LIBRARY theological f cmhtavii FEJNCETOiy. y. -f • BX 955 .H57 1838 c.l A history of popery !l HISTORY OF POPERY; CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN, GROWTH, AND- PROGRESS THE PAPAL POWER; ITS POLITICAL INFLUENCE IN THE EUROPEAN STATES-SYSTEM, AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, AN EXAMINATION OF THE PRESENT STATE OF THE ROMISH CHURCH IN IRELAND; A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION; AND SPECIMENS OF MONKISH LEGENDS. LONDON: JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND. M.Dccc.xxxvni. PREFACE. So many admirable works have been published on the doctrinal differences between the Romish and the Reformed churches, that the theological portion of the controversy appears to be exhausted. Another, and a very important question has not met with similar attention ; that is, the system of ecclesiastical ors-anization, which the Romish writers exultingly celebrate as the summit of perfection, and whose excellence they seem to believe ought to atone both for errors of creed and corruption of morals. They assert that Popery, as a political system, has been the great conservative principle in the developement of European civilization, that it has placed itself in opposition to despotism on the one hand, and licen- tiousness on the other, and that the social and intel- lectual discipline which it established secured gradual improvement, while it prevented pernicious innova- tion. This is, in truth, an appeal from matters of opinion to matters of fact, and it is one from which no advocate of the Reformed doctrines need shrink ; moreover, it is a form of controversy in which there is little room for misinterpretation or error, for a 2 iv TREFACE. historical misstatements are easily detected, and the inferences deduced from facts cannot be overstrained without serious injury to the advocate. In the following pages the Author has carefully traced the history of Popery as an operative system of policy, and has avoided, as much as possible, any allusion to mere opinions, save such as were mani- festly devised and propagated to effect political objects. He has been particularly cautious to avoid any statement resting on doubtful or suspicious evidence, and any colouring or comment which might distort the simple facts. The general plan of the work is stated in the Introduction ; it is only neces- sary here to say a few words respecting the last three chapters. The state of the Romish Church in Ireland pos- sesses peculiar importance at the present moment, when it has assumed a militant attitude, and not obscurely put forward its claims to a legal establish- ment. It seemed, therefore, desirable to state simply the circumstances in which that church is now placed, especially as Romanism in Ireland differs very mate- rially in its position and its influence from the same system in other countries. In fact, the Irish branch of the papacy may now be more properly called Maynoothism than Romanism. The distinction is little understood in England, but a perusal of the PREFACE. V chapter will, it is hoped, show that it is one of very grave import, both to the present welfare and future prospects of the United Empire. The History of the Inquisition, as a political engine of the papacy, is disosssed very briefly; it would have been easy to accumulate details of cruelty and horror, but the Author deemed it sufficient to show that the Inquisitorial system must, from its very nature, have led to atrocities, whose recital would only harrow the feelings with unnecessary torture. Some few specimens of the Monkish Legends are added : half of the accusation against the Romish clergy is only made when they are accused of with- holding the Scriptures from the people ; an equally heavy charge arises from what they substituted for the word of God. It would have been no difficult matter to have extended this chapter to a volume, but the mind soon revolts from absurdity, and, perhaps, the ridicule which assails the absurdities of religion, may be sometimes perverted to a dangerous use. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Introduction Chapter I. — Origin of Popery. Apostolic Constitutions . . 7 Decline of the Roman Empire 9 Image-worship . . . .10 Monastic Institutions The Iconoclasts Independence of Rome Page 1 11 13 15 Chapter II. — The Early Development of Popery as a Political System. Coronation of Pepin , . .18 Policy of Pope Adrian I. . 20 Empire of the West restored . 21 Citation of the King of LoiTaine Depression of the Papal Power . Chapter III. — The Struggle for Supremacy between the Popes and Emperors. Election of the Emperor Otho 28 Insurrection of Crescentius . 3 1 Purchase of the Papacy by Gre- gory VI. Chapter IV. — Revival of the Papal Power. Struggle between the Emperors and the Nobles . . 36 Character of Hildebrand . 38 The Normans in Italy . . 43 Defeat of Cadislaus Influence of Mendicant Friars The Norman Conquest . Chapter V. — Pontificate op Gregory VII, H)T^)Ocrisy of Hildebrand . . 50 The qtiestion of Investitures . 52 Citation of the Emperor . . 64 Monstrous pretensions of Gre- gory VII. . . .55 Deposition of the Emperor Henry's humiliation . Transubstantiation Deatli of Gregory VII. Chapter VI. — The War op Investitures. Crusade. The First Triumph of the Popes in Italy 64 Peter the Hermit . . .65 Death of the Emperor Henry IV. 66 Ireland subjected to the Eomish See .... Abelard and St. Bernard . 24 26 33 45 46 48 57 58 59 61 68 69 ■/ Vlll CONTENTS. Chapter VII. — The Struggle between the Papal and Imperial Poaver in the reign of the Emperor Fre- deric Barbarossa. The Albigensian War. The Second Cnisade Ivniglits of St. John instituted . Avnokl of Brescia burned Ireland ceded to the King of England hy Poi^e Adrian Page 71 72 73 75 Page Thomas' a Bccket ... 79 Violence of PoiJe Alexander III. (!1 The Albigcnscs excommunicated 83 Jenisalem taken by the Saracens C4 Chapter VIII. — Tue Third and Fourth Crusades. The Pontificate of Innocent III. The Third Crusade . . .85 Death of the Enii^eror Henry VI. 8? Extraordinary power of Innocent III 89 The Fourth Crusade . . .91 Degradation of King John (of England) ... 93 Magna Charta . . . .94 Death of Innocent III. . . 95 Chapter IX. — Persecution of the Albigenses . 98 Growth of Heresy . Violence of the Romish emis- saries . . . . Order of St. Dominic instituted 100 101 Storming of Beziers Death of Raymond-Roger Cruelties of Simon de Jlontfort Lan"uedoc united to France 104 100 108 113 Chapter X. — Contest between the Popes and the Emperor Frederic II. Accession of Pope Ilonorlus III. 1 14 Crusade of the Emperor Frederic 116 Character of St. Louis . .118 The Pope reproved by the Sultan 120 Death of Innocent IV. . . 122 Extinction of the House of Suabia 124 Chapter XI. — The Sicilian and Neapolitan Wars. Ambitious projects of CharlcK of Anjou . . . .125 Accession of Pope Nicholas III. 127 The Sicilian Vespers . .130 Final cxi)idsion of the Latins from Palestine . . . 13G Vacancy of the Holy See . 137 "Weakness of Celestine IV. . 138 Chapter XII. — Pontificate of Boniface VIII. Accession of Boniface VIII. 13f) Attempt to establish a Theocracy 141 Virulence of Boniface to his opponents . . .143 The Jubilee instituted . 144 War between Bouifacc and Pliilip 145 Issue of the bull Unam Sanctam Bonifiice impeached by the French king . Tlie Pope arrested . Accession of Pope Benedict XL 148 150 151 152 CONTENTS. IX Chapter XIII. — History op the Popes during their Residence at Avignon. Election of Pope Clement V. . Persecution of tlie Templars Posthumous trial of Boniface VIII Election of Pope John XXII. The antipopo Nicholas V. Jane, Queen of Naj^les, accused of murder Page 154 15G 157 159 161 165 Page Ilienzi's attempt to revive the Roman republic . .167 Pope Urban V.'s entrance into Rom*" . . . .171 Excommunication of the Flo- rentines . . . .173 Preachius? of Wickliffe . 174 Chapter XIY. — The great Schism op the West . 176 Causes of the Schism Tlie state of Europe divided by the rival Popes Attempt to assassinate Pope Urban . . . . 180 182 Controversy of the Immaculate Conception Extension of the Schism Three Popes at tlie same time . Council of Constance proposed Burning of John Huss Chapter XV. — The Dawn op the Reformation, and Fall op the Greek Empire. Effects of the Schism of the West 194 War of the Hussites in Bohemia 198 Assembling of the Council of Basil 200 The Pragmatic Sanction of the Gallican Church . . 202 Chapter XVI. — Proposed Crusades against the Turks. Election of Pope Calixtus III. . 212 Liberties of the Gallican Church abandoned . . .214 Failure of a new Crusade . 216 Character of Louis XL of France 219 Learning persecuted by Pope Paul II 221 Learning patronized by the Me- dicis . . . .222 185 188 190 191 192 203 Battle of Yania . Increasing opposition to Romish doctrines . . . 205 Desti-uctiou of the Eastern Em- pire .... 207 Controversy of the Immaculate Conception revived . Murder of Julian de Medici . Death of Sixtus IV. The Inquisition established in Spain .... Persecution of the Jews Hopes of a reform in the Church 224 226 229 230 232 235 Chapter XVII. — The French Wars in Italy. Condition of the Papacy at the close of the fifteenth cen- tury . . . . Pope Alexander Borgia 237 238 The New World granted to Spain .... 240 Italy invaded by Charles YIII. of France ... 241 CONTENTS. Page JIurder of Prince Jem . . 243 State of Rome under the Boi'gias 245 Louis XII. invades Italy . . 248 Death of the Pope by poison prepared by himself . . Policy of Pope Julius II. Page 251 253 Chapter XYIII. — ^Tiie League of Cambray. ment of the reformation. COMMENCE- Jealousy of the power of Venice 258 The League of Canibray . 260 Pope Julius at war with France 203 The Holy League . , 205 Accession of Poi^e Leo X. . 266 Origin of Indulgences . . 268 Scandalous conduct of Tetzel , 209 Character of ^Martin Luther . 270 Political character of the Refor- mation . . . 275 Tenets of Luther condemned . Translation of the Bible Battle of Pavia Rome stormed by the Constable of Bourbon The Confession of Augsburg Reform of the English Church . League of Smalkalde . Gustavus Vasa The Council of Trent . Chapter XIX. — Wars op the Reformation. Spirited behaviour of the Pro- testants . . . 295 Spread of tlie Reformed doc- trines in Germany . 297 Fresco's conspiracy in Genoa . 299 Publication of the Interim . 301 Prince Jlaurice of Saxony . 304 Accession of Mary in England 305 Resignation of Charles V. Accession of Queen Elizabeth . Ci^al war in Franco Close of the Council of Trent . Cruelties of Alva in the Nether- lands . . . . ^Massacre of St. Bartholomew . Chapter XX. — The Wars of Religion in Germany. State of Fi-ance under Charles IX, 324 "Wise policy of Queen F.lizabcth 328 Formation of the Holy League , Portugal united to Spain Election and character of Pope Sixtus V. ... Destniction of the Spanish Ar- mada .... 329 333 336 340 Assassination of Henry III. of Fi'ance .... The Gunpowder Plot . Expulsion of the Moors from Spain .... The Thirty Years' War Battle of Leipsic Death of Gustaviis Adolplms Treaty of Westphalia . Chapter XXI. — The Age of Louis XIV Altered policy of the Romisli court 354 Janscnist Schism . . . 350 Ambitious projects of LouisXIV. 359 Conduct of Charles II. . . 300 276 278 280 283 286 287 289 291 294 307 310 313 316 319 322 342 345 346 348 350 351 353 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes .... 301 The English Revolution . 363 Conduct of the Jesuists . . 305 CONTENTS. XI Chapter XXII. — Tue Age of Louis XV. Decline of Popery Influence of the Jesuists . Accession of the House of Bruns- wick .... Administration of Cardinal Al- beroni .... Religious controversies in France 374 Page 367 369 372 373 Attempted assassination of tlio King of Portugal Accession of Gangauelli to the Papagy .... Order of the .Jesuists abolislied Popery the cause of the partition of Poland Page 375 376 377 379 Chapter XXIII. — Popery during the French Revolution. Influence of Popery . .381 Reforms of the Emperor Joseph 383 Visit of Pope Pius to Vienna . 384 Commencement of the French Revolution . . . 385 Republican Insurrection in Rome 388 Concordat between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII. . 389 Re-establishment of the Papal government . . 391 Change in the character of Popery . . . 392 Chapter XXIV, — History of the Jesuits. Restoration of the Order . . 394 Jesuit Missions . . . 39G Establishment of Paraguay . 397 Mission to Japan . . 399 Mission to China Jesuit schools in Britain Jesuit artifices 491 404 405 Chapter XXV. — Condition of the Romish Church in Ireland. Early purity of the Irish Church 408 Reception of the Reformation . 409 Rebellion of the Earl of Desmond 41 1 Alliance between Popery and Democracy . . .413 The College of Maynooth . 415 Dr. Hussey and Mr. Pitt . 416 Education of Irish Priests , 417 Interference in Elections . .419 Power of the Priests . . 421 Its decline .... 424 Chapter XXVI. — History of the Inquisition. Establishment of the Spanish Inquisition . . . 426 Effects of the Reformation . 428 Description of a scene of Torture 429 Celebration of ^?press these dis- turbances. He restored John, and severely })unished the authors of the revolt. Thus the political system of popery seemed utterly ruined, the pontiff ruled the Roman states as a lieutenant instead of a prince, and, far from being regarded as the supreme umpire of monarchs, he was reduced to the condition of a subject. We have seen that the j)apacy owed its first suc- cess to the national hatred between the Latins and the Byzantines ; strength for a new struggle to re- trieve its fortunes was derived from tho animosity THE POPES AND THE EMPERORS. 31 with which the Germans were regarded by the Italians. The death of 0th o (a. d. 973) was the signal for new convulsions in Italy ; the feudal lords aimed at independence, the cities tried to establish freedom ; Pope John tried to ui3kold the imperial cause, but he was arrested by Cincius, the head of the popular party, and strangled in prison. Cincius and his faction chose Boniface VII. for their spiri- tual head ; the aristocratic jmrty, headed by the counts of Tuscany, elected Benedict VII. ; the former was soon driven from the capital ; he sought shelter at Constantinople, where he strenuously urged the Greek emperors to invade Italy. These princes took his advice, and, uniting themselves with the Saracens, subdued AjDulia and Calabria. Otho II. vanquished these enemies ; but when he returned to Germany, Boniface came back to Italy, made himself master of Rome, and threw his rival into a prison, where he was starved to death. Four months afterwards, the murderer died suddenly, and was succeeded by John XV. So low had the papacy now sunk, that the entire of John's reign was occupied by a struggle for the government of the city of Rome. Crescentius, an ambitious noble, eager to establish his own despot- ism under the name of freedom, persuaded the citizens to reject the authority both of the pope and the emperor. Otho II. crushed the revolt, and so firmly established the imperial authority, that he was enabled to nominate one of his creatures sue- 32 THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN cessor to John ; and the cardinals received as tlieir head Bruno, a Saxon stranger, who took the title of Gregory V.* Crescentius had little trouble in excitino* a new insurrection; but the Italians were too feeble to contend with the entire strength of the empire, they were defeated with ruinous loss, their leader was captured and beheaded. On the death of Gregory, Otho nominated Gerbert to the papal dignity, and he was installed under the title of Sylvester II. Although he did not foresee the consequences, Syl- vester may be regarded as the first who made any progress in restoring the power of jDopery. His personal virtues removed the scandal which had long weakened the influence of the see, his patron- age of learning restored to the Church its superiority in intelligence, and, through his intimacy with the emperor, he obtained a renewal of the temporal grants which Charlemagne and Pepin had made to his predecessors. The popes now began to support the imperial cause against the turbulent nobles of Italy ; in return they were aided by the emperors in their struggles with the Roman princes and citizens ; but by this alliance the pontiffs were the principal gainers, for the emperor's attention was distracted by various objects, while the i)opes Avere always on * Every pope changes his name on his accession, in imitation of St. Peter, ^vhoni Our Lord called Cephas, or Peter, instead of Simon. THE POPES AND THE EMPERORS. 33 the spot to secure the fruit of every victory. So rapidly had their power been retrieved, that when Benedict VIII. crowned the Emperor Henry, to whom he owed the preservation of his dignity, he demanded of his benefactor, before he entered the church, " Will you observe your fidelity to me and my successors in everything?" and the emperor had the weakness to answer in the affirmative. But the factions of the Roman nobles and citizens prevented the papal power from being consolidated ; three rival popes, each remarkable for his scandalous life, shared the revenues of the Church between them (a. D. 1045); they were finally persuaded to resign by John Gratian, a priest of piety and learn- ing, and he was elected to the vacant throne by the title of Gregory VI. The Emperor Henry procured the deposition of Gregory, and the election of Cle- ment II. The most remarkable of the deposed popes was Benedict IX. ; he was the son of a Tusculan count, and was raised to the chair of St. Peter at the early age of ten years. His vices induced the Romans to raise rivals against him ; but, supported by the aristocratic faction, he would probably have held I his place, had he not been bribed to resign in favour j of Gregory. The agent in this transaction was Hildebrand, the son of humble parents, who had raised himself by the force of his abilities and his reputation for piety to high rank in the Church, and 3 34 THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN commanding influence in the state. Gregory was undoubtedly a better ruler than his immediate pre- decessors ; he expelled the robbers and freebooters who infested the roads around Rome ; he opened a secure passage for the pilgrims who wished to visit the shrine of St. Peter, and he vigorously exerted himself to reform the administration of justice. It was imprudent in the Emperor Henry to depose such a man at the instigation of the enemies of order ; Clement II. felt great aversion to the pro- ceeding, and very reluctantly consented to his own elevation. Gregory and Hildebrand, to the great regret of the Italian people, and especially the citizens of Rome, were driven into exile ; they retired to the celebrated monastery of Clugni, where Gregory died of vexation, leaving Hildebrand the heir of his wealth and his resentment. Clement was poisoned by an emissary of Benedict nine months after his consecration ; and his successor, Damasus II., shared the same fate. When the news reached Hildebrand, be immediately departed for the impe- rial court, hoping to have some influence in the nomination of the next pope, but on the road he learned that the Diet at Worms, directed by the emperor, had elected Bruno, Bishop of Toul, under the title of Leo IX. We have now reached an important crisis in the struggle between the papal and the imperial pow^r; THE POPES AND THE EMPERORS. 36 the latter had touched the highest point of its great- ness, and was destined to fall by the dauntless energies of one man, Hildebrand, the humble monk of Soano by birth, the controller of the destiny of nations by talent and position. ^ 3-2 36 Chapter IV. REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. From a. d. 1048 to a. d. 1070. We have seen that papal usurpation began by an attack on the power of the Greek empire, and pre- vailed over the Byzantine court, because it was sup- ported by the public opinion of Western Europe. To secure its acquisitions, the papacy entered into alliance with the Carlovingian dynasty on terms favourable to both ; but in the struggle that followed the partition of Charlemagne's empire, it was shorn of its strength, for the growth of its greatness was too rapid to be permanent. When the nobles of Italy had attained the rank of petty princes, the territorial possessions of the Church naturally ex- cited their cupidity, and when the German emperors had extended their sway beyond the Alps, they felt that a controlling influence in the papal elections was necessary to the permanence of their power. Had both combined, the papacy would have been annihilated, the pope would have been a mere vassal of the emperor, and his temporal dominions would have been rent in sunder by rival princes. But even when the papacy was enslaved, either to aristo- cratic factions, or to despotic autocrats, it was secretly collecting materials for its liberation and future triumph. It was generating an opinion which gave 1048.] REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. 37 popery, as an institution, greater strength and surer permanence than it possessed in the days of its former prosperity. It was under the pressure of the feudal system that the organization of popery was completed and defined ; opposed both to princes and emperors, it / was thrown for support entirely on the people. By its numerous gradations of rank, the Church of the middle ages linked itself with every class of the community: its bishops were the companions of princes ; its priests claimed reverence in the baronial hall ; its preaching friars and monks brought conso- , lation to the cottage of the suffering peasant. Great ! as were the vices of individuals, the organization of 1 the clerical body continued to be respectable, and { this was an immense advantage when every other portion of civilized society was a mass of confusion. When the distinction of caste was rigidly established in all the political forms of social life, the Church scarcely knew any aristocracy but that of talent ; once received into holy orders, the serf lost all traces of his bondage ; he was not merely raised to an equality with his former lord, but he could aspire to dignities which threw those of temporal princes into the shade. The clerical was thus identified with the popular cause, and the bulk of the laity not only received the claims of the priesthood, but gave them additional extension. Hildebrand was the first who perceived the ten- dency and the strength of this current, and he pro- 38 REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. [1048. bably was sincere in his belief that the Church supplied the only means by which the regeneration of Europe could be effected. Feudalism, the worst of foes to social order, stood opposed to the sove- reignty of the monarch and the liberty of the sub- ject; the emperors were too weak, the people too ignorant, to struggle against it; and the wise arrangements of Providence, by which good has been so frequently wrought out of evil, made the revival of popery the instrument by which Europe was rescued from barbarism. Hildebrand's personal character is really a matter of no importance ; his measures in the present age would justly subject him to the charge of extravagant ambition and blundering tyranny; but in the eleventh century, every one of these measures was necessary to coun- teract some evil principle, and milder or more justifiable means would not have been adequate to the occasion. We must not pass sentence on an institution without examining the opinion on which it is founded ; and before we judge of the opinion, we must estimate the circumstances by which it was engendered. The disorganized state of Europe produced a strong opinion that some power for appeal and protection should be constituted, — a power with intelligence to guide its decisions, and sanctity to enforce respect for them : the revived papacy seemed an institution suited to these con- ditions, and under the circumstances it was capable of being rendered the great instrument for reforming civil society. 1048.] REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. 09 Hildebraiid's own writings prove that his design was to render the papacy snch an institution as we have described ; it was indeed a beautiful theory to base power upon intelligence, and concentrate both in the Church. But Hildebrand did not make a discovery which too often has eluded reformers and legislators, that his plan was suited only to peculiar circumstances, that it was only applicable to a period when state power was corrupt and })opular intelli- gence restricted, and that to give it permanence was to extend its duration beyond the period of its utility, and consequently prepare the way for its becoming just as mischievous as the evils it had been devised to counteract. This general view of the state of society will enable us to form a better judgment of tlie struggle in whicli Hildebrand engaged than could be done if we confined ourselves to a simple narrative ; we shall now proceed to relate the course adopted by the enterprising monk to exalt the spiritual power. Leo IX., on whom the emperor, as we have said, conferred the papacy, was a j)relate of virtuous principles and strict integrity, but he was a man infirm of purpose, and weak in understanding. Hildebrand was well aware of the advantages that might be derived from the pope's character, and in his first nterview he gained such an ascendency over Leo's mind, that thenceforth the pope was a passive instrument in the hands of his adviser. The pontiff naturally dreaded that the circumstance of his 40 REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. [1054. having been nominated by the emperor, and elected by a German Diet, would render him unpopular in Italy; but Hildebrand smoothed the way, and by his personal influence secured Leo a favourable reception at Rome. This service was rewarded by an accumulation of dignities ; Hildebrand soon united in his person the titles and offices of cardinal, sub-deacon, abbot of St. Paul, and keeper of the altar and treasury of St. Peter. The clergy and people of Rome aj^plauded these proceedings, be- cause the favourite had induced Leo to gratify the national vanity, by submitting to the form of a new election immediately after his arrival in the city. Leo made unremitting exertions to reform the clergy and the monastic orders ; but, in the fifth year of his reign, he marched against the Normans, who were ravaging the south of Italy, and was un- fortunately taken prisoner. Though the conquerors showed every respect to their captive, the misfor- tune weighed heavily on his proud spirit ; and his grief was aggravated by the reproaches of some of his clergy, who condemned him for desecrating his holy office by appearing in arms. He died of a broken heart soon after his liberation, and the de- posed Benedict IX. seized the opportunity of re- ascending the papal throne. Hildebrand was opposed to the imperial influence, but he hated more intensely the nearer and more dangerous power of the Italian nobles, and therefore he became an active and energetic opponent of their 1056.] REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER 41 creature, Benedict. The monastic orders supported one whom they justly regarded as the pride and ornament of their body, and by their means Hilde- brand gained such a commanding influence over the Roman people, that he could truiy represent him- self to the erai^eror as their delegate in choosing a new pope. Henry nominated a German bishop to the dignity, who took the name of Victor II., and the cardinal-monk hojied to exercise the same authority in the new reign that he had possessed under Leo IX. The new pope, however, soon became weary of having " a viceroy over him ;" he sent his ambitious minister into France with the title of legate, under the honourable pretext of cor- recting the abuses that had crept into the Gallican Church. Hildebrand performed his task with more rigour than it would have been prudent for a less popular minister to disj^lay; he excommunicated several immoral priests and bishops, and even sen- tenced some monks to death for a breach of their monastic vows. After a year's absence he returned to Rome more powerful than ever, and Victor was content to receive him as his chief adviser and director. In the mean time the Emperor Henry died, and was succeeded by his son of the same name, who was yet an infant. Hildebrand was too sagacious not to discover the advantage with which the papal power would struggle against the imperial during a minority, and he secretly prepared for the contest. 42 REVIV^AL OF THE PAPAL POWER. [1058. The death of Victor, speedily followed by that of his successor, Stephen IX., delayed, but did not alter, the cardinal-monk's intentions, for circumstances compelled him to appear as an advocate of the imperial authority. On the death of Stephen, the aristocratic faction, presuming on the minority of the emperor, rushed at night, with a body of armed men, into the Vatican church, where they declared John, Bisho]) of Velitri, one of their body, pope, with the title of Benedict X. Hildebrand received this intelligence as he returned from Germany ; it was brought to him by the terri- fied cardinals and bishops who had fled from Rome ; he assembled the fugitives at Sienna, and prevailed upom them to elect the Bishop of Florence, who took the name of Nicholas II. The emperor's sanction was easily procured for the latter election, and the imperial court was persuaded that it was supporting its own interests when it placed Nicholas upon the papal throne. Circumstances soon occurred to prove that the Germans had been deluded ; Nicholas assembled a council at Rome, in which it was decreed that the cardinals alone should in future have a voice in the election of the pope ; but to avoid any open breach with the emperor, a clause was added, reserving to him all due honour and respect. A less equivocal proceeding soon followed ; the Normans, m ho liad settled in the south of Italy, had become more amenable to the Church than they had been in the 1059.] REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. 43 days of Leo. The lust of conquest was abated, and they were now anxious to obtain some security for their possessions ; they therefore tendered their alliance and feudal allegiance to the pope, on con- dition of his confirming their titles. By the advice of Hildebrand, Nicholas gave to Richard Guiscard the principality of Capua, and granted Robert Guis- card the title of duke, with the investiture of all the lands he had conquered, or should conquer, in Sicily, Apulia, and Calabria. The pope readily granted that to which he had no /^ right, a proceeding that might have cost him dear, ', if the old emperor had survived : the Normans, in / return, lent their aid to punish the enemies of Nicholas in the Roman territory. The lands of the turbulent aristocracy were ravaged with unsparing cruelty, and it is to the desolation thus produced, that the depopulation of the country round Rome, even at the present day, must be attributed. While Hildebrand was maturing his plans for re-establishing the papacy, many circumstances occurred, which proved the expediency of establish- ing a central controlling power in the Church. The ecclesiastics of Milan had been, for nearly two hundred years, independent of the Holy See, and their church had become the scandal of Italy. Benefices were openly sold, immoralities flagrantly practised, until at length a respectable portion of the laity requested the interference of the pope. Peter Damian was sent as a legate to Milan, but the 44 REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. [1061. populace, incited by the priests, raised a formidable insurrection, and threatened to murder him for menacing their indejiendence. Peter, undismayed, ascended a pulpit in one of their principal churches, and made such an effective discourse, that the rioters, not only submitted, but encouraged him to pursue his task of investigation. The inquiry proved, that nearly every priest in Milan had purchased his pre- ferment, and lived with a concubine. The arch- bishop, after an obstinate resistance, was brought to confess, that he had transgressed the canons; but he was pardoned by the legate, on condition of swear- ing, with his clergy, to observe the ecclesiastical rules for the future. Scarcely, however had the legate departed, when the clergy assailed the arch- bishop for betraying the rights of their church, and compelled him to retract the conditions to Avhich he had so recently sworn. The troubles in Milan burst out afresh, and the profligacy of the clergy seemed to have been increased by the temporary interruption. Ere Nicholas could make any effort to terminate these disorders, he was seized by a mortal disease ; his death made a great change in the political aspect of Italy, for the Church party, encouraged by Hil- debrand, set both the emperor and the aristocracy at defiance. The cardinals and bishops, without waiting for the imperial sanction, conferred the papacy on Anselmo, Bishop of Lucca, who took the title of Alexander II. ; on the other hand, the 1065.] REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. 45 Counts of Tuscany, hoping to recover the lands that had been wrested from them by the Normans, declared that they would support the emperor's right of nomination. The Roman nobles had hitherto owed their partial success to their having supported a national prelate ; they soon found that their strength was gone, when they gave their aid to a foreign competitor. Supported by a German and Lombard army, Cadislaus, who had been chosen by the emperor, appeared before the gates of Rome, but the citizens refused him admission. At first, the imperialists gained some advantages, but the arrival of Duke Godfrey, with an auxiliary force of Normans, changed the fortunes of the war, and Cadislaus was compelled to make a hasty retreat. He sought refuge in the Castle of St. Angelo, where he was closely besieged. Soon afterwards, the young emperor, having been removed by a strata- gem from the protection of his mother, was placed under the control of the Archbishops of Bremen and Cologne ; at their instigation he recognised Alexander as the legitimate pope, and Cadislaus, finding himself abandoned by his principal protector, fled in disguise from the Castle of St. Angelo to his native diocese, where he died in obscurity. During the brief reign of Alexander, Hildebrand was the real governor of the Church. As soon as the war with Cadislaus was ended, he directed his attention to the affairs of Milan, excommunicating the perjured archbishop, and ordering that all the 46 REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. [1066. priests who were married, or who lived in concu- binage, should be ejected from their cures. Sup- ported by the populace and a large body of the nobles, the papal legate not only enforced this decree, but obtained from the clergy and people a solemn oath, that, for the future, they would hold no election of a bishop valid, unless it was confirmed by the pope. The excommunicated archbishop resigned his see, and sent the insignia of his oflfice, the pastoral rod and ring, to the emperor. Godfrey, a deacon of Milan, was appointed to supply the vacancy, by the imperial council ; but the citizens of Milan refused to receive him, and chose for their archbishop, Atto, a nominee of the pope. A fierce war raged between the rival prelates, and Alexander, indignant at the support that Godfrey received from the emperor, summoned that prince to appear before his tribunal, on a charge of simony, and granting investitures without the approbation of the see of Rome. Neither the ambition nor the cares of Pope Alexander, or rather, his instigator Hildebrand, were confined to the Italian peninsula. By means of the populai'ity which the pretensions of the mendicant friars had given their order throughout Europe, he established an interest for himself in every part of Christendom. Faithful agents kept a strict watch over the proceedings of the Emperor Henry, legates were sent to Denmark and Norway, the allegiance of the King of Bohemia was secured 1066.] REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. 47 by permission to wear tlie mitre, and the virtual independence of the Anglo-Saxon Church was destroyed by the Norman conquest, to the success of which, the interference of the pope and of Hildebrand materially contributed.- The pretexts of the pontiffs are characteristic of the superstitions of the age. Harold, the last Saxon monarch of England, had, during an acci- dental visit to Normandy, been forced to swear that he would favour the succession of William, whose claims were founded on a real or pretended promise of Edward the Confessor. This compulsory oath, it seems, would not have been considered binding, had not Harold unwittingly sworn it on a chest of relics, collected from all the surrounding churches. When, therefore, on the death of Edward, he accepted the crown, proffered to him by the free voice of the Anglo-Saxons, he was regarded, not as a patriot resolved to maintain his country's independence, but as a perjured wretch who had trampled on the most solemn obligations. Hildebrand eagerly seized this opportunity of establishing the papal supremacy over a national church, whose claims to indepen- dence had long given offence at Rome. At his instigation, the claims of the Norman duke to the English crown were solemnly recognised by the papal council ; a bull containing this decision was sent to William, together with a consecrated stand- ard, and a ring, said to contain a hair fi*om the head of St. Peter, enclosed in a diamond of considerable r 48 REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. [IO7O. value. But we learn from a letter, subsequently addressed by Hildebrand to the Conqueror, that there were some in the conclave who opposed this iniquitous interference with the rights of nations, and severely reproached the cardinal-monk, for advo- cating the cause of a tyrannical usurper. But Hildebrand did not extend to the Normans in Italy the same favour that he showed to their brethren in England. Aided by the forces of the Countess Matilda, a devoted adherent of the Church, and heiress to a considerable territory, he forced them to resign the districts they had wrested from the Holy See. Anxious to retain this sovereignty, Hildebrand violently opposed a marriage between the Countess and Godfrey Gobbo, a son whom her step-father had by a former wife, before his mar- riage with her mother. Such a union, indeed, was warranted by the strict letter of the canonical degrees, but still it was, in some degree, revolting to the feelings. Gobbo was excommunicated, but Hildebrand secretly hinted, that he might be recon- ciled to the Church, on making proper submissions. But all these political struggles were cast into the shade, by the daring citation of the Emperor Henry : every one regarded it as a declaration of war between the spiritual and temporal authorities, and it must have been obvious to all, that the death of Alexander II. only delayed the contest. More had been done during the reign of this pope to extend the authority of the papacy, than in any 1073.] REVIVAL OF THE PAPAL POWER. 49 former pontificate ; but this must not be attributed either to the faults or to the merits of Alexander, who was a mere instrument in the hands of his ambitious minister. The monks, to raise Hildebrand's fame, published tales of the numerous miracles he wrought, which were greedily received by the superstitious / populace, and tended greatly to extend his influence : ^ we have taken no notice of these legends ; a greater miracle than any they record, is, that rational beings should be found sufficiently credulous, to believe and repeat such monstrous absurdities. 50 Chapter V. PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. From a. d. 1073 to a. d. 1086. There were few statesmen in any part of Christen- dom, who did not dread the accesssion of Hildebrand to the papacy, but there were none prepared to provoke his resentment by interfering to prevent his election. The irregular and precipitate manner in which he was chosen, seems to prove, that some opposition was dreaded by his partisans ; and Hilde- brand himself found it necessary to disarm hostility, by an affectation of submission to the emperor. He wrote to Henry, that he had been chosen against his will, that he had no wish for the office, and that he would not be consecrated without the imperial sanction. Deceived by this hypocrisy, Henry ratified the irregular election, and Hildebrand was enthroned with the title of Gregory VII. No sooner was he secured on the throne, than he began to put in execution his favourite plan for securing the independence of the Church, by pre- venting lay interference in the collation of benefices. Before he had been a month elected, lie sent a legate into Spain, to reform the ecclesiastical abuses of that kingdom ; but principally to claim for the apostolic see all the conquests that had recently been made 1074.] PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. 51 from the Moors, under the pretence that the Spanish peninsula, before the Saracenic invasion, had been tributary to the successors of St. Peter. Henry was so much daunted by this and similar displays of vigour, that he sent a submissive letter to the pontiff, acknowledging his former errors in his dis- pute with Alexander, which he attributed to his youth and the influence of evil counsellors, desiring him to arrange the troubles in the Church of Milan at his discretion, and promising to assist him in everything with the imperial authority. The two great objects of the pope were, to enforce the celibacy of the clergy, and the papal right to the investiture of bishops, The former of these projects was a matter of discipline, defended on plausible grounds of expediency. Its advocates pleaded, that a clergyman unincumbered with the cares of a family could devote his whole attention to the flock intrusted to his charge; and that a bishop Mithout children would be free to exercise his patronage without being warped by domestic affection. On the other hand, men were thus forced to sacrifice the noblest and best of human feelings ; they were denaturalized, cut off from the influences of social life: the Church became the country and the home of every person who embraced the ecclesiastical profession. After ordination, the priest and the bishop were no longer Germans, Spaniards, or Englishmen ; — they were Romans ; — ministers and peers of a mighty empire, that claimed 4-2 52 PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. [1074. the dominion of the whole globe. " Like the envoy or minister of any foreign government, a member of the Romish hierarchy observes the laws of the state in which his master may have placed him, and respects for a time the authority of the local magistrate : but his order is his country, the pontiff is his natural sovereign, and their welfare and their honour are the appropriate objects of his public care*." The constant sight of such a sacrifice of the natural feelings of mankind, was obviously calculated to win the respect of the laity, and gain credence for the superior sanctity that was supposed to invest the character of a priest. The pope's determination to destroy the practice of lay investitures, was defended on more plausible grounds. The administration of ecclesiastical patron- age by the emperor and other temporal princes, was liable to great abuses, and had actually led to many: they supplied vacancies with the ignorant, the depraved, and the violent ; they sought for the qualifications of a soldier or a politician, when they had to elect a bishop. In a dark age, when monarchs and nobles were rarely able to write their own names ; when the knowledge of the alphabet, even in aristocratic families, was so rare, as to be deemed a spell against witchcraft ; and when the fierce qualities of a warrior were valued more highly than the Christian virtues, it seemed almost neces- sary to render appointments in the Church inde- * Phelan's Policy of the Churcli of Rome. 1075.] PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. 53 pendent of the state. But to this obvious expediency, Gregory VII. added a blasphemous claim of right, as Christ's vicar on earth, and inheritor of his visible throne. While, however, we condemn such impious assumptions, we should not refuse to Hildebrand the credit of higher and purer motives, than those of personal aggrandisement, mingling in his schemes for extending his own power and that of his suc- cessors. It is undeniable, that the corporate autho- rity he procured for the Church, became, in many European countries, a source of much benefit during the middle ages, overawing the violent, protecting the forlorn, mitigating the prevailing ferocity of manners, and supplying in various ways the defects of civil institutions. Gregory, having assembled a general council at Rome, ordained, by consent of the bishops j^resent, that if any one should accept investiture from a layman, both the giver and the receiver should be excommunicated ; that the j^relates and nobles who advised the emperor to claim the collation of benefices, should be excommunicated : and that all married priests should dismiss their wives, or be deposed. These decrees were communicated to the sovereigns of Europe by Gregory himself, in letters that must ever remain a monument of his consummate abilities. His monstrous claims for the universal supremacy of the Church and of the Romish See, are proposed in a tone of humility and candour, well calculated to win the unthinking and 54 PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. [1075. unwary; his dictations assume the form of affec- tionate suggestions, and his remonstrances resemble those of a tender and affectionate father. But the pope did not confine his exertions to mere words ; he obliged the Normans to quit their conquests in Campania, proposed a crusade against the Saracens who were menacing Constantinople, and offered a province in Italy to Sweno, King of Denmark, under the pretence that the inhabitants were heretics. The Emperor Henry was not de- ceived by Gregory's professions, he hated the pontiff in his heart, and had good reason to believe that the enmity was reciprocal. It was therefore with mingled jealousy and indignation that he saw a new power established which more than rivalled his own, and he entered into a secret alliance with the Normans against their common enemy. In the mean time, a conspiracy was formed against the pope in Rome itself by some of the aristocracy, whose privileges he had invaded. Cincius, the prefect of the city, arrested the pontiff while he was celebrating mass on Christmas Day, and threw him into prison ; but the populace soon rescued their favourite, Cincius would have been torn to pieces but for Gregory's interference, and all who had shared in this act of violence were banished from the city. Soon afterwards Gregory cited the emperor to appear before the Council at Rome, to answer to the charge of })rotecting excommunicated bishops, and granting investitures without the sane- 1076.] PONTIFICATE OF GREGOKY VII. 56 tion of the Holy See. Henry, enraged by the insult, and relieved from his anxieties in Germany by a recent victory over the Saxons, resolved to temporize no longer; he assembled a synod at Worms, of the princes and prelates devoted to his cause, and procured sentence of deposition against Gregory, on a charge of simony, murder, and atheism. Gregory was far from being disheartened by the emperor's violence ; he assembled a council at Rome, solemnly excommunicated Henry, absolved his sub- jects in Germany and Italy from their oath of alle- giance, deposed several prelates in Germany, France, and Lombardy, and published a series of papal con- stitutions, in which the claims of the Roman pon- tiffs to supremacy over all the sovereigns of the earth were asserted in the plainest terms. The most important of these resolutions, which form the basis of the political system of popery, were : — That the Roman Pontiff alone can be called Universal. That he alone has a right to depose bishops. That his legates have a right to preside over all bishops assembled in a general council. That the pope can depose absent prelates. That he alone has a right to use imperial orna- ments. That princes are bound to kiss his feet, and his only. 66 PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. [1076. That he has a right to depose emperors. That no synod or council summoned without his commission can be called general. That no book can be called canonical without his authority. That his sentence can be annulled by none, but that he may annul the decrees of all. That the Roman Church has been, is, and will continue, infallible. That whoever dissents from the Romish Church ceases to be a Catholic Christian. And, that subjects may be absolved from their allegiance to wicked princes. Some cautious prelates advised Gregory not to be too hasty in excommunicating his sovereign; to their remonstrances he made the following memor- able reply: — " When Christ trusted his flock to St. Peter, saying, ' Feed my sheep,' did he except kings ? Or when he gave him the power to bind and loose, did he withdraw any one from his visita- tion? He, therefore, who says that he cannot be bound by the bonds of the Church, must confess that he cannot be absolved by it ; and he who denies that doctrine, separates himself from Christ and his Church." Both parties now prepared for war, but all the advantages were on the side of Gregory. At the very commencement of the struggle, Gobbo, the most vigorous supporter of the emperor, died, and 1076.] PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. 57 his widow, the Countess Matilda, placed all her resources at the disposal of the pontiff. So com- pletely, indeed, did this princess devote herself to support the interests of Gregory, that their mutual attachment was suspected of having transgressed the limits of innocence. The Duke of Dalmatia, gratified by the title of king, and the Norman monarch of Sicily, proffered aid to the pontiff; even the Mohammedan emperor of Morocco courted his favour, and presented him with the liberty of the Christian slaves in his dominions. Henry, on the contrary, knew not where to look for support; in every quarter of his dominions monks and friars preached against their sovereign, and the prelates by whom he had been sujjjDorted ; the Saxon nobles eagerly embraced a religious pretext to renew their insurrection ; the Dukes of Suabia and Carinthia demanded a change of dynasty; even the prelates who had been most zealous in urging Henry forward, terrified by threats of excom- munication, abandoned his cause. A Diet was assembled at Tribur, attended by two papal legates, in which it was resolved that Henry should be deposed, unless within a limited period he presented himself before the pope and obtained absolution. The prelates and nobles of Lombardy alone maintained their courage, and boldly retorted the excommunications of Gregory. Animated by the hope of obtaining their efficient aid, Henry resolved to cross the Alps instead of waiting for Gregory's 58 PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. [1077- arrival in Germany. The hardships which the un- fortunate monarch underwent during this journey, in the depth of a severe winter, — the dangers to which he was exposed from the active malice of his ene- mies, — the sight of the sufferings of his queen and child, who could only travel by being enclosed in the hides of oxen, and thus dragged through the Alpine passes, — would have broken a sterner spirit than Henry's. He entered Lombardy completely disheartened, and, though joined by considerable forces, he thought only of conciliating his powerful enemy by submission. Having obtained a confer- ence with the Countess Matilda, Henry prevailed upon her to intercede for him with the pope ; and her intercession, supported by the j^rincipal nobles of Italy, induced Gregory to grant an interview to his sovereign. On the 2 1st of January, 1077, Henry proceeded to Canosa, where the pope resided, and was forced to submit to the greatest indignities that were ever heaped upon imperial majesty. At the first barrier, he was compelled to dismiss his attendants ; when he reached the second, he was obliged to lay aside his imperial robes, and assume the habit of a peni- tent. For three entire days he was forced to stand barefooted and fasting, from morning till night, in the outer court of the castle, during one of the severest winters that had ever been known in north- ern Italy, imploring pardon of his transgressions from God and the pope. He was at length admitted 1080.] PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. 59 into the presence of the haughty pontiff, and, after all his submissions, obtained, not the removal, but the suspension of the excommunication. Such harsh treatment sunk deep into Henry's mind ; and his hostility to Gregofy was exasperated by the pontiff accepting a grant of the Countess Matilda's possessions for the use of the Church, which would legally revert to the empire after her decease. The reproaches of the Lombards also induced him to repent of his degradation, and he renewed the war by a dishonourable, but ineffectual, attempt to arrest Gregory and Matilda. In the mean time the discontented nobles of Germany had assembled a Diet at Fercheim, deposed their sove- reign, and elected Rodolph, Duke of Suabia, to the empire. This proceeding greatly embarrassed the pope ; he dared not declare against Henry, who was powerful in Italy, and if he abandoned Rodolph he would ruin his own party in Germany. He resolved to preserve a neutrality in the contest, and in the mean time he directed his attention to the internal state of the Church, which had for some time been distracted by the controversy respecting the eucha- rist. It is not easy to determine by whom the doctrine of transubstantiation was first broached : Selden very justly says, " this opinion is only rhetoric turned into logic," and it is easy to see how the spiritual presence of our Saviour in the Holy Com- munion might, in a dark and ignorant age, be repre- 60 PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. [1080. sented as an actual change of the consecrated ele- ments into his material substance. We are not concerned with the theological errors of this doc- trine ; our subject only requires us to notice the political purposes to which it was aj^plied. No article of faith was better calculated to exalt the power of the priesthood ; it represented them as daily working a miracle equally stu23endous and mysterious; true, its nature was incomprehensible, but this circumstance, instead of exciting a suspicion of its absurdity, only increased the reverence with which it was regarded. We must not then be sur- prised at the zeal that the Romish i)riesthood has ever manifested in defending an opinion which has so materially strengthened its influence. The con- fessor to the Queen of Sj)ain is said to have rebuked the opposition of a nobleman, by saying, " You should respect the man who every day has your God in his hands and your queen at his feet." In this brief sentence the purpose of the doctrine is distinctly stated ; it conferred j^olitical power, and was therefore to be defended at all hazards. But common sense frequently revolted at a doctrine contradicted by sight, feeling, and taste; in the eleventh century it was ably exposed by Berenga- rius, a priest of Tours, who assailed it at once Mith ridicule and with argument. But, in his eightieth year, Berengarius was prevailed upon by Gregory to renounce his former opinions, and transubstantia- tion was generally received as an article of faith. 1085.] PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. 61 A victory obtained by Rodolpli induced Gregory to dejDart from his cautious policy ; he excommuni- cated Henry, and sent a crown of gold to his rival. The indignant emperor summoned a council in the mountains of the Tyrol, pronounced Gregory's depo- sition, and jDroclaimed Gilbert, Archbishop of Ra- venna, i^ope, by the name of Clement III. Gregory immediately made peace with the Normans, and, supported by them and the Countess Matilda, he bade his enemies defiance. But in the mean time Rodolph was defeated and slain, the discontented Germans were forced to submit to the imperial authority, and Henry, at the head of a victorious army, crossed the Alps. The Norman dukes, en- gaged in war with the Greek emiDerors, neglected their ally, and the forces of the Countess Matilda were unable to cope with the imiierialists. Twace was Henry driven from before the walls of Rome ; but the third time he gained an entrance, by a lavish distribution of bribes, and procured the solemn in- stallation of Clement. The emjieror's departure left his partisans exposed to the vengeance of Gre- gory ; the pontiff returned at the head of a Norman army, and gave the city to be pillaged by his barba- rous auxiliaries. Having reduced Rome almost to a mass of ruins, Gregory retired to Salerno, where he was seized with a mortal disease. He died un- conquered, rejDeating with his latest breath the excommunications which he had hurled against Henry, the antipope, and their adherents. He 62 PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. [1085. viewed his own conduct in the struggle with com- placency, and frequently boasted of the goodness of his cause. " I have loved righteousness and hated iniquity," he exclaimed, " and it is therefore I die an exile." Gregory may be regarded as the great founder of the political system of popery ; and therefore, while he is extolled by some historians as a saint, others have described him as a disgrace to humanity. But the character of this remarkable man was formed by his age, and developed by the circumstances that surrounded him. He was the representative both of popery and democracy, principles apparently in- consistent, but which in ancient and modern times have frequently been found in close alliance. With the sanctity of the Church he shielded the peoj^le ; with the strength of the people he gave stability to the Church. In the course of his long career as the secret and as the acknowledged ruler of the papacy, he displayed unquestionable abilities of the highest order; his pretensions to ascetic piety gained him the enthusiastic admiration of the multitude; the soldiers regarded him as a brave warrior and suc- cessful general ; the higher ranks of the clergy yielded in the council to his fervid eloquence and political skill. His very faults became elements of his success ; he was severe, vindictive, and inexo- rable ; he knew not what it was to forgive ; none of his enemies could elude the patient search and the incessant vigilance with which he pursued those 1085.] PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII. 63 against whom he treasured wrath. It was his custom to witness the execution of those whose death he decreed ; and it was awful to contemplate the serenity of his countenance and the placidity of his manners while he presided over tortures and massacres. It cannot, therefore, be a matter of wonder that the power of such a man should have swept over Christendom like a torrent, and hurried everything into the vortex of his new and gigantic institutions. 64 Chapter VI. THE WAR OF INVESTITURES.— THE FIRST CRUSADE. From a. d. 1086 to a. d. 1152. Henry gained only a brief respite by the death of his formidable and inveterate antagonist. Victor III. was elected by the cardinals, and during his brief reign he gained several advantages over the imperial party. He was succeeded by Urban II., the friend and pupil of Gregory, who commenced his pontifi- cate by sending an encyclical letter to the Christian churches, declaring his resolution to adhere to the political system of his deceased master. Supported by the Normans, Urban entered Rome, and as- sembled a council of one hundred and fifteen bishops, in which the emperor, the antipope, and their ad- herents, were solemnly excommunicated. At the same time he negotiated a marriage between Guelph, son of the Duke of Bavaria, a distinguished supporter of the papal cause in Germany, and the Countess Matilda. From this union, the present dukes of Brunswick and Lunenburgh, and the reigning family of England, trace their descent. Henry marched into Italy, and though vigorously opposed by Guelph, gained several important advantages ; but the papal intrigues raised enemies against him in the bosom 1095.] THE WAR OF INVESTITURES. 65 of his family ; his eldest son Conrad rebelled, and was crowned King of Italy by Urban. This revolt compelled Henry to abandon his recent acquisitions, and retire towards the Alps. A council was summoned to meet at Placentia, and so large a number of bishops assembled, that no church could contain them, and they were forced to deliberate in the open air. Most of Gregory's de- crees were re-enacted ; but, in addition to the affair of investitures, the attention of the council was directed to the rapid progress of the Mohammedans in the East, and the dangers that threatened the empire of Constantinople (a. d. 1095). The tales of the persecutions to which the Christian pilgrims were exposed by the ferocious Turks, who had be- come masters of the Holy Land, had excited general indignation throughout Europe. Peter the Hermit, a wild fanatic, preached everywhere the necessity of rescuing the faithful from the infidel Saracens, as he ignorantly called the Turks, and such a flame was kindled by his exertions, that a decree was issued by the council of Clermont, authorising the first crusade ; at the same time the King of France, in whose dominions the council met, was excommuni- cated, and could only obtain absolution by humi- liating submissions. The general insanity diffiised through Europe by the preaching of the first crusade, the multitudes that abandoned their homes to follow Walter the Pennyless or Godescald the Fanatic, the massacres 5 t 66 THE WAR OF INVESTITURES. [1106. of the Jews, the sufferings and exploits of the dis- ciplined adventurers that marched under the banners of Godfrey, have been described by too many his- torians for us to digress from our immediate subject; it is enough to say that the general fanaticism proved of essential service to the papal cause, and that the partisans of Henry suffered severely from the fury of the Crusaders in their passage through Italy. Paschal II. was the successor of Urban, and, like him, steadfastly pursued the policy of Gregory ; he easily triumphed over the antipope, who died of a broken heart, and he urged a second general cru- sade, which the reverses of the Christians in the Holy Land rendered necessary. To consolidate the papal structure, he assembled a council at Rome, and procured the enactment of a new oath, to be taken by all ranks of the clergy. By this oath they abjured all heresy, they promised implicit obedience to the pope and his successors, to affirm what the holy and universal Church confirms, and to con- demn what she condemns (a. D. 1104). Soon after, the old emperor, Heni-y, was treacherously arrested by his own son Henry V., and deprived of his im- perial dignity : he subsequently escaped, but before hostilities made any ])rogress, he died of a broken heart. The Bishop of Liege honourably interred the body of his unfortunate sovereign, but jiapal enmity pursued Henry beyond the grave ; the bene- volent prelate was excommunicated, and could only obtain absolution l\y disinterring the corpse. 