits of his allegiance to either were very clearly marked. Constantine comprehended the nature, and perceived the inconveniences and the danger, of this disunion ; and he therefore employed the earliest exertion of his power and policy to acknowledge the existence, to consolidate the elements, to establish the authority, and to diminish the independence of the Church. To accomplish the three first of these ob- jects, he received that body into strict alliance with the state to effect the last, he so received it, as to constitute himself its director as well as its guardian, and to combine in his own person the highest ecclesiastical with the highest civil authority. His right to this authority (if he condescended to consider that point) he might derive with some plausibility from the original institutions of Rome. From the earliest ages of its history, the G 82 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. VI. chief magistrate of the nation had been entrusted with the superintendence of the national religion ; and it seemed fair that he should impose the same, as the condition of the establishment of Christianity. And yet a great distinction is to be observed even in this point. For, according to the principles of Polytheism, the most sacred functions of religion might be performed by the hands of the civil magistrates ; but the consecration of a separate order to those purposes by the Christian system excluded the Emperor from the administration of the rites of religion ; and the Prince and the Priest became henceforward characters wholly distinct, and inde- pendent. It was perhaps by this restriction, that the first avowed and legal limitation was imposed upon the authority of the former ; and it was not a trifling triumph to have obtained from a Roman Emperor the acknowledgment of any right in a subject, or any restraint upon himself. Notwithstanding this assumption of ecclesiastical supremacy by the Emperor, the Church retained in many respects its separate existence, or at least the freedom of its autonomous constitution indeed, had not this been so, the term Alliance, which is used to designate the union of Church and State under Constantine, as it implies a certain degree of independence in both parties, would be unmeaning and out of place. Some immediate advantages were also reaped by the Church ; much that it had formerly held by sufferance, it now possessed bylaw ; many privileges, which had hitherto existed through the connivance only, or the ignorance, of the Government, were now converted into rights, and as such confirmed and perpetuated. Constantine divided the administration of the Church into (1.) Internal, and (2.) External. (1.) The former continued, as heretofore, in the hands of the Prelates, individually and in Council little or no alteration was introduced into this department ; and it comprehended nearly every thing which was really tangible and available in the power of the Church before its associa* tion with the State, now confirmed to it by that association. The settle- ment of religious controversies was recommended to the wisdom of the Hierarchy;* the forms of Divine worship, the regulation of customary rites and ceremonies, or the institution of new ones, the ordination and offices of the priesthood, which included the unrestrained right of public preaching, and the formidable weapon of spiritual censure were left to the exclusive direction of the Church. The freedom of episcopal election was not violated ; and the Bishops retained their power to convoke legislative synods twice a year in every Diocese, uncontrolled by the civil magistrate. We have already mentioned, that, by the Edict of Milan, the possessions of the Church were restored, and its legal right to them for the first time acknowledged; and this act of justice was followed, in the year 321, by another Edict which permitted all subjects to bequeath property to that Body.f Exemption from all civil offices was granted to the whole body of the clergy ;J and, perhaps, a more important privilege, about the same time conferred on the higher orders, was that of independent jurisdiction, even in capital charges, over their own members: so that the Bishop, alone * A rescript of Constantino to the Provincial Bishops on the disputes between Athana- sius and Eusebius of Nicodemia, admits Vestri est, non mei judicii^de ea re cognoscere. See Baronius ad ann. 329, sect. 8. f Constantino's personal generosity to the Church, as well as his deference to the Episcopal Order, is mentioned by Eusebius, (Vit. Const., lib. i. c. 42., lib. ii., and Hist. Eccles., 1. x.) and was continued throughout his whole reign. The Pagan Zosimus (lib. ii.) mentions the profusion which he wasted upon ' useless persons.' J Baronius, ad ann. 31 1). sect. 30. Chap. VI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 83 among- the myriads of the subjects of the empire, enjoyed the right of being tried by his Peers. This was not granted, however, with any intention of securing his impunity; for, though degradation was the severest punishment which could be inflicted by a spiritual court, the penalty was liable to increase, after condemnation, by the interference of the secular authority. While we may consider the free trial of the Bishops, in a political light, as another important inroad into the pure despotism of the imperial system, we are also assured that on the Body, thus exclusively possessing it, it con- ferred no inconsiderable advantages. But another privilege, even more valuable than this, and one which will more constantly be present to us in the history of succeeding ages, is traced with equal certainty to the legislation of Constantine. The arbitration of Bishops in the civil differences referred to them in their diocese was now ratified by law ; and their decisions, of which the validity had formerly depended on the consent of the parties, were henceforward enforced by the civil magistrate*. On this foundation was imperceptibly established the vast and durable edifice of ecclesiastical jurisdiction ; from this simple legalization of an antient custom, in process of time, the most substantial portion of sacerdotal power proceeded, and the most extravagant pretensions of spiritual ambition. But those consequences convey no reflection on the wisdom of Constantine, since they were produced by circumstances which he could riot possibly foresee ; and which, besides, never influenced, to any great extent, the eastern division of Christendom. In the separate view, which we have taken of the internal constitution of the Church, we perceive a powerful, self-regulated body, armed with very ample and extensive authority, and supported, when such support was necessary, by the secular arm. Let us proceed to the second division, or the external administration of the Church. (2.) Of this department the JEmperor assumed the entire control to himself.f It comprehended every thing relating to the outward state and discipline of the Church ; and was understood to include a certain degree of superintendence over such contests and debates as might arise among the ministers, of whatsoever rank, concerning their possessions, their re- putation, their rights and privileges, as well as their political, or other offences against the laws of the Empire. Even the final decision of re- ligious controversies was subjected to the discretion of judges appointed by the Emperor :J the same terminated any differences which might arise between the Bishops and people, fixed the limits of the ecclesiastical pro- vinces, took cognizance of the civil causes subsisting between ministers, and lent his power to the execution of the punishment due to their criminal offences. And though the right of convoking local and provincial synods remained with the Church, that of assembling a General Council was ex- ercised only by the Prince. When we consider in succession these articles of imperial supremacy, we perceive, in the first place, that Constantine did not transfer to himself from the Church any power which had before belonged to it : most of the cases, there provided for, must by necessity have always fallen under civil cog- nizance for whenever it happened, either that the external encroachments of the Church, or the differences among Christians, or their ministers, pro- H * Fleury, Hist. Eccl. 1. x. sect. 27. on authority of Sozomen (1. i. c. 8 and 9) and Const, Apostol. (lib. ii. c. 46) Baronius, ad aim. 314. sect. 38, with reference to Cod. Theodos. 1" The authority assumed by the Emperors appears, under various titles, in the 16th 'ok of the Theodosian Code, as also in the Code of Justinian, Mosheim, Cent, iv. part ii. ch. ii. G 2 84 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. VI. ceeded to endanger public tranquillity, such offences fell, of course, under the cognizance of the secular, which was then the only acknowledged, juris- diction. There appear, indeed, to be two cases in which the Emperor assumed a power not before belonging to the State interference for the arrange- ment of religious controversies by the appointment of judges, and the convocation of General Councils. Respecting the first of these which proved indeed the least effectual part of his ecclesiastical authority it was not probable that the Emperor would be anxious to exert it, unless called upon to undertake the office by one or both of the parties in controversy. If invited to enforce the sentence of the Church against a condemned Heretic, he might reasonably plead the interference of Aurelian in the affair of Paul of Samosata ; if solicited to decide between two opinions dividing the Body of the Church itself, he would naturally have recourse to ihe'second of the methods entrusted to him, the calling of a General Council. But the. authority to do so was not the usurpation of a power before pos- sessed by another, but the creation of a new power. For as a General Council of all the leading ministers of the Church neither had been, nor could have been, assembled in times when the Church, if haply not perse- cuted, was at least unacknowledged, so the new condition of its establish- ment gave birth to new circumstances, for the regulation of which a new authority was necessary ; and that authority was properly vested in the highest civil magistrate. In the next place, in comparing the privileges remaining to the Church with those assumed by the Emperor in his connexion with it, and in tracing the consequences to which either might be extended, we cannot fail to observe, that their limits are often vague and inde- terminate ; and that, when they are not so, the points of contact and intersection are very numerous, offering frequent means and temptations to mutual innovation. We shall see that, in after ages, they led to much aggression and injustice in both parties ; but as matters then stood, with so large a portion of the population still unconverted, and even adverse to the Faith, under an Emperor possessed of undivided and seemingly unbounded authority, we should be surprised, perhaps, to find so many privileges confirmed to a distinct religious community, if we were not acquainted with the bold and vigorous character of Constantine, and also persuaded of his attachment to Christianity. We should not omit to mention some changes at that time introduced into the titles and gradations of the Hierarchy, in order to associate their administration more intimately with that of the civil officers. To the three Prelates of Rome, Antioch and Alexandria, who enjoyed a certain degree of preeminence in the Church, was added the Patriarch of Constantino- ple these four corresponded with the four PraBtorian Prefects then also created. After these followed the Exarchs,* who had the inspection over several provinces, and answered to the appointment of certain civil officers of the same name. The Metropolitans had the government of one pro- vince only, and under them were the Archbishops, whose inspection was confined to certain districts. The Bishops were the lowest in this grada- tion, but many of them possessed ample extentof authority and jurisdiction. Their number at this time was one thousand eight hundred, of whom a thou sand administered the Eastern, eight hundred the Western Church. In this whole Body, the Bishop of Rome possessed a certain indeterminate J* Mosheimj loc. cit. Chap. VI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 85 recedence, or pre-eminence, unattended by any au'hovity ; and this precedence is attributed, first, to the Imperial name of Rome, and next to the superiority in wealth, which he seems to have acquired at a very early period ; to the splendour and extent of his religious administration, and the influence naturally rising from these causes. The simple establishment of the Church, such as we have now described it without anticipating; the measures of State afterwards applied, or mis- applied, to the support of it, was favourable not only to the progress of Christianity, but also to the concord of Christians ; the former has never been disputed ; as to the latter, we have seen by what a cloud of heresies the religion was overshadowed before its establishment ; and no one can reasonably doubt, that the additional sanction given to the Gospel by im- perial adoption, and the greater dignity and influence and actual power thus acquired by its regular ministers in every province of the Empire, would conduce to dissolve and disperse them. They did so but while the numerous forms of error, of which we have treated, fell for the most part into silence and disrepute, there was one, of which we have yet made no mention, which grew up into such vigour and attained so much con- sistency, that there seemed to be danger lest it should possess itself of the high places, and occupy the sanctuary itself. Its progress, and the means adopted to oppose it, form the subject of the following chapter. We shall conclude the present with one or two observations. It is one favourite opinion of most sceptical writers, that Christianity is entirely indebted for its general propagation and stability to the Imperial patronage of Constantine ; it is another, that the establishment of the Church led to the disunion of its members, and its prosperity to its cor- ruption. The first of those theories is falsified by the history of the three first centuries during which we observe the religion to have been gradually but rapidly progressive throughout the whole extent of the Ro- man Empire, in spite of the persecution of some Emperors, the suspicious jealousy of others, and the indifference of the rest. We need not dwell longer on this fact ; especially as it is virtually admitted by those same writers, when it suits them to attribute Consiantine's pretended conversion to his policy. The second of their assertions has a greater show of truth, but is, in fact, almost [equally erroneous. A fairer view of that question, and, if we mistake not, the correct view, is the following the establish- ment of the Church was in itself highly beneficial both to the progress of religion, and to the happiness of society the mere pacific alliance of that Body with the State was fraught with advantage to the whole Empire, with danger to no member of it. Many evils indeed did follow it, and many vexations were inflicted by Christians upon each other in the perverse zeal of religious controversy. But such controversies, as we have sufficiently shown, had existed in very great abundance, very long 1 before Christianity was recognised by law ; and the vexations were not at all the necessary consequence of that recognition. They originated, not in the system itself, but in the blindness of those who administered it; they proceeded from the fallacious supposition that which afterwards animated the Romish Church, and which has misled despots and bigots in every age that unanimity in religious belief and practice was a thing attainable; and they were conducted on a notion equally remote from reason, that such unanimity, or even the appearance of it, could be attained by force. Many ages of bitter experience have been necessary to prove the absurdity of these notions, and the fruitless wickedness of the measures proceeding from them. But a candid inquirer will admit that they were not at all inseparably connected with the establishment of SG A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. VI. the Church ; and that that Body would not only have continued to exis- and to flourish, without any interference of civil authority to crush its adversaries, but that it would have subsisted in that condition with more dignity, and more honour, and much more security. The prosperity of the Church was unquestionably followed by an in- crease in the number and rankness of its corruptions. But unhappily we have already had occasion to observe, that several abuses had taken root in all its departments, during at least that century which immediately pre- ceded the reign of Constantine to the fourth we may undoubtedly assign the extravagant honours paid to Martyrs, and the shameful superstitions which arose from them. But we should also recollect, that many among the Romish corruptions are of a much later date, and that several may be directly referred to the influence of expiring Paganism, not to the gratuitous invention of a wealthy and degenerate priesthood. In- deed, we should add, that in respect to the moral character of the clergy ot the fourth century, they seem rather chargeable with the narrow, conten- tious, sectarian sjoirit, which was encouraged and inflamed by the capricious interference of the civil power, than with any flagrant deficiency in piety and sanctity of life. (Euseb. H. E. lib. vii. c. i.) The name of Eusebius has been so frequently referred to in this His- tory, that being now arrived at the age in which he Note on flourished, we are bound to give some account of his life Eusebius. and character. He is believed to have been born at Caesarea in Palestine, about the year 270 ; he was raised to that See about 315, and died in 339, or 340 ; being thus (within two or three years) contemporary with his Emperor, and his friend, in the three cir- cumstances of his birth, his dignity, and his death. He was extremely diligent and learned, and the Author of ' innumerable volumes.'* And among those which still exist, his Ecclesiastical History, and his Life of Constantine, furnish us with the best lights which we possess respecting his own times, and with our only consecutive narrative of the previous fortunes of Christianity. Eusebius admits, in the first chapter of his History, that he has ' entered upon a desolate and unfrequented path ;' and in gleaning the scattered records of preceding writers, and presenting them for the most part in their own language and on their own authority, he has indeed very frequently discovered to us the scantiness of the harvest and the poverty of the soil. Still in that respect he has faithfully dis- charged his historical duties, and has rescued much valuable matter from certain oblivion. In this indeed consists one peculiar merit of his History, that it unfolds to us a number of earlier memoirs, written immediately after the events which they describe, and on all of which we are at liberty to exercise our critical judgment, as to the credit which may be due to them, without also involving that of Eusebius in our conclusion. But respecting the historical candour of the Author, when he speaks in his own person, and the fidelity with which he has delivered such circum- stances as were well known to him, a few words are necessary, because the question is not usually stated with fairness. In describing the sufferings of the Christians during the last persecu- tion, Eusebius t (H. E. lib. viii. c. ii.) admits 'that it does not agree with ' our plan to relate their dissensions and wickedness before the persecution, * on which account we have determined to relate nothing more concern- ' ing them than may serve to justify the Divine Judgment. We have * Juromi! do Vir. Illust. c. xxxi. t lu \ it. Constant, cap. ix., ho makes tlu; same sort of profession. Chap. VI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 87 ' therefore not been induced to make mention, either of those who were * tempted in the persecution, or of those who made utter shipwreck of * their salvation, and were sunk of their own accord in the depths of the ' storm ; but shall only add those things to our General History, which ' may in the first place be profitable to ourselves, and afterwards to posterity.' And in another passage he asserts, that the events most suit- able to a 'History of Martyrs' are those which redound to their honour. From these two passages it appears that Eusebius in his relation of that persecution has suppressed the particulars of the dissensions and scandals which had prevailed among the faithful, because he judged such accounts less productive of immediate edification and future profit, than the cele- bration of their virtues and their constancy. We may remark that in this determination, his first error was one of judgment if indeed he imagined that the great lessons of History were more surely taught by the records of what is splendid and glorious, than by the painful, but impressive story of human imperfection, and of the calamities which man has gathered from his own folly and wickedness. But his second and less pardonable devi- ation was from principle there is a direct and avowed disregard of the second fundamental precept of historical composition. However, the crime is less dangerous because it is avowed, and more excusable because less dangerous ; and at any rate,' if we shall perceive, in the general course and character of the work, a disposition to investigate diligently, and represent faithfully, we shall be disposed to confine our doubts to those portions only, which the writer has not even professed to treat with entire fidelity ; and in the vast multitude of circumstances, in which the honour of the Martyrs is not concerned, we shall approach our only fountain of informa- tion with a confidence not much impaired by a partial dereliction of principle, which is fairly admitted. But that delinquency of Eusebius which we have just mentioned is con- fined to the suppression of truth it does not proceed to the direct asser- tion of falsehood we shall now notice a still more serious suspicion, to which he has rendered himself liable. The thirty-first chapter of the twelfth book of his Evangelical Preparation bears for its title this scan- dalous proposition* * How it may be lawful and fitting to use falsehood as a medicine, for the advantage of those who require such a method.' We have already deplored, with sorrow and indignation, the fatal moment, when fraud and falsehood were first admitted into the service of religion. Philosophy, in the open array of her avowed hostility, was not so dan- * We purposely copy the language of Gibbon (Vindication, p. 137, 2d ed.) Still we should fail in doing perfect justice to Eusebius, if we did not publish, together 'with the proposition, the very short chapter in which it is treated. It begins with a quotation from .Plato (De Leg. 2.) ' A legislator of any value even if the fact were not such as our ( discourse has just established it if in any case he might make bold to deceive young ' persons for their advantage ; could he possibly inculcate any falsehood more profitable * than this, or more potent to lead all without force or compulsion to the practice of all i justice ?' ' Truth, my friend, is honourable and permanent ; but not, it would seem, very ( easy of persuasion.' To this somewhat hypothetical passage of Plato, Eusebius adds " You may find a thousand such instances in the Scriptures, where God is described as " jealous, or sleeping, or angry, or liable to other human affections, so expressed for the ad- *' vantage of those who require such a method (ititi'j^p,ov $e XeV/w TO oiriaaovv rapaTTetv TOVS yffvx^d^ovra^ and I call it persecution to offer any description of molestation to those who are quiet.' Some credulity respecting miraculous stories is his principal failing. 2. Hermias Sozomen was also an advocate, resident at Constantinople ; but he was a native of Palestine, born near Gaza, and was educated in a monastery in that country. In his writings we perceive a great ardour for the monastic life, and a concomitant tendency to superstitious extrava- gance. Superior in style to his contemporary, he is below him in judg- ment and discrimination ; still his work contains much valuable matter; though some of it is probably borrowed from that of Socrates, which seems to have been published some little earlier. 3. Theodorit, like Sozomen, received a monastic education ; but he entered into the ecclesiastical profession, and became Bishop of Cyrus, in Syria. He was remarkable, not only for his learning and piety, but for his absolute and voluntary poverty. ' I was ordained Bishop against my will ; for twenty-five years (says he, in an epistle still extant) I have so lived in that station, as never to be at variance, never to prosecute any one at law or to be prosecuted. The same I can say of all the pious clergy who are under my inspection, none of whom was ever seen in any court of justice. Neither I nor my domestics ever received the smallest present from any person, not even a loaf or an egg. My patrimony I gave long ago to the poor, and I have made no new acquisitions. I have neither house, nor land, nor money, nor a sepulchre where my friends may lay my body when I die. I am possessor of nothing save the poor raiment which I wear.' As a writer, however, he is inferior to his two fellow- labourers, both in judgment and moderation; he is more violent against schism and heresy, more bigoted, and more absurdly credulous. Yet he did not himself escape the charge of heresy, and was certainly attached to the party, probably to the opinions, of Nestorius. His style is pronounced by Photius to be clear and lofty without redundancy. To this list we may venture to regret that we cannot add the name of Philostorgius. This writer was an Arian ; his history extended from the Chap. VII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 105 year 300 to 425, and he had witnessed much of what he described. But of his works nothing remains, except an epitome by Photius, and some fragments. Photius assures us that he betrayed great partiality for the sect to which he belonged, and this may have been so ; yet such is the narrative which we would willingly confront with the probable misrepre- sentations of his adversaries. We have also referred to the authorities of Epiphanius, Hilary, and Rufinus, but have been very sparing in our use of them. Epiphcmiiis was bred a monk, and became Bishop of Salamis, in Cyprus. He was the author of a voluminous book against all the heresies which had hitherto arisen. But his work is disfigured by so many marks of levity and igno- rance, that we can follow him with no general confidence. Hilary was Bishop of Poictiers, for the most part a copyist of Tertullian and Origen, but celebrated for ' Twelve Books concerning the Trinity,' writer against theArians. Rvfinus was a Presbyter of Aquileia, a translator, and not always a faithful one, of Origen and other Greek writers. He was en- gaged in a violent contest with St. Jerome, and was assailed by the viru- lence of that intemperate writer ; and he had the additional misfortune of being excommunicated by Anastasius, the Bishop of Rome, for his attach- ment to the opinions of Origen. These three writers belong to the fourth century. Jortin, H. E., b. ii., p. ii., p. 96. CHAPTER VIII. The Decline and Fall of Paganism. Condition of the two Religions on the accession of Constantine Progress of Christianity during his reign His successive measures against Paganism Remarks on them Proceedings of his sons- Accession of Julian Reasons given for his Apostacy His enthusiasm for Paganism his character compared with that of M. Antoninus his policy contrasted with that of Constantine his succes- sive measures against Christianity His attempts to reform Paganism directed to three points his attack on the truth of Christianity in the attempt to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem defeated by what means whether miraculous or not examination of a late opinion His death. Rapid decline of Paganism Valentinian I. Gratian. Theodosius I. his edict against Paganism ex- tremely effectual. Imperfect faith of many of the Converts corruptions introduced from Pa- ganism. Synesius. Arcadius and Honorius abolition of Gladiatorial Games. Theodosius II. subversion of Paganism in the East in the West. Note on certain Pagan writers. FROM the dissensions of Christians, and the calamities occasioned by them, we turn to a more pleasing subject the final triumph of the Faith over the superstition which had heretofore prevailed throughout the Roman empire ; and in proceeding to this investigation, that which first strikes us as most remarkable is, that the very period during which the Christian world was most widely and angrily divided by the Arian controversy, the middle and conclusion of the fourth century, was that precisely during which the Religion, as if invigorated by internal agitation, overthrew her most powerful adversary a circumstance which is the more to be remarked, as strongly indicative of her own heavenly energy, because the spectacle of Christian dissension has afforded to infidels in every age, as it does at this moment, the most plausible argument for unbelief. Let us endeavour then to trace the measures by which this extraordinary revolution was brought about. At the accession of Constantine, the Christians, though very numerous, formed no doubt the smaller portion of his subjects, since the multitude, 10G A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. VIII. who were, in fact, of no religion, were accounted among the votaries of ]-:! gained some reputation both io France and at Rome, from about 660 to 710. The vast, quantity of relics which he brought home from his first expedition to the Continent is mentioned by Fleury, liv. xxx., sect. xxxv. 6 Mosheim, Cent, viii., p. i., c. i. Milner takes great pains to exculpate Boniface from the" various charges of violence, arrogance, fraud, &c., which Mosheim very liberally heaps ui-onhiin, and to prove him, from his own correspondence, to have been a mere pious, un- ambitious missionary. There is some reason in the defence ; and Mosheim may very pro- bably have been prejudiced against Boniface by that absolute devotion to the Holy See which he professed, and by which he profited. See also Fleury, end of liv. xli., &c. Chap. X.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 145 clue not only to his zeal, but also to his martyrdom for, returning in his old age to Frieseland*, that he might terminate his labours where he had begun them, he was massacred by the savage inhabitants, together with fifty ecclesiastics who attended him. (A. D. 755.) To the eighth century we may also refer the introduction of 1 Chris- tianity among the Tartars, the inhabitants of those regions which now constitute the southern Asiatic provinces of the Russian empire. This spiritual conquest was achieved under the auspices of an heretical Bishop, Timotheus the Nestorian, about the year 790. On the other hand, for the chastisement of a corrupt Church and a sinful people, the extensive tracts of central and southern Asia had been already overwhelmed by the fiercest enemies who have ever been raised against the Christian name, the fanatic followers of Mahomet ; and to their mention we cannot proceed perhaps with a better augury, than after recording that obscure fact, which planted the banner of Christianity in a Russian province. During the fourth century of our history we were occupied in observing the destruction of the ancient paganism of Greece and Rome ; during the fifth and sixth we marked the success Mahometan of Christianity in supplanting the rude superstitions of the Conquests. Celtic invaders of the empire, and subduing those savage aggressors to the law, or at least to the name, of Christ. But the se- venth century was marked by the birth of a new and resolute adversary, who began his career with the most stupendous triumphs, who has torn from us the possession of half the world, and who retains his conquests even to this moment. Mahomet was born about the year 575; we are ignorant of the precise period of the nativity of that man who wrought the most extraordinary revolution in the affairs of this globe, which the agency of any being merely human has ever yet accomplished. His pretended mission did not commence till he was about forty years old, and the date of his celebrated flight from Mecca, the Hedjirah, or era of Mahometan nations, is 622, A. D. The remainder of his life was spent in establishing his religion and his authority in his native land, Arabia ; and the sword with which he finally completed that purpose, he bequeathed, for the uni- versal propagation of both, to his followers. His commission was zealously executed ; and, in less than a century after his death, his faith was unin- terruptedly extended by a chain of nations from India to the Atlantic. The fate of Persia was decided by the battle of Cadesia, in 636. In Syria, Damascus had already fallen, and after the sanguinary conflict of Yermuk, where the Saracens for the first time encountered and overthrew a Christian enemy, the conquerors instantly proceeded to the reduction of Jerusalem ; that grand religious triumph they obtained in 637. In the * That country was for some years the scene of the successive exertions of St. Wilfrid, St. Vulfran, St. Villebrod, and lastly St. Boniface. It was the second of those missionaries whose injudicious answer to Radbod, the King of the Frieselanuers. retarded the progress of the new religion. That Prince was standing at the baptismal font, prepared for the cere- mony only one point remained, respecting which his curiosity was still unsatisfied ' Tell me,' said he to the Holy Bishop, ' where is now the greater number of the Kings and Princes of the nation of the Frieselanders are they in the Paradise which you promise me, or in the Hell with which you menace me?' ' Do not deceive yourself,' replied St. Vulfran; ' the Princes, your predecessors, who have died without baptism, are most assuredly damned; but whosoever shall believe henceforward, and be baptised, shall be in joy eternal with Christ Jesus.' Upon this Radbod withdrew his foot from the font and said ' I cannot resolve to relinquish the society of the Kings, my predecessors, in order to live with a few poor people in the kingdom of heaven. I cannot believe these novelties, and I will rather adhere to the ancient usages of my nation.' It was not until after the death of this Prince that St. Boniface gained any footing in the country. Fleury, 1, xlix., s. 35. L U6 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. X. year following 1 Aleppo and Antioch fell into their hands, which completed the conquest of Syria. Thence they proceeded northward as far as the shores of the Euxine and the neighbourhood of Constantinople. The invasion of Egypt took place in 638, and within the space of three years, the whole of that populous province was in the possession of the infidels. Alexandria was the last city which fell ; and in somewhat more than a century after the expulsion of philosophy from Europe by a Christian legislator, the schools of Africa were closed in their turn by the arms of an unlettered Mahometan. The success of the Saracens was not inconsiderably promoted by the religious dissensions of their Christian adversaries. A vast number of heretics who had been oppressed and stigmatized by Edicts and Councils were scattered over the surface of Asia; and these were contented to re- ceive a foreign master, of whose principles they were still ignorant, in the place of a tyrant whose injustice they had experienced. But in Egypt, especially, the whole mass of the native population was unfortunately in- volved in the Jacobite heresy; and few at that time were found, except the resident Greeks, who adhered to the doctrine of the Church. The followers of Eutyches formed an immediate alliance with the soldiers of Mahomet against a Catholic Prince ; and they considered that there was nothing unnatural in that act, since they hoped to secure for them- selves, under a Mahometan, the toleration which had been refused by an orthodox government. We should remark, however, that this hope, the pretext of their desertion, was with many the suggestion of their malice : that besides the recollection of wrongs, and the desire to escape or revenge them, they were inflamed as furiously as their per- secutors by that narrow sectarian spirit, which is commonly excited most keenly where the differences are most trifling ; and which, while it exaggerated the lines that separated them from their fellow Chris- tians, blinded them to the broad gulph which divided all alike from the infidel. From Egypt the conquerors rushed along the northern shore of Africa; and though their progress in that direction was interrupted by the do- mestic dissensions of the Prophet's family, even more than by the occa- sional vigour of the Christians, they were in possession of Carthage before the end of the seventh century. Thence they proceeded westward, and after encountering some opposition from the native Moors, little either from the Greek or Vandal masters of the country, they completed their conquest in the year 709. Hitherto the Mahometans had gained no footing in Europe ; and it may seem strange that the most western of its provinces should have been that which was first exposed to their occupation. But the vicinity of Spain to their latest conquests, and the factious dissensions of its nobility, gave them an early opportunity to attempt the subjugation of that country. Their success was almost unusually rapid. In 711 they overthrew the Gothic monarchy by the victory of Xeres ; and the two following years were sufficient to secure their dominion over the greatest part^of the peninsula. The waters of this torrent were destined to proceed still a little farther. Ten years after the battle of Xeres, the Saracens crossed the Pyrenees and overran with little opposition the south-western provinces of France- 4 the vineyards of Gascony and the city of Bourdeaux were possessed by the Sovereign of Damascus and Samarcand ; and the south of France, from the mouth of the Garonne to that of the Rhone, assumed the Chap. X.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 147 manners and religion of Arabia*.' Still dissatisfied with those ample limits, or impatient of any limit, these children of the desert again marched forward into the centre of the kingdom. They were encamped between Tours and Poitiers, when Charles Martel, the Mayor or Duke of the Franks, encountered them. It is too much to assert that the fate of Christianity depended upon the result of the battle which followed ; but if victory had declared for the Saracens, it would probably have secured to them in France the same extent, perhaps the same duration, of authority which they possessed in Spain. Next they would have carried the horrors of war and Islamism into Germany or Britain ; but there other fields must have been fought, against nations of warriors as brave as the Franks, by an invader who was becoming less powerful, and even less enthusiastic, as he advanced farther from the head of his resources and his faith. In- deed, if we had space to speculate more deeply on the probabilities of this question, we should rather be led to consider this effort against France as the last wave of the deluge now exhausted, and about to recede within more reasonable boundaries. The final struggle of the Saracens was scarcely worthy of their former triumphs. During six days of desultory combat the horsemen and archers of the East maintained indeed an indecisive advantage; but in the closer onset of the seventh day, the Germans, more eminently powerful in limb, and strong in heart as well as hand, instantly extinguished the Arabs with iron arm and overbearing chestf. The chief of the Saracens fell in the conflict ; the survivors fled to their encampment, and after a night passed in the dissension usual to the vanquished, they dispersed, and evacuated the country. This battle was fought in the year 732; the advantages were slowly but resolutely pursued by the conqueror, and pre- sently ended in the final expulsion of the invader from the soil of France. In less than one century from the preaching of Mahomet, his disciples had obtained military possession of Persia, Syria, and the greater part of central and western Asia, of Egypt, and the long extent of the northern, coast of Africa; and lastly of the kingdom of Spain. The propagation of their religion furnished to all the pretext, and to many the sincere motive, of aggression ; and as the most violent means were not forbidden by their law, and as religious wars are seldom distinguished by mildness and hu- manity, we may believe that many revolting cruelties were occasionally perpetrated by them. However upon the whole they found it more po- litic to tolerate than to exterminate; with the heretics of the East they formed early and friendly relations through a common enmity ; and in Africa and Spain they generally proffered the alternative of the Koran or tribute J ; so that Christianity was not immediately extirpated from any of the conquered countries, and even at this moment it continues to linger, however degraded by adversity and oppression, in almost all of them. * Gibbon has not composed a more eloquent, or a less philosophical chapter, than his fiftieth. As if he were blinded by the splendour of the Mahometan conquests, he over- looks, not only the misery immediately occasioned by them, but their fatal influence on the progressive and permanent improvement of man. History is philosophy teaching by- example ; and the lessons of history are then, indeed, noble and profitable, and then only,, when philosophy casts away her pride and her pedantry, and condescends to rise into philanthropy. f Gibbon, c. lii. Roderic Toletau. c. xiv., Gens Austriso raembrorum pre-eminentia valida, et gens Germana corde et corpora prsestantissima, quasi in ictu oculi manu ferrea et pectore arduo Arabes extinxerunt. $ The Mahometans drew a broad distinction between those infidels who had a Book of faith, and those who had none. Among the former they placed the disciples of Zoroaster, jind therefore showed them great mercy but they bad no compassion on the Pagan, L 2 148 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. X. The country in which it suffered the most immediate and perfect prostra- tion was the northern coast of Africa; and those two fruitful nurseries of religion and religious men, Alexandria and Carthage, which fill so eminent a station in the early Catholic Church names which are so closely associated with all the various fortunes of rising Christianity, with its most honourable and holy triumphs, with its afflictions and reverses, with the zeal, the genius, and the eloquence of its professors, with their dissensions and intolerance those two powerful Churches were from that time forward obliterated from history. It is true, indeed, that the former still preserved a title, but it was without power ; and a dignity, but it was without independence : she lost her learning and her industry, and all her excellence and energy departed with them. But at Carthage the actual extinction of Christianity very speedily followed the success of the Mahometans, and the labours of Tertullian, Cyprian, Lactantius, Au- gustin and so many others were spurned and execrated, if indeed their very names were not rather forgotten, by a faithless and blaspheming posterity. The victory of Charles Martel was soon followed by the re-establish- ment of a more effective government in France ; and precisely forty years after the battle of Tours, we find Charlemagne engaged in a sanguinary war against the Saxons, for the purpose of converting them to the Christian religion. It seemed, indeed, as if that zealous Prince was for a season possessed by the spirit of the Arabian, and that he imitated the fury of his armed apostles ; and, as if Christianity had not already suffi- ciently suffered by adopting the vices of other systems, he dragged into its service the most savage principle of Islamism. After eight years of resistance and misfortune the Saxons were compelled to take refuge in the profession of the Gospel* ; and the Huns of Pannonia were soon after- wards driven by the same victorious compulsion to the same necessity. When we behold the limits of Christendom extended by the writings of its ministers, or the eloquence of its missionaries, we record such con- quests with pure and grateful satisfaction ; when we observe a mass of Pagans, or other unbelievers, suddenly, but peacefully, melting into the bosom of the Church, we question their motives, we lament the stain which they may bring with them, and we censure any unworthy compromise which has been made to conciliate them ; yet we are consoled to reflect that no immediate misery has been occasioned by a change which is preg- nant at least with future improvement. But when we see the sword em- ployed to propagate a religion of which the very essence is peace, we are at once disgusted and revolted by the cruel and impious mockery. THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHRISTIANITY FROM THE REIGN OF JUSTINIAN TO THAT OF CHARLEMAGNE. IN an endeavour to compress into a few short chapters the ever-varying records of fifteen centuries, it might, perhaps, be thought sufficient to exhibit a mere chronological series of events and names; but we consider * Charlemagne was occasionally troubled by the contumacy of his converts, even to the end of his reign ; and in the civil wars among his grandsons, we find Lothaire pro- claiming liberty of conscience to the Saxons of the succeeding generation (in 84 1), Many of them eagerly cast away the mask of Christianity, and flew to his standard. Compulsion has filled the world with hypocrites, but it has never made a true convert to any faith wr any form of faith, See MUM, Hist, F, ranee. Chap. X.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 149 it a more profitable, as it is certainly a more attractive employment, to select and illustrate what is material and consequential, and to pass, as it were, from eminence to eminence, dwelling for some short space on each, and delineating its features with some exactness, though we may thus be compelled to treat with little minuteness the periods intervening; but it is certain that there are many secondary names, and many occurrences of mere temporary importance, which may be consigned to silence without any danger to the integrity and usefulness of history. On this prin- ciple we shall proceed, without delay, from the death of Justinian to the accession of Gregory the First to the pontifical chair. That prelate pre- sided over the Church of Rome from the year 590 to 604 ; and he illus- trated that short period by so many splendid qualities, and pursued his various purposes with such bold and successful exertion, that he has acquired, and perhaps deserved, the deep and faithful veneration of the Catholic Church. At least it has been found so difficult to estimate his character with moderation, and we observe so much intemperance, both in the eulogies and the insults* which are offered to it, that its mere strength and energy, which are thus sufficiently proved, assert its claim to a more considerate and impartial examination. Two prominent vices overshadowed and counteracted the numerous excellencies of Gregory superstition and ambition. For j the former of these some excuse may be found in the Gregory the spirit and principles of the age in which he lived -, the Great. latter was the produce of the same vigorous nature which gave birth to his virtues ; and it was urged in him to an excess, which it would not have reached in a feebler mind. His virtues were his own, and those of his religion; and if we should discredit, as affected, that humility which preferred the cloister to the chair of St. Peter, and so long rejected the proffered mitret, at least we must praise the generosity which led him, in early life, to bestow his large possessions on the Church, and we must admire his ardent piety, and sincere, though often misdirected, devotion. The extreme severity of his moral practice has not been contested, nor his honest endeavours to enforce the same practice in every rank and order of his clergy. Circumstances, political as well as religious, had introduced abuses into the system of ecclesias- tical discipline, which a weak and narrow mind might have thought it expedient to protect, but which Gregory knew that it was wiser to reform. Indeed we may observe, that the best friends of every Church in every age, and those whose services are most gratefully acknowledged by pos- terity, however ungraciously they may be accepted by interested contem- poraries, are men who dare to distinguish between the system and its corruptions, and to administer those vigorous measures of renovation which are necessary for its health and perpetuity. And thus would it have been still happier for the fame of that Pope had he taken a still bolder view of the imperfections of his Church, and applied to the cure of * ' Pope Gregory the Great, called St. Gregory, was remarkable for many things ; for exalting his own authority, for running down human learning and polite literature, for. burning classic authors, for patronizing ignorance and stupidity, for persecuting heretics, for flattering the most execrable princes, and for relating a multitude of absurd, monstrous and ridiculous lies, called miracles. He was an ambitious, insolent Prelate, under the mask of humility.' Jortin, Remarks, vol. iv., p. 403. Most, though by no means all, of the above charges are true ; but the counterpoise of good aud powerful qualities is left almost entirely unnoticed by their author. f Baron, arm, 590, sect, vii. &c. &c. 150 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. X. its deeper and spiritual diseases the remedial attention which he confined to its discipline and its ceremonies. Tiie character of Gregory was distinguished by the fervour of his cha- rity; the virtue which surrounded his palace with crowds of sufferers of every rank and profession, and distributed for their relief* the funds, which with little scandal might have been lavished on selfish purposes, has never been disputed, and ought never to have been dis- paraged. Nor was he contented to exercise this alone, but strove, on the contrary, to extend its practice by powerful exhortations among his epis- copal brethren ' Let not the Bishop think that reading and preaching alone suffice, or studiously to maintain himself in retirement, while the hand which enriches and fructifies is closed. But let his hand be bountiful ; let him make advances to those who are in necessity ; let him consider the wants of others as his own ; for without these qualities the name of Bishop is a vain and empty titlet/ We should also remark, that this Pope exerted himself on more than one occasion to redeem Christian prisoners from captivity, and to alleviate their sufferings during it. He was diligent in his efforts to propagate the Catholic faith. His most important spiritual conquest was that of England ; and if it be a reproach to him that he there permitted the first converts to retain, under other names, the substance of some of their superstitious practices^, in France, where the longer and more general diffusion of the religion left less excuse for such a concession, he zealously endeavoured to extirpate the remains ofidolatry. The conversion of the Jews || was another favourite object with him ; and in one respect he adopted the most promising means for that purpose, by treating them with mildness and humanity ; in another he insulted their principles, while he disgraced his own, by the direct offer of gain, as the reward of their apostacy. His zeal for the unity of the Church is a very ambiguous excellence; but it was warmly, and (as Roman Catholic historians assert) successfully exerted, both against the remnant of the Donatists, and against certain schismatics who had seceded from the Church on the controversy respecting the Three Chapters^. We may add to this, that his activity in ennobling the services of religion, and adding splendour to its ceremonies, however unworthy a method of recommending a spiritual religion, found some excuse in the degenerate principles of the sixth century. Through the disturbed condition of Italy, the aggressions of the Lom- bard invaders, and the weakness of the Imperial power, the direction ot * See Baronius, aim. 591, sect. iii. xxiv. &c. ; aim. 592, sect. ii. ; ann. 596, sect.viii. Fleury, 1. xxxv. sect. xvi. Gibbon, chap. xlv. f Lib. v., Epist. 29, apud Baron, ann. 592, sect. xvi. I Altaria destruantur, relliquice ponantur. He allows even sacrifices on Saints days substituting, however, a convivial, for a superstitious, motive nee diabolo tain animalia immolent. sed adlaudem Dei inesu suo animalia occidant, &c. Baron, ami. 601. xxii. Fleury, H. E , lib. xxxv., sect. xxi. He complains of immolations to idols, worship of trees, sacrifices of the heads of animals, &c. Quia pervenit ad nos quod multi Chris- tianorum et ad Ecclesias occurrant, et (quod dici nefas est) a culturis daemonum non discedant. See Baron, ann. 597, xviii. || Baron, ann. 594, sect. viii. ann. 598, sect. xiv. II The subject of the fifth General Council. One of these schismatics, named Ste- phanus, came to Rome, and offered to Gregory to return to the Church, if the Bishop would take upon himself the risk of his soul, and intercede with God as his sponsor and fidfjussor, that his return to the Catholic Church should be sanctioned in Heaven; which Gregory undertook without any hesita tion quod Gregorius minime facere cunc- tatuswt, Baronius, ann. 590, sect. xxvi. Chap. X.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 151 the political interests of Rome"~devolved for'the'most part upon Gregory. It appears not that he sought that charge, so eagerly grasped by many of his successors, but rather that he entered with reluctance upon duties which, if not at direct variance, were at least little in accordance with a spiritual office. But, having once undertaken them, he discharged them with the ability and in the spirit which became his character and his profession ; he presented himself as a mediator and pacificator, and by his faithful ministry to the God of peace*, he succeeded in averting the arms of his enemies, and in preserving his country from servitude. He professed to reject from the service of religion that profane learning of which his writings prove him to have been ignorant ; and hence pro- bably proceeded the charge so commonly believed, though insufficientlyf supported, that he burnt the Palatine Library, and destroyed some of the most valuable remains of classical antiquity. But it is admitted, that he was inferior to none in the learning of his own agej; and his diligence and energy are abundantly attested by the voluminous and even vigorous com- positions which he has left behind him. We shall proceed to point out some instances in which] Gregory deviated even farther than his predecessors from that ancient ;] faith and practice of which his See, since it now claimed ex- Use of clusively the denomination of Apostolical, professed a peculiar Images. observance. Before the end of the sixth century, the dan- gerous usage which had originated in the fourth ||, of exposing images of saints, of the virgin, and even of Christ, in places con- secrated to worship, had taken deep root, as well in the Western as in the Eastern Church. Serenus, the Bishop of Marseilles, caused some of them to be removed, and complaint was made to Gregory. The Pope at once, and very explicitly, declared, that images should on no account be approached as objects of worship, and strongly exhorted the Bishop- to press that consideration on all who might possibly mistake their use which was, when truly understood, to impart knowledge to the ignorant, and learning to the illiterate. At the same time, such being their professed end and purpose, he strenuously opposed their removal. By this determination, he impressed upon a popular corruption that sanction and authority which alone was wanting to make it perma- nent and universal. The belief in the fire of Purgatory was seriously inculcated by the same * The following is his boast to Sabinianus, his Apocrisiarius or Envoy at Con- stantinople. ' Unum est quod breviter suggeras serenissimis Dominis nostris : quia (that) si ego servus eorum in mortem Longobardorum me miscere voluissem, hodie Longobardorum gens nee regem, nee duces, nee comites habuisset, atque in summa con- fusione esset divisa. Sed quia Deum timeo, in mortem cujuslibet hominis me miscere for- mido.' See Baronius (ann. 595, sect, xviii.), who details his various negotiations with the Lombards very accurately. f There seems to be no authority for this accusation older than the twelfth century. See Bayle, Viede Greg. I. | ' Disciplinis vero liberalibus, hoc est grammatica, rhetorica, dialectica, ita a puero est institutus, ut quamvis eo tempore florerent adhuc Romae studia literarum, tamen nulli in urbe sua secundus putaretur.' Paul. Diac. Vit. St. Greg. Gibbon, c. xlv. There are greater remains of the works of Gregory than of any other Pope ; and a diligent and judicious study of his Epistles might still throw much new light on the early History of his Church. Baronius attributes the rudeness of his style to the barbarism of the age in which he lived. I! We shall treat this'and some other of the Roman Catholic corruptions more fully in the thirteenth Chapter. " 15 2 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. X. Pontiff; and to him more justly than to any individual, we may attribute the practical system to which that speculative opinion gave birth. He also exalted the merit of pilgrimages* to the Holy Places ; but the super- stition which he most ardently sustained, was, a reverential respect for relics, founded for the most part on their miraculous qualities. The deep and earnest solemnity with which one of the greatest characters of his age and church was not ashamed to enforce so very gross a delusion, cannot so well be depicted to the reader as in his own language. The Empress Constantina, who was building a Church at Constanti- nople to St. Paul, made application to Gregory for Reverence for the head of that Apostlef, or at least for some portion Relics. of his body. The Pope begins his answer by a very polite expression of his sorrow ' that he neither could nor dared to grant that favour; for the bodies of the holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, are so resplendent with miracles and terrific prodigies in their own Churches, that no one can approach them without great awe, even for the purpose of adoring them. When rny predecessor, of happy memory, wished to change some silver ornament which was placed over the most holy body of St. Peter, though at the distance of almost fifteen feet, a warning of no small terror appeared to him. Even I myself wished to make some alteration near the most holy body of St. Paul, and it was necessary to dig rather deeply near his tomb. The Superior of the place found some bones which were not at all connected with that tomb ; and, having pre- sumed to disturb and remove them to some other place, he was visited by certain fearful apparitions, and died suddenly. My predecessor, of holy memory, also undertook to make some repairs near the tomb of St. Law- rence : as they were digging, without knowing precisely where the vene- rable body was placed, they happened to open his sepulchre. The monks and guardians who were at the work, only because they had seen the body of that martyr, though they did not presume so much as to touch it, all died within ten days ; to the end that no man might remain in life who had beheld the body of that just man. Be it then known to you, that it is the custom of the Romans, when they give any relics, not to venture to touch any portion of the body; only they put into a box a piece of linen (called brandeum), which is placed near the holy bodies ; then it is withdrawn, and shut up with due veneration in the Church which is to be dedicated, and as many prodigies are then wrought by it as if the bodies themselves had been carried thither; whence it happened, that in the time of St. Leo, (as we learn from our ancestors,) when some Greeks doubted the virtue of such relics, that Pope called for a pair of scissors, and cut the linen, and blood flowed from the incision. And not at Rome only,_but throughout the whole of the West, it is held sacrilegious to touch the bodies of the Saints, nor does such temerity ever remain unpunished. For which reason we are much asto- nished at the custom of the Greeks to take away the bones of the Saints, and we scarcely give credit to it. But what shall I say respecting the bodies of the holy Apostles, when it is a known fact, that at the time of * Baronius, aim. 592, sect. xix. t Baronius, who cites the Pope's reply with considerable admiration, attributes the Em- press's exorbitant request to Eccelesiastical ambition, to a desire to exalt the See of Con- stantinople to a level with that of Rome, by getting into her possession so important a por- tion of so great an Apostle. Fleury quotes the letter chiefly in proof that the transfer of relics wus forbidden in the Roman Church, while that abuse was permitted in the East. . Chap.X.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. their martyrdom, a "number of the faithful came from the East to claim them ? But when they had carried them out of the city, to the second milestone, to a place called the Catacombs, the whole multitude was unable to move them farther, such a tempest of thunder and lightning* terrified and dispersed them. The napkin, too, which you wished to be sent at the same time, is with the body, and cannot be touched more than the body can be approached. But that your religious desire may not be wholly frustrated, 1 will hasten to send to you some part of those chains which St. Paul wore on his neck and hands, if indeed I shall succeed in getting off any filings from them. For since many continually solicit as a blessing that they may carry off from those chains some small portion of their filings, a priest stands by with a file; and sometimes it happens that some portions fall off from the chains instantly, and without delay ; while, at other times, the file is long drawn over the chains, and yet nothing is at last scraped off from them.' The pages* of Ecclesiastical History are so full of such idle fables, that the repetition even of the smallest portion of them is a task as tedious as it is unworthy of a reasonable mind ; but when such absurdities are propagated and dignified by the pen of Gregory the Great of him whom the Roman Church reveres almost as the first among her saints, and whose writings for so many centuries directed, and even still direct, the principles of her Ministers it would be a neglect of historical duty to pass them over in complete silencef. The public worship of God was still celebrated by every nation r in" its own language ; but its forms were enlarged from time to time by new prayers and offices, as well as hymns and psalmody, and s-uch other addi- tions as were found proper to enliven devotion. Gregory introduced a more imposing method of administering the Communion, with a magni- ficent assemblage of pompous ceremonies. This institution was called the Canon of the Mass ; and such as it appears in the Sacramentaries of * Eligius or Eloi, Bishop of Noyon (or Limoges), a contemporary of Gregory, and also a Saint, acquired extraordinary celebrity by his ardour in searching after the bodies of martyrs, and his miraculous sagacity in the discovery of them. And as he thus became a person of influence in his day, we may venture to record what, in his opinion, was the sum and substance of true religion. l He is a good Christian (says St. Eligius) who goes frequently to church, and makes his oblations at God's altar who never tastes of his own fruit until he has presented some to God ; who, for many days before the solemn festivals, observes strict chastity, though he be married, that he may approach the altar with a safe conscience ; lastly, who can repeat the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. Eedeem your souls from punishment whilst you have it in your power; offer your free gifts and tithes ; contribute towards the luminaries in holy places ; repair frequently to church, and humbly implore the protection of the Saints. If you observe these things, you may appear boldly at God's tribunal in the day of judgment, and say Give, Lord, according asjwe have given.' The original is quoted by Mosh. Cent, vii., p. ii. c. iii. f The Dialogues of Gregory abound with miraculous narratives ; and Fleury excuses this practice by pleading that he had not philosophers for his antagonists, who needed argument for confutation, but that the pagans then to be found were chiefly peasants, serfs, or soldiers, and were more moved by a miraculous story than by the most conclusive syl- logism. In process of time, Gregory, from being the relater, rose to be the performer of miracles. About one hundred and eighty years after his death, Paulus Diaconus records, that a Roman lady, on some occasion, receiving the Communion from Gregory, and hearing him say the customary words, could not forbear smiling, when he called that the body of Christ which she had made with her own hands for at that time the people used to bring to the Communion their own bread, which was a small, round, flat cake. The Pope, per- ceiving her behaviour, took the bread out of her hands, and, having prayed oyer_ it, showed it to her turned into flesh, in the sight of the whole people, 154 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. X. St. Gregory, such, word for word (says Fleury*), we say it still. After regulating the prayers, the Pope descended to the modulation of the chant; and to give some permanency to his success in this matter, he established a school of chanters, which subsisted for at least three cen- turies after his death. f Other alterations were made by the same pontiff in the distribution of the parishes, the calendar of festivals, the order of processions, the service of the priests and deacons, the variety and change of sacerdotal garments ; and as most of them were permanent, we may consider the system properly called Roman Catholic as having assumed its peculiar character at this time. And thus, while the Antiquity of the universal Church may justly be regarded as having ceased at the accession of Constantine, it is not a fanciful position that its Middle Age that indistinct period, during which the principles that were hereafter to give it a more lasting and; definite form were collecting strength, but were not yet developed was brought to a close by the splendid pontificate of Gregory. If, then, it be not incorrect to date the modern history of the Catholic Church from this epoch, it will be reasonably inquired Elements of what elements then existed, or, at least, what indications Papacy. may be discovered, of the monarchical or papal govern- ment, which formed the characteristic of the Communion in later ages ? We shall, therefore, proceed to point out such of these as were most perceptible during the time of Gregory. We have noticed an early jealousy subsisting between the Sees of Rome and Constantinople, and the sort of superiority which was conferred upon the former by the council of Chalcedon. It appears, too, that St. Leo was addressed by certain oriental correspondents by the title of (Ecumenic, or Universal Patriarch, though his immediate successors refrained from adopting th^t lofty appel- lation. Matters rested thus till the year 588, when the Emperor Maurice conferred that same title upon his own Patriarch John, commonly called the Faster, J an austere and ambitious prelate. Pope Pelagius opposed those pretensions ; and, eight years afterwards, the contest was much more vigorously renewed by Gregory. In 595, he addressed five epistles on this subject to John himself, to the Emperor and Empress, and to the * H. E. lib. xxxvi., s. xix. Fleury 'describes the alterations of Gregory at length and clearly. The great pains which the Pope took in these matters, and especially in the com- position of his celebrated chant, are zealously related by Maimbourg, in his History of the Pontificate of St. Gregory. f Fleury, lib. xxxyi., sect. xxi. ' In the time of John the Deacon (about 900), the original of his Antiphonarius was preserved with great respect, as well as the conch on which he reposed while chanting, and the whip with which he menaced the children.' Pope Gelasius (says the same historian in sect, xv.) had made a collection of the office of the masses, into which St. Gregory introduced many changes and additions. He collected the whole in one volume, which is his Sacramentarius, for so they formerly called the book which contained the prayers used in the administration of the sacraments, and chiefly of the Eucharist. All that was to be chanted was marked in another volume, called the ' Antiphonaire, parce que Ton chantoit alternativement j d'ou vient le nom d'antiphones ou antiennes (anthems) comme il a etc expliqueY t John the Faster, disputing an unmeaning title with Gregory, is assimilated by Ba- ronius (ann. 595, sect, xxvii.) to the apostate angel rising against the Most High God a comparison not far removed from blasphemy. In more than thirty sections, which that historian devotes to the subject, he labours to depress the See of Constantinople even below that of Alexandria, and continually advances the obtrusiveness of Rome, as a proof of her rightful authority ; However, it is true enough that the power of Rome was now growing real and substantial a fact much more easily shown than either its antiquity or legi- timacy. Chap. X.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 155 rival Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch ; in all vehemently inveighing against the arrogance of the Faster, and professing the very purest spirit of Christian humility. In his letter to the Emperor he declares that the public calamities are to be ascribed to no other cause than the ambition of the bishops. * We destroy (he says) by example that which we preach in word ; our bones are consumed with fastings, and our soul is puffed up with pride ; beneath the meanest garments we conceal a haughty heart ; we repose on ashes, and we pretend to grandeur ; under the aspect of the sheep we nourish the fangs of the wolf.' (Fie proceeds) * The direction and primacy of the whole Church has been given to St. Peter ; nevertheless we do not call him the Universal Apostle, and yet the holy man John, my brother, is ambitious to be called the Universal Bishop.'* To Constantina he mournfully complains of the insult which has been offered to the See of Rome ; and while he humbly confesses ' that the sins of Gregory have merited such chastisement,' he reminds the Empress that St. Peter at, least is sinless, and undeserving the outrage which had beeri offered him. From these and others, even among the few pas- sages which we have cited from Gregory's writings, it appears that the ground on which the Church of Rome rested its assertion of supremacy was already changed very essentially. In its early days the sort of supe- riority which it endeavoured to assume was founded for the most part on its imperial name and dignity ; but when that basis was overthrown by the conquests of the barbarians, another was substituted, of which the purely spiritual nature was admirably calculated to impose upon the ignorant proselytes. The name of St. Peter became more venerable than that of Augustus or Trajan ; and his chair, as it was occupied by the successors of the Apostle and the vicars of Christ, inspired a deeper awe into the blind and superstitious multitude, than the throne of all the Caesars. This change, no doubt, was gradual it cannot entirely be ascribed to Gregory, or to any other individual ; indications of that assertion may even be discovered in very early ecclesiastical writers ; but that Pope exerted him- self more than any of his predecessors to confirm it, and to give to that uncertain ground-work a stability which has enabled it to support the mighty papal edifice for so many ages. It has also been observed that Gregory was the first who asserted the power of the keys, as committed to the successor of St. Peter, rather than to the body of the bishops ; and he betrayed on many occasions a very ridiculous eagerness to secure their honour. Consequently he was pro- fuse in his distribution of certain keys, endowed, as he was not ashamed to assert, with supernatural qualities ; he even ventured to insult Anas- tasius, the Patriarch of Antioch, by such a gift. ' I have sent you (he says) keys of the blessed Apostle Peter, your guardian, which, when placed upon the sick, are wont to be resplendent with numerous miracles.'f We may attribute this absurdity to the basest superstition, or to the most * St. Gregory could not foresee that, within twelve years from that in which he was writing, the same title would be proudly worn by a successor to the chair of St. Peter (Boniface III.), though granted to that pontiff by an Emperor who disgraced human nature. f : Amatoris vestri, beati Petri Apostoli, vobis claves transmisi, quse super aegros positse multis solent miraculis coruscare.' He addresses nearly the same words to one Andreas, a nobleman, with a similar present. And in another epistle (to Theotistus) he coolly relates a prodigy which had once been performed by one of those keys upon a Lombard soldier. Baronius, ann. 585, sect, iv., ann. 597, sect, xiv., ami. 591., sect.vii.,viii. The historian (in the first of those places) eagerly attaches to the keys the notion and omen of possession, which probably did not occur to a Pope (even to Pope Gregory) in the sixth century. 15 fi A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH* [Chap.X. impudent hypocrisy ; and we would gladly have preferred the more ex- cusable motive, if the supposed advancement of the See, which was clearly concerned in these presents, did not rather lead us to the latter. Two descriptions of papal agents rise into notice during* the pontifi- cate of Gregory the Apocrisiarii (Correspondents), who acted as envoys, or legates, at the Court and at the See of Constantinople ; and the De- fensores, or Advocates, who, besides their general commission to protect* the property of St. Peter, appear to have been vested with a kind of appellative jurisdiction, which might sometimes interfere with that of the bishops. The former of these appointments tended to raise the external dignity of the See ; the latter to extend its internal influence. Again, we find sufficient evidence in the records of this age, that a practice which afterwards proved one of the most fruitful sources of papal power, was al- ready gaining ground that of appeal from episcopal decision to the Roman See. It does not, indeed, appear that it was founded on any general law, civil or ecclesiastical ; but it proceeded very naturally from the prejudice attached to the name of Rome, and the chair of St. Peter ; and it was carefully encouraged by the See, whose authority was insensibly aug- mented by it. Before we quit the subject of papal aggrandisement, we shall mention one other circumstance onlyt. Great relaxation in the monastic discipline of the age justified the very sedulous interference of Gregory to restrain it ; and so much address did that pontiff combine with his diligence, as not only to reform the order, but also to secure and protect it. For, while he enforced the severity of the ancient rules with judicious rigour J, he took measures to shelter it from episcopal oppres- sion, and taught it hereafter to look to Rome for redress and favour. As none are ignorant how firm a support to papal power was furnished in later ages by the devotion of the monasteries, it is important to record the origin of that connexion ; and it is difficult to discover any earlier trace of it than that which we have mentioned. j Gibbon, who has drawn with vigour and impartiality the character of Gregory, has probably over-rated his qualities when he designates him as the greatest of that name. It is very true that the mixture of simplicity and cunning, of pride and humility , of sense and superstition, which singu- larly distinguished him, was happily suited both to his station and to the temper of the times ; and it might perhaps be pleaded, that he did no more * Baron, ami. 598, sect. xv. xix. Gibbon (chap, xlv.) considers them to have possessed not a civil only, but a criminal jurisdiction over the tenants and husbandmen of the Holy See. f ' The bishops of Italy and the adjacent islands acknowledged the Roman Pontiff as their special Metropolitan. Even the existence, the union, and the translation of epis- copal seats was decided by his absolute discretion ; and his successful inroads into the pro- vinces of Greece, of Spain, and of Gaul, migbt countenance the more lofty pretensions of succeeding popes. He interposed to prevent the abuses of popular elections; his zealous care maintained the purity of faith and discipline ; and the apostolic shepherd assiduously watched over the faith and discipline of the subordinate pastors.' Gibbon ; chap. xlv. J Fleury, H. E. lib. xxxvi. sect. 33 and 34. His humility sometimes descended ;to baseness. The abject adulation with "which he courted Phocas, the usurper of the Eastern throne, the most execrable parricide in his- tory, proves (as Bayle has malignantly'remarked) that those who prevailed with him to accept the Popedom, knew him better than he knew himself. ' Ils voyoient en lui le fonds de toutes les ruses et de toutes les souplesscs dont on a besoin pour se faire de grands protecteurs, et pour attirer sur 1'Eglise les benedictions de la terre.* The motive of his flatU'.ry was jealousy of the Patriarch of Constantinople. He addressed, with the same servility, Brunehaud, a very wicked Queen of France, and again found his excuse in the interests uf his Church. Chap.X.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 157 than yield to that evil temper, when he gave sanction to opinions and usages which were at variance with the spirit of Scripture. But this was to consult his present convenience or popularity, not his perpetual fame. Those who follow the stream of prejudice may be excused or pitied, but they can establish no claim to greatness, no title to the respect or gratitude of a posterity to which they transmit, without correction, the errors or vices of their ancestors. So far as he applied himself to remedy those vices or imperfections, so far as he reformed the discipline and repressed the ava- rice of his clergy, and introduced such improvements into other departments of the system as were consistent with the Gospel truth on which it stood, his name is deservedly celebrated by every honest Christian ; but his eagerness in the encouragement of superstitious corruptions (for he was not even contented to tolerate, still less did he make any effort to repress them) must not be treated with indifference or indulgence ; because the diffusion of error* has a far more pernicious consequence in religious than in other matters. A mere speculative falsehood will mislead the under- standing of the studious, but it will not reach his principles of action; a wrong political principle will unquestionably influence for a time the happiness of a nation ; but on the discovery of its falsity, it is not difficult to modify or reject it, because it can seldom become rooted in the habits or the prejudices of the people. But the religious impostures which were authorized and propagated by Gregory, affected not the belief only, but the conduct and character of the greater portion of Christendom through a long succession of ages ; and while their certain and necessary ten- dency was to debase the mass of believers, and to deliver them over in blindness and bondage to the control of their spiritual tyrants, their final and most disastrous effect has been to enlarge the path of infidelity, by dissociating the use of reason from the belief in Revelation. Ecclesiastical History is not distinguished by any character of very great eminence for the period of above a hundred and fifty years, which separates Gregory from Charlemagne ; nor is that period marked by any single oc- currence of striking importance, excepting the separation of the Roman states from the Eastern empire, and the Donation made by Pepin to the Holy See. Yet very considerable changes were gradually taking place in the constitution of the Changes from Gregory Church, which it is the more necessary to detect to Charlemagne. and notice, because they are not discovered with- out some care, and have indeed commonly escaped the observation which is due to them. The conquest of the Western Empire by the bar- barians, its subdivision into numerous Principalities and Provinces, and the prevalence of the institutions and habits of the conquerors, could not fail to influence, in many respects, the religious establishment of those countries. And hence it is, that the distinction between the Eastern and Western Churches, which may be traced in name, at least, to the division of the Empire, was afterwards extended and widened by many substantial points of difference. In the former, indeed, very * In his Epistle to the King of England, Gregory (cited hy Baronius, Ann. 601. sect, xix.) thus expresses his own millennarian opinions. ' Besides, we wish you (vestram glo- xiani) to know, as we learn from the words of Almighty God, in the Holy Scriptures, that the end of the present world is already near, and the kingdom of the Saints is at hand, which can know no end. But as the end of the world is now approaching, many things hang over us which before were not, to wit, change of atmosphere, and terrors from Heaven, and unseasonable tempests, war, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes, which however shall not all fall out in our days, but will certainly follow afterwards.' The caution of the concluding sentence would almost prove the Pope's distrust in his own prophecy. ' j 58 A HISTORY OF THE .CHURCH. [Chap. X. few alterations took place after the time of Justinian, even in the form of administering: the Church, and none in the principles of its con- stitution : if some new privileges, or additional revenues, seemed to swell the importance of the clergy, yet the Emperors maintained so firmly their undisputed supremacy*, and exerted, moreover, such frequent interference in spiritual affairs, that the power of the hierarchy received no real increase ; nor did any other circumstances accidentally intrude, to enlarge beyond its just limits their influence over the people. But the policy for the most part pursued by the Western kings was different they were usually watchful in preserving their temporal rights over the Church, and even in usurping others which they did not possess, espe- cially that of episcopal election ; but they abstained from all intervention in matters strictly spiritual, and in committing to the priesthood the entire regulation of doctrine, and consigning to their uncontrolled direction the consciences of their ignorant and uncivilized subjects, they left to that Body much larger means of despotic and permanent authority than any of those of which they deprived it. In the more enlightened provinces of the East, the discussion of theological subjects was not uncommonly shared by intelligent laymen ; but in the West it became exclusively con- fined to the clergy, and their dictates, howsoever remote from scripture or reason, were submissively and blindly received. Again, in the aristo- cratical assemblies, by which political affairs were chiefly regulated, the property and intelligence of the Bishops acquired for them both rank and influence ; and thus also were they placed in a different position from their brethren in the East, where the original spiritual character of the hierarchy was more rigidly preserved. It has been already remarked, that the limits of the spiritual and temporal powers were, even from the very establishment of Christianity, liable to some confusion and per- plexity. They were long maintained, however, with tolerable distinctness in the countries which escaped from barbarian invasion ; but in the West, from the circumstances just mentioned, and from the unsettled and arbi trary form of the civil governments, the causes of discord and temptations to mutual aggression were incalculably multiplied. The clergy were very early divided into the major and minor orders, of which the latter consisted of the acolyths, porters, exorcists, and readers : between the sixth and eighth century this lost its whole weight and almost name in the Church ; and even the higher order of subdeacons, deacons, and priests, suffered great degradation. The kings of the West, in their desire to devote the whole of their free subjects to military service, forbade the ordination of a freeman without their particular consent ; and hence proceeded the debasing, but not uncommon practice, of conferring the office of priesthood on serfs of the Church, emancipated for that purpose. Nor did the Bishops contend against this innovation so vigo- rously as the interests of the Church required, because their own autho- rity was obviously augmented by the humiliation of the order next below them. Add to this, that the Priests were in some places, and perhaps generally, bound, on their ordination, by a solemn obligation to remain attached as it were to the Church, to which they were originally ap- pointed a sort of servitude which subjected even their persons to the authority of the Bishop. No such changes in the constitution of the clergy took place in the Eastern Church. Another order was rapidly increasing in the seventh and eighth centuries, which probably^exercised more influence in Church matters than is usually attributed to it" The tonsure was originally considered as a sign of * OJiunnone, Stor, Ui JNap. ; lib, iii v capt vi, Chap. X.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 159 destination for orders/" (signum destinations ad ordinem,) and was given to those only who were intended for the sacred profession ; but in after- times it was less discriminately administered, and was made the means of connecting- with the Church a large body of persons who received some of the immunities without any of the restrictions of the sacerdotal condition, and became clerks without being ecclesiastics. It may be true*, that they introduced to a certain extent a sort of lay influence into the ecclesiastical administration; but they had probably a much greater effect in diffusing that of the clergy among the private and sacred relations of domestic life. The grand principle of the ' Unity of the Church' existing as one mighty spiritual communion undivided by any diversity in place, time, language, government, or other circumstances though it was broached as early as the third century, did not enter into full operation till the dissolution of the Western Empire. Its worst effects had, indeed, been developed before that time in the persecutions to which it gave birth on both sides of the Adriatic. But the good which it was capable of pro- ducing was not felt until the Western Provinces were broken up into nu- merous, and independent, and hostile states, with no political bond of union, and little friendly or commercial intercourse. It was then that the notion of one universal religious society contributed to supply the want of international sympathy and co-operation, and, through the means of a common belief, introduced the feeling of common interests, and the exercise of common virtues. Subsequently, during the seventh and eighth centuries, the principle was more rapidly progressive ; and it presently gave birth to a second principle, which naturally sprang from it, that the one Body could have only one Head ; and the general footing which this acquired, at least throughout the West, contributed in no small degree to prepare and smooth the way to papal despotism. Much of the history of this period is collected from the Canons of the Councils held in all the kingdoms of the West, and especially in Spain for the ecclesiastical affairs of Gault were also in part regulated by these last. Those of Toledo were the most celebrated and influential, and the attention which was paid to their proceedings even by the Roman See sufficiently proves the authority which they held in the Church. The fifteenth of these was assembled in 688, and the last, not long before the invasion of the Saracens, in 6*96. But upon the whole the number of Councils diminished during the seventh and eighth centuries, and in Gaul especially, we find that, whereas fifty-four were held in the sixth, twenty only assembled in the seventh century, and only seven during the first half of the eighth. This gradual disuse of one of the most ancient * Guizot (Hist, dela Civilisation en France, ISLeqon) mentions four avenues through which the laity still continued, in the seventh and eighth centuries, to exert an influence in ecclesiastical matters. (1.) The distinction hetween the Ordination and the Tonsure, and the numbers of those who received the latter only. (2.) The founder of a Church or Chapel, whether Bishop or Layman, possessed the privilege of appointing the minister to serve it. (3.) Chaplains were very commonly resident in noble families for the service of the private oratories. (4.) Certain laymen, under the names of Causidici, Tutores, and Vicedomini, were appointed at an early period for the protection of the Church property. They originated, it would seem, in the African Church ; at Rome they were called Defensores, and they were afterwards employed in Gaul, under the title of Advocates. Fleury (end of liv. xliv.) mentions that they were originally Scholastics or Lawyers; but that after the barbarian conquests they possessed also a military character to the end that, in case of necessity, they might also be qualified to defend the interests of the Church by material weapons. f The fourth Council of Toledo, held in 633, ordains an uniformity of rites and cere- monies, prayer and psalmody, throughout Spaiu and, Gaul the same office of the mass, and other services, Fleury, 1, xxxvii., sect, 46, ,66 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. X. and legitimate methods of governing the Church, and one of the best guarantees both for its inward purity and external independence, was a proof of its growing corruption, and a fearful omen for its future pros- perity. It arose in some measure from a cause ^which we are about to mention. The early origin and office of the Metropolitans have already been noticed ; they were the Prelates resident in the capital of the Province, and their legitimate office was to preside in provincial councils ; but they endeavoured to extend their consequence by usurping a judicial authority in charges against Bishops, and other matters properly lying under the cognizance of the Council j and they had some success until the sixth century. But from this period we may date their downfall : the ambition of the Popes*, always jealous of their power, and anxious to transfer it to the Holy See, pressed and assailed them from above : from below, the episcopal order, preferring a distant and indulgent controul to the more rigid scrutiny of a domestic censor, were equally eager for their overthrow ; and this was greatly facilitated by the minute subdivisions of some of the Western Provinces, which in many cases politically separated the Metropolitan from the Bishops who were placed under his -superintendence, and thus at once annihilated his influence. From these causes the Metropolitan system fell into decay, so that little more than its name remained at the end of the eighth century and closely connected with^ its fall was the disuse of Provincial Councils. The great result which was brought about by the 'above circumstances, and which showed itself early in the West as to the West were also confined the changes which we have mentioned was the undue aggran- disement of the episcopal order, and its consequent deformity and cor- ruption. From the moment that the princes succeeded in usurping the * The progress of this usurpation is so well described by Giannone, (Storia di Nap., lib. iii. c. vi.) that we shall here give the substance of his account. In the fifth century the title of Patriarch was universally acknowledged to belong, in common with the four oriental prelates, to the Bishop of Rome. His ordinary power indeed did not extend beyond the Provinces called Suburban (Suburbicarie), those which obeyed the Vicar- General of Rome ; and to these limits it was confined till the reign of Valentinian. But in process of time, as the prerogatives of primacy were united in his person, it was easy to stretch them farther. It belonged to him as Primate to have regard and attention; on this ground he began to send into such provinces as seemed to require such superintend- ence his own vicars; in lllyria first, afterwards in Thessaly and Macedonia, the delegates of the Roman Pontiff exercised Patriarchal authority. This he presently after- wards extended over the whole of Italy, over Gaul and Spain ; as well as over all coun- tries newly converted by his missionaries ; so that the Greeks themselves acknowledged him to be sole Patriarch of the West. The next step of the Popes, which occasioned no small disturbances, was to usurp the power of ordaining Bishops throughout all the Western Church, which was no less than to subvert the rights of all the Metropolitans. They proceeded farther, and claimed the office of ordaining the Metropolitans themselves. The method they made use of to usurp the rights of the Metropolitans regarding ordi- nation was, to send them the Vest or Pallium for it was by means of this that the Me- tropolitans were invested by the Holy Pontiff with the power of ordaining the Bishops of the Province ; whence it followed that such power was not possessed by them unless by this grant of the Pallium. Here another point was gained the Metropolitans had not the power of exercising all the episcopal functions until they had received the Pallium from the Pope. The last step naturally followed this that the Pope would not grant the Pallium until the Metropolitans had taken an oath of fidelity such as he required. Another ground on which he advanced was this he contrived that appeals from the decisions of the Metropolitans, especially relating to disputed elections of Bishops, should be brought before himself; that if the electors had been negligent, or the elected unfit, the election should devolve on the Pope ; that he alone should possess the right of accepting the cessions of Sees, of determining translations, and the coadjutorships in the next suc- cession ; and lastly, that the confirmation of all episcopal elections should be vested in the Holy See. Chap.X.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 161 appointment to vacant Sees, the mutual awe and dependence of the Bishop and his clergy were at an end. The original method of election, according; to which the dignity was generally conferred on some eminent ecclesiastic who had long resided in the diocese, secured at least some degree of de- ference in the elected to the office and privileges of the priesthood ; but the practice of regal appointment broke that tie, and the stranger, who was frequently intruded, with few common interests or affections, gave loose without any restraint to his insolence or his avarice, in an age and con- dition of society in which public opinion had no influence. Accordingly we collect, even from the Councils of those times which were entirely composed of Bishops, the violent excesses to which many members of that order proceeded. * We have learnt (says the Council of Toledo, in 589) that the Bishops treat their parishes not episcopally but cruelly, and oppress their dioceses with losses and exactions. Wherefore, let all that the Bishops would appropriate to themselves be refused, excepting that which the ancient constitutions grant to them ; and let the clergy, whether parochial or diocesan, who are tormented by the Bishop, carry their com- plaints to the Metropolitan, and let the Metropolitan hasten to repress such excesses.' Nearly a century afterwards the fourth Council of Braga (in 675) inveighs against the brutality of certain Bishops who treated honour- able men like robbers, and lacerated priests, abbots, and deacons, with personal chastisement. ' Avarice (says the Council of Toledo in 633) is the root of all evils, and that detestable thirst takes possession even of the heart of Bishops. Many of the faithful, through the love of Christ and the martyrs, build chapels in the parishes of the Bishops, and leave offer- ings there ; but the Bishops seize them and turn them to their own use. Hence it follows that Clerks are wanting to perform the divine offices, for they receive not their fees; and the chapels when dilapidated are not repaired, because sacerdotal avidity has carried away the resources, &c.' Besides these and similar proofs, which might be brought in great abundance, the tyrannical oppressions of the Bishops are sufficiently evinced by the conspiracies or coalitions of the priesthood to resist them, which are sometimes mentioned, of course with reprehension and menace, by the Councils of the sixth and seventh centuries. Notwithstanding the measures taken to repress it, the licence and the demoralization of the episcopal order gradually increased, and towards the close of the eighth century it had reached perhaps the farthest limit to which it ever proceeded. The restraint which had formerly been im- posed by the watchful superintendence of provincial Councils and Metro- politans was feebly supplied by the rare, and cautious, and often ineffec- tual interference of the Roman See. The practice of regal election freed the Bishop from any check with which either respect or gratitude towards his clergy and people might otherwise have supplied him and the positive degradation of the clergy itself removed him still farther from any deference to the feelings, or even the rights, of that Body. Sole administrator of the revenues of the Church, he possessed the most ample means of plunder and usurpation j while his close connexion with political transactions, and the weight which he exerted in the most important deliberations of the State, so interwove the temporal with the spiritual office and duties, and also added to his legitimate authority so much temporal power, that there were few excesses which he might not hope to commit with impunity*. It is therefore without surprise that we find him at one time advancing to * It should not be forgotten, however, that this character was sometimes assumed on royal compulsion ; nor was this the only stain which the Church received from its contact with the wild barbarism of those ages. M 163 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. X. battle at the head of his armed attendants, and at another engaged in marauding expeditions from motives of plunder or private hostility. His habits and his manners alike departed from the ecclesiastical character, and he grew to resemble the rude Barons who surrounded him, both in the extent of his power, and the insolence with which he exercised it. We now turn to Rome the centre to which most of our attention must hereafter be directed and having shown the progress of The Papal the religious aristocracy during the seventh and eighth Principle, ages, let us observe whether any corresponding advance was made by the monarchical principle. Gregory the Great died in the year 604 ; and certainly if his immediate successors had equalled him in energy and ambition, the period of papal usurpation might have been greatly anticipated. But the fact was so far otherwise, that through a dreary period of almost five centuries the Vatican was never ruled by any character of sufficient transcendency to assert its single super- eminence, and seize the sceptre which was so long presented to it by superstition and ignorance. But this accident, though it retarded the maturity of the Roman Church, did not prevent the gradual operation of the principles on which it was now firmly founded ; and if it be the province of genius alone to create those commanding situations and cir- cumstances by which systems are formed or established, a very ordinary mind may turn them to advantage when created and presented. And thus the long succession of obscure pontiffs, who presided in the West for the century and a half which followed, may have profited by such occasions as were offered to extend the authority of the Church and exalt the supremacy of its head. At least we have reason to believe, that both the one and the other of those objects were, upon the whole, advanced during the period in question. Within fifty years from the death of Gregory, Pope St. Martin assem- bled a Council at Rome, in which, among various expositions of doc- trine, he condemned a certain heresy at that time maintained by Constant, the Emperor of the East. That Prince, little disposed to pardon the offence, sent his Exarch into Italy with orders to seize the person of the Pontiff. By the employment of some address he succeeded in his mission ; in the year 653 St. Martin was carried away from Rome a captive to Constantinople, and thence, after enduring', according to the Catholic historians, a multitude of insults, he was exiled to the Chersonesus. In the year following (655) he died there; and his successor Eugenius was ap- pointed by the Emperor. The singularity of this circumstance has recom- mended it to our notice, rather than its importance. It was an isolated event, depending solely on the political power which the Emperor of the day might happen to possess over his Italian subjects, and not at all affecting the influence which the Holy See was now acquiring in every quarter of the West for that was the ground on which its battles were to be fought and its conquests gained, and to that they were destined to be confined ; and so long as it suffered no reverses in that field, it mattered little what might be the result of an occasional dispute either with the Patriarch or the Emperor of the East. We have already mentioned that, during the seventh and eighth centuries, some successful inroads were made by the Popes on the privileges of Metropolitans, especially in their election or confirmation* ; and the The pallium or peculiar vest was requested of the Pope by the Metropolitans, at first inertly, as it would seem, in token of an honour to which no condition was annexed, but afterwards in attestation of their subjection to the See, and obedience to its canonical com-. Chap. X.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 163 influence of St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany, was warmly exerted about the year 742 among the Bishops of France and Germany, to extend the authority of the See. Another occurrence, which tended much more effectually, though by a very different course, to the same result, took place almost immediately afterwards. Pepin, who was mayor of the palace to Childeric III., King of France, was desirous to dethrone his imbecile master, and to usurp the name, after having- long exercised the power of royalty. The Donation Accordingly he assembled the States of the realm, and they of Pepin. gave it as their opinion that the Bishop of Rome should previously be consulted respecting 1 the lawfulness of the project. In consequence ambassadors were sent to Zachary with a question to the following import ' Whether the divine law did not permit a valiant and warlike people to dethrone a pusillanimous and indolent monarch who was incapable of discharging any of the functions of royalty, and to substitute in his place one more worthy of rule, and who had already ren- dered most important services to the State?' The answer of the Pope was such as the usurper desired : Childeric was stripped of royalty without any opposition, and Pepin took undisputed possession of the throne. This occurrence is generally related as the first instance of the temporal ambition of the Vatican, or at least of its interference with the rights of princes and the allegiance of subjects and therefore the conduct of the Pope has commonly been treated (by Protestant writers) with unmeasured reprehension. But certainly if we consider the act of Zachary distinct from those subsequent usurpations, to which in truth it did neither neces- sarily lead, nor even furnish a plausible precedent if we consider the act, as historical justice requires of us, with a fair regard to the circumstances of France and Italy, and to the principles of the times, we shall be sur- prised indeed that a Pope of the eighth century should so easily assent to the most popular principle of republicanism, and we may reject perhaps the political axiom which he has laid down ; but we shall not accuse him of ambitious or unchristian arrogance for having resolved a difficulty which he did not create; for having answered a question which was proposed to him, as the highest human authority, and proposed without any interference or solicitation on his own part. It is true that the nature of his answer may have been influenced by his manifest interests, and the necessity in which the See then stood of a powerful protector but this is a considera- tion quite distinct from the original broad charge of intrusion in temporal concerns and even in this matter, the mere absence of that splendid disin- terestedness, which is rare in every age, and almost impossible in bad ages, is not to be stigmatized as inexcusably criminal, nor to be placed on the same level with the active, intriguing intrusiveness of guilty ambition. It is not probable that Pope Zachary foresaw all the advantages which soon afterwards accrued to the Holy See from his decision but pressed by the Greeks on one hand, and the Lombards on the other, he was no doubt glad of the occasion to create a substantial friendship beyond the Alps. The Lombards had gradually possessed themselves of those provinces of Italy which had remained longest attached to the Greek empire, under the name of the Exarchate of Ravenna* ; and those warlike mands. The virtues of the pallium are described at length in an Epistle from Pope Zachary to Boniface. Baron, ann. 742, sect. v. See above, note on p. 160. * The strict limits of the Exarchate were included in the territories of Ravenna, Bologna and Ferrara : dependent on it was the Pentapolis, which extended along the Adriatic from Rimini to Ancona. and advanced into the interior as far as the ridges of the Apennines. Gibbon c. 49. M 2 164 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. X. foreigners were now projecting the extension of their conquest to the whole peninsula. Stephen H., the successor of Zachary, applied to the Court of France for protection ; and instantly, Pepin, at the head of a numerous army, crossed the Alps, and overthrew the Lombards, and recovered the Exarchate from their hands. Pepin might have restored this valuable spoil to the throne of Constantinople with great praise of justice; or by the indulgence of ambition he might have retained permanent possession of it himself, without any reproacli and with much profit he did neither ; but, mindful of his obligation to the Holy See, and sensible of the advan- tage of intimate alliance with it, he transferred the sovereignty over the provinces in question to the Bishop of Rome. This celebrated donation took place in 754-5 ; and thus we observe that the earliest interference of the Vatican in temporal matters brought after it, in the course of three years only, a rich and solid reward of temporal power, which has never since been either greatly increased or greatly diminished. The degree of authority which individual Pontiffs have exerted in their States has indeed been liable in different ages to extreme diversities ; still the authority itself has, in some shape, been perpetuated ; and it has survived the splendid preten- sions of the spiritual despotism, by whose infancy it was created, whose maturity it assisted to swell and pamper, and whose expiring influence will probably be confined to the same limits with itself. The donation of Pepin awaited the confirmation of his son Charlemagne ; for in the year 774 the Lombards again threatened Charlemagne's libera- the Roman territories ; the aid of France was again lity to the Church. invoked, and the monarch who now afforded it, did not pause till he had entirely and finally sub- verted the empire of those conquerors, and proclaimed himself their King. Charlemagne was so far from disapproving his father's munificence to the Pope, that he renewed and even increased the grant by some accession of territory ; he drew still closer the bonds which allied him with a Bishop whose power was real and solid, however fanciful may have been the claims on which it stood ; and thus he secured the zealous assistance of the See, when circumstances at length allowed him to mature the projects of his own ambition, and to proclaim himself, in the year 800, the Emperor of the West. Charlemagne did not confine his benefactions to the Bishop of Rome, ' but distributed them among all the orders of the hierarchy. He augmented their wealth, he enlarged their privileges, he exalted their dignity, he confirmed and extended their immunities ; and were it not beyond contra- diction established, that he was one of the greatest and wisest princes who ever reigned, some writers would not have hesitated to place him among the weakest of mankind. But the motives of his liberality were such as became a magnanimous and a benevolent monarch. Superstition has never been accounted among them, nor any unfounded fears or undue reverence of the ecclesiastical order from the former he was perhaps more nearly exempt than would have appeared possible in so rude an age ; and in his transactions with the clergy, even with the Pope himself, he never forgot, or allowed them to forget, his own supremacy. But he was desirous to civilize his barbarous subjects; he was anxious to influence their rude manners, and correct their vicious morals, by the more general diffusion and comprehension of the Christian truths ; and he was willing also to sow the seeds of secular learning, and dispel the ignorance which oppressed his people. As the first step towards this regeneration he presented to them the example of his own piety and his own learning*. But when he looked * Many writers assert that he yielded not to any contemporary in either of tho^e merits j Chap. X.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 165 round for the means of communicating those blessings, the first and the only one which presented itself was the agency of the clergy. All that was influential among his subjects was contained in the two orders, military and ecclesiastical ; and the wild turbulence of the former pointed them out rather as objects than instruments of reformation. The little of literary taste or acquirement which his kingdom contained was confined to the clergy ; and there he laboured to encourage its increase, and to distribute it, through the only channel that was open, for the moral improvement of his subjects. It was chiefly with this view that he augmented the power and revenues of the Church, and raised its ministers to a more exalted rank and influence influence which they subsequently studied to improve by methods not always honourable, but which, as circumstances then existed, it was pardonable if not commendable, it was magnanimous if it was not also politic, in Charlemagne to bestow. But we shall readily admit, that that monarch's munificence would have been very dangerously bestowed, had he not taken vigorous measures to reform, at the same time that he Reformation of enriched, the ecclesiastical body ; and some of those the Clergy. measures, though we had proposed to defer the particu- lars of his legislation till a subsequent Chapter, may be mentioned with no less propriety in the present. In the year 789, at an assembly at Aix-la- Chapelle, Charlemagne published a Capitulary in eighty articles, chiefly with a view to restore the ancient discipline of the Church*. It was ad- dressed to all ecclesiastics, and carried by the officers of the monarch into all the Provinces. The instructions which most nearly affected the peculiar abuses of the age were those, perhaps, which exhorted the Bishops to select their clergy from free men rather than from slaves ; and which forbade bishops and abbots and abbesses to possess dogs, or hawks, or buffoons, or jugglers. By the celebrated Council of Francfort (sur le Mein) held in 794, it was enacted, among many other wholesome regulations, that Bishops should not be translated from city to city ; that the Bishop should never be absent from his Church for more than three weeks ; that he should so diligently instruct his clergy, that a worthy successor might ever be found among them ; and that after his death his heirs should only succeed to such portion of his property as he possessed before his ordina- tion all acquisitions subsequently made were to return to his Church. Other articles regulated the discipline of the inferior clergy. We shall conclude with one additional and very singular instance. Towards the close of the year 803 the Emperor held a parliament at Worms, when a petition was presented to him by all the people of his States, of which the following was the substance -' We pray your Majesty that henceforward Bishops may not be constrained to join the army, as they have been hitherto. But when we march with you against the enemy, let them the former, however, does not appear greatly to have influenced his moral practices ; and as to his proficiency in the latter, -we may at least venture to prefer to him his own master and preceptor Alcuin, an Englishman, the most celebrated divine of the day ; and since we are assured that Charlemagne did not learn to write till late in life, doubtless we might make other exceptions. Alcuin is regarded as the restorer of letters in France, or at least the principal instrument of Charles in that work. In a letter to that Prince he avers that it rested with those two alone to raise up in France a Christian Athens. And his own writings attest his industry in restoring almost every branch of study. (Fleury, Hist. Keel., liv. 45, sect, xviii.) The devotion of Charlemagne to the services of religion is not disputed ; through his whole life he was a regular attendant on the offices, even the noc- turnal ceremonies, of the Church, and his last days were passed in correcting the text of the Gospel with the assistance of certain Greeks and Syrians. Fleury, H. E. 1.45, s. viii. * Fleury, H. E. liv. 44, sect. 46, and liv. 45, sect. 26, 166 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. X. remain in their dioceses, occupied with their holy ministry, and praying for you and your army, singing masses, and making processions, and almsgiving. For we have beheld some among them wounded and killed in battle, God is our witness with how much terror ! and these accidents cause many to fly before the enemy. So that you will have more com- batants if they remain in their dioceses, since many are employed in guard- ing them ; and they will aid you more effectually by their prayers, raising their hands to heaven, after the manner of Moses. We make the same petition with respect to the priests, that they come not to the army, unless by the choice of their Bishops, and that those be such in learning and morals that we may place full confidence in them, &c.' Charlemagne replied as follows ' In our desire both to reform ourselves, and to leave an example to our successors, we ordain that no ecclesiastic shall join the army, except two or three Bishops chosen by the others, to give the benediction, preach and conciliate, and with them some chosen priests to impose penance, celebrate mass, take care of the sick, and give the unction of holy oil and the viaticum. But these shall carry no arms, neither shall they go to battle nor shed any blood, but shall be contented to carry relics and holy vessels, and to pray for the combatants. The other Bishops who remain at their churches shall send their vassals well armed with us or at our dis- posal, and shall pray for us and our army. For the people and the kings who have permitted their priests to fight along with them have not gained the advantage in their wars, as we know from what has happened in Gaul, in Spain, and in Lombardy. In adopting the contrary practice we hope to obtain victory over the pagans, and finally everlasting life.' CHAPTER XI. On the Dissensions of the Church from the Age of Constantine to that of Charlemagne. Division of the subject : I. Schism of the Donatists its real origin progress Circumcellions conduct of Constantine and his successor of Julian conference of Carthage St. Augustin the Vandals Saracens real extent of the offences of the Donatists: some account of St. Augustin. II. Priscillian his persecution and death probable opinions the tirst Martyr to religious dis- sent how truly so Ithakius Martin of Tours effect of Prisciilian's death on his followers. III. Joviniau his opinions by whom chiefly opposed Edict of Honorius Vigilautius his character abuses opposed by him St. Jerome. IV. Pelagian Controversy its importance and perplexity Pelagius and Celestius opposition of St. Augustin Councils of Jerusalem and Diospolis reference to Zosimus, Bishop of Rome perseverance of St. Augustin and his suc- cea8 the sum of the Pelagian opinions opposite doctrine of Fatalism Semi-Pelagianism Doc- trine of the East indifference of Greek Church to this Controversy. V. Controversy respecting the Incarnation early origin Apollinaris his doctrine Nestorius his rash assertion Cyril of Alexandria Council of Ephesus condemnation and banishment of Nestorius progress of his opinions what they really amounted to Eutyches the Monophysite heresy Dioscorus of Alexandria second Council of Ephesus interference of Pope Leo Council of Chalcedon condemnation and subsequent conduct of the Eutychians Henoticon of Zeno Its object effect Heraclius and the Monothelites Council of Constantinople general remarks on this Controversy apology for those engaged in it some of its consequences. VI. Worship of Images its spe- cious origin its progress in East and West Leo the Isaurian effects of his Edict Constantine Copronymus Synod of Constantinoplethe Empress Irene second Council of Nice, or Seventh General Council Remarks on the Seven General Councils Leo the Armenian Michel his Epistle to Louis le Dcbonnaire The Empress Theodora Feast of Orthodoxy general remarks 1 John Damaaoenug miracles conduct of secular clergy of monastic orders of the common people of Ppal 8e contrast between the Italian and French clergy, THE controversies which occasioned the widest divisions in the Church during the five centuries following its establishment, were on twp subjects Chap. XL] -A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 167 the Incarnation of our blessed Saviour, and the Worship of Images. In- deed, if we except the Pelagian opinions, there were none other than these which left any lasting consequences behind them. Still we are not justified in confining' our notice entirely to those three, but we must extend it, though more concisely, to some other dissensions, of less importance and earlier date, which animated the passions of Churchmen during the in- terval between the Arian and the Incarnation controversies. We shall mention them in the following order : 1. The schism of the Donatists ; 2. the heresy of the Priscillianists ; 3. the opinions of the reformers, Jovinian and Vigilantius ; and shall then proceed to the doctrines of Pelao-ius and Celestius. To these we shall limit our curiosity; for the various disputes, created directly or indirectly, by the writings of Origen, and the many real (or supposed) ramifications of the ManichaBan heresy, are not such as to claim a place in this work. I. On the death of Mensurius, Bishop of Carthage, in 311, the clergy and people of that city and district elected in his place the Archdeacon Caecilianus, and proceeded to his conse- The Donatists. cration without waiting, as it would seem, for the con- sent of the Bishops of Numidia, a contiguous and subordinate pro- vince. Probably custom or courtesy was violated by this neglect ; but the Numidians considered it also as an infringement of their right, and hastened to resent it as such. This was no doubt the real foundation of the schism an objection taken against the character* of one Felix, a Bishop who h^d been prominent in the consecration of Caecilianus, though it was repeatedly brought forward in the course of the controversy, was obviously a vain and contemptible pretext. The dissentients, headed by a certain Donatus, assembled a Council of their own, condemned Caecilianus, and appointed his deacon, Majorinus, for his successor. Both parties then proceeded to great extremities, and as there appeared no other prospect of reconciliation, they agreed to bring the dispute before the Emperor Constantine, who had just then proclaimed the establishment of Christianity. Constantine inquired into the affair, first by means of a Synod at Rome, consisting of three Gaulish and fifteen Italian prelatesf, at which the Bishop of the capital presided ; and presently afterwards, by an inquiry into the truth of the charges against Felix, before the civil magistrate yElian, proconsul of Africa, assisted by several lay, and for the most part military assessors : the decision, on both investigations, was unfavourable to the Donatists. They were discontented ; seventy venerable Numidian prelates, assembled in council in the heart and light of Africa, had rejected the authority of Csecilianus could so solemn an act be superseded by a commission of a small number of obscure Bishops meeting in a different province, and perhaps ignorant of the leading* cir- cumstances ? They submitted the matter to the Emperor's reconsideration. His patience was not yet exhausted; he immediately summoned a much more numerous synod at Aries, in Gaul, and here again, after much serious debate, the Donatists lost their cause. Still dissatisfied, they had recourse to the final expedient, an appeal to the personal justice of Con- stantine. The Emperor again consented to their request ; but on this occasion the motive of his indulgence may be liable to some suspicion, since the very application admitted the power of the Emperor to reverse the decision of an ecclesiastical council a right which he might very naturally * He was accused of being a Traditor; i. e. of having delivered up copies of the Scrip- tures during Diocletian's persecution. f Fleury, lib, x. ; sect. 11., records the names of most of them; and the order of pre- cedence,* 168 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XL choose to assert at that moment at least it is certain that, in the year 316, he condescended to investigate the affair at Milan, in the presence of the contending parties. He deliberately confirmed the former decisions ; and then, as these repeated condemnations had no other effect than to increase the perversity of the schismatics, he applied the secular power to their correction*. This measure led to some violent disturbances ; many joined, as persecuted, those whom they loved not as schismatics, and the confu- sion thus generally occasioned gave license to a number of lawless ruffians, the refuse of Africa, of no sect, and probably of no faith, to range their weapons and their crimes on the side of the contumacious. These men, the soldiers of the Donatists, were called Circumcellions ; and their savage excesses went very far to convert the schism into a rebellion. When the quarrel arrived at this point, it is well worthy of notice, that Constantine, instead of proceeding to extinguish the malcontents by the sword, attended to the advice of the governors of Africa, so as to repeal the laws which had been enacted against them and to allow the people full liberty to adhere to the party which they might prefert. Not so his successor Constans : during his reign we read of the defeat of the Donatists at the battle of Bagnia, and of thirteen years of tumult and bloodshed, and uninterrupted persecution. These severe measures, which the fury of the Circumcellions could scarcely justify, destroyed many, and dispersed into other countries a still greater number of the perverse schis- matics but converted probably none. The moment of reaction was not far distant ; the numerous and revenge- ful exiles were restored to their home by the suspicious justice of Julian J ; and the sect appears to have sprung up, during the few following years, to the highest eminence which it at any time attained. Towards the con- clusion of the fourth century Africa was covered with its churches, and its spiritual interests were guarded by a body of four hundred Bishops. Let us observe the consequence of this prosperity a violent division grew up among them, respecting some very insignificant person or thing, and opened a breach in their fortress to the persevering assaults of the Catho- lics. Besides which, the method of assault was now somewhat changed and refined; the weapons of reason and disputation were now again admitted into the service of the Church ; and they were not without effect, since they were directed and sharpened by the genius of Augustin. The Bishop of Hippo attacked the Donatists in his writings, in his public discourses, in his private conversation ; and so vigorously exposed their dangerous and seditious spirit, as to lessen their popularity in Africa, and to destroy any sympathy which their former sufferings might have created in the rest of Christendom. * He certainly exiled some, and is said to have deprived them of their churches, and even to have shed some blood. See Mosh., cent, iv., p. ii., ch. v. f This change in his policy seems to have taken place in 321 after five years expe- rience of the opposite system. I The horrors which they committed on their restoration are very vividly and seriously related by Fleury, (1. xv., s. 32.) * They expelled the Catholic people, violated the women, and murdered the children. They threw the Eucharist to the dogs, but the dogs became mad, and turning against their masters tore them in pieces. One of them threw out of the window a phial of the holy ointment, which fell among the stones without breaking, &c. They exorcised the faithful in order to baptize them anew; they washed the walls of the Churches, and broke the altars and burnt them for most of those in Africa were then of wood they broke the consecrated chalices and melted them down, to convert them to other purposes in a word they held as profane all that the Catholic Bishops had consecrated, &c.' . He seems first to bavg taken the field while a simple presbyter, in the year 394. Chap. XL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 169 From this period they fell gradually into dishonour ; somewhat they still endured from the unjust application of the laws against heresy, of which no one has ever accused them ; but a dangerous wound was in- flicted by the celebrated conference held at Carthage in 411. The tribune Marcellinus was sent into Africa by the Emperor Honorius, with full power to terminate the controversy ; he convoked an assembly of the heads of both parties, and two hundred and eighty-six Catholic, and about two hundred and seventy-nine Bonatist, bishops presented themselves in defence of their respective opinions. The most solemn preparations were made to give weight and dignity to this meeting, and its deliberations were watched with profound anxiety by the people of Africa*. For three days the Tribune listened with respectful attention to the arguments advanced by both paities, and then proceeded to confirm the decisions of the former century, by pronouncing in favour of the Catholics. Augustin has de- served the glory of this spiritual triumph and, that no means might be wanting to make it decisive, it was vigorously pursued by the myrmidons of civil authority, who inflicted almost every punishment on the contu- macious, excepting the lastf. The survivors took breath under the government of the Vandals, who conquered that part of Africa from the Romans about the year 427 ; and when it was recovered by Belisarius, more than a hundred years after- wards, the sect of the Donatists was still found to exist there as a separate communion. It was again exposed to the jealousy of the Catholics, and particularly attracted the hostility of Gregory the Great ; but we do not learn that it suffered further persecution. We are told that it dwindled into insignificance about the end of the sixth century; but it is not impro- bable, that, the Saracen invaders of Numidia found them, some few years later, the remnant of a sect not ill-disposed to favour any invader, nor unmindful of the sufferings of their ancestors. The Donatists have never been charged, with the slightest show of truth, with any error of doctrine, or any defect in Church government or discipline, or any depravity of moral practice; they agreed in every respect with their adversaries, except in one they did not acknowledge as legitimate the ministry of the African Church, but considered their own body to be the true, uncorrupted, universal Church. It is quite clear, that they pushed their schism to very great extremities even to that of rejecting the commu- nion of all who were in communion with the Church which they called false ; but this was the extent of their spiritual offence, even from the assertion of their enemies. The excesses of the Circumcellions lost them much of the sympathy which would otherwise have been bestowed on their misfortunes ; but the outrages and association of those outlaws were generally disclaimed * < Let the* Bishops (says Marcellinus in a previous proclamation) signify to the people in their sermons to keep themselves quiet and silent. I will publish my sentence and ex- pose it to the judgment of all the people of Carthage.' St. Augustin himself addressed an epistle or tract on this controversy, to the Donatist laity. The particulars of the con- ference are detailed at great length by Fleury in his twenty-second book. -j- An exception little more than nominal ; for though the infliction of death, as the direct punishment of schism, is not enjoined by the Edict of Honorius, it necessarily followed, as the punishment of contumacy and rebellion. The edict, .however, even without that penalty, was so severe, and threatened to drive the Donatists to such extremities, that the civil magistrate, Dulcitius, hesitated to enforce it, until he should have taken counsel of Augustin, That prelate exhorted him to proceed c since it was much better (he said) that some should perish by their own fires, than that the whole body should burn in the everlasting flames of Gehenna, through the desert of their impious dissension.' Epist. 61, (alias 204). Honorius' Edict appears in the Theodosian Code, and a very sufficient spe- cimen of it may be found in Jortin, H. E. ad ann. 414, 170 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XI. by the most respectable leaders of the sect. One strange sin, indeed, they are accused of encouraging 1 , and of indulging with dreadful frequency an uncontrollable inclination to suicide *. But suicide is the resource of the desperate ; and it is unlikely that it found any favour among them, until oppression had persuaded them, that death was not the greatest among human evils. In the fortunes of the Donatists do we not trace the usual history of persecution ? In its commencement fearful and reluctant, and, as it were, conscious of its corrupt origin, it irritates without depressing; then it hesitates, and next suspends the attack ; thereon its object rises up and takes strength and courage. The same process is then repeated, under circum- stances slightly different with the same result. Then follows the pas- sionate and sanguinary assault which destroys the noblest among the recusants, while the most active and dangerous are preserved by hypocrisy or exile and thus the sect spreads secretly and widely ; it secures a sym- pathy which it may not have merited by its excellence, and on the first occasion breaks out again with fresh force and fury. Then indeed, if re- course be had to argument, if greater right be on the stronger side, and if the secular sword be only employed to pursue the victory of reason, the cause of the sufferers becomes more feeble and less popular but still, unless the pursuit be carried to absolute, individual extermination, the extinction even of the silliest heresy can only be effected by time and time itself will complete its work, at least as much by calming passion as by correcting judgment. The above narrative has introduced us to the name of St. Augustin, who was the most celebrated amongst the ancient Christian Notice of St. fathers, and who deserves even now a more than usual Augustin. attention, from the influence which his writings have un- ceasingly exerted in the Roman Catholic Church. But the notice which can here be bestowed upon him must necessarily be confined to very few points. He was born in Numidia, in the year 354, and his early youth was distinguished by his aversion from all study, and especially that of the Greek language. But an ardent passion for poetry at length opened the gate through which he entered into the fields of general literature. From profane, he directed his attention to religious subjects ; and when we recollect that Tertullian, the greatest amongst his African predecessors, seceded from the Church in the maturity of his judg- ment and learning, in order to embrace the visions of a raving fanatic, we are scarcely astonished to learn, that the youthful imagination of Augustin was seduced by the Manichseari opinions. He appears to have retained them for nine or ten years, during which time his rhetorical talents had raised him into notice ; and it was not till the year 386, that he was per- suaded (as it is said) by the sermons of St. Ambrose, and the writings of St. Paul, to return to the communion of the Church. His baptism (he was previously a catechumen only) speedily followed his conversion ; his ordi- nation took place soon afterwards, and the city of Hippo, in Africa, which owes most of its celebrity to its association with his name, was that in which he first ministered as Priest, and afterwards presided as Bishop. He died in 430, in the thirty-fifth year of his episcopate. * Mosheim, cent, v., p. ii., ch. v. An authority for this fact is Augustin in his Epistle to Boniface, ch. iii. Quidam etiam se trucidandos armatis viatoribus ingerebant, percus- suros eoa se, nisi ab iis perimerentur, terribiliter comminantes. Nonnunquam et ab judicibus transeuntibus extorquebant violonter, tit a carnificibus vel ab officio ferireutur. Jam vero per abrupta prsecipitia, per aquas et jlamraas occidere. seipsos quotidianus illis ludus i'uit. .Chap. XL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 171 The first recorded exploit in his ecclesiastical life was the destruction of an inveterate and consecrated abuse. We have mentioned the innocent origin of the Agapae or feasts of charity, and the good purposes to which, in early times, they contributed. But as the influx of the Pagan converts grew more rapid, and as these naturally sought in the new religion for any resemblance to the popular ceremonies of the old, the solemnity in question insensibly changed its character under their influence, and degenerated into the licence and debauchery of a heathen festival. Augustin, while yet a presbyter, undertook the difficult office of persuading the people to abandon a favourite and hereditary practice, and by the simple exertion of his eloquence he succeeded. Services of reading and chaunting were sub- stituted in its place; and while the churches of the heretics* resounded with the customary revelry, the voice of devotion alone proceeded from the assemblies of the Catholics. This change took place in the year 395 ; and from that moment the reputation of Augustin spread rapidly throughout the African Church, and thence, as his labours proceeded, was diffused with no less of splendour to the most distant part of Christendom. Besides the faithful discharge of his episcopal and his private duties, the Bishop of Hippo engaged deeply in the controversies of the day; and his attacks are chiefly directed against the Manichaeans, the Donatists, and the Pelagians. His familiarity with the errors of the first may have qualified him more effectually to confute them but it is at the same time curious to observe the motives which he advances for his own adhesion to the Catholic Church. They are the following : the consent of the people; the authority which began in the faith of miracles, which was nourished by hope, aug- mented by charity, confirmed by antiquity; the succession in the Chair of St. Peter ; and the name of Catholic so established, that if a stranger should ask where is the Catholic Church? no heretic would certainly dare to claim that title for his own Churchf. These arguments, and such as these, have been so commonly repeated in later ages, that, without at all entering (for such is not our province) into the question of their real value, we are contented to record their high antiquity, and the sanction which they received from the name of Augustin. His exertions against the Donatists J, which we have already noticed, have attached to the character of that father the stain of persecution. The maxim (says Mosheim) which justified the chastisement of religious errors by civil penalties was confirmed and established by the authority of Augustin, and thus transmitted to following ages. He cannot be vindi- cated from that charge ; he unquestionably maintained the general prin- ciple, that the Unity of the Church should be preserved by secular inter- ference, and that its adversaries should be crushed by the material sword. But his natural humanity in some degree counteracted the barbarity of his * Fleury, H. E., liv. xx., s. II. This is the occasion on which it is recorded, that a's long as his eloquence was honoured only by the acclamations of the listening multitudes Augustin was sensible of its imperfection, and despaired of success ; and his hopes were only revived by the sight of their tears. t Fleury, liv. xx., s. 23. No heretic was so likely to have laid that claim as a Dona- tist yet even a Donatist, while he maintained that the true Catholic spirit and purity was alone perpetuated and inherent in his own communion, would scarcely have affirmed, that that was bona fide the universal Church, which did not extend beyond the shores of Africa, and which had not the majority even there. \ Cent, iv., p. ii., ch. iii, Besides the epistle to Dulcitius, see his letter, or rather tract, to Boniface, ' de Cor- fectione Donatistarum ;' and that to Vincentius (113, alias 48). The principle is avowed ajid defended in both at least provided the animus be to correct, apt to revenge ! 17 2 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XI. ecclesiastical principles ; and there is still extant an epistle addressed by him to Murcellinus (in 412), in which he earnestly entreated that magistrate to extend mercy to certain Donatists, who had been convicted of some, sanguinary excesses against the Catholics ; but the misfortune was, that, \vhile his private philanthropy preserved the lives perhaps of a few indi- viduals, the efficacy which he assisted in giving to the worst maxim of Church policy not only sharpened the shafts of injustice in his own time, but tempered them for long arid fatal service in after ages. The Pelagians, the third class of his religious adversaries, will receive a separate notice in the following pages. Of the numerous works which he composed, uncon- nected with these controversies, that entitled De Civitate Dei has justly acquired the greatest celebrity. We may also mention his book on the Trinity among his most important productions. He devoted much dili- gence and judgment to the interpretation of Scripture ; and his writings contain many excellent arguments for the truth of the religion, and of the evangelical history ; but the mere barren enumeration of his works would convey neither amusement nor profit to the reader, and we have no space for abstracts sufficiently copious to make him familiar with the mind of the author. Erasmus has drawn a parallel between Augustin and his great contem- porary, the monk of Palestine, which is certainly too favourable to the latter. * No one can deny (he says) that there is great importance in the country and education of men. Jerome was born at Stridona, which is so near to Italy, that the Italians claim him as a compatriot ; he was educated at Rome under very learned masters. Augustin was born in Africa, a barbarous region, and singularly indifferent to literary pursuits, as he avows in his epistles. Jerome, a Christian, the child of Christians, im- bibed with his very milk the philosophy of Christ : Augustin began to read St. Paul's epistles with no instructor when nearly thirty years of age. Jerome devoted his great talents for thirty years to the study of the Scrip- tures : Augustin was immediately hurried to the episcopal office, and com- pelled to teach to others what he had not yet learnt himself. We observe then, even supposing a parity of country, talents, masters, education, how much more learning was brought to the task by Jerome ; for it is no trifling matter that he was skilled in the Greek and Hebrew languages ; since in those days all theology, as well as all philosophy, was in possession of the Greeks. Augustin was ignorant of Greek* ; at least the very trifling knowledge which he possessed of it was insufficient for the study of the commentaries of the Greek writers t.' The merit of more profound learning was unquestionably on the side of Jerome, but we cannot justly attribute to him any other superiority ; in soundness of reasoning and in natural judgment he certainly yielded to the Bishop of Hippo, and in the only recorded point of difference J between them he was very properly eor- * Dr. Lardner makes, we think, a very ineffectual attempt to prove that Augustin knew much more of that language than he even himself professed to have known for a few happy translations of Greek words, and even sentences, he was probably obliged to the learning of a friend or secretary. f Erasmus ends his comparison by affirming, ' that for his own part he learns more of Christian philosophy from one page of Origen than from ten of Augustin;' and others, perhaps, will add, from their own experience, ' and from one page of Augustin, than from ten of Jerome.' J This dispute was on the verse (ch. ii., v. 11.) of St. Paul's epistle to the Galatians : ' When Peter came to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.' Jerome had published his opinion, that the apostles had this public difference on a previous under standing, and by a charitable artifice ; and that St. Paul in fact saw the policy Chap. XI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 173 reeled by that prelate. In depth of moral feeling and energy of affecting- eloquence the advantage is also due to Augustin ; and the natural suavity of his disposition, which forms so strong a contrast with what might almost be designated the ferocity of Jerome, tended to soften the acrimony of religious difference *, and to throw some sparks of charity into the controversies in which he found himself almost necessarily engaged. Some particulars relating to his private life are recorded by historians, on the evidence of his own writings, and other respectable authority. His furniture and his dress were plain, without affectation either of fineness or of poverty. He wore, like other people, a linen garment underneath, and one of wool without ; he wore shoes and stockings, and exhorted those, who thought better to obey the Gospel by walking with naked feet, to assume no merit from that practice. 'Let us observe charity, he said I admire your courage endure my weakness.' His table was frugal, and ordinarily served with vegetables ; meat was seldom prepared, unless for guests or for the infirm, but there was always wine. Excepting his spoons, which were of silver, all the service was earthen, or of wood or marble, not by necessity, but from a love for poverty. On his table were written two verses, to forbid any scandal to be spoken of the absent proving that it was without a cloth, according to the usage of antiquity. He never forgot the poor, and aided them from the same fund on which he subsisted with his clergy; that is, from the revenues of the Church or the oblations of the faithful. He paid great regard to hospitality, and held it as a maxim, that it was a much preferable error to entertain a rogue, than to refuse an honest man. His usual occupation was arbitration among Christians arid persons of all religions, who submitted their differences to him. But he liked much better to decide between strangers than between his friends 'for of the two strangers I may make one a friend ; of the two friends I shall make one an enemy.' He applied himself little to the tem- poral interests of the Church, but busied himself much more in study, and in the meditation of spiritual concernsf. II. Priscillian, a Spanish Bishop of birth and fortune and eloquence, was accused by certain other Bishops of the heresy of the Manichaeans ; he was condemned by a Council held at Sara- The Pris- gossa (in 380), and a rescript was then obtained for his cillianists, banishment from the Emperor Gratian ; but he was speedily restored to his country and his dignity. Gratian was assassinated, and succeeded by Maximus, a tyrant worthy of the throne of Domitian ; and before him J Idacius and Ithakius, the two ecclesiastics most perse- vering in their zeal or malignity, again accused Priscillian. His followers were probably not very numerous, but they presented themselves to plead their cause and prove their innocence, before Damasus, Bishop of Rome, and propriety of St. Peter's adhesion to the Jews, at the moment when he professed to condemn it. According to Augustin, this interpretation goes to overthrow the whole au- thority of Scripture ; for if it is once allowed to admit there the existence of serviceable falsehoods, and to say that St. Paul in that passage spoke what he did not mean, and treated St. Peter as reprehensible when he did not think him so, there is no passage which may not be similarly eluded. The heretics who condemn marriage would assert that St. Paul only approved it through condescension to the imperfection of the first Christians and so of others. * Compare, for instance, the manner of his opposition to the opinions of Jovinian with that of Jerome. f Fleury, liv. xxiv., chap, xxxviii. xxxix. I Sulpicius Severus mentions Magnus andllufus as the two Bishops who were finally the successful agents in procuring the condemnation of Priscillian. 174 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XI. and the celebrated Ambrose, at Milan from neither of them could they obtain a hearing 1 *. Perhaps their unfortunate instructor was not more successful at the court of Maximus ; at least it is certain that, in the year 384, he was put to death at Treves, with some of his associates, "on no other pretext than his heretical opinionsf. It is now disputed what those opinions were ; and it is probable that the same dispute existed in his own time j since no ancient writer has given us any clear account of them and none of the works ^of Priscillian or any of his followers have reached us. It seems likely, however, that the Priscil- lianists made some approaches, perhaps very distant ones, to the wild errors of the ManichseansJ, respecting- the two principles, the doctrine of aeons, or emanations from the divine nature, and the creation of the world. It is possible that they disputed the reality of Christ's birth and incarnation though they professed to receive the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament. They are stated to have disbelieved the resurrection of the body, and they had some errors concerning the nature and functions of the soul. They are blamed for not consuming the Eucharist at Church, and for some irregularity in the season of their fasts ; and some of them were charged besides (strange charges to be brought by Catholic accusers !) with having deserted their social rank, in order to betake themselves to solitary devotion ; and with holding opinions favourable to celibacy. For the^e offences, or such as these, Priscillian suffered death ; and his fate has gained him the more celebrity, because it is usual to consider him as the first martyr to religious dissent. Not perhaps truly so for between the years 325 and 384 many an obscure victim of the Arian heresy must have perished for his opinions, in silence and ignominy but Arius himself escaped the storm ; and it cannot be disputed, that Priscillian was the first who atoned with his life for the dangerous distinction of founding a religious secl. It is some consolation to be enabled to add, that the principle by which he suffered was not yet in favour with the Christian Church ; the character of Ithakius, his most active enemy, is thus described by a con- temporary historian (Sulpicius Severus), ' he was a man void of all prin- ciple ; loquacious, impudent, expensive, a slave to gluttony so senseless as to represent every holy person who delighted in religious studies, and practised mortification and abstinence, as an associate or a disciple of Priscillian.' On the other hand, the persecuted heretic found a powerful protector in one of the most venerable prelates of that age, Martin of Tours, ' a man comparable to the apostles.' So long* as Martin remained at the court of Maximus, his authority was sufficient to prevent the medi- tated injustice; he had even ventured to represent to that usurper, that it ~ * Their opinions may have been adopted by several both among the nobility and the people, and by a vast multitude of women (as is also asserted) in Spain ; but they obtained no footing elsewhere. They are said to have been introduced into that country by one Marc, an Egyptian of Memphis, and aManichaean. f We need not pause to notice some monstrous charges of immorality such as we have seen so commonly affixed to an unpopular heresy. I It is a curious reflection, that at the same moment when Priscillian was suffering the pangs of death, for opinions resembling the Manichsean heresy, St. Augustin, the destined bulwark of the Catholic Church, the man whose future writings were to become a store- house of the true doctrine for so many countries and ages was actually and deeply in- volved in the very intricacies of the heresy itself. He returned to reason but Priscillian, who was nearer to it than himself, was hastily executed. We should mention, perhaps, the distinction that Priscillian suffered death for the opinions themselves directly and avowedly not, as thousands before him had suffered, fur contumacy in persisting in them a distinction which has no real value, except as marking the greater shumelessness of persecution in at length casting off her mask. Chap. XL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 175 was a new and unlawful attempt of the civil magistrate to take cognizance of an ecclesiastical cause* a boldness consistent with his peaceful virtues, and derived from the now acknowledged dignity of his profession. The deed was perpetrated in his absence, and he then protested against the act, and withdrew from the communion of the murderers. The memory of this excellent prelate has been disfigured by the credulous historian, who intended to be his eulogist; and we would willingly believe, that the stupendous miracles so profusely attributed to him were created by the veneration of the vulgar, or even by the enthusiasm of the writer, not by the deliberate imposture of a pious Christian *. Sulpicms proceeds to say, that ' the death of Priscillian was so far from repressing the heresy of which he had been the author, that it conduced greatly to confirm and extend it ; for his followers, who before had reve- renced him as a pious man, began to worship him as a martyr. The bodies of those who had suffered death were carried back to Spain, and interred with great solemnity ; and to swear by the name of Priscillian was practised as a religious act.' Such were the immediate consequences of his execu- tion ; it does not appear, however, that his opinions took any deep or lasting root, or ever again became the occasion of offence or confusion to the Church. III. The same age, almost the same year, which witnessed the death of one heretic for opinions, among which was a rigid, undue admiration of bodily austerities and religious seclusion, beheld Jomnian.\ with less surprise the banishment of another heretic, for daring to raise his voice in disparagement of those same practices. Jovinian had received his education in an Italian convent, but the common feelings and principles of nature were not extinguished in him. He left his retire- ment, and published a volume in which he rashly endeavoured to show, that those who followed the rules of the Gospel, amid the temptations and perplexities of social life, possessed as just a claim to the rewards of futu- rity as those who observed the same rules in solitude ; that pleasures are not necessarily sins ; that temperance is as excellent a virtue as abstinence ; and that the chaste enjoyments of marriage are as agreeable to the eye of a benevolent Deity, as the mortifications of unnatural celibacyf. Jerome, *the monk of the age,' poured out in reply much passionate declamation in praise of the established superstitions, and some calumnious invective against the person of the reformer; and as the current already ran too strongly in his favour, his clamours were echoed by the zealous multitude, while the wise were constrained to sorrow and silence J. Among Christian Churches the foremost in the extinction of reason and true Chris- tianity was the Church of Rome. Her impatience to crush the dangerous * ' Men of probity in other respects, and fully persuaded of the truth of Christianity, (and such I take Martin, Paulinus, and Sulpicius to have been) having found in the po- pulace a strong taste for the marvellous, and no capacity for better proofs, judged it ex- pedient rather to leave them to their prejudices, and to make use of those prejudices to confirm them in the true faith, than to undertake the vain task of curing them of their superstition, and run the risk of plunging them into vice and unbelief. Therefore they humoured the trick, and complied with the fashion for the good of those who were de- ceived.' Le Clerc, Bibl. Chois., ap. Jortin, ad ann. 402. This seems to be the simplest solution of the difficulty. t He was also charged with the speculative error, that all who have been regenerated by baptism, with perfect faith, were indefectible, and could not fail of their heavenly recom- pense. He may have held this opinion but the points on which the controversy turned, were those which much more nearly affected the practice of mankind. % It should be mentioned that the reply of Jerome was not written till after the condem- nation of the offender, in consequence of some progress which the opinions are said for the moment to have made at Rome. 176 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XI. innovator was emulated by St. Ambrose at Milan ; and the opinions of Jovinian were formally condemned, in the year 390, by a Council there held by that Prelate. But the work was not yet complete ; the Emperor Honorius was prevailed upon to interpose the secular authority in the same cause ; and the following was his proclamation * The complaint of some Bishops mentions as a grievance that Jovinian assembles sacrilegious meetings without the walls of the most holy city. Wherefore we ordain that the above-mentioned be seized and whipped, together with his abet- tors and attendants, and confined to some place of banishment ; and that the machinator himself be immediately sent away to the island of Boa.' Boa was a wretched rock, near the Illyrian coast; and in this exile, Jovi man, during the remainder of his life, expiated the crime of proclaiming in the fourth century truths which no one had dreamed of disputing in the second, and which are defended with almost equal clearness by the autho- rity of reason and of revelation. This example did not prevent another and a bolder attempt at Reforma- tion for as the corruptions of that time had not yet sub- Vigilantius. sided into habits ; as they could not yet plead prescription and long familiar practice; as they were not yet conse- crated by the claims of hereditary reverence, it was natural that the voice of reason should sometimes raise itself in faint opposition to their progress. Very early in the following century Vigilantius, a native of Gaul, who had performed the functions of presbyter in Spain, and afterwards, by his travels through Egypt and Palestine, enlightened and enriched a vigorous understanding and character, boldly avowed his disgust at the growing abuses of the day. Nor did he confine his attack to one or two points ; he directed it against the castles and strong holds of superstition. He denied that the tombstones of the martyrs were proper objects of homage and worship ; he denied the holiness of places so sanc- tified, and censured the pilgrimages that were made to them. He derided the prodigies by which the temples of the martyrs were so much celebrated, and condemned the vigils performed in them ; and he even ventured to assert that the custom of burning tapers at their tombs, in the face of day, was a foolish imitation of the Pagan practice. He denied the efficacy of prayers addressed to departed saints, and spake lightly of fasting and mortifications, and celibacy, and the various and useless austerities of the monastic life. And lastly, he disparaged the merit of that suspicious charity which lavished large sums for devout purposes, in fancied atone- ment for unrepented sin. The clamorous guardian of ecclesiastical de- pravity was again awakened by this second invasion of abuses so dear to him; and immediately, from his monastery at Bethlehem, he assailed the Reformer with such overbearing vehemence of plausible and popular argument, that the good Vigilantius deemed it wiser to retire from the conflict than to expose himself to unprofitable martyrdom. And in fact we find that this heresy (so it was designated) gained so little ground, that the interference of a Council was not required to extinguish it. The prin- cipal credit of both these triumphs is due to St. Jerome than whom the Church, in her whole history, has not ever listened to a more pernicious counsellor. IV. The controversy to which we next proceed was on a subject of the deepest and most permanent importance to the whole The. Pelagian Christian world ; and though, through the perverse mis- Controversy. application of human ingenuity, dissensions have flowed from it, to the great disturbance of former ages, and to the division even of the present, we cannot affect either surprise or Chap. XL]' A'HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 177 regret, that a question of so much moment should have agitated thus early the minds of pious men for it went to the bottom of the Christian doctrine respecting the original corruption of human nature, and the ne- cessity of divine grace, to enlighten the understanding and to purify the heart. It is in all cases extremely difficult, in the statement of those antient controversies, to do justice to the arguments, or even to the opinions, maintained by either party because these, in the process of the dispute, became closely, often inseparably, connected with consequences imputed to them by the adversary as necessary, and disclaimed by the advocate as unfair and arbitrary. So that those very subtilties of reasoning, which professed to unfold and explain the difference, did in fact only produce perplexity. In the Pelagian controversy this difficulty is increased by two causes : first, that we know little of the opinions of the heretic, except from the writings of his opponents ; secondly, that the fear of public condemnation, and perhaps temporal punishment, occasionally led him into unworthy equivocation ; so that his expressions are sometimes such as seemingly to convey an assertion of orthodoxy at variance with the whole drift of his previous argument. Again, the mere facts of the con- troversy have been variously related, according as the opinions of the relators have been tinged, however slightly, by the opposite colours of Pelagianism or Fatalism. We must endeavour, however, to disentangle the truth from these intricacies. Pelagius was a native of Britain, probably of Wales ; the associate of his travels, his heresy, and his celebrity, was Celestius, an Irishman : both were monks ; both, too, were men of considerable talents, and no just suspicions have ever been thrown on the sanctity of their moral conduct. They arrived at Rome in the very beginning of the fifth century, and remained there in the undisturbed, and perhaps obscure, profession of their opinions till the year 410, when they retired, on the Gothic invasion, the former to Palestine, the latter to Carthage. Here the peculiar doctrines of Celestius did not long escape detection ; they first attracted the attention of the Deacon, Paulinus of Milan, who arraigned and caused them to be condemned in a Council held at Carthage in the year 412*. It does not appear that Augustin assisted at this Council, as he was still engaged in pursuing his advantages over the Donatists ; however, he did not delay to enter the field against the new adversary, and very soon afterwards assailed the infant heresy, both by his sermons and writingsf. * The errors here charged against Celestius were comprised in seven articles 1 . That Adam was created mortal, and would have died, whether he had sinned or not ; 2. that the sin of Adam injured himself alone, not the human race ; 3. that infants, at their birth, are in the condition of Adam before his sin ; 4. that neither the death nor sin of Adam is the cause of man's mortality, nor the resurrection of Christ of his resurrection; 5. that man may be saved by the Law as well as by the Gospel; 6. that before the coming of Christ there had been men without sin ; 7. that infants inherit eternal life without baptism. These were partly disclaimed or explained away, but enough remained to shew the real nature of his opinions, though we may observe that the words free-will and grace do not yet appear in the controversy. f The natural causes of the opposition of the Church to the Pelagian opinions are ingeniously and reasonably discussed by Guizot (Cours d'Histoire Moderne, Leqon V.) We shall transcribe one passage, which deserves attention, and which cannot be con- densed : Augustin, who was the chief among the doctors of the Church, was peculiarly called upon to maintain the general system of its belief. Now, the notions of Pelagius and Celestius appeared to him to be in contradiction with some of the fundamental points of Christian faith, especially the doctrine of original sin and that of redemption. He attacked them, then, in three characters ; as philosopher, because their science of human nature was, in his view, narrow and incomplete ; as practical reformer and governor of the N 173 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XI. Dissatisfied with the easy triumph which attended his exertions in his own Church, he followed the fugitive into the East, and having ascer- tained that Pelagius maintained the same errors in Palestine, he occa- sioned him to be accused before twe Councils ; the one at Jerusalem *> the other at Diospolis. John, Bishop of Jerusalem, was favourable to the cause, perhaps to the tenets of Pelagius ; and thus, partly by his influence, partly from the absence of any fixed rule of orthodoxy on those particular subjects in the Eastern Church, partly from the very modified statement of his own opinions delivered to the Councils by Pelagius, that sectarian, in spite of the violent opposition of Jerome, was acquitted in both. This event took place in 415; and in the year following, Augustin, undaunted by this repulse, again assembled Councils in Africa and Numidia, and again condemned the offensive doctrines. The scene of action was then transferred to Rome, on the appeal, as it would seem, of the two heretics, and with the hope, perhaps, (not a rea- sonable hope,) that the authority of the Church of Jerusalem would have as much weight at the Vatican, as that of the Church of Carthage. Zosimus had been just raised to the pontificate ; to him the controversy was referred, with great shew of humility, by Celestius ; and whether deceived by the artful composition of the creed presented to him for approval, or overlooking the importance of a question to which his atten- tion had not previously been much directed, or flattered by the personal appeal to his justice and the acknowledged submission to the Chair of St. Peter, or influenced by all these reasons, Zosimus pronounced the innocence of the disputed doctrine. Augustin was not even thus discouraged; and his ardent religious feelings, as well as his reputation, were now too deeply interested in the controversy to allow him to rest here. Once more he assembled his Bishops, and after the public renewal of former declarations, he proceeded to inform the Pope more clearly as to the real nature and importance of the question ; as to the errors which had been actually professed by the heretics ; and those which, though disingenuously disavowed, followed of course from them. Zosimus does not appear to have been much moved by these representations ; but in the mean time a more powerful avenger had been roused by the perseverance of the Africans. An imperial Edict descended from Constantinople, which banished both the delinquents from Rome, and menaced with perpetual exile and confiscation of estates all who should maintain their doctrines in any place. This decisive blow was struck in the March of 418 ; in the May following, another and still Church, because they weakened, in his mind, the most efficacious method of reform and government ; as logician, because their ideas did not exactly square with the consequences which flowed from the essential principles of the faith. Observe, then, what gravity the dispute assumed from that moment ; everything was engaged in it philosophy, politics, and religion ; the opinions of St. Augustin, and his business, his vanity, and his duty. He abandoned himself entirely to it, publishing treatises, writing letters, collecting com- munications which flowed in upon him from all quarters, profuse in regulations and counsels, and carrying into all his writings and all his measures, that mixture of passion and mildness, of authority and sympathy, of expanse of mind and logical strictness, which gave him such singular power.' * On this occasion, being asked if he really maintained opinions which Augustin had condemned, he replied, ' What is Augustin to me ?' Many were offended, for Augustin was the most venerable authority of the age ; and some immediately proposed to excom- municate the spiritual rebel : but John averted the blow, and kindly addressed Pelagius, ' It is I who am Augustin here ; it is to me that you shall answer.' Pelagius spoke Greek, and is said to have thus obtained some advantages over his accuser Orosius, who Was ignorant of that language. Chap. XL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 179 more numerous Council* met at Carthage for the purpose of completing- the triumph ; and then the Bishop of Rome was at length prevailed upon to place, in conjunction with his clergy, the final seal of heresy on the Pela- gian opinions. The opinions themselves did not, indeed, expire from these successive wounds, but have frequently reappeared under different forms and modifications ; but no further attempts were made to extend them by their original authors. The sum of those opinions was this: 1. That the sins of our first parents are imputed to themselves alone, and not to their posterity ; that we derive no corruption from their fall ; that we inherit no depravity from our origin ; but enter into the world as pure and unspotted as Adam at his creation. It was a necessary inference from this doctrine, that infant baptism is not a sign or seal of the remission of sins, but only a mark of admission into the kingdom of Christ. 