GENERAL HISTORY
OF TITE

CATHOLIC CHURCH:
FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA
TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

BY

M. L’ABBE J. E. DARRAS.

THIRTEENTH EDITION.

WITH AN

INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
ΒΪ THE MOST REV. M. J. SPHD1NG, D. D,
ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE.

VOL. ΙΠ.

NEW YORK:
P. J. KENEDY.
Pl'bi.isheii to the Holy Apostolic See,
EXCELSIOR CATHOLIC PUBLISHING HOUSE,
Nos. 3 and 5 Barclay St.

Copyright
1898

By P-

J. KENEDY.

CONTENTS

FIFTH PERIOD.
CHAPTER

I.

f I. Pontificate of Sylvester IT. (February 19, a. d. 999—May 12, I003z,
I. Character of the fifth period of the history of the Church.—2. Great men
and saints of the period.—3. Eminent qualities of Gerbert.—4. Magnar.:mom
conduct of Sylvester II. toward Arnulf, his former competitor for the See of
Rheims.—5. The year 1000. Gothic architecture.—6. First idea of th·
Crusades, and of the institution of the Jubilee.—7. Erection of the kingdom of
Hungary.—8. St. Henry II., king of Germany.—9. Death of Sylvester II.
§ II. Pontificate of John XVIII. (June C. a. d. 1003—October 31, 1003).
10. Election and premature death of John XVIII. § III. Pontificate of
John XIX. (March 19, a. d. 1004—.July 18, 1009). 11. Death of St. Nilu·
in the hermitage of Grotta Ferrata.—12. Martyrdom of St. Abbo, of Fleury.—
18. St. Adalbero, bishop of Metz.—14. St. Fulcran, bishop of Lodeve. St.
Fulbert, bishop of Chartres.—15. Fulk-Nerra, count of Anjou.—16. William
V., duke of Aquitaine.—17. Collection of canons by Burchard, bishop of
Worms.—18. Isidore Mercator’s collection of decretals.—19. Abdication ·./
John XIX,—20. Invention of the gamut by Guy of Arezzo. § IV. Pontifi­
cate of Sergius IV. (October 10, a. d. 1009—July 13, 1012). 21. Persecu­
tion of the Jews in the various provinces of Christian Europe.—22. Martyr­
dom of St. Elphege, archbishop of Canterbury.—23. Death of Sergius IV.
§ V. Pontificate of Benedict VIII. (July 20, a. d. 1012—July 10, 1024).
24. Schism in the Church. Sclavonian revolt.—25. The Emperor Henry IL
crowned by Benedict VIII.—26. The singing of the Creed adopted in th·
Roman liturgy. The four symbols of the Church.—27. St. Meinwerc, bishop
of Paderborn.—28. The Emperor St. Henry a disciple of Blessed Richard of
Verdun.—29. Italy saved by Benedict VIII. from a Saracen invasion.—30. in­
terview between the Pope and the Emperor at Bamberg.—31. The Greeki
expelled from the south of Italy,—32. Council of Selingstadt.--8S. Council
of Orleans.—34. St. Romuald founds the order of the Camaldolh—85. Death
of the Emperor St. Henry II. and of Benedict VIII.................................. Page 1

h

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER TT

I 1. Pontificatu or John XX. (July ·9, Α· ”·
—November fl, 1088)
I. Conrad II., duke of Franconia, raised to the throne of Germany.—2. Elec­
tion of John XX.--8. Embassy from the Greek», requesting for the Patriarch·
of Constantinople the title of Ecumenical Patriarch. Refusai of the Pope.—
4. Zeal displayed by Gérard, bishop of Oambray, iiguii st innovators.—5. Con­
rad II. crowned by the Pope emperor of Germany.—0. Canute the Great.
His virtues.—7. Clans IT., the Saint.—8. Decline of tl.e Ohnrnh of Constanti­
nople.—9. Disorders among the regular and secular clergy in the East.—
10. Succession of the Greek emperors.—11. Famine and plague in France.—
12. The Truce of God.—18. The Apostolnto of St, Martial.—14. Chivalry.—
16. Death of John XX. §11. Pontificate of Bbnbdtot IX. (December 9,
*. d. 1088—May, 1044). Fini Period. 18. Scandals in the See of St. Peter.
•17. Election of Benedict IX.—18. Vices of the Popo.—19. St. Gerard,
bishop of Ohonad, in Hungary.—20. Casimir I., called the Peaceful, king of
Poland.—21. Mai det ardente.—22. Last acts and death of St. Odilo, abbot
of Cluny.—28. Revolutions in Constantinople.—24. Antipopo Sylvester III.
Benedict IX. abdicates the Papacy for the first time. § III. Pontifioatb ο»
Grboort VI. (April 28, a. d. 1045—December 17, 1040). 25. Election of
Gregory VI.—20. St. Peter Damian.—27. Abdication of Gregory VT.
§ IV. Pontificate of Clement II. (December 25, a. d. 1040—October 9,
1047). 28. Election of Clement II,—29. Modesty of St. Peter Damian.•0. Death of Clement II. § V. Pontificate of Benbuiot IX. (Novem­
ber, a. d. 1047—July 17, 1048). Second Period. 81. Benedict IX. again
ascends the pontifical throne. His final abdication. § VI. Pontificate of
Damabub II. (July 17, a. d. 1048—August 8, 1048). 82. Election and death
of DamasusII................................................................ ................................. Page 35

CHAPTER III.

11.

Pontificate of St. Leo IX. (February 11, a. n. 1040—April 19, 1054). 1. Elec­
tion of Bruno, binhop of Toul, to the Sovereign Pontifiante.—2. Connoil of
Rome.—8. Council of Pavia. St. John Gualbert founds the Monastery of
Vallis Umbrosa.—4. Council of Rhoiins.—5. Council of Montz.—0. Berengarius. Lanfranc.—7. Heresy of Bcrengariuo.—8. His condemnation.—0. Mi­
chael Coiularius. Eastern schism.—10. Closing acts of the life of St. Loo.
§ II. Pontifioatb op Viotob II. (April 13, a. d. 1055—July 28, 1057). 11.
Election of Pope Victor II.—12. Question of Tnvutituree.—13. Zeal and
humility of Pope Vietor IL—-14. Councils of Lyons and of Tours.— 16. State
of the Catholic w >rld.—16. Death of the Emperor Henry III. Death of Pope
Victor II. § III. Pontificate of Stephen X. (August 2, a. d. 1057—March
20, 1058). 17. Election of Stephen X.—18. His zeal for ecclesiastical reform.
—19. St. Peter Damian a Cardinal.—20. Death of Stephen X. § IV. Schism
of Bknbdiot X. (Ap?il 6, a. d. 1058—January, 1059). 21. Schisinaticul elect'oD of Benedict X. Protest of St. Peter Damian.—22. Denosition of Beno

content®.

«Met X. Eler/Jon of Nicholas Π. 5 V, Pontificat· n» Nirnoit* H (Jan··
ary RI, * ι>. 10511 —Jnne 24, 1061). 23. ΟηιιμΛΙ of Rome. Th· stoalMi «f
l'ope· r,»erv«<l to th· Cardinal·. Th· right of ron5rm«<»m
r-dutUie
Ei.iperor· of Germany.—34. Council of AmaM. Treaty between NkU.i»· 11.
and Robert Gtdscard.—25. Heresy of tin
legato to Milan.- -20. Mission of St. Hugh, abbot of Cluny, anil ·.< Ctnlind
Etienne, to Franco.—27. Relatione of Nioliolu 11. with the varions Chrl ■·>»··
powers.—28. Disorders in the court of Henry IV. Death -·ϊ Xi.
11.
I VI. Pontificate of Alexanorr II. (September RO, ·. n. 1001 — April 19,
1078). 20. Election of Alexander II. Cadaloue, bithop of Parma, nntlpopa,
under the name of Honorine II.—30. Struggle between th· lawful Pontiff and
the antipope. Deposition of Csdalon·.—31. Il«r
*>«y
of th· Ιη<»«ΐΊ··ι·- Λ
St. Peter Ignens.—38. Attempt of Henry IV. to repudiate hit lawful wife.
Legation of Peter Damian to tho emperor.—84. Death of St. Peter Damian
His works.—85. Oonquest of England by William, duke of Norrnaiuly.—35
Illustrious saints under tho Pontificate of Alexander IL—87. Discipline, nr
•clf-llagellntlon.—88. Death of Alexander II..................................... ..Page U

CHAPTER IV.

I I Pontificate of St. Guroort VII. (April 23, a d. 1073—May 25, 10M).
1. Antecedent· of St. Gregory VII. Ilia election.—2. Confirmation of hi·
election by Henry IV., king of Germany.—3. Political state of the Christi··
world at the accession of St. Gregory VII.—4. Matilda, conntes· of Tuscany.5. Fatal consequences accruing to the Church from the usurpation of the right
of investiture by the emperors.—6. Doctrine of St. Gregory’s predecessor· on
this subject.—7. First decree of St. Gregory VII. against disorderly or simoLÏacal clerics.—8. Decree of the Council of Rome against th· inve<titnr«c—
9. Henry IV. subdues tho rebellious Saxons.—10. Conspiracy of Cenciua
against the Popo.—11. A sentence of deposition pronounced against St.
Gregory by tho pseudo Council of Worms.—12. State of public opinion In ’he
Middle Ages concerning tho right of the Sovereign Pontiff to depose king·
and princes.—13. Henry IV. is deposed by St. Gregory in the Council of
Rome, and his subjects released from their oath of allegiance.—14. Diet of
Tribnr.—15. Meeting of St. Gregory VII. and Henry IV. at Canossa. Re­
conciliation.—10. Rudolph, duke of Suabin, elected King of Germany at ’he
Diet of Forcheiin.—17. Rudolph and Henry IV. appeal to tho arbitration of
St. Gregory.—18. Hostilities between the two kings —19. Rudolph W'gniMd
as King of Germany by St. Gregory. Sentence of deposition again pronounced
against Henry IV.—20. The false Council of Brixen elect· an antipope in th·
person of Guibcrt, archbishop of Ravenna, who assumes tho name of Clement
III. Death of Rudolph.—21. Hermann, count of Luxemburg. elected King
of Germany by the Diet of Goslar.—22. Departure of St. Gregory from Rom·,
which falls into tho hands of Henry IV., ami the antipope.—23. Robert Gul·
card comes to the Pope's relief. Death of St. Gregory VII.—24. Progrès· of
the Turks in tho East, under tho Pontificate of St Gregory VIL—25. Labors
of St. Gregory VIL it tho nt."them States of Europe. 25. Holy i^rsontqres

CONTENTO.

and religion
*
foundations under the Pontificate of fit. Gregory.—27. Wn« ’.h·
law of ecclesiastical celibacy nn innovation of St. Gregory VII. ? § II. Pon
tificatr or Victor ΙΠ. (April 24, a. n. 1086—September 16. 1087). 28. Vic­
tor HL elected, in spite of hie own resistance, to the Sovereign Pontificate.—
26. The Countess Matilda drives the Antipopo Guibert from Rome.— 80.
Connoil of Beneventum against investitures. Death of Victor III....Page 105

CHAPTER V.

f I Pontificate of Urban II. (March 12, a. d. 1088—July 29, 1099). 1. Elec­
tion of Urban JI.—2. Henry IV. still hostile to the Holy See. Election of
Conrad, his eldest son, to the throne of Germany.—3. First labors of Urban.
II. Ho calls St. Bruno to Rome.—4. Excommunication of Philip I. and Bertrada.—5. William Rufus in England.—6. Election of St. Anselm to the
archiépiscopal see of Canterbury.—7. Struggle between St. Anselm and the
King of England.—8. Roscelin. Universals. Realists and Nominalists.—9.
Philosophical works of St. Anselm.—Id. Were the Crusades just nnd useful
wars?—11. Fefer the Hermit. Council of Clermont.—12. The first Crusade.
-13. Taking of Jerusalem. Godfrey de Bouillon chosen king.—14. Death of
Pope Urban II. § 11. Pontificate of Ραβοπλι. II. (August 18, a. n. 1090—
January 18, 1118). 15. Election of Paschal II. Death of the antipope Gui­
bert. His successors.—16. Henry I. succeeds William Rufus and recalls St
Anselm to England.—17. Henry, the second son of Henry IV., proclaimed
King of Germany nt the death of Conrad. Council of Northus.—18. Diet of
Mentz. Henry IV. abdicates in favor of his son Henry V.—19. Henry IV.
again in arms. Ilia death.—20. Henry V. also claims the right of investiture.
Journey of Paschal II. into Franco. Council of OhAlons-siir-Marne.—21
Henry V. marches upon Rome, seizes the Pope, and carries him into cap­
tivity.—22. Paschal II. signs a treaty granting to Henry V. the right of inves­
titure. Crowns Henry emperor. Release of the Pope. His repentance.—23.
Council of Lateran. Paschal II. annuls the treaty wrung from him by the
violence of Henry V.—24. Indignation of the Catholic world at Henry’s
sacrilegious attempts.—25. Henry V. once more before Rome. Flight and
death of Paschal II.—26. Death of Godfrey de Ronilion. Foundation of the
military orders. Knights of St. John of Jerusalem and of the Holy Sepulchre.
Knights Templars.—27. St Bernard at Citeanx.—28. AKjlard. § HI. Pon­
tificate of Gelabiub II. (January 25, a. d. 1118—January 29, 1119). 29.
Election of Gelasius II. Sedition raised in Rome by Ceucio Frangipani.—30.
Henry V. seizes Rome. Gelasius II. withdraws to Gaëta. Election of the
antipope Maurice Bourdin under the title of Gregory VIII.—31. Death of
GelasiuB II. at Cluny. § IV. Pontificate of Oai.ixtüb II. (February 1, a. d.
1119—December 12,1124). 82. Election of Calixtus II. Attempt at a recon­
ciliation between the Pope and the emperor. Conference of Monson.—33.
Henry V. deposed and excommunicated by the Pope in the Council of Rheiina,
and his subjects freed from their allegiance.—34. St. Norbert. Premonstratensian order.—85. The Pope’s return to Rome. End of the war of investi
tures.--36. Ninth Ecumenical Council. Death of Calixtus II. and of Henry

CONTENTS.

TÜ

V,—S7. Poter of Brnys. Henry of Lauunne. Tsnchelm or Twiqn·!!·.-»
Bogomiles.—89. Guibert de Nogent..........................................
Pago 1«

CHAPTER VI.

I L PoirrmoATB of Honokius II. (December 31, a. d. 1124— February 14,
1180). 1. Extraordinary circumstances attending the promotion of Hono
rina II.—2. State of Christendom at the accession of Honorine II.—8. In­
fluence of St. Bernard over his age.—4. Peter the Venerable, abbot of
Clnny.—5. Snger and the abbey of St. Denis.—6. Henry, archbishop of Bene.
St. Bernard On the Duties of Bishops.—7. Stephen de Seniis, bishop of Psiia.
—8. Council of Troyes.—9. St. Otho, bishop of Bamberg, apostle of Pome­
rania. Successes of the Christians in Spain, nnder Alpbonso the Great and
Alfdionso VII. Death of Honorius II. J II. Pontificate of Innocent Π(February 17, a. d. 1130—September 24,1148). 10. Schism of the antipop·
Peter de Leone.—11. Journey of Innocent II. to France.—12. Miracnloue
cure of the Sacred Fire.—13. Council of Rheims. Crowning of Lonia-l·Jenne, son of Lonis-le-Gros.—14. Roger, duke of Sicily, and William, duke of
Aquitaine, the only upholders of the antipope. Departure of Innocent II.
The Pope at Clairvaox.—15. Innocent returns to Rome. Crowning of th·
Emperor Lothaire.—10. Second journey of St. Bernard into Italy. Council
of Pisa. St. Bernard at Milan.—17. St. Bernard and William, duke of Aqui­
taine, at Parthenay.—18. Third voyage of St. Bernard to Italy. Conference
between the Abbot of Clairvaux and Peter of Pisa, at Salerno. End of the
Schism of the antipope Peter de Leone.—19. Tenth general council, the sec­
ond Lateran. Roger acknowledged king of Sicily.—20. Peter de la Châtre,
archbishop of Bourges. Raoul, count of Vermandois. The kingdom of
France nnder interdict.—21. Burning of Vitry-le-Brûlé. Death of Innocent
II.—22. Condemnation and death of Abelard.—23. Arnold of Brescia.—24.
Doctors and holy persons in the Pontificate of Innocent II. § III. Pontiftgate of Celestin II. (September 26, a. d. 1143—March 9, 1144). 25. Elec­
tion and death of Celestin II. He raises the interdict placed upon the French
kingdom by his predecessor.—26. Prophecies ascribed to St. Malachy, arch­
bishop of Armagh. §. IV. Pontificate of Lucius Π. (March 10, a. d. 1144—
February 25, 1145). 27. Rome declared a republic, by the partisans of Arnold
of Brescia. Death of Lucius II. § V. Pontificate of Eugenius III. (Feb­
ruary 27, a. d. 1145—July 8, 1153). 28. Election of Eugenics III. St. Ber­
nard's letter to the cardinals and to the new Pope.—29. Triumphal entrance
of Eugenius into Rome. St. Bernard’s work De Consideratione.—80. Assem­
bly of Vezelay. St. Bernard preaches the Crusade in France and Germany.—
81 Departure of the Crusaders. Treachery of Manuel Comnenus, emperor
of Constantinople.—82. Wretched end of the second Crusade.—33. Gilbert da
la Porré. Eon de I’Etoile—34. Petrobrusians. Henricians. Albigcnsec
Oathari. Labors of Peter the Venerable and St. Bernard against then».
Saintly characters nnder the Pontificate of Eugenius ΠΙ.—85. Death of Engenins III. § VI. Pontificate of Anastasius IV. (July 9, a. d. 1153—Decem­
ber 2, 1154). 86. Election and death of Anastasias IV.—37. Death of St.
Berr ard............
.. . ...................................................... ... Ps<e 804

viii

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

VII.

I I. Pontificate or ΛηηίΑΝ IV. (December 8, a. d. 1184—September 1, 1159).
1. Election and antecedente of Adrian IV.—2. Punishment of Arnold of
Brescia.—8. Political state of Italy tinder Adrian IV. William the Bad, king
of Sicily. Frederick Barbarossa, emperor of Germany.—4. Coronation of
Frederick Barbarossa.—C. Restoration of peace between Adrian IV. and
William the Bad.—6. The Pope’s letter to Frederick Barbarossa.—7. Meeting
at Roncnglia.—8. Separation of Louis VII., king of Franco, nnd Eleanor of
Guienne.—9. Intellectual movement during the Pontificate of Adrian IV.
The scholastic system. Peter Lombard, the Master of the Sentences. Decree
of Gratian.—10. Military orders in Spain. § II. Pontificate of Ai.exandei
III. (September 7, a. d. 1109—August 80, 1181). 11. Voltaire's eulogy of
Alexander III. Schism of the antipope Victor III.—12. The false Council of
Pavia issues a sentence of deposition against Alexander.—13. The lawful Pon­
tiff is supported by the majority of the Catholic world.—14. Destruction of
Milan by Frederick Barbarossa.—15. Alexander retiree into France, to escape
the fury of Barbarossa. Conference between Louis VII. and the deputies of
the German emperor.—16. Council of Tours.—17. Death of the antipope; is
succeeded by Guy de Crime, under the name of Paschal III. Return of
Alexander III. to Romo. Restoration of Milan. Frederick Barbarossa takes
Rome. The Pope withdraws to Anagni.—18. Congratulatory letters sent to
Pope Alexander after the retreat of Frederick Barbarossa.—19. Death of the
antipope Paschal III. John, abbot of Strum, succeeds, as Oalixtus III. Siege
of Ancona.—20. Frederick Barbarossa submits to the Pope. Ratification
of the peace. Interview between the Pope and the emperor.—21. Thomas à
Becket, archbishop of Canterbury.—22. Council of Northampton.—23. Thomas
à Becket visits Franco and is taken nnder the protection of Louis VII.—24.
The King of England excommunicated by Thomas A Becket. Alexander III.
confirms the sentence. Reconciliation of the prelate and the king.—25.
Martyrdom of St. Thomas A Becket.—26. Penance of the King of England.—
27. Eleventh general council and third Lateran.—28. Death of Alexander III.
—29. Holy persons of his Pontificate. Beguinages. § III. Pontificate of
Luoiua III. (September 1, a. d. 1181—November 24, 1185.) 30. Final treaty
between Frederick Barbarossa and the Lombard cities.—81. Bull of Lucius III.
against the Albigenses, Cathari, and Patarini. Origin of the Inquisition.—32.
The Humiliati, or Poor Men of Lyons. Waldenses.—88. Death of Lucius III.
§ IV. Pontificate of Urban HI. (November 25, a. d. 1185—October 19,
1187) 34. Election of Urban III. Accession of Isaac Angelus to the throne
of Constantinople.—35. Henry, son of Frederick Barbarossa, crowned king of
Italy.—36. Jerusalem taken by Saladin. Death of Urban III. § V. Pontifi­
cate of Gregory VIII. (October 20, a. d. 1187—December 15, 1187). 87.
Election and death of Gregory VIH. § VI. Pontificate of Clement III.
(December 19, a. d. 1187—March 25, 1191). 88. Departure of Frederick
Barbarossa for the Holy War. His successes and death.—89. Death of Clement
HI. § VII. Pontificate of Celestin III. (March 28, a. d. 1191—January

CONTENTS.

Ù

β, 1108). 40. Coronation of the Emperor Henry TV.—41. Departure of Philip
Augustus and Richard the Lion-hearted, for the Crneade. Siege of Ptolwnal·.
—42. Capture of Ptolemais.—43. Philip Augustus return» to France.
oi Richard in Palestine.—44. Return of Richard to Europe. Death of Sidadln.
—40. Unjust detention of Richard by Leopold, archduke of Austria, «ιό l>y
the Emperor of Germany. Efforts of Celestin TIL to obtain his release.
Death of the Pope.—48. Sainte of thia period................................... Page W

I

CHAPTER VIII.

n

i

PosrrrFtcATK op Innocent III. (January 8, a. d. 1198—July 16, 1216.) 1. Influence of the Papacy in the Middle-Ages.—2. Election and antecedente of Innocent III.—8. Life of Innocent III., after his promotion.—4. State of the world
at the time of his accession.—5. Innocent III. restores the Pontifical power
in Italy.—6. The Pope bestows the investiture of the kingdom of Sicily upon
Queen Constance. Affair of the Fonr Chapters. Innocent III. becomes the
guardian of the youthful Frederick II.—7. Philip Augustus repudiates Queen
Ingelberga.—8. Philip Angustus solemnly excommunicated in the Council nf
Dijon.—9. Philip submits and receives back Ingelberga.—10. The question
of succession to the German throne, Guelphs and Ghibellines.—11. Otho,
dnke of Aquitaine, elected and crowned emperor.—12. Otho, proving false to
his oath to the Holy See, is deposed by Innocent III., and the crown i* be­
stowed upon Frederick II., king of Sicily.—13. The Pope calls to his tribunal
the question in dispute between Philip Augustus and John Lack'and.—14
King John excommunicated by Innocent HI. His submission. 3r.ttle of
Bouvines.—15. Fourth Crusade.—18. Capture of Constantinople by the Cru­
saders. Foundation of a Latin empire in the East.—17. Success of the Chris­
tians in Spain.—18. Crusade against the Albigenses. Simon of Montfort.—
19. St, Dominic.—20. St. Francis of Assisi.—21. Twelfth general, and fourth
Laternn, Council.—22. Death of Innocent III...................................Page 311

CHAPTER IX.

I I. Pontificate or Honorics III. (July 18, a. d. 1216—March 18. 1227). I.
Condition of the East at the accession of Honorius III.—2. Fifth Crneade.—
3. Honorius declares himself the protector of Henry HI., king of England.—
4. Renewal of the Crusade against the Albigenses, by Louis of France, son of
Philip Augustus.—5. The Inquisition.—0. Death of Philip Augustus. Louie
VIII. carries on the war against the Albigenses. Saint Louis.—7. End of th·
war against the Albigenses.—8. Death of Honorius III. Saints of this period.
§ II. Pontificate of Gregory IX. (March 18, a. d. 1227—August 21, 1241)
9. Frederick II., emperor of Germany.—10. Sixth Crusade. -11. Gregory IX
deposes Frederick II. Submission and reconciliation of the emperor.—12.
Various works of Gregory’s Pontificate.—18. Fresh attacks of Frederick II.
npon the Holy See. Is again excommunicated. Death of Gregory IX.
I III. Pontificate of Celestin IV. (October a. i>. 1241—November. 1241),

CONTENTS,

14. Election snd «loath of Celestin IV. § IV Pontificate of Innocent IV.
(June 24, a. n. 1248—December 7, 1264.) 16. First relations of Innovent
IV. and Frederick il. The Pope is threatened with imprisonment mid take·
refuge in Lyons.—16. The thirteenth general council, the first of Lyons. 17
Gengis Khan Oktni.—18. Circumstances determining the seventh Crusade.
Its lamentable issue.—19. The Pastoureaux.—20. Labors of Innocent's Pon­
tificate. Death of the Popo.—21. Saints of this period. § V. Pontifioatb
of Alexander IV. (December 26, a. d. 1264—May 26, 1261). 22. Contest
between Alexander IV. nnd Mnnfred, regent, nnd afterward king of Sicily.—
28. Revolt in Romo. Alexander IV. flies to Viterbo.—24. Constitutional
charter of Prussia, promulgated by James Pantaloon, Apostolic legate.—26.
The Inquisition in Franco.—26. Dispute of the University of France with the
Dominicans and Franciscans.—27. Roger Bacon. Alexander of Hales. Duns
Scottis. St. Bonaventure. Vincent of Beauvais. Albert the Great. St.
Thomas Aquinas.—28. Death of Alexander IV. § VI. Pontifioatb of Urban
IV. (August 20, a. d. 1261—October 2, 1264). 29. Letter of Urban IV. to
James III., king of Aragon.—30. The Pope offers the throne of Sicily to
Charles of Anjou.—81. Institution of the feast of Corpus Christi. Death of
Urban IV. § VII. Pontifioatb of Clement IV. (February 5, a. d. 1265—
November 29, 1208). 32. Charles of Anjou crowned king of Sicily, by order
of Clement IV.—S3. Trial and death of Conradin.—84. Death of Clement IV.
Pragmatic Sanction. Liberties of the Gallican Church. § VIII. Vacancy
in the Holt She. (November 29, a. d. 1268—September 1,1271). 85. Eighth
and last Crusade. Death of St. Louis.—36. End of the last Crusade. The
Christians expelled from Palestine.—37. Remarks on the Crusades. § IX.
Pontificate of Grroort X. (September 1, a. d. 1271—January 10, 1276).
88. Gregory's projected Crusade. Efforts to bring back the Greek Church.
—89. Fourteenth general council, held at Lyons.—40. The Carmelites, Ser­
vitos of Mary, and Celestines, approved by the fourteenth general council.—
41. Cession of the County of Venaissin to the Holy See by Philip the Bold.
—42. Rudolph of Hapsbnrg, emperor of Germany.—43. Death of Gregory X.
§ X. Pontificate of Innocent V. (January 21, a. d. 1276—June 22, 1276).
44. Election and death of Innocent V. § XI. Pontificate of Adrian V.
(July 4, a. d. 1276—August 18, 1276). 45. Election and death of Adrian V.
§ XII. Pontificate of John XXI. (September 13, a. d. 1276—May 16, 1277).
46. Election and death of John XXI. § XIII. Pontificate of Nicholas III.
(November 25, a. d. 1277—August 22, 1280). 47. Opposition of the Greeks
to the Treaty of Union.—48. Death of.Nicholas III. § XIV. Pontificate of
Martin IV. (February 22, a. d. 1281—March 28, 1285). 49. Treaty of Martin
IV. with the Roman people.—50. Sicilian Vespers.—51. Accession of Andro­
nicus to the throne of Constantinople. § XV. Pontificate of Honorius IV.
(April 2. a d. 1285—April 3, 1287). 52. Election and death of Honorine
IV. § XVI. Pontificate of Nicholas IV. (February 15, a. d. 1288—April
4, 1292). 58. Election and death of Nicholas IV. § XVII. Pontificate «if
St. Celestin V. (July 7, a. n 1294—December 18, 1294). 54. Election and
abdication of St. Celestin V.......................................................................Page 848

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER X.
HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE FIFTH PERIOD OF THE CHURCH.

1.

Hostile attitude of the German emperors toward the Church.—2. Holiness of
the Pope’s mission at thia period.—3. Cardinals.—4. Relation of the episco­
pate to the Holy See.—5. Morals of the clergy of this period.—8. Influence
of the Church upon society in the Middle-Ages.—7. The Crusades.- 8. Th·
Albigensian war.—9. Propagation of the gospel.—10. The spirit of faith.
Worship. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin.—11. Religions orders.—12. Uni­
versities.—13 Gothic architecture.—14. Religious symbolism of Gothic art.
The cathedrals of this period.....................................................Page 41·

1

SIXTH

PERIOD.

CHAPTER

I.

I 1 Pontificate of Boniface VIII. (December 24, a. d. 1294—October 11,
.808). 1. Character of the sixth period.—2. State of the world at the acces­
sion of Boniface.—3. Truce between the Holy Seo and James II. of Sicily
violated as soon os concluded.—1. Revolt in Rome. The Colonnas.—ό. Bull
of the Jubilee.—C. Struggle between Albert of Austria and Adolphus of
Nassau for the imperial crown. Albert recognized ns emperor of Austria.—
7. Philip the Fair, king of France. Edward I. of Englund. Bull CUruii
laicot.—8. Bull fneffabilie. —9. Bull Autculta, Jili. States-General of France
assembled in Paris.—10. Council of Rome. Bull Unam lanctam.—11. Sacri
legions outrage of Anngni. Death of Boniface VIII. §11. Pontificate or B.
Benedict XI. (October 22, a. d. 1303—July 6, 1304). 13. Difficulties in the
government of the Church at the accession of Benedict XI.—13. Death of
Benedict.—14. Guelphs and Ghibellines in Florence. Dante. § ΠΙ. Pontifi­
cate of Clement V. (November 14, a. d. 1305—April 20, 1314). 15. Re­
proaches incurred by the administration of Clement V.—10. Election of
Clement. Calumnies brought against it.—17. Translation of the Holy See to
Avignon.—18. First acts of Clement V. He refuses to annul the bull Unam
tanctam.—19. The Templars.—20. Arrest of the Templars.—21. Charges
brought against them.—22. Fifteenth general council at Vienne. Publication
of the bull suppressing the Templars.—23. Execution of James M>>lay.—
24. Critical review of the trial of the Templars.—25. Condemnation of the
Albigenses by the general Council of Vienne. Division in the Order of St.
Francis.—2C. Henry of Luxemburg, emperor. Death of Philip the Fair and of
Clement V.—27. Saints of the period.........................
Psge 441

xfl

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER II
I1· Pontificats op Joitn XXII. (August 7, a. d. 1316—December 4,1381.1
1. State of the world at the accession of John XXII.—2. Canonization of St
Looia, bishop of Toulouse, and of St. Thomas Aquinas. Universities. Di­
vision in the order of St. Francis.—3. Heresy of the Fratricelli. Michael of
Cesena. William Ockhnm.—4. Contest between Louis of Bavaria and the
Holy Seo.—6. Excommunication of Louis by John XXII. Louis deposes the
Pope. Election of the antipope, Nicholas V.—fl. Popular outbreak against
Louis of Bavaria and the antipope.—7. John of Luxemburg, king of Bohemia.
Submission of the antipope. Death of John XXII.—8. Controversy on the
Beatific ration. § II. Pontificate of Benedict XII. (December 20, a. d
1334—April 25, 1342).
9. Election and character of Benedict XII.—
10. Building of the Papal palace at Avignon.—11. Publication of the bull
Ber.edictut Deu», closing the controversy on the Beatific vision.—12. Diet of
Reuss. Illegitimate marriage of the son of Louis of Bavaria.—18. Truce
effected between Charles the Fair and Edward III. of England, through the
Intervention of the Pope.—14. Defeat of the Spanish Saracens on the field of
Tarifa.—15. Death of Benedict XII. § III. Pontificate of Oi.rmf.nt VI.
(May 7, a.d. 1342—December 0, 1352). Ifl. Nolde generosity of Clement VI.
17. Embassy of the Romans to Clement VI.—18. State of the world at the
Pope’s accession. Treaty of Malestroit between France and England.
19. Feigned submission of Louis of Bavaria to the Holy See.—20. Clement
VI. deposes Louis of Bavaria and bestows the imperial crown upon Charles of
Luxemburg.—21. Truce of Calais between France and England.—22. Expedi­
tion of Louis, king of Hungary, against Joanna, queen of Naplox—23. Nicho­
las of Rienzi.—24. The Black Plague.—25- Jubilee of 1350. § IV. Pontifi­
cate of Innocent VI. (December 18, a. d. 1852—September 12, 1862).
26. Compromise in the conclave. Election of Innocent VI. His first acts.—
27. State of Europe at the accession of Innocent VI.—28. Cardinal Ægidius
Albornoz.—29. Peter the Cruel.—30. Battle of Poitiers. Peace of Brétigny.—
81. Crnsade organized by Blessed Peter Thomas. Death of Innocent VI.
§ V. Pontificate of Urban V. (September 27, a. d. 1362—December 19,
1870). 32. Election of Urban V.—33. Success of B. Peter Thomas in Egypt.
—84. Excommunication and death of Peter the Cruel.—35. Wise administra­
tion of Urban V. The Pope acquaints the Sacred College and the Christian
princes with his intention of returning to Rome.—86. Return of the Pope to
the Eternal City.—37. The Eastern and the Western emperors at Rome.—
88. St. Bridget. Return of Urban V. to Avignon. His death. § VI. Pon­
tificate of Gregory XL (December 80, a. d. 1870 March 27, 1378.) 39.
Election of Gregory XI. Revolt of Italy.—40. The Pontifical troops sent into
Italy.—St. Catharine of Sienna.—41. Return of Gregory XI. to Rome.—42.
Wycliffe. Death of Gregory XI. at Anagni.......................................... Page 478

CONTENTS.

ini

CHAPTER III.
Webtern Schism (September 20, a. d. 1878—November 11, 1417).

Lawful Pope» in Rome.—Urban VI. (April 9, a. d. 1878—October 15, 1389.)—
Boniface IX. (November 8, a. n. 1389—October 1, 1404).—Innocent VIL
fO.-tober 17, a. d. 1404—November 8, 1400).—Gregory XII. (December 30,
a. d. 1406—abdicates at the Council of Pisa, for the peace of the Church,
June 5, 1409).—Alexander V. (June 26, a. d. 1400—May 3, 1410).—John
XXIII. (May 17, a. d. 1410—abdicates, for the peace of the Church, at the
Oonncil of Constance, May 29, 1415).
Antipope» at Avignon.—Robert of Geneva, styled Clement VTI. (September 20,
A. D. 1378—September 16, 1394).—Peter di Luna, styled Benedict XIIL
(September 28, a. d. 1394—his authority ended in the Council of Constance,
July 26, 1417).
Martin V. (November 11, a. d. 1417) restores peace to the Church and ends the
Great Western Schism after a struggle of thirty-nine years.
11. Pontificate of Urban VI. (April 9, a. d. 1878—October 15, 1389). 1. His­
torical reflections npon the Great Western Schism.—2. Theological view of
the schism.—3. The system adopted in classifying the lawful Pontiffs and
the antipopes.—4. Election of Urban VI. Troubles arising out of the elec­
tion.—5. Character of the new Pope. Breach between Urban and the cardi­
nals. Letter of St. Catherine of Sienna to the cardinals.—6. Election of th·
antipope Clement VII.—7. The University of Oxford supports the rightfid
Pope against the University of Paris.—8. St. Peter of Luxemburg, cardinal­
bishop of Metz.—9. Affairs of Naples. Charles of the Peace.—10. Charte·
of Anjou. War of Charles of Durazzo against Urban VI. Death of Urban VI.
§ II. Pontificate of L'onifaue IX. (Nov. 3, a. d. 1389—October 1, 1404).
11. Election of Boniface IX.—12. Alliance between Ladislas, king of Naples,
and the Holy See.—13. Bajazet I., sultan of Turkey. Battle of Nicopolis.
Battle of Ancyra. Death of Bajazet, a captive of Tamerlane.—14. St. Vincent
Ferrer.—15. St.John Nepomncene.—16. Death of the antipope Clement VII.
The cardinals at Avignon elect a successor in the person of Benedict XIII.—
17. Doctors of the University of Paris. Peter d’Ailly. The Chancellor Ger­
son.—18. Benedict XIII. driven from Avignon. Death of Boniface IX.—
§ ΙΠ. Pontificate op Innocent VII. (October 17, a. d. 1404—November 6,
1406). 19. Election of Innocent VII.—20. Troubles in Rome appeased by
the intervention of Ladislas, king of Naples. Death of Innocent VII.—21.
St. Colette. § IV. Pontificate of Greoort XII. (December 80, a. d. 1406—
is deposed in the Council of Pisa, Jnne 5, 1409).—22. Letter of Gregory XII.
to the antipope Benedict ΧΠ1.—23. Gregory refuses to appear at the Confer­
ence of Savona.—24. Council of Pisa.—25. Legitimacy of the Council of Pisa.
—Gerson’s De Auferibilitate Papa.—26. Deposition of Gregory XII. and
Benedict XIII. by the Council of Pisa. § V. Pontificate of Alkxaxdbe V.
(Jnne 26 a. d. 1409—May 8, 1410). 27. Election of Alexander V.—28. Th·
Catholic world divided between throe obediences. Death of Alexander V,VI. Pontificate of John XXIII. (May 17, a. d. 1410—abdicates in the

XIV

CONTENTS.

Oonnoil of Constance; recalls his abdication, and is finally deposed on tba
29th of May, 1416).—29. Election of John XXIII.—80. Ladislas in Rome.—
81. Sigismund, emperor of Germany.—32. Council of Constance.—83. John
XXIII. leaves Conetance. Is deposed and submits.—34. Abdication of Greg­
ory XII.—86. Deposition of Benedict XIII.—86. Condemnation and execu­
tion of John Huss and of Jerome of Prague............................................ Page 628

CHAPTER IV.
I I

Pontificate of Martin V. (November 11, a. d. 1417—February 20, 1481).
1. Election of Martin V. Submission of John XXIII. to the new Pope.
End of the schism of Benedict XIII. and of his successor, Clement VIII.—
2. Closing sessions of the Council of Constance.—3. Entrance of Martin V.
into Rome.—4. Ravages of the Hussites in Germany.—5. Embassy of John
Palæologus to Rome.—6. Joan of Arc. Orleans delivered.—7. Coronation
of Charles VII. at Rheims. Execution of Joan of Arc at Rouen. Death of
Martin V. § II. Pontificate of. Eugenics IV. (March 4, a. d. 1481—Feb­
ruary 23, 1447). 8. Systematic opposition to the Papacy.—9. Election of
Eugenius IV. The Hussites in Germany.—10. Council of Basle. Its attacks
upon the authority of Eugenius IV.—11. Moderation displayed by the Pope.
—12. “ Bright days" of the Council of Basle.—13. Hussites in the Council of
Basle.—14. Eugenius dissolves the council.—16. The council sets itself in
open rebellion against Eugenius IV. Election of the antipope Felix V. Prag­
matic sanction of Charles VII., king of France.—16. Council of Florence, the
sixteenth ecumenical. Reunion of the Greek Obnrcb.—17. The people of
Constantinople refuse to accept the reunion.—18. Æneas Sylvius, secretary
of the Council nf Basle, submits to Pope Eugenius IV. § III. Pontificate of
Nicholas V. (March 6, a. d. 1447—March 24, 1455). 19. Concordat of Nich­
olas V. with Germany. Submission of the antipope Felix V.—20. John Hunyades. Battle of Varna.—21. Mahomet 11. before Constantinople.—22. Heroic
defence of Constantine Dragases. Fall of Constantinople.—23. The Pope
offers an asylum to the Greek writers spared in the fall of their capital. In­
vention of printing.—24. Death of Nicholas V. § IV. Pontificate of Cauxtub III. (April 8, a. d. 1455—August 6, 1458). 25. Crusade preached
throughout the whole of Europe, against the Turks. Siege of Belgrade by
Mahomet II. Institution of the Angelue. Death of Oalixtus III. § V. Pon­
tificate of Pius II. (August 27. a. d. 1458—August 14, 1464). 26. Efforts
made by Pius II. to arm the Christian princes against the Turks.—27. He
con-fers the investiture of the kingdom of Naples on Ferdinand L—28. Con­
demns the principles and the acts of the Council of Basle. The bull Execrabilie.—29. Rejection of the bull by the Parliament of Paris.—80. Accession
of Louis XI. to the French throne. Revocation of the pragmatic sanction of
Charles VII.—31. Letters of Pius II. to the Christian rulers and to Mahomet
Π. Death of the Pope..............................................................................Page 373

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

V.

I Pontificate op Path- II. (Angnst 31, a. d. 1464--July 28. 1471). I Elee
tiot of Paul II. Scanderbeg.—2. Paul deposes Podiebrad, king of Bohemia,
and gives his place to Uladislas.—8. Question of the Pragmatic Sanctio·
resumed.—4. Cardinal de la Baine.- 5. Prndent administration of Pani II.
Death of the Pope. § II. Pontificate of Sixtus IV. (August 9, a. d. 1471
—August 18, 1484). 6. Efforts of Sixtus IV. to organize a Crusade against
Mie Turks.—7. Peter d’Aubusson. Siege of Rhodes. Death of Mahomet IL—
8. Revolution in Florence. Execution of Francis Salviati. archbishop of Pis
*.
The city of Florence placed nnder interdict. League of the Italian principali­
tas with Franc· against Sixtus IV.—9. Policy of the Sovereign Pontiffs in
Italy. Death of Sixtus IV.—10. Death of Louis XL St. Francis of Paula.
§ III. Pontificate of Innocent VIII. (August 29, a. d. 1484—July 24,
1492). 11. Contest in the East for the succession of Mahomet IL Bajazet I.
Prince Zizim.—12. Fruitless attempt of Biyazet upon Italy.—13. Troubles in
Naples.—14. Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic. Inquisition in Spain.
Torqueinada.—15. Death of Innocent VIII. Pico della Mirandola. § IV. Pon­
tificate of Alexander VI. (August 11, a. d. 1492—August 18, 1302).
16. Election of Alexander VI. His character.—17. Alexander divides the
territory of the New World between the Kings of Spain and Portugal.—
18. Safety and order restored to Rome by Alexander. Ludovico Sforza, il
Moro, duke of Milan, calls the French into Italy.—19. The Roman noblee
submit to Charles VIII- Entry of Charles into Rome. Expedition against
Naples.—20. Punishment of the Roman nobles.—21. Savonarola.—22. Revolt
of Savonarola against the authority of the Holy See. His execution.—23. Ac­
cession of Louis XII. to the throne of France. New attempt upon Italy.
Death of Alexander VI. § V. Pontificate of Ριυβ ΙΠ. (September 28,
a. d. 1502—October 18, 1503).
24. Election and death of Pius IIL
§ VI. Pontificate of Julius II. (November 1, a. d. 1503—February 21,
1513). 25. Character of Julius Π.—26. League of the European ruler·
against the Pope. The false Council of Pisa deposes the Pope.—27. Seven­
teenth general Council of Lateran.—28. Intellectual movement in Italy at thia
period. Renaietance...............................................................................Page 815

CH APTER

VI.

ΜΤΪΓΟΚΙΟΑΙ. REVIEW OF THE SIXTH PERIOD OF THE HISTORY OF THE
CHURCH.

I. f/i»t· of the Great Western Schism.—2. Opporiticn to the Ponti6c.il Power
-tt. Struggles of the Papacy against the hostile tendency.—4. The Episco­
pate.—5. Morals of the clergy.—0. Religious orders. OJivetaas. J equates.
Hieronymites. Sisters of St. Bridget Minims. Free cleric·.—7. Mendicant

CONTENTS.

«rdern.—-8. Preachers. John of Viconsa. Berthold. John Tnnler. St. Vln·
ont Ferrer. Savonarola.—9. Saints of the period. St. Veronica of Milan,
8u Catherine of Genoa. Nicholas of the Fine.—10. General decline of fnitb
and morality among the people.—11. Penitential discipline Flagellantes.
Milers.—12. Mystical writers.
Tanler. Snso.
Rnysbroek.
Gereon.
Thomas à Rompis.—18. Literary revived. Dante. Petrarch. Bocceido.

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.
FIFTH PERIOD.
From Sylvester II. (February 19, A. D. 999), until the 'laafth of
Boniface VIII. (October 11, A. D. 1303).

CHAPTER I.
SUMMARY.
4 I. Pontificate or Svlve3ter II. (February 19, λ. d. 999—May 12, 1008).

s

?

I. Character of the fifth period of the history of the Church.—2. Great men
and saints of the period.—3. Eminent qualities of Gerbert.—4. Magnani
*
mous conduct of Sylvester II. toward Arnnlf, bis former competitor
the Sec of Rheims.—5. The year 1000. Gothic architecture.—8. Finit i<
of the Crusades, and of the institution of the Jubilee.—7. Erection of the
kingdom of Hungary.—8. St. Henry II., king of Germany —9. Death of
Sylvester II.
§ II. Pontificate

10.

of

John XVIII. (June 6, A. D. 1003—October 31, 1003).

Election and premature death of John XVIII.

§ III. Pontificate

of

John XIX (March 19, a. D. 1004—July 18, 1009).

II. Death of St. Nilus in the hermitage of Gratta Ferrata.—12. Martyrdoe
of St. Abbo, of Fleury.—13. St. Adalbero, bishop of Meta.—14. St. Fdcran, bishop of Lodevc. St. Fulbert, bishop of Chartres.—15. Fulk·.Verra,
count of Anjou.—10. William V., duke of Aquitaine.—17. Collection of
canons by Burchard, bishop of Worms.—18. Isidore Mercator’s collection
of decretals.—19. Abdication of John XIX—20. Invention of the gatnnl
by Guy of Arezzo.

j IV. Pontificate

21.

of

Seroiob IV. (October 10, a. D. 1000—July 13, 1012).

Persecution of the Jews in the various provinces of Christian Europe.—
22. Martyrdom of St. Elphege, archbishop of Canterbury.—23. Death of
Sergius IV.
Vol. IJL—1.

2

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

g V. Pontificate

of

Benedict VIII. (July 20,

a. d.

1012—Julj 10, 1024).

94. Schism in the Church. Sclavoninn revolt.—25. The Einpcroi Henry IL
crowned by Benedict VIII.—20. The singing of the Creed adopted in th·
Roman liturgy. The four symbols of the Church.—27. St. Meinwr.rc,
bitbon of Paderborn.—28. The Emperor St. Henry a disciple of BIcertJ
Pidiard of VcrJcc.—29. Italy saved by Benedict VIII. from λ Sai seen
invasion.—30. Interview between the 1’opc and the Emperor at Bamberg.—
31. The Greeks expelled from the south of Italy.—32. Council of Soling
stadt.—33. Council of Orleans.—34. St. Romuald founds the order of the
Camsldoli.—35. Death of the Emperor St. Henry II. and of Benedict
VIII.

§ I.

Pontificate

of

II. (February 19,
May 12, 1003).

Sylvester

a. d.

999—

1. The fifth period of the history of the Church includes the
brightest pages in mediaeval annals. It is the period of great
works, of our grand gothic cathedrals, of chivalry and the
crus ides. The Papacy, with the strong arm of Gregory Vll ,
breaks the chains riveted upon it by imperial despotism. The
great struggle of the investitures ends in the triumph of the
light, of civilization and the Church. The Sovereign Pontiffs
are now the guardians of kings, the stay of empires, the
champions of the people. Every Christian institution advances
with giant strides. The religious orders display their ranks
like countless armies, throughout the whole of Christendom.
Schools increase. Illustrious doctors, saints, whose world-wide
renown enlightens their age and throws a halo of glory about
it, bequeath to posterity the admiration of their genius and
their virtues. Monastic discipline once more flourishes in the
West: the sciences and literature show an unwonted vigor of
growth. True, the Eastern schism rends the bosom of ‘.he
Church, and throws a gloomy shadow upon the brightness of
the glorious triumph; but the Crusades, that religious out­
pouring of the people of Europe toward the sepulchre of
Christ, found a kingdom in Palestine, a Latin empire in Con­
stantinople Faith quickens the world and causes it to bring
forth wondeto.

SYLVESTER Π. (A. D. 999-1003).

3

2. The opening of the eleventh century, by its generous trib­
ute of great men and great saints, amply consoled the Church
for her long barrenness.
Otho III. is succeeded on the impe­
rial throne of Germany by St. Henry II. and the Empress
Cunegunda; St. Stephen, king of Hungary, becomes the
apostle of his people ; his glorious and royal example is follow­
ed by St. Vladimir, grand-duke of Russia; Robert-the-Pions
illustrates the French throne by his virtues, and blots out, by
a saintly old age, the waywardness and scandals of his earlier
years. Sancho III. the Great, sways with glory the heroic
sceptre of Navarre. A generous rivalry in virtue, a noble and
holy friendship closely binds these sovereigns, and directs all
their efforts to the good of their subjects and the welfare of the
Church. The French episcopate is graced by St. Gerard of
Toul, Blessed Adalbero of Metz, St. Fulcran of Lodeve, St.
Gilbert of Meaux, St. Thierry of Orleans, St. Burchard of
Vienne, and St. Fulbert of Chartres. Nor does Germany yield
to France in the splendor of her hierarchy; she glories in St.
Wolfgang of Ratisbon, St. Gebhard of Constance, St. Adal­
bert of Prague, St. Villigise of Mentz, St. Libentius of Ham­
burg, St. Bernard and St. Godard of Hildesheim, St. Vulpode
of Liege, St. Heribert of Cologne, St. Harrwitch of Saltzburg,
and St. Meinwerc of Paderborn ; Sweden boasts St. Sigfrid,
bishop and apostle, St. Wilfrid, bishop and martyr; Norway,
a martyr king, St. Olaus. The monastic order is graced by St.
Abbo of Fleury, St. Romuald, founder of the Camaldoli, and
St. Odilo, the successor of St. Mayeul, at Cluny.
3. Above all these great and holy men, towers the imposing
historical figure of Pope Sylvester II., the first Frenchman
whose privilege it was to ascend the throne of St. Peter. Gerbcrt
was of an obscure family of Aurillac, received his education,
through charity, at the monastery of St. Gerald, and owed hie
elevation wholly to his own merit. Providence was gradually
shaping, by hidden and steady workings, the destiny of the
Pontiff who was to give back to the Roman See the rank it
had held under Gregory the Great and Nicholas I. The first

4

GENERAI, HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Pope was chosen from among the fishermen of Galilee ; more
than one of his successors was drawn from a like lowly station
to illustrate this eminent dignity. The Church, in her gradual
development through the course of ages, remains ever true to
the beginnings of her divine institution. She again identifies
herself with the very types of weakness to confound the great
and powerful of the world. Gerbcrt—a prince in learning,
philosopher, mathematician, musician, archbishop of Rhcims
and of Ravenna, and at length Pope, under the title of Syl­
vester II.—combined in his own great mind, and showed forth
in their application to the active life, all the elements of pro­
gress attained at the tenth century ; like all great men he was
the impersonation of his age. It is a grateful task for the
French historian to record the name of a Son of France, a
child of her pious Auvergne, as that of the restorer of the
religious and social order of the eleventh century. As tutor
to the young emperor, Otho III., Gerbert had acquired a
learning above the standard of his time. The extent of his
acquirements marked him as the most learned scholar of the
age, before the Pontifical dignity had placed him at the head
of the world. lie first introduced in Western Europe the use
of Arabic figures, which he had learned from the Moors, while
travelling in Spain. He furnished the church of Magdeburg
with the first specimen of a clock worked by weights ;* these
clocks were used until 1GÔO, when lluyghens substituted the
pendulum. When first appointed archbishop of Rhcims,
Gerbert maintained his position in that see, even against the
Pope, with a spirit which has called down upon him the censure
oi historians. The career of the greatest men has always
shown some weak point by which they pay their tribute to
human frailty. His rival, Arnulf, of the race of Charlemagne,
was at length put in possession of the see by Hugh Capet,
• Gerbert took particular delight in the exact sciences, which ho hud studic 1 nt th·
university of Cordova. In the course of a few years spent in this university, he acquired
tn extensive knowledge of chemistry, mechanics, and the various branches of mathematic·
do is eaid to have invented an organ, of which the keys were moved by eteum.

SYLVESTER II. (A. D. 999-1003).

5

Mho wished to prove the power and popularity of his dynasty
by supporting the claims of a member of the fallen royal
family. Otho III., to compensate Gerbert for the h»s <>f the
see, obtained his appointment to the archbishopric of Ravenna.
Gregory V. approved the translation ; and Gerbert thus as­
cended the steps to the sovereign authority. At the death
of Gregory V., the emperor looked to the monk of Aurillac. to
intrust him with the government of the Church, and Sylvester
II. was elected (February 19, a. d. 999).
4. The first act of the new Pontiff was to confirm his former
rival, Arnulf, in the see of Rheims ; and this generous act was
conveyed in terms which proved the lofty views and sentiment?
which he brought to the Sovereign Pontificate. “ It belongs
to the Apostolic See,” said Sylvester, “to restore to their
dignities those who have been deprived of them, in order to
preserve to St. Peter the unrestrained power of binding and
loosing, which was given him by Jesus Christ, and that all
nations may behold the splendor of the Roman glory. Hence,
we deem it proper to use mercy in regard to you, Arnulf, arch­
bishop of Rheims, who were once visited with a sentence of
deposition ; and as you were deposed without the consent of
Rome, we must show that Rome knows how to repair what has
been unjustly done ; for such is the sovereign authority given
to Peter and to his successors, that no human greatness can be
compared to it.” The Church now receives a new impulse.
Sylvester II. addresses to all the bishops of the Catholic
world a letter fidl of energy, humility, and unction, pointing
out, with consummate ability, the vices of the times, ami urging
their reform, thus did he prepare the way for the reformation
afterward carried out by St. Gregory VII.
5. It was the year 1000, the dread epoch of mystery to which
a false interpretation of the Apocalypse had referred the end of
all things. Sylvester II. was obliged to combat the popular
terror ; but superstition was stronger than arguments and
exhortations. The closing year of the tenth century witnessed
a total neglect of trade material interests, every thing—even

6

GENERAI. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

the essential labors of agriculture. Now. lands and castles
were bequeathed to churches and monasteries of which the
spoils had enriched so many grasping barons. At the ap­
proach of the fatai day, the churches, basilicas, oratories, and
chapels were thronged by the terror-stricken victims of super­
stition, who tremblingly awaited the appointed hour.
It
passed like any other, and the end of the world, known to God
alone, had not yet knelled. The religious impulse given to the
public mind by superstitious terror, now turned into a general
ardor for the rebuilding of churches and sacred edifices. Since
the time of the Barbarian inroads. Christian architecture had
disappeared, like all the other arts, whelmed in the wreck of
European society. The principal cities of the world were now
adorned with monuments of a new style of architecture called
the Gothic, because borrowed from the Spanish Goths. “ King
Robert,” says a chronicler, “ took an active part in the great
religious movement; he began to raise the church of our Lady
of Paris, over the ruins of a heathen temple and this period
marks the birth of the splendid improvements in the monu­
mental art of the middle-ages. The tendency to undertake the
interpretation of prophecies gave rise to two directly opposite
heresies. A fanatic named Leutard, in the diocese of Chalons,
reasoning from the fact that the world had outlived the term
believed to have been marked by the Apocalypse, held that
only a part of the prophetic writings could be believed.
Meanwhile another theorist, Vilgar of Ravenna, was teaching
that implicit belief was due to all that has been said by the
poets, and that their inspiration was of a prophetic character.
These wandering theories, brought into the world at a moment
when all minds were deeply engaged in prying into the
mysterious gloom of futurity, were eagerly seized upon by the
masses, and caused an overflow of errors, which led many to
believe that these words of the Apocalypse were really ful­
filled · “After a thousand years, ‘Satan’must be loosed a
little time.” The close of the tenth century was marked by
great public calamities, plagues, famine, disturbances of the

eVL\-KMTEB Π. <A. Π. 999-1003).

1

seasons, the overflowing of rivers, and all, in fine, that could
signalize a period of fatal character.
6. The attention of Christian Europe was now drawn to
Jerusalem and Palestine, devoted to all the horrors of Mussul­
man persecution. Sylvester II. was the first Pope who under­
stood the necessity of arming Christendom to drive back its
deadliest foe. The spirit of faith, so lately awakened in all
hearts, was deeply moved at the tidings of disaster from the
Holy Land, and at the humiliations inflicted by a cruel and
impious race upon the spot hallowed by the world’s Redemp­
tion. Beside the religious interest so actively engaged in the
struggle, the question of humanity ami civilization was to be
decided between the soldiers 'Λ' the Cross and the defenders of
the Crescent. In a celebrated letter addressed to the whole
Christian world, Sylvester II. sketched the political programme
which the Crusades should realize. “ The fruitful soil of
Jerusalem,” he said, “ is the land of the Prophets, and contains
the tombs of the Patriarchs ; from this land went forth the
Apostles, those splendid lights of the world, to conquer the
universe ; here Jesus Christ uttered His heavenly teaching.
His sepulchre, says the Prophet, shall be glorious. Yet the un­
believers desolate the holy places, and make them places of
ignominy. Arise, then, Soldiers of Christ! seize the standard
and the sword ; and what you cannot do by arms, do by your
counsel and wealth." The Pisans alone answered the eloquent
appeal of the Papacy ; but the echoes of that voice were to
ring for ages, throughout the whole of Europe, and especially
in France, the home of generous self-devotion and noble deeds.
Sylvester seemed destined to inaugurate, in the course of his
pontificate, all the ideas which should afterward receive so
splendid a development in the bosom of the Church. The first
idea of the Jubilee is ascribed to him ; “ that great call add) eased to all Christians, tc make a pause in life, and to gather,
in faith and charity, some strength to finish their pilgrimage
toward eternity.” * In maintaining the supremacy of the
* Life 01 Sylvester IL, by M. Uocx. Prelio·.

g

GENERAI HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Popos, he displayed that energy which St. Gregory VII,
nftrrward carried to the height of heroism. Conon, bishop of
Peiugia, laid some claim to the abbey of St. Peter, which had
hitherto formed an integral part of the domain attached to the
Roman See. The abbot strove to defend the rights of the
Sovereign Pontiff ; but ho had been driven from the church by
armed force, and his property plundered. Sylvester followed
up the affair with great energy, and assembled a council in
the Lateral! palace to examine it ; Conon’s action was con­
demned, and the Holy See resumed its jurisdiction over the
disputed estates.
7. But the most prominent event in the pontificate of Sylves­
ter II. is the final conversion of Hungary. The youthful Duke
Stephen, whom the Church honors as a saint, succeeded hia
father, Gcisa, in the government of his native country (λ. d. 997).
He inaugurated his reign by a formal declaration of his will to
see all bis subjects embrace the faith of Jesus Christ. Those
who still retained their attachment to idolatry, revolted under
the leadership of some nobles.
Stephen marched against
them, won a complete victory, and, in thanksgiving, founded
an abbey in honor of St. Martin, whose birth connected him
more particularly to the kingdom of Hungary.
From that
period the body of the nation flocked to the standard of Jesus
Christ. Apostolic workmen diligently sowed the seeds of the
gospel. To give more strength and consistency to the in­
fant church, Stephen divided the territory under his rule into
ten bishoprics, of which the metropolitan see was Strigonia
upon the Danube. Having accomplished all these great events,
Stephen sent Astric, bishop of Calocza, to Rome, to beg of
Pope Sylvester the confirmation of the ten sees and the title
of king for Duke Stephen (a. d. 1000). On receiving the glad tid­
ings, the Pope did not hide bis joy ; and as the Hungarian
envoy saluted him with the title of Apostolic, then officially
given to the Popes : “ If 1 am the Apostolic,” be replied,
“ Stephen is the Apostle, since he has subjected so great a
people to the yoke of the faith.” This is the origin of the title

SYLVESTER II.

(A. D. 999-1003',.

