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FABLES

RESPECTING THE

POPES OF THE MIDDLE AGES

RIVINGTONS
E0nlr0n  Waterloo Place
©rforir  High Street.
CaminllBe  Trinity street

FABLES

RESPECTING THE

POPES OF THE MIDDLE AGES

a €antttbntian to (SnXeSiEgtiad Utiitars

JOHN J. IGN. VON DOLLINGER

TRANSLATED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND APPENDICES
BY
ALFRED PLUMMER
FELLOW AND TUTOR OF TRINITY COLLEGE OXFORD

RIVINGTONS
liontian, ©xfotb, anlj ©ambrtUse
1871

TO THE
P^RE HYACINTHE
IN MEMORY OF
EVENTFUL DAYS SPENT WITH HIM
IN ROME AND IN PARIS
WHILE THIS WORK WAS IN PREPARATION
THIS VOLUME
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
WHEiST the translator was in Munich last year, he Occasion of
111 1 f T -r%-r\iT undertaking
had the advantage ot attending Dr. Dollinger s this transia-
lectures on ecclesiastical history, and also the
privilege of seeing something of him in private.
It was then, with his sanction, and after consulta
tion with him, that the present translation was
undertaken. Several others of his still untrans
lated works were discussed, some of which it is
hoped will before long appear in an English
dress ; but it was thought that, on the whole, the
Papstfabeln des Mittelalters was the one likely to
be interesting to the largest number of English
readers. There are certain problems in history which Unsolved, and
¦¦¦ •' apparently in-
remain still unsolved, in spite of very freq uent soluble, histo-
'- _ •' '- ncal problems.
and very thorough discussion. Possibly they will
always continue to be discussed, and will always
remain unsolved. If, as seems to be the case in
many of these instances, all existing evidence has
been already discovered and brought to bear, and if
even experts continue to interpret the evidence in as

fNTRODUCTfON

many different ways as the characters in Mr.
Browning's Ring and the Booh interpret the facts
of the story told there, — what are non-experts to
do but give up the question as hopeless, and as
incapable of settlement as the dispute between
Protagoras and his pupil ? Among such unsolved
historical problems we perhaps might mention
these ; — By what pass did Hannibal enter Italy ? —
Was the battle of Cannae fought on the north or
the south bank of the Aufidus ? — Was S. Peter
ever in Rome ? — Who wrote the Epistle to the
Hebrews ? — Was Perkin Warbeck an impostor ? —
Are the Casket Letters genuine ? — Was the Earl
of Somerset guilty of the death of Sir Thomas
Over bury ? — Who was the man in the Iron Mask ?
— Who was Junius ? — And lastly — thanks to the
hideous disclosures of Mrs. Beecher Stowe — What
is the " true story " of Lady Byron's separation
from her husband ? Others might be added to
the list, but these will suffice. Perhaps no one,
who reads through the hst as it stands, but will
object to one or more of these questions, as having,
in the judgment of all candid and competent
inquirers, been settled beyond appeal. And yet
the very fact of their thus objecting might be but
additional proof that an appeal is still possible.
Mr. Law would consider that there is no reasonable
The Alps of doubt that the " Alps of Hannibal " are those
Hannibal. i • i
which form the pass of the Little S. Bernard,
and , many scholars agree with him. But then

IN TROD UC TfON xi
Mr. Ellis is scarcely less confident that Hannibal's
8,000 horse, 40,000 foot, and 37 elephants, went
over Mont Cenis. Dr. Arnold assumes it as certain
that the battle of Cannae was fought on the right Cannse.
bank of the river. His admirer, Professor Ihne,
considers that the narratives of Livy and Polybius
" prove conclusively that the field of battle was
" on the left bank." Many students of ecclesiastical
history will admit that " it is not so much a spirit
" of sound criticism as a religious prejudice which
" has led some Protestant writers to deny that the St P^tcr
" Apostle [S. Peter] was ever in Rome." ^ And yet Rome.
' These words, borrowed from Canon Eobertson, were scarcely
written, when some one, who is pleased to call himself " a follower
" of Dollinger in Eome," wrote to the Times of May 30, 1871, to
complain of Murray's Handbook of Borne, because it continually
repeats the statement that S. Peter resided for some time in Eome ;
" whereas no sufficiently-informed person can now seriously hold
" that S. Peter himself was ever in Eome ; still less that he resided
" there." This letter has called forth various letters in the Times
and other journals, almost all of them in opposition to the self-
styled " follower of Dollinger." It will be sufficient to notice the
following points : (1) that in Murray's Handbook we find that locali
ties with which S. Peter's name is connected are spoken of in this
sort of way ; " where S. Peter is ^apposed to have suffered martyr-
" dom," &c. ; (2) that Bassage, Le Clerc, Pearson, Hammond, Ne-
ander, Barrow, Thiersch, Alford, and many others, must be regarded .
as ill-informed persons, inasmuch as they "seriously hold" that
S. Peter was, at least in the last year of his Ufe, in Eome ; (3) that
Dr. Dollinger himself maintains that S. Peter founded the Church
in Eome, and, after a long interval, died there. The theory that the
apostle was never in Eome is condemned by him as monstrous
During the absurd attempt at a Jubilee, which was made in Eome
June 16th and 17th of the present year, in honour of Pius IX.,
" qui Petri annos in Pontificatu Eomano unus sequavit," it was
curious to notice some of the local papers choosing this very ques
tion as a subject for leading articles, and endeavouring to show,
with the writer to the Times, that S. Peter was never in Eome.

Xll

fNTROD UCTION

a Bamptou Lecturer has recently declared from the
University pulpit, that the positive evidence for
S. Peter's ever having been in Rome is of com
paratively late date and weak, while the negative
evidence against it is very strong. Some critics
will scarcely allow it to be called in question that
The Epistle to S. Paul is the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews;
vvhile a formidable number attribute it to Apollos,
others to S. Barnabas or S. Luke. Are we not
safe then in returning to the humble admission of
Origen, that " Who wrote the Epistle, God alone
knows with certainty ?" Most people would give
Perkin War- np the casc of Perkin Warbeck. But it is easier
beck. to give him up than to prove that he was not the
duke of York. Hume says somewhere, that the
Whig who believes in the Popish Plot, and the
Guilt of Mary Tory wlio belicves in Mary queen of Scots, are
Queen of i p rm • i
Scots. beyond the reach ot argument, ihere certainly
are persons who, in spite of Hume, still believe in
the innocence of Mary Stuart ; aud to believe in
the innocence of Mary is to deny the authenticity
of the damning Casket Letters. Yet Mr. Froude
probably believes that he has established their
genuineness beyond a doubt ; and many other
historians would be disposed to say that, though
the fact is doubted, it is by no means doubtful.
Guilt of the His pcers condemned the earl of Somerset on
Earl of Somer
set, evidence which to the present generation seems
inconclusive ; but then it should be remembered
that we have only the depositions of the witnesses,

fNTRODUCTfON xiii
whereas the court not only read the depositions
but saw the persons. Manner weighs much, and
rightly, with a jury. Still, after admitting that
Sir Thomas Overbury certainly was murdered,
and in the way stated, and that the countess
beyond a doubt compassed his death, perhaps no
more can be said against the earl of Somerset than
that there is no reason for believing him to be
innocent, and much for believing him to be guilty.
The Masque de Fer is the very Proteus of history. The iron
1-I*aa r% 111 3£K .
ever leading inquirers on to fancy that they have
secured him in some definite form, and then — just
when the chain of evidence which is to bind him
to that form for ever seems all but complete — the
mysterious prisoner shakes himself free, and re
appears as a totally different person. No sooner
has the complicated evidence, which promises to
prove to us that the Iron Mask was Mattioli, been
laboriously mastered, than we find ourselves com
pelled to reconsider whether he was not the comte
de Yermandois, or a twin brother of Louis XIY.
Much such another ambiguous personage is Junius. Junius.
Mr. John Taylor showed that there was good
reason for suspecting Sir Philip Francis of being
Junius. Lord Brougham was convinced of it.
Lord Macaulay claims to have all but proved it.
And the elaborate work lately produced by the
Hon, Edward Twisleton, and M. Charles Chabot,
seems to be intended as a complete proof. But
there are still persons who return a verdict of

xiv fNTRODUCTfON

" not proven," and think that Mr. Twisleton's
book, with its numerous fac-similes of hand
writings, itself furnishes evidence which goes far
to show that Sir Philip Francis was not the author
of the famous letters.
Lord Byron. ^j^^g amouut of criticism which Mrs. Beecher
Stow's " true story " called forth, not only as to
her motive for publishing it, but also as to her
facts, shows that the scandal about Lord Byron's
private life is likely to remain one of the dark
pages of biography in more senses of the word
than one.
The story of This list of uusolvcd and apparently insoluble
Pope Joan not _ , _ .
one of these, historical puzzles might, as has been said, be
enlarged, and that almost indefinitely. Those
selected are of very various importance, but they
are, for the most part, popularly known as disputed
questions ; and they are purposely taken from very
difEerent periods in history. Many people have
thought that the story of Pope Joan, which is the
first of the " fables" discussed in this work, belongs
to this class of historical riddles. Such appears to
have been the opinion of Mosheim ; such, as will
be seen, was the avowed opinion of Kurtz. That
there are still persons, and persons not altogether
ignorant of history, who think the story of a
female pope not incredible, the translator knows
from experience. And perhaps it is not too much
to say that most of those who gather round the

fNTRODUCTfON xv
card-table on winter evenings, to play or watch
the round game which immortalizes the memory
of the papess, would feel some hesitation in saying
whether it had ever seriously been maintained that
a woman had been pope, and still more hesitation
in saying what grounds there are for believing or
disbelieving the story. So long as such a state
of haziness and uncertainty exists, even among
educated persons^ with regard to a fable so
monstrous and so famous, a discussion of the
birth, growth, and death of the story of Pope
Joan — for, in spite of the efforts of Professor
Kist, let us hope that the ghost of the papess is
now laid for ever — will always be useful as well as
interesting. There are some who can remember a
somewhat similar case in the present century. The case of
.the Chevalier
Those who find it difiicult to imagine how a d'Eon.
fiction so preposterous as that of a female pope
should ever have gained any serious belief, to say
nothing of general acceptance, should remember
the case of the famous Chevalier D'Eon. He was
born in 1728, and after playing the parts of
equerry to Louis XY., doctor of civil law, parlia
mentary advocate, officer in the army, ambassador,
and royal censor, for some reason or other con
trived to create first a doubt as to his sex, and
then a general belief that he was a woman. The
incredibility of the supposition that a woman could
live thus long as a man, and in such very different
characters, did not prevent it from being believed.

XVI

fNTROD UCTfON

When he was about fifty years of age, he assumed
female dress (being paid, it is said, by Louis XYI.
to do so), and continued to wear it till the day of
his death, when the question of his sex was
decided. It had at times been the subject of
heavy wagers ; and from an article on female
diplomatists, which appeared in a magazine some
years ago, and in which he was mentioned, it
would seem as if there were still persons who
believed that the Chevalier may after all have
been a woman. He died, in great indigence, in
1810.

A fictitious
pope.

All who are familiar with the legend of
S. Ursula and her ten thousand maidens, espe
cially those who know the exquisite Chasse de
Sainte Ursule, painted by Hans Memling, now in
the Hospital of S. John at Bruges, are familiar
with the name of Pope Cyriacus. But, possibly,
not all are aware that the existence of any such
pope is as great a fiction as the rest of the
legend.

A iictitious The Council of Sinuessa has long been famous
council in- _ ... . .
vented. in ecclcsiastical history as a fiction, invented in the
first instance by the Donatists, and amplified after
wards in order to serve as evidence in support of
the claims of Rome. This is not the only case in
which the Donatists have tried to falsify history
in the matter of synods. While on the one hand,

fNTRODUCTfON xvii

they attempted to foist on the Church a synod a real council
I'l , 1 1 • 1 • 11 denied, by the
wnicn never took place, wishing to show that Donatists.
pope Marcellinus had delivered up the Holy
Scriptures and offered sacrifice to idols, on the
other hand they attempted to deny the reality of a
synod which certainly did take place in a.d. 305,
at Cirta, in Numidia, and which seems mainly
to have been composed of bishops who really had
delivered up the Scriptures during the persecution
under Diocletian, but who afterwards became most
rigorous Donatists, frantically zealous against
traditores. Other fables in connection with synods might
be mentioned ; but only those which are also Fables
respecting the Popes of the Middle Ages are within
the limits of the present subject. One such is far Another fic-
. titious council
too considerable a fiction to be passed unnoticed, invented in
1 ¦ 1 • 1 1 • n • support of
The object with which it has been invented is papal claims.
equally patent as in the case of the pretended
Council of Sinuessa. In that case the object was
to establish the principle — " prima sedes non judi-
" catur a quoquam." In this the endeavour is to
show that the decrees of an oecumenical council
require the approbation of the pope. It is pre
tended that the Nicene fathers sent to pope
Silvester, and asked him to give a formal sanction
to the decrees of the council of Nicsea. The legend
goes on to say that upon the decrees being for
warded to Rome, pope Silvester, with the emperor's
consent, summoned another council of 275 bishops,
b

xviii fNTRODUCTfON
in which the decrees of the Nicene fathers were
approved, ratified, and supplemented with a number
of regulations about the privileges and dress of the
clergy, &c., questions quite foreign to that primi-
The evidence tivc age. The evidence for this fictitious synod is,
for it spurious -. i p • i
documents. as usual, a number ot spurious documents. 1. A
pretended letter from Hosius, bishop of Cordova,
the reputed president at the council of Nicsea,
Macarius, bishop of Jerusalem, and the two Roman
priests Yictor and Yicentius, who represented the
see of Rome at the council in the absence of the
aged Silvester. This letter is addressed to pope
Silvester in the name of the whole council, and says
that the pope ought to summon a Roman synod, in
order to confirm the decisions of the council of
Nicsea. 2. The pope's answer to this letter,
together with his confirmation of the decrees. 3.
A second letter from pope Silvester, very similar
to the first. 4 The Acts of the pretended synod
of 275 bishops mentioned above. 5. The so-called
Constitutio Silvestri, of which some account is given
elsewhere, is almost identical with these Acts,
excepting that they do, and it does not, speak of
giving approval to the decrees of the council of
Nicsea. " These five documents," says bishop
Hepelb, "have been preserved in several manu-
" scripts, at Rome, Cologne, or elsewhere ; they
" have been reproduced in almost all the collec-
" tions of the councils ; but now al] are unanimous
" in considering them as spurious, as they evidently

fNTROD UC TfON xix
" are. They betray an age, a mode of thought,
" and circumstances, later than the fourth century.
" The barbarous, almost unintelligible, Latin of
" these documents specially points to a later cen-
" tury, and to a decay in the Latin language, which
" had not taken place at the time of the council of
" Nicsea." The reasons for suspecting and condemning the
first three of these documents need not detain us.
They will be found in Hefele's Conciliengeschichte,
I. bk. ii. ch. ii. § 44 (p. 443 of Clarke's transla
tion). The reasons for considering the Acts of this Reasons for
J " regarding this
Roman council as another instance of a Fable council as a
fiction.
respecting the Popes of the Middle Ages, are the
following. (a) It is incredible that all ancient
authorities should be silent on the subject of so
important a synod as one of 275 bishops summoned
to confirm the decrees of Nic^a. Athanasius and
Hilary professedly treat of the synods of this-
period, and neither of them even hints at this
great synod at Rome, {f) The words " praesento
" Constantino " in the superscription cannot but
mean that the supposed council was held in the
presence of the emperor ; whereas Constantino was
not once in Rome during the whole of the year
325. But allowing that, as has been argued, these
words of the superscription have been erroneously
transferred from another passage, still (7) the decree
passed by these 275 bishops that Easter shall be
celebrated between the Uth and 21st Nisan is
b 2

XX fNTR OD UCTfON

anti-Nicene and absurd. (S) So, again, the rule
that the clergy are not to be tried before a secular
tribunal is an anachronism. No such privilege was
thought of in the Nicene period, (e) Lastly, we
have the crowning absurdity that this synod is
represented as having decreed that a cleric who
purposed becoming a presbyter must serve as an
ostiarius for a year, as lector twenty years, as exor
cist ten years, as acolyte five years, as sub-deacon
five years, and as deacon five years. That is to
say, a man must be well on for seventy years
before taking priest's orders. An elder indeed !
After bishop Hefele's letter to his clergy (April
23rd, 1871), one must cease to expect that historical
learning will always baffle an authority which sets
Bishop Hefeie history at defiaucc. Otherwise one might have felt
condemns the •' °
documents as gome astonishmeut that the learned historian of
spurious, but
would save the councils, after summing up to the effect that " all
papal claims. i p
" these documents are, therefore, without doubt
" apocryphal," should go on to plead, that " though
" they are apocryphal, we must not conclude from
" this that all their contents are false, that is to
" say, that the council of Nicsea never asked
" pope Silvester to give his approval to the
" decrees."
otherfictions Aiiothcr fictitious syuod may be mentioned in
respecting •' •'
early bishops coniiection with early bishops of Rome, viz., the
one which is said to have been held at Rome under
pope Anicetus upon the Paschal question, at the
time when Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, visited

fNTROD UC TfON

XXI

Rome. The meeting of these two bishops has
been exaggerated into a council.
The legend that Marcellus, the successor of pope
Marcellinus, was reduced to the servile office of a
groom, rests on no better authority than these
pretended Councils of Rome and Sinuessa. " Had
" it any claim to truth," Dean Milman remarks,
" the successors of Marcellus had full and ample
" revenge, when kings and emperors submitted to
" the same menial service, and held the stirrup
" for the popes to mount their horses."
The fable of the baptism of Constantino by pope The baptism
Silvester is the subject of the fourth of these essays, tine.
Truth, it is often said, is bolder and stranger than
fiction. Truth in this case was so much stranger
than fiction, that fiction was easily accepted in
defiance of the authoritative evidence which sup
ported the apparently incredible truth. And the
truth which was discarded as incredible by an
uncritical age, remains a subject for astonishment
even to this day.' " He who had, five-and-twenty
" years ago, been convinced of the Christian faith ;
" he who had opened the first Greneral Council of
" the Church ; he who had called himself a Bishop
" of Bishops ; he who had joined in the deepest
" discussions of theology ; he who had preached to
" rapt audiences ; he who had estabhshed Chris-
" tianity as the rehgion of the empire ; he who
' Stanley, Lectures on tlie Eastern Church.

xxii fNTRODUCTfON
" had been considered by Christian bishops an in-
" spired oracle and apostle of Christian wisdom,
" was himself not yet received into the Christian
" Church. He was not yet baptized ; he had not
" even been received as a catechumen. A death-
" bed baptism was to the half-converted Christians
" of that age, what a death-bed communion is to
" those of our own. In later ages, as we have seen,
" it was endeavoured to antedate the baptism of
" the emperor by ten or twenty years. But at
¦ " that time it was too common to attract any
" special notice. Good and bad motives alike con-
" duced to the same end, and of all these Coustan-
" tine was a complete example. He, like many of
" his countrymen, united, after his conversion, a
" sincere belief in Christianity with a lingering
" attachment to Paganism. He, like some even of
" the noblest characters in the Christian Church,
" regarded baptism much as the Pagans regarded
" the lustrations and purifications of their own
" religion, as a complete obliteration and expiation
" of all former sins ; and, therefore, partly from a
" superstitious dread, partly from the prudential
" desire, not peculiar to that or any age, ' of making
" ' the best of both worlds,' he would naturally
" defer the ceremony to the moment when it would
" include the largest amount of the past, and leave
" the smallest amount of the future."
The Donation. On the moustrous fiction of the Donation of

fNTRODUCTfON xxiii
Constantino there is no need to add to what will
be found in the fifth essay, either in the way of
introduction or comment. The more that one
considers the subject, the more one wonders at the
ignorance and audacity of those who perpetrated
the forgery, the credulity of those who through so
many centuries accepted it as historical, and (it is
surely not unfair to add) the dishonest and short
sighted policy of those, who, knowing it to be false,
were either too avaricious to forego claims for
which it was the chief or sole foundation, or too
timid to confess that Rome had countenanced and
profited by a lie.'
The obscurity of the early bishops of Rome has Liberius no
been noticed as one great element in the founda- like the early
tion of that enormous dominion over the minds ^°^^^'
and bodies of men which their successors enjoyed.
" Rome had no Origen, no Athanasius, no Ambrose,
" no Augustine, no Jerome  This more
" cautious and retired dignity was no less favour-
" able to their earlier power, than to their later
" claim to infallibility. If more stirring and am-
" bitious men, they might have betrayed to the
1 The Donation of Constantine has these two elements of truth ia
it ; (1) " in as far as that document aimed at proving the possession
" of property by the popes before the arrival of the Franks in Italy,
" it was substantially correct."— (Ebichel's -See of Borne in the
Middle Ages, p. 58) ; (2) " it is the most unimpeachable evidence of
" the thoughts and beliefs of the priesthood which framed it, some
" time between the middle of the eighth and the middle of the tenth
" century." — Bbtoe's Holy Boman Empire. London, 1866, p. 108.

xxiv fNTRODUCTfON
" civil power the secret of their aspiring hopes ; if
" they had been voluminous writers, in the more
" speculative times, before the Christian creed had
" assumed its definite and coherent form, it might
" have been [still] more difficult to assert their
" unimpeachable orthodoxy."
Parallel be- With the pontificate of Liberius we feel that this
tween Liberius .,„... , .. .
and Boniface period ot primitive obscurity has altogether passed
away. The bishops of Rome are no longer un
known unimportant personages, attracting little
or no attention beyond the limits of their small and
humble congregation, except when the policy or
fanaticism of an emperor singled them out as
objects of persecution. There is already much that
is prophetic of Grregory YII. and Boniface YIII.
Liberius is no Telesphorus or Hyginus, far less
known to the Romans of the time than the current
imperial favourite or the latest successful gladiator.
He is no Pontianus, Fabianus, or Xystus, going
forth quietly to exile or to death in submission to
the will of a tyrant. Rather we find in him, along
with much weakness, vacillation, and time-serving,
the haughtiness of his successors eight or ten cen
turies later. He is already the infiuential and
popular ecclesiastic, who can answer the demands
of a heterodox emperor with a flat refusal, flinging
back his presents and disdaining his threats. In
his contest with Constantius there is something
that reminds us of that between Gregory and
Henry, and between Innocent and Frederick, still

fNTRODUCTfON xxv
more of that between Boniface and Philip the Fair.
The violent seizure of Liberius by the imperial
emissaries, and the still more violent seizure of
Boniface by William of Nogaret and Sciarra
Colonna, have much in common ; as also the tri
umphant returns of both pontiffs to Rome. But the
triumph of Boniface was the result of momentary
enthusiasm, succeeded by a general and lasting
revolt against him ; and this, as has been very
justly remarked, is his severest condemnation.
The triumph of Liberius was an earnest of the
enduring afiection of his people ; an affection which
had remained true to him during his exile, and
which he seems to have retained until his death.
The real greatness of Boniface was lost sight of in
the presence of his avarice, his haughtiness, and
his tyranny. The guilty compromise by means of
which Liberius purchased his return was forgotten
in the general amiability of his character. It is a with their ob-
coincidence worth noting that, while Liberius thus popes lose the
prominently steps forward from the obscurity inerrancy.
which envelopes most of his predecessors, he at
the same time loses the character of unfailing
orthodoxy, with which (in the absence of evidence
to the contrary) it is not difficult to invest them.
Zephyrinus, it is true, during his long pontificate,
had held and taught heterodox and contradictory
doctrines respecting the Godhead, sometimes fol
lowing Noetus, sometimes Sabellius. But his errors
were the errors of a confused and ignorant man,

xxvi fNTRODUCTfON

ruled by the powerful and subtle mind of Callistus ;
and Zephyrinus left behind him no formal state
ment of his beliefs to discredit his office. It was
reserved for Liberius to commence his pontificate
by excommunicating Athanasius, and to regain it
by signing the semi-Arian creed of Sirmium,^ and
once more renouncing communion with the great
champion of the creed of Nic^a.
It is only just to his memory to add that in his
last days he was the means of winning over a large
number of Oriental bishops to accept the creed to
which he had once himself been so lamentably
untrue.
Felix II. and If Libcrius is the forerunner of those haughty
and time-serving pontifis who, contending as equals
with emperors and kings, were alternately opposed
and flattered by them, Felix is the forerunner of
those anti-popes who were set up by Ghibelline
princes for purposes of their own, — Guibert of Ra
venna, Maurice " the Barbarian," cardinal Octavian
of S. Cecilia.^ Like his namesake, the last of the
anti-popes, Felix gave way before the indisputable
success of his rival, and retired to end his days in
peaceful seclusion. Felix II., living on his estate
near the road to Portus, anticipates by nearly
' It is a little doubtful which of the three Sirmian creeds Liberius
signed. The first was far the least Arian of the three. But in
any case he abandoned the Nicene creed. See a very thorough
discussion of this question in the appendix to Dr. Newman's Arians
of the Fourth Century. Note iii., pp. 433-440 of the third edition.
^ Clement III., Gregory VIII., Victor IV., according to their
assumed titles.

fNTRODUCTfON xxvii
eleven centuries Felix Y., once more Amadous of
Savoy, in his quiet retreat at Ripaille.
Wie der Geschichtschreiber ein riickwarts gek-
ehrter Prophet, so ist der Prophet haufig nur ein
riickwarts gekehrter Geschichtschreiber, und ver-
kiindet als kiinftig bereits geschehene Dinge.
So writes Dr. Dollinger in his essay in the
current number of Raumer's (now Riehl's) H%s-
torisches Taschenbuch, on Der Weissagungs-glaube
und das Prophetenthum in der christlichen Zeit.
History is inverted prophecy; prophecy is often
only inverted history. The historian may write
the future in the past ; the prophet, his whole soul
full of the glories or miseries of the past, sees
them Cor their opposite) again in front. How Two cases of
^ X 1 / o ^ ^ unjust excom-
much of the history of pope Anastasius II. is a munication.
prophecy of events with which the author of the
above-mentioned essay is now most intimately con
nected, we are not yet in a position to say. The
memory of pope Anastasius has been blasted, be
cause he ventured to doubt the damnation of one
who had been excommunicated by the bishop of
Rome. After centuries of infamy, his name has
been rescued from calumny and restored to honour,
as that of one who knew how to be generous even
in theological controversy, and to be tolerant in
an age when toleration was more than rare. Be
tween the violence of Felix IIL and Gelasius, and
the troubled election and reign of Symmachus, the

xxviii fNTRODUCTfON
brief pontificate of Anastasius is an oasis, on which
the eye rests with pleasure, in the midst of an age
in which religious controversy everywhere was at
fever-heat, and in which the unity of the Church
was shattered to a degree which seemed to threaten
the very existence of Christianity itself. And at
the present time, while most of the piety and much
of the learning in the Roman Church has bound its
own eyes and hands and feet, and bowed in un
reasoning submission before an all but deified pope,
there is still one to whom the bewildered student
of ecclesiastical history can look with confidence ;
one who after a long life of rare activity, devoted
to the defence of authority, still dares to teach that
Truth is supreme ; — afx(])o?v yap ovtoiv (f>i\oiv oaiou
TTpoTifiav Tfjv aXfjOeiav. History has done tardy
justice to the memory of the "heretic" Anas
tasius. The " heretics " of our own day, who have
again ventured to doubt the efficacy of an unjust
anathema, can afford to look forward with calm
ness to the verdict of posterity. They have been
nobly loyal to history, and history will not be un
faithful to them.
d'efenTnono- ^^ ^^^ voxcd quostiou of Houorius a few words
farious to sue- "wiH be fouud iu an Appendix. It must ever remain
the great, though by no means the only historical
obstacle in the way of infallibilists. If they would
but agree on some one method of attempting to sur
mount the difficulty, they might have a better pros-

fNTRODUCTfON xxix

pect of convincing those, who have no interest in
the question beyond a desire to arrive at the truth.
But seeing that so many varying, and often con
flicting hypotheses are put forward, and that some
of them are so violent that any historical fact what
ever might be discredited by such means, only
those are likely to be convinced, who approach
the question with a determination, or at least a
strong desire to be so. " Comme leur cause est
" mauvaise," dit Bossuet, " ils ne peuvent tenir bon
" sur aucun point ; n'ayant aucun moyen solide, ils
" en cherchent toujours de nouveaux ; ils passent
" d'une argumentation a I'autre, sentant bien que
" chacune leur echappe." Mais tons ces defenseurs
ensemble oublient ce conseil de bons sens :
" Le trop d' expedients pent gater une affaire ....
N' en ayons qu'un, mais qu'il soit bon."
Thus far our course has been clear enough. The
question with regard to nearly all the fables dis
cussed up to this point will be considered by most
impartial historians as closed. Few who have ex
amined the subject will still venture to maintain
that Pope Joan and Pope Cyriacus may have been
real personages, or that the Council of Sinuessa,
and the baptism of Constantine by Silvester in
Rome, may have been historical facts. The ques- Difficulty of
¦^ . . determining
tion which is still open with respect to such stories the policy of
is not — "are they true?" but — "how and when ^^^°^^
" did the J arise ?" The case of pope Gregory II.

xxx fNTRODUCTfON

and the emperor Leo the Isaurian, is somewhat
more difficult. To say that Gregory stirred up the
Italian revolt against Leo is untrue, as is argued
in the essay on the subject which foUows. To say
that the pope had nothing whatever to do with
hastening the rupture between Rome and the East,
seems to be an erroneous statement on the other
hand. Gregory no doubt shared the belief, common
in his age, that the empire was the necessary com
plement of the Church, and that the welfare of
Christendom depended upon the preservation and
union of both. Hence his unwillingness to break
with the Byzantine court, even though the prince
at the head of it was, from Gregory's point of
view, a heretic who, if not demented, was scarcely
a Christian. But the attitude was a difficult one
to maintain. It was difficult outside the Church to
persuade men to remain loyal to a prince, whom
inside the Church he was openly denouncing as an
impious and sacrilegious renegade. The long ab
sence of the emperors from Rome, and the un
popular conduct of their representatives in Ravenna,
had done much to destroy all respect for the im
perial authority in Italy ; and Gregory's exhorta
tions to loyalty fell on unwilling ears. His de
nunciations of the heretic and persecutor, who was
making a clean sweep of their most cherished
religious objects, found an echo in the heart of
every one, whether priest or layman, soldier or
peasant. "To your tents, 0 Israel!" was every-

fNTRODUCTfON xxxi
where the cry ; and the proposal seems to have
been seriously entertained of electing a new em
peror, and conducting him to Constantinople to
displace the apostate. But Byzantine rule in
Italy, though doomed, was not yet dead. It lin
gered on for fifteen, or perhaps we may say five-
and-twenty years longer,^ the shadow of its former
self. The idea of Rome as an independent state,
perhaps scarcely occurred to Gregory ; or, ifit did,
he knew that such a state would have but a poor
chance of making a stand against the hated Lom
bards. What the Gauls had been to old Rome,
and the Saracens became to Europe in general at
a later age, the Lombards were to Italy in the
eighth century. Horror of these northern bar
barians was perhaps the leading motive in Gregory's
policy. In the empire, as an institution, he was
probably disposed to believe as necessary and divine.
Towards Leo, personally, his feeling could scarcely
have been other than one of the deepest repug
nance. But the one paramount fact, outweighing
every other consideration, was the necessity of
keeping the Lombards in check, and the inability
of Rome to do this single-handed.
' The insurrection at Eavenna, in consequence of the pubhcation
of Leo's iconoclastic edict, took place in a.d. 727. Eome remained
subject to the Byzantine emperors till 741, when, at the election of
pope Zachary, the asking of the exarch's consent was for the first
time omitted, never again to be renewed. When the exarchate
became extinct in 752, the last tie, for long a very fragile one, which
had connected Italy with the Eastern empire, was hopelessly
severed. The independent dukedom of Eome followed, to be suc
ceeded half a century later by the new-born empire of tlie West.

xxxii fNTRODUCTfON

perors.

The pontificate of Silvester IL' is the first streak
of dawn in that black night which settled down on
the papacy soon after the death of John YIII., and
which did not finally clear away till a German was
elevated to the papal throne, in the person of
Clement II., and the great mind of Hildebrand had
begun to make itself felt in Rome. Both the first
gleam and the break of lasting day were due to
Good popes appointments made by German emperors. It was,
Geman em-'' thauks to the chivalrous and enthusiastic Otho III.,
" the wonder of the world," that his tutor, the
learned Gerbert, was raised to the chair of S. Peter ;
just as it was Henry III. to whom the perplexed
synod of Sutri owed and owned its obligations for
the appointment of Clement II. The learning and
science with which Gerbert adorned an office, which
for more than a century had been distinguished
chiefly by the ignorance and wickedness of those
' " As to a real free election of a pope, there was neither thought
" nor mention of it. ... In Eome, as weU as out of it, there was
" nothing on which the pope could rest for support. Without the
" emperor he was a mere ball tossed about by the hands of the
" audacious factions of the nobles. Emperors, acting under the
" advice of their bishops and spiritual councillors, had given more
" worthy popes to the Church than the Eoman chiefs, who had no
" motive in selection beyond the gratification of their own ambition ;
" and they sometimes preferred the most unworthy candidate,
" because they hoped to find in such a more phant tool. . . . The
" popes were elevated sometimes by the one, sometimes by the other
" party ; but, after a brief period of time, were deposed again, and
" either ended their days in dungeons, or were murdered. It was
" not until Otho III. appointed his cousin Bruno, and afterwards the
" celebrated Gerbert, as popes, and protected them by an armed
" force, that the papacy could once more obtain and exercise its
" influence and authority in ecclesiastical affairs." — Dollinger.
Kirche und Kirchen, ii., i. English translation, pp. 341, 342.

IN TROD UC TION xxxiii
who held it,' seemed to his contemporaries to be
marvellous. By the eleventh, twelfth, and thir
teenth centuries it was believed to be something
more. From the marvellous to the supernatural is
an easy leap with the vulgar of all ages. It is one
which most persons in those times were ever ready
to take. They /could see but one probable explana
tion of knowledge s© Extraordinary — a compact
with the devil. " Homagium diabolo fecit et male
finivit," is the starlingly brief note on him in the
lives of the archbishops of Ravenna.^ It is not dif
ficult to see why the supernatural assistance was
supposed to be diabolical rather than divine. As
an imperial nominee, " the ijew Silvester of the
new Constantine " was regarded with suspicion
* " There is not one at Eome, it is notorious, who knows enough
" of letters to qualify Mm for a door-keeper. With what face shall
" he presume to teach, who has never learned. ... To such monsters,
" full of aU infamy, devoid of aU knowledge, human and divine, are
" all the priests of God to submit?" Speech of Arnulph, bishop j^j^^ ^.^^^^_
of Orleans, at the council of Eheims, a speech in which there is
good reason to believe that Gerbert himself, not yet archbishop of
Eheims, is the real speaker.— Milman, Lat. ChriU. book v., chap. xiii.
' Milman, 1. c, note x.
Walther von der Vogelweide makes use of Gerbert as a very vul
nerable spot in the history of the papacy.
" Der stuol ze E6me ist allererst berihtet rehte,
Als hie vor bt einem zoubersere Gerbrehte.
Der selbe gap ze valle wan sin eines leben :
So wil sich dirre und al die kristenheit ze valle geben.
Alle zungen sulu ze Gote schrien wafen,
Und riiefen ime, wie lange er welle sMen,
Si widerwurkent siniu were und felschent siniu wort.
Sin kamersere stilt im sinen hunelhort.
Sin siiener mordet hie und roubet dort,
Sin hirte ist zeinem wolve im worden under sinen schafen."

xxxiv fNTRODUCTfON
by the turbulent nobles, who soon after his election
broke out into open rebellion. In the decree for
the election of Gerbert, Otho speaks of these feuda
tory princes as the scum of the earth, an expression
not likely to conciliate them to the pontiff thus
introduced to them. And the Roman historians
of a later age knew that Gerbert had given utter
ance to such damnable doctrines as these : " Rome
" cannot make lawful that which God condemns,
" nor condemn that which God has made lawful.
Silvester's " Rome cannot expel from her communion him who
liberalism a . '. ^
probable cause " IS couvictod of UO Crime. The papal decrees are
of the calum- ^ c f ¦•
nies against " Only of forco wheu they concur with the Evan-
him. T 1
"gehsts, the Apostles, the Prophets, and the
" genuine canons of the Church." This was as
archbishop of Rheims in a letter to the archbishop
A.D. 996. of Sens. The Middle Ages accused him of magical
arts, and of intercourse with Satan. It seems to
have been reserved for a historian' of the present
age to suspect him of having compassed the death
of his predecessor, Gregory Y. !
Silvester II. did not long survive his patron. Otho
died Jan. 22nd, 1002 ; Silvester, May 1 2th, 1003 ;
both, it is said, of poison, administered by the
revengeful hand of Stephania. Both left many
grand projects unfulfilled.^ The temporary gleam
' Gfeoeek, who calls him " die Schlange zu Eavenna " p 1507
—Milman, bk. v., chap, xii., note 9.
^ The year a.d. 1000 was to be the commencement of a new
golden age both in Church and State. The various expectations

fNTRODUCTfON xxxv

of light passed away, and the darkness which
followed seemed all the deeper in consequence.

" Plangat mundus, plangat Eoma,
Lugeat Ecclesia."

Thus much on the subjects of these essays. Of
the author of them it is difficult to write with
calmness, at a time when his name has become a
watchword with the one, and a byword with the
other, of the two great parties into which the whole
of Germany — one might almost say the whole of
Europe — is at the present moment divided. It is
difficult to be temperate in one's language, when
one thinks that the very severest of all ecclesiastical
punishments — a punishment usually reserved for
priests who have been guilty of the grossest im
morality — has been inflicted on the most learned
and the most honest of living theologians, and by
the hand of one who a few months ago was con
tending for the same truth for which he is now
making his brother-priest suffer. Be the miseries
of the greater excommunication what they may,
who would not prefer them to the position of the
present archbishop of Munich ? If anything could
increase the shame of a judge who had pronounced
such a sentence, it would be to become the hero of
such journals as the Volksbote and the Vaterland.
which were formed with respect to that year in the time imme
diately preceding might be made the subject of another essay on
inediseval fables. c 2

xxxvi fNTRODUCTfON
To do the archbishop justice, it is only fair to say
that he has spoken to his Chapter with disapproba
tion of some of the indecent articles which the
Ultramontane press has of late been pouring
forth against the " heretic," " Herr Reichsrath
" DoUinger." It seems almost an impertinence to offer to tell
who Dr. Dollinger is. Yet there are some English
men to whom he was not even a name until he
was excommunicated, and to whom even now he
is little more than a name. For the sake of those
who may chance to become acquainted with him as
an author first in the present volume, I venture to
add the following particulars respecting him and his
works, mainly from the biographical notice of him
in Mr. Maccabe's translation of Kirche und Kirchen.
Biographical Johu Josoph Iguatius VOU Dollinger was born
Dr. Dollinger at Bamberg on the 28th of February, 1799, and
was educated at Wiirtzburg. He was ordained
priest April 15th, 1822, and began life as a parish.
priest in Franconia ; he then became professor in
the Ecclesiastical Seminary of Aschaffenberg, and,
in 1826, was appointed one of the Faculty of
Theology in the new University of Munich. The
results of the French revolution were then every
where felt. Rationalism was everywhere pre
dominant; and there was no master-mind among
the Roman Catholics of Germany. The student

as an author.

fNTRODUCTfON xxxvii
was thrown upon his own resources, and com
pelled to rely on his own independent research for
the acquisition of knowledge and the formation of
his judgment. The results of such a course ai'e
everywhere apparent in the works of Dr. Dol
linger. Profound and extensive learning, a judg
ment ever seeking to free itself from personal and
partial influences, the habit of going direct to
original sources, a critical method to which pa
tristic, scholastic, and modern authorities are alike
subjected, are among the characteristics which
distinguish his writings.
Dr. Dollinger's earliest work was on The Doc
trine of the Eucharist in the first three Centuries,"-
1826. Two years later appeared a History of
the Reformation, forming the third volume of
" Hortig's Ecclesiastical History." He then under
took to rewrite the whole work, and in 1833 and
1835, pubhshed the first and second volumes of
the Church History,'' by which his name first
became widely known for the learned and able
defence of Catholicism, and for the confidence aud
courage with which many views, repeated until
they had become regarded as unquestionable, were
abandoned as unwarranted. The History, Character,
and Influence of /stomzsm ' appeared in 1838 ; and
¦ Die Lehre der Eucharistie in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten.
2 Kirehengeschi elite.
» Mohammed- s Beligion nach ihrer innern Entwickelung und threm
Einflusse auf das Leben der Volker. Eine histm-ische BHraMung.
Eegensburg, 1838.

xxxviii fNTRODUCTfON
a compendium of the History of the Church down
to the Reformation was published in 1836-1843.
The history of the first centuries is given with
extreme brevity ; but that of the Middle Ages,
though much compressed, displays even more
erudition than the larger work on the earlier
period. In the English translation these two
histories have been unskilfully combined in one.
Between 1846 and 1848 Dr. DolHnger published
three large volumes on the history of German
Lutheranism— 7%e Reformation, its internal De
velopment and Effects.^ It is, as Dr. Dollinger
himself remarked to the present writer, a one
sided book, written with the definite object of
disproving the theory that the German reformers
revived pure apostolic Christianity in the pres
bytery. It contains large quotations from the
writers of the reformation period in their own
language. This fact, while giving the work a
value for the student which it can never lose,
renders it uninviting to the more general reader,
and scarcely capable of translation. A whole
volume is devoted to the history of the develop
ment of the doctrine of Justification by Faith
only. The research exhibited is immense.
During this period Dr. Dollinger delivered courses
of lectures on several other branches of Divinity,
1 Die Beformation, ihre innere Entwickelung und ihre Wirk-
ungen im Umfange des luther. Bekenntnisses. Eegensburg, 1848-
J.o51.

fNTRODUCTfON xxxix
besides those which specially belonged to his chair;
on " the Philosophy of Religion," " Canon Law,"
" Symbolism," and " the Literature of the Patristic
" Age." He ceded his professorship of ecclesiastical
history for some years to Mohler, whose lesser
writings he afterwards collected, taking mean
while the professorship of dogmatic theology,
which in his hands became a history of revelation
and of the development of doctrine. He did not
print his lectures, but published from time to time
a number of occasional writings. Among the
earliest were An Essay on the Religion of Shake
speare, and a lecture On the Introduction of Chris
tianity among the Germans. A Commentary on the
Paradise of Dante, accompanied by the designs of
Cornelius, appeared in 1830 ; Mixed Marriages ' in
1838, during the conflict between the Prussian
Government and the archbishop of Cologne.
Articles on the Tractarian movement, on John
Huss and the council of Constance, and on the
Albigenses, appeared at various times in the
Historisch-politische Blatter, a periodical over which
Dr. Dollinger (though rarely a contributor) pre
sided for many years. A dissertation on the
position"" of the Church towards those who die out of her
Communion was written in 1842, on the occasion
of the death of the dowager queen of Bavaria.
' Ueber gemischte Ehen.
2 Pflicht und Becht der Kirche gegen Verstorbene eines fremden
Bekenntnisses. A reprint from the Histor. polit. Blatter, 1852.

xl fNTRODUCTfON
A lecture on Error, Douht, and Truth^ was deli
vered to the students of the University of Munich
on January 11th, 1845, and afterwards pubhshed.
A speech on the Freedom of the Church^ one of the
most admirable of his smaller works, was delivered
on October 3rd, 1849, before a meeting of the
Catholic Union of Germany at Ratisbon. Martin
Luther, a Sketch, was reprinted, in 1852, from a
theological encyclopaedia, to which he also con
tributed articles on Bossuet and Duns Scotus. A
pamphlet on Coronation by the Pope was put out in
1853, when it was feared that Pius IX. would be
induced to crown Napoleon as emperor of the
French. The pamphlet discussed the different
occasions on which coronations by the pope had
taken place, and the error which had been com
mitted in the latest instance.
From 184.5 to 1847 Dr. Dollinger represented
the University of Munich in the Bavarian
Chamber. Several of his speeches have been
published.^ In 1847 he was deprived of his pro
fessorship, and consequently of his seat in the
Chamber, where the ministers who had been raised
to power by Lola Montez dreaded the influence of
his eloquence and character. Having been elected
a deputy to the national parliament in 1848, he
' Irrthum, Zweifel, Wahrheit, eine Bede it. s. w.
' Die Freiheit der Kirche.
' Drei Beden, gehalten auf dem bayerischen Landtage, 1846. 1. Die
kircUichen Antrdge des Beichrathes. 2. Die protestantischen Besch-
werden. 3. Die .Judenfrage.

fNTRODUCTfON xii
spoke and wrote with great effect in favour of
religious liberty ; end the definition of the rela
tions between Church and State, which was passed
at Frankfort, and afterwards nominally adopted
both at Yienna and Berlin, is said to have been
his work. The same spirit and the same principles,
which made him in religion the most thorough of
controversial writers, and the most earnest advo
cate of reforms, guided him also in politics, and
inspired him in society, making him at once the
exponent of the highest Catholicism, and the
champion of religious freedom. Tyianny in the
Church was condemned as one great support of
absolutism in the State, and the faults and short
comings of Catholics were rebuked as one fruitful
source of Christendom's divisions. In adjudicating
between religion and society. Protestantism and
Rome, Dr. Dollinger admitted no compromise, but,
acknowledging the just claims and real progress of
the modern world, and the evils which afflict the
Roman Church, he sought to distinguish that
which is essential and true from those things
with which ignorance or interest, superstition or
scepticism, have overlaid and obscured it.
In the spring of 1849 he returned to Munich,
and was restored to his professorship, and also to
his seat in the Chamber, which, however, he re
signed two years later, in order to devote himself
to the completion of his literary plans. Since that
time several great works have been published by

xiii fN TROD UCTfON
him. The appearance of the Philosophumena, by
Miller, 1851, gave rise to a prolonged discussion,
in which many Catholics sought to weaken the
testimony of the author, whilst Protestant writers
endeavoured to use his authority for the purpose
of throwing discredit on the Church of Rome.
In answer to both parties — especially to Giesler,
Baur, Bunsen, Wordsworth, and Lenormant —
Dr. Dollinger published, in 1853, Hippolytus and
Callistus : the Roman Church in the Third Century,^
perhaps of all his writings, the one in which his
ingenuity of combination, his skill as a logician,
and his lofty tone in handling the interests of his
Church, are most conspicuous. The classical
learning shown in this work was more abundantly
displayed in the introduction to the history of
Christianity, which appeared under the title of
Paganism and Judaism^ better known in England
by the title which its translator, the Rev. N.
Darnell, of New College, has given to it. The
Gentile and the Jew. In 1860 appeared a volume
entitled Christianity and the Church in the period of
their Foundation,^ which some consider to be the
author's masterpiece. In October, 1861, Dr.
' Hippolytus mid KaUistus, oder die roinische Kirche in der ersten
Halfte des dritten Jahrhunderts; mit Biicksicht auf die Schriften und
Abhandlungen HH. Bunsen, Wordsworth, Baur, und Giesler. Eegens
burg, 1853.
"¦ Heidenthum und Judenthum..
' Christenthum und Kirche in der Zeit der Ch-undlegung. Eegens
burg, 1860. Translated by the Eev. H. N. Oxenham, The First Age
of Christianity and the Church.

fNTRODUCTfON xliii
Dollinger published his celebrated work on the
papacy and the temporal power, well known in
England from Mr. W. B. Maccabe's translation,
with the title of The Church and the Churches.^
The present work. Fables respecting the Popes in
the Middle Ages,^ appeared in May, 1863. The
latest writing published by Dr. Dollinger, not
reckoning the famous Declarations^ which have
appeared in the Allgemeine Zeitung, is a most
interesting essay on Belief in Soothsaying and
Prophecy in Christian Times*' in Raumer's His-
torisches Taschenbuch. In this he has collected
together the most remarkable of the prophecies
which have been current in various parts of
Europe since the opening of the Christian era, and
classified them according to their origin, subject
matter, and object. The number is truly astonish
ing. Dr. Dollinger purposes to continue the
subject with an essay on Dante, in his character
as a prophet, in both senses of the word — i. e., as
a great and inspired teacher, and as a seer, or fore
teller of future events; aspects of the great
mediaeval poet which have hitherto been com
paratively lost sight of. He is also engaged on a
work treating of the constitution and internal
0-overnment of the Church. The pressing need
1 Kirche und Kircle, Bapstthum and Kirchenstaat. Miinchen, 1861.
2 Die Bapstfabeln des Mittelalters. Miinchen, 1863.
=> Especially those which appeared March 29th and June 13th, 1871.
* Der -Weissagungsglaube und das Prophetenthum in der Christ-
lichen Zeit.

xliv fNTRODUCTfON
which exists at the present time for a thorough
and dispassionate investigation of this intricate
subject, can scarcely be over-stated. Those who are
best acquainted with Dr. Dollinger's works will
feel the greatest confidence that, as far as fairness
and thoroughness are concerned, the forthcoming
work will leave little to be desired. The two
qualities which have distinguished the leading
spirits in the great religious movement of the
present time are their fearless appeal to first
principles and antiquity, and their moderation.
It would be no unpleasing task to endeavour to
express all that one knows and feels of admiration,
gratitude, and respect for the great theologian who
is the centre and pivot of the whole movement.
But the words of another great man, who, under
circumstances still more difficult and trying, has
been to France what Dr. Dollinger has been to
Germany, will carry far more weight than any
words of the present writer.
In the touching discourse on France and Ger
many, which Pere Htacinthe delivered in London
in December last, occurs the following striking
passage : — '
" C'est en AUemange que le Protestantisme s'est
" developpe le plus completement peut-^tre dans les
" deux directions ne'cessaires a tout mouvement reli-
' France et Allemagne. Discours prononc6 I Londres, le 20 D6-
cembre, 1870, par le E. P. Hyacinthe. London, Macimillan and Co.,
1871, pp. 30, 31.

fNTRODUCTfON xh

" gieux, et qui, souvent oppose'es dans leurmarche,
" finissent toujours par se reconcilier,je veux par ler
" de la science et de la piete'. Oui, la science sous
" sa forme la plus progressive, temeraire, egare'e
" quelque-fois, mais honn^te, profonde et feconde,
" la science a eu son foyer dans ces universite's sans
" rivales, je peux le dire, memo en Angleterre ; et
" la piete', sous sa forme la plus pratique et la plus
" touchante, a eu son sanctuaire dans le coeur de
" ces populations instruites et naives qui se repo-
" sent de leurs travaux dans la paix en lisant la
" Bible et Schiller, et qui vont au combat, comme
" dans cette guerre, en chantant les versets de leurs
'¦ vieux psaumes sous les sapins de leurs vieilles
" forets !
" Mais a cote de ce Protestantisme, auquel j'ai P^re Hya-
'' voulu rendre hommage, 1' Allemagne n'a pas cess^ mate of him.
" de nourrir un Catholicisme non moins e'claire, non
" moins honnMe, et non moins libe'ral. II s'est
" manifesto au Concile du Yatican par cette oppo-
" sition triomphante dans son apparente defaite, k
" laquelle il avait donne quelques uns de ses plus
" formes soutiens. Toutefois ce n'est pas dans un
" ev^que, mais dans un simple pretre qu'il se per-
" sonnifie, vieillard demeure je,une par I'espritetle
" coeur sous le poids des annees et de I'experience,
" patriarche de la science allemande, comme ou I'a
" si bien dit, mais patriarche de la conscience
" aussi, et qui, grand par le caractere autant
" que par Tin telli gence, impose le respect k

xlvi fNTRODUCTfON
" ceux qui ne savent pas I'aimer. J'ai nomme
Dollinger," " Toutefois ce n'est pas dans un eveque, mais
" dans un simple pretre qu'il personnifie," — a fact
which churchmen contemplate with mingled sorrow
and pride. But this is not the first time that the
Parallel be- Church has had such an experience. The history
tween the . . .
Arianizing of the first great council shows us results strikingly
bishops and • .n mi i • i
the minority Similar. The bishops, so valiant for the truth at
council. the council of Nicaea, afterwards, one by one,
group by group, fell away and signed confessions,
which, like the recent definitions of the Yatican,
might he explained to mean the truth, which in word
and intent they contradicted, and left the faith to
be preserved by the lower clergy and the laity.
Once more is the saying of S. Hilary most true,
" Sanctiores sunt aures plebis quam corda sacer-
" dotum," The fact is very striking; and it has
a moral, which will best be pointed out in the
words of one, whose history of those troubled
times would alone have made him famous, had he
written nothing else. In one of the Appendices^
to his history of the Arians, Dr. Newman writes
as follows : —
"The episcopate, whose action was so prompt
' The Arians of the Fourth Cejfiu/y, Appendix, note v., pp. 454,
455 of the third edition. At p. 368 he remarks :— " The question of
" the Arianizing bishops was one of much difBculty. They were in
" possession of the churches ; and could not be deposed, if at all,
" without the risk of a permanent schism." Here, again, we have a
state of things remarkably similar to that which exists at the
present day.

fNTRODUCTfON xlvii

" and concordant at Nicaea on the rise of Arianism,
" did not, as a class or order of men, play a good
" part in the troubles consequent upon the council ;
" and the laity did. The Catholic people, in the
" length and breadth of Christendom, were the
" obstinate champions of Catholic truth, and the
" bishops were not. Of course there were great and
" illustrious exceptions : first, Athanasius, Hilary,
" the Latin Eusebius, and Phoebadius ; and after
" them, Basil, the two Gregories, and Ambrose ;
" there are others, too, who suffered, if they did
" nothing else, as Eustathius, Paulus, Paulinus,
" and Dionysius ; and the Egyptian bishops, whose
" weight was small in the Church in proportion to
" the great power of their Patriarch. And, on
" the other hand, as I shall say presently, there
" were exceptions to the Christian heroism of the
" laity, especially in some of the great towns. And
" again, in speaking of the laity, I speak inclu-
" sively of their parish-priests (so to call them), at
" least in many places ; but on the whole, taking a
" wide view of the history, we are obliged to say
" that the governing body of the church came short,
" and the governed were pre-eminent in faith, zeal,
" courage, and constancy.
" This is a very remarkable fact ; but there is a
" moral in it. Perhaps it was permitted in order
" to impress upon the Church, at that very time
" passing out of her state of persecution to her
" long temporal ascendancy, the great evangelical

xlviii fNTRODUCTfON
" lesson, that, not the wise and powerful, but the
" obscure, the unlearned, and the weak constitute
" her real strength. It was mainly by the faithful
" people that Paganism was overthrown ; it was
" by the faithful people, under the lead of Atha-
" nasius and the Egyptian bishops, and in some
" places supported by their bishops or priests, that
" the worst of heresies was withstood and stamped
" out of the sacred territory."
This fact is of the more importance, because it
has of late been argued (Pere Gratry himself in
sisted on the point in a recent conversation with
the translator), that for nearly the whole of the
episcopate to accept error, while the truth remained
with priests and laymen, is without a parallel in
the history of the Church. Of course the conclusion
which many would draw from this is, that the truth
is on the side of the bishops, and not on the side of
the protesting clergy and laity. The above remarks,
however, tend to show that the premise, from
which this conclusion is drawn, is false.
One other testimony to the merits of our author,
one who voted with the majority in the Convoca
tion of the University of Oxford on June 6th of
the current year, may be allowed the pleasure of
quoting.
The Oxford " Quouiam satis cognitum et perspectum habeat
Diploma. . . . " ¦¦¦ ^
" Universitas, virum admodum reverendum Jo-
" hannem Josephum Ignatium von Dollinger, Doc-
" torem in sacra Theologia, Capituli Regii Prsepo-

fNTR OD UCTfON xlix
" situm, Professorem Historiae Ecclesiasticae in
" Universitate Monacensi, senator em superioris
" ordinis in Parliamento Bavaria, Pr^lectoris His-
" toriae munus per multos olim annos gerentem
" inter suos ingenii et eruditionis fama, gratia
" insuper et honoribus floruisse: necnon in de usque
" persona Scriptoris Historici induta, ecclesiae mili-
" tantis tempora et vicissitudines copiose et lucu-
" lenter explicuisse ; adhibita semper in veritate
" investiganda singulari sagacitate, industria, et
" sedulitate indefessa ; immo etiam in controversiis
" tractandis {quod difficillimum est) arbitrum se potius
" quam litigator em prcestitisse ; totam denique rerum
" gestarum, sententiarum, consiliorum narrationem
" ita expossuisse, ut nullus fere recentiorum modera-
" tius vel sapientius scripsisse judicandus sit, — nos
" Cancellarius, magistri et scholares Universitatis
" Oxoniensis, in frequenti Convocatione magistro-
" rum Regentium et non Regentium, pro more
" nostro pios et doctos undequaque oriundos colendi
" et (quoad licuerit) decorandi, vi et virtute pr«-
" sentis hujusce diplomatis praidictum Johannem
" Josephum Ignatium creamus et constituimus
" Doctorem in Jure Civili, eumque omnibus juribus
" et privilegiis quae ad talem gradum spectant frui
" et gaudere volumus.
" In cujus rei testimonium sigillum Universitatis
" Oxoniensis commune, quo hac in parte utimur,
" prsesentibus apponi fecimus." d

1 fNTRODUCTfON
^ct^orthe"^' -^ -^^^ words may be added in conclusion, with
present trans- reference to the present translation. The ideal
lation. '¦
aimed at has been, faithfully to reproduce the full
meaning of the original, and yet at the same time
to use only such words and phrases as an English
author, writing at first hand, would employ ; in
short, to avoid, if possible, all such forms of ex
pression as would at once proclaim that the work
was a translation and not original. If this ideal
has been in any degree approached, it is in a great
measure owing to the peculiarly lucid style of the
author. In freedom from difficult constructions,
from long and hopelessly involved sentences, from
ponderous and untranslateable compound-words,
Dr. DoUinger's writing stands in marked contrast
to only too many German authors of the present
day. For the most part his sentences admit of
being translated literally and verbatim.
The object of the translation is twofold. The
first and main object, to make one more of Dr.
Dollinger's works accessible to that large number
of the English public, who are debarred from
reading them in the original. It is hoped that
persons who are not professed students, nor in any
special way interested in ecclesiastical history, will
be induced to read these essays. And for this
reason a few simple notes, in the way of explanation
and supplement, have been added, in order to make
the text as clear as possible to those whose know
ledge of the historical facts under consideration

fN TROD UCTfON Ii
may chance to be somewhat superficial. For a
similar reason passages have been- cited in extenso
in many places, where the original at most gives
only a reference. Labbe, Harduin, &c., are not
rare works, it is true ; but they are not accessible
to every one ; and many who could have access to
them, would be unable or unwilling to spend time
in consulting them, and yet would be glad to know
the exact words of the passage to which reference
is made. The indulgence of students of history is
asked in both these cases. They are begged to
tolerate notes stating facts, which to them seem
elementary or obvious, and containing quotations
from books, which "are in every library."^ For
the appendices much the same apology must be
made as for the additional notes. Only one of
them belongs to the original work, viz., Appendix
B, containing the story of the papess as given in
the Tegernsee MS. in the Munich Library. In the
original it stands as a lengthy foot-note. It seemed
more convenient to place it with the other appen
dices at the end of the volume. The Table of
Contents has been very greatly enlarged.
The other object of the translation is secondary. Evil results of
„ , the fictions re-
having reference only to one or two ot the essays, main after the
. 1 T J. fictions have
which have a bearing, more or Jess direct, upon been exposed.
the present crisis in the Roman Catholic Church.
No one nowadays needs to have it proved to him
1 The notes added by the translator are distinguished from those
of the original work by being enclosed in square brackets.
d 2

Iii fNTRODUCTfON
that the council of Sinuessa and the Donation of
Constantine are as mythical as the Trial of Orestes
or the Garment of Nessus. One examines and
studies the details of the stories for various reasons,
but scarcely in order to test their truth. That
question has been long since closed. But what it
is of importance still to consider is this : — that
though these legends have been abandoned, the
claims which have been made on the strength of
the legends have not been abandoned. The self-
condemnation and self-deposition of Marcellinus is
consigned to the regions of fable ; but the principle
Prima sedes non judicabitur a quoquam is main
tained. The grant made to Silvester is allowed to
be apocryphal ; but the authority and territory,
which the popes acquired or retained on the
strength of that supposed grant, are still either
possessed or claimed. It would not be too much to
say that the bulk of what is now claimed or re
claimed by the Roman See, in the way of supre
macy, infallibility, and temporal dominion, is de
manded, either directly or indirectly, in virtue of
documents which have been either forged or falsi
fied. The invalidity of the title-deeds has been
exposed again and again, but possession (or vehe
ment claim to possession), through a most unhappy
prescription, still continues. " C'est une question
" totalement gangrene'e par la fraude."
Nor is this all. These lamentable impostures
have left behind them a far worse legacy than that

fNTRODUCTfON liii
of ill-gotten possessions or ill-founded claims.
Offspring of a spirit of falsehood, they have
begotten a spirit like unto their parent. It is
impossible to live long among those who are
devoted to the interests of the Yatican, or to read
much of the literature which is written in support
of those interests, without feeling that the concep
tion of truth entertained by these advocates is a
saddening travesty of the sacred reality. In some
cases the sense of truth, the love of truth for
its own sake, nay even the very power of dis
criminating between truth and falsehood, seems
almost lost. Pere Gratry has published some
mournful proofs which he has had of this fact in
examining ecclesiastical candidates at the Sor
bonne.^ The noble words in which he condemns
^ Premiere Lettre a M<^- Dechamps, pp. 67-70. To which we may
add the fact that Alfoniso de Liguori, the unconscious dupe of the
grossest forgeries, the conscious author of a system of casuistry,
which may shortly be described as " lying made easy," has lately
been made a Doctor of the Eoman Church. Because, forsooth,
" plurimos Libros conscripsit, sacrS, eruditione et pietate refertos,
" sive, inter implexas Theologorum tum laxiores, tum rigidiores
" sententias, ad tutam muniendam viam, per quam Ghristifidehum
" animarum Moderatores inoffenso j)ede incedere possent ; sive ad
" Klerum informandum, instituendum ; sive ad Catholicse Fidei
" veritatem confirmandam, et contra cujuscunque generis aut nomi-
" nis HsBreticos defendendam ; sive ad asserenda hujus Apostolical
" Sedisjura ; sive ad Fidelium animos ad pietatem excitandos. Hoc
" porro prsedicari verissime potest, nullum esse vel nostrorum tem-
" porum, qui, maxima saltern ex parte, non sit ab Alphonso refu-
" tatus. Quid quod ea, quae, tum de Immaculata Sanctse Dei
" Genetricis Conceptione, tum de Bomani Pontificis ex Cathedra
" docentis Jnfallibilitate, plaudente christiano populo, et frequent-
" issimo universi catholici orbis Antistitum concessu approbante, a
" Nobis sancita sunt, in Alphonsi Operibus reperiuntur et nitidissime

liv fNTRODUCTfON
such " pious frauds " will serve as an apt conclu
sion to these introductory remarks.^
" En pre'sence de ces faits, monseigneur, il faut
" d'abord, si nous sommes des enfants de lumiere,
" si nous sommes les disciples de celui qui dit : * Je
" ' suis venu pour rendre te'moinage a la verite,' il
" faut, si seulement nous sommes des hommes
" d'honneur, il faut rejeter loin de nous avec
" d gout, avec horreur, avec indignation, ce travail
" des faussair-es. II faut le rejeter avec e'clat, avec
" solennite, de telle sorte que, dans le monde en tier,
" aucun homme ne puisse soup^onner dans aucun
" de nous la moindre arrierepensee de maintenir
" aucun resultat de ces impostures miserables."
" exposita, et validissimis argumentis demonstrata ?" — Papal Brief
Eome, July 7, 1871.
' Deuxieme Lettre a M^'- Dechamps, pp. 23, 24.
A. P.
IIbwoeth,
September, 1871.

This translation has been undertaken with the
express sanction of the author.
The translator is responsible for all that appears
between square brackets, thus [ ], and for all the
appendices, excepting Appendix B., as also for
the italics and the insertions in the margin.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE
The present publication is the fruit of a course
of reading and study, which I undertook with a
view to a more considerable work, intended to
embrace the history of the papacy. It seemed
to me, however, that the results of my researches,
which are here given to the public, combine to
this extent as a connected whole, that all these
fables and inventions — however different may
have been the occasions which gave them birth,
and however intentional or unintentional may
have been their production — have, nevertheless,
had at times a marked influence on the whole
aspect of the Middle Ages, on the history and
poetry of the time, on its theology, and its
jurisprudence. For this reason I may, perhaps,
venture to hope that not only theologians and

Iviii AUTHORS PREFACE.
ecclesiastical historians, but lovers and students
of mediaeval history and medieval literature in
general, will find this book not altogether devoid
of interest. J. V. DoLLI^'GER.
Munich, May 24a, 1863.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. POPE JOAN.
Not yet sufQciently proved to be a myth . . . . . . 3
Not an inexplicable riddle . . . . . . . . . . 6
Eight explanations stated . . . . , . . . . , 7
All eight assume that the story is older than the 13th
century .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9
The Papess not mentioned by Marianus Scotus . . . . 10
nor by Sigebert of Gemblours . . 11
nor by Otto of Preysingen . . 11
Stephan de Bourbon the flrst chronicler who mentions
her  13
Martinus Polonus the chief means of spreading the story 15
Even in his case the story is an interpolation .. .. 16
Various ways of interpolating . . . . . . . . 18
In " Anastasius " also the story is a later addition . . 21
Eeasons for inserting the Papess between Leo IV. and
Benedict III  23
Writers who copy Martinus Polonus .. .,26
Writers of the 14th century who mention her . . . , 27
The Dominicans and Minorites spread the story . . 29
Used as an argument at the council of Constance . . 31
The Dominicans might easily have exposed the story . . 33
Not known to the Greeks till 1450-1 .00  3i
Aventin and Onufrio Panvinio the flrst to deny it .. 36

Analysis of the Stoky.
Discrepancies about the name of the Papess
the date of her Pontificate . .
her previous abode . .
thq mode of the catastrophe
Boccacio's version probably the popular one

373838
3941

Ix Table of Contents
Oeigin of the Stoey. PAGE
Pour elements of production. — I. A statue . . . . 43
2. An inscription .. 44
3. Aseat of unusual shape 47
4. A custom .. .. 53

Examples or similae Stobies.
The two wives of the Count of Gleichen . .
The Piistrich at Sondershausen
Archbishop Hatto and the mice . .
Figure on the Eiesenthor of Vienna Cathedral
The origin of the house of Colonna

54
55 565859

Abode of the Papess.
Why represented as coming from England .. .. 60
Mayence .. .. 61
Athens .. .. 65
II. POPE CYEIACUS.
This fiction had a definite object . . . . . . . . 71
Visions of the nun Elizabeth of Schonau .. .. ..71
S. Ursula and her maidens . . . . . . . . . . 72
Abdication of Cyriacus . . . . . . . . . . 73
Martinus Polonus the chief means of spreading the story 73
The story brought to bear on the abdication of
CoelestiaeV  75

III. MAECELLINUS. The story of his abdication very ancient ..
The whole story a tissue of absurdities . .
Its object, to prove that popes are above all tribunals
Probable date of its fabrication
Use made of it by Nicolas I., Gerson, and Gerbert
IV. CONSTANTINE and SILVESTEE.

79 81
82
83 84

Multitude of writers who mention the baptism of Con
stantine by SUvester at Eome . . . . . . . . 89
The true account seemed incredible in the Middle Ages 90
The story certainly originated in Eome .. .. ..91
Probable date of its fabrication . . . . . . . . 93
Not generally accepted at first . . . . . . . . 94
Influence of the iiier PoraiJ/ZcaZi's .. .. .. ..95
Attempt of Ekkehard to reconcile the two accounts . . 96
Theory of Bonizo of Sutri .. .. .. .. ..97

Table of Contents Ixi
PAGE
Italian chroniclers who follow him . . . . . . 98
The story appealed to by Hadrian I., Nicolas I., and
Leo IX  99
Johannes Malalas the first Greek who accepts it . . 100
The true account seemed incredible to the Greeks also 101
.apneas Sylvius and Nicolas of Gusa knew the truth . . 102
The truth spreads slowly . . . . . . . . . . 102
Its final triumph due to French theologians . . . . 102
The story a favourite subject for poems . . . . 103
V. The DONATION ot CONSTANTINE.
Account of the Donation in the Liber Pontificalis
suspicious .. .. .. .. .. .. 107
Evidence of Hadrian I. . . . . . . . . . . 108
No traces of the Donation till about 750 . . . . 108
Theory that it was a Greek fabrication disproved by
the language of the document . . . . . . . . 110
The Greek text an evident translation .. .. .. Ill
Why the Greeks so readily believed in the Donation . . 114
Accepted in the West before even known to the Greeks 116
The work of a Eoman ecclesiastic .. .. .. 117
Probable date of the forgery . . . . . . . . 118
Eoman horror of the Lombards .. .. .. .. 118
Not ungrounded . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Scheme of Gregory II. to make Eome independent . . 121
The Donation gave an historic basis to this scheme . . 122
Not fabricated by the pseudo-Isidore . . . . . . 123
Contents of the document . . . . . . . . 124
The momentous ninth clause . . . . . . . . 126
Change of " or " into " and "  127
The senate, patriciate, and consulate in the 8th century 128
Papal officials an imitation of imperial officials . . 130
Stated object of the Donation  132
Certainly known in Eome before 850 .. .. .. 133
iEneas of Paris treats it as authentic  133
Hincmar and Ado are more reserved  134
Leo IX. shows full belief in it  134
Eemarkable silence of Gregory VII  134
Urban II. claims Corsica on the strength of it . . . . 135
Hadrian IV. gives Ireland to Henry II. on the strength
ofit  Ip6
Neapolitan clergy fabricate a Donation  139
The Donation disputed in Eome when found inconvenient 140
by monks . . . . . . . . 140
by followers of Arnold of Brescia 141

Ixii Table of Contents

PAGE

But, though disputed, still largely used . . . . 143
Claims of the popes to the imperial insignia and
homage .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 144
Dissatisfaction in Germany at such claims . . . . 147
Historians, more cautious than the clergy, limit with
out denying the Donation . . . . . . . . 147
From the 12th to 14th century its authority increases 150
Innocent IV's statement of papal supremacy . . . . 151
Lawyers allowed the Donation only the right of pre
scription .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 154
Uncertainty as to its extent .. .. .. ..157
Extension given to it by German law-books . . . . 162
Two opposite views respecting it : —
1. That it and similar endowments were admirable . . 163
2. That the wealth of the Church was a source of
infinite evil .. .. .. .. .. 163
Hence the story of the angel's lament .. .. .. 168
Mediseval sects adopted the second view . . . . 170
The fiction exjposed by Nras&% Sylvius . . . . . . 173
Also by bishop Peoock, cardinal Cusa, and Lorenzo
Valla  174
Its last defenders . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

VI. LIBEEIUS AND FELIX.
The true account ..
Felix an antipope . .
Liberius an apostate
He is fairly called heretical
He re-establishes his orthodoxy . .
Felix more culpable, and without excuse
The fable 
Object of it to whitewash the party of Felix
Not older than the 6th century . .
Version of the Liber Pontificalis and of the Acts of
Felix ., .. .. .. .. ....
Version of the Acts of Eusebius ..
Name of Felix inserted into martyrologies, calen
dars, &c. .. .. .. .....
He is confounded with the AfriiJan martyr Felix
The fable originated in the Li^er Poutifimlis ..
Difficulties when the truth became known in the 16th
century ..
A forged inscription
Paoli's monstrous hypothesis
Tho fable finally abandoned

181
182 183184
186187189
189 189191193194196 198201 202203 204

Table of Contents Ixiii
VII. ANASTASIUS II.— HONOEIUS I. PAGE
Anastasius IL .. .. .. .. .. ., 209
Dante selects him as an instance of an heretical pope . . 209
Was he a heretic ? .. .. .. .. .. .. 211
Dante's error the common belief of tho time . . . . 215
This erroneous belief created mainly by Gratian . . 217
Opposite fate of Honorius I. . . . . . . . . 220
MonotheHtism an attempted compromise between
monophysitism and orthodoxy . . . . . . . . 221
Honorius confessedly a monothelite .. .. .. 222
Anathematized by the Vlth general council . . . . 226
For actual heresy, not for mere negligence . . . . 227
The papal legates vote for the anathema . . . . 228
Pope Agatho's vain attempt to avert the anathema . . 229
Leo II. confirms the anathema . . . . . . . . 230
The Liber Diurnus requires every pope to confirm the
anathema .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 232
Marked silence of the Liber Pontificalis .. .. .. 232
The anathema treated in the East as a matter of course 235
Hincmar of Eheims assents to it . . . . . . . . 236
Silence of the Liber Pontificalis followed by historians 236
The anathema on a pope is thus forgotten . . . . 237
Leo IX. shows utter ignorance of it .. .. .. 238
A Greek first reminds the West of the fact . . . . 241
Torquemada sacriflces the council to save Honorius . . 241
The question not seriously debated till the 16th century 242
Vaeious Hypotheses.
1. That the .i^cis o/i/ie coimaZ have been interpolated.. 242
2. That they are really the Acts of another synod . . 243
3. That the letters of Honorius are forgeries .. .. 243
4. That Honorius was condemned for neghgence only 244
5. That the letters of Sergius are forgeries . . . . 247
6. That the letters of Leo II. are also forgeries . . 248
7. That Honorius was condemned by the Greeks only 248
8. That Honorius wrote, not as pope, but as a private
teacher  249
The Monothelitism of Honorius would never have been
questioned, had he not been pope . . . . . . 250
VIII. POPE GEEGOEY H. and the EMPEEOE LEO IIL
Gregory II. represented as heading a revolt against
Leo III  253
Martinus Polonus once more the spreader of error .. 253

Ixiv

Table of Contents

Theophanes the source of the statement
Gregory headed no revolt, but helped to quash one . .
View of Gregorovius inconsistent with facts and itself
Difficult position of Gregory II. . .

PAGE 254255
258 259

TY SILVESTEE n.
Gradual defamation of his memory .. .. .. 265
I. That he was too fond of profane arts and sciences . . 265
2. That his election at Eavenna was due to sinister arts 266
3. That he was addicted to magic and black art . . 266
4. That he sold himself to the devil  267
The fable of Eoman origin . . . . . . . . 267
Its object  268
The Dominicans spread the fable . . . . . . 269
The truth recognised in the 14th century . . . . 273

APPENDICES.

A. Further particulars respecting Pope Joan . .
B. The story of the Papess in the Tegernsee MS.
C. Further illustrations of similar growth of myths
D. Letter of pope Hadrian to Henry II. of England
E. Decisions " ex cathedra."
F. The latest defenders of Honorius

273
280283289
292298

POPE JOAN

POPE JOAN
The subject of Pope Joan has not yet lost the The story of
interest which belongs to it as a fact in the province ye°t^suffidentiy
of historical criticism. The literature respecting her afeUe. '° ^^
reaches down to the very latest times. As recently
as 1843 and 1845 two works on this question have
appeared from the pens of two Dutch scholars ; the
one by Professor Kist,^ to prove the existence of
Pope Joan, the other, a very voluminous one, by
Professor Wensing, of Warmond, to disprove
Kist's position. In Italy Bianchi-Giovini has
written a book on the subject in the same year,
1845, without being aware of the works of the
two Dutch writers. In Germany no one — at
any rate of those who know anything of history —
will easily be induced to entertain a serious belief
' [_A woman in the chair of S. Peter. Another edition of this has
lately appeared ; Giitersloh, 1866. Professor Kist thinks that
Pope Joan was possibly the widow of Leo IV.]
B 2

POPE JOAN

in the existence of the female pope. To do so,
one must do violence to every principle of his
torical criticism. But the banishment of the subject
to the realm of fable has not yet been completely
accomplished. The riddle — how this extraordinary
myth originated — remains still to be solved.
That an Nothing but the insufficiency and misdirection
author like f n • i •
Luden should 01 ail previous attempts at an explanation can
treat it as pro- r> i f i tit • 1 ¦
babie is suffi- accouut tor the lact that a man like Luden, m nis
of this. History of the German People^ does all he can to
make the reality of the well-known myth at any
rate probable. " It is inconceivable," says he,
" how it could ever enter into any man's head to
" invent such an insane falsehood. He must either
" have invented his lie out of sheer wantonness in
" order to scoff at the papacy, or he must have
" intended to gain some other object by means of
" it. But of all the dozens of writers who mention
" Pope Joan and her mishap, there is not a single
" one who can be called an enemy of the papacy.
" They are clergy, monks, guileless people, who
" notice this phenomenon in the same dry way in
" which they mention other things, which seem to
" them to be strange, wonderful, laudable, abomin-
" able, or in any way worth mentioning." " And
" one cannot imagine," says Luden further on,
" an object which could seem to any one to be
" attainable by means of such a falsehood. More-
" over, it is inconceivable how people in general
^ Geschichte des deutschen Volkes, vi., 513-517.