2. That our own powers are sufficient for our own justification ; that as by our own free-will we run into sin, so, by the same voluntary exercise of our faculties, we are able to repent, and reform, and raise ourselves to the highest degree of virtue and piety ; that we are, indeed, assisted by that external f grace of God which has taught us the truths of revelation; which opens to us our prospects, and enlightens our understanding, and animates our exertions after god- liness ; but that the internal and immediate operation of the Holy Spirit is not necessary, either to awaken us to religious feeling, or to further us in our progress towards holiness ; in short, that man, by the unassisted agency of his natural perfections under the guidance of his own free-will, is enabled to work out his own salvation. Regarding these doctrines, it is sufficient for a Christian to examine, whether or not they are in accordance with the obvious interpretation of Scripture ; and the long experience of a fruitless controversy must at length have convinced us respecting such inscrutable subjects, that if we advance one step beyond the safe and substantial ground of revelation, we become entangled in the mazes of metaphysical disputation. In these matters, we are not to inquire what is probable, but what is written; and it has become a question, whether the presumptuous arrogance of reason, which is objected to the system of Pelagius, did not lead his opponents, who believed themselves humble, equally far away from that entire submission to the Gospel, which is the only true humility. Augustin maintained the Church doctrines of original sin and saving grace with great force and zeal, and the most unaffected sincerity ; and his writings on this subject continued for above twelve centuries to dis- tribute the waters of regeneration over the barren surface of the Roman Catholic Church. But Augustin himself, in the ardour of his opposition to free-will, did he not overstep the just limits of reason, and advance into the contrary extreme of fatalism ? It is true that he warmly disclaimed that doctrine, when nakedly objected to him as the obvious and inevitable result of those which he professed ; but it was not without some sacrifice of logical severity that he declined the formidable conclusion. Neverthe- less, more rigid logicians and more daring theologians were found, who pressed to their utmost consequences the opinions of their master, and * Two hundred and three, or, as some assert, two hundred and fourteen Bishops were present. f Pelagius artfully perplexed the subject, hy his assertion of six different kinds of grace ; and if there be any of his expressions which may seem to imply more than we here give them credit for, they are, at least, so vague, and, we think, purposely so vague, as to make it impossible to attach any definite meaning to them, N 2 180 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XI. deduced from them the predestinarian dogma in its full extent. Again, the publication of the astounding- tenet on such authority (for St. Augustin, as well as his adversaries, was held responsible for the consequences of his positions*) became the occasion of another series of divisions in the Church, which more particularly distracted that of Gaul j so that the discord which grew out of the Pelagian controversy was not confined to the original ground of dispute, but spread with baneful luxuriance over the vineyard of Christ. Among the opinions to which it gave birth, the most popular, and perhaps the most reasonable, were those of the Semi- The Semi- Pelagians. They began to spread in the South of France Pelagians, about the year 428, and are attributed to an oriental, named Cassian, who resided in a monastery at Mar- seilles. These Sectarians f regarded with equal suspicion that absolute independence of the Divine aid, so rashly ascribed to the human soul by the Pelagian system, and its entire prostration and helplessness as exhibited by the Fatalists ; and they consequently concluded, that, by holding a middle course between opposite errors, they should most nearly arrive at truth. And so they maintained, on the one hand, that the Grace purchased by Christ was necessary for salvation, and that no man could persevere or advance in holiness without its perpetual support and assist- ance : on the other, that our natural faculties were sufficient for the beginning of repentance and amendment ; that Christ died for all men, and that there was no particular dispensation of his grace in consequence of predestination, but that it was equally offered to all men ; that man was born free, and therefore capable of receiving its influences, or resisting them. These doctrines were generally condemned in the Western Church %. It is true, they have continued, with slight variations, to find many advo- cates there in every age ; but the Church faithfully followed the line which had been traced by Augustin. By adopting his doctrines on grace, it condemned the heresy both of the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians ; and by rejecting the dogma of the Fatalists, it relieved itself from that, which would have proved a perpetual source of internal dissatisfaction and dissent. But in the East, if we may judge from the writings of Chrysostom, and the general tone of the Greek fathers, the Semi-Pelagian opinions had obtained an earlier and common prevalence, and they appear to have maintained it, with little interruption or dispute, to the present moment. The Greeks, however, engaged with little ardour in the Pelagian disputes ; and the reason may have been, that the seeds of another contention, even * In fact, St. Augustin attributed the progressive sanctification of man to the direct, immediate, and special action of God on the soul j that is, to grace, properly so called ; grace to which man had, by his own powers, no title : and which proceeded from the. absolutely gratuitous gift and free choice of the Divinity. His twelve fundamental points of the doctrine of grace are delivered in the epistle (to Vitalis) numbered 217 or 107. t Guizot has justly observed, that none of these doctrines gave birth to a Sect, properly so called ; those who held them were not formally separated from the Church and formed into a distinct religious society, nor had they any peculiar organization or worship. The doctrines were pure opinions debated among enlightened men, and varying both in their credit and in the degrees of their deviation from the Church, but never such as to menace a formal schism. I St. Augustin died about two years after their birth, but his work was followed up by Prosper and Hilary, who caused them to be condemned very soon afterwards by Pope Celestin. On the other hand, the opinions of the Predestinarians were also condemned by the Councils of Aries (in 472), and of Lyons (in 473). The opinions of Chrysostom on the subject appear to be fairly discussed by Dupin. Nouv. Bibl, in. his Life of that Father. Chap. XL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 181 more suited to the peculiarity of their metaphysical taste, were now ready to burst forth with abundant fertility. The great controversy respecting the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, which engaged, for about two hundred and fifty years, the ingenuity and the passions of the Eastern world, first discovered itself in the beginning of the fifth century, emerging, as it were, from the mists of some early heresies. We shall give as concise an account of it, as is consistent with the illustration of its more important features. V. The controversy respecting the Trinity was terminated by the Council of Constantinople in the year 381, which established the belief in the personality and divinity of the Holy Controversy on Spirit, as the true doctrine of the Universal Church, the Incarnation. The Arian heresy had been previously condemned ; and about the end of the fourth century, the attention of speculative minds began to turn from the momentous consideration of the eternal and celes- tial nature of Christ, and the consequent degree of worship which is due to him, to a subordinate inquiry into the probable nature of his existence during his temporary residence here on earth. This question had, indeed, been moved in the first ages of the Church, and some of the errors of Marcion, of Cerinthus, Carpocrates, Basilides, and others, are connected with it ; but their opinions were so immediately derived from the absurd theories of Gnosticism, that they gained no great or lasting prevalence, nor have any claim on our present attention. And it will seem, indeed, a very singular circumstance, that the first speculations on this subject, which necessarily fix our notice, should have proceeded from the friend and associate of Athanasius Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea, whether carried into excess by his hostility to Arianism, or inextricably entangled in his own unnecessary subtilties, so far lost sight of the moderation of reason, that in asserting the divinity of Christ he denied the reality of his human nature. For he held that the divine nature (the Logos) supplied in Him the place of the spiritual and intellectual principle, and constituted, in fact, His mind. In this sense he could not be considered as perfect man ; and in effect, the substitution of the Divine essence for the human soul, so far confused the two natures of Christ, as to reduce them to * one incarnate nature,' a doctrine which, indeed, Apollinaris did not disavow. This opinion took deep root in the Egyptian Church, but it was condemned by the clergy of Asia and Syria. The question, however, not being publicly pursued by the directors of the Church, rested in an unsettled state untrl the acces- sion of Nestorius to the See of Constantinople in the year Nestorius. 428. That Prelate was a native of Antioch, and had been educated in the Syrian schools; and having then been strongly impressed with the distinction of the two natures and the dangerous error of confusing them, he inculcated so strongly the difference between the Son of God and the Son of Man, as to seem almost to extend the distinction of natures to a distinction of persons, though he avowed no such intention. In consequence of these principles he defended one of his presbyters, Anastasius, who in a public discourse had ventured to argue, that the Virgin Mary ought not properly to be called 'Mother of God* (QeoroVos), but * Mother of Christ' (XprroTo/eoffTov$ 'txzivou; XK0ct()iff0ivTK$ KTTO 213 reposed upon a martyr's tomb. If any purity had been conferred by customary lustration, it was compensated by the frequent use of holy water. Other such compromises might be mentioned ; and so completely was the spirit of the rejected worship transfused into the system which succeeded it, that the very miracles which the Christian writers of those days credulously retailed concerning their saints and martyrs were, in many instances, only ungraceful copies of the long-exploded fables of hea- thenism *: so poisonous was the expiring breath of that base superstition, and so fatal the garment which it cast, even during its latest struggles, over its heavenly destroyer. But in no respect was its malice so last- ingly pernicious as when it fastened upon Christianity the badge of his own character by the communication of idolatrous worship. It is true that in the ante-Nicene Church martyrs were reverenced, and even relics held in some estimation ; but no description of image, whether carved or painted, was tolerated in the Churches of Christ, and it was through that distinction chiefly that they claimed exclusive sanctity. In the fourth and fifth centuries the previous veneration for the saints was exalted into actual worship, their lives and their miracles were recited and devoured with ardent credulity, astonishing prodigies were performed by fragments of their bones or garments, distant and dangerous pilgrimages were under- taken to obtain their ashes, or only to pray at their tombs ; and this rage was encouraged by the unanimous acclamation of the ecclesiastical direc- tors. Yet does it not appear that any one, even the least considerate among those writers, warmly advocated the worship, or even the use, of imagest ; the opinions and practice of some of them were certainly opposed to it. Among the Emperors, both Valens and Theodosius enacted laws against the painting or graving the likeness of Christ. Nevertheless we perceive (from passages in Gregory of Nyssa, St. Cyril, St. Basil, and others) that representations of the combats of the martyrs, and of some scriptural scenes, had already obtained place in some of the Churches, though they were not yet in general honour. Thus the seeds were sown, and as they were watered by the enthusiasm of the vulgar, ever prone to some sort of sensible worship, and fondly nourished by the headstrong pre- judice of the heathen converts; and as the fathers of the Church did not interpose to root them out, they spread with rapid, though, perhaps, silent growth, and before the end of the sixth century the use of images was very generally permitted throughout the Christian world. During the pontificate of Gregory the Great, Severus, Bishop of Marseilles, observ- ing that the people worshipped the images which were placed in his Church, tore them down and destroyed them : on this occasion the Pope addressed to him two epistles, in which, while he praised the zeal that * See Jortin, Eccl. Hist. vol. iv. p. 73, 124, 220, 238, &c, &c. j and Middleton's Letter from Rome, passim. f St. Epiphanius, in his letter to John of 'Jerusalem, translated by St. Jerome, and written towards the end of the fourth century, writes as folloAvs : ' Having entered into a church in a village in Palestine, named Anablatha, I found there a veil which was sus- pended at the door, and painted with a representation, whether of Jesus Christ or of some Saint, for I do not well recollect whose image it was. but seeing that, in opposition to the authority of Scripture, there was a human image in the Church of Jesus Christ, I tore it in pieces, and gave order to those who had care of that Church to bury a corpse with the veil. And as they grumbled out some answer, that " since he has chosen to tear the veil he might as well find another," I promised them one, and I now discharge that promise.' Baronius, Bellarmine, and some others, have disputed the genuineness of this passage by arguments, which have been very easily and candidly confuted by Dupin, Nouv. Bibl. Vie de S. Epiphane. St. Augustin somewhere praises the religious severity of the aucieryt Romans, who worshipped God without images. 214 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIII. combated any show of idolatry, he maintained the propriety of filling the Churches with idols ; ' for there is a great difference,' he says, * between worshipping* an image, and learning, from the history represented by that image, what it is that we ought to worship ; for that which writing teaches to those who can read, painting makes intelligible to all who have eyes to see. It is in such representation that the ignorant perceive what they ought to follow ; it is the book of the illiterate. On this account it is of great service to the barbarians, to which circumstance you, who are placed in the midst of barbarians, should be peculiarly attentive, so as to cause them no scandal by an indiscreet zeal.' This passage probably discloses the principal motive of that attachment to the cause of the images which was afterwards so warmly manifested by the Church of Rome ; at least, it teaches us, that the places, which they had gradually usurped during the three preceding ages in the Christian Churches, were at length confirmed to them, and secured by the highest authority. We may pause once more to condemn the sophistry which distinguished between the use and the worship, and coldly forbade the ignorant barbarian to adore an object which could not seriously be placed in his hands with any other prospect. From the above review of the principal abuses in doctrine and disci- pline * which took root in the Church during the The Church in con- three centuries following its establishment, let us nexion with the proceed to consider that body ; first, in regard to its \ State. connexion with the state ; secondly, in respect to its own internal administration. As the Pagan sys- tem was merely an engine of State, so its entire regulation, even to the performance of its most sacred rights and offices, was consistently and properly intrusted to the control and exercise of the civil magistrate. The power which directed it, the power which its ministers possessed to en- force their decrees, was not distinguished from that with which they were invested for any other purpose, it was strictly and exclusively tem- poral. Christianity rose from a very different foundation ; it claimed to be a direct revelation from Heaven ; its truth, not its utility, was the fact which its professors unbendingly asserted by their arguments and their sufferings ; they believed that it was the work of God which they were forwarding, and that their souls were placed for ever in his retributive hands. From this lofty ground they were enabled to discern that there was a limit to all human authority, and that there was a Power above, which was greater than the might of Emperors. That heavenly power they considered to be, in some degree, communicated to Christ's ministers on earth, and associated with their spiritual office. During the period preceding the accession of Constantine, the exercise of this power was confined to preserving the purity of the apostolical doctrine, to augmenting the number, enforcing the morality, and preventing the apostacy of the converts. It was working silently among the faithful, and had already established a solemn and indissoluble connexion between the clergy and the lower orders ; but it had not hitherto, on any occasion, been brought into open communication with the temporal power, either to co-operate or to contend with it, nor, indeed, was its existence yet acknow- * Dupin has collected from the works of Athanasius a sort of summary of the disci- pline of that age. Among the particulars we observe, that there were Priests, and even Bishops, who were married, though in small number; that the people and Clergy continued to choose their Bishops; that there were no translations; that Lent was observed at a fast ; Easter as a solemn festival ; that the Gospel was read in the vulgar tongue. It is St. Jerome who has somewhere declared, that fasting is not so truly called a virtue as the foundation of every virtue. Chap. XIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 215 ledged, or perhaps perceived, by the latter*. Let us now advance one century, and consider the position of the Church as it then stood in con- nexion with [the State. Its real substantial weight proceeded, in fact, from one cause, and from one only, the influence of the Clergy over the people. Many circumstances at this time contributed to confirm and con- solidate that influence the judicial authority and acknowledged dignity ot the Bishops, the increase in their number and wealth, the popular cha- racter of their election, their public and powerful eloquence. Moreover, there can be no question that even the spiritual control of the ecclesiastics was exerted with greater confidence, when the civil power was at hand to support them ; while their zeal was warmly and successfully employed in asserting the vast superiority of that control, and the interests connected with it, over any that were merely temporal and worldly. To these consi- derations we should add, that during the three preceding centuries the nobility of the Roman empire had, for the most part, fallen into decay; no body had grown up in the State to supply the defect of the aristocratical influence, and hence it rose that the vacant place in the social system was occupied by the Christian hierarchy. This order, sometimes powerful from other causes, always possessed peculiar advantages for the acquisi- tion of popular influence, through the very office which forces it into contact with the lower classes, and through the attractive character of its duties, which are such as can never fail, when faithfully and discreetly discharged, to conciliate the affections of those for whose happiness alone they are imposed. From the above and similar causes, the authority of the Church grew with great rapidity even during the first century after its alliance with the State; of the boldness thus communicated to its individual Mi- nisters, both in speech and action, some instances have been mentioned, and many might be added. Indeed, the mere existence of eighteen hundred magistrates (to speak of the Bishops only) who held their offices for life, over whose nomination the civil power had no direct control, who were con- nected by intimate relations with the people, and who, for the most part, were bound together by common opinions and principles and interests, was alone sufficient to establish a counterpoise against the weight of imperial despotism. In fact, under the uncertain sceptre of the successors of Constantine, it might have been difficult to moderate the progress of ecclesiastical power, had it not been checked and dissipated by the perpe- tual dissensions which divided the Church itself. The same cause which restrained the vigour, polluted the character, of the Church ; for being unable immediately to repress by its own spiritual weapons the violent animosities of its ministers, and impatient of the gra- dual influence of time and reason, in a dark and disastrous moment it had recourse to that temporal sword which was not intended for its service, and which it has never yet employed without disgrace or with impunity. Thus was it, indeed, a blind, if not suspicious affection, which led even the most orthodox Emperors to labour for the ' Unity of the Church ;' since it was * Paul of Samosata was the subject and favourite of Zenobia, and that Queen was en- gaged in hostile designs against the Roman empire at the time when Aurelian, on the solicitation of the Italian Bishops, deposed the heretic. Semler (Observat. Novae, sec. iii. sec. Iv.) seems to infer from this coincidence, that the whole accusation against Paul pro- ceeded from political rather than from spiritual differences, which is not probable ; but we so far agree with him as to attribute the interference of the Emperor entirely to that motive. It is an isolated fact in the history of the ante-Nicene Church, and probably only proves Aurelian's willingness to avail himself of any charge to punish a magistrate who was in favour with his enemy. 216 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIII. the \mfailing effect of their measures to influence and nourish the intole- i-nnce of the ruling; party, without entirely quenching- even one among the thousand eternal fountains of dissent. We repeat that the most fatal con- sequence which has in any age resulted from the connexion between Church and State, is the application of the penalties of the one to the disorders of the other, the correction of spiritual offences by temporal chastisements. But that abuse of the civil power is so far from being the necessary conse- quence of that connexion, that it is manifestly injurious to the interests of both ; and since its wickedness and its folly have been exposed and acknowledged, there can now be no circumstances under which a wise government would employ such interference, or an enlightened priesthood desire it. . It has been observed that in the ante-Nicene Church the power of the Bishop was closely limited by that of the Pres- Int&rnal administration bytery of his diocese, though less so in the third, of the Church. as it would seem, than in the preceding century. During the three following ages that restraint was gradually loosened, though not yet entirely cast away. The affairs of the diocese were still, in name at least, conducted ' with the assent of the clergy' (cum assensu clericorum) ; and their influence, in many places, was probably more than nominal. Still we cannot fail to observe that a higher and more independent authority was assumed by the Prelates ; a broader interval was interposed between the different ranks of the hie- rarchy ; the government lost most of the remains of its popular character, and assumed the form of an active and powerful aristocracy. Some of the causes of this change have been incidentally mentioned in the preceding pages ; and among them we should particularly notice the prevalence of councils, both general and provincial, by which the public affairs of the Church were now regulated, and in which the only influential members were the Bishops*. The legislative authority thus exercised by the order, added to the judicial power which was vested in the individual, raised the prelacy to a necessary and legal pre-eminence before the next inferior grade of the ministry. It would appear, moreover, especially from the records of the fifth and sixth centuries, that the greater portion of the learning of those times was in possession of the episcopal order. Such reasons are sufficient to account for the aggrandizement of that order ; while, at the same time, they show us, that the steps by which it rose were neither unlawful nor dishonourable. The change in the form of Church government naturally followed the change in other circumstances ; and it would be unjust to qualify that as usurpation, which proceeded from causes independent of private interest or professional ambition. It is not denied that such motives may frequently have stimulated many to individual encroachment; but the elevation of the body was the natural effect of ecclesiastical, of political, and even of moral combinations. Having observed in what respect the alteration in the general adminis- tration of the Church extended to the economy of its several dioceses, we shall shortly retrace some of those early vestiges of the monarchical form * Fifteen Councils are recorded to have been held in France alone during the fourth, and five-and-twenty during the fifth century. The Bishops still attended as the deputies of their people, hut Presbyters appear now to have been never present, unless as representa- tives of their Bishop. Many canons of the Councils of the fifth century (especially of that of Orange held in 441) declare that no Council shall ever separate without appointing the time of the next meeting. The ancient canonical regulation for meeting twice a year was still ia force, but in those disturbed ages it was not easily observed. See Guizot, Cours d'Histoire Moderne, le^on iii. Chap. XIII,] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 217 of administration, which were already discernible during the rise and pro- gress of the religious aristocracy ; or, in other words, we shall search among' the component parts of the episcopal system for some elements of the papal government. Before the establishment of the Church, notwith- standing* one or two attempts at aggression on the part of Rome, which were immediately repelled, the various Sees were, without any acknow- ledged distinction, equal and independent. Tims far, at least, the Bishop of that city had no superiority, or even claim to superiority, above his brethren ; and it was to the imperial dignity of his See that he owed any accidental and voluntary deference which may have been offered to him. The next circumstance, second in time and very considerable in influence, which contributed to his exaltation, was the name (for it was little more than the name) of Patriarch. This title was conferred first upon three, subsequently upon four, of the Prelates of the Eastern Church ; but in the West it was confined to the Bishop of Rome : and the distinction was not without effect in creating, especially among the distant and the ignorant, that sort of blind and indefinite respect which is so easily converted into submission. The next event which may be mentioned as having augmented the authority of the See was the removal of the civil government from Rome to Ravenna by Honorius. The domestic importance of the Bishop was essentially increased, and facilities for usurpation were created by the absence of the Emperor. That which follows, perhaps, next in time (for we are disposed to place it towards the end of the fifth century), but which yields to none in import- ance, was the special protection vouchsafed by St. Peter to the same See, and at this time loudly asserted by it. While some have invented circum- stantial fables respecting the marvellous success of that apostle in Italy and at Rome, others have advanced ingenious arguments to show that he never at all visited that city. To us, so far as any opinion can be formed on so obscure a matter, it appears probable that St. Peter died at Rome, as well as St. Paul ; and during their previous residence there, it is not impos- sible that the one may have presided over the Jewish, while the other super- intended the heathen, converts. But the question itself can now possess so little importance in the mind of any reasonable being, that we care not to leave it in uncertainty. However, it is undisputed, that in the fifth and the following ages a vast accession of honour and sanctity accrued to the See of Rome from its perseverance in that claim. In times when the par- ticular protection of heaven was believed to attend the possession of the meanest relic of the most obscure martyr ; when stupendous prodigies were performed by the fragment of the garment of some nameless saint, or the dust which had been brought from his tomb, was it strange that a peculiar impression of holiness should attach to that spot where the chief of the Apostles had suffered a barbarous death, and where his bones still lay unviolated in sacred repose? But this was not all the martyr of Christ had been at the same time the Bishop of Rome; and the keys which had been confided to his inspired wisdom were still preserved, through a long and uninterrupted chain, to the Bishops his successors. Such assertions were first advanced about this period, or very soon afterwards ; and it is one of the most certain proofs of the credit they obtained, that applications now began very commonly to be made, from many parts of Europe, for counsel or opinion, on points of discipline or faith to the Roman See. It might, indeed, not rarely happen, that its rescripts were not obeyed or respected ; but still the appeal was becoming customary, and each sue- 218 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIII. cessive reference confirmed a practice which could not fail in time to give some authority to the decision. These are some of the leading- circum- stances which were so far improved by the genius of two among the Popes, and the perseverance of almost all, that, at the death of Gregory the Great, the Bishop of Rome, though he might in vain dispute the name 01 universal supremacy with the Patriarch of Constantinople, was unques- tionably acknowledged to be the leading member of the ecclesiastical aristocracy of Europe, the spiritual head or president of the Western hierarchy*. III. An account of the general changes which took place in the Church, during the two centuries between Gregory to Charle- From Gregory to magne, has been given in a preceding chapter ; and in Charlemagne. respect to particular abuses in belief or discipline, it appears not that any remarkable novelty presented itself during this period. Among its leading features, we have observed, first, an increasing dissimilarity in character and institutions between the Eastern and Western Churches, which gradually loosened the bonds of their union, and prepared them for dissolution. The alterations which caused the distinction originated for the most part in the West, and are chiefly to be ascribed to the entire social revolution which was effected by the barbarian conquests : whereas, in the East, the undisputed supremacy of the civil power and the unvarying character of the government prevented any im- portant innovations. They prevailed, indeed, to such an extent, that even the divisions which during this period disturbed the Oriental Communion, those respecting the ' two wills of Christ/ and the * worship of images/ received in both instances their first impulse from the throne. In the West the subdivision of the empire into numerous and variously-constituted kingdoms, the peculiar institutions, the superstitions and the ignorance of the people, opened an extensive field for ecclesiastical exertion. That many among the clergy availed themselves of these circumstances for personal or professional aggrandizement, the voice of history is ever for- ward to proclaim to us; but the private piety of the more numerous and obscure members of that order, who interposed, not ineffectually, their reli- gious offices to alleviate the wretchedness and soften the barbarism of those dreary times, is slightly and incidentally recorded, though better deserving of celebrity, since its claims are on the gratitude of the latest posterity. The second characteristic of this period (and we here confine ourselves to the Western Church) was the continued and even inordinate growth of episcopal authority. A great number of causes contributed to that result, some of which had been in continual operation since the establishment of Christianity ; others had grown up in later ages. The most direct and effectual were the extensive and increasing domains of the Bishops ; the judicial and even municipal power which they exercised in their metro- polis ; their political influence in the great national assemblies; the exclu- sive possession of a contracted learning, which still was mistaken for wisdom in an age nearly destitute of both. To these we may add the * Still it is not asserted that his authority was generally acknowledged even in the West. Fleury (lib. xxxv. s. 19.) fairly admits that Gregory exercised no definite jurisdic- tion beyond the Churches which immediately depended on the Holy See, and were there- fore called Suburbicarian (Giannon. Stor. di Nap. lib. ii. c. 8.) those of the South of Italy, Sicily, and some other islands. It is true that the Bishop of Aries was his vicar in Gaul, as that of Thessalonica was in Western Illyria ; and that he exercised some inspec- tion over the Churches of Africa for the assembling of Councils and the observation of the canons ; but he possessed no ordinary official authority over those Churches, nor did they yet acknowledge any direct positive dependence on Rome. Chap. XIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 219 removal of some restraints. The superintendence of the metropolitans was abolished, and it was supplied by no other ; for the civil governments were then too weak and unstable to enforce a disputed authority, while that of the Pope was distant and indefinite, even where it was acknowledged to be rightful*. On the other hand, the degraded condition of the priest- hood and the independence conferred on the prelate by the disuse of popular election, placed him above any apprehension of opposition or cen- sure from the lower ranks of the clergy. And since the Councils, to whose legislation he was liable, were entirely composed of his own order, he had little reason to expect severity from that quarter. We have observed into what great license that unbridled episcopal power was carried. Thirdly. The Bishop of Rome failed not to profit, at least in an equal degree, by the various causes which conspired to the exaltation of his brethren ; and let us add to these, since we can add it with truth, that the conduct of the Popes during this period was for the most part such as inspired respect, and even commanded gratitude. If they were stained with the superstitions of the day, they lost nothing in popular opinion by that failing ; born at Rome and at once elevated from the native priest- hood, not translated from a foreign See, they began with some claims on the attachment of their subjects, and they maintained them by the severe and uncorrupted sanctity of their morals. But besides these circum- stances, we should also recollect that two events occurred in the eighth century, which exclusively promoted the advancement of that See the political separation of Rome from the Eastern empire, and the donation of Pepin. During the short republic which followed the former, the nations (as Gibbon has remarked) began once more * to seek, on the banks of the Tiber, the kings, the laws, and the oracles of their fate;' and the solid power conferred by the latter, and confirmed by Charlemagne, did much more than compensate for the loss of a recent and precarious independence. Once more associated as a powerful member of the Western empire, Rome reoccupied the proper field of her ambition and her triumphs. It is true that the nature of her warfare, and the character of her weapons, were now wholly changed ; nevertheless, the tempo- ralities so profusely conferred upon her, failed not to give great additional efficacy to her spiritual claims claims which she had already advanced with some boldness, but which she was now qualified to press, if disposed so to press them, to the last extremity of usurpation. Beibre we take leave of this period, it is proper to mention, that the first appearance of the Creed, commonly called Atha- nasian, is ascribed to it with great probability ,f There The Athanasian can be no doubt that this exposition of faith was Creed. composed in the West, and in Latin -, but the exact date of its composition has been the subject of much difference. The very definite terms, in which it expresses the Church doctrine of the Incarnation, are sufficient to prove it posterior to the Councils of Ephe- * It would scarcely appear, for instance, that the Pope had any official communication with the Church of Gaul between Gregory I. and Gregory II., i. e. for about a hundred and ten years. Yet the Bishop of Aries presided over that Church in the character, or rather under the name, of his Vicar. See Guizot, Hist, de la Civil, de la France, leqon xix. f Bishop Pearson, Archbishop Usher, Hamond, L'Estrange, Dr.Cave, Schelstrate, Pagi, and Du Pin, are all of opinion that this creed was composed, not by Athanasius, but by a later and a Latin writer. Vossius, Quesnel, and others, go so far as to ascribe it to Vigilius Tapsensis, an African Bishop, who lived at the end of the fifth century. This last position, however, is not indisputable ; though Vigilius certainly published some writings under the name of Athanasius, with which this creed is frequently joined. 520 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, [Chap. XIII. sus and Chulcedon, or later than the middle of the fifth century. Again, it' \ve are to consider the doctrine of the double procession of the Holy Spirit as being- expressly declared in it since that mystery was scarcely made matter of public controversy until the eighth century, it might seem difficult to refer a creed, positively asserting the more recent doc- trine, to an earlier age. But the historical monuments of the Church do not quite support this supposition ; the Creed, such probably as it now exists, is mentioned by the Council of Autun* in the year 670, and its faithful repetition by the Clergy enjoined ; and we find the same injunction repeated in the beginning of the ninth age. Thus it gradually g-ained ground ; nevertheless, there seems to be great reason for the opinion, that it was not universally received even in the Western Church until nearly two centuries afterwards. Considered as an exposition of doctrine, the Athanasian creed contains a faithful summary of the high mysteries of Christianity as interpreted by the Church of Rome, Considered as a rule of necessary faith enforced by the penalty of eternal condemnation, the same creed again expresses one of the most rigid principles of the same Church. The Unity of the Church comprehended unity of belief: there could be no salvation out of it ; nor any hope for those who deviated even from the most mysterious among its tenets. And thus, by constant familiarity with the declaration of an exclusive faith, the heart of many a Romish priest may have been closed against the sufferings of the heretic, rescued (as he might think) by the merciful chastisement of the Church from the flames which are never quenched ! It would be irrelevant in this work, and wholly unprofitable, to inquire, how^ far any temporary circumstances may have justified the introduction of the Athanasian creed into the Liturgy of our own Church constructed as that Church is on the very opposite principle of universal charity. But we cannot forbear to offer one remark, na- turally suggested by the character and history of this creed, that if, at any future time, it, should be judged expedient to expunge it, there is no reason, there is scarcely any prejudice, which could be offended by such erasure, t The sublime truths which it contains are not expressed in the language of Holy Scripture ; nor could they possibly have been so expressed, since the inspired writers were not studious minutely to expound inscrutable mysteries. Neither can it plead any * ; Siquis Presbyter, Diaconus, Subdiaconus, vel Clericus, Symbolum, quod inspirante S. Spiritu Apostoli tradiderant, vel Fidem S. Athanasii Prcesulis irreprehensibiliter non recensuerit ab Episcopo condamnetur.' Cone. Augustodun. Can. nit., as cited by Bingham. At a Council, held at Toledo in 675, an exposition of this Trinitarian doctrine was published, very nearly resembling that contained in the Athanasian Creed. (Semler. Cent. vii. cap. iii.) In 794 Theodulphus Aurelianensis again mentions the Creed as Athanasius's. f The opinions of some of our own Churchmen on this subject, are collected by Clarke in his Book on the Trinity. The expression of Bishop Tomline cannot be too generally known ' We know (he says) that different persons have deduced different and even opposite doctrines from the words of Scripture, and consequently there must be many errors among Christians; but since the Gospel nowhere informs us what degree of error will exclude from eternal happiness, I am ready to acknowledge that in my judg- ment, notwithstanding the authority of former times, our Church would have acted more wisely and more consistently with its general principles of mildness and toleration, if it had not adopted the damnatory clauses of the Athanasian Creed. Though I firmly believe that the doctrines themselves of this Creed are all founded in Scripture, I cannot but conceive it to be both unnecessary and presumptuous to say, that " except every one do keep them whole and undented, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly." ' Exposi- tion, part iii. art. viii. Chap. XIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 221 sanctity from high antiquity or even traditional authority ; since it was composed many centuries after the time of the apostles, in a very corrupt age of a corrupt Church, and composed in so much obscurity, that the very pen from which it proceeded is not certainly known to us The inventions of men, when they have been associated for ages with the exercise of religion, should indeed be touched with respect and discretion; but it is a dangerous error to treat them as inviolable; and it is something worse than error to confound them in holiness and reverence with the words and things of God. IV. There are two subjects which we have hitherto refrained from noticing, notwithstanding their great importance the Jurisdiction and Judicial Immunities of the Clergy, and the Revenues of the Church. We have purposely deferred them until this occasion ; because both were deeply influenced by the ecclesiastical policy of Charlemagne ; and the former can scarcely be said to have assumed any definite or tangible form before his reign. United, they constituted the temporal power of the Clergy; and that object will be so constantly before our eyes in the future pages of this History, that we must no longer delay to examine the mate- rials which formed it. The arbitrative authority of the Primitive Bishops was tolerated or overlooked by the Pagan Emperors ; if it received no direct discouragement from the civil power, it was never Jurisdiction of aided nor even recognized by it. It reached of course the Clergy. only those who voluntarily sought it, and was binding upon none who chose to appeal from it to the secular courts. The eccle- siastical offences of Bishops were subject to the decision of provincial councils ; but in respect to all temporal matters, they were on the same footing with the other subjects of the empire. The arbitration of the Bishops was ratified by Constantino ; and the magistrates were instructed to execute the episcopal decrees*. At the same time it seems certain that this power was for some time confined (1.) to spiritual differences and offences ; (2.) to such questions of a temporal nature as were brought before the Bishop by the joint reference of both parties ; (3.) to civil suits, in which both parties were Clerks. And it is even probable, that, in the second of these, the decision of the Bishop was then liable to an appeal to the civil tribunals. The succeeding Emperors, for nearly two hundred years, were contented to publish such occasional edicts, as seem rather intended to check any encroachments by which the eccle- siastical privileges may have gained or suffered, than to alter the nature of the laws on that subject. For instance, in the year 398, Honorius pro- claimed that it was permitted to those who desired it, to plead before the Bishop, but in civil matters only ; and in 408, he ordered the arbitra- tive sentence of the Bishop to be executed without appeal to the civil officers. In 456, Marcian ordained, that a plaintiff who should object to bring a Clerk before the Archbishop had no resource, except to summon him before the PraBtorian Prefect, which he might do. In 452, Valentinian III. declared, that the Bishop had no power to judge even Clerks, unless by their own consent, and in virtue of a compromise; because ecclesiastics had no tribunal established by law, nor any legal cognizance, except of religious matters. There were constitutions of Arcadius and Honorius and of * Gibbon (who quotes Euseb. Vit. Const, iv. 27 ; and Sozom. i. 9) has treated this sub- ject in his twentieth chapter ; btit in the following account we have chiefly followed Fleury, in his Seventh Discourse ; and Giaimone, Storia di Napoli, 1. ii, c. 8 j 1, iii. c. 6 ; 1, vi. c. 7. 222 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIII. Theodosius to the same effect. Thus far, then, it seems clear, that the Episcopal Courts (if we are to give them that name) possessed no coer- cive authority over laymen, nor indeed any which could properly be desig- nated jurisdiction. The first change was introduced by Justinian ; and it is important to observe exactly to what extent it went. That legislator, willing to enlarge the privileges of the Church, enacted (!.)> That in Civil actions Monks and Clerks should, in the first instance, go before the Bishop, who should decide the difference without any publicity or judicial parade ; still, if either party, within ten days, declared himself discontented with the deci- sion, that the civil magistrate should take cognizance of the cause, not as a superior, in form of appeal, but as an equal, examining a new ques- tion. Their agreement was conclusive ; if they differed, an appeal was open to the Imperial court. (2.) In criminal causes a Clerk might be sued either before the Bishop or in the ordinary Courts ; but if the de- fendant should be found guilty by a lay judge, still the sentence could not be executed, nor the priest degraded, without the approbation of the Bishop. In case that was refused, there was a direct appeal to the Em- peror. (3.) The Bishops were entirely exempted from lay jurisdiction. It may seem scarcely necessary to add, that all cognizance of spiritual matters, from the crime of Heresy down to what were held the more venial offences of Simony, clerical insubordination, and even the violation of the ecclesiastical discipline by laymen, was confided, as it had always been, to the unrestricted authority of the Church. Still we should observe, that as temporal power was yet entrusted to the spiritual judges for the enforcement of their sentence, the penalties which they could immediately inflict were censure, suspension, deposition, fasting, penance, excommunication penalties which, in those ages, not only inspired ter- ror, but involved much positive suffering but to touch the person or property of the culprit the aid of the secular authority was still necessary. After the time of Justinian, we are not informed that any material change was introduced into this department of the constitution of the Eastern Church; in fact and practice it is not probable that the Clergy then encroached with any success on the civil, which was so nearly identi- fied with the imperial, power, and which at all times was jealously main- tained. In the West, during the period of dark confusion which divided Justinian from Charlemagne, some additions were made to the immuni- nities of the Clergy in most of the provinces, and especially in Gaul ; but neither were these universally acknowledged, nor securely enjoyed ; and it was not till the great restorer of the Western Empire had leisure to legislate for the happiness (as he believed) of his subjects, that the character of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and immunity was wholly and per- manently altered. Charlemagne voluntarily conceded to the Church (1.) that the jurisdiction of the Bishop should extend to all causes which either of the parties, whether Clerks or not, chose to refer to it, and that there should be no appeal from his decision* ; (2.) that the whole body of the Clergy should be entirely exempt from secular jurisdiction. The enormous extent of power f conferred by the first of these Capitularies was confirmed ; * The testimony of one bishop was received in every cause as conclusive. f By the Council held at Aries in 813, the edicts of which were confirmed by Charle- magne, it was ordained, " that, if judges and people in power do not pay deference to the bishop's instructions, he shall give information thereof to the king. All the people shall obey the bishop, even the counts and judges ; and they shall act in concert for the main- tenance of peace and justice," See Fleury, II, E, 1, 46, sect. ii. Chap. XIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 223 by the right of imprisonment (the Jus Carceris), which was also granted to the episcopal Judge ; so that the means which he thus possessed of executing his own decisions, rendered him, in a great degree, independent of the civil authorities. The effect of the second was to widen the distinc- tion, already too broad, which subsisted between Clerks and Laymen, and to increase the distrust with which the sacred orders already began to be regarded, by entirely withdrawing their offences from the cognizance of secular justice. It seems, indeed, to be true, that Charlemagne thus granted to the Clergy both greater power and greater immunity, than the existing state of society permitted them to exert or enjoy. Such, never- theless, were become their rights ; and in so far as the mere possession of them was the object of the struggles which they maintained in after ages, we cannot justly censure them. Neither ought we to forget, that a different, and even a more solid groundwork of judicial authority began to fall into their occupation during this period. Many of the Sees were already en- riched with large territorial endowments, and consequently exercised all the rights in those days annexed to them ; and not the least valuable among these was the administration of justice. By this circumstance the cha- racter of the Ecclesiastical jurisdiction became inextricably complicated j and the lines, by which it was separated from the authority of the civil tribunals, were rendered so indistinct even where they really existed, that incessant and unavoidable occasions were afforded for artful encroachment on the one hand, and violent aggression on the other. But these were the evils of after ages ; the design of Charlemagne was probably no more, than to vest extensive judicial power in the most enlightened body in his empire ; and no doubt he trusted to prevent its abuse by the vigorous exercise of his own supremacy. * In the mean time, while the Episcopal order was thus generally strengthened and aggrandized, the particular interests of the Bishop of Rome were especially promoted. Adrian I., a man of great talents and much influence with the French King, occupied the Papal Chair at this crisis ; and while he profited, as he was justified in doing, by the volun- tary and legitimate donations of that Monarch, he also adopted (as some historians think) a less ingenuous method of exalting his own See. So much, at least, is certain, that two instruments, now denominated the ' False Decretals/ and the ' Donation of Constantine,' the two most celebrated monuments of human imposture and credulity, were put forth about the conclusion of the eighth century, and immediately and universally received as genuine. Probably they were the composition of some monk or scribe of that age*. Their direct object was the unlimited advancement of the Roman See ; and for that purpose, the Decretals furnished the spiritual, the donation the temporal, authority ; the former, professing to be a compilation of the epistles and decrees of primitive Popes and early Emperors, derived from the first ages the ghostly omnipotence of Romef. * See Mosh. Cent. viii. p. ii. chap. ii. The former of these forgeries is frequently called the ' Decretals of Isidore.' There was a celebrated Bishop of Seville of that name in the sixth century, and it was probably thought, that it would add some authority to the Collection, if it could be received as his work. But, unfortunately, it contains some mention of the Sixth General Council, which was later than the death of that Isidore. The clumsiness of the fabrication is acknowledged and exposed by Fleury, liv. xliv. sect. 22. f The false Decretals advanced to this end, to the great detriment both of Church and State, chiefly by three methods: (1.) They diminished the frequency of provincial coun- cils by asserting for the Pope the exclusive right to summon them ; and those councils contributed very usefully both to the discipline and independence of the Church. (2.) They gave great encouragement to Episcopal license by subjecting the Bishops to Papal 2-24 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, [Chap. XTII. While the latter proclaimed no less than that Constantine, on removing the seat of government to the East, had consigned the Western Empire to the temporal as well as spiritual government of the Bishop of Rome unbounded dominion over Churches, and nations, and kings, was dele- gated to the successor of St. Peter and the Vicar of Christ. It was asserted that the original deed of the Emperor had been recently discovered : the monstrous forgery went forth, and spread itself through the world without confutation, seemingly without suspicion ; and it continued for above six hundred years to form the most prominent, and not the least solid, among the bulwarks of Papacy. If, indeed, Charlemagne shared in this matter the credulity of his sub- jects, we may reasonably infer the very narrow extent of his own learning, and his little familiarity with the annals of the preceding ages. That tie did so is not impossible ; at least, it appears certain, that his capital ary respecting Episcopal jurisdiction was in part founded on another forgery a Constitution which was for many ages attached, under the name of Con- stantine, to the Theodosian Code, but which has long been condemned as a production of the eighth or preceding century. The credit of this pre- liminary fraud may have emboldened its patrons to make a more audacious attempt on his facility. Upon the whole, however, we are very far from attri- buting so decided a course of policy in so great a Prince to the success of an ecclesiastical imposture. Without any knowledge of the pretensions or exist- ence of those fabrications,, these were reasons sufficient why Charlemagne should be willing to aggrandize a Prelate whose interests were closely connected with his own ; and to propitiate an order* of which the power was very considerable, and the influence still greater than the power; from which he was receiving and expecting eminent personal as well as poli- tical services; which he considered as a counterpoise to the licentiousness of his nobles, and to which he looked for the gradual improvement and civilization of his subjects. It should be remembered, too, that during the whole of his long reign he maintained the royal authority indisputably paramount to every other, and that if his posterity, some of whom were the feeblest of the human race, had inherited any share of his talent or vigour, the subsequent usurpations of the Clergy could not have been accomplished, and might not have been meditated ; while the advantages, which Charlemagne reasonably anticipated for the State from their subor- dinate co-operation with the Prince, would have been certainly and splendidly realized. V. During the three first centuries the clergy were supported by the voluntary oblations of the faithful ; these were, in the Revenues of the first instance, daily or weekly : they were offered on the Church. altar, and for the most part by communicants. This example led at an early period to the payment of monthly offerings, which were placed in the treasury of the Church. * Every one' authority only, and thus offering them a fair prospect of impunity. (3.) They disturbed the course, and diverted the efficacy, of justice, by promoting the practice of appeal to the Roman See. * The increase of Papal power was very fairly balanced within the Church by the general augmentation of Episcopal authority and influence which accompanied it. The entire Ecclesiastical body was exceedingly aggrandized, but in such measure that the head did not immediately exceed the proportion oi' the other principal members. It is true that, by the seeds then sown, the disease of after ages was engendered ; but time was required to give them efficacy, and during the century which followed Charlemagne, the power of the Bishops, or (as they called it) their independence, was boldly and not uncommonly asserted. Chap. XIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 225 (says Tertullian*) ' brings a moderate contribution once a month, or when he chooses, and only if he chooses and is able ; for there is no compulsion, but the gift is spontaneous being, as it were, the deposit of piety.* The sums which were thus presented by the generous devotion of the converts, and which, in the third century at least, were far from inconsiderable, were entrusted to the administration of the Bishop ; and employed in the maintenance of the clergyt, in the support of public worship, in the relief of widows and orphans, and persons suffering persecution. It also appears, that, before the reign of Diocletian, the Church had become possessed of some fixed property, which that Emperor confiscated ; we do not learn whether it was obtained by purchase or 1 donation! ; in either case it must have borne a very trifling proportion to the revenues derived from cus- tomary oblation. Constantine restored and confirmed to the Church such property as it had acquired under the heathen Emperors, and then enacted laws to per- mit and encourage its increase. Thus the sources of ecclesiastical wealth were varied and multiplied, and the work which was begun by Constantine was somewhat advanced by his immediate successors. Occasional allowances were advanced from the exchequer ; the estates of martyrs and confessors dying without heirs were settled on the Church ; presently those of all clergy- men so dying were similarly disposed of ; and while some Princes transferred to the Christian establishment the temples of the Heathen and their revenues, there were others who extended the same principle to the Churches of the heretics. At the same time, the original oblations continued to be abun- dantly supplied ; and a still broader field was opened by the general , and unlimited permission which was given to bestow real property upon the Church, both by donation and legacy. The disposition not uncommonly existing to act on that permission was encouraged by the baser portion of the clergy; and their persuasions were sometimes conducted with so little decency, that it became necessary to impose a legal restraint || upon * Apolog. c. 29. His words are these 'Neque pretio ulla res Dei constat. Etiam siquod Arcae genus est, non de oneraria summa quasi redemptae religionis congregatur : modicam unusquisque stipem menstrua die, vel cum velit, et si modo velit et si modo pos- sit, apponit. Nam nemo compellitur, sed sponte confert. Hsec quasi deposita pietatis sunt.' The term (stipem) is borrowed from the use of the heathen in the collections made by them for religious purposes. Tertullian proceeds to enumerate several charitable objects to which the Christian offerings were applied. ' Egenis alendis humandisque, et pueris ac puellis re et parentibus destitutis, aetateque domitis senibus, item naufragis et si qui in metallis et si qui in insulis vel in custodiis duntaxat ex causa Dei sectae alumni confessionis suae fiunt.' f- The monthly salaries given to the Ministers of the Gospel are mentioned by Cyprian by the name of Mensurnae Uivisiones. J Padre Paolo (Hist. Eccles. Benefices) ascribes it to donations made during the con- fusion which prevailed in the empire after the imprisonment of Valerian, when the gene- ral Roman law, which forbade the bequeathing of real estates to any college, society, or corporation, without the approbation of the Senate or the Prince, may have been violated with safety. The former by a law of Constantine, the latter by one of Theodosius II. and Valen- tiniaii III. See Bingham's Antiq. book v. ch. iv. || There is a remarkable law of Valentinian (made in 370, and particularly addressed to Damasus, Bishop of Rome), which forbids Churchmen to frequent the houses of widows and orphans, or to receive any gifts, directly or indirectly, by will or donation, from women to whom they might have attached themselves under pretext of religion. ' Ecclesiastic! aut ex ecclesiaticis viduarum et pupillorum domus non adeant, sed publicis exterminentur judiciis, si eos affines eorum vel propinqui putaverint deferendos. Censemus etiam ut memorati nihil de ejus mulieris, cui se privatim sub pretextu religionis adjunxerint, libe- ralitate quacunque vel extreme judicio possint adipisci, et omne in tantum inefficax sit quod alicui horum ab his fuerit derelictum, ut nee per subjectam personam valeant aliquid vel Q 226 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIIl. their cupidity. Nevertheless, in spite of occasional interruption, the tide flowed onward; the partial derelictions of the ecclesiastical body were for- gotten in their general power, their dignity, and their virtues* ; and, be- fore the close of the fifth century, the Church had very amply profited by the pious generosity of the faithful. The increase of the ecclesiastical revenues was further aided by certain exemptions granted to the clergy by the first Christian Emperors. These, though not so general as some have supposed, were numerous and im- portant. It appears certain that Church lands were liable to the ordinary tax (census agrorum) or canonical tributef ; and also, that they continued subject after donation to all burdens which might have been previously charged upon them ; but a law of Theodosius II. exempted them from all extraordinary impositions. Moreover, ecclesiastics were not liable, even from the time of Constantine, to the census capitum or capitation tax ; they were also excepted (by Honorius and Theodosius II.) from the pay- ment of a number 6f occasional imposts, many of which are specified by Bingham ; and it was not a trifling privilege, even in a pecuniary view, that they were relieved from the discharge of all the civil offices of what- soever degree, which were attached to the possession of fixed property. So studious were those early princes to observe the distinction between the spiritual and the temporal character, and, while they prevented the encroachments of the clergy on that which did not belong to them, to give them the full benefit of that which was peculiarly their own. The ancient manner of dispensing the revenues of the Church was for some time maintained without any remarkable alteration. All alms and incomes arising from real J estates were yet in common, under the imme- diate care of Deacons and Subdeacons, but under the control and at the discretion of the Bishop, who ordered all the distributions. The whole of the clergy in every Church was maintained from the general funds of that Church ; and in many places we find that great multitudes of poor were nourished by the same resources. We are not informed that any material change in the application of its revenues at any time took place in the Eastern Church ; and we may even donatione vel testamento recipere.' (Lege 20. Cod. Theod. de Episc. et Eccles.) This was presently (in 390) followed by another to the same effect, but more generally ex- pressed. The former would not seem to preclude gifts to the Church, as a body, only to in- dividual ministers ; the latter goes so far as to ordain ' nullam Ecclesiam, nullum Clericum, nullum pauperem scribat hseredes.' We may here also observe, that Charlemagne made a law to prevent the Church from receiving any gifts which disinherited children and kindred. See Padre Paolo, ch. vi. * The most pious among the Fathers raised their voices very early against the practice of making over fixed property to the Church. St. Chrysostorn (Homil. 86 in Matth.) attributes the great corruption of the Bishops and other Churchmen to the possession of lands and fixed revenues ; since they forsook their spiritual occupations to sell their corn and wine, to increase the value of their property, or to defend it in courts of law. He looks back with admiration on the Apostolical purity of the Church, when it was nourished only by oblation and charity. It is likewise related of St. Augustin, that he would neither purchase land, nor even accept inheritances which were left to the Church ; also main- taining, that the system of oblation and tithe would be better calculated to preserve the peculiar character of the clergy. P. Simon observes that the possession of any great wealth was for a long time confined to the Churches of the principal cities. The opulence of the Bishop of Rome, as mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus (lib. xxvii.), must have been derived almost entirely from oblation ; but towards the end of the sixth century we find that Prelate in enjoyment of ample ' Patrimonies/ not in Italy only, but far beyond, its limits. See Fleury, liv. xxxv. sect. 15. f See Bingham, book v. ch. iii. I Sc Padre Paolg, Eccles. Benef, ch, vi, Chap. XIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 227 be allowed to doubt, whether its property received any very great augmen- tation after the fifth or sixth century. At least such increase was inces- santly watched by a powerful and jealous Sovereign* ; and the political revolutions, which finally raised the hierarchy of the West to such inordi- nate opulence, extended neither in act nor influence beyond the Adriatic. The prevalence of the monastic spirit did not fail, indeed, to create new establishments, enriched by new endowments ; but even that spirit, after two or three centuries from the days of St. Basil, blazed with little com- parative ardour in the East, where it was neither renovated by perpetual reformations, nor nourished and diversified by the interested patronage of Papacy. But in the West, the confusion introduced by the invaders made it necessary, even in the fifth century, to legislate more expressly respect- ing the revenues of the Church. It was discovered that the confidence, placed from the earliest ages in the discretion of the Bishop, was now occasionally abused, and began to require the restraint of some canonical regulations. It was, therefore, ordained about the year 470f that the revenue should be divided into four parts ; the first for the Bishop, the second for the rest of the Clergy, the third for the fabric of the Church, the fourth for the poor. The duties of hospitality, which in- cluded the entertainment of indigent strangers, were annexed to the Episco- pal office. This distribution related only to the income of the several Churches : the funds whence they proceeded, whether immoveables, ob- lations, or alms, continued, as heretofore, the common property of the body. In the mean time, it would be incorrect to suppose that the above division was necessarily made into four equal portions : the great variation in the number of the clergy and of the poor, in the size and splendour of the fabrics, in the extent of the diocese, must have subjected so very broad a rule to very frequent modification. During the tumultuous ages which followed, it is asserted, without any improbability, that the bishops and clergy in many places enlarged their own portions to the neglect of the sacred buildings and the destitution of the poor ; that the minister frequently converted to his own use the offer- ings deposited in his own church ; and, in some places, that the lands themselves were divided for the usufruct of particular individuals. These innovations may have gained footing insensibly at different times, in differ- ent places ; and the last was ultimately absorbed in that great change in the nature and distribution of church property which was introduced by the system of feudalities. Those estates, which the Franks and Lombards called Fiefs, were, by the Latins, designated Beneficia, as being held by the bounty of the Prince. This term was originally confined to baronial or military tenures, and thence it afterwards passed into the service of the church. To the endow- * At an early period stewards were appointed to superintend the temporalities of the Churches, and were chosen by the Bishop. But as abuses were found to proceed from this arrangement, the Council of Chalcedon decreed, that the stewards should for the future be chosen from among the clergy, and that the administration of the revenues should no longer be left in the power of the Bishop. That office became afterwards so considerable in the Church of Constantinople, that the Emperors took from the clergy the nomination of the stewards into their own hands. This practice lasted till the time of Isaac Comnenus, who remitted that right to the discretion of the Patriarch. See P. Simon's History of Ecclesiastical Revenues. t We follow the probable conclusion of Padre Paolo, without being ignorant that this division has been sometimes ascribed to Pope Sylvester (who lived one hundred and fifty years before), on the faith of some writings falsely attributed to him. 228 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, [Chap. XIII. ments of sees or churches, in those times so commonly made by princes, the word ' Benefice* was applied, perhaps without impropriety ; it was easily extended to such dignities as were conferred by the bishops with the permis- sion of the princes; and thus it became common to all the separate portions of the ecclesiastical estates. These alterations, though not completed till a much later period*, were in gradual process during the seventh and eighth centuries ; in the mean time the territorial possessions of the Church were spreading widely ; and they had already swelled to a bulk too great for their security, when Charlemagne ascended the throne of the Western empire. Some portion of those possessions was unquestionably acquired by me- thods disgraceful to individual churchmen, or through the corruptions of the Church itself; and this was more especially the case (for reasons which we have already given) in the Latin communion. As to the former means the gross ignorance of the barbarian conquerors, and their hereditary reve- rence for the ministers of religion, offered irresistible temptation to the astute avarice of the French and Italian clergy: for thus, besides that general abuse of spiritual influence for the spoliation of weak, or superstitious, or dying persons, which was common to them with their Eastern brethren, peculiar facilities and invitations to imposture were almost pressed upon them by the popular credulity. The efficacy of gifts to expiate offences was a profit- able principle, for which the minds of the converts were already prepared by their previous prejudices : the wild rapacity of the savage is usually asso- ciated with reckless profusion ; and we cannot doubt that many individu- als of the sacred order successfully availed themselves of dispositions so favourable to their own temporal interests. Respecting the corruptions of the Church, it would probably be too much to assert, that masses for the release of souls and the/ruitful fable of Purgatory were actually invented for the purpose of enriching that body; but we need not hesitate to assign that among the leading causes of the encouragement which was given to them. The pernicious swarm of superstitious practices, such as the wor- ship of images, the adoration of Saints, and, above all, the demoralizing custom of pilgrimage t was nourished and multiplied principally with that object; and the state of the Church at that period affords just grounds for the melancholy reflection, that the grossest perversions of religious truth were carefully fostered, if they were not actually produced, by the most sordid of human motives. * Some footsteps of the foundations of Benefices and the right of patronage may per- Council of Orange, held in 441 : haps be discovered in the 10th Canon of the First ' But the custom of that time (as P. Simon remarks) was far different from the present practice.' Again, about the year 500, under Pope Symmachus, it appears that to some Churchmen portions of land were assigned to be enjoyed by them for life ; this appears from an Epistle of that Pope to Csesarius, where he prohibits the alienation of Church lands, unless it should be in favour of Clerks meriting such reward ' nisi Clericis ho- norem meritis, aut Monasteriis, religionis intuitu, axit certe peregrinis necessitas largiri suaserit sic tamen ut haec ipsa non perpetuo, sed temporaliter, donee vixerint, perfruan- tur.' But the establishment of the modern system of Benefices is not commonly referred to an earlier period than the end of the tenth, or the beginning of the eleventh century. f Pilgrimages, chiefly to the shrines of St. Peter at Rome, and St. Martin at Tours, were, in the eighth age, so common, that it is made a matter almost of reproach to Charle- magne himself (by his historian Kginhart), that in the course of his long reign he had undertaken only four. The Council of Chalons (in 8 1 3) acknowledges the abuses of pilgrimage. ' The clergy pretend thereby to purge themselves from sin, and to be restored to their functions ; the laity to acquire impunity for sins past or future ; the powerful convert them into a pretext of extortion, the poor of mendicity. Still, we praise the devotion of those, who, to accomplish the penance which their priest has imposed on them, make such pilgrimages accompanied by prayer, alms, and correction, of morals.' rieury, U. K., l.xlvi., sect.v. Chap. XIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 229 The Monastic orders did not lag behind their secular competitors in the race of avarice ; it appears indeed that a great proportion of the re- wards, at least during the seventh and eighth centuries, flowed into their establishments ; and though their members did not possess the same facilities of private acquisition, the communities have obtained their full share of the profits of ecclesiastical corruption in all ages of the Church. It would be unjust, however, to suppose that any very material part of the property of the Church was amassed by the shameful methods which we have mentioned ; they have contributed, indeed, somewhat to swell its treasures and greatly to soil its reputation ; but the most solid, and by far the largest portion of its riches was derived from sources not only lawful but honourable. The most abundant of these was the pious or politic munificence of those Princes who employed the Clergy as the means of improving, or of governing, their people. Such were extremely common during the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries ; and the respect and preference which they thus demonstrated for the sacred order, evince its moral as well as intellectual superiority over other classes of their subjects. Again, the voluntary donations of wealthy individuals were not always made from superstitious hope or idle persuasion ; but much more fre- quently, because the Church was the only channel through which the charity of the rich could effectually relieve the poor. This object was con- nected with many even of the earliest donations, and is conspicuous in the numerous monuments of the eighth and ninth centuries * ; and the large sums which were thus entrusted to religious persons or establish- ments for that purpose, while they multiplied and maintained the indi- gent dependents of the Church, became the safest and the noblest ground of its influence and popularity. Again, a great proportion of the terri- torial endowments of the cathedrals and monasteries consisted of un- appropriated and uncultivated lands. These were gradually brought to fertility by the superior skill and industry of their new pos- sessors ; and they thus acquired the most substantial right of possession by labours which were beneficial to society. Lastly the abund- ance of some establishments and the economy of others frequently enabled the community to amass sums which were expended from time to time in the purchase of additional estates. These were annexed to the original patrimony ; and since, in the general insecurity of property pre- vailing in turbulent ages, there were few individuals who exercised fore- sight or economy, these virtues, almost peculiar to the ecclesiastical esta- blishments, were a sure and effective instrument of their prosperity. On the other hand, they were peculiarly exposed to the evils of that tur- bulence, both by their wealth and their defencelessness. Amidst the tumults of unsettled governments and uncivilized society, what had been lavished by the bounty of one was frequently torn away by the rapacity of another ; and not the nobles only, and other powerful subjects engaged in the work of spoliation, but even princes t would sometimes reward their greedy followers by grants of Church property. By such injustice its increasing dimensions were restrained ; and if we have sufficient reason to lament * See Muratori's Dissert, xxxvii. De Hospitalibus, &c. ; and also his Ivith, De Reli- gione per Italian), post ann. 500. f Charles Martel, for instance, very amply compensated his military followers for their successful defence of Christianity by the monasteries and other ecclesiastical endow- ments, which he distributed among them. He thus incurred the indignation of St. Boniface ; but as to the celebrated vision of Pulcherius, there seems great reason to doubt whether the Bishop did not precede the Prince iu the race of mortality. See Baron, apud Selden, ch, v. 230 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIII, that the means by which it was acquired were not all without reproach, there may at least be room for reasonable doubt, whether, upon the whole, the Church did not suffer as much by violence as it gained by fraud, in ages equally favourable to the exercise of both. There is another source of ecclesiastical wealth which we have not yet mentioned, because it acquired no certain existence before the reign of Charlemagne the possession of Tithes ; but it is here proper to em- ploy a few sentences on that subject. It seems quite clear that no sort of tithe was paid to the ante-Nicene Church, nor imposed by any of its councils, nor even directly claimed by its leading ministers. The Le- vitical institution is indeed mentioned both by Cyprian and Origen ; by the former * slightly and almost incidentally ; by the latter with rather more fulness t, in a homily respecting the first-fruits in the law. But even Origen goes no farther in his conclusion, than ' that the command concerning the first fruits of corn and cattle should still be observed ac- cording to the letter ;' and we have no evidence to persuade us that even that limited position was carried into general practice. In the records of Constantine's generosity to the new establishment there is no mention made of tithes : nevertheless, the expressions both of St. Ambrose and St. Augustine on this subject forbid us to doubt, that such payment was voluntarily, though perhaps very partially made, at least in the Western Church, before the end of the fourth century. St. Ambrose boldly claims it as due by the law of God ' It is not enough that we bear the name of Christians, if we do not Christian works : the Lord exacts of us the annual tithe of all our corn, cattle,' &c. &c. * Whoso- ever is conscious that he hath not faithfully given his tithes, let him supply what is deficient ; and what is the faithful payment of tithes, except to offer to God neither more nor less than that portion, whether of your corn or your wine, or the fruit of your trees, or your cattle, or of the pro- duce of your garden, your business, or your hunting? Of all substance which God has given to man, he has reserved the tenth part to himself, and, therefore, man may not retain that which God has appropriated to his own use.' St. Augustin, in a homily on that subject, presses the same right to the same extent J, in terms not less positive ; with this difference, however, that he puts forward more zealously the charitable purpose of the institution. About the same time St. Chrysostom and St. Jerome added their exhortations to the same effect, though they did not specify so exactly the nature of the contribution, nor insist so strongly on the di- vine obligation. There can be no question that the exertions of individual ministers effectually influenced the more devout amongst their listeners, especially in the Western nations, and in somewhat later ages : accord- * Epist. 66. De Unitat. Eccles. sec. xxni. In the former place he is reproaching one GeminiusFaustinus, a priest, for having undertaken the discharge of a secular office ' quae mine ratio et forma in Clero tenetur, ut qui in Ecclesia Domini ad ordinationem Cleri- calem promoventur, nullo modo ab administratione divina avocentur, sed, in honore spor- tulantium fratrum, tanquam Decimas ex fructibus accipientes ab altari et sacrifices non recedant. . . .' In the latter, while deploring the lukewarm devotion of the faithful, he complains, ' at nunc de patrimonio nee decimas damus.' See Selden, chap. 4. f This may surprise those historians who distinguish Origen from the Church writers, and exalt him accordingly. Had Cyprian published a homily to inculcate the divine obligation of paying first-fruits to the priest, he would have been stigmatized as the most avaricious (he is already denounced as the most ambitious) among those early church- men. J Quodcunque te pascit ingenium Dei est ; et inde decimas expetit unde vivis ; de militia, de negotio, de artificio redde decimas : aliud enim pro terra dependimus, aliud pro usura vitae pensamus. Selden appears to share in a doubt which has been raised, whether the Homily in question be really the production of Augustin. Chap. XIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 231 ingly'we find that in sundry places Tithes * were paid both to monasteries, to the poor, and to the clergy, by many pious individuals during the four centuries which followed. It has also been asserted (though the evidence is not sufficiently clear) that they already engaged the attention, and even claimed the authority, of one or two provincial f councils. Moreover, it seems probable, that some special endowments of them were made on particular Churches before the time of Charlemagne, though these were few in number, and scarcely earlier than the end of the seventh age. But, on the other hand, it is unquestionably certain that no canon or other law for the purpose of compelling the payment of tithes was generally received before the concluding part of the eighth century. The offerings hitherto contributed under that name were made in compliance with the doctrine which pleaded the divine right, or with the precepts, or perhaps even with the practice of particular Churches, but they were not yet exacted either by civil or ecclesiastical legislation not even in the West; and in the Eastern Church we have not observed that any law has at any time been promulgated on this subject. The first strictly legislative act which conferred on the clergy the right to tithe was passed by Charlemagne. In the year 778, the eleventh of his reign over France and Germany, in a general assembly of estates, both spiritual and temporal, held under him, it was ordained, * That every one should give his tenth, and that it should be disposed of according to the orders of hisbishopj.' Other constitutions to the same effect were after- wards published by the same prince, and repeated and confirmed by some of his descendants ; they were iterated by the canons of numerous pro- vincial councils^, and re-echoed from the pulpits of France and Italy. Nevertheless, it was found exceedingly difficult to enforce them|. The * These may not have been in fact exactly tenths, but some indefinite proportion of things titheable, varying according to the abundance or devotion of the contributor. f We refer particularly to Selden's 5th chap., and his remarks on the Council of Mas- con (in 586). Thomassin'(Vetus et Nova Ecclesiae Disciplina, P. III. 1. i. c. vi.) presses the authority of the Second Council of Tours. At any rate the prelates on that occasion proceeded no farther than exhortation commonemus, those of Ma^on decree statui- mus et decernimus. J Ut unusquisque suam decimam donet; atque per jussionem Episcopi sui (or Ponti- ficis, as some copies read) dispensetur. This must be understood with some limitation, since the tripartite division of tithes seems to be properly ascribed to Charlemagne; that of one share for the bishop, and clergy, a second for the poor, a third for the fabric of the Church. It seems uncertain what" part of these was at first intended for the maintenance of a resident clergy. Parochial divisions, such as they now exist, were still not very common, though they may be traced to the endowment of churches by in- dividuals as early as the time of Justinian. The rural churches were, in the first in- stance, chapels dependent on the neighbouring cathedral, and were served by itinerant ministers of the bishop's appointment. It was some time before any of them obtained the privileges of baptism and burial; but these were indeed accompanied by a fixed share of the tithes, and appear to have implied in each case the independence of the Church and the residence of a minister. The celebrated Council of Francfort (in 794) published a canon for the universal payment of tithes, besides the rents due to the Church for benefices. See Fleury, 1. xliv. 8. Ix. and Thomassin, P. III. 1. i.cap. vii. |1 There is an epistle of Alcuin, in which he exhorts his master not yet to impose upon the tender faith of his new converts, the Saxons and Huns, what he calls the * yoke of tithes' The passage deserves citation c Vestra sanctissima pietas sapieuti consilio prsevideat, si melius sit rudibus populis in principio fidei jugum impouere Decimarum, ut plena fiat per singulas domus exactio illarum ; an apostoli quoque ab ipso Deo Christo edocti et ad praedicandum mundo missi exactiones Deci- marum exegissent, vel alicui demandassent dari, considerandum est. Scimus quia Deci- matio substantiae nostrae valde bona est. Sed melius est illam amittere quam fidem per- dere. Nos vero in fide Catholica nati, nutriti et edocti vix consentimus substantiam nostram pleniter decimari ; quanto magis tenera fides et infantilis animus et avara mens illorum largitati non consentit ?' 4 The passage is quoted by Selden in Chapter v. 232 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIII laity were strongly disposed to disobey such commands as went to di- minish their revenues, and the violation of any law was easy in those disordered times. But the long and lawful perseverance of the clergy at length prevailed ; arid, during a contest of nearly four centuries, they gra- dually entered into the possession of an unpopular, but unquestioned right. We can scarcely consider the payment of tithes to have been universally enforced until the end of the twelfth century, when ecclesiastical authority had risen to a great height, through the exaltation of the See of Rome. The first of the General Councils which mentions them is the Ninth, that of Lateran, held under Calixtus II., about the year 1119 ; but even there they are spoken of only as they were received by special consecra- tions. Nor does it appear that the payment was expressly commanded as 'a duty of common* right' before the Pontifical Council held in the year 121 5. It was held under Innocent III. ; and in that age, and especially during that pontificate, the canons of the church were not lightly received nor contemned with security. Such are the principal quarters from which the revenues of the Western church were derived. They varied in fruitfulness in different times and provinces, according to the extent of ecclesiastical influence, or the degree of civil anarchy which prevailed. In the ages immediately following the barbarian conquests, they may have lost by the violence of the invaders more than they gained by their piety or superstition ; but those losses were afterwards compensated by a liberality which was sometimes heed- less, sometimes political ; and, upon the whole, in spite of occasional spoliations, the funds of the Church continued to extend themselves. They did not, however, reach any unreasonable extent until the reign of Charlemagne and those of his successors ; but thenceforward, as their security increased with their magnitude, they swelled to such inordinate dimensions, and assumed so substantial a shape, that they are not incre- dibly asserted to have comprehended, in the twelfth century, one half of the cultivated soil of Europe. Nevertheless, it is impossible to dispute, that by far the greater proportion of that property was acquired by just and lawful means ; and that we may not depart from this inquiry with the impression, that the prosperity of the Church was either universally abused, or wholly unmerited, it is proper to mention some of the blessings which it conferred upon society, during a period when the condition of man stood most in need of aid and consolation. We do not here propose to enumerate the beneficial effects of the religion /- ? D j?^ itself, which are scarcely contested by any one ; but only General Benefits c * P . / .1 T - - f f\ h /A * mentlon some of the good fruits of the Institution Church Called the Church benefits produced in subservience to Christianity, in as far as its principles and motives were derived from that source, but in contradistinction to it, in as far as its outward form, government and discipline were of human creation. With all its earthly imperfections and impurities, the Church was still a powerful, * See Selden, chap. vi. There were various pontifical decrees respecting Tithes by Nicholas II., Alexander II., and Gregory VII. in the eleventh century. Selden men- tions the direct command of Nicholas in 1059. ' Prsecipimus ut Decimse et Primitiae sen oblationes vivorum et mortuorum Ecclesiis Dei fideliter reddantur a Laicis, et ut in dis- positione Episcoporum sint: quas qui retinuerint a S. Ecclesiae Communione separentur.' Tun years earlier we observe that Leo IX., in his council against Simony, restored Tithes to all the Churches, with the admission, ' that no mention was at that time made of them in Apulia, and some other parts of the world.' A double division of them is on that occasion mentioned between the Bishop, and the Altar, or Minister of the Church. See Wibertiw, ap. Pagi., Vit. Leo IX. Chap. XIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCrf. 233 if not necessary, instrument for the support of the religion and the diffu- sion of its principles; and even among those very imperfections there were some which it pleased Providence to turn to its own honour, by converting them to the service of man. Before the end of the fifth century, the ecclesiastical body was in pos- session of very considerable dignity and power throughout the whole of Christendom ; and in that body the episcopal order had risen into a pre- eminence, not indeed in unison with its ancient humility, but attri- butable to its activity and its virtues more than to its ambition, and per- haps to the circumstances of the empire even more than to either. In the enjoyment of extensive revenues, of some * municipal authority, of cer- tain judicial privileges and immunities, of high rank and reputation, and of very powerful influence over the people, and united for all grand pur- poses by common principles and common interests, the hierarchy occu- pied the first station among the subjects of the empire. Its weight was felt and acknowledged by every rank of society, from the court down- wards : the more so, as it formed the only moral tie which bound them together. The Unity of the Church was not merely the watchword of bigotry, the signal for injustice and oppression, but also a principle of some effect in maintaining the unity of Christendom. Such was the position of the Church, and such the means at its disposal, when the Western Empire was overthrown and occupied by unbelieving barbarians. At this crisis it is not too much to assert, that the Church was the instrument of Heaven for the preservation of the Religion. Christianity itself (unless miraculously sustained) would have been swept away from the surface of the West,t had it not been rescued by an established body of ministers, or had that body been less zealous or less influential. Among the conquered, the common people were, for the most part, recent and not always very serious converts from polytheism ; the higher classes were neither numerous nor powerful, nor had any interest in the support of Christianity : the clergy alone composed the vital and efficient portion of the aristocracy. Among the conquerors, the rudest soldier brought with him a superstitious reverence for the office and person of a religious minister, which prepared him for adhesion to the religion itself, especially where the ministers were honoured and the ceremonies splendid ; and the illiterate prince readily gave attention to the counsels of the bishops, who were the most learned and the most respected among his new subjects. Thence resulted the gradual conversion J of the invaders, by the agency of the visible Church. Without those means had Christianity then existed as * See Cod. Justin. 1. i., tit. iv. De Episcopali Audientia, s. 26, 30. The superinten- dence of public works, and of the funds for defraying their expenses, was intrusted to the bishop, together with some of the leading men in the city. f Guizot who treats ecclesiastical matters with profoundness, ingenuity, and judg- ment, and has brought to that subject (a rarer merit) a mind unbiassed by the pre- judices of a churchman, or the antipathies of a sectarian or an infidel, and that fearless, uncompromising caudour which becomes a philosopher and a historian Guizot (Histoiro Generale, &c. Leqon II.) has expressed the same opinion with the same confidence. * Je ne crois pas trop dire en affirmant qu'a la fin du qtiatrieme et commencement du cinquieme siecle, c'est 1'Eglise Chretienne" qui a sauve le Christianisme. C'est 1'Eglise, avec ses institutions, ses magistrats, son pouvoir qui s'est defendue vigoureusement centre la dissolution interieure de 1'empire. centre la Barbaric ; qui a conquis les bar- bares, qui est devenue le lien, le moyen, le principe de civilisation entre le monde Remain etle monde barbare,' &c. &c. J That their conversion was, in the first instance, imperfect, perhaps in many cases merely nominal, has been already admitted. Still, where the affair was with a nation, and that too a very barbarous nation, it was impossible, humanly speaking, that it could have been otherwise than imperfect. 234 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIII. a mere individual belief, or even under a less vigorous form of human go- vernment the religious society would have possessed neither the energy nor discipline necessary for resistance to the deluge which endan- gered it. Let us next inquire, what influence did the Church afterwards exert on the society which it had assembled in the name of Christ ? by what exertions, by what habits, did it enforce the principles of the religion which it had preserved ? First by the general exercise of charity. The gene- rosity of its benefactors had often been directed, in part at least, to that purpose. That excellent rule which had been received from the earliest ages was not discontinued ; the relief of the poor was associated with the ministry of religion ; the worldly necessities of the wretched were alle- viated by their spiritual Pastors, arid the most excellent virtue of Chris- tianity was inculcated by the practice of its Ministers. We intend not to exalt the merit of that body in dispensing among the indigent the funds entrusted to them for that purpose ; we only assert its great utility as a channel for the transmission of blessings, which in those ages could not otherwise have reached their object as a sacred repository, where the treasures of the devout were stored up for the mitigation of misery which had no other resource or hope. Secondly the peni- tential discipline of the Church was extremely efficacious in enforcing the moral precepts of the religion; and whatsoever advantage may have been conferred on ancient Rome by the venerable office of the Censor, whatsoever restraints may have been imposed on the habits of a high-minded people by the fear of ignominious reproach ; awe more deep and lasting must have been impressed upon the superstitious crowd by the terrible denunciations of the Church, by the deep humiliation of the penitent, by his prolonged exposure to public shame, by the bitterness and intensity of his remorse. Without affecting to regret, as some have done, the present disuse of the penitential system in the present enlightened state both of society and religion, we cannot close our eyes against its extraordinary power, as an instrument of moral improvement, in ages when the true spirit of religion was less felt and comprehended ; when edu- cation furnished very slender means for self-correction ; and when even the secular laws were feebly or partially executed. Thirdly After the fifth century the office of Legislation throughout the Western provinces devolved in a great measure on the ecclesiastical body directly, in so far as they composed, or assisted in, public assemblies ; indirectly, as they influenced the councils of Princes and their nobility. Their power was effectually exerted for the improvement of the barbarous system of the invaders, the suppres- sion of absurd practices, and the substitution of reasonable principles. * I have already spoken,' says Guizot, ' of the difference which may be observed between the laws of the Visigoths, proceeding in a great measure from the Councils of Toledo, and those of the other barbarians. It is impossible to compare them without being struck by the immense superi- ority in the ideas of the Church in matters of legislation and justice, in all that affects the pursuit of truth and the destiny of man. It is true that the greater part of these ideas were borrowed from the Roman legislation ; but if the Church had not preserved and defended them, if it had not laboured to propagate them, they would have perished.' Fourthly In furtherance of this faithful discharge of its duties to the human race, the Church unceasingly strove to correct the vices of the social system. The worst of these, and the principal object of her hostility, was the abomi- nation of slavery ; and if it be too much entirely to attribute its final ex- tirpation to the perseverance of the Church in pressing the principles of Chap. XIIL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 235 the Faith, and if it has been speciously insinuated that her motives in the contest were not always disinterested, at least it is impossible to dis- pute either her zeal in the righteous cause, or the power and success with which she pleaded it *, or the great probability that, without such advocacy so steadily pursued through so long and hopeless a period, the complete emancipation of the lowest classes would have been accomplished much later, perhaps not wholly accomplished even at this moment. Fifthly The same spirit which was so well directed to improve the internal fabric of society turned itself also to the prevention of civil outrage and even of international warfare. In this attempt, indeed, it had not equal success, since it had to contend with the most intractable of human passions ; but the pages even of profane history abound with proofs of the pacific policy and interpositions of the Church: nor were they entirely suspended even after the fatal moment, when it engaged as a party in the temporal affairs of Europe, and so frequently found its own policy and strength and triumph in the discord, devastation, and misery of its neighbours. Lastly From considerations which are more immediately connected with the happiness of mankind, we may descend to mention a theme of praise which is seldom withheld from the Church by any description of historians that of having preserved many valuable monuments of ancient genius ; and ajso of hav- ing nourished, even in the worst times, such sort of literary instruction and acquirement as was then perhaps attainable. It is true that these advantages were not generally diffused among the people ; that little desire was evinced by the Clergy to communicate such knowledge, or by the Laity to share in it : still was it a possession useful, as well as honourable, to those who cherished and maintained it, and through them, in some de- gree, to their fellow-subjects. Some languid rays it must have reflected even at the moment upon the surface of society ; at least it was preserved as a certain pledge of future improvement, as an inviolable and everlasting treasure, consecrated to the brighter destinies of ages to come. * II y en a une preuve irrecusable : la plupart des formules d'affranchissement, a di- verses epoques, se fondent sur un motif religieux ; c'est au nom des idees religieuses, des esperances de 1'avenir, de 1'egalite religieuse des horames, que I'affranchissement est presque toujours prononce.' Guizot, Hist. Generale, Leqon VJ. END OF PART II. PART III. FROM THE DEATH OF CHARLEMAGNE TO THAT OF POPE GREGORY VII. 8141085. CHAPTER XIV. On the Government and Projects of the Church during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries. Division of the Subject into Three Parts. (I.) Independence of Papal Election Original Law and Practice First Violation Posterity of Charlemagne Charles the Bald Otho the Great Henry III. Alterations under Nicholas II. Reflections. (II.) Encroachment of Ecclesiastical on Civil Authority Indistinct Limits of Temporal and Spiritual Power Till the time of Charlemagne After that timeInfluence of Feudal System Kind of Authority conferred by it on the Clergy Military Service of Church Vassals of Clergy latter forbidden by Charlemagne Supersti- tious Methods of Trial by Hot Iron the Cross the Eucharist Political Offices of the Clergy- Influence from Intellectual Superiority Plunder of Church Property Lay Impropriators Advocates Louis le Dbonnaire his Penance Council at Paris in 820 Charles the Bald Council of Aix la Chapelle Lothaire, King of Lorraine his Excommunication Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims his Conduct on two occasions Charles the Bald accepts the Empire from the Pope General Reflections Robert, King of France his Excommunication and Submission Episcopal distinct from Papal Encroachment. (III.) Internal Usurpation of the Roman See Its Original Dignity Metropolitan Privileges Appellant Jurisdiction of Pope The False Decretals Contest between Gregory IV. and the French Bishops between Adrian II. and Hincmar Character of Hincmar Consequence of regular Appeals to the Pope Vicars of the Roman See Exemption of Monasteries from Episcopal Superintendence Remarks. CHAPTER XV. On the Opinions, Literature, Discipline, and External Fortunes of the Church. (I.) On the Eucharist Original Opinions of the Church Doctrine of Paschasius' Radbert Com- bated by llatram and John Scotus Conclusion of the Controversy Predestination Opinions and Persecution of Gotteschalcus Millennarianism in the Tenth Century its strange and general Effect. (II.) Literature Rabanus Maurus, John Scotus, Alfred its Progress among the Saracens Spain South of Italy France Rome Pope Sylvester II. (III.) Discipline Conduct of Charlemagne and his Successors St. Benedict of Aniane. Institution of Canons Regular Epis- copal election Translations of Bishops prohibited. Pope Stephen VI. Claudius Bishop of Turin Penitential System. (IV.) Conversion of the North of Europe of Denmark, Sweden, Russia of Poland and Hungary how accomplished and to what Extent The Normans The Turks. CHAPTER XVI. The Life of Gregory VII. DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT. Section I. From Leo IX. to the Accession of Gregory. Section II. The Pontificate of Gregory. Section III. Controversy respecting Transubstantiation and Estab- lishment of the Latin Liturgy. SECTION I. Pope Leo IX. Early History of Hildebrand Succession of Victor II. of Stephen IX. of Nicholas II. his Measure respecting Papal Election the College of Cardinals imper- fection of that Measure Subsequent and final Regulation Inconveniences of popular Suffrage Restriction of the Imperial Right of Confirmation Homage of Robert Guiscard and the Normans Dissensions on the Death of Nicholas Succession of Alexander II. actual Supremacy of Hilde- brand Measures taken during that Pontificate Alexander is succeeded by Hildebrand, under the title of Gregory VII. SECTION II. Gregory's First Council its two objects to prevent (1.) Marriage or Concubinage of the Clergy (2.) Simoniacal Sale of Benefices On the Celibacy of the Clergy why encouraged by Popes Leo IX. Severity and Consequence of Gregory's Edict Original Method of appoint- ment to Benefices Usurpations of Princes how abused the Question of Investiture Ex- plained Pretext for Royal Encroachments Original form of Consecration by the King and Crown Right usurped by Otho State of the Question at the Accession of Gregory Conduct of Henry further measures of the Pope Indifference of Henry Summoned before a Council at Rome Council of Worms Excommunication of the Emperor and Absolution of his Subjects from their Allegiance Consequence of this Edict Dissensions in Germany how suspended Henry does Penance at Canossa restored to the Communion of the Church again takes the field Rodolphus declared Emperor Gregory's Neutrality Remarks on the course of Gregory's MeasuresUniversality of his temporal Claims his probable project Considerations in excuse of his Schemes partial admission of his Claims Ground on which he founded them power to bind and to loose Means by which he supported them Excommunication Interdict Legates a Latere Alliance with Matilda his Norman allies German Rebels Internal Administration Effect of his rigorous Measures of Reform his grand scheme of Supremacy within the Church False Decretals Power conferred by them on the Pope brought into action by Gregory Ap- peals to Pope Generally encouraged and practised their pernicious Effects Gregory's Double Scheme of Universal Dominion Return to Narrative Clement III. anti-Pope Death of Rodol- phus Henry twice repulsed from before Rome finally succeeds his Coronation by Clement the Normans restore Gregory he follows them to Salerno and there dies his historical import- ancehis Character Public his grand principle in the Administration of the Church Private as to Morality as to Religion. SECTION III. (I.) Controversy respecting Transubstantiation suspended in the Ninth, renewed in the Eleventh Century Character of Berenger Council of Leo IX. of Victor II. at Tours in 1054 Condemnation and conduct of Berenger Council of Nicholas II. repeated Retractation and Relapse of Berenger Alexander II. Council at Rome under Gregory VII. Extent of the Concession then required from Berenger further Requisition of the Bishops a Second Council assembled Conduct of Gregory Berenger again solemnly assents to the Catholic Doctrine, and ngain returns to his own his old Age, Remorse, and Death Remarks on his Conduct on the Moderation of Gregory. (2.) Latin Liturgy Gradual Disuse of Latin Language throughout Eu- rope Adoption of Gothic Missal in Spain Alfonso proposes to substitute the Roman Decision by the Judgment of God by Combat by Fire doubtful Result final Adoption of the Latin Liturgy Its introduction among the Bohemians by Gregory Motives of the Popes other instances of Liturgies not performed in the Vulgar Tongue Usage of the early Christian Church. Chap. XIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 237 CHAPTER XIV. On the Government and Projects of the Church during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries. THAT we may avoid the confusion usually attending the compression of a long series of incidents, we shall here endeavour to distinguish the points which chiefly claim our notice, rather than follow chronologically the course of events ; and though it may not be possible, nor even desirable, to prevent the occasional encroachments of subjects in some respects similar, yet in others very different, we shall not allow it to perplex our narrative. It is an obscure and melancholy region into which we now enter ; but it is not altogether destitute of interest and instruction, since we can discern, through the ambiguous twilight, those misshapen masses and disorderly elements out of which the fabric of Papal despotism presently arose, and even trace the irregular progress of that stupendous structure. We shall best attain this end by giving a separate consideration to three subjects, which will be found to include the whole ecclesiastical policy of the ninth and tenth centuries. Other matters relating to that period, and possessing perhaps even greater general importance, will be treated in the next chapter ; but at present we shall confine our inquiry to the following objects : I. The endeavours of the Popes to free their own election from Imperial interference of every description, whether to nominate or to con- firm. II. The efforts of the Church to usurp dominion over the Western empire; and generally to advance the spiritual as loftier and more legiti- mate than the highest temporal authority. III. The exertions of the See of Rome to subdue to itself the ecclesiastical body, and thus to establish a despotism within the Church. In the two first of these objects we may regard the Church as waging for the most part an external warfare ; the last occasioned her intestine or domestic struggles ; and the examination of them will necessarily lead to some mention of the peculiarities intro- duced by the feudal system ; of its influence on the mariners, morals, and property of the clergy. I. On the independency of Papal election. The original law and prac- tice in this matter had passed, with some variations but little lasting altera- tion, through the succession both of the Greek and barbarian sovereigns of Rome, from the time of Constantine to that of Charlemagne, and that Prince 'also transmitted it unchanged to his posterity. It was this that the Pope should be elected by the priests, nobles, and people of Rome, but that he should not be consecrated without the consent of the Emperor. This arrangement was found, for above eight centuries, to be consistent with the dignity of the Roman Bishop, and it was not till his spiritual pride had been inflated by temporal power, that it was discovered to be doubly objectionable it was no longer to be endured, either that laymen should interfere in the election of the Pope, or the Emperor in his conse- cration. Both these restraints became offensive to the lofty principles of ecclesiastical independence; but the latter was that which it was first at- tempted to remove. Charlemagne was succeeded by his son Lewis, commonly called the Meek, a feeble and superstitious monarch ; and of these defects both Stephen V.* and Pascal I. so far availed themselves, as to exercise the . * Generally called Stephen IV. See Baron, ann. 816. s. 96. 238 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIV. pontifical functions without awaiting his confirmation. But when Eugene II. would have followed their example, Lothaire, who was associated to the empire, complained of the usurpation and resumed the Imperial right. Lewis died in 840, and was succeeded on the throne of France by Charles the Bald. That Prince reigned for thirty-seven years with scarcely greater vigour than his predecessor ; but his reign is on several accounts important in the history of Popery, and chiefly on the following. Two years before his death the Imperial throne became vacant. Charles was ambitious to possess it ; he went to Rome, accepted it at the hands of John VIII. ; and then, that he might make a worthy return for this office, he released the See from the necessity of Imperial consent to the consecration of its Bishop. The claims which were derived by subsequent Popes from John's assumed donation of the empire will be mentioned hereafter, and it will appear on how slight a ground they rested ; but the interference of the Emperor in papal elections was on this occasion directly and unequivocally withdrawn. Neither the interests nor the honour of the See gained any thing by its independence. Prom that time (the event took place in 875) till 960, the most disgraceful confusion prevailed in the elections, and clearly proved that the restraint heretofore imposed by civil superinten- dence, had been salutary ; and if the emperors during that stormy period did not reclaim their former right, we should rather attribute the neglect to their weakness than to their acknowledged cession of it. For in the year 960, Othd the Great, on the invitation of John XII., resumed the Imperial authority in Italy, and exercised, as long as he lived, the most arbitrary discretion in the election, and even appointment, of the Pontiff. He presently degraded John, and substituted in his place Leo VIII. ; and under that Pope (or anti-Pope for it is disputed) a Lateran council* was held in 964, which conferred on Otho and all his successors not merely the kingdom of Italy, but the regulation of the Holy See and the arbitrary election of its bishops. And for the guidance of their successors, Otho left an edict prohibiting the election of any Pope without the previous^ knowledge and consent of the emperor, which was enforced during the next eighty years by all who possessed the power to do so. But in the century following, in the year 1047, we observe that the same right was once more conceded to an emperor, Henry III. ; and on this occasion an artful distinction was drawn by the Italians, which led, no doubt, to the ultimate independence of election : the privilege of nominating the Pope was granted to Henry personally^ not to the throne. This important advantage was followed almost immediately by another of still greater consequence. Nicholas II., under the direction of Hilde- brand, found means to restore the original principle of election, modified as follows : the right of appointment was vested in the College of cardinals, with the consent of the people, and the approbation of the emperor. But the last mentioned restriction was expressly understood to extend only to the emperor of the time being, and to such of his successors as should personally obtain the privilege. This grand measure was accom- plished in a council held at Rome in 1059, fourteen years before the ac- cession of Gregory VII. ; and so the matter rested, when he took posses- sion of the chair. We observe from this short account, that, after an interrupted struggle * Giannone, Stor. Nap., lib. viii., cap. vi. f Mosheim, Cent, x., p. ii, ; c, ii, He bad occasion to exert it three times, See below, chap, xvi, Chap. XIVJ ' A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 239 of two hundred and fifty years, an absolute independence of election was not yet confessedly effected. The contest had fluctuated very consider- ably ; the first advantages were entirely on the side of the Pope ; in fact, at the death of Charles the Bald, the victory seemed perfectly secure : and the century which followed was so clouded by the mutual dissensions of the princes ; it was marked by such positive weakness in their states, such vices in their personal character and internal administration, as to be in the highest degree favourable to the confirmation and extension of papal privileges. Why then was it, that the privilege in question was not at that time extended nor even permanently confirmed ? Why was it even that the next interference of the emperor took place at the solicitation of a Pope ? Chiefly because the removal of Imperial superintendence had thrown the election entirely into the hands of an unprin- cipled nobility*, an intriguing clergy, and a venal populace, whose united fraud and violence usually favoured the most flagitious can- didate, and promoted his success by means the most shameful. And, therefore, through this lawless period we read of Popes tumultuously chosen and hastily deposed ; hurried from the monastery to the chair, from the chair to prison or to death. Their reigns were usually short and wasted in fruitless endeavours to prolong them ; their sacred duties were for- gotten or despised, and their personal characters were even more detestable than those of the princes their contemporaries. Further, we may observe, that when the Church began to recover from the delirium of the tenth century ; when one great man did at length arise within it, Hildebrand, the future Gregory, his influence was immediately exerted, not only against Imperial interference to confirm, but against popular licence to elect : for he had learnt from long and late experience, that no scheme for the universal extension of Papal authority could be made effective, until the Popes themselves were secured from the capricious insolence of a domestic tyrant. If things had not been thus if Papal elections had been regularly and conscientiously conducted when the civil governments of Europe were at the lowest point of contentious and stupid imbecility the ffira of Pontifical despotism would have been anticipated by nearly three centuries, and the empire of opinion would have been more oppressive and more lasting, as the age was more deeply immersed in ignorance and barbarism. * From the deposition of the last Carlovingian king to the reign of Otho the Great, (a space of nearly fifty years,) the authority of the princes who held the imperial title was always vacillating and contested. In the mean time the city of Rome was no part of the kingdom of Italy, but depended on the imperial crown only j so that during the vacancy of the empire it recovered its independence, and thus fell under the turbulent oli- garchy of its own nobles. These provided the candidates for the pontifical throne ; and whosoever among them succeeded in obtaining it, secured, by means of the church re- venues, a great preponderance over all the others, and became as it were the chiefs of the republic. (See Sismondi, Repub. Ital. chap. iii. ; to whose work ^we are compelled to refer the reader for the few facts which are ascertained respecting the revolutions of the Roman Government during this period.) For the further degradation of the Roman See the influence of female arts and charms was triumphantly exerted. ' Jamais les femmes n'eurent autant de credit sur aucun gouvernement que celles de Rome en ob- tinrent, dans le dixieme siecle, sur celui de leur patrie. Or auroit dit que labeaute avoit succede a tons les droits de 1'empire.' The names and scandals of Theodora and Ma- rozia are distinguished in the ecclesiastical annals of the tenth century. In the rapid suc- cession of popes, those most marked by disgrace or misfortune may have been Leo V., John X., John XI., John XII., Benedict VI., John XIV. ; but to pursue the details of their history would be alike painful and unprofitable: for their crimes would teach US| no lessons, and even their sufferings would scarcely raise our compassion, j 240 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIV. II. We proceed to examine the encroachments of Church upon State during the same period ; and this part of our sub- Encroachment of EC- ject might again be subdivided under three heads clesiastical on Civil the general usurpations of the See of Rome Authority. on any temporal rights the particular usur- pations of national councils of Bishops on the civil authorities and the individual usurpations of the episcopal office on that of the secular magistrate. But, not to perplex this matter by an attempt at exceeding minuteness, we shall rather follow the course of events and illustrate them with such observations as they may appear severally to demand. The first edict which permitted legal jurisdiction to the Episcopal order, and supported its decisions by civil authority, sowed the seeds of that confusion which afterwards involved and nearly obliterated the limits of temporal and spiritual power. There is scarcely any crime which an ingenious casuist might not construe into an offence against religion, and subject to Ecclesiastical cognizance, in a rude and . illiterate age ; while, on the other hand, the best defined and most certain rights of an unarmed and dependent authority were liable to continual outrage either from a sovereign possessing no fixed principles of government, or from a lawless aristocracy more powerful than the so- vereign. In the Eastern empire, indeed, this evil was greatly neutra- lized by the decided and unvarying supremacy of the civil power, nor was it immediately felt even in the West; at least we read little or no- thing about the usurpation of the Clergy, until after the death of Charle- magne. The Popes, it is true, had displayed, from a very early period, great anxiety to enlarge their authority ; but the efforts of Leo and even of Gregory were con fined to the acquisition of some privilege from their own Metropolitans, or some title or province from their rival at Constantinople. The dream of universal empire seems at no time to have warmed the imagination of those more moderate Pontiffs. It is not that we may not occasionally discover both in the writings and in the conduct of the pre- lates of earlier days an abundance of spiritual zeal ever ready to overflow its just bounds, and gain somewhat upon the secular empire. The latter, too, found its occasions to retort ; but we may remark, that while its operations were generally violent and interrupted, those of the clergy were more systematic and continuous. In the mean time the distinction be- tween the two parties was becoming wider, and their differences were ap- proaching near to dissension, before, and even during, the reign of Charle- magne : howbeit, the vigorous grasp of that monarch so firmly wielded the double sceptre, that the rent which was beginning to divide it* was * In the ' Capitularies of Interrogations' proposed by Charlemagne, three years before his death, ' First,' (he says) ' I will separate the bishops, the abbots, and the secular ( nobles, and speak to them in private. I will ask them why they are not willing to ' assist each other, whether at home or in the camp, when the interests of their country ' demand it ? Whence come those frequent complaints which I hear, either concerning * their property or the vassals which pass from the one to the other ? In what the eccle- c siastics impede the service of the laity, the laity that of the ecclesiastics ? To what ' extent a bishop or abbot ought to interfere in secular affairs ; or a count or other lay- ' man in ecclesiastical matters,' &c. (Fleury, H. Eccl. 1. xiv. sect. 51. Guizot, Hist. Mod. Le^on 21.) Soon afterwards, in 826, the Council of Paris, after proposing some very extravagant episcopal claims, observes, as one great obstacle to harmony, that the princes have long mixed too much in ecclesiastical matters, and that the clergy, whether through avarice or ignorance, take unbecoming interest in secular matters. Again, at the second of Aix-la-Chapelle (in 836) all the evils of the time are expressly attributed to the mutual encroachments of the spiritual and secular powers. Chap. XIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 241 barely perceptible, when it fell from his hand ; but scarcely had it begun to tremble with the feeble touch of Lewis his son, when its ill-cemented materials exhibited a wide and irreparable incoherence. The extraordinary change which had taken place in the institutions ot the Western Empire during the two preceding, and which was progressive during the two present, centuries, greatly increased both to church and state the facility of mutual encroachment. Until the permanent settle- ment of the northern nations generally introduced the feudal system of government, the Clergy, though enjoying great immunities and ample possessions, yet, as they lived under absolute rule, had little real, and no independent power, excepting such as indirectly accrued to them through their influence. If they had lands, no jurisdiction was necessarily an- nexed to them ; they had no place in legislative assemblies ; they had no control, as a body, in the direction of the state. The devout spirit of the Barbarians presently increased the extent of their landed possessions without withholding from them any of the rights which, according to their system, were inseparable from land ; and thus they entered upon temporal jurisdiction co-extensive with their estates. By these means the Episcopal Courts became possessed of a double juris- diction over the Clergy and Laity of their diocese for the cognizance of crimes against the ecclesiastical law, and over the vassals of their barony as lords paramount; and these two departments they frequently so far confounded as to use the spiritual weapon of excommunication to enforce the judgments of both*. In the next place the Clergy became an order in the state, and thus entered into the enjoyment of privileges entirely un- connected with their spiritual character. Yet the necessary effect of the union of ecclesiastical with secular dignities was to blend two powers in the same person almost undistinguishably ; and to confound, by indiscri- minate use, the prerogatives of the bishop with those of the baron. Again, the Bishops being once established as feudal lords, had great advantages in increasing their possessions, owing to the influence which necessarily devolved on them, not only from their greater virtues and knowledge, but also from the command of spiritual authority. And as the vassals of the Church grew gradually to be better secured from oppression and outrage than those of the lay nobility, its protection was jraore courted and its patrimonial domain more amply extended. At the first establishment of the system, vassalage to an ecclesiastic conferred exemption from military service ; but, among rude and warlike nations, when the greater force was generally the better law, this privi- lege could not possibly be of long duration. It was withdrawn universally, at different times, by different princes, according to their power or their necessities. The Church fiefdoms thus assumed a very different appear- ance, and the spirituality of the sacred character became still further cor- rupted ; for, as soon as the vassals became military, it was found difficult to hold them in subjection to an unarmed lord, and the Clergy were, in f * This subject is treated clearly, though shortly, by Burke, in his Abridgment of English History. Mosheim, who ascribes the secular encroachments of the Bishops to their acquisition of secular titles, denies that such titles were conferred on them before the tenth age. Louis Thomassin (De Disciplin. Eccles. Vet. et Nova) endeavours to trace the practice to the ninth and even to the eighth century. Whatever may be the fact respecting the titles, the jurisdiction certainly gained great ground during the ninth age ; more, perhaps, through the superstition of th people, and the weakness of the princes, than by its own legitimacy. R 242 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIV. many instances,"~obliged to descend' from their peaceful condition, assume the sword and helmet, and conduct their subjects into battle : in many instances they did so without any such obligation*. This direct dereliction of the pastoral character became the immediate means of securing their propertyf and increasing their power ; but, notwithstanding the contempt to which the peaceful virtues are occasionally exposed among rude and military nations, it is probable that they lost thereby as much in influence as they gained in power. Again, the strange and irrational method of Trials which even now came generally into use, must have tended, by the intermixture of superstition, to enlarge the dominion of ecclesiastical influence. The ordinary proofs by fire, by water, by hot iron, indicate some imposture perhaps only prac- ticable by the more informed craft of the clergy. The proofs of the Cross and the Eucharist bear more obvious marks of sacerdotal superintendence!. The clergy disgraced themselves by upholding such abuses of their judi- cial authority, and they divide that disgrace with the Kings arid the civil magistrates of the time ; but they had not the crime of introducing them. They received and executed them as they were handed down from a re- mote and blind antiquity; and it is but justice to add, that they made fre- quent attempts to abolish them. Moreover, through the free spirit which formed the only merit of the feudal system, the affairs of the state were more or less regulated by public assem- blies, and the higher ranks of the clergy found a place in these. Thus, again, were they placeid in contact with the great temporal interests of their country, and invited to examine and direct them ; and no doubt their feudal temporalities, as well as their spiritual influence, added weight and authority to their counsel. But, besides these, which some might over- bear and others might affect to despise, their political consideration was derived from another a more honourable and a more certain instrument of power their intellectual superiority. The learning of the age con- * The practice crept, without the same excuse, and of course with much less frequency, into the Greek Church. In the year 713 a Subdeacon commanded the troops of Naples ; and the Admiral of the Emperor's fleet was a Deacon. (Fleury, ix. 172, &c.) But the low ecclesiastical rank which these officers held would prove, if it were necessary, that they did not take the field as feudal lords. In the West this practice appears to have commenced soon after the admission of barbarians to the clerical order ; which, if we are to judge by names, scarcely took place^before the seventh century. } In the address (already mentioned) which was presented on this subject to Charle- magne by his people, it is remarkable that the petitioners felt it necessary to offer a solemn assurance, that their motive for disarming the Clergy was not (as might, it seems, have been suspected) a design to phmder their property. We may add, that the indecent viola- tion of the sacerdotal character is a reason, which seems to have been overlooked by both parties. J Even the trial by Duel, which seems the farthest removed from priestly interference, was preceded by some religious forms ; great precautions were taken to prevent the arms from being enchanted ; and in case of any injustice a miracle was constantly expected to remedy it. A council held at Attigni, probably in 822, under Lewis the Meek, especially pro- hibited the Trial by the Cross ; according to which, the two parties stood up before a cross, and whichever of them fell first lost his cause. Again, at the Council of Worms (in 829), these judgments were strongly discouraged. Agobard, Archbishop of Lyons, an influential prelate, had written expressly against them. The Council of Valence, held in 855, published the following canon. ' Duels shall not be suffered, though authorised by custom. He who shall have slain his adversary shall be subject to the penance of homicide ; he who shall have been slain, shall be deprived of the prayers and sepulture of the church. The Emperor shall be prayed to abolish that abuse by public ordinance.' Sec Fleury, 1. xlvi., s. 48. 1, xlvii, s. 30. 1. xlix., a. 23. Chap. XIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 243 tinued still to be confined to their order*; few among the laity could even read, and therefore few were qualified for any public duty, and thus the various offices requiring any degree of literature fell necessarily into the hands of the clergy. Those who consider their advance to such offices as usurpations do not sufficiently weigh the circumstances of the times ; they do not reflect that there are moral as well as physical necessities, and that a state of society is not even possible, in which the only persons at all qualified to fill the offices of the state should be the only persons excluded from them. It is far from our intention to advocate any general depar- ture from the spiritual character in the sacred orders ; and the divines of the ninth and tenth centuries would undoubtedly have been great gainers both in virtue and in happiness, had they preserved that character pure and uncontaminated. But it was made impossible by the political system under which they lived, that it could be so ; and without seeking any ex- cuse for the individual misconduct of thousands among them, we cannot avoid perceiving, that their interference in temporal affairs, to a certain ex- tent, was absolutely unavoidable and where and by whom, in those unsettled ages, were the limits of that interference to be drawn and preserved ? If the clergy were in many respects gainers by the imperfection of civil government, it would be partial to conceal, that they were sufferers by it also. In times of confusion (and those days were seldom tranquil) the property of the Church was the constant object of cupidity and invasion.f On such occasions no inconsiderable portion of its revenues passed into the hands of lay impropriators, who employed curates at the cheapest rate. J And both Bishops and Monasteries were obliged to invest powerful lay protectors, under the name of Advocates, with considerable fiefs, as the price of their protection against depredators. But those Advocates be- came themselves too often the spoilers, and oppressed the helpless eccle- siastics for whose defence they had been engaged. We have thought it right, though at the risk of some repetition, to pre- mise this general view of the relative situation of the clergy and laity during the period which we are describing ; otherwise it would be difficult to form any just and impartial views, or even any very definite notions, of the real character of the events which it contains. In the civil war which took place in the year 833 between Lewis the * In many of the councils held during the ninth century, canons were enacted enjoin- ing the Bishop to suspend a Priest for ignorance, and to promote and regulate the schools which were established for the education of the clergy. f- The councils of the ninth century abound with complaints of the spoliation of Church property by laymen, who are frequently specified ; and new Capitularies were continually enacted to prevent or allay differences between the Clergy and the laity. The confusion generally prevalent is proved by the capitularies published at Quercy (in 857), by which every diocesan is exhorted to preach against pillage and violence, as well as by the Letters of Hincmar published in 859, and that of the Bishops of France to King Lewis, attributed to the same prelate. The frequency too of personal assaults on the Clergy is evinced by various regulations for their protection, and even more so, perhaps, by the slight punishment attached to such offences. Some promulgated in France (probably in 822) ordain as follows l the murderer of a Deacon or Priest is condemned to a penance of twelve years and a fine of 900 sous; the murderer of a Bishop is to abstain from flesh and wine for the whole of his life, to quit the profession of arms, and abstain from marriage.' Yet the confirmation of this canon was thought highly important by the episcopal order. Fleury 1. xlvi, s. 48 ; 1. xlix, s. 40. I An abuse (as Mr. Hallam remarks) which has never ceased in the Church. Middle Ages, chap. vii. We take this opportunity of acknowledging various obligations to that historian. R2 244 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIV Meek * and his sons, Pope Gregory IV. presented Penance of Lewis himself in France at the camp of the rebels. The the Meek. motive which he pretended was to reconcile the com- batants and terminate a dissension t so scandalous to Christendom ; and such really may have been his design. At least it is cer- tain that his interference was a single and inconsequent act, unaccompanied by any insolence of pretension ; the Pope offered his mediation, r and, though we may suspect his impartiality, he advanced no claim of apostolical authority to dispose of the crown. We shall, therefore, pass on from this event to one which immediately followed it, and which French historians consider as the first instance of ecclesiastical aggression on the rights of their sovereign. Lewis was betrayed by his soldiers into the hands of his sons, who immediately deposed him and divided the empire amongst themselves : but fearing that he might hereafter be restored by popular favour, they determined to inflict upon him a still deeper and even hope- less humiliation. An assembly held at Compiegne condemned him to perform public penance, and he submitted with some reluctance to the sentence. Having received a paper containing the list of his pretended crimes, and confessed his guilt, he prostrated himself on a rough mat at the foot of the altar, cast aside his baldric, his sword, and his secular vestments, and assumed the garb of a penitent. And, after the Bishops had placed their hands on him, and the customary psalms and prayers had been performed, he was conducted in sackcloth to the cell assigned for his perpetual residence. It was intended by those who condemned him to this ignominy, thereby to disqualify their ^former sovereign for every office both civil and military. But neither does it appear that such was the necessary consequence of canonical penance, unless when imposed for life I ; nor could they have forgotten that eleven years previously the same monarch had already performed a public penance, for certain poli- tical offences then charged on him. It proved then, as might have been expected, that the ceremony described had no more important effect than the temporary humiliation of the royal person. Probably his popularity was increased by the show of persecution ; and, as soon as political cir- cumstances changed in his favour, the Bishops immediately reconciled the penitent to the Church, and replaced him on the throne . This stretch of episcopal power is blamed by many Roman Catholic historians, who, at the same time, are careful to show that it was simply an act of penance, not of deposition, justified by the memorable submis- sion of Theodosius to ecclesiastical discipline. Nevertheless, we cannot in justice otherwise consider it, than as a daring outrage committed on the highest temporal authority, with the intention of perpetuating the de- * Charlemagne died in 814 ; Lewis the Meek in 840, and his successor, Charles the Bald, in 877. The empire passed from Charlemagne's descendants to the German Con- rad just a century after his death ; and in 987 his dynasty was extinguished in France by the accession of Hugh Capet. f Baron., aim. 833, s. v. Gregory held the See from 828 to 844. It was made a complaint against the Emperor by Agobard, the Archbishop of Lyons (ap. Baron., ami. 833, s. vi.) that he did not address the Pope with the due expressions of respect since he saluted him, in a letter, Brother and Papa indiscriminately: the paternal appellation should alone, it seems, have been adopted. J The prohibition to carry arms or discharge civil offices did not extend beyond the duration of the penance. See Fleury, 1. xlvii. s. 40. Baron, ami. 882. s. i. ; ami. 833. s. xix. We read in Baronius (ann. 834, s. i.), that, during the time of his deposition, violent and unseasonable tempests prevailed, which instantly dispersed at his restoration. Chap. XIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 245 position of Lewis by the pretext of penance. Yet it had been surpassed in an earlier age and in a different country, by a measure of episcopal usur- pation which is less generally recorded. At the twelfth Council of To- ledo, in 682, the bishops undertook to decide on the succession to the crown. Vamba, king of the Visigoths, having done penance and assumed the monastic habit, formally abdicated in favour of Ervigius ; on which matter the prelates pronounced as follows * We have read this act and * think right to give it our confirmation. Wherefore we declare that the ' people is absolved from all obligation and oath by which it was engaged ' to Vamba, and that it should recognize for its only master Ervigius, ' whom God has chosen, whom his predecessor has appointed, and, what * is still more, whom the whole people desires *.' Still we may observe that, even in this instance, the prelates did not professedly proceed to the whole length of deposition, though such was unquestionably the real na- ture of the measure. We may also remind the reader, that the aggres- sions which have been thus far mentioned were entirely the work of the episcopal order, not in any way directed or influenced by the See of Rome. It is very true that they may have prepared the way for the more extensive usurpations of Papacy, and the authority which had been insulted by provincial bishops could scarcely hope to be long held sacred by the Chief of the whole body : still the Pope had not yet found himself sufficiently powerful to engage in the enterprise. The long reign of Charles the Bald furnishes more numerous instances of the exercise of ecclesiastical influence in affairs of state, some of which deserve our notice. That prince Charles the and Lewis of Bavaria being desirous to dispossess their Bald. brother Lothaire of a portion of his dominions, did not presume, notwithstanding great military advantages which they had ob- tained over him, to proceed in their design without the sanction of the Clergy. To that en^they summoned a Council of Bishops and Priests f at Aix-la-Chapelle, in the year 842, and submitted the question to their consideration. The assembly condemned the crimes and incapacity of Lothaire, and declared that God had justly withdrawn his protection from him ; but it would not permit his brothers to occupy his kingdom until they had made a public vow to govern it, not after the example of Lo- thaire, but according to the will of God. The Bishops then pronounced their final decision in these words ' Receive the kingdom by the authority 4 of God, and govern it according to his will ; we counsel, we exhort, we ' command you to do so.' The effect of this sentence was not, indeed, the entire spoliation of Lothaire, who retained his throne to the end of his life ; but certain provinces, already in the occupation of the conquerors, were immediately, and, as it would seem, permanently transferred to their sceptre, in consequence of the episcopal award. In the year 859 Charles presented to the Council of Savonieres a for- mal complaint against Venilo, Archbishop of Sens, which breathes the lowest spirit of humiliation. * By his own election ' (the King says), * and * that of the other Bishops, and by the will and consent and acclamation. * of the rest of my subjects, Venilo, with the other Bishops and Arch- * bishops, consecrated me King, according to the tradition of the Church, * and anointed me to the kingdom with the holy chrism, and raised me to ' the throne with the diadem and sceptre. After which consecration and * It is the first canon of the Council, and is cited by Fleury, 1. xl. s. 29. t Fleury, H. E. 1. xlviii. s, 11. Baron., ann. 842. s. 1, 2, 3. 246 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIV. ' regal elevation I ought to have been degraded by no one without the * hearing and judgment of the Bishops, by whose ministry I was conse- crated to royalty, who are called the thrones of God. In them God * sits ; by them he makes known his judgments ; and to their paternal ' corrections and penal authority I was prepared to subject myself, and ' am now subject*.' These words (as Fleury admits) are remarkable in the mouth of a king, and especially of a king of France ; but the example of his predecessor, enforced by his own misfortunes t and feebleness, may have reduced Charles to the necessity of such degradation. But, on the other hand, can we feel astonishment that tjie Hierarchy took advantage of what appeared the voluntary and gratuitous prostration of royalty ? When we blame the ambition of those who received the offering, should we forget the weakness and pusillanimity of those who presented it ? A year or two afterwards, Lothaire, King of Lorraine, grandson of Lewis the Meek, divorced his wife in order to espouse his concubine. It appears that no less than three Councils of Bishops sanctioned the act of their monarch ; nevertheless the repudiated queen made her appeal to Rome. Nicholas I. was then Pope, and he interfered in her favour with his usual vehemence and perseverance : the threat of excommunication was long suspended over the king, who employed submissive language and persisted in disobedience. There is some I reason to believe that the Pope, towards the end of his life, executed his menace; and if so, it may seem a strange return for the generosity of Charlemagne to the Holy See, that the first discharge of its deadliest bolt should have been directed, within fifty years from his death, against one of his own descendants. But he had in some degree secured this retribution by his own impru- dence : for it was his custom to engage the Bishops to pervert the eccle- siastical censures to the service of the civil government. The confusion between the two powers was thus augmented ; and the misapplication of the great spiritual weapon to the purposes of the f tate naturally led to the second abuse, which turned it, for Church purposes, against the state. On the death of Lothaire, Adrian II. endeavoured to exclude Charles the Bald from the succession to his states, and to confer them on the Emperor Lewis. To effect this object he addressed one letter to the nobles of the kingdom of Lothaire, in which he exhorted them to adhere to the Emperor on pain of anathema and excommunication ; and a second to the subjects of Charles, in which he eulogized the Emperor, and re- peated the same menaces. He continued to the following purpose : ' If any one shall oppose himself to the just pretensions of the Emperor, let him know that the Holy See is in favour of that Prince, and that the arms which God has placed in our hands are prepared for his defence.' We may consider this as the first attempt of papal ambition to regulate * The original is cited by Baronius, ann. 859. s. xxvi. The Bishops had a very simple process of reasoning, by which they proved their supremacy. A Bishop can const-crate a King, but a King cannot consecrate a Bishop : therefore a Bishop is superior to a King. We might well wonder that any serious attention should ever have been paid to such undisguised nonsense, if we did not recollect what undue weight is always attached to ceremony in ignorant ages. t It should also be recollected that this was the crisis of the general dissolution of government and society into the feudal form. I Fleury (1. li. s. 7.) collects the fact from the Pope's letter to Charles, in favour of Heltrude, widow of Count Berenger, and sister of Lothaire. But many historians are silent respecting it, and in the first intercourse between Lothaire and Adrian II. the successor of Nicholas, we cau discover no proof that the King was then lying under the sentence. Chap. XIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 247 the successions of princes. It was 'unsuccessful ; Charles, with the aid of Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, and other Prelates, had already placed himself in possession of the throne when the legates of Adrian arrived ; and the subsequent efforts of the Pontiff to oblige him to abdi- cation were repelled with courage and constancy both by the king and his metropolitan*. These events took place about the year 870 ; and ten years afterwards the same Hincmar was equally firm in defending the rights of the Church when they were in opposition to the Lewis III. and claims of the king, Lewis III. That Prince was desirous Hincmar of to intrude into the See of Beauvais an unworthy minis- Rheims. ter, and pressed his appointment by supplication and menace. Hincmar defended the original liberty of elections which had been restored by Lewis the Meek, and the independence of the Church. 'That you are the master of the elections, and of the ecclesiastical property, are assertions proceeding from hell and from the mouth of the serpent. Remember the promise which you made at your consecration, which you subscribed with your hand, and presented to God on the altar in the presence of the Bishops. Reconsider it with the aid of your Council, and pretend not to introduce into the Church that which the mighty Emperors, your predecessors, pretended not in their time. I trust that I shall always preserve towards you the fidelity and devotion which are due ; I laboured much for your election ; do not then return me evil for good by persuading me to abandon in my old age the holy regulations which I have followed, through the grace of God, during six and thirty years of episcopacy ' A subsequent letter by the same Prelate contained even stronger expressions to the fol- lowing effect * It is not you who have chosen me to govern the Church ; but it is I and my colleagues and the rest of the faithful who have chosen fbu to govern the kingdom, on the condition of observing the laws. We fear not to give account of our conduct before the Bishops, because we have not violated the Canons. But as to you, if you change not what you have ill done, God will redress it in his own good time. The Emperor Lewis lived not so long as his father Charles ; your grandfather Charles lived not so long as his father, nor your father t * The Pope commanded Hincmar to abstain from the communion of Charles, if he continued refractory. The Archbishop (professedly in the name of his fellow-subjects) replied, among other matters, ' Let the Pope consider that he is not at the same time king and bishop ; that his predecessors have regulated the Church,which is their concern not the State, which is the heritage of kings ; and consequently that he should neither command us to obey a king too distant to protect us against the sudden attacks of the Pagans, nor pretend to subjugate us us who are Franks If a Bishop excommuni- cates a Christian, contrary to rule, he abuses his power ; but he can deprive no one of eternal life who is not deprived of it by his sins. It is improper in a Bishop to say that any man not incorrigible should be separated from the Christian name and consigned to condemnation ; and that too, not on account of his crimes, but for the sake of withhold- ing or conferring a temporal sovereignty. If then the Pope is really desirous to establish concord, let him not attempt it by fomenting dissensions ; for he will never persuade us that we cannot arrive at the kingdom of Heaven except by receiving the king whom he may choose to give us on earth.' Again, in an answer of Charles to an epistle of Adrian, that Prince argues respecting the distinction between the temporal and the spiri- tual power, and also alleges the peculiar supremacy of the kings of France. To prove these and similar points, he refers not only to the Archives of the Roman Church, but to the writings of St. Gelasius, St. Leo, St. Gregory, and even St. Augustin himself. (See Hist. Litteraire de la France. Fleury, 1. lii., s. 8, 22.) Hincmar wrote many of that king's letters, and may probably have been the author of this. f Lewis the Stammerer. 248 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIV as his father ; and when you are at Compiegne, where they repose, cast down your eyes and look where lies your father and where your grand- father is buried; and presume not to exalt yourself in the presence of Him who died for you and for us all, and who was raised again, and dies no more You will pass away speedily ; but the Holy Church and its ministers under Jesus Christ their Chief will subsist eternally accord- ing to his promise.' This vain menace of temporal retribution (for as such it was obviously intended) was however singularly accomplished ; Lewis, in the vigour of youth, died in the following year; and the strange coincidence may have encouraged future Prelates to indulge in similar predictions which proved not equally fortunate. We have already mentioned that Charles the Bald, about fifteen years after his contest with Pope Nicholas, condescended to accept the vacant empire as the donation of John VIII. The immediate result of this act was, that the government of Italy and the Imperial throne were, for some years afterwards, placed in a great measure at the disposal of the Pope, who shamelessly abused his influence*. But it had a more lasting and still more pernicious consequence, in so far as it furnished to the more powerful Pontiffs of after ages one of their pretexts for interference in the succession to the Imperial throne. The ceremony of coronation to which Charlemagne had consented to submit at Rome was their only foundation for the pretension that the empire had been transferred from the Greeks to the Latins by papal authority; and on the same ground it was subsequently transferred by the same agency from the French to the Italians, from the Italians to Otho I. and the Germans. The mere act of ministry in a customary, and, as was then thought, a necessary solemnity, was exalted into a display of superiority and an exercise of power; and many among the ignorant vulgar were really led to believe that the rights of sovereignty were conferred by the form of consecration. But the condescension of Charles the Bald, though con- ceding no very definite privilege, nor any which could be reasonably binding on his successors, yet furnished a pretence which was somewhat more substantial than a mere ceremony t. On a review of this short narrative, we perceive that the Prelates of the ninth century advanced, for the first time, claims of temporal autho- rity ; that such claims were asserted by national assemblies of Bishops even more daringly than by the Popes ; and that they were so immoderate as to be inconsistent with the necessary rights of Princes, and the vigour and stability of civil government. We observe, moreover, that the Hie- rarchy, though on some particular occasions their efforts were frustrated, had made, during the period of sixty-three years from the death of Charlemagne to that of Charles the Bald, very considerable strides in the advancement of their power and privileges. The immediate successor of Charles, Louis the Stammerer, was consecrated to the throne of France by the Pope ; and a Council of Bishops assembled at Troyes * See Mosh. Cent. ix. p. ii. c. ii. Giannone, Stor. Nap. lib.viii. Introduct. t Some of the expressions of the Pope delivered on this occasion should be cited. ' Unde nos, tantis icdiciis divinitus incumhentibus, luce clarius agnitis, superni decreti consilium manifesto cognovimus. Et quia pridem Apostolicae memoriae Decessori nostro Papae Nicolao idipsum jam inspiratione divina reveiatnm fuisse comperimus, elegimus merito et approbavimus una cum annisu et voto omnium Fratrum et Coepiscoporum nostrorum et aliorum Sanciae Rom. Ecclesiac Ministrorum, amplique senatus, totiusque Rom. populi gt-ntisque togatse, et secundum priscam consuetudinem, solemniter ad Imperil Romani Sceptra proveximus, et Augustali nomine decoravimus, ungentes eum oleo extrinsecus, ut interioris quoque Spiritus Sancti unctioriis monstraremus virtutem, &c.' See Baron. Anu. 876,8. 6. Chap. XIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 249 about the same time (in 878), published, as the first Canon, * that the Powers of the world should treat the Bishops with every sort of respect, and that no one should presume to sit down in their presence unless by their command ;' as the last, * that all those Canons be observed, under pain of deposition for clerks, and privation of all dignity for laymen.' The Pope and the King were both present at this Council, and the latter appears to have sanctioned the very bold usurpation contained in the last clause. Soon after this period the Popes became so much embarrassed by domestic inquietude and disorder, that they had little leisure to extend their conquests abroad ; and thus for above a century the thunders of the Vatican murmured with extreme faintness, or altogether slept. But the principle of ecclesiastical supremacy, and the disposition to submit to it were not extinguished in the tumults of the tenth age; and the storm, when it again broke forth, seemed even to have gained strength from the sullen repose which had preceded it. The occasion was this Robert, King of France, had married a relative, four degrees removed, indeed, but still too near akin for the severity of canonical morality. Gre- gory V. in a Council of Italian Bishops, held at Rome in the year 998, launched a peremptory order, that the king should put away his wife, and both parties perform seven years of penance. The king resisted ; but so united was the Church at that time, and so powerful, that he was presently excommunicated by his own Prelates, and shunned by his nobles and. people. At length, after some ineffectual struggles, he submitted to ana- themas so generally respected and enforced*, and complied with both the injunctions of the Pontiff. This is the third instance of an authoritative interference on the part of the Popes in the concerns of sovereigns which we have had occasion to mention, and we may here remind the reader that two of them were on the ground of uncanonical marriages. It is not our intention to enumerate the many trifling occasions on which the claims of the Church were brought into collision with the rights or dignity of moriarchs : the instances which have been produced are the most important, and they are worthy of more particular reflection than can here be bestowed on them. But at present it must suffice to have noticed, even thus briefly, the earliest movements by which the spirit of ecclesiastical ambition pressed towards universal domination, and to have called some attention to those bold, but irregular, encroachments, which furnished to after ages precedents for wider and more systematic usur- pation. III. We have already mentioned that, from a very early period, the Bishop of Rome possessed the first rank among the rulers of the Church ; and if, after the Council Internal usurpations of Chalcedon, it was disputed with him by the of the Roman See. Patriarch of Constantinople, it was at no time contested (at least after the time of Constantine) in the western Churches. It is equally true, that his pre-eminence in rank was unattended by any sort of authority beyond the limits of his own diocese ; and the sort of * Petrus Daraiani, who wrote about sixty years afterwards, relates, that the ecclesiasti- cal censure was so exactly observed, that no one would hold any communion with the king 1 , excepting two servants who carried him the necessaries of life, and that even these burnt the vessels which he had used. But that author throws suspicion on a narration not improbable, by adding that the fruit of the marriage was a monster which had the head and neck of a goose. See Fleury, 1. Ivii., s. 57. 