Apostolic Mqjttty, by which the kings of Hungary were
thenceforth usually addressed. Sylvester granted the title asked
by Stephen ; he sent him a diadem, enriched with precious
gems, for the ceremony of the coronation, and a cross which
he allowed him to have borne before him as a murk of hie
apostolate. He likewise granted him the power of disposing and
regulating the ecclesiastical affairs of his kingdom, which priv­
ilege was equivalent to the title of perpetual legate of the Holy
See. It was afterward ratified by the Council of Constance, at the
request made by the Emperor Sigismund, as king of Hungary.
St. Stephen swayed with becoming dignity the sceptre which
he gloried in having received from the Holy See. He com­
pletely subjected the Sclaves and Bulgarians, and Hungary is
indebted to him for most of its social institutions. Such was
then the political prééminence of the Papacy that it could even
bestow crowns, thus fully proving that the disasters of the
tenth century had not destroyed its influence over the world.
8. While St. Stephen I. honored the throne he had just
established in Hungary, the crown of Germany passed to a
prince equally dear to the Church, and whose name hears the
twofold character of holiness and historic renown. The Emperor
Otho III. had lately died in the flower of his age, at Paterno,
a small town in Campania, and was succeeded by St. Henry
II., duke of Bavaria. His reign was a long succession of
struggles, nearly always successful, either with the great Ger­
man or Italian vassals aiming at independence, or with the
Sclavonians, whom he wished to subdue and convert. His
piety, his zeal for the propagation of the Christian faith, his
submission to the authority of the Church, were subjects of
continual edification to his contemporaries. He presented a
happy combination of the saint and the hero, and his brilliant
qualities vividly recalled Charlemagne, whose blood did indeed
flow in his veins. The Empress Cunegunda, by her modesty,
virtue, and exhaustless charity, proved herself worthy to share
the throne of a crowned saint (a. d. 10U2). By mutual consent,
they both lived in a state of perfect continence, and gave one

10

GENERAL HISTORY OF HIE CHURCH.

of the most illustrious examples of those unions of virginity,
richly fruitful in blessings and graces.
9. Sylvester II. did not long survive the accession of Henry
II. to the German throne. lie died on the 12th of May,
a. d. 1003, leaving behind him the reputation of a great and
holy Pontiff, with the glory of having restored literature and
science to their fitting station, after the literary eclipse of the
tenth century. We have from Pope Sylvester one hundred
and forty-nine letters, some mathematical works, and a life of
St. Adalbert, archbishop of Prague. After his pontificate, the
Holy See again falls from the lofty stand to which his genius
had raised it, and again becomes the sport of factions ; but the
impetus has been given; Gregory VII. is at hand.
§ II. Pontificate of John XVIII.
*
(June 6, a. d. 1003—
October 31, 1003).

10. John XVIII., whose merit alone had raised him to the
throne of St. Peter, gave the brightest promise of a worthy suc­
cession to Sylvester II. ; but these cheering hopes were blasted
by a premature death, after a reign of but three months (31st
of October, a. d. 1003).
§ III. Pontificate of John XIX. (March 19, a.
18, 1009).

d.

1004—July

11. John XIX. was raised to the Sovereign Pontificate on
the 19th of March, a. d. 1004. This period, as we have already
stated, saw a generation of saints renew the examples of virtue
and the good works of the first ages of the Church. The St.
Anthony of the eleventh century, the illustrious Italian hermit,
St. Nilus, ended at Tusculum his course of humility, solitude,
and penance. When he had reached the spot where ho
wished to die, about twelve miles from Rome, he was visited
• This Pontiff is reckoned the eighteenth of the name, eince it has become customary
number in the catalogue of Sovereign Pontiffs the antipope Philagathoa (John XVΠ.).
•horn mention was made in the pontiQcate of Gregory V

JOHN XîX. (A. b. 1004-10W,.

)|

by the lord of the domain, Count Gregory, of Tusculum. The
ambitious aims of the count had often led him to overstep the
bounds of right and justice, and he was not without reason ac­
cused of using an undue influence in the Pontifical elections.
His tyranny had excited frequent outbreaks in Italy, and · nd
torrents of blood. On approaching the saintly hermit, the
count threw himself at his feet and said : “ Father, my sins
have made me unworthy to receive into my dwelling a servant
of God, like yourself. Yet, since you have deigned to honor
my domain by your presence, here are my abode, my city,
and all these lands at your command. Dispose of them as you
please.” The lowly religious asked but leave to pray in peace,
and to spend the remainder of his life in the Grotta Ferrala, a
small hermitage raised on the ruins of what was once the ele­
gant villa of Cicero. Here he ended his holy career on the 26th
of September, a. d. 1005, hallowing, by the memory of Christian
solitude, the retreat illustrated by the eloquence and heathen
philosophy of the prince of Latin orators.
12. In the preceding year (1004), France witnessed the «h ath
of another glory of the monastic life, St. Abbo, abbot of Fleury,
whose zeal for ecclesiastical discipline was rewarded with the
martyr’s palm. He had undertaken the reform of the mon­
astery of Riole in Gascony. We have already had occasion to
point out the great difficulty of checking the license which a
neglect of the canonical regulations had introduced into certain
religious communities. Relaxation and disorder had reached
their height in the monastery of Riole. St. Abbo first tried to
secure the observance of some regulations dictated by his zeal;
he also brought some religious from his monastery of Fleury,
hoping that the living example of regularity and virtue would
gradually improve the general spirit. But the monks, imbittered
by these measures, gave way to the last excesses of violence.
A struggle ensued, the holy abbot threw himself into the thickest
of the fight, to check their sacrilegious fury, when one of th·
wretches pierced his side with a lance. St. Abbo concealed hii
wound, and tried to return to his cell. He had hardly reache·

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

when he expired in the arms of his faithful disciple Aimo,
ho has given us the account of his labors and his virtues
November 12, a. d. 1004).
13. This epoch paid a rich tribute of saintliness to hea ven.
St. Adalbero, bishop of Metz, died on the 14th of December,
a. d. 1005. He was the son of Frederick, duke of Lower Lor­
raine, and Beatrice, sister of Hugh Capet. His birth thus gave
him access to every earthly honor; but his piety drew him to
the service of the Church, and the high positions he filled in its
hierarchy were illustrated by his merit. When elected bishop
of Metz (a. d. 994), he diligently practised his favorite maxim :
“ To do good, a true pastor must begin by gaining the affection
of his flock.” For this he was eminently fitted both by nature
and grace; his manners were affable and polite, his disposition
benevolent, and he possessed the faculty of doing a favor as
though he had been the person obliged. He shared the zeal of
the great saints of his period for monastic reform, and spread
throughout his diocese the Order of St. Benedict which brought
back the religious state to its first fervor. Wishing to place
his episcopate more especially under the auspices of the Apos­
tolic See, he performed a pilgrimage ad limina Apostolorum. His
dwelling was the refuge of the needy and wretched, whom ho
always kindly received, even washing their feet according to
the traditions of ancient hospitality, and he deemed it a privi­
lege thus personally to serve these representatives of Jesus
Christ. A contagious disease, known as the sacred fire, gave oc­
casion for a display of his heroic charity. Several provinces
were afflicted by the scourge. The sufferers came in great
numbers to the tomb of St. Goeric, at Montz, for the speed)
cure of the painful evil. tThe holy bishop received them in his
dwelling, washed their loathsome sores, heedless of infection,
and fed them with his own hands. To this tender love of Jesus
in the persons of his poor, Adalbero joined a deep and fervent
devotion toward the mysteries of the Saviour God. He always
wore a hair shirt whilst celebrating the Holy Sacrifice ; and he
cmld not hold in his hands the body of Jesus Christ without

.ΙΟΠΝ XIX. (A. D. ΙΟΜ-1009).

18

bathing it in his tears. He passed the eves of the mor·· solemn
festivals without taking any nourishment; anil the better to
sanctify the Lenten season by prayer and recollection, he spent
it in some monastery of his diocese.
14. The year 1006 closed the career of St. Fulcran, bishop
jf Lodeve. Sprung from one of the noblest houses of Langue­
doc, Fulcran was equally remarkable for his tender piety, his
pastoral watchfulness, and disinterested charity. During a sea­
son of famine which desolated southern France, he became the
foster-father of all the needy. With all his liberality, he still
found means to rebuild his cathedral under the invocation of St.
Genesius of Arles, and to attach to it a monastery dedicated to
the Saviour. After an episcopate of fifty-eight years, he went to
receive the reward of his virtues (February 13, a. d. 1006).
As he was about to expire, his arms were supported that he
might, for the last time, bless his beloved children who had as­
sembled in the cathedral, where the holy bishop wished Io die.
Another glory of the French Church was now rising in the
ecclesiastical firmament, shedding abroad the twofold lustre
of episcopal virtue and literary merit. St. Fulbert, bishop of
Chartres, was of humble extraction, and used to say of himself
that“ he had been picked up from the dust to be ranked among
the princes of the Church.” He had studied at Rheims, under
Gerbert, afterward Sylvester II. His reputation for eloquence
obtained for him the direction of the monastic school of Char­
tres. To the discharge of this duty he brought an erudition
equalled only by his modesty. Beside a knowledge of divine
and human letters, he possessed medical attainments unusual
at his time ; and his Treatise against the Jews, proves that he
was not ignorant of the Hebrew tongue. His episcopal duties
did not interrupt his public teaching. A voluminous corre­
spondence with the religious, political, and literary leaders of
the age, shows that he was then looked upon us Uh «racle of
France. His name is associated with the foundation of the ca­
thedral of Chartres, that wonderful monument of the Christian
spirit of oui
* fathers. The multiplied duties and tho honors of

14

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

the episcopate did not blind St. Fulbert to its fearful responsi·
bilily. “Sovereign Creator,” he exclaimed, “my only Hope,
my Salvation, and my Life, grant me strength and courage. I
fear that I have rashly entered the episcopal state, and that I
may prove a stumbling-block to others ; and yet, when I reflect
that I have risen to this throne unsupported by family or
wealth, like the poor lifted up out of the dunghill, I cannot but
see the hand of Thy Providence bringing it all to pass.” Il re­
quired all the efforts of St. Odilo, abbot of Cluny, to calm the
scruples of the pious and humble prelate ; and, yielding to his
representations, Fulbert consented to exercise a ministry upon
which Almighty God was pleased to heap so many bless­
ings. Ilis learning gives him a right to rank among the Fathers
of the Church. Ilis letters are written with grace and intelli­
gence, in an easy and delicate style. The Treatise against the
Jews shows deep thought and solid reasoning. To these gifts
of a superior mind, St. Fulbert joined a firm but prudent zcai
for the maintenance of ecclesiastical discipline, which lasted
throughout the whole of his episcopate (a. d. 1007-1029).
15. Such examples of . virtue and holiness produced a re­
action in all classes of society. The humanizing influence
of religion was gradually softening the native fierceness of
the youthful nations of Europe. A remarkable instance of
this was given in the case of Fulk-Nerra, count of Anjou, one
of the most powerful nobles in France, but, at the same time,
one of the most passionate and violent of her warriors. About
the year 993, he had broken into the monastery of St. Martin
of Tours, by armed force, and violated its sanctuary. As a
protest against this sacrilege, the religious took down all the
shrines of the saints and the image of Christ crucified, and
surrounded them with thorns ; then closing the door of the
church, they ordered that they should be opened to none but
foreign pilgrims. Fulk-Nerra, struck by this mournful display,
wished to atone for his fault by a solemn penance. Accom­
panied by the principal lords of his suite, he walked barefooted
to the church, to make atonement at the tomb of St. Martin ;

JOHN XIX

A. D. 1004-100·).

Iv

prostrate before the shines of the saints and the crucifix, he
promised thenceforth to respect the Church and all ils prop­
erty. This event had changed the views of the Count of Anjou
Terrified at the disorders of his past life, to appease the stings
of a conscience harassed by so many bloody memories, he
made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and at his return founded the
monastery of Beaulieu, near Loches. The new convent was
dedicated by a legate of the Sovereign Pontiff, and the monas­
tery of Beaulieu was exempted by papal bull from the episco­
pal jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Tours. Fulk-Nerra spent
most of the remaining years of his life in making two other
pilgrimages to Palestine, which gave rise to his surname of
Palmer—a name derived from the palms brought back by the
pilgrims from the Holy Land.
16. William V., duke of Aquitaine, by many writers styled
the Great, was a prince at once more powerful, more religious
and more peaceful than Fulk of Anjou. lie was the champion
of the poor, the father of religious, the protector of churches,
lie had been accustomed, from his youth, to make a yearly
pilgrimage to Rome or to St. James in Galicia. This custom of
renewing fervor and faith in places consecrated by some great
religious memory, was beginning to prevail throughout the
Christian world ; though the pious practice was indeed after­
ward made an occasion of disorders. But abuse may creep
into the very best practices ; and in this age of fervent faith,
when religious views regulated the pursuits of life, pilgrimages
were still a source of edification, of repentance and conver­
sion.
William of Aquitaine was on friendly terms with
Robert the Pious, king of France, Alphonso, king of Leon,
Sancho the Great, king of Navarre, Canute, king of England
and Denmark, and the Emperor St. Henry. The sound teach­
ing of his youth had given him a lasting taste for study. He
furnished his palace with a library well stocked for that age;
like Charlemagne, he gathered about him a number of scholars
whose society he loved, and spent the leisure hours of the long
winter evenings in learned converse wit!» them. An interest-

16

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

ing discovery made in the year 1009, drew the attention
of the Catholic world upon Aquitaine. Alduin, abbot of the
monastery of Saint Jean d’Angely, in Saintonge, found in the
wall of his church a small stone box enclosing a silver reliquary,
with the inscription : “ Here rests the head of the Precursor
of Christ.” The authenticity of this relic was perhaps ques­
tionable ; yet no one in Aquitaine ventured to express a doubt
in its regard. Crowds began to flock to Saint Jean d’Angely,
not only from all parts of Gaul, but even from distant lands.
King Robert came with his queen Constantia, and offered a
golden conch weighing thirty pounds, with other costly gifts.
Sancho, king of Navarre, also came ; while the Duke of Gas­
cony, the Count of Champagne, and all the most illustrious
personages of the day, sent the most precious offerings. We
have mentioned this event as characteristic of the manners of
the age. Many others of the same kind occurred at the same
time. Writers unfriendly to religion have found in them an
occasion to attack the credulous simplicity of the ages of faith;
asserting that priests and monks fostered the profitable spirit
of popular superstition. In justice and truth, be it said, if
there was any error in the degree of veneration to be paid to
certain relics, at least there was no fraud practised in any case.
The priests and monks sincerely shared the belief of their
time ; if there were any dupes, they were sure to bo the very
first. As to the improprieties which might result from popu­
lar devotion to relics of an authenticity questionable to us who
judge by the fuller and surer resources of modern criticism, we
quote the judicious remark of a Protestant writer, Leibnitz :
“ In proving that it is just to honor the saints within the
bounds we have prescribed, we have shown that their relics
may likewise be venerated, and that before them, or in the
presence of images, we may pay homage to the saints they
represent. And as we are speaking now merely of picus
affections, it makes little difference whether the relics believed
to be true prove by chance to be supposititious.”
17. The most learned theologian of the age was undoubtedly

JOHN XIX. (A. D. 1004-10010.

17

Burchard, bishop of Worms (a. d. 1006). He was of a noble
family of Hesse, and was first sent to study at Coblentz, and
afterward in the monasteries of Loches and Liege. He was
raised to the episcopate at an early age, but lost none of his
taste for study. Having no one about his person fitted to
second his studious zeal, he begged Baldric, bishop of Liege,
his intimate friend, to send him a man versed in the knowledge
of the Scriptures, under whose guidance he might place himself.
Baldric sent him a monk called Olbert, afterward abbot of
Gemblours. Burchard had undertaken an herculean task ; it
was nothing less than the composition of a canonical theology,
by which he hoped to restore ecclesiastical discipline in hie
diocese. He was assisted in this voluminous compilation by
Walther, bishop of Spires; by Brunicho, provost of the Church of
Worms, to whom he dedicated his work ; but especially by his
master, Olbert. In order to digest the whole and the details
in greater retirement, he used to withdraw to a hermitage, which
he had built for himself, two leagues from Worms. The authori­
ties he quotes in this great work are the Sacred Scriptures, the
writings of the Fathers, St. Basil, St. Jerome, St. Augustine,
St. Ambrose, St. Benedict, and St. Isidore, the decretals of the
Popes, the canons of the Apostles and of the councils ; the
penitentials of Rome, of St. Theodore of Canterbury, and of
Ven. Bede. The work is divided into twenty books, containing
the economy of all social duties in their relations with the va­
rious states of life. In Burchard’s moral and judicial theology,
all is consistent. The rule laid down is the Word of God in­
terpreted and applied by His Church. Every member of the
spiritual and civil hierarchy finds his proper place, from the
Pope to the least cleric, from the emperor to the humblest
father of a family. Modern critics have found some errors in
the immense work of the saintly and learned Bishop of Worms ;
as, for instance, quotations not drawn from authenticated docu­
ments, but coming from other incorrect collections. A word
will suffice to answer this charge. The student of the eleventh
century was not favored with the splendid editions of the
Vol. HI—2

IS

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Fathers and councils which we now owe to the erudition of the
Benedictines and Jesuits, of a Mabillon, a Lahbc, a Mansi, a
Ballerini. It was then necessary to refer to manuscripts
difficult of access, and hard to decipher; and if there is any
«rause of astonishment , it should be in the prodigious learning
displayed by Burchard in an age which the world agrees in
taxing with the grossest ignorance.
18. In regard to the famous collection of decretals by
Isidore Mercator, from which the Bishop of Worms borrows
several quotations, writers unfriendly to the Papacy tax it
with undue partiality toward the Sovereign Pontiffs, and of
having been drawn up by their order. They assert that this is
the only document which justifies the Holy See in reserving to
itself the judgment of major ecclesiastical causes, and the right
of appeal to the Court of Rome. These three charges are tri­
umphantly refuted by Monsignore Palma. “It is notorious,”
says the learned prelate, “ that far from having ordered the
compilation of Mercator’s collection, the Popes have never
consented to recognize the authenticity of all the décrétai» it
contains. It has been asserted that Nicholas I. approved
them : the statement is utterly false.
The history of the
Church, from the first ages, furnishes several monuments of
the apostolical tradition, which reserved to the Holy See the
cognizance of major causes. In the year 404, Innocent I.
wrote to Victricius, archbishop of Rouen : ‘ Should any major
causes arise, the decrees of the council and the ancient usage of the
Church, require that they be referred to the Apostolic See, after
having been tried by the bishop.' * The council mentioned by
Innocent I., is acknowledged by all authors to be the Council
*jf Sardica. Pope St. Zosimus wrote in the same sense to the
bishops of Gaul ; Sixtus III. to Anastasius, bishop of Thessa­
lonica, and Leo the Great to the bishops of Illyria. Henco
(he custom of reserving major causes to the judgment of the
* “Si majores cauaæ in median, fuerint devolutœ, sicut synodus statuit, et »clu·
«outuetudo exigit, ad sedem apostolicam, post episcopale judicium, referantur."

JOHN XfX. (A. D. 1004-1009).

19

Holy See is not an innovation of Isidore Mercator ; it is an
apostolic tradition. The same defence holds for the appeals
to the Court of Rome, of which we find repeated examples in
the history of St. Cyprian, of St. Athanasius, and of St. Mar­
cellus of Ancyra. Here again Isidoro’s decretals have brought
in no innovations.” *
19. Virtue and learning, so illustriously represented in
France and Germany, can produce names of brightness in
England and Spain. It is enough to mention St. Dunstan, St.
Elphege,t archbishop of Canterbury, Sts. Alfric and Leofric, in
England. St. Froilan, bishop of Leon, and St. Attilan, bishop
of Zamora, were the glory of Catholic Spain still engaged in
continued strife against the Moors. Robert the Pious, in
France ; Alphonso V., in Spain; St. Henry II., in Germany,
and St. Stephen I., in Hungary, threw the weight of their
influence and material power into the balance in favor of
Christianity. The East, under the joint sway of Basil II. and
Constantine VIII., was at peace with the Holy See. The pontif­
icate of John XIX. flourished under these favorable auspices.
This Pontiff restored the bishopric of Merseburg, and erected
that of Bamberg, at the request of St. Henry II. The various
councils held in France and Italy (a. d. 1095—1006) regulated
all questions of canon law and discipline. St. Bruno, also called
Boniface, in whose favor the see of Merseburg had lately heen
restored, won the palm of martyrdom in Russia, where he had
been carried by his apostolic zeal, to preach the Gospel in the
countries still buried in heathen darkness (February 4, a. d.
1009). Thus did the Church, ever fruitful, spread its conquests
and pour out the blood of its children upon distant strands, as
the seeds for new harvests of Christian souls. Before appear­
ing at the tribunal of Almighty God, to give an account of a
pontificate illustrated by so many examples of virtue, John
XIX. felt the necessity of recollecting himself awhile in soli• Prakcliorw Historia eecLmojtiae. Mon. Palma, t. J J., cap. XTV.
f This holy prolu’o was afterward martyred by the Danes, in their invasion of England.

20

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

hide. Tie abdicated the Papacy, and entered the monastery
nf St. Paul at Rome. The Holy See remained vacant three
months after his resignation.
20. To the period of this pontificate is assigned the im­
portant discovery of the gamut, by Guy of Arezzo, a Benedic­
tine religious, who thus fixed the principles of the grammar of
music, and foreshadowed the progress which the art was
destined, in its development, to realize by the master-pieces
of great composers. Guy called the six notes by the first
syllables of the hymn appointed by the Church for the vespers
of St. John the Baptist,—
Ul queant laxis resonaro libris
Jïïra gestorum/amuli tuorum,
>SWvo polluti tabii reatum,
Sancto Joannes.

In a letter showing the advantages of his new method, the
modest religious speaks thus : “ I hope that those who come
after us will beg of God to forgive us our sins ; for, instead nf
ten years, which were formerly required to attain a very
imperfect knowledge of ecclesiastical chant, we now train up a
chanter in one year, or two, at most.” The great difficulty of
learning music before the invention of the scale, may be
imagined. The Pope sent for Guy of Arezzo, and expressed
to him the satisfaction he felt at the useful discovery. The
first Mass chanted in Germany, according to Guy’s method,
was executed on the occasion of consecrating the cathedral of
Bamberg, by Pope Benedict VIII. The ease with Avhich the
art could now be learned, which had formerly required a study
of ten years, excited universal wonder.
*
♦ The scale invented by Guy of Arezzo was at first limited to the first six notes ; the
seventh, which completes the principal intonations of the musical scale, was added at a
later date. In our own time, a wonderful and mysterious relation has been discovered be­
tween the seven principal intonations of sound, the seven primitivo colors of light, and the
eeven leading figures in geometry. For instance, an iron bar, if gradually heated, succès«lively shows the seven primitive colors forming the lurr inous ray ; if the bar bo struck,
during the heating process, it successively gives forth the seven sounds of the musical
scale ; if it be applied to a sheet of tin, or to the lid of a piano-forte, covered with a fine
and light powder, the successive vibrations of the seven musical notes will form, wilh the

21

8ERGIU8 EV. (A. D. 1008-1011).

§ IV.

Pontificate

of

Sergius IV. (October 11,
July 13, 1012).

a. d.

1009—

21. The pontificate of Sergius IV., who ascended the chair
of St. Peter on the 11th of October, a. d. 1009, was contem­
poraneous with a disaster which sent a thrill through the whole
body of Christendom. The Mussulmans destroyed the church
of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem, which had once before
been burned by the Persians in the seventh century. It was
taken for granted that this last outrage was due to the Jews in
France, who wrote to the Caliph Hakem that unless he de­
stroyed the shrine which drew so many Christian pilgrims, he
would soon be despoiled of his domain. The bearer of the let­
ter was arrested at Orleans, where he was recognized by a pil­
grim who had travelled with him in Palestine. He confessed
his crime and was condemned to be burnt alive. The Jews,
who were very numerous and wealthy in Orleans, were expelled
from the city. The account of their treachery soon spread
throughout the kingdom and reached all parts of the world ;
this determined the Christian princes to banish them altogether
from their states. Every province shared the general horror
at the crime. They were driven from the cities, pursued
through the country like beasts of prey ; some were drowned,
many perished by the sword or by other instruments of tor­
ture ; some were driven by despair to put an end to their own
lives, while others sought baptism to escape death. The vio­
lence of national hate, inflamed by these inflictions of revenge,
often reached excesses which the more civilized temper of mod
ern times cannot but condemn. The storm of vengeance last­
ed through the whole period of the middle-ages, and has fur­
nished the enemies of the Church with a new charge *against
her, as if she had aroused the popular indignation against the
powdei tho seven leading geometrical figures : the circle, tho ellips··. the com, Jtc. This
nutural pheuomeunn seems to exknd even much further.
(Rourbacheb, Universal
History ot tho Catholic Church ; t XI1L, p. 440.)

22

GENERAL HI8T0RÏ OF THE CHURCH.

Jews, and must therefore answer for all the blood spilt in the
course of these lamentable events. History, as the disinter
ested witness of the truth, cannot echo these slanderous charges
Tt can but record the tendency of prevailing sentiments, which
urged on the whole of Christendom against the Jews, that dci
cide and reprobated people. The wide difference between the
customs of the Christians and those of the hated race, the
deeply-rooted prejudice against their usurious manner of ac­
quiring wealth, and their propensity for treating all nations as
their fathers had treated the Egyptians, robbing them of thcii
wealth, only imbittcrcd the existing hatred which sometimes
broke out in scenes of fearful violence. But these are traits of
the general spirit of a whole period, and can no more be attrib­
uted to the Church in particular, than to any other institution
then in existence. Every age, every successive phase of civil­
ization, has its own particular share of good and evil.
Drop
by drop, the Church was imbuing the heart of the newly-form­
ed society with principles of mildness and universal benevo­
lence. But it cost her a long and obstinate struggle to reach the
end of this noble mission. And if our own age, still far from
perfection, even in this respect, thinks itself entitled to boast
of having outstripped its predecessors, it may pause to pay a
grateful tribute to the Church, whose ceaseless efforts alone
have wrought the great improvement.
22. Soon after the destruction of the Holy Sepulchre, Pope
Sergius IV. was acquainted with the sad intelligence, that the
Danes in England, had taken the city of Canterbury by as­
sault, sparing neither age nor sex. The Great See was then
held by St. Elphege. Trained up, in youth, to monastic aus­
terities, then abbot of the monastery of Bath, one of his own
foundation, he still sanctified his episcopal state by all his early
zeal in self-denial and practices of penance. Amid the severest
rigors of winter, he used to rise at midnight and pray in the
open air, barefooted, and clothed only with a light tunic. So
watchful and unstinted was his charity, that his efforts alone
entirely removed beggary from Iris diocese. When the victo

SERGIUS IV. (A U. 1009-1012).

23

■rious Danes entered Canterbury, St. Elphege, breaking away
from his religious, who strove to keep him in the Church,
threw himself between the murderers and their victims, ex­
claiming : “ Spare these defenceless and harmless victims which
you causelessly immolate to your shame. Turn your fury
against me who have snatched so many captives from your
hands, and have so often upbraided you for your crimes.” The
savage wretches fell upon him with blows and kicks, tearing his
face with their nails, and cruelly throttled him, to silence the
reproachful voice. They then thrust him into a narrow prison
where he spent seven months, during which period an epidemic
decimated their army. The Christians who could hold any
communication with the Danes, made them understand that
this plague was a mark of the Divine wrath. The barbarians
begged the holy prelate’s forgiveness, and restored him to lib­
erty, which however, he did not long enjoy. Th° Danes
would have compelled him to make over to them the sums of
money which his charity bestowed upon the suffering. Upon
his refusal, he was again thrown into prison, after undergoing
the most frightful torture. Returning to the charge, the bar­
barians again demanded his treasures. As he replied by rep­
resenting to them the awful judgments of God, and the fearful
crimes into which they were led by the worship of idols, they
rushed upon him, and loading him with blows, left him half
dead upon the ground. At length one of the Danes, whom he
had baptized on the previous day, moved by a feeling of pity
worthy of such a Christian, in order to end his sufferings, laid
open his head with a blow of his axe. The saintly prelate’s
martyrdom occurred on the 19th of April, a. d. 1012. The
Danes had been provoked to these bloody reprisals by ths
cruelty of King Ethelred, who, in the year 1002, had ordered
u massacre of all the Danes in England. On the same day, ai.
the same hour, throughout all the provinces, the unsuspecting
victims were murdered by the people, together with their
wives and children. The horror of the massacre was, in many
places, heightened by all the outrages and ruthless barbarity

24

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

that national hatred could suggest. These wholesale murders
left thoughts of vengeance for many years rankling in the
public mind. The Danes afterward made England atone for
the easy triumph of treachery; and we shall find their king,
Canute the Great, in a. d. 1007, subjecting the whole of Great
Britain to the Danish yoke.
23. The short pontificate of Sergius IV. closed on the 13th
of July, a. d. 1012. The Pontiff’s death was the signal for
fresh troubles in the Roman Church.

§ V. Pontificate of Benedict VIII. (July 20, 1012—
July 10, 1024).

24. An arbitrary abuse of power kept the paramount in­
fluence over the Papal elections, since the death of Sylvester
IL, in the hands of the Count of Tusculum. The regular forms
were still observed ; but this foreign influence found means to
act in spite of all canonical rules to the contrary. At the
death of Sergius IV., the count brought about the election of
his own sou, under the name of Benedict VIII. (July 20, a. d
1012). An opposite faction, thereupon, crowned an antipope
named Gregory, who commanded partisans enough to force the
lawful Pontiff to quit Rome, where he could no longer have
remained with any degree of safety. He fled for shelter to
Poldeu in Saxony, where St. Henry II. was celebrating the
Christinas festival. The Sovereign Pontiff appeared before
the king of Germany, in the attire befitting his dignity,
and gave a touching account of all the outrages he had suffered
from his rebellious subjects. St. Henry promised his aid to
the Vicar of Christ ; and would have set out at once for Rome,
had he not been detained for a time to put down a fearful
revolt of the Sclaves, who, in the struggle to throw olT at
once the yoke of the empire and that of the Church, coveted
Saxony with blood and ruin. The unseasonable severity of
the Saxon Duke Bernard, and of the Marquis Thcodoric, their

BENEDICT VH!. (A. D. 1012-1024).

25

suzerains, drove back these people, in their thirst for vengeance,
to their natural instincts of barbarism. In the first outburst of
their rage they carried fire and sword through all the countries
north of the Elbe,, burning churches and passing the plough­
share over the site of their foundations, subjecting priests
and monks to the most fearful torture ; in a word, leaving not a
single trace of Christianity beyond the line of the river. Th<·
inhabitants of Hamburg were all either massacred or led away
into bondage. At Altenburg, the most populous Christian com­
munity in Saxony, the Sclaves gathered together ail the Chris­
tians, as if for an immense butchery, and murdered them all,
with the exception of sixty ecclesiastics, whom they kept tc
be made the sport of their unparalleled cruelty. The skin was
cut away from their heads in the shape of a cross, and the
skull laid open, so as to leave the brain exposed ; in this
condition they were led about through the Sclavonian cantons,
continually assailed with blows, until they fell lifeless under
the torture. This sad state of things was complicated by the
death of St. Libentius, archbishop of Hamburg, which de­
prived the desolated churches of a prelate, whose moderation
and prudence were more sadly missed in proportion to their
wretched state. Benedict VIII., acting in concert with St.
Henry IL, placed in the metropolitan see a pastor capable of
restoring the wasted flock, in the person of Unvan, formerly
chaplain to St. Libentius. His gentle and affable manners
won him universal love and respect. The emperor then took
measures to secure a lasting peace. His victorious arms
checked the destructive madness of the Sclaves : having
restored quiet at home, he was enabled to accompany the Pope
to Italy.
25. His approach sufficed to recall the factious to their duty.
Benedict VIII. returned to Rome, where his faithful subjects,
now freed from the power of the antipope, received him with
transports of joy. St. Henry II. likewise made his triumphal
entry on the 14th of February, 1014. The Sovereign Pontiff
meditated the restoration, in favor of the holy king, of the

26

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

imperial power, extinct since the death of Otho III.” Henry
II. walked to St. Peter’s church, wearing the royal crown ; he
was accompanied by his queen, St. Cunegunda, and sur­
rounded by twelve senators. The Pope awaited him on the
steps of the basilica. Before giving him admission, he asked
him if he would be the defender of the Holy See, and be true
in all things to the Vicars of Jesus Christ. Henry pledged
himself by oath to the fulfilment of these conditions, and placed
his royal diadem upon the altar of the Holy Apostles. Benedict
VIII. anointed and crowned him emperor. He then presented
him with a golden sphere surmounted by a cross of the same
metal, and enriched with a double row of costly gems. This
was an emblem of the harmony existing between the empire
and religion. The emperor appreciated its significance, and
said, on receiving the precious symbol : “ You would teach me,
Holy Father, how I should use the new authority bestowed
upon me. But the cross which crowns the globe of the world
can only become one who has trampled under foot the pomps
of the world to bear the cross of Christ.” The chronicler of
this event, a monk named Glaber, closes his account with the
remark : “ It seems very reasonable and just, for the mainten­
ance of peace, that no prince take the title of emperor, unless
chosen by the Pope on account of his merit, and invested by
him with the badge of the dignity.” The new empei or con­
firmed all the grants made to the Church by Charlemagne and
the Othos ; and decreed, at the same time, that the election of
♦ "Bissius maintains that, at the request of Otho IIL, who saw no possibility of a buo*
cessor from his own blood, Gregory V., in a council held in 99G, the acts of which aro not
extant, regulated the manner of the future elections of emperors. Without entering into
details on the authorities quoted by him, it is certain that the title of emperor, successive!}
handed down by Otho I. to his son and grandson, without difficulty, in virtue of the reau
or supposed concession of Leo V11L, was now granted only to tho prince elected ane
crowned or confirmed by the Pope. Henry Π. was elected emperor of Germany imme­
diately after tho death of Otho Π., in 1002, but received the title and badges of imperial
power only in 1014, after his coronation by the Pope. The same was the case with hia sue
cessor, Conrad. Honce the title of holy empire, given to the German realm. The excep
tions that may afterward occur, can in no wise militate against the rule.”—Nrte of
H. l'abbé Peueb ok la Cboix, edit, of Berault-Bercastol, t. v, μ 191.

BEXÎ.DICT VTII. (A. D. 101J-10M).

27

the PontilT should he freely carried on hy the Roman clergy
and people, provided the consecration took place before the
imperial envoys, as decreed hy Eugenius IV. and Leo IV.
The people were henceforth excluded from a voice in the
election, which was reserved to the clergy alone. These
stipulations in favor of the Pontifical elections were respected
so tong as the emperors remained on the spot to enforce them ;
for in these lawless ages a host of petty tyrants contended for
power in Rome, and sought to rule by force.
26. Before parting, the Pope and St. Henry II. discussed a
question of liturgy. In speaking of the discussion on the
Filioque, we remarked that the custom of singing the Creed at
Mass had not yet been introduced into the Roman Church.
The emperor was accustomed to hear it chanted, since the
usage had passed over from the Churches of France and Spain
to those of Germany ; he accordingly asked the Pope why
Rome did not adopt the custom. “ The Church of Rome,” re­
plied Benedict, “ having never fallen into any heresy, has no
need of this solemn profession of her faith.” Still, the Sov­
ereign Pontiff’, after a mature examination of the question, and
with a view to cement, by a lasting monument, the peace exist­
ing between the Roman and Greek Churches, ordered that
the symbol of Constantinople should thenceforth be sung in
Rome.
Cardinal Lambertini observes on this subject, that
there are four Creeds adopted by tho Catholic Church: 1st,
the Apostles’ ; 2d, the Nicene, composed in 325 ; 3d, the Constantinopolitan (381) ; 4th, tho Quicumque, known as the Athanasian Creed, which is recited in the office of Prime. Baronius
defends the authenticity of this formula, which is rejected by
Natalis Alexander, Tillemont, Muratori, Papebroch, and Mabillon, on the very plausible ground that St. Athanasius would
nover have omitted the term cousubstuntial, that triumphant
witness of Catholic faith, so fatal to the Arian error. This
formula was uuknown before the sixth century: Theodulf of
Orleans first attributed it to St. Athanasius.
27. After his coronation the emperor set out for Germany

28

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

passing through France for the purpose of visiting St. Odilo,
abbot of Cluny. St. Henry left to the monastery the golden
sphere which be had received from the Pope, his imperial at­
tire. crown and sceptre, with a massive gold crucifix. He
added a gift of considerable estates in Germany, and asked, ae
a precious favor, to be associated to the holy community The
emperor was accompanied in this journey by St. Meinwerc,
whom he had singled out from among the lords of the court for
his modest virtue, and raised to the see of Paderborn. Mein­
werc was related to the late emperor, and enjoyed a fortune
proportionate to his noble birth, which he devoted to the foun­
dation of pious and useful institutions in his diocese.
lie
rebuilt the cathedral which had been destroyed by the barba­
rians, and established a school at Paderborn, where, beside
the liberal arts, properly so called, were also taught poetry,
history, the art of writing, so useful for the reproduction of
manuscripts, and even painting. -«This school soon became one
of the most flourishing of the age. Meinwerc resolved to per­
fect his foundation by the addition of a monastery of the Order
of Cluny, which he deemed an indispensable adjunct; and ob­
tained from St. Odilo some of his religious to found the monas­
tery in his diocese.
28. St. Henry seconded St. Meinwerc’s endeavors to estab­
lish religious discipline. The emperor held frequent intercourse
with Blessed Richard, abbot of St. Vannes of Verdun, one of
the holiest religious of his day. In one of his visits to the
cloister of St. Vannes, he exclaimed : “ This is my rest for ever
and ever; here will I dwell, for I have chosen it!” He then
begged the holy abbot to receive him among the religious of
his monastery. Richard knew that Henry’s vocation was not to
the life of a poor and retired monk ; he found an expedient,
however, to satisfy the prince’s piety without harm to the state.
Assembling the coinmur.ity, he requested the emperor to ex­
press his desire before all the religicus. Henry protested that
ho had determined to quit the vanities of the world, and con­
secrate himself to God in this monastery. “ Are you ready.’’

BENEDICT mi. (A D. 1012-1094).

29

asked the abbot, “ to obey even unto death, according to the
rule and example of Jesus Christ?" “I am," replied Henry.
“ And I,” said the abbot, “ receive you from this moment into
the number of my religious ; I take upon myself to answer for
the salvation of your soul, if you promise to fulfil, in our Lord,
all that I enjoin you.” “ I swear faithful obedience to all your
commands,” repeated the imperial postulant. “ Then," said
Richard, “ it is my will and the order of holy obedience, that
you resume the government of the empire intrusted to your care
by Divine Providence. I enjoin you to use every means to
further the salvation of your subjects, by your watchfulness
and firmness in the administration of justice.” On hearing
this unexpected order, the astounded emperor doubtless regret­
ted that he could not throw off the yoke that weighed upon his
shoulders ; he nevertheless submitted, and continued to illus­
trate the throne by the virtues he would have wished to bury
in solitude. Antiquity can offer few scenes of more imposing
majesty and more august simplicity.
29. Italy soon felt the necessity of such a hand as Henry’s
to guide the destinies of the empire. The Saracens, embold­
ened by the emperor’s absence, made a descent by sea upon
Tuscany, and seized a considerable tract of territory (1016).
Pope Benedict VIII. gave proofs of heroic valor on this occa­
sion. The crisis called for an able and resolute leader. Such
a leader was Benedict ; and once again did Christendom owe
its safety to the Sovereign Pontiff. With unparalleled activi­
ty he quickly gathered all the forces that Italy could furnish
for the sacred cause, and led them in person against the foe ;
sending, in the mean time, a countless fleet of boats to cut off
the retreat of the infidels. The emir, foreseeing the end of
these skilful measures, and fearing to fall into the hands
af the Pontifical army, fled with a slight escort, leaving
his troops without guide or commander. Their rout was com­
plete, and they were destroyed almost to a man, victims of the
emir’s base *
treachery.
After this brilliant victory, Pope Bene• It is said that the Saracen emir, enraged itt his defeat, scut an euonnpoa sack of cheat·

30

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

diet returned to Rome in triumph. His energies were son
called into requisition by other enemies.
30. The Greek empire still held some cities in Lower Itz iy,
ruled by a governor. This functionary laid certain claim' to
the States of the Holy See, devastated the province of Ap. /ia,
and avowed his intention of restoring the Byzantine rule over
the whole Peninsula. The Pope sent against him Raoul, prince
of Normandy, who attacked and defeated the Greeks, driving
them back from the soil of Apulia. This first step made by
the Normans upon Italian ground entailed serious results, as
we shall yet have occasion to see. Still the Pope did not deem
the success of Raoul a sufficient guarantee against the future
inroads of the Greeks He determined to visit St. Henry, and
to acquaint him with his position. The interview took place on
the 14th of April, 1020, in the city of Bamberg, where Bene­
dict took this occasion to consecrate the cathedral. To com­
memorate the solemn event, Henry bestowed the city and
bishopric of Bamberg upon the Holy See, in consideration of
the yearly tribute of a white horse and a hundred silver marks.
Questions of the highest religious and political import were
discussed by the two august visitors. The abuses which had
crept in among the clergy, the neglect of the canonical ob­
servance of clerical celibacy, and its consequent disorders,
were met with efficacious measures by the Pope and the em­
peror. The council of Pavia, held in 1020, confirmed the regu­
lations resulting from the joint deliberation of the spiritual and
temporal authorities. The canons of Nice, the decretals of St.
Sericius and of St. Leo, relative to the continence of clerics,
were cited, and temporal punishments decreed against all
transgressors.
31. In accordance with promises made to the Pope, St
nuts to the Pope, with the message the
* *n the following summer he would meet him witi
» many thousand soldiers. The Pontiff answered the insulting bravado by sending to tht
Mussulman a bag of millet-seed, telling him that if he was not satisfied with his first expe­
dition, he might come a second time, but that he would meet an et,ual or even a great»
number of avengers.

BENEDICT VIII. (Λ. D. 1012-1024).

31

Henry, in 1022, led a considerable ai my against the Greeks,
who threatened the independence of Rome and of all Italy.
Beneventum and all the cities which still acknowledged the
Eastern rule were speedily subjected ; Pandulf, prince of
Capua, one of the chiefs of the Ultramarine party, surrendered
upon the promise that his life should be spared. Troy, in
Apulia, alone refused to open its gates, trusting to the Emperor
Basil's promise of speedy succor ; but after a siege of three
months, the inhabitants, finding themeelves left to their own
unaided strength, resolved to throw themselves upon St
Henry’s mercy. They sent, as the most moving deputation,
all the children of the city, who threw themselves at the
emperor’s feet, uttering the Greek petition : Kvpie ίλιηαον
{Lord, have mercy upon us!) Policy at first outweighed com­
passion in the heart of the sovereign, who replied : “ The
fathers of these poor children have, by their obstinacy, brought
this calamity upon themselves.” But the repeated prayers of
the innocent petitioners moved St. Henry’s heart; bursting
into tears, he exclaimed : “ Yes, tell your fathers that I spare
this people !” The revolted city capitulated, and peace
reigned throughout the Italian Peninsula. The Pope and the
emperor met once more, at the monastery of Monte-Cassino, and
together perfected the regulations established for the political
welfare of the West; after which they parted, never to meet
again upon earth.
32. On his return to his states, the holy emperor caused a
council to be convoked at Selingstadt : some of its canons are
interesting, as they furnish some curious details on the eccle­
siastical manners and discipline of the eleventh century.
Priests are forbidden to celebrate more than three Masses a day.
Some were led by devotion to multiply the offering of the
Holy Si .orifice as far as they could. The present discipline
was fixe 1 at a later period. Should a priest have taken any food
or drhk during the night, after the crowing of the cock, if it be in
summer, he shall not celebrate Mass on the next day; if in winter,
be may celebrate only in case of necessity. Since there were, as

32

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

yet, uo clocks that struck the hours at night, the cock tiow
was supposed to mark the hour of midnight in summer, tut in
the longer nights of winter the hour was not so surely relied
upon. It is forbidden to wear a sword in church, except ordy the
badge of royalty. In an age of ceaseless wars, when every man
was armed, this prohibition prevented the sacrilegious conflicts
which might sometimes have occurred in the very churches.
It is forbidden to throw a corporal into the flames to extinguish a
conflagration. This canon referred to a practice due to the
exaggerated and superstitious faith of the century, against
which the Church very wisely protested by the voice of her
bishops. In fine, the council declares that the pilgrimage to
Rome can by no means free public sinners from the performance of
the canonical penance imposed upon them. The abuse of a pious
practice, like that of pilgrimages, was thus checked, at the
very outset, by the ever-watchful care of the Church to ward
off disorders, and to keep her children within the sphere of a
prudent and mutual edification.
33. The same year was also marked by a council held at Or­
leans, to crush in its cradle an abominable sect springing into
existence in the very heart of France. There, were, in Orleans,
two priests, Stephen and Lisay, of high repute for learning and
holiness, known and much esteemed by King Robert the Pious.
They allowed themselves to be led astray by an Italian female,
who hid under the veil of pretended piety the practices of the
Manicheans and ancient Gnostics. A corrupt heart soon sends
its infection to the mind. The contagion rapidly spread among
the principal members of the clergy of Orleans. The doctrine
of the new sectaries was in keeping with their morality. They
taught their votaries that the heavens and the earth, being
eternal in their nature, had neither cause nor beginning ; that the
gospel was but a pious fable intended to mislead the minds of
men ; that the invocation of saints was a useless custom ; that
the works of Christian faith and devotion were lost labor, fruit­
less of reward ; and that no punishment need be dreaded for the
most unbridled excesses of licentious passion. Their noctur nal

BENEDICT VIII. (A. D. I01J-10M).

33

meetings revived the monstrous orgies of the early Gnoetics.
This sect was an outpouring of the spirit of sin and darkness
upon the face of the earth.
On learning this fearful disorder,
King Robert came to Orleans with a number of bishops. All
the sectaries were arrested and arraigned for trial. The civil
laws punished such offences by fire. When questioned, Ste­
phen and Lisay laid aside all reserve ; in the presence of the
judges they styled our most sacred mysteries human inven­
tions, childish fables, “ which may be written,” said they,
“ upon the skins of beasts [such was the parchment then in use],
but can never enter into our minds, on which God has himself
imprinted His true law.” When urged to forsake their errors,
they replied that since efforts were made, not to lead them to­
ward the truth, but rather into error, it was time to cease such
vain endeavors; that they were ready to undergo whatever
might be inflicted upon them. “ You shall suffer by fire,” they
were told ; “ unless you quickly renounce your error, you shall
be burnt alive ; the king can no longer refuse to the public weal
the execution of this just sentence.” They remained unshaken,
and were burned, to the number of fifteen. The rigor displayed
oy Robert against innovations equally dangerous to the public
welfare and to religion, preserved his states from the contagion.
It crept into some portions of Aquitaine, but met with the
same prompt energy on the part of William V., son of William
of the Iron-Arm. The heretics were so vigorously followed up
throughout his domain, that they were compelled to fly to
other provinces, where they put on an appearance less calcu
lated to inspire general horror. This was the first germ ot the
Albigensian heresy in the south of France.
34. But the Church, ever fruitful, was putting forth another
branch of sanctification and religious life. St. Romuald estab­
lished the Order of the Camaldoli in Italy, in a picturesque
vale of the Apennines, called Campo-Maldoli, in the diucese of
Arezzo. St. Romuald belonged to an illustrious house allied to
the family of the dukes of Ravenna, and had early forsaken
the bright prospects held out by the world, to devote himself
Vol. III.—8

34

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

in solitude to the service of God. His reputation for holiness
and virtue soon drew around him a number of disciples.
Princes, nobles, and people consulted him as an oracle. The
Order of the Camaldoli, which he founded, is given to contem­
plation, joining together the eremitic, cenobitic, and solitary
modes of life. The rule is that of St. Benedict, with some
particular observances. The Orders of St. Benedict and of
Camaldoli have given to the Church, in our own day, two great
Pontiffs: the former, Pius VII., of holy and glorious memory;
the second, Gregory XVI.
35. The Emperor St. Henry II. and Pope Benedict VIII.
died in the course of the same year (1024). The Empress St.
Cunegunda, who had, as well as her saintly spouse, observed
perfect continence in the married state, retired to the monastery
of Kaffungen, which she had founded near Cassel, in the dio­
cese of Paderborn. She lived nine years a simple religious,
undistinguished from the least of her sisters, fearing ostenta­
tion even in Avorks of humility, engaging in manual labor as
though reduced to it by necessity. She died at length, worn
out by watchings and austerities, in the year 1038. The
eleventh century was thus inaugurated by a pontificate glorious
for the Church, and by the edifying spectacle of those virtues
which hallowed the glory of a throne.

35

JUllt» ΣΪ. (A. D. 1024-1033).

CHAPTER II.

§ i. Pontificate

of

John XX. (July 19.

a. d.

1024—November 6, 103.1).

I Conrad II., duke of Franconia, raised to the throne of Germany.—2. Elec­
tion of John XX.—3. Embassy from the Greeks, requesting for the Patri­
archs of Constantinople the title of Ecumenical Patriarch. Refusal of the
Pope.—4. Zeal displayed by Gerard, bishop of Cambray, against innovators.
—5. Conrad II. crowned by the Pope emperor of Germany.—6. Canute
the Great. His virtues.—7. Olaus II., the Saint.—8. Decline of the Church
of Constantinople. —9. Disorders among the regular and secular clergy in
the East.—10. Succession of the Greek emperors.—11. Famine and plague
in France.—12. The Truce of God.—13. The Apostolate of St. Martial.—
14. Chivalry.—15. Death of John XX.

g IL Pontificate

of

Benedict IX. (December 9, a. d. 1033—May, 1044).
First Period.

16. Scandals in the See of St. Peter.—17. Election of Benedict IX.—18. Vices
of the Pope.—19. St. Gerard, bishop of Chonad, in Hungary.—20. Casi­
mir I., called the Peaceful, king of Poland.—21. Mal des ardents.—22.
Last acts and death of St Odilo, abbot of Cluny.—23. Revolutions in
Constantinople.—24. Antipope Sylvester III. Benedict IX. abdicates the
Papacy for the first time.
§ ΙΠ. Pontificate of Gregory VI. (April 28, a.
1046).

d.

1045—December 17,

25. Election of Gregory VI.—26. St Peter Damian.—27. Abdication of
Gregory VI.
§ IV.

Pontificate of Clement II. (December 25, a. d. 1046—October 9,
1047).

28. Election of Clement II.—29. Modesty of St Peter Damian.—30. Death
of Clement II.

§ V. Pontificate

of

Benedict IX. (November, a. d. 1047—July 17, 1048).
Second Period.

81. Benedict IX. again ascende the oontifieal throne.

His final abdication.

3β
§ VL

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Pontificate of Damasus

II. (July 17, a. d. 1048—August 8, 10-18)u

32. Election and death of Damasus II.

§ 1. Pontificate of John XX. (July 19, λ. d. 1024—Novem­
ber 6, 1033).

1. Conrad IL, duke of Franconia, was elected king of Ger­
many by a solemn diet, and crowned at Mentz (September 8,
a. D. 1024). “As he was on his way to the cathedral for the
coronation ceremony,” says a contemporary biographer, “ he was
met by three unfortunate wretches : a serf of the Church
of Mentz, a forsaken widow, and a poor orphan. The newly
elected king stopped to hear their tale of sorrow, when one of
the lords of his train reminded him that the divine service was
about to begin. ‘What then?’ answered Conrad ; ‘ the bishops
have taught me that not they who only hear the Word shall
enter into the kingdom of Heaven, but they who practise its
teachings.’ When the poor suppliants had ended their peti­
tions, he sent them away consoled.” Happy people, whose
king was more eager to do an act of justice than to receive the
royal crown and the homage of his subjects ! The whole of
Conrad’s reign was worthy of this happy beginning. He was
to receive the full heritage left by St. Henry II., and we shall
soon see him honored with the imperial crown at the hands of
the Sovereign Pontiff. The popular opinion of Italy was unfa­
vorable to this course ; the German yoke was galling to that
light and fickle people. At the death of St. Henry II., they
destroyed the imperial palace in Pavia, and offered the throno
of Italy, first to the eldest son of Robert the Pious, then to
William, duke of Aquitaine, who both rejected the offer. The
geographical position of Italy, surrounded on three sides by the
sea, enclosed and defended on the fourth by a chain of lofty
mountains, would seem, at the first glance, to have marked it
for a united and powerful monarchy. This view has indeed
been cherished by its inhabitants, in every stage of modern his­
tory, but always without results. The settled plan of Divine

JOTIN

XX. (A. D. 1024-1033).

37

Providence seems to oppose its accomplishment. Were all the
power of Italy—a power which is immense, because capable of
an ever-increasing development—gathered into the hands of a
single sovereign, neither Rome nor the Head of the Church
would be more free. Therefore has every attempt of the kind,
since the fall of the Ostrogoth power, constantly failed, and
Italy has never again risen to political unity.
2. Benedict VIII. was succeeded by his brother, the second
son of Gregory, count of Tusculum, who took the title of John
XX. (July 9, a. d. 1024). The religious chronicler, Glaber, says
that he was still a layman at the time of his election, which was
the work of simony. The truth of the statement is probable
enough, from the known preponderance assumed by the Count of
Tusculum over the pontifical elections, and the absence of an
emperor who could enforce the last stipulations agreed upon be­
tween St. Henry II. and Benedict VIII., to secure the freedom
of the elections. But Glaber is sometimes too ready to follow
popular rumors. A circumstance which could throw a doubt
upon his charge, is the witness of a letter, written shot.ly after
the promotion of John XX., by St. Fulbert, in which the illus­
trious Bishop of Chartres thus congratulates the new Pontiff
in terms of the deepest and most heartfelt reverence: “I give
thanks to Almighty God, who has raised you to the height of
the apostolic dignity. The whole world now turns its eyes
upon you, and all men proclaim you blessed. The saints be­
hold your elevation, and rejoice that you are njade their liv­
ing image, by reviving all their virtues in your own person.”
Besides, whatever may have been the circumstances attend
ing the election of John XX., the Pontiff proved himself
worthy of his lofty station, by the courage with which he
resisted the ambitious claims of the Patriarchs of Constanti­
nople.
3. During the first year of his pontificate, Rome was visit­
ed by a solemn embassy from the two Byzantine emperors and
the Patriarch Eustathius, with rich presents for the Pope and
the chief officers of the pontifical court. The object of tbit·

38

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

mission was t) obtain the Popo’s consent that the Bishops of
Constantinople should assume the title of general Patriarchs
for the East. The gold of Basil II. and of the Patriarch suc­
ceeded in corrupting most of the prelates of the Roman court ;
but the Pope’s unyielding firmness effectually thwarted the
intrigue. He suggested and favorably received the protes­
tations of the principal Western Churches against the new
attempt of the Greeks. St. William, abbot of St. Benignus,
at Lyons, thus wrote to the Pope on the subject : “It is report­
ed that the Greeks have obtained what vanity alone could have
led them to ask of one who, notwithstanding the partition of
the Roman empire among several sovereigns, still holds the
primitive power of binding and loosing. You should know that
the scandalous report has deeply grieved all who still lay any
claim to virtue.” But things had not reached the pitch in
Rome, that was feared in France. The Pope neither had
granted, nor would grant, any thing to the Greeks. His decision
was conformable to the tradition followed from time immemo­
rial, in such cases, by the Holy See.
4. Meanwhile the negligence of some prelates had opened an
easy entrance to the deadly errors of certain sectaries similar
to those punished in Orleans. One bishop, as we learn from
Gerard of Cambray, was satisfied with examining and then ab­
solving them, because they had not avowed their impious be­
lief. “ By such a course,” wrote Gerard to the easy prelate,
“ you have shut up the wolf in the sheepfold, and placed the
false teachers in a position to do more harm than ever. You
should have made them profess and subscribe the truths con­
trary to the impious abominations of which they are accused.’
From the acts of the synod held at Arras (1025), it is evident
that Gerard, who was bishop of that see as well as of Cam­
bray, was both more watchful and more happy ; and he suc­
ceeded, by the force of his arguments, in bringing back many
of those wretches to the true faith. In a discourse pronounced
before all his people, to set forth the Catholic doctrine and re­
fute the calumnies brought against it, Gerard lays down ibe

JOHN XX. (Λ. D. 1024-1093).

39

nature and properties of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, with
theological precision. “ When the bread and the win»· mingled
with water,’’ says the prelate, “are consecrated upon the altar,
in an inell’able manner, by the sign of the cross and in virtue
of the words of the Lord, they become the true and real body,
the true and real blood of Jesus Christ, though they appear
otherwise to the senses. We see but material bread, and it is
nevertheless truly the body of Jesus Christ, as the Sovereign
Truth teaches in express terms : This is my body, etc. But how
is the body of the Saviour present in so many churches at once,
daily distributed to so many persons, and yet always remaining
the same ? To answer this objection, I ask how the Son of
God was whole in the bosom of the Eternal Father, and at the
same time whole in the womb of His Virgin Mother? It was
not more impossible to Him who went to the Father, with
whom He abideth forever, and yet remained with His disciples;
it was no harder for Him to preserve His glorified body in
heaven, and to impart to us on earth the Sacrament of the
same body.” These words are a splendid monument of the
faith of the eleventh century on the real presence of Jesus
Christ in the Sacrament of our altars, even before Berengarius
had troubled the Church on the subject.
5. John XX., since his accession to the chair of St. Peter,
was meditating the restoration of the imperial power in favoi
of Conrad, king of Germany, whose virtue and military tal­
ents fully qualified him to wear the crown of Henry II. In
the year 1027, Conrad came to Rome, accompanied by Rodolphus, king of Burgundy, and received the imperial diadem
on Easter-Day. The alliance of the empire and the Papacy
was once more ratified. It was soon made evident, however,
by sad experience, that the wise and prudent policy of the
Church’s Head was not the wish of the popular heart of Italy.
It is too true that the spirit of opposition seems to be an es­
sential clement in the nature of the multitude, aud that it is
enough to start some really useful measure, in order to see it
exposed to the outcries of the masses. The festivities attending

40

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

the coronation of Conrad and Lis empress Gisela,
*
ended in a
bloody battle between the Romans and the Germans. Some
insignificant pretext had given occasion to this outburst of na­
tional hatred, which betrayed the deep antipathy existing be­
tween the two nations.
6. Among the witnesses of Conrad’s coronation was an il­
lustrious pilgrim, who bad come to Rome, according to the cus­
tom of the age, with scrip and stall’. A few days after the
ceremony, the stranger wrote a letter in these terms : “ Canute,
king of all Denmark, of England, Norway, and part of Sweden,
to Egelnoth, metropolitan, to the Archbishop Alfric, to all the
bishops and primates, to the whole English nation, nobles and
people, greeting. I hereby make known to you that in falfilment of a long-standing vow, I have come to Rome for the re­
mission of my sins and for the welfare of the kingdoms and
subjects under my government. A great number of illustrious
persons were gathered together here during the Paschal solem­
nity, to attend the coronation of the Emperor Conrad. I dis­
cussed, with the Pope and the emperor, the wants of my king­
doms of England and Denmark. I obtained a guarantee of
more justice and safety for my people in their journeys to
Rome. They will no longer be delayed by so many barriers,
nor subjected to unjust tolls. The emperor granted all my re­
quests, as did also Rodolphus, who holds the principal passes
of the Alps.” The king who thus came to Rome to attend per­
sonally to the wants of his subjects, was Canute, son of Swein
III., king of Denmark. Prudent, bold, undaunted by reverses,
and ready in resources to retrieve them, he had avenged, by
the conquest of all Great Britain (1007), the massacre of the
Danes in 1002. In his contest with Edmund Ironside, the last
king of the Anglian race, he showed himself naturally religious,
* Gisela, who was related to Oonrad within the degrees then forbidden by ecclesiastical
iiseiphne, had been united to him before his eleotion to the German throne. When the
eleclore, at tho diet of Mentz, required Conrad to forsake his spouse, he replied : " I prefer
to give up the crown." The objection was waived for tho time, and the marriage was af­
terward made regular by special dispensations.

JOHN XX. (A. D. 1024-1033).

41

jusi, >nd humane. If the chances of war sometimes calle·’
forth a flash of Danish fire, it was less a natural impulse thar
the unfortunate result of passing events and provocations
While in peaceful possession of all England, he made it the
most flourishing of kingdoms, by developing the commercial en­
terprise natural to its people, and by establishing the reign of
justice, plenty, and peace. The moderation of his rule counter­
acted the odium of a foreign yoke and the national antipathies
arising from subjection. He repaired all the monasteries in­
jured by the disasters of war. At Rome he had been equally
admired for his pious liberality and for the edification of his
unfeigned piety. His bounty reached even foreign lands, and
St. Fulbert, bishop of Chartres, received from him large sums
of money toward the erection of his cathedral. Canute was
one day standing on the sea-shore, at Winchester, with some of
his courtiers, when a certain lord, making use of one of the
flattering hyperboles so unscrupulously lavished even in the
most Christian courts, addressed him by the lofty title of
king of kings and lord of the seas. The monarch silently fold­
ed his cloak, laid it down upon the strand, where the tide was
rising, and seated himself upon it. As the foaming waves
rolled up nearer at every surge, the king thus addressed them:
“ You are subject to my orders ; I command you to respect
your master, nor dare to touch his royal person.” The cour­
tiers li itened in astonishment ; and when the unheeding break­
ers at length dashed their foam about the monarch’s feet, he
turned to them and said : “ You see how the sea obeys its mas­
ter. Learn from this the power of earthly kings. The only
King of kings is the great God Who made and rules the heavens,
the earth, and all the elements.” After this noble rebuke, Ca­
nute arose, and, followed by all his courtiers, entered the church
of Winchester ; and there, placing his diadem upon the cru­
cified image of the Redeemer, protested that He alone deserved
the crown, to Whom all creatures owe submission. Canute
died soon after this event, so worthy to close a reign which had
heoi) hut an uninterrupted series of good works (a.d. 1036). Hi»

42

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH-

two sons, Harold and Canute II., successively followed their
father on the throne of Great Britain, after which the (Town
returned to its former possessors (1042), and was illustrated
by St. Edward, brother of Edmund Ironside.
7. While Canute was edifying England and Denmark, the
wild regions of Norway were ruled by a prince equally
virtuous, Olaus IL, whose heroic death has sometimes pro­
cured him the title of martyr.
These two monarchs, so
worthy of mutual friendship, were nevertheless engaged,
during most of their reign, in fierce wars for the common end
of bestowing upon one ruler tho two crowns of Norway and,
Denmark, which, notwithstanding the sea that separated them,
have thus seemed in all times destined to be subject to
the same crown. Olaus made every effort to purge hit
kingdom of the soothsayers and magicians who everywhere
perpetuated the most senseless superstitions of paganism.
His severity in this regard stirred up a revolt, which Canute,
his rival, skilfully turned to account, to have himself acknowl­
edged king of Norway. But the time for the union of the
two states was not yet, and Olaus succeeded in thwarting the
endeavors of his rival, and reconquered the independence
of his kingdom. He used his authority for the conversion of
his subjects to the Christian faith ; his pious zeal aroused the
hatred of the heathens, who were still many in his states,
and cost him his life (a. d. 1028). A suitable monument was
erected to his memory at Drontheim, the capital of the
kingdom, where the miracles wrought by his intercession have
won him a wide-spread veneration. His son-in-law and suc­
cessor, of the same name, established Christianity in Sweden,
and followed in the footsteps of his pious predecessor.
8. In proportion as the light of faith shone more brightly
on the chill and icy wastes of Sarmatia and Scandinavia, it
was waning in the beautiful provinces of Greece and that
favored part of Asia upon which it had shed its first bright
beams. The council called the Σύνοδος ίνδημοΰσα, held at
Constantinople in tho year 1027, under the Patriarch Alexius,

JOHN XX. (A. D. 10Î4-W3S).