Views of Luden, Hase, and f-Cist 5
" could have believed in the story, and that without
" the slightest doubt, for nearly 500 years from
" the eleventh century onwards, if it had not been
" true." It is marvellous enough that Luden should Erroneous
make the myth of Pope Joan a matter of general the time and
belief from the eleventh century onwards. It would which the
be very much nearer the truth to say that it did generai°beiief.
not find general belief till the middle oi ihe fourteenth
century. The author, however, of the article on Pope
J oan in the Nouvelle Biographie Generale, published
at Paris by Dr. Hofer, as lately as 1858, goes very
much greater lengths.^ " Cette croyance a done
" regne dans le monde chretien depuis le neuvieme
" siecle jusqu'apres la renaissance." And to crown
it all, Hase thinks it, at any rate, credible thatthe
Church, not content with creating facts, annihilated
them, also, whenever the knowledge of them
seemed critical for the already tottering papacy.^
According to Hase and Kist, then, we must state
the matter thus : that soon after the year 855 an
edict issued from Eome to this effect, " Let no one
" presume to say a word about the fact of a female
" pope," for at that time Eome did not feel her
position to be as yet very secure. About the
middle of the thirteenth century, however, a
counter order issued from the same place ; " Hence-
" forth it is lawful to discuss history; we now
' Vol. XXVI., p. 569.
^ Kirchengeschichte, 7. Aufl. s. 213.

POPE JOAN

" consider our position safe, and can venture to
" let the narrative appear in historical works."
Some consider The judgment of Kurtz is, at any rate, more
to^bTiTso-" sober and free from prejudice.^ " The evidence
" before us," he says, " forbids us to assign to
" the myth any historical value whatever. We
" must, however (quite apart from the falsifica-
" tion of the acts, which, in some cases, is mani-
" fest, in others is a matter of suspicion,) charac-
" terise the myth as a riddle, which criticism has
" as yet not solved, ^Jid probably ner^er will."
The present That the riddle has not yet been solved, that all
ara^soiution! attempts at explanation which have been made up
to the present time, must be held to have mis
carried, is true enough ; that a solution which may
satisfy the historian is, nevertheless, possible, it
will be the object of the following pages to
show.

Previous ex- Let US first glauco for a moment at the explana-
i.'rharit was tions which have been set forth up to this time,
joh^n'vin. Baronius considers the myth to be a satire on
John YIII., "ob nimiam ejus animi facilitatem
*' et mollitudinem," qualities which he exhibited
2. A satire on moro especially in the affair of Photius. Others,
infamous Avontino to begin with, and after him Heumann
Theodora and icii.. i r. i .i t.
Marozia. and bclirock, preler to reckon the supposed satire as
one on the period of female rule in Eome, the reign
' Ilandbuch der Kirchengeschichte, 1856, 11. Band, 1. Abtheilung,
B. 225.

fs the story an insoluble problem ?

of Theodora and Marozia under certain popes,
some of whom were called John ; in which case,
however, it would have to be transferred from the
middle of the ninth century to the tenth. The
supposition to which the Jesuit Secchi in Eome
has given publicity, that it is a calumny originating 3- a Greek
with the Greeks, namely with Photius, is equally
inadmissible. The first Greek who mentions the
circumstance is the monk Barlaam in the fourteenth
century. Pagi's assertion also, which Eckhart
supports, that the myth was an invention of the 4- a fiction of
the W3.I-
Waldenses, is pure imagination. The myth denses.
evidently originated in Eome itself, and the first
to give it circulation were not the Waldenses, but
their most deadly enemies — the Dominicans and
Minorites. Leo Allatius thought that it was a false 5. a perverted
. account of
prophetess called Thiota, in the ninth century, who Thiota the
fii-ipi T All prophetess.
gave occasion for the birth ot the myth. And the
explanation invented by Leibnitz^ is a forced
attempt to meet the exigencies of the case. It
mig-ht very well, he thinks, have been a foreign 6. a female
° J ' ' _ f^ bishop.
bishop (pontifex episcopus), really a woman m dis
guise, who gave birth to a child during a pro
cession at Eome, and thus occasion to the story.
Blasco and Henke supposed that the myth 7. An aiie-
. . . ,, gorical satire
about the female pope was a satirical allegory on the False
on the origin and circulation of the false decretals
1 Flores sparsi in tumul/im Papissai, ap. Soheid, biblioth. hist.
Goetting., p. 367.

8 POPE JOAN
of Isidore. An idea which, to begin with, is
at variance with the spirit of that century, an
age in which men had no notion of satirical alle
gories ; and, in the next place, contradicts itself, for
the story of Pope Joan originated at a time when
no one doubted the genuineness of the false decretals
of Isidore. Nevertheless, Gfrorer has lately taken
up this idea, and worked it out in a still more
artistic manner.^ " The whole force of the fable,"
he says, " resides in these two points, that the
' woman was a native of Mayence, and that she
' came from Greece (Athens), and ascended the
' papal chair. In the first particular I recognise
' a condemnation directed against the canons of
' the pseudo-Isidore, in the second an allegorical
' censure of the alliance which Leo IV. wished
' to make with the Byzantines. . . It is said that
' in the later days of Leo IV. the papal power
' in Mayence and Greece was abused, or to make
' use of a metaphor, of which the Italians are very
' fond in such cases, was at that time prostituted."
Side by side with this explanation, which can
scarcely fail to provoke the smiles of nearly every
one who is acquainted with the Middle Ages,
stands the extraordinary circumstance, that for
this attempt of Leo IV. to compromise himself
more than was right with the Byzantines, there
is no authority whatever. It is purely an
hypothesis of Gfr5rer's. But his rendering of
' Kirchengeschichtf, ill., iii., 978.

Previous explanations make the story too ancient 9
the myth about Pope Joan is now made to do
further service as a proof of the correctness of this
hypothesis, as well as for his assumption that the
false decretals originated in Mayence.
In short, all the attempts at explanation, which But aii these
have hitherto been made, split on this rock — that assumTthat^
the myth had its origin in a much later age ; originated in
T,i 1 pii i 1-a much earlier
when the remembrance ot tlie events and cir- age than was
cumstances of the ninth and tenth centuries had '^'^^ y ' '^ ^<= •
long ago faded away, or at most existed only in
the case of individual scholars, and, therefore,
could not form material for the construction of a
myth. I believe, that is to say, that I can
without difficulty produce convincing evidence,
that the myth about the woman-pope, though it
may possibly have had somewhat earlier circula
tion in the mouth of the people, was not de
finitively put into writing before the middle of
the thirteenth century. This evidence could, it is not older
not have been given with anything like certainty thirteenth
before the present time. For it is only during the facHmp'os":
last forty' years that all the stores of mediiBval beforfthe pie-
manuscripts in the whole of Europe have been ^entcentuiy.
hunted through with a care such as was never
known before. Every library corner has been
searched, and an astounding quantity of historical
documents, hitherto unknown (what a mass of new
material exists in the Pertz collection alone, for
instance !), has been brought to hght. Neverthe-
• [This was written in 1863.]

ID

POPE JOAN

Erroneous
belief that
Pope Joan is
mentioned in
the eleventh
and twelfth
centuries :
I. By Mari
anus Scotus.

2. By Sigebert
of Gemblours.

less, not a single notice of the myth about Pope
Joan has been discovered, which is earlier
than the close, or, at the very most, the middle
of the thirteenth century. We can now say
quite positively, that in the collected literature,
whether western or Byzantine, of the four
centuries between 850 and 1250, there is not the
faintest reference to the circumstance of a female
pope. For a long time it was supposed that the myth,
though certainly not to be found in any author of
the ninth or tenth century, appeared as already in
existence in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
Marianus Scotus' is said to have been the first
to mention the female pope, and he certainly does
mention her in the text as given by Pistorius.
Now, however, that the text in the great Pertz
collection has been edited by Waitz ^ according to
the most ancient manuscripts, the fact has come to
light, that Marianus knew nothing whatever of
Pope Joan. In his case, as in the case of so many
other authors, the short mention of the female
' [Born, probably in Ireland, about 1028 ; died at Mayence, 1086 ;
not to be confounded with Marianus, the Franciscan, a Florentine
writer of the fifteenth century. In 1056 Marianus Scotus entered
the abbey of S. Martin at Cologne ; in 1059 he moved to the abbey
of Fulda, and thence in 1069 to Mayence. He passed for the [most
learned man of his age, being a mathematician and theologian as
well as historian. His Chronicon Universale is based on Cassiodorus,
augmented from Eusebius and Bede, and the chronicles of Hildes-
heim and Wurzburg, and extends down to the year 1083 ; published
at Basle by Hdrold, 1559.]
^ Monunienia, vm., 550.

Not mentioned by authors iith^f i ith centuries

1 1

Freysingen.

pope has been interpolated at a later period. In
the chronicle of Sigebert of Gemblours, and the
supplements of the monks of Orcamp (Auctarium
Ursicampinum), the notice of the papess is wanting
in all original manuscripts. She was first inserted
by the first editor in the year 1513.' Kurtz has
lately appealed again to the supposed evidence of 3. By otto of
Otto of Freysingen.^ In the list of the popes,
continued down to the year 1513, which is printed
with his historical works,^ Pope John VII. (in the
year 705) is marked as a woman, without one
single word of explanation. And in the edition
of the Pantheon, as given by Pistorius, we find in
' "In nuUo quem noverimus Sigeberti codice occurrit locus
" famosus de Johanna papissa, quem hoc loco editio princeps
" exhibet," says the latest editor, Bbthmann, ap. Pertz, vni., 340.
Compare the remark, p. 470, where Bethmann says decisively,
" nemo igitur restat (as interpoiater of the passage) nisi primus
" editor, sive is Antonius Eufus fuerit, sive Henricus Stephanus."
It is a mistake when Kuetz elsewhere (p. 228) says with regard to
Siegbert and Marianus : " The oldest editors would scarcely have
" added the passages in question out of their own heads ; and there-
" fore it is probable that the passages were purposely omitted in the
" codices which they had before them." There are no signs what
ever of anything being intentionally omitted or eifaced ; in many of
the manuscripts, on the other hand, there are plenty of signs of
subsequent insertions and additions in the margin. [Sigebert was
born about 1030, and died 1112. His chronicle extends from 381,
where Eusebius ended, to 1112.]
^ Kirchengeschichte, ii., 226.
5 [Otto, Bishop of ^BETSINGB^f, went with his brother, Conrad
III., on his crusade to the Holy Land, resuming his diocese on his
return. He died in September 1158, having held the see twenty
years. His chronicle ia seven books extends down to 1146. The
flrst four books are a mere compilation from Orosius, Eusebius,
Isidore, Bede, &c. ; the last three are of great value. He also wrote
two books De gestis Friderici I. .AUnobarbi, which come down to the
year 1157.]

la

POPE JOAN

In all three
cases the
notice of the
Papess is an
interpolation. The oldest
MSS. do not
contain it.

the list of the popes these words, " the Papess
" Johanna is not reckoned."
Meanwhile a close investigation of the oldest
and best manuscripts of Gottfried's Pantheon and
of Otto's chronicle have brought it to light, that
originally neither the word " foemina " was placed
in Otto's chronicle against the name of John VII.,
nor the gloss " Johanna Papissa non numeratur "
in the Pantheon between Leo IV. and Benedict III. ;
both of which insertions are given in the printed
editions.' In the chronicle of Otto the addition to the
name of John VII. is manifestly the work of a
later copyist or reader, who inserted the word
quite at random, because he was bound to have a
female John somewhere among the popes. The
fact that this John comes as early as the year 705
was the less likely to puzzle him, because the list
of popes in this chronicle does not give the dates.^
' [That confusion prevailed in some of the lists of the popes
precisely at this point is shown by an annahst, who apparently wrote
in Halberstadt 854 : " Benedictus papa, ut quidam volunt, hoc anno
" factus est, et post hunc Paulus (!), post eum Stephanus per annos
" quatuor sedisse tnveniuntur." — Baxmann, Politik der Pdpste, i.,
p. 361, note.]
^ In the good original manuscripts of tho Pantheon in the royal
library at Munich the addition about Pope Joan is wanting. These
are :— Cod. Lat, 43 (from Hartmann Schedel's collection) f. 1181, b.
Cod. Windberg. 37, or Cod. Lat. 22,237, f. 168 b. Similarly in
the oldest manuscripts of the chronicle of Otto in the Munich
library the addition to the name of John VII. does not appear.
These are Cod. Weihensteph. 61, or Lat. 21,561, which is of about
the same date. Cod. Prising. 177, or Lat. 6,517. Cod. Scheft-
larn. Lat. 17,124, in which the list of popes comes to an end with
Hadrian TV., and therefore is also of the same date.

First appearance of the fable 13
The first who has really taken up the myth is stephan de
• 1 T • 1 r( Bourbon, who
the author of a chronicle, to which Stephan de died a.d.
_, , . , . . . 1261, is the
Bourbon appeals without giving any more exact first chronicler
. ri 1 1-11 ^^''¦° mentions
quotation.' ihat is to say, Stephen, a I'rench her.
Dominican, born towards the close of the twelfth
century, died in the year 1261, in his work on the
seven gifts of the Holy Spirit,^ which was written
just about the middle of the thirteenth century,
makes the first mention of Pope Joan, whom he
assetrs he has discovered in a chronicle. Now
seeing that he quotes with exactness all the
sources from which he has gathered together the
collection of passages which contribute to his
practical homily, we can, at least with great pro
bability, show from what chronicle he has obtained
this mention of Pope Joan. Among chroniclers
he names Eusebius, Jerome, Bede, Odo, Hugo of
S. Victor, the "Eoman Cardinal," and John de
Mailly, a Dominican. We may set aside all but
the two last. The "Eoman Cardinal" (or Car
dinal Eomanus(?) — there were several of this
name, but none of them wrote a chronicle) is
probably none other than the author of the
' [He merely says] " dicitur in chronicis." He means no more than
one chronicle ; Chronica is constantly used in the plural as a title.
Otherwise Stephan would naturally have added "variis" or
" pluribus." 2 It has never been printed. The whole, or portions of it, exist
in the French libraries, one portion of it in the Munich hbrary.
EOHAED was the first to cite it at great length in his work, Sancti
Thomce Swnma sua auctori vindicata, Paris, 1708 ; and again in the
Scriptores Ordinis Prwdicatorum, pt. I.

14 POPE JOAN
Historia Miscella, or continuation of Eutropius,
whom the Dominican, Tolomeo of Lucca, also
quotes later on among his authorities as Paulus
Diaconus Cardinalis;' but he cannot be distin
guished with certainty. It remains then that the
lost, or as yet undiscovered, chronicle of the
Stephan de Domiuicau Jean de Mailly,^ who, moreover, must
bably received havo boou a coutcmporary of Stephen's, is the
his contem'-°™ Only sourco to which the latter can have been
de'^Maluy.^'^ indebted for his account of Pope Joan. And
Jean de Mailly, we may be tolerably certain, got
it from popular report.
About A.D. We can, therefore, consider it as established —
thestoryfound that uot Until the year 1240 or 1250, was the
hfst^rvcaT ° myth about the woman-pope put into writing and
not become ' transferred to works of history. Several decades
wfabout^'^D. more passed, however, before it came actually into
1290 or 1300. circulation and became really wide-spread. .The
chronicle of Jean de Mailly seems to have re
mained in obscurity, for no one, with the exception
of his brother-Dominican, Stephen, notices it ; and
even Stephen's large work — great as was its value,
especially to preachers, on account of the quantity
of examples which it contained, was not possessed
by very many, as the scarcity of existing manu
scripts of it proves. The Speculum Morale, which
bears the name of Vincent of Beauvais, was the
chief cause of this. For this work appropriated
^ Cf QuETlF et EOHAKD Scriptores Ordinis Prcedicatorum, 1. 544.
2 On him see the Histoire Utieraire de la France, xvill., 532.

Great influence of Martimis Polonus 15
most of the examples and instances given by
Stephen, but was superior to Stephen's book both
in convenience of arrangement and fullness of
matter, and eclipsed it so completely, that the
narrative about Pope Joan, in the form in which
it appears in Stephen's work, is to be found
nowhere else.
The chronicle of Martinus Polonus has been The popular
but worthless
the principal means of giving circulation to the chronicle of
^ ^ , . , . Martinus
myth. This book, which gives a contemporary Poionus
history of the popes and emperors in the form of mental in
a dry, mechanical, and utterly uncritical collection feUe.""^
of biographical notes, exercised a most extra
ordinary influence on the chroniclers and his
torians from the beginning of the fourteenth
century onwards, especially on their ways of
thinking in the later Middle Ages. Wattenbach's '
statement, that Martinus Polonus became almost
the exclusive historical instructor of the catholic
world, is not an exaggeration. Of no other
historical book is there such an inexhaustible
number of manuscripts in existence as of this.
All volumes of the Archiv fiir deutsche Ge-
schichtskunde show this. And indeed the book was
held in estimation in almost all countries alike,
was translated into all languages, was continued
over and over again, and still more frequently
copied by later chroniclers. That the effect of a
book, which was utterly unhistorical and stuffed
^ Deutschlands Qeschichtsquellen, s. 426.

i6

POPE JOAN

The influence
of Martinus
Polonus due
to his con
nection with
the papal
court.

But the men
tion of Pope
Joan is an
interpolationin this case
also.

with fables, was to the last degree mischievous,
that (as Wattenbach says) the careful, thorough,
and critical investigation of the history of the
early Middle Ages, which was prosecuted with so
much zeal during the twelfth century, was com
pletely choked, or nearly so, by Martin's chronicle,
cannot be denied.
The position of the author could not fail to win
for his history of the popes an amount of authority
such as no other similar writing obtained. Trop-
pau was his birth-place, the Dominican order his
profession. He was for long the chaplain and
penitentiary of the popes ; as such lived naturally
at the papal court, followed the Curia, which was
then constantly on the move, everywhere, and
died [a.d. 1278] as archbishop designate of Gnesen.
His book, therefore, was considered to a certain
extent to be the official history of the popes,
issuing from the Curia itself. And hence people
accepted the history of Pope Joan also, which they
found in Martinus Polonus, all the more readily
and unsuspectingly. The form in which he gives
the myth became the prevailing one ; and most
authors have contented themselves with copying
the passage from his chronicle word for word.
Nevertheless, Martin himself, as can be proved,
knew nothing about Pope Joan, or, at any rate,
said nothing about her. Not until several years
after his death did attempts begin to be made to
insert the myth into his book. It is no doubt

fnterpolated into Martinus Polonus 1 7
correct that Martin himself prepared a second and
later edition of his work, which reaches down to
Nicolas III., 1277, while the first edition only
goes down to Clement IV. (died 1268). But the The plan of
T • 1 1-1 1 f^ • Martinus'
second is exactly like the first in arrangement, chronicle such
. as to render
Each pope, and each emperor on the opposite the detection
., ., , . . T , . . of an interpo-
page, had as many lines assigned to him as he lationvery
reigned years, and each page contained fifty lines,
that is, embraced half a century. Hence, in the
copies which kept to the original arrangement of
the author, additions or insertions could only be
made in those places where the account of a pope
or emperor did not fill all the lines assigned to
him, owing to the short period of his reign. But
the insertion of a pope had been rendered im
possible by Martin himself and all the copyists
who kept to the plan of the book, by means of the
detailed chronology, according to which every
line had a date, and in the case of each pope and
emperor the length of his reign was exactly stated.
But for this same reason Pope Joan also, if she
had originally had a place in his book, could not
have been effaced, nor have been omitted from the
copies which held fast to the arrangement of the
original. Pope Joan, therefore, does not occur in the
oldest manuscripts of Martinus. She is wanting
especially in those which have kept to the exact Even in his
chronological method of the author. Nor is the Martinus is
idea, that Martinus inserted her in the latest the Papess.
c

[8

POPE JOAN

Various ways
in which the
interpolation has been ac
complished.

edition of his book prepared by himself, tenable.
That theory is contradicted by manuscripts, which
come down to the time of Nicolas HI., and, never
theless, contain no trace of Pope Joan. Echard'
has already noticed several such manuscripts.
The exquisite Aldersbach^ manuscript, now in the
Eoyal Library at Munich, gives the same evidence.
There are, however, plenty of manuscripts in
which her history is written in the margin
at the bottom of the sheet, or as a gloss at the
side.' It was thence gradually, and one may add
very violently, thrust into the text. This was
done in various ways : either Benedict III., the
successor of Leo, was struck out, and Pope Joan
put in his place, as is the case in a Hamburg*
codex reaching down to the year 1302. Or she is
placed, usually by some later hand, without any
date being given, as an addition or mere story in
the vacant space left after Leo IV. Or, lastly —
merely in order to gain the necessary two years
and a half for her reign — the whole chronological
reckoning of the author is thrown into confusion ;
either by assigning an earlier date than is correct
to several of Leo's predecessors, and that as far
back as the year 800 ; or by giving to individual

' On this point see Quetif et Echard. Scriptores Ordinis Prce
dicatorum, 1. 367 ; and Lequien Or. Chr. m., 385.
' Aldersp. 161, fol. Pergam.
' In the Archiv far alter e deutsche Oeschichtskunde qaotatians from
several of these are given, e. g. vii., 657.
* Archiv vi., 230.

Violent modes of interpolation 1 9
popes fewer years than belong to them. This
eagerness to interpolate the female pope in the
book at all hazards — so to speak, — without shrink
ing from the most arbitrary alterations in the
chronology in order to attain this object, is cer
tainly somewhat astounding. Just the very cir- Some of them
cumstance which above all others conferred on violent.
Martin's book a certain amount of value, viz. the
painstaking and continuous chronological reckon
ing line by line, has been sacrificed in several
manuscripts,' merely in order to make the inser
tion of Pope J oan possible ; or else only one year
has been placed against the name of each pope,
either in the margin or in the text, in order to
conceal the disagreement between the insertion of
Pope Joan and the chronological plan of the
author. It was in the period between 1278 and 1312 j^^^^^"4^^''P°-
that the interpolation took place ; for Tolomeo of '^^^^^^^^^^
Lucca, who completed his historical work in the 1312.
year 1312, remarks^ that all the authorities which
he had read placed Benedict III. next after
Leo IV. ; Martinus Polonus was the only one who
put Johannes Anglicus in between. By this
means two facts are established ; first, the indus
trious collector Tolomeo knew of no writing in
which a mention of Pope Joan was to be found,
1 " Nulla chronologia, sed adest fabula,'' says Echaed of several
manuscripts of Martinus which he had seen, p. 369.
2 Hist. Eccles., 16, 8.
c 2

20 POPE JOAN
except the chronicle 'of Martinus; secondly, the
copy of Martinus with which he was acquainted
was one which had her already inserted, and that
in the text. Had the account of her merely been
written alongside in the margin, this would un
doubtedly have aroused Tolomeo's suspicions, and
he would have noticed the fact in his own work.
The chronicle Another main vehicle for circulating the myth
Flores Tempo- ., , . - __, —,
?-«z«instru- about the papess was the chronicle flores lem-
mental in , . . . .
spreading the porum, which cxists lu uumorous mauuscripts
many.'" ^^' Under the names of Martinus Minorita, Herr-
MANNUS Januensis, and Herrmannus Gigas. It
was printed by Eccard, and, in another form, by
Menschen ; and after that of Martinus Polonus
was the most widely circulated of all the later
chronicles. Unlike Martinus Polonus, however,
it appears to have come into general use in Ger
many only. It reaches down to 1290, and is in
the main not much more than a compilation from
the chronicle of Martinus Polonus, as the author
himself states. According to the conjecture of
Eccard and others, Martinus Minorita is the
original author,' and Herrmannus Januensis or
Gigas the continuer ^ of the chronicle down to the
year 1349. Pertz,' on the other hand, is of
opinion that what is printed under the name of
Martinus Minorita is only a bad extract from the
' Archiv der Geselhchaft fur deutsche Geschichtskunde, vin. 835.
" Archiv i., 402 ff.
* Achiv VII., 115.

Others borrow from the interpolated Martinus ai
work of Herrmannus Gigas, who brought his
chronicle down to the year 1290, and died in
1336. The relation between the Minorite Martin and This chronicle
the Wilhelmite Herrmann of Genoa appears mean- rivedThe story
while to be this : — that the latter has copied the tei-^oiated""
Minorite, with ' many omissions and additions, but Polonus
without mentioning him. Martin the Penitentiary
— ^that is Martinus Polonus — is given as the main
authority. It was from him, then, beyond all
doubt, that the story about Pope Joan passed
(embellished with additions) into chronicles of
considerably later date ; for manuscripts in which
it is wanting have not come within my knowledge.
The story of Pope Joan has also been inserted in the lives ot
in the so-called Anastasius^ (the most ancient commonly
collection known of biographies of the popes), and '-Anastasius,"
in precisely the same form as that in which it popejoanis
exists in Martinus Polonus. The run of the Addition ^^"^
wording does not allow one to suppose for one
moment that the story really formed any part of
' Bruns, in Gabler's Journal fiir theolog. Lit. 1811, vol. vi.,
p. 88, &c. Bruns had a manuscript before him in Hehnstadt, which
was marked as a work of Herrmannus Minorita. But at the end of
the document the author was correctly styled Herrmannus Ordins
S. Wilhehni.
^ [Anastasius, the Libbabian of the Vatican, took part m a.d.
869 in the eighth General Council at Constantinople, where tus
learning and knowledge of Latin and Greek were of great service to
the papal legates. His celebrated Liber Pontificalis is a compilation
of Hves of the popes from S. Peter down to Nicolas I., first printed
at Mayence in 1602. Only the lives of some of the popes of his own
timps can be regarded as his own composition.]]

22

POPE JOAN

Possibly
copied from
Martinus Polonus :

the original text. The interpolation must have
been made with the most foolish wantonness, or
just as has been done in the Heidelberg manu
script, by striking out Benedict IIL, and then
inserting Joan in his place. In ether copies she
has been added by a later hand in the margin, at
the side, or quite at the bottom of the page.
The most natural supposition, and the one which
Gabler ' also follows, seems then to be, that the
account of her passed from Martinus Polonus into
the few, and very much later, manuscripts of
Anastasius which contain it. Nevertheless, I am
driven to the conjecture that the myth was in the
first instance added at the end of some copy of the
collection of biographies of the popes which bears
Moreprobabiy the uamo of Auastasius. It has, that is to say.
added ti^ - ' ¦' '
"Anastasius" loug ago boon remarked^ that the hfe of Bene-
first, and j- x ttt • i •
thence trans- dict 111. IU this collcction is the work of a difierent
tinus. author from that of the lives immediately pre
ceding it, especially of the very detailed life of
Leo IV. There must, therefore, beyond all doubt,
have been copies which came to an end with
Leo IV., whose biographer was obviously a con
temporary. The notice of Pope Joan might then
have been added at the end by a later hand, and
from thence have passed into the manuscripts of
Martinus Polonus.

' Gabler's Kleinere theolog. Schriften, vol. i., p. 446.
"' See Bahb, Geschichte der Bom. Literal ur im Karolinq. Zeitalter
p. 269. '

A conjecture hazarded 23

One sees this from the catalogue of manuscripts The mss.
which Vignoli gives at the beginning of his C°oi?scata.
edition. The Cod. Vatic, 3764 reaches down to &£'"'''"'
Hadrian IL, the Cod. Vatic. 5869 only down to
Gregory II. ; the Cod. 629 to Hadrian I. ; others
to John VIIL, Nicolas I., Leo III., and so forth.
In Cod. 3762, which comes down to the year 1142,
the fable of the papess is added in later and
smaller handwriting underneath in the margin.
This conjecture, one must allow, is by no means This conjec-
easy to prove. But supposing it correct, we have why pTpe'"'
then the simplest of all explanations for the inter- Jert™-'"'
polation of Pope Joan between Leo IV. and Bene- SenedicT'
dict IIL, where she certainly has not the ' slightest "^¦
connection with the history of the time. Mean
while, I find in Martinus himself reasons for this
place being assigned to her, and the following two
reasons in particular. The first is a mere matter
of chance, arising out of the mechanical arrange
ment ; for Martinus did not know how to fill up ,. xh?re was
the eight lines which he was obliged to devote L^thrt'^pTi^t'of
to the eight years of Leo's pontificate, so that the ^ronkJe'
first lines of the page which contained the second
half of the ninth century remained empty. Here,
therefore, the interpolation could be managed
^ Leo IV. died July llth, 855. Benedict was forthwith [the
same month] elected ; and, after the emperor had given his consent,
was consecrated on 29th of September in the same year, the very
day after the Emperor Lothair died. It is notorious that con
temporaries, such as Prudentius and Hincmar, notice that Benedict
was Leo's immediate successor, and a diploma of Benedict's dated as
early as October 7th, 855 (Mansi Concill. xv., 113) is still extant.

24

POPE JOAN

2. Pope Joan
was supposed
to have been
elected, like
Leo IV., for
her learning.

1073-10S5.

without the slightest trouble. But there was a
further reason in the nature of the story itself.
For the extreme improbability that a woman
should be promoted to the highest ecclesiastical
office, and be chosen by all as pope, was explained
in the myth by her great intellectual attainments.
She surpassed every one in Eome, so it was said,
in learning. Naturally then, as soon as a definite
historical place had to be assigned to her (the
popular form of the myth had not troubled itself
with fixed dates), a tolerably early period — at any
rate, one anterior to the time of Gregory VII. —
had to be chosen for her. For this, however, they
were obliged to fall back on a period in which
there was only a single instance known of a man
being elected to the papacy on account of his trans
cendent knowledge. Since Gregory the Great
there had been no pope who was really very
remarkable for learning. In the four centuries
between John VL, 701, and Gregory VIL, this
very Leo IV. is the only one whom Martinus
notices in particular as a man who "divinarum
" scripturarum extitit ferventissimus scrutator,"
one who already, in the monastery [of S. Martin]
to which his parents had sent him for purposes of
study, became remarkable for his learning no less
than for his mode of life, and on this account also
was unanimously' elected pope by the Eomans

' [Sergius died Jan. 27th. Leo IV. was forthwith elected, and
consecrated on April 10th, without waiting even for the leave of the

Reasons for placing her next to Leo 1 V. 25

after the death of Sergius. On that occasion, then, 847.
it was intellectual attainment which influenced the
votes of the Eomans ; and therefore it might
happen that a woman, whose sex was not known,
might be chosen as pope by the Eomans, because
of her intellectual superiority. Now the inter
polated Martinus speaks of Joan in much the same
terms as of Leo ; " in diversis scientiis ita profecit,
" ut nullus sibi par inveniretur," and " quum in
" urbe vita et scientia magnse opinionis esset, in
" papam concorditer eligitur." And hence in
Martinus Polonus, who speaks in this manner of
no other ' pope in that century, the place assigned
to Pope Joan was that immediately after Leo IV.,
whom she resembled in this particular. And since
every one took the work of Martinus as their
authority, she retained this position.
It is at the stage when the myth was just begin- By Van Maer-
ning to gain circulation, and was still received Tolomeo of
with suspicion on many sides, that the passages on story was stiu
the subject in the Historical Mirror of Van suspkLn!''
Maerlant and in Tolomeo of Lucca come in.
Maerlant's Dutch chronicle is in verse, and is
mainly taken from Vincent of Beauvais, but with

sovereign, not as denying his authority, but because of the pressing
fear of the Saracens, who had ventured up the Tiber, and plundered
the Basilica of S. Peter at the end of 846. See Baxmann, Politik
der Pdpste, vol. i., p. 352. This fear of the Saracens may have
had something to do with the unanimity of the electors.]
' For Gerbert (Silvester II.) owed his promotion, according to 999-1003.
Martinus, not to his great learning, but to the devil.

26

POPE JOAN

The interpo
lated Martinus
Polonus is
copied by
Geoffroi de
Courlon ;

By Bernard
Guidonis ;

By Leo of
Orvieto.

additions from other sources. Maerlant says
moreover (about the year 1283), " I do not' feel
" clear or certain whether it is fable or fact ; but
" in the chronicles of the popes it is not usually
" found." So also a manuscript list of the popes
down to John XXIL (13). " Et^' in panels chro-
" nicis invenitur."
One of the first who has taken the story of Pope
Joan from the interpolated Martinus Polonus is
Geoffroi db Courlon, a Benedictine of the Abbey
of S. Pierre le Vif at Sens, whose chronicle,' a
somewhat rough compilation, reaches down to
1295. Next comes the Dominican Bernard Guidonis,
in his unprinted Flores Chronicorum, and also (in
the year 1311) in his now printed history* of the
popes. He inserts Johannes Teutonicus (not
Anglicus, therefore, according to him) natione
Maguntinus, together with the whole fable about
Pope Joan, keeping faithfully to his authority
Martinus Polonus.
About the same period another Dominican, Leo
OF Orvieto, contributed to the circulation of the
fable, by receiving it into his history of the popes
' Spiegel Historical, uitgeg. door de Maatschappij der nederl.
letterk. Leyden, 1857, iii., 220. ;
^ This is inferior to the manuscript of the Otia imperialia by
Gervasius in Leyden. Wensing, de Pausin Johanna, p. 9.
^ Notices et extraits, ii., 16. He adds, moreover, " Undo dicitiu"
" quod Eomani in consuetudinem traxerunt probare sexus electi per
" foramen cathedraa lapidese." — S. Hist. lit. de France, xxi., 10.
¦' Maii Spicil. Eom. vi., 202.

Various authors who mention her 27
and emperors, which reached down to Clement V.
[1305]. In his case also Martinus Polonus is the
source from which he draws in this particular, as
also in his whole book.'
Now follow in the first half of the fourteenth writers be-
• • T T-k n tween a.d.
century the Dominican John of Paris, Sipfrid 1300 and
IN Meissen, Occam the Minorite (who turned the
story of Pope Joan to account in his controversy
with John XXIL), the Greek Barlaam, the
English Benedictine Eanulph Higden, the Augus
tine Amalrich Augerii, Boccaccio, and Pe-
TRARC.'' A chronicle of the popes by Aimery of Peyrat, Writers be-
¦'¦-'- ;; tween a.d.
Abbot of Moissac, written in the year 1399, has 135° and
1400.
Johannes Anglicus in the list of popes, with the
remark, " Some' say that this pope was a
woman." The Dominican Jacobo db Acqui,* who wrote
about the year 1370, inserts him without this
remark, but with the extraordinary statement that
his pontificate lasted nineteen years.
Of course people in general regarded the cir
cumstance as to the last degree disgraceful to the
^ In the third volume of Lami's Delicim Eruditorum, Florent.,
1737, p. 143.
2 Ohronice delle vite de' Pontefici, &c., Venetia, 1507, f. LV. He is
here called Giovanni d'AngUa, and the dates are advanced two
years, so that Benedict III. is placed in the year 857 (instead of
855), 'and Nicolas I. in 859 (instead of 858). [Benedict III. died
early in 858 — April 7th ; so that the difference between that and
the end of 859 would not be far short of two years.]
^ Notices et extraits, vi., 82.
* Monum. hist, patrice, Scriptores, in., 1524.

28 POPE JOAN
Eoman See, and, indeed, to the whole Church.
The woman-pope had reigned for two years and a
half, had performed a vast number of functions, all
of which were now null and void ; and, added to
all this, there was the scandal of giving birth to a
child in the open street. It was scarcely possible
to conceive anything more to the dishonour of the
chair of the Apostle, or, indeed, of the whole of
Christendom. What mockery must not this story
excite among the Mohammedans !
As early as the close of the thirteenth, or be
ginning of the fourteenth century, Geoffroi db
Courlon introduces the story with the heading
Deceptio Ecclesice Romance.
Maerlant ' says sorrowfully : —
" Alse die paves Leo vas doot —
Ghesciede der Kerken grote scame."
" Johanne la Papesse," says ^ Jean le Maire, in
the year 1511, "fist un grand esclandre k la
" Papalite." All state that since that time the popes always
avoid that street, so as not to look upon the scene
of the scandal.
At the close Now, whou WO cousidor that, according to the
of the thir- i i • n i t-v • •
teenth century declaration ol the Dominican Tolomeo of Lucca
the story '
astounding ' [" -^'^ ^^^r Papst Leo war todt—
rapidity. Geschah der Kirche grosse Schame — "
After Pope Leo was dead
A great scandal rose in the church.]
" In the Traite de la difference des Schismes et des Conciles de
I'Eglise, part iii., f. 2.

Rapid spread of the myth in the 14th century 29
down to the year 1312, the story was extant no
where, except in certain copies of Martinus
Polonus, that already innumerable lists of the
popes, in their chronological order, were in exist
ence, in none of which was there any trace of the
female pope to be found, — the eagerness, which
suddenly meets us at the close of the thirteenth
century, to make the fable pass muster as history,
and to smuggle it into the manuscripts, is certainly
very astonishing. The author of the Histoire lit.
de France has good reason for saying, " Nous ' ne
" saurions nos expliquer comment il se fait que ce
" soit precisement dans les rangs de cette fidele
" milice du saint-siege que se rencontrent les pro-
" pagateurs les plus naifs, et peut-^tre les inven-
" teurs, d'une histoire si injurieuse a la papaut6."
Undoubtedly the thing emanated principally from This was due
those otherwise most devoted servants of the DominicanV^
Eoman See, the Dominicans ^ and the Minorites. e"peciaiiy"the'
It was certainly they, especially the former of the
two, who were the first to multiply the copies of
Martinus Polonus to such an extent, and thus
spread the fable everywhere. The time at which
' XXI., p. 10.
^ [A serious rupture between Eome and the friars took place
under Innocent IV. The University of Paris, alarmed at the. hold
which the monks were getting, especially on the professorship,
decreed that no religious order should hold more than one of the
theological chairs. The Dominicans appealed to the pope. Inno
cent decided against them, and within a few days died. His death
was openly attributed to their prayers—" quia impossibile erat
" multorum preces non audiri." Hence the well-known saying,
" From the litanies of the friars, good Lord, deliver us."]

former.

30

POPE JOAN

It was done
mainly during
the reign of
BonifaceVIII., the
enemy of these
two orders.

In the fif
teenth century
the story was
accepted with
out question.

The bust of
Joan in the
Cathedral of
Sienna among
the popes till
A.D. 1600.

this took place meanwhile solves the enigma. It
was in the time of Boniface VIII.j who was not
favourably disposed to the two orders, and whose
whole policy ' they abhorred. We see this in the
unfavourable judgments which the Dominican his
torians formed respecting him, and in the attitude
which they assumed at the outbreak of the strife
between him and Philip the Fair. We notice that
from the time of this crisis, which was especially a
crisis for the waning power of the popes, historians
among the monastic orders mention and describe
with a sort of relish scandals in the history of the
popes. In the fifteenth century hardly any more doubt
about her shows itself. Quite at the beginning of
the century the bust of Pope Joan was placed in
the cathedral at Sienna along with the busts of the
other popes, and no one took offence at it. The
church of Sienna in the time that followed gave
three popes to the Eoman See, — Pius IL, Pius IIL,
' [His treatment of the English Franciscans made this not
unnatural. The Franciscans, in direct contradiction of then- vow of
mendicancy, had gradually become very wealthy. The pope alone
could free them from their rule. The English Minorites offered to
deposit forty thousand ducats with certain bankers, as the price of
permission to hold property. Boniface played with the monks till
the money was paid, then absolved the bankers from their obliga
tion to pay back money which mendicants ought never to have
owned, and appropriated it as " res nuUius " to his own uses. He
thus made implacable enemies of the most popular and intellectual
order in Europe. When Philip appealed severally to all the
monastic orders in France, all the Franciscans, and with them the
Dominicans, Hospitallers, and Templars, took their stand by him
against the pope.]

Used as an argument against Rome 3 1

and Marcellus II. Not one of them ever thought
of having the scandal removed. It was not till
two centuries later that, at the pressing demand of
pope Clement VIIL, Joan was metamorphosed into 1592-1605.
pope Zacharias.' When Hus at the council of Herpontifi-
¦^ cate used as
Constance supported^ his doctrine by appealing to an argument
the case of Agnes, who became Pope Joan, he met of Constance :
. . . . I- By John
with no contradiction from either side. Even the Hus ;
Chancellor Gerson himself availed himself of the 2. By Gerson;
circumstance of the woman-pope as a proof that
the Church could err^ in matters of fact. On the 3- Byjohann
de Rocha ;
other hand the Minorite Johann db Eooha, m a and no one
questioned
treatise written at the council 01 Constance, uses the fact.
the case of Johannes Maguntinus to show how
dangerous it is to make the duty of obedience to
the Church depend upon the personal character of
the pope.*
Heinrich Korner, a Dominican of Lubeck, Heinrich
Korner of
1402 to 1437, not only himself received the story Lubeck.
about the woman-pope in its usual form into his
' Lequibn, Oriens Christianus, ni., 392.
2 That is to say, he tried to prove that the Church could get on
very weU for a loug time without any pope at all, because during
the whole of the reign of Agnes, namely, two years and a half, it had
had no real pope. — L'Enfant, Histoire du Concile de Constance, u.,3M.
In his work De Ecclesia also, Huss comes back with delight to the
woman-pope, whose name was Agnes, and who was called Johannes
Anglicus. She is to him a striking proof that the Eoman Church
has in no way remained spotless: "Quomodo ergo ilia Eomana
" Ecclesia, ilia Agnes, Johannes Papa cum collegio semper immacu-
" lata permansit, qui peperit ?"
^ In the speech which he made at Tarascon before Benedict XIII.
in the year 1403. Opera, ed. Dupin, il, 71.
•• In Dupin's edition of the wiitings of Gerson, v. 456.

32 POPE JOAN

chronicle, but stated in addition that his predecessor,
the Dominican Henry of Herford (about 1350),
whom he had often copied, had purposely concealed
the circumstance, in order that the laity might
not be scandalised by reading that such an error
had taken place in the Church, which assuredly,
as the clergy taught, was guided by the Holy Spirit.'
Scholastic The matter was now generally set forth as an
accep'tfdThe indubitable fact, and the scholastic theologians
adapted their ondeavoured to accommodate themselves to it, and
sys ems o i . ^ arrange their church system and the position of
the popes in the Church in accordance with it.
yEneas Sylvius jJBneas Sylvius, afterwards pope Pius IL, had
thought it_ TT imi' 1 1
might be a howovor replied to the Taborites, that the story
fiction. ...
was nevertheless not certain. But his contem
porary, the great upholder of papal despotism,
Theory of Cardinal Torrecremata,^ accepts it as notorious,
Torrecremata ; iiin/^iT
that a woman was once regarded by all Catholics
as pope, and thence draws the following conclusion ;
that, whereas God had allowed this to happen,
without the whole constitution of the Church
being thrown into confusion, so it might also come
to pass, that an heretic or an infidel should be
recognised as pope ; and, in comparison with the
fact of a female pope, that would be the smaller
difficulty of the two.
' Ap. Eccard., ii., 442.
2 " Quum ergo constet quod aliquando mulier a cunctis CathoUcis
" putabatur Papa, non est incredibile quod aliquando hsereticus
" habeatur pro Papa, licet verus Papa non sit." — Summa de Ecclesia,
edit. Venet., p. 394.

Astonishing credulity respecting her 33
S.Antoninus, belonging hke Torrecremata to ofs. Anto-
the middle of the fifteenth century, and like him a
Dominican,' avails himself of the Apostle's words
respecting the inscrutability of the divine counsels
in connection with the supposed fact of a female
pope, and declares that the Church was even then
not without a Head, namely Christ, but that
bishops and priests ordained by the woman must
certainly be re-ordained.
The Dominican order, whose members have con- The Domini-
tributed more than any one else to spread the easily have
fable everywhere, possessed in their strict organi- fiction.
sation and their numerous libraries the means of
discovering the truth. The General of the order
had merely to command that the copies of Martinus
Polonus, and the more ancient lists of the popes,
of which there were quantities in existence in the
monasteries of the order, should once for all be
examined and compared together. But people
preferred to believe what was most incredible and
most monstrous. Not one of these men, of course,
had ever seen, or heard, that a woman had for
years been public teacher, priest, and bishop,
without being detected, or that the birth of a
child had ever taken place in the public street.
But that in Eome these two things once took
place together, in order to disgrace the papal
dignity — this people believed with readiness.
Martin le Franc, provost of Lausanne, about
• Summa hist., lib, 16, p. 2, c. 1, § 7. D

34. POPE JOAN
Poem of 1450, and secretary to the popes Felix V. and
Franc, A.D. Nicolas V., iu his great French poem, Le Cham
pion des Dames, celebrated Pope Joan at great
length. First we have his astonishment, that
such a thing should have been permitted to take
place. " Comment endura Dieu, comment
Que femme ribaulde et prestresse
Eut I'Eghse en gouvemement ?"
It would have been no wonder had God come
down to judgment, when a woman ruled the world.
But now the defender steps forward and makes
apology— " Or laissons les p6oh6s, disans,
Qu'eUe etoit clergesse lettree,
Quand devant les plus soufflsants
De Eome eut I'issue et I'entr^e.
Encore te pent etre montree.
Mainte Preface que dicta,
Bien et saintement accoustr^e
Ou en la foy point n'h&ita." '
She had, therefore, composed many quite orthodox
prefaces for the mass.
The Greeks It was uot Until the second half of the fifteenth
did not learn
the story till coutury that the story came into the hands of the
1500. Greeks. Welcome as the occurrence of such a
thing would have been to a Cerularius and like-
minded opponents of the papal chair in Constan
tinople, no one had as yet mentioned it, until
Chalcocondylas, in the history of his time, in which
he describes the mode of electing a pope, mentions
' Ap. OUDIN, Comme de Scr. eccl., 111. 2466.

The fable universally received hi Italy 35
also the fiction of an examination as to sex, and
apropos of that relates the catastrophe of Pope
Joan ; an occurrence which, as he remarks, could
only have taken place in the West, where the
clergy do not allow their beards to grow.' It is
in him that we get the outrageous feature added
to the story, that the child was born just as the
woman was celebrating High Mass, and was seen
by the assembled congregation.^
In the fifteenth and sixteenth century, says the The story
universally
Eoman writer Oancellieri, the romance about appealed to in
Pope Joan circulated widely m all chronicles which 1400 to 1600.
were written and copied in Italy, and even under
the very eyes of Eome.^ Thus it appears in print in
EicoBALDo's Italian chronicle of the popes, which
FiHppo de Lignamine dedicated to pope Sixtus IV.
in 1474. So also in the history of the popes by
the Venetian priest Stella.* For long, and even
as late as 1548 and 1550, it found a place in
numerous Eoman editions of the Mirabilia Urbis
Romce," which was a sort of guide for pilgrims and
strangers. 1 De rebus Turcicis, ed. Bekker, Bonn, 1843, p. 303.
2 'Qs els TrjV Sva-iav cKpiKero, yfvvija-ai re to naidiov Kara Trjv dvcrlav
Kol 6(p6rjvai viro Toii \aov.
The cleric, who examines the sex of the newly-elected, cries out
with a loud voice : appr^v fifuv iarlv 6 bea-woTris, 1. c, p. 303. Bar
laam, who had mentioned the fable as early as the fourteenth
century, lived in Italy.
3 Storia de' solenni possessi. Eome, 1802, p. Mb.
* Vita paparum, B,. Basil, 1501 , t 'E. 2.
» Other old editions of this strangers' guide to Eome have the
title-Indulgentim ecclesiarum urbis Bomw. The curcumstance about
D 2

2,6 POPE JOAN
Felix Hemmerlin, Trithemius, Nauclerus, Albert
Krantz, Coccius Sabellicus, Eaphael of Volterra,
Joh. Fr. Pico di Mirandola, the Augustine Foresti
of Bergamo, Cardinal Domenico Jacobazzi, Hadrian
of Utrecht, afterwards pope Hadrian VI.,—-
Germans, French, Italians, Spaniards, all appeal
to the story, and interweave it with their theological
disquisitions ; or, like Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa,
rejoice that the tenets of the canonists about the
inerrancy of the Church had come to such glaring
shame in the deception of the woman-pope, and
that this woman, in the two years and a half of
her reign, had ordained priests and bishops, ad
ministered sacraments, and performed all the
other functions of a pope ; and that all this had,
nevertheless, remained as valid in the Church.
Even John, Bishop of Chiemsbb, introduces
Agnes and her catastrophe as a proof that the
popes were sometimes under the infiuence of evil
spirits.' Platina, who thought the story rather
suspicious, nevertheless would not omit it from his
history of the popes (about 1460), because nearly
every one maintained its truth.^ Aventin in
Germany, and Onufrio Panvinio in Italy, were
the woman-pope is found in all of them ; and for well-nigh eighty
years no one in Eome ever thought of having the scandal expurgated
from a work, which was constantly being reprinted, and was put
into the hands of every new-comer. [A reprint has lately been
published at BerHn, 1869, edited by Parthey.J
' Onus Ecchsio', 1531, cap. 19, § 4.
^ " No obstinate nimium et peitinacitei- omisisse videar, quod fere
omnes aEQrmunt "

Origin of the fable 37

the first to shake the general infatuation. But Aventin and
still in the year 1575 the Minorite Eiochb, in his viSe^'fiS't
chronicle, opposes the certainty of the collected '°'^^"y''-
Church to the hesitating statements of Platina and
Carranza.'

In order to arrive at the causes of the origin
and development of the myth, let us now proceed Analysis of
to^ • , • , the story.
dissect it.
Originally the woman-pope was nameless. The
first accounts of her, in Stephan de Bourbon, and
in the Compilatio Chronologica in Pistorius' col
lection, know nothing as yet of a Joan. In the
latter authority we read : " fuit et alius pseudo- Discrepan-

li

papa, CUJUS nomen et anni ignorantur, nam i. About the
" mulier erat." Her own name was not discovered Papess.
till somewhat late — about the end of the fourteenth
century. She was called Agnes, under which
name she was a very important and useful per
sonage, especially with John Hus ; or Gilberta^,
as other's would have it. For the pope a name
was found at an early stage ; people took the most
common one — John. There had already been
seven of this name before 855, and in the period
during which the myth was spreading, the number
reached one and twenty.
Much the ame thing happened with the time at
1 Chronique. Paris, 1576, f. 230.
2 [Besides Agnes, Gilberta, or Gerberta and Joanna, she is also
called in various authors Margaret, Isabel, Dorothy, and Jutta.J

38

POPE JOAN

2. About the
date of her
pontificate.

3. About her
previous abode.

which she was supposed to have lived. The myth
while still in its popular form of course did not
touch upon this question. But the first authority
who relates it at once gives it a date also. The
event, says Stephan de Bourbon, took place about
the year 1100. He places it therefore (and this
is very remarkable) at the very time in which
we have the first mention of the use of the
pierced chair at the enthronement of the new
pope. How people in general came afterwards to
assign the year 855 as her date, has been already
explained. Stephan de Bourbon knows nothing up to his
time of England, Mayence, or Athens. The
woman is as yet no great scholar or public teacher,
but only a clever scribe or secretary (artem notandi
edocta), who thus becomes the notary of the Curia,
then cardinal, and then pope. A century later in
Amalricus Augerii ' all this is enlarged upon and
coloured according to fancy. At Athens she
becomes by careful study a very subtle reasoner.
While there she hears of the condition and fame
of the city of Eome, goes thither and becomes, not
a notary, as Stephan says, but a professor,^ attracts
many and noble pupils, lives at the same time in
' Ap. EcOARD, II., 1607.
^ Even great teachers, says Jakob von Konigshofbn (Chronicle,
p. 179), were eager to become her pupils, for she had the chief of the
schools in Eome. The papal secretary, Dietkich von Niem (about
a.i>. 1413), professes to give the very school in which sbe taught,
viz., that of the Greeks, in which St. Augustine also taught.

Discrepancies in the fable 39
the greatest honour, is celebrated everywhere for
her mode of life no less than for her learning, and
hence is unanimously elected pope. She continued
some time longer in her honourable and pious
mode of life ; but later on too much good living
made her voluptuous, she yielded to the temptations
of the Evil One, and was seduced by one of her
confidants. Particularly astonishing is the disagreement as 4-^About^the
to the way in which the catastrophe took place, catastrophe.
Three or four versions of it exist. According to
the first, as we find it in Stephan de Bourbon, it
appears that she was with child at the time of her
election to the papacy, and the denouement took
place during the procession as she was going up to
the Lateran palace.' The Eoman tribunal con
demned her at once to be tied by the feet to the
feet of a horse, and dragged out of the city, where
upon the populace stoned her to death. In this
version of the story, however, Stephan stands quite
alone. The usual narrative, as it has passed from
the interpolated Martinus Polonus into later authors,
makes her, after a quiet reign of more than two
years, give birth to a child in the street during a
procession, die at once, and forthwith be buried on
the very spot. Boccaccio is quite different from
this again. According to him all takes place
1 " Quum ascenderet," i..e, palatium, as we have it m the descrip
tion of the coronation of Paschal IL ;— " ascendensque palatium."
Ap. Murator. SS. Ltal. in., i. 354.

40 POPE JOAN

Zibaldone

tolerably quietly ; there is no death, the enthroned
priestess merely sheds a few tears, and then retires
into private life. " Ex apice pontificatus dejecta
se in misellam evasisse mulierculum querebatur."
And again : " A patribus in tenebras exteriores
abjecta cum fletu misella abiit.'"
Boccacio's The attitude which BoccACCio assumed with
regard to the episode of the female pope, which
was just the kind of thing to please a man of his
turn of mind, is particularly remarkable. In his
Zibaldone, which he wrote about the year 1350, he
included a short chronicle of the popes, which
according to his own confession, was entirely
borrowed from the Chronica Martiniana. In this
the female pope is not mentioned ; without doubt
because he did not find her in his copy of Martinus
Polonus. On the other hand, he has inserted her in
two later writings,'^ De casibus virorum et feminarum
illustrium, and De mulieribus claris, and has pictured
the whole with the enjoyment which was to be
expected from the author of the Decamerone. His
narrative, however, differs essentially from the
usual version according to Martinus ; and seeing
that it agrees with no other known version, it
' In the Fragmentum hist, autoris incerti in Urstis, P. n., p. 82,
which says that King Theodoric killed " Johanna Papa " at Eome
along with Boethius and Symmachus, Johanna is merely a mistake
of some copyist for Johanne. [No version of the myth of Pope
Joan places her as early as this — 524, 525. John I. was pope
precisely at this period 523 to 526.]
^ To speak more exactly, he has related the story twice over in the
same work, for the two writings mentioned really make up only
one work.

Boccaccio s versiojt 41
would appear that Boccaccio has taken it directly His version
sccins to DC
from popular tradition (where it would naturally the popular
assume very various forms), and worked it up.
He knows the length of her pontificate with the
greatest exactitude : two years, seven months, and
a day or two. Her original name he does not
know : " Quod proprium fuerit nomen vix cognitum
" est. Esto sunt, qui dicant fuisse Gilibertam."
These fourteenth century witnesses are of no
very great importance, for they one and all of
them merely copied the interpolated passage in
Martinus Polonus, often with scarcely the alteration
of a word. On the other hand the recently pub
lished Eulogium Historiarum of a monk of Malmes-
bury, of the year 1366, has a peculiar form of the
story to be found nowhere else, although the
author in other places borrows freely from Martinus
Polonus. The girl is born in Mayence, and sent by
her parents to male teachers to receive instruction
in the sciences. With one of these, who was a
very learned man, she falls in love, and goes with
him in man's attire to Eome. Here, because she
surpassed every one in knowledge, she was made
cardinal by pope Leo. When, as pope, she gives
birth to a child during the procession, she is merely
deposed. This version, therefore, would come
nearest to the description given by Boccaccio. It
knows nothing of the journey to Athens.'
1 Eulogium, Chronicon ab orhe condito usque ad annum 1366;
edited by Frank Scott Haydon. Lond. 1858, T. I.

42

POPE JOAN

Variations in
the finale.

Embellish
ments.

The catastrophe appears somewhat further spun
out in a manuscript chronicle of the abbots of
Kempten. There we are told that "the Evil
" Spirit came to this Pope John, who was a woman,
" and afterwards was with child, and said, ' Thou
" ' pope, who wouldest be a Father with the other
" ' Fathers here, thou shalt show publicly when
" ' thou bringest forth that thou art a woman-pope ;
" ' therefore will I take thee body and soul to
" ' myself and to my company.' " '
Another less severe and uncompromising finale
was however attempted. By a revelation or an
angel she was allowed to choose, whether she
would suffer shame on earth or eternal damnation
hereafter. She chose the former, and the birth of
her child and her own death in the open street
was the consequence.^
The story of the female pope once believed
many other fables attached themselves to it. It
was through the special aid of the devil, we are
told, that she rose to the dignity of pope, and there
upon wrote moreover a book on necromancy.^
Formerly there was a greater number of Prefaces
in the missal. The reduction in number which
took place afterwards with regard to those whose
author and purpose were unknown, was explained

' Ap. Wolf, Lection. Memorab. ed. 1671, p. 177.
^ So in the Urbis Bomce Mirabilia, a work frequently printed in
Eome during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Then in Hem-
merlin, opp. 1597, f. 99, and in a German chronicle of Cologne.
" TiEAQUELL. de kg. malrirn. et Basil., 1561, p. 298.

The four factors of the story 43
by the supposition, that Pope Joan had composed
those which had been struck out.'
Now how is the first origin of the myth to be origin of the
explained? Four circumstances have contributed Four elements
to the production and elaboration of the fable : — ° ^™ '^'^ '"" '
1. The use of a pierced seat at the institution of a
newly elected pope. 2. A stone with an inscrip
tion on it, which people supposed to be a tomb
stone. 3. A statue found on the same spot, in
long robes, which were supposed to be those of a
woman. 4. The custom of making a circuit in
processions, whereby a street which was directly
in the way was avoided.
In a street in Eome stood two objects, which i. a statue.
were very naturally supposed to be connected, — a
statue with the figure of a child or small boy, and
a monumental stone with an inscription. In
addition to this came the circumstance, that solemn
and state processions made a circuit round this
street. The statue is said to have had masculine
rather than feminine features ; but certain in
formation on this point is wanting, for Sixtus V. 1585-1590-
had it removed. The figure carried a palm-branch,
and was supposed to represent a priest with a
serving boy, or some heathen divinity. But the
' Thus, in an Oxford manuscript of Martinus Polonus we read :—
" Hie (Johannes Anglicus) primus post Ambrosium multas pre-
" fationes missarum dicitur composuisse, quae modo omnes sunt
" interdictse." Ap. Mabesium, Johanna Papissa restit., p. 17. So
also the above-mentioned Martin le Franc.

44 POPE JOAN

long robes and the addition of the figure of the boy
to the group, created a notion among the people
that it was a mother with her child. The inscrip
tion was. then made use of to explain the statue,
and the statue to explain the inscription, the pierced
chair and the avoiding of the street served to
confirm the explanation. This piece of sculpture
was not (as has been maintained) first mentioned
by Dietrich von Niem in the fifteenth century ;
but Maerlant says, as early as 1283, i.e., at the
time of the first circulation of the myth : —
" En daer leget soe, als wyt lesen
Noch also up ten Steen ghehouwen,
Dat men ane daer mag scouwen."
2. A stone The myth now sought, and soon found, further
puzzling in- circumstanccs with which to connect itself. The
scrip ion. enigmatical inscription on a monumental stone
which stood on the spot, and which hitherto no
one had been able to interpret, became all at once
clear to the Eomans. It referred to the female
pope and the catastrophe of the denouement.
The stone was set up by one of those priests of
Mithras who bore the title " Pater Patrum," ap
parently as a memorial of some specially solemn
sacrifice ; for the worship of Mithras from the
third century of the Christian era onwards was a
very favourite one in Eome and very prevalent,
until in the year 378 the worship was forbidden
and the grotto of Mithras destroyed.
The earliest notice of the stone with the inscri})-

A statue and an inscription 45
tion, which was supposed to be the tombstone of
the female pope, is to be found in Stephan de
Bourbon. According to him the inscription ran
thus, — " Parce Pater Patrum papissse prodere partum."
Now without doubt it did not stand so in as many
words. But "Pap." or "Pare. Pater Patrum"
followed by " P. P. P." was certainly the reading ;
an abbreviation for " propria pecunia posuit."
" Pater Patrum " appears constantly on monu
ments as the title of a priest of the Mithras '-mys
teries. In this case, probably, the name of the Attempts to
priest of Mithras was Papirius.^ The remaining InscrFpt^ion.^
letters may have become illegible.
The problem therefore now was to interpret the
three " P's."
One reading was,
" Parce Pater Patrum papissse prodere partum ;" ^
or, as others supposed,
" Papa Pater Patrum papissss pandito partum ;"
or, according to another explanation still better,
" Papa Pater Patrum peperit papissa papellum."
' Conf. Oeelli, Inscriptionum latinarum amj/J. coll. 1848, 1933,
2343, 2344, 2352.
' For several inscriptions with the abbreviation PAP., see Orelli,
II., 25.
" This is the oldest interpretation as given by Stephan de
Bourbon; see EOHAED, S. Thomce Summa sua Auctori vindicata,
p. 568.

46 POPE JOAN

Thus'was the riddle of the inscription solved, and
the myth confirmed in connection with the statue
and the pierced chair. The stone had turned out
to be the tombstone of the unhappy Pope Joan.'
The verse, however, especially in its first and
second form, was altogether a most extraordinary
one for an epitaph. There must be something
more to account for it, and, accordingly, the myth
was soon enlarged. It was reported that Satan,
who of course knew the secret of the papess, had ad
dressed her in the words of the verse in a full con
sistory.^ That, however, did not seem a very satis
factory explanation ; and so the supposed epitaph
was altered and enlarged, — and the story at last
ran thus : — that the papess, while exorcising a man
possessed by a devil, had asked him, when the un
clean spirit that dwelt in him would leave him,
and it had mockingly answered —
" Papa Pater Patrum papissse pandito partum,
Et tibi nunc edam (or dicam) de corpore quando recedam." '
Other instances have occurred of an unintelli
gible inscription being explained by a story * being
' Hence the most ancient witness, Stephan de Bourbon, says
expressly : — " Ubi fuit mortua, ibi fuit sepulta, et super lapidem
" super ea positum scriptus est versiculus, etc." — Ap. Echard., 1. c,
p. 568.
^ So the Chronica S. Mgidii, ap. Leibnitz SS. Brunsvic, m., 580.
The Chronicon of Engelhusius (Leibnitz, ii., 1065) makes the evil
spirit in the air shout out the verse at the birth of the child during
the procession.
^ So, for instance, the Chronicle of Hermannus Gygas, p. 94.
* [Compare the famous verse about Pope Silvester II. : — " Scandit
" ab E. Gerbertus in E, post papa viget E," p. 268.]

A seat of strange shape 47
attached to it. Thus the chronicles, since the time
of Beda, declare that an inscription had been found
at Eome with the six letters : —
"E. E. E. F. F. F."
According to other instances of abbreviations in
inscriptions this can at any rate mean —
" Euderibus rejectis Eufus Festus fieri fecit."
But people constructed out of it the prophecy of an
ancient Sibyl respecting the destruction of Eome,
and interpreted —
" Eoma Euet Eomuli Ferro Flammaque Fameque."
While the inscription on the stone occupied more 3. a seat of
especially the clergy and the more educated among shape,
the laity _, and stimulated them to attempt explana
tions of it, the imaginative powers of the populace
were chiefly excited by the seat which stood in a
public place, and was always to be seen by every
one, on which every newly-elected pope, in accord
ance with traditional custom, took his seat.
From the time of Paschal IL in the year 1099 On which
each newly-
we find mention of the custom that, at the solemn elected pope
procession to the Lateran palace, the new pope
should sit down on two ancient pierced seats made
of stone. They were called '¦'¦ porphyreticce" be
cause the stone of which they were made was of
a bright red kind. They dated from the times of
ancient Eome, and had formerly, it appears, stood
in one of the public baths ; and had thence come

48 POPE JOAN
into the oratory of S. Silvester near the Lateran.'
Here then it was usual for the pope first to sit on
the right-hand seat, while a girdle from which
hung seven keys and seven seals was put round
him.^ At the same time a staff was placed in his
hand, which he then, sitting on the left-hand seat,
placed along with the keys in the hands of the
prior of S. Lawrence. Hereupon another adorn
ment, made after the pattern of the Jewish ephod,
was placed on him. This sitting down was meant
to symbolise taking possession ; for Pandulf goes
on to say, — " per cetera Palatii loca solis Ponti-
" ficibus destinata, jam dominus vel sedens vel
" transiens electionis modum implevit."
It was therefore a mere matter of accident that
these stone seats were pierced. They had been
selected on account of their antique form and the
beautiful colour of the stone. Every stranger who
visited Eome could not fail to be struck with their
unusual shape. That they had formerly been
intended to be used in a bath had passed out of
every one's knowledge ; and the idea of such a use
would be one of the last to occur to people in the
middle ages. They were aware that the new pope
sat, and on this occasion only in his whole life on
' Montfaucon, diar. ltal., p. 137.
^ " Ascendens palatium," we read mthe Eoman sub-deacon, Pan-
DULFUS Pisantts, "ad duas curules devenit. Hie baltheo suc-
"cingitur, cum septem ex eo pendentibus clavibus septemque
" sigiUis. Et locatus in utrisque cui'ulibus data sibi ferula in
" manu, &c."— Ap. Murator, SS. Hal., P. m., p. i.^ p. 354,

Story to explain the seat ; its antiqttity 49
this seat, and this was the only use to which the
seat was ever put. The symbolical meaning of the
act and of the ceremonies connected with it was
unknown and foreign to the popular mind. It
invented for itself an explanation of its own, just
such an explanation as popular fancy is wont to
give. The seat is hollow and pierced, they said. Monstrous
Till story to ex-
because they wanted to make sure that the pope plain this
. J .1 circumstance.
was a man. The further question, what need there
was to make sure of this, produced the explana
tion ; — because, in one instance certainly, a woman
was made pope. Here at once a field was opened
for the development of a myth. The deception,
the catastrophe of the discovery ; all that was
forthwith sketched out in popular talk. Myth
delights in the most glaring contrasts. Hence we
have the highest sacerdotal office, and together
with it its most shameful prostitution by sudden
travail during a solemn procession, followed by
childbirth in the open street. This done, the
woman-pope has fulfilled her mission. The myth
accordingly at once withdraws her from the scene.
She dies in childbirth on the spot ; or, according
to another version, is stoned to death by the
enraged populace.
The story that the newly-elected pope sat down Tw^^fo,y^
on the pierced seat in order to give a proof of his before fte
sex is first found in the Visions of the Dominican, writer^,^^
Egbert d'TJsez,' who died in Metz in the year Brevin.
I Hist. litt. de France, xx. 501. E

POPE JOAN

1296. He relates that in the year 1291, while he
was staying at Orange, he was taken in the spirit
to Eome, to the Lateran palace, and placed before
the porphyry seat, " ubi dicitur probari papa au
" sit homo." ' After him Jacobo d'Agnolo di
ScaRperia in the year 1405 declares respecting it,
in a letter to the celebrated Greek, Emanuel Chry-
soloras, in which he describes the enthronisation
of Gregory XII. as an eye-witness, that it is a
senseless popular fable.^ It is consequently not
correct to say, what has been constantly main
tained, that the English writer, William Brevin,*
about 1470, was the first to make mention of the
supposed investigation as to the sex of the pope.*
Of later witnesses it is worth mentioning, that
' Liber trium virorum et trium spirit, virginum, ed. Lefebvre,
Paris, 1513, f. 25.
^ Juxta hoc (sacellum Sylvestri) geminse sunt fixse sedes por-
phiretico incisre lapide, in quibus, quod perforatse sint, insanam
loquitur valgus fabulam, quod Pontifex attractetur, an vir sit.
Ap. Oancellieri, p. 37.
^ In a work De septem principalibus ecclesiis urbis Bomce.
* According to Hemmeblin (^dialog, de ndbil. et rusticis), the in
vestigation was made by two of the clergy : " et dum invenirentur
" illsesi (testiculi), clamabant tangentes alta voce ; testiculos habet.
" Et reclamabant clerus et populus ; Deo gratias." According to
Chalcocondylas, the words were : — appr]v fip,iv iarXv 6 Seaworqs.
[De rebus Turcicis, ed. Bekker, Bonn., 1843, p. 303.] How readily
the popular story was beheved is shown by Bernardino Corio, of
Milan, who describes in his historical work the coronation of pope
Alexander VI. in the year 1492, when Corio himself was in Eome.
There we read, " Finalmente essendo finite le solite solemnitati in
" Sancta Sanotoeum et dimesticamente toccatogli h testicoli, ritorno
al palacio." Patria Historia, P. vii., fol. Eiv. Milano, 1503. In the
later editions the passage is omitted. Corio, however, says him
self, that he was not in the church where it took place, but was
standing outside.

The seat not used after 1650 51
the Swede Lawrence Banck, who has minutely
described the solemnities which accompanied the
elevation of Innocent X. to the papacy [Sept.
1644], declares, with all earnestness, that it cer
tainly was the case, that an investigation into. the
sex of the pope was the object of the ceremony.'
At that time, however, the custom of sitting on
the two stone seats, along with several other cere
monies, had disappeared long since, namely, since
the death of Leo X. And, moreover, Banck does
not state that he himself had seen the ceremony,^
but only that he had often seen the seat, and
by way of proof that it took place, and with this
particular object, appeals to writers of the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries. Cancellieri, therefore, had
good reason for expressing astonishment at the
shamelessness of a man, who speaks on other
things as an eye-witness, and who had only to
inquire of a single educated Eoman to learn that
the custom in question had been given up for more
than a hundred years.
But the strongest case of all is that of Giam- Boizani's ac-
„ . , . count of the
PETRO Valbriano Bolzani, one ot the hterary matter.
courtiers of Leo X., and loaded with benefices,''
according to the immoral custom of the time. This
man, in a speech addressed to cardinal Hippolytus
* In the book Boma Triumphans, Franecker, 1645, CanceUieri has
quoted his long account entire.
2 Oancellieri, p. 236.
3 For the long list of his benefices, seo MabinI, Archiatri Bonti-
ficij, I., 291.

52 POPE JOAN

de Medici, printed at Eome with papal privilege,
did not scruple to decorate the fiction about the
investigation into the sex of each newly-elected
pope with new and fabulous circumstances. The
ceremony takes place, he declares, quite openly in
the gallery of the Lateran church before the eyes
of the assembled multitude, and is then most un
necessarily proclaimed by one of the clergy and
entered in the register.' Thus the wanton fri
volity of Italian literati, and the stupid indifference
of ecclesiastical dignitaries, worked together to
spread this delusion, damaging as it was to the
otherwise jealously guarded authority of the papal
see, right through the whole mass of the populace.
At the same time one could hardly have a more
striking instance of the irresistible power which a
universally-circulated story exercises over men,
even over those of superior intellect. Any one
could learn without trouble from a cardinal, or
from one of the clergy taking part in the cere
mony, what really took place there. But people
never asked, or else imagined that the answer
meant no more than a refusal to vouch for the
fact. They heard this examination of the newly-
elected pope spoken of everywhere, in the streets
and in private houses, as a notorious fact.
Was it then that the meaning assigned to the
^ Eesque ipsa sacri preeconis voce palam promulgata in acta mox
refertiu', legitimumque tum demum Pontificem nos habere arbi-
tramur, quum habere ilium quod habere decct oculata fide fuerit
contestatum.

Circuitous rotite taken by pontifical processions 53
pierced seat influenced the explanation of the in
scription and of the statue, or that contrariwise
thece two objects, gave occasion for the myth
about the ceremony connected with the seat to
arise ? That point it is now of course out of our
power to determine. We can only see that the
explanation of the three objects is as old as the
myth about the woman-pope.
A further confirmation of the whole was soon 4. The route
found in a circumstance of no importance in itself, in processions
and for which a perfectly natural explanation was Lateran and
ready at hand. It was remarked that the popes in '^ ^ "^^"'
processions between the Lateran and the Vatican
did not enter a street which lay in the way, but
made a circuit through other streets. The reason
was simply the narrowness of the street. But in
Eome, where the woman-pope was already haunt
ing the imagination of the masses, it was now dis
covered that this was done to remind men how the
woman had given birth to a child as she was
going through this street, and to express horror
at the catastrophe which had taken place just at
that spot. In the first version of the fable, as we
find it in the interpolated Martinus Polonus, it is
said : " creditur omnino a quibusdam, quod ob de-
" testationem facti hoc faciat." With' later writers
' The chroniclers copy one from another to such a slavish extent in
this narrative, that the incorrect expression of the interpoiater, " Do-
" minus Papa, quum vadit ad Lateranum, eandem viam semper obli-
quat " (instead of declinat) has been retained by all his followers. The
avoided street was, moreover, pulled down by Sixtus V., on account

54 POPE JOAN
the thing is thoroughly established as a notorious
fact.
Examples of It may now be worth while to show by a
of^ythf.™'^ few examples, how easily a popular myth, or a
mythical explanation, may be called into exist
ence by a circumstance, so soon as anything is
perceived in it, which seems in the eyes of the
people to be astonishing, or which excites their
imagination.
The two wives The bigamy of the Count of Gleichen plays
of Gleichen. an important part in our literature, and is still
believed to be true by numberless people. A
count of Gleichen is said to have gone to Pales
tine in the year 1227, in company with the Land
grave of Thuringia, and there to have been cap
tured by the Saracens and thrown into prison.
Through the daughter of the Sultan he obtained
his liberty; and the story goes that, although
his wife was living, he obtained a dispensation
from pope Gregory IX. in the year 1240 or 1241,
and married the princess ; and the three lived
together in undisturbed peace for many years
afterwards. It is a well-known fact that the very
bed itself (an unusually broad one) of the count
and his two wives, was shown for a long time
afterwards. This story is told for the first time in the year
of its narrowness. [The spot where the catastrophe was said to have
taken place is between the Colosseum and S. Clement's.]

Similar stories 5 5

1584, that is to say, three centuries and a half
later.' But from that time onwards it is related
in numerous writings, and in the next century
became a matter of popular belief, so that hence
forth it was printed in all histories of Thuringia,
and is to be found in particular in Jovius, Sagit
tarius, Olearius, Packenstein, &c. In this
case, also, it was a tombstone which gave occasion
to the story. On it was represented a knight
with two^ female figures, one of whom had an
extraordinary head dress decorated with a star.
No sooner had the myth which fastened on to this
figure begun to weave its web, than relics and proofs
began to multiply. Not only was the bedstead
shown, but a jewel which the pope had presented to
the Turkish princess, and which she wore in her
turban ; a " Turk's road " was pointed out, leading
to the castle, and a " Turk's room " within it.
And not a word about all this until the seven
teenth century. In earlier times no one had ever
heard a syllable about the story or the relics.
Another instance is afforded by the Piistrich The PUstrich
AT Sondershausen, a bronze figure, hollow shausen.
inside, with an opening in the head. It was found
in the year 1550, in a subterranean chapel of
the castle of Eotenburg, near Nordhausen, and
was brought to Sondershausen in the year 1576,
• In Dhesseei Bhetorica, Lips., p. 76, squ.
'^ It is, as Placidos Muth, of Erfurt, has conjectured with much
probability, the monument of a count of Gleichen, who died in
1494, and his two wives.

S6 POPE JOAN

where it still exists in the cabinet of curiosities.
Thirty or forty years had scarcely passed before
a legend had grown up, which quite harmonised
with a time immediately succeeding the great
religious contest of the Eeformation, and with a
country in which the old rehgion was vanquished.
The Piistrich was said to have stood in a niche in
a pilgrimage church, and by monkish jugglery to
have been filled with water, and made to vomit
flames of fire, in order to terrify the people, and
induce them to make large offerings. Frederick
Succus, preacher in the cathedral of Magdeburg,
from 1567 to 1576, relates all this, with many
details as to the way in which the deception was
managed, adding the remark, " that no one could
" do the like now-a-days, so as to make the image
" vomit flames, and that many thought it was per-
" haps brought about by magic and witchcraft."'
Again, every one knows the story of Arch
bishop Hatto, op Mayence, who had a strong
Archbishop towor built in the middle of the Ehine, in order to
Hatto and the i • i f. n
rats. protect himself from the mice ; but in spite of
that was devoured by them. This event, which
would have fallen within the year 970, had it
happened at all, is mentioned for the first time
^ Eabk, Der Piistrich zu Sondershausen, Berlin, 1852, p. 58. He
shows how absurd the story is, although repeated in the seventeenth
century by Walther, Titus, and Eoser. Even in the year 1782
Galetti, and in 1830 the preacher Qoehl related the ridiculous
story. Eabe conjectures with probability that the PUstrich is
nothing more than the support of a font. [Others have supposed it
to be an idol of the Sorbic-Wends.]