1118.] THE FIRST CRUSADE. 87 Though Henry V. owed his throne to papal in- fluence, he would not yield the imperial right to granting investitures, and his example was followed by the Kings of England and France. The form in which monarchs gave investitui^ by bestowing a pastoral ring and staff, was regarded by the popes as an interference with their spiritual jurisdiction, and when the form was altered, they gave no further trouble to the English and French monarchs, but, in their disputes with the emjierors, they not only for- | bade ecclesiastics to receive investiture from laymen, P but even to take an oath of allegiance to them. The fifth Henry j^roved a more formidable enemy to the papacy than his father ; he led an army into Italy, made Paschal prisoner, compelled him to per- form the ceremony of his coronation, and to issue a bull securing the right of investiture to the emperor and his successors. But the remonstrances of the car- dinals induced the pope to annul the treaty, and he permitted Henry to be excommunicated by several provincial councils. The pontiff, however, did not ratify the sentence until the death of the Countess Matilda, and the disputes about her inheritance, created fresh animosities between the empire and the Holy See. The death of Paschal prevented an immediate war. His successors, Gelasius II. and Calixtus II., how- ever, supported his policy, and, after a long struggle, the emperor was forced to resign his claim to epi- scopal investitures, but he was permitted to retain 5-2 ■f 68 THE WAR OF INVESTITURES. [1139. the investiture of the temporal rights belonging to the sees. During the pontificate of Honorius II., the suc- cessor of Calixtus, the Church of Ireland, for the first time, was brought under the supremacy of the pope by the exertions of St. Malachi, a monk of gTeat influence and reputation. The greater part of the reign of Honorius was spent in a contest with the Normans in southern Italy, whom he forced to con- tinue in their allegiance. Innocent II. and Anacletus, elected by rival fac- tions, were both enthroned the same day, and the papacy was consequently rent by a schism. Ana- cletus was the grandson of a converted Jew; he possessed great wealth, was a favourite with the Roman populace, and had an undoubted majority of the cardinals in his favour, yet he is stigmatized as an antipope. This was principally owing to the exertions of the celebrated St. Bernard, who warmly espoused the cause of Innocent, and procured him the support of the King of France and the German emperor. On the death of Anacletus, his party elected another antipope, but he soon made his submission to Innocent, and the schism was ap- peased. A general council was soon afterwards assembled at Rome (a. d. 1139), at which no less than a thou- sand bishops were present ; several ordinances were made for completing the ecclesiastical organization of the Church. The opinions of Arnold of Brescia 1139.] THE FIRST CRUSADE. 69 were condemned at this council ; they were derived from the celebrated Abelard, whose controversy with St. Bernard began to excite universal attention. Abelard was generally regarded as the most ac- complished scholar and the best logician in Europe ; crowds of disciples flocked to hear his lectures, and though he did not break through the trammels of scholastic philosophy, he gave an impulse to the spirit of inquiry which, in a future age, produced beneficial effects. St. Bernard, whose opinions were invested by the bishops with a kind of apostolic authority, accused Abelard of teaching heretical opinions re- specting the doctrine of the Trinity. Abelard denied the imputation, and the dispute turned on metai3hysi- cal subtleties, to which neither party aflixed a definite meaning. Abelard's opinions were condemned by a council at Sens, but he was permitted to retire into the monastery of Clugny, where he died in peace. This obscure controversy was the first symptom of the struggle between scholastic divinity and philo- sophy. Abelard was subdued, but he bequeathed his cause to a succession of faithful disciples, who gradually emancipated knowledge from the confine- ment of the cloister, and liberated the human mind from the thraldom of popery. Abelard's opinions were purely theological ; his disciple, Arnold of Brescia, abandoning his master's mysticism, directed his attention to the reform of the Church and of the government. He declared that the political power and wealth of the clergy were inconsistent with the 70 THE WAR OF INVESTITURES. [1145. sanctity of their profession, and he began to preach these doctrines in Italy and Germany ; so great was his influence, that he was invited to Rome, in order to revive the repubUc. Innocent II., Celestine II., Lucius II., and Eugenius III., had to struggle with " the politicians," as the followers of Arnold were called, for the maintenance of their domestic power ; and during this period the aggressions of popery on the rights of kings and nations were suspended. Rome set the example of resistance to the pontiffs ; Italy, for a brief space, furnished the boldest oppo- nents to the papal usurpations; but when Europe began to profit by the example, the Italians dis- covered that the overthrow of the papacy would diminish the profits which they derived from the payments made by superstition and ignorance to the Roman exchequer ; and they lent their aid to the support of the lucrative delusion they had been the first to expose, and even yielded their liberties to the pontiffs, on condition of sharing in their unhallowed gains. n Chapter VII. THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE PAPAL AND IM- PERIAL POWER IN THE REIGN OF FREDERIC BARBAROSSA.— THE ALBIGENSIAN WAR. From a. d. 1152 to a. d. 1187- The eloquence of St. Bernard roused the monarchs of France and Germany to undertake a new crusade, in consequence of the dangers to which the kingdom of Jerusalem was exposed after the capture of Edessa by Noureddin, the most powerful Moslem prince whom the crusaders had yet encountered. The Em- peror Conrad, and Louis VII., led mighty armies into Asia, but the want of conduct in the leaders, and discipline in the soldiei-s, the difficulties of the country, the heat of the climate, the pei-fidy of the Greeks, and the disunion of the Latins, proved fatal to the expedition, and the two monarchs returned to Europe, having vainly sacrificed the lives of myriads of their bravest subjects. The Emperor Conrad, anxious to make some atonement to his subjects, passed over his son, and nominated his nephew Frederic Barbarossa his successor, trusting that this young man, in whose person were united the rival claims of the Guelph and Ghibelline families, would restore the empire to its former prosperity. The Diet at Frankfort adopted the wise plans of Conrad, and Frederic I. was proclaimed. 72 THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN QllSS. Pope Eugenius III. entered into a close alliance with Frederic ; he trusted to obtain the emperor's aid in subduing the partisans of Arnold, who had formed the insane project of restoring the old Roman republic. Frederic soon performed his part of the treaty, and Eugenius had leisure to complete the union of the Irish Church to the papacy. He sent a legate to Ireland, who established four metropoli- tan sees in the island, and bestowed the pall, the Romish symbol of investiture, on the new arch- bishops. The attempts of the Byzantine emperor, Manuel Comnenus, to recover the Italian provinces that formed the ancient exarchate, drew Eugenius and Frederic into closer alliance, but their harmony was soon interrupted by the revival of the question of investitures. Frederic conferred the archbishop- ric of Magdeburglr on one of his favourites; the pope angrily remonstrated, the emperor persevered ; excommunications were prepared on one side, armies levied on the other, when the death of Eugenius adjourned the contest. Anastasius IV. only appeared on the pontifical throne to grant extensive jirivileges to the military order of the Hospitallers, or Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. This order was originally a charitable institution for the relief of the poor pilgrims who visited Jerusalem ; they subsequently undertook the defence of the roads that led to the Holy Sepulchre, and gradually assumed a military organization. Their order, subsequently enriched by mistaken piety, be- t 1154.] THE PAPAL AND IMPERIAL POWER. 73 came equally remarkable for its bravery, wealth, and profligacy. Anastasiiis permitted Frederic's nominee to retain the archbishopric of Magdeburgh, and the reproaches of the cardinals for this dereliction of the papal claims is said to have hastened his end. / Nicholas Breakspear, an Englishman by birth, , was elected to the papacy, by the title of Adrian IV., at a time when the partisans of Arnold were com- plete masters of Rome. The emperor and the pope were equally interested in suppressing the republican party ; Frederic led an army into Italy, and Adrian placed Rome under an interdict. Arnold fled, but he was arrested by the emperor, and delivered to the ecclesiastical power. After the mockery of a trial, this daring reformer was sentenced to be burned alive as a heretic and a traitor. The Romans, as if roused by the sight of his funeral pile, took arms to dispute for his ashes as relics, and his memory was long revered by the giddy populace. But Adrian, though gratified by the surrender of Arnold, was not disposed to trust implicitly to the professions of Frederic, and the emperor was secretly annoyed by the extravagant pretensions of the pontiff. Though the pope was conscious that he could not compete with the monarch, he would not resign his pretensions to superiority, and when he visited the German camp, he refused to give Fre- deric the kiss of peace, because the emperor had declined to hold the stirrup of his horse ! Frederic, after some hesitation, agreed to gratify the egregious 74 THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN [1155. Ij vanity of the pontiff, and performed this degrading • ceremony in the presence of his whole army. t Adrian now consented to perfonn the coronation of the emperor ; bnt the Roman citizens, enraged at the contempt with which their claims were treated, raised a fomiidable insurrection, and murdered several bishops. Frederic attacked the disorderly mob, slew more than a thousand of the revolters, and then went to the cathedral to receive the golden crown. A pestilence soon after destroyed so many of the imperialists, that both the pope and the emperor deemed it prudent to abandon Rome ; so that the solemnity of the coronation was generally regarded as a useless butcheiy. Shortly after this transaction, Adrian received an important application from Heni-y Plantagenet, King of England, which led to a remarkable asser- tion of the papal right to bestow kingdoms and empires. It deserves our attention, both as a memorable example of the usurping spirit of popery, and as the origin of the connexion between Great Britain and Ireland. We have already mentioned that the Irish Church was first united to the Romish see by the exertions of St. Malachi ; the claims of the prelates to exclusive privileges were resisted by the native Irish princes and the inferior clerg}% who appear to have been strongly attached to their ancient institutions. Henry, encouraged by the descendants of the Danes who had settled in Ire- land, and solicited by the ambitious prelates, resolved 1155.3 THE PAPAL AND IMPERIAL POWER. 75 to annex this valuable island to his dominions. He applied to the pope to sanction his undertaking, declaring that his chief purpose was to re-establish the purity of Christianity (a. d. 1155). Adrian granted the desired investiture, and sent Henry a letter, which, for many reasons, it is necessary for us to insert at full length. " Adrian, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his dearest son in Christ, the illustrious Kinar of England, health and apostolical benediction. " Full laudably and profitably hath your magnifi- cence conceived the desire of propagating your glorious renown on earth, and completing your reward of eternal happiness in heaven ; while, as a Catholic prince, you are intent on enlarging the borders of the Church, instructing the rude and ignorant in the truth of the Christian faith, exter- minating vice from the vineyard of the Lord ; and for the more convenient execution of this purpose, requiring the counsel and favour of the apostolic see. In which the more mature your deliberation and discreet your conduct, so much the happier, with the assistance of the Lord, will be your pro- gress ; as all things which take their beginning from the ardour of faith and the love of religion are wont to come to a prosperous issue. " There is indeed no doubt, as your highness also doth acknowledge, that Ireland and all the islands upon which Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, hath shone, do belong to the patrimony of St. Peter and 76 THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN [1155. the holy Roman Church. Therefore are we the more solicitous to jDropagate in that land the goodly scion of faith, as we have the secret monition of conscience that such is more esjDecially our bounden duty. " You, then, most dear son in Christ, have signi- fied unto us your desire to enter into that land of Ireland, in order to reduce the people to obedience unto laws, and extirpate the seeds of vice : you have also declared that you are willing to pay from each house a yearly pension of one penny to St. Peter, and that you will preserve the rights of the churches of said land whole and inviolate. We, therefore, with that grace and acceptance suited to your pious and praiseworthy design, and favourably assenting to your petition, do hold it right and good that, for the extension of the borders of the Church, the restraining of vice, the correction of manners, the planting of virtue, and increase of religion, you enter the said island, and execute therein whatever shall pertain to the honour of God and the welfare of the land ; and that the jDCoj^le of said land receive you honourably, and reverence you as their lord, saving always the rights of the churches, and reserving to St. Peter the annual pension of one penny upon every house. " If, then, you be resolved to carry this design into effectual execution, study to form the nation to virtuous manners; and labour by yourself, and by others whom you may judge meet for the work, 1155.] THE PAPAL AND IMPERIAL POWER. 77 in faith, word, and action, that the Church may be there exalted, the Christian faith planted, and all things so ordered for the honour of God and the salvation of souls, that you may be entitled to a fulness of reward in heaven, and on earth to a glo- rious renown throughout all ages." This conveyance was communicated by Henry to the Irish hierarchy, but the negotiations were pro- tracted for several years, until circumstances effected a Jodgment for the English arms in Ireland (a. d. 1171). The brief was then read publicly at the synod of Cashel, with a confirmatory letter from the reigning pope, Alexander III., in which Adrian's grant was recognised and renewed. Four years afterwards (a.d. 1175), these two papal edicts were promulged by a synod held at Water- ford : Henry was formally proclaimed Lord of Ire- land, and the severest censures of the Church denounced against all who should imj)each the donation of the Holy See, or oppose the government of its illustrious representative. From that period to the Reformation, the English monarchs, and the little Parliament of the Pale, as the restricted por- tion of the island subject to English rule was called, unable to maintain their pretensions by the sword, appealed to the sacredness of these papal grants ; and thus gave the weight of four centuries to an authority which was ultimately to be turned against themselves. But whilst the popes thus claimed supremacy 78 THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN [1159. over distant lands, their immediate subjects and the Italian princes frequently revolted, and despised both their arms and their anathemas. The Milanese invited tlie Lombard cities to form a confederation against the pontiff and the emperor ; AVilliam the Bad, King of Sicily, routed the papal troops in Apulia, and forced Adrian to recognise his royal title, and give him the investiture of his con- quests. Frederic's firmness and power were still more injurious to the pretensions of the papacy ; he compelled Adrian to retract his claims to suj^remacy over the empire, and, in spite of all the pope's exer- tions, he induced the bishops to receive investitures and take the oath of allegiance. The death of Adrian exposed the papacy to the dangers of a disputed succession. Alexander III. and Victor IV. claimed each to be head of the Church, and sent their legates and manifestoes into every part of Christendom. Frederic assembled a council at Pavia, but Alexander protested against its legitimacy. Influenced by the emperor, the council recognised Victor; and, on the following day, Alexander was solemnly excommunicated by his rival and the bishops of his party. Alexander in his turn anathematized Victor and the emperor, comparing the latter to Sennacherib, and menacing him with the fate of the Assyrian monarch. Fre- deric replied by an edict, commanding the bishops of Italy and Germany to recognise Victor, under pain of perpetual exile. 1170.] THE PAPAL AND IMPERIAL POWER. 79 The Kings of England and France adhered to the party of Alexander, for though the French monarch was displeased by the haughty conduct of the pon- tiff, he dreaded Frederic's ambition too much to see him master of the papacy ; he even,.succeeded in pro- curing for Alexander the support of the Emperor of Constantinople. The English sovereign, Henry II., was less firm in his attachment; his contest with Becket, whom he had promoted to the primacy, rendered him jealous of ecclesiastical power, and he exerted himself to make his kingdom independent of the court of Rome. Becket obstinately persevered in resisting the Constitutions of Clarendon, by which the clerical body was placed under the due control of the sovereign; he Mas banished, but he found a safe asylum with the King of France, Henry's in- veterate rival, and Alexander hazarded the loss of an ally rather than sacrifice any of the exorbitant privileges claimed by the Church. English history relates the consequences of this struggle. Becket triumphed over his sovereign ; he returned to Canterbury, and hurled excommunica- tions against all who had incurred his displeasure. His ambition and his insolence provoked Henry to an imprudent exclamation, too rigidly interpreted by his followers. Becket was murdered at the altar ; the Romish Church enrolled him in the rank of its saints, and certainly he deserves to be esteemed the martyr of pontific jjride and ecclesiastical ambition. Whilst England and France were agitated by 80 THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN [1172. Becket's obstinacy, Italy and Germany were far from being tranquil. The emperor had to combat in every direction to support the pope of his choice, and to repress the Lombard league for establishing the independence of the cities in Northern Italy. Victor was dead, but the emperor had procured the election of a new antipope, Paschal III., whom he supported with all his might. Aided by the Italian cities, the King of Sicily, and the Greek emperor, Alexander gained possession of Rome ; but Frederic soon compelled him to evacuate the city. The climate, however, was a formidable foe to the im- perialists ; Frederic, having lost the best part of his troops by a pestilence, was forced to retire beyond the Alps. Alexander was now regarded as the head of the ijombard league ; and the city of Alexandria, built in contempt of the emperor, was a striking proof of his influence over the Italians. The pontiff was not slow in taking advantage of his new position, and he' summoned the King of England to render an account of the murder of St. Thomas a Becket. Henry at first refused, but the efforts of the priests and monks filled him with just alarm for the safety of his crown, and he was forced to submit to the terms imposed upon him by the papal legates. He promised to join in a crusade, to restore the pos- sessions of the see of Canterbury, to permit appeals to Rome ; and he submitted to be beaten with rods before the tomb of Becket. This humiliation, 1175.] THE PAPAL AND IMPERIAL POWER. 81 equally disgraceful to Alexander and to Henry, was/ a proof that the papacy could only be exalted by/ X- the degradation of royalty, and that the Romish ' i See wished to rule over slaves. Frederic Barbarossa was still '*too powerful to yield ; he assembled a large army for his seventh invasion of Italy, and marched to suppress the anomalous league between religious fanaticism and the spirit of liberty. The Germans were every- where unsuccessful, they were forced to raise the siege of Alexandria, and they were routed by the confederates with great slaughter at Lignano. The terror of the papal excommunications was increased by these disasters ; even the friends of the emjDeror believed that these reverses were proofs that he was abandoned by heaven, and urged him to make peace. Alexander was not disinclined to negotiation, and conferences were opened at Venice, whither the pope went to preside over the treaty. After a long discussion, Frederic granted a truce for six years to the Lombards, and for fifteen to the King of Sicily, but he made a perpetual peace with the Church. It was not until the emperor had signed the treaty, and stigmatized as schismatics the anti- popes whom he had himself elected, that he was permitted to enter Venice ; and even then he had to submit to the degradation of holding the pope's stirrup, and leading his horse by the bridle. To recompense the hospitality of the Venetians, 6 82 THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN [1179. and at the same time to assert his own authority, the pope granted the sovereignty of the Adriatic Sea to the republic. " Receive from me this ring," said he publicly to the doge, " as a symbol of domi- nion over the sea ; you and your successors shall espouse its waters every year, in order that posterity may know that the sea belongs to you by right of victory, and must submit to your republic as a wife does to her husband." It was thus that the papacy arrogated to itself every right and flattered every ambition ; until, imposing on itself, as well as others, it carried its claims to such an extravagant excess, that they became ridiculous. For many ages the Venetian republic, relying on this absurd investiture of Pope Alexander, asserted its supremacy over the Adriatic Sea, and contended for its right against the kingdom of Naples. But the empire of superstition, like that of force, has its limits ; and Venice, fallen from its high estate to the rank of those cities that have lost both their independence and the hope of its recovery, has been divorced from the Adriatic for ever. The Romans, alarmed by the success of the pon- tiff, resigned their liberties into his hands, and en- treated him to return to a city where he should henceforth rule as absolute master; the antipope, deserted by the emperor, hastened to make his sub- missions, and Alexander summoned a general council to proclaim his triumph over schismatics and kings (a. d. 1179). To this assembly, not only the bishops 118J.] THE PAPAL AND IMPERIAL POWER. 83 of Europe were invited, but also those of Asia and the Greek Church. This council, the eleventh recognized by the Church of Rome as general, directed its attention chiefly to matters of discijDline. To prevent any future schisms from controverted elections, it was ordained that the votes of two-thirds of the cardinals should be necessary to ensure the success of a can- didate. It was declared sacrilege to impose a tax upon church property, but the clergy were permitted to make voluntary contributions to the support of the state. Finally, sentence of excommunication was pronounced against the Albigenses, and the same privileges granted to those who took arms against them as to crusaders and pilgrims to the Holy Sepulchre. The cities of Languedoc were at this time re- markable for their commercial wealth and their spirit of independence ; they had embraced the doctrines of the Paulicians, a sect which, amid many errors, held fast to the important principle, that the Scrip- tures were the sole rule of faith, and consequently condemned the supremacy over the conscience claimed by the Romish priesthood. Such a doctrine was so directly opposed to popery, that these heretics were stigmatised as the worst of criminals ; and tlie Albigenses, as they were called, were delivered over to the sword of the Catholic princes. We shall soon see the terrible effects of the vengeance of the Church ; and these religious wars will present to us 6-2 ) 84 THE ALBIGENSIAN WAR. [1187. the most horrible picture of modern times. In these crusades, the cruelties of the victors and the van- quished knew no bounds, and the atrocities of both were shocking to human nature. The cardinal of Albano, abbot of Clairvaux, had the melancholy honour of leading the first expedition against the Albigenses ; and the massacres of Lavaur were only the prelude of the horrors that signalised these impious wars, in which the Church, to bring back those whom it judged to have gone astray, employed murderers as missionaries, and massacres as argu- ments. Lucius III., who succeeded Alexander, was in- volved in a quarrel with the emperor respecting the inheritance of the Countess Matilda ; but before the dispute produced any decisive effect, Lucius died, and was succeeded by Urban III. Urban's reign was also brief; the fall of Jerusalem, which was stormed by the celebrated Saladin, is supposed to have hastened his death. He bequeathed to Europe a fresh war between the papacy and the empire, and the useless expenditure of a third crusade. 85 Chapter VIII. THE THIRD AND FOURTH CRUSADES.— THE PONTIFICATE OF INNOeENT III. From a. d. 1187 to a. d. 1216. The third crusade was undertaken with as much enthusiasm as the first, and produced a greater in- fluence on the policy of kingdoms. Frederic Barba- rossa led the forces of the empire to Asia ; the King of Hungary made peace with the Venetian republic, to direct his efforts towards the recovery of Jerusa- lem ; the Kings of England and France, tor a time, laid aside their animosities, and accepted, from Wil- liam of Tyre, the cross, and the peace of God. All ranks, with a single exception, offered their services or their wealth to redeem the Holy Sepulchre ; the clergy alone claimed an exemption from taxation, and declared that they were only bound to forward the war by their prayers. Philip Augustus, the most crafty of the French sovereigns, permitted his nobles to levy contributions on the priesthood, and when complaints were made, he gravely offered them the benefit of his prayers. The brief papacies of Gregory VIII., Clement III., and Celestine III., witnessed the commencement and termination of this holy war. Frederic died of fever, Philip Augustus returned to Europe to plunder his brothers in arms, and Richard of England, compelled to 86 THIRD AND FOURTH CRUSADES. [1193. make peace with Saladin, was arrested on his road home, and long doomed to languish in a German prison. Celestine had only commenced his reign, when Henry VI. informed him of the death of his father, the Emperor Frederic, and required the pope to perform the ceremony of his coronation. After some deliberation, Henry's demands were granted, and he was crowned in the church of St. Peter, having previously sworn that he would maintain the rights of the Church. Scarcely was the ceremony completed, when Celestine, who inherited the pride of Gregory VII., raised his foot and kicked off the crown which he had just placed on the monarch's -^ ) head, to show that he had the power of depriving him of the imperial dignity, as well as conferring it. Henry did not resent this insult ; he even abandoned to the pope the city of Tusculum, which had long been an object of hatred to the Romans. Celestine gave up the ill-fated city to the Romans, whose favour he wished to conciliate ; they rased Tuscu- lum to the ground, while the unfortunate inhabitants were forced to seek shelter in huts made of the branches of trees. From this circumstance, the Tusculans named the place of their retreat, Frascati; a town which still continues a monument of Henry's weakness, and Celestine's ambition. The pope displayed much more disinterestedness, in the protection he granted to the English king, Richard, and his dominions. When Philip Augustus I 1J98.] PONTIFICATE OF INNOCENT III. 87 abandoned the crusade, he passed through Rome on his return to France, and supplicated the pope to absolve him from the oath he had taken, not to invade Richard's dominions during his absence. Celestine indignantly refused his consent, and threatened Philip with his vengeance, if he should attack the British territories. Finally, when Richard was detained a prisoner in Germany, Celestine threatened the emperor with excommunication, if he refused to liberate his illustrious captive. Henry, however, was more influenced by a large ransom, than the papal menaces ; and Richard obtained his freedom only on condition of paying a large sum, which exhausted his treasury. The emperor, having obtained possession of the kingdom of Sicily, became more formidable to the papal power than any of his predecessors ; but before he could make any use of his superiority, he was attacked by a mortal disease, which cut him off in the midst of his career. As he died while under sentence of excommunication, the pope at first refused to allow his body Christian burial, and it was only by the payment of a large bribe that the imperial family procured honourable interment for the deceased emperor, and the peaceful accession to the crown of Sicily for his infant son, afterwards Frederic II. Celestine died at an advanced age, just as he was about to commence a fierce struggle with the King of France : he was succeeded by Innocent III., a 88 THIRD AND FOURTH CRUSADES. [1199. pontiff well calculated to support and extend the political system of Gregory VII. Descended from an illustrious family, raised to the papal throne in the very prime of life, celebrated equally for the purity of his morals and the extent of his acquirements, Innocent III. assumed the reins of power at a crisis when circumstances rendered it easy for him to recover the territories which the emperors had wrested from the papacy, and to re-establish the pontifical authority over Italy and Sicily, which had slipped from his feeble prede- cessors. Frederic II., the successor of Henry VI., was an infant only two years of age, and the Empress Constance, who was generally accused of having poisoned her husband, gave some confirmation to these suspicions, by showing hostility to the Ger- manic cause, and a devoted attachment to the Holy See. At her death, she entrusted the guardianship of her son and the administration of Italy to the pope, and thus made him virtually master of the empire. The city of Rome set the example of submission ; the republican institutions were abolished, the im- perial prefect performed liege homage to the pontiff, the civic authorities, throughout the Patrimony of St. Peter, followed the same coui-se ; several cities of Tuscany embraced Innocent's offer of protection ; in short, the papacy once more resumed its reign. ' But there was reason to fear, that the rights of the empire would be revived, if the imperial power 1201.] PONTIFICATE OF INNOCENT III. 89 continued in the family of the Hohenstauifen, which, during the last three reigns, had so boldly struggled against the papal authority. Innocent, therefore, used his utmost efforts to support Otho, Duke of Brunswick, against Philip, Duke of Suabia, brother of the late emperor. The competition of these rivals involved Europe in war. John, King of England, supported the cause of his nephew, Otho, with men and money ; Philip Augustus, of France, declared for the Duke of Suabia. The pope fulmi- nated excommunications against Philip Augustus, but they were disregarded ; even the bishops per- severed in their allegiance to their lawful sovereign ; the barons rallied round the throne, and the few ecclesiastics who ventured to publish the papal anathemas, were punished. But Philip dreaded the fanaticism of the lower orders, and he made an advance to reconciliation with the pope, by repudi- ating his queen Agnes, whose marriage had been disallowed by the Holy See, and taking back his first wife Ingelburga. But this unexpected submission of Philip Augus- tus was not the only triumph of Innocent's policy ; several other princes, in different parts of Europe, had obeyed him as if they were his vassals. He had ordered the brother of the King of Hungary to set out for Palestine ; he had commanded the Kings 6f Denmark and Sweden to attack Norway ; he had compelled the Kings of Arragon, Portugal, and, at a later period, Poland, to acknowledge themselves 90 THIRD AND FOURTH CRUSADES. [1202. tributaries of the Holy See. When intelligence of the death of Saladin was received in Europe, he preached a new crusade, and levied a tax of one- fortieth on all ecclesiastical revenues. He designed to convoke a general council, and commanded the Emperor of Constantinople, under pain of excom- munication, to send representatives to the assembly. He favoured the insurrections in Bulgaria and Servia, rewarding two rebel princes with regal crowns and titles for their attachment to the Church of Rome, — a merit which, in Innocent's eyes, outbalanced all others. Even Gregory VII. would scarcely have ventured on such a display of power; but, while Innocent rivalled that pontiff in daring and am- bition, he surpassed him in dii)lomatic skill and political management. Innocent, as well as Hildebrand, had to encounter a vigorous opiDosition. The King of France bade him defiance ; the princes and prelates of Germany, who supported Philip of Suabia, denied the validity of his claims to be the supreme judge in the election to the empire. The Archbishops of Magdeburgh and Bremen, eleven bishops, and several professors, sent a spirited remonstrance to Rome, in which the usurpations of the popes were canvassed with un- usual freedom, and their dependence on the em- perors strenuously asserted. When Gregory VII. attacked the imperial power, it was only in Italy that the Emperor Henry could find sujiport, but Germany had now become more enlightened, and 1203.] PONTIFICATE OF INNOCENT III. 91 its ecclesiastics rallied round their sovereign. Inno- cent III. was alarmed, but not dismayed ; instead of excommunicating his opponents, he condescended to reason with them, but soon found that he had the worst of the argument. In the mean time, the fourth crusade was under- taken at the instigation of the fanatic, Foulke of Neuilly (a. d. 1202). The adventurers who joined in this expedition soon showed that religious enthu- siasm was not the sole motive of their conduct. Instead of proceeding to Palestine, they sold their services to the Venetians, and, in spite of papal remonstrances and excommunications, employed themselves in wresting Zara from the King of Hungary. After this exploit, they entered into a treaty with young Alexis Comnenus, for restoring his father to the throne of Constantinople ; finally, they seized the Greek empire for themselves, and placed one of their captains, Baldwin, Count of Flanders, upon the throne. Innocent had been very indignant with the cru- saders for neglecting the proper purposes of their expedition, but the capture of Constantinople seemed to promise more substantial advantages than any victory over the Mohammedans could confer, for it opened a way to establish the supremacy of the Romish See over the schismatical churches of the East. Philip Augustus, to please the pope, actively en- gaged in the crusade against the Albigenses, but the 92 THIRD AND FOURTH CRUSADES. [1208. history of this horrible war requires a separate chapter. Innocent was unfortunate in his support of Otho ; that prince, having been driven from Germany, sought refuge in England, and the pope immediately entered into negotiations with Philip of Suabia. Otho himself made peace with his former rival, and married his daughter Beatrice, and soon after, on the death of Philip, peaceably ascended the throne. Innocent now renewed his professions to Otho, but his overtures were coldly received. Otho was more anxious to maintain the rights of the empire than to secure the friendship of the pontiff; he was, how- ever, forced to dissemble until the ceremony of coronation was performed, and he lulled suspicion by swearing that he would not disturb episcopal inheritance, nor lay claim to the donation of the Countess Matilda. Scarcely had Otho obtained the crown than he violated his oaths, under the pretence that he had previously sworn to the Diet never to abandon his imperial rights. Innocent was prompt in his re- venge ; he excommunicated Otho, stimulated Fre- deric II. to assert his claims to the empire, roused the Guelph barons in Italy to attack the imperialists, and induced Philip Augustus to declare war against the Emperor. Innocent's hatred of Otho extended to the allies of that monarch. There had long been a jealousy between the pope and John, the despicable King of England, respecting the see of Canterbury. Weak, superstitious, and cowardly as he was, John 1211.] PONTIFICATE OF INNOCENT III. 93 had still SLifRcient spirit to refuse the primacy to a prelate whose only claim was the nomination of the pope ; and when he was menaced with excommuni- cation for his obstinacy, he retorted by forbidding all appeals and payment of tribute to the Holy See. This was a bold proceeding, but courage and per- severance were necessary to its success. John jdos- sessed neither of these qualifications, and Innocent was well aware of his deficiencies. Calculating on the disaffection of the English to their worthless sovereign, and the ancient enmity between that monarch and Philip Augustus, the pope excommu- nicated John, declared that he had forfeited his right to the throne, preached a crusade against him, and engaged the King of France, for the remission of his sins, to undertake the conquest of England. Hitherto, Philip Augustus had been the most strenuous defender of the rights of kings against papal usurpation ; but, blinded by ambition, he now embraced a different course of policy, and sanctioned a precedent which might so easily be turned against himself and his successors. Scarcely had he com- mitted this imprudence, when John made peace with the Holy See, and showed himself as grovelling in his submission as he had been rash in his resistance. He admitted Langton to the see of Canterbury, par- doned the prelates that had rebelled, and even declared himself a vassal of the Church. Kneeling before the papal legate, he performed the degrading ceremony of liege homage, and resigned his crown 94 THIRD AND FOURTH CRUSADES. [1215. and sceptre. The legate detained the ensigns of royal dignity for five days, and then restored them as a gratuitous gift from the pope. From England, the papal envoy hasted into France, to announce that John had been taken under the protection of the pontiff. A general cry of indignation was raised against these transactions ; the English barons flew to arms, Langton himself showed more zeal for his country than his order, and, in defiance of papal prohibitions, John was compelled to sign the Great Charter of English liberty (1215). The pope interfered for his vassal, and annulled the proceedings of the barons ; but they disregarded the thunders of the Vatican, and believing that they could obtain no security for their freedom from their degraded sovereign, they offered the crown of England to Louis, eldest son of the King of France. Though Innocent menaced excommunications, Philip accepted the offer, and recalled Louis from the Albigensian war which the pope had commanded, to undertake the conquest of England which the same authority had interdicted. The execution of the enterprise was prompt. Louis landed in England, defeated John, and was crowned in London. Innocent was perfectly mad- dened by the intelligence. " Sword, sword ! " he exclaimed in the words of Ezekiel, " be drawn from thy scabbard, be furbished for the slaughter, to con- sume because of thy glittering." He hurled excom- munications against Louis and Philip Augustus, but 1216.] PONTIFICATE OF INNOCENT III. 95 he did not live to ascribe their failure in England to the effect of his maledictions; as if worn out by this last effort of rage and despotism, he died a few days after this explosion of wrath (a. d. 1216). Innocent III, has been as absurdly maligned, as he has been unwisely extolled. There is no portion of history in which the passions and prejudices of party lead to more error, than the papal annals ; and there are no popes whose conduct has been more misrepresented, than Gregory VII. and Innocent III. The evil that they wrought, the ambition that they displayed, on an impartial review of the circum- stances under which they were placed, must for the most part appear the necessary result of their position. When once the papacy was forced from its natural course and formed into a political power, it had no choice between supreme command and total ruin ; especially in an age of ignorance, when forbearance could not be appreciated. It is the ordinary law of humanity, that power will belong to the most intelligent, and he must be more or less than man, who does not seize authority, when he feels conscious that he alone is fitted for its exercise. Doubtless, it was a misfortune for the Christian world, that the popes united so much genius with so much ambition ; for it was difficult to shake off a yoke imposed in the name of God himself. Their place in the onward progress of civihzation, was naturally before emperors and kings; the position was not their fault, — the means they took to acquire 96 THIRD AND FOURTH CRUSADES. [1216. and maintain it, constitute their fatal error. Once deprived of this purely political position, which could not be retained because it was political, the papacy was never able to regain its position in the hearts and minds of the people, which it should never have abandoned. Like Gregory VII., Innocent III. was better qualified to be a temporal than a spiritual sovereign ; love of power was his religion, and unmitigated despotism his creed. It is interesting to contemplate the difference between him and Gregory : both were engaged in the same struggle, both employed the same means, both had to encounter dangerous ad- versaries; but the views of Innocent were more profound, his character more energetic, and his passions less controlled by experience. He was thus the more bitter enemy, but also the irritation of those who were the objects and victims of his aggressions was proportionally increased. He lived in an age when intelligence had made a considerable advance, and he acted as if the ignorance of the preceding century still ])revailed. Royalty had begun to assume an imposing form, by breaking down the ruinous privileges of the great feudal lords ; discussion had begun to take the place of blind obedience ; manifestoes were circulated, con- taining appeals from sovereigns to their subjects against papal usurpations. The circumstances of his position, and the natural warmth of his tem- perament, placed Innocent in opposition to the 1215.] PONTIFICATE OF INNOCENT III. ^f growth of civilization; he contended against men who knew their rights and his duties, who had courage to brave his menaces and expose the false- hood of his pretensions. We have already seen that the King of France had defended the rights of his crown against the claims of the pope : but he did not confine himself to supporting the royal jurisdiction ; he exerted him- self to deliver his people from the tyranny of eccle- siastical tribunals. He declared himself the pro- tector of the treaty formed by the French nobles to secure their vassals from foreign judges. This memorable agreement, which the Duke of Burgundy, and the Counts of Angouleme and Saint Pol, had been elected to protect, declared, " that the clergy ought to be brought back to the state of the primi- tive church, that they should be forced to live in retirement, and that they should revive the practice of working miracles, which had fallen into disuse." It must be confessed that this treaty is no great proof of the wisdom of the French barons, but assuredly, considering the epoch, it is a remarkable monument of their courage. The banner of resist- ance was unfurled in presence of the ablest chieftain that ever led onward the conquering career of popery ; and when he quailed before it, the future failure of his less enterprising and less intelligent successors might have been safely predicted. 98 Chapter IX. THE PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES. From a. d. 1200 to a. d. 1229. It has been already mentioned that the growth of heresy was beginning to alarm the advocates of pajDal supremacy in the reign of Alexander III., and that a general council had pronounced a solemn decree against the Albigenses. But the feudal lords of France and Italy were slow in adopting an edict which would have deprived them of their best vas- sals, and the new opinions, or rather the original doctrines of Christianity, were secretly preached throughout the greater part of Europe. It may be conceded to the defenders of the papal system that there were some among the preachers of a refor- mation who had given too great a scope to their imaginations, and revived many of the dangerous errors of the Manichaeans and Paulicians. There seems no just cause for doubting that a few enthu- siasts ascribed the Old Testament to the Principle of Evil ; because, as they asserted, " God is there de- scribed as a homicide, destroying the world by water, Sodom and Gomorrah by fire, and the Egyptians by the overflow of the Red Sea." But these were the sentiments of a very small minority; the bulk of the Albigensian reformers protested simply against 1207.] PERSECUTION 01? THE ALBIGENSES. 99 the doctrine of transubstantiatioii, the sacraments of confirmation, confession, and marriage, the invo- cation of saints, the worship of images, and the temjDoral power of the prelates. , Their moral cha- racter was confessed by their enemies, but while they acknowledged its external purity, they invented the blackest calumnies respecting their secret prac- tices, without ever bringing forward a shadow of proof, and consequently Mithout incurring the hazard of refutation. The progress of reform was silent ; for the efforts of the paterins, or Albigensian teachers, were directed rather to forming a moral and pure society within the Church, than to the establishment of a new sect. They seemed anxious to hold the same relation to the Romish establishment that John Wesley designed the Methodists to keep towards the Church of England Their labours generated an independence of spirit and freedom of judgment which would probably have led to an open revolt, had not Innocent III. discerned the danger to which the papal system was exposed, and resolved to crush freedom of thought before its exercise would subvert his despotism. Innocent's first step was to enlist cupidity and self-interest on his side ; he abandoned to the barons the confiscated properties of heretics, and ordered that the enemies of the Church should be for ever banished from the lands of which they were deprived. He then sent commissioners into the south of France, to examine and punish those suspected of entertain- 7-2 -+ / 100 PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES. [1208. ing heretical opinions, and thus laid the first founda- tion of the Inquisition. The arrogance and violence of these papal emissaries disgusted every class of society; finding that their persecutions were un- popular, they resolved to support their power by force of arms, and they were not long in discovering the materials of an army. Raymond VI., Count of Toulouse, was engaged in war M'ith some of the neighbouring barons, and Peter de Castelnau, the papal legate, offered to act as mediator. He went to the barons and obtained from them a promise that, if Raymond would con- sent to their demands, they would employ all the forces they had assembled to extirpate heresy. Castelnau drew up a treaty on these conditions, and offered it to Raymond for his signature. The count was naturally reluctant to purchase the slaughter of his best subjects, by the sacrifice of his dominions, and the admission of a hostile army into his states. He peremptorily refused his consent, upon which Castelnau excommunicated Raymond, placed his dominions under an interdict, and wrote to the pope for a confirmation of the sentence. Innocent III. confirmed the legate's sentence, and began to preach a crusade ; but his violence transcended all bounds, when he learned that Castel- nau had been slain by a gentleman of Toulouse whom he had personally insulted (a. d. 1208). Though Raymond appears to have had no share in this murder, it was against him that the papal ven- 1208.] PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES. 101 geance was principally directed: he was excom- municated, his subjects absolved from their oath of allegiance, and the French king was invited to despoil him of his estates. Philip Augustus was too busily engaged in wars with the King of England and the Emperor of Ger- many to turn his attention to the extirpation of heresy; but he permitted a crusade against the Albigenses to be preached throughout his dominions, and the monks of Citeaux became the chief mis- sionaries of this unholy war; they promised the pardon of all sins committed from the day of birth to death, to those Mho fell in the war ; unlimited indulgence, the protection of the Church, and a large share of spoil to all who survived. Whilst the monks were enlisting ferocious bands of wetches, who believed that they might expiate their former crimes by the perpetration of fresh atrocities. Inno- cent was preparing a new mission to Languedoc, whose savage brutalities exceeded even those of the crusaders. A new monastic order was instituted, at the head of which was placed a Spaniard named St. Dominic, whose special object was to extirpate heresy, by preaching against the doctrines of those who dissented from the Church, and punishing with / death those who could not be convinced by argu- / ment. This institution, too well known by the / dreaded name of the Inquisition, appears to have ! been originally planned by the Bishop of Toulouse, ^ who introduced it into his diocese about seven years /^ 102 PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES. [1209. before it was formally sanctioned by Pope Innocent at the council of Lateran. Raymond VI., and his nephew Raymond Roger, Viscount of Albi, alarmed at the approaching danger, presented themselves before the papal legate, Arnold, Abbot of Citeaux, to avert the coming storm by explanations and sulnnissions. They protested that they had never sanctioned heresy, and tliat they had no share in the murder of Castelnau. The severity with which they were treated by the legate, con- vinced the young viscount that nothing was to be hoped from negotiation, and he returned to his states, resolved to defend himself to the last extre- mity : the Count of Toulouse showed less fortitude ; he promised to submit to any conditions which the pape would impose. Raymond's ambassadors were received by the pope with apparent indulgence; but the terms on which absolution were offered to the count could scarcely have been more severe. He was required to make common cause with the crusaders, to aid them in the extirpation of heretics, — that is, his own subjects, — and to give up seven of his best castles as a pledge of his intentions. Innocent declared that, if Raymond performed these condi- tions, he would not only be absolved, but taken into special favour; yet, at the very same moment, the pope was inflexibly resolved on the count's destruc- tion, as appears by the following extract from a letter addressed by Innocent to the Abbot of Citeaux. X 1209.] PERSECUTION OP THE ALBIGENSES. 103 " We advise you, according to the precepts of the apostle Paul, to use cunning in your dealings with the count, which, in the present case, should rather be deemed prudence. It is expedient to attack those separately who have brokeH^the unity of the Church ; to sj^are the Count of Toulouse for a season, treating him with wise dissimulation, in order that the other heretics may be more easily destroyed, and that we may crush him at our leisure when he stands alone." It is remarkable that when the Roman pontiffs, especially Gregory VII. and Innocent III., had any pernicious design to recommend, they were lavish in their appeals to Scripture, as if they had studied the Bible merely to find an excuse for sacrilege. It has been truly said by England's bard, — [ The devil can quote Scripture for liis purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness, Is like a villain with a smiling cheek ; A goodly apple rotten at the core. In the sj^ring of the year 1209, all the fanatics who had taken arms at the preaching of the monks of Citeaux, began to assemble on the borders of Lan- guedoc ; the land was spread in beauty before them, ere long it was to be a howling wilderness. Ray- mond VI. sank into abject cowardice ; he yielded up his castles, he promised implicit submission to the legate, he even allowed himself to be publicly beaten with rods before the altar, as a penance for his errors. As a reward for his humiliation, he was permitted 104 PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES. ^1209. to serve in the ranks of the crusaders, and to act as their guide in the war against his nephew. Ra}'inond Roger showed a bolder spirit ; finding the papal legate implacable, he summoned his barons together, and having stated all his exertions to pre- serve peace, made a stirring apj^eal to their gene- rosity and their patriotism. All resolved on an obstinate defence ; even those who adhered to the Church of Rome justly dreaded the excesses of a fanatical horde eager to shed blood, and gratify a ruffian thirst for plunder. The crusaders advanced : some castles and fortified towns were abandoned to them ; others not subject to the imputation of heresy were allowed to ransom themselves ; Villemur Avas burned, and Chasseneuil, after a vigorous defence, capitulated. The garrison was permitted to retire, but all the inhabitants suspected of heresy, male and female, were committed to the flames amid the ferocious shouts of the conquerors, and their property abandoned to the soldiery. Beziers was the next object of attack ; the citi- zens resolved to make a vigorous resistance, but they were routed in a sally by the advanced guard of the crusaders, and so vigorously pursued, that the conquerors and conquered entered the gates together. The leaders, before taking advantage of their unexpected success, asked the Aljbot of Citcaux how they should distinguish Catholics from heretics ; the legate's memorable answer Mas, " Kill all : God will distinguish those who belong to him- 1209.] PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES. 105 self." His words were too well obeyed ; every inhabitant of Beziers was ruthlessly massacred, and when the town was thus one immense slaughter- house, it was fired, that its ruins and ashes might become the monument of papal veRgeance. Carcasonne was now the last stronghold of Ray- mond Roger, and it was gallantly defended by the young viscount. Simon de Montfort, the leader of the crusaders, found himself foiled by a mere youth, and was detained for eight days before he could master the suburbs and invest the town. Peter II., King of Arragon, whom the Viscount of Albi and Beziers recognised as his suzerain, took advantage of this delay to interfere in behalf of the young lord, who was his nephew as well as his vassal. The legate, unwilling to offend so powerful a sovereign, accepted his mediation, but when asked what terms would be granted to the besieged, he required that two-thirds of Carcasonne should be given up to plunder. Raymond Roger spurned such conditions ; Peter applauded his courage, and personally addressed the garrison. " You know the fate that waits you ; make a bold defence, for that is the best means of finally obtaining favourable terms." The prudence of this advice was proved by the legate's consenting to a capitulation ; but when the viscount, trusting to the faith of the treaty, pre- sented himself in the camp of the crusaders, he was treacherously arrested, and thrown, with his attend- ants, into prison. Warned by the fate of their 106 PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES. [1210, leader, the citizens of Carcasonne evacuated the town during the night, but some of the fugitives were overtaken by the cavalry of the crusaders ; the legate selected a supply of victims from his prison- ers ; four hundred of them were burned alive, and about fifty were hanged. It seemed that the object of the crusade was obtained; the Count of Toulouse had submitted to every condition, however humiliating; the Vis- count of Narbonne abandoned every notion of resistance ; and the gallant Lord of Beziers was a prisoner. The crusaders, too, began to grow weary of the war ; the French lords were ashamed of the cruelties they had sanctioned, and the faith they had violated ; the knights and common soldiers, having completed the term of their service, were anxious to revisit their homes. But the legate, Arnold, was still unsatisfied ; he summoned a council of the cru- saders, and tried to induce them to remain, in order that they might protect their conquests of Beziers and Carcasonne, the investiture of which he con- ferred on Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. But the greater part of the French nobles refused to remain longer, and Montfort had to defend his new acquisitions M'ith the vassals from his own estates. The gallant Raymond Roger was detained a close prisoner in his own baronial hall at Carca- sonne, where he soon died, the victim of a dysentery, produced by grief, or, as was generally suspected, by poison. 