45

shows to what a wretched state that Chunh was now fallen.
The princes, whose weak arms were powerless to uphold the
tottering colossus of the empire, tried to pt op it up by every
support, sacred or profane ; the bishops and clergy of their
states were weighed down by contributions ond taxes. The
bishops, in order to evade the taxes for which the metro
politans were personally accountable, absented themselves from
their churches, embezzled their revenues, farmed out their lands,
and gave themselves up to the temporal administration of their
property. They no longer heeded the bounds of ecclesiastical
jurisdiction, infringed upon each other’s rights, and unscrupu­
lously ordained strange clerics. The clerics, in turn, passed,
without leave, from one province to another ; they especially
abounded in Constantinople, where it was not unusual to see
deposed clerics, or persons wearing the ecclesiastical dress,
though never yet ordained, all discharging the functions of the
sacred ministry with sacrilegious impunity.
9. The monastic state, once so flourishing in the East, the
land of its birth, but now long enervated by the spirit of schism,
error, and discord, was hurrying on, even more recklessly than
the clerical order, to irretrievable ruin. The emperors were
accustomed, especially since the time of the Iconoclastic heresy,
to bestow the government of monasteries and hospitals upon
laymen of ρολνβΓ and authority. This kind of commendaro
was intended to furnish those institutions with protectors and
benefactors, and for the re-establishment of those which had
been destroyed in such numbers by the impious Copronyrnus.
But they soon began to fall into the hands of every class of
persons, women, and even heathens, who looked upon them us
their own property. These grants were made for life. Monas­
teries of men were given in charge to women, and nunneries to
men ; the consequent disorders may readily be imagined. The
council of Constantinople made an effort to remedy the most
crying abuses. It forbade that any monastic community should
be intrusted to persons of the other sex—that church property
thus held in trust should be made an object of profane trahie.

44

CENTRAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

or its funds alienated, without leave of the Patriarch 01 metiopolitan.
10. The throne was in no higher esteem than the Church.
The Emperor Constantine died three years after his brother
Basil (a. D. 1028), and was succeeded by the patrician Romanus
Argyrus. Constantine had dishonored the throne by a life of
complete idleness. His time was given to buffoons and adven­
turers, whose talent for pleasing was rewarded with the highest
offices of state. The only branch of knowledge for which he
showed the least taste or aptness, related to horses ; this was
his highest acquirement. He had three daughters—Eudoxia,
Theodora, and Zoe. The dying emperor named his general,
Romanus Argyrus, as his successor. Romanus was united to
the virtuous Helena ; but with the empire, Constantine required
him to take the hand of Theodora. To this order the general
refused obedience, alleging the laws of the Church, which
forbade his divorce. “ Unless you fulfil my order,” said the
expiring monarch, “ you lose your eyes before the close of
day.” When informed of her husband’s position, Helena
hastened to his presence, and threw herself at his feet, entreat­
ing him to accept the empire and the hand of the princess.
Romanus yielded ; Helena entered a monastery, consoling her­
self with the reflection : “ If I save my husband’s sight, and,
perhaps, his life, what care I for the empire ?” Theodora, on
learning this heroic deed of self-devotion, exclaimed : “ Noble
Helena ! No, I will not marry a man who thus sacrifices such
a spouse!” Zoe, less generous and more ambitious than her
sister, received the hand of Romanus and the title of Augusta.
Eudoxia had already taken the veil. The Greek Patriarch
displayed neither the conscientiousness of Romanus, nor the
noble delicacy of Theodora, but purely and simply ratified the
divorce ; and, to prove more clearly the hypocritical nature of
Byzantine piety, in passing sc easily over the crime of adultery,
a question was raised upon some slight degree of kindred
between the two parties. This secondary question was
seriously discussed, and decided in favor of the second

JOHN XX. (A. D. 1024-1038),

45

marriage, by the Patriarch Alexin» and his clergy Romanue
IIT., a weak and untalented prince, reigned inglo iously, and
was at length poisoned by his wife (a. d. 1034).
11. The last few years had been nnhappy for France. The
pious Robert died at Melun (July 20, 1031). The most
giorious, touching, and undeniable panegyric of his goodness
toward his subjects, was afforded by the tears of all, but
chiefly of the poor, who looked up to him as to their common
father. “ Why, O Lord,” was their complaint. “ hast Thou
deprived us of so good a father ? He was the friend of the
people, the light of justice, the strength of the good. The
happy reign has passed in which we glided smoothly on through
life, unassailed by danger or misfortune.” The natural good­
ness of Robert’s heart found vent in a thousand generous deeds.
Twelve members of his court had plotted against his life. The
king sent for the guilty wretches, already condemned to death,
led them to have recourse to the sacraments of penance aid the
Holy Eucharist,and then set them at liberty, with the words:
“It would be hard to put to death those whom Je.’Ufl Christ
has so lately admitted to His table.” Such was Itobuit the
Pious. His noblest eulogy is comprised in these words jf a
contemporary writer : “ He was the ruler of his passons as well
as of his people.” The general mourning caused by his death
was still further deepened by the agonies of the most ruel
famine recorded in history. An unprecedented derangement
in the seasons, almost incessant rains during three succ»ssive
years, from 1030, prevented the grain and other producticns of
the earth from reaching a state of ripeness. “A pejk of
wheat,” says a contemporary writer, “ could not be ob'ained
for less than sixty gold crowns.” After exhausting the i apply
that could be furnished by the grass of the fields and the
roots of trees, the fearful expedient was then resorted to of
digging up and devouring dead bodies; and hunger at last
drove the famished sufferers to kill the living for food, that all
«light not perish. The misery seems to have been at its height
in the ancient kingdom of Burgundy. An innkeeper of the

46

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

neighborhood of Macon was arrested and convicted of
having murdered and served up forty-eight travellers, whoso
heads were all found on the premises. Otho, count of Bur­
gundy, condemned him to be burned alive. This act of
severity did not hinder a butcher from publicly exposing
numan flesh for sale in the market-place of Tournus ; he was
also punished at the stake, and the traces of his horrible traffic
were quickly buried. A famished wretch even contended with
the worms for this disgusting nourishment, upon which he lived
for some days. He was likewise committed to the flames. So
great was the mortality caused by the famine, that the living
were too few to bury the dead. The streets and roads were
strewn with dead bodies, which remained in the very spots
where they had fallen through mere weakness ; it became
necessary to provide immense repositories, called, in the
energetic language of the time, charnel-houses, into which the
victims were indiscriminately thrown. The twofold scourge of
dearth and famine which had passed on from the East, succes­
sively desolating Greece, Italy, Gaul, and England, at length
came to an end in 1033, in which year the harvest was more
abundant than those of five ordinary seasons. These evils
gave occasion to Christian charity to display examples of heroic
virtue. Blessed Richard of Verdun, St. William, abbot of
St. Benignus, and St. Odilo of Cluny were remarkable above
all others for their inexhaustible liberality. The bishops and
abbots of all the provinces showed a rivalry of zeal in
struggling against the scourge. The Church now bestowed
upon the poor what she had before received from the rich.
The altars were stripped and the sacred vessels sold, to feed
the suffering members of Jesus Christ. The prelates gave
proofs of a laudable foresight in providing first for the wants
of the husbandmen, that the fields might not remain un­
tilled, and the hopes of a crop be not blighted through the
death of those whose care it was to raise it.
12. Returning plenty was hailed as a direct blessing Iroui
Heaven ; and the general gratitude was proportioned to the

JOHN XX. (A. D. leM-1043).

47

greatness of the change. The bishops, set Hided by all th·
good, availed themselves of these happy dispositions to remedy
past disorders, and especially to put an end to the strifes of
petty princes, the inveterate habits of highway robbery, con­
tinual pillage, the profanation of holy places, with all the
scenes of violence and sacrilege which necessarily resulted
from them. Several councils held in the provinces of Aqui­
taine, Burgundy, Arles, and Lyons (a. d. 1030-1033), de­
creed that during the days consecrated to commemorating the
mysteries of religion, that is, from Wednesday night of each
week till the following Monday morning, there should be a
general suspension of arms among all the citizens, whatever
might be the subject of their quarrels. This was called the
Truce of God. From that period, war was waged more in ac­
cordance with the laws of humanity, honor, and religion. A
species of military legislation was published by different coun­
cils, and a militia was established, under the name of paçato
(pezade), whose duty it was to check all insubordination. This
was a victory of the gospel morality over the still barbarous
legislation and manners of the age. The people received these
measures with enthusiasm, and while the bishops raised their
croziers toward heaven, in token of approval, the multitude
exclaimed with uplifted hands: “Peace! Peace!” and thus
confirmed the lasting pledge made to one another and to God.
A solemn engagement was entered into by all, to meet at tbe
end of every five years, and inquire into the fidelity with
which the truce had been observed, and, if necessary, to con­
cert measures for making it more firm. The Council of Limoges
(a. d. 1031) excommunicated all soldiers who refused to con­
form to tho wise and useful regulation. All the bishops ‘pres­
ent held lighted tapers in their hands during the reading of the
following maledictions : “We excommunicate all soldiers who
refuse their bishops peace and justice. Let them be accursed,
with those who help them to do evil! Accursed be their aims
and their horses ! Let then- abode be with the fratricide Cain,
with the traitor Judas, with Dathau and Abiron, swallowed up

4b

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

alive into hell ! And as these tapers are extinguished before un
eyes, so let their joy be extinguished before the holy angels,
unless they make atonement before death, and submit to a just
penance.” At these last words, the bishops threw down their
tapers and extinguished them at their feet.
13. This Council of Limoges decreed, moreover, that St.
Martial should be numbered among the apostles ; he was, in
fact, the apostle of that country. John XX. ratified the deci­
sion. But the faithful of Limoges demanded, besides, that St,
Martial should be acknowledged as one of the seventy-two
disciples sent by our Lord Himself, which demand was discussed
at length by the councils of that period, but never definitely
decided.
14. At about this time appeared a new institution, which
materially helped the general tendency to give a more hu­
mane aspect to the art of war: it was the institution of chivalry,
which took its rise in France, under the reigns of Robert and
his successor Henry I. Christian chivalry, in its origin, was 3
religious consecration of the noble warrior to the defence of the
Church and of the poor. The warrior who desired to receive
this military consecration, presented himself to the bishop, who
first blessed his sword, that it might be used in the service of
the Church, of widows, and of orphans ; that it might be their
strong defence against the cruelty of pagans and heretics. The
bishop made the following prayer : “ As Thou didst grant to
Thy servant David to overcome Goliath, and to Judas Macca­
beus to triumph over nations that called not upon Thy name ;
in like manner, 0 Lord ! to Thy servant who here bows his
head to the yoke of Thy holy militia, grant strength and cour­
age for the defence of justice and faith
after which he gird­
ed on the sword of the new knight, who rose, vigorously bran­
dished it, wiped it upon his left arm, and then sheathed it. After
giving him the kiss of peace, the prelate, taking the naked
sword in his right hand, laid it thrice upon the shoulder of the
knight, with these words : “ Be a pacific, valiant, faithful, and
devoted soldier of God.” This dignity was bestowed only

BENEDICT IX. (A. D. 1033-1044).

49

upon men of noble blood and inured to military service, who
were prepared for it by a kind of novitiate ; the youthful aspi­
rant remained for some time under the orders of a knight, before pretending to become one himself. The castles of the no­
bility thus became so many knightly nurseries. The court of the
king of France was looked upon as the highest school of cour­
tesy for the whole kingdom. This order of chivalric education,
while it humanized and softened the manners of the age, also
recalled the order of political subordination, and placed royalty
as the crowning of the social edifice.
15. The Emperor Conrad made his profession as knight-de­
fender of the rights of the Holy See, by coming to the assist­
ance of Pope John XX., against a conspiracy formed in the
very heart of Rome. The Pontiff hardly escaped the death
with which the revolters threatened him. He was obliged to
lly (a. d. 1033), in order to allow the angry passions of the
parties to cool. The odium of the German yoke was the mov­
ing principle of this outbreak on the part of a faction of mal­
contents. Conrad hurried to Rome, where his presence quelled
all disorder, and the Pope was enabled to return to the
Eternal City. But his stay was short, for he died on the 6th of
November, of the same year, after a pontificate which had not
been without glory, and the prosperous course of which dispel­
led all the suspicions that might have been excited by its doubt­
ful opening.
§ II. Pontificate of Benedict IX. (First Period), (December 9,
a. d. 1033—May, 1044).

16. The Papacy is now entering one of those phases of
degradation, over which the historian would fain throw the veil
of oblivion. To mere human judgments, it might seem that
the possession of the highest spiritual authority ever intrusted
to the sway of mortal man, should clothe its agent with a su­
perior moral power, and shelter him from the taiut of certain
chi rges too often used by malignant hate as a weapon against
Vol. m.—4

fil)

»

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

the institution itself. It is doubtless a part of the divine
scheme which guides the destinies of the world, that the
Church should more clearly prove the divinity of its foun­
dation and preservation through all ages, by meeting at times
the deadliest shocks, by resisting even the unworthiness of
its head.
17. Alberic, count of Tusculum, had a son ten or twelve years
old, a nephew of John XX. He conceived the fatal idea of
placing the boy upon the chair of St. Peter. In spite of the
canons, which were express in the matter, notwithstanding the
sacrilegious nature of such an attempt, he bought the accom­
plishment of his criminal design at the price of gold ; and the
youthful Theophylactus was elected Pope under the name of
Benedict IX. (December 9, a. d. 1033). In virtue of the repeal·
edly stipulated right of the German emperor to confirm the
pontifical elections, Conrad should have opposed this uncanonical promotion. But he did not interfere. He had lately been
falling away by degrees from the virtuous beginnings of his
reign, and now unscrupulously sold ecclesiastical benefices him­
self. There are seasons when the world seems stricken with
an utter forgetfulness of all moral law ; then is the hour when
triumphant iniquity meets neither opposition nor rebuke. The
scandalous example of a Pope and an emperor, countenanced
the spread of simony like a deadly contagion throughout all
Christendom. It now clearly appeared how important it is that
the Papal elections should be untrammelled by family ambition.
In more than one province, not only priests, but even bishops
contracted matrimonial alliances, and left their benefices as an
inheritance to their children.
18. Benedict IX., in his personal conduct, yielded to all the
passions of youth. In a secular prince of his age and rank,
these faults would too easily have been cloaked by the indul­
gence of a corrupt and flattering world. In a Pope, his very
youth, instead of excusing, only made the scandal greater
The possession of supreme power was but a means of gratify­
ing every passion. Despite the perversity of his depraved

BENEDICT IX. (A. D. 1033-1044J.

51

nature, history finds no subject of reproach against Benedict
IX. in the doctrinal and spiritual government of the Church.
His authority was acknowledged and respected by all Christen­
dom. The voice of St. Peter was respected even on the lips
of his unworthy successor. It is worthy of particular notice
that, under sinful or simoniacal Popes, the Church enjoyed
seasons of peace which were not vouchsafed her under the
reign of the most prudent Pontiffs ; so watchful is the eye of
God to follow the fortunes of Peter’s bark ! If He at times
allows the helm to pass into unworthy hands, He then takes
its guidance to Himself.
19. Benedict IX. conferred the pallium upon three succes­
sive archbishops of Hamburg : Hermann, Bezelin, and Adal­
bert. Germany was consoled, in this period of disorder, by a
succession of virtuous prelates and saintly religious. St. Bardo,
archbishop of Mentz, illustrated his see by his learning and
piety. St. Poppo, abbot of Stavelo, in the diocese of Liega
and afterward of the monastery of St. Vedast, in Flanders,
recalled the glorious days of St. Anthony and St. Benedict.
St. Ambrose seemed to live again in the holy bishop of Chonad.
in Hungary—St. Gerard. On the festival of Easter (a. d. 1041 j.
the tyrant Aba, who stained the throne of Hungary by his
bloody deeds of cruelty, came to the church to assist at the
religious solemnity. St. Gerard ascended the ambo and thus
addressed him : “ The Lenten season was established to obtain
pardon for sinners, and the reward of the just. You have
profaned it by murder. In slaying my children you take away
my title of father. You have, then, no right to share the re­
joicings of the faithful on this day. As I am ready to die for
Christ, I de not hesitate to speak severely. Know, then, that
within three years the sword of vengeance shall smite you, and
you shall lose at once both your life and the throne acquired bj
fraud and violence.” The enraged tyrant would have ordered
the immediate death of the holy prelate, but he feared the
vengeance of the people. Gerard's prediction was verified
In 1044, Aba lost his head, and Peter, the lawful successor of

b‘Z

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

St. Stephen, ascended the throne of Hungary. The Hunga­
rians. dissatisfied at the alliance which Peter had contracted
with Germany, recalled some banished nobles headed by
Andrew, a distant relation of St. Stephen, and set on foot
a formidable revolt. Their natred toward the German name
soon included likewise that of Christian in general. They
massacred the Catholics without distinction, and burned a great
number of churches. They seized St. Gerard at Pesth, and
beat him to death with clubs, while he uttered the prayer of
our Lord : “ Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do” (1047). The pagan reaction in Hungary was short
lived. No sooner had Andrew been placed upon the throne of
Hungary, than he hastened to take effective steps for the pro­
tection of the religion of Jesus Christ, which he openly pro­
fessed. Since the reign of that prince, Hungary has remained
Christian and Catholic.
20. The violence of discord was almost as fatal to Poland
as heathen madness had proved in Hungary. The death of
Micislas, the last king of Poland (1034), left his son Casimir
too young to reign ; and as Queen Rixa, his mother, had
incurred general odium, the country remained in a state of
anarchy for seven years, during which the several lords gave
themselves up to plunder and the most, lawless deeds of vio­
lence. The property of churches and monasteries was not
spared. Bretislas, duke of Bohemia, took advantage of the
interregnum to advance into the heart of Poland, captured the
principal cities, and entered Gnesen, which was then its capital.
He stripped the churches of all their wealth, ornaments, sacred
vessels, shrines of saints, silver, funds, and revenues. The
Polish bishops complained to Rome. But the Holy See was
then occupied by Benedict IX., and the cardinals who com­
manded his confidence made many fair promises to the wretched
Poles, and found in the gifts of the Bohemians amply convin­
cing motives for absolving the guilty (1039). Weary of this
fatal state of anarchy, the Poles at length resolved to crown
the son of their late sovereign An embassy was sent to the

BENEDICT IX. (A. D. 103S-1M4).

53

young Prince Casimir, who wore the religious habit at Cluny,
under the direction of St. Odilo. “ We come,” said the envoys,
addressing the prince, “on behalf of the lords and all the
nobility of Poland, to entreat that you would pity the lamenta­
ble state of the kingdom, and put an end to the excess of its
wretchedness.” Casimir replied that he was no longer his own
master ; that he so entirely depended upon his abbot, as they
had just seen, that he could not speak to them without his per­
mission. St. Odilo, on his part, told them that their request
far surpassed his power ; that the Pope alone could free a monk
already professed, and even bound by the order of deaconship.
The deputies went on to Rome (1040). They placed before
the court of Benedict a touching picture of the calamities of
Poland, and of its crying need of Casimir for the preservation
of religion and the kingdom. The case was a new one, and
the dispensation without a precedent in the Church. Yet after
consulting the wisest authorities,, the Pope, in virtue of the
power of loosing intrusted to him, without limitation, by Jesus
Christ himself, granted the request. Not only was the monk
Casimir allowed to return to the world, but also to marry,
and, in acknowledgment, each Polish lord was held to a yearly
tribute of one penny to the Holy See. Casimir went back to
his native land, was acknowledged king, and married Mary, the
sister of Jaroslaf, prince of Russia. After so unlooked-for
and wonderful a restoration, the new king, having secured
peace both at home and abroad, endeavored to cultivate in his
realm a taste for science and sacred literature. He sent splen­
did presents to Cluny, where he had passed the days of his
exile in retirement and pious practices, and induced St. Odilo
to send him twelve religious, who founded two celebrated
monasteries in Poland. Their establishment continued to raise
the standard of morals, and brought back to religion the dig­
nity and propriety which had been lost in the whirlwind of
civil wars.
21. The virtues which spread their good odor so far abroad
to draw august proselytes and royal bounty to the order of

54

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Cluny, were not concentrated within tho narrow compass of a
cloister’s walls. St. Odilo and Blessed Richard of St. Vannes
were able instruments in the hands of God to bring hack the
many nations of the kingdom of France to that mild civilization
as favorable to society as it is glorious' to the gospel, and
which has become an object of emulation to all enlightened
nations. It was their zeal that secured the adoption and
maintenance of the Truce of God by a restless and warlike
people, whose nobles knew no other glory than that of arms.
The two holy religious used all the influence of their piety and
great intellect to restore both social and Christian virtues.
The troubles excited in Normandy by the ministry of its
Duke William, afterward called the Conqueror, had made
away with the Truce. Richard used his eloquence there with
little success ; but Heaven seemed to have undertaken the
duty of avenging the preacher for their indocility. The whole
province was afflicted by a pestilential disease called des
Ardents, which seemed to consume the entrails of it?
victime. The scourge extended its ravages and made many
victims in Paris, where the piety of the faithful sought protec­
tion at the feet of St. Genevieve, the patroness of France
(a. d. 1041). The Neustrians, stricken by the plague, knew no
other remedy than recourse to him whose words they had at
first despised. He received them with mildness, made them
swear to observe the Truce of God, and administered some
wine which he had blessed. He thus cured a great number
of the sufferers, not only in Normandy, but in several other
provinces visited by the contagion. The renown of Blessed
Richard soon spread far and wide, and at the death of Ram­
bert, bishop of Verdun, the emperor wished to bestow upon
him the vacant see ; but the humble religious steadily refused
the dignity, and died, as he had lived, a holy monk (1045),
at a very advanced age.
22. His friend, St. Odilo, had also, in the year 1025, re­
fused the archbishopric of Lyons, to which see John XX. had
wished to raise him. Neither the tears of that Church, coveted

BENEDICT IX. (A. D. 1033-1044).

55

by so many unworthy aspirants, nor the entreaties of the
faithful, nor even the threats of the Sovereign Pontiff, whom,
in all other matters, it was his happiness to obey as a dutiful
and reverent son, could overcome his humility. Patience
and gentleness were the characteristic virtues of St. Odilo;
he was severe toward irregular monks alone, who sow the
seeds of discord and insubordination in religious communities
When he met with any such characters he expelled them
without pity ; but to any other fault he was ever ready to
show indulgence. He used to say that if he must be reproved
by the Sovereign Judge, he much preferred that it should be
for excessive goodness than for extreme severity. Yet he
insisted upon a punctual observance of the rule; taking care
to make its obligation sweet, and using rather the goodness of
a father, or even the tenderness of a mother, than the authority
of an abbot. He seemed to have been formed by grace to
make virtue amiable to all. An unaffected simplicity, a
straightforward course of action, his ingenuous manner of
conversation, noble bearing, venerable white locks, and eyes
full of life and animation, lent to his instructions and to his
very conversation, a semblance of inspiration. The saintly
abbot ended his days in the practice of indefatigable zeal,
at the monastery of Souvigny (a. d. 1049), after fifty-five years
of religious government. The commemoration of All Souls is a
feast of his institution. The circumstances which gave rise to
the solemnity are thus related. A French pilgrim, returning
from Jerusalem, was cast, by a storm, upon the coast of Sicily.
A solitary, who dwelt amid the rocks of the sea-shore, asked
him if he knew the monastery of Cluny and the Abbot Odilo.
*· Often,” said the hermit, “ I hear the spirits of darkness
uttering blasphemous curses against those pious persons, whose
prayers and alms free the souls that suffer in the other world ;
but they are particularly bitter against Odilo and his religious.
I, therefore, earnestly entreat you, in the name of God, when
you reach your native land, to urge the holy abbot and his
monks to redouble their prayers for the suffering souls id pur
*

56

GENERAL HTSTORY OF THE CHURCH.

gatory.” The pilgrim delivered the request, and Odilo directed
that in all the monasteries of his order, a yearly commemora­
tion of all the faithful departed should be made on the day
following the feast of Λ11 Saints. The monastery of Cluny
still preserves the decree which was drawn up both for its own
observance and for that of all the monasteries of its depen­
dency. The pious practice was gradually adopted by other
churches, and soon became of general observance throughout
the Catholic world.
23. While the manners and morals of the West were daily
improving under the rule of the gospel and the simplicity of
the faith, the Greeks, engaged in bloody strife, even upon the
throne itself, seemed to have made a mere pastime of morality
and piety, of the state and religion.
Romanus Argyrus
thought only of enjoying a power which was the fruit of
adultery, when it was suddenly snatched from him by a simi­
lar crime, aggravated by the guilt of parricide. The Empress
Zoe, for whom he had forsaken a virtuous spouse, had him
smothered in a bath (a. d. 1034), and his death was instantly fol­
lowed by the marriage and accession of a Paphlagonian named
Michael, whose original occupation had been that of a money­
changer. Michael IV., thus unexpectedly led to the sum­
mit of fortune by the way of infamy, at first showed some
courage against the Bulgarians ; but his soul was wrung by
remorse, which caused his death (1041). Dying without
issue, he left the purple to his nephew Michael, called Calaphates, from the occupation which he had followed in his
youth. Michael V. sat but for a year upon the throne, of
which his ignorance and cowardice made him unworthy. The
indignant people of Constantinople expelled him from his
palace ana from the capital. The Princess Theodora was re­
called from her cloister, and associated in the government to
her sister Zoe. The two princesses forgot their old antipathy,
and the empire breathed a while under their prudent and
enlightened administration. But the agreement of two such
opposite characters could not be of long duration: Theodora

BENEDICT IX. (A. D. 1033-1044).

57

eoon began to upbraid Zoe for her irregular conduct, and, at
length, unable to bear the atmosphere of so corrupt a court,
she returned to her convent. Zoe contracted a third alliance
with Constantine Monomachus, and consented that her husband
should live in open concubinage, and e^en bestow upon his
adulterous partner the title of Augusta. Adultery was raised
to a dignity, and the palace of the Cæsars became an abode of
infamy. The inhabitants of Constantinople, who had at first
felt some indignation at such a disgrace, now adopted the plan
of habituating themselves to its continuance. Chariot races
and the bloody sports of the amphitheatre had always been
the delight of Constantinople, and the emperor now indulged
this popular passion with a splendor and magnificence hitherto
unknown, even in that luxurious capital. The subjects were
satisfied. The tidings that forty thousand Greek troops had
been massacred by the Servians, in a defile on the frontiers
of Bulgaria, in 1042, hardly cast a shadow upon the pleasures
of this degraded people ; and this moral degradation was open­
ing the way for the approach of the gi eat Eastern schism.
24. In a moral point of view, Rome at the same period
presented a spectacle by no means calculated to console the
Catholic heart. Benedict continued to outrage all virtuous
minds by his disorders. Yet he did for a moment stay his
vicious career while preparing for the ceremony of canonizing
St. Simoon, a Benedictine monk of Syracuse (a. d. 1042). This is
the second canonization which was certainly asked of the Holy
See ; that of St. Udalric was the first. The unworthy Pontiff
soon relapsed into his usual irregularity ; but the public con­
tempt and indignation had reached such a degree that, in the
year 1038, notwithstanding the influence and authority of his
father, the Count of Tusculum, the Romans expelled him from
the See. He was restored in the course of the same year by
the Emperor Conrad, who had come to quiet the troubles
which rent Italy at all points. This was Conrad’s last imperial
act ; he died suddenly at Utrecht (1039). The laws and
ord nuucfcS published by him in Germany, justily the belief

58

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

that he was the author of the wri tten feudal law Conrad was suc­
ceeded by his son, Henry HL, called the Black, who was crowned
a year before his father’s death. Benedict had again drawn
upon himself the public odium by his excesses and deeds of
violence, and was once more expelled toward the beginning of
the year 1044. The party that dethroned Benedict pltced in
his stead, John, bishop of Sabinum, under the title of Sylves­
ter III. But an expulsion is not a deposition, and Sylvester
III. was evidently an antipope. His intrusion lasted but
three months, when Benedict again returned to disgrace the
Papal Chair. Supported by the house of Tusculum, he public­
ly insulted the Romans, who groaned under the hated yoke.
Wearied, at length, by the constant marks of contempt with
which he was everywhere received, he agreed to withdraw,
that he might, without restraint, indulge his vicious passions ;
in consideration of a yearly pension of fifteen hundred pounds,
Benedict yielded the Holy See to John Gratian, a respected
priest of the Roman clergy. Thus ended the first period of
his pontificate.
§ III. Pontificate

Gregory VI. (April 28,
December 17, 1046).

of

a. d.

1045—

25. Pope Benedict IX., having thus voluntarily abdicated,
withdrew to his estate without the city, and John Gratian was
elected Sovereign Pontiff, on the 28th of April, 1045. “ His
good reputation,” says Glaber, “repaired the scandal given
by his predecessor.” Hermann Contract, a contemporary
writer, and Otho of Freisingen, bear the same witness in this
Pontiff’s favor. We may gather from the testimony of these
various writers, that the agreement entered upon by Benedict
IX. and Gregory VI., to obtain the resignation of the former,
was by no means simoniacal, as some writers have asserted.
The moderate pension of fifteen hundred pounds cannot be
regarded as a simony, for several councils, held in the early
ages of the Church, assigned as much to bishops deposed by

GREGORY VI. (A. D. 1045-1040).

59

them. Such, at least, was the opinion of a competent judge,
St Peter Damian, abbot of Fonte-Avellano, and one of the
most distinguished writers of his age. The saint thus wrote
to Pope Gregory VI., on learning his accession : “ I was thirst­
ing for the conviction that any thing good could come to us
from the Apostolic See, when the tidings of your promotion
came, at length, to refresh my weary soul. It is truly the hand
of God which changes the face of the times and transfers
kingdoms. Now, let the dove return to the ark, and, bearing
the green olive branch, gladden the earth at the return of
peace ! You are our hope for the restoration of the world.”
This letter may serve to show what view St. Peter Damian,
and with him, all the Christian world, now took of the reign of
Gregory VI.
26. Peter Damian was born at Ravenna, in the year 1007,
of a poor and numerous family. His earlier years were passed
in a state of such complete neglect that his mother often forgot
to give him his necessary nourishment. For this she was one
day bitterly upbraided by a servant-maid. “The savage
beasts of the forest,” said the indignant girl, “ do not, like you,
leave their young to die of hunger. This child may not be the
least of his family.” The prediction of the humble woman
was verified beyond any thing that she herself could have
imagined. One day, while tending his brother’s swine, he
found a piece of money—a real fortune for the poor boy. He
began to deliberate upon the use to which he should put the
new-found treasure; but, at length, he said within himself:
“ The pleasure it could procure me would soon pass away ; I
had better give it to a priest, that he may offer up the Holy
Sacrifice for my father’s soul.” He did so ; and God blessed
the pious thought One of his brothers, who had become
arch-priest of Ravenna, took charge of Peter’s education.
Damian studied first at Faenza, then at Parma, under the
celebrated Doctor Ivo. So rapid was his progress in humani­
ties, that he was soon able to teach them ; and his reputation
drew a great number of disciples from all parts. Though rich

60

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

in wealth and honors, he did not yield to the temptations of
vanity and pleasure, which might have proved the shoals of
his youth. “ Why bind myself to these perishable goods ?” he
said within himself. “ If I must one day quit them, why not
now make the sacrifice of them to God ?” Convinced by his
own reasoning, he hastened at once to Fonte-Avellano, a soli­
tary spot in the diocese of Eugubio, in Umbria, where St.
Romuald had for some time made his abode. The regular,
fervent, and austere life of Peter Damian drew upon him the
suffrages of the religious, and he became their abbot. The
letters of the holy and learned monk afford the most curious
collection we have, on the manners and history of the eleventh
century. They breathe something of the vigor of St. Jerome,
softened by a touch of Salvian’s melancholy. As a religious
he sighed over the vices which he lashed as a writer. Such
was St. Peter Damian, who hailed the accession of Gregory VI.
as the harbinger of an epoch of moral renaissance.
27. The wise Pontiff, whose glory it had been to free the
Church from a disgraceful yoke, proved himself worthy of the
sovereign power, as much by the zeal with which he wielded, as
by the noble disinterestedness with which he resigned it. lie
found the temporal domains of the Church so far diminished
that they hardly furnished the Pope with the means of an
honorable maintenance. As guardian of the rights of the
Church, he hurled an excommunication against the usurpers.
The infuriated plunderers marched upon Rome with an armed
force. The Pope also raised troops, took possession of St.
Peter’s church, drove out the wretches who stole the offerings
laid upon the tombs of the Apostles, took back several estates
belonging to the domain of the Church, and secured the safety
of the roads, upon which pilgrims no longer ventured to travel
except in caravans. This policy displeased the Romans, who
had now become habituated to plunder.
Their complaints
induced Henry III., king of Germany, to hurry to Italy, and
to summon a council at Sutri, during the Christmas festival, to
inquire whether the election of Gregory should be regarded as

CLEMENT Π. (A. D. 104G-1047).

61

aimonlacal. The Pope and the clergy entertained the sincere
conviction that they were justified in bringing about, even by
means of money, the abdication of the unworthy Benedict, thus
to end the scandal which so foully disgraced the Holy See.
As opinions were divided on this point, Gregory VI., to set all
doubts at rest, stripped himself, with his own hands, of the
Pontifical vestments, and gave up to the bishops his pastoral
staff. Having given to the world this noble example of self­
denial. Gregory withdrew to the monastery of Cluny, bearing
with him the consciousness of a great duty done. He died
in that holy solitude in the odor of sanctity.

§ IV. Pontificate of Clement II. (December 25,
October 9, 1047.)

a. d.

1046—

28. The see left vacant by the magnanimous humility of
Gregory VI., was bestowed, by general consent, upon Suidger,
bishop of Bamberg, whom King Henry had brought with him
to Rome. The new Pope, whose elevation was due only to
universally known and acknowledged virtues, took the name of
Clement IL, and was crowned on Christmas-Day (a. d. 1046) ; in
the same solemnity he bestowed the imperial title and crown
upon Henry III., and his queen, Agnes, daughter of William,
duke of Aquitaine. Shortly after his promotion, the Pope held
a council at Rome, to settle the question of precedence
between the sees of Ravenna and Milan. The decision was
given in favor of Ravenna. The council also discussed the
statutes relative to simony, which was openly practised through­
out the West. Among other decrees, it was decided that any
cleric consenting to receive orders from a bishop known to bo
guilty of simony, should not exercise ecclesiastica’ functions
until he had atoned by a penance of forty days.
29. The Emperor Henry, during his sojourn in Rome, sent
for St. Peter Damian to assist the Pope by his counsels. The
illustrious religious thus wrote to tire Pontiff, in excuse for
not complying : “ Notwithstanding the emperor’s request, so

62

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

expressive of his benevolence in my regard, I cannot devote to
journeys the time which I have promised to consecrate to
God in solitude. I send the imperial letter, in order that
your Holiness may decide, if it become necessary. My soul is
weighed down with grief when I see the churches of our
provinces plunged into shameful confusion through the fault of
bad bishops and abbots. What does it profit us to learn that
the Holy See has been brought out from darkness into the
light, if we still remain buried in the same gloom of ignominy ?
But we hope that you are destined to be the savior of Israel.
Labor then, Most Holy Father, once more to raise up the
kingdom of justice, and use the vigor of discipline to humble
the wicked and to raise the courage of the good.”
30. On his return to Germany, Henry took the Pope with
him. The city of Beneventum refused to open its gates to the
Sovereign Pontiff, who, at the emperor’s request, pronounced
against it a sentence of excommunication. Clement made but
a short visit to his native land, and hastened back to Rome.
His apostolic zeal led him to visit, in person, the churches of
Umbria, the deplorable condition of which he had learned
from the letter of St. Peter Damian. On reaching the monas­
tery of St. Thomas of Aposello, he was seized with a mortal
disease, before having accomplished the object of his journey.
His last thought was for his beloved church of Bamberg, to
which he sent, from his dying couch, a confirmation of all its
former privileges, assuring it, in the most touching terms, of
his unchanging affection. Clement II. died on the 9th of
October, 1047, and his remains were taken to Bamberg, in
obedience to the dearest wish of his heart.

§ V. Pontificate of Benedict IX. (Second Period), (November,
a. d. 1047—July 17, 1048).

31. On Christmas-Day, 1047, Henry III. was at Polden, in
Saxony, celebrating the anniversary of his coronation and of
the exaltation of his friend, Clement IL, when deputies

BENEDICT IX. (A. D. 1047-1048).

63

arrived with the tidings of the Pontiff’s death. What a
striking lesson on the brevity of all earthly greatness, given
in the midst of festal rejoicings ! The envoys also begged that
the vacant see might be given to Ilalinard, archbishop of
Lyons, a prelate of distinguished worth, who would have
made the happiness of the world, and the glory of the Holy
See, but that his unyielding humility steadily refused the
great dignity thus pressed upon him. The Romans thus
showed themselves true to the engagement made with the
emperor in the preceding year, to hold no Pontifical election
without his permission. But while these negotiations were
carried on in Germany, events had taken a new turn at Rome.
Benedict IX. was tired of his solitary and retired life. Ambi­
tion again took in his heart the place so long filled by other
and even more shameful passions. The power which had first
raised him to the Pontifical Chair was still strong enough to
restore him to it again ; and, to the consternation of the Chris­
tian world, he whom Peter Damian had styled “the poisonous
viper of the Church,” “ another Simon,” a “ new Giezi," once
more appeared upon the Chair of St. Peter (November 8, a. d.
1047). He held it eight months; but yielding, at length, to
repentance, and opening his heart to divine grace, he called
for Bartholomew, the saintly abbot of the monastery of Grot ta
Ferrata, made a full confession of all his sins, and asked the
holy religious to point out the path by which he might find
rest to his soul. Faithful to his high calling, Bartholomew
spoke to him the words of truth. He assured him that it
was no longer allowed him to exercise even the duties ot the
priesthood, and persuaded him to give up at once all the ambi­
tious aims which had ruined his life, in order to devote himself
entirely to seeking a reconciliation with God by sincere penance.
Benedict, great at length, because he had learned humility,
followed the advice, voluntarily abdicated the Pontifical digni­
ty, and embraced the monastic life, under the guidance of the
holy abbot who had just placed him in the way of salvation:
he died, a lowly religious, in the convent of Gratta Ferrata.

44

GENERAL HISTORY OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

§ VI. Pontificate of Damasus II. (July 17,
August 8, 1048).

a. d.

1048—

32. On the very day of Benedict’s final abdication, the
Pontifical tiara was bestowed upon Poppo, bishop of Brixen,
whom the emperor had offered to the Roman suffrage, as a dis­
tinguished and virtuous prelate. He was elected under the
name of Damasus IL, and did little more than take his seat
upon the chair of St. Peter ; dying at Prœneste, twenty-three
days after his promotion (August 8, a. d. 1048). The heritage
of Damasus was to fall into able and prudent hands, destined
to repair the ravages of past storms, and to prepare the way
*br great deeds to come.

LEO LX. 'A. D. 1040-inMi.

CHAPTER III.
§ I. Pontificate

of

St. Leo IX. (February 11, a. ο. 1049—April 19, 1054).

I. Election of Bruno, bishop of Tool, to the Sovereign Pontificate.—2. Coun­
cil of Rome.—3. Council of Pavia. St. John Gnalbert founds the *Mona
·
tery of Vallia Umbrosa.—4. Conncil of Rheims.—5. Council of MenU.—
6. Berengarius. Lanfranc.—7. Heresy of Berengarius.—8. His condem­
nation.—9. Michael Cernlarius. Eastern schism.—10. Closing acts of the
lite of St Leo

§ IL Pontificate

of

Victor II. (April 13, a. d. 1055—July 98, 1057).

II. Election of Pope Victor II.—12. Question of Tnvutituru.—13. Zeal and
humility of Pope Victor II.—14. Councils of Lyons and of Tonra.—15.
State of the Catholic world.—16. Death of the Emperor Henry ΠΙ. Death
of Pope Victor II.

§ III. Pontificate of Stephen X. (August 2, a. d. 1057—March 20, 1058).

17. Election of Stephen X.—18. His zeal for ecclesiastical reform.—19. St.
Peter Damian a Cardinal.—20. Death of Stephen X.
§ IV. Schism

of

Benedict X. (April 5, a. d. 1058—January, 1059).

21, Schismatical election of Benedict X. Protest of St. Peter Damian.—
22. Deposition of Benedict X. Election of Nicholas IL

§ V. Pontificate of Nicholas II. (January 31. a. d. 1059—June 24, 1061).
Ί3. Council of Rome. The election of Popes reserved to the Cardinal
*.
The
right of confirmation assigned to the Emperors of Germany.—24. Council
of Amalfi. Treaty between Nicholas II. and Robert Guiscard.—25. Here·?
of the Nicholaites. St. Peter Damian legate to Milan.—36. Mission of
St. Hugh, abbot of Cluny, and of Cardinal Etienne, to France.—27. Rel
*
tions of Nicholas II. with tbe various Christian powers.—38. Disord· rs
in the court of Henry IV. Death of Nicholas II.

1 VI. Pontificate of Alexander II. (September 30, 1061—April 20,107:>χ
29. Election of Alexander II. Cadalous, bithop of Parma, antipope, tinder
the name of Honorius IL—3°. Struggle between the lawful Pontitf and
the antipope. Deposition of Cadaloua.—31. Heresy of the Incestuous —
Vol. UL—5

OtJ

GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

83. St Peter Ignene.—S3. Attempt of Henry IV. to repudiate hi» lawful
wife. Legation of Peter Damian to tlio emperor.—34. Death of St. Peter
Damian. His works.—35. Conquest of England by William, duke of Nor­
mandy.—30. Illustrious saints under the Pontificate of Alexander II,—
37. Discipline, or self-flagellation.—38. Death of Alexander IT.

§ I. Pontificate

of

St. Leo IX. (February 11,
April 19, 1054).

a. d.

1049—

1. When the unexpected news of the death of Damasus
IT. reached Germany, the Emperor Henry III. was holding a
diet, or general assembly of the nobles and prelates, at Worms.
Among the dignitaries of the Church, present on the occasion,
was a holy bishop of illustrious birth. It was Bruno, bishop
of Toul, count of Hapsburg, a relative of Conrad the Salic, and
cousin of Gerard of Alsace, duke of Upper Lorraine, to whom
the present house of Lorraine traces its pedigree. His ecclesi­
astical preferment was, however, rather due to his personal
worth than to his noble alliances ; and he had already worn
the mitre twenty-two years. During this long administration,
he gave particular attention to the reform of monasteries ; and
later, he had acted as mediator between Rodolph, king of
Burgundy, and Robert, king of France.
Repeated journeys
ito Rome had made him thoroughly acquainted with the actual
•needs of the Church, and the best remedies to be applied.
The emperor and the whole diet pointed him out to the suf­
frages of the Romans. His earnest resistance was forced to
yield to the general wish and entreaty. He started from Toul
on foot, and in a pilgrim’s dress, to take his seat upon the first
throne in the world. As he drew near to Rome, the whole
city came forth to welcome him with songs of gladness. After
paying his devotions to the tomb of the apostles, he announced
to the clergy and people the choice which the emperor had
made of him, begging them freely to make known their will,
whatever it might be, that the election might be carried on in
accordance with the canonical rule. “We came in spite of
ourself,’’ he added. “ and shall be happy to return if our eleo-

ST. LEO IX. (A

D. 1049-10M).

G7

tion does not meet with unanimous approval.” The multitude
replied to these humble protestations by hearing the new Pope
in triumph to the palace of St. John Lateran, and St. Leo IX.
was thus enthroned by acclamation, on the 12th of February,
a. d. 1049.
Bruno was accompanied by a youthful and saintly
religious of noble and lofty character, endowed with a quick
and penetrating mind and of exemplary regularity, who was to
illustrate the name of Hildebrand. The monk for whom such
a high destiny was in store, was a native of Rome. In return­
ing him to his native land, Leo bestowed upon the Romans a
splendid gift in return for the crown he had just received at
their hands.
2. On the very day following his instalment the holy and
laborious Pontiff began the work of reforming the many abuses
under which the Church was groaning. He openly announced
his intention of dealing severely with simony, and of suspending
from ecclesiastical functions all whom he found tainted with I ho
sin. This evil was so prevalent that the declaration at once
drew protests from all the Italian bishops, who assured the
Pope that if the measure were carried into execution, the pas­
toral ministry must, by the very fact, cease in most churches.
This was but a fresh incentive to the Pontiff’s zeaL Taking
but the time necessary to assemble the Italian bishops in Rome,
he opened a council twenty-six days after his enthronement
The crime of simony, which he was resolved to pursue in all
its forms and by all the means in his power, was anathematized
in a series of disciplinary canons. Leo had first shown a de­
termination to cut off the evil at the root, by suspending those
who had wittingly been ordained by a simoniacal prelate ; but
at the prayer of the bishops, he contented himself with renew­
ing the sentence of his predecessor, Clement II., admitting the
offenders to the functions of the sacred ministry after the per­
formance of public penance.
3. As, of old, St. Peter visited the churches of Judea, to
confirm them in the spirit of faith and fervor, so St. Leo IX
would visit th a various churches of the West, to restore the

OS

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

discipline so long in a state of desuetude, and to combat the
spirit of disorder and darkness which ruled without restraint
Ilis Pontificate was one continued journey, undertaken for the
good and edification of the Church. We first find him in Pavia,
at the head of a council, promulgating for Upper Italy the laws
which he had just decreed against simony and clerical incon­
tinence. In the course of his journey he visits Vallis Umbrosa,
an already well-known monastery, lately founded under some­
what remarkable circumstances, by a noble Florentine, St.
John Gualbert (a. d. 1039). Gualbert’s brother had been mur­
dered by a gentleman of the country, with whom he was on
unfriendly terms. It happened, on Good Friday, that John,
attended by his men-at-arms, met his brother’s murderer. The
sight of the guilty man inflamed in his heart the desire of ven­
geance, and, drawing his sword, he was about to kill him.
The murderer fell upon his knees, and, holding his arms in the
form of a cross, besought him by the Passion of Jesus Christ, who
s'-ili’ered on that day, to spare his life. The young nobleman,
deeply affected by the appeal, held out his hand to the mur­
derer of his brother, and meekly said to him, “ I cannot refuse
what is asked in the name of Jesus Christ. I give you not
only your life, but my friendship forever. Beg of God that He
may pardon me my sin.” John Gualbert was a new man. His
only ambition now was to devote himself entirely to the service
of God. After a novitiate of some years in the monastery of
San Miniato, in Florence, he withdrew to a lonely valley, deeply
shaded by willows (Vallis Umbrosa), where he founded a con­
vent under the reformed rule of St. Benedict, and even more
austere than the congregation of Cluny. St. John Gualbert
was the first, except choir religious, who received into his order
converts, or Zey-brothers, for the discharge of external offices.
4. Such were the man and the institution distinguished by
St. Leo with especial honor. It *
s
w
part of his plan of
universal restoration to surround himself with all the elements
that could secure the triumph of his reforms. Immediately
alter the close of the Council of Pavia, the Pope visited Cologne,

ST. LEO IX. (A. D. 1019-1054».

69

t·» confer with Henry III. on the most effectual means to rid
h® empire of simony and clerical incontinence, those two
plague-spots which he had undertaken to remove from the body
of the Church. He then signified his intention of visiting
France, to preside over a national council, and to provide for
the wants of that country by promulgating the wise decrees he
was striving to enforce in Italy and Germany. This report
alarmed the simoniacal prelates, and the nobles who were in
possession of unjustly acquired church property. The king of
France, Henry L, was beset with base intrigues, to deter him
from lending the weight of his authority to the convocation of
the council mentioned by Leo IX. It was represented to him
that the honor and prerogatives of his crown were at stake if
the Pope performed any such act of jurisdiction within his
kingdom. The weak monarch yielded to the false reasoning.
He informed the Sovereign Pontiff that being at that moment
deeply engaged with some military movements, he should be
unable to meet him at Rheims, and he therefore begged him to
defer his intended visit. The leading principle of St. Leos
heroic zeal was to face all difficulties at the outset. He thus
answered the French envoys : “We cannot break our engage­
ment with St. Remigius ; we shall go to dedicate his church ; we
rely upon the piety of the French nation; and if we find at
Rheims any prelates whose souls are more obedient to thecali
of religion than to fear of the monarch, with them will we hold
the intended council.” The Pope accordingly appeared >n
Rheims on the 2d of October, a. d. 1049. He had not miscalcu­
lated the love and veneration of the people of France for the head
of the Church. He was met by an immense multitude of the
faithful, gathered together from all the surrounding provinces.
In their presence he proceeded to the solemn authentication of
the relics of St. Remigius, which he wished to bear in person
to the new church, just raised in honor of the holy Apostle of
the Franks, after which he gave his attention to the chief ob­
ject of his journey—the holding of a national council. The
Jeciees of Rome and Pavia, against simony ami relaxation <'·’

7U

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

discipline, were solemnly promulgated. The Pope deposed
several scandalous prelates, received others to penance, and
showed the most merciful indulgence toward those who gave
signs of sincere repentance. The Council of Rheims (1049) was
peculiar in this, that all the sessions were opened by the sing­
ing of the Veni Creator. This is the first witness we find of
the antiquity of this hymn, of which the author is unknown.
5. Having thus attended to the wants of religion in France,
the tireless *Pontifi returned to Germany, where he held a sec­
ond council, at Mentz, in November, a. d. 1049. The emperor,
the bishops, and the leading members of the German nobility
were present. The council, like that held in France, was chiefly
concerned in rooting out the evils caused in the country by
simony and the sacrilegious marriages of priests. It was oo
this occasion that the Pope made the archbishops of Cologne
arch-chancellors of the Roman Church and cardinal-priests of
the title of St.-John-before-thc-Latin-Gatc. Both these digni­
ties have now passed into disuse, and the archbishops of
Cologne derive from them only the privilege of wearing the
red dress of the cardinals. Leo returned to Italy immediately
after the close of the council. On his way through Lorraine
he took with him Humbert, abbot of Moyen-Moutier, whom he
made bishop and cardinal, and who soon after became one of the
most illustrious prelates of his age, both by his learning and by
his valuable services to the Church. At Siponto, at the foot of
Monte Gargano, the Pope held another council, which deposed
two simoniacal archbishops (a. d. 1050). Λ few months later a
general council of the Italian bishops was convoked, at Rome,
to condemn the heresy of Berengarius.
6. The lessons of St. Fulbert of Chartres had given a
powerful impulse to the study of theology. Among the many
disciples who thronged to hear his eloquent teachings, he had
marked one of those proud, rash spirits, unsatisfied by truth,
seemingly governed by some hidden affinity for error and para­
dox, ever the sport of a wild and unbridled imagination. The
youth was Berengarius. After some years spent in the sohoo)

8T. LEO IX. (A. D. 1M9-1064).

71

of St. Fulbert, he returned to Tours, his native city, and opened
public conferences, at first with great success. His address w:u»
animated and brilliant ; he displayed a remarkable erudition for
his day, and possessed the faculty of pleasing the masses. Bui
he showed more wit than deep learning, more brilliancy than
solidity, and his success was due rather to a bold and new
style than to the true offspring of genius—great and deep
thought. Still his doctrine had hitherto been as unimpeachable
as his life was regular; there was nothing as yet in the young
and brilliant professor that could foreshadow the future heresiarch. Wounded self-love was the stumbling-block which caused
his fall. He heard one day that a learned stranger had come
from Pavia, where he had successfully studied theology and
profane literature, and was now bringing to France the treasures
of science gathered beyond the mountains. It was, indeed,
Lanfranc, a learned Italian, on his way to the monastery lately
founded by St. Ilerluin, at Bee, and which his name was des­
tined to clothe with glory. Berengarius wished to hold a dis­
putation with the stranger, whom his vanity represented to
him as a rival. These literary jousts, in which science tilted
with the arms of courtesy, were much practised at this period.
Berengarius was worsted, and his pride could not brook the de­
feat. Lanfranc was soon afterward named écolâtre (scholas­
ticus) or professor, at the monastery of Bee, and his lectures
were attended by all the youth of France. The school of
Tours was soon emptied by his reputation. Berengarius, hoping
to win by novelties what he had lost by a crushing compari­
son with a superior rival, became a sectary.
7. Taking up the discussion raised in the ninth century, ou
the mystery of the Eucharist, he publicly taught that our
Lord Jesus Christ is not really and substantially present in the
adorable Sacrament of the altar, but in a figurative manner,
and by impanation, as was afterward held by Luther, the leader
of *
Protestantism.
Scotus Erigena had said the same a hun* It may be useful to remark that the Lutheran
*
and Calvinists have tried to establish a
kind of historical tradition of their errors on the dogma of the real presence 0/ quoting

72

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

drod years before, when Paschasius Radbertus eloquently vin­
dicated the Catholic doctrine. Still Berengarius had followers.
He must also found a school ; but in the course of his reasoning
he did not long hold the same opinions. In short, his was the lot
of all hcrcsiarchs. who are ever doomed to wander more widely
in proportion as they recede from the centre of unity. Beren­
garius affected to cloak his errors with the name of Scotua
Erigena. Lanfranc did not hesitate to enter the lists even on
that ground ; he defended Paschasius Radbertus and the Cath­
olic belief in the real presence. Meanwhile the new heresy
was progressing.
Hugh, bishop of Langres, took the field
against it. Such was the position of affairs when St. Leo IX.
jailed the case before his tribunal, in the Council of Rome, held
in 1050. The new doctrine was condemned, and its author
summoned to defend himself, in person, before a more numer­
ous council, convoked in the same year at Vercelli.
8. Instead of answering the summons, Berengarius was
busy spreading his error in Normandy. Duke William called
together, at Brionne, the most learned bishops and abbots of
his states, to confer with the heresiarch. Berengarius was
covered with confusion. Returning to Chartres, he wrote to the
clergy of that church a letter full of insults against the Pope
uid the Roman Church. In speaking of Leo he styles him not
pontifex, but pompifex ; the Roman Church is no longer Catho­
lic, but Satanic. This is a foretaste of Luther’s style of ad­
dress toward Leo X. The Council of Vercelli, nevertheless,
prosecuted the matter.
The work of Scotus Erigena was
solemnly condemned and consigned to the flames. The first
sentence of Rome against Berengarius was renewed; and “he
who wished,” says Lanfranc, “ to deprive the Church of the
communion of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, was himself
cast out from the bosom of the Church.” The new error had taken
rise in the heart of France ; and all France rose up against it, and
tbe authority of tho heretics of the ninth and eleventh centuries, as though Berengarius
who was condemned in 1050 by the Pope and councils, could bo deemed a faithful rept»·
eentative of the belief of his age

ST. LEO IX. (A. 1). 1049-1054).

73

ogainst its author. Bishops, nobles, abbots, the most learned
members of the clergy, hastened from ail parts of the land to
meet in Paris ; and there, in the presence of King IT· nry I.,
their unanimous voice was raised in condemnation of Bercngarius and his followers, and they declared that unless Xhe here­
tics infracted, “the army of France, led by the clergy in
ecclesiastical dress, would hunt them out of every lurkingplace, and force them to submit, with the alternative of death
if they refused.” Berengarius still held out against this over­
whelming unanimity of opposition, and continued in his errors
until the Pontificate of St. Gregory VII., when he sincerely
abjured them in a council held at Home (a. d. 1078), and with­
drew to the monastery of St. Cosmo, near Tours, where he died,
after a course of sincere penance.
9. The grief experienced by St. Leo, on seeing the broken
chain of heresies taken up again by Berengarius in the West,
was greatly increased by the tidings of the revolt of the By­
zantine Greeks against the Roman Church. The Patriarchs
of Constantinople had long aimed at spiritual supremacy in the
East, and made every effort to obtain from the Popes the con­
firmation of the presumptuous title of Ecumenical Patriarch,
which they had arrogated to themselves on their own authority.
The dogma of the Roman primacy, on the other hand, was so
unquestionable, that the Patriarchs dared not generally attack
or openly disavow it. lienee arose a hard struggle between
conscience and passion, submission and revolt. The straggle
had its crises ; and we have at last reached the decisive one.
Michael Cerularius, who had once been banished for his share
in a political conspiracy, afterward embraced a religious life
ami was taken from his monastery by Constantine Monomachus
to sit upon the Patriarchal throne of Constantinople. The
character of the new Patriarch was about equally compounded
of ambition, pride, a love of display, an anxious and restless
spirit. To him the Apostolic sovereignty of the Roman Church
was but a hateful superiority, which it was his aim to over­
throw. Resuming all the charges brought against the Latins

74

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

by Photius, he added some of his own to the list, such as not
chanting the Alleluia in Lent; eating the flesh of animals that
had been strangled ; conferring baptism by a single immersion;
consecrating unleavened bread (upon which point he dwelt
with special emphasis); not honoring the relics and images of
saints ; shaving the beard, etc. With the assistance of Leo of
Acrida, metropolitan of Bulgaria, and Nicetas, a monk of
Studium, he drew up a synodal letter, setting forth all these
grounds of complaint, and excommunicated the Roman Church,
in the name of the Greeks, the faithful guardians of the evangelic
faith. Michael began the work of separation by closing all the
churches and monasteries of the Latins throughoùt his juris­
diction, until they should conform to the Greek rite. lie ex­
communicated all who had recourse to the Holy See, and
rebaptized all the faithful who had received the sacrament
according to the Roman rite. St. Leo answered Michael Cerularius by a long letter, in which he vindicated the Roman
Church with equal erudition and mildness. He showed, in
their true light, all the points of dogma, or of mere discipline,
assailed by the Greeks : he dwelt upon the procession of the
Holy Ghost, the custom of consecrating unleavened bread, etc.
The letter was sent to Constantinople in charge of three
legates, among whom was the learned Cardinal Humbert. The
Roman envoys easily confuted the empty quibbles of Cerularius and his adherents. But as it formed no part of the Patri­
arch’s desire to clear up particular points of doctrine, but only to
throw off the supremacy of the Roman See, he gave but little
heed to the unanswerable demonstrations of the legates. For
him the question was removed from the sphere of theology ; it
was resumed in this one point : “ The seat of the empire having
been transferred by Constantine to the shores of Asia, the
spiritual sovereignty was no longer due to Rome, but to Con­
stantinople.” Hence theological proofs and arguments carried
no conviction to his mind. The Pope’s legates then did tho
only thing that could have been of any possible use. They
went to the church of St. Sophia, on the 16th of July, a. u 1054,

8T. LEO IX. (A. D. 10VM0M).

and, in the presence of the whole people, solemnly laid upon
the altar a sentence of excommunication against Michael Cert»·
larius and his adherents. In leaving the Basilica, they shook
the dust from their feet, exclaiming: “ May God behold and
judge!” And then the ambassadors of the Holy See returned
to Rome. Photius did not hesitate to use a lie when the
triumph of his cause was at stake. Cerularius was true to this
traditional faithlessness. He translated the sentence of ex­
communication into Greek, falsifying its leading clauses, and,
thus altered, it was read to the people. The crafty prelate
gave himself the satisfaction of excommunicating, in turn, the
Sovereign Pontiff, and of erasing his name from the sacred di ptychs. He wrote to the three Eastern Patriarchs, urging all
the arguments that pride and hatred could suggest, to withdraw
them from the communion of the Roman Church. The effect
produced by these letters upon the Patriarchs of Alexandria
ami Jerusalem is not known. The prelate of Antioch answered
by vindicating the Latins from some of the charges, blaming
them on others, but not to an extent that could warrant a sep­
aration. Michael Cerularius. disregarding these considerations,
continued his unceasing efforts to spread and strengthen the
schism, during the short reigns of Theodora and Michael Stn>
tonicus, who successively held the imperial sceptre after the
death of Constantine Monomachus (a. d. 1054-1057). He be­
came yet bolder under Isaac Comnenus, whose usurpation he had
helped ; but his rashness caused his fall. Comnenus, unable
to bear with his presumption, banished him to the island of
Proconnesus (1059), where he died the same year. The schism
did not expire with its author, nor yet was it irretrievably con­
summated. Nothing was yet formally decided against the
Roman primacy ; but if the Greek Church was not entirely
separated, it was still full of schismatics and reduced to a des­
perate condition. Deprived of its divine life-giving principle
and reduced to a purely political existence, it enjoyed from that
moment, and only at intervals, a semblance of unity and life.
The Eastern empire was falling back into a state of greater

76

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

weakness than ever. The divided strength of the Arabs gave
rise to a new power, which was beginning to insult the Greek
frontiers. This new element (the Turkish) was of Tartar origin;
its seat of power, the shores of the Caspian Sea. Some of these
people dwelt in cities and had fixed abodes, others lived a roving
life, under leaders of their own choice. The bravest and most
successful of these chiefs was Seljuk, who seized upon Khorassan,
embraced Islamism, and founded the Seljukian dynasty. His
son, Togrul-Beg, having lent the support of his arms to Cay era,
caliph of Bagdad, received the dignity of Emir-al-Omrah, with
the exercise of unlimited power. He possessed himself of the
greater part of Persia, and was the first sultan of his dynasty.
His sword passed into the hands of his nephew, Alp-Arslan
(1062), who carried its conquering sway to the bounds of the
Greek empire. Such was the power which was to succeed the
exhausted strength of the Arabs, and renew the struggle of Is­
lamism against Christianity. The Seljukian Turks reached this
degree of power at the time when Michael Cerularius was
drawing the Greek Church deeper into schism, under Constan­
tine Monomachus.
10. The course of events in the East has drawn us beyond
our chronological position. True to his projected course of
reform, St. Leo, after the Council of Vercelli, once more set
out for Germany ; reconciled the emperor to Andrew, king
of Hungary, and obtained his help against the Normans in Italy.
These strangers, who had settled in the kingdom of Naples,
under the Pontificate of Benedict VIII., had taken Apulia from
the Greeks and were now harassing the principality of Bene·
ventum, long since incorporated in the estates of the Holy
See. The Germans were defeated in the bloody battle of
Dragonara (a. d. 1053), and the Pope, who awaited the issue
of the contest in a neighboring city, also remained in the power
of the Normans. The conquerors prostrated themselves at his
feet, offered him the homage of their victories over the Greeks,
and received in advance a sort of investiture for what they
might yet acquire. Nor was it in vain. The two illustrious

VICTOR ÎT. (A. D. 1055-1051).