Similar stories 5 7

at the beginning of the fourteenth century, in
Siffrid's chronicle. Before that there is not a
trace of it. The Mausethurm, or Muusthurm'
(that is. Arsenal), as Bodmann explains, was not
built till the beginning of the thirteenth^ cen
tury. Its name with the people slipped from
Muusthurm to Mausthurm, and thus, according to
all appearance, gave rise to the whole story.
In all that is historically known of Hatto II.
there is not a feature with which the legend
could connect itself. The story of a prince or
great man, who tried to save himself from the
pursuit of mice in a tower surrounded by water,
is to be found in several other places. It appears
in the mountains of Bavaria; it occurs among
the myths of primitive Polish history. In' the
latter case King Popiel, his wife, and two sons,
are followed and killed by mice in a tower in the
Goplosee, which to this day bears the name of
Mouse-tower. Wherever a tower on an island
was to be seen, the object of which could no
longer be explained, there sprang up the story
of the blood-thirsty mice.*
1 Ap. Pistor. SS., Germ., i., 10.
^ [By a bishop named Siegfried, together with the opposite castle
of Ehrenfels, as a watch tower and toll-house for collectmg duties
on all goods which passed up or down the river. Maus is possibly
only another form of Mauth, toll or excise. Archbishop Hatto died
in 970.] ,. „,
3 Eopbll's Geschichte Polens, I., 74. [See Appendix C]
« Libbrecht's explanation in Wolfs Zeitschrift fUr deutsche Mytho-
logie II., 408, seems to be erroneous. He says, that " at the root of
" legends on this subject lies the primitive custom of hanging the

58 POPE JOAN
If an unusual hollow was remarked in a stone,
a hole of extraordinary shape, anything which
the imagination could take for the impress of a
hand or a foot, there at once a myth attached
itself. A stone in the wall of a church at
Schlottau in Saxony, which is thought to look
like the face of a monk without ever having
been carved by the hand of man, has given occa
sion to a legend of attempted sacrilege, and mar
vellous punishment.'
Figure on the On the EiESENTHOR (Giaut-Porch) of S.
Riesenthor » /^ -vx- t •
of Vienna feTEPHBN s CATHEDRAL at Vienna, a youth is m-
Cathedral. , n i • ,i • r> t
troduced m the carving of the upper part, who
appears to rest a wounded foot on the other
knee. A legend has been spun out of that. The
architect, Pilgram,^ is said to have thrown his
pupil, Puchsprunn, from the scaffolding, out of
jealousy, because the execution of the second spire
" chiefs of the nation as an offering to appease the gods, on the
" occurrence of any national calamity, such as famine through the
" ravages of mice, for instance." In the first place, human sacrifice
by means of hanging is almost, if not quite, unknown ; secondly, it
is not usually a tree, but a tower on an island, to which the legend
attaches itself ; and, lastly, the legend places the event, as in the
case of Hatto, very much later — quite in Christian times. [But may
we not give up the hanging, and even the tree, and still retain the
idea of propitiatory sacrifice ?]
' See Geosse's Sagenschatz des Konigreichs Sachsen.
''¦ [Pilgram was one of the later architects, successor of Jorg
CEchsel about 1510. The church was founded in 1144. The
Eiesenthor seems to belong to a period subsequent to the fire of
1258 ; but it and the Heidonthiirme are almost the oldest parts of
the present building, and therefore existed long before Pilgram's
time.]

Similar stories 59

had been transferred to the latter while still under
Pilgram.' The fable of the papess belongs to the local The origin of
myths of Eome, of which a whole cycle existed coionna.
in the Middle Ages. Hence it may be worth
while to compare the birth of such a myth with
a Eoman example. The legend about the origin
OP THE HOUSE OP CoLONNA, whose power and
greatness afforded material for the imagination
of the people, is so far similar in the mode of its
birth to that about Pope Joan, in that it was a
piece of sculpture, viz., the arms of the house,
which are a column, which the legend endea
voured to explain. Just as the lozenge of Saxony,
the wheel of Mayence, and the virgin of the
Osnabruck arms, have called forth legends of
their own to explain them.
A smith in Eome notices that his cow, every
day, goes of her own accord in the same direc
tion. He follows her, creeps after her through a
narrow opening, and finds a meadow with a build
ing in it. In the building stands a stone column,
and on the top of it a brazen vessel full of money.
He is about to take some of the money, when a
voice calls out to him, " It is not thine ; take three
" denarii, and thou wilt find on the Forum to
" whom the money belongs." The smith does so, and
flings the three pieces of money to three different
parts of the Forum. A poor neglected lad finds them
' HoRMAVR. -Wien, seine Geschicke, u. s. w., 27, 46.

6o

POPE JOAN

all three, becomes the smith's son-in-law, buys
great possessions with the money on the column,
and so founds the house of Colonna.'

But why was
the Papess
represented as
coming from
Mayence ?

And from
England ?

Because the
story was re
garded a blow
struck at papal
authority, and
England was
looked upon
as specially
hostile to
Rome.

This, perhaps, is sufiicient illustration of the
way in which the legend of Pope Joan arose. Two
circumstances, however, require special discussion,
the statement that the woman came from Mayence,
and that she had studied in Athens.
The first mention that we find respecting the
original home of the female pope, namely, in the
passage interpolated into Martinus Polonus com
bines two contradictory statements. It makes her
an Englishwoman, and, at the same time, a native
of Mayence : "Johannes Anglus, natione Mogun-
" tinus." Probably two stories were extant, of
which one made the impostor come from the
British Isles, the other from Germany. The
reason for one story making her a native of Eng
land may have been this. It was a most common
thing for Englishwomen to go on pilgrimages to
Eome : we find S. Boniface even in his day com
plaining of the number of them, and their dubious
character. Or it may have been that the birth,
and first spreading of the myth, fell just within
that long period of the violent struggle between
Innocent III. and king John, while England was
accounted in Eome as the power which above
' Fr. Jacobi de Acqui Chronicon imof/inis mundi, in the Monii-
menta hist, pcitriw. Script., A^ol. in., p. 1603.

Why a native of England 6i
all others was hostile to the Eoman see. For,
from the very beginning, the fictitious event was
considered as a deep disgrace, a heavy blow struck
at the authority of the Eoman see ; and the myth
expressed that by making a country, which was
considered as hostile to Eome, to be the home of
a woman-pope. In like manner the mythical king
Popiel, who was devoured by mice, on account of
the wrong done to his father's brothers, is repre
sented in the Polish myth as having married the
daughter of a German prince, in order that the
guilt of instigating him to the crime might fall
on a woman of a foreign nation, and one always
hostile to the Sclaves.'
It is not difiicult to explain how the other
version of the story, which became the prevalent
one, came to assign Mayence as the native place
of the papess.
The rise of the myth falls into the period of Germany was
the great contest between the papacy and the special enemy
empire, a time when the Germans often appeared Maye^e'w^^
in arms before Eome and in Eome, broke down city of g"?-
the walls of the city, took the popes prisoners, ™^"^'
or compelled them to take to fiight. " Omne
" malum ab Aquilone," was the feeling at that
time in Eome. Germany had then no special
capital ; no recognised royal or imperial place of
residence. No city but Mayence could be called
the most important city in the realm. It was the
' EiiPELL, Geschichte Polens, p. 77.

62 POPE JOAN

seat of the first prince of the empire,' and the
centre of government. " Moguntia, ubi maxima
" vis regni esse noscitur," says Otto of Freysingen.^
In the Ligurinus of the Pseudo-Gunther, it is said
of Mayence :
" Pene fuit toto sedes notissima regno."
Roman hatred In the cyclo of myths which cluster round
appears in Charlcs the Great, and which Italy also appro
priated (e.g. in the Reali di Francia, which was
extant as early as the fourteenth century, and in
other productions which belong to the same cycle of
myths), Eoman aversion to the German metropolis,
Mayence, is glaringly prominent. Mayence is the
seat and home of the malicious scheme of treachery
against Charles the Great and his house. Ganelo,
the arch-traitor, is count of Mayence. All his
party, and his associates in treachery, are called
" Maganzesi." They and Ganelo, or the men of
Mayence, represent the treacherous usurpation ot
the empire by the Germans, in violation of the
birthright of Eome.
So again in PuLCi's Morgante, and in Ariosto's
cinque canti or Ganeloni. The poem, Doolin of
Mayence, is, to a certain extent, a German rejoinder
' [The electoral-archbishops of Mayence were the premier princes
of the empire ; they presided at diets, and at the election of the
emperor. Even in Eoman times the Castellum Moguntiacum was
the most important of the chain of fortresses which Drusus built
along the Ehine, and which in like manner became the germs of
largo towns.]
^ De gestis Frederici L, c. 12.

Why a native of Mayence 63
to the polemics of Eome, as shown in the Carolin-
gian myths. Here Doolin, son of Guido, count
of Mayence, steps forward as the rival of Charles the
Great, first fights with him, then after an indeci
sive battle is reconciled to him, with him goes to
Vauclere, the city of Aubigeant (Wittekind), king
of Saxony, marries the daughter of the latter,
Flandrine, and ends by joining with Charles in the
subjugation of Saxony.
Ganelo of Mayence, the treacherous founder of
the first German kingdom by separation from the
Westfrankish kingdom, is supplemented in the
Italian myth (which thus represents the great
contest and opposition between Guelf and Ghi
belline) by another native of Mayence, Ghibello.
The story is to be found in Bogardo's Italian
version of the Pomarium of Eiccobaldo op
Ferrara. King Conrad II. (it is Conrad III.
who is meant) nominates Gibello Maguntino to be
administrator of the kingdom in Lombardy in
opposition to Welfo, whom the Church had set up
as regent of Lombardy. Gibello is of noble but
poor family, had studied for awhile in Italy,
acquires then great eminence in his native city,
Mayence, becomes chancellor of Bohemia, but is
publicly convicted of " baratteria," i. e., of pohtical
fraud or treason. He and Welfo now have a con
test together, which ends in Gibello dying at
Berffamo, and Welfo at Milan. GibeUo of
Maganza is, as one sees, a repetition of Gano or

64 POPE JOAN
Ganelo of Maganza. But one sees also at the
same time why Johannes or Johanna must be
made to come from Mayence, and why " Magun-
" tinus " or " Magantinus " be called " Margan-
" tinus." '
In later times the story, now romancing with an
object, endeavoured to harmonise the two state
ments, that the female pope was " Anglicus," and
also " natione Maguntinus." The parents of Joan
were made to migrate from England to Mayence,
or she was called "Anglicus," it was said, be
cause an English monk in Fulda had been her
paramour.^
German lu Germany, however, people began now to be
rame'ashtmed ashamod of the German origin of Pope Joan.
ope Joan ; gj^^ ^^^ throwu in the teeth of the Germans, we
' Both in manuscripts and priated copies we repeatedly find Mar-
gantinus instead of Marguntinus. It would appear that Margan, a
famous abbey in Glamorganshire, is here indicated, where the Annales
de Margan, with which the second volume of Gale's Eistoriw Anglic.
Scriptores commences, were composed. People could not reconcile
the appellation Anglicus with the distinctive name Maguntinus, and
accordingly changed the German birthplace into an Enghsh one.
Bernard Guidonis came to the rescue in a different way ; instead of
Anglicus, he wrote Johannes Teutonicus natione Maguntinus. Vitce
Pontificum, ap. Maii Spicil, Bom. vi., 202. Among the amusing
attempts which have been made to reconcile the two adjectives,
Anglicus and Magimtinus, may be mentioned the version of Amal
ricus Augerii (Historia Pontificum, ap. Eccard, n., 1706). Here the
woman-pope is called Johannes, Anghcus natione, dictus Magnani-
mu^ (instead of Maguntinus). The author would intimate that the
boldness and strength of character, without which such a course of
life, involving the concealment of her sex for so many years, would
not have been possible, had won for her the distinctive title of
" magnanimous." ^ Compare Maresii Johanna Papnssa restitiifn, p. 18.

Why a student at Athens 6e,

are told in the chronicle of the bishops of Verden,
because she is said to have come from Mayence.'
Indeed some went so far as to say that this cir
cumstance of the German woman-pope was the
reason why no more Germans were elected popes,
as Werner Eolbvink mentions, adding at the
same time that this was not the true reason.^ In And endea-
order to conceal the circumstance, we find in the make her an
German manuscripts of Martinus Polonus " Mar- womln!'
" gantinus" co'ustantly instead of " Magantinus;"
and the Compilatio Chronica in Leibnitz ^ knows
only of Johannes Anglicus. This feeling that the
nationality 'of the woman-pope was a thing of
which Germany must be ashamed has even pro
duced a new romance, the object of which was
manifestly nothing else than to transfer the home
of the female pope and her paramour from Ger
many to Greece.*
The other feature in the myth, that the woman And why was
studied in Athens, and then came and turned her sented'Is
knowledge to account in Eome as a teacher of Ithensf '^
great repute, is thoroughly in accordance with the
spirit of mediaeval myths. As a matter of fact, no
' Ap. Leibnit ; SS. Brunsvic, ii., 212.
^ Fascic. temp. cet. vi., f. 66. So also in the Dutch Divisie-
chronyk, printed at Leyden in the year 1517. " Om dat dese Paeus
" wt duytslant rus van ments opten ryn, so menen sommige, dat dit
" die sake, is dat men genen geboren duytsche meer tat paeus
" settet." ^ SS. Brunsvic, ii., 63.
* It is to be found in a manuscript from Tegernsee, now in the
royal library at Munich, of the fifteenth century, Codex lat. Tegerns.,
781. [See Appendix B.J P

66

POPE JOAN

one for a thousand years had come from the West
to Athens for purposes of study ; for the very best
of reasons, because there was nothing more to be
had there. But that was no obstacle to the myth ;
according to which Athens in ancient times (that
means perhaps before the rise of the University of
Paris) was accounted as the one great seat of educa-
Because there tion and learning. For that there was, and ought
to be, only one " Studium," just as there was, and

one univer
sity, which
was then at
Athens.

ought to be, only one Empire and one Popedom,
that was quite one of the sentiments of the age.
" The Church has need of three powers or institu-
" tions," we read in the Chronica Jordanis, " the
" Priesthood, the Empire, and the University.
" And as the Priesthood has only one seat,
" namely Eome, so the University has and needs
" only one seat, namely Paris. Of the three
" leading nations each possesses one of these in-
" stitutions. The Eomans or Italians have the
" Priesthood, the Germans have the Empire, and
" the French have the University." '
This University was originally in Athens, thence
it was transported to Eome, -and from Eome
Charles the Great (or his son) transplanted it to
Paris. The very year of this transfer was stated.
Thus we find in the Chronicon Tieleiise^ " Anno D.
' Ap. ScHARD De jurisd. imperiali ac potest, eccles. variorum
Authorum Scripta : Basil, 1566, p. 307.
^ Ed. van Lecuwen: Trajecti, 1789, p. 37. So also GobeUnus
Persona. The anonymous writer in Vincent of Beauvais had
previously stated, " Alcuinus studium de Eoma Pai'isios transtulit,
" quod illuo a Grsecia translatum fuerat a Eomanis."

Athens the original University 6'j
" 830, Eomanun studium, quod prius Athenis
" exstitit, est translatum Parisios."
Hence in ancient times, according to the pre- Joan was
vailing notion, the University was at Athens ; and learning, and,
whoever would rise to great eminence in the must have
sphere of knowledge, must go there. There were university.
only two ways in which a foreign adventurer
could attain to the highest office in the Church —
piety, or learning. The myth could not make the
girl from Mayence become eminent through piety ;
this would not agree with her subsequent seduc
tion and the birth of the child in the open street.
Therefore it was through her learning that she
won for herself universal admiration, and, at the
election to the papacy, a unanimous vote. And
this learning she could only have attained in
Athens. For the University, as Amalricus Augerii
says, was at that time in Greece.'
' Ap. Eccard., ii., 1707.
[Tor additional matter on the general subject of the Papess, see
Appendix A.]

P 2

POPE CYRIACUS

POPE CYRIACUS
Pope Cyriacus was inserted into the Eoman list The fiction of
r. . . . T-> T 1 1 •! Pope Cyriacus
ot popes about the same time as 1 ope Joan, and like an interested
her maintained himself in his usurped position for
a long time. Here interested imposture, visionary
fancy, and groundless credulity, have conspired
together to create a pope who is as unreal and as
purely imaginary as Pope Joan.
In the middle of the twelfth century the nun visions of the
. 1 1 • 1 f o 1 ¦ j_i ^^'^ Elizabeth
Elizabeth, m the monastery ot bchonau, m the ofSchunau.
diocese of Treves, stood wrapt in ecstasy. Her
visions were inexhaustible ; and as often as a
grave was opened, and the bones and remains of
some nameless corpse were found, the name and
history of the unknown dead were revealed to her,
as she said, by an angel or a saint. This worked s. Ursula and
her maidens.
with inspiriting effect on those who wanted new
relics of saints for a church or a chapel, in order
to attract the stream of population thither. Eliza
beth had already been occupied with the myth
of S. Ursula' and her maidens; and since 1155
^ [They ai-e said to have been martyred in 237; the sixteenth
centenary of the event was celebrated in 1837. Yet it was the
Huns returning from their defeat at Chalons, in 451, who put the

72 POPE CYRfACUS

thousands of corpses had been dug up in the fields
near Cologne, all of which were said to have
belonged to S. Ursula's company. At last, how
ever, the corpses of men also came to light.
Tombstones with inscriptions were discovered
there, or rather were forthwith invented. They
spoke of an Archbishop Simplicius, of Eavenna ;
Marinus, bishop of Milan ; Pantulus, of Basle ;
several cardinals and priests. There was, more
over, a stone with the inscription — " S. Cyriacus
" Papa Eomanus qui cum gaudio suscepit sacras
" virgines et cum iisdem re versus martyrium sus-
" cepit et S. Alina V." These epitaphs were sent
by the abbot Gerlach to Elizabeth. By the visions
which she saw in her states of magnetic clair
voyance she was to decide whether these tablets
were to be believed.' For he himself, as he said,
entertained a suspicion that the stones might have
been quietly buried there with a view to gain.
Her ^ unwillingness to act as judge was overcome.

maidens to death ! S. Ursula's name appears in no martyrology
earlier than the tenth century. Mr. Baring-Gould considers her as
" no other than the Swabian goddess Ursel or Horsel transformed
" into a saint of the Christian calendar." — Curious Myths of the
Middle Ages, 1869, p. 331.]
' The inscriptions and the narration of S. Elizabeth are to be
found, Acta SS. Octbr. is., 86-88. The finding of the tombstones
was arranged, it appears, in order to explain the appearance of so
many bones of males in the field (ager Ursulanus), where people had
been accustomed to expect only the bones of the pretended virgins,
and in order to vindicate the honour of the maidens.
" "Diutina postulatione me multum resistentem compulerunt,"
are her words.

Origin of the fiction 73
and now came the following history to light. At
the time when Ursula and her maidens came to
Eome, Cyriacus had already reigned a year and
eleven weeks as the nineteenth pope. In the night
he received the command of heaven to renounce
his office, and go forth with the maidens, for a
martyr's death awaited him and them. He accord- Cyriacus abdi-
. . 1 1 T r 1 cates in order
ingly resigned his authority into the hands 01 the to accompany
cardinals, and caused Antherus to be raised to the
papacy in his place. The Eoman clergy, however,
were so indignant at the abdication of Cyriacus
that they struck his name out of the list of the
popes. Accordingly, every objection created by pre
viously existing authorities was forthwith quashed,
and the chroniclers of the thirteenth century de
termined without further thought that the newly
discovered pope must be inserted between Pon
tianus and Anteros (238). The first to do this
was the Premonstratensian monk Egbert Abolant
AT AuxERRE, who in the first part of this century
composed a general chronicle. The Dominicans,
Vincent of Beauvais and Thomas op Chantinpre,
followed, and after them the Cistercian Alberich.
Martinus Polonus was in this case also the Martinus
. „ . « Polonus again
decisive authority and source 01 mtormation lor the chief
the times subsequent to himself. In him the cuiatingthe
reason why Cyriacus was not found in the
Catalogus Pontificum is given with more par
ticularity : " Credebant enim plerique eum non

74 POPE CYRfACUS

" propter devotionem, sed propter oblectamenta
" virginum Papatum dimisisse." And on this
point Leo of Orvieto has followed him. Aimery
du Peyrat' also, and Bernard Guidonis^ contend
for Cyriacus, while Amalrich Augerii passes him
over. The oldest chronicle in the German lan
guage (about 1330) says of him : " Want er lies
" daz babesthum und die wiirdikeit wider der
" Cardinal willen, und fur mit den XI. tiising
" megden gen Colon, und wart gemartert. darumb
" tilketen die cardinal sinen namen abe der be-
" biste buche." ^ The Eulogium historiarum, com
piled by a monk of Malmesbury about the year
1366, introduces him with the remark, "Hie cessit
" de papatu contra voluntatem cleri." * In the
fifteenth century Cyriacus, as was to be expected,
appeared in all the better known historical works ;
in Antomus, Philip of Bergamo, Nauklerus, &c.,
and hence has passed even into the older editions
of the Eoman breviary.^
But as early as the last year of the thirteenth
' Notices et Extraits, VI., 77.
2 Maii Spicil, vi., 29.
^ Olerrheinische Chronik, edited by S. A. Geieshabee, 1850,
p. 5.
•¦ Ed. Scott Haidon, Lond., 1858, i., 180. [Huio successit
SiBiAcus papa qui sedit anno uno, mensibus ni. ; hie cessit de
papatu contra voluntatem cleri, sequendo xi.m. virgines quas
baptizaverat, et substituendo Anacleeum, et ideo non apponitur in
catalogo paparum.j
' Beeti, in the Baccolta di Dissertazion of Zaccaeia, ii., 10,
remarks that he finds the fabulous acts of S. Ursula even in the
breviary of 1526 ; and, according to Launoi, they are still m the
breviary of 1550.

fmportance of the fiction 75
century the story of Cyriacus had become of no
small practical importance, and the lawyers had
appropriated it for their purposes.
The resignation of Coelestine V., and the con- The faUe
_ _ acquired great
sequent elevation of Boniface VIII. to the papacy, importance in
. „ reference to
created very srreat commotion. Many were ot theabdica-
... . .1 1 f ¦ tion of Coeles-
opinion that it was utterly impossible tor a pope to tine v.
resign, for he had no ecclesiastical superior who
could release him from his sacred obligations, and
no one can release himself. The numerous oppo
nents of Boniface pounced upon this question, and
it was now of importance" to discover instances of
popes resigning. Accordingly the author of the
glossa ordinaria to the decree, in which Boni.
face VIIL affirmed the right of popes to resign,
appealed to the undoubted instance of Cyriacus ; '
and thenceforward nearly all canonists availed
themselves of the same pretended authority, and
not only they but theologians also, as, for example,
JGgidius Colonna ^ and Sylvester Prierias. It other ficti-
..... tious abdic.i-
was usual to quote three popes m primitive times tions.
as instances of abdication, Clement, Marcellinus,
and Cyriacus ; * so that it really was a most
' "Datur autem certum exemplum do Cyriaco Papa, de quo
" legitur, quod cum Ursula et undecim milhbus virguium martyr-
" izatus est." Then follows the narrative as given by Martinus
Polohub. Thus it stands in ihe older editions of the Lib: vi.
Decretal., cap. Eenunciat. Lugdun., 1520, 1550, 1553. In the later
editions the passage is omitted.
- De renunciatione Papas, in Eocaberti Biblioth. max. pontif,
II., 61.
^ So, for instance, Augustinus db Ajs-cona, Summa quest. 4 art.
8 : " Eespondes dicendum, quod Oanones etgesta Pontificum quatuor

76 POPE CYRfACUS
strange misfortune that all three cases should be
imaginary. The supposed resignation of Clement was in
vented merely to harmonise the discrepancy be
tween the statements, according to which he was
sometimes said to have come immediately after
S. Peter, sometimes not till after Linus and
Anacletus. [The case of Marcellinus is discussed in the
next chapter.]
" Summos Pontifices narrant renunciasse Pontiflcatui, Clementem,
" Cyriacum, Marcellinum et Caalestinum." So again, Albeeious de
Eosate, DoMmious a S. Gbminiako, Johannes Tuebeoremata,
Antonius Cuoohus, BAETHOi.oiia:u8 Pumus, and others.

MARCELLINUS

MARCELLINUS

The fable about Pope Marcellinus is far more an- xhe abdica
tion of Mar-

a very

cient than the fiction of Pope Cyriacus. For nearly cdUnus
a thousand years it passed for truth along with the ^"'^'^"* ''<^''°"
equally imaginary synod of Sinuessa, and has
been much used by theologians and lawyers in
support of their theories.'
At the beginning of the persecution under Dio
cletian (this is the fable in substance) the pontifex
of the Capitol represented to Marcellinus, who was
then pope, that he might without scruple offer
incense to the gods, for the three wise men from
the East had done so before Christ. Both agreed He offers
to let the point be decided by Diocletian, who was godst"°*^
at that time in Persia, and he naturally ordered
that the pope should offer incense. Accordingly
Marcellinus is conducted to the temple of Vesta,
' [It is well known that this fable has been admitted into ijae
Eoman breviary. The interpolation seems to have been made in the
first half of the sixteenth century. " A la fete de Saint Marcelhn,
" le 16 Avril, I'ancien br^viaire romain de 1520 se borne au rdcit du
" martyre de ce Pape. Mais voici un autre br^viaire romain de 1536
" (Bibl. Samte Genevieve, No. BB 70), et un autre de 1542 (Ibid.
" No. BB 67) ou Ton introduit la fable ordieuse et ridicule du
" prdtendu concile de Sinuesse." — A. Gratry, Premiere lettre a
M"'-- Deschamps, p. 58.]

8o MARCELLfNUS
and offers there, in the presence of a crowd of
Christian spectators, to Hercules, Jupiter, and
And is tried Satum. At the news of this three' hundred
coundi'of bishops leave their sees, and gather together to
Smuessa. j^^|^ ^ council, first in a cavern near Sinuessa, but,
as this would not hold more than fifty, afterwards
in the town itself. Along with them were thirty
Eoman priests. Several priests and deacons are
deposed, merely because they had gone away when
they saw the pope enter the temple. Marcellinus,
on the other hand, neither may nor can be judged,
being supreme head of the church, — this conviction
pervades the whole synod, — the ^ pope can only be
judged by himself. At first he attempts to palhate
his act ; but seventy-two witnesses make accusation
against him. Thereupon he^ acknowledges his
guilt, and himself pronounces his own deposition
on the 23rd of August, 303. After this the
bishops remain quietly together in Sinuessa, until
Diocletian, upon receiving intelligence of this
synod in Persia, sends an order for the execution
of many of the three hundred, and this is carried
into effect.

^ [ A number quite impossible for that country, especially in
a time of persecution.]
2 [The bishops say to him, " Tu eris judex ; ex te enim damnaberis,
" et ex te justificaberis, tamen in nostra prsesentia. Prima Sedes
" non judicabitur a quoquam."]
' [He denied his guilt the flrst two days; but on the third day,
being adjured in God's name to speak the truth, he throws himself
on the ground, covers his head with ashes, and repeatedly acknow
ledges his gmlt, adding that he had been bribed to sacrifice.]

The story absurd and impossible 8 1
Since the time .of Baronius not a single historian The whole
. . ... . story a tissue
worth mentioning has renewed the attempt to of absurdities,
maintain the authenticity of this synod of Sinuessa
and its acts, meaning this clumsy structure of
absurdities and impossibilities.' Whether any
residuum of truth, any actual lapse on the part of
Marcellinus in the persecution, lies at the bottom
of the fabrication, cannot now be stated with
certainty. Contemporary writers say nothing on
the subject. Later on the Donatists alone, in the
time of Augustine, professed to know that Mar
cellinus, and with him his successors, Melchiades,
Marcellus, and Silvester, who were at that time
priests, had [delivered up the Scriptures, and had]
offered incense to the gods in the persecution.
The bishop of Hippo treats it as a- fabrication.
Theodoref maintains that Marcellinus was con
spicuous at the time of the persecution (of course
for his constancy). However, it has lately come
to light that a fiction, composed about the same
time, and perhaps by the same hand, as that about
the synod of Sinuessa, nevertheless was connected
with events which really took place in Eome.
' [Hefele (Conciliengeschichte, ill., iii., § 10, note 2) gives the
main authorities against the fable. Augustme, De unico Baptismo
contra Petilianum, c. 16; Theodoret, Hist. Eccl., lib. i., c. 2.^ Among ,
commentators, Pagi, Crit. in Annales Baronii, ad ann. 302, n. 18 ;
Papebrooh, in the Acta Sanct, in Propyl. Mag., vol. viii.; NataUs
Alexander, Hist. Eccl. s»c. iii., diss, xx., vol. iv., p. 135, ed. Venet.,
1778 • Eemi Ceillier, Hist, des auteurs sacres, vol. ill., p. 681. Among
Protestant authors. Bower, Gesch. d. Bapste.Yol. i., p. 68 ff.; Walch,
Hist. d. Papste, p. 68 ff. ; Hist, der Kirchenvers., p. 126].

82 MARCELLfNUS
This was the Constitutum Silvestri. And hence it
is possible that a circumstance, at that time still
known in Eome, may have afforded the first
material for the fabrication respecting Marcellinus
also.
Object of the But howevor that may be, of a synod at Sinuessa
fiction to . . . , .
prove that the at this time there is not a trace anywhere else
rior to all tri- to bo fouud. Tho Acts of the pretended synod
are evidently fabricated in order to manufacture
an historical support for the principle, that a pope
can be judged by no man. This incessantly-repeated
sentence is the red thread which runs through the
whole; the rest is mere appendage. By this
means it is to be inculcated on the laity that they
must not venture to come forward as accusers of
the clergy, and on the inferior clergy that they
must not do the like against their superiors. The
date and occasion of the fabrication can be stated
with tolerable certainty. The older list of the
popes, which comes down to the death of Felix III.
in 530, and can scarcely have been made later than
the seventh century, has already taken up the fable
about the apostacy of Marcellinus.
On the other hand, the language of the docu
ment is so barbarous that it can hardly have been
Probable date Written bofore the close of the fifth century. And
tion of the thus WO are directed to those troubled sixteen
"°'^' years (498-514), in which the pontificate of Sym
machus ran its course. At that time the two
parties of Laurentius and Symmachus stood op-

Object and date of the fiction 83
posed to one another in Eome as foes. People,
senate, and clergy were divided ; they fought and
murdered in the streets, and Laurentius maintained
himself for several years in possession of part of the
churches. Symmachus was accused by his oppo
nents of grave offences. He must answer for
himself before a synod, which King Theodoric had
summoned ; if he should be found guilty he must
be deposed, cried the one party ; while the other
party maintained that for a pope there was no
earthly tribunal.' This was the time at which
Eunodius wrote his apology for Symmachus, and
this accordingly was also the time at which the
synod of Sinuessa, as well as the Constitutum of
Silvester, was fabricated. The hostile party were
numerous and influential, their opposition was
tenacious and unremitting, their demand for an
inquiry and examination of witnesses seemed
natural and fair ; and therefore the adherents of
Symmachus caught at this means of showing that
the inviolability of the pope had been long since
recognised as a fact, and enounced as a principle.
A third fabrication, the Gesta de Xysti pur-

1 "1

•Hos (his, viz., nonnuUis episcopis et senatoribus) palam pro
" ejus defensione clamantibus, quod a nuUo possit Eomanus Ponti-
" fex, etiamsi talis sit, qualis accusatur, audiri." Vita Symmachi in
Muratori, SS. ltal, in., 11. 46. [" In sacerdotibus cseteris potest si
"quid forte nutaverit, reformari: at si papa urbis vocatur in
" dubium, episcopatus videbitur, non jam episcopus, vacillare." —
Avitas ad Serrat. apud Labbb, p. 1365.
He adds further on, "Non est gregis pastorem terrere, sed
judicis ".]
G 2

84 MARCELLfNUS
Other fabrica. gationc et PolychronH Jerosolymitani episcopi accusa-
simiiar object, tionc, was produced by the same hand, and for the
same purpose.' As in the Apology of Eunodius,
so also in the Constitutum and the Gesta, the prin
ciple is inculcated that a pOpe has no earthly judge
over him. If he lies under grave suspicion, or if
charges ate brought against him, he must himself
declare his own guilty himself pronounce his own
deposition, as Marcellinus, or he must clear him
self by the simple asseveration of his own inno
cence, as Xystus III., according to the Gesta, is
said to have done, when a charge of unchastity
was brought against him by Bassus, Besides all
this, the prosecution of a bishop for anything
whatever was rendered difficult or impossible
according to the three fictitious documents ; for
seventy-two (or, according to the Gesta, at any
rate forty) witnesses were to be required in such
cases.
u^emadeof In later times the fable was made use of for
the iiction :
I. By Nicolas I. altogether different purposes. Pope Nicolas I.
quoted it in his letter to the Oreek emperor^
Michael [a.d. 862], because by it was shown how
contrary to ecclesiastical discipline was the depo
sition of Ignatius, who had been sentenced by his
inferiors.
2. By Gerson; Oersou ^ made use of it, on the other hand,
' They are all to be found in the Appendix to Cototakt's edition
of the Epistolw Pontificum Bom.
^ Ap. HARririN, Cone. Coll, v., 155.
' Scrm. coram Alcr. v. li., 136, ed. Dupin.

Gerson s argument from the fiction 85
together with the lapse of Liberius, in order, by
means of these instances of heresy in popes (this
word, as is well known, was specially used at that
time in the wider sense of a denial of the faith), to
prove the legitimacy of a council assembled either
ivithout or against the authority of the pope.
Gerbert also appealed to it with a similar object. 3- By Gerbert.

CONSTANTINE and SILVESTER

CONSTANTINE and SILVESTER
If mere number of witnesses could make a Overwheim-
statement credible, there would be no fact more writers who
certain or irrefutable than that the emperor Con- baptism of
stantine, more than twenty years before his death, by suresterat
was baptized at Eome by pope Silvester, and at °™^'
the same time cured of leprosy. For nearly eight
hundred years the whole of western Europe had
no other belief, and for just as long a period people
laboured in vain to explain the fact how, never
theless, the sources from which every one acquired
his knowledge of the , fourth century on other
points, viz., the Historia tripartita, the chronicle of Although the
. . Ill chief authori-
J erome, and the chronicle ol Isidore, could be ties give the
, -., . , true account.
unanimous m stating that Constantine was bap
tized not in Eome, but in a castle near Nicomedia,
not by the pope, but by the Arian bishop Eusebius,
not immediately on his conversion from heathenism,
but only just before his death.
It cannot be denied that according to the mode But the true
of thought and historic sentiment of the Middle seemed to the
Ages, the real facts must have appeared incon- incredfbie.^^^

90 CONSTANTfNE and SfL VESTER
ceivable, while the fabulous version, on the other
hand, seemed perfectly natural and intelligible.
The most important and decisive event of an
tiquity, the transition of the ruler of the world
from heathenism to Christianity, — where else
could this take place but in the capital of the
world? It must have been the Head of the
Church who opened the doors of the Church to
the Head of earthly sovereigns. And that the
pious Constantine, the son of the sainted Helena,
the founder of the Christian empire of Eome,
should of his own accord have remained all his life
long unbaptized, denied the Sacraments, and in
reality have had no claim even to the name of
Christian, — that was a thing which it was utterly
impossible to believe.
The " baptis- A baptistery which bore the name of Constantine
tery of Con
stantine "may at a very early period, possibly because it was
have helped to ni-iii-
produce the really built by his order, and at his cost, may have
fable. • c -y • 1 1 • 1 1
given turther occasion to the myth, m that people
thought that it was called so because Constantine
was baptized in it. For in later times it was
considered as an irrefragable lasting witness to the
truth of a circumstance which all were eager to
believe. The legend of Silvester, manifestly fabricated in
order to attest the fact of Constantino's having
been baptized in Eome, cannot have been com
posed later than the close of the fifth century. It
is all of one casting, and bears no traces of later

A Roman fiction 91
additions. The Greek ' text in which it is con- it no doubt
1 . .11 1 • f 1 r • originated in
tamed is evidently a translation trom the Latin, Rome.
which no doubt was written in Eome.^ In the
whole document there is not one historical trait
to be found. Constantine is, to begin with, the
enemy of the Christians, and causes many of them
— among them his own wife — to be executed,
because they will not offer sacrifice to idols, so that
Silvester flies to Mount Soracte. The emperor,
struck with leprosy, is told that to be cured he
must bathe in a pool filled with boys' blood newly
shed ; but overcome by the tears of the mothers of
these boys, he rejects the horrible remedy, and is
directed in a heavenly vision to apply to Silvester.
Silvester heals him of his disease by means of ^^_'^'!fj°[^f^|
Christian baptism ; whereupon the whole of Eome,
senate and people, believe in Christ. Two episodes
are interwoven with the story ; the first respecting
an enormous snake living under the Tarpeian
Eock, and slaying thousands with its pestiferous
breath, until Silvester closes the entrance of its
hole ; and secondly, a long disputation with the
Jews (brought about by Helena), in which Sil
vester comes off victorious.
The author is acquainted with the ecclesiastical
history of Eusebius. He intends (as he says at
• Edited by Combefis in his Lllustr. chr. Martyrum tecti Triumphi,
Paris, 1660. . ^. ^ .^
2 This is shown by a passage quite at the begmmng, in which it
is said of Eusebius : rf, iKKrjviKfj awfypd'^aTo yXaxTOTj. Of coui'se no
Greek would have made such a remark.

92 CONSTANTfNE and SfL VESTER
the outset) to complete Eusebius' narrative ; but
he either was not acquainted with the biography
of Constantino, which gives an account of the
baptism of the emperor, or at any rate he pre
supposed that his readers were not acquainted
with it. And he actually did succeed in getting
his fable admitted, in spite of the decisive and
unanimous witnesses of the fourth century. Even
the chronicle of Jerome, which people otherwise
followed with unqualified assent in matters of
history, was at last on this point superseded.
The legend of Silvester is mentioned for the first
time in the decretal of pope Gelasius (492-496),
de libris recipiendis et non recipiendis. There it is
said, " the name of the author is indeed unknown,'
" but one is told that it was read by many Catholics
" in the city of Eome, and many churches imitated
" this ancient custom."^ It is manifest that these
are not the words of Gelasius himself, and were
not written in Eome, but elsewhere. The whole
is a subsequent addition ; one of the many which
gradually crept into the document in the period
between a.d. 500 and 800. Nevertheless, the
invention of the legend must fall either within the
492-496. time of Gelasius, or more probably soon after him,
' Cf. the double text in Pontanini de antiquitatibus Hortoe, Eome,
1723, p. 322, and Credner's edition.
^ " Pro antique usu," which means the ancient custom of intro
ducing the writings used in Eome into other churches also. In
another manuscript the reading is " et pro hoc quoque usu multas
" hsBC imitantur ecclesiae." — See Cbednee, Zur Geschichte des
Kanons, 1847, p. 210.

Probable date of the legend 93
within the time of Symmachus. For iri the fictions 498-514-
wliich belong to the time of Symmachus, and
which were called into existence by the circum
stances relating to this pope, especially in the
Constitutum Silvestri and the Gesta Liberii Papce,
the baptism of Constantine at Eome, and his
cleansing from leprosy, are mentioned with unmis-
takeable reference to the legend. And, moreover, violence with
, . . . , which the
this is done with a design edness and violence fiction is intro-
which betrays the fact, that the legend of Silvester
was a composition exciting the very gravest
doubts, and therefore required to be supported and
confirmed. Above all, it was wished to weaken
the strength of such weighty evidence as that
which Jerome, Ambrose,- Prosper, and others
afforded for the baptism of Constantine in the
palace of Acyron, near Nicomedia ; and therefore
in the Gesta Liberii an emperor is invented, who a fictitious
is supposed to be the nephew of Constantine, and
who is called in turn Constantine, Constantius, and
Constans. Then, without any further occasion or
any closer connection with the contents of the
document, it is asserted of this personage that he
was baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia, in Nico
media, at the Villa Aquilo. Here everything is
accounted for ; the change of name, as well as the
transformation of the son into a nephew of Con
stantine. This nephew then takes it as a grievous
affront that Liberius should say that his uncle was
baptized by Silvester, and thereby cleansed from

emperor.

94 CONSTANTfNE and SfL VESTER
his leprosy ; and he threatens that when he comes
to Eome he will give the fiesh of Liberius to the
Probable date birds and boasts of prey. Hence it is the more
cation of the probablo — nay, certain, that the legend of Silvester
and the fiction of the baptism of Constantino at
Eome became extant contemporaneously with the
fables which were invented in the interests of
Symmachus and the Roman clergy of that time,
that is to say, in the first few years of the sixth
century.
Some time be- There was, however, still a considerable interval
fore the fiction i « , i . i i • i
was generally botoro the story passod into the chronicles, and from
accepted. - . ,...,.
them into ecclesiastical literature generally. Isi
dore adhered to the historical version of the matter,
and Fredegar also (a.d. 658) remained still true
to the genuine account. Gregory ' op Tours
(died A.D. 598) already alludes to the fable ; and
Bede (in the year 729) is, properly speaking, the
first who, by means of his chronicle, prepared the
way for the introduction of the story of Constan
tino's baptism in Eome into the annals of the
' [In two of his three accounts of the baptism of Clovis by S.
Eemigius, e.g. : " Procedit novus Constantinus ad lavacrum, dele-
" turus leprse veteris morbum," &c. In the magnificent new
edition of the Becueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France
(Palme, Paris, 1869) there is the foUowing interesting note, in loco :
"Colb. ad Marginem haec habet, ab annis circ. 400 addita., Ecce
" iste Historiographus concordat cum Historia S. Silvistri de lepra
" Constantini mundata infontebaptismi. Et quidem certum videtur
'¦ ex hoc loco, ubi etiam Chlodoveus Constantino et sanctus Eemi-
" gius beato Silvestro comparantur, tunc temporis jam invaluisse
" opinionem de baptizato Eomse Constantino per beatum Sil-
" vestrum, lepraque ejus mundata." But in cod. Eeg. tbis passage
is left blank.]

The Liber Pontificalis supports the legend 95
West ; ' nevertheless he did not succeed for some
time longer. Frekulp (about the year 840), who
holds fast to good authorities in his Universal
History, abides by a baptism in Nicomedia at the
end of the emperor's life. Even the painstaking
Hermnan THE Lame of Eeichenau (about a.d.
1050) seems to know nothing of the fable, and
his contemporary, Marianus Scotus, who follows
Jerome as an authority, has still the correct
version.^ For the maiority, however, the authority of the Enormous in-
•^ •' ' ' . fluence of the
Liber Pontificalis, the Eoman biographies of the Liber Pontifi-
popes, was irresistible. The fable of the baptism
in Eome had already passed into the oldest hst of
the popes, one reaching back to the sixth century
and in like manner into the enlarged collection
which was based upon this one, the so-called
Anastasius. In hke manner Ado (died a.d. 875)
inserts in his universal chronicle, which is based
upon Bede, the fable of Constantine having been
baptised in Eome, being misled by Bede, and by
the Liber Pontificalis. He betrays the latter
• Venerabilis Bed* opera historica minora, ed. Stephenson, Lon
don, 1841, p. 81. [Bede does not dwell on the supposed event; he
mentions 'it merely in passing. "Constantinus fecit Boma;, ubi
•• baptizatus est, basilicam beati Joannis baptistie, qu» appellata est
" Constantiniana; item basilicam beato Petro in templo Apollinis,
" nee non et beato Paulo, corpus utriusque »re Cyprio circumdans v
" pedes grosso," &c.]
2 The reading " rebaptizatus " instead of baptizatus m a
manuscript of Gemblours, on which Sceelstratb lays great stress,
is manifestly the correction of a copyist who believed in the
baptism at Eome.

96 CONSTANTfNE and SfL VESTER

Ekkehard's
attempt to
reconcile the
true and false
accounts.

source by the long list of ecclesiastical donations
and buildings, which Constantine is said to have
ordered in Eome, and which Ado has borrowed
from that Eoman chronicle of the popes. On the
other hand, Oedericus Vitaijs (about a.d. 1107),
and Hugo op Fleury (in the year 1109), who in
their ecclesiastical works narrate the whole fable,
— leprosy, bath of children's blood and ah, have
drawn directly or indirectly from the legend
of Silvester ; while Otto op Freysikg, though
he declares these details to be apocryphal, never
theless holds fast to the baptism in Eome by
Silvester, " in accordance with the Eoman tradi-
" tion," as he says.
The first critical attempt to remove the contra
diction between the old and new versions of the
story was made about the year 1 100 by Ekkehard,
a monk in the monastery of Michaelsberg, and from
1108 onwards, abbot of the monastery of Aurach.
The means which he employed were these. He
transferred the outrageous cruelty of Constantine,
the execution of his nephew, of his son, his wife,
and many friends, to the earlier part of the
emperor's reign, after his victor}^ over Licinius.
Thereupon the Csesar is struck by God with
leprosy, but baptized by Silvester. He says, in
conclusion : " Some persons maintain that Con-
" stantine fell into the Arian heresy, and was re-
" baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia. The church
" histories, however (that of Eusebius, namely, of

Attempts to combine the two accounts 97
" which Ekkehard made much use), do not state
" this, but that he died in great sanctity." Ekke
hard, therefore, understood the version of Jerome to
relate to a second baptism, by means of which
Constantine got himself received into the sect of
the Arians, — a means of getting out of the diffi
culty at which many since Ekkehard have caught.
Nevertheless the author of the Magdeburg ' Annals
(written in the year 1175), a monk in the monas
tery of Bergen, near Magdeburg, does not allow
himself to be misled by the authority of Ekke
hard, whom he otherwise uses as his basis. He
remains true to the version of the Ecclesiastical
History (the Tripartita), that Constantine put off
his baptism till the end of his life.
Another variation is tried by the Italians, under Theory of bo-
"^ _ nizo of Sutri.
the leadership of Bonizo, bishop of Sutri, and
subsequently of Piacenza (died a.d. 1089), an
authority not used by the Germans. In his history
of the popes^ Bonizo had to choose between three
accounts of Constantino's baptism. That is to say,
besides the two ordinary accounts, he had also
before him the one contained in a spurious decretal
of pope Eusebius, now no longer extant, stating
that this pope (and therefore in the year 310')
had already instructed, and baptized the emperor.
' Pormerly known as Chronographus Saxo ; now a,s Annales Magde
burg., in Pertz' collection, xvi., p. 119.
2 It is tbund in the fourth book of his Libri Decreti, whence Mai
gives it in the Nova Bibliotheea Patrum, vil., P. 3, p. 39.
» [The papacy of Eusebius falls wholly within the year 310.]
H

98 CONSTANTINE and SIL VESTER
The decretal was, of course, pure invention, in
order that, by changing the Nicomedian into the
Eoman Eusebius, support might be got for the
theory of Constantino's baptism in Eome, a theory
of immense importance to the Eomans. Bonizo
will only allow the first half of the statement, con
siders the " baptizatum," as a vitium scriptorum,
and gives it as his opinion, that after the instruc
tion which he had received in Eome, Constantine
postponed baptism on account of the distracting
cares of government, receiving it at the hands of
Silvester, and not before. But that it was alto
gether false what was stated in the Tripartita
Historia, that he was not baptized until the end of
his life, and then into the Arian faith. None but
a maniac could believe that, after the council of
Nicsea, and after the circumstances of Arius' death,
of which the emperor had been a witness, he
still could have lapsed into Arianism. Bonizo
goes so far as to claim the authority of the whole
Church in favour of his opinion. " That Constan-
" tine was baptized by Silvester," he says, " is the
" undoubting belief of the Catholic Church." And
the Italian chroniclers of the twelfth and thir-
itaiian chroni- toonth conturies, SiOARD,' bishop of Cromoua, and
clers who iianrti i •
follow Bonizo. Eomuald, of Salerno, have copied him in this,
the latter word for word. On the other hand,
GoTPRiED op Viterbo, in his Pantheon, undis
mayed by the " mente captus " of Bonizo, avails
' Muratori, SS., vii., .55.5. ^ -^[^^ .^,JJ^ ^tj

Popes support the false accoimt 99

; popes

himself of the hypothesis of an Arian re-baptism
in Nicomedia. In this bishop Anselm op
Havelberg (about the year 1187) had already
preceded him in his dialogues against the Greeks.'
Anselm was misled by another apocryphal writing,
viz., a spurious History of Pope^ Silvester, forged
under the name of Eusebius, of Csesarea, and
differing from the legend.
Of great infiuence in the matter was the addi- The p>,i.c.-,
tional fact, that the popes also themselves made J^eTtok'''"
use of the apocryphal legend of Silvester, and fi<=t>°" ^^ t™^-
maintained Constantino's baptism at Eome as
historical. Hadrian L, in the letter which was
read at the second council of Nicasa, a.d. 787,
quoted a long passage out of the legend as
evidence of the primitive use of images.^ Nicolas I. 858-867.
cited a supposed passage from a pseudo-Isidorian
letter which bore the name of Silvester, with the
¦ In D'Aohery's Spicilegium, nov. edit., 1207.
'^ It exists in manuscript, according to D'Acheht, in the library
of S. Germain. Eatramnus (in D'Achert, I. c, p. 100) quotes a
passage from it. It seems to have been forged, in order to defend
Eoman claims and customs against the objections of the Greeks.
' Ap. Harduin, iv., 82. [The gist of it is this. The apostles Peter
and Paul appear to Constantine, and tell him to abandon the idea of
the bath of blood, and seek out Silvester in his exile on M. Soracte ;
he will cure the emperor of his leprosy. Constantine goes to Sil
vester, who produces images of SS. Peter and Paul, in order to
prove to the emperor that the two who appeared to him in the
vision were not gods, but these two apostles. Constantine recognises
the likeness, is convinced and baptized, and proceeds to build and
restore churches, which he takes care to adorn with images. Com
pare the curious and very different version of the story given in the
Urbis Bomce Mirabilia, reprinted from the Vatican manuscripts by
Gustav Parthey, Berlin, 1869.]
H 2

loo CONSTANTINE and SIL VESTER
distinctive title " Magni Constantini baptizator." '
1048-1054. Leo IX., also, in controversy with the Patriarch
Ccerularius, laid stress on the fact that Constan
tine was the spiritual son of Silvester by
baptism.
Johannes Ma- Amons" the Greeks, Johannes Malalas, at
lalas the first . °.
Greek who ac- Antioch, is the first who has accepted the Eoman
cepted the .
fable. baptism of Constantine. He lived at the end of
the sixth century, and was certainly one of the
least intelligent, and most prolific in fables, of all
the Byzantine annalists. His authority may pos
sibly have been the Greek translation of the legend
of Silvester, which had recently been made. It is
true that he did not accomplish much in the way of
introducing the fable, because his own work was
not very widely disseminated. But seeing that
Constantine was honoured in the Greek Church as
a saint, and his festival was yearly celebrated on
the 21st of May, with the greatest^ solemnity,
especially in Constantinople, it gradually came to
appear quite inconceivable^ to the Greeks, that he
should, of his own accord, have remained all his
life outside the pale of the Church, and should not
have received baptism till he was on his death-bed.
• Ibid., v., 144.
2 BoUand, ad 21 Mai, p. 13, 14.
' [In Constantino's own age it was probably too common a case
to provoke either surprise or censure. A century later we find
S. Ambrose and S. Augustine postponing the reception of baptism
till they were over thirty years of age, long after they were convinced
of the truth of Christianity. Stanley's Eastern Church, Lect. vi.,
sub fin.]

The Greeks readily accept the false account loi

Accordingly we find an author as early as the To the Greek
abbot Theophanes (died a.d. 817) setting the account'™^
Anatolian theory of the baptism in Nicomedia, by credible!"
Eusebius, in opposition to the Eoman theory of the
baptism of Silvester, but forthwith declaring that
he considered the Eoman account as the more
correct ; for, of course, Constantine, if unbaptized,
could not have taken his seat with the fathers at
Nicsea, and could not have taken part in the
sacred mysteries : to assert or suppose that he
could, was to the last degree absurd.' Accord
ingly, if even the Byzantines, as early as the
ninth century, had become so unfamiliar with the
circumstances and true history of the fourth
century, it cannot excite wonder that the later
Greek historians should have considered the in
correct account as an established fact. And this
is the case with the lately pubhshed Theodosius^
Melitenus, Cedrenus, also Zonaras, Georgius
Hamartolus, Gltkas, and Nicephoeus Kal-
LISTUS. Seeing, then, that all the chronicles of the popes The Liber
subsequent to the Liber Pontificalis, and based and Martinus
upon it, relate the baptism of Constantine at mount^ori'a'is
Eome, and that Martinus Polonus, with his pre- the'^MidcU™^
dilection for what is fantastic and distorted, has ^^^^-
imported the Gesta Silvestri with its whole tissue
of fables into his original work, the fable main-
' Ed. Classen, i., 25.
'' Chroaographia, ed. Tafel., Monachii, 1859, p. 61.

I02 CONSTANTINE and SIL VESTER

jEneas Siivius
and others
knew the
truth, but it
was long be
fore it was
generally ac
cepted.

Final triumph
of the true ac
count due to
French theo
logians.

The legend a
favourite sub
ject in medife-
val poetry.

tained itself in unquestioned sovereignty through
out the Middle Ages ; until, with the re-awakening
of the knowledge of the Greek language and
literature, and of the critical historic sense, the
two most advanced spirits of their age, ^neas
Sylvius and Nicolas op Cusa recognised the
truth.' Nevertheless it needed still two centuries
and more, before the powerful authorities which
gave support to the fable were demolished. All
the canonists kept fast to the theory of a Eoman
baptism for some time longer, for in the collections
of canons by Anselm and Dbnsdedit, and, above
all, in the decretum of Gratian (here certainly
marked as "palea," that is, as later insertions),
bits out of the Gesta Silvestri found a place, and
these presupposed the truth of the statement
respecting the emperor's baptism. Hence the
Cardinals Jacobazzi, Eeginald Pole, Baronius,
Bellarmine, and in later times even Ciampixi
himself, and Schelstr ate, still continued to defend
the theory of a baptism in Eome, sometimes again
taking refuge in the desperate resource of an
Arian re-baptism. It was the profound erudition
and historical criticism of French theologians,
which first enabled truth to win a complete
victory. Besides all this, the legend of Silvester was
welcome material for the poetry of the Middle
Ages. The venomous dragon, the disputation
1 Opera, Basil., 1551, p. 338.

A favourite theme for poems 103
with the Jews, the slain ox, the emperor's leprosy,
and its healing — all this is picturesquely described
in the Kaiserchronik, but with the greatest elabora
tion in the poem Silvester, by Conrad of WiJRZ-
BURG. The Laekenspieghel of Jan de Clerc, and
the versified legends of the saints avail them
selves of it in like manner ; and even Wolfram op
Eschenbach alludes in the Parzival to the miracle
of the ox raised to life again.
TThe exploded falsehood still lives on in that The legend
•-J- -r> r\ ^ ^ asserted
museum of exploded falsehoods — Eome. On the as a fact in
111- Rome.
base of the ancient obelisk which adorns the piazza
of S. John Lateran, an inscription in large capitals,
still states CONSTANTINVS
PEE CEVCEM VICTOE
A S- SILVESTEO HIC
BAPTIZATVS
CEVCIS GLOEIAM
PEOPAGAVIT;
and the custode of the Baptistery is still allowed to
tell all visitors, that in that building pope Silvester
baptized the emperor.]

THE
DONATION OF CONSTANTINE

THE DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
The Liber Pontificalis enumerates a quantity of The account of
] , . f> 1 1 • ¦ 1 "^^ Donation
houses and pieces ot land m various places, in the Liber
which Constantine is said to have given to the suspicious in
Church of Eome. The source alone renders these
donations suspicious, one which has made such
abundant use of the fictions of the age of Sym
machus. And the suspicion increases when one
remarks that so enormous a number of donations
are attributed to Constantine alone, while the
book does not mention a single other donation
of any of the emperors who follow, until Justin
and Justinian in the sixth century ; and they are
said to have given nothing more than cups and
vessels. In addition to this there is the silence of
all contemporary writers, and the circumstance
that Constantine, liberal as he proved himself
towards the Church, nevertheless, according to
all accounts, never gave lands, but only made
over to it rents or sums of money. Accordingly
the author of the Vita Silvestri in the Liber Pon
tificalis appears to have attributed the whole
amount of property, which had been gradually

io8 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE

Value of the
evidence of
Hadrian I.

No traces of
the Donation
before the
middle of the
eighth cen
tury. >

inherited or occupied, just as it existed in his
own day (that is in the seventh or eighth century),
exclusively to donations of Constantine. Indeed
AssEMANi says, that Hadrian I. certainly had
documents of the donation of Constantine before
him, for in his letter to Charles the Great in the
year 775 he appeals to such as existing in the
archives of the Vatican. However, if one looks
closer, Hadrian is speaking of donations in Tuscany,
Spoleto, &c., which various emperors, patricians,
and other pious persons had made to S. Peter and
the Eoman Church, but which the Lombards had
taken away from it ; respecting these there are
several documents' still extant. Christian Lupus
has already remarked that Ammianus Marcellinus,
up to the year 370, knows only of one source of
papal property, viz., the offerings of matrons ; and
that accordingly, the Eoman Church at that time
was not yet in possession of large and rich patri
monies.^ Until the middle of the eighth century there is
not a trace to be found of the Donation which has
since become so famous, by virtue of which Con
stantine, immediately after his baptism, and to
show his gratitude for the cure wrought by Sil-
- ' ltal. Historic Scriptons illustr., in., 328. The statement of
Geroree is misleading (Gregor VLL, vol. v., p. 6). He says that
Baronius has " published several documents, by means of which
Constantine conferred houses, lands, &c., on the three chief basihcas
of Eome." What Baronius did was merely to have printed the
passages from the Liber Pontificalis.
^ Synodorum gener. Decrela, &c., Bruxell, 1671, iv., c97.

Where and when was it forged? 109

a

vester, gave to this pope and his successors,
number of the most comprehensive ecclesiastical
and civil rights, and to the Eoman clergy many
honourable privileges, and, morreove, made over I
Eome and Italy to the pope. I
Here, then, at the outset we have these two
questions to answer. Where and when was this
document forged ?
We have it both in Latin' and in Greek. It

^ [" There is one old Latin text of it, but four Greek texts. See
F. A. Biener De coUectionibus cann. Ecclesise GrtEcse, Berol., 1827. 8,
p. 72, ss. The first alone is of historical importance, being found in
the pseudo-Isidorian decretals under the title of Edictum domini
Constantini Imp., and extracts from it in the Decret. Gratiani dist.,
xovi., c. 13." GiBSELBR, Eccles. Hist., n., i. 1, § 20. In the iirst
letter of Hadrian I. to Charles the Great, A.D. 77 (Cod. Carol, No. 49),
occurs the following: "Et sicut temporibus b. Sylvestri Eom. Pont.
" a sanctse recordationis piissimo Constantino M. Imperatore per
" ejus largitatem sancta Dei cathohca et apostolica Eomana ecclesia
'' elevata atque exaltata est, et potestatem in his Hesperise partibus
" largiri dignatus est ; ita et in his vestris fehcissimis temporibus
" atque nostris S. Dei Ecclesia, i.e., b. Petri Apostoli, germinet
" atque exsultet : quia ecce novus christianissimus Dei Constantinus
" Imperator his temporibus surrexit, per quem omnia Deus sanctse
" suae Ecclesise bb. Apostolorum principis Petri largiri dignatus
" est. Sed et cuncta alia, quse per diversos Imperatores Patricios
" etiam et alios Deum timentes, pro eorum animse mercede et venia
" delictorum — b. Petro Apostolo— concessa sunt, et per nefandam
" gentem Langobardorum per annorum spatia, abstracta atque
" ablata sunt, vestris temporibus restituantur. Unde et plures
" donationes in sacro nostro scrinio Lateranensi reconditas habemus,"
&c. Some think that we have here an allusion to the donation of
Constantine, e.g. de Marca (de cone. Sac, m., 12), according to
whom the Donation was forged, a.d. 767, "jussu Eomanorum Pon-
" tiff; pia quadam industria." Cenni, on the contrary, shows
(monum. dornin. Pontiff., i., 304) that Hadrian has in view only the
Acta Sylvestri, to which he also refers in his letter to Constantine
and Irene, and which in part suggested the later donation of Con-

no DONATION OF CONSTANTINE

Theory that
the Donation
was a Greek
fabrication.

Disproved by
the language
of the docu
ment itself.

does not exist in the more ancient manuscripts of
the legend of Silvester, nor in the more ancient
copies of the Liber Pontificalis ; later on, however,
it has been inserted into both. But it is certainly
to be found as early as the most ancient manu
scripts of the pseudo-Isidore collection, and was
therefore at any rate composed before the year
850. That the Donation was a fiction of the Greeks,
composed in Greek, and brought from the East to
Eome, has indeed been long ago maintained by
Baronius. Next Bianchi ' undertook to defend
this view, on no better grounds, however, than the
weak allegation, that it is to be found in Balsamon ;
and, lately, Eichter^ also has given as his opinion
that it probably originated in Greece. But from
the Greek text, as well as from the contents of the
document itself, the very opposite of this can be
demonstrated to a certainty.
At the very beginning of it Constantine speaks
of his " satraps," whom he places before the senate
and the " archons " (optimates). This expression
does not occur in the Byzantines, but was of
common use in Eome and with western writers ;
for instance in the letter of pope Paul I. to Pepin ^
stantine. The words " potestatem in his Hesperise partibus largiri
dignatus est " are especially remarkable in this connexion. Ibid
i.ii,2,§5.] ' Delia podtsta e polizia delta chiisa, v., p. 1, 209.
^ Kirclienrecht, fifth edition, p. 77.
' " Ducem Spoletinum cum ejus Satrapibus." Ap. Cenni, Mmu-
menta, i., 154. In like manner King Luitprand sends, " Duces et

Not an invention of the Greeks in
[a.d, 757J, and in a document of knig Ethelred,
for Ealdorman. Moreover, the Greek translator
has either read incorrectly or not understood the
expression in the Latin, that "the emperor had
" chosen S. Peter and his successors as sure ' pa-
" ' troni ' before God ;" that is to say, he turns
" firmos apud Deum patronos " into " primes
" apud Deum patres," for he absurdly translates
" vpwrov^ 71(^09 TO!/ Qeou TraTepa?.' '
Again, if a Greek had composed the document,
he would certainly, in mentioning the four ori
ental " Thrones," have placed Constantinople not
last, but first. Nowhere but in Eome would Con
stantinople have been mentioned last, for there,
down to the time of Innocent IIL, 'recognition
was persistently refused to the canons of the
second and fourth general councils which settle
the order of precedence for the patriarchates. On xhe Greek
the other hand, the Byzantine tendencies of the a^transiatlon^
translator are shown in that, though he retains La™n!^^^
the expression about the Lateran palace, " that

" Satrapas suos." Lib. Pontif. ed. Vignoli, n., 63. [Not Paul's first
letter to Pepin, in which he announces his election to the papacy as
successor to his brother Stephen (for the election had been contested
in favour of the Archdeacon Theophylact), but the second, in which
he complains that the promised territory has not been ceded fo the
papal see. Ealdorman, i. e., governor of a county, later earl. The
history of the word is a curious one, supplanted in its honourable
meaning by the Danish " earl," living on itself as the less honour
able " alderman."]
¦ From the addition xat Se^t vo-wpas we may be tolerably certain
that, in the Latin original used by the translator, "patronos et
'' deft-nsores " was the reading.

112 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE

" it surpasses all palaces in the whole world," he
nevertheless omits the distinction given to the
Lateran church, that it is accounted "caput et
" vertex omnium ecclesiarum in universo orbe ter-
" rarum." Equally characteristically the passage
about the possessions in Judaea, Asia, Greece,
Africa, &c., which Constantine gives "pro con-
" cinnatione luminarium " in the Eoman churches,
is left out in the Greek version, and the words
" summus Pontifex et universalis urbis Eom»
" Papa," are merely rendered " tw iieyaKw i-jviaKo-Kw
Kol KaOoKiKw TraTra." Thus the title oiKovjievLKOf,
which had been assumed by the patriarchs
of Constantinople, and which would correspond
far better than k-aOoXiKo^ to universalis, is avoided
no doubt intentionally, so that the whole title,
according to the language in use in the Oriental
Church, might have been applied equally well
to the bishop of Alexandria, who was also called
TiaVa,' as to the bishop of Eome.
' [nawas OT waira, Papa, was Originally a general name for all
Greek presbyters and Latin bishops ; but from an early age it was
the special address which, long before the name of patriarch or
archbishop, was given to the bishop of Alexandria. " Pope of Alex-
" andria " was a well-known dignity centuries before the bishops of
Eome claimed an exclusive right to the title of pope. This was first
done by Gregory VIL, in a Council held at Eome in 1076. Stanley
(Eastern Church, p. 113) gives the following curious explanation of
the name : " Down to Heraclas (a.d. 230), the bishop of Alexandria,
" being the sole Egyptian bishop, was called ' Abba ' (father), and his
" clergy ' Elders.' From his time more bishops were created, who
" then received the name of ' Abba,' and consequently the name of
" ' Papa ' (ab-aha, pater patrum grandfather) was appropriated to the
" Primate. The Eoman account (inconsistent with facts; is that

The Greek text a manifest translation 113
Further on we meet with a word never used by
any Greek author with whom I am acquainted,
Kovvaovkoi for consuls, with the usual word viraToi
merely inserted alongside as an explanatory note.
This can only be explained on the supposition of
the text being a translation. And here the Greek The Greek
f T • '^'''- contains
text itself affords palpable evidence of a distorting absurd mis-
. . 1 . 1 • T 1 1 translations.
of the original m a way which betrays the un
learned translator. The original ordains that the
Eoman clergy shall have the same privileges as
the imperial senate, namely, that its members
become patricians and consuls, and so can attain
to the very highest honours which the Byzantine
kingdom has to bestow. Instead of this object,
which expresses a wish of the Eoman clergy, quite
natural and not unattainable under the circum
stances of the time, the Greek text represents the
emperor as making an enactment, the realisation
of which no one could have seriously expected,
namely, that to the Eoman clergy generally should
be attributed that pre-eminence and greatness,
which the great senate, or the patricians, consuls,
and other dignitaries possessed. Last of all comes
" the name was first given to Cyril, as representing the bishop of
" Eome in the council of Ephesus (Suicer, in voce)." He then
adds other fantastic explanations : " 1. Poppcea, from the short life
' of each pope ; 2. Pa, for Pater ; 3 Pop, suck ; 4. Pap, breast ; 5. Pa
" (Paul) Pe (Peter) ; 6. iraiTai ! (admiration) ; 7. Papos, keeper
"(Oscan); 8. Pappas, chief slave; 9. Pa(ter) Pa(tria3); 10. Pa,
" sound of a father's kiss. See Abraham Eohellensis, De Origine
" Nom. Papa', 60." It is a httle difficult to believe that all of these
are serious.] I

114 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
the story that Constantine, holding the reins of
Silvester's horse, had performed the office of
groom to Silvester (^(jTpaTWpos 6(f>(j)lKiov tTron'jaafxev),
a story which, both in its wording and circum
stance, is unmistakeably of western growth, alike
foreign to oriental customs and oriental sentiment.
The circumstance occurs for the first time in the
year 754, when Pepin showed this mark of respect
to Stephen III., who had come to visit him.'
This act caused such great satisfaction in Eome,
that it was forthwith transferred to Constantine
and made into a pattern and rule for kings and
emperors. The chief passage in the document, the cession
of Eome and Italy or of the western regions to the
pope, is correctly rendered in the text as given by
Balsamon. On the other hand, it is wanting in
other Greek recensions, especially in the one by
Matthew Blastaees^ (about 1335), and in others
given by Boulanger and Fabricius,* from a
Parisian manuscript.
Reason why This is not hard to explain. The fictitious
were'so^ready Douatiou has acquiicd a high canonical authority
this Donation amoug the Greeks. Since Balsamon's time it has
to old Rome, .j-g^j^gj^ ^^g pjace among a mass of manuscripts
> " Vice stratoris usque in aliquantum loci juxta ejus sellarem
" properavit." — Vita Steph. in Vignoli, ii., 104.
- BEVERlDaE, Pandectce Canonum, i., p. 2, p. 117. But the
Latin translator has made a laughable mess of the sense, making
the emperor say, " Placuit ut Papa ab urbe Eoma et occidentalibus
" omnibus provinciis et urbibus exiret.''
3 Biblioth. Or. ed. nov. vi., 699.

Readily believed by the Greeks 115
respecting Greek ecclesiastical rights ;' and Greek
eyes, usually so keensighted for the discovery of
Latin forgeries, were in this case so blinded, that
they readily accepted the palpable forgery, and set
to work to make capital out of it in practice.
Blastaees quite goes into raptures over it.
" Nothing more pious or more worthy of reverence
" is to be seen anywhere," he says, " nothing
" which better deserves to be proclaimed far and
" wide." This satisfaction rested on a very simple Because of the
calculation. The canon of the second oecumenical which gave
synod of 381, that palladium of the Byzantine new Rome "aii
Church, enacts that the bishop of Constantinople of'oki'Rome^
shall have all the privileges of the bishop of Eome,
and (as was further concluded) that the clergy of
new Eome shall have, in like manner, all the
rights of the clergy of old Eome. Therefore, says
Balsamon, and this was the opinion of the clergy
of the capital, all in the way of honours, dignity,
and privileges, which Constantine had showered
on the clergy of old Eome with so prodigal a hand,
holds good also for the clergy and patriarch of new
Eome. Another and later imperial enactment,
also cited by Balsamon,^ serves to confirm this,
' They are for the most part enumerated in Bienbe De collectioni-
hus Canonum Eccles. Grcecai, 1827, p. 79. In the Vienna Codex,
which Lambeoius describes Comment., lib. vm., p. 1019, nov. ed., the
remark is added " Trape^ffiX-fjOr] dno tov ayvLardrov iraTpLapxov koiv-
a-TavTivovTToK^cos Kvpov (poTiov ravra. A man SO well read as Photius
was in literature and history, of course perceived not only the
unauthenticity of the document, but also the object of the fiction.
2 Cf. tit. 1, c. 36, p. 38, then tit. 8, c. 1, pp. 85, 89, ed. Paris, 1620.
I 2

ii6 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
viz., that Constantinople shall enjoy, not merely
the privileges of Italy, but those of Eome itself.
The emperors themselves accepted the objects at
which this document was aimed, at any rate those
which had reference to the relations between eccle
siastical and civil dignities. Thus Michael Pa-
L(eologus, in the year 1270, wrote to direct the
patriarch, that whereas he, the emperor, had ap
pointed the deacon Theodore Skutariotes to the
ofiSce of Dikgeophylax (supreme judge or custos
justitise), the said deacon should also be invested
with an equivalent ecclesiastical dignity, namely,
that of an exokatakoilos (that is an assessor of the
patriarch with the right of precedence of the
bishops), according to the terms of Constantino's
rescript to Silvester.'
The Donation Morcovor, tho Donation was acknowledged in
was accepted , . . „ .
in the West tho VV ost conturics before it was known and noticed
was even ^ by the Greoks. The lately-published Georgius
Greeic". ^ ' ¦ Hamartolus^ (about the year 842) recounts the
fables connected with the legend of Silvester in
considerable detail, but does not say a single word
about the Donation. On the contrary, he repre
sents the emperor as giving up the West to his
sons Constantius and Constans and to his nephew,
Dalmatius, intending to make Byzantium his own
place of residence. The first Byzantine who
' Novellce Const itutimies Lmpiratontm post Justinianum, od.ZACBA-
RM, 1857, p. 592.
2 Chronicon, ed. E. de Muralto, Petropoli, 1859, p. 399.

The fabrication of a Roman cleric 117
mentions and makes use of the Donation is Bal- The Donation
SAMON, who died patriarch of Antioch in the year the work of a
1180, that is at a period when the Greeks had long siastic.
since lost every foot of territory in Italy, and the
giving away of Italy to the papal chair was a
matter perfectly harmless so far as they at least
were concerned. But at that time the Latins had
for long been paramount in Syria, and it was frora
them probably that Balsamon got the document.
The Donation of Constantine, therefore, beyond
all doubt was composed in the West,' in Italy, in
Eome, and by a ;Eoman ecclesiastic. The time of
its appearance points to the same conclusion.
• [The author of Der Papst und das Condi entirely concurs in this
conclusion, placing the date of it a httle before 754, it having been
obviously composed with a view to being shown to Pepm. " There
" can be no doubt as to the Eoman origin of the ' Donation.' The
" Jesuit Cantel has rightly recognised this in his Hist. Metrop. Urb.,
" p. 195. He thinks that a Eoman subdeacon, John, was the author.
" The document had a threefold object— against the Lombards, who
" were thi-eatening Eome, against the Greeks, who would acknow-
" ledge no imperium of the Eoman see over their church, and also
" with a view to the Franks. The attempt of the Jesuits in the
" Civilt^ to make a Frank the author, merely because Mmm of
" Paris and Ado of Vienne mention the Donation in the ninth
" century, is scarcely worth serious discussion ; it condemns itself.
" The closest agreement in style and thought exists between the
" Donation and contemporary Eoman documents, especially tho
" Constitutum Pauli, I. (Habduin Condi, m., 1999 ff.), and the
" Epistola, S. Ptteri, composed in 753 or 754, about the same time
" as the Donation. The expression ' Concionatio lumhiarium,'
" which occurs in papal letters of that age, in the Constitutum
'^Pauli and the Donatio, and nowhere else, betrays at once a
" Eoman hand. So do the form of imprecation and threat of hell-
" torments, exactly as in the Constitutum and the Epistola S. Petri ;
" and the term ' SatrapsB ' wholly foreign to the "West, and occurring
" only in the Donation and contemporary papal letters. See Cenni,
" Monum. Dominat. Pontif, i., 154." Janus, hi., note 103.]

ii8 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
The date of The date at which the Donation of Constantino
the forgery i
lies probably / was composod may be placed with overwhelming
between A.D. ' ^ -, ¦, , i . i i ,. ¦,
752 and 777. j probability in those years which extend from the
time when the power of the Lombard kingdom
began to decline, i. e., from about a.d. 752,' to the
year 777, in which pope Hadrian first makes
mention of the gift of Constantine. Earlier than
that the author could not well expect any result
from his invention. What he aimed at was a
great kingdom embracing the whole of Italy under
the rule of the pope, instead of an Italy divided
between the Lombards and the Greeks, in which
Eome was perpetually exposed to the attacks of the
Roman horroi^ ouo and the maltreatment of the other. In Eome
of the Lorn- -..(,.. ^.,
bards. the rulo of tho Greeks, however oppressive it
might be at times, was always preferred to that of
the Lombards. The latter dominion was considered
as the greatest of all evils, while the emperor and
exarch of Eavenna received, on the whole, willing
obedience in Eome. The popes were far from
wishing to overthrow the Byzantine dominion in
Italy, even when its yoke seemed intolerable, as,
for example, under the two iconoclasts Leo and
Constantine Copronymus, Even when the oppor
tunity presented itself, they still did not wish to
overthrow it. At any rate, between 685 and 741,
we see ten popes follow one another, all of whom,
' [The year of Pepin's accession ; in 755 he was besieging the
Lombards in their own capital. Astolph yielded at once, and
ceded the whole of the contested territory to Pepin and the pope.
Cf. Milman, Lat'm Christianity, bk. rv., chap, xi.]

