President, White: library^ Cornell University. Cornell University Library arV1732 Epochs of the papacy, from its rise to t 3 1924 031 181 765 olin.anx The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031181765 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY ITS RISE TO THE DEATH OF POPE PIUS IX. IN 1878. BY THE REV. ARTHUR ROBERT PENNINGTON, M.A., F. R. Hist. Sog., RECTOR OF UTTERBY, LINCOLNSHIRE ; AUTHOR OF "THE LIFE OF ERASMUS," ETC. LONDON : GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1881. [AU Rights reserved.} H31 § it it 5 » g : CLAY AND TAYLOB, PE1NTEBS. LORD BISHOP OF LINCOLN, A PRELATE EMINENT FOR HIS PIETY, HIS CHRISTIAN ZEAL, AND HIS VARIED ERUDITION, IS, BY HIS LORDSHIP'S PERMISSION, DEDICATED, WITH DUTIFUL VENERATION, BY HIS FAITHFUL SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. The title of this book, " Epochs of the Papacy,'' expresses, I trust, accurately, its nature and object. I propose to describe the rise, growth, and decline of the Papacy in successive epochs, every one of them representing some phase in her marvellous history from the earliest ages to the present time. The reader will observe that I am strongly opposed to the Papal claims. I do not mean to deny that occasionally the Popes have displayed virtues and excellences, or that during the dark ages the Papacy may have sometimes restrained the savage violence of the kingly or baronial aggressor. Some- times, too, circumstances have rendered her less per- nicious and less formidable than she was in former ages of her history. But still I must maintain that Rome is unchanged and unchangeable ; that, if she should regain her sway, she will persecute with the same violence as before ; and that the Papacy is, as Vlll PREFACE. it was in former times, the great corruption of Christi- anity. The contemplation of the career of such a power may bring before us some very striking lessons in the philosophy of history ; and may impress us with a deeper conviction of the value of that Reform- ation which has been a source of blessing to our own and other countries through many generations. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY — FROM THE RISE OF THE PAPACY TO THE YEAR 720, WHEN OBEDIENCE TO THE ROMAN BISHOP WAS FIRST PREACHED BY BONIFACE IN GERMANY. St. Peter's presence at Rome probable, but his episcopate of twenty- five years untenable — Rise of the Papal power — The Pope's pre- tensions not admitted in the early ages — Causes of the growth of the Papacy — Series of obscure Popes broken by Leo the Great — The establishment of the Ostrogothic kingdom advantageous to the Popes, but the rule of the conqueror of the Ostrogoths, the Em- peror Justinian, injurious to them — The noble character and in- fluence of Gregory the Great — His writings show that the Popes now claim supremacy as successors of St. Peter— England con- verted by Augustine — The title of Universal Bishop conferred on Boniface III. by Phocas— The advancement of the Papacy aided by the rise of Mohammedanism in the time of Phocas — Causes of the slow growth of the Papal power for one hundred years after the death of Gregory the Great— The saints of Iona — Germany converted by Boniface, and the Papal supremacy first preached by him in that country ... ... ... ... ... p. I CHAPTER II. TEMPORAL DOMINION — FROM THE ELECTION OF GREGORY II. IN 715 TO THE CONCORDAT OF WORMS IN 1 122. The separation of the East from the West— Pepin and Charlemagne assist the Popes against the Lombards, and give them a principality —The greatness of Charlemagne — His coronation by Leo III. — Creation of the Holy Roman Empire — The design of the Popes to X CONTENTS. usurpdominion over kings— The degradation of the Papacy —Otto I. , Otto II., Otto III., and Henry III. appoint Popes, and attempt to reform the Papacy — The nature of the connection between the Papacy and the empire — Alteration in the mode of the election of the Popes — The vast designs and energy of Gregory VII. — His struggle with Henry IV. about the right of investiture — Account of a similar contest in England between Anselm and Henry I. — Concordat of Worms — Steady growth of the Papal power, which was aided by the power of excommunication and interdict, the " Donation of Constantine," the "False Decretals," and the Crusades p. 20 CHAPTER III. REVERSES AND VICTORIES — FROM THE CONCORDAT AT WORMS IN 1 122 TO THE DEATH OF CELESTINE III. IN II98. The conflicting claims of the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, and the warfare between them— Suspension of the strife — Bernard as a maker of Popes, a preacher of Crusades, and a combatant of heretics — Abelard, the great dialectician, and Arnold of Brescia, the great anti-Papal champion of the age — The noble character of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa — His disputes with Pope Adrian IV. — Alexander III. and the Lombard League — The conflict of Frederick with him, and his humiliation before him at Venice — Humiliation of Henry II. of England before the tomb of Becket at Canterbury — Pause in the contest between the Empire and the Papacy p. 75 CHAPTER IV. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION — FROM THE ELECTION OF INNOCENT III. IN II98 TO THE SICILIAN VESPERS IN 1282. The vast schemes of Innocent III. — His triumphs over various mon- archs — Occasional beneficial exercise of his temporal supremacy — Innocent guilty of great public crimes — The crusade against the Albigenses — The fourth Lateran Council — Reflections on the pon- tificate and policy of Innocent — The usurpations of the Popes on the liberties of national Churches — The Mendicant Orders a means of Papal influence — The struggle of Frederick II. with Gregory IX. and Innocent IV. — Reflections upon it — The death of Frederick, and the subsequent extirpation of his race in his grandson Conradin, beheaded at Naples by Charles of Anjou — Full triumph of the Papacy over the Empire — Gregory X. endeavours to unite the Greek and Latin Churches, and to engage the nations of Europe CONTENTS. xi in a Crusade — History of the separation of the two Churches — General observations on the Crusades — The Sicilian Vespers, p. 95 CHAPTER V. THE BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF THE PAPACY — FROM THE SICILIAN VESPERS IN I282 TO THE DEATH OF BONIFACE VIII. IN I303. Reflections on the Papal power — The time of its decline — The cause ot that decline — The Pragmatic Sanction of Louis IX. of France — His character — Other causes of the decline, including the contest between the Papacy and the Empire, Interdicts, the partiality shown to the Mendicants, the denunciations of its best friends, the preaching of the Albigenses, Peter de Bruys, Henry the Deacon, and the Waldenses — Sketch of the history of the Wal- denses — Celestine V., the hermit Pope — Great decline of the Papacy under Boniface VIII. p. 145 CHAPTER VI. AVARICE AND SCHISM, WITH THEIR CONSEQUENCES • — FROM THE DEATH OF BONIFACE VIII. IN 1303 TO THE CLOSE OF THE COUNCIL OF BASLE IN 1449. The Pontificate of Benedict XI. — The causes and the beginning of the residence of the Popes at Avignon in 1305 — Clement V. obliged by his master, Philip of France, unjustly to dissolve the Order of Knights Templars, and to arraign the memory of Boniface VIII. — The poet Dante attacks the Papacy — The struggle of John XXII. with the empire — His heresy as to the beatific vision — The avarice of Clement V. and John XXII. — The causes of the loss of the influ- ence of the Mendicants — Their dispute with John XXII. injurious to the Papacy — The licentious splendour of the Court of Avignon, especially during the Pontificate of Clement VI. — Consequences of the residence in that city — John Wiclif — Piers Ploughman's Vision — Ineffectual attempts to reform — Rienzi — Return of Gregory XI. to Rome, and end of the "Babylonish captivity'' — The com- mencement and progress of the Papal Schism — The Councils of Pisa, Constance, and Basle — Attempted union between the Greek and Latin Churches — John Huss and Jerome of Prague — Causes of the failure of the Councils to reform the Church — The Hussite war ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... p. 176 XU CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. the further decline of the papacy — from the close of the council of basle in 1449 to the publication of luther's propositions against indulgences in 1517. The Pontificate of Nicholas V.— The failure of Pius II. to rouse the nations to a crusade a proof of the decline of the Papacy — The Popes as temporal princes — Their nepotism — The warlike schemes of Julius II. — The vices and crimes of various Popes, including especially Alexander VI. — The revival of learning— Providential ' design of the preservation of the Greek Empire — The effects of the . study of Greek literature in Europe — The invention of printing — General expectation of a convulsion — Failures to reform the world and the Church — Connection between the attempts to reform in past times and the Reformation under Luther— Witnesses for the ' truth found in all lands just before his appearance, including Savonarola, Reuchlin, and Erasmus — Signs that the time had come — Reasons for Germany being selected as the theatre of the struggle with Rome — The strength of Rome more apparent than real — Martin Luther nails his propositions as to Indulgences to the church gate at Wittemberg. ... ... ... ... p. 238 CHAPTER VIII. THE REFORMATION — FROM 1517 TO THE DEATH OF PAUL IV. IN ISS9- Luther — The election of Charles V. to the Empire — Contest between him and Francis I. — Eck's controversy with Luther — Luther burns the Papal Bull — Luther at Worms and Wartburg — Connection between political complications and the advancement of the Reformation — Death and character of Leo X. — Adrian of Utrecht — The political schemes of Clement VII. — The sack of Rome by the general of Charles favourable to the Reformation — Alliance between Clement and Charles at Barcelona — ■ The cruelties of Clement on his capture of Florence, with his character— The German princes protest against the arbitrary Edict of Spires — The Con- fession of Augsburg — The Protestants in a dangerous situation, from which they are delivered by the invasion of the Turkish Sultan — Charles obliged to conclude a peace with them — The divorce of Henry VIII. — Death of Clement — Election and character of Paul III. — Colloquy at Ratisbon — Treaty of Crespy between Charles and Francis— The Council of Trent — Hostilities between Charles and the Protestants which end in their defeat — Treachery of Maurice of Saxony — The political schemes of Paul III. advance the Reform- CONTENTS. Xlll ation— Julius III. — The Emperor obliged to conclude the treaty of Passau— Death of Charles— Progress of the Reformation— The English Reformation owes its origin to human weakness — Paul IV. the worst enemy to Romanism in England p. 278 CHAPTER IX. THE PAPAL REACTION — FROM THE ELECTION OF PIUS IV. IN 1559 TO THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA IN 1648. Spain and Italy always steadfast in their allegiance to the Pope — The countries of Europe where the Church of Rome was victorious — Causes of the Reaction— (1) The Inquisition; (2) The reform of the old and the establishment of new Orders, including especially the Order of the Jesuits, of which a full description is given ; (3) The Council of Trent ; (4) The divisions among Protestants ; (5) The lukewarmness of Protestant, and the zeal of Roman Catholic, Sove- reigns ; (6) The improved character and increased zeal of the Popes — Sixtus V. and his schemes, especially his additions to the taxation of the Papal States with a view to the advancement of the Reaction — Tremendous warfare between Romanism and the Reformation — Cruelties of Philip II. and Alva in the Netherlands — Resistance of the inhabitants under William of Orange — Various events of the struggle — Its end and results — The Reaction in France— The mas- sacre of St. Bartholomew — The wars of the League — Rome nearly successful in her struggle for universal empire — Causes of her failure — Conversion and coronation of Henry IV. — Countries and States in which Rome failed or succeeded — -Death and character of Philip II. — Pause in the strife — Beginning of the Thirty Years' "War — Defeat and exile of Frederick, who accepted the crown of Bohemia — Failure of attempts to restore Frederick — Designs of the Emperor Ferdinand against German Protestantism — Gustavus Adolphus comes to its rescue — His character — His difficulties — Treaty with Richelieu — His design sanctioned by Urban VIII. — Subsequent great victories and death of Gustavus — End of Religious War — Peace of Westphalia P- 335 CHAPTER X. THE DECAY OF THE PAPACY — FROM THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA IN 1648 TO THE ABOLITION OF THE ORDER OF THE JESUITS IN 1773- The power of the Papacy restrained by Spain and Germany, and by Louis XIV. in France — The four Gallican Articles — Revocation of the Edict of Nantes — Religious views of Jansen — His system XIV CONTENTS. adopted at Port-Royal— Description of that monastery and its in- mates — Dealings of the Popes, the Jesuits, and Louis XIV. with Port-Royal till the abolition of the monastery— Causes of the decay of the Papal power — War of the Spanish succession, and its effect on the Papacy — Change in the relative positions of the States of Europe an evidence of the decline of the Papacy — Extravagant claims of Benedict XIII. — Excellence and popularity of Benedict XIV. — Clement XIII. opposed to concessions— His vain attempt to save the Jesuits — The great worth of Clement XIV. — He sup- presses the Order of the Jesuits ... ... ... P- 4 X 4 CHAPTER XI. THE WOES OF THE PAPACY — FROM 1 773 TO THE DEATH OF PIUS IX. IN 1878. The causes of the French Revolution— Its retributive character gener- ally, but especially in regard to the Church — Character of Pius VI. — The innovations of Joseph of Austria — The humiliation, spoliation, captivity, and death of Pius — Election of Pius VII. — Concordat between him and ,Napoleon — Coronation of the latter by him — Seizure of Rome and arrest of the Pope by Napoleon — His design in regard to the Papacy — Concordat at Fontainbleau between him and the Pope, afterwards cancelled by his overthrow — Restoration of Pius — Present prosperity of the Papacy more apparent than real — Misgovernment and tyranny of the Austrians, the Bourbons, and Pius VII. — The Papacy assailed by Italian patriotism — Grow- ing opposition of Italy to the Papacy — Oppressive government of Gregory XVI. — The Popes partly successful in regaining their ascendency — Early reforms and Liberalism of Pius IX. — His subsequent change and flight from Rome — His restoration — The Virgin's Immaculate Conception — Count Cavour and Victor Em- manuel — Deliverance of Italy by Louis Napoleon— /The Pope deprived of almost all his territories — The Vatican Council and Papal Infallibility — The abolition of the Temporal Power — Close of the career of Pius — His character and schemes — The present position and future prospects of the Papacy ... ... p. 442 INTRODUCTION. In speaking of the Papacy we must remember that we are speaking of an institution, the rise of which is to be sought in the depths of a remote antiquity. " The history of the Church of Rome," to use the words of Lord Macaulay, "joins together the two great ages of human civilization. No other institution is left standing which carries the mind back to the times when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon, and when cameleopards and tigers bounded in the Flavian amphitheatre. The proudest royal houses are but of yesterday when compared with the line of the Supreme Pontiffs. That line we trace back in an unbroken series, from the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the nine- teenth century to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth; and far beyond the time of Pepin the august dynasty extends, till it is lost in the twilight of fable. The republic of Venice came next in antiquity. But the republic of Venice was modern when compared with the Papacy ; and the republic of Venice is gone and the Papacy remains." 1 The antiquity described in these eloquent words has been urged as a strong argument in favour of the extravagant pretensions of the Church of Rome. When we converse with those who maintain that the Bishop of Rome, as the successor of St. Peter, is the supreme teacher and governor of the Church, we are confronted with the assertion that his claims have always been recognized by a large proportion Essay on " Ranke's History of the Popes." XVI INTRODUCTION. of the inhabitants of Christendom. We are told that we cannot point to the time when this supremacy commenced ; that it must, therefore, be coeval with the foundation of the Christian Church ; and that it must be the gift of the Divine Teacher for the guidance and instruction of His people. Now we are prepared to meet this assertion with a direct negative ; to show that for a long time this claim on behalf of the Pope was altogether unknown; that when it was advanced it was very strongly opposed; that this opposition was continued, as I shall show in the following work, through the ages ; and that the Reformation in England and Germany was the end of a long struggle between the Pope and the inhabitants of those countries who denied his claim upon their allegiance. The titles " Pope " and " Supreme Pontiff," which Lord Macaulay uses to designate the Bishop of Rome, may remind us of the growth of the Papal claims. Many of the Fathers inform us that the pastors in charge of flocks, embracing laity, deacons, and presbyters, were called " Chief Priests," " Supreme Pontiffs," " Princes of the Priests," so that the title " Supreme Pontiff" did not constitute a peculiar title of the Bishop of Rome. 1 Bingham also gives many instances to show that " every Bishop was anciently called ' Papa,' ' Father,' or ' Pope.' " 2 Baronius, too, a zealous asserter of the Papal supremacy, admits that, in old times, every venerable presbyter was called Papa ; that the name was common to all bishops for 850 years, but was attached especially to the Bishop of Rome ; and that it continued to be the designation of all of them till Hildebrand, in a Council 1 "Anacleti Papa;,' - epist. ii. col. 521, C. Paris, 1671 ; "Ambros. Opera," torn. iii. " Comment, in Epist ad Ephes.," cap. iv. col. 504, K. Paris, 1661; "Hieron. Opera," torn. ii. epist. xxviii. ad Asellam, Fol. Paris, 1706 ; "Tertull. Opera," torn. ii. De Pudicit. cap. i. 2 Bingham's "Antiquities of the Christian Church," book ii. chapter ii. sect, vii., S taker's Edit. London, 1840. INTRODUCTION. XV11 at Rome in the year 1073, decreed that there should be only one Pope in the whole world. 1 We are reminded, then, by this appropriation of the title, of the persevering efforts of the Bishops of Rome to establish a supremacy over the Churches of Christendom. We can account, in a very simple manner, for the advancement and acceptance of the Papal claims, without having recourse to the supposition that the supremacy was a Divine gift, which we hold to be absolutely erroneous. The minds of men were tossed about on a sea of uncertainty. They longed for an infallible judge who would remove their doubts and explain their difficulties. This desire aided the Popes in their design of reigning with despotic sway over the nations. We may illustrate this matter by a reference to history. The people of France had seen the evils which flow from disunion. The great vassals of that country had usurped their territories, and barely submitted to the nominal authority of the monarch. A strong desire was thus awakened for the union of the nation under a powerful central authority, because otherwise it would be unable to offer an effectual resistance to the armies of the invader. The monarch, by steady perseverance, after long ages of conflict, was able to consolidate his power on the ruins of the authority of the feudal oligarchy. At length, the whole power of France, legislative and administrative, centred in the person of Louis XIV. Thus the Pope, as we shall see in the following history, aided by circumstances, and by the strong desire of men for an infallible arbiter of contro- versies, steadily persevered, till at length he was able to reign supreme over the Churches and monarchs of Christendom. Just also as the central autocratic power in France has been gradually broken by various revolutions, by long and bloody conflicts, which Burke foresaw when, with prophetic prescience, he said that the commonwealth of France may 1 Baronii, "Martyrol. Roman.," pp. 33, 34, Colonise, 1603. XV1U INTRODUCTION. be obliged to pass through a great variety of forms, " and, in all its transmigrations, to be purified by fire and blood," * so, as we shall see in the following history, the fabric of Papal domination has been undermined, and stone after stone has been dislodged from the massive battlements. Those who were anxious to establish the supremacy of the Bishops of Rome would, of course, make Holy Scripture the foundation of their superstructure. They allege that passage of St. Matthew xvi., where, after Peter had uttered the confession, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," our Lord thus spoke to him, " I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter (IltVpoc), and upon this rock (k-rcl Tairt/ rrj Trirpq.) I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." They assert that St. Peter is here described by Christ as the Rock on which He would build His Church ; that a rock is a most significant emblem of duration, and must last as long as the Church which is built upon it ; that there is here a promise that St. Peter is to have successors ; and that these are the Bishops of Rome who are to rule His Church till time shall give place to eternity. They allege, as further proof, the commission given by our Lord to Peter after His resurrection ; " Feed my lambs ; " " Feed my sheep." 2 Now we affirm, in direct opposition to them, that the end and aim of the first passage are not Peter but Christ ; 3 that the plain meaning of our Lord's words is that on this Rock, i.e. on Himself, the Son of Man, whom Peter had just confessed to be the Son of God, He would build His Church, which shall stand uninjured and indestructible; that since St. * " Reflections on the Revolution in France." 2 John xxi. 15-17. 3 See the Bishop of Lincoln's commentary on the passage. The substance of his remarks is here given. INTRODUCTION. XIX Peter had owned his Lord, He would own him as "Peter," as a living stone hewn out of and built upon Him, the living Rock, like the other Apostles, who with him are called the " Twelve Foundation Stones of the Church ; " * that in the following passages, where He is speaking of Himself, we have our Lord's own authority for the assertion that the words, " upon this rock," can be applied only to Himself: — "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up ; " 2 "Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken ; " 3 and, " If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." i We say also that the word " Rock " is applied in the Old Testament only to the Almighty; s that, in the New Testament, he who builds on Christ's words builds upon a rock ; 6 and that St. Paul says, " Other foundation can no man lay than that which lieth (by its own act as the foundation), which is Jesus Christ" — Jesus as Man, and Christ as the Son of God, — which is St. Peter's confession in this passage ; and that He says again, " That Rock was Christ." 7 We add that the promise, "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven," plainly refers to the opening of the kingdom of heaven, or of the dispensation of the gospel, which was fulfilled in the case of Peter, when he first opened the door to the Jews after the wonderful descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost ; and still more when he first opened the door to the Gentiles, preaching the gospel to Cornelius, and baptizing him and his household. The words, " Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what- soever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven," plainly convey no greater power to St. Peter than to the 1 Revel, xxi. 14. 2 John ii. 19. 3 Matt. xxi. 44. 4 John vi. 51. 5 I Sam. ii. 2 ; 2 Sam. xxii. 2, 3, 32, 47 ; Psalm xxviii. I ; xxxi. 2, 3 ; xlii. 9; lxxi. 3 ; Ixxviii. 35. 6 Matt. vii. 24, 25 ; Luke vi. 48. ? 1 Corinth, a. 4. INTRODUCTION. other disciples, for St. John informs us that our Lord said to them all, "Whose soever smsye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." * "The words were addressed to Peter as representing by his faith, by his office, and by his acts, all the apostles and their successors." 2 The reference here plainly is to the power given to them to bind or loose the chains of those who are in bondage to sin and Satan. Our Lord could not have intended to give one apostle a supremacy over the rest, or over the whole Church, for He tells them that He is the Vine and that they all are branches ; 3 that He is their Master, and that they all are brethren. * He pronounced also a distinct condemnation upon them, because they disputed among themselves for the pre-eminence, when He said, " He that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve." He reminds them also " that the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them (the Gentiles), but it should not be so with them." 3 He placed therti also on an equality when He said, "Ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 6 And again He says, "Be not ye called Rabbi, for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth : for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters : for one is your Master, even Christ." i If the sovereignty of St. Peter were a reality, it is impos- sible that it should not have been acknowledged in the Church of the Apostles. Even if some time were required to accustom the minds of men to the idea that the Bishop of Rome inherited all the power and privileges of St. Peter, still it must be present in the Church ; the germ of the idea * John xx. 23. 3 See the Bishop of Lincoln's "Theophilus Anglicanus," p. 220. 3 John xv 1-5. 4 Matt, xxiii. 8. s Luke xxii. 24-26. 6 Matt. xix. 28. 1 Matt, xxiii. 8-10. INTRODUCTION. xxi must be found. Now it is perfectly evident that St. Peter did not regard himself as invested with this supremacy. He plainly understood that our Lord singled him out from the other disciples when He gave him the direction, " Feed my lambs," " Feed my sheep ; " not that He might give him the supremacy over them, but that He might comfort him after his fall with the assurance of forgiveness, and that he held the same place as before among the apostles ; for he directly discountenances the idea of superiority when he says, "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder; " and when he censures in another verse the assumption of it, " Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock." * The whole attitude of St. Paul shows very plainly that his apostleship was, in his view, on a perfect equality with that of St. Peter to the Jews : "The gospel of the uncircumcision was committed to me, as the gospel of the circumcision was to Peter." 2 Again, it has been said that St. Paul "went up to Jerusalem to see Peter." 3 The presumption would be that he hoped by his means to obtain an increase of authority. But_this notion is directly discountenanced by St. Paul's own words: — "Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father;"* and again he says, " I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ ;"s and again St. Paul calls himself " not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles ; " 6 and he " withstood him (St. Peter) to the face, because he was to be blamed." i He says that the Church is built upon the "foundation of the apostles and prophets," not on one apostle, " Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the 1 I Peter v. I, 3. * Galat. ii. 7. 3 Galat. i. 18. 4 Galat. i. I. 5 Galat. i. 12. 6 2 Cor. xi. 5. 1 Galat. ii. 11. XX11 INTRODUCTION. Lord, in Whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." 1 We cannot find a syllable in St. Peter's writings which shows us that he resented the attitude of St. Paul towards him, or that he thought himself entitled to give him directions as to his work, or that he assumed any authority over him or the other apostles. We find too that when St. Peter shows his anxiety about his con- verts by writing a special letter to them in order that " they may be able after his decease to have these things always in remembrance," 2 he never refers to the appointment of a successor. With reference to this end, how easy would it have been to have added, " I leave behind one as your guide, to whom ye must be obedient in all things ! " He may indeed appear sometimes as asserting a kind of priority among his brethren. He was, however, first in order, and had a priority of honour, but he was never higher in place than the other apostles. His position was that of a primus inter pares (the first among equals), not that of a superior over inferiors. We may refer also to the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles for strong evidence against the Papal claims. We fearlessly assert that the mere fact of the holding of a Council at Jerusalem is a very strong argument against the supremacy of any one apostle as a Teacher of the Church. We can easily understand that if Christ had given the Holy Spirit to the Church to guide it into all truth, representative men, endowed with various gifts, ought to come together, and, after mutual consultation, to declare that they had the authority of the Spirit for the promulgation of their decree. But if the plenitude of teaching power had resided in St. Peter it would have been unnecessary to hold a Council. He would have stood up, as on the day of Pentecost, and would have declared authoritatively the mind of the Spirit on the important question which had been submitted to 1 Ephes. i. 20-23. 2 2 Peter i. 15. INTRODUCTION. XXU1 them. We find, however, that though he is foremost to speak at the Council, yet that he is not the president of it, and that it is not by his authority that the decisions of the Council are made known to the Church. He gives his opinion upon the different questions which had come before the Council, but he does not settle them. The assembly discussed them, and St. James, as the mouthpiece of the Council, who on this occasion was its president, the primus inter pares, declared the decisions. That which follows is no less remarkable. If St. Peter be the necessary head of the apostolic college, if his priority be anything more than one of honour, surely he would be the organ of communicat- ing these decisions to the universal Church. But, on the contrary, we read, " Then pleased it the apostles and the elders, with the whole Church, to send chosen men of their company to Antio'ch with Paul and Barnabas ; " " and they wrote letters by them after this manner, The apostles and elders and the brethren send greeting ; " and further on, " It seemed good unto us, being assemble 1 with one accord ; " and again, " It seemed good to the Ho Ghost and to us." We cannot, therefore, make the positio which St. Peter occupied at this Council at all compatible with that assigned to him by the Roman Catholics as the supreme teacher and ruler of the Christian Church. We must now go forward in the history of the age imme- diately following the times of the apostles, and ask whether we can find in it any proof of the acknowledgment of the supremacy of St. Peter or the Bishop of Rome. When we remember the tremendous power claimed by the Popes, we must have some proof of the concession of their claims in documents belonging to that age, especially in those which relate to Rome and its Bishop. Now we affirm, without the least hesitation, that this proof is not to be found in them. We have one very precious composition, an epistle written by St. Clement, Bishop of Rome, shortly before the close of XXIV INTRODUCTION. the first century, an important portion of which, amounting to about one-tenth of the whole, has only lately been recovered. It was addressed to the Corinthian Church under circumstances which would have led him to assert his authority if he were conscious that he possessed it. And yet he does not once refer in it to himself or his office. The letter is addressed throughout from the Church of Rome to the Church of Corinth, and the plural number — " We consider," " We have sent," — with reference to the Church and not to the Bishop, is constantly used. In fact, it is described in the second century, by Dionysius of Corinth and Irenaeus of Lyons, as a letter from the Church of Rome, and not from the Bishop. In this letter there is not the least allusion to any power claimed or supposed to be claimed by the Bishop of Rome. His suppression of self, indeed, is very remarkable. " It might have been expected that somewhere towards the close mention would have been made (though in the third person) of the famous man who was at once the actual writer of the letter and the chief ruler of the Church in whose name it was written. Now, however, that we possess the work com- plete, we see that his existence is not once hinted at from beginning to end. The name and personality of Clement are absorbed in the Church of which he is the spokesman." And yet, as Bishop Lightfoot (whose words we have just given) observes, 1 though this epistle does not contain the least reference to the Papal claims, it does in some measure enable us " to understand more fully the secret of Papal domination." As this writer remarks, the tone of the letter is " urgent and almost imperious. They exhort the offenders ' to submit not to them but to the will of God ' (s. lvi.). 'Receive our counsel,' they write again, 'and ye shall have no occasion of regret ' (s. Iviii.) At a later point, 1 See the Appendix to his edition of St. Clement of Rome, Introduc- tion, pp. 252-254. INTRODUCTION. XXV again, they return to the subject and use still stronger language : ' Ye will give us great joy and gladness if ye render obedience unto the things written by us through the Holy Spirit, and root out the unrighteous anger of your jealousy, according to the entreaty which we have made for peace and concord in this letter; and we have also sent faithful and prudent men, that have walked among us from youth unto old age unblameably, who shall be witnesses between you and us. And this we have done, that ye might know that we have had, and still have, every solicitude that ye may speedily be at peace ' " r (s. lxiii.). " It may, per- haps," continues Dr. Lightfoot, "seem strange to describe this noble remonstrance as the first step towards Papal aggression. And yet undoubtedly this is the case. There is all the difference in the world between the attitude of Rome towards other Churches at the close of the first cen- tury, when the Romans as a community remonstrate on terms of equality with the Corinthians on their irregularities, strong only in the righteousness of their cause, and feeling, as they had a right to feel, that these counsels of peace were the dictation of the Holy Spirit, and its attitude at the close of the second century, when Victor the Bishop excommuni- cated the Churches of Asia Minor for clinging to a usage in regard to the celebration of Easter, which had been handed down to them from the apostles, and thus foments instead of healing dissensions (Euseb. H. E., v. 23, 24). Even this second stage has carried the power of Rome only a very small step in advance towards the pretensions of a Hilde- brand, or an Innocent, or a Boniface, or even of a Leo ; but it is nevertheless a decided step. The substitution of the Bishop of Rome for the Church of Rome is an all-important point. The later Roman theory supposes that the Church of Rome derives all its authority from the Bishop of Rome 1 The above extracts are from the newly-recovered portion, and are very valuable with reference to this part of our subject. XXVI INTRODUCTION. as the successor of St. Peter. History inverts this relation, and shows that, as a matter of fact, the power of the Bishop of Rome was built upon the power of the Church of Rome. It was originally a primacy, not of the episcopate, but of the Church. The position of the Roman Church, which this newly-recovered ending of Clement's epistle throws out in such strong relief, accords entirely with the notices in other early documents." Apart from what has been here stated we can find nothing in the whole epistle which has the remotest bearing on the quesiiuu before us. The writings of Ignatius are of some importance. He was the second Bishop of Antioch, and suffered martyrdom at Rome in the early part of the second century, so that he was a contemporary of St. Clement. Dr. Lightfoot has the following observations on his Epistle to the Romans : " A very few years later (than the date of St. Clement's epistle) — from ten to twenty — Ignatius writes to Rome. He is a staunch advocate of episcopacy. Of his six remaining letters, one is addressed to a bishop as a bishop, and the other five all enforce the duty of the Churches whom he addresses to their respective bishops. Yet in the letter to the Church of Rome there is not the faintest allusion to the episcopal office from first to last. He entreats the Roman Christians not to intercede ; and thus by obtaining a pardon or commutation of sentence, to rob him of the crown of martyrdom. In the course of his entreaty he uses words which doubtless refer in part to Clement's epistle, and which the newly-recovered ending enables us to appreciate more fully: 'Ye never yet,' he writes, 'envied any one,' — that is, grudged him the glory of a consistent course of endurance and self-sacrifice — 'ye were the teachers of others.' They would, therefore, be inconsistent with their former selves, he implies, if in his own case they departed from those counsels of self-renunci- ation and patience which they had urged so strongly on the INTRODUCTION. XXV11 Corinthians arid others. But though Clement's letter is apparently in his mind, there is no mention of Clement or Clement's successor throughout. Yet at the same time he assigns a primacy to Rome. The Church is addressed in the opening salutation as ' she who hath the presidency in the place of the region of the Romans.' But immediately afterwards the nature of this supremacy is denned. The presidency of the Church is declared to be a presidency of love. This, then, was the original primacy of Rome — a primacy, not of the bishop, but of the whole Church ; a primacy, not of official authority, but of practical goodness, backed, however, by the prestige and the advantages which were necessarily enjoyed by the Church of the metropolis." We cannot find a single line in any other part of his writings which shows a knowledge of a supremacy inherited by the Roman Bishop from St. Peter. Irenaeus and Ter- tullian, at the close of the following century, are not aware of any authority residing in him as St. Peter's successor. The only authority to which they refer is that of traditional doctrine derived from the apostles, and preserved in the Roman Church, as well as in those Churches which could, like Rome, trace their origin to a member of the apostolic company. We shall see in the first chapter, in the case of Victor the Bishop of Rome, at the end of the second century, that about this time began that substitution of the Bishop of Rome for the Church of Rome, which Dr. Lightfoot rightly regards as the second stage in the development of the Papal pretensions. After this time, as we shall find in the following work, amid much opposition, stone after stone was added to the fabric of Papal domination. The story of the Papacy, as it will be related, possesses the greatest interest as a story of romantic and startling incidents ; of success, chequered with failure; of brilliant victories, followed by signal re- verses; of a tortuous and Machiavellian policy, designed XXV111 INTRODUCTION. to build up the Papacy, which has secured for its agents a niche in the Temple of Fame ; of great dangers, from which deliverance was obtained in a most unexpected manner ; of mighty projects, which had for their object to enable the Popes to reign supreme over the souls and bodies of their fellow-creatures. During twelve centuries, every prominent historical personage has been a friend or an antagonist to the Papacy ; almost every great event in history has been injurious or advantageous to it. The interest of the events which will pass before us will, in some cases, be increased by important information obtained from papers and manuscripts, which, having been for ages deposited in public archives, have at length been made available to the historian. This observation applies to the career of Wiclif, described in the fifth and seventh chapters ; to the Reformation in England under Henry VIII. ; to the residence of Charles V. at Yuste, in the eighth chapter ; to the massacre of St. Bartholomew and the war in the Netherlands, in the ninth chapter, in that deeply interesting period designated as the Papal Reaction. The figures seem to stand out from the canvas. We seem to be holding converse with those monarchs, statesmen, and warriors, and Popes, who have swayed the destinies of States and Empires. In the archives of England, Spain, Vienna, Paris, the Netherlands, and Venice, to which reference will be made, we can not only see the relative importance of the different events, but also the innermost thoughts and secret intrigues of the principal actors in the drama. We thus have a better understanding than our forefathers of the causes of the movements of the mighty machine of government. We may apply with a change of names to most of the information obtained from these archives, the language which Motley uses in regard to those in the Netherlands : " The historian leans over the shoulder of Philip II. at his writing-table, as the king spells carefully INTRODUCTION. XXIX out, with cipher-key in hand, the most secret hieroglyphics of Parma, or Guise, or Mendoza. He enters the cabinet of the deeply-pondering Burleigh, and takes from the private drawer the memoranda which record that minister's un- utterable doubtings ; he pulls from the dressing-gown folds of the stealthy, soft-gliding Walsingham the last secret which he has picked from the Emperor's pigeon-holes or the Pope's pockets, and which not Hatton, nor Buckhurst, nor Leicester, nor the Lord Treasurer is to see — nobody but Elizabeth herself; he sits invisible at the most secret council of the Nassaus, and Barneveldt, and Buys, or pores with Farnese over coming victories, and vast schemes of universal conquest ; he reads the latest bit of scandal, the minutest characteristic of king or minister, chronicled by the gossipping Venetians for the edification of the Forty ; and, after all this prying and eaves-dropping, having seen the cross-purposes, the bribings, the windings, the fencings in the dark, he is not surprised if those, who were systematic- ally deceived, did not always arrive at correct conclusions." The absorbing interest of the events in this drama of the Papacy is increased especially by their relation to the pur- poses of Him who makes the "wrath of man to praise Him," and who causes the noise and blood of the warrior, the aspiring of the ambitious, and the policy of statesmen to be instrumental in hastening forward the final triumph of His kingdom. All who read the history of the Papacy with their eyes fixed on that providential agency which overrules the events here described to the promotion of the best interests of His Church, will find it illumined with a light not seen by those who look upon it as a mere chronicle of past events. They will see that this history teaches them some important and valuable lessons ; that they are stand- ing, as it were, in the council-chamber of eternity, and are reading the annals of Infinite Wisdom and Infinite Mercy, as blended and developed in the accomplishment of His XXX INTRODUCTION. purposes. The deep pain with which they contemplate the crimes of some of the Popes will be lessened when they see evil overruled for good, and find the carefully-planned designs of men, who have often been monsters of wicked- ness, rendered subservient to the promotion of God's glory. They will see that God gives a proof of His presence in history, by interfering on behalf of His Church when her enemies are mighty, and she is threatened with destruction. This last truth may comfort us in the view of the approaching terrible conflict between the reactionary party in the Roman Catholic Church and Infidelity. Even now the two parties are mustering their forces for the battle. In Italy, a party called by Father Curci, in a recent work, 1 " The New Italy and the Old Zealots,'' are animated by an intense passion for the restoration of the temporal power of the Papacy, and are labouring with great energy for the accomplishment of their object. On the other hand, the disgraceful attack recently made on the procession which accompanied the remains of Pius IX. on their removal from their temporary resting-place in St. Peter's to their final home in the church of San Lorenzo, shows us very plainly that there is a party in Italy which has no respect for ceremonies, natural and sacred, and which is animated with an implacable hostility to the head of the Roman Catholic Church. We had hoped that, under the present Pope, Leo XIIL, who was supposed to be more enlightened and liberal than Pius IX., a reconcili- ation would have been effected between the Church and State in Italy. But behind the Pope exist forces more power- ful than the Papacy itself. He is bound by the traditions of his predecessors. We believe that important events affecting the relations of Church and State in Italy are hastening to * " La Nuova'Italia ed i Vecchi Zelanti," Firenze,"l88i. This book is very valuable as exposing the aims and character of the old zealots, and stating- the conditions to be taken into account in solving the problems referred to in it. INTRODUCTION. XXXI their birth. The Pope, in a recent circular, says that the tumult proves undeniably that the Pope is practically a prisoner in the Vatican, and may induce " His Holiness to take such steps as may best ensure the interests of the Church and the safety of the Pontiff." In fact, Italy is now the theatre of a most momentous development of thought and action. The state of things indicated by the recent tumult must soon have a termination. The highest states- manship will be required to deliver Italy and the Church from the dangers with which they are threatened. In other countries of Europe "the two tremendous powers, Ultramontanism and Infidelity, are marshalled against each other, and are now threatening to overwhelm the world with anarchy and ruin." z But we may learn this most important lesson from the following work, that God will lay bare His right arm before the nations, and will, in the hour of ex- tremity, lay low the mighty foes who are confederate against His Church. We shall find again, as in the history which is contained in the following pages, that He reigneth, Whose voice the raging waves will immediately obey when He issues the command, " Peace, be still ; " and Who will cause the very events which seem to be against them the means of promoting the best interests of His Church and people. " Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved : God will help her, and that right early." 2 ■ See the Bishop of Lincoln's Preface to my "Life of Erasmus." 2 Psalm xlvi. 2, 3, 5. CHAPTER I. SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY FROM THE RISE OF THE PAPACY TO THE YEAR 720, WHEN OBEDIENCE TO THE ROMAN BISHOP WAS FIRST PREACHED BY BONIFACE IN GERMANY. St. Peter's presence at Rome probable, but his episcopate of twenty- five years untenable — Rise of the Papal power— The Pope's pre- tensions not admitted in the early ages — Causes of the growth of the Papacy — Series of obscure Popes broken by Leo the Great — The establishment of the Ostrogothic kingdom advantageous to the Popes, but the rule of the conqueror of the Ostrogoths, the Em- peror Justinian, injurious to them — The noble character and in- fluence of Gregory the Great — His writings show that the Popes now claim supremacy as successors of St. Peter — England con- verted by Augustine — The title of Universal Bishop conferred on Boniface III. by Phocas — The advancement of the Papacy aided by the rise of Mohammedanism in the time of Phocas — Causes of the slow growth of the Papal power for one hundred years after the death of Gregory the Great — The saints of Iona — Germany converted by Boniface, and the Papal supremacy first preached by him in that country. A mighty and majestic figure comes before our view during the Middle Ages. Its feet rest upon the earth, while its head towers towards the stars. A triple tiara, rich with the most costly gems, glitters on its brow. It is clothed in the sacred robes of the priesthood, but bears in its hand the golden sceptre of temporal dominion. The nations of the earth crouch at its feet. Around it clouds of incense roll upwards from innumerable altars. The ground on which it stands is whitened with the bones of God's saints. 2 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. We have seen in the Introduction that the doctors of the Roman Catholic Church assign to a much earlier date than we are willing to admit, the origin of this power and grandeur of the Papacy. They bring forward also in proof of the primacy of the Popes a tradition preserved by Eusebius, that St. Peter, having gone to Rome to meet Simon Magus (a.d. 42), formed a Church in that city, of which he was bishop for twenty-five years, and suffered martyrdom under Nero (a.d. 67). 1 We say, on the contrary, that he was never Bishop of Rome ; but that we follow our best divines when we admit that he may have come to Rome, and there suffered martyrdom. If he had visited or resided any length of time at Rome before the year 58, we might naturally expect to find his visit or residence referred to in the Acts of the Apostles or in the Epistle to the Romans, which was written in that year ; especially when we remember that the foimer minutely exhibits St. Peter's life and work in Judsea, and tells us how St. Paul came to Rome, and how he passed his two years there, and that in the sixteenth chapter of the latter St. Paul sends affectionate salutations to many persons in the Roman Church far inferior to him. But we cannot discover a single reference to his visit in either of those documents. Moreover, the words addressed by the Jews at Rome to St. Paul when he came as a prisoner there (a.d. 61) — "We desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest : for as concerning this sect, we know that every- where it is spoken against " 2 — evince an ignorance of the nature of Christianity altogether inconsistent with the supposition that St. Peter, the apostle of the circumcision, had lived and laboured among them. We know that during his residence at Rome St. Paul wrote the Epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon; 1 Eusebius, " Ecclesiast. Hist. " book ii. cap. xiv. xv. 2 Acts xxviii. 2i. SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY. 3 but in not one of them do we find the least reference to St. Peter's presence in that city. He was released from his im- prisonment a.d. 63, and was soon afterwards doomed to a second imprisonment at Rome, during which he wrote his second Epistle to Timothy shortly before his martyrdom. In this Epistle, however, there is no reference to St. Peter's pre- sence or ministry in Rome. We are aware, indeed, that the Babylon in 1 Peter v. 13, from which, he wrote that epistle a.d. 60, 1 is supposed by some to be Rome ; but there is this objection to that supposition, that in no apostolical Epistle has a place a figurative name except in St. Paul's allegory, where, though at the time professing himself an allegorist.he takes care to explain that "this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia^ and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children." 2 Moreover, the countries mentioned in the address of the Epistle — " Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia " — are enumerated from east to west, in the order which the apostle would naturally have given if he wrote from the literal Babylon. We conclude, therefore, that if St. Peter ever came to Rome at all, he must have done so in the short interval between the date of St. Paul's second Epistle to Timothy and his death a.d. 67. But even this visit cannot be proved. 3 The Papacy, in fact, derives its origin from a residence and a presidency of which there is not the least contemporary evidence. 4 1 "Journal of Sacred Literature," vol. v. pp. 314, 315. 2 Gal. iv. 25. 3 "Bibliotheca Sacra," January, 1859. The most credible of the ancient testimonies, that of Dionysius of Corinth, places St. Petei's arrival at Rome in the year 66, one year before his death. 4 The author of the story of Peter's abode and bishopric at Rome was Papias,, whpse works have been lost. The testimonies of the Fathers who speak of it are in various points contradictory ; and the entire silence of others who must have spoken of it if it had been a fact, surely leads to our conclusion that Peter did not found the Church at Rome, and never was bishop in that city. 4 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. We can prove also that the Bishops of Rome did not possess during the early ages of the Church those prero- gatives which the doctors of the Roman Catholic Church have assigned to them. No distinction existed between them and other bishops which cannot be explained by the greatness of the imperial city. In the canon of the second General Council, the first Council of Constantinople, in the year 381. which is thus expressed: "Let the Bishop of Constantinople have the precedence of honour next to the Bishop of Rome, because it is the new Rome" — it is clearly implied that Rome has the precedence, not because it derived any right from the first of the apostles, but because it was the original seat of empire. It would seem that, by the advice and assistance of his neighbours, the Bishop of Rome was induced and enabled to begin his career of aggrandisement. The bishops of the Roman Campagna aided in fostering in his mind that idea of pre-eminence which at length led him to arrogate to himself the attributes of deity. The want of an intelligent adviser led them to apply to him in circumstances of trial and perplexity. This application seems to have been considered as an acknow- ledgment that they were subject to his spiritual supremacy. For some time his views were very limited. A circumstance which was conducive to the interests of the Papacy was that the earlier Popes were inferior men. If they had possessed capacious intellect to conceive, and indomitable energy to carry into effect, vast designs, they would have awakened the jealousy of the civil power. Thus the Papacy would have perished in its birth. But at first the Pope did not extend his view beyond the territory adjacent to Rome. At length, however, a wider field of ambition was seen opening before him. Rome was sitting a queen among the nations. She was the arbiter of their temporal destinies. Why should not her bishop be die SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY. 5 Head of the Churches of Christendom ? Why should he not x be considered as their spiritual dictator ? Many, fascinated by this idea, willingly aided him in the work of usurpation. We find, indeed, that there were not wanting thdse who entered an indignant protest against his assumptions, and who were able to prevent him from carrying his ambitious designs into effect. Victor, Bishop of Rome (190-202), endeavoured to exclude the Asiatic Churches from com- munion with the Roman Church, because they differed from him as to the time of keeping Easter; but he was compelled by the general voice of the Church to recede from the position which he had endeavoured to occupy. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, even when he was manifestly in the wrong, successfully resisted Stephen, Bishop of Rome (253-257), who had broken off communion with him and the Asiatic Churches, because they disallowed sectarian baptism, and asserted his perfect equality with him. 1 We come to the conclusion that the Pope's pretensions were not admitted in those days from the sixth canon of the first Nicene Council, a.d. 325, which was occasioned by the schism of Meletius, an ambitious bishop in Egypt, who had ordained bishops without the consent of the metropo- litan Bishop of Alexandria. The canon is thus expressed : " Let the ancient customs prevail that are in Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis ; that the Bishop of Alexandria have power over them all, forasmuch as the Bishop of Rome hath also the like custom. In like manner, in Antioch and all the other provinces, let the privileges be preserved to the Churches." There is no idea here of a special divine pre- rogative belonging to Rome. It appears also plainly from this canon that limits were affixed to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, otherwise it would be palpably absurd to quote him as an example for affixing limits to other 1 Cyprian, Epistle lxxv. 6 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Churches. It is true, indeed, that we find nothing expressly- said respecting the limits of the provinces of the Bishops of Rome and Antioch. The reason, however, is that the case of the Bishop of Alexandria only was at that time under the consideration of the Council. The sense of the canon is obvious. It is that, in accordance with an ancient custom, the Bishop of Alexandria was to enjoy the same power in his province as the Bishops of Antioch and Rome respec- tively in their provinces. Thus, then, it appears plainly that during the first three centuries the Bishop of Rome was not recognised as the Head of the Churches of Christendom. In the last part of the fourth century a system began to prevail which was the means of adding greatly to the power of the Bishop of Rome. As formerly, during the high and palmy days of the empire, in all difficult matters relating to the body politic, so now, in its decline, in those relating to the Church, applications were made to Rome for advice and assistance from every part of the world. The letters sent in reply, at first expressed in mild and moderate language, afterwards assumed the tone of arbitrary mandates, in which the direst penalties were denounced on those who set them at defiance. Each new concession led to a new encroach- ment on the spiritual jurisdiction of other bishops. An application made to the Bishop of Rome for concurrence in judgments pronounced by particular Churches was construed into an admission that he was, in virtue of his descent from St. Peter, the spiritual dictator of Christendom. 1 Again, appeals addressed to him by bishops or presbyters in their differences, and applications from monarchs to interfere in their quarrels, were made the occasion of asserting a right 1 See the language addressed by Innocent I. (402-407), who applied himself with great zeal to advance the power of his see, to the African bishops when they asked him to join in the sentence which they had ' passed on Pelagius and Celestius. Innoc ap. August. Epist. 181 SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY. 7 to decide by his own arbitrary will, not only the disputes of individuals, but also the controversies by which the Church was rent asunder. Thus Zosimus, Bishop of Rome in 417, put a wrong interpretation upon a canon of the Council of Sardica, held 343-44 or 347, which he falsely asserted to be a canon of the Council of Nicaea, in order to establish his right to entertain an appeal made to him by an African presbyter against his own bishop. 1 As other Bishops of Rome have appealed to this canon in support of their pre tensions, it may be as well to show that they cannot rest upon it their claims to receive appeals. In that Council it was proposed that, if it pleased the charity of the assembled fathers, bishops who differed among themselves might appeal to Julius, Bishop of Rome, who might appoint bishops from the appellant's province, and, if he thought fit, legates representing himself, to settle the matter. This, however, was a privilege conferred on Julius himself be- cause he had always been found on the orthodox side, and was not to be granted to his successors in the see of Rome. It is evident, too, that he could not call these causes before him from* another tribunal; that he could only receive appeals, and that he was not to have any voice in the decision of them. Moreover, the expression, " If it please your charity," shows very plainly that the fathers might, if they had chosen, have refused their assent to this proposi- tion, and establishes the fact that the Bishops of Rome had not been constituted because they were in succession from Peter, arbiters of the controversies of Christendom. We see, then, that gradually the Popes obtained addi- tional power. Those who at first opposed them at length submitted to their will. The Churches of Africa were willing at first to admit that the Church of Rome was en- titled to high honour on account of its connexion with the 1 Migne, Patrol, xx. 755- 8 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. apostles, but they objected to the assumption of supremacy over them. 1 At last, however, the Bishops of those Churches — who gave a plain proof of their independence of Rome, by refusing, till Pelagius and Celestius had revoked their errors, to comply with the demand of Zosimus for a repeal of the sentence of condemnation which they had passed on them, and who, when he 2 andCelestine I.,3 Pope in 422, brought forward the canon of Sardica in support of their claims, denied the right of any foreign Church to interfere with them, and adduced the genuine canon of Nicasa, which gave each provincial council full authority over their own affairs — in the .middle of the fifth century acknowledged the Pope's authority, because they wished to obtain his support against the Arian invaders of their country. The removal of the seat of empire to Constantinople, at the beginning of the fourth century, had aided him greatly in carrying his ambitious projects into effect. The next event which aug- mented his authority was the removal of the civil govern- ment from Rome to Ravenna by Honorius, the Western emperor. He was, in the absence of both of them, invested with political importance. He was compelled to consult in peace and war the safety of the city. Every year the advantage derived by him from the abandonment of Rome by the emperors became more and more manifest. The Eastern emperor possessed the power of deciding the fate, and of dictating the faith, of the Bishops of Constantinople, but the Bishops of Rome were becoming independent sovereigns. They possessed influence too, not only as the bishops of that city, which was still considered the capital of the world, but also as the "alleged successors of St. Peter, their lineal descent from whom was, at the beginning of the fifth century, an accredited article of Christianity. Their dignity 1 Zozomen's " Ecclesiastical History," book ii. cap. 8. ? Labbe, Concil. ii. p. 1675. 3 Celest. Epist. 2 ; Migne, 1. SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY. 9 had risen in the estimation of the world in consequence of their freedom from those indignities to which the great prelates of the East had been subjected. They had not mingled in personal affrays, endured bodily violence, or been punished with death, exile, or excommunication. The feuds, too, between the rival patriarchs of the East, on re- ligious or political questions, aided the progress of Rome towards supremacy. The alliance of the Bishop of Rome was of the greatest consequence to those who were, en- gaged in them, which they were willing to purchase by the admission of a right of interference in their concerns. Those feuds tended also to impress the minds of men with a conviction of the importance of one Head of the Church, of one supreme arbiter of controversies. The regularity of their succession, and their freedom also from heresy when other bishops were constantly departing from the faith, contributed greatly to increase their influence throughout the Christian world, not only during the early ages of the Church, but also during those which followed Constantine's conversion. The barbarous nations also, on their irruption into the Roman empire, augmented their power, for they brought with them from the woods and marshes of Germany the same superstitious veneration for the Pope with which they formerly regarded the chief ministers of their own idolatrous religion. The clergy also continued to be for a long time of Roman descent. Thus that unbroken unity was preserved, the centre of which was Rome. The principle, too, of the unity of the Church as one spiritual communion, independent of place, time, or govern- ment, which was brought forward in the third century, and which, on the dissolution of the Western, empire, when its provinces were broken into separate and hostile states, became advantageous by introducing, through a common belief, the feeling of common interests, gave birth to another, 10 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. that the one Body could have only one Head, and so pre- pared the- way for the establishment of Rome's spiritual supremacy. The long series of undistinguished Popes was at length broken by Leo I., 1 surnamed the Great (440-467), who proved himself the benefactor of his country by boldly confronting Attila, " the scourge of God," and persuading ' him to forego his purpose of laying waste its fertile plains with fire and sword, 2 and who a second time, 3 by his powerful mediation, greatly mitigated the horrors of the sack of Rome by the armed battalions of Genseric, king of the Vandals. Leo was unquestionably a man of commanding genius and eloquence, and he strained every nerve to promote the exaltation of the Papacy. He persuaded himself that in the course which he pursued he was influenced by the highest and holiest motives, but we fear, that he cannot be acquitted of the charge of seeking to gratify an inordinate ambition.* He had the effrontery to assert, in direct con- tradiction to the truth of history, that the pretensions of his see were founded on rules which had been~transmitted from apostolic times, 5 and in the case of an appeal from the metropolitan jurisdiction of Hilary, Bishop of Aries, to declare that Rome had always received appeals from the province of Gaul. Leo, notwithstanding the inflexible re- sistance of Hilary, proceeded to annul his sentence. He also procured from the Emperor Valentinian III. a law supposed to have been dictated by Leo himself, in which he strongly declares the primacy of the see of Rome, and asserts that nothing should be done in opposition to its 1 For Leo I. see Baronius, an. 440-61, passim. 2 Thierry, i. 217, ■ et seq. 3 Gibbon, iii. 288-291. 1 Barrow, in his treatise on the Pope's Supremacy, p . 524, calls him " this vixenly Pope." s See his ninth epistle to Dioscorus, Bishop of Alexandria. Migne, liv. SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY. II authority. 1 Thus the Pope's power over bishops was es- tablished not by a divine gift, but by a law of the Emperor of the West. But he could not- prevent the Council sum- moned to meet at .Chalcedon in 451, for the purpose of condemning the errors of Eutyches, from reaffirming the canon of the Council of Constantinople, in 381, that the see of Constantinople was the second in the empire, and was to be supreme over the ' Eastern Churches ; or from asserting the superiority of the Church of Rome to it, not because it was founded by St. Peter, but because it was the more ancient city. He could not compel the members to receive his " Letter to Flavian " as the standard of orthodoxy without that close and critical examination which was in- consistent with the idea that he was the. infallible arbiter of controversies. S.till we cannot doubt that Leo did on this occasion advapce the authority of his see, for his letter was adopted and his legates for the first time presided over the deliberations of the assembled fathers. The Papacy advanced for 140 years after Leo I., not only in its pretensions, but also in the possession of power. The Popes had, at the end of that time, established a re- ligious dominion over every Western country. Felix III., Pope hi' 484, speaks of himself as the Vicar of St. Peter. " Gelasius, who succeeded Felix in 492, asserted for the first time the supremacy of the cle»gy in religious matters. "There are two powers," he said, " which rule the world, the imperial and the pontifical. The priesthood is the greater : it has to render an account on the last day for the acts of kings."3 The deposition of the last emperor of the West by the barbarian Odoacer, in the year 468, and the subsequent establishment of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy under 1 The date of this was a.d. 445, and it is printed as No. xi. among Leo's Epistles in Migne, liv. * Epist. xii. Migne, lviii. 3 Ad Anastas. Mansi. vii. 12 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. the enlightened Theodoric, tended to the advancement of the Papacy ; for the superstitious awe with which .the Pope was regarded by the barbarians gave him a still stronger hold on the allegiance of Western Christendom. During the reign of the Emperor Justinian, who wrested the sceptre of Italy from the Ostrogoths in the year 536, the Papacy was shorn of the power and grandeur which it had begun to display before the nations. Vigilius, who held the see of Rome from the year 537 to 555, was compelled to repair to Constantinople, where he disgraced his office by shameful vacillation and tergiversation, and where he was subjected to the greatest humiliation, because he would not fulfil the engagement into which, in order to obtain the Papacy, he had entered with the imperial power. Never was there a period during which the Popes occupied a more humiliating position. They were obliged to obey the mandates not only of the emperor, but even of his representative, the exarch of Ravenna. Still we doubt not that on the election of Gregory I., in the year 590, the Papacy occupied a much higher position than at the beginning of our history. Ap- plication was often made to Rome as before in all important and difficult matters. The Bishops of Rome had also added to their power by coming forward in the absence of the emperor, and placing themselves at the head of that national movement which had for its object to beat back from Italy the armies of the Lombard invaders. By his unceasing correspondence with the sovereigns of the Western kingdoms and their ministers, as well as with the hierarchy, in which claims hitherto disputed, or half preferred, assumed a more definite form, and were enforced in the language of devotion, arrogance, or adulation, Gregory the Great, at the close of the sixth century, promoted more than any of his predecessors the progress of Rome's eccle- siastical authority. 1 His letters, more than 800 in number, 1 Neander, v. 162. SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY. . 1 3 exhibit him as free from that unscrupulous ambition which casts a dark shade over the characters of Leo I., Gregory VII., Innocent III., and Boniface VIII. ; as struggling with difficulties which seemed almost insurmountable ; as a man of liberal and comprehensive views, full of sympathies for the troubles of othersj devoted to the cause of the Church, and anxious for the propagation of the faith through the length and breadth 'of the habitable world. His minute supervision of 'every department of public business; his omnipresent energy, which was such that he was at one and the same time holding correspondence with kings and emperors on matters involving the best interests of the Church, or planning, military operations, which had for their object to beat back the Lombard hordes from the plains of his native land, or directing the management of some distant farm belonging to the see, or arranging for the relief of those whose tattered raiment scarcely afforded them any protec- tion against the wintry blast which was sweeping over the landscape ; his zealous efforts to secure the planting of the standard of the cross in districts which had heretofore bowed to the sceptre of the prince of darkness ; his administration of discipline ; his superintendence of vacant dioceses ; the numerous wor,ks which he published — all this varied activity, all this disinterested labour, contributed greatly to the exalt- ation of the Papacy. 1 His quarrel with John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople, because he assumed the title of ecumenical, which he irreverently supposed to mean universal, Bishop ; his declaration that it was " a proud and foolish word," and that the assumption of it was an imitation. of the devil, shows us very plainly that he did not, like his successors, wish to be considered the sole and supreme Bishop of the Christian Church. 2 At the same time, the 1 See Gibbon, iv. 370, 371 ; Neander, v. 156. ■ Gregoni Magni Epistolse, lib. iv. ep. 31-34 ; lib. vi. ep. 30. 14 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. appointment of vicars, often deacons, in distant provinces, who were commissioned to call bishops to account for any dereliction of duty, shows a determination to set aside the rights of bishops, and to assert the universal authority of the Pope, which is one of the distinguishing features of the Roman Catholic system. From the writings of Gregory it appears that a great change had been made as to the grounds on which the Church of Rome rested her claims to supremacy. For- merly it was said that she ought to be supreme because the empire with which she was connected extended its sway to earth's remotest boundaries. But when the bar- barians had robbed her ~of one province after another, a different reason was given for her claim. At a time when the fortunate possessor of the bones and tattered garments of the saints was supposed to hold an infallible cure for all diseases, both temporal and spiritual, and a certain means of defence against the assaults of the powers of darkness, we cannot be surprised to hear that men should have rer garded with superstitious veneration a city where the chief of the apostles was supposed to have breathed out his soul through that rude wrench at which humanity shudders, and where his ashes shall lie in sacred repose till, at the blast of the archangel's trumpet, the sepulchres of earth shall burst open. She felt, therefore, that she should strike deeper awe into the superstitious multitude by asserting that her bishops occupied the chair of St. Peter than by connecting herself with An empire, the glory of which existed only in the memory of days gone by. We cannot ascribe this change to any one individual. On the contrary, we ,find that 200 years before the age of Gregory, the succession of the Popes from St. Peter was received as a fundamental article of Christianity. We know, however, that by being the first to assert that the power of the keys confided to St. SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY. 15 Peter descended through a long and uninterrupted chain to the Bishops of Rome, his successors in that see, rather than to the body of the bishops, the sharers in one indivisible episcopacy ; and by his distribution of certain keys, endowed, as he was not ashamed to assert, with supernatural virtue, he contributed more than any of his predecessors to the supremacy which Rome afterwards claimed over the nations of the earth. 1 To Gregory belongs the merit of having sent Augustine to raise the standard of the cross among the heathen con- querors of Great Britain. We must, however, remember that the Church was not planted at this time, but at an earlier period, and that it continued to flourish until the Saxons, who had been called in by the British to defend them against the Picts and Scots, turned their arms against the aboriginal inhabitants of the country. This invasion naturally affected the fortunes of the British Church. The Saxons immediately commenced an attack on Christianity. They overthrew her altars, and levelled her sacred edifices with the ground. The ancient Church retired to the moun tain fastnesses of Wales, or towards the borders of Scotland, where she found a secure asylum from the assaults of her barbarian adversaries. Undoubtedly the reproach rests n the British Church, at least of that part which took refuge in Wales, of having made no effort for the conversion of the idolatrous Saxons. She had not sufficient charity to enlighten the paganism of her conquerors. Gregory was, as we have said, the first to dispense to them the blessings of Christianity. Our gratitude is, however, alloyed by the thought that he achieved a triumph over the independence of the ancient British Church, and that he imposed upon her the yoke of that Papal domination from which she was not delivered till the time of the blessed Reformation. ' Epist vi. 6 ; vii. 28, and elsewhere. 1 6 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. The admirers of Gregory have endeavoured in vain to defend the adulatory strain in which he addressed that monster in human shape, Phocas, who had dipped his hands in the blood of the Emperor Maurice and his family, and had usurped the imperial dignity. 1 He transferred his allegiance to Phocas, because Maurice had offended him in various ways, but chiefly by his unwillingness to prevent the Patriarch of Constantinople from assuming the title of Ecumenical Bishop, which, as we have just seen, Gregory did not rightly understand. Boniface III., however, taking advantage of the partiality and favour shown to him by Phocas when he was a nuncio from Gregory, persuaded him, in the year 606 or 607, to issue an edict conferring on himself that very title of " universal bishop," on the assumption of which his illustrious predecessor had pronounced a distinct and emphatic condemnation. 2 This concession of a blood-stained usurper must be regarded as a landmark in the history of the Papacy, and as constituting the foundation of its spiritual supremacy. Thus, then, at the very time when Mohammed, in the cave of Hera, was forming his religious system — that compound of lust, cruelty, and fatalism, which led its disciples to smite down thousands upon thousands of human beings in their desolating progress, by holding out to them the prospect of a paradise where those who had fought and fallen gloriously in war should be advanced to the highest place, where they should have for their com- panions houris, females of unfading beauty, should be regaled with the choicest delicacies, and drink the richest wines out of golden goblets — we witness the formal esta- blishment of a power which Mohammedanism served to strengthen; for it recommended, through the dismemberment of Christendom which it caused, and through foreign con- 1 Gregorii Epistolae, lib . xi. ep. i. 36. 2 Baronius, an. 602, u. 27, and an. 606, passim. SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY. 17 quest, the importance of union beneath a central authority, and it swept away three rival patriarchs in the East, who disputed the Papal supremacy. It resembled it also in this particular, that it ministered to the gratification of the corrupt passions and propensities of human nature. As none of Gregory's successors for more than a hundred years after his death displayed vigour and ability equal to his own, and as they were obliged, being subjects of the emperor, to obey his arbitrary mandates, it cannot be said that during that period they obtained any material acqui- sitions of ecclesiastical power. The Popes of that age have, for the most part, gone down unhonoured and unremem- bered to their last narrow home. Rome would willingly, if possible, blot out of her calendar the name of Honorius I. (635-640) who was guilty of fundamental error, inasmuch as he allowed the existence only of a divine will in the Saviour ; and she would, if possible, forget the case of Martin I. (649-654), which shows very plainly the nature of the relations at that time existing between the Pope and the emperor. The former because he would not obey an edict issued by the latter, forbidding all controversy on the subject of monotheism, was dragged through the city of Constantinople with an iron collar round his neck, and immured in a dungeon, where he nearly perished from cold and bodily infirmities. 1 But notwithstanding these hin- drances to its progress, the Papal power slowly advanced. Applications were constantly made for counsel to the Holy See. We have a proof of the truth of this assertion also in the constant adoption of Roman usages by the Churches. Take, for instance, the case of the saints of Iona — that bleak and lonely island, beaten by the surges of the Atlantic, where the traveller, standing amid time-worn ruins, and amid scenes the same in their main features as when they lived 1 Baronius, an. 633, n. 34 et seq. and an. €50, n. 15 et seg. 3 l8 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. and moved in them more than 1200 years ago, finds the love of antiquity, natural to all unperverted minds, intensify- ing his admiration of that Christian zeal which led them, regardless of trial, difficulty, and danger, to persevere with so much energy in diffusing the blessings of a Christianity not borrowed from Rome, that in a space of time, almost without precedent in the history of the world, the rude in- habitants of the north of Scotland bowed down before the Crucified. These spiritual heroes, having engaged in contro- versy at the Council at Whitby in 664, with certain ecclesi- ' astics from Rome, on various points on which they differed from them, especially on the time of keeping Easter, sus- tained a defeat, and were obliged consequently to withdraw from England, because the Roman champions, alleging the authority of St. Peter in support of points which he had never considered, had induced Oswy, King of Northumber- land, who was prudently resolved not to offend the door- keeper of heaven, to give his verdict against them. 1 The conversion of Germany in this period of history ministered greatly to the advancement of the Papal supre- macy. Winifred, or Boniface, of Crediton in Devonshire, was inflamed with an ardent desire to plant the standard of the Cross in regions where hitherto it had never been un- furled. He began his missionary labours among the Germans in 720. Following in the rear of Charles Martel and Pepin, he was very successful in the conversion of the nations, which, by their victories, they had rendered tri- butary to their dominion. 2 But we regret to say that he sought his credentials from Gregory II., and that he went forth bound by a solemn oath to reduce his converts to the 1 Beda, lib. iv. c. 25. 2 " Tuo conamine et Caroli principis " — " By your efforts and those of the Emperor Charles " — was the language of Gregory III. to Boniface (Bonifacii Opera, edit. Giles, i. 97). SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY. 1 9 obedience of St. Peter and his successors. 1 By him first that obedience was preached as an essential and funda- mental article of Christianity. He undoubtedly prepared the way for that alliance between the Popes and the de- scendants of Charles Martel, which, as we shall see directly, has affected the destinies of the Papacy through many successive generations. The establishment of the Papal supremacy by Phocas, and the conversion of Germany in which it was first preached, may be considered as constituting the termination of the first epoch of the Papacy. We are now to contemplate Rome as aiming at temporal dominion, and as endeavouring to , place her feet on the necks of the prostrate monarchs of Christendom. 1 Guizot, ii. 173. EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. CHAPTER II. TEMPORAL DOMINION. FROM THE ELECTION OF GREGORY II. IN 715, TO THE CONCORDAT OF WORMS IN IT22. The separation of the East from the West — Pepin and Charlemagne assist the Pope against the Lombards, and give them a principality — The greatness of Charlemagne — His coronation by Leo III. — Creation of the Holy Roman Empire — The design of the Popes to usurp dominion over kings — The degradation of the Papacy — Otto I., Otto II., Otto III., and Henry III. appoint Popes, and attempt to reform the Papacy — The nature of the connection between the' Papacy and the empire — Alteration in the mode of the election of the Pope^s — The vast designs and energy of Gregory VII. — His struggle with Henry IV. about the right of investiture — Account of a similar contest in England between Anselm and Henry I. — Concordat of Worms — Steady growth of the Papal power, which was aided by the power of excommunication and interdict, the "Donation of Constantine, " the " False Decretals," and the Crusades. Gregory II. (715-731), of- whom Barrow says, "He effectually did cause the Romans and Italians to secede from their allegiance to the emperor," may be considered as the father of the doctrine which was brought to maturity under Gregory VII., 1 that the Pope ought to reign supreme over the monarchs as well as over the Churches of Christen- dom. The advance of Mohammedanism was the remoter 1 He told Leo "that all the kingdoms of the world do hold St. Peter for an earthly god." "This," says Barrow, "is the highest source to which this extravagant authority can be traced." See Barrow on the Pope's Supremacy. TEMPORAL DOMINION. 21 cause of his emancipation. He must ere long have been free, because the emperor was obliged to employ his avail- able military resources to defend himself from the followers of the false prophet who were surrounding the Byzantine Empire. He would thus have been left without the power to protect the exarchate of Ravenna. But there can be no doubt that the decree passed by the Emperor Leo for the destruction' of images was the immediate cause of the separation of the East from the West, for by it he excited the hostility of his subjects. It is true, indeed, that the Eastern portion of them, desirous of conciliating his favour, at length submitted to the will of his son and successor, Con- stantine Copronymus, who inherited the religious opinions of his father. The assembled fathers of Constantinople passed a decree for the suppression of the worship of images, but' the laity in the West expressed their utter abhorrence of the impiety which levelled a deadly blow at "them. They could not sympathize with that burning zeal against image worship which, Leo firmly believed, had caused God to enter on his strange work of punishing, and to send the Mohammedans as the executioners of His vengeance on an idolatrous Christendom. Gregory II., who was full of zeal for images, fomented the indignation just referred to. This was his principal motive for beginning the contest with the emperor. He longed also to deliver the Popes from their degradation as subjects of Constantinople. He hesitated, indeed, for some time about casting off the yoke of the emperor, because he, did not at first see who remained to defend him from his enemies. The Lombards were threaten- ing to reduce Italy to subjection. At length he, in 730, and his successor, Gregory III., in 732, summoned Councils, intended as a defiance to the emperor, in which anathemas were fulminated against all destroyers of images. The emperor sent a fleet and army into the Adriatic Gulf in 733 22 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. to reduce the Pope and Italy to obedience ; but the former encountered a violent storm, and many of the vessels were lost. Henceforth he abandoned the exarchate to its fate. His real power in Italy soon ceased altogether, and the Pope became sole master in Rome. Thus no one remained, to arrest the progress of the Lombard towards supreme do- minion. The Pope Zacharias indeed, simply by the awe with which he inspired Luitprand, the monarch of the Lombards, not only succeeded in the year 742 in inducing him to abandon his design against Rome, but also in turning him aside from the exarchate of Ravenna. Astolph, one of his successors, was not inspired with the same reverence for the Papal dignity. The independence of Rome was in danger. Italy was about to become a Lombard kingdom. The future destinies of the Papacy were trembling in the balance. The Pope was likely to become the subject of a Lombard sovereign. In this case he would have sunk back to his spiritual functions, and would have been de- prived of that paramount authority which often enabled him to guide at will the course of events in the nations of Europe. But a mighty potentate was at hand to aid him in his extremity. Gregory II., and after him Gregory III., had already summoned Charles Martel, the sovereign of the Franks, to their assistance. These are the first steps to Papal aggrandizement, and show that the Popes are begin- ning to act as independent sovereigns. The 'negotiations were interrupted by the death of the two latter in 741. But Pepin, the son of Charles, was equally ready to aid Pope Zachary, the successor of Gregory, in the hour of danger.. The latter had already, having been first consulted by Pepin and the States on the lawfulness of the project, expressed an opinion in favour of the deposition, on account of his incapacity, of the phantom of loyalty, Childeric; and had TEMPORAL DOMINION. 