1212.] PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES. 107 The armies of the crusaders withdrew ; they left a desert, and called it peace ; but the sufferings of the Albigenses were not exhausted ; the monks of the Inquisition, attended by trains of executioners, went at their will through the land, torturing and butchering ail who were susf>ected of heresy. Nor were the monks of Citeaux idle; they had found honour and profit in preaching a crusade, and they were not disposed to relinquish the lucrative employ- ment. Thus a new crusade was preached when there Avas no enemy to combat, and new hordes of fanatics were jioured into Languedoc. They forced their chiefs to renew the war, that the exertions of those who profited by preaching extermination should not be lost, and that the bigotry of those who hoped to purchase their salvation by murder should not remain ungratified. Strengthened by these reinforcements, Simon de Montfort threw off the mask of moderation, and declared war against the unfortunate Count of Tou- louse. Raymond was once more excommunicated, and his dominions placed under an interdict. But the Earl of Leicester soon found that he had been premature in his hostilities; the King of Arragon refused to receive his homage for the Viscounties of Beziers and Carcasonne, declaring that he would support the claims of the legitimate heir, Raymond Trencanel, the only son of the unfortunate Raymond Roger, a child al)out two years old, who was safe under the guardianship of the Count de Foix. A 108 PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES. [1213. dangerous insurrection was raised in the states so recently assigned to Montfort ; and out of the two hundred towns and castles that had been granted to him, eight alone remained in his possession. The Count of Toulouse was too much afraid of ecclesiastical vengeance to defend himself by arms ; he sought the protection of the King of France, and he went in person to Rome to implore absolution. Innocent promised him pardon on condition of his clearing himself from the charge of heresy and of participation in the murder of Castelnau ; but when he presented himself before the council, he found that his judges had been gained over by his inexo- rable enemy, the Abbot of Citeaux, and instead of being permitted to enter on his defence, he was overwhelmed by a series of new and unexpected charges. His remonstrances were neglected, his tears afforded theme for mockery and insult, and the sentence of excommunication was formally ratified. In the mean time the crusaders, under Simon de Montfort, pursued their career of extermination; those whom the sword spared fell by the hands of the executioner; and the ministers of a God of peace were found more cruel and vindictive than a licentious soldiery. Even the King of Arragon became alarmed, and sought to secure the friendship of the papal favourite, by affiancing his infant son to a daughter of De Montfort. The monarch pro- bably expected that, l)y this concession, he wouM obtain more favourable terms for Raymond, and he 1213.] PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES. 109 accompanied the count to Aries, where a provincial council was assembled. The terms of peace fixed by the legate were so extravagant, not to say absurd, that even Raymond rejected them, and secretly withdrew from the city in company with the King of Arragon. Once more the count was excom- municated, pronounced an enemy of the Church and an apostate from the faith, and declared to have forfeited his title and estates. The war was now resumed with fresh vigour ; after a long siege, De Montfort took the strong castle of Lavaur by assault, hanged its brave go- vernor, the Lord of Montreal, and massacred the entire garrison. " The lady of the castle," says the Romish historian, " who was an execrable heretic, was, by the earl's orders, thrown into a well, and stones heaped over her: afterwards, the pilgrims collected the numberless heretics that Avere in the fortress, and burned them alive with great joy." The same cruelties were perpetrated at every other place through which the crusaders passed; and the friends of the victims took revenge, by intercepting convoys, and murdering stragglers. It was not until he had received a large reinforcement of pilgrims from Germany, that the Earl .of Leicester ventured to lay siege to Toulouse. Raymond, in this extremity, displayed a vigour and courage, which if he had manifested in the earlier part of the war, would probably have saved his country from ruin. He made so vigorous a defence, that the 110 PERSECUTION OP THE ALBIGENSES. [1213. crusaders were forced to raise the siege, and retire with some precipitation. The friendship between the monks of Citeaux and the crusaders soon began to be interrupted by the ambition of the former. Under pretence of reform- ing the ecclesiastical condition of Languedoc, they expelled the principal prelates, and seized for them- selves the richest sees and benefices. The legate, Arnold, took for his share the archbishopric of Narbonne, after which he abandoned Montfort, and went to lead a new crusade against the Moors in Spain. Innocent III. himself paused for a moment in his career of vengeance, and, at the instance of the King of Arragon, promised Raymond the benefit of a fair trial. But it is easier to rouse than to allay the spirit of fanaticism ; . disobeyed by his legates, and reproached by the crusaders, the pope was compelled to retrace his steps, and abandon Raymond to the fury of his enemies. The King of iVrragon came to the aid of liis unfortunate relative, and encountered the formidable army of the crusaders at Muret ; but he was slain in the beginning of the battle ; the Spanish chivalry, disheartened by his fall, took to flight ; and the infantry of Toulouse, thus forsaken, could offer no effective resistance. Trampled down by the jiilgrim- knights, the citizens of Toulouse, who followed their sovereign to the field, were either cut to i)ieces, or drowned in the waters of the Garonne. Philip Augustus had triumphed over his enemies, 1215.] PERSECUTION OP THE ALBIGENSES. Ill the King of England and the Emperor of Germany, just when the victory of Muret seem to have con- firmed the power of De Montfort. But the ambi- tious adventurer derived little profit from his suc- cess, for the court of Rome began to dread the power of its creature (a. d. 1215). His influence with the papal legates and the prelates who had directed the crusade was, however, still very great, and he procured from the council of Montpellier the investiture of Toulouse and all the conquests made by " the Christian pilgrims." Philip Augustus was by no means disposed to acquiesce in this arrangement ; he sent his son Louis Avith a numer- ous army into the south of France, under pretence of joining in the crusade, but really to watch the proceedings of De Montfort. Louis subsequently returned to accept the proffered crown of England, and the quarrel in which this proceeding involved him with the pope diverted his attention from Lan- guedoc. Arnold of Citeaux, having returned from his Spanish crusade, took possession of his archbishopric of Narbonne, where he began to exercise the rights of a sovereign prince. Simon de Montfort, who had taken the title of Duke of Narbonne in addition to that of Count of Toulouse, denied that his old companion in arms had a right to temporal jurisdic-' tion ; he entered the city by force, and erected his ducal standard. Arnold fulminated an excommunica- tion against De Montfort, and placed the city under 112 PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES. [1217. an interdict whilst he remained in it; he found, however, to his great surprise and vexation, that these weapons were contemned by the formidable cham- pion of the Church. But a more vigorous enemy appeared in the person of Raymond VII., son of the Count of Toulouse, who, in conjunction with his father, made a vigorous effort to recover the ancient inheritance of his race. Simon de Montfort, con- trary to his own better judgment, was induced by Foulke, Bishop of Toulouse, to treat the citizens with treacherous cruelty for showing some symptoms of affection to their ancient lord ; the consequence was, that they took advantage of his absence to invite Raymond to resume his j^ower; and on the 13th of September, 1217, the count was publicly received into his ancient capital amid universal acclamations. Simon, by the aid of the papal legate and the clergy, was able to collect a large army, but the bravest of the crusaders had either fallen in the pre- ceding wars, or returned disgusted to their homes. Every one now knew that heresy wa^ extinguished in Languedoc, and that the war was maintained only to gratify private revenge and individual ambi- tion. De Montfort laid siege to Toulouse, but he was slain in a sally of the inhabitants, and his son Almeric, after a vain effort to revenge his death, retired to Carcasonne. The Albigensian war was not ended by the death of its great leader. Almeric de Montfort sold his ]229.] PERSECUTION OF THE ALBIGENSES. 113 claims over Languedoc to Louis VIII., King of France ; and though this prince died in the attempt to gain possession of Toulouse, the war was so vigor- ously supported by the queen-regent, Blanche, that Raymond VII. submitted to his enemies, and his dominions were united to the crown of France (a. d. 1229). The Inquisition was immediately established in these unhappy countries, Mdiich have never since recovered completely from the calamities inflicted upon them by the ministers of papal ven- geance. 8 114 Chapter X. THE CONTEST BETWEEN THE POPES AND THE EMPEROR FREDERIC II. From a. d. 1216 to a. d. 1270. HoNORius III. succeeded Innocent III. in the papacy, and though he possessed neither the talent nor the ambition of his predecessor, he showed that he was not less influenced by a despotic sjDirit. He had been before his accession in the service of Fre- deric II., and,"with the usual insolence of a vulgar mind, he commenced his reign by a display of his power over his ancient master. On the death of Otlio, Frederic had been freely recognised emperor by all the electors, but the pope refused to perform the ceremony of his coronation, unless he would resign the crown of Sicily to his son Henry, and undertake a new crusade. Frederic promised that he would restore the Christian kingdom of Jeru- salem, but he reserved to himself the choice of a proper time : Germany was much disturbed, and he thought his empire of more importance than Pales- tine. Honorius, bent on a crusade, sent his com- mands to every European sovereign ; he forbade the King of France to aid his son in the conquest of England, threatened the King of Scotland if he wavered in his allegiance to the English crown, 1221.] CONTEST WITH FREDERIC II. 115 summoned the Greek em|Dei'or of Thessalonica to liberate his Latin prisoners, and required both the King of Arragon and the young Count of Toulouse to purchase a reconciliation with the Church by serving against the Saracens. He then performed the ceremony of Frederic's coronation on that mo- narch's renewal of his vows. The fifth crusade terminated as lamentably as all the preceding. Egypt was the object of attack ; and the early operations of the Christian armies were crowned with success. But the papal legate insisted on having the supreme command ; the Kings of Hungary, Cyprus, and Jerusalem, had the weakness to yield to a prelate utterly ignorant of warlike affairs, and the total ruin of the expedition was the necessary result (a. d. 1221). Honorius blamed Frederic's delay for this calamity, and sum- moned the emperor to perform his vows ; but Fre- deric was too well aware that advantage would be taken of his absence to extend the papal usurpations in Italy, and he continued to amuse the pontiff by a pretended acquiescence. To gratify Honorius, the children of heretics were deprived of their right of inheritance, unless they gave information against their fathers; heresy was declared inmishable by fire, but the judges were permitted to exercise the prerogative of mercy in certain cases, by cutting out the tongue instead of destroying life. Thus did policy and ambition aid the cruelties of fanaticism, for Frederic cared nothing about orthodoxy, and 8-2 116 CONTEST BETWEEN THE TOPES [1227. only issued these sanguinary decrees to gain a tem- porary truce with the pope. The misunderstanding between the two poten- tates, however, continued to increase. Frederic was resolved to be in reality, as well as in name, the master of the empire ; Honorius was as steadfastly determined to preserve and extend the papal power, by removing the only prince by whom it would be effectually checked. In vain did the pope effect a marriage between the emperor and the heiress to the kingdom of Jerusalem ; in vain did he insist on the disgrace that Frederic incurred by abandoning his matrimonial crown to the infidels : the sagacious prince attended solely to his domestic interests, he refused to admit the bishops nominated by the pope into Apulia, disconcerted the second Lombard league which had been secretly organized, and made vigorous preparations for a war which the death of Honorius alone prevented. Gregory IX. succeeded to the i)apal chair, and to more than his jiredecessor's hostility against Fre- deric. But the emperor was now on the point of embarking for the Holy Land, and it was necessary to be cautious in attacking a soldier of the cross. Severe illness compelled Frederic to delay his expe- dition for a year, upon which Gregory excommuni- cated him as a perjurer and a deserter. The emperor replied by a violent manifesto against the Holy See, unmasking its avarice, its ambition, and its exactions, the rapacity of its legates, and the venality of the 1230.] AND THE EMPEROR FREDERIC II. 117 entire court of Rome. He then sailed for Palestine, to show the injustice of the anathemas to "which he had been subjected. Gregory excommunicated the emperor afresh for daring to sail before he had received absolution. He did more : in his vindictive frenzy he exerted himself to defeat the objects of the crusade, the emperor's soldiers were urged to betray him, and the patriarch of Jerusalem pronounced an interdict against every place occupied by the German army. Frederic consented that orders should not be issued in his name, but this condescension failed to appease the wrath of Gregory ; he sent hosts of Dominican monks to preach a crusade against him, while John de Brienne, the nominal King of Jerusalem, invaded the dominions of a son-in-law who was employed in recovering his own kingdom. On receiving this intelligence, Frederic concluded an equitable treaty with the Sultan Melek Kamel, crowned himself at Jerusalem, for no ecclesiastic would perform the ceremony, and returned to Europe, after having effected more for the Christians of Palestine than any of their former protectors. Gregory again hurled anathemas against a prince who had made a treaty with the infidels ; but Frederic's vigorous exertions soon changed the aspect of affairs, he reduced those who had rebelled during his absence, dispersed the papal and Lombard troops, and won absolution by his victories. Between two such potentates as Frederic and 118 CONTEST BETWEEN THE POPES [1239. Gregory, peace could neither be sincere nor of long duration. The pope secretly instigated the Lom- bard cities to renew their league of independence, the emperor encouraged seditions at Rome, thus attacking Gregory with his own weapons (a.d. 1239). A fresh cause of animosity soon appeared ; Frederic conferred the sovereignty of Sardinia on his natural son Hentius ; the pope insisted that all islands were the heritage of the Holy See, and denounced Frederic as a usurper. No attention was paid to the papal claims, upon which Gregory declared the disobedient prince dethroned, absolved his subjects from their oath of allegiance, and tendered the empire to Robert, Count d'Artois, brother of Louis TX., King of France. Louis IX., who has been exalted to the rank of a saint, was nurtured in the bosom of fanaticism. In his youth he had seen the crusade against the Albi- genses brought to a conclusion by his mother, the queen-regent ; and he had derived his first instruc- tions from the prelates who had establislied the Inquisition, and enacted the most sanguinary laws against heresy in the councils of Narbonne and Toulouse. His first ordinances were stained with ferocious and almost savage bigotry, and he had wit- nessed their execution on some unfortunate wretches accused of blasphemy and heresy. But Louis had very exalted notions of kingly authority; he justly believed that the crown of France would be endan- gered if the imperial crown was placed at the mercy of the pontiff, and he refused Gregory's offer. But 1241.] AND THE EMPEROR FREDERIC II. 119 at the same time, he declared that he was assured of Frederic's orthodoxy, thus tacitly coufessing that heresy might have been a ground of forfeiture. It was at this time that the Mongols, bursting forth from the distant deserts of centi-ftl Asia, menaced eastern Europe with ruin ; the King of Hungary, assailed by these ferocious hordes, applied for aid ; the pope gave him blessings, and the emperor promises ; both were too much engaged by their private interests to regard the dangers that menaced Christendom. Gregory was preparing to assemble a general council to depose the emperor, and Frederic was securing the passes through which the bishops should travel, when the death of the pope seemed to promise a restoration of tranquillity. After an interregnum of tM'o years, a cardinal of the Ghibelline, or imperial faction, was chosen to the papacy, under the name of Innocent IV. ; but he, like his predecessors, adopted the Guelphish policy, and, unable to compete with Frederic in the field, tried to baffle him by negotiation. But the increas- ing strength of the imperial forces alarmed the crafty pontiff; he fled from Rome to Genoa, his native place, and, not believing himself safe even in that city, he asked for an asylum from the kings of England, France, and Arragon. All three refused to admit into their dominions a pontiff equally clever and imperious, who seemed determined to command kings, to tax the clergy, and to crush the j^eople. Disguising his resentment. Innocent went to the 120 CONTEST BETWEEN THE POPES [1245. free city of Lyons, assembled a council, and pro- cured the solemn deposition of Frederic. The greater part of the German nobles protested against the papal decree, and preserved their allegiance, but the ecclesiastical electors, in obedience to the papal mandate, chose Henry, Landgrave of Thuringia, and, on his defeat, William, Count of Holland, for their sovereign. The whole empire was involved in civil war, and treason and perjury were preached by the monks, as essential doctrines of Christianity. It is gratifying to find that these jDerversions of the Gospel did not pass without reproof, though we may be justly surprised to see the vicar of Moham- med instructinG: the successor of St. Peter. Melek Saleh was instigated by the pope to violate the truce which Frederic had concluded with his father. He returned the following memorable reply : — " We have received your letter, and heard your ambas- sador ; he has spoken to us of Jesus Christ, ^A hom we know better than you do, and whom we honour more reverently. You say that it is your wish to establish peace among all nations ; it is ours also. You know that there is a treaty and strict friend- ship between us and the emperor, established in the time of our father, on a\ horn be peace ! It is, there- fore, impossible for us to make any treaty with Christian ])OAvers, unless we have the consent of that prince." This was not the only triumph of Fre- deric ; Louis IX., having vainly offered his mediation, retired to his omu estates, and the King of England, 1250.] AND THE EMPEROR FREDERIC II. 121 notwithstanding- the recent example of John's humi- liation, refused to allow the jiope to levy any contri- butions on his dominions. But though Innocent IV. showed that he inhe- rited the ambition of his predecessoi's, he set a rare exami)le of toleration, by taking the Jews under his protection, and addressing letters to the principal prelates of Germany and Italy, in which he refuted the atrocious calumnies invented to excuse the rob- bery and murder of that persecuted people. The pope's inveterate hostility to Frederic was one of the chief causes that led to the ruin of the crusade of Louis IX. in Egypt. At the moment that Louis sailed, Innocent was preaching a crusade against the emperor in Europe, and the Dominicans were stimulating their hearers to rebellion and assassination. The lamentable loss of the French army, the captivity of the " most Christian king," and the utter ruin of the Latin kingdom in Pales- tine, failed to shake the obstinacy of the pontiff. It seemed even that the death of Frederic redoubled his fury, as if his prey had escaped from his hands. " Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad," was his address to the clergy of Sicily, "for the lightning and the tempest, wliere\\'itli God Almighty has so long menaced your heads, have been changed, by the deatli of this man, into refreshing zephyrs, and fertilizing dews." Conrad assumed the imperial title on the death of his father, and was immediately assailed by the pope. 122 CONTEST BETWEEN THE POPES [1255. A crusade was preached against the young emperor, and greater indulgences offered than were granted to those who served in Palestine ; the empire was offered to Richard, Earl of Cornwall, brother of the King of England, and afterwards to Charles, Duke of Anjou, brother of the King of France. Germany was torn in sunder by civil wars ; the clergy took arms against the laity, and the laity against the clergy ; the queen-regent of France was alarmed, and, notwithstanding her bigoted attachment to the papacy, prevented the crusade against Conrad from being preached in her son's dominions ; and Louis IX., on his return from Palestine, adoj^ted the same policy. Conrad's unexpected death did not diminish the papal hatred to his family. So rooted, at this period, was the belief in the pontifical virtues, that Conrad, persecuted, excommunicated, and hunted by the pope, had the weakness to bequeath his infimt son, Conradin, to the mercy of Innocent IV. The pon- tiff prepared to seize this opportunity of ruining the house of Suabia ; he proceeded to take possession of the Neapolitan dominions, while Manfred, the natural son of Frederic, and guardian of Conradin, sought refuge with the Saracens of Luceria. Aided by these warriors, Manfred Avas beginning to become formidable, when the death of Innocent at Naples, delivered Conradin from his most vindictive enemy, and Christendom from the most ambitious and turbulent of pontiffs. 1265.] AND THE EMPEROR FREDERIC II. 123 Alexander IV. became pope at a period when Europe was convulsed by wars in almost every quarter. He had neither the energies nor the talents of Innocent, and he found himself unable to contend alone against Manfred, who had ui^rped the crown of Sicily. He oifered the investiture of the island to Prince Edward, son of the English king, Henry III., and absolved him from his vow of undertaking a crusade, on condition of his Avarring against Man- fred. Urban IV., the next pontiff, followed the same course of policy, but finding the English jirince involved in domestic troubles, he engaged him to resign his claim to Sicily, on condition of the j^oj^e's excommunicating the barons who attemj)ted to enforce the observance of Magna Charta. The investiture of Sicily was then given to Charles of Anjou, brother of the King of France. Clement IV. was the next pontiff; he ascended the throne with a firm determination to destroy Manfred, who, warned of Urban's machinations, had attacked the Patrimony of St. Peter (a. d. 1265). At his invitation, Charles repaired to Rome with a large body of forces, performed liege homage to the pope, and marched towards Naples, to seize his new dominions. Manfred encountered the invaders at Beneventum, but was defeated and slain. The ferocious victor murdered the wife, the sister, and the children of his rival, and the whole of his reign Avas in perfect accordance with its sanguinary com- mencement. 124 CONTEST WITH FREDERIC II. [12f)8. The cruelties of the Duke of Anjou, the insolence and exactions of his followers, and the denial of redress to the injured, led the Italians to invite young Conradin to assert the hereditary claims of his family. At the age of sixteen this brave prince entered Italy, where he was enthusiastically received. He pursued his course in spite of paj^al excommu- nications, and obtained possession of Rome. But the Italians were not able to compete with the French in the field; when Conradin encountered Charles, his followers broke at the first onset, and he remained a prisoner. The Duke of Anjou sub- jected the young prince to the mockery of a trial, and commanded him to be executed. On the scaf- fold Conradin behaved with a courage worthy of his cause and of his race. He saw, without a shudder, the head of his cousin, Frederic of Austria, struck off by the executioner ; and before he stooped to the fatal blow, he threw his glove into the midst of the crowd, a gage of defiance and of vengeance. Thus fell the last prince of the house of Suabia, which had long been the most formidable obstacle to pai)al usurpation. The triumph of the papacy appeared complete : Italy was severed from the German empire; but the peninsula recovered its independence only to be torn in sunder by ftictions ; the Church did not succeed to the empire, and the pontiffs found that the spirit of freedom, which they had themselves nurtured, was a more formidable foe than the sovereigns of Germany. 125 Chapter XI. THE SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. From a. d. 1270 to a. d. 1294. Charles of Anjou made a cruel use of his victory ; the partisans of the house of Suabia were sought out and punished as traitors ; those who abandoned Conradin in the fiekl were dragged to the scaffold, and Italy seemed to be one great scene of butchery and torture. Louis IX. made no effort to restrain his brother's tyranny; he regarded the victims as enemies of God and man, because they were under sentence of excommunication ; and he was himself preparing for a new crusade, destined to be even more calamitous than his former expedition. Cle- ment IV. did not long survive his victory: it is said, that remorse for his participation in the murder of Conradin, hastened his end, especially as Charles of Anjou was fast relaxing in his attachment to the interests of the Holy See. This prince almost oj^enly aimed at the complete sovereignty of Italy. Under the modest title of Imperial Vicar, he usurped supreme power : he projected the overthrow of the Greek emj^ire, which had just been restored by Michael Palseologus, and might have succeeded, but that the pojies began to dread their creature more than the enemies he had 126 SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. [1271. subdued. Gregory X. was eager to rouse Christen- dom to a new crusade, and to terminate the schism that divided the Greek and Latin Churches. To effect these objects, it Avas necessary to restrain the ambition of the Duke of Anjou ; but the pontiff was unable to compete witli this dangerous leader in the field, and therefore applied to secret intrigues and the arts of decejition. His most decisive stroke of generalship was, to procure the election of a new western emperor ; he j^ersuaded the German nobles and prelates to set aside Alphonso of Castille, and choose Rodolph of Haj^sburgh for their sovereign. Charles was thus dei:)rived of the power which he derived from the title of imperial vicar, and Gregory secured a powerful protector against the effects of his ingratitude and his hostility. But the designs of Charles were not confined to the dominion of Naples, or even Italy : he had given his daughter in marriage to the son of Baldwin II., the dethroned Emperor of Constantinople, and he had purchased the imaginary rights of JMary of Antioch to the kingdom of Jerusalem; by uni ting- both claims, he trusted to make himself Emperor of the East. But money was necessary for the accom- plishment of such gigantic plans; he was therefore obliged to levy the most onerous imposts on his subjects in Sicily ,and Naples. His ministers and his officers, as merciless as their master, and still more avaricious, gave themselves up to every sort of excess ; they regarded neither the life of man, nor 1277.] SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. 127 the honour of woman ; Sicily was reduced to a state of miserable slavery, and the ambition of a single man brought countless calamities on all his subjects. But a new enemy soon api^eared to oppose the pro- jects of Charles, possessing ambitrOli equal to his own, backed by the power of the Holy See (a. d. 1277). Nicholas III. was elected pope ; he brought to the chair of St. Peter all the pride that illustrious birth and the pretensions to unreserved empire could inspire, but he was a fatal enemy to the duration of papal power, for he introduced the cankering system of nepotism. No sooner was Nicholas enthroned, than he renewed his predecessor's negotiations with the Em- peror Rodolph. This prince had sworn to lead a crusade, and he was willing to make large con- cessions that he might procure absolution from a vow which he had no longer any inclination to accomplish. Charles of Anjou could not compete against such a coalition ; he resigned the title of imperial vicar to gratify Rodolph, and that of Ro- man senator, which gave offence to the pontiif. The first emperor of the house of Hapsburgh did not display much firmness or talent; he yielded to every demand of Nicholas, and confirmed the grants which had been made to the Holy See, by Charlemagne and his successors. Ignorant of his hereditary rights, he permitted the provinces which Rome called the Patrimony of St. Peter, to be entirely separated from the empire ; and as his officers, more 128 SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. [1278. energetic than himself, had received the allegiance of some of these cities, he formally renounced the sovereignty, and absolved the magistrates from their oaths of fidelity. Nicholas III. had thus formed the papacy into a kingdom, without perceiving that he thus restricted his dominion to the limits of the new state. But when once the pope was enrolled in the catalogue of sovereigns, his indefinite power was gone ; he had no longer the command of any forces but those of his own dominions, and as his state was inferior to that of kings, he could no longer address them as a master. Thus short-sighted ambition defeated its own ends, for the papacy assigned itself frontiers. Supported by the emperor, Nicholas proclaimed, that, for the future, no emperor, king, or powerful prince, should be elected senator or patrician of Rome, nor in- vested with the government of the city. This was intended as a declaration to Charles, that his rule in Italy was at an end : but this was not the only evidence of the change of feeling towards the house of Anjou, manifested by the new master of the Holy See. Nicholas had asked the hand of a daughter of Charles for one of his nephews, and the King of Naples had contemptuously rejected the alliance ; such an insult could not be pardoned, and the pontiff secretly resolved on vengeance. The tyranny of Charles had alienated the affections of his subjects, and, M'hile he was preparing to con- quer an empire, a consi)iracy had been formed to 1281.] SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. 129 deprive him of his kingdom. A physician, named Proeida, who had been the intimate friend of the Emperor Frederic II., nourished a profound hatred for the murderer of Conradin, and excited Peter of Arragon to avenge his relatives, and assert his claim to their inheritance. This bold conspirator visited Constantinople, to secure the aid of the Greek Emperor; and then entered Rome, disguised as a monk, to rouse the pope's anger for the recent affront he had received. The Sicilians had been already prepared for revolt, and the signal for an outbreak was about to be given, when the death of Nicholas III. delivered Charles from his most formidable enemy. The King of Naples seized the opportunity of procuring the election of a pontiff favourable to his cause ; he marched to Viterbo, arrested the three Orsini, nejihews of the late pontiff, and so intimi- dated the cardinals, that they chose a Frenchman, who took the title of Martin IV. Unlike any of his predecessors, Martin showed very little regard for the interests of the papacy; his chief object seemed to be the extension of the power of his patron. The senatorial dignity was again conferred on the Duke of Anjou, and sentence of excommu- nication was pronounced against the Emperor of Constantinople. These measures tended to revive the old feuds between the Guelphs and Ghibel- lines, which had so often devastated Italy, and they 9 180 SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. [1282. hastened the resolution of the King of Arragon to assert his claims upon Sicily. Charles trusted that the papal menaces and anathemas would greatly facilitate his conquest of the Greek empire, but they had only the effect of throwing Palseologus into the arms of his own sub- jects, whose favour he regained by abandoning his unpopular plans for forming a union with the Latin Church. Procida, instead of being daunted by the adverse change in the j^apacy, was stimulated to fresh exertions ; he induced the King of Arragon to accelerate his preparations, and he urged his countr}Tnen to strike a decisive blow. While Charles, ignorant of these machinations, was con- sulting with the pope at Orvieto, the fatal bell of the Sicilian Vespers had sounded at Palermo. On the evening of Easter Monday, a. d. 1282, the Sicilians, at the signal of the bell for vesper service, flew to arms, massacred all the French in the island, and even murdered their own countrywomen who had become attached to the hated foreigner. When these news reached Orvieto, the rage of Charles knew no bounds ; at his instigation, the pope excommunicated the Sicilians, and all who were suspected of encouraging their revolt ; an army was hastily assembled, and close siege laid to Messina. The citizens, affrighted by the threats of the papal legate and the boastings of the French, offered to surrender, on assurance of safetv ; but the 1283.] SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. 131 conditions dictated by Charles were so severe, that they took courage from despair, and maintained a vigorous defence, until the arrival of the King of Arragon delivered them from their merciless sove- reign and his host of executioners. ,. JNIartin excommunicated the King of Arragon, and placed his kingdom under an interdict ; and, finding these measures ineffectual, he preached a crusade against him, and gave the investiture of his states to the Count of Valois, second son of the King of France. He proclaimed Charles of Anjou champion of the Holy Church, and declared that this sanguinary tyrant was a prince chosen by God himself The pope, who thus bestowed crowns, and exonerated subjects from their allegiance, was unable to maintain himself in his own capital ; and, while he hoped to humble kings, could not enforce the obedience of the Roman citizens. But this is not the only instance of a similar anomaly in the history of the papacy. Peter of Arragon, feigning obedi- ence, exchanged his title of king for that of a simple knight, retaining, however, all the poMTr of royalty ; but dreadino' the succours that the Kino- of France sent to his uncle more than the papal menaces, he sought out means of gaining time to organize the defence of Sicily. Knowing the vain-glorious dis- position of his rival, Peter proposed that Charles and he, with a hundred knights at each side, should decide their respective titles in a combat, near Bor- deaux. The Duke of Anjou, elated by the hopes 9-2 182 SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. [1284. of a duel witli a prince who added to his modest title, " Knight of Arragon," the sounding designa- tions, " Lord of the Seas, and Father of Three Kings," accepted the terms ; and, while he prepared for the expected field, neglected his preparations for war. Martin fulminated against the duel, single combats being forbidden by the Church ; but Peter had never intended to expose himself to the chance, and on the appointed day, Charles discovered, from the non-appearance of his adversary, that he had been baffled by superior policy, perhaps we should rather say, perfidy. Martin more than shared the indignation of his favourite ; he renewed the preaching of the crusade against Peter, granting to all who fought in the papal cause the same indulgences assigned to those Avho joined in the expeditions for the recovery of Palestine ; and he sent ambassadors, urging the French king to hasten the invasion of Arragon. It is not easy to conceive how monarchs could be blind to the consequences of accepting these proftered crowns; they thus recognised the principle of the pope's right to depose sovereigns, and sanctioned a power which might at any time be emjiloyed against themselves or their successors. But the lessons of prudence are slow in penetrating hearts fascinated by ambition or fanaticism. The anathemas of Martin did not deprive Peter of his crown ; they scarcely even checked the cur- rent of his fortunes. All his subjects, clergy, nobles, 1285.] SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. 133 and commons, ostentatiously displayed their attach- ment to their sovereign, and laughed the papal decrees to scorn. The Arragonese admiral defeated the fleet of the Duke of Anjou within sight of Naples, and made his son, Charles .the Lame, a pri- soner (a. d. 1284). This scion of a detested race would not have escaped the fury of the Messinians, who wished to sacrifice him in revenue for the murder of Conradin, only for the generous interfer- ence of Queen Constance, Manfred's daughter, who rescued him from the fury of the populace, and sent him for security to Catalonia. Charles of Anjou did not long survive this calamity; the remembrance of his former triumjDhs and prosperity, his pride, his contempt for his enemies, and shame for having been baffled by policy, aggravated the mortification of a defeat which he no longer had power to re- trieve. Charles the Lame, Prince of Salerno, was a pri- soner in Arragon, but the Duke of Anjou bequeathed the guardianship of the kingdom of Naples to his nephew, Robert, Count of Artois. But the j3ope did not forget his claims ; he united a cardinal to Robert in the administration, ordering that they should jointly direct the administration during the captivity of Charles II., recognising the superior sovereignty of the pontiff", and establishing an appeal from the regents to the tribunals of the Holy See. This Mas the last ordinance in the papacy of 13 1 SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. [1286. Martin*; his successor, Honorius IV., pursued the same course of policy with even greater zeal. In order to defray the expenses incurred by Charles of Anjou, Martin had diverted from their original destination the subsidies imposed by the council of Lyons on the nations of Christendom to form a crusading fund. We have on more than one occa- sion noticed this abuse of authority; it was more in accordance with the Roman policy to punish the enemies of the popes, than to defend the Christians in Asia ; and the Mussulmans frequently owed, not merely their repose, but their victories, to such acts of felony committed by the successors of St. Peter. The French king, the inheritor of the superstition of his father, St. Louis, but not of his firmness or his courage, was resolved to consummate the fault he had committed in accepting the kingdom of Arragon for his son ; Honorius IV., rejoiced to find so j)otent a monarch yielding to the delusions of papal su])remacy, plundered the common stock of * During tlic papacy of Martin IV., a singular circumstance at Padua serves to sliow the low estate of ecclesiastical morals in this age. The senate of that city, wearied by the insolence and profligacy of the clergy, passed a laAv, that the murder of a priest should only be punished by a fine of one penny! Many persons who had wrongs to redress soon incurred the trifling forfeiture ; complaint was made to the pope, who excommuni- cated the senate, and placed the city inidcr an interdict. The obnoxious decree was rejicaled, but Padua continued for several years subject to ecclesiastical penalties. 1288.] SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. 135 Christendom to supply funds for the war, while the Emperor Rodolph in vain protested against the usurpation and the robbery. But subsidies and anathemas equally failed to bow the spirits of the bold Arragonese ; in spite of the .death of Peter, the French, totally defeated in a naval engagement, were forced to abandon their unjust enterprise (a d. 1286). The second son of Peter of Arragon succeeded him on the throne of Sicily; neither he nor his mother exhibited the least sign of repent- ance or submission, which so annoyed Honorius, that he three times excommunicated the entire family. When the belligerent sovereigns, weary of the harassing war, had concluded a treaty, by which Naples was assigned to Charles II. of Anjou, and Sicily to James of Arragon, the pontiff on his dying bed launched bitter invectives against Charles for sacrificing an inheritance under the guardianship of the Holy See, and declared the articles of the treaty null and void. Alphonso, King of Arragon, cared little for these demonstrations of papal wrath ; he continued the negotiations, and liberated the captive Charles on his giving an oath that he would return to prison if the French did not abandon their claims to Arrao-on o (a. d. 1288). Nicholas IV. declared that such stipulations were impious, he urged the princes of Valois to maintain their chimerical claims, and ho absolved Charles from his oath, thus consecrating dishonour and perfidy. 13G SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. [1292. Charles II., crowned King of Naples and Sicily by Pope Nicholas in person, received, during three years, the Neapolitan revenues, and even the papal reserves, to aid him in the conquest of Sicily ; the pontiff deeming- himself bound to support the per- jury he had suggested by all the aid he could bestow. Whilst the pope kindled this new war, whilst he attacked the Emperor Rodolph for having given the investiture of Hungary to his son Albert, assert- ing that Hungary was a fief of the Holy See, the cities of Tripoli and Ptolemais, the last strong- holds of the Christians in the East, fell into the hands of the INIussulmans (a. d. 1291). This event filled the mind of Nicholas with shame and sorrow ; he invited the Christian princes, disunited by his pretensions, or his instigations, to undertake a new crusade. But even at such a crisis, the pope could not abstain from his old policy. He excited troubles in Portugal, by asserting a right of interference in the domestic aflTairs of that kingdom ; he forbade James to enter on the inheritance of his brother Alphonso of Arragon, because that prince was still subject to ecclesiastical censures. Such edicts were disobeyed, but concord was banished from Euro])e ; and war, with all its horrors, desolated Christendom at the voice of one who proclaimed himself the vicar of Him, whose advent was proclaimed to be the signal of " Peace upon earth, good will to^vards men. After the death of Nicholas (a. d. 1292), the 1294.] SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. 137 papacy, as if exhausted l)y its own excesses, seemed to have fallen into a lethargy. The Holy See re- mained vacant for two years and three months ; an interval which the heads of the Church might have improved to accommodate the ecclesiastical system to the improved state of intelligence, and the con- sequent changes in the wants and wishes of Europe. But, in an evil hour, they had adopted the doctrine of infallibility, and believed themselves bound to keej) their system stationary while everything around was in progress. In a former age the papacy had taken the lead in the advancement of intellisfence; the clergy and the friars were the missionaries of knowledge ; but the Church had now fallen into the rear; kings, not pontiffs, Avere the patrons of learn- ing ; in the new contest between the spiritual and temporal j)owers, we shall find the latter conquering, because on their side were ranged all who took a share in the advancement of civilization. Intelli- gence, emancipated from the cloister, found a tem- porary abode in the palace, and finally spread even to the cottage ; the popes became its enemies from the moment it quitted their protection, but they were necessarily vanquished in the struggle ; one age beheld monarchs despise the deposing power, the next witnessed the i>ope's authority a mockery, and his very name a reproach in one-half of Europe. The vacancy in the papacy became the signal for civil wars in Rome, and throughout Italy; super- stition attributed these calamities to the cardinals, 138 SICILIAN AND NEAPOLITAN WARS. [1294. who left the Church without a head : an insane hermit stimulated the poi^ulace to menace them with death unless they proceeded to an election, and they chose a feeble, ignorant, old fanatic, who took the name of Celestine IV. Though destitute of any other qualification, Celestine had at least the pride of a pontiff, — the bridle of the ass, on which, with blasphemous imitation, he made his public entry into Aquila, was held by two kings, Charles II., the perjured sovereign of Naples, and his son Charles Martel, nominal King of Hungary. But the car- dinals soon became weary of an idiot monk forced upon them by an insane hermit ; Benedict Cajetan worked upon the weak mind of Celestine to resign a dignity which he was unable to maintain, and, having previously gained the suffrages of the col- lege, ascended the throne under the name of Boni- face VIII. * In its altered circumstances, the papacy thus found a ruler who had fortitude and courage sufficient to maintain its pretensions against the kings who had now l^egun to discover their rights ; but the defeat of the ])ontiif added one to the many examples that history affords of the failure of antiquated pretensions when opposed to common sense and common honesty. '"■ Almost tlie only thing memorable in the pontificate of Celestine, is tlic fabled miracle of the Chapel of Loretto, which, was said to have been transported by angels from Nazareth to the place M^herc it now stands, that it should not be polluted by the Saracens. This absurd story was long credited by the Romanists, but it is now derided even in Italy. 139 Chapter XII. PONTIFICATE OF BOXIFACE VIII. From a. d. 1294 to a. d. 1305. Most historians assert that Boniface had recourse to very treacherous artifices, in order to obtain the resignation of Celestine : however this may be, the abdicated pontiff was immediately shut up in a prison, lest his scrui^les, or his remorse, should trouble his successor. Boniface, to the ambition and despotic character of Gregory VII., added a more crafty manner, and more dissimulation, than had been recently seen in the chair of St. Peter- He aspired to universal sovereignty over ecclesiastics, princes, and nations ; and he diligently sought out means for rendering them submissive to his laws. Aware that it would be impossible to revive the crusading passion in Europe, he resolved to make the recovery of Palestine a jDretext for interfering in the quarrels of sovereigns. He wrote to Philip the Fair, King of France, to Edward I. of England, and to Adolphus, Emperor of Germany, commanding them, under pain of excommunication, to accommo- date their differences ; and he mediated a jieace between the sovereigns of France and Arragon. James, King of Arragon, anxious to conciliate the pope, resigned his pretensions to Sicily; but the 140 PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIII. [1296. islanders, detesting the house of Anjon, and de- spising the commands of a sovereign who had so A\'eakly abandoned his rights, crowned Frederic, the brother of James, at Palermo, and expelled the papal legates. Excommunications were fulminated against the Sicilians, and the sovereign of their choice; even the feeble James was induced to arm against his brother, and aid in his expulsion from the island ; and this violation of natural ties was rewarded by the cession of Sardinia and Corsica, over which the pope had not a shadow of right. But the ambition of Boniface was not limited to bestowing islands and Italian principalities; he resolved to establish his authority over the most powerful sovereigns of Europe. Philip the Fair was one of the most able monarchs in Christendom ; resolute in establishing his influence over the great vassals of the crown, he strengthened himself by the support of his peo]ile, and resolved that the nobles and the clergy should, from hence- forth, form classes of his subjects. Feudal anarchy disappeared, an equal jurisdiction was extended over all ranks, the lower classes were delivered from the most galling burdens of vassalage, and the despotism of the sovereign became a blessing to the nation. In the midst of his career he received an embassy from the pope, commanding him to spare a conquered vassal, to abstain from taxing the clergy, and to submit his disputes with the Count of Flanders to the arbitration of the Holy See. Philip spurned 1297.] PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIII. 141 these demands, upon wliicli the pope issued the celebrated bull, called, from the M^ords with which it commences, " Clericis laicos," excommunicating the kings who should levy ecclesiastical subsidies, and the priests Avho should pay them ; find withdrawing the clergy from the jurisdiction of lay tribunals. This attempt to establish a theocracy, independent of monarchy, excited general indignation. In Eng- land, Edward ordered his judges to admit no causes in which ecclesiastics were the complainants, but to try every suit brought against them, averring that those who refused to contribute to the support of the state, had no claim to the protection of the law. This expedient succeeded, and the English ecclesi- astics hasted to pay their subsidies, without further compulsion. Philip the Fair exhibited even more vigour ; he issued an edict prohibiting the export of gold, silver, jewels, provisions, or munitions of war, without a licence ; and he forbade foreign merchants to establish themselves in his dominions. Boniface, aware that these measures would destroy the re- venue which the court of Rome derived from France, remonstrated in urgent terms, explained away the most offensive parts of his former bull, and offered several advantages to the king, if he would modify his edicts. Philip allowed himself to be persuaded ; the bull " Clericis laicos" was rendered less stringent : Louis IX. was canonized, and Philip could boast of having a saint for an ancestor ; finally, the pope promised that he would support Charles of 142 rONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIII. [1298. Valois, as a candidate for the empire. Dazzled by these boons, the French monarch accepted the arbi- tration of the pope, in his disputes with the King of England, and the Count of Flanders. But Boniface, to his astonishment, decided that Guienne should be restored to England, that all his former possessions should be given back to the Count of Flanders, and that Philip himself should undertake a new crusade. When this unjust sentence was read in the presence of the French court, by the Bishop of Durham, Edward's ambassador, the king listened to it with a smile of contempt ; but the Count of Artois, enraged at such insolence, snatched the bull, tore it in pieces, and flung the fragments into the fire. This was the only answer returned : Philip, heedless of the pope's anger, renewed the war. Boniface VIII. little dreamed that Philiii's resist- ance would be so energetic, or of such dangerous example ; but he prejiared for the coming struggle, by securing his authority in Italy, and especially in Rome, where the papal power had been long con- trolled by the factious nobles. Immediately after his elevation to the pontificate, he had caused him- self to be elected senator, but the Ghibellines ren- dered the dignity of such a magistrate '.cry preca- rious ; it was necessary to destroy them, and in this instance personal vengeance was united to the projects of ambition. The leaders of the Ghibelline faction at Rome were the illustrious family of the Colonna; two cardinals of that name had strenuously 1299.] PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIII. 143 resisted the abdication of Celestine, and had long- been marked out as victims. Under the pretext of their alliance with the Kings of Sicily and Arragon, they were summoned to appear before the papal tribunal ; but, justly dreading that their doom was predetermined, they fled to their castles, protesting- against the sentence of him whom they denied to be a legitimate pope. Boniface hurled the most terrible anathemas against them, declaring- them infamous, excommnnicate, and incapable of any public charge, to the fourth generation : he devoted them to the fires of the Inquisition, and preached a crusade for their destruction. Intimidated for a moment, the Colonnas submitted, and surrendered their town of Palestrina as a pledge of their fidelity. No sooner was Boniface master of this strong-hold, than, regard- less of his oaths, he levelled the fortress to the ground, forbade it to be rebuilt, renewed his j^erse- cutions against the Colonnas, and compelled tliem to fly from Italy. They sought shelter at the court of France, where they were hospitably received by Philip, who thus gave a signal proof of his independ- ence and his generosity. Boniface was alarmed, but not dismayed ; he resolved to lull the king's vigilance by stimulating his ambition : for this purpose he proposed to dethrone Albert, Emperor of Germany, and give the crown to Charles of Valois, whom he had already created imperial vicar, and captain-general of the Holy Church. Philip turned a deaf ear to this 144 PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIII. [1300. tempting proposal ; he even entered into alliance with Albert, and cemented the nnion by giving his sister in marriage to the emperor's son, Rodolph, Duke of Austria. Boniface was enraged by this disappointment, but his attention was diverted by the institution of a Jubilee, to mark the commence- ment of a new century (a. d. 1300). He published a bull, promising full pardon and remission of all sins to those who, being confessed and penitent, should visit the tombs of the apostles at Rome, during fifteen days. Multitudes of pilgrims, anxious to obtain the benefits of the crusades, without the perils of war, flocked to the city, and, by their liberal exiDcnditure, greatly enriched the Romans. This profitable contrivance was renewed by the successors of Boniface, at intervals of fifty years, and proved to be an efficacious means of recruiting the papal treasury. Scarcely had the Jubilee terminated, when the disputes between the pope and the King of P'rance were revived, in consequence of the rival claims for supremacy, between the Archbishop antl the Viscount of Narbonne. The king supported his vassal ; the prelate appealed to the pope, and Boniface promptly responded to the call. A legate was sent to Philij), and the choice of an ambassador was almost a declaration of war. The pope's messenger was the Bishop of Pamicrs, a rebellious subject, M'liose trea- sons were notorious, and whose insolence to his sovereign excited general indignation. The seditious 1301.] PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIII. 145 prelate was driven from the court; but the king, instead of bringing him to trial, complained to his metropolitan, the Archbishop of Narbonne, and demanded justice. Boniface addressed an insolent bull to the king, summoned the Fre-nch bishops to meet at Rome, to consult respecting the doom that should be pronounced on their sovereign, and in- vited Philip himself to be present at this unprece- dented conclave. But the king, supported by the legists or professors of the law, a body rising rapidly into importance, defied the papal power and appealed to the good sense of his people. Boniface had sent a bull, known in history l)y the name Auscultafili*, to France, in which all the delinquencies of Philip, not only towards the Church, but every class of his subjects, were portrayed with apparent moderation, but with great vigour 'and eloquence. Peter Flotte, the royal chancellor, presented an abridgement of this document to the great council of the nation, craftily culling out those passages in w^hich the papal pretensions were most offensively put forward. This document, called "the little bull," was as follows : — "Boniface, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Philip, King of the Franks. Fear God and keep his commandments. We desire you to know that you are subject to us in temporal as well as in spiritual affairs ; that the appointment to benefices * " Listen, son;" the words with which it commenced. 10 146 PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIII. [1302. and prebends belongs not to you ; that if you have kept benefices vacant, the profits must be reserved for the legal successors ; and if you have bestowed any benefice, we declare the ai^pointment invalid, and revoke it if executed. Those who oppose this judgment shall be deemed heretics." Philip ordered this declaration to be publicly burned, and he pu])lislied a memorable reply, which, however, was probably never sent to Rome. It is a very remarkable proof of the decline of the papal power, that such a manifesto should be issued, and presented to the States-general of France, as their monarch's answer to the supreme pontiff. The letter of the king is thus given by historians : — " Philip, by the grace of God, King of the French, to Boniface, claiming to be pope, little or no greet- ing. May it please your sublime stupidity to learn, that we are subject to no person in temporal affairs ; that the bestowing of fiefs and benefices belongs to us by right of our crown ; that the disposal of the revenues of vacant sees, is part of our perogative ; that our decrees, in this respect, are valid, both for the past and for the future ; and that we will sup- port with all our might, those on whom we have bestowed, or shall bestow, benefices. Those who o])]iose this judgment shall be deemed fools or idiots." The manifestoes sent to Rome by the three orders of the States-general, the nobles, the clergy, and the commons, arc of gTeater importance to the his- 1302.] PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIII. 147 torian, than " the little bull " or the royal reply. That of the French barons was addressed to the college of cardinals ; it oj^enly accused j the pope of having periled the unity of the Church by his extra- vagant ambition, and it denied, in the strongest terms, his right to ai3pellate jurisdiction over the kingdom of France. The clergy addressed Boniface himself in a measured and resj^ectful tone, but they declared that they had taken a new oath to their sovereign, that they would maintain the indepen- dence of his crown. The declaration of the commons has not been preserved, but like that of the nobles, it a])pears to have been addressed to the college of cardinals. Tlie court of Rome was alarmed, letters of explanation were sent to the different orders, but the pope declared he would not write to the king, whom he considered subject to the sentence of excommunication. Whilst Boniface VIII. was thus engaged with France and its ruler, he did not lose sight of his pretensions over other kingdoms. Edward of Eng- land, having overcome the feudal turbulence of his vassals, was about to undertake the conquest of Scotland, when the Holy See forbade the enterprise. Edward in reply traced his right to Scotland, up to the age of the prophet Samuel, and a synod of the English clergy declared, that the claims of their sovereign were better founded than those of the pontiff. A legate, by command of Boniface, la- boured to pacify Hungary, which was divided 10-2 148 PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIII. [1303. between the grandson of Charles the Lame, King of Naples, and Andrew the Venetian. On the death of the latter prince, the Hungarian barons, fearing the loss of their liberties under a king imposed upon them by the Church, elected for their sovereign the son of the King of Bavaria, and he was solemnly crowned by the Archbishoj) of Colreza. The pope wrote fierce denunciations against the election, and even commanded the King of Bavaria to dethrone his own son. But though Hungary refused submission, the obedience of Spain consoled the pontiff; he declared the marriage of Sancho the Brave valid, after his death, and in consequence of this decision, Ferdinand IV., the eldest son of that monarch, was permitted to retain the kingdom of Castile. Though Philip had ordered that the goods of all the clergy who quitted the kingdom should be con- fiscated, many of the prelates, braving the penalty, proceeded to the court of Rome. Conscious that this disobedience portended a struggle between the spiritual and temporal power, the French king took the unexpected precaution of denouncing the hor- rors of the Inquisition, and thus representing royalty as the shield of the people against the tyranny of the i^riesthood. Boniface, encouraged by the jire- sence of the French bishops, yielded to the impetu- osity of his passions, and issued the famous bull Unam sanciam, in which the claims of the papacy to universal dominion are stated with more strength 1303.] PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIII. 149 and precision than the court of Rome had yet A^en- tured to use. After this document had been sanctioned by the council, a leg-ate was sent to France, whose instructions contained the demand that the king should not oppose the prelates M'ho wished to travel, the disposal of benefices by the Holy See, or the entrance of legates into his king- dom ; that he should not confiscate the proj-yerties of ecclesiastics, nor bring them to trial before civil courts ; that the king should appear in person at Rome, and answer to the charge of having burned a bull sealed with the effigies of the holy apostles ; and finally, that he should recompense the losses occasioned by the depreciation of the currency, and abandon the city of Lyons to its archbishop, as an ecclesiastical fief. Philip the Fair, undaunted by the threat of excommunication, peremptorily re- jected all these demands, and in his turn caused Boniface to be accused by William de Nogaret, the royal advocate, of usurpation, heresy, and simony. The advocate required that a general council should be summoned to investigate these charges, and that the pope should be detained in prison until his guilt or innocence should be decided. Boniface was now seriously alarmed ; when he ascended the throne, Celestine had declared " This cardinal, who stole like a fox into the chair of St. Peter, will have the reign of a lion, and the end of a dog ; " his violence in the struggle with the King of France, tended to realize both predictions. But 150 PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIII. [1303. it was necessary to obtain allies, and Frederick, King of Sicily, was won over to declare himself a vassal of the Holy See, by obtaining the recognition of his royal title, and absolntion from the many anathemas hurled against him. The Emperor Albert was similarly prevailed upon to recognise the extravagant pretensions of the papacy, on ob- taining a bull confirming his election ; he even issued letters patent confessing that the imperial power was a boon conferred at the pleasure of the Holy See. Thus strengthened, Boniface laid aside all appearance of moderation, and solemnly excom- municated the contumacious Kinof of France. Philij) on the other hand assembled the states of his realm at the Louvre, and j^resented to them a new act of accusation against Boniface, in which he was charged with the most detestable and unnatural crimes. It was voted that an apj^eal should be made to a new pope and a general council, and so general was the disapprobation of the pontiff's am- bitious schemes, that the greater part of the French ecclesiastical dignitaries, including nine cardinals, sent in their adhesion to the appeal. Boniface met the storm with firmness ; he replied to the charges urged against him with more temper than could have been anticipated, but he secretly prepared a bull of excommunication, depriving Philip of his throne, and anathematizing his pos- terity to the fourth generation. This final burst of hostility was delayed until the 8th of September 1304.] PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIIT. 151 (a. d. 1803), when the Romish Church celebrates the nativity of the blessed Virgin, and Boniface awaited the day in the city of Anagni. On the eve of the Virgin's nativity the pope had retired to rest, having arranged his plans of ven- geance for the following day; he was suddenly roused by cries of " Long live Philip ! Death to Boniface !" Nogaret, at the command of the King of France, had entered Anagni with three hundred cavaliers, and being joined by some of the towns- men, was forcing his way into the palace. Sciarra Colonna and Nogaret rushed together into the chamber of Boniface ; they found the old man clothed in his pontifical robes, seated on his throne, waiting their approach with unshaken dignity. They made him their prisoner, and prepared for his removal to France until a general council. But Nogaret having unwisely delayed three days at Anagni, the citizens and the neighbouring peasants united to liberate the pontiff; Colonna and his French allies were forced to abandon their prey, and could only save their lives by a rapid flight. Boniface hastened to Rome, but fatigue, anxiety, and vexation, brought on a violent fever, which soon put an end to his troubled life. The reign of Boniface was fatal to the papal power; he exaggerated its pretensions at the moment when the world had begun to discover the weakness of its claims ; in the attempt to extend his influence further than any of his predecessors, 152 PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIII. [1305. he exhausted the sources of his strength, and none of his successors, however ardent, ventured to revive pretensions which had excited so many wars, shed so much blood, and dethroned so many kings. The priesthood and the empire, fatigued by so long and disastrous a struggle, desired tranquillity, but tran- quillity %vas for the court of Rome a political death. The illusion of its own omnipotence vanished with the agitations by which it had been produced, and new principles of action began to be recognised in its policy. The death of Boniface marks an important era in the history of popery; from this time we shall see it concentrating its strength, and husbanding its resources; fighting only on the defensive, it no longer provokes the hostility of kings, or seeks cause of quarrel with emperors. The bulls that terrified Christendom must repose as literary curiosities in the archives of St. Angelo, and though the claims to universal supremacy will not be renounced, there will be no effort made to enforce them. A few pontiffs will be found now and then reviving the claims of Gregory, of Innocent, and of Boniface ; but their attempts will be found desultory and of brief duration, like the last flashes, fierce but few, that break out from the ashes of a conflagration. Benedict XI., the successor of Boniface, hasted to exhibit proofs of the moderation which results from defeat. Without waiting for any solicitation, he absolved Philij) the Fair from the anathemas 1305.3 PONTIFICATE OF BONIFACE VIIT. 153 fulminated against him by Boniface; recalled the Colonnas from exile, and encouraged the Roman people to restore the ancient inheritance of that illustrious family; finally, he exerted himself to reconcile the Guelphs and Ghibelli.nes in Tuscany, but unfortunately without effect. His early death prepared the way for a new crisis, in which the poli- tical system of the papacy was destined to suffer greater shocks than any to which it had been yet exposed, and to give fresh proofs that it could not be improved, even by the stern lessons of adversity. 