77

brothers, Robert and Roger Guiscard, during the latter half of
this century completed the conquest of all the possessions held
by the Greeks. To this they added Sicily, which they wrested
from the Saracens, thus forming the kingdom of the Two
Sicilies. All these acquisitions they presented in homage to
the Popes. Shortly before this expedition, Leo IX. had de­
cided the African primacy in favor of the bishop of Carthage.
The wretched hierarchy of the once flourishing church of Af­
rica was now reduced to five bishops, and they were divided
on a question of precedence.
After the defeat at Dragonara, the Pope returned to Rome.
He was but fifty years old, and promised still to console the
Church by many glorious deeds ; but death cut short the course
of his projects and immense labors of restoration and reform
(April 19, a. d. 1054). He had met with many obstacles to his
work from the clergy of Lombardy and Germany. These ob­
stacles, simony and incontinence, will increase through the sup­
port received from the secular power. The successors of Leo
IX., in their rapid passage, will want time to confirm so neces­
sary and so difficult a reform. But it shall be accomplished ;
for the treasures of divine mercy have in store the genius of
Hildebrand, appointed to raise up society, tottering upon the
brink of the abyss.

§ II. Pontificate of Victor II. (April 13,1055—July 28,1057).
11. At the time of Leo’s death, Hildebrand was as yet but
sub-deacon of the Roman Church; yet such was the genera)
confidence in his intelligence and virtue, that the Roman clergy
sent him at the head of an embassy to the Emperor Henry Hl.,
to ask that he would himself name the candidate he deemed
most worthy of the chair of St. Peter. An important modifi­
cation had lately been effected in the manner of the Pontifi­
cal elections, which were thenceforward to be exclusively re­
served to the cardinals (λ. d. 1054). These dignitaries under­
stood the necessity of maintaining, between the Church and

78

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

the empire, the union which constituted tho mutual strength
of the two powers ; and they thought it fitting, under the cir­
cumstances, to appeal to the tvisdom of Henry III. The cor­
rectness of his views had already been tested, and the glorious
Pontificate of St. Leo IX. had just given to the world a splen­
did proof that the emperor knew how to appreciate men.
Moreover, Hildebrand was intrusted with the management of
the delicate negotiation, and his tact was to remove or prevent,
all the difficulties that might arise. Henry called a general
diet of the empire at Mentz, and then at Augsburg, to decide
this important matter, and left the choice of the future Pontiff
to the judgment of Hildebrand, who named Gebhardt, bishop
of Eichstadt and chancellor of the empire. Gebhardt made a
most honorable resistance to the dignity thus forced upon him.
He carried his humility to an excess, of which the intention is
beyond all praise, even spreading reports unfavorable to him­
self, in order to escape a burden which he so much dreaded.
For six months he steadily held out in his refusal, and only
yielded at length to the emperor’s entreaties that he would
sacrifice his personal modesty to the good of the whole Church.
“ Since you require it,” said he, “ though deeply conscious of
my utter unworthiness, I obey your orders, and devote myself
without reserve to the service of St. Peter ; but you must also
promise to give to St. Peter what of right belongs to him.”
This remark applied to the ecclesiastical estates which Henry
III., like most of his contemporaries, unjustly retained without
a scruple.
12. At this period the great question which was soon to dis­
turb all the West, under the name of the war of investiture, was
just arising between the Popes and the emperors. “ To ap­
preciate its nature and importance,” says Monsignore Palma,
“ it must be borne in mind that, under the feudal system,
bishops and abbots, especially in Germany, held not only lands
and forests, but even castles and cities, as fiefs of the empire.
According to the laws then in force, the vassals of the mown
could enter into the possession of a fief only after an oath of

VICTOR ». (A. D. 1055-10M).

79

fealty anci homage, made to the emperor. The law was, in
all justice, as binding upon the ecclesiastical lords as upon
the other great vassals. But the way too easily led to abuse.”
By a usurpation of power, princes, failing to distinguish between
the domanial and spiritual authority, claimed to confer both by
investiture. They ordered that the pastoral staff and ring of a
deceased prelate or abbot, should be placed in their hands , and
these badges of the spiritual power they assumed the right of be­
stowing at pleasure : this was called the investiture by the ring and
crosier. Thus, in defiance of all canonical rules, the choice of
bishops was taken out of the hands of the diocesan clergy and
of the ipetropolitan, and that of the abbots from the religious
of their community. The emperor, who bestowed the badges of
authority, was supposed to confer the authority itself; and the
line of demarcation between the spiritual and the temporal pow­
er was thus ignored. What the episcopal or abbatial elections
could be, when in the hands of irreligious or even of simply ava­
ricious princes, may readily be imagined. Ecclesiastical trusts
and dignities became marketable commodities, and at once there
arose a great traffic in bishoprics and abbacies. Viewed in this
light, the question of investitures is no longer what it has been
represented by hostile writers—a question of self-love—a bloody
war about mere trifles ; it is the Church’s struggle for the free­
dom of her ministry, for the right which she has ever claimed,
in every age and under every form of government, of saving
souls and preaching the truths of the gospel.
13. The flame did not, however, break forth in the Pontifi­
cate of Gebhardt, who ascended the Papal throne under the
name of Victor II. (April 13, 1055). As chancellor of the
empire he had opposed all his influence to the call for help
against the Normans, addressed by his predecessor, Leo IX .
to the Emperor Henry III. Now that he found himself face to
face with that warlike people, whose arms were continually in­
vading some new province of the Holy See, he fully under­
stood the critical situation. He remembered now that the
bloody defeat of Dragonara was, to a certain extent, due to

80

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

him, since ho had dissuaded the emperor from sending a stronger
auxiliary force io Italy; and he bitterly exclaimed : Quod fecit
Saulus. Paulum· pati neccsse est! “It is just that Paul should
atone for the fault which Saul committed.” The holy Pontiff
studiously endeavored to walk in the footsteps of his predecessor.
In the year 1055 he held a great council in Florence, at which
the emperor was present. Here Victor solemnly confirmed all
the decrees of Leo IX. against the alienation of Church prop­
erty, against simony and incontinence in clerics, and, in fine,
against the heresy of Berengarius.
The Pontiff’s seventy
greatly incensed the guilty. His life was even attempted by
a sub-deacon, who threw poison into the chalice which Victor
used in celebrating the Holy Sacrifice. The intended crime was
discovered and thwarted by a miraculous interposition of Prov­
idence.
14. While the Sovereign Pontiff presided in person at the
Council of Florence, his legate, Hildebrand, held one in Lyons,
to check the ravages made by simony in the churches of Bur­
gundy. The Archbishop of Embrun was convicted of having
bought the episcopal dignity. He acknowledged his guilt and
was deposed. Lipert of Gap underwent a similar punishment,
and his see was given to a holy monk, named Arnoul (a. d. 1055).
Hildebrand convoked another council at Tours. Berengarius
appeared in person, and found himself in the presence of his
learned adversary Lanfranc. The heretic resorted to all the
subtleties, all the artifices of logic, to support his error ; but,
overcome at length by the superiority and powerful reasoning
of Lanfranc, he acknowledged himself defeated, placed a formal
retractation in the hands of the legate, and promised thenceforth
to hold no other belief, on the Sacrament of the Eucharist, than
that of the Catholic Church. This pledge also was soon to bo
broken.
The Emperor Henry III. sent deputies to the Council of
Tours, to complain that Ferdinand I., king of Castile, had as­
sumed the imperial dignity, and to request the Pope’s legate to
forbid him, under pain of excommunication, any further usurpa·

VICTOR U. (A. D. 1055-1051).

81

tion of a title to which he had no claim. The fathero of the
council and the Pope, who were consulted on the subject, pr<>
nounced Henry’s complaints well-founded, and bishops were
delegated to King Ferdinand to request that he would lay aside
his pretensions. The king, after having taken the advice of the
bishops and nobles of his realm, answered that he submitted to
the decree of the Apostolic See, and that he would no longer
assume the imperial title. This fact proves once more that the
tribunal of the Sovereign Pontiff was regarded, in the middle­
ages, as supreme arbiter of the great political questions arising
between sovereigns or nations. This was no usurpation of
power. The law of nations, then in force, had, so to speak,
raised up in the midst of the European governments a neutral
power, which should, in cases of extreme necessity, judge the
other powers. The propriety or seasonableness of such an in­
stitution may be questioned, it is a matter of history left to
individual appreciation. But it would be an act of the deepest
injustice to tax the Popes with ambition and abuse of power
in the exercise of their ministry as mediators of pacification,
with which they had been clothed by common consent.
15. The impulse had been given: councils were held in all
the provinces for the extirpation of simony and clerical inconti­
nence—for the restoration of discipline and the general reforma­
tion of morals. The decrees of Narbonne (a. d. 1054), Barcelo­
na (in the same year), Toulouse (1056), brought into southern
France and the north of Spain the blessing of a firmer and
more exact discipline. In Germany, Henry III. gave all his
care to the choice of zealous and worthy bishops. The zeal,
vigilance, and apostolic firmness of St. Anno, whom he had
lately called to the see of Cologne (1055), recalled the bright­
est lays of the primitive Church. In England, St. Edward
III., who has compelled the praise even of Protestant historians,
'' ruled his people with wisdom and mildness, lessened the
taxes, made good law's, and effected important improvements in
uie kingdom.” * In Spain, Ferdinand I., called the Great, who
• History of England, by Làamt.
Vol. HI.—β

82

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

had lately given so noble an example of submission to the Holy
See, was raising the united kingdoms of Castile and Navarre,
to a height of greatness and glory hitherto unparalleled. He
swept the Moors from the soil of Castile, and seated justice
and religion upon his throne.
16. The death of the Emperor Henry III. interrupted the
reign of peace and prosperity which was opening with such
bright promise for the West. The emperor had invited Victor
to meet him at Goslar (a. d. 1056). There he secured the recog­
nition of his son Henry IV., a child hardly five years old, as
king. To fix upon the brow of this too well-beloved boy the
weighty honor of the royal crown, he intrusted him to the
guardianship of the Pope and the Holy See. Victor II. ac­
cepted this legacy of a dying father. The royal ward found,
in the cooperation of the Papacy, an efficient means ,f suc­
cessfully coping with Baldwin of Flanders and Godfrey of
Lorraine, two vassals whose power often made their German
suzerains tremble. The tenderness of a father was certainly in
this case an evil counsellor. To give to federate Germany a child
of five years as chief, was an enormous political blunder. Hen­
ry would have done well to recall the noble example of the aged
Otho of Saxony, who, from his death-bed, sent the crown to
his rival, Conrad of Franconia. The welfare of the empire
should take precedence of all considerations of personal inter­
est. Besides, Henry IV. proved unworthy of the benefits of
the Holy See ; and on attaining his majority he left nothing
undone that could make the Popes repent of the services they
had done him in childhood.
Pope Victor II. did not outlive the emperor ; he died in
Tuscany, while returning from Germany (July 28, a. d 1057).
He was a Pontiff worthy to govern the Church for a longer
period. A remarkable bull of this Pope has been lately discov­
ered, reserving to the archbishop of Hamburg and of Bremen,
the ecclesiastical ordinations for all the countries of northern
Europe —Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Greenlandnow numbered among the Christian lands. As Greenland forms

STEPHEN X. (A. D. 1057-1050).

83

a kind of link with the New World, we can readily account
for the traces nnd altered traditions of Christianity found
among the native tribes of America, at the time of the immoF·
tai discovery of Christopher Columbus.
§ III. Pontificate of Stephen X. (August 2, a. d. 1057—
March 29,1058).

17. At the death of Victor II., the Roman clergy applied
for the choice of a successor to Cardinal Frederick, a prelate
of the ducal house of Lorraine, and one of the three legates
sent by St. Leo IX. to Constantinople at the time of the schism
of Michael Cerularius. On his return from this embassy, he
renounced the honors of the world and took the religious habit
in the monastery of Monte Cassino. He pointed out to their
sulfrages Cardinal Humbert and the Subdeacon Hildebrand, as
most worthy to fill the chair of St. Peter. His modesty did
not once admit the idea that their thoughts might turn to
his own promotion, and his surprise was only equalled by his
grief when he found himself borne amid general acclama­
tions to the church of St. Peter, in vincoii, and saluted Pope
under the name of Stephen X. (August 2, a. d. 1057). As
there was then no emperor, no confirmation was to be awaited.
The king of Germany, as such, had no more rights over the
Pontifical elections than the kings of France, Scotland, Spain,
or Hungary. The Holy Empire, created by the Sovereign
Pontiffs, with the mission of guarding the interests of the Holy
See, could alone, on that title, have claimed a right of protec­
tion and of assent.
18. Stephen X. inaugurated his Pontificate by the convo­
cation of several councils, to act against unworthy priests, who,
notwithstanding the wise regulations of St. Leo IX., still coutinued to dishonor the holiness of their ministry by a scandal­
ous depravity. All ecclesiastics who were convicted of having
violated the laws of clerical celibacy were deposed from their
functions. The Pope obliged them to break off their criminal

84

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

relations, subjected them to public penance, and pronounced
them incapable of celebrating the Sacred Mysteries. Tho
spirit of St. Leo IX. thus descended to his successors, for the
greater good of the Church. The ideas of reform passed from
the head, from the chief, to the members. When they pass
upward, from the members to the head, as in the time of
Luther, the result is anarchy, disorder, and schism.
19. Stephen X. hail marked and appreciated the eminent
merit of Peter Damian ; he created him cardinal-archbishop of
Ostia, the highest dignity in the Sacred College. The consent
of the humble religious to wear the gaudy yoke was only
forced by a threat of excommunication. The Pope was obliged
to seize his hand to put him in possession of the pastoral staff
and ring. The new cardinal thus addressed his colleagues in
a letter which is preserved as a monument of eloquence and
zeal : “ The sentries standing guard about a camp, or on the
bâillements of a city, in the darkness of night now and then
interchange a word of warning to guard against the neighboring
foe. Stationed, in spite of myself, among the sentinels posted
before the camp of the Church, I raise my voice to you, vener­
able Fathers. You see the world tottering to ruin ; the disci­
pline of the Church is almost entirely disregarded ; bishops
receive not the reverence due to their sacred dignity; the
canons are trampled upon, and men work only to satisfy their
covetous desires. In the universal wreck, amid so many
whirling eddies of perdition, but one harbor is left open : the
Roman Church, the bark of the poor fisherman, ready to snatch
from the fury of the storms and billows all those who seek it
with sincerity, and to bear them safely to the shore of salva­
tion and lasting rest.”
20. Stephen wished likewise to use the talents and virtues of
the Abbot Didier for the benefit of the Church at large. Didier
was one of the greatest and holiest men of his time. Though
a member of the illustrious and princely house of Beneventum,
he had embraced the monastic life ; his virtues raised him to
the abbacy of Monte Cassino. The Pope, who watched the

BENEDICT X. (A. D. 1058-1059).

85

course of the Eastern Church with unceasing solicitude, hoped
that the disgrace of Michael Cerularius, and the accession of
Constantine Ducas to the empire, would open a way more
favorable to negotiations with the Holy See. He called upon
Didier to act as ambassador to Constantinople. The abbot
immediately repaired to Bari, to await an opportunity of setting
out.
But the premature death of Stephen X. (March 29,
a. d. 1058) put an end to his hopes and plans, and Didier
returned to Monte Cassino. The Pope had gone to Florence,
for the purpose of holding other councils and of establishing
ecclesiastical discipline in Tuscany, when he was snatched
away by a sudden and violent disease. His loss was doubly
felt by the Church, which was thus deprived of a holy and
zealous pastor, and left at the mercy of factions and simony,
against which the Papacy had been so desperately struggling
since the time of St. Leo IX.

§ IV. Schism

of

Benedict *
X. (April 5, a. d. 1058—January,
1059).

21. So well established was the reputation of Hildebrand,
though still but a subdeacon, that Stephen X. ordered, on his
death-bed, that no election should be begun until his return.
Hildebrand had just been sent as Apostolic legate to the court
of Agnes, widow of Henry III., and regent of the kingdom of
Germany for her son, Henry IV. He who, as Gregory VII..
was afterward to struggle so heroically against the imperial
power of Henry IV., was now devoting himself, with unwearied
energy, to smooth the way to the throne for the royal ward of
the Holy See. He was sowing benefits to reap ingratitude.
Tho factions by which Rome was rent showed little respect
for the wishes of Stephen X. Gregory, count of Tusculum,
* According to tho most probable opinion, Benedict X. was an antipope; but, since ai»
n.itne appears in the Diario Ronwno, and as his successors of the same name havo Mr lad
themselves Benedici XIn Benedict XII., Ac., we have also given him bis chronologie»
runic.

86

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

too true lo the traditions of violence and injustice handed down
from his ancestors, ordered his troops, under cover of night, to
convey to the palace of St. John Lateran the Bishop of Velle·
tri, who took the name of Benedict X. Abundant largesses
were distributed among the people, and the intrusion was con­
summated. The utter incapacity of the antipope was so notori­
ous, that the spontaneous award of the Romans bestowed upon
him the surname of mincio (stupid). Meanwhile Hildebrand,
on learning the tidings of Stephen’s death, had at once set out
for Rome. He halted at Florence, where he received the united
protest of every honest heart in Rome, against the violence of
the Count of Tusculum and the intrusion of Benedict. Hilde­
brand was not the man to quail before the difficulties of a situa­
tion even so delicate as this. He sought the counsel of the
most enlightened cardinals, and heard their unanimous expres­
sion of indignation and contempt against the antipope. The
reply of Peter Damian was marked by an admirable frankness
and energy : “ He who now sits in the Holy See,” said the
cardinal, “ is a simoniac ; nothing can palliate the gravity of
his crime. Regardless of our protestations and of the anathe­
mas pronounced by the cardinals intrusted with the elections,
he was installed, under favor of darkness and tumult, by a
troop of armed men. The people were corrupted by a plentiful
distribution of money ; the treasury of St. Peter was drained
for the disciples of Simon. Besides, if he can but explain a
single line, I do not say of a psalm, but of the simplest homily,
I am willing to acknowledge him as lawful and true Pope. You
ask me to communicate my sentiments privately, to avoid all
personal risk. God forbid that on such an occasion my heart
should feel the slightest dread. I rather beg of you to make
this letter public, that every one may know on which side to
stand in the common danger.”
22. Strong in the credit of this letter, and the fullest
depositions of the Roman nobles to the same purpose, Hilde­
brand convoked a council at Sienna, where Gerard, bishop of
Florence, was chosen Sovereign Pontiff, under the name of

NICHOLAS II. (A. D. 10S9-UM1).

87

Nicholas II. (January 31, a.d. 1059). Were any consideration
capable of adding to the immortal glory of Hildebrand, it would
be the spirit of self-denial with which he directed the tiara to
those whom he thought worthy of it, without ever drawing a
look upon himself, or profiting of his boundless influence to
raise himself to the honors of the Sovereign Pontificate. As
scon as his election was confirmed, Nicholas II. called a coun­
cil at Sutri, and summoned the antipope to appear in per­
son before it. But Benedict, moved by remorse, did not await
his condemnation : he retired of his own accord into private
life. The Sovereign Pontiff went to Rome and took possession
of his see. The antipope threw himself at his feet, protesting
that he had suffered violence, and accusing himself, with sin­
cere humility, of treason and perjury. Nicholas was moved to
tears and released the penitent from the excommunication
pronounced against him, on condition that he should be deposed
from the sacred ministry, and withdraw to St. Mary-Major
Benedict X., now truly great in his repentance, accepted the
terms, and thus ended the schism, which had lasted nearly six
months.
§ V. Pontificate of Nicholas II. (January 31, a. d. 1059—
June 24,1061).

23. Nicholas II. brought to the chair of St. Peter an activity
and a zeal which have ranked his brief Pontificate among the
most useful to the Church. This Pontiff was a native of Bur­
gundy, and France may well be proud of her illustrious son.
In the month of April (1059) he held a council of one hundred
and thirteen bishops at Rome. “You are aware, my breth­
ren,” said he to the assembled prelates, “of the disorders
which followed the death of my predecessor, Stephen X. The
Holy See became the prey of unworthy simoniacs, and the
Church herself seemed for a moment in danger. To prevent
any similar abuse, in future, we decree, according to the au­
thority of the Fathers, that, at the death of the Pope, the

88

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

cardinal-bishops shall first treat of the election ; after which
the cardinal-priests may be called in, and it shall finally be
submitted to the consent of the other clergy and of the people.
The choice shall be made from within the bosom of the Roman
Church, if n worthy subject be found ; if not, he may be taken
from another Church. We wish, however, to reserve the honor
due to our beloved son, Henry, who is now king, and will soon,
if it please God, be emperor. The same honor will be paid to
his successors, to whom the Holy See may grant the same
right.” This solemn decree was signed by all the bishops
present. It clearly defined two points of considerable import­
ance, which had hitherto remained vague and undecided ; the
exclusive reservation of the Pontifical elections to the College
of Cardinals, and the right of confirmation that could be exer­
cised by the emperors. The preponderance given to the car­
dinals, as already established by St. Leo IX., rescued the
elections from the multiplied influences which might bear upon
the clergy, from popular outbreaks, and from the interference
of secular princes. The cardinals thus constituted a great and
powerful institution, which secured the dignity and independ­
ence of the Papal power. Like most other institutions, it rose
from a weak and obscure beginning. The name of cardinal
{cardo, a hinge or pivot) was once common to all bishops,
priests, and titulary deacons. In the beginning of the ninth
century, the seven bishops nearest to Rome, or suburbicarii, re­
ceived the title of cardinals, in a more particular manner, as
assessors or counsellors of the Holy See. The decree of Nicho­
las II. definitively assigned them the high rank they now
occupy. The clause relating to the right of confirmation pos­
sessed by the German emperors over the elections of the Sov­
ereign Pontiffs, is not less remarkable. It evidently views the
right as a free concession of the Holy See, and requiring its
consent before taking any effect whatever. History does, in­
deed, bear witness that the decree of Eugenius II., regulating
this matter, was a free and spontaneous act. The right as­
sumed by Theodoric, king of the Goths, and by the Emperor

NICHOLAS Π. (A. D. 1Ο5»-ΐηβ1).

Justinian, could establish neither precedent nor prescriptive
right, since it had ever been studiously contested or eluded by
the Romans. Afterward, the establishment of the Holy Em­
pire, as an armed protector of the Holy See, an establishment
wholly due to the influence of the Papacy, imposed upon the
emperors, as an indispensable corollary, the obligation and
privilege of guarding the freedom and canonical purity of the
Pontifical elections. This is the import of Nicholas’s decree.
After these two capital ordinances, the Council of Rome re­
newed the sentences and ecclesiastical penalties already de­
creed against simoniacal and irregular clerics. Berengarius,
whose ever-anxious and restless spirit wandered back and forth
between faith and heresy, once more appeared before the Pope
and the assembled prelates. He again signed a profession of
Catholic faith, and bound himself by oath to adhere to it ; with
his own hands he committed his writings to the flames, and a
few months later perjured himself again.
24. Immediately after the Council of Rome, the Pope held
another at Amalfi, for the purpose of putting a peaceful end to
the struggle which the Papacy had sustained against the Nor­
mans in Italy since the Pontificate of St. Leo IX. This peo­
ple had gained so firm a footing in the Neapolitan provinces,
that there could be no hope of expelling them by force. Nicho­
las II. saw the expediency of treating with them, to check
their ravages by voluntary concessions. They were them­
selves desirous of putting their conquests under the patronage
of the Pontifical authority. Richard and Robert Guiscard,
their most powerful chiefs, had even opened negotiations for
this purpose with the Holy See. The Pope granted their de­
sire, solemnly received their submission, in the Council of
Amalfi, and consequently absolved them from the excommuni­
cation they had before incurred. The Normans gave up those
portions of the domain of St. Peter which they had seized, and
received the investiture of Apulia and Calabria, with the ex­
ception of Beneventum. Richard obtained the principality of
f’apua. Robert Guiscard was confirmed in the possession of

90

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Apulia and Calabria, still holding his claims on Sicily. In return, Richard promised to the Pope and his successors a yearly
tribute of twelve denarii of Pavia for every pair of oxen, to
be paid in perpetuity, on the festival of Easter ; he, moreover,
acknowledged himself a vassal of the Holy See, and swore
fealty as such. The treaty of Amalfi gave rise to the kingdom
of Naples. It was fruitful in great results to the Roman
Church. The Normans declared war against the Italian nobles
in arms against the authority of the Pope. They ravaged the
territory of Præneste and of Nomento, and curbed the pride of
the counts of Tusculum, whose name and power had so often
been used to oppress the Holy See. Rome was thus rid of the
petty tyrants against whose covetous ambition the neglect of
the German emperors had not always afforded a sufficient pro­
tection.
25. Though beset with so many political occupations,
Nicholas II. never lost sight of the spiritual interests of Chris­
tendom, of which he was the supreme pastor. He had sent, as
Apostolic legate to Milan, Cardinal St. Peter Damian, to fur­
ther the reformation of morals and the restoration of ecclesias­
tical discipline. These evils had taken deep root in that city
and throughout the whole province of Lombardy. The arch­
bishop was notoriously simoniacal ; it was hard to find a single
priest or ecclesiastic among his clergy who had not bought his
office or dignity. Two men, however, St. Ariald, a deacon of
Milan, who was martyred, and St. Herlembald, a layman, had
the courage to declare themselves openly against the arch­
bishop and his unworthy abettors. The scandal had obtained
so film a footing that the clergy, far from blushing at their
disorders, openly preached against the law of ecclesiastical
celibacy, thus renewing the ancient error of the Nicholaites.
“ This name,” said St. Peter Damian, “ is given to scandalous
clerics, who seek a warrant for their infamous disorders in the
Scripture and the Fathers ; for vice becomes a heresy when
supported by a distorted dogma.” At the risk of his life, the
heroic legate succeeded in utterly rooting out the two evils

NICHOLAS H. (A. D. 1059-10«)).

9t

which ravaged this desolated church. The archbishop hum­
bled himself before the representative of the Holy See, con­
fessed his crimes, and deserved, by the humility of his avowal
and the sincerity of his repentance, to retain his pastoral
charge. The guilty clerics were subjected to various canonical
penances. St. Peter Damian, terrified at the sight of the vices
which ruled the age, now earnestly entreated the Pope to set
him at liberty, that he might throw off the Roman purple, and
return once more to his beloved retreat in the holy shades of
Monte Cassino. But the Church too sadly felt the dearth of
upright hearts and strong minds to give up the help of so pow­
erful an auxiliary.
26. Hildebrand was the confidential adviser of Nicholas Π.
While practising, under the various Pontiffs, the exercise of
the sovereign authority, his influence stamped all their acts
with that vastness and grandeur which characterized his own
great mind. Through his care, two other legates, St. Hugh of
Cluny and Cardinal Etienne, were sent to France to propagate
and enforce the decrees of the Roman Council for the reform of
the clergy. St. Hugh was especially charged with the lega­
tion to Aquitaine. He held a council at Avignon (a. d. 1059),
which deposed several simoniacal bishops. Etienne, whose
mission embraced all the remaining provinces of France, con­
voked a council at Tours (1060), where severe measures were
decreed against simony, clerical incontinence, incestuous mar­
riages, the plurality of benefices, and religious defections. In
the preceding year (1059), the two legates were present, in
Rheims, at the coronation of Philip I., a child of six years,
whom his father, Henry I., wished to see anointed before
closing his eyes in death, hoping thus to render the authority
of the young prince more sacred in the eyes of his future sub­
jects. The precaution was wise, for Henry died in the course
of the following year (1060). Gervasius, archbishop of Rheims
and high-chancellor of the kingdom, thus wrote, on the occa­
sion, to Nicholas II. : « The indocility of the French people
gives me reason to dread the troubles inseparably attendant

92

GENERAL HISft)RY OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

upon a minority. To ward off the evils which threaten ua,
deign, most Holy Father, to grant us the help of your wise
counsels. You owe your zeal to this kingdom, as every great
heart owes itself to its native land. France is illustrated by
your holiness and Apostolical dignity; and it was from our
midst that Rome sought you out to make you its head and the
head of the world.”
27. The Pope had entertained the design of visiting France
in person, to labor more effectually for the public peace and the
spiritual interests of that kingdom. But circumstances obliged
him to abandon the projected journey into the country which
gloried in numbering him among its sons. His time was too
completely taken up by his relations with every country of
the Catholic world. He sent legates to England, to restore
order in the church of Worcester, corrupted by a simoniacal
prelate ; the see was given to St. Wulstan, who soon brought
back ecclesiastical discipline to its state of primitive purity
(a. i). 1062). The Pontiff’s letters carried new courage and
strength to Ferdinand the Great, king of Spain, and to the
renowned warrior Roderick, so well known by the heroic appel­
lation of the Cid, in the wars against the Mahometans. He
exercised a fatherly care over the churches established among
the Sclaves, in the north of Europe, by Adalbert, archbishop
of Hamburg and legate of the Holy See.
The newly-erected
bishoprics of Mechlenburg, Altenburg, and Ratzeburg were
intrusted Ù) prelates of known piety and zeal. Thus was the
beneficent action of the Roman Church and of its Head, exer­
cised at once in all lands, from the southern shores of Spain
and Italy to the ice-bound coasts of northern Europe. Had thb
German emperors, true to the traditions bequeathed by the
Christian genius of Charlemagne, better understood their part
and providential appointment, had they kept inviolate the
league between the empire and the Holy See, Catholicity
would have triumphed over Islamism, ever threatening in Spain,
and covering Christian civilization with shame by its growing
proportions in the East. But the emperors of Germany were

NICHOLAS II. (A. D. 106MM1).

93

guided by narrow and personal views of policy. In the affair
of the investitures we shall find them obstinately bent upon
stifling the freedom of the spiritual authority under the weight
of brute force. During two centuries the Church must strug­
gle for her independence against the Teutonic Cæsars; and not
only will she maintain her freedom against their efforts, but in
the very hottest of the giant struggle she will raise up Chris­
tian Europe to hurl it upon Mahometan Asia, and there found
un empire upon the very sepulchre of Jesus Christ.
28. The minority of Henry IV. was a time of anarchy and
disorder in Germany. The young king was left in the hands
of the great vassals, who contended for his person in order to
exercise a tyrannical power under cover of his name. A young
noble named Werner, a favorite of the royal child, carried on a
sacrilegious traffic in bishoprics, abbacies, and other offices of
trust. With a view to check the flagrant disorder, Pope Nich
olas turned to the man who wielded a paramount influence for
good in Germany : this was St. Anno, archbishop of Cologne.
He wrote to him in pressing terms, urging him to make use of
his power, and to put an end to the simony which disgraced the
churches of his country. This Apostolic reproof only embit­
tered the froward spirit The nobles and bishops, assembled
in a great diet of the empire, forbade the name of Nicholas II.
to be mentioned in the canon of the Mass, and even dared to
send him a sentence of excommunication. The account of this
incredible enormity threw a gloom over the last days of the
holy Pontiff, who was overtaken by an untimely death wb’le
in Florence (June 6, a. d. 1061). Nicholas U. bequeathed to
the Papacy and to the world the memory of the greatest deeds
accomplished in a Pontificate which lasted but two years. His
piety and charity were a subject of edification to bis very
enemies. “ So true and reverent,” says St. Peter Damian,
“ was his affection for the indigent members of Jesus Christ,
that he never passed a day without washing the feet oi twelve
poor men brought from the different quarters of Rome." His
death threw a veil of mourning over the whole Church.

94

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

§ VI. Pontificate of Alexander II. (September 30,
1061—April 20, 1073).

a. d.

29. Cardinal Etienne was immediately deputed to the court
of Germany, in accordance with the decree of Nicholas IL, to
consult with the young prince about the election of a Pope.
But the courtiers allowed him no access to the monarch ; and,
after several fruitless efforts, the cardinal was obliged to return
to Rome. The factions were in a state of the greatest excite­
ment. The imperial chancellor, Guibert of Parma, who ruled
Italy in the name of Henry IV., sold abbacies and bishoprics,
and favored the disorder of morals, in order to swell his profits.
He openly announced that he desired the election of a Pope
disposed to absolve simoniacal and irregular ecclesiastics ; and
that the severity of Nicholas II. had imposed upon the clergy
a galling yoke, which they were no longer willing to bear.
Meanwhile the Archdeacon Hildebrand, the life of the Church
in those calamitous days, assembled the cardinals and Roman
lords in Rome. Under his influence, Anselm, bishop of Lucca,
was canonically elected to succeed Nicholas II., and took the
name of Alexander II. It was hoped that the choice would
prove acceptable to the court of Germany, where the new Pope
was personally known, as he had once held some offices within
its limits. In refusing to receive the envoy of the Apostolic
College, Henry IV. had doubtless acted under the impulse of
resentment at the rebuke administered by Pope Nicholas II.
No doubt was felt that he would return to a more friendly
state of feeling ; and least of all could it have been reasonably
expected that he should complain that the Pontifical election
was carried on without his concurrence, since he had refused
to receive the communications of Etienne on the subject. Yet
such was the case. He showed the most violent anger that the
election of Alexander II. should have been carried on without
his consent. Considering as null all that had been done with­
out his cooperation, he proceeded to nominate an antipope.

ALEXANDER TT. (A. D. lOftl-1073).

95

Cadaloüs, bishop of Parma, had the mean ambition to accept
this disgraceful part. He was consecrated by the two bishope
of Vercelli and Piacenza (October 28, a. n. 1061), and took
the name of Honorius IL
30. Cadaloüs had dishonored the episcopate by notorious
simony and flagrant irregularities. The very thought of placing
such a man upon the chair of St. Peter was a subject of scan­
dal: the report of his intrusion aroused the indignation of
every Catholic. Peter Damian, ever ready to spring to the
breach when the honor of the Church was at stake, addressed a
spirited letter to the antipope, upbraiding him with bis crimes,
and administering a scathing rebuke to the miserable vanity
which could sacrifice the good of the whole Church to his per­
sonal interest. “ Hitherto,” wrote the indignant cardinal, “ your
criminal traffic in prebends and churches, your yet more in­
famous deeds, were known only to a small city. Now the
whole world beholds and blushes with indignation. Your
enthronement, should it ever take place, would be the triumph
of the wicked ; every heart that loves justice would feel it as
the ruin of the whole Church.” Unmoved by this energetic
rebuke, Cadaloüs raised an army, and appeared before the
walls of Rome (a. d. 1062). He was encouraged at first by
some slight successes, but the arrival of Godfrey, duke of
Tuscany, changed the face of affairs ; the antipope was vigor­
ously repulsed, and only succeeded in effecting his escape by
means of gold. Still, in his retirement at Parma, he did not
abandon his fatal enterprise. Peter Damian then wrote to
Henry IV., entreating the youthful monarch to put an end to
the evils now desolating the Church. He thus speaks of the
union which should exist between the Papacy and the empire:
“ As the two powers of priest and king are united in Jesus
Christ, the same mutual union should exist among the Chris­
tian people. They stand in need of each other ; the priesthood
is shared by royalty, and royalty leans upon the holiness of
the priesthood : the king bears the sword io wield it against
the Church’s foes ; the Pontiff *watvhe and prays to call dowu

96

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

the blessings of God upon kings and subjects. The king mus!
settle worldly difficulties by justice; tho Pontiff feed a fam­
ished people with food from heaven. The king is empowered
to check the wicked by the authority of the laws; the Pontiff
is intrusted with the keys, to use either the rigor of the canons
or the indulgence of the Church.” These wise considerations
would doubtless have produced but little fruit in the heart of
Henry IV. ; but the fear of seeing Italy throw off his yoke,
should he persist in supporting the antipopc, was a more pow­
erful motive in the councils of the German court. A motive
of personal interest easily changed the course of policy. St.
Anno, archbishop of Cologne, was sent to end the troubles in
Italy. The holy archbishop held a council at Mantua, where
the election of Alexander II. was solemnly confirmed ; Cadaloüs was formally condemned, and deposed from the episcopate.
Still he Avould not yield. By a skilful manœuvre he gained
possession of the Leonine city and the church of St. John
Lateran. The indignant people drove him out.
Shutting
himself up, with a few soldiers, in the castle of St. Angelo, he
stood a siege of two years against the troops of Alexander II.
Reduced, at last, to the direst want, he succeeded in escaping,
and went to die in an isolated spot, covered with the public
contempt, but still persisting to the last in usurping the Pon­
tifical functions.
31. Freed from the repeated attacks of Cadaloüs, the Pope
turned his attention to the suppression of an error then spread­
ing through the provinces of Tuscany, and called the heresy of
the Incestuous. This name was given to those who, wishing to
favor marriages contracted within the degrees of kindred for­
bidden by the canons, refused to measure the degrees according
to the law of the Church, but followed the custom of the
Roman law, which placed brother and sister in the second
degree. * We are justified,” says St. Peter Damian, “in call­
ing them Incestuous, since, by their loose teaching, they
authorize unlawful unions, real incests anathematized by the
Church.” In a council held at Rome (a. d. 1065), Alexander

ALEXANDER Π.

(A. D. 10β1-1073).

97

II. decided that the degrees of kindred, relative to marriage,
must he regulated according to the canons, which place brothers
sud sisters in the first degree, and not, according to the Roman
law, in the second.
32. The attention of the same council was. however, called
to a far more serious matter. The metropolitical see of Flor­
ence was filled by a notoriously simoniacal prelate, Peter of
Pavia, who openly sold ecclesiastical dignities and profaned the
holiness of his ministry by the most infamous conduct. His
accusers in the Council of Rome offered to prove the truth of
their charges, according to the manners of the age, by the
judgment of God, known as the ordeal of fire. The Pope
refused to receive such proofs, and withheld judgment in the
case until he should have obtained more ample information.
The delay was productive of fatal results. Minds were embit­
tered. The bishop, instead of profiting of the delay to reform
his life and morals, redoubled his acts of injustice and violence.
His revolted subjects drove him out of the episcopal city. Ne­
gotiations were then opened between Peter uf Pavia and the
Florentines. In contempt of the earnest prohibition of the
Sovereign Pontiff, they mutually agreed to settle the question
by the ordeal of fire. Two immense piles were raised in the
public square of Florence, two feet apart. A holy monk named
Peter, afterward celebrated under the name of Peter Igneus,
was chosen by the bishop’s accusers to undergo the formidable
test, and thus prove the truth of their complaints. The piles
were kindled, and, when they were wrapped in a sheet of
flame, Peter Igneus, robed in priestly vestments, appeared in
the midst of the crowd. “Almighty God.” he exclaimed,
“ help me in this fearful trial ! If Peter of Pavia has simoniaoally usurped the see of Florence, save me from the power of
these flames as Thou didst bring forth the three children safe
and unhurt from the fiery furnace.” Having finished hie
prayer, Peter made the sign of the cross, and then calmly
advanced into the midst of the flames, treading the burning
fagots under his naked feet. The combined influence ot the
Vol. ΙΠ.—7

9b

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

wind and the flames played in his hair, raised his alb, swayed
his stole, and bore away his maniple into the midst of one of
the piles of burning embers. The heroic witness of the Lord
quietly goes to pick it up, continues his course, and finally
comes forth from the flames, which had left not the least im­
pression upon his person or his dress. He was preparing to
retrace his steps; but the multitude withheld him, all eagerly
pressing forward to kiss his hands and feet, lavishing upon
him every mark of veneration, and striving at least to touch
his garments, so miraculously preserved. The account of this
wonderful event, witnessed by the whole city of Florence, was
sent to Pope Alexander, who saw in it the finger of God ; he
deposed the Bishop of Florence, and made 9t. Peter Igneus
cardinal-bishop of Albano. The incredulous minds of later
days pretend to class this prodigious event among the legends
of the middle-ages. The divine gift of miracles belonged Io
the Catholic Church in the eleventh century as truly as it does
in the present. The whole population of Florence witnessed
one—public, manifest, splendid. It would seem to us more in
the nature of a miracle that all the inhabitants of a great city
should at one and the same time have been deceived by the
same illusion, than that a saint should safely pass between two
burning piles of fagots.
33. The Emperor of Germany, Henry IV., the unworthy
and ungrateful ward of the Holy See, though but eighteen
years of age, already showed a most unbridled wickedness.
His shameless licentiousness respected neither virginal purity
nor conjugal fidelity. His heartless debauchery spared nothing
that could feed his passions. He immolated the husbands
whose beds he could not otherwise defile; the same doom
repaid the accomplice or confidant, seldom his equals in de­
pravity, whose tone or gesture seemed to deprecate such
excesses. First united to the Princess Bertha, daughter of
Otho, margrave of Italy, who had brought him, as a dowry,
the virtues and pure inclinations of a young girl of fifteen.
Tïenry repudiated her after a year of marriage. The brutal

ALEXANDER Π. (A. D. 1081-1013).

99

net revolted the whole of Germany. The Archbishop of Mcntt
wrote to the Pope on the subject, asking to have the affair
judged by legates
Alexander II. intrusted the mission to
St. Peter Damian, who had just made a tour of all the French
provinces to restore morality and discipline. The appointment
of a man whose austerity and apostolic vigor were known to tho
whole world, was particularly disagreeable to Henry IV. ; yet
he dared not slight the juridical examination of the legate of
the Holy See. Peter Damian, after making strict inquiries
into the matter, declared to the king that his course was un­
worthy not only of a prince, but of a Christian. “If you
despise the authority of the holy canons,” said the legate,
“ have some regard at least for your reputation. If you resist
this advice, dictated by reason and faith, the Sovereign Pontiff
will find himself compelled to use the thunders of the Church
against you, and will never consent to crown you emperor.”
Henry dared not persist, and yielded, with the expression that
“he would bear the burden which he could not throw off.”
Still his morality and general conduct remained unchanged
St. Anno, archbishop of Cologne, quitted the court where
crowned scandal reigned, and ceased to offer his counsels to a
prince who would hear none but those of passion. The Em­
press Agnes, foreseeing that her son would prove the plague
of the world, retired into Italy, where she placed herself under
the direction of St. Peter Damian, and ended in retirement and
the performance of good works a life begun amid the intrigues
and disorders of a court. The hand of God was forever with­
drawn from Henry IV.
34. Peter Damian, after his legation in Germany, once
more entreated the Sovereign Pontiff to release him from the
eminent post he held in the Church, that he might end his
days in the solitude of study, silence, and prayer. Hildebrand,
who commanded the confidence of Alexander II., as he bad
done that of his predecessors, always opposed the wish of his
friend. Damian’s petitions daily grew more earnest. He thus
wrote to Hildebrand on the subject : “ In all your struggles, ia

JOO

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

all your triumphs, I have ever plunged into the thickest of the
fray ; to serve you I have borrowed the rapidity of the lightning’s flash. Your name has never passed mj lips unaccompanied by blessings and praise ; and God alone can fathom my
love for you. But now I would hasten to recollect myself at
the close of my career, and to give to the service of God the
last hours of my life.” The generous athlete of Jesus Christ
was denied the rest he so ardently desired. He died while ful­
filling a mission, on which he had been sent by the Pope, to the
Archbishop of Ravenna (February 22, a. d. 1072). The works
of St. Peter Damian have been collected into four volumes, and
are worthy of attention from the variety of subjects treated,
the number of valuable observations on dogma, moral, clerical,
and monastic discipline, and on the history of the Church. His
style, always noble and pure, often full of vehemence, and rich
in powerful figures, recalls the best days of Christian literature.
IIis letters show a refined, delicate taste, and great practical
sagacity. Eloquent in lashing the vices of his age, he is still
tender of the persons of the guilty, in order to lead them more
surely to the path of virtue. No less distinguished in poetry
than elegant in prose, St. Peter Damian certainly possessed
one of the most cultivated minds and upright hearts, that
redeemed the reigning ignorance and depravity of the age
(a. d. 1072).
35. England had just witnessed an event which was to
prove most fruitful in great results. On the death of Edward
the Confessor, the throne was disputed by two powerful rivals,
representatives of the two hostile races, Saxon and Norman:
Harold, the Saxon, based his claims upon nearer kindred to
the family of the last monarch ; William the *
Bastard, duke of
Normandy, alleged the testament by which Edward bequeathed
the crown to him. William sought to obtain the support of
the Sovereign Pontiff, and thus wrote to Alexander IL:
“ Should God grant me success, it will be my glory to hold
• William was the son of Robert, duke of Normandy suruamed lhe Devil, and Uerlers
tta Laundress, daughter of & currier of Falaise. .

ALEXANDER Π. (A. D. 1081-1013).

101

the English sceptre directly from Him and from St. Peter, His
Vicar.” After mature deliberation, the Pope decided in favo
of William, and, as a mark of his sympathy, sent him a stand
nrd blessed by his own hand. Meanwhile, the Duke of Nor
mandy had neglected nothing that could insure the success of
his enterprise. He published a proclamation of war in his own
states and throughout the neighboring provinces, promising
liberal pay and the plunder of England to “ every man of tall
stature and able body who should enlist in his service.” He
soon found himself at the head of an army of sixty thousand
men, among whom were one hundred and four knights. The
noblest houses in France were represented in this brilliant ex­
pedition. On the 29th of September, a. d. 1066, William set out
from the mouth of the Somme with a numerous fleet, and land
ed, ere the close of the same day, on the coast of Sussex
Harold awaited him there on the field of Hastings. William
proposed to him, either to abdicate in his favor, or to refer the
question to the arbitration of the Pope, or to settle the dispute
by a single combat. These alternatives were all rejected, and
both parties prepared for battle. On the eve of the contest
the Normans spent the night in prayer; the Saxons feasted
and filled the air with their national songs. In the morning,
the Bishop of Bayeux, William’s brother, offered up the Holy
Sacrifice and blessed the troops. The Duke of Normandy wore
precious relics suspended about his neck, and kept the Pope’s
standard close beside him. Thus protected by these ensigns
of religion, a Catholic army was to win the soil of England
The struggle was fierce and murderous. Both Saxons and
Normans performed prodigies of valor; but at length Harold
fell, his army was routed and fled. The battle of Hastings
gave the throne to William of Normandy (1066). On the very
hill where Old England had fallen with the last Saxon king.
William raised a rich and splendid abbey, called the Abbey of
tho Battle (de bello), in fulfilment of a vow to St. Martin,
patron of the troops of Gaul.
*
The names of the conquerors
• The following trait will afford an illustration of tho manners of the time and the

102

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

were engraved upon tablets in the monastery, where they were
still legible at a very recent date : this was the Golden Book
of the English nobility. The fallen Saxon king was buried by
the monks on this hill, opposite the sea. “ He guarded the
coast while he was alive,” said the Conqueror ; “ let him guard
it after death.” While gradually introducing into his newlyconquered realm the more polished manners of France, William
solemnly confirmed the ancient laws of the land (1069). Those
which related to the church in England were comprised it
twenty-two articles, drawn up in the Latin tongue. They
secured the right of pious pilgrimages and the safety of travel
lers, and confirmed the payment of the Rome-scot, a part of
which went to the support of the church and school of tht
English, in Rome. Three legates, sent by Pope Alexander II.
crowned William the Conqueror king of England (a. d. 1070).
36. The Church was still consoled by examples of virtue
and holiness, even amid the scandals against which the Papacy
was continually battling with determined energy. The Pon
tificate of Alexander II. was illustrated by St. Dominic Lori­
catus, that holy friend of St. Peter Damian, who, through a
spirit of penance, always wore an iron corselet next to hie
skin ; by St. Rodolphus, bishop of Eugubio ; St. Theobald of
Provins, a member of the house of Champagne, who lived ic
holy solitude near Vicenza, in Italy ; St. Hugh, abbot of
Cluny ; St. Robert, founder of the monastery of Chaise-Dieu ic
Languedoc; Blessed Evrard, count of Breteuil, a monk of
Marmontier; St. Walter, abbot of Lesterp in Limousin; St.
Anno, archbishop of Cologne; St. Altmann, bishop of Passau;
St. Gebhard, archbishop of Saltzburg ; St. Benno, bishop of
Misnia and apostle of Sclavonia ; the martyr-king Gothescalc.
a Saxon prince, whose heroic virtues, displayed in the cloister
character of the Conqueror : When the foundations of the monastery were laid, the arch;
tects observed to William that there was a want of writer in the site chosen for the build
ing. "Go on with the work," replied the king; "if God gives me life, there shall be mon
wine in the Monastery of the Battle, than there is water in the beat convent in Christen
dom."
·

ALEXANDER Π. (A. D. 1061-1073).

103

in solitude, in the midst of episcopal honors, and even upon
the throne, loudly protested against the general disorder and
moral relaxation. The faith was making precious conquests in
the north of Europe, under the influence and by the united
efforts of Swein, king of Denmark, and of Adalbert, archbishop
of Bremen. Adam, a canon of Bremen, was at the same time
engaged in compiling his Ecclesiastical History, beginning with
the rise of the northern churches, and comprising the succes­
sion of the bishops of Hamburg and Bremen from the first
appearance of St. Willibrord in Saxony to the death of Arch
bishop Adalbert, a period of nearly three hundred years
Adam of Bremen carefully collected every piece of writing, all
the letters of princes and Popes, as well as the oral traditions
that bore upon his subject, which renders his work very valu­
able.
37. The discipline of the Church was now undergoing an
important modification. The application of public penance was
becoming almost impossible amid the crimes and disorders of
society at this period. They were supplied by the frequent
use of the discipline, or voluntary flagellation, a practice to the
promotion of which St. Peter Damian greatly contributed by
writings, by word, and example. The austerities of St. Domi­
nic of the Iron Cuirass, whose wonderful history has been left
us by his friend and admirer, Damian, also favored the change
The Church then began to admit commutations for canonical
penances, thus suiting itself to the social requirements and
necessities of the times. Self-flagellation, long pilgrimages
liberal alms were adopted as means of compensation. They
were found admirably suited to tame half-savage spirits, to
effect the reparation of so many deeds of plunder, or to punish
simoniacal avarice. A year of canonical penance was satisfied
by a certain number of stripes, by a sum of money given to the
poor or to some church or monastery, or by a pilgrimage
This system allowed the imposition of long years of penance
which might be performed by means of the compensations
Thus St. Peter Damian imposed a penance of a hundred years

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

upon Guy, the notoriously simoniacal archbishop of Milan,
whom we have already had occasion to mention. Some critics
have attacked the practice of voluntary scourging or the disci­
pline. It is but the application of St. Paul’s own words:
* Castigo corpus meum et in servitutem redigo.”* The Church
has given a sufficient warrant for the practice by canonizing
the illustrious penitents it has sanctified ; but she has always
shown a truly motherly care to prevent or condemn its abuse.
38. This species of mitigation applied to the ancient canon­
ical discipline was perfectly in keeping with the gentleness and
moderation of Alexander II. He used his authority to shield
the Jews against the persecutions to which they were subjected
in the various states of Christian Europe, and expressly ordered
that they should not be put to death. His Pontificate, so
happy for the Church, was always guided by the genius of
Hildebrand, whom he had raised to the dignity of chancellor
of the Roman Church, and who was to succeed him with so
much glory. Alexander II. died on the 21st of April, a. d.
1073. He is supposed to have issued the ordinance which
regulates the celebration of the Holy Mysteries, limiting it to
once a day for each priest.
• “I chastiei my body,and bring it into subjection."—1 Cor. ix

at

RT. GREGORY VTI. (A. D. 1073-10M).

106

CHAPTER IV.
g I. Pontificate
1

of

St. Gregory VII. (April 22, a. d. 1073—May 25, 1085).

Antecedents of St. Gregory VII. His election.—2. Confirmation of hi»
election by Henry IV., king of Germany.—3. Political state of the Chris­
tian world at the accession of St. Gregory VII.—4. Matilda, cnnnteas of
Tuscany.—5. Fatal consequences accruing to the Church from the usurpa­
tion of the right of investiture by the emperors.—6. Doctrine of St Greg­
ory’s predecessors on this subject—7. First decree of St. Gregory VII.
against disorderly or simoniacai clerics.—8. Decree of the Council of Rome
against the investitures.—9. Henry IV. subdues the rebellious Saxons.—
10. Conspiracy of Cencius against the Pope.—11. A sentence of deposition
pronounced against St. Gregory by the pseudo Council of Worms.—12
State of public opinion in the Middle-Ages concerning the right of the
Sovereign Pontiff to depose kings and princes.—13. Henry IV. is deposed
by St. Gregory in the Council of Rome, and bis subjects released from their
oath of allegiance.—14. Diet of Tribur.—15. Meeting of St Gregory VII.
and Henry IV. at Canossa. Reconciliation.—10. Rudolph, dnke of Snabia,
elected King of Germany at the Diet of Forcheim.—17. Rudolph and Henry
IV. appeal to the arbitration of St. Gregory.—18. Hostilities between the
two kings.—19. Rudolph recognized as King of Germany by St. Gregory.
Sentence of deposition again pronounced against Henry IV.—20. The false
Council of Brixen elects an antipope in the person of Gnibert, archbishop
of Ravenna, who assumes the name of Clement III. Death of Rudolph.—
21. Hermann, count of Luxemburg, elected King of Germany by the Diet
of Goslar.—22. Departure of St. Gregory from Rome, which falls into the
hands of Henry IV. and the antipope.—23. Robert Guiscard comes to the
Pope’s relief. Death of St. Gregory VII.—24. Progress of the Turks in
the East, under the Pontificate of St Gregory VII.—25. Labors of St.
Gregory VII. in the northern States of Europe.—20. Holy personages and
religious foundations under the Pontificate of St. Gregory.—27. Was the
aw of ecclesiastical celibacy an innovation of St. Gregory VILf
§ II. Pontificate

of

Victor III. (April 24, a. d. 1080—September 16,
1087).

28. Victor III. elected, in spite of bis own resistance, to the Sovereign Pontili
cate.—29. The Countess Matilda drives the Antipope Gnibert from Rouja
—80. Council of Beneventum against investitures. Death of Victor III.

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

§ I. Pontificate of St. Gregory VII. (April 22, a. d. 1073—
May 25, 1085).

1. The Pontificate of St. Gregory VII. opens a great era in
the history of the Church : “ Great, not precisely in new and
extraordinary events, in terrible and startling scenes, but in
the achievement of an immense and long-concerted plan ; great
in the general commotion caused in Europe, and throughout
the whole world, by the genius of a single man, giving a new
life and impulse to every affair; great, because the will of a
Pope changes the face of the earth, gives birth to new laws,
new institutions, from the north uf Europe, from England to
the deserts of Africa, from the Atlantic to Palestine ; great,
because a monk, coming forth from the solitary shades of a
cloister, conceives the project of establishing a universal mon­
archy in the midst of Christendom, that the sun of Rome might
dart its beams upon all the nations of the earth.”* The name
which should be forever linked with this undying achieve­
ment, dnes not date from the day which saw it inscribed on
the roll of Pontiffs. For twenty years before he had wielded a
paramount influence in the ecclesiastical affairs of the age. We
have followed Hildebrand as he fought his way through a
thousand opposing forces, toward the establishment of a hardlabored reform which was to save modern society. To use his
»wn words: “No man becomes great all at once, and lofty
buildings are raised by degrees.” Son of a carpenter of Rome,
then a monk at Cluny, the extraordinary merit of Hildebrand
recommended him to Henry III. as a fit preceptor for his young
son Henry IV. (a. d. 1046-1047). It was a singular destiny
that brought together, in the sweet relation of guide and disci­
ple, two individualities destined, in after days, to embody the
fiercest struggle between the Papacy and the empire ! The
tribute of gratitude to his former master is paid by the royal
pupil with hostile arms, and the thunders of Gregory VII. fall
• Voigt, History of St. Gregory VIL, t L. ch. L

ST. GREGORY VU. (A. D. 1073-108#).

107

upon the ungrateful disciple of Hildebrand. Writers hostile
to the Papacy have studiously ignored this shameful position
of Henry IV. in his bitter war upon the monk whose devoted
care had guided the studies of his early years. Brought to
his native city, Rome, by St. Leo IX., Hildebrand's influence
steadily increased day by day ; as chancellor of the Roman
Church under Alexander IL, repeatedly intrusted, with the
management of the Pontifical elections, he had enthroned
Popes, but would not wear the tiara himself. His hour had
come. During the funeral obsequies of Alexander II., the
cardinals, bishops, priests, and monks were gathered together
in the basilica of St. Peter. The vast edifice and its every
approach were thronged by a countless multitude. When
Hildebrand appeared, every eye was fixed upon him. A sud­
den impulse seized upon the crowd; one spontaneous, unani­
mous cry burst forth from every breast, which shook the solid
arches of the sacred building : “ Hildebrand ! Hildebrand I
St. Peter chooses Hildebrand for his successor!” It may
lawfully be presumed that in the course of his long and labo­
rious career, Hildebrand doubtless cast at times a look upon the
sceptre which would place within his power the accomplish­
ment of his mighty schemes. What man of surpassing genius
has not felt urged to seize the power, when some great thought
stirred up his soul within him ? But at this solemn moment
he felt his heart sink. When the enthusiastic shouts had died
away, Hildebrand ascended the ambo, and entreated the clergy
and people to turn their thoughts upon another subject. But
Cardinal Hugo Candidus immediately rose, and appealed to all
present: “ You all see to what a degree of prosperity the holy
archdeacon has raised the Church. We shall find no one so
well qualified to undertake the government and defence of this
city ; all of us, cardinals and bishops, together with you, choose
him as the sovereign pastor of our souls.” These words drew
forth new transports of joy. Hildebrand was forced to yield
to the unanimous voice of the faithful. He was invested with
the purple and the tiara, and raised to the chair of St. Peter

IOS

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

(April 22, a. d. 1073), under the ever-illustrious name of
Gregory VII.
2. Hildebrand’s modesty was overcome, but he had yet
one hope left. The last regulations made by the Sovereign
Pontiff left to Henry IV. the right of confirming the Pontifical
election.
*
Gregory, under the title of Pope-elect, sent a depu­
tation to beg the emperor that he would refuse to sanction the
election of the Romans. “ Should you approve the choice
made in my person,” he wrote. “ I must warn you that I shall
not pass over the scandalous disorders of which all good men
accuse you.” The king needed not these threatening words to
urge his refusal ; in his view, an election held without his co­
operation, was null by the very fact. On the other hand, the
German bishops, who dreaded the firmness of Hildebrand,
advised the king to withhold his consent. But the fear of
arousing all Italy by this act of hostility against a lawful
choice, unanimously approved by every honest heart, led him,
in this case, to sacrifice his own inclination. He purely and
simply confirmed the election of Gregory VII., and sent the
Bishop of Vercelli to assist, in his name, at the instalment of
the new Pope (June 30, a. d. 1073).
3. Before entering upon the active career of St. Gregory
VII., it will be well to cast a rapid glance over the political
state of the Catholic world at the time of his accession to the
Papal chair. In Germany, as we have already said, a youth­
ful, inexperienced king, Henry IV., given up to the guidance
of his courtiers, and those even worse counsellors, his passions,
finds himself at war with the Saxons, whose national pride rp
• According to the custom and the common law of Germany, the election of a king oy
the noblee of the realm did not properly confer upon him the imperial title, which he could
only assume when recognized and crowned by the Pope. This formality never took place
in regard to Henry IV., since he was never crowned by a lawful Pope, but only by the
Antipope Guibert (calling himself Clement I’L). He was not, then, properly speaking
•mjwror, but only king of Germany and emperor-elect. (Pouvoir du Pape au Moyen-âge, by
M. Gosseus.) For want of a clear view of this point of history, a great number of writer·
have failed in a just appreciation of the acts of St. Gregory's Pontificate relative to
Henry IV.