Probable date of the forgery 1 1 9

with one exception, were either Syrians (John Y.,
Sergius, Sisinius, Constantine, and Gregory III.),
or Greeks (Conon, John 71., John VIL, and
Zacharias). This fact alone is sufiicient to show
that Byzantine influence in Eome was still quite
predominant.' And the one Eoman amongst them,
Gregory II. , did all that lay in his power to keep
down the Italians (who were embittered by Leo'sl
tyrannical persecution of image-worship, and had)
already begun to think of electing a Eoman em-|
peror of their own), under the yoke of subjection]
He caused a rebellion which had broken out againsl
Byzantium to be put down by Eoman troops, and
' [" Noch vollig iiberwiegend war." Some might think this expres
sion rather too strong of the period between 716 and 741. Gregory II.
(716-731) begins a new era ia the papacy. His immediate prede
cessor Constantine " was the last pope who was the humble subject of
" the Eastem]emperor." Gregory's opposition to Leo the Isaurian on
the subject of iconoclasm is quite uncompromising. His letters to
the emperor on the question are arrogant and defiant, almost brutal
ia tone. " Neque judicium Dei reformidasti, quum scandala in
" hominum corda, non fiedelium modo, sed et infldelium, iagrue-
" rent." " Tu mundum totum scandahzasti, ut qui mortem nolis
" subire, et infelicem rationem reddere." " Ingredere rursum ad
" veritatem, unde exivisti ; excute spiritus elatos, et pertinaciam
" toUe ; atque ad omnes scribe quoquoversum ; eosque quibus
" offendiculo fuisti, erige, quosque exctecasti ; tametsi prse nimia
" tua stupiditate illud pro nihUo habes." " Scripsisti ut concilium
" universale cogeretur ; ot nobis inutUis ea res visa est. Tu persecu-
" tor es imaginum, et hostis contumeliosus et eversor. Cessa, nobis
" hoc largire ut taceas : tum mundas pace perfruetur, et scandala
" cessabunt." Gregory concludes this long and offensive letter with
a prayer that God will drive out from the emperor's heart the evil
beings which dwell there. Harduin Acta Condi, iv., 1. The second
letter is also strong in language. Gregory III. during his briefer
pontificate (731-741) maintained the inflexible opposition of his/
predecessor.]

I20 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
/had the head of the ringleader of the rebels sent to
Constantinople. The popes always regarded as a
calamity every conquest which the Lombards made
in Italy at the expense of Greek dominion ; a ca
lamity which they zealously strove to avert by
prayers and remonstrances, as well as by personal
intercession with the Lombard kings. They had
clearly and fully recognised the fact, that when the
possession of the exarchate should have strength
ened Lombard power and Lombard craving for the
possession of the whole peninsular, then the decree
I for their own subjection, and that of Eome, under
this detested dominion, would be already sealed.
Even Byzan- : How poworful the fear of tlio Lombards and the
was prefen-'ed aversiou to them must have been in Eome, may be
seen from the fact that Byzantine dominion was
always considered preferable there ; although, as
suredly, neither the popes nor the Eoman clergy
had had so much to endure at the hands of the
Lombards as at the hands of the Greeks. True
that they had to bear heavy exactions, owing to
the avarice of the exarchs, to one of whom even
the sacred vessels belonging to St. Peter's had to
be given as pledges (about the year 700). True,
that, if ever the emperor's suspicions were excited
in Byzantium, the popes must submit to be sum
moned thither to answer for themselves ; as Ser
gius is said to have been brought thither at the
command of Justinian IL, and pope Constantine,
in the year 70 9 ^ was compelled to obey the sum-

to Lombard.

Roman horror of the Lombards 121

mons of the emperor to Nicomedia in Asia, while
the exarch John caused four leading ecclesiastics
to be executed' in Rome. For all that the an- This horror
tipathy to the Lombards was paramount. The grounded.
reason for this hatred was, as it seems, mainly the
Lombards'^ barbarous mode of warfare, the per
petual ravaging, firing, and burning, which threat
ened to change the beautiful peninsular at last
into an unproductive uninhabited wilderness. Not
until the incapacity or disinclination of the Greeks
to protect the provinces of Italy against the Lom
bards compelled the Italians to renounce the hopes
and wishes which they had hitherto entertained,
did they throw themselves into the strong arms of
the Franks. But even as late as 752 Stephen IV.
had made another appeal to the Greek emperor,
imploring him to appear with an army for the
defence of Italy against the Lombards.
After the year 728 Gregory II. made an attempt Scheme of
to form a confederation of states, which was to make Rome
maintain itself independently alike of the Greeks dent power.
and of the Lombards ; the head and central point
of it was to be the papal chair .^ The plan came
1 Vita Constantini, ed. ViGNOLI, II., p. 9.
" [The Lombard host contained various wild Teutonic or Sclavo-
nian hordes. Their wars with the Franks kept them somewhat in
check, otherwise they inight have devastated Italy still more. Com
pare the story of Alboin pledging his adulterous queen Eosmunda in
a cup made of her father's skull, and the tragical end of both.]
^ [This statement somewhat quahfies what is said in Essay vm. of
Gregory being well aware that Itahan states could not stand without
Byzantine support ; and, least of all, the Eoman. See p. 260.]

122 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
The Donation to nothiuff. In Eomo, howovor, the idea ripened
was an at- ° ' •' ^ .
tempt to give moro aTidjuoro, that the power of the pope might
a historic basis
to such a come forward in Italy and take the place of the
(decaying power of the Greeks, and the reluctantly
(tolerated power of the Lombards ; and hence this
(document of the Donation was forged, to represent
j this as the normal condition of things, planned
1 long ago by the first Christian emperor. Whether
( this was before the donation of Pepin or after it,
can now no more be decided ; but at any rate it
was before the founding of the Prankish kingdom
of Italy, and therefore before 774. For after this
was established all prospect of realising a union of
Italian states fell to the ground, and then the
fiction of the Donation would have ceased to have
any object. But it may very well have been
composed soon after the giving up of the exarchate
through Pepin, in order to prepare the way for
claims to the whole of Italy, and to give them an
historical basis against the day when the internal
weakness of the Lombard kingdom should end in
complete disintegration. And so, not long after
this, in the time of Charles the Great,' a document
was forged, in which, in very wild, and in some
places scarcely intelligible Latin, a detailed narrative
is put into the mouth of king Pepin of all that
had taken place between him, the Greeks, the
Lombards, and pope Stephen ; and it then makes
Pepin give nearly the whole of Italy (Yenetia and
¦ In Fantuzzi ; Documadi Bavennati, vi., 265.

Not the work of the pseudo-Isidore 123

Istria included) to the pope, either there and then,
or (as in the case of Beneventum and Neaples)
by promising them when they should be con
quered.' The pseudo-Isidore, as has been noticed already. The Donation
incorporated the Donation of Constantine into his ra^ted°by t\e''
collection as an ancient document ; and it certainly dore.
is found in all known manuscripts. The pseudo-
Isidore, undoubtedly, did not compose it himself,
although this has lately been supposed by Gee-
GOEOvius.^ The contents and purpose of the
fiction were altogether alien to the West-Frankish
author of the False Decretals. The language also
is diff'erent from his. But it is equally untenable,
on the other hand, that it did not come into
existence till the tenth century, as the Oratorian
MoRiN attempted to show. His main argument
is, that Otho IIL, in his deed of gift of the year
999, mentions a deacon John with the sobriquet
' Instead of the emperor Constantine, Pepin talks of the emperor
Leo (the Isaurian is intended), saying that Leo's ambassador, Ma
rinus, had come to liim. Here there is a confusion of the presbyter,
Marinus, sent from Eome to Pepin, and that Spatharius Marinus,
whom Leo had sent to Italy with the commission to put pope
Gregory II. out of the way. The document, moreover, makes the
Greek emperor give the pope formal leave to choose out a protector,
with whom he could then decide as seemed best respectiag the
Eoman duchy and the exarchate. It is manifestly invented with a
double object, first, by supplying the consent of the Byzantine
court to do away with a legal objection; and, secondly, to bring
about an enlargement of the donation of Charles the Great.
2 Geschichte der Stadt Eom., in., 400. Cenni had anticipated him
in maintaining this, and that " plaudentibus nostri sevi eruditis," as
he thinks. Monum., i., 305.

124 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE

The supposed
evidence of
this has been
quite misun
derstood

/The contents
of the docu
ment argue a
Roman origin
between 750
and 774.

" Digitorum mutius," (i. e., mutilus, mozzo,) as the
man who wrote the document in golden letters in
Constantino's name. This John the deacon, Morin
supposes, is the man whom John XII. first used as
his tool, and then, in the year 974, caused his right
hand to be cut off".' A mistaken idea ; for a man
who had lost his right hand would not have been
called " with mutilated fingers," as a sobriquet.
Moreover, the Donation of' Constantine may very
well have been extant at an earlier period, before
John the deacon, of whom the draughtsman of
Otho's document makes mention, wrote it out in
golden letters, in order to invest it with greater
dignity. An analysis and closer consideration of the
contents of the document will give a still higher
degree of certainty to the supposition, that it
originated in Eome between 750 and 774.
The following are among the grants made in the
Donation to the popes and the Eoman clergy : —

1. Constantine desires to promote the Chair
of Peter over the empire and its seat on
earth, by bestowing on it imperial power and
honour. 2. The Chair of Peter shall have supreme
authority over the patriarchal Chairs of
Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Con-

^ According to Luitprand, IKst. Ottonis, in Pertz, v., 346, and
Contin. Beginon., ad a , 964.

The chief articles of the Donation 125

stantinople, and over all churches in the
world.' 3. It shall be judge in all that concerns
the service of God and the Christian
Faith.^ 4. Instead of the diadem, which the emperor
wished to place on the pope's head, but which
the pope refused, Constantine has given to
him and to his successors the phrygium^ (that
is the tiara) and the lorum which adorned
the emperor's neck, as well as the other
gorgeous robes and insignia of the imperial
dignity. 5. The Eoman clergy shall enjoy the high
privileges of the imperial senate, being eligible
to the dignity of patrician or consul, and
having the right to wear the decoration worn
' [" Ut principatum teneat tarn super quatuor sedes, Alexandri-
" nam, Antiochenam, Hierosolymitanam ac Constantinopolitanam,
" quamque etiam super omnes in universo orbe terrarum ecolesias."
As cited by Leo IX., Harduin, vi., 935.] The Greeks have omitted
this article in the recension in Blastares, and in that of the Parisian
manuscript. ^ This article also is wanting in both the above-mentioned texts.
[Leo IX, of course, retains it, " et ejus judicio quseque ad cultum
" Dei vel fidei Christianorum stabOitatem procuranda fuerint,
" disponantur."] ' [Leo IX. says, at first, both the diadem and the phrygium : " delude
" diadema, videhcet coronam capitis nostri, simulque phrygium,
" necnon et superhumerale, videlicet lorum quod imperiale cir-
" cumdare assolet collum." But later on, after mentioning Silves
ter's refusal of the gold crown, " phrygium autem candido nitore,
" splendidam resurrectionem Dominicam designans, ejus sacrat-
" issimo vertici manibus nostris imposuimus, et tenentes frenum
" equi ipsius, pro reverentia beati Petri, &c."]

126 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
by the (optimates or) nobles in office under
the empire.'
6. The offices of cubicularii, ostiarii, and
excubit^, shall belong to the Eoman Church.
7. The Eoman clergy shall ride on horses
decked with white coverlets, and, like the
senate, wear white sandals.
8. If a member of the senate shall wish to
take orders, and the pope consents, no one
shall hinder him.^
9. Constantine gives up the remaining
sovereignty over Eome, the provinces, cities,
and towns of the whole of Italy or of the
western regions, to pope Silvester and his
successors.
The momen- Judging from the detailed and careful manner
clause was evi- in which cacli siuglo clauso is treated, we may
seTondaryYin^ concludo that tho author, who beyond all doubt
theeyeTofthe was a Eomau ecclosiastic, had the articles and
composer. golour of the dross proper to the pope and clergy,
with their titles and insignia of rank, far more at
heart than the ninth clause which, tacked on a^
the end and expressed in few words, was so prea^
' Imperialis mihtia, a-rparia, which Munch ( On the Donation of
Constantine, p. 22) translates as "the imperial army," remarking
that the Eoman clergy had been deshous of wearing military deco
rations. A glance at Duoangb's Glossary would have told him what
" mihtia " or " a-TparLa" meant at that time [viz., court ofBcials.]
" So the Greek text. The Latin reading " nullus ex omnibus
" prresumat superbe agere " makes no kind of sense with Ihe context
just preceding.

Change of "or"" into '^ and" in clause 9 127
nant with conse^uenceSj;^ 14^ dmation_ofRom&--and
Italy. And here one must at the same time He merely
remember, that the composer intended Italy alone, itaiy and' the
and not pretty nearly the whole of the West which
belonged to the kingdom of Eome at the time of
Constantine, that is to say, Gaul, Spain, Britain,
&c., to be comprehended in the Donation as well
as Italy. In all probability he knew nothing of
the real extent of the empire at the time of
Constantine, but had only the circumstances of the
eighth century before his eyes ; for he says " Italy
or the western regions," doubtless merely to define
more closely the geographical expression " Italy,"
and to include Istria, Corsica, and Sardinia. Not Change of
* * or " into
until a later age was the " or " changed into " and." "and."
And for long the matter was so understood. The
popes' Hadrian I. and Leo IX., the emperor
Otho III. and cardinal Peter Damiani found in the
document merely the donation of Italy.
— If one considers the remaining clauses, that is to The other
, . . clauses have
say the demands and wishes of Eoman ecclesiastics reference to
'' , Roman, not
clad in the form of supposed concessions, one sees Byzantine,
., „ distinctions of
that they altogether have reference to the state ot rank.
affairs in Eome and Italy about the middle of the
eighth century. The author naturally has not so
1 ["Et sicut temporibus beati Silvestri Eomani Pontificis, a
" sanctse recordationis piisimo Constantino Imperatore, per ejus
"largitatem sancta Dei Catholica et Apostolica Eomana Ecclesia
" elevata atque exaltata est, et potestatem in his Hesperise partibus
" largiri dignatus est, &c., &c." Letter of Hadrian I. to Charles the
Great. — Eecuil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France, ap., PALMii,
Paris, 1869, v., 550, c]

128 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
much the arrangements and relations of rank in
Constantinople before his eyes, as those of that
part of Italy which at that time was still Byzantine.
The senate, with which the clergy in Eome wished
to be placed on an equality in certain privileges,
was no longer the old Eoman senate. That had
perished in the sixth century, during the wars
The senate in with the Goths and tho Lombards. The senate is
century. fn&NQX mentioned' in the period from the end of
I the sixth to the middle of the eighth century, but
[reappears first in the year 757 as the collective
j body of the Eoman optimates.^ After that time
j we have mention made of a special place for the
^senators [senatorium] in the two chief churches in
Eome. Those who sat there received the Holy
Communion from the hands of the pope himself^
It was, in fact, a new official nobility which was
formed, partly out of the military aristocracy of
citizens, partly out of ecclesiastical dignitaries ;
and the latter were also to have their share — this
was one of the objects which the author of the
fiction had in view — in the highest titles of honour
which the emperors granted to certain pre-eminent
members of the civil, or rather military aristocracy.
^ Savignt's assertions (Geschichte dis Bom. Bechts, i., 367) are on
this point too strong ; that in all centuries, as he says, are to be
foimd undeniable traces of the real continuance of the Eoman senate
is, at any rate, without foundation as regards the period between
660 and 750.
^ " Salutant vos et cunctus procerum senatus, atque diversi
" populi congregatio." Cenni, ii., 146.
' Mabillon, Mus. ltal., ii., xliv., lix., 10.

The title "patrician of Rome" 129
The ranks of patrician and consul, for instance. The patriciate
... . in the eighth
which were to be made accessible to the Eoman century.
clergy, were at that time the highest at which
ambition' could aim. A patrician,^ or member of
the imperial Privy Council, was promoted to his
rank by being solemnly invested with an em
broidered robe of state ; and even governors of
provinces felt themselves raised in dignity by the
addition of this title, the highest in the empire.
From the year 754 onwards the pope, in the name"~
of the Eoman republic (which still continued to be
considered as always virtually existing), and with
the acquiescence of the Eoman people, claimed to
have the power of conferring the title of " patrician
of Eome ;" and gave it, as is well known, in the
first instance to king Pepin and king Carloman.^
• In the Vita Agathonis, Vignoh, I., 279, we have the high digni
taries thus reckoned : " Patricii, Hypati cum omni Syncleto." In
the year 701 Theophylact was Cubicularius, Patricius, Exarchus
Italiae, ibid., i., 315.
^ [This new rank of patrician was created at Constantinople, and
was not conferred on old Eoman famihes. It was a personal, not an
hereditary dignity, and became extinct with the death of the holder.
A patrician family at this period merely meant one, of which the head
was a patrician. The patricians were the highest of the illustres ;
consuls alone ranked higher. A patrician was distiaguished by such
titles as Magnificentia, Celsitudo, Eminentia, and Magnitude. The
new dignity was not confined to subjects of the empire, but was
sometimes given to foreigners, such as Odoacer. Other sovereigns
imitated the emperors and popes in conferring this title on eminent
subjects, but such patricians ranked far below Eoman patricians.
Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities, " Patricii," sub fin.]
3 ["In the meantime the right of conquest, and the indefinite
title of patrician, assigned by the pope (Stephen), acting ha behalf,
and with the consent of the Eoman repubhc, to Pepin— a title which
might be merely honorary, or might justify any authority which he
K

I30 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE

The consulate
in the eighth
century.

Papal officials
of the house
hold in imita
tion of the
imperial of
ficials.

Thus the highest temporal dignity in Eome, after
that of emperor or a Csesar, was to be in the pope's
gift, and that without any theoretical infringement
of the imperial prerogative. When the Greek
dominion perished in north and central Italy, the
patriciate, as a dignity conferred on particular
governors, vanished along with it, and there
remained only the one Eoman patriciate, the chief
dignity among the inhabitants of the city of
Eome. The consuls also, as Savigny' has remarked, were
first mentioned in the middle of the eighth century,
and constituted the rank next to the patricians.
The chief city magistrates bore this title, one,
however, which thenceforward occurs merely as a
title of honour. One such consul (and dux) was
Theodatus, the tutor of Hadrian I., and afterwards
primicerius of the Eoman Church. His contem
porary Leoninus, in like manner, was at the same
time both consul and dux, afterwards a monk.^
Further use of Constantino's name was made to
obtain for the popes the right of having gentlemen
of the bed-chamber, door-keepers, and a body-guard
(cubicularii, ostiarii, excubitores). Here again the
date fits exactly. Formerly in Italy there were
only imperial cubicularii. Not until the time of

might have power to exercise— gave a kind of supremacy to the king
of the Franks in Eome."— Milman, Lat. Chr., iv., c. xi.]
' A., a., 0., p. 870. He quotes Fantuzzi, Mon. Bav., i., 15.
2 Vita Hadr., in Vignoli, n., 162, 210.

Papal ceremonial an imitation of imperial 131
Stephen IV. and Hadrian I. do we find an instance
of a papal cubicularius, viz., Paul Afiarta,' who at
the same time was superista, that is, overseer of the
palace. In ^ the first Or do Eomanus in Mabillon,
who describes the Eoman ceremonial at the end of
the eighth and beginning of the ninth century, the
cubicularius tonsuratus, who had to carry the
papal robes, is mentioned for the first time.
In the Eoman Ordo of Cencius (twelfth century)
the portarii or ostiarii pro custodiendo palatio were
placed in the second rank under the Eoman scholaa
or guilds of the papal court servants, and described
according to their duties.^ Lastly, the excubitores
are unmistakeably the so-called adextratores of a
later age, a guard of honour,* which escorted the
pope in processions and visits to churches.
The author of the -Donation manifestly attached The right of
using white
great importance to the point, that the Eoman horse-cover-
clergy should have the privilege of decking their
horses with white coverings. Altogether in har
mony with the spirit of the time and place, where
this was considered as a thing of extraordinary
importance, and as a precious privilege of the
Eoman clergy surpassing all others. Hence
Gregory the Great had before this notified to the
1 That he was cubicularius of the pope, and not of the emperor, is
plain from the Vita Hadr., in Vignoli, ii., 164 and 166 ; for m other
instances the Liher Pontificalis adds imperiahs, as in the case of
Theodore Pellarius, ib. i., 263.
2 Mus. ltal, n., 6.
s 1. c, p. 194, 96.
* 1. c, p. 196.
K 2

Paul.

132 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
archbishop of Eavenna, that the Eoman clergy
would on no account concede that the use of horse-
coverlets (mappulae) should be allowed to the
clergy of Eavenna.' The Eoman biographer finds
great fault with pope Conon, because (about a.d.
687) he had allowed the deacon Constantine of
Syracuse, whom he had nominated rector of the
patrimony there, to make use of such a coverlet.^
Stated object Lastly, the object attributed to Constantine is
tion ; to light altogether in accordance with the sentiments of the
ss. Peter and eighth contury ; viz., that he endowed the Eoman
Church with possessions in the East and West, in
order that the lamps and tapers which burnt in
the churches and at the tombs of the Apostles
S. Peter and S. Paul might be kept up by the
revenues. And thus pope Paul I. writes to Pepin,
in the year 761, saying that the contest which the
king had undertaken against the Lombards was
waged by him for the restoration of the lamps of
S. Peter.'
/"Both internal and external evidence, therefore,
conducts us to the period between 750 and 775 as
the time when the Donation of Constantine came
into existence. The supposition of Natalis
Alexander and of his follower Cenni,* that it was
' Geeg. M. Opera, ii., 668, ed. Paris, cf. Gratian. Decree., dist.
93, c. 22.
2 Vit. Conon. ap. Vignoli, i., 301.
' Cenni, i., 185 : " Pro cujus restituendis luminarus decertatis."
So also the pseudo-Constantine, " Quibus pro concinnatione lumiaa-
" rium possessiones contuhmus."
^ Monum., i., 304.

Period at which it became knoivn 133
,X'  ¦  : 
not known in Eome before the middle of the ninth The Donation
. , . certainly
century, is certainly incorrect. Hadrian I. un- known in
deniably alludes to it in the words that Constantine a.d. 850.
had " given the dominion in these regions of the
West" to the Eomish Church. These are the
" occidentalium regionum provincige if)va\i.wv yjupwv
tTtapxMi) " of which the Donation speaks. Never
theless, it is quite certain that at first no pains
were taken to make it generally known. From No pains
. . /Ml-rn T /^ r n 1 • taken at first
Hadrian i. to Leo IX. (776 to 1053) there is no to make it
trace of it to be found in the letters of popes ; in
the older manuscripts of the Liber Pontificalis there
is no mention of it ; but by means of the pseudo-
Isidore (that is from 840 onwards), it began to be
known outside Italy, and indeed perhaps more
in France than in Italy itself. For though Luit
prand, bishop of Cremona, as imperial ambassador
at Byzantium boasted of the large donations which
Constantine had given to the Eoman Church, in
Persia, Mesopotamia, and Babylonia ; yet he knew
nothing of the contents of the forged document, or
at any rate, gave no hint of it ; while, on the
other hand, two men who for their age were so
learned and so well read in ecclesiastical history
and literature as ^neas, bishop of Paris, and ^neasot
Hincmar, bishop of Eheims, readily accepted it. as authentic
The former of them (about the year 868) represents
to the Greeks that Constantine had declared that
two emperors, the one of the realm, the other of
the Cliurch, could not rule in common in one city.

134 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE

So also Hinc
mar and Ado,
but with some
reserve.

Leo IX. seems
to have the
fullest belief
in It.

Remarkable
silence of
Gregory VII.

He had therefore removed his residence to Byzan
tium, but had placed the Eoman territory, " and a
" vast number of various provinces," under the rule
of the Apostolic chair, and had conferred royal
power ' on the pope. Hincmar, expresses himself
with more reserve. He and his contemporary
bishop Ado, of Vienne, in his chronicle (about
860), know only of Constantino's having given up
the city of Eome to the pope.^
Pope Leo IX. recounted nearly the whole text of
the Donation to the patriarch Michael Cerularius
in the year 1054, openly and confidently, without
having (as it would seem) a single misgiving as
to the weakness of his document. He wished the
patriarch to convince himself " of the earthly and
" heavenly imperium, of the royal priesthood of the
" Eoman Chair," and retain no trace of the suspicion
" that this chair " wished to usurp power by the
"help of foolish^ and old wives' fables." He is,
however, the only one of all the popes who has
brought the document expressly before the eyes of
the world, and formally challenged criticism. In
remarkable contrast to him, his guide and adviser
and successor, Gregory VIL, never made use of it,
in not one of his numerous letters even mentions
' Liber adversus Grcecos, in D'Acheet, Spicil., vn., m.
* Epist. 3, c. 13. -
' Habdudj, Cone, VI., 934. [" Sed ne forte adhuc de terrena ipsius
" dominatione aliquis vobis dubietatis supersit scrupulus, neve
" leviter suspicemini iaeptis et anilibus fabuhs sanctam Eomanam
" sedem velle sibi inconcussum honorem vindicare et defensare
" aliquatenus," &c., &c.]

A new stage in its career 135
it, — a most expressive silence, when one considers
how strong the temptation must have been to him,
to avail himself of this weapon against his numerous
and overpowering enemies. Not so his friend,
cardinal Peter Damiani. He holds up the Peter Da-
. ., 1 -t rt • • mlani's argu-
privilege granted by Constantine as an impene- ment.
trable shield against the Greeks, who supported
the cause of the imperial anti-pope Cadalous, and
does not forget to add that the emperor had also
given over the kingdom of Italy to the rule of the
popes.' The use and meaning of the forged Donation Urban ir.
claims Corsica
entered, to a certain extent, a new stage when on the strength
., . .of the Dona-
Urban IL, m the year 1091, used it to support the tion.
claim of the Eoman Church to the possession of
Corsica. He deduced the right of Constantine to
give away islands from the strange principle, that
all islands were legaWy juris publici, and therefore
state domain. It cannot but excite surprise that
Urban did not prefer to appeal to the donation of
Charles the Great, or rather does not once mention
it. For not only is Corsica enumerated among the
donations which Charles is said to have made, but
Leo III. says this distinctly in a letter to Charles
in the year 808.^ The Church at that time, how-
1 Haeduin, 1. c, 1122. [As "defensor Eomanse ecclesise," he
argues that Constantuie had abdicated, as regards Eome and Italy,
in favour of the pope. If, then, the emperor had no authority
in Eome, how could he have a voice m the election of pope ?]
2 Cenni, il, 60.

136 DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
Yet Corsica ovor, haviug no fleet, was not in a position to
gWeiTtoRome maintain a possession which was perpetually
Great."^^'^^ threatened by the Saracens; and so Leo was
obliged to beg the emperor to take the island to
himself, and protect it with his " strong arm ;" and
(as the Corsican historian Limperani' remarks)
the Eoman Chair for 189 years abstained from
exercising any dominion in Corsica. Not until the
year 1077 do we find Gregory VII.^ saying, that
the Corsicans are ready to return under the supre
macy of the pope ; and from the letter of Urban II.
to bishop Daibert, of Pisa, it appears that this
actually took place at that time, or not long
afterwards.
Claim of On this notiou, that it was the islands especially
to Ireland. ' that Constantiuo had given to the popes, they
proceeded to build, although nothing had been
said about them in the original document ; and
with a bold leap the Donation of Constantine was
transferred from Corsica to the farthest West, viz.,
to Ireland ; and the Papal Chair claimed pos
session of an island, which the Eomans themselves
had never possessed, and had scarcely known.
1154-1159. This was done by Hadrian IV., ^ an Englishman
^ Istoria delta Corsica, Eoma, 1780, ii., 2.
2 Lib. 6, epist. 12.
^ [Nicolas Breakspeare, the poor English scholar, yielded to none
cf his predecessors, Hildebrand not excepted, ia the assertion of the
papal authority. " He was surpassed by few in the boldness and
" courage with which he maintained it. English pride might
" mingle with sacerdotal ambition in his] boon of a new Mngdom to
" his native sovereign. The language of the grant developed

gift.

Use made of it by Hadrian fV ij^'j
by birth; "Anglicana affectione," as the Irish
chieftains declared somewhat later (1316) in a
letter to John XXIL' At the desire of the
English king, Henry II. , the pope conferred on
him the dominion over the island of Ireland
(1155), which, " like all Christian islands, un-
" doubtedly belonged of right to S. Peter and the
" Eoman Church." The king thus received a The Irish con-
dominion which, it must be owned, he had first to iidity of the
win with the sword ; and, indeed, it was not till
after a contest of five hundred years, and for the
most part only by colonization from outside, that
it was completely won. It did not help the
English much to say to the Irish, " Your island
" belonged in former times to the pope, and since
" he has given it to king Henry, it is your duty
" to submit yourselves to English rule." The
Irish, who were not altogether ignorant of the
history of their native land, knew quite well that
neither the Eoman emperors nor the popes had
" principles as yet unheard of in Christendom. The popes had
" assumed the feudal sovereignty of Naples and Sicily, as in some
" vague way the successors to the power of Imperial Eome. But
" Hadrian declared that Ireland, and all islands converted to Chris-
" tianity, belonged to the special jurisdiction of S. Peter. The pro-
" phetic ambition of Hadrian might seem to have anticipated the
" time, when on such principles the popes should assume the power
" of granting away new worlds." — Milman, Lat. Christ., vm.,
c. vn.]
' In M'Geoghegan's Histoire de Tlrlande, ii., 106 sq. They state
that up to 1170 they had sixty-one kings, " nullum in temporahbus
" recognoscentes superiorem." Hadrian had acted " indebite, ordine
"juris omisso omnino.'' [For this famous letter of Hadrian to
Henry IL, see Appendix D.]

138 DONA TfON OF CONSTANTfNE
ever possessed a foot's breadth of their country,
and could not therefore exactly understand how
pope Hadrian had the power to make a present of
it to England.
Hadrian does not mention the Donation of
Constantine in his Bull ; but his friend and con
fidant, John op Salisbury, the one who,' accord
ing to his own confession, induced him to take this
step so pregnant with consequences, quotes the
Donation of the first believing emperor as the
ground of this " right of S. Peter " over all
islands.^ ^ " Ad preces meas illustri regi Anglorum, Henrico n., concessit
" et dedit Hiberniam jure hsereditario possidendam, sicut hterse
" ipsius testantur in hodiernum diem. Nam omnes insulse, de jure
" antique, ex donatione Constantini, qui cam ftmdavit et dotavit,
" dicuntur ad Eomanam Ecclesiam pertinere."— ifeto^. 4, 42, opp.
ed. Giles, v., 206. The embarrassment of Irish writers in later
times, as regards the Bull was, as one inight expect, considerable.
Stephen White (Apologia pro Hihernia, ed. Kelly, Dublin, 1849,
p. 184), and Lynch, or Geatianus Lucius (Cambrensis eversus,
Dubl., 1856, II., 434 sq),. struggle in vain to prove it a bungling
forgery. Lanigan, on the other hand (Eccles. History of Ireland,
IV., 160), admits its genuineness, and gives vent to some sharp cri
ticisms on the pope and his BuU. M'Geoqhehan (Histoire de
I'lrlande, Paris, 1758, 1., 462) foregoes the appeal to the Donation of
Constantine, and contents himself with saying, " Le Pape qui §toit
" n^ son sujet, lui accorda sans peine sa demande ; et la hberte d'une
" nation entiere fut sacrifice k I'ambition de I'un par la complaisance
" de I'autre."
^ The Abbe Gosselin (Pouvoir du, Pape sur les Souverains, 11., 247,
ed. de Louvain) has attempted to show that pope Hadrian, properly
speaking, did not in the least intend to dispose of Ireland in his
Bull ; that he claimed nothing but a purely spiritual jurisdiction ia
Ireland, merely the right to demand the payment of Peter's pence.
His reasons for this view are very weak, and he omits to notice
evidence which is quite decisive. He omits to notice that Hadrian
says, " that the people of Ireland are to accept and honour the

fmitated at Naples 139
The Eoman clergy with their Donation of Con
stantine had, on the whole, obtained their object
very successfully ; attempts were now made in
Naples to advance the interests of the clergy
there by similar means. In a chronicle of
the church of S. Maria del Principio, it is
stated that Constantine gave the whole of the
kingdom of Sicily on both sides of the straits,
along with other possessions, to pope Silvester ;
the town of Naples was the only thing which he
reserved as imperial property. Accordingly the The clergy of
two, Constantine and Silvester, came to Naples cate a Dona-
together, and, seeing that Constantine very often
heard mass here in the Episcopal Church, he
attached fourteen prebendaries to it, and endowed
these with landed and other property, and founded
the dignity of a cimeliarch.'
Meanwhile, in Italy at this time the Eoman

" king (who up to this time had not had the most remote right to
" the island) as their lord and master (sicut Dominum veneretur)."
He oraits all notice of the statement of John of Sahsbury, who was
better informed than any other man respecting the whole circum
stance, and respecting the meaning of the BuU, which had been
introduced by himself. Lastly, he omits to notice the fact that
Hadrian formally invested king Henry with the rights of a suzerain
by means of a ring which he sent him. The words, that all islands
belong " ad jus beati Petri et SS. Eom. Ecclesise," GosseUn persists
in understanding of the spiritual jurisdiction of the pope, quite in
defiance of the use of words in the language of that time.
' Paeascandolo, Memorie stor. crit diplomatiche delta chiesa di
Napoli, 1807, p. 212. The chronicle appears to belong to the end of
the twelfth or begmning of the thirteenth century. [Cimeliarch,
K€i.p.ri\iapxris, treasurer.]

I40 DONATfON OF CONSTANTfNE

The Donation
questioned in
Rome, when
found to be
Inconvenient.

story of Constantino's Donation was rejected with
out scruple, so soon as it clashed with maintained
rights or with political plans. In Eome, in the
year 1105, the monks of the monastery Farfa,
which had been endowed with great privileges by
the emperors, contended with some of the Eoman
nobility for the possession of a certain castle.
The latter upheld the title of the Eoman Church
(on which their own title was supposed to depend)
to the disputed property, and traced back this title
to the Donation of Constantine. Thereupon the
monks, without directly denying the genuineness
of the document, brought forward a detailed his
torical proof that the document could not possibly
mean a Donation of Italy, for the emperors who
had succeeded Constantine had always possessed
and exercised in full their dominion over Italy.
Accordingly, Constantine could only have given
spiritual rights to the popes in Italy.' In Rome
1099-1118. itself at that time (under Paschal II.) the pope
was so far from being recognised as the temporal
sovereign of a distinct territory, that the monks
with their abbot felt able, without contradiction, to
state before the Eoman judges as a recognised
fact — that temporal power and government did
not befit the pope, for it was not the keys of an
earthly kingdom, but only the keys of the king
dom of Heaven that he had received from God.
About forty years later commenced the great
^ Historia: Farfenses, in Pbetz Monum., xiil., 571.

A mold of Brescia \ 4 1
political and religious movements in Italy gene- in the move-
rally, and the efforts of the Arnoldists, in Eome in by Arnold of
particular, which aimed ' at placing the control of
the imperial dignity in the hands of a rabble in
Eome — a town populace constantly augmented by
the influx of people from the country, but which
was supposed to represent the true Eomans and
heirs of the old Eoman empire. Thence began
the first misunderstandings between the Hohen-
staufen, Frederick I., and the Papal Chair. It
was inevitable that the Donation of Constantine
should again play an important part. When a
Eoman faction, stirred up by Arnold of Brescia,
was purposing to arrogate to itself the control of
the city, the papal party in Eome had appealed to
the Donation, according to which it appeared that
Eome belonged to the pope. In opposition to this The Donation
Wetzel, an Arnoldist, maintained in his letter to par™^'^^^^
Frederick, in the year 1152, that "that lie and
" heretical fable of Constantino's having conceded
" the imperial rights in the city to pope Silvester,
" was now so thoroughly exposed, that even day
" labourers and women were able to confute the
" most learned on the point, and the pope and his
" cardinals would not venture to show themselves
" for shame." ^ And in fact, Eugenius III. had

' [That to Arnold of Brescia himself much higher aims, and a
much nobler policy, must be attributed than are here allowed to his
followers, would perhaps scarcely be denied.]
= Ap. Maetene, ampl coll., il, 556.

another fiction.

142 DONATfON OF CONSTANTfNE
1145-1153. been obliged to leave Eome' (for the second time)
in the beginning of the year 1150, and remained
until the December of 11 52 in Segni and Feren-
tino. It is, however, remarkable that the argu
ments, with which the Arnoldist and his Eoman
day labourers and housewives knew so well how to
demolish the lie about the Donation of Constan
tine, themselves in their turn rested upon errors
The fiction of and fictious. Constautino, says Wetzel, was a
answered by Christian already, and therefore had been baptized
before the time of Silvester, consequently the
whole story of the Donation to Silvester is untrue.
As proof of this a passage is quoted out of an
apocryphaP letter of pope Melchiades, which is
found in the pseudo-Isidorian collection, and is
also made use of by Gratian ; and it is proved from
the Historia tripertita (of Cassiodore) that Constan
tine was a Christian before his entry into Eome.^
In spite of this contradiction in Eome itself, the
Donation was made the basis of higher and con-
^ [On the flrst occasion (March 1146) Eugenius reth-ed first to
Viterbo, and thence to Sienna ; then, after a year's delay, to France,
where he became little more than the mouthpiece of S. Bernard.
He returned to Italy towards the end of 1148, but to Viterbo and
Tusculum, not to Eome. It was not till the end of 1149 that he
once more entered the capital, and then only as its bishop, not as
its sovereign.]
^ A document much used, sometimes under the title Libellus de
munificentia Constantini.
° Wetzel does not appeal, as one would have expected him to
have done, to the baptism in Nicomedia at the end of the emperor's
Ufe, as related in the Tripertita from Eusebius. No doubt the idea
of the baptism in Eome was too deeply rooted in the minds of the
Eomans to allow him to make such an appeal.

Questioned but used. 143
stantly increasing claims at this time, and, indeed, But although
disputed, the
as early as the close of the eleventh century. Donation is
T • 1 • p /-y TTTT • ^'^'^ largely
Already m the time of Gregory YIL, or imme- usedj
diately after him under Urban II. , the inclusion of
the Donation in the new collection of rights and
title-deeds showed clearly an intention of making
an extensive use of it. This was now done by
Anselm op Lucca, cardinal Deusdbdit, and the ByAnseimof
1 • 1 • 1 T Lucca ;
compilator of the collection which is known under
the name of Ivo op Chartres.' On the other
hand, Burchard of Worms, in his collection,
which was made between 1012 and 1023, has not
yet included it. Specially surprising is the change
which is made in Anselm's work of the " or " into
a most significant and comprehensive " and." He
has, " quod Const. Imp. Papse concessit coronam
" et omnem regiam dignitatem in urbe Eomana,
" et Italia, et in partibus occidentalibus." What
practical meaning Eoman ecclesiastics intended to
give to these last words, appears from a statement
made by Otto op Freisingen. In his chronicle. By otto of
F rci si 11 ff e n .
which was composed between 1143 and 1146, he
asserts the authenticity^ of the Donation, and
relates how Constantine, after conferring the im
perial insignia on the pope, went to Byzantium,
adding that, " for this reason the Eoman Church
" maintains that the western kingdoms have been
' More exact references in Antonius Attgustinus, de Emend. Qrat.
Opp., ed. Lucens, m., 41, in the notes.
'^ Chron. 3, 3 ap., Uestis, i., 80.

144 DONATfON OF CONSTANTfNE

Tribute rarely
demanded of a
nation on the
strength of the
Donation.

Claim of thi
popes to the
imperial in
signia and
homage.

" given over to her possession by Constantine,
" and demands tribute from them to this day, with
" the exception of the two kingdoms of the
" Franks " (that is, the French and the German
one). The defenders of the empire, however,
objected, " that in each transaction Constantine
" had not conferred the empire on the popes, but
" had merely chosen them as spiritual fathers."
To the best of my knowledge there are no papal
documents extant, with the exception of the one
about Ireland, in which the payment of tribute is
demanded of the whole realm on the strength of
the Donation of Constantine. Just the very pope
who went the greatest lengths in such demands,
Gregory VIL, never appealed to the Donation in
making them, but to feudal rights of the Eoman
see dating from an earlier period ; and he at
tempted' (without result, however) to exact tri
bute from France. And yet, as appears from his
letters/ Gregory had had the archives thoroughly
searched, in order to discover documents, from
which a feudal dependence of the several king
doms and countries upon the Eoman Chair might
be claimed.
However, the ninth canon in the Dictates,
which, though not proceeding fi^om Hildebrand
himself, are, nevertheless, the work of his time, is
unmistakeably borrowed from the Donation ; " the

' Cf Mdbatom, Antichita ltal, Pirenze, 1833, x. 126 sq.
2 Epist 23, lib. 8.

The popes claim imperial insignia 1 45
" pope alone may make use of the imperial in-
" signia." Serious stress was never laid on this
point. The ppffes did not assume the\ sceptre,
sword, and i(all. Boniface YIII. is the/nly pope
who, accoming to one account, i§,^id to have
done so aft once^^at iho-celobrStion of the Jubilee
in the year 1300. But if Constantine had really
ceded Italy andHEEe^est to the pope, it appeared
to follow naturally and fairly that the empire in
its whole extent of territory was a present, a free
gift of the popes, and therefore (according to the
then prevalent ideas and dispositions) a fief of the
Eoman Chair, the emperor being vassal and the
pope suzerain. And then, if not the kingdom of
Germany, at any rate that of Italy with the
Lombard crown would be reckoned as a papal fief.
Certainly, since a.d. 800, since the first founding
of the Western empire, a broad way had been
made towards this end. At that time the pope
prostrated himself to the ground before the newly-
crowned emperor, and did obeisance to him in the
form of homage paid to the old emperors.' Now,
however, a picture had been placed in the Lateran
palace which represented the emperor Lothair
doing homage to the pope,^ with verses, in which
1 Annates Laurissenses, ia Pertz, i., 138 : " Et post laudes ab
" ApostoUco more antiquorum principum adoratus est."
^ [Compare the gross misrepresentations of the circumstances of
the council of Florence in the bassi relievi on the gates of S. Peter's
at Eome.— Makeiott's Testimony of the Catacombs, London, 1870,
p. 104, &c.] L

146 DONA TfON OF CONSTANTfNE

it was stated in so many words that the king had
first confirmed the rights of the city before the gates
of Eome, and had then become the vassal (homo)
of the pope, whereupon he had received the crown
as a gift' from the latter. At the same time many
Eomans had declared that the German kings had
possessed the Eoman empire,^ no less than the
Italian kingdom, merely as a present from the
popes. From this arose that storm of dissatisfac
tion which broke out in Germany in the year
1157, when a letter from Hadrian to Frederick
Barbarossa spoke of " beneficia " which he had
granted to the emperor, or could still grant, and
expressly called the imperial crown itself such a
beneficium, i. e., a feed, as it was understood at the
imperial court. Hadrian could easily justify him
self, by saying that he had used the word in its
ordinary, not in its technical and political sense,
that he had intended to say nothing more than
' Eadevic, I., 10 ; MuKAT., vi., 748.
^ Imperium Urbis. The imperial dignity itself the pope could
not confer on the strength of the Donation of Constantine, which
contained nothing about it, but only (as the Eomans said) as tbe
organ of the Eoman republic and in their name, for they considered
themselves as the heirs of the old populus Eomanus ; or else, as the
defenders of the Donation supposed, as the supreme Head of the
city of Eome, to which the right of electing the emperor, originaUy
inherent in the Eoman repubhc, came as a matter of course. Hence,
although the empire itself was no fief of the Eoman Chair (for which
reason it was never actually given away), nevertheless it was possible
to maintain in Eome, that the imperium urbis and the kingdom nf
Italy belonged to the pope alone to confer, seeing that he had
received both from Constantine, and that he would confer them only
as fiefs, reserving his own supremacy ; but that without these two
things there was no empire.

German resentment of papal claims 147

that it was he who had placed the crown on the
emperor's head.' But, in Germany, men mistrusted Dissatisfaction
the Eoman clergy, and the bitter feeling remained, such dTfms. ^'
as we find provost Gerhoh op Eeigersburg
expressing it at the time in sharp words, a man
otherwise thoroughly devoted to the Papal See.
He says, that the custom (which of course rested
for support on the Donation of Constantine) of the
emperor holding the pope's stirrup had prompted
the Eomans to paint these offensive pictures, in
which kings or emperors were represented as
vassals of the popes ; from which they gained
nothing, excepting the embittered feelings and
hard words of temporal princes.^ If the popes by
allowing such pictures claimed to be emperors and
lords of emperors, making the emperors their vassals,
this was nothing else than to destroy the power or
dained of God and to go against the divine order.
However, whatever meaning and extent of
application the Eoman clergy might ffive to the Historians
, . 1 fi • ,• ™°''^ cautious
supposed Donation ; whatever new collections of than the
.1 . 11- ^ ^ • • f cltrgy. They
laws might contain on the subject ; the historians ot limit, without
this and the following period are wont, when they Donation.
mention the Donation at all, cautiously to confine it
within tolerably narrow limits. Sicard op Cre
mona gives a very detailed account of the fabulous
baptism of Constantino,^ but quotes nothing more
' " Per hoc vocabulum ' contulimus ' nil ahud intelleximus quam
' imposuimus.' "
^ Treatise of the provost Gekhoh of Eeigeesbueg, De investiga-
tione Antichristi, edited by Stulz, Vienna, 1858, pp. 54, 56.
" In Mueatori, vii., 554.
L 2

148 DONA TfON OF CONSTANTfNE
than this from the Donation, that the emperor
gave Silvester regal privileges, and ordained that
all bishops should be subject to the pope ; but he
does not go on to explain the nature of these regal
privileges. Eomuald op Salerno knows and men
tions merely this ecclesiastical supremacy.' Egbert
Abolant confines himself to mentioning a privilege
bequeathed by Constantine to the popes, without
any farther statement.^ A hundred years later, an
historian so entirely devoted to papal interests as
Tolomeo op Lucca quotes nothing beyond this
from the Donation, that the emperor had conferred
on certain Eoman ecclesiastics (the cardinals of a
later age) the rights and prerogatives of the Eoman
senate.^ And while of the papal biographers Ber
nard Guidonis is entirely silent about the Dona
tion ; the dominion over the city of Eome, and the
conferring of the imperial insignia, is all that
Amalrich Augerii quotes from it.* On the other
hand the Spaniard, Lucas B. op Tut (about
A.D. 1236), represents the dominion over Italy
(regnum Italic) as having been conferred on the
pope.^ His contemporary, the Belgian Balddin,
monk in the monastery Ninnove, restricts Con
stantino's gift once more to the dominion over
Eome.'
' Mueatori, vn., 79.
^ Chronologia, Trecis, 1609, p. 49.
' Hist. Eccl, 5, 3, 4, in Muratoei, xi., 825.
* Ap. EcoARD., II., 1665.
" Corpus chronicorum Flandria;, ed. DE Smet, 11., 613.
° Chronicon mundi, ap. ScHOTTi, Hisp. illustr., iv., 36.

Godfrey of Viterbds treatment of it 149
All the more remarkable on this account is the Godfrey of
discussion in which, at the close of the twelfth the'i^uestio^J^^
century, a man who, in a certain sense, belonged °^^°'
to both nations, engaged. Gottpried, a German,
educated in Bamberg, chaplain and secretary to
the three Hohenstaufen sovereigns — Conrad, Fre
derick, and Henry YI. — who ended his days as a
canon at Yiterbo, states in his Pantheon^ which he
dedicated to pope Urban III., a.d. 1186, that, in
order to secure greater peace to the Church, Con
stantine had withdrawn with all his pomp to the
Greeks, to Byzantium, and had given the pope
regal privileges, and, on the strength of them, as it
would appear, Eome, Italy, and Gaul. (This is the
first time that Gaul is expressly mentioned as being
included in the Donation.) Thereupon he makes
the "supporters of the empire," and the "defenders
" of the Church," state their pros and cons. The
former point to the historical fact, that Constantine
divided his kingdom between his sons, and to the
well-known texts in the Bible. The latter, how
ever, answer, that the will of God is declared in
the very fact of the Donation; that God would
allow His Church to have fallen into the error of
a possession to which it had no right, was not to
be supposed. Gottfried himself, however, does
not venture to decide; he leaves the solution of
this question to the powers that be. TiTbu?' m^kes
In the Otia imperiala (leisure hours), which a compromise.
^ Ap. PiSTORi, II., 268.

ISO DONA TfON OF CONSTANTfNE
Gervasius op Tilbury wrote for the emperor
Otho IY. about the year 1211, it is stated, that
' Constantine had conferred royal power over the
countries of the West on Silvester, without in
tending to transfer to him along with it either the
kingdom itself or the 'empire, which he reserved
for himself. But the giver is superior to the
receiver, and the royal and imperial power is
derived immediately from God. God, he says, is
the creator of the empire, but the emperor is the
creator of the papal supremacy.'
From the V On the wholo, howevor, the authority of the
twelfth to the* . ' ' *'
fourteenth Douation from the close of the twelfth century
century the . .,-.„..
Donation ouwards was m the ascendant; and beliet m it,
gains ground. i . i . ^ r. ¦ -i • ^ r^
and m the wide extent ot territory which Con
stantino included in it, grew stronger. Gratian
himself did not include it, but it was soon inserted
as " palea," ^ and thus found an entry into all
schools of canonical jurisprudence, so that from
this time forth the lawyers were the most in
fluential publishers and defenders of the fiction.
The language of the popes also was henceforward
1 198-12 16. more confident. " Omne regnum Occidentis ei
1214-1227. " (Silvestro) tradidit et dimisit,"^ says Innocent III.
Gregory IX. followed this out to its consequences
in a way surpassing anything that had been done
' Ap. Leibnit, SS. Brunsvic, i., 882.
^ But with the more moderate expression, " Itaham seu ooci-
" dentales regiones," not with the unhmited " et " of Ansehn.
* Sermo de 8. Sylvesiro, Opera, Venetiis, 1578, i., 97.

Gains in authority from iioo to 1400 151
before, when he represented to the emperor
Frederick II. , the ablest and most formidable
opponent who had yet sustained the lists against
the Eoman See, that Constantine had, along with
the imperial insignia, given over Eome with the
duchy and the imperium to the care of the popes
for ever. Whereupon the popes, without dimin
ishing in any degree whatever the substance of
their jurisdiction, established the tribunal of the
empire, transferred it to the Germans, and are
wont to concede the power of the sword to the
emperors at their coronation.'
This was as much as to say that the imperial )
authority had its sole origin in the popes, could be /
enlarged or narrowed at their good pleasure, and
that the pope could call each emperor to accountl
for the use of the power entrusted to him. But thei
highest rung of the ladder was as yet not reached.
This was first achieved by Gregory's successor. In- innocent iv.
•^ ° "^ . states the doc-
nocent iy., when the synod of Lyons resulted in trine of papal
r>-r-i i-i'- 1-1 1- supremacy in
the deposition of Frederick ; m which act this pope its widest
went beyond all his predecessors in the increase of
his claims, and the extension of the authority of
Eome. It is an error. Innocent declares, in the
year 1245, to suppose that Constantine was the
first to confer temporal power on the Eoman See ;
rather Christ Himself entrusted to Peter and his
successors both powers, the sacerdotal and the |
royal, and the reins of both kingdoms, the earthly j
? Ap. Eaynald., ad a., 1236, 24, p. 481, ed. Eom.

L^

1 5 2 DONA TfON OF CONSTANTfNE
and the heavenly. Constantine, therefore, had
merely resigned an unlawfully possessed power
into the hands of its legitimate possessor, the
Church, and had received it back again from the
Church.' Another half century, however, elapsed before
theologians were found to reduce this new doctrine
to a formal shape, and to furnish it with the usual
scholastic, and in such cases very elastic apparatus.
Under the influence of circumstances which took
place towards the end of the thirteenth century,
and of the spirit in which a IVTartin IY. and a
Boniface YIII. ruled, the use which had been
as^fonnuiated ^^^^ ^f tho Donation of Constantine assumed a
by later theo- (different form. The Dominican, Tolomeo op
logians ; '
Lucca, author of the two last books of the work
De Regimine Principum, the first two books of
which are by Thomas Aquinas, goes beyond^ his
predecessors, and explains the Donation as a formal
abdication of Constantine in favour of Silvester;^
' Cod. epist. Vatican., 4957, 49 ; Codex Vindobon. philol, 61, f. 70 —
305, f. 83. In Eaumbb, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, iv., 178 (first
edition), who quotes the Latin text. The document was not knowu
in the centuries immediately following, though the fact of Inno
cent IV. having taken up such a position was weU known, for
AlVAEO Pelato says (De Planctu Ecclesice, i., 43, about the year
1350), " CoUatio autem Constaatiai potius fuit cessio quam coUatio ;
" sic etiam fertur Innocentius IV. dixisse imperatori Erederico,
" quem deposuit."
^ These last two books were written subsequent to 1298 ; for the
putting to death of Aldolf of Nassau, by Albert, is mentioned as an
event which had already taken place.
' "Prime qiudem de Constantino apparet, qui Silvestro in im-
" perio cessit." — De Begimine principum, 3, 10. Opuscula Thomce
Aqii.in., Lugd., 1562, p. 232.

The theory pushed to its extreme limit 153
and connecting with this other historical circum
stances which are either inventions or misconcep
tions, he thence draws the conclusion, that the
power of all temporal princes derives its strength
and efficacy solely from the spiritual power of the
popes. There was no halting half way ; and
immediately afterwards, in the contest of Boni
face YIII. with Philip of France, the Augustinian
monk,' Aegidius Colonna of Eome, whom the
pope had nominated to the archbishopric of
Bourges, drew the natural conclusions without the
slightest disguise in a work which he dedicated to
his patron. Towards the middle of the century
two theologians of the papal court, Agostinq
Trionfo and Alvaro Pelayo, the one an Italian ,
the other a Spanish minorite, took the same lin)
of argument. This theory, reduced to its simplest
terms, runs thus: Christ is Lord of the whol )
world; at His departure He left this dominioi.
to His representatives, Peter and his successors!;
' If the treatise De -(Jtraque Potestate (which is found in Goldast,
Monarchia, II.) were from the pen of ^gidius, he must have pro
fessed the very opposite principles in the interest of king Philip.
But, seeing that jEgidius, as archbishop of Bourges, is found among
those prelates who went to Eome against PhiUp's wiU to the council
summoned by Boniface, and thereupon was punished with confisca
tion, one may be quite certain that the writing in question was not
composed by him. In his genuine and still unpriated work, the
substance of which is given by Chaeles Jouedain, Un ouvrage
ine'dit de Gilles de Borne, Paris, 1858, iEgidius says bluntly enough,
" Patet quod omnia temporaUa sunt sub domino Ecclesise coUooata,
" et si non de facto, quoniam multi forte huic juri rebellantur, de
" jure tamen et ex debito temporalia summo pontifici sunt subjecta,
" a quo jure et a quo debito nuUatenus possunt absolvi," p. 13.

1 54 DONA TfON OF CONSTANTfNE

And reduced
to its simplest
terms.

This extreme
statement the
result of pre
vious objec
tions.

The lawyers
denied the
Donation all
validity except
that of pre
scription.

therefore the fulness of all spiritual and temporal
power and dominion, the union of all rights and
privileges, lies in the hands of the pope. Every
monarch, even the most powerful, possesses only
so much power and territory as the pope has
transferred to him, or finds good to allow him.
Teionpo says without reservation, that if an
emperor, like Constantine, has given temporal
possessions to Silvester, this is merely a restitution
, of what had been stolen in an unjust and tyrannical
Way.' This theory, utterly unknown to the earlier
popes and to the whole of Christendom, was
invented in the first instance in order to meet the
objections to the Donation of Constantine. For
there were not wanting persons who declared that
Constantine had no power to make such a suicidal
Donation, so ruinous to the empire. An emperor
could not tear in pieces the empire, for this was in
direct contradiction to his office.^
The French advocate, Peter Dubois, at Cou-
tances declared, in his opinion about the Bull of
' Summa de ecclesia, 94, 1.
' Brought out more in detail by Dante, for example, in the De
Monarchia, 3, 10; Opere Minori, ed. di FraticelU, Pirenze, 1857, n.,
460. ["Ergo sciadere Imperium, Imperatori non hcet. Si ergo
" aliqusB dignitates per Constantinum essent alienatse (ut dicunt)
" ab Imperio," &c. Here the sceptical " ut dicunt " shows that
Dante doubted the fact as well as the rightfulness of the Donation.
So also "Dicunt quidam adhuc, quod Constantinus Imperator,
" mundatus a lepra intercessione Sylvestri, tunc summi pontificis,
" imperii sedem, scihcet Eomam, donavit ecclesiaa, cum multis aliis
" imperii dignitatibus."]

fnvalid from the first 155

Boniface YIII. to Philip, that the Donation was
from the first legally null and void ; all lawyers
were unanimous in maintaining this, only the very
long prescription conferred on it at the present
time a legal validity.'
Contemporaneously with him the Dominican,
John Quidort of Paris, magister of the theological
faculty there (died a.d. 1306), in his book On the
Regal and Papal Power, contended against the
Donation of Constantine, for, as all lawyers- main
tained, the emperor, as semper Augustus, could
only enlarge, not diminish the empire ; on the
contrary, such a mutilation of the empire, of which
he was only the administrator, might be set aside
by each of his successors as null and void.^
From the time that the harmonious relations
between the empire and the papacy were destroyed,
and one conflict after another between the two
powers arose with a sort of inherent necessity, and
the transfer of the papacy into French hands made
the restoration of due relations impossible (that is
to say, from the death of Frederick II. to the death
of Lewis the Bavarian, 1250-1346), the Donation
of Constantine was perpetually mentioned in the
various memorials, opinions, and apologies, which
had reference to the contest. The defenders of
the imperial cause, appealing to the prevailing
' Ap. DmPUY, Histoire du Differend Preuves, p. 46.
^ Fratris Johannis de Pabisus tract, de Potestate reg. et pap.,
in SoHAEDll Coll. de Jurisdictione imp., p. 208 sq.

1 5 6 DONA TfON OF CONSTANTfNE
view of the civil jurists, usually without circum
locution pronounced the Donation null and void or
obsolete.' One of the ablest and acutest contenders
for the imperial power, the Itlinorite JMarsiglio op
Padua, does not quite know how he stands towards
it. " Some say that Constantine conferred the
" privilege on the pope," is the expression he uses ;
but he then goes on to say that those in the papal
interest, either because the document was not clear
and comprehensive enough, or had become obsolete,
or had never been legally valid, had invented this
entirely new theory of a universal, spiritual, and
temporal power derived immediately from Christ
The Donation tho God-mau.^ But ovou this Marsiglio found the
a very double- -r-. • o /-,
edged weapon. Donation of Constantino a welcome weapon against
the primacy of the Eoman See in general, for from
it it was very easy to draw the conclusion that
even the ecclesiastical supremacy of the pope over
all other churches and bishops rested merely on
the grant of the emperor, and therefore on a
purely human, perishable, and in such things
properly invalid right.^ Marsiglio knew well how
to turn this Weak spot to good account.

Continued un
certainty as to
the extent of

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the
the Donation, samo amouut of Uncertainty and arbitrariness as
' So the author of the inquiry, Whether the pope had power to
enforce an armistice on the Emperor, Henry Vll., in DoENNIGES, Acta
Henrid vii., II., 158.
^ Denfensor pads, Heidelberg, 1599, p. 101.
" I. c, p. 203.

Doubt as to the extent of it 157

before continued to prevail in the definitions
respecting the real extent of the Donation. In
the decretal of pope Nicholas III. merely the
cession of Eome to the popes by Constantine is
mentioned, in accordance with the special object of
this document.' In the form of oath which the
emperor, Henry YIL, had to take before his
coronation, Clement Y. made this monarch swear
that he would protect and uphold all the rights
which the emperors, and Constantine of course
first of all, had granted to the Eoman Church,
without however going on to state in what these
rights consisted.^ John XXIL, in his refutation
of Marsiglio of Padua, in the year 1327, merely
mentions in passing the fact that Constantine had
given up the imperial city to Silvester, quoting
the words of the Donation.^ The oldest, or second
oldest commentator on Dante, the compiler of the
Ottimo Com.mento, who wrote in the year 1333,
contents himself with the indefinite statement that
Constantine had given Silvester " all the dignity
" of the empire."*
The author of the commentary on Dante, which
was written in the year 1375, states quite simply
that Constantine gave to the pope and the Church
' In VI. to 1, 6, 17. "^ Clementin, 9, de jur. ej.
3 Ap. Eaynald, a., 1327, 31.
* L' Ottimo Commento delta divina Commedia, Pisa, 1827, 1355.
Petee Aueeoli says very much the same (about the year 1316) ;
" Honor imperii translatus est in personam Silvestri et in Eom.
" ecclesiam." — Aurea Sripturce Eluddatio, Venetiis, s., a. f. 89.

1 5 8 DONA TfON OF CONSTANTfNE
exactly what the pope possesses to this day ; ' in
opposition to which a later commentator, GuiNi-
FORTO DELLI Bargigi, is convinced that only " the
" patrimony in Tuscany, in the neighbourhood of
" Eome," is included in the Donation.^
EuDOLP or Pandulf Colonna,^ canon of Sienna,
and probably a Eoman by birth (fourteenth
century), gives the Donation once more the widest
extent of meaning, including "Eome, Italy, and
" all western kingdoms."* Nicolas of Clamengb
himself says without any hesitation, that Constantine
conferred the western empire on the Eoman Church,
and intended the cardinals to be senators of it.^
French theoio- In France efforts were made to secure the
save France couutry agaiust tho consequonces which were
ciudedTnfhe' drawu, or might be drawn, from the extent of a
Donation which embraced the whole of the West.
' Chiose sopra Dante, testo inedito, Pirenze, 1846, p. 161.
" Lo Inferno, col comento di G. d. B., pubbl. da G. Zacheeoni,
Fttenze, 1838, p. 456.
' Not Eaoul de Coloumelle, canon [ of Chartres, as the Histoire
litteraire de la France, xxi., 151, represents him. The Histoire
itself notices that the author in two manuscripts of his smaU work
is called " Canonicus Senensis," and only ia one " Canonicus Camo-
" tensis." A Frenchman would have expressed himself differently
respecting the " translatio imperii a Prancis ad Germanos,'' and would
not have contented himself with saying merely, " Eegnum mundi
" translatum est ad Germanos vel Teutonicos," p. 297. The whole
historical view is taken from the standpoint of a Eoman ecclesiastic ;
and the author gives one pretty clearly to understand that he is a
Eoman ecclesiastic by noticing that pope Hadrian was by birth " de
" regione Vise latEe," p. 292. Moreover, Eadulf has copied MarsUius
of Padua, or the latter has copied him, as one can see by comparing
them ia Schaedius, p. 287 and p. 226.
* De translatione imperii, in SCHAEDIUS, p. 287.
" De annatis non solvcndis, Opeia, ed. LvNDIUS, p. 92.

Donation.

The truth begins to be known 159
The Parisian theologian, Jacob Almain, contends
therefore that Constantine had no power whatever
to transfer the empire to the pope without the
consent of the people ; ' and in the second place, that
the kingdom of Gaul at any rate could not have
been included, for the Eomans had never been
masters of Gaul, and the people of Gaul had never
of their own accord voted for submitting to Eoman
rule. He seems to have had no misgivings as to
the extent to which the Celtic population of Gaul
had allowed themselves to become Eomanized.
Almain maintains moreover that it is the common
opinion of doctors generally, that as a matter of
fact Constantine did not resign the empire.^
LuPOLD OP Babenbeeg in the fourteenth century, Lupoid of
/-\ 1 -r, T-i ¦ IT 1 Babenberg
in his treatise On the Roman Empire, dedicated to sees the truth,
Baldwin, archbishop of Treves (1307-1354), dis- venture to
.cusses the Donation very thoroughly while investi
gating the question whether the king of Eome
had to take the oath of a vassal to the Eoman See.^
The discussion with him means nothing less than
the decision of the still wider question, whether
1 Contradicente populo occidentah." Ap. Geeson, Opp. 11., 971,
cf. p. 1063.
^ " Quod resignaverit imperium occidentale, nunquam legitur."
It is remarkable how uncertain people were even at this late date
(Almain wrote about the year 1510) respecting a fact so unmistake-
able. If one considers to what a high degree of historical discern
ment some writers attamed even as early as the twelfth century, one
might almost say, that ia this direction, and in aU that relates to a
rational understanduig of history, the movement for three whole
centuries was a retrogression rather than an advance.
' Ap. SOHAED, p. 391.

1 60 DONA TfON OF CONSTANTfNE
the pope is really the suzerain of the German
empire and possessor of the dominium directum,
so that in all countries of the empire all that
accrues to the emperor is the dominium utile.
Hence we once more meet with the most different
opinions as to the validity or nullity of the Dona
tion ; whereupon Lupoid remarks that all canonists
are wont to maintain that the Donation is legally
valid and irrevocable. But then the other king
doms of the West must have stood in the same
relation of vassaldom to the pope. Lupoid, how
ever, is keen-sighted enough to see through the
unhistorical character of the whole fiction. He
knows that the emperors ruled over the West just
as much after Constantino's time as before it ; and
he himself had found passages in the ecclesiastical
law-books which speak merely of giving up the
city of Eome to the pope. In the end, however
(belief in the Donation was at that time still so
powerful), he does not venture to come to a decision,
but prefers to leave the settlement of the matter to
higher powers.
The legal _ From a legal point of view the matter remained
remains' oVen./JTJst as debatable as ever. It was not, however,
easy to explain how Constantine, as elective
lemperor (and the old Eoman emperors were sup
posed to have been elective like the German ones),
could have given away half the empire. In a
treatise which, so far as I am aware, has never
been printed, and which seems to have been written

Still continues to be defended 1 6 1
.  *  ^ 
in the time of Lewis of Bavaria in reference to his
contests,' the question is discussed, whether in virtue
of his election the emperor can forthwith and im
mediately exercise control over the whole realm, or
whether he needs to be empowered by the pope to do
so. In consequence of the Donation of Constantine,
says the author, the whole jurisdiction of the em
peror became dependent on confirmation by the
pope ; but, on the other hand, it must be admitted
that the rights and constituent parts of the realm
could not be alienated so arbitrarily, without the
consent of the princes, barons, and high officials.^
On the other hand the Donation is defended a new defence
towards the end of the fifteenth century by the nation.
Strasburg parish priest, John Hug of Schlettstadt,
in his Wagenfuhr der h. Kirche und des Romischen
Reichs, which he dedicated to cardinal Eaymond
of Gurk (1493-1505). AccuRSius, he says, has
declared the gift to be invalid on account of its
extravagance, but John Teutonicus, the anno-
tator of the Decretum (of Gratian), has proved its
immutable validity from the Clementines,^ which
have inserted the Donation into the imperial oath.
• Brevis tractatus de jurisdictione imperii et anctoritate surnmi
Pontificis circa imperium. Cod. Lat. 5832 in the National Library at
Munich, f. 121, ff.
2 "Sed contra hoc est, quod jura imperii ahenari non possunt
" quum sint bona republicse, quse sme pubUcis ofScialibus dispensari
" non possunt, ut sunt principes et barones et quorum interest
" assistere ministerio imperiaU aulse diversorum apicum," £ 123.
3 [The Constitutiones Glementince are that part of the corpus juris
c inonid which contains the decrees of the council of Vienne (a.d.
1311), together with decrees of Clement V. ; published in 1313.]
M

1 62 DONATfON OF CONSTANTfNE

Extension given to the
Donation by
German law
books.

The German law-books have given the Donation
of Constantine a remarkable extension, inasmuch
as they maintain that Constantine gave to Silvester
the civil or king's bann to the amount of sixty
shillings, " in order to compel all those who will
" not reform themselves for corporal punishment, to
" be compelled to do so by means of fines."' This
is a specific German invention, utterly unknown
to the Eomance nations. The sense is as follows :
in consequence of the wide and indefinite sphere
of the ecclesiasticaP courts, it became a custom in
Germany that the ecclesiastical judges should
impose fines, levying them themselves, for various
crimes, some of which belonged entirely to the
municipal jurisdiction ; an abuse which Alex
ander III. had forbidden as early as the year 1180,
but to no purpose. As an authority for this
abnormal custom was wanted, and none could be
found, the Donation of Constantine — that large
and inexhaustible treasury from which political
and municipal privileges could be drawn just as
they were wanted — was obliged here also to be
brought into use.^
• Sacksenspiegel, v. Homeyee, i., 238 (3, 63). Das BechtsbiKh nach
Distinctionen, edited by Oetlopf, p. 325 (6, 16). Schwahenspiegel ,
in Senokenbbeo, Corp. jur. Germ., ii., 10.
^ [These ecclesiastical courts (Send-gerichte, synodus) were held
by the bishop, or archdeacon, or their substitute (Sendrichter) to
try ecclesiastical offences, especially profanation of the Lord's day,
and other violations of the decalogue.]
' The cardinals, D'Ailly and ZabereUa, on behalf of the bishops
and their oflSoials, lodged complaints respecting these fiscal gains of
the eccle.siastical courts Jsefore the council of Constance, and re-

Two contradictory estimates of it 1 63
In the ideas of the people and laity generally. Among the
the Donation 01 Constantine had meanwhile ac- posite views of
, ., - . . . . „ the Donation
quired another and more comprehensive signiti- prevailed:
canoe. In the whole of the later Middle Ages we ^j. ^^^' '' ^""^
see two diametrically opposite currents prevailing.
On the one side the effort to furnish the Church f^f ^'"=^^"
lent ;
with considerable donations, to create for her a 2. That the
-\ !• -, • r. -iTi wealth of the
broad foundation of extensive landed property, Church was a
and to raise the number and condition of clergy self, and disas-
living on ecclesiastical endowments ; but side by effects on the

all other
Church en
dowments

side with this the view which had been making
way ever since the twelfth century, that the great
possessions and large revenues of the Church were
a grievous evil, the sources of nearly all existing
abuses, and the causes of a moral deterioration of
the clergy.' This view gradually assumed a form
quested that provision might be made against them (ap. v. d. Haedt,
Condi Const., I., p. 8, p. 421, and p. 9, p. 524). But the mischief
continued in Germany, and contributed not a little to the general
bitterness against the hierarchy and the clergy, as one sees from the
Gravamina nationis Germanicai, c. 64, of the year 1522, not to mention
other indications of the same fact.
' [We find this expressed in very strong language in some of the
political and satirical songs of the thirteenth and following centuries.
Such songs took a new tone in England just about that age. The
civil commotions of the reign of John, and the weak government of
Henry IIL, afforded every party abundance of material for satire,
and plenty of opportunity for giving it free utterance. The clerk
with his Latin, the courtier with his Anglo-Norman, and the people
with their vigorous old English, all had their word to say. It may
be worth while to gi^e a few examples from Mr. Weight's collection
of The Political Songs of England.
" Eoma muiidi caput est, sed nil capit mundum ;
Quod pendet a capite totum est inmundum ;
Transit enim vitium primum in secundum,
Et de fundo redolct quod est juxta f undum.
M 2

clergy.

1 64 DONATfON OF CONSTANTfNE
of serious and threatening import to the clerical
body, as the notion was developed out of it that
originally the clergy had been poor, had lived

" Eoma capit singulos et res singulorum ;
Eomanorum curia non est nisi forum.
Ibi sunt venalia jura senatorum,
Et solvit contraria copia nummorum."
" Solam avaritiam Eoma novit parca,
Parcit danti munera, parco non est parca :
Nummus est pro numine, et pro Marco marca,
Et est minus Celebris ara quam sit area," &c., &c.
From the Invectio contra avaritiam about the time of the interdict.
" Jacet ordo clericahs
In respectu laicaUs,
Sponsa Christi fit venalis,
G«nerosa generaUs ;
Veneunt altaria,
Venit eucharistia,
Cum sit nugatoria
Gratia venalis."
Prom a Song against the Bishops, about 1250.
" Les contre-estanz abatent U fiz de felonie ;
Lors perit seinte eglise, quant orgoil la mestrie.
Ceo sustenent li prelaz ki s'i ne peinent mie.
Pur dreiture sustenir nolent perdre vie."
Prom a Song of the Times, about 1275.
See also Pierce the Ploughman's Crede (about 1394) passim, and
the pelican's charges against the clergy in the Complaint of the
Ploughman^ [Walther von der Vogelweide siags thus on the subject : —
" Soit ich den pfaffen r^ten an den trinwen min ;
s6 sprEBohe ir haut den armen zuo ' se daz ist din,'
ir zunge sunge unde Ueze manegem man daz sin;
Gedsehten ouch daz si durch Got e w&ren ahnnosnjere :
do gap in erste geltes teil der kiinec Constantin.
Het er gewest daz d& von iibel kiinftec wsere,
so het er wol underkomen des riches swsere ;
wan daz si d6 waren kische und iibermiiete Isere."
No. Ill, p. 113, Simrock's edition, Bonn, 1870.
His poems abound in anti-papal sentiments.]

The cause of deterioration in the clergy 165
solely upon freewill offerings, and had remained
poor upon principle, until Constantine by his
Donation had put an end to the former state of
poverty, especially in Eome, and pope Silvester by
his acceptance of it had given an example eagerly
followed by the clerical body generally, and had
ineradicably implanted in them the passion for
acquiring wealth. The yiew that the wealth of
the Church was the great obstacle in the way of
all clerical reform gained ground more and more.
Sectarianism, which from the middle of the twelfth
century onwards assumed numerous and various
shapes in Italy, France, and Germany, made
common cause with this view, or fostered it and
spread it assiduously. It ended in becoming parti
and parcel of public opinion.
It was precisely this which won for the fabulous
Donation of Constantine such universal acceptance,
that the fiction so exactly corresponded to the
feeling and need of the people at that time. The
Middle Ages, with their natural propensity to
imagine definite actors, and an act producing effects
once for all, in the case of circumstances which
really had been gradually and slowly developed,
could not account for the fact that the formerly
poor Church had gradually become rich, otherwise!
than by representing this change as having been
instantaneous. The Church, which till yesterday
had been utterly without property, became sud
denly possessed of a superabundance of earthly

i66 DONATfON OF CONSTANTfNE

The fiction of
the Donation
harmonisedadmirably
with this
second view.

goods, through the acts of the two Heads, the
' imperial giver, and the accepting pope. And
,rtherewith, said numberless persons, the hitherto
closed Pandora-box had been opened for the Church ;
all the evils from which she was suffering were to
be attributed to this source of mischief.' Even
men, who stood on the heights in their own age,
saw the matter thus, and their grief at the in
firmities of the Church, the degeneracy of the
clergy, and the ceaseless conflict between the
', spiritual and temporal power, clothed itself in
.lamentations over Constantino's well-meant, but
ill-advised munificence. Thus two contemporaries,
Vhose sentiments agree in many points, Dante ^

' With what naivete even ecclesiastics and historians up to the
close of the Middle Ages placed themselves quite at the stand-point
of the popular view, is shown from the foUowing passage of the
monk Bbenhaed M'ittb (about a.d. 1510) in his Historia, West-
phalice, Monast., 1775, p. 61 : " Silvestro pontificante . . . ecclesiarum
"¦ Prselati, qui hactenus in paupertate vixerunt, imo nihil habentes
" et omnia possidentes, possessiones habere inceperunt."
•' Inf, XIX., 115-17:
[" Ahi Constantin, di quanto mal fa matre,
Non la tua conversion, ma quella dote,
Che da te prese il prime ricco patre !"
" Ah, Constantine ! of how much UI was mother.
Not thy conversion, but that marriage dower.
Which the first wealthy Father took from thee !"
Longfellow's Translata'on.
Dante deplores the supposed Donation no less heartily in the De
Monarchia : " 0 felicem populum ! 0 Ausoniam te gloriosam ! si
" vel numquam iofirmator imperii tui extitisset ; vel numquam sua
" pia intentio ipsum fefellisset." Lib. n., sub finem.
Aeiosto places the Donation in the moon, among the things
which have been lost or abused on earth :

Dante's view of it < 167
and Ottokar of Hoenbck. The form.er especially
bewails avarice and simony, as the unhallowed
fruit of that Donation ; but the latter says Con
stantine added a sword, which they did not know
how to wield, to the stole of the priests, and thus
broke the strength of the empire.'
This view, that the Donation had brought ruin
into the Church, assumed in that legend-producing
age the form of an actual occurrence. An ange

" Di varj fieri ad un gran monte passa,
Ch' ebber gia buono odore, or puzzan forte,
Questo era il dono (se pero dir lece)
Che Constantino al buon SUvestro fece."
Orl. Fur., c. xxxiv., st. 80. _
" Then passed he to a flowery mountain green,
Which once smelt sweet, now stinks as odiously ;
This was that gift, if you the truth ^t11 have.
That Constantine to good Silvester gave."
Milton's Translation. Prose Works, i., p. 11, ed. 1753.
From Gary's note on Dante, Inf, xix., 118. ^-^
But perhaps the strongest passage in Dante agaiast the Donation
is Par. XX., 55, where Constantine is found in Paradise, in spite of
the Donation. " Lo altro, che segue, con le leggi e meco
Sotto buona intenzion, che fe mal frutto,
Per cedere al pastor si fece Greco :
Ora conosce, come U mal dedutto
Dal suo bene bene operar non U e nocivo,
Avvegna che sia U mondo indi distrutto."
" The next who follows (Constantine), with the laws aud me.
Under the good intent that bore bad fruit
Became a Greek by ceding to the pastor ;
Now knoweth he how all the ill deduced
From his good action is not harmful to him.
Although the world thereby may be destroyed."
Longfellow's Translation.]
1 Cap. 448, in Pez., m., 446.