250 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIV. superintendence which it might seem his duty to exercise over ecclesias- tical affairs, was confined to the simple right of remonstrance. More than this is not asserted by moderate Catholics, nor can an impartial Protestant concede less. We have also noticed some of the steps which were, taken by early Popes, not only to extend the boundaries of their jurisdiction, but to establish an absolute authority within them. Their earliest success was the transfer to the Holy See of the Metropolitan privileges throughout the diocese. Among these the most important were the consecration of bishops, the convoca- tion of synods, and the ultimate decision of appeals privileges which might obviously be applied to restrain the power and independence of the bishops. During the fifth and sixth centuries some little progress was made towards that object. Valentinian III. made to Leo I. some conces- sions which were valuable, though that Pope had no means of enforcing them ; but the acquisitions of Gregory the Great were more substantial, and that most especially so was the establishment of the appellant jurisdic- tion of the see. A more general subjection of Metropolitan to Papal authority was introduced by the Council of Frankfort ; and such was the relative situation of the parties on the accession of Charlemagne to the empire. But presently afterwards, as if impatient of the tedious progress of gradual usurpation, the Spirit of Papacy called into existence, by an effort of amazing audacity, a new system of government, and a new code of principles, which led by a single step to the most absolute power. The false Decretals were imposed on the credulity* of mankind. _ 'Still the moment was not yet arrived in which it was possible to enforce all the rights so boldly claimed on their authority ; and though some ground was gained by Pope Nicholas I., their efforts were not brought into full operation till the pontificate of Gregory VII. In recording some instances of the temporal interference of the Church, we have remarked the success of episcopal, as distinct from papal pre- sumption, and observed the independence, as well as the force, with which the Councils of Bishops acted against the secular powers. The ninth has been peculiarly characterized as the Age of the Bishops ; it becomes therefore more important to examine the relation in which they then stood, even in the moment of their highest glory, to the power which was now spreading in every direction from Rome. It has been mentioned that when the sons of Lewis the Meek were in revolt against their father, Pope Gregory IV. presented himself (as has been mentioned) at the camp of the rebels, and under pretence of mediation, favoured (as was thought) their party. On this occasion, certain French prelates, who remained faithful to Lewis, addressed an epistle to the Pope, wherein they accused him of having violated the oath which he had taken to the Emperor; they denied his power to excommunicate any person, pr make any disposition in their dioceses, without their permission ; they boldly declared that if he came with the intention of excommunicating them, he should return him- self excommunicated ; and even proceeded so far as to threaten him with deposition. The Pope was alarmed ; but, on the assurance of his attend- ants that he had received power from God to superintend the affairs of all nations and the concord of all Churches, and that, with authority to judge every one, he was not himself subject to any judgment, he wrote in an- * Hincmar was not, indeed, blindly submissive to the Decretals ; but it was their autho- rity which be questioned rather than their authenticity proving that his national or episcopal spirit of independence was greater than his critical sagacity. Chap. XIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 251 swer, that ecclesiastical is placed high above secular power, and that the obedience of the Bishops was due to him rather than to the Emperor ; that he could not better discharge his oath than by restoring concord ; and that none could withdraw themselves from the Church of Rome without incurring the guilt of schism. The irritation of the parties is sufficiently discovered in their letters ; but their firmness was not put to trial ; for the rebels obtained by treachery a temporary success, and the Pope returned to Italy without either pronouncing or receiving excommunication. The occurrence which we shall next mention took place thirty years afterwards ; and it is the more remarkable, because the two greatest eccle- siastics of that age, Nicholas I. and Hincmar of Rheims, were placed in direct opposition to each other. The circumstances were nearly the fol- lowing. A Bishop of Soissons, named Rothadus, incurred the displeasure of Hincmar, and after being condemned in two Councils held at Soissons in 862, under the direction of the Metropolitan, was first excommunicated, and very soon afterwards deposed and imprisoned. Rothadus, on the first sentence, appealed t to the see of Rome, and found a very willing and probably partial judge in Nicholas. The Pope instantly despatched to Hincmar a peremptory order, either to restore Rothadus within thirty days, or to appear at Rome in person or by legate for the determination of the difference, on pain of suspension from his ministry. In the year following, Hincmar sent Odo, Bishop of Beauvais, to Rome, with the commission to request the Pope's confirmation of the acts of the synod of Soissons. But Nicholas, on the contrary, rescinded its decisions, and demanded, with repeated menaces, the immediate liberation of Rothadus, in order to the personal prosecution of his appeal at Rome. Through the interference of Charles the Bald, the prisoner was released ; and after some delays, the deputies of Hincmar also appeared before the pontifical tribunal. The decision was such as all probably anticipated : all the charges against Rothadus were ascribed to the malice and perfidy of his enemy ; he was ordered to resume the episcopal vestments, and a legate was sent to escort him on his return to his country and his see. It does not appear, from the particulars* of this contest, that Hincmar and the Bishops who supported him went so far as to deny the right of a deposed Bishop to appeal to Rome against the sentence of his Metropolitan; indeed, they rested their defence on much lower ground, and thus con- ceded that which was most important. At any rate, the triumph of Nicholas was complete ; and though the right in question was first advanced by him, and on no more solid authority than the (forged) * Decretals of the Ancient Pontiffs/ he prevailed with scarcely any diffi- culty against the most learned canonist and the most independent ecclesi- astic of those days. About five years after the restoration of Rothadus, Hincmar found himself once more in contest with the Holy See t ; and his zeal on this * Besides the ecclesiastical historians, see the Life of Nicholas in the Breviarium Pontif. Romanor. R. P. Francisci Pagi, tome ii. That Pope, in his Epistle ' Ad universes Gallic Episcopos,' admits, however, that the authority of the Decretals was not yet uni- versally received in the Gallican Church. We read in the same author, that Adrian II. commanded the Gallican Bishops to raise Actardus of Nantes to the first Metropolitan see which might be vacant; and that, in the year 871, he was raised to that of Tours, but with the addition Rege, clero, ac populo postulantibus. f In 853, Hincmar had deposed a number of Clerks ordained by his predecessor, whose canonical right to the See was disputed. In 866, Pope Nicholas ordered a revision of that affair ; Hincmar maintained the sentence vigorously j but Nicholas, having 252 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIV. occasion may possibly have been animated by the recollection of his former humiliation. His vigorous opposition to Adrian II., respecting the succession to the crown of Lorraine, has been already noticed ; and if he failed when he would have vindicated the independence of the Church of France from Roman superintendence, his success was even more remarkable when he defended the rights of the throne from similar invasion. The visit of John VIII. to France, during the"year 878, certainly con- firmed, and probably extended, papal authority in that country. Before the Council had assembled at Troyes, he obtained the consent of the king to some regulations, one of which was, that no metropolitan should be permitted to ordain, until he had received the pallium or vest from Rome. During the Session of the Council we observe the following declaration to have been made by Hincmar himself: ' In obedience to the Holy Canons, I condemn those whom the Holy See has condemned, and receive those whom it receives, and hold that which it holds in con- formity with Scripture and the Canons.' The Bishops who were present professed the strictest unanimity with the Pontiff; and the good under- standing which was then, perhaps, established between the Churches of Rome and France, and which assumed the inferiority *, if not the dependance of the latter, appears to have subsisted long, with no material interruption. Hincmar died a few years afterwards. He was descended from a noble family; and the early part of his life he so divided between Character of the Court and the Cloister, and displayed so much ability and Hincmar. enthusiasm in the discharge of the duties attached to either situation, as to combine the practical penetration of a Statesman with the rigour of a zealous Ecclesiastic. He was raised to the See of Rheims in the year 845, at the age of thirty-nine, and filled it for nearly forty years with firmness and vigour. In the ninth century, when the mightiest events were brought about by ecclesiastical guidance, he stands among the leading characters, if, indeed, we should not rather consider him as the most eminent. He was the great Churchman of the age : on all public occasions of weighty deliberation, at all public ceremonies of coronation or consecration, Hincmar is inva- riably to be found as the active and directing spirit. His great know- ledge of canonical law enabled him to rule the Councils of the Clergy; his universal talents rendered him necessary to the state, and gave him more influence in political affairs than any other subject : while his cor- respondence t attests his close intercourse with all the leading characters Charles on his side, obtained once more a complete triumph, and restored the Ecclesi- astics to their rank in the Church. In both these disputes it would appear that the popular voice was against Hincmar. * The following is the substance of an Address to the Pope, made by the Bishops at this Coxmcil the original may be found in Baronius. Ann. 878, s. 17, &c. : ' We, the Bishops of Gaul and Belgium, your sons, servants, and disciples, deeply suffer through the wounds which have been inflicted upon our Holy Mother, the mistress of all Churches, and unanimously repeat the sentence which you have launched against your enemies, excommunicating those whom you have excommunicated, and anathematizing those whom you have anathematized And since we also have matter for lamentation in our own Churches, we humbly supplicate you to assist us with your authority, and pro- mulgate an ordinance (Capitulum) to show in what manner we ought to act against the spoliators of the Church j that, being fortified by the censure of the Apostolical See, we may be more powerful and confident,' &c. t Frodoard mentions 423 letters of Hincmar, besides many others not specified. He was present at thirty-nine important Councils, at most of which he presided. His history and character are very well illustrated by Guizot in his 28th Le^ou de la Civil, en France. Chap. XIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 253 of his age. In the management of his Diocese, he was no less'careful to in- struct and enlighten than strict to regulate ; and while he issued and enforced his Capitularies of Discipline with the air and authority of a civil despot, he waged incessant warfare with ignorance. It is indeed probable that he possessed less theological learning than his less celebrated contemporary, Rabanus Maurus ; but he had much more of that active energy of character so seldom associated with contemplative habits. It is also true that he was crafty, imperious, and intolerant ; that he paid his se- dulous devotions to the Virgin*, and was infected with other superstitions of his age. His occasional resistance to the see of Rome has acquired for him much of his celebrity ; but if Divine Providence had so disposed, that Hincmar had been Bishop of Rome for as long a space as he was Pri- mate of France, he would unquestionably have exalted papal supremacy with more courage, consistency, and success, than he opposed it. We have observed that one of the most successful means of papal usur- pation within the Church was the encouragement of appeals to Rome. It is indeed scarcely possible to Popish measure the advantages which the see derived from usurpations. that practice ; and perhaps we do not value it too highly when we ascribe to it chiefly a vague notion of the Pope's omnipotence, which seems to have made some impression among the laity during the ninth century. Before we quit this subject, we should mention a remon- strance from the pen of Hincmar, which was addressed to the Pope under the name of Charles the Bald, and towards the end of his life. In this letter the Emperor is made to complain, that it is no longer deemed suffi- cient that Bishops, condemned by their Metropolitans, should cross the Alps for redress, but that every Priest, who has been canonically sen- tenced by his Bishop, now hurries to Rome for a repeal of the sentence. The origin of appeals to Rome is traced to the Council of Sardica ; but by that authority they were properly liable to two restrictions they were permitted to Bishops only, and were necessarily determined on the spot. The inferior orders were amenable to their respective Bishops, who judged in conjunction with their Clergy; and the only lawful appeal from the decision was to a Provincial Council. The second restriction had been confirmed by the Canons of the African Church, which in former days had defended its independence against the aggressions of Rome, and which now furnished weapons to the Prelates of Gaul, invaded after so long an interval by the persevering ambition of the same adversary. Another method of papal encroachment was the appointment of a Vicar in distant provinces, to whom the Pope delegated his assumed authority, and by whose acknowledgment the existence of that authority was in fact admitted. In the year 876, John VIII. designated the Archbishop of Sens as Primate of the Gauls and Germany, and Vicar of the Pope for the Convo- cation of Councils and other ecclesiastical affairs ; and especially to promulgate the pontifical edicts, and superintend their execution. The Bishops of France hesitated to receive the yoke so manifestly prepared for them ; and on this occasion we again observe Hincmar of Rheims de- fending and directing their opposition. He protested before the assembled Council, that this attempt was contrary to the Holy Canons ; he appealed to the regulations of Nice, which subjected every province to its own * This appears from his epitaph, written by himself, in some very indifferent hexameter and pentameter verses. 254 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIV Metropolitan, and confirmed the original privileges of the Churches ; he fortified the decisions of Nice by the authority of St. Leo and other Popes ; he denied that the particular jurisdiction which the Pontiff confessedly exercised over certain distant provinces (as Macedonia and parts of Illyria) absorbed the rights of the Metropolitans ; and, while he admitted that the Popes had more than once established their Vicars in Gaul itself, he con- tended that the office was temporary, instituted for occasional and specific purposes, such as the prevention of simony, the conversion of unbelievers, the restoration of discipline, and that it ceased with the particular abuses which had made it necessary*. The weight of antiquity, which furnishes a conclusive argument in ignorant ages, was, without question, on the side of Hincmar. On the other hand, the Pope had engaged the Emperor in the defence of his claims ; and, as it was one part of his policy to coalesce with the national hierarchy whenever the rights of princes could, be assailed with advantage, so was it another to draw the princes into his own designs against the power and independence of their Clergy. And here it is proper to notice another privilege, which, though its ori- gin may be traced to Gregory the Great, was little exercised by the Popes until the ninth, or the beginning of the tenth age. Hitherto the monas- teries, with very few exceptions, were subject to the Bishop of the diocese in which they stood, and who in many cases had been their founders. Exemptions from episcopal jurisdiction were now granted with some frequency, and the establishments thus privileged acknow- ledged a direct dependence on the Pope. He had many motives for this policy, but that which most concerns our present subject is the following. To secure his triumph over the liberties of the Church, it was necessary to divide it ; and his scheme of reducing the higher ranks of the Clergy was amply promoted by a practice which curtailed their authority in a very important branch, which transferred that authority to himself, and at the same time created lasting jealousy and dissension between the regular and secular orders. Two other objects may be mentioned to which the ambition of Rome was steadily and effectually directed to establish the principle that Bishops derived their power entirely from the Pope, and to prevent the convocation of Councils without his express command. Towards the accomplishment of the second, very great though very gradual progress was made during the ninth age by a series of usurpations, of which the earliest served as precedents whereon to found the practice. The greater obscurity and confusion of the tenth century were more favourable to the success of the first t ; and if it be true that, even after that time, there were to be found some bolder Prelates, both in France and Ger- many, who disputed these and others among the pontifical claims, it cannot be questioned that they had then acquired so much prevalence, and had struck so deeply into the prejudices and habits of men, that a powerful hand alone was wanted to call them into light and action, and to give them the most fatal efficacy. The preceding pages have presented to us a variety of incidents hitherto nearly novel in the history of the Church, but with which expe- rience will presently render us familiar. We have been astonished by the arrogant claims of the Episcopal Order and the extent of political power * Fleury, H. E. lib. Hi., s. 33. Frodoardus (in a passage cited by Baronius, Ann. 876. s. 24) admits the powerful resistance of Hincmar on this occasion. f See Mosheim, Cent, x., p, 2, c. 2. Chap. XIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 255 which it actually possessed, and shocked by the ill purpose to which it sometimes applied that power. But our most thoughtful attention has still been fixed upon the proceeding's of the Pope. We have observed him, in the first place, contending with the Emperor for the independence of his own election with a great degree of success ; next we have beheld him engaged in occasional contests with the most powerful Sovereigns of the age, not only in those domestic concerns which might seem to give some plea for ecclesiastical interference, but about affairs strictly secular, and the very successions to their thrones ; and, lastly, we have noticed the movements of that more confined, but scarcely more legitimate ambition, which pretended to depress the superior ranks of the Clergy, to despoil them of their privileges, and to remove them to so humble a distance from the Roman See, that the Pope might seem to concentrate (if it were possible) in his own person the entire authority of the ecclesiastical order. The particular facts by which these designs were manifested belong, for the most part, to the ninth century; but the grand pontifical principles, if they suffered a partial suspension, yet lost none of their force and vitality dur- ing that which followed. And upon the whole it is a true and unavoidable observation, that the period during which the mighty scheme first grew and developed itself, embraced that portion of papal history which, above all others, is most scandalously eminent for the disorders * of the See, and for the weakness and undisguised profligacy of those who occupied itf. V* OF THE CHAPTER XV. On the Opinions, Literature, Discipline, and of the Church. I. On the Eucharist Original Opinions of the Church Doctrine of Paschasius Radbert com- bated by Ratram and John Scotus Conclusion of the Controversy Predestination Opinions and Persecution of Gotteschalcus Millennarianism in the Tenth Century its strange and general Effect. II. Literature Rabanus Maurus, John Scotus, Alfred its Progress among the Saracens Spain South of Italy France Rome Pope Sylvester II. III. Discipline of the Church Conduct of Charlemagne and his Successors St. Benedict of Aniane. Institution of Canons regular Episcopal election Translations by Bishops prohibited. Pope Stephen VI. Claudius Bishop of Turin Penitential System. IV. Conversion of the North of Europe of Denmark, Sweden, Russia of Poland and Hungary how accomplished and to what Extent The Normans The Turks. THE particulars contained in the preceding Chapter present an imper- fect picture of the condition of Religion during the ninth and tenth cen- * This is more particularly true of the tenth century, but even the ninth was not exempt from the same charge. To this age belongs the popular story of the female Pope ; the pontificate of Joan is recorded to have commenced on the death of Leo IV., in 855, and to have lasted for about two years. Historians agree that very great confusion pre- vailed at Rome respecting the election of Leo's successor, and that Benedict III. did not prevail without a severe and tumultuous struggle with a rival named Anastasius. The rule of Pope Joan is now indeed generally discredited ; but the early invention of the tale, and the belief so long attached to it, attest a condition of things which made it at least possible. f The Lives of the Popes (Liber Pontificalis) were written by Anastasius, a librarian, who died before 882; they reach as far as the death of Nicholas I. in 867. The lives of some other Popes, as far as 889, were added by another librarian named Guillaume. From 889 to 1050 (where the Collection of Cardinal d'Aragon begins) there is a suspen- sion of pontifical biography. 256 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XV. turies. They are sufficient, perhaps, to exhibit the outlines of the visible Church, as it was gradually changing its shape and constitution, and pass- ing through a region of disorder and darkness, from a state of contested rights and restricted authority to a situation of acknowledged might and unbounded pretension. They may also have discovered to us, in some manner, the process of the change, and certain of the less obvious means and causes through which it was accomplished : still the inquiry has been confined to the external Church ; it has gone to examine a human and perishable institution no farther ; it has illustrated the outworks which man had thrown up for the protection (as he imagined) of God's fortress nothing more. It remains, then, to complete the task, and to notice some circumstances in the history of this period unconnected with the ambitious struggles of Popes or Bishops. It is observable that, during the seventh and eighth ages, Religion lost much of its vigour and efficacy in France and Italy, while it took root and spread in Britain ; during the ninth, it arose^ through the institutions of Charlemagne, with renovated power in France ; in the course of the tenth, its progress in Germany made some amends for its general degradation. These fluctuations corresponded, upon the whole, with the literary revo- lutions of those countries. Learning was, in those days, the only faithful ally and support of religion, and the causes which withered the one never failed to blight the other. Indeed, as learning was then almost wholly confined to the Clergy, it naturally partook of a theological character ; and as the season of scholastic sophistry had not yet set in, the theology did not so commonly obscure, it even commonly illustrated, the religion. Religious zeal, when informed by imperfect education, arid unrestrained by a moderate and charitable temper, is rarely unattended by religious dissension; and thus it happened, that, while the intellectual torpor of the tenth century was little or nothing agitated by such disputes, the ninth, which was partially enlightened, witnessed three important controversies. The first was that which Photius carried on with the Roman See, regarding Image worship and other differences, the work of preceding generations ; and it has been already treated. The other two respected the manner of Christ's presence at the Eucharist, and the doctrine of Salvation by Grace, and they shall now be noticed : it will afterwards be necessary to say a few words on the Discipline of the Church ; and we shall then observe the progress of Christianity among distant and barbarous nations, as well as the severe reverse which afflicted it. I. Mosheim* asserts without hesitation, that it had been hitherto the unanimous opinion of the Church, that the body and Ecclesiastical con- blood of Christ were really administered to those who troversies. received the Sacrament, and that they were conse- quently present at the administration, but that the sentiments of Christians concerning the nature and manner of this presence were various and contradictory. No Council had yet determined with pre- cision the manner in which that presence was to be understood ; both reason and folly were hitherto left free in this matter ; nor had any imperious mode of faith suspended the exercise of the one, or controlled the extra- vagance of the other. The Historian's first position is laid down, per- haps, somewhat too peremptorily ; for though many passages may be vdduced from very ancient fathers in affirmation of the bodily presence, the obscurity or different tendency of others would rather persuade us, that even * Cent. ix. p. 2, c. 3. Chap/XV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 257 that doctrine was also left a good deal to individual judgment. The second is strictly true ; and the question which had escaped the vain and intrusive curiosity of oriental theologians, was at length engendered in a Convent in Gaul. In the year 831, Paschasius Radbert, a Benedictine Monk, after- wards Abbot of Corbie, published a treatise ' concerning the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ,' which he presented, fifteen years after- wards, carefully revised and augmented, to Charles the Bald. The doc- trine advanced by Paschasius may be expressed in the two following propositions : First, that after the consecration of the bread arid wine, nothing remains of those symbols except the outward figure, under which the body and blood of Christ were really and locally present. Secondly, that the body of Christ, thus present, is the same body which was born of the Virgin, which suffered upon the cross, and was raised from the dead *. Charles appears decidedly to have disapproved of this doctrine. And it might perhaps have been expected that, after the example of so many princes, he would have summoned a Council, stigmatized it as heresy, and persecuted its author. He did not do so ; but, on the contrary, adopted a method of opposition worthy of a wiser Prince and a more enlightened age. He commissioned two of the ablest writers of the day, Ratramn t and Johannes ScotusJ, to investigate by arguments the suspicious opinion. The composition of the former is still extant, and has exercised the ingenuity of the learned even in recent times ; but they * Pachasius derived three consequences from his doctrine. 1. That Jesns Christ was immolated anew every day, in reality but in mystery. 2. That the Eucharist is both truth and figure together. 3. That it is not liable to the consequences of digestion. The first of these positions assumes a new and express creation on every occasion of the cele- bration of the Sacrament. The disputes arising from the third afterwards gave birth to the heresy named Stercoranism. Fleury, l.xlvii., s. 35. Semler (sec. ix. cap. iii.) is willing to deduce Paschasius' doctrine from the Monophysite Controversy, and the opinions respecting * one incarnate nature of Christ,' which had still some prevalence in the East. f A monk of Corbie. His book was long received under the name of Bertram ; and some have even supposed it to be the work of John Scotus on the same subject, but clearly without reason. Dupin, Hist. Eccl., Cent. ix. c. vii. Fleury, 1. xlix., s. 52, 53. Semler, loc. cit. Ratramn proposes the subject in the following manner: "Your Majesty inquires whether the body and blood of Jesus Christ, which is received in the Church by the mouth of the faithful, is made in mystery that is, if it contains anything secret which only appears to the eyes of faith or if, without any veil of mystery, the eyes of the body- perceive without, that which the view of the spirit perceives within ; so that all which is made is manifestly apparent. You inquire besides, whether it is the same body which was born of the Virgin Mary, which suffered, died, and was buried ; and which, after its resur- rection, ascended to Heaven, and sat on the right hand of the Father." Respecting the second question, the opinion of Ratramn was in direct opposition to that of Paschasius ; but, in the treatment of the first, it would be difficult certainly to pronounce on what they differed, or indeed on what they agreed. There is moreover extant an anonymous composi- tion, which combats the second proposition of Paschasius first in itself, and then in its consequence that Jesus Christ suffers anew on every occasion that mass is celebrated. The writer acknowledges the real presence as a necessary tenet. * Every Christian' (thus he commences) ' ought to believe and confess that the body and blood of the Lord is true flesh and true blood ; whoever denies this proves himself to be without faith.' It appears indeed true that Paschasius' second proposition gave much more general offence than the first. t John Scotus Erigena (i. e. John the Irishman) was a layman of great acuteness and much profane learning, and irreproachable moral character. He was in high estimation at the court of Charles the Bald, and honoured by the personal partiality of that prince. He is described in the Hist. Litt. de la France, to have been of ' tres petite taille, vif, penetrant, et enjoue.' Fleury (1. xlviii., s. 48) disputes the great extent of his theological acquirements, and perhaps with justice. His book on the Eucharist was burnt about two hundred years afterwards by the hand of his disciple Berenger, on ecclesiastical compulsion.' S 258 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XV. have not succeeded in extricating 1 from the perplexities of his reasoning, and, perhaps, the uncertainty of his belief, the real opinions of the author. The' work of Johannes Scotus is lost ; but we learn that his arguments were more direct, and his sentiments more perspicuous and consistent; he plainly declared, that the bread and wine were no more than symbols of the absent body and blood of Christ, and memorials of the last supper. Other theologians engaged in the dispute, and a decided superiority, both in number and talents*, was opposed to the doctrine of Paschasius yet so opposed, that there was little unanimity among its adversaries, and no very perfect consistency even in their several writings-]-. The controversy died away before the end of the ninth century, without having occasioned any great mischief, and the subject was left open to individual inquiry or neglect, as it had ever been. The intellectual lethargy of the century following was not to be disturbed by an argu- ment demanding some acuteness, and susceptible of much sophistry ; and an age of entire ignorance has at least this advantage over one of super- ficial learning^, that it suffers nothing from the abuse of the human under- standing. But very early in the eleventh century, the dispute was again awakened : it assumed, under different circumstances and other prin- ciples, another aspect and character, and closed in a very different termi- nation. But as this event belongs more properly to the life of Gregory VII. we shall not anticipate the triumph of that Pontiff, nor deprive his name of any ray of that ambiguous splendour which illustrates it. The subject of Predestination and Divine Grace, which had already been controverted in France with some acuteness, and, Opinions of what is much better, with candour and charity, was Godeschalcus. subjected to another investigation in the ninth century. Godeschalcus, otherwise called Fulgentius, was a native of Germany, and a monk of Orbais, in the diocese of Soissons. He was admitted to orders, during the vacancy of the See, by the Chor- episcopus a circumstance to which the subsequent animosity of Hincmar is sometimes attributed. He possessed considerable learning, but a mind withal too prone to pursue abstruse and unprofitable inquiries. Early in life he consulted Lupus, Abbot of Ferrara, on the question, whether, after the resurrection, the blessed shall see God with the eyes of the body? The Abbot concluded a reluctant reply to the following effect : ' I exhort you, my venerable brother, no longer to weary your spirit with suchlike speculations, lest, through too great devotion to them, you be- come incapacitated for examining and teaching things more useful. Why waste so many researches on matters, which it is not yet, perhaps, expe- dient that we should know? Let us rather exercise our talents in the spacious fields of Holy Writ ; let us apply entirely to that meditation, and let prayer be associated to our studies. God will not fail in his good- ness to manifest himself in the manner which shall be best for us, though we should cease to pry into things which are placed above us.' The specu- * Hincmar appears to have held the doctrine of the real presence ; and it is difficult to pronounce whether or not he confined his meaning to a spiritual presence. f The worship of the elements is not mentioned by any of the disputants it was an extravagance of superstition too violent for the controversialists of the ninth century. \ As early as the conclusion of the eighth century, a heresy respecting the nature of Jesus Christ appeared in the Western Church that of the Adoptians. It was con- demned by Charlemagne in three Councils, between the years 790 and 800, and presently disappeared. In the fifth century. See chap. xi. Chap. XV.] A HISTORY OF THE o'HURCH. 259 lations of Godeschalcus were diverted by this judicious rebuke, but not repressed ; and the books of Scripture were still rivalled or superseded in his attention by those of Augustin. Accordingly he involved himself deeply and inextricably in the mazes of fatalism. About the year S46, he made a pilgrimage to Rome, and on his return, soon afterwards, he ex- pressed his opinions on that subject very publicly in the diocese of Verona. Information was instantly conveyed to Rabanus Maurus, Archbishop of Mayence, the most profound theologian of the age. That Prelate imme- diately replied; and in combating the error of a professed Augustinian, protected himself also by the authority of Augustin*. Happy had it been for the author of the controversy, if his adversary had allowed it to remain on that footing ; but the doctrine was becoming too popular, and threatened moral effects too perniciousf to be overlooked by the Church. Rabanus assembled, in 848, a Council at Mayence, at which the king was present, and Godeschalcus was summoned before it. Here he defended, in a written treatise, the doctrine of double predestina- tion that of the elect, to eternal life by the free Grace of God that of the wicked, to everlasting damnation through their own sins. His explana- tions did not satisfy the Council, and the tenet was rejected and con- demned ; but its advocate was not considered amenable to that tribunal, as he had been ordained in the diocese of Rheims ; wherefore Rabanus consigned him to the final custody of Hincmar, who then held that See. The unfortunate heretic (he had now deserved that appellation) profited nothing by this change in jurisdiction. Hincmar, in the following year, caused him to be accused before the Council of Quiercy sur Oise, when he was pronounced incorrigible, and deposed from the priesthood. More- over, as the penalty of his insolence and contumacy, he was condemned to public flagellation and perpetual imprisonment. The sentence was rigidly executed, and Charles was not ashamed to countenance it by his royal presence. It is affirmed, that under the prolonged agony of severe tor- ture, the sufferer yielded so far as to commit to the flames the Texts which he had collected in defence of his opinions ; and if he did so, it was human and excusable weakness J. But it is certain that he was confined to the walls of a convent for almost twenty years, and that at length, * Rabanus was the most profound divine in the ninth century, as Augustin was in. the fifth, but the spirit of the one age was original thought and reasoning that of the other, blind and servile imitation : therefore Rabanus was contented to cite and explain Augustin ; and the controversy descended from lofty philosophical investigation to logical, and even critical subtilty. The object in the fifth age was, to solve an abstruse and difficult question ; that in the ninth, to penetrate the real opinions of an ancient writer. f* In one of the letters written on this subject, Rabanus asserts that the doctrine of Godeschalchus had already driven many to despair, and that several began to inquire the more ingenious teachers of the doctrine, is very liable to be drawn hy the people, even in ages much more enlightened than the ninth. J Godeschalcus solicited permission to maintain the truth of his doctrine in the presence of the King, the Clergy, and the whole people, by passing through four barrels filled with boiling water and oil and pitch, and afterwards through a large fire. If he should come out unhurt, let the doctrine be acknowledged and received ; if otherwise, let the flames take their course. Milner, whose account of this Controversy should be mentioned with praise, can scarcely pardon this desire of his persecuted favourite as if the champion of Predestination had been less liable than his neighbours to the superstitious contagion of his age. In this case, however, his imperfection was peculiarly excused by the more deliberate absurdity of Hincmar himself, who had so far degraded his genius as to write a serious treatise on Trials by Hot and Cold Water.' See Hist. Litt de la France. His death is usually referred to the year 866. We should observe that his sufferings S2 260 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XV. during the agonies of his latest moments, he was required to subscribe a formulary of faith, as the only condition of reconciliation with the Church that he disdained to make any sacrifice, even at that moment, to that consideration, and that his corpse was deprived of Christian sepulture by the unrelenting bigotry of Hincmar. The precise extent* of Godeschaleus's errors is, according to the usual history of such controversies, a matter of difference, and for the usual reason, that consequences were imputed by his adversaries which his fol- lowers disclaimed. But it is certain that his proselytes multiplied during the continuance of his imprisonment, and that some provincial Councils declared in his favour ; and it is probable that his doctrines have been uninterruptedly perpetuated, not by sects only, but by individuals in the bosom of the Church, from that age to the present. The dispute, however, did not long survive its author, and seems to have expired before the end of the century ; and during Millennarian the concluding part of that which followed, in the absence error. of political talent, of piety, of knowledge, of industry, of every virtue, and every motive which might give energy to the human character in the suppression even of the nar- row controversial spirit which enlivens the understanding, however it may sometimes pervert the principles, a very wild and extra- ordinary delusion arose and spread itself, and at length so far prevailed as not only to subdue the reason, but to actuate the conduct of vast multitudes. It proceeded from the misinterpretation of a well-known passage in the Revelations t- ' And he laid hold on the Dragon, that old Serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled ; And after that he must be loosed a little sea- son.' It does not appear that the earlier Divines derived from this pro- phecy that specific expectation respecting the moment of the world's dissolution, which now became general ; nor do we learn that the people did not escape the compassion of some of his contemporaries. Remy, who succeeded Amolon in the see of Lyons, wrote on the subject with some warmth. ' It is an unprece- dented instance of cruelty, which has filled the world with horror, that he was lacerated with stripes, as eye-witnesses attest, until he cast into the fire a memorial containing the passages from scripture and the fathers which he drew up to present to the Council ; while all former heretics have been convicted by words and reasons. The long and inhuman detention of that wretched man ought at least to be tempered by some consolation, so as rather to win by charity a brother for whom Jesus Clxrist died, than to overwhelm him with misery.' See Fleury, 1. xlix., s. 5. * Godeschalcus appears to have propounded three leading questions to Rabanus and the other Doctors. (1.) Whether it could be said that there was any predestination to evil. (2.) Concerning the will and death of Christ for all men ; whether God has a true will to save any but those which are saved. (3.) Concerning free will The theologians of Mayence, however, very prudently confined their attention to the first ' Whether it can be said that God predestinates the wicked to damnation ?' (Dupin, H. E., Cen. ix.) About four years afterwards, Amolon, Archbishop of Lyons, in a letter addressed to Hincmar, reduced (or rather expanded) the errors to seven j one of them being the fol- lowing l that God and the Saints rejoice in the fall of the reproved.' (Fleury, H. E. lib. xlviii., s. 59.) This was obviously a consequence; and no doubt the heretic had easy means of getting rid of it. For a full and perhaps faithful account of the whole controversy, see Hist. Litter, de la France, Cen. ix., vol. iv. p. 263. It is, however, worth remarking, that the Divines on both sides alike professed to support the doctrine of the Church, as taught by the Fathers, and especially St. Augustin ; whose authority on this question was universally admitted, while his real opinion was disputed. .. f Chap, xx, 2 and 3. Chap. XV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 261 before this time much busied themselves about a matter which could not possibly affect their own generation ; but about the year 960, as the season approached nearer, one Bernhard, a hermit of Thuringia, a person not destitute of knowledge, boldly promulgated (on the faith of a parti- cular revelation from God) the certain assurance, that at the end of the thousandth year the fetters of Satan were to be broken ; and, after the reign of Antichrist should be terminated, that the world would be con- sumed by sudden conflagration. There was something plausible in the doctrine, and it was peculiarly suited to the gloomy superstition of the age; the Clergy adopted it without delay ; the pulpits loudly resounded with it* ; it was diffused in every direction with astonishing rapidity, arid embraced with an ardour proportioned to the obscurity of the subject, and the greediness of human credulity. The belief pervaded and possessed every rank f of society, not as a cold and indifferent assent, but as a motive for the most important undertakings. Many abandoned their friends and their families, and hastened to the shores "of Palestine, with the pious persuasion that Mount Sion would be the throne of Christ when he should descend to judge the world ; and these, in order to secure a more partial sentence from the God of mercy and charity, usually made over their property, before they departed, to some adjacent Church or Monas- tery. Others, whose pecuniary means were thought, perhaps, insuffi- cient to bribe the justice of Heaven, devoted their personal service to the same establishments, and resigned their very liberty to those holy medi- ators, whose pleadings, they doubted not, would find favour at the eternal judgment seat. Others permitted their lands to lie waste, and their houses to decay ; or, terrified by some unusual phenomenon in the Heaven, betook themselves in hasty flight to the shelter of rocks and caverns J, as if the temples of Nature were destined to preservation amidst the wreck of man and his works. The year of terror arrived, and passed away without any extraordinary convulsion ; and at present it is chiefly remarkable as having terminated the most shameful century in the annals of Christianity. The people returned to their homes, and repaired their buildings, and resumed their former occupations ; and the only lasting effect of this stupendous panic was the augmentation of the temporal prosperity of the Church . The intellectual energy of Europe (if we except perhaps the British Islands ||) was in a condition of gradual decay from the fifth till the middle of the seventh and eighth State of Learning.- century j[ ; and it was then that the progress of igno- * Hist. Lift, de la France, x. Siecle. Mosheim (Cen.'x., p. 2, c. iii.) cites a passage from the Apologeticum of Abbo, Abbot of Fleury < De fine quoque mundi coram populo sermonem m Ecclesia Parisiorum adolesceutulus audivi, quod statim finito mille annorum numero Anti-Chnstus adveniret, et non longo post tempore universale judicium succederet ; ciu praedicationi ex Evangeliis ac Apocalypsi et libro Danielis, qua potui virtute restiti, f Not Nobles only, but Princes, and even Bishops, are mentioned as having made a pilgrimage to Palestine on this occasion. I An opportune eclipse of the sun produced this effect on the army of Otho the Great. Almost all the donations which were made to the Church in this century proceeded from this avowed motive. ' Appropinquante jam mundi termino, &c. Since the end of the world is now at hand.' Mosh., Cen. x. ; p. 2, ch. iii. These monuments sufficiently attest the generality of the delusion. II The Venerable Bede flourished in the early part of the eighth century. He brought down his Ecclesiastical History as far as 731, and appears to have died four years after- wards. J []" This decline is very commonly imputed to the despotism of the Church, and the 262 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XV. ranee reached its widest and darkest boundaries. It was arrested by the genius of Charlemagne; and the beacon which was set up by his mighty hand shone forth even upon his degenerate descendants, some of whom lighted their torches at its embers. Thus, during the whole of the ninth century, the western world, and France especially, was animated by much literary exertion, and enlightened even by the ill-directed talents of many learned men. The name of Alcuin was not disgraced by those of his successors, Rabanus, Eginhard, Claudius, Godeschalcus, Paschasius, Ratramn, Hincmar, and Johannes Scotus*. The theological works of the first of these were so highly esteemed, as not only to furnish materials for contemporary instruction, but also to maintain great authority in the reli- gious discussions of the four following centuries ; and the last, the friend and companion of Charles the Bald, displayed an accuracy of philoso- phical induction, and a freedom and boldness of original thought, which would have subjected him, in a somewhat later age, to ecclesiastical per- secution. We should mention, too, that in the same age in which the genius of an Irishman instructed the Court of France, the foundations of English learning were deeply fixed and substantially constructed by the wisdom and piety of Alfred. The comparative languor of Italy was excited by the disputes at that time so warmly waged between the Roman and Eastern Churches, and which served to sharpen the ingenuity, while they degraded the principles, of both. At Constantinople, the Emperor Theophilus, and his son, Michael III., made some endeavours towards the revival of letters in the ninth age ; but the scattered rays which may have illustrated the East at that time, were overpowered by the pre-eminence of Photius, so that little has reached posterity excepting his celebrity. It is true that, in the century following, while the advance of learning was almost wholly suspended in Europe, and its growing power paralyzed, Constantine Porphyrogeneta made some zealous attempts to revive the industry of his country ; but as his encou- ragement was directed rather to the imitation of ancient models than to the developement of original thought, the impulse was faintly felt ; and, so far from creating any strong and lasting effect, it failed to excite even the momentary energy of the Greeks. But, during the same period, there occurred in the Eastern world a phenomenon which is among the most remarkable in the history of lite- rature, and which no penetration could possibly have foreseen. We have recounted that, in the seventh century, the companions and successors of Mahomet desolated the face of the earth with their arms, and darkened it by their ignorance; and the acts of barbarism ascribed to them, and whe- triumph of the papal principle of a blind faith, and absolute submission over the inde- pendence of reason. But this is a mistake proceeding from an imperfect knowledge of ecclesiastical history. At the period in question, the Church had not by any means attained the degree of authority necessary for that purpose : it was not yet sufficiently organized, nor even sufficiently united, to possess any power of universal individual tyranny ; the Romish system was still only in its infancy ; the Episcopal system, which was predominant, was full of disorder and disunion the principle in question was certainly to be found in the archives of the Church, but the day was not yet arrived to enforce it. It came indeed into full effect in the twelfth and following ages, and not earlier than the twelfth ; but learning then revived in despite of it, and grew up to overthrow it. The truth is, that the degradation of the sixth and seventh centuries are sufficiently accounted for by the political confusion, or rather anarchy, then so generally prevalent, as to make any moral excellence almost impossible, and to debase the Church in common with every thing else. * Guizot has selected Hincmar and Johannes Scotus as the (wo representatives of the Chap. XV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 263 ther truly ascribed or not*, generally credited, attest at least their contempt of learning, and their aversion for the monuments which they are stated to have destroyed. In the eighth century, the conquerors settled with tranquil- lity in the countries which they had subdued, which, in most instances, they converted, and which they continued to possess and govern. In the ninth", under the auspices of a wise and munificent Caliph, they applied the same ardour to the pursuit of literature which had heretofore been confined to the exercise of arms. Ample schools were founded in the principal cities of Asiat, Bagdad, and Cufa, and Bassora; numerous libraries were formed with care and diligence, and men of learning and science were solicitously invited to the splendid court of Almamunis. Greece, which had civi- lized the Roman republic, and was destined, in a much later age, to enlighten the extremities of the West, was now called upon to turn the stream of her lore into the barren bosom of Asia : for Greece \vas still the only land possessing an original national literature. Her noblest productions were now translated into the ruling language of the East, and the Arabians took pleasure in pursuing the speculations, or submitting to the rules, of her philosophy. The impulse thus given to the genius and industry of Asia was communicated with inconceivable rapidity, along the shores of Egypt and Africa, to the schools of Seville and Cordova ; and the shock was not felt least sensibly by those who last received it. Henceforward the genius of learning accompanied even the arms of the Saracens. They conquered Sicily ; from Sicily they invaded the Southern Provinces of Italy ; and, as if to complete the eccentric revolution of Grecian literature, the wisdom of Pythagoras was restored to the land of its origin by the descendants of an Arabian warrior. The adopted literature of that ingenious people, augmented by some original discoveries, passed with a more pacific progress from Spain into France, from France into Italy, even to the pontifical chair. In the year 999, Gerbert, a Frenchman, was raised to that eminence under the title of Sylvester II. This eminent person, whose talents, though peculiarly cal- culated for the comprehension of the abstract sciences, were not disquali- fied for less severe application, steadily devoted his industry, his intelli- gence, and his power to the acquirement, the amplification^, and the diffusion of knowledge. Among the vulgar, indeed, he obtained a for- midable reputation for magical skill ; but he was honoured by the wise and the great even of his own days ; and of Sylvester that may be more justly affirmed, which a Roman Catholic writer has rather chosen to pre- dicate of the papal energy of Leo. IX., ' that he undertook to repair the ruins of the tenth century.' III. At no former period had the Western Church suffered such com- plete disorganization as during the first half of the eighth century : the learning of the age the former as the centre of the theological movement; the latter as the philosopher of his day. It is, indeed, impossible to convey any faithful notion of the literature of any age without entering into some such detail. * The burning of the Alexandrian Library by the Saracens stands on authority about as good as the similar Vandalism charged on Gregory the Great. f Contemporary with the foundation of Oxford ; and where are they now ? The his- tory and character of the Turks can answer that question. J Some ingenious inventions of Gerbert are mentioned in the Hist. Liti. de la France, His various virtues are highly extolled in the same work ; and the only fault which his eulogists can find in his character is, 'that he used too much flattery in making his court to the great.' The grandees of the tenth century appear to have pardoned him this imper- fection. 264 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XV. longer it was connected with the barbarous political system of the conquerors the more closely it became associated with Discipline of their institutions, their habits, and their persons ; as they the Church, were gradually admitted to ecclesiastical dignities the more shameful was the license, the deeper the corruption which pervaded it. The progress of the malady was arrested by Charlemagne not with a reluctant or irresolute hand, but with the vigour which the occasion required, and which was justified by his noble designs. He repressed the disorders of the Bishops ; he assembled numerous Councils, and he enforced the observance of their canons ; thus he infused sudden energies into a body too torpid for self- reform ; and he endeavoured to perpetuate the impulse by promoting education and rewarding literature. The last, in truth, was that which gave his other measures their efficacy ; for above sixty years after his death, under the feeble sceptres of Lewis and Charles/the spirit sent forth by Charlemagne continued to animate the Church. Very general activity and superior intelligence distinguished the Clergy, especially the higher orders ; and the frequency with which they assembled their Councils, and the important regulations which they enacted, evinced a zeal for the re- storation of ecclesiastical discipline, which was not wholly without effect. Lewis was probably sincere in his co-operation for that purpose ; but the merit of having directed, or even vigorously stimulated, the exertions of his prelates cannot justly be ascribed to so weak a prince. Respecting Charles, there seems reason to suspect, that he, as well as his nobles, regarded with some jealousy the progress of reform, and that the attempts, so numerous during his reign, should rather be attributed to the perseverance of the Bishops, and especially of Hincmar, than to the virtue or wisdom of the secular government. In proof of this opinion (which, if true, is not without importance) we may mention the following circumstance. In the year 844, Councils were held at Thionville and Verneuil * for the remedy of abuses both in Church arid State ; their regulations were confirmed and amplified in the year following at Meaux, and after that at Paris ; and on this last occasion the prelates recurred with some impatience to the exhortations which they had frequently and ineffectually addressed to the Throne, and to that neglect they presumed to ascribe the temporal calamities which then afflicted the country. Presently afterwards, in an assembly of Barons held at Epernay, the Canons of Meaux and Paris were taken into consi- deration ; and while those which restricted ecclesiastics received the King's assent, others which touched the vices of the nobility were entirely rejected f. Nevertheless, Councils continued to meet with great fre- quency \ during this reign ; but we must not suppose that all of them had the same grand object ; some were convoked to arrange the disputes of the Bishops, either among themselves, or with the Pope, or with the King ; others met to restrain, had it been possible, the general licentious- * It appears from one of the Canons here published, that, in contempt of Charlemagne's Capitulary, the military service of the Bishops was already renewed, if indeed it was ever wholly discontinued. f Fleury, 1. xlviii., s. 35. I France was at this time the principal scene of ecclesiastical exertion. During the forty-six years of Charlemagne's reign, the number of Councils which met in France was thirty-five. Lewis, in twenty-six years, held twenty-nine; but no less than sixty-nine were assembled during the thirty-seven years of Charles the Bald. Their frequencythen gradually decreased ; and in the following hundred and ten years, to the accession of Hugh Capet, we observe no more than fifty-six. Chap. XV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 265 ness of the times * ; and of many it was the principal purpose to launch excommunication and anathema against the spoliators of ecclesiastical pro- perty, and to protect the persons of clerks and monks and nuns from the violence of the laity. It is not easy either to specify any particular changes introduced into the discipline of the Church during these ages, or precisely to determine the rigour of that discipline ; for such innovations are for the most part of slow and almost insensible growth ; and, though the canonical regulations are in themselves sufficiently explicit, their enforcement depended in each diocese on the authority or character of the Bishop. If, indeed, it had been possible at once to force into full operation the principles of the ' False Decretals,' the sudden revolution thus occasioned would have been perceptible to the eye of the most careless historian ; but the pre- tensions which they contained were utterly disproportioned to the power which the See then possessed of asserting them. Their tacit acknowledg- ment led to their gradual adoption; and in the patient progress of this usurpation every step that was gained gave fresh vigour, as well as loftier ground, to the usurper; but in the ninth century the French were too in- dependent entirely to submit to the servitude intended for them, and in the tenth the Popes were too weak and contemptible effectually to impose it. Nevertheless, time and ignorance were steadily engaged in sanctifying the imposture, and preparing it for more mischievous service in the hand of Hildebrand. Though we propose to defer a little longer any general account of the ^Monastic Order, it is proper here to notice that very powerful renovation of the system which was accomplished about this time by Benedict of Aniane a venerable name, which yields to none save Benedict of Nursia, in the reverence of monkish annalists. He was contemporary with Charlemagne and his successor, and was called in 817 to preside at the Council assembled at Aix-la-Chapelle for the reform of monastic abuses. The regulations which were then enacted, though they offended the sim- plicity of the primitive rule by many frivolous injunctions, were still useful in recalling to some form of discipline the broken ranks of the regular clergy. We should also mention, that the institution of Canons Regular, by Chrodegand, Bishop of Metz, was undertaken during the same period, and was completed under Lewis the Meek in a Council, also held at Aix-la-Chapelle, in 826. The original form of Episcopal election had been habitually violated by the barbarian kings ; and if it was nominally restored by Charlemagne, it still appears that he continued in practice to profit by the usurpation of * The disorders of the age are vividly depicted in the prefatory Exposition of the Council of Mayence in 888. ' Behold the magnificent edifices, which the servants of 'God were wont to inhabit, destroyed and burnt to ashes ; the altars overthrown and ' trampled under foot, the most precious ornaments of the Churches dispersed or con- ' sumed; the Bishops, Priests, and other Clerks, together with Laymen of every age and 1 sex, overtaken by sword or fire, or some other manner of massacre, &c.' Similar cala- mities are even more particularly detailed by the Council of Trosle in 909, attended with some charges of spiritual negligence in the Bishops themselves. (See Fleury, 1. liv., s. 2 and 44.) In 865, Pope Nicholas addressed some strong pacific exhortations to the princes of France: ' Parcite gladio : humanumfundere sanguinemformidolosius * exhorrescite ; cesset ira, sedentur odia, sopiantur jurgia, et omnis ex vobis simultas * radicitus evellatur. . . . Non in vobis vanse glorite typus, hon alterius usurpandi ter- * minos ambitio, sed justitia, charitas, et concordia regnet, et summum pax inttr vos 1 teneat omnino fastigium.' But such general addresses had probably little effect; and the first authoritative interference of the Church for the partial restoration of peace, and the institution of the Treve de Dieu, took place in the first half of the eleventh century. 266 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XV. his predecessors, and to fill up vacant sees by his own direct appointment. Lewis, however, had not been long on the throne, when he published (seemingly at the Parliament of Attigni in 822) a capitulary to reinstate the Church in her pristine rights. Nor was this concession merely formal ; on the contrary, it was brought into immediate force, and for some time actually directed the form of election. For instance, we observe that, in the year 845, Hincmar was raised to the See of Rheims ' by the Clergy * and people of Rheims, by the Bishops of the province, with the consent ' of the Archbishop of Sens, the Bishop of Paris, and the Abbot of St. * Denis his superior, and with the approbation of the King ;' and from several monuments of that age, and especially the letters of Hincmar* himself, we learn, that, at least during the reign of Charles, the Church continued in the recovered possession of her original liberty. The translation of Bishops continued to be prohibited during the ninth century, according to the ancient canons; and though Translation of the rule might be occasionally violated by the interference Bishops. of the Prince, and though the Pope did occasionally, though rarely, exercise that pernicious power which the Decretals, false as they were, and fatal to ecclesiastical discipline, never- theless gave him, the clergy and the people laboured to maintain the ancient and salutary practice. It appears, however, from a very strange occurrence, which is related to have passed in this age, that the Bishops of Rome, however willing to exert their groundless authority elsewhere, were extremely jealous of any translation to their own See. In the year 892, Formosus was raised from the See of Porto to that of Rome; he was a prelate of great piety and considerable attainments, but he offered the first instance of the elevation of a foreign Bishop to the throne of St. Peter. He held it for about four years, and died in possession of it. But scarcely were his ashes cold, when his successor, Stephen VI., a name which has earned peculiar distinction even among the pontifical barbarians of those days, summoned a Council to sit in judgment on the deceased. Formosus was dragged from his grave and introduced into the midst of the assembly. He was then solemnly reinvested with the ornaments of office, and placed in the Apostolical chair, and the mockery of an advocate to plead in his defence was added. Then Stephen inquired of his senseless predecessor ' Wherefore, Bishop of Porto, hast thou urged thy ambition so far, as to usurp the See of Rome?' The Council immediately passed the sentence of deposition ; and the condemned carcase, after being- stripped of the sacred vestments and brutally mutilated, was cast contemp- tuously into the Tiber. But the day of retribution was near at hand, for, in the order of Providence, the most revolting offences are sometimes * It appears that, as soon as the vacancy was declared, the King appointed from among the Bishops a visitor to the vacant see, who presided at the election. The only per- sons eligible (or very nearly so) were the Clergy of the diocese; but they were not the only electors ; the monasteries and the Curates, or parochial Clergy, sent their deputies. Nor were the noble laymen or the citizens of the city excluded on the principle ' that all should ' assist in the election of one whom all were bound to obey.' (See Fleury, 1. xlvi., s. 47 ; 1. xlviii., s. 38 ; 1. Hii., s. 33.) Still it would appear, even from the expression of Hincmar, in an epistle to Charles on this subject, as well as from a Canon of the Council of Va- lence held in 855, that the Church exercised the privilege rather as an indulgence from the Sovereign, than by its own original and lawful right. ' The Prince shall be peti- ' tioned to leave to the Clergy and People the liberty of election. The Bishop shall be 1 chosen from the Clergy of the Cathedral or of the Diocese, or at least of its immediate * neighbourhood. If a Clerk attached to the service of the Prince is proposed, his capa- 1 city and his morals shall be rigorously examined, &c.' Council of Valence. Chap. XV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 267 overtaken by the swiftest calamities. Only a few weeks elapsed, and Stephen himself was seized, and driven from the See and thrown into an obscure dungeon, loaded with chains, where he was presently strangled. It had been hitherto the practice of the Bishop of Rome to retain on his election the name by which he had been previously known : the first ex- ception to this rule took place in the tenth century. In 956, Octavianus, a noble Roman, was raised to the See at the age of eighteen, and expressed his determination to assume the name of John XII.* It does not appear that his boyish inclination was opposed ; and it is certain that the prece- dent was very soon and very generally followed. Neither was the example of Formosus forgotten in succeeding elections, though it was not so commonly imitated ; but before the end of this age we find that Gerbert, Archbishop of Ravenna, became, by a double change, Sylvester, Bishop of Rome, without any offence or reproach. Among the inferior clergy, the canonical discipline was extremely rigid : it was strictly forbidden to undertake the charge of two churches, to hold a prebend f in a monastery with a parochial cure, or even to exchange one church for another. That these regulations were sometimes, perhaps generally, enforced, appears from the earnestness with which they are pressed by Hincmar; and it is from his Synodal Statutes!, even more than from the Canons of Councils, that we learn the practice of the Gallican Church during the ninth century : that of the Churches of Italy was pro- bably less severe. The practice of Auricular Confession, which, though generally prevalent, was not universally received in the time of Charle- magne, may be said to have completed its establish- Claudius, Bishop ment during the two following ages. We observe, too, of Turin. X in the annals of those times, that the transfer of relics * See Pagi. Breviar. Gest. Rom. Pont. Vit. Johan. XII. f A Prebend then signified the dividend afforded to a Canon for his subsistence. The prohibition was repeated in 889 by the Council ot'Metz; which seems to prove that it was either not generally received, or imperfectly obeyed. J We have very little space for quotations, but the following are curious : ' I have often notified to you respecting the poor who are inscribed in the Books of the Church, how you ought to treat them and distribute to them a part of the tithe. I have forbid- den you to receive, in return for their portion (called matriciila), either present or service, in the house or elsewhere. I persist in forbidding it ; since such conduct is to sell cha- rity. I declare to you, that the priest who does so, shall be deposed, and even the por- tion of the tithe which is given to other paupers shall be refused to him.' Again I learn that some among you neglect their churches and buy private property which they cultivate, and build houses there in which women reside; and that they do not be- queath their property to the Church, according to the Canons, but to their relatives or others. Be informed that I shall punish with the utmost rigour of the Rules those whom I shall find guilty of this abuse.' It was another of Hincmar's meritorious endeavours to restrict the abuse of private patronage, by refusing ordination to every unworthy can- didate. See Fleury, 1. lii., s. 28. The travels of St. Vitus from Leucadia to Rome, from Rome to Saxony, may not perhaps deserve to be traced by us ; but we may be excused for pursuing the history of a pious prelate, whose living virtues we found occasion to mention St. Martin of Tours. About the middle of the ninth century, the approach of the Normans made it expedient to remove the venerable relics of that Saint from Tours to Auxerre, where he was con- fided, as a temporary deposit, to the care of the Bishop. During one-and-thirty years of exile. St. Martin continued to perform the most stupendous miracles; and thus he became so valuable to the Bishop of Auxerre, that when restitution was demanded, that prelate at once refused it. Hereupon the Archbishop of Tours prevailed upon a powerful Baron, whose domains were adjacent, to avenge the perfidy and to recover the treasure by force. Thus St. Martin returned triumphantly to his native city, escorted by a band of six thousand soldiers. The story is told in the last chapter of Fleury, Book liii. Again, in the year 826, two holy Abbots set out from France to Rome, in order to bring away 268 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XV, from place to place was carried on with extraordinary ardour, propor- tioned to the sanctity attached to them, and to the wonders which they are recorded to have wrought. This superstition was, indeed, boldly assailed by one real Christian, Claudius, Bishop of Turin*, the Protestant of the ninth century. * Wherefore (he indignantly exclaimed) do not the wor- shippers of the wood of the Cross, in conformity with their new principles, adore chaplets of thorns, because Christ was crowned with thorns, or cradles, linen, or boats, because he made use of them, or spears, because he was pierced with that weapon ? Or why do they not fall down before the image of an ass, because he rode on that animal? Christ Jesus did not command us to worship the Cross, but to bear it to renounce the world and ourselves.' The inconsistency which the pious Bishop objected to his Church was indeed, to a great extent, re- moved by the multiplied corruptions of after tigesf; but the remon- strances of the Reformer roused the indignation of his contemporaries ; his endeavour to distinguish the corruptions from the substance of the system brought down upon him the usual reproaches of hostility and schism from the more rigid Churchmen of the day ; and had he lived in an age in which the secular power was subservient to their principles, he would have been variously known to posterity, as a chastised heretic or as a blessed martyr. During this same period the penitential system of the Church under- went a more regular organization ; ecclesiastical J punishments were ad- justed with more discrimination to the offence of the penitent, and greater uniformity of practice was established in the different dioceses. The Liturgy received several improvements ; indeed it assumed at this time the form in which it was transmitted, with very slight, if any, variation to the more splendid ages of the Roman Church. The celebration of the religious offices, their rules, and their history employed the diligence of the learned ||, the bodies of St. Sebastian, and even of St. Gregory himself. They returned triumphant the former had been solemnly granted to the Emperor by the Pope ; the latter they had stolen away by a pious artifice. Their success is recorded by Eginhard, or Einhard, the contemporary biographer of Charlemagne. But the loss has never been acknowledged by the Romans, nor is it probable that they ever sustained it. * He was a native of Spain, and died in his diocese of Turin, about the year 840. His vigorous opposition to the worship of images could not be so generally unpopular on the other side of the Alps as in Italy ; yet we observe that one of his principal opponents was Jonas, a Bishop of Orleans. It was another of his errors that he denied that the power of the priesthood, to bind and loose, extended beyond this world ; and the last, and probably the greatest, that he asserted the term Apostolical Father to be properly applied, not to him who filled the chair of the Apostle, but to him who discharged the duties attached to it. The works for which Claudius was particularly celebrated, were his Commentaries on Scripture, both of the Old and New Testament. f See Gilly's Introduction to the History of the Waldenses. J The following passage (from Hincmar's Instructions to his Clergy, published about 857) shows the extent to which the arm of the Clergy then reached, as well as the man- ner in which it acted. ' As soon as a homicide, or any other public crime, shall have been ' committed, the curate (the resident clergyman) shall signify to the culprit to present him- ' self before the Doyen and the other curates, and to submit to penance ; and they shall * send information to their superiors, who reside in the city, so that, in the course of a ' fortnight, the offender may appear before us and receive public penance with imposition of ' hands. The day on which the crime was committed shall be carefully noted down, as ' well as that on which the penance was imposed. When the curates shall assemble at the ' calends they shall confer together respecting their penitents, to inform us in what man- ' ner each performs his penance, that we may judge when he ought to be reconciled to ' the Church. If the criminal does .not submit to the penance within the days specified, ' he shall be excommunicated until he does submit.' II Amalarius, a disciple of Alcuin, clerk of the church of Metz, was, among these, the Chap. XV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 269 and received elaborate and useful illustrations. The credit of these exer- tions belongs indeed entirely to the theologians of the ninth century; but the works which they raised, after resisting the tempests which followed, continued to constitute an important portion of the ecclesiastical edifice. IV. During the period which we have now described, while the centre and heart of Christendom was for the most part cold and corrupted, the vital stream was ceaselessly flowing External progress towards the northern extremities of Europe. It would of Christianity. be an attractive, and it might be a profitable employ- ment to trace the feeble and sometimes ineffectual missions, which intro- duced our holy religion among the Pagans of Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and Norway, and to observe the other circumstances which, in conjunc- tion with their pious perseverance, finally established it there. This mighty success we may consider to have been obtained before the middle of the eleventh century : not, perhaps, that the faith of Christ was uni- versally embraced by the lowest classes, still less was it thoroughly com- prehended or practised ; but it had gained such deep and general footing, as to secure its final and perfect triumph. We shall concisely mention some of the leading circumstances by which this great event was accomplished. Heriold, King of Denmark, an exile and a suppliant at the court of Lewis Denmark and the Meek, was there prevailed upon to adopt the Christian Sweden. religion. But as this conversion did not seem calculated to facilitate his restoration to his throne, Lewis presented him with an estate in Friesland, for which he departed. He was accompanied to that retreat by a monk of Corbie, named Anscaire or Ansgarius, a young and fear- less enthusiast, ardent for the toils of a missionary and the glory of a martyr. His first exertions were made in Denmark; presently afterwards (in 830) he advanced into Sweden ; and such promise of success attended him, that Lewis determined to establish an Archiepiscopal See at Ham- burgh, as the centre of future operations. Gregory IV. gave his consent, and bestowed the pallium, together with the dignity of Pontifical Legate, upon Ansgarius. Thus exalted and strengthened, he persevered in his enterprise, encouraging the exertions of others, and not sparing his own. And whatsoever degree of credit* we may find it possible to attach to the stories of supernatural assistance, continually vouchsafed both to him and his ministers, we may be assured that the character, with which he was occasionally invested, of Ambassador from the Emperor of the West, together with the fame of his private sanctity, gave additional efficacy to his religious labours. The account of Anscaire's successful expedition into Sweden (in the year 854), as it is transmitted to us from early days, contains much that is curious, and nothing that is improbable. When the Bishop arrived at the capital, he communicated to the King, Olef or most celebrated. His corrected ' Treatise on the Ecclesiastical Offices ' was published, tinder the auspices of Lewis, in the year 83 1 ; and it is highly valued by Roman Catholic writers as proving the very high antiquity of the greater part of the services of their Church. Fleury gives a short account of this work in 1. xlvii., s. 36. * After relating some extraordinary prodigies (1. xlix., s. 19), Fleury observes ' These ' miracles deserve belief, if ever there were any which did so, since they are related in the * Life of St. Anscaire by Rembert, his disciple and successor ; and if we are permitted to ' assert, that there is any occasion on which God might be expected to perform miracles ' it is doubtless in support, of his infant Churches,' a religious and pious observation, to which we give our full assent. But the work of Rembert is lost, and our only accounts of Ansgarius are derived from the ancient chronicles. See Baronius, Ann, 858, s. 14, 15, &c. j and Fleury, 1. xlix., s. 21, and 1. lv., s. 19. 270 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XV. Olave, the object of his mission. The King replied * I would willingly consent to your desire, but I can accord nothing until I have con- sulted our gods by the lot, and till I know the will of the people, who have more influence in public affairs than I have.' Olef first consulted his nobles, and, after the customary probation by lot, the gods were ascer- tained to be favourable to the proposal. The General Assembly of the people was then convoked ; and the King caused a herald to proclaim the object of the imperial embassy. The people murmured loudly ; and while they were yet divided in their opinions as to the reception of the religion of Christ, an old man rose up among them and said * King. and people ! listen to me. We are already acquainted with the service of that God, and he has been found of great assistance to those who invoke him. There are many among us who have experienced it in perils by sea and on other occasions ; why, then, should we reject Him? Formerly there were some who travelled to Dorstadt for the sake of embracing that reli- gion of which they well knew the utility : why, then, should we now refuse that blessing, when it is here proposed and presented to us?' The people were convinced by this discourse, and unanimously consented to the establishment of the Christian religion, and the residence of its minis- ters among them. Anscarius died ten years afterwards ; and the foot- steps which he had traced in that rude soil were greatly defaced during the following century, though it is too much to assert that they were wholly obliterated. Some exertions were made for the conversion of the Sclavonians about the middle of the ninth age; but that event was not finally Russia, Poland accomplished until the conquest of Bohemia by Otho, in and Hungary. the year 950. In the same manner Basil, the Emperor of the East, in conjunction with his Patriarch Ignatius, en- deavoured to introduce into the heart of Russia the knowledge of the Gospel. An Archbishop was purposely ordained and sent on that mission ; and a miracle, which was performed in the presence of the prince and his people, obtained a partial reception for the new religion. This event occurred in 871 ; but the faith made little consequent progress, and its ministers were subjected to insult and persecution; nor are we justified in ascribing the complete conversion of that nation to a period earlier than the end of the tenth century. In 989 Vladimer, Prince of the Russians, espoused the sister of the Emperors Basil and Constantine, and em- braced, in consequence, the Christian belief. He lived to an extreme old age, and during a long reign found many imitators ; his faith be- came the rule of their worship ; and the knowledge of its principles and the practice of its precepts were preceded, as in so many other instances, by its bare nominal * profession. About twenty years earlier the Duke of Poland, whose conversion is also attributed to the influence of a Christian Queen, promoted the spiritual regeneration of his subjects; and, during the first year of the following age, Stephen, King or Duke of Hungary, undertook, with still greater zeal and success, the same holy enterprise. The above facts, though so briefly stated, are perhaps sufficient to prove to us (and could we pursue them more deeply into detail the inference * We are not to suppose that even the general profession of the faith was immediate : in fact we observe that a pious missionary of the Roman Church, named Bruno or Boniface, was massacred in the year 1009, wilh several associates, by certain Russians whom he would have converted. His ardour for martyrdom was roused by the sight of a church, dedicated at Rome to the ancient martyr Boniface. See Petrus Damiani ap. Baron, Ann. 996, s. 33. Chap. XV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 271 would be still clearer) that, in those days, the public preaching o f pious individuals was extremely uncertain in its effect upon the mass of the community, unless when supported by the example or authority of chiefs and princes. Nor is this surprising; for to nations wholly uncivilized and uninstructed it is almost hopeless to address the revelations of truth or the persuasions of reason. And accordingly we observe, that the little perceptible success which attended those missionaries in their direct inter- course with the people is usually ascribed to their miraculous powers, or possibly to the sanctity of their character ; seldom to their arguments or their eloquence. But it would have been the greatest of all miracles had this been otherwise ; the barbarians were too deeply plunged in ignorance and superstition long to listen to any admonitions which were not addressed to them by the voice of power. And thus, when it pleased God in due season to bring them over to his own service, it may be that He vouch- safed to them some faint and occasional manifestations of his own omnipo- tence ; but it was certainly from amongst the powers and principalities of this world, that he selected his most efficient earthly instruments. In the mean time, during the accomplishment of these gradual and dis- tant conquests, the Saracens had wasted the south of Italy, and approached the very walls of the pontifical city. The Normans On the other side, for their chastisement and expulsion, and Turks. a new and vigorous race presented itself, recently sent forth from the extremities of the North. And (what, besides, is a strange coincidence, and deserving of more curious observation than we can here bestow upon it) while the Norman Pagans were overspreading some of the fairest provinces of the West with fire and relentless desola- tion, the Turkish Pagans of the East were entering, even at the same moment, on their pestilential career of conquest. The former adopted the religion of the vanquished, and then, by the infusion of their own vigorous character, they made some compensation to Christendom for the wrongs which they had inflicted. In like manner did the Turks embrace the religion, while they overthrew the dynasty of the Arabs, who preceded them and not their dynasty only, but their arts, their industry, and their genius. And, in the place of these, they substituted a savage and sullen despotism, alike destructive to the character and the faculties, since its firmest principles are founded in superstition, and bigotry is the legiti- mate spirit by which it is warmed and animated. It is, indeed, true, that the Arabian invaders had devastated many flourishing Christian coun- tries without justice and without mercy ; but it was no mild or insufficient retribution, which so soon subjected them to the deadly scourge of Turkish oppression. CHAPTER XVI. The Life of Gregory VII. WE shall divide this long and important chapter into three sections. The first will contain the principal events which were brought about by the Popes who immediately preceded Gregory and acted under his influence. The second will describe the great ecclesiastical arid political occurrences of his pontificate. In the third we shall consider separately the contro- versy concerning Berenger, and the general establishment of the Latin Liturgy. 272 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVI. SECTION I. Pope Leo IX. Early History of Hildebrand Succession of Victor fll. of Stephen IX. of Nicholas II. his Measure respecting Papal Election the College of Cardinals imperfec- tion of that Measure Subsequent and final Regulation Inconveniences of popular Suffrage Restriction of the Imperial Right of Confirmation Homage of Robert Guiscard and the Normans Dissensions on the Death of Nicholas Succession of Alexander II. actual Supremacy of Hilde- brand Measures taken during that Pontificate Alexander is succeeded by Hildebrund, under 1 the title of Gregory VII. GREAT hopes were entertained that the disorders of Italy and the cala- mities of the Church would find some respite, if not a final termina- tion, on the accession of Leo IX. This Pope (Bruno, Bishop of Toul), a native of Germany and of splendid reputation, as well for learning- as for piety, was appointed by the Emperor Henry III. at the request of the Romans, and ascended the chair in the year 1049 ; and the dignity of his royal connexion confirmed the hopes which his personal virtues had ex- cited. We are informed* that while he was proceeding through France into Italy in his pontifical vestments, he became acquainted at Cluni with a monk named Hildebrand ; who prevailed upon him to lay aside those ornaments which he had prematurely assumed, to enter Rome in the dress of a pilgrim, and there to receive from the Clergy and people that apostolical office which no layman had the right to confer. The Pope was struck by the talents and character of this Monk, and carried him along with him to Rome. Hildebrand was probably a native of Saona, in Tuscany, and (so at least it is generally asserted) of low origin f ; yet he became early in life the disciple of Laurence, Archbishop ofMelpha; presently he gained the notice and even the confidence of Benedict IX. and Gregory VI., and it was not till the death of the latter that he retired to the monastery of Cluni. From a retreat so little suited to his restless spirit he was finally called by Leo IX. to that vast theatre of ecclesiastical ambition, in which so extraordinary a part was destined to himself. Leo presided over the Church for five years : his reign was distinguished by some attempts at salutary reform, and especially by the famous Coun- cil which he held at Rheims with that purpose (or under that pretext), in defiance of the royal authority J. On his death the election of a succes- sor was confided by the clergy of Rome to the judgment and address of Hildebrand. He selected Victor II., and obtained, by a difficult nego- ciation , his confirmation from the Emperor. During this Pontificate he was sent into France as legate, and vigorously y maintained the authority * Giannoni, Storia di Napoli, 1. ix., s. 3. Muratori, Vit. Rom. Pontif., t. iii., p. 2. The earliest authority for this story seems to be Otho Frisingensis, who flourished in the middle of the following century. Wibertus, who was Leo's archdeacon and biographer, does not mention it. However, the two facts that Hildebrand accompanied him to Rome, and that he entered that city in the habit of a pilgrim, are not disputed. See Pagi, Breviar. Vit. Leo. IX. f Both these facts are contested. In the Chronicle of Hugo Flaviniacensis it is ex- pressly asserted that he was a Roman, born of Roman citizens ; and Papenbrochius thinks it probable that he was of a noble family. Pagi (Vit. Greg. VII. s. 8.) admits that the truth cannot be clearly ascertained. J He made an unsuccessful campaign against the Normans, and was defeated by them in person the year before his death. On this occasion Hildebrand may have learnt the policy of cultivating their friendship. $ Leo Ostiensis, lib. ii., cap. 90. The Emperor professed extreme reluctance to part Vith his counsellor and favourite. II He deposed six Bishops on various charges ' by the authority of the Roman See.' Respecting one of these it is recorded by several writers, that having been guilty of si- ; nu_ Chap. XVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 273 of the Holy See. Victor was succeeded in 1057 hy Stephen IX., and on his death, in the year following', a violent division arose among the elec- tors. The nobles of Rome were for the most part united, and appear to have made a hasty and illegal choice ; but several Cardinals, who had no share in this transaction, assembled at Siena and chose another w candi- date, who was finally confirmed and placed in possession of the See by the Empress, the mother of Henry IV. This candidate was Nicholas II. : and the difficulties which had attended his own election probably led him, under the guidance of Hildebrand, his counsellor and patron, to that measure, which was the foundation of Papal independence. In a late chapter we briefly mentioned what that measure was, and we shall now add a few remarks in illustration of it. ' We * have thought proper to enact (says the Pontiff) that, Enactment on 4 upon the decease of the Bishop of this Roman Uni- Papal election. * versal Church, the affair of the election be treated first ' and with most diligent consideration by the Cardinal Bishops ; who shall * afterwards call into their council the Cardinal Clerks ; and finally require * the consent of the rest of the Clergy and people t.' The term Cardinal had hitherto been adopted with very great and indefinite latitude in all the Latin Churches, and even applied to the regular orders, as well as to the secular Clergy ; but by this edict it was restrained to the seven Bishops who presided in the city and territory of Rome, and to the twenty-eight Clerks or Presbyters, who were the ministers of the twenty-eight Roman parishes or principal Churches. These five-and-thirty persons constituted the College of Cardinals. The previous examination of the claims of the candidates rested with the Bishops, but they could not proceed to elec- tion except in conjunction with the Presbyters. The rest of the Clergy, the nobility, and the people, were excluded from any positive share in the election, but were allowed a negative suffrage in giving or withholding their consent. It was obvious, that this last provision would produce fre- quent disorder and confusion, and that those, who had been so suddenly deprived of the most substantial part of their rights, would lose no oppor- tunity of abusing that which remained to them. And it is probable that Hildebrand, when he counselled a measure of imperfect reform, was ob- liged to confine himself to what was at the moment practicable, reserv- ing the completion of his design to some more favourable period. And so, indeed, it proved ; the nobles, the Clergy, and the populace continued very frequently to disturb the elections which they gradually lost the power to influence ; and it was riot till the century following that Alexander III. found means to perfect the scheme of Hildebrand, and finally purify them from all such interference. Thenceforward the right of election was vested in the College J of Cardinals alone, and so it has continued to the present time. mony he became unable to articulate the offended name of the Holy Ghost, though he could pronounce those of the Father and the Son without any difficulty. Petrus Damiani, Epist. ad Nicolaum Papam. Desiderius Abbas Cassinensis., &c. &c. ^ 4 Pope Stephen, by consent of the Bishops, Clergy, and Koman people, had or- i., cap. 101. Pagi, Breviar. Vit. Stoph. j- Mosh. Cent, xi., p. ii., c. ii. The Cardinals were to be unanimous in their choice. Hist. Litt. Franc., Vie Nich. II. I The College received, on that occasion, some additions for the purpose of conci- liating the aristocracy and the civil authorities ; but the people gained little or nothing by them. 274 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVI. No one acquainted with the frightful * disorders which were the scandal of the Roman Church during the two preceding centuries, and which were occasionally felt even at much earlier periods, will affect to censure a measure which removed the principal cause of them by subverting- the system of popular election. In defence of a custom, which in principle was not calculated for a numerous society, and which had been con- demned by the experience of at least five centuries, it was in vain to plead the venerable institution of antiquity. Universal in its origin, it had for some time been adopted in Episcopal elections throughout the whole of Christendom ; but as its inconveniences were multiplied by the increase of proselytes, it fell into gradual disuse, first in the East, and afterwards in the Western Church ; and at the period which we are now describing, it was perhaps no where in full operation except at Rome. The evils, which at Rome it had so pre-eminently produced, abundantly justify the wisdom of the Reformerf. We have also mentioned another important clause contained in the Edict of Nicholas ; that which reduced the imperial confirmation to a mere personal privilege, conferred indeed on Henry III., Imperial but liable to be withheld from his successors J. The Confirmation, long minority of that Prince, and the weakness of his government, favoured this usurpation, and accelerated the result which Hildebrand foresaw from it, namely, total emancipation from imperial interference. In fact, the very following Pontiff, Alexander II., maintained himself without the sanction, and even against the will, of the Emperor ; and though Gregory himself vouchsafed to defer his own con- secration till Henry had ratified his election, succeeding Popes did not on any occasion acknowledge such right as any longer vested in the Throne, but proceeded to the exercise of their office, without awaiting even the form of confirmation from Germany. Thus we perceive that the cele- brated Council of 1059 was the instrument of finally accomplishing (and that at no very distant period) both the objects at which it aimed, without the power of immediately effecting either the entire independence of papal election from the opposite restraints of popular suffrage and impe- rial confirmation. It is true that Hildebrand lived not to behold with his own eyes the completion of the work which he had projected ; but such is commonly the fate of those who engage in comprehensive schemes of * Giannoni (Hist. Nap., 1. v., c. vi.) details them with great force. f Gibbon seems to have considered the Popes as endeared to the people by the prac- tice of popular election. The affection of the Romans for their Popes (we speak not now of those earlier ages when all episcopal elections were popular) was probably confined to that period which intervened between their neglect by the Eastern Emperor and the ac- cession of Charlemagne ; and during that interval, while endangered by the constant in- vasions of the Lombards, they were certainly and strongly attached to their leader by the sense of common peril. There are also other and more respectable reasons for that at- tachment. The Popes of that time were generally Romans by birth, and known to their subjects, as they are known to posterity, by their piety and their virtues. The ecclesiasti- cal revenues were employed to protect the Churches and convents against a barbarous and Arian foe ; and the affection awakened by the merits of the Popes was multiplied by thi'ir services. See Sismondi, Repuhl. Ital., c. iii. $ It is important to cite the words of this Edict. ' Cardinales Episcopi diligentissima ' simul consideratione tractantes mox sibi Clericos Cardinales adhibeant, sicque reliquus ' Clerus et populus ad consensum novae electionis accedant. . . . Eligant autem de 1 ipsius Ecclesiae gremio, si repertus fuerit idoneus ; et si de ipsa non invenitur ex alia ' assumatur ; salvo debito honore et reverentia dilecti Filii nostri Henrici, qui impraesen- ' tiarum Rex habetur, et futurus Imperator Deo concedente speratur, sicut jam ipsi con- 1 cestimut) et successorum illius qui ab Apostolica Sede personatiterhocjus impetraverint,' Pagi, Brev.Vit. Nicolai II., s. 7. Chap. XVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 275 reformation, and whose measures are accommodated to their permanent fulfilment. The work which they build is not for the gratification of their own vanity, or the profit of their own days it is enough for them that the structure proceeds with some immediate advantage and great promise of future excellence the use and enjoyment of its perfection is destined to other generations. Another important event distinguished the pontificate of Nicholas. The Norman conquerors of the South of Italy being harassed on the one hand by the hostility of the Greek Emperor, and by the violent incursions of the Saracens on the other, imagined that they should improve their title to their conquests, and increase their security, if they held them as a fief from the See of Rome. The Pontiff readily availed himself of a conces- sion, which implied the acknowledgment of one of the broadest principles of papal ambition. And thus he consented to receive the homage of the Normans, and solemnly to create Robert Guiscard Duke of Apulia, Cala- bria and Sicily, on erudition that he should observe, as a faithful vassal, inviolable allegiance, and pay an annual * tribute, in proof of his subjection to the Apostolic See. The permanence of this feudal grant increases its claims on our attention ; and the kingdom of the two Sicilies, even as it now subsists, stands on that foundation. The nature of this transaction is so closely allied to that of others which we are now approaching, that there is no difficulty in tracing it to the hand df Hildebrand. On the death of Nicholas in 1061, the dissensions which had disturbed his election were to some extent renewed. The more powerful party, under the guidance of Hildebrand, placed Alexander Alexander II. in the chair ; the Nobles resisted, and their //. opposition was encouraged by the direct support of the Emperor ; whose confirmation had not been required by the new Pope, and who was justly exasperated at the neglect. Nevertheless, the genius of Hildebrand triumphed over all difficulties ; and after a contest of three years Alexander was firmly established in the chair, though it was still feebly disputed with him. He occupied it for twelve years, and passed the greater portion of that time in the retirement of Lucca or Monte Cassino but the See lost nothing by his secession, since he intrusted its various interests and the entire direction of public affairs to the diligent zeal of Hildebrand, who had been raised by Nicholas to the dignity of Archdea- con of Rome, and who exerted there an unbounded and undisguised au- thority f. Accordingly we find, during this pontificate, (1) that various attempts were made to reform the morals of the Clergy and the abuses of the Church (2) that the famous question concerning Investitures was first moved (3) that, by a constitution of Alexander, no Bishop in the Catholic Church was permitted to exercise his functions, until he had received the * ' Accepta prius ab iis, cum Sacramento. Romanse ecclesiae fidelitate ; censuque quot- ' annis per juga bourn singula denariis duodecim. 1 Leo Ostiensis, lib. iii. cap. 15. The Words of the oath are cited by Baronius. f The following contemporary verses perhaps do not much exaggerate the actual su- premacy of Hildebrand. ' Papam rite colo, sed te prostratus adoro : Tu facis hunc domiiuim te facit ille Deum. Vivere vis Romae ? clara depromito voce, Plus Domino Papae, quam Domno pareo Papse.' Petr. Damiani. T 2 276 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVI. confirmation of the Holy See* (4) that the Emperor himself was sum- moned to Rome, to answer to the charge of simony, and other complaints which had reached the See respecting himf. Under these various heads we perceive the operation of the same master-spirit aiming steadily at the reform of the Church, at its independence, at the extension of papal au- thority over the episcopal order, and over the conduct and sceptre of Princes. Alexander II. died in 1073 ; and thus for four-and-twenty years Hilde- brand had exercised in the Vatican an unremitting influence which had latterly grown into despotic authority and thus far contented with the reality of pontifical power, he had not cared to invest himself with the name and rank. Perhaps he had thought the moment not yet arrived in which he could occupy the office with dignity, or fill it with great advantage ; pro- bably he was desirous to complete, under other names, the train which he had been long preparing, and to which he designed to apply the torch in his own person ; it is even possible, that his severe^and imperious charac- ter, by alienating popular^ favour, rendered his election uncertain. It was not, assuredly, that he valued the security of a humbler post ; for, among the numerous vices with which he has been charged, the baseness of selfish timidity has never been accounted as one. At length, on the very day of Alexander's death, Hildebrand was elected his successor by the unanimous suffrage of the Cardinals, and the universal acclamation of the Clergy and people ; and that he might mark, at least, the beginning of his pontificate by an act of moderation, he waited for the Emperor's consent before his consecration. But it is true that he rather claimed than requested that consent, and that it was granted with the graceless reluctance of impotent jealousy. He assumed the title of Gregory VII. ; and, after twelve years of restless exertion, he left that name invested with a portentous celebrity which attaches to no other in the annals of the Church. SECTION II. The Pontificate of Gregory. Gregory's First Council its two objects to prevent (1.) Marriage or Concubinage of the Clergy (S.) SimoniacalSale of Benefices On the Celibacy of the Clergy why encouraged by Popes Leo IX. Severity and Consequence of Gregory's Edict Original Method of appointment to Benefices Usurpations of Princes how abused the Question of Investiture Explained Pretext for Royal Encroachments Original form of Consecration by the King and Crown Right usurped by Otho State of the Question at the Accession of Gregory Conduct of Henry further measures of the Pope Indifference of Henry Summoned before a Council at Rome Council of Worms Excommunication of the Emperor and Absolution of his Subjects from their Allegiance Consequence of this Edict Dissensions in Germany how suspended Henry does Penance at Canossa restored to the Communion of the Church again takes the field Rodolphus declared Emperor Gregory's Neutrality Remarks on the course of Gregory's Measures Universality of his temporal Claims his probable project Considerations in excuse of his Schemes partial admission of his Claims Ground on which he founded them power to bind and to loose Means by which he supported them Excommunication Interdict Legates * St. Marc, p. 460. Hallam (Midd. Ages, c. vii.) considers this provision to have con- tributed more than any other papal privilege, to the maintenance of the temporal influ- ence, as well as the ecclesiastical supremacy of Rome. t See Semler, cent. xi. c. 1, and Pagi, Vit. Alexand. II. sect. 48. This part of Mo- sheim's history is exceedingly hurried and imperfect. J This is Sismondi's opinion, chap. iii. ; and we can readily believe, that the stern vir- tues of Gregory were not likely to recommend him to a venal populace. Yet, when at length he did propose himself, we hear nothing of any opposition from that quarter, while the acclamations which attended his election are universally recorded. But, after all, that severity of manner, which is known to be connected with an austere sanctity of life, is not an unpopular feature in the sacerdotal character. Chap. XVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 277 & Latere Alliance with Matilda his Norman allies German Rebels internal Administration Effect of his rigorous Measures of Reform his grand scheme of Supremacy within the Church False Decretals Power conferred by them on the Pope brought into action by Gregory Ap- peals to Pope Generally encouraged and practised their pernicious Effects Gregory's double Scheme of Universal Dominion Return to Narrative Clement III. anti-Pope Death of Rodol- phus Henry twice repulsed from before Rome finally succeeds his Coronation by Clement the Normans restore Gregory he follows them to Salerno and there dies his historical import, ance his Character Public his grand principle in the Administration of the Church Private as to Morality as to Religion. IN the year following 1 his advancement, Gregory assembled a numerous Council at Rome, chiefly for the purpose of correcting two abuses in Church discipline and government, which appeared most to require reform. These were (1) the marriage or concubinage of the Clergy; (2) the simoniacal sale of benefices. 1. Most of the early Fathers were diligent in their endeavours to establish the connexion between celibacy and sanctity, and to persuade men that those who were wedded to the Marriage of Church were contaminated by an earthly union. This the Clergy. notion was readily embraced by the Laity ; and many of the Clergy acted upon it without reluctance, owing to the greater commendation of austerity which the practice was found to confer upon them : still, in the Eastern Church, where it originated, it was never very rigidly enforced; and a Council of Constantinople, held in 691, permitted, with certain limitations, the ordination of married men. These Canons were never formally received in the West, where celibacy and strict conti- nence were unrelentingly enjoined on all orders of the priesthood. With whatsoever laxity the latter injunction may have been observed, there are not many complaints of the open violation of the former, at least from the end of the sixth, until the conclusion of the ninth, and the progress of the tenth century: but during this period the irregularity spread widely, and even displayed itself with undisguised confidence throughout every branch of the Roman Hierarchy. The Popes were naturally averse to this relax- ation of discipline partly from the continued prevalence of the original notion, that those were better qualified for spiritual meditations and offices who were severed from secular interests and affections ; partly from the scandal thus occasioned to the prejudices of the laity ; partly from respect to established ordinances and usages; partly from attachment to a principle, which, by withdrawing the Clergy from worldly con- nexions, bound them more closely to each other and to their Head. At any rate the evil had now grown to so great a height, that it was be- come quite necessary either to repeal the laws so openly violated, or to enforce them. They' chose the latter office, and the first who distinguished himself in the difficult enterprise was Leo IX. His immediate successors trod in his steps ; but as sufficient measures were not taken (perhaps could not have been taken) to carry these edicts into effect, they seem generally to have fallen to the ground without advantage, except in so far as they prepared the way for the more vigorous exertions of Gregory. In the abovementioned Council it was ordained ' that the sacerdotal orders should abstain from marriage ; and that such members of them as had already wives or concubines should immediately dismiss them or quit the priestly office.' The more difficult part remained to enforce this decree; and herein Gregory did not confine himself to the legitimate weapon of spiritual censure, but also exerted his powerful influence to arm the temporal authorities in his service. Numerous disorders were 278 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVI. the consequence of this measure ; at Milan * and in Germany the Edict was openly resisted, and many ecclesiastics were found in every country, who preferred the sacrifice of their dignities and interests to the abandon- ment of those connexions which they held dearer than either f. The con- fusion thus created was indeed gradually tranquillized by the progress of time, by the perseverance of the Pontiff, by the aid, perhaps, of the laity, by the indifference of the Sovereigns but the practice itself was not so easily removed ; and though, through severe restraint, it proceeded con- stantly to abate, it continued in some degret^to disturb the Church during the following century, and to call down the denunciations of her Popes and her Councils. 2. Another Edict of the same Council forbade in the*severest terms the sale of ecclesiastical benefices ; and the following circumstance made that Edict necessary. The Bishop was originally elected Edict against by the Clergy and people of the diocese ; but in process Simony. of time, the people, as we have already seen, were in most places excluded, and the election rested with the Clergy alone. Presently, in the anarchy which prevailed after the dis- solution of the Western Empire, the wealth which flowed into the coffers of the Church, as it brought with it no proportionate security, not only tempted the rapacity of the Nobles, but invited the usurpation of the So- vereigns. Thus, at an early period, long antecedent to the reign of Charle- magne, the Western Princes commenced their interference in Episcopal elections first, as it would seem, by simple recommendation ; then by the interposition of threats and show of authority; lastly, by positive ap- pointment. The partial restoration of the right which took place in the ninth century, under Lewis the Meek and his successor, was probably confined to the Church of France and to the life of Hincmar. Their next step was to abuse the privilege which they had usurped, and the manner of abuse was alike indecent and scandalous : the spoils of their injustice were retailed to their avarice ; and the most important charges and offices of the ministry were commonly and publicly sold to the highest bidder, without regard to literary qualification or sanctity of character, or the most obvious interests of religion. This was, in fact, the avowed corruption which Gregory sought to remedy ; and the specious object to which his exertions and those of his successors, through so many conflicts, tended, was to deprive the Prince of his usurped autho- rity in Episcopal election. A secondary view was closely attached to * At Milan a violent dispute on this subject had arisen between the Clergy and the Laity, under Stephen IX., in the year 1057. (Pagi, Vit. Steph. IX.) The schism con- tinned under Nicholas II., who sent legates to compose it; but it still continued during the pontificate of Alexander. The Popes took part with the Laity against the married Clergy, who were named Nicolaites. t ' Malle se sacerdotium quam conjugium deserere.' Lambert. Schaffn. in Chronico. Gregory is much censured by Mosheim and others for not haying distinguished, in his sweeping decree, between the wives and the concubines of the Clergy ; and with justice, since he visited the violation of canonical law with the same severity with which he protected the eternal precepts of Christian morality. It must be admitted, however, that as his object was the entire and immediate extirpation of what he considered a scandalous abuse, he took the only means at all likely to accomplish it. Itwas in vain that the Milanese Clergy pleaded the authority of St. Ambrose and the example of the Greeks it was well known that the former protected not those who admitted papal supremacy ; and that the Council, which permitted the latter, was r.ever acknowledged by the Roman Church. It seems indeed probable that St. Gregory was the first Pope who rigidly enforced the practice of celibacy ; but for two centuries after his time it was both the law and practice of the Church, and in the two ages which succeeded, though it had ceased to be the practice, it still continued the law. See Bayle, Vie Greg. I. Fleury, Discours sur 1'H. K.depuis 600 jusqu'a 1100. Chap. XVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 279 this, but not yet so boldly professed. to transfer that authority, if not in form, in * substance, to the Pope. K> Thus much appears exceedingly simple; but the point on which the dispute did in reality turn, and which has given the name to the contest, was one, as it might seem, of mere formality the Investiture of the Bishop or Abbot. We must now shortly explain Investiture. this part of the question ; and we shall thus become acquainted with the circumstances which are urged in justification of the royal claims. When the early conquerors of the West conferred territorial grants upon the Church, the individuals who came to the enjoyment of them were obliged to present themselves at Court, to swear allegiance to the King, and to receive from his hands some symbol, in proof that the temporalities were placed in their possession. The same ceremony, in fact, was imposed on the ecclesiastical as on the lay proprietor of royal fiefs ; and it was called Investiture. Afterwards, when the Princes had usurped the presentation to all valuable benefices, even to those which had not been derived from royal bounty, they introduced no distinction founded on the different sources of the revenue, but continued to subject those whom they nominated, to the same oath of allegiance, and the same ceremony of investiture, with the laity. In the mean time it had been an early custom, on the consecration of a Bishop, that the Metropolitan, who by right performed the ceremony, should place in the hands of the Prelate elect a ring and a crosier sym- bols of his spiritual connexion with the Church, and of his pastoral duties. This was a form of investiture purely ecclesiastical, and the Princes, even after they had usurped the presentation to benefices, did not at first ven- ture to make use of it; and, it is said, that they were finally led to do so by some artful attempts on the part of the Clergy to recover their original right of election. Mosheim (in opposition to many less celebrated writers) is of opinion that Othothe Great was the first Prince who ven- tured to present with profane hand the emblems of spiritual authority ; at least it is quite certain that this custom had been in very general use for some time before the accession of Gregory. And thus the temporal power had gradually succeeded in a double usurpation on ecclesiastical privileges- first, in despoiling the lower Clergy of their right of election next, in encroaching upon the province of the Metropolitans, and presuming to dispense in their place the symbols of a spiritual office. Asa partial palliation of the conduct of the throne it is maintained, that the homage required from the Bishop or Abbot at investiture was for his temporalities only; and in so far as these were the feudal grants of former princes, the claim was manifestly just, but no farther than this. The crown could not fairly assert any suzerainty over the vast domains and enormous extent of property which had accrued to the Church from other quarters, before the establishment of ihe feudal system, and which, therefore, were not held on any feudal tenure ; nor can any sufficient plea be found for its general assumption of the disposal of benefices (to say nothing of the flagitious manner in which they were retailed), and its adoption of a form of investiture which was purely ecclesiastical. ^ Such, as nearly as we can collect, was the state of this question, when Gregory published his edict against Simony in the year 1074. The results of the Council were communicated to the Emperor t Henry IV., By conceding to him the right of confirmation. t According to the church writers, King only. He had not yet gone through the cere- mony of coronation at Rome. 280 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVI. who received the Legates courteously, and bestowed some unmeaning- praise on the zeal of the Pope for the reform of his Church. But Gregory was not to be satisfied with expressions ; and, as he intended to give general effect to his decrees, he desired permission to summon councils in Germany, by which those accused of simony might be convicted and deposed. Henry refused that permission, partly from the consciousness of his own criminality, partly because he was not really anxious for any reform which would curtail his own patronage. This opposition obliged the Pope to proceed one step farther. After pressing the execution of his former ordinances in a variety of letters, addressed, with various effect or inefficacy, to different princes and bishops, he convoked, early in the year following, a second council at Rome ; and, with its assistance, he pro- ceeded to those measures which he had proposed to accomplish by synods in Germany, and, probably, somewhat beyond them. On this occasion he not only deposed the Archbishop of Bremen and the Bishops of Stras- bourg, Spires, and Bamberg, besides some Lombard Bishops, but also excommunicated five of the Imperial Court, whose ministry the prince had used in simoniacal transactions. At the same time he pronounced his formal anathema against any one who should receive the investiture of a Bishopric or Abbey from the hands of a layman, and also against all by whom such investiture should be performed *. Henry paid no other atten- tion to this edict, than to repeat his former general acknowledgment of the existence of simony, and his intention, in future, to discourage it- Some particular differences, respecting the appointment to the See of Milan and other matters, tended at this moment to Henry summoned exasperate the growing hostility of Gregory and to Rome. Henry ; it happened, too, that the latter was disturbed and weakened by civil dissensions, occasioned, in some degree, by his own dissolute and profligate rule, which, by distract- ing his forces, invited the aggression of his foreign enemies. It is even asserted (by Dupin) that the malcontents sent deputies to Rome to solicit the interference of the Pope. Such an application is rendered probable by the fact which we now proceed to mention, and which is a certain and a memorable monument of papal extravagance. Gregory sent Legates into Germany, bearing positive orders to the Emperor to present himself forthwith at Rome, since it became him to clear himself, before the Pope and his Council, from various charges which his subjects had alleged against him. These charges might possibly be confined to eccle- siastical offences, of which the Emperor had notoriously been guilty ; but never, before the days of Hildebrand, had it been expressly asserted that he was amenable for such offences to any ecclesiastical tribunal. He treated the summons as a wanton insult, and wantonly retorted it. He collected at Worms t a council of about twenty German Bishops * The words of the edict are : * Si quis deinceps Episcopatum vel Abbatiam de manu ' alicujus laicae personae susceperit, nullatenus inter Episcopos vel Abbates habeatur, nee 4 villa ei ut Kpiscopo vel Abbati audientia concedatur. Insuper etiam gratiam B. Petri ' et introitum Kcclesia? interdicimus, quoad usque locum, quern sub crimine tarn ambitionis ' quam iuobedientiae, quod est scelus idololatrise, cepit, deseruerit. Similiter etiam de ' inferioribus Ecclesiasticis dignitatibus constituimus. Item si quis Imperatorum, Ducum, ' Marchionum, Comitum, vel quilibet secularium potestatum aut. personarum investiturara ' Episcopatus, vel alicujus Ecclesiasticae dignitatis dare praesumpserit, ejusdem sententiae vinculo se adstrictum sciat.' Hugo Flaviniacensis, ap. Pag. Vit. Greg. VII., s. 26. f- ' Qua? legaiio Re gem vebementer permovit ; statimque abjectis cum gravi contumelia omues qui in regno suo essent Episcopos et Abbates Wormeliae Dominica Chap. XVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 281 (some of whom were already personally embroiled with Gregory) ; and these prelates, after passing many censures on the conduct, election, and constitutions of Hildebrand, -pronounced him unworthy of his dignity, and accordingly deposed him. Gregory was not further disturbed by such empty denunciations, than to take measures to return them much more effectually. In a full assembly of one hundred and ten Bishops, he suspended from their offices the ecclesiastics who had declared against him ; he then pronounced the excommunication of the Emperor ; and accompanied his anathema by the Excojnmunicated unqualified sentence, 'that he had forfeited the king- and deposed. doms of Germany and Italy, and that his subjects were absolved from their oath of fealty *.' This assertion of control over the allegiance of subjects was hitherto without precedent in the history of the Papal Church ; and it was now, for the first time, advanced to the prejudice of a monarch, whose character, though stained both by vices and weaknesses, was not wholly depraved nor universally odious. Nevertheless, the edict of Gregory was dili- gently promulgated throughout Germany ; nor was it idly cast into a kingdom already divided, and among a people already discon- tented and accustomed to rebellion. The Dukes of Swabia, headed by Rodolphus, presently rose in arms; they were supported by a fresh revolt of the Saxons ; and there were those even among Henry's best friends, whose fidelity was somewhat paralyzed by the anathema under which he had fallen. After a short but angry struggle, an arrangement was made greatly to his disadvantage that the claims and wrongs of both parties should be subjected to the decision of the Pope, who was invited to preside at a council at Augsbourg for that purpose; and that, in the mean time, Henry should be suspended from the royal dignity. It is not easy to decide how much of this success should be attributed to the pre- vious animosity of the parties opposed to Henry, how much to a blind respect for the edict and authority of the Pope ; but the treaty to which all consented certainly implied an acknowledgment of the power which Gregory had assumed, and gave a sort of foundation and countenance to his future measures. Henry, who had little to hope from a public sentence, to be delivered in the midst of his rebellious subjects by his pro- fessed enemy, determined to anticipate, or, if pos- Henry does penance sible, to prevent his disgrace by an act of private at Canossa. submission to Pontifical authority. For that pur- ' Septuagesimae couvenire praecepit, tractare cum eis volens ad deponendum Romanum ' Pontificem, si qua sibi via, si qua ratio pateret : in hoc cnrdine totam verti ratus saliitem ' suam et regni stabilitatem, si is non esset Episcopus.' Lambert Schaffn. ad ann. 1076. * The words in which this celebrated sentence was conveyed should be recorded : ' Pet re ' Apostolorum Princeps, etc. etc. Hac fiducia fretus pro Ecclesiae tuse honore et defen- ' sione, ex parte Omnipotentis Dei, Patris et Filiiet Spiritus Sancti, per tuam potestatem et ' auctoritatem Henrico Regi, filio Henrici Imperatoris, qui contra Ecclesiam tam inatidita ' superbia insurrexit, totius regni Teutonicorum et Italiae gubernacula contradict), et 1 omnes Christianos a vinculo jurame.nti quod sibi fecere vel facient, absolvo ; et ut nullus 1 ei sicut Regi serviat, interdico. Dignum est enim, ut, qui studet honorem Ecclesiae tuae 1 imminuere, ipse honorem amittat quern videtur habere. Et quia Christianus contempsit ' obedire nee ad Dominum rediit, quern dimisit participando excommunicatis et multas ' iniquitates faciendo, meaque monita, quce pro salute sua sibi misi, tc teste spernendo, seque ' ab Ecclesia sua, tentans earn scindere separando, vinculo eum anathematis vice tua alligo, * ut sciant Gentes et comprobent quia Tu es Petrus, et super tuam Petram Filius Dei vivi ' aedificavit Kcclesiam suam, et portae Infer! non praevalebunt adversus earn.' Paul. Bern- lied., cap. 75 ; Pagi, Vit, Greg. VII., s. 42. 282 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVI. pose he crossed the Alps with few attendants during the severity of an inclement winter, and proceeded to Canossa, a fortress in the neighbourhood of Parma, in which Gregory was then residing. In penitential garments, with his feet and head bare and unsheltered from the season, the Emperor presented himself at the gate of the fortress, as a sinner and a suppliant. His humble request was to be admitted to the presence of the Pontiff and to receive his absolution. For three dreary days, from dawn till sunset, the proudest sovereign in Europe was condemned to continue his fast and his penance before the walls, and probably under the eyes of Gregory, in soli- tary * and helpless humiliation. At length, on the fourth day, he was permitted to approach the person of the Pontiff, and was absolved from the sentence of excommunication. Yet even this favour was not vouch- safed him unconditionally t : he was still suspended from the title and offices of royalty, and enjoined to appear at the Congress of Augsbourg and abide by the decision which should then be passed upon him. Henry soon discovered that he had gained nothing by this degradation, except contempt ; and after descending to the lowest humiliation which ever Prince had voluntarily undergone, he found himself precisely in his former situation, with the Council of Augsbourg still hanging over his head. Of an useless submission he repented vehemently; he abandoned himself to his feelings of shame and indignation, resumed his title and liis functions and prepared once more to confront his adversaries. The Saxons and Swabians immediately declared Rodolphus Emperor of Germany (in 1077) ; Henry was supported by the Lombards in Italy ; and a sanguinary war was carried on in both countries with various success and general devastation. For three years Gregory preserved the show, perhaps the substance, of neutrality ; he received the deputies of both parties with equal courtesy, and seemed to wish to profit so far only by their dissen- sions, as to engage them to aid him in the execution of his original edicts. But in the year 1080, decided, as some say, by the misfortunes, as others assert, by the crimes J of Henry, he pronounced a second * Henry is represented to have traversed the Alps at extreme risk by unfrequented roads, as the ordinary passes were guarded by his enemies; and Lambertus of Aschaf- fenbourg, a contemporary historian, describes the castle of Canossa as surrounded by a triple wall, within the second of wbich the Emperor was admitted to his penance, while the whole of his suite remained without the exterior. See Sismondi, Hist. Rep. Ital. c. iii. Paul. Bernried speaks of tbe insolila papee duritia shown on tbis occasion. } The oatb which he took is given at length by Paulus Bernriedensis, Vit. Greg. VII. Sismondi designates the conduct of Gregory as 'unetrahison insigne,' but not justly so j since it cannot be shown that the Pope had bound himself by any engagement to the Emperor wbich he did not strictly fulfil ; the latter did penance for his contumacy towards the Church, and the Pope, in consequence, restored him to tbe Communion of the Church. The Council or Diet to be held at Avigsbourg was a measure previously ar- ranged, to which many other eminent persons were parties ; and it was intended for the settlement of political, at least as much as of ecclesiastical differences ; whereas the penance at Canossa was merely a particular atonement to the See of Rome, not at all connected with the general maladministration of Henry. In fact, Gregory's own words are conclusive on tbe question. ' Henricus, confusus et humiliatus ad me veniens absolu- ' tionem ab excommunicatione qusesivit. Quern ego videns humiliatum, multis ab eo * promissionibus acceptis de vitse suae emeudatione, solum ei communionem reddidi ; non ' tamen-in rrgno imtauravi, nee fidelitatem hominum qui sibi juraverant vel erant juraturi ' nt sibi serventur prsecepi, &c.' See Mabill., Vit. Greg. VII., c. 107. Pagi, Vit. Greg. VII., 8. xliii. Denina, Delle Rivol. d' Italia, lib. x., c. vi. J Sismondi, whose partialities are against Gregory and the Church, says respecting Henry, that ' his character was generous and noble ; but he abandoned himself with too ' little restraint to tbe passions of his age ;' and those passions undoubtedly led him to tbe commission of great political offences. Piivate excesses may sometimes find their excuse in youth ; but the vices of Kings deserve less indulgence, since they usually Chap. XVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 283 sentence of deposition, and conferred upon Rodolphus the crow of Ger- many *. Thus far we have traced, without much comment, the rapid but regular progress of Gregory. The first measure, as we have seen, in his temporal usurpation (for in his earliest Temporal claims decrees against Church abuses he did not exceed the of Gregory just limits of his authority), was to declare the Emperor amenable to a Papal court of judicature, and to summon him before it ; the next was to deprive him of his throne and to absolve his subjects from their oath of allegiance ; the last was to dispose of the empire, with abso- lute authority, as a fief of St. Peter. Without further examination we might at once have concluded, that claims so extravagant and irrational were merely the passionate ebullitions of a feeble spirit, irritated by per- sonal pique or effeminate vanity. But this was not so ; the claims in question were advanced by the most vigorous and consistent character of his age, and they were pressed with a deliberate and earnest zeal which evinced a conviction of their justice. They were not confined to the dominions of Henry ; they displayed themselves in every state and pro- vince of Europe. The kingdom of France was declared tributary to the See of Rome, and Papal legates were commissioned to demand the annual payment of the tribute t, by virtue of the true obedience due to that See by every Frenchman. And the King himself (Philip I.) was reminded 'that * both his kingdom and his soul were under the dominion of St. Peter, who * had the power to bind and to loose both in Heaven and on earth.' Saxony was pronounced to be held on feudal tenure from the Apostolic chair and in subjection to it. It was pretended that the kingdom of Spain had been the property of the Holy See from the earliest ages of Christianity. Wil- liam the Norman, after the conquest of England, was astonished to learn that he held that country as a fief of Rome and tributary to it. The entire feudal submission of the kingdom of Naples has been already mentioned. Nothing was so lofty as to daunt the ambition of Gregory, or so low as to escape it. The numerous Dukes or Princes of Germany, those of Hungary, of Denmark, of Russia, of Poland, of Croatia and Dalmatia, were either solicited to subject their states to the suzerainty of St. Peter, or reminded of their actual subjection. And the grand object of Gregory is probably not exaggerated by those who believe that he designed to re- establish the Western J empire on the basis of opinion, and to bind by one spiritual chain to the chair of St. Peter the political governments and ever- conflicting interests of the universal kingdom of Christ . influence the morals and happiness of their subjects. A less favourable, but probably a more correct view of the character of Henry is taken by Denina. Delle Rivoluz. d'ltalia, lib. x., c. v. * The act and the authority for it were expressed in a hexameter verse, inscribed on the crown which Gregory sent to Rodolph Petra dedit Petro, Petrus diadema Rodolpho. f Per veram obedientiam. | Thus, in effect, the Western empire of which the foundations were really laid at the coronation of Charlemagne, was not the temporal dominion at which the Prince aspired, and which so soon passed away from his sceptre, but that spiritual despotism, affected by the Priest, and which was much more extensive, as it was much more durable. Amid this multiplicity of objects, which divided without distracting the mind of Gregory, he did not allow himself to forget either the schism or calamities of the East ; he even pro- jected to remedy both by personally conducting an army against the Mahometans. This is mentioned in a letter to Henry, written in 1074, in which, after some mention of his project, he adds ' llhid enim me ad hoc opus permaxime instigat, quod Constantitiopo- * litana ecclesia de Spiritu Sancto a nobis dissidens concordiam Apostolicae Sedis expetat, 284 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVI. Are we astonished at the magnificence, or do we laugh at the wildness of this project? Let us first inquire by what means the mighty architect proposed to combine and consolidate his structure. Gregory seriously designed to regulate his truly Catholic empire by a council of bishops, who were to be assembled at Rome annually, with full power to decide the differences of princes both with each other arid with their subjects ; to examine the rights and pretensions of all parties, and to arbitrate in all the perplexed concerns of international policy. If we can, indeed, ima- gine that Gregory was animated by that general spirit of philanthropy which is ever found to burn most brightly in the noblest minds ; if he really dared to hope that his project would reconcile the quarrels of the licentious princes of his day, or remedy the vices of their governments, or alleviate the misery of the people who were suffering equally from both those causes we may smile at the vanity of the vision, but we are bound to respect the motive which created it. Nor is it only the political degra- dation of Europe which we are called upon to consider, before we may pronounce sentence upon that Pontiff; we must also make great allowance for the principles of ecclesiastical supremacy which had already taken root before his time, which had been partially acted upon, and which, to a certain extent, were acknowledged for the necessary confusion of temporal with spiritual authority, which the feudal system had still worse confounded, so that their limits were indiscernible, inviting both parties to mutual aggression and for the usurpations which the crown had already made on the privileges of the Church, and the evil purposes to which it had turned them. These circumstances, when duly and impar- tially weighed by us, will mitigate the astonishment which the bare recital of Gregory's proceedings is calculated to awaken, and moderate the indignant censure with which the example of other writers might dispose us to visit them. We are not, however, to imagine, that the Pope's extraordinary claims were universally admitted. The King of France refused the tribute demanded of him ; the conqueror of England consented to the tribute (called Peter's pence), but disclaimed allegiance. Various success attended his attempts on the other states, according to the variety of their strength or weakness, or the circumstances of their actual politics. But at the same time, the mere fact that such claims were confidently asserted and repeated obstinately, that in many instances they were practically assented to, and very rarely repelled with vigour and intrepidity, persuaded igno- rant people (and almost all were ignorant) that there was indeed some real foundation for them, and that the Holy See was, in truth, invested with some vague prescriptive right of universal control, and surrounded by mysterious, but inviolable sanctity. We must add a few words, both respecting the grounds on which Gre- gory founded those claims, and the means which he employed to enforce them. As to the former, it does not appear that he openly availed himself of the grand forgery of his predecessors, or at least that he justified any of his pretensions by direct appeal to the * donation of Constantine ;' unless, indeed, it were assumed that the universal rights of St. Peter over the Western Empire originated in that donation. Respecting Spain, for ' &c.' Pagi, Vit. Greg. VII., s. xx. We may observe that, among the numerous points of difference which had in latter times grown up between the two Churches, and had been exaggerated with such intemperate zeal by both, the eye of Gregory uotices one only. Chap: XVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 285 instance, he particularly admitted that, though that country was among the earliest of the pontifical possessions, the grant which made it so had perished among- other ancient records*. In treating with those provinces which had formed no part of the Western Empire, he seems to have assailed them severally as the circumstances of their history happened to favour his demands. Saxony, for example, he asserts to have been bestowed on the Roman See by the piety of Charlemagne. Some among the smaller states were merely exhorted to make a cession of their terri- tories to St. Peter ; by which it was admitted that the apostle had yet obtained no rights over them. Some of them made such cession, and thus encouraged the arrogance of Gregory and the aggressions of future pontiffs. The power possessed by the successors of St. Peter ' to bind and to loose ' was not confined by them to spiritual affairs, however wide the extremities to which they pushed it in these matters. It was extended also to temporal transactions, and so far extended as to be made the plea of justification with a Pope, whenever he presumed to loose the sacred bonds of allegiance which connect the subject with the sovereign. It would be difficult, perhaps, to produce a more certain index of the cha- racter of religious knowledge, and the degradation of the reasoning faculty, which prevailed in those days, than by exhibiting that much-per- verted text as the single basis on which so monstrous a pretension rested and was upheld. Secondly The appalling influence of anathema and excommunica- tion t over a blind and superstitious people had long been known and frequently put to trial by preceding" Popes ; Power of and the still more formidable weapon of Interdict began Gregory. to be valued and adopted about the time of Gregory. Extraordinary legates j, whose office suspended the resident vicars of the pontiff, had been sparingly commissioned before the end of the tenth century; they now became much more common, and fear- lessly exercised their unbounded authority in holding councils, in promul- gating canons, in deposing bishops, and issuing at discretion the severest censures of the Church. But it was not concealed from the wisdom of Gregory that temporal authority could not surely be advanced or perma- nently supported without temporal power. Accordingly he cemented his previous alliance with the Normans of Naples; and also (which was still more important, and proved, perhaps, the most substantial among his temporal conquests) he prevailed upon Matilda, the daughter and heiress of Boniface, Duke of Tuscany, to make over her extensive territories to the apostle, and hold it on feudal tenure from his successors. By these means the ecclesiastical states were fortified, both on the north and south, by powerful and obedient allies, while the disaffection of Henry's subjects created a great military diversion in the Pope's favour in Saxony and Swabia. * Lib. x., epist. 28. f The frequent use and abuse of excommunication by all orders of the priesthood had greatly diminished the terror and efficacy of the sentence even in much earlier ages. We find the councils of the ninth century continually legislating for the purpose of restoring their weight to both ecclesiastical weapons. By the Council of Meaux (held in 845) it was especially enacted, that the anathema could not be pronounced even by a .bishop, unless by the consent of the archbishop and the other bishops of the province. J Called Legates a latere sent from the side of the Pope^ 286 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVI. Let us return for a moment to the internal administration of the ,. . Church. We are disposed to think that the very Objects of Gregory in vi U8 measures which Gregory employed for the internal admi- what he considered its reform were favourable, upon Th h ' the Wh le ' t0 the success of his other Projects. We may observe that these were of two descrip- tions, one of which tended to restore the discipline of the clergy ; the other to reduce the ecclesiastical orders into more direct subjection to the Papal See. It is true that, by the former of these, great disaffection was excited among such as suffered by them ; that is, among those who had been already living in open disobedience to the canons of the Church ; but such, it is probable, were not the most numerous, as certainly they were the least respectable portion of the body. The same severity which offended them would naturally gratify and attach all those, whose religious 2eal and austere morality secured them greater influence in the Church and deeper veneration from the people. So that, notwithstanding the clamours of the moment, we doubt not that the Pope was substantially a gainer by his exertions ; and that (like every judicious reformer) he ex- tended his actual power and credit with only the partial loss of a worth- less popularity. The second object of Gregory in his ecclesiastical government has not yet been mentioned by us. It seems to have been no less than to destroy the independence of national Churches; and to merge all such local dis- tinctions in the body and substance of the Church universal, whose head was at Rome. For the effecting of this mighty scheme he used every exertion to loosen the connexion of bishops and abbots with their several sovereigns, and to persuade them that their allegiance was due to one master only, the successor of St. Peter. And to that end he very readily availed himself of the materials which he found prepared for his purpose, and which had been transmitted to him undisputed by so many predecessors, that it probably never occurred to k him to doubt their legitimacy. The false decretals contained the canons which he sought ; and Gregory had the boldness at length to bring them forth from the comparative obscurity in which they had reposed for above two hundred and fifty years, and openly to force them into action. We have mentioned the nature of those decretals they were a series of epistles professing to be written by the oldest bishops of Rome, the Anacletes, Sixtus the First and Second, Fa- bian, Victor, Zephyrinus, Marcellus, and others*. They recorded the pri- mitive practice in the nomination to the highest ecclesiastical offices, and in that and many other matters ascribed authority almost unlimited to the Holy See. It is worth while here to particularize, even at the risk of repetition, some of the points on which they most insisted. (1.) That it was not permitted to hold any council, without the command or consent of the pope; a regulation which destroyed the independence of those local synods, by which the Church was for many centuries governed. (2.) That bishops could not be definitively judged, except by the Pope. (3.) That * The first collection of canons made in the west was the work of a Roman monk named Dionysius, who lived in the sixth century. This was followed by many others ; but that which gained the greatest celebrity was the one ascribed to St. Isidore, Bishop of Seville ; and it had great prevalence in Gaul as well as in Spain. Guizot remarks that it was in the North and East of France that the ' false decretals ' first made their appear- ance, in the beginning of the ninth century. (Hist, de la Civ. en France, Lecjon, 27.) The collection of decrees, known by the name of Dictatus Hildebrandini, and falsely ascribed to Gregory VII., is generally held to be the next forgery which disgraced the principles and swelled the authority of the Roman Church. Chap. XVI.] 'A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 287 the rig-lit of episcopal translation rested with the Pope alone. (4.) That not only every bishop, bat every priest, and not the clergy only, but every individual *, had the right of direct appeal from all other judgments to that of the Pope. These rights, and such as these, had been neglected or vainly asserted by the Roman See during the long period of imbe- cility f which followed their forgery ; but the spuriousness of their origin had never been exposed or suspected ; and the simplicity of every suc- ceeding generation added to their security, their antiquity, and their re- spectability. Gregory at length undertook to give them full efficacy ; and though none were ceded or overlooked by him, that which he appears most earnestly to have pressed was the Pope's exclusive jurisdiction over the whole episcopal order : to this end he enforced universal appeal to Rome. Orders to attend before the pontifical court were issued to every quarter of Europe ; and they generally met with obedient attention, not only from those whose principles sincerely acknowledged such spiritual supremacy, or who expected from their submission a more favourable sentence, but also from the great mass of offenders, who naturally pre- ferred a distant and ecclesiastical tribunal to the close judicial inspection of a temporal magistrate. The good which Gregory proposed from this system could be one only, and that a very ambiguous advantage to secure the independence of the Church, or, in fact, to withdraw it from the control of all secular power, and subject it to one single spiritual despot. The evils which he occasioned were numerous and of most serious magnitude to create and nourish inextinguishable dissensions between princes and their clergy, to retard and perplex the operations of justice, and to multiply the chances of a partial or erroneous decision:}:. In the prosecution of this history we have frequently lamented the necessity of dismissing some important event or useful . , , , , speculation with a few hasty and unsatisfactory sen- His double scheme tences, and especially do we lament it at this moment. But enough may possibly have been said to give the ^mion. reader some insight into the DOUBLE scheme of universal dominion to which the vast ambition of Gregory was directed enough to make it evident how he projected, in the first place, to unite under the suzerain authority of St. Peter and his successors the entire territory of Christian Europe, so as to exert a sort of feudal jurisdiction over its princes, and nobles, and civil governors ; and, in the next place, to establish through- out the same wide extent of various and diversely constituted states one * Fleury, 4 me Disc, sur H. E. sect. v. f Pope Nicholas I., who ruled from 858 to 867, is the principal exception to this remark : he is described by contemporary chronicles as the greatest pontiff since the days of St. Gregory kind and lenient in his treatment of the clergy, but bold and imperious in his intercourse with kings. His conduct to Hincmar in the affair of Rothadus is at seeming variance with part of this eulogy; but though Nicholas was triumphant both in that dispute and in the more important difference with Lothaire, neither he nor any other Pope under the Carlovingian dynasty could establish, in France at least, the claim first men- tioned in the text. The emperors continued to convoke all councils and to confirm their Canons.^ J Gregory also obliged the Metropolitans to attend at Rome from all countries, in order to receive the pallium at his hands. This, together with the appeal system, kept that capital continually crowded with foreign prelates, with great vexation to themselves, with great detriment to their dioceses, and with no real profit to the Catholic Church. In the mean time, it is certain that mere papal influence gained by this system; for all authority* to be always respected, must sometimes be felt; but unfounded and irrational authority most chiefly so. 288 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVI. single spiritual monarchy, of which Rome should be the centre and sole metropolis ; a monarchy so pure and undivided, that every individual minister of that church should look up to no other earthly sovereign than the Pope. Such does indeed appear to have been the stupendous scheme of Gregory VII. We have already seen by what measures he proceeded to its execution, arid we shall now trace his extraordinary career to its conclusion. The election of a new Emperor by the Pope was very reasonably re- torted by the election of a new Pope by the Emperor ; Henry advances and Clement III. was exalted to the honour of being to Rome. the rival of Gregory. But a much more sensible in- jury was inflicted on the fortunes of that pontiffimmedi- ately afterwards by the defeat and death of Rodolphus. That prince received a mortal wound in battle in the year 1080 ; and with him was extinguished the spirit of rebellion, or at least the hope of its success. Henry immediately turned his victorious arms against Italy ; the opposi- tion presented to him by Matilda and the Tuscans he overcame or evaded, and advanced with speed and indignation to the gates of Rome. From his dreams of universal empire from the lofty anticipations of princes suppliant and nations prostrate in allegiance before the apostolic throne, Gregory was rudely awakened by the shouts of a hostile army, pressing round the Imperial City. But he woke to the tasks of constancy and courage ; and so formidable a show of resistance was presented, that Henry, after desolating the neighbouring country, withdrew, without honour or advantage, to the cities of his Lombard allies. Not deterred by this repulse, he renewed his attempt early in the spring following, and encountered the same opposition with the same result. The soldiers of Germany retired for the second time before the arms of the unwarlike Romans and the name of Gregory. But in the succeeding year (1084), the efforts of the Emperor were followed by greater success. The citizens, wearied by repeated invasions, and suffering from the ravages attending them, abandoned that which now appeared the weaker cause on this third occasion they threw open their gates to Henry, and to Clement, the Antipope, who followed in his train. Henry placed his crea- ture on the throne of Gregory, and the exultation of that moment may have rewarded him for the bitterness of many reverses. The measure which he next adopted should be carefully noticed, since it proves the veneration which was exacted even from him by the See itself, without consideration of its occupant, By an immediate act of submission to the chair which his own power had so recently bestowed, he solicited the Imperial Crown from the hand of Clement, and he received it amid the faithless salutations of the Roman people. In the mean time, his victory was neither complete nor secure : from the Castle of St. Angelo, Gregory surveyed in safety the partial overthrow of his fortunes, and awaited the succours from the south with which he purposed to repair them. Robert Guiscard whether mindful of his feudal allegiance, or jealous of the Emperor's progress was already approaching at the head of his Norman warriors ; Henry and his Pope retired with precipitate haste, and Gregory was tumultuously restored to his rightful dignity. The success of the Normans was disgraced by the pillage of a large portion of the city : this circumstance depressed still further the declining popularity of the Pope, and he had learnt by his lute experience how little Chap. XVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 289 he could confide in the capricious allegiance of the Romans*. Accord- ingly, on the return of Robert to his own dominions, Gregory followed him, and retired, first to the monastery of Monte Cassino, afterwards to Salerno. It is recorded that, on this occasion, Death of Robert would have profited by the weakness or the gratitude Gregory. of Gregory, to obtain from him the concession, on the part of the Church, of some disputed feudal right of no great importance, but that the Pope resisted the solicitations of his protector in the very centre of his camp. And, no doubt, his persevering and fearless spirit was still meditating the reoccupation of his chair, and the prosecu- tion of his mighty projects. But such anticipations were speedily cut short, and in the year 1085, very soon after his arrival at Salerno, he diedf. He concluded a turbulent pontificate of twelve years in misfortune, in exile, with little honour, with few lamentations! ; without having witnessed the perfect accomplishment of any portion of the project which had animated his existence, and even at the very moment when it appeared most hopeless. He died but he left behind him a name, which has arrested with singular force the attention of history, which has been strangely disfigured indeed by her capricious partiality, but which has never been overlooked, and will never be forgotten. He did more than that ; he left behind him his spirit, his example, and his principles ; and they continued, through many successive generations, to agitate the policy and influence the destinies of the whole Christian world. The latest words of Gregory are recorded to have been these : * I have loved justice and hated iniquity ; therefore I die in exile ; ' words which seem to indicate a discontented His Character. spirit, reluctantly bending before the decrees of Pro- vidence. But the, same complaint may also have proceeded from a sense of pious intention, and the recollection of duties conscientiously performed. It becomes us then to inquire, in what really consisted that justice which he loved, and that iniquity which he hated? what were the principles which guided his public life? what were the habits which regulated his private conversation? The leading, perhaps the only, principle of his public life was to reform, unite, and aggrandize the Church over which he presided, and especially to exalt the office which he filled. He may have been very serious and sincere in that prin- ciple he may even have considered, that the whole of his duties were * ' Gli umori serapre diversi del popolo Romano.' Denina, Riv. d'ltal., lib. x., c. 8. | These are Semler's words: Gregorius . . . tantis ausibus ipse immortuus est ; nulli jam parti cams aut amatus ; diu omnibus, execrationibus, scommatibus, satiris, mendaciis- que post mortem oneratus Sec. xi. c 1 . I Guillielmus Apuliensis, a poeticat eulogist of Gregory, sings, that Robert Guiscard, who would have beheld with tearless eyes the death of his father, his son, and his wife, was moved to weakness by that of Gregory : Dux non se lacrymis audita forte coercet Morte viri tanti : non mors patris amplius ilium Cogeret ad lacrymas, non filius ipse nee uxor ; Extremes etsi casus utriusque videret. Pagi, Fit. Greg. VII. sect. cxv. Millot, Hist, de la France, They are given somewhat differently by Paulus Bern- riedensis: 'Ego, fratres mei dilectissimi, nullos labores meos alicujus momenti facio, in hoc solummodo confidens, quod semper dilexi justitiam et odio habui iniquitatem.' And when his friends who were present expressed some anxiety respecting his future condition, he stretched forth his hands to Heaven, and said, ' Illuc ascendam ; et obnixis precibus Deo propitio vos committam.' u 290 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVI. contained in it, and that he was bound to pursue it through every danger and difficulty, as a churchman and a pope. This was his grand and ori- ginal delusion, and here alone can we discover any trace of narrowness and littleness. And yet there have existed so many good men in all ages, even in the most enlightened, who have mistaken their own form of faith for the only true faith, and held their own particular church to be syno- nymous with the Church of Christ, that the error of Gregory will meet with much sympathy, though it can deserve no pardon. But when we observe the measures into which it betrayed him, and through which he followed it with deliberate hardihood ; when we recollect the profusion of blood which flowed through his encouragement or instigation, for the sup- port of an ambitious and visionary project; and, more than that, when we compare the nature of that project with the humble, and holy, and peace- ful system of Christ, whose gospel was in the pontiff's hands, and whose blessed name was incessantly profaned for the support of his purposes it is then that we are obliged to regard him with unmitigated disgust. His endeavours to reform the morals of his clergy and the system of his church * will only be censured by those who prefer diseases to their remedies, or who think it dangerous to apply any remedy to ecclesiastical corruption and over such persons the sceptre of reason has no control. But his claims of temporal sovereignty, his usurpation of spiritual supre- macy, his lofty bearing, and pontifical arrogance, were so widely at vari- ance with the spirit of that bookf on which his church was originally founded, that we must either suppose him wholly to have disdained its precepts, or to have strangely J misinterpreted them. * Some writers have represented Gregory as an enemy to innovation, ,as one of those characters who have placed their pride in keeping the age stationary, and perpetuating all that was transmitted to them. Had Gregory been such a man, he had been long ago forgotten. Far othenvise : he was the greatest of all innovators ; but, like Charlemagne and Peter of Russia, he marched to his object by the road of despotism. The reforms which he projected, in affairs civil, political, and ecclesiastical, embraced every interest and reached every department of society ; but it was by the establishment of a spiritual monarchy a sort of papal theocracy that he proposed to compass them. Guizot has somewhere made this observation : he has further attributed to Gregory two errors in the conduct of his plan, but not (as it seems to us) with equal justice. He blames that pope for having proclaimed his plan too pompously, menacing when he had not the means of conquering; and also for not having confined his attempts to what might fairly seem practicable. Guizot appears for the moment to have forgotten on what uncertain ground the papal power really rested ; how much of it was built on mere claims, disputed perhaps at first, but finally established and enforced by mere impudent importunity the very advance of such claims by one pope was always a stepping-stone for his successors. Again, in treating of what was practicable by Gregory, if we well consider the peculiar nature of his weapons, hitherto untried in any great contest, and the character of the age to be moved by them, it will seem quite impossible that he could exactly have calculated what he could, or what he could not, accomplish. Under all circumstances it was probable, that the bolder his claims, and the more loudly he asserted them, the greater was his chance of some immediate success, and the broader the path that was opened for future pontiffs. And Gregory had too extensive a genius not to think and act also for posterity. t The first evil consequence of associating tradition with the gospel as the foundation of the Church was, that the former was soon considered as substantial a part of the building as the latter. United in words, they were presently confounded in idea, and that not by the very ignorant only, but even by men, especially churchmen, who had deeply studied the subject, and most so by monks. Gregory had received a monastic education ; and though his mind was naturally vast and penetrating, it is not absurd to suppose that he might sincerely consider the false decretals (believing them to be genuine) as possessing authority almost equivalent to the Bible; at least, he might think it a fair compromise to govern his church by the former, and his private conduct by the latter rule. I In his epistles he frequently repeats the prophet's words : ' Cursed is he that doeth the Chap. XVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 291 In descending to the personal character of Gregory, we may first observe, that he was superior to the spirit of intolerance, which was then becoming manifest in his church. The only doctrinal controversy in which he was engaged was that with Berenger, on transubstantiation. The pope maintained the doctrine, which appears then to have been generally received in Italy and France, and he may have menaced the contumacy of the heretic. But no impartial reader can rise from the perusal of that controversy with the impression that Gregory was personally the advocate of persecution. On the contrary, his moderation has been noticed by writers * little favourable to his character, and has even led some to the very unnecessary inference that he was friendly to the opinion, because he spared and endured its authort. Among the calumniators of Gregory, none are found so unjust us to deny his extraordinary talents and address, his intrepid constancy, his inflexible perseverance. And there are none among his blindest admirers who would excuse the unchristian arrogance of his ambition. His other qualities are for the most part disputed : his moral excellence + , and the depth of his private piety, have been strongly asserted by some, and con- tested by others : for our own part, after carefully comparing the conclu- sions of his more moderate historians with the particular acts and general spirit of his life, we are disposed to assent to the more favourable judg- ment to this extent at least, that we believe him to have possessed those austere monastic virtues, common, perhaps, in the cloister, but rare in work of the Lord deceitfully,' c that keepeth back his sword from blood ; ' that is, who does not execute God's commands in punishing God's enemies : hence his severity with simoniacal bishops, and other ecclesiastical offenders. * Jortin (among others) thinks that the pope was much inclined to defend Berenger . a merit which might have led that candid writer to pause before he entered into the absurd and fanatical notion that Gregory was Antichrist. Milner also holds this last opinion more confidently a very remote point of contact between two men of very dif- ferent and even opposite views, but of equal sincerity and excellence! But (to speak without reference to either of those authors) it has been the misfortune of Gregory to excite the spleen of two descriptions of writers who agree in very few of their principles those who abhor the Roman Catholic Church and all its supporters with vehement and unqualified hatred, and those who dislike every church and every assertor of ecclesiastical rights. The former are our religious, the latter our philosophical, historians both are equally unjust. f After all, it is a question whether Gregory's moderation on questions purely theolo- gical does not furnish a fair argument against his general conduct. It proves, at least, that his violence and arrogance were not merely faults of temper, showing themselves whenever there was a dispute ; but feelings which, to excite them, required the stimulus of temporal ambition. Again, in an age when reason and philosophy had little influence, moderation on theological questions naturally excites the suspicion of indifference. But if Gregory was indifferent on theological questions, and violent on matters touching the temporal aggrandizement of himself and his Church, his character had even less merit than we have assigned to it. I His intrigue with Matilda, which is insinuated in a very childish manner by Mosheim, is expressly denied by Lambertus, a contemporary historian of good repute. Ambition was motive quite sufficient for his intimacy with that princess, and his advanced age (seventy-two) might reasonably have saved him from the imputation of any other. Besides which, there is no single fact or circumstance to authorize the suspicion ; and his deep enthusiasm and intrepid zeal, and the very austerity which made him dangerous, are qualities wholly inconsistent with vulgar hypocritical profligacy. ' That a widow of thirty (says Denina), also motherless, should be the declared protectress and body-guard of au old and austere pontiff, furnished a famous pretext for calumny to the concubinary clergy who were persecuted by the Pope,' (Rivoluz, d'ltal. 1. x. c. 6.) and to them we may probably ascribe this charge. U 2 292 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVI. those days either among princes* or popes. And if, indeed, in addition to those merits, he was compassionate to the poor, the defender of the oppressed, the protector of the innocent (as a very impartial, as well as accurate, writer f affirms) we shall find the greater reason to lament that his private sanctity was overshadowed and darkened by his public admi- nistration. Respecting his religious disposition, though passages may be found in his Epistles not uninspired with Christian piety, it is more probable that he sought his motives of godliness J and the aliment of his fervour in the interests of his church, than in the lessons of his Bible. A profound canonist, a skilful theologian, a zealous churchman, he may still have been unacquainted with the feelings of a Christian, and uninformed by the spirit of the faith. And it is not impossible that even his reforms in dis- cipline and morals, which were the best among his acts, proceeded from a" narrow ecclesiastical zeal, not from the purer and holier influence of evan- gelical devotion. SECTION III. (I.) Controversy respecting Transubstantiation suspended in the Ninth, renewed in the Ele- venth Century Character of Berenger Council of Leo IX. of Victor II. at Tours in 1054 Condemnation and conduct of Berenger Council of Nicholas II. repeated Retractation and Relapse of Berenger Alexander II. Council at Rome under Gregory VII. Extent of the Concession then required from Berenger further Requisition of the Bishops a Second Council assembled Conduct of Gregory Berenger again solemnly assents to the Catholic Doctrine, and again returns to his own his old Age, Remorse, and Death Remarks on his Conduct on the Moderation of Gregory. (II.) Latin Liturgy Gradual Disusejof the Latin Language throughout Eu- rope Adoption of the Gothic Missal in Spain Alfonso proposes to substitute the Roman Deci- sion by the Judgment of God by Combat by Fire doubtful Result final Adoption of the Latin Liturgy Its introduction among the Bohemians by Gregory Motives of the Popes other instances of services not performed in the Vulgar Tongue Usage of the early Christian Church. THE age of Gregory was distinguished by a very important doctrinal con- troversy : but though that pontiff was abundantly pugna- Opinions and cious in asserting the most inadmissible rights of the conduct of church, he showed no disposition to encourage the dispute Berenger. in question, nor any furious zeal to extirpate the supposed error ; and yet the error was no less than a disbelief in the mystery afterwards called Transubstantiation. We have already men- tioned the promulgation of that dogma by Paschasius Radbertus : we have observed with what ardour and liberty it was both supported and * Gregory reproved the abbot, who admitted Hugo, Duke of Burgundy, into his monastery, on this ground ' We have abundance of good monks, but there is a great scarcity of good princes.' Those are~the virtues which Gibbon calls dangerous ; and it is in speaking of Gregory that he advances that remarkable assertion that the vices of the clergy are less dangerous than their virtues, a position which is seldom understood with the qualification which the author obviously intended to attach to it. The passage is illus- trated by another in the sixty-ninth chapter ' The scandals of the tenth century were obliterated by the austere and more dangerous virtues of Gregory VII.' f Giannone, Storia di Napoli, lib. x. c. 6. Gregory has been reproached with placing faith in the predictions of astrologers ; with dealing in divinations, interpreting dreams, and exercising the magical art. Few of those who have shone with great splendour in an ignorant age have escaped the same suspicion. I When Muratori (Vit. Rorn. Pontif.in Leo IX.) speaks of him as ' Adolescens. . . .clari ingenii, sanctaeque Religionist and when Giannone calls him ' uomo pieno di Religione,' nothing more is at all necessarily implied than Gregory's monastic sanctity would justify. Chap. XVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 1 293 combated during the ninth century, until the flames of the controversy, unsustained by any public edicts, gradually and innocently expired. The arguments which had been urged on both sides were thus left to produce their respective fruits of good or evil, according to the soil on which they fell, and the season in which they were sown. Both these circumstances were fearfully unfavourable to the growth of any wholesome knowledge : for in those days reason was less persuasive than its abuse, and truth was less attractive than specious show ; so that religion was buried in super- stitious observances. Thus it happened that, during the tenth century, the opinion in question made a general, though silent progress ; and, in the beginning of the eleventh, it was tacitly understood to be the doctrine of the Roman church. In the year 1045, Berenger, principal of the public school (scholastic) : at Tours, and afterwards Archdeacon* of Angers, publicly professed his opposition to it. Roman Catholic writers do not dispute the brilliancy of his talents, the power of his eloquence, his skill in dialectics, and his general erudition ; they admit, too, that habits of exemplary virtue and piety gave life and efficacy to his genius and his learning f- By these merits he acquired the veneration of the people, and the friendship of the most distinguished ecclesiastics of his day. But when sotne of his historians assert that his virtues suddenly deserted him, and were even changed into their opposite vices, at the moment when he propounded his opinion, we can only con- sider them as illustrating their own definition of ' heresy.' It is also said, that Berenger was stimulated to publish, even to invent, his doctrine by private jealousy of the learned Lanfranc ; and in truth the most splendid actions do so commonly originate in sordid motives, that this charge may possibly be true : but it is not probable, because it is at variance with the tenour of his character ; nor is it at all important, since it affects neither the truth nor the prevalence of his doctrine. Berenger's opposition to transubstantiation became known to Leo IX., who condemned it at a council held at Rome in 1050 ; and in the same year two other councils were summoned in France, at Verceil and Paris, both of which strongly anathematized the heresy ; and, in consequence of the decree of the latter, Henry I. deprived the offender of the tempo- ralities proceeding from his benefice. He did not attend these councils, but continued to profess and promulgate his doctrine. During the pon- tificate of Victor II. a council was assembled at Tours in 1055 J, at which Hildebrand presided as legate of the pope. Berenger was summoned before it, and on this occasion he obeyed the summons with the less apprehension, because he possessed the personal regard of Hildebrand. * Mosheim is guilty of a strange blunder in making him Archbishop of Angers, and of designating him throughout as a prelate. In fact, Angers is only an episcopal see, and Eusebius Bruno, one of Berenger's own pupils, was raised to it in 1047. Hist. Litt. de la France, Vie de Berenger. f His learning is perhaps sufficiently proved, by the fact, that he too attained the ho- nourable reputation (common to him with so many learned persons) of being a magician. \ See Pagi, Vit. Victor II., sect, v., where various authorities are collected, and among them the following expressions from Lanfranc addressee to Berenger: ' Denique in Con- cilio Turonensi, cui ipsius Victoris interfuere legati, data est tibi optio defendendi partem tuam. Quam cum defendendam suscipere non auderes, confessus coram omnibus com- munem ecclesiae fidem, jurasti te ab ilia hora ita crediturum, sicut in Romano Concilio te jurasse est superius comprehensum.' From this it would appear that Berenger had been present at the council of Leo, though he disregarded those assembled in France ; unless indeed the Roman Council mentioned by Lanfranc be that afterwards held by Nicholas, which is more probable. 