23 intimated that Pepin, who really governed France with the humble title of mayor or duke, might be invested with the regal dignity. z Gregory VII., Innocent III., and Boniface VIII., are, however, altogether incorrect in assert- ing that Zachary had, by his own authority, deposed the last Merovingian king, and that in doing so he exercised a right belonging to his office ; for it is quite evident that his answer was not a command, but an opinion, and that Pepin was made king not by the Pope, but by the choice of his own countrymen. The Pope's opinion was, however, valuable, as it at once enabled him to take possession of theregal dignity. Pepin soon had the opportunity of showing his gratitude for the religious sanction thus given to his usurpation. When the Lombard was advancing against Rome, threatening to exterminate its inhabitants. Stephen III., in 752, in an agony of fear, ventured on the impious step of forging a letter, in the name of St. Peter, to summon him to his assistance. St. Peter is thus made to express himself : " I, Peter the apostle, protest, admonish, conjure you, the most Christian kings, P^din, Charles, and Carloman; . . . the Mother of God likewfie adjures, admonishes, and commands you ; she, together with the ^thrones and dominions, and all the hosts of heaven, to save the beloved city of Rome from the de- tested Lombards. If you hasten, I, Peter the Apostle, promise you my protection in this life and in the next. . . . To me you owe all your victories. Obey, and obey speedily, and through my prayers our Lord Jesus Christ will give you, in this life, length of days, security, victory ; and in the life to come will multiply His blessings upon you among His saints and angels." 2 So great was the credulity of the times that this letter produced the desired effect. It ran like 1 Baronius, an. 751, n. 1—9. * Muratori, an. 752 ; Mansi, sub an. 755. ■ 24 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. wildfire through the land. The aation of the Franks flew to arms to obey, as they thought, St. Peter and the Mother of God. Pepin placed himself at their head. They crossed the Alps, swept like a mighty torrent over the plains of Italy, defeated the Lombards, and compelled them to evacuate the contested territory. The Pope, Stephen, having been successful in one forgery, then ventured on another. He persuaded Pepin to cede. to him the city of Rome, with the exarchate of Ravenna, which he had wrested from the Lombards, exhibiting the instru- ment known as the Donation of Constantine, to which I shall refer more particularly hereafter, designed to persuade him that he was only confirming a grant made by the first Chris- tian emperor. Thus the Popes first acquired the rank of temporal princes in Italy in the year 754. When, on the death of Pepin, the Lombards, in the year 774, rose in insurrection against the Church, Pepin's greater son, Charlemagne, rushed down upon them like a mighty, whirlwind. Very soon their kingdom in the north of Italy was overthrown, and the kingdom of the Franks was estab- lished on its ruins. He increased his father's grant by some accessions of territory. Like Pepin, he was honoured with the title of Patriarch of Rome, which made him Head and guardian of the Roman Republic. The great merit of this illustrious man was that he endeavoured to -weld into a compact body the nations over which he ruled, extending from the Ebro to the Raab, and from the Benevento to the Eyder. 1 The best proof of his merits is to be found in the disorders which prevailed after his death; in the strains of the poets, who described in glowing verse deeds of heroism in comparison with which the achievements of the elder age fade into utter insignificance ; in the loud lament which issued from the lips of many when, at the end of the ninth 1 Eginhardus, "Vita Caroli Magni," passim. TEMPORAL DOMINION. 25 century, oppression laid waste the fairest provinces of Europe ; and in 'the fervent prayer which they breathed for the restora- tion of the golden age when that heaven-descended emperor chained down the evil spirit of anarchy, united, the nations of the earth beneath his sceptre 1 , and asserted the majesty of the law throughout his extensive dominions. A mighty conqueror, unlike the common herd of conquerors, he laboured to diffuse among the nations which he conquered the blessings of Christianity and civilization. The massive edifice erected by him, remarkable for its elaborate adorn- ment and stately towers, which men delighted to contem- plate when it was bathed during his reign in the golden sun- light, was indeed swept away after his death by a mighty hurricane. But the broad and strong fortifications remained uninjured, on which, though the builders were much hindered in their work, and, like those who reared the walls of Jerusalem, with one of their hands wrought in the work, while with the other they held a weapon to beat back the foe, they erected imposing structures in; different lands, which continued to grow, by the addition of fresh materials, through successive generations. When, in the year 800, this illustrious monarch visited Rome, the Pope, Leo III., determined to carry into effect a design which he had long been revolving in his mind. The present seemed to be a fittings opportunity of asserting his independence of the East, which had long ceased to protect him. The Empress Irene, after the unnatural murder of her son, had just usurped the throne of Constantinople. ■ He thought it all intolerable evil that the Byzantine factions should impose such a ruler on the original seat of empire. He knew that the memory of the Roman empire, which had nominally ceased to exist in the West of Europe after the deposition of Romulus Augustulus in the year 476, when the Emperor of Constantinople became its sole Head, 26 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. was still preserved in laws and customs, and in the con- tinued existence of many of its institutions. He now de- termined to revive this high dignity. A mighty monarch was near at hand who had been valiant for the truth upon the earth, who had extended the boundaries of the Church, and had rendered many nations tributary to his dominion. We need not therefore be surprised to find that he should have determined to cast off his nominal allegiance to the Eastern empire, and to invest, this illustrious - monarch with the purple and diadem of the Caesars. On Christmas Day, 800, the Pope was seated on his throne, surrounded by his clergy, in a stately temple, where now, surmounted by its " vast and wondrous dome," rises " Christ's mighty shrine " above the supposed tomb of St. Peter. Charlemagne was kneeling in prayer before the high altar. Suddenly the Pope rose from his seat, anointed hiin with the oil of consecration, administered to him the coro- nation oath, in which he pledged himself to guard the faith and privileges of the Church, and placed on his brow the imperial diadem. 1 In the shout which rang through the building — " Long life and victory to Charles ! the most pious Augustus, crowned by God, the great and pacific emperor of the Romans '' — was announced the accomplishment of an event which has affected, for good or for evil, generations then unborn. If Luther had not witnessed Tetzel's shameless sale of indulgences, some other spiritual hero, with " strength surpassing nature's law " would have risen up, who would have shaken to its foundation the dominion of the Papacy. If Columbus had not ploughed the mighty waste of waters, some other mariner would have brought the riches of America before the view of the inhabitants of Europe. But we do not make too strong an assertion when we say that if Charlemagne had not assumed the imperial diadem, the 1 Baror.ius, an. 77^-74, 77r, 800, fassim. TEMPORAL DOMINION. ■ 27 course of events would have been different from what it has proved to be in the nations constituting the great European commonwealth. The effect of the restoration of this empire, afterwards officially called the Holy Roman Empire, was at once seen in the consolidation of the power of the emperor. "By establishing the sovereignty on the basis of the old Roman empire, it acquired something of the stability of ancient right." x Every member of the Church, too, of whatever nation he might be, owed allegiance to one who, in the hour of danger, had cast around her the shield of his protection. The assumption of this title also was a means of consoli- dating the numerous territories subject to his rule. The barbarians, when they descended like a mighty tor- rent upon the Roman empire, did not sweep away its time- honoured institutions. Their chiefs saw in the marvellous organization around them the means of controlling the rude warriors who marched beneath their banners. They re- garded the empire with fond affection, because, while it had destroyed the separate existence of their races, it had always endeavoured, to use the words of the immortal Virgil, "Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos." They reverenced it because its origin seemed to them lost in the depths of a remote antiquity. They shared also the belief with which the orators, as with fervid utterance, and the poets, as sweeping their lyres in spirit-stirring numbers, ' while " unborn ages crowded on their souls," they dis- coursed of the future glories of the Roman empire, had impressed the minds of the Romans themselves, that Rome was for ever to sit enthroned among the nations, and to extend her sway to earth's remote boundaries. They enter- 1 Milman's " Latin Christianity," vol. ii. p. 272. See also Eginhard, cap. 23. 28 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. tained the confident belief that the sun of imperial glory- had been only for a time shorn of his beams, and that ere long, rising in unclouded majesty, he would pour a flood of light over the dark places of Europe. The barbarians thus regarding everything Roman with awe and admiration, were ready to render obedience to Charlemagne, as the suc- cessor of Augustus. He did not, indeed, impose upon them the iron yoke of Justinian : in this case the Germans would have risen against their oppressor. On the contrary, he es- tablished free institutions among the conquered nations. His empire was Roman in form, Teutonic in reality. By his own vigorous personal action, and that of his officers, he strove successfully to revive the all-pervading influence of the Roman empire throughout his extensive dominions. But afterwards the possession of this dignity proved preju- dicial in the extreme to the best interests of Germany. The various expeditions of the emperors, to Italy, designed to. essert their imperial rights, and to effect the conquest of that country, during which their turbulent nobles, on the subju- gation of whom they ought to have concentrated all their energies, wrung from them one privilege after another, as the price of their assistance in them, as well as in their strug- gles with the Pope, greatly weakened their authority over them in Germany, and prepared the way for that disintegra- tion of the country into its various and conflicting States, which has been a source of weakness to it through' a long period of history. We shall see hereafter the effect which the Holy Roman Empire produced upon the Papacy. The Pope obtained now the recognition of a spiritual empire, commensurate with the secular empire of Charlemagne. He was, indeed, obliged to become one of his vassals. Yet surely there was no degra- dation in being subject to this mighty monarch; for as the sovereign of the trans-Alpine West, he had the pre-eminence TEMPORAL DOMINION. 29 over all other powers. " The Frankish alliance ; the disso- lution of the degrading connection- with the East; the magni- ficent donation; the acceptance of the imperial crown at the Pope's hands ; the visit to Rome, whether to protect the Pope from his unruly subjects or for devotional purposes — everything tended to throw a deepening mysterious majesty round the Pope, the more imposing according to the greater ' distance from which it was contemplated." 1 The assertion, however, of a right to bestow "the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them," showed that he was assuming the prerogatives of that arch-fiend over whom our Lord tri- umphed gloriously in the wilderness ; and by increasing the worldliness of the Papacy, contributed towards making it the supreme corruption of Christianity. The Popes had hitherto limited their ambition to the establishment of their ecclesiastical supremacy. But in the ninth and tenth centuries the principles on which it rested were applied by them to the support of the most insolent usurpations. Since .they were, as they imagined, the divinely constituted heads of the Church, they asserted that they had a right to advance the spiritual authority above the temporal, and attempted to usurp dominion over the monarchs of the earth. When they found that assemblies of bishops had • often, in the ninth century, which is called the age of the bishops, successfully interfered in the affairs of kingdoms, and that an assembly at Aix-la-Chapelle, in 842, had pro- ceeded so far as to authorize Charles the Bald and Lewis of Bavaria to deprive theit brother Lothaireofa portion of his dominions, they did not see why they should not assert a similar prerogative. The sons of Charlemagne lent them their aid in their audacious design. Lewis the Pious, as he was called, the successor of his illustrious father, when Pope Stephen IV. came into France to apologize for having as- 1 Milman's " Latin Christianity,'' vol. ii. p. 306. 30 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. sinned the Papacy without his consent, not only went out to meet him, and prostrated himself before him, but even con- sented, on the following Sunday, to receive at his hands the golden circlet of empire. After his death, the Popes con- stantly interfered in the quarrels of his sons, and gave their assistance to those who were most willing to acknowledge their right to confer the imperial dignity. Afterwards, Nicholas I. (Pope 858-867), of whom I shall speak more particularly hereafter, fulminated his anathemas against Lothaire, king of Lorraine, because he would not, in obedi- ence to his mandate, separate from his concubine, whom he had married after having repudiated his wife. This was the first instance in which the Pope tried his arms against a monarch. Adrian II., about 870, threatened Charles the Bald with interdict if he persevered in his design of seizing the vacant dominions of his nephew Lothaire, the undoubted inheritance of the Emperor Louis II:, as his brother, whose cause the Pope espoused with the greatest ardour. But sus- tained by the intrepidity of the celebrated Hincmar, arch- bishop of Rheims, he successfully resisted -this first attempt of Papal ambition to regulate the succession to kingdoms. 1 The world was not yet prepared for this assertion of secular power. John VIII. in 875 surpassed the celebrated Hilde- brand in the audacity of his pretensions. Having been bribed, with his senators, by Charles the Bald, who, having a ques- tionable title to the crown, was not disposed to be scrupu- lous as to the author of the gift, he asserted and exercised a right to confer upon him the imperial dignity. 2 * Hincmav, Qpera, ii. pp. 689, 695. 2 Mansi, xvii. 227, 230. This was the, age of Pope Joan, who was said to have succeeded Leo IV., a.d. 855. The story is, hat a young Englishwoman, having gone to Mentz, and afterwards to Fulda, formed an attachment at the latter seat of learning to a monk, with whom she eloped to Athens in male attire. She devoted herself in that city to ecclesiastical studies. She afterwards TEMPORAL DOMINION. 3 I The Decretal Epistles, the most remarkable of the Roman forgeries, of which I witl speak hereafter, brought forward about the year 855, contained within themselves everything requisite for the establishment of the full supremacy of the Popes over the Churches and sovereigns of Christendom. But this consummation was suspended by the degradation to which the Papacy now sank. During the period which followed the death of Charles the Fat, the last of the legitimate race of Charlemagne, in the year 887, while his empire, a prey to intestine com- motions, and weakened by the assaults of the barbarians, was rent asunder, and Italy — now the battle-field of con- tending princes, which for a time pretended to empire^was constantly summoning new sovereigns from beyond the Alps to assume the imperial dignity who had no real authority in the country, so that, in fact, the empire was in abeyance ; men, who were either insignificant, or who out- raged all laws, divine and human, were — through the removal of the superintendence of the emperor, the rule for asking whose consent to the choice of the clergy and people before came with her companion to Rome, where, having made herself very popular by lectures which she delivered, and obtained a high reputation for learning, she was elected, on >i vacancy, to the Papal chair. 'She reigned as Pope' for two years and a half, and died under circumstances which unmistakably revealed her sex. There is, however, no contemporary evidence for the existence of this Pope. Marianus Scotus, a devout monk of the eleventh century, first mentions her, (Edit. Basiled, 1559^.407). The judgment of Mosheim is probably correct. "Upon a deliberate and impartial view of this, whole matter, it will appear more than probable that some Unusual event must have happened at Rome, from which this story derived its origin ; because it is not probable, from any principles of moral evi- dence, that an event should be universally believed and related in the same manner by a multitude of historians during five centuries imme- diately succeeding its supposed date, if that event was absolutely desti- tute of foundation. But what it was that gave rise to this story has yet to be discovered, and is likely to remain so. " 32 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. his consecration, which had prevailed from early times, had given Christendom some control over the election of the supreme Pontiff— elevated to their high office by the petty princes who had risen up in Italy, and by the unprincipled nobility, the intriguing clergy, and the venal populace of the metropolis. Even shameless courtesans, Theodora and her daughters Marozia and Theodora, had influence enough to place their lovers and sons in the chair of St. Peter. 1 Whoever now obtained the mastery in Rome nominated the Pope. Many of those now appointed, after having en- joyed for a time their high dignity, were deposed, banished, or hurried away to prison, where they perished by the bowl of poison or the dagger of the assassin. The spiritual thunders during this period sounded faintly in the fir- mament. The Popes had neither leisure nor inclination to prosecute the schemes of their predecessors, which had for their object to elevate them to the pinnacle of worldly glory. The wonder is that the empire of the Papacy, being founded on reverence of opinion, should have survived the degradation of more than a century. But the fact was that the dogma that the Pope was the successor of St. Peter was so deeply fixed in the minds of the common herd of the people — being regarded as an article of faith as much as the ]ncarnation — that it served 'to reconcile them to, the greatest inconsistencies. At length a remedy for the evil was found. Otto I., who had given proof of his power by extending and consolidating the empire of Germany, having been invited by John XII. to revive his claim to the imperial crown and to terminate the reign of disorder in Italy and the metro- polis, descended on its plains with a force which bore down all opposition, and was crowned at Rome in the year 962. The Pope had asked him to come as an ally, but he soon 1 Luitprand, lib. ii. cap. 3. TEMPORAL DOMINION. 33 found that he was his master. One of his first acts was to depose Pope John on account of his vices, and to nominate a new Pope, Ueo VIII., under whom a Lateran Council yielded the Pojje an absolute veto on Papal elections. 1 He, commanded the election of another Pope, and his successors availed themselves of the power whenever they could do so. The Papacy was disposed of by his son Otto II., and by his grandson Otto III., who died in 1002. One of the Popes thus appointed was Gerbert, who assumed the title of Sylvester II. when he was elevated to the Pontificate in the year 999. He derived from the Arabian doctors in Spain a large part of that extensive and profound learning which has rendered his name illustrious. The Romans, however, in- dignant because their privilege to appoint the universal bishop was thus taken from them by the strong hand of a master, often, as soon as the imperial standards had, dis- appeared in the gorges of the Tyrol, deposed the Pope so nominated, and relapsed into their former condition of stormy independence. 2 From 1002 to 1046 the Papal chair was occupied by infamous men appointed by the Counts of Tusculum, who had bought the, venal people. Three Popes in succession from this family became Heads of Christendom. At last Henry III., obeying a summons from Rome in 1047, crossed the Alps, deposed three claimants of the Papacy, " three devils," as they are styled by an unceremonious 1 Luitprand, lib. vi. cap. 6-14. 8 John XIII. was deposed by an insurrection in 965, and banished to ' Cyprus, but was soon restored by Otho. Benedict VI. was murdered by the Romans in 973 at the instigation of the Consul Crescentius, under whom they had established a republic. John XV., in 985, was driven into exile, but was afterwards restored. Gregory V., in 997, was ejected by Crescentius, who installed another Pope. Otho, in return, hanged Crescentius, and gave up his Pontiff to be mutilated by the mul- titude. Baronius, art. 965-997. 4 34 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. contemporary, 1 and nominated three Germans in succes- sion, men of piety and learning, who began that reform which raised it from the deep abyss of the tenth century. 2 But his successors suffered from this disinterested zeal. Rising like giants from their recumbent posture, these Popes rent asunder the brazen walls, dismantled the ancient towers, and shook to its foundation the vast structure of imperialism. We shall now speak of that tremendous struggle between the empire and the Papacy which fills so large a space in the history of the Middle Ages. At first the Popes willingly submitted to the authority of the emperor, and considered his support as indispensable to the maintenance of their political existence. The duty of the emperor, from the time of the coronation of Charlemagne, when he was invested with the diadem of the Holy Roman Empire, was, according to the idea of those days, to defend the Roman Catholic Church, to wage war with heretics and unbelievers, and to plant the standard of the Cross in countries which had heretofore bowed -to the sceptre of the prince of dark- ness. At the time of Henry III. 's death, the Pope was considered to be the lawful subject of the emperor. But the secret of the Pope's strength was to be found in the fact that, while the election of the emperor by the German Diet gave the latter an undoubted right to the kingdom of Rome and Italy, his coronation in that capital by the Pope was considered as indispensable to the assumption of the imperial title.3 It was maintained, therefore, that he alone could impose conditions on the emperor. 'Besides, since the transference of the empire from the Greeks to the Germans had been prompted by a conviction of the in- 1 Benzo, iv. vii. 2 (in Pertz, "Monnmenta Germanise "). ' Baronius, 1046-1049, passim. a Planck, iii. 270. TEMPORAL DOMINION. 35 ability of the former to defend him from his enemies, and since to render such assistance was the chief function imposed upon the emperor, it was surely the Pope's bounden duty to see that the candidate was properly qualified for the imperial dignity, and to depose him from it if he neglected or did not rightly execute the duties of the high and holy office committed to his charge. Thei celebrated Hildebrand resumed the scheme of polity lately referred to, which had been suspended during the pre- ceding turbulent era, and exerted every effort for the sub- jection of the temporal to the spiritual dominion. For twenty-four years Hildebrand was the « real director of the Papacy. He began by persuading the last Pope appointed by the emperor to forego any claim to the Papacy derived from his nomination, and to look only to' the clergy and people of Rome-, whose exclusive privilege it was, according to the views of the hierarchical party, to elect the successors j of St Peter: His next step was to- make a fundamental alteration in the mode of election to the Papacy. As the Popes, after the days of Pepin and Charlemagne, were in- j flated with arrogance because they were invested with the I ensigns and attributes of sovereignty, they could not endure the idea that laymen should have the power of interfering with their election, and that they must be dependent on the emperor for his confirmation before they could be con- secrated. Anxious to remove these restraints on their in- dependence, and satisfied from his experience that, till they, were delivered from the capricious insolence of the domestic tyrant, no scheme for the universal extension of the Papal power could be crowned with the wished-for success, Hilde- brand, when Archdeacon of Rome, induced Nicolas II., in 1059, to summon a Council which nominated by a decree a regular body to choose the supreme Pontiff, consisting of the seven cardinal bishops holding sees in the immediate 36 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. neighbourhood of Rome. 1 The emperor, the rest of the clergy, the nobility, and the people were excluded from any positive share in the election, and had only a negative suffrage in giving or withholding their consent. Hildebrand must have felt that it was only an imperfect measure of reform, and that he had not altogether succeeded in res- cuing the Papacy from the degradation to which it had been subjected. He found that the populace, in order to revenge themselves for the loss of the most important part of their rights, often rose in insurrection, and disturbed the election which they had lost their power to influence. But he knew that he should not act prudently in making at the time any further change, and felt sure that he had prepared the way for the ultimate accomplishment of his object. In the following century, Alexander III. found the means of perfecting this scheme, and of establishing that well-known mode of election by the College of Cardinals which has ever since prevailed in the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope, elected according to the edict of Nicolas, was to be presented, as in former times, to the emperor for his confirmation. The wish of Hildebrand was, indeed, to cast off his yoke altogether; but he did not at first consider his plans sufficiently matured to enable him to carry that design into effect. Accordingly, when he was raised with enthusiasm to the Papal dignity, in the year 1073, and assumed the title of Gregory VII., he declined to receive consecration till he had obtained the consent of the emperor. 2 He had, however, in the edict taken care to make the confirmation a personal privilege, conferred, in- deed, on Henry IV., but liable to be refused to his suc-j cessors.3 For this reason future Popes did hot acknowledge 1 Concil. ii. Lateran. * Bonizo, sub. an. 1073. 3 Throughout there is a respectful reservation okthe imperial right : " Salvd debito honore et reverentia Henrici, qui in praesentiarum rex habetur et futurus imperator speratur."— Pertz, Leges, ii. App. p. 177. TEMPORAL DOMINION. 37 the right to be vested in the throne, but proceeded to the discharge of the duties of their office without waiting for confirmation from Germany. Thus we see that Gregory- obtained an edict which was not immediately successful, but which at length secured the Papal election from the restraints of popular suffrage and imperial confirmation. If that edict had been' procured when the governments of Europe were in the last stage of weakness, and it seemed likely, at the time of the dissolution of the government of Charlemagne, that society would be dissolved into its original elements, in all probability the Popes would have anticipated by three centuries the era of their despotism; and as the nations were sunk in the lowest depths of ignorance and barbarism, would have imposed upon ■ them a yoke far more galling than that of Hildebrand and Innocent, from which they would have found much greater difficulty in obtaining eman- cipation. The moderation of Gregory was not of long continuance. He soon began that contest with the civil power which has affected the course of. events in the nations of Europe. I shall now proceed to explain the means by which he pro- posed to establish the absolute superiority of the spiritual to the temporal jurisdiction. I shall afterwards describe the mode in which -he and other Popes destroyed the liberties of national Churches. He had seen oppression laying waste the fairest provinces of Europe; he had seen many princes, goaded on by the revengeful passions of their nature, flinging wide their standard to the winds, and dipping their hands in the blood of those who, if Christianity be not a fable, were their very brothers. Professing to be sickened by the evil effects of this ambition, he expressed his determination to redress, if possible, the wrongs of human society. A magnificent vision rose up before him ; he would rule the world by religion ; 38 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. he would be the Caesar of the spiritual monarchy. He and a Council of prelates, annually assembled at Rome, would constitute a tribunal from whose judgment there should be no appeal ; empowered to hold the supreme mediation in questions of peace and war ; to settle contested successions to kingdoms ; and to compel men to cease from those dis- sensions which involve a disturbance of the peace and good order of human society. The civil power was to pledge itself to be prompt in the execution of their decrees against those who despised their authority. But if the decisions of those judges were really to carry weight, they must be men of unblemished integrity. The purity of their ermine must be altogether unsullied. The sale of the highest spiritual' offices by the prince, who had deprived the clergy and ; people of their right to elect to them, which had stained the hands of the Church and undermined its power, must be altogether forbidden. Elections must be free. The custom ; of investiture by sovereigns with the ring and crosier, which ; had rendered the hierarchy the creatures of their will, must be finally and for ever abolished. The clergy must possess an absolute exemption from the criminal justice of the state. They must recognize but one ruler, the Pope, who disposed of them indirectly through the bishops, or directly in cases of exemption, and used them as tools for the exe- cution of his behests. In fact, they were to constitute a vast army, exclusively devoted to the service of an eccle- siastical monarch. They must be unconnected by matri- \ monial ties with the world around them, that they might be bound more closely to one another and their Head ; that they might be saved from the temptation of restless projects for the advancement of their families, which have caused so much scandal in the world ; and that they might give an exalted idea of their sanctity, inasmuch as, in order that they might devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of TEMPORAL DOMINION. 39 (the word, they would forego that connubial bliss, the portion [ of those, "The happiest of their kind ; Whom gentler stars unite, and in one fate Their hearts, their fortunes, and their beings' blend." We see then, generally, the manner in which Hildebrand endeavoured to consolidate the fabric of his- dominion. We shall have a clearer view of this part of our subject when we speak of the false Decretals. The assertion of Gregory that he was influenced by disinterested motives in seeking this power for the Papacy is belied by the general tenour of his conduct. He did not wish so much to see tyranny, inhu- manity, and injustice banished from the earth; to prevent the infringement of the rights of his fellow-creatures around him ; to restrain those savage passions which had made the soil of his native country a battle-field on which, fiends in human shape, burning with the fever of revenge, struggled violently for the mastery ; as to gratify his lust of power by dethroning kings and reigning with absolute sway over the nations of the earth. For the advancement of an ambitious and visionary scheme, he, the ambassador of the Prince of Peace, was guilty of the grievous sin of plunging countries into war, as well as of fomenting, instead of allaying, civil discord ; and, under the pretence of healing, he opened wider the wounds of human society. The situation of Germany soon afforded Gregory the opportunity of carrying his ambitious schemes into effect. Henry IV., at the beginning of his reign only ten years of age, was invested with the imperial dignity. One day, as he was standing on the banks of the Rhine, a galley .adorned with silken streamers appeared, into which he was invited to enter. After he had been gliding for some time down the stream, he found, from the expression of dismay on the 40 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. countenance of his attendants, that he was a prisoner. 1 The Archbishops of Cologne and Mentz, with other powerful lords, having consigned him to a degrading captivity, ad- ministered in his name the government of, the empire. By affording him every means of vicious indulgence, they were only too successful in corrupting a noble and generous nature. Very soon he was guilty of crimes, and plunged into excesses which seemed to cry aloud to heaven for vengeance. His palace became a very Pandemonium. He ruled his subjects with a rod of iron. 2 The Pope now saw that the time had come for the execution of his designs. Henry had been guilty , of the grossest simony. The spiri- tual dignities had been openly sold to the highest bidder. As long as this traffic was allowed, the Pope could' not be\ said to enjoy supremacy in Christendom. He saw also that' while the clergy took the oath of fealty to the monarch, and were invested by him with the ring and crosier — the symbols of a spiritual office, which they would thus seem to hold from the gift of an earthly prince — he could not establish the superiority of the spiritual to the temporal jurisdiction. He therefore summoned a Council at the Lateran in 1075, which, issued an edict against lay investitures. ~~ I The Pope, having thus declared war against the emperor, proceeded to fill up certain vacant bishoprics, and to suspend bishops who had been guilty of simony. He also cited Henry before him to answer for his simony, crimes, and excesses. Henry soon summoned a synod at Worms, in January, 1076, which decreed the deposition of the Pope. The envoy, 1 See Lambert, Annales, 1062; Benzo,ii. 15; Milman's "Latin Chris- tianity," iii. 73. 2 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 the passions of his age." A less honourable, but more correct view of his character is given by Denina, " Delle Rivoluzione d'ltalia," x. 5. TEMPORAL DOMINION. . 41 charged to convey this sentence, appeared in the Council , Chamber of the Lateran in February, 1076, before an as- ' sembly consisting of the mightiest in the land, whom the Pope had summoned to sit in judgment on Henry. With flashing eyes, and in a voice of thunder, he directed the Pope to descend from the chair of St. Peter. Cries of in- dignation rang through the hall, and a hundred swords were seen leaping from their scabbards to inflict vengeance on the daring intruder. The Pope with difficulty stilled the angry tumult. Then, rising with calm dignity amid the breathless silence of the assembled multitude, he uttered that dread' anathema which " shuts paradise and opens hell," and ab- solved the subjects of Henry from their ajlegiance. 1 The inhabitants of Europe were struck dumb with amaze- ment when they witnessed this exercise of Papal preroga- tive. They thought that the powerful arm of Henry would soon smite down the audacious Gregory. The Pope, how- ever, well knew that th,e designs of those dark emissa- i ries of Satan had been successful, and that Henry had, by his excesses, alienated from himself the affections of his subjects. The sentence gave a pretext to many of his nobility to withdraw from their allegiance, and to elevate Rudolph, Duke of Swabia, to the imperial' throne. Awed by, spiritual terrors, his attendants fell away from him as if he were smitten with the leprosy. ' An assembly was now summoned at Tribur, in obedience to a requisition of the Pope, at which it was decreed that if the emperor continued excommunicated on the 23rd February, 1077, his crown should be given to another. 2 He therefore determined to cross the Alps amid a winter so severe that the Rhine was congealed into one solid mass of ice. In the prosecution of his journey he passed through trackless wastes of snow, and ascended and descended precipice^ the sight of which 1 Mansi, xx. 469 ; Pertz, viii. 435. * Neander, vii. 153. 42 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. would have appalled the stout heart of the most experienced hunter of the Alps. 1 At length he. arrived in front of the fortress of Canossa, where Gregory wa,s residing with the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, the most tender and devoted of his spiritual adherents. Arrayed in the garment of a penitent, barefooted, with slow step and abject demeanour, the imperial ruler of many nations toiled up the steep ascent which led to the courtyard of the castle. He passed through two outer courts, but found the third closed against him. Here, almost frozen to death by the excessive cold, he waited for three days, from morning to evening, a humble suitor for admission to the presence of Gregory. When at length he was admitted, and had cast himself at the feet of the Pope, the latter was pleased to' absolve him. 2 The tri- umph of the Pontiff was complete, but it was premature. Other times reaped the fruit of the victory. Again war fol- lowed between them, because Henry delayed the fulfilment of the contract into which he had entered at Canossa. The Pope laid Henry under a curse, and bestowed the kingdom first on Rudolph, Duke of Swabia, and after his death on Count Hermann of Luxemburg, whom the princes of Ger- many had set up against him. In return Henry appointed an anti-pope, procured the condemnation and deposition of Gregory by a synod of bishops, and besieged him in the castle of St. Angelo. He was delivered by the army of his friend Robert Guiscard, and afterwards went into voluntary exile at Salerno, in his dominions. 3 Here he died in 1085, without having witnessed the complete accomplishment of 1 Lambert, 255, 256 ; Berthold, 287. 2 Vita et Epistolse Gregorii VII., apud Concilia, torn. xxvi. lib. iv. ep. xii. ; Dean Milman, iii. 159. Lambertus of Aschaffenbourg, a contemporary historian, says that within the second of the three walls round the castle Henry did penance. See Sismondi, " Hist. Rep. Ital." cap. iii. 3 Baronius, an. 1077-1085, passim. TEMPORAL DOMINION. 43 any of the schemes to the advancement of which he had devoted all his energies. Gregory's extravagant claims were not confined to the dominions of Henry. On the contrary, he endeavoured to compel every sovereign in Europe to bow to his sceptre. He threatened Philip of France with an interdict and a sentence of deposition because he had connived at the pillage of some Italian merchants and pilgrims. The same monarch was reminded that " his kingdom and soul were under the dominion of St. Peter, who had the power to bind and loose both in heaven and on earth." The Pope also demanded the annual payment of the tribute due to the See. He asserted " that the kingdom of Spain likewise belonged in former times to St. Peter, and although it is now occupied by the infidels, it still belongs properly to the apostolic chair." * Accordingly, he grants to a certain Count de Roiici all the territories which he could reconquer from them, to.be held in fief by him from the- Holy See at a stipulated rent. 2 Saxony also was declared to be held on feudal tenure from the Popes. The numerous princes of Germany, Hungary, Denmark, Russia, and Poland were re- minded that they must hold their States in subjection to the sovereignty of St. Peter.3 William the Norman was told that he held England as a fief of Rome. He was almost the only sovereign who answered this terrible Pope with spirit and resolution. " Hubert, your legate," he writes to the Pope, " coming to me on your behalf, admonished me, religious Father, that I should do fealty to you and your successors; and that, touching the money which my pre- decessors were accustomed to send to the Roman Church, I should take better order. The one claim I have ad- mitted, and the other I have not admitted. Fealty I 1 Labbe, Concilia, torn. x. p. 10. 2 Ep'p. i. 7 ; iv. 28. 3 Ibid. ii. 7, 51, 73, 75- 44 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. neither have been willing to do, nor will I do it now, for I never promised it ; and I find not that my predecessors did it to yours. Pray for us and for the state of the realm, because we have loved your predecessors, and you, above all, we desire to love sincerely and to listen to obediently." x Gregory, though angry and contemptuous about the money, was compelled to withdraw his claim. The King of France also refused the money demanded of him by the Pope. 2 Various success attended Gregory's efforts to compel other kings to ^submit to his authority. Some of the smaller States, by ceding their territories to St. Peter, encouraged the aggressions of the Pope and his successors. Thus he prevailed on Matilda, .the daughter and heiress of the Duke of Tuscany, to make over her territories to the apostle, and to hold them in feudal tenure from the Holy See. 3 These facts will give us some idea of one of the objects which Gregory was exerting every effort to accomplish. He wished to unite all the princes, nobles, and governors of Christian Europe under the feudal jurisdiction of St. Peter and his successors; to establish a despotism far more ex- tensive and durable than that Holy Roman Empire, the foundations of which were laid when Charlemagne was invested, as we have seen, with the diadem of the Csesars. Another object was to make Rome the metropolis of a spiritual monarchy ; to compel all the Churches of Europe to acknowledge no other earthly sovereign than the Pope, to whom they should be bound to render a devoted and dutiful allegiance. During thirty-six years he steadfastly and patiently laboured for the accomplishment of these, the most auda- cious, irrational, and stupendous designs ever formed by a human being, which demanded for their execution the attri- 1 Robertsdn's "History of the Christian Church," vol. ii. pp. 66i, 662. * See Sismondi, iv. 440, 442, 459, 474, and Greg. Epist. viii. 20. f 3 Dbnino, ii. 173. TEMPORAL DOMINION. 45 butes of Deity, and sought to render all life, social, political, and spiritual, subject to the dominion of the Papacy. We have seen how, with a view to the advancement of his scheme, he endeavoured to secure the celibacy of the clergy. He assisted also in the triumph of transubstantiation, be- cause he thought that the assertion of a power to bring Christ down on their altars would greatly aid them in sub- stantiating their claim on the temporal and spiritual alle- giance of Christendom. 1 He it was who left the Papacy, before his time an object of contempt, terrible to the nations, and contributed largely to the victory which his successors ultimately gained, not only over the empire, but also over the highest and mightiest of this world's potentates who exalted themselves against them. As the great master builder of the Papacy, who ministered to its corruptions, and developed more than any one else its antichristian character, by surrounding it, contrary to the design of our Divine Master, with the pomp and glory of an earthly king- dom, Hildebrand has a high but unenviable place in the annals of the world. He has left behind him a name which will never be forgotten, and principles deserving of the strongest condemnation, which have agitated the policy and influenced the destinies of the Christian world through many successive generations. The emperors were not the only sovereigns with whom the Popes contended about the right of investiture. A similar contest broke out in England, soon after the death of Gregory, under Henry I. William the Conqueror not only took the appointments to bishoprics into his own hands, but also invested those whom he appointed with the ring and pastoral staff, the ensigns of their spiritual dignity. He 1 At the Lent Synod of 1079 Berengar was required to sign a confes- sion that the elements are changed into the real, proper, and life-giving body and blood of Christ. 46 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. asserted, without contradiction, his right to legislate for the Church, taking counsel with his bishops on every vacancy, and showing his anxiety to appoint the best and wisest men to the episcopal office. But his son, William Rufus, was influenced by a different spirit. He kept bishoprics vacant, and seized the revenues that he might replenish his exhausted treasury. The celebrated Anselm, Archbishop of Canter- bury — whom Dante in his immortal poem has placed among the spirits of light and power in the sphere of the sun, " the special ministers of God's gifts of reason '' — entered his protest against this robbery, and urged the appointment of suitable men. He afterwards refused to consecrate any one whom Henry, his successor, had previously invested with the ring and crosier ; for it was his anxious desire to place upon record his deep sense of the importance and dignity of the episcopal office. He conceived that it was his bounden duty thus to remind Henry that he could not confer on the bishop his spiritual powers ; that the office was not his in the sense that he could sell it ; that he did not promote him in the same sense in which he promoted a knight or a baron ; and that in all his appointments he should remember that a trust had been confided to him for the proper discharge of the duties of which he would have to give an account when he stood before the judgment-seat of Christ. 1 Even those whom Anselm was asked to consecrate after their investiture by Henry seem to have been impressed with the deep conviction that his refusal to do so was dic- tated by the highest and holiest motives ; for when they stood for consecration before Gerard, Archbishop of York, conscience-stricken, they declined the high dignity to 1 See Memoirs of Eadmer, Anselm's friend, Florence of Worcester, William of Malmesbury, and Baronius, an. 1 107. See also "Bio- graphia Britannica Literaria," London, 1846. An opposite judgment on his character to that given here is to be found in Dean Hook's ' ' Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury." TEMPORAL DOMINION. 47 which, by that sacred rite/they would have been elevated. Henry was at first obstinately bent on maintaining his claim. He felt that, if he resigned it, he should show himself weaker than his father and brother, who had exer- cised, without dispute, their right of appointment and in- vestiture. He saw, too, that by insisting upon it, he should have a special claim on the obedience of the Church ; for the bishops would seem to become his men, and to hold not only their temporal possessions, but also their office itself, by a ceremony which seemed to imply that they were his peculiar and exclusive gift. At length, though he could not help resenting the course which Anselm pursued, he could not resist the charm of his nobility of spirit, his dignity of character, his unselfish truthfulness, his superiority to the sordid and debasing pursuits and pleasures of the ignoble herd of sensualists and worldlings around him. He felt, too, that politically he was making a mistake in opposing Anselm, for he was regarded with idolatrous reverence by all classes of the community. He, therefore, in a public Council, decreed that no one should in future be invested with a bishopric by staff and ring by the king or any lay hand, on condition that Anselm should not refuse conse- cration on account of homage done to the king. No d — an opinion which is the very essence of Socinianism. 2 We have reason to be grateful to St. Bernard that he wielded all the power of the Papacy for the suppression of these and similar opinions : for otherwise, aided by the corrupt passions and propensities' of human nature, and by the extraordinary popularity of Abelard's writings, they would have been pro- pagated silently and gradually seven centuries ago through the length and breadth of the continent of Europe. We must not omit to add that St. Bernard was an ardent champion of the Popes,. and that he undoubtedly contri- buted greatly, by his eloquence and celebrity, to their aggrandizement. Writing to Eugenius III., he said, 3 "Who 1 Apud Bernard, Epist. cxciv. . 2 See " History of Alexander Natalis," 12th century. 3 " De Consideratione, " lib. ii. c. viii. 84 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. * " • 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, Melchisedek ; in dignity, Aaron; in authority, Moses; in judgment, Samuel; in power, Peter ; in unction, Christ." . . . But we must also remember that he exposed many abuses of the Papal system, and that he dictated frpm his solitude at Clairvaux rules for the guidance of the autocrat of the Church. 1 He also endeavoured to heal the moral leprosy which pervaded all orders of the Church. He thus denounces the corruptions of the inmates of the Vati- can, the prelates and clergy : "They are ministers of Christ, and servants of antichrist. 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 actors, the parade of kings ; thence the gold on their reins, their saddles, and their spurs, for their spurs shine brighter than their altars ; thence their tables splendid with dishes and cups ; thence their gluttony and drunkenness — the harp, the lyre, and the pipe, larders stored with provisions, and cellars overflowing with wine." 2 He exhibited many of those Christian graces which commu- nicate to the human character its truest beauty, and stamp upon it its highest excellence. He was not chargeable with the avarice and ambition which he reproves in others ; for though he had the offer of the highest ecclesiastical dignities, he remained to the end of his days Abbot of Clairvaux. Though he possessed more influence than the proudest European potentate, he had a low opinion of himself, and ascribed his power to perform the services for which he ( was so much extolled to that Divine grace which had made him to differ from so many around him. But though he was 1 "De Consideratione," lib. i. t. vi. * Super Cantica, Ser. xxxiii. REVERSES AND VICTORIES. 85 justly celebrated by his contemporaries for these and other excellences, which, if we judge from his writings, seem to have flowed from the love of Christ in the soul, 1 the con- straining motive to all holy obedience, we must not forget that his Christianity was strongly tainted by the superstition of the age in which he lived ; that he was, as we have seen, a devoted adherent of the Papacy ; and that impiously ap- pealing to miracles and prophecy, the forged seals of his Divine mission, he sent forth hundreds of thousands of con- fiding Christians to the Holy Land without any certainty that they would not encounter the calamities which actually befel them, and which spread " lamentation, and mourning, and woe,'' through the cities and villages of Europe. Arnold of Brescia, the pupil of Abelard, differed from his great master in this, among many other important parti- culars, that while the latter assailed the dogmas of the Church, the former shook to its foundation the structure of its temporal domination. 2 Arnold, however, became a re- volutionist in government because he had been trained in a school which sought to revolutionize theology. He was' anxious also to restore the glory of the old Commonwealth of Rome. With a dangerous eloquence, which acted on the inflammable minds of the people like a spark on withered grass, he declaimed in Brescia against the avarice, the am- bition, and temporal authority of the clergy. The people, instructed by him, could not believe that, if the monks, who mortified the flesh and wore robes of serge, were, as they believed them to be, the only imitators of the fishermen of Galilee, and above all, of Him who had not where to lay His head, the bishops and abbots ought to wear the jewelled mjtre, or the robe stiff with gold and brocade; to sit at festal boards covered with the choicest delicacie's; to issue- 1 See especially his sermons on Solomon's Song. 2 See a Life of Arnold by H. Frareke. Zurich, 1825. 86 _ EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. from their feudal towers on richly caparisoned horses, or to be invested with all the ensigns of earthly sovereignty. These doctrines spread like wild -fire through Italy. : The bishop and clergy of Brescia, apprehensive of the conse- quences' of this teaching, procured a decree from the Lateran Council imposing silence on Arnold, and banishing him from Italy. After a residence of seven years in Zurich and the Alpine valleys, to which he was followed by the denunciations of St. Bernard, we find him in Rome, where the people, under the influence of his doctrines, had risen up in rebellion against their lawful monarch, and reconsti- tuted the senate, whom they invested with supreme autho- rity. This body afterwards announced to the Pope that they would be subject only to his spiritual authority; de- clared that the Pope and clergy must henceforth be satisfied with the tithes and oblations of the people, and elected a patrician, to whom they entrusted the executive power. Arnold, by the power of his eloquence, won over many of the nobility and clergy to the popular side. The people now obtained possession of the city, and levelled many of its houses with the ground. The Popes strove in vain against this self-constituted government. Innocent had died at the beginning of the outbreak. Lucius II. fell mortally wounded, while endeavouring to storm the Capitol at the head of his soldiers. Eugenius III., who had been elected because he was a pupil of Bernard, showed all the wisdom of the serpent in his dealings with Arnold. After an ab- sence of some years, acknowledging the republic, he entered the city, and endeavoured successfully by his generosity and his boundless charity to undermine its authority with the people. 1 This subtle policy of Eugenius enabled his successor, Adrian IV., to adopt very severe measuies against 'Arnold. * Baronius, an. 1130-53, passim. ■ REVERSES AND VICTORIES. 87 ' One of the cardinals had been accidentally killed in a popular tumult on his way to the Lateran. Adrian immediately punished the Romans by placing the city under an interdict. He was urgently implored to remove it, but he would only do so on a condition to which the senate was obliged to yield its assent, that the republic was abolished and Arnold banished from Rome. Frederick Barbarossa, of whom I shall speak presently, had just arrived in' Italy, for the pur- pose of being invested by the Pope with the diadem of the Holy Roman Empire. Adrian would not crown him till he ' surrendered Arnold to his vengeance. Without any hesita- tion, Frederick compelled one of the crown vassals, with whom he had taken refuge, to deliver him up to his officers. He was soon afterwards executed in Rome, and his ashes were cast into the Tiber, that the people might not worship him as a martyr. 1 But the movement which he inaugurated was not terminated by his martyrdom. The- various designs formed in the course of the next 300 years for the revival of those republican institutions, beneath which the Romans might emulate the severer virtues of their forefathers, have, as we shall see, failed of-the wished-for success. But the separation of the temporal from the spiritual jurisdiction, the removal of ecclesiastics from the high offices of State, their occupation of which Arnold and others who followed him felt to be a cause of worldliness and tyranny in the Church, and in the body politic, has at length been accomplished. On the 20th of September, 1870, the temporal sovereignty of the Pope came to an end, and the movement celebrated its triumph on that very spot on which its first champion was committed to the flames. I now resume the history of the struggle between the Papacy and the Empire, which had be'en suspended since 1122. No Pontiff, since the time of Gregory VII., had' 1 Baronius, an. 54—55, passim. 88 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. thought of waiting for the confirmation of the Emperor. On the contrary, it was pretended that the Emperor ought to be confirmed by the Pope, and that he ought to be de- posed by him if he proved unworthy of his high dignity. Since the days of John VIII. , who lived two hundred years before Gregory, the Popes availed themselves of every op- portunity of asserting this doctrine. The visit of Loth aire to Rome for the purpose of being invested with the imperial crown was commemorated by a picture in the Lateran palace, in which, and in two Latin verses underneath it, he is represented as doing homage to the Pope. Frederick Bar- barossa, who began his reign in 1152 — the national hero of Germany, the most illustrious in the roll of her chivalry, whose exploits the poets have embalmed with their praises, and whom the legend represents as lying amid his knights in an enchanted sleep, in a cavern among limestone crags, scarcely accessible to human foot, waiting for the hour when the raven shall no longer hover round their summit, and the pear-tree shall blossom in the yaljey, to issue forth with his Crusaders, and to restore to Germany the golden age of unity — was a firm opponent of ecclesiastical encroachments. He did not hesitate to assert that his office was ordained by God, and was as sacred as the Pope's. This celebrated monarch — the mightiest who had reigned in Transalpine Europe since Charlemagne — had for his rival Adrian IV., Nicolas Breakspeare — the Pope who exhibited his views of unlimited power in his grant of Ireland to Henry II. of England, the humble servitor of St. Alban's Abbey, the only Englishman who has ever occupied the Papal throne, to which, without any friends to advance his_ claim, he had raised himself simply by his talents, his learning, and his virtues. He was surpassed by none of his predecessors in the boldness with which he asserted the prerogatives of the Pope. On the first journey of Frederick to Rome, he refused REVERSES AND VICTORIES. 89 to hold the stirrup of Adrian when he dismounted from his horse ; x but at length he was obliged to do so, as the latter refused to crown him, or to give him the kiss of peace, till he had followed the custom of his predecessors. Shortly afterwards, when Frederick was holding a Diet of more than usual magnificence at Besancon, the Papal legates were in- troduced to the assembly, and read a letter from the Pope, in which he reminded him that he had given him the impe- rial crown, and would confer upon him, if dutiful, still greater benefits. The word " beneficia," taken in its feudal sense as intimating that the Empire was held as a fief from the Pope, provoked angry shouts from the assembled nobles. The tumult was exasperated by the words of the Cardinal Roland, " Of whom, then, does he hold the Empire,, but of our lord the Pope ? " Immediately the Count Palatine of . Wittlesbach drew his sword to cut down the audacious eccle- siastic. The strife was at length appeased, and new legates were afterwards sentj who explained the doubtful words, and disclaimed all pretension on the part of the Pope to make the Empire a grant of the Papacy. . The quarrel was soon afterwards renewed. There were several subjects of dispute; but the principal one was, whether or no Rome should be left entirely to the govern- ment of the Pope.' Frederick maintained his claim in the following words : " For the city of Rome, by the grace of « God I am Emperor of Rome : if Rome be entirely with- drawn from my authority, the Empire is an idle name, the mockery of a titled' The poor scholar of England, though he had -the Emperor with all the princes and prelates against him, though, in fact, he stood almost alone, does not hesi- tate to address him in the language of scorn and defiance. He called him Rabshakeh and Achitopel, and applied to him other odious names in the Old Testament After threat- 1 Much importance was attached to this act of courtesy. 90 ■ EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. ening the Emperor with a public excommunication,, he con- tinues : " Was not the Empire transferred by the Popes from the Greeks to the Teutons ?- The king of the Teutons is, not Emperor till he is consecrated by the Pope. Zacharias I. promoted Charles to the Empire, and gave him a name above all names. . . . That which we have bestowed on the faithful German, we may take away from the disloyal German. It is in our power to grant to whom we will. For this reason are we placed above kingdoms, that we may destroy and pluck "up, build and plant. So great is the power of Peter, that whatsoever is done by us worthily and rightfully must be believed to be done by God." 1 The schism which followed Adrian's death in 1 159 led. to a still more momentous conflict. Frederick espoused the cause of the antipope whom his own paf ty had chosen ; while Alexander III., who was the true Pope, because he was chosen by the majority of cardinals, appealed to the support of sound Churchmen through Europe. The contest of twenty years which followed, though apparently a struggle between rivals' for the Papacy, was, like the contemporaneous conflict between Becket and Henry II., nothing more than an effort on the part of the monarch to recover his supremacy over the priesthood. In all probability he would have been successful if he. had not been engaged in hostilities .with the cities of Lombardy. Alexander was obliged for years to seek refuge in France, and even in Italy he could not maintain himself against the factions of Rome. Inflamed with anger against Milan, because she oppressed her neigh- bours, and would not allow his regalian rights, Frederick besieged the city; and having forced her by famine to capitulate, levelled her walls and houses to the ground. Tortona, the ally of Milan, had been previously compelled to '"Hahn, " Monumenta, " i. 122. The, date, is March 19,1159, from the Lateran Palace. REVERSES AND VICTORIES. 9 1 surrender. The party names of Guelph and Ghibeline, in the sense then given to them, were now heard for the first time. 1 The latter was the name assumed by the cities which sided with Frederick. Lombardy now groaned beneath the yoke of despotism. At length all the cities, including those whose private animosities had led them to assist the German con- queror, resenting the imposition of taxes which, not having been for a long time paid, were apparently obsolete, and'the assertion of an authority over them which had not been exer- cised. since the days of Henry IV., formed a league against their- oppressor. That league was hallowed by the Pope, because he saw that by giving employment to his arms, it would aid him in his contest with Frederick. The partisans of the Pope in the cities afterwards assumed the title of Guelphs. After several years of warfare, on the field of Legnano the standard of the Empire' fell before the carroccio z of Milan. The Pope had previously seen the German host, when flushed with victory, suddenly annihilated by a fever within the walls of Rome. Pope after Pope had, during this period, been set up against Alexander, but they generally ceased to be respected. At length Frederick, humbled by these disasters, and unable to raise a fresh army, was induced, not Only to give freedom to the Lombard cities, but also, by the mediation of the Doge, to meet his adversary the Pope, Alexander III., at Venice in 1 177. Three slabs of red marble in the porch of St. Mark's indicate the .spot where Frederick knelt in sudden awe before th'e Pope, who raised him with tears of joy, and gave him the kiss of peace. 3 A painting in the wall of the 1 These two names were first heard in the contest for the imperial crown in 1137, in which Guelph, Duke of Bavaria, was defeated t>y Conrad, Duke of Suabia, the lord of the town of Wibelung, in Fran- conia. They were employed in Italy to keep up civil dissension after their meaning was forgotten. 2 The carroccio was a waggon with a flagstaff planted on it, which served the Lombards for a rallying point in battle. 3 Baronius, an. 1160-70. 92 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. ducal palace has given currency to a legend which the poet has also described — that " In the temple-porch, Did Barbarossa fling his mantle off, And, kneeling, on his neck received the foot Of the proud pontiff." 1 On the brass in the floor, which is gone, the words were engraved addressed by the Pope to the Emperor, "The lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot." The scene needed not this embellishment to give it full signifi- cance. For it marked the second defeat of the secular power in a contest which it could not repeat under more favourable circumstances ; the final abandonment by the mightiest prince of his time of an enterprise which had for its object to compel the Pope once more to acknowledge his supre- macy. About six years previous to the event just described, another mighty monarch had humbled himself before the Papacy. Henry II. of England had walked barefoot for three miles along the flinty road, from the point at which he first caught sight of the towers of Canterbury Cathedral, and having prostrated himself before the shrine of the canonized Becket, had submitted to be scourged by the monks till his back was streaming with blood, because he had uttered some hasty words which had led to the murder of the arch- bishop. Rome has always been wise in her generation. She has gained much by taking advantage of the faults and mis- fortunes of those with whom she contended for supremacy. Thus, as we have seen, an alliance with the cities of Lom- bardy — a strange one for a power which was aiming at despbtic authority — and the fevers of Rome, aided her in beating down to the earth the mighty Barbarossa. Henry would have come off a victor in his conflict with Becket if 1 See Rogers's " Italy," p. 67. REVERSES AND VICTORIES. 93 he had only publicly arraigned him for the violation of his oath to observe the Constitutions of Clarendon, which se- cured, amongst other important articles, the trial of clerical offenders by the civil tribunal ; for there was a very strong feeling against him on account of his perjury. Henry, too, , had this advantage in dealing with Becker,, that he was a monarch of unrivalled power, and that Alexander III., his protector, depended on his gold to enable him to carry on his warfare with the antipope. But he endeavoured to ruin his fortunes, and compelled him to appeal to Rome, by making pecuniary demands . on him which were alike unjust and ungenerous. He rendered him an object of universal sympathy by confiscating the property of four hun- dred of his kinsmen and adherents, and compelling them to- take an oath that they would join him, wherever he might be, in order that his soul might be wrung with the contem- plation of their sufferings. Posterity, undisturbed by these influences, has, however, examined the character of Becket, and has pronounced a strong censure on one who never thought of administering a sharp rebuke to Henry for his injustice, inhumanity, and unbridled licentiousness, but re- monstrated with him constantly because he would not allow him to place the Church. above the law, and to promise impunity to those clerical offenders who had dipped their hands in the blood of their fellow-creatures, or had been guilty of some other crime which cried aloud to Heaven for vengeance. The Church of Rome has undoubtedly been a great gainer by his martyrdom, and by th.e canonization obtained through the miraculous cures which the monks, impiously encouraged by the Papal court, had the audacity to pretend to have been wrought at his tomb. Henry, a monarch in power equal to Barbarossa, by bending before the tomb, and by repealing the celebrated Constitutions of Clarendon, gave a very plain proof that he had been van- 94 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. quished ip the conflict. The numerous pilgrims, who wore with their knees the steps leading up to the stately shrine erected in Canterbury cathedral, and showed their reverence for the Saint by pouring out upon it costly gems, brooches, and Orient pearls, were constantly reminded that Heaven had ratified by miracles,' and wonders, and signs the cause for which he had been slain at the foot of the altar; and came ' away with a deeper conviction that the Pope ought to s!t " as God in the temple of God," and to reign supreme over , the nations of the earth. After the humiliation of Barbarossa at Venice, the contest between the Empire and the Papacy was for some time sus- pended. That emperor was accidentally drowned in the year 1189, on his way to the Holy Land, in a small river of Asia Minor. His son and successor, Henry, was excom- municated, not for asserting the rightsof the Empire against the Pope, but for his unjust imprisonment of our own Richard Cceur de Lion. The death of Celestine III. in 1198 may be regarded as the termination of the Third Epoch, during which the Papacy had been struggling on, amid reverses, towards victory. In the c'osing years of this century it may seem to be in repose, gathering up its strength for the great culminating manifestation under Innocent III. CHAPTER IV. .THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. — FROM THE ELECTION OF INNOCENT III. IN II98 TO THE SICILIAN VESPERS IN, I 282. The vast schemes of Innocent III. — His triumphs over various mon- archs — Occasional beneficial exercise of his temporal'supremacy- — Innocent guilty of great public crimes — The crusade against the Albigenses — The fourth Eatersin Council — Reflections on the pon- tificate and policy of Innocent — The usurpations of the Popes on the liberties of national Churches — The mendicant orders a means of Papal influence — The struggle of Frederick II. with Gregory IX. and Innocent IV. — Reflections upon it — The death of Frederick, and the subsequent extirpation v of his race in his grandson Conradin, beheaded af Naples by Charles of Anjou — Full triumph of the Papacy over the Empire — Gregory X. endeavours to unite the Greek and Latin Churches, and to engage the nations of Europe in a Crusade-r-History of the separation of the two Churches — General observations on. the Crusades — The Sicilian Vespers. The pontificate of Innocent III. (1198-12 15) was the period during which the spirit of Papal usurpation was most strongly displayed. This Pope might easily delude himself with the idea that he was doing his duty to mankind in seeking extraordinary power for the Papacy ; for now, more than during any preceding period, was it needed to deliver subjects from the oppression of their sovereigns, and to still the tumult which prevailed throughout Christendom. His extraordinary learning, his unwearied diligence, and his pro- found knowledge of human nature, sustained a fearless spirit which grasped at universal dominion. His language was 96 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. the following : " As the sun and the moon are placed in the firmament, the greater as the light of the day, and the lesser of the night, thus are there two powers in the Church — the pontifical, which, as having the charge of souls, is the greater, and the royal, which is the less, and to which the bodies • of men are entrusted." r In his famous Decretal Novit, Innocent was the first to lay down the theory, that wherever a serious sin has been committed, the Pope should interpose with his judgment to punish and annul the decisions of the civil tribunal. He asserted also that the priesthood is the sole ordinance of God, and that all rank not held by that body is an excrescence on the Divine plan of the govern- ment of the world. 2 But it is quite evident that while he declared that he wished to rectify the disorders of human society, and to compel monarchs to ' submit their causes to his arbitration, that he might impose a check on the wars which desolate the earth, he really sought to gratify that lust of unbounded power which is one of the besetting sins of human nature. The spiritual thunders were continually reverberating through the firmament. He compelled mon- arch after monarch to bow down at his footstool. All stu- dents of English history are aware that Innocent laid the kingdom of England under an interdict, and excommuni- cated John, because he would not receive Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury, and glow with indignation when they read that the pusillanimous king surrendered his crown to the legate of Innocent, and paid him a sum of money, which he trampled under his feet in token of his subjection to his authority. 3 He succeeded also in another object in which his predecessors had failed — a dominion over Rome and the central parts of Italy. Peter of Aragon, 1 "Vita Irmocentii III. in Muratori," torn. iii. part i. p. 448. " Rymer's "Foedera Reg. Ang." I. i. 119. 3 Matthew Paris, Historia, pp. 210-262, ed. 1571. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 97 too, received the royal crown from Innocent, and acknow- ledged that he had an undoubted claim on his dutiful allegiance. 1 Even the kings of Bulgaria and Armenia acknowledged his supremacy. 2 He rejoiced likewise in the submission of the Greek Church. One of those revolutions which are of frequent occurrence in Grecian history had deprived the lawful monarch of his throne. His heir applied for succour to the assembled fleet and army of the Crusaders. They ascended the Archipelago, captured the city, and re-instated the legitimate Emperor. But notwith- standing the presence of the army of Crusaders in the neighbourhood, another usurper was now elevated to the throne. Then followed a siege of three months, which terminated with the capture of the city. The shouts of an infuriated soldiery resounded through the streets. Neither sex nor age availed to soften their hearts, nor to turn them aside from their career of violence and outrage. The Latins ruled for fifty-seven years at Constantinople. Inno- cent strongly disapproved of this perversion of the crusading spirit ; but he assumed the full ecclesiastical administra- tion, appointed the Patriarch of Constantinople, and decreed that all the churches within the dominion of the' Latins should adopt the Roman ritual. 3 After the death of Henry VI. in 1198, when Otho of Brunswick and Philip of Swabia, the brother of Barbarossa, contended for the Empire, Innocent III., having been appealed to for support by both parties, mingled in the fray. After some hesitation he assumed the function of supreme arbiter in the quarrel, sided with Otho, declared him to be king, and plunged into the strife with all the energy of his character. After a bloody warfare of ten years, just when Innocent was thinking of abandoning the 1 Milman's "Latin Christianity," vol. v. p. 313. 2 Innocentii III. Epistolse, viii. 132, ed. 1682. 3 Raynaldus, an. 1203, n. 1, et seq. 98 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. contest as hopeless, Otho gained undisputed possession of the Empire through the assassination of Philip in 1208. He excited, however, the anger of the Pope, because he not only invaded the patrimony of the Church, but also en- deavoured to gain possession of the kingdom of Naples. Innocent, after some hesitation, launched his anathemas against him, which, aided by the strong feeling excited by his pride and extortion, led to his deposition. Frederick II., the grandson of Barbarossa, the ward of the Pope, who at the time when the contest began was, on account of his infancy, adjudged unfit to reign, was, with the consent of the Pope, elevated to the Imperial dignity. 1 The illustrious Philip Augustus of France was likewise compelled to humble himself before him. This victory was the more remarkable, as this monarch was a man of vigorous intellect, which at once comprehended the most difficult questions; of great political sagacity, which at a glance discovered the right course to pursue under circumstances of peculiar difficulty ; of a firmness of purpose which never yielded to the blandishments of the enchantress, nor to the stern voice of authority; and of an indomitable courage, which would, if need be, have prompted him to send a mortal defiance to the universe in arms. Triumphs gained on other fields of warfare had shed an imperishable lustre on his name. He had married Ingerburge, the sister of Canute, king of Denmark ; but on her arrival in France, he conceived so great a dislike to her, that he summoned a synod of his bishops, who annulled the marriage on the ground that she was within the prohibited degrees of kindred. He then married the beautiful Agnes, the daughter of the Duke of Istria and Meranie. If he had only asked the Pope to decree his divorce, he would have been spared the mental anguish which he endured in separation from one to whom he was devotedly attached ; and he would not have heard 1 Raynaldus, an. 1209-1214. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 99 the voice of lamentation ascending from the towns and villages of his loved native land, when a proud priest, in order to gratify his inordinate ambition, laid it under an interdict, interrupting, as we have already seen, according to the belief of those days, the communication between earth and heaven. But he felt that this concession would have led to a surrender of the rights and privileges of his Crown. Accordingly, we find that when the Papal legate charged him to separate -from Agnes, he presented an un- daunted front to his adversary. His barons too on this occasion supported him. The sight of youth and beauty in distress, when the legate gave the Pope's message to the King in the presence of the Queen and the assembled Barons of France, caused many of the latter to resolve that they would unite as one man against that spiritual tyrant who had dared to attempt to separate their monarch from the cherished object of his heart's best affections. We are infojmed that Innocent at first trembled for his authority. But he had studied deeply the book of the human heart. He well knew that, in consequence of the superstitious fear of Rome which universally prevailed, the Barons would not long remain steadfast in their allegiance to Philip when he uttered his dread anathema. He knew also that he had this advantage in dealing with the latter on this particular question, that he was blinded by passion ; whereas he could himself with calmness deliberate on the course which he must pursue in order to compel the monarch to acknowledge his supremacy. The event showed that he had not miscalculated the effect of these spiritual terrors. The enthusiasm of the barons passed away like a vision of the night. They raised the standard of revolt. The dead brought out and laid at his feet pleaded with mute elo- quence against one whose disobedience to the mandates of Rome had caused this withering curse to descend on the land of his birth. Community of suffering united all 100 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. classes against the heroic monarch. At length he was obliged to separate from that beloved being, to whom we may apply the description which the celebrated Burke has given of another Queen of France, the ill-fated Marie Antoinette : " Never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the sphere she had begun to move in, — glittering like the morning star, full of life, and splendour, and joy." Thus, then, the un- hallowed policy of Innocent was crowned with the wished- for success. But the impartial historian must pronounce his stern censure on one who, that he might gratify his lust of power, did not scruple to annul a marriage to which he would have consented if the question of the divorce had been in the first instance submitted to him ; to cast a shadow over the existence of two bright and happy beings ; to breathe over France the curse of spiritual dearth ; and to spread lamentation, and mourning, and woe through the length and breadth of the kingdom. 1 The temporal supremacy of Innocent was, however, occasionally exercised for a beneficial purpose. Thus he said to the kings of France and England, " Though I cannot judge of a fief, yet it is my province to judge when sin is committed, and my duty to prevent all public scandals." Acting in this spirit, he dictated a truce to Philip Augustus and Richard, and compelled both parties to submit to it. He directed one of his legates to compel the observance of peace between the kings of Castile and Portugal, if necessary, by excommunication and interdict. He moreover enjoined the king of Arragon to restore to its intrinsic value the coin which he had lately debased. " A great mind," says Hallam, 2 " such as Innocent III. undoubtedly possessed, though prone 1 Raynaldus, an. 1 198-1200. Innocentii III. Epistolas, lib. i. pp. 102, 219, 220. 1 Hallam's "Middle Ages," vol. ii. p. 198. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. IOI to sacrifice every object to ambition, can never be indiffer- ent to the" beauty of social order and the happiness of man- kind." We learn, too, that his moral character was irre- proachable ; that he was frequent in charitable offices, and generous in the distribution of his revenues. But still we are obliged to add that, while he fancied that he was only asserting the eternal and immutable principles of righteous- ness, .and that he was only, as the Vicar of Christ, chastising the transgressor, he was really guilty of great public crimes. The charge against him is, that whenever he wished to depose a king, or extinguish a heresy, he did not scruple to issue his mandate to the secular power of Europe, of a great part of which he had gained absolute control, to send forth its armies to lay waste countries with fire and swcrd. In obedience to his summons, Philip Augustus of France would have invaded England, if John had not disarmed his anger by submission to his will. He was instrumental in plunging Germany into a barbarous civil war of ten years' duration, in order that, by the deposition of the Emperor Philip of the House of Hohenstaufen, and the elevation of a prince of another and weaker house to the throne, he might lessen the power of the Empire. He, and, as we shall see, his successors, entertained the serious apprehension that, when wielded by the former haughty House it would so very much increase as to prevent them from prosecuting their schemes of aggrandisement. But the religious persecution in the south of France has left the deepest stain on the character of Innocent. The soil of Languedoc and Provence — the land of that melodious tongue in which the Troubadours sang the praises of female beauty to the soft strains of voluptuous music — was mined with explosive materials. A spark falling amongst them was enough to upheave from its firm foundation the massive structure of Romanism, and to cause it to lie a shapeless mass of ruins on the ground. The inhabitants of that 102 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. district had always shown a strong disposition to oppose Papal encroachments. They were unwilling to receive those new doctrines with which Rome endeavoured to cor- rupt the simplicity of the truth as it is in Jesus, transub- stantiation, image-worship, and the temporal and spiritual authority of the Papacy. Their theology was, however, strongly tinctured with the Manicheism which the Paulicians from the East were diffusing through Western Europe. These heretics were called Albigenses, from Albi, a town in France, where they abounded. Innocent, when he became Pope, suddenly awoke to the fact that the inhabitants of this region were in open revolt against his authority. After eight years' ineffectual menaces and preaching, in which he employed St. Dominic and others, he summoned Raymond, Count of Toulouse, to join other princes in the extermin- ation of the heretics, and threatened to deprive him of his territories because he did not immediately obey the arbitrary mandate. 1 The murder of his legate, Peter de Castelnau, falsely ascribed to Raymond, gave him the opportunity of carrying this determination into effect. He told the warriors of France that, instead of encountering the dangers and hard- ships of a distant expedition to the Holy Land, they might secure for themselves the pardon of their sins and eternal blessedness hereafter, if they poured their warlike swarms over the fertile plains of Languedoc. Immediately thou- sands of warriors arose in every part of France, determined to conquer or to die, as they supposed, in the service of the Redeemer. Simon de Montfort was the executioner of the Papal vengeance. In vain the feudal sovereigns attempted to arrest his desolating progress. The storm of war rolled rapidly forward, sweeping away many goodly fabrics. The ancient and heroic House of Toulouse at length fell a victim to the fury of the Crusaders. The Church headed one of 1 See for the history of this Crusade Sismondi ("Histoire des Frangais," torn. vi. c. 24), and Raynaldus, an. 1208-1217. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. IOJ the most barbarous wars in the annals of the world. Cities and villages were seen lying smoking on the ground. The soldiers of De Montfort bathed their swords in blood. Unoffending women and helpless children were immolated on the altars of superstition. A stillness as deep as the stillness of the tomb reigned through the depopulated country. The Inquisition established by the Council of Toulouse in 1229, fifteen years after the death of Innocent, continued its silent, inhuman, and destructive crusade, search- ing out heretics, blocking up their hiding-places, and level- ling their houses with the ground. 