1 68 DONATfON OF CONSTANTfNE
The angel's was Said to havo cried from heaven, " Woe ! woe !
the Donation. " This day hath poison been infused into the
Church." The legend is to be found as early as
the commencement of the thirteenth' century, in
Walther von der Wogelweide. " The angel hath
" told us true," says this poet, but he is thinking
chiefiy of the weakening of the empire, which ap
pears to him to be the evil fruit of the Donation :
" alle viirsten lebent nft mit Sren,
wan der hohste ist geswachet,
daz hat der pfaffen wal gemachet." ^
So, also, the Strasburg chronicler, Konigshofen.
" Then was a voice heard over all Eome, which
" said, ' This day hath gall and venom flowed into
" ' holy Christendom,' and know ye that this also
" is source and ground of all war between popes ^
" and emperors."
Contemplation of the mischief which the hatred
between Lewis the Bavarian and the French
popes had created, moved the Minorite John op
^ [Simrock assigns this poem to a.d. 1198. The one in which the
poet talks of haviag sung for forty years, " von minnen und als
" iemen sol," is assigned to the year 1228. This would place his
birth about 1168. He took part ui the sixth crusade, and probably
died soon after his return.]
' [That is, " aU the princes now live with honours, since the
highest (the emperor) is weakened. The election of the clergy has
brought about this." No. 5, p. 36, Simrock's edition.]
' In the Vienna manuscript. Hist. Eccles., 29, fol. 64 (a.d. thirteenth
century), the reason given for the voice of the angel is, " quia (eccle-
" sia) major est dignitate, minor rehgione." The story about the
angel is found also ia the Chron. Monast. Mcllicensis, in Pez, Scr.
Austr., I., 182, in the chronicle of Theoboee Engelhusen, in
Leibnitz, Scr. Brunsvic, ii., 1034.

The angel's lament over it 169
Winterthur also to complain, that " at this time
" one sees plainly enough how truly the angel
" spoke, in saying that through that well-meant, but
" in its consequences most unhappy, rich dota-
" tion and fat present, which Constantino conferred,
" poison had flowed into the Church."'
Even theologians were not ashamed to appeal to Even theoio-
gians quote
the saying of the angel. John op Paris con- theangei.
eludes from it that the Donation had displeased^
God. A hundred years after him Dietrich Vrie,
an Augustinian at Osnabruck, says, that poison
certainly at that time had been administered to
the Church, but yet only through the abuse of the
Donation ; for wealth in itself was by no means a
calamity for the Church.^ At last this saying of
the angel passed into a proverb, common even in
the mouth of the lower orders.*
At first, however, this angel, who proclaimed
the poisoning of the Church, seems to have been
a fallen one. For the first who narrates the
miracle, Giraldus Cambrensis (about the year
1180), (and, as bishop Pecock op Chichester
(1450) assures us, the other chroniclers merely
copy Giraldus,) makes the "old enemy" speak
1 Ap. EocAED, I., 1889.
^ Ap. SCHAED, Sylloge, p. 210.
' Hist. Condi. Const., ap. VoN dee Haedt, i.. 111.
* Ab omnibus recitatur, tempore quo Constantinus M. incolpit ^y ,
dotare ecclesiam, audita est vox in acre : " Hodie effusum vene-
" num in ecclesia." Jo. Majoe de pot. Papce. In Geeson's Works,
n., 1159.

I70 DONATfON OF CONSTANTfNE
the words.' At any rate, this " evil one " shortly
afterwards transformed himself into an angel of
light.
The Donation The sccts of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries,
the'sfcTs of the ospocially the Catharists and Waldenses, proceeded

Middle Ages.

on the principle, that every possession of the
Church was in itself objectionable, and that it was
damnable for the Church to devote anything more
than the mere freewill offerings of the moment,
towards supplying means of life to the clergy.
The^ endowment, therefore, of the Church by
Constantine was considered by them as a decisive
turning-point, involving the ruin of the Church,
nay, its utter destruction. Until Silvester, they
' "The oold enemy made thilk voice ia the eir." Pecock's
Bepressor, ed. by Chuechill Babington, London, 1860, p. 351.
According to Pecock's statement, the passage is to be found in the
Cosmographia Hibernioe of Giraldus. It is not in the printed Topo-
graphia llibernias ; but it is possibly in the still unprinted Descriptio
Mundi of Giraldus.
^ [Tills was the doctrine so widely spread by the Abbot Joachim
of Piore, Dolcino of Novara, and the Fraticelli. The primitive
Chm-ch had held that poverty was better than riches. That period
had come to an end with Silvester. Since his time all popes had
been prevaricators and deceivers, except Celestine V. He alone had
understood and practised the blessed state of poverty. The Cathari
argued that, as Constantiae's empire was one of wrong and violence,
and he had ceded it to Silvester, the popes since Silvester were
successors to an unrighteous kingdom, not to an apostolic Church.
This view had its effect also on the various prophecies which were
chculated in the fourteenth century under the name of Joachim,
and others. See a most interesting essay by Dr. Dollingee in
Eaumer's llistorisches Taschenbuch, Leipzig, 1871, on Der Weis-
sagungsglaube und das Prophetenthum in der christlichen Zeit, -p-p. 264,
265, 282, 283.]

of the Church.

View of the mediceval sects 171
said, the Church existed ; in him it fell, and became
extinct by receiving from the hand of Constantine
riches and worldly power, until it was once more
revived by the " Poor men of Lyons." ' With the
end of its poverty ended the very existence of the
Church : property was the poison of which it died.
Silvester is, therefore, that mighty, bold, and Silvester is
crafty king prophesied of in DanieP viii. 24, who the destroyer
destroys "the people of the holy ones" — [das
Yolk der Heiligen ; — so the Hebrew, and the
margin of the English version] . He is also Anti
christ, the Man of Sin, and Son of Perdition, of
whom S. PauP speaks [2 Thess. ii. 3]. Yaldez,
on the other hand, the founder of the " Poor men
" of Lyons," is the Elias, who, according to the
words of Christ (Matt. xvii. 11), shall come and
restore all things. Later, however, the Waldenses
discovered that a church which for eight hundred
1 Eainbe. Sacchoni, in Martene Thesaur. v., 1775, Moneta; Advers
Cathar. et Vald., p. 412.
2 [" And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the trans-
" gressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and
" understanding dark sentences, shaU stand up. And his power
" shaU be mighty, but not by his own power ; and he shall destroy
" wonderfuUy, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the
" mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he
" shaU cause craft to prosper in his hand ; and he shall magnify
" himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many : he shall
" also stand up against the Prince of princes, but he shall be
" broken without hand." (Daniel viu. 23-25.) Only by considering
SUvester as haviag become, through the Donation, potentially a
Gregory VIL, an Innocent ELL, a Boniface VIIL, can we understand
how this prophecy could ever have been quoted as referriog to
him.] ' Moneta, iv., 263.

172 DONATfON OF CONSTANTfNE
years, from Silvester to Yaldez, had entirely
vanished, and then had been called into existence
again out of nothing, was a nonentity. They
maintained, therefore, that their sect or church had
not had its first beginning with Yaldez, but had
already been in existence in the time' of Silvester,
and that since that pope all the clergy, and those
who followed them, were damned.^ The name
Leonenses (i.e. of Lyons) then gave occasion to
the invention of a Leo as the supposed founder of
the sect. A pious man of this name in the time
of Constantine, " disciple and fellow of pope
" Silvester," is said to have separated from the
now wealthy pope, in order to show his abhor
rence of the latter's avarice, and serve the Lord
in voluntary^ poverty.
This notion, that utter poverty of the clergy,
and rejection of all property, were among the
conditions of the Church's existence, and that,
consequently, Constantine and Silvester were the
authors of the Church's ruin, was at that time
so prevalent, and so much in harmony with the
characteristics of the age, that it was always reap
pearing. The DuLciNiSTS* or Apostolic Brethren
' Peteus db Piliohdoef ; contra Waldenses, Bibl. Patr. Lugd.,
XXV., 278.
" De hceresi Paup. de Lugd., ap. Maetene, Thes. v., 1779.
^ So CoNEAD Justingee in Bern, about a.d. 1420, in his chronicle
of Bern.
* [The followers of Doloino of Novaea. Clement V. condemned
him and others to death. His flesh was torn away from his body
with hot pincers, and his limbs then wrenched off, a.d. 1304.]

The beginning of the end 173
at the beginning of the fourteenth century, who
aspired to realise the primitive Church in its purity,
as they conceived it, said that it was Silvester who
had reopened the doors of human society and of
the Church to Satan.' Dolcino himself, in his
first letter to Christendom, declared Silvester to
be the angel of Pergamus, who " dwells where
" Satan's seat is." (Eev. ii. 13.)
The English precursor of Protestantism, Wy- WycUfofthe
CLIP, shared this view. Constantine, he says,
foolishly injured himself and the clergy, in
burdening the Church so heavily with temporal
goods.^ In the Trialogus he represents Antichrist
as produced by the Donation of Constantine,
and thence deduces the downfall of the Eoman
empire.^ The days of the Donation of Constantine were. The fiction ex-
however, numbered. Already, in the year 1443, ^^Teas Sylvius
iENEAS Sylvius Piccolomini, afterwards pope coun^n't'oprc^
Pius IL, then secretary to Frederick III., had re- SiSl'Si
commended that emperor to summon a fresh ^'^^'
council, at which, among other things, the question
of the Donation of Constantine, " which caused
" perplexity to many souls," should on Frederick's
' " Quando paupertas fuit mutata ab ecclesia per S. Sylvestrum,
" tunc sanctitas vitee fuit subtracta ecclesije et diabolus inttavit —
" in hunc mundum." So the Dulcinist Peter of Lucca, in Lim-
" BOECH hist, inquis., p. 360.
^ Thomas Waldensis, Doctrin. fidei, ed. Blanciotti, ii., 708,
quotes his words from his book De Papa.
3 Tracts and Treatises, ed. Vaughan, 1845, p. 174.

174 DONATfON OF CONSTANTfNE
proposal be finally decided. He himself was well
known to be convinced of its unauthenticity, and
he notices that neither in "the ancient historians
nor in Damasus, that is, in the Pontifical book, was
anything about it to be found. Its unauthenticity,
therefore, was to be proclaimed by the council, and
iEneas joined with this the arriere pensee, that
Frederick should again take possession of at least
a part of the territory included in the Donation,
as belonging to the empire, and thus gain a firm
basis in the peninsular for the imperial power,
which otherwise would vanish into air.'
Three assail- Three mou appeared almost simultaneously in
Donation; the middle of the fifteenth century, to prove on
cock'," cardinal historical grouuds, that the fact of the Donation no
Vaik. °'^"^° less than the document was an invention ; — Eegi
nald Pecock, bishop of Chichester, cardinal
Cusa, and Lorenzo Yalla. In contrast to the
uncertain vacillation ^ of Cusa, Pecock's exactness
of historical investigation, an exactness propor
tionate to his knowledge of authorities, is very
remarkable.^ In Paris, where scholasticism still
' Pentalogus, in Pez, Thes. Anecd. iv., p. 3, 679.
^ The passage out of liis Concordant ia Catholica is printed in
Beown, Fasciculus, i., 157.
^ Bepressor, p. 361-67. [Pecock gives eight reasons for maintain
ing that the Donation is a fiction, most of them tolerably conclusive ;
e. g. the silence of Damasus, who mentions other small gifts of
Constantine ; the silence of credible historians ; the fact that Con
stantine bequeathed the very territory in question to his sons, and
that Boniface IV. asked the emperor Phocas to give him the
Pantheon as a church, a u. 608, &c., &c. By " Damasus " Pecock no
doubt means the Lilier Pontifiadis or An'istusius (falsely so called).

Pecock, Ctisa and Valla deny the fact 175
held the sceptre, criticism had not advanced so far
as this fifty years later, as Almain shows. Yalla
certainly went much farther than Pecock and
Cusa ; he undertook to prove that the pope had no
right to the possession of Eome, and the States of
the Church in particular, that he was " tantum
" Yicarius Christi et non etiam Caesaris." His
treatise was rather an artistic, rhetorical produc
tion, an eloquent declamation, than a calm historical
investigation.' He himself considered it as the
chef d'ceuvre of his eloquence. And yet after
his treatise had been circulated everywhere, and
had caused the greatest excitement, Yalla was
invited to Eome by Nicolas Y., taken into the
service of the pope, and received both from
Nicolas Y. and from Calixtus III., various marks
of favour, without any retractation whatever being
required of him.
The jurists meanwhile did not allow themselves The canonists,
to be put out of countenance, and held fast to the profesTore^of"^
fiction for about a hundred years longer.^ Anto- maintain hs
NiNUS, archbishop of Florence, calls attention to ''^^"'''y-
the fact that the passage in Gratian's decretals
does not exist in the more ancient manuscripts of the
collection, but, at the same time, remarks that the
which was usually quoted as a work of pope Damasus in the
Middle Ages.]
' POGGIALI, Memorie di Lorenzo Valla, Piacenza, 1790, p. 119.
^ " Apud Canonistas nulla ambigiiitas est, quin perpetua firmitate
" subnixasit," says Peter of Audio, De imperio Bomano, p. 42, in the
Tractatas varii de B. G. imp. regimine, Norimb., 1657.

176 DONATfON OF CONSTANTfNE
legists (professors of civil law) disputed the legal
validity of the Donation, while the canonists and
theologians upheld it. He himself adopts the idea'
of a universal dominion of the pope, resting on a
divine dispensation, and accordingly sees in the
Donation nothing more than a restitution. Mean
while, defenders of its legal authenticity were not
wanting even among the professors of civil law.^
Above all others Bartolo must be mentioned here
(about 1350), to whom formerly, as Tiraboschi says,
almost divine honour was paid. But as he calls
attention to the territory in which he and his
hearers happen to be, he lets one divine his true
Its last de- meaning.' On the other hand, Nicolas Tudeschi,
who was considered by his contemporaries as the
greatest of all canonists, declares that he who
denies the Donation lies under the suspicion* of
heresy. Cardinal P. P. Parish's, and the Spanish
bishop, Arnold Albertinus, declare the same.
Whosoever pronounces the Donation to be null
and void, says the latter, comes very near to
heresy ; but whosoever maintains that it never

^ The passage out of his Pars /iisforiaZts is foundin Beown Pascic
1 , 159.
^ The jurists had discovered a passage in proof of the Donation
even in the Corpus juris civUis. That is to say, Cod. 5, 27, in a law
of the emperor Zeno, they read, " Divi Constantini, qui . . . Eo-
" manum minuit imperium," instead of " munivit."
^ " Videte, quianos sumus in terris Ecclesice, idcirco dico quod iUa
" donatio valeat." In prosem., ff. n. 14.
* Consil. 84, n. 2, in cap. per venerabUem, and elsewhere. Com
pare Feancisoi Buesati Cvnsilia, Venet., 1572, i., 359.

maintain it.

Abandoned by all as a fiction 177
took place at all is in a still worse case.' Anto
nius,^ EosELLus, and Ludwig Gomez ^ are of the
same opinion ; and cardinal Hieronymus Albano
declares thus much at least, that there exist shame
less persons who refuse to submit to the " unanimis
" consensus tot ac tantorum Patrum," respecting
the Donation ; or, according to the expression of
Petrds Igneus, to the " tota academia Canonis-
" tarum et Legistarum," with the whole host ol
theologians to boot.* But after cardinal Baronius sinceBaronius
,.. p surrendered it
had once for all confessed the unauthenticity 01 no one has
the Donation, all these voices, which had shortly riousiy to
before been so numerous and so loud, became
dumb. Only one remark more need be added in con
clusion. In consequence of its naturalization
among the Greeks, the Donation in its full extent
found admittance even into Eussia, for it exists
in the Kormczaia Kniga, the Corpus juris
canonici of the Grasco-Slavonic Church, which
was translated from the Greek by a Servian
or Bulgarian, in the thirteenth or fourteenth
century.^ [One^ further argument may be noticed, not
as being needed, but as being in itself almost
1 De agnoscendis assert, cath. et hcero qucrst., 17, n. 14,
2 Tract, de potest. Papa-, Lugd. s. a., p. 320.
3 In Buesatus, 1. c. 360".
" Buesatus, 1. c, quoted all these, and many others.
^ Wiener Jdirbiicher der Liieratur, Bd. xxill., 265.
" The Testimony of the Catacombs and other Monuments of Chris
tian Art, <Ce., by Whaeton B. Maeeiott, London, 1870, p. 99.
N

1 7 8 DONA TfON OF CON ST A NTfNE
conclusive. Among the innumerable monuments
of Eoman art, from the fourth century onwards,
some of which have direct reference to Constantine,
no reference whatever is made to the Donation.
Would it not have been a favourite subject, had it
ever been a fact ? There appears to be only one
representation in mediseval art of the Donation of
Constantine. It is a mosaic from the " zophoros,"
or frieze of the Lateran Basilica. Some of the
details of the costumes show it to be not earlier than
tlie twelfth century. On one side, " Eex baptizatur
" et leprEe sorde lavatur ;" on the other " Eex in
" scriptura Sylvestro dat sua jura."]

LIBERIUS AND FELIX

LIBERIUS AND FELIX
It will be necessary first to give the true history The true ver-
of these two men, the sources of which happily flow contest
with all the clearness that could be wished. In Liberius and
this way the origin and tendency of the fable will ^ '"'
become more plainly apparent.
The emperor Constantius, under the influence
of his eunuchs and certain Arian bishops, wished
to force Arianism on the Church and bishops of
the West, in that weakened and half ashamed form
which the Eusebians had given to it. He, as well
as his satellites, made use of all means of seduction,
intimidation, and brutal violence, in order to ac
complish this object. The Eoman bishop, Liberius,
had first at Eome, and then at Milan, whither he Banishment of
had been summoned to the imperial court, stead
fastly resisted the efforts of Constantius and his
eunuch, Eusebius ; he was accordingly banished to
Beraea, in Thrace, in the year 354. In his place
Constantius caused the Eoman deacon, Felix, to be Felix created
consecrated by three Arian bishops (one of whom ^" '^°^^'
was the Anomsean Acacius of Csesarea), in the
presence of three eunuchs. Felix had not formally

in Rome.

1 8 2 LfBERfUS AND FELfX
rejected the Nicene Creed, but he held ecclesias
tical communion with Arians, which was all that
the leaders of that party needed then ; for the
remainder, viz., the predominance of their doctrine,
would gradually follow of itself. In Eome, where
Liberius was personally much beloved, the people
refused to enter the churches in which Felix
showed himself. The whole clergy publicly pro
mised, with an oath, before the congregation that,
as long as Liberius lived, they would recognise no
other. It ended at last in an insurrection, in
Disturbances which somo porsous woro killed.' When Constan
tius came to Eome two years later, he found the
Eoman populace still true to Liberius. The
Eoman ladies besought him earnestly to give them
back their bishop, and he granted their request to
this extent ; that he decreed, that Liberius and
Felix (to the latter of whom the greatest number
of the clergy had meanwhile joined themselves)
should for the future rule the Eoman Church in com
mon. But the people assembled in the circus cried
out, " One God, one Christ, one bishop." Liberius
was, however, not recalled ; until in the following
year^ 357, broken by the sufferings and privations
of his exile, pressed with threats, and deprived
even of the man who hitherto had been left to him
as servant and companion, the deacon Urbicus,
' Athanas. hist, ad monachos, p. 389. Faijstini and Mar-
OELLiNi libell. prref. Socbat., 2, 37; Eufin , 1, 22; Hieuon. vir.
illustr., c. 109 ; Chron. ad. a., 354.

Apostasy of Liberius 183

he determined to sign a creed which was laid
before him, to refuse to hold communion with
Athanasius, and in consequence with all decided
Nicseans, and thus to enter the Arian court
party. He signed the first formula of Sirmio, PaU of liijc-
which was inoff"ensive in other respects, and left
nothing to be desired but the Homoilsion. He
went further ; he declared himself unable to hold
communion with Athanasius, and accordingly
entered into communion with the most decided
Arians, such as Ursacius, Valens, and Germinius.
He courted the favour of the influential proteges
of the emperor, the Arian bishops, Epictetus and
Auxentius. Later on (in the year 358), he was
summoned from Beraea to the imperial court at
Sirmio, and, at Constantius' bidding, signed a fresh
and still worse formula, which the Arian and
Semiarian bishops, just then assembled at a synod
in Sirmio, had drawn up. In this formula, with a
view to obtaining an express rejection of the
Homoiision, the decisions of the synod at Antioch'
^ Not merely of the synod held at Antioch in 341, as Hepele
states (Concilien-Geschichte, i., 662); for this did not occupy itself
either with the case of Paul of Samosata, or with that of Photinus ;
but also of the synod of 269, which rejected the Homoiision in the
false sense given to it by Paul of Samosata. The object now in
view was no longer a mere abstaining from the use of the hated
word, but a formal condemnation of it ; because, as was repre.sented,
under the pretext of the Homoiision, certain persons (Athanasius
and all who held firmly to the Nicene doctrine) wished to set up a
sect of their own. Sozomen, 4, 15. Philostorgics (4, 3), moreover,
does not say, as Hefele represents, that Liberius signed the second
Sirmian formula. Of the one signed at Bersea he says notlUng
whatever; but he docs mention tho one accepted by Liberius

1 84 LfBERfUS and FELfX
against Paul of Samosata, and the later ones against
Photinus and Marcellus of Ancyra, together with
one of the formularies of the synod at Antioch, in
A.D. 341, were incorporated. Liberius was thus re
duced to accepting precisely the position of the
Semiarians, now so influential with Constantius.
He gave his adhesion to their expression, " sub-
" stantial likeness," sacrificed the Nicene doctrine,
and apprised the eastern Arians of his entry into
their communion, and of his separation from
Liberius fairly Athauasius. It was chiofly on account of this
cal. weakness exhibited at Sirmio, under the double in
fluence of the emperor and the bishops, and not on
account of what had taken place before at Bersea,
that Liberius drew upon himself the reproach of
his contemporaries, of being heretical, and an ally
of heretics. And, indeed, no other judgment was
then possible. He had granted communion to the
very worst Arians, such as Epictetus of Cen-
tuncellse and Auxentius of Milan.' It was For-
tunatianus, bishop of Aquileia, who, according to
Jerome, persuaded Liberius to such apostasy.
Return of This was tho prico .at which Liberius purchased
Rome. his return to Eome, where the people joyfully
welcomed the bishop, whom they personally loved
in spite of his fall. The whole community was,
afterwards at Sirmio, that is tiie third ; and of this he says quite
correctly, and in agreement with Sozomen, that Liberius thereby
condemned the Homoiision and Athanasius.
¦ IIiLAE. de syn., Ojip., ii., 401 ; Prag., 6, ii., 680 ; SozoM., 4, 15.
The letters of LiBEHirs in Cousxant, Epistola Pmitiff., 442 sqq.

Liberius restored, Felix expelled 185
and remained. Catholic. The people of the West
had as yet occupied itself but little with the con
troversies about the consubstantiality of the Son
with the Father ; they scarcely understood the
question at issue or its import. Liberius was
therefore able quietly to resume his office without
retracting. It had been determined at Sirmio, that
Liberius and Felix should preside over the Church
of Eome together ; for Felix, in consequence of
his holding communion with the Arian bishops,
was still high in favour at court. At Eome, how
ever, disturbances with wide reaching consequences
took place. The clergy were divided, for the ma
jority had broken the oath of fidelity which they
had taken to Liberius before his banishment, and
had recognised Felix. But the latter was obliged Expulsion of
to withdraw from the city, because the people
would not tolerate him ; and long afterwards
when he attempted to get possession of a church
on the other side of the Tiber, he was again driven
out. He lived eight years from that time without
being able to set foot in Eome ; but after his death
(November 22nd, 365) Liberius pardoned the
clergy of his party, and allowed them to resume
their position.'
Nothing is told us of Liberius's own position.
He appears not to have retracted what he did at
Beraea and Sirmio, and not to have ceased to hold
' Maecellini et Faustin. ad libell. prec prsef , Both these Eoman
priests were eye-witnesses, and Jeeomb confirms their statement.

Felix.

1 86 LfBERfUS and FELfX
communion with the Arians ; otherwise Constantius
would not have allowed him to remain long in
Liberius Eomo. Tho synod of Eimini, however, towards
wrorihodoxy. ^^ end of the year 359, and in the year 360, gave
him an opportunity of proving his orthodoxy.
He rejected the synod, and ordered that those who
had taken part in it should be admitted to com
munion only on condition of retracting; and it
was he who, in the year 366, demanded of the
Semiarians an adhesion to the Homoiision, which
he had formerly rejected himself, as a sine qua non
What apology of their being recognised by the Church. He
may be made -it i it r\- • • ¦\
for him. might have been led astray at oirmio, in that the
misuse which Paul of Samosata, and Marcellus of
Ancyra, and Photinus had made of the Homoiision
was represented to him as a just ground for refrain
ing from using so double-edged a weapon as this
word had proved, and for forbidding the employ
ment of it ; moreover, they had held up to him the
authority of the synod of 269. When he assented
to the substantial likeness of the Son to the Father,
he might (like other otherwise good catholics of
that time) have been convinced, that in the God
head substantial equality and substantial likeness
are necessarily equivalent. Thus much may, per-
\yhat admits haps, bo Said in extenuation of his error ; but it
certainly gives no excuse for his rejection of Atha
nasius, or for his entering into communion with
the leaders of the Arian party. He must how
ever have made good this grievous error even

of no apology.

Liberius culpable, Felix more culpable 187
before the synod of Eimini was held (359). With
out doubt events since 358 had taught him that
that dogmatic word was indeed quite indispen
sable for the Church ; that it, as he says in his
epistle to the bishops of the East, in the year 366,
was " the sure and impregnable bulwark, against
" which all attacks and stratagems of Arianism
" shattered." '
Liberius, therefore, at no time in his life was
actually heretical ; but his eagerness to see himself
freed from the sufferings of a lonely exile and
restored to the bosom of his people, who loved
and honoured him, blinded him. He sacrificed Evii effects of
the Church to the Arians, he perplexed the con
sciences of his people in regard to Church matters,
and one knows, of course, that Hilary anathema
tized him. But he remained throughout the
rightful bishop of Eome ; and his ojjponent Felix Felix more
. , ..... . . . culpable, and
was and remained an illegitimate intruder, m without ex-
respect to the Arian trouble still more culpable
than Liberius. For Felix received violent hand
ling from no one, and obtained and kept his
position only by getting himself ordained by
Arians, and by ensuring them communion ; es
pecially the court bishops, and those who hung
about the emperor. Whereas Liberius did not
succumb to the ill usage to which he was subjected
until after several years of steadfast endurance.
At the death of Liberius, in the year 366, the
' Ap. CoDSTANT, Epp. Bom. Pontiff, p. 460.

i88

LfBERfUS and FELfX

Death of Li
berius fol
lowed by a
disputed elec
tion ;

bloodshed ;

And lasting
disturbances.

split which the intrusion of Felix and the secession
of many of the clergy to him had called into ex
istence, broke out afresh, this time with bloodshed.
A numerous faction of the people, urged on by
some of the clergy, wished to decree that none of
those, who in violation of their oath, had recog
nised Felix ten years before, should succeed to the
office of bishop. On this ground, Ursinus was set
up in opposition to Damasus, who had been elected
by a majority of the clergy. A regular civil war
was the consequence. They fought in the streets
and in the churches with such animosity, that, on
one occasion,' one hundred and thirty-seven dead
bodies, mostly from the faction of Ursinus, were
found in the Sicinian basilica. Damasus himself
could not restrain his own party ; and only by the
banishment of Ursinus and seven others of this
faction, and by the strong measures of the prefect
Juvencus, was some sort of order at length re
stored in the city. The supporters of Ursinus,
however, continued their schism and their meet
ings in the cemeteries of the martyrs, which led
to fresh bloodshed and fresh banishment of clergy
belonging to this faction. Thus passed several
years in perpetual disquietude ; and thus from that
violent act on the part of Constantius there grew
so long afterwards the bitter fruit of a disturbance
in the Church, which was not completely healed
until a whole generation had died out.
" Ammian. Maecbll., 1. 27, 3, 12.

Wilftil perversion of the facts in ']th centtiry 189
It is very remarkable that the later myth or strange meta-
intentional fiction, which dates from the sixth or the facts in
seventh century, has metamorphosed this history
entirely to the disadvantage of Liberius, and in
favour of Felix, who was dubbed an ecclesiastical
hero and martyr. And it came to this ; that this
perjured antipope, consecrated by fanatical Arians,
and intruded on the Eomans only by the temporal
power, was honoured as a saint, and reckoned in
the hst of the popes as pope Felix II. ; while Li
berius, even in Eome itself, was represented as a
blood-stained tyrant, a heretic, and persecutor of
the faithful.
One cannot fail to see that all this was invented Object of the
fiction to
with a view to placing the cause of that numerous whitewash the
PIT-. 1 11T1- 1 party of Felix.
portion of the Eoman clergy, who broke their oath
and adhered to Felix in a favourable light, and to
represent them as the rightful party, who had
withstood heresy and the heretical pope, and had
been persecuted on that account. Nevertheless, Not older than
. - • 1 1 ''^^ sixth cen-
these fictions must be assigned to a late period, the tury.
sixth or seventh century, as it would appear, when
only hazy recollections of the events of the fourth
century still survived in Eome, and when the
story of the Eoman baptism of Constantine, with
its train of myths, had already disturbed all his
toric consciousness there, and had thrown into
confusion the historical continuity and order of
events. There are three documents in which the
fictitious history was incorporated, and from which

190

LfBERfUS and FELfX

Memory of
Liberius
blackened.

Fable of the
Roman bap
tism of Con
stantine inter
woven with
this one.

all later ones have been made ; the biographies of
Liberius and of Felix in the Liber Pontificalis,
the Acts of Felix, first edited by Mombritius, and
the Acts of Eusebius.^
These Acts have manifestly been invented with
a view to branding the memory of Liberius, and
representing him in the most glaring way as an
heretical apostate and persecutor of the catholic
confessors, so that the party of Felix might appear
as the oppressed orthodox. Hence the narrator
makes pope Damasus condemn Liberius in a synod
of twenty-eight bishops and twenty-five priests,
immediately after Liberius' death. At the same
time, also, this opportunity was seized, in order to
give a fresh security against the contradicting
testimony of antiquity to the story of the Eoman
baptism of Constantine, — the pet story of those by
whom and for whom the invention was made.
Hence the biography of Felix begins with a
statement, made with affected precision, to the
effect, that he had declared the emperor Con
stantius, son of Constantine, a heretic, who had
got himself baptized a second time by Eusebius
bishop of Nicomedia," in the villa Aquila (Achyro)
near to Nicomedia.
Here, then, what the father did is transferred to

1 They are to be found in the Baluze-Mansi Collection i 33
and throughout tbe whole of the Middle iiges were constantly used
and copied. "'
^ Ap. Vignoli, i., 119.

Sou rces of the fiction 1 9 1
the son, and the intention in Constantino's case to
put Eome in the place of Nicomedia, and Silvester
in the place of Eusebius, is unmistakeable.
The following narrative was substituted in place The fiction as
„ . . _ • 1 1 given in the
ot the true one m the two farst-mentioned docu- Liber Pontifi-
, 1-1 111 , ,1 calis and the
ments, which really hang together. Acts of Felix.
When Constantius banished Liberius on account
of his defence of the Catholic faith, the Eoman
clergy elected and consecrated the presbyter '
Felix as bishop," under the advice and with the
consent of Liberius. Felix forthwith holds a
council of forty-eight bishops, and finds here that
two presbyters,^ Ursacius and Valens, agree with
Constantius, and condemns them. The two per
suade Constantius, and with his consent go to
Liberius and offer him return from banishment
on these terms ; — that there should be communion

1 Felix was only a deacon. Eufin., 2, 22 ; Marcellin. libell prec.
prtef. ^ This would only have been possible if Liberius had abdicated
at the same time, which he did not do. That one bishop should
appoint another co-ordinately with himself, or cause himself to bo
represented by another during his absence, was contrary to eccle
siastical law, especially to one of the Nicene canons. When after
all Valerius, bishop of Hippo, did so, Augustine himself, whom he
caused to be consecrated with the permission of the primate of
Carthage, found that it was " contra morem ecclesise," and accord
ingly gave orders that at every ordination the canons should be read
beforehand, in order that such a transgression might not occur
again. — Possid. vit. Aug., 0.8.
3 Both were bishops, Ursacius of Singidon in Mysia, Valens of
Mursa in Pannonia, and had no relations whatever to the Eoman
Church. The main supporter of Arianism in the Roman territory
was Epictetus, bishop of CircumceUte.

1 9 % LfBERfUS and FELfX
between Arians and orthodox, but that the latter
should not be required to be re-baptized.' Liberius
consents, comes back, and takes up his abode in
the cemetery of S. Agnes with the emperor's sister,
Constantia." She is urged to gain admittance for
hira into Eome by intercession with her brother,
but declines as a true catholic. Constantius, how
ever, summons Liberius to Eome without the in
tervention of his sister by the advice of the Arians,
gets together a council of heretics, and with its
help deposes the catholic Felix from his episcopal ^
office. The very same day a bloody persecution
commences, conducted by Constantius and Li
berius in concert. The presbyter Eusebius (who
distinguishes himself by his courage and catholic
zeal, and gathers the people together in his house)
reproaches the emperor and Liberius with their
crime, declares to the latter that he is no longer in
any way the rightful follower of Julius because he
had fallen from the faith, and to both, that, in
Satanic blindness,they have driven out the catholic
blameless Felix. Whereupon Constantius, by the
advice of Liberius, has him shut up in a deep
hole only four foot broad, in which he is found
' There was no discussion about re-baptism at that time, or for a
long time afterwards. The Arians before Eunomius considered
catholic baptism to be valid.
^ A confusion with the sister of Constantine the Great.
5 All this time, and so long as Liberius was in office there, Con
stantius was not in Eome. The narrative, however, gives oue to
understand that he lived there regularly.

Another source 193

dead at the end of seven months. The presbyters,
Gregory and Orosius, relations of Eusebius, bury
him ; upon which the emperor gives orders to shut
up Gregory alive in the same vault' in which they
had placed the corpse of Eusebius. Orosius drags
him out from the vault by night half dead ; he
dies, however, in his arms, whereupon the other,
Orosius, records the whole history. Felix, who
had reproached the emperor with his re-baptism, is
beheaded by the emperor's command. The perse
cution rages in Eome until the death of Liberius.
Constantius publishes an edict that every one who
does not join Liberius shall be executed without
trial. Clergy and laity are now murdered in the
streets and in the churches. At last Liberius dies,
and Damasus brands his memory with infamy in
a synod. The description in the Acts of Eusebius is con- The fiction as
siderably more highly coloured than the repre- ActsofEuse-
sentation in the Liber Pontificalis, where the cir
cumstances are toned down somewhat ; but the
object in view, viz., to quash Liberius and make
him appear as Constantius' companion in guilt,
shines through it all from beginning to end. That
the acts of Eusebius were composed in the interest
of tlie antipope Felix, has been already remarked
by Cavalcanti.' It appears to me that there was its double
another object joined with this, viz., to place the
bloody scenes, which occurred in consequence of
1 Vindicio'. Horn. Pontiff.

194

LfBERfUS and FELfX

The name of
Felix inter
polated into
calendars, li
turgies, &c.

the divided election of Ursinus and Damasus, and
which may have left behind them a misty recol
lection even two centuries later in Eome, in a hght
more favourable to the clergy of the time ; and,
by this means, the events were antedated by two
years, and represented as persecutions of the staunch
catholic clergy by the two Arians, the pope and
the emperor. And they e^'en went so far in thoir
rejection of Liberius and efforts to put Felix in his
place, that in the chronological notices of the
Liberian basilica, built by that very pope, they
passed Liberius over altogether, and placed Felix
alone between Julius and Damasus.
Thus, then, Felix was gradually thrust into the
lists of the popes, the liturgies, and martyrologies,
as rightful pope and a holy martyr ; not, however,
until a late date, and, as regards the martyrologies,
only slowly. Optatus and Augustinus had passed
him over in their lists of the bishops of Eome.
The twenty-ninth of July was the day which had
been dedicated to his memory. But here, when
the calendars and martyrologies were examined
and compared, the deception became palpably
manifest, and showed that the Felix there cele
brated was quite a diff'erent one ; and that not
until the eighth century, after the false legends
about Felix and Eusebius had been forged, did it
occur to people to declare that this Felix was the
rival of Liberius. The oldest document as yet
known is the Eoman calendar, which Martene

Name of Felix inserted into calendars, &c. 195
has published in the fifth volume of his Thesaurus. This interpo-
He assigns it to the beginning of the fifth century ; detected.
and rightly, for, with a single exception (Silvester),
it contains festivals of martyrs only, and Silvester
is the latest of the saints mentioned in it. Hence
Damasus, though canonised at an early date, is
wanting. Here, then, the twenty-eighth of July
was marked as ' natalis s. Felicis, Simplicii, Faus-
tini, et Beatricis. In all other cases the designa
tion " papa " is added to the names of the popes in
this calendar. Several martyrologies, which bear
the name of S. Jerome, and," judging from their
chief contents, belong to the fifth century (the
period before Cassiodorus), agree with this. That
of Bede, likewise, without mentioning Eome.
Then the Martyrologium Otlobonianum of the tenth,
and the Kalendarium Laureshamense ^ of the end
of the ninth century. On the other hand, that of
S. Jerome in D'Achert separates Felix from the
three others which manifestly belong to Eome,
and transfers^ him to Africa. The Vatican
calendar itself, of the beginning of the eleventh
century ,° agrees also with this. But how Felix
got transferred from Africa to Eome is explained
by a martyrology of Auxerre, which falls well into
* So also the Sacramentarium Qregorianum. Elsewhere it is
always the twenty-ninth.
^ In Maetene, Thes. in., 1558.
" Both in GiOEGi's edition of Ado, p. 683, 692.
* Spidleg., ii., 15, nov.^d.
» In GioKGi, p. 699.

196

LfBERfUS AND FELfX

741-752.

Confusion be
tween the
African mar
tyr Felix and
the antipope.

the end of the ninth century (the latest of the
numerous popes mentioned in it is Zacharias), and
is especially rich in Eoman material, and accurate
in local notices ; so that there can be no doubt as
to its Eoman origin. This is what it says at the
twenty-ninth of July : — " Eom^ via Aurelia trans-
" latio corporis beati Felicis episcopi et martyris
" qui iv. idus Novembris martyrio coronatus est.
" Eodem die ss. mm. Simplicii^ Faustinii et s. Bea-
" tricis m. sororis eorum,"' It appears, thereforOj
that the bones of the African martyr, Felix, were
brought to Eome, and that only on account of this
translation, which took place on the twenty-ninth
of July, Felix was joined with the Eoman martyrs
Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrix, to whom this
day was already dedicated. Thus there are other
martyrologies and missals, in which Felix is not
found, but only the three others. In the so-called
Sacramentarium of Gelasius he is wanting also,
although Simplicius, Faustinus, and Viatrix (or
Beatrix) are celebrated." In the later Gregorian
Sacramentarium, on the other hand, the day is
given us the birthday of the four saints, but in
such a way that in the Oratio Felix alone is cele
brated, and that as " martyr et pontifex," In the
martyrology of the year 826,^ found at Corbie, as
well as in the Martyrologium Aforbncense, and in

' In Maetene, Coll. ampl, vi;, 712.
' In Mueatori, Liturgia Eomana Vetus, i., 658 ; ii., 106.
' D'AOHBET, Spicil, IT., 66.

The antipope conftised with Felix the martyr 197
the Calendarium Anglicanum, only Simplicius,
Faustinus, and Beatrix are mentioned.' Most of
them simply mention Felix, without further desig
nation, along with the other three ; or, like the
Neapolitan of the ninth century, say" "Felicis et
" Simphcii ;" or, " in Africa Felicis," &c., as the
calendar of Stablo.
With the eighth century, however, begins, on
the other hand, the line of calendars and martyr
ologies which make Felix a pope, and of course
mean one to understand the antipope of a.d. 356.
The first is the Eoman calendar of the middle of
the eighth century, edited by Fronto.* Next to
this comes the martyrology which Eosweyde was
the first to print ; which, however, is not a
Eoman one, as the editor and the Bollandists have
stated.^ It already contains the fable of Felix's
martyrdom under Constantius. It is from this
source, or from the legends, or from the book of
the popes, that Ado has drawn ; and the subse
quent martyrologists for the most part have
copied him. Usuard, Notker, Eabanus, Wan-
DELBERT, follow in the same track.
S. Eusebius, celebrated on the fourteenth of
^ The Calendarium Anglicanum (of the year 1000) in Maetene,
Coll. ampl, VI., 655. The Martyrologium Morbacense in Maetene,
Thesaur., in., 1570.
" In Mai. Coll., v, 63.
-* Epjistolce et Dissertt. Eccles., ed. Veron, 1733, p. 185. Exaratum
intra tempora Gregoru LE. and IIL, according to Boegia, de Cruce
Vaticiina. * See on this point the argument of Feonto, 1. c, p. 137.

198

LfBERfUS AND FELfX

This fiction,
like others,
originated in
the Liber Pon.
tificalis ;

August, is found in almost all calendars and
martyrologies, with the exception of the oldest,
which belongs to the fifth century. This one,
however, mentions the church of S. Eusebius as
already existing in Eome, because here was a
" statio " On the Friday in the fourth week of Lent.
In the martyrologies of S. Jerome, and in that of
Bede, one reads at the fourteenth of August,
" Eusebii tituli conditoris." From which it ap
pears that his festival in the first instance was
celebrated only in the church which he had built,
thence passed into the Eoman calendars, and from
them into those of other countries. Nearer notices
of him do not exist, and even from the sixth
century and further were not to be found. Hence
it was all the more easy for the intentional fiction,
which aimed at distorting the history of Liberius
and Felix, to make use of his name, and transform
him into the hero of a tragedy, which should set
forth the. Arianism and cruelty of Liberius in
strong colours.
Here, then, as in other cases, it was the Liber
Pontificalis that created the new tradition, which has
influenced chroniclers and the papal biographers.
The glaring contradictions of the Liber Ponti
ficalis, which resulted from the unthinking inter
polations of later hands, were at that time not
observed. In the biography of Liberius, which
was correctly composed before any one thought of
giving Felix a special biographical article, Felix

Contradictory accounts in the Pontifical book 1 99
dies peacefully (requievit in pace) on his own
estate, on the first of August, On the other hand, which contra-
in the article respecting him, a few lines farther on,
he is beheaded with many clergy and laity, on the
eleventh of November, The author of this article,
in order that nothing should be wanting for Felix's
papal dignity, wished to represent him also as the
builder of a church, and so represents him as again
building the very " Basilica in via Aurelia," which
in the article on Fehx the First (a.d. 269-275)
had already been mentioned as Felix' work. All
the following writers of papal history have there
fore naturally followed this account ; — Pseudo-
LuiTPRAND, Abbo OP Fleurt, the anonymous
chronographer in Pez,' Martinus Polonus, Leo
OP Orvieto, Bernard Guidonis, Amalricus
Augerii, Felix is set forth as the thirty-ninth
rightful pope. The revelation of the secret, that
Constantius had caused himself to be re-baptized
by Eusebius of Nicomedia, costs him his life, and
Liberius reigned for five years as an Arian, and
by his Arianism caused the martyrdom of many
clergy and laity. Nevertheless, all that he did
and ordered was declared null and void after his
death by Damasus. Bernard Guidonis makes the
addition of a martyrdom, which Eusebius is made:
to endure, because he proclaimed Liberius to be a
heretic," From that time onwards the theologians accom-
, I Thes. Anecd., I., p. 313. ''¦ In Mai, Spidleg., vi., 60.

200 LfBERfUS AND FELfX

Theologians modatod themsolvos to the prevailing view, espe-
accept the _ j. <-j j-
fable and cially in Eome itself. Who does not know, says
make the best i f t /¦
ofit. the Eoman presbyter AuxiLlus, the defender of
Formosus, that Liberius gave his assent to the
Arian heresy, and that at his instigation the most
horrible abominations were practised ? ' And to
wards the middle of the twelfth century Anselm,
BISHOP OF Havelberg, reproaches the Greeks,
because Constantius had caused Felix to be put to
death for revealing the fact of his second baptism.
But he makes excuses for .Liberius, who no doubt
had allowed much that was heretical, but had
nevertheless steadfastly refused to allow himself to
be re-baptized."
The Abbot Hugo op Flavignt (1090-1102)
goes a step farther in his chronicle ; he makes
Liberius also receive baptism a second time as a
thorough* Arian. Ekkehard, in his most influ
ential chronicle,* Eomuald of Salerno, the papal
historian Tolomeo of Lucca, the Eulogium of the
monk of Malmesbury, all follow the usual fabulous
tradition, that Liberius remained till the day of
his death — -six, or (according to Tolomeo °) eight
years — persistently heretical, while Felix is the
catholic martyr. Nevertheless, with Marianus
Scotus, Gottfried of Viterbo, and Eobert
' De ordin., i., 25.
" Dialog., iir., 21, in D'Aoheey, Specil, i., 207.
¦' In Pektz, X., 301.
' Pertz, viii., 113.
° " Vixit in hoc errore annis octo."— Mueatoei, SS. It., xi., p. 838.

The truth recovered in 1 6th centiiry 20 1
Abolant, the authority of Jerome is still so
powerful, that they narrate how Felix was vio
lently thrust into office by the Arians,
When at last the era of historical criticism and Difficulties
. .. ..,,. . arising when
theological investigation came m with the sixteenth the imth be-
century, no small amount ot helplessness was known in the
exhibited. Hitherto Felix had been regarded as centu"y.
rightful pope, and the time of his pontificate was
reckoned at a year and somewhat more. Ac
cording to this view, Liberius would be deprived
of his office by sentence of the church, on account
of his lapse into Arianism, and then Felix came in
as rightful pope, until at the end of a year he
suffered martyrdom. Liberius, however, is said
to have survived him by several years, and to
have remained an Arian till his death. He could
not therefore again become lawful pope after the
death of Felix. Nor was the hypothesis of a
vacancy of the see for several years either admis
sible or attempted. On the contrary, an inter
regnum of thirty-eight days is all that the Liber
Pontificalis records after the death of Felix, This
created a difficulty for the theologians, of which
they did not know how to dispose, if Felix was to
be retained in his position as pope and saint ; and
the historians could not deny the irreconcileable
contradiction to all contemporary information.
oardinal Baronius had already composed a treatise
to show that Felix was neither a saint nor pope.
Gregory XIII. had appointed a special congrega-

202,

LfBERfUS AND FELfX

A forged in
scription.

Baronius,

and even
Bossuet coun
tenance the
fable.

tion to decide the question. And then (1582)
during some excavations under an altar dedicated
to SS. Cosmo and Damian, a body was found with
an inscription on stone — " Corpus S. Felicis Papae
et Martyris qui condemnavit Constantium." The
stone with the inscription vanished again soon
afterwards, and Schelstrate' laments that search
was made for it in vain. The wording of the
inscription in itself would have been quite sufficient
to prove it at once to be the clumsy invention of
a later age. But Baronius and the congregation
thought otherwise ; and so Felix kept his place as
pope and martyr in the corrected Eoman martyr
ology. Nevertheless, the place was" expunged
from the subsequent editions of the older Eoman
breviaries, in which the martyrdom of Eusebius,
for merely rebuking the Arianism of Liberius, was
related in the words of Ado, Moreover in the
Oratio of the breviary the designation of Felix as
" pope " was removed. But even such a man as
Bossuet could allow himself, on the strength of
documents so palpably forged, to represent Libe
rius as an obstinate heretic and bloody persecutor
of true* catholics. Still he contends against
Baronius, who had accepted the wholesale per
secution and butchery of the catholics in Eome
under Liberius as a literal fact.
To complete it all, in the year 1790, a Eoman

' Antiquit illustr., i. 2 ggg Launoi, Epist. 5, p. 41.
3 Defens. decL Gall., p. 3, 1. 9, c. 33.

An attempt to prove both rivals in the right 203
ecclesiastic, Paul Anton Paoli,' undertook in a
lengthy work to prove the legitimacy of Felix,
and the authenticity of his sufferings and acts.
He has succeeded, he says, in accomplishing the The marvei-
feat, hitherto considered an impossibility, of making pothesis of
both the rivals, Liberius and Felix, appear as inno
cent and guiltless, both of them together, as
legitimate popes. All, according to him, rests
upon misunderstandings and untrue reports. Atha
nasius, Hilary, Jerome, all their contemporaries,
have been found to be in unintentional and un
avoidable error. In Eome men were obliged to
believe that the papal chair became vacant through
Liberius's guilt, which, however, in reality was not
the case, and hence Felix was elected. The Acts
of Eusebius are genuine and contemporary. All
•the awkward statements which they contain are
set aside by the convenient and never-faihng
resource of supposing them to be later interpo
lations. Moreover, the author has fortunately
discovered that Felix lived concealed in the neigh
bourhood of Eome for thirty-four years after he
was driven out of the city ; although contempora
neous evidence makes him already dead in the
year 365, and, although there was no conceivable
reason for his concealment, after the death of
Constantius. The whole is a structure of ill-conceived hypo-
1 Di san Felice Secondo Papa e Martire Dissertazzioni, Eoma, 1790.
With a supplement of over 400 pages quarto.

204 LfBERfUS AND FELfX
theses and conjectures, which crumbles to dust at
the first breath of sober historical investigation.
The case of That Folix was never riffhtful bishop of Eome,
Felix at last i p t f • ' p • i
abandoned, but a moro tool of the Ariaus, toisted upon the
people, and successfully rejected by them, has been
admitted by all the better ecclesiastical historians,
Panvinius, Lupus, Hermant, Tillemont, NAtalis
Alexander, Fleurt, Baillet, Coutant, Ceillier.
In Eome itself cardinal Orsi' has let his ownviewj
which agrees with theirs, shine through, partly by
a meaning silence, partly by the appellation " anti-
" pope," which he gives to Felix, though he only
mentions him once in passing. Saccarelli " has
shown, quite decisively and with correct judgment,
that it is historically necessary to strike out Felix
from the list of Eoman bishops. Saccarelli's con
temporary, the Augustinian monk Berti, in one
of his treatises on ecclesiastical history, has stated
the reasons usually given for and against Felix
having a place in the list of the popes in such a
way, that he makes one sensible of the weakness
of the former ; and then ^ adds, as if by way of a
' Istwi. Eccla., VI., 201, ed. in 12mo.
2 Hist. Eccles., v., 334, Rome, 1777.
' " Hasret, ut aiunt, in aqua : neque enim tarditate ingenioh mei
" percipere possum, quomodo, sedente Liberie, Felix verus Pontifex
" sit habendus," etc. — Historia Eccles. s. Di'^sertt. liist.,iii., 466, Aug.
1761. This reluctance to speak his meaning openly is easily ex
plained by the fact, that cardinal Lambeetini (afterwards pope
Benedict XIV.) in his work De Ganoniz. Sanctorum, 1, 4, p. 2,
c. 27, 14, had just maintained, to the no small astonishment of all
who were acquainted with ecclesiastical antiquity, " De S. Felicis II.
" sanctitate et martyrio nullam amplius sui)eresse dubitationem, sed

Felix no true bishop of Rome 205
joke, that he does not venture to decide. Later on,
three other Eoman authors, Novaes, Sangallo,
and Palma, the two first in their biographies of
the popes, the last in his ecclesiastical history, have
given up the case ' of Felix as untenable."

" disputari ab eruditis duntaxat de qualitate rationeque martyrii."
When therefore cardinal Boegia, in his Apologia del Pontificaio Bene
detto X., says, " passa quasi per dimostrata a legittimit^ del ponti-
" ficato di S. Felice per queUi che suppongono la caduta di Liberie,"
he is stating what is manifestly incorrect.
• Novaks, Elementi delta Storia de' Sommi Pontefici, Eoma, 1821,
1, 128 ; Sangallo, Gest. de' Pontf., in., 496 ; Palma, Prmlectiones
Hist. Eccles., ll., 129.
^ [In the busts of the popes in the cathedral at Sienna the bust
of Pope Joan has been transformed into pope Zacharias. (See p. 30.)
Felix, however, retains his place there to this day.]

ANASTASIUS II— HONORIUS I

ANASTASIUS II— HONORIUS I
Dante sees in hell, in the circle of false teachers strange that
and their followers, the cover of a large tomb, sefeVln^V
with an inscription stating that this tomb contains instanc^e o "an
pope

' Anastasius, heretical pope.

" Whom out of the right way Photinus drew."
Now, it must always be a matter for astonish
ment that the great poet,- when it occurred to him
' Inf., XI., 9.
[E quivi per 1' orribile soperchio
Del puzzo, che '1 profondo abisso gitta
Ci raccostammo dietro ad un coperchio
D'un grand' avello, ov' io vidi una scritta,
Che diceva : " Anastagio Papa guardo,
Lo qual trasse Fotino della via dritta '' — xi., 4-9.
And there by reason of the horrible '
Excess of stench the deep abyss throws out.
We drew ourselves aside behind the cover
Of a great tomb, whereon I saw a writing.
Which said : " Pope Anastasius I hold.
Whom out of the right way Photinus drew.''
Longfellow's Translation.
" The commentators are not agreed concerning the person who is
" here mentioned as a follower of the heretical Photinus. By some he
" is supposed to have been Anastasius IL ; by others, IV. ; while a
" third set, jealous of the integrity of the papal faith, contend tbat

a I o A NA ST A SfUS ff
to represent a pope as suffering the fate of a
heretic, should have chosen precisely this one, one
of the least known in the Eoman list. One would
have thought that Liberius or Honorius would
have been much more ready to his hand for this
purpose, the first especially, who, according to the
account which prevailed everywhere in the Middle
Ages, ruled at Eome for several years before his
death as a notorious Arian, so that, as was sup
posed, ardent catholics died as martyrs because
of him.
This was due It was Gratian's Decretum which, directly or
to ttiG DccrC" > ¦
tum of indirectly, determined the Florentine poet in his
choice. That is to say, Gratian, after the preamble
to the Ivonian decretal had inserted a passage
from the Pontifical ' book, in which it is said that
" our poet has confounded him with Anastasius I., emperor of the
" East. Fazio degh Uberti, like our author, makes him a pope : 
" Anastasio papa in quel tempo era
" Di Fotin vago a mal grado de sui. — Dittamondo, n., 14."
Gary's note in loco.
Those who would save the pope at the expense of the emperor
say that Photinus died before the time of pope Anastasius II.
Both pope and emperor were called heretical out of respect to the
memory of Acacius. But the emperor need not be considered
here ; Dante probably knew what he meant, and when he says pope,
means pope, and not emperor.]
' Decret., I., dist. 19, 9. [Gratian's Decretum appeai'ed at Bologna,
the first school of law in Europe, about 1150. It combined the
Isidorian forgeries with those of Deusdedit, Anselm, Gregory of
Pavia, and Gratian himself It displaced all the older collections
of canon law, and became the usual manual for canonists and theolo
gians. No book has ever had such influence in the Church, although
it teems with errors, both intentional and unintentional. For further
particulars, see Janus, Der Papst und das Condi, ni., p. 154-162.]

f7ifltience of Gratian's Decretum 2 ii
many persons in Eome separated themselves from
the company of pope Anastasius, because he had
entered into church communion with the deacon
Photinus of Thessalonica, and had intended secretly
to bring Acacius again into honour in the church.
For which reason God had jDunished him with
sudden death. Throughout the Middle Ages
Gratian's Decretum ' was accounted a decisive
authority ; it did not easily occur to any one to
doubt the facts and doctrines stated in it ; and
hence it comes to pass that the memory of pope
Anastasius II. has come down to posterity as that What grounds
.are there for
01 a man prone to heresy, trom whose communion calling Aras-
, ^, , . . , • 1 1 1 (¦ tasius a here
in the Church it was right to withdraw oneseit, tic?
pope though he was ; and only by his sudden
death was still greater mischief warded off from
the Church. Now what was there to justify this
view ?
The Byzantine emperors were perpetually find
ing themselves impelled by the political condition
of the empire to endeavour to reconcile the power
ful party of the Monophysites to the Church, and
thus heal, not merely an ecclesiastical, but also a
political disorder, and ward off the grave danger
which was threatening the state. With this object,
the emperor Zeno, advised by Acacius, patriarch
of Constantinople, had published the Henoticon
' [It became comparatively obsolete after Gregory IX. caused the
five books of Decretals to be pubhshed by Eaimond de Pennafort in
1234. It was, in fact, insuiflcient for the increasing ursurpations of
the popes.]
P 2

2 1 2 ANA ST A SfUS ff
(482), which declared the binding authority and
dogmatic decisions of the council of Chalcedon, so
hateful to all Monophysites, to be an open ques
tion. This ended in pope Felix II. calling a
synod, and declaring Acacius anathema. Acacius
himself certainly remained all the while catholic
in his doctrine, but he sacrificed the council of
Chalcedon for the sake of peace, and entered into
church communion with all Monophysites who
had accepted the Henoticon. Acacius had almost
the whole East on his side, and as Eome broke
off from every one who remained in communion
with Acacius, a schism in the Church between
East and West for thirty-five years was the con
sequence. The successors of Acacius were bidden to strike
his name off the diptychs as one who had died
under excommunication ; and the popes Felix and
Galasius demanded this as a condition of com
munion. This, however, the patriarchs dared not
do, for fear of a popular commotion; and Eome
would not give way, although Galasius himself
confessed, that the expectation, that the Orientals
would prefer communion with the See of Eome to
every other consideration, had proved' a delusion.
To heal a The Separation had lasted already eleven years,
tween the whou popo Auastasius ascouded the papal throne.
the West, He had peace with the Eastern Church more at
heart than his two predecessors had had. He did,
' Concilia, ed. Labbe', iv., 1173.

His lenity to the memory of Acacius 213
therefore, what Gelasius had refused to do, even at
the req uest of the patriarch Euphemius ; he sent
two bishops as his legates to Constantinople, still,
however, contending that the name of Acacius
must no more be mentioned at the altar. In a
contemporaneous Eoman fragment mention is made
of the letter which the pope sent at the time to the
emperor. The reader will thence see on what
worthless grounds the still continuing schism
between the East and the West' rested. At this
point Photinus arrived in Eome, a man who seems
to have been active in ecclesiastical negotiations,
and who probably had received a commission
from the Orientals to win the pope over to the
cause of union. Anastasius admitted him to Anastasius
1 1 1 f 1 -r-> • {• consented
communion, although trom the Eoman point ot to disregard
view he belonged to the schismatical party, that nication of
is to say, remained in alliance with those who noTncedb™
honoured the memory of Acacius. And the °™^'^p°p^^-
pope showed himself^ ready to give way in the
' In Blanchini, Notes varior. ad Anastas. IIL, 209.
^ The expression of the biographer in the Pontifical book "occulte
" voluit revocare Acacium," is to be understood of the re-msertion
of his name in the diptychs. " Id nonnisi de illius nomine sacris
" diptychis restituendo intelligi potest," says Vignoli (Liber. Pontif., _
1, 171) quite rightly. Cardinal Mai, following in the track of many
others (Baeonius, Bbllaemine, Sommiee, &c.), says in his note to
Bernard Guidonis (Spicil, vi., 98), that the statement in the Pon
tifical book cannot be true; Anastasius cannot have cherished
the intention of securing for the name of Acacius mention in the
liturgy, because he, like his predecessors, in the letter which he sent
to the emperor immediately aft«r his promotion to the papacy, had
demanded that this name should be suppressed. But, in matters of
history, it can scarcely be thought possible to build on such weak

214 ANASTASfUS ff
question of mentioning Acacius's name at the altar,
and thus renounce the haughty bearing which,
as exemplified in the conduct of his predecessors,
had given such offence to the East. But in Eome,
where it was considered a duty and point of
honour not to depart from the path of Felix
and Gelasius, this excited great displeasure ; and
it came to a formal separation from Anastasius,
for being willing to sacrifice the righteous cause

arguments. Certainly Anastasius did do this in the first few weeks
of his pontificate, on entering upon the heritage of his predecessors.
But; what oan be more natural than that a peace-loving pope, having
become convinced of the impractibihty of his own hard requisition,
one which shocked the feelings of milhons [nearly the whole East
remained true to Acacius], should have shown a disposition to
renounce a demand, with the surrender of which not a single
essential principle of church discipline was surrendered. If it was
possible in the case of a man, who for a hundred and thirty years
after his death had remained in the enjoyment of church communion
and intercession (Theodore of Mopsuestia), at last to expel him,
when men became convinced of the fundamental heterodoxy of his
writings, it surely was possible, in the case of a bishop, who had
always acknowledged catholic dogma, and had only erred in a formal
way, and under very extenuating circumstances, to release him after
his death from the anathema which had been pronounced on him,
vhen on this act of clemency depended the well-being and peace of
the whole Church.
[The anathema against Acacius had been pronounced by Fehx in
an unusually strong form. It was declared to be irreversible by any
power, even by Felix himself: " Nunquamque anathematis vincuhs
" eruendus." — Epiat. Felic ad Acacium. In a subsequent letter to
Zeno Felix maintains this inexorable position: " Unde divino judicio
" nuUatenus potuit, etiam quum id multemui, absolvi." — Epist. xi.
Writing to Fravitta, who succeeded Acacius in a brief patriarchate
of fom- months, Felix intimates that Acacius is doubtless with Judas
in hell. But the anathema was almost a brutum fulmen in tbe
East. Acacius maintained his patriarchate till his death, and the
other three patriarchs of Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem remained
in communion with him.— Milman 's Latin Christianity, bk. in., c. i.]

Dante's error the error of his age 215
of the Eoman See, the authority of his prede
cessors, and the validity of the Chalcedonian de-
<?rees for the sake of an insecure peace. The
premature and unexpected death of the pope at
this position of affairs was regarded by those who
had separated from him as a providential deliver
ance of the Church fiom very great danger.
The later commentators on Dante — Poggiali,
LoMBARDi, and Tommaseo — think that Dante,
misled by Martinus Polonus, has confused pope
Anastasius with the emperor, his contemporary
and namesake. This, as one sees, is not the case.'
PfliLALETHES also thinks that, as Acacius had
already been dead some time, the whole story
rests on an error ; that is to say, he supposes that
the author of the Pontifical book means one to
understand the still-living Acacius, because he
makes use of the expression (explained in the
note) " to recall " [revocare Acacium]. There is,
however, no necessity for this adoption of a glaring
anachronism. It is certainly a disfiguring blot in Dante's error
Dante's sublime creation that he has placed an but he shared
innocent and doctrinally blameless pope, whose neration.'^ ^^
desire for peace would have been accounted as a
high merit in another age, in hell with the eter
nally lost heretics. But the error, into which the
greatest of Christian poets thus fell, lay not in the
historical fact, but in the judgment respecting the
fact ; and this erroneous judgment Dante shared
1 Dante's Divine Comedy, Dresden, 1839, i., 69.

2l6

ANASTASfUS ff

Anastasius is
moreover
made to die a
horrible death.

with his contemporaries, and with the Middle
Ages generally.
In the Pontifical book it is stated, that Anas
tasius was not able to accomplish his intention
with regard to Acacius,' because death overtook
him as a judgment from heaven. This statement
is not sufficient for the chroniclers of the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries. The catastrophe must
be more distinctly marked, and the fate which
overtook the heretical pope must be such as to
excite horror and disgust. They transferred, there
fore, the story of the sudden death of Arius to
Anastasius. He had gone aside to satisfy a call
of nature, and was found afterwards with his in
testines out. So Martinus Polonus, Amalrich
Augerii, Bernard Guidonis.^ Dante's commen
tators in the fourteenth century have followed
' Cardinal Mai also, foUowing in the steps of Bellaemine, Baeo
nius, and Novaes, maintains that the author of the Liber Pontificalis
would lead one to suppose that the pope was struck by hghtning,
and that this was a confusion with the emperor Anastasius, who
had met with this kind of death. Entirely without foundation. The
Pontifical book does not say one word about lightning. Nothing
more than this is conveyed in what it says ; that the pope, owing to
his opportune, and, as it were, divinely sent death, was prevented
from carrying out his ruinous intention. And that the emperor of
hke name was killed by a flash of hghtning is a late fable, unknown
to his contemporaries or to the nest generation, and at the time
when the biography of pope Anastasius was written was not invented.
— Conf. Tillemont, Hist, dts Empereurs, vi., 585.
' The papal biographer, Du Peveat, on the contrary, contents
himself with saying, "Anastasius damnatus est et reprobatus." —
Notices et extraits, VI. [Anastasius, the Librarian (Patrol cxxvm.,
439), says that the pope, in punishment for his error, " nutu divino
" percussus est." — Robertson, Hist, of the Christian Church, i.,
p. 527.]

Further additions to the fiction 1 1 7
them. According to them Acacius is the associate
(compagno) of Photinus, and canon of Thessa
lonica ; but Photinus seduced the pope into deny
ing the divinity of Christ, A great disputation
between the pope and the cardinals, bishops, and
prelates, who rebuked him for his false doctrine,'
precedes the catastrophe. The gloss to the De
cretum makes the pope struck with leprosy.
It was Gratian therefore, mainly, who fixed the Gratian's in
fluence fixed
iudscment of the Middle Ages respecting Anas- the character
of Anastasius
tasius. This pope,^ he says, is rejected by the as heretical.
Church of Eome. So says also the anonymous
writer of Zwetl in his history of the popes, " The
" Church ^ rejects him and God smote him." The
gloss adds that two popes, Gelasius and Hormisdas,
excommunicated him. The fact that Gelasius was
Anastasius' predecessor was overlooked;'' But it
was now hereby established, as a certain fact, that
Anastasius was an heretical pope ; and so he was
henceforth usually quoted along with Liberius as a
second instance of papal heresy. Since Gratian's
^ So the " false Boccaccio," or the Chiose sopra Dante, composed in
1375, Florence, 1846, p. 87, and the Latin commentary pubhshed by
Nannucci under the name of Peteus Allbgheeius, Elorent., 1845,
p. 137 ; and then the Ottimo Commento, p. 199, wliich confuses Pho
tinus with the heterodox bishop of the fourth century. So also
Feancesco da Buti, Commento, i., 301. Where Geaul, Dante's Holle,
p. 116, foimd the story tbat Anastasius denied the divine nature of
Christ I do not know.
^ " Ideo ab Ecclesia Eomana repudiatur." — Distinc, 19, c. 8.
' Ap. Pez, thesaur. Anecd., I., p. 3, 351.
* [Felix IL, A.D. 483 Symmachus, a.d. 498
Gelasius I. „ 492 Hormisdas „ 514.]
Anastasius II. „ 496

2i8 ANASTASfUS ff
time theologians were accustomed to appeal to the
chapter " Anastasius " in the Decretum and to the
gloss on it, when they discussed the question of
heretical error in a pope, and of the conduct of the
Church in such circumstances. The schoolman,
Alger' op Liege (about a.d. 1150), must cer
tainly have had other sources than Gratian before
him when he asserted that pope Anastasius was
condemned along with his Decree, because in it he
had declared that the baptisms and ordinations
performed by Acacius after the sentence which
had passed on him at Eome were valid. In this ^
he contradicted the decisions of his predecessors.
Alger here agrees in the main with his contem
porary Gratian. Gratian has quoted the decla
ration of Anastasius, — according to which the
efficacy of sacraments is not dependent on the
character of the dispenser, and, consequently, even
the sacraments administered by a bishop who has
^ Liber de misericordia et justitia, c. 59. In Maetene, tlies. Anecd.,
v., 1127.
^ Alger himself does not mean, as he afterwards explains, that
the sacraments administered by Acacius were forthwith nuU and
void. He distinguishes thus : " Quod vera, quamvis non rata pos-
" sint esse sacramenta cujusUbet maii sacerdotis, vel hseretici, vel
" damnati." — c. 83. But he fancies that Anastasius erroneously
declared that the sacraments administered by Acacius were " rata."
That is to say, he starts from the principle which certain short
sighted defenders of papal supremacy had aheady put forth ; that a
pope who became heretical, immediately, and before even he had in
any way made known his heretical opinions, ceased to be pope, and
hence aU that he subsequently did was null and void. In which
case the Church, which, nevertheless, could not possibly do otherwise
than recognise him all the while, would find itself in unavoidable
error.

Used as an argument 219
lapsed into heresy are valid, and under proper
conditions efficacious, — as an instance of a false
decision in matters of faith given by a pope, res
pecting which, the Eoman correctors have since
contradicted him.'
On the other hand, William of Saint- Amour Anastasius
(about A.D. 1245) confuses Anastasius with Li- Liberius.
berius. He knows nothing more than that in the
time of Hilary, a pope lapsed into heresy, of whom
it is recorded " nutu divino fuit percussus ;" and
he conjectures^ that this may have been Anasta
sius II. , mentioned by Gratian.
Alvaro Pelayo ,who, next to Augustine of
Ancona, furthered the aggrandisement of the
papal power, with the greatest zeal, beyond all
previous bounds, and almost beyond all limits
whatever, in his great work on the condition of
the Church, makes mention of the judgment* which
came upon Anastasius, in order to prove his dictum,
that an heretical pope must receive a far heavier
sentence than any other. Occam,* also, makes Occam uses
use of the " heretical " Anastasius as an instance gument.
to prove, what was his main point, that the Church
erred by his recognition. The council of Basle
in like manner, with a view to establishing the
necessary supremacy of an cecumenical council
' Decret. distinc, 19, c. 7, 8.
2 Opera, ed. Cordes. Constantiee (Parisus), 1632, p. 96.
' "Divino judicio percussus fuit, nam dum asseUaret, intestina
" emisit." — De planctu ecclesice, 2, 10, Venetus, 1560, il, 38.
* Opus nonaginta dierum., Lugd., 1495, f. 124.

220 ANASTASfUS ff—HONORfUS f ¦
over the pope, did not fail to appeal to the fact,
that popes who did not obey the Church Avere
treated by her as heathens and publicans, as one
reads of Liberius and Anastasius.'
He is classed " Tho DOpe," SaVS DOMENICUS DEI DoMBNICI,
with Liberius p n •
as an heretical bishop of Torcollo, somowhat later, m a letter
pope, addressed to pope Calixtus III. (1455-1458), "the
" pope by himself alone is not an infallible rule of
" faith, for some popes have erred in faith, as, for
" example, Liberius and Anastasius IL, and the
" latter was in consequence punished by God." ^
After him the Belgian John le Maire, also, says
(about 1515), Liberius and Anastasius are the two
popes of ancient times, who, subsequent to the
Donation of Constantine, obtained an infamous
reputation in the Church as heretics.*
Opposite fate Whilst Anastasius, most undeservedly, was
of Honorius. , ^ i • ¦ 1 1 p tt
counted as a heretic, the memory ot Honorius, on
the other hand, was held in honour ; and the fact
that a general council had pronounced an ana
thema on this pope for holding heterodox opinions
and countenancing heresy, was in the Middle
Ages usually ignored. The circumstances were
as follows : The Monothelite heresy was a danger-
^ Ap. Haeduin, VIIL, 1327.
2 De Cardinalium legit, creat. tract., in M. A. DE DOMINIS, De
Eepubl eccl, Londini, 1617, i., 767 ss.
^ "In hffiresin prolapsus est, et reputatur pro secundo Papa
" infami post donationem Constantini."— Z>e Schismatum et Condi
differ., Argentor, 1609, p. 591.

The Monothelite heresy 221
ous and unhappy attempt to reunite the Monophy
sites with the Church by means of a very compre
hensive concession, devised and introduced into the
Church by certain Oriental prelates ; who herein
had probably an understanding with the emperor
Heraclius, and were acting in accordance with
his wishes. The point of difference was this : The Monothelitism
council of Chalcedon had declared that the two compromise
between.
natures in Christ are united without any confusion Monophysi-
or changing of one into the other ; there must, church.
therefore, be also a duality of wills, and a human
and a divine will be distinguished in Christ. The
Monophysites, on their side consistent, made the
human will vanish in the presence of the divine,
allowing to the Logos alone in Christ the full
exercise of the power of volition, The Monothe-
lites, who had formed themselves into a middle
party, having for its object the reconciliation of
the Monophysites with the Church, on this point
agreed with the latter ; and thus Cyrus, in Alex
andria, brought about a union between the
followers of Severus there and the Catholics, Ser
gius, patriarch of Constantinople, who had an
understanding with Cyrus, sought and obtained
the assent of pope Honorius against the opposition
raised by Sophronius. The manner in which the
pope and the two patriarchs of Constantinople and
Alexandria held essentially the same view, was
this : Honorius had declared, quite in the sense of
the other two, that the two decisive texts, in

222

HONOR f US f

which the human and created will is most clearly
distinguished from and opposed to the divine will
of the Logos, are merely an " economy " in Christ's
mode of speaking, that is to say, an accommoda
tion to be taken only in a figurative sense, by
means of which Christ merely intended to exhort
us to submit our own wills to the divine will. He
was compelled therefore, equally with the Ori
entals, to recognise only a single will in Christ,
the divine or theandric, that is, a will having its
source in the Logos, and, as it were, merely /?02<7m^
through the human nature— a will in which merely
the Logos is the willing power and active prin
ciple, while the human nature is purely passive ; so
that its power of volition is either non-existent, or,
at any rate, quiescent. And this he said in so
Honorius con- many words : " We recognise," says he, conceding
fessedly a * .
Monothelite. the poiut to Sorgius, but expressing himself with
more decision than Sergius, " we recognise one
" will in Christ." And thereupon Honorius, like
the Monothelites of the East, troubled himself
with the notion, that a human will, as belonging
to man's sinful nature, must ahvays strive against
the Divine ; whereas the idea was not far to seek,
that the human will, having its root in the sinless
nature of Christ, conformed to the divine will,
so that a moral unity co-existed with an actual
duality of will.
Honorius's pe- /-si i i t t
cuUar use of On the otlior hand, Honorius, taking the word
"energy." "energy" (i.e. mode of operation), which had

Ambigttity of the term ''¦energy" 223
been used by the Greeks, in a sense altogether
different from theirs, gave as his decision, that
one ought not to speak either of one or of two
energies; for that Christ, by virtue of His one
theandric will, showed many modes of operation
and activity. Therefore there is unity of will,
says Honorius, for it is the Person that wills, and
not the natures, and there is multiplicity (not
unity, nor duality) of energies or modes of opera
tion. In this way, then, Honorius would have the
controversy put down ; viz., that it was prepos
terous to contest about one or two energies in
Christ, because neither the one nor the other
expression could be used in a rational sense. At
the same time, however, it was set forth that all
men should be united in the acceptance of a single
power of volition. The emperor Constantine
stated subsequently in his edict, that Honorius
had not only taught false doctrine, but also con
tradicted himself, merely because he, being used
to the oriental terminology, did not understand
the sense in which Honorius used the word
" energy." Honorius meant by it, manifestations
of activity in the Person, which are many and
various. But the emperor understood by it, modes
of operation in the natures, of which there must be
two, or (according to the Monothelites), on account
of the unity of will, only one.
This doctrine of Honorius, so welcome to Ser
gius and the remaining favourers and supporters

224

HONORfUS I

Honorius
opened the
door to the
Ekthesis and
the Typus.