294 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.' [Chap. XVI. He appears to have urged little in defence of his opinion, and to have made no difficulty in subscribing on oath to the received faith of the Church concerning the real presence of the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. And having subscribed to this faith, he imme- diately returned to the propagation of his actual opinions. He then remained undisturbed for four or five years, until Nicholas II. called upon him to justify himself before a Roman Council. He appeared there, and professed his readiness to follow the doctrine which should seem good to that assembly. Accordingly, a profession of faith was drawn up, which went to the furthest extent to which the dogma has ever been carried *, and with the same hand which signed itBerenger committed to the flames the books containing his opposition to it. He then returned to France, resumed his sincere profession, and abjured his abjuration. Alexander II. (acting probably under his archdeacon's counsels) con- tented himself with addressing to the heretic a letter of peaceful and friendly exhortation ; but as his opinion and his contumacy now created some confusion in the Church, Hildebrand, not long after his elevation to the chair, summoned Berenger to Rome a second time. For the space of nearly a year Gregory retained him near his person, and honoured him with his familiarity ; and then, in a council in 1078, he was contented to require his subscription to a profession which admitted the real presence without any change of substance; and Berenger did not hesitate to sign it. But this moderation did not satisfy the zeal of certain ardent prelates, who required not only a more specific declaration of orthodoxy, but also that the sincerity of the retractation should be approved by the fiery trial. Berenger is stated to have prepared himself by prayer and fasting for sub- mission to that ceremony ; but Gregory, though he accorded the first of their requisitions, refused to countenance the senseless mockery of the second. The year following, another council assembled, and once more Berenger in their presence solemnly renounced his opinions, and con- firmed by oath his adherence to the broadest interpretation of the Catholic faith. He was then dismissed by the pontiff, with new proofs of his satisfaction ; and no sooner was he restored to the security of his native country, than he renewed the profession of the doctrine which he had never in truth abandoned. But he received little further molestation t from the ecclesiastical powers, and died in 1088, at a very advanced age, with no other disquietude than those severe internal sufferings which were the consequence of his repeated and deliberate perjuries J. * In the presence of the pope, and one hundred and thirteen hishops, Berenger sub- scribed the following profession : ' Ego Berengarius, indignus diaconus, &c. . . consentio S. R. Ecclesiae et A p. Sedi, et ore et corde profiteer de sacramento Dominicae mensae earn fidem me tenere quam dominus et venerabilis Papa Nicolaus et haec sancta synodus te- nendam tradidit. . scilicet panem et vintim, quse in altari ponuntur, post consecrationem non solum sacramentum sed etiam verum corpus ct sanguinem Domini nostri Jesu Christ! esse ; et sensualiter, non solum sacramento sed in veritate, manibus sacerdotum tractari et frangi et fidelium dentibus alteri; jurans per sanctam et homoousiam Trinitatem. Eos vero qui contra hanc fidem venerint aeterno anathemate dignos esse pronuntio. Quod si ego aliquando aliquid contra hsec sentire et praedicare prsesumpsero subjaceam canonum scveritati. Lecto et perlecto sponte subscripsi.' It is cited by Pagi in the Life of Nicho- las II., as are the second and third professions of Berenger (in 1078 and 1079) in the Life of Gregory, sect. Ixx. Ixxii. f Dupin mentions that he was summoned before a council at Bourdeaux, in 1080, ' where he gave an account of his faith.' t A loud and very unimportant dispute has been raised between Papists and Protes- Chap. XVI.] 'A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 295 Berenger was anxious for the reputation of a great Reformer, and perhaps sincerely zealous for the extirpation of what he considered a revolting corruption but he did not aspire to the glory of martyrdom. And when he presented himself at four successive councils, under the obligation either to defend or retract his opinions, we cannot doubt that, as he saw the former course to be useless as well as dangerous, he went there calmly prepared to debase himself by an insincere and perjured humiliation. Perhaps he preserved his property, or prolonged his life for a few years, by such reiterated sin and degradation ; but if his latest days were passed in remorse and bitter penitence, his gain was not great, and the moments which he added to his existence were taken away from his happiness. His followers were not, probably, very numerous*; and they were chilled by his weakness and confounded by his frequent recantations. His fortitude and constancy would have confirmed and multiplied and perpetuated them. We admire his talents, we respect his virtues, and venerate the cause in which he displayed them ; but in that age the defence of that cause demanded (as it deserved) a character of sterner materials and more rigid consistency than was that of Berenger. From the moderation which Gregory used towards the person of that Reformer, it has been inferred that he secretly favoured his opinions ; and this may be so far true, that he generally inculcated an adherence to the words of scripture t; and discouraged any curious researches and positive decisions respecting the manner of Christ's presence at the Eucharist. And as a real spiritual (or intellectual J) presence was probably admitted by Berenger himself, who professed only to follow the opinions of John Scotus , there could remain no ground for any violent difference between the pope and the heretic. II. But if we are to consider the doctrine of transubstantiation to have been effectually established, rather through the obstinate EstaUishment zeal of his ecclesiastics, than by the favour of Gregory, we Q /. ^ L shall have no hesitation in attributing to his personal exer- /.. tions a contemporary corruption in the ceremonies of the ^' church. It was the will of Hildebrand that the liturgy of the Universal Church should be delivered in Latin only ; and having once adopted that scheme, as in every other object which he thought proper to pursue, he neglected no imaginable means to carry it into effect. The use of Latin as the vulgar tongue, which had prevailed throughout the southern provinces of Europe, gradually ceased during the course of the ninth century ; arid the language of the first conquerors insensibly gave place to the barbarous jargon of the second. Latin thus became a subject of study, and all knowledge of it was presently confined to the priesthood. Still it seems clear that, in France as well as in Italy, the services of the church con- tants as to the opinions in which Berenger actually died. The truth appears to he that he died a penitent, and the former attribute to the consciousness of his heresy that remorse which the latter much more probably ascribe to his perjury. * We mean that they formed a very trifling proportion to the whole body of the church. They contained no individual of any great eminence, nor do they appear to have existed as a sect after the death of Berenger. f Mosheim, cent. xi. J Hist. Litt. de la France, Vie de Berenger. Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine are the Fathers oil whose authority Berenger chiefly rests his defence. Lanfranc, before he became Archbishop of Canterbury, was his most distinguished opponent. 296 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVI. tinned to be performed entirely in Latin, 'and even that sermons were for some time delivered in that tongue to an audience most imperfectly acquainted with it. But in Spain, the Gothic missal had gradually sup- planted the Roman, and at the middle of the eleventh century was universally prevalent in that church. Soon after that time, by the united influence (as is said) of Richard, the papal legate, and Constance, Queen of Leon (who had brought with her from France an attachment to the forms of her native church), Alfonso, the sixth of Leon and first of Castile, was persuaded to propose the introduction of the Roman liturgy. The nobility and the people, and even the majority of the clergy, warmly sup- ported the established form, and after some heats had been excited on both sides, a day was finally appointed to decide on the perfections of the rival missals. To this effect, recourse was had, according to the customs of those days, to the ' judgments of God/ and the trial to which they were first submitted was that by combat. Two knights contended in the presence of a vast assembly, and the Gothic champion prevailed. The king, dissatisfied with this result, subjected the missals to a second proof, which they were qualified to sustain in their own persons the trial by fire. The Gothic liturgy resisted the flames, and was taken out unhurt, while the Roman yielded, and was consumed. The triumph 01 the former appeared now to be complete, when it was discovered that the ashes of the latter had curled to the top of the flames, and leaped out of them. By this strange phenomenon the scales were again turned, or at least the victory was held to be so doubtful, that the king, to preserve a show of impartiality, established the use of both liturgies. It then became very easy, by an exclusive encouragement of the Roman, effec- tually, though gradually, to banish its competitor *. It was one of the latest acts of Alexander II. especially to prohibit the Bohemians from performing service in their native Sclavonian, and to impose on them the Roman missal ; and about seven years afterwards Gregory prosecuted, as pope, the enterprise which, as archdeacon, he had doubtless originated. Little serious resistance appears to have been opposed to this and similar attempts ; and it may be asserted without dis- pute, that before the conclusion of the eleventh century, the Latin liturgy was very generally received in the western churches. The motive t of the popes for this vexatious exertion of ecclesiastical tyranny * See Dr. Macrie's History of the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in Spain. The contest between the liturgies began during the pontificate of Alexander II., between the years 1060 and 1068 ; but one of the first acts of Gregory was to give his strenuous and effectual support to the Roman. See Pagi, Vit. Alex. II. et Greg. VII. f The reason , which Gregory fairly avowed in his answer to Vratislaus, Duke of Bohemia, was the impolicy of making the scriptures too public ; and, in this document, it is curious to observe with what ease, when it suited his purpose, he could dispense (like Gregory the Great) with the authority of the primitive church, so conclusive and venerable when it was expedient to follow it. The expressions of so great a pontiff deserve to be recorded : ' Quia Nobilitas tua postulavit, quod secundum Sclavonicam linguam apud vos divinum celebrari annueremus officium, scias nos huic petitioni tuae nequaquam posse favere. Ex hoc nempe saepe volventibus liquet non immerito Sacram Scripturam omnipo- tenti Deo placuisse quihusdam locis esse occultam, ne, si ad liquidum cunctis pateret, forte vilesceret et subjaceret despectui, aut prave intellecta a mediocribus in errorem induceret. Neque enim ad excusationem juvet, quod quidam religiosi viri hoc quod sim- pliciter populus qusesivit, patienter tulerunt, seu incorrectum dimiserunt ; cum Primitiva Ecclesia multa dissimulaverit, quac a sanctis Patribus, postmodum firmata Christianitate et religione crescente, subtili examinations correcta sunt. Unde ne id fiat, quod a vestris imprudenter exposcitur, auctoritate B. Petri inhibemus, atque ad honorem omnipotentis Dei huic vanac temeritati viribus totis resistere praecipimus.' Chap. XVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 297 was undoubtedly their ardour for the Unity of the church, as one body under one head ; and to this end it certainly conduced, that she should speak to all her children, of all nations and races, in one language only. It was also necessary that that language should be Latin, because it thus became a chain which not only united to each other the extremities of the North and the West, but also bound them in universal allegiance to a common Sovereign. But this policy, like some other of the profoundest schemes of the Vatican, was calculated on the continuation of general ignorance, and the stability of principles which the slightest efforts of reason were sufficient to overturn. We should add, however, that a similar custom prevails among certain other nations and creeds, which cannot have originated in similar motives, but is rather to be attributed to the superstitious veneration for antiquity, so common where the understanding has been little cultivated. The -^Egyptians or Jacobites performed their service in Coptic ; the Nestorians in Syriac ; the Abyssinians in the old ^Ethiopic ; and the prayers which are offered to the god of the Mahometans are universally addressed in Arabic. But the usage was entirely contrary to the practice* of the early Christian church, which permitted every variety of language in its ceremo- nies ; a practice which received the positive confirmation of the Council of Francfort at the end of the eighth century, and which was not entirely subverted till the pontificate of Gregory and of his immediate successors. NOTE AT THE END OF PART III. (1.) In an early part of this work (Chap. V. p. 63), Justin Martyr is accused of error in having given to Simon Magus a statue which, in fact, was dedicated to Semo Sangus, a Sabine deity. The question, however, is involved in some uncertainty ; for it appears that the inscription found in 1574 was not engraved on a statue (as above asserted), but on a stone, bearing resemblance, indeed, to the basis of a statue, yet so small, that it could scarcely have supported any representation of the human body. Such is the account of Baronius, (Ann. 44.) which at the time had escaped the author. Under these circumstances, whatever may be the leaning of our own private judgment, we are historically bound to admit the direct affirmation of Justin, who expressly asserts that the statue existed in his time. If we believe Baronius, that this stone cannot rea- sonably be considered as a pedestal, we must also believe Justin ; other- wise we are compelled to suppose that the Father deliberately called that a statue which has no part, or even support, of a statue, but a mere stone consecrated to rude Pagan divinity. At any rate, the . direct evidence" is all on one side, with only a bare, and as many will think, unreasonable supposition on the other. * ' You may have observed (says Fleury) that the offices of the church were then in the language most used in each country, that is to say, in Latin through all the West, and in Greek through all the East, except in the remoter provinces, as in Thebais where the ./Egyptian was spoken, and in Upper Syria where Syriac was used The Armenians have, from the very beginning, performed divine service in their own tongue. If the nations were of a mixed kind, there were in the church interpreters to explain what was read In Palestine, St. Sabas and St. Theodosius had in their monasteries many churches, wherein the monks of different nations had their liturgy, each in his own language.' 298 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. ,[Chap. XVI. (2.) In Chapter X, p. 153, a passage is cited from St. Eligius, a bishop of Noyon, contemporary of Gregory the Great. The sense, and even the words in question, had been previously retailed both by Robertson and Jortin ; and the original Latin is quoted by Mosheim, whom the latter of those writers has followed. The author of this work, who had also con- fided in the same guide, has been lately led to look more particularly into the ' Life of Eligius,' as it is published in the Spicilegium Dacherii (vol. v., p. 147 304) ; and he was pleased to discover many excellent precepts and pious exhortations scattered among the strange matter with which it abounds. But at the same time, it was with great sorrow and some shame, that he ascertained the treachery of his historical conductor. The expressions cited by Mosheim, and cited too with a direct reference to the Spicilegium, are forcibly brought together by a very unpardonable mutilation of his authority. They are to be found, indeed, in a sermon preached by the bishop ; but found in the society of so many good and Christian maxims, that it had been charitable entirely to overlook them, as it was certainly unfair to weed them out and heap them together, with- out notice of the rich harvest that surrounds them. In justice, then, to the character both of St. Eligius and his church, and that the exact extent of the historian's delinquency may be known, we shall here sub- join the entire passage which Mosheim has disfigured ; and we are glad of the occasion to present even this short specimen of the discourses, which were delivered to a Christian people in the age of its darkest igno- rance. * Wherefore, my brethren, love your friends in God, and love your ene- mies on account of God, for he who loveth his neighbour (saith the apostle) hath fulfilled the law; for the man who would be a true Christian must observe the precepts, since he who observes not circumvents himself. He, then, is a good Christian, who believes not in charms or inventions of the devil, but places the whole of his hope in Christ alone ; who receives the stranger with joy, as though he were receiving Christ himself; since it was He who said, "I was a stranger, and ye took me in," and " inas- much as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." He, I say, -is a good Christian, who washes the feet of the strangers, and cherishes them as his beloved parents ; who gives alms to the poor in proportion to his possessions ; who goes frequently to church and makes his oblations at God's altar ; who never tastes of his own fruit until lie. hath presented some to God; who has no deceitful balances, nor deceitful measures ; who has never lent his money on usury ; who both lives chastely himself, arid teaches his children and his neighbours to live chastely and in the fear of God; and who for many days before the festivals observes strict chastity, though he be married, that he may approach the altar with a safe conscience ; lastly, who can repeat the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, and teaches the same to his children and his family. He who is such as this, without any donbt is a true Christian, and Christ dwells in him.' 4 Behold ! ye have heard, my brethren, what sort of people good Christians are; wherefore strive as much as you are able, with the help of God, that the name of Christ may not be false in you ; but to the end that ye be true Christians, always ponder the precepts of Christ in your mind, and also fulfil them in your practice. Redeem your souls from punishment whilst you have it in your power ; give alms according to your means ; keep peace and charity ; recall the contentious to concord ; Chap. XVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 299 avoid lies ; tremble at perjury ; bear not false witness ; commit no theft ; offer your free gifts and tithes to the churches ; contribute towards the luminaries in the holy places ; repeat the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, and teach it to your children ; instruct and correct even your god-chil- dren, and recollect that you are their sponsors with God. Repair fre- quently to church^ and humbly implore the protection of the saints ; observe the Lord's day, through reverence for Christ's resurrection, with- out any bodily work ; piously celebrate the solemnities of the saints ; love your neighbours as yourselves, and do as you would be done by ; and what you wish not to be done to yourselves, that do to no man. Observe charity before all things, because charity covers a multitude of sins ; be hospitable, humble, placing all your solicitude in God, since he hath care of you. Visit the infirm, seek out those who are in prison, take charge of strangers, feed the hungry, clothe the naked. Despise jugglers and magicians ; be just in your measures ; require of no man more than your due ; and on no account exact usury. If you observe these things, you may appear boldly at God's tribunal in the day of judgment, and say, Give, Lord, as we have given ; show compassion even as we have shown it ; we have fulfilled what thou hast commanded, do thou now reward us as thou hast promised.' The sentences printed in italics are those which Mosheim has selected and strung together, without any notice of the context. The impression which, by this method, he conveys to his readers, is wholly false ; and the calumny thus indirectly cast upon his author is not the less reprehensible, because it falls on one of the obscurest saints in the Roman calendar. If the very essence of history be truth, and if any deliberate violation of that be sinful in the profane annalist, still less cau it deserve pardon or mercy in the historian of the Church of Christ. END OF PART III. LIBRARY OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, FROM THE EARLIEST AGES TO THE REFORMATION. BY THE REV. GEORGE WADDINGTON, M.A. FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND PREBENDARY OF FBRRING, IN THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF CHICHESTER. PUBLISHED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. VOLUME THE SECOND. LONDON: BALDWIN AND CRADOCK, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCXXXIII. LONDON I PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES, Stamford Street* CONTENTS O PART IV. From the Death of Gregory VII. to that of Boniface VIII. CHAPTER XVII. (I.) Papal history Urban II. Council of Placentia that of Clermont their principal acts The Crusades their origin and possible advantage Pascal II. Renewed disputes with Henry his misfortunes, private and public his death and exhumation Henry, his son, marches to Rome Convention with Pascal respecting the regalia its violation Imprisonment of the Pope his concessions annulled by subsequent Council Henry again at Rome Death and character of Pascal Final arrangement of the investiture question by Calixtus II. Observations The first Lateran (ninth general) Council Death of Calixtus Subsequent confusion and its causes- Arnold of Brescia his opinions, fate, and character Adrian IV. Frederic Barbarossa Disputes between them, and final success of the Pope Alexander III. his quarrel with Frederic, and advantages his talents and merits Celestine III. The differences between Rome and the Empire The internal dissensions at Rome on papal election National contentions between Church and State. (II.) Education and theological learning Review of preceding ages in Italy and France Parochial schools Deficiency in the material Papyrus Parchment Consequent scarcity of MS S. Invention of paper Three periods of theological literature the characteristics of each Gradual improvement in the eleventh century. CHAPTER XVIII. Pontificate of Innocent III. Prefatory facts and observations Circumstances under which Innocent ascended the chair Col- lection of Canons Condition of the clergy Ecclesiastical jurisdiction by what means extended Innocent's four leading objects (1.) to establish and enlarge his temporal power in the city and ecclesiastical states Office of the Prefect Favourable circumstance, of which Innocent avails himself his work completed by Nicholas IV. (2.) to establish the universal pre-eminence of papal over royal authority His claims to the Empire His dispute with Philippe Auguste of France he places the kingdom under interdict submission of Philippe His general assertions of supremacy particular applications of them to England and France, Navarre, Wallachia and Bulgaria, Arragon and Armenia His contest with John of England Interdict the Legate Pan- dulph Humiliation of the King (3.) to extend his authority within the church Italian clergy in England his general success in influencing the priesthood Power of the Episcopal Order The fourth Lateran Council. Canons on transubstantiation on private confession against all heretics (4.) to extinguish heresy. The Petrobrussians their author and tenets. Various other sects, how resisted. The Cathari supposition of Mosheim and Gibbon the more probable opi- nion The Waldenses their history and character error of Mosheim Peter Waldus his perse- cution. The Albigeois or Albigenses their residence and opinions attacked by Innocent St. Dominic title of Inquisitor Raymond of Toulouse holy war preached against them Simon de Moiitfort resistance and massacre of the heretics. The crusade of children Continued perse- cution of the Albigeois^-Death of Innocent. CHAPTER XIX. On the Monastic System. (I.) Early instance of the monastic spirit in the east Pliny the philosopher The Therapeutse or Essenes The Ascetics their real character and origin The earliest Christian hermits dated from the Decian or Diocletan persecutions Csenobites. Pachomius and St. Anthony originated in ^Egypt Basilius of Csesarea his order and rule his institution of a vow questionable Mo- nasteries encouraged by the fathers of the fourth and fifteenth ages from what motives Vow of celibacy Restrictions of admission into monastic order Original monks were laymen Com- parative fanaticism of the east and west Severity and discipline in the west motives and inducements to it contrasted with the Oriental practice Establishment of nunneries In the east. (II.) Introduction of monachism into the west St. Athanasius Martin of Tours Most ancient rule of the western monasteries their probable paucity and poverty Benedict of Nursia his order, and reasonable rule, and object Foundation of Monte Cassino France St. Columban Ravages of the Lombards and Danes Reform by Benedict of Aniane The order of Cluni its origin, rise, and reputation its attachment to papacy and its prosperity The order of Citeaux date of its foundation Dependent Abbey of Clairvaux St. Bernard its progress and X A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. decline Order of the Chartreux. (III.) Order of St. Augustin Rule of Chrodegangus Rule of Aix-la-Chapelle subsequent reforms. (IV.) Connexion between the monasteries and the Pope- mutual services The military orders (1.) The Knights of the Hospital origin of their institu- tiontheir discipline and character (2.) Knights Templar their origin and object (3.) The Teutonic order its establishment and prosperity. (V.) The mendicant orders causes of their rise and great progress (1.) St. Dominic his exertions and designs (2.) St. Francis and his followers compared with the Dominicans apparent assimilation essential differences disputes of the Franciscans with the Popes, and among themselves Inquisitorial office of the Dominicans, their learning and influence quarrels with the Doctors of Paris Austerity of the Franciscans the Fratricilli (3.) The Carmelites their professed origin (4.) Hermits of St. Augustin Privi- leges of these four orders. (VI.) Various establishments of Nuns their usual offices and cha- racter General remarks The three grand orders of the Western Church (suited to the ages in which they severally appeared and flourished) The Jesuits The Monastic system one of perpe- tual reformation thus alone it survived so long its merits and advantages The bodily labour of the Monks their charitable aiid hospitable offices real piety to be found among them supe impendence of education, and means of learning preserved by them limits to their utility their frequent alliance with superstition their early dependence on the Bishops gradual exemption, and final subjection to the Pope Their profits and opulence, and means of amassing it Luther a mendicant. CHAPTER XX. From the Death of Innocent HI. to that of Boniface Fill. The ardour of the Popes for Crusades its motives and policy Honorius III. Frederic's vow to take the cross, and procrastination Gregory IX. his Coronation he excommunicates the Emperor who thus departs for Palestine Gregory impedes his success, and invades his domi- nions their subsequent disputes Innocent IV. his previous friendship with Frederic Council of Lyons various charges urged against Frederic Innocent deposes Frederic and appoints his successor on his own papal authority Civil war in Germany in Italy death of Frederic his character and conduct his rigorous Decree against Heretics Observations Other reasons alleged to justify his deposition this dispute compared with that between Gregory VII. and Henry Taxes levied by the Pope on the Clergy Crusade against the Emperor Exaltation of Innocent his visit to Italy and intrigues his death his qualities as a statesman as a church- man expression of the Sultan of JEgypt Alexander IV. Urban IV. Clement IV. Introduction of Charles d'Anjou to the throne of Naples Gregory X. his piety, and other merits Second Council of Lyons Vain preparations for another Crusade Death of Gregory Objects of Nicho- las II. Martin IV. Senator of Rome Nicholas IV. diligent against Heresy Pietro di Morone or Celestine V. circumstances of his elevation his previous life aud habits his singular inca- pacity disaffection among the higher Clergy his discontent and meditations his resignation Boniface VIII. his excessive ambition and insolence on the decline of the papal power his temporal pretensions Sardinia, Corsica, Scotland, Hungary Recognition of Albert King of the Romans and act of his submission Philip the Fair The Gallican Church origin of its liberties St. Louis and the Pragmatic Sanction Differences between Boniface and Philip Bull Clericis Laicos its substance and subsequent interpretation Affairs of the Bishop of Parmiers Bull Ausculta Fili burnt by Philip Conduct of the French Nobles of the Clergy of Boniface. Bull Unam Sanctam other violent proceedings Moderation of Philip further insolence of the Pope Philip's appeal to a General Council William of Nogaret Personal assault on Boniface his behaviour and the circumstances of his death. CHAPTER XXI. On Louis IX. of France his religious and ecclesiastical acts and projects On the origin and esta- blishment of the Inquisition On some of the principal effects of the Crusades The Pragmatic Sanction, and the Liberties of the Gallican Church. CHAPTER XVII. From Gregory VII. to Innocent III. THE death of Gregory did not Restore either concord to the Church or repose to the Empire. The successor, whom at the solicitation of his car- dinals, he nominated on his death-bed, testified a singular, but sincere, repugnance for a dignity, which being probably too feeble to sustain, he was too wise to desire. Desiderius*, Abbot of Mount Cassino, held for a short period, under the name of Victor III., a disputed rule ; and on his early death in the year 1087, Urban II., a native of France, was pro- claimed in his place. But Clement the Antipope was still in possession of the capital, where the imperial party was triumphant, and five years of dissension f intervened before the authority of Urban was generally acknowledged. That Pope had been a monk of Clugni, and owed his preferment to the See of Ostia to the favour of Gregory ; and he conti- nued to the end of his life to exhibit his fidelity by following, as far as his talents permitted him, the schemes which had been traced by his patron. Of the numerous councils held during his pontificate two are entitled to particular attention those of Placentia and Clermontj: in both of these he confirmed the laws and asserted the Urban II. principles of Gregory, arid carried his favourite claims to their full extent ; for by the fifteenth canon of the latter he enacted, ' that no ecclesiastic shall receive any church dignity from the hand of a layman, or pay him liege homage for it ; and that no prince shall give the investiture .' But that council is recommended to general history by other and more important recollections. And while at Placentia the final sanction was given to the two strongest characteristics in the doctrine and in the discipline of the Roman Church namely ||, tran- * His disinclination for the dangerous honour is said to have been so great, that he was actually dragged to the Church, and forcibly invested with the pontifical garments. Fleury, H. E., liv. Ixiii., sect. 25 and 27. But this circumstance is not mentioned by Pagi ; though, on the authority of Leo Ostiensis, he bears ample testimony to Victor's reluctance. f The only remarkable acts of personal hostility which these two rivals appear to have exchanged, was a satiric taunt couched on either side in a pair of very innocent hexa- meters. Clement, insolent in the possession of the city, wrote to his rusticating adversary as follows : Diceris Urbanus, cum sis projectus ab Urbe ; Vel muta nomen, vel regrediaris ad Urbem. To this Urban replied, Clemens nomen habes, sed Clemens non potes esse, Tradita solvendi cum sit tibi nulia potestas. Hist. Litt. de la France. J Both were held in 1095 the former on March 1, the latter on November 18. At the former were present two hundred bishops, nearly four thousand of the inferior clergy, and more than thirty thousand of the laity; so that the assemblies were held in the open air. The latter appears to have been still more numerously attended. See Fleury, H. E., liv. Ixiv., sect. 22. Hist. Litt. de la France. ' Ne episcopus vel sacerdos regi vel alicui laico in manibus ligiam ndelitatem faciat.' See Mosheim, Cent. xi. p. ii. c. ii. Fleury, liv. Ixiv., sect. 29. (I Hist. Litt. de la France. Vie de Berenger. Fleury, loc. cit. The question regarding the ordination of the sons of presbyters, which was warmly debated about this 304 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, [Chap. XVII. substantiation and the celibacy of the clergy, it was the Council of Clermont which first sounded that blast of fanaticism which shook the whole fabric of society, from the extremities of the west even to the heart of Asia, for above two centuries. It may seem strange that the sanguinary project of launching the power n 'in th of Christendom in one vast armament against the Ma- Ungin oj hometan conquerors of the Holy Land should first have been proposed by a Pope, who was celebrated for his studious cultivation of the noblest arts of peace. It was Sylvester II.* with whom the scheme of a general crusade originated ; but to him it may have been suggested by personal observation of the sufferings of Spain and the humiliation of the Christian name. And to any one beholding and deploring the various disorders of Europe -the fierce contentions of kings with each other, their more fatal dissensions with their subjects, the military license which everywhere prevailed and for- bade all security of person or property it might have seemed an act of comparative mercy to unite those discordant spirits even by the rudest tie, and to divert against a common foe the turbulence which engaged them in mutual destruction. The same measure was not without some justification in prudence ; since the slightest caprice of a Saracen con- queror might have directed his rage against Christendom, and especially against Italy, the most attractive, the most exposed, the least defensible province the centre of the Christian Church, and, as it were, the Pales- tine of the West. These and similar considerations may have recom- mended the same project to a much greater mind than that of Sylvester ; for it was also (as has been mentioned) a favourite design of Gregory VII., who proposed personally to conduct against the infidel the universal army of Christ. It was realized by Urban II. ; and his exhortations t to time, was set at rest by the Council of Clermont. It was conceded, that with dispensation from the Pope they might be admitted to Holy Orders. Pagi (Vit. Urban. II., sect. 43.). ascribes to this period the practice of administering the Eucharist to the laity under one- species only, which, he adds, became more confirmed, after the establishment of the kingdom of Jerusalem by the crusaders ; for in that Church (he maintains) it has existed from primitive times. We may also mention in this place, that the ' Office of the Holy- Virgin,' though perhaps not composed by Urban, was brought into more general USB during his pontificate. * It will be recollected that Sylvester, as well as Urban and his agent Peter the Hermit, was a Frenchman. So that the entire credit of the scheme, both of its inven- tion and the bringing it into practice, belongs, such as it is, to that enthusiastic and inconsiderate people. It is a remark of Gibbon, that at the council of Placentia, in Italy, the people wept over the calamities of the Christians of the East while at Clermont, in France, they took up arms to avenge them. f The Pope closed the session of the council by a sermon, which has been variously reported by different writers. Fleury gives the following sentences as a part of it, on the authority of William of Tyre, ' a grave and judicious author : ' ' Do you then, my dear 1 children, arm yourselves with the zeal of God ; march to the succour of our brethren, * and the Lord be with you. Turn against the enemy of the Christian name the ' arms which you employ in injuring each other. Redeem, by a service so agreeable * to God your pillages, conflagrations, homicides, and other mortal crimes, so as to 1 obtain his ready pardon. We exhort you and enjoin you, for the remission of ' your sins, to have pity on the affliction of our brethren in Jerusalem, and to repress the ' insolence of the infidels, who propose to subjugate kingdoms and empires, and to extin- ' gnish the name of Christ.' Hist. Eccl., Liv. Ixiv., sect 32. As the populace devoutly believed the Pope's assurance, that the pilgrimage would atone for the most abo- minable crimes, the immediate effect of the crusade might be to rid Europe of the refuse of its population ; just as the certain consequence would be the encouragement of crime, when the method of atonement was always at hand. Chap. XVII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 305 the Council of Clermont, being at the same time addressed to the super- stitious and the military spirit, the two predominant motives of action in that age, were received with an enthusiastic acclamation of frenzy, which was mistaken for the approbation of God. We do not propose to enter into any description of the military adven- tures of the crusaders, which have employed the eloquence of so many writers ; but shall confine ourselves to the less attractive, but perhaps more useful, task of occasionally recurring to the domestic changes con- nected with them, and investigating the traces which they have left in the History of the Church. Urban died in 1099, and was succeeded by Pascal II. Nearly contem- poraneous with the decease of Urban was that of Clement III., the Antipope, who had maintained with some interrup- Pascal IT. tions the possession of the capital, though unacknowledged by the great body of the Church. The imperial party was at that moment too weak to appoint a successor, arid therefore Pascal entered into undisputed occupation of the chair. Pascal, as well as Gregory and Urban, had been educated in the monastery of Clugni ; like the former, he was a Tuscan ; like the latter, he was indebted for his early advancement to Gregory ; and thus the spirit of that extraordinary man, by animating the congenial bosoms of his two disciples, continued to haunt the pontifical chair, and to regulate the councils of the Vatican, for above thirty years after his departure *. And if Urban prosecuted the reforms undertaken by his master, and realized one of his fondest speculations, to Pascal remained the more difficult and odious office of resuming with fresh violence the interrupted contest with the empire. He engaged in it earnestly, if not eagerly ; and as the emperor was still unprepared for submission, he prevented an attempt (perhaps an insidious attempt) at compromise, by renewing (in 1102) all former decrees against investitures, and then commenced the conflict by the usual sentence of excommunication. Henry IV., after surviving so many Popes, was still in possession of the throne ; but his latter years had been afflicted by the M . /, , rebellion, and, what might be less bitter to him, by the Misfortunes ana death of his eldest son. The affections of his subjects L ' a MJ Henry It . he never possessed nor deserved ; but we do not learn that by any do- mestic delinquency he had forfeited the less dissoluble allegiance of his children. And yet, scarcely had Conrad terminated his unnatural impiety by death, when as if the anathemas of Gregory were still suspended over him as if to accomplish the temporal retribution which that pontiff had denounced against the foes of St. Peterf Henry, his other son, on learning the excommunication of his father, rose in arms against him. A scene revolting to nature and humanity was the consequence; and even the death of the Emperor, which speedily followed, does not close the story of his persecutions. His body, which was still lying under the anathema, having been inconsiderately consigned to consecrated ground, was imme- * Pascal died on January 18th, 1118, after an unusually long pontificate of eighteen years, five months, and five days. f It will be recollected that, in his second excommunication of Henry, Gregory suppli- cated St. Peter to take away from that prince prosperity in war and victory over his ene- mies, that all the world may know' (says he) 'that thou hast power both in heaven and on earth.' 306 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVITl diately dug: up, ejected from the holy precincts, and condemned to an unhallowed sepulchre *; and there it rested for the space of five years, a revolting monument of papal power and papal malignity : at length the sentence was withdrawn |, and Henry V. was permitted to make a tardy atonement to offended nature and piety. There is no proof that Pascal positively excited this monstrous rebellion, but it is well known that he countenanced and promoted it, and that too, not as a reluctant concession of virtue to interest, but with ardent and uncompromising zeal. Indeed, his interest was not engaged in this matter, but his passions merely, and the vindictive hatred for Henry IV. which he had contracted in the school of Gregory. The Holy See had nothing to gain by the death or deposition of an unpopular monarch, but everything to fear from the union which would probably ensue among his subjects. For, as to any prospect of gratitude from his successor any hope that the Emperor would be mindful of services con- ferred upon the rebel, a Tuscan and a Pope could scarcely indulge so simple an expectation. If Pascal did so, he very speedily discovered his error ; for scarcely was Henry IV. dead, when his son asserted with equal vehemence the disputed rights. The Pope resisted, and both par- ties prepared for a second struggle. Henry V. nothing deterred by the portentous appearance of a comet, which inspired general dismay, descended into Italy during the summer of 1110, carefully prepared for a twofold contest with the Holy See; for he was not only attended by a powerful army, but also by a suite of lite- rary protectors]:, so that the pen might be at hand to justify the deeds of the sword. His advance was preceded by a declaration of his intention, which was ' to maintain a right acquired by privilege and the custom of his predecessors from the time of Charlemagne, and preserved during three hundred years under sixty-three popes that of presenting to bishoprics and abbeys by the ring and crosier.' In reality, his object, when more fully explained, was to prevent the election of bishops without his consent, to invest the bishop-elect with the regalia, to receive from him homage and the oath of allegiance. At the same time, he proposed to undergo the solemn ceremony of coronation at the hands of the Pope. By the regalia above mentioned were understood various grants con- ferred on the bishops by Charlemagne, which partook Dispute between of the privileges of royalty, such as the power of raising Henry V. and tribute, coining money, and also the possession of cer- PascaL tain independent lands, directly derived from the crown, with some other immunities. And it seemed natural that the successors of Charlemagne should retain the right of confirming * ' Comprobantibus his qui aderant Archiepiscopis et Episcopis ; quia quibus vivis eccle- sia non communicat, illis etiam nee mortals communicare possit.' Urspergensis Abbas, ap. Pagi, Vit. Pascalis II. Some ascribe this act of barbarity to the German Bishops, and exculpate the Pope, except in as far as he had set them the example, by exhumating the bones of Guibert the Antipope, who had been buried at Ravenna, and casting them iulo the neighbouring river. f Fluury, H. E., lib. Ixv. s. 44, and lib. Ixvi. s. 5. ' One of them was a Scotsman named David, who had presided over the schools at rletnbei'g, and whom the King had appointed his chaplain, a cause de sa vertu. He ' wrote a relation oi' this expedition, but rather as a panegyrist thau a historian.' Fie ury, lib. Ixvi. s. 1, on authority of Will. Malmes., lib. v. p. lob'. > ' Wu Chap. XVIL] .A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 307 the'privileges which he had bestowed. This circumstance involved the Pope in great perplexity ; and though it was easy to publish edicts, and advance vague and exorbitant pretensions, when the Emperor was distant or embarrassed, he could scarcely hope by such expedients to withstand his near and armed approach. In this difficulty, Pascal proved at least the sincerity of his professions, and his attachment to the best and purest interests of the Church. He had the virtue to prefer its spiritual independence to its worldly splendour, and the courage to proclaim his preference. This better part being chosen, he concluded a treaty with Henry, by which it was agreed that the bishops, on the one hand, should make to Henry a positive cession of all that belonged to the crown in the time of Louis, Henry, and his other predecessors, on pain of excom- munication if they attempted to usurp such regalia; and that the Em- peror, on the other, should resign the right of investiture. On this arrangement, the Pope consented to perform the ceremony of coronation*, and Henry proceeded to Rome for that purpose. /vThe circumstances which followed are told with some trifling variations, but were probably thus. The bishops interested in the treaty, and espe- cially those of Germany, who would have been the greatest sufferers, felt the deepest repugnance to resign so large a portion of their splendid tem- poralities for a remote and invisible object, which, however it might be ac- cessory to the honour of the Church, did not benefit their own immediate interests. Consequently they protested with so much violence against the compromise, which seemed to them to exchange a substance for a shadow, that the Pope despaired of his power to execute that condition of the treaty. In the mean time, Henry arrived at Rome: he was conducted with acclamations to the Basilica of St. Peter, where the Pope, with his Bishops and Cardinals, was waiting to receive him. The King, accord- ing to the accustomed ceremony, prostrated himself before the Pope, and kissed his feet; he then read the usual oath, and they advanced together into the church|. But here, before they proceeded to the office of conse- cration, a dispute broke out respecting the fulfilment of the treaty, and it was presently inflamed into an angry quarrel. Henry availed himself of the presence of his soldiers to arrest the Pope and several Cardinals ; the Roman populace took arms and endeavoured to rescue him ; a fierce and tumultuous conflict ensued, and the courts of the Vatican, and even the hallowed pavement of St. Peter, were polluted with blood ; but the Germans succeeded in preserving their prisoners, and carried them away to their neighbouring encampment at Viterbo. After a rigorous confine- ment of two months, Pascal yielded to such persuasion as a king may exercise over his captive ; and then he not only performed the required ceremony, but, by a new convention, ceded unconditionally the right of investiture. * For this compact we have the authority of Petrus Diaconus (who cites a contempo- rary account of the transaction) confirmed by that of Urspergens. Abbas, as follows. ' Ibi Legati Apostolici cum missis Regis advenientes, promptum esse Papam ad cousecra- tionem. . .si tamen ipse sibimet annueret libertatem Ecclesiarum, laicam ab illis prohi- bens investituram recipiendo nihilominus ab Ecclesiis Ducatus, Marchias, Comitatus, Advocatias, Moneta, Telonia, caeterorumque Regalium quae possident summam.' See Pagi, Vit. Pasch. II Fleury, lib. Ixvi. s. ii. f This took place on Feb. 11, 1111. ' Ter se invicem complexi, ter se invicem osculati sunt ; et, sicut mos. Rex dexteram Pontificis tenens cum magno populi gaudio et clamore ad Portam venit Argenteam. Ibi ex libro professionem imperaturiam faciens a Poutifice designatus jest Imperator, &c,' Acta Vaticaua ap. Boronium. 308 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVII. The presence of the Emperor was demanded in Germany ; Pascal returned to Rome ; but he was saluted there by such a tempest of indigna- tion, as to find it necessary, in the year following, to submit the whole affair, even as it involved his own personal conduct, to a very numerous Council at the Lat.eran. Here the Pope confessed the error into which his weakness had betrayed him ; and the Council, with his consent, solemnly revoked and cancelled the treaty, and justified their perfidy by pleading the violence which had extorted it. The immediate resentment of Henry was diverted by civil disorders; but in 1117, he marched to Rome as an avowed enemy ; Pascal retired to Benevento, and sought the protection of his Norman vassals, still faithful to the chair of Gregory. The Emperor presently withdrew, and Pascal returned to his see, and died ; and his for- tunes, in many respects similar to those of his patron, were blessed with a happier termination, since he was permitted to close his eyes at Rome. His fortunes were, in some respects, similar to those of Gregory, and similar was the audacity of his pretensions ; but he wanted the : firmness necessary to dignify the former, and to give weight and stability to the latter ; his adversity was inglorious, and his arrogance feeble and without consequence. The levity of his character disqualified him for the task he had undertaken, and its pliancy did not compensate for its want of cohe- rence and consistency. The question respecting investitures, after having variously agitated the kingdoms of the west for half a century, was now Conclusion of the drawing near to its final decision. After a short in- quarrels about terval of disputed succession*, then usual on the death Investitures. of every Pope, Calixtus II., Archbishop of Vienna, a Count of Burgundy, and a near relative of the Empe- ror, was raised to the pontifical chair. It does not appear, however, that he sacrificed to the claims of consanguinity any portion of the rights or pretensions of his see ; but he consented that the differences should be submitted for their final arrangement to a Council, or Diet, to be assembled at Worms for that purpose. A Convention was there concluded, which was reasonable and permanent ; its substance was thist : (1.) That the election of bishops and abbots, in his Teutonic kingdom, take place in its rightful form, without violence or simony, in the presence of the Emperor or his legate, so that in case of a difference, his protection be given with the advice of the metropolitan to the juster claimj. (2.) That the ecclesiastic elected receive his regalia at the hand of the Emperor, and do homage for them. But (3.) that in the ceremony of investiture the Emperor no longer use the insignia of spiritual authority, but the. sceptre only. A similar arrange- ment had previously taken place in England between Henry Land Pascal II. ; and in France||, if the custom of investiture by the ring and crosier ever * Gelasius II. stands in the list of Popes as having filled that interval. f- See Fleury, liv. Ixvii. sect. 30. Pagi, Vit. Callisti II. sect. xxiv. xxv. This con- vention took place in September, 1122. J ' Si qua inter partes discordia emerserit, metropolitani provincialium consilio vel * judicio, saniori parti assensum et aiixilium prsebeas.' So this clause is expressed in the acts of the Lateran Council held in the following year. Probably in HOC, after a severe dispute between the Pope and King during the pri- macy of Anselm. Hist. Lilt. France, Vie Pascal. Pagi, Vit. Pascal. 11. || Guillaume de Champeau, Bishop of Chalons, is related to have addressed (in 1119) the following discourse to the Emperor : ' Sire, if yovi desire a substantial peace you must ' absolutely renounce the investiture to bishoprics and abbeys. And to assure you that you ' will thus suffer no diminution of your royal authority, let me inform you, that when I was Chap. XVII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 309 prevailed, which seems uncertain, it had been abolished about the same time. The terms of this treaty, in which each party yielded what was extrava- gant in his claims*, were undoubtedly favourable to the Church. Ker re- stitution of the ' rightful form' of election deprived the Emperor of an usurped privilege which had been extremely valuable and profitable to him, both in its use and its abuse. And since the Popes, ever after the edict of Alexander II., had claimed as indisputable the right of confirmation in episcopal election a claim which, as it was purely ecclesiastical, the Em- peror had not greatly cared to contest a large portion of the influence which was ceded by the crown did in fact devolve on the holy see. Again, the original form of election was in no case positively restored, since the advantage of excluding the people, and even the body of the diocesan clergy, had been long and generally acknowledged ; so that the right seems to have been invested almost immediately in the chapters of the cathedral Churches ; at least it was confirmed to them about the end of the twelfth century. The second condition of the Convention secured to the sovereign the civil allegiance of his ecclesiastical subjects, and repressed their dan- gerous struggles for entire immunity from feudal obligations. At the same time it restored to them the integrity of their ghostly independence, and cut off the last pretence for secular interference in matters strictly spiritual. So easy and reasonable was the conclusion of that debate, which, in addition to the usual calamities of international warfare, had excited subjects against their sovereign, and children against their fathers, which had convulsed the holy Church, and overthrown its sanctuaries, and stained its altars with blood. However, on a calm historical survey of the circumstances of the conflict, and of the crimes and errors which led to them, we are little disposed to load with unmixed reprehension any indi- vidual of either party. The crimes, indeed, and the passions which pro- duced them, were equally numerous and flagrant on either side ; on the one, were tyranny and profligacy and brutal violence : arrogance and obstinacy and imposture, on the other ; pride arid ambition and injus- tice, on both. Yet our prejudices naturally incline to the imperial party ; be- cause the same or equal vices become infinitely more detestable when they are found under the banners of religionf. But the errors were those of the ' elected in the kingdom of France, I received nothing from the hand of the king, neither before ' nor after consecration. Nevertheless I serve him as faithfully in virtue of the tributes * and various other rights of the state which Christian kings have in ancient days given to ' the Church, as faithfully, J say, as your bishops in your kingdom serve you, in virtue of r that investiture which has drawn such discords and anathemas on you.' Fleury, H. E. liv. Ixvii.. sec. 3. The Emperor yielded to that argument. * The peace of the Church is thus celebrated by Gotfridus of Viterbo, in his Chronicle: Reddit Apostolico Caesar qusecunque rogavit ; Pax bona conficitur ; sublata Deo reparavit ; j Jura suae partis laetus uterque trahit. j- Mosheim is disposed to throw all the reproach of this dispute on the monastic educa- tion and character of Gregory and his two disciples ; and these he contrasts with the more secular virtues which high birth and society had nourished in Calixtus. But in the first place, the whole blame is not by any means on that side, but is very equally divided with the empire ; and in the next, Pascal at least did actually prove, by his arrangement with the English king, his disposition to end the controversy, on the very terms finally accepted by Calixtus. Mosheim moderates with great impartiality between contending sects, and a very great merit that is ; but when the contest is between a Pope and a German sovereign, his feelings sometimes overpower his perfect judgment. 31(| A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVII. times rather than of the men, and even served, in some degree, to palliate the crimes. The barbarism of preceding ages and the ignorance actually existing, had engendered and nourished a swarm of obscure notions and active prejudices, which infatuated the vulgar, and partially blinded even the best and the wisest. The records of past events were little studied ; indeed they were seen only by those discontinuous glimpses, which per- plex and deceive far more than they enlighten ; and reason had lost her native force, and health, and penetration, through neglect and abuse so that claims the most absurd were established by arguments the most senseless ; and men could not rightly discern the real nature of their ad- versaries' pretensions, nor even the strength of their own, so as effectually to controvert the one, or rationally to maintain the other. Thus were their contests carried on in a sort of moral obscurity, which took off nothing from their positiveness and obstinacy, and permitted even additional licence to their malignity. In the following year a very numerous* assembly was held at Rome, which is commonly acknowledged in that Church as the The First Late- ninth General, and the First Lateran council. Of the ran Council. two-and-twenty canons which resulted from its labours, the greater part were in confirmation of the acts of preceding Popes; and we observe that the object of several of the original enactments was to protect the property of the Church from alienation, and lay usurpations. There was one which promoted the Crusading zeal, both by spiritual promises and menaces. And among the most important we may consider that (the 17th) which prohibited abbots and monks from the performance of public masses, the administration of the holy chrism, and other religious services, and confided those solemn offices entirely to the secular clergy. This was an early and very public manifestation of that jealousy between the two orders of the Romish hierarchy, which in a later age displayed itself so generally as to become an efficient instrument in working its overthrow. Calixtus died in 1124, and during the thirty years which followed, the pontifical city enjoyed scarcely any intermission from Popular tumults discord and convulsion. The names of Honorius and at Rome. Innocent t, and Anaclete and Eugenius, with some others, pass by in rapid and tumultuous procession. The chair, which was generally contested, was never maintained to any good purpose; and one of its possessors, Lucius II., was actually mur- dered by the populace in an attempt to restore tranquillity. But we must here observe, that the popular commotions of this period were not of the same description with those which we have already found occasion to notice ; the question of papal election had ceased to be their sole, or even their principal, cause ; the turbulence which had been occasioned by the abuse of that right, and prolonged by the endeavour to reclaim it, was now founded in a deeper and much more powerful motive. A party had lately grown up in the Roman city of patriots ambitious to restore the name, and, as some might fondly deem, the glory of the ancient republic. * About a thousand prelates were present, of whom above three hundred were bishops, and above six hundred abbots. Many pontifical Councils had been previously held at the Lateran, but this was the first which obtained a place among the General Councils. t The Pontificate of Innocent II., though interrupted by frequent dissension, was the longest and the most important; and during it, in the year 1139, the tenth General Council, or second Lateran, was assembled. Chap. XVII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 311 the first and necessary step towards the accomplishment of this scheme was the subversion, or, at least, the entire reconstruction of the ecclesiastical system. To diminish the privileges, to reduce the revenues of the church, to deprive the Pontiff of temporal power and all civil juris- diction, and to degrade (should we not rather say, to exalt?) his stately splendour to the homeliness of his primitive predecessors these were the projects preparatory to the political regeneration of Rome. About the year 1135, Arnold, a native of Arnold of Brescia. Brescia, a disciple of the celebrated Abelard, returned to Italy from the schools of Paris, and having assumed the monastic habit, began publicly to preach and declaim against the vices of the clergy. It is admitted by a Catholic writer*, that the pomp of the prelates, and the soft licentious life both of clerks and monks, furnished abundant materials for his denunciations ; but it is complained that he exceeded the limits of truth and moderation ; and it is besides asserted, that his orthodoxy was liable to suspicion, and that he held some unsound opinions respecting the Eucharist and infant baptism. In consequence of these various charges, he was condemned by a Lateran Council, in 1139 : he immediately retired from Italy, and transferred his popular declamation to Zurich, in Swit- zerland. Not many years afterwards, encouraged by the independent spirit which was rising at Rome, he boldly selected that metropolis for the scene of his two-fold exertions against papacy and des- Adrian IV. potism. In the mean time (in the year 1154) a man of decided firmness and energy had obtained possession of the Chair. Adrian IV., the only Englishman who ever attained that dignity, had raised himself from the very lowest office in society f to the throne of St. Peter; and though the arrogance which he then exhibited might entirely belong to his latest fortunes, an intrepid resolution, tempered by the most refined address, must have characterised every stage of his progress; since these are qualities which offices and dignities may exer- cise, but can never bestow. In the year following his elevation, one of his cardinals was dangerously wounded in some tumult excited by the associates of Arnold. Adrian instantly placed the city of Rome under an interdict ; the churches were closed, and the divine offices for some time suspended, in the very heart of the Catholic church. The priests and the people wearied the pontifical chair with supplications for a recall of the edict, but Adrian did not relent until Arnold and his associates were expelled from the city. ' All the people (says Fleury) blessed God for this mercy : on the following day (Holy Thursday), they rushed from every quarter to receive the customary absolution, and a vast multitude of pilgrims was also present. Then the Pope, attended by bishops and car- * Fleury, H. E., lib. Ixviii., sect. 55. Arnold maintained that there was no hope of salvation tor prelates who held baronies, or for any clerks or monks who possessed any fixed property ; that those possessions belonged to the prince, and that he alone could bestow them, and on laymen only ; that the clergy ought to live on the tithes and the voluntary oblations of the people, content with a moderate and frugal sufficiency. Pagi, Vit. Innocent II., sect. Ixix., refers to Otho Frisingensis. The ravings (deliramenta) of Peter de Bruis were condemned on the same occasion. That Heresiarch objected to the reverence paid to the cross, denied the daily sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, and the efficacy of prayers or alms for the dead, besides other unpardonable errors. f His name was Nicholas Breakspeare : going to Aries, in Provence, he was admitted in the quality of servant to the Canons of St. Rufus, where he became monk ; and in the sequel Abbot and General of the Order. 312 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVII. dinals, and a numerous troop of nobles, came forth from his residence, and crossing the extent of Rome, amidst the acclamations of the people, arrived at the Lateran Palace, where he celebrated the festival of Easter.* Soon afterwards, Arnold unhappily fell into the power of Frederic Bar- barossa, who was then in Italy on his advance to Rome ; Frederic and the Emperor, probably actuated by a common dislike Barbarossa. to independence and innovation under every form, yielded up his prisoner to the solicitations of the Pope. He was conducted to Rome, and subjected to the partial judgment of an eccle- siastical tribunal. His guilt was eagerly pronounced, the prefect of the city delivered his sentence, and he was burnt alive, ' in the presence of a careless and ungrateful people.' But lest this same multitude, with the same capriciousness, should presently turn to adore the martyr and offer worship at his tomb, his ashes were contemptuously scattered over the bosom of the Tiber. His name has been the subject of splendid pane- gyric and scandalous calumny : with its claims to political celebrity, we have no concern in this history ; but in respect to his disputes with the church, we may venture to rank Arnold of Brescia among those earnest but inconsiderate reformers, whose premature opposition to established abuses produced little immediate result except their own discomfiture and destruction ; but whose memory has become dear, as their example has been useful, to a happier and a wiser posterity ; whom we celebrate as martyrs to the best of human principles, and whose very indiscretions we account to them for zeal and virtue. Frederic Barbarossa, whose elevation was nearly contemporaneous with that of Adrian, had also announced his intention to restrain the increasing wealth and moderate the insolence of the Pope and his clergy ; and in 1155, he proceeded to Rome for the purposes of celebrating his corona- tion, and commencing his reform : but he found the Pontiff as firm and as powerful to resist imperial interference as to quell domestic disorder. And so far was Adrian, on this occasion, from betraying the interests of his order, or the prerogatives of his office, that he even asserted a recent and ambiguous and singularly offensive claim he demanded the personal service of the Emperor to hold his stirrup when he mounted his horse *. A precedent for this indignity having been pointed out to him, Barba- rossa, the haughtiest prince in Europe, at the head of a powerful and obedient army, submitted to an office of servitude, which he may possibly have mistaken for Christian humiliation. But, however that may be, the triumph of the See over so great a monarch proved the substantial reality of its power, and the awe which it deeply inspired into the most intrepid minds. Some vexatious pretensions of Adrian respecting the regalia, and a gratuitous insinuation that Frederic held the empire as a fief (beneficium) from Rome, served to keep alive a jealous irritation between the Church and the empire, though peace was not actually interrupted. Frederic, on the other hand, published, in 1158, an edict, of which the object was to prevent the transfer of fiefs without the knowledge and consent of the superior or lord in whose name they were held. It was by such unau- thorized transfers of feudal property that the territories of the Church had * ' This homage' (says Gibhon) ' was paid by kings to archbishops, and by vassals to their lords ; and it was the nicest policy of Rome to confound the marks of filial and feudal subjection.' Chap. 69. Chap. XVII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 313 for a long 1 period been gradually swollen, so as to spread themselves in every direction over the surface of Europe. The law in question was well calculated to check their further increase, and it seems to have been the first that was enacted for that purpose. Its obvious tendency did not escape the directors of the Church ; but the opposition which it had peculiarly to expect from the Holy See was suspended by the death of Adrian and the confusion which followed it. Alexander III. was immediately elected by a very large majority of the cardinals ; but as some of the other party still persisted in supporting a rival named Octavian*, Frederic, on his Alexander III. own authority, summoned a General Council at Pavia to decide on their claims. Alexander disputed the Emperor's right to arbitrate or at all to interfere in the schisms of the Church f ; and, as he refused to present himself at the Council, his rival was declared to be duly elected, and the decision received the approbation of the Emperor. But Alexander was still sustained by the more faithful and powerful party within the Church, and acknowledged by most of the sovereigns of Europe; and from these supports he derived confidence sufficient to excommunicate his adversary, and to absolve his subjects from their oath of fidelity. But Frederic did not feel the blow ; he proceeded to place his creature in possession of the pontifical city, while Alexander adopted the resolution, so commonly followed by his successors in after ages, to seek security in the territories of France. He withdrew to Montpelier with his whole court, and resided in that neighbourhood for the space of three years, till circumstances enabled him to return to Rome in 1165. Here he was soon afterwards assailed by Frederic in person, and though defended for some little time by the ambiguous and venal fidelity J of the Romans, he was finally obliged to escape in the disguise of a pilgrim. He retired to Benevento, but not till he had thundered another anathema against Frederic ; and on this occasion he not only deprived him of the throne, but also forbade, ' by the authority of God, that he should there- after have any force in battle, or triumph over any Christian ; or that he should enjoy anywhere peace or repose, until he had given sufficient proofs of his penitence. ' The denunciations contained in this frightful sentence were not, indeed, wholly accomplished ; yet did it so come to pass, that Frederic was obliged to retire almost immediately from Rome by the sickness of his army ; and that, in the long and destructive war which followed, he suffered such reverses as to find it expedient (in the year 1177) to sign a disadvantageous treaty with the Pope||. The war * After the death of Octavian, Alexander had still to struggle successively with three other Antipopes. The second, called by his adherents Calixtus III., was appointed in 1 168, and abdicated in about ten years ; but his party replaced him by another puppet, \vhom they called Innocent III. f Frederic had two precedents for his claim, though he might not perhaps much regard, or even know, that circumstance. In 408 Houorius held a Council at Ravenna to decide the disputed election between Boniface and Eulalius, and his decision was followed by the Church. Afterwards the schism between Symmachus and Laurentius was terminated by Theodoric, though an Arian. The imperial power does not appear to have been disputed in either instance. J It appears that he could secure little influence over the Roman people, ' who, pre- tending to wish well to both parties, were faithful to neither,' until he received a large sum of money from William, his Sicilian vassal. Fleury, H. E., liv. Ixxi., sec. 34, &c. &c. See Pagi,Vit.Alexandri III., sect. 66, who reasonably assigns this event to the year 1 1 67. II Alexander is accused, and with some justice, of having too exclusively consulted his own interests in^this affair, and of having negociated a truce only for his faithful allies, 314 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XTII. was for the most part carried on in the North of Italy ; and as it was fomented by the address and policy, rather than by the sword, of Alexan- der, the calm expression of his exultation was in some manner justified it hath pleased God (he said) to permit an old man and a priest to triumph without the use of arms over a powerful and formidable empe- ror*.' From that time Alexander possessed in security the chair which he had merited by his persevering exertions, as well as by his various virtues. He immediately turned his attention to the internal condition of the Church, and his first object was to remove from his successors an evil which had so long arid so dangerously afflicted himself. Accordingly he summoned (in 1179) a Council, commonly called the third of Lateran, and there enacted those final regulations t respecting papal election which have already been mentioned. Among the very few characters which throw an honourable lustre upon the dark procession of pontifical names, we may confidently record that of Alexander III., not only from the splendour of his talents, his con- stancy, and his success, but from a still nobler claim which he possesses on our admiration. He was the zealous champion of intellectual advance- ment, and the determined foe of ignorance. The system of his internal administration was regulated by this principle* and he carried it to the most generous extent. He made inquiries in foreign countries, and especially in France, for persons eminent for learning, that he might promote them, without regard to birth or influence, to the highest ecclesiastical dignities. He caused large numbers of the Italian Clergy, to whom their own country did not supply sufficient means of instruc- tion, to proceed to Paris (or their more liberal education ; and having learnt that in some places the chapters of cathedrals exacted fees from young proficients before they licensed them to lecture publicly, Alex- ander removed the abuse, and abolished every restriction which had been arbitrarily imposed on the free advance of learning. At the same time he was not so blinded by this zeal as to consider the mere exercise of the understanding as a sufficient guarantee for moral improvement. But observing, on the contrary, with great apprehension the progress of the scholastic system of theology, and the numberless vain disputations to which it gave rise, he assembled a very large Council of Men ofLettersJ for the purpose of condemning that system, and discouraging its preva- lence at Paris. He died in 1181 : in the course of the ten following years four pontiffs ruled and passed away, and in 1191 the chair was occupied by Celestine III., the filth from Alexander. This prelate has deserved a place in the history of mankind by the protection which he afforded to Richard I. of England, when imprisoned on his return from the Holy Land. He died in 1198. and was succeeded by Lotharius, Count of Segni, a Cardinal Deacon, who assumed the name of Innocent III. while he secured an honourable and profitable peace for himself. Denina (Rivol. d' Ital. L. xi. C. iv.) calls it a ' Pace particolare fra Alessandro 111. Federico.' * Muratori, in his forty-eighth dissertation, describes Frederic as 'Vir altianimi, acris ingeriii. multarumque virtutum consensu ornatus.' f Ihei-e regulations were so effectual, that during the 600 following years, a double choice (as Gibbon observes) only once disturbed the unity of t the College. Chap. 69. J Three thousand gens de lettres are said to have been assembled on that occasion, Hist. Litt. de la France, xii. siecle. Chap, XVII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 315 We shall conclude this account with a few of the observations which most naturally offer themselves. From the moment that the Roman See put for- ward its claims to temporal authority, its history presents a spectacle of con- tentions, varying indeed in character and in bitterness, but in their succes- sion almost uninterrupted. The retrospect of the period of one hundred and fifteen years, of which the most memorable circumstances have now been related, presents to us a mass of angry dissensions, which may generally be distinguished into three classes: (1.) The first and most prominent of these contains such quarrels as arose in continuation of the grand debate between the popedom and the empire. It was not sufficient that the original matter of dispute was removed by the concordat of Calixtus ; the roots of animosity lay deeper than the form of an investiture, and they had branched out more widely and more vigorously during the contest which ucceeded that concordat. The coronation of every new emperor was now attended by a new dispute, which usually caused immediate blood- shed, and was sometimes prolonged into obstinate warfare. Rome had never a more formidable German adversary than Frederic Barbarossa ; yet so far was he from obtaining any lasting advantage over her, that the papal pretensions appear to have gained considerably both in consistency and general credit during his reign, or, to speak more properly, during the pontificate of Alexander III. Frederic was not justified in contesting the legitimacy of that pontiff. Whatsoever general rights he might possess over the Roman church (and they were very vague and could only be temporal) ; whatsoever precedents he might plead for interference (and those were very remote, and not wholly applicable to the present case) ; the election of Alexander was unquestionably valid, according to the canons which had been enacted a century before and never repealed or contested, and according to the practice of the See since the days of (jrregory VII. Assuredly, the desire to recover an obsolete privilege, virtually ceded by the silence of intervening treaties, was excuse insuffi- cient for that violent opposition, which did properly terminate in defeat and humiliation, as it Was commenced and continued in injustice. (2.) The contentions among the rival candidates for the pontifical chair, so scanda- lous and so usual in former periods, had abated nothing of their rage in the present ; for though they changed their character, they lost not any part of their virulence, from the intermixture of political animosity. The short reigns of the greater number of the pontiffs, and the most trifling divisions in the college, gave frequent occasion, and some pretext, for popular interference ; and this could never be exercised without excess. The regulation of Nicholas II. was not in fact of much real advantage, except as a preparatory measure to that of Alexander III., for it was vain to exclude from positive election an unprincipled and venal mob, as long as they retained a negative influence, it was of no avail, as a final arrangement, to forbid their suffrage, and to require their consent,- for the turbulent expression of their disapprobation was instantly seized by the defeated candidate, as furnishing some hope for success, or, at least, some plea for perseverance. And perhaps it was not the least evil of those tumults, that they encouraged and almost invited the interference of the emperor, so seldom offered with any friendly intention. There was no other possible method of securing at once the justice and decency of papal election, than by the entire exclusion of the people this measure was at length effected by Alexander. (3.) Of another description again were those dissensions which distracted the several kingdoms of Europe 316 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVIL by the internal division of the church and the state, that is, by the opposi- tion of the ecclesiastical to the civil authorities. But since in these matters the affairs of every nation constitute histories essentially distinct from each other, and mainly influenced, in every instance, by civil concerns ; and since the detached incidents which we might produce would form inde- pendent narratives, standing for the most part on separate foundations, it would be difficult, in these limited pages, to give them consistency, or even coherence. We must, therefore, content ourselves with referring to the annals of the different nations for the details of such disputes ; to those of France, for instance, for the quarrel' between Louis le Gros and the Bishop of Paris, who had the boldness to excommunicate his sovereign ; and to those of our own country for the particulars of the aggression of William Rufus on the property of the church, made during the pontificate of Urban II., and of the protection perseveringly vouchsafed to Thomas a Becket by the piety or policy of Alexander III. To those abovementioned we might reasonably add another form of discord which was beginning obscurely to present itself, with omens and menaces of tribulation. The voice of heresy had been already raised in the valleys of France, and the ministers of spiritual despotism had already bestirred themselves for its suppression. But this subject is so peculiarly connected with the celebrity of Innocent III., that we shall not disconnect it from his name. II. The gradual establishment of the peculiar doctrines and practices of the Church of Rome, though occasionally influ- Educatiojiandtheo- enced by the vicissitudes of literature, is not insepa- logical learning. rably connected with its history, but was promoted in different ages by very different causes. It is indeed remarked, that in the tenth century the disputes respecting predestination, and other subtile questions became less common, and gave place to the final establishment of the doctrine of Purgatory, a change well suited to the transition from an age (the ninth), distinguished by some efforts" of intellectual inquisitiveness, into one remarkable for the general prostration of the human understanding. But, on the other hand, we find that, in the eleventh and twelfth ages, the necessity of secret confession was more strictly and assiduously inculcated ; yet the firmer rivetting of that spiritual chain cannot certainly be attributed to any further access of darkness. In fact, the contrary was the case, since the partial revival of letters is very justly ascribed to that period. But the innovation which we have last mentioned, and to which others might be added, was probably occa- sioned by the disputes then prevailing between the church and the empire, which made it necessary to extend by every exertion the influence of the clergy over their lay fellow-subjects. Again, the use of indulgences in the place of canonical penance, whioh grew up in the twelfth age, was one of the earliest and most pernicious creations of the crusades, and wholly independent of the growth and movements of literature. But not- withstanding these and many other points of disconnection, there has ever existed a sort of general correspondence between religion and learning, most especially remarkable in those ages when the ministers of the one could alone give access to the mysteries of the other, and when the only incentive to studious application was religious zeal or ecclesiastical am- bition ; so that it would be as improper entirely to separate those subjects as it would be impossible, in these pages, to enter very deeply into discus- sion concerning the ecclesiastical literature of so many ages. We shall Chap. XVII. J A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 317 therefore content ourselves by striving from time to time to illustrate this work by such subsidiary lights as shall most obviously present themselves, so far at least as regards the different forms of theological learning, and the methods of theological education. At present, after a very brief review of earlier times, we shall conclude our imperfect inquiries at the end of the eleventh century. The earliest schools established in the provinces of the Western Empire were of civil foundation, and intended entirely for the purposes of civil education; and so they continued Early Schools. until the social system was subverted by the barbarian conquest. This revolution affected ^the literary in common with all other institutions : in the course of the sixth century profane learning entirely disappeared, together with the means of acquiring it; and before its con- clusion, the office of instruction had passed entirely into the hands of the clergy. The municipal schools of the empire gave place to cathedral or episcopal establishments, which were attached, in every diocese, to the residence of the bishop ; and throughout the country elementary schools were formed in many of the monasteries, and even in the manses of the parochial priesthood. The system of education which prevailed in those of Italy, and which was probably very general, is described by the canon* which enjoins it : * Let all presbyters who are appointed to parishes, according to the custom so wholesomely established throughout all Italy, receive the younger readers into their houses with them, and feeding them, like good fathers, with spiritual nourishment, labour to instruct them in preparing the Psalms, in industry of holy reading, and in the law of the Lord.' Such regulations prove, no doubt (if they were really enforced), that the education of the clergy was not entirely neglected : but they prove also, that such education, even in that early age, was confined to the clergy, and that it embraced no subjects of secular erudition. It is true, indeed, that the names of rhetoric, dialectics, and the former subjects of civil instruction, were perpetuated in the ecclesiastical seminaries ; but those sciences were only taught, as they were connected, or might be brought into connexion, with theology, and made instrumental in the service of the church f . But even this partial glimmering of knowledge was extinguished by the invasion of the Lombards, and the very genius of Italy seems to have been chilled and contracted by the iron grasp of the seventh century. Home alone retained any warmth or pulsation of learning ; if learning that can be called, which scarcely extended beyond a superficial acquaint- ance with the canons of the church. And though there exist some monuments, which appear to prove the existence of presbyteral or archi- presbyteral schools in the eighth century, we need scarcely hesitate to prolong to the middle of t that age the stupefaction of the preceding, and to attribute the first movement of reanimation to the touch of Charle- magne,~or his immediate predecessor. * Concilium Vasense Secundum (529 A.D.) The materials for the following pages are principally taken from the Dissertations (43 and 44) of Muratori, the Hist. Litt. de la France, two Discourses of Fleury, and the 16th Leqon of Guizot. t The reproach addressed by Gregory the Great to St. Dizier, Bishop of Vienne, is commonly known. That prelate had ventured to deliver lessons on ' Grammar ' in his cathedral schools : ' It is not meet (said the pope) that lips consecrated to the praises of God should open to those of Jupiter.' The extensive meaning then attached to the word grammar will be mentioned presently. Y 318 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVII. While Italy was thus lifeless, some seeds from the plant of knowledge, which had been blown to the western extremity of Europe, took root there, and reached a certain maturity. Accordingly, we find it recorded, that ' two Irishmen, persons incomparably skilled in secular and sacred learn- ing,' had reached the shores of France, and were giving public lectures to the people*. Their fame reached the ears of Charlemagne, who imme- diately employed them in the education of the youth of Gaul and Italy. Alcuin, as we have mentioned, enjoyed the honour of affording personal instruction to the emperor and presiding over his Palatine school ; and Dungal, another native of Ireland f, has acquired some importance in the history of Italy by the lessons which he delivered in her schools. This eagerness of Charlemagne to avail himself of foreign talent and acquire- ments evinces his earnestness in the prosecution of his great project, to civilize by the path of knowledge a project which failed indeed through the perversity of political circumstances and the incapacity of most of his successors ; but which, if perseveringly pursued, must generally be suc- cessful, because it is in unison with the natural inclinations, and energies, and prospects of the mind of man. France profited by this conjuncture more rapidly than Italy, as she had not previously fallen quite so low in ignorance : and it would even seem that the schools, which were now instituted in that country, were open to the laity as well as to those intended for the sacred profession, though the office of instruction remained entirely in the hands of the clergy. But it is certain, that very few were found to avail themselves of a privilege of whicli they knew not the value. Among the numerous names, which adorn the literary annals of France during the ninth century, there are scarcely one or two which are not ecclesiastical. Even Germany out- stripped in the race of improvement the languid progress of Italy ; and under a sky so splendidly prolific of taste and genius there arose not any one character conspicuous, even in his own day, for intellectual advance- ment, through a space of more than four centuries J. And this extra- ordinary dearth of merit is not entirely to be charged on the neglect of rulers, whether temporal or spiritual. Italy shared with his other pro- vinces the admirable institutions of Charlemagne and of some of his suc- cessors j and there are canons of Roman councils still extant/published in the ninth century^, which directed the suspension of any among the priesthood who should be convicted of ignorance, and provided means for the instruction of the rural clergy ||. But these measures, though they might possibly secure a mediocrity of theological acquirement, were insuf- ficient to call forth any commanding spirit into the field of literature. The tenth century did not increase the store of knowledge, nor multiply the candidates for fame either in Italy or France. ^f In France, the * Not gratuitously, it would seem, as literary missionaries, t but for money contri- buted by their hearers. f Scotus : a term which was long confined to the sister island. Muratori conde- scends to employ some pains to ascertain whether or not Dungal was a monk, as were his two compatriots mentioned in the text a question deemed of some importance to the honour of the monastic order. J Some may consider Pope Nicholas as an exception ; and he certainly possessed great talents, and was not devoid of canonical learning, though in both respects probably much inferior to Hincmar. But his character was essentially ecclesiastical ; it was not adorned by any recollection purely literary. In the years 826 and 853. || The decree of Pope Leo IV. is cited by Muratori. [[The two leading literary heroes of France during this age were (1.) St. Odo, Abbot Chap. XVII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 319 depredations of the Normans during the conclusion of the preceding 1 age, destroyed not only the leisure and security, but even the means and food of study. For in their savage incursions, those unlettered pagans directed their rage against the monasteries, as being the principal seats of letters and religion ; the buildings were reparable, but the manuscripts which they contained perished irretrievably. Nor was this the only cala- mity, nor even the most fatal of the injuries, which obstructed the pro- gress of learning: for it was during the same period that the kingdom of France was broken up into small principalities under independent here- ditary vassals, who despoiled the people of the few rights and blessings which they had possessed under a single sceptre, and whose rule permitted the license which their example encouraged. In the prostration of human laws the law divine was easily forgotten, and the hand which was accustomed to robbery did not long refrain from sacrilege. In such wild periods the wealth and the weakness of the Clergy have always pointed them out as the earliest victims*; and this domestic anarchy was pro- bably more effectual in arresting the steps of learning and civilization than the more transient tempests of foreign invasion. We shall here only pause to remark, that during the struggles of this frightful period, the defence of the tower of knowledge, as heretofore its construction, was entrusted by Providence to ecclesiastical hands ; while its walls were incessantly menaced or violated by a lawless military aristocracy, which had closely wrapped itself in ignorance, and was partly jealous and partly contemptuous of every exertion to improve and enlighten mankind. We are not surprised to observe that a condition of civil demoralization, such as then existed, should have been attended by corruption in every rank' of the clergy. The Bishops were negligent and immoral, and the inferior orders indulged in still grosser vices and more offensive indecen- cies!; and we maybe well assured that the laity were still further debased by the example of deformities, which their own turbulence had so greatly tended to create. Comets, and eclipses, and earthquakes were fearful prodigies and sure prognostics of disaster, and the most penetrating astronomers J of the day shared (or pretended to share) the common solicitude. Enchantments, auguries, and divinations were ardently sought after, and commanded implicit belief. The forms of trial called * the Judgments of God,' were of the same description, and scarcely less remote from the precincts of reason ; and yet these degrading superstitions, though never canonically received as a part of Church discipline, and even continually combated by the more enlightened ecclesiastics, were both respected and practised among the lower Clergy during this and the three following ages. of Cluni, who wrote some theological works and a Life of St. Gregory of Tours he died in 942 and (2.) Frodoard, Canon of Rheims, who composed the History of the Church of Rheims, and a Chronicle, extending from 919 to 966, the year of his death. * Most of the monasteries which escaped destruction fell into the hands of lay Abbots, who used them as residences or castles, or usually as hunting-seats. On the other hand, the foundation of Cluni, in the same age, compensated the loss of many old, and pro- bably corrupt, establishments. f In the enumeration of these by the truly Catholic compilers of the Hist. Litt. de la France, it is mentioned, as not the lightest scandal; that ( there were priests who dared to marry publicly.' \ Astrologers, we should rather say. Muratori (Dissert. 44) attributes the introduction of these vanities to the study of Arabic literature. But was that study generally in fashion before the time of Pope Sylvester ? 320 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVII. Howbeit, even in the dreary records of this century we find traces of parochial schools for the instruction of children of both sexes* ; and we read a long 1 list of literary worthies whose names have-in many cases sur- vived their works, and whose works were chiefly remarkable for the mean- ness of their subjects, and the perplexed or puerile manner in which they are treated. And yet even these are sufficient to exhibit to us the spirit of improvement striving against the casual torrents which threatened to wash it away; and though it unquestionably receded during the calami- tous interval between the death of Hincmar and the end of the tenth cen- tury t, still, if we look somewhat farther back, and confine our attention to the country about which we are best informed, we need not hesitate to pronounce that the literary condition of France was, upon the whole, more prosperous when Sylvester II. ascended the chair, than when Charle- magne mounted the throne of Rome. As to Italy, the spell which had bound her genius during the preceding centuries seemed to be confirmed and riveted in the tenth. It is true, that some schools were yet found scattered through the towns and villages, which may have raised the character of the clergy somewhat above the degradation of the seventh and eighth centuries, to which the Lombard conquest had reduced it ; but the industry of those schools appears still to have been confined to the study of grammar and some necessary know- ledge of canonical law; and it is complained that the nobles, who sent their sons to them, had rather in view the episcopal dignities for which they thus became qualified, than the spiritual fruits of religious education. It is very probable that they were attended by none of any class excepting those intended for some branch of the ministry. These remarks sufficiently explain, to what extremely narrow limits was confined, both in respect to its character and diffusion, the learning of those ages which immediately followed the subversion of the Western Empire. From civil, it had passed under ecclesiastical superintendence ; but the Church which undertook the charge was itself corrupted and barbarized by contact with the profound ignorance and rude character and institutions of the conquerors : so that the immortal models were neglected, the precepts of the ancient masters forgotten, and the whole light of litera- ture, properly so called, extinguished. Nevertheless, we are not to sup- pose that the ecclesiastics of those days offered to their contemporaries no substitute for those treasures which they had not the means or the incli- nation to dispense. On the contrary, their productions were at some periods extremely abundant in number, and in character far from unprofit- able : and on this last point there is one important observation, which it is here proper to make, and which we press the more seriously, because it is not very commonly urged. These writings were almost wholly con- fined to theological matters, and their object (however faultily it may sometimes have been pursued) was practical. Instructions, sermons, * According to the regulations of that at Toul the children were admissible at seven years of age, and received their first lessons in the Psalms ; and it was provided that the boys and girls should be taught separately. The parochial cures appear (as in Italy) to have had the charge of such establishments. f About this time the establishment of some Greek commonalties took place in Lor- raine, introducing a partial knowledge of that language. And these Orientals were there encountered by certain emigrants from Ireland, a country which appears never to have forfeited the affections, nor to have secured the residence, of its sons. ' Nationem Scotorum quibus consuetude peregrinandi jam paene in naturam conversa est.' Walafridus Strabus (Jiv. ii. ; c. 27, de vita Saiicti Galli), npud Murat. Diss. 37.. Chap. XVIL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 321 homilies, interpretations and illustrations of scripture, were published in great profusion, and furnished to the people the only means of intellectual instruction. It is true that they were rude and unskilfully composed ; but they were addressed to rude assemblies, and were for the most * part directed to the moral improvement of those who read and heard them ; and moreover, their effect to that end, whatsoever it may have been, was at least not counteracted by any other description of literature : the whole mass had one object only, and that, upon the whole, beneficial. Even the ' Lives of the Saints/ and other legends of those days, may have conduced, though by a different and more doubtful path, to the same purpose; for among the swarms of those compositions which were then produced, and of which so many had a tendency to mere superstition, some may be found unquestionably calculated to move the real devotion and amend the moral principles of a barbarous people. Thus was there much even in the effusions of the most illiterate times which must have persuaded, influenced, and profited the generation to which they were addressed ; but their action was confined to their own day, to the moment of their delivery ; they were not associated with any of the stable wisdom of former ages ; nor were they qualified, nor were they indeed intended, to fix the attention of posterity. Italy had suffered to a certain extent from calamities similar to those which suspended the progress of France, and which .. /.-,- ^ Scarcity of Ma- more* r flora tm rwf>H hv thf> suimA rrmrn riptrpnprjirv & j were there followed by the same moral degeneracy ; miscripts. but these causes would scarcely have been adequate to so general an extinction, not of learning only, but almost of the curiosity and wish to learn, had they not been powerfully aided by another circum- stance, which is less regarded by historians : this was no other than the extreme scarcity and dearness of manuscripts. This misfortune was not entirely, nor even mainly, attributable either to the destruction of monas- teries or the indolence of monks: a more general and substantial cause existed in the absolute deficiency of the material. The ancients had obtained from the shores of the Nile, through easy and continual inter- course with Alexandria, sufficient supplies of papyrus to satisfy at a slight expense their literary wants; but after the conquest of Egypt by the Saracens, the communication became less frequent and secure, and the fabric of an implement of peace was probably discouraged by the warlike habits of the conquerors. At least it is certain, that about that period the papyrus began to be disused throughout Europe, and that the monu- ments* which remain of the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, are invariably composed of parchment. It was not possible, when the mate- rial was so expensive, that manuscripts could multiply very rapidly, or even that the losses occasioned by decay or devastation could be repaired with any facility ; and thus the libraries of the cathedrals and monasteries, to which all the treasures of former ages were at this period confided, were gradually impoverished or destroyed. The records of the time abound with complaints of this general penury of books, as well as with facts in proof of it, one of which is the following: In the year 855, Lupus, of Ferrara, wrote from his abbey, in France, to Pope Bene- * It is unquestionable that these writings contained a vast deal calculated to mislead, many errors of an absurd and superstitious tendency ; but these evils were probably more than counterbalanced, in their immediate effect upon the people, by the expositions of sound doctrine and lessons of practical piety, which are even more abundant. We refer as a fair example, to the passage, of St. Eligms, cited at the conclusion of the last chapter. 322 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVII. diet III-, praying for the loan of the concluding part of St. Jerome's Commentary on Jeremiah, with the promise that it should be rapidly copied and returned ' for in our regions nothing is to be found later than the Sixth Book, and we pray to recover through you, that which is wanting to our own insignificance.' In addition to this, he ventured to solicit the use of three books of profane writers the Treatise of Cicero de Oratore, the Institutions of Quintilian, and Donatus's Commentary on Terence. Muratori considers the zealous Abbot's request as unreasonable and immoderate, and we do not learn whether the Pope consented to grant it; but if the resources of France were really unable to supply him with the books in question, we need not distrust him when he laments the general scarcity of ancient and valuable compositions. This considera- tion will prevent the disdainful feeling which is almost necessarily roused, when we observe a succession of generations plunged in torpid ignorance, without an effort to extricate themselves from shame, or to let loose the human mind on its natural career of advancement : it disposes us much more nearly to compassion especially if we reflect how frequently the energy of a vigorous and enterprising soul, secluded in the hermitage or the cloister, must have exhausted itself on the most contemptible subjects, or pined away from the mere dearth of literary sustenance. We shall find little reason to be astonished that genius itself was so seldom able to emerge out of the noisome mist and rise into light and vigour, since its infancy was chilled by prejudices, unexcited by any wholesome exercise, and famished by the positive destitution of intellectual nourishment. The cause of literary stagnation which we have last mentioned was removed in the eleventh century by the invention of paper,* and accord- ingly we find that the number of MSS. was greatly multiplied after that time.t But the fury of civil dissension was not mitigated ; and under governments at the same time feeble and arbitrary, there was little encou- ragement for studious application, as indeed there was little honour, or even security, except in the profession of arms. And in sad truth, during the earlier years of this age, the wildest disorders were of such ordinary perpetration, misery had such universal prevalence, and injustice walked abroad so boldly and triumphantly, that there were those who held the persuasion that the millenarian prophecy had been already accomplished ; that Satan had shaken off his fetters at the one thousandth year, and was actually directing the evil destinies of the human race. At the same time, let us recollect that great exertions were made by the higher ecclesiastical orders to apply an indirect but very Exertions of powerful remedy to these excesses, by re-establishing the Ecclesiastics, discipline of the Church. For this purpose, about eighty councils were held in France alone during the eleventh century.}; We have already related how zealously the authority of * A very interesting account of the progress of paper-making, writing, printing. &c. may he found in the Life of Caxton published by this Society. | Still it was in the eleventh age that a Countess of Anjou is recorded to have pur- chased the Homilies of Haimon, at the price of 200 sheep, besides a very large payment in wheat, barley, skins, and other valuable articles. Hist. Litt. de la France, xi. siecle. J The zeal which was applied in the beginning of this age to the building and restora- tion of churches, basilicae, monasteries, and other holy edifices, is warmly praised by ecclesiastical writers. ' Krat enim instar ac si mundus ipse excutk-ndo semet, rejecta vetustate, passim candidarum ecclesiarum vestem indueret Glabrus Rodolph. apud ])u Chesne, Script. Franc., lib. xiv., cap. 4 ; cited by Muratori. Chap. XVII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 323 Rome had engaged itself in the same cause ; and by a necessary re- action, the success of every effort for the improvement of morality was favourable to the advancement of literature. The example of Sylvester II . might be sufficient to rouse the jealous emulation of Italy ; and Sylvester left to that country not his example only, but the fruits of his active zeal in encouraging the learned of his own time, and in establishing schools and collecting libraries for the use of other generations. Some of the Popes, his successors, followed his traces with more or less earnestness ; and among the rest, Gregory VII. added to his extraordinary qualities the undisputed merit of promoting the progress of education*. The voice of controversy, which was once more heard in this century, not only created another motive for literary activity, but proved the revival of a spirit of inquiry, inconsistent at least with universal ignorance. The talents of Lanfranct, the earliest boast of reviving Italy, were animated by the 'Heresy' of Berenger ; and to the ingenious disputations thus occasioned it is usual to attribute the growth of the new system of theo- logical science, afterwards called Scholastic. That is a very broad, but in many respects a correct view of early theo- logical literature, which distributes it into three reras. The first of these comprehends the whole list of the Three Characters ecclesiastical fathers men who, though they varied of theological exceedingly in character, style, and even opinion, Literature. were nevertheless united by one great principle ; for they acknowledged no other sources of faith, and reverenced no other authority, than Scripture and apostolical tradition. On this foundation, they boldly applied to the elucidation of religious subjects such reasoning and eloquence as Nature had bestowed on them : perverted, it might be, by the peculiar prejudices of the times and countries wherein they lived, but little restrained either by the use or abuse of educational discipline, and wholly exempt from servile subjection to the opinions of any pre- decessor. The characteristics of this age are such as we should expect from such principles an overflow of piety stained by superstition, exube- rance of learning without a proportionate fruit of knowledge, and sallies of oratory, which sometimes ascended into eloquence, and sometimes dwindled away into puerile declamation, or cld and empty allegory. This sera is by many extended down to the eighth century, and considered as properly terminating with John Damascenus ; but the concluding half of the fourth age and the beginning of the fifth was the true period of its glory ; and thence we may trace the gradual dissolution of its distin- guishing qualities into that system which was afterwards established in its place and on its ruins. The second was the sera of intellectual blindness and dependence ; its most laborious works were mere collections, quotations, and compila- tions ; as if the minds of that generation were stupified by gazing on * In a council held in 1078, he strongly pressed on all bishops the necessity of super- intending education in their respective dioceses. t 'Lanfrancus teneriorem aetatem in ssecularibus detrivit, sed in Scripturis divinis animo et aevo maturavit.' France was for some time the principal field of his exertions, and Muratori supposes that Hildebrand, attracted by his celebrity, may have visited that country for the purpose of hearing him. The name of Anselm succeeds to that of Laufranc : that learned prelate was born at Aosta, which then belonged to the Duke of Burgundy so that France disputes with Italy the honour of having produced him. He too is considered by Muratori as having prepared the way for the scholastic system of theology. 321 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVII. the brilliant creations of their predecessors, till they mistook them for pure and inimitable perfection. St. Augustin and St. Gregory were the idols of those abject worshippers ; and if their piety was sometimes kindled by the enthusiasm of the former, their Catholic zeal and Papal prejudices were more commonly (or at least more manifestly) nourished by the principles of Gregory. The termination of this period is fixed at the middle of the eleventh century ; but its character had been partially interrupted by the writers of the ninth, and most especially by John Scotus; and his style and manner, as well as his opinions, were followed and revived by Berenger. The grand principle of the third sera was the exaltation of reason to its proper pre-eminence over the influence of human authority ; a true and noble principle as long as reason itself can be restrained to its just province, so as neither to deviate into minute and barren sophistry, nor to break loose into those dark and interminable inquiries which God has closed against it. Unhappily it was not long before it fell into both these errors, which are, indeed, very closely connected. In the establish- ment and support of the Scholastic theology, it so frequently descended to degrading artifice, and perplexed itself so blindly in the mazes of chica- nery, as to make it doubtful whether religious truth was not more dis- figured by the minute disceptations which thenceforward prevailed, than by the superstitious extravagance of the first period, or the obsequious ignorance of the second. We shall possibly recur to this subject hereafter. At present we need only remark, that during the latter half of the eleventh century considerable addition was made both to the copiousness of libraries and the number of schools and of students, as well in Italy as in France*; but the course of study was still generally confined to the two paths denominated the Tri- vium and Quadrivium. The first of these embraced grammar, rhetoric, and dialectics ; and grammar was defined to be * the art of writing and speaking well jV and professed to comprehend the study of several clas- sical as well as sacred writers. The knowledge of arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy swelled the pretensions of the Quadrivium. But, in real truth, the productions and language of the Greeks were wholly neglected and unknown. The science of criticism the art of dis- tinguishing what is graceful in style, and what is true in fact was not cultivated ; and both the study and composition of history were still con- fined to legendary chronicles^, or to the ill-digested details of contempo- * Schools of civil law were founded in both those countries in the eleventh century, and acquired some eminence before its conclusion. Physic, of course, had never been entirely neglected; and as we find that by a council held at Rheims, in 1131, monks were forbidden the practice either of law or medicine, we would willingly have hoped that some attention now began to be paid to the education of the laity. But the prohibi- tion only extended to the walls of the monasteries ; the practice of those professions is described to have been very lucrative, and for that reason, and through the continued ignorance of the laity, even in the century following (if we are to believe the compilers of the Hist. Litteraire), there were scarcely any who professed medicine except clerks and monks ; with the addition indeed of certain Jews, who were held the most skilful prac- titioners. f- Hist. Litt. de la France, xii. siecle. | The first Christian chronicler was Gregory of Tours. He was born at Auvergne in 539, and besides many copious narratives of martyrdoms and miracles, he produced an ' Ecclesiastical History of the Franks.' This work, which contains some faint indications of an educated mind, was not surpassed during that century, or the two which followed. The history begins at the death of St. Martin, in 377, and ends at the year 591. It was Chap, XVII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH' rary narrative. Besides which, the sciences professed part imperfectly understood even by those who pretended to them ; and it is moreover admitted that, as the students of those days usually affetHejil to become acquainted with all the subjects placed before them, they gene- > rally departed without any profitable knowledge of any of them. The great mass of the people had no education whatsoever. The result was such as must necessarily follow, whenever the possession of any valu- able portion of literary acquirement is confined to very few individuals : the possessors employed it to delude as well as to enlighten the people. So that those ages, deeply as they suffered from the scanty provision of useful and liberal knowledge, were scarcely less vitiated through the inequality with which that little was distributed. The small number who had penetrated the mysteries felt too strongly the advantage and the power conferred by exclusive initiation, to desire their more general pro- mulgation. The more numerous class, who from a distant and hasty glimpse had caught some imperfect insight, by communicating their own obscure views and misconceptions, disseminated many fanciful, if not pernicious, errors and absurd notions. So it proved that the lights which were thus faintly transmitted to the body of the people, were not faint only, but sometimes false and deceitful also. And it is a question for the decision of Philosophy, whether plain and downright ignorance, with all its demoralizing consequences, be not a condition of less danger and better hope than one of mistake and delusion. ;NOTE ON ST. BERNARD. The life of St. Bernard connected, within a few years, the pontificate of Gregory VII. with that of Alexander III. Born in 1091, he flourished during one of the rudest periods of papal history; and he died (in 1153,) just before the era commenced of its proudest triumphs, and, perhaps, of its deepest crimes. His actions and his writings throw the best light which now remains upon that period, and even the following short account of them will not be without its use. St. Bernard was a native of Fon- taines, in Burgundy, and descended from a noble family. He entered, at the age of twenty-two, into the monastery of Citeaux, near Dijon ; and so early was the display of his zeal and his talents, that only two years after- wards he was appointed to establish a religious colony at Clairvaux*, in the diocese of Langres. It grew with rapidity, and spread its scions with great luxuriance under his superintendence so that at his decease, at no very advanced age, he was enabled to bequeath to the Church the inesti- mable treasure of about one hundred and sixty monasteries, founded by his own exertions. As for himself, though it seems clear that the highest ecclesiastical dignities were open, and even offered to him, his humbler ambition was contented to preside over the society which he had first created, and to influence the character of those which had proceeded from it, by counsel, example, and authority. But the influence of St. Bernard was not confined to his monastic pro- geny it displayed itself in all grand ecclesiastical transactions, in France, in Germany, in Italy; from the altars of the church it spread to courts continued for the fifty following years, in a much inferior style, by one Fredegarius, a Burgundian, and probably a monk. * Or Clairval Clara Vallis. 326 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVII. and parliaments. And, as it was founded on reputation, not on dignity ; as it stood on no other ground than his wisdom and sanctity ; so was it generally exerted for good purposes; and always for purposes which, according to the principles of that age, were accounted good. On the schism which took place after the death of Honorius II.*, St. Bernard advocated the cause of the legitimate claimant, Innocent II., with great zeal and effect. During eight years of contestation and turbulence he persevered in the struggle. His authority t unquestionably decided the King and the Clergy of France. The King of England J at Chartres, the Emperor at Liege, are stated to have listened and yielded to his per- suasions. He reconciled Genoa and Pisa to the cause of Innocent. In the latter city a council was held in 1134, in which St. Bernard was the moving and animating spirit. Nevertheless it is obvious, from the genuine piety which pervades so many of his works, that his mind was then most at home when engaged in holy offices and pious meditation. How well soever he might be qualified to preside in the assemblies, and rule the passions, and reconcile the interests of men, it was in the peaceful solitude of Clairvaux that his earthly affections were placed, and it was to the mercy-seat of heaven that his warmest vows and aspirations were ad- dressed. Through these various qualities through his charitable devo- tion to the poor ; through that earnest piety which tinctured his writings with a character sometimes approaching to mysticism ; through his imita- tion of the ancient writers, Augustin and Ambrose ; through his zeal for the unity and doctrinal purity of the Church, St. Bernard has acquired and deserved the respectable appellation of the Last of the Fathers. The remaining works, of St. Bernard consist of about four hundred and fifty Letters, a great number of Sermons, and some very important Tracts and Treatises. It would not here be possible, nor any where very profitable, to present a mere analysis of so many and so various composi- tions. A great proportion of the matter is devoted to the ends of piety and charity, to the exaltation of the soul of man, and the inculcation of his highest duties. On points of doctrine, the Abbot of Clairvaux was too ardently attached to his Church to venture upon any deviation from the * In 1130. Innocent II. succeeded, and ruled thirteen years and a half, Euge- nius III. was elected 1145, and reigned for eight years. j- The means by which ecclesiastical authority sometimes (and not, perhaps, very un- commonly) attained its ends in those days, are well displayed in the following anecdote of St. Bernard. The Duke of Guienne had expelled the Bishops of Poitiers and Li- moges, and refused to restore them, even on the solemn and repeated injunctions of the Pope and his Legate. St. Bernard had exerted his influence for the same purpose, equally in vain. At length, when celebrating, on some particular occasion, the holy sacri- fice, after the consecration was finished and the blessing of peace bestowed upon the people, St. Bernard placed the body of the Lord on the plate, and carrying it in his hand, with an inflamed countenance, and eyes sparkling fire, advanced towards the Duke, and uttered these thrilling words : ' Thus far we have used supplication only, and you have despised us ; many servants of God, who were present in this assembly, joined their prayers with ours, and you have disregarded them : behold, this is the Son of God, who is the King and Lord of the Church which you persecute, who now advances towards you; behold your Judge ! at whose name every knee bends in heaven, in earth, and beneath the earth. Behold the just avenger of crimes, into whose hands that very soul which animates you will some day fall. Will you disdain him also ? Will you dare to scorn the Master, as you have scorm-d his servants ? ' This tremendous appeal was successful. The Duke is related to have fallen with his face to the earth when he heard it ; the pre- lates were restored to their sees, and the schism extinguished. See Dupin, Nouvelle Bi- liuth. torn. ix. ch. iv. J Ernardus, Vita Sancti Bernardi. Pagi, Gest. Pontif. Roman, Vit. Innocent II. Chap. XVIL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 327 established, or, at least, the tolerated faith. On the important subject of grace, he appears to have followed the opinion of St. Augustin. He considered the freedom of will to be preserved by the voluntary consent which it gives to the operations of grace ; that that consent is indeed brought about by grace, but that being voluntary, and without constraint, it is still free. The necessity of this freedom he argues at great length, as indispensable to any system of retribution*. ' Where there is necessity there is not liberty ; where there is not liberty, neither is there merit, nor, consequently, judgment.' (Ubi necessitas, ibi libertas non est ; ubi liber- tas non est, nee meritum, nee per hoc judicium.) On the other hand, he maintained the indisputable efficacy of grace ; and in defining the limits of its operation, and reconciling its overruling influence with the necessary liberty of a responsible agent, he fathomed the depths, and, perhaps, exhausted the resources of human reason. As Lanfranc had been the champion of the Church against the heresy of Berenger ; as the admirable Anselm t had maintained the better reason and sounder doctrine against the dangerous subtilties of Ros- cellinus J ; so St. Bernard, in his turn of controversy, was Peter confronted with the most ingenious Scholastic of the age, Abelard. Peter Abelard. This celebrated doctor was born in Brittany, in 1079 ; and while St. Bernard was shaping his character and his intellect after the rigid model of Augustin, Abelard was learning a dangerous lesson of laxity in the school of Origen. We shall not trace the various and almost opposite heresies into which he was be- trayed by the obtuse subtilty of his principles ; still less shall we investi- gate the oblique paths by which he reached those conclusions. It may suffice to say, that he was charged with being, at the same time, an Arian, a Nestorian, and a Pelagian, and with as much justice, perhaps, as such charges were usually advanced by the Roman Catholic Church against its refractory children. The history of the crimes and the misfortunes of Abelard is known to every * Excepto sane per omnia original! peccato, quod aliam constat habere rationem S. Bernardi ( Tractatus de Gratia et Libero Arbitrio.' f Anselm was probably born at Aosta in 1 034, and died in 1 1 05 ; and though he is claimed by the Gallican church as its noblest ornament since the fifth century, his history belongs more properly to our own. He wrote several works : against the ' Greek Doctrine of the Holy Procession,' ' On the Trinity and Incarnation,' against Roscellinus, ' On the Im- maculate Conception,' ' On the Fall of the Devil,' ' On Freewill,' ' On Original Sin,' { Necessity,' ' Predestination,' on which latter subjects he had drawn at the well of St. Augustin. ' His obsequies (says the writer in the Histoire Litteraire de la France) were preceded, attended, and followed by some miracles ; but the holy prelate had performed a vast number more during his lifetime.' His Life, as given in the Histoire Litteraire, is an abridgment of that by the Monk Edmen, his pupil and panegyrist. I During the infancy of St. Bernard. The opinions generally attributed to him are, that he considered the doctrine of the Trinity to have been known to certain ancient philosophers, and revealed to them in recompense for their virtues, that the Son bore the same relation to the Father, as the species does to the genus ; as a certain power to power ; as materiatum to materia ; as man to animal ; as a brazen seal to brass ; that he denied the Atonement, and reasoned against the murder of an innocent being as the means of appeasing God's anger ; that he con- sequently denied the Redemption, though he received the Incarnation as the properest method for illuminating the world with divine light and love ; that the Holy Ghost pro- ceeded from the Father and the Son, but not from their substance ; and that it was the soul of the world ; that it is not the fault, but the penalty, of original sin which we derive from Adam ; that free will, without the help of grace, was sufficient for salvation. In addition to these, and many other imputations, he was also charged before the Council of Soissons (1121) with Tritheism, and, at the same time, with having asserted, that the Father alone was almighty. 328 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVII. one. When the Abbot of Clairvaux, in the course of his official visitation, inspected the nunnery of the Paraclete, he found the establishment well conducted, and he approved of every regulation. Only, in the version of the Lord's prayer there in use, he observed these words, ' Give us this day our super-substantial (eKiovaiov) bread' and he thought it insufferable that the very prayer which the Deity had deigned to communicate to man for His own service, should be thus senselessly corrupted by the infection of Aristotle. Abelard defended his version ; and hence arose the first recorded altercation between those celebrated theologians. The strictures of St. Bernard irritated that vain Scholastic; and as it happened that a large assembly of the Clergy of France was appointed to meet in the city of Sens, on some occasion deemed important*, Abelard challenged his rival to make good, in the presence of that august body, his repeated charges of heresy. St. Bernard would willingly have declined that con- flict : he feared the superiority of an experienced polemic ; * I was but a youth t, and he a man of war from his youth. Besides, I judged it improper to commit the measures of divine faith, which rested on the foundations of eternal truth, to the petty reasonings of the schools/ How- beit, the counsel of his friends prevailed ; after some hesitation he accepted the challenge, and appeared on the appointed day. Louis VII. honoured the assembly with his presence ; the nobles of his court, the leading prelates and abbots, and the most learned doctors of the kingdom were there ; and the highest expectations were formed, from one end of the realm to the other, by the rumour of this theological mono- machy. The two champions were confronted. Bernard arose: ' I accuse not this man ; let his own works speak against him. Here they are, and these are the propositions extracted from them. Let him say I wrote them not ; or let him condemn them, or let him defend them against my objections.' The charges were not entirely read through, 1 when Abelard interrupted the recital, and simply interposed his appeal to the Pope. The assembly was astonished at his hasty desertion of the field, which he had so lately sought. ' Do you fear,' said St. Bernard, ' for your person ? You are perfectly secure; you know that nothing is intended against you; you may answer freely, and with the assurance of a patient hearing. Abelard only replied, ' I have appealed to the Court of Rome ;' and re- tired from the assembly. ' I know nothing/ says Milner J, ' in Bernard's * For the translation of the body of some saint into the cathedral church. The assem- bly took place in 1140. f The Abbot probably meant a youth in controversy, for as to age, he was then forty- nine, and his adversary only two years older. Milner, whose account of this transaction has great merit, seems to have understood him literally. J Church Hist. Cent. xii. ch. 2. This author is probably nearer to truth in his praise of Bernard, than in his censure of the ' heretic.' The reason of Abelard's sudden appeal to a higher court was, unquestionably, his distrust of that before which he stood : he might doubt its impartiality, or he might certainly have discovered its determined preju- dice against him ; and that it was, in fact, very provident in him to appeal betimes from its decision is clearly proved by a passage in the Account, which certain Bishops of France addressed to the Pope, of the proceedings at Sens. fc As the arguments of the Abbot of Clairvaux. . .convinced the assembled bishops that the tenets which he opposed were not only false, but heretical, they, sparing his (the heritic's) person out of deference to the apostolic see, condemned the opinions.' A loco et judice quern sibi ipse elegerat, sine laesione, sine gravamine, ut suam prolongaret iuiquitatem, Sedem Apostolicam appellavit. Episcopi autem, qui propter hoc in unum convenerant, vestraj Reverentise deferentes nihil in perso- nam ejus egerunt, sed tantummodo capitula librorum ejus,' &c. &c. It is therefore manl- iest that this appeal saved him from some personal infliction. This Letter is published among the works of St. Bernard, p. 1560, edit. Lutet. Paris. 1G40. After all, it is some Chip. XVII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 329 history more decisively descriptive of his character, than his conduct in this whole transaction. By nature sanguine and vehement, by grace and self-knowledge modest and diffident, he seems on this occasion to have united boldness with timidity, and caution with fortitude. It was evi- dently in the spirit of the purest faith in God, as well as in the most charitable zeal for divine truth, that he came to the contest/ We shall now proceed to consider St. Bernard in another (if, indeed, it is another) character, that of a zealous defender of the power and pre- rogatives of the church; and we shall observe how far the same principle engaged him, on the one hand, in the support of papal authority, and in the extirpation of heresy on the other. We willingly omit all mention of the miracles which are so abundantly ascribed to him, and which, if they are not merely the fabrications of his panegyrists, are equally discreditable to his honesty and his piety. We defer to a future chapter any notice of the very equivocal zeal which urged him to preach a holy war, to proclaim its predestined success with a prophet's authority, and then to excuse the falsification of his promises by a vulgar and contemptible subterfuge. Yet were all these transactions very certain proofs of his attachment to the principles of the Roman Catholic church. Of the same nature were the eulogies which he so warmly lavished, in one of his treatises, upon the newly instituted order of the Templars. But we pass these matters over, and proceed directly to observe the expressions by which he characterised the Bishop of Rome. * Let us inquire/ says he, in his letter to Pope Eugenius III.*, ' yet more diligently who you are, and what character you support for a season in the Church of God. Who are you ? a mighty priest, the highest pontiff. You are the first among bishops, the heir of the apostles ; in primacy Abel, in government Noah, in patriarchate Abraham, in order Melchisedech, in dignity Aaron, in authority Moses, in judgment Samuel, in power Peter, in unction Christ. You are he to whom the keys have been delivered, to whom the flock has been entrusted. Others, indeed, there are who are doorkeepers of heaven, and pastors of sheep ; but you are pre-eminently so, as you are more singularly distin- guished by the inheritance of both characters. They have their flocks assigned to them, each one his own ; to you the whole are entrusted, as one flock to one shepherd ; neither of the sheep only, but of their pastors also ; you alone are the pastor of all. Where is my proof of this ? in the Word of God. For to which, I say, not of bishops, but of apostles, was the universal flock so positively entrusted 1 " If thou lovest me, Peter, feed my sheep.". . . . Therefore, according to your canons, others are called to a share of the duty, you to a plenitude of power. The power of others is restrained by fixed limits ; yours is extended even over those who have received power over others. Are you not able, if cause arise, to exclude a bishop from heaven, to depose him from his dignity, and even to consign him over to Satan ? These your privileges stand unas- sailable, both through the keys which have been delivered, and the flock which has been confided to you/ &c. Thus the authority of St. Bernard, which was extremely great, both in his own age and those which imme- diately followed, was exerted to subject the minds of religious men to that spiritual despotism, which was already swollen far beyond its just limits, and was threatening a still wider and more fatal inundation. satisfaction to record, that Abelard died (in 1142) in quiet obscurity, in the Monastery of Cluni. * ' De Consideratione,' lib. ii., c, viii. 33 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVII. Among 1 the numerous discourses of St. Bernard, two* were more espe- cially directed against the heretics of the day; and the preacher declares, that he was moved to this design by ' the multitudef of those who were destroying the vine of Christ, by the paucity of its defenders, by the diffi- culty of its defence/ In the discharge of this office he inveighs against the innovators in the usual terms of theological bitterness ; and at the same time charges them with those flagrant violations of morality and decency, which were so commonly imputed to seceders from the church, though they were, in truth, inconsistent with the first principles of civil society. We shall not repeat those charges, nor copy his ardent vituperations ; but there is one passage (in the sixty-sixth sermon), which possesses some historical importance, and which exposes besides the principles of the orator. ' In respect to these heretics, they are neither convinced by rea- sons, for they understand them not ; nor corrected by authority, for they do not acknowledge it ; nor bent by persuasion, for they are wholly lost. It is indisputable that they prefer death to conversion. Their end is destruction ; the last thing which awaits them is the flames. More than once the Catholics have seized some of them, and brought them to trial. Being asked their faith, and having wholly denied, as is their usage, all that was laid against them, they were examined by the Trial of water %, and found false. And then, since further denial was impossible, as they had been convicted through the water not receiving them, they seized (as the expression is) the bit in their teeth, and began with pitiable boldness, not so much to make confession as profession of their impiety. They proclaimed it for piety ; they were ready to suffer death for it ; and the spectators were not less ready to inflict the punishment. Thus it came to pass that the populace rushed upon them, and gave the heretics some fresh martyrs to their own perfidy. I approve the zeal, but I do not applaud the deed ; because faith is to be the fruit of persua- sion, not of force. Nevertheless, it were unquestionably better that they should be restrained by the sword, the sword of him, I mean, who wears it not without reason, than be permitted to seduce many others into their error ; ' for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. . . . Some wondered that the offenders went to execution not only with fortitude, but, as it seemed, with joy ; but those persons had not observed how great is the power of the devil not only over the bodies, but even over the hearts of men, which have once delivered themselves into his possession.. . .The constancy of martyrs and the pertinacity of heretics has nothing in common ; because that which operates the contempt of death in the one is piety, in the other, mere hardheartedness.'. . . Marcus Antoninus, in the insolence of empire and philosophy, insulted by a similar distinction the firmness of those sainted sufferers, to whom the Abbot of Clairvaux addressed, as to hea- venly Mediators, his daily and superstitious supplications. And now again, after another long revolution of centuries and of principles, those despised outcasts, whom St. Bernard, in the loftier pride of ecclesiastical infallibility, consigned, with no better spirit, to eternal condemnation, are * Sermons ' Super Cantica,' Ixv. et Ixvi. f In other places he acknowledges the same fact. ( Et item de hseresi, quae clam paene ubique serpit, apud aliquos saevit palam. Nam parvulos Ecclesise passim etpublice deglu- tire festinat.' &c. &c. De Consid., lib. iii., c. i. J This was one of the most popular among < The Judgments of God, Chap. XVII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 331 revered by us as victims in a holy cause, the earliest martyrs of the Reformation ! In the same work in which the office and prerogatives of the Pope were so highly exalted, the writer boldly exposed some of the favourite abuses of the system; and dictated, from his cell at Clairvaux, rules for its better administration, and for the guidance of the autocrat of the church. His instructions were wise, because they were virtuous, and proceeded from a true sense of spiritual duties and dignity. His general exhortations to Eugenius to cast aside the unworthy solicitude respecting secular matters, which at once embarrassed and degraded the Roman see, and to emulate the venerable patriarchs of the ancient church ; to leave to kings and their ministers the jarring courts of earthly justice*, and to content himself with distributing the judgments of heaven these lessons were conceived in the loftiest mood of ecclesiastical exaltation, and with the justest sense of ecclesiastical policy ; but the venom had already sunk too deep, and the healing admonitions of the reformer failed to arrest for a moment the progress of corruption. St. Bernard next addressed his censures more particularly to the prac- tice of appeal to Rome, which was then growing into a notorious abuse. After enumerating some of the evils thus occasioned, the delay, the vexa- tion, the positive perversion of all the purposes of justice, * How much longer,' he exclaims, ' will you shut your ears, whether through patience or inadvertency, against the murmur of the whole earth ? How much longer will you slumber? How much longer will your attention be closed against this monstrous confusion and abuse ? Appeals are made in defi- ance of law and equity, of rule and order. No distinction is made in place, or mode, or time, or cause, or person. They are commonly taken up with levity, frequently too with malice ; that terror which ought to fall upon the wicked, is turned against the good ; the honest are summoned by the bad, that they may turn to that which is dishonest ; and they tremble at the sound of your thunder. Bishops are summoned, to prevent them from dissolving unlawful marriages, or from restraining or punishing rapine and theft and sacrilege, and such like crimes. They are summoned, that they may no longer exclude from orders and benefices unworthy and infamous persons And yet you, who are the minister of God, pretend ignorance, that that, which was intended as a refuge for the oppressed, has become an armoury for the oppressor ; and that the parties who rush to the appeal are not those who have suffered, but those who meditate injustice.' Another papal corruption, against which St.Bernard inveighed with equal zeal was the abuse of exemptions. * I express the concern and lament- ations of the churches. They exclaim that they are maimed and dismem- bered. There are none, or very few, among them which do not either feel or fear this wound : Abbots are removed from the authority of their Bishops, Bishops from that of their Archbishops, Archbishops from that of their Patriarchs and Primates. Is the appearance of this good? Is the reality justifiable? If you prove the plenitude of your power by the frequency of its exercise, haply you have no such plenitude of justice. t- * Quaenam tibi major videtur et potestas et dignitas ; dimittendi peccata, an praedia dividend! ? Sed non est comparatio. Habent haec infima et terrena judices suos et reges et principes terrae. 4 Quid fines alios invaditis ? Quid i'alcem vestrara in alienana messera extenditis ? Non quia indigni vos ; sed quia indignura vobis talibus insistere, quippa potioribus occupatis. De Consid., lib, i,, c, vi. 332 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVII. You hold your office, that you may preserve to all their respective gradations and orders in honour and dignity, not to grudge and curtail them.' . . If the virtuous Abbot was moved to such boldness of rebuke by the delin- quencies of the eleventh century the earliest and perhaps the most venial excesses of pontifical usurpation with what eyes had he beheld the court of Innocent IV., or the chancery of John XXII.! with what a tempest of indignation had he visited the enormities of later and still more degenerate days jubilees and reservations, annates and tenths and expectative graces the long and sordid list of Mammon's machinations ! The halls of Constance and Basle would have rung with his lamentation and his wrath, and both Gerson* and Julian would have shrunk before the mani- festation of a spirit greater far than themselves. But the inquisition of St. Bernard was not confined to the courts of the Vatican. It penetrated into the dwelling-places and into the bosoms of prelates and of monks. * Oh, ambition, thou cross of those who court thee ! How is it that thou tormentest all, and yet art loved by all ? There is no strife more bitter, no inquietude more painful than thine, and yet is there nothing more splendid than thy doings among wretched mortals ! I ask, is it devotion whichnovv wears out the apostolical threshold, or is it ambition ? Does not the pontifical palace, throughout the long day, resound with that voice f? Does not the whole machine of laws and canons work for its profit ? Does not the whole rapacity of Italy gape with insatiable greediness for its spoils ? Which is there among* your own spiritual^ studies that has not been interrupted, vor rather broken off, by it? How often has that restless and disturbing evil blighted your holy and fruitful leisure ! It is in vain that the oppressed make their appeal to you, while it is through you that ambition strives to hold dominion in the church.' . . . In another place ' The unsavoury contagion creeps through the whole church, and the wider it spreads the more hopeless is the remedy ; the more deeply it penetrates, the more fatal is the disease. They are ministers of Christ, and they are servants of Anti- Christ. They walk abroad honoured by the blessings of the Lord, and they return the Lord no honour: thence is that meretricious splendour everywhere visible the vestments of t actors the parade of kings: thence the gold on their reins, their saddles, and their spurs, for their spurs (calcaria) shine brighter than their altars (altaria) : thence their tables splendid with dishes and cups; thence their gluttony and drunkenness the harp, the lyre, and the pipe, larders stored with provision, and cellars overflowing with wine . . For such rewards as these men wish to become, and do become, rectors of churches, deans, archdeacons, bishops, archbishops for these dignities are not bestowed on merit, but on the thing which walks in darkness.' . A considerable por- tion of another composition|| is devoted to the exposure of monastic dege- * John Gerson was a great admirer of St. Bernard. He frequently cited his authority, and composed one discourse expressly in his honour. We always watch with anxiety, and record with respect, the expressions in which one great man has celehrated the excel- lence of another. But in Gerson's ' Sermo de Sancto Bernardo ' we can discover little hut fanciful and mystical rhapsody. f Annon qujestibus ejustota legum Canonumque disciplina insudat? J This passage is from the ' Third Book of the Consideratio.' It is addressed, we should recollect, to Pope Eugenius, who had been educated in the monastery of Clairvaux. $ ' Super Cantica Ser. xxxiii. || Ad Guillelmum Ahbat. Apologia An Apology to William, Abbot of St. Thierry. The pretext for this Apology was, to defend himself and his own reformed order of Cis- tercians from the charge of calumniating the rival order, their more opulent brethren, of Chap. XVII.] A HTSTORY OF THE CHURCH. 333 neracy. ' It is truly asserted and believed that the holy fathers instituted that life, and that they softened the rigour of the rule in respect to weaker brethren, to the end that more might be saved therein. But I cannot bring myself to believe that they either prescribed or permitted such a crowd of vanities and superfluities, as I now see in very many monas- teries. It is a wonder to me whence this intemperance, which I observe among monks in their feasting and revels, in their vestures and couches, in their cavalcades and the construction of their edifices, can have grown into a practice so inveterate, that where these luxuries are attended with the most exquisite and voluptuous prodigality, there the order is said to be best preserved, there religion is held to be most studiously cultivated. . . For behold ! frugality is deemed avarice ; sobriety is called auste- rity; silence is considered as moroseness. On the other hand, laxity is termed discretion ; profusion, liberality ; loquacity, affability ; loud laughter, pleasantness ; delicacy and sumptuousness in raiment and horses, taste ; a superfluous change of linen, cleanliness ; and then, when we assist each other in these practices, it is called charity. This is a charity indeed which destroys all charity ; it is a discretion which confounds all discretion ; it is a compassion full of cruelty, since it so serves the body, as mortally to stab the soul/ . . Again ' What proof or indica- tion of humility is this, to march forth with such a pomp and cavalcade, to be thronged by such an obsequious train of long-haired attendants, so that the escort of one abbot would suffice for two bishops ? I vow that I have seen an abbot with a suite of sixty horsemen and more*. To see them pass by, you would not take them for fathers of monasteries, but for lords of castles ; not for directors of souls, but for princes of pro- vinces.' . . St. Bernard then proceeds to censure the show of wealth which is exhibited within the monasteriesf, and subsequently exposes the secret motive of such display. * Treasures are drawn towards treasures ; money attracts money, and it happens that where most wealth is seen, there most is offered. When the relics are covered with gold, the eyes are struck, and the pockets opened. The beautified form of some Saint is pointed out, and the richer its colours the greater is deemed its sanctity. Men run to salute it they are invited to give, and they admire what is splendid more than they reverence what is holy. To this end circular ornaments are placed in the churches, more like wheels than crowns, and set with gems which rival the surrounding lights. We behold inven- tions like trees erected in place of candlesticks, with great expense of metal and ingenuity, also shining with brilliants as gaily as with the lights Cluni. St. Bernard did not lose that opportunity of generally inveighing against monastic abuses. * ' Mentior,' says the holy abbot, ' si non vidi abbatem sexaginta equos et eo amplius in suo ducere comitatu. Dicas, si videas eos transeuntes, non patres esse monasteriorum, sed dominos castellorum ; non rectores animarum, sed principes provinciarum.' f* * Omitto Oratorium immensas altitudines, immoderatas longitudines, supervacuas latitudines, sumptuosas depolitiones, curiosas depictiones, quae dum orantium in se detor- quent aspectum impedhmt et affectum, et mihi quodammodo repraesentant antiquum ritum Judaeorum. Sed esto fiant hsec ad honorem Dei. Illud autem interrogo monachus monachos, quod in gentilibus gentilis arguebat Dicite, Pontifices, in sancto quid facit aurum ? Ego autem dico, Dicvte Pauperes ! Non enim attendo versum sed sensum Dicite, in- quam, pauperes, si tamen pauperes, in Sancto quid facit aurum ? ' Loc. Citat. It seems probable that St. Bernard, in the interval of his theological labours, had studied the Ro- man Satirists with pleasure, and not without advantage. z 334 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVII they hold. Say, whether of the two is the object in these fabrications to awake the penitent to compunction, or the gazer to admiration ? Oh vanity of vanities, and as insane as it is vain ! The church is resplendent in its walls, it is destitute in its poor. It clothes its stones with gold it leaves its children naked. The eyes of the rich are ministered to, at the expense of the indigent. The curious find wherewithal to be delighted the starving do not find wherewith to allay their starvation.