154 Chapter XIII. HISTORY OF THE POPES DURING THEIR RESIDENCE AT AVIGNON. From a. d. 1305 to a. d. 1378. In their struggle with tlie German emperorsi, the popes, anxious to secure faithful partisans, had created many French cardinals, and these now formed a powerful party iu the conclave. A com- munity of interest engaged the Colonnas to join the foreigners in excluding a partisan of Boniface from the pontifical dignity, while the cardinals of the Guelph faction were eager to choose an Italian, who would take vengeance for the outrage at Anagni. The disputes between the parties protracted the election for several months, until at length it was proposed that the Guelphs should name three foreis'ners, from whom the Ghibellines should select a pontiff. Cardinal Cajetan, the nephew of Boni- face, and head of the Guelphs, accepted the offer ; he nominated three persons remarkable for their hostility to the King of France, and bound by the ties of gratitude to avenge the memory of his uncle. Napoleon Orsini, the chief of the French and Ghibelline party, wrote to Phili]i the Fair, that Bertrand de Got, one of the three candidates, was accessible to the temptations of ambition, and that 1305.] THE PAPACY AT AVIGNON. 155 he might be brought to consent to any conditions if assured of the pajial throne. Philiji arranged a secret interview with Bertrand, and, during the conference, contrived to change the hostile cardinal into a devoted servant. The king ..proposed to give his support to Bertrand on six conditions. 1. His own reconciliation to the Church. 2. The absolu- tion of his followers and allies. 3. The enjoyment of the tithes of France for five years. 4. Tlie authentic condemnation of the memory of Boni- face VIII. 5. The re-establishment of the Colonnas. And, 6. The promise of granting a request, which, on account of its secresy and importance, should be deferred for a more fitting time and place. The archbishop swore to these conditions, and became pope, under the title of Clement V. Clement's first care was to withdraw himself from the control of the cardinals, that he might gratify his favourite passion for amassing wealth. Avarice had succeeded ambition in the government of the Church. Instead of going to Rome, he established his seat at Avignon, — a city which had been subject to the popes since the Albigensian wars, and which proved one of the most fatal of their usurpations. Philip now insisted that the memory of Boniface should be stigmatized, and his bones disinterred and ignominiously burned. Clement was afraid to refuse ; but, at the same time, he dreaded the scandal of such a proceeding, and the danger of such a precedent ; he therefore resolved to temporize, 156 THE PAPACY AT AVIGNON. [1307. and persuaded Philij) to adjourn the matter until a general council should be assembled. But some sacrifice was necessary to appease the royal thirst for vengeance, and the illustrious order of the Tem- plars was sacrificed by the head of that Church it had been instituted to defend. On the 13th of October, 1307, all the knights of that order were simultaneously arrested ; they were accused of the most horrible and imj^robable crimes ; evidence was sought by every means that revenge and cupidity could suggest ; the torture of the rack was used with unparalleled violence to extort confession ; and sentence of condemnation was finally pronounced on these unfortunate men, whose only crime was the wealth of their order, and their adherence to the papal cause in the reign of Boniface. The assassination of the EmiDeror Albert inspired Philip with the hope of procuring the crown of Charlemagne for his brother, and he hastened to Avignon to claim the promised aid of the pope. But though Clement had abandoned Italy to tyrants and factions, he had not resigned the hope of re- establishing the papal power over the peninsula, and he shuddered at the prospect of a French emperor reconciling the Guelphs and Ghibellines, crushing opposition by the aid of his royal brother, and fixing the imperial authority on a permanent basis; he therefore secretly instigated the German princes to hasten the election, and Henry VII. of Luxemburg was chosen at his suggestion. Tliough Henry pos- 1309.] THE TAPACY AT AVIGNON. 157 sessed little hereditary influence, his character and talents secured him obedience in Germany; he had thus leisure to attend to the affairs of Italy, which no emperor had visited during the preceding half century. He crossed the Alps with a band of faith- ful followers ; the cities and their tyrants, as if im- pressed by magic with unusual respect for the imperial majesty, tendered him their allegiance, and the peninsula, for a brief space, submitted to orderly government. But the rivalry of the chief cities, the ambition of powerful barons, and the intrigues of Clement, soon excited fresh commotions, which Henry had not the means of controlling. The council of Vienne had been summoned for the posthumous trial of Boniface VIII., and an examination of the charges brought against the Templars (a. d. 1309). Twenty-three witnesses gave evidence against the deceased pontiff, and fully established the charges of profligacy and infidelity ; but Clement's own immoralities were too flagrant for him to venture on establishing such a principle as the forfeiture of the papacy for criminal indul- gences, and the confession that Christianity had been described by a pope as a lucrative fable, ^vas _/ justly regarded as dangerous, not only to the papacy, but to religion itself. Philip was persuaded to abandon the prosecution, and a bull was issued acquitting Boniface, but, at the same time, justifying the motives of his accusers. The order of the Templars was formally abolished, and their estates f 158 THE PAPACY AT AVIGNON. [1311. transferred to the Hospitallers, or Knights of St. John of Jerusalem ; but the Hospitallers were forced to pay such large sums to Philip and the princes who had usurped the Temple lands, that they were impoverished rather than enriched by the grant. The council passed several decrees against heretics, and made some feeble efforts to reform the lives of the clergy; finally, it ordained a new crusade, which had no result but the filling of the ])apal coffers with gifts from the devout, bribes from the politic, and the purchase-money of indulgences from the cowardly. When the Emperor Henry VII. was crowned at Rome, he established a tribunal to support his authority over the cities and princes of Italy; sen- tence of forfeiture was pronounced against Robert, King of Naples, on a charge of treason, and this prince, to the great indignation of the French monarch, was placed under the ban of the empire. The pope interfered to protect the cousin of his patron, Philip ; the wars between the papacy and the empire were about to be renewed, when Henry died suddenly at Bonconventio, in the state of Sienna. It was generally believed that the emperor was poisoned by his confessor, a Dominican monk, who administered the fatal dose in the eucharist. Cle- ment fulminated two bulls against Henry's memory, accusing him of perjury and usurpation ; he also annulled the sentence against Robert of Naples, and nominated that prince imperial vicar of Italy. 1316.] THE PAPACY AT AVIGNON. 159 The death of Henry exposed Germany to the wars of a disputed succession; that of Clement, which soon followed, produced alarming dissensions in the Church. Philip did not long survive the pontiff", and his successor, Louis X., w^as too., deeply sunk in dissipation to regard the concerns of the papacy. Twenty-seven months elapsed in contests betw^een the French and Italian cardinals, each anxious to have a pontiff of their own nation. When first they met in conclave, at Carpentras, the town was fired in a battle between their servants, and the cardinals, escaping from their burning palace through the windows, dispersed without coming to any decision. At length, Philip the Long, Count of Poictiers, assembled the cardinals at Lyons, having voluntarily sworn that he would secure their perfect freedom. During their deliberations, the death of Louis X. gave Philip the regency, and soon after the crown of France ; the first use he made of his power w^as to shut up the cardinals in close conclave, and compel them to expedite the election. Thus coerced, they engaged to choose the pontiff who should be nomi- nated by the Cardinal de Porto : this prelate, to the great surprise of all parties, named himself, and was soon after solemnly installed at Avignon, under the title of John XXII. Europe was at this period in a miserable state of distraction. Italy was convulsed by the civil wars between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, whose animo- sities were secretly instigated by the intrigues of the 160 THE PAPACY AT AVIGNON. [1317. King of Naj^les ; Spain and Portugal were harassed by the struggles between the Christians and the Moors ; England and France were at war with each other, while both were distracted by internal com- motions ; two emperors unfurled their hostile ban- ners in Germany : and, finally, the Ottoman Turks were steadily advancing towards Constantinople. In these difficult times, John displayed great policy ; he refused to recognise either of the rivals to the empire, and took advantage of their dissensions to revive the papal claims to the supremacy of Italy. But the battle of Muhldorf having established Louis of Bavaria on the imperial throne, John, who had previously been disposed to favour the Duke of Austria, vainly attempted to gain over the successful sovereio'n. Louis sent efficient aid to the Ghibel- lines, and the papal party in Italy seemed on the point of being destroyed. John, forced to seek for allies, resolved to offer the imperial crown to Charles the Fair, who had just succeeded his brother Philip on the throne of France. The Germans, ever jealous of the French, were filled with indignation when they heard that the pope was endeavouring to remove their popular emperor ; Louis summoned a diet, in which he publicly refuted the charges brought against him by the court of Avignon ; several learned men published treatises to prove the subordination of the ecclesiastical to the imperial authority ; the chapter of Freysingen expelled the bishop for his attachment to the pope ; and the citizens of Strasburg threw a 1327.] THE PAPACY AT AVIGNON. 161 priest into the Rhine, for daring to affix a coj^y of John's condemnation of Louis to the gates of the cathedral. Even the religious orders were divided ; for, while the Dominicans adhered to the pope, the Franciscans zealously supported th PROPOSED CRUSADES. [1478. which threatened ruin to his projects for the aggran- dizement of his family, and he secretly joined in a conspiracy for the mnrder of the Medicis. Jerome, the favourite nejDhew or son of Sixtns, went to Florence with the Cardinal Riario, and immediately joined the Pazzi, and Salviati, Arch- bishop of Pisa, who had long been opposed to the rulers of Florence. It was resolved that Julian and Lorenzo Medicis should be slain in the Church, during the celebration of mass, when they would be completely off their guard ; one of the conspirators recoiled, not from the crime, but from the place where it was to be committed ; his place was sup- plied by a priest, whose familiarity with the altar had only taught him to despise its sanctity. The hour arrived; the Cardinal Riario led the choir, whose voices drowned the whispers of preparation ; mass was celebrated with more than usual solemnity, the archbishop elevated the host as the signal for murder, and Julian de Medicis fell beneath the daggers of the assassins. Lorerlzo, though severely wounded, escaped into a sacristy, protected by a gate of bronze, which his father had presented to thd Church, and ere the cons])irators could force an entrance they found themselves exposed to the fury of popular indignation. The Florentines flew to arms ; they rejected the boon of liberty proffered by the assassins; they seized Salviati, the Pazzi and their accomplices, and, without the formality of a trial, hanged them in front of the senate-house. 1480.] PROPOSED CRUSADES. 227 Sixtus, enraged at the failure of tlie conspiracy, and the punishment of the ecclesiastical assassins, laid the city of Florence under an interdict, declared war against the republic, and, aide^ by the Neapoli- tans, sent an army into the Florentine territories. Lorenzo de JVIedicis, strong in the support of his fellow-citizens, refused submission to the papal demands, and obtained aid from the King of France, and the Dukes of Milan, Ferrara, and Mantua. But Louis XI. did not give the effectual assistance that was expected ; vainly endeavouring to hide from himself and others the symptoms of approach- ing death, the aged tyrant was anxious to avoid any- thing that would require exertion, or force him to appear in public. He also dreaded the Archduke Maximilian, to whom the rich inheritance of Bur- gundy had devolved by his marriage with Mary, the daughter of Charles the Bold. Instead, therefore, of sending an army, he only aided the Florentines with three hundred horse, under the command of Philip de Comines, the celebrated historian. Louis, how- ever, published some edicts calculated to terrify the pope ; he convoked a synod at Orleans to ratify the Pragmatic Sanction, and recalled all the French prelates from Rome, under penalty of forfeiting their benefices. Lorenzo de Medicis found means to appease the "UTath of the King of Naples, but the poj)e conti- nued inexorable until the Turks landed in Italy, and stormed the city of Otranto. Sixtus, in great 15-2 y 228 PROPOSED CRUSADES. [1480. consternation, listened to offers of i)cace, but even at this crisis he preserved his haughty sj^irit; the Florentines did not receive absolution until their ambassadors had submitted to be beaten with rods at the portals of St. Peter's (a. d. 1480). It may appear surprising that the most enlightened people of Italy should submit to such humiliation, but knowledge was confined to an illustrious few ; the Florentine populace shared the ignorance and bigotry of the other Italians. The death of Sultan Mohammed II., and the contest for the succession between his sons Bayezid and Jem, (the Zizim of western historians,) relieved Christendom from the terrors of a Turkish invasion ; Sixtus took advantage of the interval to involve Italy in new wars, hoping to j^rofit by the confusion, and obtain territorial acquisitions for his nephews. In concert with the Venetians he attacked the terri- tories of the Duke of Ferrara, son-in-law to the King of Naples ; but when Ferdinand proved more formidable than had been anticipated, Sixtus changed sides, and waged war on his former allies. The Venetians, being reduced to great distress, entered into alliance with the JNlilanese ; and the Italian states, weary of a contest Avhicli would only have exhausted their mutual resources, agreed upon terms of peace. Sixtus was violently enraged by a pacification, in which his nephews' interests were neglected ; he addressed the ambassadors who came to announce the terms with such fury, that he fell 1484.]; PROPOSED CRUSADES. 229 into a fit, and in a few days died of sheer vexation (a. D. 1484)* Sixtus dishonoured the iDapacy by his unscrupu- lous nepotism, — ^he sacrificed everything to the one great object of aggrandizing his family: though sincerely attached to literature, he withheld his patronage from learned men; the funds for their pensions, and for the supply of books to the Vatican library, were devoted to advance his nephews. But the indignation of the Roman populace was roused by the ostentation and pride of Jerome ; no sooner was Sixtus removed, than the palace of his nephew was destroyed, and Jerome himself compelled to quit the Roman territory. The new pope was a widower; he had several children before he entered into holy orders, but he did not recognize them until after his election to the papacy. Like his immediate predecessors, Inno- cent VIII., as the pontiff was called, began his reign by exhorting the Christian princes to bury their differences in oblivion, and join in a crusade against the Turks, whilst he gave them an example to the contrary by declaring war against the King of * His death, immediately after tlie conclusion of the peace, gave rise to the following epigram : — Sistere qui nullo potuit cum fedcre Sixtus Andito tantum nomine jiacis obit. Sixtus to peace no treaties ever tied, — Nay, when he heard its very name he died. 230 PROPOSED CRUSADES. [1485. Naples. After a tedious, desultory campaign, terms of peace were arranged, which both parties resolved to violate on the first convenient opportunity. In the mean time Charles VIII. had ascended the throne of France; unlike his ancestors, he found himself really at the head of a monarchy ; the great feudatories had been^ reduced to obedience ; instead of vassals and suzerains, there were now subjects ^nd a king. The empire, also, became hereditary ; the elections, which so often deluged Germany with blood, were henceforth mere matters of form ; and this increase of the sovereign's independence ensured internal tranquillity to the nation. The Spanish Peninsula was also acquiring organization ; Castille and Arragon were united into one kingdom by the marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand ; Granada, the last relic of the Moorish empire, was subdued, and Moham- medanism disappeared from western Europe. But scarcely was Spain liberated from the Moors, than it imposed upon itself a more degrading yoke ; the Inquisition piled its fagots, and ignorance kindled its torches. It is sad to reflect that the most flourishing age of Spain, — the only period which brings its name prominent in history, — when its power predominated in western Europe, — when its armies were renowned for discipline and valour, — when its navies discovered a New World, — is also the age of sanguinary fanaticism, which depopulated America, and ensured both the moral and political degradation of the Peninsula. The kings of Cas- 1485.] PROPOSED CRUSADES. 231 tille destroyed the effect of every benefit that cir- cumstances at the moment conferred upon Spain, by establishing the Inquisition. From the time of Constantine's conversion, the Christian states took cognizance^ of heresy, and punished a difference of ojDinion as a breach of allegiance. The emperors denounced temporal l^enalties against those whom the bishops declared separated from the Church, and their laws remained in force until the eleventh century. But heresies still prevailed ; the Albigenses, the Vaudois, and the Bohemians, disregarded penal laws, and were deaf to the remonstrances of preaching friars. The crusade against the Albigenses led to the councils of Beziers and Toulouse, by which spies and in- formers were let loose on private life, and treachery and parricide declared means of salvation. Gre- gory IX. placed the Holy Office, as the Inquisition was blasphemously named, under the sui^erintend- ence of the Dominicans, who soon organized the entire system. Ferdinand and Isabella introduced the Holy Office into Spain ; it flourished in a soil which has been always so fertile in fanaticism. The name of justice was unknown in its administration, suspicion made the crime, accusation w^as virtually a sentence, imj^risonment the prelude to death. The familiars of the Inquisition were more implicitly obeyed than the officers of the crown ; even inno- cence trembled at their ai^proach : the relatives of a victim dared not mourn for his fate ; at the 232 PROPOSED CRUSADES. [1485. moment of his arrest they regarded him as dead, and concealed their sorrows in privacy or exile. Sixtus IV. granted immense privileges to a tribunal Avhicli not only enlarged his power, hut contributed large forfeitures to his coffers, and enabled him to sujiport the extravagance of his family. Ferdinand and Isabella were influenced by avarice as well as religious zeal in supporting this institution ; it gave them the means of confiscating the possessions of wealthy Jews, whose riches tempted the spoiler, while their usurious exactions rendered them odious to their Christian debtors. Rabbi Josei^h, M'hose Chronicles have just been published by the Oriental Translation Committee, gives a melancholy account of the sufferings endured by the Jews when they fled to avoid the heat of persecution. As the work is little known, a brief quotation may interest our readers. " The exiles from Jerusalem were driven away from Si)ain by command of the wicked ones, Ferdinand, King of Spain, and his wife Isabella, and were thence dispersed into the four wings of the earth. And they went in ships whither the wind allowed them to go, unto Africa and Asia, and the land of Yavan (Greece) and Turkey ; and they dwell therein unto this day. And then came upon them many sorrows and afflictions, and the souls of the people became weary on the way. For some of them the Turks killed, to take out the gold which they had swallowed to hide it ; and some of them 1485.] PROPOSED CRUSADES. 233 hunger and the plague consumed ; and some of them were cast naked by the captains upon the isles of the sea; and some of them were sold for men- servants and maid-servants in Genoa and its villages ; and some of them were drowned in the sea. See, O Lord, and behold whom thou hast afflicted so much that a man should consume the fruit of his loins ! For there were among those who were cast into the isles of the sea ujion Provence, a Jew and his old father, fainting from hunger, begging bread ; and there was no one to break unto him in a strange country. And the man went and sold his little son for bread, to restore the soul of the old man. And it came to pass when he returned unto his father, that he found him fallen down dead, and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto the baker to take back his son, and the baker would not restore him, and he cried out with a sore and bitter cry for his son, and there was none to deliver This Isabella was a Satan in those days. And she set searchers and spies over them to see if they walked in the ways of their Messiah or not. And they burned by hundreds many of them for no cause, and all that they had they plundered daily. . . . And now, O God, be not far off; hasten to help us, O Lord ! For thy sake we are killed all the day ; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter; make haste to help us, O God of our salvation, plead our cause, and deliver us." The intolerance shewn to the Jews, did not 234 PROPOSED CRUSADES. [1486. extend to their possessions ; the pope gave a jDroof that his zeal against the Turks, was not proof against the influence of gokl; for on receiving a large bribe, he consented to act as gaoler for the Sultan. Jem, the brother of Bayezid, defeated in his struggle for the crown, sought shelter, first in Egypt, and afterwards in Rhodes. Bayezid paid a sum of money to the Grand Master of the Knights of St. Jojin for detaining the prince, and he was sent to France, where he was confined in a preceptory of the order. Innocent became anxious to obtain jiossession of this profitable prisoner, and by creating the Grand Master a cardinal, procured Jem's trans- mission to Rome. A secret treaty was made with the sultan for his safe custody ; the pojDO received a large pension from Bayezid, while he was levying money in every Christian kingdom, under pretence of organising a crusade against that monarch. Ferdinand III., refusing to pay the tribute stipu- lated by treaty, was excommunicated ; Innocent once more revived the claims of the house of Anjou to that kingdom, and bestowed the investiture of it on the French monarch, who claimed the inheritance of the Angevin family. This interference became the source of many calamities to France and Italy, but an equally unjust assumption of authority restored peace to England. Innocent strenuously supported the claims of Henry Tudor against Richard III., and readily sanctioned Henry's mar- riage with the heiress of the Plautagenets, by which 1492,] PROPOSED CRUSADES. 235 the rival claims of the houses of York and Lancas- ter were united, and the calamitous wars of the Roses ended. By the intercession of the King* of Spain, the pope was once more reconciled to Ferdinand, and a transitory peace restored to Italy (a. d. 1492). Innocent had contrived a balance of power, by which he hoped to render the tranquillity of the peninsula perpetual, but his death, followed by that of Lo- renzo de Medicis, at once destroyed the equilibrium, and the ambition of the succeeding pontiff renewed the horrors of war. It was manifest to the successors of St. Peter and their advisers, that the papacy had never recovered from the blows it had received from the councils of Constance and Basil. The independence of the Galilean Church was in some degree estab- lished by the Pragmatic Sanction, which was main- tained in spite of the pope's intrigues, and the opposition of Louis XI. ; the English ecclesiastics, though not so formally, withdrew themselves from the implicit allegiance which the popes claimed, and the general desire for reform was diffused through Christendom. It was hoped by some ardent spirits, that the Catholic Churches of Europe Avould form a kind of federative republic, under the presidency of Rome ; but the pontiffs would not be satisfied with anything short of despotic authority, which they hoped to grasp at some favourable conjuncture. They were reduced to use 236 PROPOSED CRUSADES. [1492. the arts of policy and diplomacy, for armies of cru- saders no longer appeared at their summons ; but they had not forgotten that periods of confusion and convulsion had been always favourable to the extension of their power. Now, however, that nations were consolidated, and legitimacy established as a rule of succession in the greater part of Europe, opportunities of interference were rarely offered, and the popes were for a season compelled to limit their views to Italy, where their ambition, their avarice, and their nepotism perpetuated discord, and rendered "the fatal gift of beauty" bestowed by Providence on that j^eninsula, a source of miseries, whose whole force is not yet exhausted. 237 Chapter XVII. THE FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. From a.d. 1492 to a.d. 1505. In the periods whose history we have contemplated, Popery was an element in the revolutions of every state, and the policy of almost every government ; no event signalizing the progress or the decay of nations occurred, by which the Roman court was not more or less directly affected; in most it had an active share. Humble but energetic in its early stages, it embraced a favourable opportunity to seize the sceptre of the Western world, which, in its im- perious grasp, became a rod of iron to those who were subdued, and a two-edged sword to those who resisted ; it completely realized the poet's description of Fame : First small througli fear, slic swells to monstrous size, And stalks on earth and towers amid the skies. But when Europe began to receive a moral and physical organization, when kings understood their rights, and nations learned at once the meaning and the value of independence, both became jealous of a power, whose undefined claims to supremacy were felt to be perilous to the security of monarchs, and the integrity of their kingdoms. At this juncture, 238 FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. [1492. the cardinals, as if they had resolved to provoke the hostility of every one who could exercise his reason, raised to the chair of St. Peter, not so much a wicked pope, as an abandoned family. Alexander VI. had provoked general censure by his notorious immo- ralities while a cardinal, but he was only one of the Borgias ; there were other members of the family, who surpassed even him in ostentatious depravity. Some account of the domestic affairs of Alexander is necessary to an understanding of the jDolicy of his pontificate. While yet a cardinal, he lived in open concubinage with Vanozza, a Roman lady, by whom he had four sons and one daughter. He j)urchased for his eldest son Peter a duchy in Spain, but on his death he transferred the duchy to his third son John, who married the natural daughter of Aljihonso, Duke of Calabria. Ca3sar Borgia, the second son, a mon- ster of profligacy, was at first created a cardinal, but ho had the grace to abandon his ecclesiastical title for that of Duke of Valentinois. Geoffry, the youngest son obtained a principality in Naples. Lucretia, as the daughter was called by a species of prophetic and bitter irony, married a Spanish noble- man before her father's elevation; she procured a divorce from him, and gave her hand to the Prince of Pesaro ; a second divorce enabled her to procure as her third* husband a natural son of the King of Naples; finally, murder set her free to take as a fourth spouse the Duke of Ferrara. Like her father, Lucretia had little respect for chastity ; her 1493.] FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. 239 gallantries excited universal disgust, but dread of her skill in procuring assassinations silenced clamour. The choice made by the cardinals surprised and alarmed all Italy ; but the cause vradmitted an easy explanation ; Borgia possessed immense wealth, and every vote in his favour was purchased at an extra- vagant price. No resistance, however, was offered ; the Romans applauded a pontiff who was likely to bring wealth to their cities, and the kings of Europe congratulated the new vicar of Jesus Christ, without troubling themselves to investigate his character. Ferdinand of Naples alone had a presentiment of coming troubles; he declared to his queen, with tears in his eyes, that the new pope would be the scourge of Christendom, Nor was it long before Ferdinand's fears were justified ; Alexander, irritated by the refusal of the Duke of Calabria's daughter to marry one of his sons, entered into alliance with Louis Sforza, the usurper of Milan, and joined him in inviting the King of France to make good his claims to the throne of Naples. Charles VIlI. wil- lingly listened to these proposals ; he had formed the wild project of restoring not only the empire of Constantinople but the kingdom of Jerusalem ; he wanted a port in the Mediterranean to equip his armament, and he resolved to iiiake the conquest of Naples a preliminary to his future operations. The pope was seriously alarmed when he found that the King of France was resolved to accept the invitation, which was designed only to alarm the 240 FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. ^1494. Princes of Arragon ; he, therefore, readily accepted Ferdinand's offers of accommodation ; on the mar- riage of his son to the daughter of the Duke of Calabria, he promised to ensure the kingdom of Naples to the reigning dynasty. But "while thus compelled to use perfidy in order to gain a petty princif)ality, he issued a bull disposing of half the globe. Being informed that the discovery of Ame- rica might raise difficulties between the maritime powers, he ordained that Ferdinand and Isabella, and their heirs, should have the exclusive right to all lands discovered beyond a meridian line drawn a hundred leagues to the westward of the Azores, requiring, however, that the Spanish monarchs should employ competent missionaries to instruct the natives in the Christian faith. The death of Ferdinand entangled the pope more deeply in Neapolitan politics; Alphonso, that monarch's successor, secured Alexander's favour by promising to provide for his natural children : Car- dinal Borgia was, therefore, sent to Najiles, where he performed the ceremony of coronation. Charles VIII. was still resolute in his determination to invade Italy ; fear of that monarch, and the solid advantages derived from the friendship of Alphonso, reduced Alexander to a miserable state of perplexity ; at one time he levied troops which he i)laccd under the command of Prosper Colonna, a creature of the French king's, and invited Charles to become the champion of Christendom against the Turks; at 1494.] FRENCH WAES IN ITALY. 241 another, he united himself more closely with Alphonso, informing- the French ambassador that it was the duty of Christ's vicar to prevent the effusion of blood ; a cardinal's hat was offered as a bribe to the royal favourite, if he would dissuade Charles from the expedition. But the French monarch, naturally ardent, and secretly instigated by the Car- dinal Julian de la Rovere, the deadly enemy of Alexander, braved the obstacles of the season, and an exhausted exchequer; he commenced his march from Lyons, M'itli all the j^omp of anticipated vic- tory (a. d. 1494). His Swiss troops were more especially dreaded by the Italians, for these mer- cenaries were equally remarkable for their bravery and their ferocit}^ Charles showed little scruple in providing funds for the war ; the court of Savoy was then dependent on that of France ; and Charles entered Piedmont as if it were one of his own provinces. The regent- duchess came to meet him, arrayed in her most precious jewels, and, in the complimentary language usual at the period, declared that she, her servants, and her property, were at his disposal. Charles took her at her word, and compelled her to give up her jewels, which he pawned for twelve thousand ducats. A month afterwards he treated the Marchioness of Montferrat in the same way ; but the money thus dishonourably raised, was wasted in idle pageants, and the expedition was frequently on the brink of ruin. 16 242 FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. [1495. Alexander now felt that he was the dupe of his own policy, but with the short-sighted cunning of self-interest, he employed the troops which should have opposed the jDrogress of the French, in subduing the castles which the powerful family of the Colonnas possessed in the papal territory. This great error enabled Charles to advance almost without inter- ruption, while it drove the Colonnas into open revolt. In this difficulty the pope leagued himself more closely with the King of Najjles, implored succour from the Emperor Maximilian, whose crown he declared to be in danger, stimulated Ferdinand the Catholic, as the Spanish monarch loved to be called, to employ against the French the money raised in Spain for a crusade against the Turks, and proposed to the Sultan Bayezid a secret treaty of alliance. The Mussulman prince offered three hundred thou- sand ducats and military support, on condition that his brother Jem should be destroyed ; and the pope did not hesitate to earn the wages of assassination. The Duke of Calabria, a brave and generous prince, was reduced by the weakness, treachery, and cow- ardice of his allies, the Medicis and the pope, to retreat without the satisfaction of a battle. Charles advanced to Rome ; his army was the least of the terrors with which his approach inspired Alexander; he heard with dismay proposals for a general council, for the trial of a profligate pontiff, and for the reform of the Church. Rome opened its gates to the French; the pope sought shelter in the castle of 1496.] FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. 243 St. Angelo, from which he had daily the mortification of seeing the triumph of his enemies. Eighteen cardinals demanded that Alexander shoukl be brought to trial; Savoimrola, an ardent Dominican preacher, earnestly proclaimed the neces- sity of correcting all ecclesiastical abuses. But Charles was impatient of delay ; Naples was his first object, and Rome appeared to him of secondary importance; the councillors who surrounded him were covetous of the dignities and benefices with which the pope was willing to jourchase their treachery, and they dreaded a reform of the Church, because one of the first steps in the process would be to set bounds to their ambition. Bri^onnet, eager to become a cardinal, persuaded his royal master to commence a negotiation ; both parties hastened to bring it to a conclusion: on the 11th of January, 1495, the treaty of peace was signed. Alexander, according to the terms of the treaty, admitted French garrisons into his fortresses, and resigned to Charles the unfortunate Prince Jem, having first taken the cruel precaution to give him a dose of poison. Alphonso fled from Naples, after having resigned the crown to his son Ferdinand, but the young prince was unable to inspire his subjects with courage; Naples submitted to the French almost without the shadow of resistance. But the hour of triumph was the commencement of disap- pointments to Charles ; the death of Jem prevented him from exciting a civil war in Turkey ; his soldiers 16-2 244 FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. ^1496. were corrupted by the luxuries of southern Italy ; the Neapolitans were enraged by the insulting- conduct of the French and Swiss ; and the king's intrigues in Greece were revealed to Bayezid by the Venetians and the pope, an act of treachery which caused the massacre of fifty thousand Chris- tians. Finally, the Duke of Milan, disappointed in the hopes he had formed of aid in his own schemes from the French, and suspicious of the claims of the house of Orleans on his duchy, joined Alexander in organizing a formidable league against France. The emj^eror, the Venetian republic, the kings of Cas- tille, Arragon, and at a later period England, several minor Italian states, and the Turkish sultan, entered into the league, and a treaty, offensive and defensive, was signed at Venice. Charles VIII., fearing that his retreat might be intercepted, abandoned Naples ; the victory of Fornovo secured his safe return, and his arrival in France saved Guienne and Picardy from the attacks with which, in contempt of treaties, they were menaced by the emperor and the King of Spain. Maximilian and Ferdinand the Catholic were worthy sons of a Church that had such a head as Alexander, they unscrupulously violated oaths and treaties ; they recognized no policy but perfidy and deception. Aided by some Spanish troops commanded by the celebrated Gonsalvo Hernandes, Ferdinand easily recovered the kingdom of Naples ; Alexander zealously supported this new revolution, which so 1496.2 FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. 245 enraged Charles, that he threatened to return to Italy. But the exhausted state of his finances, and his love of pleasure, detained him at home, though the threat alone produced such ^larm as to prove that victory would not have been difficult. Rome, under the administration of the Borgias, was disgraced by every possible crime ; the dagger and the poisoned bowl were used to remove every one whom this wicked family viewed with envy or suspicion ; but a shocking tragedy in their own domestic circle effaced, by its enormity, the memory of their former crimes. The infamous Lucretia was the object of incestuous passion to both her brothers, — the Duke of Gandia, and the Cardinal ; her pre- ference of the former maddened Caesar, and he added fratricide to incest. When Alexander discovered that his favourite son had fallen by a brother's hand, his stern nature was for a moment overcome; he deplored his misery with tears, in the consistory, confessed the wickedness of his former life, and nominated several cardinals, by whose advice he solemnly promised to regulate his future conduct, and reform the morals of his court. But in a very few days these good resolutions were abandoned; Cardinal Caesar was not only pardoned, but taken into favour, and the pontiff:' returned to his former career of crime with fresh vigour. o There was but one man in Italy who openly testified his indignation at these scandalous trans- actions, Savonarola, a Dominican of eminent fame 246 FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. ^1496. and great authority at Florence. This bold reformer iiot only preached against the abuses of the Church to his countryman, but wrote to the emperor, and the kings of England, France, Spain, and Portugal, exhorting them to purify tlie Church, " which was corrupted from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot; and to remove, by the authority of a general council, the abomination of desolation which stood in the holy place." Alexander prohibited the monk from preaching, and summoned him to appear before the papal tribunal. Savonarola refused obe- dience, and was for a time supported by his fellow- citizens, though the pope threatened them with the penalties of excommunication. Several of the Dominican monks joined Savonarola, th^ Francis- cans took the opposite side, and the dispute between the two orders was conducted with more than the ordinary rancour of theological controversy ; at length it was resolved that the controversy should be decided by the fiery ordeal; and a day was appointed for a cliampion on each side to establish the truth by walking through the flames. When the time of trial arrived, the Dominican refused to enter the fire unless he took with him the conse- crated wafer; the Franciscans refused to permit " the body of the Lord " to be used as an amulet or charm, and the disagreement was made a pretext for abandoning the ordeal. In consequence of this failure, Savonarola suddenly lost all his reputation ; he was arrested with two of his companions, brought 1499.] FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. 247 to trial, convicted of heresy, and delivered to the executioner. The populace saw him brought to the stake without making an effort for his rescue ; he died as he had lived, protesting against the corrup- tions of Christianity, and denouncing the iniquity of the i)apacy. In the mean time Charles VIII. fell a victim to intemperance, and the Duke of Orleans ascended the throne of France as Louis XII. As a descen- dant in the female line from the family of the Visconti, Louis had some claims to the duchy of Milan, and, as heir to the house of Anjou, he styled himself King of Jerusalem and the Two Sicilies; the whole strength of France was engaged to sujjport his pretensions; pride and self-interest procured him the alliance of the pope. Alexander had re- cently permitted Csesar to resign his cardinalship, and had endeavoured to procure for this monster a wife from the royal family of Naples. The pope's offers were indignantly spurned, and he never forgave the contumely. Another circumstance contributed to bring the King of France into close union with Alexander ; in his youth Louis had been forced to marry the daughter of Louis XI. ; she was ugly and barren, and had never won a share in her husband's affec- tions; Anne of Britanny, widow of Charles VIII., had created an interest in the bosom of his suc- cessor; a divorce from his first wife, and a bull sanctioning his marriage to the heiress of Britanny, 248 FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. [1500. SO gratified Louis, that he created Casar Borgia Duke of Valentinois, and gave him a large pension. Thus passion and policy rendered the best of kings the instrument and accomplice of the most profligate of pontiffs. Such an alliance was the signal for war in Italy (a. d. 1499) : Louis crossed the Alps at the head of an army which no Italian forces could resist ; the whole of the Milanese territory was subdued with little difficulty, while Caesar Borgia made himself master of the cities in Romagna, — a territory ceded to the Church by Charlemagne, but usurped by the feudal lords during the residence of the popes at Avignon. The commencement of the sixteenth century was marked by the celebration of a Jubilee ; indulgences were sold throughout Europe, and a tenth of the money thus raised was given to the Venetians, under the pretence of aiding them in their wars against the Turks, but in reality as a bribe to secure their neutrality in Italy, and esjiecially to purchase their forbearance while Caesar Borgia subdued Romagna. Louis Sforza suddenly appeared in the IVIilanese territories with an army of Swiss and Bur- gundians; he easily recovered his duchy';%but, in the midst of his success, he was arrested by his own soldiers, and delivered a prisoner into the hands of the French. This event made Louis XII. absolute master of Lombardy, and alarmed all the Italians except the Venetians and the pope. Alexander 1501.] FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. 249 encouraged the French monarch to continue his march to Naples ; the Emj^eror MaximiHan threat- ened in vain, the Venetians remonstrated, even the Swiss in the king's service hesitated. But Louis had secretly negotiated a treaty with Ferdinand the Catholic, for the partition of the states of his relative and ally ; the Spanish troops, received into the Neapolitan territories as defenders of the kingdom, suddenly joined the invaders, and the unfortunate Frederic was unable to save his dominions. Capua was stormed by Ccesar Borgia, who took forty of the fairest nuns in the city as his share of the booty ; Naples opened its gates to the French, and Frederic, through detestation of the treachery of Spain, re- signed his crown to Louis. The abdicated monarch removed to France with his family; he obtained the title of Duke of Anjou, and a considerable pension. The perfidious treaty between France and Spain was excused by the pretence of uniting the forces of these powerful monarchies to check the progress of the Ottoman empire ; but no apology was neces- sary to Alexander for a course of jiolicy which raised him to be the arbitrator between the greatest sove- reigns of the age ; and ensured to his favourite son, the Duke of Valentinois, quiet j^ossession of his usurpations. Ever since their return from Avignon the popes had used religious jirejudices and j^olitical artifices to keep themselves at the head of the Italian leagues ; but when they became confede- 250 FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. [1502. rates, they lost the rights of supreme protectors to which they laid claim ; the partition of the Neapo- litan dominions, and the investitures required by its conquerors, placed Alexander in the predominant position to which his predecessors had vainly aspired, and he used the opportunity to aggrandize his family. Cajsar Borgia ruled Romagna with great pru- dence : the justice and moderation of his govern- ment reconciled many to the crimes by which he had opened his passage to power, but the very feli- city enjoyed by his subjects was regarded as an aggression by the other Italian lords, who suspected that he would make this popularity subservient to his ambition. Several of these nobles accused Borgia to Louis, but Alexander had secured tlie friendship of the king's confidential minister, by giving him the profitable office of legate in France, and holding out hopes of his eventual succession to the papacy. Supported by this minister, Valenti- iiois destroyed by the sword, the gibbet, or poison, all the rival lords whom he could reach by arms or by perfidy ; until Louis, wearied by the complaints against Borgia, was at length induced to set bounds to his ambition by forbidding him to attack Bologna. Once more the Cardinal d'Amboise interfered ; he represented that the pope's aid and influence could alone save the kingdom of Naples from becoming the prey of the Spaniards; policy rendered Louis deaf to the voice of generosity, and the French 1503.] FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. 251 troops once more were placed at the disposal of Valentinois. The Borgias made use of the aid granted them by Louis, at the moment that they were secretly preparing to abandon his cause. Gonsalvo, at the head of the Spanish forces, was triumphant in Na- ples ; he gained a decisive victory over the Duke de Nemours at Cerignola, in consequence of which, the French lost all their conquests in southern Italy. Louis sent fresh forces across the Alps to retrieve this disgrace; Alexander knew not which side to take ; for a time he observed a suspicious neutrality, waiting for the success of a diabolical jDlot which he had contrived to recruit his finances. His design was to poison all the rich cardinals and seize the revenues of their several sees : for this purpose he sent several flasks of poisoned wine to the cardinal of Corneto, in whose house it was proposed that they should sup (a. d. 1503). The servant was ordered not to per- mit any person to taste the liquor ; but Alexander and his son Caesar, coming early to the j)lace of meeting, asked for some wine before supper, and the servant thinking that the prohibited wine must be the most precious, presented a portion of it to the pope. Alexander drained the fatal cup to the dregs, but immediately feeling the symptoms of poison, he prevented Caesar from drinking so deeply. The pontiff died in a few hours ; Caesar Borgia re- covered after a long illness, but so virulent was the poison, that he lost both his skin and his hair. 252 FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. [1504. Great was the joy of the Romans when they learned that Even-handed justice Transferred the ingredients of the jioisoned chalice To the contriver's lips ; but though delivered from the tyrant, the city was exposed to other imminent dangers ; a French army was in its neighbourhood ; Caesar Borgia held the Vatican and the castle of St. Angelo, garrisoned by twelve thousand men. The cardinals had sufficient firmness to resist the menaces of both ; they refused to elect the cardinal d'Amboise, but they compro- mised matters by choosing an old man on the brink of the grave, who took the title of Pius III. In twenty-six days the pontifical throne was again vacant; Pius offended the court by proposing schemes of reform, and a dose of poison delivered the cardinals from the danger they most dreaded, the correction of abuse. Julian de la Rovere, nephew to Sixtus IV., anti- cipating the death of Pius, had secured the suffrages of the Spanish cardinals, and the powerful interest of Borgia ; so successful was his canvas, that he was declared pope before the doors of the conclave Avere fully closed. The new pontiff took the name of Julius II. ; the French were displeased that cardinal d'Amboise had not been chosen, and loudly de- nounced the treachery of Borgia ; many months had not elaj)sed before that chief had reason to regret his breach of faith. Under the pretence of saving 1504.] FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. 253 Romagna from the Venetians, Julius insisted that the Duke of Valentinois shoukl surrender tlie cities he retained in that country ; Borgia refused to com- ply ; he was arrested and thrown into jDrison, where he was forced to sign a resignation of the princi- pality, which he and his father had purchased by so many crimes. After having obtained his liberty, Borgia went to Naples, where he was again arrested and sent to Spain ; by order of King Ferdinand, he was detained three years a prisoner in the castle of Medina. Having bribed his guards, he sought refuge with the King of Navarre, and was soon after slain in an obscure skirmish. But the great object of the policy of Julius was the expulsion of foreigners from Italy, for he trusted that the political independence of the peninsula, would be followed by the establishment of papal supremacy. He was a pontiff suited to the altered circumstances of the Church ; boundless ambition, unconquerable courage, and impenetrable dissimu- lation, fitted him for great achievements. Gregory VII., Innocent VIII., and Julius II., were the most remarkable champions of ecclesiastical sway, and the most deserving the notice of the historian. Gregory was the most enlightened, his ambition was of the highest and purest order; he asj^ired to mastery over mind, and to base the Church's claim to rule over mankind, on superior intelligence ; it was by means of moral power that he endeavoured to sub- ject mankind to the Church, and the Church to the 254 FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. [;i504. papacy. Innocent had tlie same object, but the change in the circumstances of humanity forced him to use different means ; the Church had lost the monopoly of knowledge, its moral power was gone, and physical force was the unworthy, but also, the only possible substitute ; crusades and armies were used instead of missionaries and preachers, they won a temporary victory, but the acquisitions of violence are not lasting ; kings, nobles, and commons were not slow in discovering the folly of religious wars, and they refused to spend blood and treasure at the command of the Roman court, whose victories were at once costly and injurious. Julius ascending the throne at a moment when the claims of the succes- sors of St. Peter to universal supremacy, whether political or intellectual, were no longer tenable, was reduced by the increasing intelligence of the six- teenth century, to limit his ambition to the conser- vation of Italy, and he flooded Europe with blood to save this last province of the papal royalty. These three popes may be regarded as types of three ages of the Church, and exponents of the progress of humanity and civilization. Julius II. eagerly sought out enemies for France ; the state of the royal family of England gave him hopes, not only of reviving ancient hostilities, but also of re-establishing his OAvn power over that king- dom. Arthur, the eldest son of Henry VII., died shortly after his marriage ; his widow was deemed a suitable match for Prince Henry, and the pope 1505.] FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. 255 granted the necessary dispensations for a marriage within the prohibited degrees. Little did he foresee that the measure by which he trusted to restore the papal supremacy in England, would in a few years lead to its total abolition. Though resolute in his enmity to France, Julius craftily concealed his hostility, and even engaged Louis to aid him against the Venetians (a. d. 1504). The treaty of Blois was principally formed through jealousy of the Venetians; by this disgraceful transaction, Louis sullied the high character he had hitherto borne ; he abandoned his allies, he paid a large sum to the Emperor Maximilian for the in- vestiture of the Milanese, and he consented to the dismemberment of France, in order to form a suitable dowry for his daughter Claude, whom he betrothed to the emperor's grandson, Charles of Luxemburgh, afterwards known in history as Charles the Fifth. But the Venetians, terrified by this menacing treaty, hastened to make peace with Julius, abandoning to him the cities he claimed in Romagna, and the pontiff without scruple withdrew from the confederacy. The States-General of France remonstrated with their soA^ereign, against the articles which would have given Burgundy and Britanny to a foreign power ; Louis, yielding to the wishes of his subjects, refused to ratify the degrading stipulations of the treaty of Blois. The princess Claude was betrothed to her cousin the Count d'Angouleme, afterwards 256 FRENCH WARS IN ITALY. [1507. Francis I. Thus early began the contest between two princes, whose long-continued rivalry became the moving power of the whole policy of Europe. The apparent submission of the Venetians enabled Julius to attack other states (a. d. 1507). He ex- pelled Bentivoglio from Bologna, who sought shelter in Venice. Louis XII. abandoned this nobleman to the ambition of his enemy, by the advice of the Cardinal d'Amboise, who was the dupe of his former rival. Julius seemed to hate the French more intensely as he approached their neighbourhood ; he encouraged the Genoese to revolt against Louis, and when that monarch prepared to suppress the insur- rection in person, he roused the jealousy of Maxi- milian, by suggesting that the King of France had formed still more dangerous projects, and even aspired to the imperial crown. These representations were not altogether calum- nious; Julius was well acquainted with the ambitious character of the Cardinal d'Amboise, whose machi- nations he had twice defeated ; he knew that if this prelate became pope, Louis would soon find means of securing possession of Italy, in which the blood and treasure of France were now annually and idly wasted. Maximilian assembled a diet at Constance, but when the German troops were ready to march, intelligence arrived that Louis had sent his army back to their usual quarters. Nevertheless, Maximilian persevered in entering Italy ; the Ve- netians routed his forces, and he was forced to 1507.] FRENCPI WARS IN ITALY. 257 to negotiate with enemies whom he coukl neither conquer nor deceive. But this treaty, apparently so honourable for Venice, was fraught with fatal consequences to the republic (a. d. 1507). The pride of the empire was wounded, the jealousy of the French excited, and the hostility of the irascible Julius confirmed. ' The pontiff never forgave the shelter that had been accorded to his enemy Bentivoglio, and the refusal of the bishopric of Vicenza to one of his nephews • he organized a formidable league against the Vene- tians, and their republic was soon called upon to defend itself against the aggressions of confederated -fciUrope. 17 258 Chapter XVIII. THE LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY.— COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. From a. d. 1508 to a. d. 1542. Venice was the most powerful and richest state of Italy; its civil constitution, established on a firm basis, had suffered no considerable alteration for several centuries ; the senate adhered to the maxims of policy by which the republic had grown into greatness with uniform consistency, — a circumstance which gave their commonwealth a decided advantage over those states whose forms of government, and rules of conduct, were changing with the persons who guided the administration. It had long taken the lead in resisting the Turkish empire; it was, indeed, the great bulwark of southern Europe against the rapid progress of Turkish domination. This honourable post ought to have ensured it the favour of those who called themselves the protectors of Christendom, and checked the hatred and jealousy with which its glory inspired ambitious neighbours. But the eminence of Venice was well calculated to excite the enmity of those monarchs and princes who had claims on the Italian jieninsula ; absolute governments, in such a limited space, feel that the destruction of free states is a condition of their 1508.