Apologies
made for him.

of Monothelitism, led to the two imperial edicts,
the Ekthesis and the Typus. It led to them to
this extent, that Heraclius was thereby justified in
concluding that the Eoman See would not oppose
such a doctrinal decree as the Ekthesis ; and the
Typus of Constans was nothing more than a
weaker echo of the Ekthesis. The result, however,
was different from what had been hoped at Con
stantinople. The whole East rose up in arms
against the new doctrine, and it forthwith became
evident that Honorius, with his mode of under
standing the question, stood alone in Eome and in
the West. For some time efforts were made to
excuse Honorius. Pope John IV. (a.d. 640-642)
stated in his ' apology that his predecessor had
merely rejected the fond notion of two mutually
opposing wills ; as if, that is to say, Christ had had
a will tainted with sin. No doubt the fear, that
in admitting the double will one would be irre
sistibly driven on to accept two mutually opposing
wills, was a very considerable element in the
declaration of Honorius ; only it remains a riddle
how a man, who certainly had no Monophysite
tendencies, could allow himself to be influenced
by so unfounded an apprehension. The excuse

' Mansi, X., 683. [Severinus, the immediate successor of Honorius,
had a brief pontiiicate of only three months ; and appears to have
rejected the Ekthesis. John IV. did so in solemn councU. Heraclius
thereupon wrote to the pope to disown the document, saying that
he had only published it at the urgent request of Sergius. — Kobeet-
SON, Church History, ii., 45.]

The ist Lateran synod ignores him 225
which Maximus, appealing to the statement of
the papal secretary, brings forward for Honorius
is still more forced and untenable. Honorius, he
says, only wished to guard against the supposition
of two human and mutually' opposed wills.
Manifestly the pope had never thought of any Some of them
such absurdity. Eather his decision and the
cause of his error may be briefly expressed thus :
One Wilier, therefore one will; for the will is
the attribute of the Person, not of the natures.
Honorius had written again to Sergius to the
same effect, as well as to Cyrus and Sophronius,
and hence it was quite natural that he should come
to be regarded as one of the supporters of Mono
thelitism. The patriarch Pyrrhus [successor of
Sergius at Constantinople] had accordingly ap
pealed to him ; and, at the Lateran synod in the
year 649, the writings of the Monothelites, which
claimed for themselves the authority of Honorius,
were read out. No one there spoke a word in
defence of Honorius. Complete silence was ob
served respecting him, although the five prelates
who were accounted as the originators and main
supporters of the false doctrine— Theodore of
Pharan, Cyrus of Alexandria, Sergius, Pyrrhus
and Paul, patriarchs of Constantinople — were con
demned by pope Martin and the synod.
At last came the decisive council of a.d. 680.
And here took place what preceding events would
' Mansi, x., 687, 691, 739. Q

226 HONORfUS I

Honorius ana- lead ouo to oxpoct. Houorius, as a partaker m
thematlsed at i • j.i
the council of the Monothelito heresy, was treated m tne same
way as the other prelates who had already been
condemned at Eome, along with them was placed
under anathema, and the council insisted upon
cursing " the heretic Honorius " by name. He
joined himself, it is stated in the decree, in all par
ticulars to Sergius ; he spread the heresy of the
one will abroad among the people ; he deserved to
be placed under the same anathema as Sergius, for
his dogmatic writings were completely opposed to
the doctrine of the apostles and decisions of
councils, tending towards the same godlessness as
the writings of the most pronounced Monothelites.
The emperor Constantine [IV., Pogonatus] in par
ticular, who had taken a ' very active part at the
council, expressed himself to this effect in the
letter which he wrote to the pope. And in the
edict which was affixed to the great church of
the capital, it was said of Honorius that in all
points he was^ to be treated like Sergius and
Theodore, as " the companion and associate of
" heretics and the sanctioner of heresy." The
eounciP itself, after subjecting the writings of
' [There were eighteen sessions, lasting from Nov. 7th, 680, to
Sept. 16th, 681. The emperor presided in person at the first eleven
sessions, and at the eighteenth. In his absence the president's chair
was left empty. The number of bishops increased gradually to nearly
two hundred.]
'^ Mansi, xi., 697-712. [" Qui fuit cum eis in omnibus cohsereticus
" et concurrens et confirmator hreresis." — Haeduin, m., 1638.]
' [" Duas igitur in eo naturales voluntates (cjjva-iKa 6eKrip.aTa), et
" duas naturales operationes (^ua-ixdr evepyeias), communiter atque

The 6th general council condemns him 227
Sergius and Honorius to a careful investigation,
declared respecting the two men, " whose godless
" doctrine we abominate, whose names we have
" deemed it necessary to cast out of the church."
About the intention of the council, to condemn No doubt that
tlonorius for actual heresy, and not merely for condemned
, n . . -I • 1 • 1 bim for actual
weakness or neghgence or imprudence m his mode heresy.
of contending against heresy, there cannot there
fore exist a doubt. And yet it is certain that he
was not heretical in the strict sense of the term ;
though assuredly it is equally clear that Cyrus,
Sergius, Pyrrhus, and Paul were neither more
heretical than Honorius, nor less so. The question
at issue was one which had not been raised or dis
cussed before, but then for the first time occupied
men's minds ; a question in which the danger of
falling into one of two opposite errors — -Nes-
torianism or Monophysitism — was very imminent.
In such cases a certain amount of time and of
controversy is always needed, in order that the
consciousness of the church may find its bearings
and define itself. In the primitive church the
erroneous enunciations of individual bishops on
questions which had not yet been decided and
" indivis^ procedentes prtedicamus ; superfluas autem vocum novi-
" tates, et harum adinventores procul ab ecclesiasticis septis abjici-
" mus, et anathemati merito subjicimus ; id est, Theodorum Pharani-
" tanum, Sergium et Paulum, Pyrrhum simul et Petrum, qui Con-
" stantinopoleos prsesulatum tenuerunt, insuper et Cyrum, qui
" Alexandriaorum sacerdotium gessit, et cum eis Honorium, qui
" fuit Eomje prtesul, utpote qui eos in his secutus est."— Labbe,
Condi, VI., 1053; Haeduin, Condi, iii., 1422.]
Q 2

228 HONORfUS f
formulated by the Church were treated with .
gentleness and forbearance, especially if such men
had died in communion and peace with the Church, -
But after the fifth great council, a.d. 553, had set
the example in anathematising Theodore of Mop
suestia, — not merely his writings, but himself, —
and the popes after some opposition had accepted
this, and at last carried it into effect through the
whole West, the case was altogether altered. In
the synod of 649 [First Lateran] five prelates had
been condemned in Eome as Monothelites, among
them three who were already dead. One of these
was the patriarch of Constantinople, Paul IL, who
had written to pope Theodore to say that he fol
lowed the doctrine of Honorius, and who had
thereupon accepted the Typus of the emperor Con
stans. The Typus, however, did not go so far as
the letter of Honorius ; for while this declared
expressly for the doctrine of one will, the Typus
merely commanded silence about the whole ques
tion. That the Orientals assembled at the sixth
council would not allow the reproach and disgrace
of heresy to fall exclusively on the heads of their
own patriarchs, but seized the opportunity, not
altogether unwillingly, of making the patriarch of
old Eome, as he was then called, appear for once
The papal le- amoiig the guilt}', was only human nature. And
protest, but the papal legates, who had just before made a pro-
anathema on test respecting a charge of false teaching brought
against pope Vigilius, could make neither formal

..Undoubtedly condemned for acttial heresy 229
nor material objection to the law taking its full
.course, when the case of Honorius came to be
¦treated ; and were therefore obliged to join in
¦voting for his condemnation. And yet the in
flexible Monothelites at the council, Macarius,
patriarch of Antioch, the monk Stephen, and the
two bishops . of Nicomedia and Klaneus, had just
before declared that they had promulgated no
innovation, but merely the doctrine which they
had learnt from Honorius and the patriarchs. The
assembled Fathers had no alternative, but either
to excuse all the six deceased originators and
favourers of Monothelitism, or to condemn them
all. The Lateran council had rendered the first
.course impossible ; and the Eoman legates would
probably have protested against a decision which
would have compelled the Western Church to make
a sentence pronounced by itself in a large synod
of no effect. Hence the second course was all that
remained. The reception which the decree would meet
.with in old Eome might well be watched with
anxiety in the new imperial city. A new and
.hitherto unheard of event had taken place. A Vain attempt
of pope
pope had been condemned as heretical by an Agatho to
. save Honorius.
oecumenical council, and the Komaiis were re^
quired to strike out his name, which no one
hitherto had thought of aspersing, from the
Church's intercessions. Pope Agatho had made
an attempt to avoid the threatening blow. With-

230 HONORfUS f
out mentioning his predecessor, he had in his
letter given utterance to the general assurance,
that the Eoman See had never swerved from the
path of apostolic tradition, never allowed itself to
be tainted with heretical innovations. The council
answered this with the counter-statement, that
they had passed judgment upon the condemned
theologians, Honorius included, in accordance with
the sentence originally pronounced by Agatho. It
was, however, precisely Honorius who had been
passed over by Agatho in his letter,
Agatho meanwhile had died at Eome ; ' and the
task of speaking out respecting the condemnation
of Honorius fell on his successor, Leo IL, who had
translated the acts of the council from the Greek,
Leo saw that both prudence and justice required
him to recognise the judgment of the council, that
an attempt still to draw a distinction between
Honorius and the Oriental bishops had no longer
Leo 11. con- any prospect of success. He therefore sent an
firms the ana- - . , . .
thema. acknowledgment to the emperor, containing an
express condemnation of Honorius, because * " in-
" stead of enlightening the Eoman Church with
" apostolic doctrine, he had surrendered its primi-
" tive spotlessness to be defiled by an impious
" betrayal of the faith (profana perfidia)." This
' [January, 662, while his legates were stiU at Constantinople.]
^ [" Necnon Honorium, qui banc apostolicam ecclesiam non apos-
" tolica3 traditionis doctrina lustravit, sed profana proditione imma-
" culatam fidem subvertere conatus est." — Haeduin, Condi, in.,
1475.]

Pope Leo ff condemns him 23 1
was going almost beyond what was warranted by
historical fact. Honorius, as it happened, was
the only person in Eome who cherished the doc
trine laid down in his letter ; nothing is known
of any other convert which the Monothelite doctrine
had made in Eome. However, in his letter to the
Spanish bishops and king Erwig, Leo noticed the
transgression of his predecessor in less strong ex
pressions. According to this,' Honorius had
mei'oly allowed the pure doctrine to be falsified or
tainted with error. He had merely been wanting
in watchfulness and foresight. In this, however,
he altogether contradicted the declaration of
Agatho, that all popes had done their duty with
regard to false doctrine.
That the circumstance was looked upon in Eome No attempt
„.p . 1 -T ,• • ,1 P ,1 made in Rome
as a mortitymg humihation m the eyes 01 the to conceal the
fact.
Byzantines was natural. Nevertheless, after the
decision of the council, no further attempt was
made to withdraw the fact from notice, even in the
West, On the contrary, as if it was desired to
give it the greatest possible publicity, it was
inserted in the confession of faith which every
newly-elected pope had to sign. Thus it is found
in the Liber Diurnus,^ the official book of formulas
^ [" Cum Honorio, qui flammam hseretici dogmatis non, ut decuit
" apostoUcam auctoritatem, incipientem extinxit, sed negligendo con-
" fovit." — Epistola ad Episcopos Hispanice. " Et una cum eis Honorius
" Eomanus, qui immaculatam apostolicae traditionis regulam quam a
" praedecessoribus suis suscepit, maculari consentit." — Epistola ad
Ervigium Begem Hispania;, Ap. HAEDUIN, Condi, in., 1730, 1735.]
2 Ed. Garnerii, Paris, 1680, p. 41.

23 2r

HONORfUS f

The Liber
Diurnus re
quires every
pope to con
firm the ana-
tbema.

Marked si
lence of the
Liber Pontifi-
otilis.

of the Eoman Church at that time, intended for
the use of the papal curia. The sixth oecumenical
council, at which pope Agatho presided in the
person of his legates; is here noticed with explicit-
ness of detail. Then follows, after an exposition
of the doctrine of two wills, the condemnation of
those who opposed the doctrine. Sergius, Pyrrhus,
Paul, and Peter, the four patriarchs of Constanti
nople, together with Honorius, who assented to
and promoted (fomentum impendit) their false
doctrine, are anathematised together with Theodore
and Cyrus.
All the more astonishing is it that the other
oflficial work of the Eoman Church at that time,
the Pontifical book, maintains an unmistakeable
and anxiously careful silence respecting all that
concerns the part taken by Honorius in the Mono
thelite controversy and his condemnation. And
yet in other respects it contains good and contem
porary accounts of this period. First under the
popes Theodore and Martin, the appearance of
Pyrrhus in Eome, the dispute with Paul about the
Typus, the Lateran council of a.d. 649, and the
tragical end of pope Martin, are all noticed. The
biographer of Agatho in this collection evidently
had the diary before him, which was kept by the
papal legates sent to the council of a.d. 680. These
legates, among whom' were three bishops, relate
' [Abundantius, bishop of Paterneum, John, bishop of Portus,
John, bishop of Ehegium, together with the sub-deacon Constan
tine, the presbyters Theodore and Gregory, and the deacon John.]

Suspicious silence of the Liber Pontificalis 233
that it was they themselves who had challenged
the Monothelites at the council to produce the
authority of the Apostolic See, to which they ap
pealed.' Thereupon the delighted Monothelites
laid before the council the letter of pope Vigilius
to Mennas. Investigation, however, showed that
the passage in point had been interpolated. Not
a word about the fact that the Monothelites had
above all appealed to Honorius, that the two letters
of Honorius, both in Latin and Greek, had been
laid before the council, examined, and rejected as
heretical. Either the legates have suppressed all Either the
legates htivG
this, because they had received very different in- suppressed the
structions from Agatho, which they found it
impossible to follow at the council, or the compiler
of this portion of the Pontifical book, in copying
their diary, has omitted all that relates to Hono
rius. Seeing that the legates produced the acts of
the council, and the canons which they themselves
had signed, including the condemnation of Hono
rius, one would rather suppose that the latter or, more pro-
alternative was the fact ; the more so inasmuch as compiler of
the compilation, or at any rate the last revision of the book has
this part of the Pontifical book, was probably °^^^°'
conducted by Anastasius the librarian, who two
hundred years after the event, in his letter to the
Eoman deacon John, took great pains to try and
excuse Honorius. The contents of Honorius's
letter he did not venture to justify, as later apo-
1 Liber Poutificalis, i., 279, ed. Vignoli.

234 HONORfUS f

legists ' of this pope have done ; but, says he, we
cannot be certain that the secretary did not
possibly misunderstand the pope's dictation, or
arbitrarily alter the words out of malevolence or
Honorius de- caprico. Ho bothiuks himsolf, however, that this
fended at the '
expense of the Secretary was a very holy man, the abbot John ;
council. IT ,..,. . . 1
and now he directs his indignation against the
sixth council itself, which, contrary to the com
mand of scripture, had condemned a man who was
voiceless and defenceless in his grave ; — quite for
getting that the Eoman synod of a.d, 649 had
done precisely the same in the case of five prelates.
The dogmatic decisions of the council were no
doubt binding as a rule of faith ; but just as the
Eoman See had rejected the twenty-eighth canon
of the council of Chalcedon without detriment to
the dogmatic authority of that assembly, so, he
thinks, it is possible to reject also the sentence
pronounced on Honorius. Did Anastasius not
know what Leo II. had done, what stood written
in the pope's confession of faith ? The only thing
in point which he produces is the remark, that no
doubt the council condemned Honorius as a
heretic, but that, properly speaking, no one could
be called a heretic who did not add to his error
contentious obstinacy (contentiosa pertinacia).
The silence in the biography of Agatho has
nevertheless not prevented the biographer of
' [For example, the archbishops of Westminster and Baltimore in
their recent pastoral letters. The archbishop of Malines also in his
controversy with Pere Gratry. See Appendix P.]

The anathema on him ceases to attract notice 235
Leo 1 1., in the very same Pontifical book, from
citing the name of Honorius under the head of
those who were condemned by the sixth council
as Monothelites ; and as the lessons for S, Leo's
day were taken word for word from this biography,
the condemnation of Honorius has been transferred
to the older versions of the Eoman breviary, no
doubt without the following point being observed.
In the East it was natural frequently to recur The anathema
. . on Honorius
to the condemnation of Honorius, without, how- treated in the
. . T . East as a
ever, exactly calling attention to it as anything matter of
extraordinary and astonishing. The patriarchs
Tarasius of Constantinople, and Theodore of Jeru
salem, mentioned him at the time of the seventh
council' (a.d. 787) under the head of those who
were condemned for Monothelitism; so also the
deacon Epiphanius.^ It occurred to no one to
make a difi'erence between him and the other
Monothelite leaders who were condemned for
heresy. Pope Hadrian II. specially remarked in
the letter of his which is appended to the acts of
the eighth council, that Honorius was accused
and condemned on account of heresy ; and more
over, that his condemnation had taken place only
in consequence of the Eoman See having given
its assent.^
It is Hincmar of Eheims who mentions the
' [Of Nicffia, which anathematised the Iconoclasts, and restored
image-worshii).] 2 Concilia, ed. Labbe, vii., 166, 182, 422.
See Gaeniee's note to the Liber Diurnus, p. 41.

3

236 HONORfUS f '
Hincmar as- afi"air of Houorius for the last time in the West,
sents to the
anathema. adding the remark, that he must have deserved
anathema in his life, otherwise those who sat in
judgment upon him would have harmed them
selves rather than ' him. After him the recol
lection of the circumstance perished in the western
churches. Of course, in the notices of the sixth
council, as they existed in this or that chronicle,
and in the Eoman breviary, the name of Honorius,
without further explanation, was still read along
with the rest who had been condemned by this
council. But seeing that all these others were
Orientals, that the Monothelite controversy had
left no traces behind it in the West, and that none
of the historical works in general use in the Middle
Ages contained any particulars of the Monothelite
question, it occurred to no one any more that in
the Honorius thus expelled from communion with
The silence of tlio Cliurch was to be uudorstood a pope. Beyond
Pontificalis everything else the silence of the Pontifical book
leads hlsto- t-tii • -i-t • tt
rians to be docidod the poiut IU this direction^ Hence it came
to pass that not one of the numerous compilers of
histories and lists of popes gave even the slightest
hint of so remarkable a circumstance, one quite
unique in its kind. The pbeudo-Luitprand,
Abbo, Martin ds Polonus, Leo of Orvilto, Ber
nard Guidonis, Gervasius Eiccobald of Fer
rara, Amalrich Augerii — all these writers of
' In the treatise De una et non trina Deitate, cf. Chmel Vindicim
Condi, VI., Prague, 1777, p. 137.

silent.

The anathema on a pope at last forgotten 237

histories of the popes are silent. They are able
sometimes to relate about him what is somewhat
unimportant, such as small liturgical directions ;
they mention that Leo IL, understanding Greek,
translated the Acts of the sixth council into Latin.
But an event, which in Eome itself had appeared
so important that it had been expressly included in
the popes' confession of faith, they one and all
leave unmentioned, not perhaps of set purpose —
only of the compiler of the Pontifical book can one
say that he purposely suppressed the proceeding —
but openly, because they knew nothing whatever
about it, although three oecumenical councils,
the sixth, the seventh, and the eighth, had pro
nounced or confirmed the sentence of anathema on
Honorius. And this was universally the case with the The fact of a
X- • f T 1 Tpf 1 pope having
Latin writers from the tenth to the fifteenth cen- been anathe-
m 11 ¦ 1 p -r-i matlsed is thus
tury. irue that the chronicle ot Ekkehard, that forgotten.
Ado and Marianus Scotus mention Honorius
among those who were condemned by the sixth
council, but this name without any further descrip
tion was, for those times, mere empty sound,
conveying no ideas to any one. When, therefore,
CARDINAL Humbert, in his writing against the
Greek Nicetas,^ inserts a notice of the sixth
council, and in this mentions Honorius also as one
of those condemned, one may be certain that he
' In Pbetz, viii., 155.
2 Ap. Baeon., Append, ad tom. xi. ; Annal., p. 1005, ed. Colon.

1 8 HONORfUS f

had no suspicion of the rank of the person men
tioned ; otherwise the Byzantines would have been
precisely the people in whose minds he would have
Leo IX. shows avoidod awakening such a recollection. The ob-
ranceofit. livioii iiito which the fate of Honorius had fallen
is specially astonishing in the letter of pope
Leo IX. to Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Con
stantinople, and to Leo ' of Achrida, in which all
the scandals and heretical errors of their church
and its bishops are set before these prelates. The
pope confidently contrasts the steadfast orthodoxy
of the bishops of Eome with the numerous cases of
heresy which had occurred in Constantinople, and
calls attention to the way in which the popes,
especially in the Monothelite controversies, had
continually exercised their judicial office over
' Haeduin, in., 931. [Michael Cerularius and Leo, archbishop
of Achrida and metropolitan of Bulgaria, provoked the correspond
ence in 1053, by a letter to the bishop of Trani, in Apuha, warning
him against the errors of the Latins. The pope rephed from his
virtual captivity at Benevento. After quoting the text, " Ego autem
" rogavi pro te, ut non deficiat fides tua ; et tu ahquando conversus
" confirma fratres tuos," the pope proceeds : " Erit ergo quisqnam
" tantae dementise, qui orationem ilhus, cnjus veUe est posse, audeat
" in aliquo vacuam putare ? Nonne a sede principis Apostolorum,
" Eomana videhcet ecclesia, tam per eumdem Petrum quam succes-
" sores suos, reprobata et convicta, atque expugnata sunt omnium
" hsereticornm commenta ; et fratrum corda in fide Petri, quae
" hactenus nee defecit, nee usque in finem deflciet confirmata ?"
" Preeterimus nominatim repUeare nonaginta et eo amphus hsereses
" ab Orientis partibus, vel ab ipsis Graecis, diverse tempore ex
" diverse errore ad corrumpendam virginitatem catholica3 ecclesiae
" matris emergentes. Dicendum videtur ex parte, quantas Con-
" stantinopolitana ecclesia per praesules suos suscitaverit pestes ;
" quas viriliter expugnavit, protrivit, et suifocavit Eomana et Apos-
" tolica sedes."]

fgnorance of Latin writers from 900 to 1400 239
the patriarchs of Constantinople, and had con
demned them ; evidently not having the slightest
suspicion that Michael and Leo, by quoting the
condemna.tion of Honorius, pronounced at Con
stantinople and accepted at Eome, could have
demolished his whole argument. On the contrary,
deceived by the Eoman apocryphal documents, he
represents to his opponents that Silvester had
decided that the First See (that is the Eoman) can
be judged by none, and that Constantine, together
with the whole council of Nicaea, had approved
this.' Again, Anselm of Lucca would not have main
tained with such confidence that at the eight
oecumenical councils which had been held up to
that time, it had been proved that the patriarch of
Eome was the only one whose faith had never
wavered, if he had known that it was precisely at
the last three of these eight synods that Honorius
had been condemned for heresy.^ In like manner,
EuPER OF Deutz would not, as he has done, have
contrasted the steadfast orthodoxy of the popes
with the heretical aberrations of the patriarchs of
Constantinople, if he had not shared the general
ignorance respecting the sixth council.^
^ [" Illi nempe facitis praejudicium, de qua nee vobis, nee cuihbet
" mortahum licet facere judicium ; beatissimo et Apostohco Pontifice
" Silvestro divinitus decernente, spirituahque ejus filio Constantino
" rehgiosissimo Augusto cum universa synodo Nic^na approbante
" ac subscribente, ut summa sedes a nemine judicetur."]
2 Contra Guibertum Antipapam, Bibl. Patrum Lugd., xvm., 609.
s De divinis Offic, 2, 22.

240 HONORfUS I
Honorius Accordingly, in the West, as often as cases had
TnAe w°es^t to bo quotod iu which popes had erred or become
of an heretical heretical, pooplo appealed to those of Liberius and
^°^^' Anastasius, sometimes also to that of Marcellinus ;
never to Honorius. This ignorance appears in a
very astonishing way under Clement V. At that
time there was on the part of the French a pressing
desire for a formal anathema on Boniface VIII.
The defenders of this pope contended that as being
a dead man, who could no longer answer for him
self, he was exempt from all human judgment, and
therefore even from that of the Eoman See. The
instance of Honorius would have been very wel
come to the agents of the French court ; for by
means of it they could have proved in the most
emphatic way that the church had certainly sat in
judgment on a defunct pope, and had condemned
him. The fact, however, had long since vanished
from the memories of jurists no less than of theo
logians ; and hence in the long controversy and
legal discussion the name of Honorius was never
mentioned. Hence it has come to pass that Platina has
even made Honorius a decided opponent of Mono
thelitism, and he represents Heraclius as banishing
Pyrrhus and Cyrus at Honorius's suggestion. But
that towards the close of the sixteenth century the
learned Panvinio, whom Cfanoni then copied in
turn, should allow this to pass unchallenged, is
scarcely conceivable.

The memory of the West begins to revive 24 1
The fact that Honorius was condemned by the The memory
• 1 1 -1 r- 1 1111 of the West
Sixth general council was first brought back to the reawakened.
memory of the Western Church by a Greek living
in Constantinople, Manuel Kalekas, who in the
year 1390 wrote a work against the Byzantines
for being separated from the West. The papal
nuncio Anton Massanus, a Minorite, brought the
book from Constantinople to the papal court in
1421 ; whereupon Martin V. had it translated by
the celebrated Camaldulensian abbot, Ambrose

rn

Traversari. From it cardinal Torquemada,' Torquemada
¦\ • CI 11 -I i c- finds Hono-
who wrote m^ Summa about the year 1450, first rius'scasea

learnt the condemnation of Honorius, which dis
turbed him greatly ; for by no sort of means would
it work into his system.^ Kalekas had made light
of the affair in his controversy with the Greeks.
He had contented himself with referring to the
excuse which Maximus makes for Honorius, with
out troubling himself with the consideration that
the judgment of an oecumenical council must have
an authority very different from the evasive
answer of a theologian, who knew of no other
way of helping his case than to make the secretary
answerable for the errors contained in the pope's ^
letter. Now Torquemada was acquainted with
the declaration of Hadrian II. from the Acts of
' QUETIF et Echaed, Scriptores 0. P. I., 718.
2 Summa de Ecclesia, 2, 93, ed. Venet., 1560, f., 228. This is the
most important work of the Middle Ages on the question of the
extent of the papal power.
^ Contra Grcecorum errores, Ingolst., 1608, p. 381-

great difficulty.

242 HONORfUS I

the eighth council, to the effect that Honorius had
been anathematised for heresy. Nevertheless, he
says that we must suppose that the Orientals were
misinformed about Honorius, and so had con
demned him under ' a mistake. His sole ground
for saying this is, that pope Agatho, in enume
rating the monothelite leaders, has not mentioned
Honorius among them.
He gives up This attempt to load an oecumenical council with
the council to
saveHonorius. tho chargo of a gross error, merely to rescue the
honour of one pope, remained, however, on the
whole, unobserved, and stood alone at that time.
For then, as through the whole of the Middle
Ages, the view still prevailed that a pope certainly
could apostatise from the faith and become he
retical, and in such a case both could and ought to
be deposed.
The Honorius Not Until after the middle of the sixteenth cen-
^eriousiy de- tury did any one occupy himself seriously with the
sixteenth cen- quostiou of Houorius. The fact of the condemna-
"'^' tion was irreconcileable with the system then
developed by Baronius, Bellarmine, and others.
Attempts were accordingly made to set it aside.
Various hy- It was pretended, that is to say, that the Acts of
potheses. .
I. That the 'the sixth couucil had been falsified by the Greeks
counciihave of a later age, and all therein that concerned
iated.'"'^''^°" Honorius had been interpolated by them, in order
that the disgrace of so many oriental patriarchs
' " Creditur quod hoc fecerint Orientales ex mala et falsa sinistra
" informatione de prtefato Honorio decepti."'

Various devices to get rid of the difficulty 243
being condemned for heresy might be lessened by
the shame of a pope being found in the same pre
dicament. Then it became necessary to declare
that the letter of Leo II. was also interpolated.
And on this Baronius, Bellarmine, Hosius,
BiNius, Duval, and the Jesuits Tanner and
Gretser determined. But when the Liber Diurnus
came to light, the nullity of this attempt was dis
closed. Another mode of getting out of the 2. That they
-t.fc ^ 1 .11 11 1 . are really the
difficulty proved still more untenable ; this was to acts of another
deny the condemnation of Honorius at the sixth ^^
council, and transfer it to another purely Greek
synod (the quinisext' council of a.d. 692 is ap
parently the one meant), the Acts of which were
then inserted in those of the sixth council. This
was the device resorted to by Sylvius, Lupus, and
the Eoman oratorian Marchese, who has set forth
this idea in a book of his own.^
That the letters of Honorius were forgeries, or 3. That the
that they had been interpolated, was somewhat noriusare
more conceivable ; at least the supposition de
manded no such immense and elaborate apparatus
of falsification as Baronius and Bellarmine pictured
' [Called quinisext, as being supplementary to the fifth and sixth
councils. It is also known as the Trullan, from the Trullus or
vaulted hall, in which it was held. The date of it is doubtful ;
686, 691, 692 have ah been suggested. Harduin places it as late
as 706. The two papal legates signed its 102 canons; but pope
Sergius I., to the chagrin of the emperor Justinian IL, dechned to
do so. The council was recognised by the East only, where its Acts
lucre quoted as those of the sixth council ; and this was the first grave
step towards the schism between the East and the West.]
2 Clypeusfortium, sive Vindicice llonorii Papse. Eomae, 1680.
R 2

forgeries.

244

HONORfUS f

4. That Ho
norius was
condemned,
not for heresy,
but for negli
gence.

This hypothe
sis a favourite
one in the
Jansenist con
troversy.

to themselves, or at any rate to their readers.
This mode of escape therefore was chosen by
Gravina and Coster ; Stapleton also and Wig-
GERS were inclined ' towards it.
Seeing, however, that the letters of Honorius
were laid before the council, examined, and con
demned in the presence of the papal legates, who at
any rate must have known their contents, it was
found necessary to abandon this method of getting
out of the difficulty also. Several, therefore, pre
ferred to maintain that Honorius himself had
taught what was orthodox, and had only been
condemned by the council because he had shown
leniency to heresy from an ill-timed love of peace,
and had favoured it by rejecting a dogmatic ex
pression which had become indispensable. So
De Marca, Natalis Alexander, Gtarnier, Du
Hamel, Lupus, Tamagnini, Pagi and many
others. This method of defending Honorius became a
very favourite one after the outbreak of the Jan-
' Against endeavours such as these of Bellarmuie, Baronius, and
others after them, — to set aside well-attested historical facts by
throwing suspicion on the witnesses and documents, because they
will not square with the system of a particular school or party, —
cardinal SroNDSATi has spoken out very strongly on this very ques
tion of Honorius. " Quid hoc ahud est, quam contra torrentem
" navigare, omnemque historiam ecclesiasticam in dubium vocare?
" Sublata vero historia et consequenter traditione usuque Ecclesije,
" quae tu arma contra haereticos satis valida habebis ? Male ergo, ut
" nobis quidem videtur, Ecclesias illi consulunt, qui ut Honorii
" causam tueantur, historiam Ecclesiamque exarmant. Ergo si
" testibus agenda res est, Honorius Papa hfereticus fuit." — Eugenii
LoMBAEDi, Eegalc Sacerdotium, p. 721, sq.

His case important to the Jansenists 245
senite troubles. It is chiefly owing to the Jan
senists that the question of Honorius has become
a qwjsstio vexata, in which every effort has been
made to confuse and set aside the facts, and with
which since 1650 almost every theologian of note
has occupied himself. So that within a period of
about 130 years one may say that more has been
written on this one question of ecclesiastical history
than on any other in 1500 years. For the Jan
senists it was all-important to invalidate the judg
ment which the Church had pronounced on the
work of Jansen. Accordingly they put forth the
theory that the Church both could err and had
erred ; not, indeed, in the setting forth of doctrine,
but in " dogmatic questions of fact," that is to say,
in its judgment on a book, or its interpretation of
a dogmatic text. They set themselves therefore
on the side of Honorius against the council, and
readily pursued the course which had already been
opened by cardinals Torquemada, Baronius,
Bellarmine, De Laurea, and Aguirrb,' main-
' For these writers, foreseeing that the theory of a falsification of
the Acts would not hold water, had already taken up the other
alternative, that the council had made a mistake in its judgment on
the decretals of Honorius.— Bbnnbttis (PriviL Pontif. Vindidw,
Eom. 1759 P. 11., T. V., p. 389) admits, " Turrecrematae, Baronio,
" BeUarmino ac Spondano locutiones excidisse minus accuratas
" ac paulo asperiores." They have simply sacrificed the authority
of an oecumenical council, and of a decision accepted by the Papal
See itself, to the interests of their own theory. [So also Pi:EE
Geatet: '"On m'accuse de manquer a I'idlghse, notre mere, parce
" que je denonce le pernicieux mensonge des decretales dans les
" Icfons du Breviaire romain. Le brcviaire est-il done I'ilglise, et
"les l^gendes sont elles done le breviaire? Mais, quoi! si Ton

246 HONORfUS I
taining that grievous wrong had been done to
Honorius and his letters by the judgment of the
council. The council, in spite of the care which it
bestowed, and although the matter in question was
at that time current with every one, had been
mistaken in their decision ! The opponents of the
Jansenists, who would not allow that the Church
had condemned a pope as heretical and expelled
him from communion, preferred rather to do
violence to the clear words of the council, in order
to say that Honorius had become subject to the
anathema of the council not on account of positive
but only of " negative " heresj ; that is to say,
merely because he had countenanced other heretics
and favoured their false ' doctrine. But Feni^lon
had already pointed out, that with all the artifices
and explanations, by means of which the orthodoxy
of Honorius was to be saved, nothing after all was
to be gained. For the paramount question must
always be this : — Has the Church, represented by a
" manque a, I'^figlise pour vouloir effacer des erreurs dans les le? ons du
" Breviaire romain, que dire de ceux que veulent effacer des decrets
" de foi dans les conciles cecumeniques ? . . . Oui, je demande ce
" qu'il faut dire de ceux qui traitent ainsi les decrets des conciles;
" qui, voyant Honorius, condamn^ par trois conciles cecumeniques,
" sans compter vingt papes, repondent tout simplement que ces con-
" ciles se sont trompes !" — Troisieme lettre a Monseigneur I'Archeveque
de Malines. Paris, 1870, 1., p. 5.]
' It is speciaUy the Jesuit Gaeniee, who, in his notes to the Liber
Diurnus, has expended great pains on this point. A whole host of
theologians have followed him. At last Palma (Pradectiones Hist.
Eccles., n., 127), whose efforts go beyond everything with this con
clusion, asserts that the council certainly invoked an anathema on
Honorius.but in the expression of it was not quite in earnest.

All these devices of no avail 247
full oecumenical council, declared the dogmatic But the im-
writings of a pope to be heretical, and thus re- fionTs— TaTa
cognised the fallibility of popes ? If this question ^iit'e" that a
must be answered in the affirmative, then it i^°J'eacai'? ^
matters very little for the interests of the Eoman
See whether the synod, in the application of the
principle to a particular case (the meaning of the
letter of Honorius), has made a mistake or not.'
Some Italians of the last century — for example,
bishop Bartoli and the librarian Ughi — once more
took refuge in the favourite and most convenient
falsification theory, which makes very short work
of every stubborn fact. According to Bartoli,^
the letters of Honorius are forgeries. At the s- That the
letters of Ser-
same time, however, Bartoli adopted the discovery gius also are
. . forgeries.
which had already been made by the Augustinian
Desirant, that besides this the Greeks had forged
also the letters of Sergius ; so that the doubly-
deceived synod had regarded the letter of Honorius
also, which agreed with that of Sergius, as he
retical. Ughi^ admitted that the synod openly
condemned Honorius for heresy ; but thinks that
it acted carelessly and without thought in so doing,
' Troisiime vnstr. pastor, sur le Cos de Conscience. (Euvres, ed. la
Versailles, xi., 483.
2 Apologia pro Honorio 1. Bom. Pontif, Ausugii, 1750.
3 " Quae ommia," he remarks, after quoting the most decisive
passages from the acts of the council, " nullo unquam temperamento
" emoUita . . . manifeste demonstrant, fuisse Honorium non solum-
" modo tanquam desidem, sed— tanquam verum haareticum a synodo
" VI. proscriptum."— i>6 Honorio I. Pontif. Max. Liber, Bonomae,
1784, p. 94, cf. p. 98.

248 HONORfUS I
because it allowed itself to be deceived by the
letter which had been foisted upon Honorius.
6. That the And, not to adopt any half measures, he declares
letters of n . mi
Leo XL also that the letters of Leo II. are also spurious. The
3.rG lorP'sriGS.
French theologian, Corgne, likewise has resorted
to this lamentable expedient.'
7. That Ho- Arsdekin and Cavalcanti thought of another
norius was 1 i i i 1 1 •
condemned by loopholc, through which it was possiblo to escape
only. from the unwelcome conclusion, viz., that it was
the Greeks alone who, at the sixth council, pro
nounced the unjust sentence upon Honorius ; the
Latins present had not taken part in this mistaken
proceeding. On the other hand, their contemporary, bishop
DuPLESSis d'Argentrie, maintained that the council
had condemned Honorius as a heretic, and with
justice, for God had allowed him to fall into these
errors in his letter to Sergius, in order that popes
might learn by his example that freedom from
error in the setting forth of doctrine was assured
to them only on condition of their taking proper
counsel, which he had neglected to do." Cardinal
Orsi also has fully recognised the untenableness of
the efi"orts to save the orthodoxy of Honorius, and
the openings for attack which were thus exposed
by shortsighted theologians. He withdraws, there-
' Dissertation critique ettheologique sur UMmothelisme. Paris 1741
p. 56 sq. ' '
Collectio judiciorum de novis erroribus. Paris, 1724, T. I. prcef.
p. I. And in his Variw Disputationes theol. ad opera, 'm. Geandin'
Pans, 1712, 11., 220. '

One more device 249
fore, back to the point of view, that Honorius s. That ho-
spoke only as a private teacher, neither as pope, not'as pope!'
nor in the name of the Eoman Church, giving a vate^^eacher.
solemn decision after the necessary taking of
counsel {ex cathedra). Cardinal Luzerne has sub
jected these tenets to a sharp' criticism. One
cannot say, he justly remarks, that Honorius gave
his opinion on the Monothelite question not as
pope, but only as a private teacher. The question Answer to
was put to him as pope, and he answered as pope,
in the same tone and style in which his prede
cessors, Celestine and Leo, had answered on dog
matic questions. Orsi, however, is quite right on
his side, when he argues that Honorius gave his
decision without a council and on his own respon
sibility ; without troubling himself about the
doctrine held by the churches of the West, which
from the first had always believed in a duality of
wills ; without even giving the Eoman Church
itself the opportunity of making known its creed
as regards this question. If the idea of a decision
ex cathedra be duly expanded, and only those dog
matic announcements be reckoned as ex cathedrh
which a pope issues, not in his own name and for
himself, but in the name of the Church, with full
consciousness of the doctrine prevailing in the Church,
and therefore after previous inquiry or discussion by
a council — then, and only then, can one say that
' Sur la declaration du clerge. CEuvres, Paris, 1855, n., 42, and
190 sq. [On decisions " ex cathedra," see Appendix E.]

250

HONORfUS f

The Mono
thelitism of
Honorius
would never
have been
questioned,had he not
been pope.

Honorius's judgment was not given ' ex cathedra.
Neither the Eoman Church, nor the Western, nor
the greater part of the Eastern Church, has ever
been Monothelite. Nevertheless, Honorius issued
letters to the Eastern Church, about the Monothe
lite meaning of which assuredly not a doubt would
ever have been raised, but for the fact of the author
being pope. Accordingly, the Eoman breviary
designates him simply as a Monothelite.'^

' [With this interpretation one would readily admit that not only
the pope, but every bishop is infalUble, when he speaks ex cathedra.']
^ Hefele, in his Concilietigeschichte, and in the discussion in the
Tubingen Quartalschrift , Jahrg., 1857, has treated the question of
Honorius with philosophic impartiahty, accuracy, and thoroughness.
[See also four letters to Monseigneur Deschamps, archbishop of
Malines, by A. Geatet, priest of the Oratory. Paris, 1870.]

POPE GREGORY II AND THE
EMPEROR LEO III

POPE GREGORY II and the EMPEROR
LEO THE ISAURIAN
According to later historians, who have been Gregory ii
eagerly followed by many theologians, Gregory II. presented as
deprived the iconoclast emperor Leo of the king- voU agf ins\
dom of Italy, and induced the Italians to throw off
their allegiance to him, because he attempted to
carry his edict against the use of images into effect
in Italy as well as in the East. Baronius, Bel
larmine, and others have made this supposed fact
a main support of their system with regard to the
authority of popes over the temporal power.
Of the biographers of popes in the Middle Ages, Martinus po-
Martinus Polonus is the only one who, while he mOTe%he'^^
makes a confusion by transferring the matter to
Gregory IIL, asserts that the pope, recognising in
the emperor Leo an incorrigible iconoclast, induced
Eome, Italy, Spain, and the " whole of the West "
to throw ofi" their allegiance to the emperor, and
forbad all payment of taxes to him. We have
here another proof of the incredible ignorance of
Martinus Polonus, in representing Spain — Gothic

spreader of
error.

254 GREGORY ff and LEO fff
and even Saracen Spain — as throwing off their
allegiance. And besides that, what we are to
understand by the " whole of the West," he him
self would have had some difficulty in showing.
The other papal biographers, Amalrich, Guidonis,
Leo of Orvieto, and others, know nothing of the
secession of Italy from the empire. But before
Martinus Polonus, Sigebert [op Gemblours],
Otto op Freysingen, Gottfried op Yiterbo,
Albert op Stade, and the so-called Landulp, the
late compiler of the Historia miscella, had already
accepted the statement that pope Gregory induced
the Italians to revolt from Leo. All of these, as
well as the Byzantines Zonaras,' Cedrenus, and
Glykas, received the statement from one and the
Theophanes same single source. This source is the chronicler
the source of ni- -i
the statement. Theophanes, who wroto the history of this period
eighty years after it (he died not earlier than
A.D. 819) ; and his work, in the abbreviated Latin
translation of Anastasius Bibliothecarius, was
used by the above-mentioned Latin chroniclers
either directly or indirectly.
It is altogether futile, therefore, to pile up names
of witnesses to this supposed fact (after the manner
of Bianchi^), and add to these Nauclerus and
Platina also. All these witnesses resolve them
selves into one ; and the investigator has merely
' [ZoNAEAS and Michael Glycas bring their chronicles down to
the death of the emperor Alexis I., Conmenus, 1118; Cedeenus,
to 1057.]
^ Della Potesta e delta Polizia della chiesa. Eom., 1745, i., 382.

Did Gregory head a revolt against Leo 255
to show (1) that Theophanes ' is a late authority. But he is a
very little acquainted with Italian affairs ; (2) that contradicted '
the two contemporary Italian witnesses, Paulus raiywitnesses.
Diaconus, and the anonymous biographer of
Gregory in the Pontifical book, state just the
opposite of what Theophanes says ; and (3) that
Zonaras, in the twelfth century, and certainly
Cedrenus (both of whom merely copied Theo
phanes) are here utterly unworthy of consideration.
The special object of Zonaras, moreover, is to
throw the blame of the loss of its Italian posses
sions by the Greek empire on the papacy. Ac
cordingly he decorates the erroneous statement of
Theophanes with the further statement that Gre
gory made an alliance with the Franks, who here
upon got possession of Eome, a statement which
he thrice repeats. That is, he transfers events,
which first took place under Pepin and Charles
the Great, to the time of Gregory II. and Charles
Martel. The truth of the matter is, then, that, according Gregory
. headed no re-
to the accounts of the two Itahan contemporaries, voit, but
r-i -I'l helped to
and Gregory s own statements m his letter to quash one.
Leo, this pope, far from wishing or effecting the
' [Theophanes was born about a.d. 750. He was a most zealous
advocate of the use of images at the second council of Nictea in 787.
Leo the Armenian made him an object of persecution for his support
to the cause of image-worship, imprisoned him for two years, and
finally banished him to Samothrace, where he died almost imme
diately, March 818. His chronicle is a continuation of tbat of his
friend Syncellus, commencing with the accession of Diocletian in
284, and going down to 813.]

25 6 GREGOR Y ff and LEO fff
overthrow of the Byzantine dominion in Italy,
was rather the only, or at any rate the principal,
cause of its maintenance. It is true that, when
Leo ordered the destruction of pictures and dis
mantling of churches, the Eomans and inhabitants
of Eastern' Italy, from Venice to Osimo, fiung
off the Greek yoke, and even wished to elect an
emperor of their own. But Gregory strained
every nerve to prevent this, and exhorted them
unceasingly to maintain their allegiance to the
Eoman empire of the East.^ The biographer in
the Pontifical book, who, from the fullness, in
sight, and liveliness exhibited in his narrative, is
easily seen to be a contemporary and eye-witness,
gives only one circumstance which seems to over
pass the line of loyal obedience otherwise observed
with great strictness by Gregory, and has given
Theophanes an opening for his misrepresentation.
The patrician Paul, he says, on becoming exarch,
made an attempt on the life of the pope, because
he attempted to hinder^ the imposition of a tax
in the province, and would no"t consent to the
plundering of the churches — that is, the carrying
off of pictures and of vessels ornamented with
figures of saints. Here the point at issue was
' [The Greek dommions m Italy at this time were :— (1) the ex
archate of Eavenna, (2) the duchy of Eome and Naples, (3) the
cities on the coast of ^Liguria, and (4) the provinces in the extreme
south of Italy.]
== Paul Diao., de gestis Longob., 6, 49 ; Liber Pontif, ed. ViGNOLi,
IL, 27-36.
^ " Eo quod ccnsum in provinoia possi prajpediebat," 1. c, p. 28.

The old view revived by Gregorovius 25 7
hindering the levying of a new impost, in which
the pope did no more than set a precedent, which
was then followed by others, of refusing to pay a
new impost out of the great and numerous patri
monies of the church. But Theophanes and the
Greeks ' after him represent this as an injunction
issued to the Italians not to pay any more taxes
whatever. Hefele, following Bossuet and Muratori, has Gregorovius
set the events which took place in Italy at that fresh^iscus- '^
time in their true light, and has shown how devoid quest'ion ne-
of foundation the Greek statement ^ is. It would '^^^^^'"y'
have been sufficient merely to call attention to this,
had not Gregorovius lately revived once more
the old view of Bellarmine, and represented the
pope as in open revolt against the emperor,
" Gregory," he states, " now decided upon open
" resistance .... he armed himself, as the Pon-
" tifical book says, against the emperor as against
" a foe ... . The act of open rebellion, at the
" head of which the pope boldly placed himself,
^ [In this they are followed by Gibbon. " The most effectual and
" pleasing measure of rebelhon was the withholding the tribute of
" Italy, and depriving him of a power which he had recently abused
" by the imposition of a new capitation." In a note he adds, " A
" census, or capitation, says Anastasius (p. 156) : a most cruel tax,
" unknown to the Saracens themselves, exclaims the zealous Maim-
" bourg (Hist, des Iconoclastes, 1. L), and Theophanes (p. 844 [tom,
" i., p. 361, ed. Bonn]), who talks of Pharaoh's numbering the male
" children of Israel. This mode of taxation was familiar to the
" Saracens ; and, most unluckily for the historian, it was imposed a
" few years afterwards in France by his patron Louis XIV." — Decline
and Fall of the Boman Empire, chap. XLix., note 38.]
^ Conciliengeschichte, iil, 355 ff.

25 8 GREGOR Y ff and LEO fff
" was perhaps even definitely declared by refusal
" of the tribute from the duchy of Eome,"' &c.
But in manifest contradiction to this view, he states
further on, " Gregory could not withdraw himself
" from the tradition of the Eoman empire, the seat
" of which was Byzantium ; with prudent mode-
" ration he restrained the rebellious Italians, and
" appealed to the legitimate rights of the emperor,
" whom he had no longer much need to fear"
(page 257).
His view in- Is it concoivable that so prudent a man as (on
consistent with . , ......
itself Gregorovius s own showing) this pope was, should
first have set himself at the head of an open rebel
lion^ and then directly afterwards, without any
external compulsion, should again have quashed
the rebellion, and come forward as champion of
the emperor's rights ? For the view that the pope
originated and directed the revolt of the Itahans,
Gregorovius has given no other evidence than his
quotation of the words of the Pontifical book, " he
" armed himself against the emperor as against a
" foe ;" ^ but the words which immediately follow,
' Geschichte der Stadt Bom., ll., 255.
' ^ [Gibbon quotes the whole passage, but draws the same conclu
sion as Gregorovius. " Without depending on prayers and mhacles,
" he boldly armed against the public enemy, and his pastoral letters
" admonished the Italians of thek danger and their duty." To
which he subjoins ui the note: "I shall transcribe the important
" passage of the Liber Pontificalis." " Eespiciens ergo pius vh
" profanam principis jussionem, jam contra Imperatorem quasi
" contra hostem se armavit, renuens hasresim ejus, scribens ubique
" se cavere Ohristianos, eo quod orta fuisset impietas talis. Igitur
" permoti omnes Pentapolenses, atque Venetiarum exercitus conti'a

fnconsistency of Gregorovius 259
and which explain the meaning of this '* arming,"
he omits, namely, the words, " in that he rejected
" the emperor's heresy, and sent letters every-
" where, bidding Christians to be on their guard
" against the new form of impiety that had
" appeared." Gregory, therefore, kept himself
rigorously within the sphere of ecclesiastical
matters, declared himself the opponent of the
imperial decree against the use of images, and
charged the faithful not to destroy their images.
But at the same time he exhorted them to show
civil obedience to the imperial power, so much so
that he used all his influence to preserve Eavenna
for the empire, when the Lombards were threaten
ing to seize it ; and he placed ' forces at the
disposal of the imperial governor Eutychius, by
means of which Eutychius was able to put down
the revolt of Tiberius Petavius in Tuscany.
A glance at the position of affairs shows that Difficult po-
. .... sh'on of
Gregory,^ straitened as were the limits within Gregory 11.
" Imperatoris jussionem restiterunt : dicentes se nunquam in ejusdem
" pontificis condescendere necem, sed pro ejus magis defensione
" viriliter decertare " (p. 156), 1. c, note 37.]
' [This was partly the result of the interference of the Lombard
king himself (see next note). It is the more remarkable, inasmuch
as Eutychius, tbe last exarch of Eavenna, had come on an icono
clastic mission from Constantinople ; and it was commonly believed
of him, as of other imperial emissaries before him, that he meditated
the assassination of the pope. It was thanks to Gregory, that
Eutychius was not assassinated himself]
^ [Gregory was under the influence of two violent and conflicting
feelings, horror of an iconoclastic emperor (an iconoclast in the
eyes of an Itahan was scarcely a Christian), and horror of a Lom
bard supremacy. When Eavenna was taken by the Lombards, he
s 2

26o GREGOR Y ff and LEO fff

which the difaculties of his surroundings allowed
him to act, nevertheless well understood how to
maintain the true bearing which prudence and
duty alike dictated. The gravest peril, the most
pressing and disastrous fate in the eyes of the
Eomans at that time, and especially of the popes,
was to be swallowed up by the Lombards. Gregory
shared the general feeling, and he, too, speaks of
the "gens nefanda Longobardorum.'" And this
fate, to become the prey of the detested foreigner,
was inevitable for Eome and the rest of Byzantine
Italy, as soon as the power of Constantinople in
the West was broken. That these provinces, if
left alone, could not maintain themselves against
the overwhelming power of the Lombards, Gregory
organised a league between Venice, the exarch Scholasticus, and
Eome ; and the forces thus raised recaptured Eavenna while Liutprand
was away at Pavia, A.n. 727. Two years later, however, we find Liut
prand acting the part of mediator between Gregory and the exarch
Eutychius. As regards the question of iconoclasm, it was one
fanatic against another. Leo was at least as fanatical in his attack
on the use of images, as Gregory in his support of it. And when it
is urged in proof of the pope's rebellion that he excommunicated the
emperor, we must remember that at that time excommunication of a
prince did not necessarily carry with it a release of his subjects from
their allegiance ; it did not even cut off the prince himself from all
spiritual privileges. It merely declared in solemn terms that the
pope dechned to communicate with him. But " si quis .... imagi-
" num sacrarum .... destructor .... extiterit, sit extorris a corpore
" D. N. Jesu Christi vel toUus ecclesise imitate " is strong language.]
' [Gregory commences his letter to Ursus, doge of Venice, on the
subject of united resistance against the Lombards, in these words :
" Quia, peccato faciente, Eavennatum civitas, quae caput extat
" omnium, a nee dicendd gente Longobardorum capta est." — Labbe,
Concil, VI., 1447. The Lombards, on then- side, had a similar style
of abuse. If they wished to express the bitterest contempt for a foe
they called him a Eoman.]

A revolt would have been most impolitic 261
was well aware.' Above all would protection be
needed for the Eoman See ; and at that time the
Prankish kingdom alone, under its prince, Charles
Martel, could have given this protection. Charles
Martel, however, was fully occupied with perpetual
wars against the Saxons, Frisians, Saracens, and
people of Aquitaine ; and, moreover, was on
friendly terms with the Lombard king. Thus he
was both unable and unwilling to take serious part
in Italian affairs. Hence it came to pass that
lower Italy, in which the richest possessions of the
Eoman Chair lay, remained then, and for some
time longer, faithful to the Eoman emperor in the
East. Not a single attempt was made there to iie knew weii
revolt from him ; and if the influence of the pope could not suc-
had been exerted to bring such a result about, it
would certainly have failed. Had Gregory then,
as Gregorovius represents, placed himself at the
head of a rebellion, he would have entered upon a
hopeless undertaking, involving, the most ruinous
losses to the Eoman See.
' [Yet, as Dr. Dollinger remarks in Essay V., " Gregory II. made
" an attempt to form a confederation of states, which was to maintain
" itself independently of both Greeks and Lombards, the head of it to
" be the Eoman See," p. 121.]

SILVESTER II

SILVESTER II
A POPE, who was held in great honour by his con- Gradual defa-
, • ^ 1,1 .11 mation of the
temporaries, who was renowned as the most learned memory of
scholar and the most enlightened spirit of his time, by lucc^essive
whose memory remained unsullied for a century ^°^^^^ ^'^'
after his death, becomes gradually an object of
suspicion ; the calumnies about him assume larger
and larger dimensions, until the papal biographers
of the later Middle Ages represent his whole life
and pontificate as a series of the most monstrous
crimes. According to them, Silvester II. entered
into a league with the devil, and exercised his
pontifical office in the devil's service and in obe
dience to his will.
At first writers were content with the timid i. That he
criticism that Gerbert had devoted himself with of profane arts
far too much zeal to profane sciences, and on that
account stood so high in the favour of an emperor
with such a thirst for knowledge as Otho III.
This is the line taken by the chroniclers Hermann
of Eeichenau (died a.d. 1054) and Bernold. Hugo
of Fleury (a.d. 1109) as yet knows nothing to the

266 SfL VESTER ff

discredit of Gerbert; according to him Gerbert
attained to such eminence merely by means of his
2. That his knowledge. But his contemporary Hugo of Fla-
Ravenna^was VIGNT, whoso chroniclo cuds with the year 1102,
due to sinister r. , ,,.i.-. i ,• •-.
arts. goes SO far as to state that it was by certain sinister
arts (quibusdam pr^stigiis) that Gerbert contrived
to get himself elected archbishop of Eavenna.'
The chronicler does not appear by this to have
intended the interposition of demoniacal agencies ;
in which case he would certainly have used
stronger language. He probably meant court
intrigues, by means of which the Frenchman won
the favour of the empress Adelaid, who at that
time held Eavenna, and of the emperor Otho ; so
that the latter, evading an' open election, simply
nominated Gerbert.
3. That he Somo yoars later we have Siegebert of Gem-
was addicted /tt itton • i ti
to magic and BLOURS (died A.D. llld) Stating that some did not
reckon Gerbert among the popes at all, but put
in his place a (fictitious) pope Agapitus, because
Gerbert had been addicted to the practice of the
black art, and had been^ struck dead by the devil.
Siegebert may have had before him the work of
CARDINAL Benno. The main features of the fable
appear first in the writings of this calumnious
enemy of Gregory VII. Benno, whose work must
have been written about the year 1099, asserts
that to a certain extent, during the whole of the
eleventh century, a school of black magic had
1 Pbetz, x., 367. 2 Bouquet, x., 217.

the black art.

Gradual blackening of his memory 26 y
existed in Eome, with a succession of adepts in
this art, and he enumerates them in order. The
most important personage among them is arch
bishop Laurentius of Amalfi, who at times gave
utterance to prophecies, and also could interpret '
the notes of birds. Theophylact (Benedict IX.)
and the archpriest John Gratian (Gregory YI.)
learnt the unholy art from Laurentius, and Hilde
brand from John Gratian. But Laurentius him
self was the pupil of Gerbert, who was the first to
bring the art to Eome. And then Benno relates 4- That he
, ...,.., sold himself to
the story which has smce been so often repeated, the devU and
and which became so popular, that Satan promised rabiy.
his disciple Gerbert that he should not die until he
had said mass in Jerusalem. Gerbert accordingly
believed himself to be quite safe ; for he thought
only of the city of Jerusalem, without remembering
the Jerusalem church in Eome. The message of
death came to him as he was saying mass in this
church, and he thereupon caused his tongue and
hand to be cut off, by way of expiation.
Benno certainly did not invent this fable ; he The fable is of
n 1-1 1 •• --r* -rt !• 1- Roman origin,
found it already existing in Eome. Before him invented to
there is no mention of it anywhere,^ and it evi- poor man,
' Vita et iiestaHildebrandi, in Beown, Fascicul., i., 83.
" Though Dav. Koelee (Gerbertus — injuriis tam veterum quam
recentiorcm scriptorum — liberatur. Altorf , 1720, p. 33) supposes this,
and Hock (Gerbert und sein Jahrhundert, 8. 161) considers it as
most probable.
. Ihe Benedictines in the Bouquet Collection, x., 244, certainly say
" Antesignanos Benno habuit." I have not been able, however, to
discover these predecessors.

268

SfL VESTER ff

without dently sprang up nowhere else but in Eome, just
powerful ./ 1 o ± ^ ^
friends, could like the fablc about Pope Joan. A foreigner, with
become pope. r. i • i • i i
his at that time unheard of and incomprehensible
learning, who had acquired very questionable
knowledge among those enemies of the faith, the
Mahometans in Spain, may well have inspired the
Eomans with something of awe and horror. At a
time in which scientific studies had all but died
out in Eome, in which the Eoman Chair was under
the control of aristocratic factions^ and a pope
without powerful relations was scarcely able to
maintain himself, the populace could not un
derstand how a man like Gerbert, of the very
humblest extraction, by mere pre-eminence of
intellectual culture, should have raised himself to
the highest dignity in Christendom. That could
not have come to pass by purely natural means.
Here also, as in the fable of Pope Joan, a verse
It is the well-known

Here, as in
case of Pope
Joan, we have plays an important part
a riddling \ "^ '- '^
verse. line 
" Scandit ab E Gerbertus in E, fit postea Papa vigens E."
For it is well known that Gerbert was -first arch
bishop of Eheims, then of Eavenna, and finally
became pope of Eome. Originally it was Gerbert
himself who was said to have composed the verse,
in calm satisfaction after the attainment of the
highest dignity.' Next the verse was ascribed to
him as a prophecy respecting his future destiny,
' So Helgald, in Bouquet, x., 99.

The fable spreads widely 269
which was eventually fulfilled. And thus the way
was prepared for the next step, which was to make
the verse into a prediction or promise of the devil.
By this means Gerbert was placed in the power of
Satan ; and his wonderful and, at that time, unex
ampled success must have been the work of the
devil, the result of a compact entered into with
him. For after the story of Theophilus, which
arose in the East in the ninth century, had spread
in the West also, and the notion of compacts with
the arch enemy (originally quite foreign to the
Christian world) had become naturalised, there
was nothing to hinder even a pope from being
represented as having attained to his dignity by
such a compact.
And thus it is stated in Ordericus Vitalis, who
wrote his chronicle about the year 1141, that Ger
bert is said to have studied as a scholar with a
demon, and this demon gave utterance to the
famous verse. Soon after, however, in William
GoDELL, who wrote some twenty years later, Ger
bert has already done formal homage to Satan, in
order to attain the fulfilment of his wishes through
his power. William of Malmesbury tells the
story in its fully developed form. And now the TheDomini-
, , , . cans accept
Dominicans appropriate it ; Vincent of Beauvais, and spread
the fable.
Martinus Polonus, Leo of Orvieto, Bernard
Guidonis ; also Amalrich Augerii. Petrarch
adheres to them faithfully. In their hands Sil
vester II. becomes a successor of S. Peter, who

270 SfLVESTER ff
early in life sold himself to the devil, and by his as
sistance ascends the papal throne. As pope he has
daily and familiar intercourse with Satan, making
him his counsellor. But when the entry of a troop of
demons into the church warns him of the approach
of his end, he publicly confesses his sins before the
people, and thereupon has one limb after another
hacked off, in order to show penitence for his
enormities by means of so agonising a death.
Since then the rattling of his bones in the grave
is wont to give notice of the approaching death of
The truth re- ^ popo. Ou the othor hand, Dietrich von Niem
thffouie"nth (about ^•^' 1390) was not far from the truth when
century. ]^g g^-^j ^¦j^g^.j. ^^ Eomaus had detested this pope on
account of his extraordinary learning, and there
fore had accused him of having used magic' arts.
1 Privilegia et jura imperii, in Schardu Sylloge, p. 832.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A.

The following additional particulars about the fable Further par-
of Pope Joan, gathered mainly from Baring'Gould's the Papess?"
Curious Myths of tJie Middle Ages, the notes to
Soames's edition of Mosheim's Ecclesiastical His
tory, and the article Papesse in Peter Bayle's
Dictionnaire, will be of interest to those who care
to pursue the subject further.
It is greatly to the discredit of Mosheim that he Mosheim's
should write as follows of this nionstrous story, attempt to ^
" Between Leo IV., who died a,d, 855, and Bene- S°to°he
" dict III., a woman, who concealed her sex, and
" assumed the name of John, it is said, opened her
'' way to the pontifical throne by her learning and
" genius, and governed the church for a time. She
" is commonly called the Papess Joanna. During
" the five subsequent centuries the witnesses to
" this extraordinary event are without number ;
" nor did any one, prior to the Eeformation by
" Luther, regard the thing as either incredible, or
" disgraceful to the church. But in the seven-
" teenth century learned men, not only among the
T

fable.

2 74 Mosheim on Pope Joan
" Eoman Catholics, but others also, exerted all the
" powers of their ingenuity both to invalidate the
" testimony on which the truth of the story rests,
" and to confute it by an accurate computation of
" dates. There are still, however, very learned
" men who, while they concede that much falser
" hood is mixed with the truth, maintain that the
" controversy is not wholly settled. Something
" must necessarily have taken place at Eome to
" give rise to this most uniform report of so many
" ages ; but even yet it is not clear what that
" something was." Book iii., part 2, chap, ii.,
§ 4. Tant il est certain que les memes choses nous
paraissent veritables ou fausses k mesure qu'elles
favorisent, ou notre Parti, ou le Parti oppose. One
can hardly doubt that it was Protestant prejudice
which made Mosheim " wish to believe " (as Gibbon
says of a dubious story which pleases him) that the
Answer to his myth of Popo Joau might be true. It matters
little to Protestants, as Bayle remarks, whether
the Papess existed or not ; it matters much that
they should not give a handle to people to regard
them comme des gens opiniatres, et qui ne veulent
jamais demordre des opinions preconcues. Mosheim
says, "during the five subsequent centuries the
" witnesses to this extraordinary event are without
" number ;" he omits to add that they occur in the
last of the five centuries. For more than 350
years after the death of Leo IV. there is absolute
silence about the Papess. Nor is it true that " no

Bayle s mode of argument 275
" one prior to Luther's time regarded the thing as
';' incredible or disgraceful to the Church." Most
people regarded it as a grievous scandal, and some
doubted the fact. Platina, who wrote before
Luther was born, after telling the story, says, " haec
" qu^ dixi, vulgo feruntur, incertis tamen et ob-
" scuris auctoribus ; quae ideo ponere breviter et
" nude institui, ne obstinate et pertinaciter omisisse
" videar, quod fere omnes affirmant." — Lives of ihe
Popes, John VII.
. It is almost slaying the dead to argue against Bayie's argu-
the story of Pope Joan ; but it is worth while to
give a specimen of Bayle's mode of reasoning. Is
it conceivable that five centuries hence there will
not be a single historian extant of the sixteenth or
seventeenth century who mentions the abdication
of Charles V., or the assassinations of Henry III.
and IV. of France ; but that the earliest mention
of these great events will be in some " mise'rable
"annaliste" of the nineteenth century? If it
should be so, the twenty-fourth century will be
very credulous if it believes in these events.
To show how impossible it would be for the his
torians .of the ninth century to have suppressed
a fact so tremendous as a female pope, who was
detected as Pope Joan is supposed to have been
detected, Bayle supposes a writer of the eleventh
century to narrate as follows : — Charles the Great
was very desirous that his successor should be his
son ; it was therefore a great grief to him that his
T 2

276 He invents a parallel
A supposed wife was barren. When at length there were
raiiei."^^ ^^ hopos of a child, he was beside himself with joy ;
but when the child proved to be a girl, he was
almost as grieved as before. He determined,
therefore, to pass the child off as a boy, and gave
it the name of Pepin. Six years later his wife
bore him a son ; but the parents still felt bound to
conceal the sex of the first child, who on Charles's
death was crowned as his successor. She reigned
for three years without detection. The denoue
ment took place as she was addressing the parlia
ment. The woman-king died in childbirth in the
midst of the august assembly ; and the nobles, in
horror, passed a law which would render such an
imposture impossible in future. Imagine half a
dozen different accounts of the way in which
queen Pepin died, and you have a narrative as
like that about Pope Joan " comme deux goutes
" d'eau." What amount of credence should we
give to this eleventh century writer ?
Some writers appear to have believed that the
child which the Papess bore was Antichrist ! An
eminent Dutch minister considers it as immaterial
whether its father was a monk or the devil.
The German and French Protestants of the six
teenth century delighted in the story, embellishing
it with details of their own, in order to make
capital out of it against the papacy. Nor did
their fancy exuberate in words only. Some of
their accounts are illustrated with woodcuts which

Mr. Baring-Gould's explanation 277
would seem to be more curious and graphic than
decent. Mr. Baring-Gould gives a copy of one in
which the Papess is strung up to a gibbet over the
mouth of hell ; rather against the version of the
story, which says she was allowed to choose
whether she would have the public exposure, or
burn for ever in hell.
The raison d'etre of the myth, as given by Dr. Mr. Baring-
Dollinger in the text, is probably sufficient, Mr. thesis.
Baring-Gould, however, has little doubt " that
" Pope Joan is an impersonation of the great
" whore of Eevelation, seated on the seven hills,
" and is the popular expression of the idea preva-
" lent from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries,
" that the mystery of iniquity was somehow
" working in the papal court. The scandal of the
" antipopes, the utter worldliness and pride of
" others, the spiritual fornication with the kings of
" the earth, along with the words of Eevelation
" prophesying the advent of an adulterous woman
" who should rule over the imperial city, and her
" connexion with Antichrist, crystallized into this
" curious myth, much as the floating uncertainty
" as to the signification of our Lord's words,
" ' There be some standing here which shall not
" ' taste of death till they see the kingdom of
" ' God,' condensed into the myth of the Wan-
" dering Jew."
He gives the following jinghng account of the
Papess, which is worth re-quoting. It is a frag-

278 Story of Pope Joan in verse
meut of the rhythmical Vitoe Pontificum of Guliel-
mus Jacobus of Egmonden, preserved in Wolffii
Lectionum Memorahilium centenarii, XVI. : —
" Priusquam reconditur Sergius, vocatur
Ad summam, qui dicitur Johannes, huic addatur
Anghcus, Moguntia iste procreatur.
Qui, ut dat sententia, fceminis aptatur
Sexu : quod sequentia monstrant, breviatur
Hebc vox ; nam prolixius chronica procedunt.
Ista, de qua brevius dicta minus Iffidunt.
Huic erat amasius, ut scriptores credtmt.
Patria rehnquitur Moguntia, Graecorum
Studiose petitur schola. Post doctorum
Haac doctrix efflcitur Eomse legens ; horum
Haec auditu fungi tur loquens. Hinc prostrato
Summo hsec eligitur ; sexu exaltato
Quandoque negl igitur. Fatur quod hsec nato
Per servum confloitur. Tempore gignendi
Ad processum equus scanditur, vice flendi,
Papa cadit, panditur improbis ridendi
Norma, puer nascitur in vico dementis,
Colossseum jungitur. Corpus parentis
In eodem traditur sepultturse gentis,
Faturque scriptoribus, quod Papa prrefato,
Vico senioribus transiens amato
Congruo ductoribus sequitur negato
Loco, quo Ecclesia partu denigratur,
Quamvis inter spacia Pontificum ponatur
Propter sexum."
Books on the The literature on the subject is abundant. The
Papess very arguments of those who maintain the truth of the
^tory are collected and stated by Frederick Spax-
HEiM in his Exercit. de Papa Foemina. Opp.
tom. IL, p. 577, and L'Enfant has given a French
translation and better arrangement of them, with
additions : Histoire de la Papesse Jeanne, La Haye,
1736; two vols. 12mo.
The arguments against the myth are given in

numerous.

Literature on the subject 279
Blondel's famous treatise, Familier iclairissement
de la question, si une femme a ete assise au siege
papal de Rome, Amsterdam, 1647-9 ; in Bayle's
Dictionnaire historique ei critique, article Papesse.
See also Allatii Confutatio Fabulce de Johanna
Papissa, Colon., 1645 ; George Eccard, Historia
Francice Oriental, tom. il, lib. xxx., § 119; Mi
chael Lequien, Oriens Christianus, iil, p. 777;
Chr. Aug. Henmann, a Lutheran writer, Sylloge
Diss. Sacrar., tom. i., pt. ii., p. 352 ; J. G. Schel-
HOEN, Amcenitates Literar., I., p. 146 ; Jac. Bas
nage, Histoire de I'Eglise, i., p. 408 ; Schroecjeh,
Kirchengeschichte, xxii., ,p. 75-110; J. E. C.
Schmidt, Kirchengeschichte, iv., p. 274-279 ; A.
Bower's Lives of the Popes, iv., p. 246-260.

APPENDIX B.

The story of the Papess, as given in the Tegernsee
manuscript in the royal library at Munich (^Cod.
The true lat. Tcgems., 781), is as follows: — "Item papa
story of Pope " Jutta, qui UOU fuit alamannus, sicut mendose
Jutta. " fabulatur chronica martiniana. Glancia puella,
Gianciawas " fuit filia ditissimi civis Thessalici, cujus omnis
the daughter " moditatio sequivoca nota sapientise versabatur ;
of a Thessa- '' hujus erat intollectus perspicua et ingenium docile,
Han, a clever " quam pouitus assidua legendi solertia vegetabant ;
and studious " hsec tomporo brovi sibi famam per omnes cir-
chiid. At " cuitus vindicabat ; sed pr^dicatas laudes rei
school she fell " Veritas excedebat. Erat Pircius in scholis illi
in love with " juveuculus cosBvus. Huic noto discendi capaci-
Pircius, and " tatis iugonio, patcmis opibus et omni quasi frii-
eioped with " galitatc, consiliis hos ambos, quos SBtas asquaverat,
him, dressed " cx^quat amor, de jugalitate tractatur, parentes
in man's " abnuunt. Croscit inter hos ardor et concupis-
ciothes. " centia, cum diebus sensim pullulat eetas, in oscula
" veniunt et amplexus impatientes. Denique lati-
" bulum petuut et ardentes junguntur. Ludo
" veneris consummate de recessu tractant. Haec

Story of the Papess in the Tegernsee MS 281
" inter mulieres, hie inter homines virtutum doti- The two went
" bus ac disciplinarum studiis optant fieri singulares, to Athens,
" et Athenas ire deliberant inter ipsos. Uterque where they
" se quot potest opulentiis munit ; habitus gestusque remained as
" capit ilia viriles et similes animo simul habitus students for
" mirandos ac spectabiles illos facit. Nulla mora a long time.
" properant Athenas, ubi longo tempore student, she displayed
" et ilia doctior, quidquid est divinae facultatis, aut great ability,
" humanse disciplinse vel artium studiosa capescit, and became
" et ille similiter est omni sapi'^ntia g;loriosus, Hos proficient in
" non Athenae solum, sed universa Grsecia vene- all the arts
" ratur. Hi Eomam veniunt, in omni facultate and sciences.
" studium pronunciant, ad hos omnes conveniunt Heaisogained
" tam scholares quam quarumcunque scientiarum a name for
" doctores et quo profundiores accedunt, quas hau- learning.
" riant venas, uberiores inveniunt. Hos omnes et Thence they
" omnium facultatum doctores adorant, hos omnes moved to
" cives venerantur et horum mores modestiamque, Rome, where
" virtutes et sapientiam prsedicat omnis Eoma, qui they attracted
" amplius in omnem terram penetrat sonus eorum. a large num-
" Denique functo pontifice mulier nominatione ber of scholars.
" omni labio vocatur et voce non impugnata, On the death
" Eomanis hortantibus, ad apostolatus apicem pro- of the pope,
' ' movetur. Cardinalatur Pircius amasius, vitam Giancia was
" sagaciter agunt et in eorum gubernatione tota unanimously
" Isetatur ecclesia. Sed quum status adulteri raro elected to suc-
" radices figunt, vel si germinent, non roborant, et ceed. Pircius
" si roborent, non perdurant, accidit ergo, quod an- was made car-
" tea nunquam^ fucata mulier papissa prsegnatur et dinai. After
" insueta tempora partus ignorans ibat ad ecclesiam a while Gian-

282 The Tegernsee MS
cia became " saucti Johanuis Laterancnsis cum universo clero
pregnant an a jjiiggam solomnem celebratura. Sed inter Colos-
gave birth to
a child on her " scum ct ecclcsiam s. Clementis cOacta doloribus
way to mass, « cecidit ct puorum peperit et pariter expiravit.
dying on the ;/ tx •
spot, which Haec viam papa semper evitat et ante corona-
the popes now " tionom papa semper manibus virilia palpantibus
always avoid. " gxploratur," &C.
" Vide, quos ad gradus virtus et sapientia extoUit
Pusillos sic altos in sapientia protexit ; sed nihil
Est omnis nostra sagacitas vel industria contra Deum.
Vide carmina, quee sequuntur.
Disceret ut leges peregrina juvencula plenas
Glancia clara seges mulierum transit Athenas
Cum juvene cupido vir facta, sed ista cupido
Militat in turbis ac doctores docet urbis.
Papa fit et puerum pariens et moritur prope clerum.
Moralitas.
Nil mage grandescit quam doctus jure fruendo.
Nil mage vilescit quam vu: sine lege ftuendo.
Papa, pater pauperum, perit papissa papellum," &c.

APPENDIX C.
The story of Popiel, king of Poland, which is King Popiei
so similar to that of bishop Hatto of Mayence, is
thus given by Mr. Baring-Gould : — " Martinus
" Gallus, who wrote in 1110, says that king Popiel,
" having been driven from his kingdom, was so
" tormented by mice, that he fled to an island
" whereon was a wooden tower, in which he took
" refuge ; but the host of mice and rats swam over
" and ate him up. The story is told more fully by
" Majolus {Dierum Canic, p. 793). When the
" Poles murmured at the bad government of the
" king, and sought redress, Popiel summoned the
" chief murmurers to his palace, where he pre-
" tended that he was ill, and then poisoned them.
" After this the corpses were flung by his orders
" into the lake Gopolo. Then the king held a
" banquet of rejoicing at having freed himself
'^ from these troublesome complainers. But during
'• the feast, by a strange metamorphosis (mira
" quadam metamorphosi), an enormous number of
" mice issued from the bodies of his poisoned sub-.