** . . . Such was the Abbot of Clairvaux ; in profession and habits a monk in ecclesiastical polity at once a reformer and a bigot in piety a Christian. His single example (if every page in history did not furnish others) would suffice to show that a very great preponderance of excellence is consistent with many pernicious errors ; and that innumerable ensamples of purity and holiness have flourished in every age, as they doubtless still flourish, in the bosom of the Roman Catholic Church. Because many Popes were am- bitious and many prelates profligate, it would be monstrous to suspect that righteousness was nowhere to be found in that communion ; it would be unreasonable to suppose that the great moral qualities, which distin- guished St. Bernard, were not very common among the obscurer members and ministers of his church. His genius, indeed, was peculiarly his own. The principles which least became him were derived from his church and his age ; but his charity and his godliness flowed from his religion, and thus they found sympathy among many, respect and admiration among all. These were the crown of his reputation ; and while they fortified and exalted his genius, they also gave it that commanding authority which, without them, it could never have acquired. From this alliance of noble qualities St. Bernard possessed a much more extensive influence than any ecclesiastic of his time more, perhaps, than any individual through the mere force of personal character has at any time possessed ; nor is it hard to understand, if we duly consider the imperfect civilization of that superstitious age, that monarchs, and nobles, and nations should have respectfully listened to the decisions of a monk, who gave laws from his cloister in Burgundy to the Universal Church. CHAPTER XVIII. The Pontificate of Innocent III. [From 1198 to 1216.] Prefatory facts and observations Circumstances under which Innocent ascended the chair Col. lection of Canons Condition of the clergy Ecclesiastical jurisdiction by what means extended Innocent's four leading objects (1.) To establish and enlarge his temporal power in the city and ecclesiastical states. Office of the Prefect Favourable circumstance, of which Innocent avails himself his work completed by Nicholas IV. (2.) To establish the universal pre-eminence of papal over royal authority. His claims to the Empire His dispute with Philippe Auguste of France he places the kingdom under interdict submission of Philippe His general assertions supremacy particular applications of them to England and France, Navarre, Wallachia and Bulgaria, Arragon and Armenia His contest with John of England Interdict the Legate Pan, dulph Humiliation of the King (3.) To extend his authority within the church. Italian clergy in England his general success in influencing the priesthood Power of the Episcopal Order The fourth Lateran Council. Canons on transubstantiation on private confession against all * * O vanitas vanitatum, sed non vanior quam insanior. Fulgct ecclesia in parietibus, et in pauperibus eget. Suos lapicles iiiduit auro et suos filios nudos deserit. De Bumptii bus tgenorum servitur oculis davitum. Inveniuut curiosi quo delectentur, et nou inve- niuut misuri quo sustententur.' Chap. XVIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 335 heretics (4.) To extinguish heresy. The Petrobrussians their author and tenets. Various other sects, how resisted. The Cathari supposition of Mosheim and Gibbon the more probable opi- nion The Waldenses their history and character error of Mosheim Peter Waldus his perse- cution. The Albigeois or Albigenses their residence and opinions attacked by Innocent St. Dominic title of Inquisitor Raymond of Toulouse holy war preached against them Simon de Montfort resistance and massacre of the heretics Continued persecution of the Albigeoia Death of Innocent Remarks on his policy. DURING the period of one hundred and thirteen years, which intervened between Gregory VII. and Innocent III., the progress of ecclesiastical power and influence was very considerable ; and the latter ascended the pontifical chair unembarrassed by many of the difficulties which impeded the enterprises of the former. The principal causes of that progress may be traced, perhaps, in a few sentences. In the first place, new facilities to learning had been opened during the twelfth century, of which the clergy had availed themselves very generally, and which the laity had as generally neglected. It is true that the kind of learning then in fashion possessed, for the most part, no substantial or permanent value ; still it was a weapon as powerful, perhaps, for the government of the ignorant, as if its polish had been brighter, or its edge more keen; and, as its real ineffi- ciency was unknown, it equally answered the end of exciting a blind respect for those who had the exclusive use of it. In the next place, the discipline of the church had undergone an important reformation, the honour of which we are bound to ascribe to the vigorous exertions of Gregory, imitated, with more advantage perhaps, by feebler successors. Three Lateran Councils (the first General Councils of the Western Church) were held during the twelfth century ; and the second and third of these, assembled respectively in 1139 and 1 179, by Innocent II. and Alexander III., more particularly directed their attention to the extirpation of eccle- siastical abuses, to the confirmation of ancient canons, and the introduction of such others as might amend the discipline and consolidate the interests of the church. This object was materially advanced by the labour of a monk of Bologna, named Gratian, who published, in 1151, his celebrated Collection of Canon Laws*. And this branch of study, thus facilitated, received further encouragement from Eugenius III., who instituted the de- grees of Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctor in that science. By the advance of learning among the sacred profession, by the greater precision and more general knowledge of the canons of the church, and by the rigour with which they were frequently enforced, the morals of every rank of the clergy were essentially improved. The two notorious scandals of the former age, concubinage and simony, if not effectually removed, were at least restrained within more decent limits ; and the extreme licence, in some other respects, which had prevailed for at least two centuries before Gre- gory VII., was checked and repressed. So that Innocent was called to the command of a more enlightened, a more orderly, a more moral, and therefore a more influential priesthood. It may be true, as Mosheim asserts, that the revenues of the Pope had received no considerable augmentation between the ninth century and the time of Innocent; but those of the clergy, Ecclesiastical and especially of the monastic orders, had been swelled property. during the same period by the most abundant contribu- tions. Indeed, in most countries the territorial domains of the church * The accidental discovery of the Pandects of Justinian, in 1137, may have furnished to Gratian the notion, as it certainly supplied the model, of bis work. Z2 336 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XVIII. were at that time spread so widely, as almost to justify the complaint that they comprehended half the surface of Europe ; nor should we omit to men- tion that the clergy, though in some kingdoms liable to annual donatives, and to arbitrary plunder in all, were still legally exempt from taxation, and from every regular contribution to the service of the state. From such immunity, though it was occasionally violated, and the violation usually attended with outrage, they must, nevertheless, have reaped great advan- tage, and especially in peaceful periods. But such partial profits have always a drawback in the jealousy which the distinction occasions, and which exposes those who enjoy it to the distrust and dislike of their fellow- subjects. We have already observed how extensive, and, at the same time, how indefinite, were the rights of jurisdiction, which were Ecclesiastical partly conferred on the church and partly confirmed to jurisdiction. it by Charlemagne, rights, which were scarcely less im- portant to the general influence of the clergy, than their learning or their revenues. During the tumults ofj the three following centuries, they were transgressed or exceeded as the civil or ecclesiastical portion of the state happened in any country to preponderate ; but they appear to have sustained no permanent alteration, either in abridgment or increase, until the beginning of the twelfth century. About that time the ecclesiastical tribunals commenced a system of encroachment, which made great progress even before the pontificate of Innocent, and was car- ried by that Pope and his successors to still greater excess, and seemed to threaten the entire subversion of the secular courts*. It was the first step in this usurpation to multiply the number of persons subject to the juris- diction of the church ; the next, to extend almost without limit the offences of which it took cognizance. The first of these objects was accomplished by the indiscriminate Tonsure, which we have before mentioned to have been so generally given by the bishops. This sign of the clerical state did not indicate ordination or any spiritual office; but it conferred the use of the ecclesiastical habit, and with it the various privileges and immu- nities enjoyed by that order, without the restraint of celibacy t, to which it was liable. This very numerous class, though for the most part engaged in secular professions and occupations, was subject to no other than the episcopal tribunals:}: ; and we may remark, that all the moveable property of this body fell under the same jurisdiction. Another very large class, under the denomination of * miserabiles per- sonae' (persons in distress), was also exclusively subjected to the episcopal courts. It comprehended, even in the first instance, a multitude of the lowest orders ; and it was presently so enlarged as to include orphans and widows, the stranger and the poor, the pilgrim and the leper ||. Again; * Tirate tutte le cause d' appellazione in Roma, si proccuro d' ampliare la giurisdizione r,/u.i yvugt- fcauffi" 01 5e vopov u.yu.'X^ rn xoivuvtu, ffrigyovrt; ipyifx.tx.oi ri bftov XKI fiiyo^t;^ a,6iffii rtiv Tjv Myrovn;. The same writer describes the character of a true monk with great minuteness and i'ervor in his Xllth Oration, (Eifnvatos A, Esri TJJ EvWi< ruv Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 367 seldom require or seek an artificial beverage. Neither was this rule en- forced on all with indiscriminate rigour ; but it was frequently modified according to age, or sex, or constitution. They assembled to prayer twice in the twenty-four hours, at evening and during the night. Twelve psalms were chaunted, (the chaunt had been taught them by an angel,) each of which was followed by a prayer ; and then two lessons were read from the Scripture to those who desired to be instructed in that volume. The hearers remained sitting during the greater part of the service, with very short interruptions of genu- flexion or prostration. The signal which summoned them to prayer was a simple trumpet or horn ; it was sufficient to break the silence of their deserts; and the hour of their night-prayer was indicated by the declining stars, which shine in that cloudless atmosphere with perpetual lustre. The offices of their worship were undisturbed by any sound of worldly care or irreverent levity. Their devotion, like their pyramids, was simple and solid, and they lived like strangers to the flesh and its attributes, like so- journers on earth and citizens of a spiritual community*. Four objects were comprehended in their profession solitude, manual labour, fasting, and prayer ; and we cannot forbear to observe, how large a portion of their time was devoted to the second. Indeed, so strictly was the necessity of such occupation inculcated, that the moderation of their other duties might almost appear to have been prescribed with that view. A body, debilitated by the excess of fasting or discipline, would have been disqualified for the offices of industry which were performed by the monks of Egypt. Without any possessions, and holding it alike dis- creditable to beg or to accept t they earned their daily bread by their skill and diligence in making mats or baskets, as cutlers, as fullers ; or as weavers insomuch, that their houses may seem to have resembled reli- gious manufactories, rather than places consecrated to holy purposes ; and the motive of their establishment is liable to the suspicion of being, in some cases at least, worldly and political. Yet in the descriptions of their practice, both objects were so united, that the prayer seems to have been inseparable from the labour +. To that end, the .employments which they chose were easy and sedentary, so that the mind might be free to expatiate, while the hands were in exercise. At the same time, they maintained that perpetual occupation was the only effectual method to prevent dis- tractions, and fix the soul on worthy considerations ; that thus alone the tediousness of solitude, and its attendant evils, can be remedied ; that the monk who works has only one demon to tempt him, while the monk un- occupied is harassed by demons innumerable . The Sarabaites || are described by Cassian in language of violent and almost unmitigated censure. Yet if we neglect those expressions, which * See Fleury's admirable Eighth Discourse. | Cassian. Collat. xxiv. s. 11, 12, 13. J Ita ut quid ex quo pendeat hand facile possit a quopiam discerni i. e. utrum propter meditationem spiritalem incessabiliter manuum opus exerceantj an propter operis jugi- tatem tarn praeclamm prof'ectum spiritus, scientiaeque lumen acquiraut. Cassian. Instit. lib. ii. c. 14. Unde haec est apud ^Egyptum ab antiquis Patribus sancta (al. sancita) sententia operantem Monachum dsemone uno pulsari ; otiosum vero innumeris spiritibus devastari. Cassiani Instit. lib. x. c. 23. It appears from Cassian's preceding chapter, that any superfluity which the monks might have acquired was frequently employed in charitable purposes, and especially in the redemption of captives. || The same sect, no doubt, which St. Jerome calls Remoboth, and stigmatizes as ' genus deterrimum atque neglectum,' Epist, xviii. ad Eustochium. De Custodia Vir ginitatis. 2 B 2 368 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX become suspicious through their very rancour, and adhere only to the facts which are mentioned as characteristic of that monastic The Sarabaites. sect, it appears, that they were seceders, or at least independent, from the Ccenobitical establishments. They claimed the name of Monks ; but without any emulation of their pursuits, or observance of their discipline. They were not subject to the direction of elders, nor did they strive, under traditional institutions, to subject their inclinations to any fixed or legitimate rule. If they publicly renounced the world, it was either to persevere, in their own houses, in their former occupations under the false assumption of the monastic name, or building cells, and calling them monasteries, to dwell there without any abandonment of their secular interests. They laboured indeed with industry at least as sedulous, as their more regular brethren but they laboured for their own individual profit, not for that of an instituted community *. From this hostile account, it would appear that the Sarabaites, if they were spurious monks, were at least useful members of society ; and the union which they established of the religious profession with worldly occupations, seems to have revived, or rather per- petuated, the leading principle of ascetism. From Egypt, the popular institution was immediately introduced into Syria by a monk named Hilarion ; but the Syrians appear St. Basil, soon to have deviated from the simplicity and moderation of their masters into a sterner practice of mortification, and even torture. From Syria, it was transmitted to Pontus and the shores of the Black Sea, and there it found a respectable patron, the most eminent among its primitive protectors, Basilius, Archbishop of Cresarea. That celebrated ecclesiastic who was a native of Cappadocia, the brother of Gregory of Nyssa, and the fellow-disciple (as is asserted) of the then future apostate Julian has given his name to the single order, which has subsisted in the Greek Church f, with scarcely any variation or addition, from that period to the present moment; and it is this cir- cumstance, as well as his superior antiquity, which has established him as the most venerable of the patriarchs of Monachism. His claim to that reputation is said to consist in this he united the Hermits and Coenobites already established in his diocese ; and to his monasteries, so formed, he prescribed a rule, which was rigidly observed by them, and imitated by others : by this bond, he gave them a consistency and uniformity, which had hitherto been peculiar to the institutions of Egypt J. Besides which, * Gassian. Collat. xviii. c. 7. Cassian's dislike for the Sarabaites was probably con- tracted in the cells of the Coenobites, who viewed with a sort of sectarian jealousy the industry and the profits of rebels or of rivals. f It is true that certain heretical orders, Maronites, Jacobites, Nestorians, &c. pro- fessed to follow the rule of St. Anthony ; but St. Anthony delivered, in fact, no rule. When solicited to impose some code upon his disciples, he is recorded to have presented to them the Bible an eternal and universal rule. Hospin. lib. ii. c. 4. J It does not, however, appear, that his rule was in the first instance very generally observed. At least we find, that as much as thirty years later, Cassian (Institut. lib. ii. c. 2.) contrasted the diversity, particularly respecting the times and nature of the holy offices, which prevailed elsewhere, with the uniformity of the more ancient institutions of Egypt. ' In hunc modum diversis in locis diversum canonem agnovimus iustitutum, totque propemodum typos et regulas vidimus usurpatas, quot etiam monasteria cellasque conspeximus. Sunt quibus .... Quapropter necessarium reor antiquissimam patrum proferre constitutionem quae nunc usque per totam Kgyptum a Dei lamulis custoditur,' &c. It is, indeed, the opinion of Hospinian (though it does not seem sufficiently founded), that St. Basil's Crenobia were little more than theological schools, and that his Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 369 he strongly recommended * the obligation of a vow, on admission to the monastic state an obligation which, whether it were actually established by St. Basil or not, had certainly no existence before his time. These advancements in the system were effected from the years 360 to 370 ; and thus the plant, which had first been nourished by Anthony and Pacho- mius with imperfect, but not improvident culture, grew up, within ^the space of twenty years, into vigorous and lasting maturity. It is a fact demanding observation, that the Fathers of the ancient Church, who flourished about this period, among whom were many eloquent and learned and pious men, were Conduct of the favourable, without one exception, to the establishment ancient Fathers. of monasticism : for though it might be beneath the office of reason to investigate the motives of the illiterate enthusiasts who began the work, it would be improper to pass over without comment the considerate labours of the ecclesiastics who completed it. Moreover, as they were apt enough to differ on some other points, in which the interests of religion were concerned, and as they delivered, on all occasions, their particular opinions with great boldness and independence, their unanimity in the introduction of one grand innovation is, by that circumstance, still further recommended to our attention. Yet must we hesitate to ascribe to them motives altogether unworthy. We should be wholly mistaken if we were to attribute their conspiracy to any deep design for the establish- ment of priestly rule, or the increase of the wealth and authority of the Church beyond their just limits. These evil consequences did, indeed, result from the work, and spread, with fatal influence, over the western world ; but they could not be contemplated by the Fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries, because they rose and grew with the growth of papal usurpation, of which, in those days, there was no fear nor thought. It was the alliance between papacy and monasticism which tended more, perhaps, than any other cause, to elevate and magnify, and at the same time to vitiate, both. But the eye of Athanasius, or Chrysostom, or Augustin, could not possibly foresee that union, nor penetrate the various circumstances which afterwards concurred to aggrandize the Bishop of Rome. So far may we safely acquit even the most sagacious among the Fathers of monasticism ; and as far as the spirit of the age can be held to excuse those whom, in appearance, it carries along with it, but who, in fact, encourage and influence it, so far may the conduct of those mistaken men be excused. And perhaps we might add, in further palliation, that the general demoralization of society, over which Christian principles were still contending for predominance with the pernicious remnants of paganism, seemed to permit so little hope of righteous conduct to persons busied in the world, as almost to justify retreat and seclusion. We should, moreover, in attempting to account for this agreement, always bear in mind, that the early patrons of monasticism were, with very few excep- tions, Orientals or Africans ; men of ardent temperament, and impetuous imagination ; among whom the theory of religion too frequently tended rule was no other than the ordinary form of school discipline. Such, as he thinks, were the monasteries of those days. Lib. iii. c. 2. The Rule commonly ascribed to that saint may be found, in Latin, in the same place. * Bingham, Ch. Autiq. book vii. The author of the Histoire des Ordres Monastiques expressly asserts, that as monasteries were instituted by Anthony, and congregations by Pachomius, so the three vows (of chastity, poverty, and obedience) were the introduction of St. Basil. It is, at least, certain, that the duties of obedience aud poverty were early and very rigidly practised by the Eastern monks. 370 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. to mysticism, and its practice to mere sensible ceremony, and bodily mor- tification. We have no reason to believe that any worldly premium to the new philosophy was held out by the princes or nobles of those days ; nor even that the influx of oblations from the vulgar was the immediate fruit of the profession of poverty *, as was elsewhere the case in later times. The monasteries of the East were at no period so overgrown with opulence as those of the Roman Church ; and in their origin they cer- tainly offered no imaginable temptations to avarice or sensuality. On these and similar considerations, we may acquit the original founders of the monastic system of those odious motives, with which they have some- times been charged ; but we must censure their encouragement of popular superstition ; we must condemn that rash enthusiasm, which exceeded what is written ; and we must pronounce those to have been insufficient guides to religious knowledge, who, at a crisis of such infinite importance, inculcated any other rule of life, than such as tended directly, through the plain and practical precepts of the Gospel, to the general welfare of man- kind. The earliest age of monachism differed in many particulars from those which matured and perfected the system. The vow of Early form of Celibacy was either not taken by the original monks, or Monachism. not universally enforced ; though the practice was usual, and held indicative of a higher condition of sanctity. Community of property was indeed established among them ; but that property was chiefly acquired by the labour of their hands. The necessity of manual industry, which was coeval with the institution, was subsequently enforced by St. Augustin, as the best safeguard against the snares of the Tempter ; and the spiritual motives to strict moral demeanour were encouraged by the absolute poverty of the individuals. Mendicity, which had an early existence in the system, was stigmatized with immediate censure. It does not appear that the primitive monks were positively pro- hibited by any vow from returning, if they thought fit, to the turbulence of the world ; though such desertions were strongly discouraged, as early as the Council of Chalcedon, both by ecclesiastical denunciations, and per- petual exclusion from holy orders. Several restrictions were imposed with respect to admission into the monastic order. Of husbands and wives, the mutual agreement was necessary for the seclusion of either; servants were not admitted, unless with the approbation of their masters, nor chil- dren without the consent of their parents and themselves. These and other reasonable impediments to the abuse of monachism were first weak- ened by the superstitious improvidence of Justinian. The original monks were, without exception, laymen ; but in situations, where the only accessible place of worship was within the walls, one priest was added to the society, and he generally filled the office of Abbot or Hegoumenos. St. Jerome t has expressly distinguished the monastic * Not that even the earliest monks have escaped the reproaches of the contemporary Fathers. St. Jerome especially (Epist. xxxv., ad Heliodorum Monachum) notices the birth of corruption : ' Alii nummum addant nummo, et marsupium suffbcantes matronarum opes vcnentur obsequiis ; sint ditiores Monachi, quain i'uerant saeculares ; possideant opes sub Christo paupere, quas sub locuplete Diabolo non habuerant ; et suspiret eos Keclesia divites, quos tenuit mundus ante mendicos.' . . . But notwithstanding this and other particular passages, the general expressions used by those writers respecting the monastic condition, prove its general respectability. f Kpist. V., ad Heliodorum Monachum. 'Alia Monachorum est causa; alia cleri- corum. Clerici pascunt oves; ego pascor. Illi de altario vivunt ; mihi, quasi infructuosa) arbori, securis ponitur ad radicem, si munus ad altare non defero. . Mihi ante Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 371 from the sacerdotal order ; and Leo I., in a communication to Maximus, bishop of Antioch, forbade monks to usurp the office of religious instruc- tion, which was properly confined to the priests of the Lord. It is true, indeed, that, very early in monastic history, those establishments were considered as schools and nurseries for the ministry, and that persons were selected for ordination from among their inhabitants ; but those so ordained immediately quitted the cloister, and engaged in the duties of the secular clergy ; and in Greece they were distinguished by the title of Hieromonachoi, or Holy Monks *. There is no doubt, that Orientals are naturally more prone to acts of fanaticism and ascetic austerities, than the more rational, and, at the same time, more sensual Character of Oriental nations of Europe ; and we might have expected Monachism. to find the most extraordinary instances of self- inflicted torture among those who originated that practice, and whose habits and passions peculiarly prepared them for it. It is uncertain whether this be so ; for though it be true that the madness of the Stylites gained no prevalence in the Western Church, and that the Boskoi, or Grazing monks (an Asiatic order of the fifth century, which proposed to unite the soul to the Deity, by degrading the body to a condition below humanity) found no imitators in a more inclement climate ; yet their mortifications and absurdities were rivalled, if not in the cells of the Benedictines, at least by the Flagellants, and some other heretics of the fourteenth century j and the discipline of the more rigid Franciscans was probably, in the early ages of that order, as severe as human nature could endure. But even among the regular orders of the Western Church, monastic austerity was carried, under particular circumstances, and in later times, to a more perfect refine- ment than it ever attained in the East. It is not difficult to account for this singularity. A variety of motives, and a complication of passions, entered into the monkish system of the Roman Church. Many were unquestionably actuated by superstition, many, perhaps, by purer senti- ments of piety; but many more were impelled by personal ambition, by professional zeal, by the jealousy of rival orders, and, above all, by the thirst for that wealth, which so certainly followed the reputation of sanctity. On the other hand, the unvarying constitution, and the more tranquil character of the Eastern Church, presented fewer and feebler inducements to excessive severity. The passion which originally founded its monas- teries, warm and earnest enthusiasm, continued still to animate and people them ; but its ardour gradually abated ; and the defect was not supplied in the same abundance, nor by the same sources, which sprang from the rock of St. Peter. From the earliest period, the Head of the Eastern Church was subject to the civil power, and he has always continued so ; and thus, as he has at no time asserted any arrogant claims of temporal autho- rity, nor engaged in any contests with the state, he possessed no personal Presbyterum sedere non licet,' &c. . . Hospinian, (lib. iii., c. 13), under the head ' Monachi ab initio non Clerici,' adduces strong reason (in spite of some contradictory decrees) to believe that they were permitted to take orders as early as the time of Pope Siricius, in 390 ; and that all the privileges of the secular priesthood were subsequently conferred on monastic priests, and confirmed by Gregory the Great. Still, as they con- tinued to be bound by their vows, they acquired the clerical, without losing the monastic, character. * The foundation of an order of Canons, attributed to St. Augustin, (which will pre- sently be mentioned,) was a distinct institution. 372 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. or official interest in the aggrandisement of the monastic order. Again, the two grand political revolutions of the Eastern and Western empires produced effects precisely opposite on the condition of monachism in either. The overthrow of the latter by the Pagans of the North, the early conversion of the conquerors, and the subsequent establishment of the feudal system, became the means of enriching the monasteries, from private as well as royal bounty, with vast territorial endowments. Whereas the possessions of the Oriental Church, which, through less favourable circumstances, had already been reduced to more moderate limits, were still further despoiled by the fatal triumph of the Turks. The institution of nunneries was contemporary with that of monasteries, and is also attributed to St. Anthony ; but the earliest accounts incline us to believe that it was not equally flourishing. In countries where sterility is common, and the population either scanty or fluctuating, the govern- ment would doubtless discourage the seclusion of females. We learn, too, that their houses were less carefully regulated, and their vows less strictly observed in Asia than in the West of Europe. Athens is men- tioned as the nurse of several such establishments ; but it was lamented that the ladies of rank and wealth were not easily prevailed upon to devote themselves to religious seclusion. Of a convent which was founded at Constantinople by the Empress Irene (in 1108), the consti- tutions still remain *. But the Nuns of St. Basil were more numerous and more prosperous in the West, than in the climate of their origin ; and in Sicily especially, and the South of Italy, they arrived, in later ages, at considerable wealth and importance t- Tire original monastic establishments of every description were sub- jected, without any exception, to the Bishop of the diocese. The exemp- tions from that authority, which were afterwards introduced, through the pernicious progress of papacy, into the Western Church, had little preva- lence, as, indeed, they had no strong motive, in the East. SECTION II. Institution of Monachism in the West. Iris very generally asserted J, that the monastic system was introduced into the West by Athanasius, during his compulsory sojourn at Rorne, in 341. It is believed, that he carried in his train to the imperial city certain monks and anchorets, representatives of the Egyptian commonwealth, whose wild aspect and devout demeanour moved the reverence, and at the same time roused the emulation, of the Romans. Some monasteries were immediately founded ; and many retired to lonely places for the exercise of solitary worship. From Rome, (if the above account be true,) * Ilistoire ties Onlres Monastiques, (Prem. Partie, Chap, xxviii.) By a regulation peculiarly oriental, it was herein ordained, that the steward, the confessor, and the two chaplains, the only males employed about the convent, should be eunuchs. We do not learn whether this precaution was usual in the nunneries of the East. f Another class of religious females, called Virgins of the Church, had an early exist- ence in the East. They continued to unite the discharge of their social duties with a strict profession of religious chastity thus advancing one step beyond the aicetism of their forefathers. I Baronius, (ann. 328), Mabillon, and Gibbon hold this opinion ; but Muratori pre- tends that the first monasteries founded in Italy were erected at Milan. Mosheira more wisely pronounces the uncertainty of the fact. Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 373 the monastic practice was instantly diffused throughout Italy j and at Milan especially, it obtained a powerful support in the patronage of Ambrose. It speedily extended itself to France ; and the labours of Martin of Tours, which were zealously directed to its diffusion, received at least this posthumous recompense, that nearly two thousand holy disciples assembled to do honour to his obsequies. The establishments, founded by Cassian at Marseilles, and in the neighbouring islands, were immediately thronged with brethren obedient to his Rule ; and Honoratus, bishop of Aries, bears testimony (about, the year 430) to the existence of * religious old men in the isle of Lerinus, who lived in separate cells, and represented in Gaul the Fathers of Egypt *.' We may here observe, that, as in the wide wildernesses of the East, a secluded rock, or an unfrequented oasis a spot cut off by the circum- fluous Nile, or breaking the influx of the river into the sea as such were the places usually selected by the original recluses, so their earliest imi- tators in the West, under different circumstances of soil and climate, adhered to the ancient preference for insular retirement. The islands of Dalmatiaf. and others scattered along the coasts of the Adriatic, were peopled with holy inhabitants. Along the western shores of Italy J, * The following are some of the passages which bear on this subject. St. Jerome, speaking of the time of Athanasius's visit to Rome, says, (in Epist. 16, ad Principiam. Virginem,) ' Nulla eo tempore nobilium foeminarnm noverat Romae propositum Mona- chorum, nee audebat, propter rei novitatem, ignominiosum (ut tune putabatur) et vile in populis nomen assumere. Haec (Marcella) ab Alexandrinis prius sacerdotibus Papaque Athanasio, et postea Petro, . . . vitam B. Antonii adhuc tune viventis, Mo- nasteriorumque in Thebaide Pachumii et Virginum ac Viduarum didicit disciplinam, nee erubuit profited quod Christo placere agnoverat.' Soon afterwards, when Jerome was at Rome, ' fuerunt tarn crebra Virginum Monacharumque innumerabilis multitudo, ut pia frequentia serventium Deo, quod prius ignominiae fuerat, esset postea gloriae.' So also Augustin (De Morib. Kccles. c. 33) ' Romae etiam plura Monasteria cognovit, in quibus singuli gravitate atque prudentia et divina scientia pollentes, caeteris secum habitantibus prseerant Christiana caritate, sanctitate et libertate viventibus.' And the same Father (Confess., lib. viii. c. 6) attests, on the authority of one Pontitianus, that there existed at Milan f Monasterium plenum bonis Fratribus, extra virbis mconia sub Ambrosio nutritore.' Sulp. Severus mentions the success of St. Martin to have been so great, ' ut ad exequias ejus monachorum fere duo millia convenisse dicantur. Specialis Martini gloria, cujus exemplo in Domini servitute stirpe tanta fructificaverat.' . f Jerome, Epist. xxxv., ad Heliodorum. ' Quumque crederet quotidie axit ad ^Egypti Monasteria pergere, aut Mesopotamiae invisere chores, aut certe insularum Dalmatise solitudines occupare,' &c. I See Marsham's HgovuXa~ov, in Dugd. Monast. Respecting the monks of the isles of Gorgonia and Capraria, Rutilius Numatianus composed some verses, (in the year 416,) which have more of elegance (says Marsham) than of Christianity. The following are some of them : Processu pelagi jam se Capraria tollit; Squallet lucifugis Insula plena viris. Ipsi se Monachos Graio cognomine dicunt, Quod soli nullo vivere teste volunt. Munera fortunae metuunt, dum damna verentur. Quisquam sponte miser, ne miser esse queat ? Sive suas repetunt exfato ergastula poenas ; Tristia seu nigro viscera felle tument. # # * * * Noster enim nuper JuveniSj majoribus amplis, Nee censu inferior, conjugiove minor, Impulsus furiis homines Divosque relinquit, Et turpem latebram crediilus exul agit. Infelix putat illuvie ccelestia pasci, Seque premit caecis saevior ipse Deis. Num, rogo, deterior Circaeis secta venenis ? Tune mutabautur corpora, nunc animi. Many 374 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. from Calabria, throughout the islets of the Tuscan Sea, the chaunts of monastic devotion everywhere resounded, as well as at Lerinus and the Stcechades, consecrated by the piety of Cassian. Such, in the first instance, were the favourite nurseries of the new institution. There is even reason to believe, that the rocks on the southern coast of Italy fur- nished the seeds of monachism to the churches of Carthage ; and thus was transmitted, after the revolution of half a century, to the more Western Africans, the boon which their brethren of Egypt had first presented to the Christian world. It is, indeed, unquestionable, that towards the end of the fourth, but especially during the fifth century, the Prevalence and character of monastic practice obtained universal pre- Monachism in the West. valence, and became almost co-extensive with the belief in Christ. And on this circumstance there is one observation which it is proper to offer, which has indeed been made before, though in a somewhat different spirit, by Roman Catholic writers that the period, which was marked by this great religious innovation, was the same in which the religion itself seemed in imminent danger, at least throughout the Western provinces, of utter extirpation. This was the very crisis in which the pagan inundation from the North spread itself most fiercely and fatally, and while it overthrew the bulwarks of the empire, menaced, at the same time, the foundations of the Faith. That the monastic institution was designedly interposed by Providence, in order to stay that wasting calamity, and supply new means of defence to His fainting soldiers, is a vain and even a presumptuous supposition. But it would equally be unjust to assert, that establishments of pious men, associated for religious purposes, were without their use in exciting respect in the enemy, and confidence in the Christian. Still less can we hesitate to believe, that they were the means of relieving much individual misery ; that during the overthrow of justice and humanity, they derived power, as well as protection, from the name of God, and from the trust which they reposed in him ; that their power was generally exerted for good purposes ; and that their gates were thrown open to multi- tudes, who, in those days of universal desolation, could hope for no other refuge. The rule commonly professed by the original Western monasteries was unquestionably that of St. Basil ; and though it was not observed with any rigid uniformity, there was probably no material variation either in constitution or discipline throughout the whole extent of Christendom, excepting such as naturally resulted from the different climate, morals, and temperament of its inhabitants. At least, there was no distinction in order or dignity : all were united by one common appellation, extending from the deserts of Pontus to the green valleys of Ireland; and the monks of those days were sufficiently separated from the rest of mankind, and sufficiently disengaged from secular pursuits, to dispense with the baser Many other islands are mentioned as having been thus consecrated, (or desecrated as the describer might be an ecclesiastical annalist, or a pagan poet). The island Bar- liura, situated above the conflux of the Rhone and the Arar, boasted to have been one of the most ancient nurseries of the Holy Institution j and Jerome, in an epistle to Helio- dorus, speaks of ' Insulas et totum Etruscuin mare Volscorumque provinciam, et recon- ditos curvorum littorum sinus, in quibus monachorum consistebant Chori.' . See Mabillon, Pref. in Ann. Bened. Saec. i. Giannone's View of the Origin of the Monastic Life in the West (Stor. di Nap., lib. ii., cap. 8.) does not appear to be marked by the accuracy and perspicuity usual to that excellent historian. Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 375 motives to which they were afterwards reduced, of partial interest and rivalry. Some wealth, indeed, began already to flow into that channel ; but the still remaining prevalence of hermits, who dwelt among the moun- tains in unsocial and independent seclusion, very clearly proves, that the more attractive system of the Coenobites had not hitherto attained any luxurious refinement. No large territorial endowments had yet been attached to religious houses, and their support was chiefly derived from individual charity or superstition. And during the course of the fifth century the progression of monachism was probably more popular, and certainly more profitable, among Eastern nations, than it had yet become on this side of the Adriatic. But in the following age a more determined character was given to that profession. A hermit named Benedict, a na- tive of Nursia in the diocese of Rome, instituted, Benedict of Nursia. about the year 529, an entirely new order, and imposed a rule, which is still extant, for its perpetual observance. . . No permanent and popular institution has ever yet existed, however in its abuse it have set sense and reason at defiance, which has not some pretension to virtue or wisdom, and usually much of the substance of both, in its origin and its infancy. It was thus with the order of St. Benedict. That celebrated rule, which in after ages enslaved the devout and demoralized the Church which became a sign and a watchword for the satellites of Papacy was designed for purposes which, at the time of its promulgation, might seem truly Christian. Its objects were to form a monastic body, which under a milder discipline should possess a more solid establishment and more regular manners, than such as then existed ; and also to ensure for those, who should become members of it, a holy and peaceful life, so divided between prayer, and study, and labour, as to comprehend the practical duties of religious education. Such was the simple foundation, on which all the riches, and luxury, and power, and profligacy of the Benedictines have been unnaturally piled up con- sequences, which were entirely unforeseen by him who founded, and by those who immediately embraced, and by those who first protected *, a pious and useful institution. It is proper to confirm these observations by some account of what is, perhaps, the most celebrated monument of ecclesiastical antiquity. The Rule of St. Be- The Rule of St. Benedict. nedict f is introduced by a quadruple division of those who professed the monastic life. The first class was composed of the Coenobites or Regular Monks ; the second, of the Anchorets or Hermits, to whom he assigns even superior perfection ; the third, of the Sarabaites, whom he describes as living without any rule, either alone or in small societies, according to their inclination; the fourth, of Gyro- vagi or Vagabonds, a dissolute and degraded body. His regulations for the divine offices were formed, in a great measure, on the practice already described of the Monks of Egypt. Two hours after midnight they were aroused to vigils, on which occasion twelve psalms were chaunted, and certain lessons from the Scriptures read or recited. At day-break the matins, a service little differing from the preceding, were performed; * Gregory the Great was a zealous patron of this institution, and so approved the moderation of the rule, that he has not escaped the suspicion of being its author. f It is given at length by Hospinian. De Origine Monachatus, lib. iv. cap. v. I See Mabillon, Pref. in sec. II. Annal. Benedict, and Hist, des Ord. Monast. 376 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. and the intervening space, which in winter was long 1 and tedious, was employed in learning the Psalms by heart*, or in meditating on their sense, or in some other necessary study. But besides these and the other public services, the duty of private or mental prayer was recognized in the Institutions of St. Benedict, and regulations were imposed which, while they restricted its duration, proposed to purify and spiritualize its character. To the duty of prayer the holy legislator added those of manual labour and reading. The summer's day was so divided, that seven hours were destined to the former occupation, and two at least to the latter f- And should it so happen, (he observes,) that his disciples be compelled to gather their harvests with their own hands, let not that be any matter of complaint with them ; since it is then that they are indeed monks, when they live by their own handy-work, as did our fathers and the apostles. During the winter season the hours of labour were altered, but not abridged ; and those of study seem to have been some- what increased, at least during Lent. The sabbath was entirely devoted to reading and prayer. Those whose work was allotted at places too remote from the Monastery to admit of their return to the appointed services, bent their knees on the spot and repeated their prayers at the canonical hours. The description of labour was not left to the choice of the individual, but imposed by the Superior. Thus if any possessed any trade or craft, he could not exercise it, except by permission of the Abbot. If anything were sold, the whole value was carefully appro- priated to the common fund ; and it was further directed, that the price should be somewhat lower than that demanded by secular artizans for the same objects * to the end that God might be glorified in all things.' In respect to abstinence J, the Rule of St. Benedict ordained not any of those pernicious austerities, which were sometimes practised by his followers. Notwithstanding the indulgence of a small quantity of wine to those whose imperfect nature might require it, it prescribed a system of rigid temperance, which among those original Coenobites was well enforced by their poverty but it contains no injunction of fasting or mortification. Those vain and superstitious practices, the fruits of mingled enthusiasm and indolence, scarcely gained any prevalence in the monasteries of the West, until increasing wealth dispensed with the necessity of daily labour. The monks 'slept in the same dormitory, in which a lamp was kept constantly burning, and strict silence was imposed. Even in the day, they spake rarely ; and every expression partaking of levity, and calculated at all to disturb the seriousness of the community every word that was irrelevant to its objects and uses was absolutely pro- hibited within the convent walls. The Rule makes no mention of any * In England the establishment of Monachism was contemporary with that of Christianity. ' Augustinus, Monasterii Regulis eruditus, instituit conversationem, qua? initio nascentis ecclesise fuit patribus nostris, quibus omnia erant communia Monas terium fecit non longe a Doroverniensi Civitate, &c.' Bede, lib. i. c. xxii. t It was ordained, that if any one were unable to read or meditate, some other occu- pation should be imposed on him. But as Latin, the language of religious study, was at that time the vulgar tongue, at least one great impediment to religious instruction, which was so powerful in after ages, did not then exist. $ In this matter St. Benedict relaxed from the rigour of the Eastern observance ; but he did so with reluctance, regretting the necessary imperfection of a system, which he was compelled to accommodate to the gradually decreasing vigour of the human frame. Even Fleury (sec his Eighth Discourse) does not disdain to combat this notion. Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 377 sort of recreation ; but it enjoins that, every evening after supper, while the brothers are still assembled, one among them shall read aloud passages from the Lives of the Saints, or some other book of edification. As the Abbot was then chosen by the whole society without regard to any other consideration than personal merit, so in the government of the monastery he was bound to consult the senior brethren on lesser matters, and the whole body on the more important contingencies it was ordained, however, that after he had taken such counsel, the final decision should rest entirely with himself. Obedience was the vow and obligation of the others. The form prescribed for the reception of Novices was not such as to encourage a lukewarm candidate. In the first instance, he was compelled to stand for four or five days before the gates, supplicating only for admission. If he persevered, he was received first into the Chamber of Strangers then into that of Novices. An ancient brother was then commissioned to examine his vocation, and explain to him how rude and difficult was the path to heaven. After a probation of two months the Rule was read to him ; again, after six other months ; and a third time, at the end of the year. .If he still persisted, he was received, and made profession in the Oratory before the whole community. And we should remark, that that profession was confined to three subjects perseverance in the monastic life ; correction of moral delinquencies ; and obedience *. Offences committed by the brethren were punished, according to their enormity, by censure, excommunication, or corporal inflictions; expulsion was reserved for those deemed incorrigible. Nevertheless even then the gate was not closed against repentance ; and the repudiated member was re-admitted, on the promise of amendment, even for the third time. . . . Such in substance was the Rule of St. Benedict; and even the very faint delineation here presented may suffice to give some insight into the real character of the original monasteries. Perhaps too it may serve to allay the bitterness, which we sometimes are too apt to entertain against the founders and advocates of the system, by showing, that though unscriptural in its principle and pernicious in its abuse, it was yet instituted not without some wisdom and foresight ; and was cal- culated to confer no inconsiderable blessings on those ages in which it first arose. The monastery of Monte Cassino, which became afterwards so celebrated in Papal History, was the noblest, though not perhaps tl e earliest, monument Progress of the Institution. of St. Benedict's exerti >ns. The moment was favourable to his undei taking ; and his name and his Rule were presently adopted and obeyed throughout the greater part of Italy. By St. Maur, his disciple and associate, an institution on the same principle was immediately t introduced into France, and became the fruitful parent of dependent establishments. Somewhat later in the same century, St. Columban propounded in Britain a rule resembling in many respects that of St. Benedict, but surpassing it in severity ; and it was propagated with some success on the Continent. But it is the opinion of the most learned writers, that the monasteries, which at first followed it, yielded * All those ancient brothers were laymen. It does not appear that even St. Benedict himself held any rank in the clergy. t About the year 542. It was destroyed by the Danes, but subsequently re-esta- blished about the year 934, by the Bishop of Limoges. A great number of abbeys pre- sently grew up under its shadow. Histoire des Ordres Monastiques. 373 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. after no long interval to the higher authority and more practicable precepts of the Nursian ; whose genuine institution indeed was soon afterwards planted in the south of the island by the monk Augustine. At the same time the same system was spreading northward beyond the mountains of the Rhine : and though it may probably be true, that the * Holy Rule ' (regula sancta) was not universally received until the ninth century until the practice had been vitiated by many corruptions it is evident, that it obtained great prevalence long before that time, while it yet retained its original integrity ; and it is equally clear, that its moral operation upon a lawless and bloodthirsty generation could not possibly be any other, than to restrain and to humanize. During the greater part of the seventh and the beginning of the following age, frightful ravages were committed by the Lombards in Italy, and by the Danes in France and Britain, against which even the sanctity of the monastic profession furnished very insufficient protection. Throughout this period of devastation, while all other laws and esta- blishments were overthrown, it was not probable that even those of St. Benedict should remain inviolate. The monastery of Monte Cassino was destroyed about fifty years after its foundation, and the holy spot remained desolate for almost a century and a half*. And though the respectable fugitives found an asylum at Rome, where the discipline was perpetuated in security, during that long period of persecution, others were less fortunate ; and even in those which escaped destruction a more relaxed observance naturally gained ground, in the midst of universal licentious- ness. Accordingly we learn, that, towards the end of the^ejghth century, the order of St. Benedict had so far degenerated from its pristine purity, that a thorough reform, if not an entire reconstruction, of the system was deemed necessary for the dignity and welfare of the Church. The individual to whom this honourable office was destined, was also named Benedict ; he was descended from a povver- Benedict of Aniane. ful Gothic family, and a native of Aniane in the diocese of Montpellier. Born about the year.750, he devoted his early life to religious austerities, exceeding not only the practice of his brethren, but the instruction of the founder. The Rule of St. Benedict was formed, in his opinion, for invalids and novices ; and he strove to regulate his discipline after the sublimer models of Basil and Pachomius. Presently he was chosen to preside over his monastery; but in disgust, as is reported, at the inadequate practice of his subjects, he retired to Aniane, and there laid the foundation of a new and more rigid institution. The people reverenced his sanctify and crowded to his cell ; the native nobles assisted him in the constriu tion of a magnificent edifice ; and endowments of land were soon conferred upon the humble Reformer of Aniane. Moreover, as he enhanced the fame of his auste- rities by the practice of charity and universal benevolence f, his venerable name deserved the celebrity which it so mpidly acquired. His Ascetic * See Leo Osticnsis. Chron. Cassinens, lib. i. Gregory III. restored the monastery, and Zachary his successor granted to it (about the year 743) the privilege of exclusive dependence on the Bishop of Rome. But one blessing was still wanting to secure its prosperity and that was happily supplied by the Abbot Desiderius in 1066. In ex- ploring some ruins about the editice, he discovered the body of St. Benedict ! It is true that a pope was soon found to pronounce the genuineness of the relic. Nevertheless the fact was long and malevolently disputed by rival impostors. f Besides the general mention of his profuse donations to the poor, it is particularly related respecting this Benedict, that whenever an estate was made over to him, he in- variably emancipated all the serfs which he found on it, Act. SS. Benedict., torn. v. Chap. XIXJ A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 379 disciples were eagerly sought after by other monasteries, as models and instruments for the restoration of discipline ; and as the policy of Charle- magne concurred with the general inclination to improvement, the decaying- system was restored and fortified by a bold and effectual refor- mation. When Benedict of Aniane undertook to establish a system, he found it prudent to relax from that extreme austerity, which as a simple monk he had both professed and practised. As his youthful enthusiasm abated, he became gradually convinced, that the rule of the Nursian Hermit was as severe as the common infirmities of human nature could endure*. He was therefore contented to revive that Rule, or rather to enforce its observance ; and the part which he peculiarly pressed on the practice of his disciples, was the obligation of manual labour. To the neglect of that essential portion of monastic discipline the successive corruptions of the system are with truth attributed ; and the regulations, which were adopted by the Reformer of Aniane, were confirmed (in 817) by the Council of Aix-la-Chapelle. From this epoch t we may date the reno- vation of the Benedictine Order ; and though, even in that age, it was grown perhaps too rich to adhere very closely to its ancient observance, yet the sons whom it nourished may nevertheless be accounted, without any exaggeration of their merits, among the most industrious, the most learned, and the most pious of their own generation. It is not our intention to trace the numberless branches j which sprang from the stem of St. Benedict, and overshadowed the surface of Europe. But there are three at least among them, which, by their frequent mention in ecclesiastical history, demand a separate notice, the Order of Cluni, the Cistercian Order, and that of the Chartreux. The monastery of Corbie, also of great renown, was founded by Charlemagne for the spiritual subjugation of Saxony ; but it is no way distinguished from the regular Benedictine institutions, than by its greater celebrity. During the ninth century, the rapid incursions of the Normans, and the downward progress of corruption, once more re- duced the level of monastic sanctity ; and a fresh The Order of Cluni. impulse became necessary to restore the excel- lence and save the reputation of the system. The method of reformation was, on this occasion, somewhat different from that previously adopted. * The duty of silence was very generally enjoined in monastic institutions. In the Rule of The Brethren of the Holy Trinity,' established by Innocent III., we observe for instance ' Silentium observant semper in Ecclesia sua, semper in Refectorio, semper in Dormiiorio,' and even on the most necessary occasions for conversation the monks were instructed to speak remissa voce, humiliter, et honeste. See Dugdale, vol. ii. p. 830. t It would not appear that these changes very much influenced the condition of monachism in England. The three great reformations in that system which took place in our church were, (1) that of Archbishop Cuthbert, in the year 747 ; (2) that of Dunstau, in 965, promulgated in the Council of Winchester, on which occasion the general constitution, entitled, Regula Concoidiae Anglicse Nationis. was for the first time prescribed. It was founded partly on the Rule of St. Benedict, partly on ancient customs. (3) That of Lanfranc, in 1075, authorised by the Council of London, and founded on the same principle as the second. . . Mabillon, a zealous advocate and an acute critic, sufficiently shows from John the Deacon, (who wrote the Life of Gregory the Great in 875,) that the Rule of St. Benedict was received in England before the second of those reformations. Our allusions to the ecclesiastical history of England are thus rare and incidental, because that Church is intended, we believe, to form the subject of a separate work. I Such as the Camaldulenses, Sylvestrini, Grandimontenses, Praemonstratenses, the Monks of Valombrosa, and a multitude of others, 380 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. A separate order was established, derived indeed immediately from the stock of St. Benedict, yet claiming, as it were, a specific distinction and character it was the order of Cluni. It was founded about the year 900, in the district of Macon, in Burgundy, by William, duke of Aqui- taine ; but the praise of perfecting it is rather due to the abbot, St. Odo. It commenced, as usual, by a strict imitation of ancient excellence, a rigid profession of poverty, of industry, and of piety; and it declined, accord- ing to the usual course of human institutions, through wealth, into indolence and luxury. In the space of about two centuries it fell into obscurity ; and after the name of Peter the Venerable (the contemporary of St. Bernard), no eminent ecclesiastic is mentioned as having issued from its discipline. Besides the riches, which had rewarded and spoiled its original purity, another cause is mentioned as having contributed to its decline the corruption of the simple Rule of St. Benedict, by the multiplication of vocal prayers, and the substitution of new offices and ceremonies for the manual labour of former days. The ill effect of that change was indeed admitted by the venerable Abbot in his answer to St. Bernard. But in the mean time, during the long period of its prosperity, the order of Cluni had reached the highest point of honourable reputation ; insomuch that during the eleventh century, a bishop of Ostia (the future Urban II.) being officially present at a council in Germany, suppressed in his signature his episcopal dignity, and thought that he adopted a prouder title, when he subscribed himself * Monk of Cluni , and Legate of Pope Gregory*.' Those two names were well associated; for it was indeed within the walls of Cluni, that Hildebrand fed his youthful spirit on those dreams of universal dominion, which he afterwards attempted to realize : it was there, too, that he may have meditated those vast crusading projects which were accomplished by Urban, his disciple. But however that may be, the cloister from which he had emerged to change the destinies of Christendom, and the discipline which had formed him (as some might think) to such generous enterprises, acquired a reflected splendour from his celebrity ; and since the same institution was also praised for its zealous and active orthodoxy, and its devotion to the throne of St. Peter, shall we wonder that it flourished far and wide in power and opulence ; and that it numbered, in the following age, above two thousand monasteries, which followed its appointed Rule and its adopted principles ? Yet is there a sorrowful reflection which attends the spectacle of this pros- perity. Through all the parade of wealth and dignity, we penetrate the melancholy truth, that the season of monastic virtue and monastic utility was passing by, if indeed it was not already passed irrevocably ; and we remark how rapidly the close embrace of the pontifical power was con- verting to evil the rational principles and pious purposes of the original institution. Howbeit, we do not read that any flagrant immoralities had yet dis- graced the establishment of Cluni. Only it had The Cistercian Order, attained a degree of sumptuous refinement very far removed from its first profession. This de- generacy furnished a reason for the creation of a new and rival commu- nity in its neighbourhood. The Cistercian order was founded in 1098 f, * See Hist. Litter, de la France, Vie Urban II. j- Anno milleno, centeno, bis minus uno, Pontifice Urbano, Fraucorum Rege Philippe, Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 381 and very soon received the pontifical confirmation. In its origin it suc- cessfully contrasted its laborious poverty and much show of Christian humility with the lordly opulence of Cluni ; and in its progress, it pur- sued ils predecessor through the accustomed circle of austerity, wealth, and corruption. This Institution was peculiarly favoured from its very foundation ; since it possessed, among its earliest treasures, the virtues and celebrity of St. Bernard. One of the first of the Cistertian monks, ! that venerated ecclesiastic established, in 1115, the dependent abbey of Clairvaux, over which he long presided ; and such was his success in propagating the Cistertian order, that he has sometimes been erroneously considered as its founder. The zeal of his pupils, aided by the authority of his fame, completed the work transmitted to them ; and with so much eagerness were the monasteries of the Citeaux rilled and endowed, that, before the year 1250, that order yielded nothing, in the number and importance of its dependencies, to its rival of Cluni. Both spread with almost equal prevalence over every province in Christen- dom ; and the colonies long continued to acknowledge the supremacy of the mother monastery. But the Citeaux was less fortunate in the dura- tion of its authority, and the union of its societies. About the year 1350, some confusion grew up amongst them, arising first from their corrup- tions, and next from the obstruction of all endeavours to reform them. At the end of that century, they were involved in the grand schism of the Catholic church, and thus became still further alienated from each other ; till at length, about the year 1500, they broke up (first in Spain, and then in Tuscany and Lombardy) into separate and independent establishments. St. Bruno, with a few companions, established a residence at the Char- treuse, in the summer of 1084 : the usual duties of labour, temperance, and prayer were Order of La Chartreuse. enjoined with more perhaps than the usual severity *. But this community did not immediately rise into any great eminence ; it was long governed by Priors, subject to the bishop of Gre- noble ; and its founder died (in 1101) in a Calabrian monastery. Nearly fifty years after its foundation, its statutes were written by a Prior, named Guigues t, who presided over it for eighteen years. By the faithful Burgundis Odone duce et fundamina dante, Sub Patre Roberto ccepit Cistercius Ordo. Pagi, Vit. Urban II., sect. 73. The date of another celebrated Institution, which we have no space to notice, has been similarly (though less artificially) recorded : Anno milleno, centeno, bis quoque deno Sub Patre Norberto Prsemonstratensis viget Ordo. Norbert was archbishop of Magdeburg, and in great repute with Innocent II. The site of the monastery was praemonstrated by a vision hence the name. The rule was that of St. Augustine; the Brethren were confirmed by Calixtus II., under the desig- nation of Canonici Regulares Exempti; and they spread to the extremities of the east and the west. Hospin. lib. v. c. xii. * The earliest Cistertians, under Alberic, who died in 1109, affected a rigid imitation of the Rule of St. Benedict. They refused all donations of churches and altars, oblations and tithes. It appeared not (they said) that in the ancient quadripartite division the Mo- nasteries had any share for this reason, that they had lands and cattle, whence they could live by work. They avoided cities and populous districts ; but professed their wil- lingness to accept the endowment of any remote or waste lands, or of vineyards, meadows, woods, waters (for mills and fishing), as well as horses and cattle. Their only addition to the old rule was that of lay brothers and hired servants. Freres Convers Laiques. f Fleury, H. E. 1. 67, s. 58. From these statutes it appears, that from September to Easter the monks were allowed only one meal a day ; that they drank no pure wine ; that fish might not be purchased except for the sick ; that no superfluous gold or silver was permitted at the service of the altar ; that the use of medicine was discouraged ; but 2C 382 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. observance of those statutes, though in its commencement far outstripped bv its Cistertian competitors, it gradually rose into honourable notoriety; and at length, about the year 1178, its rule was sanctioned by the appro- bation of Alexander III. From this event, its existence as a separate order in the church is properly to be dated ; and henceforward it went forth from its wild and desolate birth-place, and spread its fruitful branches over the gardens and vineyards of Europe. The rise of the Chartreux gave fresh cause for emulation to their brethren of older establishment; and the rivalry thus excited and maintained by these repeated innovations, if it caused much professional jealousy and doubt- less some personal animosity, furnished the only resource by which the monastic system could have been brought to preserve even the semblance of its original practice. Still it should be remarked, that these successive additions to the fraternity implied no contempt of the institutions of antiquity : they made no profession of novelty, or of any improvement upon pristine observances ; on the contrary, the more modern orders all claimed, as they respectively started into existence, the authority and the name of St. Benedict. The monk of Clurii, the Cistertian, the Carthu- sian, were alike Benedictines ; and the more rigid the reform which they severally boasted to introduce, and the nearer their approximation to the earliest practice, the better were their pretensions founded to a legitimate descent from the Western Patriarch. The rules of the reformed orders invariably inculcated the performance of manual labour; and the neglect of that Institution of Lay Brethren, injunction invariably led to their corrup- tion. But an alteration had been effected in the general constitution of the body, which alone precluded any faithful emulation of the immediate disciples of St. Benedict. As late as the eleventh age the monks were for the most part laymen ; and they per- formed all the servile offices of the establishment with their own hands. But in the year 1040, St. John of Gualbert introduced into his monastery of Vallombrosa a distinction which was fatal to the integrity of former discipline. He divided those of his obedience into two classes lay bre- thren and brethren of the choir; and while the spiritual and intellectual duties of the intitution were more particularly enjoined to the latter, the whole bodily labour, whether domestic or agricultural, was imposed upon their lay associates *. Thenceforward the Monks (for the higher class began to appropriate that name) became entirely composed either of clerks, or of persons destined for holy orders ; the religious offices were celebrated and chiefly attended by them ; while the servant was com- manded to repeat his pater without suspending his work, and presented with a chaplet for the numbering of the canonical hours. A reason was advanced for this change ; and had not a much stronger been afforded by the inordinate accumulation of wealth, it might have seemed perhaps that, to compensate for that prohibition, the monks were bled five times a year. It is ' ' times. Among proper to add, that during the same period they were permitted to shave only six times. Some statutes of this order are given by Dugdale, Mouast. vol. i. p. 951. A them we observe a strict injunction to manual labour : Nuuc lege, nunc ora, nuuc cum fervore labora j Sic erit hora brevis, et labor ille levis. * In the Ordres Monastiques, p. iv. c. 18, two sorts of laymen are mentioned as living in French monasteries : ( 1 ) Such as gave themselves over as slaves to the establishment, and were called Oblats or Donne's. (2) Such as were recommended for support to mo- nasteries of royal foundation by the king. But neither of these classes were, properly speaking, lay brethren. Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 383 not unsatisfactory. In earlier ages, Latin, the language of prayer, was also the vulgar tongue of all western Christians ; but as that grew into disuse, and became the object of study, instead of the vehicle of conver- sation, the greater part of the laity were unable to comprehend the offices of the church. Accordingly it was deemed necessary to distinguish be- tween the educated and the wholly illiterate brethren ; and, in pursuance of the principle, which then prevailed, of confining all learning to the sacred profession, the former were raised to the enjoyment of leisure and authority, the latter condemned to ignorance and servitude. This distinc- tion, being earlier than the foundation of the Cistertian, Carthusian, and all subsequent orders, was admitted at once into their original constitution ; and therefore, however, closely they might affect to imitate the most ancient models, there existed, from the very commencement, one essential peculiarity, in which they deviated from it. According to the oldest practice, every monastery was governed by an abbot, chosen by the monks from their own body, and ordained and instituted by the bishop of Papal Exemptions. the diocess. To the superintending authority of the same the abbot was also subject; and .thus abuses and contentions were readily repressed by the presence of a resident inspector. But when, in the progress of papal usurpation, those establishments were exempted from episcopal jurisdiction, and placed under the exclusive regulation of the Vatican, the facilities for corruption were multiplied ; and a number of evils were created, which escaped the observation or correction of a dis- tant and indulgent master. At the same time, the effect of this connexion was to infuse an entirely new spirit into the monastic system. Avarice, and especially ambition, took the place of those pious motives which cer- tainly predominated in earlier days. The inmates of the cloister were associated in the grand schemes of the pontifical policy ; they became its necessary and most obsequious instruments ; they were exalted by its success, they were stained by its vices : and the successive reformations, which professed to renovate the declining fabric, were only vain attempts to restore its ancient character. They could at best only expect to repair its outward front, and replace the symbols of its former sanctity ; the spirit, by which it had been really blessed and consecrated, was already departed from it. Great complaints respecting monastic corruption were uttered both at the Council of Paris in 1212, and at that of the Lateran, which met three years afterwards. But, though some vigorous attempts were, on both those occasions, made to repress it, the counteracting causes were too powerful ; and the evil continued to extend and become more poisonous during the times which followed. It is singular that, at the second of those councils, it was proclaimed as a great evil in the system, that new orders were too commonly established, and the forms of monasticism multiplied with a dangerous fertility. And therefore, ' lest their too great diversity should introduce confusion into the Church,' it was enacted that their future creation should be discouraged. This is considered by some Catholic writers to have been a provident regulation ; since the jealousy among the rival congregations had by this time degenerated from pious emulation (if it ever possessed that character) into a mere conflict of evil passions. But whatever may have been the policy of the statute, it was at least treated in the observance with such peculiar contempt, that the institution of the Mendicants, the boldest of all the innovations in the annals of monachism, took place almost immediately afterwards. 2 C2 3S4 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX SECTION III. Canons Regular and Secular. The order of monks was originally so widely distinct from that of clerks, that there were seldom found more than one or two ecclesiastics in any ancient convent. But presently, in the growing prevalence of the monastic life, persons ordained, or destined to the sacred profession, formed societies on similar principles ; and as they were bound, though with less severity, by certain fixed canons, they were called, in process of time, Canonici *. The bishop of the diocese was their abbot and presi- dent. It is recorded that St. Augustine set the example of living with his clergy in one society, with community of property, according to the canons of the church ; but he prescribed to them no vow, nor any other statutes for their observance, except such instructions as are found in his 109th Epistle t. Nevertheless, above a hundred and fifty religious congrega- tions have in succeeding ages professed his rule and claimed his parent- age, and assumed, with such slight pretensions, the authority of his venerable name. The true origin of the order is a subject of much uncer- tainty. Onuphrius, in his letter to Platina, asserts that it was instituted t>y Gelasius at Rome, about 495 J, and that it passed thence into other churches ; and Dugdale appears to acquiesce in this opinion. It is, moreover, certain, that Chrodegangus, Bishop of Metz, prescribed a rule, about the year 750, to the Canons of his own reformation ; and that he made some efforts, though not perhaps very effectually, to extend it more widely. Still some are not persuaded that societies of clerks were sub- ject to one specified form of discipline, till the Council of Aix-la-Cha- pelle , under the direction of Louis le Debonnaire, confirmed and com- pleted the previous enactments of Mayence (in 813), and imposed on them one general and perpetual rule. The plausible principle on which the order of canons was founded, to withdraw from the contagion of the world those who had peculiarly devoted themselves to the service of God, was found insufficient to pre- serve them from degeneracy. A division was early introduced (in Ger- many, according to Trithemius, and in the year 977), by which the reformed were separated from the unreformed members of the community, in name as well as in deed. The former, from their return to the original rule, assumed the appellation of Canons-Regular ; the latter, who adhered to the abuse, were termed, in contradistinction, Canons-Secular ; and this sort of schism extended to other countries, and became permanent in many. * The term Canon originally included not only all professors of the monastic life, but the very Hierodules and inferior officers of the Church. Mosheim (on the authority of Le Bceuf, Memoires sur 1'Histoire d'Auxerre, vol. i. p. 174.) asserts that it became pecu- liar to clerical monks (Fratres Dominici) soon after the middle of the eighth century. But we should rather collect from the Histoire des Ordres Monastiques, that the distinc- tion was not generally established till the eleventh age. f It should be observed, that this epistle, which is cited by ecclesiastical writers as containing instructions for an institution of Canons, was in fact addressed to a convent of refractory nuns, who had quarrelled with their Abbess, and exhibited some unbecoming violence in the dispute. I See Dugdale. De Canonorum Ordinis Origine. There may be found the Rule which St. Augustine is said to have prescribed. The rule here published was borrowed, in many particulars, from that of St. Bene- dict. But the order still retained the name and banners of St. Augustine. Hist, des Ordres Monastiques. Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 385 The discipline of the regular canons was more seriously enforced by Nicholas II. in the year 1059 ; and about eighty years later, Innocent II. subjected them to the additional obligation of avow; for they seem hitherto to have been exempt from such profession. Nevertheless, in the course of the two following centuries, they once more relapsed into such abandoned licentiousness, as to require an entire reconstruction from Benedict XII. After that period, they rose into more consideration than in their earlier history they appear to have attained. There were besides some other orders, both military and mendicant, which professed the rule, or rather the name, of St. Augustine the Hos- pitallers, for instance, the Teutonic Knights, and the Hermits of St. Augustine. But they will be mentioned under those heads where we have thought it more convenient to place them, than to follow in this matter the perplexed method of the * Historian of the Monastic Orders.' ^ SECTION IV. On the Military Orders. We have thus shortly mentioned the three grand religious Orders, which have been diversified by so many names and rules, and regenerated by so many reforms ; which began in austerity, and yet fell into the most shameless debauchery ; which arose in piety, and passed into wicked and lying superstition ; which originated in poverty, and finally fattened on the credulity of the faithful, so as to spread their solid territorial acquisi- tions from one end of Christendom to the other. Founded on the genuine monastic principle of devout seclusion, so venerable to the ignorant and the vulgar, they presently surpassed the secular clergy in the reputation of sanctity, and in popular influence. Thus were they soon recommended to the Bishop of Rome ; and in his ambition to exalt himself above his brother prelates, he discovered an efficient and willing instrument in the regular establishments. At an early period, he granted them protection, and patronage, and property, with the means of augmenting it : presently, he accorded to certain monasteries exemption from the episcopal autho- rity ; and in process of time, he extended that privilege to almost all. Thus he gradually constituted himself sole visitor, legislator, and guar- dian of the numberless religious institutions which covered the Christian world. The monks repaid these services by the most implicit obedience for obedience was that of their three vows which they continued to respect the longest and to their aid and influence may generally be ascribed the triumphs of the pontiff in his disputes with the secular clergy. In his contests with the State, they were not less necessary to his cause ; for, as his success in those struggles usually depended on the divisions which he was enabled to sow among the subjects of his enemy, and the strength of the party which he could thus create, so the monks, in every nation in Europe, were his most powerful agents for that pur- pose.~ And thus, when we consider the victory, which the spiritual some- times obtained over the temporal power, as a mere triumph of opinion over arms and physical force, we do indeed, at the bottom, consider it rightly ; but our surprise at the result is much diminished, when we reflect how extensive a control over men's minds was everywhere possessed by the religious orders, how fearlessly and unsparingly they exercised that con- trol, and with what persevering zeal it was directed to the support and aggrandisement of papal power. The Benedictines and Augustinians were the standing army of the 386 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. Vatican, and they fought its spiritual battles with constancy and success for nearly six centuries. The first addition which was made to them, was that of the Military orders ; and this proceeded not from any sense of the insufficiency of the veteran establishments, nor from any distrust in them, but from circumstances wholly independent of those or any such causes. They arose in the agitation of the crusades, and they were nourished by the sort of spirit which first created those expeditions, and then caught from them sqme additional fury. The union of the military with the ecclesiastical character was become common, in spite of repeated prohibitions, among all ranks of the clergy. It was exercised by the vices of the feudal system ; which had given them wealth in enviable profusion, but which provided by no sufficient laws or strength of government for the protection of that which it had bestowed so that force was necessary to defend what had been lavished by super- stition. The warlike habits which ecclesiastics seem really to have first acquired in the defence of their property, were presently carried forth by them into distant and offensive campaigns, and exhibited in voluntary feats of arms, to which loyalty did not oblige them, and for which loyalty itself furnished a very insufficient pretext. But these general excesses did not give birth to any distinct order professing to unite religious vows with the exercise of arms ; and even the first of those, which did after- wards make such profession, was in its origin a pacific and charitable institution. This was the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, or the Knights of the Hospital. About the year 1050, at the The Knights of the. Hospital, wish of some merchants of Amalfi trading with Syria, a Latin Church had been erected at Jerusalem, to which a hospital was presently added, with a chapel dedi- cated to the Baptist. When Godfrey de Bouillon took the city in 1099, he endowed the hospital : it then assumed the form of a new religious order, and immediately received confirmation from Rome, with a rule for its observance*. The revenues were soon found to exceed the necessities of the establishment ; and it was then that the Grand Master changed its principle and design by the infusion of the military character. The Knights of the Hospital were distinguished by three gradations. The first in dignity were the noble and military ; the second were eccle- siastical, superintending the original objects of the institution ; the third consisted of the ' Serving Brethren,' whose duties also were chiefly mili- tary. To the ordinary vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, they added the obligations of charity, fasting, and penitence : and, whatsoever laxity they may have admitted in the observance of them, they unques- tionably derived from that profession some real virtues which were not shared by the fanatics who surrounded them ; and they softened the savage features of religious warfare with some faint shades of unwonted humanity. So long as their residence was Jerusalem, they retained the peaceful name of Hospitallers ; but they were subsequently better known by the successive appellations of Knights of Rhodes and of Malta. Faithful at least to one of the objects of their institution, they valiantly defended the outworks of Christendom against the progress of the invading Mussulman, and never sullied their arms by the massacre of Pagans or heretics. * The rule of the Hospitallers (as confirmed by Boniface) may be found in Dugdalete Monasticon, vol. ii. p. 493. Chap. XIX.l A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 387 The Knights Templars received their name from their residence in the immediate neighbourhood of the Temple at Jeru- salem. The foundations of this order were laid The Knights Templars, in the year 1118; and the rule, to which it was afterwards subjected, was from the pen of St. Bernard. This institution, both in its original purpose and prescribed duties, was exclusively military. To extend the boundaries of Christendom, to preserve the internal tranquillity of Palestine, to secure the public roads from robbers and outlaws *, to protect the devout on their pilgrimage to the holy places such were the peculiar offices of the Templar. They were discharged with fearlessness and rewarded by renown. Renown was followed by the most abundant opulence. Corruption came in its train ; and on their final expulsion from Palestine, they carried back with them to Europe much of the wild unbridled license, which had been familiar to them in the East. But their unhappy fate, as it is connected with one of the most important periods in papal history, must be reserved for more particular mention in its proper place. The Teutonic, or German Order, had its origin again in the offices of charity. During the siege of Acre, a hospital was erected for the reception of the sick and wounded. The Teutonic Order. This establishment survived the occasion which created it ; and, to confirm its character and its permanency, it ob- tained a rule (in 1192) from Celestine III., and a place among the * Orders Hospitable and Military/ On the termination of the Crusades, these knights returned to Germany t, where they enjoyed considerable possessions ; and soon afterwards, by a deviation from the purpose of their institution, which might seem slight perhaps in a superstitious age, they turned their consecrated arms to the conversion of Prussia. That country, and the contiguous Pomerania, had hitherto resisted the peaceful exertions of successive missionaries, and continued to worship the rude deities, and follow the barbarous manners, of antiquity. But where the language of persuasion had been employed in vain, the dis- ciplined valour of the Teutonic Knights prevailed. It was recompensed by the conquest of two rich provinces ; and the faith which was inflicted upon the vanquished in the rage of massacre, was perpetuated under the deliberate oppression of military government. This event took place about the year 1230 ; but in another generation, when the memory of its introduction was effaced, the religion really took root and flourished, by the sure and legitimate authority of its excellence and its truth. After that celebrated exploit, the Teutonic Order continued to subsist in great estimation with the Church ; and this patronage was repaid with perse- vering fidelity, until at length, when they perceived the grand consumma- tion approaching, the holy knights generally deserted that tottering fortress, and arrayed their rebellious host under the banners of Luther. * An order, with a somewhat similar object, was founded in France about the year 1233, called the Order of the Glorious Virgin Mary. It was confined to young men of family, who associated themselves, under the title of Les Freres Joyeux, for the defence of the injured, and the preservation of public tranquillity. They took vows of obedience and conjugal chastity, and solemnly pledged themselves to the protection of widows and orphans. f In the treaty between the empire and the popedom in 1230, we find that the in- terests of the three military orders were expressly stipulated for by the Pope ; and also, that certain places were held in sequestration by Herman, Master of the Teutonic Order until the Emperor should have fulfilled his part of the engagement. Fleury, 1. 79. s. 64. 388 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX SECTION V. The Mendicant, or Preaching Orders. UNTIL the end of the twelfth century the exertions of the Popes were almost entirely confined to the establishment of their own supremacy in the Church, and of their temporal authority over the State : and, through the faithful subservience of the two ancient orders, they had obtained surprising success in both undertakings. But the increasing light of the eleventh and twelfth ages, and the increasing deformities of the Church, brought into existence a number of heresies, occasioning dissensions, such as had not divided Christians since the Arian controversy. These more- over presented themselves not with one form, and one front, and one neck, but were scattered under a multitude of denominations, throughout al! provinces, and among all ranks. The secular clergy, relaxed by habitual indolence and occasional immoralities, rather gave cause to this disaffec- tion, than subdued it; arid the regular orders, become sluggish from wealth and indulgence, wanted the activity, perhaps the zeal, which was required of them. To detect the latent error, to pursue it into its secret holds, to drag it forth and consign it to the minister of tjmporal ven- geance, was an office beyond the energy of their luxuriousriess ; still less did they possess the talents and the learning to confute and confound it Wherefore, as the experience of some centuries had now proved, that the existing orders, how often soever and completely reformed and repro- duced, had an immediate tendency to subside again into degeneracy and decay, it seemed expedient to introduce some entirely different organization into the imperfect system. The first notion of the new institution * was given by that body of ecclesiastics who were commissioned by Innocent III. St. Dominic, to convert the Albigeois ; and among these the most distinguished was St. Dominic. . . That favourite cham- pion of the Roman Church, the falsely- reputed inventor of inquisi- torial torture, was a Spaniard of a noble family and of the order of Ca- nor.s-Regular. In his spiritual campaigns (it were well had they been no more than spiritual) against the heretics of Languedoc, he became eminent by an eloquence which always inflamed and sometimes per- suaded ; and having felt the power of that faculty, which through the space of thirteen centuries had so rarely revisited the Roman empire, he became desirous to establish a fraternity devoted to its exercise. His project was not discouraged by Innocent III. ; but that pontiff hesitated to give the formed sanction necessary to constitute a new order : since the Council of Lateran, acting according to his discretion, had pronounced it generally expedient to reform existing institutions, rather than to augment their number. But immediately after the death of that Pope, Dominic was established in the privileges of a 4 Founder,' by the bull of Honorius III f. * Hospinian's Sixth Book comprehends a quantity of valuahle matter on the subject of the Mendicants ; and chapters iv. v. and vi. should particularly be consulted. The author is laborious and learned, but not impartial. In the zeal of the Protestant he has forgotten the moderation of the Historian, and (might we not sometimes add P) the charity of the Christian. f Fleury asserts, that the Freres Precheurs at first were not so much a new order, as a ntw congregation of the Canons-Regular ; since it was only at a Chapter General held in 1220, that St. Dominic and his disciples embraced entire poverty and mendicity. This may be so but at any rate their original condition was so extremely transient and destitute of all effects and characteristics, as to be wholly insignificant in history. Chap. XIX.] . A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 389 Contemporary with St. Dominic was his great compeer in ecclesiastical celebrity, the father of the rival institution. St. Francis was a native of Asisi in Umbria, without rank, without St. Francis. letters, but of an ardent and enthusiastic temperament. It is asserted perhaps untruly that his earlier age was consumed in profligacy, from which he was awakened by an opportune sickness, occasioned by his vices ; and that his fears suddenly impelled him into the opposite extreme of superstitious* austerity. It is certain, that, as he inculcated,, by his preaching, so he recommended by his example, the utmost rigour of the primitive monastic principle, ' that there .was no safe path to heaven, unless by the destitution of all earthly possessions/ Popularity was the first reward of his humiliation : he was soon followed by a crowd of imitators ; and the motive, which probably was pure fanaticism in himself, might be want, or vanity, or even avarice f> in his disciples. Howbeit they readily acquired an extensive reputation for sanctity ; and in the year 1210 the formal protection of Innocent was vouchsafed to the new order. It appears probable that the foundation of the Franciscan Order was laid in poverty only not merely unaccompanied by any obligation of a missionary or predicatory character, but likewise free from the vow of mendicity. St. Francis himself, in the ' Testament ' which he left for the instruction of his followers, enjoined manual labour in preference to beggary ; though he permitted them, in case of great distress, to have recourse to the table of the Lord, begging alms from door to door {. It should be mentioned, too, that he at the same time prohibited them from applying to the Pope for any privilege whatever. But the sophistical and contentious spirit of the age precluded that simplicity. And their founder was scarcely consigned to the grave, when his disciples obtained from Gre- gory IX. a bull, which released them from the observance of his Testa- ment, and placed an arbitrary interpretation on many particulars of his rule. It was thus that the necessity of labour was superseded, and honour and sanctity were preposterously attached to the profession of mendicity. * The story of the Stigmata, or wounds of Christ, miraculously impressed upon his body, is known to all. The text on which this importance was founded (for it pleaded a text) was Epist. Galat. end. ' From henceforth let no man trouble me; for I hear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.' We read in Semler, ann. 1222, that a rustic, who made the same experiment on human credulity at about the same time, was impri- soned for life felicius cessit Francisco, sec. xiii. cap. iii. f Giannone, an impartial writer, thus begins a section (lib. xix. cap. v. sec. v.) entitled ' Monaci e Beni Temporal!.' ' Henceforward we shall place together the subjects of " Monks " and " Temporalities ;" since, as we have already observed, that he who pronounces "Monachism" (Religione,) pronounces "Riches," so the Monks were now become incomparably more expert in the acquisition of wealth, than all the other eccle- siastics ; and the monasteries in these days reaped profits to which those made by the Churches bore no proportion so that the expressions " New Religions" and" New Riches" became, properly speaking, synonymous. And this was the more monstrous, because it was in despite of their foundation in mendicity, (whence they had the name of Mendicants,} that their acquisitions and treasures were enormous.' Polit. Eccles. del decimo terzo secolo. J Fleury, Dissertat. 8me. St. Francis designated his disciples by the name Fraterculi Little Brothers and this became, in different languages, Fratricelli, Fratres Minores, Freres Mineurs, Friars Minors. This Pope was at the same time a great patron of the rival order. In 1231 he .wrote a letter to the Archbishop of Sorrento, in order to introduce the Dominicans to his patronage, in these terms : < Dilectos Filios Fratres Ordinis Predicatorum velut novos Vinitores suae vineae suscitavit ; qui, non sua sed quae sunt Jesu Christi quserentes, tarn contra proiligandas haereses, quam pestes alias mortiferas extirpatidas se dedicarunt evangelizationi Verbi Dei, in abjectione voluatariae paupertatis.' The passage is cited by Giannone. 390 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. Here then we observe the first point of distinction in the first constitu- tion of the two orders. The Dominicans were, in their earliest character, a society of itinerant preachers this was the whole of their profession they were not bound, as it would seem, by any vow of poverty. But after a short space, when their founder had possibly observed that the Franciscans prospered well under that vow that without possessing- any thing they abounded with many things * he thought it desirable to imitate such profitable self-denial : accordingly, he also imposed upon his disciples the obligation of poverty. Again : when the Franciscans discovered that no little influence accrued to their rivals from the office of public preaching, they also betook them- selves to that practice ; and, perhaps, with almost equal success. Thus it came to pass, that, after a very few years, two orders, essentially different in their original, were very nearly assimilated in character, and even in profession, and entered upon the same career with almost the same objects and the same principles. Nevertheless, in the features of their policy and the character of their ecclesiastical influence, they continued to be distinguished by many important diversities. The whole course of their history is more or less strongly marked by these. And if many of them were occasioned (as is unquestionably true) by the passionate jealousy which they bore to each other, and which they displayed upon all occasions, to the great scandal and injury of the Church, it is equally certain, that the difference in their first constitution ever contributed to cause a difference in their destinies. The original vow and rule of St. Francis was at no time perfectly erased from the memory of his followers. Attempts were soon made to revive it in its native austerity ; and thus, in addition to the general contention with the rival order, the most violent intestine dissensions were introduced into the family of that Saint, which terminated in permanent alienation and schism. Again : another evil was brought upon the Church by these disputes sharpened as they also were by the scholastic subtleties which in those days perverted reason. The authority of the Pope interposed to set them at rest, but his interference produced the opposite effect f : it not only increased the animosity of both parties, but also raised up a powerful branch of the fraternity in avowed opposition to the pontifical supremacy. In the controversy in which these 'indocile' brethren engaged during the fourteenth age, against John XXII., they proceeded so far in rebellious audacity as formally to pass the sentence of heresy upon the Vicar of Christ, and to abet the efforts of Lewis of Bavaria to depose him ! Such (as Fleury has observed) was the termination of their humility the deposition of a pope ! Owing to these internal contests, it has even been made a question with some, whether the institution of the Mendicants has not contributed, upon the whole, to the decline, rather than the advancement of the papal interests. But there is riot sufficient reason for such a doubt. The wound which the Roman See may have received from the passionate insubordination of a faction of one of those orders, bears no comparison with the benefits which it has derived from the * We read, in the ' Histoire des Ordres Monastiques/ of Franciscan monasteries of very early foundation residences inconsistent with the perpetual practice of beggary. But those mansions were probably the first profits of the trade, the first-fruits of the violation of the vow. f t The good and simple pope, St. Celestine, sanctioned the division among the Fran- ciscans by establishing the congregation of the ' Poor Hermits.' Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 391 faithful assiduity, the learning, the zeal, and the^ uncompromising devoted- ness of the other. If the Dominicans surpassed the rival order in obedience to their common master, they also afforded a better example of internal harmony and discipline. Indeed, as they adhered very closely to the original object of their institution, the destruction of heresy, there was little reason why they should dispute with each other, and the strongest motive for concord with the Holy See. The destruction of heresy they were willing (as we have observed), in the first instance, to accomplish by the sword of the spirit ; but, whether through the natural impatience of bigotry, or because the wisest among them began to suspect the weakness of their own cause, the futility of their sophistry, and the falsehood of their posi- tions, after a very short attempt they abandoned that method of conver- sion, and betook themselves to the material weapon. The secular arm was summoned to their aid, and it became in process of time their favourite, if not their only, instrument. Nevertheless those are in error who attribute the foundation of the Inquisition, as a fixed and permanent tribunal, to the hand of St. Dominic. It may seem indeed to have been the necessary consequence of his labours, the result to which his principles infallibly tended ; and it is true that the administration of its offices was principally delegated to his order. But it was not anywhere formally established until ten or twelve years after his death *. In the mean time, the Dominicans, already trained to the chase, and heated by the scent of blood, eagerly executed the trust which was assigned to them. Over the whole surface of the western world they spread themselves in fierce and keen pursuit ; and the distant kingdoms of Spain and Poland were presently inflicted with the same deadly visitation. Rome was the centre of persecution ; the heart, to which the circulating poison continually returned and whence it derived, as it flowed onward, a fresh and perennial supply of virulence and malignity. The Dominicans, soon after their institution, seem to have appropriated most of the learning, then so sparingly distributed among the monastic orders. Dispute of the Dominicans with They applied themselves chiefly to the University of Paris. the science of controversy, and soon became very formidable in that field the more so, since they employed the resources of scholastic ingenuity in the defence of the papal govern- ment. The means and the end harmonized well ; the prejudices of the age were to a great extent favourable to both ; the exertions of reviving reason were perpetually baffled, and her friends discomfited and over- thrown. . . We shall briefly notice one signal campaign of the Dominicans that which they carried on for above thirty years against the University of Paris. fc ._. That body, which was already the most eminent in Europe, thought it expedient, in the year 1228, to confine the Dominicans, in common with all other religious orders, to the possesssion of one of its theological classes, while those Mendicants warmly asserted their claim to two. Many violent contentions arose from this difference, and con- tinued till the year 1255, with no decisive result : the matter was then referred to the wisdom of Pope Alexander IV. It is not difficult to anticipate the response of the Vatican. The University received an unqualified injunction to throw open to the Dominicans, not two classes - - The origin of the Inquisition will be described in chapter xxi. 392 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. only, but as many chairs and dignities as it might seem good to thenito occupy. For four years the refractory doctors resisted the execution of the sentence with a boldness worthy of a better age and a happier result. At length, terrified by the repeated menaces of the pontiff, they sub- mitted. . . Nevertheless, the struggle had not been without its benefit. During the course of a protracted controversy, subjects had been handled of higher and more general importance, than the right of lecturing in the schools of Paris. While the discipline and principles of the Mendicants were examined and assailed, the power which upheld them did not escape from public reprehension. The possibility of error even in the Church itself was openly maintained ; and the spirit of learning, which had hitherto ministered to ecclesiastical oppression, was at length aroused against it. The first efforts of the best principles are generally baffled and disappointed ; but the example which they leave does not perish ; but only waits till the concurrence of happier circumstances may bring the season for more successful imitation. In the conduct of this dispute, as both parties became equally heated, the limits of reason were exceeded, with almost equal temerity, by both. Among many laborious productions, perhaps the most celebrated was that published by Guilliaume de St. Amour, a doctor of Sorbon, and a powerful champion of the University, ' Concerning the Perils of the Latter Times.' The peculiarity which has recommended it to our notice is this. It was founded on the belief that the passage of St. Paul relating to * the perilous times which were to come in the last days/ was fulfilled by the establish- ment of the Mendicants ! Every age has affixed its own inter- pretation to that text, and all have been successively deceived ; and this might teach us some caution in wresting the mysterious oracles of God from their eternal destination to serve the partial views to aid the tran- sient, and perhaps passionate, purposes of the moment. Yet is there an undue value almost indissolubly attached, even by the calmest minds, to passing occurrences : however trivial and fugitive their character, they are magnified by close inspection, so as to exceed the mightiest events farther removed in time; and it is this, our almost insuperable inability to reduce present occurrences to their real dimensions to place them at a distance, and examine them side by side along with the trans- actions of former days to consider them, in short, disinterestedly and historically it is this cause which has begotten, and which still begets, many foolish opinions in minds not destitute of reason ; and which, among other fruits, has so frequently reproduced, and in so many shapes, the pitiable enthusiasm of the Millenarians. Though both Dominicans and Franciscans professed to be at the same time mendicants and preachers,, yet, in some sort of Disse7isio7is among conformity with their original rules, the former con- the Franciscans. tinued to retain more of the predicatory, the latter more of the mendicant, character. These last were conse- quently less distinguished by their literary contests, than by those which they waged against each other, respecting the just interpretation of the rule of their founder. In all other monastic institutions, the possession of property was forbidden to individuals, but permitted to the community j whereas the more rigid injunction of St. Francis denied every description of fixed revenues, even to the Societies of his followers. There were many among those who wished for a relaxation of this rule ; and they obtained it without difficulty, both from Gregory IX. and Innocent IV. But another party, who called themselves the Spirituals, insisted on a strict Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 393 adhesion to the original institution ; they even refused to share the glo- rious title of Franciscan with those who had abandoned it. This feeling displayed itself with particular vehemence in the year 1247, when John of Parma, a rigid spiritualist, was chosen general of the order. But the more worldly brethren still adhered to their mitigated discipline; and their perseverance, which was favoured, perhaps, by the secret wishes of many of the opposite party, received the steady and zealous concurrence of the Holy See. For whatsoever value the popes might attach to the voluntary poverty of their myrmidons, to the respect which it excited, and the spontaneous generosity which so abundantly relieved it, they no doubt considered, that it was more important to the permanent interests of the Church to encourage the increase of her fixed and solid and perpetual possessions. The success of the Dominicans and Franciscans encouraged the pro- fession of beggary ; and the face of Christendom was suddenly darkened by a swarm of holy mendicants, in such manner that, about the year 1272, Gregory X. endeavoured to arrest the overgrowing evil. To this end he suppressed a great multitude of those authorized vagrants, and distributed the remainder, still very numerous, into four societies, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Carmelites, and the Hermits of St. Augustine. The order of the Carmelites was, in its origin, Oriental and Eremitical. John Phocas, a monk of Patmos, who visited the Holy Places in 1185, thus concludes the narrative of The Carmelites. his pilgrimage : ' On Mount Carmel is the cavern of EHas, where a large monastery once stood, as the remains of build- ings attest ; but it has been ruined by time and hostile incursions. Some years ago a hoary-headed monk, who was also a priest, came from Calabria, and established himself in this place, by the revelation of the Prophet Elias. He made a little inclosure in the ruins of the monastery, and constructed there a tower and a small church, and assembled about ten brothers, with whom he still inhabits that holy place*.' Such appears to be the earliest authentic record of the foundation of the Carmelites. About the year 1209, Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem, gave them a rule. It consisted of sixteen articles, which contain nothing original, and are merely sufficient to prove the ignorance, the abstinence, and the poverty of the original brothers. The institution was not, however, legitimately introduced into the grand monastic family till the year 1226, when it received the sanction of Honorius III. Twelve years afterwards it was raised from among the regular orders to the more valuable privileges and profits of mendicity ; and we observe that the severe rule of its infancy was interpreted and mitigated soon afterwards by Innocent IV. Accord- ingly it became venerable and popular, and was embraced with the accustomed eagerness in every country in Europe. A great number of individuals were still found scattered throughout the western Church, who cherished the name, though they might dispense with the severer Hermits of St. Augustine. duties, of hermits ; and they professed a variety of rules by which their several independent societies were governed. Innocent IV. expressed his desire to unite them into one order ; and Tit was executed by his successor. Alexander IV., the better to withdraw them from their seclusion, and engage them in the functions of the eccle- siastical hierarchy t, formed them into a single congregation, under one * We cite the passage from Fleury, lib. Ixxvi., see. 55. f Giannone, Stor, Nap., lib. xis,, cap. v., sec, 5. 394 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. rule and one general, and associated them by the same title of * Hermits of St. Augustine.' We may observe, however, that as they were the most modern, so they were the least considerable of the mendicant institu- tions. To these four orders the pontiffs granted the exclusive indulgence of travelling through all countries, of conversing with persons of all ranks, and instructing, wheresoever they sojourned, the young and the ignorant. This commission was presently extended to preaching in the churches, and administering the holy sacraments. And so great veneration did they excite by the sanctity of their appearance, the austerity of their life, and the authoritative humility of their manners, that the people rushed in mul- titudes to listen to their eloquence, and to crave their benediction. And thus the spirit of sacerdotal despotism, which had been chilled through the indecency or negligence of the secular clergy, and the luxurious languor of the regular establishments, was for a season revived and restored to an authority, in its extent more ample, and in its exercise far more unsparing, than it had possessed at any preceding period. In their early years, the two great nurseries of the Dominicans were Paris and Bologna. In those cities, Jourdain, the General of the order, and successor of its founder, alternately Early merits and degeneracy passed the season of Lent; and thence he of the Mendicants. sent forth his emissaries through the south and the west. Among the first converts to the discipline of St. Dominic were many distinguished by rank and dignity, many eminent ecclesiastics, many learned doctors, both in law and theology, and many young students of noble parentage. Nor is it hard to believe those accounts, which praise the rigour of their moral excellence, and the general subjection of their carnal appetites to the control of the spirit. The very enthusiasm, which at first inflamed them for the purity and beauty of their institution, was inconsistent with hypo- critical pretensions to piety ; it tended, too, somewhat to prolong the exercise of those virtues whence it drew its origin. And thus, if their literary exertions were really stimulated by the highest motives the glory of God, and the salvation of the faithful they may well have surpassed the languid labours of the old ecclesiastics, which were so commonly directed to mere vulgar and temporal objects. Accordingly, as the Mendicants rose, the ancient orders and the secular clergy fell into dis- repute and contempt; and the chairs and the pulpits, which they had so long filled, were, in a great measure, usurped by more zealous, more laborious, and more popular competitors. But these conquests were not obtained or preserved without many vio- lent and obstinate contests *. Both regulars and seculars defended their ancient privileges with an ardour which seemed to supply the want of * The'grand dispute in England between the Clergy and the Mendicants, in which the Archbishop of Armagh was so prominent, took place about 1357. The great complaint at that time was, that the latter had seduced all the young men at the University to con- fess to them, to enter their order, and to remain there. And the prelate mentions the remarkable fact, that, through the suspicions thus infused into families, the number of students at Oxford had been reduced during his time from thirty thousand to six thou- sand. It was made another matter of reproach on the mendicants, that they had bought up all the books, and collected in every convent a large and fine library. The field of contest was transferred to the pontifical court (then at Avignon) ; the mendicants were triumphant, and the Archbishop's mission appears to have had no result. And about the same time two considerable princes, Peter, Infant of Aragon, and Charles, Count of Alencjon, became members respectively of the Franciscan and Dominican orders. Chap. XIX.] 'i A HISTORY OP THE CHURCH. 395, strength. Their disputes with each other were for the season laid aside ; they united with equal earnestness against the invader of their common interests ; and the rancour thus occasioned, and shared, in some degree, even by the most obscure individuals of both parties, was far from favour- able either to the purity of religion, or to the honour of the Church insomuch, that some Roman Catholic writers have expressed a reasonable doubt, whether the interests of their Church would not have been more effectually consulted by a thorough reformation of the two classes already consecrated to religion, than by the establishment of a new order. It is certainly true, that no cause has more scandalized the name of Christ, in every age of his faith, than the bitter dissensions of his ministers. Their very immoralities have scarcely been more poisonous in their influ- ence on the people, than the spectacle of their jealousy and rancour. And thus, if the ancient zeal and piety could have been revived by ordinary regulations among the ecclesiastics of the thirteenth century had it been possible to infuse into the decrepit the vigour of the young, into the pampered the virtue of the poor, such had, indeed, been the safer method of regeneration. It appears, however, very questionable, whether the popes had power to accomplish so substantial a reformation in the Church, even had they been seriously bent on it It is perfectly certain that they were not so disposed. The interests of papacy were now becoming widely different from the interests of the Church, and their policy (though they might not themselves be conscious of the distinction) was steadily directed to the former. With that view, the institution of the Mendicants was eminently useful, as it communicated a sort of ubiquity to the pon- tifical Chair. Moreover, the scandals which it occasioned were, in some measure, compensated by the energy to which the old establishments were reluctantly awakened; and which had been more honourable to themselves, and more useful to religion, had it been excited by a less equivocal motive. One essential characteristic of the Mendicants was the want of any per- manent residence ; and thus their influence over the people, though at seasons vast and overruling, could not be deeply fixed, or very durable. Again, since they professed absolute poverty, they could scarcely exercise any fearless control over those, on whose favour and charity they were dependent for their daily subsistence : so that their popular authority was destitute of those substantial supports which their opponents derived from the possession of opulent establishments, and rested wholly on their talents and their virtues. As long as their zeal and their eloquence far surpassed those of the ancient ecclesiastics, as long as the sanctity of their moral practice was beyond reproach or suspicion, so long they deserved and maintained the superiority of their influence. But though the impression thus produced will generally last somewhat longer than the excellence which produces it, still the solid foundation of their power decayed with the decay of their original qualities ; and the wealth which they at length substituted in the place of these, reduced them at best to the level of their rivals. And no long time elapsed from their origin, before the reproach of corruption was commonly and justly cast upon them*. General complaints * The evidence of Matthew Paris, an established Benedictine of St. Alhan's, may be somewhat coloured by professional jealousy, but nevertheless it is substantially true. In his Henry III., anno 1246, he mentions, how, from being preachers, they became con- fessors, and usurped the other offices of the Ordinary. In the same place he publishes a celebrated Bull of Gregory IX. in their favour, and strongly describes the insolence which 396 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. arose respecting the multitude of pretexts which they invented for the extortion of money ; respecting the vagabond habits, the idleness, and importunity of many among them. It was particularly asserted, that, having insinuated themselves into the confidence of families, they took under their special charge the management of wills, and constructed them to their own advantage. They became perpetual attendants on the death-bed of the rich. Moreover, they engaged with intriguing activity in the political transactions of the day, and were entrusted with the con- duct of difficult negotiations. The cabinets of princes were not too lofty for their ambition, the secrets of domestic life were not beneath their avarice. Again it offended the reason of many, that holy persons, pro- fessing profound humility and perfect poverty, should appear in the cha- racter of magistrates, having apparitors and familiars at their disposal, and all the treasures and all the tortures of the Inquisition. They thus became rich, indeed, and they became powerful : but there were those who did not fail to contrast the contempt of worldly glory, which illus- trated the birth of their order, with the pomp which they afterwards assumed so willingly ; and to remark, that through the abandonment of every possession, they possessed everything, arid were more opulent in their poverty than the most opulent *. Such reflections were obvious to the most illiterate ; and they gradually diminished a popu- larity, which was ill compensated by riches. Howbeit, amid the decline in their reputation and the degeneracy of their principles, from the one grand rule of their ecclesiastical policy they never deviated, they persevered, without any important interruption, in their faithful ministry to the Vatican. But from the time that they parted with their original charac- teristics, their agency became less useful ; and the extravagance with which they sometimes exalted the pretensions of the See, began, in later ages, to excite some disgust among its more moderate and reasonable sup- porters. they derived from it. ' Ecclesiarum rectores . . procaciter alloquentes, indulta sibi talia privilegia in propatulo demonstrantes, erecta cervice ea exigentes recitari, &c. . He then relates the manner in which they supplanted the clergy in the affections of the people. ' Esne professus ? Etiam. A quo ? A sacerdote meo. Et quis ille idiota ? Nunquam theologiam audivit ; nunquam in decretis vigilavit ; nunquam imam quaestionem didicit enodare. Cseci sunt et duces csecorum. Ad nos accedite, qui novimus lepram a lepra distinguere . . . Multi igitur, pracipue nobilea et nobihum uxores, spretis propriis sacerdotibus, prscdicatoribus confitebantur . . unde non mediocriter viluit ordinariorum dignitas.' . . . Matthew Paris then goes on to show the immo- rality thus introduced; since the people did not feel for the Mendicants any of that awe which their own priests had been accustomed to inspire, and therefore repeated their sins with less scruple. The same author (ad. ann. 1235) repeats the complaints of the inso- lence of the Mendicants, and of the extensive footing which they had already usurped upon the domains of the old establishments. In another place, (ann. 1247,) he describes them as the pope's beadles and tax-gatherers, ' Utpote fratres minores et predicatores (ut credimus invitos) jam suos fecit Dominus Papa, non sine ordinis eorum Isesione et scan- dalo, teloniarios et bedellos.' . . . These passages were written within half a century from the foundation of the order. The evidence of the great Franciscan, Bitona- ventura, and of Thierri d' Apolde, both writers of the same age, is also adduced by Fleury, to prove the early corruption of the Mendicants. Bzovius (ann. 1304, sec. vii.) publishes a long decree of Benedict XI., still further augmenting the privileges of the Mendicants, and exempting them from certain episcopal restraints. * Pietr. delle Vigne. (i. Epist. 37). Fleury, lib. Ixxxii., sec. 7. The Capucines, a branch of reformed Franciscans, did not arise till the beginning of the sixteenth century. Their progress, which was contemporary with that of the Lutherans and the Jesuits, is also, described as extremely rapid. Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 397 SECTION VI. The Establishment of Nuns. THAT there existed, even in the Antenicene Church, virgins, who made profession of religious chastity, and dedicated themselves to the service of Christ, is clear from the writings of Tertullian, Cyprian, and Eusebius*. But there is no sufficient reason to believe that they were formed into societies ; still less that they constituted any order or congregation. They exercised individually their self-imposed duties and devotions ; and found their practice to be consistent, like the Asceta?, among whom they may properly be classed, with the ordinary occupations of society. The origin of Communities of female recluses was probably coeval with that of monasteries, and the produce of the same soil. The glory of the institution is commonly ascribed to St. Syncletica, the descendant of a Macedonian family settled in Alexandria, and the contemporary of St. Anthony. It is at least certain, that many such establishments were founded in Egypt before the middle of the fourth century ; and that they were propagated throughout Syria, Pontus, and Greece, by the same means and at the same time with those of the Holy Brothers, though not, as it would seem, in the same abundance. It appears, however, that they gradually penetrated into every province where the name of Christ was known ; they were found among the Armenians, Mingrelians, Georgians, Maronites, and others ; and finally formed an important and not incongruous appendage to the Oriental Church. A noble Roman lady, named Marcella, is celebrated as the instrument chosen by Providence to introduce the pious institution into the West. In emulation of the models of Egypt, she assembled several virgins and widows in a community consecrated to holy purposes ; and her example found so many imitators, that the Fathers of the next generation, St. Ambrose | St. Jerome, and St. Augustine, bear sufficient testimony to the prevalence of the institution in their time. It is true that, at least as late as the year 400, many devout virgins (Virgines Devotee) still preserved their domestic relations and adhered to the more secular practice of the Antenicene Church ; and it is possible that those devotees were never wholly extinct in any age. But the Associations for the same end gra- dually embraced most of those with whom religious zeal was the leading motive ; and their sanctity was recommended to popular reverence, as * Vit. Constant, lib. iv., Tertullian, lib. ad Uxorem. Cyprian (lib. i. epist. xi. ad Pomponianum, De Virginibus) reproaches in very severe language certain consecrated virgins, who had fallen under the suspicion of incontinence, ' Quid Christus Dominus et Judex noster, cum virginem suam sibi dicatam et sanctitati suae destinatam jacere cum altero cernit, quam indignatur et irascitur !' . . . Again : Quod si in fide se Christo dedicaverunt, pudice et caste sine ulla fabula perseverent. . . Si autem per-' severare nolunt vel non possunt, melius est nubant, quam in ignem delictis suis cadant.' . . Again: (lib. v. epist. viii.) he speaks of ' Membra Christo dicata et in aeternum con- tinentiae honorem pudica virtute devota.' . . See also his ' Tractatus de Dis- ciplina et Habitu Virgiiium.' . . These passages show, at the same time, that there were in that age virgins dedicated to religion, and that they were not bound by any irrevocable vow. t Lib. i. de Virginibus ad Marcellinam. The testimony of St. Jerome, respecting Marcella, has been already cited (supra, p. 396.) St. Augustine (De Moribus Ecclesiae, c. 33.) says, in speaking of the monastic establishments both at Milan and Rome : ' Jejunia prorsus incredibilia, non in viris tantum, sed etiam in foeminis ; quibus item, multis ' viduis et virginibus simul habitantibus et lana ac tela victum quaeritantibus, praesunt ' singulae gravissimae probatissimaeque non tantum in instituendis componendisque mori- 4 bus, sed etiam instruendis mentibus peritae et paratae.' See Marsham's Ilpovru&aiat to Dugdale, and Hospinianus de Orig. Monach., lib. iii c. xi.,et seq. 2D 398 ^A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX. it may also have been exalted and fortified, by the discipline and the vow which restrained them. The Rules, to which the convents of Nuns* were subject, were formed for the most part upon those which bound the monks. Like the monks, they lived from common funds, and used a common dormitory, table, and wardrobe; the same religious services exercised their piety; habitual temperance and occasional fasting were enjoined with the same severity. Manual labour was no less rigidly enforced ; but instead of the agricul- tural toils imposed upon their ' Brethren/ to them were committed the easier tasks of the needle or the distaff. By duties so numerous, by occupations admitting so great variety, they beguiled the tediousness of the day t, and the dullness of monastic seclusion. It appears probable, as is warmly argued by HospinianJ, that in the very early ages the virgins, who were dedicated to Vow of Chastity, religious purposes, could enter without any scandal into the state of marriage. But we should recollect that, at that time, the monastic condition, properly speaking, did not exist. Immediately after its institution, we find the authority of St. Basil loudly declared against such a departure from the more perfect purity; that patriarch of monasticism does not hesitate to pronounce the marriage of a nun to be incest, prostitution, and adultery (in- cestus, stupri scelus, et adulterium) ; and Ambrose and Augustine exacted the same sacred obedience to the irrevocable vow. By the * The words Nonnus, Nonna, are said to be of Egyptian origin. The latter is used by St. Jerome, Epist. ad Eustochium Virginem. Benedict of Nursia (Regul. 63) gives it the interpretation of paternal reverence, and ordains, that ' Juniores monachi priores suos ' nonnos vocent ; quod intelligitur paterua reverentia.' The terms Monialis and Sancti- monialis are usually derived from Movaj. Hospin. Orig. Monach., lib. i. c. i. f The two following passages from St. Jerome deserve to be cited, since they show as well what were the vanities, as what were the duties, of the earliest nuns : * Vestis tua nee ' sit satis munda, nee sordida, nullaque diversitate notabilis ; ne ad te obviam praetereun- ' tium turba consistat et digito monstreris. . . . Plures . . hoc ipso cupiunt placere quod 1 placere contemnunt. et mirum in modum laus, dum vitatur, appetitur . . . Ne cogitatio ' tacita subrepat, ut, quia in auratis vestibus placere desiisti, placere coneris in sordidis ; et ' qnando in conventum fratrum veneris vel sororum, humilis (al. humi) sedeas ; scabello te ' causeris indignam ; vocem ex industria, quasi confectam jejuniis, non tenues, et deficientis ' mutuata gressum humeris innitaris alterius. Sunt quippe nonnullae extermiriantes (extenu- f antes ?) facies, ut appareaut hominibus jej unarites ; qua? statim ut aliquem viderint ingemis- ' cunt, demittunt supercilium, et operta facie vix unum oculum liberaut (al. librant) ad vi- * dendum. Vestis pulla, cingulum sacceum et sordidis manibus pedibusque ; venter solus, ' quia videri non potest, aestuat cibo. Aliae virili habitu, veste mutata, erubescunt esse ' quod natae sunt ; crinem amputant et impudenter eriguut facies eunuchinas. Sunt quae * ciliciis vestiuntnr et cucullis fabrefactis ; ut ad infantiam redeant, imitantur noctuas ' et bubones . . Haec omnia argumerita sunt Diaboli.' Hieron. (Epist. xviii.) adEustoch. Virginem. Again, (Epist. to Demetrias, De Servanda Virginit.) Praeter Psalmorum ' et Orationis ordinem, qui tibi hora tertia, sexta, nona, ad vesperem, media nocte, et 4 mane semper est exercendus, statue quot horis Sanctam Scripturam ediscere debeas, 4 quanto tempore legere, non ad laborem, sed ad delectationem ac instruclionem animae. ' Cumque haec finieris spatia . . . habeto lanam semper in manibus, vel staminis pollice f fila deducito, vel ad torquenda subtegmina in alveolis fusa vertantur ; aliarumque neta { aut in globum collige, aut tenenda (nenda?) compone. Quae texta sunt inspice : quae ' errata, reprehende : quae facienda constitue. Si tantis operum varietatibus occupata fueris ' nunquam dies tibi longi erunt.' Similar instructions are delivered in Epist. 86, ad Eustochium Epitaph. Paulae Matris. And St. Augustine (De Morib. Ecclesiae., cap. 31.) mentions that the garments manufactured by the nuns were given to the monks in ex- change for food. ' Lanificio corpus exercent et sustentant; vestesque ipsas fratribus tradunt, ab iis invicem quod victui opus est resumentes.' The Tonsure was not originally imposed, though it^appears to have been an Egyptian custom. Lib. iii. c. xii. Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 399 Council of Chalcedon, nuns who married were made liable, together with their husbands, to the sentence of excommunication ; yet in such manner, that penance might be imposed, if they reverently requested it, and communion restored in consequence of that penance, after a long interval proportioned to the offence. This canon was generally received in the West. But in the year 407, Innocent I. closed the outlet of penance, and left no loop-hole of forgiveness open to those who had violated their vow. Subsequent ages increased, rather than mitigated, this rigour ; and imprisonment, arid tortures, and death, were finally held out as the punishments of monastic incontinence. The resource of penance was still reserved by Innocent* for inconstant Novices -those who married, after having avowed the intention of chastity, but without having yet taken the veil. The ceremony of consecration and the imposition of the veil was of origin earlier even than the time of St. Ambrose t; and it appears, that it might then be performed by a priest, no less The Veil. than by a bishop. The words \ pronounced on this occa- sion were prescribed by the Fourth Council of Carthage ; but they varied, or were entirely changed, in subsequent times. The age at which the novice might be consecrated was equally variable, and seems to have been left, at least in early times, to the discretion of the prelate. An age as advanced as sixty years, appears at first to have been usual ; but St. Ambrose gives reasons for permitting the veil to be sooner assumed ; and the age of twenty-five was afterwards (generally, though by no means universally) established as the earliest, at which the recluse was permitted to place the indelible seal upon her resolution. The first period, or, if we may so call it, the Antiquity of Monachism, was terminated in the Western Church by the epoch of St. Benedict ; and it is generally recorded, Benedictine Nuns. that while that hermit was inventing his new in- stitution for the brothers of his obedience, his sister Scholastica was raising the standard , round which the holy virgins might collect with greater regularity and discipline. It would appear, however, that the rule of her disciples was rather given in restoration of the original obser- vance, than on any new principle of religious seclusion. The alternations of industry and prayer ; abstinence, silence, obedience, chastity were ordained, as in the primitive establishments ; and the first Benedictine Nuns were in fact rather reformed nuns of St. Basil, than a distinct order. . . Howbeit, they acquired reputation and flourished so rapidly, that in the pontificate of Gregory the Great, Rome contained (according to the assertion || of that Pope) three thousand * handmaids of God/ (Ancillas Dei,) who followed the Benedictine rule. And so boldly did they afterwards rise in rank and power, that about the year 813 it became * Hospin. Orig. Monach. lib. Hi. c.ult. ^ We must not however be misled by the title of Tertullian's work, (De Virginibus Velandis,) to ascribe to that practice so high an antiquity. The object of that book is only to show, that all virgins, as well as matrons, ought, in their attendance on divine worship, to be veiled. It has no reference to any particular condition of life. J They were these ( Aspice, filia, et intuere ; et obliviscere populum tuum et domum patris tui, ut concupiscat Rex decorum tuum.' Mabillon (Pref. Hist. Benedict.) asserts this Scholastica to have been the founder of regular nunneries in the West; and calls her' Virginum Benedictinarum Ducem, Magistram et Autesignanam.' |) Lib. yi. Epist. xxiii. See Hospinian, Orig. Monach. lib. iv. c. xvi. The ceremony cf consecration, by the bishop, is here given at great length. 2 D2 400 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XIX necessary to repress the pretended right of the Abbesses to consecrate and ordain, and perform other sacerdotal functions*. The establishments of female recluses followed very closely the nume- rous diversities of the monastic scheme, and imitated the Canonesses. names of the male institutions, where they could not adopt their practice, or even their profession. An order of Canonesses-Regular was founded, or at least presented with a rule, by the Council of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 813. And we read, in later times, of a community of noble young ladies, who were associated under a very easy discipline, and unrestrained by any vow of celibacy, under the title of Canonesses-Secular. But these last pretenders to religious seclusion were, on more than one occasion, discountenanced by the authorities of the Church. An imitation of the Military Orders might, at first sight, seem still more repugnant to the feelings and duties of holy Nuns of the Hospital, virgins. But, in respect at least to the oldest of those orders, it was in fact far otherwise. That community originated (as has already been mentioned) in an office of gratuitous humanity; to entertain the stranger, and to tend the sick, were the earliest offices of the Knight of the Hospital. By him, indeed, those humbler tasks may afterwards have been forgotten in the character of the soldier of the Cross; but the 'Nuns of the Hospital t' adhered to the earliest and the noblest object of the institution. Their foundation was contemporary with that of the Chevaliers ; and in after times, they extended their establishments, and perhaps their charities, into every part of Europe. The calamities of the Crusades were followed and alleviated by another institution, in which charitable females immediately took a share, and of which the purpose was not less worthy of its religious profession. A multitude of Christian captives had been thrown by the vicissitudes of -war into the power of the Saracens ; and for their redemption, the order of the * Nuns of the Holy Trinity ' was established very early in the thirteenth century. It survived the occasion which gave it birth, and flourished widely, under the patronage of certain pious princesses J, espe- cially in Spain. The foundation of several nunneries divided with his other ecclesiastical duties the busy zeal of St. Dominic. And Nuns of St. Dominic, though we cannot discover that the essential cha- racteristics of his order, preaching and mendicity, were in practice communicated to the holy sisters who bore his name, yet the name was sufficient to procure for them wealth and popularity ; -and they probably were not surpassed in either of those respects by any other order . St. Catharine of Sienna, a vehement devotee, professed * At the Council of Beconfeld in Kent, abbesses subscribed their signatures, no less than Abbots and other Ecclesiastics. This is recorded to have been the first instance of such assumption of equality. f A long account of these ' Religieuses Hospitalieres,' together with the formalities of. reception into the order, may be found in the Hist, des Ordres Monastiques, Trois. Partie, chap. xiv. We may remark that their ' Habits de Ceremonie de Chceur,' indicate wealth, if not vanity. The 'Religieuse Chevaliere de 1'Ordre de St. Jaques de 1'Epee* was a Spanish invention of a much later age. This order seems to have originated at .Salamanca. Hist. Ordres Monast. partie II. chap. xlix. The historian < Des Ordres Monastiques,' asserts, that when he wrote (about 1715), there were in Italy more than one hundred and thirty nunneries of that order, about forty-five in France, fifteen in Portugal, and forty in Germany, in spite of the devasta- .Chap. XIX.] A HISTORY OP THE CHURCH. .'44! especially to reverence the virtues and imitate the discipline of St. Dominic ; and she may properly be accounted among his most genuine disciples, since she interposed to smooth the political difficulties of her country, and to influence, by her reason and authority, the most momentous con- cerns of the Church. Among the female Mendicants, the latest institution was that of the Carmelites. They appear to have been founded about 1452, by virtue of a bull of Nicholas V. ; and nearly a century after- wards, they were reformed by the celebrated St. Theresa, a native of Castillo. We shall not trace the endless catalogue, nor enumerate the various names, under which the same or very similar institutions perpetually re- appeared. Among those of somewhat earlier times, that of St. Brigida, a Princess of Sweden, is most renowned. It was an establishment for the reception of both sexes though separated in residence under the super- intendence of an Abbess ; and its Rule * was confirmed by Urban V. about the year 1360. Though manual labour was strictly enjoined, the royal Jiand which founded the community appears, at the same time, to have blessed it with ample endowments. Of the more modern orders, there is also one which may seem to require our notice that of the Ursulines. Its origin is ascribed t to Angela di The Ursulines. Brescia, about the year 1537, though the Saint from whom it received its name, Ursula Benincasa, a native of Naples, was born ten years afterwards. Its character was peculiar, and recalls our attention to the primitive form of ascetic devotion. The duties of those holy sisters were the purest within the circle of human benevolence to minister to the sick, to relieve the poor, to console the miserable, to pray with the penitent. These charitable offices they undertook to exe- cute without the bond of any community, without the obligation of any monastic vow, without any separation from society, any renouncement of their domestic duties and virtues. And so admirably were those offices, in millions of instances, performed, that, had all other female orders been really as useless and as vicious, as they are sometimes falsely described to be, the virtues of the Ursulines had. alone been sufficient to redeem the monastic name. But it is very far from true, that these other orders were either com- monly dissolute or generally useless. Occasional scandals have engen- dered universal calumnies. To recite the mere names J of those most lions of the heretics. The order which bears the name of St. Catherine, was probably not founded by herself (though Hospinian asserts otherwise), and it is variously assigned to the year 1372 or 1455 a diversity which some attempt to reconcile. We shall have occasion to make further mention of this celebrated devotee in a following chapter. * This Rule occupies eight folio pages in Hospinian, lib. vi. cap. 39. It professed to proceed from the immediate dictation of Christ. t Hist, des Ordres Monast. Suite de la Trois. Partie, chap. xiv. et xx. The historian enumerates and describes thirteen congregations of Ursulines, established for the most part in France and in Italy. I Such were the Religieuses Hospitalieres de la Charite de Notre Dame, De Notre Dame in his name, and by his doctrine. Let no one persuade you, then, that you have no superior, or that you are not subject to the chief of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. He that holds that opinion is senseless, and he that obstinately maintains it is an infidel, separate from the flock of the good Shepherd/ . He then continued, still out of his affection J for Philip, to charge him with many general violations of the ecclesiastical privileges, or, as they were then more commonly called, Liberties ; and concluded by informing him, that he had summoned all the superior clergy of France to an assembly at Rome, on the 1st of the November following (1302), in order to deliberate on the remedies for such abuses. Philip was astonished by this measure, but not so confounded as to deviate either into timidity or rashness. He con- Philip burns the voiced a full and early assembly or parliament of his Pope's Bull. nobles and clergy. In the meantime, he burnt the Bull of the Pope as publicly as possible, and caused that act to be proclaimed with trumpets throughout the whole of Paris. In his subsequent address to his parliament, he mentioned the proceed- ings of Boniface, disclaimed with scorn any temporal allegiance to him, retorted the charges of corruption and mal-administration, declared his readiness to risk any loss or suffering in defence of the common interests, and referred the decision of the question to the assembly. The barons and lay members pronounced their opinions loudly and unhesitatingly in favour of the king. With them the question was, in a great degree, national. They were jealous of the honour of the crown, and eager to protect it from any foreign insult. And though a calmer judgment would, perhaps, have taught them, that such a restraint upon the monarchy might, in its effects, be beneficial to all classes of the people, they sacri- ficed every consideration of policy to the passion of the moment. The situation of the clergy was exceedingly difficult, since they had two duties to reconcile, which, even in ordinary times, were not always in strict ac- * Ausculta,fdii\iQ two first words of this Bull have affixed to it its historical name. It was published in December, 1301, and was preceded only two days by another consti- tution of Boniface, called Salvalor JMundi, by which he suspended all favours and privi- leges which had been accorded by his predecessors to the kings of France, and to all their subjects, whether lay or clerical, who abetted Philip. Pagi, Bonif. VIII., sec. Ivii. t Jerem. i. 10. The words are addressed to Jeremiah, in respect to his prophetic mis- sion ; but they had been perverted to the support of the papal pretensions long before the time of Boniface. See, for instance, the letter of Honorius III., written in 1225, to Louis of France. The ' plenitude of power which the Holy See has received from God' is there placed chiefly on that foundation. X Another reason, by which he justified his interference; was his own responsibility to Ggd for the soul of King Philip. Chap. XX.] A HISTORY OF THE C 4 HURCH. 437 cordance, and which were then in direct opposition. Their first attempt was to explain and justify the intentions of the Pope ; but that was repelled with general contempt and indignation. Then they expressed a dutiful anxiety to assist the king, and maintain the liberties of the king- dom ; but at the same time they pleaded the obedience due from them to the Pope, and prayed for permission to attend his summons to Rome. This permission was clamorously refused by the king and his barons. The clergy then addressed a letter to the Pope, in which they expressed an apprehension lest the violent and universal hostility *, not of the king and his barons only, but of the body of the laity, should lead to an entire rupture between France and Rome, and even between the clergy and the people; and they prayed that he would release them from the summons to Rome. At the same time the barons also wrote not, indeed, to the Pope, but to the College of Cardinals in severe censure of the new and senseless pretensions of Boniface, on whom personally they cast the entire blame of the difference. In reply, the cardinals disavowed, on the part of Boniface, any assertion that the king of France held his temporalities of the Pope ; while, in defence of his ghostly authority, they maintained, 4 that no man in his senses can doubt, that the Pope, as chief of the spiritual hierarchy, can dispense with the sin of every man living.' In his reply to the dutiful supplication of the prelates, the Pope rebuked them for their want of courage and attachment, enforced on them the indisputable sub- jection of things temporal to things spiritual, and persisted in commanding their attendance at Rome. The great majority disregarded the summons ; but some few were found who considered their first obedience as due to their ecclesiastical sovereign. These proceeded Pull Unam Sanctam. to Rome; and, in spite of their small number, Boniface availed himself of the name of this Council to publish the Decretal, commonly known as the Bull Unam Sanctam. The proposi- tions asserted in this celebrated constitution are, first, the Unity of the Holy Catholic Church, without which there is no salvation ; wherein is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Hence it follows, that of this one and only Church there is one body and one head, (not two heads, which would be monstrous,) namely, Christ, and Christ's vicar, St. Peter, and the successor of St. Peter. The second position is, that in the power of this Chief are two swords, the one spiritual, and the other material ; but that the former of these is to be used by the Church, the latter for the Church ; the former is in the hand of the priest, the latter in the hand of kings and soldiers, but at the nod and sufferance of the priest. It is next asserted, that one of these swords must be subject to the other sword, otherwise we must suppose two opposite principles, which would be Manicha3an and heretical. Thence it is an easy inference, that the spiritual is that which has rule over the other, while itself is liable to no other judgment or authority than that of God. The general conclusion is contained in one short sentence, ' Wherefore we declare, define, and pronounce, that it is absolutely essential to the salvation of every human being, that he be subject unto the Roman pontiff V * ( The laity absolutely fly from our society, and repel us from their conferences and councils, as if we were guilty of treason against them. They despise ecclesiastic censures, from whatsoever quarter they may come, and are preparing and taking precautions to ren- der them useless.' Fleury, Hist. Eccles., liv. xc., sec. ix. f The texts on which these propositions were chiefly founded are John x. 1 6 ; Romans xiii. Ij Jeremiah i. 10 j 1 Corinthians ii. 15. 438 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XX. But Boniface did not content himself with mere assertions. On the very same day he also published a Bull of exqommunication against all persons, of whatsoever rank, even kings or emperors, who should interfere in any way to prevent or impede those, who might desire to present them- selves before the Roman See. This edict was, of course, understood to be directly levelled against Philip. Soon afterwards he sent a legate into France, the bearer of twelve articles, which boldly expressed such papal pretensions, as were in opposition to those of the king ; and concluded with a menace of temporal as well as spiritual proceedings. The claims contained in these articles have been already mentioned, and do not require enumeration. But what may raise our surprise is, that the answer of Philip was extremely moderate ; that he condescended to explain away much that seemed objectionable in his conduct; that he promised to remedy any abuses which his officers might have committed, and expressed his strong desire for concord with the Roman Church. His moderation may have been affected, and his explanations frivolous, and the abuses in question he may not have seriously intended to alleviate. But at least it is true that he had never sought the enmity of Rome; and had Boniface availed himself of that occasion to close the breach, when he might have closed it with profit and dignity, his last days might have been passed in lofty tranquillity ; he would have been respected and feared, even by those who hated him ; and posterity would still have admired the courage and the policy which had contended against the most powerful prince in Europe, in no very blind or superstitious age, without disadvan- tage or dishonour. But the Pope did not perceive this crisis in his destiny. He proceeded in his former course he proclaimed his dissatisfaction at the answers of the king, and repeated and redoubled his menaces. Philip had then recourse to that public measure which so deeply influ- enced the future history of papacy the convocation of a General Council, to pronounce on the proceedings of the Pope. But while he was engaged in preparations for this great contest, and for the establishment of a prin- ciple to which his clergy were not yet prepared to listen *, a latent and much shorter path was opened to the termination of his perplexities. William of Nogaret, a celebrated French civilian, in conjunction with certain Romans of the Colonna family, who had fled for Outrage refuge to Paris from the oppression of Boniface, passed o?i Boniface, secretly into Italy, and tampered successfully with the per- sonal attendants of the Pope. The usual residence of the latter was Anagni, a city some forty or fifty miles to the south-east of Rome, and his birth-place. There, in the year 1303, he had composed another Bull, in which he maintained, ' that, as vicar of Jesus Christ, he had the power to govern kings with a rod of iron, and to dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel t;' and he had destined the 8th of September, the anniver- sary of the nativity of the Virgin, for its promulgation. A rude interrup- tion disturbed his dreams of omnipotence, and discovered the secret of his real weakness. On the very day preceding the intended publication of the Bull, Nogaret, with Sciarra Colonna, and some other nobles, escorted by about three hundred horsemen, and a larger number of partizans on foot, bearing the banners of France, rushed into Anagni, with shouts of * Not only did the bishops and the whole clergy decline any active part in the proceed- ings against the Pope, but they refused any share in them, and only consented to the convocation of the council through the necessity of seeking some remedy for the disor- ders of the Church. t Psalms ii. 9, Chap. XX.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 439 * Success to the king of France ! Death to Pope Boniface !' After a feeble resistance, they became masters of the pontifical palace. The cardinals dispersed and fled through treachery, as some assert, or, more probably, through mere timidity. The greater part of the Pope's personal attendants fled also. Boniface, when he perceived that he was surprised and abandoned, prepared himself with uncommon resolution for the last outrage. Since I am betrayed (he cried) as Jesus Christ was betrayed, I will at least die like a Pope/ He then clothed himself in his official vestments, and placed the crown of Constantine on his head, and grasped the keys and the cross in his hands, and seated himself in the pontifical chair. He was now eighty-six years of age. And when Sciarra Colonna, who first penetrated into his presence, beheld the venerable form and dignified composure of his enemy, his purpose, which doubtless was sanguinary, seemed suddenly to have deserted him, and his revenge did not proceed beyond verbal in- sult *. Nogaret followed. He approached the Pope with some respect, but at the same time imperiously informed him, that he must prepare to be present at the council forthwith to be assembled on the subject of his mis- conduct, and to submit to its decision. The Pope addressed him ' Wil- liam of Nogaret, descended from a race of heretics, it is from thee, and such as thee, that I can patiently endure indignity.' The ancestors of Nogaret had atoned for their errors in the flames. But the expression of the pontiff was not prompted by any offence he felt at that barbarity ; not by any consciousness of the iniquity of his own oppression t or any sense of the justice of the retribution; it proceeded simply from the sectarian hatred which swelled his own breast, which he felt to be implacable, and which he believed to be mutual. While their leaders were thus employed, the body of the conspirators dispersed themselves throughout the splendid apartments in eager pursuit of plunder. Any deliberate plan which might have been formed against the person of the Pope, was disappointed by their avarice. During the day of the attack, and that which followed, the French appear to have been wholly occupied in the ransack. But in the meantime the people of Anagni were recovered from their panic ; and perhaps they were more easily awakened to the shame of deserting their Pope and their citizen, when they discovered the weakness of the aggressors, and the snare into which their license had led them. They took up arms, assaulted the French, and having expelled or massacred them, restored to the pontiff his freedom and authority. But they were unable to restore his insulted honour and the spirit which had been broken by indignity. Infuriated by the disgrace of his captivity, he hurried from Anagni to Rome, burning His Death. for revenge. But the violence of his passion presently over- * Some modern French historians assert that Boniface was severely wounded by the assailants a story which is idly repeated by Mosheim, and re-echoed even by Gibbon. It is the unanimous affirmation of contemporary writers, that no hand was raised against him. See Sismondi, chap. xxiv. The words of S. Antoninus (part 3., tit. xx., cap. 8. sec, xxi.) are express. ' Domino autem disponente, ob dignitatem Apostolicae Sedis, nemo, ex inimicis ejus ausus fuit mittere in earn manus ; sed indutum sacris vestibus dimiserunt sub honesta custodia, et ipsi insistebant prsedsc, &c.' See Pagi, Bonif. VIII., sec. Ixx. f Boniface VIII. was a very faithful patron of the Inquisition ; and if his name is not distinguished in the list of persecuting popes, it is rather from the want of opportunity, than of inclination. Persecution being now systematized by the regular machinery of the Inquisition, there were fewer occasions for individual distinction. See "Whately on ' The Errors of Romanism,' ch. v., sec. iii., vi., p. 241- 244. 440 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XX. powered his reason, and his death immediately followed. He was attended by an antient servant, who exhorted him to confide himself in his calamity to the Consoler of the afflicted. But Boniface made no reply. His eyes were haggard, his mouth white with foam, and he gnashed his teeth in silence. He passed the day without nourishment, the nin-ht without repose ; and when he found that his strength began to fail, and that his end was not far distant, he removed all his attendants, that there might be no witness to his final feebleness and his parting struggle. After some interval, his domestics burst into the roora, and beheld his body stretched on the bed, stiff' and cold. The staff which he carried bore the mark of his teeth, and was covered with foam ; his white locks were stained with blood; and his head was so closely wrapped in the counterpane, that he was believed to have anticipated his impending death by violence and suffocation *. This took place on the 10th of October ; and precisely on the same day, after an interval of three hundred and three years, his body was dug up, and transferred to another place of sepulture. Spondanus t, the Catholic historian, was at Rome at the moment. He relates the circum- stances, and mentions the eagerness with which the whole city rushed to the spectacle. His body was found, covered with the pontifical vestments, still fresh and uncorrupted. His hands, which his enemies had asserted to have been bitten away in his rage, were so free from decay and mutila- tion, with every finger entire, that even the veins and nerves appeared to be swelling with flesh and life. After the death of Boniface the French interest presently prevailed in the College ; and in the year 1305 the archbishop of Bourdeaux, a native of France, was elected to the chair. He took the title of Clement V., and presently transferred the papal residence from Rome to Avignon. CHAPTER XXI. (I.) On Lewis IX. of France His public motives contrasted with those of Constantine and Charle- magne His virtues, piety, and charity Particulars of his civil legislation His superstition The original Crown of Thorns its removal to Paris its reception by the king. His death His miracles and canonization The Bull of Boniface VIII. (II.) On the Inquisition. Whether St. Lewis contributed to its establishment Origin of the Inquisition Office of St. Dominic and his contemporaries Erection of a separate tribunal at Toulouse by Gregory IX. The authority then vested in the Mendicants Its unpopularity in France Co-operation of St. Lewis Conduct of Frederic II. Of Innocent IV. Limits to the prevalence of the Inquisition. (III.) On the Gal- licun Liberties. Remonstrance of the Prelates of France respecting excommunications. Firmness of Lewis His visit to the Cistercian chapter. The supplication of the monks, and the reply of the King Early spirit and sense of independence in the French clergy The Pragmatic Sanction of St. Lewis Its principle The six articles which constitute it Consequences of the policy of Innocent III. (IV.) On the Crusades> Remarks on the character and circumstances of the first Crusade Exertions of St. Bernard for the second Crusade its fatal resultExcuse of that abbot Causes of the fall of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh * Sismomli, Rep. Ital., end of chap. xxiv. ' Concerning which Boniface (says Matthew of Westminster) a certain versifier wrote as follows : Ingreditur Vulpes, regnat Leo, sed Canis exit ; Ku tandem vera si sic i'uit, ecce Chimsera ! Flores Histor. ad ann. 1303. Others give the same in the form of a prophesy, delivered by Morone during his im- prisonment. Asceudisti ut Vulpes, regnabis ut Leo, et morieris ut Canis. Antiq. Eccles. liritaim. ad ann. 1295. t Spondanus continued the History ofBaronius from the year 11 97, in which it con* eludes, to 1646. See also Bzovius ou this tame occurrence, Ann. 1303. Chap. XXL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 441 Crusades The eighth and ninth. St. Lewis Termination of the Crusades, and final loss of Palestine General remarks (1.) On the Origin and first motives of religious pilgrimage Treat- ment of first pilgrims by the Saracens Pilgrimage during the 10th and llth centuries Conquest of Palestine by the Turks Practice of private feuds and warfare in Europe prevalent in the iUth century The superstitious spirit of the same age associated with the military General predis- position in favour of a Crusade Failure of Sylvester II. and Gregory VII. (2.) On the Objects of the Crusades what they were what they were not The object of the first distinguished from that of following Crusades Conduct and policy of the sovereigns of Europe Of the Vatican- Gradual change in its objects. (3.) On the Results of the Crusades Advantages produced by them Few and partial on government on commerce on general civilization Evils occasioned Religious wars Immoral influence Corruption of church discipline Canonical penance Intro- duction of the Plenary Indulgence its abuses The Jubilee Interests of the clergy. Note (A). On the collections of^papal decretals That of Gratian the Liber Sextus Clementines, &c.Note(B). On the University of Paris The Four Faculties Foundation of the Sorbonne. Note (C). On certain Theological Writers Rise and progress of the Scholastic System of Theology Peter the Lombard His ' Book of the Sentences' St. Thomas Aquinas His history and productions St. Bonaventure the character of his theology The Realists and Nominalists or Thomists and Scotists. The Immaculate Conception. IT is seldom that the stream of ecclesiastical history receives any important contribution from the biography of kings. Our more peaceful course is indeed perpetually troubled by the eddies of secular polity, and most so in the most superstitious ages. The names of Constantine and Charlemagne have, it is also true, deserved an eminent rank among the heroes of the church. But if we pass over the legendary tales of the monarch-monks of the darkest days, we shall scarcely discover any other powerful prince whose policy was formed either on an ardent sense of religion, or an attachment to ecclesiastical interests, until we arrive at the reign of Lewis IX. And here we must at once distinguish the principles of that prince from those either of Constantine or of Charlemagne. By what- soever motives of genuine piety those two sovereigns may really have been influenced, it is certain that their ecclesiastical institutions were chiefly regulated for political ends. It was their object an object worthy of their royal rank and virtues to improve the moral and religious condition of their subjects through the instrumentality of Christ's ministers; and at the same time to raise the dignity and character of those, whose sacred office, when they are not the worst of men, is calculated to make them the best. But the actions of Lewis were not guided by any such con- siderations. They proceeded from that which it was the purpose of the others' policy to create an absorbing Christian piety, with its train of concomitant excellencies. On this subject there is no difference among historians, except in as far as some are more disposed to ridicule the superstitious excesses into which he fell, through the practice of his age, than to do justice to the lofty motives whence his virtues proceeded. SECTION I. On Lewis IX. Lewis IX. was born about the year 1215, and came to the throne at a very early age. He was educated by a mother named Blanche, who was eminent for her devotion to God and the church ; and we should here remark, that he drew his first breath, and received his earliest notions of ecclesiastical polity, among the groans of the suffering Albigeois. The sanctity of his private life was not sullied by any stain, 'nor was it clouded by any austerity. ' Never, since I was born,' (says Joinville,) ' did I hear him speak ill of any one.' He loved his subjects ; and had his lot been cast in happier days, he would have loved mankind. But the principles of his church so contracted those of his religion, that his benevolence could never expand itself into philanthropy. 