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 259 existence, and they were hurried to attack Venice by the instinct of self-preservation. But the Venetian rejjublic had committed a griev- ous error of policy; it owed alljts prosperity to commerce, but this began to be abandoned through lust of conquest. The sea was the natural element of the republic, Its march was o'er tlie mountain- waves, Its liomo Avas on the deep ; but, in an evil hour, the Venetian rulers became ambitious of extending their territories on the con- tinent, and the waters of the Adriatic were aban- doned for the plains of Lombardy. The dissensions and feebleness of the popes had induced the Venetians to violate the Patrimony of St. Peter; their government, whose policy was so famous, misunderstood the principle that Rome never pardons an attack nor forgives a defeat. Treaties and oaths are but veils for pontifical resentment, and weakness itself only a reason for adjournino- claims whose force is sujiposed to be immortal. Julius II. was resolved to be the sole master of Italy, and, with consummate ability, he organized a league against the Venetians, the members of which were separated by the most discordant interests, and who only agreed in being the tools of the ambitious pontiff. Maximilian hoped to revive the ancient power of the Roman empire ; Louis XII. expected to secure 17-2 260 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1509. the inheritance of the Visconti, and the house of Anjoii; perhaps, even to re-estabhsh the power which the French monarchs possessed in the days of Charlemagne : Ferdinand trusted to regain the whole of the Neapolitan kingdom. By the active exertions and consummate skill of Julius, the alliance between these rival monarchs was signed on the 10th of December, 1508 ; and scarcely was it completed, when the pope offered to sell a separate peace to the Venetians, on the condition of their restoring the jDlaces of which they had taken possession within the papal territories. But Venice was still the richest state in Europe ; it is true the Portuguese were soon to wrest from them the Indian trade, but commerce still flowed in its accustomed channels ; the senate had men and money ; the chief men of the state trusted that the sharers in the treaty would soon quarrel among themselves, and instead of making any effort to divert the storm, they calmly waited its approach. The impetuous valour of the French disconcerted all the precautions that had been taken for the safety of the republic, and the fatal battle of Ghia- naddada totally ruined the Venetian army. Julius thundered forth bulls of excommunication, which had no other effect than to j^roduce the desertion of some fanatical monks ; but at the same time, his soldiers recovered the towns belonging to the Patri- mony of St. Peter. Ferdinand rc-anncxed the cities of which the republic had gained possession, on tlie 1510.] COMMENCEJMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 261 coast of Calabria, to the Neapolitan dominions. Maximilian threatened to attack Venice itself; in short, the ruin of this great maritime state seemed inevitable. But the very rapidity of its success proved fatal to the confederacy. No sooner had Julius recovered the cities which he claimed, than he displayed his hatred of the barbarians, as he called the French and Germans, who attempted to exercise power over the classic soil of Italy ; and the victories of the allied princes excited the jealousies of their neighbours. Bayezid II. offered all his forces to succour his old republican enemies ; while the Venetian senate saw that the insolence of the conquerors would stimulate an energetic resistance. Maximilian was the first to suffer some severe reverses, and Louis XII. showed no disposition to render him assistance. The French monarch already felt jealous of the rising power of the house of Austria, which was soon to become so menacing to Europe ; and his disputes with the pope announced the speedy termination of the league of Cambray. Julius II. claimed the right of appoint- ment to the bishoprics, vrhose incumbents died in Rome ; Louis XII. rejected the claim, and, to sus- tain his opposition, seized all the benefices in the duchy of Milan. This proceeding was virtually a declaration of war, and the pope's reconciliation with the Venetians rendered hostilities certain. In the eyes of Julius, Louis was guilty of two great crimes ; he had power in Italy, and he favoured 262 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1510. the pojje's old rival, the Cardinal d'Amboise. Per- sonal being thus combined with political rancour, the war between the two potentates promised to be vigorous; the pontiff sought everywhere to excite enemies against the monarch, and this change of polity was the salvation of the Venetians. Ferdi- nand the Catholic, with his usual perfidy, entered into secret alliance with them, hoping to divert the weight of war from Castillo against the empire ; he sought power by every means, and he was ably seconded by the Cardinal Ximenes, who, with a spirit very uncommon in a monk, led in person a numerous army against the INIoors of Africa, and conquered Oran ; and, with a generosity and magni- ficence still more singular, defrayed the whole expenses of the expedition ont of his own revenues. Henry VIII. had just ascended the English throne ; he was anxious to signalize his accession by some enterprise, and his professions of readiness to serve the cause of the pope, were rewarded by the gift of a consecrated golden rose. The Swiss in the service of the French king were instigated to demand an exorbitant remuneration ; it was peremptorily refused, upon which they abandoned the royal cause, and enlisted under the papal banners. Thus strengthened, the pojie laid aside all further dis- guise ; the Venetians were publicly absolved ; but these republicans, who had so often braved the thunders of the Church, submitted to bitter humili- tions, as if doing penance for their former resistance, 1511.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 263 and accepted the conditions of the most haughty and despotic of conquerors. War soon commenced ; Julius II., investing him- self in armour, displayed all the ardour of a young warrior : his first attacks were directed against the Duke of Ferrara; and he hurled the thunders of the Church upon Louis XII., who ventured to defend his ancient ally, as well as against all who embraced the party of the French king. But Louis was not intimidated by the arms or anathemas of his adversary; to the former he opposed his troops, to the latter an assembly of the clergy of his kingdom, and the spirit which animated the convocation justi- fied his confidence. It was resolved that the war should be vigorously sustained, and the conduct of the head of the Church was made the subject of very harsh comments. This national council declared that the papal anathemas were invalid when they were clearly unjust, and it confirmed Louis in his determination not to yield to illegal threats. It did more ; it announced the necessity of a general council, it supplicated the king to concert with his allies the means of convoking a free assembly of the prelates of Christendom, and it gave him energy to overcome his own scruples, and the pertinacious bigotry of his queen, who believed that any resistance to the pope was a crime of the greatest magnitude. But this war of anathemas and councils would not have turned to the advantage of Julius if it had 2G4 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1511. l)een sustained by force of arms. The French troops were superior in the field ; Julius himself narrowly escaped being made prisoner by the Che- valier Bayard, while he Avas besieging Mirandola. The pope consoled himself for the fright by making his triumphal entry into this little town, through a breach in its walls, and by seeking out new allies. The Emperor Maximilian was induced to propose a congress at Mantua ; but unfortunately for Julius he employed as his ambassador the Bishop of Gurck, long an enemy to the papal usurpations, who had endeavoured to extend the liberties of the Galilean Church to Germany. Inaccessible to the flatteries or bribes of the pope, this prelate treated the pontiff with unexampled haughtiness ; sending gentlemen of his suite to discuss conditions with the cardinals, and banishing from his presence the ambassador of the Venetians, Avhom his master had placed under the ban of the empire. Julius II., having perfidi- ously violated the truce by an attack on Genoa, the Bishop of Gurck abruptly terminated the negotiations and Avithdrew. The war was renewed, and the plan of a general council was put into execution. Those cardinals who had fled from the papal court, because the })0})e had refused to punish his nephew, the Duke of Urbino, for assassinating the Cardinal of Pavia, convoked the council of Pisa, and ISIaximilian revived his chimerical project of adding the papal to the imperial dignity ; but his own unsteadiness on this occasion saved him from further absurdity. 1512.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 265 Julius II. was alarmed : unable to separate Louis and Maximilian, he set up council against council, and issued a bull for convoking the prelates of Christendom at Rome, at the same time excommu- nicating his enemies and the dissident cardinals. But he was too wise to trust solely to spiritual means of defence ; he jiublished " the holy league," which the Venetians and Ferdinand the Catholic had formed with him, and in which places were reserved for the Emperor and the King of England (a. d. 1512). Henry VIII. yielded to the papal represen- tations ; his subjects, every ready for a war with France, readily granted him subsidies, and it was supposed that Guienne and Normandy would be again subjected to the British crown. JNIaximilian, with his usual inconsistency, abandoned the cause of Louis ; the Swiss menaced both Burgundy and Lombardy with invasion ; in fact, the greater part of Europe was banded against France, when the Duke of Nemours, Avhom Louis destined for the throne of Naples, found both victory and a grave in the plains of Ravenna. This battle, which seemed to promise the most important results, was only a last ray of glory for the arms of Louis, and a temporary fright to Julius. The pontiff amused the King of France with nego- tiations, which he assured the ambassadors of Spain and Venice were only intended to gain time. In a brief period Louis felt his power slij^ping away; Europe was in arms against him ; his troops could 266 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1515. no longer defend the duchy of Milan against the Swiss ; Spain sent a new army into Naples ; while Germany and England menaced his northern and western frontiers. Julius now triuni})hantly re- established Maximilian Sforza at Milan, and the Medicis at Florence ; all now wanting to consum- mate his glory was the expulsion of the Germans and Spaniards from Italy. Under the pretext of organizing a crusade against the Turks, now dis- organized by civil discord, in consequence of Sultan Selim having opened his way to the throne by poisoning his father and murdering his brother, Julius II. ceased to send the stipulated subsidies to the army of Ferdinand the Catholic ; but this cun- ning prince was not to be deceived, and in the hope of preserving by peace the kingdom of Navarre, which he had wrested from the unfortunate John d'Albret, he began secretly to treat with Louis. The French monarch gladly seized the opportunity of breaking the formidable league of his opponents ; a truce for a year was actually signed (a. d. 1515) ; ^Yhen the death of Julius changed the aspect of affairs, and opened a new series of events which baffled all the vain calculations of politicians. Leo X., descended from the noble and wealthy house of the JNIedicis, Avas chosen to fill the papal throne at this crisis ; having calculated the chances resulting from the circumstances of his position, he declared war against Louis, and invited Henry VIII. to invade France, while he attacked the Venetians. 1516.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 267 Louis Mas everywhere unfortunate; Henry VIII. obtained a victory at Guinegatte, called the battle of the spurs, because they were the only weapons used by the French chivalry on that day, and the King of Scotland, the only ally of France, was slain at Floddon Field. Overwhehned by these reverses, Louis sought i^eace ; he recognised the council of Lateran, and took for his second queen the sister of the Kino' of Eno;'land. Louis XII. bequeathed the crown of France to his son-in-law Francis I., and with it his claims in Italy, which had already proved of such fatal con- sequence (a. d. 1515). The new monarch sold offices and dignities to procure supplies, an army was levied with great celerity, and a glorious victory at Marignano seemed to presage the triumph of the French in Italy. Leo X. immediately entered into negotiations Avith the young conqueror ; the crafty pontiff proposed that a concordat should be substi- tuted for the Pragmatic Sanction, which secured the liberties of the Gallican church ; the French parliaments vainly resisted the change ; but Francis, anxious to extend the royal as well as the papal power, triumphed so far over opposition as to obtain the registration of his edicts, though the Pragmatic Sanction continued to have the force of law in several dioceses. When Leo ascended the papal throne, he found the treasury exhausted by the long wars of his pre- decessors, while heavy claims were made upon the 268 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1518. exchequer for the payment of soldiers and political agents, and for the continuance of several public works, especially the cathedral of St. Peter's. To recruit his finances, he adopted an expedient to which his j^redecessors frequently had recourse, — ■ the sale of indulgences ; but he carried this decep- tive i^lan of raising money to an unprecedented extent, not foreseeing that he would thus provoke a dangerous opposition. The origin of indulgences has been sometimes misrepresented by eminent writers ; and as we have now reached a period when their abuse produced the most decisive blow Avliich the i3apacy had yet received, it will be necessary to take a brief survey of their history. In the primitive church it was customary that those who had committed any hein- ous offence should perform a public penance before the congregation, " that their souls might be saved in the day of the Lord ; and that others, admonished by their example, might be the more afraid to offend." In process of time rich and noble offenders became anxious to avoid public exposure, and private pen- ances or a pecuniary compensation were substituted for the former discipline. On this change the popes founded a new doctrine, which, combined Avith the commutation of indulgences, opened the way for profitable traffic. They taught the world that all the good works of the saints, over and above those which were necessary to their own justification, are deposited, together with the infinite merits of Jesus 1518.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 269 Christ, in one inexhaustible treasury. The keys of this were committed to St. Peter and his successors the popes, who may open it at pleasure, and by transferring a portion of this superabundant merit to any particular person for service in a crusade, or for a sum of money, may convey to him either the pardon of his own sins, or a release for any one in whose happiness he is interested, from the pains of jDurgatory. These indulgences were first issued to those who joined jDersonally in the expeditions for tlie recovery of the Holy Land ; subsequently to those who hired a soldier for that jjurpose, and finally to all who gave money for accomplishing any work which it pleased the popes to describe as good and pious. Julius II. bestowed indulgences on all who contributed to the building of St. Peter's at Rome, and Leo continued the traffic under the same pretence. Different orders of monks derived considerable profit from the sale of indulgences, and great indig- nation was excited among the Augustinian friars when the monopoly of the trade in Germany was granted to their rivals the Dominicans. Tetzel, the chief agent in retailing them, was a man of licen- tious morals, but of an active spirit, and remarkable for his noisy and popular eloquence. He executed his commission with little regard to discretion or decency, describing the merits of the indulgences in such a blasphemous style of exaggeration, that all men of sense were disgusted, and even the ignorant 270 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1518. began to suspect tlie worth of pardons for sin dis- pensed by men whose profligacy was notorious and disgusting. The princes and nobles of Germany w^ere enraged by witnessing the large sums of money drained from their vassals to support the lavish expenditure of the pontiff, and many of the higher ranks of the clergy viewed with jealousy the favour displayed to the monastic orders. Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar of great learning and indomitable courage, had prepared his mind for the noble career on which he was about to enter by a diligent study of the Holy Scriptures; the question of indulgences early engaged his atten- tion, and ho convinced himself that the Bible, which he began to consider as the great standard of theo- logical truth, afforded no countenance to a practice equally subversive of faith and morals. Having vainly sought to procure the suppression of the traflfic from the Archbishop of INIagdeburgh, he appealed to the suffrages of men of letters, by pub- lishing ninety-five theses condemning the sale of indulgences as contrary to reason and Scrijiture. Much has been written respecting the personal character of this daring reformer ; his boldness fre- quently degenerated into violence, his oiDposition to the corrupt discipline of the Church sometimes passed the bounds of decency ; but these errors arose from the circumstances of his position ; he was in fact the representative of the public opinion of his age : and before we pass too severe a censure 1518.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 271 on the aberrations that sully his career, we must remember that the age had scarcely emerged from barbarism, and that the human mind, as yet unac- customed to freedom, when suddenly delivered from habitual restraint, necessarily rushed into some ex- travagances. While hostile writers describe Luther as the vilest of sinners, or the purest of saints, they forget that there is a previous question of some im- portance, the standard by which his conduct must be measured. We have no right to expect that Luther, engaged in a struggle for life or death, should dis- play the moderation of a modern controversialist, or to look for the intelligence of the nineteenth century at the commencement of the sixteenth ; remembering the school in which he was educated, it is reasonable to believe that many monkish absur- dities must long have been perceptible in his words and actions; we need not, therefore, deny that he was sometimes wrong, we need not disguise nor palliate his errors, for the cause which he promoted depends not on the character of him or of any other person. His adversaries, however, have never ventured to deny his courage, his sincerity, his integrity of pur- pose, and his superiority to all pecuniary considera- tions. Pie lived and died poor, though Rome would have purchased his return by wealth and dignity, though the leading reformers were ready to reward his perseverance by any grants he might have re- quired. An honest and impartial testimony is borne to 272 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1510. his character by his cotemporary, the Rabbi Joseph ; and as the account given by a Jew of the Reforma- tion is something more than a matter of mere curiosity, the extract is worthy of attention. " And it came to pass, when the Pope JuHus began to build the great high place (St. Peter's Cathedral), which is in Rome, that he sent the Franciscan friars into all the districts of the uncircumcised. And he gave them to loose and to bind, and to deliver souls from perdition. And they departed and cried with a loud voice, saying, ' Take off the ear-rings of your wives and daughters, and bring them for the building of the high place ; and it shall come to pass when ye shall come, that ye shall save the souls of your generation from perdition.' And it came to pass, after the death of Julius, that the Pojie Leo sent again, and they went as before unto the cities of Ashkenaz (Germany) ; and they were lifted up. And it came to pass, whenever the Germans would speak, saying, 'How could ye say this thing, and how could the pope do it?" they answered them proudly, saying, 'Ye shall be cursed if ye do not believe ; for there is no faith in you, and ye shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.' And there was one Martin Luther, a monk, a skilful and wise man ; and he also said unto tliem, ' Why are ye not ashamed when ye let your voice be heard on high, speaking such dreams?' And the priests could not give an answer, and they behaved with madness after their manner. And they anathematized him 1518.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 273 ill the year One thousand five hundred and eigliteen. And the wrath of Martin was much kindled ; and Martin opened his mouth and preached with a loud voice against the pope, and against the dreams and the abominations of the popes ; but ^ill he delighted in THAT MAN* and many gathered themselves unto him. And he made them statutes and ordinances, and spake revolt against the wise men of the church; and he would explain from his own heart their law and the words of Paul ; and they went not after the precepts of the popes; and their laws are two different laws until this dayf." Luther comprehended the state of public opinion; his publications were the manifestation of the revolt of reason against authority, rather than a thesis in his theology. His perseverance, the very violence and grossness of his invectives, showed that he felt human reason to be on his side. If he had not at first calculated the effect of his first blow, he showed great sagacity in measuring its results. Numerous echoes responded to his summons ; Zuinglius began to preach in Switzerland, and the reform engaged the attention of enlightened men of letters ; among others, the celebrated Erasmus pointed out cor- ruptions in the Church, though he had not moral courage enough to separate himself from it openly. The papal party accepted Luther's challenge, fully * Rabbi Joseph means, that /ns only objection to Luther was the Reformer's belief in Jesus Christ. ' t Chronicles of Rabbi Joseph, vol. i. p. 431. 18 274 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. Q1520. believing that the slightest exertion of jiower would at once stifle opposition (a. d. 1520). Leo X., too indolent to examine the state of the public mind, and too proud to trouble himself about the oppo- sition of a simple friar, published a bull condemning the theses of Luther as heretical and impious (a. d. 1520). The bold reformer at once declared open war against the papacy, by appealing to a gene- ral council, and burning the bull of excommuni- cation in presence of a vast multitude at Wittemberg. He treated the volumes of the canon law with the same contumely, and justified his action in a man- ner more offensive to the advocates of the papacy, than the action itself. Having collected from the canon law some of the most extravagant propositions with regard to the plenitude and omnipotence of the papal power, as well as the subordination of all secular jurisdiction to the authority of the Holy See, he published these, with a commentary, pointing out the im])iety of such tenets, and their evident tendency to subvert all civil governments. From this time, the interests of princes were even more deeply engaged on the side of Luther than popular reason. In fact, as a Romish historian has remarked, " policy became more Lutheran than religious reform ! " Sovereigns naturally received with enthu- siasm a doctrine which i)Iaced at their disposal the enormous wealth of the clergy, and gave them mastery over more i-iches than could be acquired by the most formidable force, or the most sanguinary 1520.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 275 combats. Thus, in Germany, Luther, who could at first with difficulty procure a horse when he had to appear before the diet, soon counted princes and entire nations among his disciples. Frederick the Wise, Duke of Saxony, was the" first among his converts, and the most powerful of his protectors. It is assuredly very inconsistent in the advocates of the Romish Church, to expose the mixture of secular and religious motives in the active supporters of the reformation ; for the abuses which they con- demned were equally temporal and spiritual. Indeed, it is very obvious, that the corruptions of doctrine were introduced to serve the political purposes of the papacy; a sordid desire for wealth was the foundation of the system of indulgences, which first provoked the revolt ; an ambitious lust for power had caused the subversion of the independence of the national Churches, which it was the earliest object of the Lutherans to restore. Politics influenced the enemies of the papacy only because popery was itself a political system, and because in the struggle that now menaced its existence, it had at once recourse to secular auxiliaries. From its very origin, Lutheranism was necessarily united to the interests, and consequently to the vicissitudes of policy, and on that field its combat was even more arduous than on the simple ground of religion. Though really an outburst of resistance long growing in the mind against delusions worn out by repetition, yet, to the great mass of mankind, its 18-2 276 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. Q521. origin was identified with the opposition to indul- gences ; and as this traffic was equally precious to pontiffs and to kings, who shared the profits, the new Emperor of Germany was the natural enemy of the reformers. Charles V., elevated to the imperial throne after it had been refused by the Duke of Saxony, united in his person the crowns of Spain and the Empire ; he possessed the rich cities of Flanders, and had legitimate claims to the domains of the House of Burgundy, which had been incorporated with France. He was ambitious of universal empire, and Francis I. would have failed to save Christendom from the sway of the new Caesar, had not Luther, Avitli no other weapons than his tongue and pen, boldly placed himself in opposition to the empire and the papacy. Soon after his accession, Charles assembled a diet at Worms (a. d. 1521) ; Luther, protected by a safe-conduct, appeared before the assembly, and ably defended his opinions. Several of the prelates wished the emperor to violate his pledge and deliver the reformer to the flames, but Charles permitted him to depart in safety. Edicts were, however, issued, which rendered it prudent that he should, for a time, live in retirement ; he was concealed in the castle of Wartburg, by the Elector of Saxony, while his opinions secretly spread through northern Ger- many. The advocates of the papacy took the alarm ; the University of Paris condemned the tenets of Luther, and the English king, Henry VIII., wrote 1522.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 277 a book against them, which procured for him and his successors, the title of Defender of the Faith. But Luther had a powerful auxiliary in Leo him- self, whose perfidious policy involved all Europe in war : he had concluded a treaty wiTli Francis I., for the partition of the kingdom of Naples; he now flung his promises to the winds, and concluded a treaty with Charles V., for the expulsion of the French from Italy. Henry VIII., who had recently made the warmest professions of attachment to Francis, in the " Field of the Cloth of Gold," was induced by his favourite, Wolsey, to join the empe- ror ; Charles had won the support of the insatiable cardinal, by promising to favour his election to the papacy on the next vacancy. The French army in Italy was routed by the imperialists, and the Duchy of JSIilan was wrested from the grasp of Francis. While Christendom was thus distracted by the inconsiderate ambition of Leo X., Suleiman the ISIagnificent raised the Turkish empire to a formidable height of greatness; Belgrade submitted to his arms, and the Knights of St. John, after a gallant resistance, were driven from the Island of Rhodes. Before he could discover the dangerous tendency of his policy, Leo fell a victim to a sudden attack of disease. He was succeeded by Adrian VI., who had been long in the emperor's service, and was therefore disposed to favour his policy (a. d. 1522). But the new pontiff was deficient in energy and foresight ; his weakness proved as injurious to the papacy, as the ambition of his predecessor. 278 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1523. The conquest of Rhodes and the formidable power of Suleiman excited great alarm ; Adrian made some feeble efforts to restore the peace of Europe, but Charles had different objects in view ; however, he so far yielded to public opinion, as to give the island of Malta to the Knights of St. John, on condition of their continuing to maintain the 'war against the infidels. The Italian states, renouncing their old spirit of independence, united Avith the emperor against Francis I.; and even Venice, now fast falling from its high estate, renounced its alliance with France. The pope joined in the new confederation, which received as its general the Constable of Bourbon, wdiom the intrigues of the Parisian court compelled to become a traitor ; the war, instead of protecting Christendom on the frontiers of Hungary, exercised its ravages in Italy, Bavaria, and France. Persecution assailed the professors of the reformed doctrines, but did not check their progress ; Luther, in his retirement, translated the Bible into the German language, and by its publication shook the fabric of popery to its very foundation. Nuremberg, Francfort, Hamburgh, and several other free cities of Germany ojDenly embraced the reformed doctrines, and by the authority of their magistrates abolished the mass, with all its superstitious observances. The Elector of Brandonburgh, the Dukes of Brunswick and Lunenburgh, and the Prince of Anhalt, became avowed patrons of Luther's opinions, and counte- nanced the preaching of them among their subjects. 1524.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 279 Adrian remonstrated with the diet for toleratinjr o the jDrogress of heresy ; in rej^ly to his letter, the German princes sent him a list of one hundred grievances, which they attributed to the dominion of the Holy See. They concluded fTieir memorable declaration by protesting, that if they were not speedily delivered from these intolerable burdens, they had determined to endure them no longer, and would employ the power and authority with Avhich God had intrusted them, in order to procure relief. The pope was enraged by the obstinacy of the Lu- therans, whom he had tried to conciliate by a frank acknowledgement of the abuses that had crept into the Church ; the cardinals and clergy of Rome were still more exasperated by Adrian's concessions to the Germans ; when he was attacked by a painful disease, they openly prayed for his death, and when that event took place, they adorned the gate of his chief physician's house with garlands, adding this inscription. To the Deliverer of his Country. The intrigues of the conclave protracted the next election for the unusual space of fifty days ; at leno-th the Cardinal de Medicis was chosen; his talents, his great experience, his ascendency over the Flo- rentine republic, and his enormous wealth, inspired the friends of the papacy with great hopes of his success in contending with the difficulties of the crisis. One of his earliest measures was to send Cardinal Campeggio into Germany as his nuncio to the diet of Nuremberg ; but all the arts of Italian 280 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1524. diplomacy failed to shake the firmness of the Ger- man princes ; they insisted on the convocation of a free general council, and the redress of the hundred grievances ; ■when their demands ^A■ere eluded, they refused to pass any censure on the opinions and efforts of Luther. The emperor added his recom- mendation to the exhortations of the pontiff, but the M^ar with France engaged his attention more than the state of the Church ; his armies invaded the dominions of Francis on the side of Provence, and laid siege to Marseilles ; but the imperialists, not being supported as they expected, were forced to retire with loss and disgrace. Elated by success, Francis I., in ojij^osition to the advice of his wisest generals and statesmen, pursued the imperialists into Italy, and laid siege to Pavia ; the pope was so alarmed by the i>rogress of the French, that he con- cluded a treaty with the young monarch, in which the republic of Florence was included (a. d. 1524). Francis, having thus dei)rived the emperor of his most i)owerful allies, unwisely weakened his forces, by sending a large detachment to invade the king- dom of Naples ; tlie imperial generals concentrated their forces, attacked the French army at Pavia, routed it completely, and took the king himself ])risoner. Such an unexpected disaster compelled Clement to change his policy ; he rejected the demand of the Venetians to form a league against Charles V., who menaced the independence of Italy ; he tried to negotiate with that prince, but failing to 1526.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 281 obtain favourable conditions, he attempted to shake the fidelity of the JNIarquis of Pescara, the imperial general, by the offer of the kingdom of Naples, which the Holy See had already more than once bestowed for its aggrandisementj'^or its defence. Pescara disclosed the plot to his master, and, in obedience to the imperial orders, seized the duchy of Milan. This event put an end for ever to the independence of northern Italy ; but it was not the only ungenerous use of victory which sullied the success of the emperor. He imposed terms on the captive Francis, which amounted to a relin- quishment of his throne ; and he did not grant him liberty until death threatened to deprive him of the advantages to be derived from detaining such a pri- soner. But the unbounded power of the emj)eror excited the jealousy of the European states (a. d. 1526). Wolsey, irritated by the loss of the jiapacy which he had been led to expect, induced Henry VIII. to conclude a treaty with the French regency. Francis I. refused to execute the articles extorted from him at Madrid ; and his breach of faith Avas supported by the pope, the Venetians, the Duke of Milan, the Swiss, and the Florentines. A league, misnamed holy, was formed against the emperor at Cognac ; and Henry VIII. was honoured by the title of its protector. The holy alliance was not the only danger that menaced Charles V. ; a fierce revolt of the peasants and anabaptists in Suabia excited general alarm 282 LEAGUE OF CAMERA Y. [1526. throughout Germany; several provinces in Spain and Flanders threatened revolt in defence of their invaded franchises, while the Turks, under Sulei- man, struck Christendom with terror by their victory at IMohacz. Louis II., King of Hungary and Ba- varia, with only thirty thousand men, ventured to encounter the sultan, whose forces were tenfold that amount, and still more imprudently he gave the command of these troops to a Franciscan monk. The unfortunate king, the flower of the Hungarian nobility, and twenty thousand men, were thus sacri- ficed to folly and superstition. As Louis was the last male of the royal family of the Jagellons, the crowns of both kingdoms devolved to the house of Austria ; but Charles V. gained little from this elevation of his brother, the Archduke Ferdinand, as both kingdoms could only be retained by con- stant vigilance and exertion. The holy league had been formed for the defence of Francis I., but that monarch was far from wishing it complete success ; he dreaded that it might ter- minate in establishing the independence of Italy, and he therefore looked calmly on while the con- federates and the imperialists mutually exhausted each other. The Constable of Bourbon, whose trea- son had procured him the command of the imperial army, unable to provide pay and sustenance for his forces, resolved to gratify them by the plunder of some large city, and, after some hesitation, he directed his march towards Rome. The Eternal 1527.] COMMEXCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 283 City was stormed ; the imperialists, maddened by the loss of their leader, who fell in the assault, showed no mercy to the vanquished ; nor did these outrages cease when the first fury of the storm was over; the imjDerialists kept possesion of Rome several months, and during all that time the inso- lence and brutality of the soldiers hardly abated. Though taken several times by the barbarians, who overran the empire in the sixth and seventh cen- turies, Rome was never treated with so much cruelty by the barbarous and heathen Huns, Vandals, and Goths, as now by the bigoted subjects of a Catholic monarch. The Prince of Orange succeeded to the command of the imperialists on the death of the Constable of Bourbon, and immediately invested the castle of St. Angelo, wdiere the pope had sought shelter. Deprived of every resource, and reduced to the greatest extremities of famine, Clement surrendered to the besiegers, and consented to remain a prisoner until the conditions of his ransom were performed. Charles V. was forced to dissemble the joy which this event inspired, for the outrage offered to the pope filled all Catholic Europe with indignation; with detestable hypocrisy the emperor put himself and court into mourning, suspended the rejoicings which had been ordered for the birth of his son Philii?, and appointed prayers and processions throughout all Spain for the recovery of the pope's 284 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1528. liberty, which, by an order to his generals, he could have immediately granted him. Henry VIII. combined with Francis I. to force the emperor to accept a reasonable ransom for the son of the latter, \Ahom he held as an hostage, and to procure the deliverance of the pope. Henry was weary of his queen, the aunt of the emperor; he had always felt some scruples of conscience for having married his brother's widow, and these were considerably quickened by his passion for Anne Boleyn, one of the queen's maids of honour. The English monarch applied to the pontiff for a divorce ; Clement was unwilling to thwart his ally, but he dreaded the displeasure of the emperor, especially as he lay at his mercy ; in this difficulty, he secretly advised the king to marry the object of his affections without delay, and trust to the chance of getting absolution at some future period. Henry doubted the sincerity of such counsel ; he was unwilling to place himself so completely in the pope's power; at the same time he and the French king agreed to receive no bulls while the pope should remain a prisoner : the ecclesiastical administration of Eng- land was intrusted to Wolsey ; the government of the Gallican Church devolved upon the provincial councils of its own clergy. Unfortunately for both countries, neither the French nor English monarch comprehended the advantages which would result to themselves and their subjects from persevering 1529.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 285 in the maintenance of the ecclesiastical indepen- dence forced upon them by the peculiar circum- stances of the Holy See. The fortune of Charles V. triumphed over this league, but it had not the same success in Germany, wliere, to use the quaint expression of an Italian cardinal, " it was attacked at once by the Gosj^el and the Koran." Luther's doctrines alienated the minds of men from the constituted creeds ; the arms of the Mohammedans menaced the provinces of the empire (a. d. 1529). The Diet of Spires issued a cautious edict, prohibiting* further innovations in religion, but it was answered by a lyrotestation from the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, the Dukes of Lunenburg, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Prince of Anhalt, and the deputies of fourteen imperial or free cities, condemning the decree as unjust and impious. From this circumstance the advocates of the Reformation were called Protestants, — a name since applied indiscriminately to all sects which have separated themselves from the Church of Rome. The Archduke Ferdinand, sadly in need of aid against the Turks, began to advocate toleration, but his sincerity was justly suspected ; Suleiman laid siege to Vienna, and though forced to abandon Austria, he seized the greater part of Hungary, which he gave to John Zapolya, and crowned him at Buda with his own hand. In the mean time the pope effected a reconcilia- tion with the emperor ; he accepted the sovereignty 286 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1530. of Florence for his grand-nephew, Alexander de Medicis, as a compensation for the sack of Rome, and prevailed upon Charles to oppose the reformers, and withdraw his demand of a general council. At the Diet of Augsburg the Protestants presented their " Confession of Faith ;" it was examined and condemned by some Romish divines; neither the Protestant theologians, nor the princes by whom they were protected, could be induced to abandon their creed ; and Charles, yielding to the suggestions of the papal nuncio, resolved to take vigorous mea- sures for asserting the doctrines and authority of the Established Church (a. d. 1530). A decree was issued by the diet, condemning most of the peculiar tenets held by the Protestants, forbidding any per- son to protect or tolerate such as taught them, enjoining a strict observance of the established rites, and prohibiting further innovation, under severe penalties. For this support of the papacy, Charles received the imperial crown from Clement, at Bo- logna ; and the ruin of Italian liberty was consum- mated. But the German princes did not imitate the submission of the Lombard states ; animated by Luther, the heads of the Protestants entered into a confederacy for mutual defence at Smalkalde, and resolved to seek support from the kings of France and England. An event not connected with reli- gion furnished them with a })lausible i)rctext for strengthening themselves by foreign alliances. Charles resolved to continue the imperial crown in 1531.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 287 liis family, by procuring his brother Ferdinand to be elected King of the Romans (a. d. 1531). The five Catholic electors yielded to the emperor's will, but the two who had embraced the Protestant faith protested against such a violation "of the Germanic constitution as established by the Golden Bull, and sent ambassadors to France and England. The wars of religion had already commenced in Switzerland, where the partisans of Zuinglius were attacked by the adherents of Rome. But in Enff- land the most severe blow had been given to the papal authority ; Henry VIII., irritated by Clement's opposition to his divorce, proclaimed himself head of the English Church, and abolished the authority of the pope throughout his dominion. The reforms in Germany and England, though nearly simultaneous, were very different in their origin and progress. Long before the preaching of Luther, discontent with the papal usurpations had been increasing in Britain ; and parliament on many occasions showed some anxiety to restrain the abuses of ecclesiastical power. It is indeed probable that the independence of the Anglican Church would have ensued from the impulse given to the public mind by Wickliffe and his followers, had not the Wars of the Roses involved the country in the sanguinary controversies of a disputed succession. Henry VIII. was no more the author of the English Reformation, than Constantino was the author of Christianity; he only yielded to the popular impulse, when he rejected 288 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1534. an authority which had long since lost its hold on the public mind, and instead of leading his people in opposition to the Romish See, he but followed the direction of the public mind ; and in the career of reform, so far was he from being in the van, that he always remained far, very far, behind. With the caprice peculiar to his character, he continued to defend the doctrines of the Church of Rome as fiercely as he attacked its jurisdiction. He alter- nately persecuted the Protestants for rejecting the former, and the Catholics for acknowledging the latter. But his subjects, once permitted to enter on the career of improvement which they had long and earnestly desired, did not stop short at the point prescribed by their despotic sovereign. They seized an early opportunity in the following reign of separating totally from the Church of Rome in articles of doctrine, as well as in matters of discipline and jurisdiction. Clement VII. accelerated the progress of the Reformation, by giving his niece Catherine de Medicis in marriage to the Duke of Orleans, for he was thus politically united to the French king, the ally of the Protestant princes. Charles V., terrified by the coalition of France and England, at a time when the Turkish power was formidable, issued an edict of toleration ; and the rashness of Clement, who fulminated a bull against the English king and parliament, secured to Europe the blessings of religious freedom. Paul III. was elected successor to Clement on 153 4. J COM-MENCEMEiVT OF THE REFORMATION. 289 the very clay that the cardinals entered the conclave. His promotion excited great joy among the people of Rome, for nearly a century had elapsed since the crown of St. Peter was worn by one of their fellow- citizens. When Paul commenced his reign, the emperor, forgetting his concessions at Ratisbon, had seized the duchy of Wurtemberg, but was forced to resign his prey by the Landgrave of Hesse, and the confederates of Smalkalde. Thus the war was about to commence, and the Romish Church had reason to dread the issue. It is true that Francis I. comprised in an equal proscription, reformed doctrines and the art of printing, attempting to destroy the jiress as a powerful agent of improvements which he could not comprehend, and witnessing in person the tortures of Lutherans, whom he delivered to the tender mercies of the Inquisition. It is true that James V. displayed similar bigotry in Scotland, and watered the rising " kirk" with the blood of martyrs. It is true that Ignacius Loyola, after having displayed his zeal for proselytism in all the prisons of Spain, founded the order of the Jesuits, destined for a time to be the most powerful support of the Romish Church, the most celebrated confederacy that ever united religion with politics, and the most fatal insti- tution ever organized to check the progress of humanity. But it is no less true that Francis I. negotiated with the league of Smalkalde, invited Melanchthon to his court, accepted the dedication of Calvin's Institutes, took possession of Savoy, and 19 290 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [_1535. apologized to the Protestants for persecutions of which his ambassadors made a boast at Rome. Su- leiman also controlled the only power which could have crushed Protestantism; on land he menaced the hereditary provinces of Austria, at sea his admiral Khair-ed-den, better known by his nick-name, Bar- barossa, proved a formidable rival to Doria, the commander of the imperial fleet. Henry VIII. sent Cardinal Fisher and the virtuous Sir Thomas More to the scaffold, for maintaining the doctrine of the pope's supremacy ; and the Romish religion was formally abolished by the republic of Geneva. The anabaptists of Munster raised a formi- dable revolt, choosing a fanatic, named John of Ley den, for their king, and making immorality a leading article of their creed ; these fanatics were overthrown, but the state of Germany continued to fill the emperor's mind with alarm, and to make him hesitate before taking any decisive measures. An expedition to northern Africa, in which the emperor took the city of Tunis, and obtained the liberation of twenty thousand Christian slaves, raised Charles to such a height of glory, that he believed it would be in his power to arrange the troubles of Europe ; and he promised Paul III. that he would make a vigorous effort to stop the progress of new opinions. lie was irritated by the conquest of Pied- mont, M'hicli Francis I. had just achieved, and in the presence of the cardinals he uttered a virulent invec- tive, unworthy of the imperial majesty, against a 1530.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 291 prince who secretly encouraged his enemies, and those of religion. He demanded the convocation of a general council, to show the Protestants that he was not unwilling to make some efforts for their gratification, to keep the pope in awe, to satisfy the Catholics, and to throw the blame of approaching hostilities on the turbulent disposition of the French king, whom he accused of having formed a treaty for the partition of Germany with the Sultan of the Turks (a. d. 1536). He invaded Provence, but, after spending two inglorious months in the country, he was compelled to retreat. In the mean time, Paul III. declared his design of convoking a general council at Mantua, but found that the proposal satisfied nobody. The Protestants declared that they would not recognize the decrees emanating from such an assembly, and a legate was vainly sent to Smalkalde (a. d. 1537). He brought back from the princes a positive refusal of submis- sion, and an assurance of their having entered into a strict alliance with Francis I. Paul was justly alarmed at the prospects of the Church ; the principles of the Reformation and national independence had been simultaneously established in Sweden, by the heroic Gustavus Vasa, and now Christian III., King of Denmark, received his crown from the hands of a Protestant minister. In England, Henry VIII., rejecting the council of Mantua, pursued his own course of change, though he had sent his innocent Queen Anne, the patroness 19-2 292 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1540. of reform, to the scaffold, through lassitude rather than jealousy; but he suppressed the monasteries and the preceptories of the knights of Malta, and purchased the fidelity of his nobles by giving them grants of the forfeited lands belonging to the con- vents, and thus identifying their private interests with the opposition to the papacy. Henry VIIT., supported by his aristocracy and the bishops of his own creation, disregarded the papal menaces ; but when a truce for ten years was made between Francis I. and Charles V., he began to feel some alarm, and he made jn-oposals of alliance to the confederates of Smalkalde. The Protestant princes doubted his sincerity, and demanded, as a proof of his zeal for the reformation, that he should adopt the Confession of Augsburgh. This proposal was peremptorily rejected by the English monarch ; he ordered the prayers to be read in English throughout his dominions, but he published " the Bloody Statute," in which the old and new opinions were alike proscribed. The six articles, which com- posed this law, were neither the Romish creed nor the religion of Luther ; they were the opinions of a capricious despot, carelessly adopted, but cruelly enforced. The princes of Smalkalde were not discouraged by the backwardness of Henry ; they felt that the cur- rent of the public mind ran in their favour, and they obtained from the emperor a promise of liberty of conscience (a. d. 1540). But they were well aware 1541.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE REFORMATION. 293 that they owed this favour to the embarassments which resulted from the revolt of Ghent, and they continued their secret intrigues wdth England and France. Henry VII I. was, however, an unsafe ally, and Francis I. was equally unworthy of confidence. Abandoning himself to the intrigues of the court, and the Constable Montmorency, he displayed the same caprice, and the same cruelty, as the sovereign of England. Though he never relaxed in his hos- tility to Charles V., he did not take advantage of the emperor's failure at Algiers, nor of the arch- duke's defeat by the Turks, to assert his claims on Italy, but waited until the emfjeror had recruited his army, and his finances, before he jDublished his declaration of war. He counted on the supjoort of the Protestant princes, while he prohibited the pub- lication of the works of Calvin, and persecuted the Lutherans in his dominions. He quarrelled with Henry VIII. and the confederates of Smalkalde, but at the same time he struck a mortal blow against ecclesiastical tribunals, by limiting their competency to matters purely clerical. In short, this monarch's conduct, in its whimsical inconsistency, may almost alone be taken as a representation of the manners of an epoch, in which antiquated usages and innovation alternately prevailed. The pope and Charles V. expected to profit by the blunders of Francis, and isolate the enemies of the Holy See, so that they might be crushed when 294 LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY. [1542. deprived of their allies. The pope relied on the effect of time to produce discord, and his summoning- the Council of Trent was a mere mockery and deception (a. d. 1542). But the cause of the Re- formation continued to advance ; cities and provinces were won from their allegiance to the Romish See, and what was scarcely less important, Bernardin Okini, the general of the Capuchins, celebrated for the austerity of his manners, and the sanctity of his life, embraced the opinions of Luther, and renouncing celibacy, took to himself a wife. The Avar of opinions and recantations preceded the war of battles. 295 Chapter XIX. WARS OF THE REFORMATION. From a. d. 1543 to a. d. 1572. So rapid had been the progress of the Reformation, and so general the spirit of discontent excited by the abuses of the court of Rome, that the pope and the emperor hesitated before they ventured to declare open war against the Protestant leaders. Political and religious despotism were equally threatened by the movement; princes comprehended the advan- tages to be derived from this enfranchisement of thought earlier than their subjects: they did not know how onerous was the yoke of the papacy, until they had tasted the pleasures of freedom; but when this once hai^pened, it was impossible to bring them back to their former bondage. Charles V. was bent on establishing despotic authority in the empire; the pope was his natural ally, for mental thraldom is' necessary to political degradation,— both hoped to revive the exploded maxims of a former age, but they dared not hazard an appeal to arms until 'they had tried the arts of policy and persuasion. The Protestants at first assumed a noble attitude: they braved the thunders of the Holy See, confuted the arguments of its doctors, and defied the soldiers of its protector. Anathemas neither terrified the 296 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1543. opponents of the papacy, nor gave courage to its suj^porters ; public disputations ended in the con- fusion of the legates, who had the imprudence to permit or sustain them, and diplomacy profited by the troubles of Germany, the turbulence of Francis I., and the passions of Henry VIII., to extend the Reformation, without, however, appreciating its im- portance, or its final tendency. The struggle com- menced, between jDublic opinion on the one side and brute force on the other; civilization, for the last time, entered into deadly conflict with the ignorance and barbarism of the middle ages. This new era of modern society commenced ^vitli all the conditions which could render its origin glorious. It had to overcome the opposition of able l^relates, Avhose activity was incessant, and whose vigilance was never relaxed ; to surmount the obsta- cles of bigotry and fanaticism, ever merciless when assailed ; to put to flight the armies of the most powerful monarch who had worn the imperial crown during several centuries ; to defend itself against the persecutions or caprices of those princes Mhom the new interests had not gained, or had only united to the reformed cause for a moment ; — finally, it had to march Avith courage and constancy through the midst of the jierils with which ignorance, regret, jealousy, baffled hope, and disai)j)ointod ambition, impeded its course. But the Reformation had the human mind for its ally and its guide : the certainty of its succeits was ensured by the i)rogress of intel- 1544.] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 297 ligencc. The papacy was at this period the colossal enemy of civilization ; it is true that the feet of the colossus were of clay, but it required no ordinary wisdom to discover its weakness, and no ordinary courage to attempt its overthrow. '^ When Paul III. summoned the Council of Trent, he felt that he could not count Avith certainty on success; the spirit of improvement had already seized many princes of the Church. Already the Grand IVIaster of the Teutonic Order and the Arch- bishop-elector of Cologne had embraced the Pro- testant faith. The German princes objected to Trent, on the same grounds that they had refused the city of Mantua: in both cases they saw that the assemblies would be under the direct influence of the pope, and, consequently, that there would be no security for freedom of voting or discussion. This claim, in itself, was a heresy in the eyes of the pope, and he represented it to the emperor as an act of rebellion. But political circumstances sometimes separated this prince from Rome ; and, in order to gain the support of the Protestant princes against Francis I., he had recently proclaimed liberty of conscience, at the Diet of Spires, until the meeting of a general council. Paul III. thought that the interests of the Church ought to be superior to all political considerations; he complained bitterly of this decision, of the refusal to admit his leo-ate into the diet, of the emperor s alliance with Henry VIII., who had so often been excommunicated, and 298 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1545. of his war against Francis I., whose virulent perse- cution of heretics proved him a faithful son of the Church. The pope showed an earnest anxiety for peace, but his exertions were partly owing to resentment, for the emperor had refused the Duchy of iSIilan to his grandson. The treaty of Crespi restored peace between Charles and Francis ; the emperor suj^pressed his animosity, lest the French king might succeed in forming an alliance with the pope, which might lead to his acquiring supremacy in Italy, and he was eager to take some steps to check the progress of innovation in Germany. No sooner was the treaty signed, than Charles laid aside the mask of liberality which he had hitherto worn, and summoned the Protestant princes to appear at the Council of Trent (a. d. 1545). They indignantly refused, though aware that they had to contend against the whole force of the empire, for Francis I., ever in extremes, had negotiated a truce between Charles and the Sultan. The war of religion which now began, was also a war of civilization. To the manifesto of Charles Y. the Protestants replied by another manifesto, in which their principles were stated with great vigour and clearness ; their doctors seized the pen, when their warriors drew the sword. The printing press, now becoming an active instrument of diffusing information, spread their works over Germany, ren- dered their attacks more fierce, and excited, even in 1547.] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 299 the lowest classes, a spirit of research and inquirj. The struggle was general, and its event could not have been doubtful, had union reigned in the Protes- tant confederacy. But the members of the leag-ue, abandoned by Francis I. and Henry VIII., could not agree in the choice of a leader; the curse of divided councils embarrassed all their operations ; they lost the most favourable opportunities of victory, and they separated like dastards when Saxony was subdued by the imperialists. Tliis error, if it can be called by so mild a name, was the more grievous, as the pope and the emperor were secretly opposed to each other ; no sooner did the success of Charles render his power formidable, than Paul recalled his troops, and refused to lend any further aid to a war undertaken at his own suggestion. The conspiracy of Fresco to overturn the government of Genoa, which all but succeeded, was supposed to have been secretly instigated by the pope, and Charles, alarmed for the safety of his power in Italy, was forced to suspend his operations in Germany. Indeed, his weakness in the peninsula was such, that even the feeble Neapolitans compelled him to retract his edict for establishing the Inquisition. The death of Francis I. made an important change in the aspect of affairs (a. d. 1547). Henry II., who succeded to the throne of France, inherited the fanaticism, but not the abilities of his father. He sacrificed the Huguenots, as the French Protes- tants began to be called, to the cupidity of his 300 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1548. favourites, the Duchess of Valentinois and the Duke of Guise, granting to them the forfeited estates of all ^vho should be convicted of heresy. An active persecution of heresy commenced, which would have provoked a civil war, if the Protestants of France, like those of Germany, could have found princes for their leaders. Charles hasted to imjDrove the opportunity afforded him by the death of his rival ; he led an army into Saxony, and encountered the Elector at Miihlberg. The result of the en- gagement seemed to threaten ruin to the Protestant cause; the Elector was defeated and taken prisoner; the papal party throughout Europe, exhibited extra- vagant joy; Sandoval, bishop of Pampeluna, who was present in the field, declared to the world, that God had worked a miracle in favour of the Church, by causing the sun to stand still while the imperialists were completing their victory over the enemies of the faith. But the victory at Miihlberg, like that of Pavia, was more injurious to Charles than a defeat ; his ungenerous conduct to his prisoners, the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse, ])rovoked general indignation throughout the empire ; while the King of France felt that the interests of his kingdom required him to support the cause of the Lutherans ; and the pope, dreading the assembling of a general council, secretly thwarted the cmjieror's negotiations. The disquietude of Paul was in some degree removed by the emperor's imprudence in preparing a system to serve as a rule of faith in 154!).] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 301 Germany. It was called the Interim, because it was only to continue in force until the assembling of a free general council; and it so far yielded to the Protestants as to tolerate the marriage of priests, and the administration of the sacramental cujd to the laity. But this system of compromise did not allay the discontent of the Lutherans, while it en- raged the bigoted adherents of the papacy. Both parties assailed the emperor; and the felicitations addressed to him by the Diet of Augsburgh, were the flatteries of cowardice and hypocrisy. Paul III., whose great anxiety was the elevation of his family, an object to which he more than once sacrificed the interests of the Holy See, rejoiced to see the empe- ror regarded at once as a persecutor and a heretic ; he made no effort to relieve him from embarrassment, but sought how he might turn it to his own private advantage. If Charles V. had hoped to gain the Protestants by the Interim, his conduct soon showed that policy rather than conviction had extorted the con- cessions it contained (a. d. 1549). It was in vain that he menaced those who opposed this formulary with the imperial indignation. The Venetians con- demned it publicly, and the Protestants, gradually resuming their courage, remembered that force gave them the right of repudiating a system Avhich force alone had imposed. Though Henry II. was a bitter persecutor in his own dominions, he openly encou- raged the Germans in their opposition. England 302 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1550. was still more favourably disposed towards them, for on the accession of Edward VI., the parliament sanctioned the principles of the Reformation in their full strength, and conferred on the king the right of appointing bishops, and regulating the liturgy. The death of Pope Paul and the elevation of Julius III., was also an event favourable to the Protestant cause, for the luxurious profligacy of Julius was equally notorious and disgraceful. Julius, soon after his elevation, gratified the emperor by jDublishing an edict to re-assemble the Council of Trent, which his predecessor had dis- solved ; and Charles in return annulled the Interim, by issuing a severe edict against all opponents of the established faith. This edict had the fate of all the commandments that tyranny issues against conscience ;. it was disobeyed, and the people of the Netherlands especially, among whom it was attemjited to establish the Inquisition, threatened to take up arms for the defence of foreign merchants, who, without such protection, would not trade in the cities subject to that odious tribunal. The edict was modified, but the seeds of liberty were planted by the first resistance to despotism, and Philip II. reaped the harvest of his father's unwise jiolicy. But it was not in the Netherlands alone, that the bigoted zeal of Charles had provoked discontent. The Lutheran princes, whose preparations were complete, only waited for an op])ortunity ; they refused to send their theologians to the Council of 1551.] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 303 Trent, unless pledges were given for their safety. Henry II., with whom they were in secret alliance, sent the Abbot of Bellazone to protest, in his name, against an assembly called at such an improper juncture, when a war, wantonly kindled by the pope, made it impossible for the delegates from the Galilean Church to resort to Trent in safety, or to debate concerning articles of faith and discipline, with the requisite tranquillity. This measure gave a deep wound to the credit of the council, at the very com- mencement of its deliberations; its authority was disclaimed by the second prince in Christendom, and its pretensions to a complete representation of the Universal Church wholly destroyed. Maurice of Saxony, long the chief support of the emperor, had secretly resolved to revive the Protestant cause, and, for this purpose, solicited support from England, while he lulled the suspicions of the emperor by repeated professions of allegiance. Charles was taken unawares. The manifesto of the Protestant princes appeared simultaneously with that of their ally, Henry II., who, leaving the govern- ment of his states to his mistress and his favourites, gave the singular example of a king, whose declara- tion of war was ornamented by the representation of a cap between two daggers, with the motto " Liberty." The manifesto of the German princes reproached Charles with despotism, perfidy, and intolerance; Henry II. accused him of instigating a revolt in France, of refusing homage for the duchy of Lorraine, 304 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1553. and of setting- a price on the head of German officers in the French pay. It was an age of singular contrasts. The King of France, a sanguinary persecutor of the Huguenots in liis own dominions, was in strict alliance with the Protestants of Germany ; while the Turkish sultan proclaimed himself the protector of the Romish Church in Hungary, menacing the queen of that country with his arms if she did not revoke the edict of toleration which she had issued. The war became general ; Maurice refused the proposi- tions of Ferdinand, and very narrowly missed making- Charles a prisoner at Inspruck. The emperor fled at midnight during a violent tempest, and with difficulty found shelter in a remote j)art of Carinthia. This was not the only result of the activity of Maurice; the prelates assembled at Trent hastily terminated their sittings, and ten years elapsed before the proceedings of the council were resumed. Charles was forced to submit to the terms of the confederacy, the peace of religion was signed at Passau, and a mutual toleration was solemnly guaranteed by both parties. The necessity of repulsing the attacks of the French in Germany, and the Turks in Hungary ; the certainty that his son Philip would not be elected King of the Romans, and symptoms of discontent in Spain, greatly lessened the zeal of Charles V. against the Protestants (a. d. 1553). He ceased to be untractable on the subject of religion, when his zeal 7553.] WARS OP THE REFORMATION. 305 was no lono-er profitable. Heiiiy IT. was forced to return to France, where everything seemed to threaten sanguinary convulsions. The intrigues of the king's mistress; the plans of vengeance formed by Catherine de Medicis ; the ambition of the Guises I the discontent of the princes of tiie blood; the dis- satisfaction of the people; the progress of the Reformation; and, finally, the cruelties of an imbe- cile sovereign;— all presaged a fierce contest in France, of which religion, as in Germany, should be the pretext; but the real motive, the pretensions of the princes of Lorraine, and the opposition of the nation to their fanaticism and ambition. The death of Edward VI., and the accession of his sister Mary, revived the hopes of the papal party throughout Europe; the daughter of Catherine of Arragon, she attributed to the Protestants the inju- ries of her mother, and the sufferings of her own childhood; personal animosity was added to gloomy bigotry; she condemned the chief of the Protestant prelates to be burned at the stake, and she compelled her servile parliament to beg absolution from the pope's nuncio. Her marriage to the superstitious Philip, the eldest son of Charles V., whose character for fanaticism and despotism was already known, produced great joy in Rome, and general alarm in Germany. The fanaticism of Charles V. increased with his age, but circumstances compelled him to disguise it as much as possible. He permitted his son Philip 20 806 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1554. to accept the kingdom of Naples as a boon from the Holy See, and it was with his consent that the Jesuits became the virtual rulers of Spain. This order, daily becoming more formidable, attempted to form an establishment in France, but it was opposed by the parliament, by the Bishop of Paris, and by the principal theologians of the Sorbonne, who declared that " the society seemed instituted rather for the ruin than the edification of the faithful." The Jesuits, indeed, owe all their success to the Reformation ; formed for resisting the progress of change, the history of the order will be searched in vain for any virtuous or sj)lendid exploit. Its resist- ance was obscure, its means vile, and its victories contemptible. Whenever the society mingled in great political movements, assassinations exhibited the only proofs of its boldness, and it had not the poor apology of success for its crimes ; it has always been more fatal to its friends than its enemies. When the progress of civilization revealed the secrets of this dark institution, the Jesuits sunk at once into the rank of the inferior agents employed by despotic monarchs or bigoted priests, against men who had suflicient knowledge to discover the rights of con- science, and sufficient energy to proclaim them. From the hour that the treaty of Passau had wrested from Charles V. the fruits of his whole political career, he felt that his crowns wore heavy on his brows. The principles of mutual toleration were formally sanctioned by the Diet of Augsburgh ; 1555.] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 307 Paul IV., who may be esteemed the successor of Julius, — for the twenty days' reign of Marcellus produced no political event, — was so offended, that he became the avowed enemy of the house of Aus- tria, and entered into close alliance with the King of France. A storm was approaching, when Charles, to the great surj^rise of the world, resolved to abdicate his dominions. Though a prince of moderate abilities, Charles V. had reigned with more glory than most European sovereigns. A King of France and a pope had been his cajitives ; his dominions were more extensive than those of Alexander, or of Rome. By his generals, or his ministers, he had gained all the objects which usually excite ambition; he had gained even the distinction of being regarded as the cham- pion of orthodoxy, in an age when toleration was a crime. But the triumph of civilization over the system of the Middle Ages, of which he was at once the last support, and the last representative, was cer- tain and complete, and he could not resist the morti- fication of finding himself vanquished ; the peace of Passau was to him " the hand-writing on the wall ;" it announced that his policy was past, and his destiny accomplished. The feebleness of old age overtook him at fifty-six ; harassed by vain repinings, over- whelmed by infirmities, he felt that he could no longer appear a hero, and he desired to seem a sage. He became a hermit, removed all his diadems from his head, and sunk into voluntary obscurity. He 20-2 308 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1557. was, however, sure to be regretted, for he bequeathed to the workl his successor, the sanguinary PhiHp, just as Augustus adopted Tiberius. The new Emperor Ferdinand found himself under the necessity of conciliating the Protestant electors, because Charles had not quite resigned all hope of procuring the imperial crown for Philip, and the pope had revived his antiquated claims to dispose of the empire. Paul IV. seized this pretext for venting his ancient hostility against the family of Charles V. ; through the princes of Lorraine he negotiated an alliance with the King of France, and succeeded in kindling the last war which the policy of the jjopes produced in Europe (a. d. 1557). The truce between the monarchs of France and Spain, which had been negotiated by the Queen of England, did not restrain the pontiff's eagerness for discord; his legate in France 'vvas seconded in his efforts to excite a renewal of hostilities by the Guises, by Catherine de Medicis, and even by the king's mistress, the Duchess of Valentin ois, whose support his holiness gained by a weighty bribe. Nothing- checked the ardour of the aged pontiff; to the great astonishment of the world, he took Lutheran regi- ments into his pay, and gave the examjile of intole- rance overcome by ambition. But the battle of St. Quentin, which almost placed France at the mercy of the S})aniards, having com- pelled Henry to recal the Duke of Guise and his army from France, Paul was forced to supplicate 1557.] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 309 peace. Luckily for him, the superstitions Philip felt his conscience wounded by being compelled to wage war on the pope, and the Spanish general, the Duke of Alva, was equally grieved to find himself opposed to the Church. Alva went to^Rome, and asked pardon on his knees for having violated the Patri- mony of St. Peter; the solemn farce of granting absolution to the victorious general and his master was gravely performed, for the papacy, though van- quished, clung to the privileges of its pride. This peace turned the enmity of Paul IV. against the King of France ; he accused Henry II. of cul- pable indulgence to the Huguenots, because he had allowed a congregation to escape which had been surprised by the Parisian populace ; but Henry did not merit the imputation of any such virtue as tole- ration; he threatened his parliament for showing signs of a lenient disjiosition, and extorted from that body the condemnation of five persons accused of heresy. There was no need of any exhortation to rouse the ferocious bigotry of Henry ; were such wanting, he would have found it in the suggestions of the princes of Lorraine, at whose instigation he established the Inquisition, and placed the Cardinals of Lorraine, Bourbon, and Chatillon at its head. But the Protestants, notwithstanding, acquired strength in France; they formed secret unions, opened a correspondence with foreign powers, and made the state of public affairs a pretext for these hazardous precautions. They knew the unpopularity 310 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1558. of the Guises, even with the most orthodox, and under the veil of enmity against this hated family, they concealed their jirojects for reform and their zeal of proselytism (a. d. 1558). The accession of Elizabeth to the throne of England delivered them from powerful enemies, and the pope's attention was absorbed by his quarrels Avith this princess and the Emperor Ferdinand. The pontiff declared that the daughter of Anna Boleyn could not legally become a sovereign until the bulls of Clement VII. and Paul III. were revoked ; that the kingdom of Engfland was an ecclesiastical fief, and that the sue- cession to its throne depended on the judgment of the pope. Policy formed a far different estimate of Elizabeth's claims. The very prince who, by his zeal for the Inquisition, his massacre of the Jews in Arrasfon, the Mussulmans in Granada, and the Pro- testants in Flanders, and his continual zeal in reli- gious Avars, passed for the most devoted son of the Church, became a suitor for the hand of this illus- trious queen. But Elizabeth remembered the fate of Catherine of Arragon, she dreaded some future scruples in the widower of her sister ; but she dis- sembled her purpose, that she might not lose her chief ally against France and Scotland; she avoided giving any decisive answer. The pope's interference, however, was the first cause of the life of misery led by Mary Queen of Scots ; she had been married to the dauphin of France ; and, at the instigation of her father-in-law, she assumed the style and arms of 1558.] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 311 England, as rightful heir to its crown. She thus provoked a powerful enemy, at whose mercy she was soon left by the premature death of her hus- band. Paul IV. displayed similar haughtiness in his behaviour to the Emperor Fecdinand, when that prince was formally recognized by the Diet of Franc- fort. " Charles V.," said the pontiff, " had no right to abdicate in favour of his brother, without the express sanction of the Holy See ; and the proceed- ings of the Diet were void, since the assembly was princijially composed of heretical j^rinces." These were the maxims of Gregory VII. ; but the world had changed too much to endure them ; such des- potism could no longer exist except in history. It was in vain that Paul celebrated the funeral of Charles V., as if that prince had never ceased to be emperor, paying no regard to the charge of heresy brought against that abdicated monarch by his own son; Ferdinand answered the papal claims and menaces, by confirming the treaty of Passau, and the several decrees of successive diets for securing liberty of conscience. Thus the blind obstinacy of the aged pontiff secured valuable advantages for the cause of the Reformation. The Protestant religion penetrated everywhere ; it was preached in Poland, and even in Italy: Rome itself contained persons who secretly hoped that the most glaring abuses of the Church would be removed. But the British islands were the theatre of its greatest triumphs; the English parliament 312 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1560. sanctioned the reformed liturgy, proclaimed Eliza- beth Head of the Church, and enacted the oath of supremacy as a qualification for office. The queen- regent in Scotland made a vain struggle against John Knox and his folloAvers, whose violence im- parted an unnecessary degree of harshness to the progress of the Reformation in the northern part of Britain. In France, the Protestants won over the Cardinal of Chatillon himself; their progress filled the Guises with alarm, and, in order to restrain it, they hastily put an end to the Spanish war by the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis. The pope was far from being pleased with this pacification; it announced the concert of France and Spain for the convocation of a general council, an assembly always trouble- some to the tranquillity of the sovereign pontiffs. The imbecile Francis II. succeeded to the throne of his father Henry ; during his brief reign he was the mere tool of the Guises, M'hose great anxiety was to establish the Inquisition in France. Philip II. was engaged in a similar attempt in the Netherlands, and both provoked a desperate resistance. Like his father Charles V., Philip was ambitious of uni- versal monarchy, but he used difterent means ; he hoped to gain the clergy by his zeal, to win the nobles by the bribes which the wealth of Spanish America enabled him to offer, and to subdue the people by the united efforts of ecclesiastical and aristocratic influence. But in the Netherlands, as in France, the proposal to establish the Inquisition 1560.] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 813 was a fatal error of despotism ; it provoked the fierce resistance of all who were worthy of their country, it identified the papacy with cruelty and slavery, it gave to the reformed leaders the proud title of deliverers of their countrji;. The election of Pius IV. to the chair of St. Peter precipitated the civil war in France (a. d. 1560). A conspiracy was formed for removing the Guises, in which many ardent Catholics joined ; it was discovered and defeated, but the sanguinary cruelty of the Lorraine princes rendered their victory injurious to their cause ; the memory of the martyrs they slaughtered Avon prose- lytes, and confirmed opposition. So powerful were the Huguenots, that liberty of conscience was sanc- tioned in an assembly of the Notables at Fontaine- bleau ; and it was proposed to convoke a national council for regulating the affairs of the Galilean Church. Had France been ruled by an energetic sovereign, acquainted with the interests of his croAMi and the wishes of the nation, the French Church at this moment might have been rendered as indepen- dent of Rome as the English : the pope saw the danger, and he induced Francis to abandon the national synod, by promising the speedy convocation of a general council. Both the emperor and the King of France objected to re-assembling the bishops at Trent, declaring that its name was odious to the Protestants ; but the ill-health of Francis II., who was fast sinking into the grave, induced Pius to quicken his proceedings, and bulls for the continua- 314 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1561. tion of the council were issued. In the mean time the States-General assembled in France. The Prince of Conde and the King of Navarre, the great leaders of the Huguenot party, were arrested when they appeared at court, and the former received sentence of death. But the queen-mother, Catherine de Medicis, dreading that the regency Avould be seized by the Guises when the king died, secretly intrigued with the Huguenots to secure their support, and the life of Conde was the pledge and the reward of their assistance. But while she thus courted the alliance of the Protestants, she secretly informed Philip II. that her hatred of the Reformation was unabated, and that she only waited a favourable opportunity to imitate his example of merciless butchery and persecution. She intrigued with both parties, a fatal error ; for had she frankly embraced one, she would have stamped the other with the character of revolt ; her Italian cunning only served to render civil war inevitable. The Duke of Guise saw clearly that, to sustain the part he designed to act, it was necessary to attempt something of more than ordinary magnitude, he raised the cry, " the Church is in danger ;" igno- rance and bigotry responded to the summons; he placed himself at the head of the zealous supporters of papal infallibility, hoping to destroy, by one blow, the queen-regent, who was suspected of culpable indifference to the interests of the faith, the govern- ment, which seemed ready to recognise the principles 1561.] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 315 of toleration, and the Huguenots. Like his oppo- nents, he appealed to the people, and attempted to guide public opinion; like them, too, he declared himself the steadfast friend of the monarchy : thus the struggle between the two parties had for its prize the throne of France, and for its pretext the defence of royalty. In the mean time the Council of Trent continued its deliberations, without showing any symptom of a desire to conciliate the spirit of the age, by improving either the doctrine or the discipline of the Church. The bishops wasted their time in scholastic disputa- tions, and proved how delusive were their professions of a desire for peace, by celebrating the victory obtained over the Huguenots at Dreux, by a public thanksgiving. In fact, the council terrified nobody but Pius IV., who saw his power attacked on every side. Maximilian, the son of the Emperor Ferdi- nand, having been elected King of the Romans, refused for a long time to receive the sanction of his election from the pontiff, and finally accepted it as a mere ceremony, venerable on account of its antiquity ; it would have been better for the Holy See to have abjured such a privilege, than to have it preserved as a subject of ridicule and mockery. But though the public proceedings at Trent were far from injuring the progress of the Reformation, there were secret plans devised fraught with immi- nent peril to the Protestants. One of these was revealed by the imprudence of the Cardinal of Lor- 316 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1564. raine. On the 10th of May, 1563, he read a letter from his niece, Mary Queen of Scots, " submitting herself to tlie council, and promising that, 'when she succeeded to the throne of England, she Mould sub- ject both her kingdoms to the obedience due to the Apostolic See." He added, Yorbally, that she would have sent prelates, as rej^resentatives of Scotland, to the council, had she not been restrained by the necessity of keeping terms Avith her heretical coun- cillors. The Italians were engaged everywhere alarming monarchs with the republican tendency of the Reformation ; a charge which seemed to derive some support from the revolts of the peasants in Germany, the troubles in Flanders, and the con- fusion of France. Philip II. was not the only sove- reign who regarded heretics as rebels, and believed that the papacy Mould be found an efficient aid to despotism in crushing civil as M'ell as religious liberty. At length the Council of Trent terminated its sittings ; eighteen years of debate had produced no plan of reform for ecclesiastical morals, discipline, or doctrine (a. d. 1564). One of the last acts of the assembled fathers M'as to issue an anathema against heretics, Mhich justified the Protestants in their refusal to recognise the acts of the council. But Me should commit a great error if mo supposed that this last of the general councils produced no change in the constitution of the papacy ; it orga- nized the spiritual despotism of the popes, clearly 1564.] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 317 perceiving that the temporal emi^ire was irrecover- ably lost, and it placed the Holy See in the position of an ally to the monarchs who were eager to main- tain despotic power. From the time of this council to the present clay, every sovereign of France and SjDain, remarkable for hostility to constitutional freedom, has been equally conspicuous for his attachment to the Holy See, and the articles of faith ratified by the Council of Trent. It was by this assembly that the marriage of priests was defi- nitely prohibited. We have already shown how necessary an element this law has been to the spiritual despotism possessed, and temporal supre- macy claimed, by the popes. Family and country had no ties on the bishops of the Catholic Church ; Rome enjoyed exclusive jiossession of every feeling that can render man a good subject or a good citizen; the infallibility and omnijjotence of the pope were made articles of faith, by prelates whose Avhole heart was engaged in supporting the supremacy of the Holy See ; the popes could rouse nations to revolt, and trouble empires, because they had obedient emissaries in every parish ; the doctrine of implicit submission to the successors of St. Peter was taugfht by priests, when it could not be enforced by armies, and it was found suflftciently eflficacious to harass Europe with a century of war. Pius IV. compre- hended the immense value of an unmarried clergy ; though he had violently condemned the administra- tion of the eucharist in both kinds, he relaxed the 318 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1565. IDi-ohibition at the instance of tlie Emiieror Maxi- milian, and permitted the cup to be given to the laity in Germany ; but on the point of cehbacy he was inflexible, for he was justly convinced that it was the great bond by which all the portions of papal domination were united, and that, if it should be relaxed, the entire edifice would fall in sunder. After the dissolution of the council, a general suspicion was diifused through the Protestants of Europe, that a league for their destruction had been formed by some of the leading Catholic powers. It is now sufficiently notorious that these suspicions were not groundless, and that Pius IV. was weary of the slow stej^s by which the members of this ■ pretended holy alliance advanced to the verge of an exterminating war. He earnestly urged a per- sonal interview between Catherine de Medicis and Philip II. ; it was declined by the latter on account of his ill-health, but he sent a Avorthy re2)resentative, the Duke of Alva, to hold a conference with the queen-regent and her son, Charles IX., at Bayonne. The pretext for the meeting was an interview between the young Queen of Sj)ain and her mother, Catherine de Medicis; but the presence of the Duke of Alva, the avowed enemy of the Protestants, whose extirpation he openly proclaimed to be his most solemn duty to God or man, was a clear proof that more important designs were contemplated. The days were spent in all the sports and festivities that aye to bo found in a luxurious and licentious 1567.] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 819 court. But at the dead hour of midnight, when the courtiers, exhausted by the tournament, the table, and the dance, retired to repose, Catherine held secret conferences with Alva in the apartments of her probably unconscious daughter, Elizabeth. They agreed in their object ; they differed respecting the means ; Alva recommended an immediate and general massacre, similar to the Sicilian Vespers ; Catherine preferred the craft and wiles of Italy; both finally determined to seek an opportunity of destroying the incorrigible leaders of the heretical factions, but time and expediency were not to be disregarded. Philip began to execute his part of the agreement by a vigorous effort to establish the Inquisition in Flanders; and to put an end to the insurrection which such a measure provoked, he appointed the Duke of Alva, Lord Lieutenant of the Nether- lands, with almost absolute authority. Many of the Flemish merchants and manufacturers left their country; they brought their industry and their capital to England, — a circumstance which had no small share in the rapid growth of England's com- mercial prosperity. The cruelties of Alva, the noble resistance of the Prince of Orange, long the head and hope of the Protestant party in Europe, and the final establishment of the independence of the Seven United Provinces, belong to general history ; but in this narrative we must not omit to mention, that Philip's brutal obstinacy was frequently 320 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1570. blamed by the court of Rome ; the crafty Italians would have preferred fraud to violence, and assassi- nation to the perils of open war (a. d. 1572). It must also be mentioned, that the Turks joined in the contest as the protectors of the Flemings, and that their defeat by Don John of Austria, at Le- panto, finally delivered Europe from the perils with which it was menaced by Mohammedan barbarism. Pius v., who ascended the papal throne a. d. 1566, was disposed to take advantage of the victory at Lepanto, and organize a league against the Turks ; but Philip was jealous of the glory acquired by his brother, and he declared that nothing should divert him from the prosecution of the war in Flanders. This pontiff, who was afterwards canonized as a saint, was inflexible in his hatred of the Protestants, but he made some efforts to remedy the evils of the Church by founding schools and colleges, and ex- cluding persons of immoral life from ecclesiastical dignities. He was succeeded by Gregory XIII. The wars of the Huguenots in France produced no decisive result; a peace was concluded in 1570, on terms so favourable to the Protestants, that it is wondrous how they could avoid suspecting the sincerity of their adversaries. But protestations of friendship were readily made by Catherine de Medicis ; she had trained her son, Charles IX., to similar hyjiocrisy; both professed such personal regard for the leaders of the Huguenots, and such jealousy of the court of Spain, that even the Admi- 1570.] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 321 ral Colig-iiy, who had long known the perfidious character of the queen-mother, was deceived, and lent his aid to lull the suspicions of his confederates. It was proposed that the sister of Charles should marry Henry of Bourbon, Prinae of Navarre, the pride and hope of the Protestant party, and the leadinof Huo-uenots were invited to Paris to share in the festivities of the nuptials. The Prince of Navarre was married ; some weeks passed in feasts and amusements, which completed the blind confi- dence of the Huguenots ; to such an excess, indeed, did Charles carry his dissimulation, that, when an attemj)t was made on the life of Coligny, he hasted to the admiral's bedside, and professed the deepest sympathy for his sufferings. " Father," said the royal hypocrite, " the wound is yours, but the pain is mine !" Who that heard him, could have sup- posed that within thirty hours even a son of Cathe- rine de Medicis would have commanded a ruthless massacre, of which the unfortunate Coligny should be the earliest victim? We have no materials by which the secret history of the plot can be traced ; it Avas undoubtedly de- vised by Catherine and Alva at the conferences of Bayonne ; but her political interests must have rendered her slow in the execution. She knew that the Huguenots served as a counterpoise to the influence of the Spanish monarch and the Guises ; she must have shuddered at the horror which such a massacre would excite throughout Europe, and 21 322 WARS OF THE REFORMATION. [1570. there is reason to believe that she had some diffi- culty in overcoming her son's aversion to such an atrocious crime. Obedient to his mother's counsels, Charles had lavished the most ardent professions of friendship on the Protestant leaders, while he exult- ingly boasted to his infamous confidants of the success with which they were ensnared ; still, when the fearful moment drew near, his resolution began to fail : his frame trembled, and the perspiration stood in cold drops on his brow. Catherine stood near, and at length extorted his command to give the signal ; the fatal tocsin sounded, his native ferocity returned, and he took a leading part in the massacre of his unfortunate subjects. It would be a mere repetition of horrors to recite the particulars of the well-known massacre of St. Bartholomew. The sun, on the morning of the 24th of August, revealed the city of Paris converted into a vast slaughter-house ; the work of massacre and pillage was continued during eight days and nights ; the king, after a slight hesitation, avowed his share in the transaction ; and the pope did not hesitate to celebrate the perfidious massacre by public thanksgivings at Rome. Some modern writers have attempted to show that this slaughter was not premeditated ; the utmost, hoM-ever, that they have effected, is to prove that Charles hesitated in consummating his iniquity; but as an event in the political history of popery, it matters little whether the massacre was premeditated or not. 1572.] WARS OF THE REFORMATION. 323 The extermination of heretics had been recently and publicly preached by the popes as the first especial duty of Chi-istian princes ; and though the particular act was not recommended beforehand, a matter which may admit of doubt, it was unques- tionably adopted when it was made the subject of a jubilee, and when a medal was struck in the papal mint to commemorate so glorious an event. It was regarded as equally glorious with the victories of Alva in the Netherlands, and the triumph over the Turks at Lepanto ; and the papal court published a jubilee, inviting the faithful throughout Christendom to rejoice over the three great achievements, which in its blindness it presumed would ensure the cer- tain triumph of the Church. But Gregory forgot that such horrors only envenom hostility ; the effect of his premature joy was only to strengthen the determination of Protestants to maintain their faith, and to disgust a large body of those who adhered to the papacy but shuddered at crime. 21-2 324 Chapter XX. THE WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. From a. d. 1572 to a. d. 1648. The massacres of St. Bartholomew were continued for several clays; popular passions and private revenge were armed with the dagger and the cruci- fix. Several Catholics were murdered by their personal enemies ; and Peter Ramus was assassi- nated by Charpentier, in consequence of a dispute respecting the logic of Aristotle ! But some feel- ings of remorse began to seize the authors of such butchery ; Charles IX., suspicious of his mother and of the Guises, tortured by the remembrance of his perfidy and cruelty, sliocked at the load of infamy which he knew must for ever be attached to his name, and already sensible of the approach of disease, attempted to throw the responsibility of the butchery on the princes of Lorraine. They rejected the charge with contemjituous indignation, sneering at the cowardice of the attempt ; and Charles IX., passing into the opposite extreme, publicly pro- claimed that the murders were committed by his order, and that they were a just retribution for an attempt which the Protestants had made on his life. On the same day the royal ratification of the mur- 1573.] WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. 325 ders, and a declaration confirming the edicts of peace, were issued; a wanton insult to the Pro- testants, for which it is difficult to assign a reason. The horror excited throughout Europe was not checked by the favour with wlj^^ch the intelligence was received at the courts of Rome and Madrid. In England, Elizabeth was scarcely able to control the indignation of her subjects ; when the French ambassador came to vindicate the conduct of his master, he found the whole court clad in mourninsr, and not a courtier would speak, or even look at him, as he advanced to lay his credentials before the queen. The princes and people of Germany were unanimous in their maledictions ; and Catherine, assailed by a thousand pamphlets and pasquinades, had reason to fear that she had deprived her favourite son, the Duke of Anjou, of the Polish throne, for Mhicli he was a candidate. In this opinion she was mistaken; but when the jDrince was about to depart for the kingdom to which he had been elected, she could not avoid declaring that his absence would be of short duration. The con- duct of Charles IX. began to exhibit the violence and inconsistency of madness ; his intellects, never of a high order, were shaken by the horrors of St. Bartholomew : and Catherine learned to tremble for her own safety. A plot aj^pears to have been formed for securing the crown of France to the Duke of Alen^on, the younger brother of Charles, who was seized with a wasting disease, for which 326 WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. [^1575. medicine supplied no remedy. It was detected by Catherine, and the leaders punished. A darker conspiracy appears to have been formed by tlie Guises, but the miserable death of Charles compelled them to delay their efforts. Henry III. hastily escaped from Poland, on hear- ing the news of his brother's death, and was unani- mously recognised as King of France. Elizabeth now ventured to interfere on behalf of the French Protestants, and solicited Henry to issue an edict of toleration. As, however, she strictly prohibited dis- sent from the established religion in England, she had reason to dread that her remonstrance might provoke a harsh retort. She therefore desired her ambassador to declare, that the penal statutes of England were the work of the parliament rather than the sovereign. So much has been recently written on the laws of exclusion and the punishment of dissent in Protes- tant states, and the advocates of the Romish Church have so zealously exerted themselves to retort the charge of persecution on their adversaries, that it is necessary to say a very few words upon the subject. It is undeniable, that many of the leaders in the Reformation denied to others the liberty of con- science which they claimed for themselves ; Cranmer extorted a reluctant consent for the execution of Joan Boucher from the virtuous Edward VI., and Calvin presided at the burning of Servetus. But the Protestant doctrines had a direct tendency to 1575.] WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. 327 show the justice of toleration, and the absurdity of dictating to the conscience ; as they advanced, the spirit of jDersecution retired, and liberty of opinion was soon established wherever the principles of the Reformation became completely victorious. On the contrary, every triumph of the Romish Church was followed by more stringent measures against liberty of conscience ; persecution prevailed in consequence of the Romish creed, but in spite of Protestant doctrines. The particular instance of Elizabeth demonstrates, that her enforcement of the penalties enacted by parliament against the professors of the ancient creed, was the result of policy rather than bigotry. The Huguenots were faithful subjects to Henry ; they never impugned his title to the throne they never tendered their allegiance to another claimant of the kingdom : but the adherents of the Romish Church in England, were enemies to the title as well as the religion of Elizabeth ; they repu- diated her as a bastard, a heretic, and usurper; they regarded Mary, Queen of Scots, as their legitimate sovereign. The religious question was thus absorbed in the political ; those who suffered from the confusion, should not have blamed the queen, who was equally its victim, but the criminal folly of those popes who claimed a right to dispose of the English crown, and made treason to the reigning sovereign an article of faith. It may be added, that Elizabeth frequently showed, not only tolerance, but personal regard, for those who adhered 328 WAER OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. [157(5. to the Romish faith, without sacrificing their English allegiance ; it was to the Roman Catholic Earl of Effingham that she entrusted the command of her navy against the Invincible Armada; Avhile the loyalty of the subject is quoted as an example ot liberality on one side, assuredly the confidence of the sovereign is just as strong an argument on the other. Henry III., on his arrival in France, beheld him- self placed between two factions, both of which he cordially hated, the Huguenots and the Guises ; he began by waging war on the former, without making any effort to gain the support of the latter. Henry of Navarre and the Prince of Conde had saved their lives, during the fatal massacre of St. Bartholomew, by apparently conforming to the Romish faith ; they took an early opportunity of escaping from the captivity in which they were detained, and resuming their place as leaders of the Huguenots. They were joined by the king's brother, the Duke of Alen^on, and secretly aided with money by Elizabeth. A body of Germans came to their aid, under the command of Casimir, son of the Elector Palatine ; Henry Mas soon reduced to such extremities, that he not only conceded all their demands to his Pro- testant subjects, but even consented to pay tlie German auxiliaries who had assisted in his degra- dation. Elizabeth displayed the same prudence in holding the balance between Pliih'p II. and the insurgents in the Netherlands, m hich she manifested 1577.] WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. 329 in the contest between Heniy and tlie Huguenots ; but her subjects were more zealous than their sove- reign, and several Englishmen served as volunteers under the Prince of Conde in France, and the Prince of Orange in Flanders. _^ The concessions made by Henry to the Protestants, gave great offence to the bigoted Romanists, espe- cially those Avho had taken an active part in the massacre of St. Bartholomew. No longer sustained by a king, who had apostatized from their crime ; the complicity which was their safe-guard being renounced, though with little sincerity, they had reason to dread reprisals, and they began to form secret leagues for mutual defence. The King of Spain and the pope encouraged such associations, in which assassination was to be aided by rebellion ; the League was a necessary result of the slaughter of St. Bartholowmew, and it Avanted no features that could identify its sanguinary origin. Even at the Council of Trent, some steps had been taken to form the nefarious alliance, known by the name of the Holy League. Cardinal Lorraine, in forming this confederation for the extirpation of heresy, united the interests of his family to those of the Church ; for while he made the pope its ostensible leader, he nominated his brother, the Duke of Guise, to be its general. The death of that prince ad- journed the completion of the League ; his son was too young to enter immediately on so vast a heritage of ambition. But after the accession of Henry HI., 330 WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. [1578. Guise, in the full vig-our of liis age, comprehended the importance of his position between an indolent monarch and a fanatic people ; he revived the pro- ject of the League, as the surest means of opening his way to the throne : he recommended it to the ])0])e, as the certain remedy for the extirpation of heresy ; he persuaded Philip II. that it would subdue the Protestants in the Netherlands, and drive Henry of Bourbon from Navarre; he pointed out to the bigoted Romanists, that union with him could alone ensure the destruction of the heretics. His plan was to take advantage of the convocation of the States-General at Blois; nothing was neglected which could ensure the election of deputies favour- able to the projects of the house of Lorraine ; the pulpit and the confessional lent their powerful aid ; the pope and the King of Spain gave money and influence; the passions of the populace were enlisted in the same unholy cause. When the States met, Henry saw that he was virtually deposed ; had Guise not yielded to an excess of caution, he might have seized the sceptre which was within his grasp ; but while he hesitated, the king proclaimed himself head of the League, revoked the concessions recently made to the Protestants, and thus removed the pre- texts which the bigoted party designed to have urged for his deposition. But by this duplicity he only gained a temporary respite ; the Huguenots refused submission to the edicts of Blois; Henry attempted to win them by delusive promises; he 1578.] WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. ' 331 failed, but he gave Guise the opportunity of branding him as a traitor to the League, and an apostate from the holy cause which he had so recently taken under his protection. France was not the only countBj^ harrassed by the intrigues and ambition of the Guises; from the moment of their alliance with the papacy, they seem to have adoj^ted the universality of its thirst for power as well as its fanaticism. Elizabeth of Eng- land was the enemy they most feared and detested, not only because she was the leader and the hope of the reformed party throughout Europe, but also because she detained in prison their niece, Mary Stuart, whom they, and indeed all the Romish j^arty, regarded as the rightful owner of the English throne. Elizabeth, aware of her hazardous jiosition, strictly prohibited the Romish religion, and this measure, which was forced upon her by the necessity of self- defence, was represented by the Romanists as an act of atrocious tyranny. The pope, the King of Spain, and the Guises, incessantly sought means of harassing the government and subverting the throne of the great Protestant Queen. Don John of Austria, the hero of Lepanto, who had been sent to continue the war in the Netherlands after the removal of Alva and Requesens, formed a plan of assembling together all the partisans of the Romish Church, under pretence of crushing the Flemish revolt by one decisive blow, suddenly making a descent in England, delivering Mary Queen of 332 WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. [1570. Scots, claiming her hand as his reward, and placing upon his head a diadem, which the pope Avould have recognised and blessed as Catholic and legitimate. Philip 11. promised aid ; Pope Gregory offered money ; the Guises tendered their support, the hand of their niece, and her claims to empire. All that Don John wanted was a victory in Flanders ; but the Flemings, aided by the Huguenots, the Duke of Alen9on, the Prince of Orange, and a gallant aux- iliary legion, severely repulsed his legions in Brabant (a. D. 1578). He died shortly after; suspicions were entertained that Philip had used poison to remove a brother, Avhose ambition he dreaded, and whose fame he envied. Elizabeth, aware of the plans that had been formed for her destruction in the courts of Rome and Madrid, banished the Jesuits and missionary l)riests from her dominions, justly regarding them as the vanguard of the Romish armies. She entered into closer alliance with the enemies of Spain and the papacy ; amused the Duke of Alen^on with hopes of her hand, if he succeeded in conquering the Netherlands ; promised her aid to the King of Navarre, and could not conceal her displeasure and distress when Philip II. became master of a new kingdom. Sebastian, King of Portugal, instigated by this perfidious sovereign, led an army against the Moors of Africa, and was slain in the battle of Alcazar. His brother. Cardinal Henry, was refused a dispensation of his celibate vows by the pope, who 1579.^ WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. 333 hoped to assume the forgotten privilege of bestow- ing the succession of kingdoms. But Philip, on this occasion, outwitted the pontiff; he amused the papal legate with processions and festivities at Madrid, while a Spanish army, uttder the command of the Duke of Alva, made a rapid march on Lisbon, and 251'oclaimed Philip King of Portugal and Al- garvez. The King of Spain was now master of the largest monarchy that probably ever obeyed the laws of a single prince, but he did not rest from his aggres- sions of foreign states, and France became the great object of his insatiable ambition. That country enjoyed the outward appearance of tranquillity, but the League j^ursued in secret its dangerous system of organization. In every parish, registers were opened by the clergy for the names of such as would bind themselves to maintain the inviolability of the faith ; they were soon filled by the signatures of all the seditious and all the fanatics of France : the Duke of Guise only wanted an opportunity for re- newing his efforts. The Huguenots, on their side, perceiving the approach of danger, began to prepare for new combats ; throughout all France there was a perceptible agitation of society, like the upheaving of the waves which presages the approach of a storm. The King of Navarre, at the instigation of the Duke of Alen^on, renewed the war, but soon agreed to terms of peace, which no party expected to see observed. Alen^on hoped to obtain the hand 334 WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. [1584. of Elizabeth, and the sovereignty of the Nether- lands ; but the queen appears to have been insincere in the encouragement she gave him. The Flemings, after having chosen him for their monarch, disco- vered that his debaucheries rendered him contemp- tible, and his tyranny dangerous. He attempted to become the absolute master of those who had volun- tarily elected him, and his subjects expelled from their land the ungrateful despot to whose charge they had entrusted their dearly-purchased liberties. The death of Alen^on (a. d. 1584) led to the revival of the League ; Henry III. was childless : the nearest legitimate heir to the French crown was Henry of Bourbon, King of Navarre, the acknow- ledged leader of the Huouenots, and the terror of the Romish party. Philip II. encouraged the ambitious Guise to aim at the succession, and gave him an example of unscrujuilous policy, too often sanctioned by the courts of Rome and Madrid. Five assassins were instigated at once by fanaticism and Spanish gold to attempt the life of the Prince of Orange, the QTeat leader of the Dutch Protestants. He fell a o victim, but the cause for which he had lived and died was not weakened by his fall : on the contrary, the union between the States of H'olland may be said to have been cemented with his blood. The peace of Nemours, dictated by the Duke of Guise to Catherine de Medicis, proved equally the strength of the subject, and the feebleness of the monarch. In this treaty, the objects of the League were solemnly 1589.] WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. 335 ajii^roved ; the profession of any religion but the Roman Catholic prohibited, under pain of death ; the Protestant ministers banished, and only six months allowed to their congregations to choose be- tween abjuration and exile. Such was the law of the Guises. In their treaty with the King of Spain, they promised to abolish the Salic law, to confiscate the property of heretics for the benefit of the leaguers, to establish the Inquisition, and to receive those decrees of the Council of Trent which destroyed the liberties of the Galilean Church. Though the last article was peculiarly gratifying to the pope, yet Gregory, probably through jealousy of the ambitious house of Lorraine, could never be induced to sanc- tion the League and the treaties on which it rested by a formal bull. The most efficient auxiliary to the leaguers was Henry III. himself. Tempted by the Guises on one side, and the Huguenots on the other, the puppet of whichever party happened to be nearest at the moment : he knew not whither to turn for support, or where to repose confidence. The Huguenots demanded liberty of conscience, and di- rected all their vengeance for the massacre of St. Bartholomew against the princes of Lorraine, while to the king they were ready, if permitted, to evince the most loyal attachment ; while the leaguers had religion for their pretext, and the throne for their object. It was neither very difficult, nor very dan- gerous, for Henry III. to determine in which camp reason and interest required him to plant his banner. f 336 WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. [1589. But his fanaticism rivalled his debaucheries ; instead of combating his real enemies, he solicited Henry of Navarre to change his religion, and sanctioned the anathemas which Sixtus V. hurled against this prince, the founder of the line of Bourbon. The leader of the Huguenots was indulging in the folly and dissipation of youth, when the bull of excom- munication brought him back to his former self: he caused an energetic reply to be fixed on the gates of the Vatican, and so pleased was the pope with this manifestation of a courageous spirit, that he refused, for the future, to grant any subsidies to the League. Sixtus V. obtained the papacy by extraordinary cunning; when the declining health of Gregory XIII. announced that a vacancy could not be far distant, he assumed every outward sign of disease and decrepitude, so that those who beheld him as he passed through the streets, exclaimed, " God help you, poor old man, your race is almost run!" Such an address would have been little gratifying to any body else, but to him it conveyed the pleasing information that his artifices had completely suc- ceeded : that the mask of weakness concealed his vigour, just as that of humility veiled his pride and his ambition. On the day of election, when the cardinals crowded to congratulate him in the con- clave, ho sat coughing, as if in the last stage of pulmonary consumption, and weeping as if he had been just overtaken by some fearful misfortune. 1585.] WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. 387 But when he saw, by the scrutiny, that a sufficient / number of votes had been recorded to secure his ^ election, he put an end to the farce, flung away his i staff, and appeared taller by almost a foot than he I had done for years before. The cardinal-dean, ( alarmed by such appearances, called out, " There is / some mistake in the scrutiny!" Sixtus sternly ) replied, "There is, and there can, be no mistake!" / and immediately began to chant the Te Beiwi, in | such a strong and audible voice, that the whole con- ' clave remained mute in astonishment. When the cardinals came to offer the usual homage, one of them could not forbear observing, " I perceive, holy father, that the pontificate is an admirable medicine, ( — it can restore aged and sick cardinals to youth / and health: your holiness seems quite a different ) man from what you were a few hours ago." Sixtus ^- replied, with an ironical smile, "Yes, I was then | looking for the keys of Paradise, which obliged me \ to stoop a little ; but now that I have found them, I it is time to look upwards, as I am arrived at the I summit of all human glory, and can climb no higher " in this world." When the new pope appeared in the streets of Rome, the citizens could scarcely believe their senses, so wondrous was the transformation of his appearance, while the downcast looks of the cardinals fully proved that they were anything but pleased with the change (a. D. 1585). According to custom, the multitude saluted him with cries of " Plenty, holy father, plenty 22 ^ 338 WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. [1586. / and justice !" to which he replied, " Pray to God for plenty, and I will give you justice!" He kept his promise ; immediately after his election several cri- minals and banditti surrendered themselves, hoping that a general pardon would be published at the coronation. But they were fatally disappointed ; Sixtus rejected every application made in their behalf, and four of them were executed on the very day which they expected would have produced their liberty. The fate of the papacy, humanly speaking, might have been different, had Sixtus held the reins of government when Luther first began to preach the doctrines of the Reformation ; but he ascended the chair of St. Peter when the zeal of parties, exaspe- rated by controversy, and tested in the field, had led both too far to admit of a reconciliation. He, there- fore, bounded his ambition to ensuring the supremacy of his power in Italy, and for this purpose he resolved to expel Philip II. from the kingdom of Naples. Sixtus admired, as we have said, the firmness of the Bourbon ; Elizabeth's courage inspired him with similar respect, and, notwithstanding her heresy, he secretly sought her alliance. He advised her to aid the insurgents in the Netherlands ; the difference of . religion only served as a cloak to hide the negotia- tions of the crafty pontiff: the English envoy was ai3parently a persecuted exile, but he was a faithful servant of Elizabeth, and he confirmed the pope in his hostility to Spain. 1587.] WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. 339 Philip II. was thus attacked with his own weapons ; the Netherlands were wrested from his sway by a Protestant queen and a Roman pontiff (a. d. 1586). He comforted himself by entering into alliance with the Ottoman empire, and by zealously supporting the leaguers in France. That unfortunate kingdom was divided entirely between the Huguenots and the fanatic partisans of the Church ; no one had either the courage or the sense to propose a neutral course ; moderation had no representative, and the king no party. Alternately the puppet of his mother, the Guises, the clergy, the court, and the profligate com- panions of his debauchery, Henry III. feared nothing but the triumph of the Huguenots, and could find safety nowhere but in their camj). The immense preparations of the two parties, ranged under Bourbon and Guise, announced that the struggle would be decisive ; the league must either fall to pieces, or triumph at once over royalty and heresy. But the principles of the Reformation had now taken a deep root, around them were twined all the hopes of civil and religious imiDrovement ; with them was identified the wants of the age, and the progress of civilization. Philip II., the great enemy of the new ideas which were beginning to illumine Europe, could not even count on the sincere co-operation of Sixtus V. ; the papacy was in secret alliance with the enemies of the Romish faith. Even the judicial murder of Mary Queen of Scots, the greatest stain on the 22-2 340 WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. [1587- character of Elizabeth, was rather approved than condemned, by a pontiff who would not have been sorry to see more than one crowned head rolling before his own footstool. He went through the form of publishing a bull of excommunication, and encouraged Philip to invade Britain, but he sent information to Elizabeth of the plans formed for her destruction, together with copies of the letters he / had received from the King of Spain. The event is well known : the Armada, proudly named Invincible, \ was utterly routed ; its remnants became the prey of I the winds and waves ; the most powerful armament { that ever sailed from a European port became \ memorable only as a mockery and by-word for the I result of idle boasts, and frustrated ambition. Sixtus heartily despised the League and all its promoters ; but he was forced, by the circumstances of his position, to issue bulls in favour of an alliance professedly formed for the defence of his own power. A The French clergy, most of whom were " greater y papists than the pope," raised so formidable a party ( in favour of the Guises, that Henry IH. was forced to abandon Paris, lest the Duchess of Montpensier should fulfil her threat of qualifying him for a monastery, by cutting off his hair with golden scissors ; but he left behind him the edict of union, the greatest disgrace of a reign so fertile in dis- honour, and the title of lieutenant-general of the kino-dom to his rival, the Duke of Guise, with a promise of having this abandonment of royalty 1588.] WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. 341 confirmed by the States-General in their assembly at Blois. The deputies at Blois were prepared to go the full length of deposing their sovereign ; the crown seemed already within the grasp^f Guise, when he was assassinated by the king's command, and his brother, the cardinal, shared the same fate (a. d. 1586). Sixtus V. expressed little concern for the murder of Guise. " We should haA'e done the same," said he, to a French cardinal, " were we in Henry's jilace." But the unnecessary murder of the Cardinal Lorraine did not meet equal forbear- ance ; the pope, as was said by an equally unscrupu- lous politician, thought it worse than a crime; it was a blunder, and Tora bl u nd er Sixtus V. had no pardonr"^He thundered forth anathemas against Henry III. ; the French clergy repeated them ; the poj^ulace forgot even the murder of their hero in eagerness to avenge the martyrdom of a prelate. The churches of Paris resounded with imprecations against Henry of Valois ; the heads of the League, the bigots of the Church, and the theologians of the Sorbonne, organized a royalty of revolt, and proclaimed the Duke of Mayenne, brother of the murdered Guise, Lieutenant-General of the State Royal and Crown of France ; an unintelligible title, but which was meant as a substitute for sovereignty. Henry III. was forced to seek shelter in the Pro- testant camp ; he enlisted large bodies of Swiss infantry and German cavalry ; the gallant Bourbon ( 342 WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. [[1589. brought the whole strength of the Huguenots to his aid ; most of the princes of the blood, and the chier nobility, gathered round the royal standard ; and the king, who seemed to have been suddenly re- stored to the vigour and valour which distinguished his youth, advanced towards Paris at the head of forty thousand men. Nothing could save the in- surgents but a miracle or a crime ; they chose the latter. A Dominican friar, named James Clement, having obtained admission, under some delusive pre- text, to the royal camp, stabbed the king to the heart, and was himself instantly put to death by the guards. The death of Henry III. was the ruin of the League. It had now to contend against the brave Bourbon, who, as Henry IV., became lawful King of France, and who seemed inclined to conciliate the revolters by formally reconciling himself to the Church. He knew that Sixtus V. was favourably inclined to his cause. The pope looked upon the assassination of Henry III. merely as the removal of a troublesome blockhead ; and when Henry IV. showed an inclination to court his favour, he formally separated himself from the League. Philip II. was greatly displeased by the pope's policy ; but his rage knew no bounds when Sixtus published an Italian version of the Bible, and sanc- tioned its unrestricted sale. ^Many zealous cardinals having vainly entreated the pope to suppress the edition, earnestly besought Philip to interfere ; but 1593.] WARS OF RELIGION IN GERMANY. 