284 Various stories

" jects, and rushing on the palace, attacked the
" king and his family. Popiel took refuge within
" a circle of fire, but the mice broke through the
" flaming ring ; then he fled with his wife and
" child to a castle in the sea, but was followed by
" the animals and devoured."
The baron of He also givcs Other stories, more or less parallel
Giittlngen and ., r» 1 • t tt c ¦
the mice. to that ot bishop Hatto ; lor instance, the one of
Freiherr von GiJTTiNGEN. This baron is said to
have possessed three castles between Constance and
Arbon, in the canton of Thurgau, namely, Giittln
gen, Moosburg, and Oberburg. During a grievous
famine he collected the poor on his lands together,
shut them up in a barn, and burnt them, mocking
their shrieks by exclaiming, " Hark how the rats
" and mice are squeaking !" Not long after a huge
swarm of mice came down upon him. He fled to
his castle of Giittingen, which stood in the lake
of Constance ; but the mice swam after him and
devoured him. The castle then sank into the lake,
where it may still be seen when the water is clear
and the surface unruffled {Zeitschrift fur Deutshe
Mythologie, iil, p. 307). Again, there is a mouse-
tower at Holzolster, in Austria, with a very similar
legend attached, except that here the wicked noble
man locks the poor people up in a dungeon and
starves them to death, instead of making a bonfire
of them (Vernaleken, Alpensagen, p. 328). An
other instance is referred to by Dr. Dollinger in
the text. The Worthsee, between Tonning and

of avenging mice 285

Seefeld in Bavaria, is also called the Mouse lake.
A COUNT OF Seefeld once starved all his famishing Th& count of
poor to death in a dungeon during a famine, and the mice.
laughed at their cries, which he called the squeak
ing of mice. An island tower was as little use to
him as to bishop Hatto or king Popiel, though he
took the additional precaution of having his bed
swung from the roof by chains. The mice got at
him from the ceiling, and picked his bones {Zeit
schrift fiir Deut. Myth, i., p. 452). The Mause-
schloss in the Hirschberger lake is another instance
of a very similar story. Legends abound in which
rats or mice are made instruments of divine ven
geance, but they do not always contain the
feature of the island tower, which is essential for
our present purpose. Sometimes the avenging
vermin are toads and frogs instead of rats and mice.
The tendency which a story of interest has to Analogy from
the stoiy of
attract round itself as evidence circumstances which the Thunder-
have no connection with it whatever, is so strikingly
illustrated by the famous incident of the so-called
"Thundering Legion," that I venture to call
attention to it. For the sake of clearness I give
the outline of the story. The emperor Marcus
Aurelius, in his celebrated war against the Quadri,
was reduced to the greatest extremities by a failure
of water, just on the very eve of a battle. A large
body of Christians in one of the legions fell on
their knees, and prayed to heaven for help. A
sudden storm followed, which by its thunder and

286 Analogy from the story of
lightning terrified the barbarians, and by its heavy
rain relieved the thirst of the Eomans. The truth
of the narrative does not concern us ; but probably
no one who examines the evidence, as collected by
Dr. Newman in his Essays on Miracles (Essay ii.,
chap, v., section 1), will dissent from his very
moderate statement of the result. " On the whole,
" then, we may conclude that the facts of this
" memorable occurrence are as the early Christian
"writers state- them; that Christian soldiers did
" ask, and did receive, in a great distress, rain for
" their own supply, and lightning against their
" enemies ; whether through miracle or not we
" cannot say for certain, but more probably not
'' through miracle in the philosophical sense of the
" word. All we know, and -all we need to know
" is, that ' He made, darkness His secret place. His
" ' pavilion round about him, with dark water and
" ' thick clouds to cover Him ; the Lord thundered
" ' out of heaven, and the Highest gave His
" ' thunder ; hailstones and coals of fire. He sent
" ' out His arrows, and scattered them ; He sent
" ' forth lightnings, and destroyed them.' " Just
as the story of Pope Joan fastened on the fact that
pontifical processions never passed through the
narrow street between the church of S. Clement
and the Colisseum, and just as the story of the count
of Gleichen made capital out of the big bed and
the jewel which the Turkish princess was supposed
to have worn in her turban, so this history of the

the Thundering Legion 287
" Thundering Legion " has incorporated with it
self two utterly irrelevant circumstances, and tliat
so completely, that some persons have supposed
that by exposing the irrelevancy they have neces
sarily demolished the story — " as if evidence were
the test of truth." Claudius Apollinaris, bishop
¦ of Hierapolis, was a contemporary of Marcus
Aurelius. His statement of this incident in the
war against the Quadri is preserved ' to us by
Eusebius {Hist, v., 5), and he alleges as evidence
that the legion to which these Christian soldiers
belonged was thenceforth called the Thmidering
Legion. Tertullian, writing some five and
twenty years later (about A.D. 200), states by way
of evidence that the emperor in consequence passed
an edict in favour of the Christians {Apologeticus,
chap. V. ; cf Ad Scapulam, chap. iv.). Now there
certainly was a Thundering Legion (Legio Fulmi-
natrix), viz., the twelfth ; but then it was as old
as the time of Augustus. It was one of the nine
teen legions levied by him. And as regards Ter-
tullian's argument, there is some evidence that
Marcus Aurelius did issue a rescript favouring the
Christians, but in the period of his reign which
preceded the battle. And it is notorious that he
persecuted the Christians both before and after
that event. Here, then, we have a story, almost
certainly true in itself, claiming as evidence cir
cumstances which, however well attested, have
nothing whatever to do with it.

2 88 Similar instances of myths
Other in- lustanccs of straugo and unusual objects giving
Stances oi
similar growth riso to mvths mjffht be multiplied almost ad in-
of myths. J ^ r
finitum. Thus the story of Arion arose from the
figure of a man on a dolphin, which was the cus
tomary offering of one saved from shipwreck ; the
dolphin being a mere emblem of the sea. The
story of Horatii and Curiatii seems to be an at
tempt to explain five barrows. The custom of
representing martyrs with the instruments or
marks of their sufferings, produced the legend of
S. Denys walking with his head under his arm.
The allegorical picture of Michael the Archangel
conquering the Evil One in the presence of the
Church, gave rise to the myth of S. George rescuing
Saba from the dragon, &c.

APPENDIX D.
Pope Hadrian's Letter to Henry II. , King of
England, a.d. 1154.
Adrianus Papa gratum et acceptum habet quod Hen
ricus Rex Anglice Insulani Hyberniam ingrediatur
ut populum ilium legibus subdat, ita tamen ut
annua Petro solvatur pensio.
Adrianus Episcopus, servus servorum Dei, caris-
simo in Christo filio illustri Anglorum Eegi, salu-
tem et Apostolicam Benedictionem. Laudabiliter
satis et fructuose de glorioso nomine propagando
in terris et setern^ felicitatis pr^mio cumulando in
ccelis, tua magnificentia cogitat, dum ad dilatandos
Ecclesise terminos, ad declarandam indoctis et
rudibus Populis Christianas fidei veritatem, et
vitiorum plantaria de Agro Dominico extirpanda,
sicut Catholicus Princeps, intendis, et ad id con-
venientius exequendum consilium Apostolicse sedis
exigis et favorem. In quo facto, quanto altiori
consilio, et majori discretione procedes, tanto in eo
u

290 Letter of pope Hadrian IV
feliciorem progressum te, praastante Domino con-
fidimus habiturum, eo quod ad bonum exituni
semper et finem soleant attingere quae de ardore
fidei et religionis amore principium acceperunt.
Sane Hiberniam et omnes Insulas quibus sol
justitise Christus illuxit, et qu^ documenta Fidei
Christianse receperunt, ad jus beati Petri et sacro
sanct^ Eomange Ecclesias (quod tua etiam nobilitas
recognoscit) non est dubium pertinere, unde tanto
in eis libentius plantationem fidei fidelem et ger-
men Deo gratum inserimus, quanto id a nobis
interno exadistrictius prospicimus exigendum.
Significasti siquidem nobis, fill in Christo karis-
sime, te Hyberniae Insulam ad subdendum ilium
populum legibus, et vitiorum plantaria inde extir
panda, velle intrare, et de singulis domibus Annuam
unius denarii beato Petri velle solvere pensionem, et
jura Ecclesiarum illius terree illibata et Integra
conservare ; nos itaque, pium et laudabile deside-
rium tuum favore congruo prosequentes, et petitioni
tuae benignum impendentes assensura, gratum et
acceptum habemus, ut, pro dilatandis Ecclesiam
terminis, pro vitiorum restringendo decursu, pro
corrigendis moribus et virtutibus inserendis, pro
Christianae Eeligionis augmento, Insulam illaiii
ing-rediaris ; ot quas ad honorem Dei et salutem
illius spectaverint exequaris ; et illius terra? populus
honorifice te recipiat ; et sicut Dominum veneretur
{jure nimirum Ecclesiarum illibato et integro perma-
nente, et salva lento Petro et sacrosanctce Eomanai

to king Henry II of England 291
Ecclesice de singulis domibus annua unius denarii
pensione). Si ergo, quod concepisti animo, effectu duxeris
prosequente complendum, stude gentem illam bonis
moribus informare, et agas, tam per te, quam per
illos quos ad hoc fide, verbo, et vita idoneos esse
perspexeris, ut decoretur ibi Ecclesia, plantetur et
crescat Fidei Christianae Eeligio, et quae ad hono
rem Dei et salutem pertinent animarum taliter
ordinentur, ut et a Deo sempiternae mercedis cumu-
lum consequi merearis, et in terris gloriosum nomen
valeas in seculis obtinere. — Eymer's Fcedera, Con-
ventiones, &c., i., p. 15.
It is interesting to compare with the claims
made by the above document the decision of the
recent council of the Vatican.
" Si quis itaque dixerit, Eomanum Pontificem
" habere tantummodo oflficium inspectionis vel di-
" rectionis, non autemplenam et supremam potestatem
" jurisdictionis in universam Ecclesiam, non solum in
" rebus, qute ad fidem et mores, sed etiam iis, quce ad
" discipUnam et regimen Ecclesice per totum orbem.
" diffuses pertinent ; aut eum habere tantum potiores
" partes, non vero totam plenitudinem hujus sii-
" prera^ potestatis ; aut banc ejus potestatem non
" esse ordinariam et immediatam sive in omnes ac
" singulas ecclesias, sive in omnes et singulos pastores
" et fideles ; anathema sit." — Constitutio Dogmatica
" Prima de Ecclesia Christi, cap. iii.

V 2

APPENDIX E.

Difficulty of
ascertaining the meaning
of " ex cathe
dra."

Decisions " ex Cathedra."
" QuELLES e'taient alors les conditions de Facte ex
" cathedra ? Qui pent dire ce qu'elles sont au-
" jourd'hui ? Connait-on deux theologiens bien
" d'accord sur ce point ? Nous parlerons des actes
" ex cathedra quand nous saurons ce que veut dire
" le mot ex cathedral
Most persons who have endeavoured to discover
what the exact meaning of decisions ex cathedra is,
will be inclined to sympathise very heartily with
the above words of Pere ^ Gratry.
Archbishop Manning tells us ^ that the Vatican
The definition couucil has defined the meaning. What the
fjiven by the . __
Vatican coun- couucil says is this : " We teach and define that it
" is a dogma divinely revealed ; that the Eoman
" Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedrd, that is, when
" in discharge of the offce of Pastor and Doctor of
'• all Christians, by virtue of his supreme Apostolic
" authority he defines a doctrine regarding faith or
' Troisieme lettre a M"- Deschamps, p. 13.
^ The Vatican Council and its Defijiiticns, London, 1870, p. 57.

cil is not clear.

The councils definition of'ex cathedrd' 293
" morals to be held by the Universal Church, by the
" divine assistance promised to him in blessed
" Peter, is possessed of that infallibility," ^ &c.
But some persons have been able to accept the
new dogma, that the pope has the Church's infal
libility when he speaks ex catliedrA, precisely be
cause neither the nature of the Church's infallibility
nor the meaning of ex cathedrd have ever been
defined. It would seem, then, that the definition
of the Vatican council is itself in need of definition.
We must fall back, therefore, on the explanations
of the phrase which have been attempted else
where. Those not already committed to a position, with
which the meaning of ex cathedrd must at all
hazards be made consistent, will probably agree
with " Janus," ^ that beyond excluding off-hand
remarks on dogmatic and ethical questions made
by a pope in the course of conversation, the dis
tinction ex cathedrd has no meaning. " When a
" pope speaks publicly on a point of doctrine,
" either of his own accord, or in answer to ques-
" tions addressed to him, he has spoken ex cathedrd,
' " Docemus et divinitus revelatum dogma esse deflnimus : Ro-
" manum Pontificem, cum ex cathedra loquitur, id est, ciim omnium
" Christianorum Pastoris et Doct oris munere fungens, pro suprema sua
"Apostolica auctoritate doctrinam de fide vel moribus ab universa
" Ecclesia tenendam definit, per assistentiam divinam, ipsi in beato
" Petro promissam, ea infallibilitate pollere, qua divmus Eedemptor
" Ecclesiam suam in definienda doctrina de fide vel moribus m-
"structam esse voluit," &g.— Constitutio Dogmatica Prima de
Ecclesia Cliristi, cap. IV., sub fin.
^ Der Papst und das Cvncil, p. 427. English translation, p. 404.

294 Various explanations

" for he was questioned as pope, and successor of
" other popes, and the mere fact that he has made
" his declaration publicly and in writing makes it
" an ex cathedrd judgment  The moment any
" accidental or arbitrary condition is fixed on
" which the ex cathedrd nature of a papal decision
" is to depend, we enter the sphere of the private
" crotchets of theologians  Just as if one
" chose to say afterwards of a physician who had
" been consulted, and had given his opinion on a
" disease, that he had formed his diagnosis and
" prescribed his remedies as a private person, and
" not as a physician  Thus Orsi maintains
" that Honorius composed the dogmatic letter he
" issued in reply to the Eastern Patriarchs, and
" which was afterwards condemned as heretical by
" the sixth CEcumenical Council, only as ' a private
" ' teacher ;' but the expression doctor privatus, when
" used of a pope, is like talking of wooden iron."
Some have maintained that before a pope speaks
ex cathedrd he must have thoroughly discussed the
question to be decided, conferring with bishops
and theologians. This appears to be the present
view of bishop Hefele, judging from his recent
most disappointing letter to the clergy of his^
diocese. But the learned author of the Concilien
geschichte does not tell us whether the consulting a
synod is an indispensable condition of a definition
' The words of our Constitution (Constitutio Dogmatica Prima de
Ecchsia Christi, cap. iv.) : " Eomani autem Pontifices, prout tempo-

of ' ex cathedrd ' 2,95

ex cathedrd, or only a piece of ecclesiastical eti
quette. If the latter, the statement is nugatory ;
if the former, we have the startling paradox that
the infallibility of an infallible Head is dependent
on consultation with fallible subordinates.
Bellarmine and his fellow Jesuit, End.emon
Johannes, make it a sine qud non that the pope
should address what he defines ex cathedrd to the
whole Church. Thus a decree or definition ad
dressed to the Church in France or in Germany
would not necessarily be infallible. But surely
what is truth for one is truth for all. How can a
proposition be an article of faith for France or
Germany, if it is not an article of faith for the
whole Church ?
Others, again, vvould make it of the essence of
an ex cathedrd decision that the document should
have been afiixed for a certain time to the door of
S. Peter's, and in the Campofiore.

" rum et rerum conditio suadebat, nunc convocatis oecumenicis
" concihis aut explorata Ecclesire per orbem dispersse sententia,
" nunc per synodos particulares, nunc alhs, quse divhia suppeditabat
" providentia, adhibitis auxihis, &c., contain not only an historical
" notice of what was done formerly, but also imply the rule, in
" accordance with which papal decisions ex cathedrd will always be
" made." — Bundschrdben an den hochwiirdigen Klerus. Eottenburg,
April 10th, 1871.
But will it suffice if the pope merely consults a synod, and then
decrees what he pleases, whether the synod approve or no? Or
must at least some of the synod agree with him ? Or will it be suffi
cient if he only consults those who are known to agree with him ?
" This question has become a crucial one since 1713, when Clement
" XI. issued his famous Bidl Unigenitus, which he had drawn up
" with the assistance of two cardinals only."— (Janus).

296 Bishop Fetzlers theory

Another necessary condition, according to some,
is, that the pope should anathematize those who
dispute the decision.
Lastly, the bishop of St. Polten maintains '
that the pope must expressly state that he is
defining, in virtue of his office, as supreme teacher
in the Church. Hence he would contend that it is
still doubtful whether the present pope's Syllabus
is ex cathedrd, and therefore infallible. Would
Rome allow that it is doubtful ?
In considering these various, and in some cases
extraordinary conditions, we can scarcely avoid
the conclusion that they are for the most part
artificial restrictions, invented for the purpose of
excluding certain awkward utterances of popes
from being ex cathedrd. Such efforts reach a
climax when the view is deliberately put forth,
that,* as no pope ever has spoken ex cathedrd from
' Die falsrlieund die wahre Unfehlbarkeit der Papste, von Dr. Joseph
Fbtzleb, Bischof von St. Polten, Wien, 1871. The pamphlet con
tains some strange inconsistencies, as professor Berchtold has already
pointed out, e. g. : On p. 34 bishop Fetzler maintains that the well-
known brief of Pius IX. Multiplices inter (June 10, 1851), in which
certain doctrines are condemned as heretical, is not a decision ex
cathedrd ; and the bishop ridicules professor Schulte for supposing
that a definition of an article of faith could be made in condemning
a book. On p. 41, however, he tells us, that in theology it is a sure
sign (sicheres Kennzeichen) of a dogmatic decision, when any doctrine
ij5 declared by tbe pope to be heretical. The pamphlet in style is
perhaps scarcely what one would have expected from a prelate.
^ What is the meaning of the late Definition of the Infallibility of
the Pope f An Enquiry. By W. Maskeli, p. 10. Notjcgd by the
dean of Westminster in his recent pamphlet on the Athanasian
Creed. Dean Stanley justly remarks, " Whether such interpretations
" are respectful to the documents which they profess to honour may
" well be doubted." (p. 95.)

Is the Bull of Paul IV ' ex cathedrd f 297
the beginning of time till now, so it is probable
that henceforth till the end of time none ever will
so speak. And nothing short of this desperate
theory can save the Bull of Paul IV. — " Cum ex
" Apostolatus officio" March 15th, 1809 (one of
the most terrible ever issued by a pope) — from
being ex cathedrd. Every * condition, even down
to the affixing it on the doors of S. Peter's, is ful
filled. The bishop of St. Polten attempts to
exclude it, because it is not a decision in matters
of faith — " keine 6^ZaM5e?i.sentscheidung ;" but it is
most undeniably a decision in matters of morals,
and these are claimed as within the sphere of papal
infallibility no less than matters of faith.
1 It is perhaps worth while to quote the passages which prove
this:— "Cum ex Apostolatus officio nobis, meritis hcet imparibus,
" divinitus credito, cura Dominici gregis nobis immineat generalis,
" et exinde teneamur pro fideh ilhus custodia, et salubri directione,
" more Vigilis Pastoris assidue vigilare," &c.
" Habita super his cum venerabilibus fratribus nostris S. E. E.
" cardinalibus deliberatione matura, de eorum consilio, et unanimi
" assensu," &C.
" Hac nostra in perpetuum valitura constitutione, . . . . de Aposto-
" licw potestatis plenitudine sancimus, statuimus, decernimus et
" definimus," &0.
" Ut autem prissentes hterse ad omnium quorum interest notitiam
" deducantm-, volumus eas  in Basilicce Principis Apostolorum
" de Urbe et CJiancellarice Apostolica; valvis atque in acie ctmpi Fierce
" per ahquos ex cursoribus nostris pubhcari et affigi," &c.
" Si quis autem hoc attentare prsesumpserit, indignationem omni-
•• pottntis Dei, ac Beatorum Petri et Pauli apostolorum ejus se
" noverit incursurum"—" hoc" being the infrmging or opposing of
the Bull. See an able article in the Allgemeine Zeitung (Beilage,
April 11, 1871), Die romische Frage, die papstsliche Sittenlehre und die
europdische Bechtsordnung.

APPENDIX F.
The LATEST Defenders of Honorius.
In order to be convinced how fatal the case of
Honorius is to the claims of papal infallibility, one
Theapoio- lias Only to read a few of his apologists. The
gistsforHono- , i , • ,^ • ,, , ,
rius have over- mcaus rcsortcd to IU the vain attempt to overcome
work. ^"^"^ the insurmountable difiiculty, are so extraordinary
and so various, that one feels that the truth must
be on the side which is so fiercely and irrationally
assailed. The controversy is one more proof of
the simplicity of truth and the multiplicity of
error. We are only concerned now with that
mode of argument, lately renewed in high quarters,
which would demolish the case of Honorius as an
instance of papal fallibility, by maintaining that
the letters of Honorius are not heterodox. This
method has at least the advantage of being bold.
Three general councils have declared that these
letters are heterodox, in fact, damnably heretical ;
and pope after pope has confirmed the decision of
these councils. But, in spite of that, three Eoman
archbishops publicly assure their clergy that the

Archbishops v. councils and popes 299
epistles of Honorius are perfectly orthodox. Pro
testant " private judgment " can scarcely go
farther. A recent pastoral of the archbishop of Balti- boM attempt
, , of the arch-
MORB contains the following "excellent passage, bishops of Bab
quoted with approbation by archbishop Manning :
" The case of Honorius forms no exception ; for
" 1st, Honorius expressly says in his letters to
" Sergius that he meant to define nothing, and he
" was condemned precisely because he temporized
" and would not define ; 2nd, because in his
" letters he clearly taught the sound Ca-
" tholic doctrine, only enjoining silence as to
" the use of certain terms, then new in the Church ;
" and 3rd, because his letters were not addressed
" to a general council of the whole Church, and
" were rather private than public and official ; at
" least they were not pubhshed, even in the East,
" until several years later."
The archbishop op Westminster goes even ofwest-
T (£ T -11 niluster,
further than his American brother. 1 wilJ,
" nevertheless, here affirm that the following
" points in the case of Honorius can be abundantly
" proved from documents : — ¦
" (1.) That Honorius defined no doctrine whatso-
" ever. (2.) That he forbade the making of any
" new definition. (3.) That his fault was precisely
" in this omission ' of Apostolic authority, for
' Would the council have solemnly cursed Honorius for mere
" omission of Apostohc authority?" And would pope Leo have

300 Archbishops v. councils and popes

and of Ma
lines.

Summary of
the facts.

' which he was justly censured [i.e. anathematized].
' (4.) That his two epistles are entirely or-
' THODOX ; though, in the use of language, he
' wrote, as was usual, before the condemnation of
' monothelitism, and not as it became necessary
' afterwards. It is an anachronism and an in-
' justice to censure his language used before that
' condemnation, as it might be just to censure it
' after the condemnation had been made ;" ^ an
anachronism of which three general councils and
various popes have been guilty. One is not
ashamed of being similarly guilty in company so
respectable. It is difficult to decide which statement is the
most audacious, that the letters of Honorius are
entirely orthodox, or that the language for which
he was anathematized was usual at the time.
Similarly the archbishop op Malines maintains
of Honorius, that " non seulement il n'a pas
engeigne le monothelisme, mais il a formelle-
MENT EASEIGNE LE CONTRAIRE."
Let us very briefly review the facts.
Of the four oriental patriarchs three had declared
for the famous Nine Articles, which were an attempt
to make peace by means of a doubtful expression.^
spoken of such omission as a "profana proditio," an attempt to
subvert the faith ?
' The Vatican Council and its Definitions : a Pastoral Letter to the
Clergy, London, 1870.
2 eeavSpiKa ewpyeia— words capable of an orthodox, but also of a
monophysite interpretation. They occur in the seventh and crucial
article. The flrst six are introductory ; the last two are anathemas.

The facts are with the latter 301

The new patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophroniscus,
disregarding the promise which he had made as a
private theologian, had called a synod and solemnly
condemned the Nine Articles. Now came the time
when Honorius, hitherto quite passive, could keep
silence no longer. He was formally asked for his
decision. It would seem as if he never clearly
understood the question. He gave four ^ different
answers. (1 .) We must confess that Christ had only
one will. (Which was heretical.) (2.) We must
not say that Christ had two conflicting wills, of
which the divine will compelled the human will to
act in harmony with it. (Which no one had ever
dreamed of saying.) (3.) It would be better not
to talk either of one will or of two wills, but to
leave such a mere question of language to gram
marians. (Which was no answer at all.) (4.) We
' (1). " Unde et unam voluntatem fatemue D. N. Jesu Cheisti,
" quia profecto a divinitate assumpta est nostra natura, non culpa
" [inl ilia profecto, quae ante peccatum creata est, non qu£e post prse-
" varioationem vitiata." (2). " Nam lex alia in membris, aut voluntas
" dioersa non fuit, vel contraria salvatori, quia super legem natus est
" humansB conditionis.'' (3). " Utrum autem propter opera divini-
" tatis et humanitatis una an geminge operationes debeant deri-
" vatee dici vel intelligi, ad nos ista pertinere non debent, relin-
" quentes ea gTammaticis, qui solent parvulis exquisita derivando
" nomina venditare. Nos enim non unam operationem vel duas
" dominum Jesum Christum ejusque sanctum Spiritum, sacris hteris
" percepimus, sed multiformiter cognovimus operatum." Honorii
PP., Ep. III., Ad Si-rgium Constantinopolit inu'u Episcopum. Labbe,
Condi, VI., 929, 932. (4). " Auferentes ergo, sicut diximus, scanda-
" lum novelise ad inventionis, non nos oportet unam vel duas opera-
" tiones definientes prcedicare, sed pro una, quam quidam dicunt,
" operatione, oportet nos unum operatorem Christum dominum in
" utrisque naturis veridice confiteri ; et pro duabus operafcionibus,

302 Honorius's answers to the patriarchs

must not talk either of one will or of two wills.
The question cannot lawfully be discussed. (Which
was a return to the absurd and disastrous policy of
Zeno's Henoticon; attempting to settle a vexed
question by forbidding its discussion).
In the Ecthesis the emperor gave this fourth
dictum of Honorius the authority of an imperial
decree. The Ecthesis was received with great
favour in the East ; and Honorius would no douht
have accepted it. He died, however, before it
reached Eome, October, a.d. 638.
" dblato gemince operationis vocabulo, ipsas potius duas naturas, id est,
'¦ divinitatis et carnis assumptae, in una persona unigeniti Dei
" Patris, inconfuse indivise, atque inconvertibiliter nobiscum prsedi-
" care propria operantes." " Scribentes etiam communibus fratribus
" Cyro et Sophronio antistitibus, ne novae vocis, id est, unius vd
" gemince operatio7iis vocabulo insistere vel immorari videantur : sed
" abrasa hujusmodi novce vocis appellatione , unum Christum dominum
" nobiscum in utrisque naturis divina vel humana prsedicent operan-
" tem." Honorii PP. Ep. iv., ad eundem. Labbe, Concil, vi., 969.
A fresh discussion of the case of Honorius has just appeared in
Germany. — Vie Irrlehre des Honorius vnd das vaticanische Decref.
By A. Euckgaber, Stuttgart, 1871. The book has been placed on
the Index, and the author has submitted to the condemnation.

LONDON :
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up tlie book to read, they will read it through
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in our Anglican Church," — Church Re
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very Jew of our modern divines could have
written, and none but those "w/io study it with
care and a keen intelligence will be able
to understand or appreciate. Within our
present limits, we can but glance at its general
characteristics, and fnust still leave the kiioity
problems in divinity avhich it leaves unsettled
to be discussed and settled by the -more lawful
judges. . . . But in spite of the Tnagni-
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importance, we are bou}id to add that he has
vianaged to deal vigorotcsly and -wisely "with
many of these topics, and again and again
opens to the reader ne-w lines of thought qfthe
deepest ifiterest and inost profound import
ance. Mere desultory readers it will do little
more than annoy and disappoint ; but all -who
are really in earnest, and love the truth well
enough to work Jtard for it, will here find
much -worthy of their most careful study " —
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learned, ingenious; bringing contHbutioTts
to his thesis from most divergent points, he
fits them in "with masterly completeness and
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3 — 10,000 — 12-71

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Analogies of the Gospel.
Mention of Angels in the Gospels.
Places<pf our Lord's Abode and Ministry.
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OUR LORD'S MINISTRY.
THIRD YEAR.
Teaching in Galilee.
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Last Journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.
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—Athenaeum.

THE ILIAD OF HOMER, from the Text of Dindorf. "With Preface
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** Adopti7ig tlte -usual plan of this series,
and givi7ig references to stand ard ivorks rather
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tofTid space for 7nuch co77Z7nent ihat is purely
Ho77ieric, a7td io shovj that it is 7iot 07ily a
theoTy but a working principle with hitn, to
make HoTner his own interpreter and com
mentator. ' Ex ipso Hoiiiero Honierus optime
intelligitur/ is a dictum ivhich 7io student of
Ho7ner would questio7ifor a mo7nent ; b7it to
acknowledge iis iT^ith is one thing, and prove
it in practice is another, a7id the 7nanner ?"w
ivhich Mr. Rey7tolds has effected this will go
far io show his capacity for tlie difficult task
he has executed. The notes are by no mea7ts
overloaded, but see7n to us to contain all that
they should, in order to ca7^y out the editor's
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a7id the ' Persius ' of Mr. Pretor. The series
supplies so C07}tpletely a loiigfelt wa7it, that
ive ca7t scarcely U7idersta7id zvhy it is we
waited so long for a really good and cJieap
editio7i of these classical authors, ivhich we
have bee7i obliged to read either in foreign
editions, orfro7n English texts with worthless
notes, or else frotn editions like the ' Bibli
otheea Classica,' the expense of which is a
serious drawback to their general use. The
standard sei up by tlie earlier volu77ies was
high, and we can hardly feel surprise if,
executed as they are by different hatids, so77te
of the succeedi7ig 07ies should show S07nefalli7ig
<.7ff i7i. excelle7tce ; but so far as we have gone,
all, or nearly all, have bee7i good, and some
I'r4-emi7ie7tily so ; and we only hope tliat the

sa7ne care and scholarship will be bestowed on
the volu7nes which are yet to come. The pre
sent volu77te ive sJiould be disposed to reckon as
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careful research." — Educational Times.
"Mr. Reynolds shoivs i7t his sJiort preface
hoiv ge7iial scholarship like his can be, a7td be
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are so ample ihat ive hope this text-book ivill
displace 7nuch of iJie crude ajtrioiaiion and
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7ni7td's eye, in ceriai7i editions of ihe classics
frorn across the Atlantic. The slwrt preface
is an extract essence of all Homeric ques
tions and ajtsivers.'^ — Edinburgh Evening
COURANT. " The new ziolum.e of Messrs. Rivi7igto7Cs
ad77iirable ' Catena Classicor^an ' coniairis the
first twelve books of the * J Had,' edited by Afr.
Rey7iolds, Fellow a7td Tiiior of Brasenose.
The text, which like all the series is printed
771 a clear bold type, is that of Dindorf, arid
Mr. Reynolds has added some useful explana
tory notes, not too n7anerous or too abstmise^
but ivell suited for school use." — John Bull.
" We have already 7nore tha7i 07ice ex
pressed a z'cjy high opinion of the reprints of
classical authors u7ider the title of * Cate/ia
Classicorum' which Messrs. Holmes a7id Bigg
are noiu issuing. Part /. of Horner s 'Iliad,'
cornpr^siftg the first tive Ive books, is 7101V before
us, a7id it is sufficient for us to say that it is
a 7nost scholar-like and excellent edition tJtat
is liere Presented. The 7wtes are of mediran
length, neither too long to make tlie book i7i-
C07ivenienily bulky, nor too brief iobe useful.
. . . OJ Mr. Rey7iolds' Oxford reputation
as a philosophical scholar it is 7teedless to
speak, and his nartie is a sufficient guarant^'e
for the soundness and ir/rporiance of this
wijryfe."— English Churchman.

Mzs!sxs. Pbingiott'js publications

RIVINGTON' S MATHEMATICAL SERIES.
Mr. Hamblin Smith's Works on Elementary Mathematics have been so
favourably received by many who are engaged in tuition in the University of
Cambridge and in Schools, that it is proposed to make them the foundation
of a Series to include most of the Mathematical Subjects required in the
Cambridge Course.
The following have been already published.
ELEMENTARY ALG-EBRA. Part I. By J. Hamblin
Smith, M.A., Gonville and Caius College, and Lecturer at St. Peter's
College, Cambridge. New Edition. Crown Svo, 4J. 6d.
EXERCISES ON ALG-EBRA. By the same Author. Crown
Svo. 2S. ()d.
( Copies may be had without the Answers. )
ELEMENTARY TRIG-ONOMETRY. Part I. By the same
Author. New Edition. Crown Svo. 4J. 6d.

ELEMENTARY HYDROSTATICS.
New Edition. Crown Svo. 3^-.

By the same Author.

"It is evident thai Mr. Ha7nblin Smith is
a teacher, and has ivriiten to meet tlie special
wants of students. He does 7tot carry ihe
student oui of his depth by sudden pltinges,
but leads him gradually onivard, never be
yond his depth from any desire to hurry for
ward. The examples appear to be particu
larly well am^anged, so as to afford a means
of steady progress. With such books the ju
dicious teacher will have abundant supply of

examples ane( proble7ns for those ivko need to
have each step ensured by familiarity , and he
ivill be able to alloiv the more rapid learner
to travel onward with ease and sivifiness.
We can conffdently recom7ne7id Mr. Hamblin
STnitHs books. Candidates preparing for
Civil Service examinations under the 7tew
system of open competition, ivHl find these
ivorks to be of great value." — Civil Service
Gazette.

ARITHMETIC, THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL. By
W. H. Girdlestone, M.A., of Christ's College, Cambridge, and Principal
of the Gloucester Theological College. Second Edition, Revised and En
larged. Crown Svo. ts. 6d.
Also, a School Edition, without the Appendix. Small Svo. 3J. 6d.
[Copies may be had without the Answers to the Exercises, )
" We Tnust content otirselves with this brief
general notice of the ivork, which we consider
one of ihe highest order of its kind— far, very
far superior to those of former days." —
Nautical Magazine.
"Mr. Girdlestone' s definitions are concise
but explicit, aud quite plain to modest under-
sta7idings. So successful a work has rapidly
ivon favour, and the first edition hav i7ig been
exhausted, a second has now bee7i issued, bear
ing further marks of the author's comprehen
sive ability. A n Appendix contains exaifiina-
tion papers of Oxford, Cajnbridt^e, Winches
ter, Eton, ^T'c, and ivill be fou7id most useful
to students preparing for public exa77tinations.
This book should rank as a sta7tdard one of
its class." — Examiner.

" We may congratulate Mr. Girdlestone on
having produced a thoroughly philosophical
book on this most useful subject. It appears
io be especially suited for older students, who,
having been taugh^imperfectly and irration
ally in the earlier part of their school career,
desire to go over ihe ivhole ground again from
the beginni7ig; but in the hands of an intelli
gent and discri77tinating teacher, ii onay also
be perfectly adapted to the comprehension of
young boys. " — Ti mes.
"Mr. Girdlesio7Le' s Ar'itlmtetic is admir
ably S7uted to the requirements of higher'
forms in schools, a7id for men at the Uni
versities. Mr. Girdlestone shows himself
a tliorough teacher; processes are lucidly ex
plained, and practical solution of problems
well given. " — Guardian.

JKeB0r0. litioingtatt^ ^itbikaiiuitjs

A DOMINICAN ARTIST ; a Sketch of the Life of the Rev. Pere
Besson, of the Order of St. Dominic. By the Author of the " The Tales of
Kirkbeck," " The Life of Madame Louise de France," &c. Crown Svo. gs.

" TJie author of ike Life of Pere Besson
'writes with a grace and refine7nent of devo
tional feeling peculiarly suited to a subject-
matter which suffers beyond nrost others from
any coarseness of touch. It would be difficult
to find ' the si7npllcity afid purity of a lioly
life' more exquisitely illustrated than in
Father Besson' s career, both before and after
his joining the Do7ninican Order under the
auspices of Lacordaire. . . . Certainly
ive have never come across what could jnore
strictly be ter7ned in the truest sense ' the life
of a beautiful soul.^ The author has done
ivell in presenting to English readers this
singularly graceful biography, in which all
who can appreciate ge7tui7te simplicity and
nobleness of Christian character will find
77tuch to admire and little or nothing to con
demn." — Saturday Review.
"/^ would indeed have been a deplorable
omission had so exquisite a biography been by
any neglect lost to English readers, a7id had
a cJiaracter so perfect in its simple a7td com
plete devotion been withheld from our admira
tion. . . . But ive have dwelt too long
already on this fascinating book, and must
710W leave it to our readers." — Literary
Churchman. "A beautiful and most interesting sketch
of the late Pere Besson, an artist ivho forsook
the easel for the altar." — Church Times.
"A book which is as pleasant for reading as
ii is profitable for meditation." — Union Re
view. " We are indebted to the graceful pen of the
translator of Mada7ne Louise de Prance for
another Catholic Life, beautifully writte7i.
and full of the spirit of love." — Tablet.

" This tastefully bound volume is a record
of the life of Pere Besso7t. From childhood to
his premature death in April 1861, at tlie age
of forty-five, he was pre-eminently suited to a
life of self-de7tial, and so full of love and
charity, that his saintly character calls forth
the warmest admiration, and ive feel sure the
perusal of it will give pleasure to our readers."
— Church Herald.
*' Whatever a reader may think of Pere
Besson s profession as a monk, no one_ ivill
doubt his goodness ; no one ca7t fail to profit
ivko ivill p>atiently read his life, as here ivriiten
by a friend, ivhose sole defect is in being
slightly unctuotis." — Athen/eum.
' ' The life of the Rev. Pere Besso7t, wJw
gave up an artist's career, to ivhich he ivas
devotedly attached, and a 7nother whose affec-
tiotifor him is not inaptly like7ted to tJtat of
Monica for St. Augustifie, 7nusi be read in its
entirety to be rightly appreciated. And the
•whole tenour of the book is too devoticmal, too
full of expressions of the rtiost touching de
pendence on God, to vtake criticism possible,
even if it ivas called for, ivhich it is not." —
John Bull.
'* TJie story of P^re Besson' s life is one of
tnuch i7iterest, and told ivith simplicity, can-
dour, and good feeling. " — Spectator.
"A beautiful book, descT^bing ihe most
saintly and very individual life of one of the
coTnPanions of Lacordaire." — Monthly
Packet. ' ' We strongly reco7n7nend it to our readers.
It is a charming biography, thai ivill delight
and edify both old a7id you7tg." — Westmin
ster Gazette.

MEMOIR OP THE RIGHT REV. JOHN STRACHAN,
D.D., LL.D., First Bishop of Toronto. By A. N. Bethune, D.D., D.C.L.,'
his Successor in the See. Svo. los.

' We have tn this volume a most interesting
memor-ial of 07te of the foremost men in the
Colonial Chtirck : the well-told story of a 7?iost
important period in the annals of Canada.
The Canadian Chjtrch must ahvays be very
dead to A7iglicans as a br-anch of their com-
-munion, that more than any other reproduces
the special traits of the 7nother Church. A nd
to Bishop Strachan, the subject of this memoir,
it was given to gain and exercise a wide i7iflu-
ence over the Church of Upper Canada, a7td
io leave his mar-k oti tlie ecclesiastical history
of the period; so that the story of his life, told
gracefully and well by Bishop Bethune as we
have it here, will, we hope, engage the warm.
interest of many of our readers.

But we have exceeded our limits, and must
perforce take leave of ihe book, war7nly re-
com7itending it as the life-history of a man of
sterling wo7'th, whose lot was cast in busy and
stirri7tg ti7}ies, and t/ie worse side of which
makes tes think sadly of7nuch that we Imve had
to go through, a7id of mor-e tluit see77is i7npend-
^"i?'"— Literary Churchman.
" Writte7i in a sbnple, straightforward,
dignified manner, being wantitig just a little
in the colouring that might now and then have
been given to it. BtU it is readable, and there
is 7nuch to interest and profit in the bjisy,
fru tful life of a man like Dr. Strachan."—
Contemporary Review.

THE RELIGION, DISCIPLINE, AND RITES OP THB
CHURCH OF ENGLAND. By John Cosin, Bishop of Durham. Written
at tlie instance of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. Now first pubUshed in
Enghsli. By the Rev. Frkderick Meyrick, M.A., Rector of Blicldincr
and Erpnigliam ; Prebendary of Lincoln ; Examining Chaplain to the Lord
Bishop of Lincoln. Small Svo. 2j.

iHc0jsr0. ^ibingtan'^ ^ublkati^rnB

EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE UPON SPECIAL
SUBJECTS. Translated and Abridged from the French of Tronson.
Forming a Volume of THE ASCETIC LIBRARY: A Series of Transla
tions of Spiritual Works for Devotional Reading from Catholic Sources.
Edited by the Rev. Orby Shipley, M.A. Square Crown Svo. Sj.

"It isa much larger and more elaborate
work than is usually devoted to this siibject,
and a7^a7tged on a different plan. The chief
virtues a7id sins. have each a section given to
them, and the examen is cast iti ihe form of a
meditatio7t, with first, second, and third
points. The enquiries made of tlie soul are
very searching, and are so fra7ned that self-
knowledge, a7id as a consequence self-con
demnation, most 7iecessarily result fro7n the
conscientious ttse of the book. It is especially
adapted for those ivho find a difficulty in
using ihe ordinary manuals, a7id ivho are yet
aiming at a higher life than common. For
Religious Hottses ii ivill be found invaluable,
more especially, perhaps, to mistresses of
novices. It strikes us as a book highly sugges
tive io those who conduct retreats." — Church
Times. '* This is volume IV. of the series knoivn as
the ' Ascetic Library,' and of all ihe vobimes
of the series yet published it strikes us as by far
ike most useful. . . . Singularly practi~
cal and J7idicious, so that tt is difficult to say
io what class of persons it ivill be 7nost usefid
— those ivho take it for personal use, those ivko
adopt it as a guide in receiving co7ifessions, or
the preacher ivho 7ises it as a kelp in the co7n-
fosition of sermo7is addressed to the conscie7ice
rather than to the intellect. There are some
excellent pages on Devotional Reading ; ivhile

as to the subject of penitence it may give some
idea of the method of the book io Tneniion the
headings of its successive sections * Fruits of
Penitence, viz.: — Hatred of Sin, — Self-Ab
horrence, — Loi'e of the Cross, — Peace qf
Heart.'* — Literary Churchman.
^' It is a pleasing sign to see such books as
these re-edited for the supply of so great a
need. No one but a 7naster of the spiritual
life could have co77tpiled a set of refiections so
searching and yet so exalting as tlte book be
fore us. We know of nothing more calculated
io lay open to itself the mind of the most spiri
tual, io reveal the self-deceptions and S7iares
lying in its way, and the sitbtle forms by ivhich
perfu7ictoriness insinuates itself . The book
ivill be fou7id beyond measure useful to all
who desire to know themselves in some degree
as God knows thevi, ivhile to religious and io
the clergy it 7nust be an inestitjtable boo7i." —
Church Review.
"Louis TronsorCs self-questionings a7id
tneditations range over a wide field— from
faith and love to God, down to the demea7iour
practised i7i working and rising, co7iversation,
and travelli7ig. We skotild be far from as
serting thai his book contains nothing good;
on the contrary, mtich that i$ excelle7it in
sentift\ent and devout in expressio7i may be
found i7i it." — Record.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE USE OF CANDIDATES FOR
HOLY ORDERS, And of the Parochial Clergy; with Acts of Parliament
relating to the same, and Forms proposed to be used. By Christopher
Hodgson, M.A., Secretary to the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty.
Ninth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Svo. i6j.
THB CHURCH OF GOD AND THE BISHOPS : An Essay
suggested by the Convocation of the Vatican Council. By Henry St. A.
Von Liano. Authorized Translation. Crown Svo. 4^. 6d.

** Written by a devout Roman Catholic, and
is at once thoughtful and reverent. It is a
volu7ne ivhich acquires a significancy beyond
its literary merit from the position of the
•writer, and is an index of ivhat is 77ioving in
the hearts of ine7i whose attachment io their
own Church ca7t7tot be doubted." — John
Bull. " The author of this work is a Spanish
Catholic of 7ioble fa77tily now resident ai
Munich, where he is well known for his de
vout and ascetic life, his deep religiori con-
victioTts, and his zealotis attachment to his
chttrch, which he believes to be just passing

through a peculiarly trying and perilous crisis.
It is a b7iefbut excellent suminary of the chief
bearings of the case agai7tst the Church of
Ro7ne." — Rock.
*' This book is full of condensed thoughts on
ihe subjects ivhich now most press on ihe mi7ids
of Churchtnen. They are delivered luith a
depth and piety ivhich approaches io the pro-
plietical spirit; and we are told thai i ':e pri
vate character of ihe writer corresponds ivith
this description, and that it is acknoivledged
ivith reverential deference by those Christians
ivho have the happiness io knovj him" —
Church Review.

THE PRAYER BOOK INTERLEAVED ; With Historical Illus
trations and Explanatory Notes arranged parallel to the Text. By the Rev.
W. M. Campion, D.D., Fellow and Tutor of Queen's College, and Rector
of St. Botolph's, and the Rev. W. J. Beamont, M. A., late Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge, With a Preface by the Lord Bishop of Ely. Fifth
Edition, Small Svo. ^s. 6d,

A PLAIN ACCOUNT OP THB ENGLISH BIBLE. From
the Earliest Times of its Translation to the Present Day. By John Henry
Blunt, M.A., Vicar of Kennington, Oxford; Editor of "The Annotated
Book of Common Prayer," &c. Crown Svo. 3^. dd.
THB HOLT BIBLE. With Notes and Introductions. By Chr. Words
worth, D.D., Bishop of Lincoln. Volume V. Imperial Svo. 32J. td.
Containing Isaiah, I2x. dd., Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel, 2W.
THB CAMBRIDGE PARAGRAPH BIBLE OF THE
AUTHORIZED ENGLISH VERSION, with the Text Revised by a Col
lation of its Early and other Principal Editions, the Use of the Italic Type
made uniform, the Marginal References remodelled, and a Critical Introduc
tion prefixed. By the Rev. F. H. Scrivener, M. A., Rector of St. Gerrans,
Editor of the Greek Testament, Codex Augiensis, &c. Edited for the
Syndics of the Cambridge University Press.
Crown 4to.
Part I.— GENESIS to SOLOMON'S SONG, 15J.
Part XL— APOCRYPHA AND NEW TESTAMENT, 15J.
Part IIL— Containing the PROPHETICAL BOOKS, and the CRITICAL
INTRODUCTION, ds. In the Press.
" The Syndics of the University Press de- "Mr. Scrivejier has carefully collated tJu
serve great credit for this attempt to supply text of our modem Bibles ' with that of th£
biblical students a?id general readers with a first edition of 1611, restoring the original
copy of the Bible, which presents the arrange- reading in most places, and marking every
ment of an unbroken text in paragraphs ac- place wliere an obvious correction has been
comniodated to the sense {the minerals, indi- made; he has jnade the spelling as uniform.
eating the chapters and verses, being removed as possible ; revised the punctuation \punc-
to the margin) ; vuith the broad distinction tuation as thase who cry out for th£ Bible
between the prose and poetical portions of without note or C07n?nent should remember.
Scripture duly maintained, and ivith such is a continuous commentary on the text) ;
passages of the Old Testament as are quoted carried out consistently the plan of marking
in the ]>lew being marked by the use of open with italics all words not found in the origi-
type. . . After this notice of the luiture nal, and carefuUy examined the marginal
and objects of the Cambridge Paragraph references. Tlte 7iame of Mr. Scrivener, the
Bible, it zs.needless to say one word as to its learfted editor of the 'Codex Augiensis,^
great value and importance." — Notes and guarantees the quality of the work." — Spec-
Queries. TATOR.
An edition has also been printed, on good writing paper, with one column of
print and wide margin to each page for MS. notes.
Parts I. and II. lOs. each. Part III. lOJ. In the Press.
THE DOCTRINE OP RECONCILIATION TO GOD BY
JESUS CHRIST. Seven Lectures, preached during Lent, 1870, with a
Prefatory Essay. By W. H. Fremantle, M.A., Rector of St. Mary's,
Bryanston Square. Small Svo. 2j.
THB TREASURY OP DEVOTION: A Manual of Prayers for Gene
ral and Daily Use. Compiled by a Priest. Edited by the Rev. T. T.
Carter, M.A., Rector of Clewer, Berks. Third Edition. i6mo, limp
cloth, 2J,; cloth extra, 2s. (td.
Bound with the Book of Common Prayer, 3J. (>d.

MzBZXB, ^ibingtan's Publkaticnii

LETTERS FROM ROME ON THE COUNCIL. By Quirinus.
Reprinted from the "Allgemeine Zeitung." Authorised Translation. Crown
Svo. 1 2 J.

** Thegreat interest which these communica^
tions excited during theirperiodicalpublication
in ihe Augsburg paper, not only in Ger-many,
but everywhere throughout the Continent where
interest was felt tn the proceedings of ike
Council, is well known, and their reproduction
in this cotmtry is calculated to open the eyes
of Englishmen not a little to ihe way in whick
things are managed at Rome tinder the pre
sent system of Curialistic do7nination. Per
haps the most remarkable thing about the
Letters is tliat tliey should have been published
at all, for, after a few numbers had appeared,
the most strenuous efforts were made by the
Papal authorities to discover their authfir, but
in vain. We believe that the secret is pre
served even «ow/."— Church Times.
" Their calm criticism of the proceedings of
tlie Council, their dignified remonstrance
against the proceedings of the Roman Curia,
and their outspoken fears as to the results
whick will follow upon the proclamation of
the dogma of Infallibility, must have done
muck to strengthen and consolidate the Op
position [as it is calUd) in the Council. ¦ , • , •
A word as to the translation. It reads like
an English work— the sitnilarity between this
and "fanus' will suggest itself at once."—
AtHENvEUM. "The * Letters from Rome^ are already
world-famous. In Italy attd in Germany they
have created a great sensation. Their revela
tions, tiieir plainness of speech, the vigour and
incisiveness of their style, all combine to make
them aiiton^ the most remarkable productiotts
which this (Ecumenical Council has called
forth. They are easy and pleasant reading,
and are essential for all who wish to know the
secrets of this great conspiracy."— YR^nMA^i.
" It is not much more than a twelvemonth
since we noticed ai some length the English
iraTtslaiion of the remarkable work of ' JantiS
on the Pope and the Council, which has stnce
passed rapidly through three editions, and
has commanded hardly less attention tn this
country than in Germany. * Janus closed
with a sorrowful prediction ihat, whatever
else might be said of the Vatican Synod,
it would have no claim to be considered a
free assembly, and the volume fww before
us is one long illustration from ^ begin
ning to end of the justice of that anticipation.
The two books, though evidently emanating
from different authorship, have much^ in
common. Both, as we are assured, are ex
clusively the work of Catholics;' both repre-
A MANUAL OP LOGIC ; Or,
of Formal Thought, By Henry J.
Svo. 2J. (>d.
' THE ATHANASIAN CREED,' and its Usage in the English Church :
an Investigation as to the Original Object of the Creed and the Growth of
prevaiUng Misconceptions regarding it. A Letter to the Very Reverend W.
F Hook D D F R S., Dean of Chichester, from C. A. Swainson, D.D.,
Canon of the Cathedral, and Examining Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of
Chichester; Norrisian Professor of Divinity, Cambridge. Crown Svo.
3^. 6d.

sent the same school of religious thought ; both
give evidence of deep lear^iing, though t/iere
is of course more scope for its direct applica
tion in the earlier volu7ne ; both are written
•with consummate abiliiy and unmistakeable
earnestness, and in a clear and lucid style ;
and both, ive may add, are admirably trans
lated. Tlie English reader, if he had not
referred io the title page, might easily suppose
that the Letters were from the pen of a
countryman of his own. But it is not in
graces of style, still less on any artificial
ornament, ihat ihe book depends for its grave
and permanent interest. It tells a plain un
varnished tale, the more impressive from its
severe and terrible simplicity, which inti-
jnaiely concerns the credit and prospects of
the Papacy and Roman Catholic hierarchy,
and bears indirectly, but not less really, on
the future, not only of tlie vast organization
under their rule, but of universal Christen
dom. . . . Several Points of interest we
have been co7nPelled to pass over for want of
space, but this is the less io be regretted as the
* Letters of Quirinus* are pretty sure by this
time to be in tlte hands of very many of our
readers. Whatever may be the final upshot
of the confiict evoked by the Vatican Synod in
the bosom, of the Roman Catholic Church — and
it will probably take years before we see the
e7tdofit — this collection will retain aperman-
e7tt value as a faithful record of one of the
^nost remarkable phenomena of the present
eventful century, which must inevitably leave
its 7nark for good or for evil, though in a very
different way from what its promoters de
signed, on the future of Christianity and the
Christian Church."— ^KT\jRiiA.\ Review.
" The history of ihe Vatican Council will
ere lo7ig be attempted by many pens, but by
whomsoever its proceedings may be narrated,
ive are firmly convinced that there ivill not,
amid all the diversity of record, be found one
io excel this volume in its vividly interesting
descriptions of scenes and persons. A record
written while events are going on, lacks, of
course, the calm deliberate style of the his
torian, who athis leisure weighs arid measures
bygone events, and chronicles ihem. all accord
ing to ike relative importance in which he
holds ihem. Bui here we have the narrative
of events actually being enacted while ihe
writer was employing his pen, he having all
the advantage of direct intercourse with the
chief actors in the events he is recording." —
Church Herald.
a Statement and Explanation of the Laws
TURRELL, M.A., Oxon. Square crown

ID

Mzs^BXB. ^ibingtcn'js ^ublkatiottjs

ARISTOPHANIS COMOBDIAE. Edited by W. G. Green, M.A.,
late Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. Classical Lecturer at Queen's
College.
THE ACHARNIANS AND THE KNIGHTS.
This Edition of the Archamians and the Knights is revised and especially
adapted for Use in Schools, Crown Svo. 4-r.

" The utmost care has been taken ivith this
edition of the most sarcastic and clever of the
old Greek dramatists, facilitating t lie means
of understanding both the text and intention
of that biting sarcasm which ivill never lose
either point or interest, a7id is asivell adapted
to the present age as it ivas to the times when
first put forward.*' — Bell's Weekly Mes
senger. " We should liave stated before, perhaps,
that there is a thoughtful attd intelligent in-
troduciio7i prefixed io this edition of the
' Clouds' It goes over the old grounds, of course,
and deals with the questio7i, ' Was Aristo
phanes honest in his attack on Socrates and
kis teaching ? ' Mr. Green is of the number
of those ivho Hunk he ivas; but ihat, withal,
he was someivhat ttarrow and bigoted; 'vio
lently Conservative or a thorough Tory.' He
too hastily identified Socrates ivith what lie
held io be a datiger ous class, the Sophists ; and
caricatured the man when lie wanted to ridi
cule, the class. Mr. Green betrays a secret
inclination to palliate this misrepresetiiation
of the greatest of Greek teachers, but he does
not allow it to weigh so far with him as to 7'e-
lieve the satirist or comic poet of all blatne,
although he suggests excuses for it in his dis
tinction between the earlier teachittg and the
later doctrines of Socrates,"" — Contemporary
Review.

"Mr. Green has discharged kis pari of the
work with uncommon skill and ability. The
notes show a thorough study of ihe iivo Plays,
an independent judgment in tlte interpreta
tion of ihe poet, and a wealth of illustration,
frotn which the Editor draws whenever it is
necessary." — Museum.
"Mr. Green presumes the existence of a
fair atnount of scholarship in all who read
Aristophanes, as a study of his ivorks gene
rally succeeds to some cotisiderable knoivledge
of ihe tragic poets. The tiotes he has ap
pended are therefore brief. Perhaps a little
too brief. We should say ihe iesidency of
most moder7t editors is rather the other vjay ;
but Mr. Green 710 doubt knows the class for
which he writes, and has beeti careful to sup
ply their wants." — Spectator.
"Mr. Green's adtttirable Introduction to
* The Clouds ' of the celebrated cotnic poet de-
se7^es a perusal, as ii C07itai7is rt« accurate
analysis a7td many original conunents 071 this
re77tarkable play. The text is prefaced by a
table of readings of Dindorf a7id Mei7teke,
ivhich ivill be of great service to studejits ivho
wish io indulge in verbal criiicistn. Tlie
notes are copious and lucid, and the volu77ie
will be fou7td useful for school a7id college
Purposes, and adttiirably adapted for Private
readi7ig."—'ExAMiiiEB..

P. TERENTII APRI COMOEDIAE. Edited by T. L. Papillon,
M.A., Fellow of New College, . Oxford, and late Fellow of Merton.
ANDRIA ET EUNUCHUS. Forming a Part of the "Catena Classi
corum." Crown Svo. 45. 6d.

"An excellent and supremely useful edition
of the well-k7iown plays of Tere7ice. Ittnakes
no pretetision io ordinary critical research,
and yet perhaps, wiihi7t the Htnits, it is all
ihat could be desired. Its aim being merely
' to assist the ordinxiry students in the higher
forms of schools and ai the U7iiv€rsities,*
nu7nerous, a7td upon the ivhole very scliolarly
notes and references have beeti give7i at the
bottom of each page of the text. Perliaps they
are a little on the side of excess, seeitig that
but two of the six extant plays with which
Terence is credited are comprised z'« this
moderate sized octavo. We trust that ihe text
of the plays will be edited in a like neat a7id
able 7nanner, and heartily commend ihe pre
sent instalment to the notice of the heads of
schools." — Westminster Review.
*' Anoilter vohime of tlie * Catena Classi-
Orum,' containing tlte first portion of an
Hition of Terettce, deserves a ivord of wel
come; and though Mr. Papillo7i's labours
cantiot claim ' the merit of critical research,
or indepe7ident collation of MSS. , ' they ex Idbit
a fair promise of usefubiess as a school a7id
college edition. Thefoot7iotes are, in the main,
helpful and appropriate."— Contemporary
Review. " This first instalment of a school edit io7i
of Tere7ice gives promise of a renewed vigour

in ihe * Catena Classicorum ' series, to ivhich
it beloTigs. Mr. Papillo7i is a very competent
Latin scholar, trai7ied under Dr. Bradley ai
Marlborough, and young e7iough io k7ioiv what
sclwolboys need; a7id we luii I as a proof of this
his advice to the siudetit of Terettce to fami
liarize himself collaterally •with such store
houses of Laii7i scholarship as Lach7tian7t's
or Munro's Lucretius, and Forbiger^s or Con-
ingion's Virgil. He lias hitnselfmade refer
ence io these; and, as to grammatical refer-
ejtces, limited hitnself maittly as is tlie rule
with editions m the Cate7ia scries to the
grammars of Madvig. There is a slwrt but
serviceable introdiKtion , dealing with ihe life,
style, and literary merits of Terence. We
wish success io this new competitor for the
honour of iniroduci7ig sclwolboys to Terence."
—English Churchman.
" We have before usatwiJier link in thai ex
cellent chain of classical authors produced
under ihe ge7ieral superinte7ide7tce of Mr.
Holmes and Mr. Bigg. Altlwugh Mr. Papil-
lo7i, i7i kis apologetic preface, claims no merit
of critical research or itidependeni collatioti of
MSS., we do not think tliat matiy readers will
complain of ike editor's want of industry. We
miist adtnii thai Mr. Papillon has succeeded
admirably iti producing a thorough usefuland
reliable edition qftwo of Terence's mostpopular

MtSBis. ^ibington'B fubHcatioits

II

comedies. JVe find rwt only an introduction
devoted to the life and writings, the style and
literary merits, of the great Roman comic
poet, but also a complete account, and analysis
of each ef Hie plays here printed. . . . Al
together we can Pronounce this volutne one
admirably suited to ihe wa7iis of stude7its at
school and college, and forming a Useful in
troduction to the works of Terence."' — Ex
aminer. " Mr. Papillon's * Terence' strikes us as a
thoroJtghly satisfactory school-book. The notes
are all that notes should be. They are clear,
attd give just the help needed, yet ivithout

Panderitig io laziness. There is often a crisp-
tiess and raciness about the comments, ivhich
is the very thing needed to attract attention to
the text, and many of the little construes
given are marvels of close-fitting idiomatic
rendering. The general critical introduction
we have read witk a great deal of interest. It
gives a singularly clear and vivid view of the
character and literary merit attaching to the
Tereniiatt ivriti7igs, and a co7ispecius of an-
cie7it criticisms upon them, which ive have not
seen done, or at all events not so cotnpletely
elsewhere."— Literary Churchman.

CLASSICAL EXAMINATION PAPERS. Edited, with Notes
and References, by P. J. F. Gantillon, M.A., sometime Scholar of St,
John's College, Cambridge ; Classical Master in Cheltenham College. Crown
Svo. 7j. 6^. Or interleaved with writing-paper for Notes, half-bound,
loj. 6d.

" If any of our readers have classical Pupils
they will find this a most serviceable volu7ne,
alike for their own and for tiieir pupils' use.
The papers are mostly Cambridge or Oxford
scliolar ship papers, and they are most carefully
edited and antio*ated, so as to make their use
as easy and as profitable as possible. The
papers chosen are of tlte very highest order,
and we can only say that such a help would
have been invaluable to ourselves when en
gaged in such work as to require it." — Liter
ary Churchman.
" The papers are well selected, and are
fairly representative of ihe principal classi
cal examitiatiotis of the present day." —
Athen^um. '

"All who have had anything to do with
examinations, especially as examinees, will
recog7iise the utility of a ivell-sc lected and
well-edited collection of exami7iation papers.
It is a sort qf scholastic chart, and 7narks ike
rocks and qtiicksands on ivhich carelessness or
ignorance may suffer shipwreck, Mr. Gan-
tillott's book is a judicious collection of papers.
His notes convey infomnation in cases where
it is not easily accessible, and ivhere it is,
mention the sources at which it may be found.
In the notes to the philosophical papers, he
takes frequent opportunities of stating con
cisely the opinions of the ancient philosophers,
and of referring to the writings of their more
modem successors." — Scotsman.

THE OBER-AMMERG-AU PASSION PLAY. Reprinted by
permission from the Times. With some Introductory Remarks on the Origin
and Development of Miracle Plays, and some Practical Hints for the use of
Intending Visitors. By the Rev. Malcolm MacColl, M.A., Chaplain to

the Right Hon. Lord Napier, K.T, New Edition. Crown Svo. 3J.

6d.

" To those whom tJie war has deprived qf
an opportunity to see that most curious relic
of former days, this little book will prove^
highly interesting. . . . 1 1 gives a highly
interesting sketch of miracle plays in the
middle ages, traci7ig ihem from a very early
period, and also giving much practical infor
mation."— CnVRCH Herald.
" The Rev. Malcolm MacColl has reprinted
frotn the ' Titttes ' his graphic narrative of
the Atnmergau Passion Play. I twill serve
as a pleasant memorial to those who were
fortunate enough to be spectators of that
drama this year, atid also as a useful guide
to such as purpose a future visit." — Union
Review. " Those who were disappointed this year tn
their intended expedition to the Tyrol, and

they are to be numbered by thousands, ivill do
well to procure tlie Rev. Malcolm MacCoWs
graphic account." — Church Times.
"An exiretnely able and interesting ac
count of this year's Passion Play. Our readers
•will not regret buying this little sketch" —
Literary Churchman.
"y4« interesting account of the Passion
Play enacted every tetith year at Ober-Am-
m^ergau in Bavaria. In this little volume
ive are fur^iished ivith all ihe particu
lars in reference to going to, a7td staying in,
the 710W classical region of Am77iergau. In
fact, Mr. MacColl gives us a sort of half
guide, half history, and a graphic and highly
enlightened criticism of the characters and
features of the play." — Westminster Re
view.

THE COMMENTARIES OF G-AIUS : Translated, with Notes, by
J. T. Abdy, LL.D., Regius Professor of Laws in the University of Cambridge,
and Barrister-at-Law of the Norfolk Circuit, formerly Fellow of Trinity Hall ;
and Bryan Walker, M.A., M.L., Fellow and Lecturer of Corpus Christi
College, and Law Lecturer of St. John's College, Cambridge, formerly Law
Student of Trinity Hall and Chancellor's Legal Medallist. Crown Svo. 12.. ^d.

12 MtBsxis. pibington's f.ublii;ati0ns

JV£JV THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY.
DICTIONARY OP DOCTRINAL AND HISTORICAL
THEOLOGY. By various writers. Edited by the Rev. John Henry
Blunt, M. A., F.S. A. Editor of the Annotated Book of Common Prayer.
Complete in one volume of 833 pages, imperial Svo (equal to six Svo volumes of
400 pages each), and printed in large readable type, 42s. or half-hound in
morocco, 52J. 6^.
I. Nature of the work. This Dictionary consists of a series of original
Essays (alphabetically arranged, and 575 in number) on all the principal subjects
connected with the Doctrines of the Christian Church. Some idea of the subjects,
and of the length of the articles, may be formed from the following titles of those
which occupy the work from page 700 to page 720.
Sion. Spinozism. Suffragan.
Simony. Spirit. Sunday.
Sin. Spirit, The Holy. Supererogation.
SiNAiTic Codex. Sponsors. Supernatural.
Socinianism. Suedeacons. Superstition.
solifidianism. sublapsarianism. supralapsarianism.
Soul. Substance. Supremacy, Papal.
1. Object of the "Work. The writers of all the Essays have endeavoured to
make them sufficiently exhaustive to render it unnecessary for the majority of
readers to go further for information, and, at the same time, sufficiently suggestive
of more recondite sources of Theological study, to help the student in following up
his subjects. By means of a Table prefixed to the Dictionary, a regular course of
such study may be carried out in its pages.
3. Principles of the Work. The Editor and his coadjutors have carefully
avoided any party bias, and consequently the work cannot be said to be either
"High Church," "Low Church," or "Broad Church." The only bias of the
Dictionary is that given by Revelation, History, Logic, and the literary idiosyn-
cracy of each particular contributor. But the Editor has not attempted to assist
the circulation of the book by making it colourless on the pretence of impartiality.
Errors are freely condemned, and truths are expressed as if they were worth ex
pressing-; but he believes that no terms of condemnation which may be used ever
transgr'ess the bounds of Christian courtesy.
4. Part of a Series. The Dictionary of Theology is complete in itself, but
It is also intended to form part of a Series, entitled, "A Summary of Theology,"
of which the second volume, "A Dictionaiy of Sects, Heresies, and Schools of
Thought," is in a forward state of preparation for the press.
*' Taken as a whole the articles are the is tlte work of n mVo-/.. «..w iir 7 .
work of practised writers, and Jell informed a wiJ^rraLe o7tLuMfrZ,' ' *f '
and solid theologians. . . . We know no variety of s^es We&hI^r„I,„,Vy
book of its si^e and bulk which supplies the ofmenwh^^identl knlnHf, A "'"C*
inforrnation here given at all; far Zs which ibout, and ZeZlZwZmo^^^ZZ'lto
supplies It in: an arrangement so accessible, say the leasfl thnn th7,..Ju P'Vouna (to
witha completenessof information so t/wrough, DictZi^Zso/sZtsaZMZ'-^-'f'"^'"*
a,id with an ability in the treatment of pro- dian. Heresies.' -Gve.-!L-
found subjects so great. Or. Hook's most " Mereantio-unri^..,:,.. 1.
usefulvolnmeisaworkofhigh calibre, but it haslM^%tn7'r'liuP}rrZlf';::c1^^^^

Mtssva. l^ibihgtoTt'js fublkatmns 13

purposes its historical articles are excellent.
They are of course, and qf ttecessity, a good
deal condensed, yet they are wonderfully
complete; see for example such articles as
* Atheism,* ' Cabbala,* "^ Calvinism,' * Can
onization,' * Convocations,' ' Evangelical,'
'Fathers,' ' Infant Baptism,' 6;^c., ^'c. But
ike strength of ihe book lies in tlte tkeology
proper, and liereiti more particularly in what
07ie may call tlie metaphysical side ofdoctri7ie :
— see the articles on ' Coticeptualistn,' ' Doubt,*
' Dualism,' * Election,' 'Eternity,' 'Everlast
ing PunishTneni,' 'Fatalism,' and tlie like.
We mention these as characteristic of the
book. Ai the sa7ne time other more Practical
matters are fully dealt with. There are ex
cellent and elaborate papers 071 suckivordsas
'Eucharist,' 'Confession,' 'Blood,' ''Cross,'
' A7tiichrist,' iosay nothi7ig of the hostoj minor
matters on which it is tttosi cotwetiient to be
able to tum to a book which gives you at a
gla7ice the pith of a ivhole library in a colutnn
ora page. Thus it will be obvious iJiat it
takes a very much wider range than any
utidertakingofthesatnekittd in our language;
and that to those of our clergy "who have twt
ihe fortune io spend in books, and would not
have the leisure io use thetn if they possessed
tliem, ii will be the most serviceable and re
liable stdjstiiuie for a large library we can
think of . And tn matty cases, ivhile keeping
strictly within its province as a Dictionary, it
contrives to be marvellously suggestive of
tlwught attd refiections, ivhich a serious
tnirided tnan will take ivith hitn andpottder
vverfor his 01U71 elaboration a7id future use.
As an example of this ive tttay refer to the
whole article on Doubt. It is treated of
7inder the successive heads of, — (i) iis nature;
(2) its origin ; (3) ihe history of the priticipal
Periods of Doubt; (4) tfte cotisciousness — or
actual experience of Doubt, a7id how to deal
with its different phases and kinds ; (5) the
relations of Doubt to action and to belief. To
explain a little ive ivill here quote a Para
graph or two, which may not be unacceptable
to our readers. . . . Tlte variety of the
referetices given in the course of this article,
and at its conclusion, show how carefully ihe
writer has thought out and studied his subject
in its various manifestations in tnany various
mitids, atid illustrate very forcibly how much
readitig goes to a very small amount of space
in anything worth the natTte of 'Dictionary of
Theology.' We trust most siticerely that tlie
book tnay be largely used. For a present to a
clergyman oil his ordinatioti, or from a par-
ishio7ier to his pastor, it ivould be most appro
priate. It may i7tdeed be called ''a box of
tools for a working clergytnan,'" — Literary
Churchman. ' ' Seldom has an English work of equal
magnitude been so perttieated ivith Catholic
instincts, a7id at the satne titne seldom has a
work on theology been kept so free frotn tlte
drift of rhetorical iticrustaiion. Of course it
is not mea7it that all these re7narks apply i7t
their full extent io every article.^ In a great
Diciiottary tliere are cotnposiiiottSt as in a
great house there are vessels, of various kinds.
Some ofiliese at a future day may be replaced
by others more substa7iiial in their build,
tnore proportionate in their oui litie, and tnore
elaborate in their detail. But admitting alt
this, the whole re7nai7is a ho7ne to which the
student will cottstantly recur^ sure to find

spacious chambers, substantial furniture, and
(ivhich is most itnporiant) no stinted light." —
Church Review.
** T/ie second and final instalment of Mr.
Blunt' s useful Dictionary, itself but apari of a
f7to re comprehensive plan, is noivbefore the pub
lic, and fully sustains the ttiainly favourable
i7npression created by ihe appearance of the
first part, Witlmi the sphere it has marked
out for itself no equally useful book ofreferetice
exists in Engliskfor the elucidatioti of theolo
gical probletns. . . , Etitries which dis
play tnuch care, research, and judgment in
cotnpilation, and ivhich ivill tttake ihe task of
tlie parish priest who is brought face to face
with any of ihe practical questions which they
involve far easier than has been hitherto.
Tlie very fact that the utterances are here and
there sotneivliai more guarded and hesitating
than quite accords ivith our judg77tent, is a
gain in so far as it protects ike work frotn ike
charge qf inculcating extrejne vieivs, 'and will
thus secure its admission in many places ivhere
¦moderation is accou7ited the crow7dtig grace.'
— Church Times.
" Tlte writers who are ai work on it are^
scholars and theologians, and eartiest de-
feiiders of ike Christia7i faith. They evi-
de7ttly holdfast ihe fundame7ital doctri7ies of
Christianity, and have the religious itistruc-
tion of ilie rising tnitiistry at heart. More
over, their scheme is a noble one ; ii does credit
not only to their learning and zeal, but also to
their tact and discretion. ' — London Quar
terly Review.
" Infinitely ihe best book of ike kitid in the
language; and, if not the best conceivable, it
is perhaps the best we are ever likely io see
ivithin its compass as io size and scope. Accu
rate and succitici i7i statement, it may safely
be trusted as a ha7idbbok as regards facts,
ivhile in our judgment, this second part still
maintains ihe cluiracier we gave the first,
namely, of showi7ig most ability in its ivay of
treating the tnore abstract and tneiaphysicat
side of theological questions. The liturgical
articles also iti this part deserve especial men
tion. The_ book is sure to make iis own way
by sheer force of usefultiess." — Literary
Churchman. "It is twt open to doubt that this ivork, of
ivhich the second and concludi7ig pari has just
been issued, is in every sense a valuable and
important 07ie. Mr. Bhatt's Dictio7tary is a
most acceptable addition to Etiglish theological
literature. Its getieral style is terse attd
vigorous. Whilst its pages are free from
ivorditiess, there is none of thai undue conden
sation ivhich, u7ider the plea of jtidicious bre
vity, ve'ls a 7nere empty joitittg down offa77ti-
Iiarstateme7its{and7nis-siate7nents), at second
or, it tnay be, third ha7idfrom existi7ig zvorks.
Dean Hook's ivell-know7i Dictio7iary makes
ihe nearest approach to the 07ie noiv before us,
but Mr, Blunt' s is decidedly the better of ilie
two." — English Churchman.
'* It will befou7id of adtnirable service to all
students of theology, as advancing and main
taining the Church's vieivs on all stdjccts as
fall ivithin tlie range of fair argu77tent ana
inquiry. It is not often that a ivork of so
comprelie7isive and so profoimd a nature is
ynarked io the very etid by so 77ia7iy sig7is of
wide a7td careful research, sound criticisin,
and well-founded and well-expressed belief" —
Standard.

14 McBBX^. 'g^MnqtorCB fnhUtntxonB

SERMONS. By Henry Melvill,
Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen.
$s, each. Sold separately.
"Messrs. Rivington have published very
opportunely, at a time when Churchmen are
thinking with satisfaction of the new blood
infitsed into the Chapter of St. Paul's, sermons
by Henry Melvill, who in his day was as cele
brated as a preacher as is Canon Liddon noiv.
The sermons are not only couched in elegant
language, but are replete ivith matter which
ihe youtiger clergy ivould do well to study." —
John Bull.
*' Henry MelvilVs intellect was large, kis
imagination brilliant, his ardour intense,
and his ^tyle strong, fer~vid, atid picturesque.
Often he seemed to glow ivith the itisfiration of
a prophet." — American Quarterly Chukch
Review. "It would be easy to quote portions of ex
ceeding beauty and power, liwasnot, however,
ilie char^n of style, nor wealth of words, both
which Canon Melvill possessed z'« so great
Abuudance, that he relied on io win souls; but
the power and spirit of Him ivho said, ' /, if I
be lifted up, ivill draw all ttieti to Me.'" — •
Recokd. "Every one who cati remetnber ihe days
whe7i Canon Melvill was the preacher of ihe
day, ivill be glad to see these four-and-twenty
of his sertnons so nicely reproduced. His Ser-

B.D., late Canon of St. Paul's, and
New Edition. Two vols. Crown Svo.
fnotis were all the result of real study and
genuine reading, with far more theology in
ihem than those of tnany who make tnuch ttiore
profession of theology. There are sermons
here which we can personally remember; it
has been a pleasure to us to be re7ninded of
them, and we are glad to see thetn brought
before the present generation. We hope that
tliey may be studied, for they deserve it tho
roughly." — Literary Churchman.
" Few preachers have had tnore admirers
than the Rev. Henry Melvill, attd ilie tiew
edition of his Sertno7is, in two volu7nes, will
doubtless find plenty of purchasers. The ser
mons aboutid in thought, and the thoughts are
couched in English which is at o7ice elega7ii
in constructio7i a7id easy io read." — Church
Times. " The Sermo7is of Ca7ion Melvill, now re
published in two handy volumes, need only to
be 7ne7iiioned to be sure of a hearty ivelco7ne.
Sound learning, well-weighed words, cahn a7id
keen logic, and solemn devoutness, mark the
ivlwle series of masterly discourses, ivhich em
brace some of ike chief doctrines of the Church,
a7id set the7n forth in clear and Scriptural
strength." — Standard.