442 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXI. He was devout in private prayer, as well as a constant attendant on the offices of the church. On the one hand, his submission to the admonitions, and even to the personal corrections, of his confessor is diligently recorded; and on the other, his adoration of the Holy Cross * is recounted with no less admiration, He would descend from his seat, and advancing; in a homely garment, with his head, neck, and feet bare, and his children behind him, bend with such profound humility before the emblems of his salvation, that the spectators were moved to tears of affection and piety. He appears, too, from the same accounts, to have washed the feet of monks and of mendicants, by a very common exercise of self-abasement. And we may overlook this foolish affectation in that substantial excellence, which distributed his charitable benefactions without thrift or partiality, through every class of those who needed them. The foundation of many churches and monasteries secured at the same time the gratitude and fidelity of his spiritual subjects. Hume has ascribed to Lewis IX., together with ' the mean and abject superstition of a monk, the magnanimity of a hero, the integrity of a patriot, the humanity of a philosopher 1 That insatiable zeal for crusades, which neither his reason, which was powerful, rior his humanity, nor his philosophy, nor all united, were even in later life sufficient to allay, afforded at the same time the most pernicious proofs of his superstition and his heroism. But his patriotism was more honourably displayed in the internal regulation of his kingdom ; in the removal of abuses, in the advancement of civilization ; and in this office, (as his domestic biographer observes,) he so combined the secular with the spiritual interests of his subjects, that he seemed to discharge by the same acts the double office of priest and king |. He detested the practice of usury ; and to that motive we may perhaps attribute his hatred for the Jews, who exercised the trade exclusively. Still we must doubt the wisdom, while we cen- sure the cruelty, of the edict, by which he expelled them from the country. He enacted a very severe (according to our notions, a bar- barous J) law against blasphemy. While we praise his bold, though seemingly ineffectual, attempts to restrain the moral profligacy of his nobles, we shall scarcely less applaud the vigour, with which he exerted against that body the power of royalty, in a cause almost equally sacred. It was a leading object of his policy, to protect the lower classes of his subjects against the brutal oppression of the aristocracy ; and to unite the inte- rests of the crown and the people against that privileged order, which was equally hostile to the independence of both. Justice he commonly admi- * See the book ' De Vita et Actibus Ludovici,' &c. by his chaplain, William (Carno- tensis) of Chartres ; and his ' Vita, Conversatio et Miracula,' by F. Gaufridus his con- i'essor. One object of the latter is to point out the exact correspondence of the character of Lewis with that of Josiah. The particular description and changes of his coarse raiment ; the days of his lasting, of his abstinence from meat, or from fruit and fish, or from every kind of fish except one, or from every thing except bread and water, and such like details of his devotional observances, are related by both writers ; especially by the confessor, and in his 17th chapter. The king's eleemosynary liberality forms the worthier subject of that which follows. Both his biographers were Dominicans. f ' Quod etiam quodammodo regale sacerdotium, aut sacerdotale regimen videretur pariter exercere.' Gulielm. Carnotensis. I He caused the lips (or, as some say, the forehead) of those convicted, to be seared with a hot iron. Having learnt, on one occasion, that a nobleman had hanged three children for the offence of hunting rabbits, Lewis condemned him to capital punishment. But the rest of the nobility united with so much determination to preserve the life of their fellow-tyrant and the prerogatives of their order, that the king was obliged to commute the punishment for deprivation of property. Chap. XXL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 443 nistered in person *, and tempered it with his natural clemency. At the same time he endeavoured to purify its sources by permanent alterations, and to secure at least for future ages the blessings, which he might despair effectually to impart to his own. Accordingly, he struck at the root of the evil, and made it the grand object of his efforts, to substitute trial by evidence for the ' judgments of God ;' and most especially for the most sanguinary among them, the decision by duel. His ordinances on those subjects were obeyed within the boundaries of his own domains : but he had not the power to enforce them universally. The Barons, who were severally the legislators in their own estates, adhered to the venerable establishments of former days ; and a more general diffusion of knowledge was required, before the plainest reason, aided even by royal authority, could prevail against the inveterate sanctity of instituted absurdities. It was the same with those humane endeavours to arrest the practice of private warfare, in which he anticipated the course of civilization by more than two centuriesf. But when he despaired of effecting this object at once, he attempted at least to mitigate the mischief by a judicious prohi- bition that neither party should commence hostilities till forty days after the offence had been offered J. Thus was he compelled to temporize with a great national evil, of which he felt at the same time the whole extent, as well as his own incapacity to correct it. From these instances we may observe, that the civil legislation of St. Louis was generally founded on wise policy, and that it always sprang from benevolent motives. We shall presently notice some of his ecclesiastical enactments ; but, at the same time, it must be admitted, that the charge of * abject superstition' alleged against him by the philosophical historian is not less just, than the merits also ascribed to him ; nor will it here be out of place to recount one celebrated incident in support of this imputation. The History of the Church comprises the records of superstition, which in those corrupt ages was indeed so interwoven with piety, that it is rare to find them separate. The cha- Reception of the racter of St. Lewis particularly exemplified their com- Crown of Thorns. bination ; it may be perpetually detected in his war- like enterprises ; but there is not one among his spiritual adventures which better illustrates himself and his age than the following: The original Crown of Thorns had been long preserved at Constantinople as the most precious and venerable among the relics of Christ ; yet such were at this time the necessities of the government, that the holy treasure was con- signed in pawn to the government of Venice. It was delivered over to * ' I have often seen the saint,' (says Joinville,) f after he had heard mass, in summer, come out to the Forest of Vincennes, and seat himself at the foot of an oak, and make us sit all round him. And those who had any business came and spoke to him without any officer giving them hinderance. And sometimes he would come to the Garden of Paris, and have carpets spread for us to sit near him ; and then he administered justice to his people, as he did at Vincennes.' Histoire du Roy St. Louis, p. 23. Edit. Paris, 1617. This history, which is the life of an admirable king and Christian, by a candid, loyal, unaf- fected soldier, is a beautiful specimen of inartificial biography. But, unhappily, the most beneficial, and, therefore, the noblest acts of the monarch, are not those which have most attracted the attention of the soldier. The details of his campaigns, and many anecdotes of his private life, are related with minuteness and seeming accuracy ; but his great legisla- tive enactments are slightly, or not at all noticed. t The right of private feud cannot be considered as abolished, until nearly the end of the 15th century. In collecting a large and, for those days, a valuable library, and in encouraging the progress of knowledge among his subjects, St. Lewis opened the only certain path to their civilization. J Some attribute this regulation to Philippe Auguste. 4J4 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXI. the commissioners of the Republic, who immediately set sail, in a wintry and inclement season, full of religious confidence, and were preserved (as it was thought) through a perilous voyage by the holiness of their charge. The pledge, which the Greeks wefe too poor or too wise to redeem, was eagerly purchased by St. Lewis, and the relic, after a few months at Venice of repose and adoration, continued its pilgrimage to the west. During the course of an overland journey it was again distinguished by the favour of the elements ; and though the rain fell abundantly during the nights, not a drop descended by day to interrupt its progress. At length when it arrived at Troyes in Champagne, the event was notified to the king at Paris, and he instantly set off to welcome it, accompanied by the Queen Blanche his mother, by his brothers, by some prelates, and other nobles. The royal company met their holy acquisition in the neighbourhood of Sens, and after they had uncovered the case and beheld the object, and moistened it with pious tears, they assembled the clergy of the diocese and formed a solemn procession towards the city. As they approached the gates, the king and his eldest brother, the Count d'Artois, received the venerated burden on their shoulders; and in this manner, with naked feet, and no other covering than a shirt *, they carried it, in the midst of the adoring crowd, into the cathedral. . . Thence it proceeded to Paris, and there its arrival was hailed with a repetition of the same degrading solemnities. The whole clergy and the whole people were in motion, and again the two illustrious brothers, barefoot and naked as before, supported and deposited it in the destined sanctuary. An annual festival was insti- tuted to commemorate an event of such national importance the intro- duction of this new palladium. But its value was soon afterwards dimi- nished by the importation of a formidable rival for the popular adoration. It was not long before the royal enthusiast succeeded in procuring some substantial fragments of the real Cross ; and this acquisition again fur- nished him with another pretext to multiply to his lively subjects the occasions of religious festivity. In the year 1270, St. Lewis died before Tunis, while in the prosecution of his second crusade. His last words were said to have His Death, been theset ' Lord, I will enter into thine house ; I will worship in thy holy temple, and give glory to thy name. Into thy hands I commend my spirit.' From the beginning of his life to its latest breath the same principle predominated, the same religious fervour (however it may sometimes have been perverted) influenced all his actions ; and, perhaps, in the interminable catalogue of her Saints, the Church of Rome cannot number a name more worthy of that celestial dignity than Lewis IX. But the merit to which that pious monarch was chiefly indebted for his heavenly office, was not that to which he had ever particularly pretended. His eminent virtues, his religious life and death, even his services to the Catholic Church, might seem to have entitled him to that high reward. But those claims had been wholly insuffi- cient, had it not also been conclusively attested that he had performed many manifest and astonishing miracles. The canonization of Lewis IX. took place twenty-seven years after his death, and almost the whole of that time was employed in collecting * Vita et Convers. S. Luclovici, &c., per F. Gaufridum. Aug. 11, 1239, was the day consecrated by this exploit. t So says \Yilliamof Chartres, and Boniface VIII. in his Bull of Canonization, con- firms it. Chap. XXL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 445 the necessary documents *. The rapid succession of the Popes was the cause which retarded it; and it may seem as if in mockery of his holy character, that the performance and Canonization. of this office did at last devolve upon Boniface VIII. It was Boniface who preached the panegyrical sermon, and enlarged on those various virtues which had no counterpart in his own bosom. It was the genius of arrogance which paid homage to the spirit of humility, and exalted it even to the thrones of heaven. ' Let the hosts of heaven rejoice at the arrival of so noble and glorious an inhabitant an approved and eminent husbandman of the Christian faith is added to their mul- titudes. Let the glorious nobility of the celestial citizens sound the jubilee of joy, for an honoured stranger is adscribed to their ranks. Let the venerable assembly of the Saints arise with gladness and exultation to receive a compeer who well deserves such dignity. Arise, thou innumerable council of faith ; zealots of the faith arise, and sing the hymn of praise in concert with the Church which is your own. . . He offered offence to no one, to no one violence or injury. He carefully observed the boundaries of justice, without deserting the path of equity. He punished with the sword the daring and lawless enterprises of the wicked. An ardent lover of peace and concord an anxious promoter of unity hostile to scandals and dissensions t/ &c. &c. We may remark that this last topic, in the mouth of Boniface VIII., was at best an equivocal eulogy. A zeal for 4 unity,' and an abhorrence of ' scandals and dissensions,' is a praise which, when proceeding from pontifical lips, conveys the necessary suspicion of intolerance. Louis has been accused of that crime the ruling iniquity of his age and we shall now examine on what facts that charge is really founded. SECTION II. On the Inquisition. It is asserted, and with truth, that the Inquisition was permanently established in France during thejreign of St. Louis ; that he never ceased to manifest great partiality for the Dominicans and Franciscans J, and all invested with the inquisitorial office ; and that it was even at the particular solicitation of the king , that Alexander IV. confirmed, in 1255, the * In the first of the two sermons delivered by Boniface on that occasion, he expressly asserts, that after the fullest examination into the evidence for the miracles, he has ascertained that sixty-three miracles were assuredly performed, besides others which Gyd evidently vouchsafed to him (sexaginta tria, inter caetera quae Dominus evidenter ostendit, certitudinaliter facta cognovimus.) Respecting the tedious duration of the investigation Boniface remarks, in the same discourse, with great simplicity c Et ita per tot et totiens examinatum est, rubricatum et discussion negocium, quod de hoc plus facta est descriptura, quam unus asinus posset portare.' f* It is difficult to conceive a more turgid and tautologous composition than this cele- brated bull. The merits which Louis really possessed are enumerated without taste or feeling ; and the author of the panegyric seems to have been wholly incapable of estimating the character which he pretended to eulogize. J It appears that he intended to educate two of his sons in monasteries, and that by his Testament he consigned one to Dominican, the other to Franciscan tuition. Gaufridus, Vita et Conversat. chap. 14. See Limborch, Hist. Inquisit. lib. i. cap. 16. The annalist Raynaldus has expressed his pious regret, that the admirable institution of the Saint was feebly supported, and even entirely overthrown by his degenerate successors ! We should observe that the domains of the Count of Poitiers and Toulouse, who was then Alphonso, brother of the king, were excepted from the jurisdiction of the prior, as being already subject to a special commis* 2 G 446 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXI. institution of that tribunal, and appointed the Prior of the Dominican Convent at Paris to be Inquisitor-general in France. That we may be able to estimate the real weight of these assertions, and (what is more important than the reputation of any individual) that we may understand on what ground that frightful structure was erected, we must trace as shortly as possible the causes which led to its foundation. The itinerant emissaries of Innocent III., among whom Dominic is the name most celebrated, first obtained the title of Inquisitors that is to say, they were invested by the Pope with authority to discover, to convert, or to arraign before the ecclesiastical courts all guilty or suspected of heresy. But this was the limit of their commission. They did not constitute an independent tribunal, nor were they clothed with any judicial power. The process was still carried on, according to the practice then prevailing, before the bishop of the diocese, and the secular arm was invited, when necessary, to enforce his sentence. But this form of proceeding was not found sufficiently rapid to satisfy the eagerness of the Pope and his missionaries. The work of extirpation was sometimes retarded by the compunctions of a merciful prelate, sometimes by the reluctance of the civil authorities to execute a barbarous or unpopular sentence *. And to remove these impediments to the course of destruction, there was no resource, except to institute in the infected provinces, with the direct co- operation of the ruling powers, a separate tribunal for causes of heresy. This object was not immediately accomplished. In the meantime the Dominicans and Franciscans were spreading their numbers and influence in every country. And as they were the faithful myrmidons of the Roman See, and more devoted in their allegiance than either the secular or the regular clergy, thus arose an additional reason for investing them with a distinct jurisdiction. By the council held at Toulouse in 1229, (of which the decrees have been noticed in a former chapter,) a canon was published which united ' one priest with three laymen/ in a sort of council of inqui- sition. It is this regulation which is reasonably considered as the founda- tion of the Court of Inquisition t. To Pope Gregory IX. be ascribed the honour of this success ! Still the court thus established continued to be a court of bishops. Its object was indeed exclusively such as the most zealous pontiff could have desired ; but it was composed of materials neither wholly destitute of human feel- ing, nor blindly subservient to the papal will. A further change was, therefore, necessary ; and, accordingly, about three years afterwards, Gre- gory found means to transfer the authority in the new court to the Domi- nican order. It was thus that the Inquisition, properly so called that is, a court for the trial of heretics, erected by papal authority, and administered sion on matters of faith. Fleury, liv. Ixxxiv. Ixxxxv. The act of St. Louis was to establish that generally throughout his kingdom, which had hitherto been confined to the most infected province. * It should be remarked on the other hand, that it was sometimes (especially in the beginning of the persecutions) precipitated by the agency of popular fury, excited by the preachers ayfiinst the heretics. Their favourite text is said to have been (Psalm xciv. v. 16.) 'Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity ? ' Many of them were eloquent the pe^pl were super- stitious the preachers were fanatics. In fact, when the ecclesiastical censures were despised, and the secular power refused its aid, popular madness was their only remaining instrument. f By the Council of Narbonne, held two years before, it was enacted, 'that the bishops should establish in each parish synodal witnesses to inquire into heresy, and other noto- rious crimes, and to make their report.' These were trul stablished inquisitors ; still their office was to report, not to judge. Chap. XXL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 447 by papal dependents was indeed instituted. . . Some popular com- motions * followed its first proceedings ; the persons of the judges were exposed to insult, and the whole body was, for a short time, expelled from the city. But the spirit of Rome was yet too powerful, the fugitives were presently restored. And though the inquisitorial system never reached in France those refinements in barbarity which some other coun- tries have endured though it obtained, in truth, no very permanent foot- ing among a humane and generous people it continued to subsist there for several years ; and if there was any sceptre under which it can be said to have flourished, it was assuredly the sceptre of St. Louis. Still we must not forget that it was established in his boyhood; so that the guilt of that-f act is unjustly cast upon him. He perpetuated the evil which he found ; and in the religious code of those days, the ' unity of the Church' was so carefully identified with the glory of Christ, that an ardent desire for the one might easily degenerate into a misguided zeal for the other : and thus, without intending to exculpate the royal persecutor, we are bound to distinguish between the crime of those who created that ecclesiastical system, and of him who blindly supported it ; of the church- men | who artfully confounded the essence of religion with the mainte- nance of their own power, and of the pious laymen, who adopted with reverence the undisputed and consecrated maxims. The brutal edicts of Frederic II., published about 1144, and not ex- ceeded by the most barbarous emanations of the Vatican, were not palliated by any motive of misdirected piety: Progress of the yet were they much more effectual than the encourage- Inquisition. ment of Louis in arming the fury of the Dominicans, at least within the limits of his empire. But the intolerant zeal of Frederic neither softened the hostility of Innocent IV., nor preserved himself from the anathemas of the Church ||. After his triumph, Innocent pursued and exceeded the footsteps of his predecessors. He established the Tribunal ^[ of the Inquisition in the north of Italy, and in that form which * Besides the indignation excited by the object of this institution, there was a general objection among laymen to the establishment of any new ecclesiastical tribunal, to which all classes were alike amenable. And this was not diminished when, to the original offences of heresy, those of Judaism, Mahometanism, sodomy, sacrilege, and even poly- gamy, were added. But we have not observed that this wide extension of the objects of that court was ever made in France. t We must notice the injustice which has hastily been offered to the character of Louis IX. by Mosheim. That writer having asserted (on the authority of the Bene- dictine compilers of the history of Languedoc) that Louis published a barbarous edict against heretics, in the year 1229, proceeds thus : < A great part of the sanctity of good King Louis consisted in his furious and implacable aversion to heretics.' . . . Now, that this aversion formed, at any age, a prominent part of his character, will be asserted by no one who has studied the whole of his life. But in respect to this particular edict, was Mosheim ignorant that it was pxiblished under the regency of Queen Blanche, when the prince was not yet fifteen years old P J In 1239, one hundred and eighty heretics were burnt in Champagne, in the same flames, and in the presence of eighteen bishops. 'It is a holocaust agreeable to God !' exclaimed a monk who witnessed the execution. . . . Was it to be expected that a woman and a child should rise up against an ecclesiastical practice, which was sanctioned by the concurrent zeal of monks, of prelates, of popes, and of councils ? Four of them are cited by Limborch, Hist, of Inquisit., lib. i. cap. 12. || He was accused of having favoured and fostered heresies. His edicts may have had that tendency ; but he was assuredly innocent of the intention. ^f Giannone (lib. xix., chap. v. sec. iv.) seems to ascribe the establishment of the court virtually administered by the Mendicants, to Innocent IV., and with truth, so far as Italy was concerned. Two circumstances (he remarks) were opposed to it. (1.) The judicial rights of the episcopal courts, (2.) The executive rights of the secular magistrates. The 3 G 2 448 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXt- made it most effectually the engine of the Vatican. It is true, that in this court the bishop was nominally appointed as coadjutor to the papal inqui- sitor ; but all substantial judicial authority was placed in the hands of the latter *. The civil magistrate was likewise admitted to a seat among the members of the court ; but in reality his power was ministerial only. The whole effective power, both judicial and executive, was vested in the Dominicans and Franciscans. . . From Italy, the pestilence rapidly spread to the island of Sardinia, to Syria, and to Servia |. On the other hand into Spain, the field of its most destructive ravages, it was intro- duced so late as the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella a reign more renowned, more panegyrised, than any other in the history of that country. But from Spain even the despotism of Charles V. was insufficient to com- municate it to the rest of his subjects ; the natural humanity of the Ger- mans perseveringly repelled that pestilence ; and the inhabitants of Naples on one side, and of the Low Countries on the other, resisted and rejected it with equal constancy. We shall not enter more deeply into the records of the Inquisition, nor particularize the combinations of its machinery, and the exquisite harmony of its movements, because it did not reach that fatal perfection until a time posterior to the conclusion of this History {. It is with no trifling satisfac- tion that we dispense with this labour ; for the details of ingenious barbarity, though they may awaken a transient attention, convey little that is instructive to a reasonable mind ; and the feelings of horror and indigna- tion which they excite, do they not sometimes miss their true object, and exceed their just limits ? do they not sometimes rise into a detestation too general and too unqualified against the Church which permitted such iniquities ? do they not sometimes close our charities against fellow- Christians and fellow-Catholics, who perhaps abominate, as intensely as we do, the crimes of their ancestors? To expose the deviations from the precepts of the Gospel and the principles of philanthropy, into which the Church of Rome, in different ages, has fallen, is a painful task so com- monly obtruded upon the historian, that he may well be spared the gratuitous denunciation of those which do not lie within the boundaries prescribed to his work. first was obviated by the nominal association of bishops in the inquisitorial office. The second, by permitting the magistrate to have his minister in the court, though at the appointment of the grand inquisitor. There was much art in this concession ; for thus, while the ecclesiastics really held the whole power, the secular authorities, by being united with them in name, were associated in hatred. They were tools, they were mistaken for accomplices. * We learn from Bzovius at a later period, (ami. 1302, sect, x.,) that Boniface VIII. transferred the inquisitorial office from the Franciscans to the Dominicans, publishing at the same time some severe constitutions against heretics. There is one feature in them which we have not remarked in the earliest edicts. Not only were their defensores, recepta- tores, &c., included in the penalties, but also their^/n el nepotes children and grandchildren. The bishop of the diocese was permitted to act in concert with the inquisitors ; and the investigation was ordered to proceed ' simpliciter et de piano, absque advocatorum et judi- ciorum strepitu et figura !' The accusers were allowed to give evidence secretly, if there should seem to be any danger to them from the publication of their names. t Limborch, lib. i., cap. xvi. The * Liber Sententiarum Inquisitionis Tholosanae,' pub- lished at the end of his work, is of great value, not only as it faithfully represents the spirit of the ruling party in the Church at that time, (there were no doubt many individuals of greater moderation and humanity), but also as the best storehouse of the opinions with which the heretics were charged, and for which they suffered. J It was indeed introduced into Spain under Pope Sixtus IV., before ihe close of the fifteenth century ; but its first efforts, which were directed against the Jew,', were merely characterized by savage barbarity. Chap. XXL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 449 SECTION III. On the Galilean Liberties. A difference which took place between St. Louis and his clergy, in the year 1263, throws some light both on his own cha- racter, and on the ecclesiastical history of the age. The St. Louis and bishops were desirous to make to the king a remon- his Clergy. strance from their whole body ; and when they were admitted into his presence, the bishop of Auxerre spoke in their name as follows : * Sire, all these prelates here assembled desire me to say, that you are permitting the Christian religion to fall to ruins, and to crumble in your hands.' On which the good king* made the sign of the Cross, and said, * Now tell me, bishop, how that is, and for what reason ?' * Sire,' continued the bishop, * the evil is, that no regard is any longer paid to excommunication. In these days, a man would rather die under the sentence, than obtain absolution by making the necessary satisfaction to the Church. Wherefore, Sire, all these here present request, with one voice, that, for the honour of God, and in the discharge of your own duty t it may please you to command all your bailiffs, provosts, and other admi- nistrators of justice, as follows : that, if any one be found in your king- dom w'ho shall have lain under a sentence of excommunication for a year and a day continuous, he be compelled, by seizure of his goods, to recon- cile himself to the Church.' The holy man (le saint homme) answered, that he would issue such order in respect to those who should be proved guilty of injustice either to the Church, or to their neighbour. The bishop pressed, in reply, the exclusive privileges of ecclesiastical jurisdiction; but the king firmly refused the secular aid, unless the nature of the offence, and the justice of the censure, should be such as required its interference. This was the endeavour of a wise prince to distinguish the boundaries of ecclesiastical and civil jurisdiction, and to restrain the former within its just limits ; and it shows at least, that, on matters which were still left open to the exercise of reason, Louis, how much soever he might love the religion, was not at all disposed to be overreached or overawed by its ministers. We may relate another anecdote of the same monarch, which will sug- gest one or two instructive reflections to the intelligent reader. St. Louis had promised to be present at a chapter-general of the Cistertian order, to be held in the year 1244 with unusual solemnity. Innocent IV. received information of his intention ; and as the contest with Frederic involved him at that moment in some difficulties, he took measures to profit by the pious disposition of the king of France. The monarch arrived, attended by his mother, his brothers, and some nobles ; and all the abbots and the monks of the community, consisting of five hundred, went forth in pro- cession to meet and welcome the royal visitor. Immediately, while he was seated in the chapter, surrounded by his court, the abbots and the monks fell on their knees before him, with their hands in the attitude of * Joinville, who tells the story, was present. Prem. Partie Vie de St. Louis, p. 24. f ' Pour Dieu, et pour ce qu' ainsi le devez faire.' We should observe that the demand on the part of the prelates was not new, and that it had even been granted by the prede- cessor of Louis. The first canon of the Council of Narbonne, held in 1227, mentions, as the law then in force, that whoever remained under the sentence, after three admonitions, should pay a fine of nine livres and a denier ; but that whoever remained so for a whole year, should suffer the confiscation of all bis property. Fleury, liv, Ixxix, sec, xxxii. 450 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXI. prayer, and their eyes suffused with tears for such had been the instruc- tions of Innocent. Their prayer was this : ' That, according to the ancient custom and liberty of France, he would protect their father and pastor, the holy pontiff, against the insults of the emperor ; that he would receive him, if necessary, into the bosom of his kingdom, as Alexander had formerly been received, while flying before the Emperor Frederic, and Thomas of Canterbury, in his persecution by Henry of England.' St. Louis descended from his seat, and placed himself in like manner upon his knees before the holy suppliants. But his reply was dictated by the calmest prudence and policy * that he would defend the Church, as his honour required, from the insults of the emperor; and no less willingly would he receive the exiled Pope into his kingdom, if his barons should so counsel him ; but that a king of France could on no occasion dispense with the counsels of his nobles *.' . . It was no secret from the king, nor, perhaps, even from his monastic petitioners, that the barons of France would never consent to open their rich domains, as a refuge for the rapa- cious court of Innocent IV. If St. Louis, on the one hand, protected the liberties of his lay-subjects from the usurpations of the clergy, he was no less vigilant, on the other, in shielding all parties from the increasing exactions of Rome. Even from very early ages the Church of France had exhibited on some im- portant occasions marks both of independence and good sense, above the level of other nations. The oriental absurdity of the Stylites was rejected by that more rational people. The rising authority of St. Leo was unable to silence the refractory bishops of France. The use of images was for some time discountenanced in that country. The Augustinian doctrine of predestination found, perhaps, its warmest adversaries among the divines of France. But most especially in the contest of Hincmar with Pope Nicholas, and some other occurrences of the ninth century, do we detect the spirit of a clergy not prepared to pay implicit obedience to the foreign autocrat of the Church. Nevertheless, no formal declaration of resist- ance no national attempt to emancipate the Gallican Church from any of its fetters, or give it security by a separate constitution against further aggressions had hitherto been made by any king of France. It was the last among the legislative acts of St. Louis to publish those institutions which formed the basis of the boasted * Li- The Pragmatic berties of the Gallican Church.' Just before his depar- Sanction. ture for Tunis, he issued his Pragmatic Sanction. It was founded on the necessity of distinguishing tem- poral from spiritual authority, and became, in after times, the foundation of a more extensive emancipation. Like those, however, which were built upon it, it was peculiarly directed against the pecuniary usurpations of Rome, and her claims to the patronage of the Church. The latter subject had indeed occasioned the earliest contentions between the empire and the Vatican, at a time when the rights of the dispute were on the side of the latter. But since the days of Innocent If., the usurpations, whether in the imposition of taxes, or the distribution of benefices, had proceeded from the court of Rome ; and Louis IX. having acquired by his personal character, as well as his wise ' Establishments t/ the affec- tion and fidelity of his subjects, felt strong enough to repress them. * See Matthew Paris, ad ann. 1244. We must not confound this affair with a conference which did actually take place two years afterwards between the king and the Pope within the walls of Cluni. See Pagi, Vit. Innoc. IV., sec. xxxiii. t The l Establishments of St. Louis' belong, for the most part, to civil history. It is Chap. XXI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 451 - Accordingly, in the year 1269, that he might ensure the tranquillity of his Church and kingdom during his absence, and also secure for his enterprise the protection of God, he promulgated his celebrated Ordinance. It is comprised in six articles. (1.) The churches, the prelates, the patrons, and the ordinary collators of benefices, shall enjoy their rights to their full extent, and each shall be sustained in his jurisdiction. (2.) The cathedral and other churches shall possess the liberties of elections, which shall be carried into complete effect. (3.) We will, that simony, the pest of the Church, be wholly banished from our kingdom. (4.) Promotions, collations, provisions and dispositions of prelatures, dignities, and other ecclesiastical benefices and offices, whatso- ever they may be, shall be made according to the institutions of common law, of the councils, and of our ancient Fathers. (5.) We renew and approve of the liberties, franchises, prerogatives, and privileges, granted by the kings our predecessors, and by ourselves, to churches, monas- teries, and other places of piety, as well as to ecclesiastical persons. (6.) We prohibit any one from, in any manner, levying and collecting the pecuniary exactions and heavy charges which the Court of Rome has imposed, or may hereafter impose, upon the Church of our kingdom, and by which it has been miserably impoverished unless it be for a reasonable and very urgent cause, or by inevitable necessity, and with the free and express consent of the king and of the Church *. Six years earlier, when the archbishop of Tyre arrived in France, as the legate of the Holy See, to impose a contribution on the clergy for the cost of a holy t war, an assembly of bishops referred his Bull to the king, and ordained that, if any chose to accede to the claim, they would do so by their own free will, not through any legal compulsion from Rome. . . It is obvious, from these occasional ebullitions, to observe, that the sordid policy of Innocent IV. was already producing its effect, in disposing the secular clergy to resist the despotism of Rome. Fifty years had not yet elapsed from the death of that pontiff, when we find the prelacy of France placed in direct opposition J to the Vatican, and a politic prince availing himself of that spirit to the disadvantage of the Holy See. As long as the only necessary to observe, that though many particular enactments were severe, and even barbarous, according to the estimation of a civilized age, they were founded upon principles of policy, and even humanity, far above those of the times in which they were promulgated. Le Roi (says Millot) devirit legislateur: 1'anarchie feodale devoit finir. Another half century, and it did so. * ' Item exactiones et onera gravissima pecuniarum per Curiam Romanam Ecclesise regni nostri impositas vel imposita, quibus regnum nostrum miserabiliter depauperatum extitit, sive etiam imponendas vel imponenda, levari aut colligi nullatenus volumus, nisi duntaxat pro rationabili, pia et urgentissima causa, vel inevitabili necessitate, ac de spon- taneo ac expresso consensu nostro et ipsius Ecclesiae regni nostri.' . . There are some copies in which the last article does not appear. But there is more reason for the opinion, that it was curtailed in those, than interpolated in the rest. Though the other articles do not make express mention of the court of Rome, yet it seems clear that the second, third, fourth, and a part of the first, are levelled against it. See Fleury, liv. Ixxxvi. sec. i. Dupin. Nouv. Biblioth., sec. xiii. chap. vii. The act was cited, as here given, by the Par- liament to Louis XL, in 1483, and in the Act of Appeal of the University of Paris, in 1495. t The Declaration of the bishops is given by Menard in his notes on Joiuville, p. 287. | The same spirit, of course, extended itself to the lower clergy. It was during this reign that a Cure at Paris thus addressed his congregation . ' You know, my brethren, that 1 am ordered to publish an excommunication against Frederic (II). I am ignorant of the motive. I am only certain that there has been a quarrel between that prince and the Pope God alone knows which is right. I excommunicate him who has injured the other, and absolve him who has suffered the injury.' The congregation were amused with the sally. The emperor is said to have sent a present to the preacher ; but tlie Pope con- demned him to canonical penance j and he performed it accordingly. 452 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXI. Popes were contented to make common cause with their clergy against the secular authorities, they were indeed strong and formidable. But when they openly distinguished between the interests of the court of Rome and of the rest of the hierarchy when they proceeded to supply the luxu- ries, or forward the ambitious projects of the one by invading the revenues of the other from that moment the despotism of the apostolical Chair, notwithstanding the swarm of Mendicants which it created for its defence, had parted with its only grornd or hope of permanence. SECTION IV. On the Crusades. ' The report of the Council of Clermont wafted a cheering gale over the minds of Christians. There was no nation so remote, no people so retired, as did not respond to the papal wishes. This ardent wish not only inspired the continental provinces, but the most distant islands and savage countries *.' Accordingly a mighty mass of fanaticism put itself in motion towards the East. The frame of society was convulsed, and seemingly dissolved ; and as the will of Heaven is not uncommonly pleaded to justify the extravagance of man, the phenomena of the physical world were pressed into the same adventure : meteors and exhalations pointed out the road to Jerusalem, and the most ordinary signs of nature became por- tents and prodigies. The first burst of the storm fell upon some miserable Jews, who were living in peace under Christian protection, and many were massacred. It then rolled onwards ; and the follies, the sufferings, and the crimes, which marked the progress of the first crusade, have not ever been equalled in the history of human madness. Nevertheless, as a military enterprize, it was successful. Some exploits were performed of extraordinary daring. The same agency which had lighted the flame was at hand to nourish it on every occasion of disaster ; and the spirit that was chilled by famine or by fear, was immediately revived and inflamed by some new and stupendous miracle. Men who could be brought really to believe, while under the endurance of the most frightful reverses, that the favour of God was especially extended and continually manifested to them, were capable of more than human exertion ; the entire abandon- ment of reason left space for the operation of energies which do not pro- perly belong to man. The victory of Doryleum was followed by the siege of Antioch ; the capture of that city led the way to the investment of Jerusalem itself; and the banner of the cross was finally planted on Mount Sion amidst horrors, which probably had not been paralleled since the triumph of Titus over the same devoted city. Respecting the double massacre inflicted upon the infidels, we shall merely remark, that it had not the excuse of hasty uncontrollable passion, but that it was designed and deliberate. A deeply settled resolution of revenge may have had some share in the deed, but the policy of extermination had probably more; and the spirit of religious persecution certainly directed the weapons and poisoned the wounds. In the mean time, Deux el volt it is the will of God was the watchword and the battle-shout of the Christians ; it overpowered the prayers of the * Malmsbury, p. 416. He continues : ' The Welshman left his hunting; the Scotch his fellowship with vermin ; the Dane his drinking party j the Norwegian his raw fish. Chap. XXI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 453 women and the screams of their dying children * ; and was then loudest upon Sion and Calvary when the commandments of God and Christ were most insultingly violated. The loss of the Crusaders, in this first enterprize, is calculated with probability at about 1,200,000 lives ; but the Holy Sepulchre was freed from the pollution of St. Bernard preaches the infidel ; and, what perhaps was of more con- the Second Crusade. sequence, as respects the continuance of similar expeditions, a Latin kingdom was established in Jerusalem. It is re- markable, that not one of the sovereigns of Europe adventured his person, or even deeply risked his reputation, in the unknown perils of the first crusade. But, nearly fifty years afterwards, the loss of Edessa, and some other reverses in the East, awakened the sympathy of Louis VII. of France and Conrad III. of Germany, and they determined to aid an afflicted Christian and a brother king. For this purpose it was neces- sary to rouse the fury of Europe a second time ; and the eager co- operation of St. Bernard secured success. A less powerful instrument might have answered the object. Any intemperate enthusiast t can excite his fellow-mortals to deeds of wickedness ; the genius of St. Bernard was given him to do good to mankind but it was contracted by the severity of monastic discipline ; it was stained with the prejudices of an ignorant age ; it was distorted by the very austerity of his virtues ; it was misdirected even by his piety. He entered with ardour upon his mission of evil. He traversed fruitful provinces and populous cities. Vast multitudes everywhere assembled to applaud and to listen ; and the energy of his delivery and the vehemence of his tones and action, roused the feelings of many, who were even ignorant of the language in which he addressed them J. Such excitement, in a matter where passion and riot reason was engaged, produced every effect of persuasion ; and if, besides, there were any so torpid, as to resist the natural eloquence of the holy man, he enjoyed that other resource, so potent in its influence where all the ordinary operations of the mind are suspended, he possessed the gift of miracles, and proved his heavenly mission (so his credulous panegy- rists assert) by many preternatural signs. At the same time he affected, by a more dangerous assumption, the prophetic character ; and, on the faith of Him, who can neither err nor deceive, he foretold and promised a splendid career of triumphs. Armed with so full and various a quiver against the feeble reason of a superstitious generation with high personal celebrity and eloquence; with the support of powerful princes; with pon- tifical approbation ; with the repute of supernatural aid, and pretensions to heavenly inspiration what wonder was it that St. Bernard confounded the sense and broke up the repose of Europe ; that he depopulated cities * Christian! sic neci totum laxaverant animum, xit nee sugens masculus, aut foemina, nedum infans uuius anni vivens manum percussoris evaderet. Albert, p. 283, cited by Mills, Hist. Crusades, chap. vi. t It is amusing to observe the contempt with which the Abbot of Clairvaux speaks ot the hermit-preacher of the first crusade : ' Fuit in priori expeditione, antequam Hiero- solyma caperetur, vir quidam, Petrus nomine, cujtis et vos (ni fallor) ssepe mentionem audistis,' &c. Bernard. Epist. 363, p. 328, vol. i. ed. Mabil. The reference is made by Mills, Hist. Crusades, chap. ix. J Latin was the language which he indiscriminately addressed to the vulgar in all the provinces in which he preached. Since preternatural powers have been ascribed to him, it has been thought remarkable that the gift, of which he seemed to stand most in need, was perversely withheld, 454 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap, XXI. and provinces (such was his own rash boast), and sent forth the whole flower and vigour of Christendom on the holy enterprize ! The history of religious war has not recorded any expedition at the same time more fatal and more fruitless, than the crusade of St. Bernard. After two or three years of suffering and disaster almost uninterrupted, a miserable remnant of survivors returned to relate their misfortunes and marvel at their discomfiture. A general outcry was raised against the author of those calamities ; innumerable widows and orphans demanded of the prophet their husbands and their sires; or at least they claimed the sacred laurels which he had promised the triumphs which he had vouch- safed, in his dispensation of the boons of heaven, to the soldiers of the cross. The detected impostor was not ashamed to take shelter under the usual pretext of religious hypocrites. He asserted that his prophecies (the prophecies of God) were only conditional ; that in foretelling the success of the crusaders, he had assumed their righteousness and the purity of their lives ; that their own enormous crimes had diverted or suspended the designs of Providence, just as in ancient days the sins of the Jews in the wilderness had foiled the policy and foresight of Moses *. If at any time we can regard with levity any pious artifice of the meanest ecclesiastic for the most innocent purpose, still our smile is not unmixed with melancholy or contempt. But the crime of St. Bernard, the most enlightened prelate of his time, who usurped the attributes and forged the seal of God, in order to launch some hundreds of thousands of confid- ing Christians into probable destruction, or at best into successful massacre, excites a serious indignation, which it would be partial to suppress, and which neither his talents, nor his virtues, nor his piety, nor the vicious principles of his age, are sufficient to remove. Forty years after the departure of this expedition, in the year 1187, Saladin gained the battle of Tiberias, and soon Subsequent Crusades, afterwards recovered from the Christians the pos- session of the Holy City. The Latin kingdom of Jerusalem had struggled through eighty-eight years of precarious existence against internal dissension arid tumult, and the perpetual aggressions of the infidel. Perhaps it must have yielded under any circumstances to the genius of Saladin ; but its fate was precipitated by the feudal divisions of its defenders, the jealousy subsisting between the Knights of the Temple and those of the Hospital, and the violent quarrels in which the latter were engaged, through the effect of their papal immunities, with the ava- ricious hierarchy of Palestine f- The Third crusade (1189 92) was distinguished by the adventures of the lion-hearted Richard. The Fourth followed only three years after- * This celebrated passage is in the beginning of the second book of his Treatise, ( De Consideratione,' addressed to Pope Eugenius III., and should be cited: ' Moyses educturus populum de terra JEgy\A\ meliorem illis pollicitus est terram. Nam quando ipsum aliter sequeretur populus, solam sapiens terram ? Eduxit ; eductos tamen in terrain quam promiserat non introduxit. Nee est quod ducis temeritati imputari queat tristis et inopinatus eventus. Omnia faciebat Domino imperante, Domino cooperante, et opus con- firmante sequentibus siguis. Sed populus ille, inquis, durae cervicis fuit, semper contentiose agens contra Dominum et contra Moysem servum ejus. Bene illi creduli et rebelles Hi autem quid ? Ipsos interroga. Quid me dicere opus est quod fatentur ipsi ? Dico ergo unum Quid poterant conficere, qui semper revertebantur, cum ambuhvrent ? Quando et isti per totam viam non redierunt corde in ^gyptum ? Quod si illi ceciderunt et perierunt propter iniquitatem suain, miramur istos, eadem facientes, eadem passes ! Sed numquid illorum casus adversus promissa Dei ? Ergo, nee istorum. Neque enim aliquando promissiones Dei justitiae Dei praejudicant.' t This subject will be agam mentioned in the twenty-sixth chapter. Chap. XXI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 455 wards, under the auspices of Pope Celestine III., and terminated in inglo- rious failure. The Germans, of whom it chiefly consisted, accused the faint co-operation of the barons resident in the Holy Land, The Fifth and Sixth were created, or at least protected and fostered, by Innocent III. The former of these may possibly be ascribed to the still surviving- spirit of popular superstition, lashed into fanaticism by the preaching, or at least by the miraculous pretensions, of an enthusiast named Fulk. But what- ever may have been its origin, its termination the capture of Constan- tinople was certainly neither foreseen nor designed by its advocates. The warriors of the sixth crusade likewise declined from the original object of these military pilgrimages, and deviated, with greater promise of profit if not of glory, into the wealthy plains of Egypt. Their courage was repaid by the conquest of Damietta ; but the advantage thus obtained was neither great nor permanent. The force of the Christians in the East was weakened by division, and they were contented to despoil what they could not hope to possess. Still, if we are to assign to this expe- dition the concluding exertions of Frederic II., it terminated with more honour to the Christian name, and with a nearer approach to the libera- tion of the Holy Sepulchre, than any which had been undertaken since the first. And that its results were not more lasting, is to be ascribed, not to the insincerity of the emperor, but to the narrow jealousy of a passionate pope *, who roused all his military and monastic myrmidons in opposition to that very cause which he, as well as his faithless prede- cessor, had dared to designate the cause of God. The chivalrous enterprize of the Count of Champaigne, and Richard Earl of Cornwall, followed the council of Spoleto, in 1234; and the imperfect success, which attended Those of St. Louis. it, was rather occasioned by the dissensions of the Mussulman princes, than by the cordial co-operation of the Christians. It added one to the list of the crusades ; and was presently succeeded by two others, the Eighth and Ninth, with which the melancholy cata- logue at length concluded. Both of these may probably be attributed to the religious fervour of St. Louis. In the access of a dangerous sick- ness, in the year 1244, that prince vowed the sacrifice of his personal service to God, should his health providentially be restored. It was so. In the following year, the numerous host of prelates, assembled at the council of Lyons, proclaimed the crusade, and enjoined four preparatory years of peace and seriousness throughout the western nations. During this interval large contributions were levied both on the clergy and laity, and other effectual means adopted to secure success ; and at its expi- ration, the pious monarch spread his sails for the East. His immediate object, however, was not the liberation of the Sepulchre, but the conquest of Egypt ; and in the conduct of this campaign he closely imitated both the gallantry arid the errors of his predecessors, who had triumphed and perished in the same field. The misfortunes of the sixth crusade, though still fresh in the memory of mankind, taught as usual no lesson and conveyed no warning to the generation which followed ; and the repeti- tion of similar blunders only led to a more disastrous result. The army * Gregory IX. Innocent III. died before the departure of the expedition, which he had been particularly and personally diligent in promoting. See the preceding chapter. Not professing to give a regular history of these various expeditions, nor to mention more facts than are necessary for our inferences, we have not noticed the celebrated Crusade of Children under this pope; yet it may fairly be considered as the consummation of the work of fanaticism. 456 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXI. was defeated, and Louis himself fell a captive into the power of the infidel. But his follies were redeemed by the gold of his subjects; and he returned to expiate his fatal enthusiasm by the exercise of peaceful virtues, and to repair, by useful and humane institutions, the wrongs which he had done to his people. But the spark of superstition was neither extinguished by the discharge of his best duties, nor chilled by the advance of age. After an interval of twenty years of wisdom, he relapsed into the old infatuation, and unfurled, for the last time, the consecrated banner of fanaticism. His second expedition consisted, for the most part, as the first had done, of French and English ; and, like the first, it was again directed against the Moslems of Africa, not against the usurpers of the Holy Land. The heroic plains of Carthage were occupied by the Christian force ; and the tombs of Tertullian, Cyprian and Augustin may perhaps have been res- cued from the pollutions of the unbeliever ; but the army was still en- camped, without any decisive success, before the walls of Tunis, when St. Louis was called away for ever from the sanguinary scene. His death was immediately followed by the romantic adventures of the English Edward, which closed the long succession of fruitless efforts for a worthless object. The power of the Infidel presently increased in might and boldness; and, in the year 1291, the last fragments of Christian rule were swept away from the surface of Palestine. . . Acre, the conquest of the English hero, was the last possession of the Cross : it had long been the only strong bulwark against the Moslem force. It was important, through its situation at the end of that large and fertile plain which ex- tends to the Jordan eastward, and which has been the field of decisive conflicts in every age of the history of Palestine ; it was important, as the centre of commercial intercourse between the east and the west, the resort of all nations and all languages. But the universal profligacy which pre- vailed within its walls, and the crimes with which it was stained, beyond the shame of any other Christian city, were thought to justify the judg- ment of God, when at length he delivered it over to a Mahometan con- queror*. To this hasty, but necessary outline of the history of the Crusades, we are called upon to subjoin some general observations The Causes of the on their causes, their objects, and their results: not Crusades. aspiring to emulate the eloquence with which this subject has been so commonly treated, nor affecting to add anything original in thought or expression to the successful labours of our predecessors ; but simply to justify the pretensions of this work, which would vainly assume the title of an Ecclesiastical History, if it should pass in entire silence over the most amazing phenomena, which ever pro- ceeded from the abuse of religion. And if, indeed, it be a true reflection, that the only enterprize, in which the nations of Europe have at any time engaged with a single arm and a common soul, and that, too, no vague and transient adventure, but the passion or policy of two hundred years, stands singularly marked in the historic temple, as a monument of human absurdity : if this be true, is it possible to search too frequently for the sources of such unanimous infatuation, or to ascertain too minutely what passions or what prejudices, or what interests those were, which availed to * E questo pericolo non fii seuza grande e giusto giudizio di Dio, che quella citta era pu-na di piu puccatori uomini e femine d'ogni dissolute peccato, che terra chi fosse tra* Christian!. Giovanni Villani, lib. vii., c, 144, as cited by Mills, Hist. Crusades. Chap. XXI.;) A HISTORY OF THE CHtfRCH,- 457 dispossess and enchain for so long a period the reason of mankind ? Moreover, as we have found occasion to observe, that an indulgent Providence will sometimes extract blessings from man's blindest follies, it becomes us also to inquire, whether the fruits of those wild enterprizes were any other than shame, degradation, and misery. Though, indeed, in this case, it might seem presumptuous to look for any manifestation of divine compassion, where impiety called itself religious devotion, and massacre pleaded for reward, and pleaded in the blessed name of Christ. To visit the spots which have been consecrated by immortal deeds, to tread in the footsteps which those have traced whose me- mory we love and revere, is the suggestion of natural Pilgrimage. piety, not the maxim or observance of religion. Never- theless, such practice is easily associated with any religion, whenever the qualities of its founder have been such as to excite the enthusiasm of its votaries ; and thus the performance of holy pilgrimage became an early, a frequent, and almost a peculiar usage of the Christians. From an innocent, perhaps useful custom, it was gradually exalted into a spiritual duty ; and the journey to the sepulchre of the Saviour was encouraged and enjoined by some of the oldest Fathers of the established Church. The pure principle of pilgrimage was presently mixed and alloyed by vulgar motives : a faint shade of superstition was insensibly heightened into a darker ; and the traveller returned from the holy places, no longer satisfied with the consciousness of pious intent and sincere devotion, but also charged with relics of departed saints, or fragments of the holy crown or cross. . . This degenerate passion was nourished by the rulers of the church ; multitudes thirsted for those vain possessions, whom a mere ardour to worship at the tomb of Christ would scarcely have fortified against the toils of the journey ; the Syrian dispensers of the profitable patrimony unceasingly discovered new treasures by revelation, or multiplied the original by miracles ; so that the crowds who thronged the sanctuary perpetually increased, and the sources which fed their credulity were never closed nor lessened. It was natural to expect that the conquest of Palestine by the unbe- lieving Saracens would have abolished the means, if it did not desecrate the objects, of pilgrimage. But it proved otherwise. The enlightened Caliphs immediately perceived the policy of toleration ; they saw the direct advantages which flowed into Syria through the~superstition and commerce of the West ; they may even have learned from their own practice to respect the motives of the travellers, arid the kindred passion which occasioned an annual visit to the Christian Mecca. Certainly they received the visi- tors without insult, and dismissed them without injury. During the concluding portion of the tenth century, a strange impulse was given to the spirit of pilgrimage by an accidental cause, which, as it was. sown in delusion, produced the customary harvest of wickedness. The belief prevailed of the approaching dissolution of the world and the termination of earthly things ; Mount Sion was to become the judgment- seat of the Most High ; and the Christian nations were taught to depart and humble themselves before his throne. Those interested exhortations were too obsequiously obeyed ; and though the notion which created them was after a few years falsified and exploded, yet the habit of journeying to, the Holy Land had in the meantime gained great prevalence, and the idea of an expiatory obligation became commonly attached to it. In the cen- tury following, the journey assumed not unfrequently the form of an expe- dition, and was sometimes undertaken by considerable bodies of associated 458 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXT. and even armed devotees. We still peruse, in the narrative of Ingulphus, a native and historian of England, the adventures of seven thousand holy Germans, who engaged in the enterprize under the direction of the arch- bishop of Mayence, and in the society of thirty Norman horsemen. They encountered many dangers and suffered many losses ; but they attained their object, and worshipped at the fountain of their religion. And when they recounted, in domestic security, their various fortunes, their listeners were more likely to be inflamed by the admiration of their success, than deterred by sufferings or perils, which greater foresight or felicity might easily ward off from themselves. Towards the close of the eleventh age, about the year 1076, the domi- nion of Palestine was torn from the Arabian dynasty by the wilder hand of the Turks. The pure fanaticism of that rude people was not yet soft- tened by friendly intercourse with the followers of the adverse faith, nor would it stoop to yield even to the obvious dictates of interest. Many outrages were at this time unquestionably perpetrated upon the strangers who visited the sepulchre, and upon the Christian natives and sojourners in Syria. Those who returned from the East were clamorous in their descriptions and their complaints ; and tales of suffering and of sacrilege, of the prostration of Christ's followers, the profanation of his name, the pollution of his holy places, tales of Moslem oppression and impiety, were diffused and exaggerated and believed, with fierce and revengeful indigna- tion, from one end of Europe to the other. Whatsoever may have been the merits of the feudal principles in earlier times, they had degenerated, in the eleventh century, into Warlike Spirit a mere code of military service and subordination. The of the Age. whole business, the pleasure, the passion of that age was war. It animated alike the cities and the villages; it presided over the domestic regulations of every family ; it was familiar with the thoughts, where it did not constitute the habits, of every indivi- dual. Even the higher orders of the clergy forgot their spiritual in their secular obligations, and very commonly engaged in the same pursuits from a common necessity*. It was in vain that Charlemagne had re- strained by his Capitularies that preposterous practice. The policy of Charlemagne was too wise for the times in which he lived : he attempted to anticipate the operation of progressive ages ; he enacted some useful laws ; but he was unable to perpetuate a premature, and therefore tran- sient, civilization. No sooner was he removed by death than inveterate barbarism resumed its sway, and the bulwark which his single hand had raised against the principles, customs, and prejudices of ancestral igno- rance, was hastily swept away. During the two centuries which followed, in spite of the general exertions of the clergy, as a body, to arrest the desolating spirit, in spite of canonical legislation and ecclesiastical censure, the practice of private warfare continued with no mitigation. Early in the eleventh age, the Treuga Dei (the Truce of God) was solemnly en- joined, with the purpose of enforcing a suspension of hostilities during certain days in every week. But though this humane ordinance was fre- quently confirmed and reiterated, there was no age in which the military frenzy had such general prevalence throughout Europe, none in which * Olim (says Guido, abbot of Clairville) non habebant castella et arces tcclesi; cathe- drales, nee ineedebant pontifices loricati. Sed mine, proptor abundantiam temporalium rerum, fiamma, i'erro, caede posst'ssioncs ecelesiarum pnrlati defendunt, quas deberent pauperilms erogare. l)u Cange, Gloss. Lat., art. Advocatus. The abbot's o/int extended through the first five centuries, and not much later. Chap. XXL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 459 * the exercise of arms and the effusion of blood were so completely the * habit, the motive, almost the morality, of the western nations. At a period when religious notions or observances were mingled with all customs and all institutions, and thus interwoven with the whole texture of private as well as public Superstitious zeal. life, and when, besides, the corruptions of Christi- anity had so superseded its genuine spirit, that the notions which we have called religious should rather have been designated superstitious, the ruling passion of the age was easily associated with its ruling weak- ness. Martial enterprise went hand in hand with enthusiasm, misnamed pious; the exploits of the one were consecrated by the expressions, some- times by the feelings, of the other ; and the words of the priest were repeated, or the image of the Saviour embraced, even in the fiercest mo- ments of the strife. Abject ignorance, followed by credulity, held domi- > nion almost undisputed ; and the minds of men were destitute of any moral principles lo restrain, or any moral knowledge to direct, the course of their passions. The faculties which distinguish sense from absurdity, piety from fanaticism, truth from falsehood and imposture, were extinct or dormant ; and a restless and irrational generation lay exposed to the im- * pulse of any rising tempest. On such an age and race, so inured to the use of arms, so alive to the emotions of religion, so familiar with the practice of holy pilgrimage, > the indignity of Turkish oppression, the outrages on the name and sepul- * chre of Christ, fell with an electric efficacy. At another time, under other circumstances, the bolt might have passed by unfelt and almost unheeded ; but at that moment it was no premature nor unseasonable visitation, but it found men prepared, and intensely sensible to its operation ; and the flash which attended it descended on materials prepared for explosion. It argues a superficial knowledge both of nature and of history to sup- pose that a phenomenon, so astounding as the first crusade, could have been produced in any condition of society without strong predetermining causes ; and that the preaching of the Hermit or even the indulgences of the Pope could have excited to that enterprise minds, that were not deeply disposed to receive the impulse. There are some, indeed, who con- - sider the increase of pontifical power during the eleventh age, under the auspices of Hildebrand, to have been a leading cause in producing * the Crusades. It is true that, a century earlier, the aspirations of Syl- vester II. were without effect : it is more remarkable that even Gregory himself, though professing an ardent and even personal eagerness for the \ enterprise, carried his project to no result ; while Urban, with much less individual influence, accomplished the work with great facility. But in the time of Sylvester, some of the popular motives for the crusade did not yet exist, others had not attained sufficient prevalence and maturity ; and Gregory was diverted from his scheme by the more pressing solicita- tions of domestic ambition. But when Urban threw the torch among the multitudes of Placentia and Clermont, their hands were prepared and eager to seize it, and extinguish it in Moslem blood. A pilgrimage to the sepulchre of Christ was then a common and almost customary act of de- v votion ; a pilgrimage in arms was congenial with the spirit of a warlike " race ; to liberate the holy places and to chastise the usurpers were objects *. consistent with each other, and with the ruling principles of the age. And such were the objects of the first crusade to deliver the lioly - Land from a state of imaginary pollution, and to take vengeance on the - infidel possessor. No consideration of distant consequences, nor even of 460 A HISTORY OF.THti CHURCH. [Chap. XXL immediate utility, entered into them. Reason was not consulted, nor were her precincts approached : of the passions them- Objects of the selves, those most akin to reason had no share in the first Crusade, adventure. Ambition was silent in the uproar*. Policy might, indeed, have offered plausible justification, by suggesting that the hurricane which had wasted Asia might presently break over Europe ; but the argumenta justi metus, if they have satisfied some writers on this subject, entered not in any degree into the motives of the Crusaders. They were not men to calculate remote dangers ; still less did they perplex themselves with any theoretical speculation as to the right of hostility, or seek their excuse in the antichristian principles of their enemy. From the rule and practice of Mahometan aggression, they might almost have inferred the right of reciprocal invasion ; but they looked for immortality, not for justification ; it never occurred to them to , doubt the justice, or rather the holiness, of their cause ; they sought no plea or pretext, except in the passion of their religious frenzy and in the sharpness of their sword. There was still another motive which might have seemed substantial to the warriors of those days, and which they might equally have borrowed from the Infidel a design to convert the miscreants by force, and to drag them in chains to the waters of baptism ; but even this project held no place among the incentives to the first crusade. In later times, indeed, when in the vicissitudes of military adventure the arms of the Mahometan were found to preponderate, some faint attempts were made, or medi- tatedfj to convince those whom it proved impossible to subdue ; but the earliest soldiers of the Cross were moved by no such design : they rushed in thoughtless precipitation to an unprofitable end, and they believed that a Power irresistibly impelled them, and that that Power was the Will of God. These remarks are properly confined to the origin of the first crusade to that burst of pure fanaticism which was itself unmixed with worldly incentives, though it opened the field for other enterprises, proceeding from the usual motives of human action. An inattention to this distinc- tion has misled some writers, who, failing to discriminate between the circumstances which produced, and those which nourished, the crusades, have not taken an accurate view of either. A multitude of causes com- bined to impel the machine when it was once in motion, though the agency which launched it was simple and uniform. In Of those which the first place, by the success of the first expedition, an followed. important kingdom was established in the East. Im- mediately measures were taken to provide for its pro- tection, and secure its stability. Natives of most of the western states settled in Palestine. The Latin colony adopted the feudal discipline, and the common constitution of Europe. Hence a thousand links were extended of sympathy and of interest; and together they formed an * The success which had attended the Asiatic, and even Syrian, campaigns of Nice- phorus, Phocas, and John Zimisces (83 975) might have offered reasonable hopes to the ambition of the Crusaders, and almost justified the military policy of the expedition if ambition or policy had ever entered into their consideration. f In 1285, Honorius IV., in order to convert the Saracens, strove to establish at Paris schools for Arabic and other oriental languages. The Council of Vienna, in 1312, re- commended the same method ; and Oxford, Salamanca, Bologna, as well as Paris, were places selected for the establishment of the Professorships. But the decree appears to have remained without effect, until Francis I, called it into life. Chap. XXI.] A ttlSTORY OF THE CHURCH; 461 entirely new ground for exertion, and gave a different character to the movement which agitated the West. Henceforward, reciprocal relations ^ existed ; the honour of Christendom was now engaged to maintain its conquests over the unbeliever ; it was held base to relinquish a posses- sion, acquired through so many losses, even by those who might not think the losses counterbalanced by the possession. It is one thing to rush into a desperate enterprise, and another to encounter some additional risk in defence of that, which by much previous risk has been achieved. Not one of the sovereigns of Europe was either personally engaged in the first crusade, or very zealous in promoting it: it proceeded from* sources wholly distinct from the policy of courts and the springs of civil" government. But the second, and most of the following expeditions, were undertaken, some with the aid and countenance, others under the * very authority and direction, of the leading monarchs. It is unnecessary to observe how many different ingredients were thrown into the cup of fanaticism by such co-operation, obedience to the command, affection for the person, gratitude for the favour, hope from the generosity, of the prince and, what was scarcely less potent than these, the seal of approba- tion which stamped the practice, which gave it prevalence and fashion, which placed it among the ordinary means of distinction, among the legiti- mate duties of military service. . . Again, the policy, which mixed itself almost necessarily with the royal motives, entirely lost sight in some cases of the original object. The pollution of the holy places was forgotten in the fruitful prospect of the plains of Egypt, or of the commerce which thronged the African ports ; in such mariner, as to make it very question- able whether plunder, rather than conquest, was not the principal motive of three, at least, among the latest crusades. St. Louis himself was, perhaps, as politic as he was pious ; and it is not easy to perceive how the sufferings of the Holy Land could have been much alleviated by any advantages which he might have achieved before the walls of Tunis. & At any rate, though the same vows and intentions might still be professed, very different incentives were certainly proposed, and very different methods adopted, to accomplish them. The principles and motives of the Vatican, which are generally found so consistent, were subject to some fluctuation in the encouragement which it extended to the crusades. The The policy of feeling of Sylvester appears to have been the anticipa- the Popes. tion of that, which animated the first adventurers a century afterwards. Gregory VII. had more specific and tangible ob- * jects. His practical mind was not perhaps much moved by the tears of " Palestine and the tales of her pollution ; but he considered the union of * the rival churches, and the general triumph of the Christian over the ' Moslem cause, as projects not unworthy of the confederacy of the West, and of his own superintendence. The Popes of the 12th century followed, where they did not direct ' or inflame, the passion of their age ; and the successive armaments of martyrs were launched with the apostolical benediction on their holy " destination. But the designs of Innocent III. were of a different and * more selfish description ; and he did not fear to pervert to their accom- * plishment the machine entrusted to him for other purposes. The arms * which had been consecrated to the service of Christ, against the bias-.-, phemers of his name, were now turned against the domestic adversaries - of the See of Rome. The views and policy of Innocent were purely - ecclesiastical : they did not extend in any direction beyond the interests " 2 H 462 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXl. formidable title of ' The Irre- fragable Doctor.' Another and more attractive appellation was ' The Fountain of Life.' He entered into the Franciscan Order in 1222, and died at Paris twenty-three years afterwards. His most important work was a Commentary on the ' Book of the Sentences/ composed by the order of Innocent IV. f The words are Gibbon's applied to a different subject. I Fontenelle, we believe, (see Tiraboschi, Stor. Lett. Ital., vol. iv. p. i. lib. ii.) has somewhere said of St. Thomas Aquinas, ' that in another age and under other circum- stances he would have been Des Cartes.' No one ever questioned his genius and im- mense erudition ; or that he has intermixed some sensible remarks with the fashionable sophistry, only we should not value him too highly for this. A great mind should oppose the evil principles of the time at least it should lend no aid to them. Roger Bacon in the same age acted a nobler part. The Italians are justly proud of the success of their countrymen in the schools of Paris. Besides the three eminent ecclesiastics mentioned in the text, they enumerate, among the Parisian Professors of the same age, John of Parma, a Franciscan; Egidio da Roma, an Augustinian ; Agostino Trionfo of Ancona ; and Jacopo da Viterbo. Through the following century the series continued, though with diminished brilliancy and then it ceased. || Both these doctors are praised for professional disinterestedness. Bonaventura is related to have refused the archbishoprick of York ; Aquinas that of Naples, as well as other dignities. 474 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXI. pespised the abuse of reason. By this quality he has obtained, and in a "Teat degree merited, the eulogies of Gerson * ; who has pronounced (and the authority is respectable) that his works surpass in usefulness all those of his age, in regard to the spirit of the love of God and Christian devotion which speaks in him ; that he is profound without being prolix, subtle without being curious, eloquent without vanity, ardent without in- flation. There are many (says the critic) who teach the accuracy of doc- trine ; there are others who preach devotion ; there are few who in their writings combine both these objects. But they are united by St. Bonaven- tura, whose devotion is instructive, and whose doctrine inspires devotion. The celebrated controversy between the Realists and the Nominalists t, of which the origin was not long posterior to the general study of Aristotle, was continued with no great intermission till the days of Luther. The fourteenth century was particularly disturbed by its violence. Two of the leading champions of that age were John Duns Scotus J, and his disciple William of Occam. The former had ventured boldly to impugn some of the positions arid conclusions of St. Thomas Aquinas, and his opinions found many advocates. These formed the party of the Nominalists ; and since, in the political disputes of the day, they favoured the cause of the emperor, they fell under the spiritual denunciations of the Vatican. Again, the Dominicans for the most part rallied round the banners of Aquinas and the pope, while the Franciscans commonly defended the tenets of Scotus, a member of their own order. Thus the controversy assumed a new name, as its character became more rancorous ; and the ambitious polemics of that and of succeeding ages severally enlisted among the conflicting ranks of the Thomists and the Scotists. The prin- cipal points of theological difference between these renowned adversa- ries, were * the nature of the divine co-operation with the human will,' and ' the measure of divine grace' necessary for salvation. These were subjects which have employed the devout in every age, and provoked the perpetual exercise of reason. But the' production, which was more effectual, perhaps, than any other in exalting the reputation of Scotus, was his demonstration of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. The Dominicans maintained that the holy Virgin was not exempt from the stain of original sin ; the deeper devotion, or the bolder hypocrisy of the Franciscan supported the contrary opinion. That either party was right, it is beyond the capacity qf man to ascertain ; and it is clear, that both were equally absurd, in as far as both were equally positive. Yet, will it be believed that this inscrutable arid most frivolous question formed an important subject of difference in the Roman Catholic church a subject deemed not unworthy of the cognizance of popes and of councils for the space of more than two hundred years ? * See Dupin. Nouv. Biblioth. Cent. XIII., chap. iv. f Roscellinus, a native of Brittany, has the repute of having invented these opinions. He was opposed by Anselm, and compelled to abjure before a Council at Soissons, in 1092. He seems also to have incurred some danger from a popular tumult. He was exiled from France, and then passed a short time in England, where he gave great offence by censuring the concubinage of the clergy, attested by their numerous illegitimate children, and by calumniating (as is said) Archbishop Anselm. The writers of the Hist. Litt. de la France treat him throughout as a heretic but none of his writings (if any ever existed) now remain. i This the subtle doctor died in the year 1308. He was a native of Dunse in Scotland, and a Franciscan. j See Mosheim, Cent. XIV., p. ii., chap. iii. END OF PART THE FOURTH. CONTENTS OF PART V. CHAPTER XXII. Residence of the Popes at Avignon. Q.) History of the Popes Clement V. Council of Vienna Condemnation of the Templars John, XXII. his contest with Lewis of Bavaria supposed heresy Benedict XII. Clement VI. the Jubilee Innocent VI. Urban V. goes to Rome but returns to Avignon Gregory XI. dies at Rome. (II.) General history of the Church Decline of papal power Rapacity and profligacy of . the Court of Avignon Attempts at Reform Schism among the Franciscans their disputes with John XXII. and other Popes Change in the Imperial policy The Beghards The Lolhards Heresy and fate of Dulchms The Flagellants Conclusion. CHAPTER XXIII. The Grand Schism of the Roman Catholic Church. Turbulent election of Urban VI.. his harshness secession of the college to Anagni, and election of Clement VII. his retreat to Avignon division of Europe Boniface IX. succeeds Urban his extraordinary avarice Pietro di Luna (Benedict XIII.) succeeds Clement Attempts to heal the schism Boniface succeeded by Innocent VII. he by Angelo Corrario (Gregory XII.) his repu- tationCollusion of the two pretenders Council of Pisa their deposition and election of Alex- ander V., who is succeeded by John XXIII. Council of Constance escape and deposition of John Abdication of Gregory Conference of Perpignan and deposition of Luna Election of Martin V. Fate and character of Gregory Benedict and John. CHAPTER XXIV. Attempts of the Roman Catholic Church at Self-Reformation. Spirit manifested at the Council of Pisa Testimonies of Churchmen against ecclesiastical corrup- tion extent of their complaints Conduct of Alexander V. Council of Constance Gerson The Committee of Reform their labours nature of the opposition how their exertions are eluded- Election of Martin V. who succeeds in evading all efficient Reform Real objects of the Refor- mersRemarks Assembly of the Council of Basle Eugenius IV. Three objects of the Council Cardinal Julian Cesarini Struggle between the Council and the Pope Substance of the enactments of the Council for Church Reform New differences with Eugenius Council of Ferrara and Florence Cardinal of Aries Deposition of Eugenius Felix V. Confirmation of the liberties of the Gallican Church Conclusion. CHAPTER XXV. History of the Hussites. Wiclif his opinions introduced into Bohemia John Huss his proceedings arrival at Constance Safe-conduct of Sigismond Various charges and processes of the Council against him His firmness and execution Jerome of Prague his persecution vacillation and final execution Remarks Insurrection of the Bohemians their sanguinary and prolonged contest with the Church. CHAPTER XXVI. History of the Greek Church after its separation from the Latin. The Paulicians their history and opinions Various mystics Messalians, Quietists and others- Dispute on the God of Mahomet Attempts to re-unite the two Churches System of the Greek Church distinguished from Latin The Latin kingdom of Jerusalem duration and consequences Latin conquest of Constantinople Establishment of a Roman Catholic Church in Greece its endowments Embassy to Nice for the re-union its failure other similar endeavours* faith- less reconciliation at Lyons attempts renewed in the fourteenth century Negotiations with Eugenius IV. Council of Ferrara removed to Florence its deliberations Conditions and decree of union Reception of the Greek deputies on their return to Constantinople Violence of the Greeks unabated till the taking of Constantinople by Mahomet II. CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVII. History of the Popes, from Nicholas V. to Leo X. Nicholas V. his popular character Callixtus III. JEneas Sylvius or Pius II. his election exer- tions against the Turks Paul II. Sixtus IV. his literary pretensions Innocent VIII. Ro- derigo Borgia or Alexander VI. consummation of papal iniquity Pius III. Julius II. his warlike talents, enterprize and success Leo X. The Lateran Council convoked by Julius and carried to its conclusion by Leo. CHAPTER XXVIII. and last. Preliminaries of the Reformation. (I.) A review of the decline of the papal system in respect to its temporal power and pretensions- its internal constitution its discipline, and moral instruction and practice its spiritual innova- tions Festivals, controversies, &c. the mystics. (II.) On the endeavours of the Church to remove its own abuses to what limits they were confined On the exertions of Sectarians or Separatists how early they began, and to what objects they tended the treatment which they received from the Church Some distinguished Reformers of the fifteenth century A particular reference to the German Church The conclusion of this history. "VSITI Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 477 PART V. CHAPTER XXII. Residence at Avignon. f I.) History oftJie Popes. Clement V. conditions imposed on him by Philip he fixes hfs residence in France Charges against the Templars their seizure Council General of Vienne its three professed objects Condemnation and punishment of the Templars Remarks Question on the orthodoxy of Boniface VIII. Ecclesiastical abuses Attempt at Reform Elevation and character of John XXII. his avarice the apostolical chancery his contest with Lewis of Bavaria The Emperor advances to Rome creates a rival Pope fruitless issue of the struggle appeals from Pope to a General Council charges of heresy against John his opinion respecting the interme- diate State commotion in the Church his dying confession Remarks Benedict XII his virtues and endeavours to reform the Church Clement VI. Deputation from Rome its three objects the Jubilee multitude of pilgrims conduct of the Romans Temporal prerogatives exercised by this Pope Restrictions imposed in conclave on the future Pope Innocent VI. and instantly broken by him his character and objects disputes with the German Church Urban V. passed some time at Rome but returned to Avignon Gregory XI. deputation from Rome Catharine of Sienna her pretensions Embassy to Avignon interview with the Pope he goes to Rome and dies there Observations (II.) General history of the Church, its heresies, <;. (1.) De- cline of the papal power Intestine convulsions of the Ecclesiastical States consequent defi- ciencies in papal revenues means employed to replenish them profligacy of the Court of Avignon surpassing that of Rome Temporal weakness and dependence of the Avignon Popes Growing contempt for spiritual censures Appeals to General Council Disputes between the Pope and the Franciscans Diffusion of knowledge among the laity. (2.) Attempts at Reform feeble and ineffec- tual. (3.) The character of the rigid Franciscans Schism in that Order The Spirituals and Brethren of the Community Their treatment by Clement V. By John XXII. The Bull Gloriosam Ecclesiam Some Spirituals burnt for heresy their consequent increase they unite with Lewis of Bavaria The Pope aided by the Dominicans Remarks Charles IV. Change in the Imperial policy Triumph of the Pope and Inquisitors Final division of the Franciscans The Beghards The Lollards their origin and character their alleged opinions and mysticism Some contempo- rary institutions of the Church Heresy and persecution of Dulcinus The Flagellants their origin progress practice and sufferings Concluding observations. SECTION I. History of the Popes. WHEN Philip undertook to raise the archbishop of Bourdeaux to the pon* tifical chair, six conditions are believed to have been imposed by the mo- narch, and accepted by the subject. Five of them stipulated for the entire forgiveness of all the insults which had been offered to Boniface, and the Roman See ; for the restoration of the friends of Philip to com- munion and favour; for the power of exacting tenths for the five following years ; for the condemnation of the memory of Boniface ; for restitution of dignity to two degraded cardinals, and the creation of some others, friends of the king. The sixth was not then specified ; the mention of it was reserved for a more convenient season * ; and we may remark, that the others were obviously not suggested by any long-sighted policy aiming at the permanent humiliation of the Roman See, but rather by passion and temporary expediency. If we except the nomination of new cardinals, who would probably be French, there is not one among the conditions dictated, under the most favourable circumstances, by the great * Bzovius, Contin. of Baron. Annal. Ann. 1305, i. Fleury, liv. xc. 8. xlix. Gian- none, lib. xxii. cap. viii. Historians are not agreed what the sixth condition was some assert that it was to heap additional anathemas on Boniface, and burn his bones ; others suppose it to have been fulfilled by the condemnation of the Templars, others by the transfer of the papal residence to France. The violence of Philip's character, and the mere temporary character of most of his other stipulations, make the first, perhaps, the most probable conjecture. 21 478 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. enemy of the See, which tended in effect to reduce it to dependence on his own throne, or even materially to weaken any one of the foundations of its power. Nor should this surprise us ; since the violence which Philip exhibited throughout the contest, and the provocations which he received, make it probable, that his animosity was rather personal against Boniface, than political against the Church, or even Court, of Rome. The first act of the Pope elect was to assemble his reluctant cardinals at Lyons, to officiate at his coronation*; The Secession to Avignon, and his reign, which began in 1305 and lasted for nine years, was entirely passed in the country where it commenced. Clement V. was alternately resident at Bourdeaux, Lyons, and Avignon ; and he was the first among the spiritual descendants of St. Peter, who insulted the chair and tomb of the apostle by continual and voluntary absence : his example was followed by his suc- cessors until the year 1376. Thus for a period of about seventy years, the mighty pontifical authority, which was united by so many ties to the name of Rome, which in its nature was essentially Italian, and which claimed a boundless extent of despotism, was exercised by foreigners, in a foreign land, under the sceptre of a foreign prince. This humiliation, and, as it were, exile of the Holy Seet, has been compared by Italian writers to the Babylonian captivity ; and a notion, which may have originated in the accidental time of its duration, has been recommended by other points of similarity. French authors have regarded the secession to Avignon in a very different light but we shall venture no remarks on the general character of this singular period, until we have described the leading occurrences which distinguished it. Clement V. immediately fulfilled most of the stipulated conditions he restored the partizans of the French king to their honours ; he created several new cardinals, Gascons or Frenchmen ; he revoked the various decrees made by Boniface VIII. against France, even to the Bull Unam Sanctam at least he so qualified its operation, as not to extend it to a country which had merited that exception by its faithful attachment to the Roman See ; but when called upon to publish a formal condemnation of the memory of that pontiff, he receded from his engagement with the direct avowal, that such an act exceeded the limits of his authority, unless fortified by the sanction of a General Council. Very soon afterwards, rumours were propagated respecting various abominations, both religious and moral, perpetrated by the Order of the Knights Templars not in occasional licentiousness, but by the rule and practice of the society. Information of these offences was first communicated to Philip, afterwards to the pope; both parties at- tached, or affected to attach, infinite importance to it ; and at length it was determined to refer that question also to a General Council. The Pope issued orders for such an assembly, and appointed Vienne, in Dau- phiny, as the place of its meeting. In the meantime, Philip caused all the Templars in his dominions to be seized in one day (October 30, 1307); and Clement exerted himself with various, but very general, success to engage the other sovereigns of Europe to the same measure. * King Philip officiated also, and condescended to lead the Pope's horse by the bridle, according to the ancient fashion of Imperial humiliation. Lyons boasted to he a free city, and the bishop had, in fact, gained the principal authority there, to the exclusion of that of the king of France. f The Popes who reigned at Avignon, and who were all French, were Clement V. John XXII, Benedict XII, Clement VI. Inuocent VI. Urban V, Gregory XI. Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 479 On October 1, 1311, the Council assembled. Its professed objects were three: 1. To examine the charges against the Templars and secure the purity of the Catholic Faith. 2. To consult for the relief of the Holy Land. 3. To reform the Council of Vienne* manners of the clergy and the system of the Church *. The first of these terminated in the entire suppression of the Order; their property f was transferred to the Knights of the Hospital, who were considered a more faithful bulwark against the progress of the Infidel (it was thus that the second purpose of the assembly was also supposed to be effected ;) while their persons were consigned to the jus- tice of provincial Councils, to be guided by the character, confession, or contumacy of the individual accused. By these means the greater part unquestionably escaped with their lives ; but several were executed, and among these the Grand Master and the Commander of Normandy suf- fered under singular circumstances. They had confessed their guilt, and were consequently condemned by the bishops, to whom that office had been assigned by the Pope, to the mitigated punishment of perpetual imprisonment. On hearing this sentence, they retracted their confession and inflexibly protested their entire innocence. The cardinals remanded them for further trial on the morrow, but in the meantime, Philip, having learnt what had passed, and not brooking even so trifling a delay in the chastisement of an enemy, caused them to be burnt alive in a small island in the Seine, on the same evening. They endured their torments with great constancy ; and the assembled crowd, as it believed their guilt, was astounded by their firmness. On the reality of their guilt or innocence depends the character of Clement V. ; for it is not probable that he was deceived in a matter so important, involving the Probable Innocence lives and property of so numerous and powerful a of the Templars. body, and to a certain extent the interests and honour of so many kings and nations. It is true, that it was by Philip that the first attack was made both upon their character and their persons ; but the blast which he sounded was presently repeated by the Pope, and reiter- ated in every quarter of Europe. Again, the Templars were rich ; and notwithstanding the nominal disposal of their property which was made at Vienne, there were few princes who entirely lost so favourable an oppor- tunity for spoliation J. It is admitted, indeed, that Philip continually dis- claimed any avaricious motive for his aggression ; and that he does not appear in fact to have turned his success to those ends ; but he was irritated by their opposition to some former schemes, and against the Grand Master, in particular, he was known to entertain a personal and implacable animo- sity. ... As to the proofs of their guilt the confessions, which several are affirmed to have made, do not rest on any satisfactory evidence, though it seems probable, that some did really acknowledge all that was imputed to them. But of these, some may have been driven into weakness by t * Bzov. Coutin. Baron. Ann., 311, s. i. Fleury, 1. xci. sect. xxvi. f Excepting that in Spain and Portugal, which was consecrated to the formation of a new order, with the prospect of a Moorish Crusade, under the especial superintendence of the pope. We find it, moreover, affirmed by Dupin, Nouv. Biblioth. Cent. XI V. chap. ii. that the publication of the Bull for the dissolution of the order was prevented in Germany, and that the Templars were there acquitted by a Provincial Council. t As ths princes enjoyed the rents of the landed estates, until the commissioners of the Knights of Rhodes had made out their claims, there arose great delays in resigning them. Philip himself retained a certain sum for the expenses of the prosecution; but not sufficient to justify any suspicion of rapacity. 212 480 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap XXII. torment or terror ; while others, individually guilty, may have imputed to the society their private crimes. At any rate, their confessions are con- fronted by the firmness of many others, who repelled, under every risk and torture, the detestable accusations. Indeed many of the charges were of a nature so very monstrous *, so very remote from reason or nature, as almost to carry with them their own confutation at least, the most ex- plicit and unsuspicious evidence was necessary to establish their truth ; and none such was offered. Philip was more successful in his efforts to destroy an ancient and powerful Military Order, than to disgrace the memory of an insolent pon- tiff; and the Council, which suppressed the Templars with such little show of justice or humanity, contended with invincible eagerness for the reputation of Boniface. It was perseveringly attempted to attach the stain of heresy to his name ; but though the king pursued this design with all the vehemence of malignity and revenge, the prelates assembled at Vienne, three hundred in number f? unanimously proclaimed his spotless orthodoxy that he died, as he had lived, in the bosom of the Catholic faith. Disappointed in this favourite hope, the king was compelled to seek conso- lation in an edict published at the same time by the pope, which accorded a gracious pardon to the enemies and calumniators of Boniface. For the third and worthiest object of the labour of the Council, an abundant harvest was provided by the multiplied abuses The abuses of the Church. It was complained that (in France at of the Church, least) the Lord's day was more generally devoted to business or to pleasure than to divine worship ; that the ecclesiastical jurisdiction was frequently delegated to improper per- sons, and by them so scandalously perverted, that the censures of the Church had lost their power and their terrors ; that many contemptible individuals, defective alike in learning and in morals, were admitted to the priesthood ; that prebends and other dignities, being now in most cases filled by the pope, seldom by the bishop, were usually presented to strangers and even foreigners, men of dissolute morals, elevated by suc- cessful intrigues at the Court of Rome ; and that thus the young and deserving aspirants for ecclesiastical promotion were frequently com- pelled to abandon the profession with disgust, and invariably became the bitterest and most dangerous enemies of the Church. Another abuse was, the immoderate indulgence of pluralities ; many held at the same time four or five, some not fewer than a dozen benefices. Another evil mentioned, is the non-residence of many of the higher clergy, occasioned by the necessity of personally watching their interests at the Vatican. The sumptuous luxury in which they lived, and the negligence and inde- cency with which the divine services were performed, constituted another * They are contained (see Bzovius, Ann. 1308, s. iii.) in six charges and fourteen ques- tions involving infidelity, blasphemy, and the most abominable impurities. That which the sufferers appear most generally to have confessed under the torture, was the public denial of Christmas a condition of admission into the Order, attended with insults to the cross. We need scarcely refer the reader to the excellent remarks of Voltaire and Sis- mondi on this subject. The latter especially confirms his opinion, that the Templars were sacrificed, by contemporary authority and substantial reasons. Ital. Hep., ch. xix. t Bzov. ad ann. 1312, i. A very tedious process against the orthodoxy of Boniface had been carried on in 1310, before the pope at Avignon, where Nogaret appeared as his principal accuser, and the agent of Philip. But Clement, unwilling on the one hand to offend the King, and not daring on the other to scandalize the Church, interposed so many delays, that Philip at length decided to await the decision of the General Council. See Fleury, 1, xci. 8. xliii. Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 481 charge against the beneficed clergy. The profligacy and simony, publicly practised at the Roman Court, swelled the long list of its acknowledged deformities *. On the dissolution of the Council, Clement published, in 1313, its canons, which were fifty-six in number. Most of these were, indeed, nominally directed to the reformation of the Church; the progress of heresy was vigorously opposed ; and attempts were made to prevent or heal some divisions now beginning to spring up within the Church : sub- jects to which we shall presently recur. Some constitutions likewise regulated the relation of the bishops to the Monastic Orders ; and others imposed greater decency on the lower f orders of the clergy; but the grand and vital disorders of the Church, those from which its real danger proceeded, and which were in fact the roots whence the others started into life and notice, these were left to flourish unviolated, and to spread more and more deeply into the bosom of the communion. Clement V. died \ very soon afterwards, and his death was followed by an obstinate difference between the French and Italian cardinals respecting the nation of his Election of John XXII. successor. This was prolonged by the impa- tient interference of the populace , excited, as it would seem, by some Gas- con soldiers, who proposed to terminate the dispute by seizing the persons of the Italians. Accordingly, they set fire to the conclave ; but the terrified cardinals escaped by another exit, and immediately dispersed and con- cealed themselves in various places of refuge. Such, indeed, was their panic, or at least their disinclination, that two years elapsed before they could be reassembled. At length, after a second deliberation, which lasted forty days, they elected James of Euse, a native of Cahors, car- dinal bishop of Porto such long delay and repeated consultation did it require, to add to the list of pontifical delinquents the name of John XXII. 1 That Pope was of very low origin, the son of a shoemaker or a tapster J ; but he had natural talents and a taste for letters, which were early dis- * The pope ordered all the bishops to bring with them to the Council expositions of all which seemed to demand correction. Two of these memoirs are still extant, and from them the abuses here briefly enumerated are taken. See Fleury, liv. cxi. s. li., Hi. Semler, sec. xiv. cap ii. ' Infinita fere sunt quse reformari deberent ; ignorantur quasi totaliter a Christianis articuli fidei et alia quae ad religionem et salutem animarum pertinent . . . Monachi non vivunt in suo monasterio ; sicut equus effrenis discurrunt, mercan- tur, et alia enormia faciunt, de quibus loqui verecundum est et turpe . . praelati non possunt bonis personis hodie providere obstante multitudine Clericorum apud Curiam Romanam impetrantium, qui quidem nunquam Ecclesiam intrarunt . . etiam pueri obtinent dignitates . . Utinam Cardinates, qui sunt animalia pennata, plena oculis ante et retro, talia perspiciant . . similes sibi similes eligunt . . bene dico opus esse in Capite etiam et in membris reformatione.' The author of this bold appeal to the Head, which was not itself excepted from the general censure, is not known to posterity the document is given by Raynaldus e Cod. Vaticano. Bzovius (anu. 1310, sec. vi.) enume- rates, at great length, fifteen of the principal abuses with which the Church was charged on this occasion. f The following is the Twenty-second Canon. ' Clerici conjugati carnificum seu macellariorum aut tabernariorum officium publice et personaliter exercentes, vestes virgatas, partitas, neque statui suo conducentes, portantes severius puniantur. See Bzovius, Contin. Ann. Baron., ann. 1313, sec. i. J He died immensely rich, through the sale of benefices and other such traffic ; and the moment that he was known to have expired, all the inmates of his palace are stated to have rushed with one consent to his treasury : not a single servant remained to watch the body of his master, insomuch that the lights which were blazing round fell down and set fire to the bed. The flames were extinguished ; but not till they had consumed half the body of the richest Pope who had yet governed the Church. Sismondi believes this anecdote. The conclave was held at Carpentras, a place on the banks of the Rhone, not far from Avignon. It happened that the Court was assembled there when the Pope died ; it therefore became the legal place for the new election. || Giovanni Villani, lib, ix, c, Ixxix, Giannone, lib. xxii, cap, viii. 482 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIT. covered 'and encouraged, and his gradual rise to dignity in the Church was not disgraced by any notorious scandals *. But he had not long been in possession of the highest eminence, before he abandoned himself, without scruple or shame, to his predominant passion, avarice. He was not, indeed, exempt from the ambitious arrogance without the Church, and the vexatious intolerance within it, which seem at this time to have been communicated by the chair of St. Peter to its successive possessors in a greater or less degree to each, according to his previous disposition to those qualities ; but avarice was the vice by which John was indivi- dually and peculiarly characterized, and to which he gave, during his long pontificate, the most intemperate indulgence. Not contented with the usual methods of papal extortion, he displayed his ingenuity in the invention of others more effectual ; he enlarged and extended the Rule of the Apostolical Chancery t; he imposed the The Apostolical Chancery, payment of annates on Ecclesiastical Bene- fices; he multiplied the profitable abuse of dispensations ; he increased in France the number of bishoprics ; and commonly took advantage of the vacancy of a rich See, in order to make five or six translations, promoting each prelate to a dignity, somewhat wealthier than that, which he had before held : so that all were con- tented, (says GiannoneJ) while all paid their fees. In a word, he considered kingdoms, cities, castles and territories to be, the real patri- mony of Christ, and held the true virtue of the Church to consist, not in contempt of the world and zeal for the faith and evangelical doctrine, but in oblations and tithes, and taxes, and collections, and purple, and gold and silver. Such is the language of the Italian historians, and if it be somewhat exaggerated by their general prejudices against the popes of Avignon, the immense treasures which were unquestionably amassed * The violent party- writers of the day, Franciscans and Ghibelines, who heaped every epithet of abuse upon the hostile name of John XXII., have been too hastily credited by some modern writers. Giovanni Villani admits that he was modest in his manner of life, sober, not luxurious, nor profuse in his personal expenditure. In the course of almost every night, he rose to say his office and to study ; he celebrated mass almost every day ; was easy of access and rapid in the performance of business. He was hasty in temper, of an informed and penetrating understanding, and magnanimous in affairs of importance. (See Fleury, 1. xciv. s. xxxix.) These qualities and habits at least repel the charge of universal profligacy which has been brought against him. Nevertheless, it. is the opinion of Sismondi (chap, xxix.) that his elevation was not less ascribable to his intrigues and effrontery than to his talents ; and the public acts of his pontificate require no comment. f He reduced the system of Apostolical taxation to a code of canon law. A deacon or sub- deacon might be absolved for murder, for about twenty crowns ; a bishop for about three hundred livres : every crime had its price. See Denina, 14, vi. $ We might be disposed to receive this with some little suspicion, even from Giannone since he was not only an Italian, but a decided anti-Gallican also were not the facts directly derived from Giov. Villani. Giov. Villani (lib. xi. cap. xx.) asserts (on the authority of his own brother, resident at Avignon, who received his information from the treasurers of the pope) that the trea- sure found on the death of John XXII. amounted to more than eighteen millions of florins in gold coin ; while that in services of the table, crosses, crowns, mitres and other trinkets of gold and precious stones, rose to about seven millions more total, twenty-five millions of golden florins. The greater part of this was amassed by John, and chiefly by his reservations of all the benefices of all the collegiate Churches of Christendom. His ordi- nary pretext was the liberation of the Holy Land. The ' Storia or Nuova Cronica,' of Giovanni Villani, a citizen of Florence, begins at the earliest age and continues to the year of his death, 1348. It chiefly relates to the affairs of Florence, and is most instructive during the last century. His brother Matteo continued the History (with an addition by his own son Philip) as far as the year 1364. Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 483 by John, prepare us to believe much that is asserted respecting the me- thods of his exaction, But the circumstance, by which this pontificate was most distinguished, and which for a moment raises us from the sordid details of fraud and extortion to the recollection of Contest with the loftier vices of the Gregories and the Innocents, Louis of Bavaria. was a contest which the Pope perseveringly main- tained with the Emperor, Louis of Bavaria. Having entered at greater length, perhaps, than was necessary into the description of the two former conflicts between the empire and the holy see, and of that also between Philip and Boniface, we shall not pursue the particulars of this last and feeblest effort of declining papacy. The leading events are briefly these. The Electors assembled at Frankfort in 1314 were divided ; and while some chose Louis for successor to the throne, others supported Frederic, Archduke of Austria. John * refused to confirm either of the Pretenders, and they continued to dispute the empire with the sword till the year 1323, when Frederic was defeated and taken prisoner. The Duke of Bavaria then took upon himself the imperial administration, without at all soliciting the 'sanction of the Pope. Thereupon the latter pronounced sentence against him, and prepared to support Leopold, the brother of Frederic. Louis boldly appealed to a General Council, and to a future and legitimate Pope, and he received in return an ineffectual sentence of excommunication and deposition. In the mean time, the war between the opposite parties had been maintained with great fury in Italy, and upon the whole to the advantage of the Guelphs, through the powerful aid of the King of Naples, still faithful to the Roman see. Consequently Louis was pressed to cross the Alps. He assembled a parliament at Milan, and assumed with great solemnity the iron crown. From Milan he advanced to Rome : the cele- rity of his march anticipated all opposition, and the ceremony of his coronation was there performed, with abundant pomp and acclamation, in January, 1328. Vigorous measures of hostility were at the same time adopted a sentence of degradation against John XXII., and the appoint- ment of a new and imperial Pope, who assumed the name of Nicholas V. But though an emperor might at this time be sufficiently powerful to repel with impunity the pontifical censures, his aggressive attempts were at least as futile as those of his adversary. Nicholas was rejected by the Catholic world ; and, after two years of vain pretension, surrendered his title and his personf to John. The Emperor had been previously compelled to retire from Rome. So that, after a fruitless contest of about seven years, the relative situation of the combatants was little altered ; and the sentences * In a bull published in 1317, John maintained that all imperial vicars lost their au- thority at the death of the Emperor, and that it devolved on the Pope. ' God himself/ , he continued, ' has confided the empire of the earth, as well as that of heaven, to the sovereign pontiff. During the interregnum, all the rights of the empire devolve upon the church ; and he who, without the permission of the apostolic see, continues to exer- cise the functions entrusted to him by the Emperor in his lifetime, offends against religion, plunges into crime, and attacks the divine Majesty itself.' See Sismondi, Rep. It., ch. xxix. This claim was pressed more than once by the Avignon Popes the more eagerly because the legitimacy of c the King of the Romans ' was involved in that of the Emperor ; and the Pope, who pretended to the prerogatives of the one, had a nearer interest in usurping the functions of the other. } According to the account of Giovanni Villani (lib. x. cap. clxiv), he was delivered up by the Pisans, and sent to Avignon. He threw himself at the feet of the Pope, and prayed for mercy : e con bel sermone e autorita se coufesso peccatore eretico col Bavero insieme, che fatto 1' havea. It should be added, that John treated him extremely well, and that he died a natural death at Avignon three years afterwards. 484 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. of degradation and deposition, mutually reiterated, had no other effect than to prove to the world (though not so to the individuals engaged) that there was something in the claims of both parties extravagant and unfounded 3 and that the temporal authority on the one hand, and the spiritual on the other, though occasionally confounded by the abuse of both, were in fact, as they were in essence and origin, independent. We observe that, in one respect at least, Louis deviated during this contest from the tactics of his two predecessors, and adopted those of the French King. The appeal from the authority of the Pope to that of a General Council was the severest wound which could be inflicted on papal" arrogance. It was more than that, since it led almost necessarily to the limitation of papal power. In an age of darkness, such an appeal might have been treated as a wanton, though bitter insult. But reason was at length awakened, and men were beginning to consider what ought to be, as well as what had been. The promulgation of a new and grand ecclesiastical principle, on the authority of a king and an emperor, would excite some consideration even among the most bigoted ; and there would be few who did not begin to entertain a question respecting the spiritual omnipotence of the Pope. , Another measure was taken by the Emperor, also after the example of Philip, which tended more directly to the same Charges of Heresy end. In the Assembly held at Milan, at which against John XXII. several prelates attended, John XXII. was for- mally impeached on the charge of heresy. Sixteen articles were specified, in which he erred against the constitutions of the General Councils ; and he was pronounced to have virtually forfeited the pontifical dignity. It was a bold proceeding in Louis, on the judgment of a provincial meeting of his own partizans, to convict the Vicar of Christ of heretical depravity*. It was indeed to repel usurpation by usurpation, and to seize the spiritual sword in his strife to recover the material. The accusations were probably false, and certainly fruitless : they acquired no general credit at the time, nor have they adhered to the memory of the accused. Nevertheless, the mere assumption of papal fallibility in matters of faith by two powerful monarchs, and the vigour of the measures taken on that assumption, naturally confirmed the confidence of those whom reason had already led to the same conclusion. But it also happened very strangely, that the same extraordinary charge was again incurred by John XXII. towards the end of his life, and with much greater appearance of reason. In some public discourses delivered in the course of the years 1331 and 1332, he had rashly declared his opinion, that the souls of the faithful, in their intermediate state, were indeed permitted to behold Christ as a man ; but that the face of God, or the Divine Nature, was veiled from their sight until their reunion with the body at the last dayf. The publication of this new doctrine produced a * The Pope's disputes with the Spiritual Franciscans had raised a considerable party, even in the church, against him. Besides, all the theologians and sectarians, who were discon- tented with papal government, declared in favour of Louis. See the latter part of this chapter. f Mosh., Cent. XIV., p. ii., ch.ii. The recompense of the saints, before the coming of Jesus Christ, was the bosom of Abraham j after his coming, his passion, and ascension, their recompense, till the day of judgment, is to be under the altar of God, that is, under the protection and consolation of the humanity of Jesus Christ. But after the judgment they shall be on the altar, that is, on the humanity of Jesus Christ, because then they shall behold not only his humanity, but also his divinity as it is in itself; for they shall see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.' These are the expressions of John, as given by Fleury, liv. xciv., sect. xxi. Chap, XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 485 deep sensation throughout Christendom. The immediate admission to the beatific Vision, a received and popular tenet, had been openly impugned by the highest spiritual The Beatific Vision. authority : it became necessary either to resign the tenet or to condemn the Pope. Robert, King of Sicily, warmly exhorted John, whom he had attached by a long and useful alliance, to retract the offensive declaration. Philip VI. of France united with equal ardour in the same solicitation. The most learned Dominicans, together with all the doctors and divines of Paris, humbly urged the same entreaty. Laymen joined with churchmen, the friends of the Pontiff with his bitterest enemies, in rejecting and denouncing his error. The Pope was so far moved by such general and powerful interference, that he assembled, at the close of 1333, his Cardinals in public consistory ; and after having caused to be read in their presence all the passages of all writers who had treated the subject, (the labour of five days,) he protested that he had not designed to publish a decision contrary to Scripture or the orthodox faith ; and that, if he had so erred, he expressly revoked his error. This expla- nation may possibly have been considered somewhat equivocal ; at least it had not the effect of allaying the irritation which prevailed, and a second consistory was appointed for the same purpose in the December following. But on the evening preceding its assembly, John was seized by a mortal malady. Nevertheless, he summoned his Cardinals around him, and one of the last acts of his long life (he died at 90) was to read in their pre- sence a bull, containing the following declaration : ' We confess and be- lieve that souls purified and separated from their bodies are assembled in the kingdom of heaven in paradise, and behold God and the Divine Essence face to face clearly, in as far as is consistent with the condition of a separated soul. Anything which we may have preached, said, or written contrary to this opinion, we recall and cancel*/ Still even the expiring confession of the Pontiff was not considered sufficiently explicit to satisfy the measure of orthodoxy ; and thus it came to pass that John XXII., after having ruled the apostolical church for above eighteen years, which he passed for the most part in amassing treasurest, in fomenting warlike tumults, and in chastising heretics, died himself under the general imputa- tion of heresy. But the error of the pontifical delinquent was discreetly veiled by the church which it scandalized ; and when Benedict XII., his successor, hastened, in the year following, to restore the unanimity of the faithful respecting the Beatific Vision, he described it as a question which John was preparing to decide, when he was prevented by deathj. The reasons which gave such popularity to the orthodox opinion on this subject, and excited such very general opposition to the other, were chiefly these: If the Virgin, the Saints, and Martyrs, were not yet admitted to the Divine presence ; if they were only in distant and imperfect communi- cation with the Deity, it was absurd to uphold their mediatorial office ; it was vain to supplicate the intercession of beings who had no access to the judgment-seat of Christ. Moreover, the mere insult thus offered to the dignity of the saints, and the disparagement of their long-acknowledged * Bzov., Ann. 1334. i. Fleury, liv. xciv., sect, xxxviii. f In the histories of his life we find many edicts directed against alchymists and the adulterers of coin, proving at least how much of his attention was turned in that direc- tion. He issued money from the pontifical mint, and counterfeited, with some loss of reputation, the florins of Florence. Giov. Villani, lib. ix., cap. clxx. I In the bull Benedicts Deus^ of which the substance is given by Fleury, liv. xciv., sect. xliv. 486 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. merits, were offences very sensibly felt and resented throughout the Catholic world. Another reason is likewise mentioned ; and it may, in fact, have been the most powerful motive of dissatisfaction if the dan- gerous opinion were once established, that the souls of the just, when liberated from purgatory, must still await the day of judgment for their recompense, the indulgences granted by the Church would be of no avail ; 'and this (as the King of France very zealously proclaimed) would be effectually to vitiate the Catholic faith * ! ' Benedict XII. was born at Saverdun, in the county of Foix, and was the son of a baker. He possessed considerable theological Benedict XII. learning, but such little talent for the management of an intriguing court, that he suspected and proclaimed his own incapacity f for the pontifical functions. But it proved other- wise ; for he brought to that office a mind sensible of the corruption which surrounded him, and of the abuses which disfigured his Church, and he employed his useful administration in endeavours to remedy such of them as were placed within his reach. In the first exercise of his power, he dismissed to their benefices a vast number of courtly ecclesiastics, who preferred the splendour, and perhaps the vices, of Avignon to the discharge of their pastoral duties. A large body of cavaliers had been maintained by the pomp of his predecessor, with whose services Benedict immediately dispensed. He was sparing in the pro- motion of his own relatives, lest the king should make them the means of exerting influence over himself. He undertook the serious reform of the Monastic Orders not confining his view to the less powerful communi- ties, but purifying, with indiscriminate severity, the poor and the opulent, the Mendicants, Benedictines j, and Augustinians ; and the Order of Citeaux, to which he had himself belonged, was the first object of his cor- rection. He established numerous schools within the monasteries, and also compelled the young ecclesiastics to frequent the universities of Paris, Oxford, Toulouse, and Montpellier. In the education of the clergy he saw * See the end of the Tenth Book of Giovanni Villani. In the course of the controversy, excited solely by his own vanity, John professed the most impartial desire for truth ; but it was observed that he showered his benefices most liberally upon those who supported the new opinion. Philip of France came boldly forward as the champion of orthodoxy, and the inviolable unity of the Church * dicendo,laicamente come fidel Christiano, che invano si pregherebbero i Santi, 6 harebbesi sperenza di salute per li loro meriti, se Nostra Donna Santa Maria, e Santo Giovanni, e Santo Piero, e Santo Paolo e li altri Santi non potessero vedere la Deitade al fino al di del Giudizio, e havere perfetta beatitudine in vita eterna ; e che per quella opinione ogni indulgenza e perdonanza data per antico per Santa Chiesa, 6 che si desse, era vana. Laqual cosa sarebbe grande errore e guastamento della Fede Catholica.' f The cardinals, twenty -four in number, agreed with an unusual decision and unani- mity, ascribed by some to divine inspiration, by others to a ridiculous mistake. Jacques Fournier (such was his name) being also a cardinal, was present at his own election, and when he heard the determination of his brethren, he reproached them with having elected an ass. He was certainly the least eminent member of the Sacred College; and to that circumstance, according to Giovanni Villani (lib. xi. cap. xxi.), he was indebted Petrarch Te ctii Telluris pariter Pelagique supremum Contulit Imperium virtus meritumque pudorque. Yet we observe (in Bzovius, ann. 1339, a. 1,) that on one occasion this virtuous pontiff reserved the appointment to all the prelacies of all the churches for the space of two years. Did he overlook in his reforming zeal the abuses by which he profited ? About twenty years later, an Archbishop of Armagh complained, that when he was Chap. XXIL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 487 the only reasonable assurance for the stability of the Church. Lastly, he even displayed a willingness to restore the papal residence to Italy, if it should appear that his Italian subjects were desirous of his presence ; but the Imperialists were at that moment so powerful, and the party-spirit so highly inflamed, that he received little encouragement in that design. Clement VI., who succeeded Benedict, in the year 1342, did not imitate his virtues ; but while, in his public deportment, he more nearly followed the footsteps of John XXI I., he appears Clement VI. even to have outstripped that pontiff in the license of his private life. He was scarcely installed in his dignity, when he was ad- dressed by a solemn deputation from the Roman people. It consisted of eighteen members*, one of whom was Petrarch ; and it was charged with three petitions. The first was, that Clement would accept, person- ally and for his life only, the offices of Senator and Captain, together with the municipal charges ; the second, that he would return to the possession of his proper and peculiar See ; the third, that he would anticipate the Secular Jubilee ordained by Boniface VIII., and appoint its celebration in fak fiftieth year. The Pope accepted for himself the proffered dignities, but without prejudice to the rights of the See ; to the second, which was an important and wise request, he returned a friendly but decided refusal ; but the third, which only tended to swell the profitable abuses of religion, he accorded without hesitation. The following is the substance of the bull which he issued (in 1343) for this purpose ' That the love of God has acquired for us an infinite treasure of merits, to which those of the Virgin and all the Saints are joined ; that lie has left the dispensation of that treasure to St. Peter and his successors; and consequently, that Pope Boniface VIII. had rightfully ordained, that all those who in the year 1300, and every following centurial year, should worship for a specified number of days in the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul, at Rome, should obtain full indulgence for all their sins. But we have considered (he continues) that in the Mosaic Law, which Christ came spiritually to accomplish, the. fiftieth year was the jubilee and remission of debts ; and havkig also regard to the short duration of human life, we accord the same indulgence to all henceforward who shall visit the said churches, and that of St. John Lateran, on the fiftieth year. If Romans, they must attend for at least thirty following days ; if foreigners, for at least fifteen/ This proclamation was diligently published in every part of Christen- dom, and excited an incredible ardour for the Pilgrimage. During a winter of unusual Celebration of the Jubilee. inclemency, the roads were thronged with devout travellers, many of whom were compelled to pass the night without shelter or nourishment, in the fear of robbery, and the certainty of extortion. The streets of Rome presented for some months the spec- tacle of a vast moving multitude, continually flowing through them, and inexhaustibly renovated. The three appointed churches f were thronged resident at Oxford, the University contained thirty thousand students ; whereas, at the time when he wrote (in 1358) it contained only six thousand. The reason given for the decrease was, that the Mendicants, who occupied several of the chairs, had seduced so many of the young students into their Order, that parents were no longer willing to expose their children to that risk. * The orator on this occasion was Colas di Rienzo, afterwards the Tribune of the Republic. j- ' In visiting the three churches (says Matt. Villani), including the distance from his lodging and the return to it, each pilgrim performed about eleven miles. The streets 488 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. with successive crowds, eager to throw off the burden of their sins, and also prepared to deposit some pious offering' at every visit. It is affirmed, that from Christmas till Easter, not fewer than a million, or even twelve hundred thousand strangers, were added to the population of the pontifical city ; for as many as returned home after the completion of the prescribed ceremonies, were replaced by fresh bands of credulous sinners, and those again by others, in such perennial abundance, that, even during the late and unwholesome season of the year, the number was never reduced below two hundred thousand. Every house was converted into an inn ; and the object of every Roman was to extort the utmost possible profit from the occasion: neither shame nor fear .restrained the eagerness of their avarice. While the neighbouring districts abounded with provisions, the citizens refused to admit a greater supply, than was scarcely sufficient to satisfy, at the highest expense, the simplest demands of the pilgrims ; and thus those deluded devotees, after surmounting all other difficulties on their errand of superstition, were at length delivered up to be starved, as well as plundered, by the inhabitants of the Holy City. Such was the moral effect produced upon the Roman people by a festival, which was established for their pecuniary profit, and which disturbed the social system through every rank and profession, from one end of Christendom to the other*. Clement renewed with Louis of Bavaria those vexatious disputes, which had been begun by John XXIL, and conducted with so little advantage or honour to either party. Neither had the present difference, after many haughty words, any lasting result ; though it seems probable, that the Pope might have succeeded in exciting a civil war in the dominions of his adversary, had not the latter escaped that calamity by death. The same pontiff defended his temporal prerogatives in a correspondence with Edward III. of England. At another time, publicly and in full consistory, he presented, to Alphonso of Spain the sceptre of the Fortunate Islands. Nor was this right contested : the less so, perhaps, since St. Peter had claimed, in much earlier ages, the peculiar disposal of all insularf domains. Clement also made an important acquisition to the patrimony of the Apostle by the purchase of the city of Avignon. The jurisdiction over that territory belonged to the Queen of Naples, as Countess of Provence; and for 80,000 golden florins she consented, in a moment of poverty, to part with the valuable possession. A splendid palace, which Benedict XII. had begun, was now completed and amplified by Clement ; and the luxury of the cardinals followed, at no very humble distance, the example of the popes. These circumstances seemed to remove still farther the prospect of the Pope's restoration to his legitimate residence, and thus heightened were perpetually full, so that every one was obliged, whether on foot or on horseback, to follow the crowd ; and this made the progress very slow and disagreeable. The Holy Napkin of Christ was shown at St. Peter's every Sunday and solemn festival, for the consolation of the pilgrims (Romei). The press then was great and indiscreet; so it happened that sometimes two, sometimes four, or six, or even twelve, were found there crushed or trampled to death.' * This account is abbreviated from Mattoo Villani, lib. i. cap. Ivi. It is to be observed, that the Pope received a share of the oblations left by the pilgrims in the different churches. Clement VI. employed the fruits in an unsuccessful attempt to recover the property of his church from the nobles, who had usurped it. t Urban II., in his Bull of 1091, presented the island of Corsica to the Bishop of Pisa ; and we all recollect that our Henry II. received from Adrian IV. the donation of Ireland. En quoi (says Fleury) ce qui me paroit le plus remarquable n'est pas la pre- tention des Papes, mais la credulite des Princes. But credulity, like mauy other weaknesses, is very commonly the offspring of interest. Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 489 the alarm, which some were beginning to entertain for the stability of the papal power. Clement VI. died five years afterwards, in 1352 celebrated for the splendour of his establishment, for the sumptuousness of his table, and for his magnificent display of horses, squires, and pages ; for the scanda- lous abuse of his patronage ; for manners little becoming the sacred pro- fession, and for the most unrestrained and unmuffled profligacy*. During the vacancy of the see, the cardinals, while in conclave, passed certain resolutions for the limitation of the ponti- fical power and the extension of their own wealth Oath or Capitulation and privileges ; and the whole body bound them- taken in Conclave. selves by oath to observe them. One of their number was then elected, Etienne Aubert, bishop of Ostia, who took the name of Innocent VI. ; and almost his earliest act was to annul, as pope, what he had subscribed as cardinal. We must detest his private perjury ; yet, as the Sacred College had no power of legislation, unless under the presidency of the pope, and as their office while in conclave was expressly restricted to the election of a pope, their constitutions could' not legally be binding either on the church or on the future pontiff. The attempt of the cardinals is chiefly important, as it shows the power and the arrogance into which they had risen during the disorders of the Church ; and the conduct of the pope is remarkable, as having furnished an example and a plea to several of his successors, who violated similar engagements in after times with the same perfidy. In every instance the future pope was a voluntary party to the compact deliberately made in conclave ; in most cases he confirmed it after his election ; he finally broke or evaded it in all. Yet Innocent VI. was a man of simple manners and unblemished moral reputation ; and having found the Church nearly in the same condition in which John XXII. bequeathed it to Innocent VI. Benedict, he imitated the latter in his judicious efforts to reform it. But, though he held the See for more than nine years, it seems doubtful whether his mild and perhaps feebly executed measures were effectual in removing any important abuse. At least, in the year 1358 we perceive him engaged in a dispute with his German clergy, not respecting the relaxation of their discipline, but upon a subject which was usually much dearer to the Popes of Avignon. Inno- cent demanded an extraordinary subsidy of the tenth of all ecclesiastical revenues, for the use of the apostolical chamber. The clergy of the three provinces of Treves, Mayence, and Cologne boldly refused payment ; the spirit of interested opposition spread rapidly ; and all orders of ecclesias- tics throughout the whole empire united to resist the demand. The Pope yielded without struggle or remonstrance ; but he immediately sought his consolation in the exercise of one of the grossest usurpations' of his See. * See Matt. Villani, lib. iii. cap. 43. He delighted to aggrandize his relatives, by con- ferring on them baronies in France, and raising them, however young and abandoned, to the highest dignities. 'At that time there was no regard to learning or virtue j it sufficed to satiate cupidity with the Red Hat Huomo fu di convenevole scienzia, molto cavallaresco, poco religiose. Delle femine essendo Archivescovo non si guardo, ma trapasso il modo de' secolari giovani Baroni : e nel Papato non sene seppe contenere ne occultare ; ma alle sue camere audavano le grandi dame, come i prelati, e Ira 1' altre una Contessa di Torenna fu tanto in suo piacere, che per lei faceva gran parte delle grazie sue. Quando era infermo le Dame il servivano, e governavono come congiunte parenti gli altri secolari. II tesoro della Chiesa stribui con larga mano. Delle Italiane discordie poco si euro, &c.' We observe, that some of the cardinals so appointed incurred the severe reproach of luuQcent VI, by their undisguised, debaucheries, Matt. Villan, lib, iv, cap. Ixxvii. 490 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. He sent his messengers into every part of Germany, with orders to col- lect half the revenues of all vacant benefices, and to reserve* them for the use of the Holy See. The Emperor (Charles IV.) approved the resistance of his bishops 1 1 but on the one hand he denounced, in the strongest language, their pride, their avarice, and luxurious indulgences ; while, on the other, he warmly demanded of the Nuncio from Avignon, wherefore the pontiff was so forward in taxing the property of the clergy, so remiss and languid in the restoration of their discipline? We should add, however, that Innocent, on his side, did not disregard that appeal, but turned himself to restrain the vices of the German prelates ; while the Emperor exerted his authority to protect them from the spoliations to which they were perpetually liable from powerful laymen. He was succeeded, in 1362, by Urban V., whose reign was distinguished by the first serious attempt to restore the pontifical court to Urban V. Rome. On the solicitation of his Italian subjects, urged by the eloquence of Petrarch }, and on an understanding of perfect friendship and mutual co-operation with the emperor, he aban- doned the splendid security of Avignon, and departed, with his reluctant court, for Rome. On his way, a popular tumult at Viterbo dismayed and even endangered some of the cardinals ; but no other impediment was offered ; and in October, 1367, the pope once more occupied the half-dismantled palace of his predecessors. He divided a peaceful resi- dence of about three years between Rome and Montefiascone, where he passed the summer months ; and his alliance with Charles IV. of * Even the see of Avignon was left without a bishop during this and the preceding pontificate ; it was reserved, and its revenues usurped by these popes at their own pleasure. Thus it would seem that the reforms of Innocent VI. were not more disinterested than those of Benedict. See Vita Urban! V. ap. Baluz. and Baluzius's Notes. f In an assembly of the princes of the empire held on this subject in 1359, Conrad d' Alzeia, Count Palatine, who was charged with the defence of the clergy, addressed the meeting to this effect : ' The Romans have always considered Germany as a mine of gold, and have invented various methods to exhaust it. And what does the pope give in return, but epistles and speeches ? Let him be master of all the benefices as to their collation, but let him leave the revenues to those who own them. We send abundance of money into Italy for divers manufactures, and to Avignon for our children who study there, and who there solicit, and let us not say purchase, benefices. No one is ignorant what sums are every year carried from Germany to the court of Rome, for the confirma- tion of prelates, the obtaining of benefices, the carrying on of suits and appeals before the Holy See for dispensations, absolutions, indulgences, privileges and other favours. In all former days the archbishops used to confirm the elections of the bishops their suf- fragans ; but in our time John XXII. violently usurped that right. And now another pope demands from his clergy a new and unheard-of subsidy, threatening his censures on all who shall refuse or oppose. Resist the beginning of this evil, and permit not the establishment of this degrading servitude.' (Fleury, 1. xcvi. s. xxxviii.) It was in the same year that the Emperor addressed to the Archbishop of Mayence the following com- plaints respecting the secular habits of his Clergy : De Christi Patrimonio ludos, hasti- ludia et torneamenta exercent ; habitum militarem cum praetextis aureis et argenteis gestant, et calceos militares ; comam et barbam nutriunt, et nihil, quod ad vitam et ordi- nem Kcclesiasticum spectat, ostendunt. Militaribus se duntaxat et secularibus actibus, vita et moribus, in suae salutis dispendium et generate populi scandalum, immiscent. The passage is cited by Robertson, Hist. Charles V., B. ii. I ' Cogita tecum' (says Petrarch) ' in die ultimi judicii an resurgere amas inter Avinionicos peccatores famosissimos nunc omnium qui sub co3lo sunt, an inter Petrum et Puulum, Stephanum et Laureutium, &c. &c.' The same argument, which is the con- cluding one, may probably have been adopted a few years afterwards by Catharine of Sienna. Petrarch became a very ardent eulogist of this Pope. The Pope had the honour, during this period, of entertaining both the Emperors as his guests. Charles IV. visited him at Montefiascone in 1JG8 j John Palajologus in the year following at Rome. Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 491 Germany, whatever may have been the dispositions of his subjects, guaranteed him against any political outrage. Nevertheless, in 1370, probably on the persuasion of the French cardinals*, he returned to Avig- non, where he died immediately afterwards. Again was a Frenchman, Gregory XL, elected to the chair, and he professed his inclination to repeat the experiment which had been made by his predecessor ; but his resolution Gregory XI. was weakened and retarded by the intrigues of his coun- trymen. He listened, indeed, with attention to the prayer of a solemn deputation from the Roman people, in 1374 ; but he took no immediate steps to grant it. Two years afterwards he was still at Avignon, when he was again importuned on the same subject by a very different instrument of solicitation. There was one Catharine, the daughter of a citizen at Sienna, who had embraced the monastic life, and acquired extraordinary reputation for sanctity. In the rigour of her fastings and watchings, in the duties of seriousness and silence, in the fervency and continuance of her prayers, she far surpassed the merit of her holy sisters; and the austerities which she practised prepared people to believe the fables which she related t ' for she professed to have derived her spiritual knowledge from no human instructor from no humbler source, than the direct and personal communication of Christ himself. On one occasion especially she had been blessed by a vision, in which the Saviour appeared to her, Catharine of Sienna. accompanied by the Holy Mother and a numerous host of saints, and in their presence he solemnly espoused her, placing on her finger a golden ring, adorned with four pearls and a diamond. After the vision had vanished, the ring still remained, sensible and palpable to herself, though invisible to every other eye. Nor was this the only favour which she boasted to have received from the Lord Jesus : she had sucked the blood from the wound in His side ; she had received His heart in exchange for her own ; she bore on her body the marks of His wounds though these too were imperceptible by any sight except her own J. We do not relate such disgusting impiety, either because it was uncom- mon in those days, or because it was crowned by the solemn approbation of the Roman Church ; for the wretched fanatic was canonized, and occupies no despicable station in the Holy Calendar : but it is a more extraordinary circumstance, awakening a deeper astonishment, that Catharine of Sienna was invited from her cell by the messengers of the Florentine people, and officially charged, by the compatriots of Dante and the contemporaries of Petrarch, with an important commission at the Court of Rome ; the office of mitigating the papal displeasure, and re- conciling the Church with the Republic was confided to her enthusiasm. She was admitted to an early audience. Her arguments, which she deli- vered in the vulgar Tuscan, were explained by the interpreter who attended her ; and in conclusion, the Pope (assured, no doubt, of her devoted attachment to the Church) expressed his willingness to leave the * Spondanus, Ann. 1370, s. iv. St. Brigida, who was at that time in Italy, is related to have assured the Pope, on the authority of an express revelation from the holy Virgin, that his return to Avignon would be immediately followed by his death abiit nihilo-minus. Peter of Arragon likewise prophesied the Grand Schism from the same event. f Fleury thinks that she believed them herself, and he may be right : Une imagina- tion vive, echauffee par les jeunes et les veilles, pouvoit y avoir grande part : d'autant plus, qn'aucune occupation exterieure ne detournoit ces pensees. Liv. xcvii. s. xl. t On the body of St. Francis the wounds were visible a distinction conferred, as his disciples assert, on him alone. See Spondanus, ann, 1376, s, iv. 492 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXll. differences entirely to her decision *. But the embassy of Catharine \vas not confined to that object only ; for, whether in obedience to the wish of the Florentines or to the suggestions of her own spirit, she urged at the same time the duties, which the pontiff owed to his Italian subjects, to the tombs of the Apostles, to the chair of his mighty predecessors; and her reasons are said to have influenced a mind already predisposed to listen to them. Respecting the motives which created that disposition, it must be mentioned that the residence at Avignon was no longer recommended by that careless security which at first distinguished it from Rome. The open country had been invaded and the city menaced by one of those Companies of associated brigands who were the terror of the fourteenth century. During the pontificate of Innocent VI. the inhabitants and the court had been compelled to seek for safety sometimes in their armst, sometimes in their riches ; and though the danger might not be very pressing, yet being near at hand and fresh in recollection, it perhaps influ- enced beyond its importance the councils of Avignon. The Pope's reso- lution, however, still wavered ; and was at length decided by a second embassy from Rome, which arrived about two months after the visit of St. Catharine. The envoys expressly assured him, that unless he returned to his See, the Romans would provide a Pope for themselves, who would reside among them ; his cardinal legate at the city gave him the same assurance ; and it afterwards appeared, that overtures had already been made to the Abbot of Monte Cassino to that effect. This was no moment for delay. Gregory immediately departed for his capital ; and thence, whatever may have been his private intentions, he was not destined to return. The place of the death of a pope was at that time of more lasting im- portance to the' Church than his living residence, because the election of a successor could scarcely fail to be affected by the local circumstances under which he might be chosen. There could be no security for the continuance of the papal residence at Rome, until the crown should be again placed upon the head of an Italian. At Avignon, the French car- dinals, who were more numerous, were certain to elect a French pope ; but the accident which should oblige the Conclave to assemble in an Italian city, might probably lead, through the operation of external in- fluences, to the choice of an Italian. That accident at length occurred, and its consequences will be pursued in the following chapter. SECTION II. IN the meantime, the account which has been given of the pontiffs of Avignon is sufficient to throw some light on their individual merits, and, what is of much more consequence, on the general character and principles of their government. But a deeper consideration of this important period, suggests some reflections which it is proper to express ; while there are some facts, less closely connected with papal biography, but not less strictly appertaining to the history of the Church, which have not been noticed, but which cannot wholly be overlooked. Accordingly, we shall first observe the decline which took place, during these seventy years, in * Spondanus, ann. 1376, s. ii. It does not appear, by the way, that the Florentines were ready to extend the same deference to her judgment. See Sismondi, chap. xlix. t Mutt. Villan., lib. vii, cap, xcvi. Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 493 the pontifical power, and point out some of its most efficient causes. We shall then inquire, whether any attempts were made to obviate that decay, by measures of reform or renovation. The heresies which divided the Church, and the efforts which aimed to extinguish them, will be the last, and not the least instructive, subject of our examination. I. The various and desultory warfare, alike savage in its circumstances and fruitless in its results, which was waged in Italy by the legates and mercenaries of the Pope*, in defence of the patrimony of St.- Peter, is described by the civil historians of those times ; nor shall we descend to recount the intrigues which were employed in the same contest, or the bulls which were so repeatedly and vainly Decline of the launched from Avignon. But the evil, which these papal power. measures were intended to repress, was deeply felt at the time, and was fatally pernicious in its consequences. We have observed that, even during his residence at Rome and in the fullness of his power, the Pope was seldom in undisputed possession of the apos- tolical domains. But, in the season of his emigration, he could place little reliance on the friends whom he had deserted, while the licence of his enemies and depredators increased without restraint. Cities and populous districts were thus separated from the ecclesiastical states, and several among the Roman barons, who were his feudatories, usurped in perpetuity the lands of the Church. The deficiency thus occasioned in the pontifical treasury must needs be supplied from some new source ; since the change in nation and residence had abated nothing of the pomp and prodigality of the Vicars of Christ. The funds to which they had chiefly recourse for this purpose were twofold. By the more general and easy sale of indul- gences, they levied a productive tax upon the superstition of the people ; at the same time they made a dangerous experiment on the submission of the clergy by various imposts on all ecclesiastical property f. The right of presentation to all vacant sees appears to have been first usurped by the Popes of Avignon. It was abused as soon as usurped ; and the sys- tem of reservation deprived the diocese of its pastor, while it carried away its revenues into the apostolical chancery. At the same time the frequent contribution of tenths and first-fruits, raised under crusading or other pre- tences, gave deeper offence to the sacred order, as it touched their interests more directly and personally. It was vain to imagine, that the monstrous * It is truly remarked by Sismondi, that the Avignon Popes prosecuted these wars with greater ardour, than they would have done, had they been resident in Italy, or than they could, had they drawn their resources only from Italy. They suffered no personal dangers, they saw nothing of the evils which they inflicted, and they derived their sup- plies from the contributions of the whole church. The complaints which the Florentines had against the papal Gubernatores are enumerated with great warmth by Leonardus Aretinns. Hist. Florent., lib. viii., 181, 2. f The following are mentioned as the sources of the papal exactions from England during the fourteenth century: (1.) Peter's Pence; for the supposed support of the English pilgrims at Rome : it scarcely exceeded 200/. a-year. (2.) King John's census, of 1000 marks. This was tolerably well paid, till the time of Urban V., in 1366, when king, clergy, lords, and commons, proclaimed the payment illegal, and it ceased. (3.) The payment of First-fruits. The origin of this is referred to the presents which, in very early ages, a bishop at his consecration, or a priest at his ordination, paid to the officiating prelate. It was abolished by Gregory the Great, but soon grew up again, and insensibly came to be rated at a year's income. Presently, when prelates obtained their sees by pro- visions, those first-fruits flowed into the apostolical treasury. Those of smaller benefices were at first granted, seemingly in the thirteenth century, to bishops and archbishops. At length, Clement V. reserved for his own use all first-fruits, and.Johii XXII. imitated his example. See Lingard's History. 2 K 494 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. system of papacy could long subsist, unless supported by the attachment and almost unanimity of the ecclesiastical body ; nor could such concord easily take place, unless the Pope could contrive to identify his interests with those of the clergy, or at least to persuade the clergy of such iden- tity. But from the hour that his exigencies could only be supplied at their expense, that his dignity, his luxuries, his very vices, tended to impo- verish, and no longer to enrich, them ; from that hour a very powerful, though very sordid instrument of connexion began to give way, and the discontent, which might originate in pure selfishness, found abundant fuel, as well as ample justification, in the manifold abuses which disgraced the papal court. Still there had been less danger from this disaffection, had the Popes pressed their impolitic exactions with any show Rapacity of the Popes, of moderation ; had they been contented to satisfy and profligacy their necessities, or even to maintain with judi- ofthe Court. cious liberality the ceremony and pomp of office. But so far were they removed from any such dis- cretion, that it rather seemed their object so to reign, as to unite prodigality with avarice to spend profusely and hoard insatiably. It was this spirit of rapacity which presided over the councils of Avignon. The lofty pre- tensions which animated and even dignified the Pontiffs of former days, were degraded into mere lifeless instruments to the lowest worldly purposes. We seek not now for the deep religious enthusiasm of the earliest Popes, for that had long been extinguished; but the exalted and magnanimous audacity of the Gregories and even the Innocents, the settled ecclesiastical fanaticism (if we may use the expression), which so long dazzled the reason of man, these too had at length given place to baser principles and passions. The cloud of mystery, which had so long hung over the chair of St. Peter, filling the nations with awe for the invisible power and majesty residing there, was at length dispersed and broken away, and in its place was dis- covered the nakedness of human turpitude. The charm of opinion began gradually to dissolve; and whatsoever prejudices many still retained in favour of the papal government, they were weakened by the sordid motives which now directed it; and an unpopular vice became still more detested, when it was found engrafted upon the ecclesiastical character. Another cause, which materially assisted, during this period, in hastening the decline of papacy, was the shameless profligacy of the court of Avi- gnon. There is no dispute as to this fact ; and even moderate writers have strained their language, in order to present a just picture of that de- formity. We refer not to the partial philippics of Petrarch ; nor to the unholy name of Babylon, which may first have been affixed to the city of the Popes, from a similarity in crime. But when Denina assures us, that the licentiousness of the clergy became excessive and universal, from the time that the scandals of Avignon had removed all restraint and shame ; and when Sismondi* declares, that that people and that court made them- selves mariners out of the vices of all other nations, those historians do not exceed the testimony of contemporary authorities. The causes and sources of this pestilence are disputed : it is ascribed by the French writers to the importation of Transalpine fashions and morals into their less corrupt climate; while the Italians retort the charge of greater impurity, and enlarge, perhaps with more justice, on the temptations * Denina, Delle Rivoluz. d'ltalia, lib. xv., cap. vi. Sismondi, Rep. Ital., chap, xlviii. Sec Uuluz., Prcf. in Vitas Pontif. Avenionensiura. Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 495 which may ensnare a bishop who resides at a distance from his dio- cese, who is surrounded by a court of prelates also non-resident, without any spiritual care or any restraint from the observation of the people. Howbeit, this argument would have had more weight, had the court of Rome been less polluted : but whatever may have been the comparative delinquencies of Rome and Avignon, it is at least certain, that the latter were more indecent and more notorious ; that offences, which (if they were really practised) had been heretofore veiled or only partially known, were now exposed and stigmatized universally ; and that the only alterna- tive thenceforward remaining to the pontifical government was to correct those flagrant abuses, or by their means to fall*. The publication of the celebrated bull, called Unam Sanctam, in which Boniface VIII. asserted the extreme pretensions of his see to both descrip- tions of supremacy, may be viewed, perhaps, as the great Crisis in papal history. As far as that moment, nothing had been ceded in the pontifical claims, and nothing abated in the arrogance with which they were pressed. It may be, that their foundations had been silently crumbling beneath them, but their actual instability was still concealed by outward show and mag- nificent pretension. But from this point the descent was perceptible, and it soon became very rapid ; and Philip, having penetrated the secret of the real weakness of the see, effectually brought about its humiliation. His attack on the personal safety of Boniface, though in a great measure de- feated by the undaunted constancy of that Pontiff, disclosed to the whole world the domestic insecurity of the Bishop of Rome. Still it must be acknowledged that a Pope, as long as the seat of his government was his own capital, could not ever be the mere dependent of any sovereign ; and this is the argument by which Roman Catholic writers most plausibly defend the temporal power of the Chief of their church. But no sooner had he crossed the Alps and transferred his court to France, than he descended to the condition of a subordinate prince. It was in vain, that the formalities of respect, and even the show of equality, were observed : the influence of the King of France predominated in the councils of Avignon ; and the sense and the notoriety of temporal depend- ence discouraged the ghostly pretensions of the Pope, and blunted the edge of his weapons. For this, among other reasons, we are not sur- prised to observe, that the ecclesiastical censures lost much of their efficacy during this age ; that they were received in various countries with various degrees of indifference, but that this indifference was everywhere in- creasing. Italy herself was the most conspicuous for the general neglect with which she treated them ; and Italy, in her spiritual rebellion, did no more than imitate the pre-eminent obduracy of Rome. For Rome was irritated by the absence of her prelate ; and her habitual contumacy and lawlessness found great pretence and some justification, when she was deprived even of the ordinary advantages of an episcopal residence. Another severe, and even incurable, wound, was inflicted on papal despotism by the threat of appeal to a General Council, which was first urged by Philip, and eagerly repeated by Louis of Bavaria. That there was a power superior to the Pope within the church itself, was a principle * During the pontificate of John XXII., complaints against the clergy began to break out very commonly in France, occasioned by the excess to which they carried their juris- diction, as well as other offences. But Philip the Regent protected them, ' Jura eccle- siarum auxerini potius quam imminuta velim.' It is remarkable, that it was to this declaration that the kings of France are indebted for the title of Catholic, -so, at least, says Bzovius, Ann, 1329, s. xxiii. 