343 his remonstrances were unavailing ; and he contem- plated calling a general council to depose the pope as a heretic. Olivarez, the Spanish ambassador at Rome, received orders to notify this resolution to the pontiff in a public manner^ but Sixtus com- manded his guards, if any such attempt should be made, to put the intruder to death on the spot; Olivarez was disheartened, and his master, alarmed by such a decisive proof of the pontiff's firmness, abandoned his plan of a general council. The death of Pope Sixtus (a. d. 1590) delayed the triumph of Henry IV. ; Urban VII. only re- tained the papacy thirteen days ; and his successor, Gregory XIV., was himself a patron of the League, and his policy was followed by Innocent IX. and Clement VIII. (a. d. 1592). But during these rapid changes in the occupancy of the Holy See, the excessive fanaticism of the Leaguers had disgusted all but the most bigoted of their followers, and some of the most zealous of the French Catholics became anxious for the triumph of their legitimate monarch. Henry IV., by the advice, or at least with the consent, of Elizabeth and the Protestant leaders, openly embraced the Romish religion (a. d. 1593) ; and Clement VIII., seeing that the League had no prospect of success, after some delay, for- mally granted him absolution, September 17, 1595. Philip II., beginning to feel the infirmities of old age, and becoming sensible of the evils resulting from his extravagant ambition, to which his bigotry WAIi'S OI" Iv'llMdioN IN OTCRMANY. [ir>!>!). Ii.'id ;il\\;iys Ix'cii siihscrN iciil, ('oiicliidcd i\ treaty of peace id N'erviiis; and liiially tli*' liberties of the I lii^'iieiiols were secured ])y tlie edict of Naiitcs, A\liicli estahlislied reli^^ious toleration in l<'raiicc (a. I). If)}).')). Some resistance Avas made to the registration of the edict l)y the |)arliainent of J*aris; )>nt the jndicioiis lirmness of the lh of n'asou Mas coinjdctc. The (h'ath of IMiiii|» II. completed th(; dissolution ol* the Jioague; Avitli liim Avere buried the cliiiuerical ])rojects of loundin**- universal luonarcliy on bigotry and intolerance. An uui^rateful son, an niniatural JMllier, a crnid husband, a merciless master, an im- placable enenn', a I'ailhless ally, a, volu|)tn(>ns Inpo- ci"ite ; he had caused more blood to l)e shed in the lield than any monarch who had yi>t reigiu'd in modern iMirope, \Nhile at least oiu^ liuudred thou- sand \ic(imsor his lauaticism and cru(dty jx'rished at. the stak(>, on the scallold, or l>y j)oison. Mis son, IMiilip 1 1 1., inlieiile(| the brutal superstition of his lather, but seems to liaNc ))eeu free iVom his darkcM* vices; his (diiefcare was to hundde the nobility aiul exalt the ecidesiastics of his kingdom. Peace suj)- plied th(> means, and they Mere unscrupulously used b^ his minister, the Caidinal Lernia. Clement \'lll. had soon an op|)ortunity of win- ning lh(> lavour ol" Henry. I\'.; that nu)narch was anxious to be divorced from Queen Margaret; their nnion had bt en nnliap])y, — but what Mas to be ex- iiected iVoiu a marria^i' Mthnmi/ed by the nia!^.su're 1005.] WAUs <»F iii;Li(;i()N in (wiumanv. IJ-IT) of St. liardiolojiicw ? 'V\\c |»o|)(> mms loo s('iisil)l(i of tlio ('()ns('(|ti('ii('('s (liaX Ii.'ul rrsiiKcd from i-cCiisin^- a (livorco to IJeiiiy VIII. of hlii^hiiid to oirciid (Ii(> Kin^ of I<'r;ui<'(^ by r;iisiii<^- (lillicultios, uiid ho wuh decided l)y Henry's resolution t^ marry Mary d(! Medicis, Avitli MJiom lio was (dosely connected by tlui ties of blood. A t>n'ater error lliaii (lie sub- / mission of tlie (|iiestioii of divorce to llie |)a|»ul tri- bunal, was tlie rostonition of the Jesuits; whom ]lenry IV., in o|t|tosition to the advice of his wisest \ statesuK!]), j)erniitted to establish themselves in Franco, at a time; wlieii tluMr intri;.;ues had rendered them odious throughout Chrislcndom. To their \ machinations the (l!un|lo^^(ler IMot in rhi^laiid was generally attributed; .James I., the successor of lacy than his predo cossor, SOUK! of the most ardent bigots formed u ])lot for l)lov\in.J AGE OF LOUIS XV. 369 interests. It is true that, at the peace of Utrecht, the British negotiators successfully interfered in behalf of the French Protestants whom Louis de- tained in prison, but this was an act of spontaneous generosity : it was an honourabte service to indivi- duals, not connected with the assertion of any general principle, for they did not demand the re-enactment of the Edict of Nantes. We have now arrived at a stage of our history when popery, instead of being* the foremost consi- deration in the general policy of Europe, almost ceases to form any jmrt of it ; and when the popes, instead of dictating to kings and emperors, find their power gone, and their voices disregarded. From this time the Court of Rome began to act on a purely defensive system : its advocates began to explain away the obnoxious tenets which they dared not abandon, and the supremacy of the papacy was supported as a matter of expediency, rather than as a matter of right. At such a crisis the Jesuits became, for a brief season, the managers of the interests of the Romish Church ; bound together by solemn obligations, preserving the strictest secresy in all their transactions, more perfectly organized than any association which had ever been instituted, unless, perhaps, we except the Asiatic order of the Assassins, the confederacy of the Jesuits might have shaken European society to its foundations, had not all parties been early roused to a sense of their danger. The chief prelates and ecclesiastics of the 24 370 AGE OF LOUIS XV. [1718. Romish Church, the kings ^ho still adhered to the Romish See, even the popes themselves, began to dread this ambitious body. It is not necessary now to speculate on the possibilities of a past century, but it is not improbable that the success of the Jesuits would have led to the establishment of a tyranny over conscience more galling and degrading than that of popery itself in its worst and most oppressive form. The fear inspired by the intrigues of the Jesuits must be borne in mind, whenever the policy of the penal laws enacted against the Romanists in Eng- land, and other Protestant countries, at the beginning of the last century, is examined. When even Por- tugal, Spain, and France showed signs of alarm at the new form assumed by popery, it would, assuredly, be strange if Protestant powers neglected to take measures of precaution, or refused to see the ap- proach of danger. Doctrines subversive of civil liberty, of legitimate government, and even of social order, were promulgated systematically and perti- naciously; they were so blended and confounded with other doctrines universally received by the Romish Church, that it was impossible to draw a line of separation ; and Protestants were compelled, for their own security, to exclude Romanists from power altogether. It is utterly absurd to deny the existence of the danger, when it is now a notorious and acknowledged fact that the appointment to the Romish sees in the British dominions was given to 17J9.] AGE OF LOUIS XV. 371. the exiled house of Stuart, and, consequently, that the Romish jirelates and priests, for half a century, were not only disaffected to the House of Brunswick, but hired partisans of the Pretender. The power of the Jesuits was cfJiinterbalanced by the rapid progress of civilization ; and, under Provi- dence, the advancement of knowledge became the instrument of destroying- that formidable confederacy. Peter the Great raised Russia to the rank of a civilized state, and placed it foremost among the powers of Europe. He embraced the party of the Elector of Saxony in the contest for the kingdom of Poland, and found the pope and the Jesuits ranged on the same side, against a competitor of their own religion, Stanislaus Leczinski. This was, in itself, a singular proof that even among the most zealous suj)porters of the Holy See, political considerations were deemed of more importance than religious doc- trines. It is said that when the Emperor Joseph, was reproached by a papal nuncio for the conces- sions he had made to the Protestants at the demand of Charles XII., he replied, " It is well for you that the King of Sweden did not ask me to turn Lutheran myself: had he done so, I cannot tell what would have been the consequence." In these few words, the altered condition of popery was perfectly de- lineated : a monarch declared that its very existence should be made subservient to general policy ; and the Vatican did not utter a reproach against a sen- 24-2 372 AGE OF LOUIS XV. CniS^'- timent, which, a century before, ■svouhl have called forth all the thunders of the Church. England accomplished her high destiny of be- coming the head and hope of Protestantism through- out Europe : its fortune was consolidated by the victories of Marlborough ; its religious freedom assured by the exclusion of the Stuarts. Though Anne, at the close of her reign, Avished to secure the succession for her brother, she made it a condition that he should embrace the Protestant religion. The Harley ministry, so often reproached for abandoning Protestant principles, concurred in the demand, but the obstinate bigotry of the son of James II. pro- tracted the negotiations until the death of the queen, when the partisans of the House of Stuart were un- prepared, and the Elector of Brunswick peaceably ascended the throne of Great Britain. One great effort was made to establish the supre- macy of the Spanish power in conjunction with popery; it was directed by Cardinal Alberoni, the prime-minister of Philip V. His plan was to re-conquer Sardinia and Sicily for Spain ; to jdace James III. on the throne of England by the aid of the Russian Emperor and the King of Sweden ; to prevent the interference of the Emperor, by engaging the Turks to assail his dominions. Pope Clement XI., a weak and stupid pontiif, could not compre- hend the merits of Albcroni's schemes ; he refused to pay the ecclesiastical subsidies to Philip V., and before the ambitious cardinal could further develop 1724.] AGE OF LOUIS XV. 373 his schemes, the Quadruple Alliance was formed by the alarmed potentates of Europe, and Philip V. was forced to dismiss his intriguing minister. The pope had the mortification to find that his interests were totally disregarded in the Aiew arrangements made for preserving the tranquillity of Europe : his superiorities in Parma and Placentia formed part of the bribe tendered to the Court of Spain by the rulers of France and Germany; he remonstrated loudly, but, in spite of his efforts, they were accepted and retained. On the death of Clement XL, Alberoni became a candidate for the papacy, and was very near being- elected. Fortunately for the permanency of Romish power, this violent prelate was excluded from the chair of St. Peter, and Innocent XIII. was chosen. During his pontificate the society of Freemasons began to be regarded with susi)icion by the heads of the Church, especially as several other secret asso- ciations A^ere formed in Germany and Italy for the propagation of what were called ])hilosophical tenets ; but these doctrines were, in reality, not only hostile to popery, but subversive of all religion and morality. Benedict XIII. was the next pontiff: he was a man of mild and benevolent temper, but wanting in firmness and talent. It was announced that he had formed some comprehensive scheme for uniting all Christian sects into one body ; but if ever he devised such a project, he soon abandoned it as hopeless : 874 AGE OF LOUIS XV. [1758. indeed, liis conduct was very different from that of a person disposed to make sacrifices for the sake of peace ; he renewed the canonization of Gregory VII., which was a wanton outrage against the advanced intelligence of the age, and ho supported Cardinal Fleury in his persecution of the French Protestants. France was about this time, to all appearance, fast escaping from the grasp of the Holy See. The progress of infidelity in the higher ranks, and espe- cially among the professors of law and medicine, was very great ; the clergy were divided by disputes respecting the bull Unigenitus, and common sense was insulted by the pretended miracles Avhich an association of hypocrites and enthusiasts pretended to have been wrought in favour of the bull. But the firmness of the French parliaments triumphed over the power of the cardinals, and the arts of the miracle-mongers, and the liberties of the Gallican Church were steadfastly maintained. Benedict died without having eftected any of his pacific designs. He was succeeded by Clement XIII., who had already passed his eightieth year. The aged pontifi^ found himself placed in direct opposition to almost every king in Europe, but more especially to the monarchs of those countries which seemed most heavily weighed down by the yoke of Romish superstition. The King of Portugal refused to yield to the Holy See, even on points of etiquette ; the King of Sardinia usurped ecclesiastical fiefs; Philip V. of Spain joined the Em])eror in disposing 1758.] AGE OF LOUIS XV. 375 of Parma and Placentia; and the King of France threatened to seize the county of Avig-non : even in Italy, the pope's power was threatened with annihi- lation, and the remonstrances of the i3ontiff addressed to the Venetian and Neapolitan governments were utterly disregarded. The outcry against the Jesuits was daily becom- ing louder, and they seemed resolved to deserve the general hatred. Their machinations to subvert the government of Portugal were incessant ; but, through the activity of the JNIarquis of Pombal, they were detected and defeated. At length they made an effort to murder the king, and very nearly suc- ceeded. The Marchioness of Tavora, and several of the Portuguese nobility, were convicted of having joined in this regicidal plot, and capitally punished. They were declared innocent in a subsequent reign, but the proofs of their guilt appear to have been conclusive. Even before this event, the principal sovereigns who adhered to the Romish faith were anxious to have the order of the Jesuits destroyed : in Spain, they were especially the objects of royal suspicion. It was, indeed, almost come to a ques- tion, whether the pope should choose rather to pre- serve the order than his own dignity; for some preparations w^ere made in Portugal to renounce all allegiance to the Holy See, and place the national church under the superintendence of a patriarch. At such a crisis great abilities, accompanied by great moderation, could alone save the pontificate, but the 376 AGE OF LOUIS XV. [1760. aged tenant of St. Peter's chair possessed neither the one nor the other. Clement XIIT. was a pontiff of good intentions, but feeble and irresolnte ; in spite of the remon- strances of Cardinal Ganganelli, Avho always recom- mended conciliatory measures, a bull, named Apo- stolicnm, Mas issued, confirming the Jesuits in all their privileges, and extravagantly eulogizing their zeal, their services, and their talents. This indis- creet act was followed by a denunciation of the mo- narchs who had usurped lands claimed by the Holy See. Clement declared that he, " like St. Thomas of Canterbury," was ready to sutTer martyrdom rather than abandon the rights of the Church ; but the declaration was received, first with astonishment, and then vith derision, Ijecause everybody knew that no article of faith was in question and that it was for his temporalities that the holy father contended. Finally, however, Ijeing pressed hard by the houses of Bourbon and Braganza, he summoned a consistory to take into consideration the propriety of revoking these edicts, but vexation and anxiety hurried him to the grave before the assembling of the council. On the lOth of IMay, 1769, Ganganelli, the most amiable and virtuous in the long list of pontiffs, was elected to the papacy, after a long and arduous contest ; he took the title of Clement XIY., while his adversaries stigmatized him as the Protestant po})e. Tn the early ]>art of his reign, the Dukes of Cumberland and Gloucester, the brothers of the 1773.] AGE OF LOUIS XV. 377 English monarch (George III.), visited Rome, and were treated Avith so much kindness, tliat the hing, though a zealous adherent of our national church, wrote a letter of thanks to the pojie with his own hand. But while he thus hospitably entertained princes, he showed an affectionate condescension to the meanest of the people, ever acknowledging that he was himself of humble descent. One of his guards rudely repulsing some meanly-clad persons Avho crowded to see the pontiff, Clement rebuked him, saying, " Let the poor men come near, their self-love is gratified by seeing one of their own rank elevated to so high a dignity." His adversaries reproached him for the readiness with Avhich he granted disjiensations to those who were weary of their monastic voavs, but he defended himself by the plain, but convincing apology, that reluctant celi- bacy is notoriously the source of gross immorality. But the great event of Ganganelli's honourable reign Avas the abolition of the order of the Jesuits ; the bull, dissolving the society, was issued on the 21st of July, 1773, and was received with joy by nearly all the sovereigns of Europe. The papers found at the dissolution of the order were of little importance ; but, as the Jesuits had long foreseen their fate, it is probable those which had any poli- tical tendency Avere destroyed, and the same cause will account for the disappearance of the vast wealth supposed to have been accumulated by the society. In a very few months after the edict of suj^pression 378 AGE OF LOUIS XV. [1775. was issued, the pope's health began to decline ; the friends of the Jesuits declared that this was the sign of divine vengeance : their enemies, with more probability, averred that poison had been given to the pontiff by some emissary of the order. He bore a lingering and painful illness with great fortitude, diligently attending to the affairs of government until his last hour. His death afflicted all his sub- jects, and he was sincerely regretted by all the European sovereigns, and perhaps most by those who differed from him in religion. The brief reign of Clement XIV. raised the spiritual character of the papacy, but, in some degree, accelerated the decline of its temporal power. His entire career was a practical comment on his declaration that the principality of Rome was the great source of all the resistance to the pontifical power; for he won more influence by mildness and conciliation, than the most energetic of his predecessors by violence and excommunica- tions. His abolition of the order of the Jesuits showed that he jiosscssed no ordinary share of moral courage, for he knew that the emissaries of the society M'ould soon take a deadly revenge : indeed, he declared to the Spanish ambassador, the Count de Florida Blanca, that he did not expect to survive his edict for their suppression. The society of the Jesuits had existed for two hundred and thirty years at the time of its sup- pression. Its object was to exercise, under the pro- 1775.] AGE OF LOUIS XV. 379 tection of Rome, an active influence over the Euro- pean courts, over the clergy, over private families, and over general literature. To the latter attention began to be paid, only when the increasing odium of the political intrigues in which the society engaged, showed the superiors that it would be advisable to court popularity by learned labours and scientific research. Thenceforward the order bestowed a large share of its attention on public education, and showed itself ambitious of being regarded as an efi[icient body of labourers for the advancement of learning. It would be ridiculous to deny that many of its members attained an eminent rank in various branches of literature ; for though few, if any, occupy a first place, several hold an honourable po- sition in the second class of writers. But it was precisely the influence which the Jesuits derived from their partial monopoly of instruction that ren- dered them most formidable to princes and to people ; had they been able to mould the minds of a generation, they would have been able to attempt, with some prospect of success, a general revolution, which would have restored the papal supremacy to its former strength, and checked the progress or civilization, probably, for another century. To their pernicious counsels the infamous partition of Poland must, in no small degree, be attributed. They roused the bigotry of the Polish nobles to resist the edicts of toleration by which the Dissi- dents were protected. These Dissidents comprised 380 AGE OF LOUIS XV. [I77i5. Ill embers of the Greek, as well as the Lutheran Church, they sought protection from Russia, and thus afforded the Court of St. Petersburgh a i)lau- sible pretext for interference. When we lament the downfall of Polanrl, it is only justice to bear in mind that the confederation of Bar was formed rather to sup])ort intolerance, than to maintain the inde- pendence of their country. It is even probable that their patriotism would not have been unsuccessful, had it not been accompanied by such ferocious bigotry. 381 Chapter XXIII. rOPERY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. From a. d. 1780 to a. d. 1830. We have seen the lo^y ebb to which the temporal power of the jiopes was reduced during the early part of the seventeenth century, — we must now cast a glance at the dangers that menaced its si^iritual sway. Unimproved by the Reformation, deducing no warning from an event Avhich had severed the north of Europe for ever from its sway, the court of Rome adhered to all its absurd claims and offensive usages ; even when some of the pontiffs, more en- lightened than their ministers, Avere anxious to conciliate advancing intelligence. But popery had acquired an organization which made it indej)endent of the popes ; they were quite as much slaves to the system as the ignorant multitude. This is neces- sarily the case with every successful imposture ; but it was more especially so in a system ^vhich had endured for several centuries, and all of whose parts harmonized so completely with each other. Giving such pontiffs as Clement XIV. every credit for good intentions, we find popery in their reigns just as injurious to mankind in genera], and just as dangerous to rulers, as wdien the chair of St. Peter was occupied by a Gregory or an Innocent. 882 POPERY DURING THE [1780. Unfortunately the imposture was blended M'itli the great truths of Christianity; and those Avho assailed the former, were hurried into attacks on the latter. Popery deservedly bears the blame of the flood of infidelity which inundated France, and threatened to deluge Europe ; for in England, where Deism first began, the pure doctrines of Christianity obtained an easy though a signal triumph. Hobljes, Lords Bolingbroke and Shaftesbury, Tindal, Collins, and others of inferior note, assailed revealed religion, but the Protestant defenders of Christianity neu- tralized their poison, and evangelical faith only struck deeper root in the hearts of Englishmen in conse- quence of these assaults. But it was far different in France, "svhen Voltaire, Diderot, and D'Alembert, began to propagate their pernicious doctrines ; they deceived themselves and their readers by confounding the abuses with the principles of Christianity ; unfortunately the abuses introduced l)y popery Mere so glaring that they could not be mistaken, while study and reflection Mere necessary to detect the purity of the faith Mhich lay buried beneath them. Infidelity spread rapidly in France, unopposed and almost unnoticed by the clergy, Avliile the exertions of some bigots to enforce the observance of the bull Unigenitus, contri- buted to render the ecclesiastical body deservedly unpopular. After a delay of five months. Cardinal Braschi obtained the sufli*ages of the sacred college, and Mas 1780.] FRENCH REVOLUTION. 383 chosen pontiff, under the appellation of Pius VI. He found himself in a very difficult position ; a body of zealots demanded the restoration of the Jesuits, and the assertion of all the extravagant claims of the Holy See ; the ambassadors ofJFrance and Spain menaced him with the wrath of their respective courts, if he should give ear to such perilous counsels. Pius acted with duplicity towards both, and was therefore an object of their common sus- picion. The Em^^eror Joseph, and his brother, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, attempted to introduce ecclesiastical reforms into their states, but were opposed by the papal party with uncompromising- energy. Pius was much displeased by the innovations, but he had not sufficient energy to resist them. Pos- sessing no qualifications for his exalted station but an imposing demeanour, and a fluency which passed for eloquence, his vanity led him to believe that he could by diplomatic skill establish a supremacy over sovereigns. But while he aspired to regulate the affairs of Europe, he was incapable of governing his own dominions. While he oppressed his subjects with heavy taxes, he squandered his finances in pensions to his rela- tions. Enraged at the attacks made by the emperor on his dignity, he resolved to undertake a personal journey to Vienna, hoping that his remonstrances would restrain the imperial zeal for reform. Joseph had prohibited every application to Rome for 384 POPERY DURING THE [1782. dispensations, he had granted to the bishops exclu- sive authority over tlie monasteries in their respective dioceses, and had sul)jected the prelates themselves to the imperial authority. Pius saw that such a system must lead eventually to the subversion of the })apal power, but he could not discover any better means of averting the danger than by pre- senting himself uninvited to the emperor (a.d. 1782). The journey, as might have been expected, proved wholly fruitless ; Pius was received at Vienna with every outward mark of respect, but Joseph was so far from laying aside his projects of reform, that he assumed the title of " supreme guardian of the Church, and administrator of its temporalities." The progress of ecclesiastical reform was fatally interrupted by the French revolution. This por- tentous event alarmed all the European sovereigns, and inspired a dread of innovation which rendered even improvement odious. Its causes need not be enumerated here ; suffice it to say, that during the reign of Louis XV. the court of France was corrupt and profligate, the nobles servile to the crown and tyrannical to the ])eoj)le, the clergy divided into factions, oscillating between the extremes of fanati- cism and indiil'erence ; the great body of the nation hostile to its rulers, and eager for change. At such a crisis Louis XVI. ascended the throne, animated by the best intentions, but destitute of the means of putting them into execution. He was induced by his ministers to aid the American insurgents in their 1789.] FRENCH REVOLUTION. 385 struggle against Great Britain; the war deprived England of its colonies, but it comjjleted the ruin of the French finances ; and the soldiers of France, on their return from America, brought with them a zealous love of liberty, the more^dangerous because its object was indefinite. Every history of Europe details the rapid and ruinous progress of the inno- vating spirit in France ; we must confine our atten- tion to its attacks on the Romish Church. The deficiency in the finances was made a pretext for a minute inquiry into the expenses of the State and the Church. Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun, com- mencing a long career of repeated apostasies by deserting the principles of the Church to Avhicli ho belonged, proposed that the revenues of the eccle- siastics should be applied to cover the deficiency in the national funds. This appropriation was as unne- cessary as it was unjust ; for tlie clergy, through the Archbishop of Aix, offered to raise a sum sufficient for the wants of the State (a. d. 1789); but the real object of the law was to place the ecclesiastical constitution of the country at the mercy of the Constituent Assembly. This body assumed the right of changing, at its OAvn pleasure, diocesan boundaries, episcopal sees, the forms of canonical election, priestly functions, the relations of the clergy to their own body and to Rome, and even the validity of monastic vows. This was an attack, not merely on popery, but on the establishment of a Christian Church. The 25 386 rOPERY DURING THE [1701. bishops refused to acquiesce in such an arrangement, and they thus provoked the relentless fury of the Jacobins. Pius VI. had checked and even prevented the equitable reforms of the Emperor Leopold, and his brother the Grand Duke of Tuscany, by rousing- popular fanaticism ; he hoped by similar means to baffle the projects of the Constituent Assembly, but his councillors were not aware of the weak hold which the Romish Church had on the affections of the French people. The honourable refusal of all the bishops but four to take an oath to suj^port the new constitution of the Church, was answered by a monstrous decree of the legislative assembly, abolishing the state reli- gion, depriving all ecclesiastics of their revenues who did not give in their adhesion within eight days, and ordering the recusants to be imprisoned. Under the pretence of tumults at Avignon, the whole Venaissin territory, in spite of the pope's legi- timate claims, was formally annexed to the realms of France, and the remonstrances against such a glaring act of injustice were unheeded (a. D. 1791). With strange inconsistency, the Assembly at the same time proclaimed absolute freedom of religious opinion, while it displayed intolerance rivalling that of the Inquisition. The National Convention, victorious abroad and sanguinary at home, ruled l)y the bayonet and the guillotine; ecclesiastics, though special objects of persecution, had so many comi)anions in suffering, 1796.] FRENCH REVOLUTION. 387 that tlieir martyrdom was forgotten in the general slaughter. JMultitudes escaped into foreign lands ; and it deserves to he remarked, that these clerical emigrants were more kindly received and more hos- pitably treated in Protestant conn-tries, than in those which adhered to the Romish faith. England nobly laid aside its hereditary jealousy of popery to succour those who were in some degree regarded as sufferers in the cause of common Christianity. It must be added, that the conduct of too many of these exiles, when they returned to tlieir own country, proved that their gratitude for Protestant liberality was a very transitory feeling. During this stormy period the conduct of Pius VI. appears perfectly inexplicable; he contested the right of investiture to the sees in the kingdom of Naples, and j^ersevered in his demands until he was menaced with actual hostilities. When compelled to make reluctant concessions, he continued to intrigue secretly against the reigning monarch, until the approach of the French made him tremble for his personal safety. Towards his own subjects, the pontiff continued the system of vexatious exactions with which he had commenced his reign, so that when the tide of war overtopped the Alps, and flowed downwards through Italy, a large party in the Roman states was prepared to support the invaders. Alarmed by the rapid progress of Napoleon, Pius hasted to conclude the treaty of Tolcntino, by which 25-2 888 rorERY during the [1798. he ceded to the French the finest districts of the Patrimony of St. Peter, and promised to pay an immense sum as a ransom for the remainder. A division of the French army being left to enforce the execution of this treaty, inflicted several outrages on the unfortunate Romans ; but even the ci-uelties of the invaders were not more severe than the oppres- sions of the papal officers, for the misgovernment of Pius increased amidst the perils of foreign hostility. The discontents of the populace were secretly fomented by Joseph Buonaparte, who had been sent to Rome as ambassador from the French republic. Cardinal Chiaramonte, who afterwards became pope, ])ublished a homily in favour of democratic govern- ment, and plots were formed for depriving the pope of all his power. A mob assembled within the pre- cincts of the French ambassador's palace ; cockades, arms, and ammunition, were supplied by the em- bassy; the insurgents attempted to seize an im- portant post, they were routed, and in the confusion a French general, who was a spectator of the con- flict, was killed by the papal guards. This unfortunate event afforded a pretext to the French for occupying Rome ; the castle of St. Angelo and the gates of the city were seized, while Pius took no measure for defence, but parading relics and reciting masses. While he was engaged in solemnizing the anniversary of his accession, two French officers entered the chapel where he was 1799.] FRENCH REVOLUTION. 389 enthroned, and announced that his reign was at an end. The cardinals were deprived of their power and possessions, and were compelled to offer public thanksgivings for the success of a revolution by which they were ruined and deg^rided. While Napoleon was absent in Egypt, Cardinal Ruffo raised an insurrection in Calabria to restore the legitimate sovereign of Naples, and the ascen- dency of the established faith. But at this juncture of danger, Romish fanaticism manifested its san- guinary character ; the insurgents of Arezzo, after having received the benedictions of Cardinal Zon- dadari, publicly burned sixteen Jews, and, not satis- fied with such an atrocity, threw several of their children into the blazing pile. Pius VI. died a prisoner at Valencia (a. d. 1799), but several months intervened before the cardinals ventured to appoint his successor. Their choice fell on Cardinal Chiaramonte, who took the title of Pius VII. Less obstinate than his predecessor, he arranged a Concordat for the government of the Galilean Church with Napoleon, and had the grati- fication to see Christianity re-established in France. But the claims of the papacy, though antiquated, were not abandoned; intrigues against Napoleon were conducted by several French and Italian eccle- siastics, whose zeal surpassed that of their spiritual head ; and, after seven years of mutual jealousies and recriminations, the struggle between the papacy and the French empire was forced to a premature decision. 390 POPERY DURING THE [1813. Napoleon issued a decree, abolishing completely the temporal power of the popes ; on the 2nd of Fe- bruary, 1808, a French army entered Rome, the pontiff's body-guards were dismissed, the Neapo- litan cardinals expelled, and the duchy of Urbino and IVIarch of Ancona formally annexed to the kingdom of Italy. Though virtually a prisoner, Pius VII. retained the pride of station which had distinguished his pre- decessors. In the September of 1808 he prepared to fulminate a bull of excommunication against the French, but, from various causes, its publication was delayed to the lOtli of June in the following year. But the pontiff, while thus affecting to wield weapons which had proved so formidable in past ages, was obliged to give a convincing proof of his weakness, by directing that the persons who posted up copies of the edict about the city should do so as secretly as possible, lest they might be seized and shot. On the evening of the 6th of July the pope's palace Avas invested by the French troops, the gates forced, the pontiff himself arrested, and sent as a prisoner to France. He remained under ward until the 19tli of January, 1813, when Najioleon and his em]5ress arriving unexpectedly at Fontainebleau, had an inter- view with the pope, which ended in an accommoda- tion between the two potentates. During this interval it is surprising that Buonaparte took no effective measures to establish a reformed ecclesias- tical system ; Pius would gladly have resigned tcni- ( 1814.] FRENCH REVOLUTION. 391 poral power, and the cardinals, once forced to assume their functions in the new organization, would have been unable to recover their former state. But the emperor's uncle, Cardinal Fesch, strenuously exerted himself to prevent such an arrangement, and Napo- leon himself believed that it would be impossible ever again to revive the papal power. With this mistaken belief, he commenced his fatal Russian expedition ; but scarcely had he departed, when the cardinals persuaded Pius VII. that his abdication of temporal power was a sinful abandonment of the rights of the Church which had been entrusted to his charge. The pope wrote a letter, retracting the concessions he had made in the second Concordat ; Napoleon waited for victory before sending a reply, but victory had now for ever abandoned his standard, and the pope, sharing in the general emancipation of Europe, quitted France in the beginning of 1814, and re-established liis sovereignty at Rome. Since that period a change has been wrought in the entire system of popery: it has become an ecclesiastical commonwealth instead of a desjwtism, and, to use a phrase attributed to Cardinal Gonsalvi, " many prelates and priests are better papists than the pope." But this change has not rendered popery less injurious or less formidable ; the claims to temporal power have been abandoned, only that those to spiritual despotism should be urged with greater strength ; the restored order of the Jesuits has renewed its efforts to acquire a secret moral in- 892 POPERY DURING THE [1820. fliience, by which it may be enabled to assume the direction of public aifairs. Warned by former fai- lures, the advocates of the j)apacy venture not to appeal to brute force : their rule now is, to join every popular cry, and mix up their cause with any scheme that pleases the giddy multitude; while they clamour for the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal, they advocate the voluntary system in England and Ireland, — while they maintain the utmost rigours of intolerance in South America, they preach the wildest freedom of opinion in the northern states. In every country they are i)erseveringly at Avork, for they feel that they are struggling for existence ; it must be added, that their efforts have not been wiiolly unsuccessful. Those who tell us that popery is not to be feared, because the successors of Pius VII. have taken no share in the general policy of Europe, because Leo XII., Pius VIII., and the reigning pontilf, Gregory XVI., rank among the sovereigns about whose exist- ence the world is very careless, are either ignorant of the actual state of affairs, or wilfully blind to danger. Popery has not ceased to be a political system, because the popes are destitute of political l^ower; it is still designed to secure all influence for the hierarchy, to make the Romish Church supreme, and its ministers the masters of all human destinies. If anything is effected by this change, it is greater danger to Protestantism, because every agent of Rome is personally interested in his success : he now 1830.] FRENCH REVOLUTION. 893 works for himself and his order, not for the interests of a single master. The nature of the struggle is altered, and those who defend the reformed religion must, therefore, change their weapons of contro- versy. ^ Of the final issue there can be no doubt, for light is penetrating everywhere, in spite of opposi- tion. We have traced the growth of this great im- posture, — we have seen it commence with the exal- tation of the hierarchy, and then concentrate their power in a single visible head. The desjDotism, com- plete in all its jjarts, triumphed for a season, trampling alike on the rights of kings and the inde- pendence of nations : but we have seen it gradually fall before advancing intelligence, until the supremacy of the pope personally has become an empty name, and the system has been resolved into its original elements, the maintenance of the priesthood and prelacy in power over the minds and consciences of the people. The elForts of the Romanists, now more vigorous than ever, are among the clearest proofs of their sinking cause ; it is just when death api^roaches that the convulsive energies of the human frame are most powerfully stimulated, but what ignorant spectators regard as symptoms of recovery, are known to the physician as certain signs of ap- proaching dissolution. 894 Chapter XXIV. HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Immediately after the overthrow of Napoleon, a vigorous effort was made to restore the ancient in- fluence of the Romish Church throughout Europe ; and, as a necessary preliminary. Pope Pius VIII., on the 7th of August, 1814, published a bull for reviving the Order of the Jesuits. We have already shown that Jesuitism was a system emana- ting from the necessities of the papacy after the Reformation, which soon acquired an independent existence, and became formidable to the popes themselves. Tlic abolition of the order, had, how- ever, greatly weakened Romanism ; and though Pius was aware that the Jesuits might again be- come formidable to the constituted authorities of his Church, he trusted that gratitude to the Supreme Pontiff would bind them to his interests. Tlie time was peculiarly favourable for such an attempt ; the Bourbon princes restored to the thrones of France, Spain, and Naples attributed all their former calamities to the progress of liberal or infidel principles, and desired to sec Romanism restored to its former strength and splendour ; the Jesuits pro- mised that they would secure supremacy for the pope, authority for the kings, and security for the HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 395 Church ; Pius believed the consummation possible, and his bull was issued with more than ordinary solemnity. We have already observed, that the alliance of the Jesuits seems to have been fatal to every cause Avhich they espoused ; this has been apparent since the order was revived ; the papal supremacy over the continental churches is less now than it was at any former period ; the elder branch of the Bourbons is exiled from France ; Spain and Por- tugal have exchanged despotic for constitutional governments, and the delusive tranquillity of Italy is only maintained by Austrian bayonets. It must, on the other hand, be confessed that the Jesuits have successfully exerted themselves to maintain and extend the doctrines of Romanism, but their success is owing to their having disguised or denied the political tenets of popery ; the important ques- tion, therefore, which presents itself for considera- tion is, whether they will be enabled to follow out Romanism into popery, a result to which Romanism necessarily tends, or whether such an effort will not rouse a spirit of resistance, which Jesuitism will be unable to struggle against. The solution of this question will be greatly facilitated by a consideration of some events in the past history of Jesuitism, which could not be brought before the reader in the preceding pages, without deranging the order of the history. From the very foundation of the order, the 396 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. Jesuits were viewed with jealousy and suspicion by an influential body of prelates, priests, and mo- nastics ; they felt that some external aid was requi- site to maintain them in Europe, and they hoped to acquire a preponderance, by monopolizing- the mis- sions to Asia, Africa, and America. Unlike every other ecclesiastical body, the Jesuits were permitted to act as a great trading corporation, and they hoped to derive from the monopoly of missions the wealth of commerce, the j^ower of sovereignty, and the fame of conversion. Pope Gregory XIII. actually issued a bull, that " no priest, or other of the reli- gious, except those of the Society of Jesus, should, Avithout the express permission of the Holy See, go to Japan, either to preach the Gospel, or to teach the doctrines of Christianity, to administer the Sacraments, or to exercise any ecclesiastical func- tion whatever." It was further ordained, that the brief should be read and published every Avhere that the Jesuits considered it necessary. The missionary establishments of the Jesuits were designed to establish the supremacy of their order, rather than to propagate Christianity, for they persecuted the missionaries of every other class who laboured to convert the Heathen. The secretary of the congregation established upon the subject of the Vicars Apostolic in China, makes the following statement, in a memorial addressed to that congregation, December Cth, 1GG7: — " Your Excellencies will have learned, from statements and HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 397 letters transmitted by confidential hands, and from the last accounts on the subject, of which you have already received a copy, that the Jesuit persecution of the Vicars Apostolic and their missionaries still con- tinues, and that the Jesuits have never ceased to ob- struct the mission in the kingdoms of Tonquin, Cochin China, Amboyna, and Siam, — in a word, every place where those fathers resided." The memorial traces this persecution to three political motives. " The first is, that the Jesuits will endure neither superior nor equal wherever they may be, and that their privi- leges M^ere useless to them Avlien the Apostolic Vicars arrived ; the second, a desire to conceal from Europe their proceedings in those countries : above all, the commerce which they have carried on, and wish to continue ; and the third, a resolution to prevent the ordination of native priests, that they might always remain at the head of those churches." It would be impossible, in our limited space, to enter on a full history of the Jesuit missions, but there are three whose great importance merits our attention : these are Paraguay, Japan, and China. It was about the commencement of the seventeenth century that the Jesuits first established themselves in Paraguay, one of the most fertile countries in South America. They found the inhabitants stran- gers to the arts of social life, deriving a precarious subsistence from hunting and fishing, and hardly acquainted with the first j^rinciples of government. 308 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. The Jesuits instructed and civilized these savages. They tauglit them to cultivate the ground, domesti- cate animals, live in villages, and to appreciate the blessings of order and tranquillity. But this meri- torious conduct was designed to establish the inde- l^endent sway of the society : they instilled into the minds of the natives a jealous hatred of the Spanish and Portuguese settlers, which has not yet been effaced; and they prohibited private traders from entering the territories under their jurisdiction. They would not permit the Indians to learn the Spanish or Portuguese languages, but selected one of the South American dialects, which they laboured to make the universal language throughout their dominions. They even levied armies, taught their subjects the use of fire-arms, formed them into regi- ments of cavalry and infantry, provided a regular train of artillery, and magazines well stored with all the munitions of war. It was long believed by some sentimental people, that the Jesuits took all these precautions that they might protect the innocent Indians from the con- tagion of European vices, and it was the fashion to represent Paraguay as a paradise of Arcadian sim- plicity ; indeed, this amiable delusion is not unfre- qucntly repeated by writers of modern times ; but the truth was manifested when the Kings of Spain and Portugal resumed their authority over these districts. The Indians were instructed up to the point where HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 399 they became valuable slaves, and there their educa- tion terminated. Tliej were held in a state of degradino^ thraldom ; not the less ojDpressive because it was supported by moral influences rather than physical force, and all the profits of'their toil, beyond what was necessary to support existence, went to swell the treasury of their task-masters. When the Jesuits were expelled in 1760, the evil influence of their instructions was fatally manifested ; the jealous hatred of the Europeans which they had sedulously inculcated, led the Indians to refuse allegiance to the King of Portugal, and they were not reduced until a destructive war had swept away half of the population of the country. The exclusive principles of the Jesuits are still maintained in Paraguay, and all intercourse between that rich territory and the surrounding districts is strictly prohibited. Before entering on the history of the Japanese Missions, we must say a few words on that of India, where first the close connexion between the Jesuits and the Inquisition was establislied. Xavier, who has been sometimes called the Apostle of the Indies, established the Inquisition at Goa ; in pursuance of the principle stated by Gernon, in his apology for his order : " Inasmuch as from the nature of their institute, and their fourth vow, it belongs to the Jesuits to exercise the office and function of inqui- sitors, in countries where no Inquisition is esta- blished." The Jesuits had not long to wait for the 400 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. organization of the tribunal at Goa, it soon became tlie scourge of the Portuguese dominions in the East, and its horrors have been established by incontrovertible testimony. Christianity was first introduced into Japan by Xavier (a. D. 1549); we have already seen how carefully the Jesuits laboured to retain exclusive possession of this mission, for they hoped that it might become as profitable to them as Paraguay. Unfortunately they began their political intrigues before they had a suflftcient number of converts, and manifested an intolerant spirit, which provoked the animosity of princes and people. It is difliicult to ascertain the true nature of the circumstances which suddenly induced the Japanese rulers to persecute the Christian converts, after they had given great encouragement to the missionaries ; the Jesuits themselves attribute it to jealousy of European superiority, and a suspicious dread of Spanish ambition. Two fierce i^ersecutions anni- hilated the infant church. In the first, a. d. 1590, twenty thousand Christians were massacred ; and in 1638, thirty-seven thousand more shared the same fate. Since that time the very name of Christianity is detested by the Japanese of all classes; and those who profess it are carefully excluded from their harbours, with the exception of a single port, to which the Dutch alone are permitted to trade. Many efforts were made to introduce Christianity into China before the task was undertaken by the HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 401 Jesuits. The most celebrated among the early mis- sionaries of that order were Riiggiero and Ricci ; they entered the country in the disguise of Buddhist priests, and won the respect of the Chinese by their skill in various branches of science. After many disappointments Ricci penetrafed to Pekin (a. d. 1601), and made several converts, several of whom were persons of high distinction. Candida, the daughter of Leu, a cabinet minister, was a zealous adherent to the new doctrines; she built several churches, and educated in the Christian faith the helpless babes who had been exposed by their cruel jmrents. After Ricci's death a fierce persecution was raised against the Christians (a. d. 1615), the missionaries w^ere either banished to Canton, or forced to conceal themselves in the houses of their converts. But they recovered their lost favour by offering to sup- port the Chinese government against the invasion of the Mantchoo Tartars, proposing to send auxiliaries and gunners from Macao, to direct the imperial artillery, and instruct the Chinese in European tactics. Adam Schaal, a German Jesuit, gained even greater influence over the first Tartar emperor, than Ricci had enjoyed under the preceding dynasty. But after the accession of Kang-he the fire of perse- cution, nourished by jealousy and national antipathy, raged very furiously (a. d. 1664). The missionaries had to suffer cruel mockings and imprisonments ; 26 402 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. some sealed their faith with their blood ; others were sent to Canton. Seven years afterwards the perse- cution so far abated, that the Jesuits were allowed to return to their churches. Verbiest, the head of the mission, won the em- peror's confidence, by giving the Chinese instruction in the art of cannon-founding, and gained such an ascendency, that he procured permission for the establishment of all the missions which mioht be •required. But Verbiest gave the fatal example of mingling religion with political intrigues, and seeking to extend the faith by means of questionable purity. A greater error of the Jesuit missionaries was their resting satisfied with nominal conversions; of the thousands who were baptized, very few, indeed, were thoroughly instructed in Christian truth, and still fewer had learned to feel its influence over the heart and the affections. But worse remains to be told ; Ricci had carried the principle of accommodation to a criminal length ; in order to conciliate the Chinese, he joined in the praises of the Confucian system, and tolerated several of its idolatrous practices ; he per- mitted his servants to Avorship their ancestors, and had no objection that the men of letters, who became Christians, should continue to perform the customary prostrations in honour of their patron sage, Confucius. Longobardi, the successor of Ricci, was less com- pliant; he strictly prohil)ited all idolatrous rites, and this produced such a schism that it was necessary to HISTORY OP THE JESUITS. 403 refer the decision of the matter to Rome. After long debates, and inconsistent decisions, the papal court finally decided against permitting the use of the idolatrous rites ; but the Jesuits refused to obey the bull, and they procured an edict from the em- peror, requiring every missionary who entered the empire to promise that he would preach the same doctrines which Ricci had taught, and that he would never leave China. But the power of the Jesuits had now become alarming to the Chinese authorities; they had acquired a complete mastery over the minds of their converts, and they frequently exer- cised this authority to control and direct civil affiiirs. Edicts were frequently issued to restrain the pro- mulgation of Christianity, and the princes in whom the Jesuits trusted for protection, abandoned them in the hour of trial. The Emperor Keen Lung proved a bitter persecutor, and under his direction the Chinese magistrates began to accuse and punish Christians with all the ferocity of inquisitors (a. d. 1746); the numbers of the Christians rapidly decreased ; some were martyred, many apostatized ; and even those who adhered to the faith, deemed it necessary to make a public profession of idolatry. The abolition of the order of Jesuits was a fatal blow to the Romish Church in China; they had served as painters, mathematicians, and mechanics, at court, and had won the respect and confidence of the grandees by their superior intelligence. They 26-2 404 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. were removed from the sphere of their labours just •when their intrigues had excited jealousy, without producing any advantage to their cause. Though there are still Romish missions in China, their churches continue to decline, and those who profess the faith, continue to be objects of suspicion to the government. In all their missionary establishments the Jesuits were remarkable for their hostility to episcopal authority ; and in Europe they showed an earnest anxiety to withdraw their votaries from obedience to the constituted authorities of the Church. Jesuit- ism was in alliance with popery, but the amity of the parties was frequently interrupted, and before Clement XIV. issued his edict for the suppression of the order, several of the j^opes had regarded it with hostility. The edict of Pius, by which the Jesuits were restored, was far from meeting universal approbation in the Romish Church ; several cardinals and bishops vainly interfered to prevent its publica- tion, and in general the continental clergy view the order with great jealousy. Since the bull of restoration was issued, the Jesuits have carefully abstained from taking such a l^rominent jiart in public aflfairs, as would attract attention to their order. They have principally directed their attention to the establishment of seminaries ; they have founded two schools in Great Britain, one at Mount BroAvne, and one at Stony- hurst, both of which arc flourishing establishments. HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 405 In France they have completely failed in their pro- jects for obtaining the chief direction of education, and they have been equally unsuccessful in their efforts to obtain the direction of missions. They are, however, zealously labouring- for the revival of popery, and from all the autheiitic information we have been able to obtain, we think that their efforts have not been wholly without success. At the same time, it must be added, that the Jesuits are contented with a mere nominal conformity, and that their con- verts in Europe, as in China, are only asked to give their adhesion to the Romish Churcli, as if it was merely a form of government. Various anecdotes have been related of the means used to procure such acquiescence ; we have reason to believe that the following deserves implicit credit. About twelve years ago, the Duke and Duchess of Anhalt Cothen were induced to join the Romish Church, and they set to work most vigorously on converting the court, which very dutifully yielded to the strong arguments of the sovereign, except one maid of honour, who adhered most resolutely to the Protestant principles. After some time, a young e-entleman arrived from Vienna at Anhalt Cothen, o to make some stay there, and he pertinaciously exerted himself to win the young lady's affections ; he succeeded, bat when marriage was spoken of, he declared that he was a Roman Catholic, he could not in conscience unite himself to a heretic. After many struggles, the unfortunate young lady, against her 406 HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. conscientious convictions, consented to conform to the Romish Church, but her scruples were still so strong that she fainted, both in making her recanta- tion, and at the first jjrocession she was compelled to attend. When all was over, the lover came to consfratulate her on her liavino- been reconciled to the ancient church, and to assure her that he had paid his addresses to her for the good of her soul, marriage being out of the question, as he was both a priest and a Jesuit ; a fact of which he convinced her, by taking off a smart wig he wore, and showing the tonsure. But within the last three years the progress of the Jesuits in Germany has received a severe check ; many of the Protestants who were perverted have returned to their ancient faith, and within the Romish Church several efforts have been made to reform ecclesiastical discipline, and to secure the inde- pendence of national establishments. Indeed, the most vigorous opponents of the Jesuits on the conti- nent are the Romish prelates ; they dread a return to the yoke of Rome, and they dread still more the supremacy of the dangerous order. There have been some efforts made to extend Romanism, that is, a modification of popery, in England, but all the arts of the Romish emissaries have failed to make any definite impression in this island. They have, how- ever, been more successfully employed in Ireland, as we shall show in the next chapter. It must, however, be remarked here, that popery HISTORY OF THE JESUITS. 407 exists more perfectly in the British islands than in any other portion of Europe. Warned by their defeat in the struggle with the Austrian emperors, the popes have resigned the nomination of bishops, &c., to the continental sovereigns, both Catholic and Protestant. But in England the Romish Church has no legal establishment, and all correspondence between tlie British government and the Holy See is strictly prohibited by law. The pope, therefore, appoints the Romish bishops of Ireland, and the vicars apostolic in this country ; and thus arises the singular anomaly, that the pope's power is greatest in the most Protestant kingdom of Christendom. 408 Chapter XXV. SURVEY OF THE CONDITION OF THE CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. Previous to the English invasion, the Irish enjoyed the advantage of a national church, which the Roman pontiffs were anxious to bring under their sway ; they were unable to effect this object until Henry II. had established his sovereignty. The monarchs of the Plantagenet line, conscious that they held Ireland by virtue of a papal grant, eagerly exerted themselves to procure a general acknow- ledgement of the papal authority as a foundation for their own power, and they were zealously seconded by the Irish bishops, who ranked as princes in the Romish hierarchy, but who, in their national church, were merely spiritual overseers. From these cir- cumstances, popery was completely predominant in Ireland, just when the Reformation began to dawn in England, and it was upheld ])y the whole power of the Crown, the hierarchy, and the aristocracy: the bulk of the nation, comi)letely immersed in ignorance, had no opinions but such as were dictated by its leaders. When Henry VIII. asserted the independence of the English Church, he found the Irish nobles ready to second his efforts ; they exe- CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. 