ST. GREGORY VH. (A. D.1013-108$

109

volts against his injustice. He will soon draw down upon hit
devoted head the thunders of the Holy See, by striving to sup­
port his claim to the abusive right of investitures. The
throne of France still holds the race of Hugh the Great, in the
person of Philip I. (1060). This prince, equal in age to Henry
IV., but far superior to him in wisdom, and under better
guidance, is endeavoring to strengthen existing institutions, to
clothe royalty with greater splendor, and win for it deeper
reverence. The nobles, divided, hostile to each other, rally
about the throne ; the system of enfeoffment has here kept the
Church in the hands of the royal power, which is daily be­
coming more centralized in France, while it tends to division
in Germany. Spain, ever worthy of its title of Catholic, is
still, as it has ever been since the Moorish invasion, a perpet­
ual battle-field. Alphonso VI. occupied the throne of Castile,
Aragon, and Navarre; the Caliph Mahomet II. reigned in
Seville. England was shaping itself to the results of the con­
quest. William proved as skilful in the cabinet as he was
valiant in the field. The clergy, obedient to the voice of the
Popes, were not political tools in the hands of the king. The
abuse of investitures had not yet reached the English church
from France and Germany. Under Sweyne III., Denmark
showed the same filial attachment and reverence to the Holy
See. The Swedish crown had passed into the hands of the
new family of the Steukilsch. The faith of Christ was still
obliged to struggle here against the heathen gods ; the kings
were sometimes for the one, sometimes for the other. Norway
was ruled by Olaus III., the Peaceful, whose talents and vir­
tues won him the deserved affection of his subjects ; he studied
to foster the growth of agriculture, arts, and commerce, and
stood to the clergy in the happy relation of defender and bene­
factor. Poland prospered under the sceptre of Casimir I., the
former monk of Cluny. Saxony and Bohemia, under the re­
spective sway of Boleslas and Wratislas IL, were engaged in a
fierce and bloody struggle. There was, in general, no lasting
institution among the Sclavonic people; they were severally

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ORNERAI, HISTORY OF THE CHURCI

attacked and subdued by the Germans. Missionary zeal wan
gradually infusing the light of Christian civilization among the
various tribes. Russia had not yet come forth from the ele­
mentary chaos. An ill-regulated system of succession to the
throne was the occasion of repeated and bloody contests.
Hungary was hardly more quiet. Its sceptre was disputed by
several princes ; its king was a vassal to the emperor. The
influence of Henry IV. placed Solomon upon the throne ; but
his short and unquiet reign followed the shifting fortunes of his
protector. The East, now wasted by Islamism, presented a
mournful sight. The imperial sceptre of Constantinople passed
from hand to hand in quick and inglorious succession. This
unsettled state of affairs gave rise to fearful disorders and
endless wars. The empire, after a long struggle against the
countless hordes of the Hungarians, Russians, Bulgarians, Per­
sians, and Arabs, fell, at last (a. d. 1063), into the hands of the
Seljukian tribe, which successively seized the various provinces
until 1071, when the Emperor Romanus IV. himself, by a
still more fearful disaster, fell into their power. The throne,
left vacant by this catastrophe, was occupied by Michael VIII.,
who allowed Soliman to fix the residence of the Seljukians at
Nice. The deadliest foes of the Christian name thus pushed
their advanced posts to the very boundaries of eastern Europe,
threatening at once both religion and civilization. Such was
the situation of the world at the accession of St. Gregory VIJ.
It is evident that no power was then firm ; the restoration of
broken unity called for a powerful arm to build up society by
checking abuses and giving back its lost strength to political
power.
4. In the achievement of this twofold labor, the genius of
St. Gregory VII. was ably seconded by a noble and generous
soul, worthy and capable of understanding and of sharing lofty
aspirations. This was the Countess Matilda Contemporary
writers style her a second Deborah, as she seemed to have in­
herited the fearless courage of the heroine of Israel. She was
the daughter of Boniface II., marquis of Tuscany, and widow

ST. GREGORV VIT. (A. D. ’.073-10«)

111

of Godfrey the Hunchback, duke of Lorraine. Having inherit»
ed her father’s kingdom, she found herself, at the death of her
mother, Beatrice (a. d. 1076), sole sovereign of Tuscany and
part of Lombardy. While kings and princes thus afflicted the
Church of God by a useless or scandalous life, by their sacri­
legious traffic in ecclesiastical dignities, Matilda, during a reign
of more than fifty years, remained ever true, ever devoted to
the Church and to its head ; always ready to second the Sov­
ereign Pontiff’s endeavors to restore ecclesiastical discipline
and morality; always sword in hand to defend him against
the most formidable enemies ; never allowing herself to be won
by promises, cowed by threats, or discouraged by mischance.
St. Gregory VII. found her a fearless ally in his crusade
against all abuses. She had put herself under his spiritual
direction ; and it was wonderful to see this great Pope, in the
midst of political embarrassments and fierce struggles with the
powers of earth, writing to the Countess Matilda in strains of
the most affectionate and tender piety. He thus speaks to her
in one of his letters : “ I am desirous, beloved daughter of St.
Peter, to send you a few words of edification, which may in­
crease your faith and lead you to strengthen your soul by a
daily participation of the sacred body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the treasure, these are the gifts a thousand times more
precious than gold and gems, by which the Church enriches
her children. And of Blessed Mary, the Mother of the Sa­
viour, to whose protection I have always commended you, and
to whom I shall ever continue to present you in my prayers—
what more can I say of her ? In proportion as she is high in
glory, she is mild and merciful as our mother.” How beauti­
ful, in the giant intellect which, at a single glance, swept all
the kingdoms of the world, all the good and evil of humanity,
are these outpourings of piety and ardent devotion toward the
Blessed Virgin ! The lively faith and exemplary life of the
countess well repaid the care of St. Gregory VII. She bad
appointed as her almoner St. Anselm, bishop of Lucca, whose
life was one continued act of charity and disinterestedness

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

He would never consent to receive a present from any one
whom he had obliged. “ If what they ask be unjust,” ho used
to say, “ I should become a party to their injustice ; if just, it
would be mere robbery to make them buy what is due to
them.” The filial piety of Matilda sought to console St. Greg­
ory for the rebellion of so many faithless children, by proofs
of her own devotedness ; she bestowed upon the Roman
Church all her own states (a. d. 1077), only keeping the use of
them during life; and thus did the Holy See acquire aright
of sovereignty over Tuscany and Lombardy. The Countess
Matilda outlived Gregory many years, and died only in 1115.
But her devotedness to the Holy See did not fail the succes­
sors of the great Pontiff; in 1102 she confirmed her first do­
nation, which was executed according to her pious wishes.
5. We have already pointed out the great evil which rent
the bosom of the Church by the abuse of investitures, intro­
duced into France and Germany by the feudal system. On
this subject Monsignore Palma very judiciously reniai ks *.
“ The freedom of the ecclesiastical ministry was utterly anni­
hilated, when the choice of bishops and abbots was left to the
will of secular princes.” Kings unscrupulously auctioned the
dignities of the Church, to replenish their treasure or to meet
the drain of ceaseless wars. St. Anselm thus speaks of Henry
IV. : “ This prince sells bishoprics without the least scruple.
He has promulgated a decree annulling the episcopal elections
held, according to the holy canons, by the clergy or the people,
without the intervention of royalty ; as though he were charged
to open the door to the lawful pastors. No one is now raised
to that dignity unless he open the way with bribes, or prosti­
tute his eloquence and his hand to the service of the master.”
The public opinion of the times looked upon the bestowal of
the ring and crosier as the conferring of the spiritual authority
It is thus stated by the learned Cardinal Humbert: “How are
these laymen so bold as to assume the right of bestowing upon
bishops the badges of the Apostolic authority ? The crosier is
the emblem of the pastoral charge of souls intrusted to them.

GREGORY VII. (Λ. D. 1073-1085).

113

The ring is, so to speak, the seal jf the heavenly mysteries,
which the sacred orators are commissioned to dispense.” In­
vestitures thus constituted a real usurpation of the secular
power upon ecclesiastical ground. Another equally lamentable result was the disorder of scandalous priests, who. under
the name of Nicholaites, opposed, in teaching as shamefully as
in practice, the Apostolic doctrine of clerical celibacy. Men
whose days had been wasted in the license of the camp or the
corruption of courts were suddenly raised, by the whim of
princes or their own simoniacal cupidity, to the dignities of the
Church, presented with benefices involving a care of souls, or
placed at the head of monasteries. To the discharge of these
new duties they brought all their former habits of immorality.
Evil is naturally contagious, and it soon spread with fearful
rapidity ; priests were publicly married and lived in a state of
incontinence ; there were whole dioceses in which not a single
minister of the altar could have been found worthy of his holy
calling. This lamentable state of things was the result of lay
investiture.
6. Fearful as the task of such a reform must have seemed,
even to himself, St. Gregory VII. did not quail before it. He
did, indeed, lay open the anguish of his heart, on the very
second day of his Pontificate, in a letter to Didier, abbot of
Monte Cassino : “ The death of Pope Alexander has fallen
with heavy weight upon me ; and I can say with the prophet :
Veni in altitudinem maris et tempestas demersit *
me
I entreat
you to procure for me the prayers of your brethren, that they
may save me from the danger which they could not utterly
avert.” The reform which St. Gregory was about to under­
take was no new or unprecedented idea in the Church. All
the efforts of his predecessors, from St. Leo IX., had boeu con­
stantly directed toward its accomplishment. “ In the Council
t»f Rheims (a.d. 1040),” says Monsignore Palma, “Leo IX. pub• " I urn cotno into Che depth of Che sea, and a tcmpoaC hath overwhelmed me.”—ft
.1 vlii. 3.
Vol ΙΠ.-

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

fished the following decree : ‘ Let no one be raised io I he gov.
ernment of the churches without the election of the clergy and
people.’ Alexander IT. likewise decreed, in the Council of
Rome (a. d. 1062): ‘ No cleric or priest shall be promoted to the
episcopate, whether gratuitously or for a pecuniary considera­
tion, by any secular authority.’ And Nicholas II. was no less
explicit in a letter written to Gervasius, archbishop of Rheims:
‘ Reprove, entreat, warn your illustrious monarch not to inter­
fere in the episcopal elections.’ Henry I. had lately named a
bishop for the see of Macon, without the cooperation of either
clergy or faithful.” These facts are proof abundant that the
right of investiture had not, as some writers assert, acquired
the force of prescriptive right in favor of the emperors and
secular rulers, by the silence of the Popes. St. Gregory VII.,
in asserting the independence of the Church, the freedom of
elections, the repression of simony, and the observance of the
ecclesiastical law of celibacy, was no innovator. He but took
his stand in the breach where his predecessors had fruitlessly
struggled before him ; he Invented no new system ; he simply
carried out one already introduced, but brought to its achieve­
ment the help of his personal energy and mighty intellect.
7. The first act of the new Pontiff was directed against the
scandals in the priesthood. In 1074, after a full council,
which nobly seconded the endeavors of St. Gregory VII., a
withering decree was published against those priests who had
bought their holy office for gold, or who profaned it by their
loose morality. All those who refused to forsake their scandal­
ous manner of life and return to a state of continence, were to
be at once deposed, to be deprived of all their powers ; and
the faithful were forbidden to assist at the masses or offices
celebrated by these rebel priests, or to receive the sacraments
at their hands. The immensity of the evil thus attacked was
made fearfully evident by the general uprising against St.
Gregory VII. on the publication of this decree. Theologians
were found so lost as to maintain that continence was a virtue
of impossible practice to human nature, and they even claimed

ST. GREGORY VII. (A. D. ÎOTJ-IOM).

115

to support their teaching by the authority nf Holy Writ.
Others again pleaded prescription, as if crime could ever
establish a prescriptive claim against law ; and they appealed
to the disorders of the lamentable period through which they
had just passed, as a justification for their own. Finally, there
were many who, without touching the grounds of the doctrine,
sought to weaken the authority of the decree by intrinsic con­
siderations. They maintained that it was very dangerous to
forbid the faithful to receive the sacraments from the hands of
scandalous priests ; since this would make laymen the judges
of ecclesiastical questions, and, besides, it seemed to place the
efficiency of the sacraments in the holiness of the minister.
This line of argument was more particularly adopted by the
bishops of Italy, France, and Germany. Blinded by the pas­
sions and prejudices of the hour, they could not see the
sophism which would deprive the ecclesiastical authority of
the right of ever deposing an unworthy priest. In proportion
as the protestations became more numerous, pressing, and en­
ergetic, the resolution of Gregory VII. became more fixed and
irrevocable. He sent copies of the decree to the various Cath­
olic sovereigns of Europe, together with urgent letters to
arouse their zeal in carrying it into effect. His legates were
favorably received by the King of Germany, but the German
bishops rejected all the measures proposed to them, and the
mission of the Papal envoys failed in this quarter. They met
with no better success in France. In England. William the
Conqueror showed more energy in carrying out St. Gregory’s
views. With the cooperation of Lanfranc, lately transferred
from the abbey of Bee to the archiépiscopal see of Canterbury,
he enforced the Pope’s decrees throughout the whole extent of
his kingdom.
8. By the reception given to his first measures, St. Gregory
VII. could judge of the precarious nature of his position. Ho
now resolved to sap the very foundation of the evil ; and. in a
council held at Rome (a. d. 1075), he issued a second decree,
forbidding any layman, of what rank soever, whether emperor.

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

marquis, prince, or king, to confer the investiture; and any
cleric, priest, or bishop to receive it for benefices, abbacies,
bishoprics, and ecclesiastical dignities, of whatsoever nature.
No one may keep the government of a church bought for money
by a simoniacal traffic. Incontinent clerics are suspended from
the exercise of all ecclesiastical functions. No priest shall
contract a matrimonial alliance. He who already has a wife
shall put her away, under pain of deposition. No one can be
raised to the priesthood unless he first promise to observe
perpetual continence. The faithful should not assist at the
offices celebrated by a cleric whom they see trampling upon the
Apostolic decrees.” The simplest notions of theology will
suffice to show, at a glance, the justice of such measures, and
the canonical law upon which they were grounded. No un­
biassed critic of the present day, examining them in good faith,
will pronounce them at variance with the rules and the con­
stant practice of the Church. Most of the Italian princes
present at the Roman council in which they were promulgated,
applauded their wisdom. But it was otherwise in Germany ;
they were met. by an explosion of anger and hatred against the
Holy Pontiff. The bishops themselves were loudest in the
opposition. In several cities, the publication of the obnoxious
canons was followed by popular tumult and seditions. The
great soul of Gregory VII. stood undaunted amid the storm.
It only gave deeper root to his resolve of bearing yet more
energetically upon Germany, which was the central point of
the opposition.
9. A formidable insurrection had lately broken out among
the Saxons. The senseless rule of the youthful Henry IV.
revolted the old sense of honor in the hearts of the people.
Saxony and Thuringia were ground down by enormous taxes
destined to meet the mad extravagance of the court. The
wretched people, unable to satisfy these exorbitant demands,
were doomed to see their fields wasted by the troops, their
dwellings plundered, their wives and children snatched 11 om
their arms. The nobles were no better off. Henry consigned

8T. OREGORÏ VII. (A. D. 1013-1085,.

117

them to dungeons, and obliged them to buy back theii free­
dom at the price of gold. The victims suffered for a time in
silence, but the long-continued course of oppression at length
wore out their patience, and the patriotism of the warrior race
broke forth in one spontaneous impulse : sixty thousand Saxons
appeared before the walls of Goslar, resolved to free their
country or to bury themselves beneath its ruins. The Diets of
Gerstungen, Mentz, and Corvey dispelled the last hopes of
peace which Henry IV. might still have cherished, and the
Saxon nobles offered the imperial crown to Rudolph, duke of
Suabia, a young prince whose high qualifications of mind and
heart were enhanced by those exterior accomplishments which
exercise so powerful a sway over the multitude. But these
negotiations had given time to Henry IV. to collect an impo­
sing force. Saxony and Thuringia alone were unable to cope
with the united power of all the other provinces ; the Saxon
princes and bishops offered to make submission in any terms
dictated by the king, provided only the conditions were not too
harsh ; but Henry was inflexible. A Pontifical legation, bear­
ing an offer of pacific mediation from Gregory VII., met with
no better success. The king was stung to madness by the
Pope’s decree against investitures, and only awaited the vic­
torious issue of the Saxon war to turn his arms against his old
preceptor. St. Gregory foresaw the danger, and his soul was
whelmed in the bitterest anguish. “ I would,” he wrote to
Hugh of Cluny, “ that I could convey to you the full extent
of the tribulations which prey upon me ; of the endless labors
which overwhelm and crush me under their heavy weight. My
heart is filled with unspeakable grief and sadness when I behold
the Eastern Church torn from the true fold by the spirit of
darkness. Whether I turn to the west, to the south, or to the
north. I see scarce a single bishop who has reached the episco­
pate by canonical means, and who governs his flock in a spirit
of charity. As for the secular rulers, I know not ono who
prefers the glory of God tc his own, or who sets justice before
interest. The Lombards and Normans, among whom I dwell.

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

I often reproach with being worse than Jews or heathens. Had
Γ no hope of a better life hereafter, or no prospect of serving the
Church here, God is my witness that I would not dwell
another hour in Rome, whore I have been chained for the last
twenty years. Thus divided between a grief which is daily
renewed and a hope, alas ! too distant, I am beaten by a
thousand fierce storms, and my life is but one lengthened
agony.”
10. The news of the bloody triumph of the German king over
the Saxons at Hohenburg (a. d. 1075) was little fitted to allay
the Sovereign Pontiff’s fears. Henry IV. overran Saxony like
a remorseless conqueror, marking his steps by plunder, devas­
tation, and death. Success but swelled his pride and arro­
gance ; he thought that the arms which had subdued a warlike
people must successfully cope with the power of the Sovereign
Pontiff. By way of declaring war, he openly outraged the last
Papal decrees, by scandalous investitures in the sees of Bam­
berg, Fuld, and Lorsch. He even entertained the thought of
seizing the person of Gregory VII., deposing him from the
Sovereign Pontificate, and seating in the chair of St. Peter one
of his creatures, pledged to his despotic aims. The moving
spirit of this conspiracy was Guibert, the simoniacal archbishop
of Ravenna. This bold and ambitious prelate, while attending
the last council held in Rome, had opened communications
with the malcontents in that city. He became particularly
attached to *
Cencius, the son of a former præfect of Rome,
whose disorders had incurred the dungeons of the Pontifical
government. Gregory restored him to free dom, after requir­
ing him to give pledges, confirmed by his oath upon the tomb
of St. Peter, that he would reform, and no more disturb the
public peace. From that hour his false heart had ever cher­
ished a bitter hatred against the holy Pontiff. Guibert held
out to him splendid promises, both in his own and in his
master’s name, if he would share their base attempt. Cencius
Cencius had sided with the Antipope Cadalniis in the Pontificate of Alexander L'

ST. GREGORY VU. (A. D. 1073-1085,.

11»

eagerly grasped the offered chance, and soon gathered a host
of partisans. Robert Guiscard, who had lately been excommiy
nicated by the Sovereign Pontiff for proving false to the terms
of the treaty concluded with the Holy See, took part in the
plot. The hour of its execution was fixed for the hour of mid­
night of Christmas (a.d. 1075). While St. Gregory VII. was
officiating ponti Really in the church of St. Mary-Major, Cencius
broke into the sanctuary at the head of an armed troop of
soldiers. The wretches seized with sacrilegious hands the
Pontiff’s person, rudely threw him to the ground, and, amid the
tears and cries of the assembled faithful, dragged him by the
hair into a tower of Cencius’s stronghold. They hoped to
remove him from Rome before daylight, and take him, a pris­
oner, to Henry IV. in Germany. But the whole city was in
an instant astir at the news of the Pontiffs seizure. The
streets were soon thronged by an immense multitude of people
calling aloud for their pastor and father. The uproar became
fearful ; the maddened crowd surrounded the fortress of Cen­
cius, threatening to massacre every inmate if Gregory was not
restored to them on the spot. The surest home of craven fear
is a traitor’s heart. The terrfied Cencius threw himself at the
feet of the fearless but merciful Pontiff. Gregory forgave him
with the slight penance of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When
the Pope appeared once more before his devoted people, they
broke out into indescribable transports of enthusiastic joy.
He was borne in triumph to the church, where he continued
the Holy Sacrifice amid the tears of thankful gladness of those
who had just rescued him from captivity. The property of
Cencius was plundered and destroyed, and he fled to Germany
under sentence of excommunication and perpetual banishment
from Rome. Guibert, the hidden cause of all the disorder, did
not abandon his design, but sought a better field for his intrigues
in northern Italy.
11. Henry IV. had taken no open part in these deeds of vio­
lence ; but the perspicacity of Gregory could not be deceived.
On the very next day he wrote as follows to the King of Ger­

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

many : “ We are astonished at the unfriendly bearing of your
acts and decrees toward the Apostolic See. You have con
tinned, in contempt of our rescripts, to bestow investitures for
vacant bishoprics. We would remind you, in true fatherly affec­
tion, to acknowledge the empire of Christ, to think of the dan­
ger of preferring your own honor to His. The victory grant­
ed to your arms should increase your gratitude to God, Whose
hand alone can give success.” Henry answered this apostolic
language by a fresh outrage. He convoked all the German
bishops at Worms under Hugo Candidus, the same cardinal
who had determined Gregory’s election, but had since taken
sides with Guibert and Cencius. A libel was brought up in
this false council, charging the Pope with the most infamous
crimes. Every absurd and odious charge that passion and
hatred could suggest, was lavished upon its composition. The
Pope was accused of having paid assassins to murder Henry
IV. His relations with the noble Countess Matilda were
shamefully misrepresented : he was characterized as a “here­
tic, an adulterer, a ferocious and bloodthirsty beast.” After
three days of disgraceful deliberation, these hireling bishops
drew up against the lawful Pontiff a sentence of deposition,
■which was signed by the king and by all those present.
Henry immediately sent die report of his pseudo-council to
Italy. A cleric of Parma, named Roland, was commissioned
to carry it to Rome with two letters from the king, one for the
people, the other for the Pope himself. He thus addressed
the Romans : “We are grateful for your fidelity to our au­
thority, and beg you to persevere in it, by showing yourselves
the friends of our friends and the enemies of our enemies.
Foremost among the latter we rank the monk Hildebrand.
We would arouse against him all the power of your indigna­
tion ; for we recognize in him a usurper and an oppressor of
the Church ; a traitor to the Roman empire and to our royal
authority.” The letter to the Pope was equally haughty and
insulting : “ Henry, by the grace of God, king ; to Hildebrand.
Whereas, I expected from you the treatment of a father, I

ST. GREGORY VII. (A. D. 1013-1085).

121

have learned that you act as my worst enemy. You have
robbed me of the highest marks of respect due from your see ;
you have tried to estrange the hearts of my Italian subjects
To check this boldness, not by words, but by deeds, I have
called together the lords and bishops of my states. The coun­
cil has received ample proofs, as you will see by the enclosed
acts, that you are utterly unworthy any longer to occupy the
Holy See. I have agreed to this sentence. I cease to look
upon you as Sovereign Pontiff, and in virtue of my rank of
Roman patrician, I command you to quit the See forthwith."
The two incendiary letters were read by Roland in an assem­
bly of the Roman clergy and nobility, at which St. Gregory
presided in person. The envoy of Henry IV. proved himself,
by his rash and haughty bearing, well worthy of such a mis­
sion. “ The king, my master,” he said, addressing the Sov­
ereign Pontiff, “ orders you to quit at once the throne of St.
Peter and the government of the Roman Church, which you
have usurped.” Then turning to the clergy, he added : “ My
brethren, I am authorized to inform you that the king awaits
your presence, on the approaching festival of Pentecost, to re­
ceive a Pontiff at his hands ; for Hildebrand, who has usurped
the title, is not the true shepherd, but a ravenous wolf.” This
daring appeal to revolt, aroused in the hearts of all present a
real storm of indignation. But for the merciful interposition
of Gregory VII. himself, Roland would have been torn to
pieces by the exasperated nobles.
12. The attempted outrage was without precedent, and
called for an immediate check. The bishops and nobles would
have proceeded to the deposition of Henry before leaving their
places. In regard to the word deposition, it may be well here
to recall the common law of Christian society in the middle­
ages, to meet the cry of encroachment and abuse of power
raised against St. Gregory VII. by the enemies of the Papacy.
But first, to dispose of the favorite fling of superficial minds.
“ St. Peter,” they say, “ died by command of Nero ; yet he
did not dream of deposing or of excommunicating him. By

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

what right, then, did the Sovereign Pontiffs of the eleventh
century take upon themselves to attempt what St. Peter him­
self did not feel authorized to do?” The answer is very plain
Nero was a heathen emperor, and could not, therefore, be ex­
communicated, that is, cut off from the body of the Church, of
which he formed no part. The society which Nero ruled was
governed by the laws of paganism ; the Christians exerted no
influence whatever upon a government whose spirit and whose
very form were foreign to them. They obeyed its civil re­
quirements when they were not at variance with their own
conscientious convictions. When the law was opposed to the
teaching of the gospel, they did not arm, they did not depose
the prince; they died for their God and their faith. And
hence it is that St. Peter did not excommunicate and depose
Nero. But in the eleventh century the face of the world was
changed. Even civil society was completely under the sway
of the spirit of Christianity. The new governments, built up
over the ruins of the Roman empire, owed their first founda­
tion to the bishops. “ The Popes,” says the Count de Maistre,
·· were universally recognized as the delegates of the Power
from which all authority emanates.
The greatest princes
looked to the sacred unction as the sanction and, so to speak,
the complement of their right. The first of these monarchs,
according to the old notions, the German emperor, must be
crowned by the hands of the Pope, from whom he was sup­
posed to derive his august character, and was emperor only by
virtue of this ceremony.” M. Gosselin,
*
remarks that Fénelon
was the first Catholic writer who laid down the principle which
explains, by the public law of the middle-ages, the conduct of
Popes and councils in deposing temporal rulers. “It is not
surprising,” says the illustrious Archbishop of Cambray, “ that
nations deeply attached to the Catholic religion should throw
• Pouvoir du Pape au moyen-âge. This work is a lasting monument of sound logic ano
polite discussion, and will ever be one of the most triumphant refutations of the extrava­
gant attacks of several modern political writers against tho Papacy.—M. Abtaud de Mo»
TOH, Uistoire des Souverains Pontifes.

ST. GREGORY VII. (A. D. IOTM0M).

123

off the yoke of an excommunicated prince, since they were
subject to the prince only by the same law which bound the
prince to the Catholic religion. But the prince excommuni­
cated by the Church was no longer the pious ruler»to whose
keeping the whole nation had intrusted its welfare, and it
therefore held itself freed from the oath of allegiance.'’
“From an examination of the facts," says M. Gosselin, “it
follows that the power exercised over sovereigns by the Popes
and councils, in the middle-ages, cannot be viewed as a crimi­
nal encroachment of the ecclesiastical power on the rights of
sovereigns. It is evident, rather, that the Popes and councils
exercising this power did but follow and apply the principles
universally received, not only by the mass of the people, but
by the most enlightened and virtuous men of the age.'' The Holy
See thus became, in some sort, the sovereign tribunal of Chris­
tendom—whose decisions were invoked upon the questions
arising between rulers and their subjects. Its judgment was
considered final. In deposing a sovereign, the Popes simply
exercised a right vested in them by common consent. In ex­
communicating him, they acted by virtue of their authority as
supreme pastors of the flock intrusted to their care by Jesus
Christ, the invisible Head of the Church. Catholic kings and
princes are, as such, subject to the power of the keys. Thus
the public law of the middle-ages empowered the Pope to depose
sovereigns in certain cases, and to release their subjects from
the oath of fealty. They could then, as they can now, in case
of necessity, excommunicate princes and sovereigns. The late
example given in the excommunication of Napoleon I. by Pope
Pius VII. of holy and illustrious memory, is within the recol­
lection of all. There is this difference, however : in the elev­
enth century, when the sentence of excommunication had its
‘ull effect
*
among the faithful, and cut off the guilty party
* All the effects of an excommunication are comprised in tho following Latin hex­
ameter:—
That is, he is denied cor vernation, prayer, greeting, communion, and th· ubi
*

W· Rioted

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

from all communication with his fellow-men, its result was
more immediate; but in the nineteenth, amid a society less
deeply religious, not one of the emperor’s chieftains thought of
shunning communication with him, because of the Pontifical
decree ; and then it was that Almighty God took upon him­
self to prove to the greatest captain of modern times, by one of
those startling manifestations which shake the world, that genius
gives no exemption from the obedience due from every Cath­
olic to Peter and his successors. It were idle to call attention
now to the fact that the public law of Europe at the present day
is no longer that of the middle-ages. The Popes no longer
depose sovereigns, nor do sovereigns dream of restoring the
feudal system. Opinions have changed with customs. In­
stead of the Pontifical supremacy, the revolutionary principle
of popular sovereignty, following in the train of Protestant
ideas, has made its way into the minds of the masses, and now
the right of setting up and overthrowing governments and
rulers is vested in the power of insurrection. In an historical
light, at least, the system of the middle-ages was quite equal
to our modern principle.
13. St. Gregory VII. was loath to act with precipitation in
a matter involving such serious consequences. “ We must,”
he said to the bishops, “ display the simplicity of the dove as
well as the prudence of the serpent.” The synod met again
on the next day. The Pope, in a solemn address, recalled all
his endeavors to bring back Henry IV. to a line of conduct
more in keeping with the dictates of prudence and more wor­
thy of a Christian ruler. The bishops called for the sentence
of excommunication. Then the Pope stood up, and amid ths
deepest silence, broken only by the repeated acclamations of
the council, spoke as follows : “ St. Peter, prince of the Apos­
tles, hear thy servant I call thee to witness, thou and the
Most Holy Mother of God, with St. Paul, thy brother, and all
tie example of RnU-rt the Pious, king of France, whose attendants burned the articles
which he had
>«■ order not to communicate with their excommunicated roaster

8T. GREGORY VII. (A. D. II7J-1088).

125

the saints, that the Church of Rome compelled me, in spite of
myself, to rule. In the name of Almighty God, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, and by thy authority, I forbid Henry to gov­
ern the German realm and Italy. I release all Christiane from
the oath by which they have bound themselves to him, and I
forbid any one to serve him as king. Since he has refused to
obey as a Christian, rejecting the counsels given him for his
salvation, and withdrawing from the Church, which he seeks
to rend, I hereby declare him anathema, that all nations may
know, even by experience, that thou art Peter, and that upon
this rock the Son of the Living God has built His Church,
against which the gates of hell shall never prevail” (a. d.
*
1076).
A Pontifical bull acquainted the whole Catholic
world with the sentence pronounced against Henry IV. “ If,
by the grace of God,” said the Pope, ‘*'he show true repent­
ance, he will ever find us ready, notwithstanding all his at­
tacks upon us, to receive him back into the communion of
the Church ; he may then be convinced that we love him far
more sincerely than those who now share or encourage his
crimes.”
14. The news of Henry’s excommunication and deposition
caused an immense sensation in the Catholic world. Germany
was at once divided into two camps : the cause of the Pop»
was upheld by a considerable number of clerics, monks, and
nobles, by Franconia, Bavaria, Suabia, Lombardy, and the
whole of Saxony and Thuringia. Henry at first endeavored
to hide the pain caused by this blow ; he affected to slight the
Pontifical sentence as a powerless attack. His rage broke out
more violently than ever upon the wretched Saxons. “ Sax­
ony and Thuringia,” says a contemporary historian, ·· were
* “ To thia council οΓ 1016 some writers ascribe the promulgation of the Dictaiiu Fopr,
a collection of twonty-seven maxima, forming a compendium of the whole doctrine if St.
Gregory VII. on the supremacy of the Popes. But nearly all tho scholars of the tre-ont
day reject the opinion which attribute» to St. Gregory this statement of the news which
ruled hia conduct, though, on the other hand, they perfectly represent the spirit of the age
■nd the course of the Pontiff”—VotQT, Siitory of Grvjory VU.

126

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

ravaged with a barbarous cruelty unequalled in the memory of
any living man.” But defections began to multiply among the
adherents of a king whose power was made subservient to
injustice and tyranny. Λ solemn gathering of the German
bishops and nobles was held at Tribur, near Mentz (a. d. 1076).
Two Papal legates were present: Siccard, patriarch of Aquileia, and Altmann, bishop of Passau ; they announced, on
behalf of the Holy See, that Henry, being canonically excom­
municated, the support of the Pontifical authority might be
relied upon in the election of a new king. After seven days of
deliberation, the assembled princes decided upon the necessity
of giving a new ruler to Germany. But Henry, becoming
alarmed at the fearful proportions which the question was now
assuming, entered into active negotiations with the leading
members of the diet of Tribur, and promised to make all the
satisfaction that might be required of him. A treaty was con­
cluded ; the nobles announced to Henry, that unless “ within
the space of a year he had obtained absolution from the sen­
tence of excommunication and deposition weighing upon him,
he should be considered finally deposed from the throne.”
They then dictated to him the severest terms, the chief of
which were that he should disband his army and withdraw to
Spires, laying aside the royal authority until he had received
absolution from the Sovereign Pontiff. A diet was likewise
convoked, at Augsburg, at which the Pope was invited to be
present, to end the affair.
15. St. Gregory set out at once ; but instead of awaiting
him in Germany, Henry came forward to meet him at Canossa,
one of the castles in the domain of the Countess Matilda. The
meeting was attended with somewhat remarkable circum­
stances. “The castle of Canossa,” says Voigt, “was sur­
rounded by a triple line of outworks. Into the second of
these Henry was admitted, while the lords of his train were
left outside of the first. The king had laid aside every badge
of royalty; there was nothing to betray his rank. Clothed in
penitential dress and barefooted, he spent three days in fasting

ST. GREGORY VII. (A. D. 1073-1085).

127

and prayer, awaiting the sentence of the Sovereign Pontiff ·
Meanwhile negotiations were rife. Matilda became his inter­
cessor with Gregory VII. Henry promised to make full satis­
faction to all the complaints of his subjects against him, to be
present at the diet of Augsburg, there to make peace with the
German princes by repairing all his past injustice; and he
concluded by pledging himself never to undertake any thing
derogatory to the honor and independence of the Apostolic
See. Prostrate at the Pontiff’s feet, with his arms outstretched
in the form of a cross, and bathed in tears, he uttered the peti­
tion : “ Forgive, most holy Father, in your mercy forgive me.’’
St. Gregory raised him up from his humble posture, gave him
the Apostolic blessing and absolution, and celebrated the Holy
Sacrifice in his presence and before all the German nobles,
who had been introduced, and had pledged themselves for the
observance of the king’s promises. After the consecration, St.
Gregory caused them all to draw near to the altar; then
raising the Sacred Host, he addressed the king: “We have
been charged by you and by your adherents, of having usurped
the Holy See, of having acquired it by simony ; you have ac­
cused us of crimes which, according to the canons, would unfit
us for the exercise of the sacred ministry. We could easily
justify ourself by an appeal to those who have known us from
infancy, and to the authors of our promotion ; but we invoke
the judgment of God alone. May the body of Jesus Christ,
which I am about to receive, be, then, the witness of my inno­
cence. I beseech the Almighty thus to dispel all suspicions.
* Protestant and infidel writers are apparently much shocked at the rigor and rtrroyavt
<ric) with which St Gregory treated Henry IV, obliging him to wear a penitential garb and
to undergo a fast of three days before giving him absolution. Thesewriters betray ignorance
of facts and of laws. It was Henry’s own thought to clothe himself as a penitent and to
oractiso this fast while seeking forgiveness for his crimes and criminal attempts. In law
the discipline of the Church, relative to canonical penances, sanctioned this species of eipiation. Greater princes than Henry IV. had submitted to it; what Theodosius had done
Before St Ambrose, the King of Germany might well repeat, without dishonor, before Si
Gregory VII. Majesty in uever disgraced by humbling itself l?efore God. Theodoeiu*
though on his knees at the feet of St. Ambrose. m none the less honored in history, by a>J
ages, as Theodosius the Great.

128

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE OHÜRCH.

if I am innocent; to strike me dead on the spot if guilty.’’
He then received one half of tho Host, and turning again to
the king, continued : “ Prince, the most serious charges are
alleged against you. If you are guiltless, follow my example
and receive this remaining half of the Sacred Host, that thia
proof may close the lips of aU your enemies, and forever end
the civil strife.” This unexpected proposal startled the king,
lie was not prepared to commit a deliberate sacrilege. Per­
haps he was not unmindful of the fearful fate which had
befallen Lothaire on a like occasion. He begged the Pope to
defer the solemn ordeal until the day appointed for the general
diet. The delay was granted. At the close of the religious
solemnity the Pope invited Henry to his table, treated him
with the most marked consideration, and finally allowed him
to rejoin his escort, which awaited without the castle walls
(a. d. 1077).
16. Henry’s reconciliation was but apparent. He bore
with him from the domain of the Countess Matilda a heart full
of bitter hate. The flame was carefully fed by his courtiers,
md especially by Guibert of Ravenna, still earnestly bent upon
Ms projects of ambition and schism. Meanwhile St. Gregory
VII. had honestly made known to the Catholic world the result
of the meeting at Canossa, and proclaimed that Henry was
released from the censures pronounced against him. This
proclamation brought back a number of bishops and nobles to
Henry’s interest. The false-hearted monarch saw, in this
return of fortune, but a more favorable opportunity to satisfy
his burning thirst for revenge. He sent an armed force into
Lombardy, to seize the Pope ; but Gregory had received timely
warning, and the attempt was foiled. Having once thrown
down the gauntlet, Henry felt himself urged on by a new ardor,
and, heartily cursing the past, prepared for a desperate strug­
gle (a. D. 1077). The German nobles, however, were not dis­
posed to follow him in this course They called a general diet
at Forcheim, and sent to request the. presence of the Pope. St.
Gregory replied that after the late attempt made udou his

8T. GREGORY Vil. (A. D. 1073-108S).

129

person b}· Henry, it would be rash in him to cross the German
territory ; he however sent two legates to Forcheim (1077).
Henry was offered a safe-conduct to assist at the deliberations
of the diet; he took care to refuse it. The council then pro­
ceeded to examine the charges brought against him. He was
unanimously convicted of a tyrannical abuse of power, while
his late assault upon the Pope was deemed a sufficient cause
for his deposition. The measure was accordingly proposed by
the Archbishop of Mentz, who mentioned Rudolph, duke of
Suabia, as worthy of the royal crown. The motion was ieceived with enthusiastic joy by princes and people. The
legates, presuming upon the views of the Sovereign Pontiff,
confirmed the choice ; and in the very same session the mem­
bers of the diet pledged their oath of fealty to the new king.
Rudolph reluctantly bowed his head to receive the royal dia­
dem thus forced upon him. He recpiested a delay, that he
might take needful counsel ; the assembled princes granted
him only an hour for deliberation, and ere the close of day he
was proclaimed lawful king of Germany and defender of the
empire of the Franks, a title which recalled the days of Charle­
magne and the rise of the new empire of the West (March 15,
a.d. 1077).
17. The election of Rudolph plunged Germany into new
calamities. Henry attacked his rival and defeated him in the
first encounter. He would be solemnly crowned at Ulm, by
way of strengthening his hold upon the sceptre disputed by
Rudolph ; after which he wreaked his vengeance upon Suabia,
the domanial province of the new king, ravaging the fields,
burning harvests, and levelling the strongholds to the ground.
The election of Rudolph was not sanctioned by the Pope, who
still hoped, in spite of his faithless character, to win back the
erring king by gentle means. The legates had exceeded their
powers in confirming the election of the diet. The Pontiff
expressly stated the fact in a letter addressed to all the faith
ful, and declared that the diet of Forcheim had acted without
his direction or advice. “ We have even decreed in council,"
vol ni.—a

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

added the Pope, “ th.it unless the archbishops and bishops who
crowned Rudolph are prepared to give good reasons for the
act, they shall be deposed from their sees.” So marked was
the neutral stand taken by the Pope in this juncture, that both
kings simultaneously sent ambassadors to solicit his interven­
tion. In reply to these two appeals, St. Gregory VII. sent
new instructions to his legates in Germany. “We direct you,”
he wrote, “ by the authority of St. Peter, to require of the two
kings an assurance of our freedom to enter their states, as well
as safe-conducts, that may enable us, with the help of the
German clergy and nobility, to decide in whose hands justice
would place the reins of government.”
18. Rudolph would gladly have seconded the Pope’s wishes;
but the unyielding disposition of Henry forbade all hope of a
peaceful close. He pushed on his military operations with
renewed energy, and fortune seemed to smile upon his efforts.
His cause was embraced by a great majority of the German
and Italian bishops. In the opening campaign victory seemed
to hesitate between the two standards. A bloody battle was
fought on the banks of the Strewe, in Franconia : Rudolph,
stoutly supported by Otho of Nordheim, whom contemporary
chronicles call “ a wonderfully brave man,” gained one of those
dear-bought triumphs, often more disastrous than a defeat.
Henry fell back upon Ratisbonne, and, after a short delay to
repair his shattered strength, once more fell upon Suabia,
wasting it with fire and sword. St. Gregory made one more
effort to restore peace (a. d. 1078). He convoked a council in
Rome, to which the two kings sent ambassadors, promising to
leave the decision of their dispute to a general diet of all Ger­
many. Still these negotiations did not stay the war, which
raged without interruption during the whole of the year 1079.
The victory of Fludenheim, won by Rudolph (1080), raised
the hopes of the Saxons, and seemed to have struck a fatal
olow at the cause of Henry. But he rose again more formi­
dable than ever, and now refused both the Pope’s mediation
and the arbitrament of the general diet. The whole of Ger­

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131

many besought the Pontiff to utter a final judgment between
the two rivals, and, by his decision, end the horrors of civil
«trife. Once more he strove to move the stubborn mind of
lenry, who rejected all terms of accommodation. The time
ar reasoning was past ; St. Gregory saw that he must now
act.
19. He called a council at Rome, the seventh held in
his Pontificate (a. d. 1080). After the renewal of the anathe­
mas against investitures, the envoys of Rudolph were intro­
duced, and stated their charges against Henry TV. The Pope
arose and spoke at length upon his efforts to restore peace to
the empire, and the obstacles ever thrown in his way by
Henry. Then, in a splendid burst of eloquence, addressing
St. Peter and St. Paul, whose authority he represented, he
pronounced sentence as follows : “ St. Peter, prince of the
Apostles, and thou, St. Paul, great teacher of nations, deign. I
beseech you, to hear and favorably receive my words. It is
my faith in you, after God and His holy Mother, the Virgin
Mary, that bears me up against the sinful and wicked, and
enables me to encourage your faithful servants. The kings of
the earth, the princes of the world, have met together against
the Lord and against you ; they have said : ‘ Let us break
their yoke and cast it far from us.’ Their chief, Henry, whom
they call king, has risen up against your Church, and endeav­
ored to cast me down from the Pontifical throne. He refuses
all proposals of peace, and rejects the decision of the diet which
was to end these long-continued wars. He has taken the lives
of a multitude of Christians, given up the churches to the profana­
tion and plunder of his troops, and carried desolation throughout
the whole Teutonic kingdom. Therefore do I, trusting in the
mercy of God, and of His Mother, the Virgin Mary, and by
your authority, excommunicate Henry and all his abettors ; J
declare him deposed from the government of Germany and
Italy, and deprived of the royal power and dignity. I forbid
every Christian to obey him as king, and release all who have
sworn fealty to him. Let Rudolph, the choice of the Germans.

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

rule and defend the kingdom which is henceforth his. To all
his followers I grant absolution from their faults and the
Apostolical benediction. As Henry is justly stripped of the
royal dignity, in punishment of his pride, his disobedience, and
faithlessness, the royal power and authority are therefore
bestowed upon Rudolph, as the reward of his humility, his
submission, and uprightness.”
20. Henry IV. thought himself strong enough to cope
with the power which had chastised him. He met the sentence
of deposition by the false Councils of Mentz and Brixen, which
declared St. Gregory VII. unworthy to govern the Church
(a. d. 1080). “ In a council of twenty-nine bishops,” said the
simoniacal prelates, “ we have resolved to depose, expel, and
—if he refuse to obey our injunction—to devote to eternal
perdition, Hildebrand, the corrupt man Avho counsels the
plunder of churches and assassination, who defends perjury and
murder, who even questions the Catholic faith ; Hildebrand,
the abettor of the heretical Berengarius ; Hildebrand, that
monk possessed of the spirit of hell, the vile apostate from the
faith of our fathers.” Amid these gross insults, inspired by
the most bitter hatred, it is somewhat astonishing to meet the
charge of favoring the heresy of Berengarius, which St. Greg­
ory had solemnly condemned in a council held in 1078. The
neresiarch had even made his final abjuration into the hands
of the Pontiff. After this violent proclamation, the bishops of
Brixen unanimously elected, as antipope, Guibert of Ravenna,
who took the name of Clement HI. He forthwith appeared in
Pontifical attire, and solemnly swore to protect King Henry
IV. The pretender to the Apostolic title set out for Italy,
attended by a pompous escort. Henry lent all his influence to
an election commanded by himself, but which was, neverthe­
less, received with indignation by every true Christian. Ru­
dolph, meanwhile, prepared for a struggle which must now be
decisive. The two armies met in the month of October,
a. d. 1080, near Merseburg, in the marshes of Grona. The
lion-hearted Otho of Nordheim led the Saxons, and won the

ST. GREGORY VII. (A. D. 1073-1085).

133

victory for the cause of justice; but, while he was listening to
the glad tidings of his triumph, Rudolph, mortally wounded by
Godfrey de Bouillon, died, like Epaminondas at Mantinæa.
The same youthful warrior, Godfrey, who here figures on the
side of Henry IV., will yet atone for the errors of his earlier
years by deeds of deathless fame on the hallowed soil of Pal­
estine.
21. The death of Rudolph, who had fallen in the hour of
victory, was an irretrievable calamity. Henry IV., now mas­
ter of nearly all the Italian passes, poured down his triumphant
troops upon these rich and smiling valleys. His party grew
with fearful rapidity. Simoniacal or concubinary clerics and
bishops flocked to the protection of the antipope Clement HL,
and formed the schism known in history as the schism of the
Henricians. They held their own peculiar doctrine, and taught
that the emperor should exercise the chief authority in the choice
of Popes and bishops ; that no Pope or bishop could be deemed
lawfully elected, unless chosen by the emperor or the king of
Germany ; finally, that no account was to be made of a sen­
tence of excommunication pronounced against a temporal sov­
ereign. Henry IV., as may easily be imagined, favored a doc­
trine so much in keeping with his own views. St. Gregory
saw himself forsaken by nearly the whole of Italy ; one, how­
ever, remained true to him in the hour of trial: the heroic
Countess Matilda, with unshaken courage, strove to stem the
advancing torrent of German invasion. “ The pen of history,’
says Voigt, “ refuses to record all the woes that followed in
the train of this schism.” They were indeed fearful, since
they nearly annulled the salutary reform begun by the genius
of Gregory VII. for the salvation of modern civilization. The
fearless Pontiff awaited the coming storm with that calm,
undaunted bearing which marks the man of high and holy aims.
He knew that man’s mightiest workings for the triumph of
error must come to naught at the bounds which the Almighty s
hand has set to crime and injustice. “ We wish,” he wrote to
all (he faithful, “that your contempt for the pride and the

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

endeavors of the wicked may equal ours, and that you should
rest more assured of their fall, in proportion as they pretend
to rise higher.” The confidence of St. Gregory was soon
-ewarded by the frank and sincere submission of Robert
Guiscard, who came to swear fealty to the Pon tiff, received
absolution from the censures he had previously incurred, and
promised to hold his sword at the service of the Holy See.
Meanwhile the Saxons, dispirited for a moment by the death
of Rudolph, had found new courage, and meeting at Bamberg,
they elected Hermann of Luxemburg king of Germany. Sprung
from an old and illustrious race, a fearless warrior in the field,
Hermann, in ordinary times, would have been a man of un­
usually brilliant parts; but in a season of such political
confusion, it would have required even more than the hand of
a hero to seize and hold the sceptre. Hermann was crowned
at Goslar, and repaid the choice of his countrymen by the
services of his prodigious energy and courage. But his army
was infected with a spirit of desertion, and he was soon forced
to seek shelter in Lorraine, where he died, without having
secured the possession of a crown which he would have fairly
won by his virtues and his valor.
22. The spring of the year 1082 found Henry encamped,
with a considerable army, under the walls of Rome. He was
accompanied by Guibert of Ravenna, who wore a sword as un­
scrupulously as if he had not clothed himself with the purple.
For three successive years did the German troops besiege the
city. St. Gregory withdrew into the castle of St. Angelo.
Robert Guiscard was too deeply engaged with the Byzantine
Greeks to give the *Pontiff any instant help. All Henry’s prof­
fered bribes failed to win the loyalty of the Romans from their
Pontiff. Hostilities were occasionally suspended, by a mo­
mentary truce, to admit of negotiations. In 1083, Henry
agreed to the Pope’s proposition, that a council should be held
at Rome for a final decision of the affairs of the Church and
of the empire. The king pledged himself to give free passage
to all who should come to the council. But, with his natural

8T. GREGORY VII. (A. D. 1O1J-JO9»).

13Γ>

dishonesty, and in contempt of all international law, he «nest­
ed the deputies sent by Hermann and the German princes, as
well as all the bishops of the opposite party, who were on their
way to answer the Pontiff’s call. In spite of all these ob­
stacles, the council was opened at the appointed time.
*
“ On
the third day,” says Voigt, “St. Gregory VII. arose in he
midst of the assembly, as if endued with a supernatural power ;
and in a strain of earnest and overpowering eloquence, which
drew tears from all his hearers, he spoke of faith, of Christian
morality, of the courage and constancy demanded by the exist
ing persecution. He seemed to feel that his voice now rose
for the last time in favor of so just and holy a cause. Henry
refused to agree to any measures of accommodation. Still St.
Gregory did not pronounce judgment upon him by name ; but
excommunicated, in general, all who had hindered the bishops
and German envoys from coming to the council, or had held
them prisoners.” This measure was the more spirited, that the
Pope was left almost alone to support the wavering courage of
the Romans. But wearied out, at length, by the rigors of a
protracted siege, and by a constancy so much at variance with
their restless and fickle disposition, the citizens sent a deputa­
tion to offer to Henry the keys of the city. The king made
his entry, accompanied by the antipope Guibert, on the 21st
of March, a. d. 1084. The heroic Pontiff, witness of the defec­
tion of his subjects, withdrew into the impregnable citadel of
St. Angelo. Guibert was installed in the Lateran palace and
crowned by the Bishops of Modena and Arezzo, before an
immense concourse of the clergy and people. On Easter-Day,
March 31st, Henry and his queen, Bertha, made their solemn
entry into the basilica of St. Peter, after which they repaired
to the Vatican, where Guibert placed the imperial diadem upon
the brow of the king, and proclaimed him patrician of the
Romans.
23. Robert Guiscard was in the mean time hurrying on,
ibis waa the c'nth and last council held at Romo in the Pontificate ot St Gregory VU

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

with an army of thirty thousand men, to the Pope’s relief
Henry, feeling himself unequal to the contest, hastily quitted
Rome with his antipope, first for Civita Vecchia, thence to
Sienna. But Robert the rescuer was destined to be as fatal
to Rome as Henry the conqueror. The undisciplined Nor­
mans, mingled with bands of Saracens who had enlisted under
the standard of Guiscard, desolated the city with fire and
sword ; heaps of smouldering ruins marked the spots where a
few hours before Rome’s stateliest palaces had stood. To save
the city from further disaster, Gregory withdrew with Robert
to Salerno (a. d. 1085). Unremitting struggles, long and pain­
ful labors, had worn away the great Pontiff’s life. He saw
the world hurrying on to destruction, and generously sacri­
ficed himself to stay its downward course. The cardinals who
stood about his dying couch deplored the helpless state in
which his death must leave them : “ In heaven,” he said, “ I
shall commend you to the infinitely good God.” He men­
tioned three men whom he deemed worthy to carry on his
great work and to sit in the chair of St. Peter : Didier, abbot
of Monte Cassino; Otho, bishop of Ostia; and Hugh, arch­
bishop of Lyons. “ In the name of Almighty God,” added the
dying Pontiff, “ in virtue of the authority of the holy Apostles
Peter and Paul, I command you to acknowledge as lawful
Pope no one who is not elected and consecrated according
to the canonical laws of the Church.” Then, as he gradually
but rapidly declined in strength, he rallied his ebbing life to
atter the words which summed up his whole earthly career :
“ I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore do I die in
exile.” One of the bishops replied : “ Holy Father, you can
nowhere be an exile ; God has given you all nations as a
heritage, and the whole world for a kingdom.” But Gregoiy
VII. heard not these words ; his soul had gone to rest in the
bosom of the Eternal Justice he had just invoked (May 25,
a. d. 1085).
*
• In 1584 the name of St. Gregory TH. was inserted in the Roman Martyrology, by
order of Gregory XIIL In the Pontificate of Benedict XIII. the legend of St. Gregory

ST. GREGORY VIT. (A. D. 1073-1085).

J37

24. The closely-connected series of events into which St.
Gregory was drawn by his struggle with Henry IV., has
withheld our attention from his relations with the remaining
portions of the world. His first thoughts were directed to the
condition of the Christians crushed by the Mussulman yoke in
Spain, Africa, and Palestine. And now we begin to perceive
the dawning idea of the great Crusades. A powerful nobleman
of Champagne, Ebole, count of Roucy, and several other
French knights, offered their services to the Christian cause
against the Moors. The Pope gave them, by anticipation, a
feudal tenure of all the lands they might win from the unbe­
lievers. We are not acquainted with the exploits of the Count
of Roucy; but a little later, about 1085, we find other distin­
guished French lords, such as Raymond, count of Toulouse,
and his vassals, nobly fighting under the Spanish standard,
following Alphonso VI. in his Moorish campaign. These were
the first Crusaders—the first voluntary soldiers of Christ in a
sacred warfare. At about the same period (a. d. 1074), Gregory
had raised a force of fifty thousand men to help the Greeks
against the Mussulmans, to free the holy places and the
Church of Africa. This gigantic undertaking was thwarted at
the outset by the question of the investitures, which called the
Pontiff’s undivided attention to the German States. The
throne of Constantinople was successively disgraced by a line
of imbecile or ferocious princes, as they are called by Montes­
quieu. Michael VII., surnamed Parapinax (the Famished),
from his insatiable cupidity, was vainly urged, by repeated
letters from Gregory VII., to make a bold stand against the
Mussulman power, which now threatened the very gates of Con­
stantinople. He spent his reign in devising new means of taxing
was introduced into the Roman breviary, where it is still read. But the legend was
declared suppressed, by the decrees of the parliaments; and several French bishope for­
bade its recitation. Magistrates of the school of Pithon revise a saint's otBce instituted by
a Pope! Bishops con firm the theological decisions of a parliament! This is certainly a
lamentable wandering. Jesus Christ founded His Church upon an imperishable rock, and
not upon the authority of parliaments which are no more, and whose teachings bare b
*
oue-ithed to the world a legacy of revolutions and ruin.

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE JHIRCH.

his people’s wealth, as though the throne had been for him but
a usurer’s counter (1078). His successor, Nicephorus Botoniates, was dethroned (λ. d. 1081) by Alexius Comnenus. As
he was setting out on his road to exile, he cast a last lingering
glance at the palace where he had reigned for three years.
“I regret but one feature of the imperial power,” he ex­
claimed ; “ the board of the Cæsars.” Alexius inaugurated,
by deeds of valor and justice, a reign which was not without
glory. He found himself engaged in a struggle with Robert
Guiscard and his Normans, who eventually wrested from the
Greek crown its last possessions in Italy and Illyria. The
contests of Comnenus with the Dalmatians, the Comani, and
the four hundred thousand Scythians who ravaged the plains
of Thrace, recall the old Homeric combats. The Turks, under
Alp-Arslan, and afterward under the Sultan Abu-Kasem,
poured their swarming squadrons upon the vast regions
stretching from Persia to the Hellespont. They had already
advanced as far as Scutari. The standard of Mahomet was
thrown to the breeze of the Bosphorus, within sight of the
ramparts of Constantinople ; Byzantium trembled with dread
at the neighing of the steeds, the wild shouts of the warriors
who had broken away from the banks of the Oxus. Alexius
Comnenus utters a cry of terror, to which the West will soon
reply by the Crusades.
25. St. Gregory was not careless of the countries of the
north. He bestowed the royal title upon Demetrius, duke of
Dalmatia, and upon Michael, prince of the Sclaves. The king
of the Russians paid homage for his kingdom to the Sovereign
Pontiff. The Hungarians, the Poles, and the Danes especially
awakened his solicitude. Wratislas, duke of Bohemia, asked
the Pope’s permission to have the divine office celebrated
throughout his states in the Sclavonic tongue. The reply of
St. Gregory is a precious monument of his zeal for the preser­
vation of the liturgy : “ It is impossible for us,” wrote the
Pontiff, “ to grant your request. God has allowed the exist­
ence of hard passages in the Sacred Text, lest a too simple and

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139

easy understanding should open many ways of error to the
rash aspirings of the vulgar mind. The precedents which
might be adduced in favor of your petition, would be of no
force.
There are many ancient customs which the holy
Fathers, after serious deliberation, have thought fit to correct
or reform, when the Church became more firmly rooted and
more widely spread. In virtue of the authority of St. Peter,
we must oppose the imprudent request of your subjects, and
we enjoin you to resist it with all your power.” These words
of St. Gregory breathe, throughout, a spirit of the deepest wis­
dom. It is proper enough that in individual or national con­
cerns, each nation should use its own tongue. But the Cath­
olic Church is hemmed in by no national or state limits ; she
embraces all tongues and tribes and people in the bosom of a
fruitful unity. It is proper, then, that the language of the
Church, the language of the sacrifice, the language of divine
worship, should be everywhere the same, in order that the
Christian, the Catholic, may everywhere feel at home in the
house of God, his Father; that he should, in all times and
places, hear the language of his mother, the Church, and recog­
nize everywhere, amid so many varieties of human society, the
unity of that which is divine.
26. Notwithstanding the disorders in the clergy of his day,
against which St. Gregory was called to battle, his Pontificate
was rich in examples of virtue and holiness. Lanfranc, arch­
bishop of Canterbury, edified the new English realm and used
his influence with William the Conqueror to turn the conquest
to the benefit of religion. St. Anselm, bishop of Lucca, St.
Alfanius, bishop of Salerno, and St. Bruno, bishop of Segni,
nobly seconded St. Gregory VII. in his struggle against the
tyranny of Henry IV. and the simony and irregularity of the
clergy. St. Stephen of Muret founded the Order of Grandmont,
near Limoges. The monastic order was illustrated by the
virtues of St. Gaucher, prior of a community of regular canons
at Saint-Jean-d’Aureuil, and of St. Cervinus, abbot of Saint-Kiquier, in the same province. St Robert, formerly a monk in

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

rhe monastery of Moustier-la-Celle, near Troyes, afterward
abbot of Tonnerre, was laying the foundation of a celebrated
monastery at Molesme, in the diocese of Langres (a. d. 1075),
he was yet also to attach his name to the great foundation of
Citeaux. St. Hugh, abbot of Cluny, kept this order in the
strict observance of its primitive institute. It was nothing
unusual to see the most powerful lords forsake their worldly
wealth and prospects to embrace, under his direction, the
austerities of the cloister. Blessed Simon, count of Crépi, of
Valois, of Mantes, and of Bar-sur-Aube, renounced the world
under somewhat extraordinary circumstances.
His father,
Radulf of Crépi, had unjustly seized the city of Montdidier,
where he was afterward buried. Simon, struck with terror at
the thought of God’s judgments, and trembling for his father’s
eternal salvation, consulted St. Gregory VII., and by his advice
gave back the fief to its lawful lord, removing the remains of
Radulf from the ground which he had usurped. The coffin
was opened before the removal of the remains to their new
grave. The young nobleman, seized with horror at the sight of
the corpse, exclaimed : “ Can this be my father ! Is this,
then, the end of all earthly greatness !” From that hour his
resolve to quit all for God was fixed. Preparations had been
made fo/his union with the daughter of the Count of la Marche;
but he persuaded his betrothed to embrace a religious life.
StiD his parents did not give up all hope of keeping him in the
world. William of England, in whose court young Simon had
been brought up, offered him the hand of his daughter, the
Princess Adela, who was eventually espoused to the Count of
Blois. Himon could not refuse the honor of so noble an alliance
without displeasing a prince to whom he was under the great­
est obligations ; but alleging nearness of kindred, he feigned a
journey to Rome to obtain the Pope’s dispensation, and en
tered the monastery of St. Eugend (St. Claude), of the Order
of Cluny. Here he died in the practice of every Christian
virtue, and won the honor of beatification. Hugh, duke of
Burgundy, likewise bade adieu to the world, and went to end

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141

his days in the solitude of Cluny. St. Bruno, once a canon of
St. Cunibert’s, at Cologne, and afterward chancellor of the
metropolitan church of Rheims, followed by six companions,
founded a monastery near Grenoble, amid the bleak and rugged
mountains of the desert of Chartreuse (a. d. 1084). The rule
given by St. Bruno to his disciples was founded upon that of
St. Benedict, but with such modifications as almost to make of
it a new and particular one. The Carthusians were very
nearly akin to the monks of Vallis-Umbrosa and Camaldoli;
they led the same kind of life—the eremitical joined to the
cenobitic. Each religious had his own cell, where he spent the
week in solitude, and met the community only on Sunday.
Their rule prescribed an almost uninterrupted silence, strict
fasts, severe abstinence, poverty and austerity in all things,
with continual prayer and contemplation. These devout peni­
tents formed a community, so to speak, of anchorets, exhibiting
to the middle-ages a living picture of the ancient desert prodi­
gies of Egypt and Syria.
27. Thus did the watchful glance of St. Gregory VIL, in
reviewing the world he had undertaken to reform, rest with
consolation upon some heroic souls worthy to receive and to
improve his teachings. The Protestant school has asserted
that the ecclesiastical law of clerical celibacy is an innovation
upon ancient traditions, and first imposed in the eleventh cen­
tury by the domineering spirit of Hildebrand. This historical
error has been ably refuted by Monsignore Palma, with his
usual display of deep erudition and solid reasoning. “No
point of history,” says the learned prelate, “rests upon a
surer foundation than the antiquity of the law which binds all
clerics in sacred orders to the observance of celibacy. Pope
Sericius (a. d. 385), writing on this subject to Himerius, bishop
of Tarragona, speaks as follows : ‘ We are all, both priests and
levites, bound by an indissoluble law; and on the day of our
ordination we consecrated both our bodies and our hearts to
chastity. Should any maintain that they are released from the
law by former dispensations, we, by the authority of the Apos-

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

folic See, declare them suspended from all ecclesiastical dignity.
We warn every bishop, priest, or deacon, who, from this time
forth, may incur guilt in this manner, that every avenue to our
indulgence is closed against him. For the evil which is proof
against all ordinary remedies must be expelled by iron.’ The
law of ecclesiastical celibacy, mentioned by St. Sericius as a
tradition universally received in the Church, has a like sanction
from St. Innocent I., in a letter to Exuperius, bishop of Tou­
louse. ‘ The obligation of continence,’ says the Pontiff, ‘ is so
solidly established upon the plain teaching of the divine laws
(divinarum legum manifesta disciplina), and the rescripts of
Sericius of happy memory, that incontinent clerics should at
once be excluded from every ecclesiastical dignity, and by no
means admitted to the exercise of a ministry reserved alone to
the clean of heart.’ ” To these witnesses of the early Church
we could add a long list of later testimonies quite as direct and
explicit; but they more than suffice to prove the apostolic
tradition of the law of celibacy. It became St. Gregory VII,
the great-hearted Pontiff, to stand up as champion of the
glorious cause ; to defend at the peril of his life the spotless
integrity of the virgin Church, whose prolific chastity brings
forth thousands of souls to Jesus Christ. The strength and
glory of the Catholic priest is in his celibacy. He casts off all
earthly affection to embrace every species of misery, of suffer­
ing and pain ; and grace repays the sacrifice of worldly goods
by a hundredfold return—the high and holy privilege of spir­
itual paternity. Gregory followed up the twofold scourge of
clerical incontinence and simony into the stronghold of the
feudal system of investitures, where it had taken shelter. In
the realization of his designs he displayed a prudence, skill, and
energy which have forced involuntary homage from his very
enemies. He was one of those rare examples given to the
world to show the power of truth when served by a deep con­
viction and unbending conscience. Notwithstanding the un­
bridled inveefves of Protestantism and philosophy in the
eighteenth century, in spite of the accusations of a theological

VICTOR ΠΙ. (A. D. 1088-1087).