2K2 496 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. which was sure to find many advocates even in the ecclesiastical body. Once broached, and on such high authority, it was commonly discussed, and by discussion gained ground ; and though the progress of reason against established prejudice is usually very slow, the minds of many were prepared for this innovation during the first half pf the fourteenth cen- tury ; but it was not carried into full effect till somewhat later. Of the 'dissensions which divided the church during this period, and which we shall presently notice, none probably occasioned so great scandal at the time, as the disputes carried on by the more rigid Franciscans against the Pope himself. Between the higher ranks of the secular clergy and their acknowledged head, we have observed differences not uncommon respecting their authority, their revenues, or the removal of their corrup- tions. But the regular orders had hitherto observed the strictest allegi- ance to a president, whose interests were inseparably connected with their own ; and this was the first occasion on which the pontifical court was disturbed by the sound of monastic insubordination. There was danger in an example, which might be followed by any discontented branch of the priesthood ; but the consequence, which really and immediately followed it, was to open the eyes of the laity to the deformities of the system, and to rouse them against those abuses, which ecclesiastics themselves no longer conspired to defend. But another, and a still more certain instrument for the subversion of papacy had been now for some time in operation, and it acquired addi- tional power during the fourteenth century ; an instrument, independent of the accidents of papal ' captivity ' or ecclesiastical discord, and one which, however aided by such circumstances, would surely have accom- plished its task without them. Human reason had at length been awak- ened from its long lethargy ; and though its first flights were wild and irregular, it was beginning to extend its influence and to know its authority. The means of education were multiplied, its character was varied and ex- alted ; and what was most important to all purposes of general improve- ment, its advantages were no longer confined to a privileged body, but were diffused through every condition of society. The subjects, indeed, which still engrossed the greater portion of the learning of those days, were generally connected with theology, or with the constitution and disci- pline of the church. Still it was not to churchmen alone, that such dis- cussions were confined. Those who profited by the ecclesiastical system were no longer the only persons qualified to argue respecting it. No sooner were the gates opened, than the laity rushed into that province with great eagerness ; and the seeds of the Reformation were already scattered, though it was uncertain when they would break forth, or what fruits they would bear in their maturity. II. The abuses which gave most offence at the commencement of this period, so as to excite the indignation of the Attempts at Reformation, better portion of the clergy, and even to claim the attention of the hierarchy, have been enu- merated in a former page, as they were presented to the Council of Vienne. They were not corrected on thatoccasion, and they increased in consequence. We must not, however, suppose, that no regulations were enacted under (he Avignon Popes for the amendment of the ecclesiastical system ; they were very numerous* j but the misfortune was, that they were generally * A number of the Councils assembled for this purpose, and the principal canons enacted by them are mentioned by Semlcr, sec. xiv., cap. ii. The following are speci- mens ; (Joncil. Cvlonicnse, ami. 1313. Ne clericis publica poenitentia imponatur, cum Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 497 misdirected. They descended to insignificant particulars, or were fabri- cated by one portion of the clergy against another, or by the orthodox against the heretics; or they related to the imposts of the Pope arid the means of evading them ; they never reached those grand deformities which endangered the church, through the just offence which they gave to the laity. It is true that some papal constitutions were published both against the non-residence of the clergy and the holding of pluralities. But the first could not be consistently enforced by a prelate who had never visited his own see ; and the Popes, though they held decisive language*, were manifestly insincere in the second. Or, if we are to admit that one or two among them were really earnest in their wishes and endeavours, they were at least prevented from taking measures to effectuate them by the fear of offending the most powerful, though perhaps the least deserving, part of the sacred body. III. When Francis of Umbria first established his rigid Order, his rule was celebrated by the applause of successive popes. The impious fables which he propagated, Divisions and Heresies. respecting the miraculous impression of the Sa- viour's wounds on his body, and other such matters, were countenanced and dignified by the authority of the Church ; he was adopted with eager- ness into the family of the Saints t; and the extreme austerity of the institution seemed in some fashion to be sanctified by the superstitious reverence, thus studiously thrown around the name of the Founder. We are not, then, to be astonished when we observe, that several among his followers adhered to the very letter of his instructions with unprecedented pertinacity, and scorned the vulgar temptations to soften their severity. The example of relaxation set to them by almost every other Order, the desertion of the more numerous part even of their own brethren, the moderate indulgence enjoined by the Pope himself, were insufficient to seduce those honest fanatics from strict obedience to their law, or to abate the vivid faith which they placed in their master. For indeed it was alii in albis procedunt, alii in nigris cappis, in facie laicorum. Ne fiant imprecationes contra aliquas personas. Concil. Trevirense^ ej. ann. Contra" gerentes cucuteras, seu cucusas, mitra?, virgatas, scacatas vestes. Contra convivia in exequiis. . . Ut ante vel post vel super altare sit imago, sculptura, pictura, in cujus Sancti meritum constructum sit. . . Si infans caput ex utero emiserit a muliere baptizetur ; si solum caput vel pars corporis major appareat nee discerni potest sexus: dicat, Creatura Dei, ego, &c. &c., et erit baptizatus. * John XXII. in 1317 put forth a constitution against all ambitious and avaricious clergymen, complaining of their non-residence, neglect of hospitality, the min of their churches, &c. And we observe, at the same time, that he deposed a bishop ; not, how- ever. bills Joib XXII. ap. Baluzium.) Similar laws were launched, with the same inefficiency, by- Benedict XII., and afterwards by Innocent VI. A curious story is told to prove the zeal of this last. Innocent, before his elevation, had a favourite chaplain, on whom had been conferred seven benefices. As soon as he became Pope, the chaplain again presented himself, bringing with him a little godson, for whom he wished also to. procure a bene- fice. But the Pope, like a just man, answered him : l You have seven good benefices ; resign the best of them to that boy.' On which, when Innocent saw that the petitioner was discontented, he again said, ' You have still six benefices, and fewer would suffice for your necessities : choose, then, for yourself the three best of them, and resign the others, that I may bestow them, for the honour of God, on three poor clergymen.' The Pope was highly applauded for that act, as having therein followed the path of spiritual, rather than carnal affection. See Vita (4ta) Innocent. VI., apud Balu/ium. f Both Francis and Dominic were canonized by the same pope, Gregory IX. (about 1235) j so likewise was Anthony of Padua, and other less considerable personages. 498 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. to faith that their feelings amounted, when they maintained that St. Francis was a second Christ nothing inferior or dissimilar to the first ; and that the institution which he left behind him was the true gospel of salvation. Entire and absolute poverty, the complete renunciation of all property, whether common or personal, was the fundamental principle of the society, the only principle of Christian obedience the only rule of evan> gelical perfection. In defence of that position, it became them at the same time to profess and argue, that the practice of Christ and his Apostles had been rigidly formed upon the same rule ; and this became accordingly the question in dispute with their theological adversaries. Those adversaries, as we may well suppose, were neither few nor of humble rank. A courtly and luxurious hierarchy were scandalized by that unqualified assertion of the necessity of poverty ; and Christ's imperious vicegerent upon earth was shocked by so homely a picture of the humility of his heavenly Lord. Some unsuccessful endeavours were made in the preceding century to bring the Fratricelli, or Minorites (so they were denominated) to a more reasonable view of the gospel institution, and of the spirit of their own rule : but it does not appear that any personal outrage was offered them until the year 1306 ; and even then it proceeded, as was naturally to be expected, from the more worldly members of Iheir own fraternity. From Italy, many then fled into Provence, and were scattered over the south of France ; and at this time they are represented to have united with the Spirituals, and the Beghards and Beguines. The name Spi- ritual is said to have been first assumed by the followers of a schismatic of that age, named Pierre d'Olive ; the others were the Tertiarii, or third order of Franciscans. All were equally opposed to the existing system of papal government. As their principles were' henceforward identified, so also was their history ; and the term sjriritual is that by which the observers of the rule of absolute poverty were commonly distinguished from their less austere Brethren of the Community. Clement V. interposed his mediation between these contentious mendi- cants; and at the Council of Vienna he issued Disputes between the Popes the Bull Exivi de Paradiso, with the design and the Franciscans. of bringing them to concord by mutual con- cession. He permitted to the Spirituals the enjoyment of the most abject poverty ; while at the same time, to such Franciscans as resided in barren countries, where the resources of mendicity were precarious, lie allowed the use of granaries and store-houses, as places of deposit for their common alms. Nevertheless, though all acts of violence were for the moment suspended, the division of the Order con- tinued as before, and the mutual animosity was in no degree abated ; and a distinction in dress at this time introduced by the Minorites, who adopted a meaner and coarser habit, contributed no little to inflame the controversy. Matters stood thus, when John XXII. was raised to the pontificate ; and since the moderation of his predecessors had not availed to heal the schism, he entered without any delay into the opposite system. We observe that the Fratricelli are enumerated among the heretics condemned in an edict which he published in 1317; and in the year following he made them the object of a memorable bull : " The glorious Church which has neither stain nor wrinkle, which Christ loved, and for which he delivered himself to death, that he might sanctify it by washing it with water in the Word of Life this Church the Prophet knew by the revela- Chap. XXIL] A HISTORY OP THE CHURCH. 499 tion of the Spirit to be placed before all nations ; and admiring the splen- dour of so much dignity, he exhibited it under the similitude of royalty, saying A queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded garments, &c. &c.*" After describing the nature of the union between Christ and his spouse the Church, and especially eulogising the charity of the latter, the Pope proceeded to expose the errors of the Minorites. He classed them under five heads, and showed how they combined the various enormities of the Donatists, of the Waldenses, and the Mariicheans, while they also followed the * foul traces' of Montanust and Priscilla. The burden of their offence was contempt of the * bonds of the Church, 7 and disrespect for its ministers ; howbeit, being convicted by the edict of John of certain condemned and stigmatized heresies, they were consigned by the same act to inquisitorial authority. The agents of oppression executed their part with no delay ; and the very same year four of the Fratricelli were seized at Marseilles, and burnt to death. From this moment the contest assumed a much more serious cha- racter. The devotion of the Spirituals was now sealed, and their resist- ance sanctified, by the blood of their martyrs ; their zeal, their activity, their numbers everywhere increased ; and the more violent were the pro- ceedings of the inquisitors, the more advocates did the persecuted acquire, the more generally they rose into respect and consideration. Their great principle respecting the poverty of Christ was now made the subject of solemn deliberation ; and the most celebrated divines of the age, especially those of Paris, were officially consulted on the question, and finally the Pope himself descended into the field of controversy and happier had been his fortunes, and his memory more honoured, had he confined his hostility to that bloodless warfare. At the end of 1322 he published a Constitution, in which he confuted the arguments of the Franciscans, and asserted for the monastic orders the right of property, instead of the simple use of their immediate necessaries. The Spirituals rejected the right with the same obstinacy, with which it was dictated by the Pope ; and it was at least a singular contest, and worthy of a more * ' Gloriosam Ecclesiam, non habentem maculam aut rugam, quam Christus dilexit, pro qua semet ipsum tradidit, &c. Nimirum ipsa Christi Sponsa Virgo Mater Ecclesia, quia inclyto Capiti suo Domino Jesu Christo iuviolabilis fidei glutino copulatur, et ejus imperio prona obedientia substernitur, cum Illo unum effecta, tarn incomparabilis uriionis merito rebus omnibus, more regio, principatur. Quse dum pia et devota religione terrena despicit, caelestia petit, omne siuistrum premens, a dextris Sponsi gloriosa consistit. Et quia geminae charitatis splendore omni ex parte rutilat, in vestitu aureo etiam angelicis spiritibus admiranda coruscat. Cujus inaestimabilis decor, quia vario vivendi genere in una tamen charitate perficitur, quasi de vestis pulcherrima varietate Isetatur. . . ' Such were the senseless and even impious rhapsodies, with which a very bad pope cele- brated the corrupt church, which he still further corrupted by his acts and his eulogies ; not that he was really blind to its deformities, but because he was too timid or too wicked to correct them, and because he believed that the system, with all its vices upon its head, would still last and be profitable for his own time. f In the account of Montanus (given in Chap. V. p. 69.) it is too confidently asserted that he professed to be the Paraclete or Comforter. It is indeed the deliberate opinion of Mosheim that he professed to be the Paraclete, sent down to complete the Christian system ; but that writer supposes the fanatic to have distinguished between the Paraclete and the Holy Spirit, and not to have proceeded so far as to assert his identity with the latter. Bishop Kaye is of opinion that Montanus only laid claims to inspiration by the Holy Ghost ; and he certainly shows that the distinction, supposed to have been made between the. Holy Ghost and the Paraclete, has no foundation. It seems probable that the bishop's opinion is correct. At least the only alternative is to believe, that Montanus pretended to be the Holy Ghost an absurdity by no means unparalleled in the history of heresy. 500 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. religious' age and more reasonable motives, where the one party indig- nantly repudiated the worldly possessions, which the other imperiously obtruded where a body of beggars preferred the endurance of a deadly persecution to the sacrifice of the duty of poverty. In this manner the dispute proceeded, until the rupture between John and Lewis of Bavaria became open and decided. Then the Emperor, as if to turn against the Church the old ecclesiastical policy, hastened to profit by the divisions of his adversary, and to foment the spiritual rebellion. The provinces of the empire were thrown open to all the denominations of schism and heresy ; and the multiform enemies of papacy found refuge in the dominions of Lewis, and honour at his court. Manillas of Padua, Cssenas, Bonagratia, and William Occam, were the most illustrious among those exiles. They directed their eloquence, their learning, and their satire, both personally against John, and gene- rally against the system of the Church ; and their writings, which were eagerly read even by that generation, were transmitted with still greater profit to a less prejudiced posterity. On the other hand, the Pope* was ardently supported by his Domi- nican emissaries. Their thirst for heretical blood was heated by a parti- cular jealousy of the Franciscan Order. Wherever an avenue was open they penetrated. They pursued the fugitives even into the remote plains of Poland and Hungary, and introduced into those ignorant regions the machinery of the Inquisition. But France and Italy f were the scene of their most successful exertions ; and these were not confined to the ponti- ficate of John. Even the virtuous Benedict began his reign by an anathema against the Fratricelli ; and it is remarkable, that, in the Con- stitution which he published on this occasion:}:, the articles of their heresy are swelled to fifty-five. Their denial of the power of the Pope to permit them to have property is among the most curious, and not the least grave, of their offences ; some very gross absurdities were also imputed to them, which may have been calumniously, as indeed they may have been truly, alleged. . . But there is one observation here necessary, which will tend to account for the great multiplicity and vagueness of the charges advanced. A furious war was at that time raging in Italy between the imperial and papal factions ; and it was a part of the crooked policy of the churchmen of Rome to confound political enmity with spiritual per- versity, and to brand the adversaries of the visible church with the crime of heretical depravity. Among the adversaries of the church they usually classed its reformers those who were indeed its only real friends ; and thus it happened, that the term heresy came now to comprehend every opinion unfavourable to the ecclesiastical government of the day, and the gates of the Inquisition received without distinction a various and indiscri- minate multitude. Still, as long as the reign of Lewis continued, a secure asylum was * The history of John XXII. abounds with edicts against the various denominations of heresy. We are also bound to mention that he published (in 1326) one Constitution to repress the too great zeal of certain inquisitors in Sicily ; but when we examine the nature of that zeal, we find that it had ventured to attack < nostros et apostolicsc sedis officiates vel nuntios, &c.' John, as well as several other popes, extended more pro- tection to the Jews than they enjoyed elsewhere. J- Vit. John XXII. ap. Baluz. Mosheim calculates, from various records published and unpublished, that the names of about two thousand persons, of both sexes, may be enu- merated, who suffered martyrdom in France and Italy for their inflexible attachment to the poverty of St. Francis. Cent. xiv. p. 2. ch. ii. j Bzuv. ad aim. 1335. b. ii. Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 501 offered to all descriptions of Dissenters ; and these, being already con- nected by one common principle and one common wrong, may have adopted from each other the absurd opinions, which some of them cer- tainly held. But the spirit which united them was deep animosity against the Pope, whom they accused in their turn of impiety and usurpation. In the year 1345 *, Lewis was succeeded by Charles IV. ; and as that Prince was chiefly obliged for his elevation to pontifical influence, so his policy followed the interests of the Court of Avignon. If the principles of the Bavarian had continued to govern his dominions for another generation, it is not improbable that the empire would have wholly freed itself from papal supremacy, and raised the banners of Reformation in the fourteenth century with no inconsiderable advantage to religion. But such anticipa- tion of the more perfect triumph of a more enlightened age was cut short by the perfidy t of the Imperial counsels. The numerous insurgents against the despotism of Rome, whom Lewis had encouraged and pro- tected and created, were betrayed by his successor into the hands of the avenger. The peaceful provinces of the empire, hitherto sacred from the inroads of persecution, were now thrown open to the Dominicans. Their irruption was supported by secular edicts and arms ; and the extirpation of the ' Voluntary beggars' the enemies of the Church and the * Roman empire,' was pressed with equal ardour by the pope and the emperor. The houses of the offenders were given to the tribunal of the Inquisition, to be converted into prisons for heretics J ; and their effects were publicly sold, for the equal profit of the inquisitors who ordered, of the magistrates who enforced, and of the poor who witnessed, their execution. The sur- vivors fled towards the banks of the Rhine, to Switzerland, Brabant and Pomerania ; but they were followed by a tempest of mandates and bulls, and hunted by the keen Dominicans even into their most distant retreats ; till at length it is admitted, that the greater part of Germany was restored, after this sanguinary purification, to the peaceful embrace .of the Church. But neither edicts, nor bulls, nor inquisitors, could suppress the spirit of the schism, though they might extinguish its name ; and those who preserved their obedience to the more rigid rule, were still found to be so numerous, and the love of that discipline was still in some provinces so prevalent, that the popes at length thought proper to sanction the Institu- tion. Accordingly, the Franciscan Order was by authority divided into two bodies, which subsist to this day the more indulgent were called the Conventual Brethren the more austere, the Brethren of Observance. The disputes which afterwards disturbed this arrangement were partial and insignificant ; and the historian may express his astonishment mixed with * About the same time died William Occham, l pestilentissimus Hseresiarcha.' Bzo- vius (ann. 1347, s. xxxvi.), though he designates this Englishman to have been 'omnium incentor malorum, auctor scelemm, cultor tenebrarum, &c. &c.,' still does not attribute his death to divine interposition ; which is the more surprising, because he had not hesitated to pronounce somewhat earlier (ann. 1321, s. xxi.) that Dante died through the peculiar vengeance of Heaven, which visited his calumnies against the popes. f This is no ground perhaps for imputing to Charles personally, that his intolerance was aggravated by treachery. The individual stands convicted of persecution only. But the circumstance of this change adds one to the many instances, in whicli the steady, consistent perseverance of the Vatican has carried its point, through the fluctuations of the Imperial policy. J See Mosheim, Cent. xiv. p. ii. ch. ii. Their crime is mentioned in the edict (pub- lished at Lucca in 1369) which condemns them. ' They are a pernicious sect, who pre- tend to a sacrilegious and heretical poverty, and who are under a vow that they neither ought to have, nor will have, any property, whether special or common, in the goods they use which they extend even to their wretched habits,' 502 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. sorrow, that so simple a method of reconciliation could only be reached through the paths of intolerance and oppression. The term Beghard was in this age commonly applied to the Tertiaries of St. Francis ; and, though in its origin pro- JBeghards and Lollards, bably innocent of such principles, it was now involved in the guilt and fate of the anti-papal heresies. The ' Brethren of the free spirit,' the harmless mystics of the last century*, had been sometime known by that appellation ; and sometimes they are designated as Lollards, in the records of the following age. The reason of their confusion is, that both names were indiscriminately used by the Church to stigmatize those who dissented from it, without any new inquiry as to the grounds and points of their dissent. Mosheim, who has investigated this subject with great diligence, considers the Lollards t to have been a society of pious laymen, formed in the first instance at Ant- werp, for the purpose of visiting the sick and burying the dead during a season of pestilence ; for the clergy are affirmed to have deserted their official duties, as soon as they became attended with peril. The humane motives and religious practice of the new society caused it to spread through- out Flanders and many parts of Germany, and it was encouraged by the respect of the magistrates and the love of the inhabitants. Its success excited the jealousy, as indeed it reflected on the reputation, of all the clergy ; but the Mendicants had perhaps a deeper motive for animosity against it, when they found that their own profits suffered through its gratuitous charity. Accordingly, they raised the customary clamours of impiety and heresy : under the mask of extraordinary holiness, the Lol- lards concealed forsooth the blackest errors and the most enormous vices ! they were denounced at the pontifical throne, and their name has passed into the language of the Church to designate a misbelieving and sanctified hypocrite. They may have held some foolish opinions among those generally attributed to them the following are the most peculiar : that the mind ought to be called away from the external and sensible parts of religion, and fixed on inward and spiritual worship ; that the soul which is wholly absorbed in the love of God is free from the restraint of every law, and may gratify its natural appetites without sin ; that perfect virtue and perfect beatitude may be obtained in this world ; and that persons so circumstanced are removed above every worldly consideration ; so that the moral virtues, as well as the religious ceremonies, might be neglected without offence. Moreover they pretended that there were two Churches, the carnal Church, which was that of Rome ; the spiritual, which was confined to their own society J . . . Such were the crimes imputed to * See Mosheim, Cent. xm. p. ii. ch. v. f Mosheim, Cent. xiv. p. ii. ch. ii. The word Lolhard means a singer as Beghard means one who prays. The former were also called the ' Cellite brethren and sisters the Alexian brethren' from the cells in which they lived, and the saint who was their patron. See Semler, Secul. xiv. cap. i. I Other charges are instanced by Bzovius (ann. 1307, s. ix.) They held that ihe Mass, Baptism and Extreme Unction were useless ceremonies ; that Lucifer was an injured being, and that the angels, as well as all the enemies of their own sect, would he finally condemned ; that Mary did not continue a virgin after the nativity ; that the body of the Lord in the Eucharist was not real ; that marriage was only sanctified whore- dom; that God neither punished nor regarded human sins. Besides this, they lay toge- ther promiscuously under the pretence of charity ; they ate flesh when they would ; they observed no festivals and derided the merits and intercession of thesainls; and finally they were so^obstinate under persecution, that whatever might be their sex or age, they Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 503 them by the Churchmen ; and this last may really have been the secret of their offence. Yet, though we should believe them to have held almost every tenet with which they are charged, (for the contempt of moral duties was clearly not a tenet, but a consequence calumniously drawn by their enemies,) may we not discern, that the principle from which they departed was excellent and holy ? It led them into some extravagances ; but were those so gross, or nearly so detestable, as the deliberate absurdities which were committed by the Church itself during the same period ? the insertion into the Liturgy of * the words in which the angel Gabriel saluted the Virgin Mary ' the institution of festivals in honour of the lance, the nails, the crown of Christ * the appointment of a holy day for the solemn celebra- tion of the wounds of Christ, miraculously impressed upon the body of St. Francis ! . . . . If we should believe all the calumnies that church- men have ever fabricated in vilification of the Mystics, we shall find among them nothing so irrational, nothing nearly so impious, as those authorized ecclesiastical mummeries. The Lollards suffered some oppression in Austria and other countries; but a war of extermination does not appear to have been formally pro- claimed against them. No doubt, they were confounded by the inquisi- tors, sometimes erroneously and sometimes wilfully, with the more avowed enemies of the papal government ; and thus they shared that vengeance, which was chiefly intended for the Spirituals and Beghards. But whether through their greater obscurity or more manifest harmless- ness, they escaped in comparative safety, without any 'direct attack, and to this tolerance it may perhaps be attributed, that the sect of the Lollards t (properly so called) never rose into great power and never became dangerous to the Catholic Church. During the reign of Clement V., a preacher named Dulcinus, attended by a woman called Margaret, his wife or his mistress, pre- sented himself in Lombardy, and erected in the neighbouring Dulcinus. mountains the standard of heresy. He was charged with contempt of the Catholic hierarchy, and with censuring the abuses of their immoderate wealth; also with asserting a succession of three theo- cracies that those under the Father and the Son were already passed ; that the third, under the Holy Spirit, was then in operation J. Lastly, to consummate his odium, his followers, who were not very numerous, were assailed with the primitive and accustomed calumny of promiscuous unanimously preferred death to conversion. ... In this strange and calumnious cata- logue we may observe the malignity, with which some tenets, merely rejecting the inno- vations of Rome, are mixed up with the most horrible crimes and blasphemies. Yet this was one of the most vulgar among the artifices of the Churchmen of those days. * Others might be added. For instance, John XXII. re-established with fresh indul- gences the festival of ' the body of Christ ' granting to all Christians a general pardon of forty days for every reverence made, on the name of Jesus Christ being pronounced by the priest. Giovanni Villani, lib. ii, cap. Ixxix. f The name Lollard, as is well known, was afterwards generally applied to various adversaries of the popish establishment ; but the real origin both of the name and sect was probably such as has been here described. I His followers called themselves ' The Spiritual Congregation and the Order of the Apostles.' ' We alone (they said) are in the perfection in which the apostles were, and in the liberty which proceeds immediately from Jesus Christ. Wherefore we acknowledge obedience neither to the pope nor any other human being : nor has he any power to ex- communicate us . . . The pope can give no absolution from sins unless he be as holy as St. Peter, living in entire poverty and humility . . so that all the popes and prelates, since St. Sylvester, having deviated from that original holiness, are prevaricators and seducers, with the single exception of Pope Celestine, Pietro di Morone ; &c.' See Fleury, liv, xci, sec. xxiii. 504 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. prostitution. A crusade was preached by the Church against these mise- rable enthusiasts, and its enemies were led to the assault by a zealous bishop. Surrounded and pressed among the Alpine passes, many had already perished from cold and want, before the sword was drawn to com- plete their destruction. It did so most effectually ; and Roman Catholic writers record without emotion, that the heretic was torn in pieces limb from limb, after his * Spiritual Sister ' had suffered before his eyes by the same torture. As the massacre is recorded without emotion, so its con- sequence is told without understanding or reflection that the disciples of the martyr were multiplied by the deed, and increased beyond number*. The history and heresies t of Wiclif also belong to this period ; but we shall at present leave them unnoticed, as more immediately appertaining to English history, and already familiar to most readers. And if we pass from the name of that great patriarch of the Reformation to the mention of a transient sect of mere fanatics, we shall most faithfully exhibit the character of an age, in which the long reign of ignorance and error was first disturbed by the irregular struggles of reviving reason. The begin- nings of those great revolutions, which renovate the whole frame of society, are invariably marked by some transient excesses, occasioned by the first fermentation of new and active principles, in a body not yet qualified to give them full efficacy. And so it befell in the present instance an age, in which the true principles of Christianity were beginning once more to glimmer through the ecclesiastical system which had so long obscured them, was troubled by some of the wildest absurdities of superstition. The sect of the Flagellants first betrayed its existence The Flagellants, about the middle of the thirteenth century ; but it was discouraged by the authorities both spiritual and secular, and seemingly repressed: nevertheless, about the year 1340, it broke out again with additional violence. Its first re-appearance was in Italy, in the neighbourhood of Cremona J : suddenly a multitude, amounting to ten thousand persons, issued from the surrounding cities and villages, and paraded the country, flogging themselves and (in the first instance) begging. The contagion spread with a rapidity which will afflict, but cannot surprise, the observer of religious absurdities ; and in the course of ten years scarcely a country in Europe was exempt from its visitation. As the Flagellants increased in numbers, they adopted some sort of system and method in their fanaticism ; which, though it may have varied under different circumstances, possessed the same general character. Naked from the loins upwards, and marked on their front and back with red crosses, they spread themselves in numerous bands over the face of Europe. Twice every day, in the most public places, they performed their discipline, until blood flowed from the wounds ; and they completed their duties by one nocturnal and private flagellation. No one among them begged. No one was admitted into the society who was entirely destitute ; no one, unless he had made a full confession of his sins, unless he had received the consent of his wife, unless * Supra numerum. See Vita (4ta) dementis V. apud Baluzium. Bzovius, ad ami. 1310. sec. xiii. | Wiclif's Sixty-one Heresies are carefully enumerated by Bzovius, (ann. 1352, s. xv.) and that author expresses very sincere regret at his escape from the bishops, whom the pope had stirred against him. Indeed, notwithstanding his great protectors, tlie Reformer seems not to have been secure till the grand schism frittered away the power of papacy. J Bzov. aun. 1340, s. xxiv. Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 505 he had forgiven his enemies every injury *. Their appearance and cha- racter chiefly moved the enthusiasm of the Germans, who opened their doors and entertained them at their tables. But it is affirmed, that they could never be persuaded to partake twice of the same hospitality, nor to prolong their visit beyond a single day : they then departed on their des- tination. Women were confounded with men in their irregular ranks ; and as they advanced in indiscriminate procession, each bearing in his hand a wooden cross, they chaunted in their native language a hymn on the Passion of Christ, and frequently interrupted their song by prostra- tion and prayer. Their eyes were ever downcast, and the aspect which they wore was solemn and sorrowful. The innocence of their demeanour, the severity of their discipline, the very singularity of their enthusiasm attracted a multitude of proselytes ; but as their numbers increased, their conduct no longer escaped reproach, and the offences of individuals threw suspicion and obloquy on the whole body. Moreover, as they presently began to preach to the people, and as their society was not authorised by the pope, many Lollards and schis- matics eagerly mingled in their companies, and carried into them the name of heresy, and subjected them to that fatal charge. Accordingly, we read in the Roman Catholic records, that the Flagellants were a sect who slighted the priesthood and the Gospel who had no reverence for the holy ceremonies, or even for the body of the Lord: such was the confidence (says Spondanus) which they placed in their own madness. By thirty-three consecutive days of flagellation, they held themselves absolved from the most heinous sins, to the disregard of the salutary penance and indulgences of the Church. And lastly, they maintained, that stripes were more honourable than martyrdom ; that the baptism by water had passed away, and given place to the baptism by blood ; and that through this last alone was there any road to salvation f. These charges were partly fabricated, and no doubt partly true ; and even the limits of the truth and the falsehood are not difficult to discern ; but the agents of persecution, who were presently in motion, were not retarded by any such considerations. They marched onwards in the path of destruction ; and the Emperor Charles IV. encouraged and directed their zeal. It appears that, in the year 1351, a number of those pitiable en- thusiasts were collected in Lithuania, in the exercise of their absurd prac- tices. Pope Clement VI. proclaimed a holy war i ; the Master of the Teutonic order marched in person against them ; and after a solemn fast and public prayer, that God would aid him in the extirpation of His enemies, for the glory of His Holy Name, he assaulted them, and mas- sacred eight thousand : the remainder, about two thousand more, were carried away captive into Prussia, that they might be restored, by a second baptism, to the bosom of the Church. When we examine the various denominations of heresy which appeared in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and in the fourteenth most especially, we observe that General Character of almost all were directed, wholly or in part, openly these Heresies. or covertly, in tenet or in practice, against the sa- * See Bzov. ann. 1349, s. ii. It is the testimony of an enemy. Spondanus (ami. 1349, sect, ii.) who confirms these particulars, also mentions that the Flagellants professed the authority of a letter, or writing, sent down to them from heaven. f See Mosheim, Cent. xm. p. ii. chap, iii., and Cent. xiv. p. ii. ch. v. Bzov., ami. 1 351, s. viii. The pretext alleged for this expedition was, that when two Mendicants, on some occasion, interrupted the devotion of the Flagellants, these had stoned one of them to death, It does not appear that they were armed. 506 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. cerdotal government and the system of the Roman Church* It was not so with those of earlier ages. Among the numerous sects which divided the ante-Nicene Christians, it has been already remarked, that not one originated in^ any disaffection for the ministers of religion, or the ecclesiastical polity. In the times which followed, the Arian and Incarnation controversies, with their numerous names and progeny, were confined to matters of faith. During the prolonged disputes which succeeded about the worship of images, no clamour was raised against the corruptions or undue aggran- dizement of the hierarchy. The dissensions of the ninth century regarded the nature of the Eucharist and the doctrine of Fatalism, and the former of those subjects was revived in the eleventh; but no sect had hitherto risen in revolt against the abuses and tyranny of the Church. The standard was first erected in the twelfth age ; and from that moment there was never wanting a succession of bold and righteous spirits who rallied round it. The depravity of the church system was indeed, in some respects, more scandalous in the fourteenth, than in any preceding century: yet was there no lack, even in much earlier ages, of such enormities, as might well have offended the reason and provoked the indignation of an evangelical Christian. But the fact was, that the civil institutions were at the same time so defective, and the dearth of know- ledge so general, that the sins of the Church were overshadowed or kept in countenance by the secular depravity that surrounded them. Presently, as the social condition improved, the ecclesiastical abuses excited remon- strance and clamour ; the foundations were shaken, and the edifice itself assailed ; but the clamour was still the clamour of the few the voice of enlightened individuals or of scattered sects : it did not yet endanger the established hierarchy, because it was not yet supported by the general prevalence of rational principles. The political system of the age still abounded with vices, and the learning in fashion was still perplexed with prejudice and fallacy. It is always with reference to such considerations as these, that we are to estimate the danger of ecclesiastical abuses and the necessity of reformation. It is not sufficient to compare existing defects with those which have been tolerated in the same church, or in a different church, in a different age. Such a comparison would only tend to blind and mislead us. They must be examined in relation to the measure of civilization actually abroad to the prevalence of knowledge, to the authority of reason, to the general principles of human conduct. Thus it will happen, that a much slighter defect, in days of improvement and inquiry, may prove more perilous to the system in which it is suf- fered to remain, than a much grosser deformity in a darker age: it is the access of light which renders the stain conspicuous and offensive. And therefore it has ever been among the foremost duties of churchmen, and their surest wisdom, to detect the blemishes in their institution, and having detected, to remove them : since it avails them little to be free from the vices of preceding generations, unless they share the spirit, and adopt, to a great extent, the character and principles of their own. NOTE ON THE FRANCISCANS AND OTHER MENDICANTS. (I.) As something has been said in this chapter respecting the intes- tine divisions of the Franciscans, it is proper here to mention the sect of the Fratricellii or Ultra-Spirituals, who made some figure in the dissen- sions of the fourteenth age. They arose, in that which preceded, from the stock of St, Francis ; and as they disclaimed any right even to the Chap. XXII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 507 use* of property, in which they surpassed the self-denial of the Spirituals, they may have deserved the praise which they arrogated, of being the genuine disciples of their Master. They professed great personal respect for Celestine V., who had been in some measure the founder of their Order ; but they hesitated to acknowledge the legitimacy of his succes- sors : they proclaimed the deep corruption of the Church, and they looked with ardent and almost pious enthusiasm for its immediate reformation. This notion that a thorough regeneration of the Church was near at hand, and that the reign of the true gospel was to be restored by the followers of St. Francis was The Eternal Gospel. not the creation of the Fratricelli, nor was it indeed of very recent origin. As early as the beginning of the thirteenth century, a work was circulated, abounding with such like prophecies, under the name of the Eternal Gospel. It was founded on the text | ' I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the Everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth ; ' and it was such, as Mo- sheim has designated it, the senseless production of an obscure, silly and visionary writer. The perfect scheme of revelation which it propounded was this as there were three persons in the godhead, so was it neces- sary that there should be three dispensations. The first was that of the Father, which ended at the coming of Christ the second was that of the Son, which was now on the point of concluding, to give place to the third, and last. This rhapsody was ascribed, but not with sufficient foundation, to Joachim, abbot of Flora in Calabria, who flourished about the year 1200 ; who had declaimed against the abuses of the Church, and pre- dicted their extirpation. But in spite of the respectable name, under which it had sought protection, the Eternal Gospel would not perhaps have attracted any general notice, had it not been adopted by the Fran- ciscans, who eagerly appropriated the prophecies. Accordingly, about the year 1250, it was again published, with an elaborate Introduction, in which the assertion was advanced, that St. Francis was the angel men- tioned in the Revelations ; that the gospel of Christ was immediately to give place to this new and everlasting scripture ; and that the ministers of this great Reformation were to be humble and barefooted friars, des- titute of all earthly possessions J. The Gospel might have passed unnoticed and despised ; but the intro- duction contained a doctrine too daring, if not dangerous, to escape ecclesiastical reprehension ; and in the very year following its publication at Paris, the book was suppressed by Alexander IV. Yet such was the tenderness of a Pope for the reputation of the Mendicants, that the censures were lenient, and the edict was issued with reluctance. The introduction has been commonly ascribed to no less distinguished an ecclesiastic than John of Parma, General of the Franciscans ; though the opinion is more probable that it was composed by one Gerard, his friend. It is true, indeed, that writers of that order have entirely dis- claimed the work, and imputed it to their rivals, the Dominicans, but without any plausible reason. And as the introduction was manifestly * In 1279, Nicholas III. published a celebrated Constitution known as the Bull Exiit, in which he so interpreted the Franciscan Rule, as to prohibit to its observers every pos- session ; but to permit them the temporary use of houses, books, &c. of which the property, in conformity with the edict of Innocent IV., was to reside in the Church of Rome. f Revelations, xiv. 6. I This account is chiefly taken from Mosheim (Cent, XIII, p, U, ch, ii.) who has inves- tigated the subject with great diligence. 508 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXII. a Franciscan fabrication, so is it extremely probable that the Eternal Gospel also proceeded from the same forge. We should also mention one Pierre Jean d'Olive, a native of Sevignan, in Languedoc, who acquired some reputation towards Pierre d'Olive. the end of the same century, by a similar description of merit. He, likewise, was a leader of the Spirituals, a disciple of the Abbot Joachim, and a reformer of ecclesiastical iniqui- ties. He published a work called Postilla, a commentary on the Reve- lations, in which he boldly denounced the Roman Church as the ' Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mistress of Harlots, and abominations of the Earth*.' But he mixed so much wild and senseless superstition with his reforming zeal, that his labours were neither profitable to the Church, nor dangerous to the despotism of the Pope. (II.) We read from time to time of disputes, which arose in various countries between the Mendicants and the secular Contest between the clergy, respecting the administration of several Mendicants and Church ceremonies, but most especially of the rite Cures about Con- of Confession. It may, therefore, be useful to trace fession. very concisely the history of that contest. A canon of the Fourth Lateran Council (commonly known as Omnis utriusque Sexus) gave the entire power of receiving confessions to the priest ; but Gregory IX., by a bull of Sept. 26, 1227, opened that privilege also to the Preachers. The cures resisted ; and in 1250 the Faculty of Paris loudly declared in their favour : so that Innocent IV., who in 1244 had shown every disposition to favour the Mendicants, prohi- bited them, in 1254, from hearing confessions without the permission of the priest. But Alexander IV. immediately revoked this bull, and pre- sently afterwards issued others, to the interest of the Mendicants. Great heats were thus excited, and in the hope to allay them, Martin IV. pub- lished, in 1282, a sort of edict of compromise, by which the Mendicants were permitted to receive confessions, yet so that the same persons were still obliged to confess once a year to their own priest, according to the canon of the Lateran. Thereon arose a fresh question whether the people were obliged again to confess to their cure's the same sins which they had before confided to the Mendicants, and for which they had received absolution ; and various appeals were made to the Popes on this point. Nicholas IV. delivered no express response ; but Boniface VIII. published a decretal called Supra Cathedram, in which he engaged to grant the privilege to the Mendicants by his own plenitude, in case they had previously asked the favour of the Bishops, and it had been refused. Benedict XI. was still more decided ; for he gave the Mendicants direct permission to hear confessions, and also decided that the people were not obliged to reconfess the same sins. This decretal, again, was revoked in the Council of Vienne, and replaced by the Clementine Dudum, which revived the Constitution of Boniface. The above account, which is the bare outline of a tedious and angry controversy, is nevertheless sufficient to exhibit, not only the obstinacy with which the contending parties advanced or defended their privileges not only the value which both of them affixed to the possession of that parti- cular privilege, which contained indeed the grand secret of ecclesiastical influence, but also the vacillating policy of the Vatican, and the little con- sistency with each other or with themselves, which directed, in their coun- cils, the chiefs of an infallible Church. * Revelations xvii. 5. Chap. XXIIL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 309 CHAPTER XXIIL The Grand Schism of the Roman Catholic Church. Remonstrance of the Romans to the College its reply The Conclave Probable extent of popular intimidation Constitution of the Conclave various designs of the parties violence of the people Election of the Archbishop of Bari, Urban VI. his character, and general reception his first acts of harshness, and their effect The Cardinals retire to Anagni, and annul the election of Urban they choose Robert, Cardinal of Geneva, Clement VII. his character real merits of the question Retreat of Clement to Avignon Division of Europe St. Catharine and other enthu- siastsConduct of Urban to six Cardinals accused of conspiracy Death of Urban, and election of Boniface IX. The Jubilee its extension Sale of indulgences Privileges granted to some German towns Exertions of the University of Paris for the extinction of the Schism Address to the King three methods proposed in It favourable circumstances Death of Clement VII. Election of Pietro di Luna, Benedict XIII. Grand embassy of the King to Benedict its failure- Continued exertions of the King and the University attempts to influence Boniface his assurance to the Roman deputies The French withdraw their obedience from Benedict Blockade of the palace at Avignon Benedict restored to liberty and office simoniacal rapacity of Boniface The Jubilee of 1400 Boniface succeeded by Innocent VII. Death of Innocent Solemn engage- ment of the Conclave Election of Angelo Corrario, Gregory XII. Attempt at a conference Perjury of Gregory Retirement of Benedict to Perpignan Convocation of the Council of Pisa proceedings of that council deposition of the two competitors and election of Alexander V. his birth and character Conduct of the Antipopes Intercourse of Alexander with the Roman people his death Election of Baltazar Cossa, John XXIII. Sigismond emperor Convocation of the Council of Constance choice of the place its advantages numbers of members its objects Proposition of John XXII. Two opinions respecting the course to be followed Arrival of Sigismond Question as to the power of the Council over the Pope division of the Council it decides on the method of cession cession of the Pope suspicions of the Council Escape of John from Constance Question de auferililitate Papa the Pope betrayed to Sigismond his deposition, and the charges against him his sentence conduct and imprisonment opinions of the justice of the sentence Sigismond goes to Perpignan Conference there Union of all parties- Obstinacy of Benedict he retires to Peniscola is deposed by the Council of Constance his con- duct the Council proceeds to the election of a new pope Otho Colonna, Martin V. chosen Observations Death of Angelo Corrario Pertinacity, death, and character of Pietro di Luna Fate of John XX 111.' hia liberation return to Italy counsels of his friends he goes to Florence, and makei his submission to Martin his treatment, conduct, and character. THE number of Cardinals at the death of Gregory XI. was twenty-three, of whom six were absent at Avignon, and one was leg-ate in Tuscany. The remaining sixteen, after celebrating the funeral ceremonies of the deceased, and appointing certain officers to secure their deliberations from violence, prepared to enter into conclave. But the rites of sepulture were scarcely- performed, when the leading magistrates of Rome presented to them a remonstrance to this effect: On behalf of the Roman senate and people, they ventured to represent, that the Roman Church had suffered for seventy years a deplorable captivity by the translation of the Holy See to Avignon ; that during that period the capital of the Christian world had suffered more, both in its spiritual and temporal interests, than when it was subject to the cruel domination of the barbarians; that tumults, sedi- tions, revolts, and sanguinary wars, had desolated, without interruption, the ecclesiastical states ; that its cities and its provinces were in part usurped by domestic tyrants, and occupied in part by the neighbouring republics, or by the Lombard princes ; that fire and sword were carried even to the gates of Rome, which had neither power nor authority to repress such fury ; so that the aspect of the Holy City, the head of reli- gion, formerly venerable throughout the whole earth, was no longer to be recognised through its strange and foul disfigurements. That the sacred edifices, those august monuments of ancient piety, were left without honour, or ornament, or reparation, nodding to their ruin ; that even the Titles of the cardinals, abandoned by those who derived their dignities from them, were left without roof, or gates, or walls, the abode of beasts, which 2 L 510 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. cropped the grass on their very altars. That the Faithful were no longer attracted to Rome, either by devotion, which the profanation of the churches precluded, or by interest ; since the Pope, the source of patronage, had scandalously deserted his church so that there was danger, lest that unfortunate city should be reduced to a vast and frightful solitude, and become an outcast from the world, of which it was still the spiritual empress, as it once had been the temporal. Lastly, that, as the only remedy for these evils, it was absolutely necessary to elect a Roman, or at least an Italian Pope especially as there was every appearance that the people, if disappointed in their just expectation, would have recourse to compulsion. . . . The Cardinals replied, that as soon as they should be in conclave they would give to those subjects their solemn deli- beration, and direct their choice according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They repelled the notion, that they could be influenced by any popular menace ; and pronounced (according to one account) an express warning, that if they should be compelled to elect under such circum- stances, the elected would not be a pope, but an intruder *. They then immediately entered into conclave. In the meantime the populace, who had already exhibited proofs of impatience, and whom the answer of the cardinals was not The Conclave well calculated to satisfy, assembled in great crowds about at Rome. the place of assembly. It may be true (though the cir- cumstances rest for the most part on French and partial authority), that the civil magistrates had previously possessed themselves of the keys of the gates, which were usually confided to ecclesiastical officers, in order to preclude the escape of the cardinals to a more secure place of deliberation ; that in the room of the ordinary police they introduced a number of Man tanarii, the wild and lawless inhabitants of the adjacent mountains, who paraded the streets in arms by day and by night ; that a quantity of dry reeds and other combustibles was heaped together under the windows of the conclave, with threats of conflagration ; that, at the moment when the College was proceeding to election, the bells of the Capitol and St. Peter's were sounded to arms t : these, and other circumstances of direct constraint and intimidation, are asserted by some writers, and though probably exaggerated, have undoubtedly some foundation in truth. But it is without any dispute, that a vast crowd of people continued in tumultuous assemblage during the whole deliberation of the conclave t, and that the debates of the Sacred College were inces- santly interrupted by one loud and unanimous shout 'Romano lo volemo lo Papa Romano lo volemo o almanco alrnanco Italiano !' * We will have a Roman for Pope a Roman, or at least, at the very least, an Italian !' Let us now inquire, whether the College was then so constituted, as to make it likely that its free choice would have fallen upon a Roman, or even an Italian. Of the sixteen cardinals in conclave, eleven were French, one, Pietro di Luna, a Spaniard, and four Italians. The unanimity of the French would, of course, at once have decided the question ; but it happened that they were divided into two parties. Seven amongst them were Limousins, natives of the same province ; and having succeeded * ' Quam si facerent, eos ex nunc avisaverunt, quod si ex ejus occasions aliquem elige- rent ille non esset papa sed intrusus.' Aut. Yit. Greg. XI. ap. Bosquet. Maimb., Hist, du (irand Schisme, liv.i. ( f Ad sturnum, according to the Roman expression of that time. j Spondanus, ann. 1378, s.viii, et seq. Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 511 during the last twenty-nine years, in electing four successive popes from their own country, they were naturally eager to keep possession of so pro- fitable a distinction. But the other four, unwilling to appropriate the pon- tificate to a single district, even though that district was French, designed that the choice should fall on one of themselves. The Limousins found in their superior numbers their hope of success and their excuse for per- severance ; and at length the others, being more keenly excited by pro- vincial than by national jealousy, began to turn their thoughts to a coalition with the Italians. These last were equally bent on the election of one of their own party ; and as their only chance of success arose from the division of the French, they very readily joined their forces against the exclusive ambition of the Limousins. Such were the intrigues which commenced immediately after the death of Gregory, and ripened during the eleven * days which followed ; and such was probably t the state of parties when the cardinals entered the conclave. There were materials in abundance for long and angry dissension ; and though the indignation of the Limousins against their compatriots might finally have forced their consent to the election of an Italian, rather than a native of any other French province, still it was not without a struggle, that they were likely to forego the courtly magnificence of Avignon, to which a French pontiff would surely have restored them, for a remote and tumultuous residence among the citizens of Rome. But the internal disputes of the College were speedily silenced by the tempest from without. Even after the sacred body had been shut up in deliberation, the Bannerets, or heads of the twelve regions of the city, forced themselves, together with their disorderly followers, in contempt of custom and decency, into the recesses of the conclave. Here they repeated their demands with redoubled insolence, and direct menaces. The cardi- nals are recorded to have returned their former reply, with the additional declaration, that in case any violence were used, he, whom they should so elect, and whom the people would take for a real pope, would in fact be no pope at all J. The people received this answer with indignant clamours^ ; the disorder round the chapel augmented ; the most frightful threats were littered in case of hesitation or disobedience ; and the same shout, which was indeed the burden of the uproar, continued to penetrate the conclave * A Roman for our pope ! a Roman or at least, at the very least, an Italian!' * Gregory XI. died on the 27th of March, and the cardinals entered into conclave on the 7th of April. f Fleury (liv. xcvii. s. xlviii.) seems persuaded that there was some secret understand- ing in favour of the Archbishop of Bari (who was afterwards elected) even before the cardinals entered into conclave. But the view of Maimbourg is more probable, that so wide a division, with so many opposite interests and passions, was not so easily re- conciled, J ' Ista verba manifests sonant miuas; et ideo expresse nos dicimus, quod, si per vos aut ipsos aliqua contra nos attententur, et contingat nos talium occasione et timore ali- quem eligere, credetis habere papam et non habebitis, quia non erit.' Vita Greg. XI. ap. Baluzium. One of the cardinals addressed them from the window: * State a pace perche i Signori Cardinal! dicono cosi, che domani faranno direuna messa dello Spirito Santo, e poi faranno che voi sarete content!.' Qui vero Romani maledicti tune responderunt sic ' No mo lo volemo, mo.' Et interim ridebant inter se, et unus faciebat alteri signum, ut plus clamarent ut supra. In circuitu item Conclavi erat maxima multitude cum caboris etflautis, eteodem modo clamabant fortiter juxta posse'. Vita (secunda) Greg. XI. apud Baluzium. We should observe, however, that this is not the description of a sanguinary mob. 512 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. These were not circumstances for delay or deliberation. If any incli- nation towards the choice of an Italian had previously Election of existed in the college, it was now confirmed into necessity; Urban VI. and on the very day following; their retirement the cardi- nals were agreed in their election. Howbeit, they studiously passed over the four Italian members of their own body, and casting their eyes beyond the conclave, selected a Neapolitan named Bartolomeo Prignano, the Archbishop of Bari. The announcement was not imme- diately published, probably through the fear of popular dissatisfaction, because a Roman had not been created ; and presently, when the impa- tience of the people still further increased, the Bishop of Marseilles went to the window, and said to them, ' Go to St. Peter's, and you shall learn the decision.' Whereupon some who heard him, understand- ing that the Cardinal of St. Peter's, a Roman, had been indeed chosen, rushed to the palace of that prelate, and plundered it for such was the custom then invariably observed on the election of a pope. Others thronged in great multitudes to offer him their salutations ; and then they bore him away to St. Peter's, and placed him, according to ancient usage, upon the altar. It was in vain that the good cardinal, enfeebled by extreme old age and painful disease, disclaimed the title, and trembled at the honours that were forced on him. ' I am not pope,' said he ; ' and I will not be antipope. The Archbishop of Bari, who is really chosen, is worthier than I.' They ascribed his resistance to modesty or decent dis- simulation, and continued through the whole day to overwhelm him with the most painful proofs of their joy. In the meantime the other cardinals escaped from the conclave in great disorder and trepidation, without dignity or attendants, or even their ordinary habiliments * of office, and sought safety, some in their respective palaces, and others in the Castle of St. Angelo, or even beyond the walls of the city. On the following day, the people were undeceived ; and as they showed no strong disin- clination for the master who had been really chosen for them, the Arch- bishop of Bari was solemnly enthroned, and the scattered cardinals re- appeared, and rallied round him in confidence and security. The archbishop's exalted reputation justified the choice of the college, and secured the obedience of the people. Through a long life, devoted to the service of the Church, he had reconciled the most ardent dispo- sition with the most devout humility, and improved by assiduous study a powerful comprehension. He submitted to the utmost severity of ecclesiastical discipline ; yet his deep and dangerous enthusiasm did not close his mind against the liberal pursuit of learning, and the patronage of learned men. His zeal for the Church was not stained by the sus- picion of bigotry, nor inconsistent with a stern opposition to its abuses ; and among many other virtues, he was perhaps chiefly famed for the rigorous exercise of justice. Such was the character to which Rome looked with sanguine hope for the repair of her declining fortunes ; nor was it, indeed, without the general approbation of Christendom, that Urban VI. ascended the apostolical chair. The cardinals sent the customary com- munications to the courts of Europe of the free and canonical election which they had made f, and peaceably assumed their official stations about the person of the pontiff. * Hecesserunt pcdes, unus sine C.ipa, alter cum Capa, alter sine Capucio, soli, sine sociis scutiferis. Vit.Greg. XI. ap. lialux. f A similar announcement was made to the six cardinals remaining at Avignon, who immediately recognized the new pope. Chap. XXIII,] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 513 The ceremony of coronation was duly performed, and several bishops were assembled on the very following day at vespers in the pontifical chapel, when the Pope unexpectedly His harshness. addressed them in the bitterest language of reproba- tion. ^He accused them of having deserted and betrayed the flocks which God had confided to them, in. order to revel in luxury at the court of Rome ; and he applied to their offence the harsh reproach of perjury. One of them (the Bishop of Pampeluna) repelled the charge, as far as himself was concerned, by reference to the duties which he performed at Rome ; the others suppressed in silence their anger and confusion. A few days afterwards, at a public consistory, Urban re- peated his complaints and denunciations, and urged them still more generally in the presence of his whole court. In a long and intem- perate harangue, he arraigned the various vices of the prelates their simony, their injustice, their exactions, their scandalous luxury, with a number of other offences in unmeasured * and uncompromising expres- sions ; and while he spared no menace to give weight to his censure, he directed the sharpest of his shafts against the cardinals themselves. . . . There is not any dispute, that his violence proceeded from an honest zeal for the reformation of the Church ; but the end was marred by the pas- sionate indiscretion, with which he pursued it. The consistory broke up ; and the members carried away with them no sense of the iniquities im- puted, no disposition to correct their habits or their principles, but only indignation, mixed with some degree of fear, against a severe and dis- courteous censor % The cardinals continued, notwithstanding, their attendance at the Vatican for a few weeks longer, and then, as was usual on the approach of the summer heats, they withdrew from the city, with the pope's per- mission, and retired to Anagni. The four Italians alone remained at Rome. The others were no sooner removed from the immediate inspec- tion of Urban, than they commenced, or at least more boldly pursued, their measures to overthrow him. On the one hand, they opened a direct correspondence with the court of France and university of Paris J; on the other, they took into their service a body of mercenaries, commanded by one Bernard de la Sale, a Gascon ; and then they no longer hesitated to treat the election of Urban as null, through the violence which had attended it . To give consequence to this decision, they assembled with great * " Nullo reprehensionibus modo imposito." Ciacconius. f " Hunc et posteris diebus, cessante jam metu, venerari ut pontificem perseverarunt. Sed fuit in illo nomine natura iuquieta et dura ; et tune prseter spem ad tantae dignitatis fastigium sublevatus intolerabilis videbatur. Nulla patribus gratia, quod se potissimum delegissent, nulla humauitas, nulla conciliatio animorum. Contumax, et minabundus, et asper malebat videri, et metui potius quam diligi. Ea perversitas Patres coegit metu et indigtiatione aliorsum respicere. Itaque clam inter se de electione conquest!," c. Leo- nardus Aretinus, Histor. Florent., lib. viii. ad finem. Leonardus was himself personally attached to the popes of that succession. By some the character of Urban is compared to that of Boniface VIII. Baluzius, the organ of the French opinion, represents him as a very monster " Cujus electio facta arte diabolica." I This learned and now influential body was courted with equal assiduity by Urban. In a letter addressed to it on this same occasion, that pontiff compared it to a constella- tion irradiating every other academy ; to a fountain whence the purest doctrine perennially flowed ; to a tree bearing excellent fruit. See Spondanus, Ann. 1378, s. xviii. There exists a letter written during that crisis by Marsilius d'Inghen, ancient Rector of the University of Paris, who happened to be residing with Urban at that time. His description of affairs is such as we liav given. See Fleury, 1. 97, s. 52. 514 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. solemnity in the principal church, and promulgated, on the 9th of August, a public declaration, in the presence of many prelates Clement VII. and other ecclesiastics, by which the Archbishop of Bari elected at Fondi. was denounced an intruder into the pontificate, and his election formally cancelled*. They then retired, for greater security, to Fondi, in the kingdom of Naples. Still they did not venture to proceed to a new election in the absence, and it might be against the consent, of their Italian brethren. A negociation was accordingly opened ; and these last immediately fell into the snare, which treachery had prepared for ambition. To each of them separately a secret promise was made in writing, by the whole of their colleagues, that himself should be the object of their choice. Each of them believed what he wished ; and concealing from each other their private expectations, they f pressed to Fondi with joy and confidence. The College imme- diately entered into conclave ; and, as the French had, in the meantime, reconciled their provincial jealousies, Robert, the Cardinal of Geneva, was chosen by their unanimous vote. This event took place on the 20th of September (1378); the new pope assumed the name of Clement VII., and was installed with the customary ceremonies. Robert of Geneva was of noble birth, and even allied to several of the sovereigns of Europe. He possessed talents and eloquence, a courage which was never daunted, and a resolution which was never diverted or wearied. Little scrupulous as to means, in his habits sumptuous and pro- digal, he seemed the man most likely to establish his claims to a disputed crown, and to unite the courts of Christendom in his favour. His age, besides, which did not exceed thirty-six, gave promise of a vigorous and decisive policy. Nevertheless, his first endeavours had very little success. It was in vain, that the sacred college sent forth its addresses to princes and their sub- jects, detailing all that had occurred at Rome, Anagni, and Fondi, and pro- testing against the violence, which occasioned the illegal election of Urban. It was argued, on the other hand, that the Cardinals had assisted at the subsequent ceremonies of enthronement and coronation ; that they had announced their choice in the usual language to all the courts of Europe; that they had continued their personal attendance on the Pope for some weeks afterwards, and had even allowed four months to elapse, before they withdrew their obedience. Besides which, many, no doubt, were well pleased to see the chief of their church restored to his legitimate residence ; they disliked the irregular influence of the French, and were glad to shake off their spiritual usurpation. In truth, the reasons, which were advanced with such ardour and obstinacy on both sides, were not per- fectly conclusive for either; and though it is certain that the election was conducted under some degree of intimidation t, the subsequent acqui- * In this document, the cardinals, after describing the tumults of the Romans, de- clared, that they elected the Archbishop of Bari in the persuasion that, seeing the circumstances under which he was chosen, he would in conscience have refused the pontificate ; that on the contrary, forgetful of his salvation, and burning with ambition, he consented to the choice ; that under the effect of the same intimidation, lie WHS enthroned and crowned, and assumed the name of pope, though he rather merited that of apostate and Antichrist. They then anathematized him as an usurper, and invoked against him all aids and succours, divine and human. t They were now reduced to three, by the death of the Cardinal of St. Peter's. Sismondi (Repub. Ital., ch. 1.) (im-s not consider the choice of the Cardinals to have btH-.u decided by the tumult of the people, because after all they did not elect a Roman, and therefore incurred some danger even by that compromise with their independence. Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 515 escence of the Cardinals makes it highly probable, that the legitimacy of Urban would never have been questioned, had he followed the usual course of pontifical misgovernment, or even published his schemes ot reformation with less earnestness, or more discretion. The severity of his rebukes rankled in the conscience of those who deserved them ; and his menaces persuaded the court, that, to preserve its beloved impurities, it must depose the master who presumed to arraign them. A Pope, so dangerous to the vices* of the powerful clergy, could not hope to^ maintain without dispute an ambiguous right. Such was the origin of the schism which divided the Roman Church for about forty years, and accelerated more than any other event the decline of papal authority^ We have related the particulars with some minute- ness, not only in justice to the importance of the subject, but also to show, that the great difficulties, which were soon afterwards found, even by impartial judges, in determining the rights of the competitors, were not without foundation ; but that both parties had a plausible plea for their respective obedience, though the true policy and interests of the church clearly recommended an undivided adherence to the cause of Urban. The hopes of Clement were fixed on the court of France ; he knew that prejudices in his favour naturally existed in that kingdom, and he knew, too, that the first steps towards France declares his general acknowledgment must be taken there. for Clement. Charles V., affecting great impartiality, and admitting the deliberation due to so grave a question, convoked at Vincennes a grand Assembly of his clergy, nobles, and council. This august body, after individually abjuring the influence of all personal considerations, ex- pressed an unanimous % conviction of the legitimacy of Clement. The However, the real object of the populace was effected, if they obtained a Pope who would probably reside at Rome : this, and not the place of his nativity, was the point which touched their interests, and the election of a Neapolitan .secured it almost as certainly, as that of a Roman. Upon the whole, it seems most probable (and the result of the second election confirms this) that, had no external influence been exercised, the Cardinals would have chosen an Ultramontane, or, at any rate, not the Archbishop of Bari. Sis- mondi's eloquent description of this affair is chiefly drawn from the contemporary account of Thomas d'Acerno, Bishop of Lucera, who was present. On the other hand, Baldus, a celebrated lawyer and adherent of Urban, does not dispute the influence of the popular uproar, but rests the legitimacy of that Pope on the subsequent confirmation and obedi- ence of the sacred college. * He strictly forbade the Cardinals, on pain of excommunication, to accept any pre- sents. He endeavoured to restrain the luxury of all his prelates, and even to reduce their tables to a single dish, a laudable moderation, of which he set the example himself. Again, he threatened the French, that he would create so many Cardinals as to place them in a minority in the college-. "Item Cardinal! de Ursinis dixit quoderat umis Sotus." (Thomas d'Acerno, p. 725.) His harsh and offensive manner increased the unpopularity of his proposed reforms. f The entire number of the schisms, which have disturbed the Roman Catholic Church, is variously estimated by its historians. Johannes Marias, a Belgian, historian of Louis XII., (a Latin translation of whose work is published, together with that of Theodoric of Niem,) makes the fated number to be twenty-four, the last of which, the Schism of Anti- Christ, the most deadly of all, had not yet in his time befallen. The first in his catalogue is that of the Novatians ; the sixteenth was that occasioned by Gregory VII. ; the twentieth by Frederick Barbarossa ; the twenty-second was that, which we are now describing. His Book is divided into three parts, of which the second, " De Conciliis Ecclesise Gallicanse," contains some useful information. t In a Council previously held (on Sept. 8), to examine the rights of the dispute between Urban and the French Cardinals, before the election of Robert of Geneva, the majority declared for the Cardinals, though they advised the king still to suspend his de- 516 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. Ivin^ was guided by their voice, and declared on the 13th of Novem- ber in his favour. The Queen of Naples, the city of Avignon, and the six Cardinals \vho resided there, had already come to the same determina- tion. In the mean time, a passionate warfare of bulls and anathemas commenced on both sides; but happily the thunders must on this occasion have fallen harmless, even in the judgment of a moderate Catholic, since it was impossible certainly to decide which were the genuine bolts ; and the ambiguous election of the rivals placed them both in the situation of Antipopes, rather than of Popes. But they were not contented with those innocuous conflicts ; the rights which were ineffectually asserted by ecclesiastical censures, appealed for protection to the sword : a succession of combats desolated the South of Italy, and ended in the discomfiture of Clement. His first refuge was Naples ; but at length, finding it impossible to maintain himself in Italy against an Italian rival, he retired to the residence most suited to his for- tunes and his prospects, Avignon. From a city which was already con- secrated by the tombs of so many Popes, supported by the court and nou- rished by the clergy of France, he bade defiance to his Transalpine adver- sary ; and since he could not command, he was contented to^divide, the spiritual obedience of Europe. It does not enter into the plan of this History to pursue the affairs of the Church into all their connexions with political matters ; to attend the march of papal armies, hateful alike in their reverses and their triumphs ; or to trace the flimsy threads of intrigue, by which the momentary interests of Popes and kings have been suspended. It is enough to say, that, not- withstanding an intemperate ambition and some acts of singular impru- dence, Urban continued to retain the greater part of his adherents. The Kings of Scotland and Cyprus, the Counts of Savoy Division of Europe, and Geneva, the Duke of Austria, and some other German princes, and even the Kings of Castille and Arragon, were finally united with France in allegiance to Clement* But the other states of Europe remained faithful to the vows, which they had earliest taken ; and it was no unreasonable reply to the Antipope, Robert of Avignon, that he should be the last to reject that Pontiff, whom the Cardinal, Robert of Geneva, had officially recommended to universal obedience. The doctors and learned men of the age were simi- larly divided, and their division produced the most voluminous contro- versies. And lastly, as is observed by some Roman Catholic writers, many pious and gifted persons, who are now numbered among the saints of the Church, were to be found indifferently in either obedience ; which sufficiently proved (they assert) that the eternal salvation of the faithful was not in this case endangered by their error. In this holy society, Catharine of Sienna was again conspicuous, as the advocate and adviser of the Roman Pope. She declared herself (says Maimbourg) loudly for Urban, and employed whatever talents, and eloquence, and force she pos- sessed, in writing and exhorting all the world to acknowledge him. At the same time, in six epistles, which she addressed to himself, she dis- creetly recommended him to relax somewhat from that extreme austerity, which had made him so many enemies. To what extent Urban profited by that counsel we are scarcely able to decide, though some assert, that he held his holy monitress in much veneration. But we are credibly in- formed, that his predecessor, who had certainly been influenced by her cision. Gibbon re-marks, that it was the vanity, rather than the interest of the nation, which determined the court and clergy of France. Chap. XXI1L] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 517 persuasions, when at length, on his death-bed, his stronger reason pre- vailed, called around him his friends and assistants, and solemnly cau- tioned them against all pretenders of either sex, who should propound their private revelations as rules of conduct and policy. * Since I, (he said,) having been seduced by such as these, and having rejected the ra- tional counsel of my friends, have dragged myself and the Church into the perils of a schism, which is now near at hand, unless Jesus, her Spouse, shall interpose in his mercy to avert it*.' Such persons, notwithstanding, were found in abundance on both sides; and their wild visions were interpreted by the devotees of the day, and recorded by the grave historians of after times ; and it was this, among other circumstances, which has seduced Roman Catholic writers to the very consoling conclusion, that, though a schism did unquestionably exist, yet there were none who could properly be termed schismatics; that the adherents of Urban and of Clement were equally the children of the church ; and that, while the faithful differed as to the name of the bishop, they were united in unshaken allegiance and attachment to the Seef. Certainly the character of Urban was not permanently softened by the admonitions of his inspired instructress ; and to many reported acts of harshness and rigour he presently added one of positive barbarity. The following story rests on satisfactory evidence. A plot for his deposition had been set on foot, originating, as it would seem, with the King of Naples ; and a paper, which had been circulated with that object, was placed in the hands of some of his Cardinals for Urban had immediately supplied the defection of his original court by a large and, for the most part, respectable creation. How far they countenanced the propositions contained in it does not certainly appear J ; but as by one of those the provisional government of the church was vested in the hands of the sacred college, it is not improbable that some may have assented to them. Urban discovered the conspiracy ; he immediately seized six, the most suspected of the body, and after subjecting them to the utmost severity of torture, cast them into a narrow and noisome dungeon. This affair took place at Nocera, in the kingdom of Naples ; but some reverses presently obliged the Pope to take refuge at Genoa. He carried his prisoners along with him in chains, and afflicted with severe hardships ; and, during a year of sojourn in that civilised city, he could never be moved by the counsels of his friends, or the prayers of the republic which protected him, to re- * " Ille positus in extremis, habens in manibus sacrum Christ! Corpus, protestatus est coram omnibus, ut caverent ab hominibus, sive viris sive mulieribus sub specie religionis ioquentibus visiones sui capitis ; quia per tales ipse secluctus, dimisso suorum ratiouabili consilio, se traxerat et ecclesiam in discrimenschismatis imminentis, nisi misericors provi- deret sponsus Jesus." See Gerson, De Examinatione Doctrinarum, Pars ii., consid. iii. 1 Never, says Maimbourg, was the unity of the See better preserved, than during this schism. J Respecting some of the particulars of this affair we have the directly opposite evi- dence of two contemporaries, who had both excellent means of infomxition. Gobellinus was attached to the house of Urban, and he relates, as the report which had reached him, that the Cardinals not only assented to the plan proposed to them, but actually suborned false witnesses to convict the Pope of heresy, and intended to burn him on the day of his condemnation, and that this appeared from their own confessions. Theodorie of Niem, who was on the spot, and one of the judges appointed by the Pope to try the Car- dinals, attests that all of them constantly asserted their innocence, excepting one only, who confessed, in the agony of the torture, anything that was asked him. Though neither author is free from the charge of partiality, we must here give our credence to the latter account, recollecting, that even that does not necessarily acquit the accused. Fleury (1. xcviii., s. xx., xxi., &c.), who relates the particulars of the torture from Theod. de Niem with painful minuteness; certainly believes the conspiracy. 518 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII, lease his captives. At length, when on the point of departure, as he feared the inconvenience or the scandal of dragging them after him through a second journey, and as he could not exalt his resolution to the perform- ance of an act of clemency, if, indeed, it were not justice, he consigned five of them to sudden and secret* execution. The other, an Englishman named Adam Eston, Bishop of London, owed his preservation only to the frequent and pressing remonstrances of the English King. This affair took place in the December of 1386. In the October of 1389, Urban died at Rome ; and as soon as the glad intelligence reached Avignon and Paris, great wishes were expressed and some hopes entertained in both places, that the schism would thus ter- minate ; that the Cardinals of Rome, wearied by the labours, the vicissi- tudes, and the dangers of the conflict, would Election and character voluntarily unite themselves with the college at of Boniface IX. Avignon, and acknowledge Clement for Pope, on the condition of his residence at Rome. In the university especially the public lectures were suspended, and no subject was discussed, except the probable determination of the Roman Cardinals. In the mean time, that body, on whose resolution at that moment so much depended, appear not to have been embarrassed by any hesitation as to the course before them. The members immediately assembled, to the number of fourteen ; they entered into conclave, and elected, within a fortnight from Urban's decease, another Neapolitan for his successor. Pietro or Perrino Tomacelli, Cardinal of Naples, assumed, on the second of No- vember, the name of Boniface IX., and was placed on the throne for which his ignorancef alone was sufficient to disqualify him. But the scandal of his ignorance was enhanced by his avarice. On the year following his accession, a Jubilee J was held at Rome, and the devout were exhorted to present themselves from every quarter. The Jubilee. Unmoved by distance and expense, and even by the per- sonal dangers which awaited them from the partizans of Clement or the neutral bandits of the mountains, great multitudes undertook, and many accomplished, the pilgrimage. The altars of the Roman churches were again enriched by the contributions of super- stition ; and if some part of the offerings was expended in the repair of the sacred edifices, by far the larger proportion flowed directly into the coffers of the Pope. But Boniface was not contented with that partial stream, which had found its way to his capital; and being desirous, no doubt, that even those of his children, who had not listened to his call, should still participate in the spiritual consolation, he sent his emissaries among all the nations by whom he was acknowledged, with commissions to sell the plenary indulgence to all indiscriminately, for the same sum . . . . * Most assert that he threw them into the sea in sacks ; others affirm that they were strangled in prison, and their bodies consumed by quick-lime. It is certain that they disappeared. t Theodoric of Niem, lib. ii., cap. vi., ' scribendi atque canendi imperitus. . . Nemo prosperatur in illo quod ignorat; unde inscitia fere venalis f'acta fuit in ipsa Curia, tem- pore suo. Fuit tarnen satis edoctus grammatical ac disertus, sed rum habuit in aliqua scientia prseeminentiam sive gradum.' 1 The indication of this jubilee was the act of his predecessor. Urban VI., moved by the gradual abbreviation of human life, determined to reduce the interval (already reduced from 100 to .')()) from 50 to 33 years, this last space being the probable duration of Christ's sojourn on i-aitli. Si-e Spimdsmus, aim. 1389, s. ii. and iii. The new institution was to begin afresh from tin: year I3!K); but it was not intended, as we shall presently observe, to supersede the secular celebration. Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 519 which the journey to Rome would have cost them. This absolution ex- tended to every sort of offence, and appears not to have been preceded even by the ordinary formalities of confession or penance, it was purely and undisguisedly venal. The necessary consequences of this measure were sufficiently demoralizing; ; but the evil was multiplied by the impostures of certain mendicants and others, who traversed the country with forged indulgences, which they bartered for their private profit. Still dissatisfied, and determined to carry this lucrative mummery of the jubilee to its utmost depth, and, as it were, to fathom the super- stition of his age, Boniface communicated the privileges of the holy city to two towns of Germany Cologne and Magdebourg ; and permitted them also to hold their year of Jubilee, after the fashion and example of Rome. By this rash act he disparaged the supereminent sanctity of the see of St. Peter, of the tombs of the apostles, and the relics of so many martyrs! He called in question the exclusiveness of that glory, which was thought to encircle the throne of the Vicars of Christ ! He sacrificed that which he least intended to sacrifice even the temporal interests, even the pecuniary profits, which were ever closely connected with the peculiar holiness of the apostolical city. But his immediate greediness was gratified; his collectors were present in both places to share the offer- ings of the faithful ; and when he perceived that their fatuity was not yet exhausted, he extended the licence still further, and accorded it to several insignificant places. At length, says Fleury, that Pope became so pro- digal of his indulgences, that he refused them to no one, provided he was paid for them; the effect of which was, that they grew into contempt*. In the mean time, the necessity of restoring the union of the church became more evident, and the expressions of that opinion more loud and general. Boniface himself professed an ardent though, as it proved, an insincere desire for the same consummation, and even addressed a letter to Charles of France (in April, 1393), in which he exhorted him seriously to undertake the sacred office of conciliation!. The king consented; the University of Paris eagerly Projects of the caught at any hope of removing the scandal and University of Paris. the daily growing evils which attended it, and applied itself to discover the most efficient means. After mature delibe- ration, a public harangue was delivered before that body (in the June of 1394), by a doctor^ appointed to the office, and after receiving their approbation, was presented to the king. It contained in substance, that there were three methods of healing the schism, any one of which might be adopted with reasonable hope of success : the method of cession, the method of compromise, the method of a General Council. By the first the voluntary resignation of both competitors was recommended, in the presence of both colleges ; these were then to proceed in con- junction to another election. By the second, the opposite claims might * The indulgence-mongers of Boniface IX., when they arrived in any city, suspended at their windows a flag, with the arms of the Pope and the keys of the Church. Then they prepared tables in the cathedral church, by the side of the altar, covered with rich cloths, like bankers', to receive the purchase-money. They then informed the people of the absolute power, with which the Pope had invested them, to deliver souls from purga- tory, and give complete remission to all who bought their wares. If the German clergy exclaimed against this base traffic of spiritual favours, they were excommunicated. See Sismoridi, Ri'pub. Ital., ch. Ixii. t It appeared, on subsequent explanation, that Boniface saw only one solution of the difficulty, the expulsion of his rival, and the universal acknowledgment of himself. J Nicholas do Clemangis. 520 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIIT. be referred to certain arbitrators appointed by V both parties, with the power of final decision. As to the third, it was suggested, in case of its adoption, that the Assembly should no longer consist of prelates only, many of whom were ignorant or passionately' partial, but also of several doctors in theology and law, members of the most celebrated universities. Of the above methods, the University pronounced its own decided opinion in favour of the first, as being the most prompt and expedient, the most proper to prevent expense and other difficulties, the most agreeable to the consciences of the faithful in both obediences, the most respectful to the honour of the princes, who had declared for the opposite parties. Yet was there an objection to this method, which, to many, as human nature is constituted, might have seemed at once con- clusive against it : was it probable, that, for the attainment of a public good, two men, in the enjoyment of very great power, dignity, and wealth, could both be persuaded to make a voluntary cession of those personal advantages, and to withdraw to a private, and perhaps insecure, retire- ment, from the loftiest eminence of ambition? Yet this difficulty does not appear to have been much considered in the outset, though it became manifest, even to the most sanguine, long before the termination of the contest. In the same exposition, in which the remedies were thus pointed out, some of the monstrous evils which then afflicted the church were exhibited with little exaggeration; while all were naturally ascribed to the prevalent disease of the moment the schism. It was forgotten that the greater number were rooted in the system itself, and only flourished somewhat more rankly on account of its accidental derangement. The church, it was declared, had fallen into servitude, poverty, and contempt. Unworthy and corrupt men, without the sense of justice or honesty, the servants of their intemperate passions, were commonly exalted to the prelacy ; these plundered indifferently churches and monasteries, whatever was profane and whatever was sacred ; and oppressed the inferior ministers of religion with intolerable exactions. The dominion of simony was universal; bene- fices and cures were conferred only on those, who had means to buy them ; while the poor and learned candidate was hated the more for that very learning, which made him dangerous to corruption. And not only were the dignities of the church publicly bartered ; not only were relics and crosses and the sacred vessels commonly exposed to sale ; but the very sacraments themselves, those especially of ordination and penance, had their price in gold. A political circumstance occurred at this moment which was favourable to the hopes of union. A truce for four years was signed between the kings of England and France the most zealous supporters of the oppo- site parties. At the same time, the University of Cologne, though it acknowledged Boniface, and had probably profited by his patronage, entered into correspondence with that of Paris for the extinction of the schism ; and lastly, as if to place the result within the immediate reach of the pacificators, Clement VII. was so violently* affected by the pro- ceedings at Paris, that he was struck with apoplexy, and died. As soon as this intelligence reached Paris, the deputation from the * When the earnest and reasonable exhortations of the University were pressed upon him when he was assured that the evil had gone so far, that some began almost to advocate a plurality of popes, and the appointment of one to every kingdom the infatuated bigot only started from his seat in anger, and declared that ' the letters were poisoned, and tended to bring the Holy bee into discredit.^ Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 521 university instantly petitioned the king;, that he would cause the cardi- nals to suspend the election, until some general measures should be taken to ensure the union ; also, that he would assemble his prelates and nobles, and order processions and public prayers to the same end throughout his kingdom. Accordingly, a royal messenger was dispatched to Avignon, to prevent the meeting of the College, and prepare it for a special embassy ; and on the success of this mission hung the hopes of Christendom. The envoy arrived at Avignon only ten days after the decease of Clement ; but he found the cardinals already in conclave ! Still, as the election was not yet made, he transmitted to them the letter of the king ; but the College, suspecting its contents, and determined at any risk to have a pope of their own^creation, deferred the opening of the letter, till their actual busi- ness should be completed. They then hastened to a decision ; and Peter of Luna, Cardinal of Arragon, was raised by their unanimous voice to the divided throne. Howbeit, they previously took a precaution, which was certainly neces- sary for their own credit, though there were few, probably, who expected any real advantage from Election of Peter of it. Before the election they drew up an act, by Luna, Benedict XIII. which they solemnly engaged to labour for the ex- tinction of the schism, and to give every aid to the future pope for that purpose. It was moreover specified, that^if any one among themselves should be raised to the pontificate, this act should be equally binding upon him ; and that he should even be prepared to cede his dignity, if his cardinals should judge it expedient for the concord of the Church. They then took oaths on the altar to observe this engagement. Peter of Luna had^ long been distinguished for ability and address ; he had discharged with vigour the offices entrusted to him; but there was also an opinion respecting him, which seems more than any other to have procured his elevation, and even at first to have reconciled all parties to it, this was, that he ardently desired the union of the Church. This zeal he had been forward, while cardinal, to proclaim upon all occasions even so far as to censure Clement for the want of it ; and many hoped that it would burn with equal fervour under the pontifical robes. The University addressed to him congratulations, which were seemingly sincere, and Benedict XIII. (the name assumed by him) repaid them with the strongest protestations of good intention. A jjrand council was then held at Paris, in which the method of cession again received the approbation of the great majority; and it was agreed, that an embassy should be sent to Avignon to treat with the Pope. The king added his authority, to give weight to this measure ; and the more certainly to secure its success, he sent his brother and both his uncles (the Dukes of Burgundy and Berri) to conduct the negociation. Benedict received them with respect and deference ; but when they opened the sub- ject of their mission, and pressed the necessity of the cession, as the only road to concord, he found many reasons to urge against that particular method, as indeed against the other two, which had also occurred to the university. In the place of them, he proposed a conference with his rival, at which he affected to believe that matters might be accommodated. The ambassa- dors persevered in their proposal ; and even the cardinals, on their strong solicitation, declared, with one exception*, for the method of cession. Nevertheless Benedict, during several weeks of repeated conferences and * The Cardinal Bishop of Pampeluna, a Spaniard and, compatriot of the Pope. 522 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. debates, inflexibly persisted in his refusal. At length the illustrious mission returned to Paris, without any other result than, the discovery of Benedict's insincerity. Notwithstanding 1 this failure, the king* addressed himself very warmly, to unite the different courts and learned bodies of Europe in favour of the method, which still seemed to promise the greatest hopes. Messengers traversed the country in all directions, and every state and every city in Europe was agitated by the same momentous question. The speculations of the learned and the projects of the powerful were equally engrossed by it; and it seemed as if the fate of all governments, and the welfare of all subjects, depended on its solution. At this time the University of Paris, which took the foremost part in these discussions, and possessed much more influence than any other learned body, openly expressed dis- satisfaction with Benedict, and even threw out some menaces of a general council, in case of his further contumacy. Benedict watched these proceedings with anxiety ; but the variety and discordance of the materials, which it was necessary to combine for his destruction, gave him the confidence to persist ; upon which the Doctors of Paris advanced one degree towards more efficient measures. And as Luna had unreservedly sworn to adopt the method of cession, in case his cardinals should hereafter recommend it, and as his cardinals had strongly recommended it, and as he had then unequivocally rejected it, little sympathy could be expected from any quarter with a prelate, whose selfish opposition to the interests of religion was made more detestable by an act of deliberate perjury. The measure was, to draw up a strong exposition of Benedict's general delinquency, and of the particular grievances of the complainants, and to appeal from his censures, whether past or future, to the future pope * : a step which very temperately opened the path for more vigorous proceedings. In the meantime, the courts which acknowledged the rival pope made great exertions to bring him to the arrangement Conduct of Boniface, which to them seemed so reasonable, and to him so unjust and extravagant. From Sicily to the extremities of Germany assemblies were held and resolutions adopted ; and the vows, and talents, and energies of all men were directed to the same object ; consequently, deputations and embassies were sent to Rome from all quarters. Boniface at first was contented to reply, that he was the true and only Pope, and that universal obedience was due to him ; but presently, in the year 1398, when the emperor at length interfered more directly, and pressed the method of cession, he found it expedient to dissemble; and, by the advice of his cardinals, he promised submission, provided (a very safe proviso) that the Antipope of Avignon should also resign his claims t. Yet, even so guarded a concession alarmed the avaricious fears of the citizens of Rome. They trembled lest their bishop and his prodigal court, and the train of his dependents, and expectants, and sycophants, should again be seduced to some foreign residence. That event, too, at that moment, would have been peculiarly afflicting, since in two years (in 1400) the second grand and general Jubilee was to take place ; and the inhabitants had already begun to make provision for the season of spoliation. Accordingly, a body of the notables of the city waited upon the Pope, and professed towards him the most sincere and * On this occasion numbers of polemical tracts and pamphlets were published on both bides, containing, as Fleury has observed, many words but i'ew reasons. f Spundauus. ana, 13U8 ? 8. ii. Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. ' 523 unprecedented * affection : they declared that they would never desert him, but sustain, with their very lives and property, his just and holy cause. 'My children,' replied Boniface, 'take courage! rest assured that I will continue to be pope ; and whatever I may say, or however I may play off the King of France and the Emperor against each other, I will never submit to their will.' While such was the disposition of the Roman competitor/during the July of the same year the Court and Uni- versity of Paris at length perceiving that a Subtraction of obedience, mere contest of acts and declarations would never weary the Pontiff of Avignon, proceeded to a measure of greater effi- cacy one which no Catholic nation had hitherto, on any occasion, dared to adopt against any pope : ' By the aid and' advice of the princes and other nobles, and of the Church of our kingdom, as well clergy as people, we entirely withdraw our obedience from Pope Benedict XIII., as well as from his adversary, whom indeed we have never acknowledged. And we ordain, that no one henceforward make any payment to Pope Benedict, his collectors, or agents, from the ecclesiastical revenues or emoluments. We also strictly prohibit all our subjects from offering to him any manner of obedience.' Such was the substance of the royal proclamation ; and arrangements were at the same time made to deprive the pope of the presentation to all benefices, for as long a time as it should remain in force. This edict was received with such general respect and sub- mission, that the very domestics and chaplains of Benedict retired from their offices ; and what was still more important, the cardinals themselves withdrew in a body from his court. But he, nothing moved by that unanimity, was the more forward on repeated occasions to assert, that he was the true and genuine pope ; that he would remain so, in despite of king, duke, or count and that he was prepared to renounce his life, rather than his dignity. Recourse was then had to the only method which gave any jnst hope of success. A military force was sent against Avignon ; arid as the inhabitants of that city also declared their adhesion to the king and the cardinals, nothing now remained in opposition to the royal will and the force of the nation, except the pontifical palace. But Benedict had secured some faithful mercenaries for its defence ; and an effective blockade was thought sufficient for the objects of his enemies. Thus for the space of four years he continued a close prisoner in his own resi- dence, without any strength to resist the means employed against him, or any disposition to yield to them. But at length, the vigour of that powerful confederacy was dissipated by the persevering intrigues of one feeble individual, and the variety of interests and principles in the mass opposed to Benedict led by slow degrees to a disunion, which preserved him. The first, who betrayed his party was a Norman officer, Robinet de Braquemont, who, through the confidence reposed in him, and his constant access to the palace, found easy means of liberating the pope. It was on March 12, 1403, that the successor of St. Peter concealed his apostolical sanctity under the disguise of a menial ; and, having thus eluded the penetration of his guards, took refuge in a small town near Avignon. As a pope was never wont to travel, unless preceded by the * Fleury, liv.xcix. s. 18. Boniface artfully availed himself of this unusual display of loyalty on the part of his subjects to secure an extent of temporal authority over them, such as no former pope is said to have possessed, See ^Egidius Card. Viterb, apud Pae-i. Vit.Bonif, lX,s.xliii. b 524 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. Holy Sacrament, Benedict carried out with him a little box, containing- the consecrated element ; and even, for the literal observance of that custom, he placed the box upon his breast. As soon as he found himself in safety, he caused his beard, which he had nourished during the persecution of his captivity, to be shaved off; and recovering with his freedom the consciousness of his dignity, he resumed the habits and authority of a pope. No sooner was the circumstance of his liberation made known, than several noble individuals rendered to him the accustomed homage. Immediately the College of Cardinals passed over to him and sought a reconciliation. The citizens of Avignon eagerly ten- dered their offers of service. Benedict forgave the truancy, and accepted the repentance of all. At the same time, the party in France, which for some time had been opposed to the subtraction * of obedience, and which had lately gained strength, now boldly declared its adhesion. The king was privately induced to join it; and, notwithstanding the resistance of the more consistent promoters of ecclesiastical concord, it prevailed. By an edict of May 30, an entire and unequivocal restitution of obedience was enjoined: thus after a partial interruption of about five years, the tide of papacy resumed for a season, even in France itself, its prescribed and customary t course. The reason which was advanced by the king, to justify so complete a change in his policy, was, that the example Government of Boniface, of France had not been followed by other nations J ; and that, while the pontiff of Avignon was confined to his palace walls, the intruder at Rome was acquiring new strength and confidence. We shall, therefore, now recur very briefly to the system of government which Boniface had adopted. It appears to have been directed by one principle only to extract the largest possible sums from the superstition of the people and the ambition of the clergy, and the folly and credulity of both. During the first seven years of his pontificate, his proceedings were veiled by some show of decency, through a reluctant respect which he paid to the virtues of some of the ancient cardinals. But as these successively died, and were replaced by others of his own creation and character, he broke out into the undisguised prac- tice of sirnony . This was the most copious and constant source of his * It is the word used by ecclesiastical writers Subtractio, soustraction. f The first proof of moderation and gratitude which Benedict gave after the Act of Restitution was, to appoint afresh to certain benefices, which had been filled up during the subtraction. The king then sent an embassy to pray him to confirm such provisions, as had been then made. He returned a direct refusal. On this, Charles published his commands, that those who had been so appointed should, at any rate and without any fees to the Pope, remain in possession. This was conclusive. $ In 1399, King Richard expressly consulted the University of Oxford on the grand question of the age. The answer of that body was very decided against any refusal of obedience to Boniface, because he was indeed the true Pope. On the same ground, they objected to the method of cession, and insisted in preference on that of a General Council to be convoked of course by their own genuine Pope. Thus they assumed at once the point at issue if Boniface had power to convoke a council of universal authority, Boni- face was truly Pope and the schism was at an end. See Theodoric of Niem, Do Schismat., lib. ii., cap. vii., viii., ix., x., xi., xii., &c. This author, a native of Westphalia, was attached as Secretary to the Roman Court during the whole of the Schism ; and besides the History of this Event, in four books, (the last of which is entitled Nemus Unionis) he composed the Lite of John XXIII. He exposed pontifical depravity with freedom, it may be with rancour. Spondanus (aim. 1 404, s. xvi.) especially ascribes his account of the simony of Bimit'.iru to an ulcerosus stomachus, and of course other Roman Catholic writers are scandalized by his little reserve. But we doubt not, that his narrative is essentially true. Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 525 gains ; but when the simple and honest sale of benefices proved insuffi- cient for his demands, he had recourse, besides, to direct acts of fraud and robbery. In the distribution of graces and expectatives, the poorest candidates were invariably placed at the bottom of the list ; but this was not sufficient even the promises, that had been made them, were fre- quently cancelled in favour of some wealthier competitor, to whose more recent patent an earlier date was affixed, with a clause of preference. The fluctuating health and approaching decease of an opulent incumbent were watched with impatient anxiety, and appointed couriers hurried to Rome with the welcome intelligence. Immediately the benefice was in the market ; and it not uncommonly happened, that the same was sold as vacant to several rivals, even under the same date. The ravages of a frightful pestilence only contributed to fill the pontifical coffers : and a benefice was sometimes sold in the course of a few weeks to several successive candidates, of whom none survived to take possession. At length, in the year 1401, the pontiff proceeded so far, as to cancel by a single act nearly all the graces, dispensations and expectatives which he had previously granted, and to declare them wholly void that he might enter afresh and without any restraints upon the task, which seemed al- most to be terminated, and reap from the same exhausted soil a second harvest of shame and iniquity. By such methods* Boniface enriched himself, and impoverished his clergy ; and however we may abominate his rapacity, we have little cause to feel any compassion for the sufferers ; who were possibly influenced by the same passion, and who were certainly involved in the same simoniacal scandal with himself. The superstition of the laity was also taxed to the utmost point of en- durance ; the excessive abuse of the Jubilee has been mentioned as the favourite resource of Boniface, and the circumstances of the time com- bined to sharpen his appetite for that feast. The year 1400 was that destined, according to the original institution of Boniface VIII., for the celebration of the secular solemnity ; and it appears that, though the in- novations of later popes had met with very general reverence, there were still several rigid devotees who, holding them in inferior estimation, looked forward with pious impatience to the approach of the legitimate festival. Neither was this impression confined to the nations in the obedience of the Roman competitor ; the followers of Benedict acknowledged by their respect for the apostolical city the authority of the See, though they re- jected the usurper who occupied it ; and the French especially pressed in great multitudes to obtain the plenary indulgence at Rome. Charles published an ordonnance to restrain the emigration of his subjects ; he saw with sorrow, not perhaps their slavish superstition, but the exporta- tion of their wealth to a foreign and even hostile treasury. Still in many, the religious zeal overpowered the sense of civil duty, and these pro- ceeded on their pilgrimage. But several were intercepted and pillaged on their road by partisans at enmity with the Pope ; and those, who escaped Spondanus excuses the rapacity of Boniface by his necessities, and brings some authority for the assertion, that he died poor. * The system of Annates, or the payment of a year's first fruits to the Apostolical Chamber, was brought to perfection by Boniface IX. It did not, however, originate with him ; Clement V. having learnt that some bishops in England exacted such claims from their diocesan clergy, felt justified in transferring the right to the See of Rome. This took place in 1300 ; thirteen years afterwards, John XXII., when he reserved for three years the first fruits of all vacant benefices, excepted the bishoprics and abbeys. Boni- face IX. extended the usurpation to the prelacies, and made it perpetual. Fleury, 1, xcix. s. xxvii. Spondanus, ann. 1339, s, ii. 2 M 526 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap, XXIII. this danger, "were exposed, on the termination of their journey, to the pestilence which was laying waste the holy city. Some perished miserably ; and others, whose resources were exhausted through their devotion and their sufferings, when they applied for aid to the apostolical coffers, were dismissed with a cold and contemptuous refusal. Four years afterwards Boniface died ; his cardinals immediately entered into conclave, and elected a successor, nearly Innocent VII. succeeds under the same conditions which had been ac- Boniface. cepted and violated by Benedict. He as- sumed the name of Innocent VII. ; but the two years of his imbecile government produced no other change, than the secession of Genoa and Pisa to the obedience of his rival. Both parties expressed equal desire for the extinction of the schism ; both were equally insincere ; and the attention of the courts of Christendom and the feelings of the pious friends of the Church, were insulted by the verbose correspondence and recriminations of two aged hypocrites. Innocent died in 1406 ; and the Roman cardinals then seriously de- liberated on the expediency of deferring the new election, until some measures could be taken in concert with the college at Avignon. But their fears of an interested populace contended with their wisdom and their virtue ; they likewise dreaded the risks, which the temporal sovereignty of the See must incur during the interregnum their inde- cision terminated in a half-measure. They bound themselves by oath, that whichsoever of them should be chosen, should hold himself in perpetual readiness to resign, in case the concord of the Church and the union of the two Colleges should require Election of Angela Corrario, it ; and that he should immediately make or Gregory XII. public, that such was the condition of his election. This act having been assented to with great solemnity, they threw their eyes upon a prelate, whose advanced age, whose holy reputation *, whose habitual integrity, whose ardent love of the Church and regard for its best interests, placed him beyond all suspicion, almost beyond the possibility, of perfidy. Angelo Corrario, a Venetian, the titular patriarch of Constantinople, was the character which they sought. Seventy years of immaculate piety, by which he was endeared to the whole Church, were a pledge for the extinction of any selfish passions, which at any time might have lurked in his bosom ; and the austerity of his devotion, which emu- lated the holiness of the antient pontiffs, guaranteed the strict observance of his engagement. Accordingly, on the instant of his election, he eagerly ratified his covenant f, and proclaimed his intention to restore union to the * They sought not (says Aretinus) for a man of business or address, but for one of honour and integrity ; and at length they unanimously fixed their choice upon Angelo Corrario, " virum prisca severitate et sanctimonia reverendum." f The short account of Leonardus Aretinus, the attendant and faithful adherent of Angelo, should be cited. " Is conclavi egressus promissionem, votum, et juramentum, quac privatus fecerat, tune in potestate constitutus iterate novavit. Atque ita loquebatur de Unione primo illo tempore, ut, si caetera deessent, pedibus et baculo se iturum ad earn conficiendam asseveraret. Statimque adversario scripsit benigne ilium ad pacem invitans et abdicationem mutuam offerens. Adversarius autem tantisdem ferme syllabis ad eum rescripsit ; eadem invitatio fuit, eademque cohortatio . . Locus deinde necessarius visus cat in quo et Pontifices ipsi et collegia convenirent. Ad hoc Savona pari consensu recepta est. . . . Prospere hue usque et plane ex sententia. Deinde paulutim res labascere ccepit ft cuncta indies deteriora fieri. Voluntas autem ilia Pontificis recta nequaquam satis haberc firmitatis renerta est ad poutificatum deponendum; cujus rei culpam multi in Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 527 Church by any risk or sacrifice. Should it be necessary to perform the journey on foot with his staff in his hand, or to encounter the sea in the most wretched bark, he vowed that he would still present himself at the place of conference. His declarations were received with joy and con- fidence, and it was thought that the flock of Christ had at length obtained a faithful shepherd. After his restoration to liberty, the policy of Benedict had entirely changed all his original desire for the extinction of the schism appeared to be revived ; he had made overtures to that effect both to Boniface and Innocent ; and when the new Pope (Gregory XII.) addressed him on the subject, he renewed his usual protestations. But they were no longer able to deceive either the court or the doctors of Paris: it was found that, however profuse in general professions, he invariably evaded the cession, whenever it was strongly recommended to him ; and he was not the better loved for the frequent exactions of tenths and annates, to which his ne- cessities even more than his avarice obliged him. At length it was arranged, at a meeting of certain deputies of both parties, that the long-promised conference should be brought about ; and the place selected for the purpose was Savona. Some hopes were enter- tained from this project, and it was pressed with earnestness both at' Rome and Avignon. The time was fixed for the Michaelmas of 1407; and when it arrived, Benedict was found at the appointed city, full of his customary declarations. But where was Angelo Corrario, the sworn advocate of concord, the model of antient holiness ? Every solicitation, to observe the direct obligation of his oath, had been urged upon him in vain. To the most overpowering arguments he opposed the most contemptible pretexts. He was secretly determined to evade the conference ; and he did finally absent himself. Then followed another interchange of accusa- tions and protestations, which had no other effect than to persuade men, that an understanding secretly subsisted between the two Pretenders, and that they had conspired to cajole the world and retain their offices by their common perjury*. We shall not pursue the tedious details of their elaborate duplicity ; nor is it important to notice the multifarious correspondence which per- plexed the dispute, nor even closely to trace the circumstances, which led to its conclusion t- It is enough to mention the leading facts. In the first place, in contempt of one important clause J of the oath taken in propinquos ejus referebant, &c. . . Erat in altero Pontifice non melior sane mens, sed occulebat callidius malam voluntatem, et quia noster fugiebat, ipse obviam ire videbatur. . . . Sed cum de congressu eorum per internuntios ageretur, noster tanquam terrestre animal ad littus accedere, ille tanquam aquaticum a mari discedere recusabat . . Cum per hunc modum desideria Christianorum qui pacem unitatemque optabant in longura ducerentur, noil tulerunt Cardinales nostri, sed deserto Pontifice Pisas abiere," &c. Leonard Aretin. in Rer. Italicar. Historia. " Ego (the historian presently continues) Pon- tificem secutus sum potius familiaritatis gratia, quam quod ejus causam probarem. Quanquam fuit in Gregorio permagna vitse mommque honestas et prisca quaedam, ut ita dixerim, bonitas, scripturarumquoquescientia etindagatiosubtiliset recta" . . . Denique in cunctis ferme rebus mini satist'aciebat, praeterquam in Uniorjis negotio . . . Id. loc. cit. Gibbon has referred to this passage in his 70th Chapter. * Spondanus, ann. 1408, s. v. f The celebrated embassy sent from France both to Rome and Avignon, just before the Council of Pisa, is described by Gibbon, chap. Ixx. I " That both parties shall promise to make no new cardinals during the treaty of union." Gregory probably considered this part of the obligation as conditional. And, as it is not likely that Benedict should have made any such promise, he might feel that the engagement was not binding upon himself. Had he been more scrupulous, when 2 M 2 528 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. conclave, Gregory created four new cardinals ; on which the others, in just indignation, deserted his court and retired to Pisa, where they fixed their residence. Presently afterwards (in 1408) the King of France took measures to seize the person of Benedict ; but that ac- complished politician, having constantly retained a small fleet in his service on the plea of personal security, set sail on the rumour of this danger, and, after a short cruise on the coast of Italy, found a safer refuge at Perpignan in Spain, for the Spaniards continued to adhere to their countryman through all his vicissitudes, and through all his perfidy. At Perpignan he assembled his bishops, and held his councils, and awaited the termination of the tempest. But his cardinals remained in France ; and now perceiving that they were abandoned by their master, they turned their The. Cardinals convoke attention more zealously than before to the ex- the Council of Pisa, tinction of the schism. To that end, they nego- ciated in perfect sincerity with the rival college at Pisa ; and the consequence was an immediate coalition. By this event, the first substantial ground towards the closing of the schism was gained. It was now clearly ascertained, that the voluntary cession of the pretenders, under any conceivable circumstances, was hopeless. The latest proof of that truth was the strongest ; since Angelo di Corrario, the most un- blemished of mankind, had chosen to stain his grey hairs with deliberate perjury, rather than resign the possession the very short possession of a disturbed and disputed dignity. No resource henceforward remained, except compulsion ; and the union of the colleges afforded the only pros- pect of that result. Some difficulties were still to be overcome, but the convocation of a General Council promised to remove them. Accord- ingly the Council was summoned to assemble at Pisa in the March of 1409. The Council of Pisa met under circumstances wholly different from any other similar assembly. In the division of churchmen it represented the unity of the Church. Disregarding the opposite pretensions to indi- vidual legitimacy, it asserted the undivided authority of the See ; and thus, since there might be many antipopes, but not possibly more than one pope, the object to which its proceedings necessarily tended, was to reject the two actual claimants, and substitute one true and catholic pontiff. It was summoned by the cardinals, twenty-four of whom were present, and it was attended by a great number of prelates *, as well as by the generals of the Mendicant orders, and the deputies of several universities. Ambassadors from the courts of Germany, France, Eng- land, and others, were likewise present ; though the object of the first was rather to question the legitimacy, than to sanction the deliberations, of the council. The scruples of these envoys gave rise to an important discussion, which was occasionally renewed afterwards; and which, as far as the principles of the disputants were concerned, divided the High Papist party from the moderate Catholics. It was argued on the one side, from the language of the canons and the unvarying practice of the Church, that a general Council could not legally assemble, unless by the authority and express summons of the Pope, whereas the meeting at the obligation was direct and unequivocal, we might have given him the benefit of this supposition. * Besides the three patriarchs, 180 archbishops and bishops, and about 300 abbots, were present in person or by representatives, and 282 doctors in theology. Spondanus, aim. 1409, s. ii. Chap. XXIIL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 529 Pisa had received the sanction of no pontiff. On the other hand, it was maintained, that no pope did then in fact exist ; that both pretenders, by their long-continued perfidy and contumacy, had involved themselves in the guilt of schism and heresy,* ; and that, under such circumstances, if the necessities of the Church demanded it, the cardinals had full power to call a council t. Recollecting-, as we do, the false foundation on which the claims of the pope really rested, we can scarcely pretend to doubt on which side the reason lay. But among the controversialists of that time, the spuriousness of the Decretals was still unknown, and almost unsus- pected ; and pretensions directly derived from them were acknowledged with respectful acquiescence. The Council then proceeded to fulfil its object. The first step was, to summon the pretenders to appear in person or by deputy, and on their non-appearance, to pronounce them contumacious. The next, to trace the proofs of their insincerity and collusion, and to expose their perjury. The next, to command the Christian world to withdraw its obedience from the one and from and elect Alexander V. the other. Then followed the sentence of con- demnation ; and here we may pause to remark, that the prelate, who pronounced it, was the titular Patriarch of Alexandria, supported on either hand by those of Antioch and Jerusalem. The two schismatics, after a long enumeration of their crimes, were cut off from the Church ; and the Holy See was declared vacant. Then the cardinals, after bind- ing themselves by oath to continue the Council after the election, for the general purposes of church reform, entered into conclave. They remained six days in deliberation ; and their choice fell upon the Cardinal of Milan, Peter of Candia, who took the name of Alexander V. Peter, native of Candia, a Venetian subject, had risen from so low an origin, that he professed to retain no recollection of his parentage a cir- cumstance (he boasted) which gave him a great advantage over his pre- decessors, since it exempted him from all temptation to nepotism J. One day, as he was begging alms, while yet extremely young, an Italian monk took compassion on him, and introduced him into his convent. From Candia, as he gave great promise of intellectual attainment, he was carried into Italy; and thence, for the gradual completion of his studies, to the universities, first of Oxford, and afterwards of Paris. There he acquired great theological reputation, and retained along with it a mild, liberal, and convivial disposition. He was already advanced in age when raised to the pontificate. . . .After a few more sessions, in which a com- mission was appointed for the investigation of ecclesiastical abuses, and some unimportant regulations enacted, the Council was adjourned for an interval of three years, till the April of 1412. The authority of the Council of Pisa was recognised by all the national churches of Europe, excepting Arragon, Castille, Bavaria, and Scotland ; and Rome itself, by placing Alexander in the list of its genuine bishops, has offered it the same acknowledgment. Its proceedings were conducted without any reproach of irregularity or dissension, and it dis- * This last assertion does not appear, at first sight, so ohvious hut the word heresy was now used in a much more comprehensive sense, than in the early church : persever- ance in schism was at this time sufficient to constitute heresy. t That there were cases, in which they possessed that right, does not appear to have heen disputed that, for instance, of the insanity of a pope. $ It was the boast of his friends, that, from being a rich archbishop, he had become a poor cardinal ; and that the popedom had reduced him to beggary. 530 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. persed under the auspices of a legitimate pope. It remains to inquire, what was the effect produced upon theantipopes by decisions so solemnly delivered. On the determination of an assembly, which expressed the power and united the vows of almost every nation of Europe, what course did the repudiated schismatics adopt? Did they endeavour to conciliate the party, which they were too weak to resist, and too infamous longer to cajole? Did they resign those claims, by which they might still indeed disturb the peace of Christendom, but which could scarcely promise any substantial dignity to themselves ? No ; they clung to the fragments of their fortunes with the same attachment, which had bound them to prosperity ; and the more generally it was admitted, that both were pretenders and antipopes, the more violently each proclaimed him- self to be the genuine pope. Benedict could still boast of the obedience of Spain ; but this was a narrow field to content the ambition of the successor of the Gregories and the Innocents. But the reverses of his rival were even more remarkable. He only escaped captivity by tra- versing the ambush of his enemies in the disguise of a merchant; while his chamberlain, who resembled him in person, and had assumed his robes, was taken in his place, and subjected to some severity of treat- ment. Having in such guise escaped to two galleys which awaited him, and which conveyed him to Gaieta, he then reclaimed his dignity, and imitated, with his scanty train of courtiers, the pomp of the imperial city. He was protected, indeed, by Ladislaus, and neither Germany nor Hungary had yet nominally withdrawn from his obedience. But he was poor, and as he had no patronage, he had no resources ; and his few followers continued to adhere to him through fear of the King of Naples, rather than from any attachment either to his person, or his cause. Alexander V., the feebleness of whose character made him liable to the influence of any more vigorous spirit, fell almost entirely under the guidance of a Neapolitan, named Baltazar Cossa, Legate at Bologna. This extraordinary person, by birth a nobleman, by habit and inclination a soldier, by profession a churchman, and in rank a cardinal, was one of the boldest champions of the Council of Pisa. And when it appeared that the possession of Rome could only be recovered from Ladislaus by military measures, Baltazar undertook to conduct an expedition for that purpose. The Roman people acknowledged the authority of Alexander, and sent to him a deputation with the keys of the city. The Pope was then at Bologna. He received the envoys with magnificence; he ex- pressed his pleasure at their emancipation from the seductions of Angelo Corrario ; and in respect to the desire, which they testified, to have their Pope among them, and to receive the Jubilee*, (for these vows were united in their petition,) he appointed the year 1413 for that solemnity. This circumstance is worthy of thus much attention, as it shows how unblushingly the Romans tit that time avowed the real motive of their attachment to the Vicar of Christ ; and also, how basely a Pope, who could not plead either weakness or poverty, pandered to their cupidity. But Alexander V. was not destined to witness the execution of his decree, nor even to receive the venal applauses of his people. He died at Bologna the year after his election (May 3d, 1410), and the cardinals, after a very short deliberation, appointed Baltasar Cossa in his place. The world was surprised at this election ; for though he possessed good natural talents, and a rapid decision in matters of business and other tem- * Fitury, 1. c. sec. xliii. Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 531 poral concerns, Baltazar was of a violent temper, and remarkable for^ the licentiousness of his morals ; his demeanour and manners corresponded with his reputation ; -and the Elevation of John military air, which so little became the habit of the car- XXIII. to the See, dinal, seemed wholly to disqualify him for the chair of St. Peter. On the other hand, his fearless character gave promise of that vigour, which was now required for the restoration of the Church ; and it was hoped, that, if he did not awaken to the spiritual duties of his station, he would at least consent to observe its decencies. John XXIII. (Baltazar assumed that name) did not at first deceive either of those expectations ; his manners were softened on his elevation, and his morals ostensibly amended ; and he framed his political arrange- ments so well, that the king of Naples declared in his favour. Then Gre- gory, for the second time an exile, embarked his person and his suite in two trading vessels, and sought almost the only spot in Europe which continued to obey him. Charles Malatesta opened to him the gates of Rimini ; and there, together with three cardinals who still followed him, he had space to deplore the passion or the weakness, through which he had exchanged a holy reputation and dignified independence for banish- ment, insecurity, and infamy. The death of the emperor at this moment opened an occasion to the Pope to recommend Sigismond as successor; and as Sigismond was actually chosen, a friendly inter- and of Sigismond course was immediately established between the two to the Empire. parties. The still disturbed condition of the Church, and the abuses which universally prevailed, demanded indeed their cordial and honest co-operation ; and in this at least they agreed, that a General Council was the only remaining remedy, and that no time should be lost in convoking it. On the dissolution of that of Pisa, it had been arranged that another should be called after three years. Accordingly, John had summoned the prelates to Rome at the appointed time ; but so few pre- sented themselves, that it was not judged expedient to proceed to any important enactments. The place, which was now selected for a more efficient meeting, was the city of Constance, in Switzerland. Much depended on that selection. Much depended on the local influence which might probably be exercised, and which would certainly affect the deliberations of the body. Con- stance was under the direct control of Sigismond ; and it is well known * * Leonardus Aretinus relates a curious anecdote on this subject, which throws light on the still disputed character of John. " The pontiff privately communicated to me his design. The whole matter (said he) depends on the place of the council, and I will not have it where the emperor is the stronger. I shall therefore give to the legates, whom I send to decide this matter, credentials of full power and discretion for public appearance's sake, but I shall privately restrict them to certain specified places and then he mentioned those places. Afterwards, when the legates came to take leave, having dismissed all excepting myself, he secretly addressed them and showed of what weight the matter was, on which they were sent. Then, speaking kindly to them, he praised their prudence and fidelity, and said that they knew what ought to be done better than himself. While he was thus talking and repeating-those civil things to them, he was himself overpowered by a feeling of kindness, and in an instant changed the design so long determined by him. I had meant, he said, to give you a list of certain places, from which list you should on no account depart ; but at this very instant I change my mind, and commit every thing to your prudence. It is for you to think, what may be safe and what dangerous for me. And thus he tore in pieces the paper, on which he had written the names of the places. The legates therefore going to Sigismond chose Constance a transalpine city and subject to the emperor. When John heard this, he was incredibly afflicted, and lamented his 532 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII- that the Pope foresaw some of the consequences of that arrangement,, and consented to it with extreme reluctance. It is Convocation of the known too, that he felt a much stronger inclination Council of Constance, to march in arms for the recovery of his capital, which the death of Ladislaus had again opened to him, than to conduct the peaceful procession of his cardinals towards the appointed city. Nevertheless, his outward conduct betrayed no dis- position to recede, whatever may have been his private wishes or his secret intrigues ; and having fixed the first of November, 1414, for the opening of the Council, he was present for the performance of his duties on that day. The situation of Constance in many particulars justified the preference, which the emperor had obtained for it. Its pleasant and healthful situa- tion on the shores of an extensive lake ; its central position with respect to France, Germany and Italy ; and not least, the circumstance, that it was at that time the grand dep6t of all commercial intercourse between the two last countries, made it favourable for the access and accommoda- tion of a numerous and opulent assembly. As the council lasted for nearly four years, the number of its members and their attendants must have greatly fluctuated ; but if it be true, that at certain times not less than thirty thousand horses * were maintained for its use, we may conceive the splendour as well as the multitude of the assemblage. It was divided into four sections, following the grand national division of Europe ; and all the members were arranged under the banners of Italy, of France, of Germany, or of England. Most of the leading ecclesiastics f of Europe were present ; but the greater proportion of eminent laymen, who thronged to Constance, distinguished that council, more than any other circumstance, from all that had preceded it. Its professed objects were the extinction of the schism and the Refor- mation of the Church. The persecutions of John Huss and Jerome of Prague, which formed a part of its labours, will be described and traced to their true motives in a following chapter. Even the subject of the Reformation must for the moment be deferred ; since we must confine our present attention to the thread which we have pursued through so many windings, and trace the history of the Schism to its -conclusion. And to some indeed it might appear, and not without specious reason, that the schism was virtually extinct already ; and that the feeble anti- popes of Perpignan and of Rimini might have been safely left to waste their complaints and anathemas unnoticed. And so it might possibly have proved. But, on the other hand, the politics of Europe were at that time so fluctuating and faithless, that the slightest circumstance of national interest, or even of personal caprice or jealousy, might at any moment have transferred the obedience of a kingdom, and restored to Gregory or to Benedict the adhesion of a powerful party. So that there seemed no positive security for the concord of the Church, until the two schismatics should be deprived of the faintest shadow of authority. evil stars/that he had so lightly deviated from his former mind and counsel." Leonard. Aretin., In Rerum Italic. Historia. * Apprehensions being entertained about the means of providing for so many quadru- peds, it was ordered, that the Pope should be limited to twenty horses, the cardinals and princes to ien each, the bishops to five, and the abbots to four only. Raynald. ann. 1414, s. xiii. f Nine and twenty cardinals and three hundred bishops and archbishops were present at the second session, on iMarch 2, when the Pope made his abdication. Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 533 Hence it was, that all parties were chiefly anxious to attend to this sub- ject, and to complete the work which had been so far advanced at Pisa *. But here, at the very outset, a difference arose of the most essential importance, as to the manner of attaining- that end. It will be observed, that the present assembly approached that question under circumstances dissimilar from those which guided the former. At Pisa, the impossi- bility of deciding- between the two claimants having been admitted, neither of them was recognised by the council. The fathers were indeed person- ally divided in their obedience ; but as a single legislative body they acknowledged neither Peter of Luna nor Angelo Corrario. Thus their course was obvious to declare the See vacant, and to proceed to a canonical election. But the council of Constance, being held in continu- ation of that of Pisa, being bound by its decisions and resting on its validity, admitted of necessity the rights of John XXIII. And thus, whatsoever course its deliberations might take, it had to deal with a Pope of undisputed legitimacy. For though some feeble murmurs would be raised at Rimini and Perpignan, Constance at least was not the place where they could find an echo. Under these circumstances the council met together, and soon after- wards John caused his own proposition to be laid before it. It was simply this that the fathers should first of all things confirm all the acts of the council of Pisa; that they should next deliberate on the best means of carrying them into effect ; and lastly enter upon their labours for the Reformation of the Church. In this paper the pope merely called upon the fathers publicly to declare, what they never for a moment disputed, the legality of that council, from which he derived his authority; and if that declaration were once made, he felt assured, that there could be no other method of proceeding against two denounced anti-popes, than by arming the real pope with additional authority to crush them. It was very natural, that John should take this view of the subject; indeed, as far as the strict justice of the question was concerned, it was the correct view ; and assuredly the distinction between a pope and a schismatic was sufficiently broad, to be made ground for decided action with an assembly of Roman Catholic ecclesiastics. Nevertheless there were many, and some of the most celebrated doc- tors of the age were among them, who considered the subject in a widely different light. These loudly maintained, that as the council of Con- stance was a continuation of that of Pisa, it was bound steadily to pursue the same object ; that this object had been the extinction of the schism, and that it was still so ; and that a solemn obligation rested on all the prelates present, even on the pope himself, to adopt whatsoever means should appear most efficacious for that purpose. It was immediately obvious to what end this opinion tended that the method of cession, which had been attempted with such imperfect success at Pisa, would be again brought forward as the only healing measure ; and that the true and recognized Pope would be called upon for the same humiliation, and * The : l>are circumstance, that there were three competitors for the chair after the council of Pisa, and only two before it, has led many historians to consider that assembly as having increased the schism. But to us it seems otherwise. It reduced the anti- popes to an insignificance, from which they never recovered, and it united the great body of Christendom in the same views, and with a common principle. If it was not imme- diately successful, neither was the council of Constance perfectly so. But the proceedings of Pisa were the foundation of the re-union, and it was by building on them, that the work was finally completed. 534 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. probably subjected to the same compulsion, with two anathematized pretenders. The subject was warmly debated ; but without any approach to a decision, because the emperor was not yet arrived ; and as much cer- tainly depended on his views, so the attention and even the hopes of both parties were earnestly fixed upon him. Sigismond possessed considerable talents and accomplishments ; he spoke several languages with fluency and even eloquence, and was the patron of learning, in an age when it still needed powerful protection. The dignity of his personal appear- ance has attracted the commendations of history * ; and if his moral character was not free from stain, and if his military enterprises generally ended in disgrace, he has been abundantly honoured for his zeal in the service of the Church, arid his exertions against heresy and schism. His previous intercourse with John, and the obligations which he cer- tainly owed to him, led many to believe, that he would throw his weight into the pontifical scale nor was reason wanting to incline him to that side. But it proved otherwise. Ke probably reflected, that, should he determine unequivocally to support and enforce the rights of John, no other method remained to reduce the antipopes, except violence the princes of Arragon and Rimini would not otherwise renounce their obedience. The disposition of Sigismond was known ; but matters had not yet proceeded to any determination, when legates presented them- selves both from Gregory and Benedict. The latter, indeed, merely insulted the council by the usual vague and faithless offers of conference and compromise. But the former declared their authority to make a formal cession on behalf of their master, in case that both his rivals should abdicate also. From that moment the exertions of the great majority of the fathers were directed to one object to accomplish by some means or other the abdication of John. Now, as they never affected on any occasion to throw the slightest doubts on his legitimacy, it became them to take their measures with deference and caution ; and when they pressed upon him the general obligations of his office, and argued, that he was bound, as chief of the Church of Christ, willingly to lay down, not his dignity only, but life itself, if the interests of that Church required it, we shall riot wonder, that the Pope was unmoved by so indeterminate an appeal. But the council felt its strength ; and the above appeal was accompanied by the new and bold proposition, that a General Council possessed the power, in a pe- culiar exigency, to compel the Pope to abdication. This assertion gave rise to long and warm discussions; the Italian prelates maintained the papal cause, but with less vigour and ability, than the circumstances required, and even than the merits of the question admitted. The supe- riority of learning and genius was on the side of the French ; and the powerful harangues of Pierre d'Ailly and the celebrated Gerson, Chan- cellor of the University, added weight to a doubtful cause. It seemed clear that the party of John must yield. In the meantime, the Archbishop of Mayence, the Primate of the German Church and Elector of the empire, arrived with great pomp at Constance, and immediately declared his adherence to the cause of the Pope. Fre- deric of Austria and the Duke of Burgundy were likewise enlisted on the * Leonardos Aretinus (Rer. Italicar. Historia) speaks of him thus : " Fuit proculdubio vir inclytus, praeclara facie, corpore turn speeioso, turn robusto ; magnitudiue animi sive pace sive bello eximia ; liberalitate vero tanta, ut hoc unum illi vitio daretur, quod largi- endo et erogaudo sibi ipsi facilitates detraheret ad negotia bellaque obeuuda." Chap. XXIIL] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 535 same side. But Sigismond had now decidedly espoused the opposite principles ; and thus the French and Italian, which first divided the Coun- cil, now really became the imperial and papal parties. This was the crisis of the contest ; and the great majority of three of the nations was manifestly on the side of the Emperor. Still, before they proceeded to the question, it was feared that, as the Italian prelates were the most numerous and under the most direct influence, and would, probably, be unanimous for the Pope, they might be able to The Council declares outvote the majorities of the other nations. It was, for the cession, therefore, advanced as a fair proposal, and finally arranged, that each nation should separately ascertain its own sense, and that then, on the general meeting, the majority of nations, not the numeri- cal majority of votes, should prevail. On the day appointed, they met together, and it then appeared that the decision in favour of the method of cession was unanimous to the astonishment of the whole council, the greater portion even of the Italians themselves had adopted that opinion. During the progress of these deliberations, there were some who judged, from the customary tenacity of other Popes, that still further measures might afterwards be called for. And and the Pope in that apprehension, a long list of personal charges abdicates. against John XXIII., some of which involved the most abominable offences, was handed about among the fathers ; and a copy came under the inspection of the Pope himself. John then saw the real nature of the tempest that was hanging over him, and immediately determined to avert it by timely submission. He expressed that intention amidst the acclamations of the whole assembly ; and after some unim- portant disputes respecting the formula of cession, he publicly pronounced (on the 2d of March) his solemn and voluntary abdication*. The cession of John was, of course, conditional on that of the antipopes; and as no difficulties were any longer offered by Gregory, the accomplish- ment of the union rested wholly with Peter of Luna. To this end a con- ference was proposed at Nice, between Sigismond and the King of Arragon ; and as it seemed that Benedict was to be one of the parties, John claimed his right to be also present on the occasion. This demand excited some suspicions of his sincerity ; and these were confirmed by a proposal, which he soon afterwards made, to transfer the Council from Constance to Nice. It was difficult, after the instances of pontifical duplicity which had dis- graced the last forty years, to put trust in the honesty of any Pope ; and the character of John was not such as to command any peculiar confidence. Consequently, the Council required of him a formal deed or procuration of cession ; and he, without hesitation, refused it. Guards were then placed about the gates of the city ; but, on the urgent remonstrance of the Pope, removed. Howbeit, whether he had previously meditated an escape from * The formula finally agreed on was to the following effect: "We, John XXIII., for the repose of the people of Christ, profess, promise, vow, and swear, before God, the Church, and this sacred Council, freely and with our entire good will, to give peace to the Church by the method of a simple and pure cession to be made by us of the Sovereign Pontificate, and to accomplish it effectually through the wisdom of the present Council, whensoever Peter of Luna and Angelo Corrario shall similarly renounce, in person or by their delegates, the Popedom to which they pretend. And we also promise to do the same thing, howsoever that may occur, whether by cession or by death, or by any other way, so that it shall become possible to unite the Church of God through our cession, and thus to extirpate the present schism." 536 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. the power of the Council, as soon as it proved too great for him, or whether he was driven to that resolution (as may also Flight of John XXIII. have been) by the distrust and even harshness with which he was treated ; it is certain that, on the morning' of March 21, the Emperor and the Fathers learnt with dismay and astonishment, that the Pope was no longer at Constance. He had quitted the city, in the night, in a military disguise ; and, having instantly embarked, had descended the Rhine as far as Schaffhausen, a city of his protector, Frederic. The consternation of the Council was somewhat abated by a communi- cation received from John on the following day, in which he renewed his assurances of sincerity, and justified his retreat from Constance by the argument, that his personal security was necessary to give obligation to the promise of cession ; and hereupon he was joined by several Cardinals and other prelates. But the great majority remained behind, in close co-opera- tion with the Emperor; and both they and he immediately engaged in the most vigorous measures. For, on the one hand, Sigismond put in motion the temporal forces of the Assembly, and directed a powerful army against the States of Frederic ; and on the other, the Fathers of the Council and the doctors of Paris, with Gerson at their head, advanced in mighty spiritual array against the pontifical deserter. And while the imperial soldiers approached the walls of Schaffhausen, the bulwarks of Popery were'assaulted from the pulpits of Constance. The momentous question was now publicly argued, whether a Council General of the Church did not possess an authority superior to the Pope. The rights of the Council were advocated by the eloquence of Gerson*, and asserted by the general consent of the Fathers of Constance. The opposite opinion was maintained by the seceders at Schaffhausen ; and these even ventured to assert, that the Council itself was virtually dissolved by the absence of the Pope. It has generally been the error of high church- men to advance the loftiest pretensions at the most unseasonable moments ; and instead of receding at a crisis of violence and danger, to rush with a sort of effeminate rashness into perils, which would not otherwise have reached them. A decided breach now took place between the two parties ; but after some vain replications and negotiations, it became perfectly clear on which side the real strength lay. The Court of Schafthausen daily diminished, and the Council proceeded by vigorous acts to give efficacy to the principle of its own superiority. Nevertheless, the Pope would not acknowledge his defeat, but rather determined to risk the experiment by a second flight; intending, as it would seem, to throw himself on the pro- tection of the Duke of Burgundy, and establish his residence at Avignon. He halted at Brisac, and a deputation from the Council found him there ; he fixed the following morning to give them audience, but on the following morning John XXIII. was no longer at Brisac. We shall not trace the fruitless negotiations which followed : it is sufficient to add, that during their progress the Duke of Austria prevailed upon the Pope to take refuge at Fribourg, under his own sacred protection for the Duke, being severely pressed in his contest with the Emperor, and foreseeing his entire discom- fiture, was desirous to possess the means of reconciliation. Having suc- ceeded in this desire, he hastened to violate his vows, and to sacrifice his virtue and reputation, by surrendering the person of his guest. And thus, says Maimbourg, the unfortunate Pope, who, disorderly and licentious as * De Auferibilitate Papae ab Ecclesia. Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 537 he c was, failed not to be an object of great compassion through the trea- chery practised against him by his protector, was betrayed ; and found himself a prisonerin the Castle He is betrayed, of Fribourg, the very place where he had thought to find an asylum. The Council then turned to the affair of his deposition, observing in this matter the same forms which had been followed at Pisa in the process against Gregory and Benedict. The list of accusations presented against John XXIII. consisted of fifty articles ; but the whole weight of his offences might be comprised under five or six heads. He was charged with all the various modifications of simony ; with squandering arid alienating the property of the Church ; and with oppressing the people by unjust acts and exorbitant imposts. His escape from Constance, and his subsequent endeavours to elude the demands of the Council, were urged against him with the greater minuteness, as they were the most recent and the least par- donable of his offences. Another class of charges related to his official, another to his private delinquencies. It was asserted that, as Pope, he had disregarded the divine offices, neglected to repeat his breviary, and rarely assisted at the celebration of mass ; and that, even when he did so, he recited the service rapidly and carelessly, like a sportsman or a soldier*. It was added, that he had wholly disregarded the fasts and abstinences of the Church. As to the scandals of his private life, they were traced with minute diligence, even from his childhood to his flight from Constance. In his earliest youth the intemperance of his disposition betrayed itself: his most innocent years were charged with falsehood, impudence, disobedience to his parents, a tendency to every vice. His progress in life was a progress in kiiquity. Murder by violence and by poison, adultery, incest, the most abominable impurities were imputed to him, as unquestioned and notorious. Such is the substance of the allegations recorded by Roman Catholic writers against their spiritual Father ; but it must not be forgotten, that, in the list formally presented to the Council and to the Pope, these last charges were suppressed. This might be with a view to spare the Catholic Church so monstrous a scandal ; or through consideration to the conscience and character of the Cardinals, who had so lately elected such a Pope; but it might also be, because they rested on slight foundations, and proceeded from that popular licence, which so eagerly calumniates the fallen fortunes of the great. It is not disputed, that the paper, which received the approbation of the Council, contained many heinous charges, expressed in very unequivocal language, and confirmed by numerous accused, testimonies. But the Pope, when it was presented to him for inspection andj refutation, calmly replied, with the most sub- missive {respect for the Council, that he had little curiosity to read either the charges or the depositions ; but that of this the Fathers might rest assured, that he should receive their decision, whatever it might be, with perfect deference ; in the meantime, that his best defence was in their justice. This was politic, for from the moment in which the Council determined upon the method of cession, John very clearly perceived that the Pontificate had passed from his hands. For a time, indeed, he probably hoped, through the support of the Dukes of Austria and Burgundy, to retain a partial obedience and wear a divided mitre ; but no sooner did he * Et si aliquoties celebravit, hoc fuit currenter, more venatorum et armigerorum. Act. Concil. Const. 538 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. become the prisoner of the Council, than even that hope abandoned him ; and his only remaining object was to secure, in a private station, his per- sonal freedom and security. Accordingly, he addressed a respectful and even pathetic letter to Sigismond, in which he reminded him of services formerly conferred, and supplicated in return his friendship, or at least his clemency. This appeal was written in a tone of deep humiliation, and with an affectation of attachment, which could scarcely be sincere. But neither Emperor nor Council was softened by this tardy display of obse- quiousness. At a full Session, held on the 29th of May, and deposed. John XXIII. was solemnly deposed from the Pontificate. By the same sentence he was; condemned to imprison- ment during the pleasure of the Council, which reserved to itself the power of imposing such other penalties as should, in due season, be de- clared. This sentence was communicated to John in his confinement at Cell ; he perused it without any emotion, and requested a short interval of solitude. After two hours, he ordered the deputies again into his presence; and then, after reading all the articles in succession, with a firm voice and unruffled manner, he declared to them that there was no particular, which did not receive his complete approbation; and that, as far as in him lay, he cor- dially confirmed and ratified the sentence. To this assurance he added a voluntary vow, that he would never at any time protest against that sen- tence, nor make any attempt to recover the Pontificate that, on the con- trary, he renounced purely and simply, and from the bottom of his heart, any right which he ever had, or might still have, to that dignity ; that, in proof of this, he had already removed from his chamber the pontifical cross, and would throw off the pontifical garments as willingly, if he had any others to put on in their place ; that he wished with all his soul, that he had never been Pope at all, since he had not enjoyed one single happy day since his exaltation ; and so far was he frorn wishing to be restored to that dignity, that should any desire his re-election, he would never at any time consent to it. He then threw himself, with his former humility, on the mercy of the Council and the Emperor not, however, without reminding them, that he possessed legitimate means of defence, of which he had not yet availed himself, but to which he should certainly appeal, should they drive him, by more rigorous measures, to further extremities. This conduct, which was not only politic, but generous, succeeded not in obtaining for him any mitigation of his sentence. He was led away in close confinement, first to Heidelberg, and afterwards to Manheim, where he was imprisoned for three years. Neither did it avail him anything to have once possessed the friendship of Sigismond. Nay, so far was the severity of the sentence enforced, that he was deprived of the services of his Italian attendants, and surrounded by Germans, with whom his ignorance of the language permitted no other intercourse, than by signs*. Such rigour, exercised against a fallen Pope, awakened sympathy and swelled the ranks of his advocates; and there were many who maintained, both then and afterwards, that his deposition was illegal and compulsory, since the charge of heresy, on which alone a Pope could be canonically deposed, * Platina and Nauclerus assert the severity with which John was treated. Theodoric of Niem gives a different account, on the authority, as he says, of well-informed persons. There are differences, too, on some other particulars, which we have not thought it necessary to specify. The historians who have been principally consulted for the contents of this chapter (besides the original authorities) are Maimbourg, the Continuator of Fleury, Lenfant (Hist. du^Couc. de Constance), Pagi (Breviar. Gest. Foiitif, Roman.), and Spoudauus. Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 539 was not that, which occasioned the degradation of John XXIII. The Court of France openly professed this opinion ; and the offence, which Charles VI. on that occasion took at the exceeding- zeal of the University, repressed the ardour and diminished the credit of that illustrious body. In the meantime, the Council advanced onwards in the course which it had chosen. It had now assumed the despotic* control of the Church ; and in its first exercise of that power, it published a declaration that the Cardinals could not proceed to a new election without its consent. By its next deci- sion the formalities attending the cession of Gregory were duly completed, and the old man was permitted to resign that which no one acknowledged that he possessed. The attention of the Council and the whole Catholic world was then turned entirely towards the determination of Peter of Luna. His determination was simply this, to cling to the ruins of his fortunes to clasp the name and shadow of the Pon- tificate to persevere in his pretensions and his Conduct of Benedict.^ perjury to the end of his life. Nevertheless, it saw necessary to treat him with temper and deference, as long as he was sup- ported even by a single Prince. The method of conference was that which he still proposed, and the Council now assented to it ; and as the King of Arragon was prevented by sickness from travelling to Nice, Sigis- mond professed his willingness to undertake in person the journey to Per- pignan. It was in vain, that Benedict exhausted the resources of his inge- nuity to retard, at least, if he could not impede, the advance of the Em- peror: his artifices were foiled by the firmness of a candid mind resolutely bent on a noble object; and on the 18th of September Sigismond arrived, with a small number of attendants, at the place of conference. An extraordinary scene was then enacted. Ferdinand of Arragon sin- cerely desired the extinction of the schism ; ambassadors from the courts of Castille and Navarre, and others who were present, united their vows for the same object. The Emperor pressed it with all his talents and all his power Benedict alone opposed himself to the unanimity of Christen- dom. Whatever was most convincing in argument or persuasive in rhe- toric was repeatedly urged upon him by the Princes and their deputies. If any pretext for his resistance had hitherto been furnished by the perti- nacity of his competitors, this, they maintained, was now removed by the cession and deposition of Gregory and John. The condition, on which he had sworn to abdicate, was at length accomplished beyond dispute ; and his honour, his conscience, his promises, his oaths unequivocally obliged him to fulfil his part. Henceforward the concord of Christendom depended wholly upon him. After eight-and-thirty years of schism, disorder, and desolation, Benedict was the only remaining obstacle to the union, repose, and welfare of the Christian world. The Church herself, if she was indeed entrusted ,by the Almighty to his care and guidance, now stretched forth her arms to him, from the abyss of misery in which she was sunk, and sadly supplicated, that he would raise her from her degradation ; that he would voluntarily sacrifice that dignity, which he could not possibly retain * Hence it proceeded, papaliter, to interfere with the State also. Previously to Sigis- mond's departure for Perpignan, through France, it published an edict " Quicunque, cujuscunque status aut conditionis existat, etiamsi regalis . . . euntes aut redeuntes impediveritj perturbaverit sententia excommunicationis percellitur et ulterius omni honore et dignitate ipso facto est privatus." Act. Concil. Constan., Sess.xvii. This sud- den assumption of the power of deposition astonished all sovereigns, but especially insulted the King of France. 540 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. much longer ; and that he would invest his few remaining- years with the gratitude and blessings of mankind, rather than adhere, amid universal detestation, to a mere name, which an early death, followed by eternal infamy, was now at hand to tear away from him. These arguments, urged by the highest secular powers, were confirmed by'other authority, which may have given them additional value in the eyes of a churchman and a Pope. There were two holy brothers named Vincent and Boniface Ferrier*, who had hitherto faithfully adhered to the cause of Benedict, and whose acknowledged piety and supposed inspira- tion seemed to lend it some sort of sanctity. These venerable persons now joined their friendly eloquence to turn the heart of Benedict ; and they fortified their appeal by declaring, that, as the reproach of schism must henceforward rest on his party, they should be compelled, in case of his further opposition, to desert himt. Benedict was not moved by any of these considerations. Whether it was, that in the conscientious belief that he was the true Pope, he con- sidered it a religious, or (what might be equally sacred in his mind) an ecclesiastical duty, to preserve his office to the end of his life ; or whether (as is more probable), the love of power grew with the progress of his years, and the decay of his vigour, so as finally to close his heart against any representations of reason or decency, he maintained his constant resolution inflexibly. As he had always been the legitimate, so was he now, forsooth, the only, Pontiff: the deposition of both his adversaries confirmed him, without competition, in the possession of the See. So that, if the schism were still permitted to subsist (he continued), the scandal must rest with the Council of Constance, not with him. For his own part, he was determined never to abandon the bark of St. Peter, of which the helm had been confided to him by God ; and the older he became, and the nearer he approached to death and the judgment, the stronger was his obligation to resist the tempest, and avert the anger of Heaven by persevering in the course assigned to him. In conclusion, he enforced the necessity of at once uniting all the faithful in universal obedience to himself. Bene- dict was now in his seventy-eighth year; nevertheless, he argued his own cause before a public assembly for seven entire hours, with such courage, fervour, and impetuosity, as to leave it uncertain whether his extraordinary energy was derived from ambition, or from fanaticism, or from a strange combination of both. The result of this singular contest was not yet perfectly manifest. On the one side was the secular and spiritual power of Europe, the autho- rity of kings, the prayers of the people, the consent of the Catholic Church reason, and justice, and every wise, and every good principle, arrayed against the infatuated obstinacy of one crafty, faithless, old man. Yet the thoughtful were still in some suspense, and many had greater fears from the inveterate subtilty of Benedict, than hopes from the union of so many Princes. ... But it proved otherwise; the parties engaged in the Con- ference had no personal interest in favour of that pretender; and his * This same Vincent Ferrier is addressed by Gerson from Constance, as a patron of the sect of the Flagellants, whom the chancellor earnestly exhorts him to abandon. Never- thek'ss he is designated as " Theologus et Orator toto orbe inclytus." The documents are given by Von der Hardt, torn, iii., pars vii. f Theodoricof Niem mentions that Vincent Ferrier did then, in fact, take so decided a part against his former master, as to declare it a merit to persecute or kill him. " Quod sit vir pravus et fallax et fictus, decipiendo populum Dt-i, quodque juste persequendtis sit usijue ad mortem ab omnibus Christianis, &c." . . Vit. .Johann. XXIII. p. 63. This holy zealot had as little charity in his enmity, as discretion iu his friendship. . Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 541 perversity was so remote from reason, that it served rather to cement the confederacy against him. It was resolved, however, to make one final attempt at persuasion. But here Benedict, perceiving the firmness of his adversaries, and fearing their ultimate design, withdrew his person from their power, and quitted Perpignan. He retired, after some hesitation, to a place called Pauiscola, a fortress situated near Tortosa and the mouth of the Ebro, an ancient possession of the House of JLuna. Four cardinals, and a small body of soldiers, followed him. Any hopes which he may have derived from this proceeding, beyond that of mere personal security, were disappointed. The Assembly at" Perpignan, being now relieved from the constraint which his presence still occasioned to those, who still acknowledged him, immediately, and by a formal act, renounced its obedience. Not long afterwards, Scotland, which had taken no part in these measures, but continued to adhere with- out scruple to its first decision, being now persuaded that Benedict was the only remaining obstacle to the general concord, followed the example of the Conference. And then, at length,* the Council of Constance felt itself empowered to inflict the final blow. The sentence of deposition was pronounced against Peter of Luna, according to the prescribed forms ; and the bolt, which had fallen His deposition. almost harmless from the Assembly of Pisa, de- scended on this occasion with greater efficacy, because its object was already virtually deposed, through the secession of his royal adherents In the mean time, the aged Ecclesiastic, against whom the storm which himself had raised was now in justice directed, was not moved to any act of concession, or any show of humiliation. Twice de- posed by two General Councils twice anathematized by the great and almost unanimous consent of the Catholic Church deserted by the secular powers, who had so long countenanced his perfidy and protected his adversity abandoned by the most venerable, even among his spiritual followers and confined to a narrow and solitary residence the Pope of Paniscola still preserved the mockery of a court, and presided in his empty council-hall. And thence, in the magnanimity of disappointment and despair, he launched his daily anathema against Ferdinand of Arragon, and retorted, with ludicrous earnestness, the excommunications of the Christian world. The Council of Constance, having thus at length, through the perse- verance of its Imperial Director, removed the three competitors whose disputes had Election of Martin V. by rent the Church, proceeded to provide for its the Council, and termi- future integrity ; and, that no pretext might nation oj the schism. possibly be left for subsequent dissension, it was determined, for this occasion only, to make an addition to the Elective Assembly. The entire College of the united Cardinals consisted, at that time, of thirty members ; and to this body a second, consisting of six ecclesiastics from each of the^uet nations, was associated. It was further regulated, that the consent of two-thirds both of the sacred college and of the deputies of each nation should be required for the validity of the elec- tion, so many were the interests which it was necessary to reconcile, so severe were the precautions required, to secure for the future Pontiff the * On July 2Gth, 1417. f As soon as the fate of Benedict was decided, the Spanish nation was added to the four, which had hitherto constituted the Assembly. 2 N ;,12 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIIT. undivided obedience of Europe. Accordingly, on the 8th of November, 1417, the electors entered into conclave, and after a deliberation of three days, they agreed in the choice of Otho Colonua (Martin V.), a noble and virtuous Roman. The character of Martin pointed him out as the man destined to repair the ruins of the Church. The announcement was received with enthu- siastic expressions of delight ; the Emperor was the first to prostrate himself at the holy Prelate's feet, in a transport of rapture, which was shared, or affected, by the vast assembly present. And it was not without reasonable ground of confidence it was not without many motives for self-satisfaction, and many just claims on the gratitude of that age and that Church, that Sigismond and the Council at length ap- proached the termination of their labours. To us, indeed, looking back from our brighter elevation upon the means of the disputants arid the sub- ject of the strife, it will, perhaps, appear, that so powerful a combination of temporal and spiritual authority might have accomplished in a much shorter space the destruction of a profligate Pope and two denounced pretenders that the force employed was disproportionate to the end that the methods were indirect and dilatory, marked by too much ceremony and too little vigour. But we should thus determine inconsiderately, and without due regard to the maxims and prejudices of those days. When we reflect, that a century had scarcely yet elapsed since Boniface VIII. was exulting in the plenitude of spiritual despotism ; that, even to the end of the Avignon succession, the lofty attributes of Papacy remained, as heretofore, unviolated and almost unquestioned ; when we recollect, too, how slow and difficult are the triumphs of reason over prescriptive absur- dities, we shall rather admire the firmness exhibited at Constance, and the courage with which some Papal principles were overthrown, than cen- sure that assembly for not having more hastily accomplished, what it did at length accomplish effectually. The Council continued its sessions* for a few months after the election of Martin, and was then dismissed, or rather Fate of the Pretenders, adjourned, for the space of five years. Pavia was the place appointed for the next meeting; and the Pope proceeded towards Rome, to occupy and refit his shattered vessel. Nevertheless, with whatever security he may have approached his See, he must sometimes have reflected, that there still lived three men, who had enjoyed in their turns the dignity which he now held, and who had clung to it with extreme pertinacity. It was fair to presume that their ambition would not depart from them, except with life ; and that any casual circum- stance, which might offer to any one of them the means of recovering any portion of his power, would find him eager to embrace it. So long as they breathed, the concord of the Church could scarcely be deemed secure ; let us then follow their history to its termination. Gregory did not long survive the act of his cession ; he lived long enough to emerge from the condition of dishonour and guilt, into which his weakness had thrown him, and little longer ; and if his last act had been less obviously the effect of compulsion, we might have admitted it as some atonement for his previous delinquency. Peter of Luna continued for about six years to proclaim his legitimacy, and exult in his martyrdom. Every day the walls of Paniscola were * These were forty-five in number ; lasting, at various intervals, from November 16th, 1414, to Augubt 'Jth, 1418. Chip. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 54S astonished by the repetition of his anathemas ; but the bolts were in- nocuous : but for the temporary departure of Alfonso of Arragon from the principles of his predecessor, they would scarcely have been heard beyond the fortress gates ; nor did they disturb, in any degree, the repose of Christendom. He died suddenly, in the year 1424*, in extreme old age ; but his vigour, which was still fresh and unabated, gave some colour to the suspicion of poison, which attends his death. It is at least certain, that, as soon as he perceived his final hour approaching, he commanded the attendance of his two Cardinals, the faithful remnant of his court, and addressed them with his wonted intrepidity. And then, even at this last crisis, when ambition and interest could not possibly sway him longer, he asserted with his parting breath, that he was the true and only Pope, and that it was absolutely essential for the purity of the Church to continue the succession. On this he adjured his two hearers, on pain of his pontifical malediction, to elect a successor. Having secured their obedi- ence, he died ; and it is related in ecclesiastical records, that six years afterwards his body was found entire, and without symptom of decay ; and that, being then transported to Igluera, a town of Arragon, the pro- perty of his family, it long continued, and perchance may still continue, to resist the visitation of corruption. His character has not escaped equally inviolate ; and the censures by which it is perpetually assailed, cannot in justice be suppressed or softened. His talents were unquestionably vivid and active ; but they were of a mean description, the mere machines of intrigue and subtilty, the ener- gies of a contemptible and contracted soul. He was eminent in sanctity, and the integrity of private life. But what manner of integrity or sanctity is that, which is found consistent with ambition, and selfishness, and per- jury ; which can wrap itself in duplicity at any call of interest, and pursue a seeming expediency through fraud, and faithlessness, and falsehood ? But at least (it is said) Benedict was sincere in believing, that he was the true Pope, and that through his perseverance alone the succession could be preserved uninterrupted. . . . Was he so sincere? When he advocated so warmly the necessity of mutual concession, during the reign of his pre- decessor, then, at least, he was not persuaded, that the purity of the Catholic Church was identical with obedience to the pretenders of Avignon. Had he been so persuaded, he could not himself have accepted the pontificate as a conditional boon ; nor bound himself by oath to cede, on specific terms, that trust, which afterwards he proclaimed it his religious duty to main- tain, under every circumstance. Assuredly, if his sincerity in this respect must be admitted, we must, at the same time, acknowledge, that he was not impressed with it till after his elevation ; and that it was then so closely connected with his ambition, as to make it impossible for the historian, as it might be difficult even for himself, to distinguish between them. The two Cardinals obeyed the parting injunction of their master, and chose for his successor one Gilles Mugnos, who called himself Clement VIII. But, not long afterwards, Alphonso finally withdrew his protection from his creature ; Mugnos retired, without a struggle, to his former obscurity ; and the succession of pretenders, which had been imposed upon the Church by the Conclave at Anagni, was at length at an end. * The year is disputed. We follow Spondanus, ann. 1424, s. iii. The circumstance that he held, at least, the name of Pope for thirty years a space longer than any pre- decessorhas been seriously urged as an argument agaimt his legitimacy. ' Non videbis dies Petri,' the prophetic address to the successors of the apo'stle, had not been accom- plished in the case of Luna, therefore he could not be a genuine successor. 2 N 2 644 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIII. One other object of our curiosity still remains, Baltazar Cossa, the Pre- sident, the adversary, and the victim of the Council of Constance. Very soon after the dissolution of that assembly, the Republic of Florence, which had been unceasingly attached to the cause, or at least to the person and sufferings, of the captive, earnestly solicited his liberation from Martin V. ; and it appears that, presently afterwards, whether through the imprudence*, the policy, or the generosity of that Pope, Baltazar was restored to liberty. He returned to Italy, and presented himself as a simple ecclesiastic among his former associates and dependents. His popular qualities had secured him many adherents, and their affection was not shaken by his adversity. In some places he was welcomed with cordial salutations, but Parma was the principal scene of his triumph and temptation ; for there he found a powerful party prepared to revive and support his abrogated claims to the cliair. These warmly pressed him to resume his dignity, and their solicitations were seconded by several individuals who had tasted his former bounty, or had hopes from his future gratitude ; all joined in pro- testing against the violence which he had suffered at Constance, and con- jured him once more to array himself in the pontifical vestments, which were rightfully his own. This was not all : even in the calculations of success there seemed some ground for hope. The independent states of Italy would probably declare in his favour, and the numerous petty tyrants, who had usurped the patrimony of the Church, would assuredly unite against the acknowledged Pope. These circumstances were repre- sented to Baltazar, and he fully comprehended their importance. Some wrongs, too, some unnecessary hardships, he had unquestionably endured at the hands of the emperor and council. Bultazar patiently listened to the seductions of his friends; and then, without returning them any answer, he suddenly took his resolution. He departed from the city hastily, and without any attendants ; and proceeded to Florence, where the Pope then resided, in the garb of a fugitive and a suppliant. Immediately, without requiring any formal security for his person, he sought for Martin, and in the presence of a full assembly cast himself humbly at his feet ; and while he recognized him with due reverence as the legitimate Vicar of Christ, he repeated his solemn ratification of the acts of the Council, and of his own deposition. Most of those, who witnessed this spectacle, were affected to tears; for * The account of Leonardus Aretinus (in Rerum Italic. Historia), who had the means of knowing the truth, is not so favourable to the motives of either party, as that which we would more willingly adopt. li John, after his captivity and abdication, was imprisoned in Bavaria. But many had a scruple, whether his deposition and abdication, being forcible, was legitimate. And if that was doubtful, the legitimacy of Martin also came into dis- pute. With this apprehension, and, at the same time, lest the Princes of Germany, possessing this image (idolum) of a Pope, should some day take some advantage of it, Martin engaged in measures for his redemption and restoration to Italy. Therefore, when on his liberation he arrived in France, and then learnt the counsel of Martin (which was to confine him for life at Mantua)) before he arrived at Mantua, he turned off towards Genoa; and there being free, and his own master, whether induced by conscience, or by despair of success in any hostile enterprise, he voluntarily came to Florence, and throwing himself at the feet of Martin, recognized him as the true and only Pontiff. In adventu ejus tota civitas obviam profusa multis lacritnis et incredibili commiseratione respexit hominem de tantaj dignitatiy fustigio in tantas calamitates prolapsum. Ipse quo- que miserabili prope habitu incedebat, &c." . . . The Florentines, on the other hand, were not very fond of Pope Martin ; and he is related, by the same historian, to have been almost childishly aflected by a song then popular among the rabble, of which thu burden was Papa Marlino non val uu quattriuo. Chap. XXIII.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. ected from it. f (1.) The deport was the year's income of vacant cures paid to the Pope or bishop. It was a tax instituted by the Popes of Avignon, under the pretext of holy wars, (2.) The Chap. XXTV.J A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 571 promise, of such fees were forbidden under the penalties of simony. * And even (it was enacted), even, which may God prohibit, if the Roman pon- tiff himself, who is bound more than any other to observe the holy canons, should throw scandal on the Church by violating 1 , in any way, this decree, he shall be brought to trial before a general council.' This passed in the twenty-first session (June 9, 1435) ; and it is curious to observe the desperate exertions, with which the Pope and his legates and inferior myrmidons put every resource of craft and intrigue into action, in order to prevent, to annul, or to neutralize this measure. But they were defeated by the firmness of the majority of the council in a good cause : and if many more such triumphs had been obtained by the same party ; if many more such restrictions on the worst excesses of Rome had been imposed and enforced, her supremacy over the Catholic Church had not so speedily passed away from her. (3.) The twenty-third session (March 25, 1436) regulated the election of the Pope, and confirmed the decree of the thirty-ninth session of Constance, which had prescribed a formula of faith, to be approved on oath, on the day of election. The oath was to be renewed every year on the anniversary of the election. It proceeded to moderate the nepotism of the pontiffs, so far, at least, as to confine their secular favours, the dukedoms, mar~ quisates, captaincies, governorships, and other offices which were at their disposal as temporal monarchs to the second degree of relationship. New laws were also published for the better constitution of the Sacred College, which differed in very trifling, if in any, respeQts, from the enact- ments of Constance on the same subject. The legislation of Basle also descended to some less important subjects : it consulted the delicacy of * timorous consciences' by specifying the degree of obedience due to general sentences of excommunication ; it restrained the punishment of interdicts to the offences of the city or its government : any sins of an in- dividual citizen were held insufficient to provoke that indiscriminate chas- tisement. It prohibited appeals, while the causes were yet pending; it condemned the spectacles, which took place in the churches on particular festivals ; it promulgated decrees for the greater solemnity of the divine offices, and for the more decorous dress and deportment of the officiating ministers. Such is the substance of the enactments of the council of Basle for the reform of the Church. It is true that* at a much later period of its conti- nuance, it published, in the thirty-first session (January 24, 1438,) two de- grace expectalive was the Pope's assurance of presentation to a particular benefice, when it should become vacant. This right originated in simple recommendation j after- wards it changed into command. To the first letters, called monitory, letters preceptory were added; and when it was necessary, letters executory were also addressed to some papal commissioners, whose duty it became to compel the ordinary to present, on tain of excommunication. This procedure gradually gained ground from the twelfth age. 3.) The reservation was a declaration, by which the Pope pretended to appoint to a bene- Lce, when it should become vacant, with prohibition to the chapter to elect, or the ordi- nary to collate. From special, the Popes proceeded to general, reservations ; from gene- ral to universal : at least John XXII. reserved, by a single edict, all the cathedrals in Christendom. This usurpation was attacked with success both at Pisa, Constance, and Basle ; and the rights, which the French Church acquired in that matter at Basle, passed into the Pragmatic Sanction, and thence, with some modification, into the Concordat. The council of Trent abolished reservations entirely. The practice is traced as high as Innocent III. . . . Both the second and third of these were contrary to the canons of the third Lateran council, held by Alexander III. in 1179, which published a general prohi- bition against all dispositions of benefices previous to vacancy . -Fleury, Institut, au Droit Eccles., p. ii., ch. xv. 572 A HISTORY OP THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIV. crees ; the one for the limitation of appeals to Rome, the other to revoke and prohibit expectative graces, and subject the provisions of the Pope to certain specified restrictions ; but these, even had they been very funda- mental improvements, were passed at a period when the legitimacy of the council itself was much disputed ; and probably they never acquired gene- ral authority. Those which we have above enumerated may be con- sidered as comprising all that the assembled fathers really accomplished, during deliberations which continued, at least nominally, through the space of nearly twelve years. The two legates, to whom the pontifical interests had been entrusted by Eugenius, followed with abundant zeal and capacity their private in- structions. No device, which seemed calculated to Conduct of the thwart the progress of reform, had been neglected by Popes Legates. them. Every objection had been magnified into a diffi- culty, every difficulty had been swelled into an insur- mountable impediment. The meanest sophistry had been confronted with the boldest reason ; artifice, fraud, seduction had been arrayed against up- right purposes and generous principles*; delays had been created, falsehoods propagated, subterfuges invented, and all that minute machinery set in mo- tion, which is at all times employed in the defence of corrupt systems, by those who find their profit in the corruptiont. To the honour of the re- formers of Basle be it recorded, that the intrigues which were eternally in operation to divide or to degrade them, were inefficient ; the firmness of those respectable ecclesiastics^, their intelligence and their honesty re- flected upon the Catholic Church a splendid gleam of glory in the mo- ment of her danger and tribulation ; and their perseverance might still have wrought some great advantage, had not a new circumstance arisen to foil it. The conciliation of the Greek Church was one of the avowed objects of the council ; and as deputies were expected from the east to confer on that subject, their convenience and inclinations Final breach between as to the place of conference required some at- the Pope and the. tention ; both (it was justly said) would be best Council. consulted by substituting for Basle some city in Italy. It was in vain that the council then * ( Scitis vosmetipsi quoties hse vobis dilationes nocuerint, quotiesque paucorum mora tlierum longissimum traxit spatium ; qui jam octavum annum in dilationibus agitis, semper dilationes ex dilationibus vidistis emergere.' CardinalisArelatensis, ap. ^En. Sylv. Gest. Basil. Concil. '{ ' Quis est qui existimet Romamim pontificem ad sui emendationem concilium conju- gare ? Nempe ut peccant homines, sic etiam impune peccar evolunt.' JEneas Sylv. de Gest. Basil. Cone., 1. i., p. 20. I The expressions of ^neas Sylvius almost rise into eloquence. ' Ubinam gentium talis patrum est chorus, ulri tantum scientiae lumen, ubi pvudentia, tibi bonitas est, quae nomenpatrum sequare virtutibus queat ? Oh integerrimam t'raternitatem ! oh verum orbis terrarum Senatum ! Quam pulchra, quam suavis, quam devota res fuit, hie celebrantes episcopos, illic orantes abbates, alibi vero doctores divinas legentes historias audire ! . . et unum ad lumen candelee scribentem cernere, alium vero grande aliquid meditantem intueri. . . . Illic cum exeuntem cella aut Christianum aut alium quempiam ex antiquio- ribus vidisses, non alium certe videre putasses, quam vel magnum Antonium,vel Paulum simplicem ; et ilium sane Hilarioni, ilium Paphnutio, ilium Amoni sequiparasses. Plus autem hoc in loco quam in Antoniana solitudine reperisses, siquidem Hieronymo etiam et Augustino obviasses, quorum litters? in conclavi fuerunt, in eremo non fuerunt. . Cus- tddiuhatur inter dominos magna charitas, inter i'amulosbona dilectio, inter utrosqtie opti- mum silentium, &c. &c.' De Gestis Basil. Concil., lib. ii., pag. 57. Jt should be men- tioned that this description is not general, but relates only to the fathers who constituted the conclave tor the election of the new Pope the elite of the council. Chap. XXIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 573 proposed Avignon, or Savoy; the Pope would listen to no such com- promise, but pressed the superior advantages of an Italian city. . . At the same time, both parties had opened negotiations at Constan- tinople ; and the contests, which had been enacted at Basle, were re- peated, with a different result, before the patriarch and the emperor. In that refined court, the superior tactics of the papal party prevailed ; and in the intestine commotions of the hierarchy of the west, the oriental auto- crat listened more partially to the monarch, than to the senate, of the Church. Besides, while his emissaries were thus advancing his views abroad, the Pope's domestic embarrassments had gradually diminished, and with them his fears and his prudence. Thus elated, he determined again to engage with the council in open warfare. Accordingly we ob- serve, that, about the twenty-third and twenty-fourth sessions, his legates assumed a higher tone than formerly : on the other hand, the council breathed nothing but indignation and defiance ; and thus, after a short and feverish suspension, the former quarrels were renewed, and not even the semblance of concord was ever afterwards restored. The second contest began nearly where the first had ended. The Pope mancsuvred to transfer the council to Italy. The council cited the Pope to Basle (July 31, 1437), to answer for his vexatious opposition to the reform of the Church. And the Pope, .in that plenitude of power to which he had never formally abandoned his pretensions, declared the council transferred to Ferrara. In the 28th session (Oct. 1, 1437), Eugenius was convicted of contumacy ; and on the 10th of the January following, he celebrated, in defiance of the sentence, the first session of the council of Ferrara. On that occasion he solemnly annulled every future act of the assembly at Basle, excepting only such, as should have reference to the troubles of Bohemia. On the eve of the opening of the Council of Ferrara, Cardinal Julian, whose fidelity to the body over which he presided, and earnestness in the discharge of that office, had never been questioned, suddenly departed from Basle, and passed over Desertion of Cardinal to the party of the Pope. The defection of so Julian. considerable a person, at so dangerous a crisis, might naturally have shaken the firmness of the fathers ; and we can also readily believe, that, after Cesarini had taken his resolution, he exerted his great talents to induce as many as he could influence, to follow him. It remains, however, as a memorable fact, that, among the numerous prelates assembled at Basle, four only were persuaded to imitate the example of their president ; nor does it appear that, even after the arrival of the Greeks in Italy, any one bishop, or doctor, or dignified ecclesiastic, deserted the cause in which he had first engaged. The sovereigns of Europe remained equally firm, and the king of France even prohibited his subjects from joining the assembly at Ferrara. It is almost needless to say, that the legitimacy of the Council of Basle has been a subject of dispute among Roman Catholic writers, and that they have differed, ac- Questions on the legiti- cording to the diversity of their opinions on the tnacy of the Council. extent and nature of papal supremacy. It has been commonly designated the Acephalous Council ; and some have main- tained that its authority expired as early as the tenth Session ; but even Bellarmine allows, that its decrees were binding on the Church, until it commenced its deliberations respecting the deposition of the Pope. This last is the more general opinion even among the Transalpine divines of 2 P 574 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIV. whom none have been found so rash and inconsistent, as to dispute its canonical convocation and origin. If it be admitted, then, thus gene- rally, that, during those few Sessions, which it devoted to the reform of the Church, it was a true and infallible Council, the controversy, respect- ing the sessions which followed, can have little importance in the eyes of the historian ; since they were consumed in an obstinate contest with a perverse pontiff, without producing any lasting alteration either in the principles or administration of the government of the Church. We shall not pursue that contest into any detail. The Cardinal Arch- bishop of Aries, who was born in France near the borders of Savoy, was elected, no unworthy successor to the Chair of Deposition ofEugenius. Cesarini*. Eugenius was presently * superseded from all jurisdiction ;' but it was not until the middle of April, 1439, that the Council published its celebrated 'Eight Propositions' against that pontiff, as a measure preparatory to his deposition. On this occasion great dissensions arose; the prelates of Spain combined almost unanimously with the Italian party; and the opposition was powerfully conducted by the Archbishop of Pa- lermo (Panormus or Panormitanus t) who had recently made the sacrifice of his private principles to the will of his sovereign. His talents and his eloquence were admired by all ; his sophistry influenced the weak or the wavering ; and when the Fathers next assembled for the resumption of the debate, the benches of the prelates were almost deserted; of the multitudes collected at Basle, scarcely twenty mitred heads could be numbered in that congregation J. The Cardinal of * ' Vir omnium constantissimus et'arf gubernationem Generalium Conciliorum natusS ^Eu . Sylv. Comment, de Gestis Basil. Concil., lib. i. p. 25. This particular commendation is explained by subsequent expressions. We shall select two of a very different cha- racter. (1) The Cardinal, on an important occasion, fearing to be left in a minority, out-manoeuvred the opposition, and prorogued the Council. His friends were delighted 1 Alii quidem eum, alii vestimentorum fimbrias, deosculabantur, secutique ipsum plurimi, prudentiam ejus magnopere commendabant, qui, licet origine esset Gallicus, Italos tamen hac die summa homines astutia, superasset.' Ibid. p. 37. (2) A violent pestilence broke out at Basle, and swept away some distinguished members of the Council. Every one supplicated the Cardinal to retire into the country ; all his domestics, all his friends, joined with one voice in the same entreaty " Quid agis, spectate Pater ! fuge hunc saltern lunae defectum, salva tuum caput, quo salvo salvamur omnes ; quo etiam pereunte omnes perimus. Quod si te pestis opprimat, ad quern confugiemus ? quis nos reget ? quis ductor hujus fidelis exercitus erit ? Jam tuam Cameram irrepsit virus, jam Secretarius tutis, jamqxie Cubicularius tuus mortem obiit. Considera discrimen, salva teipsum et nos . . . ." Sed neque ilium preces neque domesticorum funera flectere potuerunt, volentem potius cum vitse periculo salvare concilium, quam cum periculo concilii salvare vitam. Scichat cnim, qitoniam^ se recedente t pauci remansissent, facileque committi fraus in ejus absentia potuisset.' Ibid. lib. ii. p. 48. The man, who united more than Italian subtlety with the courage and self-devotion here discovered, was undoubtedly born to rule his fellow creatures. f His speech is reported in the Commentaries of the then admirable advocate for the independence of the Church, ./Eneas Sylvius. His work is chiefly employed on those Acts of the Council, which more immediately preceded the election of Felix V. Panormi- tanus urged, among other things, that the Pope's error in dissolving the Council was not a heresy ; since, though the superiority of the General Council was a truth, it was not an article of faith so that the Council had not sufficient ground for deposing Eugenius. This seemed unpardonable sophistry to ./Eneas Sylvius to Pope Pius II. it probably appeare^ a very feeble defence of papal rights. I The Council of Basle was composed, besides numerous prelates and abbots, of a great multitude of inferior clergy, who appear to have formed the majority; and we observe, from the narrative of JUneas Sylvius, that, during the violent debates which preceded the deposition of Kugenius, the prelates were for the most part on the side of Pa- pormitauus, that is of the Pope, and the ini'crior orders on the other, In the session (the Chap. XXIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH $73 Aries was prepared for this defection ; and lie had devised a remedy, suited no less to the character of the declining days of Papacy, than of its most prosperous. He commanded the relics of all the Saints in the city to be brought from their sanctuaries, to be carried by the priests to the place of assembly, and deposited by their hands in the vacant seats of the bishops. At this spectacle, (says .ZEneas Sylvius,) and on the invocation of the Holy Spirit, the multitudes present were moved by an extraordinary impulse of devotion, which overflowed in tears. And throughout the whole Church there was a soft and affectionate bewailing of pious men, who implored in sorrow the divine assistance, and deeply supplicated the Omnipotent God to give aid to the Church, whose children they were. The Session (the thirty-third) was then peacefully dissolved ; but in that which followed (June 25th, 1439) the contested measure was carried ; and, after eight years of open, or disguised hostility, Euge- nius IV. was at length deposed. On the 5th of November following, Amadeus, duke of Savoy, was elected to the See thus vacated, and assumed the name of Felix V. But as Eugenius retained, without any defection, jfj. rHn ./ p /.- TT the obedience of Italy and some other countries, f *4ns?Ll,H f the success of the anti-papal party had no other d Dissolution of effect, than to create a second schism. Among the sovereigns of Europe, the most powerful, though ill affected to Eugenius, were far from approving the violent proceedings of the Council ; and the German, as well as the French Court, became more distant and guarded in its intercourse with the fathers of Basle ; while the inferior princes appear to have recognized or rejected the one Pope or the other, as suited the seeming policy of the moment. And this confusion con- tinued with little interruption until May, 1443, when the Council cele- brated its forty-fifth and last Session. It then dissolved itself or rather transferred its (nominal) sittings to Lyons or Lausanne ; while the rival assembly, which was still lingering at Florence, withdrew, by a simultaneous secession, to Rome. Felix V. maintained his scanty Court, and the faint show of pontifical majesty, at Lausanne ; and though the sovereigns both of France and Germany made some exertions to remove the schism, it continued until the death of Eugenius Nicholas V. Cession in 1447. Nicholas V. succeeded; and the more of Felix. general recognition, which he received* from the Courts of Europe, as well as his more popular reputation, induced Felix, whose ambition was destitute of selfishness, as his character was moderate and virtuous, to negotiate respecting the cession of his dignity. Certain conditions were accordingly proposed and accepted, and in the year 1449, the creature of the Council of Basle for ever resigned his claims on the Chair of St. Peter. The happy escape from this second peril, which thirty-third) described in the text, ' Nullus Arragonensium praelatorum interfuit, nullusque omnino ex tota Hispania. Ex Italia soli Grossitanus Episcopus et Abbas de Dona. Doctores autem et cseteri inferiores magno in nmnero Arragonenses fuerunt, et omnes fere, qui aderant, ex Italia Hispaniaque (nee enim inferiores, sicut Prcelati, principem timuerunt}. Maximaque tune Arragonensium et Cathelanorum virtus in inferionbus emicuit, qui sese minime necessitati ecclesise denegarunt.' ' Si enim episcopi haud multi erant, plena tamen omnia fuerunt subsellia procuratoribus episcoporum, archidiaconis, praepositis, prioribus, presbyteris et divini et humani juris doctoribus, quos aut qua- dringentos aut certe plures esse dijudicavi, &c,' This republican constitution of tha Council must, indeed, have rendered it peculiarly obnoxious to the prejudices of a monastic Pope, Comment, ^n, Sylvii, l.ii.p. 43. 3 P 2 57$ A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIV. menaced the unity of the Church, filled the people with universal joy ; the errors of the Hussites and the scandals of the clergy were for the moment forgotten ; and everywhere, after the fashion of the times, a commemorative verse was chanted, Fulsit lux mundo ; cessit Felix Nicolao. Though the general measures of reformation, published by the Council of Basle, were very inadequate to the necessities of the Church, even in the eyes of an orthodox reformer, yet by concurrence with some national assemblies held in Germany, and especially in France, they became instrumental in improving the ecclesiastical government and discipline in both those countries. In Germany, a project, which had been prepared at Nuremburg, in 1438, having failed to obtain Diet of Mayence. the approbation either of the Council or the Pope, a Diet was opened at Mayence in the March of the year following. The deputies from Basle, and some emissaries of Eugenius were present ; and the Assembly, after some deliberation, re- ceived all the general decrees of the Council *. We do not learn, however, that any means were taken to give them efficacy, or to establish them as the permanent and living code of the German Church. At any rate, its independence was soon afterwards betrayed by Frederic III. ; and in the negotiations between the empire and the Holy See, which were conducted by his secretary, .ZEneas Sylvius, that accomplished politician was less faithful to the interests which he thus represented, than to those over which he was destined hereafter to preside. The concordats, arranged at Aschaffenburg in 1448, resigned most of the advantages which the Germans had derived from the proceedings at Basle, and left the papal rights nearly in the situation in which they had been placed by Martin V.f The French were at the same time conducting their national exertions with greater method and decision, and with a much better prospect of per- manent effect. The first meeting of their prelates Council of 'Bourges. at Bourges was contemporary with that of the Council of Basle. Some useful resolutions were then passed. But the Grand Assembly, which fixed the liberties of the Gallican Church, was held in the same city in the year 1438. It was convoked by Charles VII., who presided in person ; it was thronged by his most illustrious subjects, secular as well as ecclesiastic ; and it was attended by the authorized legates both of Eugenius and the Council. The result of their deliberations was the celebrated Pragmatic Sanction :{;, the great bulwark of the national Church, against the usurpations of Rome that to which the French divines afterwards clung with so much reso- lution and tenacity, even after it had been betrayed to the enemy by an interested monarch. * The Diet of Mayence withheld its sanction from those decrees, which were directly levelled against Eugenius. f The Annates, the great bone of contention, were retained in substance by the Pope. Instead of the arbitrary reservation of benefices, he obtained the positive right of collation during six alternate months of every year. Episcopal elections were restored to the chapters the Pope only nominating incase of translation, or of a person, canonically disqualified, being presented for confirmation. See Hallam, Middle Ages, chap. vii. J Pragmatic sanction was a general term for all important ordinances of Church or State those, perhaps, more properly, which were enacted in public assemblies, with the counsel of eminent jurisconsults, or Pragnwtici. Chap. XXIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 577 The Galilean Liberties, while they embraced a number of particular provisions, were founded on two grand principles: (1) That the Pope has no authority in the kingdom of France over any thing concerning temporals. (2) That, though the Pope is acknowledged as sovereign lord in spirituals, his power even in these is restricted and controlled by the canons and regulations of the antient Councils of the Church *, received in this kingdom. The Articles constituting the Pragmatic Sanction were chiefly founded on the Decrees of the twentieth, twenty-first, and twenty-third Sessions of the Council of Basle. Some of these were, indeed, modi- fied, with a view to accommodate them to the peculiar The Pragmatic circumstances of the country, not (as was expressly de- Sanction. clared) from any disrespect to the authority of that Assembly. But the greater part were at once adopted into the Church of France, and ardently embraced by the clergy and the nation. Yet can it scarcely be necessary to remind the reader, that most of the abuses thus removed concerned no more vital question, than the patronage of the Church that the object of most of those vaunted resolutions was only to relieve the clergy (and, to a certain extent, the people of France) from the contributions, which, under a thousand names and pretexts, were exacted by the Apostolical Chancery; that the avadce of the Holy See was the most unpopular among its vices ; and that mere pecuniary motives were at the bottom of more than half the grievances, which alienated its children from itf. We shall not here relate the exertions which were made by Pius II. to subvert the principles, of which, as ^Eneas Sylvius, he had been the warmest advocate, and to overthrow the liberties, which his own hand had planted. The nominal repeal of the Pragmatic Sanction by Louis XI. was never ratified by his subjects, nor effected in defiance of their dissent ; and the articles which were enacted at Bourges continued for the most part in force until the reign of Francis I. The consequence was, that the French people, being in a great degree sheltered from the extortions of Rome, were less disposed to question her general rights, and to rebel against her spiritual prerogatives. The most sordid and disgusting particulars of her system were not so commonly presented to their view. A smaller contribution, indeed, flowed into her treasuries, and her emissaries were more sparingly scattered in that country ; but her ' ' La premiere est, Que les Papes ne peuvent rien commander ni ordonner, soit en general soit en particulier, de ce qui concerne les choses temporelles es pays et terres de 1'obeyssance et souverainete du Roy Tres-Chrestien : et s'ils y commandent on statuent quelque chose, les sujets du Roy, encores qu'ils fussent clercs, ne sont tenus pour obeyr pour ce regard. 'La seconde, Qu'encores quele Papesoit reconnu pour suzerain es choses spirituelles; toutesfois en France la puissance absolue et infinie n'a point de lieu, mais est retenue et bornee par les canons et regies des anciens conciles de 1'Eglise receus en ce royaume. Et in hoc maxime consistit Libertas Ecclesise Gallicanae.' See Commentaire sur le Traite des Lib. de 1'Eglise Gall, de Pierre Pithov. Paris, 1 652. f The Pragmatic Sanction consisted of twenty -three articles, several of which regarded the police of cathedral churches, the celebration of the divine offices, and other matters not connected wit" which have superior autl elections, reservations, collections, expectative graces, and annates formed after all the burden of the grievances and to those we may fairly add appeals to the Court of Rome, which were now become only an additional method of raising money. See Histoire de 1'Orig. de iaPragm. Sanct,&c. par Pierre Pithov. 573 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIV name was less odious, as her vices were less obtrusive. And while in Germany, the re-establishment of the Papal despotism, with all its train of annates, reservations, and indulgences, produced, by an inevitable ne- cessity, the violent revolt and final independence of the oppressed, so the Catholics of France submitted with less reluctance to her mitigated sway. The most important decree promulgated at Constance was, perhaps, that which fixed the periodical meeting of general councils ; for it was in vain to have established the supremacy of those assemblies, unless con- tinual opportunities were afforded them for its exercise. The spirit of Rome was invariable, and in perpetual action ; it could not be counter- acted and restrained, unless by frequent collision with the restraining body. The wisest resolutions, unless ^enforced by the constant protection of the power which created them, would be neutralized or crushed in the pontifical grasp. The justice of this apprehension was proved by the fate of the very decree, of which we are now speaking. It was perseveringly eluded by the Popes who followed, and with so much success, that no other general council was convoked before the end of the century. After the separation of the fathers of Basle, the repose and prerogatives of the pontiffs were never seriously disturbed, until the destined season at length arrived, in which they were invaded by a harsher voice and a far ruder hand. It has been made a question among ecclesiastical writers, whether the decennial meetings of those bodies, as decreed at Constance, would have conferred benefit or the contrary, on the Roman Catholic Church. It is argued on the one hand, that they presented the only check upon the ex- cesses of the Roman court, which were hurrying the Church to its de- struction ; that in the progressive light andjnformation of the age, an absolute spiritual despotism could not possibly endure much longer, and that the monarchy of the Church could only hope for stability through an infusion of the popular principle ; since even the clergy themselves were no longer well affected towards an unlimited government ; that many abuses in morals and discipline, which were continually growing up, were most effectually corrected by the authority of Councils. On the other hand, it is disputed whether the benefits derived from the three assemblies, which had taken place, were, in fact, so very substantial ? Whether they were at all proportionate to the weighty machinery, which was moved to produce them ? Whether the non-residence of so many prelates and other clergy, during such long periods, was not a new evil of immense importance? Whether those divisions and passionate con- tests among spiritual ministers, which seemed the necessary fruit of gene- ral councils, did not cast as many scandals on the church, as those which were removed? Whether the immediate danger of a positive schism, which had actually been occasioned by the proceedings at Basle, did not at least counterbalance those remote perils, which timely remedies might, or might not, perhaps, have averted ? To a Protestant impartially comparing these considerations, it is, in the first place, obvious, that a cordial co-operation between an enlightened Pope and a body of intelligent ecclesiastics, for the single purpose of cor- recting abuses in government and discipline, and otherwise modifying the system by seasonable alterations, would have afforded the best human probability of preserving the papal supremacy undisputed, arid deferring the hour of a more perfect reformation. But, on the other hand, it is equally manifest, that, as the court of Rome was at that time constituted, so generous a co-operation, eo provident a sacrifice of instant profit for Chap. XXIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 579 future security, could not possibly have formed the policy of the Vatican. Those, who have long been in possession of usurped prerogatives, have seldom the courage, when the moment of retribution approaches, to con- cede a part, though they should thereby save the rest ; they cling perti- naciously to their meanest acquisitions, until the hand of the reformer is at length provoked to resume the whole. It was thus with the Bishops of Rome: educated in a profligate court, and in the narrowest principles, they commonly obtained their elevation by intrigue or bribery. The pontifical dignity was itself beset by seductions, sufficient to corrupt the most generous mind. So that it was vain to look to Rome for any other policy, than the most contracted and the most selfish. If these conclusions be true, the periodical meetings of general coun- cils would have only introduced periodical convulsions and schisms. And, although some partial benefits would no doubt have proceeded from their deliberations, they would scarcely have prolonged the duration of a sys- tem, of which unity was a necessary characteristic. The manner of its destruction might, indeed, have been different ; it might have been torn in pieces by intestine discord, instead of sinking before the impulse from without. But its doom was irrevocably sealed ; and the seeds of disso- lution were too amply sown in the very vitals of the papal Church, to admit of any effectual reformation. Again ; however justly we may applaud the reforming projects of the fathers of Constance and Basle, as indicating some consciousness of shame or of danger, some foresight, at least, if not some virtue, yet it is certain that their general General Principles of principles were in no respect more moderate than the Councils of Con- those of the Vatican. We have already observed stance, and Basle. how the former of those Councils, after investing itself with all the spiritual attributes and authority of the Church, im- mediately overstepped the boundary*, and drew, like the Popes whom it superseded, the temporal sword. But we have still to describe the most arbitrary and iniquitous act of the same assembly. The Holy Fathers, be it recollected, had met for the reformation of their Church. The word was perpetually on their lips, and they denounced, with unsparing vehemence, some of the corruptions of their own system. In the midst of them were two men of learning, genius, integrity, 'piety, who had intrusted their personal safety to the faith of the council, John Huss and Jerome of Prague ; and these too were reformers. But it happened that they had taken a different view of the condition and exigencies of the* Church ; and while the boldest pro- jects of the wisest among the orthodox were confined to matters of patronage, discipline, ceremony, the hand of the Bohemians had probed a deeper wound : they disputed, if not the doctrinal purity t, at least the spiritual omnipotence of the Church. Those daring innovators had crossed the line which separated reformation from heresy and they had their re- compense. In the clamour which was raised against them, all parties joined as with one voice : divided on all other questions, contending about all other principles, the grand universal assembly was united, from Gerson himself down to the meanest Italian papal minion, in common detestation * If the fathers of Constance offended the King of France by the orders which they issued respecting the safe conduct of Sigismondin his journey to Spain; so did those of Basle irritate the princes of Germany by an assumption of temporal authority ; and this was their great mistake. L f See the following Chapter. 580 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXIV. of the heresy, in implacable rage against its authors. Those venerable martyrs were imprisoned, arraigned, condemned ; and then by the com- mand, and in the presence of the majestic senate of the Church, the de- poser of Popes, the uprooter of corruption, the reformer of Christ's holy Communion they were deliberately consigned to the flames. Is there any act recorded in the blood-stained annals of the Popes more foul and merciless than that ? . . . More than this. The guilt of the murder was enhanced by perfidy ; and for the purpose of justifying this last offence (for the former, being founded on the established Church principles, re- quired no apology) they added to those principles another, not less fla- gitious than any of those already recognized * that neither faith nor promise, by natural, divine, or human law, was to be observed to the pre- judice of the Catholic religion*.' Let us here recollect that this maxim did not proceed from the caprice of an arbitrary individual, and a Pope, for so it would scarcely have claimed our serious notice but from the considerate resolution of a very numerous assembly, which embodied almost all the learning, wisdom, arid moderation of the Roman Catholic Church. General councils, claiming to act under the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit, were consequently infallible, as well as impeccable. We shall, therefore, mention one or two of the subjects to which their un- erring judgment was directed. In the July of 1434, the council of Basle confirmed a Bull, previously published by Eugenius IV., respecting the veneration due to the sacrament of the Eucharist, and the indulgences granted at the feast of the holy sacrament ; with an order for its universal observance in the Church. The thirty-sixth session (Sept. 17, 1439) of the same assembly was occupied in drawing up a decree in favour of the immaculate conception of the Holy Virginf. This article of faith was solemnly enjoined to all good Catholics ; and an universal festival was instituted in its honour, * according to the custom of the Roman Church.' Two years afterwards, at their forty-third meeting, the same fathers con- firmed, after a very long deliberation, the feast of the visitation of the Holy Virgin. They enacted that it should be celebrated throughout the whole Church by all the faithful ; and they accorded to those, who should assist at matins, at the processions, at the sermon, at mass, at the first and at the second vespers, a hundred days of indulgences for each of those offices. At the same time, while they were thus extending the reign of superstition over their obedient children, they were contesting the double communion with the Bohemian rebels, and refusing every conces- sion to reason and to scripture, excepting suchj as was extorted from them 1 Cum tamen dictus Johannes Huss, fidem orthodoxam pertinaciter impugnans, se ab omni conductu et privilegio reddiderit alienum, nee aliqua sibi fides aut promissio de jure naturali, divino vel humano, fuerit in prejudicium Catholicse fidei observanda : there the formal signatures, attached to the other articles, are not subscribed to this ; hence they infer its spuriousness. We should remark that Yonder Hardthas published it (torn, iv., p. 521), without any expression of doubt. f That is, that the holy Virgin was preserved in her conception from the stain of ori- ginal sin. We observe that bachelors in theology, and others in the University of Paris, were compelled to subscribe, on oath, to their belief in this doctrine. In Spain it is con- sidered an essential part of the Catholic faith at this moment. J The concession of the council respecting the double communion amounted, at hist, only to this, that whether the sacrament was administered in one kind or in both, it was still useful to communicants' for there could be no doubt that Christ was entire in either Chap. XXIV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 581 by force. Some individuals must certainly have existed among- them, who had penetrated the inward depravity of their system and saw the tottering ground on which it stood ; but they believed, no doubt, that things would continue to be, as they had been ; they were blind to the slow but irresistible progress of inquiry and knowledge. From the days of St. Bernard to those of Bossuet the extirpation of heresy formed a part or an object* of every scheme of Church reform proposed by churchmen. The principle of toleration was unknown in the ecclesiastical policy; it may have guided the private practice of many enlightened individuals, but it was never inscribed in the code of the Church. Those very councils, from whose generous professions and popu- lar constitution a wiser legislation might have been expected, did but exclude it more fiercely, and banish it more hopelessly. But, in return for their adherence to the favourite vice, of the Church, did they amend any maxim of its government ? Did they uproot any unscriptural tenet, any superstitious belief, any profitable imposture, any senseless cere- mony, or degrading practice ? Did they wash away any spiritual stain from the sanctuary, now that the light from abroad was breaking in upon it ? On the contrary, they not only persevered in maintaining every ab- surdity which had been transmitted to them, but showed a preposterous anxiety to increase the number. It is perfectly true that, in mere matters of discipline, they were fearless innovators, and that they assailed with ardour the more palpable iniquities of the Vatican. But this was the ex- tent of their daring; this was the limit, as they thought, of safe and legi- timate reform ; all beyond it was inviolable ground. Thus it was, that to question the sanctity of their spiritual corruptions was deemed profane and heretical ; and their eyes were wilfully closed against the unalter- able truth, that the Church of Christ cannot permanently stand on any other foundation, than the gospel of Christ. In the meantime, while the fathers of Basle, who saw some part of their danger, were ineffectually contending with an infatuated pontiff, who was blind to the whole, the art of printing was discovered ; and the star of universal knowledge, the future arbiter of Churches and of Empires, arose unheeded from the restless bosom of Germany. CHAPTER XXV. History of the Hussites. (I.) General fidelity of England to the Roman See The beginnings of Wiclif, and the hostility he encountered To what extent his opposition to Rome was popular His death at Lutterworth, and the exhumation of his remains in pursuance of a decree of the Council of Constance His opinions on several important points He was calumniated by the high churchmen His trans- lation of the Bible. (II.) The writings of Wiclif introduced into Bohemia Origin and qualities of John Huss His sermons In the Chapel of Bethlehem Division in the University of Prague Secession of the Germans, in hostility against Huss He incurs the displeasure of the Archbishop element ; and that the custom of communicating the laity in one kind, introduced with reason by the Church and holy fathers, long observed and approved by theologians and canonists, should pass for a law, neither to be censured nor altered without the au- thority of the Church.' This decree was published in 1437, in the thirtieth session. * For instance, at Constance it formed a part of the scheme of the reformers. To * repress simony, and prosecute Jerome of Prague,' were joint subjects of the same re- monstrances. To restore the unity of the Church was to reform the Church. But at Basle the reformation in discipline was chiefly recommended as the means of extirpating heresy. (See the passages above cited from Cardinal Julian's two letters.) But it never occurred to either council to consider, whether the heretics might not possibly be right ; or, being wrong, whether they might not safely be tolerated. 582 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXV. of Prague of John XXIII. Is summoned before the Council of Constance His attachment to the character of Wiclif Opinions ascribed to the Vaudois and Hussites by JEneas Sylvius many of them disclaimed by Huss Notion respecting tithes The restoration of the cup to the laity demanded not by Huss, but by Jacobellus of Misnia The principle of persecution advo- cated by Gerson Huss proceeds to Constance The safe conduct of the Emperor The motives of Huss Assurances of protection nevertheless Huss is placed in confinement and eight articles alleged against him Condemnation of Wiclif A public trial granted to Huss The insults and calumnies to which he is exposed Three articles to which he adhered Principles of the Council Huss refuses to retract Declaration of Sigismond Various solicitations and trials to which Huss is subject during his imprisonment Overture made to him by Sigismond Interview between Huss and John of Chlum The sentence passed on Huss The process of his degradation and execution Two principal causes of his destruction. (III.) Jerome of Prague appears before the Council His retractation Subsequent avowal of his opinions and execution Ob- servations. (IV.) Movements occasioned in Bohemia by these executions The name of Tha- borite assumed by the Insurgents The triumphs of Zisca Massacre of the Adamites The Bohemian Deputies proceed to the Council of Basle The four articles proposed by them and the consequent ineffectual debate The scene of negociation then removed to Prague Various parties there Defeat and massacre of the Thaborites A compact concluded between Sigismond and the Separatists Real principles of Rome The Pope refuses to confirm the compact, and the dissensions continue under Pius II. and Paul II. Many of the opinions of the Hussites per- petuated by the ' Bohemian Brothers,' who became celebrated in the next century. I. THE Roman See had been long accustomed to consider the English as the most obedient and exemplary among its subjects an equivocal merit, which it rewarded by more oppressive extortions and more contemptuous insult. It is true, that our kings and statesmen had made at various times some vigorous exertions to mitigate the Papal dominion ; but the Popes were enabled to thwart or elude their efforts by the fidelity of the clergy and the people *. Nor was it only the praise of ecclesiastical obsequious- ness that our Catholic ancestors deserved of the Holy See ; that of imma- culate doctrinal purity was ascribed to them with equal justice. They received with reverence every innovation in their belief, every demand on their credulity, which proceeded from the unerring oracles of the Church ; but they faithfully discouraged any new opinions originating in any other quarter. The continental heresies of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries had not been allowed to defile their sanctuary ; still less had it been pro- faned by any weeds of indigenous growth. The land, in which Wiclif was already preparing his immortal weapons for the contest, was that, on which the pontifical regards were fixed with the deepest complacency and most unsuspecting confidence. John of Wiclif t was born in Yorkshire about the year 1324. He was educated at Oxford ; and the great proficiency, Wiclif. which he made in the learning of the schools, did not prevent him from acquiring and deserving the title of the Evangelic, or Gospel, Doctor. His earlier life was dis- tinguished by a bold attack on the corruptions of the clergy, and by great zeal in the contest with the Mendicants, which, in 1360, disturbed the university and the Church. He was raised to the theological chair in 1372 ; he had previously defended the cause of the Crown against the Pope, respecting the payment of the tribute imposed by Innocent III., and he was known to harbour many anti-papal opinions : but he was not yet committed in direct opposition to Rome. Soon afterwards he formed * The statutes of provisors and prcemunire, enacted in 1350, anticipated most of the articles of the Pragmatic Sanction of France, since the first restrained the usurpation of Church patronage by the Pope, and the second protected the temporal rights of the Crown ; but neither of them was observed, and the Pope continued to fill the Sees with foreign prelates. f We do not profess, in the present history, to treat in any detail the ecclesiastical affairs of England ; and in the following short account of Wiclif there is little which may not be found much more fully and eloquently expressed in Professor Le Bas' ( Life of Wiclif.' Chap. XXV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 583 part of an embassy to Avignon, instructed to represent and remove the grievances of the Anglican Church. It was not till his return from that mission, when his language was heated by long-treasured indignation, or by the near spectacle of pontifical impurity, that the reformer first incurred the displeasure of the English hierarchy. He was cited before a convocation, held at St. Paul's in 1377 ; and it seems probable, that he owed his preservation to the powerful protection of John Duke of Lan- caster. At the same time the Vatican thundered ; and the heresy of Wiclif was compared to that of Marsilius of Padua and others, who had been sheltered against the oppression of John XXII. by the imperial patronage. But the Papal Bull was so little regarded at Oxford*, that it was even made a question, whether it should not be ignominiously rejected ; and when the offender was subsequently summoned to Lam- beth, he was dismissed with a simple injunction to abstain from diffusing his opinions. Howbeit, the Pope and his myrmidons continued eager and constant in the pursuit; and there are many who believe, that it was the timely circumstance of the schism, which alone defrauded persecution of its intended victim. On the other hand, the ardour of Wiclif f was still further inflamed by the appearance of this new deformity when he saw ' the head of Anti- christ cloven in twain, and the two parts made to fight against each other.' He even proceeded so far, as to exhort the princes of Europe to seize that signal opportunity of extinguishing the evil entirely. But in their eyes it did not perhaps appear to be an evil at all at least it was still so deeply rooted in the prejudices of the people, that its extirpation, even had they thought it desirable, had not yet been practicable. It was the misfortune of Wiclif, as it was his greatest glory, that he anticipated, by almost two centuries, the principles of a more enlightened generation ; and scattered his holy lessons on a soil, not yet prepared to give them perfect life and maturity. As long as Wiclif confined, or nearly confined, his vehement reprehen- sions to the delinquencies of the clergy, or the anti-Christian spirit of the Court of Rome so long he obtained many and powerful disciples, and could count on their attachment and fidelity. But no sooner did he rise from that manifest and intelligible ground of dissent, and advance into the region of doctrinal disputation, than the enthusiasm and number of his followers declined, and even John of Lancaster strongly enjoined him to desist. In 1381-2 he opened his Sacramentary Controversy ; some con- siderable tumults followed ; he was cited in consequence before the Con- vention at Oxford, and banished from that city. He retired to his rectory at Lutterworth ; and after two more years diligently employed in the offices of piety, he died there in peaceful and honourable security security which was alike honourable to his own character, to the firmness of his illustrious protectors, and to the moderation of the English prelacy. His opinions were never extinguished ; and his name continued so formidable to the champions of the Church, that, after an interval of thirty years after all personal malice and jealousy had long passed away the Council of Re- * * Diu in pendulo hserebant, utrum papalem Bullam deberent cum honore suscipere, vel omnino cum dedecore refutare.' Walsingham. f One of the latest labours of his life was another attack on the delinquencies of the clergy, which he described under thirty-three heads in the tract ' How the office of curates is ordained of God.' The more profound sense of those delinquencies which he had de- rived from inveterate habits and principles of piety, gave an ardour to k the expressions of his advancing age which surpassed that of his youthful enthusiasm. 584 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. Chap. XXV. formers at Constance published that memorable edict, by which * the body and bones of Wiclif were to be taken from the ground, and thrown far away from the burial of any Church/ .... The decree met with a tardy obedience : after the space of thirteen years, the remains were disinterred and burnt, arid the ashes cast into the adjoining brook. * The brook (says Fuller, in words which should be engraven on every heart) did convey his ashes into Avon ; Avon into Severn ; Severn into the narrow seas ; they into the main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wiclif are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over.' His doctrine was formed, with an entire disregard of all spiritual autho- rity, on the foundation of Scripture alone for 'the His opinions. Scripture alone (as he said) is truth.' Various innovations of the Roman Church were opposed by him with various degrees of confidence. Respecting images and the invocation of the saints he wrote at no great length, but with reasonable- ness and moderation. He rejected transubstantiation, according to the sense of the Church ; but he admitted a sort of real presence, without affecting to determine the manner. His notion concerning purgatory seems to have gone farther from the belief in which he was educated, as he gradually advanced in knowledge ; but he never entirely threw off his original impressions. At last, indeed, he might appear to have considered it as a place of sleep; but his expressions are vague and betray the igno- rance, which he was not careful to conceal, either from others or from him- self. On other matters he expressed much bolder opinions. He rejected auricular confession ; he held pardons and indulgences to be nothing but * a subtle merchandise of anti-Christian clerks, whereby they magnified their own fictitious power; and instead of causing men to dread sin, encouraged them to wallow therein like hogs.' Excommunication and interdicts were repudiated with equal disdain. He reprobated the compulsory celibacy of the clergy and the imposition of monastic vows ; and visited with the auste- rity of a Puritan, not only the vain and fantastic ceremonies of the Church, but even the devout use of holy psalmody. In the granting of absolution he treated the office of the priest as strictly ministerial and declaratory; and he hastily pronounced confirmation to be a mere ecclesiastical inven- tion, for the purpose of unduly elevating the episcopal dignity. He ap- pears not to have disputed, that the Pope was the highest spiritual autho- rity in the Church ; but he rejected with equal scorn his ghostly infallibi- lity and his secular supremacy ; and his abhorrence of the court of anti- Christ was so strong, as to be a continual incentive to the bitterest censure. According to the original institution he considered bishops and priests as the same order ; and he ascribed (through a defect in historical know- ledge) the distinction, which afterwards divided them, to the imperial supremacy. He objected to the possession of any fixed property by the clergy, and maintained that the ecclesiastical endowments were, in their origin, eleemosynary, and that they remained at the disposal of the secular government*. Such were the opinions which Wiclif promulgated in the theological chair, and in the fourteenth century. His reputation and his dignity raised * It is observed that, with these opinions, Wiclif held the Divinity Professorship at Oxford, a Prebendal Stall, and the Rectory of Lutterworth. He thought it excusable, no doubt, to conform to the system which he found established, and his enemies at the time thought it no crime in him that he did so ; yet he would have stood higher with pos- terity, had he disdained the plausible excuse, and placed the unequivocal seal of private disinterestedness and generosity upon his public principles. Chap. XXV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 585 him far above contempt ; but at the same time they embittered the malig- nity of his enemies. Yet, monstrous as many of his real tenets must have appeared in that age, recourse was had to the usual expedient of charging him with absurd inferences and notions* wholly at variance with any that he professed as if the churchmen of those days had some secret conscious- ness of the weakness of their cause, and despaired to make the enemies of their system generally detestable, unless they could also stigmatize them as foes to the acknowledged principles of religion, of morality, and of reason. We are not surprised by such calumnies ; neither is it strange that the dissemination of his actual doctrines (for they were diligently disseminated by emissariesf employed by him for that purpose) was followed by some tumults and disorders. The first open struggles of reason against pre- scription and prejudice its first appeals to the sense and virtue of mankind against particular interests and established absurdities, are seldom unat- tended by popular heats and commotions ; and the wonder in this case rather is, that the prematurity of the Reformation did not occasion the mar- tyrdom of the reformer. For many of Wiclif 's opinions were too advanced and ripe for the bleak season in which he lived. They were calculated, indeed, for the considera- tion of all virtuous and disinterested men ; and they were sure to create in succeeding generations a disposition towards better principles of belief and practice; but they could look for no general reception among those, to whom they were first addressed. Therefore was it wisely determined by that admirable Christian, when he sent them forth into a prejudiced and ignorant world, to promulgate along with them the sacred volume on which they professed to stand. His translation and circulation of the Bible was that among his labours, which secured the efficacy, as it was itself the crown, of all the others. This was the life of the system which he destined to be imperishable this the treasure which he bequeathed to future % and to better ages, for their immortal inheritance. II. The queen of Richard II. was a Bohemian princess ; and on the death of her husband, she returned, with a train of attendants, to her native land. It is commonly JohnofHuss. believed, that 'these persons introduced a precious, but a dearly preserved, possession among their countrymen the works of Wiclif. Others suppose this present to have been made by an English- man who had travelled to Prague ; others by a Bohemian who had studied at Oxford. All may possibly have contributed ; but in respect to the more important fact, there seems to be no dispute, that the writings of Wiclif kindled the first sparks of the Bohemian heresies. During the latter days of that venerable teacher, a youth was growing up in an obscure village of Bohemia, who was destined to bear, in his turn, the torch of truth, and to transmit it with a martyr's hand to a long succession of disciples and he was worthy of the heavenly office. John of Hnss, or Hussinetz, was very early distinguished by the force and acuteness of his understanding, the modesty and gravity of his demeanour, the rude and irreproachable auste- rity of his life. A thoughtful and attenuated countenance, a tall and * They are to be found in great numbers, chiefly among the articles of impeachment, levelled against his name and memory, and published by Popes and Councils. One error ascribed to him is, ' that he represented God as subject to the devil.' f Men whom he called his ' poor priests.' See chap. x. of Le Bas' Life of Wiclif. J The effect was felt even in the next generation, and the high churchmen began to tremble. By a decree published by the Convocation at St. Paul's in 140o, it was prohi- bited either to compose or consult any private translation of the Scriptures, on the penal- ties attached to heresy. 586 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXV. somewhat emaciated form, an uncommon mildness and affability of man- ner added to the authority of his virtues and the persuasiveness of his eloquence. The University of Prague, at that time extremely flourishing, presented a field for the expansion of his great qualities ; in the year 1401 he was appointed president, or dean, of the philosophical faculty, and was elevated, eight years afterwards, to the rectorship of the University. The Church divided with the academy his talents and his reputation. In the year 1400 he was made confessor to Sophia of Bavaria, the Queen of Bohemia ; and in 1405 he had obtained general celebrity byjnany eloquent sermons delivered in the vulgar tongue in his chapel* at Prague. In those fervent addresses to the people, who composed his audience, he fre- quently inveighed against the corruption of the court of Rome, her indul- gences, her crusades, her extortions, and all the multitude of her iniquities ; and his harangues were received with impassioned acclamation. Never- theless, his name was not yet tainted by any charge of heresy ; and as late as the July of 1408, Subinco, (or Suinco,) Archbishop of Prague, declared in a public synod, that the kingdom, over which his spiritual guardianship extended, was free from the stain of any religious error. But about this time the University of Prague was disturbed by a violent dissension. The German students, who formed the majority, and to whom a greater share in the government, the dignities, and emoluments of the institution had been allotted by the original statutesf, were vigorously assailed by the native Bohemians ; who claimed, as a national right, that, according to the example of Paris, those enviable prerogatives should be transferred to themselves. Huss engaged with zeal in the cause of his countrymen. The king decided in favour of his own subjects, and he was considered to have been chiefly influenced to that resolution by Huss. Many German doctors resigned their offices and retired from the kingdom ; and they car- ried with them, whithersoever they went, deep rancour against the author of their defeat and secession. Again, about the same time, probably in the beginning of 1409, Huss was extremely zealous in bringing over his country from the cause of Gre- gory XII., in whose obedience it persisted, to that of the cardinals assem- bled at Pisa ; and this laudable forwardness appears to have been the first offence, which awakened the displeasure of the archbishop. At least it is manifest, that this was the period at which the indignation of that prelate f first broke out; and in the December of the same year, the Pope himself (Alexander V.) issued some prohibitory decree against Huss and his fol- lowers. The existence and circumstances of the great schism, and the obvious evils produced by it, had long been a popular theme of censure for the Bohemian reformer. And after its extinction, John XXIII. furnished him, in 1411, with fresh matter for reprehension. That pontiff sent forth * Called the Chapel of Bethlehem. An opulent citizen of Prague had built and en- dowed it for the maintenance of two preachers, ' qui festis profestisque diebus verbum Dei Bohemico sermone plebibus insinuarent.' JEn. Sylv., Hist. Boliem., cap. xxxv. f The University, founded in 1347, by the Emperor Charles IV., was composed of four nations, Bohemia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Poland ; and as the three last (even the last) were chiefly Germans, and had three votes, in four, three-fourths of the professors, doctors, c., were Germans. On the other hand, in the economy of the University of Paris (\v here the division was also quadripartite) the natives had three voices. The declaration of King Wenceslas in favour of his subjects was made on Oct. 13, 1409. J Subinco, Archbishop of Prague, is characterised by Maimbourg as ( a man who feared nothing when t lie service of God and the interests of the church were at a stake,' buch a compliment, from the pun of Maimbourg, is at least suspicious, Chap. XXV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 587 his emissaries to preach a crusade against Ladislaus, King of Naples, and to accord the usual indulgences. The minds of many had been previ- ously inflamed against this mockery of the cross of Christ by the preaching of Huss ; and so it proved, that, on three several occasions, the pontifical missionaries were interrupted by violent exclamations in the midst of their harangues. Three offenders were accordingly seized by the order of the senate, and privately executed ; but the blood which flowed from the prison into the street betrayed their fate. The people rose ; and having gained possession of their bodies, carried them in procession to the various churches, chanting holy anthems. They then buried them in the chapel of Bethlehem, with the aromatic offerings usually deposited on the tombs of martyrs. Other commotions followed ; the clergy * of Bohemia con- spired very generally against the principles of the reformer ; and John XXIII. cited him, but without effect, before the tribunal of the Vatican. In fact, so great was the agitation which these disputes had now excited, that when the Council of Constance assembled presently afterwards, it issued an immediate summons for the appearance of Huss. With whatsoever disregard that ecclesiastic may have treated the mandate of the Pope, he proved, without hesitation, his allegiance to the council. He knew the hostility and the faithlessness of the court of Rome ; but in the august re- presentation of the Church, in the full congregation of holy prelates assem- bled for the reformation of abuses, and the redressing of wrongs, he might find some foundation for confidence, and some hope of justice. It is proper now to examine, what was the nature of those spiritual offences which excited such attention throughout Christendom, and such terror among the directors Opinions imputed to Huss. of the Church. In the first place, the Bohe- mian innovator was accused of disseminating the mortal venom which he had imbibed from England. His devotion to the faith and memory of Wiclif, for it was for some years concealed, became at length too deep and ardent for dissimulation ; and it is even related, that in his discourses from the pulpit of Bethlehem, he was wont to address his earnest vow to Heaven, that, whenever he should be removed from this life, he might be admitted to the same regions where the soul of Wiclif resided ; since he doubted not, that he was a good and holy man, and worthy of a habitation in heavenf. It is certain, that on the first movement against Huss, the archbishop collected all the books of Wiclif, to the number of two hundred volumes, embossed and decorated with precious ornaments J, and caused * If we are to believe ./Eneas Sylvius (Historia Bohemica, cap. xxxv), the clergy, in the first instance, were favourable to Huss ; and the reason, which he malignantly gives for that fact, seems to prove at least his own conviction of its truth. 'Sequebantur Jo- hannem clerici fere omnes, aere alieno gravati, sceleribus et seditionibus insignes, qui rerum novitate evadere prenas arbitrabantur. His et nonnulli doctrina celebres juncti erant ; qui cum in ecclesia consequi dignitatem non potuissent, iniquo animo ferebant sacerdotia majorum censuum his committi, qui, quamvis nobilitate prseirent, scieritia tamen videbantur inferiores.' The probability seems to be, that Huss may have won, in the beginning of his preaching, the partial support of the secular clergy by the bitterness with which he inveighed against monastic abuses ; but that they deserted him, as soon as they saw his views more perfectly developed. f ' Qui, cum se libenter audiri animadverteret, multa de libris Viclefi in medium attulit, asserens in iis omnem veritatem contineri ; adjiciensque crebro inter praedicandum, se, post- quam ex luce migraret, ea loca proficisci cupere, ad quae Viclefi anima pervenisset ; quern virum fuisse bonum, sanctum, coeloque dignum non dubitaret.' JEn. Sylv., Hist, Boh., 1. xxxv. I ( Quorum major pars argenteis atque inauratis fibulis et pretiosis integumentis orna- batur.' Hariisfield. ap. Coutin, Fleury. /Eneas Sylvius motions the same fact nearly ju the same words. 588 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXV. them to be publicly burnt. The same element, which consumed the writing's of Wiclif, was destined to prey upon the body of his disciple; and it came like a signal, that his vow had been registered above, and that his master awaited his coming at the gates of Paradise. It was another general charge against Huss, that he was * infected with the leprosy' of the Vaudois : and that it may be seen how many gross offences were thought to be contained in this single accusation, we shall here follow the enumeration of ^Eneas Sylvius ; only premising that many opi- nions are there ascribed to Huss, which, in his examinations before the coun- cil, he expressly disavowed. The most important among them were these that the Pope is on a level with other bishops ; that all priests are equal except in regard to personal merit ; that souls, on quitting their bodies, are immediately condemned to eternal punishment, or exalted to everlast- ing happiness ; that the fire of purgatory has no existence ; that prayers for the dead are a vain device, the invention of sacerdotal avarice ; that the images of God and the saints should be destroyed ; that the orders of the mendicants were invented by evil spirits ; that the clergy ought to be poor, subsisting on eleemosynary contributions ; that it is free to all men to preach the word of God ; that any one guilty of mortal sin is thereby dis- qualified for any dignity secular or ecclesiastical ; that confirmation and extreme unction are not among the holy rites of the Church ; that auri- cular confession is unprofitable, since confession to God is sufficient for pardon ; that the use of cemeteries is without reasonable foundation, and inculcated for the sake of profit ; that the world itself is the temple of the omnipotent God ; and that those only derogate from his Majesty, who build churches, monasteries, or oratories ; that the sacerdotal vestments, the ornaments of the altars, the cups and other sacred utensils, are of no more than vulgar estimation ; that the suffrages of the saints who reign with Christ in Heaven are unprofitable, and vainly invoked ; that there is no holiday excepting Sunday ; that the festivals of the saints should by no means be observed ; and that the fasts established by the Church are equally destitute of divine authority. To these opinions, which he is accused of having habitually propounded in his chapel of Bethlehem, and of which he disclaimed many of the most important, he appears in truth to have subsequently added another, by no means calculated to conciliate the clergy. During a period of suspension from his preachings at Prague, he retired to his native village, and ad- dressed to large rustic congregations the popular doctrine, that tithes are strictly eleemosynary, and that it is free for the owner of the land to with- hold or to pay them, according to the measure of his charity. But the subject, on which the greatest heats were afterwards excited, and in which, indeed, the other points of difference were for the most part forgotten, was the distribution of the sacramental cup to the laity. And this inno- vation upon the modern practice of the Church is not, as it singularly hap- pens, ascribed to Huss ; though it originated in the same country, and at the same time. A celebrated preacher of the day, named Jacobellus, whose learning and piety are alike unquestioned*, first promulgated the tenet, that the communion in both kinds was necessary for salvation ; and as the opinion was shown to rest not only on the authority of Scripture, but also on the practice of the ancient Church, * the heretics embraced it with immoderate exultation, as evincing either the ignorance, or the \vick- * ' Per id tempus populum praodicando instruebat Jacobellus Misnensis, literarum doc- trina ct morum prsestautia juxta clarus.' M\\, Sylv., loc. cit. Chap. XXV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 589 edness, of the Roman See." ... Wenceslas, the King of Bohemia, re- garded the rise of these principles with a careless and, as some assert, a stupid indifference ; his queen protected the person, if she did not profess the principles, of her confessor; and thus the secular sword slept peace- fully throughout these disputes, though it was loudly evoked by the zeal of the archbishop, and though Gerson * himself raised his voice to awaken it. It has been matter of surprise to many writers, that Huss, with the consciousness that he had taught many of the above tenets, and with the knowledge how de- The safe-conduct of Huss. testable they were held by the churchmen, should have advanced so readily from a position of comparative security, and placed himself at once in the power of his enemies. It was not that he was igno- rant of his danger. A letter, which he addressed to a friend immediately before his departure for Constance, contains passages almost prophetic of his imminent fate. He had the precaution, however, to obtain an act of safe-conduct f from the Emperor, which was understood to be a pledge for his personal safety during the whole period of his absence from Bohemia. * Sufficient extracts from Gerson's Letter to the archbishop are given by Cochlaeus, Historian Hussitarum, lib. i., p. 21, (eel. Mogunt. 1549.) and as it is curious to observe in what language the great Church Reformer of his day justified the principle of persecu- tion, we shall cite some passages from it, only premising that, very nearly at the same moment, the Pope, John XX1IL, was inditing an epistle to Wenceslas to the same pur- port. * Inveniuntur adhuc hsereses extirpatae ab agro ecclesiastico diversis viis, veluti falce multiplici. Inveniuntur quidem primitus extirpatae falce vel acuto sarculo miraculo- rum, attestantium divinitus Catholicae veritati, et hoc tempore apostolorum. Inveniuntur extirpatae postmodnm per falcem disputationis argumentative per doctores. ,Sunt extir- patae delude per falcem sacrorum Conciliorum, faventibus imperatoribus, quum disputatio doctrinalis particularium doctorum iuefficax videbatur. Tandem accessit, velut in despe- rata peste, sectiris brachii secularis, excidens hsereses cum auctoribus suis et in igriem mittens. Providens hac tunta severitafe etmisencordi, vt sic dicatur, crudelitate ne sermo talium, veluti cancer, serpat in perniciem tarn propriam quam alienam. Et ante multo tempore non sinere peccatoribus ex sententia agere, sed statim ultiones adhibere magni bencficii est indicium.' After showing that none of the ancient methods of extirpation were applicable to the existing heresy , he thus proceeds: ' Superest igitur, si de praemis- sorum nihil prosit, quod ad radicem inf ructuosae,immo MAT,KDICT.X, arboris ponatur securis brachii secularis. Quale vos brachium invocare viis omnibus convenit, et expedit ad salutem omnium vobis creditorum.' . . . The doctrines attributed to Huss were con- demned by the University of Paris, and the act was published with the signature of Gerson, as chancellor : it contains the following passage : ' For though there appears among the opinions of these heretics some real against the vices of the prelates, which in truth are very great and manifest, yet it is a zeal not sufficiently enlightened. A discreet zeal tolerates and deplores the sins which it finds in the house of God, when it cannot wholly remove them. It would be impossible to correct vice by vice, and error by error ; as the devil is not expelled by Beelzebub, but by the spirit of God, whose will it is that the correction of abuses be undertaken with great prudence and regard to circumstances of time and place.' This, too, is language which might very well have proceeded from the court of John XXIII. f- The following are given as the words of this frequently controverted c safe-con- duct :' ' Honorabilem magistrum Johannem Huss, S, T. Baccalaureum, etc., de regno Boemise, in Concilium Generale . . . transeuntem . . . vobis omnibus et vestrum cuilibet pleno recommandamus affectu, desiderantes, quatenus ipsum. cum ad vos pervenerit, grate suscipere . . . omnique prorsus impedimento remoto transire, stare, morari et redire libere permittatis, sibique et suis.' (Act. Public, apud Bzovium, ann. 1414., sect. 17.) It is not at all obvious that the Council was bound by this safe conduct the less so, as the professed object of Huss's journey was to clear himself of heresy in the presence and judgment of the Council : but the Emperor was certainly so bound ; and that which he committed, and which the Council persuaded him to commit, was direct, unqualified treachery. It was manifestly the duty of Sigismond to receive Huss from the hands of the Council, and restore him to his native country; then the affair might have been taken, up de novo, without any reflexion on the faith of any party. The best illustrations of the rights of this question are such facts, as prove the light in which it was viewed by succeed- ing generations, Thus we observe, that before the assembling of the first Diet of Worms 2 Q 590 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXV. But that admirable Christian was unquestionably impelled by motives too deep for the calculation of ordinary minds. He felt an intense conviction of the truth of his doctrines, and he was resolved, should need be, to lay down his life for them. That conviction, attended by that resolution, gave a confidence to his character, which, while it left him without fear, might at the same time animate him with the highest hopes. He was filled with that deliberate enthusiasm, which sometimes raises the soul of man above that which we call wisdom ; and which, while it provokes the sneer of ordinary beings, has produced those lofty deeds of disinterestedness and self-devotion, which redeem human nature. Doubtless Huss was so influenced, when he published, both before his departure from Bohemia and during his journey, repeated challenges to all his adversaries to appear at Constance, and meet him in the presence of the Pope and the Council ; ' If any shall there convict me of any error, of any doctrine contrary to the Christian faith, I refuse not (he proclaimed) to undergo the last penalties of heresy* .' These expressions betoken con- fidence in his own principles and in the integrity of the Council. He had yet to discover, that his controversy was not with candid opponents, con- testing his avowed opinions, before an impartial tribunal ; calumny and secret malice, and ecclesiastical bigotry, were more dangerous enemies ; and his fate was seemingly irrevocable, from the moment in which he placed his life in the power of that Catholic assembly. He was attended by some Bohemian noblemen, and he received the strongest assurances of protection from John He is placed under con- XXIII. * Though John Huss (said that Pope) jftnement by the Council, should murder my own brother, I would use the whole of my power to preserve him from every injury, during all the time of his residence at Constancef. .' Never- theless, within a month from his arrival, after having professed before a meeting of the Council his readiness to repel every charge, he was placed under a surveillance which was immediately changed to strict con- finement. It should not be forgotten, that this first violation of the safe- conduct was peculiarly the act of the Council. Sigismond, who was not present, strongly remonstrated against it ; and the Pope (from whatever motivej) disclaimed all share in the proceedings. This advantage was instantly pursued by his enemies, of whom the most ardent were found among his countrymen; and accordingly (1521), the Elector of Saxony privately required of the Emperor Charles V., a formal renunciation of the Decree of Constance' that no faith be kept with heretics.' On the same occasion, we find that great pains were again taken by the. Catholics to induce the Emperor to violate his safe-conduct to Luther j en which Louis, Elector Palatine, is recorded to have said' That all Germany would not stain itself with the shame of public per- fidy to oblige a few ecclesiastics;' and Charles himself to have uttered that celebrated apophthegm' That if good faith were banished from the rest of the world, it should find refuge in the breast of kings.' See Beausobre's Hist. Reform, liv. iii. Significo toti Boemiae et omnibus uationibus, me velle sisti primo quoque tempore ^onciho Constantiensi, in celeberrimo loco, praesidente Papa, etc Eo conferat ilem quisqms suspicionem de me habuerit, quod aliena a Christi fide docuerim vel de- iderim. Item doceat ibi, adstante Papa, me ullo unquam tempore erroneam et falsam doctrinam tenuisse. Si me de errore aliquo convicerit, etc. . . . non recusabo quascunque haretici pcenas ferre/ . .-Huss. Bohemic., apud Bzovium, ad ann. 1414. Lenfant. Hist. Cone. Constant, lib. i. xxviii. J The cardinals were the agents in this affair ; 'and John does not appear to have been present at that congregation. .But we should not forget, that when Sigismond wrote to 1 the immediate liberation of Huss, on the strength of his own safe-conduct, the Fope opposed the execution of the order. Leufant. Coue, Constant. 1. i. 50. Chap. XXV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 591 eight* articles of accusation were prepared, and presented to John XXIII. When a"copy of them was delivered to the accused, where he lay sick in prison, he requested that an advocate might be granted him to defend his cause ; but that was Accused. refused, on the plea of a general prohibition by the canon law to undertake the defence of any one suspected of heresy. And then, instead of striving to obviate the various intrigues which were em- ployed for his destruction, he devoted the tedious leisure of his imprison- ment, and the resources of a mind superior to ordinary agitations, to the composition of various moral and religious treatises f. ' The next step in the process against him was the condemnation of the doctrines and memory of Wiclif. It was in the eighth session, held on the 4th of May, 1415, that a list of forty-five articles was drawn up, which embodied all (and more than all) the errors of that reformer; that it received the solemn censure of the fathers ; and that the vengeance of that orthodox body pursued the spiritual offender even beyond the grave. It is a singular circumstance, and serves well to illustrate the position in which the Council then stood, as an assembly of reformation, that in the very sermon which opened that session, and which introduced the opinions of Wiclif to universal abhorrence, the Pope and his Court were treated with equal severity, and rebuked in language| which would have been held blasphemous had it proceeded from the lips of a heretic. It was an object of great importance with the council, bent, as it cer- tainly was, on the destruction of Huss, and conscious, as it probably was, of the weakness of its own cause, to avoid the scandal of a public dispu- tation. Accordingly, Huss was continually persecuted by private inter- rogatories, frequently accompanied by intimidation and insult; and depo- sitions against his orthodoxy were collected with great diligence and great facility, since every kind of information was admitted against a suspected heretic. On the other hand, he vehemently remonstrated against this in- quisitorial secrecy, and demanded for his defence an audience of the whole council. His Bohemian friends pressed the same point with equal ear- nestness. But in vain would they have solicited from that body this most obvious act of justice, if the emperor had not also been impressed with its propriety, and insisted with great firmness, that the trial should be public. Consequently the fathers assembled very early in June for that purpose The first charge was read. The defendant was called upon for his reply. But when he appealed Tried, in his justification to the authority of the Scrip- * It seems almost unnecessary to enumerate these charges, they were as follows : (1) That communion in both kinds is necessary for salvation; (2) that the bread remains bread after the consecration ; (3) that ministers in a state of mortal sin cannot administer the sacraments; and that any one in a state of grace can do so; (4) that the Church does not mean the Pope nor the clergy ; that it cannot possess temporal goods, and that the secular powers can rightfully take them away ; (5) that Constantine and other princes erred when they endowed the Church ; (6) that all priests are equal in authority ; so that ordinations and privileges reserved to the Popes and bishops are the pure effect of their ambition ; (7) that the Church loses the power of the keys, when the Pope, cardinals, and the rest of the clergy are in mortal sin ; (8) that excommu- nications may be disregarded with safety. f On marriage on the Decalogue on the love and knowledge of God on penitence on the three enemies of man on the Lord's Supper and others. J The Bishop of Toulon preached the sermon < ubi puram dixit veritatem de Papa et cardinalibus.' ' Benedicatur anima Domini Episcopi,' de Papa dixit, 4 Maledicatur euro sua ;' et alibi vere ' ita mentitur, sicut si dicerem, Deus non est unus et trinus.' The passage is found in a MS, of Vienna, and is cited by Lenfant. Cone. Const, lib. ii. 59. 2 Q 2 592 A HISTORY OP THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXV. tures, and the venerable testimony of the fathers, his voice was drowned in a tumult of contempt and derision. He was silent ; and it was inter- preted as guilt. Again he spoke ; again he was answered by disdainful jests and insults; and the assembly at length separated without any serious determination. The second audience was fixed for the 7th of June ; and that greater decency might be preserved, the Emperor was requested to be present on that occasion. It is carefully recorded by historians, and not, perhaps, without some sense of superstitious awe, that the day, on which the fate of that righteous man was in fact decided, was signalised by a total eclipse of the sun total, as was observed, at Prague, though not quite so at Constance. But the fathers were not moved by that pheno- menon to any principle of justice, or any feeling of mercy. The various charges, already prepared, were pressed upon the culprit, less clamorously, indeed, but not less eagerly than before. His accusers were numerous and voluble, and armed with the most minute subtleties of the schools. Many among them were English ; and these urged their arguments as warmly, as if they had thought to redeem the land of Wiclif by the prosecution of Huss, and to wash away the stains, which one heretic had cast upon them, in the blood of another. Numerous depositions were likewise produced and read, alleging errors, which he had advanced in his writings or in his sermons, or even in his private conversations. Alone, and unsupported, save by two or three faithful Bohemians, and worn and enfeebled by confinement and disease, he presented a spirit which did net bend beneath this oppression. The opinions imputed to him related chiefly to the Eucharist, and the con- demned propositions of Wiclif. . . There were some which he entirely disavowed ; others which he admitted under certain modifications ; others which he professed his readiness and his ability to maintain. Among the first was the charge respecting transubstantiation. On which subject he repeatedly and unequivocally asserted his entire concurrence in the doc- trine of the Church. Among the last, the positions (they were ascribed to Wiclif) to which he clung with the greatest pertinacity, appear to have been three. (1.) That Pope Sylvester and the Emperor Constantine did evil to the Church when they enriched it. (2.) That, if any ecclesiastic, whether Pope, prelate, or priest, be in a state of mortal sin, he is disqua- lified for the administration of the sacraments. (3.) That tithes are not dues, but merely eleemosynary. In defence of these, and perhaps some other opinions, the few arguments, which he was permitted to advance, were temperate, if not reasonable and scriptural : at least they proved his uprightness and the integrity of his heart ; but they were received, as before, with reiterated shouts of derision. The question, indeed, was not, whether the opinions of Huss were founded in truth, or otherwise : that consideration seems not to have influenced any one mind in the whole assembly, excepting his own ; the question really to be decided ; the only question with which the council affected any concern, was, whether they were the doctrine of the Church. Whatsoever had once been pronounced by that infallible body was law, and the alternative was obedience or death. On the following day Huss was admitted to the mockery of another and final audience ; and on this occasion he was chiefly pressed on twenty-six articles, derived (fairly or unfairly) from his Book of the Church/ A scene similar to the preceding was terminated, on the part of the judges, by urgent solicitations to the accused to retract his errors. This act of submission was advised by several of the fathers ; it was strongly recom- Chap. XXV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 593 mended by the Emperor; but Huss was unmoved. ' As to the opinions imputed to me, which I have never held, those I cannot retract; as to those which I do indeed profess, I am ready to retract them, when I shall be better instructed by the Council/ . . . The province of the Council was not to instruct, but to decide to command obedience to its decision, or to enforce the penalty. If Huss had hitherto nourished any reasonable hope of safety, it was placed in the moderation of the Emperor ; but at this conjuncture, even that prospect was removed. For, towards the conclu- sion of the session, Sigismond delivered his un- Condemned. qualified opinion, * that among the errors of Huss, which had been in part proved, and in part confessed, there was not one which did not deserve the penal flames ;' to which was added, 'that the tem- poral sword ought instantly to be drawn for the chastisement of his disciples, to the end that the branches of the tree might perish together with its root.' Huss was again conducted to his prison, and thither was still pursued by fresh solicitations on his constancy ; and that, which had stood firm before public menace and insult, might have yielded to private importunity, to bodily infirmity, to friendship, to solitude. First of all, an official formula of retractation was sent to him by the Council ; it was express as to his abjuration of all the errors which had been proved against him, and as to his unconditional submission to the Council ; but it was free from any harsh or offensive expressions. Huss calmly persisted in his resolution. * He was prepared to afford an example in himself of that enduring patience, which he had so frequently preached to others, and which he relied upon the grace of God to grant him.' Many individuals, of various characters, but alike anxious to save him from the last infliction, visited his prison, and pressed him with a variety of motives and arguments ; but they were all blunted by the rectitude of his conscience and the singleness of his purpose. One of his bitterest enemies, named Paletz *, was among the number ; but, though his counsels had been successful in degrading the person of the reformer, they failed when they would have seduced him to infamy. Numerous deputations were sent by the Council, to which he always replied with the same modesty and firmness, equally removed from an obstinate perseverance in acknowledged error, and a base retractation of that which he thought truth. About the same time it was resolved to commit his books to the flames, as if to warn him by that prelude of the approaching catastrophe. But in a letter which he wrote to some friend on the occasion, he remarked, that that was no ground for despondency, since the Books of Jeremiah had suffered the same indignity ; but the Jews had not thus evaded the calamities, with which the prophet had menaced them. Notwithstanding his public and recent declaration, -the Emperor ap- pears, even to the very conclusion of this iniquitous affair, to have enter- tained some lingering scruples respecting his safe-conduct. These had been silenced, it is true, by the sophistry of the doctors ; and he had even been taught to believe, that his protection could not lawfully be extended to a man suspected of heresy ; that monstrous charge superseded the ordinary economy of government, and dispensed with the imperious obliga- * It was supposed that the spiritual influence of a confessor might possibly be suffi- cient to lead him to retract ; and Huss requested that the same Paletz might be the person so commissioned partly to prove, that he could pardon his worst enemy ; partly to show, how willing he was to confide the inmost secrets of his heart, even to one who might be disposed to proclaim them most loudly. The Council did not think proper to accede to this generous request. It sent a monk to him, who gave him the same counsel as the others, and absolved him, without any penitential imposition. See Lenfant's Hist. Cone. Const., liv. iii. $xxxv. 594 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXV. of moral duty! Howbeit, notwithstanding the spiritual authority on \vhich this principle was advanced, Sigismond would have greatly preferred some reasonable compromise to that violent termination, which was now near at hand. Accordingly, when he saw the fruitlessness of every othet attempt to bend the spirit of Huss, he resolved himself to make one final effort for the same purpose. On the 5th of July, on the eve of the day destined for his execution, the prisoner was visited by an imperial deputa- tion, commissioned to inquire, * whether he would abjure those articles of which he acknowledged himself guilty r* And in regard to those which he disavowed, * whether he would swear that he held thereon the doctrine of the Church?' One objection, to which Huss had throughout attached great importance, was removed by this proposal the obligation to retract that which he had never maintained. But the grand, the insurmountable difficulty still remained to abjure against conviction that which he did actually profess. Upon the whole, he saw no reason for any change, and returned to the Emperor the same sort of answer with which he had met all preceding solicitations. It remained for him still to encounter one other trial ; if, indeed, we can so designate the upright counsel of a faithful and virtuous friend for such was the circumstance, which completed and crowned the history of his imprisonment and it should be everywhere recorded, for the honour of human nature. A Bohemian nobleman, named John of Chlum, had attended Huss, whose disciple he was, through all his perils and persecutions, and had exerted, throughout the whole affair, every method that he could learn or devise to save him. At length, when every hope was lost, and he was about to separate from the martyr for the last time, he addressed him in these terms : * My dear master, I am unlettered, and consequently unfit to counsel one so en- lightened as you. Nevertheless, if you are secretly conscious of any one of those errers, which have been publicly imputed to you, I do entreat you not to feel any shame in retracting it ; but if, on the contrary, you are convinced of your innocence, I am so far from advising you to say anything against your conscience, that I exhort you rather to endure every form of torture, than to renounce anything which you hold to be true.' John'Huss replied with tears, * that God was his witness, how ready he had ever been, and still was, to retract on oath, and with his whole heart, from the moment he should be convicted of any error by evidence from Holy Scripture* ' ... In the whole history of the sufferings and the fortitude of Huss, there is not one discoverable touch of pride or stubborn- ness ; the records of his heroism are not infected by a single stain of mere philosophy ; he was firm, indeed, but he was humble also; he expected death, and he feared it, too ; he neither sought the Martyr's crown, nor affected the ambition of the Stoic : his principles of action were drawn from the same source as the articles of his belief; he was a pure and per- fect Christian, and he thought it no merit to be so. There was a long interval between his imprisonment and his audience, and again a tedious month intervened between his audience and execution. This period was passed in preparation to meet his fate, not in struggles to avoid it. * God, in his wisdom, has reasons for thus prolonging my life. * Huss, on the eve of his execution, wrote to the Senate of Prague to the following effect: ' Be well assured that I have not retracted or abjured one single article. The Council urged me to declare the falsehood of every article drawn from my books ; but I refused, unless their falsehood could be demonstrated from Scripture. So do I now declare, that I detest every meaning which may be proved false in those articles, and I submit in that respect to the correction of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who knows the sin- cerity of my heart.' See Contin. of Floury, 1, ciii, Ixxviii. Chap. XXV.J A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 595 He wishes to give me time to weep for my sins, and to console myself in this protracted trial by the hope of their remission. He has granted me this interval, that, through meditation on the sufferings of Christ Jesus, I may become better qualified to support my own*.' The time of those sufferings at length arrived. On the morning of July 6, 1415, he was conducted before the Council, then holding its fifteenth session ; and after various articles of accusation had been read, a sentence was passed to the follow- ing effect, 4 That for several years John Huss has seduced and scandalized the people by the Sentenced, dissemination of many doctrines manifestly here- tical, and condemned by the Church, especially those of John Wiclif, That he has obstinately trampled upon the keys of the Church and the ecclesiastical censures. That he has appealed to Jesus Christ as sovereign judge, to the contempt of the ordinary judges of the Church ; and that such an appeal was injurious, scandalous, and made in derision of eccle- siastical authority f. That he has persisted to the last in his errors, and even maintained them in full Council. It is therefore ordained that he be publicly deposed and degraded from holy orders, as an obstinate and incorrigible heretic.' . . . The prelates appointed then proceeded to the office of degradation. He was stripped, one by one, of his sacerdotal vestments ; the holy cup, which had been purposely placed in his hands, was taken from them ; his hair was cut in such a manner as to lose every mark of the priestly character ; and a crown of paper was placed on his head, marked with hideous figures of demons, and that still more frightful superscription, Heresiarch. The prelates then piously devoted his soul to the infernal devils J ; he was pronounced to be cut off from the eccle- siastical body, and being released from the grasp of the Church, he was consigned, as a layman, to the vengeance of the secular arm. It was in the character of ' advocate and defender of the Church/ that the Emperor took charge of the culprit, and commanded his immediate execution. The last, which was not perhaps the bitterest, of his sufferings was endured with equal constancy and in the same blessed spirit. On his way to the stake he repeated and executed. pious prayers and penitential psalms; and when the order was given to kindle the flames, he only uttered these words * Lord Jesus, I endure with humility this cruel death for thy sake ; and I pray thee to pardon all my enemies.' The ministers executed their office ; the martyr continued in uninterrupted devotion ; and it was not long before a rising volume of fire and smoke extinguished at the same time his voice and his life. . . . His ashes were carefully collected and cast into the lake. But the miserable precaution was without any effect ; since his disciples tore up the earth from the spot of his martyrdom, and adored it with the same reverence and moistened it with those same tears, which would otherwise have sanctified his sepulchre. The points of difference strictly doctrinal between Huss and his perse- cutors were, after all, neither numerous nor important; since we are bound in this inquiry to give credit to the solemn disavowals of the accused, rather than to the malignant imputations of his accusers. Lenfant, in his * Opera Job. Huss., epist. 14, apud Lenfant. f Probably, in the long list of Huss's imputed heresies there was no single article which inflamed the Council against him nearly so violently as this appeal. The point which, above all others, that assembly was interested to establish, was its own omnipo- tence and infallibility its agency under the immediate operation of the Holy Spirit in fact, its divine power. Consequently, an appeal to any superior, even though it were Christ himself, was derogatory to the heavenly attributes, with which the Council had clothed itself. t * Animam tuam devovemus infernis Diabolis.' 596 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXV accurate history* of this affair, has investigated very minutely the real extent of the offences of Huss, and reduced them under two heads. (1.) He unquestionably refused to subscribe to any general condemnation of the articles of Wiclif. There were many particulars on which he dissented from that reformer, but in several others he professed the same notions ; and among these last were disparagement of the Pope and the Roman Church, and opposition to tithes, indulgences, and ecclesiastical censures. (2.) It was also made a dangerous charge against him, that the spirit of ecclesiastical insubordination, which had already appeared in Bohemia, was principally occasioned by his preaching. . . . Such was the burden of his offence. And though all the leading authors and orators of the time were as unsparing as Huss himself, in their denunciations of papal and ecclesiastical enormities, even from the pulpits of Constance ; though it was even usual with them to ascribe to these abuses the heresies of the day; still the independent exertions of a Bohemian preacher in the same cause were stigmatized by them as indiscreet and immoderate zeal because the principles, from which that zeal proceeded, were not in accordance with their own hierarchical pretensions ; because the BiWe, and not the Church, was the source from which it flowed. . . . And as to the disaffection of the Bohemians, if the Council really hoped to repress it by the perfidious execution of the most pious and popular of their teachers, the events, which presently followed, were a lesson of bloody and indelible instruction both to those who indulged that error, and to their latest posterity. III. In less than a year from the execution of Huss, the same scene of injustice and barbarity was acted a second time, Jerome of Prague, though with some variety of circumstances, in the same polluted theatre. Jerome, master in theology in the university of Prague, and a layman, was the disciple of John Huss. Huss (says JSneas Sylvius) was superior in age and authority ; but Jerome was held more excellent in learning and eloquence. While the former presided in the chair, the latter delivered his lectures in the schools; and the same opinions were taught with equal zeal and effect by the one and by the other. In the troubles, which had been excited through those opi- nions, Jerome had had, perhaps, the greater share ; there was at least no favourable feature to distinguish his offence from that of his master. Ac- cordingly he was summoned to Constance soon after the meeting of the Council ; and he appeared there on the 4th of April, 1415, not unprepared for the treatment which awaited him. It should be observed, that he also obtained a safe-conduct from the Emperor ; but that in his case the conditional clause, salva semper justitia, was inserted; whereas that of Huss contained no such provision. At his first audience (on May 23rd) he exhibited great firmness ; but at the second, which took place only thirteen days after the execution of Huss, it was expected that the impression made by that frightful example would render him more tractable. And so assuredly it proved ; for on his third examination (on September llth) he submitted, after suffering much insult and intimidation, to make a formal and solemn retractation. He ' anathe- matized all heresies, and especially that of Wiclif and Huss with which he had been previously infected (infamatus) ; he denounced the various articles which expressed it, as blasphemous, erroneous, scandalous, offensive to pious ears, rash, and seditious ; and professed his absolute adhesion to all the tenets of the Roman Church.' . . . It was admitted that, in this mournful exhibition of human inconstancy, he had satisfied every demand which was made upon his weakness, both in * Hist. Cone. Const, lib. iii. 52, 60. Chap. XXV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 597 'substance and in form ; nevertheless he was still retained in confinement. After a short space, his enemies pressed forward with new charges against him. They found many eager listeners among the members of the Council ; and Gerson * himself again took up the pen of bigotry, and again sought to dip it in blood. Matters continued thus until the 23rd of May, 1416, when a final and public audience was granted to his repeated entreaties. On this occasion he recalled, with sorrow and shame, his former retracta- tion, and openly attributed the unworthy act to its real and only motive the fear of a painful death. His execution. His bitterest foes desired no further proof against him 5 and only seven days were allowed to elapse before he was condemned, and executed on the same spot which had been hallowed by the sufferings of his master. The courage, which had abandoned him in the anticipation of the flames, returned with redoubled force as he ap- proached them. The executioner would have kindled the faggots behind his back: * Place the fire before me,' he exclaimed ; ' if I had dreaded it, I could have escaped it.' * Such (says Poggio t the Florentine) * was the end of a man incredibly excellent. I was an eye-witness to that catastrophe, and beheld every act. I know not whether it was obstinacy or incredulity which moved him ; but his death was like that of some one of the philosophers of antiquity. Mutius Screvola placed his hand in the flame, and Socrates drank the poison with less firmness and spontaneous- ness, than Jerome presented his body to the torture of the fire/ Whatsoever may have been the respective excellence, in their living or in their martyrdom, of those two venerable heralds of the Reformation, the conduct of the Council was not at all less iniquitous in respect to its second, than to its first victim. If in the one instance the violation of the safe-conduct displayed unblushing perfidy, the contempt of the retractation was at least as shameless in the other. The first crime was followed by no remorse ; it seems rather to have led to the more calm and deliberate perpetration of the second. The principle by which the deeds were justified was never, for an instant, questioned in either case. And we should, at the same time, bear in mind (for it is a consideration deserving repeated notice), that this was not a principle exclusively papal no peculiar emanation from the apostolical chair or the Court of Rome it was a principle strictly ecclesiastical, animating the Council as the repre- sentative of the Church, and inflaming the individual bosom of the churchmen who composed it. It was embraced by the French and English, as warmly as by the Italians themselves; nor was it pressed to any greater extremity by the champions of ecclesiastical corruption, than by the men who called themselves its reformers. * He composed at this time (in October, 1415) his treatise i De Protestatibne et Revocatione in Negotio Fidei, ad eluendam Hsereseos notam.' He sought to cast suspicion on such retractations ; and this was the first step towards the execution of Jerome. The Composition may be found in Von der Hardt, torn. iii. p. iv. f In a letter addressed to Leonardus Aretinus, of which the whole is valuable, as describing the entire transaction, and painting the character of Jerome. It is cited by Beausobre, Histoire de la Reformation, lib. ii. ; by Von der Hardt, torn. iii. pars iii. ; and other writers. There was, indeed, a little more of philosophical parade, and a little less of the genuine Christian spirit in the death of Jerome than in that of his master. ./Eneas Sylvius, however, whose eye was not likely to perceive this distinction, or to value it when perceived, includes both in the same sentence of admiration. ' Pertulerunt ambo constanti auimo necem et quasi ad epulas invitati ad incendium properarunt, nullam emittentes vocem, quse miseri animi posset facere indicium. Ubi ardere coeperunt, hymnum cecinerunt, quern vix flamma et fragor ignis intercipere potuit. Nemo Philo- sophorum tarn forti animo mortem pertulisse traditur, quam isti incendium.' Hist, liohem. cap. xxxvi. 598 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXV. IV. The condition of Bohemia is described to have been singularly flourishing at that moment. There was no other region * more abundant in useful productions, or in which the people were blessed with greater comforts ; none more distinguished for the splendour of its churches and monasteries, and the wealth of its clergy. Unhappily, that body had used with little moderation the advantages enjoyed by it ; and its excesses had for many years excited the murmurs of the laity. This disaffection had even shown itself in occasional outrages j but no sys- tematic hostility had yet been arrayed either against the persons or the property of the sacred order. Howbeit, no sooner were the proceedings of the Council made known throughout the country, than the people gave indications of a ferocious spirit ; the nobles f likewise addressed a bold remonstrance to the fathers ; and as their rising opposition was met by new edictsj of condemnation, which still farther inflamed it ; and as Martin V. at length published a Bull of Crusade against the contu- macious heretics, every hope of reconciliation was removed, and the difference was fairly committed to the decision of the sword. It was one of the earliest and most innocent acts of insubordination to spread three hundred tables in the open air, for the Insurrection of the public celebration of the communion in both kinds||. Bohemians. And as the sense of some one specific grievance is necessary for the union of a large multitude in re- volt against any established power, so it was wise in the Bohemian insurgents to select one among their spiritual wrongs, as the principal motive of re- sistance, and to select that which would be most intelligible to the lowest classes. Again, the distinction of a name was useful in rousing enthu- siasm, and preserving the show of concord. And so this chosen people * Cochlaeus (lib. i. p. 314) cites some verses ' Conradi Celtis primi apud Germanos Poetse Laureati,' iii praise of the city of Prague : Visa non est Urbs meliore coelo ; Explicat septem haec spatiosa colles, Ambitu murorum imitata magnse Moenia Romae. t They had previously addressed several remonstrances to the Emperor on the subject of Huss's imprisonment, representing that there was no person, great or small, who did not see the violation of his safe-conduct with indignation. Their letter to the Council immediately followed the execution of Huss, and was dated September 2. The great considered the act as an affront to the kingdom of Bohemia ; the populace exclaimed against the fathers, as persecutors and executioners, and assembling in the chapel of Bethlehem, decreed to the victim the honours of martyrdom. It is related, that Jerome of Prague was prematurely associated with his master in this popular canonization ; and it is remarkable that this crown was conferred upon him within a few days from that, on which he made his retractation. I Among the edicts published at Constance against the Hussites, there was one, in 1418, which prohibited the singing of songs in derision of the Catholic Church. The Bull published by Martin in 1421 contained a prohibition to keep faith with heretics, as distinctly conveyed as words can express it, ' Quod si tu aliquo modo inductus defensiouem eorum suscipere promisisti ; scito te dare fidem hcereticis, violato- rilms Fidei Sanctae, non potuisse, et idcirco peccare mortaliter, si servabis ; quia fideli ad infidelem non potest esse ulla communio.' It is addressed to Alexander, Duke of Lithuania, and published by Cochlseus, a prejudiced Catholic. Lib. v. p. 212. || After all, it appears nearly certain, that Huss was not the author of the restoration of the cup. Lenfant follows the account of ^Eneas Sylvius, and argues that he was not. The retrenchment of the cup appears to that author to be a necessary consequence of the doctrine of transubstantiation, which Huss seems to have professed to the last. The Catholics of Constance, and even Gerson himself, (for he published a very elaborate and artificial treatise on the subject,) appear to have been more perplexed in the defence of this, than of any other of their abuses. Antiquity, of course, is the groat object of appeal; and yet the antiquity of this practice could scarcely reach two centuries (Lenfant, liv. iii.) xxxi.) ; and it certainly never acquired the force of a law till the contrary was declared to be herety, in the 10th Session of the Council (May 14, 1415). Chap. XXV.] A HISTORY OP THE CHURCH. 599 stigmatised the surrounding nations as Idumseans or Moabites, as Ama- lekites or Philistines ; themselves were the well-beloved and elect of God } Thabor was the mount on which they pitched (heir tents, and Thaborite the appellation which they adopted. The first, effects of their indignation were directed against the monks and clergy. These were plundered and even massacred without -pity and without remorse. The sacred buildings were overthrown, the sanctuaries profaned, the altars stained with blood ; and all those abominations were unsparingly committed, which commonly attend a premature resistance to inveterate oppression. Sigismond conducted the armies of the Church ; Zisca led the rebels against them ; and the name of Zisca is signalised by several triumphs over the imperial crusaders, Their triumphs. which evinced not only his great military genius and resolution, but the deep religious enthusiasm and devotion of his followers. Atrocities were perpetrated by both parties, as if in emula- tion of each other, and of the heroes of former holy wars ; and so keen was the thirst for blood, that the Hussites indulged it in the massacre of a sect of brother-heretics. A number of unfortunate enthusiasts, usually designated Adamites, were collected in an insular spot, in the neighbour- hood of Zisca's encampment. They are accused by various writers of the habit of nudity, and of many scandalous crimes ; and in this matter it is probable that they have been much calumniated. It may be, as Mosheim is disposed to think, that they were infected with some of the absurdities of mysticism ; or, as Beausobre * learnedly argues, that their difference from the Catholics was confined to the use of the cup. It is beyond dispute, that they did not maintain all the opinions of the Tha- borites ; and it would seem that some fatal quarrels had taken place be- tween individuals of the two sects. Zisca surrounded and destroyed them without any discrimination or mercy ; but lest we should on this account consider him as having surpassed the wickedness of his Catholic adver- saries, we may remark, that by this very act he has incurred the deliberate praise of their historians!, and redeemed in their eyes some portion of the guilt of his apostacy. Zisca died in 1424, and divisions immediately ensued among his followers. Two other factions, the Orebites and the Orphans, distracted the Bohemian reformers ; Divisions. but they united on occasions of common danger. In 1431 they repelled another formidable crusade, which was conducted by the celebrated cardinal of St. Angelo ; and in this affair the rout was so complete, that the Pope's Bull, as well as the hat, cross, and bell of the cardinal, fell into the hands of the victors|. In the meantime, a more moderate party arose and acquired influence among the Hussites ; its hopes were turned to a pacific accommodation with the Church ; and with that view it was arranged, that the Bohemians should send deputies to treat with the council of Basle. . . Accordingly some of the most re- nowned among their military and ecclesiastical directors appeared at that city on the day appointed. The fame of their fierce exploits made them objects of deep and fearful curiosity with that peaceful assembly ; they were treated with respect, for they had earned it by their sword ; and no * This very ingenious writer, in his dissertation on the ( Adamites,' addressed in two books to M. Leiifant, and published together with the * History of the Council of Con- stance' by the latter, certainly clears the Adamites from the worst charges that have been brought against them, which he shows to have been Catholic calumnies. Still the ques- tion, -why Zisca destroyed them, is scarcely answered satisfactorily. f See Cochlseus, lib. v., p. 218, J See Leiifant, Guerre des Hussites, 1. xvi. s. v. &c. 600 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXV. violation of their safe-conduct, or other breach of faith, was on this occasion meditated. They were introduced, on February 16, 1433, to a general meeting of the fathers, and immediately proposed the condi- Embassy to Basle, tions of reconciliation, which were four in num- ber*. (1.) The use of the cup in the administra- tion of the sacrament. (2.) The free preaching- of the word of God. (3.) The abolition of the endowments of the clergy. (4.) The punish- ment of heinous transgressions and mortal sins. A separate debate was then opened upon each of these articles; and John of Rokysan, the most conspicuous among the Hussite divines, commenced by a defence of the double communion, which lasted for three entire mornings. He was after- wards answered by John of Ragusa, an ingenious Dominican, who so far surpassed the prolixity of his opponent, as to occupy eight mornings in the delivery of his arguments t ; six others were then consumed by the reply of Rokysan. The other subjects were contested with scarcely less tedi- ousness ; and when the debate had thus continued for nearly two months, and when it was found that, so far from any progress having been made towards accommodation, the obstinacy of both parties was only confirmed and inflamed, the Duke of Bavaria, the secular protector of the council, sought for other expedients to bring them to terms. But in this attempt he failed likewise ; and after the Catholics had advanced some counter- propositions, which were rejected by the Hussites, the conference termi- nated, and the deputies returned to recount to their compatriots the failure of their mission. But the Catholics, being now better informed as to the variety and nature of the dissensions which divided their opponents, thought to profit by that circumstance, if they should carry the controversy into the hostile territories ; a solemn embassy was accordingly appointed to proceed to Prague. Negociations were again opened ; and again the Catholics essayed the arts of persuasion in vain. They then introduced such amendments into the four articles as effectually destroyed their force, or altered their meaning ; but these were firmly rejected by the larger and more determined portion of the separatists. There existed, however, among these last, a more moderate and very influential party, which was strongly disposed to waive all other subjects of The Calixtines. complaint, provided the double communion were fairly conceded by the Church. These were called Calixtines J from the chalice to which their demands were con- * According to Cochlseus (lib. v.j p.] 205), these were first agreed upon in a general assembly " Baronum terrae Bohemias et Moravian, et dominorum inclytae urbis Pragensis, militarium, clientum, civitatum et communitatum,' A.D. 1421. This will account for the moderation of the demands contained in them. f It is observed that John of Ragusa gave great offence to his opponents by the fre- quent use of the word heresy, as applied to their opinions. With them it was still a ques- tion whether it was not the Church which was in heresy ; with the Dominican, the Church was infallible. With them it was error to differ from the Scripture ; with John, to differ from the Church. Thus the term, taken in a different sense, was as obnoxious in their eyes as in those of the Dominican. J Cochlaeus (lib. v., p. 192) mentions early differences between the Magistri Pragenscs and the Thaborites. The former were the more moderate Dissenters ; the Church Hus- sites and Jacobellus Misnensis, Rokysan, and other distinguished reformers, belonged to them. But the Thaborites, who were the Puritans, and also the soldiers of the party, had Ziscawith them, and the two Procopiuses both eminent warriors so that they were for Kome time the stronger faction. $ Tot pingit calices Bohemorum Terra per urbes, Ut credas Bacchinumina sola coli is a contemporary distich. It should be observed, that every other picture was an object of aversion, at least to the more rigid reformers. Chap. XXV.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 601 fined and they were distinguished from the Thaborites, who constituted the more violent faction ; and the sum of whose grievances was by no means comprehended in the four articles, though they might consent in their public deliberations to suppress the rest. Among the Calixtins were several of the substantial citizens and leading members of the aristo- cracy ; and of such too the Catholic party was chiefly composed. As these, next after the clergy, were the principal sufferers by the continu- ance of anarchy and the devastations of war, they entered without much difficulty into the designs of the council. And since it was now obvious, that no reconciliation was to be expected from discussion, it was deter- mined to make another appeal to the sword. A civil war was immediately kindled throughout the country (in 1434) ; the party of the council was directed with ability by a distinguished Bohemian, named Maynard : Renewal of War. his schemes were at first advanced by dissen- sions which raged between the Thaborites and the Orphans ; and he afterwards conducted matters with so much address, that he engaged them when united, and entirely overthrew them. On this occasion it so happened, that the most hardened and desperate among the insurgents fell alive into the power of the conquerors ; and as they were numerous, and objects, even in their captivity, of fearful apprehension, Maynard re- solved to use artifice for their destruction. Among the prisoners there were also several, who were innocent of any previous campaigns against the Church, and who were neither hateful as rebels, nor dangerous as sol- diers. These it was the design of the Catholics to spare; and the better to distinguish them from the veterans of Zisca, they caused it to be pro- claimed, that the government intended to confer honours and pensions on the more experienced warriors, the heroes of so many fields. These were accordingly invited to separate themselves from their less deserving companions, and to withdraw to some adjacent buildings, where more abundant entertainment and a worthier residence were prepared for them. They believed these promises ; and then it came to pass (says ^Eneas* Sylvius), * that many thousands of the Thaborites and Orphans entered the barns assigned to them ; they were men blackened, and inured and indurated against sun and wind ; hideous and horrible of aspect ; who had lived in the smoke of camps ; with eagle eyes, locks uncombed, long beards, lofty stature, shaggy limbs, and skin so hardened and callous as to seem proof, like mail, against hostile weapons. The gates were im- mediately closed upon them ; fire was applied to the buildings ; and by their combustion, that ignominious band, the dregs and draff of the human race, at length made atonement in the flames, for the crimes which it had perpetrated, to the religion which it had insulted.' . . . Among the crimes with which the Thaborites are reproached, was there any more foul than that, by which they perished? or can any deeper insult be cast on the reli- gion of Christ, than to offer up human holocausts in his peaceful name? In the balance of religious atrocities the mass of guilt must rest at last with those, who established the practice of violence, and consecrated the principles of Antichrist. But the adversaries of Rome were not thus wholly extirpated : under the spiritual direction of Rokysan, they were still so considerable, that Sigismond did not disdain to negociate with them, The result was, that a concordat or compact was concluded at Iglau in the year 1436, by * Hist, Bohem., cap. li., ad finera. 60 2 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, [Chap. XXV. which the Bohemians conceded almost all their claims; but in return, the use of the cup was conceded to them, not as an Compact of I glau. essential practice, but only through the indulgence of the Church*. Some arrangement was likewise made respecting the ecclesiastical property, which had been despoiled by the rebels. This affair was conducted with the countenance of the Coun- cil. The first result was favourable ; and the contest with Rome might then, perhaps, have ceased ; the Bohemians, fatigued with tumult and bloodshed, might have returned to the obedience of the Church, contented with one almost nominal concession, if the chiefs of the hierarchy could have endured any independence of thought or action, any shadow of emancipation from their immitigable despotism. For this was, in fact, the spirit which guided the Councils of Rome ; it was not the attachment to any particular tenet or ceremony, which moved her to so much rancour ; but it was her general hatred of intellectual freedom, and the just appre- hensions with which she saw it directed to the affairs of the Church. In September, 1436, Sigismond made his entry into Prague, amid con- gratulations almost universal ; and the calamities which had^desolated the country for two-and-twenty years appeared to be at an end f. But the Pope refused his assent to the concordat ; he refused to confirm the appointment of Rokysan to the See of Prague, though the Emperor had promised it ; and though all the factions of the people were united in desiring it. Wherever the guilt of the previous dissensions may have rested, henceforward we need not hesitate to impute it wholly to the Vatican. Legates and men- dicant emissaries J continued to visit the country, and contend with the divines, and tamper with the people. Even Pius II., whose personal * The Council of Basle, in its thirtieth session, published its Decree on the Eucharist, in which are these words : ' Sive autem sub una specie sive duplici quis communicet, secundum ordinationem seu observationem Ecclesise, proficit digne communicantibus ad salutem.' Cochlseus, lib. viii. p. 308. Communicants might be saved according to either method, so long as that method was sanctioned by the Church. f The appointment of a double administrator of the Sacrament in every Church, one for the Catholic, the other for the Separatist, was of somewhat later date. Lenfant places it in 1441, and mentions that great good proceeded from it. $ The most celebrated among these papal missionaries was John Capistano, a Fran- ciscan, who had gained great distinction in a spiritual campaign against the Fratricelii in the Campagua di Roma and March of Ancona, and had condemned thirty-six of them to the flames. . . . He is described by Cochlseus (lib. x. ad finem) as a little emaciated old man, full of fire and enthusiasm, and indefatigable in the service of the Church. The year of his exertions in Bohemia was 1451. Such emissaries were in those days among the most useful tools of the Roman hierarchy. It was in 1451 that ./Eneas Sylvius made his celebrated visit to Bohemia, as imperial envoy. His mission was merely political ; but it deserves our notice from the very interest- ing description which he has drawn of the manners of the Thaborites, among whom he found an asylum when in some danger from bandits : ' It was a spectacle worthy of at- tention. They were a rustic and disorderly crew, yet desirous to appear civilized. It was cold and rainy. Some of them were destitute of all covering except their shirts ; some wore tunics of skin ; some had no saddle, others no reins, others no spurs. One had a boot on his leg, another none. One was deprived of an eye, another of a hand ; and to use the expression of Virgil, it was unsightly to behold populataque tempora raptis Auribus et truncos inhonesto vulnere nares. There was no regularity in their march, no constraint in their conversation ; they re- ceived us in a barbarous and rustic manner. Nevertheless, they offered us hospitable pre- sents of fish, wine and beer. . . On the outer gate of the city were two shields ; on one of them was a representation of an angel holding a cup : as it were to exhort the people to this communion in wine, on the other Zisca was painted an old man, blind of both eyes . . whom the Thaborites followed, not only after he had lost one eye, but when he became a perfectly blind leader. Nor was there inconsistency in this, etc.' (See his 130th Letter.) In the mean time these wild and unseemly sectarians nourished in their Chap. XXV.] A HISTORY OP THfe CHURCH. $03 V intercourse with the sectarians had not softened his ecclesiastical indig- nation at their disobedience, exhibited in his negotiations with Pogebrac*, the king, an intolerant and resentful spirit. And at length Paul II., his successor, once more found means to light up a long and deadly war in the infected country. It was considered, no doubt, as a stigma upon the Church, which all occasions and instruments were proper to efface, that a single sect should anywhere exist, which dared to differ from the faith or practice of Rome on a single article, and which maintained its difference with impunity. It was in 1466 that Paul II. excommunicated and deposed Pogebrac, and transferred the kingdom to the son of Huni- ades. In that object he was not successful ; but The Bohemian brothers. during the discords of almost thirty years which followed, the offensive names of Thaborite, Orphan, and even Hussite, gradually disappeared, and the open resistance to the Catholic predomi- nance became fainter and fainter. But the principles were so ifar from having expired in this conflict, that they came forth from it in greater purity, and with a show of vigour and consistency, which did not at first distinguish them. Early in the ensuing century, about the year 1504, a body of sectarians, under the name of the ' United Brethren of Bohemia,' begins to attract the historian's notice. Beausobre f affirms, that this association was originally formed in the year 1467 ; that it separated itself at that time from the Catholics and Calixtines, and instituted a new ministry; that it made application to the Vaudois, in order to receive through them the true apostolical ordination ; and that Stephen, a bishop of that persuasion, did actually ordain Matthew, the first bishop of the * United Brethren.' It is unquestionable, that those among the Tha- borites, and the other more determined dissenters, who had escaped the perils of so many disasters, continued with uncompromising constancy to feed and mature the tenets for which they had suffered ; and that many of the leading articles of the Reformation were anticipated and preserved by the * Bohemian Brothers.' It is also true, that the evangelical prin- ciples of their faith were not unmixed with some erroneous notions ; but it is no less certain, that when Luther was engaged in the accomplish- ment of his mission, he was welcomed by a numerous body of hereditary reformers, who rejected, and whose ancestors had rejected, the sacrifice of the mass, purgatory, transubstantiation, prayers for the dead, the adoration of images ; and who confirmed their spiritual emancipation by renouncing the authority of the Pope J. rude abodes opinions, which were the glory of the following age, but which were indeed pernicious to themselves. Exactly seven years after the visit of ^Eneas Sylvius, the King of Bohemia, Pogebrac, willing to bring them to more moderate sentiments of reform, summoned a General Council of Hussites, who condemned some of their tenets ; and then, on their refusal to abjure them, the King assaulted Thabor, and destroyed them (as it is related) with such scrupulous exactness, that not one was left alive. * Pogebrac was a moderate reformer, a Calixtine ; he was extremely anxious to be subject to the Church, on the condition only, that it would leave him the cup : he had been brought up, as he said, in that practice, and would never resign it. His persecution of the Thaborites sufficiently proves how far he was from any anti-ecclesiastical tendency. Yet he seems to have been as much hated at Rome, as if he had gone to the full extent of opposition, and he was certainly much less feared. The Pope had still a powerful party among the aristocracy of Bohemia. f Dissertation sur les Adamites. Part I. | Bossuet (in the eleventh chapter of his Variations) consumes his ingenuity in endeavouring to show that the ' Bohemian Brethren ' were descended from the Calixtines, not from the Thaborites, and had thus only one point of doctrinal difference with Rome. But, at the same time, he admits their disobedience' Yoila comrae ils sont disciples de 04 A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. [Chap. XXVI. CHAPTER XXVI. History of the Greek Church after its Separation from the Latin. Origin, progress, and sufferings of the Paulicians They are transplanted to Thrace, and the opinions gain some prevalence there Their differences from the Manichseans and from the Church Six specific errors charged against them by the latter Examined Points of resemblance between the Paulicians and the Hussites Mysticism at no time extinct in the East and generally instrumen- tal to piety Introduction of the mystical books into the West Opinions of the Echites or Mes- salians Those of the Hesychasts or Quietists who are accused before a Council, and acquitted The mixed character of the heresy of the Bogomiles Controversy respecting the God of Mahomet terminated by a compromise Points of distinction between the two Churches Imperial supremacy constant in the East Absence of feudal institutions Superior civilization of the Greeks T-^They never received the False Decretals, nor suffered from their consequences Passionate reverence for antiquity Animosity against the Latins Hopes from foundation of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem Its real consequences Establishment of a Latin Church in the East Influence of the military orders Legates a latere Latin conquest of Constantinople con- firmed by Innocent III. A Latin Church planted and endowed at Constantinople Tithes- Dissensions of the Latin ecclesiastics Increasing animosity between the Greeks and Latins Secession of the Greek hierarchy to Nice Mission from Rome to Nice Subject and heat of the controversy, and increased rancour John of Parma subsequently sent by Innocent IV. Extinction of the Latin empire The Church does not still withdraw its claims Subse- quent negociations between the Emperor and the Pope Confession of Clement IV. Con- duct of the Oriental Clergy Ambassadors from the East' to the Second Council of Lyons Concession of the Emperor presently disavowed by the Clergy and People Subsequent attempts at reconciliation Arrival of the Emperor and Patriarch at Ferrara First pro- ceedings of the Council Private deliberations by Members of the two churches The four grand Subjects of Division The Dispute on Purgatory Doctrine of the Latins of the Greeks- First Session of the Council Grand Disputations on the Procession The Council adjourned to Florence, and the same Discussions repeated there Suggestions of compromise by the Emperor, to which the Greeks finally assent The common Confession of Faith A Treaty, by which the Pope engages to furnish Supplies to the Emperor The Union is then ratified The manner in which the other differences, as the Azyms, Purgatory, and the Pope's Primacy, are arranged Difficulty as to the last How far the subject of Transubstantiation was treated at Florence. On the fate of Cardinal Julian Return of the Greeks Their angry reception Honours paid to Mark of Ephesus Insubordination of three Patriarchs Russia also declares against the Union Critical situation of the Emperor The opposite Party gains ground The prophetic Address of Nicholas V. to the Emperor Constantine Perversity and Fanaticism of the Greek Clergy They open Nego- tiations with the Bohemians Tumult at Constantinople against the Emperor and the Pope's Le- gate Fall of Constantinople Note. On the Armenians and Maronites. WHILE the jealousies, which had so long disturbed the ecclesiastical concord of the east and west, were ripened into open schism by the mu- tual violence of Nicholas and Photius*, the Eastern Church was in the crisis of a dangerous contest with a domestic foe. A sect of heretics named Paulicians had arisen in the seventh century, and gained great prevalence in the Asiatic provinces, especially Armenia. It was in vain that they were assailed by imperial edicts and penal inflictions. Constans, Justinian II., and even Leo the Isaurian successively chastised their errors or their contumacy ; but they resisted with inflexible fortitude, until at length Nicephorus, in the beginning of the ninth century, relented from the system of his predecessors, and restored the factious dissenters to their civil privileges, and religious liberty. During this transient suspension of their sufferings, they gained strength to endure others, more protracted and far more violent. The oppressive edicts were renewed by Michael Curopalates, and redoubled by Leo the Armenian ; as if that resolute Iconoclast wished to make Jean IIuss. Morceau rompu d'un morceau, schisme separ6 d'un schisme Hussites divises des Hussites; et qui n'en avoient presque retenu, que lu dcsoleissance et la rupture avec 1'Eglise Romaine.' * We refer the reader to the 12th chapter of this History. Chap. XXVI.] A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 605 amends to bigotry, for his zeal in the internal purification of the Church, by his rancour against its sectarian seceders. The struggles, the vic- tories, and the misfortunes of that persecuted race are eloquently un- folded in the pages of Gibbon: we shall not transfer the narrative to this history, for it belongs not to our purpose to trace the details even of religious warfare. It may suffice to say, that the sword, which was resumed by the enemy of the Images, was most fiercely wielded by their most ardent patroness ; and that, during the fourteen years of the reign of Theodora, about 100,000 Paulicians are believed to have perished by various methods of destruction. The conflict lasted till nearly the end of the century; and, at length, the survivors either sought for refuge under the government of the Saracens, or were transplanted by the conqueror into the yet uncontaminated provinces of Bulgaria and Thrace. But not thus were the doctrines silenced, or the spirit extinguished. The fierce exiles carried with them into their new habitations the sectarian and proselytizing zeal ; and the errors of the East soon took root and flourished in a ruder soil. During the tenth and eleventh centuries the Paulicians of Thrace were sufficiently numerous to be objects of suspicion, if not of fear ; and in the latter we find it recorded, that Alexius Com- nenus did not disdain to employ the talents and learning, with which he adorned the purple, in personal controversy with the heretical doctors. Many are related to have yielded to the force of the imperial eloquence ; many also resigned their opinions on the milder compulsion of rewards and dignities; but those who, being unmoved by either influence, pertinaciously persisted in error and disloyalty, were corrected by the moderate exercise of despotic authority*. After this period we find little mention of the Paulician sect in the annals of the Oriental Church. But we should remark that Armenia, the province of its birth, was never afterwards cordially reconciled to the See of Constantinople; and that, though it no longer fostered that particular heresy, it continued to nourish some seeds of disaffection, which frequently recommended it in later ages to the interested affection of the Vati- can.t It is generally much "easier to describe the fortunes of a suffering sect than to ascertain the offence for which they suffered. The resistance of the Paulicians, their bravery, their Opinions of the cruelty, their overthrow, are circumstances of uriques- Paulicians. tionable assurance; the particulars of their opinions are disputed. By their enemies, they were at once designated as Manichaeans it was the name most obnoxious to the Eastern as well as the Western Communion: yet, if we may credit contemporary testimony^, they earnestly disclaimed the imputation. The truth is, that they are only * They were removed to Constantinople, and placed in a sort of honourable exile in the immediate precincts of the imperial palace. Anna Comnena ( Alexiad, b. xiv.) describes with filial ardour her father's zeal and patience in converting these Manicheans. Te7> pit* otfXois vev; fia,g(}a,gavi tv/xa, r7s 2i Xoyais i%ugevro rov; o.vrt6iovs. uffvig & ron XUTO, ruv ti; tuoe,$ x,Kt S 7iv fftbngaiv KVTOU ^v^tiv, ovrt a.1