1 The work was done effectually. A Church was destroyed. The name of the Albigenses was blotted out from under Heaven. The remnant which escaped the steel of the Crusaders and the racks of the Papal inquisitors was gradually absorbed into the sister Church of the Waldenses. The Pontificate of Innocent was closed by the fourth Lateran Council held in the year 1215, the most celebrated and numerous of the ancient assemblies of the Latin Church, consisting of 77 primates, 417 bishops, and a much greater multitude of abbots and priors, besides ambassadors from the West and the East, which he made a mere court for the promulgation of decrees on transubstantiation, auricular confession, and other matters, dictated by himself." For the political ability which he displayed, for the triumphs which he gained, for the almost irresistible strength with which he endowed the Papacy, the reign of Innocent will be for ever memorable in the annals of the world. Under him it rose to its proudest elevation. But in thus describing it, we condemn it very strongly ; for it was totally alien in its spirit and rules of government from that kingdom not of this world, which it was the great object of the mission of our Divine Master to establish. We find, however, that his 1 Raynaldus, an. 1229. 2 Raynaldus, an. 1215, n. I, et seq. 104 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. success was more in appearance than reality ; that his policy ended either in disastrous Failure, or in splendid triumphs which prepared the way for future reverses. He nearly failed in his contest with Philip of Hohenstaufen. If the latter had not been assassinated, Innocent must have retired ignominiously from the battle-field. Before that event, the dignity of the Pope had been lowered by the absolution which he had extorted from him. He was obliged also to abandon the object of his policy which was to break the succession in the House of Hohenstaufen, and to assist in the elevation of one of that hated family to the Imperial dignity. He thus prepared the way for the dangerous strife with Frederick II. We find, too, that in direct defiance of Innocent, who anathematized them, and their work, the noble-hearted barons of England, led on by Stephen Lang- ton, his own nominee, extorted Magna Charta, that palla- dium of our liberties, from an arbitrary monarch. Again, the surrender of the crown by John, the attempt to degrade England into a fief of the Holy See, was the cause of that anti-papal spirit which, intensified by the assumptions, the corruptions, and subsequent exactions of the Papacy, led, at the time of the Reformation, to the deliverance of our fore- fathers from the yoke of an intolerable bondage. Again, the tyrannical attempt, already referred to, to subjugate rather than to win, has tended incalculably to widen the breach between the Eastern and Western Churches. So, too, the terrible carnage of the Albigenses has branded the Papacy with a guilt which will for ever cleave to her, and has caused a cry for vengeance to go up against her from the ground which has been constantly sounding through the ages. We see, then, that Innocent could not always enforce obedience to his mandates, even at a time when, by con- stant repetition of the claim from the days of Hildebrand, men were impressed with a deep conviction of the full sovereignty of the Popes, and shuddered when they thought THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 105 of resistance to their dominion ; and that even then he had shaken that throne which seemed fixed on a foundation as firm as that of the heavens and the earth. The idea of the tribunal which Innocent, following the example of Gregory, sought to establish for the purpose of extirpating evil, sup- pressing tyranny, inhumanity, and injustice, and settling the disputes between kings and nations throughout Christendom, was, in fact, nothing more than a splendid illusion ; for the elements of its success were that the arbiter should be abso- lutely impartial in his judgments ; that he should have the power of enforcing obedience to his mandates ; and that he should not only be perfectly sinless, but that he should exhibit that perfect holiness and wisdom for which our Divine Master was pre-eminently distinguished. Now these qualities and qualifications were as far as possible from being exhibited by one who constantly interfered on the side of injustice ; who could not always compel men to abide by his judgment; who looked rather to the interests of his Church than to the general interests of society ; and who endeavoured, by persecution, and fire, and sword, to extend his empire to earth's remote boundaries. While temporal sovereigns were opposing so inadequate a resistance to the Pope, it could hardly be expected that national Churches would be able to restrain his usurpations on their liberties. Accordingly, we find that they were reduced to a state of abject vassalage to him. The Popes showed themselves excellent judges of human nature in sending to metropolitans the pallium or white woollen stole with four crosses, which was the badge of their office and dignity, and is still the special blazon in the armorial bear- ings of the See of Canterbury. Titles of honour, decorations such as our own ribbons of the Garter and the Bath, dis- tinctions in the colour or shape of a garment, may become instruments of power, because they have an irresistible charm for the common herd of our fellow-creatures. Warriors 106 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. have been animated by the prospect of such distinctions to plunge into the thick of the battle, and to perform prodigies of valour, while they mowed down their enemies on the right hand and on the left. We all remember the words of our immortal Nelson — " A peerage or Westminster Abbey." The Popes showed themselves wise in their generation, inas- much as they made the anxiety to possess this badge the means of bringing metropolitans into absolute subjection to the See of Rome. At first, indeed, this was a mere orna- ment to which no right was attached. But at a synod held at Frankfort in 742 by Boniface as legate of Pope Zachary, it was enacted that metropolitans should not receive conse- cration, or ordain any of the bishops of the province, till they had requested the pallium from the Pope, and had promised to obey all the lawful commands of the successor of St. Peter. The rule thus established was accepted by the whole of Western Christendom. This Council is a lead- ing epoch in the history of the Papacy, as the enactment supplied the Popes with the means of destroying the liberties of metropolitans. We know indeed, that though they were most anxious to possess the pallium, they were at first most unwilling to receive it on the terms offered by Rome. 1 But at length the destruction of their metropolitical rights was completed by the Isidorian forgeries, and by the Decretum of Gratian, in which it was stated that no metro- politan could perform any ecclesiastical function till he had received the ornament. Gregory VII. altered the previous form into a regular oath of vassalage. They were thus obliged to obey the Pope even in temporal matters. The bishops must next be placed in absolute subjection to the See of Rome. We find that in the ninth century the French prelates presented a firm front to the Pope, and that they had even threatened to excommunicate Gregory IV., because he had come into France and had, under the pretext 1 Bonif. Epist. (ed. Serarius) ; Ep. 141, 142, pp. 211, 212. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 107 of mediating between the contending parties, taken part with the sons of Louis the Meek, who had rebelled against their father. The title of universal Bishop was admitted only as implying a power of general oversight, not as entitling Popes to exercise their functions in every diocese. 1 But at length, convinced that a persuasion of the Pope's omnipotence was firmly fixed in the minds of the laity, the weapons which they had hitherto wielded successfully dropped from their hands, and they were no longer able to resist this terrible spiritual autocrat. By a constitution of Alexander II. they were not allowed, to exercise their functions until they had received the confirmation of the Holy See. Gregory VII. found the means, by a forgery, of coercing them into submission to his authority. Innocent III. made use of one of the Isidorian decretals for the purpose of estab- lishing the principle that the Pope alone has plenary jurisdiction in the Church, and that bishops are merely his assistants in the discharge of such portions of his duties as he is pleased to impose upon them. 2 Innocent III., too, claimed a special Divine revelation for his right of deposing bishops. By exempting monasteries from their jurisdiction, and placing them in direct dependence on themselves, the Popes lowered their dignity. Their vow of obedience was, in the time of Innocent III., understood as binding them to submission in political as well, as ecclesiastical matters. 3 Thus, then, the right arm of their strength was paralyzed, and they were compelled to crouch in abject slavery before the throne of this spiritual despot. The Popes destroyed also the independence of Councils. At first they took no part in convoking them, and they were not allowed to preside personally or by deputy at them. We find, too, that the decisions of these Councils as to dogma 1 Planck, iii. 832. 2 Innoc. III., ep. i. 350 ; Decret. Greg. iii. 8. 3 Registr. de Neg. Imp., ep. 68. 108 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. and discipline did not require Papal confirmation. But the Gregorian party, by a forgery, reduced them to a state of absolute subjection to the Pope. From that time the only business of bishops at a Council was considered to be to inform the Pope of the condition of their dioceses, and to give him their advice in spiritual matters. The Pope, in fact, appropriated to himself all rights and institutions in the Church, not only those already mentioned, but also the powers formerly exercised by the emperors and Frankish kings in ecclesiastical matters. National Churches now found themselves subject to an irresistible despotism. But the hand of arbitrary power must be seen and felt in order that it may be obeyed. Accordingly, with the view of subverting the ancient constitution of the Church, legates were appointed to represent the majesty of the Pope in the territories far remote from the central seat of government. 1 The ensigns of sovereignty with which they were surrounded struck terror even into assemblies consisting of the highest and mightiest of this world's potentates. Assuming unlimited authority over national Churches, and determined to extort money which they might pour into the Papal coffers, these legates lived in splendour at the expense of the victims of their tyranny, deposing bishops, holding synods, promulgating canons, and pronouncing the sentence of excommunication against those who dared to resist some arbitrary decree which they had issued from their council chamber. Like a mighty torrent, they rolled over the land, sweeping away the ancient landmarks, laying low many goodly fabrics, and spreading ruin and desolation around them. During the thirteenth century, the new religious orders of Mendicants — the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the August- inians, and the Carmelites, the institution of which dates from the Pontificate of Innocent III. — contributed most 1 On the general duties of the Legate, and his influence in promoting the consolidation of the Papacy, see Planck, iv. pt. ii. 639, sq. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 1 09 effectually to the aggrandisement oT the Popes. The Benedictines and Augustinians had hitherto been the stand- ing army of the Papacy; and they fought its spiritual battles during six centuries. The Popes, finding that, from their reputation for sanctity, they possessed great influence with the multitude, had granted to them protection, patronage, and property, had conferred upon them exemption from episcopal authority, and had constituted themselves their sole visitors, legislators, and guardians. The monks repaid them for these privileges by the most implicit obedience, and exercised with persevering zeal the control over men's minds which they possessed for the support and aggrandize- ment of the Papacy. But their excessive avarice and opulence proved the means of alienating from them the affections of all orders of the community. Innocent III., who at first dis- missed St. Francis of Assisi with contempt, at length con- vinced that, from this cause, they would soon lose their hold upon the masses, accepted his offer to establish a body of men who, like the disciples of our Lord, possessed neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in their purses, nor scrip for their journey, depending for the means of support on the alms of the faithful. The Dominicans, their rivals, were a society of itinerant preachers, and were not in the first instance bound by any vow of poverty. But when St. Dominic observed that the vow gave the Franciscans an immense superiority in public estimation, he thought it right to imitate their self-denial, and imposed the obligation of poverty upon his disciples. Their founders hoped that they would rival the holiness and self-denial and contempt of wealth exhibited by those sectaries, the contemplation of whose virtues had caused the multitude to waver in their allegiance to the Church of Rome. They trusted, also, that, armed by their vow of poverty, they would not be seduced from their fidelity to the Roman See by the promises or frowns of this world's potentates. IIO EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Seclusion for the sake of meditation had been the object of the earlier religious orders. Their founders imagined that, if they buried themselves in some desert solitude, or in the gloom of a monastery, — carefully abstracting their gaze from this world's thousand glittering vanities, carefully closing their ears against the trumpet-call of pleasure, the voice of faction, the wrangling of the market-place, or the tumult of the battle-field, — they might, by assiduous efforts, soar on contemplation's wing beyond the " bounds of space and time," hold rapturous converse with the Triune Jehovah, and even behold the effulgence which issues from His throne. The Dominicans were, however, directed to stand on the .world's highway, and to address to those around them the words of exhortation and remonstrance. St. Dominic hoped that they would thus ■ counteract the dan- gerous effect of the preaching of the heresiarchs, whose strength was in their public addresses. Innocent gave ?a reluctant consent to the establishment of this order. When the Franciscans found that their rivals gained no little influence by their public preaching, they followed their example, and perhaps with equal success. Those bare feet, that robe of serge, that gravity of demeanour, that indiffer- ence to the pomp and pageantry of earth, that noble superiority to the sordid and debasing pursuits and pleasures of the secular clergy, produced a wonderful impression on the minds of the large body of their fellow-countrymen. Being themselves destitute of the common comforts and even necessaries of life, they would learn to sympathize with those children of poverty, whose tattered raiment scarcely afforded any protection against the wintry blast. The starting tear at the sight of misery, the earnest endeavour to lighten that burden which pressed so heavily upon them, at once won for them the affections of the poorer classes of the community. They would go into the lazar house, full of the victims of disease ; they would endeavour to alleviate THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. Ill the racking torture which they saw on all sides of them ; they would bind up the wounds of bleeding humanity, lifting up before the agonized sufferer the symbol of re- demption ; they would stand near those stricken down by the plague, who were shunned by all the world besides ; they would hold their heads in the last fearful struggle between the flesh and the spirit, and cheer them with the prospect of a world where they would exchange their squalid raiment and beggar's staff for a sceptre and a robe of im- mortality. They would visit too the very dens of infamy and vice ; they would endeavour to snatch the outcasts of society from the hell which was opening its mouth to receive them ; they would go among the sons of violence and crime, standing between them and some individual whom they destined as their prey ; fixing on them a flashing eye, and addressing them in a voice of thunder, they would scare them from their purpose ; reminding them of a time when all their deeds of violence should pass in terrific array before them, confounding them by their multitude and enormity. We cannot wonder, therefore, that, persevering in the dis- charge of those duties which the secular clergy systematically neglected, they should have won the affections of those among whom the latter were appointed to minister ; or that their poverty, their abnegation of self, their holiness, should have served to counteract the effect already produced by the preaching of those sectaries, who were constantly de- claiming against the avarice and corruption of the clergy, and that they should have confirmed the wavering multitude in their fidelity to their spiritual mother. The influence which they obtained fully justified the expectations of their founder. Men had expressed their wonder that he should have established a community which could not exist without a perpetual miracle, and had pre- dicted that it would share the fate of those organizations, which, after a brief existence, had perished from the face of 112 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. the earth. But Francis answered, that He who clothes with beauty the lilies of the field, and by whom the very hairs of their head were all numbered, would not suffer those who had devoted themselves to His service to perish from want of sustenance. In fact, his profound knowledge of human nature at once led him to utter the prediction that his order would inspire an enthusiasm which would prove its best safe- guard from its predicted dissolution. Multitudes pressed forward, anxious to be enrolled in the fraternity. In the course of ten years the delegates to the general chapter of the Order exceeded 5000. In fact, the Mendicant Orders which had sprung up after the Council held at Rome in 1215, under the Pontificate of Innocent III., had so enormously multiplied, that Gregory X. found it necessary, in a general Council which he assembled at Lyons in 1272, to repress, as he called them, these "extravagant swarms of holy beggars,'' and to confine the institution of Mendicants to the four denominations of Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Hermits of St. Augustine. Their influence with the multitude has never been sur- passed. The latter were possessed with the idea that the sacraments received at their hands would prove more effi- cacious than when administered by the parochial clergy. They crowded to their churches to perform their devotions, believing them to be the very presence-chamber of Deity, beautified with the presence of the celestial powers. They hung spell-bound upon the lips of the preacher, fancying, as they gazed on that pallid countenance, on that form wasted with fastings and mortifications, and on that blue eye glisten- ing with a brightness which served to show that the holy man was often wrapt into an ecstatic trance, and possessed the power of discerning unearthly visions; or as they listened to that fervid eloquence which rushed like a mighty torrent from the lips of the preacher, showing that he was animated by a deep sense of the importance of the truths which he THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 1 13 was commissioned to declare to his hearers, that they were gazing on, and listening to, an inspired messenger of Jehovah, who had just descended to them from His council chamber, commissioned to declare his mind and will to the guilty and rebellious inhabitants of this district of His empire. Thus, then, they fancied that they should be well prepared for the joys and services of the heavenly sanctuary. And whenever they were consigned to their last resting-place, it was their anxious wish that the Mendicant should perform the last sad rites over their bodies, that they should slumber beneath the very pavement from which their prayers and praises had ascended, and that the solemn dirge over them should roll through that very " long-drawn aisle and fretted vault " in which they had often seen the gleaming of the golden wings of the angels, and heard celestial melody during their abode upon earth. But their influence extended still further. The lord of the castle which frowned in feudal grandeur upon the humble dwellings of the artisans and outcasts among whom they had laboured, was about to '' shuffle off this mortal coil," and to enter that " undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns." The sins of a whole life-time rise up like so many phantoms from the land of shadows, commissioned to rob him of his peace. The forms of the long-buried victims of his avarice and oppression, whom he has been the means of bringing to a premature grave, now pass in dim procession before him, directing his view onward to the judgment-seat, where all his sins shall be charged home upon his conscience, and shall bear witness to the justice of his condemnation. Unable to derive any comfort from the ministrations of the chaplain, who had often been the gayest of the gay at the festive board, who had quaffed the red wine from the golden goblet as freely as any of the assembled revellers, who had lent his aid to swell the Bacchanalian chorus which had resounded through the hall and along the 9 114 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. corridors of the fortress, he would summon to his bedside one of those holy men with whose fame the whole neighbour- hood was ringing, that he might confess to him and receive absolution before his spirit broke away from its earthly prison. Their influence, however, was not confined to smaller matters. They gained it not only through the enthusiasm of the virtuous members of their community, but also through the intellectual power of others. We are in- formed that they boasted of having amongst their members some of the most subtle intellects of the age. We cannot be surprised, therefore, to hear that they passed from the sick room of the feudal lord to the cabinets of princes. They became well versed in Jthe art of diplomatic intrigue. They were the secret spring of many grand political combin- ations which affected the happiness and the interests, not only of their contemporaries, but also of generations then unborn. They directed from the council-board the move- ments of armies, swayed the destinies of States and Em- pires, and regulated the proceedings of those who acted a conspicuous part in public affairs. 1 We find that the Pontiffs of the thirteenth century, being fully aware of the assistance, which, in consequence of their influence with all classes of the community, the Mendicants were able to give to them, had placed on their brows the Episcopal mitre, conferred upon them their richest livings, employed them in difficult and delicate negotiations, and consulted them in all affairs 'affecting the best interests of the Church. They had" also the privilege of wandering about the country, to preach to the multitude, to hear con- fession, and to give absolution without a license from the Episcopal order ; 2 and they had at their disposal an ample 1 They are found at the'Court in the character of counsellors, and chamberlains, and treasurers, and negotiators of marriage (Matthew Paris, p. 541). 2 "After the Isidorian decretals and Gratian, the introduction of these Orders, with their rigid monarchical organization, was the third THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 115 store of indulgences with which the Pope had enriched them that he might make compensation to them for their voluntary poverty. We cannot wonder, therefore, that those who were favoured with these privileges should have repaid their benefactor by their devotedness to his cause ; that, during the war with Frederick II. , of which I shall speak directly, they should have proved the demagogues of refractory sub- jects, the propagators and publishers of the fulminations of the Pope in all lands, and his most potent auxiliaries ; that they should have greatly magnified the Pa*pal supremacy; and that they should have aided the Popes in the design which they had formed of endeavouring to govern with despotic sway the kingdoms of the earth. At length the Empire fought its last terrible battle with the Papacy. The hero of this desperate struggle was Frederick II., the grandson of Barbarossa, to whose elevation to the Imperial throne, Innocent III. had, as we have seen, offered no objection. We see this remarkable man only indistinctly through the mists of calumny and prejudice. We are, however, able to discover that, though he was guilty of dissimulation, though he was too fond of sensual enjoy- ment, 1 though he persecuted heretics, though he was stained with more than one deed of cruelty, he was a man of winning manners, and was ardently beloved by his followers ; that he was remarkable as a warrior and a politician, a poet and a law-giver; that he had a refined, subtle, and philosophical intellect, which he had inherited from his Italian mother, and which was fostered by his education amid the orange groves of Palermo. 2 His code in Sicily and Naples was framed great lever whereby the Old Church system, resting on the gradation of bishops, presbyteries, and parish priests, was undermined and destroyed. The Papal authority was literally doubled by their means." — "The Pope and the Council," by Janus, p. 152. London, 1869. 1 Villani ("Istorie Fiorentin.," vi. c. 1) says that he was dissolute and abandoned to every kind of luxury. 2 He was curious in natural history. He used his friendly relations 1 1 6 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. with the special view of securing equal rights to all classes of his subjects, and of delivering them from the yoke of the feudal oppressor. He established Universities which, if they had continued to flourish, might have hastened onward the glorious era of Italian art and literature. Greek was spoken in many parts of his kingdom. If he had lived, the revival of the study of the Greek language might have taken place before the capture of Constantinople. The fragrant flowers of Hymettus might have been seen in those days blooming in the bowers which adorned the banks of the Tiber and the Arno. He could himself speak fluently all the languages spoken by his subjects — Greek, Latin, German, French, Italian, and Arabic. In his reign, and under his fostering influence, began to be formed the " Tuscan's siren tongue." He was distinguished for his love and encouragement of literature. 1 We are sorry to be obliged to add, however, that though we must allow that the charge that he was inclined to the religion of Mahomet is manifestly an invention of his enemies, 2 for with strange inconsistency they represent him as saying that the three religions of Christ, of Mahomet, and of the Jews, are to be placed on the same level of im- posture, yet we must admit that he indulged in a dangerous laxity of belief and levity of expression, which cast a shade over his character. We cannot doubt that the unholy lives of the Popes, the injustice with which he was assailed by them, affected unfavourably his belief in the fundamental truths of Christianity. The aggressive designs of the Popes were undoubtedly the cause of the undying enmity with which they pursued this illustrious and unfortunate monarch. The struggle was indeed inevitable. The emperors were willing to acknow- with Eastern Princes to form a collection of animals not often seen in Europe — the elephant, camel, and camel-leopard. He sent a camel to Henry III., who formed a menagerie in the Tower. Pauli, iii. S53. 1 Peter de VineS, iii. 67. ' Matthew Paris, 512, edit. Watson. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 1 17 ledge the supremacy of the Pope in spiritual matters ; but they could endure no superior as temporal rulers. The Pope, on the other hand, wished to reign supreme in both departments. Frederick aspired to a supremacy altogether irreconcilable with that of the Supreme Pontiff. The contest may indeed be said to have begun for the third and last time with the quarrel between Innocent III. and Otho IV. in the year 1 2 1 1 ; but it was suspended during the Pontificate of Honorius III. (1216-1227), who, in consequence of his mild temperament and indecision of character, was unwilling to come to an open rupture with the empire. Even then, however, were heard the first murmurs of that coming tempest which was to shake terribly the nations of the earth. The Pope was very angry with Frederick because he would not receive the Bishops appointed by him to five Sees which the latter had kept vacant in his dominions, and asserted in his correspondence that to the Church Frederick owed the crown of the Holy Roman Empire. The inheritance of the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, which Frederick had obtained through the marriage of his father with Constance, the heiress of the Norman kings, was one cause of the animosity with which he was pursued by the Popes ; for it was regarded as a fief of the Holy See, and by his possession of it he could threaten the Pope on the south as well as on the north. The Pope had indeed reason to fear him ; for he was the most powerful and popular sovereign whose territories have ever surrounded the dominions of the Holy See. Frederick's misfortune was that he had given Gregory IX., a man of vast learning, indomitable resolution, amazing energy, and un- bounded ambition, who, at the age of eighty, became Pope in 1227, a hold upon him, of which he did not fail to make use for the advancement of his own pretensions. In a moment of that youthful enthusiasm which he had inherited from his grandfather Barbarossa, he had made a vow at San Germano, in July, 1225, under pain of a sentence of excommunication Il8 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. if he neglected to fulfil it, that he would, in two years, in August, 1227, engage in a Crusade for the recovery of the Holy Places from the Infidel. r The wars in his dominions had hitherto prevented him from rushing with his gallant hosts, like a mighty torrent, upon the plains of Asia. Doubt- less he intended to fulfil his vow ; but he thought that he might postpone his departure till he could go without hazard. He sailed before the day appointed; but was obliged by illness to return. Gregory immediately attacked him in a style of passionate invective, in which truth was artfully blended with falsehood ; accused him of having returned because he preferred the luxurious ease of his kingdom to the hardships of the Crusade ; and concluded by fulminating against him in 1227 the sentence of excommunication, which was renewed twice in the same year, while the bells were tolled, and the priests around him extinguished their torches. 2 Frederick addressed a manifesto to the sovereigns of Europe in a style equally acrimonious, in which he called on them to unite with him against one who was exerting every effort to cast around them the chains of the oppressor^ On March 23rd, 1228, he was again excommunicated, and his kingdom was placed under an interdict. Frederick soon afterwards sailed for the Holy Land in June or July, 1228, but he was followed by Gregory with ban and anathema because he had not given satisfaction to the Church before his departure.* When he had been for a short time in Palestine, a vessel arrived with the intelligence that a Papal army had broken into Apulia, and was ravaging that country. As he was not fired with the ambition of Coeur de Lion, who would not have been satisfied unless he had performed prodigies of valour, and had hewn for himself 1 Raynaldus, an. 1225, u. 1-7 ; an. 1227, u. 21-47. 2 Matthew Paris, pp. 431-4, 461-7, an. 1228, 11. 1-4. 3 Matthew Paris, sub ann. 1228, written at the end of 1227, Dec. 6. 4 Jordanus/in Raynald., sub anno. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 119 a way to the Holy Sepulchre through the hosts confederate against him, and as he was anxious to return for the defence of his patrimony against the great enemy of his race, he determined to secure by negotiation what he had not obtained by force of arms, and concluded a by no means inglorious treaty with the Sultan for the surrender of Jerusalem. His rapid return in July, 1229, disconcerted the hostile measures of the Pope against his territory. The latter, on hearing of the treaty, became more determined in his hostility to Frederick. When it might have been supposed that age would have chilled his ardour, and that he would have abstained from passionate language for which he might soon be called to answer at the bar of the Almighty, he issued a still fiercer excommunication than before, and called on the Princes and Potentates of Europe to arise in their wrath, and to aid him in sweeping from his path the contu- macious emperor who defied his authority. They had not, however, much difficulty in discovering the malevolent spirit which dictated this opposition • and were convinced that Frederick ought to have been honoured by the Pope because he had obtained for pilgrims the privilege of access to the Holy Sepulchre. As for these reasons they were unwilling to range themselves on his side, the Pope was obliged to absolve him without any satisfaction for his special sin, and thus to admit the injustice of his former sentence of excom- munication. 1 Frederick, however, by consenting, though a conqueror, to the restoration of the places which he occupied in the Papal territories, and to other terms disadvantageous to himself, showed that he could not shake off that awe of the Papacy which lay like a leaden weight on the minds of the inhabitants of Europe. A hollow truce of nine years, from 1230 to 1239, between the Pope and the Emperor, was succeeded by a still more 1 Matthew Paris, pp. 469, 470, 472, 476-86, 490. Raynaldus, an. 1229, n. 42, 43. 120 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY., deadly conflict. The Pope had strengthened his cause by- allying himself with the Lombard republics, and by coming forward as their champion against the Emperor who sought, like his grandfather, to deprive them of that liberty which was their inalienable birthright. Frederick now availed himself of the opportunity of attacking them, afforded to him by their support of his son in his unnatural rebellion against him. 1 After a great victory at Corte Nuova, in 1237, several of the Lombard cities threw open their gates to the conqueror. Milan, Brescia, Piacenza, and Bologna, alone bade defiance to him ; but without aid they would soon bow their necks beneath his yoke. The probability was that all Italy would soon lie prostrate at the feet of the conqueror. The Pope would in this case become a vassal of the Empire. Now this was a degradation to which he was determined not to submit. He at once made an alliance with Venice, took the Lombard republics under his pro- tection, and entered into mortal combat with the Empire. It was not difficult to discover a pretext for commencing hostilities. Again, on March 24, 1239, the thunder-storm of excommunication and interdict burst over the head of Frederick. 3 Again, in reply to an address of the latter to the Princes of Christendom, in which he arraigned the base conduct of the Pope, 3 he delivered a more passionate declamation than those which he had formerly published against him. It was full of calumnious charges, and showed the Pope to be utterly wanting in the true spirit of Chris- tianity. He rises in it from one bold invective to another, and uses more and more of the language of reproach and defiance. The princes and potentates of Europe were unwilling to range themselves on his side. Many of them saw that the Pope ought to have honoured the Emperor for 1 Muratori, xvi. 624. 2 Matthew Paris, pp. 574, 579-81, 599, 609, 651-3. 3 Epist. ad H. R. Angliae ; Rymer, sub an. 1238. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 121 his signal services in Palestine ; that he had not, like the Pope, oppressed Christendom with his exactions ; and that the fierce invectives of the latter were dictated by inexorable hatred, and by the determination not to submit to his supremacy. 1 Gregory, however, though supported only by the arms of the free cities, and by the mercenary troops paid with the money which Henry III. of England, that weak tool of the Papacy, in spite of the strong remonstrances of the nobles and clergy, allowed him to collect in England for the so-called Holy War, 2 confronted with an undaunted mien his powerful adversary. He excited the vehement anger of the princes of Germany and of the king of France by his effrontery in deposing Frederick, and in making an offer of the Imperial crown to Robert, the brother of the latter, which he indignantly refused. But his feeble forces were unable to cope with the powerful legions of the Emperor. Town after town in his territories was wrested from him. Once, the awe of the Papacy, which Frederick could not always shake off, caused him to forego an im- portant advantage, and prevented him from finishing the war by the capture of Rome. But he determined not again to abandon the certain prospect of a glorious triumph over his foe. The Pope, however, still bore up against him with undaunted courage. He sought to surround himself with spiritual terrors, and summoned a General Council. Frederick prevented it from being held by seizing the vessels conveying several of the prelates to it, and committing them to prison. 3 The raging lion stood at bay in a circle which, as his foes pressed on, became continually narrower. The capture of the city seemed to be inevitable. The Pope, however, was spared this humiliation. At the age of nearly ioo, when he ought to have been preparing himself by spiritual exercises 1 Matthew Paris, writing in his Monastery of St. Albans, sub an. 1239, expresses these views. 2 Matthew Paris, sub an. 1240. 3 Matthew Paris, sub an. 1241. T22 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. for his final change, his spirit passed away with the words of defiance and hatred on his lips, just after he had seen the camp fires of the marauders who were about to be let loose for pillage and massacre within the walls of the Eternal City. Frederick seemed now to have gained a glorious victory over the Papacy. The sun of the Empire shone forth with unclouded majesty. The nations of Europe little thought at this time that it would soon be shorn of its beams, and that, before another generation had passed away, the glory of the House of Hohenstaufen would be extinguished for ever. The death of Gregory, a.d. 1241, was followed by the election of Celestine IV., who died a month afterwards. Sinibald Fiesco, of a house in Genoa, who, having been elected in June, 1243, after the Pontifical chair had been vacant for two years, assumed the title of Innocent IV., proved a far more formidable opponent to Frederick than his predecessor. The Emperor, in consequence of the advantages which he had gained in his combat with Gregory, seemed able to extort from the Pope the repeal of the sentence of excommunication. Negotiations were soon begun with a view to this object. The conditions of recon- ciliation between the contending parties which were proposed and at length sworn to by the Imperial ambassadors on March 31, 1244, in the name of the Emperor, though they involved an acknowledgment of the undoubted rights of the Empire, were found, on examination, to be so disadvan- tageous to him, inasmuch as he was required to surrender his fortresses, and to abandon all the advantages which he had gained in his conflict with the Papacy, that he soon began to shrink back from the fulfilment of them. 1 Innocent, feeling that he was in the power of the Emperor, fled in dis- guise to Civita Vecchia, where, embarking on board a galley, one of a fleet of twenty-three galleys which were waiting there for him, he fled first to Genoa, and afterwards to 1 See Matthew Paris, sub an. 1244. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. I 2 3 Lyons. He knew that in this last city he could act as an independent potentate. When he was safe from the venge- ance of the Emperor, he was guilty of an unwarrantable assumption of authority. " To the astonishment and horror of all who heard him," in 1245 he deposed Frederick in a full Council of the Church, and absolved his subjects from their allegiance. 1 Frederick had no sooner heard of this display of Papal arrogance, than, bursting with wrath, he re-crowned himself with his own hand in the presence of a full court, 2 and published a manifesto to the nations of Europe in which he denounced in the strongest terms his tyranny and in- justice. 3 The Pope, breathing equal fury, called on the subjects of the Emperor to revolt from their monarch. But the incantation of the mighty magician had not yet displayed its subtle power. Innocent, after several ineffectual attempts to raise up a rival sovereign in Germany, found an Emperor in the person of Henry of Thuringia. The gold of England, and the sermons of the prelates and clergy, who preached the crusade against Frederick, raised for him a large sum. But the forces of Frederick inflicted on him a crushing defeat, after which he died of shame and vexation. The Pope again endeavoured in vain " to thrust greatness " on several princes ; but at length succeeded in inducing William of Holland to accept the Imperial dignity. The leading princes were very indignant with the Pope for deposing the Emperor. But now dark clouds began to gather over the ill-fated monarch. The defeat which he sustained before Parma, on February 18, 1248, when his outworks were destroyed, and the Imperial crown, with a large amount of treasure, fell into the hands of the victors,-* the fate which had befallen his beloved son Enzio, remarkable for his personal beauty, his 1 Matthew Paris, pp. 886, 887, 896, 920. See also Giannone, "Stor. di Napoli," lib. xvii. cap. 3. 2 Matthew Paris, pp. 753-756, 928. a Peter de Vinea, lib. i, 3. 4 Muratori, Annal. sub an. 124 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. bravery, his skill in war, his love of music and poetry, who, after having fought valiantly against his father's foes, was taken prisoner and consigned to perpetual imprisonment at Bologna, the treachery of his bosom friend and counsellor Peter de Vinea, whom he detected, as he imagined, in a design of carrying him off by poison, 1 wrung his heart with anguish, and paralyzed his energies. Now, in a strange state of irresolution, he would rush upon the Pope, and obtain his absolution by force of arms ; now, when the spell of the Papal majesty was upon him, he would be willing to crouch in abject submission before his throne. Thus then he became incapable of contending with his resolute adver- sary. His inhuman treatment of the prisoners captured at Parma, his denunciations of the avarice of the clergy, who, he declared in his manifesto, ought to be deprived of their superfluous wealth, had alienated from him many of his former supporters, and had given strength to the league formed against him in Germany. At length the end came. He was overtaken with mortal sickness at Fiorentino, and breathed his last in the arms of his son Manfred, who, with filial duty, spoke to him words of peace and consolation during the last fearful struggle between the body and spirit. We see, then, that the Empire was beaten down in this conflict. The Pope succeeded in the deposition of the Emperor. The result is a convincing proof of the awe of the Papacy with which the minds of men were overpowered during the thirteenth century. We have seen that Frederick was the most powerful and beloved monarch who ever sat on the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. He was at the same time terrible in his wrath to all who provoked him to the conflict. The monarchs of Europe, though they did not 1 Matthew Paris (pp. 1015, 1016) gives us the words used by him on this occasion which show his.anguish : " Woe is me ! even my own flesh and blood fight against me." Dante, however, with whom Peter de Vinea conferred in hell, asserted his innocence. " Inferno," xiii. 58. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 1 25 aid him, did not oppose him in his terrible struggle with the Papacy. The only exception was the weak Henry III., who allowed, as I have said, money to be collected for the Pope in England, and, though the brother of the Empress, did not prevent the publication of the sentence of excom- munication in his realm. Nay, many of the princes and potentates of Europe were very angry when they witnessed the implacable hostility with which he was pursued by the Popes. The pious St. Louis, king of France, and the princes of Germany, were very indignant on account of the audacity of Innocent in deposing a monarch who had no superior in Christendom. The former even declared that he had not found so much religion in the Pope as in the Emperor. 1 Many of the highest Churchmen too ranged themselves on his side. On the other hand, the Western Church was alienated from the Papacy by its extortions and usurpation of benefices. The resentment against the Pope in England on this account was so great that it seemed as if the nation would cast off his usurped dominion. 3 The rapacity of the Papal See, and the aggressions on the rights of the clergy, under Innocent IV. surpass all description. For his ex- tortion and his other vices he was branded as Antichrist by Robert Grosseteste, the noble-minded Bishop of Lincoln.3 Men were horrified when they witnessed the undying enmity exhibited by those who, as the ambassadors of the Prince of Peace, ought to have allayed instead of fomenting civil dis- cord. This enmity was so great that it led them to heap upon Frederick the most malignant curses/ to utter against him the grossest calumnies, to apply to him the most oppro- brious epithets, to encourage designs for his assassination, 1 Matthew Paris, sub an. 1239. * Matthew Paris, 1245. He is the best authority for the impressions which prevailed in Christendom. Almost every page contains details and complaints of the exorbitant imposts laid on England by the Roman Church. 3 Matthew Paris, pp. 1160-62, 1196. * Matthew Paris, pp. 646, 667-9, 66 7- 8 5. 812-884. 126 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. to stir up rebellion in his dominions, to seek in every way to accomplish his ruin. Innocent IV. hated him so much, that when he heard of his death he used the following language, which makes us shudder as we read it : " Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; for the thunder and the tempest with which a powerful God has so long threatened your heads are changed by the death of that man into refreshing breezes and fertilizing dews." z We see, then, that the Pope was at an obvious disadvantage. But though further he was called upon to contend with an adversary who brought to bear against him the whole force of the Empire by which he was occasionally almost over- whelmed ; though he could not induce any of the sovereigns of Europe to come to the rescue or strike a blow in his defence ; though he was aided only by the arms of the free cities, and by the mercenary troops whom the subsidies of England had enabled him to equip ; though he had to con- tend with the citizens of Rome, who were often rising in insurrection against him, he was so terrible in his strength that he was able to depose and beat down to the earth this heroic and unfortunate monarch. We have no doubt that the Mendicant friars, the standing army of the Papacy, found alike in the cottage of the poor and the cabinets of princes, whose influence with the multi- tude has, as we have seen, never been surpassed, not only contributed by their declamations, and by the stories which they circulated through Europe, to loosen the hold of Fred- erick on the allegiance of his subjects, but also to intensify that religious awe of the Popes which enabled them to pro- ceed successfully to the grossest act of usurpation to be found in the annals of the Papacy. 2 Even Frederick could 1 Raynaldus, 'Sub an. 1251, and Sismondi, "Repub. Ital.," vol. ii. p. 244. 2 Peter de Vinei (i. 18-19) says that the Mendicant Orders whom he calls " the Pope's evil angels, ' ' were let loose against Frederick, to inflame the people down to the lowest by their unscrupulous denunciations. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 1 2 7 not shake off his awe of the adversary with whom he was engaged in mortal combat. When he was about to gain some important advantage, often he would not persevere in his course, but shrunk back overpowered and confounded by the contemplation of one whose form seemed to dilate into a supernatural grandeur, like the form of the Prince of Darkness, as Milton has described him, when he stood " collecting all his might," " like Teneriff or Atlas, unre- moved," ready to do battle with the angelic squadron of the Almighty. Like Dante, the immortal bard of Italy, he made a distinction between individual Popes and the high dignity with which they were invested. Thus the former describes Pope Nicholas as buried in the Infernal regions on account of his simony, head foremost in the livid rock. Flames play over the soles of his feet, causing them to glance to and fro in restless agony. He is represented as anticipating a similar fate for Pope Boniface, whom he directly charges with having by corrupt means attained the Papal tiara, and with having made use of the opportunities afforded by his exalted dignity to add to the immense piles of wealth which he had accumulated around him. 1 But yet so strong was his conviction of the dignity of the office, that though he might have been expected to honour Frederick II. on account of his lofty gifts and his persecution of heretics, by which he intended to show that he was a' true son of the Church, and because he was one of that imperial race to which the poet looked as the means of consolidating the different States of Italy into a kingdom, and of reviving the glories of those days when she sat as a queen among the nations, he has, because of his incessant warfare with the Papacy, considered himself obliged to represent him alone of the Emperors as placed in the lowest part of hell. We find him in the city of Dis itself, the heat in which is so intense that it illumines with a ruddy glow the iron battle- 1 "Inferno," Canto xix. 1. 105-111. 128 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. ments around it, confined like other heretics in a burning sepulchre, from which are heard groans of the bitterest anguish. 1 Thus while Frederick honoured the office, he has denounced, in the strongest terms, the tyranny, the injustice, the rapacity, and the arrogance of the Popes with whom he contended. He and the men of his generation had a far deeper awe of the Papacy than the contemporaries of Henry IV. and Frederick Barbarossa. Though he was pursued by the Popes with a fiercer hatred than they ex- perienced, he could not venture like them to set up an antipope ; while they raised one potentate after another to the Imperial dignity. Occasionally too he was disposed to sue humbly for absolution ; but when he found that they spurned him from their feet, he sent them a message of defiance, and fought valiantly against them. He was, like his ancestors, unsuccessful in the struggle. Many in that age recognized the right of the Pope to dethrone him. His deposition and the struggle to assert his rights which it occasioned, inflicted an injury on the Empire from which it never recovered. No doubt his reverence for the Papacy occasioned an indecision which led to his defeat. Though he never resigned the Imperial dignity, he may be said to have been virtually deposed by the edict of Innocent, for he passed the remainder of his life in the midst of war, sedition, and treason, without enjoyment of the repose of royalty, and with a limited possession of the dignity and authority of the Holy Roman Emperor. But though he was almost heart-broken by his misfortunes, he struggled on bravely to the end of his days, and did not humble himself before the Popes, like Henry IV. at Canossa, and Frederick Barbarossa at Venice. His own generation visited him with unsparing censure ; but posterity, while admitting that there is much in him which deserves blame, have considered him " more sinned against than sinning," have admired his 1 Dante, "Inferno," Canto x. ver. 119. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 1 29 lofty qualities, have compassionated his sorrows, and have pronounced a strong condemnation on the wicked Popes, who, they consider, will be held responsible for many of his evil deeds when they stand before the bar of the Almighty. Innocent, even after the death of Frederick, continued to bear an unquenchable hatred to the House of Hohenstaufen. When he found that his efforts to despoil his son Conrad of his paternal inheritance by denunciations and interdicts failed of the wished-for success, he offered it first to Richard Duke of Cornwall, the brother, and, on his refusal, to Edmund, the second son, of Henry III. of England, hoping that, by the forces raised by the subsidies remitted from that country, he should succeed in the accomplishment of his object. 1 Henry, by these exactions, hastened the revolt of his barons, which ended in the defeat of himself and Prince Edward at the battle of Lewes, and to their subse- quent captivity. But death soon laid its hand upon Conrad. An infant, Conradin, was now the heir of the house of Hohenstaufen. Innocent very soon despoiled him of his inheritance. This spoliation was immediately followed by the death of the former. He left a name odious for rapacity, inordinate ambition, and implacable pride. Some of his contemporaries, after his death, saw him in a vision standing before the judgment-seat, where all his evil deeds passed in terrific array before him, and bore witness to the justice of his condemnation. 3 An evil destiny followed the House of Hohenstaufen. The successors of Innocent — Alexander IV. (1254-1261), Urban 1 Matthew Paris, pp. 1190, 1196, 1208, 1209, 1216, 1217, 1219, 1242. * Matthew Paris gives several instances. The misdeeds of Innocent embittered the last moments of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, that "smiterof the Roman Court," as Matthew Paris calls him. As his monks were standing weeping round his death-bed, he said to them : "Although many Popes have afflicted the Church, this man has brought on it a more grievous servitude than all, and has multiplied evils." (Matthew Paris, pp. 1160-64.) 10 130 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. IV. (1261-1265), an( i Clement IV. (1265-1278)— pursued the members of it with bitter and unrelenting hostility. Manfred, the illegitimate son of Frederick II., a poet like his father, a man of consummate courage and great ability, as Dante calls him, " Gentle, and fair, and comely of aspect," * reconquered the kingdom of Naples after the death of Innocent. Having ruled it justly in the name of his nephew Conradin, he was afterwards persuaded to assume the crown on account of the youth of the latter, intending to bequeath it to him at his death. He was, however, unable to do so, for he was defeated and slain in the battle of Benevento in 1266, by Charles of Anjou, the brother of Louis, king of France, to whom Urban IV. had offered the kingdom, which he considered that Edmund, the son of Henry, had forfeited by the inactivity of his father, and the diminution in the amount of the subsidies from England. The heaps of bones piled up at Ceperano even in Dante's time, " there, where treachery Branded the Apulian name — " 2 a just accusation, for there can be no doubt that the battle was lost by the treason of the Apulian Barons, who, when commanded to advance to the charge, hesitated, turned, and fled — the command given by Pope Clement to the Arch- bishop of Cosenza, to tear up Manfred's bones from their rude sepulchre near the bridge of Benevento, where they had lain " by the heavy mole Protected," 3 which was formed of stones cast upon the grave by the French and Apulian warriors, and to bear them away because 1 Dante, "Purgatorio,'' canto iii. v. 107. This passage, in which Dante meets the spirit of Manfred, is one of the finest in the " Purgatorio.'' 2 Dante, "Inferno," canto xxviii. v. 15-17. 3 Dante, " Purgatorio," canto iii. v. 124-132. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 13 I they were in the Church's territory, so that, as Manfred informed Dante, when he met him in Purgatory — ' ' the rain now drenches them, And the wind drives, out of the kingdom's bounds, Far as the stream ofVerde," near which they were again buried in unconsecrated ground — furnish a sad evidence of the enmity with which the Popes pursued the ill-fated House of Hohenstaufen, and are an impressive commentary on the destructive effects produced by the wrath of him, who, as the ambassador of the Prince of Peace, should have bound together in the bands of love the various members of the human family. 1 But the Pope had not yet exhausted the vials of his wrath. Christendom heard with horror that Conradin, the grand- son of Frederick II., the last heir of the House, whose youth and chivalry might well have moved to pity even a heart of stone, having been defeated and taken prisoner at Tagliacozza in J268, by Charles of Anjou, in an expedition which had for its object to deliver his paternal inheritance from his galling yoke, had been doomed, perhaps with the approval, and in accordance with the suggestion, of Pope Clement, to be executed as a felon and a rebel on a public scaffold. 2 We see, then, that the Popes succeeded in their unhallowed enterprise, and blotted out the name of the House of Hohen- staufen from under heaven. The death of this heroic boy, which left another stain of blood on the annals of the Papacy, marked the termination of the struggle of 200 years between the Emperors and the Popes for supremacy over 1 Raynaldus, an. 1262, n. 20 ; an. 1265, n. 11 ; an. 1266, n. I, et seq. Giovanni Villani, " Istoria," lib. vi. 0. 90-92. 2 Raynaldus, an. 1268, n. 1-35. The sentence in which he recom- mended the deed was long remembered by the Ghibellines : ' ' The life of Conradin is the death of Charles ; the death of Conradin the life of Charles" (Giannone, lib. xix. c. 4). It is right to add that there are some doubts as to the truth of this story. 132 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. the nations. The latter now reigned without a rival in Christendom. The empire had in fact been in abeyance since the death of Conrad IV. in 1254. The Pope threat- ened to fulminate the strongest anathemas against the electors if they dared to elect the young Conradin. A con- test between rival candidates for the throne, Richard, Duke of Cornwall, and Alfonso of Castile, both of whom were elected by two sections of the electors on the death of William of Holland, the Papal Emperor, in 1256, was followed by fearful disorganization in Germany. Oppression rolled her chariot-wheels over the land, red with the blood of human victims. The lords of the feudal castles subsisted on plunder, descending on unwary bands of travellers from the summit of the rock, like the eagle from her nest in the lofty cliff coming down at one fell swoop on her prey. Alfonso remained watching the stars at Castile; and Richard had not the power to restrain their tyranny. The Popes, having at their disposal the votes of the three archbishops who were electors through the* oath of vassalage taken by them, as I have already stated, on their investiture with the pallium, wickedly availed themselves of the enormous power thus acquired, to compel them to elect the emperor already referred to, and, after the death of Richard, to prevent them from proceeding to an election, because they were anxious for the continuance of a state of anarchy which might serve still more to weaken the Holy Roman Empire. 1 The Popes thus came off victorious in their terrible conflict with the empire, during which they displayed far more ambition, 1 The throne, though nominally elective, was for some time practically hereditary. Before the close of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, however, it had become a fundamental law of the empire that the throne should be purely elective. Seven of the most powerful magnates had been permitted to usurp the privilege of electing the Roman Emperor — the Duke of Bavaria, the Duke of Saxony, the Marquis of Brandenburgh, the Count Palatine of the Rhine, and the three Archbishops of Mentz, Treves, and Cologne. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 133 arrogance, cruelty, and rapacity, than the kingdom of this world with which they struggled for the mastery. A different result should hardly have been expected. The Papacy had this advantage over the empire, that, as the Head of the ecclesiastical body which expressed all the intellect and activity of the age, it could bring a tremendous force to bear against its secular adversary. The Popes, too, could hurl upon their foes the thunderbolts of heaven which they kept stored in their armouries, so that the valiant knights and nobles who fought beneath the banner of the Caesars, trembled while they resisted these self-constituted Vicegerents of the Almighty. The emperors, too, were not unlikely to be beaten down in the conflict, because they admitted that they were fighting against a mightier enemy, inasmuch as they acknowledged the claims of the Papacy as a spiritual power upon their allegiance. The empire survived indeed the ruin which overwhelmed the greatest of its. Houses ; but it was terribly weakened by the struggle, and never again displayed that might and majesty for which it had been conspicuous among the nations. It dragged on a lingering existence, becoming more crippled in every successive age of the world's history. The last days of its existence at length arrived. Napoleon Buonaparte felt that he could not be recognized as the sovereign of Western Europe till it had been finally and for ever abolished. He therefore called on Francis Joseph, who, in the early part of this century occupied the throne, to resign the Imperial dignity. The latter, finding that it was in -vain to struggle with adverse fortune, by a declaration dated August 6th, 1806, complied with this demand, and retired within his hereditary dominions under the title of Emperor of Austria. Thus the empire was honoured in the instrument selected for its destruction. As it was weakened by the storms and waste of ages, a feeble hand might, with a touch, have levelled with the ground the ancient and stately structure. But it was swept away by that 134 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. giant who, by the strength of his right arm had cast down from their thrones the mightiest monarchs, and crushed the proudest armies which had ever marched beneath the banner of this world's potentates. Gregory X., the best of the Popes, who succeeded Clement IV. in 127 1, after an interregnum of three years, having been a witness of the sufferings of the Christians in the Holy Land, determined to rekindle a zeal for the Crusades. He laboured to promote peace throughout Europe with an earnestness very seldom to be found among the Popes, that he might unite its nations beneath the sacred banner of the cross. First of all, he endeavoured to allay that civil warfare which had deluged with blood the fertile plains of Italy. He induced Venice and Genoa to lay aside their ancient enmity. The Guelphs and Ghibelines in Florence made a promise that they would give up their party-strife. 1 A fearful state of disorganization existed, as we have seen, in Germany during the interregnum which followed the death of Frederick II. After the death of Richard, Duke of Cornwall, brother of the English Henry III., who had really only been the titular Emperor of Germany, Gregory, overlooking the claims of Alfonso of Castile, whom, as we have seen, some of the electors had raised to the Imperial dignity in opposition to him, and anticipating the election of Rudolf of Hapsburg, com- manded them to choose a new Emperor. 2 He hoped that he would not only heal the bleeding wounds of Germany, but also be the leader of a new expedition for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. But neither Rudolf himself, who 1 Leonardus Aretinus (" Hist. Flor. " lib. iii. p. 48) bears full testimony to the sanctity and pacific character of Gregory, and describes his attempts to reconcile parties at Florence. * Richard had been chosen by four of the electors because he was rich enough to support the dignity, and not strong enough to be feared by them. But three of the electors, finding that his bribe was lower to them than to the others, chose Alfonso X. , called the Wise. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 135 became the father of the Austrian line of emperors (Sept. 29, 1273), nor ms two successors, eventually became emperors. They could not, on account of the distracted state of. Ger- many, proceed to Rome to be crowned by the Pope or his commissioners, a ceremony which was indispensable to their assumption of the Imperial dignity. Thus the Popes were altogether free from the opposition of that formidable power which, during the former period of their history, had exalted itself against them. The union of the Greek and Latin Churches was also an object of Gregory's solicitude. The dispute concerning the patriarchate of Constantinople, in the year 857, in the time of Nicholas I., had led to the final schism between the Eastern and Western Churches. Bardas, the guardian of Michael I-IL, the Drunkard, had induced the latter to depose and banish the pious Ignatius, the patriarch of Constanti- nople, because he rebuked him on account of his immoral life, and to appoint the learned Photius as his successor. Michael and Photius, finding that Ignatius would not resign his patriarchate, sought to overcome his resistance by appealing to the Pope. The latter ordered Ignatius to appear before a General Council in the presence of his legates, who, bribed and intimidated by the emperor, con- sented to the deposition which the Council pronounced. The Pope at once disowned the act of the legates, and re- fused his consent to the deposition of Ignatius, or the elevation of Photius. He ordered the immediate restoration of the former, and pronounced the direst anathemas on those who presumed to disturb him in the discharge of the duties of his office. The emperor and Constantinople utterly dis- regarded the imperious mandate. Photius summoned a Council at Constantinople, which joined in the counter- excommunication of Nicholas, and which, after condemning the enforced celibacy of the clergy and other acts of heresy, pronounced anathemas on those who asserted the procession 136 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son. The principal cause of the opposition of the Council to Nicholas was the total denial by the Greeks of the Papal supremacy. A revolution, however, took place, followed by a General Council, which reversed the acts of the former Council, decreed the condemnation and banishment of Photius, and the restoration of Ignatius. The latter afterwards ruled for ten years in peace. On his death, in 878, Photius was restored, with the full sanction of the Pope; but on the death of his patron was again compelled to go into retire- ment. He did not live to profit by another revolution. The schism of thirty years, properly speaking, expired in his person. From this quarrel, however, may be dated the decided separation between the Churches of the East and the West ; for it aroused in the minds of the Greek priests and people the spirit of national and ecclesiastical independ- ence. The articles of difference just referred to, from which neither would depart, were soon converted into essential and fundamental dogmas. The unwise coercion of Pope Innocent served, as we have seen, to widen the breach between the two Churches. Various attempts at reconcili- ation were afterwards made by Pontiffs anxious for the enlargement of their spiritual dominions, which have alto- gether failed of the wished-for success. To the attempt made by Pope Gregory, I shall now proceed to call the attention of my readers. The fifth Crusade had terminated in the capture of Con- stantinople by the Crusaders. The Greek Empire was divided between Baldwin, Count of Flanders, who obtained the Imperial dignity, the leaders of the Crusade, and the republic of Venice. The Latin dynasty, thus established at Constantinople, was finally expelled in 1261. Michael Palaeologus, the Greek Emperor, having been acknowledged by Gregory instead of Baldwin II., the Latin Emperor at the time just referred to, whom Charles of Anjou under- THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 137 took to restore to his throne, repaid the debt which he owed to him by obtaining a slow consent from the Greek Church, not only to give up their doctrine of the Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father, but also to admit a kind of supremacy in the Pope. 1 Gregory also hoped that, by acknowledging him as emperor, he should induce him to lend his aid for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. A Council was now summoned at Lyons to give effect to his wishes. It was universally acknowledged in the West> was attended by five hundred bishops, seventy mitred abbots, and one thousand of the inferior clergy, and was the only Council ever held which was undisturbed by any dis- pute. 2 The legates of Michael, the Greek Emperor, and of the King of the Tartars, the ambassadors of France, Germany, England, and Sicily, and one prince, James of Arragon, were present at it. The members of it agreed without hesitation to the object for which it was summoned. They voted a tenth of all ecclesiastical revenues for the expedition to the Holy Land ; passed an Act for the union of the two Churches; received an emperor in the closest union with the Church ; and passed various decrees for its reformation ; including one for the regulation of the Papal elections. It was enacted that, during the election, the Cardinals should be lodged in one chamber, so closed on every side as to leave no possibility of entrance or exit ; that no one should approach them' or address them privately, unless with the consent of all present, and on the business of the election ; that the chamber should have but one window, large enough for the admission of necessary food, but not of the human body ; that if, in three days, they did not come to a decision, for the fifteen following days they should be contented with a single dish as well for dinner as supper ; that after fifteen days they shall have no other 1 Gibbon's "Decline and Fall," vol. xi. p. 313 ; Pacliymer, ii. 15. 2 Pagi, "Vita Greg." x. s. xxv. 138 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. nourishment than bread, wine, and water, until the election shall be made; and that during the election, they shall receive nothing from the apostolical chamber, nor any other revenues of the Roman Church. 1 Thus ended the second Council of Lyons. Gregory wit- nessed its unanimity with tears of joy. He seemed now to have accomplished his object, and to have secured the pacification of Christendom, that he might unite it in an expedition which had for its object the discomfiture of the infidel. The Emperor Rudolf had engaged to conduct it ; Philip the Hardy, King of France, Edward of England, James of Arragon, and Charles of Sicily, had promised to accompany it. The following year was devoted to the necessary preparations. But the bright vision soon van- ished away. In January, 1276, before one galley had sailed for the Holy Land, Gregory fell sick and died on the road to Arezzo. The union of Christendom was immediately dissolved. The smouldering embers were soon kindled into a flame. The Greeks returned to their schisms; and the Roman Catholics directed against one another the arms which ought to have been consecrated to the deliverance of Palestine. This was the last grand Christian confederacy formed for the rescue of the Holy Land from the infidel. Formerly, when Peter the Hermit and St. Bernard preached, every mountain-top was red with the beacon-blaze. One spirit of crusading zeal animated the inhabitants of Europe. But for some time past the sacred fire had been burning with a feeble and fitful glow upon its hearths and its altars. The Crusades were no longer armed insurrections of whole nations, animated with the desire of avenging the insults 1 Pagi, "Vita Greg." x. s. xli. ; Fleury, liv. Ixxxvi. s. xlv. These regulations could not, as men and Cardinals are constituted, be rigor- ously enforced. With some modifications, however, they exist to this day. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 1 39 offered to our Divine Redeemer, and of securing for them- selves the pardon of their sins, and admission to the world of glory. They had become, as much as possible, -the private enterprises of individuals. The soul of St. Louis, or Louis IX. of France, was fired with crusading ardour. Un- deterred by the disasters of the first Crusade, which ended in an inglorious captivity in Egypt, from which he was redeemed by the gold of his subjects, after an interval of twenty years he engaged in a second, which ended in his death, in 1270, before the" walls of Tunis. We have no hesitation, however, in saying that the chivalry of France followed him, not from profound religious conviction, but just as they would have followed him to any other bold campaign, from which they hoped to return, crowned with laurels, after having performed prodigies of valour. We may make the same observation respecting the expedition of Edward I. of England, whose romantic adventures in Palestine immediately followed the death of St. Louis. He was the last to unfurl the sacred banner of the cross. 1 The question has often been discussed, Whether or no these fanatical enterprises in the end really improved the condition of society ? Some people imagine that they acted upon it like the storm, which, while it desolates the earth, purifies the atmosphere. I cannot altogether agree with that opinion. It is true, indeed, that they added to the power of the reigning monarchs in Europe. They gained possession of some fiefs by purchase from those who, anxious to equip themselves for the Holy War, sold them for far less than their original value. Others reverted to them as the original donors through the death of those who had been slain in the Crusades. Thus the power of those feudal tyrants who knew no law but their own imperious will was materially weakened. The monarch 1 I have not in this work given a regular history of these expeditions, nor mentioned more facts than are necessary for my inferences. T4<3 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. was enabled to consolidate his dominion on the ruins of the aristocratical power. 1 Moreover, they aided in extending the .power and increasing the privileges of the commonalty. As Gibbon observes, " The estates of the barons were dissi- pated, and their race was often extinguished in these costly and perilous expeditions. Their poverty extorted from their pride those charters of freedom which unlocked the fetters of the slave, secured the farm of the peasant, and the shop of the artificer, and gradually restored a substance and a soul to the most numerous and useful part of the com- munity. The conflagration which destroyed the tall and barren trees of the forest, gave air and scope to the vegetation of the smaller and nutritive plants of the soil." These, however, were merely incidental results of the Crusades. The utmost that can be said is, that they hastened a change which the advance of knowledge and other circumstances must inevitably have produced. So again it is said of them that they fostered the spirit of com- mercial enterprise. The Pisans, the Genoese, and Venetians, not only possessed the commercial advantage of transporting the Crusaders with their warlike stores to the East, but also obtained peculiar privileges in the towns conquered by them in Syria, being freed from every kind of commercial restric- tion, and being empowered to settle all questions by judges of their own appointment. 2 But these were almost the only cities in possession of these benefits, which were a poor compensation to Europe for the extortion which drained the treasures of its most powerful nations, France, Germany, and England. We must add, on a careful review of the subject, that the Crusades were, on a comparison of their good and evil effects, prejudicial to the best interests of society. They 1 See Robertson, " Introduction to Charles V." = See Mill's " History of the Crusades," and Heeren's "Essay on the Influence of the Crusades." THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 141 encouraged that fanatical spirit which derived a savage pleasure from the immolation of myriads upon myriads of human beings. To the spirit which they fostered we may attribute the sanguinary violence of the Crusades against the Albigenses, carried on by those fiends in human shape who slaked their thirst for blood in the red stream issuing from unoffending women and helpless children. Constant intercourse with the East increased the duplicity of the Crusaders, a vice ingrained in the character of Asiatics. 1 We see too that the Pope directly encouraged men to the commission of the greatest crimes, by offering them a plenary indulgence, or a discharge from all the temporal penalties imposed on them by Divine justice, if they plunged into that savage warfare in which they delighted; and this too a warfare carried on not for the boundaries of a manor, or the possession of a petty fortress, but one well calcu- lated to fill them with warlike enthusiasm, on their return from which, the people might rend the air with acclama- tions, and the virgins might drop flowers on their path, as they rode in their triumphal car through the streets of the city of their fathers. By the assertion of this prerogative, as well as by the other means already referred to, the Pope must have added greatly to the power which he already wielded over the nations. By leading this great movement he had in fact become the lord paramount of Europe. He was invested with a new kind of supremacy, inasmuch as he could fulminate the anathemas of the Church against those who molested the Crusaders during their absence. These were the means of terminating many of those civil broils which had raged in France during many generations, and had deluged her provinces with blood. He could also release the noble from the feudal claims of his lord, direct the emancipation of the slave, and even deliver the debtor from his creditor, if only they had enlisted 1 Mill's " History of the Crusades." I42 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. under the sacred banner of the cross. 1 The Pope obtained, too, many free gifts from the laity, and he became, through the Crusades, the supreme lord in regard to the levying of taxes — nominally voluntary contributions, but really exactions from the clergy, designed to meet the expenses connected with them — which he afterwards applied to, and imposed for, his own purposes throughout the continent of Europe. This misapplication of the money intended for the Crusades, the felt impossibility of retaining possession of the Holy Land, the employment by the Pope of many of the crusading armies for the civil warfare raging in Italy, were causes of the gradual cessation of those holy enter- prises. We must bear in mind this cessation of the Crusades as one of the causes of the loss of that prodigious power which enabled him to compel the world to crouch in abject servility before him ; otherwise we should have only an imperfect view of what would seem to be, through the neglect to consider them, his sudden descent from the proud position which he occupied as arbiter of the destinies of Christendom. After the death of Gregory X., in January, 1276, three Popes pass rapidly before us. This was the age of magnifi- cent designs as short-lived as the men to whom they owed their origin. Nicholas III., who became Pope in November, 1272, refused to crown Rudolf of Hapsburg till he had confirmed all the spiritual and temporal pretensions of the Holy See ; he thus acquired the whole of Romagna and Bologna as fiefs of Rome. He almost anticipated the nepotism of later ages for which Dante has given him a place in the Infernal regions, 2 for he had almost completed a design for the division of Italy between two members of his house. The election of Martin IV. was almost imme- diately followed, in 1282, by an insurrection called the 1 See Robertson's "Charles V." (Proofs and Illustrations). 3 "Inferno," xix. 66. THE NOONDAY OF PAPAL DOMINION. 143 Sicilian Vespers, in which the inhabitants of the island avenged the murder of the heroic boy Conradin, and their accumulated wrongs, on Charles of Anjou and the Papacy. 1 On Easter Tuesday, as the inhabitants of Palermo were sauntering towards a church to celebrate vespers, a Sicilian, provoked by an insult offered to his wife, a highborn, beautiful, and delicate female, by one of a party of French soldiers who had come avowedly for the purpose of keeping the peace, drew his sword and killed him on the spot. Immediately a shout of " Death to the French!" rang through the streets of the city. The indignation excited by the countless acts of tyranny of which the Sicilians had been the victims, now burst forth with fearful violence against the French. Men, women, and children, belonging to the hated race, were slaughtered without mercy. The whole nation rose simultaneously against their oppressors. One pulse beat throughout the inhabitants of Sicily ; a spirit of patriotism animated the whole of them. Charles of Anjou had no sooner heard of the insurrection, than, burning with rage, he invaded the island, threatening to exterminate its inhabitants, and to make it a blackened and desolate waste. But Peter of Arragon, the son-in-law of Manfred, designated by Conradin on the scaffold as the heir of his rights, who was at this time with his fleet on the coast of Africa, watching his opportunity of descending on the island, having been summoned by the Sicilians to their assistance, compelled Charles of Anjou to evacuate it, accepted the crown of Sicily which was offered to him, avenged the wrongs of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, and wrested Sicily for ever from the grasp of this oppressor of his race. The Pope in vain fulminated his anathemas against Peter and the Sicilians. A gift made by the Popes was annulled. A signal victory was gained over the Papacy — 1 G. Villani, lib. vii. c. 57-61 ; Giannone, lib. xx. 1.-. 5 ; and Sismondi, R. I. iii. 52. 144 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. a prelude to the triumph over Boniface VIII., of which I shall speak hereafter, who was cast down from the height of his pride at the bidding of a stern and imperious despot. The Sicilian Vespers may be considered as the end of the Epoch, beginning with the Pontificate of Innocent III., which I have designated as "The noonday of Papal dominion ; " for the loss of a crown conferred by the Papacy may be regarded as a symptom of the commence- ment of that decline, difficult to fix, of which I shall speak in the following chapter. CHAPTER V. THE BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF THE PAPACY FROM THE SICILIAN VESPERS IN 1 282 TO THE DEATH OF BONIFACE VIII. IN I303. Reflections on the Papal power— The time of its decline— The causes of that decline— The Pragmatic Sanction of Louis IX. of France— His character— Other causes of the decline, including the contest between the Papacy and the Empire, Interdicts, the partiality- shown to the Mendicants, the denunciations of its best friends, the preaching of the Albigenses, Peter de Bruys, Henry the Deacon, and the Waldenses— Sketch of the history of the Wal- denses — Celestine V., the hermit Pope — Great decline of the Papacy under Boniface VIII. We have seen the successive steps by which the Popes ascended to the summit of earthly greatness. Under Inno- cent IV., when Frederic II. was deposed, the power of the Papacy rose to its utmost elevation, at which it may be said to have continued till the Sicilian Vespers. The Popes now sat "as God in the temple of God," and compelled the nations of the earth to crouch in vassalage before them. They had enslaved alike the souls and bodies of their fellow-creatures. When we look at their antecedents, and observe the circum- stances connected with their election, we shall see reason to wonder that the nations of the earth did not laugh to scorn the imperious edicts which issued from the Lateran. They would seem to us rather like the soft breath of the zephyr which ruffles the bosom of the lake, than like the mighty whirlwind which, rushing forth from the fabled cavern I46 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. in the mountain, lashes into fury the waves of the mighty ocean, and rends the giant oak, the monarch of the forest. A feeble old man, unconnected by any ties with his prede- cessors, often of mean extraction, possessing no political influence, ascends with tottering steps the throne of St. Peter. The chamber in which he was elected to the vacant dignjty was the scene of the grossest venality, rivalry, and intrigue. Or, as we have seen in the history of the tenth century, crimes, intrigues, and assassinations determined his elevation. The Pope himself was an insignificant person, or else violent and licentious. 