143

school but too plainly partial, St. Gregory VIT. stands ont
oefore us, among the figures of history, the greatest that has
presided over the destinies of the modern world ; nothing was
wanting to complete his character—the splendor of glory, the
renown of great deeds, interested slander, and the full meed
of misfortune—that solemn ordeal of virtue and genius.

§ II. Pontificate of Victor III. (May 24, a. n. 1086—Septem­
ber 16,1087).
28. In the very midst of Henry’s triumph over his oppo­
nents and the lamentable state to which anarchy and corrup­
tion had reduced the Church, the ideas and the works of St.
Gregory VII. had taken deep and lasting root. At his death
he left among the nobles and clergy a party, small in number,
but powerful by the might of learning and virtue. The lead­
ers of this party were naturally the three men whom the dying
Pontiff had mentioned in connection with the succession. Car­
dinal Didier, the abbot of Monte Cassino, was the only one
then in Italy ; the two others were absent—Otho, bishop of
Ostia, as legate of the Holy See, in Germany ; Hugh, arch­
bishop of Lyons, engaged in the pastoral duties of his charge.
The bishops and nobles who still remained true to the Church
turned their eyes upon Didier, and offered him the Sovereign
Pontificate. To take up the spiritual weapons so lately wield­
ed by the mighty arm of Gregory VIL, to struggle against the
fearful disorder of political and religious affairs, was an im­
mense burden for an aged man, weighed down by years and
infirmities. So thought the Abbot of Monte Cassino, and he
declined the offered dignity. For a whole year he steadily
resisted all the urgent entreaties pressed upon him. At length
the cardinals and bishops persuaded him to meet them in
Rome, where they obliged him to receive the Pontifical insignia
(May 24, a. d. 1086), and proclaimed him Pope, under the
name of Victor III. But the humble religious, four days after,
secretly quitted the Eternal City, once more to bury himself io

144

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

his beloved solitude nt Monte Cassino, from which he was
finally withdrawn only by the earnest prayers of Robert Guiscard and the other Italian princes, to resume the cross and the
Roman purple (March 21, a. d. 1087).
29. The antipope Guibert had availed himself of the inter­
regnum of two years to strengthen his party. He held military
possession of St. Peter’s church and the greater part of the
city. Yet Victor III. did not hesitate to appear at the gates
of Rome, accompanied by the Princes of Capua and Salerno ;
and the people hailed their lawful pastor with enthusiastic joy.
Guibert was forced to yield, and on the 29th of May, a. d.
1087, Victor III. was solemnly crowned in St. Peter’s church,
by the Bishops of Ostia, Tusculum, Porto and Albano. A
reaction, produced among a restless and fickle people by the
intrigues of schismatics, soon condemned the Sovereign Pontiff
to tread the path of exile marked by his holy predecessor ; but
the heroic Countess Matilda hastened to the rescue of tho illus­
trious fugitive, and. at the head of her army, triumphantly
restored him to Rome. Guibert and his partisans withdrew
into the fortress of the Rotunda, then called St. Mary-of-theTowers.
30. The first care of Victor III. was to take up the great
work of suppressing investitures, where St. Gregory VII. had
left it. A council held at Beneventum (August, a. d. 1087),
under the personal presidency of the Pope, issued the follow­
ing decree : “We ordain that any one who may from this time
forth receive a bishopric or an abbacy at the hands of a lay­
man, shall not be reckoned among the bishops or abbots, nor
enjoy any of their privileges. We withhold from him the
grace of St. Peter and entrance into the Church, until he
resign the usurped charge. And in the same manner should
any emperor, king, duke, marquis, count, or any other secular
person, presume to confer bishoprics or other dignities of the
Church, we include him in this condemnation.” The excom­
munication already pronounced against the antipope Guibert
was then renewed, and these decrees were sent to Germany,.

VICTOR Π1. (A. D. 11)86-1081).

146

•where King Henry IV. still continued his course of tyranny
and revolt against the Church. Victor III. survived these
events but a short time. He died on the 16th of September,
a. d. 1087, at the very moment when an Italian army was
setting out against the African Saracens. With dying hand
the Pontiff blessed the warriors who went forth to uphold the
cause of Christ. The expedition was victorious; and the
Saracens, who had so often plundered the Italian shores, were
reduced to purchase mercy at the price of a yearly tribute
*
• lïrtneiniua, Ptolemy of Lucca, and Muratori assert that Victor ΤΠ died of a dyaectery,
caused by poison thrown into hia chalice by order of Henry IV.
Vol. ΤΠ.—io

146

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER V.
5 I. Pontificate

of

Urban II. (March 12, a. d. 1088—July 29, 1C09).

I Election of Urban IT.—2. Henry IV. still hostile to the Holy See. Elec
tion of Conrad, hie eldest son, to the throne of Germany.—3. First labors
of Urban II. He calls St. Bruno to Rome.—4. Excommunication of Philip
L and Bertrada.—5. William Rufus in England.—6. Election of St. Anselm
to the archiépiscopal see of Canterbury.—7. Struggle between St. Anselm
and the King of England.—8. Roscelin. Universals. Realistsand Nomi­
nalists.—9. Philosophical works of St. Anselm.—10. Were the Crusades
just and useful wars?—11. Peter the Hermit. Council of Clermont.—12.
The first Crusade.—13. Taking of Jerusalem. Godfrey de Bouillon chosen
king.—14. Death of Pope Urban II.
§ I) Pontificate

of

Paschal II. (August 13, a.d. 1099—January 18, 1118).

la Election of Paschal II. Death of the antipope Gnibert. His successore.
—16. Henry I. succeeds William Rufiis and recalls St. Anselm to England.
—17. Henry, the second son of Henry IV., proclaimed king of Germany
it the death of Conrad. Council of Northus.—18. Diet of Mentz. Henry
IV. abdicates in favor of his son Henry V.—19. Henry IV. again in arms
His death.—20. Henry V. also claims the right of investiture. Journey of
Paschal II. into France. Council of Ch&lons-sur-»Marne.—21. Henry V.
marches upon Rome, seizes the Pope, and carries him into captivity.—22.
Paschal II. signs a treaty granting to Henry V. the right of investiture.
Crowns Henry emperor. Release of the Pope.
His repentance.—23.
Council of Lateran. Paschal II. annuls the treaty wrung from him by the
violence of Henry V.—24. Indignation of the Catholic world at Henry’s
sacrilegious attempts.—25. Henry V. once more before Rome. Flight nnd
death of Paschal II.—26. Death of Godfrey de Bouillon. Foundation of
the military orders. Knights of St. John of Jerusalem and of the Holy
Sepulchre. Knights Templars.—27. St. Bernard at Ciieaux.—28. Abelard.

§ IIL Pontificate

of

Gelabiub II. (January 25, a.
1119).

d.

1118--Jnnuary 29,

ÎS. Election of Gelasius II. Sedition raised in Rome by Cencio Frangipani.—
30. Henry V. seizes Rome. Gelasius II. withdraws to Gaeta. Election
cf tbe antipope Maurice Bourdin under the title of Gregory VIH.—3).
Death of Gelasius IL at Clunv

CUBAN Π. (A. D. 1088-1099).
S IV. Pontificate

of

147

Calixtub IT. (February 1, a. d. 1119—December H.
1124).

82. Election of Calixtns II. Attempt at a reconciliation between the Pope and
the emperor. Conference of Monson.—33. Henry V. deposed and excom­
municated by the Pope in the Conncil of Rheime, and his subjecta freed
from their allegiance.—34. St. Norbert. Premonstratensian ordei.—35.
The Pope’s return to Romo. End of the war of investitures.—36. Ninth
Ecumenical Council. Death of Calixtns II. and of Henry V.—37. Peter
of Bruys. Henry of Lausanne. Tanchelm or Tanquelin.—38. Bogomile
*.
—39. Guibert de Nogent.

§ I. Pontificate

of

Urban II. (March 12, a. d. 1088—
July 29, 1099).

1. Otho, cardinal-bishop of Ostia, a former pupil of St
Bruno, and the second whose name the dying Pontiff, St.
Gregory VII., had mentioned for the succession, was elected
on the 12th of March, a. n. 1088, at Terracina, and proclaimed
Pope under the name of Urban *
II. His Pontificate is marked
by four great events : 1st, his contest with Henry IV. and
the partisans of the antipope Guibert; 2d, the excommunica­
tion of Philip I., king of France, who set at naught the most
sacred laws, by persevering in an adulterous commerce; 3d,
tho struggle of St. Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, against
the encroachments of William Rufus; 4th, the first Crusade.
2. When Urban II. was chosen to fill the Papal throne, the
city of Rome was in the power of the antipope Guibert, who
had seized the occasion offered by the temporary vacancy to
establish his intrusion. Henry IV. persisted in keeping the
imperial title since his coronation by the antipope; and the
power which he thus claimed, he swayed with the most
despotic cruelty. He sold the dignities and benefices for
which he granted investitures, while the antipope trafficked in
ordinations. Saxony, always oppressed but always unsub·
• Otho was born at Chatillon-sur-Marne in France. Having embraced the monastic lift
In the order of St. Benedict, he was raised successively to the dignities of canon and arch
deacon of Rheime. It was at this time that he placed himself under the direction of Si
Bnino

148

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

dued, witnessed the decimation of her inhabitants, saw her
cities sacked, her fields laid waste ; and yet she would not
yield. As faithless to domestic ties as he was bloodthirsty in
his rule, Henry at length pushed the indignation of all Europe
to the last extreme of endurance by his brutal treatment of
Queen Adelaide, a princess of the ducal house of Lorraine,
whom he had married at the death of Bertha, his first wife.
His passions could not brook the restraint of lawful wedlock.
After a year of married life, he condemned Adelaide to a dun
geon, abandoned her to the brutal passions of his boon com
panions, and, to crown his infamous turpitude, would have
forced his eldest son, Conrad, to outrage the person of his
mother-in-law. This unexampled scandal caused a general
outburst of horror. Conrad fled the incestuous court of his
father, and found an asylum with the Countess Matilda, who
had lately, by the Pope’s advice, contracted a second mar­
riage with the Duke of Bavaria, Guelph II.
*
A powerful
league, including most of the cities of Lombardy, declared in
favor of Conrad, who was solemnly proclaimed king of Ger­
many. Henry IV., forsaken by all his followers, was com­
pelled to seek the shelter of a fortress, where, deprived of the
marks of royalty, and writhing under the torture of despair,
he was on the point of putting an end to his own life. The
universal sentiment of loathing felt for a prince so repeatedly
banned by the anathema of the Church, so often faithless to
bis plighted oath, and which even his present wretched state—the result of his own pride and wickedness—could not allay,
was increased by the appearance, in 1094, of a terrible plague,
which swept the whole of Germany, Upper Italy, and part of
France. The fearful violence of the scourge seemed to mark
it as a visitation of the divine wrath. A spontaneous and
unanimous impulse turned all minds to thoughts of religion
• This union was one of pure policy ; Matilda was at the time forty-three years of ago,
tnirteen of which she had lived in widowhood. Pope Urban II., in effecting this alliance,
gave himself; in the person of Guelph II., a zealous defender against the attempt· of
Henry IV

URBAN Π. (A. D. 1088-1099),

149

and faith. Men deplored the barbarous warfare so fiercely
waged, for fifteen years, against the Lord and against His
Christ ; and the name of Henry IV. was loaded with the curses
of the repentant world. The ambitious nobles, the simoniacal
bishops, so long bound by ties of material interest to the royal
cause, when face to face with the impartial conqueror who
strikes with unsparing hand, hastened to recognize Urban IL,
forsook their schism, seeking at least to die at peace with
God. A holy doctor, Mangold of Luttembach, upon whom
the Pope had conferred special powers for the purpose, re­
ceived from nearly all the German nobility the oath of obe­
dience to the lawful Pontiff. Public calamities brought with
them at least the advantage of religion and the return of
peace.
3. The first years of Urban’s Pontificate were spent in visit­
ing Sicily, lately wrested by Count Roger from the grasp of
the Moors. The Pope consecrated bishops and established
ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The valuable sendees of the count
were rewarded by the dignity of Apostolic legate for the coun­
tries he had won to the dominion of the faith. The reader
will remember a similar grant made to King Stephen of Hun­
gary by Pope Sylvester II. The present Pontiff, in a letter ad­
dressed, at his accession, to the whole Catholic world, had said :
“ We purpose faithfully to tread in the footsteps of Gregory
VII., our predecessor of glorious memory, and martyr to the
cause of justice.” He was true to his word. A few months
later he wrote to Alphonso VI., king of Leon and Castile, re­
proaching him with usurping the ecclesiastical authority, by
the deposition of the Bishop of St. James of Compostella.
“Restore him to his see,” wrote Urban, “and send him here
with your deputies, that he may undergo canonical judgment ;
otherwise you will compel Us to use a severity which would be
painful to Ourself.” Urban was then holding, at Melfi, in
Apulia, a council composed of seventy bishops, twelve abbots,
Count Roger, and a number of other nobles. All the existing
canons against the venal commerce in ecclesiastical dignities.

150

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

simony, and clerical incontinence, were confirmed ; and the
Pope nobly asserted the character he had promised to assume
—that of the fearless imitator of St. Gregory VII. In the
following year he visited Bari and consecrated the new arch­
bishop of that city, thronged for the past two years by an
immense concourse of pilgrims, attracted by the translation of
the relics of St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra, in Lycia. Here
Urban II. published the decrees of the Council of Melfi. lie
now called to his side the teacher of his earlier years, the illus­
trious St. Bruno,
*
who reluctantly tore himself away from his
holy solitude in the mountains of Grenoble, to lend his wisdom
and counsels to the guardian of the Church (a. d. 1090). The
influence of the Sovereign Pontiff was gradually developing a
religious tendency in European society. The uninterrupted
disorders and struggles which rent the world during the last
twenty years of the eleventh century, had given rise in souls
to an intense thirst for solitude. In Germany there were many
men shattered by the storms of revolution, and they now began
to gather under the sheltering shadow of the Cross. They
embraced a community life, giving up their persons and their
goods to the service of religious orders, living under their rule,
though still wearing a secular dress. Urban II. formally ap­
proved this manner of life, which was a kind of medium be­
tween lay-brothers, or converts, and the third orders. In
the country districts this example was followed by a number
of young girls, who made a vow of celibacy and lived in
common under the direction of holy priests. Even married
women often followed this manner of life. This wide-spread
impulse, which repaired the defection of Catholics, had
its detractors, although repeatedly confirmed and approved by
Urban II. “We approve this mode of life,” said the Pon­
tiff, “which We have personally witnessed: deeming it laud• St. Bruno spent several years in Romo, always refusing the dignities offered by Urban
II He was still drawn by an irresistible power to the solitary life, and withdrew, in
1093, V· Squillace, in Calabria, where ho built two monasteries of his order. He died in
1101

URBAN II. (A. D. 1088-1099).

151

nble and worthy of being perpetuated, as an image of the
primitive Church, We hereby confirm it by Our Apostolic au
*'
tliority.
4. But even while the pious Pontiff thus strove to rekindle
the fire of fervor and faith throughout the world, a deplorable
scandal carried grief to the heart of Christendom. The King
of France, Philip I., burning with an unlawful passion for
Bertrada de Montfort, wife of Fulk, count of Anjou, repudiated
his lawful wife, Bertha of Holland, by whom he had two
children.
*
On the eve of Pentecost (a. d. 1092), while the
canons of St. Martin were blessing the baptismal fonts in the
church of St. John, at Tours, Bertrada, who was present at the
ceremony, was forcibly seized and taken to the king. Queen
Bertha was at the same time confined in a fortified castle.
When this double outrage became known, a loud cry of indig­
nation broke forth from the nation’s heart. “ Be not sur­
prised,” says Hugh of Flavigay, a contemporary writer, “if we
vehemently cry out against the conduct of the king, without
regard to the majesty of the throne and the high dignity of the
guilty man. Were our book to remain silent, the whole of
France, nay, the entire West, would echo with thunders of
indignation. A king, heedless of the sanctity of marriage,
without respect for a bride sprung from a royal race, dares to
seize the lawful spouse of the Count of Anjou! Hitherto
royalty has wielded its emblematic sword only in defence of
the marriage-tie ; and now a king does not blush to break in
sunder the bonds of that sacred union, and shamelessly to per­
severe in an intolerable disorder !” Philip did not stop here.
He would have his adulterous connection blessed by the hand
of a bishop. He applied to the most enlightened and respect­
ed prelate of his day, in France, St. Yvo, whose reputation had
lately raised him from the chair of theology of St. Quentin,
near Beauvais, to the episcopal throne of Chartres (a. d. 1091).
• Louis, eurnamed the Fat, who succeeded his father, end the Princess CuniMson vho
afterward married Bohemond, prince of Antioch.

152

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

The king sought an annulment of his marriage with Bertha, on
a false plea of kindrod. “In that case.” replied Yvo, “you
cannot contract another alliance until the dissolution of the first
marriage has been canonically pronounced." It was in vain
that the king urged the matter, assuring the bishop that the
Pope, who had been consulted, had given his full consent.
St. Yvo was inflexible. “ What I said in your majesty’s pres­
ence," he wrote to Philip, “ though absent, I now repeat. I
neither can nor will assist at the celebration of your nuptials,
to which you have invited me. My conscience, which I must
keep pure before God, and the reputation of a bishop of Jesus
Christ, which should be without spot, forbid it. This refusal
does not detract from the obedience I owe you ; I feel, on the
contrary, that in speaking thus I am giving you a better proof
of my fidelity, since I am convinced that your present course
must jeopard your eternal salvation and plunge the whole king­
dom into an abyss of misery." Philip answered these wise
and charitable words by ordering the fearless bishop to be
thrown into a dungeon and his church given up to pillage.
William, archbishop of Rouen, was more pliant. He had the
weakness to bless this act of twofold adultery. Hugh, arch­
bishop of Lyons, had in the mean time been named, by Urban
II., Apostolic legate in France. The serious nature of the
juncture, the great responsibility consequently devolving upon
him, terrified the pious prelate. St. Yvo of Chartres, who
had just been released after a year of imprisonment, wrote to
him upon the subject : “ Although a new Achab (Henry IV.)
has appeared in the kingdom of Italy, and a new Jezabel (Bertrada) in that of France, Elias cannot say that he is left alone.
Though Herodias dance before Herod, and ask the head of
John the Baptist, John must still say, ‘ You may not, without
reason, put away your lawful wife.' In proportion as the
wicked rage against the Church, so must our courage wax
fearless in its defence, and strive to raise it up from its ruins.
If I speak to you thus, it is not that I presume to teach you
your duty; I would only encourage you to put your hand

URBAN II. (A. D. 1088-109»).

|$3

once more
*
to the plough, and to uproot tne thorns and brier»
in the field of the Lord.” Persecution had failed to break the
ep rit of St. Yvo. In an interview which took place since hie
captivity, he spoke to the king these noble words : “ Indebted,
as I am, to the goodness of God and to your indulgence for the
high rank which I hold in the Church—one to which my lowly
birth could not have looked—I feel doubly bound to use every
endeavor to promote your eternal welfare, without detriment
to the divine law. I still trust that you will speedily recog­
nize the truth of this saying of the Wise Man : ‘ Better are the
wounds of a friend than the deceitful kisses of an enemy.’ ”
Hugh of Lyons did not hesitate to join his efforts to those of
St. Yvo of Chartres. He called a council at Autun (a. d.
1094), which excommunicated Philip and deposed the arch­
bishop of Rouen. The king appealed to the Pope, who an­
swered by confirming, in the Council of Clermont, the sentence
already pronounced. The death of Bertha, which took place
in the interval, aroused new hopes in the heart of Philip that
now his criminal design might be more easily effected; but
Bertrada was the wife of Fulk of Anjou, who was still alive,
and the Church forbade her to contract any other ties. Yet
Philip, in the very midst of the disorders into which he had
plunged, still kept some shadow of religion and faith. He
promised, in the Council of Nismes, to perform canonical pen­
ance and to put away his concubine ; and Urban accordingly
freed him from the censures he had incurred. But the unfor
tunate prince, lamentable example of the blind power of passion,
soon forgot his promises and took back Bertrada ; and thus the
last years of his reign were shared between stinging remorse
of conscience and the criminal intoxication of a passing pleas­
ure. The deplorable affair was finally brought to an end in
1104, at the Council of Paris. Philip walked barefooted to
the cathedral, and there made the following oath before Lam­
bert, bishop of Arras and legate of the Pope: “Lambert,
Hugh had once before been sent as Apostolic legate to France, by St. Gregory VIL

154

GENERAL HISTORY .F THE CHURCH.

bishop of Arras, you who now hold the place of the Popo
Hmong us, hear my promise. I, Philip, king of France, promise
to continue no longer the criminal relations I have hitherto
held with Bertrada. I will not even hold conversation with
her, except in the presence of persons above suspicion. I wish
henceforth to remain true to this oath. So help me God and
these Holy Gospels of Jesus Christ !” The king then received
solemn absolution from the censures he had incurred. Bertrada
made the same promise, and was released from the bond of the
excommunication. Public morality was at length avenged.
*
5. While the throne of France was disgraced by such a
crying scandal, England was made the theatre of equally
lamentable scenes. William the Conqueror died at Rouen
(a. d. 1087), while in the act of carrying out the threat he had
made, in reply to a joke of Philip, of adding the conquest of
Paris to that of London.f The conqueror of so many states
was hardly allowed the peaceful possession of a grave. The
ground in which he was buried was bought from the owner
from whom William had wrested it when alive. His second
son, William II., surnamed Rufus, succeeded him as king of
England.^ Robert, the eldest, received the duchy of Norman• “Never,” says De Maistre, "have the Popes and the Church, in general, done a more
signal service to society, than in checking, by the power of ecclesiastical censures, the ten­
dency of rulers to overstep the sacred bounds of wedlock. The sanctity of the marriage­
tie, that great foundation of public happiness, is especially of the most vital importance in
royal families, where its breach breeds incalculable evils. Had not the Popes, while tho
Western nations were still in their youth, held a power to master the princely passions,
sovereigns, going on from one caprice to another, from one abuse to a greater, would al
last have probably established the law of divorce and even of polygamy ; and disorder
repeated, as it always je, through the downward grades of society, must have reached a
depth of license which no eye can fathom.”—On the Pope, book it, ch. vi.
j Excessive corpulence confined William to his bed for part of the last year of his life.
The king of Franco had laughingly said of him: “That big man is very long in labor."
‘Go to King Philip," said William to one of his attendants, " and teU him that I shall boo*
come to be churched at St. Genevieve's, with ten thousand lances for tapers.” Ho imme­
diately mounted bis horse, gathered his Normans, ravaged the French territory, burned the
city of Mantee, and would perhaps have executed his threat had not a sudden death checked
his martial fury.
* During his last dlness, William bad said: “As for England, I leave the decision
who shall rule tho country to God. This great kingdom did not como down to me in regu­
lar succession from my fathers ; I wrested it from the perjured Harold by fierce struggles

URBAN Π. (A. D. 1088- 1099).

lôô

dy. Henry, his youngest son, had no share in the partition ;
and when he complained of it to his father, the dying monarch
replied : “ Wait quietly, my son ; the time will come when yon
shall rule all the kingdoms which I have held, and far surpass
your brothers in wealth and power.” William Rufus, the new
king of England, a prince utterly devoid of greatness of mind
or loftiness in his views, brought to the throne nothing but his
natural instincts of violence and cruelty, with an unquenchable
thirst for gold. The churches and monasteries, so richly
endowed by the Conqueror, were first sacrificed to his lust of
wealth. He found a means of spoiling, which has since been
but too well imitated by secular princes. At the death of a
bishop or abbot, he drew up an inventory of the property of the
vacant church or monastery, settled, according to his own
notions, the proportion that should suffice for the maintenance
of the clergy or monks, made over the balance to his own
estate, and placed it in the care of his farmers. This usurpa­
tion, afterward known as the regale, was a source of much
trouble to the Church. William found it wonderfully fitted to
answer his grasping aims, and began to put it into practice at
the death of Lan franc, archbishop of Canterbury. The exten­
sive possessions of the see lapsed to the royal exchequer ; and
William managed to prolong the profitable vacancy for a period
of four years. The monasteries dependent upon the Churcl
were disturbed by the royal farmers, rude and covetous men,
who heaped exactions and outrages upon the religious, until
they were forced to quit their holy sanctuaries, the abodes of
prayer, now changed into dens of thieves. The exorbitant taxes
laid upon the subjects of the Church reduced them to such a
state of want, says a contemporary writer, “ that they had noth­
ing now left to lose but life.”
and at the price of much blood. I have been too hard to the needy; I have tried both the
noblee and the people by unjust elections. Since, then, I have held this kingdom by so
many sms, I dare not bequeath it to any one, except to God alone, lest after my death
greater evils befall it on my account. Yet. if it so please God, I hope that it may fall to
my son William, who has always been obedient tome in all things, and that ha may prosper
In his rule."

156

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

6. The most virtuous of the nobles were, meanwhile, en­
deavoring to bring the mind of the king to thoughts more
worthy of a Christian ruler. St. Anselm, abbot of Bee, had
lately come to England for the purpose of establishing a house
of his order in the county of Chester. The illustrious teacher,
born at Aoste, in Savoy, in the year 1033, had been a disciple
of Lanfranc. He soon equalled his master’s learning, and his
reputation was known throughout the Catholic world. His
arrival in England was a public event; it was mentioned in
the royal presence. “We know no man equal in holiness to
the Abbot of Bee,” said one of the nobles ; “ he loves only God,
and desires nothing in this world.” “ Indeed !” exclaimed the
king in a tone of raillery; “not even the archbishopric of Can­
terbury?” “That is surely the last of his wishes,” was the
reply. “And I will answer for it,” rejoined the king, “that
he would take hold of it with both hands if it were offered
him. But by the Holy Rood of *
Lucca! neither he nor any
other man shall sit in that see while I live.” William failed
to keep his sacrilegious oath. Finding himself in danger from
a violent illness, the king sent for St. Anselm, made a sincere
confession of all his sins, and promised to repair all his acts of
injustice. This favorable state of mind afforded a desired op­
portunity, and the king was urged to name at once an incum­
bent for the see of Canterbury. William consented, and
uttered the name of Anselm. The humble abbot paled with
dismay, and resisted all the efforts of those who wished to
present him to the king for the investiture. The bishops
entreated him to consent “ You see to what a wretched state
the Church is reduced in England. You alone can raise it up,
and yet you refuse!" Anselm was unyielding. All those
present besought him upon their knees ; the king himself
called out, with his failing voice : “ Anselm, why will you
doom me to hell? I know that I must lose my soul if I keep
• Tb ■ .Sonetuj Vul/us it Lama was a crucifix in the cathedral of Lucca, held in groM
n-usradon at this period.

URBAN Π. (A. D. 1088-109»),

157

thia see !” The snint still held out. At length the bisbopa
forcibly drew him to the royal couch. William presented the
crozier ; but Anselm would not open his hand ; the bishops
did that office for him. He was proclaimed archbishop of Can­
terbury. As soon as he found himself at liberty, Anselm
drew near to the royal patient. “ My lord," said he, “ I as­
sure you that you will recover from this illness. I entreat
you, therefore, to annul all that has just been done, for I have
not agreed to it, and never shall.” Notwithstanding his pro­
testations, the bishops took him in solemn procession to Can­
terbury (a. d. 1093). “ What are you doing?” exclaimed the
weeping prelate. “ You are joining in the same yoke an un­
tamed bull and a weak and powerless lamb. The bull will
tear the lamb in pieces ; and when the king pours out the
vials of his wrath upon me, not one of you will dare resist
him.”
7. The prophecy was not long unfulfilled. “ If I must re­
ceive the see of Canterbury,” said Anselm to the king, “ it is
fitting that you should know what I shall require of you. I
demand that you restore the lands held by the see in the time
of Lanfranc I likewise warn you that I acknowledge the au­
thority of Pope Urban IL, to which you have heretofore re­
fused obedience. Let me know your views on these two
points.” William promised to give him full satisfaction in
these important questions ; and Anselm, yielding at last to the
general wish, received the episcopal consecration ( December 4,
a. d. 1093). The good understanding between the king and
the prelate was short-lived. St. Anselm made known his in­
tention of going to receive the pallium from the hands of the
Pope. “ What Pope do you mean ?” asked the king. “ Pope
Urban II.,” answered the primate. “I have not yet decided
between the authority of Urban and Clement,” returned the
king. “ I shall not allow any Pope to be acknowledged in
England without my leave ; whoever dares to dispute my will
in this, shall be deemed guilty of high treason.” A coum.il
was convoked at Rockingham (1095), to examine the question

158

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

of the two authorities. Λ number of venal bishops pressed
St. Anselm to forsake the cause of Urban II., to regain th
royal favor. “In spiritual matters,” replied the dauntles
Anselm, “I shall obey the Vicar of St. Peter, and it is to
Urban II. the title lawfully belongs. As to the temporal
power of my lord the king, I shall be ever ready to give him
help and counsel to the best of my ability.” William, in a fit
of ungovernable rage, required the bishops to bind themselves
by oath never to hold further communication with Anselm. The
intimidated prelates made the required promise. “ And I,”
then exclaimed the archbishop, “ shall always look upon you
as my brethren, and as children of the church of Canterbury ;
and I shall make every effort to withdraw you from your
error." When the great lords of the realm were called upon
to renounce obedience to Anselm, they replied : “We are not
his vassals, and he has thus no temporal authority over us ;
but he is our archbishop, and, as Christians, we shall remain
subject to him.” William had, meanwhile, secretly sent two
clerics to Rome, who were to acquaint him with the state of
the public opinion there, that he might know the motives for
deciding the question of obedience. The envoys found no
trouble in convincing themselves that Urban II. was the law­
ful Pope. They acknowledged his authority, and the Sov­
ereign Pontiff sent back with them, as Apostolic legate,
Walter, bishop of Albano, to whom was intrusted the pallium
for the archbishop of Canterbury. The legate wisely managed
to win the king's good graces, and an order was published
throughout the kingdom that Urban II. should be recognized
as Sovereign Pontiff. The king hoped thereby to win the
legate’s favor and obtain the deposition of St. Anselm. He even
offered, for the same end, to send a largo sum of money to help
the Pope in his difficulty with Guibert. But Walter was no
*
to be bribed. He moreover offered his mediation to effect a
solemn reconciliation between the archbishop and the king.
William demanded that Anselm should at least consent to
receive the pallium at his hands. “ The nallium,” said the

URBAN Π. (A. D. 1088-1099).

159

prelate, “ is not a gift from the king, but a favor of the Holy
See ; I can receive it only from the representative of the Pope
himself.” William was obliged to abandon this ground also;
the pallium was presented by the legate, and the king felt
bound to restore the holy prelate to favor. Again the plighted
faith of royalty was falsely forfeited. William, in order to
purchase the duchy of Normandy, which his brother Robert
offered for sale, as he was about to start on a Crusade, levied
exorbitant taxes upon all the churches of his kingdom. He
plundered their property, carried off their silver, melted down
the shrines of the saints and even the silver gospel-stands. St.
Anselm, hopeless of overcoming single-handed the king’s all­
grasping cupidity, announced his intention of going to Rome to
consult the Pope. On learning this determination, the monarch
sent him this message : “ When you were reconciled to the
king at Rockingham, you promised to observe the laws ana
customs of the kingdom. Now it is directly contrary to these
laws that an English lord should visit Rome without the royal
permission ” “ God forbid,” answered the archbishop, “ that a
Christian should follow laws or customs contrary to the divine
laws. You say that it is against the custom of England that I
should go to consult the Vicar of St. Peter, for the good of my
soul and the government of my Church ; and I declare to you
that that custom js opposed to the law of God and to right
reason. Every Christian must consider it of no force.” The
king was once more compelled to yield. In a last interview
the archbishop gave him his blessing, and they parted never to
meet again. St. Anselm passed through France, visited St.
Hugh at Cluny, and was everywhere met with the honors due
to virtuous worth.
8. While St. Anselm displayed his episcopal energy in the
struggle with the king of England, he also attached his name to
a religious contest which awaked all the echoes of the eleventh
and twelfth centuries. The dispute between nominalism and
realism was just blazing out, with all the vehemence of that
age in its scholastic disputations. Roscelin, a native of Brittany,

IGO

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

•

find regular canon of Compïègne, drew public attention to that
question of speculative philosophy, which would at present be
deemed idle and indifferent; but which, at that period, occu­
pied all minds and aroused the schools. Under the name of
universals were then signified the general ideas of species,
genus, and relations. Roscelin held that those general ideas
had no substantial reality; that genus, species, and relation
were merely terms showing certain modifications of being, but
not distinct beings or realities ; his followers were called Nomi­
nalists. Roscelin's opponents, on the other hand, maintained
that generic or universal terms really represent distinct existences and true realities. The war was waged with equal heat
on both sides. It is not our intention to follow up the succes­
sive phases of the question, or to analyze the many works in
which these philosophical abstractions were discussed with a
degree of learning and depth of thought that astonish us at
the present day. This dispute would probably never have
crossed the threshold of the schools, had not the warmth of the
struggle carried Roscelin upon the ground of theology, where
he fell into an open heresy. In his denial of the reality of
general ideas or universals, he affirmed that every individual
has a substantial and distinct existence. Applying this reason­
ing to the mystery of the Holy Trinity, he maintained that the
three divine Persons possess a real, individual existence, inde­
pendent of one another. This was radically destroying the
mystery, and, by the admission of three Gods, substituted a
Christian paganism in the place of the old heathen idolatry.
The Church then found it necessary to interfere in a debate
which so openly impugned the Catholic dogma. In 1092, Ros­
celin was solemnly condemned by the Council of Soissons. Ho
seemed, at first, to submit in good faith, and signed a full re­
cantation of his errors; but this was a mere feint. Taking
refuge in England, he began to dogmatize with new energy.
9. But God raised up a champion for the truth, in the
person of St. Anselm. The illustrious Archbishop of Canter­
bury undertook the thorough refutation of Roscelin’s system.

URBAN II. (A. D. 1089-1099).

16)

Choosing a higher ground of debate, he drew the line at which
reason must stop in matters of faith, and thus linked his train
of argument with the traditions of Boetius and Symmachus, the
last representatives of that high Christian philosophy whose
sound doctrines seemed almost forgotten. In his estimation
the Nominalists are but proud sectaries,- who aim at enthroning
reason upon the ruins of theology and faith. His tracts on
Faith, on the Trinity, and on the Incarnation display the
Catholic belief against the false teachings of Roscelin. He
always subjects reason to faith ; and the consummate skill
with which he handles the teachings of the Fathers of the
Church—of St. Augustine, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexan­
dria—on this subject, brings him before us as their eloquent
fellow-worker in the eleventh century. He seems to us to sum
up, with clearness and precision, the true doctrine on the
alliance of reason and faith in the expression, that “ though, on
the one hand, faith must go before proof in the mysteries of
Christianity, yet, on the other, we should be guilty of criminal
carelessness if, when once confirmed in faith, we did not apply
our reason to understand what forms the object of our faith.”
St. Anselm had already put these lessons into practice in
his two celebrated works entitled Monologium and Proslogium.
By the sole light of reason, and leaning only upon philosophi­
cal proofs, he reaches the truth of the existence of one only
God, sovereignly perfect, Creator, Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, Whom the rational soul is created to know and to love,
being made to His image. These questions, the most difficult
within the province of theology and philosophy, are treated by
St. Anselm with an accuracy, a precision, a dearness which fit
him for an honorable rank not only among the Fathers and
Doctors of the Church, but even among the deepest metaphysi­
cians.
10. But now the cry, God wills it! bursting forth from the
lips of thousands, resounds throughout all Christendom, con­
trols every interest, every passion, arouses the entire West,
and throws it, all armed, upon the plains of Asia, into the fields
vou nr.—ii

1G2

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

of Palestine, around the tomb of the Redeemer. The day cf
the Crusades has come. For two centuries (a. d. 1095-1270)
we may now gaze upon the wonderful spectacle of a whole
world, a whole civilization led on by an impulse of faith to
distant warfare. It has been asked whether the Crusades
were either justifiable or beneficial. Some writers of the eigh­
teenth century have answered both questions in the negative.
“ The Crusades,” they say, “ were but the outbreak of fanati­
cism and superstition; an unprovoked aggression upon a harm­
less race. Their result was the ruin of the Western nations
and a long train of fearful evils.” History has since entered
upon a truer system. In proportion as the spirit of the
middle-ages has been more deeply and carefully studied,
unfriendly judgments, the biassed appreciation of the philo­
sophic schools, have been recalled. The truth now upheld by
every judgment of any worth, is that the Crusades were both
just and useful wars. Just—because in the middle-ages
Christian society was like one vast family, composed of indiqidually responsible members. Islamism, marching on from
victory to victory, now stood at the very gates of Constantino­
ple. The Emperor Alexius Comnenus, holding somewhat the
post of advanced-guard to the Christian world, gave the cry of
alarm to threatened Europe. His letters to Urban II. were
read in the Council of Piacenza. The memory of Moorish
invasion, of Saracen inroad were still fresh in the hearts of
Spain and Italy ; there was no need to go back to the days of
Abderahman to find the sons of the Prophet assailing the
followers of Jesus Christ. The Crusades were the reaction of
the Catholicity of the West against the multiplied, ceaseless,
simultaneous assaults of Islam. All Europe became the ally
of Constantinople; the Crusaders were the soldiers of civiliza­
tion; they won its triumph on the battle-fields of Asia. Their
noble efforts saved the West from the shameful yoke of Ma­
homet—the degradation of woman, the abolition of family ties,
inertness, stagnation, and effeminacy reduce ! to a oystem. This
general view would alone justify the Cir.sados; but proofs

URBAN II. (A. D. 10M-I0M).

163

without number are furnished by the happy result» they pro­
duced throughout Europe The immense movement to which
they gave rise, put a stop to the tyranny of rulers The war­
rior spirit, that remnant of barbarism, which nothing could
tame in the hearts of the European nations—proof against all
the efforts of the Church, against which the Truce of God w.-w
but a weak palliative—found vent in these holy wars, where
the blood of heroes was poured out upon a soil watered by th»·
blood of Jesus Christ. The Crusades turned these warlike
instincts against enemies who were themselves usurpers, and
who had, for five hundred years, persecuted a people justly
looked upon by our ancestors as their brothers. This system
of solidarity, binding together all Catholic nations from the
farthest parts of the world by the principles of a common faith,
would, it seems to us, bear comparison at least with the more
recent coalition which, under the safeguard of ever-shifting
political principles, constitutes what is called in Europe the
balance of power.
11. A poor monk of Amiens, a man wasted by the auster­
ities of penance, always barefooted and clothed in a brown
woollen tunic, Peter the Hermit, has left his name to posterity
in connection with the great convulsion of the day. He had
made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem ; he had seen the mosque
raised by the children of the Prophet upon the spot once hal­
lowed by the temple of Solomon ; he had felt his heart burn
with generous indignation as he saw the Saviour’s sepulchre
profaned by the emir’s stables. God had given to Peter one
of those burning souls whose words are fiery darts. When he
left the Holy City, bearing letters from the Patriarch Simeon
for Urban II., he promised the venerable pontiff to send him an
army of defenders. He kept his words. The Pope had
already received from Alexius Comnenus the most pressing
calls for help ; he convoked a council for the 18th of Novem­
ber, a. D. 1095, to meet at Clermont, in Auvergne. Fourteen
archbishops, two hundred and twenty-five bishops, ninety abbots,
the ambassadors of nearly every Christian ruler, with a count­

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GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

less throng of nobles and men-at-arms, answered the Pontiff'»
call. No church was able to hold the vast assemblage. Λ
throne was raised in the midst of the public square of Cler­
mont; Urban II. was seated upon it, surrounded by his card·
nais. Himself a son of France, the Pope trusted for the success
of the great undertaking in the devotedness and gallantry of
the French nation. A thrill of enthusiasm passed through the
assembled multitude when they saw at the Pontiff’s side the
wan but expressive countenance of Peter the Hermit, with his
woollen cloak and pilgrim’s staff. The eloquent solitary was
the first to speak. lie told the profanations and sacrileges he
had witnessed ; the persecutions inflicted upon the Christian
pilgrims at Jerusalem, by the children of Hagar. “ I have seen
Christians.’’ he exclaimed, “heavily ironed, dragged into sla­
very, put to the yoke like beasts of burden ! I have seen the
oppressors of Jerusalem selling to the children of Christ the
privilege of venerating from afar the tomb of their Lord ; dis­
puting with them the bread of wretchedness, and torturing
poverty itself to wring a tribute from it! I have seen the
ministers of the Most High dragged from the sanctuary, beaten
with rods, and doomed to an ignominious death !” As he
recalled the woes of Sion and the outrages done to the Chris­
tian name, Peter’s countenance was sad and dejected, his voice
was choked with sobs, his deep emotion touched every heart.
When he had ceased to speak, Urban arose and addressed the
multitude : “ Warriors and chiefs who hear my voice, you who
always seek vain pretexts for war, rejoice, for here is a lawful
war. The hour has come to make atonement for so many
deeds of violence committed in the midst of peace, so many
victories marred by injustice. Turn against the enemies of the
Christian name, the arms you unjustly use against one another.
You who have so often been the terror of your fellow-citizens,
and who, for a paltry price, disgraced your arms to minister to
the passions of others, now, armed with the sword of the Machabees, go forth to defend the house of Israel. Soldiers of hell,
be now the /hampions of Godl You are not now ro revenge

URBAN II. (A. D. 1089-1099).

165

the wrongs of men, but those of the Lord of Hosts ! If you
triumph, the blessings of Heaven and the kingdoms of Asia
will be yours ; if you fall, you will have the consolation of
expiring upon the soil dyed by your Saviour’s blood : and God
will not forget that you have fallen in the ranks of His holy
war. We shall have under Our own care and under the protec­
tion of St. Peter and St. Paul all who enter upon this noble
undertaking; We command that in their absence their families
and property be scrupulously respected. Soldiers of the living
God ! let no unmanly tenderness, no unhallowed sentiment
bind you to your homes ! Listen but to the groans of captive
Sion ; break all earthly ties, remember the words of the Lord :
‘ Every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name's
sake, shall receive a hundredfold and shall possess life ever­
lasting.’ ” At these words of the Sovereign Pontiff, the whole
vast multitude arose by a simultaneous impulse, and with one
voice exclaimed : “ God wills it ! God wills it !" (Diez el
volt /) Three times the enthusiastic cry broke forth from those
thousands of hearts, and was borne far away upon the breeze,
with lengthened echoes from the hills around. The Pope,
raising his eyes to heaven, motioned for silence : “ May these
words, God wills it" he exclaimed, “ ever be your battle-cry,
and everywhere announce the presence of the God of armies.
Let the cross be the standard of your pilgrimage, borne upon
your shoulder or your breast; let it shine upon your arms and
on your standards ; it will be for you the harbinger of victory
or the palm of martyrdom ; it will ever remind you that you
should die for Jesus Christ where He died for you.’’
12. The impulse was given : princes and serfs, lords and
armed retainers, all took the cross. “ They had all a long list
of crimes to atone for,” says Montesquieu ; “ an opportunity was
given them of making the atonement with arms in their hands,
and they accordingly took the cross and the sword.” Robbers
aud brigands came forth from their hidden dens, confessed
their misdeeds, and promised to expiate them in Palestine, uu·

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE ( HÜRCII.

der the banner of the cross
*
In the first glow of enthusiasm,
numerous bands set out, led by Peter the Hermit in person, by
Walter the Pennyless, a valiant but needy Burgundian knight,
and followed by Godescalc, a German priest. But, victims of
their own undisciplined ardor, they never reached the land
they sought, but left their bones to whiten on the soil of Hun­
gary and Bulgaria. The real and effective Crusade was organ­
ized in various divisions, under the most renowned and noble
knights of Christendom : Hugh the Great, count of Vermandois and brother of Philip I. ; Godfrey de Bouillon, duke of
Lower Lorraine, with his brothers Baldwin and Eustace (God­
frey was soon to blot out, by his valor and piety in the fields
of Asia, the errors of a youth devoted to the unholy cause of
Henry IV.) ; Robert, duke of Normandy, brother of William
Rufus; Raymond, count of Toulouse, who had already mea­
sured weapons with the Moors in Spain ; Bohemond, prince
of Tarentum and son of the great Robert Guiscard, with his
nephew the chivalric Tancred ; Robert IL, count of Flanders,
since known as the Jerosolimite ; Stephen, count of Chartres
and of Blois, and a host of other noble and knightly characters
of the day. Adhemar de Monteil, bishop of Puy, the pious
author of the Salve Regina, accompanied the expedition as
Papal legate and spiritual chief of the whole army. “ The
Latins opened their gates,” says an Armenian chronicler, “ and
unnumbered hosts poured out of the West.” Six hundred
thousand Crusaders were marshalled under the walls of Con­
stantinople. The Emperor Alexius trembled at the sight of
this deluge of defenders. “ If any one would know the num­
ber of the Crusaders," says Anne Comnena, who had consti­
tuted herself her father’s historiographer, “ let him go count
the sands of the seashore, the stars in the heavens, the leaves
and flowers that shoot in the spring. I dare not undertake the
list of their leaders,” adds the disdainful daughter of the
Cæsars ; “ the barbarous names of the Franks would disfigure
my page.” The Christian army was encamped in a magni fl* MichaVD, Hùloire du Qroisodu.

DRBAN π. (a d. 1084-1099).

167

cent valley on the right bank of the Bosphorus, where the
passing stranger still looks with respect upon a noble planetree, bearing the name of Godfrey de Bouillon. Their squad­
rons covered the vast plain to the northeast of Constanti
nople. The flower of Europe’s chivalry was there with its
dauntless valor and love'of conquest. The fiery spirit of the
Crusaders was more than once aroused by the fickleness, the
exactions, and the Greek duplicity of Alexius. The thought
of founding a Latin empire at Constantinople, as the bulwark
of Christianity against the Unbelievers, was indeed harbored
by some of the chiefs ; but the spirit of moderation triumphed,
and the army marched toward Bithynia, rallying on its way
the shattered remains of Peter the Hermit's ill-fated expe­
dition. Nice and Antioch, in Pisidia, were carried by storm
and given back to Alexius. The Sultan Kilidge-Arslan, of the
race of Seljuk, awaited the Christian host in the plains of
Dorylæum, at the head of three hundred thousand men. Bohemond, Tancred, and Duke Robert of Normandy first reached
the grounds, and struggled for half a day with this swarm of
infidels. The fate of war was still wavering, when the bright
lances of the rear-guard, under Godfrey de Bouillon, shone
upon the heights of Dorylæum. The sultan was driven from
the field, leaving behind him twenty thousand of his dead
(June 25, a. d. 1097). The victory of Dorylæum opened to
the Latins the gates of the East. Baldwin of Flanders is pro­
claimed king of captured Edessa, and a French knight thus
rules the richest provinces of the ancient Assyrian monarchy.
After a siege of eight months, the Christian standard floats
over the walls of wealthy Antioch, where a miraculous discov­
ery reveals the sacred lance which pierced the heart of Jeeus
crucified. The precious relic is thenceforth borne at the head
of the Christian columns, a new pledge of victory. The joy of
their triumph was soon changed to mourning; the plague
snatched away from them the holy Bishop of Puy, the legate
Adhemar. In communicating the sad intelligence to the Sov­
ereign Pontiff, the Crusaders add : “ In Antioch the Christian

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

name was born ; there St. Peter first established the Apostolic
chair. You are St. Peter’s successor ; come and sit upon hie
chair to wage a peaceful war; for we have overcome the Turks
and heathens; but the Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, and Jaco­
bites we could not bring back to unity. Hence we entreat you
to come and be our leader. You will find us true and obedient
children ; yours will be the glory of extinguishing every here­
sy, and thus uniting the whole world under your obedience.”
Bohemond of Tarentum was named king of the newly-con­
quered territory; and the Crusaders marched on toward Jeru­
salem. The Christian ranks, drained by the garrisons left at
Edessa and Antioch, by the many bloody battles already
fought, by desertion, by exhaustion and want, by plague and
famine, numbered altogether fifty thousand men ; but they
were the flower of Christian chivalry, led by Godfrey de
Bouillon, and marching to the rescue of Jerusalem !
13. As they crested the last height that hid the Holy City
from their view, the foremost ranks sent up the joyful cry :
“Jerusalem! Jerusalem!” The sacred name flew fast from
rank to rank, and soon filled the vaHey, from which the rear­
guard had not yet emerged. The whole band of hardy war­
riors, tried in many a well-fought field, prostrate upon the
sacred soil, burst into tears. “ 0 good Jesus !” exclaims the
monk Robert, an eye-witness, “ when Thy warriors beheld the
walls of that earthly Jerusalem, what floods of tears flowed
from their eyes ! They bowed their foreheads to the dust Thy
sacred feet had pressed. Then rising together, they cried
with one voice : ‘ God wills it ! God wills it !’ and renewed the
oft-repeated oath to free Jerusalem.” The army drew near to
the walls of Sion, barefooted, and chanting the words of Isaias :
“ Leva in circuitu oculos tuos, et vide : omnes isti congregati sunt,
venerunt tibi." The city was invested. On the north is a level
plain covered by a grove of olives : here Godfrey de Bouillon,
Robert of Normandy, and Robert of Flanders pitched their
tents. The camp stretched from the cave of Jereinias to the
sepulchres of the kings. Tancred’s standard was displayed on

ÜRUAN Π. (A. D. 1088-1099).

169

{he right of Godfrey and the two Roberts. Next to Tancred
was Raymond, count of Toulouse, opposite the western gat
*.
As this position was unfavorable for active cooperation in the
siege, he moved part of his camp to the south of the city, on
Mount Sion. This disposition of the Christian army left two
sides of the city free : the south, defended by the valley of
Gihon or Siloe ; the east, by the valley of Jehoshaphat. The
Holy City was thus but half invested by the Crusaders ; though
a camp of observation occupied the Mount of Olives to watch
the unthreatened quarters. Jerusalem was defended by an
Egyptian garrison of forty thousand men ; twenty thousand of
the inhabitants had also taken up arms. The besiegers were
therefore inferior in numbers. They were without the neces­
sary apparatus for scaling the walls ; they could not hope to
reduce, by famine, a city which they were obliged tc leave
open in two directions, upon a fruitful country. Moieover,
the burning heats of summer were just beginning when the
Crusaders reached Jerusalem
The torrent of Cedron was
dried up ; all the neighboring wells were either destroyed or
poisoned. The spring of Siloe, flowing only at intervals, could
not supply the whole army. Under a burning sky, in the
midst of a scorched, unwatered plain, the Christian army was
doomed to suffer all the horrors of thirst. Their courage was
failing fast; the most fervent, longing now for death, crept
near to the city, reverently kissed the stones of its walls, and
with tears exclaimed : “ 0 Jerusalem ! receive our last sigh ’
Let thy walls fall upon us, and may thy sacred dust cover our
bones !” The opportune arrival at the port of Joppa, of a
Genoese fleet, loaded with a full supply of stores and pro­
visions, restored the drooping spirits of the Christians. A
corps of Genoese engineers and carpenters, under the able
direction of Gaston of Béarn, converted the grove of olive-trees
about the camp into military engines and rolling towers of
equal height with the ramparts, and furnished with draw­
bridges which could be lowered at will upon the walls. When
all was ready, a general assault was ordered for the 14th of

170

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

July, A. d. 1099. At early dawn the Christian host wa? all in
motion. The moving towers bore down upon the walls. Upon
the topmost platform of his own stood Godfrey de Bouillon,
accompanied by his brother Eustac’e, and cheering his follow­
ers by word and example. “Every dart from his hand," say
the chroniclers, “carried death into the ranks of the Unbeliev­
ers." Raymond, Tancred, and both Roberts, appeared at the
head of their respective bands. All were urged on by the
same power, all burned to plant the cross upon the walls of
Jerusalem. The storming lasted twelve whole hours, till night
came down to part the combatants. Returning day brought
back the same struggles, the same dangers. The first shock
was fearful. The Christians, maddened by the resistance they
had met the day before, fought with desperate fury. The
Mussulmans, from the towers and rampart heights, threw down
flaming torches and Greek fire upon the assailants. Conspicu­
ous upon his moving castle, over which towered a large cross
as a battle-flag, Godfrey dealt death and havoc upon the Mos­
lem ranks, by the unsparing vehemence of his charges. At
the sight of the cross, which seemed to bid them defiance, the
Mussulmans turned all their rage against the Duke of Lorraine,
and trained upon his tower all the darts and flaming projectiles
which their formidable engines belched forth in uninterrupted
succession. Cool and undaunted in the midst of the danger,
surrounded by a heap of dead and dying, with his esquire and
most of his body-guard already stretched lifeless at his feet,
the hero still calmly gave his orders and encouraged his men
by example, voice, and gesture. But yet the Christians were
repulsed ; the unquenchable flames of the Greek fire inwrapped
their military engines, and, embracing the steel-clad warriors,
devoured even their shields and corselets. It was three o’clock,
the sacred hour at which the Redeemer died upon the Cross.
Suddenly, the report flies through the army that the holy
Bishop Adhemar, and several Crusaders who had fallen since
the siege, have just appeared at the head of the army and
planted the standard of the cross on the walls of Jerusalem .

URBAN II. (A. D. 088-1099).

Π)

St. George has come down to do battle with the warriors of
Christ. The Crusaders, fired with a new spirit, return to the
charge. Godfrey’s tower rolls on, amid a storm of stones,
darts, fiery missiles, and lowers its bridge upon the wall, while
the Christians shoot their burning darts upon the engines of
the enemy, into the bales of straw and cotton which protect
the inner walls of the city. The wind fans the flame and drives
it upon the Infidels. Stifled by the flames and smoke, they fall
back before the swords and lances of the advancing Crusaders.
Godfrey, pressing close behind the two brothers Lethald and
Engelbert of Tournay, followed by Baldwin du Bourg and by
his brother Eustace, breaks the Moslem lines and drives them
before him into the streets of Jerusalem. Tancred and the two
Roberts are close behind. The gate of St. Stephen is broken
down by the heavy battle-axes of the Christians; the Holy
City is rescued and resounds with the cry of victory : “ God
wills it! God wills it!” The Crusaders,as they met in Jeru­
salem, embraced with tears of joy. They pursued the flying
Mussulmans into the mosque of Omar, which stood upon the
site of the temple. “ In the temple and under the porch of the
mosque,” says Raymund of Agiles, an eye-witness, “they
waded in blood up to their knees and to their horses’ bridles. ’
The piety of Godfrey had withheld him from the carnage since
he had set his foot within the streets of Jerusalem. Leaving
his fellow-soldiers at their work of blood, followed only by
three attendants, he went, unarmed and barefooted, to the
church of the Holy Sepulchre. This act of devotion was soon
whispered through the Christian army, and instantly stayed
every thirsty blade, every vengeful arm; the Crusaders put
off their bloody garments, and, led by Peter the Hermit, they
marched together, barefooted and with uncovered heads, to the
church of the Resurrection, filling the air with the sound of
I heir weeping. The din of arms had ceased; silence reigned
throughout the streets and on the ramparts ; the only sound
now heard in the Holy City was the chant of the penitential
psalms, or the glad invitation of Isaiah : “ Lcetanuni cum Jgru-

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GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

salem, et exuUate in ea omnes qui diligitis cam ; gaudete cum ea
gaudio, universi qui lugetis supcream."
*
The brave Crusaders,
who had entered Jerusalem as soldiers, were now changed into
pilgrims. The true cross, once carried off by Chosroes, and
restored by Heraclius, was exposed to their veneration. “ De
ceste chose," says the quaint old chronicle, “furent les chrestiens
si joyeux, comme s'ils eussent veu le corps de Jesus-Christ pendu
dessus icelle."} The sacred relic was borne in triumphal pro­
cession through the streets of Jerusalem, and then solemnly
replaced in the church of the Resurrection. Ten days later,
the unanimous voice of the Christian army named Godfrey de
Bouillon king of Jerusalem. They carried him in triumph to
the church of the Holy Sepulchre, where he pledged himself
by oath to respect the laws of honor and justice. When they
would have invested him with the diadem and royal insignia,
the Christian hero put them aside with the words : “ Never
will I wear a golden crown, in the city where the Saviour of
the world was crowned with thorns and the founder of the
kingdom of Jerusalem contented himself with the modest title
of Defender and Baron of the Holy Sepulchre. The conquest
was organized, and the new realm divided into the counties of
Tiberias, Tripoli, Galilee, Joppa, Tyre, Cæsarea, Beyroot, and
Heraclea. That precious monument of feudal jurisprudence,
the Assize of Jerusalem, reduced to a system the administra­
tion of the new Christian kingdom, by fashioning it upon the
model of the feudal system of the European nations.
14. The successful issue of the first Crusade threw the
whole of Christendom into a transport of enthusiastic joy. The
happy tidings reached Europe a few days after the death of
Urban II. (July 29, a. d. 1092), who was thus denied the
happiness of witnessing the realization of his highest and dearest
wish. The pious and zealous Pontiff had held two more coun·
• Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with tier, all you that love her ; rejoice for jo»
aitb het, all you that mourn for her.—Isavu, Ixvi. 10.
f “At this eight, the Christiana were as mi ch moved as if they had seen tho body ot
Jmui Christ hanging ipon the same cross "

ÜRBAN Π. (A. D. ΙΟΗβ-lOOT».