409 cuted indentures, in which they pledged themselves to siipi)ort the royal authority, both in church and state. As these deeds are of considerable import- ance, we shall insert a copy of one, extracted from the Council-book at Dublin Castle. " This Indenture, made on the 26th day of Sep- tember, in the 34th year of the reign of our Sove- reign Lord Henry Eighth, between the Right Ho- nourable Anthony St. Leger, deputy of our Lord the King, on the one part, and the Lord Barry, alias Barrymore, or the Great Barry ; Mac Carty More ; the Lord Roche; Mac Carty Reagh ; Thaddeus M'Cormick, Lord of Muskerry ; Barry Oge, alias the Young Barry; O'Sullivan Beare, captain of his nation ; Donald O'Sullivan, first of his house ; Barry Roe, alias the Red Barry ; Mac Donough of Allow, first of his nation ; Donald O'Callaghan, head of his house ; and Gerald Fitz John, knight, on the other part : — doth witness that the said Lord Barry, &c., do agree, consent, and engage, jointly and sepa- rately, for themselves, their heirs,..successors, assigns, tenants, and followers, that they will hold and per- form all and singular articles, pledges, and condi- tions which are contained, on their parts, in said indenture. " Imprimis. — They, and each of them, do and doth acknowledge the King's JNLajesty aforesaid to be their natural and liege lord ; and will honour, obey, and serve him, and the kings his successors, against all creatures of the universe. And they will accept 410 CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. and hold liis said Majesty, and his successors, as the supreme head on earth, immediately under Christ, of the Church of England and Ireland ; and they will obey or serve his lieutenant or deputy, in this kingdom of Ireland, in all things concerning the service of his said Majesty, or of the kings his suc- cessors. And as far as lieth in their power, jointly or separately, they will annihilate the usurped pri- macy and authority of the Bishop of Rome, and will expel and eradicate all his fovourers, abettors, and partisans ; and will maintain, support, and defend, all persons, spiritual and temporal, who shall be promoted to church benefices or dignities by the King's Majesty, or other rightful patron ; and Avill apprehend, and bring to justice, to be tried according to the laws made, or to be made, in such behalf, all who apply for provision to the Bishop of Rome, or betake themselves to Rome for promotion, &c." These great feudatories imagined that the power which they thus wrested from the prelacy would fall into their hands ; but it was one great object of the Tudor policy to break down the excessive power of the aristocracy. The nobles soon cooled in their attachment to the Reformation, when they found that the new policy would be injurious to their in- terests, and they M^ere thus alienated from the crown at the moment when their aid in effecting a great change was absolutely necessary. In this entire transaction the body of the people took no share ; while the sovereign and the chiefs were arranging CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. 411 preliminaries, the masses were abandoned to the priests, in whose hands they have continued ever since. In this struggle between the power of the sove- reign and that of the nobles, religion was soon for- gotten ; and hence, when Bloody Mary ascended the English throne, the Protestants of Ireland remained safe from persecution. Mary could not venture to destroy the only firm adherents to the English crown in the island ; and the Irish aristocracy, reckless of theological opinions, looked with favour on a party joined with them in opposition to the despotic will of the sovereign. Elizabeth made the fatal error of urging forward ecclesiastical and civil reform at the same moment, by which she doubled and consolidated ojiposition. The reigning pope, Gregory XIII., saw the error, and availed himself of it ; he instigated the Desmond family to raise the standard of revolt, and dreamed of obtaining the kingdom of Ireland for his natural son. When this noble house fell in the struggle, the O'Neills were induced to take up arms "in maintenance of liberty and the Catholic faith;" but O'Neill's ambition disgusted the Anglo-Irish, or, as they were called, the Catholic Lords of the Pale, the Romish councils were divided, and Elizabeth's generals profited by the quarrels of their adversaries to re-establish *tlie authority of their sovereign. In the reign of James I., the forfeiture of the estates belonging to the Ulster Irish opened the way 412 CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. for the establishment of a Protestant colony in the northern provinces; but, at the same time, it greatly increased the hostility of the native Irish to the Reformation. It was held, that the forfeiture of the superior lord included that of all who were his vassals or tenants, and in consequence the Scotch colonists made no scruple in driving them from the lands, which the king divided among the new colo- nies. Anxiety to extend the royal authority led to a severe inquisition into titles in the reigns of James and Charles; dread of losing their estates led the Lords of the Pale to join the Ulster Irish in the great rebellion of 1641 ; a repetition of former disunions enabled Cromwell to triumph over both, and also over tlie Protestant Royalists, though his forces were inferior to any of the three parties. At the restoration, the Act of Settlement con- firmed the grants of land which Cromwell had made, by right of conquest, — the bulk of the property of Ireland became Protestant, while the body of the nation was left stronger in its adherence to the Romish Church, than when the contest began in the reign of Elizal:)eth. Thenceforward the Romish faith in Ireland was identified with the hopes of all whose ancestors had been deprived of their estates in the preceding wars and insurrections ; and hence the attachment to Rome, scarcely perceptible in the reign of Elizabeth, was the great moving jiowcr in the contest l)ctween William III. and James 11. During all these con- CHURCH OP ROME IN IRELAND. 413 tests a serious error was committed by the English : they looked entirely to subduing- the Irish aristo- cracy, and made no effort to gain the Irish people. The priests saw the blunder, and profited by it; they had an advantage whose efficacy the Protestant clergy never properly appreciated : they understood the language of the people : most of the reformed preachers were Englishmen by birth, education, and feeling ; they did not know the peculiar character of the Irish nation, and they, therefore, contended at a fearful disadvantage against men who were acquainted with the habits, the maxims, and the superstitions of an ignorant and excitable population. We have seen that popery, like its offset Jesuit- ism, owes much of its success to its accomodating nature. In the wars of Elizabeth, Charles I., and James II., it was in close alliance with the Irish and Anglo-Irish aristocracy; when those bodies were irretrievably ruined by the wars of the Revolution, popery sought support exclusively from the demo- cracy, and it gained in strength Avliat it lost in splendour. In acquiring this new dominion, the priests were materially aided by two systems appa- rently opposed to each other : the enactment of the penal laws, and their repeal. The penal laws were nominally directed to check the growth of jjoj^ery, but their effect was to prevent the growth of a Romish aristocracy, to change the Irish Romanists into a uniform mob, held together by common dis- qualifications. When this task was accomplished, the 414 CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. Irish Parliament seemed to think its labours complete, and it abandoned all further care of religion. Several of the Protestant bishops perceived this error, and remonstrated ; but the majority of the Irish Pro- testants were descended from the Presbyterians and Independents of Cromwell's days; they never forgot the hatred of their ancestors to prelacy, and they frequently showed jealousy, if not enmity, towards the Established Church. The power of the Romish priests thus extended and increased, until their hierarchy could move the whole body of the pea- santry at pleasure. It is now notorious that, at the moment when the Protestants of Ii-eland believed themselves most secure, every Romish bishop in that country was an emissary of the Pretender, and many of the priests recruiting officers to supply France and Spain with soldiers to contend against the power of England. When the penal laws began to be gradually re- pealed, the earliest concession made was the elective franchise : the immediate result was, that the land- owners ceased to give the preference to a Protestant tenantry which they had previously exhibited, and granted their farms to those who offered the highest rent. The Protestant farmers were habituated to a higher degree of comfort than the Romish peasantry; they were unable to compete with them in the market for land, and multitudes of them emigrated to America, which was then on the eve of a revo- lution. Thus the Protestant Church was suddenly CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. 415 Weakened by the loss of the greater part of the country i^opiilation, while the Romish priests gained control over the rising industry of the country. The Protestants of the middle classes still retained the ascendancy in the towns, but Ireland w^as and is an agricultural rather than a manulficturing country, and it was evident that the towns must daily receive infusions from the country, which would gradually change the character of the population. The pro- cess was at first slow, but it has recently proceeded with alarming rapidity, and it is not difficult to discover the causes of the acceleration. A great change has been wrought in the character of the Irish priesthood, since the establishment of the Romish college at IVIaynooth ; one of the most dangerous institutions ever sanctioned by a govern- ment. Previous to the French Revolution the Irish Romanists were obliged to seek for education on the continent ; travelling, and the habit of mixing with foreign society, removed many of their super- stitions, softened their manners, and abated those prejudices against English rule, which were fostered by local traditions. Many persons now alive can remember the time when the Romish priest was a welcome guest at the Protestant table, when he was the friend of the landlord as well as the tenant, and when experience of foreign despotism taught him to value the blessings of British institutions. But the state of the continent, towards the close of the last century, 416 CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. induced the British minister to devise a plan for the domestic education of the Irish priesthood, and, in an evil hour, he adopted Dr. Hussey's plan for the establishment of Maynooth. The Rev. Dr. Hussey had won Mr. Pitt's con- fidence by his adroitness in the management of some delicate negotiations with the court of Madrid ; he was a man of considerable talent, and boundless ambition, and he eagerly embraced an opportunity for securing to the Romish Church in Ireland a permanent basis. It was at first proposed that the system of education for the Romish priests should form a part of the Irish University, to which dis- senters of every grade are admissible, either by founding a second college, or by superadding a faculty of Romish theology to the existing insti- tution. Many circumstances concurred to defeat this project, which, perhaps, was capable of being so modified as to be made wholly unobjectionable ; Dr. Hussey took advantage of the crisis, and secured his great object, that the establishment at Maynooth should be exclusive, and, consequently, that its entire system of discipline should be under the guidance and control of the Romish hierarchy. There was, indeed, a reservation for an annual visitation, by persons holding high judicial station ; but the visitors can only know the letter of the laws for the govern- ment of the institution, the spirit of their admini- stration must manifestly he guided by the resident CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. 417 directors. The actual effect of education at May- nooth will be best understood by the following sketch of the ordinary history of an Irish j^riest. Candidates for the priesthood are usually found in the lower grade of the middle ^ass ; they are the sons of petty shopkeepers, and humble farmers. When a boy of such a family displays any aptitude for learning, he is at once placed in a new situation, and marked out from his brothers and sisters, as one destined to the sacred order. The reverence shown him by his companions exalts his spiritual pride, and rivets every prejudice firmly in his mind. Pro- testants of the same rank refuse to join in the homage paid to the young aspirant, and hence his self-opinion is wounded, so that from the very starting-post he acquires a dislike of them and their religion. His education is rigidly exclusive; he learns a little Latin and a great deal of bigotry; he must submit implicitly to the dictates of the order to which he will hereafter belong,— -for recommenda- tions to Maynooth can only be obtained by a tried submission and attachment to the ordinances and observances of the Romish Church. By the time that the young aspirant has completed his prepara- tory course, he has been trained to regard the priesthood as the highest dignity attainable by human ambition, and he has learned that his future interests will be best promoted by maintaining and propagating such an opinion. 27 418 CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. At Maynootli lie is subjected to a system of monastic discipline, which it is scarcely credible could exist in the nineteenth century. The students are not allowed to converse, meet together, or enjoy any relaxation, without the permission of a superior, which is rarely asked, and still more rarely accorded ; lectures are read to them during their meals, and they are compelled to give proofs of attention to them ; no books or papers are allowed to be read that have not previously been sanctioned by the collegiate authorities; dress, diet, and even sleep, are subject to minute regulations, which are all strictly enforced. The course of study in classics and science is very meagre, and there is good reason to believe that in this department omission is not only tolerated but encouraged. Dogmatic theology is the main object of study, and the chief intellectual discipline is to brandish the weapons of scholastic logic. Such is the mechanical drill to wdiicli the spiritual militia of the Romish Church in Ireland is subjected, and it must be confessed that human ingenuity could scarcely have devised better means for making it effective. The priest quits college with all the prejudices of his youth strengthened, and darkened besides by the superstitious gloom which such a course of education necessarily produces. lie is sent to take charge of a flock at a distance from his native place, in order that the remembered meanness of his origin should CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. 419 not weaken his sacerdotal authority, and he enters on his charge with a hatred of Protestantism which every circumstance of his life tends to increase. Ignorance of the usages of jiolite society excludes him from mixing with the higher ranks, and pride limits his intercourse with the Inferior classes. To exalt his order necessarily becomes the chief object of his ambition ; his whole energies are directed to acquire spiritual sway and political power. We can now see that the interference of the priests in Irish elections is the necessary result of their position, and that the influence they exercise is matured by all the circumstances of their birth and education. It only remains to examine how popery, under such circumstances, has come to be allied with democracy, and by what means spiritual despotism is linked with the wildest schemes for political freedom. This alliance formed a part of the great scheme devised by Dr. Hussey, when he prevailed upon Mr. Pitt to establish Maynooth ; it consisted of two parts, to make the priests masters of the people, and the people masters of the empire. The former object has been pretty well attained: the lower ranks of the Romanists feel a personal interest in maintaining the character of the priesthood, because they know that their children may aspire to fill its ranks ; the priests take advantage of the feeling to strengthen and extend their sacerdotal claims, and to exaggerate the importance of the rites which they alone can administer: the latter 27-2 420 CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. part of the plan appeared at one time more difficult of execution, but recent events have shown that an organized populace can prevail at an election over property and station. Indeed, a Romish prelate, Dr. Mac Hale, is reported to have said that he could return a cow-boy for the important county of Gal way. There is not an election, in which we do not find instances of the priests threatening that they would withhold the rites of their church from those who voted for a conservative candidate. We shall quote a few specimens, from the Parliamentary Report on Intimidation, of these sacerdotal denunciations, giving a reference to the number of each answer cited. Priest Falvery threatened that he would neither baptize, nor christen, nor perform the rites of the Church to a man named Connor, who had promised to vote for the Knight of Kerry. (11,852.) Father Walsh said, at Borrischapel, "that any one who voted for Kavanagh and Bruen should be refused all religious rites, and so run the risk of everlasting punishment." (11,094.) Father John O'Sullivan said at the altar, " that any one who would vote for the Knight of Kerry, he would not prepare him for death, but he would let him die like a beast, neither would he baptize his children. (11,990.) He told them he would be under moral excommunication ; he vowed to heaven he would look upon that person who would become an apostate to his religion in a CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. 421 milder light than he would that traitor mIio would vote for the Kuight of Kerry." (12,013.) In every chapel in county Kerry, except three, the priests warned the people to vote for the popular candidate, on imin of being held as eiiemyss to their religion. (4G59.) In county Carlow, Bishop Nolan addressed a circular to his clergy, calling on them to exert themselves in behalf of the Catholic candidates. (5050 and 11,587.) At Clonmel, one of the priests went to an elector, and asked him, " Would he not vote for his God and his religion — would he not vote for his priest, who, on his death-bed, would administer to him the rites of his Church?" (5277.) In county "^^^aterford, Bishop Abraham encouraged his clergy to promote the opposition to the Pro- testant candidates. (5347-8.) At Cashel, the priest threatened Mr. Pennefather's tenants "with the deprivation of the rites of their religion ; that he would melt them off the face of the earth ; that he would put the sickness on them ; that they should not dare to vote as they liked, but as he liked ; that if they did, the grass should grow at their door," wiping his boots there at the same time. (5451.) At Clonmel, " not only," says Mr. Wilcock, " did the priests of the town interfere, but all the priests from the adjacent parishes ; one of them stated that he would turn any of his flock who voted for Mr. Bagwell into a serpent." (5525.) " In Meath, Monaghan, and Louth," says Mr. JNIuIlen, an agitator, " the Roman Catholic priests were members of the 422 CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. political clubs." (8450.) Mr. Lalor tells us that he was in the habit of addressing the people in the chapel-yard on Sunday, accompanied by the priest, {]). 329.) In county Carlow, at the husting's, " every priest in the county," says a witness, " was collected ; as the electors did not know Mr. Wallace, they would point their attention to him, and to the placard mentioning his name and Blackney ; and I have seen many of them in the booths, making- un- seemly ^-estures towards those who voted against them. On many occasions the deputy-sheriff threat- ened to call the attention of the sheriff to their conduct in the booths." (11,161.) Father Maher sent for Mrs. Burgess to the vestry-room in the chapel, and there used all his spiritual power to in- duce her to work uiDon her husband (a Protestant) to make him vote for Mr. Vigors. This is stated by Mr. Burgess, in a letter to the Roman Catholic Bishop Nolan, zvho did not condemn Father MaJicr. (p. 642.) Priest Kehoe addressed the people from the altar of his chapel ; said every man who did not vote with them he should denounce " as a renegade and apostate ;" held up one who voted against them as a "hypocritical apostate seduced by Satan, who had bartered his soul, his country, and his God, for money ; told them not to do this, but to be true to their souls, their country, and their God." (11,315.) "In Carlow, the Roman Catholic priests of each parish brought in the freeholders in procession." (11,456.) CHURCH OF ROME IN IRELAND. 423 The unfortunate man who ventured to despise such energetic commands would soon find himself in a worse condition than an Indian Pariah, shunned by his neighbours, reproached by his family, deserted by his friends, left alone to bear the stings and arrow with which gloomy superstition assails the bosoms of the ignorant. It is not sur- prising that the landowners have wholly failed in the contest with such influence, and that the priests virtually possess full one-half of the representation of Ireland. Their policy is not directed to support the power of the Pope, or of the Court of Rome : its great aim is to make their hierarchy a political order of the State, or rather to make the priesthood su- preme. That they have succeeded to a considerable extent is certain ; but we doubt whether their real advantage is quite so great as their apparent, — in fact, we think that the structure which they labour to raise contains within it the elements of self- destruction, and must fall into ruins. From the account we have given of the general character of the Romish priesthood in Ireland, it is manifest that they are elevated neither by education nor position above the influence of popular passions and vulgar prejudices, — indeed, every successful exertion of their power has been in direct accord- ance with both. Tliey are now demagogues as well as priests, and the more they make the former cha- racter prominent, the more is the moral influence of the latter weakened. They have more than once 424 CIIURCPI OF ROME IN IRELAND. been taught to succumb to the popular violence which they have themselves excited : Captain Rock's tariff attacks the priests' dues as well as the parsons' tithes. Moreover, the personal influence of the priest over his flock is sensibly diminishing ; he may concentrate and guide turbulent passions at an election, or in raising the outcry of bigotry against scriptural education ; but he cannot build his chapel in the spot best suited to his own conveni- ence, or the interests of his favourites ; the Romish diocesan dares not remove a popular curate : in anxiety to court popular favour, the Romish hierarchy has placed its own constitution and discipline at the mercy of the multitude. There is, in fact, a general revolt of the flocks against the Romish shepherds, which the present political excitement adjourns, but does not allay ; and we see no reason to doubt that the diffusion of sound education \\iU, in Ireland, as elsoAvhere, lead to the overthrow of a delusion which commenced in imposture, and has only been main- tained by ignorance. In every part of the world monastic institutions are becoming unpopular ; though the disclosures of criminality in convents, recently puldished, are oi)en to susi)icion, there is no doubt entertained of the demoralizing influence of enforced celibacy : even in Spain and Portugal the monasteries are regarded with suspicion, if not of hostility. But it was to these institutions that popery was indebted for its success : it was by the influence of the various orders CHURCH OF KOME IN IRELAND. 425 of monks and friars that the popes were able to crush the independence of national churches. A very slight glance at the state of the continent will shoAv that the different churches of France, Austria, Spain, and even Italy, are da^ly becoming more national, and less subject to foreign influence. The Romish Church in Ireland would have been severed from the Holy See, or else divided into hostile sec- tions, had not political events forced upon its members a conviction of the expediency of remain- ing united. To conclude, we think that the elements of reformation are at work within the Church of Rome, and that as peace affords opportunity for their development, they will continually becojne stronger and more energetic, until they work out the full restoration of primitive Christianity. 426 Chapter XXVII. HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION. In the preceding chapters of this work we have noticed the first estabhshment of the Inquisition, after the conquest of the Albigenses, and shown its connexion with the political system of Poj)ery ; but in one part of Euroj^e the Inquisition rose to such a formidable height of power, that it may be almost regarded as an independent institution, an ally rather than a servant of the papacy. It seems, therefore, necessary to make the history of the Spanish Inquisition the subject of a separate chapter, because in its origin, constitution, and management, it was peculiar to the peninsula. The new, or Spanish, Inquisition, was established by Ferdinand the Catholic, a. d. 1481 ; the objects against which it was directed were the forced con- verts from Judaism, whose vast Avealth tempted avarice far more than their supposed errors provoked bigotry. The first step of the inquisitors was to draw up a code of tests by which concealed Judaism might be detected ; the articles were very numerous, and descended to the most minute particulars of the Jewish customs ; for instance, a person became obnoxious to the new tribunal if, on the death of a friend or relative, " he uttered a discourse in praise HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION. 427 of the dead, or recited melancholy verses, — if he sate behind the door as a sign of grief, — if he confined himself one year to the house after the death of any person, to prove the sincerity of his sorrow." These tests were multiplied in order to. persuade Isabella of the great extent of secret Judaism, for that enlightened queen long resisted the establishment of the holy office. So many victims were sentenced to be burned in the very first year, that the prefect of Seville was forced to construct a stone scaffold for the executions, which may still be seen near that city. On this scaffold were erected four statues of plaster, called the four prophets, to which the con- demned were fastened, or, as some think, in which they were enclosed, and then put to death by linger- ing tortures. Torquemada was soon after appointed inquisitor- general of Spain, and he prepared a code of laws for the regulation of the tribunal, which has no parallel in the annals of barbarity ; every encourage- ment was afforded to spies and informers, the use of secret torture was strictly enjoined, the accused were deprived of every chance of refuting the charges brought against them, and any act of humanity from the gaoler to a prisoner was declared a crime of the highest magnitude. The popes did not discourage a system which proved the source of immense profits from the numbers who sought bulls of absolution and protection at Rome ; but the Spanish inquisitors, indignant at the escape of their victims, severely 428 HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION. re2">robated the facility with which these bulls were accorded by the successors of St. Peter. Deza, who was chosen to succeed Torquemada as chief inquisitor, extended the persecution from the suspected Jews to the descendants of the Moors, who had continued in Granada after the great bulk of the nation had been expelled by Ferdinand. During his administration of eight years, we find in the records of Seville, that two thousand five hun- dred and ninety-two persons were burned alive, eight hundred and ninety-six who escaped were burned in effigy, and thirty-four thousand nine hundred and fifty-two condemned to different penances. The celebrated Cardinal Ximenes was the suc- cessor of Deza; he endeavoured, in some degree, to mitigate the severity of the Inquisition, but he was unable to restrain the ferocious bigotry of his asso- ciates, and during the eleven years of his administra- tion, more than fifty thousand persons Avere con- demned to various punishments, of whom three thousand five hundred and sixty-four were burned alive. Fresh activity was infused into the inquisitors by the preaching of the Reformation : Don Alphonso Manriquez, the fifth inquisitor-general, issued an edict prohibiting the introduction of the works of Luther into Spain, under very severe penalties. All books of heresy and sorcery Mere ordered to be burned ; and such M-as the ignorance of the fanatics wlio presided over the execution of this edict, that HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION. 429 they caused several Hebrew bibles to be burned at Salamanca, as books which inculcated the tenets of Judaism ! The writings of Erasmus very narrowly escaped from this prohibition; some of them, however, were wholly forbidden, and it was recommended that the rest should be read with great caution. The rigid examination to which the accused were subjected, when the progress of the reformed doc- trines began to alarm the papal zealots, may be estimated by the process-verbal of the torture of Salas, who had been accused of blasphemy. Salas denied the charge, and the inquisitor Moriz sentenced him to the torture. The following extract is taken the official account of his examination: — "At Valladolid, on the 11th of June, 1527, the licentiate Moriz, inquisitor, caused the licentiate Salas to a^ipear before him, and the sentence was read and notified to him. After the reading, the said licentiate Salas declared that he had not said that of which he ivas accused] and the said licentiate Moriz immediately caused him to be led to the chamber of torture, where, being stripped to his shirt, he was placed upon the rack, to which the execu- tioner, Pedro Porras, fastened him by the arms and legs with cords of hemp, of which he made eleven turns round each limb ; Salas, during the time that the said Pedro was thus binding him, was warned to speak the truth, but persevered in the former reply. The said Salas being still tied as before mentioned, a fine wet cloth was put over his face, and about a 430 HISTORY OP THE INQUISITION. pint of water was poured into his mouth and nostrils, from an earthen vessel with a hole at the bottom, containing about two quarts; nevertheless, he dill persisted in denying the accusation. Then Pedro tightened the cords on the right leg, and poured a second measure of water on the face ; the cords were tightened a second time on the same leg, but Salas still jJersevered in his denial. Then the said licentiate Moriz, having declared that the toeture was BEGUN, BUT NOT FINISHED, Commanded that it should cease." That the reader may fully understand this begin- ning of torture, it is necessary to know the instru- ment, or rack, called by the Spaniards escalera, which was used on this occasion. It is formed like a groove, large enough to hold the body of a man, without a bottom, but it is crossed by a stick, over which the body falls in such a manner that the feet are much higher than the head ; and the mere weight of the wretched sufferer produces such a pressure on the cords, even before they are tightened by mechanical means, that they often cut into the bone. In such a state respiration is very difficult, but it was ren- dered nearly impossible by the exquisite cruelty of the wet cloth, and the dripping of water into the mouth and nostrils. Finally, we may mention that Salas, in the end, was partially acquitted, and set at large, on the condition of performing public penance, and paying a moderate fine. Notwithstanding these severities Lutheranism was HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION. 431 secretly propagated in Spain ; and it was even asserted that the emperor, Charles V., had swerved from orthodoxy after his abdication. Philip II., the most gloomy bigot that ever disgraced a throne, consulted the Grand Inquisitor Valdes, and on the application of both, a bull was obtained from Rome, consigning to destruction not only dogmatising Lutherans, obstinate in error, but even those who had returned to the Church, if they had exhibited equivocal signs of repentance. Immense numbers were arrested, and an auto dafe, celebrated at Valladolid, in which the more obstinate were burned, and the remainder admitted to reconciliation, on performing penance. This horrible scene was displayed in the grand square of Valladolid, May 21st, 1559, in the pre- sence of the prince Don Carlos, the princess Juana, and the principal grandees of Spain. In the same year, also, an auto da fe was celebrated at Seville, in which twenty-one Lutherans were burned, some of whom were ladies of the highest rank. In the following year an auto da fe, in which fourteen persons were burned, was also celebrated in Seville. Among the victims was an Englishman named Nicholas Burton, who had come to Spain as captain of a merchant vessel ; the inquisitors confis- cated the ship and cargo, and there is some reason to suspect that the sentence of condemnation was in some degree dictated by avarice. During the following ten years at least one auto da fe was annually celebrated in Spain ; and there is no doubt 432 HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION. that many of the victims were innocent persons, denounced merely from spite and malice. During the Austrian dynasty in Spain, auto da fes were of frequent occurrence, but the Inquisition seems to have fallen in public estimation, having become an engine of state policy. When the Bourbon family acquired the throne in the person of Philip v., that monarch's accession was cele- brated by an auto dafe, which he refused to witness. But his repugnance to the system was soon over- come; and during his reign of forty-six years, no less than seven hundred and eighty-two of these atrocious spectacles were exhibited in Spain, in which fourteen thousand and sixty-six individuals underwent various degrees of punishment. In the reign of Ferdinand VI. (from 1746 to 1759) there was no general auto da fe, but ten per- sons were burned who had relapsed into Judaism. During the reigns of Charles III. and IV. only ten persons were condemned, four of whom were burned, and fifty-six individuals subjected to penances. About this time freemasonry began to attract the notice of the inquisitors, and they denounced severe penalties against all members of secret societies; but though many were accused, the tribunals readily permitted the suspected to renounce the charge pri- vately, or to compromise the accusation. The Inquisition was abolished in 1813 by the Spanish Cortes, and restored in the following year by Ferdinand VII., but no auto dafe was celebrated HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION. 433 during its renewed existence. It is now formally abolished; but Don Carlos, who claims the crown of Spain, is pledged to the restoration of this formidable tribunal, and it is on -this account that he is so zealously supported by the monks and friars. The last victim of the Inquisition '^vas a nun, Avho was burned on the charge of having made a compact with the devil. She suffered on the 7tli of No- vember, 1781. Llorente, from whose History of the Spanish In- quisition, compiled out of its own records, we have derived most of the details we have recorded, gives the following table of the number of victims who were punished by the Holy Office, during the period of its power, from 1481 to 1781: — Burned alive 31,912 Burned in effigy . . . .17 659 Condemned to severe penances . . 291,450 Total number of victims . . 341,021 Although the Inquisition Avas introduced into the Spanish colonies of South America by the laws of Philip II., the Holy Office was never so formidable there as in the mother-country. Though some of the ecclesiastics who accompanied the first adven- turers stimulated them to slaughter the helpless natives as idolaters and enemies of God, the suc- ceeding missionaries taught more humane doctrines, and zealously laboured to propagate the knowledge of Christianity by the simple arts of persuasion. 28 424 HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION. Valverde, indeed, stimulated Pizarro to murder the innocent Peruvians, because the Inca Atahualpa threw doMii the breviary, in utter ignorance of its meaning or contents ; but this was a sudden burst of fanaticism, or rather of avarice, for the historians declare that long before Valverde gave the signal, the cupidity of the Spaniards was stimulated l)y the sio'ht of the rich dresses of the Peruvians, and that they could with difficulty be restrained from making an assault, until some pretext for perfidy could be devised by tlie artful priest. From the time of the conquest of Peru, the ecclesiastics, both secular and regular, became the protectors of the Indians, and were their only protection against the hardships and exactions to which they were exposed by the colonists. Though the Inquisition has been formally abo- lished, its spirit is still preserved in countries where Pomanism maintains extensive sway. The priests in Ireland exercise the discretionary power of naming from the altar any person suspected of failing in reverence or attachment to the faith; and the person thus pointed out as a mark for popular odium is sure to endure manifold persecutions, and his life is not unfrequently endangered. 435 Chapter XXVIT. THE CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF LEGENDS IN THE ROMISH CHURCH. In the j^receding chapters we have shown that popery was a distinct principle introduced into the Romish Church, the consequence of antecedent cot- ruptions, and the prohfic parent of subsequent abuses. The distinction between Romanism and popery is sufficiently evident : in the former system the su- premacy of the Church as an ecclesiastical body is sought to be established; in the latter, everything is made subservient to investing individuals with poli- tical power. Hence we find the monastic orders invariably supporting the papal system, and eagerly joining the Roman pontiffs in subverting the inde- pendence of the European churches. The means by which the monks and friars Avere enabled to effect their objects naturally require some brief notice, and we find that these were appeals to the passions and prejudices of the lower orders, an affected sympathy with the peasantry, and the in- vention of countless legends, eagerly received by a credulous multitude, all of which had a direct ten- dency to exalt the character of the monastic orders, and represent their voluntary austerities as pur- chasing the peculiar fkvour of heaven. This system, however, was neither an original nor 28-2 436 • LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. a recent invention ; from the earliest ages it has prevailed in the centre and the south of Asia ; the blasphemous notion of compelling Omnipotence to accord his favour by voluntary mortifications and extraordinary sacrifices, meets us in every form of eastern superstition. Indeed, so great is the simi- larity between the monastic institutions of popery and those of Buddhism, that the Jesuit missionaries, after having vainly endeavoured to derive the latter from the former, gravely asserted that Buddhism was devised by the devil as a kind of anticipatory parody on Christianity! After the Jewish captivity the practice of extra- ordinary penances and austerities was introduced into Judaea by the Essenes ; thence it passed into Egypt, and was finally received with favour in the Latin Church, when the corrupt pontiffs discovered the influence of the system over an ignorant people. It must not, however, be forgotten that monachism was advocated by many of the Fathers, such as Tertullian, St Augustine, and, above all, St. Jerome, but their general declamations refer rather to indi- vidual observances, than to organized bodies of monks. The first great object of the monkish legends is to exalt the monastic orders, and for this purpose they unscrupulously ascribe to their j^atrons and founders the power of working miracles on the most trifling occasions. Many of these miracles are blasphemous parodies on those of our blessed Lord ; LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 437 not a few are borrowed from the pagan mythology, but some are so exquisitely absurd, that no one but a monk could have dreamed of imposing such non- sense on the most besotted of mankind. Take, for instance, the following strange story in the life of St. Dominic. St. Dominic laboured, read, j^rayed, and medi- tated incessantly. The devil, though exceedingly jealous of the eminent virtues of the holy man, allowed him rest during the day, but played him a thousand mischievous tricks when night came on. One imp, named Casbi, was particularly employed to plague Dominic; and when the saint was engaged in reading religious books, used to annoy him by blowing out the candle. Dominic long endured the trick with patience; but, at length, Casbi having extinguished the light while he was studying the Scripture, Dominic got vexed, and said, "Master Casbi, as you put out the candle for your pleasure, you shall hold it for mine, until I have finished my reading." The da}mon was compelled to obey, and to hold the candle until it burned down, and severely scorched his claws. Even then he was not per- mitted to let it go, though he howled Avith pain, until the saint believed that he had been sufficiently punished for his former impudence. In a life of St. Bernard, published at Antwerp in 1655, we find a still more Mliimsical story, sup- ported by a host of vouchers for its authenticity. " St. Bernard was once travellino- in a cart on 438 LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. some pious errand ; the devil, afraid that some souls mig'lit be rescued from his clutches, broke the wheel of the cart, and tumbled the saint into a 1 ditch. Bernard, however, immediately sprung up, I and commanded the insolent fiend to bend hiniself into a circular form, and take the place of the broken wheel. He then continued his journey ; and as his course lay over a very rugged and rocky road, the fiend received so many bruises and wounds, that the \ chronicler avers, he will not recover from them I durina: the course of his life." In the work from which we quote {Medulla vHcb S. Bernardi), this '. edifying history is illustrated by a spirited engraving of the scene, in Avhicli full justice is done to the' , contortions of the devil, when forced to serve as a \ chariot-wheel for the saint. It will readily be believed that such puerile legends as the two we have quoted could only impose on the lowest of mankind; but we more than doubt that these, and similar legends, cease to invented. To say nothing of Prince Ilohenlohe's miracles, and of the child killed by an insane priest, in the county of Wexford, while under the process of exorcism, there is no person intimately acquainted with the peasantry in the south of Ireland, who has not heard from them legends equally absurd, which are received with the most implicit credit. One of these, related to the writer by a peasant, who, by the way, was disposed to resent his in- credulity very roughly, may be mentioned as an example. Iro- pertv, reiu.sed to receive the money; but Francis flung it, as if it Merc mere trash, at his feet, and Avent his wav. LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 441 It soon appeared that the priest's suspicions were not without foundation ; the father of the saint, fear- ing that the pious liberality of Francis might lead to bankrnptcY, had him arrested and brought to trial before the bishop. Francis strijj])ed himself naked in the presence of the assembly, renounced his father and his paternal inheritance, covered himself with an old Ijlanket, which he fastened round his waist Avith a cord, — a custom still observed by tli e Franciscan monastics, — and having placed an old hood on his head, proceeded in this guise to preach in the streets and highAvays. A similar insanity seized on many others of various ranks, aaIio eagerly proclaimed themselves his discij^les. Among the most illustrious of his followers was St. Clare, who founded an order of nuns, with rules so rigid, that they forbade any attention to cleanliness or decency. The austerities ascribed to St. Francis are pre- cisely those which are still practised by the eastern ascetics, — another proof of the Indian origin of mo- nachism ; indeed, he seems to have been in some degree a believer in the metempsychosis, for he re- fused to kill the most noxious vermin ; and he preached to birds, to fishes, to sheej>, and to horses. He even called animals, plants, and the elements, his brethren. The birds were i)articularly charmed with his kindness : they caressed him, sung to him, and were silent when he commanded them. But we find that even fire Mas obedient to the saint. 442 LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. .' He was once seized with a severe pain in the eyes, and the physician he consulted deemed it necessary to apply the actual cautery. Francis, addressing the heated steel, said, " Brother fire, be so kind as . to abate your heat, and burn me so gently, that I \ may not feel the pain." The ol^edient fire at once i yielded to his request. At another time Francis / was preaching in the open air, when a donkey in a ^] neighbouring field brayed so loud and so long, that not a word of the sermon could be heard. " Bro- ther ass," said the saint, " keep quiet, and permit me to preach." Whereupon the donkey knelt down, placed its head between its legs, and gave a remark- able example of earnest attention to the rest of the congregation. But a donkey was not the only animal M'hich St. Francis found willing to listen to reason. There was a wolf, which kept an entire city in alarm by its strength and ferocity ; scarce a day elapsed in which an inhabitant was not wounded or killed. Francis went in search of tlie marauder, and having found him in his lair, said, " Brother wolf, if you will pro- mise me to abstain from mischief, the inhabitants of the town A^ill supply you regularly with food." The wolf made signs with his head that he desired nothing better. " Give me your promise," said the saint. The wolf, in the most polite manner, held out his right fore-paw, and shook the hand of the saint as a pledge of the bargain. They returned together to the city ; and Francis, having collected a crowd, LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 443 tliiis spoke to the assembly : " Christian friends, my brother, the wolf, whom you see before you, has repented of the error of his ways, and will live henceforth in peace, if you supply him with daily food, according to an agreement for which I stand pledged." The multitude with ^ne accord declared that the wolf should want for nothing. The saint continued, " Now, brother wolf, will you faithfully keep your promise ?" The wolf fell upon his knees, and placing his paw upon his heart, seemed to pledge his honour to the bargain. The animal survived two years, during which he patiently went for his food from door to door, and lived in peace, not only with the citizens, but with all the dogs in his neigh- bourhood. St. Francis, however, was not alone in subduing wolves; we find that these animals were equally obedient to St. Clare. It is recorded that a wolf ran away with a young girl who was sleeping by the side of an old woman ; the latter, on waking, dis- covered the fate of her companion, and loudly invoked the aid of St. Clare. " Impudent beast !" said the girl to the wolf, " do you dare to detain me after the aid of so powerful a saint has been invoked ?" The wolf, filled with terror, dropped the child, and ran to hide itself in the forest. But though St. Francis showed such a tender care for well-behaved animals, he did not hesitate u punish those who were guilty of impropriety. There was a stupid sow which killed a little lamb by its 444 LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. awkwardness, and the saint cursed tlie ])rute, upon which it began to wither away, and within three days died in such a state that the most hungry per- son wouki not venture to use its flesh. Francis was still more severe on women, who interrujDted his sermons by noise and chattering. On one occasion, an impudent woman began jingling a tambourine in the midst of his i^reaching, and though warned to desist, persevered in disturbing the congregation. Upon this the saint exclaimed, " Satan, Satan, take what is thine own !" and the woman, lifted up into the air by some invisible power, disappeared, and was never again seen upon earth. The most remarkable miracle in the life of St. Francis is his stigmatization, in commemoration of which Paul V., by a bull issued in the year 1616, appointed a festival to be annually celebrated. St. Francis declared that Jesus Christ aj^peared to him in a vision, and imprinted copies of his five wounds on the body of the saint ; who, from that time, acquired the name of the Seraphic Doctor. Bulls, confirming the authenticity of this blasphemous absurdity, were issued by Popes Gregory IX., Alex- ander IV., Nicholas III., Nicholas IV., Benedict XI., and, as we have already said, Paul V. Tlie authors of the Franciscan Martyrology add that the body of tlir saint remains to this day untouched by the ualuial process of decay, erect u])on its feet, with the eyes open and fixed upon heaven, and the wounds retaining' all their freshness. LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 445 They add that it was seen by a host of witnesses previous to the sixteenth century, l)ut that the crypt lias since been closed by Divine agency, and will not be again opened until the day of the resur- rection. We find a strange and even more blasphemous account of St. Francis in the legend of St. Dominic, which has furnished Ruljens with a subject for ene of his most celebrated paintings. Whilst St. Domi- nic was one night praying at Rome, he saw, with his waking eyes, the heavens open, and Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand of God. Suddenly, the Son rose in liis anger to sweep all sinners from the earth, and exterminate the workers of iniquity. He stood erect on the clouds, terrible to behold, brand- ishing three lances against the world : the first of these was to transfix the necks of the proud, the second to pierce the hearts of the covetous, and the third to cleave through those who indulged the lusts of the flesh. An end would have been put to the whole human race, had not the Virgin Mother cast herself at the feet of her son, and begged him to spare those whom he had redeemed, and to temper justice with mercy. To her the Son replied, " Do you not see what wrongs are perpetrated against me ? My justice does not permit such crimes to pass unpunished." Then the Virgin Mother answered, "Thou who knowest all things must be aware that there are means to withdraw them from the error of their 44G LEGENDS OP THE KOMISH CHURCH. ways ; I have a faithful serrant, whom thou niayest send into the world to proclaim thy will, and sinners shall be turned to thee, the Saviour of all ; I have also another servant, Avhom I will «ive as an assistant to him, that they may work together." The Son said, " Lo ! I am appeased ; but show me those whom you destine for so high an office." Then the Blessed Mother showed St. Dominic to Jesus Christ, and the Lord said to his mother, " He will well and zealously perform \vhat you have promised." She then i:)resented St. Francis, with whom also the Lord expressed himself satisfied. St. Dominic very attentively scanned the features of his appointed fellow-labourer, whom he had not previously known. On the next day he recognised in a church the jDcrson whom he had seen in the vision of the preceding night, and rushing into his embraces, said, " Thou art my companion, Avith me shalt thou run thy course ; we will stand together, and no adversary shall prevail against us." He then related his vision, and the two saints became one heart and one spirit in the Lord. The miracles attributed to the Irish saints arc even more extravagant than those in the continental martyrologies. We find St. Patrick performing the miracle of raising the dead to life no less than seven- teen times, and on one occasion he restores animation to thirty-four persons at once. Gerald, Bishop of Mayo, however, surpassed St. Patrick, for he not only resuscitated the dead daughter of the King of LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 447 Cohnaiioht, but miraculously changed her sex, that she might inherit the crown of the province, in which the Salic law was then established. One of the most singular Irish legends of saints is related in a hymn for the service commemorating its hero ; we insert the original, Avith a clever trans- lation, i^ublished in a popular periodical : — Lucerase uova specula lUustratur Hiberiiia ; Coruscat Meklis insula Tauta lucis prseseiitia. Ilia misit Fiacrium Ha?c missum lialjet radium Habeut commuue gaudium Hkc patreni ilia filium. Ad vitam solitariam Suspirans, exit patriam; Favonem Meklis reperit Cui suum votuiu aperit: Hunc loco solitario Locat ill solo proprio; Fit Joaniii similis Cultor deserti stcrilis. Dum locum signat baculo Novo nemus mlraculo, Tanquam csesum dejicitur, Hume non fossa ciugitur. Sic saiicti viri meritum Loci dilatat ambitum ; Res innotescit fueminiB Accusat ut do crimine : Damiiat opus malefici Diffamat artem magici ; PriBsentandus hie prsesidi Lassus insedit lapidi ; Lapis cedit iiec cteditur, Petrce sedes iuseulpitur, foemiuse nequitia Petra major duritia. Ilibernia to lier constellation Of saints has got a bright accession, Whose shilling light adonis our story, And clothes the banks of Marne with glory. For 'twas Hibeniia hither sent us, The good Fiacre to content us ; Whence she and we rejoice together, She in a son, we in a father. To lead a hermit's life intending, He from his home in sorrow wending. To our good bishop did apply him, Who studying how to gratify him, Far in a forest unfrequented A hermitage to him presented; A place for penitent the aptest, Indeed a desert for John Bai^tist. Here while with 's staff he traced his meaning. The woods (some angel's hatchet cleaving) Fell down, as if before the woodman, And left a garden for the good man. While thus on heavenly aid depending, Fiacre was his bounds extending, A wicked wife, who heard the clamour. Declared it all the work of glamour. She raised the hideous cry of witch up, And down upon him brought the bishop ; Meanwhile the Saint, such \\'oe oppressed him, Sat down upon a stone to rest him. His sacred seat the stone indented. And left its holy mark imprinted. Whereby that hussy 'twas evinced on, That woman's heart's more hard than whinstone. 448 LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. Orat ne locL iutret limlua Wherefore he prayed to God to hear him, Imnnmisunquamullafiemina: And plague all women who came near him; Htfic est causa cur foemince Which is the reason that to enter Arcentur ejus limine. His blessed gates, no she may venture. Hie miseris refugium, But here the weakly and the weary Imprimis refrigerium, Of the male sex may safely tarry; Peregrinis hospitium, Here's entertainment for the stranger, Spes lapsis, mcestis gaudium. And rest for all in grief or danger. Vitam aretat jejunio His days he shortened much by fasting Somno brevi, cilicio By hair-cloth shirts and vigils wasting, Se dum occultat latebris But all the more he strove to hide him, Mundo fit magis Celebris. The more all just men glorified him. Virtutem fulget titulis, The cures he wrought must live for ever, Meditur coecis oculis. He healed the palsy and the fever, Polyjio, fico, calculis, The wen, the wart, the gout, the gravel ; Febribus, morbis singulis. Made blind men sec, and cripples travel. Fidentem in Fiacrio So whoso trusts in good Fiaere, NuUae kedet corruptio. Need never fear the undertaker; Pia cujus devotio For all his friends, by his devotion, Purgat ab ouuii vltio. Amen, Are made secure of their promotion. Amen. It would be no difficult matter to multiply exam- ples of legends still more absurd and blasphemous : the lives of St. Mary of Egypt, St. Theresa, St. Catherine of Sienna, and countless others, would supply materials for several volumes ; but those we have quoted are sufficient to show the daring spirit of invention disjilayed by the authors, and the gross delusions practised on their dupes. It is enough to know that such are the fables substituted for the word of God ; and that those to whom the Bible is a sealed volume, have its place sujiplied by the idle, and often mischievous fictions, of which we have given specimens. Neither can it be said that these fables are not sanctioned by the present rulers of the Papal LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 449 Church. The mass-book still contains a service to commemorate the stigmatization of St. Francis ; the transportation of the Virgin's cottage from Palestine to Loretto ; the transference of St. Catherine's body to Mount Sinai ; the ascent of St. Scholastica to heaven, in the form of a dove ; and similar fables ; and the unrepealed bulls of canonization contain absurdities far surpassing those which we have extracted. It is evident that most of the legends were de- vised to exalt celibacy and the austerities practised by the monastics. We find, however, in the eccle- siastical writers many miracles specially worked to support particular doctrines, and particularly the mystery of transubstantiation. Indeed, a miracle appears to have been no unusual resource of a puz- zled controversialist. On one occasion the sanctity of the wafer is stated to have been proved by a mule's kneeling to worship it ; at another time, a jjet-lamb kneels down at the elevation of the host ; a spider, which St. Francis d'Ariano accidentally swallowed while receiving the sacrament, came out of his thigh ; and when St. Elmo was pining at being too long excluded from a participation in the sacramental mysteries, the holy elements were brought to him by a pigeon. But the principal legends devised for the general exaltation of the Romish Church refer to the exercise of power over the devil. In the south of Ireland nothing is more common than to hear of Satan's appearance in proper person, his 29 450 LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. resistance to all the efforts of the Protestant mi- nister, and his prompt obedience to the exorcisms of the parish priest. In general, the localities of the stories are laid at some neighbouring village ; yet easy as this renders refutation, it is wonderful to find how generally such a tale is credited. From the archives of the Silesian Church, we find that some German Protestants seem to believe in the exorcising powers of the Romish priests ; and from the account of the murder of the child in Wexford, to which we have previously alluded, it would seem that some of the lower orders of Protestants in Ire- land are not free from similar superstition. The last miracle formally recognised by the Romish Church was at the canonization of a certain Spaniard named Julian, in the year 1825 ; it was posted in the church of St. Peter, that Julian took pity on some birds shot by a fowler, and restored them to life, after they had been picked and trussed on a spit! Next to the legends of miracles rank those of extraordinary austerities; such as, that St. Poly- cronus always took up a huge tree on his shoulders when he went to pray; that St. Barnadatus shut himself up in a narrow iron cage ; that St. Adhelm exposed himself to the most stimulating tempta- tions, and then defied the devil to make him yield ; that St. Dorothea never closed her eyes in sleep, and that St. Macarius undertook a penance for sin six months, because he had so far yielded to passion LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. 451 as to kill a flea. It is unnecessary to dwell upon these, because they are manifestly derived from the habits of the oriental fanatics, and evident exagge- rations made without taste or judgment. The last class of legends cofThected with the monastic orders relates to the extraordinary homage paid to anchorites, hermits, monks, and friars by persons of high station. There is little to interest the reader in these anecdotes of abasement; we shall, therefore, confine ourselves to one specimen, taken from a very rare book, the " Lyvys of Syntys," — that is. Lives of Saints, printed by the Roxburgh Club, from one of the Arundelian manuscripts. The author, after dwelling on the high birth and station of St. " Maurgeritte pryncys of Hongrie," proceeds to describe her piety and humility : — A tokne yt was of grette mekenesse In hyr that stood in suycla liberte, As she dede, and so grete wurthynesse, That to oon maystyr Conrade she would be Subject, stondyng hys grette povertc. After some minor proofs of her obedience to the monk Conrad, the author adds, — Not long after this, upon a day When he her had clepyd to hys preachyng, And the Markesesse of Meuencc kept hyr away That she ne myht kepen his byddyng So grevously he bare her absentyng That no forgiveness he wolde her hete, Tyl to hyr smok voydyd hyr clothyng Wyth othyr gylty maydyns she was bete. The tyranny of Conrad is, at the least, as remark- able as the submission of Margaret; but without 452 LEGENDS OF THE ROMISH CHURCH. going to the legends, it would be easy to find, in authentic history, instances equally strong, of the influence exercised by such fanatics over their de- luded votaries. We have now done with the legends ; we have seen that they were devised chiefly to maintain the spiritual militia ^vith which popery garrisoned the Latin Church, and we but repeat the sentiment of many Romish writers, when we attribute some of the worst corruptions of their church to the influ- ence of the monastic orders. In this respect, there- fore as well as others, Romanism and jDopery must be regarded as a common system, and held mutually responsible for the evils their union has brought upon mankind. The doctrine of infallibility is the very essence of popery, and it has rendered every abuse perpetual, and every error irremediable; of this doctrine the monastic orders are the natural champions, and the Latin Church remains a scandal to Christendom. THE END. Lonpon: John W. Pakkeb, St. Martin's Lank. 1 Date Due r 27 '4' ^^4 '4 7 M/?3 ^ 1 rr r- . f-n '•..^w ' ■« 1^ f) 1 BW851 .H673 A History of popery : containing an Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 00066 3049