1 And yet he is armed with an authority almost despotic. The proudest monarchs of Christendom become vassals in his train. He exercises a powerful control over a wild and warlike aristocracy, so that he can arrest them in their progress after they have issued forth to ravage and to destroy. We may say that the Pope- dom prevented the different forces from coming together in a very fierce conflict, which might have issued in the disso- lution of society into its original elements. We must re- member, too, that if the Pope had not possessed sufficient power to compel the whole hierarchy to labour on a fixed system, his rule would have lost its unity, and with its unity its authority would have altogether perished. We must admit also that the Crusades, undertaken in accordance with his direction, were the means of arresting the progress of that onward flood of Mahomedanism, which, after sweeping all before it in Asia, would have rolled with desolating fury over the continent of Europe. While, however, we make these admissions, we must main- tain that worldliness is the most striking characteristic of the Papacy, and that it is a gigantic system of corruption and imposture. Through the contests of many ages, the Popes 1 We have a wonderful proof of the power accompanying the name of the imperial city in the fact, that Christendom should have allowed the rabble and soldiers of a single city to elect the spiritual autocrat. DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 147 have so acted as to raise in the minds of men the suspicion that they were aiming to possess power for its own sake, rather than for the promotion of the best interests of the human family. When they assisted in giving liberty to the Lombard republics, they were influenced rather by the desire of preventing any one else from ruling over mankind, than by the wish that they should obtain that liberty which was their undoubted birthright. Anger or ambition was the motive which prompted them to mediate between con- tending parties, to hurl their anathemas at monarchs, and to restrain them in their course of violence and crime. The Platonic vision of a spiritual monarchy employing its uni- versal authority for purposes purely spiritual, is one which can never in this world be realized. Christianity could not tolerate the idea that a man should denounce as impiety every attempt to limit his power, and should lay claim to the attributes and prerogatives of Deity. The theory of the Papal autocracy, too, was taught and maintained by means utterly at variance with the spirit of Christianity. The foundation of the superstructure was laid on the dead bodies of their fellow-creatures, and its stones were cemented with the blood of the countless victims of their triumphs. The wonder is how the Popes should have been able to establish the theory of a priestly empire, the limits of which should be co-extensive with those of the habitable world. We should have imagined that mankind would at once have seen that it was absolutely impossible that one man, often in the decline of life when he was elevated to his high dignity, should be able to maintain the faith of the Church, to en- force her discipline, to settle her controversies, to determine appeals, to suppress disorders and factions, to give laws, and to administer justice to nations, differing in language, manners, and customs, throughout his extensive dominions. When they remembered that wise and good kings have been overwhelmed by the burden of the government of one 148 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. small kingdom, we should have thought that they would have imagined that the Popes would have been crushed beneath a sense of the responsibility involved in the ad- ministration of the spiritual affairs of every nation as far as earth's remote boundaries. It would be evident to a man of the meanest capacity, that such a government demanded for the proper execution of its duties the omnipotence and omniscience of Deity. The Popes did indeed often com- plain that they were of all men most miserable ; that they were pressed down to the earth beneath an overwhelming burden ; that it was utterly impossible for them to rise to their high destinies, and to become candidates for the imperishable crown. But they showed that those pro- fessions were nothing more than a solemn mockery, inas- much as they imposed no restriction upon themselves, but made it their great object to establish an absolute dominion over the" nations. " Encroachment," says Plutarch, " is an innate disease of power." Every accession of it only emboldens a man to persevere in the path of ambition. Thus the power of Napoleon advanced through successive stages of growth, until at length the son of the Corsican lawyer dethroned the mightiest monarchs, and reigned with despotic sway over the nations of Europe. Thus the Popes were led to aim at their own aggrandisement. In many instances, of course, their will was simply the tradition of the Curia, of the tribe of writers, notaries, and tax-gatherers, employed in transactions about privileges, dispensations, and exemptions, who laboured to heap up around them- selves and their spiritual lords piles of wealth, and who, with a view to their own selfish ends, often reminded them that they must labour, to augment that treasure of power which had been transmitted to them through many gener- ations. But while some Popes may have groaned beneath the tyranny of that serried phalanx of officials, the large pro- portion, concealing their ambition under the pretext of DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 149 employing their power for beneficial purposes, aided them in those schemes which had for their object to impose on the nations of the earth the yoke of an intolerable bondage. We must now contemplate the descent of the Popes from their proud elevation. Some revolutions which affect the destinies of states and empires occur with great rapidity. The battle of Tours, for instance, in the seventh century, has been justly termed by Dr. Arnold, one of the two most important battles in the history of the world; "for," as Gibbon observes, " it rescued our ancestors of Britain, and our neighbours of Gaul, from the civil and religious yoke of the Koran." 1 The God of battles then arrested the pro. gress of those fiery waves of war which were dashing wildly against the fabric of Christianity, and said to them in a voice of irresistible authority, " Hitherto shall ye come, and no farther ; " for the effect of the battle was that no more attempts at conquest were subsequently made beyond the Pyrenees. Thus, too, the glorious victory of Waterloo was the means of delivering Europe from the power of a blood- stained oppressor. We witness the same sudden changes in the realms of nature. The ground beneath the feet rocks as if it were about to be convulsed by a mighty earthquake ; sounds like the roar of artillery are heard in the caverns of the mountain. Very soon, the molten lava, descending from the summit, forms a fiery tomb for thousands who, only a few minutes before, were instinct with life and animation, and changes the gardens of roses, which bloomed in the midst of a soft and flowery landscape, into a bleak and desolate waste, possessing scarcely one spot of verdure. But in speaking of the Papal empire over mankind, we cannot fix the time when it was first shaken. We have the same difficulty in settling when old age, creeping on a man, began to rob him of that herculean strength which enabled him to rend asunder the massive walls, and to tear up the 1 "Decline and Fall," vol. x. p. 2. 150 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. strongest bulwarks ; or when those boiling surges began to subside, which threatened to submerge us as we were wandering along the sea-shore, and to shake to their found- ation the white cliffs of our native land. Slowly, as in each of these cases, that extraordinary power has been decaying through successive generations. The strongly-built walls, and the stately columns of the gorgeous structure, seem to rise before us with the same imposing grandeur as heretofore during the thirteenth century. But a close examination of the foundations will serve to show us that they were exhibit- ing symptoms of decay before the accession of Boniface VIII. in 1294; and will prepare us to see the cause of the fissures which appear in them, — the premonitory signs of the coming of a time when Rome shall fall with a mighty crash which shall re-echo through the universe. The causes of the decay of the Papal power are to be sought in the history of the preceding age. When the freedom of episcopal elections was restored by the Concordat at Worms, the Pope came at length to be considered as the judge in all cases of appeal. The litigants were required to carry their cause to Rome, where, in consequence of the minute formalities required by the canon law, the Popes found no difficulty in setting aside the election, and in conferring the bishopric on their own candidate. * They also supplied the want of election or the unfitness of the elected by a nomination of their own. 2 But these were not the only instances of arbitrary interference with Church patronage. The Popes began by asking as a favour that a particular living might be conferred on some one whom they strongly recommended. These recommendatory letters were called mandates. But examples produce custom. The doubtful precedent of one generation became the established rule of the next ; so that at length they obtained a large share of the patronage in most of the countries of 1 Schmidt, t. 4, p. 177. * Decretals, I. i. tit. 6, c. 22. DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 151 Europe. Through the imbecility of Henry III., who offered no opposition to Papal encroachments, the Pope had obtained the presentation to some of the best benefices in England. Then he claimed the presentation to the prefer- ment held by all clerks who died at Rome. As, from various causes, the number of them was considerable, he had obtained by this means a large share of ecclesiastical patronage. Thus then in various ways he wrested benefices from their lawful patrons, which enabled those who held them to live in ignoble ease in their palaces on the banks of the Tiber. The Popes too extorted large sums of money from the Churches of Europe ; at first, for the purpose of promoting a crusade for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre ; but afterwards that they might be enabled to conduct to a successful issue some scheme which had for its object their aggrandisement as temporal princes. The Papal legates continued by their extortions and assumptions to excite the indignation of those to whom they were sent. Innocent IV., in whose pontificate (i 243-1 254) the tyranny of Rome, if we consider together her temporal and spiritual pretensions, seems to have been greater than it ever was before, directed the English prelates to furnish, at their own expense, a certain number of men-at-arms for the defence of the Church. 1 This extortion and appropriation of benefices were causes of the loss of the prodigious influence which the Popes exercised over the secular clergy and the hierarchy. The laity also were justly indignant on account of their venality, when they found them openly selling bishoprics and benefices at Rome to the highest bidder; especially when they saw that the wealth thus poured into their treasury was appropriated to the purpose of swelling the pomp, and augmenting the retinue, of the pretended successor of the fisherman of Galilee. 1 Matthew Paris, p. 613. Proofs occur in almost all his pages. He was remarkable for his zeal against Papal tyranny. 152 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. The Pragmatic Sanction of Louis IX. of France, com- monly called St. Louis, was the first attempt made to restrain the usurpations of the Church of Rome. This monarch was, on account of his sanctity, regarded with profound veneration by the public, and has been placed by that Church among those canonized saints whom she teaches her members to regard with superstitious reverence. The spring of his actions was an intense religiousness. Often for a whole day would he be found prostrating himself in the act and attitude of prayer before the footstool of the Almighty. The hair shirt, an abstemiousness which far exceeded the prescribed measure, and even led him to allow himself fruit only once in a year, the frequent stripes inflicted on him in obedience to his command by his confessor in private, the loathsome offices which he imposed upon himself in public hospitals, evinced his anxiety to do all which the Church of Rome prescribes for the purpose of bringing the flesh into subjection to the spirit, and of procuring for himself the approbation of his Maker. When he came forth from his retirement and mingled with the world, an angel seemed to have shaken his wings, filling the air with heavenly fragrance. " Never since I was born " (says his companion and biographer, Joinville) " did I hear him speak ill of any one." z He was remarkable for a humility which induced him to abase himself so far as to wash the feet of beggars ; for a conscientiousness which led him to regard as a heinous sin an unjust aggression on the rights and property of others ; for a blamelessness such that the sanctity of his life was not sullied by one stain, and that his enemies were constrained to say, " I find no fault in this man ; " for a regard to morality which led him to exert every effort to restrain the moral profligacy of his nobles ; for an ardent patriotism which caused him to unite (as his biographer observes) the offices of priest and king, 1 "Historie du Roy St. Louis." Edit. Paris, 1617. DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 153 in the discharge of the duties of which he endeavoured to abolish, the ordeal, the trial by battle, to restrain private warfare, to remove abuses, and to promote the onward march of civilization through the length and breadth of his kingdom. We find, however, in him much which belongs to the Middle Ages rather than the New Testament. This piety was tainted by a superstition, its usual concomitant in the days in which he lived, which displayed itself in an insatiable zeal for Crusades, and which led him to spend an enormous sum of money in the purchase of the original Crown of Thorns from the Venetians, with whom, on account of its necessities, it had been placed in pawn by the government at Constantinople ; and afterwards, on its arrival in the neighbourhood of Paris, to advance barefoot, with no other covering than his shirt, at the head of a procession of the clergy and people, to meet it. Then, having moistened it with pious tears, he placed it on his own shoulders and those of his brother, and conducted it with solemn pomp to its final resting-place. 1 Some have expressed their surprise that a king, religious like Louis, who exhibited on all occasions a reverence for the Church of Rome, should have issued the Pragmatic Sanction, which limited the power of the Popes in a very important particular ; for it expressly declared that all pre- lates and other patrons should enjoy their full rights as to presentations to benefices ; that cathedral and other churches should have a perfect freedom of election ; that simony, the pest of the Church, should be wholly banished from the kingdom ; and that no one should collect the taxes or pecuniary exactions which the Court of Rome should im- pose without the consent of the king and national Church. The truth, however, was, that Louis was not a slave of the priesthood ; and that the same spirit of enlightened patriotism which led him to reform abuses in the body 1 "Vita et Conv. S. Ludovici," etc. per F. Gaufridum. 154 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. politic, induced him also to erect a barrier against the encroachments of the Papacy. He was anxious indeed that the Church of Rome should be powerful, but that she should be so through the holy lives of those whom he wished to see devoting all their energies to the promotion of the Divine glory in the salvation of their ignorant and perishing fellow-creatures. With a view to this end, he promulgated in 1268 the Pragmatic Sanction. No opposi- tion at the time was offered to it by the Court of Rome. The piety of Louis, which caused him to be regarded by the public with idolatrous veneration, the respect for the Pope and the clergy always manifested by him, and expressed even in this edict, the proof of his devotedness to the Church which he was now about to give, by engaging in the Crusade in which he closed his life, served effectually to disarm her hostility. The result was that the edict took its place among the ordinances of the realm. It is import- ant chiefly as showing the spirit rising against abuses which it was still fourid impossible to suppress. The Holy See continued for some time after its enactment to invade the rights of patrons of benefices in France. Afterwards, how- ever, the weapon was drawn forth from the arsenal. The powers of the edict, obscured by the specious terms of respect used with regard to the Church of Rome, were afterwards discovered, and, having been subsequently strengthened, it became a most effectual means in France of arresting Rome in her career of aggression, usurpation, and aggrandisement. 1 But there were other causes of the gradual diminution of the power of the Popes. The long contest between the Papacy and the empire had left in the minds of the van- quished party an animosity which sought its gratification in 1 The Pragmatic Sanction has been styled "The foundation-stone of the Gallican liberties." Pasquier, "Recherches de la France," torn, iii. c. 22. DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 155 vituperative language against the Papacy, by which it had been deprived of its pre-eminence among the nations. The interdicts, too, had the effect of exasperating the minds of men against a power which deprived nations of the ordin- ances of religion, because their monarchs had disobeyed some arbitrary edict which had gone forth from the Council Chamber of the Lateran. The unreasonable partiality shown by the Popes, as we have seen, to the Mendicants, served further to alienate from them the minds of the secular clergy. A plain proof of that partiality was given in the year 1255, when Alexander IV., having been urged by the Dominicans to compel the University of Paris to assign to them two of its theological classes, issued an injunction to that learned body to admit them, not to two only, but to as many chairs and dignities as they should wish to occupy. The University, terrified by his menaces, was at length obliged to submit to his mandate, after having for four years resisted him in the spirit of those Christian patriots in following ages who succeeded in raising an effectual barrier against Papal usurpations. This controversy was injurious not only to the Dominicans themselves, but also to the power which upheld them ; for learned men, who had hitherto ministered to ecclesiastical oppression, openly assailed the principles of the Mendicants, and showed the possibility of error in that Church which claimed to be the infallible expounder of God's will to the inhabitants of this part of his empire. Many of the best friends of Rome, without intending to do so, shook the superstructure to its foundation. St. Bernard and other distinguished ecclesiastics seem to have forgotten that when they were denouncing the avarice, luxury, and corruption of the Pope and the hierarchy, they were doing their utmost to bring Rome into contempt, and to impair the might and majesty for which they were anxious that she should be conspicuous among the nations. 1 1 Abbot Conrad of Lichtenau says : ' ' There is no bishopric or 156 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Others aided them in their assault on the Papacy. Songs, in which the venality and avarice of the Pope, legates, and cardinals were made the subject of satire, were sung at the boards of the monks, or in the banqueting-hall of the feudal castle. 1 Even in the ashes of Arnold of Brescia "lived their wonted fires." Many whom he had influenced by his teaching maintained and perpetuated that aversion to the union of temporal and spiritual power in the per- son of the Pope, which has been very injurious to the Papacy. The Albigenses, whom, as we have seen, Innocent III. laboured to exterminate, were indeed strongly tainted with the heretical views of the Cathari, who rejected the prophetical books of the Old Testament, denied the real existence of the body of the Saviour, and repudiated every article of faith which rests upon the great dogma of the Incarnation ; but they lifted up their voices against transubstantiation, image worship, and other dogmas of the Papacy. 2 Peter de Bruys, who, after the zealous labours of twenty years in the south of France, Provence, and Languedoc, was con- signed to the flames in 1130, and his follower, Henry the Deacon, imprisoned for life in 1157, of whom we read that he had, through his eloquence, amazing influence with the multitude, and that the deep tones of his voice were like the roar of legions of devils, manifested a fanatical spirit, and were on some points heterodox ; but they publicly denounced the corruptions of the Church of Rome, and declared their disbelief of the efficacy of the oblations, prayers, and good spiritual dignity that is not made the subject of a process at Rome. Rejoice, mother Rome, at the crimes of thy sons, for they are thy gain ; thou art the mistress of the world through the badness, not the piety, of mankind" ("The Pope and the Council," by Janus, p. 153). 1 See Mr. Wright's Political Songs of Walter de Mapes, published by the Camden Society. 2 Maitland, "Facts and Documents." See also Mansi, xxi. 225. DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 1 57 works of the living for the dead, as well as of transubstan- tiation, and other dogmas of Romanism. 1 The Waldenses demand more than a passing notice, because we believe that they have retained the truth in its purity from the earliest ages of Christianity. They are certainly to be distinguished from the Albigenses. 2 We know that, in the fourteenth century, they denied the sa- cramental character of orders, unction, confirmation, and marriage; the efficacy of absolution, and of the eucharist, when administered by unworthy persons ; that they did not accept the canon of the mass, and rejected the doctrine of purgatory, and of the invocation of saints. 3 The Roman Catholic Church has, with the view of vindicating her own antiquity, asserted that the Waldenses are a sect of late date, and that they derive their name from Peter Waldo, the merchant of Lyons, who separated from her communion about the year 1160. I believe that this assertion is erroneous. I can bring forward passage after passage from her own writers, reporting the constantly asserted tradition of the Waldenses that they existed as a Church long before the time just referred to. Reinerius Saccho, an inquisitor, and one of their most implacable enemies, thus writes respecting them : " Of all the heretical sects that are, or have been, none is more pernicious than that of the Leonists, first from its superior antiquity; for some say that it has lasted from the time of Sylvester, others from that of the apostles." A century later, Polichdorf thus repeats the tradition : " The sons of iniquity say falsely before simple men that this sect has endured from the 1 Petri venerabilis, Lib. contra Petrobrussianos, in Biblioth. Clu- niensi. See also Dupin, Nouv. Biblioth., 12 Siecle, c. vi. 2 All dispassionate writers in the present day, Gieseler, Neander, Schmidt, agree in this conclusion. 3 See additions to the Summa of Reinerius in Bibl. Pat. ed. Lugd. xxv. 264. 158 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. time of Pope Sylvester, when the Church began to have possessions." * The majority of those who have considered the subject hold the opinion just expressed, that the Waldenses have" never apostatized from the faith. Dr. Allix, in his valuable work on the ancient Churches of Piedmont, published about 190 years ago, has clearly demonstrated that the whole diocese of the north of Italy, in which the territory of the Waldenses was included, was pure enough during the first eight centuries at least, to deserve the appellation of a true branch of Christ's Holy Catholic Church. Meanwhile the Church in the neighbouring districts began to be cor- rupted by error, and debased by superstition. A gorgeous pomp and ceremonial disfigured the simplicity of the early Christian worship. The glare of countless lamps at noon- day, streaming along the aisles of the sacred edifice, dazzled the senses, and intoxicated the imagination. Clouds of incense rolled upward from innumerable altars. Multitudes bowed down in solemn adoration before the shrines of the saints. The Church in the north of Italy was for some time uncontaminated by the errors of its neighbours. But the wave of corruption gradually swept onward. It rolled, how- ever, in vain against those everlasting rocks which encircle as with an iron rampart the valleys of the Waldenses. Those who were determined to maintain the truth in its purity, retiring before the advancing deluge, found refuge within that impregnable sanctuary. The diocese of Turin had only in a measure, even in the tenth century, departed from the simplicity of the truth as it is in Jesus. We have conclusive evidence that the Archbishopric of Milan, in which province the Bishopric of Turin was situated, did not become subject 1 Bibliotheca Patrum apud Lenfant, " Guerre des Hussites," liv. ii. s. v. Claud Seyssel, Archbishop of Turin, writes about them in almost the same words in 1540. DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 159 to the spiritual jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome till the middle of the eleventh century. In the mean time an attempt had been made to arrest the -progress of corruption and innovation. Louis the Meek, king of France, appointed his chaplain Claud to the bishopric of Turin in the year 817, with a special charge to labour for the accomplishment of this object. We have evidence that he exerted every effort to preserve his flock from the errors of Romanism, and that his labours and prayers proved a blessing, not only to his own generation, but also to gener- ations then unborn. Peter Waldo, the opulent merchant of Lyons, already referred to, is the next person who comes before us in connection with the history of the Waldenses. We believe that the latter did not derive their name from him, but that he derived his name from them. Convinced by the study of the Latin Vulgate, the only translation of the Scriptures to be found at that time in Europe, that the errors of the Church of Rome were condemned alike by reason and revelation, he lifted up his voice against them, denouncing the immorality of the clergy, and declaring that the Pope was the predicted Antichrist, who was to establish the wor- ship of saints and angels. He died in 1179, after a ministry of twenty years. Many, through his instrumentality, left the Church of Rome. Some, of his followers, after their different persecutions, took refuge in the valleys of Piedmont, where they were incorporated with the Waldenses. The latter then became a missionary Church. Animated with love to their Divine Master, they grasped firmly a banner, on which were inscribed the words, " Nothing but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified," and hastened to plant it in regions where Rome reigned with undisputed supremacy. And their labours were abundantly rewarded. The walls of the strong- holds of superstition fell prostrate before the trumpet-blast of these spiritual heroes. One who wrote in the year 1250, says, "that they had in all the cities of Lombardy, and in l6o EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. other kingdoms and lands, several hearers; that they as- sembled the people in a' hall,, in a field, and even preached from the roofs. There was no one who dared to prevent them on account of the. power and multitude of their partisans." Matthew Paris says, that "they extended to Bulgaria, Croatia, and Dalmatia, and that they had taken such root there that they had drawn to themselves several bishops." Reinerius, who wrote in 1250, acknowledges that they had their bishops in Lombardy. 1 Truly, " the vine sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river." The robber chivalry of the Rhine, who had often listened unmoved to the agonizing cries of unoffending women' and helpless children, when they issued forth to ravage and destroy, melted into tears, as in the hall of their feudal castle, where " power dwelt amid her passions," the herald of salvation discoursed to them with simple eloquence on the love of a crucified Redeemer. The melody of the hymns of Zion floated through halls in Italy and France, in which once were heard only the lays of the troubadour, as he swept his lyre to the deeds of bygone days, or the soft strains of voluptuous music, to the sound of which, forms, radiant with beauty, threaded the mazes of the midnight dance. Nay, even among the olive-woods and citron- bowers of Spain, the hearts of many bounded within them, when they heard from the lips of the Vaudois Barbas, 2 or pastors, that great doctrine, so well suited to bring peace to the conscience-stricken sinner — the doctrine of a sinner's justification through the blood and righteousness of Christ. 3 It is true indeed that the ruthless hand of persecution swept 1 So great was the spread of evangelical truth, that we are informed that if any convert wished to go from Cologne to Milan he could always find a host without going to an inn. 2 A title of respect in the Vaudois idiom, literally signifying an uncle. - Matthew Paris, writing in 1214, says, that in Spain they had ordained bishops to preach their doctrine. DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. l6l away these foreign Churches from the face of the earth. Only between the banks of the Pelice and Clusone in Piedmont, have the truths of the gospel been uninterruptedly preserved from the earliest ages of Christianity. We cannot doubt, however, that the labours of those holy men were as links in that golden everlasting chain which connects the first formation with the final accomplishment of the purposes of the Almighty. We believe that they caused the decline of the Papacy at the time now before us, and that they prepared the way for Luther and that little band of warriors of the cross who shook to their foundation the pillars of the Church of Rome. I have been thus particular in enumerating the causes of the decline of the Papal power, because it is important to remember that the Popes did not suddenly descend from their proud elevation in the time of Boniface VIII. Martin IV. (1281-1285), Honorius IV. (1285-1287), and Nicholas IV. (1287-1292), did not make any abatement in the arrogance of their claims. Celestine V, who became Pope in 1294, after an interregnum of more than two years, is the only Pope who has ever resigned the Pontificate. The circumstances attending his remarkable elevation are the following : J — The cardinals had been engaged for some time in deliberating as to a successor to Nicholas IV., and were unable to agree, when one of them ex- claimed that a holy man had declared that it had been revealed to him that unless they immediately proceeded to an election, the judgments of God would descend upon them. They soon ascertained that the person here referred to was Peter Murrone, who dwelt in a small under- ground cell in Mount Murroni, in Abruzzi. After a high eulogium had been pronounced on his virtues, mistaking passionate emotion, excited by what they had heard, for 1 Raynaldus, an. 1294, n. 3-22; an. 1295, 11. 11-15 ; G - Villani, lib. viii. c. 5. 162 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. inspiration, on the proposition of one of them he was unanimously elected by the cardinals to the Pontificate. The aged recluse, who was utterly unfitted for the common offices of society, reluctantly accepted the high dignity thus conferred upon him. But soon finding that he was quite disqualified for it, he resigned it in full Consistory at Naples in December, 1294, after having held it for five months. Dante has placed the shade of him who made through baseness " the great abdication," among the wretched crew " hateful to God and his enemies ; " J but all contem- plative spirits have reverenced him for this preference of his mountain-cell to the greatness which had been thrust upon him. The decline of the Papal power became manifest after the accession of Boniface VIII. to the Pontifical throne in 1294. This Pope surpassed even Innocent III. in the arrogance of his pretensions, launching his spiritual thunderbolts against States and empires, summoning princes to his tribunal that he might, as an infallible judge, settle their controversies, and laying claim to supreme dominion over the monarchs of the earth. He ought, however, to have seen that the time for these extravagant claims had for ever passed away. Those influences already described were at work which were gradually undermining the fabric of Papal domination. Boniface should have observed in England the ardent aspirations of its inhabitants after religious as well as civil liberty. Those who had won for themselves Magna Charta, that palladium of their liberties, would hardly be supposed to be likely to submit to the dictation of the Pope in ecclesi- astical matters. Causes were now gradually withdrawn from the spiritual to the civil courts. Ecclesiastics who had been guilty of civil offences were constantly summoned before the latter. 2 The royal power in France had very much increased. 1 "Inferno," iii. 55-62. DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 1 63 At one time the great vassals of France had usurped their territories, and barely submitted to the nominal authority of the monarch. But, by steady perseverance, the kings of France were able to consolidate their power on the ruins of the authority of the feudal oligarchy. The clergy might, indeed, still have contended on equal terms with the crown, if their influence had not been greatly lessened by the lawyers. We observe that the latter aided Philip the Fair in his desperate struggle with Boniface. The clergy were astonished to find instead of a superstitious people, crouch- ing in abject submission before them, a body of men of great intellectual power suddenly rising up, who, appealing to the civil law, the Pandects of Justinian, which had been discovered at Amalfi in Italy, gained a wonderful influence over all classes of the community. Those texts, because they were written, were regarded by a people who had lately emerged from barbarism, with an awe which is to us incomprehensible. They were of greater antiquity than the canons of the Church. By the nature of that law, and partly by their determination to oppose the clergy, the lawyers were led greatly to magnify the royal prerogative. The king of France was, according to these jurists, like the despotic 'princes of ancient Rome, like the Roman emperors who inherited their name, the sole fountain of legislation, the embodiment of right and justice, the absolute master of the lives and property of his subjects. Boniface was, however, blind to the existence of these influences which were in operation against the Papacy, and was determined to surpass his predecessors in arrogance. He did not remember too that the human mind was begin- ning to awake from the slumber of ages, and to be prepared for a full investigation of his claims. The philosopher will at once see that Boniface could hardly hope to be success- ful in an age when Dante wrote that remarkable poem, to be described in the next chapter, which has been the 164 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. means of transmitting his name with honour to all suc- ceeding generations. But yet his first measures wore a specious appearance, because he came forward as a peace- maker. Edward of England and Philip the Fair of France, both men of unbounded ambition, and of a warlike and in- domitable spirit, were now, after a peace of thirty-five years, engaged in hostilities connected with the continental posses- sions of the former. Boniface issued his mandate that they should desist from them. He might seem to himself to be an advocate of peace, because he was anxious that the sovereigns should unite in carrying the standard of the cross to the plains of Judaea. But his real reason was an idea that the clergy would be unwilling to pay the contributions which he demanded from them, if they were called upon to pay the additional taxes for warlike operations which the State required. Those had now become very heavy. In the year 1294 Edward demanded of the clergy half their revenue for one year. Some of them resisted this tax. The king, "however, compelled them to submit_ by sending soldiers to assist the collectors. 1 The vassal had indeed been obliged hitherto to obey the summons of the sovereign, and to assemble his retainers beneath his banner ; but it had become necessary also in part at least to keep an army on foot by regular pay. Moreover, much expense was incurred whenever it was necessary to transport troops to foreign countries. Th e hand of extortion ha d pressed very heavily upon the cl ergy, both in England and in~Trance~: — Hitherto their contributions had not been compulsory in either countn^But now, compelled by the additional expenses which ^^B had imposed, on themselves, both moriarchs ex acted^ ^ sums from their ecclesiastical subjects. 2 1 See'Prynne, p. 587, and the "History of England," by Bartholo- mew de Cotton, edited by Mr. Luard, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls. The wonder is that this valuable contemporary history should have slept in manuscript so long. 2 See in the case of England, Turner's " History of England," v. p. 166. DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 165 The kings of England and France, regardless of the mandate of the Pope, continued their hostilities. He bad been equally unsuccessful in deterring by his menaces Adolph of Nassau from assisting Edward. The electors had elevated the former to the Imperial dignity instead of the haughty, overbearing, and tyrannical Albert of Austria, the son of Rudolf of Hapsburg. Adolph concluded a treaty with Edward, in which he promised to assist him in the recovery of his possessions in France, and not to con- clude a peace with the king of France without his full con sent. He also released his subjects from their obedience, if he did not observe the treaty. 1 Boniface, finding that the war and the taxation of the clergy continued, issued his celebrated Bull, " Clericis Laicos," in which he pronounced sentence of excommunication on all those who should levy, and on all who should pay, taxes on the property of the Church without the consent of the Pope. The wonder is that he should have been so infatuated as not to be able to read the signs of the times, and that he should not have seen that he was entering on a terrible conflict with the civil power from which he could not hope ultimately to come off victorious. The kings of England and France at once saw that if this extravagant claim were maintained^he Pope, by preventing the clergy from ^contributing, would become the arbiter of peace or war throughout Europe. 4 The English clergy, emboldened by the Bull, refused any subsidy ; but at length they were compelled to contribute one fourth of their revenues. Philip of France determined to fight the Pope with his own weapons, and inhibited YxtmLQ from pouring her wealth, in the shape of fees, or J^Bngs, or expenditure for great causes at Rome, into the W^S. coffers. The Pope, finding that he was now struck in a sensitive 1 The treaty on the English side is given in Rymer, i. p. 812; but the treaty on the German side is to be found only in Bartholomew de Cotton's "History of England." 1 66 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. part, issued a manifesto in which, while he displayed his former arrogance, he showed a great desire to conciliate. Philip published immediately a reply, every sentence in which bore the impress of the genius and learning of those master spirits, those men of gigantic intellect, the lawyers, who had now entered the lists, and were contending on equal terms with the Papacy. They stated that men were in utter amazement when they heard the Vicar of Christ prohibiting contributions for the defence of the realm, for the defence of the clergy themselves ; especially when they remembered that they were allowed to neglect their churches, and to spend their money upon pomp and luxury, upon the gaily caparisoned palfrey, or the table loaded with costly viands. 1 The result was that the clergy in France, as in England, acknowledged their obligation to contribute to the burdens of the State, and that Boniface softened his obnoxious Bull in regard to France., Philip and Edward, finding that, on account of the heavy imposts levied upon the inhabitants, the war was unpopular in both countries, determined to request Boniface to arbitrate between them. Tbe-Asjme was the conclusion of a treaty which seemed likely/to^piQmote a lasting peace between the two nations. The acceptance of the Pope as arbitrator,, the assent to the treaty framed by him, the general justice of its pro- visions, undoubtedly contributed to the exaltation of his authority. At present indeed he seemed to be triumphant. Scotland, in order to escape from the tyranny of Edward, had placed herself under his protection, and had acknow- ledged him as her feudal lord. Emboldened by Edward's recent submission to his will, he issued a Bull in which he asserted his own right of jurisdiction over that country, and directed him to send ambassadors to Rome to hear the 1 See Pierre du Puy's history of "the great difference between Boniface VIII. and Philip the Fair," in vol. vii. of Buckley's edition of "DeThou," 1733. DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 167 judgment of the Pope as to the differences between the two nations. Edward thought it prudent at present to conceal his anger on account of this assumption of supremacy. Albert of Austria, having attacked and slain in battle his rival in the Empire, Adolph of Nassau, was now under the ban of Boniface. Hungary had received a king at the Pope's bidding. 1 He had been successful in his contest with the Colonnas. He was afraid of that House, because they were inclined to call in question the validity of his election to the Papacy on account of an unworthy artifice which he had employed. The Colonna cardinals and the members of the family of Orsini had consented to leave the nomina- tion of the Papacy to him, thinking that he would nominate one of them to that dignity. The result, however, was that he appointed himself. He availed himself of the oppor- tunity afforded by the plunder of a caravan on one of their numerous marauding expeditions in the Roman territory, to issue a Bull denouncing^the whole family as disturbers of the public peace, and deposing James and Peter Colonna from the office of cardinal. After a proclamation, in reply to which they denied his right to be Pope, he issued his sentence against them, excommunicating them and confis- cating their property. The Orsini and others became the executioners of his vengeance. The result was that their strongholds had been destroyed, and that the whole family had become exiles in foreign lands. We may easily suppose that this success would not con- tribute to lessen the audacity of Boniface. But, no doubt, the success attending the Jubilee which, fortified by the precedent of the Jewish dispensation, he appointed to be held at Rome in the year 1300, added greatly to his haughtiness. 2 Finding that it was in vain to attempt to 1 Raynaldus, an. 1295, n. 16-20, 43-46 ; an. 1296, ji. 13-15 ; an. 1299, n. 14-25. 2 Raynaldus, an. 1300, n. 1-9. G. Villani, lib. viii. c. 36. 1 68 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. rekindle a zeal for the Crusades, which had been a source of enormous wealth to the Church of Rome, he issued a Bull promising plenary remission of sins to all who should visit in that year the shrine of St. Peter. Multitudes obeyed the Papal summons, and poured untold wealth into the Papal treasury. Thus, then, the avarice with which the immortal Dante has branded him was fully gratified. He might imagine also that the pilgrims to Rome, having seen the crowds which, in obedience to his summons, had visited the city, and having witnessed the pomp with which he was surrounded, would return home with a deeper awe of the Roman Pontiff. But those expectations were in vain. The ground beneath his feet was beginning to rock, as if it were about to be con- vulsed by a mighty earthquake. The Celestine hermits of St. Francis whom he had unjustly proscribed, inflamed the popular mind against Boniface, dwelling especially on his cruelty to their founder Pope Celestine, whom, lest the factions at Rome should gain possession of his person, and raise him to the Papal throne, he had placed in a rigorous confinement, which hastened his death. The Fraticelli, 1 through their popular poet, and the Mendicants, inflamed with anger because he had appropriated to himself a sum of money which they had lodged with the banker for a dispens- ation to hold property, which, after all, he did not grant to them, told everywhere dark tales of his rapacity, his arro- gance, and cruelty. The Colonnas in foreign lands swelled the chorus of condemnation of one whom they termed a monster in human shape. The pilgrims to Rome also in- creased the popular feeling against him by relating that, inflated with arrogance, he had appeared seated on the throne of Constantine, with the Imperial crown on his head, and the sceptre in his hand, shouting aloud, " I am Caesar ! I am Emperor." 2 We cannot be surprised, therefore, to hear that 1 For the Fraticelli, see Raynaldus, p. 240. 2 We may here observe, that Boniface introduced the double crown, DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 1 69 the tide was now turning against him. The king and people of England indignantly denied his right to interfere in the affairs of Scotland, and refused to send ambassadors to Rome with evidence on behalf of his claim to the crown of that country. But his quarrel with Philip of France was the cause of his downfall. As this is one of the great epochs in Papal history, in which the Papacy descended from a height to which it has never since been elevated, the circumstances connected with it demand our particular attention. The original feud between Boniface and Philip had not been forgotten by either of them. Boniface had not rescinded the Bull " Clericis Laicos," but had only, as I have stated, softened its terms in regard to France. Philip continued his aggressions on the property of the Church. The cause of the final rupture between them was the unwise choice which Boniface made of the Bishop of Pamiers as a legate. He was a turbulent man, and odious to Philip. The latter, soon after his arrival in France, imprisoned him on account of contumelious language which he had addressed to him. Boniface immediately issued Bull after Bull, directing him at once to liberate the Bishop, and threatening him with canonical censures in case of his continual disobedience to his mandate. At length a Bull made its appearance, expressed in more offensive language than its predecessors, in which Boniface asserted that he was "set over the kingdoms to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant " J — language which was understood as asserting a power to absolve subjects from the oath of allegi- ance. He rebuked also the king's oppression of his sub- jects ; denied his right to the collation to benefices ; and condemned him for bringing ecclesiastics under the temporal jurisdiction. He also informed the king that he had sum- moned the prelates and clergy of France to Rome to just as power was passing away from the Popes. Since Urban V. they have adopted the triple crown. 1 Jerem. i. 10. 17° EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. deliberate on his exactions and usurpations. Philip, enraged, directed the burning of the Bull in Paris amid the sound of trumpets. 1 All his subjects made common cause with him. The members of the States-General, now summoned for the first time, drew up addresses to the Papal court. That of the nobles was to the cardinals ; and in it they declared that they would not submit to the Pope's wicked claim of jurisdiction over the king, asserted that no one but the sovereign could redress their grievances, and that Boniface had no right to summon the prelates and clergy before him. The address of the Commons, which is lost, is no doubt expressed in equally strong language. The prelates and clergy were placed in a difficult position. They had to reconcile their allegiance to the Pope with the duty which they owed to the king. But though they were respectful in their language to the Pope, they condemned the assertion that the king holds the realm of the Pope, and denied his right to collate to benefices in France. They added that the king and barons had clamorously refused them permission to obey his summons to Rome, and that if they went their goods would be confiscated. The cardinals, in their reply, denied on the part of the Pope the assertion that the king held his temporalities of him ; while the Pope addressed the clergy in scathing language, accused them of base timidity, and persisted in commanding their attendance at Rome. 2 At the Consistory held soon after this time at Rome, which the majority of the French clergy did not attend, the celebrated Bull, " Unam Sanctam," was issued, in which Boniface had the effrontery to assert that the Pope has two swords: the one, the spiritual, to be used by himself; the other, the temporal, to be used by his permission, and in accordance with his directions ; that the temporal sword is under' the spiritual sword; and that it is necessary to sal- 1 Dupuy, p. 59. s Preuves, p. 61, et seq. DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 171 vation to believe that the whole human race is subject to the Supreme Pontiff. Soon afterwards he sent a legate to Philip, the bearer of twelve articles involving absolute conces- sion on his part on those points on which he was opposed to the Pope, to which he demanded his immediate consent. Philip, probably humbled by his recent disastrous defeat by the Flemings at Courtrai, condescended to explain away much which was objectionable in his conduct, and expressed his desire for reconciliation with the Papal See. This was pro- bably the crisis in the Pope's destiny. If he had only availed himself of this opportunity of terminating his quarrel with Philip, he might have been saved from the humiliation afterwards inflicted on him, and might have been admired by posterity for his courage in contending with the most powerful king in Europe at a time when, for the reasons already given, the Popes could no longer expect the monarchs of the earth to bow the knee before them. But Boniface was influenced by a spirit of frenzy. He sent an insulting letter to the king, and redoubled his menaces. He also published a Brief, declaring the king excommunicate for having prohibited the Bishops from obeying his summons, and requiring him to appear in three months at Rome to answer the charges against him. Philip, enraged at the insolence of the Pope, then summoned a Parliament at Paris, at which he directed William of Nogaret, a celebrated lawyer, to exhibit articles of accusation against him. Nogaret brought his charges, which were to the effect that he was guilty of arrogance, rapacity, simony, and heresy. He also levelled at him what he trusted would be a deadly blow : he summoned him before a General Council. 1 These charges were re- newed in a very aggravated form by William of Plasian. While Philip was thus pursuing a course in which he would 1 Raynaldus, an. 1301, n. 26-32; an. 1302, u. 11-16. Pierre du Puy's "History of the Great Difference," etc., pp. 65-71. 172 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. hardly have been successful, because the clergy were not yet prepared for the measure which he recommended, he was delivered in an unexpected manner from his implacable adversary. The Pope had retired for a short time to his native city Anagni. He was about to launch one of his thunderbolts at his powerful antagonist which he hoped would lay him prostrate in the dust. The sentence of excommunication was to be issued on the 8th of September. But on a sudden, on the preceding day, he was awakened from the dream in which he saw himself placing his foot on the neck of his adversary, by loud shouts echoing through the streets of "Success to the king of France ! Death to Pope Boniface !" Sciarra Colonna, accompanied by William of Nogaret, was rushing at the head of three hundred lawless soldiers on horseback through Anagni. They had been for some time on the Tuscan borders, had collected these mercenaries, and were watching their opportunity of making a descent upon the city. The ungrateful citizens swelled the tumult, and ap- pointed as their commander a personal enemy of the Pope. The cardinals, terrified, fled from their palaces through the common sewer. The Pope, meanwhile, arrayed himself in his sacred vestments, and sat alone in his palace calmly expecting the end. William of Nogaret and Sciarra Colonna soon burst into his chamber. They immediately assailed him with reproaches, threatened to drag him before a General Council, and called upon him to abdicate the Papacy. The Pope addressed him : " William of Nogaret, descended from a race of heretics, shall I suffer myself to be degraded by thee ? " His ancestors had atoned for their errors in the flames. Modern French historians say that he was severely wounded by his assailants. Con- temporary writers, however, agree in saying that no hand was raised against him. 1 He was, however, forced from 1 Sismondi, ch. xxiv. DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 173 his palace, made to ride through the city on an ass with his face to the tail, and afterwards placed in close confinement. Any design of personal violence which may have been formed failed in consequence of the dispersion of the soldiers, who were ransacking the houses in the city. At length the citizens, repenting of the part which they had acted, and enraged on account of the indignities offered to Boniface, rose against the soldiers and drove them out of Anagni. The citizens of Rome were indignant on account of the sacrilegious violence with which he had been treated, and soon sent a band of horsemen, who escorted him in triumph to the city. But his spirit was broken by the insults which had been offered to him. His enemies say that, foreseeing his approaching end, he dismissed all his attendants, refused food, and shut himself up in his chamber that no one might witness his death-struggle. They add, that after a little time his -attendants burst into the room and found him dead on his bed, having his head wrapped in the counterpane, with which they supposed that he had suffocated himself. 2 His pastoral staff was lying beside him, showing marks of his teeth and covered with foam ; his white locks were stained with blood, and his hands were in his fury bitten away. This account appears to be dis- proved by the state of his body when his grave was opened 303 years after his death for the purpose of transferring it to another sepulchre. It was found to be uncorrupted ; his hands and fingers were free from mutilation; and the veins and the nerves were swelling with flesh. The proba- bility is that he breathed his last in peace, surrounded by some of his cardinals, at whose hands he received the last offices of his Church. He died on the ioth of October, i3°3- 1 Raynaldus, an. 1303, n. 33-43. Giovanni Villani, lib. viii. c. 63, 64. Dupuy, pp. 71-73- 174 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Boniface has been consigned to eternal infamy by contem- porary poets and historians for the exhibition of some of the most revolting features of the human character. Many of the charges — such as that he did not believe in eternal life; that he was guilty of the most monstrous heresy; that he was a wizard ; and that he had asserted that it was no sin to indulge in the most criminal pleasures ; and many besides of a darker description — are certainly untrue. They are due to the malignant hostility of the lawyers, to his cruelty to Celestine and the Celestinians, and his severity to the Colonnas, which led the two latter to go everywhere blackening his character. They have been exaggerated by Dante; and they may be ascribed generally to his pride and violence, and to the obstinate determination formed by a man who "was born an age too late" to advance claims then generally unpopular, far surpassing in arrogance those maintained by the most arbitrary of his predecessors. We have no doubt that his arrogance, his besetting sin, was increased by the adoration paid to him at the Jubilee ; by the readiness with which he had been accepted by kings as arbiter in their quarrels ; and by the obsequiousness which Albert of Austria, whom Boniface, after having excommuni- cated as a murderer, chose to acknowledge as a devout son, exhibited in admitting that the Holy Roman empire was a grant from the Papal See to Charlemagne, and that his oath of allegiance to the Pope gave him authority to be emperor. The last words of his celebrated epitaph, " He died like a dog,'' are, as we have seen, scarcely appropriate ; but the first words are substantially correct : " He came in like a fox, and he ruled like a lion." We know indeed that, from the operation of causes to which I have already adverted, the Papacy, though apparently as majestic as ever, was gradually losing the power which it once wielded over the nations ; but we are equally certain that it would never have descended swiftly from an elevation to which it was DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 175 never again raised if it had not been hurled down from it at the close of our fifth epoch by Boniface VIII. This victory of Philip over Boniface was, in fact, the commence- ment of a wide-spread reaction on the part of the laity against ecclesiastical predominance. CHAPTER VI. AVARICE AND SCHISM, WITH THEIR CONSEQUENCES — FROM THE DEATH OF BONIFACE VIII. IN 1303 TO THE CLOSE OF THE COUNCIL OF BASLE ' IN I449. The Pontificate of Benedict XI. — The causes and the beginning of the residence of the Popes at Avignon in 1305 — Clement V. obliged by his master, Philip of France, unjustly to dissolve the'order of Knights Templars, and to arraign the memory of Boniface VIII. — The poet Dante attacks the Papacy — The struggle of John XXII. with the Empire — His heresy as to the beatific vision — The avarice of Clement V. and John XXII. — The causes of the loss of the influ- ence of the Mendicants — Their dispute with John XXII. injurious to the Papacy — The licentious splendour of the Court of Avignon, especially during the Pontificate of Clement VI. — Consequences of the residence in that city — John Wiclif — Piers Ploughman's vision — Ineffectual attempts to reform — Rienzi — Return of Gregory XI. to Rome, and end of the " Babylonish captivity " — The com- mencement and progress of the Papal Schism — The Councils of Pisa, Constance, and Basle — -Attempted union between the Greek and Latin Churches — John Huss and Jerome of Prague — Causes of the failure of the Councils to reform the Church — The Hussite war. The successor to Boniface VIII. might have been expected to occupy a very difficult and embarrassing position. On the one hand, if he entered the lists with Philip, armed with the same weapons as his predecessor, he might have fore- seen that he must be ignominiously defeated in the combat. On the other hand, if he receded from the extravagant AVARICE AND SCHISM. 177- pretensions of Boniface, and did not visit the outrage at Anagni with the severest censures, he would lower the dignity of the Papacy, and show very plainly that it no longer wielded the same power as heretofore over the nations. Benedict XI., who was unanimously elected to the Papacy very soon after the death of Boniface, was a man of mildness and moderation. He revoked the censures against the prelates for not obeying the summons to Rome ; he restored to Philip the same privileges which he had heretofore enjoyed in ecclesiastical matters ; reinstated the Colonnas in the Cardinalate ; and was not indisposed to show clemency to the perpetrators of the indignities at Anagni. But, on a sudden, inflamed with anger because Philip wished to summon a General Council for the purpose of condemning Boniface, he launched his spiritual thunder- bolt against them and all who had aided them. The death of Benedict, as it followed almost immediately an immoder- ate indulgence in figs brought to him by a veiled female, is supposed to have been caused by poison administered through the intervention of those who, now when he was beginning to develop these hostile intentions, might be supposed to be anxious to sweep him from their path. 1 The period : of seventy years which began in 1305, has been not unfitly termed the Babylonish captivity because it was passed by the Popes beneath the sceptre of a foreign monarch ; and because they also were slaves like the Jews during their exile from the city of their fathers. A fierce struggle for the Papacy was carried on between rival factions for some months after the death of Benedict. At length the friends of Pope Boniface agreed to accept a proposition made to them by the French party, that the former should nominate three prelates, from whom the French faction should choose a Pope within forty days. One of the three so nominated was the Archbishop of Bourdeaux. The 1 Raynaldus, an. 1304. *3 178 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. French party at once saw their advantage. The Papacy was in their gift. The Archbishop had hitherto identified himself with the party which supported Boniface in oppo- sition to Philip. He was a man who could be easily bribed to make common cause with themselves. Philip was there- fore recommended to make terms with him. In the depths of a forest belonging to the monastery of St. Jean d'Angely, it is said that he was invited to meet the King of France. 1 In the interview which he then held with him he is reported to have promised to make him Pope on six conditions : the complete reconciliation of himself with the Church ; the pardon of all concerned ir> the outrage on Boniface ; the tenths for the next five years from all the clergy of the realm ; the condemnation of the memory of Boniface ; the restoration of the Colonnas ; and the election of certain friends of the king to the Cardinalate. The compact was stated tp have been sealed, and the Archbishop was unani- mously elected to the Papacy. 2 Having assumed the title of Clement V., he was compelled by Philip, who wished to have him near him in order that he might insure an exact obedience, to reside first at Lyons, afterwards at Bourdeaux, and finally at Avignon. The Pope soon found that he had sold himself to a tyrannical master. The king of France was inflamed with implacable hostility against Boniface, and he was determined to be satisfied with nothing short of the condemnation of his memory. Clement hoped that, by his ready compliance with three of the demands of the monarch, he should avert or delay his fulfilment of two of the conditions of his elevation to which he had the strongest objection. He 1 This story is probably incorrect. A document has been discovered which shows that at this time the Archbishop was engaged in a visit- ation elsewhere. The negotiations were carried on through other persons. The particular condiiions may have been inferred from his subsequent conduct." (See M. Rabanis's book.) 2 G. Villani, lib. viii. t . 80. " AVARICE AND SCHISM. 1 79 could not bring himself to absolve the criminals of Anagni, nor to be instrumental in the condemnation of Boniface. He was convinced that thus all the decrees of the latter as Pope would become of doubtful legality; and that a heavy- blow would be inflicted on the Papacy. While he was considering how he should elude compliance with his demands, he saw, or fancied that he saw, a means of extricating himself from . his difficult and embarrassing position. The Order of Knights Templars had been the unceasing bulwark of the Holy Land. They had ever been in the forefront of the battle with the infidel for the possession of Holy Sepulchre. After their expulsion, with other Christian establishments, from Palestine, they were not left without a home. They were the lords of large domains and of stately mansions in Europe, in the vaults of which they had heaped up gold and silver. Philip, with an object in view which we shall soon discover, had been constantly urgirg the Pope to institute a close inquiry into the truth of certain allegations which had been made to him as to the faith and morality of this ancient Order. 1 On a sudden, Clement and the nations of Europe were struck dumb with amazement by hearing that the king had constituted himself the judge in the matter ; and that the Templars in France had been suddenly arrested on a charge of deliberate heresy and of secret practices, from the bare contemplation of which they ought to have recoiled with horror. The Pope was at first very indignant, but he soon found that he was the slave of a master who exercised over him a power which laughed his feebleness to scorn. Having been summoned by Philip to proceed against the Order, he declared that he had no alternative but to issue a Bull directing that proceedings should be instituted against the Templars ; for further inquiry had convinced him that they had been guilty of crimes which 1 Letter of Clement to Philip, Baluzius, ii. p. 74. l8o EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. cried aloud to heaven for vengeance. A confession of guilt was wrung from some of the knights by means of the most barbarous and excruciating tortures. Many, afterwards, conscience-stricken, retracted their confessions. They were treated as relapsed heretics, and were sentenced to be burnt to death. While the flames were slowly consuming their extremities, they uttered agonizing cries to the Virgin and the Saints, and asserted with their dying breath the innocence of their Order. 1 Many, however, in the first instance, even when their flesh was quivering with agony, indignantly denied the charges brought against them by their relentless persecutors. A dispassionate examination has served to establish the innocence of the Templars. That directly after their admission to the Order they should have been guilty of a renunciation of that faith which they had sworn to defend, even denying Christ, and spitting on the crucifix, is an assertion which is absolutely incredible. Contemporary writers affirm that Philip and his satellites wickedly fabricated these charges in order that they might reap a golden harvest from the confiscation of their property. 2 Clement probably stifled the voice of conscience which told him of their innocence, by determining not to examine too closely into the nature of the evidence against them, forgetting that for the refusal to exercise our judgment we shall be condemned when we stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. He became afterwards an active agent in securing the gratifica- tion of the passions of the tyrant to whom he had sold himself; for he directed the champions of Christendom to be subjected to the most horrible tortures, hoping that from the untruthful confessions which they made in order to 1 Villani, viii., xcii. 2 Villani, lib. viii. u. 92. Sismondi also maintains that the Templars were sacrificed. He alleges contemporary authority and substantial reasons. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 151 obtain a release from them, he should be able to produce to the Council held at Vienne fresh evidence of their guilt. 1 Finding that the Fathers were determined to admit to a hearing some of the Templars who offered to disprove before it the charges brought against them, he prorogued the Council, and afterward announced that, not in the way of condemnation, he had determined to abolish the Order; arrogating to himself the power of setting aside the eternal principles of justice when he said, " Though by right we cannot do it, yet by the fulness of our power we condemn the said Order." 2 The proclamation of the dissolution was afterwards made in the Council on the sole authority of the Pope. Clement, however, soon found that he could not, even by this base subservience to Philip, prevent him from insisting on the arraignment of Boniface before the Council. Finding that he was bent on gratifying in this manner his undying hatred to that Pope, and feeling that this proclamation of the alleged crimes of Boniface to Christendom would be injurious to the Papacy, Clement summoned Philip, his sons, and others, to prove their charges before a Consistory at Avignon. Unwilling himself to appear, he directed De Nogaret and De Plasian to come forward as prosecutors. 3 Conscious that unless the character of Boniface was blackened as much as possible, they, and the sovereign whose tools they were, would not be acquitted at the bar of public opinion for having heaped upon him the greatest indig- nities, they represented him as a monster in human shape, even describing him as an open scoffer, an atheist, and a worshipper of idols. The Papacy had indeed been humbled by Clement to the very dust, when he and his cardinals were compelled to sit quietly and listen to these monstrous charges against the successor of St. Peter. Soon afterwards, 1 Raynald. 1311, t. 53. 2 Haveman, p. 381. 3 Preuves, p. 301. 152 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Philip, probably from weariness, withdrew from the prosecu- tion, and left the Pope to pronounce judgment on Boniface. He now reaped the benefit of his ready acquiescence in the designs of Philip against the Templars. Deeply grateful to him for the permission thus accorded to him by his master, he issued a Bull, which, while it absolved Boniface, magnified Philip's zeal for the Catholic faith, declared that all pro- ceedings instituted against the king and others during his contest with Boniface were revoked and cancelled, and that every word injurious to the king of France is to be for ever erased from the archives of the Papacy. Three years after this - judgment, in the year 1313, Clement and his master were summoned to their account. Philip has been celebrated as the mightiest person in human history. Clement has indeed been commended for that subtle policy which enabled him to baffle his designs, and to avert a blow from a dead Pope which must have descended on his living successors ; but he has left behind him a character stained with sensuality and rapacity, and he will be for ever memorable for having reduced the Papacy to a state of vassalage to the king of France, from which it is wonderful that it ever rose to its former independent position among the nations. The spell of Papal ascendency was now broken for ever. Men could no longer be inspired with their former awe of the Papacy, when they found, after the publication of the Bull of Clement, that a king not only escaped uncensured, but by the obliter- ation of all proceedings injurious to Philip from the Papal records, was even justified for all his deeds of violence and for all his foul charges — offences which would have caused the direst anathemas of Hildebrand and Innocent to be fulminated against him. But this mighty and majestic monarch was not the only person who at this time degraded the Papacy. The illus- trious Italian poet Dante, his contemporary, who probably began his immortal poem, the " Divina Commedia,'' at the AVARICE AND SCHISM. 183 beginning of the fourteenth century, successfully assailed at that time the edifice of the Pope's temporal power. 1 No doubt his primary object in its composition was to glorify Beatrice, whose surpassing beauty had captivated his youthful imagination. That angelic form had just lighted on this orb, which she scarcely seemed to touch, and was then lost to him for ever. Her death seems to have been the means of shrouding his existence in an impenetrable gloom. The pale phantom of the departed Beatrice was now constantly gliding before him. It hovered over him in the sunny air ; it mingled with the forms radiant with youthful beauty, which floated on fairy footsteps through the mazes of the dance ; its tread fell on his ear, interrupting the harmonious strains which music was breathing around him ; its presence cast a dark shadow over the gorgeous scenery — over the lake sleeping like a crystal mirror in the bosom of the mountains, over the flowery meads, the rich pastures, and the golden cornfields of his beloved Italy. At length his melancholy found vent in that poem which has been the means of transmitting his name to succeeding generations. " There is perhaps no work in the world," as the late Lord Macaulay observes, "so deeply and uniformly sorrowful. The gloom of his character discolours all the passions of men and all the face of nature ; and tinges with its own livid hue the flowers of paradise and the glories of the eternal throne." We are touched with deep pity as we hear the wild wailings of the spirits of the lost, driven 1 The opening verses of the Inferno — ' ' In the midway of this our mortal life, I found me in a gloomy wood astray — " have been supposed to indicate that the poet, who was born in 1265, was in his thirty-fifth year, and that he denoted that age as the middle of a man's life. The poem must have been terminated before the death of the Emperor, Henry VII., in 13 13; otherwise he would not have prepared a throne for him in "Paradise " (Canto xxx. v. 131, et seq.). I»4 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. hither and thither by the stormy blast, which, like the sea lashed into fury by the warring winds, for ever resounds through the infernal regions ; we are horror-stricken as we see them writhing in agony, while the fiery flakes are descending upon them, or while the boiling waves of the river of blood roll ceaselessly against them, or as the ser- pents wrap their folds around them, clinging like the ivy to the oak, and fixing their deadly fangs into their bodies, until at length the man loses all semblance of his former self, and becomes a hideous compound which fills us with astonishment and awe. But while we hold that the grand idea present to the mind of the poet was the glorification of Beatrice, we must maintain that a secondary was the reform of the civil and ecclesiastical polity which was at that time established in Italy. No doubt his denunciation of the vices of the Popes, and his opposition to the temporal power, contributed greatly to weaken it. He has assigned to some of them a place in the infernal regions. He inveighs bitterly against Pope Nicholas, already referred to, and Pope Boniface, for their avarice and simony. The former, on account of his simony, was buried head foremost in the livid rock ; flames play over the soles of his feet, causing them to glance to and fro in excruciating agony. He is represented as anticipating a similar fate for Pope Boniface, whom he directly charges with having, by corrupt means, obtained the Papal tiara, and with having made use of the opportunities afforded by his high dignity to add to his enormous wealth. Dante then launches forth into a strain of righteous indigna- tion against the Popes, telling Nicholas that he well deserved the torments inflicted upon him. He then charges them with having bowed down in guilty adoration before an idol of gold and silver ; and compares Rome to that mystic Babylon — that woman arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a AVARICE AND SCHISM. 185 golden cup in her hands, who had surrendered herself to the lewd embraces of the monarchs of Europe. 1 He also con- demns in no measured terms the simony of that monster in human shape — Boniface VIII. He charges him with writing his ecclesiastical censures only to be paid for revoking them. St. Peter also rebukes the covetousness of his successors in the Apostolic chair, but especially of Boniface, who had made Rome, the sepulchre in which his ashes are enshrined, a common sink of corruption ; while, on the countenance of the heavenly host, a blush of righteous indignation appears, similar to the ruddy hue which paints the cloud opposite to the sun when he comes forth as a bridegroom out of the chambers of the East, or when he is descending in his glory. 2 Another charge was that, placing themselves under the banner of the Guelphs, they had kindled and kept alive in Italy the flames of civil war. St. Peter is represented as complaining that the keys, the well-known emblems of Papal authority, were emblazoned on the standards which floated in the very front of the battle wherever it glowed most fiercely. 3 We see then that, on public grounds, Dante visited Boni- face and his predecessors with unsparing censure. In con- demning them he condemned that system which gave them the power of interfering in matters of civil government. It was his firm belief that many of the disasters of Italy owed their origin to the union of the temporal and spiritual authority in the Pope. Thus he says, — " The Church of Rome, Mixing two governments that ill assort, Hath missed her footing, fallen into the mire. " 4 And again, he compares the Pope, on account of this 1 "Inferno,'' canto xix. 11. 31-111 ; and "Revel." xvii. v. 4. 2 " Paradiso," canto xxvii. 11. 25-30. ' " Paradiso," canto xxvii. 11. 46-51. 4 " Purgatorio, " canto xvi. 11. 127-129. 1 86 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. union of the temporal and spiritual power, to an unclean beast under the Levitical law — " Who chews the cud, but does not cleave the hoof." T Again, he assigns limits to the temporal power of the Pope in the treatise " De Monarchia." In this treatise he endeavours to prove (r) That the monarchical government is necessary to man- kind ; (2) That the right of exercising universal monarchi- cal authority is vested in the Roman people ; (3) That the authority of the sovereign emanates directly from God, and therefore is not subject to the temporal authority of the Church. This treatise gave great offence to the Pope. His legate ordered that it should be burned as containing heretical doctrines, and forbade any man to read it under pain of excommunication. Dante with difficulty escaped out of Lombardy, otherwise he would have shared the fate of his treatise. The truth is, that Dante was impressed with the conviction that Italy never could be " great, glorious, and free " until her different States were consolidated into one government under a powerful central authority. . He had seen the evils which flowed from disunion. The different States had been prevented by the operation of this cause from offering an effectual resistance to the arms of the invader. Only by union could they be expected to secure and maintain the blessings of liberty and independence. We conclude that this subject is presented to us allegorically in the first canto of the " Inferno.'' The poet tells us that he found himself in the gloom of a large forest, the recollection of the savage wildness of which, even after years had passed away, over- whelmed him with terror. Buried in a deep slumber, he had not for some years been sensible of the dangers and horrors of his situation. Afterwards we may imagine that 1 " Purgatorio," canto xvi. 11. 98, 99. " The camel, because he chew- eth the cud, but divideth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you " (Levit. xi. 4). AVARICE AND SCHISM. 1 87 he heard the howling of wild beasts resounding through those gloomy recesses, and witnessed sights which might well appal the stoutest heart and daunt the most determined courage. At length, on emerging from the forest, before him rose a lofty mountain, the summit of which was tinged with a ruddy hue by the ascending luminary. No doubt, under the preceding figure, he had been referring to the disorders, the seditions, the avarice, the corruptions, the profligacy, the tyranny, the contempt of all laws, both Divine and human, which prevailed through the length and breadth of the Italian peninsula. But a sight which revived his drooping spirits was -presented to him. The hill over which the sun was flinging its radiance served to remind him of that illustrious emperor, Henry of Luxemburg, who, he trusted, would compact the different States of Italy into one mighty empire. We shall see that this interpretation is reasonable when we remember that, in the " Purgatory,'' the imperial authority is compared to the sun, which alone could pour a flood of light over the dark places of Italy. But when he came to the foot of the mountain he found that three wild beasts effectually obstructed his progress, one of which, the wolf, inspired him with so much terror that he ultimately despaired of ascending to its summit. He here refers to that avarice which had eaten, like a cancer, into the vitals of Italy. This would be a great hindrance to the political regeneration of his native country. The avaricious would naturally oppose the advent of the emperor, because they might be deprived of the wealth which they had poured into their coffers. Now the Papacy was especially obnoxious to Dante, because it had, by its evil example, taught the mul- titude to seek their happiness in the accumulation of wealth. Those who ought to have fixed their gaze on the glittering diadem which faith would have unfolded to their view, had soiled their hands by digging deep into the bowels of the earth in search of perishing earthly treasure. 158 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. " Therefore the multitude who see their 'guide Strike at the very root they covet most, Feed there, and look no further." * Thus, then, it had, in fact, created the very obstacle to the regeneration of Italy which the poet deemed insurmountable. Now this corruption is directly attributed by him to that fatal dowry of temporal do.minion which Constantine was alleged to have conferred on the Church. " Ah, Constantine ! to how much ill gave birth, Not thy conversion, but the plenteous dower Which the first wealthy Father gained from thee." 2 But Dante was indignant against the Popes, chiefly be- cause they might naturally be expected to oppose the con- solidation of Italy under an emperor from the fear of being deprived of the ensigns of earthly sovereignty. He saw that his apprehensions were not without foundation when he found Clement V., from this motive, withholding his adhesion to the cause of Henry of Luxemburg very soon after he had expressed his wish that the different States of Italy might be consolidated under his dominion. For this reason he has branded him with infamy as " a shepherd without law ; " 3 and has represented him as having a mourn- ful pre-eminence in crime over his numerous predecessors, who had outraged the laws of human society. Boniface VIII. was also, as I have said, an object of detestation to Dante, not only on account of his avarice and all his other vices, but also and above all because he was considered as the strongest opponent of the consolidation of Italy under an emperor, inasmuch as he surpassed even Gregory VII. in the arrogance of his pretensions. Thus, then, literature, in the person of Dante,' ministered to liberty and truth, and impressed his numerous readers, who regarded him with 1 " Purgatorio, " canto xvi. 11. 100-102. 2 "Inferno," canto xix. 11. 115-118. 3 " Inferno,' - canto xix. I. 83. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 1 89 idolatrous veneration, with a deeper conviction that the Pope ought to be deprived of the supreme dominion which he claimed over the monarchs of the earth. After the death of Clement the cardinals were divided as to the nation of his successor. Terrified by the populace, who, shouting "Death to the Italian cardinals," surrounded and set fire to the Conclave, from which they escaped igno- miniously through a hole in the back wall, they could not be induced for some time to reassemble for an election. 1 At length, having been brought together at Lyons, they were bribed by Robert, King of Naples, to elect, in 13 16, James of Cahors, Bishop of Avignon, the son of a cobbler, his former subject, whom he hoped to find useful for the pro- motion of his objects in Italy and Sicily. Having assumed the name of John XXII., he soon showed, by the creation of a majority of French cardinals, that it was his determina- tion to fix his seat as a French Pontiff at Avignon. Soon after the beginning of his Pontificate, we find him in the thick of one of those struggles between the Papacy and the Empire, which have left their impress on the history of former ages of the Church. 2 Some of the electors had supported Louis, Duke of Bavaria, others Frederic of Austria, as candidates for the vacant dignity. Pope John supported neither of them, being anxious for the elevation of the king of France. He .thought that he could rule the feeble princes who now filled the throne of Philip the Fair, and make them instrumental in the promotion of his objects in Italy. Louis was afterwards excommunicated by the Pope, because, after the victory over his adversary in 1322, he assumed the title of King of the Romans, before he had given judgment in the contested election.3 Louis, however, 1 Letter of Italian cardinals in Wilkins, ii. 449. 2 Dante was engaged in this controversy, taking part with the Ghibel- lines. 3 See the various processes against the Emperor in Martene and Durand's "Thesaur. Anec," ii. 644 sq. 19° EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. braved the excommunication, and at last the interdict of John. The last would have been successful in his design to elevate Charles of France to the Imperial dignity, which was proposed and almost carried at a meeting of the feeble electors at Coblentz, if the Master of the Teutonic order had not prevented it from being carried into effect by asking indignantly if, in order to gratify the ambition of the Pope, they intended to bring eternal disgrace on the German nation by raising a foreigner to the throne of the Holy Roman empire. 1 Louis, in order to show his contempt for the Pope, marched in triumph through Italy, was crowned with great pomp at Rome, deposed Pope John, and set up an anti-pope. But his triumph was not of long continuance. The end was that an opposition, on account of the intoler- able taxation required for the support of his army, compelled him to abandon his short-lived kingdom, and that the anti- pope was taken prisoner, and compelled to humble himself before Pope John. The contest thus begun lasted for thirty years, and was con- tinued through three Pontificates. 2 We shall find that it is distinguished in some important particulars from its prede- cessors. Gregory VII. wished to prohibit Henry IV. from investing the hierarchy with the ring and crosier, because they thus became the creatures of his will, so that he was unable to establish the superiority of the spiritual to the temporal jurisdiction. The Popes who contended with Frederic Barbarossa and Frederic II. strove to prevent the one from imposing on the empire and Italy the iron yoke of slavery ; and the other from threatening them on the south as well as the north through the occupation of the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily. But in this contest no Papal interest can be said to have been involved. Louis was impressed with a deep sense of religion, was willing to make any con- 1 Sismondi, p. 438. 2 G. Villani, lib. ix. c. 227, 265, 275 ; lib. x. c. 17-20, 67-79,148. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 19 1 cession so that he might live on good terms with the Pope, and was far too weak to be formidable to him. He would never have invaded Italy if the Pope had not sought to depose him from the Imperial dignity. Nay, even when Clement VI. had fulminated against him two anathemas breathing curses hitherto unequalled in Papal manifestoes l simply because he-maintained his just rights as emperor, he endeavoured to purchase a reconciliation with the Holy Sea at the price of degrading terms which, when the Papacy was far more powerful than in the age in which he lived, Henry IV. would have refused with the greatest indignation. We observe, too, another point of difference between the present and former'contests for the empire. When the dread anathema which "shuts Paradise and opens Hell" was uttered by Hildebrand, the attendants of Henry fell away from him as if they had been smitten with a leprosy.. Nay, an assembly summoned at Tribur declared that if he remained excommuni- cate on a certain day he should be deposed. But now the Papal anathemas were no longer like the hurricane which lashes the waves of the ocean into fury, but like the gentle breeze which just ruffles its surface. The excommunication first pronounced by John XXII., and afterwards renewed by succeeding Popes, was utterly disregarded by the nobles and ecclesiastics of Germany. The States-General at Frankfort in 1338, also set at nought the Papal anathemas, declared that the Imperial dignity is from God alone, and that the emperor needs not the confirmation of the Pope. 2 This protracted contest in which the Popes were induced to engage simply by the vain-glorious desire of asserting the might and majesty , of the Papal See, unlike the contests which preceded it, led to no practical result in their own age, and did not influence the course of events in succeeding generations. Louis, though far less powerful than Henry IV., died in 1 See Raynaldus, ad an. 1343, § 43; ad an. 1346, § 3. 