173

cils : one at Bari (1097), in which St. Anselm eloquently
proved the procession of the Holy Ghost, against the Greek
envoys of Alexius Comnenus ; another at Romo (1098),
which confirmed the decrees of Clermont. Rome extended to
the saintly prelate of Canterbury a hospitality worthy of his
merit and virtue. Urban II. would have him lodge in the Pon­
tifical palace, and intended to become the mediator of recon­
ciliation between Anselm and the King of England. Death,
however, thwarted his charitable design. Urban II. was an
illustrious Pontiff. By carrying out, in the Crusades,, one of
the greatest designs of St. Gregory VII., he has won a claim
to undying glory from all posterity. u They who see in the
Crusades,” says M. de Chateaubriand, “ only a band of armed
pilgrims going to rescue a tomb in Palestine, take a very
narrow view of history; the point at issue was not only to
rescue that sacred tomb, but to decide which of two powers
should thenceforth rule the world—a creed hostile to civiliza­
tion, systematically favorable to ignorance, despotism, and
slavery ; or a faith which has revived among modern nations
the genius of learned antiquity, and abolished servitude.”*
While these knightly expeditions opened the way for warlike
souls to deeds of glory and renown, pious retreats were also
provided for the hearts led on by special grace to a life of holy
solitude. St. Robert, abbot of Molesme, founded the celebrated
monastery of Citeaux, with twenty-eight religious, who were
resolved, like himself, to follow the rule of St. Benedict in all
its primitive rigor. The work was perfected by the wise
regulations of his successor, Blessed Alberic. The religious of
Citeaux were called white friars, from the color of their habit,
in contradistinction to the black friars of Cluny. The diocese
of Rennes was at the same period enriched by the foundation
of two monasteries, respectively of men and women, in the
desert of Fontevrault, on the confines of Anjou and Poitou.
The rule of Fontevrault presents the peculiar feature that since
Itinéraire de Pari» à Jenunfan

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GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

the death of its founder, Blessed Robert of Arbrissel, the gen­
eral direction of both monasteries has always remained in the
hands of an abbess

§ II. Pontificate

of

Paschal II. (August 13, 1099—January
18, 1118).

15. The Pontificate of Paschal II. opens the twelfth century
amid the difficulties raised by the question of investitures
between the Papacy and the empire. The antipope Guibert,
with a small number of obstinate partisans, still held out in his
schism at Albano. After the election of Paschal II. he was
expelled even from that last asylum, and died, a lonely fugitive,
at Citta di Castello (a. d. 1100), twenty-three years from the
time when he first raised the standard of revolt against St.
Gregory VII. Still the death of Guibert did not at once give
back peace to the Church. The schismatical faction gave him a
successor, Albert, who fell into the hands of the Catholics on the
very day of his election, and was sent to expiate his ambitious
pretensions in the castle of St. Lawrence. Theodoric, who was
chosen to fill his place, met the same fate three years after, and
was confined in the monastery of Lara. The third Henrician
usurper, a cleric named Maginulf, who assumed the title of
Sylvester IV., was driven in disgrace from Rome, and died in
exile, in a state of the deepest misery.
16. William Rufus, king of England, had in the mean time
died without issue. An arrow, winged by some careless hand
in a hunt at Winchester, suddenly ended both his reign and his
life. By right of lawful succession, the throne belonged to
Robert, duke of Normandy, brother of the late monarch. But
Robert was absent in the Holy Land. *
Henry, the youngest
of the conqueror’s sons, seized the occasion of making himself
au inheritance. He bought over the leading English nobles,
and fixed the crown firmly upon his own head. His first acte
• Ueùry'e cunning and sagacity bad gained him the surname of Beau-Clo s

PASCHAL Π. (A. D. 1099-1118).

175

filled the Catholics with cheering hopes. He recalled St. An»elm, promised to follow his counsels, and, at the suggestion of
;he holy archbishop, married the Princess Matilda, daughter of
;he royal saints of Scotland, Malcolm and Margaret. He
restored the immunities of the Church and swore not to sell
meant benefices. Yet all this fair opening was but the manœuzering of a skilful politician. Henry needed the influence of
Anselm to strengthen his new-born power. As soon as he felt
îtrong enough to work without the prelate’s help, he demanded
to be restored to all the rights exercised by William Rufus,
and the power of conferring investitures by the ring and crosier.
St. Anselm met the demand with a generous refusal, and once
more trod the path of exile. After the archbishop’s departure,
Henry seized all the revenues of the see for the benefit of the
royal treasury. Pope Paschal II. came forward in defence of
persecuted virtue. “ Your claims,’’ he wrote to the English
king, “ cannot be acknowledged by the Catholic Church. Re­
member the words spoken by St. Ambrose to Theodosius the
Great : ‘ Do not deceive yourself, great prince, by believing
that the royal dignity gives you any power in spiritual matters.
The palace is the emperor’s ; the church, the bishop’s.’ Think
not that We would in the smallest degree lessen your authority,
or take to Ourself any new power in the promotion of bishops.
You cannot, before God, exercise that right, nor could We
grant it you without jeoparding both your salvation and Our
own.” The king sent two deputies to Rome, to obtain from
the Pope a confirmation of his right of investiture. They were
received by Paschal immediately upon their arrival in the
Eternal City. One of the envoys, carried away by the warmth
of the discussion, so far forgot himself as to exclaim : “ What­
ever reasons may be alleged, I warn you all here present that
the king, my master, will not brook the loss of this right,
though it cost him his kingdom.” “And I assure you,” replied
the Sovereign Pontiff, “that Pope Paschal will never allow him
to hold the abusive right, though it cost him his life !” How­
ever, the king yielded to milder counsels and was reconciled to

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

St. Anselm. The meeting between the proscribed prelate and
the king took place at the abbey of Bee, where Anselm had
come, amid the memories of his glorious youth, to rest from the
fatigues of his toilsome career. Henry contented himself with
a right to the homage of bishops-elect, and gave up the claim
to invest with the ring and crosier. This agreement was sanc­
tioned in the Council of London (a. d. 1107). St. Anselm died
two years afterward (1109), bequeathing to the see of Canter­
bury an illustrious example of episcopal firmness, which was
not lost upon his successors. While nobly battling for the
discipline and rights of the Church, he had the glory of restor­
ing Christian philosophy and inaugurating scholastic theology.
At his death, he left England at peace with the Church.
France, under the rule of Louis VI., lately raised by Philip I.
to a share in the throne, was forgetting the scandals of the late
reign, and drawing closer the ties which bound her to the Holy
■See.
17. Italy and Germany were still kept in a state of disorder
ny the schismatical attempts of Henry IV., whose days seemed
lengthened only to multiply strife and discord. The hand of
God was beginning to weigh upon his head ; yet neither re­
verses, nor calamities, nor domestic griefs, nor the woes of a
whole nation could bend his stubborn will. His eldest son,
Conrad, was dead (a. d. 1101) ; Henry, the youngest, whom he
had caused to be crowned king at Mentz (1102), declared at
once against his father and the schism. “ I intend,” he said,
“to acknowledge the authority of the lawful Pope, Paschal II.”
The whole of Saxony flocked to his standard. That wretched
province, so often torn by the cruelty and ambition of Henry
IV., eagerly seized every opportunity of winning back freedom
and independence. In a council held at Northus (1105) the
Saxon nobles and bishops swore to support the young king and
to be faithful to Pope Paschal II. The youthful monarch
several times appeared in the council, with a display of modesty,
delicacy of feeling, and propriety which won all hearts. Any
allusion to his struggle with his father brought tears to his

PASCHaL

λ.

,Α. 3. 1030-111«}.

171

eyct>
‘ X veil God to witness,” said the prince, “that no
motive <jf hmbit’on could have induced me to seize the power.
I could not, without weeping, harbor the thought, so painful to
the heart of a son, that my lord and father must be deposed
from the royal dignity. I have ever grieved at his contumacy
and stubbornness, and if he will but submit to St. Peter and
his successors, I am ready to obey him as the least of his sub­
jects.” Such sentiments did honor to the young prince, and
commanded universal sympathy. When contrasted with the
deeds of violence which Henry V., when once securely seated
on the throne, did not hesitate to inflict upon the sacred person
of the Sovereign Pontiff·, their sincerity is at least questionable.
Still it may be that a youthful heart is warmed by a generous,
noble, lofty impulse which the poisoned breath of flattery, the
blighting atmosphere of ambition and interest speedily wither
.an 1 destroy. Be this as it may, the Council of Northus gave
n Henry V. many devoted partisans. The two rivals—the
father and son—shortly afterward met on the banks of the
Danube, near Ratisbon. Desertion weakened the ranks of
Henry IV., who escaped with difficulty, attended by a few
faithful followers. A general diet of all Germany was called
at Mentz, to end the contest by a final sentence.
18. Henry IV. left no means untried to enlist the sympar
thies of the Catholic world. Notwithstanding the sentence of
excommunication weighing upon him, and his notorious con­
nection with the antipopes, Guibert’s successors, he still ven­
tured to write to Pope Paschal II., to attempt a reconciliation.
“ Our own son,” writes Henry, “ the child of our heart, whom
we so loved as to place him upon the throne, has unblushingly
raised against us the standard of revolt. We have been urged
to act without delay, to meet him in arms ; but we prefer to
bide the time of vengeance, that no one in Italy or Germany
may lay to our charge the blood that may yet be shed. You
have prudence and wisdom, charity guides your every act;
you long for the unity of the Church and the peace of Europe.
We accordingly send you this deputy to ask if you will enter
Vol. HI.—12

178

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHÜKCH.

into a league with us, without prejudice to our dignity and sov­
ereign rights, as exercised by our father, our grandfather, and
our other predecessors ; while we shall pledge ourself to maintain
you in the Apostolic dignity as our predecessors did for yours.”
These protestations of a thrice-perjured king made no change
in fhe course of events. The general diet of the German States
was opened on the appointed day (Christmas, 1105), with the
largest attendance witnessed for at least a century past. Rich­
ard, bishop of Albano, and Gebhard, bishop of Constance, the
Pope’s legates, read to the assembled lords the sentence of
excommunication “against Henry the elder, styling himself em­
peror," and they declared him “ cut off from the communion of
(he Catholic Church." The excommunicated monarch had been
taken at Bingen and carefully guarded in its fortress. He was
then removed to Ingelheim, where the leading members of the
diet used all their influence to persuade him to relieve the
wretched kingdom of Germany by abdicating in favor of his
son. Henry IV., seeing no other way to liberation, agreed to
every thing that was proposed. He was brought before the
diet, and spoke as follows : “ I swear that I have willingly and
of my own accord resigned the royal power. I desire hence­
forth to live in retirement, and to attend only to the salvation
of my soul." Then throwing himself at the feet of the legate
Richard, he begged absolution from all the censures he had
incurred. Placing in the hands of his son the badges of royal­
ty—the cross, the lance, the sceptre, the globe and the crown—
he said : “ I wish you a long life and prosperity. Bishops and
lords who hear me for the last time,” he added, with streaming
eyes, “1 recommend to you my son. The old King Henry IV.
has no other wish than henceforward to labor in solitude for
his eternal salvation, according to the decree of the Pope and
the intention of the Holy Church.” After these solemn words,
the nobles and bishops confirmed the election of Henry V., and
proclaimed him sole and only king of Germany. The abolition
of investitures was ratified by oath. All simoniacal or schismatical bishops were deposed, and their sees given to Catbolio

PASCHAL H. (A. D. 1099-1118).

179

prelates. Peace seemed once more to smile upon the Church;
the great task of St. Gregory VII. seemed at last accom­
plished.
19. But Henry IV. soon repented his forced abdication.
Immediately upon the recovery of his freedom, he withdrew to
Liège, which city was devoted to his cause ; thence he wrote
to the king of France, Louis the Fat, protesting against all the
proceedings of the Diet of Mentz. He complained most bit­
terly of his son and of the Pope. “ By the ties of kindred and
friendship which bind us,” he said in conclusion, “ by the com­
mon wea’. of all crowns, I entreat you to avenge the wrong
that I have suffered, and not to leave unpunished the example
of such foul treason.” Henry again took up arms, rallied about
him a considerable number of adherents, and prepared to
defend himself in Liège Henry V. meanwhile hurried to
attack him, at the head of the royal army; the struggle was
on the point of breaking out with renewed fierceness. Henry
the elder multiplied his appeals and protestations. He thus
exclaims, in a last letter addressed to the bishops and nobles
of Germany : “ We appeal to Pope Paschal II. By the re­
spect you owe to the Holy Roman Church—for the honor of
the Teutonic empire—we entreat you to persuade our son to
disband his army, and confer with us upon the best means of
restoring peace to the kingdom. Should he persist in his
obstinate refusal, we, by these presents, lay our protest before
God, the Blessed Virgin, the Blessed Apostle Peter, all the
saints in heaven and all the Catholics on earth. We have
already appealed, and do now, a third time, appeal again to our
lord Paschal, the Roman Pontiff, to the Holy and Universal
See, and to the Roman Church.” These are remarkable words
from such a prince. For forty years had he persecuted the
Popes ; and now he is reduced to the necessity of appealing,
against his own son, to those very Popes, that same Roman
Church, whose authority he had so long and so repeatedly set
at nanght ! This letter, this last appeal to the Papacy, was
the closing act of a reign which had been the curse of the

180

GENERAL HI8TÛRV OF THE CHURCH.

Papacy. Henry IV died suddenly, at Liège, in the fifty-fifth
year of his ago (August 7, a. d. 1106) ; he had ascended tho
throne at the age of six years. Such was the end of the rebel
lions pupil of St. Gregory VII., the implacable enemy of the
Roman Church, the guardian of his youth. He had witnessed
the daily growth of the plan he would have crushed ; he fell
in the struggle from which he thought to come forth victorious
The anathema of tho Church reached him even in the grave.
His remains were denied the honor of Christian burial, and
were left for five years inclosed in a stone coffin, outside the
walls of the cathedral at Spires. The report of his death was
received by the Catholic world as a signal of deliverance.
“Not more glad," says Conrad of Usperg, a contemporary
writer, “were the rejoicings of the children of Israel, when the
cruel Pharaoh was drowned in the waters of the Red Sea.” *
20. Still the woes of the Church were not yet at an end.
Henry V., who, by his father’s death, now held an undisputed
sceptre, soon forgot the promises made in his youth. He was
intoxicated by the charms of power, and openly declared his
intention of claiming the right of investiture. Paschal was pre­
paring to visit Germany, to complete, by his presence, the
pacification of that distracted kingdom ; but on learning the
new dispositions of Henry V., “ The gates of Germany are not
yet opened,” he remarked, and changing his course he passed
into France, where the eager multitudes vied with one another
in their joyous welcome to the Vicar of Jesus Christ. At St.
Denis, the two kings, Philip I. and Louis, his son, met the Sov­
ereign Pontiff, prostrating themselves at his feet. The Pope
raised them up, and called on them “ to defend the Roman
Church against its enemies, in imitation of Charlemagne and
the other French kings, their predecessors, and to ward off the
sacrilegious attempts of Henry V. of Germany.” The Pope
• The violent bearing of Henry IV. toward the Church and the Papacy made bo great
u impression upon the Catholic world, that the king was generally looked upon as anti·
chri»t. The question, “Λ antwhrwt pel bomt" was solemnly laid before rhe Council of
Florence, held by Paschal II., in 1106. Of course the question was not decided.

PASCHAL Π. (A. D. 1099-1118).

181

had appointed a conference with Henry’s ambassadors, at
Châlons-sur-Marne. The royal chancellor Albert, the arch­
bishop of Triers, the bishops of Halberstadt and Munster, with
a number of German nobles, appeared on behalf of Henry V.
The Archbishop of Triers thus explained the claims of his sov­
ereign : “ From the time of our predecessors, holy and apos­
tolic men, since the days of St. Gregory the Great, it has
always been an acknowledged right of the emperors to confirm
the Pontifical elections. If the successful candidate is worthy,
he receives from the prince the investiture of the regales,
*
by
the crosier and ring. It is, in fact, only by this title that he
can hold cities, castles, revenues and other rights depend­
ing upon the imperial dignity.” The Bishop of Piacenza re­
plied for the Pope : “ It would be an outrage upon God and
the honor of the Church, that the prince should confer the
investiture by the crosier and ring, the badges of spiritual
authority. The bishops would profane the holy unction re­
ceived in ordination, did they submit their hands, consecrated
by the body and blood of the Lord, to the hands of laymen,
stained by the bloody handling of the sword.” These noble
words aroused a very storm among the German envoys.
" This is not the place,” they cried, “ to settle the question.
We will solve it in Rome, at the point of the sword” (a. d.
1106).
21. This was no idle threat. Henry V. announced his
intention of going to Rome to receive the imperial crown from
the hands of the Pope. After four years of preparation he set
out for Italy, at the head of a formidable army. Every city
that offered resistance was burned and razed to the ground.
The advancing host spread terror and dismay before it, and
marked its passage by blood and ruins. Henry spent the
Christmas festival (a. d. 1110) in Florence, and thence ar
ranged with the Pope, by letter, the conditions of his core na­
tion. They were as follows : “ On the day of his coronation
• Wbat is here meant by rtjala, are the temporal rights and fiefs which derived, as
such, from the suzerainty of the king-

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GENERAL HISTORV OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

Henry shall make a written renunciation of all right of investiturcs of churches. He shall pledge himself to the Pope by
oath, in presence of the clergy and people, to its observance.
He shall swear to leave the churches in the peaceful enjoy­
ment of their property. He shall confirm the Holy See in the
possession of its estates and fiefs, after the example of Charle­
magne and his other predecessors. On these conditions the
Pope will crown Henry V., and acknowledge him as emperor.
He will help him to maintain his authority in Germany, and
forbid the bishops to usurp the regales, or to do any thing
prejudicial to the rights of the prince.” These terms being
duly drawn up and signed by both parties, the king made his
entry into Rome on Sunday, the 11th of February, 1111, pre­
ceded by an immense multitude of people bearing green boughs,
palms, and flowers. This public rejoicing was doomed to a
speedy fall. The Pope awaited Henry upon the steps of St.
Peter’s church. The king would not enter the basilica until
he had surrounded it with his troops, who also held every post
in the neighborhood. Thus backed by his armed followers, he
called upon Paschal to keep his promise, and to proceed to the
ceremony of the coronation. The Pope replied that, according
to the convention of Florence, Henry should first give up the
pretended right of investiture. “ The convention of Florence
is null !” cried the German bishops. “ It is in open contradic­
tion to the divine precept of the gospel commanding us to
render unto Cœsar the things that are Cœsar s !" The Pope de­
clared that he would never crown a perjured king. The whole
day was consumed in parleyings ; the Pope stood unshaken.
Then began, in St. Peter’s, one of the most shocking scenes
recorded in history. The soldiers break into the sanctuary ;
the Pope is guarded in a narrow dungeon; many bishops,
clerics and laymen share the same fate ; the Germans plunder
the sacred vessels, the costly ornaments with which the sanc­
tuary had been decorated for the coronation of their king.
The Italians, who strive to defend the outraged majesty of
their Pontiff, are stripped, beaten with rods, and thrown into

I

PASCHAL II. (A.

b. 1099-11 IS).

183

close dungeons. Many of the inhabitants perished in torments,
victims t> the unbridled brutality of a licentious soldiery.
The account of these cruel outrages and of their Pontiff’s cap­
tivity had, in the mean time, roused the whole city The
Romans retaliated most fearfully; they massacred the Ger­
mans without stint or pity, and furiously threw themselves
upon King Henry’s troops. The prince himself was unhorsed
by the violence of the attack, and wounded in the face ; and
probably owed his life to Otho, count of Milan, who threw him­
self into the thickest of the contest, and succeeded in drawing
out his wounded master. But his self-devotion cost him his
life. He was seized by the exasperated Romans, who wreaked
their vengeance upon him. Henry hurriedly fled from Rome,
under cover of night, dragging along with him his august pris­
oner stripped of his Pontifical attire and bound with cords,
like a common felon.
22. For two months, Paschal II. was subjected to the most
fearful threats and cruel treatment ; but his unbending firmness
remained unconquered, and he would not acknowledge the
ting’s right of investiture. The bishops of Italy made a last
appeal, representing to him the wretched state of the captives
whom Henry’s tyranny kept in chains, far from their home
and from the objects of their tenderest affections ; the desola­
tion of the Roman Church, deprived of nearly all its cardinals ;
the danger of a schism, which would renew all the horrors of
war. Overcome, at length, by their tears, with which he free­
ly mingled his own, the unhappy Pope exclaimed: “I am,
then, compelled to do, for the peace and independence of the
Church, what I should have wished to avoid, even at the cost
of all my blood !” A preliminary treaty was then concluded
between the two parties; and on the 3d of April, a. d. 1111,
the Pope signed the bull granting the right of investiture, in
these terms: “We grant and confirm to you the prerogative
conferred by Our predecessors upon yours, viz. : that you may
give the investiture, by the crosier and ring, to the bishops
and abbots within your realm, who have been elected freelv

184

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

and without simony ; and no one may be consecrated without
receiving the investiture at your hands.”* After the signing
of the treaty, the Pope proceeded to the solemn coronation of
Henry V. ; and on the same day returned to Rome, where he
was received with such a display of popular enthusiasm, that
it took him the whole day to reach his palace. But Paschal
II. did not enjoy this dear-bought freedom. He saw :he dis­
honor which such an act must reflect upon his Pontificate.
The thought of St. Gregory’s great work destroyed, of the
Church in bondage, of the backward movement which must
throw Christian Europe once more into the gloom of barbarism,
gave no peace to his soul. A great number of bishops and car­
dinals condemned the treaty signed by compulsion. The coun­
cils of Italy and France condemned the investitures and re­
newed the excommunications launched against Henry V. The
Church was threatened with a new schism.
23. For the sake of his own peace of mind, as well as to
re-assure the alarmed Catholics, Paschal convoked a council iu
the Lateran basilica. It was opened on the 12th of March,
a. d. 1112. The Pope appeared before the assembled prelates,
acknowledged his weakness, put off his Pontifical dress, and
declared himself ready, in atonement, to abdicate the Pontifical
throne. The Fathers unanimously besought him to retain his
dignity ·, and he yielded to their prayers. “ Compelled by the
• We need not here recall, at length, the principles laid down in the discussion on Pope
Liberius. Paschal 11., a prisoner, loaded with chains, yields to violence and signs the
•eooguiliou of the Investiture. The man failed by human weakness ; but there is nothing
tn this fact that can invalidate the dogmatic infallibility of the Pope freely teaching a truth
of faith, u cathedra. Paschal II. was not free ; and every act extorted by violence, in the
words of Bossuet, w null and void. Was the acknowledgment of the right of investiture a
formal heresy ? If the acknowledgment recognized the collation of the spiritual authority
by the temporal power—it was. If the acknowledgment recognized in the bestowal of the
crosier and the ring no further claim on the part of the king than that of requiring the
homage due from the bishops to their suzerain, for the domains they held as his vassals—
then it was not a heresy. It is evident that Paschal IL signed the grant in tho latter
cense; and this twofold view of the question explains Itow the councils could condemn the
investiture as a heresy, while Yvo of Chartres and other bishops could with equal justice
defend the contrary thesis. So that Paschal IL, by acknowledging this right, fell, through
S weakness which he afterward bitterly deplored, but which did not, properly speaking,
ronstitute a heresy.—Note of Ur. Dàkras.

PASCHAL H. (A. D. 1099- 1118).

185

violence to which I was subjected,”’ said the Pontiff, “ I have
signed an unjust treaty. For the good of my own soul and
the honor of the Church, I am desirous to repair the evil?
He then protested that he received all the decrees of his pre­
decessors relative to the investiture and to simony. “I ap­
prove,” he said, “ what they approved ; I condemn what they
condemned ; I forbid whatever Gregory VII. and Urban II.
forbade ; and, by the grace of God, I shall ever remain in these
sentiments.” After this protestation, Girard, bishop of An­
goulême, in the name of the Pope and of the whole council,
read the following declaration : “ We all, assembled in this
holy council, condemn, by the ecclesiastical authority and the
judgment of the Holy Ghost, the concession wrung from Pope
Paschal by the violence of King Henry. We pronounce it of
no force, and utterly annul it ; we forbid, on pain of excommu­
nication, that it be deemed of any authority whatever." This
sentence, signed by all the bishops present, was sent to all the
churches of the Catholic world. By way of making his atone­
ment more complete, Paschal wrote, in person, to several bish­
ops, giving them an acount of what had happened. He thus
wrote to Guy, archbishop of Vienna : “ I declare null, and con­
demn forever, the treaty touching the privilege of investitures,
signed by Henry V. and myself, in the camp where I was held
prisoner.” In another council, held in the Lateran basilica, in
1116, the Pope again reverts to the treaty of investitures: “I
own that I fell; but I beg of you all to pray to God that He
may forgive me. As to the fatal treaty, which violence forced
me to sign in the camp of Henry V., I condemn it by a solemn
anathema ; I wish it to be held in everlasting abhorrence, and
to be without force in the Church." It would have been im­
possible to offer a more fair and formal retractation of an act of
weakness, which the circumstances surely went far to excuse.
24. The question itself is thus viewed by Baronius : “ The
concession of the right of investiture, with the condition of
freedom and canonicity in the election, as granted by Pope
Paschal II., does not constitute a heresy. But to maintain—

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

what Paschal II. never Said—that of canonical right the in­
vestiture should be bestowed by laymen, would be a formal
heresy. It would, indeed, bring into the Church an error
contrary to the teaching of the holy Fathers, to the constant
tradition of all ages, and to the opinion even of contemporary
writers who defended Paschal.” The imprisonment of the
Pope and the outrageous conduct of Henry V. had aroused the
indignation of the whole Catholic world. Protestations of the
deepest filial love and devotion poured in upon the Holy See
on the occasion. Hildebert, bishop of Mans, wrote as fol­
lows : “ The crimson hue of martyrdom still adorns the Church,
even in her elder day. The rage of persecution is again
aroused, and would extinguish the light of faith by the blood
of the children of God. Rome and the Apostolic See have be­
come a prey to the rapacity and cruelty of the Germans. The
Pope is dragged away in chains ; the Pontifical tiara is trodden
under foot by the wicked; the chair of holiness, which com­
mands all nations, is overturned ! The captain of Christ’s
army is a captive : how then shall the soldier stand his
ground?” Yvo of Chartres likewise wrote to the Pope, to
acquaint him with the part he had borne in his sufferings : “ I
have not ceased to address my prayers to Him Who bore up
the Apostle St. Peter amid the billows, and Who thrice saved
St. Paul from shipwreck, that He would deign to still the tem­
pest now tossing the bark of the Church.” Even the emperor
Alexius Comnenus sent a deputation to Pope Paschal, pro­
testing his attachment to the Apostolic See, and deploring the
outrages offered to the sacred person of the Pontiff by the
King of Germany.
20. Henry V. was sorely chafed by all these pledges of
veneration and love, lavished upon the common father of the
faithful. Paschal’s recantation had deeply irritated him. In
1117, he once more marched upon Italy at the head of a
numerous army. On the way he seized upon the succession
of the great Countess Matilda, utterly regardless of the often
repeated intention of the princess, who, in life, had made a gift

PASCHAL IL (A. D. 1099-1..8).

187

of all her States to the Holy See. Paschal did not await tho
emperor’s arrival at Rome, hut withdrew to Beneventum.
Henry entered the Eternal City in triumph, and swore to the
inhabitants that he came among them with the most friendly
intentions. On Easter-Day he would have renewed, in some
sort, in the church of St. Peter, the ceremony of his corona­
tion. But no prelate would consent to lend his ministry to a
prince who invaded Rome with a hostile army, driving out its
lawful Pontiff. Henry was accompanied by Maurice Bourdin,
archbishop of Braga, who had been appointed Apostolic legate
to his court. Like another Judas, this faithless minister be­
trayed his master. He placed the crown upon the brow of
Henry V., while the Roman clergy and people loudly bewailed
his base compliance. Maurice was soon to disgrace his name
by another sacrilege. When the Pope was informed of this
scandal, he assembled a council at Beneventum, and excommu­
nicated the apostate prelate. This was the last act of Paschal’s
Pontificate ; he yielded to the weight of cares and labors, on
the 18th of January, a. d. 1118, leaving in history the record
of a momentary weakness, expiated by years of stern struggle
and tireless energy.
26. A Pontificate so shaken by storms, was not without its
consolations. The Latin kingdom of Jerusalem gradually
spread its power over the plains of Asia. The old cities of
Scriptural memory—Haran, in Mesopotamia, Tyre, Sidon,
Tiberias and Joppa—successively came into the bands of the
Crusaders. Godfrey de Bouillon inspired even the Unbelievers
with admiration and love for the Christian name. Several
emirs once came down from their mountains in Naplouse and
Samaria, to offer him their homage and gifts. They found the
King of Jerusalem seated upon the bare ground, unattended by
courtiers or guards. To the expression of surprise which this
stateless presence drew from his visitors, the hero answered :
“ Why should not the earth, from which we sprung and to
which we must return after death, afford us a seat during
life?” This reply, so Oriental in its lofty simplicity, made a

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

deep impression upon the emirs ; before taking leave, they had
signed a treaty of alliance with Godfrey ; and “ in Samaria."
says an Arabian writer, “it was a matter of wonder that there
should be so much wisdom among the men of the West.” God­
frey survived the capture of Jerusalem but one year (a. d.
1100). He was buried in the church of the Holy Sepulchre,
at the foot of Calvary. The dust of the Christian hero thus
fitly mingled with that of Josue and Gideon, of David and
Judas Machabeus. Baldwin, his brother, inherited both his
realm and his valor. The memory of his reign is illustrated
by the foundation of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. The
pilgrims to the Holy City had long since established a hospital,
attended by Brothers—Hospitallers, who devoted themselves to
the service of Jesus Christ in the person of His suffering mem­
bers. At the time of the conquest, the hospital proved a most
acceptable resort for the wounded and infirm soldiers. The
generosity of the noble Crusaders and of the pious Godfrey
increased its income in proportion to its wants. It was, at
length, suggested to form the Hospitallers into a military reli­
gious order which could, at need, afford an armed defence to
the pilgrims intrusted to their care. Such was the beginning
of the world-renowned order, whose noble ranks have so well
served the whole of Christendom. The new religious were put
under the rule of St. Augustine. They made the four vows—
of obedience, poverty, chastity and devotion to the defence of
the pilgrims against the Unbelievers. They wore the dress of
the knights of that time, with a red Maltese cross upon a
black mantle. The order was confirmed by a bull of Paschal
II., in 1112, and was definitively organized in a general chap»
ter, held in 1118, under the second Grand Master, Raymond
of Puy, who divided the members into three classes : knights,
chaplains and servitors. The canons, guardians of the Holy
Sepulchre, were likewise armed by King Baldwin (1110), and
afterward became the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre : toward
the end of the fifteenth century, they joined the Order of St.
John of Jerusalem. The same circumstances of position gave

■

PASCHAL II. (A. D. 1099-1118).

189

rise, at the same period, to a third order of knighthood. Hugh
de Payns, a nobleman of Champagne, Geoffrey de Saint-Omer,
and seven other knights, meeting before the Holy Sepulchre,
resolved to devote their swords to the defence of the true
faith against the Saracens. Like the Hospitallers, they fol­
lowed the rule of St. Augustine, and, moreover, made a vow to
die in defence of the religion and the honor of Jesu& Christ,
but without assuming any obligation to nurse the sick. King
Baldwin gave them the ground on the east of the Temple:
hence their name of Templars or Knights of the Temple, which
has since been made so variously celebrated by their military
exploits and their tragic end. The Templars wore a white
mantle with a red cross. Their foundation dates from the
year 1118, but it was not till 1129, at the Council of Troyes,
that St. Bernard gave them a special rule, which was binding
upon the members until the time of the suppression.
27. We have just uttered, for the first time, the name of
St. Bernard, a name destined to throw a halo of glory about
the Church, during the whole course of the twelfth century.
The regeneration of the monastic life ; the government of the
whole world, placed, in some sort, under the sway of holiness
and genius, in his hands ; the wonders of the early ages of tho
Church, renewed ; the Crusades directed, whole provinces
brought back to the faith, princes guided by a simple religious,
from the almost inaccessible shades of his desert-cell—such is
the spectacle placed before our eyes in the life of the sainted
Abbot of Clairvaux. About eight years before the first con­
quest of Jerusalem, he was born of a noble family of Bur­
gundy, in the castle of Fontaines, near Dijon. Piety was as
truly an heirloom in the family as its noble rank and title ; and
Bernard was prevented, in his infant years, by the fulness of
grace, which was yet to work such mighty deeds. His very
example was a kind of home-dwelling apostolate ; and here he
began to exercise on all around him that pious and holy fasci
nation which afterward controlled the age in which he lived ;
which made him the master of kings, the counsellor of Popes,

1

190

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

the guardian of empires ; which gave him the surname of Dot,
tor Mellifluus, and the glorious title of the Last of the Fathers
of the Church. At the age of three-and-twenty he left his
father’s roof, and, followed by thirty young noblemen, to whom
he had imparted a. share of his pious spirit, knocked at the
gate of the monastery of Citeaux. The abbot, Stephen, has­
tened to offer his wonted hospitality to the noble strangers.
But God had sent him sons instead of guests ; Bernard and his
companions threw themselves at the abbot’s feet, and begged
the religious habit. The trials of the noviceship were, for Ber­
nard, so many incentives to perfection. To keep ever alive in
his heart the first fervor of his vocation, he often repeated
within himself : “ Bernard, why hast thou come hither ?”
When he had once begun to taste the sweets of divine love, he
was so fearful of being turned away in the least degree from
this inward life, that he shut his eyes against the most natural
perceptions. So thoroughly had he overcome all feeling of
curiosity, that he was blind to outward things ; and, after
spending a whole year in the same room, he was unable to tell
whether it was wainscoted. A naturally elevated disposition,
aided by divine grace, gave him an exquisite relish for spiritual
things. His meditations on the Holy Writings were uninter­
rupted, and the very Bible which he used—enriched with pro­
fuse notes by his own hand—is still preserved as a precious
monument in the library of Troyes. The example of the
young noble had borne its fruit; the two years which followed
his arrival at Citeaux brought so great an increase of religious
inmates, that the foundation of a new monastery became a mat­
ter of necessity. The Bishop of Laugres, and Hugh, count of
Champagne, bestowed upon the abbot, Stephen, for his new
foundation, a wild, untitled valley, situated in a mountain-gorge,
and known as the Valley of Wormwood, as it was the resort
of numerous highway robbers. Bernard was sent, with twelve
religious, to plant the cross of Christ in this savage waste,
which soon changed its forbidding name to that of the Illustri­
ous Valley (Clara vallis) or Clairvaux ; and for half a century

OELA81Ü8 Π. (A. D. 1118-111·),

191

drew the admiring gaze of all Europe upon its treasure of
loftiest genius joined to the purest virtue (a. d. 1115).
28. The schools and monasteries of France reechoed the
praises of a favored son of genius. Abelard was born in 1079,
at Palais, near Nantes, and gave early presage of future great­
ness. But he knew not how to shield his gift of mighty intel
lect with the buckler of virtue, and thus became the author of
his own unhappiness. Arriving in Paris at a period when
philosophy and science, restored by the enlightened zeal of
Lanfranc and St. Anselm of Canterbury, were shedding abroad
their fullest brightness, Abelard first listened to the teaching
of William of Champeaux. The young student had soon out­
stripped his master, and opened a school of his own, first at
Melun, then at Corbeii, and finally in Paris. Such was the
prestige of his eloquence and of his prodigious talent, that the
public halls of these various cities were unable to contain the
scholars who thronged to hear his lectures. The religious
world showed signs of an insatiable thirst for learning. The
twelfth century was as the waking hour of philosophy and
Christian literature. Abelard felt and communicated to others
the general impulse. He was intoxicated by his own renown.
The story of his relations with Eloise is already but too well
known. His ardent nature was swayed at will by the tyran­
nical empire of passion. When the scandal became public,
Abelard at first hid his shame in the monastery of St. Denis.
Being soon after expelled from this retreat, he withdrew to tho
neighborhood of Troyes, where his fame soon drew around him
three thousand admiring scholars. There we shall again meet
him leading the rationalistic movement of his age, drawing
upon his teachings the vigorous attacks of St. Bernard and the
thunders of the Church.
§ III. Pontificate

of

Gelasiüs IL (January 25, a. d. 1118 January 29, 1119).

29. The hatred of the German emperor for Paschal II. had
made him provident. Henry had left secret instructions with

192

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

his partisans in Rome, directing them, in case of an approach­
ing vacancy in the Roman See, to oppose the election of a new
Pope until his consent should be received. At the death of
Paschal, the cardinals thwarted the tyrant’s plans : they met,
and seven days afterward elected John of Gaeta, cardinal·
deacon and chancellor of the Roman Church, a noble old man,
who met the violence of a most stormy Pontificate with a truly
Apostolic firmness. He took the name of Gelasius II. On
learning the election, Cencio Frangipani, leader of the German
faction, broke into the church with an armed band, seized the
Pope by the throat, hurled him to the ground, and tore his
body with his spurs. Then loading the Pontiff with chains, he
threw him, wounded and bleeding, into a dungeon. The car­
dinals and senators, unable to escape, met with no gentler
treatment; several were slain upon the spot. At the report
of this deed of violence, the prefect of Rome, leading his
troops and followed by an immense multitude in arms, marched
to the capitol and demanded that the Pope should be given
back to them. The terrified revolters at once surrendered
their august prisoner. On their knees they implore and obtain
forgiveness; and Gelasius II., borne in triumph by a people
crazed with joy, took solemn possession of his See.
30. The day was appointed for his ordination—as he was
yet only deacon—but Henry V. interfered. He hurried on,
by forced marches, from the extremity of Germany ; and one
night the Pope was suddenly informed that the emperor, with
his troops, held the church of St. Peter. He sent this mes­
sage to Gelasius : “ If you are prepared to confirm the treaty
which I made Paschal II. sign, I am ready to submit to your
authority ; if not, I shall have another Pope elected, and shall
place him in possession of the Holy See.” The Sovereign
Pontiff hurriedly quitted Rome and embarked upon the Tiber.
A violent storm drove the vessel upon the coast of Porto. The
German troops crowded the bank and shot their arrows into the
Pontifical galley. Gelasius escaped under cover of the dark­
ness, and landed at Gaëta, his native city, where he was

GELA8IÜ8 II. (A. D. 1118-1119).

193

received with a respectful and pious eagerness. Henry had,
in the mean time, procured at Rome the election of an antipope,
Maurice Bourdin, the false legate excommunicated by Paschal
II. in the Council of Beneventum. He assumed the Roman
purple with the title of Gregory VIII. The true Pope was
consecrated at Gaeta, in the presence of William, duke of
Apulia, Robert, prince of Capua, and a host of Italian lords,
who swore fidelity to his cause and authority. He convoked a
council in Capua, where he solemnly excommunicated the
antipope and the Emperor Henry V.; at the same time directing
the Archbishop of Toledo and the bishops of Spain to provide
another incumbent for the see of Braga, instead of Maurice,
whose intrusion had cut him off from the bosom of the Catholic
Church. Another letter, addressed to all the bishops and
princes of Christendom, acquainted them with the outrage
offered to the Pontifical majesty, and the sentence pronounced
against its authors. The Christian world might thus learn that
the unworthy heirs of the sceptre of Charlemagne, used against
the Roman Church the power which she had given them, and
the strength of the Holy Roman Empire.
31. After the consummation of the schism and a third
renewal of the ceremony of his coronation, Henry V. returned
to Germany, leaving Rome in the hands of the antipope and his
partisans. At the risk of life, the intrepid Gelasius succeeded
in making his way, unknown, into the Eternal City, where he
remained for some time hidden under the roof of a faithful and
devoted family. But on the feast of St. Praxedes, he wished
to officiate in the church dedicated to the saint. In the midst
of the sacred solemnity, the church was besieged by the same
Cencio Frangipani who had already dared to lay his sacrilegious
hands upon the Lord’s anointed. Stephen the Norman and
Crescenzio Gaetano, the Pope’s nephew, made a desperate
resistance. Gelasius II. once more escaped in the tumult, and
•eached an isolated cottage in the Roman Campagna, where
poor and aged woman extended the most touching hospitality
the Vicar of Jesus Christ. On the following day he was
VOL· IU —13

<)4

GENERAL HISTORV OF THE CHURCH.

joined hy the cardinals and by some faithful attendants. “ Let
ns fly, said Gelasius ; “let us fly this land of Egypt ; let us
fly the new Babylon! At the appointed hour, God will bring
dark those of us for whom that happiness is reserved.” The
exiled Pontiff turned toward France, the land devoted to the
Papacy; on the 7th of November, a. d. 1118, he stepped upon the
shores of Provence, where he was received by the Abbot Suger,
minister of King Louis, with all the honor due to persecuted
virtue. Gelasius sought rest in the solitude of Cluny, the spot
marked by Divine Providence as the term of his earthly ban­
ishment; and there the heroic Pontiff died, on the 29th of
January, 1119 Henry V. had no reason to be jealous of his
father’s fame. He too had raised up an antipope, and caused
Gelasius IL, like St. Gregory VII., to die in exile. The
modern writers, who so strenuously uphold the emperors, in
the question of the investitures, lay very little stress upon
these features of the case.

§ IV Pontificate

Calixtds II. (February 1, A.
December 12, 1124).

of

d.

1119—

32. The cardinals, who had followed Gelasius into exile,
elected Guy archbishop of Vienne, in Dauphiny, to succeed
the deceased Pontiff. The election was held at Cluny, and the
new Pope look the name of Calixtus II. He received, in a
strange land, the sceptre of the proscribed Papacy ; but he
was soon to restore it in triumph to Rome, and to bring peace
at length to the Church. Henry V. was beginning to under­
stand that his struggle against the Holy See was one of those
questions of principle which could never be resolved to his
advantage. The Popes might die ; but the undying Papacy
would never give up a just and holy cause. Even among the
German prelates who stood about his throne, there were some
honest, upright men, who made no effort to hide from him the
danger of his position and the hopelessness of his resistance
Gonrad. archbishop of Saltzburg, did not hesitate, during

CALIXTUS II. (A. D. 1119-HM).

19»

Paschal’s captivity, publicly to reproach the emperor for his
tyrannical conduct, upon which an officer of the guards, dnawing his sword upon the prelate, threatened him with death.
The fearless archbishop presented his uncovered breast to the
weapon, with the words : “ Strike ! I can die, but you cannot
kill the truth.” His dauntless courage cost him an exile of
nine years. Albert, chancellor of the empire and archbishop­
elect of Mentz, showed the same unshaken firmness, and was
thrown into chains. All Germany longed for peace. The
general diet of Tribur (a. d. 1119) gave open expression to the
people’s prayer. Henry began to fear too that a longer strife
might estrange the allegiance of his own subjects. At this
juncture Pope Calixtus II. sent to the German court William
of Champeaux, bishop of Chalons-sur-Marne, and Pons, abbot
of Cluny, to settle the terms for a treaty of pacification. Henry
asked their advice on the means of concluding the negotiation
without prejudice to his authority. ‘‘My lord,” replied William
of Champeaux, “ if you would secure a lasting peace, you must
make a complete and irrevocable renunciation of the right of
investiture. When I was raised to the episcopate, in France,
I received no kind of investiture from the king, my suzerain,
and yet I most scrupulously pay him the vassal's tribute in
kind and in military duty. I serve him as faithfully, without
investiture, as your bishops in Germany can do, in virtue of
the investitures which have caused so much disorder and drawn
upon your majesty the Church’s anathema.” Henry thought
for a moment on these words, and rising from his seat, said to
the envoys : “ If such be the case, and if you will undertake
to effect a reconciliation with the Sovereign Pontiff and to
restore peace to Germany, I consent to forsake the right of
investiture.” A conference was then agreed upon, to be held
at Monson, for the solemn confirmation of the treaty between
the Roman Church and the empire. Calixtus II. was then
presiding over a council at Rheime ; he left it to hasten to the
place appointed by Henry. But when all seemed on the point
of a happy settlement, the emperor, who still cherished the

196

GENERAL BISTORÎ OF THE CHURCH.

hope of wringing from the Pope the concession of his claim,
suddenly broke off the negotiation and withdrew to Germany,
for the ostensible purpose of assembling a general diet to dwcuss the conditions of the treaty.
33. The Pope returned to Rheims, much grieved by this
display of bad faith. He availed himself of his sojourn in
France to settle the difficulty raised between Henry IL, of
England, and Louis, king of France. Henry had seized upon
Normandy, and held his brother Robert in captivity. Louis, in
quality of suzerain, had drawn the sword on behalf of his
injured vassal. The Council of Rheims decided the question
in favor of Henry II. ; and its session was closed with the
solemn excommunication of the Emperor of Germany and his
partisans. Four hundred and twenty-seven bishops and abbots,
in episcopal attire, met in the cathedral, holding lighted tapers
in their hands. They heard the reading of the sentence pro­
nounced against the antipope and his protector, Henry V. of
Germany, calling himself emperor, whose subjects were now
freed from their oath of allegiance to a perjured monarch.
At these words all the tapers were thrown down and extin­
guished, while all the bishops present repeated the solemn
words of the anathema. Under the circumstances, the clause
freeing the people of Germany from their fealty to Henry—ind
purposely omitted by Fleury and Fr. Longueval—is remarkable.
It shows the opinion entertained by the bishops of Italy, Spain,
France, England and Germany, by the French king and nobles,
all assembled at Rheims, touching the Pontifical authority,
clothed by the common consent of the middle-ages with a
sovereign right over all kingdoms. To form a true estimate of
a man or a period, it is necessary, in the first place, to know
what principles rule his belief and his actions.
34. Before starting for Rome, where he was most eagerly
awaited by the clergy and people, Calixtus bestowed upon St.
Norbert the title of Apostolic Missionary, recommending him,
at the same time, to announce the kingdom of God to the peo­
ple of France and Germany. Norbert was of illustrious line­

CALIXTÜ8 II. (A. J. U19-IIM;.

197

age, claiming descent, through his fathers, from the emperors
of Germany, and, by his mother, from Godfrey de Bouillon.
His early years were spent at the court of Henry V., in the
unrestrained enjoyment of his taste for worldly pleasures and
trifles. The promises of the world, his own name and talents,
the charms of fortune and vanity, captivated his heart. As he
was once (a. d. 1114) on his way to join a party of pleasure, while
riding through a valley in the duchy of Cleves, he was over­
taken by a sudden storm. A thunderbolt, falling close before
him, overthrew both horse and rider. One whole hour Norbert
lay stretched upon the ground without sense or motion. When
be again recovered his senses, he seemed to hear a voice from
Heaven speaking to him, as of old it did to Saul on the road to
Damascus: “Norbert! Norbert! why dost thou persecute
Me ? Is it thus thou turnest to the uses of thy ambition
and pride the talents and wealth bestowed for My glory and
service ?” The young courtier rose up a new man. He has­
tened to throw himself at the feet of the Archbishop of
Cologne, who ordained him priest. Bidding farewell to the
world’s possessions and promises, he gave himself up without
reserve to the work of the apostolate. His sharp, eloquent
style, full of energy and fire, carried away the multitude,
allayed dissensions, reconciled the bitterest enemies, and fixed
the rule of the gospel in all hearts. His reputation was as wide
as the bounds of Catholic Europe. It was commonly said that
“ Charity spoke to men under the form of St. Bernard ; Faith,
under that of Norbert.” Gelasius II. and his successor, Calixtus,
showered blessings upon his mission. The Bishop of Saon,
who professed the deepest veneration for the man of God,
wished to keep him within his own diocese ; he accordingly
bestowed upon him the solitude of Prémontré, for the founda­
tion of a monastery; and here the illustrious missionary
brought his first companions. St. Norbert was a canon, as
were also his disciples. He therefore adopted the rule of St
Augustine, adding some more austere constitutions. The
regular canons of Prémontré lived in the strictest poverty.

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GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

fasted all the year, observed an unbroken silence, and wore a
white woollen habit. They quilted their retreat only to preach
to the people. The new institute quickly grew in numbers ·
and the most illustrious men of the day begged the favor of
living under Norbert’s direction. The youthful Count of
Champagne, Theobald IV., offered to give up to him the coun­
ties of Blois, Chartres, Meaux and Troyes, to enter the monas­
tery of Prémontré as a simple brother. Such an offer might
have captivated a less lofty soul ; hut the saints fashion their
course of action by a higher standard. Norbert refused. “It
may not be,” he said to Theobald ; “ you shall bear the yoke
of the Lord in the married state ; and your offspring will pos­
sess your great states, with the blessing of your fathers.” The
count submitted, and, through the instrumentality of St. Nor­
bert, espoused Matilda, daughter of the Duke of Carinthia,
with whom he led a holy life. Norbert wished his order to
include both sexes, and he accordingly established a monas­
tery for nuns, which was soon in a flourishing condition. The
new monastery numbered among its inmates many of the
noblest ladies of France : Ermengarde, countess of Roussy ;
Agnes, countess of Braine ; Adele of Montmorency, daughter of
Bouchard, high constable of France ; Beatrice, viscountess of
Amiens ; Anastasia, duchess of Pomerania ; Hedwige, count­
ess of Cleves, and her daughter Gertrude, with others of equal
nobility and virtue. The rules given them by the saint seemed
beyond the strength of their sex ; but they were far below the
greatness of their courage. They were never to leave their
cloister; they cut themselves off from all commerce with the
world ; they could speak even to their nearest kindred only in
presence of two other religious ; they wore a white dress
made of coarse stuff, never ate meat, and kept an almost
unbroken fast. These austerities formed a kind of new attrac­
tion ; and such was the numerical growth of the order, that in
less than fifteen years it numbered more than ten thousand
members, in the various kingdoms. The monks of Prémontré
increased in equal proportion. Thirty years after the first

ÜALIXTÜ8 II. (A. D. 1119-.1M).

199

foundation, the general chapter of the order counted one hun­
dred abbots.
About the year 1126, Norbert was raised,
I hough much against his own will, to the see of Magdeburg,
in which he continued to live a true apostle and died a saintly
death.
35. After the Council of Rheims. Calixtus Π. recrossed the
Alps and entered Lombardy. The people, weary of the anti­
pope’s despotic yoke, hurried from all directions to greet him
with enthusiastic joy as the true pastor of the universal Church.
The news of his arrival filled Rome with transports of gladness.
The antipope thought it prudent to avoid the popular indigna­
tion ; he fled to Sutri and shut himself up in its stronghold, de­
pending upon Henry for a relief which was not to come. The
Pope entered Rome amid triumphal hymns, and was enthron­
ed in the Lateran palace (June 3, a. d. 1120). A month later
he was traversing Apulia and the chief cities of Southern Italy,
to collect troops against the antipope, and thus end the schism
which desolated the Church. Maurice Bourdiu, besieged in the
castle of Sutri, was handed over by the inhabitants to the Ponifical forces. Calixtus spared his life and consigned him, for
the remainder of his days, to the monastery of Cava (1121).
Henry V. was too busy with the revolted Saxons to help his
antipope. He was in fact overwhelmed with cares. The Gerιη.τη nobility, clergy and people, weary of the fruitless strug­
gle which had been, for half a century, draining the nation’s
strength, asked for peace. The question of investitures had
undergone so many examinations that it was now thoroughly
understood. The absurdity and impropriety of a prelate’s re­
ceiving the ring and crosier from a layman was apparent to all.
It became impossible to recruit the ranks of such a cause ; and
a general diet was called at Worms (1121) to conclude a final
peace. Lambert, bishop of Ostia, Saxonius, a priest.and a dea­
con named Gregory appeared as legates of the Pope. The ses­
sion lasted a week, and ended in the adoption of the following
agreements : “ I grant,” said the Pope, “ that the elections of
the bishops and abbots of the German realm be held in your

200

GEffERAL HISTORÏ OF THE CHURCH.

presence, without violence or simony. The prelate-elect may
receive at your hands the investiture of the regales, by the
sceptre. On these terms, I grant peace to you and to all
who have shared in this lengthened strife.” The emperor,
on the other hand, signed the following declaration : “ For
the love of God, of the Holy Roman Church, and of Pope
Calixtus, as well as for the good of my soul, I renounce all
claim to the right of investiture by the ring and crosier. I
grant to all the churches within my empire the freedom of
canonical elections and consecration. I promise peace with
Pope Calixtus and the Holy Roman Church, and to give him
aid whenever he may claim it.” The two compacts were
read to an assembly held in an immense plain on the banks
of the Rhine ; they were then exchanged, and the bishop of
Ostia celebrated the Holy Sacrifice, giving communion to the em­
peror as a sign of reconciliation. The legates then pronounced
the absolution upon the imperial army and all who had taken
part in the schism. The war of investiture was at an end.
The great act was accomplished on the 23d of September, 1122,
hardly thirty-seven years after St. Gregory VII. had exchanged
the cares and labors of his stormy reign for the peace and still­
ness of the tomb.
36. To cement yet more closely the alliance between the
Papacy and the empire, Calixtus II. convoked, in the Lateran
basilica, the ninth general council, the first in the West.
Upward of three hundred bishopsand six hundred abbots were
presentfrom all parts of the world (a.d. 1123). The Pope ratified
and solemnly promulgated the treaty of peace concluded with
Henry V. It was agreed that the elections of bishops and ab­
bots in Germany should thenceforth be held, without simony,
before the emperor or his delegates, and that the prelates should
receive from him. by the tradition of the sceptre—as was usual
in the case of the other vassals—the investiture of the regales or
6efs and other temporal estates bestowed upon the Church by
princes. Finally, the anathemas already uttered against the
Nicholaites, simoniacal ecclesiastics, and the still stubborn adhe­

CALIXTUB Π. (A. D. 111S-11M).

201

rents of the late antipope, were renewed with greater rigor
than ever. The ninth general council was a fitting close for the
glorious Pontificate of Calixtus II. In less than six years, the
zealous Pontiff had made peace between the Church and the
empire, repaired the faults or failings of his predecessors, restor­
ed the authority of the Holy See and the full splendor of the
hierarchical order, and at last realized the great purpose of St.
Gregory VII, (December 13, 1124). The Emperor Henry V.
outlived him less than a year (May 23, 1125), and died with­
out issue. With him ended the ancient Saxon line which had
held the sceptre for two hundred and seven years. Lothaire II.,
the nearest of kin to the house of Saxony, through his wife
who claimed descent from an uncle of St. Henry, was elected at
Mentz (August 30,1125), and ascended the German throne.
37. The disorder and moral relaxation naturally developed
by the war of investiturco, favored the rise, in the Western
churches, of numerous sects more or less closely allied to Mani­
cheism, and tending to raise vice to the dignity of a system.
These errors were thus a continuation of the series which had
agitated Orleans, Arras and Toulouse, remains of the Eastern
Paulicians, and forerunners of all the modern systems which,
under various names, aim at the overthrow of all authority, of
hierarchical subordination, of the family and society. Their
doctrinal errors, though agreeing in some points—such as the
uselessness of the sacraments, of the invocation and veneration
of saints, and prayers for the dead—are at variance in others,
according to the names of their leaders. But their view of moral
obligations is one : a denial of all authority and rule—license and
scandal. The first of these names which we meet in the twelfth
century is that of Peter Bruys, whose followers styled them­
selves Petrobrusians. He traversed Dauphiny, Provence and
Languedoc, destroying and burning crosses, rebaptizing children,
teaching that churches are useless, as God wishes no other tem­
ple than the universe. He was followed by excited crowds
who butchered the priests, plundered and burned the churches
and gave themselves up to the most shameful excesses. Hen. y

202

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

of Lausanne, the best known of Peter’s disciples, carried the
same doctrines and disorders into Switzerland and the eastern
provinces of France. Society was no less interested than re­
ligion in the suppression of the sectaries, and hence the severi­
ty displayed against them by the secular power, as also toward
the Waldenses and Albigenses, to whom they acted as an ad
vance-guard. Antwerp had been thrown into a state of simi­
lar disorder by a fanatic named Tanchelin or Tankelin ; though
his aim was somewhat less moderate than that of his feilowsectaries, since he claimed to be adored as a god. He revived
the traditions of the Adamites, and pretended to restore the
world to its state of primitive nakedness by recalling its lost
innocence. The misguided people of Antwerp were recalled by
the preaching of St. Norbert. Taukelin’s followers were found
in Flanders, on the banks of the Rhine, and infested the diocese
of Cologne. They affected a life of poverty and austerity, op­
posed the power of the Pope and of all ecclesiastical authorities.
They called themselves the poor of Christ, the imitators of the
Apostles, and accordingly assumed the title of Apostolicals.
38. The same period developed similar features in the East.
The Bogomiles—a Sclavonic word, signifying votaries of
prayer—overran the empire of Constantinople, under the
leadership of a Bulgarian impostor called Basil. This sect ut­
terly rejected the whole Christian doctrine. According to their
theology, the incarnation, life, passion and death of Jesus
Christ were but false and unreal appearances. They rejected
the Eucharist, calling it the sacrifice of demons, and admitted
no other communion than that of asking from God their daily
bread, by the recital of the Lord’s Prayer. To their repeated
rehearsal of this prayer they owed their name of Bogomiles.
As to the morality of their doctrine, it will suffice to quote the
words of Anna Comnena : “ 1 should have wished to speak of
their heresy ; but 1 cannot consent so to soil my pages.” Her
father, the emperor, in vain sought to recall the fanatics to rea­
son. Basil, their chief, when condemned to the stake, pre­
ferred death to the abjuration of his errors. The Bogomiles,

OALIXTÜS Π. (A. D. 1119-1134),

203

under the name of Bulgarians, entered Lombardy, from which
country they passed into France, and afterward joint 1 the
Albigenses in Provence, and the Cathari in Germany.
39. While these heretical sects produced, both in the East
and West, a kind of impious reaction against the spirit of faith
which peopled the Christian world with religious communities
and wrested the holy places from the Moslem yoke, by the
hands of the Crusaders, a new style of literature, inspired by
the memories of the Holy War, and reflecting the enthusiasm
excited in Europe by those distant expeditions, took its rise in
the cloisters. Guibert, the learned and virtuous abbot of
Nogent-sous-Coucy, inaugurated the literary revival by his his­
tory of the first Crusade, which, with a rare happiness of ex­
pression, he entitled : Gesta Dei per Francos. The greatness
of the subject and simplicity of the style ; the Oriental color
ing of the narrative and the native simplicity of the monkish
chronicler ; the deeds of daring performed by French knights
and barons on fields whose very names were rich in poetic
charms to imaginations fed by the pages of the Bible ; the
story of kingdoms, principalities and fiefs founded by tho
swords of the Franks at Jerusalem, Edessa, Antioch, Tyre and
Joppa ; the perilous marches and heroic exploits of Godfrey de
Bouillon, Tancred, Bohemond and Robert of Burgundy, were
well suited to keep alive in the West a sacred enthusiasm for
the Holy Wars. It was the battle-cry, God wills it! reechoed
and resounding through all hearts, with the gladness of success
and the holy exultation of a triumph in which the glory was
all referred to God. It was evident that the ardor of the
Crusades was not extinguished, and that new generations,
eager to rival their predecessors, would gladly and proudly
hasten to shed their blood on the plains of Asia, for the rescue
of the Holy Sepulchre and the freedom of Jerusalem.

204

OBXERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER
8 1. Pontificate

of

VI.

Honorius II. (December 21,
1130).

a. d.

1124—February 14

1. Extraordinary circumstances attending the promotion of Honorius II.—2.
State of Christendom at the accession of Honorius II.—3. Influence of St.
Bernard over his age.—4. Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny.—6. Suger
and the abbey of St. Denis.—6. Henry, archbishop of Sens. St. Bernard
On the Duties of JBishops.—7. Stephen de Sentis, bishop of Paris.—8.
Council of Troyes.—9. St. Otho, bishop of Bamberg, apostle of Pomerania.
Successes of the Christians in Spain, under Alphonso the Great and Alphonso VII. Death of Honorius II.
§ Π. Pontificate

of

Innocent II. (February 17,
1143) .

a. d.

1130—September 24,

10 Schism of the antipope Peter de Leone.—11. Journey of Innocent II. to
France.—12. Miraculous cure of the Sacred Fire.—13. Council of Rheims.
Crowning of Louis-le-Jeune, son of Louis-le-Gros.—14. Roger, duke of
Sicily, and William, duke of Aquitaine, the only upholders of the antipope.
Departure of Innocent II. The Pope at Clairvaux.—15. Innocent returns
to Rome. Crowning of the Emperor Lothaire.—16. Second journey of
St Bernard into Italy. Conncil of Pisa. St. Bernard at Milan.—17. St.
Bernard and William, duke of Aquitaine, at Parthenay.—18. Third voyage
of St. Bernard to Italy. Conference between the Abbot of Clairvaux and
Peter of Pisa, at Salerno. End of the schism of the antipope Peter de
Leone.—19. Tenth general council, the second Lateran. Roger acknowl­
edged king of Sicily.—20. Peter de la Ch&tre, archbishop of Bourges.
Raoul, count of Vermandois. The kingdom of France under interdict.—
21. Burning of Vitry-le-Brûlé. Death of Innocent II.—22. Condemnation
and death of Abelard.—23. Arnold of Brescia.—24. Doctors and holy peraons in the Pontificate of Innocent II.
J IIL Pontificate of Celestin IL (September 26,
1144) '.

a. d.

1143—March V,

95. Election and death of Celestin II. He raises the interdict placed upon
the French kingdom by his predecessor.—26. Prophecies ascribed to St.
Malachy, archbishop of Armagh.

2

HONORIUS II. (A. D. 11U-11J0).

§ IV. Pontificate or Lvciub Π. (March 10, a. d. 1144—February 25, 1145.)
27. Rome declared a republic, by the partisan» of Arnold of Brescia.
of Lucius II.

§ V. Pontificate

of

Death

Eugemicb III. (February 27, a. d. 1145—July 8, 1153).