•A KEY TO THB NARRATIVE OP THE FOUR GOSPELS.
By John Pilkington Norris, M. A., Canon of Bristol, formerly one of Her
Majesty's Inspectors of Schools.
(Forming the Fourth Volume of Keys TO Christian Knowledge.)
Small Svo. "Zs. 6d.
'* This is very much ike best book of its kind
ive have seen. Tlie 07ily fault is its shortness,
ivhich p7'events its goi7ig into the details which
would support and illustrate its statements,
and ivhich in tlte process of illustrating thetn
would fix them upon tlte tninds and ttietnories
of iis readers. It is liowever, a great im
provement upon any book of its kind we know.
It bears all the tnarks of being the condensed
work of a real scliolar, and of a divine too.
The bulk of ike book is taken up with a ' Life
of Christ' compiled from the Four Gospels so
as to exhibit its steps and stages and salient
points. The rest qfthe book consists qf inde
pendent cliapters on special poitits." — Liter
ary Churchman.
" This book is no ordinary compettdium, tw
mere ' cram-book' ; still less is it an ordittary
reading book for schools ; but the schoolmaster,
the Sunday-school teacher, a7id the seeker after
a comprehensive knowledge of Divitie truth
will find itivor thy of its name. Canon Nor^s
writes simply, reverently, ivithout great dis
play of learning, givi/ig the result of 7nuch
careful study in a short compass, a7id ador^i-
ing the subject by the tenderness and honesty
THB PRINCIPLES OP THB CATHEDRAL SYSTEM
VINDICATED AND FORCED UPON MEMBERS OF CATHEDRAL
FOUNDATIONS. Eight Sermons, preached in the Cathedral Church of
the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Norwich. By Edward Meyrick Goul
burn, D.D., Dean of Norwich, late Prebendary of St. Paul's, and one of
Her Majesty's Chaplains. Crown Svo. 5j,

ivith ivhich he treats it. . . . We Jwpe
that this little book ivill Jiave a very ivide
circulation a7id tliat it ivill be studied ; and
ive canpro7nise thai those ivlw take it tip ivill
not readily put it doivn agai7i." — Record.
' ' This is a golden little volu7ne. Hazing
often to criticise unsparingly volumes pub
lished by Messrs. Rivington, and bearitig ihe
deep High Church brand, it is tlie greater
satisfaction to be able io conitiiend this book so
emphatically. Its desigtt is exceedingly modest.
Carwn Norris ivrites primarily io lieip
'younger students' /« studying the Gospels,
Bui this unpretending volume is 07ie which
all students 77iay study ivith adva7itage. It
is an admirable 77tanual for those ivho take
Bible Classes through tlte Gospels. Closely
sifted in style, so thai all is clear and iveighty ;
full of u7ioste7ttatious learning, a7id pregna7ti
ivith suggest io7i; deeply reverent in spirit,
and altogether Evangelical in spirit ; Carwn
Norris' book supplies a real ivant, and ought
iO' be welcotned by all earnest a7id devout
students of the Holy Gospels." — London
Quarterly Review.

MtBBVB. p.tt)m9ton'B fublimti0n0 15

THE LYRICS OP HORACE. Done into English Rhyme. By
Thomas Charles Baring, M.A., late Fellow of Brasenose College, Ox
ford. Small 4to. 'js.
_ '* The most jealous regard to the tr^e mean- paper, sharply cut type, and ample margin, a
ing of the poet, and, in ge7ieral, a spirited and high place among tlie English representations
graceful rendering throughout, claim for this of tlte Roman lyric poet."— Recohd.
volume, elegant in its accidents of titited
THE ILIAD OP HOMER. Translated by J. G. Cordery, late of
Balliol College, Oxford, and now of H.M. Bengal Civil Service. Two vols.
Svo. i6j.
" A new translation of the Iliad, marked reproducing Homer's terse, vigorous simpli-
by certainly more than average ability, ittt- city in readable blank verse." — Examiner. ,
parts more than usual ittterest to the classic " There is a great masculine vigour in the
element. We believe that feiv of those who translation, and now and then, though rarely,
read Mr. Cordery' s version ivHl not concur in a great felicity of expression. That Mr. Cor-
otir opinion that it gives, on the whole, a vety dety's version is always direct tnay be at once
fair English copy of the gratid Homeric poem, admitted, and in so77te passages, especially the
cati always be read with pleasure, and con- wrathful passages, this directness attains a
tains many passages of great merit. . . . very high order of Homeric force. If, hour-
Mr. Cordery's ttierits seem to be a sitnplidty ever, ive compare Mr. Cordery with tivo of his
which does not, as is too often the case, verge principal blank verse predecessors, Coivperand
on puerility; faithfulness attd care ivithout ihe late Lord Derby, we should say he has,
stiffness, attd scholarship ivithout pedantry. oti tlie ivhole, greatly the advantage of both.
His notes, though short, are thoroughly ivell — of Cowper (whose Iliad ivas far inferior to
weighed and ivell ivritte7i, a7td testify to the his Odyssey), because he is both closer to his
thought which he has bestovUbd on every aspect original, and far 7nore vigorous and direct, —
of his task. In conclusion, ive repeat that of Lord Derby, because Mr Cordery has taken
both those ivho can attd those ivho cannot read tnore u7tifor7n pains, a7id not so often merged
the origitial may tum to Mr. Cordery's ver- the rich Homeric detail in ihe wooden coti-
sio7i, a7td be sure offi7iding in ii both pleasure ventionalisms of general phrases. Mr. Cor-
and profit." — Standard. dery's versiott is by far. the best bla7ik verse
" Mr. Cordery lias been very successful iti tra7islatio7i as yet known io us." — Spect.a.tor.
A PROSE TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL'S ECLOGUES
AND GEORGICS. By an Oxford Graduate. Crown Svo. 2s. td.
ESSAYS ON THE PLATONIC ETHICS. By Thomas Maguire,
LL.D. ex S.T.C.D., Professor of Latin, Queen's College, Galway. Svo. 5^.
THE ELEGIES OF PROPBRTIUS. Translated into English Verse.
By Charles Robert Moore, M.A., late Scholar of Corpus Christi College,
Oxford. Small Svo. 2s. 6d.
BIBTOBIM ANTIQUE EPITOME : Founded on the Two First
Portions of the Lateinisches Elementarbuch, by Jacobs and Doering. By the
Rev. Thomas Kerchever Arnold, M.A., formerly Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge. Eighth Edition. i2mo. 4J.
SACRED ALLEGORIES. Illustrated Edition. By the Rev. W.
Adams, M.A., late Fellow of Merton College, Oxford.
The SHADOW of the CROSS., Illustrated by Birket Foster and G. E.
Hicks.
The DISTANT HILLS. Illustrated by Samuel Palmer.
The OLD MAN'S HOME. Illustrated by J. C. Horsley, A.R.A., and
Birket Foster.
The KING'S MESSENGERS. Illustrated by C. W. Cope, R.A.
New Editions, square crown Svo., 2s. 6d. each.
The Cheap Editions may still be had, iSmo., u. each, or 6a'. in Paper Covers.
The Four Allegories in one Volume. Presentation Edition. Small 4to. 10s. bd.

i6

MzBBXQ. ^tbington'js f ublkatiattj^

THE SHEPHERD OP HERMAS. Translated into English, with an
Introduction and Notes. By Charles H. Hoole, M.A., Senior Student of
Christ Church, Oxford. Small Svo. 4s. 6d.

" Mr. Hoole, ive think, has acted rightly in
trans latitig from ihe Greek text {even tiow
not quite complete) as edited by Hilgenfeld.
His translation runs fiuently enough, and
enables any English reader ivho is curious
about tlie ^Shepherd' to read it through in
two or three Iwurs." — Saturday Review.
** The ' Shepherd of Her^nas,' that singular
relic of the sub-apostolic age, and fruitful
Parent of the long series of Christian alle
gories which has since appeared, has just been
published in a new translation, with an in
troduction and notes by Mr. Charles H. Hoole,
of Christ Church, Oxford. The version is
careful and fiueni, and the form of the book
tnore convenient than that of any oilier Eng
lish edition ive knoiv." — Union Review.
" To our thinking the ' Shepherd of Her-
7nas ' is practically one of the most valuable
and i7nportani of all tlte early pieces of Chris-
..ian literature. Of course ive do not 7nean
ihat ii is important in the same ivay that the
Ignatian letters are important, or that ihe
elaborate theological "Writings of Iremeus are
important. But for the general reader, for
those ivho are ttot professional theologians, it
has always seemed to us thatthe 'Shepherd'
is exactly the book to open their eyes to the
tone of mitid and circle of ideas of ordinary
Christian folk of the sub-apostolic age, arid
thereby to clear away ihe absurd accumula-

iio7i of prejudices which encrust the mi7id of
the ordinary British Christian of the nine
teenth centtiry. For our own pari, we can
never forget its effect on our own minds, when
in the very outset of our acquaintance ivith
Christian antiquity, ive ca7ne upo7t it un
awares and unguided in an unassisted at
tempt- to read'' The Fathers.' We ivish ii
were placed in all school libraries. Sotne
boys, at least, ivould be interested in its simple
vigour atid ear7test7iess, a7td, at a7iy rate, it
ivould ser^e to take away that sense of stiffened
unreality aTid separation fro7n C07n77i07i huma7i
life and interests ivhich encuttzbers their no
tions of Church history. The edition before
us has a thoroughly good literary introduc
tion and some good 7totes. It is a scholarly
introduction, and lias our ivarrtiest recom-
tnendaiion." — Literary Churchman.
*' This translation of ' The Shepherd of
Her7nas ' is the first made from the Greek
original, as edited by Professor Hilgenfeld.
hi it Mr. Hoole has given an excellent repre
sentation of tlte original. The version is
faithful, reads ivell, and 7nay therefore be com-
tne7ided to the atteniioti qf all ivho are inter
ested in early patristic literature. Tlie tran
slator has prefixed an introduction of thirty
one pages, atid added 7iotes at the close, which
are creditable to his learning and judgt7ieni."
— Athen.«um.

PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS POR THE HOLY COM
MUNION. WithaPrefacebyC. J. Ellicott, D.D., Lord Bishop of Glouces
ter and Bristol. With rubrics and borders in red. Royal 32mo., 2s. 6d.

" Devout beauty is the special character of
this new tnanual, and it ought to be a favour
ite. Rarely has it happened to us to meet
with so remarkable a cotttbination of thorough
practicalness with tliat altttost poetic warmth
which is tlte highest fiower of genuine devo
tion. It de semes to be placed along with the
manual edited by Mr. Keble so shortly before
his decease, 7iot as superseding it, for tlie scope
of the two is different, but to be taken alo7ig
with it. Nothi7ig can exceed ihe beauty and
fulness of the devotions before com77Z7^nio7i in
Mr. Keble's book, but we think that 171 some
Points tlie devotio7ts here give7i after Holy
Cotnmunion are eveti superior io it." — Liter
ary Churchman.
"Bishop Ellicott has edited a book of
' Prayers and Meditations for the Holy
Communion,' which, atnong Eucharistie man
uals, has its own special characteristic. The
Bishop recommends it to the neiply cotifimned,
to the tender-hearted and the devout, as
having been co7npiled by a youthful person,
and as being tnarked by a peculiar 'freshness. '
Having looked through the volu7ne, we have
pleasure in seconding the recomme7idations of
the good Bishop. We k7tow of no more suit
able 77ianual for the newly C07tfirmed, and
nothing t?iore likely io engage the sympathies
of youthful hearts. There is a tmion of ilie
deepest spirit of devotio7i, a rich expression of
experi7netital life, with a due recognition of
the objects of faith, such as is not always to be
foutid, but which characterises this manual in
anjtninent degree ." —Q,\i\}-RZYi Review.
" The Bishop of Gloucester's imprirfiaiur is
attached to ' Prayers and Meditations for the

Holy Communion.' i7itetided as a manual for
the recently C07ifir77ied, nicely pritiied, and
theologically sound."— Church Times.
" l7t freshness and fervour of devdtion, few
ynoderti 77ta7iuals of prayer are to be cotTifared
zyith it. J ts faults are a too exclusive sub-
jectiveness, and a want ofrealisi7ig the higher
Catholic teachi7ig. Thus, the Holy Sacrifice
has not its due prominence, tlte sacra7ne7it of
Penance is ig7iored, our full comt7tU7iio7i with
the saints departed is obscured, a7id the
Catholic Church o7i earth as an outivard
organisation is put too much in tlie back
ground. The book, in slwrt, is strictly
A7iglican, but with a strong tc7idency to
tnysticism. For all that, it has a wartnth of
feeli7ig and a reality of devotion which will
endear it to the hearts of 7natiy Catholics, and
will make it especially a most welcortie cotti-
panion io t/wse amotig the young who are
earnestly striving after tlie spiritual life "—
Church Herald.
^ " A77W7ig the supply of Eucharistie Manu
als, one deserves special atte7ttion and cotn-
tnendation. ' Prayers attd Meditatio7ts' merits
the Bishop of Gloucester's epithets of ' warm
devout, and fresh. ' A nd it is thoroughly Eng
lish Church besides."~GvART)iAhi.
" W-"^ are by no tncans surprised that
Bishop Ellicott sliotdd have been so much
struck with this little work, on accidetitally
seeing it in manuscript, as io urge its publica
tion, atid to preface it with his cot7ime7idation
I he devotion which it breathes is truly ferr>ent
a7idihe language attractive, and as proceed
ing fi-om a young Person the work is aliozeiher
not a httle strikittg." —Recorb

MzBBXB. I^ibington's fublirati^njs 17

THE HIDDEN LIFE OP THE SOUL. From the French. By
the Author of "A Dominican Aitist," *'Life of Madame Louise de France,"
&c. Crown Svo. 5^-.

The Hidden Life of the Soul,' hy the
author of 'A Domitiicati Artist,' is from the
writings pf Father Grou, a Fretich refugee
priest ofi-jg-z, who died atLulworth. It well
deserves the character give7i it of being 'ear
nest atid sober,' atid not ' setisatiotial' " —
Guardian. " Between fifty and sixty short readings on
spiritual subjects, exquisitely expressed, atid
ttot tnerely exquisite i/i expressio7i, but pre-
setiiing a rare co77ibi7iation of spiritual depth
and of stro7ig practical co77tmon se7ise. We
have read carefully a large 7iumber of them,
for, after readi7tg a feiv as texts, ive could
7iot lay it dow7i without goi7ig 7nuch further
tha7i was sufficient for the mere purpose of re-
portittg oti the book. The a utlwr was one Pere
Grou, a native of Calais, bo7ni in 1731, ivho in
\'}^-2.found an asylumfro77i the troubles of the
Fretich Revoiutioti at Luhvorth Castle, known
doubtless to many of our readers as the a7icestral
ho}ne of the old Ro77zan Catholic family of Weld,
ivhere lie died i7i 1803. There is a zvo7iderful
cliarm about these readitigs — so calm, so true,
so thoroughly Christian. We do 7ioi k7ioiv
wlie7-e iltey ivould come atniss. As 7nate7ials
for a co7isecutive series of 77tediiaiio7is for the
faithful at a series of early celebrations they
would be excellent, or for private reading
duritig AdvetiiorLent." — Literary Church-
' MAN. " Frottt the French of Jean Nicolas Grou, a
Hous Ptiest, whose works teach resignation

to ihe Dizntte will. He loved, we are told,
to inculcate simplicity, freedom from all
affeciatioti and unreality, the Patience and
humility ivhich are too surely grou7tded in
selfknoivtedge to be surprised ai a fall, but
ivithal so allied to confide7ice in God as io
Tnake recovery easy and sure. Tkis is the
spirit qfthe volume ivhich is i7ite7ided to fur
nish advice to those who ivould cultivate a
quiet, meek, a7id childlike spirit." — Public
Opinion. " The work is by Jean Nicolas Grou, a
French Priest, who, driven to England by ike
first Revolution, found a home ivith aRottian
Catholic fattiily at Lulworth for the ten re-
viaining years of a retired, studious, devout
life. The work bears internal evidence of
being that of a spirit ivhich had been fed on
suck works as the ' Spiritual Exercises,' the
' Imitation of Christ,' a7id the 'Devout Life'
of St. Fra7icis of Sales, and which has here
reproduced them, tested by iis own life-experi
ence, and cast in the mould of its own i7idivi-
duality. How tnuch the ivork, in its present
fortn, 77iay owe to the judicious care of the
Editor, we are 7iot aware ; but as it is pre
sented to us, it is, ivhile deeply spiritual, yet
so earnest and sober in its general tone, so free
from doctrinal error or unwholesome senti-
tnent, thai we cotifidenily reco7nmend it to
E7iglish Church people as one of the most
valuable of this class of books which ive have
met ivith." — Church Builder.

THB WITNESS OP ST. JOHN TO CHRIST; being the Boyle
Lectures for 1870. With an Appendix on the Authorship and Integrity of
St. John's Gospel and the Unity of the Johannine Writings. By the Rev.
Stanley Lea-THES, M.A., Minister of St. Philip's, Regent Street, and Pro
fessor of Hebrew, King's College, London. Svo. los. 6d.

"Mr. Leathes could scarcely have choseti a
tnore ti77iely ihe7ite, for 7iever were the gen
uineness attd authority of the Fourth Gospel
more vefiejitently assailed than tiow. He is
well read oti tlie literature of his subject, and
he discusses it ivith much thoroughness atid
£d)ility. The book is a7i appropriate sequel to
kisforrtter Lectures on the ivitness of the Old
Testame7it a7id of St. Paul io Christ, a7id it
well deserves io take its place in the series to
which it belongs. Mr. Leathes' book is one of
those ivhich we shall keep by us for future
refere7tce and help." — Literary Churchman.
"Mr. Sta7iley Leathes is singularly clear
and forcible in his la7iguagc, and his thoughts
a7id argu7iie7its are origi7ial a7id ivell sus
tained. The Boyle Lectures for the past three
years have placed their authors in the first
ra7ik of Biblical critics atid expositors.'"^--
Public Opinion.

" The excellence of this volume for popular
purposes is — ihat it dvjells largely on what
tnay be called the inter7ial evidence of the
gospel itself. Its literary characteristics —
vjhich prove that the ivriter mea7it it as a
history; its spiritual significancy; ike in-
ivard witness ivhich ihe belief of its truth
creates ; its harmony ivith other acktioivledgcd
writings of Si. John, are all discussed, attd
discussed in a way ivhich seems to us co7iclu-
sive. hi an elaborate appendix, the author
ship of the gospel atid its integrity are dis
cussed — though the lecturer is careful to riiain-
tain that the substantial tmth of ivhich it
teaclies is largely independent of all such
questions. To you7tg tnen this volu7ne a7id
the co7npa7iion volutne on St. Paul, and the
Book of Acts, may be safely commended, as
good mental discipline, and as a timely protec
tion against 77iodern ' 7tiistakes.' " — Freeman.

A HELP TO CATECHISING. For the Use of Clergymen, Schools,
and Private Families. By James Beaven, D.D., Professor of Divinity in
the University of Toronto. New Edition. iSmo. 2J.
PARISH MUSINGS; OR, DEVOTIONAL POEMS. By John
S. B. MONSELL, LL.D., Vicar of Egham, Surrey, and Rural Dean. New
Edition. iSmo, limp cloth, is. dd.j or in cover, is.

MtBBXB. ^Mnqton^B f ubikatians

THE STAR OP CHILDHOOD. A First Book of Prayers and
Instruction for Children. Compiled by a Priest. Edited by the Rev. T. T.
Carter, M. A., Rector of Clewer, Berks. With Illustrations. Royal i6mo.
2J. 6d.

QUIET MOMENTS : A Four Weeks' Course of Thoughts and Meditations,
before Evening Prayer and at Sunset. By Lady Charlotte Maria Pepys.
MORNING NOTES OP PRAISE : A Series of Meditations upon the
Morning Psalms. By the same Authoress.
New Edition. Small Svo. 2s. 6d. each. Sold separately.

"For quiet, calm, genuine devoutness, un
disturbed by mannerism or any touch of
mere fashion in t/teir ivay of looking at things
or form of expression, these two little volumes
stand very high in our regard. And in these
days ivlien special fashions in religion are so
rife, and force thetnselves in altnost every
where, ii is like getting into harbour after a
rough passage to give oneself up for a while to
such thoroughly peaceful books as ikese." —
Literary Churchman.
" We can with confidence recotntnend both
these little volutnes to our readers as worthy
of being ranked among tlte best of ihe devo
tional books of tfie day. For young persons
especially they will be found most valuable, as
the teaching contained in each is so thoroughly
earnest and so well shows how religion slwuld
be brought to lead on the concerns of every day
life with its various cares, trials, attd tempta-
tiotis."~ENGLisH Churchman.
' ' In two very exquisitely bound little
volumes Messrs. Rivi7tgton republish a couple
ofcompattion volumes ivith ivhich the present
generation are scarcely acquainted, but which

can never be oui ef date as expositiotis of ihe
highest and purest tone of ivhat may be called
Church of Englattd piety. . . . We do
not knoiv whetlwr we ivould twt prefer Putting
thetn into the hands of ordinary Christians —
and ttwst Chrisiiatts fall under this category
— than altttost anything ive kttow of" —
Church Review.
" Lady Charlotte PePys' style is calcidated
io attract tlie class for ivhom she ivrites, being
lively in expression as ivell as devout in totie.
Both her volumes are, generally speaking,
sound in doctrine and ivise in their practical
suggestiotis, and may be safely recottimended
as useful presents to young people. The tteiv
edition called for itt each case shoivs thai they
have already met ivith some acceptattce, io
ivhich they are justly entitled'*'- — Record.
" Two manuals of devotion ivhich have
many merits, but especially thai of supplyitig
quesiiotis of self-exa7nination qf the most
searchi7tg kind io souls anxious to ktiow their
duty to God, atid to do it in the daily round of
life. " —Rock.

THE STORY OP THE GOSPELS. In a single Narrative, combined
from the Four Evangelists, showing in a new translation their unity. To
which is added a like continuous Narrative in the Original Greek. By the
Rev. William Pound, M.A,, late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge,
Principal of Appuldurcombe School, Isle of Wight. 2 Vols. Svo. 36^-.

COUNSELS ON HOLINESS OF LIFE. Translated from the
Spanish of "The Sinner's Guide," by Luis DE Granada. Forming a
Volume of TIfE ASCETIC LIBRARY, a Series of Translations of Spiri
tual Works for Devotional Reading from Catholic Sources. Edited by the
Rev. Orby Shipley, M.A. Square crown Svo. s^.

" The Dominican friar, ivhose -work is here
translated, was one of tlie most remarkable
men of his time, celebrated as a most powerful
and popular preacher, as a man of the most
devoted and self-denying piety, and of very ex
tensive erudition. It was not we are justly
told, ' eloquence and learning alone tliat gave
Fray Luis his great influence. It was his
pure and holy example, his zeal for souls, and
his perfect devotion to God's service. He
inculcated purity by being himself pure,
humility by being humble, contempt of the
world by refusing honours and dignities
poverty by being liimself poor' . We

can speak with confidetice of tlie deep spirit of
devotion brent lied throughout the general body
of the work." — Rock.
*' Tlie book is richly studdedwith quotations
from the Fathers."— Ktici.isu Churchman.
"It is earnest, fervent, and practical; it
shows a most intimate knowledge of Holy
Scripture, and much skill in its application ;
and it deals with the great fundamental
trutlis of religion ratlier than with matters of
controversy or private opinion. The life
specified is well written and interesting." —
Literary Chukch.man.

MtBBVB. ^itoiitgton's fublications ^9

^^r ^^^^¦'¦^¦'^'^^ °^ °^^ LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS
CHRIST ; being the Bampton Lectures for iS66. By Henry Parry Lid
don, D.C.L., Canon of St. Paul's, and Ireland Professor of Exegesis in the
University of Oxford. Fourth Edition. Crown Svo. Sj.
THE PURSUIT OF HOLINESS : a Sequel to " Thoughts on Per
sonal Religion," intended to carry the Reader somewhat farther onward in
the Spiritual Life. By Edward Meyrick Goulburn, D.D., Dean of Nor
wich, and formerly one of Her Majesty's Chaplains in Ordinary. Second
Edition. Small Svo. 5^.
BIBLE READINGS POR FAMILY PRAYER, By the Rev. W.
H. Ridley. M.A., Rector of Hambleden. Crown Svo.
Old Testament — Genesis and Exodus. 2s.
New Testament, j |t- Luke and St. John 2s.
{ St. Matthew and St. Mark. 2s.
The Four Gospels, in one volume. 3^. 6d.
HOUSEHOLD THEOLOGY : A Handbook of Religious Information
respecting' the Holy Bible, the Prayer Book, the Church, the Ministry, Divine
Worship, the Creeds, &c., &c. By John Henry Blunt, M.A. New
Edition. Small Svo. 3^. 6d.
SERMONS POR CHILDREN ; being Thirty-three short Readings, ad
dressed to the Children of S. Margaret's Home, East Grinstead. By the Rev.
J. M. Neale, D.D., late Warden of Sackville College. Second Edition.
Small Svo. 3^. 6d.
DEAN ALFORD'S GREEK TESTAMENT, with English Notes
intended for the Upper Forms of Schools and for Pass-men at the Universi
ties. Abridged by Bradley H. Alford, M.A,, late Scholar of Trinity
College, Cambridge. Crown Svo. los. 6d.
THE NEW TESTAMENT FOR ENGLISH READERS :
containing the Authorized Version, with a revised English Text ; Marginal
References ; and a Critical and Explanatory Commentary. By Henry
Alford, D.D., Dean of Canterbury. Two volumes, or four parts. Svo.
54^. 6d. Separately,
Vol. I, Part I. — The Three first Gospels. Second Edition. 12s.
Vol. I, Part II. — St. John and the Acts. Second Edition. 10s. 6d.
Vol. 2, Part L— The Epistles of St. Paul. Second Edition. i6s.
Vol. 2, Part II. — Hebrews to Revelation. Second Edition. Svo. 16^.
A MANUAL OF CONFIRMATION, Comprising— l. A General
Account of the Ordinance. 2. The Baptismal Vow, and the English Order
of Confirmation, with Short Notes, Critical and Devotional. 3. Meditations
and Prayers on Passages of Holy Scripture, in connexion with the Ordinance.
With a Pastoral Letter instructing Catechumens how'to prepare themselves
for their first Communion. By Edwtard Meyrick Goulburn, D.D. Dean
of Norwich. Eighth Edition. SmaU Svo. is. 6d.

20

MtBBXB. %x)}xnqton'B fnUmixoriB

THE CHURCH BUILDER. A Quarterly Journal of Church Extension
in England and Wales. Published in connection with The Incorporated
Church Building Society. With Illustrations. Volumes for 1S69 and 1870,
Crown Svo. is. 6d. each.
SELECTIONS PROM MODERN PRENCH AUTHORS.
With English Notes. By Henry van Laun, Master of the French Lan
guage and Literature at the Edinburgh Academy. Crown Svo. ^s. td. each.
Honore de Balzac.

" This is a volutne of selections frotn ihe
works of H. A. Taine, a celebrated contem
porary French author. It forms an instal
ment of a series of selections frottt modern
French aut/wrs Messrs. Rivington are rwiv
issuing. The Print, t/te extracts, and the
notes, are as excellent as in a previous publi-
catio7t of the sat7ze kind we lately noticed con-
iaini7ig extracts from Balzac. Tlte notes, in
particular, evitice great care, study, and
erudition. The ivorks of Taitie,from ivhich
lengthy quotations are given, are, ' Histoire
de la Litterature Anglaise,' ' Voyage en
Italie' and ' Voyages aux Pyrinies.' These
compilatiotis would fonn first-rate class-books
for advaticed Fretich students." — Public
Opinion.

H. A. Taine.
" This selection ^answers to the require-
tnents expressed by I\Ir. Lowe in one of his
speeches on education, luliere he recommended
that boys should be attracted to the study of
French by ttieans of its lighter literature. M,
van Lau7t has executed ihe task of selectio7t
witk excelle7tt taste. The episodes he has
clwse7t from ilie vast ' Huina7i Comedy' are
naturally such as do not deal with passio7is
and experie7ices that are proper to mature age.
Even thus limited, lie had an ovenvhelming
variety of tnaterial tp choose frotn ; and his
selection gives a fair impression of the terrible
Poiver of this wonderful ivriter, the study of
who7n is one of the most important tneatis of
self education opeti to a cultivated 777an in the
nineteenth ce7iiury." — Pall Mall Gazette.-
WALTER KERR HAMILTON : Bishop of Salisbury. A Sketch
Reprinted, with Additions and Corrections, from "The Guardian." By H.
P. Liddon, D.C.L., Canon of St. Paul's. Svo. is. 6d.
Or bound with the Sermon ** Life in Death," 3J. 6d.
THE MANOR PARM : A TALE. By M. C. Phillpotts, Author of
"The Hillford Confirmation." With Illustrations. SmaU Svo. 3^-. 6d.
" The Manor Farm, by Miss Phillpotts, and gentle daughter. The story is a capital
author of the 'Hillford Co>ifirmatio7i,' is a ilhistratio7i of the value of perseveratice, and
pious story, which amongst other things shows it is a book that will be very useful in parochial
tlie dawning of light in superstitious minds." readitig libraries " — John Bull,
— Morning Post. "A prettily goi-up a7td prettily written
" ' The Manor Farm ' relates how, under little book above ike average of tlie class it be-
good infiuence, a selfish girl became a useful longs to." — Edinburgh Courant.
A PLAIN AND SHORT HISTORY OP ENGLAND POR
CHILDREN : in Letters from a Father to his Son. By George Davys,
D.D., formerly Bishop of Peterborough. New Edition. With Twelve
Coloured Illustrations. Square Crown Svo. 3J. 6d.
SKETCHES OP THE RITES AND CUSTOMS OP THB
GRECO-RUSSIAN CliURCH. By H. C. Romanoff. With an Intro
ductory Notice by the Author of "The Heir of Redclyffe." Second Edition.
Crown Svo. "js. 6d.

" The twofold object of this work is ' to
present the English with correct descriptions
of the ceremonies of the Greco-R ussian Church,
and at the same time ivith pictures of domestic
life in Russian homes, especially tliose of the
clergy and tlte tniddle class of nobles ; ' a7id,
beyond question, the author's labour has been
so far successful that, whilst her Church
sce7ies may be commetided as a series of most
dramatic and picturesque tableau.x, her social
sketches enable us to look at certain points be
neath the surface of Russian life, and ma
terially enlarge our knoivledge of a count7-y
co7icemi7tg which ive have still a very great
deal to team." — Athen.^um,

" TJie volume before us is anything but a
formal liturgical treatise. It might be 77iore
valuable to a few sclwlars if it were, but it
woidd certai7ily fail to obtain perusal at the
hands of the great 7najority of those wfw77i the
writer, not unreaso7tably, hopes to attract by
tlte ttarrative style she has adopted. What she
has set before us is a series of brief outlines,
which, by their simple effort to cloilie ihe
information given us in a living garb,
reminds us of a otice-popular childs' book
which we retnember a generation ago, called
* Sketches of Hutnan Matmers'" — Church
Times.

Mz&Bvs. pibiitgton's fubliatioitB 21
PAROCHIAL AND PLAIN SERMONS. By John Henry
Newman, B.D., formerly Vicar of St. Mary's, Oxford. Edited by the Rev.
W. J. Copeland, Rector of Famham, Essex. From the Text of the last
Editions published by Messrs. Rivington. In 8 vols. Crown Svo. 5^.
each. Sold separately.
SERMONS BEARING UPON SUBJECTS OF THE DAY.
By John Henry Newman, B.D. Edited by the Rev. W. J. Copeland,
Rector of Famham, Essex. Printed uniformly with the " Parochial and Plain
Sermons." With an Index of Dates of all the Sermons. Crown Svo. ^s.
SERMONS PREACHED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY
OF OXFORD. By Henry Parry Liddon, D.C.L., Canon of St. Paul's,
and Ireland Professor of Exegesis in the University of Oxford. Third Edi
tion, revised. Crown Svo. Jj-.
N£W VOLUMES OF RIVINGTONS DEVOTIONAL
SERIES.
Elegantly Printed with Red Borders, i6mo., 2s. 6d. each.
THOMAS A KEMPIS, OP THB IMITATION OP CHRIST.
A carefully revised Translation.
Also a Cheap Edition, without the red borders, is., or in paper cover, bd.
THE RULE AND EXERCISES OF HOLY LIVING. By
Jeremy Taylor, D.D., Bishop of Down and Connor, and Dromore.
Also a Cheap Edition, witliout the red borders, is.
THE RULE AND EXERCISES OF HOLY DYING. By
Jeremy Taylor, D.D., Bishop of Down and Connor, and Dromore. '
Also a Cheap Edition, without the red borders, is.
The Holy Living and Holy Dying may be had bound together in One Volume,
Jj. ; or without the red borders, 2s. (>d.
A SHORT AND PLAIN INSTRUCTION POR THE BETTER
UNDERSTANDING OF THE LORD'S SUPPER ; to which is annexed
the Office of the Holy Communion, with proper Helps and Directions. By
Thomas Wilson, D.D., late Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man. Complete
Edition.
Also a Cheap Edition, without the red borders, is., or in paper cover, ()d.
INTRODUCTION TO THE DEVOUT LIFE. From the French
of Saint Francis of Sales, Bishop and Prince of Geneva, A New Translation.
A PRACTICAL TREATISE CONCERNING EVIL
THOUGHTS : wherein their Nature, Origin, and Effect are distinctly con
sidered and explained, with many Useful Rules for restraining and suppressing
such Thoughts ; suited to the various conditions of Life, and the several tem
pers of Mankind, more especially of melancholy Persons. By William
Chilcot, M.A.
THB ENGLISH POEMS OF GEORGE HERBERT, together
with his Collection of Proverbs, entitled JACULA Prudentum.

22

MtBBXB. |5.ibin9ton'0 Publkations

CURIOUS MYTHS OP THB MIDDLE AGES. By S. Baring-
Gould, M.A., Author of " Post-Mediseval Preachers," &c. With Illustra
tions. New Edition. Complete in One Vol. Crown Svo. 6^-.

" These Essays ivill be found to liave some-
iking io satisfy most classes of readers ; the
lovers of legetids proper, ihe curious in popular
delusions, ike initiated in Darwinian and
Monboddoan tJieories ; and if, in ilie chapters
on Tell and Gellert, ive are a Hitle struck witk
ike close following of Dasenfs track, in his
Preface to ihe Norse tales, it must be owned
that ihere are chapters — e.g., those on the
Divining Rod, ihe Man in the Moon, and the
Seven Sleepers — which present new matter^
and deserve the praise of independent research."
—Quarterly Review.
*' The author, indeed, is sometitnes fanciful
and overbold in his conclusions ; but ke con
ducts us through marvellous ivays — ivays
•which he has studied ivell before he u7idertook
io guide others; and if ive do not always
acquiesce in his descriptions or argutnents, we

seldom differ front Mm. without hesitation.'*—
Athen.«um. " We have no space to linger longer about a
book ivhich, apart from its cUdactic pretensions,
is an exceedingly amusing and ititeresiing
collection of old stories and legends of the
tniddle ages." — Pall Mall Gazette.
" Thai, on kis first visit to ihe vanect fieid
of medieevdl mythology, Mr. Baring-Gould
should have culled as samples of iis richness
tlte most brilliant of ihe fiowers that bloomed
in it, is scarcely to be wondered at. Bui it
shows how fertile is the soil ivken ke is etiabled
to cull frotn it so goodly a second crop as that
ivhich he here presents io us. The myths
treated of iti the presetit volume vary in in
terest — they are all curious atid ivell worth
reading." — Notes and Queries.

THB LIFE OP MADAME LOUISE DB PRANCE, daughter of
Louis XV. Known also as the Mother Terese de St. Augustin. By the
Author of " Tales of Kirkbeck." Crown 8vo. 6j.

* Suck a record of deep, earnest, selfsacri-
fictn:^ piety, beneath the surface of Parisian
life, during what ive all regard as the worst
age OJ French godlessness, ought to teack us all
a lesson of hope and faith, let appearances be
what they 7nay. Here, from out of tlte court
and family of Louis JCV. ihere issues this
Madame Louise, wlwse life is sei before us as
a specimen of as calm and utiworldly devotion
— of a devotion, too, full of shrewd settse and
practical adtninistrative talent — as atty ive
have ever met with." — Literary Church
man. " On the T$ih of July, 1737, Marie Leczin-
ska, the wife of Louis JCV., and daughter of
the dethroned King of Poland, ivhich Prussia
helped io despoil and plutider, gave birth to
her eighth female child, Louise Marie, knoivn
also as the Mother Tirhe de St. A ugustin.
On ike death of the Queen, the princess, who
had long felt a vocation for a religious life,
obtained the consent of her royal father to
witlidraw fro7n ike world. The Carmelite
convent of Si. De7iis was the choseti place of
retreat. Here the tiovitiaie was passed, here
the final vows were taken, atid here, on the
death of the Mire Julie, Madame Louise be
gan and tertninaied Iter experiences as prior-
ess. The little volume which records the
simple incidents of Iter pious seclusion is
designed to edify those members of the Church
of England in whom ihe spirit of religious
self-devotion is reviving. Tlte substance oft/ie
memoir is taken from a sotnewJiat diffuse
'Life of Madame Louise de France,' cotnpiled
by a Carmelite tiun, and printed at Autun."
— Westminster Review.
" Tkis ' Life ' relates the history of that
daughter of Louis XV. wlw, aided by the
example and instructions of a pious Tnoilier^

lived an uncormpi life in the midst of a most
corrupt court, which she quitted— after longing
attd waiting for years to do so — to enter tlte
severe order of Mount Cartnel, which she
adorned by her strict and Iwly life. We cati-
twt too highly praise ihe present work, which
appears to us to be written in the most
excellent good taste. We hope it tnay fitid
entrance into every religious House in our
Comtnuttion, atid it should be in ihe library of
every youttg lady." — CauRzw Review.
" The Life of Madame Louise de Fra7ice,
the celebrated daughter of Louis XV., who
becatne a religieuse, and is known in tht
spiritr'al world as Mother Tirise de St.
Augustin. The substance of ihe memoir is
taken from a diffuse life, compiled by a Car
melite nun, and pri7ited at Autun; and the
editor, the author of Tales of Kirkbeck,' was
prompted to the task by ike belief, ihat ' at i/ie
present time, when the spirit of religious self-
devotion is so greatly reviving iti iJie Churchof
Ettgland" tlie records of a princess who quitted
a dazzling and profligate court to lead a life
of obscure piety will meet with a cordial re
ception. We may re7nark, tliat shottld tht
event prove othenvise, ii will twt befro77t any
fault of workmattship on the part of tfte
editor.''' — Daily Telegraph.
'* The annals of a cloistered life, uTtder
ordittary circumstances, would not probably be
considered very edifyi7ig by the reading public
of the present getieraiion. When, however, such
a history presents ihe novel spectacle of a royal
Princess ofmoderfi titnes volutitatily renoutic-
itig her high position and ike splendours of a
court existetice, for the purpose of enduring
the asceticism, poverty, and austerities of a
severe tnonastic rule, ihe case may well be
different." ~M.OENWG Post.

THE PRIEST TO THE ALTAR; or. Aids to the Devout Celebration
of Holy Communion ; chiefly after the Ancient Use of Sarum. Second Edi
tion. Enlarged, Revised, and Re-arranged With the Secretse, Post-Com
munion, &c., appended to the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, throughout the
Year. Svo. Js. 6d.

MtBBVB. 'g.MnQton'B f ublkaticnB

23

HELP AND COMPORT POR THE SICK POOR. By the
Author of "Sickness; its Trials and Blessings." New Edition. Small
Svo. is,
A MANUAL POR THE SICK ; with other Devotions. By Lancelot
Andrewes, D.D., sometime Lord Bishop of Winchester. Edited with a
PrefacebyH.P. Liddon, M.A. Large type. With Portrait. 24mo. 2s. 6d.

APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION IN THB CHURCH OP
ENGLAND. By the Rev. Arthur W. Haddan, B.D., Rector of Barton-
on-lhe-Heath, and late Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. Svo. i2j.

"Mr, Haddan's estimate of the bearing of
his subject, and of iis special importance at
ilie presetit juncture is characteristic, and will
well repay attention. . . . Mr. Haddan
is strictly argumentatiz'e throughout. He ab
stains with some strictness frotn everything
which would divetd either his reader or him
self from accurate investigation of his reasoti-
ing. But his volume is thoroughly well
ivriiten, clear and forcible in style, atid fair
in totte. It cantwt but render valuable service
in placing ihe claims of the Church in their
irue light before i/ie English public." —
Guardian. "Among the many standard theological
works devoted to this itnporiatit subject Mr.
Haddan'swill hold a highplace." — Standard.
" We should be glad to see ihe volutne widely
circulated and generally read." — John Bull.
"A weighty and valuable treatise, and we
hope tliai tlie study of its soutid attd well-
reasoned pages ivill do tnuch to fix the itnpor-
tance, and the full tneaning of the doctrine

in question, in the minds of Church people.
. . . We JwPe that our extracts will lead our
readers to study Mr. Haddan for thetnselves."
— Literary Churchman.
" This is twt only a very able and carefully
written treatise upon the doctrine of Apostoli
cal Succession, but it is also a calm yet noble
vindication of the validity of the Anglican
Orders : it well sustains the brHlliant reputa
tion which Mr. Haddan left behind him at
Oxford, and it supplements his other pn-ofound
histotdcal researches in ecclesiastical matters.
This book will remain for a long time tlie
classic work upon English Orders." — Church
Review. " A very temperate, but a very well reasoned
^£7(7^."— Westmip^ster Review.
" Mr. Haddan ably sustains his reputation
throughout ihe work. His style is clear, his
inferettces are reasonable, and ihe publication
is especially well-timed in prospect of ihe
coming CEcutnenical Council." — Cambridge
University Gazette.

THB PERPECT MAN ; OR, JESUS AN EXAMPLE OP
GODLY LIFE. By the Rev. Harry Jones, M.A., Incumbent of St.
Luke's, Berwick Street. Crown Svo. y. 6d.

" Whatever Mr. Harry Jones -writes is
always well written in point of composition,
it is rarely heavy, and ge7ierally sensible.
Mr. Jones wisely selects practical subjects for
his sertnons. His mind is eminently practical
iti cast." — Church Times.
*' There is a degree of raciness and piquancy
about Mr. Harry Joties which ii is impossible
to resist. Combined ivith this, however there
is a deep eamesttiess of purpose. . . . This
book is decidedly worth readitig." — John Bull.
YESTERDAY, TO-DAY, -AND FOR EVER :

" A volume of excellent sermons'' — Spec
tator. '
" Mr. y ones' work is written in a terse and
vigorous style, andwherever it deals with what
is clearly re-uealed, abounds tn sound, whole
some, practical &wo»s."— English Church
man. "Evidently the product of a vigorous mind.
It contains many sensible observations." —
Watchman.

Books.
stead.

By E. H. Bickersteth,
Fifth Edition. Small Svo.

" The most simple, the richest, and the most
perfect sacred poem which recent days have
produced."— MoRiiiKG Advertiser.
"A poem worth reading, worthy of atten
tive study -.fullofiuible thoughts.beautifuldu:-
tion, and high imagination."— liTKICOKKa.
" Mr. Bickersteth writes like a man who
cultivates at once reverence and earnestness of
thought."— G\Jf.smt.f.
BRIGHSTONE SERMONS. By George Moberlt, D.C.L., Bishop
of Salisbury. Second Edition. Crown Svo. "Js. 6d.

A Poem in Twelve
M.A., Vicar of Christ Church, Hamp
" In these light miscellany days there is a
spiritual refreshment in the spectacle of a ma7i
girding up the loins of his mind to the task of
producing a genuine epic. And it is true
poetry. There is a dejiniteness, a crispness
about it, which in these moist, viewy, hazy
days, is no less invigorating than novel." —
Edinburgh Daily Review.

24

MtBBXB. ^MnQtoxCB fnUmtiouB

A MEMOIR OP THE LATE HENRY HOARB, M.^.
With a Narrative of the Cliurch Movements with which he was connected
from 1848 to 1865, and more particularly of the Revival of Convocation.
By James Bradby Sweet, M.A. Svo. I2j.
THB POPE AND THB COUNCIL. By Janus. Authorized trans-
lation from the German. Second Edition. Crovm Svo. 'js. 6d.

" A profound and learned treatise, evidently
tlte work of one of the first theologiatis of the
day, discussing with the scientific fultiess and
precision proper io Gertnan investigation, the
great doctrinal questions expected to come
before ihe Council, and especially the proposed
dogma of Papal Infallibility. There is pro
bably no work in existence that contaitts at
all, still less ivithin so tiarrow a compass, so
complete a record of the origin and growth of
the infallibilist theory, and of all the facts of
Church history bearing upon ii, and that too
in a form so clear and concise as io put ihe
argument within the reach of any reader of
ordinary intelligettce, ivhile the scrupulous ac
curacy of the writer, and his constantreference
to the origitial authorities for every statement
liable to be disputed, makes tlte motwgraph as
a whole a Perfect storehouse of valuable infor
mation for the historical or ilieological stu
dent." — Saturday Review.
" Beginning ivith a sketch of tlie errors attd
co7itraaictio7is of the Popes, a7td of the position
which, as a matter of history, they held in
tlte early Church, ihe book Proceeds io describe
ihe three great for-geries by ivhich the Papal
claims were upheld — the Isidorian decretals,
tlte donation of Cousiantine, and the decretutn
of Gratiatt. The last subject ought io be care
fully studied by all who wish to understand
the frightful tyranny of a cotnpUcated system
of laws, devised twt for ihe protection of a
people, but as instrutnents for grinditig thetn
to subjection. Then, after an historical out
line of ilie gejieral growth of the Papal power
in the twelfth attd thirteenth centuries, ihe
writers enter upon ihe peculiarly episcopal
and clerical questio7t, pointing out how mar
vellously every little change worked z"k one
direction, invariably tettding to throw the
rule of tlte Church itiio the power of Rome ;
and how ihe growth of new itistHuiions, like
the tnonastic orders atid the Inquisition, gradu
ally withdrew ike cotiduct of affairs from ihe

Bishops of the Church in general, and consoli
dated ihe Papal itifluence. For all this, how
ever, unless we could satisfy ourselves with a
tnere magnified table of contents, the reader
must be referred to t/ie book itself, in which he
will find ike interest sustained witkoui fiag-

ging

to the ?«rf."— Pall Mall Gazette.

In France, in Hollatid, atid itt Ger7nany,
there has already appeared a tnuliitude of dis
quisitions on this subject. Among ikese seve
ral are ilie ackrwwledged composiiiotis ofttien
of high stattding itt the Rottian Catholic world,
— tnen adtnittedly entitled to speak ivith the
authority that tnust attach to established re
putation : but not one of thetn has hitherto
produced a ivork rtwre likely to create a deep
impression than the attonytnous German pub
lication ai ihe head of this notice. It is twt
a piece of merely polemical ivtiiiTtg, it is a
treatise dealing with a large subject in an
itnfressive though partisan manner, a treatise
grave in tone, solid in matter, and bristling
with forcible and twvel illustrations" — Spec
tator. " Rumour will, tw doubt, be busy with its
conjectures as to the natne ivhich lurks beneath
ihe 7wm de plume of ' Janus' We do twt
inie7td io offer any co7itribution towards the
elucidation of ihe tnystery, unless ii be a coti-
iribution to say that the book bears internal
evidence of being the work of a Catholic, and
that there are tpot many Catholics in Europe
who could have written it. Taking it all in
all, it is 710' exaggerated praise to characterize
it as the most damagitig assault on Ultra-
montanistn ihat has appeared in modem
tit7tes. Its learning is copious and complete,
yet so adtnirably arranged that it invariably
illustrates ivithout overlaying the argument.
Tlie style is clear and simple, aud there is tw
atietnpt at rlieioric. It is a piece of cool
and tnasterly dissection, all the ftwre terrible
for the passionless manner in which the
author conducts the operation." — ^TiMBS.

SOIMEMB : A Story of a Wilful Life. SmaU Svo. 3^. 6</.

" TJiere is a very quiet, earnest iotie in tkis
story which reconciles ihe reader io the lesson
which ii is ititended to teach. It is essentially
a story of cliaracter, and tlte heroine wlw is
supposed io relate it is presented in a clearly
defined a7id sotneivhat picturesque tnattner.
. . . To the tlwughtful who are passing from
youth io riper years ' Soimime' iviii prove
both attractive anduseful. " — Public Opinion.
' ' A pure, good, ivholesotne little book, styling
itself ' The Story of a Wilful Life,' and
teaches the old irue lesson, ihat without hu
mility there is no such thing as happiness." —
Daily Telegraph.
" As a sketch of the inner life of a neglected,
U7ttutored, and co7isequenily self-willed, altnost
savage girl, this story has its merits. The
writer succeeds fairly with pleasing charac
ters." — Athen^um.
"The story is full of buoyancy and interest,
incidetit being duly intermingled with convert
sation. Some of ihe bits of description, as thai

of the Shropshire lane, are exquisite little
idylls. This book is a work ofgenuitie art." —
Clerical Journal.
"A vein of lofty, moral, and deep religious
feeling rtitu through tlie whole tale, and the
author neitlier proses 7wr preaches."— -^tavh-
ard. "A very natural, unaffected, and simfile
little story for young people— otie which tliey
will twt only read but enjoy." — Morning
Herald. " The author promises io become a valuable
accession to tlte ranks of our popular lady
writers. ' Soimime' is a sitnple life-like
story, charmingly told and gracefully written,
and, what is better still, its tendencies are
excellent. Tlie lessons it teaclies are of the
highest order."— 'EvROPEAtt Mail.
"There are tnany clever little bits of de
scription, and excellent maxims worth re
membering. The scenery is all cliarmlngly
described.' — Monthly Packet,

MzBBtB. ^MrtQtotCB l^nhlkntioxiB

25

THE PIRST BOOK OP COMMON PRAYER OP EDWARD
VL, and the Ordinal of 1549, together with the Order of the Communion,
154S. Reprinted entire, and Edited by the Rev. Henry Baskerville
Walton, M.A., late Fellow and Tutor of Merton College. With an Intro
duction by the Rev. Peter Goldsmith Medd, M.A., Senior FeUow and
Tutor of University College, Oxford. Small Svo. 6s.

*'A volume like this is worth two qf Church
History. In Tnany respects, itideed, it is tlte
subject of history itself; and witk Mr. Medd's
itiiroductioti and Mr. WaliorCs editorial work
we tnay be said to have both subject attd history
thereof. The volutne should be in ihe hands
of every tnettiber of the Church of England:
we tnay say, H should be in those of every
student of Church History." — Athen^um.
" We welcome the seasonable appearance of
this work, which indeed supplies a long-felt
watii, for ' the First Book' has beeti hitherto
accessible io very feiv, , . . It is especially
important at the Present titne that the princi
ples of ihe first Reformers should be under
stood; and no one can look through this
edition without gaining some definite infor
mation on that point. We commend this neiv
editioti of the First Prayer Book, ivith its
introduction to the study of all that are

desirous of -understanding the principles oJ
those ivho originated ike reform, of our public
Services," — Church News.
" The more that English Churchmen be
come acquaitiied with the Reformed Prayer
Book, as our Etiglish Divines refortned ii,
apart from the meddling of foreigners — i.e.,
the better people became acquainted ivith
' Edward VTs first book,' tlte better both for
themselves and for the English Chicrch at
large. We are therefore delighted to welcome
this handy and handsome repri7it, with which
every pai7ts has been taken to make it as
accurate as, possible.'" — Literary Church
man. " Mr. Walton deserves ike very best thanks
of Atiglican Churchmen, for putting this
¦most important volutne within their reach itt
so convenient and handsome a form.'' — Church
Review.

FEMALE CHARACTERS OP HOLY SCRIPTURE. In a
Series of Sermons. By the Rev. Isaac Williams, B.D., formerly Fellow of
Trinity College, Oxford. New Edition. Crown Svo. 5j.

THE CHARACTERS OP THB OLD TESTAMENT. In a Series
of Sermons. Bythe Rev. Isaac Williams, B.D., formerly Fellow of Trinity
College, Oxford. New Edition. Crown Svo., 5j.

" This is one of the few volumes of published
sermons ihat we have been able to read ivith
real pleasure. They are written with a
chastened elegance of language, attd pervaded
by a spirit of earnest atid sitnple piety. Mr.
Williams is evidently ivhat ivould be called a
very High Churchman. Occasionally his
Pecidiar Church vieivs are apparent; but
bating a few passages here and there, these
sermons will be read ivith profit by all ' who
profess and call themselves Chrisiiatts.'" —
Contemporary Review.
" This is a new edition of a very Popular —

and deservedly popular — work on the biography
of the Old Testament history. The characters
are ably and profitably analysed, and that by
ike hatid of a tnaster of style and thought. .
. . The principle of selection has been that
of protttinence ; and partly, too, thai of signi
ficance in the characters so ably delineated.
A tnore tnasterly analysis of Scriptural
characters ive never read, nor any 'which are
more calculated to impress the tnind of the
reader with feelings of love for what is goody
and ablwrrence for what is evil."— Kocic,

THE WITNESS OP ST. PAUL TO CHRIST : being the Boyle
Lectures for 1869, "With an Appendix, on the Credibility of the Acts, in Re
ply to the Recent' Strictures of Dr. Davidson. By the Rev. Stanley
Leathes, M. A., Trofessor of Hebrew, King's College, London, and Incumbent
of St. Philip's, Regent Street. Svo. los. 6d.

"ft is impossible io follow the writer step
¦ ly step in his elaborate argument, but we have
little doubt that this book will be of great
service. There is a learned Appendix on
• The Credibility of the Acts of the Apostles,
which will be very valuable to the theological
student. Altogether we think this volume
will take a high plate among the Boyle
Lectures."— 'ions Bull. , , „, , j, j
" The expectations raised by Mr. Leathe^
Boyle Lectures of last year have been amply
fulfilled. He has given the Christian worid
another volieme, replete with sound doctrine

and solid argument" — English Church
man. " The above tnay serve as specimens of tht
author's style ajid Christian stand-point ', i>ut
taken out of the connection they give but a
very imperfect idea of the book as one of
reasoning conducted in a popular yet conclu^
sive vianner. We must refer our readers,
therefore, who are interested in the subject.—
and who, especially at the present day, is not f
— to the book itself, for which, as a religious
journal, we beg to tender the author our sin.
cere thanks." — Freeman.

THOUGHTS ON PERSONAL RELIGION ; being a Treatise on
the Christian Life in its Two Chief Elements, Devotion and Practice. By
Edward Meyrick Goulburn, D.D., Dean of Norwich. New Edition.
SmaU Svo, 6s. 6d.
An Edition for Presentation, Tw;o Volumes, small Svo. los. 6d.
Also a cheap Edition. Small Svo. ^s. 6d.

DEVOTIONAL COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL AC
CORDING TO S. MATTHEW. Translated from the French of Pasquier
Quesnel. Crown Svo. Js. 6d.

" We can hardly give him {Pasquier Ques
nel) higlter praise than io say that he reminds
7cr in 77tany ways of the author of ilie ' Imita
tion.' There is tlie same k7iowledge of hu7nan.
tiature, shrewdness of observatioti, itiiimate
acquaintance ivith ihe special trials, diffi
culties, and temptations of tlte spiritual life,
and that fervour and concentratio7i ivhich
result from habitual tneditaiion and prayer"
— Clerical Journal.
** This Co7nmc7itary is what ii Purports to
be 'devotional.' There is no criticis7n, 7io
suggestion of difficulties, no groupi7igs of
'various readings.' Its object is to give ' the
spiritual se7ise ' of Holy Sc7ipture, and this
object is admirably carried out. We are glad
to be able to give it our hearty and unqualified
approval." — John Bull.
" The want ivhich ma7ty devout pers07ts feel
for a Commentary on the Scriptures ivith in
dividual, practical, and devotional applicatio7i,
can hardly be better sat isfiea than by iltat of
'QuesTiel.'" — Church News.

" This translation is based upon that made
by the No7t-juror Russell, a7td ii has been
especially adapted for ihe use of 77iembers of
ihe E7iglish Church itt private devotio7i. It is
a very acceptablemanual for ihe religious, and
its sitttple and practical character 77tay be
gleatied frotn the following commen t. ' ' — Roc K .
" The Cotfiments are brief but poi7ited, a7id
there is so 7nuck to profit the reader by shoiv-
ing hi7n what a depth of spiritual wisdo7ii is
treasured up even itt the simplest utterances of
our Lord, tliat ive are sorry we ca7i7iot give
tlte book a7i unqualified recomme7idatio7i.
Works on the Gospels, suited to tlte watits of
sclwlars, have been toler-ably numerous of late
years. S7tch a book as this, in ivhich consider
able i7itellectual force is ble7ided with devo-
iio7ial feeli7ig, is tnore rare, attd luould be
welco77ie were it twt thai the good i7i it is
marred by the Sacramen tariatt ism wh ich
cotiiitiually obtrudes itself" — English Inde
pendent.

THE HILLPORD CONPIRMATION :
Phillpotts. iSrao. \s.

A TALE. By M. C.

THE TREASURY OP DEVOTION : a Manual of Prayers for gene
ral and daily use. Compiled by a Priest. Edited by the Rev. T. T. Carter,
Rector of Clewer. i6mo. 2j. 6d, ; limp cloth, 2j. Bound with the
Book of Common Prayer. 3J, 6d,

A KEY TO THE KNOWLEDGE OP CHURCH HISTORY-
(Ancient.) Edited by John Henry Blunt, M.A.
(Forming the third Volume of Keys to Christian Knowledge).
Small Svo. 2J. 6d.

"It offers a short attd condettsed account of
ihe origin, groivth, arid conditioti of tlte
Church in all parts of the world, from a.d. i
down to the end of the flf teenth century. Mr.
Blnnt's first object has been concise7iess, and
this has been ati/nirably carried out, and to
students of Church history this feature will
readily recommend itself. As a7i elementciry
work 'A Key' will be specially valuable, in
asmuch as it Points out certain defi7tiie lines
of thou'^ltt, by which those ivho enjoy tlie
opportunity 77iay be guided in reading the
state7nents of 7nore elaborate histories. At
the sa7ne time ii is but fair to Mr. Bliatt to
retnark ihat, for general readers, tlte little
volume contains everything ihat could be coti-
sistently expected in a volutne of its character.
There are ma7ty notes, theological, scriptural^

and historical, and the * get up' of the hook is
specially cotnmetidable. As a text-book for
tlte higlier forms of schools ihe ivork ivHl be
acceptable io nurtterous teacliers." — Public
Opinion. " It co7itai7is sotne concise notes on Church
History, C077ipressed into a small compass, a^td
we think ii is likely to be useful as a book of
reference." — John Bull.
"A very terse a7id reliable collection of ^7ie
mai7ifacts aud i7icide7iis connected witk Church
History. " — RoCK.
" It will be excellent, either for school or
ho7ne use, eiifier as a reading or as a reference
book, on all the main facts and names a7id
controversies of the first fiftee7i centuries. It
is both well arranged a7id ivell ivriiten " —
Literary Churchman.

MzBBXB. pibingtmt's publications

27

THE RBPORMATION OP THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND :
its History, Principles, and Results, A.D. 1514-1547. By John Henry
Blunt, M.A., Vicar of Kennington, Oxford, Second Edition. Svo. i6j.
_ " The reader will gladly ack7iowledge the
impartiality of treatment a7id liberality 0/
to7te which are conspicuous in every page. It
is distinctly a learned book. The aut/tor is
not a seco7id-hand retailer of fads ; ke is a
painsiakitig, conscientious student, ivko de
rives his ktiowledge from original sources.
We have said that he does not com7na7td a
brilliant style; but he is by no means a dull
writer — on the C07tirary, he is always read
able, sometimes very i7iteresiing, and shows
considerable skill in ihe groupitig and arrange-
tnent of his facts." — Times.
"^ Mr. Blunt gives us, in this volume, an
instalment history of ihe Reformation, in ike
just proportions of a history, attd written
carefully frotn cotttemporary documents and
evidence . . . ivith scholarly knoivledge, witk
an indepetideni judgment, and ivith careful
support given io each statement by quotation
of evidence. AndMr. Blutit has given greater
effect to his narrative by a skilful division and
groupitig of kis subjects. Undoubtedly, he
writes upon very definite vieivs attd principles.

but those views attd principles are not forced
upon the facts, but are educed frotn tlie7n as
their necessary results. The true account, in
deed, of his book is, ihat it is a sketch of ike reign
of Henry VIII. i7i its ilieological cha7iges,
whick proves z« detail the Church view of
those changes. And if ihat view is the irue
vieiv, hoiv can a true history a.o otherivise ?
The merit of a history is, that it alloivs facts
to evolve views, and does not pervert or con
ceal facts in order io force upon thetn preco7t-
ceived vieivs of its ow7t. A7id wketi ive clia-
racierize Mr. Blunt's volume as stati7ig ike
Church's case throughout, ive conceive it to be
an attiple justification to say that if he is to
relate the facts fairly he could not do other
wise ; ihat he fairly alleges the facts, and the
fads prove his case. We hold the book, then,
io be a solid and valuable addztion to our
Church history, just because it does in the
tnain establish ihe Church case, and bring it
ably attd clearly before ihe public, upon unan
swerable eiddence, itnpartially and on the
wfwle correctly stated." — Guardian.

CATECHETICAL NOTES AND CLASS QUESTIONS, Lite-
ral and Mystical ; cliiefly on the Earlier Books of Holy Scripture. By the
kte Rev. J. M. Neale, D.D., Warden of Sackville College, East Grinstead.
Crown Svo. 5^. from other of Dr. Neale's papers, and in
particular we would specify an admirable
appendix of extracts fro77i Dr. N e ah/ s sermons
(chiefiy unpublished) bearing iip07i poi7its
touched 071 in tlte text'' — Literary Church
man. " Tlte writer's wide acquainta7tce ivith
Mediceval theology re7iders his 7ioies 07i the
Old Testament peculiarly valuable," — John
Bull.

" Utiless we are much mistaken this will be
one of ilie most practically useful of the various
posthntnous works of Dr. Neale, for the publi
cation of which ive are indebted to the S.
Margaret's Sisters attd Dr. Neale's literary
executors. Besides ' class notes ' — lecture 7ioteS
as 7nost people ivould call tliem — on ihe earlier
books of Holy Scripiutfe, there are some most
excellent si77iilar notes on ilie Sacra7ne7its. and
then a collection of notes for catechizing chil-
dre7i. Throughout these notes are suppleme7tted

HERBERT TRESHAM. A Tale of the Great Rebellion, By the late
Rev. J. M. Neale, D.D. New Edition. Small Svo. 3J. 6d.
" We cordially ivelcome a 7ieiv edition of Dr.
Neale's ' Herbert Tresham. ' The sce7te is laid
in tlte time of tlie great civil ivar, and vivid
pictures are dravm of some of the startling
events tliat then disgraced the history of this
cou7iiry. The 77iartyrdom of A rchbislwp Laud
is described itt a manner feiv besides iis autlwr
coidd equal, while the narration of the disas
trous battle of Naseby, and the disgraceful

surrender of Bristol by Prince Rupert, afford
proof of the versatility of kis gettius. " — Ch u rch
Times. *' A pleasant Ck.'^isttnas present is Dr.
Neale's ' Herbert Tresliam.' Such a book is
well calculated to correct current views of ijtk
century histoty.''' — Church Review,
" Nothitig could be tttore admirable as a
Christmas prese7it." — Church News.
THE ANNUAL REGISTER : A Review of Public Events at Home
and Abroad, for the Year 1869 ; being the Seventh Volume of an Improved
Series. Svo. iSj.
%* The Volumes for 1863 to 1868 may be had, iSj. each.
contents, so syste7natically arranged, ivithout
deriving some idea of tlie labour of compilation
and authorship involved. The ' care with
which it is compiled a7id produced refiects the
highest credit on the ivell known firtn of pub
lishers." — Examiner.
^^ Solidly valuable, aswell as interesting."
— Standard,"Comprehensive and well executed." —
Spectator.

"WeU edited, excellent type, good paper,
andin allrespects admir'ably got up. Its re
view of affairs. Home, Crlonial, and Foreign,
is fair, concise, and complete." — Mining
Quarterly. " We are so used at ihe present day to epi-
totnised books of reference on every variety of
subject, thai this work, which is att abstract of
conietttporary history, excites perhaps tiogrecit
ad77tiration or surprise. It is impossible,.
however, to glance through iis 7nuliitudinous

28 Mt8SVB. IXiliington'js f ubliraticns
BOOKS FOR THE CLERGY
Blimfs {Rev. f. H) Directorium Pastorale,
Principles and Practice of Pastoral Work in the Church of England. Crown
Svo. ijs.
Hodgson s [Chr) Instructions for the Use of
Candidates for Holy Orders, and of the Parochial Clergy, as to Ordination,
Licenses, Induction, Plurajities, Residence, &c., &c. ; with Acts of Parlia
ment and Forms to be used. Svo. ids.
Extons [Rev. R. B) Specuhtm Gregis; or, The
Parochial Minister's Assistant in the Oversight of his Flock. Oblong i2mo.
The Priest to the Altar ; or, Aids to the De-
vout Celebration of Holy Communion; chiefly after the Ancient Use of
Sarum. Second Edition, enlarged, revised, and re-arranged with the Secretas,
Post-Communion, &c., appended to the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels
throughout the Year. Svo. 7^. (>d.
Barrett's {IV. A) Flowers and Festivals ; or,
Directions for Floral Decoration of Churches. WithColoured Illustrations.
Square Crown Svo. 5^-.
y ones' s{Rev. Plarry) Priest and Parish. Square
Crown Svo. ts. 6d.
Nixon's [Bp) Lectures, Historical, Doctrinal,
and Practical, on the Catechism of the Church of England. Svo. iSj.
Neale s [Rev. f. M.) Catechetical Notes and
Class Questions, Literal and Mystical ; chiefly on the Earlier Books of
Holy Scripture. Crown Svo. 5^".
Wordsworth' s {Bishop Charles) Catechesis ; or,
Christian Instruction preparatoiy to Confirmation and First Communion.
Small Svo. 2s.
The Annotated Book of Common Prayer; being
an Historical, Ritual, and Theological Commentary on the Devotional Svstem
of the Church of England. Edited by John Henry Blunt, M.A., f!s.A.
Imperial Svo. 36J.
The Prayer Book Interleaved ; with Historical
Illustrations and Explanatory Notes arranged parallel to the Text, by W. M.
Campion, B.A., Fellow and Tutor of Queens' College, and W. J. Bea'-
mont, M.A., Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. With a Preface by
the Lord Bishop of Ely. Small Svo. "js. dd.
The First Book of Cotnmon Prayer of Edward
VI. and the Ordinal of 1549 ; together with the Order of the Communion,
154S. Reprinted entire, and Edited by the Rev. Henry Baskerville Wal
ton, M.A., late Fellow and Tutor of Merton College. With Introduction
by the Rev. Peter Goldsmith Medd, M.A., Senior Fellow and Tutor of
University College, Oxford. Small Svo. ds.
Liher Precuni Publicarum Ecclesice Anglicance,
a Gulielmo Bright, A.M., et Petro Goldsmith Medd, A.M., Presbyteris'
CoUegii Universitatis in Acad. Oxon. Sociis, Latine redditus. With all the
Rubies in Red. Small Svo. 6s.

MzBsvB. p,ibTngton'0 iubltcationsi 29

VOLUMES OF SERMONS

Adams's (Rev. W.) Warn
ings of the Holy Week ; being a
Course of Parochial Lectures for the
Week before Easter, and the Easter
Festivals. Small Svo. 4s. 6d.
Body's (Rev. G) The Life
of Justification, A Seriesof Lectures
delivered in Substance at All Saints,
Margaret Street, during Lent 1870.
' Crown Svo. 4s. bd.
Goulburn's (Dean) Fare
well Counsels of a Pastoi^ to his
Flock, on Topics of the Day. Small
Svo. 4?.
Goulburn's (Dean) Ser
mons preached on Various Occasions
during the last Twenty Years. Small
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Harris's (Rev. G.C.) Church
Seasons and Present Times : Ser
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quay. Small Svo. 5^.
Heygate's (Rev. W. E.)
Care of the Soul; or. Sermons on
Points of Christian Prudence. l2mo.
t,s. dd.
Liddoh's (Canon) Sermons
preached before the University of
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Moberly's (Bishop) Brigh-
stone Sermons. Crown Svo. "Js. dd.
Moberly's (Bishop) The
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between the Resurrection and Ascen
sion, regarded as the Outlines of the
Kingdom of God : in Five Sermons.
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mons. Svo. Is. dd.
Melvill's (Canon) Sermons.
Two Vols. Crown Svo. 5^-. each.
Melvill's (Canon) Selection
from the Lectures delivered at St.
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Svo. ds.

Moore's (Rev. Daniel) Aids
to Prayer : a Course of Lectures de
livered at Holy Trinity Church, Pad
dington, on the Sunday Mornings in
Lent, 1868. Crown Svo. 4s. dd.
Moore's (Rev. Daniel) The
Age and the Gospel : Four Sermons
preached before the University of
Cambridge. Crown 8vo.. 5j-.
Neale's (Rev. J. M.) Ser
mons to Children : being Short Read
ings, addressed to the Children of St.
Margaret's Home, East Grinstead.
Small Svo. y. dd.
Newmati's (J. H.) Paro
chial and Plain Sermons. Edited by
the Rev. W. J. Copeland, Rector of
Farnham, Essex. 8 vols. Crown
Svo. y. each.
Newman's (J, H.) Sermons
bearing upon Subjects of the Day.
Edited by the Rev. W. J. Copeland,
Rector of Farnham, Essex. Crown
Svo. 5j.
Pigou's (Rev. Francis)
Faith and iPractice ; Sermons at
St. Philip's, Regent Street. Small
Svo. ds.
Shipley's (Rev. Orby) Six
short Sermons on Sin. Lent Lec
tures at S . Alban the Martyr, Hol
born. Small Svo. \s.
Williams's (Rev.. Isaac)
The Characters of the Old Testa
ment. In a Series of Sermons.
Crown Svo. Jj.
Williams's (Rev. Isaac)
Female Characters of Holy Scripture.
In a Series of Sermons. Crown
Svo. 5J.
Williams's (Rev. Isaac)
The Holy Days throughout the Year.
Small Svo. ,5^. dd.

30 MzBBtB. I^ibiitgton'a f ttbliratiffitjs

FAMILY PRAYERS
Goulburn's (Dean) Family Prayers, arranged on the
Liturgical Principle. Large type. Crown Svo. 2s. dd. Cheap Edition.
iSmo. IS.
Hook's (Dean) Book of Family Prayer. i8mo. 2S.
Medd's (Rev. P. G.) Household Prayer, from Ancient
and Authorized Sources : with Morning and Evening Readings for a Month.
Small Svo. 4s. dd.
Duncombe's (Hon. Augustus) Manual of Family Devo
tions, arranged from the Book of Common Prayer. Small Svo. 3^. 6d.
Gierke's (Archdeacon) Daily Devotions ; or. Short
Morning and Evening Services for the use of a Churchman's Household.
iSmo. IS.
The Hours of the Passion; with Devotional Forms for
Private and Household use. l2mo. 6s.
Family Prayers from " The Guide to Heaven." For
the Working Classes. Compiled by a Priest. Edited by the Rev. T. T.
Carter, M. A., Rector of Clewer. Crown Svo. 2(/., or cloth limp, 4;/.

SACRED POETRY
Lyte's (H. F.) Miscellaneous Poems. Small Svo. ^s.
Bright's (Canon) Hymns and other Poems. Smajl Svo.
4?. dd,
Monsell's (Rev. Dr.) Parish Musings ; or, Devotional
Poems. Small Svo. 5J. Also a Cheaper Edition, iSmo. Limp cloth,
Is. dd. ; or in .cover, is.
Man't's. (Bishop) Ancient Hymns from, the Roman
Breviary. For Domestic Use eveiy Morning and Evening of the Week, ''
and on the Holy Days of the Church. To which are added, Originsd
Hymns, principally of Commemoration and Thanksgiving for Christ's Holy
Ordinances. New Edition. Small Svo. ^s.
Hymns and Poems for the Sick and Suffering ; in con
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T. V. Fosbery, M.A. Small Svo. y. dd.
Bickersteth's (E. H.) Yesterday, To-day, and For Ever-
^ a Poem, in Twelve Books. SmaU Svo. ds.
Bickerstettfs (E. H.) The Two Brothers, and other
Poems. Small Svo. 6s.

MtBBXB. "^Mnqtan'B Publiratioits

31

BOOKS FOR CHURCH SCHOOLS,
PAROCHIAL LIBRARIES, Etc.

Bright's (Canon) Faith and
Life ; Readings for the greater Holy
Days, and the Sundays from Advent
to Trinity. Compiled from Anwent
Writers. Small Svo. y.
Thomas k Kempis, Of the
Imitation of Christ. l6mo. is.
^Btaley's (Bishop) Five
Years' Church Work in the Kingdom
of Hawaii. With ^ap and lUustra-
tions. Crown Svo. 5^.
Taylor's (Bishop Jeremy)
The Holy Living and The Holy
Dying. One Volume. l6mo.
2s. 6d.
James's (Canon) Comment
upon the CoUects. i2mo. 3.r. 6d.
Goulburn's(Dean)Thoughts on Personal Religion. Small Svo.
ds. 6d.
Goulburn's (Dean) The
Pursuit of Holiness : a Sequel to
"Thoughts on Per-sonal Religion,"
intended to carry the Reader some
what further onward in the Spiritual
Life. SmaU Svo. 5^.
Goulburn's (Dean) Intro-
ductiorf to the Devotional Study of
the Holy Scriptures. Small Svo.
3.r. dd.
Goulburn's (Dean) The Idle
Word : Short Religious Essays u|>on
the Gift of Speech. SmaU Svo.
"Goulburn's (Dean) Office
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of Common Prayer. Small Svo.
6s.
Blunt's (Rev. J. H.) House
hold Theology ; a Handbook of Re
ligious Information respecting the
Holy Bible, the Prayer Book, the
Church, the Ministry, Divine Wor
ship, the Creeds, &c., &c. iSmo.
y. 6d.
Phillpotts's (M. C.) The
Manor Farm : a Tale. SmaU Svo.
With Illustrations. Zs. dd.

Phillpotts's (M. C.) The
, Hillford Confirmation : a Tale.
l6mo. I.r.
Adams's (Rev. W.) Sacred
Allegories : — The Shadow of the
Cross— The Distant Hills— The Old
Man's Pome — The King's Mes
sengers. With numerous Illustra
tions. Small Svo. y.
Soimime : a Story of a
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Neale's (Rev. J. M.*) Her
bert Tresham : a Tale of the Great
Rebellion. Small Svo. y. 6d.
Romanov's (H. G.) Sketches
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Keys to Christian Know
ledge. Small Svo. 2s. dd. each.
The Book of Common Prayer.
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Church History (Ancient) .
The Narrative of the Four Gospels.
Christian Doctrine and Practice.
(Founded on the ChurCh Cate
chism.)
The Acts of the Apostles.
Davys's (Bishop) Plain and
Short History of England for Chil
dren. With Twelve Coloured Illus
trations. Square Crown Svo. 3^. 6d.
Gould's (Rev. S. Baring)
Curious Myttepf the Middle Ages.
With lUustrmons. Crown Svo.
ds.
The Life of Madame Louise
De France, Daughter of Louis XV.,
also known as the Mother Terese de
S . Augustin. Crown Svo. ds.
A Dominican Artist : A
Sketch of the Life of the Rev. Pere
Besson, of the Order of St. Dominic.
Crown Svo. gs.
Trelawny's (Rev. C. T.
Collins) Perranzabuloe, the Lost
Church Found. Crown Svo. 3^. 6d.

32 MzBBXB. pibingtott'js f ublkations
CATENA CLASSICORUM
3 ©eriejai of €W0ital Hutfiorief,
EDITED BY MEMBERS OF BOTH UNIVERSITIES UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
The Rev. ARTHUR HOLMES, M.A.
SENIOR FELLOW OF CLARE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND PREACHER AT THE
CHAPEL ROYAL, WHITEHALL,
And The Rev. CHARLES BIGG, M.A.
PRINCIPAL OF BRIGHTON COLLEGE, LATE SENIOR STUDENT AND TUTOR OF
CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD. jL
Crown Svo.
The following Parts have been already published : —
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The Electra. 3^. dd.
The Ajax. 3^. dd.
JUVENALIS SATIRAE, edited by G. A. Simcox, M.A.,
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Thirteen Satires. %s. dd.
THUCYDIDIS HISTORIA, edited by Charles Bigg, M.A.,
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Andria et Eunuchus. 4s. 6d.

YALE UNIVERSITY

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