2 Schmidt, p. 313. 192 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. 1348, excommunicated, and in possession of the Imperial dignity. That sword was now rusty and blunted with which the- Popes had formerly smitten down in their wrath the highest and mightiest of this world's potentates. Long before the termination of this contest, John XXII. was summoned to his account. He had, shortly before his death, in an unguarded moment, shocked the orthodoxy of his spiritual subjects by maintaining that the souls of the righteous are not till the day of judgment admitted to that beatific vision of God which shall be the chief source of their happiness throughout eternity. 1 They felt that, if this be not the case, they must give up the doctrine of the invoca- tion of the Saints, for they could not intercede for us with the Father ; and that the doctrine of indulgences was in danger, as when they had been released from purgatory, they would still have to wait till the day of judgment for the consumma- tion of their happiness. The loud outcry raised against him throughout Europe compelled him, just before his death, to retract this opinion ; and thus, by contradicting himself, to show very plainly that he did not possess that infallibility which has been exalted into a dogma by the Vatican Council in 1870. Like his predecessor, Clement V., John had died shame- fully rich. 2 The former bequeathed to his nephew 300,000 golden florins under pretext of succour to the Holy Land. The lord of a castle where he had deposited his wealth, consisting of gold and silver vessels, precious stones, and other ornaments, seized and appropriated it to his own use. John endeavoured to compel restitution under pain of ex- communication, but was unable to do so. 3 The demand 1 Mosheim's "Church History,'' ch. ii. cent. xiv. p. 11. ' In the histories of his life we find many edicts against alchemists and adulterators of coin, which show how much his thoughts were turned in this direction. 3 Baluz. Vita P. Avig., ii. 368. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 1 93 amounted to 1,774,800 florins of gold. John had amassed wealth to the amount of 18,000,000 of gold florins in specie, and 7,000,000 in plate and jewels 1 — the produce of exactions levied under the pretext of a crusade ; of annates, or the first year's income of all ecclesiastical dignities, which he was the first to invent ; and of a skilful promotion of each bishop to a richer bishopric, whereby, as on each vacancy the annates were paid, six or more fines would accrue to the Papal treasury. 2 He also compelled pluralists to give up all but one benefice each, reserving to himself the disposal of the rest ; and adopted other devices equally deserving of the strongest condemnation. This extortion had, in fact, been rendered necessary by the continued residence of the Popes at Avignon. The barons in the Papal territory, whom they had found a diffi- culty in coercing into submission even during their residence at Rome, availed themselves of the opportunity afforded by their absence of wresting from them one province after another with its revenues. They were thus obliged in the manner above described to supply their deficiencies. This extortion was, however, greatly prejudicial to the best interests of the Papacy. The clergy were alienated from them when they found them laying their hands on their treasures. They would indeed have taken patiently the spoiling of their goods, if the Popes had been satisfied with supplying their immediate and pressing wants, or even with maintaining the pomp and ceremonial befitting the high dignity with which they were invested ; but their indigna- tion knew no bounds when they saw themselves robbed of their treasures that their spiritual lords might not only live in luxury and exhibit in their Courts the mimic splendour of Oriental magnificence, but that they might even hoard up the massive bars of gold and silver in their treasure-vaults. 1 Villani, xi. 20. 2 Ibid. John reserved to himself all the bishoprics in Christendom. 14 194 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. The minds of men had been dazzled by the glory which seemed to surround the Popes when they planted their feet on the necks of the monarchs of Christendom, and seemed to be aiming at dominion that they might give liberty to the captives, and break in pieces the chains of the oppressor. They did not see that the Popes were really aiming at self- aggrandizement, and that the polity which they sought to establish was bad enough when considered as the ideal of a kingdom of this world, but unseemly in the extreme in its connection with that kingdom not of this world, the found- ation of which was laid by the Prince of Peace on Mount Calvary. But the spell was broken, the charm was dis- solved, when they saw the pretended successor of the fisher- man of Galilee bowing down before the golden idol, and soiling his hands like Mammon, " the least-erected Spirit that fell from heaven," by ransacking the bowels of the earth in search of perishing earthly treasure. The dispute between John XXII. and the Mendicants, and various circumstances connected with then*, contributed at this time to the decline of the Papal power, and were very injurious to the Church of Rome. Their season of prosperity, formerly described, was succeeded by a season of rapid decline. The temptation to violate the funda- mental law of their founder which enjoined voluntary poverty on the members of his Order, became very soon so strong as to be absolutely irresistible. The feudal tyrant, to whose conscience they had administered an opiate which he was unwilling to receive at the hands of the secular clergy, requited them by tempting that cupidity which governs the conduct of the common herd of our fellow-creatures. He would force upon a brotherhood, only too glad of an excuse for the forgetfulness of their vow of voluntary poverty, the advowson of some living, or a large estate rich in golden cornfields, or vineyards adorned with purple clusters, like those which spread themselves over the caves and grottoes AVARICE AND SCHISM. 195 of Paradise, or in orchards bending beneath the weight of fruitage like those golden apples with which the boughs of the trees were laden in the garden of Alcinous. Thus tempted themselves to abjure their vow of voluntary poverty, they soon began to tempt those who had vast possessions at their disposal to bestow upon them a portion of their wealth. Summoned, as we have seen, to stand by the bed- side of the noble who was dying in an agony of remorse, they would, just as his eye was beginning to fix itself upon vacancy, and he seemed unconscious of anything but the awful thought that he should stand unabsolved and shiver- ing in the presence of his Maker, extort from him, as the price of his absolution, his consent to a deed disinheriting his lawful heirs, and conferring upon them a large estate, which had descended to him through a long line of illus- trious ancestors. 1 We have seen also that the Popes had given to them their best benefices, and had enriched them with an ample store of indulgences. Thus endowed with wealth, they erected in various parts of England stately mansions furnished with all the appliances of luxury, which surpassed in magnificence the abode of royalty itself. 2 And thus we find that these holy beggars, who, like their Divine Master, had not at first where to lay their head, rivalled, nay eclipsed, the secular clergy in their sumptuous style of living, in their gorgeous vestments, in their richly capari- soned palfreys, in the decorations of their palaces, and in the pomp and state with which they were surrounded. We cannot wonder, therefore, that the hierarchy and secular clergy, whose province they had invaded, and whose hatred as well as envy they had excited by the 1 They beset the dying bed of the noble and wealthy in order to extort secret bequests from the fears of guilt or superstition. Matthew Paris, p. 541, ed. 1684. 2 Within the twenty-four years of their establishment in England, these friars have piled up their mansions to a royal altitude (Matthew Paris, p. 541). ig6 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. privileges conferred upon them, should have gladly availed themselves of the opportunity of attacking them on account of their shameless abandonment of the fundamental prin- ciple of their founder. The dissensions between the two parties produced the most dreadful disturbances in various parts of Europe. They at length created a scandal in the Church, and aroused the world from its dream of infatu- ation. The Mendicants also exposed themselves to just animadversion on account of the arrogance with which their peculiar privileges had inflated them. They asserted that to them alone was revealed the way of salvation ■ and that their relations with the Virgin Mary and Saints were more intimate than those of any of their contemporaries. Our own Wiclif has been supposed to have been, from the com- mencement of his public work, and even as early as 1360, one of their strongest opponents. But some of his earlier works among the Vienna manuscripts, recently examined, show that Wiclif had a great respect for the friars, because they followed the life of poverty enjoined by the founder of their Order. We find also that in 1378, when he attacked the other Orders, he prefers the rule of the Mendicants to the rule of the former; that he considers them true re- formers ; and that he places St. Francis of Assisi on a level with St. Peter and St. Paul in their hand labour. But according to the opinion of Dr. Lechler, in a work to be referred to presently, from 1381, when they opposed him on the question of transubstantiation, his views on which we shall see hereafter, he denounced them as the principal supporters of the absolutism of the Papacy with which he was at the time in deadly conflict, as systematic defenders of Church abuses, as pests of society, and the enemies of truth and godliness. 1 1 Dr. Lorimer's edition of "Lechler's Wiclif," vol. ii. pp. 140-146. Mr. Matthew, however, in the preface to the " Unprinted English Works of Wiclif," London, 1880, pp. 43, 44, expresses his opinion that AVARICE AND SCHISM. 1 97 But these were not the only causes of the loss of that prodigious influence which the Mendicants once possessed over all orders of the community. Endless disputes for pre-eminence between them and the Dominicans inter- rupted the harmony, and were prejudicial to the best interests of the Roman Catholic Church. The rival theo- logians erected altar against altar, loaded each other with opprobrious epithets, and wasted in unseemly controversy those energies which ought to have been employed in pro- moting the onward march of moral and spiritual regener- ation. These, however, were not the only charges against them. We find that they were justly censured because, so far from diminishing, they increased the disorder and im- morality which pervaded all classes of the community. They encouraged the inhabitants of the parishes into which, as they wandered about the country, they intruded, to come to them for confession, asserting that from their superior knowledge of the human heart, and their superior skill in unravelling difficult questions in theology, they would prove better guides to them in the discharge of this duty than the parochial clergy. The consequence was, as the chronicles inform us, a fearful increase in licentiousness, for the people were no longer obliged to blush before their minis- ters. For thus did they whisper to one another : " Let us follow our own pleasure. Some one of the preaching brothers will soon travel this way, one whom we never saw before, and never shall see again ; so that when we have had our will, we can confess without trouble and annoy- ance." We find, too, that in the reigns of Henry III., Edward I., and Edward III., they completely overran England, and created such disturbances that it was neces- sary often to issue warrants for their arrest. They were in the controversy with the Mendicants did not begin, according to the common view, in 1360, but that it began before 1381, and in that year burst forth with greater vehemence. 198 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. the habit also of issuing documents, conveying to those who were able to purchase them the assurance of participation in the masses of the brotherhood. Thus provided, they thought that they might sin with impunity. These defenders of the Papacy proved in the end its worst enemies. An austere party, called the Spiritualists, anxious that the rule of St. Francis, which appointed that neither the community nor its individual members should possess any property, should be maintained, offered an indignant opposition to a relaxation of that rule which was granted by Innocent IV., and was confirmed by Nicholas III. By this decree it was enacted that the Franciscans should possess the use of things necessary, certain habitations, chattels, books, etc., but that the property should be vested in the See of Rome. The Spiritualists might have argued against the relaxation of that rule with the more worldly members of their community, might have maintained the necessity of abject poverty, and condemned as sin the provision of corn in granaries, the wearing of costly apparel, and the erection of magnificent convents, with absolute impunity. But when, adopting the views of John Peter Olivi, an extreme fanatic among them, they came forward and denounced the Pope- dom as the harlot of the Revelation, and maintained that the whole sacerdotal polity, consisting of popes, cardinals, and abbots, should, as corrupt, luxurious, and avaricious, be •swept away from the face of the earth, John XXII. saw that it was high time to adopt extreme measures against them. Accordingly, he issued Bull after Bull, denouncing those as guilty of damnable heresy who held the fundamental prin- ciple that Christ and His Apostles had not the disposal, but only the use, of things necessary for life, — of their dress, and even of their food, — and that they never possessed anything whatever. He also published a Constitution, asserting for them the right of property. He felt that their presence at Avignon, where they swarmed, was dangerous to the Papacy; AVARICE AND SCHISM. 199 for even when they did not speak, by their uncouth dress, and by their short tight garments, which were only just enough to cover their nakedness, they preached with silent eloquence against those who wore gorgeous vestments, revelled in luxury, and made "the accumulation of wealth the great object of their existence. Because they would not accept worldly possessions they were handed over to the Dominicans, and many of them perished amid the flames. 1 ^ The consequence was that they were inflamed with greater zeal against the Papacy. They were afterwards scattered through the provinces of the empire, where they aided Louis of Bavaria in his contest with the Popes, familiarized the minds of people down to the very lowest classes with the idea that the Pope and the Roman Church were the mystical anti-Christ of Scripture, and communicated to them the result of the inquiries made by Marsilius of Padua, William of Ockham, 2 and others, which had for their object to show that the Pope ought to be deprived of his usurped dominion over the nations. Thus the weapon forged by the popes for the defence of the Church was, by an overruling Providence, turned against them. And at length the pledged defenders of the Church, dislodging some of the stones which they had hewn with their own hands, and cemented in the massive battlements, assisted in making a breach for the admission of that " noble army " of Reformers, which, pouring in, gained possession of a part of the city, and flung wide to the winds from its towers the blood-stained banner of Protestantism. The terrible licentiousness, luxury, and worldly pomp of the Court at Avignon, especially during the Pontificate of 1 Mosheim (cent. xiv. p. 2, ch. ii.) calculates that 2000 of them suffered martyrdom for their attachment to the poverty of St. Francis. * William of Ockham was so called from his native place in Surrey. Marsilius was a physician of Padua. As the works are dry, the opinions in them would hardly have found their way to all classes, without the agency of the itinerant friars. ZOO EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Clement VI. (1342-1352), were also causes of the decline of the Papacy. The illustrious Petrarch, the " Italian songster of Laura and of love," who was for a time residing in Avignon, has given us the following description of it in his letters called the Mysteries : i " All that they say of Assyrian and Egyptian Babylon, of the four Labyrinths, of the Avernian and Tartanian lakes, is nothing in comparison of this hell. All that is vile and execrable is assembled in this place. Gold is the only means of escaping from this labyrinth Here reign the successors of poor fisher- men who have forgotten their origin. They march, covered with gold and purple, proud of the spoils of princes and people. Instead of those little boats in which they gained their living on the lake of Gennesaret, they inhabit superb palaces To the most simple repasts have succeeded the most sumptuous feasts ; and where the Apostles went on foot, covered only with sandals, are now seen insolent satraps, mounted on horses ornamented with gold, and champing golden bits.'' He has elsewhere expressed the greatest horror of the abominations which filled the " New Babylon of the West.'' I regret to add that his accuracy is confirmed by all contemporary writers. Vice, in the persons of Clement V, John XXII., and Clement VI., sat enthroned in the high places of Christendom. The Plague, called " the Black Death," which at this time descended as a judgment from God on the nations of Europe, con- verting Avignon and many of its cities into one vast sepul- chre, did indeed startle into seriousness the debauchees of the Papal Court. 2 Their cheeks grew pale, and their knees trembled, and their hearts fainted in them, when they heard the death-cart constantly rolling through the streets, when they found themselves surrounded by confused and ghastly heaps of the dead and the dying, when they saw themselves 1 Epist. sine Tit., 705. See also Sonetto 107, where he speaks of Rome as " Babylon faithless and wicked," and as " a hell on earth." * Three-fourths of the inhabitants of Avignon are said to have died. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 201 the only occupants of halls which once echoed to* the voice of pleasure, and when they had no certainty that the livid spot would not appear on their own cheeks — a plain indi- cation that they themselves would soon fall lifeless on the festering heaps of mortality around them. But no sooner had the visitation passed away, than they plunged madly into the vortex of pleasure and dissipation, and became twofold more the children of hell than before. We cannot wonder to hear that the world should have had little rever- ence for the Papacy, when we find that the Pope and his cardinals only too closely answered to the description given by Petrarch ; that they wallowed in the mire of sensuality, and were guilty of other vices which degrade a man to the level of the beasts that perish. 1 We cannot fail also to observe that the residence at Avignon was, in another way, injurious to the Papacy. The Pope was, indeed, surrounded there, as at Rome, with the pomp and ceremonial of a Court. The world, however, lost its awe of him, because he was only nominally seated on the throne of St. Peter, in a cathedral unhallowed by the ancient and sacred associations connected with that mighty shrine which rises in stately grandeur above the supposed tomb of the chief of the Apostles. He was no longer, besides, an independent sovereign, reigning in the territory which Charlemagne and Constantine were supposed to have conferred on the Church; but a subordinate prince, in an obscure city, in a narrow territory, not his own, where he was surrounded on all sides by the kingdom of France, 2 so that he was completely under the influence of a monarch, Philip the Fair, who had inflicted a deep wound on the Papacy in the person of Boniface, and afterwards of another, 1 For a description of the rapacity, nepotism, and licentious splendour of the Court of Clement VI., see "Matteo Villani," lib. iii. t . 43. 2 Avignon was in Provence, which Charles of Anjou had obtained in right of his wife. 202 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. John, who'had suffered an inglorious defeat on the bloody fields of Cre"cy and Poictiers. We cannot be surprised, therefore, to hear that his ecclesiastical censures were gener- ally disregarded ; that the Papal claims sounded ridiculous when made by a captive ; that, notwithstanding his anathe- mas, Louis of Bavaria continued in possession of the Im- perial dignity; and that the rebellious lords refused to surrender the territories which they had wrested from him in central Italy. A revolt from the Papacy in various parts of Christendom was another consequence of the feebleness, the vices, the shameless profligacy, the avarice, and the degradation of the pontiffs at Avignon. Many of the opinions now promul- gated, and the early efforts to reform, were, as is very often the case with movements of this description, strongly tinc- tured with wildness and fanaticism. The Flagellants travelled about Europe scourging themselves in public till the blood streamed from their backs ; and proclaiming to all around them that the baptism through which they thus passed was the only means of salvation. John Peter Olivi, to whom refer- ence was lately made, mixed much wild and senseless super- stition with his zeal for a Reformation ; but still he aided the progress of the revolt by publishing a commentary on the Revelation of St. John, in which he openly proclaimed that the Roman Church was " Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and Abominations of the earth." x He swept away as corrupt the whole sacerdotal body. The Spiritual Franciscans asserted that a new dispensation under the Holy Ghost was about to commence, which would as far transcend the dispensations of the Law and the Gospel as the sun surpasses the rest of the heavenly bodies. The corruptions of the Church were omens of the coming of this new kingdom. The Franciscans were to be the rulers of the Church under this dispensation, possessing more authority 1 See "BaluziiMiscell.,"i. .'AVARICE AND SCHISM. 203 than the Apostles of our Lord. Dolcino of Novara was a wild enthusiast, who also held that the Popedom was the great Harlot of the Revelation ; that we are living in an iron age, which was soon to come to a terrible end ; that the Church would soon be reduced to its primitive state of Apostolic poverty ; that Frederick of Arragon would soon become emperor, and sweep away Pope, prelates, and monks with the besom of destruction. 1 The Bishop of the diocese organized a crusade against him, and attacked him in his mountain stronghold ; but was beaten back by him with the loss of many of his followers. Other assaults were made by him in quick succession, all of which terminated in disastrous failure. The Bishop now surrounded them with his forces, and endeavoured to compel them by famine to capitulate. But still they adhered inflexibly to their prin- ciples. Rather than surrender, they subsisted on the most nauseous food, and repeating the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem, even devoured human flesh. At length, when famine had laid low many of them, and had reduced to a shadow the miserable remnant of the defenders, the citadel was carried by storm, and Dolcino, having been taken prisoner, had his flesh torn from him by red-hot pincers, and perished by a death of lingering agony. 2 England also now came forward prominently in opposition to the Papacy. The Parliament in 1366 showed its deter- mination that England should not become a fief of the Papal See by agreeing unanimously to refuse payment of the annual tribute of 1000 marks exacted by King John, which Pope Urban VI. demanded after it had been for some time sus- pended. The Members declared that he had acted contrary to all right in subjecting the country to it without their consent. We have no doubt that the illustrious Wiclif was mainly instrumental in securing that declaration. We had indeed long known that he had acted with his fellow-countrymen in 1 Hist. Dolcini, in the ninth volume of Muratori. 2 Ibid. 204 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. this matter of national importance ; for he accepted the challenge of a doctor of the monastic orders, and had pub- lished a political tract entirely in the sense of the Declar- ation of Parliament. He gave in that tract, in refutation of his opponent's views, what purports to be the substance of some important speeches of some lords of Parliament who had come forward in opposition to the unjust pretensions of the Papacy. A manuscript, recently discovered at Vienna, perhaps enables us to see why it was that the challenge just referred to was addressed to him, for which no satisfactory explanation has hitherto been given. 1 We gather from it, as I have stated in the note, according to Dr. Lechler, that he had a seat in Parliament, in which elected representatives of the inferior clergy were, from the end of the thirteenth century, summoned to serve. We are thus enabled to come to the conclusion that he had excited the anger of the unknown doctor, not only by making use of his position to gain access to the lords of Parliament for the purpose of inoculating their minds with his peculiar views, contained in the speeches just referred to, which Dr. Lechler thinks were heard by him, but also by lifting up his voice in eloquent 1 Bohemian hands were employed at the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the spirit of Wiclif took a strong hold of the inhabitants of Bohemia, in multiplying copies of his sermons and tracts. The Imperial Library at Vienna possesses about forty volumes, consisting chiefly of unpiinted Latin works of Wiclif, of which, in some instances, not a copy is to be found in England. These were removed to Vienna on the dissolution of the monasteries in the last century by Joseph II. In one of these (" de Ecclesia") he has occasion to remark that "the Bishop of Rochester (Thomas Trillek) had told him under great excite- ment, in open sitting of Parliament, that the propositions he had set forth had been condemned by the Papal Court." He also says, "If such things had been asserted by me against my king they would have been inquired into in the Parliament of English Lords." If he had only published them in writing they would not have been the subject of inquiry in Parliament. See Dr. Lorimer's translation of "John Wiclif and his English Precursors," by Professor Lechler, vol. i. pp. 200-214. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 205 denunciation of this attempt of Urban to render England tributary to the Papacy. This statement that he sat in Parliament, must, however, be accepted with caution. We can only affirm the possibility of it. The words in the note give some colour to the supposition. If it be correct, we owe a debt of gratitude to him for influencing the deliber- ations of England at a most important crisis of our national history. 1 The public indignation against the usurpations of the Pope found vent in the enactment of the Statute of Provisors, by which he was prohibited from presenting to any ecclesiastical preferment in England ; and in the Statute of Praemunire, which prohibited all appeals on questions of property to the Court of Rome. Wiclif must in this matter also have been the exponent of the feelings of his fellow-countrymen, and was greatly instrumental in inducing them to resist those usurpations ; for he was appointed to attend a conference at Bruges between the Pope's ambassadors and those of the king of England on the subject of the unjust pretensions against which the statute just referred to was directed. The Pope had invited them to that city instead of Avignon, because he did not wish them to have too close a view of its corruptions and debaucheries. But Wiclif heard enough from the ambassadors of the Pope to convince him that avarice and ambition were the gods worshipped in the Roman curia. 1 Mr. Matthew, in the preface to "The English Works of Wiclif, hitherto unprinted, London, 1880," page 6, expresses much doubt whether Dr. Lechler is right in saying that we have here a partial report of the debate. "I can believe," he says, "that some, and even most, of the arguments given in the tract were used in the Council- room ; but the speeches recorded are curiously Wiclifite in their tone ; and the Parliaments of Edward III. '5 time must have been singularly unlike those that have succeeded them if each speaker confined himself to using one definite and distinct point, as in this report. Whatever the Lords really said, their chief use here is to act as mouth-pieces for opinions which Wiclif wished to support." 206 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. A common idea until the present day has been, that as Minerva issued forth armed from the head of Jupiter, so Wiclif stands before us throughout his public life a finished man, armed at all points for his conflict with the Papal anti-Christ. An examination of his Trialogus, but especially of his unpublished writings, will enable us to see at once that this is a great misconception, and that he must have passed through different changes of opinion during his illustrious career. Thus in one of the latter he says, 1 " Other statements which at one time appeared strange to me now appear to be sound and true, and I defend them ; for in the words of St. Paul (i Cor. xiii. n), When I was a child in the knowledge of the faith, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child ; but when, in God's strength, I became a man, I put away, by His grace, childish thoughts.'' We cannot fail to see that, during the first twelve years of his public life, his efforts were misdirected. He lopped off the branches instead of striking at the root of that upas tree which was shedding a deadly blight over the nations of Europe. He attacked the usurpations of the Church of Rome on the rights of the crown, and her spoliation of the country for the benefit of those who were living in luxurious ease in their palaces at Rome, and sought by legislative measures to reform these abuses ; whereas he ought to have directed his attention to her errors in. doctrine, and to' have shown that she had corrupted the simplicity of the truth as it is in Jesus. But, even during this period, it is manifest that the light which had dawned on the darkness of his soul was slowly and steadily increasing in brightness. In the years before 1378 he recognized the sufficiency of the Word of God as the source of human knowledge, and condemned those who intruded into its place the traditions of the 1 Dr. Lorimer's translation of "John Wiclif and his English Pre- cursors, " by Professor Lechler, vol. ii . p. 2. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 207 Church. 1 He asserted with the greatest decision in his later years this fundamental truth of Christianity. After 1378 the energies of Wiclif were concentrated on a reformation in doctrine. The schism in the Papacy, of which I shall speak presently, was the means of directing his thoughts to this all-important subject. This schism became a turning-point in his career. He had hitherto not only attacked the Papacy in the manner just described, but had also asserted that the Pope might fall into mortal sin, that his office is for the ends of salvation, and that he held jure humano, and not jure divino* But still he was very far from casting off his allegiance to the Papacy. On the contrary, we find from one of the hitherto unpublished Vienna manuscripts, that on the elevation of Urban VI. to the Papal throne in 1378, he expressed his joy in the follow- ing language : — " Blessed be the Lord, who has given to His Church in these days in Urban VI. a Catholic head, an evangelical man, a man who, in the. work of reforming the Church that it may live conformably to the law of Christ, follows the due order by beginning with himself and the members of his household. From his works, therefore, it behoves us to believe that he is the head of our Church." 3 But, as we shall see hereafter, this bright vision soon van- ished away. At first, indeed, he recognized Urban VI. But when the latter began to excommunicate his rival, he cast off his allegiance to him, and decided on remaining in a position of neutrality. He very soon found, however, that to do so was an impossibility, and that he must come for- ward in decided opposition to the abuses and corruptions of the Papacy. During the last six years of his life we have abundant 1 See Lorimer,"vol. ii. p. 19; also a short paper, in 1372, among the Vienna manuscripts, given by Lechler, in Lorimer, vol. ii. p. 225. * Ibid. vol. i. p. 224, and vol. ii. p. 133. 3 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 134. 2o8 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. proof that Luther was altogether incorrect when he asserted that Wiclif attacked not the doctrine, but the life of the Church. He now directs his whole attention to dogma. Whereas, in 1378, he adhered to the scholastic dogma of transubstantiation, in 1381, he offered the very strongest opposition to it, affirming in the plainest terms, that the body and blood of Christ are present in the Sacrament, not in a local or corporeal, but in a spiritual manner, and that to believers only there is a real participation of it. 1 Whereas in former years he had affirmed that there is no sex, nor age, nor rank, nor position of any one in the whole human race who has no need to call for the help of the Holy Virgin, now in Saints' Day sermons, delivered later than 1378, he asserts that " devotion on a festival offered to any Saint is only of value as it is fitted to promote and to heighten the feeling of pious devotion towards the Saint himself." 2 Now also when he was attacked by the Papal partisans, the Mendicants, on the dogma of transubstantiation, he attacks in the very strongest terms the Papacy as a God-blaspheming institution. In one of his sermons in one of the Vienna manuscripts, he says, " That the Papal office itself is of the Wicked One, seeing that no Divine warrant existed for more than the pastoral care of souls and an exemplary walk in humility and sanctity, along with faithful contendings in the spiritual conflict, but never at all for any worldly greatness or glory." 3 In his Trialogus he recognizes by implication Urban VI., but in the supplement he regards both Popes as anti-Christs, as monsters, as incarnate devils. 4 The idea of anti-Christ now becomes so common to him that he uses it as synonymous with Pope. He also denied the necessity of confession, attacked indulgences and extreme unction, and 1 Lorimer, vol. ii. p. 178. * Ibid. vol. ii. p. 122. 3 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 139. 4 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 214. I shall give other proofs in ch. vii. that he directed his attention to dogma. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 209 denounced the Roman Catholic Church for encouraging the belief that, by payment to a priest, men might purchase absolution for the greatest crimes and enormities. He also organized between 1378 and 1382 a little band of itinerant teachers for propagating these views through the length and breadth of the land, and for reading to all ranks and classes the Bible, the translation of which into English he had completed in 1382. 1 The nobleman 2 gave up the excitement of the chase ; the pale student laid aside the manuscript which he was examining with all the eagerness of one who had dug up from the bowels of the earth a long-buried treasure ; the merchant ceased to count the glittering heaps piled up around him ; the labourer suffered the plough to stand in the furrow ; the smith allowed the glowing iron to become cool on the anvil, and listened to one of Wiclif s itinerant teachers, as, barefoot and clad in his robe of serge, he denounced the hypocrisy and erroneous teaching of the Papacy, and read to them from God's Word those great and glorious truths which fill the very angels with wonder and delight.3 The plant flourished and expanded amid the sickly and tainted 1 Knighton affirms, that "by the labours of Wiclif s poor priests his principles were disseminated like suckers from the roots of a tree, so that two out of three people were his followers." This would be true if we understand him to speak of those who opposed the extortions of the Pope. Those who opposed doctrinal errors were very few. 2 Knighton mentions knights, as well as dukes and earls, who sur- rounded the preachers with a military band. 3 Knighton says, that they commenced teaching the Gospel in the mother tongue. Professor Lechler thinks that Wiclif must have formed his scheme of itinerancy at Oxford some time before 1382. For the propagation of Wiclif's views, see a letter to the Archbishop from members of the University of Oxford, which mentions the great num- ber of his adherents in a way to suggest that by the preaching of his itinerants his reformation views were so widely propagated. See Lorimer, ii. p. 213, and Wilkins' " Concilia Magna Britannise," vol. iii. fol. 171. *5 210 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. atmosphere of a court. The pious Anne of Luxemburg, the wife of Richard II., not only studied the Scriptures, but protected the followers of Wiclif. Thus, then, he laboured to promote a Reformation in the Church. We find indeed that many ideas of Church Reformation had been enter- tained, and many efforts to accomplish it had been made before the era on which we have now entered. But he is the first important person in history who comes forward prominently as a Reformer on the world's high stage. He carried on his work in the spirit of self-sacrifice, being fully assured that though for a time it might be retarded, it would at length issue in the Reformation of the Church on the Apostolic model, and that a song of triumph would ascend from every part of an emancipated world. A voice was also heard from the hills of Worcestershire, calling men to revolt against the hierarchical dominion. Langland, the author of " Piers Ploughman's Vision,'' which was written about 1365, declared that "Pilgrimages and penances are nothing when compared with holiness and charity." He also asserted that truth was not known to popes, cardinals, bishops, clergy, monks, and friars ; and that it was to be sought by man himself, under the sole guidance of reason and conscience, not through any inter- mediate being or sacrament. In fact, he unconsciously instals Holy Scripture as the ultimate judge. Like Wiclif, Langland ascribes all the evil, social and religious, of the world to the wealth of the Pope, the Church, and the monks, and the still more incongruous wealth of the Men- dicants ; and he does not hesitate to say, that they ought to be deprived of the filthy lucre which has corrupted them. But the Popes at Avignon turned a deaf ear to these and other voices which summoned them to put away the evil of their doings, and to effect a complete reform in the ecclesi- astical system. The Council of Vienne in 13 13, assembled, as we have seen, for the examination of the charges against AVARICE AND SCHISM. 211 the Templars, did indeed pass some canons opposing the progress of heresy, regulating the relation of bishops to the monastic order, and imposing greater decency on the lower orders of the clergy. Benedict XII. (1334-1342) undertook the serious reformation of the monastic orders, and endeavoured to improve the education of the clergy, thinking that he should thus most effectually regenerate the Church. Innocent VI. (1352-1362) exerted himself to restrain the luxuries of the cardinals, and to remove a few scandalous abuses. But he was as grasping as any of his predecessors ; for he demanded a tenth of all ecclesiastical revenues for the apostolic chamber, and sent messengers to every part of Germany to collect half the revenues of all vacant benefices, and to reserve them for the use of the Apostolic See. In fact, the disease still remained untouched within the body, paralyzing its energies, and infecting the very source and centre of life. We have now seen that the residence at Avignon was greatly injurious to the Papacy. The united voice of Christendom, the nobler spirits of the age, including the celebrated Petrarch, patriots who hoped that they would by their presence heal the divisions and remedy the disorders of Italy, even the Romans themselves, importuned the Popes to return to the eternal city; but they would not abandon their luxurious retreat at Avignon, and were proof against all the remonstrances and entreaties addressed to them on the subject. In consequence of their weakness and their absence from the seat of government, law was unable to vindicate her majesty, and disorder reigned uncontrolled through the city and territory subject to their rule. Nicholas Rienzi, 1 whom poetry has described as "the hope of Italy," "the last of Romans," "the Redeemer of dark centuries of shame," did indeed, when he was sent 1 A sketch of the rise and fall of Rienzi and of the civil revolutions of which Rome was the theatre, will be found in Gibbon, c. 70. 212 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. as a delegate from the Roman people to Pope Clement VI. at Avignon, extort from him by his eloquence a promise that he would revisit Rome; and another that he would appoint a Jubilee every fifty years, which he was ready enough to fulfil in 1350, because he saw that it would be the means of pouring the money into his coffers. 1 The numbers were swelled by serious impressions produced by the plague, but many came back worse than before. Finding that the Pope was deluding him with a false expectation, and that he would not return to deliver the people from their misery and oppressions, Rienzi determined to endeavour to accomplish his object by reviving among the Romans the republican institutions of antiquity. Full of enthusiasm for the past, and possessing the soul of a poet, which led him to delight in musing amid the time-worn ruins of Rome on the illustrious dead of past ages, he fancied, as the night wind sighed mournfully through them, that he heard them breathing a lamentation over her departed majesty, and exhorting him once more to raise the land of his birth to the pinnacle of worldly glory. Through the careful study of the immortal works of the ancient authors, his soul began to glow with all those lofty emotions for which the old Romans were conspicuous. Breathing the spirit of a Gracchus, he animated his fellow- citizens against the tyrants who oppressed them. His inspiriting call was heard and obeyed. They rose against them, and obtained that freedom which was the object of their ardent desire. Rienzi, invested by the unanimous suffrage of his fellow-citizens with the dignity of Tribune, restored tranquillity to Rome, intimidated by some severe examples of justice those who had hitherto set law at defiance, and compelled the nobles to submit to his authority. At length, intoxicated with vain-glory, he was guilty of conduct for which he was excommunicated by the 1 Matteo Villani, lib. i. c. 56. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 213 Pope, was compelled to abdicate his government, and was banished from the city of his fathers. Afterwards released from prison at Avignon, where he had been confined by- Innocent VI. because he had attempted to usurp the Papal authority, and to incite the emperor to reduce the Papal power within the limits of Papal jurisdiction, he accom- panied the warlike cardinal Albornoz on an expedition to Rome that he might re-establish the authority of the law which in his absence had been suspended. Having entered Rome in triumph, and ruled there for a few weeks as the senator appointed by the Pope, he incurred the displeasure of the populace, and perished in an insurrection. The state of Italy after the death of Rienzi induced Pope Urban V. to meditate the restoration of the Papal See to Rome in 1367. He feared that Rome would no longer endure the loss of the wealth which flowed into her in a golden tide from foreign countries, or of the dignity which belonged to her as the metropolis of the Christian world, and would altogether cast off her allegiance to him. He found too that his residence at Avignon was no longer secure. The king of France, a prisoner in England, had ceased to protect him. He was in danger from the English, now his neighbours, who were incensed against him on account of the grant of the tenths to the King of France to enable him to carry on the war. The country near Avignon, too, was now invaded, and the city menaced by the com- panies of associated brigands. While these considerations induced him to think of returning, the following strong appeal was addressed to him by Petrarch : — " While ye are sleeping on the shores of the Rhine, under a gilded roof, the Lateran is a ruin ; the Mother of Churches open to the wind and rain ; the Churches of the Apostles are heaps of stones." The appeal ends in the following manner : " Think within yourself whether, on the day of judgment, you would rather rise again among the famous sinners of Avignon, than 214 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. with Peter and Paul, Stephen and Laurence, Silvester, Gregory, Jerome, Agnes, and Cecilia." * Urban at length decided to go. He made his public entry into Rome ; but after a residence of three years in the pleasant retreat of Montefiascone, moved by the earnest murmurs of his cardinals, he returned to Avignon, where, two months afterwards, he expired, in December, 1370. 2 After his death, Italy, tyrannized over by incapable legates very different from the warlike and able Cardinal Albornoz, who, after the death of Rienzi, had succeeded in restoring the Papal power in all the cities of Romagna, revolted altogether from his successor, Gregory XI. The universal opinion was, that the Pope only would, by taking up his abode in Italy, stay the progress of the revolt, and restore Italy to its allegiance to the Papal See. Catherine of Sienna, famed for her sanctity, who had been sent on an embassy to reconcile Florence to the Pope, urged and implored him to return to Italy. 3 He yielded to her im- portunity, and repaired to Rome in 1376; but worn out with disappointment at the failure of his efforts to promote the pacification of Italy, he was meditating a return toVk Avignon, when he died at Rome on March 27, 1378. With' him ended the seventy years " Babylonian captivity " — a captivity disastrous in the extreme to the Papacy, which greatly degraded it in the estimation of Christendom, loosened its hold as a spiritual power upon the allegiance of the nations, and prepared the way for its rapid declension in the following age during that great schism of the antipopes which must now occupy our attention. The schism of the antipopes which followed the death of Gregory XI. was still more disastrous to the Papacy 1 Petrarch's " Epistobe sine titulo." 2 Raynaldus, an. 1370, \ 19. 3 Some of her works, including letters on this point, were printed at Paris in 1644. See her life in the Act. Sanct., April 3, 956. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 215 than the residence at Avignon. While the cardinals were engaged in deliberating as to his successor, the Roman mob surrounded the Conclave with loud shouts, and demanded the election of a Pope who should be a Roman or an Italian. The cardinals, terrified by their threats, elected in 1378 the Archbishop of Bari, who assumed the name of Urban VI., thinking that they should thus satisfy both parties, as he was not only an Italian, but also a subject of the French sovereign of Naples, FirJding, when it was too late, that they had placed over themselves a Pope who rendered himself obnoxious to them by his harsh and imperious manner, the French cardinals, anxious to retain the Pontifical Court in their own land, withdrew from him their allegiance, and elected an antipope, Robert of Geneva, who assumed the name of Clement VII. They alleged as their justification for this act, that they were under constraint when they elected Urban VI. We must observe, however, that they would have remained quiescent under the dominion of Urban if he had not provoked them to anger by haughtiness and rudeness. But though we may differ in opinion as to the legitimacy of Urban or Clement,' we must agree as to the effects which the schism thus occasioned produced upon the Papacy. The world could not fail to regard the Popes and their office with well- merited contempt when they saw them wandering about Europe, blackening each other's character, exerting every effort to enlist the princes of Europe in their cause, and hurling at each other their "spiritual thunderbolts. The rapacity and venality 6f the Popes during this period surpass all description. New taxes constantly imposed, new methods of extortion' continually invented, were the means by which every one of them endeavoured to re-imburse himself for the loss of the spiritual allegiance of a part of the inhabitants of Christendom. Thus men became more determined to oppose the Papacy. Thus the cup of public indignation 2l6 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. became full to the very brim. Thus an earnest desire was awakened in the minds of a large proportion of the inhabit- ants of Europe for the cleansing of that Augsean stable of corruption, the noxious excrements in which sullied the purity of the robes in which the messengers of the Prince of peace ought to be arrayed when they deliver the message of their Sovereign to the guilty and rebellious inhabitants of this district of His empire. The schism did not depart with the death of Urban VI. in 1389, or of the antipope, Clement VII., in 1394. On the contrary, it lasted for forty years. The Cardinals of the Roman obedience, appointed by Urban to supply the place of those who had seceded to Avignon, elected Boniface IX. in 1389, Innocent VII. in 1404, and Gregory XII. in 1406 ; while the opposite faction elected Peter de Luna, Benedict XIII., in 1394, who outlived all his rivals. They shared the obedience of Europe in nearly equal proportions. All classes of the community, convinced that these evil-minded men were inflicting a grievous injury on the Church, loudly demanded the resignation of all of them, A plan to bring the influence of the sovereigns of Europe to bear on them to compel then\ to resign, failed through the deposition of Richard" II. of England, and of Wenceslaus, emperor of Germany. The indignation of Europe against them was increased by their deliberate perjury. They all broke a promise to abdicate if the interests of the Church should require them to do so, made by them before their elevation to the chair of St. Peter. They were guilty" also of artifice and evasion. Gregory XII. and Benedict XIII. had agreed to hold a conference with each other at Savona. Gregory was advancing towards that place, when on a sudden he halted, having remembered that there were difficulties in the way of the fulfilment of his- engagement. Benedict endea- voured to gain the credit of greater sincerity by advancing a little further in the same direction. The one receded as AVARICE AND SCHISM. 217 the other advanced. They both thus showed very plainly that there was a collusion between them, and that they had no intention of holding 'the interview with each other. It was, says Leonard of Arezzo, as if one Pope, like a land animal, refused to approach the shore ; and the other, like an inhabitant of the sea, refused to leave the water. 1 The evasions and delays of these two aged men, which were a plain proof that they were determined to cling with a tenacious grasp to their office, and that they were consulting their own private interest instead of the welfare of those for whom they were bound to watch as they that must give account, roused a strong feeling of indignation throughout Europe, and intensified the desire already existing for a General Council as the only means of healing the schism by which the Church was rent asunder. The cardinals of the two factions at length agreed to summon a General Council to meet at Pisa in March, 1409. The results of that Council were the deposition of the two Popes, and the election of the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, who assumed the name of Alexander V. The ex- pectations of union and reformation formed from this Council were not to be realized. As Gregory and Benedict would not resign, three Popes instead of two were contending with one another for the allegiance of Christendom. ' The eleva- tion of Balthasar Cossa, who assumed the name of John XXIII., to the Papal chair, which followed the death of Alexander in 141 o, caused all classes of the community' to demand with greater vehemence a reform in the Papal system ; for he was a monster of iniquity. 2 Foremos't amongst those who laboured for the reformation of the Church and the termination of the antipapal schism was the Emperor Sigismund of Germany.' He was the most T Muratori, xix. 926. a Hefele, vii. 18. At Constance it was charged against John that the Roman Council reproved him for his faults, but he did not amend. 2l8 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. powerful monarch whom Germany had known since the days of Frederick II. Posterity has, however, forgotten his varied qualities and accomplishments, the dignity of his personal appearance, his knightly manners, his love of mag- nificence, his linguistic skill, and his patronage of learning, which made him in the age in which he lived " the observed of all observers ; " and has remembered only his consent to the disgraceful violation of the safe-conduct given by him to John Huss before the Council of Constance. To his persevering exertions it was owing that all the principal potentates of Europe, all her leading ecclesiastics, and even Pope John himself, whom he terrified into submission by reminding him that he needed him as a defender against Ladislaus, king of Naples, who was constantly invading the Papal territory, were induced to give their consent to that General Council, which has occupied a conspicuous place not only in the annals of the Church, but also in the history of the world. In the town of Constance, near mountains whose fir-clad / sides lend an additional charm to the scenery around them, \ close to a lake in which the Rhine, wearied with its tumb- l lings amid the precipices of the Alps, sleeps peacefully before Nit plunges over the falls at Schaffhausen, was now gathered an illustrious assemblage of monarchs, ecclesiastics, and statesmen, and warriors. 1 Many of its most conspicuous members, as Peter d'Ailly, and Cardinal Zabarella, and Robert Hallam, Bishop of Salisbury, whose names were at that time borne abroad on the trumpet-blast of fame, are now forgotten by the world ; while others, such as John Gerson, the determined foe of Papal corruptions, the learned theologian of the Council, which he had exerted every effort to bring together, are now seen only indistinctly through^the' 1 There were 3 patriarchs, 23 cardinals, 27 archbishops, 150 bishops, 100 abbots, more than 100 counts and barons, and 200 doctors. Len- fant, " Histoire du Council." AVARICE AND SCHISM. 210, mists of intervening ages. During the sittings of the Council, 50,000, and sometimes 100,000 strangers, including 18,000 ecclesiastics, with 30,000 horses, were assembled within the walls of the city. Merchants and traders, artists and crafts- men, players, jugglers, and musicians to the number of 1 700, attracted by the prospect of gain, supplied the wants of the assembled Fathers, and contributed to their amusement in the intervals of their solemn deliberations. The eyes of all Europe were fixed upon the Council. Every one indulged the fond expectation that a remedy would be found for the evils of Christendom, for the simony, the extortion, the oppression, the worldliness, the immorality, which had become intensified to a degree beyond the possibility of endurance. The Council was solemnly opened on November 5, 1414. The first proposition wrested the superiority in it from the Pope. As the Italians were numerous and entirely sub- : servient to him, it was clear that if the members voted by the head, the Italians could easily prevent any measures towards reformation.- It was arranged, therefore, thai they should vote by nations, consisting of the Italians, Germans, French, and English. The question was soon publicly discussed whether the Council or the Pope is the superior authority. The superiority of the Council was maintained by Gerson in a very eloquent sermon, and was affirmed by the general consent of the assembled Fathers at Constance, They afterwards proceeded to adopt measures for the ter- mination of the schism in the Papacy. Wearied out with the evasions of John, who attached impossible conditions to his resignation, and angry with him on account of his flight from the Council in violation of his solemn protestations, they cited him to appear before them ; and having in his absence found him guilty of licentiousness which surpasses belief, of murder, massacre, tyranny, avarice, and the most atrocious cruelty, they solemnly deposed him from the 2 20 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Pontificate. As Gregory made no difficulty about his resign- ation, the accomplishment of the union of Christendom rested with Peter of Luna. This aged Pope, however, whose love of power had increased with advancing years, affirming that a Pope once consecrated could not resign, bade defiance to the Council, and positively refused to abdicate. Apprehensive that his imprisonment might be the consequence of his refusal, he j retired to his rocky fortress of Peniscola, on the coast of "Valencia, the ancient home of the De Luna family. 1 Here, even after his deposition, in his mimic court, consisting of two cardinals, with impotent fury he fulminated every day his anathemas against Christendom. Thus, instead of obtaining the gratitude of his contemporaries by his volun- tary resignation of a dignity, his continued tenure of which was the only hindrance to the union of Christendom, he became an object of universal detestation by clinging to it with tenacious grasp, even when the realities of the invisible world were opening before him. The great question for consideration after the deposition of these Popes was, whether or no the election of a Pope should take precedence of the Reformation of the Church. The Emperor Sigismund, the English, and the Germans were firmly convinced that if the Pope were elected first, the prospect of the latter, the accomplishment of which had been the great object of the assembly of the Council, would prove a mere delusion, like the mirage of shady palm trees and sparkling fountains which the parched traveller sees amid the deserts of Arabia. They well knew that, unless the Church were first reformed, the Pope, however pure he might be, however conscious of his duties and responsibili- ties, would be unable, beneath the pressure of overwhelming temptation, to hold fast his integrity ; that, unless the voice of law said to him with irresistible authority, " Hitherto 1 Lenfant, lib. iv. c. I, et seq. " Histoire du Schisme," pp. 177-184. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 221 shalt thou come, and no farther," he must be endowed with superhuman virtue if .he did not perpetuate for his own advantage and that of the cardinals the worst abuses of the Papal system, and laugh to scorn those who endeavoured to arrest him in his onward course of aggression, usurpation, and aggrandizement. The cardinals, on the other hand, were firmly convinced that if they elected a Pope, fettered by rules previously established, they would sign the death- warrant ot that system of corruption which they were deter- mined, if possible, to maintain, although they were well aware that it had been prejudicial to the best interests of religion, that it had been condemned by all classes of the community, and, like the deadly upas tree, had shed a pestilential blight over the nations of Europe. 1 A fierce battle between the two parties raged during the summer months, the din of which resounded through Europe. The orators, on the one side, urged with great eloquence all the arguments just referred to,' and with the fiercest invectives against their opponents, described the universal pollution and corruption of the Church. On the other hand, the cardinals, supported by the Italians and the French, the latter of whom, though anxious for reform, had joined them because the English on the opposite side had just humbled their pride on the bloody field of Agincourt, pointed to the headless trunk extended before them, and expatiated on the danger impending over the Church from any delay in the election of a Pope. The unhallowed designs of the cardinals were at length crowned with the wished- for success. After the defection of the English representatives whom the cardinals won over to their side on the death of their leader, Bishop Hallam of Salisbury, and of two German bishops who had been bribed with the offer of better preferment by their opponents, the victory did not remain in suspense for a moment. The leader of 1 Lenfant, lib. v. c. 40, et seq. 222 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. the host, the Emperor Sigismund, still indeed for a time fought on valiantly, but was at length obliged to yield to overwhelming numbers. All his forebodings were realized. He could no longer hope to carry his banner triumphantly through the thick of the battle, and to plant it on the ruined battlements of the stronghold of his foes. Martin V., who had been elected by the Conclave, with the reluctant consent of the Emperor, soon showed that he was determined to resist any comprehensive measure of reform. 1 After publish- ing a few constitutions, tending to redress some of the evils which had arisen during the schism, and having made con- cordats with the Transalpine nations, the breach of which would, awaken no general indignation, he contrived to post- pone to future assemblies to be held, the one at the end of five years, and the other at the end of twelve years, the question of Reformation. The Council was then dissolved. On the 16th of May, 1418, afjer a session of three years and a half, arrayed in his gorgeous robes, under a canopy supported by four counts, while the Emperor and the Elector of Brandenburg held his bridle, he rode forth from the city of Constance, followed by a cavalcade of 40,000 princes, nobles, and ecclesiastics, mounted on richly caparisoned horses, as splendid as any which had ever marched in the train of the proudest and most illustrious of this world's potentates. 2 The scene here described is symbolical of the victory gained by the Papacy. Martin V. resumed all the authority which Christendom had given to his predecessors. The right of a Council to impose restrictions on the Pope- dom remained a barren proposition. The Pope, whom the assembled Fathers had appointed, had prevented them from accomplishing that great work of Church reform for which Europe had been waiting in anxious expectation. The Council, which, according to the arrangement just 1 Sismondi, "Histoire des Republiques Italiennes," lib. Ixii. 8 Lenfant, ii. 258. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 223 referred to, met at Pavia, and afterwards at Sienna, in the year 1423, separated on the 8th of March, 1424, having made scarcely any proposals on the subject ; but that which, seven years afterwards, Martin V. summoned to meet at Basle, just before his death, seemed more determined than its two predecessors to prosecute vigorously the work of Reformation. A French and Spanish bishop were at first proposed as his successors ; but by one of those accidents which have often decided Papal elections, the choice fell on Gabriel Condolmieri, Cardinal of St. Clement, the most insignificant member of the sacred body, who assumed the name of Eugenius IV. He was obstinate, narrow-minded, hostile to all deviations from the doctrine of the Church, and entertained a lofty idea of the power and prerogatives of the Papacy. 1 The Council assembled at Basle on December 18, 143 r. Eugenius, seeing that its members, urged on by their respective sovereigns, were determined to persevere, and finding his temporal power endangered by the intrigues of the Duke of Milan and the arms of other foes, as well as by an insurrection of his own subjects at Rome, sought reconciliation with it, and rescinded on the 15th of December, 1433, the Bulls which, on the most frivolous pretexts, he had published for its dissolution. The Pope's legates were admitted to the presidency of it on swearing, in their own names, that all men, including the Pope, are bound to obey it. Decrees were now passed for the entire freedom of elections in churches ; against expect- ancies, usurpations of patronage, reservations, annates or first-fruits; against frivolous appeals; against the abuse of interdicts, the concubinage of the clergy, and other corrup- tions which had rendered the Court and Church of Rome a by-word among the nations of the earth. The legates of Eugenius, who was strongly opposed to the reforming spirit thus exhibited, acting according to his secret instructions, 1 Sismondi, vi. 396-398. 224 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. endeavoured, by creating delays, by propagating falsehoods, by inventing subterfuges, by sophistry, artifice, fraud, and seduction, to prevent the deliberations from being crowned with the wished-for success. But they persevered in their self-allotted task : intrigue did not divide, difficulty did not discourage them. As we are informed by their eloquent secretary, .^Eneas Silvius Piccolomini, 1 who afterwards, I grieve to say, as Pope Pius II., abandoned the cause for which he had laboured at Basle with so much zeal and energy, " a holy brotherhood, the true senate of the world," consisting of "bishops celebrating the holy eucharist, of doctors reading sacred histories, or writing by the light of a candle, or meditating on some high and holy theme," might here be seen gathered together, engaged in a work which had for its object the purification of the Papacy, the removal of abuses from the Church, and the regeneration of Christendom. Eugenius, finding that all these efforts failed of the wished- for success, adopted another means of defeating their object. The Eastern empire had been for some time dragging on a precarious existence. The emperor was compelled to pay a heavy annual tribute to the Turks, and was deprived of all his territory beyond the walls of Constantinople. He now proposed a conference between the Eastern and Western Churches, hoping that if the differences between them were removed, the Latin nations would hasten to his assistance, and would save his empire and city from the destruction with which they were threatened. Eugenius saw in this request a means at once of gaining a victory, over the Council, and of immortalizing himself by effecting an union between the two Churches. As the Greeks objected to Basle on account of the distance, Eugenius had an excuse for proposing that it should be held at Ferrara in Italy. He therefore issued, on the 18th of September, 1437, a Bull 1 De Gestis Basil. Concil., lib. ii. p. 57. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 225 for the transference of the Council to that city. Now then he knew that he should be able to inundate it with the local bishops, who would prevent the Reformation of the Church, that they might not be deprived of a part of the pomp and luxury around them. The Council of Basle, fired with the same ambition as the Pope of terminating the strife of ages, invited the Greeks to a conference in that city, or some town in Savoy ; but Eugenius, by reminding them of the dangers and difficulty of crossing the Alps, and by offering a larger sum of money for their voyage than the Council, succeeded in attracting them to Ferrara, from which city the Council was subsequently, on account of the plague, trans- ferred to Florence. By reducing them to misery through starvation, and, when they had submitted to his will, re- warding them with money and provisions, 1 he induced them to affirm that those whose sins had not been fully expiated in this life, are purified after death in purgatorial fire, and that they may be aided by masses and prayers, whereas their own Church held that purgatory is not a place of fire, but that its suffering consists in gloom and exclusion from the Divine Presence ; to allow that in the use of leavened bread, each Church might maintain its own custom ; to compromise the question of the procession of the Holy Ghost on the ground that the Greeks, by speaking of Him as proceeding from the Father, did not exclude the Son, but only intended to guard against the opinion which they sup- posed the Latins to entertain, that the Spirit proceeded as if from two principles ; and to admit that notion of the Papacy which always had been a special stumbling-block to the Greeks, that the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, the Head of the whole Church, the father and teacher of all Christians, and has full authority from Christ to rule and feed the 1 Robertson's "History of the Christian Church," vol. iv. p. 444. Gibbon, vi. 239, note, affirms that rations were doled out to them instead of an allowance in money. 16 226 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Church in the manner contained in the Acts of the (Ecumenical Councils and in the Canons. * A cry of indig- nation rang through their native land when the intelligence arrived that they had assented to these propositions. They were repudiated by the nation. The consequence was that no succours were sent to them. The policy of Eugenius, so far from having been successful, only served to estrange the East still more from the West, and to hasten the coming of the time when the Greek empire was overthrown, and the shouts of the Turks were heard echoing among the broken columns, and prostrate monuments, and ruined temples, and shattered shrines of the city of Constantinople. 2 The Council of Basle continued its sittings, and proceeded to extremities against Eugenius : it first of all suspended him, and then formally deposed him from the Papacy. The members elected an anti-pope, Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, who, having abdicated his throne, had become the head of a society of hermits at Ripaille on the shore of the lake of Geneva, and who now assumed the name of Felix V.3 The Council, however, having been deserted by many of its leading members, who strongly disapproved of the daring course on which it had entered, as even the Council of Constance had not asserted the right of deposing a lawful Pope, gradually sank into comparative insignificance. Its forty-fifth and last session was held on the 16th June, 1443, but it was not dissolved till 1449. Nicholas V., the suc- cessor of Eugenius, found no difficulty in obtaining the cession of Felix, and terminating the schism. The Council at Ferrara and Florence, which sat for four years, until 1442, had fulfilled the design- of Eugenius, above referred to, in transferring it to Italy, and had not promul- T Harduin, " Concilia," ix. 968-974. * Milman's "Latin Christianity," vi. 128. Phransa traces the Turkish aggression and the ruin of the empire to the attempt at union, ii. 13. 3 Lenfant, lib. xviii. c. 5°- AVARICE AND SCHISM. 227 gated a single genuine decree for the Reformation of the Church. The Emperor and many of the princes of Germany, which nation had hitherto been neutral, but in a sense favourable to the Council, bribed by the Pope with a large share of ecclesiastical patronage, now joined him an resisting the demand for a Reformation. Thus the cause of the Synod of Basle was lost in Germany. The victory of Eugenius was complete : by adroit management he pre- vented the assembling of a new Council, and had almost recovered the allegiance of Christendom. Even the slight concessions with which he deluded the Germans were re- called in secret Bulls. When, shortly before his death, he received the homage of the German ambassadors, the event was celebrated (Feb. 7, 1447) by the ringing of bells and the blazing of bonfires in the principal streets of Rome. The means, however, which he had employed to obtain the victory, wrung from him the agonizing confession in his last moments, " O Gabriel, how much better were it for thy soul's salvation, if thou hadst never become Cardinal and Pope." * We see then that these two celebrated Councils altogether failed in effecting the regeneration of Christendom. The causes of their failure may be easily discovered. The Fathers of Constance, by their barbarous and tyrannical treatment of John Huss and Jerome of Prague, showed very plainly that they were opposed to that true Reformation which it was the object of those illustrious men to conduct to a successful issue. We might naturally suppose that, after the deposition of his implacable enemy, John XXIII., who had cited him to appear before him, because he had in Bohemia preached the doctrines of Wiclif, John Huss would have been delivered from the prison in which, in direct violation of the safe-conduct given to him by Sigismund, he had been confined for some months, and 1 Vespas in Murat., xxv. 266. 228 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. would have found favour with the leading members of the Council to which he had appealed, and with the Emperor who, like himself, had lifted up his voice in unsparing denunciation of the vices and ignorance of the clergy, and had summoned the Council for the express purpose of reforming the Church in its Head and its members. But Huss and Jerome wanted something more than a Reform- ation in the patronage, discipline, and ceremonies of the Church. They had probed a deeper wound in the ecclesi- astical body. With unflinching boldness they had declared that wicked popes, cardinals, and prelates are utterly with- out authority ; that the Pope is the Vicar of St. Peter if he walks in his steps, but if he does not, he is the Vicar of Judas Iscariot; and that excommunications unjustly pronounced must be disregarded. They had also expressed doubts as to the efficacy of Sacraments administered by unworthy priests, and had preached other doctrines of Wiclif, who had sub- mitted to bold inquiry the articles of the dominant Church, and had plainly declared that the Bible, translated into the national language, must be the arbiter of controversies. 1 In the clamour which was raised against them because they had preached these doctrines, all parties were now united. Differing from one another on all other questions, all, from the highest potentate to the lowest member of that ecclesi- astical assembly, were inflamed with implacable hostility against them, and decreed that they should perish in the flames. The blush on the countenance of the Emperor Sigismund, when reminded by Huss of the violation of his safe-conduct, — a blush which has become historical, for Charles V., when urged to arrest Luther at Worms, said that he had no wish to blush like his predecessor, — showed that one individual at least in that assembly was utterly ashamed 1 See Huss's Bohemian writings, edited by J. Erben, Prague, 1865, — 210, 211, 215; also Mr. Wratislaw on Huss in "Contemporary Review," x. 530. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 229 of his conduct. 1 Wiclif, their master, was beyond the reach of the vengeance of the Council ; but his doctrines were condemned, and a decree was issued that his body and his books should be burnt, and the ashes cast into the Severn. Thus a heavier doom befell the disciples than the great heresiarch whose principles they had only imperfectly followed; for there can be no doubt that, while they cherished his memory, and with him had an intense horror of the corruptions of the Papacy, they had not like him given up their belief in some of those dogmas — transubstantiation, for instance — which Rome had added to " the faith once delivered unto the saints." The serene patience with which Huss endured his lingering imprisonment ; the holy courage with which he encountered the King of Terrors when he approached him in his most forbidding form, even singing Psalms, and praying to Jesus, while the flames were raging furiously around him ; the unshrinking courage with which Jerome atoned for his retractation, telling the executioner, when he offered to light the fire behind him lest he should see it, to light it before his face, and singing hymns with his deep untrembling voice amid the burning, fiery furnace ; have caused the world to embalm them with their praises, and have given them a hold on the admiration of all succeed- ing generations. On the other hand, the monstrous tyranny exhibited by this majestic senate of the Church, who were unwilling that two humble preachers should go one step further than themselves in the path of reformation — a tyranny as great as that of the worst tyrant among the Popes whom they attempted to supersede, which showed very plainly that Romanists themselves would have gained nothing in this respect if the decree for the assembly of these Council every ten years had been carried into effect ; the deliberate perfidy which they manifested when they declared that 1 The fullest account of the trial is to be found in "Von der Hardt." 230 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. neither faith nor promise was to be observed to the preju- dice of the Catholic Church ; their cruelty unsurpassed by any recorded even in the blood-stained annals of the Papacy ; have been visited with just reprobation in succeeding ages, and have given the Council of Constance an unenviable place in the annals of the world. We find that a cry of indignation rang through Europe because no measures of reform had followed the deliberations of these Councils. The virulent ulcer still remained. A different result should not have been expected. The truth is that every attempt altogether to eradicate the abuses of the Papacy must fail of the wished-for success. If we examine the history of the following ages, we shall find that those who have dealt with it as a great spiritual corruption, as a body "full of wounds and bruises, and putrefying sores," incapable of a permanent cure, have often been successful in] their opposition to it ; while those, on the other hand, who have treated it as a good institution, the abuses in which might be removed, have always failed in the accom- plishment of their object. If a remedy for the evils of Christendom could have been found anywhere, it would have been found within the walls of the Council-chamber of Basle. We find, indeed, that this world's potentates did not honour with their presence the deliberations of the assembled Fathers. The gay cavalcades, and the banners emblazoned with the armorial bearings of monarchs, princes,' and warriors, were not seen amid the streets of the city. The trumpets were not heard constantly breaking the silence of the night to announce the arrival of some distinguished visitor from a distant country. But still the most learned and able theologians in Europe were to be found in the Council of Basle, as at the deliberations of its predecessor at Constance. Those distinguished men, some of whom at this time filled Europe with the fame of their learning, have not indeed lived in the memory of succeeding gener- AVARICE AND SCHISM. 23 1 . ations, with the exception of its secretary, already referred to, ^neas Silvius Piccolomini. But still there can be no doubt that, unlike the Fathers ah. Constance, who merely pretended to reform the Church, and who needed all the zeal of the Emperor Sigismund to induce them to pay the least attention to the work which they had undertaken, they displayed an honesty of purpose, a firm determination to heal the sores of the Church, a high sense of responsibility to the nations of Christendom, and a determination, if possible, to overcome the numerous difficulties in their way, which attracted the admiration of many of their contem- poraries. One result of their deliberations was seen in the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges in France which em- bodied the decrees of the Council, declaring the freedom of episcopal elections, the superiority of General Councils to the Pope, the abolition of mandates and reservations of benefices, and other devices for extorting money, and whichj though it was rescinded by Louis XI., has been deemed,- as Hallam says, " A sort of Magna Charta of the Gallican Church ; " for its principle has remained fixed as the basis of its far-famed liberties through many successive gener- ations. 1 But still the nations of Europe were again doomed, as we have seen, to the disappointment of their long-cherished expectations. The failure of such a body of men — so earnest in their purpose, so devoted to their work — served to show far more plainly than the abortive attempt at Constance, that a searching reform in the Papacy was utterly hopeless ; to afford convincing evidence that a mightier than human physician could alone heal the moral leprosy of Christen- dom ; to prepare the way for Luther and that band of holy and devoted men who were appointed by fiod to strike off the fetters from the captives of Rome, and to bring them into the " liberty wherewith Christ maketh His people free." ' Hallam's "Middle Ages," ii. 255; 232 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. The revolt of the Hussites in Bohemia was another conse- quence of the judicial murder of John Huss and Jerome of Prague. Burning with an indignation which was felt by the whole nation, John Ziska swore to avenge their death on the perpetrators. Selecting one out of the numerous grievances of which they complained, because they thought that such a selection was necessary to enable them to unite their fellow-countrymen in a holy confederacy, the Bohemians alleged as their reason for taking up arms, that they had been deprived by the Council of Constance of the Communion in both kinds, and displayed the eucharistic cup on their banners. 1 On a hill near Aust 300 altars were erected, at which 42,000, having eaten the bread, drank the wine from chalices of wood. 2 The death of Wenceslas, their king, was the signal for increased exasperation, as Bohemia now fell to his brother Sigismund, who was universally execrated as the betrayer of John Huss. The war was now carried on with a barbarity unparalleled in the history of the world. Assuming the name of Taborites, from the word Tabor, signifying tents, in which they encamped on the hill just referred to, because they knew the advantage of a name in kindling and keeping alive the warlike enthusiasm of their fellow-countrymen, they designated their neighbours as Idumeans, or Moabites, or Amalekites, or Philistines, and inspired with the spirit of the old dispensation, gave no quarter to their enemies, but bathed their swords in blood till they were weary of destroying. Ziska is said to have burnt priests and monks in pitch.3 Towns were captured, and the whole population was ruthlessly destroyed, with the exception of a few women and children. The churches, rising in pillared pomp towards heaven, which ^Eneas Silvius describes as surpassing any in Europe in their elaborate adornment and the magnificence of their archi- 1 Lenfant, " Histoire des Hussites, " i. 163. 2 JEn. Silvius, "Hist. Bohemia," c. 35-37. 3 Palacky, III. ii. 170. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 233 tecture, were seen lying a blackened mass of ruins on the ground; T the consecrated shrines, the rich vestments, the gorgeous vessels, the painted windows, and the organs were destroyed ; and the statues of the Saints, before which mul- titudes had bowed down in solemn adoration, were shattered into fragments. The Roman Catholics were equally ferocious. They resolved to show no mercy to the heretics. On one occasion, having bought the prisoners taken in war for a few groschens a head, they executed, or cast into the river, 1600 men. 2 Lust of plunder was blended with the religious purposes for which the war was undertaken. The most fertile spots which bloomed and blossomed like so many Edens became desolate wastes, possessing scarcely one spot of verdure. A stillness as deep as the stillness of the tomb reigned through the depopulated country. The leader of the Hussites, Ziska, was one of the greatest captains who had hitherto appeared in Europe. He was one of those remarkable men who have never been trained in any school which could have given him a knowledge of the art of war, and who are indebted to their own marvellous genius for the victories which they have gained over the foes confederate against them. The sight of the clubs and flails which he taught the Hussites to arm with iron and to make instruments of tremendous power, and of the carts which he showed them how to range in the battle-field and to connect so as to become an impregnable fortress, against which the enemy hurled his battalions in vain, often struck so much terror into' the bravest of the chivalry of Europe, that they fled ignominiously before they engaged in deadly combat with their foes. 3 Ziska and his followers displayed all the fury of the ancient warriors of Islam. Carrying the eucharistic chalice at the head of his forces, he waged a war of extermination with the idolaters, and laid waste 1 ^Eneas Silvius, "Hist. Bohemia," c. 36. 2 Palacky, iii. 74, 75. 3 Mneas Silvius, c. 47. Palacky, III. iii. 1-3. 234 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Bohemia with fire and sword. At the head of 100,000 men, the Emperor Sigismund marched against this terrible warrior, but was defeated by him with great loss on a hill near Prague. A second and a third time he invaded the country ; but was obliged to recoil before; the invincible hero. 1 Thus, then, Ziska proceeded onward in his career of victory. A marvel it was to see a little band of peasants, trained only by himself, armed with rude weapons, and unprovided with the munitions of war,- supplying the deficiency in their numbers by their enthusiastic ardour in defence of their principles, and contending successfully with innumerable hosts of the best soldiers in Europe. Even after the blindness of Ziska in March, 142 1, caused by a splinter knocked off a tree by a cannon-ball, he directed the movements of his troops as skilfully as before, and triumphed gloriously over the legions of his foes. 2 On his death-bed he desired that his skin might be used to cover a drum, assuring his followers that the sound of it would produce the same effect as his voice, which, rising above the tumult of the battle-field, had often animated them to deeds of noble daring. 3 Procopius, the successor of Ziska, though he did not fight nor carry offensive weapons, yet continued to lead on the orphans of Ziska, their lost father, to victory. Conducted - by Cardinal Beaufort, who was appointed Legate in February, 1427,4 two hundred thousand men, headed by bishops, knights, and nobles, gathered from all parts of Germany, 1 Lenfant, lib. viii. c. 1-8. s Palacky, III. ii. 249-273. 3 "Hist. Bohem.," c. 46. For the epitaph on Ziska, describing his character as above given, and stating that he was successful in ten battles, see "Sayings and Writings of Learned Men," by Wolfius, vol. i. p. 801. 4 Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, is represented by Shake- speare in his play of " Henry VI." as dying in an agony of remorse on account of his crimes. His recumbent effigy in his robes as a Prince of the Church of Rome, may be seen on his tomb in Winchester Cathedral. AVARICK AND SCHISM. 235 marched against him beneath the banner of the Emperor ; but, though they saw only 16,000 foot and 15,000 horse drawn up against them, they were seized with a panic, and notwith- standing the efforts of the cardinal, who, with crucifix in hand, threw himself among them, and entreated them by the most solemn considerations of religion to rally, they fled disgracefully, without striking a blow, from the battle-field. 1 A similar ignominious fate attended an expedition conducted against them by Cardinal Julian Csesarini. The Legate was borne along by the tide of fugitives, leaving his silver crucifix, his bell, and the other ensigns of his dignity as trophies to the victor. 2 The Hussites had now held their ground for twelve years, had successfully defied the most famous generals of the age, and had laid waste other countries in the neighbourhood of Bohemia. Their destructive progress was marked with unspeakable barbarities. Ca2sarini, when President of the Council of Basle, seeing that it was utterly in vain to subdue them by force of arms, determined to attempt to reduce them by negotiation, and invited them to discuss at the Council the points at issue between the two parties. Pro- copius the Great and other deputies from the Bohemians engaged in an animated discussion with the assembled Fathers on February 16, 1433, on four conditions of reconciliation, called the " Articles of Prague," which were the free preach- ing of the Word of God in the Bohemian language; the abolition of the endowments of the clergy ; Communion in both kinds ; and the punishment of clerical offenders by the civil tribunals of the country. 3 The Hussites came to no agreement with the Council; but the more moderate section of them, called Calixtines, from "Calix," the " Chalice," to which they attached the greatest importance, were induced by deputies from Basle who afterwards 1 ^Eneas Silvius, c. 48. * L.enfant, b. xvi. § 5, &c. 3 Palacky, III. iii. ch. ii. ; 236 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. followed them to Prague, to consent to the introduction of certain amendments into three of the articles, which served effectually to alter their meaning, and to be satisfied, pro- vided the Communion in both kinds were restored to the Church. The Taborites, or the extreme party, however, who, unlike the other section, had views beyond the articles, and were opposed also to purgatory, image-worship, prayers for the dead, saint-worship, and transubstantiation, and who looked upon Rome as the Babylon of the Apocalypse, refused their consent to this compromise ; went to war with the united hosts of Roman Catholics and Calixtines ; and were defeated in a battle at Lepan on May 30, 1434, fifteen years before the close of the Council of Basle, in which Procopius was slain, and the spell of Bohemian invincibility was broken for ever. An examination of the history of the following age will serve to show us that they still retained the use of the cup ; but that they had altogether failed in effecting a real Reformation of the Church. They had been unsuccessful because, instead of patiently suffering for the truth's sake, and fighting the battles of the Lord with spiritual weapons, they had taken their cause into their own hands, had bathed their swords in the blood of their foes, and had exhibited a ferocity which showed that they were strangers to the blessed influences of vital Christianity ; because their zeal against the abominations of Popery had not been prompted by a desire to aim chiefly at the purifi- cation of the heart through the practical use of the doctrine of the cross under the influences of the Holy Spirit ; because they had "made clean the outside of the cup and platter" before they had " cleansed that which is within ; " * because they had contended for a spiritual right, the Communion in both kinds, instead of an immortal principle ; because they had not brought prominently forward the great doctrine of a sinner's justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ. 1 Matt, xxiii. 25, 26. AVARICE AND SCHISM. 237 The decisive victories which Luther and his little band of warriors gained when they declared their determination to use this weapon in their conflicts with Rome, • shows us that the Hussites should have used it if they wished to cast her down from her usurped dominion, and to gain a lasting triumph over her confederated legions. CHAPTER VII. THE FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY — FROM THE CLOSE OF THE COUNCIL OF BASLE IN I449 TO THE PUBLICATION OF LUTHER'S PROPOSITIONS AGAINST INDULGENCES IN 1517. The Pontificate of Nicholas V. — The failure of Pius II. to rouse the nations to a crusade a proof of the decline of the Papacy — The Popes as temporal princes — Their nepotism — The warlike schemes of Julius II. — The vices and crimes of various Popes, including especially Alexander VI. — The revival of learning — Providential design of the preservation of the Greek Empire — The effects of the study of Greek literature in Europe — The invention of printing — General expectation of a convulsion — Failures to reform the world and the Church — Connection between the attempts to reform in past times and the Reformation under Luther — Witnesses for the truth found in all lands just before his appearance, including Savonarola, Reuchlin, and Erasmus — Signs that the time had come — Reasons for Germany being selected as the theatre of the struggle with Rome — The strength of Rome more apparent than real — Martin Luther nails'his;propositions as to indulgences to the church gate at Wittemberg. We have seen in the preceding chapter that avarice at Avignon and the schism of the anti-popes greatly degraded the Papacy, and led to various attempts to reform the Church, which for the present appeared to be abortive. After the dissolution of the Council at Basle, and the resignation of the anti-pope in 1449, which is fixed as the termination of our sixth epoch, the Papacy seemed to have escaped the dangers with which it was threatened. One consequence of the proceedings of the Council was a great THE FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 239 apparent increase in the power of the Popes. The endless dissensions which interrupted its harmony, the aggravation of the schism caused by the Council of Pisa, after which three Popes instead of two were seen wandering over Europe; the failure of the attempt to effect a Reformation in the Church ; the spectacle of two rival Councils with a Pope and an anti-pope at the head of them hurling at each other their spiritual thunderbolts, served to render them very unpopular in Europe, and to lead many to acquiesce in the unlimited supremacy of the Pope, rather than to express a wish for the periodical meeting of bodies which had intensified instead of healing, the evils of Chris- tendom. Nicholas V. (1447-1455), the successor of Pope Eugenius, undoubtedly contributed by his personal character to this exaltation of the Papacy. He had raised himself simply by his learning and his virtues from a humble origin to the highest dignity attainable by a member of the Church of Rome. Unlike his predecessors, he laboured to allay instead of fomenting that civil warfare which was deluging with blood the fertile plains of Italy. The happy result was that, while surrounding territories were a scene of desolation, he received the revenues of the Romagna, which was left unscathed by foreign armies. The lords who had usurped the domains of the Church again became subject to her authority. By the concordat of Vienna, of February 17, 1448, drawn with all the skill of ^Eneas Silvius, the Pope regained the right of appointing to a large number of German benefices. A golden tide was also poured into the Papal treasury at the time of the Jubilee. Thick as the clusters of bees which settle on the flowers in spring, multitudes of pilgrims, from all parts of Europe, trod the pavement of St. Peter and St. Paul in 1450. Never had a Jubilee been more productive of wealth. The treasure thus obtained was partly applied to the erection of superb 24° EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. edifices, 1 to the restoration of the churches which were slowly falling into ruin to more than their original splendour, and to the building of fortifications which might serve to protect Rome from the turbulent multitude within the city, and from the armies of the foreign invader. 2 He raised these magnificent structures not, as he said on his death- bed, from pride or vain-glory, but because he thought that such sacred, imperishable monuments impress the mind with the perpetuity, the eternity of religion. But his noblest title to glory is that he laboured to keep alive the flame which was beginning to glow on the hearths and altars of Italy. After his elevation he was the patron, as he was before the friend, of the numerous learned men who were scattered through Italy. He sought for and purchased books in every part of Europe. Five thousand volumes were soon collected by him in the Vatican library, of which he laid the foundation. Many learned Greeks had settled in Italy, with manuscripts of the Greek authors which they had snatched from the libraries of Constantinople in order to save them from the destruction with which they were threatened. These men and others were munificently rewarded by him for versions of the Greek historians, of the Iliad and Odyssey, and the most valuable works of Plato and Aristotle ; as well as, above all, of the Psalms from the Syriac, and the whole New Testament from* the original Greek. Nicholas did not foresee that by this patronage of letters he was inflicting a deep injury on his spiritual mother. The issue was, as we know, that he led many into a course of inquiry, which convinced them that the doctrines transmitted from their fathers were nothing more than a cunningly-devised fable. 1 On the astonishment and admiration excited by the buildings of Nicholas V. , read the passages of JEneas Silvius, Vita Frederic. III. 2 For a description of the effect which Time had produced on the ancient churches of Rome, read Petrarch's well-known letter. See Gibbon. FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 24I When we find that the Popes had triumphed over the two Councils; that they had regained possession of their Italian principality ; and that they occupied the chair of St. Peter at Rome without any rival to contest their supremacy ; when we remember too the influence which the Papacy derived from the virtues and abilities of Nicholas V., we might naturally suppose that they had recovered their former strength, and had regained their hold upon the allegiance of Christendom. But a close examination will dispel this illusion, and will show us that, though the supremacy of the Papacy was undisputed, though it seemed to possess the plenitude of power, yet that, in consequence of the captivity of Avignon, the schism, and the attacks made upon it by the Councils, it really wielded a greatly diminished authority over the nations. We may adduce in confirmation of the truth of this assertion the failure of the persevering efforts of Pope Pius II., formerly ^Eneas Silvius Piccolomini, to animate the nations of Europe to form a confederacy for the purpose of beating back the Turkish legions. After the capture of Constantinople in 1453, the crusade against the Turks became the absorbing passion of his life. Like a thunderbolt from a serene sky in summer that calamity had descended on the nations of Europe. From his intimate knowledge of foreign countries, he knew the extent of the danger which threatened them. The storm of war seemed likely to roll onward, smiting down thrones, cities, and churches in its desolating progress. Already he heard, in imagination, the shouts of the Turks among the ruins of the eternal city. Never, since the celebrated battle of Tours, in 732, had Mahommedanism seemed so likely as now to conquer a divided Christendom. Immediately after his elevation to the Papacy in 1458, Pius II., than whom few men of more consummate ability had occupied the throne of St. Peter, summoned a Council at Mantua, at which he succeeded, by his unrivalled 17 } 242 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. eloquence, in kindling a warlike enthusiasm in the breasts of his hearers, and in inducing them to promise to send an army of 90,000 men to arrest the mighty armies of their foes. But scarcely had his voice ceased to sound in their ears when they returned to their dissensions, and forgot the high and holy enterprise to which he had summoned them. Again "the old man eloquent" strove to kindle into a flame the expiring embers. " Life itself," he said in the consistory, " must be laid down for the safety of the flock entrusted to us. The Turks are wasting the provinces of Christendom. What expedients remain to us ? To oppose arms to their invasions ? We have no means to provide them. What then? Shall we exhort the princes to con- front and expel them ? We have already attempted in vain to do so. Perchance they will listen better if we say to them, Come. We will then march in person against the Turks, and invite the Christian monarchs to follow us. It may be, when they shall behold their master and father, the Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, an infirm old man, advancing to the war, they will take up arms through shame, and valiantly defend our holy religion. We do not indeed propose to draw the sword, but after the example of the holy father Moses, who prayed on the mountain while Israel was fighting with the Amalekites, we will stand on some lofty galley or mountain's brow, and entreat the Lord Jesus Christ to give safety and victory to our contending armies." 1 The Pope carried his determination into effect. He placed himself at the head of a large body of men who had been mustered for him at Ancona. While we cannot too strongly condemn the treachery and the gross inconsistency by which he had secured his elevation to the Papacy, and the unblushing effrontery with which he retracted opinions as to the limitation of the power of the Pope expressed in 1 Raynaldus, an. 1463, § 25. FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 243 the early part of his career, 1 we cannot fail to admire the self-devotion which prompted him, in his anxiety to pre- serve the liberties and the Christianity of Europe from the ruin with which they were threatened, to imperil in his old age, when his frame was debilitated by sickness, his own sacred person in the Crusade against the Turks, and the heroic courage which, amid a starving host and universal despondency, stood nevertheless unshaken. But the effort was too great for his exhausted nature. He breathed his last just as the white sails of the Venetian squadron, engaged to convey his forces, were seen from the towers of Ancona. We observe a striking difference between the circumstances connected with this Crusade and the religious frenzy of a former age. The cry, " It is the will of God," burst from the lips of the multitudes at Clermont, when Pope Urban II., with eloquence far inferior to that of Pope Pius II., animated them to plant the standard of the cross on the battlements of Jerusalem. Merely because they wished to secure the custody of the Holy Sepulchre, princes, nobles, bishops, knights, and people, rushed upon the plains of Asia ; but now, when the destinies of Europe were tremb- ling in the balance, the Pope, even though, unlike his pre- decessors, he led the way, found himself deserted by all the leaders who had pledged themselves to the holy war, at the head of an undisciplined body of men, who, if they had not previously deserted him, would have fled ignominiously before the hosts of the infidel. Thus, then, it is evident that the Popes were unable to exercise the same influence as before over the nations of the earth. The splendour which now surrounded them was like the glory of one of those beautiful days in autumn, when a soft and magical light sleeps over 1 In his "Bull of Retractation," addressed to the University of Cologne, printed in his works, and in Hard. IX., 1449, et seq., he lays down strong principles as to the authority of the Papacy, and says, " Believe an old man rather than a young one ; reject .(Eneas, receive Pius." 244 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. forest and mountain and river, and the landscape expands before us, seeming as if newly clothed with all the beauty and freshness of childhood, while "the sere and yellow leaves," glittering with dew-drops, indicate very plainly the near approach of the time when all vegetable life shall perish, and universal gloom shall be spread over the desolate domains of winter. The Popes had been engaged during preceding ages in struggling with Paganism, in planting the standard of the cross among the northern nations, and in endeavouring to establish an uncontrolled dominion over the monarchs and Churches of Europe. But during the last half of the fifteenth century they witnessed everywhere the decadence of their power. In France, the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges was, indeed, repealed by Louis XI.; but it con- tinued to be acted on till the time of Francis I., who agreed on a final Concordat with Leo X., by which the Pope was put in possession of the annates, but was obliged to collate the king's nominee to the bishopric. 1 This was substan- tially a victory over the Papacy, inasmuch as the Pope yielded the right of presentation for which Gregory VII. had contended. The bishops, however, though they thus became more national in their views, and better able to resist the aggressions of Rome, were less capable of opposing any barrier to the strides by which the monarchy was marching towards absolute dominion. The German nation, betrayed by its rulers, surrendered, as we have seen, a part of its independence. But still some of the German princes obtained the right of disposing of vacant benefices, even in the months appropriated to the Popes; and in 1487, the empire resisted a tithe which the Pope endeavoured to 1 This Concordat is ably analyzed in the work of the Abbe de Pradt, "les Quatre Concordats," torn. i. c. 15. Paris: 1818. See also " History of the Rise of the Huguenots of France," by H. M. Baird. London : 1880, vol. i. pp. 30-41. FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 245 impose, and defeated it. Henry VII. of England and the king of Spain nominated to the Episcopal Sees; and the former appropriated half the annates to his own use. 1 The Popes, thus finding that restraints were everywhere im- posed upon them, and that they could no longer hope, for reasons given in former chapters, to exercise the same power as heretofore over the nations, remembered that they were princes in Italy, and began to devote all their energies to the establishment of an independent principality in that country. We regard it as a providential circumstance for mankind that, when their spiritual dominion was most extensive, their temporal power was very limited. If Hildebrand had possessed the same resources as some of the later Popes, if he could have ruled in. his own city, and could have sent forth large armies to enforce his spiritual decrees, he would have found that the largest wishes of his ambitious heart had been gratified, and that he had established an absolute empire on the ruins of every monarchy. But we find that he possessed only a nominal sovereignty in the province called the Romagna, which was his own by a valid title. Even Innocent III. had never been able to obtain possession of this part of St. Peter's patrimony. The Emperor Rudolf, indeed, in 1278, absolutely resigned the imperial supremacy over all the dominions already granted to the Holy See. 2 But the great barons held the government of the prin- cipal towns ; and having taken a body of mercenary troops into their pay, made themselves independent, and laughed to scorn the imperious edicts issued by the Pope. Rome itself was little disposed to submit to its ecclesiastical sovereign. Often, during the Middle Ages, the ruler of Christendom has been driven from the city by the turbulent populace. Gregory VII., who disposed of kingdoms, died 1 Ranke's " History of the Popes," p. 14. * Sismondi, vol. iii. p. 461. 246 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. an exile at Salerno. The mightiest of the emperors, Frederic Barbarossa, kissed the feet of a fugitive at Venice. Innocent IV. was an outcast from Italy when he deposed Frederic II. The tumultuous scenes which dis- graced the election of the Popes, the circumstance that the choice of a ruler was influenced by the rabble of the metropolis, contributed also to lower his dignity and to impair his temporal authority. In addition to the induce- ments to rebellion which Rome shared with the towns in Italy, it possessed those connected with its name and ancient associations. The Roman, standing amid prostrate monuments, and crumbling arches, and ruined temples, and holding converse with the illustrious dead of past ages, could not forget the glories of those days when the Roman senate and people, sitting upon their seven hills, ruled with despotic sway the monarchs of the earth. This enthusiasm was kindled, as we have seen, by Arnold of Brescia, at the time of the celebrated struggle of Investitures, when the Popes, inflamed with ambition, endeavoured to compel the sovereigns of Europe to crouch before them. Thus it came to pass that they were subjects in their own city, and did not exercise any authority without permission of the Senate, while they were smiting down with their spiritual weapons the proudest of this world's potentates, and were, by their interdicts, spreading terror among the nations of Europe. Arnold of Brescia fell a victim to the vengeance of the Popes ; but the republic which he had established did not perish with him. We have seen that it was revived by Nicholas Rienzi, and displayed a dangerous activity during the residence of the Popes at Avignon. About a century after his time the dream of a revival seems to have alto- gether vanished away. After the failure of Stephen Porcaro, who sought to accomplish his object by a bloody and cowardly assassination of Nicholas V. and his cardinals, 1 1 Vita Nicolai V. p. 128. FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 247 there was no question of the supremacy of the Pope in his own city. The careful student of history will at once see that to suppose the possibility of such a restoration was from the first a splendid illusion. The designs of these enthusiasts were a mere matter of imagination, and had no true relation to the state of the world around them. The men of those days might just as well have dreamed of form- ing from the ruins with which the Forum is crowded a durable temple, which should astonish mankind by its beauty and magnificence. They did not remember that they were degenerate descendants of those old Romans who once swayed the destinies of empires • and that the inhabit- ants of Europe regarded Rome with veneration, not on account of its inhabitants, but because they loved to linger around ruins venerable with the hoar of ages, and to stand amid spots consecrated to eternal memory by their associa- tion with true nobility of soul, with those severer virtues which dignify and adorn human nature, with splendid triumphs, or that patriotic ardour which prompts a man to perform prodigies of valour in the service of his country. Those who, from the constitution of their minds, can readily sympathize with the Roman of the Middle Ages, may be consoled for the disappearance of a belief in the possibility of reviving republican institutions by the assurance that during the 300 years of its existence, from Arnold to Por- caro, ' the disorders of Rome were as great as they were during the dark ages, and far worse than those of any other European city. About the time just referred to, when the idea of a restored republic was finally and for ever abandoned, the Popes began to consider themselves chiefly as Italian princes. They now devoted all their energies to the aggrandizement of their families, and to the establishment of an inalienable soyereignty in the dominions regarded as the hereditary possessions of the Church, which had been usurped, as we 248 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. have seen, by a number of independent rulers. The names of successive Popes may now be traced in the annals of the Italian cities and principalities, in the rolls of the estates of the Church, and in superb palaces at Rome. Their nepot- ism, which aimed at obtaining for their offspring principal- ities in Italy, now became the disgrace of the Papacy. In the prosecution of their design they did not scruple to mingle in the dark conspiracies of the age ; to bless the arms of foreign potentates who came to lay waste their native country with fire and sword ; and to wield the weapons with which they had hitherto struck down those who had transgressed some ordinance of the Church, against an un- offending neighbour, who had taken a different side from themselves in the civil warfare which desolated Italy. The best days of the Principality became the worst of the Pontifi- cate. Sixtus IV., who was Pope from 147 r to 1484, impelled the Venetians to engage in war, fomented the civil dissensions of Florence, sanctioned the conspiracy of the Pazzi, which led to the murder of Julian de' Medici at the foot of the altar of the cathedral, and perpetrated other deeds of cruelty and vio- lence in order that he might obtain for his son the lordship of Imola and Ferrara. His Bull of excommunication against the Florentines for their vengeance against the murderers still glares in the eyes of posterity ; of the murder in the church there is not one word of abhorrence. But on the hanging of the Archbishop of Pisa, the murderer, taken in the fact, the Bull assumes all its denunciatory terrors : it is the most dreadful sacrilege, a crime deserving the most dreadful torments here and hereafter. Calixtus III. (1455-1458) and Innocent VIII. (1484-^93) did not, indeed, go to the same extreme of wickedness on behalf of their relations, as they had no principalities with which they could endow them. The former, however, enriched his worthless nephews out of the revenues of the Church ; and the latter had the effrontery to recognize publicly seven children, the fruits FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 249 of various amours, and to make them pensioners on the ecclesiastical treasury. 1 This was a new disgrace for the Apostolical Church ! Alexander VI. (1493-1503) made the advancement of his children the ruling passion of his life. He also exerted every effort for the extension of the Church's territory. By a subtle but flagitious policy, by taking part at first with the Guelphs against the Ghibellines, and afterwards, when they had, by their means, conquered the latter, turning their arms against their former allies, he and his son Caesar Borgia subdued or extirpated the Roman barons, and for the first time made the Popes supreme in the territory subject to their rule. Louis XII. induced Alexander to sanction his unjust invasion of the Neapolitan territory and to wield his spiritual weapons on his behalf, by undertaking to aid his son, Caisar Borgia, in the conquest of Imola, Forli, Faenza, and Pesaro, and by an agreement that, if the expedition should be successful, they should be united under his dominion. 2 Thus Caesar obtained an independent principality in Italy. Pope Julius II. (1503-1513), having, bypeaceable means, provided for his family, devoted all his energies to the en- largement of the territory of the Church, and to the complete subjugation of those barons who had resisted the authority of his predecessor. The world in those days told him that this was the most glorious enterprise which could be com- mitted to his charge. He heard a voice in every wind, animating him to carry it to a successful issue. That voice scared sleep from his eyes and slumber from his eyelids ; it mingled with his day visions and with his night dreams. At length it was heard and answered. The tumult of the 1 Sismondi, u. 85-88. The poetical pasquinades of the day stig- matized the Pope as the father of sixteen bastards. The number, however, was really seven. Two only survived to benefit by their father's elevation. * Roscoe, "Life of Leo X.," vol. i. p. 169. 250 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. battle-field was music in his ears. At the siege of Mirandola he was continually in front of his soldiers, rebuking some, and animating others to deeds of noble daring. 1 At length he was completely successful. He subdued his barons, deprived Borgia of his territory, wrested from the Venetians the places which they had conquered, and added a large tract of fertile territory to the patrimony of St. Peter. Thus he gained for the Pope a degree of power as a temporal prince which had never been possessed by his predecessors. The monarchs of Europe saw not without alarm so many warlike populations rendered tributary to his dominion. Some have supposed that, if his reign had been prolonged for a few years, the whole extent of Italy would have been united under the sceptre of St. Peter. We cannot doubt, however, that the ambition and the warlike enterprises of Julius, while they issued in the extension of the Church's territory, were greatly prejudicial to the best interests of the Papacy. Men could not fail to lose all reverence for their spiritual guides when they saw their ambition no longer veiled under the decent pretext of an apparently honest determination to redress the wrongs of human society, but exhibiting its workings in all the petty artifices of politics, in conspiracies, in deeds of violence, or in the coarser forms of military enterprises, conducted by themselves, the pro- fessed vicegerents of the Prince of Peace, having for their object to gain possession of the territory of their neighbours, and to raise themselves as temporal princes to a high place among this world's potentates. ' Guicc, 620. To this time belongs the following well-known epigram : " In Galium, ut fama est, bellum gesturus acerbum Armatam educit Julius urbe manum, Accinctus gladio, claves in Tibridis amnem, Projicit et saavus talia verba facit ; ' Quum Petri nihil efficiant ad proelia claves, Auxilio Pauli forsitan ensis erit.'" FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 25 1 The vices and flagrant sins, as well as the public crimes, oi the Popes of the last half of the fifteenth century and the early part of the sixteenth, have given them a conspicuous place in the annals of infamy, and have greatly contributed to the degradation of the Papacy. Paul II. (1464-1471) was a great drunkard, put up all offices to sale, and spent all his days in weighing money and precious stones. He also directed an infamous war against the Hussites, op- pressed his subjects, tortured the members of a literary institution because he affected to discover in it a dangerous conspiracy against the Pope, and died in possession of a large treasure. 1 Sixtus IV. was not only, as we have seen, guilty of conspiracy, and of kindling the flames of war, but he was also dissolute, avaricious, intemperate, ferocious, and blood- thirsty Innocent VIII. established a bank at Rome for the sale of pardons. Each sin had its price which might be paid at the convenience of the criminal. He was not only, as we have seen, guilty of disgraceful profligacy, but also of the grossest bribery to secure his elevation to the Pontificate. When the college proceeded to invoke the Holy Spirit, a majority had agreed to give him their votes, on the understanding that, after his elevation, he was to reward them with castles and benefices. 2 He and Paul II. were also guilty of gross perjury. They deliberately broke a promise, made before their election, that they would im- pose certain restrictions upon themselves which would have the effect of greatly increasing the power of the cardinals over them. The Emperor of Germany and the King of Poland conscientiously observed the solemn promise made by them on their election to their respective dignities ; but 1 Raynaldus, an. 1464-71. See also Platina's "Life of Paul II." He was his contemporary and victim ; Wolfius, in his work, " Sayings and Writings of Learned Men," vol. i. p. 876, writes : " Aurum Papa hie dilexif, quia venetus fuit." % A letter on this subject is given by Roscoe, " Life of Lorenzo de' Medici," Appendix 44. See also for his life, Raynaldus, an. 1471-1492. 252 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. the Pope gave a conspicuous proof of his flagrant immorality by bribing the cardinals through his patronage, or by terrify- ing them with the threat of imprisonment, spoliation, torture, and even death, into a connivance at his deliberate violation of the solemn oath which he had taken before his elevation to the Pontificate. We come now to the most loathsome name in the ecclesi- astical records of fifteen centuries. Roderick Borgia, Alex- ander VI., and his son Caesar, were literally monsters in human shape. 1 The most zealous annalists of Rome do not venture to give him a syllable of praise ; while all impartial writers unite in execrating his character. In early life, after he had become a cardinal, he was publicly cen- sured for his gross debauchery. Afterwards he had five acknowledged children by a Roman matron, named Vanozia. After the death of Innocent in 1492, he succeeded by the grossest bribery in securing for himself the triple crown. He had become rich through his preferment, and through inheritance from his uncle Calixtus III. Of twenty-five cardinals, only five did not sell their votes. He is known to have sent four mules laden with silver to one, and to have given to another a sum of 5000 gold crowns. 2 After his elevation, he plunged without scruple and remorse into the practice of every vice and the perpetration of every crime. His bastards were now brought forward and ac- knowledged as his children. The papal palace became the scene of Bacchanalian orgies. Licentious songs, swelled by a chorus of revellers, echoed through its banqueting - hall. Indecent plays were acted in the presence of the Pontiff. He himself quaffed large draughts of wine from the foaming 1 A letter of the time, read in Alexander's own hearing, gives a fear- ful description of the morals of his Court, and speaks of him as a man stained with every vice, a second Mahomet, the predicted anti-Christ (Burch. 2144, seqq.). 2 Roscoe's " Life of Leo X.," vol. i. p, 67. FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 253 goblet. He indulged in licentiousness of the grossest de- scription. Nay, it is believed that he was guilty of incest with his daughter Lucretia, a sin from the contemplation of which human nature recoils with horror. 1 The grossest venality prevailed in the papal court. The highest dignities in the Church were conferred without shame upon the best bidders. He committed the greatest crimes for the advance- ment of his children. One of them, Caesar Borgia, was a fiend incarnate. The assassin's dagger and the poison-bowl were the constant instruments of his vengeance. Almost every night some assassination which he had ordered took place in the streets of Rome. The inhabitants were in con stant terror of their lives. He caused the murder of his brother, of whom he was jealous, because he was preferred by a mistress with whom they were both intimate. 2 These deeds were possible only in the spot where the highest temporal and spiritual authority were united in the same person. The palace of the Popes was, in fact, a Pan- demonium. At length the reign of Alexander came to a sudden termination. He perished by a poisoned draught which Caesar had prepared for one of the cardinals whose wealth excited the cupidity of the Borgias. Multitudes, while gazing on that livid corpse as it lay in state in St. Peter's Church, breathed a fervent thanksgiving to Almighty God for deliverance from the tyranny of an execrable monster, whose crimes had polluted the land, disgraced 1 Lucretia took a conspicuous part in some of the treasons and murders and scandalous festivities in which her earlier life was spent. Her father actually entrusted her with the administration of the Papacy during his absence from Rome, See Burch., 2132 ; Gibbon's "Miscel- laneous Works," 820 ; Gregorov, vii. 458 ; Sism., ix. 312. ' Some say that the mistress was no other than their sister (Guicc. p. iii. — a suppressed passage). Lucretia has, however, found defenders among us in Roscoe (Appendix to "Life of Leo X."), Dr. Madden (" Life of Savonarola," Appendix to vol. ii.,), and more lately in Mr. Gilbert ("Lucretia Borgia," London, 1869). 254 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. human nature, and placed him on a level with the very beasts that perish. 1 We have thus seen that the Popes from Paul II. to Alexander VI. surpassed one another in wickedness. As an ardent patriot, anxious to expel the hated foreigner from the soil of Italy, Julius II., if we could look at him simply as one of this world's heroes, might indeed, on account of the military genius and grandeur of soul which he displayed, extort from us some admiration. But when we consider that he was the professed vicegerent of the Prince of Peace, and find him commanding armies and storming strongholds, we cannot fail to visit him with unsparing censure, or be surprised to hear that this military Pontiff was a great scandal to his contemporaries. Even Louis of France, who was most unwilling to lift his hand against the occupant of the papal throne, after the siege of Mirandola, most reluct- antly issued orders for the invasion of the territory of the Church. He also, in conjunction with the Emperor Maxi- milian, was the means of summoning a Council at Pisa, on the ground that the Church stood in need of a reformation, not only in her members, but also in the head, who was " an inveterate simoniac, of infamous and abandoned man- ners, not fit to discharge the office of a Pontiff, as being the author of so many wars, and notoriously incorrigible, to the great scandal of Christianity." 2 Guicciardini thus condemns him : " If he be considered as a great man, it is only by those who, having forgotten the right meaning of words, conceive that it is rather the office of a supreme Pontiff to add to the dominions of the Apostolic See by Christian arms and Christian blood, than to afford the example of a well-regulated life." 3 Erasmus also thus wrote against him 1 Guicciardini, lib. i.-vi. Sismondi, " Histoire des Repub. Ital.," c. 92-101. Murat. arm. x. I. 18-20. 2 Raynald. an. 1503, s. I. 3 Guicciardini, lib. xi. vol. ii. p. 31. FURTHER^ DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 255 in his "Praise of Folly": "There you may see even decrepit old men showing all the vigour of youth, incurring any expense, not fatigued by any toil, deterred by nothing, if only they can overturn law, religion, peace, and throw all the world into confusion. There are not wanting, too, learned flatterers, who call this manifest madness, zeal, piety, and valour. 1 A comparison of the Popes of this period with Gregory VII. and Innocent III., will serve to show us that the Papacy was indeed shorn of that might and majesty which it formerly displayed. Gregory had rescued it from the deep degradation of the tenth century, and had laboured to make it the arbiter of the spiritual and temporal destinies of Christendom. Innocent III. had achieved great success as a statesman and a conqueror. We must indeed strongly censure their ambition and arrogance, and must regard the kingdom thus established as the supreme corruption of Christianity. But still there was a grandeur in the design of compelling men to cease from their dissensions which would command our admiration, if we could divest ourselves of the idea that they wished to gratify their love of power by planting their feet on the necks of the prostrate monarchs of Christendom. The Popes, however, of this period gave a very plain proof that they had not the same power as the giants of former days, and that they had sunk to the depths of degradation, by limiting their ambition to the aggrandize- ment of their families, and to the consolidation and enlarge- ment of their Italian principality. To dissolve a hostile confederacy, to surpass in craft a disciple of Machiavel, to make their sons the owners of splendid palaces, the pos- sessors of vast estates, the sovereigns of principalities ; these became, from the death of Nicholas V. in 1453 to that of Paul III. in 1550, the objects of men who, if their lot had been cast in a former age, would have sought to " bind kings 1 See my " Life of Erasmus,'' pp. 97, 98. 256 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. t with chains, and nobles with links of iron." The enormous crimes of which they were guilty in the prosecution of their unhallowed designs, the vices already enumerated which have consigned them to eternal infamy, could hardly fail to be deeply injurious to the best interests of the Roman Catholic Church. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, the crimes and impurities of the Popes, which were as foul as those of a Sixtus, an Innocent, and a Borgia, had failed to shake the Papacy, because they were perpetrated in an age when " darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people." But now, in the full blaze of day, the loathsome- ness and pollution of the sepulchre were laid bare to the gaze of the nations. The armies of the invader, on their departure from Italy, published their crimes in their native land ; the public press propagated them through Europe ; Erasmus, whose works were read everywhere, lashed with his thrice-knotted scourge the hoary perpetrators of these deeds of darkness ; preachers of righteousness, like Savon- arola, lifted up their voices in indignant denunciation of their wickedness. The consequence was that the splen- dour which the learning and virtues of Nicholas V., and the earnest zeal of Pius II., had shed over the Papacy, gradually faded away. The world stood aghast with horror at the contemplation of deeds as bad as those perpetrated in the darkest period of Pagan antiquity. Men could not believe that those could be infallible guides, who trampled on all laws, Divine and human, and set at nought all con- siderations of right and decency, in their anxiety to sweep away from their path whatever stood between them and the attainment of the object of their desire. These enormities were unquestionably a heavy blow to the Papacy, and contributed to prepare the way for the blessed and glorious Reformation. We see that the Popes had hitherto been their own worst enemies. The revival of ancient learning at this con- FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 257 juncture also contributed greatly to the diminution of their power. The soil had now been broken up and prepared for the reception of the immortal seed. The Arabians, from the middle of the eighth to the close of the thirteenth century, aided the advance of scientific inquiry. They had been arrested in their career in the eighth century by a victory gained over them by the illustrious Charles Martel at Tours, on the confines of France. 1 As they remained in Spain some time after that defeat, they were able to give that impulse to learning which was the means of regenerating Europe. All who wished to make progress in science, from the tenth to the fifteenth century, re- paired to the Spanish Universities. In the middle of the fifteenth century a spirit of inquiry had broken out with intense activity in Europe. The mind of its inhabitants, when they were released from that feudal bondage which paralyzed their energies, expatiated through the regions of fancy, and addressed itself to the solution of the most per- plexing and difficult questions. It was thus prepared for a full investigation of the claims of the Church of Rome. Constantinople had hitherto been the depository of the immortal works of the writers of ancient Greece — " The dead but sceptred sovereigns that still rule Our spirits from their urns." But, as the historian observes, "We may tremble at the thought that Greece might have been overwhelmed with her schools and libraries before Europe had emerged from the deluge of barbarism; that the seeds of science might have been scattered by the winds before the Italian soil was prepared for their cultivation." 2 The Greek empire was, 1 Dr. Arnold in his " History of the Later Roman Common- wealth," vol. ii. p. 317, calls this battle one of the two most im- portant battles in the history of the world. The reason has been given in page 149. 2 Gibbon's " Decline and Fall," c. 66. 18 258 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. however, preserved by various providential interpositions from assaults which, as it was for ages in the last stage of decrepitude, must otherwise have been crowned with the wished-for success. In the seventh century a large fleet ploughed the ocean in its passage to the mouth of the Bosphorus. Like a great forest it darkened the surface as it moved along. The Arabians on board were animated by a saying of the prophet, that the sins of the conquerors of Constantinople would be forgiven, and that to them would be granted that splendid series of triumphs which had shed an imperishable lustre On the Roman name. They felt confident that they should soon be engaged in plundering the gorgeous pro- ductions of the loom, the massive bars of gold and silver, and the treasures of India which commerce had deposited within the walls of Constantinople. But, on a sudden, their presumptuous self-confidence was rudely shaken. They saw a fleet of galleys advancing towards them, on the prows of which stood the likeness of a savage monster, which, from a thick smoke like that ascending from the bottomless pit, poured forth a continual torrent of liquid fire. Onward it rolled with fearful impetuosity, gaining fresh strength from the water with which the Arabians attempted to stay its destructive progress, until at length it involved in one vast conflagration that mighty navy which threatened to blot out the Roman name from under heaven. The glorious issue was that, terrified by this subtle foe, whose mysterious nature they were unable to penetrate, they abandoned the siege of Constantinople. 1 * Gibbon observes that "the deliverance of Constantinople in two s.ieges may be chiefly ascribed to the novelty, the terrors, and the real efficacy of the Greek fire. The skill of a chemist and engineer was equivalent to the succour of fleets and armies; and this discovery or improvement of the military art was fortunately reserved for the period when the degenerate Romans of the East were incapable of contend- FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 259 The Arabians were unable, for various reasons, to con- tinue their victorious career. Afterwards, the leaders of the Turks, in the twelfth century, having provided themselves with a fleet of 200 vessels, determined to cross the Euxine, and to invest it by sea and by land. But it was for a time preserved from the destruction with which it was threatened . The cry of the Emperor Alexius for aid was heard by those Crusaders whom the eloquence of Peter the Hermit had animated to hasten to the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre from the unbeliever. They beat back the advancing tide of war. 1 The leaders of the Moguls, who afterwards issued from their home in Chinese Tartary, and spread desola- tion around them, were arrested in their progress as they rolled onward in their war-chariots, followed by their numerous hordes, to attack Constantinople. 2 They checked the progress of the Turks, which, on account of the decay of the Eastern empire, would, in all probability, have been followed by the wished-for success. During the period just referred to, the nations were as insensible as they were at the first to the value of that vast hoard of intellectual wealth of which Constantinople had been, through ages, the chosen depository. But now, in the fifteenth century, Italy and the other nations of the west were prepared by previous culture to appreciate and to profit by the study of the precious remains of ancient genius. The spray of the fountain of Castaly was seen glittering like diamonds in the noon-day sun amid the bowers of Europe. Greek emi- grants had carried to Italy manuscripts which they had snatched from the libraries of Constantinople, and aided in keeping alive the classical enthusiasm of its inhabitants. The pupils were soon capable of carrying to other nations ing with the warlike enthusiasm of the Saracens."— "Decline and Fall," c. 52. 1 Hallam's " Middle Ages," vol. ii. c. 6. 2 Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,'' c. 64. 260 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. the knowledge which they had acquired for themselves. A stream, issuing from the "harmonious springs of Helicon," was soon winding in mazy progress, " deep, majestic, smooth, and strong," through the verdant vales and golden cornfields of England. An end of the preservation of Constantinople had now therefore been fully answered. The Turks, who had hitherto failed in their designs against it, were at length completely successful. In 1453 its walls fell with a crash which resounded through Europe. But a weapon had been rescued from the city ere they fell, which enabled their opponents to mow down the Papal hosts which were banded together against them. This revival of Greek literature was, in various ways, injurious to the Papacy. The study of the ancient authors invigorated the intellect, and led men to push their in- quiries into that vast system of error which the Roman Catholic Church had imposed upon Christendom. They found that they could no longer take any pleasure in the dry chronicles of the monks, or in the absurd disquisitions of the scholastic philosophers on such subjects as the physical condition of the human body in Paradise, when they had seen the war-horse of Homer, proudly tossing his head, rushing before them with dishevelled mane, eager to plunge into the impetuous torrent ; z or listened to " the sweet and solemn breathing airs," 2 which Pindar drew from his magic lyre, and to the plaintive melody of the Attic warbler in the groves of Colonus ; or wandered through " The olive grove of Academe, Plato's retirement where the Attic bird Thrills her thick warbled notes, the summer long " 3 — and listened to that immortal philosopher as he endea- voured to 1 "Iliad," vi. 1. 506-510. 2 Gray's ode on the " Progress of Poesy." 3 Milton's " Paradise Regained," book iv. line 244-46. FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 26 1 "Unfold What worlds or what vast regions hold, The mortal mind that hath forsook Her mansion in this a fleshly nook. " * This revival of a taste for ancient literature was also injurious to Romanism, because it led many of its leading members and ministers to breathe the spirit of the heathen world. Men could not fail to be more and more alienated from the Church when they found that, to use Lord Macaulay's words, the class just referred to consisted of those who "like Leo X." (Pope from 15 13 to 1522), the successor of Julius II., of whom we shall speak more particularly hereafter, " with the Latinity of the Augustine age had acquired its atheistical and scoffing spirit ; who regarded those Christian mysteries of which they were stewards, just as the Augur Cicero and the high Pontiff Caesar regarded the Sibylline books and the pecking of the sacred chickens ; and who among themselves spoke of the Incarnation, the Eucharist, and the Trinity in the same tone in which Cotta and Velleius talked of the oracle of Delphi or the voice of Faunus among the mountains. " 2 Some of them even dared, as Erasmus informs us, to his utter astonishment, to attempt to persuade him, from Pliny, that there is no difference between the souls of men and those of brutes. 3 But, above all, the effect of this revival was that the meaning of the New Testament was, through an amended version of the Greek text by Erasmus, and by a better translation into Latin, brought within the compre- hension of the more intelligent part of the community; 4 and that all classes were at length enabled, first of all by Tyndal in England, and afterwards by other distinguished men, to discover from translations into their own languages 1 Milton's "II Penseroso," 1. 89-92. » Macaulay's Essay on " Ranke's History of the Popes." 3 Burigny, "Life of Erasmus," vol. i. p. 139. 4 See my "Life of Erasmus," p. 172-189. 262 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. that Rome had corrupted "the faith once delivered unto the saints." A providential circumstance, too, it was that, just at this conjuncture, that noble art of printing was discovered, which, by greatly increasing the circulation of books, contributed so largely to the regeneration of Christendom. The hier- archy did indeed endeavour to enlist the energies of the printing-press in their service. Splendid volumes in a bold type which displayed the new art in all its magnificence, were constantly issuing from their presses in Rome, Florence, and Venice. But these did not obtain a sufficient circula- tion to enable them to aid materially in retrieving the fallen fortunes of Romanism. After the invention of printing, the exclusive authority of the Popes over the mind of man was gone for ever. The rude tract, in the ill-cut German type, expressed, as we shall see hereafter, in terse, vigorous, and homely language, and rapidly propagated by means of the press, was the potent influence which, escaping all vigilance,' and working downwards into the depths of society, sank unanswered into the mind of awakening man ; showing the bond slaves of Rome how to cast off the formalism and superstition of ages, to secure the blessing of reconciliation with their Maker, and to obtain the imperishable crown. An expectation very generally prevailed at the beginning of the sixteenth century that Europe would be shaken by a terrible tempest. A portentous stillness pervaded the atmosphere of the Church, like the calm in the realms of nature which often precedes the bursting forth of the hurricane. The leaves of the forest are motionless, and the birds have ceased to warble through its arcades. Men could not indeed foresee the nature of the convulsion, nor the violence with which it would rend asunder the massive structures of Romanism; nor the rapidity with which the builders would erect on their ruins buildings remarkable for the harmony of their proportions and the chaste beauty of FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 263 their architecture. They could, however, see clearly, on looking through the ages, that the efforts of Mendicants, Councils, and poets to reform the Church, had failed of the wished-for success, and that they had only served to intensify the evil which they were designed to remedy. The avarice, the luxury, and the immorality of the hierarchy and clergy had increased continually from age to age. This last vice was the consequence of the unnatural law of celibacy. Another evil was the immunity of the clergy from civil jurisdiction. An idea had prevailed very extensively in those dark and superstitious ages that if the clergy had been guilty of crimes, the laity ought not to lay their unhallowed hands upon their sacred persons, but that they ought to be arraigned before a spiritual tribunal. The clergy, who had always been indebted to the laity for opportunities of extending their jurisdiction, at length claimed as an absolute right that they should take exclusive cognizance of offences committed by their own body. We know very well the easy terms on which they obtained absolution. A pecuniary payment, proportioned to the rank of the offender in the Church, at once freed him from the punishment inflicted on the crime of murder by the civil tribunal. This practice of compounding for crimes, originally commenced in a rude and turbulent age, when the law found it difficult to vindicate her majesty, was retained by the Church long after, from a conviction of the disastrous effects which it produced, it had been abolished by the civil judicature to which it owed its origin. The result was that, while malefactors among the laity were brought before the ordinary tribunal and suffered that condign punishment which they justly merited, clerical offenders, who had been guilty of the grossest crimes, dared to stand around the altar and to perform the most solemn rites of their religion after they had returned from some marauding expedition ; or after they had been guilty 264 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. of a gross act of oppression in wringing the hard-earned pittance from the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow; or after they had sheathed the glittering knife in the bosom of one who stood between them and the attainment of the object of their criminal desire. The corrupt state of the Church before the Reformation is acknowledged by a very distinguished Roman Catholic writer, who might not be supposed to be too willing to admit it. " For some years," says Bellarmine, " before the Lutheran and Calvinistic heresies were published, there was not (as contemporary authors testify) any severity in eccle- siastical judicatories, any discipline with regard to morals, any knowledge of sacred literature, any reverence for divine things ; there was not almost any religion remaining." J " No compensation,'' says a good Bishop of Worms in the fifteenth century, 2 "for any situation however low, or for any candidate however poor, meets with success at Rome unless a ducat be first paid, and paid to the very last penny. This method of appointing to offices is a chief impediment to the promotion of able and honest men, for they are restrained by good sense and shame from coming forward. Scarcely will you find a groom, or any mean unworthy fellow, who does not hold one or more spiritual offices, no matter how arduous it may be, or how unfit he may be for it, to which persons of eminence and learning ought to have been preferred." "Concubinage," says the same writer, " from the commencement of the fifteenth century, is publicly and formally practised by the clergy, and their mistresses are as expensively dressed and as respectfully treated as if their connection were not sinful and indecent, but honourable and praiseworthy." We find herein an exact parallel to the state of things which prevailed before the coming of Christ. As, during the time which preceded * Bellarmine, concio 28, Oper. torn. vi. col. 296. Edit. Colon. 161 7. 2 Ullman's "Reformers before the Reformation," vol. i. p. 180. FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 265 it, men were taught by the repeated failures of the ancient philosophers that the work of reforming .the world was one to which they were altogether unequal, so sufficient proof was given in the failure of the various efforts to reform the Church that man can, by no means of his own devising, accomplish this object. The moral pollution of Christen- dom had, notwithstanding those efforts, become continually greater, until, when men stood aghast at the revolting features which it exhibited, while Popes surpassing, as we have seen, their predecessors in infamy, occupied the chair of St. Peter, God, as before the Christian dispensation, when, notwithstanding the efforts of the philosophers to reform the world, the people were more corrupt in their practices than during any preceding period of the world's history, interposed for the recovery of the plague-stricken sufferers. Then, and not till then, was there found a generally-felt conviction of need of the proffered remedy. Then the cup of public indignation became full to the very brim. Then an earnest desire was awakened in the minds of a large proportion of the inhabitants of Europe for the cleansing of the polluted sanctuary. We must, however, make a distinction between a reform- ation of abuses and a reformation of dogma. The mon- archs, statesmen, and distinguished ecclesiastics who called together the different Councils, were anxious only to restrain the exorbitant power of the Popes, to reform the morals of the clergy, and to remove the worst abuses of the ecclesiastical system. A large majority of them, how- ever, never thought of inquiring into the doctrines of the Church. But still we can prove that many attempts at doctrinal reformation were made through the ages. God advances slowly towards the accomplishment of His pur- poses. We observe the same gradual progress in the realms of nature. The oak of the forest does not at once attain that stately growth which now attracts the notice of 266 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. every traveller. We ourselves advance through successive stages till we at length attain the full growth and vigour of manhood ; the light, at its first dawning only feeble and glimmering, slowly increases in brightness, till at length the silver stream sparkles in the glorious sunlight, while the meads, the forests, and the mountains bask beneath the beams of the great luminary, and exhibit their thousand charms to the astonished and delighted view. We have just had a proof of preparation in connection with the time when printing was invented, Constantinople was captured by the Turks, and the treasures of antiquity were scattered over Europe. We have had another in the failure of the attempts to devise a remedy for the moral pollution of Christendom. We have another proof of preparation in a regular succession of Reformers in doctrine. The Albigenses, the Waldenses, Peter de Bruys, and Henry the Deacon, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries; John Wiclif and the author of "Piers Ploughman's Vision" in the fourteenth cen- tury; John Huss and Jerome of Prague at the beginning of the fifteenth century, lifted up their voices like a trumpet, as we have seen, against the doctrinal corruptions of the Papacy, We shall see presently that John Tauler, in Germany, in the fourteenth century, joined in their witness against Rome. We cannot indeed say that they agreed in all respects with the Protestant Reformers of the sixteenth century. They occupied themselves with denouncing image worship, tran- substantiation, the adoration of the Saints, and other dogmas of the Church of Rome; but they failed as Reformers because they did not bring forward the great doctrine of a sinner's justification through the imputed righteousness of Christ. The Calixtines in Bohemia simply insisted, as we have seen, on an external right, the Communion in both kinds ; and John Huss, justly styled the John the Baptist of the Reformation, inveighed against the vices of the hierarchy and the clergy, who, he said, could not convey FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 267 grace through their administration of the Sacraments ; but he held transubstantiation and other doctrines of Romanism. Peter de Bruys and Henry the Deacon both manifested some startling traits of heterodoxy. Even the Waldenses, and our own Wiclif, the morning star of the Reformation, did not bring forward with sufficient prominence the doc- trine of justification, which ought to have stood out from the rest of their doctrines just as Mont Blanc, the monarch of the mountains, towers above the snow-clad eminences around him. Wiclif does indeed make an advance towards that doctrine, inasmuch as he brings forward Christ as the Mediator and Saviour of His Church ; a truth closely connected with it, which was a great principle of the Reformation in Europe. But he views faith as a knowledge of certain truths of Christianity, and an imitation of Christ from a motive of love; while he overlooks that element of faith, the connecting link between those truths, which consists in the laying hold of the redeeming love of God in Christ Jesus to a world which lieth in wickedness. 1 In a work like the present I cannot enter fully into dis- puted points in regard to Wiclif. I must, however, enter my protest against the statements in regard to him made by nearly all modern writers, that he preached revolution or republicanism, or cringed before his accusers, or even was guilty of more violent language than was necessary or natural for the times in which he lived. I observe a close connection between his efforts especially, as well as those of the others just referred to, and the ultimate advancement of the Reformation in Europe. His Bible, or rather the Bible revised by Purvey after his death, Wiclif's having been destroyed in the Lollard insurrection in the fifteenth century, proved a blessing not only to his own, but to all 1 See Dr. Lorimer's translation of "Lechler's Wiclif," vol. i. pp. 295, 297, and vol. ii. pp. 78 and 315. He refers here especially to his sermons in the Vienna manuscripts. 268 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. succeeding generations. We may form some idea of the eagerness with which it was cherished when we hear that nearly 150 manuscripts, most of them written within forty years of its publication, were found when the Oxford edition was prepared in 1850, and remember the search instituted for Wiclif's writings, as well as the great destruction of ancient manuscripts. The footsteps of his spiritual children are distinctly impressed on the soil of this country. He had, however, destroyed the old system without-constructing a new one. He had swept away all the tenets of mediaeval Christianity, pardons, indulgences, absolutions, and pilgrim- ages. He had also, as we have seen, rejected transubstan- tiation. But the Church had to wait two centuries and a half before she obtained a new system of doctrine. Still the despised Wiclif literature was undoubtedly planting seeds of truth in the hearts of the people. We cannot indeed believe the statements of contemporary writers already referred to, that Wiclif had a large number of followers, unless we understand by Lollard one who opposed the extortions of the Papacy. The numbers would be found to be very small if we understand those who took the Word of God for their guide, and were anxious for a Reformation in doctrine. The Act de Heretico Comburendo, passed in 1401 with the full au- thority of Parliament, shows that the English shrank from doctrinal innovation. But still we can see that the followers of Wiclif continued in an unbroken line to ponder prayerfully the records of heavenly truth, and to lift up their voices against the unscriptural doctrines of Romanism. We can scarcely doubt that strong predispositions in favour of a Reformation were excited by their preaching and works. 1 * See for proofs Burnet's "History of the Reformation," London, 1681 ; vol. i. p. 27. Traces of these influences may be seen in the "Acts of Convocation," of 1536. See Hardwick's "History of the Articles," p. 34. FURTHER DECLINE- OF THE PAPACY. 269 Occasionally we see in " Foxe's Martyrology,' 7 during the following century, the funeral pyres blazing up amid the surrounding darkness. They flicker in that work during the Wars of the Roses from 1455 t0 I 4 8 5> when the ecclesias- tical fires paled before the broad glare of the civil conflagra- tion. In the reign of Henry VII. men were again called upon to yield up their lives for Christ's sake and the Gospel's. These martyrdoms may be considered as indications of pro- gress towards that consummation which the Christians of those days so devoutly wished. The fate of these martyrs was indeed for some time regarded with indifference. We do not find a deep conviction of doctrinal error among the people. At length, however, the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Church. Their unshaken constancy induced many in another generation to cast in their lot with them, because it furnished convincing evidence of the reality of that faith which thus supported its professors amid the agonies of dissolving nature. We also discover the preva- lence of the new opinions ; for we are reminded of many congregations in England, gathered in the secret chambers, or crouching around the pale watch-fire in the bosom of some mighty forest, who had escaped the savage fury of the persecutor. Thus also was it in Germany. From father to son the sacred flame kindled by Tauler in the fourteenth century was transmitted. 1 Men, trained in his school, during two centuries prepared the way for the Reformation, by leading men from a reliance on outward observances to an inward and spiritual life; by declaring publicly that unless a man forsake sin the absolution of popes and cardinals is of no effect; that his own works 1 Schmidt's "Tauler," p. 54. Luther speaks with warm admiration of Tauler and the German theology. There was, however, this difference between the two systems ; that the doctrine of Luther was free justifica- tion by faith, whereas the mystic sought for union with Christ through conformity to Him inhumility and spiritual poverty. 270 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. make not a man holy, how much less those of others ; and that the intercession of the Virgin and the Saints is of no avail to the unrepentant sinner. They continued, in fact, to appeal to God against the Pope and the hierarchy, until they were merged in that "noble army" which, in the sixteenth century, crowded round the banner unfurled by the great Saxon Reformer. During the latter part of the fifteenth and the early part of the sixteenth century, witnesses for the truth were to be found in every land who lifted up their voices against the corruptions of the Papacy. In Germany, John Weissel, 1 who died at Groningen in 1489, distinguished alike as a theologian and a general scholar, on almost every point, on justification, penance, purgatory, and even on the Eucharist, anticipated the conclusions of those earnest spirits who were destined to commence the Saxon Reformation of the Church. In the same band has been placed the Florentine monk, the celebrated Jerome Savonarola. 2 Some have described him as a heaven-commissioned prophet, as a wonder-working saint, as a holy, single-minded Christian preacher, labouring for the temporal and eternal welfare of the immortal multi- tudes around him. Others again have spoken of him as a hypocritical impostor, as a deluded fanatic, as a turbulent demagogue, who desecrated his holy office by plunging amid the strife of civil politics. We cannot subscribe to this last opinion. We believe that, burning with a holy indignation against the infamous Alexander VI. and the corrupt ecclesi- astics of the age in which he lived, he laboured zealously to cleanse the polluted sanctuary of the Lord, and to cast vice from its throne in the high places of Christendom. We 1 See Ullman's "John Weissel," Hamburg, 1834. Luther said of him : " If I had read his works earlier, my enemies might have thought that I derived everything from him ; so much does the spirit of the two agree." Luther apud Weissel, 854. 2 See " Life and Times of Savonarola." London, 1843, and his " Life and Martyrdom," by R. R. Madden. London, 1854. FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 27 1 believe also that the eloquent preacher, the secret of whose wonderful power we discover in the spirit-stirring sermons which have been transmitted to our own times, was influenced by a disinterested regard for the spiritual welfare of his fellow-citizens when he persuaded them to cast into the flames their costly treasures of art, ornament, and letters ; their perfumes, mirrors, veils, and false hair ; their lyres, flutes, guitars, cards, and pictures ; to break in pieces the golden idols, before which they had bowed down in guilty adoration ; to assume a sanctified demeanour ; to banish sensuality from the walls of their city, and to close those halls where pleasure erected her throne, and assembled constantly crowds of her worshippers. We can see, how- ever, that he was aiming at a monkish reformation, and that, if he could have been successful, he would have con- verted Italy and the rest of Europe into one vast cloister. He did not hold Luther's doctrine concerning justification, the Communion in both kinds, indulgences, and human traditions. 1 Nay, we believe that he would have been deeply grieved if he could have foreseen that the effect of Luther's preaching would be to cause half Europe to cast off its allegiance to the Roman Pontiff. But still we can see that by his eloquent diatribes against Alexander, whom he as- serted on account of his wickedness to be no Pope, by his denunciations of the vices of the clergy, and by the zeal with which he laboured for a reformation of manners, he prepared the way for the illustrious Saxon Reformer. After his time many distinguished men made their ap- pearance. We have to speak of a Reuchlin who unfolded the pages of the Old, of an Erasmus who revealed the truths contained in those of the New Testament to the view of the learned in Europe. By an improved version of the text of the Greek Testament, and by a better translation into Latin, he showed the purity of the doctrine of the Reformers, and 1 McCrie's " Reformation in Italy,'' p. 18. 272 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. afforded a guide to those who enabled all classes to read in their own tongues the wonderful works of God. He did not indeed hold Luther's great doctrine of justification. But there can be no doubt that he prepared the way for him by pouring the envenomed shafts of ridicule on the monks and the clergy, by attacking the dogmas of the Papacy in his graver works which were borne in large numbers and with great rapidity on the wings of the press over Europe, and by endeavouring to diffuse a love of polite learning through the age in which he lived. 1 The cry for deliverance which had resounded through the ages had now deepened into an impassioned wail of agony. In Germany the nobles and the commonalty united with' the men of learning in seeking for deliverance from the yoke of an intolerable bondage. The Emperor Maximilian, by expressing his determination to seize the Popedom himself, showed very plainly that, if his life had been spared, he would not have been among those who would have hindered the march of the Reformers to victory. The nation of Germany was, in fact, heaving like the waves of the stormy ocean. Signs were to be seen on all hands that the time for the regeneration of Christendom could not be far distant. Even princes of the Church of Rome, the Bishop of Augs- burg, the Bishop of Meissen, and the Bishop of Breslau, were found preparing the way for the Reformation, by teach- ing with stammering lips in their dioceses those great and glorious truths, the preaching of which by Luther was the means of leading the nations of Europe into " the liberty wherewith Christ maketh his people free." 2 The same God who, as we shall see, prepared the hearts of the high and mighty ones of the earth, its monarchs, its statesmen, and its warriors, prepared also many dwelling far from the world's highway ; the inhabitants, it may be, of hovels so rudely 1 See my " Life of Erasmus," pp. 172 — 189 and 219 — 230. 2 Luther's Epp., i. p. 524. FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 273 constructed that they rocked with every blast, to aid those who were valiant for the truth upon the earth in smiting down the oppressors of God's Church. 1 We have a proof of the truth of this assercion in the fact that when the first trumpet-blast sounded through the land, many young men, who afterwards filled the highest places in the Church, were seen starting forth from their retirement, armed with the sword of the Spirit, fully prepared for the glorious strife, and coming to " the help of the Lord against the mighty." Many, too, remaining in their humble occupations, aided in this great and glorious enterprise. Hans Sachs, the shoemaker of Nuremberg, 2 by means of those hymns of Zion, full of the most beautiful imagery, which he was continually pouring forth, while his fingers wandered over the strings of his magic lyre, nerved the arm of many of his fellow-country- men, and contributed greatly to the signal victory which they at length gained over the legions of their foes. Thus, then, there were everywhere signs that the hour of the long-prayed-for deliverance was rapidly approaching.- The ground began to rock to and fro, as if it were about to be convulsed by a mighty earthquake. The fissures in the walls of the Roman citadel were becoming con- tinually wider. Ere long they would be upheaved from their foundation. As we are now standing on the threshold of those events which ushered in the Reformation, it becomes important to trace God's purpose through the ages that Germany should be the theatre of the mighty struggle with the great Papal army. The constitution of the Empire was favourable to the progress of the Reformation. Germany consisted of a confederation of States. Though the Sovereign of one State might be opposed, the Sovereign of another might be friendly, to the propagation of the Reformed doctrine through the 1 See Chateaubriand's "Etudes Historiques.'' 2 D'Aubigne's "History of the Reformation," vol. i. p. 122. 19 274 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. territory subject to his rule. The kingdom of truth thus established in one district might gradually extend its boundaries, till at length it became co-extensive with the whole of the vast territory which was subject to the. Emperor. Besides, the Papal yoke had pressed more heavily on the Germans than upon any other part of the great European commonwealth. The Popes had launched their spiritual thunderbolts against emperors and magistrates because they refused to obey their arbitrary mandates. 1 They had excited the subjects and even the kindred of the former to erect against them the standard of revolt. Pope Hilde- brand had compelled, as we have seen, Henry of Germany to wait bare-foot and bare-headed in the deep snow for Jhree days and three nights in front of the fortress of Canossa, before he would remove from him the ban of excommuni- cation. The contest thus begun between the Popes and the emperors, which terminated, as we have seen, with the victory of the former, had nourished a strong feeling of opposition to the conqueror which was deepened by the excesses and horrors of the Papal court. These ecclesiastical tyrants deprived the States of the most solemn rites of religion, forbade the requiem to resound through the long- drawn aisle over the body of the departed one, and com- pelled men to enter on the closest of all earthly relationships without the benediction from the Church, because they refused to obey some arbitrary political edict which they had issued from their council-chamber. During this period of civil discord which they had industriously fomented,.they deprived the secular princes of the most valuable of their privileges. In May, 1510, the States assembled at Augs- burg transmitted to the Emperor a list of ten capital griev- ances which they alleged against the Pope and clergy of Rome. The populace were equally indignant on account 1 Robertson's "Charles V.," vol. ii. p. no. FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 275 of the exactions of their ecclesiastical sovereigns. 1 By- means, too, of annates, reservations, and commendams, the countless artifices of the Roman Chancery, they had drawn away more of its wealth from Germany than from any other country, which served to enrich ecclesiastics dwelling in ignoble ease in their marble palaces on the banks of the Tiber. It might, therefore, naturally be supposed that Germany would be most anxious to cast off the yoke of her Romish oppressor. We may mention another providential arrangement in regard to Germany. Maximilian had lately established an imperial chamber, by which the differences between rival States were to be adjusted. Thus, then, the Germans might reasonably expect to see an end of that civil warfare, the din of which had been for ages resounding through her territory, and which had rendered her fertile plains the battle-field, where fiends in human shape, burning with the fever of revenge, had struggled violently for the mastery. Thus, as there was peace throughout the Roman Empire at the time of the introduction of Christianity, so there was peace throughout Germany at the time of the Reformation of God's Church. Thus, then, a state of things existed in Germany very favourable to those who were engaged in carrying the message of reconciliation to the inhabitants of that part of God's empire. At this juncture, however, Rome seemed to reign with undisputed authority. The Hussites had perished amid the flames. The Waldenses had been reduced to a feeble remnant ; they remained 'behind the barrier of their ever- lasting rocks, unable, like their fforefathers, to issue from their citadel, and to contend openly with the Pope in defence of those great truths which had been bequeathed to them as a precious legacy from the days of primitive Christianity. The Popes had gained a victory over General 1 D'Aubigne^s ' ' History of the Reformation," vol. i. p. 85. 276 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Councils. No University except that of Paris disputed their infallibility. Most of the heresies which had agitated the Church had been suppressed. Rome, seated on her seven hills, surveyed with exultation the massive and solid superstructure of her dominion. "And they that dwelt upon the earth rejoiced over them (the slain witnesses), and made merry, and sent gifts one to another ; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth." I She exclaimed in the vanity of her heart, like the monarch of old, " I will ascend into heaven : I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." 2 If, however, God's faithful followers in those days had been able to trace the analogy between the events occurring around them and those which ushered in the first dispensation, they would have found comfort from the thought that He would show His presence in history by interfering now, as then, on behalf of His Church, when her enemies were mighty, and she was threatened with destruction. Our examination of the previous history will have served to show us that the strength of Rome was more apparent than real ; that the minds of men would not be satisfied without a complete investigation of her claims ; and that a spirit of opposition was now abroad, promoted by her extortions, her usurpations, and her flagrant crimes, which would soon lead to her descent from her proud elevation. A spark falling on the materials with which the soil beneath the foundation was mined, would be quite enough to cause an explosion which would shatter into fragments a large part of the gorgeous structure. In the midst of her exultation, Rome was, on a sudden, overwhelmed with terror. The voice of an obscure monk rang through Europe, like the mighty thunder-peal, awaken- ing men from the slumber of ages, and shaking to its found- ation the usurped dominion of Romanism. The slain witnesses stood on their feet, once more instinct with life 1 Rev. xi. 10. 2 Isa. xiv. 13. FURTHER DECLINE OF THE PAPACY. 277 and animation. The second great religious movement, on the issue of which were suspended the spiritual destinies of myriads of immortal beings, had begun. The time fixed in the Councils of eternity had arrived. The seventh epoch of the Papacy had come to an end. On October 31, 1517, the propositions against indulgences were nailed to the gate of the parish church of Wittemberg. Martin Luther, the great father of the Reformation, came forward prominently on the world's high stage. CHAPTER VIII. THE REFORMATION FROM 1517 TO THE DEATH OF PAUL IV. IN 1559. Luther — The election of Charles V. to the Empire — Contest between him and Francis I. — Eck's controversy with Luther — Luther burns the Papal Bull — Luther at Worms and Wartburg — Connection between political complications and the advancement of the Reformation — Death and character of Leo X . — Adrian of Utrecht ■ — The political schemes of Clement VII. — The sack of Rome by the general of Charles favourable to the Reformation — Alliance between Clement and Charles at Barcelona — The cruelties of Clement on his capture of Florence, with his character — The German princes protest against the arbitrary Edict of Spires — The Con- fession of Augsburg — The Protestants in a dangerous situation, from which they are delivered by the invasion of the Turkish Sultan — Charles obliged to conclude a peace with them — The divorce of Henry VIII. — Death of Clement — Election and character of Paul III. — Colloquy at Ratisbon — Treaty of Crespy between Charles and Francis — The Council of Trent — Hostilities between Charles and the Protestants which end in their defeat — Treachery of Maurice of Saxony — The political schemes of Paul III. advance the Reform- ation — Julius III. — The Emperor obliged to conclude the treaty of Passau — Death of Charles — Progress of the Reformation — The English Reformation owes its origin to human weakness — Paul IV. the worst enemy to Romanism in England. When God proposes the accomplishment of some great object, He raises up men whom he endows with attributes which peculiarly qualify them to conduct it to a successful issue. He often selects too for his instruments, not the high and mighty ones of the earth, but men occupying a low place in the scale of society, in order that it may be THE REFORMATION. 279 manifest that " not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Living God," the kingdom of God is established on the earth. The case of Martin Luther fully illustrates the truth of the preceding assertion. The son of a poor miner, it seemed little likely at first that his name would be transmitted with honour to succeeding generations. His father had, indeed, early observed in him talents, which, by careful cultivation, might, as he fondly imagined, enable him as a statesman to direct the affairs of kingdoms, or in some other way to achieve distinction. But herein he was only an un- conscious instrument in working out God's purposes. His name was, indeed, to be borne abroad on the trumpet-blast of fame. He was, however, to be remembered in con- nection with a grand scheme which had for its object to burst the bands of spiritual despotism, to cast Rome down from her high place among the kingdoms of the earth. All students of history are well aware that Tetzel's shame- less sale of indulgences was a secondary cause of the Reform- ation. Leo X. wanted money avowedly for the building of St. Peter's at Rome, but really for the enlargement of the Papal territories and the aggrandizement of his family. He therefore commissioned Tetzel to conduct the sale throughout Germany. We cannot wonder that a man like Luther, who, having endeavoured in vain by penances and pilgrimages to obtain relief from the burden of sin which was pressing heavily upon him, had at length obtained pardon and peace through the assurance of the imputation of Christ's righteousness to the sinner, should have been indignant when he found the Pope's agent encouraging men to believe that the Pope has a treasury of supererogatory merits at his disposal, and that they could purchase from him for a sum of money absolution from all their sins and exemption from the pains of purgatory. Then he began the Reformation in the manner referred to 2«0 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. at the end of the last chapter, by the publication of the theses, in which he declared that the Pope's indulgence cannot deliver men from punishment ; and announced the doctrine of a free and full remission of sins, through Christ, for every penitent sinner. 1 These theses spread with the rapidity of lightning over Christendom. When he beheld the unlooked-for consequences of this attack upon indulg- ences, he was, as he tells us, astonished at his boldness. " I entered into that dispute," he said, " without any settled purpose, and without knowing it, or wishing it." * We must admit the idea of providential agency in connection with Luther's remarkable career "when we see the stripling David, who, from severe treatment in youth, was constitutionally timid,3 confronting that powerful giant, who had for ages lorded it over God's heritage, and had blasted with his spiritual thunderbolts the highest and mightiest of this world's potentates. God showed His presence in this great movement, as in the case of the poor fishermen of Galilee who were His agents for the introduction of Christianity, by magnifying His strength in human weakness. " I entered on this affair," he said, " with great fear and trembling." + He does not in his theses entertain any doubt of the authority of the Roman See. Even when he was quite convinced that he was contending for the fundamental truths of Christianity, we find him expressing his fears to the Pope that he may have been hurried in the violence of his passions into an unseemly opposition to his will. This is not the language of a fanatic who was anxious to brave all the terrors of his wrath, and who dared to rush on the thick bosses of the Papal buckler. We must, in fact, come to the conclusion that he was an instrument in God's hands for the accomplishment of His purposes, when we find him led into 1 Cardinal Pallavicino, lib. i. t. 4. Lutheri Op. ed. 1558, torn. i. p. 51 et seq. " Lutheri Op. in prarfat. 5 D'Aubigne's " Hist, of the Reformation," vol. i. p. 129. 4 Ibid. vol. i. p. 262. THE REFORMATION. 281 a deadly struggle with a potentate whom at first he regarded with a superstitious reverence. He often seems to shrink back from the conflict which he had provoked. He trembles when he surveys the whole length and breadth of the danger to which he was exposed. But a mighty Power over-mastered the impulses of his nature. A voice, not of earth, at first only indistinctly heard, summoned him to the conflict. At length he comes to the conclusion that God must have inspired him with the determination of contending with the confederated legions of Rome; and now the prospect of difficulties and trials did not discourage him. We find him hastening with a holy impatience to the heat and sorest part of the battle, anxious to fulfil his glorious destiny. 1 But he would only have rushed on certain destruction if God had not disposed the heart of Frederick the Elector of Saxony to come forward in his defence. Rome showed very plainly that she was" smitten with a judicial blindness, inas- much as she did not excommunicate Luther when he lifted up his voice and uttered his indignant protest against her abominations. The fact was that Leo X. entirely mistook the nature of the movement, and thought that Luther was anxious to deprive the Dominicans of the traffic in indulg- ences, and to transfer it to the Franciscans. If he had excommunicated him at once, he would have crushed the Reformation in its cradle. Frederick of Saxony, who was an ardent supporter of the Pontifical authority, would have been little inclined to stand forward in defence of an obscure monk, on whom had descended all the weight of the Papal indignation. Moreover, Luther, who was most unwilling to cast off the authority of the Pope, would never have become a deserter from the great Papal army. But, by a mistaken lenity, sufficient time was given for the propagation of the 1 "lam like Jeremiah," said Luther, at the time when he was going to appear at Augsburg, "a man of contention and strife ; but the more they multiply threats, the more they increase my joy." Luth. Ep. i. 129. 262 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. doctrines of the Reformation. The whole ot Germany, in a short space of time, crowded round the banner unfurled by the Reformer. Devout men joined him in lifting up their voices against the impious traffic in indulgences; and all true patriots, wearied of the exactions of Rome, hailed him as their champion in the conflict with the foreign aggressor. Moreover, Frederick, who was gifted with wisdom beyond his age, had time to discover that an attempt to silence Luther would have been followed by a revolt which would have shaken the Papal throne to its foundation. 1 But Luther was now compelled to bend before the storm. Having been summoned to appear before the Pope's Legate at Augsburg, he had, by wierding the weapon of God's word, gained a glorious victory over the Papal Anti-Christ. 2 The result had been that Rome, vanquished in argument, was about to hurl her spiritual thunderbolts at the intrepid champion of the Reformation. Frederick was required to banish Luther from his dominions. At first he refused obedience to the mandate. At length, intimidated by her menaces, he gave an intimation to Luther that he must prepare to withdraw from his territory. Shall the Reform- ation be now interrupted in its progress? Shall some other land possess those spiritual blessings of which Germany seemed about to be deprived? Shall foreign princes, intimidated by the curses of Rome, be unwilling to offer an asylum to Luther ? And thus shall it come to pass that the Reformer, proscribed and persecuted, shall be unable to carry on towards completion the work which he had commenced? These were questions which perplexed the anxious faith of many of the friends of the Reformation. The spiritual fate of Germany — indeed of Europe itself — seemed to be at that time uncertain. But God laid bare His right arm before the nations and interposed visibly on 1 Sleidan, lib. i. Pallavicino, lib. i. c. 10. ' Ibid. lib. i. t. 9.' THE REFORMATION. 283 behalf of His Church. The thunderbolt was poised ; but it was not hurled. The Prince of the kings of the earth smote down with His sceptre the hand which had drawn it from the Papal arsenal. Leo, who had just been breathing forth threatenings against this spiritual hero, seemed suddenly to have changed them for the winning accents of concili- ation. It may be that, ignorant of the hidden strength by which the Reformer was supported, he fancied that he would never have opposed him, if he had not received an assurance that Frederick would make common cause with him, and would declare as his enemies those who had endeavoured to compass his destruction. Miltitz, a noble Saxon chamber- lain to the Pope, was sent with a golden rose to Frederick, and a message of peace to Luther. The latter, after his conference with him, offered a written explanation instead of a retractation, in which, while he maintained much anti- papal doctrine, he promised to do nothing derogatory to the honour or authority of the Roman Church. 1 The happy result was that he was not banished from the land of his fathers, and that he was enabled to carry forward to com- pletion that high and holy enterprise which had for its object to strike off the fetters which Rome had wound around his fellow-countrymen. But now God's design in raising up a protector to Luther in the person of the Elector of Saxony became abundantly manifest. The death of the Emperor Maximilian, which happened at this conjuncture, may be regarded as a provi- dential circumstance in connection with the Reformation. Charles, King of Spain, and Francis I. of France, were candidates for the vacant dignity. As Leo was anxious to win over to his own views the Elector of Saxony, by whose influence in the Electoral College he hoped to prevent the election of either of them to the high dignity, he at once resolved to suspend all proceedings against Luther. 1 Luther, Ep. i. p. 209. 284 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. We may notice another providential circumstance in connection with this part of our subject. In accordance with the provisions of the German constitution, the affairs of the Empire, during a vacancy, were administered by the Elector of Saxony. The happy result was, that Luther and his fellow-labourers were enabled to prosecute without inter- ruption their work of faith and labour of love. The sapling which they had planted during this interval struck its roots deeper into the ground, and put forth continually new branches, adorned with beautiful foliage, like the glory of Lebanon, seen far and wide on the summit of the mountain. But we have now come to the question of the election of an Emperor in its bearing on the history of the Reformation. Now every one conversant with the history of the period is aware that the crown was offered to, and refused by, the Elector of Saxony. He thought that the Electors ought to depart from the rule hitherto observed by them, not to elect an Emperor whose vast power might be fatal to the liberties of Germany, and that they ought to elect Charles of Austria to the vacant throne. 1 He reminded them also that the hereditary dominions of Charles would constitute a formid- able barrier against the invasion of the Turks ; and that he possessed a numerous and well-disciplined army, which would enable him to repel the vast hordes of the foreign aggressor. The result was that Charles was elected Emperor in 1519. Now it would seem at first view as if this refusal of the Elector, though prompted by patriotic and disinter- ested motives, was prejudicial to the interests of Germany, inasmuch as it was followed by that civil warfare which deluged her plains with blood. We might imagine, too, that the elevation of the Elector would be followed by the propagation of the doctrines of the Reformation through the territory subject to his rule. But God was jealous of His honour and would not give His glory to another. In this 1 Robertson's "Hist, of Charles V.," vol. ii. p. 56. THE REFORMATION. 285 case it would have been said that the victory was due to human instrumentality; whereas He designed to impress this lesson on all succeeding ages, that the sword of the Spirit had smitten down those principalities and powers who were banded together to stay the progress of the Reformation. But, as we have said, Charles was called upon to preside over the destinies of this vast empire. Now, if he had possessed no other dominions than those in Germany, his elevation to the Imperial dignity would not have been otherwise than advantageous to the Reformation. He would have seen at once the importance of aiding Luther and the Germans to check the progress of Papal usurpation, and to struggle, like their forefathers, with the Pope in defence of their privileges and immunities. 1 He found it necessary, however, to stay the onward march of Francis's ambition. Accordingly we find him courting the alliance of Leo as a means of enabling him to accomplish this object. The latter seemed at first impressed with the conviction that, as the ambassador of the Prince of Peace, he ought not to aid either of those monarchs in their schemes of worldly aggrandizement. 2 But this was soon succeeded by a more ambitious spirit. He ardently desired that his Pontificate should be immortalized by the expulsion of the hated foreigner from the soil of Italy. He therefore determined to form an alliance with one of these monarchs, hoping that when he had succeeded, by the assistance thus obtained, in conquering the one, he might find the means of depriving the other of his usurped dominion in Italy. At first he sought the alliance of Francis. But afterwards he decided on making common cause with Charles. He was anxious by his assistance to obtain possession of Parma and Pla- centia, annexed by Julius II., which Francis I. had wrested 1 Robertson's "Charles V.," vol. ii. p. 121. 2 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 127. 286 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. from the Holy See. He thus ran the risk of subjecting Italy to the yoke of the most powerful monarch who had ever been invested with the diadem of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles had now, with the view of securing the alliance of Leo, determined on sacrificing Luther to his vengeance. The Reformer would have remained quiescent according to his agreement with Miltitz, if Eck had not sought an oppor- tunity of attacking him. He first indeed challenged Carl- stadt to a controversy with him on the question of free will. But he soon threw down the gauntlet to Luther. He showed very plainly that he wished to make him the object of attack by publishing theses, in one of which he asserted the Divine origin of the primacy of the Pope. A controversy between the two redoubted champions was held at Leipsic, in July, 1519, in which both claimed the victory. But there can be no question that it was very favourable to the progress of the Reformation, inasmuch as the careful examination which Luther instituted into the subject led him to maintain against Eck, that the Papacy was a human and by no means ancient institution, convinced him that the Pope had no right to a supremacy over the Christian Church, and showed him that her dogmas, such as purgatory and transubstanti- ation, were condemned alike by reason and by revelation. 1 This controversy was followed in a little less than a year by his famous appeal to his Imperial Majesty and to the Christian nobility of the German nation, on the Reformation of Christendom, in which, .after having attacked the Pope on account of his pomp and luxury, he called on him to descend from his throne, and to reassume his ancient character of bishop on the banks of the Tiber. 2 Eck now came to Rome from Leipsic, and called for vengeance on the audacious monk. The Pope, however, still hesitated. He did not feel at all certain that he should come off 1 Pallavicino, lib. i. c. 15, 16. 2 Luther, Op. xvii. pp. 457-502. THE REFORMATION. 287 victorious. At length, yielding to the importunity of the fanatics around him, in June, 1520, he hurled the thunder- bolt at Luther. The Bull, after condemning his doctrines, ordered that unless, within sixty days, he retracted his errors, he was to be seized and sent as a prisoner to Rome. 1 But the German nation laughed the Thunderer to scorn. Roused by the animating appeal of Luther, they had assembled beneath the banner unfurled by the Reformer. The spiritual hero presented a firm front to his adversary. In answer to his menaces, he only expresses a deeper conviction that Rome is the predicted Babylon of the Apocalypse, and denies that the Pope has any claim on the allegiance of Christendom. He only brings forward more prominently that doctrine of justification by faith in the imputed right- eousness of Christ ; that iron mace which he feels more and more convinced that he must wield if he is to be successful in smiting down the fabric of superstition. 2 The man who once trembled before the Pope, now comes forward and openly defies him. On December 20, 1520, a pile of wood was erected at the east gate of Wittemberg. One of the oldest of the members of the University lighted it. As the flames arose, Luther advanced, arrayed in his frock and cowl, and amid bursts of approbation from the doctors, pro- fessors, and students, hurled into them the Canon Law, the Decretals, and the Papal Bull. 3 He thus proclaimed his determination to wage a ceaseless warfare with the Papal Antichrist. A Saxon peasant, strong in the " unresistible might of weakness," inflicted a wound on one of the mighti- est powers of the world from which it has never recovered. The defiance of Wittemberg was followed, as we shall see, by the emancipation of half the nations of Europe from their spiritual and temporal bondage. We are now to contemplate a spectacle equalling, if not 1 Raynaldus, an. 1520, 11. 51-9. * Luther, Op. ii. 77. 3 Pallavicino, lib. i. c. 20-22. 288 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY, surpassing, in moral sublimity, any which history has unfolded to us. Charles, in fulfilment of the condition which Leo had annexed to his alliance with him against Francis, that he should proceed against Luther, summoned him to appear before the Diet at Worms, in April, 152 1, that he might decide whether, in view of the doom which awaited him, he would persevere in the promulgation of those doctrines which had drawn down upon him the Papal indignation. The son of a miner, once, like his Divine Master, so poor that he had not where to lay his head, stands arraigned before one of the most august tribunals which had ever been summoned to sit in judgment on human offenders. The monarch who presided over it was one of the highest and mightiest of this world's potentates. He was surrounded by princely vassals. Luther stands in their presence to vindicate the majesty of God's Word. His eye flashes, his form seems to dilate into a supernatural grandeur, as he refuses to accept the judgment of the Pope in matters of faith, and declares his firm determination not to retract one of his opinions unless they are proved to be contradicted by the explicit testimony of the oracles of God. Whence this noble superiority to the frown of the mighty ones of the earth ? How is it that this man, who once trembled in the presence of men in the same station with himself, now stands forth in this assembly of princes, undaunted by the menacing looks and the half-suppressed murmurs of many around him ? History has solved the mystery. She has drawn aside the veil which conceals the secrets of the inner chamber from the view, and has exhibited this man of prayer in the act of wrestling with the Almighty. 1 A mighty storm of conflicting emotions seems to rend asunder the strongly-built frame of the spiritual hero. He seems to tremble before the mighty foes who are confederate against him. The blackness of darkness gathers around his path. 1 Luther, Op. lib. xvii. p. 589. THE REFORMATION. 289 Then the language of despair is exchanged for the language of calm confidence in the Divine protection. The King of Day breaks through the clouds, and sheds a gleam over the billows which are roaring and dashing around him. The assurance is brought home to him that he is an instrument in God's hands for the accomplishment of His purposes. He now becomes willing even that this material tabernacle maybe torn asunder by that rude wrench at which humanity shudders, provided only God may be glorified in the emancipation of the nations of the earth from their spiritual bondage. And now the conflict is terminated. As he emerges from the presence-chamber of Deity, a glory not of earth irradiates his countenance. He now possesses a holy serenity of soul which forms a strange contrast to the storm raging furiously around him. Thus then the First Cause of that mighty movement is brought prominently before us. We see God in that inner chamber, giving an edge to the weapon which is to smite down the principalities and powers of darkness. And now, as he stands in the presence of men, many of whom were thirsting for his blood, he seems utterly indifferent to the worst malice of his persecutors. He answered with a dignity and calmness which afforded unmistakable evidence that he was the accredited mes- senger of the King of kings to that regal assembly. Each threat of condign punishment only makes him firmer in his determination not to apostatize from the faith. Thus, then, the miner's son, wielding the weapon of God's Word, gained a glorious victory over the Popedom. The Pope had decreed his separation from human society, and yet he stands the centre of an illustrious assemblage. He must not address to any a word of warning, exhortation, and instruction. And yet, in an assembly of kings, nobles, and bishops, the highest and mightiest in the land, he contended earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. Thus, then, God manifests His presence in history. He made 20 290 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. them the instruments of exalting one of the lowest of the sons of men, whom he wished to employ to break the bonds of Rome. And now the very men who were longing to dip their hands in his blood have not the courage to seize him. He goes forth unscathed from that assembly, charged with the commission to demolish the strongholds of sin and Satan, and to put to flight the armies of the aliens. 1 This meeting of the Diet was followed by an imperial ban, condemning his doctrines, and directing the seizure of himself and his adherents as soon as his safe-conduct was expired. The Elector, apprehensive of the conse- quences of this Edict, directed that he should be seized on his return, and concealed in his castle of Wartburg.' The advantage of removing him from the scene will at once be evident. A general returning, crowned with laurels from some well-fought field, could not have been an object of greater interest than this spiritual hero, when, in obedience to the command of the Emperor, he entered the city of Worms. His apartments were crowded with princes and nobles, who were anxious to hold converse with the great master-spirit of the age. He was, therefore, in order that he might not be intoxicated with vain-glory, removed from the bustle of the world, and buried in one of nature's green solitudes. He was thus, perhaps, saved from making ship- wreck of faith, and of a good conscience. Then God could no longer have employed him in building His temple. The shout had already been heard in Germany — " It is the voice of a God, and not of a man." Men were beginning to invest a fallible mortal like themselves with the attributes of Deity. When, therefore, in the absence of Luther, they saw the building of which he had laid the foundation, " growing unto an holy temple in the Lord," by the addition of fresh materials, their thoughts would be fixed exclusively 1 Sleidan, lib. iii. Pallavicino, lib. i. c. 23-27. Seckendorf, lib. i.e. 37. 45- THE REFORMATION. 201 on the great Master-Builder of the fabric. They would feel that, however He might condescend to employ others in carrying it forward to completion, still that He could dis- pense with their services, and that He alone could hasten on the coming of the time of which the prophet has sung, when the towers and pinnacles, having been completed, would be illumined with the golden beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and "the top-stone would be brought out with shoutings, crying, ' Grace, grace, unto it.' " We have now seen the connection between political com- plications and the advancement of the Reformation. If Leo had not been anxious to prevent the election of an emperor whose elevation would be unfavourable to his schemes of territorial aggrandizement, he would at once have taken proceedings against Luther, and would thus have prevented his opinions from gaining an ascendency in Germany. But now, through his alliance with Charles, he was likely not only to attain the object of his ambition as a sovereign, but also to arrest Luther in his career of victory. The allied armies, commanded by a Papal general, were completely successful. They drove the French out of Milan and Italy, and recovered Parma and Placentia for the Pope. But the cup fell to the ground, just as he had raised it to his lips. He died, it is commonly supposed, from excessive joy, in eight days from the time when the intelligence was brought to him, on December i, 1521. 1 His career has been very singular. He has won the regard even of some who have strongly denounced the errors and corruptions of the Papacy. "The careful student of history is, however, well aware, that even as a man of learning, he did not deserve the high eulogium which Erasmus and others have pro- nounced upon him. He may, indeed, have been a patron of learned men ; but as he was excessively indolent, and much given to luxurious indulgence, he cannot have made 1 Guicciardini, c. 14. Pallavicino, lib. ii. Sismondi, c. 113. 292 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. progress in a knowledge of polite literature. Though he did not possess the warlike ambition of Julius, or exhibit the savage qualities or coarse debauchery of Borgia, he was, on account of his paganism, his scoffing spirit, and his vices, as unfit for the pastoral office as those men or the worst of his predecessors. He was a voluptuary to the end of his days. Multitudes had learnt to despise his pretensions to the sacred character with which he was invested." z By his luxury and prodigality he weakened the Holy See as much as his infamous predecessors. While Luther was lifting up his voice against the corruptions of the Papacy, he was intent on schemes for the aggrandizement of his family, or was living with his debauched cardinals, as if pleasure were the only object for which man is created, and life were but a holiday. He has been at once the most prosperous and the most unfortunate in the long line of Roman Pontiffs. If he has been successful in extending the boundaries of his Italian territories, he has also caused half Europe to cast off its allegiance to the Roman See. If he humbled the pride of Francis I., he was also the unsuccessful antagonist of a Saxon peasant, the greatest spiritual hero of these later ages, who boldly protested against his indulgences, and committed his Bull to the flames. The glory of Leo, the patron of learn- ing, is, in fact, obscured by the glory of Luther, the author of the Reformation. He is remembered by posterity chiefly as the unintentional author of that great religious move- ment which has been a source of blessing to all succeeding generations. 2 The successor of Leo was Adrian of Utrecht, the tutor of Charles V. His elevation to the Papal throne was un- doubtedly injurious to the Papacy, inasmuch as he was a 1 See my "Life of Erasmus," p. 155. 2 Roscoe, in his elegant "Life and Pontificate of Leo X.," gives a different view of his character. According to him, the grace and refinement of Leo dignified the Papacy. Luther appears as the rude opponent of an elegant gentleman. THE REFORMATION. 293 stranger to the manners of the people, and deficient in that tact and judgment which were required in this difficult and delicate conjuncture. He brought to the Papal throne an intense abhorrence of Luther, and an anxious desire for the Reformation of the Church in its head and in its members. 1 Luther, in the early part of 1522, had emerged from his solitude, and had again come prominently forward. The cause of this apparently rash action was the propagation of a pestilent heresy among his followers. Certain individuals had risen up who rejected the authority of the written word, and maintained that God would make an immediate revela- tion of His will to them, provided they assumed a sanctified demeanour, and endeavoured, by continual mortifications, to bring the flesh into subjection to the spirit. The moment Luther confronted these fanatics, he gained an easy victory over them. He had, however, appeared among men who were labouring for his ruin. Immediately after his election, Adrian had sent his legate Chiregato to the Diet of Nurem- berg, demanding the infliction of condign punishment on the Reformer. He was also charged to promise the redress of the grievances which had inflamed all orders of men with indignation against the Papacy. The spirit of Luther at once passed into the members of the Diet. All the griev- ances, 100 in number, which .were the subject of complaint, were at once submitted to the Pope; with an earnest demand that they should be immediately redressed. 2 We might have thought that the Diet would have atoned for the exhibition of this daring spirit by a promise to surrender Luther to his vengeance. But it called in addition for a free Council, and added that, until it was summoned, the preachers should have full liberty to declare to their hearers the funda- mental doctrines of the Gospel of our salvation. Adrian, in- dignant at this opposition to his authority, wrote a threatening 1 Guicciardini, lib. xiv. Pallavicino, lib. ii. c. 2, 3, 4. 2 Seckendorf, lib. i. c, 45. Gerdes, torn. ii. 294 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. letter to the Elector, because, in defiance of the Edict of Worms, he had dared to give Luther shelter in his do- minions. 1 The roaring of the lion roused all Christendom from its slumber. Men and women were called upon to glorify the name of the Saviour in the fires. This perse- cution, however, only served to kindle enthusiasm in the hearts of the faithful in Germany. Notwithstanding the Papal anathemas, countries and cities were casting off their ancient superstitions, and were making common cause with the intrepid champion of the Reformation. In the midst of these events Adrian died — an object of detestation to his own party, because he had banished from his court the masqued balls, the theatrical entertainments, and all the glittering vanities which were the delight of his predecessor ; because, by his austere life, he had rebuked the vices, the luxurious ease, and the worldly-mindedness of his cardinals ; and because, by his reforming spirit, he had emboldened the Lutherans to present their grievances to the Pope, and even to defend that audacious heretic who ought to have been committed to the flames. 2 Giulio de' Medici, the confidential minister of Leo X., was raised to the Papal throne immediately after the death of Adrian in 1523, and assumed the name of Clement VII. God showed His presence in history by rendering his political schemes subservient to the advancement of the Reformation. He was the creature of opposite impulses. 3 He was most anxious for the extermination of Luther and his followers. But he was still more anxious for the ejection of the hated Spaniard from the Italian territory, because he threatened the independence of the Ecclesiastical States ; and still more for the aggrandizement of the Medici, as well as the establishment of Alessandro, probably his own son, in possession of the absolute sovereignty of Florence. At 1 Seckendorf, lib. i. u. 56 : Raynaldus, an. 1522, n. 60-89. 2 Sismondi, lib. 1 14, 1 15. 3 Guicciardini, lib. xv., xvi. THE REFORMATIO-V. 295 present, the Reformation continued to advance, notwith- standing the persevering efforts of Clement and others to arrest its progress, and notwithstanding the fanaticism of the pestilential sect of the Anabaptists, who held that Christ would shortly come to establish a kingdom on earth, the subjects of which should be exempt from human laws, and who made it their object to subvert all existing institutions. The practical result of this fanaticism was seen in the peasants' war, which served to alienate Erasmus and others from the Reformation, because it seemed to justify their gloomy forebodings that the principles of Luther must lead to civil convulsions. 1 The opponents of the Reformation found that they could do nothing without the active co- operation of the Emperor. One reason of the immunity of the Reformers was, in fact, that Charles was engaged in carrying his ambitious projects into effect. He was erecting a pyramid of glory designed to reach to the clouds. He was engaged in that struggle for pre-eminence with his rival, Francis I., which issued in the victory of Pavia, and the imprisonment of the latter in the dungeons of Madrid. But now the clouds, piled up in gloomy array in the horizon, portended a storm which might soon burst forth with fearful violence, and shiver into fragments the spiritual fabric. Charles V. was now about, in conjunction with Clement VII., to exert every effort to dismantle its towers and to tear up its bulwarks. The hearts of all sank within them when they saw the storm of war rolling rapidly towards them. But, on a sudden, it is arrested in its progress. The patriotism of Clement revived. He longed to deliver Italy from the yoke of the oppressor. He, therefore, formed a league against him with the Venetians, the Duke of Milan, and the King of France. Charles no sooner heard of the alliance than he suspended the execution of the Edict of Worms, and at a Diet held at Spires in 1526, decreed the 1 Ranke, " Reform.," iii. 566. 296 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. toleration of the existing forms of worship in single districts of the empire. 1 Thus, then, the political schemes of Clement aided in the advancement of the Reformation. Charles also resolved on active military operations against the confederates. The great difficulty, however, in the way of his success was the want of money for the payment of his troops. The resources at his disposal had been exhausted. The Constable Bourbon, who commanded in the Milanese, had adopted various means of extorting them from the inhabitants. He had rifled the churches of their orna- ments ; he had wrung the hard-earned pittance from the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. At length, the country, impoverished by his exactions, yielded him no further supply. Thus it became necessary to disband his army, or to obtain his supplies from the enemy's country. He decided on the latter alternative. The resolution was no sooner formed than it was carried into effect. He resolved to invade the territories of the Church. But he was unable to fulfil the splendid promises of plunder with which he had tempted the cupidity of the soldiers, and had induced them to follow his standard. The treasures of silver and gold had vanished into thin air. No place of importance had submitted to his arms. The consequence was a mutiny among his troops which he had some difficulty in quelling. Then it was that the idea occurred to him to rifle the treasure vaults of the Eternal City. He thought that the emperor would be pleased to see the humiliation of Clement as the author of the league against him. Clement, lulled into a fatal security by a treaty of peace recently concluded with the Viceroy of Naples, had dismissed all his soldiers, excepting his own immediate body-guard. The Florentine historian attributes his conduct on this occasion to a judicial blindness, — an observation to which all those who are accustomed to trace God's providential agency in 1 Walch's "Luther," xvi. 266. THE REFORMATION. 297 the government of the world will cordially subscribe. Bourbon, regardless of this treaty, hastened to execute his designs. The thick clouds of vengeance now gathered round the towers of the Eternal City. The clashing of the swords, the sound of riven helmets was heard, as, on May 6, 1527, the combatants fought hand to hand in the "deadly breach." Bourbon, pierced by a musket-ball, fell as he was scaling the ramparts. His death, so far from disheartening his followers, seems to have inspired them with a superhuman courage. The feeble efforts of the defenders to beat them back were borne down by the mighty rush with which they swept forward. Very soon the shouts of the German soldiers were heard echoing among the broken columns and shattered shrines of the capital of the West. Rome had, through ages, been burning with a thirst for gold which could never be quenched. She had com- pelled kings and provinces to pour a flood of wealth into her treasury. Now she was compelled to disgorge her ill-gotten plunder. The soldiers seized with avidity the wealth around them. Every refinement of cruelty was practised on the cardinals to induce them to disclose the spot where they had buried their treasures. Deeds of cruelty were perpetrated during this sack of Rome by the sworn defenders of the Church, in comparison with which the indignities offered to her by the Huns and Vandals fade into utter insignificance. The Pope, who had fled for refuge to the castle of St. Angelo, was compelled to capitu- late, and to submit to the terms imposed by his conqueror. Never was there a more striking interposition on behalf of God's Church. The thunders forged by Charles V. for the destruction of Protestantism were checked in mid volley, and were turned aside to smite down the battlements of Rome. Thus, then, we see God manifesting His presence in history. Now, as before and since, the very events designed 29§ EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. for the overthrow of the Church were made the means of establishing her on a firm foundation. 1 The happy result of this interposition was, that for the space of three years the Reformers were not molested. The design of God in this interposition soon became abundantly manifest. They profited by this delay to give a constitution to the Churches which had cast off their allegiance to Rome. They, did not destroy, but remodelled the original structure. They purified the Sacraments from their abuses. The but- tresses which disfigured the building were all swept away; the windows which superstition had closed up were all of them thrown open ; and now the golden light of heaven came streaming down the aisles, exhibiting the harmony of the proportions, and the chaste beauty of the architecture. The importance of reducing to a systematic form the doctrines of the Church soon became abundantly manifest. False teachers had risen up, who, presuming on their ability, had speculated on subjects which were beyond their compre- hension, and had propagated dangerous heresies. The members of the Romish Church immediately asserted that these opinions were held by the large body of the Reformers, and that all sects were the necessary consequence of the Reformation, and of the surrender of the doctrine of Papal infallibility. Hence we see that it was highly important that there should be an interval of repose, during which not only might a constitution be given to the Church, but also a confession of faith might be drawn up, which would serve at once to declare her doctrine for the instruction of her members, and to shield her from the slanders of her adversaries. But this was not the only advantage gained by this delay. The scions from the parent stem were propagated so extensively during these and the preceding years, that it 1 The best account of these events is in Ranke, "Reform.," Book iv. c. 3. See also Guicciardini, t. 16, 18 ; Sleidan, lib. vi. ; and Sismondi, c. 115-118. THE REFORMATION. 299 became impossible to eradicate them. Men became accus- tomed to innovations, because they saw the efforts of the Reformers crowned with the wished-for success. Moreover, a large proportion of Protestants were no longer like children, carried away by every blast of vain doctrine, but were grounded and settled in the great truths of Christianity. Many of the laity, too, by listening to the disputations between Luther and his opponents, had become skilled in theological controversy, and had mastered those arguments which served to show that the Roman Catholics had cor- rupted the faith. They were little inclined, therefore, to brook an arbitrary interference with their settled convictions. The celestial dew had penetrated to the very depths of the dry ground — the barren and unfruitful soil — and had clothed it with rich vegetation. But danger again threatened the Church. The sack of Rome had inflamed with indignation the mind of Roman Catholic Europe. The enemies of Charles V. now found no difficulty in organizing a league against him. The French army quickly overran the Neapolitan territory. Very soon Naples and Gaeta were the only towns in that district which had not submitted to the arms of the invader. The former was, however, reduced to the last extremity. The Spanish fleet attempted to relieve it, but was defeated by the Genoese Admiral Doria. Here, however, the imprudence of Francis furnished Charles with weapons against him. Doria, burning with resentment on account of the indignities heaped on him by Francis and his courtiers, who represented him to the credulous monarch as aiming at self-aggrandizement, deserted to the enemy. The very fleet which had formerly been employed to besiege Naples by sea, now poured pro- visions into the beleaguered city. The French army, suffer- ing from the want of provisions, which could not come to them by sea, and reduced by the ravages of pestilence to a very small proportion of their original number, was at length 300 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. obliged to capitulate. Thus, then, the star of Charles once more reigned lord of the ascendant. Now convinced by the disasters which he had experienced, that he had been guilty of a fatal error in carrying on warlike operations against Clement, he determined henceforth to make common cause with him. The Pope was equally willing on his part to enter into an alliance with the emperor. The inhabit- ants of Florence, taking advantage of the opportunity afforded them by the sack of Rome, had risen against the officers of Clement, expelled his family, and re-established the Republic. Burning with the desire of inflicting vengeance on the rebels, he forgot his determination to deliver Italy from a foreign yoke, and concluded a treaty with his great enemy at Barcelona on the 29th of June, 1529, one article of which was, that Charles should aid him in the subjugation of the Florentines. x Another article was, that they should together exert every effort to exterminate the heretics. Political combined with religious motives in inducing Charles to form this resolution. The emperor was a mere phantom of royalty. The great vassals of the crown had so limited his power and prerogatives, that he had been unable to obtain any assistance from them towards the execution of his ambitious projects. He felt that Protestantism would form a strong bond of union between the princes of Germany, and would render them more unwilling to assist him. 2 He saw, therefore, that the destruction of Protestantism was indispensable to the consolidation of his dominion. Charles and Clement afterwards met at Bologna for the purpose of giving effect to this treaty.3 The diadem of the Holy Roman Empire, with which Charles was there invested, had once more its full significance. Charles reigned 1 D'Aubigne's " Hist, of Reformation," iv. 63. 2 Robertson's "Charles V.," vol. iii. pp. 39, 40. 3 Guieciardini, lib. xix. Pallavicino, lib. ii. c. 16 ; lib. iii. c. 2. THE REFORMATION. 30I supreme throughout the Italian peninsula. Thus Clement completed the work which his predecessors began, when, with a view to their own selfish ends, they had introduced those armies into Italy which had deluged her plains .with blood. He, in fact, first sanctioned the extinction of the national life of Italy, and its subjection to the iron yoke of the Austrian oppressor. The readiness of Clement, in the eagerness of his desire to inflict vengeance upon Florence, to enter into an alliance with that enemy who had oppressed his native country, and heaped upon him the greatest indignities, must awaken a feeling of indignation in every rightly constituted mind. The man who crouched like a cowardly slave before his victor was as implacable, vindictive, and cruel as ever, when the strong hand of the tyrant, which had just been laid heavily upon him, enabled him to inflict vengeance on that city, the inhabitants of which, goaded to madness by their wrongs, had risen simultaneously against their oppress- ors. He would readily forget his own injuries and unite himself with the author of them, if only he could be sure of the complete humiliation of Florence. In truth, this universal Father was the weakest, basest, and falsest of mankind. His thirst for vengeance was now fully satiated. Florence, after having most heroically resisted for a year the combined forces of the Pope and the emperor, was at length obliged in 1530 to open its gates to the conqueror. The worthless, illegitimate son of Clement, Alessandro de' Medici, and his wife Margaret, the illegitimate daughter of the emperor, mounted to the throne of Florence on the dead bodies of the inhabitants. Sentences of death, confiscation, and exile were pronounced by a Council of 150 citizens, the puppets of Clement, who was determined not to appear prominently on the scene of his vengeance, because, false as ever, he did not wish that the world should be able, from certain know- ledge, to brand him with the guilt of a flagrant violation of 302 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. the solemn promise made by him, that he would forgive all injuries done to him by any citizen. This barbarity bore witness to the undying enmity of the faithless servant of one who poured out His soul unto death for a world of rebels, and, even in the extremity of His anguish, interceded for the forgiveness of His murderers. 1 After the conclusion of the treaty of Barcelona, it was abundantly evident that great advantages had flowed from the Providential delay which I have described. The emperor, observing the hold which the Reformation had gained on the public mind, did not dare to carry into effect the Edict of Worms, which decreed the infliction of summary vengeance on those who had apostatized from the religion of their fathers. The Diet of Spires, therefore, acting in accordance with the recommendation of the Commissioners appointed to deliberate on the subject, agreed that the pacific Edict of the former Diet of Spires in 1526 should be repealed, and that no other State should be allowed to cast off its allegi- ance to Rome. The princes of Germany, led on by the Elector of Saxony, on April 20th, 1529, entered that famous Protest against this arbitrary edict which has obtained for them and their posterity the illustrious name of Protestant. 2 They felt that they should be traitors to the King of kings if they were partners to a decree which prevented the exten- sion of the boundaries of His kingdom. They felt, in fact, that they should be unsheathing the sword of persecution against those who, acting in accordance with the dictates of 1 Guicciardini, lib. xix., xx. Sismondi, c. 120, 121. Guicciardini unfolded the policy to be pursued by the Pope in Florence. His object in appointing the leading citizens was to throw the odium of these acts upon them, with the view of giving them reason to dread the return of the popular power. Their unpopularity would make the Medicean rule necessary to their safety. 2 Seckendorf, lib. ii. c. 14. Sleidan, c. 6. The Protest proceeded from the Elector of Saxony, the Marquis of Brandenburg, the Duke of Brunswick Luneburg, the Count of Anhalt, and the Landgrave of Hesse. Fourteen cities also joined in it. THE REFORMATION. 303 enlightened consciences, had forsaken the Church of their fathers. But they were exposed to great and imminent danger. A Diet was summoned to meet at Augsburg in 1530, at which it was clearly foreseen that the Protestants would be called upon to sacrifice their faith, and that they would be visited with the wrath of the emperor in the event of their disobedience to the arbitrary mandate. In this crisis, a proposition was made that they should oppose by force of arms the designs of Charles. Luther, however, dissuaded them from this open opposition. God's purpose was, that with the weapon of faith alone they should confront the armed legions of Rome. Prayer was to be the mighty thunder-peal which was to shiver to its lowest stone the citadel of her strength. Meanwhile, however, they were called upon to contend earnestly for the faith. The leading princes had no sooner reached Augsburg than Rome opened her battery upon them. The Elector of Saxony was required to put a stop to the evangelical preachings. Luther and Melancthon wished him to obey this mandate. But the Elector was firm in his opposition to it. He saw clearly that compliance would be followed by one concession after another, and that the issue would be the triumph of Romanism. The Reformation owes, on this and other occasions during the assembly of the Diet, a debt of gratitude to John the Constant, Elector of Saxony. The prudence of the last Elector was indispensable to the preservation of Luther. In this crisis, however, of the world's history, the consequence of a timid policy would have been the surrender of the great truths of the Gospel. The Reformers were now organized into a compact body, prepared to engage in combat with the Papal army. John the Constant became at this time the means of preventing the evil which might have followed from the cowardice of Melancthon, who was persuaded by Roman Catholics to consent to a private reading of the Confession 304 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. of faith. The Elector, however, was determined that it should be made before the nobles and princes of Germany. He and his fellow-Protestants were indeed animated with superhuman courage. They distinctly foresaw that the public proclamation of their religious belief might, by God's blessing, be the means of removing those prejudices which, from ignorance, many had conceived against the Reform- ation ; and might induce many assembled at the Diet to make common cause with the followers of Luther. Those expectations were fully realized. That noble Confession of Augsburg, presented to Charles V. on June 25, 1530, — second only to those which have been transmitted to us froin an earlier age, — in which the errors of Rome are condemned (as the invocation of saints, the compulsory celibacy of the clergy, the doctrine of tran substantiation, the doctrine of indulgences), and in which the truths of Christianity (as the doctrine of justification, and the doctrine of man's corrup- tion) are asserted with distinct and solemn emphasis, at once brought conviction to the minds of many of the German potentates at Augsburg. 1 They determined to surround with drawn swords the blood-stained banner of the Cross. Nay, " their sound went out into all lands, and their words unto the ends of the world." The best commentary on the wisdom of the firm determination of the Elector to proclaim before men his faith in a crucified Redeemer is to be found in the fact, that this Confession was disseminated in foreign lands, and became, under God, the means of inducing many to cast off the superstitions of their fathers, and to unite with those who were contending earnestly for the faith in Germany. The vacillation of Melancthon stands in sad contrast with the firmness of the Elector of Saxony. He was willing to 1 The fullest account of this document is to be found in Weber's " Kritische Gesche der Augsb. Confess." It is analyzed in Hard wick's "Hist, of the Articles," ch. ii. THE REFORMATION. 305 make concessions to Rome in the vain hope of re-uniting Christendom. But the blindness of the hierarchy in inducing the Diet to issue an edict, insisting on the utility of private masses, the meritoriousness of good works, and the necessity of human satisfaction for the remission of the penalties of sin, alone prevented the Germans from relapsing into an ignominious bondage. 1 The glorious issue was that the haughty conqueror of Pavia, the ruler of two worlds, the monarch who had led Francis I. in his triumphal procession and had immured him in the dungeons of Madrid, was ignominiously vanquished by a little band of heroes who wielded no other weapon than the sword of God's Spirit in their struggle with the legions which they had mustered for the battle. He had most reluctantly listened to the simple eloquence of the Confession of Augsburg. And now he did not dare to hew them down with that sword which he had aided Rome in sharpening for their destruction. They retired slowly, being fully assured that God would either avert from them the war of extermination with which they were threatened, in the event of their disobedience to the edict of the tyrant after May 5, 1531 ; or that He would, by the strength of His right arm, smite down the mighty hosts arrayed against them. The clouds were hanging gloomily over the spiritual fabric. One bright flash after another was illumining the vault of heaven. The thunder was con- tinually reverberating through the firmament. A war might very soon be expected to break out, in which parents, brothers, children, friends, would dye their hands deep in the blood of those who ought to be the objects of their hearts' best affections. The necessity of acting with vigour led, in 1532, to the formation of the Smalkaldic league, by which the Pro- testants bound themselves for six years to help one another 1 D'Aiibigni's " Hist, of the Reformation," vol. iv. p. 314. 21 306 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. in maintaining the Confession of Augsburg. 1 But they were delivered from the danger with which they were threatened. God again showed Himself present in history. Man's extremity became His opportunity. The hosts of the infidel became the means of working out deliverance for the in- trepid champions of the Reformation. After the death of Lewis, King of Hungary, on the bloody field of Mohatz, the Archduke Ferdinand, having married a sister of the deceased monarch, ascended the throne. But Solyman, the Turkish Sultan, opposed his assumption of the diadem. He had espoused the cause of another claimant, who had agreed to hold Hungary as his tributary, and had invaded it with a powerful army. He had also ravaged the confines of Austria, and had laid siege to Vienna. But Ferdinand had beaten back the armies of the invader. He had, however, still power to organize another expedition. Burning with the desire of wiping off the stain which sullied the bright- ness of his arms, he rushed with his warlike hordes, like a mighty torrent, on the plains of Hungary. He designed to erect his throne on the ruins of every monarchy. He wished to roll in his war-chariot over the prostrate forms of the inhabitants of Europe. Ferdinand seemed to despair of staying his progress. But a voice of irresistible authority said to him, "Hitherto shalt thou come and no further." Solyman now became, in the course of God's providence, the means of saving the Protestants from ruin. The safety of Europe, the safety of Christendom, depended on the formation of an army which, breathing united strength, might contend on equal terms with the hosts of the Infidel. The Protestants, however, would not bring their forces to his aid, unless the decree issued against them were rescinded ; unless the arm of the emperor were no longer uplifted to destroy. Shall he submit to the conditions imposed by his 1 Ranke's " Reformation," iii. 348. THE REFORMATION. 307 own subjects? Shall the same hand which had signed, annul the sanguinary edict ? Shall he, the monarch of two worlds, court the alliance of those for whose extermination he had assembled his forces ? He found, on careful con- sideration, that the alternative was the loss of that empire for the consolidation of which he had been labouring. The waves of the fiery deluge had been for a time arrested in their progress. The town of Guntz in Styria was offering an heroic resistance to the armies of the invader. Its defenders had planted their footsteps firmly in the breaches which were made in the outworks, being fully determined to beat back the foe ; or, if they should fail in the accomplish- ment of that object, to die nobly in the cause of their country. But, ere long, the boiling surges would sweep away the ill- constructed mound. Time, irrevocable time, was passing away, big with the fate of a mighty empire. Shall ambition's life and labours be in vain ? Shall he become a captive in the triumphal procession of the Turkish Sultan ? By a mighty effort, he conquered that pride which had hitherto prevented him from suing to the Protestants, and settled the prelimin- aries of a treaty with them at Ratisbon. The agreement, called the Pacification of Nuremberg, made in 1532, was to the effect that none should be molested on account of their faith, and that a religious peace should be established in Germany till the meeting of a General Council. 1 Charles was only just in time. The town of Guntz had at length been compelled to surrender. But now a confederacy had been formed which compelled the haughty invader to evacuate the territory. Thus, then, God " made the wrath of man to praise Him." The Turkish Sultan was the in- strument in His hands of humbling the pride of a mighty monarch, and of causing him to suspend the execution of 1 See the account of the negotiations in Sleidan, " Reformation,'' pp. 160, 161. London, 1689. 308 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. that decree of Augsburg, which levelled a deadly blow at the existence of Protestantism in Germany. * The same regard which Clement showed on other occa- sions for his interests as a temporal prince, and which was, as we have seen, very injurious to the Papacy, was the immediate cause of the Reformation in England. At first it seemed as if the influence which Henry VIII. derived from his personal qualities, and his despotic power, which, from various causes, was greater than that of any of his predecessors, would be exerted for the destruction of Pro- testantism. Henry was, as we know, by birth and education, a bigoted Roman Catholic. But, as all students of history are aware, the hesitation of the Pope as to the divorce of Henry, was the means of changing his sentiments, and led to the separation of England from the Papacy. He was in favour of the divorce or was opposed to it, according as he saw the arms of the French or the Spaniards victorious in Italy. The first formal application was made to him when Clement was the prisoner of Charles in the castle of St. Angelo. As he was anxious not to offend Henry, he would at once have decreed it if he could have furnished him with the means of expelling the hated Spaniard from Italy. But he saw very plainly that, while he was held in thraldom by Charles, the consequence of his consent must have been that the latter would have called a General Council which would have deposed him on account of the illegitimacy of his birth. He knew also that Charles could do him more harm or good than Henry, that he could banish his family from Florence, or contract the boundaries of his Italian principality. At the same time he was aware that, if he refused the application of Henry, he might lose one of the brightest jewels which glittered in the Papal tiara. At one time, when the armies of Charles were retreating before the 1 Seckendorf, lib. iii. u. 4, 5 ; Pallavicino, lib. iii. c. 9. THE REFORMATION. 309 enemy, he signed the famous Decretal by which he annulled the marriage. But afterwards the armies of France were obliged to capitulate, so that the emperor was now triumph- ant in Italy. Accordingly the Pope sent a special messenger after Campeggio with such instructions as rendered the commission which he had given to him and Wolsey to declare the divorce of Henry from Catherine an absolute nullity. And now the cardinals alleged one excuse after another for delaying the prosecution of the suit, until it became manifest to all men that Clement had no intention of granting the divorce. But still Henry was unwilling to cast off his allegiance to Rome. At length wearied out with the delays of Rome, he directed Cranmer to adjudicate upon it in his own court. On the 23rd of May, 1533, Henry's marriage was pronounced null and void from the beginning. But still Henry was anxious, if possible, to obtain the Papal sanction to the divorce. He was led to suppose that, if an application were made to Clement before a certain day, it would be granted. That supposition was correct. The reason for this limitati'on was that certain cardinals of the Imperial faction, acting in obedience to the instructions of the emperor, were doing what they could to prevent the matter from being amicably settled. At length the day arrived, big with the fate of the Reformation in England. Shall its onward course be arrested ? Shall the powers of hell be permitted to triumph ? Shall Henry again bow his neck beneath the Papal yoke ? These were questions, the answers to which perplexed the minds of the Protestants. The enemies of Protestantism were full of exultation. They drew from passing events auguries of the speedy return of Henry to the bosom of his spiritual mother. If, however, God had rolled away the thick cloud which conceals the glories of the invisible world, they would have seen, like the arch-fiend of Milton, the golden scales containing two 310 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. weights, the one representing the fortunes of Protestantism, the other the fortunes of Romanism, the latter of which was flying up, and kicking the beam from which it was sus- pended. The day passed away, and the messenger did not make his appearance. In vain the French ambassador pleaded for a delay of six days, urging that their Eminences might well have a little patience when Henry had waited so long for a settlement of the question. But the intrigues of the cardinals connected with the imperial faction prevailed; for, as the Pope had allied himself so closely with France, it was no longer for the interest of Charles that he should be reconciled to Henry. Accordingly we find them repre- senting the non-arrival of the messenger as a proof that Henry had no intention of reconciling himself to the Roman See. Their interested impatience happily prevailed. In one day were dispatched the formalities usually allotted to three. Henry was required to separate from Anne Boleyn, and to take back Catherine, under the penalty of ecclesi- astical censures. Two days after the sitting of this memor- able conclave, the messenger arrived, charged with Henry's submission of himself and his cause to the Papal See, and with an urgent request from the King of France that the matter might be arranged to his satisfaction. He had been accidentally, or rather providentially, delayed in his journey across the Alps by the inclemency of the weather. The Pope and the cardinals were overwhelmed with consterna- tion. They now saw, when it was too late, that they had, by their precipitation, effectually separated England from the dominions of the Pope. All this tortuous and Machia- vellian policy served, no doubt, to impress Henry with a deep conviction of the unscriptural character of Romanism. Parliament soon met, and passed a series of statutes, which completed the emancipation of England. 1 The devout student of history will assuredly trace the agency of God in 1 Burnet's " History of the Reformation," passim. THE REFORMATION. 31 1 the events just referred to. Clement and his cardinals seem to have been so controlled by a higher Power, as to have been compelled to repel from them a monarch, who was anxious to continue a standard-bearer in the great Papal army. And at length, to what the world would call the accidental delay of a messenger, in which all rightly-minded people will see the finger of God, we owe it that England did not again become subject to the Pope, and that she has prosecuted that work of reforming the Church, which has proved a source of blessing to many generations of our fellow-countrymen. In the very year (1534) when, as we have just seen, the separation of England from the Papacy was completed, Clement VII. died. Unquestionably, by his timidity and his irresolution, he had greatly promoted the cause of the Reformation. So great was the hatred which he had in- spired that nightly attacks were made on his tomb. Once it was quite disturbed, and the body was found transfixed with a sword. 1 We are informed also that only the respect felt for his kinsman, the Cardinal de' Medici, preserved his body from being torn from the grave, and dragged through the city by a hook. We cannot wonder at the strong feeling which existed against him. Italy was exhausted by the wars which his ambition had occasioned ; and his son whom, at the cost of the greatest crimes, he had raised to the throne of Florence, was proving himself a worthless and despicable tyrant. Paul III. was a man of far greater resolution than Clement, and a determined foe of the Reformation. He excommunicated Henry VIII., and began the persecution which smote down Italian Protestantism. He was, however, for some time unsuccessful in inducing Charles to come forward as its uncompromising antagonist. The life of the latter exhibits a constant struggle between the statesman 1 See Gregory Casale's letter to the Duke of Norfolk in the State Papers of Henry VIII., vii. 573. 312 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. and the bigoted Romanist. 1 The wars in which he was now engaged for many years proved in the issue, by divert- ing his attention from the affairs of Germany, extremely favourable to its progress. In 1541 a Colloquy was held at Ratisbon between the Reformers and their opponents, at which they actually arrived at an agreement on free-will, original sin, and the justification' of the sinner in the sight of God. They never approximated so closely as on this occasion. The proceedings were, however, in vain, as some hot-headed men, who took a leading part in them, were decidedly opposed to a reconciliation between the contend- ing parties. 2 This attempt at union had the sanction of Charles, who at the present time longed ardently for a reconciliation with the Protestants. The Sultan had wrested from the rightful monarch the crown of Hungary. His legions were now hovering, like a dark cloud, over the con- fines of Austria. All the strength of the empire was required for the purpose of beating back the advancing foe. The prospect of agreement produced the desired effect. Liberal supplies were voted by the Diet for the purpose of enabling the emperor to prosecute his war with the Sultan. Yet it was perfectly evident that the situation of the Protestants was one of extreme difficulty and danger. The emperor might indeed adopt a policy of conciliation, and suspend the rigorous edicts which he had published against them whenever he wanted their assistance against his enemies ; but- he would never rescind them. Besides, the persecutions carried on in other parts of the empire, afforded ■ abundant evidence of his hostile feelings towards them. It was plain that, if he could safely do so, he would concen- trate all his energies on the work of exterminating them in Germany. 1 " Autobiography of Charles V.," passim. 2 See Bretschnerder's " Melancthon, " iv. 119, sq., and Ranke's " History of the Popes," pp. 41-45. THE REFORMATION. 313 The time at length arrived when Charles no longer found it necessary to conciliate the Protestants. The necessity for courting their assistance ceased with the signing of the Peace of Crespy between him and Francis on the 18th of September, 1544. In fulfilment of an alliance with Henry of England, he had invaded France with 50,000 men. Instead, however, of advancing rapidly and uniting his forces with those of Henry under the walls of Paris, a movement which must have issued in the conquest of France, as the Dauphin had no troops in that quarter, he lost so much time in reducing towns of inferior importance, that Francis had time to muster an army for the defence of his kingdom. It seemed, therefore, very improbable that his enterprise would be successful. But other motives prompted him to desist from his hostility. Paul III., who was inflamed with anger, not only on account of his league with an avowed heretic, Henry of England, but also on account of the privileges which he had granted to the Protestants, might at any time unite with Francis and invade his dominions in Italy. The Turks, too, were threatening Austria. He found also that half the princes of Germany had not only cast off their allegiance to the Roman See, but had also formed a league which would enable them successfully to bid defiance to his authority, and reduce him to the position of nominal head of the German Empire. Thus he was led to conclude the treaty of Crespy in 1544. 1 The result appeared in the opening of a General Council at Trent on December 13th, 1545. The emperor had long wished to be instrumental in bringing a General Council together, because he was anxious to have the glory of re-uniting Christendom. Paul HI. had laboured strenuously for the accomplishment of the same object, but hitherto he had been unsuccessful. A Council had indeed 1 See Sleidan, as before, p. 336. 314 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. been summoned to meet at Trent in 1542, but the war between Francis and Charles had rendered the Ball for its convocation a nullity. But now, after the conclusion of the peace, Paul found it possible to bring the synod together. 1 Another . result was the commencement of hostilities against the Protestants. But though Charles had acted with the utmost caution before he began hostilities, and had endeavoured to conceal from the Protestants his real designs, he had not anticipated the suddenness with which the trumpet-call to arms sounding through Germany had been heard and obeyed by all ranks and orders of Protestants. Multitudes, animated by religious zeal, had flocked to the standard of the Reformers. The emperor was shut up in Ratisbon with a very small force at his disposal. If the Protestants had acted with promptitude, he might have been cut off before the arrival of the troops which he had ordered from Spain, and of the levies which the Pope had dispatched to his assistance. But the hesitation and delay of John Frederick, the Elector of Saxony, and of the Landgrave of Hesse, who were the joint commanders of the Protestant army, gave the enemy time to assemble his forces. They should then have hurled their warlike columns against the intrenched camp of the enemy. The victory, in all probability, would not have remained in suspense for a moment. But the Elector disapproved of an enterprise, the issue of which was, as he maintained, doubtful. Still it seemed very probable that the emperor would be unable to keep his forces in the field, and that the confederates would eventually be successful. If, however, they had triumphed now, we should have lost a striking manifestation of God's agency in the government of the world. The cause of truth in Germany shall at length triumph. But the Church must first of all pass through the burning fiery furnace. Even now one who was 1 Raynaldus, an. 1545, passim. THE REFORMATION. 315 supposed to be one of the most devoted of her sons was about to inflict a grievous wound on his spiritual mother. She was about to be laid in the dust in order that God, by interfering on her behalf when all human aid was vain, might make it manifest that there is "a reward for the righteous ; that there is a God that judgeth in the earth." The Protestants little knew that they had a traitor in the camp. Maurice of Saxony had early seen that the emperor would turn against the Protestants. Deeming it certain that he would prevail, he endeavoured to ingratiate himself with him in order that he might obtain a large share of the spoils which would be the reward of the conqueror. The demon of ambition had taken possession of his breast. He longed to have another coronet glittering on his brow. No sooner had the war broken out than he repaired to the emperor, and obtained the promise that, if he would create a diversion by invading the Elector's territory, he would add it to the small portion which he had inherited from his ancestors. He had previously assigned specious reasons, which satisfied his fellow-Protestants, for not joining their confederacy. Afterwards, with an address which gives him a right to be ranked amongst the most distinguished masters of political craft, this monster of perfidy continued to con- ceal his designs from his confederates till he was about to strike the fatal blow. Then veiling his ambition under the specious pretext of executing the ban of the Empire, he suddenly invaded Saxony with 12,000 men. The sudden bursting of a thunder-cloud in the calm and serene skies of summer could not have caused greater consternation among the confederates than this defection of one who had hith?rto been considered as the soul of magnanimity and honour. 1 Maurice very soon gained possession of the territory. The departure of the Elector, who hastened to the defence 1 Sleidan, lib. xvii.-xx. 316 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. of it, so disheartened the confederacy that they resolved to submit themselves to the mercy of the emperor. They were obliged immediately to renounce the league of Smalkalde, and to agree to other terms imposed by the conqueror. Thus a confederacy which had struck terror into the mind of the monarch of two worlds was dissolved in a moment. The illustrious Luther was happily spared from witnessing the horrors of this struggle, known as the Smalkaldic War, for he breathed his last at Eisleben on February 18th, 1546, the victim of a grievous malady which intensified the feelings of dissatisfaction with which he regarded the present posture of ecclesiastical affairs. 1 Maurice, however, did not at once reap the reward of his perfidy. The Elector had no sooner returned than he deprived him of his conquests. Maurice sent urgent appli- cations to Charles for assistance. The latter, however, was not in a position to come to his succour, partly because Paul III., thinking that he was aiming at universal do- minion, had withdrawn his troops from Germany, and partly because Francis I., impressed with the same conviction, was endeavouring to organize a powerful confederacy against him. The Pope was also very angry with Charles V. because he had opposed the investiture of his son Peter Louis with the sovereignty of Parma and Placentia, which, in spite of the opposition of his cardinals, he had withdrawn from the territories of the Church, and had conferred upon him. The truth was, that his desire for the advancement of his numerous children was far in excess of his zeal for the promotion of the interests of his Church. Hence he endeavoured, by the withdrawal of his troops, to hinder the advance of the emperor in his career of victory. He also endeavoured to revenge himself upon him by transferring the Council from Trent to Bologna. Since, however, the Papal troops were badly equipped and badly disciplined, 1 Seckendorf, lib. iii. c. 36. THE REFORMATION. 317 the withdrawal of them did not hinder Charles in the execution of his designs against the Protestants. From the danger occasioned by the opposition of Francis, he was delivered by the death of his hated rival. Now it seemed as if no one remained to withstand his progress towards supreme dominion. He vanquished the Elector of Saxony at Muhlberg on April 24th, 1547, and put Maurice in possession of his territory. 1 He was now about to put the top-stone on that fabric of Empire, for the consolidation of which he had been labouring. He summoned a Diet at Augsburg on May 15 th, 1548, for the purpose of compelling his subjects to promise an unqualified submission to the decrees of the Council of Trent whenever they should be issued, and of enforcing on them the observance of the Interim — a system of doctrine compiled in obedience to his instructions, in which all the offensive doctrines of Romanism were retained. 2 The Popish members of the Diet immedi- ately obeyed the mandate of the emperor. The Protestants, ' a feeble and dispirited band, were about to follow their example. The designs of their enemies seemed likely to be crowned with the wished-for success. Paul III., however, strange to say ! at the very moment when all North Germanv was apprehensive of the restoration of the Papal authority, became the ally of those very Protestants whom the emperor was labouring to exterminate. He had been overjoyed when he heard that John Frederick had defeated Maurice ; and ardently hoped that he might be equally successful in his contest with the emperor. His removal of the Council to Bologna from Trent, where the bishops of the Imperial party still remained, prevented it, as it was disunited, from passing those decrees, the acceptance of which, as the emperor was victorious in Germany, he might now have enforced on the Protestants. Thus we have another proof 1 See- for an account of all these events Sleidan, lib. xvii.-xx. 2 See Gieselers account of its origin and 'composition, iii. p. 342, n. I. 318 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. that the political position of the Pope aided the advance- ment of the Reformation. He became still more violent against the emperor when he heard that, after the assassin- ation of his son Peter Louis, to which some in those days supposed that the former had been instrumental, he had taken possession of Placentia; and he died in i55°> the bitter opponent of one who was exerting every effort to raise the Papacy to its former "high and palmy state" among the nations of the earth.* Julius III., the successor of Paul III., at once declared his determination to uphold the authority of the emperor, and in compliance with his demand, summoned the Council to re-assemble at Trent. He was, however, far too indolent to exert himself to oppose the progress of the Reformation. He also witnessed the downfall of the emperor and the final triumph of Protestantism in Germany. God had suffered His Church to be laid low in order that, by interposing on her behalf when she was destitute of hope, He might make it manifest to the nations that to His arm alone she was indebted for her deliverance. The largest desires of Maurice's ambitious heart had been gratified. He had become one of the most powerful princes of Germany. He felt, however, that if the emperor were allowed to advance unchecked in his career of ambition he should himself possess only a nominal sovereignty. He had seen also that, notwithstanding his express declaration to the contrary, his hand was raised to inflict a heavy blow on that religion to which, notwithstanding his political apos- 1 Thuanus, lib. iv. c. 18-22 ; Pallavicino, lib. v. c. 14 ; Raynaldus. an. 1545, n. 53. Thuanus is the great original authority for the latter half of the sixteenth century and the commencement of. the seventeenth. He was one of the presidents of the Parliament of Paris. The original work is in Latin, six volumes folio. It begins with the year 1545, and is carried down to 1607. On account of certain passages supposed to be injurious to the Church of Rome, this noble work was placed in the Index Expurgatorius. THE REFORMATION. 319 tasy, he was warmly attached. He was ambitious too of becoming the head of the Protestant party in Germany. But the difficulties in the way of the attainment of his object were apparently insurmountable. If he endeavoured to dissolve his connection with the emperor he would be crushed by that right hand which had smitten down the princes in Germany. Again, he knew that the Protestant party would not repose any confidence in one who had betrayed them to their enemies. The address with which he conquered these difficulties, the tortuous course of policy which he pursued in order to accomplish his object, show that he was endowed with that political sagacity which rendered him pre-eminently the Machiavelli of the age. While, on the one hand, he disarmed the suspicions of the emperor by persuading his subjects to adopt the Interim, on the other hand, when he found the Protestants less inclined than ever to associate with him because he seemed more determined than before to associate with the Roman Catholic party, he instructed his ambassadors to declare, that unless the Protestants had a full hearing granted to them, he would not acknowledge the authority of the Council of Trent. At the same time, with a skill which excites our admiration, he contrived so to lull the suspicions of the emperor to sleep as to persuade him that he was anxious to vindicate his authority, and to establish the Roman Catholic religion on a firm foundation. At length Maurice, having completed his preparations, threw off the mask and declared war against the emperor. The astonishment and consternation of Charles surpass all description. He was at Inspruck with a small body of troops, ill-prepared to sustain the attack of the army with which Maurice was marching against him. Only by a hasty night march he escaped being taken prisoner. Maurice also frightened away the Fathers from Trent and scattered them. In consequence of their dispersion the Pope suspended 320 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. the synod. 1 Maurice was powerfully supported by the French king, with whom he had concluded an alliance against the emperor. Thus, then, we see that Henry of France, a monarch zealous for the Roman Catholic faith, who was persecuting his own subjects in France, was so controlled by a Higher Power as to become, by aiding Maurice in Germany, the means of extending the boundaries of Protestantism. Here, then, we have another illustration of the truth of those words of the Psalmist, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee." Charles found that he could no longer hope to prevent the Protestants from joining the league by declaring that his only object in taking up arms was to assert his own authority, and his right to be considered as something more than the nominal head of the Holy Roman Empire. On the contrary, they saw very clearly that he aimed at the destruction of the Protestant religion, and the annihilation of the liberties of Germany. Maurice was the soul of the confederacy. It was no longer that languid and unwieldy mass which could not be brought to act with any degree of energy against the emperor. On the contrary, it was a united body, animated with the single desire of casting him down from his usurped dominion, and of securing the liberty of private judgment in matters of religion. These considerations led to the conclusion of the memor- able Treaty of Passau in 1552, by which the Protestants were secured in the exercise of their religion, and liberty of conscience was granted to all orders of the community. 2 This treaty was afterwards fully confirmed by the Diet of Augsburg, opened by Ferdinand, the emperor's brother, in which it was decreed that all who had subscribed the Confession of Augsburg of T530 were entirely exempt from the spiritual and temporal jurisdiction of the Pope. Thus 1 Thuanus, lib. ix. t. 13, 14; lib. x. c. 1-13 ; Raynaldus, arm. 1551, passim. 2 Sleidan, lib. xxiii., xxiv. THE REFORMATION. 32 1 the Reformed religion was legally recognized in Germany on September 25th, 1555. The conclusion of this treaty was followed, on October 25th, by that memorable scene in the Council-chamber at Brussels, which has been described with so much eloquence by the historian Thuanus. 1 By his voluntary resignation of his many crowns to his son Philip, in the presence of a splendid retinue of the princes of the empire, when, as he touchingly reminds him, he might still have retained them, he in fact acknowledged that the labours of his life had ended in disastrous failure, and that he had been beaten down by a Higher Power in his conflict with Protestantism. He brought a shattered mind and body to the monastery of Yuste, in one of nature's green solitudes, where, amid the gloom of cloistered seclusion, he hoped by meditation and by devotional exercises to prepare himself for that eternal and unchangeable state of existence on which he felt that he must shortly enter. But during the two years of his residence at Yuste, before his death in 1558, he did not allay the fever of his imperious spirit, and from his retirement ordered the burning of heretics, directed the movements of armies, attempted to sway the destinies of States and empires, and to regulate the proceedings of those who acted a conspicuous part in public affairs. 2 1 Thuanus, ' lib. xvi. c. 20. Thuanus informs us that the emperor wept, and said that he pitied his son when he placed so great a weight upon his shoulders. 2 Dr. Robertson, in his "History of Charles V.," published a century ago, has given currency to some gross errors in regard to him. The reason was that he was satisfied with imperfect sources of information, • and relied, like the French of the day, more on rhetoric than research. This was the conviction of two of his contemporaries. "Read not history to me," said Sir Robert Walpole, who, no doubt, had Robertson in view, " for that, I know, must be false." His son tells us that "he' took everything on trust; and when he compiled his 'Charles V.,' was> altogether ignorant of German and Spanish historians." Mr. Stirling, in his " Cloister Life of Charles V.," published in 1852, says, that "he cited indeed the respectable names of Sandonal, Vera, and De Thou, 22 3»2 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Julius III., however, spent the three last years of his life, from 1552 to 1555, in retirement, in the midst of vice, and gambling, and sensual pleasures, and never for one moment gave a thought to the strict and solemn account which he but seems chiefly to have relied on Leti, one of the most lively and least trustworthy of the historians of his time." When his errors were first pointed out, about thirty years ago, reference was made to a certain manuscript deposited in the Archives of the Foreign Office at Paris, containing important information in regard to Charles. Mr. Stirling was allowed to examine, but not to transcribe it, as the French Govern- ment intended to publish it. It is entitled a " Memoir of Charles at Yuste," and/ is founded on documents which, on the restoration of Ferdinand VII. to the throne of Spain, were entrusted to the care of Thomas Gonzales, canon of Placencia, consisting almost entirely of original letters, selected from the correspondence between the Courts at Valladolid and Bruxelles and the retired emperor and his household, in the years 1556, 1557, and 1558. Mr. Stirling has published informa- tion obtained from this work and from other sources, critically examined, including a work by Siguenza, the first printed account of Charles at Yuste, of the existence of which Dr. Robertson was not aware. The following are some of his errors which he corrects. (1) He mistakes the name of the monastery, calling it St. Justus instead of Yuste, a streamlet at the back which gives its name to it. (2) Instead of "his table neat and plain," according to Robertson, he had dainties of all kinds. (3) Robertson says that Charles, on failing to make two watches keep time together at Yuste, expressed his regret at having attempted to enforce uniformity of religion. This is mere romance. Every da}', as he grew older, his bigotry became stronger. He once said to the prior of Yuste, ' ' If anything would drag me from this retreat it would be to aid in chastising these heretics. I have told the Inquisition to burn them all. " (4) His existence was not that pictured by Robertson, of a man perfectly disengaged from this present life, who, so far from taking part in the political transactions of Europe, did not even inquire about them, and viewed the busy scene with contempt or indifference ; for we find from the manuscript that his eye swept from his watch-tower the entire horizon of Spanish politics ; that he considered himself the adviser of his children ; and that he looked for the arrival of the post with eager anxiety. (5) Robertson says, " He celebrated his own obsequies, following in his shroud, and was laid in his coffin." There is not a word to justify this tale. He assisted, not as a corpse, but as one of the spectators, holding a waxen taper. THE REFORMATION. 323 would have to give at the judgment-seat of Christ, or exerted the least effort to arrest the progress of that religious revolt which was robbing him of one province after another of his spiritual empire. 1 An examination of the history of these times will serve to show us that the Reformers had advanced rapidly in their career of victory. The walls of the strongholds of Romanism seem tp have fallen prostrate, like those of Jericho, before the first trumpet-blast of the armies of their foes. Some idea may be formed of the rapidity of this advance when we hear that in 1523 and 1524 large and distant towns, Frankfort- on- the- Main, Magdeburg, Ulm, Strasburg, Halle in Suabia, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Bremen, and Stettin had welcomed the principles of the Reformation. 2 Before ten years had passed away, from the time of the burning of the Papal Bull at Wittemberg, the States of Saxony, Hesse, Brandenburg, Luneberg, Mecklenburg, Holstein, and Pomerania had cast off the usurped dominion of the Roman Pontiff. 3 The progress of the new opinions had been equally rapid in countries not included within the limits of the German Empire. In 1523 the Lutheran preachers sounded the trumpet-call through Eastern Prussia, and in 1525 the whole population crowded round the banner of the Reformers. 4 The same Gustavus Vasa who had delivered Sweden from the yoke of her oppressor, Christian II., after some, resistance from the people which he at length quelled, succeeded in emancipating her from her spiritual bondage. 5 Denmark and Norway too, through the instrumentality of their sovereigns, Frederick v I. and 4 Christian III., were, 1 Thuanus, lib. xv. c. 7. Raynaldus, an. 1555, n. 12. Thuanus says that his death was caused more by intemperance than old age. He provided liberally for his kinsmen, and conferred a cardinal's hat on a youth of sixteen who kept his monkeys. 2 Gieseler, iii. pp. 122-125. 3 Gerdes, torn. ii. passim. * Ranke, "Reform.," ii. p. 526. s Geijer's " History of the Swedes," by Turner. 324 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. before 1540, numbered amongst those nations whom the truth had made free. 1 The Reformation, too, advanced with great rapidity in Switzerland. Ulric Zuingle, its great apostle, first of all persuaded Zurich to accept it. Berne soon followed her example. In the course of three years from 1526, through his agency and that of others, half the cantons of Switzerland had cast off the yoke of their spiritual oppressor. 2 In 1559 a war broke out between the Protestant Lords of the Congregation and Queen Mary of Guise, which soon ended in the subversion of Romanism, and in the triumphant establishment of Protestantism in Scotland. We have seen that Henry VIII. had been led by a course of events, in which we may clearly discover the agency of God, to abolish the supremacy of Romanism in England. We must not, however, suppose that the Reform- ation owes its origin to him. On the contrary, we find that men endowed with the " irresistible might of weakness " were employed by God to burst open the prison gates, and to break in pieces the chains of the oppressor. Henry was offering a decided opposition to it at the very time when Bilney, who has been justly styled its father, having been enlightened by the study of the Greek Testament of Erasmus, began the work by persuading not only Latimer, but many members of the University of Cambridge, to abandon the religion of their ancestors. 3 But if the king had not interfered for the protection of the Church, in all probability, after she had enjoyed a short period of pros- perity, the designs of her enemies would have prevailed to her destruction. Besides, the special action of the legisla- 1 See Ranke's fall account, book vi. c. 2-4. 2 Raynaldus, an. 1526. Ranke, lib. vi. c. 10. 3 The following proof of Henry's opposition may be givenj Luther had published a letter to Henry claiming him as a friend. Henry was. very indignant, and thus wrote to him : " Your venomous; pen mocks the Church, abuses the saints, dishonours the holy Virgin, and blasphemes God by making him the author of evil." THE REFORMATION. 325. ' tive power was needful for the alteration of the enactments having reference to the supremacy of Romanism in Great Britain. We may say, that it was a providential circumstance that the Church struggled into existence at the very time when the monarch was a man of great ability, and very popular with his subjects. From the force of circumstances, amongst which we may reckon the diminution in the power of the feudal oligarchy during the Wars of the Roses, and the establishment of the Court of Star Chamber, he possessed greater power than any of his predecessors, which God employed to overcome difficulties, apparently insurmount- able, and to shield her from destruction. I can here refer only to one class of them. The State papers, a few years ago laid open to the public, have revealed to us the extent of the danger with whi,ch he was threatened, and have shown us that to his energy and consummate ability he was indebted for deliverance from his numerous and for- midable enemies. 1 All England, Scotland, and Ireland were in arms against him. The Simancas papers, discovered in Spain, show us that Cardinal Pole had been plotting against Henry, and that he had offered his services to the emperor in aid of the revolutionary designs of his subjects, which the former was anxious to encourage. Occasionally, as we read the correspondence, we find that he could not con- ceal his anxiety. Generally, however, he held on the even tenor of his way, and at length triumphed over all opposition. But still we must remember that in England our attention is, to some extent, withdrawn from human agency. We overlook the feeble three hundred of Gideon, and fix our eyes on the sword of the Lord which flashes before us, and mows down, like the bearded grain, the armies of the Midianites. Bilney, Arthur, Thistle, and Stafford, with the other leaders of this great movement, who bore the brunt T Dean Hook's "Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury," vol. iii. p. 136- 326 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. of the battle with Romanism, do not stand out prominently as men of intellect from the common herd of their fellow- countrymen. Bilney, whose trumpet-blast gave the signal for the onset, was often tempted to withdraw to the rear of the army, because he trembled before the principalities and powers who were thronging his path. The condition in life of the subordinate agents in this mighty enterprise, who were chiefly artisans and tradesmen enrolled in a society called the Christian Brotherhood, supported by subscriptions, formed for the purpose of distributing testaments and tracts through the country, affords the clearest evidence that, as at the time of the introduction of Christianity, God "chose the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty." The men of "strength surpassing nature's law," who force their resistless way through the dense columns of their foes, like the whirlwind which marks its desolating progress by tearing up the giant oak, the patriarch of the forest, appear, on the contrary, prominently in connection with the glorious victory achieved by the Germans and Swiss over the confederated legions of darkness. Thus we have a plainer manifestation of the agency of God in the English than in the German Reformation. A bright light, emanating from God's throne, at this time bursts through the openings in the clouds, and streams over the ark of the Church, as, shattered by the tempest, it ploughs the heaving ocean. We now feel assured that, guided by God's hand, it will hold on its course ; sometimes calmly gliding over the sparkling surface of the deep ; sometimes mounting to the skies on the crest of the mighty billow, until at length it shall repose tranquilly on its shadow in the haven of eternity. If Edward VI. had .been succeeded by a sovereign altogether indifferent to religion, England might have relapsed into its bondage to Rome. The conduct of the leading men amongst the Reformers had not been such as THE REFORMATION. 327 to secure for them the good will of the large body of the community. They had taught the people that obedience was merged in speculative belief. The consequence was, that an increase of knowledge had not brought with it an increased regard to the great duties of morality. The government was corrupt. Private life was infected with an impiety which casts into the shade the licentiousness of the Roman Catholic clergy. Even Burnet cannot deny that the malpractices of many of the nobility, who were zealous in upholding the cause of the Reformation, were very injurious to the Church. "The open lewdness in which," he says, " many of them lived, without shame and remorse, gave occasion to their adversaries to say that they were in the right to assert justification by faith without works, since they were as to every good work reprobate. Their gross and insatiate scrambling after the goods and wealth devoted, though with good design, to superstitious uses, without appropriating any part to the propagation of the Gospel, the instructing of youth, and relieving the poor, made most people conclude it was for robbery, not for Reformation, that their zeal made them so active." l Professor Brewer does not hesitate to remark that " the generality of men are too much misled by Foxe in forming anything like a fair and just estimate of the reigns of King Edward and his successor. No king ever lived in the nation whose reign was more disastrous to true religion, and consequently to the Church, than the reign of Edward VI. As Burnet says, men were fast falling away from the truth, or were turning to their ancient opinions. Persecution, while it purged the Reformation to a great extent of those who supported it merely because it allowed a greater laxity than Romanism, threw a halo round those who suffered, a feeling of pity and respect for them, and veneration for their opinions, for which they suffered, which a milder policy had never 1 Burnet, iii. 21 61 328 ' EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. produced. Queen Mary did more for the Reformation than either of her immediate predecessors." ' If she had only been lenient to the Protestants, and had gently repressed the new opinions, Romanism would have regained its former ascendency in Great Britain. A return to the constitution of religion, as it was left by her father, was the wish of a large proportion of the community. The clergy had complied through fear, and were ready to apostatize from Protestantism. The moderate English party had no sympathy with opinions associated with corruption and the neglect of every social and relative obligation. ', We find, however, that now, as in former times, the Roman Pontiffs were their own worst enemies. If, indeed, the life of Marcellus II., whp was elected after the death of Julius in 1555, had been prolonged, it is not unlikely that the inhabitants of England would have been once more numbered among his spiritual vassals. He was determined to purify the Church from its corruptions, and to avoid those political complications which had tarnished the glory of the Papacy, and had become, in the course of God's pro- vidence, subservient to the advancement of Protestantism. 2 But the bright vision of a Church regenerated through his disinterested zeal soon vanished away. Like another Marcellus, cut off in the spring-tide of life, who, if he had lived, would have shed an imperishable glory on the land of his birth, he decorated only for a short time the sphere to which he had been elevated. He died on the twenty- second day of his Pontificate. In the one case, as in the other, the Tiber, as it glided by the walls of Rome, heard the loud lamentations of his friends, and witnessed the funeral pomp which accompanied him to his last narrow home. 1 Brewer, " Notes on Fuller," Book viii. p. 150. 2 Petri Polidori, de Vita Marcelli, II. Commentarius, 1744, p. 119. Ranke's "History of the Popes," Book III. THE REFORMATION. 329 " Ostendent terris hunc tantum fata." z We might have imagined that Paul IV., who succeeded Marcellus, would have proved an effective combatant of the Reformation. He seemed animated with a firm determin- ation to restore the Roman Catholic Church to its former ascendency over the nations. He was austere, stern, and arrogant ; had a high idea of the power of the Papacy ; regarded Protestantism with an intense abhorrence, and longed to wage with it a ceaseless warfare. But inspired with ardent patriotism by the recollection of the time when Italy was free, he longed to deliver the land of his birth from the yoke of her Spanish oppressors. He belonged also to a House which had taken the side of the French in former wars in Italy. The circumstances of the times- supplied him with a strong temptation to abandon the projects of reform with which he had begun his Pontificate 5 for he seemed likely to succeed in the attainment of his object, as Italy no longer remained steadfast in her allegiance to Charles, and he had been unsuccessful in his conflict with the heroic Protestants of Germany. He felt a great hatred for Charles, not only because he had forged chains to enslave his fellow-countrymen, but also because, irritated by a charge that he favoured the Protestants from jealousy of the Pope, he had excluded him from the Council appointed for the administration of the affairs of Naples, and had never allowed him to obtain quiet possession of the offices which he held in the Neapolitan ■ territory. He advanced his nephews, the Caraffas, to high temporal dignities, not because he was really a nepotist, but because he knew that they shared his intense long- ing to take vengeance on the emperor. 2 After the abdi- cation of the latter, he transferred his hatred to his son and successor Philip. Eager for revenge, he induced the 1 Virgil, "^Eneid," 1. vi. 871-885. 3 Ranke's "History of the Popes," Book III. 330 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. king of France to break his truce with the Spaniards, and to carry on hostilities against them in Italy. The result was the battle of St. Quintin, which ended in the inglorious defeat of the French and Papal army, and the complete frustration of Paul's schemes for the emancipation of the Peninsula. Alva invaded the Papal territory ; but, like his royal master, impressed with a deep and reverential awe of the Supreme Pontiff, he did not proceed to extremities against him. The issue was the conclusion of a treaty so advantageous to the Pope that he seemed to have come off a conqueror in a conflict, the end of which had left him completely at the mercy of his powerful and victorious antagonist. 1 When we remember that Philip was also king of England, we must see that the Pope pursued the very worst course for the recovery of that country to the Papal See. By perse- cuting Cardinal Pole, a man of moderate opinions, who, as a native Englishman of high rank, was equally acceptable to queen, nobles, and people, and therefore well fitted to labour for the restoration of Romanism in England, and by substituting for him as legate a monk of an intensely fanatical spirit, who was constantly urging on the queen to violent measures, this Pope, the fiercest of zealots, effectually alien- ated England from the Holy See. 2 Thus she was led to the perpetration of atrocities, from the contemplation of which human nature recoils with horror. This hater of Protestantism in this manner proved himself its greatest friend, and became instrumental in extending its boundaries. If Mary had suffered Cranmer to live, he would have been consigned to eternal infamy because he apostatized from the faith. But, by bringing him forth to die, she gave him the opportunity * Motley's "Rise of the Dutch Republic," p. 86. Thuanus, lib. xvi. c. 1-8 ; lib. xvii. c. 4-18. Raynaldus, an. 1555, n. 72, 73 ; an. 1556, passim. 2 Ranke's "History of the Popes," Book III. THE REFORMATION. 33 1 of redeeming his fame by witnessing a good confession, and of adding his name to that long list of Christian worthies who have cemented with their blood the stones of our spiritual fabric. Thus, then, the Pope lost for his Church the advantage which it possessed in the lukewarmness of Protestantism in England. Romanism became in God's hands a scourge to beat back a nation which was advancing with rapid strides towards the camp of its opponents. The satellites of Rome persevered in their work of extermination till they had taught the nation to regard them with horror ; till they had, however unwillingly and unconsciously, with their own hands struck off the manacles which their fellow- subjects seemed only too eager to fasten on themselves; till they had compelled them to seek in Protestantism a refuge from an intolerable bondage. We have now seen that the Reformation went forth " conquering and to conquer." About the year 1559, at the death of Paul IV., forty years from the time when Martin Luther began to preach, it had completely triumphed in the northern parts of Europe. But by that time the Roman Catholic Church was, as we shall see in the next chapter, fully strengthened to withstand the onset of Protestantism. We may, therefore, make the year 1559 the termination of the eighth epoch. We have seen in the last chapter that the invention of printing contributed greatly to the rapid progress of the Reformation. The homely simplicity of Luther's style, together with his nervous, vigorous, and fervid eloquence, caused the weighty truths which he brought before them to sink deep into the hearts of his readers and hearers. In one year alone, 183 of his books issued from the press. 1 Melanc- thon's lectures at Wittemberg disseminated through the 1 Panser, as quoted by Ranke, "Reform.," II. 90, 91. In addition to these works, 215 were published in 1520 by various persons in favour of the Reformation. 33 2 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. different nations from which the young men who attended them came, his views of the fundamental truths of Christianity. 1 Bibles, sermons, commentaries, hymns, and catechisms, were constantly issuing from the press, which greatly aided the onward march of the Reformation. But on account of the difficulty which attended the multiplication of books, and the ignorance which generally prevailed, the Reformers felt that the public preaching of God's Word must be the chief agency by which their work must be carried on to a successful issue. The number and length of their sermons, two of which the leading Reformers often preached every day, 2 the impassioned energy with which they addressed the vast crowds assembled before them, the designation of laymen and of itinerant preachers 3 sent into the remote districts to minister the Word of Life to the souls perishing from lack of knowledge, afforded a very plain proof of their determination, by this means, to the utmost of their ability, to bring men out of darkness, misery, and sin into the marvellous light, liberty, and holiness of God's redeemed people. They felt, too, that if they wished to be successful, they must determine " to know nothing among their hearers save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." The image of the Crucified One was printed on their hearts.* They endeavoured to exhibit Christ in His exclusive mightiness " to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." They brought out that gem of sound doctrine — " Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy God saved us " — from the inner chamber, in which through ages it had been con- cealed, and exhibited it in all its beauty and all its brilliancy to the delighted view of many thousands of their fellow- 1 Hardwick's " Hist, of the Christian Church," p. 78. 2 Hardwick's " Hist, of the Reformation," p. 409. 3 Haweis' " Sketches of the Reformers," pp. 84-108. 4 See the fine passage in the "English Homilies," p. 425, sq. Cambridge, 1850. THE REFORMATION. 333 countrymen. They told their hearers that the conviction that they cannot, on account of their corruption, render to the law that perfect obedience which it so plainly requires, should lead them to look away from their own worthless performances as the ground of their justification, and should lead them to " Him who is the end of the law for righteous- ness to every one that believeth." * They lifted up their voices against the doctrine that God has pardoned sin as to its eternal punishment, but that its temporal punishment must be expiated by ourselves in purgatory, because it militates against those verses which assure every penitent sinner of complete forgiveness, and because it detracts from the meritorious efficacy of the atonement of Christ. They denounced the system of human mediators, and reminded their hearers emphatically of that One Mediator who prevails with the Father by reminding Him of His broken body, His poured-out blood, His death, His passion, and His obedi- ence. They condemned the pardons, the pilgrimages, and the indulgences as a monstrous system, invented in the council-chamber of hell, for the purpose of inducing men to pour their wealth into the coffers of a corrupt Church. They lifted up their voices against transubstantiation, because it is condemned alike by Scripture and by reason, as well as against the sacrifice of the mass with which it is connected, because " by one offering Christ has perfected for ever them that are sanctified ; " and because, if there had been really a propitiatory sacrifice at the Last Supper, there would have been no occasion for a repetition of that sacrifice on the altar of the cross. Thus they became more than conquerors 1 Luther's language was : "Learn to despair of thyself, and to say to Christ, Thou, Lord Jesus, Thou art my righteousness, and I, I am thy sin. Thou hast taken what was mine, and hast given me what is Thine." Zuingie also, notwithstanding the divergences in his mode of training, started from the same professed conviction. "The death of Christ, and that alone," he argued, "is the price paid for the remission of sins." — Op. iii. 544 : edit. Schuler. 334 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. over the hosts banded together against them. Already they saw the strongholds of superstition lying a mass of ruins on the ground ; and " Ichabod, the glory is departed," inscribed on the gorgeously-emblazoned banners of their foes. Judging from their recent success, they indulged the anticipation that the time was not far distant when a song of triumph should ascend from every part of an emancipated world. CHAPTER IX. THE PAPAL REACTION — FROM THE ELECTION OF PIUS IV. IN 1559 TO THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA IN 1 648. Spain and Italy always steadfast in their allegiance to the Pope — The countries of Europe where the Church of Rome was victorious — Causes of the Reaction — (1) The Inquisition ; (2) The>eform of the old and the establishment of new orders, including especially the order of the Jesuits, of which a, full description is given ; (3) The Council of Trent ; (4) The divisions among Protestants ; (5) The lukewarmness of Protestant, and the zeal, of Roman Catholic, Sove- reigns ; (6) The improved character and increased zeal of the Popes — Sixtus V. and his schemes, especially his additions to the taxation of the Papal States with a view to the advancement of the Reaction — Tremendous warfare between Romanism and the Reformation — Cruelties of Philip II. and Alva in the' Netherlands — Resistance of the inhabitants under William of Orange — Various events of the struggle — Its end and results — The Reaction in France — The mas- sacre of St. Bartholomew — The wars of the League — Rome nearly successful in her struggle for universal empire — Causes of her failure — Conversion and coronation of Henry IV. — Countries and States in which Rome failed or succeeded — Death and character of Philip II. — Pause in the strife — Beginning of the Thirty Years' War — Defeat and exile of Frederick, who accepted the crown of Bohemia — Failure of attempts to restore Frederick — Designs of the Emperor Ferdinand against German Protestantism — Gustavus Adolphus comes to its rescue — His character — His difficulties — Treaty with Richelieu — His design sanctioned by Urban VIII. — Subsequent great victories and death of Gustavus — End of Religious War — Peace of Westphalia. We have seen that the Reformation advanced rapidly in the northern parts of Europe. In the south, however, the 336 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Reformers had not been equally successful. Spain and Italy refused to cast off their allegiance to the Roman Pontiff. The soil of the former country had been for centuries the battle-field on which she struggled with the armies of the unbeliever. The Church had consecrated her banners for this holy warfare. In obedience to her summons the swords of her warriors were continually leaping from their scabbards. Scarcely had the tumult of the conflict ceased, when the shock of armies contending for the faith was heard in the newly-discovered regions of the West. Multitudes hastened over the ocean, influenced by the insatiable thirst for gold, and burning with the desire of extending the boundaries of the Church. A rooted per- suasion existed in the minds of the Spaniards that they were delegated by heaven to propagate Romanism, and that it was their bounden duty to preserve the soil of Spain from being profaned by the tread of the heretic and the un- believer. 1 The Italians also had their reasons for remaining steadfast in their allegiance to the Pope. They felt that one consequence of the reforms, so ardently desired, would be that the golden tide, which through ages had rolled from foreign countries over the plains of Italy, would be arrested in its progress. They could no longer expect the rich benefices, the presentation to which was claimed by the Pope. The large sums of money arising from the first year's produce of livings after a vacancy, from the sale of absolutions, dispensations, and indulgences, from the law- suits brought to Rome, from benevolences and the tenths of benefices, would no longer flow into the Papal treasury, and from thence be distributed through Italy. 2 They saw too that the sun of Rome had suffered an eclipse during the residence of the Pqpes at Avignon. They now began to 1 McCrie's " History of the Reformation in Spain," p. 120. 2 Rymer's " Fcedera," vols. x. and xi. See also McCrie's " History of the Reformation in Italy," p. 26, THE PAPAL REACTION. 337 see that the high dignity to which the Pope had been elevated as the spiritual arbiter of Christendom, was some compensation for the loss of the glories of those days when Italy occupied a high place among the nations. We cannot be surprised, therefore, to hear that the sudden outburst of zeal for the Reformation in the north of Europe had kindled a similar enthusiasm for Romanism in these two countries. In the territory between them, including France, the Netherlands, Poland, Bavaria, Austria, Hungary, and Transylvania, a deadly struggle for predominance be- tween the two religions was being carried on, which seemed likely to issue in the triumph of the Reformation. Protest- ants abounded in three-fourths of France. This country and the Netherlands will come before us hereafter. In Poland, during the reign of Sigismund Augustus, from 1 548, to 1572, notwithstanding the most resolute opposition, the new opinions had penetrated to all orders of the com- munity. 1 Bavaria, and Austria Proper (Styria, Carniola, and Carinthia), had felt the impulse communicated to the central members of the German Empire. 2 In Austria, only one-thirteenth of the population were Roman Catholics. The Reformers had gained complete ascendency in several towns in Hungary and Transylvania. But if we pass over another period of fifty years, from the year 1560, we find that the tide of conquest had been checked in its course. Romanism was victorious in all the countries just referred to. The causes of this memorable revolution in human affairs it well becomes us to investigate. The Inquisition was the most formidable engine for the propagation of the Roman Catholic faith, and the suppres- sion of the opinions which were judged to be heretical, Every departure from that faith, whether it was simply what • the world would call a venial trespass, or whether it assumed 1 Geijer's "History of the Swedes," p. 165. 2 Gieseler, iii. i. 401. 23 338 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. the form of one of those monstrous heresies which virtually nullify and abrogate the Christian faith, rendered a man liable to the punishment of fire. The Popes would not allow any consideration to induce them to mitigate the harshness of the decrees directed against heresy. It at length came to be openly asserted that even a sin in thought rendered a man obnoxious to the sentence of the Inquisition. Sons were encouraged to bear witness against their fathers. The evidence of two witnesses was considered sufficient to ensure conviction; and such as would have been rejected in other cases, as, for instance, the evidence of those who had a personal enmity against the accused, and even of male- factors, was admitted in the case of a person charged with heresy. The person so accused might recant ; but his recant- ation would not save him from the extreme penalty of the law. Before the Reformation, the old Dominican Institution, which was, as we have seen, established at Toulouse in 1229 for the purpose of extirpating the Albigenses, no longer possessed the same vigour as heretofore. Caraffa, afterwards Pope Paul IV., a man of gloomy fanaticism, finding that this was the case, urged the Pope to issue a Bull for the estab- lishment at Rome of a general tribunal, on which all other tribunals should be dependent. 1 This was no sooner established than it endeavoured, with merciless severity, to exterminate heresy. The highest and mightiest of the sons of earth were not safe from its stern and awful vengeance. The myrmidons of the Inquisition must be swift in the execution of its behests. Directly a man was even suspected of heresy, they must bring him before the tribunal ; and he must, if found guilty, be visited with condign punishment. No one was safe from the visits of the Papal Inquisitors. Those who had a personal enmity against any man, made use of them as the instruments of their vengeance. Men stood aghast with fear when they saw those renowned for 1 Bromato, " Vita di Paolo IV.," lib. vii. § 3. THE PAPAL REACTION. 339 their learning and saintly morality, — men, too, who regarded the authority of the Pope with a superstitious reverence, mowed down by the sword of the Inquisitors on the right hand and on the left. No book was allowed to be printed' without their sanction. Any book which they had placed' under ban and anathema immediately disappeared. 1 Thus, then, Rome strove successfully to stifle opinions opposed to her dogmas in their very birth. The spirits of the lost rejoiced at her triumphs. As she moved in her chariot over the prostrate forms of thousands, whose only crime was their love to the Saviour, there arose from them a burst of fiendish exultation which mingled strangely with the groans of the victims of her triumphs. For thus she succeeded in ■staying the progress of pure and undefiled religion among the nations of the earth. Another cause of the Papal reaction was the reform of the old, and the establishment of new Religious Orders. The monkish fraternities had greatly departed from the rules of their founders. The Mendicant Orders rivalled, nay, eclipsed, the secular clergy in their sumptuous style of living. The Dominicans were constantly engaged in encroachments on the rights and properties of others with a view to the augmentation of their own possessions, and in laying plots for the destruction of their enemies. But now we witness a remarkable change. The old Orders — the Benedictines, the Dominicans, the Franciscans — underwent a complete reformation. The nuns of Calvary sought, by prayer before the cross, to offer reparation for the outrages which, as they fancied, the Protestants had offered to that syhibol of our most holy faith. The prevailing spirit of the times was exhibited also in the reformation of the 1 This was the case with a remarkable book called ' ' Beneficio di Christo," in which was asserted the doctrine of justification through the imputed righteousness of Christ. The crusade against it was so success- ful that it was supposed to have perished. But one copy has been found at Vienna, and another in the library of St. John's College, Cambridge, 34° EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Carmelite Order in Spain. St. Theresa, as she was called by the Roman Catholics, did not indeed regard rigorous mortification as the great end of monastic institutions. She thought that the object of seclusion from the world was that the soul might be enabled by assiduous efforts of contem- plation to hold constant converse with the adorable Redeemer. But still she found that perpetual inactivity would bring evils in its train which would prevent her followers from attaining the high and holy object at which she wished them continually to aim. She therefore pre^ scribed to them just so much occupation as would preserve them from these evils without distracting their minds from their high and heavenly contemplations. 1 But not only were the old institutions reformed, others' also were created. John Peter Caraffa, afterwards Paul IV., and Cajetan, established an order called the Theatines, for the reformation of the clergy. 2 They possessed nothing, and yet they abstained from beggary, depending for their sub- sistence on the voluntary contributions of the faithful. Now was witnessed the extraordinary spectacle of men high in rank and station, in the springtide of life, renouncing worldly vanity, and standing by the bed-side of the sick and the dying. Influenced by the same desire as Caraffa, Berulle established an institution in France for the education of the clergy, which gave to the world many eminent preachers. 3 Franijois founded an order of nuns, who were to go abroad two and two, and to devote themselves to labours of love on behalf of their fellow-creatures. The care of the sick was to be their first duty. Vincent de Paul instituted a mission to the common people of France, consisting of men who passed from place to place, and laboured for the revival of Romanism among them through the length and breadth of the land.* 1 Ranke's " Hist, of the Popes," bk. vii. t. I. ' Ibid. bk. ii. 3 Jervis' " Hist, of the Church of France,'' vol. i. pp. 250 — 256. * Ibid. vol. i. pp. 320 — 328 THE PAPAL REACTION. 34I But the Order of Jesuits exercised the widest influence. Ignatius Loyola burned to achieve distinction in the ranks of chivalry. 1 In the early part of his life a vision had been constantly floating before him of captives rescued by him from the power of the Infidel, of mighty warriors smitten down by the strength of his right arm amid the tumult of the battle-field. 2 But a severe wound, which disabled him for life, compelled him to abandon the idea of distinction as a warrior. Now new visions presented themselves to him. During his seclusion in his sick room, he read the history of the achievements of those spiritual warriors whose names fill a large space in the annals of the Church of Rome. He determined to rival their glory. If he could not win the chaplet with which the queen of beauty and love surrounds the brows of the victor in some well-fought tournament, he would seek the undying wreath which is often conferred on those who have conducted to a successful issue some im- portant spiritual enterprise. He made the alleged queen of heaven — the Virgin Mary — the mistress of his affections. J ust as the candidate for the honour of knighthood watched over his arms from the time when the day slowly faded into duskiness, and the stars twinkled on the blue vault of heaven, and continued his vigil during the hours of dark- ness till the ruddy glow of the morning, which was to witness his investiture, made its appearance in the firmament, so this spiritual Paladin hung up his arms before the shrine of the Virgin Mary, and vowed that he would maintain the superi- ority of her attractions in mortal combat against all gain- sayers. The thought of this spiritual betrothal, the hope of laying at her feet his well-earned trophies, would, he was assured, animate him to perform prodigies of valour in the 1 See the earliest lives of him in the " Acta Sanctorum," Jul. Tom. vii. p. 634, sq.; and Isaac Taylor's "Loyola and Jesuitism in its Rudiments." London, 1849. 2 He composed a romance of chivalry, the hero of which was the first apostle. — Ranke's "Popes," i. 182. 34 4 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. approaching conflict with the legions of Protestantism. At times, indeed, he wavered in his determination. In all probability, if he had regained his health, he would once more have cherished the fond hope of earthly glory. In this case he might have won a transitory honour as a knight distinguished for his prowess ; but his name would not have been borne abroad on the trumpet-blast of fame. The Pope would have lost a devoted vassal. The spiritual destinies of many countries would have been altogether changed. But Ignatius soon found that he must abandon all idea of the coveted distinction. Then he sought by penances and mortifications to obtain the same renown as the spiritual heroes of past ages. His flesh was torn by continual scourg- ings. The midnight hour found him kneeling on the cold pavement ; the morning dawn found him in the same place and posture, engaged in the performance of this painful penance. But, like Luther, he found that he could never do enough to obtain the approbation of his Maker. He did not, however, like him, go to the only true source of peace and consolation. He did not discover the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ. At length he began to imagine that all his torments proceeded from the Prince of Darkness. Finding that the retrospect was a source of uneasiness, he determined that his past life should no longer dwell in his memory. He would not take the Scripture for his guide ; but listened only to visions and revelations. Once he deluded himself with the idea that he saw, in mystic symbols, the Almighty causing chaos to disappear, and calling the vast fabric of the earth into existence. Afterwards, as he was standing on the steps of a church, in an ecstatic trance, he saw the Trinity in Unity. At another time, when he was sitting on the bank of a river, and gazing on its waters as they were sparkling in the noon-day sun, he fancied that he was favoured with a sudden revelation of the sublime mysteries of Christianity. Henceforth he wickedly The papal reaction. 343 and absurdly fancied that he could dispense with the assistance of Scripture. A form unseen by those around him was, as he thought, continually beckoning him forward. The battlements of heaven seemed to him lined with the heroes of his Church. He heard their voices in every wind, animating him to press forward in the path of self-denial, to encounter trial, persecution, death itself, in the service of his spiritual Leader. The Pope, finding that he was, from the want of sufficient knowledge, teaching heresy in Spain, forbade him to take upon himself the office of a spiritual instructor till he had passed through a course of theology in one of the Univer- sities. He repaired to Paris, where he soon gathered around him a little band of followers, all of whom were inflamed with the same zeal for which he had become; distinguished. He at first conceived the idea of repairing to Jerusalem, where he proposed to devote all his energies to the con- version and the edification of the faithful ; but finding that war between the Turks and Venetians would prevent him from carrying his ambitious schemes into effect, he deter- mined to offer his services to the Pope. The Theatine Institution, with which he came in contact at Venice, led him to form the idea of the celebrated Order which he sub- sequently founded. He determined to establish a body of men, who should devote themselves with indefatigable zeal to the discharge of duties which the clerical order had sys- tematically neglected. One pulse was to beat throughout the whole of this society ; one spirit of obedience to the Pope was to animate the whole. They bound themselves by a solemn oath immediately to go forth, when he sent them, without condition or reward, among Jews, Turks, heretics, infidels, and pagans ; over stormy oceans, trackless wastes, and inhospitable deserts, to the limits of the habits able world. Though a thousand hostile forms thronged the path they were pursuing, they were still, if he required them 344 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. to do so, to go forward. They were to plant their footsteps firmly in the breaches made in the out- works of Protestantism) and were not to retire till they had beaten back their enemies > or, if they should fail in the accomplishment of that object, they were to fall, while endeavouring to stay' the triumphant march of their adversaries; They were never to rest satisfied while one hostile banner floated in the air, or while one pro- vince continued in the occupation of the armies of their foes. The record of the achievements of this remarkable Order is stamped in legible characters on the history of Europe through many generations. The persevering labours of the Jesuits, carried on in that spirit of obedience to the Pope which has just been described, the pliability with which they adapted themselves to the tastes and prejudices of their fellow- creatures, their skill in theological controversy, the fascinating influence which they exercised on the common herd around them, the success which attended their efforts to win over eminent Protestants to the faith, whose conversion carried with it the conversion of many others because they looked upon them as beings of a superior order, were, no doubt, the means by which they extended the boundaries of Romanism, and confirmed the wavering multitude in their allegiance to the Pope. In a country, ruled by a despot who was friendly to them, they maintained " the right divine of kings to govern wrong." In another, the sovereign of which was opposed to them, they would encourage the people in lifting up against him the standard of revolt, and were even wicked enough to assert that if the assassin should sheathe his glittering knife in his bosom, he would not expose himself to punishment when he should stand before the tribunal of the Almighty. In the company of men whose piety was of a morose char- acter, they would stand forth the stem censors of the vices of their fellow-creatures. When they passed into the com- pany of the gay and licentious who were smitten with remorse for their vices and crimes, they would administer an opiate THE PAPAL REACTION. 345 to their consciences. They would call their sins venial trespasses, because they could not withstand the seductions of lust, nor control the violence of their passions. In fact, they are chargeable with the enormous guilt of publishing a system of morality perfectly compatible with the indulgence of every vice and the perpetration of every crime. The military habits of Ignatius prompted him to exact the same discipline, the same subordination, the same prompt obedience to orders from his followers which are to be found in a regular army. The Jesuit was a mere machine, and was to obey the guiding impulse of the general of the Order. Like the private soldier in ordinary warfare, he was expected immediately after the command had been given, without hesitation to fling himself into " the deadly breach," and to plunge into the heat and sorest part of the spiritual battle, even though he knew that he was rushing on inevitable destruction. His separate existence was, in fact, merged in that of the body with which he was connected. He was to root out of his heart all love for those whose names were hallowed by a thousand tender recollections. He was to sever without scruple the golden band which unites him to his native country. His wealth was to be no longer his own, but was to be applied to the general purposes of his Order. He must lay bare the dark chambers of imagery to the view of his spiritual ruler. When thus his will, passions, and judgment had been enslaved, he was sent forth to win the nations to the rule of the Pope. Many of the Jesuits, having been trained in institutions established by Ignatius, were to settle in various localities, and to devote all their energies to the instruction of the rising generation. For that instruction they were to receive no remuneration. No doubt to this last regulation, as well as to the superior quality of the education given by them, they owed a large part of their prodigious influence. Young persons learned more in half 346 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. a year with them than with others in two years. Everi Protestants called back their children from distant lands, and placed them under the care of the Jesuits. By their skill in civil transactions they insinuated themselves into the favour of statesmen, and obtained admission to the cabinets of princes. They were the secret spring of many grand political combinations, which affected the happiness and interests not only of their contemporaries, but also of generations then unborn. A great part of their influence was obtained through the confessional. All classes came to them for confession, because they fancied that from their superior knowledge of the human heart, and their superior skill in unravelling difficult questions in theology which they had acquired through careful training, they would infuse balm into the wounded conscience, and guide them right in cases of difficulty and perplexity. They were an omnipresent influence. Amid the snows of Lapland, amid the regions of eternal ice, beneath the burning sun of India, amid the busy marts of commerce, among the silken band of courtiers, in the " perfumed chambers of the great," in the rude hovels of the peasantry, among those who pursued their occupations in the bowels of the earth, the Jesuits were to be found, in every character and every garb, wickedly violating indeed the plainest precepts of morality, but faith- ful in their allegiance to the Head of their Church, instructing the ignorant, soothing mental and bodily anguish, rekindling decaying zeal, fixing wavering resolutions, recovering those who had apostatized from Romanism, and adding new soldiers to the ranks of the great Papal army. The Council of Trent also contributed largely to the pro- motion of the Papal reaction. We have seen that this Council assembled at Trent at the close of 1545 ; and was removed by Paul III. to Bologna in 1547, partly because he wished to revenge himself on Charles V. on account of his interference with his designs for the aggrandizement of his THE PAPAL REACTION. 347 sons, partly because he thought that he should thus be better able to control its deliberations. Here, as Sarpi informs us, it slumbered for some years. Julius III., in compliance with the urgent request of Charles V., summoned it to re-assemble at Trent in 1551; but the Fathers fled from the city in 1552, when they heard of the victorious march of Maurice of Saxony. Pius IV., at the instigation of the Emperor Ferdin- and, who was alarmed at the progress of Protestantism in his hereditary dominions, issued in 1562 a decree for the reassembly of the Council at Trent for the purpose of arresting it. We find, however, that it only widened the breach between the contending parties. This 'Council, arrogating to itself the peculiar direction of the Holy Spirit, settled by immoral and dishonourable intrigue, by flagrant injustice towards the party devoted to suppression, every disputed point absolutely in favour of the Roman Catholic Church. In direct opposi- tion to the Protestant doctors, it declared that works were the meritorious cause of the sinner's acceptance with his Maker. The Creed of Pope Pius IV. which was promulgated by a Bull of the date of November 13, 1564, is a summary of the Decrees of the Council. Protestants have gained this ad- vantage from the Council and the Creed, that they now know exactly the doctrine which they have to oppose. Formerly their wily adversary, when charged with holding a particular dogma was often able to repudiate it, if he particularly wished to do so. It is true, indeed, that image worship, transubstantiation, auricular confession, purgatory, and other dogmas, had been fixed as articles of faith in former Councils of the Church. But there were others which it had not imposed on its members. These now found a place in the decrees of the Council, and the others were re-affirmed with a distinct and solemn emphasis. The French envoys in vain accused it of haste in establishing dogmas, and were unsuccessful in obtaining the least limit- 348 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. ation of the Papal power. 1 The Council concluded its deliberations in rather less than two years. The Papacy certainly issued from it with undiminished vigour; for it was distinctly declared that nothing in its decrees should be. construed as impairing the dignity of the Holy See. 2 Nay, that power may be said to have been augmented ; for as the exclusive right of interpreting the decrees of the Council was reserved to the Pope, he was always able to prescribe rules for the guidance of his spiritual subjects. Of the fifty-three bishops present at it, four-fifths were Italians, bound by an oath of obedience to him, and unable to speak except on subjects proposed by his legates. 3 The latter, by adroit management, secured the right of proposing decrees, pre- viously approved at Rome, which, when they dealt with reformation, only effected those changes in the discipline of the Church, which served to render the priesthood a formid- able force at the disposal of the Pope, for the purpose of aggression on the domain of the enemy, and of staying the onward march of the great army of the Reformers. * The divisions in the Protestant Churches contributed also to the success of the Roman Catholic reaction. In this respect Romanism had a great advantage over Protestant- ism. Her soldiers stood forth an unbroken phalanx to resist the attack of the enemy. The decrees of Trent were now universally received. Those sects, which in these later days have been adduced as a triumphant proof that the assertion of infallibility in the interpretation of Scripture does not tend to the promotion of unity, had not made their appearance in the Roman Catholic Church. But Protestants suffered greatly 1 Thuanus, lib. xxxii. c. I ; lib. xxxv. c. 13 ; Sarpi, lib. vi., vii. 2 Sessio, 25, c. 21. 3 Sarpi, pp. 130, 137, 154. * For proofs that the French envoys attempted in vain to limit the Papal power, see the great work on the Council, by Fra Paolo Sarpi, the Venetian, lib. vi., vii. It bears the name of Pietro Soave Polano. Sarpi never confessed himself its author, but there can be no doubt of the fact. He was the only man capable of composing it. THE PAPAL REACTION. 349 from their internal divisions. Those energies which ought to have been concentrated on the work of combating their enemies, were wasted on unseemly controversy between themselves. The Lutherans were separated from the Swiss on the subject of the Lord's Supper. The former held that the body and blood of Christ were in a manner beyond human comprehension present in the sacred elements; while the latter either maintained with Zuingle that the bread and wine were only signs and symbols of the absent body and blood of the Saviour, and that the only advantage which we derive from it was a remembrance of the death of Christ,, and of the benefits which it is the means of purchase ing for a world of sinners ; or with Calvin, that the glorified humanity of Christ, though locally absent, is in effect com- municated for the .sustentation of the faithful in the sacred elements, so that those who partake with faith of this Divine ordinance are in some mysterious manner united to the man Christ Jesus, and are thus enabled to proceed from one to another degree of knowledge, virtue, and holiness. 1 This controversy was aggravated by one about the Divine decrees. Calvin maintained that the everlasting condition of mankind in a future world was determined from all eternity by the unchangeable order of the Deity. So furious was the con- test which raged on this subject between the two parties, that at the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War, the south of Germany saw Lutherans and Reformers unwilling to make common cause with one another, and contending with the same animosity which they displayed in their hostility to Rome. 2 Their enmity was intensified by an assertion of Calvin that the grace of the Sacraments was limited to those who were predestinated to life eternal. Endless disputes, including the Adiaphoristic controversy concerning matters of an indifferent nature, interrupted the harmony of the 1 See Seckendoff, lib. ii. c. 17, and Calvin's "Institutes," lib. iv. c. 17. 2 Schiller, "Thirty Years' War," p. 38. 35° EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. Lutheran Church. 1 Thus, then, we see that Protestantism,' enfeebled by its divisions, was little fitted to cope with that formidable and well-disciplined army under the command of skilful generals, which, " breathing united strength," was bearing down upon it with fury which for a time seemed to be irresistible. The lukewarmness of Protestant sovereigns and the zeal of Roman Catholic sovereigns were other causes of the success of the reaction. Philip II. of Spain lived and laboured for the extermination of Protestantism. To main- tain the supremacy of his Church, seemed to him the great object of his existence; to execute unbelievers, the most sacred duty which,God had imposed upon anointed princes. During forty eventful years, the wealth, the- army, and the navy of the most powerful empire on the face of the earth, were employed : in the service of the Roman Catholic Church. His decrees on its "behalf were written in the blood of thousands upon thousands of human beings in the territories subject to his rule. The Emperor Ferdinand, as we shall see hereafter when we come to the Thirty Years' War, laboured with equal zeal for the accomplishment of the same object. Let us now contrast with this zeal the lukewarmness of Protestant sovereigns. "In the state- ment of measures," writes Dean Hook, "which ought to occupy the attention of government, drawn up by Cecil on the accession of Queen Elizabeth, no mention was made of the religious question. Instead of defying the Pope, com- munications were to be opened with him. Precautions were also to be taken against the exhibition of party feeling at Paul's cross. Thus it is evident that the government did not turn its attention first to religious affairs. The establish- ment of Protestantism was not in the first instance the object nf Queen Elizabeth and her advisers. In the modern sense she was not, and never became, a Protestant. She was so 1 Mosheim's "Church Hist." vol. ii. p. 150. THE PAPAL REACTION. 35 1 on political grounds, and not from religious enthusiasm." r The same writer informs us that she regularly attended mass in the Royal Chapel, and that the Romish ceremonial was observed, with the single exception, that the host was not elevated. She thus showed her anxiety to conciliate the Protestants, who were much opposed to transubstantiation ; and evinced her determination to take her place among the Reformers. 2 This great Queen, who afterwards became the foremost Protestant champion in Europe, under the advice of Archbishop Parker, proceeding on the principle, " Festina lente," endeavoured to remove abuses which dis- figured the ecclesiastical system ; always remembering that she was reforming an old Church, and not establishing a new sect : but still we cannot say that she laboured for the propagation of Protestantism in the same sense in which Philip laboured for the advancement of Romanism. Those who look simply at the penal statutes enacted against the Roman Catholic Church during her reign, without inquir- ing into the motives which led to the enactment of them, would come to a different conclusion. But the fact was, that her counsellors knew very well that the Roman Catho- lics as a body did not recognize her right to the throne. They were, therefore, determined, if possible, to root out their religion from the land. It is probable that she at first wished to mitigate the severity of those enactments. But afterwards, when Pope Pius fulminated his Bull of deposi- tion against her, and the Romanists, irritated by her enact- ments, in which they saw a design of reducing them to poverty, determined on her assassination, she had no alterna- tive but to inflict condign punishment upon them. But still the execution of these -people, in number about 200, simply from political motives, admits of no comparison with the immolation of thousands upon thousands of Protestants 1 Dean Hook's "Lives of the Archbishops," vol. iv. (New Series), p. 137. * Ibid. p. 139. 35 2 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. in the Netherlands on the altars of superstition, 1 She very nearly sacrificed her fair fame to a passion for an unworthy minion. She commissioned Sidney, Lord Robert Dudley's relation, to make an overture to the Spanish ambassador to the effect that she would establish Romanism if his master would aid her . in quelling the insurrection which would break out after her marriage with Dudley. 2 The issue, how- ever, was, that the favourite was discarded, and that Eliza- beth once more reigned supreme in the affections of a loyal and devoted people. James I., too, was constantly halting and hesitating between Romanism and Protestantism. The Pope con- gratulated him on his accession, and expressed his hope that he would prove the worthy son of a devoted mother. Finding that he had directed the English Roman Catholics to obey him as their Sovereign, he undertook that they should not be molested in the exercise of their religion. But as the ancient enactments still existed, the bitter feelings of the Roman Catholics found expression in the Gunpowder Plot. He still, however, entertained the hope of a recon- ciliation with them. He proposed a conference between the learned men of both parties ; and said that he was willing to admit that the Pope was the supreme head of Christ's Church upon earth. He was anxious, also, that his son should be married to the Infanta of Spain, and was quite willing to allow that the education of the children of that marriage should remain in the hands of their mother, and that if they wished to do so, they should continue Romanists without forfeiting their right to the throne of this country. The result of these negotiations was that Roman Catholic chapels were rising in all parts of England ; and that Romanism obtained a position in this country which she had sought in vain through treason, bloodshed, and insurrection. 1 Hallam's " Hist, of England," vol: i. p. 222. 2 Froude's " History of the Reign of Elizabeth." THE PAPAL REACTION. 353 Again, the improved character of the Popes, their zeal in reforming abuses, and the energy which they exhibited in opposing Protestantism, contributed greatly to the regener- ation of Romanism. Paul IV. was, as we have seen, at the beginning of his Pontificate, too much influenced by poli- tical considerations. At length the failure of his ambitious schemes led him to devote all his energies to the reform- ation of the Church. 1 He endeavoured to remove every abuse in its temporal and ecclesiastical polity. He pro- hibited strictly the sale of offices, from which the roman Catholic Church drew a large revenue. He insisted that a holy and devoted life should be a qualification for those who were raised to high ecclesiasticaltiignities. He rendered illegal the compact often made between two parties, by which the possessor of an office was exempted from the duties on the payment of a certain sum to a deputy. He had a medal struck, representing him under the likeness of Christ, as banishing the money-changers from the temple. He was succeeded by Pius IV. (1559-1565), who lives in the memory of the members of his Church as the author of a " Confession of Faith," lately referred to, which is the creed of modern Roman Catholics, and who has a claim on their gratitude because he converted the Council of Trent into an instrument for the promotion of the Roman Catholic reaction. Pius V. (1565-1572) carried on the work begun by Paul IV. The austere party were delighted at his elevation to the Papacy. If he could have followed the course of life to which his inclinations led him, he would have buried himself amid the gloom of cloistered seclusion, because he fancied that he could thus hold that communion with heaven which he regarded as the perfection of earthly happiness. His elevation to the Papacy appeared to him likely to hinder T See Bromato, "Vita di Paolo IV.," and Ranke's " Hist, of the Popes," Book III. 24 354 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. him in the attainment of this end. He carried into his exalted station the same zeal for which he had been re- markable in the early part of his career. Those who saw him at the head of some procession, " his wrapt soul sitting in his eye," while on his wan and wasted countenance was seen a brightness which seemed to be derived from the source and centre of uncreated light, deemed him a being from a higher sphere, who had descended to declare God's will to the inhabitants of this part of His Empire. We shall see hereafter that he conducted the operations of the Roman Catholic reaction with great energy and success in other countries of Europe. By his piety and zeal, and by his reform of various institutions, he gained great influence throughout the Roman Catholic world, and promoted the success of those measures which had for their object the regeneration of the Church. 1 His conflict with the Reform- ation did not exhaust his energy. He organized with great success a league against the Turks, who were bent on the conquest of the yet unsubjugated islands in the Mediter- ranean, and were threatening to pour their warlike swarms over the plains of Italy. The result was a victory at Lepanto, the most glorious ever gained over the unbelievers, to which the Papal galleys greatly contributed. He died soon after- wards, and has since obtained the honour of canonization as the most pious saint in the Roman Catholic Church. That piety and zeal cannot, however, be said to be Scrip- tural which led him to cherish the bitterest hatred towards Christians of a different faith ; which led him and Paul IV. to support the Inquisition, and,- regardless of the severe condemnation which our Lord pronounced on that erring disciple who drew his sword from his scabbard in defence of His sacred person, to write their arguments in support of Christianity in the blood of those who were their very • Catena, "Vita di Pio V.," and Ranke's " Hist, of the Popes,'' pp. 91-96. THE PAPAL REACTION. 355 brothers. We can only say that they were wise in their generation. They laboured zealously, and with some degree of success, for the accomplishment of their object, which was to make the boundaries of the corrupt Church of Rome co-extensive with those of the habitable world. Gregory XIII. (1572-1585) was at first addicted to pleasure, and would have followed the example of Innocent VIII., if he had lived a hundred years before this age. 1 But he could not resist the spirit of the times. We shall see here- after that he laboured with great energy to promote the Roman Catholic reaction. He sought in every land for suitable men to elevate to Bishoprics, and endeavoured to surpass the piety and zeal of his predecessor. He spent immense sums of money in the enlargement of the Jesuit College at Rome, and called it the Seminary of all nations. By this title he seemed to intimate that his purpose was to extend the influence of the Roman Catholic Church through the length and breadth of the world. 2 The career of Felix Peretti, Sixtus V., Pope from 1585 to 1590, possesses a romantic interest. Shortly before his birth, his father had seen in the visions of the night a bright and heavenly form hovering over 'him, ' and had heard a voice which comforted him amid his troubles with the assur- ance that he should have a son who should rise to the pinnacle of worldly greatness. In remembrance of the vision he named the son Felix. But as the occupation of the boy was that of a swineherd, and as his father was so poor that, until his uncle offered to pay for his education, he was reduced to the necessity of learning his letters from the primers which the neighbouring boys placed before him on their way to the village school, it seemed at first 1 See Ranke, pp. 107-m. 2 Gregory also reformed the Calendar. The reform consisted in counting October 5, 1582, as October 15. After the fight between the Churches, Protestant Europe adopted this reckoning. England, how- ever, did not accept it till 175 1. 356 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. very unlikely that this vision would be realized. But at length by good fortune, energy, and the display of extra- ordinary abilities, he won his way to the highest dignity attainable by a member of the Church of Rome. Under Sixtus, the territorial possessions of the Papacy became very important to the Pope and the Roman Catholic powers. His predecessor, Gregory XIII., had endeavoured to make them available for the propagation of the faith by seizing the estates of the Roman nobility under the pretext of lapsed titles and of tributes unpaid. The result, how- ever, had been that many of the dispossessed nobility had broken out in open insurrection, had taken the law into their own hands, had established a system of brigandage, and had laid waste the territory of their neighbours with fire and sword. Sixtus, by the adoption of rigorous measures, struck terror into the insurgents, succeeded in restoring that order which was essential to the collection of the taxes, and consequently, as we shall see directly, to the prosecution of his schemes. The income arising fronrthe sale of offices, and the loans effected by the Popes, the interest on which was paid by the imposition of very heavy taxes on the Roman States, were now employed in beautifying the city, in pro- moting works of public utility, and above all in carrying on the conflict with heretics and unbelievers. We cannot say that he was the author of this system. But we have no hesitation in affirming that, with a view to the ad- vancement of his purposes, he sold offices, taxed necessaries, debased the coinage, and raised loans (Monti) on a scale far exceeding those created by any of his predecessors. He laid a tax, for instance, on fire-wood, and on the towing of vessels up the Tiber. Thus he contrived to amass a sum of 4,500,000 scudi, which he kept stored in the Castle of St. Angelo. Palaces which astonished the spectators by their grandeur, once more towered towards heaven from the seven hills of Rome. An aqueduct, 22 miles in length, brought to THE PAPAL REACTION. 357 the inhabitants a supply of pure water from the Agro Colonna. His desire was to have public buildings, rivalling the splen- dour of those in the days of the emperors, when Kome sat as a queen among the nations, and gathered into her lap the riches of the world. But this restoration was carried on in the spirit of the Roman Catholic reaction. He waged war with the monuments of antiquity. Works which had defied the storms and waste of ages were levelled with the ground. The breathing figures of Jupiter and Apollo were torn from the Capitol, and that of Minerva was suffered to remain on condition that for the spear should be substituted a gigantic cross. The wonder is that he should have allowed any of those time-worn ruins to remain, amid which we in this later age love to stand, and to muse upon the illustrious dead of past ages. But by this iconoclastic spirit he afforded the plainest evidence that the restoration of Roman Catho- licism was the grand, paramount, absorbing subject of his attention. 1 We are thus led to contemplate that tremendous war which, the regenerated Papacy, taking advantage of the divisions and lukewarmness of her foes, and armed with additional power by the decrees of the Council of Trent, waged with new weapons for the recovery of her lost ascend- ency over the nations. The religious action is closely con- nected with political impulses. Every mighty passion which stirs the human frame was pressed into this warfare. Pro- found politicians, mighty captains, fierce demagogues, and desperate assassins, were enlisted in it. Sixtus V. had indeed other objects in view for the promotion of which he had collected his treasure. He hoped to combine all north-eastern and south-western Europe in an expedition which had for its object the annihilation of the Turkish Empire. He hoped also to effect the conquest of Egypt. 1 See Gregorio Leti, "Vitadi Sisto V.," Torino, 1857; and Ranke's "Hist, of the Popes," Kelly's Edition, pp. m-122, 180-185. 358 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. He had heard from his earliest days a voice in every wind urging him to climb the steep ascent which leads to the Temple of Fame. And now when the largest wishes of his ambitious heart had been gratified, he believed that he had been chosen by a special Providence to carry his schemes into effect. But still with him,' as with all the Popes during this era, every object in comparison with the regeneration of Romanism appeared to sink into utter insignificance. The conflict in which they were engaged raged as far as earth's remote boundaries. Several nations threw them- selves energetically into it. France, the Netherlands, and Germany, were, however, the principal battle-fields. To them, therefore, with an occasional reference to other countries, I shall now proceed to invite the attention of my readers. Immediately after the days of Luther the Reformation had made great progress in the Netherlands. Charles V. en- deavoured to arrest it by persecution, and fire, and sword. During his reign thirty thousand of the inhabitants perished amid the flames. Philip II. had no sooner mounted the throne of Spain, than he determined to labour for the exter- mination of it in his hereditary dominions. The clouds gathered with portentous blackness over the Netherlands. In the year 1555, the Inquisition, armed with additional powers, began to lay its terrible hand alike upon the young and the old. Deeds of cruelty were perpetrated far surpass- ing in horror any in the darkest period of Pagan antiquity. All lay persons who held in their house conventicles, or who conversed or disputed concerning the Holy Scriptures openly or secretly, or entertained any of the opinions of Luther and others, were, if they were men, executed with the sword, and if they were women, buried alive if they did not persist in their errors ; but if they did persist in them, they were committed to the flames. They had previously THE PAPAL REACTION. 359 been subjected to a terrible apparatus, by which the sinews could be strained without cracking, the bones bruised with- out breaking, and the body racked exquisitely without being deprived of life. 1 The king, with a refinement of cruelty which deserves the strongest condemnation, fearing that the here- tics might glory if they passed through the ordeal of a public execution, directed that their heads should be bound between their knees, and that they should be slowly suffocated at midnight in tubs of water. 2 The iron now entered into the soul of the inhabitants of the land. Their death-shriek amid the flames ascended to heaven. In streets which once resounded to the hum of industry, now reigned a stillness as deep as the still- ness of the tomb. The inhabitants, in order to escape the fury of the persecutor, emigrated in great numbers to England, which they enriched with the manufactures of their native country. An urgent appeal, addressed to the king to mitigate the severity of these sufferings, was answered by a direction to substitute the halter for the faggot. But this persecution only served to inspire the Reformers with a firmer determination to be faithful unto death to the Captain of their salvation. Thousands, prohibited from carrying on their worship in the churches of their land, assembled in the fields, and listened spell-bound to the preacher, as he discoursed on those glorious truths which are the delight of angels and the triumph of the spirits of the just. Anthems from multitudinous voices ascended like grateful incense from the grassy meadows before the throne of the Eternal. Exasperated by the disregard of his edict, and by the iconoclastic fury of the multitude in Antwerp, who shivered every stained-glass window in the gorgeous churches to 1 Motley's " Rise of the Dutch Republic," pp. 165-170. 2 Ibid. p. 234. 3^0 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. atoms, and hurled the statues of the saints from their niches to the ground, Philip determined on an invasion of the Provinces. In 1567, the Duke of Alva, at the head of a body of veterans whose courage and military skill had been proved on numerous well-fought fields, was sent to the Nether- lands as the executioner of his vengeance. This general exhibited a bloodthirsty spirit and a patient vindictiveness in union with stealth and ferocity, seldom found in a human being, which have secured for him a high place in the annals of infamy. The blood Council, established by him soon after his arrival, now cast its awful shadow over the land. z Not only avowed heretics, but even those who had tolerated field preaching, and who had asserted that the king had not the right to deprive the Provinces of their liberties, rendered themselves obnoxious to its vengeance. Men, women, and children were burned before slow fires, pinched to death with red-hot tongs, starved, flayed alive, or broken on the wheel, and thus subjected to a death of lingering agony. Even Counts Egmont and Horn, good Roman Catholics, who suggested that, as a matter of policy, Philip should moderate his fury, became the victims of his wrath. The whole country became one vast sepulchre. But the Deliverer was at hand. The illustrious Prince of Orange now came forward, determined to break those fetters which a dark tyrant had forged to enslave his fellow-country- men. 2 He now enrolled himself for life as a soldier of the Reformation. The patient zeal with which he laboured in the service of his country, the magnanimity with which he sacrificed himself in order to secure for his fellow-countrymen the blessings of religious and civil liberty and independence, are written in indelible characters on the pages of the history of Europe. Thirty thousand men whom he himself had armed and equipped were now mustered beneath his banner. 1 Motley, pp. 353-356. 3 For the career of the Prince, see Motley, p. 122 to end. THE PAPAL REACTION. 36 1 But he was doomed to the sickness of hope deferred. Alva, by declining a battle which, if the Prince had been success- ful, would have roused the martial spirit of the inhabitants, caused in a short time the dissolution of his army. He afterwards continued his career of butchery. The Pope, Pius V., who, like this monster in human shape, contended with weapons not drawn from the armoury of heaven, sent him a jewelled hat and sword in acknowledgment of his services. Meanwhile, the Prince seemed the sport of ad- verse fortune. Germany, torn by religious factions, refused to strike a blow on his behalf. He was unprovided with funds to organize new levies. The blackness of darkness had gathered around him. But now a ray of light struggled through the gloom, and fell upon the path along which he was travelling. A band of rovers, ranging the sea in quest of booty, suddenly de- scended, in 1572, upon the sea-port of Brill in Zealand, took it by surprise, and planted on its walls the standard of the Prince of Orange. This capture was the foundation-stone of that building which, augmented by fresh materials, gradually rose majestically towards heaven. Animated by this success, all the important cities of Holland and Zealand, by one spontaneous movement, formed themselves into a holy confederacy to fight the battles of their country, and to eject from their soil the army of the invader. Flush- ing, in the Isle of Walcheren, was lost. Mons, the capital of Hainault, was captured. City after city in other provinces threw off the yoke of the oppressor. One thunderbolt after another descended upon Alva. The Prince's own fortunes had been ruined in the service of his country ; but still he persevered in the high and holy enterprise which he had under- taken. The States, roused by the impassioned eloquence of St. Aldegonde, willingly poured their silver and gold into his treasury. The King of France announced his deter- mination to employ his forces in rescuing the Netherlands 362 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. from the yoke of bondage. The Prince of Orange had a right to cherish the hope that he should soon achieve the independence of his native country. But "the gorgeous palaces, the cloud-capped towers,'' soon dissolved, "like the baseless fabric of a vision." The bloody massacre of St. Bartholomew, of which we shall speak hereafter, at once converted Charles into the most powerful ally of the king of Spain. The Prince of Orange could no longer trust one who had been guilty of perfidy and murder unexampled in the annals of the world. The Prince was now compelled to disband his army. Mons, to the relief of which he was hastening, was obliged to surrender to the enemy. The keys of this city unlocked the gates of every town in Brabant and Flanders. Crimes were perpetrated by the Spanish soldiers in the sacred name of the King of Heaven at Naarden, Zutphen, and Mechlin, unparalleled in the history of Christianity. In obedience to the orders of Alva, all the inhabitants of these towns were slaughtered with barbarities, the perusal of which strikes us dumb with astonishment and horror. At Naarden, laughing soldiers, intoxicated not with wine, but with blood which they drew from the veins of their victims, derived a savage pleasure from the dying agonies of those whom they tossed to and fro with their lances. Haarlem in Holland, after an heroic resistance of seven months, in which her defenders displayed prodigies of valour, was compelled by famine to surrender to her savage foe. The inhabitants of this city also were baptized with a baptism of blood. But its resistance nerved the arms and animated the hearts of the ancient land of Batavia. The flame glowed more brightly on her hearths and her altars. The waves of the fiery deluge rolled against Alkmaar, but they recoiled like the surges from the rock-bound coast. Its walls still remained im- movable, rising from them like Mount Ararat from the flood. The Spaniards, fearing to be submerged by the ocean which THE PAPAL REACTION. 363 the patriots threatened to bring in upon them by opening the dykes, retired from the city. Alva, now finding that the slaughter of 18,000 persons during his administration, of which he boasted, had been in vain, and that though the Prince of Orange was defeated, he was still unconquerable, resigned, from disappointment, the government of the Nether- lands. He has made himself infamous by his unheard-of barbarities and by his monstrous tyranny. 1 I do not propose to describe minutely the progress of the war in the Netherlands. When William of Orange was assassinated by Balthazar Gerard in 1584, his devotedness to the cause of his country had been rewarded by the establish- ment of the Government of the United Provinces, which was nearly identical with the modern kingdom of the Nether- lands. Our surprise at his success will be the greater when we hear that, at this stage of the conflict, the soil of Holland and Zealand was unproductive, and that they were occupied by only half a million of inhabitants ; while Spain had a powerful navy, a formidable and well-disciplined army under the command of the most skilful generals, and had the riches of her own and other countries at her disposal. Partly through diplomacy, partly through liberal bribery, partly through conquest, Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma, at the time governor of the country, had succeeded in re-annexing in 1579 the south-western portion of the Netherlands, including Hainault, Arthois, and Douay, with the flourishing cities of Arras, Valenciennes, Lisle, and Tournay, to the dominions of Philip of .Spain. Afterwards, by the persevering exertions of the Jesuits, they were con- firmed in their allegiance to the Papal See. 2 Parma after- wards gave proof of his military skill by capturing the import- ant city of Antwerp, which was so strongly fortified by nature ■ For Alva's career in the Netherlands, see Motley's "Rise of the Dutch Republic," pp. 326-543. 2 Motley's " Rise of the Dutch Republic," p. 790. 364 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. and art as to be almost impregnable. 1 The capture of this city was immediately followed by the submission of the provinces of South Brabant and East Flanders to their former sovereign. A tract of country was thus added to the dominions of Philip, corresponding to the modern kingdom of Belgium. Our wonder that Parma should have been suc- cessful is the greater when we find that his soldiers were half-starved, and ready to mutiny from want of pay, and that he had only 10,000 of them to carry on all the operations connected with this important and difficult siege. 2 If only England had come sooner to the assistance of the Nether- lands, he must have been compelled to abandon the rich prize when it was almost within his grasp. Elizabeth should have been induced, immediately after the embassy from the States came to her, to assist the United Provinces ; for she was well aware that the soldiers would only be fight- ing on foreign ground the battles of their country, and would be beating back from their native soil the armies of the foreign invader. If Philip had succeeded in effecting the conquest of the Netherlands, he might, as she and her leading statesmen foresaw, with the additional wealth, shipping, and mariners at his disposal, have been placed in a very advantageous position for the conquest of the land of their forefathers. But that parsimony which was a defect in the character of this great princess caused her to dispute with the United Provinces the pecuniary conditions on which she should assist them till it was too late to save Antwerp from the foe, and afterwards hindered the success of import- ant warlike operations by leading her to withhold the money and the well-trained soldiers required to enable the projectors of them to conduct them to a successful issue. A vigorous campaign, carried on at this time by the Earl of Leicester 1 For the account of this celebrated siege, see Motley's " United Netherlands," vol. i. pp. 134-264. f Motley's " United Netherlands,'' vol. i. pp. 184 and 204. THE PAPAL REACTION. 365 and the general of the Netherlands, with an efficient body of men, against Parma, would, as he was paralyzed by famine, pestilence, poverty, mutiny, and want of men, in all proba- bility, have changed the destinies of the Southern Provinces, by smiting down to the earth the heroic champion of Romanism. 1 To the efforts of Walsingham, Drake, Raleigh, and to the brave men under the banners of their country, it was undoubtedly owing that this parsimony did not produce a disastrous effect, and that England was able to render material assistance to the United Provinces in their struggle with a blood-stained oppressor. Holland and England must have been in danger, if Philip had listened to the pathetic appeals for men and money which Parma addressed to him, and had concentrated all his energies on the conquest of those two countries. But the possession of a large extent of the earth's surface led him to indulge the dream of universal empire. He poured his treasures and sent his armies into France, partly, as we shall see hereafter, that he might promote the designs of the League which had for their object to aid the Roman Catholic reaction, but chiefly that he might add another crown to those which were now sparkling on his brow. These domestic broils were the real reason that the King of France was unable to accept the offer of the crown of the Netherlands made to him by that country. Thus then the republic, aided by the ambitious designs of the tyrant, was enabled to proceed onward in her career of victory. The little vessel was occasionally shattered by the violence of the tempest ; but again she bade defiance to the fury of the elemental war, and rode triumphantly over the billows. At the time when she most needed a heaven- sent general, one was raised up to her in the person of Prince Maurice of Nassau, the son of the illustrious William of Orange. By a careful study of the art of war before he ' Motley's " United Netherlands," vol. i. pp. 323, 393, 520. 366 EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. ventured to assume the command of an army, he was able so far to improve the living machine whose movements he guided, as to bring it afterwards to bear with overwhelming force upon the enemy. Siege operations conducted accord- ing to a new system to a successful end ; veteran soldiers, through a new method of attack, scattered in ignominious flight by greatly inferior numbers, astonished hoary generals, and showed that a new master of the art of war had made his appearance in Europe. At length Philip III., who suc- ceeded his father in 1 ^98, or rather the Duke of Lerma, who was the real sovereign of the country, found that Spain had no money to pay her soldiers, and that her once splendid army was, from this cause, disorganized and in constant mutiny. This state of affairs will excite no surprise when we hear that, in consequence of defective financial arrangements, the terri- tories subj ect to Spain could only just pay their own expenses ; that labour was discouraged in that country ; and that from this and other causes, a land which might have been the granary of the world had not food enough for its own popu- lation. 1 On the other hand, the rebellious Provinces had wrung from an ungrateful soil the wealth which it seemed to deny to them, possessed the richest manufactures in the world, and had fleets on every sea which brought to them the treasures of Europe, and of Eastern and Western regions. At length Spain, influenced by all these considerations, but especially by the knowledge that their naval supremacy enabled them to strike a deadly blow at their former master, was induced, in the year 1609, after a negotiation of two years and a quarter, to consent to a truce of twelve years with the United Provinces. The conclusion of this truce was galling in the extreme to the pride of the Spaniards, for it was a confession that the rebels, with arms in their hands, had gained the victory, and that the unexampled tyranny and bloodshed had not coerced them into submission to 1 Motley, vol. iv. pp. 333-338, 344. THE PAPAL REACTION. 367 Spain and the See of Rome. The Southern Provinces, won back to Philip by Parma, and confirmed in their allegiance to the Papacy by the exertions of the Jesuits, were, in conse- quence of the banishment of the Protestants, the emigration of the manufacturers, the loss of their commerce through the blockade of the coasts by the fleets of the Provinces, and the tyranny and misgovernment of the Spaniards, re- duced to the greatest poverty ; while the Northern Provinces were rewarded for all their heroism, and all their exertions, and all their sacrifices, by the possession of all the advan- tages just referred to, and of the invaluable blessings of civil and religious liberty and independence. I must now speak of the reaction in France. 1 The fruit of the persevering labours of the early Reformers was not altogether satisfactory. They rather tended to the develop- ment of the intellect than to the promotion of the on- ward march of doctrinal and moral improvement. Francis I., who was anxious to inaugurate an Augustan age, was the professed patron of men of letters ; and was disposed to favour the Reformers because they were men of learn- ing, eloquence, and intelligence. But when they published placards, in the streets of Paris, in which, with biting sar- casm, they attacked the Sacrament of the Mass, and when they had the effrontery to nail up a placard on the door of the royal bed-chamber, he vowed irreconcilable enmity to the 1 I have obtained some new information as to the period ending with the massacre of St. Bartholomew from a work by Professor Baird of America, recently published, called "The; History of the Rise of the Huguenots." He remarks in his Preface that besides the published works, generally accessible, "the last 25 or 30 years have been remark- ably fruitful in discoveries. ' ; He has had recourse to the Calendar of State Papers in London (Foreign Series), to the records in the archives at Simancas, to the reports of the envoys of the Venetian republic, and to the " Collection de documents Inedits sur l'Histoire de France," still in course of publication by the French ministry of Public Instruction. 3