28. Election of Eugenios III. St. Bernard’s letter to the cardinals and to the
new Pope.—29. Triumphal entrance of Eugenios into Rome. St. Ber­
nard’s work De Coneideratione.—30. Assembly of Vezelay. St. Bernard
preaches the Crusade in France and Germany.—31. Departure of the
Crusaders. Treachery of Manuel Comnentu, emperor of Constantinople.—
32. Wretched end of the second Crusade.—33. Gilbert de la Porré. Eon
de 1’Etoile.—34. Petrobrusians. Henricians. Albigense». Catbari. La
bore of Peter the Venerable and St. Bernard against them. Saintly char­
acters under the Pontificate of Eugenios ΠΙ.—35. Death of Eugeniue IIL

§ VI. Pontificate

of

Anastasiüb IV. (July 9,
1154).

a. d.

1153—December 1

36. Election and death of Anastasias IV.—37. Death of St Bernard.

§ I. Pontificate

op

Honorius II. (December 21, a. d. 1124—
February 14, 1130).

1. Three Jays after the death of Calixtus II., the cardi­
nals and bishops met in the basilica of St. John Lateran, and
elected, as Pope, Theobald, cardinal-priest of the title of St
Anastasia, who took the name of Celestin II. Hardly had the
new Pope been clothed with the Pontifical vestments, while
the clergy and people chanted the solemn Te Deum in thanks­
giving, when Leo Frangipani rushed into the church, at the
head of a seditious faction, shouting tumultuously : “ Lambert,
bishop of Ostia, is our Pope ! Long live Lambert, the Sover­
eign Pontiff, the father of the Romans !” The disorder was
momentarily increasing ; when Celestin, in order to appease it,
had the modesty to yield the tiara to his opponent. The car­
dinals consented, and ratified the choice made of Lambert,
whose guilt consisted only in his name being thus made the cry
of a faction, without his consent or participation. Lambert was
accordingly enthroned in the Papal chair, and took the name

206

GENERAL H1STORV OF THE CHURCH.

of Honorius II. After an interval of seven days, when peace
had been completely restored, he called the cardinals together,
and declared to them that he did not wish to keep a dignity
perhaps unlawfully obtained, and certainly imposed by force.
Then removing his tiara and red cape, he placed them in their
hands. Thus, within the same week, two cardinals gave a
bright example of perfect disinterestedness. The assembled
cardinals, touched by this noble proof of humility, threw them­
selves at the feet of Honorius IL, entreated him to keep the
rank of which he had just shown himself so worthy, and
swore on the spot to be ever true to his authority.
2. The new Pontificate, inaugurated by such a display of
generosity and greatness of soul, was an era of prosperity and
peace for the Church, which was now allowed to rest for a
while from its long and weary struggles. Honorius wielded an
undisputed authority over the whole Christian world. In Eng­
land, John de Creme, his legate, presided over the Council of
Westminster, which solemnly adopted all the decrees published
by the General Council of Lateran against investitures, simony,
clerical incontinence and plurality of benefices. The question
of precedence raised between the two sees of York and Canter­
bury was examined by the council, and referred for final
decision to Pope Honorius IL, who settled the difficulty, by
bestowing upon William, archbishop of Canterbury, the powers
of Apostolic legate in England and Scotland. At the request
of the kings of Denmark, Sweden and Bohemia, the Holy
See sent delegates to each of those kingdoms, to reform abuses
and restore discipline. In the East, the provinces conquered
by the Crusaders were erected into new bishoprics in union
with the chair of St. Peter, and the Church thus regained the
land of its birth and earliest years. Constantinople was in
mourning for its emperor, Alexius Comnenus, who died in the
arms of his daughter and historiographer, the Princess Anna
(a. d. 1118). “ My father’s spirit departed,” such is her tearful
recital ·, “ the suu of my days went down ; their light went out
in darkness." Alexius has not always been as favorably judged

H0N0RIÜ8 II. (A. D. 11U-11S0).

207

by history as by his daughter, fie was certainly gifted with
uigh qualities, which redeemed his crafty policy and double­
dealing toward the Crusaders. We have seen the Greek em­
peror, during the schism of Maurice Bourdin, sending deputies
to Paschal II., to assure him of his fidelity. His son, John
Comnenus, maintained the same relations with tàe Holy See.
The Greeks, just then, stood in too great need of the Latin
arms, to revive the old feuds which had so long divided them
unhappily for them, they did not always persevere in the same
good dispositions. Two political questions could alone, at this
period, disturb the general peace : the succession to the crown of
Henry V. of Germany, and that of William, duke of Apulia and
of Southern Italy, both childless monarchs. Lothaire IL, duke
of Saxony, had been chosen to succeed Henry V. The Papal
legates were present at the Diet of Mentz, when sixty thousand
Germans voted the imperial crown to the Saxon duke (1125).
Conrad of Franconia and Frederick of Suabia, a nephew of
Henry V., through the Princess Agnes, his sister, protested
against the election, and proceeded to enforce their protest by
arms : Conrad had himself crowned at Milan by the archbishop,
Anselm. Ill-fated Germany seemed doomed to another deluge
of blood. In these troubles, altogether foreign to the history
of the Church, and which lasted until 1135, when Conrad
made his final submission, Pope Honorius II. ever strenuously
upheld the cause of Lothaire, whose claim was unquestionable.
*
He excommunicated the Archbishop of Milan, who had lent his
ministry to the attempted usurpation of Conrad. The Holy See
was more nearly concerned in the question of succession to the
Italian duchy, since it had been acknowledged by the treaties
made with Robert Guiscard, as suzerain of all the provinces
conquered in Italy by the Normans. At the death of the last
duke, William, the nearest heir would have been Bohemond,
prince of Tarentum, Robert Guiscard's grandson ; but he was
now prince of Edessa, and could not come to rule his European
♦ Since the imperial crown of Germany wee, at this period, elective, the p»\ole's cho.c«
done was the test of legitimaov

208

GENERAL HI8TORV OF THE CHURCH.

states in person. Roger, count of Sicily, and cousin to the
late Duke William, came forward to claim the escheated sue
cession. By the existing feudal laws, Apulia might have lapsed
to the Holy See. In default of male heirs all fiefs reverted to
the suzerain. The question, however, was intricate, and hos­
tilities began. An agreement was at length made in 1128,
and Pope Honorius granted the investiture of Apulia and
Calabria to Roger of Sicily, who swore fealty and homage as
vassal of the Holy See.
3. The reputation of St. Bernard now began to spread
abroad, and the world was beginning to repeat, as a household
word, the name that was to rule the destinies of the twelfth
century. For twenty-five years men gazed with wonder upon
the spectacle of a man who was not of the world, and who yet
led the world ; of a solitary consulted by Popes and emperors,
kings and queens, princes and prelates, monks and warriors,
the learned and the ignorant, the dwellers in cities and the
anchorets of the desert, from the East and from the West—
controlling the whole world by the power of his word, the
ascendant of his genius, the greatness and splendor of his
miracles, and by the example of his yet more extraordinary
virtues. Nature’s favorite, grace enriched him with its choicest
gifts ; a true fisher of men, from whose resistless influence
mothers hid their sons, and wives their husbands ; a prodigy
of eloquence, speaking to all the stern language of duty, and
yet ever winning the enthusiastic love of all ; the mildest of
men, by his very gentleness he bent at will the most unyield­
ing characters, allayed civil wars and religious strifes ; he was
a living miracle of the power of religion and of the heavenly
charm of grace. St. Bernard seemed endowed with a twofold
personality : he was the man of action who ruled, and the
man of lights who illumined, his age. As an orator and a writer,
he stands foremost in his day ; as a man of action, his influence
over every class of society was such, that from his lonely cell
of Clairvaux he was truly the very life of the world. This
renown, which followed him even into his desertrhome often

H0N0RTU8 Π. (A. D. ΠΜ-1130),

209

greatly annoyed him, as he wrote to the former ishop of
Belley : “ I am, in some sort, the chimera of my day ; I lead a life
•which becomes neither a religious nor a secular. It is long
ince I have quitted the life of a solitary, though I still wear
the habit of one. I shall not repeat of myself what so many
others have already told you ; I shall say nothing of my deeds
nor of my studies ; what countless risks I run in the midst of
the world's confusion, or rather into what a gulf of various
occupations I am plunged. I only beg the help of your advice
and of your prayers.” Yet in all the hurry of this busy life,
St. Bernard still found time to write numerous works, nowhere
betraying the haste with which they must needs have been
compiled ; and we are struck with the twofold wonder of his
physical resistance to such a weight of wearing toil, and the
giant power of the mind that could successfully cope with such
a countless host of perplexing cares. His style is spirited and
flowery, his thoughts ingenious, his imagination brilliant and
rich in allegories ; his assiduous study and meditation of the
Sacred Text had so interwoven it with his own thoughts, that
their every utterance naturally reproduced its ideas and ex­
pression.
4. While this light of the order of Citeaux shone so brightly
upon the world, the congregation of Cluny was guided by
the saintly abbot, Peter Maurice, whose wisdom and virtue
won him the title of the Venerable. He was descended from
the house of Montboissier, one of the oldest and most illus­
trious of Auvergne. He hardly numbered thirty years when
the religious of Cluny chose him superior-general. The rich
endowments of the French kings had begun to relax the first
fervor of the order ; the rule of St. Benedict had been soft­
ened and modified. The general attention was drawn to the
holy austerities and regular observance of Citeaux ; the world
was divided into two camps : the admirers of the Cistercians
tud those of the monks of Cluny. St. Bernard and Peter the
Venerable wrote apologies for their respective institutes. This
rivalry, springing from a holy emulation, was beneficial to disciVOL. ΙΠ.—14

210

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CRHRCH.

pline, and Peter seized the necasion to bring back the Order of
Ohiny to its primitive strictness. Notwithstanding this some
what official controversy, these two great souls, so worthy of
each other, were bound by the closest ties of friendship. “ If
it were allowed me,” wrote Peter the Venerable to St. Bernard,
“if Providence did not hinder it, could man choose for himself
the path in which he shall walk, I would rather live under
your direction than rule or reign over any body of mortal men.
For what were the value of all the crowns on earth compared
to the happiness of your society which men long to enjoy and
which the very angels seek ? Those heavenly spirits already
look upon you as their fellow-citizen, though you do not yet
enjoy the blessed home of your desires. I should feel sure
of sharing it forever with you hereafter, were I so happy as to
live with you here on earth till my last sigh.” St. Bernard,
on the other hand, thus speaks in a letter of introduction with
which he furnished Peter for the Sovereign Pontiff : “ It were
idle to recommend the Abbot of Cluny and to offer protection
to one whose patronage everybody seeks. But though my
letter be needless, yet will I give vent to the feelings of my
heart. Thanks to the missive, I can travel in spirit with the
friend whom I cannot follow in bodily presence. Can any thing
separate us ? The lofty Alps, their snow-capped peaks, the
length of the way—nothing can part me from him. I am with
him; I everywhere help him ; he can be nowhere without me.
I therefore entreat your Holiness to honor, in this great man,
an illustrious member of the body of Jesus Christ, a vessel of
honor and election, full of grace and truth, laden with merits
and good works ; to pour out upon him of the fulness of your
benefits, that he may afterward communicate them to us ; for
I must tell your Holiness that he is pleased to help the poor
members of our congregation ; he supplies their wants, as far
as he is able, from the income of his monastery. Grant him,
then, all that he asks, in the name of Jesus Christ, unless he
should seek permission to give up the government of his order
which his humility might very well move him to do.” Huw

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211

noble and yet how tender is the language of that friendship
which is founded upon virtue, and looks with one common
longing, heavenward !
5. Among the most precious trophies won by St. Bernard
in the course of moral reform he had undertaken, were the
illustrious Suger, abbot of St. Denis and minister of King
Louis ; Henry, archbishop of Sens, and Stephen de Senlis,
bishop of Paris. Suger, the great minister, who had been
the adviser and the guide of two kings ; whose wisdom
improved the administration of justice, the laws, the foreign
relations and social state of France, and who deserved to
receive from Louis VII. the title of father of hi-3 country, had
at first allowed the vanities of the age and the pomp of the
court to corrupt his heart. The fire of divine grace was
enkindled within him by the works of St. Bernard; he opened
his soul to the inspirations of piety. He proved the sincerity
of his conversion by the reformation, first of his own life, then
of the discipline of his monastery. St. Bernard wrote to con­
gratulate him on the happy change : “ The edifying account
of your conversion is published everywhere. The servants of
God rejoice in the triumph of grace. Even those to whom you
are unknown cannot learn what you are and what you were,
without admiring and blessing the power of the Lord. Must
not a change so sudden and so unwonted be deemed the
work of the Most High ? If there is joy in Heaven at the
conversion of a single sinner, how much greater must that joy
become at the conversion of a whole community, and that of a
community such as yours ! That ancient house of St. Denis,
made so illustrious by the favors of our kings, had fallen from
its first fervor. It always faithfully rendered unto Caesar the
things that are Caesar's, but was less mindful to render unto
God the things that are God’s. Now, the same religious,
recalled to the holiness of their vocation, are models of every
monastic virtue. The inmates of that holy retreat strive to
keep their hearts in the peace of angelic innocence, to maintain
the strict regularity of discipline, to feed their souls with

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spiritual readings. An unbroken silence, a deep recollection,
raise the mind to heavenly thoughts. The sweet harmony of
hymns and psalms softens the rigors of abstinence and soothes
the toilsome labors of the ascetic life.”
6. Henry, archbishop of Sens, had imitated the worldly
and dissipated life of Suger ; he followed him as closely in the
waj’ of penance. He wrote to St. Bernard, asking for instruc­
tions on the duties of a bishop. “When I heard,” wrote the
Abbot of Clairvaux, in reply, “how your administration was
censured, I was more disposed to pity than to blame you.
Alas ! I thought, if the life of other men is one ceaseless
temptation, what dangers must beset the life of a bishop
charged with the care of a whole flock ! I live hidden in a
cave ; I am a lamp under a bushel indeed—a smoking rather
than a shining one—and yet I am not altogether sheltered from
the violence of the winds ; I am beaten by the storm, I am
shaken like a slender reed by the least breath of temptation.
How must it be with him who is placed upon a mountain, and set
upon the candlestick ? I feel reassured in your regard, by the
thought that God has given you, among the suffragans of your
province, two advisers whose friendship is rich in wisdom and
holiness (the bishops of Meaux and Chartres). By following
their counsels, you will neither be hasty to judge nor stern
to punish ; neither too easy in forgiving nor too weak in
allowing disorders ; you will avoid a display of extravagance
in your table and dress ; will be slow to promise, but prompt
to fulfil, and prodigal of benefits. Your diocese will be free
from the simoniacal leprosy of our times, and from avarice, that
idolatry from which it springs. In a word, by their concur­
rence, you will do honor to your ministry. I say, your
ministry, meaning that you are a bishop to serve, and not to
rule. Beware of placing the whole honor of the episcopate in
a costly dress, splendid equipage and stately palaces. Alas I
how many there are who cherish this delusion ; who clothe the
body in rich attire, and utterly neglect to adorn the soul ! How
can they unblushingly glory thus, not in good deeds, but in

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213

womanish embroideries, in precious stuffs and rich furs ' How
are they not ashamed to encase in soft ermine the hands conse­
crated to the service of God, and dyed with the blood of Jesus
Christ ; to wear it upon their breasts, which wisdom only
should adorn ; to hear it about their necks, which it should be
their glory and their happiness to bow beneath the yoke of
Jesus ! It were vain for me to hush these scandals ; the court
in vain strives to pass them by ; the wretched state of the
poor, their craving hunger, cry out with a louder voice, which
will not be silenced : ‘ Tell us, 0 Pontiffs, why is that gold
upon the trappings of your horses, and not in the temple?
*
Can those gilded housings shield us from the pangs of cold
and hunger ? It is our wealth which you thus squander !
You have wrung those treasures from our need to sacrifice
them to your own vanity!’” Some pretended advocates of
apostolic simplicity, under pretence of bringing back the world
to a state of equality in a common misery, have sought to
interpret the words of the holy Abbot of Clairvaux as teach­
ing their absolute radicalism and the condemnation of all
outward distinctions of rank in prelates. St. Bernard evi­
dently blames the abuse, not the usage. Though it be true
that in the hour of persecution, exile and storms, our bishops
again become simple missioners and take up the wooden cross
which saved the world, it is no less true that in regularly consti­
tuted communities, the episcopate must be surrounded by the
outward emblems which symbolize its high and holy mission,
and that the spiritual rulers of the world, the pastors of the
people, also bear the sceptre and the badges of their absolute
royalty.
7. St. Bernard’s reproaches fell especially upon Stephen Je
Seniis, bishop of Paris, who had also yielded to the allurements
of the court. King Louis showed the most lively affection for
him, and loaded him with favors to keep him at his side.
Stephen, however, was touched by the discourses and writings
• Pbumcs, Sat L

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of St. Bernard ; the example of Suger and of the Archbishop
of Sens finished the work of his conversion. He quitted the
court to give all his attention to the care of his flock. Tho
good-natured but irascible monarch felt hurt at his sudden
retreat, and the love that he had hitherto felt for the bishop
was changed into hatred. Some clerics, to whom this restora­
tion of discipline was any thing but pleasing, still further
poisoned the mind of Louis, by whose order Stephen was
stripped of his possessions and even ran the risk of losing his
life. The bishop, to punish this outrage upon the episcopal
dignity, laid his diocese under an interdict and sought the
protection of his metropolitan, the Archbishop of Sens. The
two prelates went together to Citeaux, where the abbots of the
order were then assembled in general chapter.
They laid
before the assembly their complaints against King Louis. St.
Bernard drew up an address to the monarch, beseeching him to
end this lamentable strife and to receive the Bishop of Paris
once more into favor. “ You have done us the honor,” writes
the saint, “ to ask the help of our prayers ; do not yourself
hinder their efficacy by persecuting the ministers of God.”
The king was unyielding. St. Bernard undertook the journey
to Paris, hoping that his presence might effect what his letter
had failed to accomplish. But it was vain. The death of his
eldest son, Philip, by a fall from his horse, worked more power­
fully upon the king’s mind : this was to him as a warning from
Heaven, and he at once recalled Stephen to Paris.
8. Meanwhile, Cardinal Matthew, the Papal legate in
France, had opened a council at Troyes (a.d. 1128). He wrote
to St. Bernard, begging his presence. “ You tell me,” wrote the
holy abbot, in reply, “ that business of importance calls for my
presence at Troyes. Whatever the business may be, it cannot
concern me; for its transaction is either easy or difficult. If
it is easy, it can be settled without my presence. If difficult, 1
am unable to settle it, unless you imagine that I can do what
is impossible to other men. If such be the case, how, 0 Lord !
bast Thou never been deceived but in Thy judgment of me ?

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215

Why hast Thou put under a bushel the light which should have
been set upon a candlestick? Why hast Thou hidden in Thy
tent, in these days of disorder and trouble a man so necessary
to the world, without whom thy bishops themselves are power­
less?” Notwithstanding these protestations of his humility,
St. Bernard received a positive order to repair to the Council
of Troyes. It was under his inspiration that the venerable
assembly settled the difficulties then harassing the church
of France, and applied to the reform of clerical abuses a
number of regulations highly extolled by contemporaneous
authors, for their wisdom and energy. The council then
charged the holy Abbot of Clairvaux to frame a constitution for
the Order of Templars. Hugh de Payns, the founder of the
order, had come to the council for that express purpose. The
rule given him by St. Bernard, with the approval of the Fa­
thers, consisted of seventy-two articles, which afterward under­
went various modifications in proportion to the increase of the
order. The following points seem to be nearest to the primi­
tive rule : “ In ordinary times, the knights shall assist at the
whole of the divine office, day and night. Should military ser­
vice render this attendance impossible, they shall say thirteen
Paters for matins, seven for each of the little hours, and nine
for vespers. They may eat flesh-meat three times a week ; on
Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday ; on the remaining four days
they shall abstain from the use of meat; and on Friday they
shall use neither eggs nor milk At the death of any member,
for forty days after his decease his share shall be given to some
poor man. Each knight may keep three horses and an esquire
in his service. They are forbidden to hunt either beast or bird.
On the day of their reception, they shall make the following
vow : J promise to defend, by word and deed, and to uphold,
at the risk of my life, each and every dogma of the Catholic
faith. I promise obedience to the Grand Master of the order,
and submission to the statutes of our blessed Father Bernard.
I am ready to go and fight beyond the seas, whenever necessity
may require I will never fly before three unbelievers I

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GENERAL HISTORV OF THE CHURCH.

promise to observe perfect continence. So help me God, and
His Holy Gospels !” Had the Templars always remained true
to the spirit of their rule and to the words of their oath, his­
tory would never have been called upon to record the bloody
catastrophe which put an end to their order.
9. While the nations of Western Europe were thus safely
guided by the influence of St. Bernard, St. Otho, bishop of
Bamberg, was preaching the gospel in the north of Germany,
and converting the people of Pomerania to the true faith.
The holy bishop had, at the instigation of Pope Calixtus II.,
male a first attempt to plant the gospel there, after the vic­
tory won by Boleslas, duke of Poland. But the people of
Pomerania, like all the other northern nations, were deeply
rooted in their attachment to the traditions of their idolatrous
■worship. Otho was accordingly sent by Pope Honorius II. to
make another attempt at their conversion. His sojourn among
them was marked by the miracles of the first Apostles ; he re­
kindled the light of faith in the hearts where it had long been
dead ; sowed its seeds in the soil which had not yet received
t; founded an episcopal see in the city of Wollin ; established
flourishing churches in Piritz, Stettin and Camin ; baptized
their duke, Wratislas, and died in 1130, with the title of
Apostle of Pomerania, well deserved by long and zealous labor
May the country watered by his tears and sweat, though now
wandering far from Catholic unity, return once more to the
faith of its fathers, and to the source from which that faith was
brought to them! In Spain, Alphonso VI., called the Great,
king of Castile, ended his long reign and a series of brilliant vic­
tories over the Moors, in 1109. His son-in-law, Alphonso II.,
the Battle-Giver, king of Aragon and Navarre, gained numer­
ous triumphs against the Moravid dynasty from the shores of
Morocco ·, but, being defeated in the last battle, at Fraga, he
died of grief in 1134. The French crusaders and the knights
of the new military orders contributed largely to the success
of the Christians, in these two reigns and those which imme­
diately followed. Alphonso VII., of Aragon, profited of a

INNOCENT Π. (A. D. 1130-1143).

217

eeason of civil dissension among the Saracens to push on the
course of conquest, which was checked only by his death
(a. d. 1154), and by the appearance of the Mohad dynasty,
which took the place of the fallen Moravides. The Pontificate
nf Honorius II. drew to a peaceful close in the midst of events
fruitful of good to the Church. The Pontiff died in Rome, on
the 14th of February, 1130, after a reign of five years.

§ III. Pontificate

of

Innocent II. (February 17, a. d. 1130—
September 24, 1143).

10. Honorius II. was succeeded by Gregory, cardinal­
deacon of the title of St. Angelo. The new Pope made a long
resistance : in a voice choked by sobs and tears, he protested
that he was univorthy of a station so exalted. n We call you
not to enjoy honor,” replied the cardinals, “ but to brave
threatening dangers rather.” Gregory was at length obliged
to yield ; he was clothed in the Pontifical attire, and enthroned
in the Lateran basilica, under the name of Innocent II. (Feb­
ruary 17, a. d. 1130). On the same day, Peter de Leone, of a
recently converted Jewish family, whose wealth commanded
great influence in Rome, was elected by some dissenting car­
dinals ; he seized St. Peter's church by armed force, stripped
it of all its wealth, and was crowned by his partisans, with
the title of Anacletus II. To the scandal given by his schism,
the antipope added that of a depraved and infamous life. He
had the boldness to notify all the Christian sovereigns of
his election. He said in his letter to Louis of France : " We
can, with justice, bear this witness in favor of the Gallican
church : she has never been infected either with heresy or
schism.” France accepted the well-deserved praise, but rejected
him who uttered it, because he was an intruder. By acknowl­
edging him, she would already have made herself unworthy
of his encomium. The venerable St. Hugh, bishop of Grenoble,
was foremost in proving his fidelity to the Holy See, by ex­
communicating the antipope in the Council of Puy, and pro­

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

claiming the lawful election of Innocent II. St. Norbert,
archbishop of Magdeburg, did the same in German;
Louis
convoked a national council «at Etampes, that the bishops might
decide the question of the two authorities. The prelates left
the important decision to St. Bernard. After a mature exami­
nation of the facts of the case, the Abbot of Clairvaux declared
that Innocent II. was to be acknowledged as the Vicar of Jesus
Christ, the lawful successor of St. Peter. All the bu hops of
the council agreed in his decision ; a solemn Te Deum was
chanted in thanksgiving; the king, the nobles, bishops and
abbots subscribed to the election of Innocent, and promised
obedience to him.
11. Still Peter de Leone did not desist from his revolt and
schism ; he was master of Rome and treated it as a conquered
city. Innocent was compelled to leave. He turned toward
the shores of France, where he was received with the most
distinguished honor by Louis, under whose reign five Popes
successively sought a home in the faithful realm, which Baro
nius calls “the haven that shelters St. Peter’s bark from the
storm.” The august fugitive, unlike his rival, had neither
arms nor wealth : “ But,” says an annalist, “ he had St. Ber­
nard, who was alone worth whole armies.” The Abbot of
Clairvaux came to place all the resources of his mind and char­
acter, and his boundless influence, at the service of the Sove­
reign Pontiff. Innocent sent him to Rouen, to confirm the
King of England, wavering between the two obediences.
“ Prince,” asked St. Bernard of the monarch, “ what do you
fear in submitting to Innocent?” “ I fear,” replied the king,
“ that I may commit a sin.” “ If that be your only obstacle,”
said the saint, “ set your mind at rest. Think of the means
by which you may satisfy the justice of God for your other
faults ; this one I take upon myself.” Henry was satisfied ;
he acknowledged the authority of Innocent II., came to
Chartres, where the Pontiff then was, and, throwing himself at
his feet, promised filial obedience in his own and his people’s
name. Lothaire, king of Germany, begged the Pope to visit

INNOCENT Π. (A. D. .130-1143).

his kingdom. Innocent yielded to hia prayer, and came to
Liège, where a council had brought together all the bishops of
the country (a. d. 1131). At the Pontiff’s approach, Lothahe
advanced on foot to meet him, and led his horse by the bridle, to
show the world how great is the father of kings and of all
Christian nations The kings of Castile and of Aragon also
sent their profession of fidelity to the authority of the legiti­
mate Pope.
12. On his return to Paris, Innocent found the whole city
thrown into a state of emotion by a splendid miracle lately
wrought through the intercession of St. Genevieve, and which
he ordered to be yearly commemorated. The capital of France
was desolated by the fearful disease known as the Sacred Fire
(a. d. 1130). Stephen de Senlis, bishop of Paris, ordered fast#
and prayers to appease the wrath of Heaven. Still the plaguv
increased. The sufferers came in such vast crowds to the cathe­
dral, to beg the help of the Mother of God, that the canom
could with difficulty celebrate the divine office. The whole
city was sunk in the gloom of death. Stephen remembered
that St. Genevieve had often rescued the city of Paris from
tnreatening calamities. He accordingly appointed a day for a
general procession, in which the relics of the lowly shepherdess
of Nanterre should be borne through the streets of the city to
the interior of the cathedral. On the appointed day the whole
population thronged around the shrine of its patroness. The
procession could hardly push its way through the dense masses
that crowded its passage. Three hundred plague-stricken
wretches had been carried into the cathedral; as the shrine
crossed the threshold of the sacred edifice, they all instantly
rose up in full health and vigor. The pillared vaults of the
great temple shook with the loud and joyful acclamations
of the grateful people; the whole vast throng, in prostrate
adoration, broke forth into solemn hymns of gratitude and
admiration. “ Let no one,” says the chronicler of the miracu­
lous event, “ cast a doubt upon our narrative ; for we do not
relate what we heard, but what we ourself saw and handled.”

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

The memory of (his prodigy is handed down to the remotest
posterity by that testimonial of the city’s gratitude, the church
of Ste. Genevieve des Ardents.
13. On the 19th of October, 1131, the Pope opened a council
in the church of St. Remigius, at Rheims ; thirteen archbishops
with two hundred and sixty-three bishops, from all parts of the
Christian world, had met to make a solemn acknowledgment of
obedience to the legitimate successor of St. Peter. When the
censures already hurled against the antipope Anacletus had
been renewed, King Louis appeared in the midst of the assem­
bly, ascended the dais upon which the Pontifical throne had
been raised, and kissed the feet of the Vicar of Jesus Christ;
after which he took a seat at his side. It was but a short time
since his eldest son, Prince Philip, had met a sudden death.
The afflicted father, in a tone of heart-broken grief, and with
tearful eyes, spoke to the bishops on the subject, pouring forth
the sorrow of his heart in a few words, but with a pathos that
drew tears from every eye. Touched by his deep grief, Inno­
cent turned to the bereaved monarch : “ Great king,” he said,
“ the Lord tries His most faithful servants by adversity. This
He does in His mercy, lest man, created to His image, should
too fondly love the land of his exile and forget his true country.
He has snatched from you a son worthy of all your love and
regret ; but He has taken him in the age of innocence and of
the most winning virtues, to crown him with glory in the
abode of the blessed : ‘ for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’
You have doubtless wept this cruel loss. David too, that
model of kings, shed bitter tears during the illness of his
beloved child. But if God has taken from you a son who shall
reign with Him in Heaven, He has left you others to reign after
you here on earth. In this thought, great prince, you should
find consolation, and console us too—poor, wandering strangers,
driven from our church, banished from our native land. You
have already done so : you were the first to welcome us to your
realm for the love of God and of His blessed Apostle St. Peter
May the same God repay you w;th an imperishable home in

INNOCENT Π. (Λ. D. 1130-1143).

221

that Heavenly Jerusalem, where parting and tears shall be no
more, where reigns a happiness undying, unalloyed!” The
Pope then appointed the following day for the coronation of
the young Prince Louis VII., then about ten years of ag$.
“ On that day," says a contemporary chronicler, “ the sun
seemed to shine with unwonted brightness; the heavens
seemed to have put on their serenest aspect to deck the festal
day, to console the bitter grief of the king, and justify all the
hopes of the French monarchy.” Robed in full Pontifical
attire, surrounded by the officers of his court and the prelates
of the council, the Pope came forth from the church of St.
Remigius, leading the youthful prince by the hand. They thus
proceeded to the metropolitan church of Nôtre-Dame, where
the king, escorted by his nobles and barons, awaited their arri­
val. The festive gladness of the day and the sad remembrance
of his recent loss struggled for mastery in Louis's heart; his
eyes were filled with tears. The Pontiff led the young prince
to the altar; there, receiving the holy ampulla, he anointed the
new king with the oil used by St. Remigius in the baptism of
Clovis, while the assembled clergy, and lords, and the whole
multitude filled the great cathedral with the cry: “Noël!
Noël ! Long live Louis VI. ! Long live Louis VII. !” (October
25th, a. d. 1131.)
14. The Catholic world recognized Innocent II. as rightful
Pastor of the Church. With all his power and the influence
of his wealth, Anacletus could rally about his standard only
Roger, duke of Sicily, and William, count of Poitou and duke
of Aquitaine. Roger was entitled to the ducal coronet; he
was ambitious to wear the royal crown. The antipope gave
him the hand of his sister, added to his domain the principality
of Capua and the lordship of Naples, and granted him the title
which so flattered his vanity. These concessions Roger repaid
by recognizing the authority of the antipope. Far different
was the example given at the same period, by Raymond IV.,
count of Barcelona. He had married the heiress of Ranimires,
king of Aragon, and on becoming master of the kingdom, by

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

the withdrawal of that monarch to the seclusion of religious
life, he always refused to take the royal title or the crown. “ 1
was born a count,” said he, “ and am no better than my fathers
I would rather be the first among counts than hardly seventh
among kings.” Roger of Sicily lacked the same lofty senti­
ments ; he had bartered his conscience for the empty privilege
of wearing a crown. William, duke of Aquitaine, was drawn
into the schism by Gerard, bishop of Angoulême, whose un­
worthy conduct had compelled Innocent to withdraw his title
and dignity of Apostolic legate in France. Ambition on the
one hand, resentment on the other, gave two allies to the cause
of Anacletus ; but these isolated forces were powerless against
the universality of the whole Catholic world. The emperor of
Constantinople and the Latin princes of Palestine had sent their
professions of submission and fidelity to Innocent II. The
Sovereign Pontiff, strong in this support, determined to set out
for Italy. Lothaire, king of Germany, promised to follow him
with an army, to reinstate him in Rome, and expel the antipope.
Before leaving France, Innocent wished to visit the monastery
of Clairvaux, whose holy abbot had done so much in his be­
half. “ The poor of Jesus Christ,” says a chronicler, “ received
His Vicar with the fondest affection. They went forth to meet
him, not in purple and silk ; they bore no choir books, covered
with gold and gems ; but, clothed in their coarse garb, they
walked in procession, with downcast eyes, behind their modest
wooden cross, piously reciting psalms and sacred hymns.” As
he stood upon one of the hills that hem in the valley of Clair­
vaux, the Pope broke forth into the exclamation : “ Quam
pulchra tabernacula tua, Jacob, et tentoria tua, Israel !” * Ilis
visit was a festival for the fervent religious. “ All rejoiced in
.he Lord," says the same pious annalist; “but the solemnity
consisted in great virtues, not in sumptuous feasting. The
bread, instead of pure wheaten dour, was made of flour which
still showed its original proportion of bran. If, by chance,
• How beautiiul are thy tabernacles, 0 Jacob, and thy tents, 0 Israeli"—Numb. xxiv. S.

INNOCENT II. IA. D. 1130-1143).

223

any fish was sent to the monastery, it was set before the Pope,
to be seen rather than eaten.”
15. Innocent II. tore St. Bernard from his loved retreat
and took him to Rome. The journey of the Sovereign Pontiff,
and the illustrious abbot was a triumphal march. The cities
of Lombardy poured out their population to greet St. Bernard
as he passed. Bishops disputed the honor of yielding him their
thrones. Pisa and Genoa had long been at variance ; the man
of God appears ; the soldiers break their weapons and throw the
fragments at his feet. “ Never shall I forget thee,” wrote St.
Bernard to the city of Genoa ; “ pious people, noble nation, illus­
trious city ! Morning, noon and night, I preached the word of
God ; and your affectionate piety always brought you in crowds
to listen. I brought peace among you ; and as you were
her children, our peace hath rested upon you. I sowed and
reaped at the same time ; I brought, as the fruit of my harvest,
the hope of home to the banished ; freedom to wretched capth es ; dread to enemies ; confusion to schismatics ; in fine, glory
to the Church and joy to the Christian world.” Lothaire met
the Pope near Treviso and accompanied him on his way to
Rome, while a fleet of Genoese and Pisan ships appeared be­
fore Civita Vecchia and took possession of the whole coast in
the name of the legitimate Pontiff. At length, on the 1st of
May, a. d. 1133, Innocent II. made his solemn entry into the
Lateran basilica, amid the enthusiastic greetings of a people
mad with joy. The antipope had shut himself up with his hire­
lings, in the church of St. Peter, where it was not deemed worth
while to attack him. Lothaire II. and his queen, Richilda, re­
ceived the imperial crown at the hands of Innocent II. The
Pope, on this occasion, granted to the new emperor, in consider­
ation of a yearly tribute, the freehold or the use of the estates
bestowed by the Countess Matilda upon the Roman Chui ch.
This grant afterward gave rise to fresh troubles between the
Holy See and the empire ; it was accordingly revoked by the
succeeding Popes, who again entered upon the possession of the
patrimony of St. Peter. St. Bernard had, in the mean time.

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GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

been sent on a mission of peace, to Conrad, duke of Suabia
and Frederick, duke of Franconia, still in arms against their
lawful sovereign. Lothaire. By the mediation of the holy ab­
bot, the two princes were led to make due submission to the
emperor. Frederick appeared in the Diet of Bamberg (a. d.
1135), to swear fealty and homage ; in the course of the same
year, Conrad publicly renounced the royal title, at Mulhausen,
and acknowledged the suzerainty of Lothaire. The emperor re­
stored them to their former possessions, honored Conrad with
the rank of standard-bearer of the empire, and with the first
place below the imperial throne. The Church and the empire
were now restored to peace, through the mild and winning
power of St. Bernard.
16. The lowly monk whose genius had achieved these great
results, once more sought his beloved retreat of Clairvaux.
But his season of rest was short. After the departure of Lo­
thaire, with his forces, the troops of the antipope again took pos­
session of Rome. Innocent II. thought proper to yield to the
storm ; he withdrew to Pisa, where he convoked a council oi
the bishops of Spain, Italy, France and Germany, hoping thus
to crush the schism, by the union of the four great European
powers in the same obedience. He sent for St. Bernard, whose
presence seemed indispensable for the welfare of the Church.
The saintly abbot, as usual, was the life of the council, which
was opened on the 30th of May, a. d. 1134. “He was pres­
ent in every session,” says his biographer. “He was revered
by all, and the bishops were often seen thronging his door.
It was not pride that barred his doors against those who wait­
ed long to see him ·, it was the multitude of those who daily
came to consult him ; and thus, in spite of his humility, ho
seemed clothed with all the power of the Pope.” Peter de
Leone was solemnly excommunicated and his abettors deposed
without hope of reinstatement. St. Bernard was next sent to
Milan, to recall that city from its adherence to the schism.
The arrival of the servant of God threw the whole city into
commotion. Noblesand burghers, rich and poor, all came forth

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225

to meet him, leaving the city untenanted. They pressed ahout
him with transports of joy ; they threw themselves down to
kiss his feet, and drew the threads from his garments, as pre­
cious relics. Their faith was rewarded by miracles. The sick,
on being brought to the saint, recovered their health. The
pious throng would stand all day at the door of the lodgings
which had been assigned him in the municipal palace ; the saint,
to satisfy their insatiable eagerness, was obliged to appear from
time to time at the windows of his apartment, and there he
raised his hands and blessed the multitude. The success of his
mission could not, then, be doubtful. Even before he had enter­
ed within its walls, the city was converted, the people were cry­
ing aloud : “ Long live Innocent II. ! Long live Bernard !” Of
all the wonders displayed on this memorable occasion, by far
the greatest was the life of the holy abbot. Worn out by aus­
terities and by more than human labors, his frail and languid
body seemed always on the point of yielding, and yet it was
ver renewed by a continued miracle, under the influence of di­
vine Providence, which used him as an instrument to rule the
destinies of the Church and of empires. Compelled to fly from
Milan, where the people would have raised him, in spite of him­
self, to the archiépiscopal throne, he successively passed through
Pavia and Cremona, where he met with the same triumphal
reception. Having ended his mission in Lombardy, he recross­
ed the Alps. “ The herdsmen,” says the religious who accom­
panied him, and who afterward became his biographer, “ came
down from their mountain-homes to look upon his face and ask
his blessing. Then scaling the nigged cliffs, they went back to
their flocks, rejoicing that they had seen him, and proudly told
how the man of God had raised his hands in blessing over them.”
17. The Duke of Aquitaine still stubbornly held tothe schism;
and was the only French lord now favorable to the antipope
8t. Bernard went to meet him at Parthenay (a. d. 1135). After
a fruitless conference, the saint determined to have recourse to
other weapons. When he went, as usual, on the Allowing day, to
celebrate the Holy Mysteries in the church, ail the orthodox
You in.—15

226

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

faithful followed him into the sacred edifice ; the duke and the
other schismatics remained without. A moment after the con­
secration, (he holy abbot, moved by a divine inspiration, hold,
ing the Sacred Host upon the paten, advanced with it to the
door, where the duke was standing. Raising up the body of
the Lord, Bernard said: “Wo have entreated you, and you
have despised our prayers. Behold, now. the Son of the Virgin
comes to you. the Chief and Lord of the Church you perse­
cute! Behold your Judge, at Whose name every knee is bent
in heaven, on earth, and in hell ! Your Judge, into Whose
hands your soul must one day fall ! Will you despise Ilim.
too? Will you despise Him as you have despised His ser­
vants?” While he spoke these words, the countenance of Ber­
nard was clothed with angelic majesty; all who beheld the
solemn scene were moved to tears ; the duke himself fell pros­
trate in the dust. Bernard, touching him with his foot, bade
him rise, and added, pointing to the Bishop of Poitiers : “ There
is the Bishop of Poitiers, whom you drove from his see because
of his adherence to the true Pontiff. Go and be reconciled
with him ; give him the kiss of peace. Restore union in your
states, and join, with the whole Catholic Church, in submission
to the Sovereign Pontiff, Innocent II.” The duke obeyed ; the
Catholic bishops were reinstated in their sees, and peace was
restored to Aquitaine. Gerard, bishop of Angoulême, whose
ambition had given rise to the schism, died suddenly at about
the same period. With him perished the last symptoms of di
vision, and there was no longer a single province in France that
was not true to the authority of Innocent II.
18. In St. Bernard’s career, each new success was but an
occasion for increasing still the list of his triumphs. The happy
issue of his mission to William of Aquitaine determined the
Pope to use his resistless mediation with Roger, duke of
Sicily. St. Bernard crossed the Alps, a third time, in a. d
1136. the year marked by the death of King Louis in France,
and of Henry II. in England. The Emperor of Germany had
just led his army into Italy, resolved to strike with the last

INNOCENT II. (A. D. lUO-lUe;

22 i

degree of severity, to extinguish the schism in the blood of its
authors. The presence of St. Bernard, however, gave a new
turn to his projects ; and the struggle ended in one of those
peaceful triumphs which marked the steps of the Abbot of
Clairvaux. The man of God, accompanied by two cardinal-,
met the Duke of Sicily at Salerno. The celebrated Cardinal
Peter of Pisa, who favored the cause of the antipope, was
charged by Roger to answer St. Bernard’s arguments, in a pub­
lic conference. It was a splendid sight to see these wellmatched combatants break lances in the polemical lists ; on the
one hand, the most learned cardinal of the day, in civil and
canon law ; on the other, the holy monk whose eloquence and
persuasive power swayed the multitude and controlled Europe !
Peter of Pisa spoke first in favor of Anacletus. “I know your
talents and learning,” replied St. Bernard, “and I would to
God you had always used them in behalf of the right.’ Then
would you be resistless. Then might we, poor desert-monk,
better fitted to till the ground than to hold disputations,
keep the silence which becomes us ; such would even now be
our course, were not the sacred cause of faith, the peace of the
Church, and the repose of the world imperilled by the schism
of Peter de Leone. There is but one ark of salvation, just as
at the time of the deluge there was but one ark of Noah. In
our days a new one has been built; and since there are now
two, of necessity one of them must be doomed to perish. If,
then, the ark of Peter de Leone be the ark of God, as you pre­
tend, the ark of Innocent must be false and devoted to de­
struction. But then all the churches of the East and West will
perish with it—France, Germany, Spain, England, the farthest
isles, the remotest reahns. The religious orders of the Camaldoli, the Carthusians, of Cluny, Grandinont, Citeaux, and Pré-that
*
inontrccountless multitude of God’s servants, must be en­
gulfed in the same universal wreck ! Of 'ill the princes of the
earth, Roger of Sicily alone has entered the ark ef Peter de
Leone ; all the rest, then, must be lost; all, save Roger. Roger
only shall be saved. God forbid that the religion of the whole

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

universe should perish, while the ambition of a Peter de Leone,
whose scandalous life and conduct are known to the world, ob­
tains the kingdom of Heaven !” At these words, uttered with
his usual burning eloquence, the crowded audience broke out
into loud applause. From all breasts burst forth the simultane­
ous cry: “Long live Innocent II., the lawful Pope!" Then
drawing near to Peter of Pisa, the holy abbot took his hand :
“If you will believe me,” he said, “we shall together enter the
ark of salvation." Grace had done its work in the heart of the
learned cardinal, subdued by the eloquence of St. Bernard ;
and a few days later, Peter of Pisa laid at the feet of Innocent
II. hie profession of obedience and fidelity. Roger still wa­
vered. He was bound to the party of Anacletus by ties of
interest, stronger than chains of the hardest iron. But the
death of the antipope, which occurred on the 16th of January,
1138, dashed the last hopes of the schismatics. They strove
in vain to establish a succession by electing a shadow of a
Pope, who took the name of Victor IV.; the public mind
throughout all Southern Italy was too well enlightened on the
question of the two obediences, and unanimously pronounced
in favor of Innocent II.
The usurper himself came to
St. Bernard, during the night ; the saint caused him to
put off the Pontifical vestments which he had worn for some
days, and led him to the feet of the Sovereign Pontiff. The
Vicar of Christ received the wandering sheep with kindness,
forgave his fault, and restored him to the communion of
the Church (May 29th, a. d. 1138). The schism was at an
end. On the following day, St. Bernard wrote to Geoffrey,
prior of Clairvaux : “ On the octave of Pentecost, a day of
blessings and of mercy, God granted our prayers to the
full, by giving back union to the Church and peace to Rome.
On that day, all the sons of Peter de Leone humbled them­
selves at the feet of the Pope, and swore fidelity to him as his
true children. Now there is nothing more to keep me here
I do as you desire ; instead of saying : I shall start ; I say
now : I start. Yes, I set out, and bear with me, as the reward

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229

of my long absence, the victory of Christ and the peace of the
Church. I come laden with the fruits of peace. These are
happy tidings ; but the facts are still better. Senseless or very
impious must he be who does not rejoice." Within five days,
the Abbot of Clairvaux was quitting Rome for the last time,
tearing himself away from the gratitude and tears of a people
who prostrated themselves as he passed, entreating a last bless­
ing from his hand.
19. For the more thorough extirpation of all the disorders
arising from the schism. Innocent Π. convoked, for the month of
April, a. d. 1139, the tenth general council—the second Lateran.
Never before had so many prelates met to discuss together the
interests of the Catholic world. About a thousand bishops an­
swered the Pontiffs call; among them were noticed the Patri­
archs of Antioch, Aquileia and Gradi. “ The Pope,” says a
contemporary French chronicler, “ stood in the midst of these
prelates, the most venerable of all, as well by his majestic
mien, as by the oracles which flowed from his lips.” The Pon­
tiff opened the first session with an eloquent address, warning
the prelates against the suggestions of a false compassion or of
a misplaced esteem, in favor of the schismatics. “ Our rule of
conduct." said he, “ must be that of St. Augustine. When
there is question of those rash spirits who have wilfully broken
away from the Catholic Church and from the unity of Jesus
Christ, we may not adduce their regular lives to cloak a weak
indulgence. Let us, then, beware of leaving their boldness un­
punished, and of allowing those sacrilegious men the peaceful
enjoyment of violated canons and usurped authority." All the
Fathers of the council expressed their assent to the views of
the Sovereign Pontiff by the unanimous cry : “ We annul the
acts of Peter de Leone ; let those he has ordained be degraded ;
let them be deposed who were consecrated at his hands.” The
sentence was executed. All .he bishops present in the coun­
cil, who had favored the cause of the antipope, were called upon
by name ; and they placed ii. the hands of Innocent IL their
crosier, pastoral ring and pallium. However, the Sovereign

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

Pontiff restored several of them to their dignity, among them
Peter of Pisa, in whose favor St. Bernard had specially written
to the Pope. The council then promulgated thirty canons rf
discipline, renewing, for the most part, the censures already
pronounced against the usurpation of ecclesiastical privileges
by secular princes, against simony and clerical incontinence.
In the closing session the Pope fulminated a sentence of ex­
communication against Roger, duke of Sicily, who still refused
submission to the Roman Church and to its Head. The duke
at once marched from Sicily, at the head of an army, and over­
ran Apulia with conquering arms. All the cities of Southern
Italy, except Troja and Bari, submitted to his power. Inno­
cent, meanwhile, assembled faithful troops and marched against
the enemy, determined to stem the torrent that threatened
Rome. The two armies met at the foot of Monte Cassino;
but, before coming to an engagement, a parley was held. The
conditions of a treaty of peace had already been drawn up,
when, in contempt of all international law and of plighted faith,
the son of Roger surprised the Pope by an ambush, and took
him prisoner (July 10, 1139). Thus was Innocent II., by an
unforeseen mischance, thrown back into the greatest peril ; the
worst fears might well be felt for the peace of the Church.
Providence ordered otherwise. Roger dared not avail himself
of his triumph. The Pope, though in chains, seemed to him
perhaps more formidable than unfettered and in arms. He ac­
cordingly resumed with his august captive the negotiations
which had been so treacherously broken off. The chief clauses
of the treaty were that the Pope should grant him the title of
King of Sicily, the duchy of Apulia for one of his sons, and for
the other, the principality of Capua. When all the terms had
been finally concluded, the king and his two sons threw them­
eelves at the feet of Innocent, begged his forgiveness for the
violence inflicted upon him, and swore to be ever true to his
authority. The treaty was signed by both parties on the 2-5th
of July, 1139, and the Pope made it known to the whole
Catholic world by a bull, stating the conditions of its ratifica-

INNOCENT II. (A. D. 1130-1143)

23;

tion. Tt is the first title of erection of th
* I inborn of
Naples.
20. The Pontificate of Innocent II. seemed fated to fulfil,
throughout, the prophecy made by the cardinals at its opening
In 1140 the war of investitures threatened to revive in France,
with greater violence than ever. At the death of Alberic,
archbishop of Bourges, Louis VII. attempted to interfere in
the election and to effect the promotion of a cleric whose only
recommendation was the royal favor. The chapter deemed the
qualification insufficient and elected Peter de la Châtre, whose
lofty virtue fitted him for the eminent dignity. Louis refused
to confirm the election. Peter de la Châtre repaired to Rome,
the Pope, finding his election canonical, consecrated him with
his own hands, and sent him back to take possession of his dio
cese. But the king had forbidden that Peter should be received
at Bourges, or in any other part of his realm. The proscribed
prelate found a home at the court of Theobald, count of Cham
pagne : all the king’s domain was placed under interdict and
the sentence strictly enforced. These troubles were complicated
by a difficulty of another kind. Ralph, count of Vermandois,
and a relative of the king, had long been united to a niece of
the Count of Champagne ; and now he would have annulled the
contract, on some groundless pretext, to marry the Princess
Petronilla, sister of Queen Eleanor of Guienne. He found three
accommodating bishops, of whom one was his own brother ; the
others, his creatures. These courtier-prelates made oath that
there existed between the parties a relationship within the for­
bidden degrees of kindred, and they declared the marriage
null. Ralph then repudiated the niece of the Count of Cham­
pagne, married Petronilla, and thus became brother-in-law to
the king. Theobald of Champagne and the holy Abbot of
Clairvaux both appealed to the Pope, entreating him to guard
the sanctity of the marriage-tie against the attempt of Ralph,
as he upheld the independence of episcopal elections against
the encroachments of King Louis VII. Innocent directed Car­
dinal Yvo, his legate in France, to excommunicate the Count

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

of Vermandois, and renewed the interdict already laid upon
the whole kingdom.
21. This act of Apostolic firmness threw the whole of France
into a state of consternation. The effects of the interdict—
(he closed churches, the deserted altars, the absence of eccle­
siastical ceremonies, the privation of tho sacraments, granted
only in extremis, Christian burial unhallowed by religious rite
—struck terror into the heart of a people whose faith was their
very soul and life. St. Bernard interposed between the king
and the Sovereign Pontiff. “ We do not pretend,” he wrote to
the latter, “ to excuse the king. Pardon him, if it be possible
to do so without detriment to the freedom of the Church and
the respect due to an archbishop consecrated by the hands of
the Pope.” Louis, in the heat of youthful passion, and mis­
led by evil counsels, had rashly sworn never to acknowledge
the Archbishop of Bourges. The excommunication of the Count
of Vermandois added fuel to the flame. To punish the Count
of Champagne for daring to bestow hospitality upon the offen­
sive prelate, but angered more especially by the appeal to
Rome, in the case of Ralph, Louis led his army into the domain
of Theobald. Becoming master of Vitry, in 1142, he gave the
barbarous order to set fire to the city. The ill-fated place was
burned to the ground. The flames reached the church ; thirteen
hundred human beings, men, women and children, who had
sought an asylum within its walls, perished in its fall. The
memory of the cruel deed was perpetuated by the name of the
unfortunate city, thenceforth known as Vitry-le-Brûlé. Louis
VII. in after years atoned for this savage deed by hours of
stinging remorse and a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. For the
time being, he earned on the war with varied fortune. Inno­
cent II. did not see the end. Domestic strifes now stained the
streets of Rome with blood. That light and fickle people, un­
mindful of its debt of fidelity and gratitude to the Holy See,
would have thrown off the Sovereign Pontiff’s authority.
Memories of the Roman Republic began to disturb the popu­
lar mind. A senate was established in the capitol, as if the

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233

glorious mission of Christian Rome, which, by the cross, rule
the world, was not a royalty more worthy of a Roman’s highest
ambition than the traditionary tumults of the Forum and of the
Gracchi. In the midst of these troubles Innocent II. passed
away, after a reign of eight years (September 24, a. d. 1143).
22. We have been compelled to follow Innocent II. so
closely, through the course of his stormy Pontificate, that our
attention has necessarily been withheld from the consideration
of the errors scattered, like cockle, in the field of the Church.
Abelard was followed to his retreat in Provins by three thousand
disciples, who took up their abode in the neighboring hovels,
as the city was unable to accommodate such an increase of
population. The popular teacher soon quitted this field, and
withdrew to a solitary spot, near Nogent-sur-Seine, which he
afterward called the Paraclete, the place of rest and comfort
after his troubles, and h ne Eloise, at a later date, came to
settle with her religious. The Paraclete was also visited by
the same eager throng of Abelard's admirers. A multitude of
private cells were soon built around the great monastery, the
abode of the illustrious teacher. St. Bernard had examined
Abelard’s Theology. This duty he felt to be imposed upon
him by the cry which was raised against it on all sides. He
saw that it contained formal errors. No less than thirteen
censurable propositions were found in the work. Abelard laid
down the following doctrine : “ In God, the names Father, Son
and Holy Ghost are only figuratively used as emblematic of the
fulness of the Sovereign Good. The Father is the full power ;
the Son is a certain power ; the Holy Ghost is no power. The
suggestions of the evil spirit in men are operated by purely phy­
sical means. We do not inherit from Adam the guilt of original
sin. but only its punishment. Concupiscence, delectation and
igne rance arc but natural dispositions ; we commit no sin by
them.” The first conference between St. Bernard and the im
peached doctor proving fruitless, Abelard demanded the privi­
lege of defending his orthodoxy against the Abbot of Clairvaux,
in the council which was to meet at Sens. The council was

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

held in 1140; but Abelard, instead of arguing his case sim­
ply appealed to the Pope and then quitted the assembly with
his partisans. The bishops respected the appeal, and .yithheld judgment upon Abelard himself. They were content
to condemn the doctrines submitted to their examination, and
sent the sentence to Pope Innocent II., with a letter informing
him of the appeal to his supreme tribunal. Every thing leads
to the belief that Abelard was sincere ; before leaving for
Rome, he published a written disavowal of all the errors im­
puted to him. On reaching Lyons, he learned that the Tope
had confirmed the sentence of the council, and condemned his
work ; whereupon, he wrote to the Pontiff in the most humble
and submissive strain, declaring that he withdrew his apj eal
and explicitly subscribed the condemnation pronounced against
him. Then, hastening to Cluny, he threw himself into the
arms of Peter the Venerable, beseeching the holy abbot to
take him under his guidance and help him to end in pious re­
treat a life shattered by so many storms. St. Bernard applauded
his generous resolve, and wrote him the most touching letters,
to exhort him to persevere. Thoroughly disabused of the
illusions which had filled his days with bitterness and grief,
Abelard ended his life in the practice of penance and of the
highest virtues (a. d. 1142). Peter the Venerable undertook to
make known the event to Eloise. “ I cannot recall,” wrote
the abbot, “ a truer model of humility and mortification. I
marvelled to see a man, whose name was known throughout the
world, lower himself to such a degree. In his food and bodily
care, he showed the same simplicity as in his garb. His time
was wholly given to the Sacred Scriptures and prayer ; his
silence was unbroken, save by the sermons and conferences he
gave to the community. Since his reconciliation with the Holy
See, he daily offered up the Holy Sacrifice, and, when sinking
under the illness which carried him off, he asked to see all
the brethren, begged forgiveness for the scandal he had given,
professed his attachment to the Catholic faith, made a humble
confession of his sins, and received the Holy Viaticum, with

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235

every «sign of the moat fervent piety. Thus did Abelard
surrender his soul to God, his Creator." Happy age, when
faith furnished retreats for the erratic intellect; when genius
expiated its vagaries in the arms of penance; when the Church,
though often weeping over illustrious falls, was equally con­
soled by illustrious examples of penance !
23. The republican theories of pagan Rome, which some
factious spirits sought to revive in the city of the Popes, owned
as their apostle and tribune one of Abelard’s scholars, Arnold
of Brescia. The war of investitures, which had so long kept
Europe in a ferment, turned the popular mind into an opposing
current. Reasoning from the principle of the mutual inde­
pendence of the two powers, spiritual and temporal, some in­
novators had worked out the consequence, that, “just as spirit­
ual goods belong to the Church alone, so temporal goods belong
exclusively to princes, and are incompatible with the exercise
of the ecclesiastical authority.’’ Such was the thesis defended
by Arnold of Brescia, and so often reechoed even in later days.
On his return from France, where he had heard the lectures of
Abelard, the false teacher traversed the Italian provinces,
declaiming against the temporal sovereignty of the Pope,
against ecclesiastical domains and fiefs, against the wealth
of clerics and abbots. “All these estates," said he, “can,
by right, belong only to secular princes, who can justly dis­
pose of them only in favor of laymen. The clergy should
be supported by tithes and the spontaneous offerings of the
faithful.” The tenth general council condemned the doctrine
of the sectary. Arnold quitted Italy, crossed the Alps, and
continued to teach his errors in Zurich. We shall meet his
name again in the blood-stained annals of civil strife.
24. While false teaching thus joined its blighting power to
1 hat of schism, a generation of holy doctors and able writers
rose up on the side of truth. William, abbot of St. Thierry
of Rheims, who had first pointed out the poison lurking in the
works of Ahelard, wrote an admirable treatise on the Eu
charist, a piecious monument which carried on the chain of

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

historical testimony in favor of the real presence. Algerius, a
canon of Liège, wrote at the same period and on the same
subject. His name is likewise favorably known in connection
with a little work on Grace and Free-Will. The city of Liège
was illustrated by another writer, of whose works Bossuet says
that “he loved them as he did those of the Fathers of the
Church this was Rupert, abbot of Tuy. He tells us himself
that in his youth the pursuit of knowledge was, to him, a
seemingly impossible task. Full of confidence, however, in
the Blessed Virgin, he threw himself on his knees before one
of her statues in the abbey church of St. Lawrence, near
Liège, and there earnestly begged the gift of understanding
from the Mother of the Uncreated Wisdom. His prayer was
heard ; the most hidden mysteries of holy writ were revealed
to him. His first production was the Treatise on the Divine
Office, which was soon followed by the work on the Trinity
and Its Operations, an immense compilation, including com
mentaries on nearly all the sacred writings. The series
was completed by the works On the Glory of the Trinity,
and the Procession of the Holy Ghost; The Triumph of the
Word of God ; The Glory and Honor of the Son of Man.
Another light of the twelfth century—Hugh of St. Victor, su
called from the abbey of St. Victor, in Paris, where he had
made his religious profession—taught theology to a numer­
ous and admiring audience. He followed the plan of Boëtius,
striving, like his great master, to reconcile philosophy and
faith. Happier than Abelard, because more humble and obe­
dient to the Church, Hugh of St. Victor spent a peaceful
life amid the pure delights of science and virtue. Among his
other important works, particular mention is due to a book
which treats of the method of learning, and which might be
called the Treatise on Studies. The great eagerness for learn­
ing, which the age was now beginning to develop, required
prudent guidance to bring forth good fruit. The illustrious
religious classified the various branches of human knowledge,
and sought, by a process at once synthetic and analytic, to

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237

raise the mind first to the whole, to general principies, and
then to lead it down to details and consequences. He places
the idea of God on the highest summit of the world and of
science, and would have all things tend to Him from Whom all
things flow. “ Philosophy,” he says, “ is the love of that
infinite wisdom which is the living intelligence and first cause
of all things. It is divine wisdom ; infinite because it contains
and contemplates in itself all things—past, present and future ;
living intelligence, because it is the increate, eternal substance ;
first cause of all things—because every thing is created to its
image.” Beside this general method, applicable both to divine
and human science, Hugh of St. Victor wished to resume all
theological teaching in one system, which he called the Summa
Sententiarum ; an idea afterward realized by St. Thoma··
*
Aquinas in his immortal master-piece, the Summa of The
ology. While these lights of the Church shed abroad the
bright beams of faith, its humbler walks were trod by St.
Isidore the laborer, near Madrid in Spain, and St. Albert, a
solitary of the diocese of Cambray. The twelfth century was
enlightened by every variety of glory, and recalled the bright­
est days of the Church by the fruitfulness of its institutions
and works.
§ HI. Pontificate of Celestin II. (September 26, a. d. 1143—
March 9, 1144).

25. The death of Innocent II., amid the storms of popular
passion aroused in Rome by the fanatical preaching of Arnold
of Brescia find his partisans, might have been a signal for
yet more serious troubles. Under existing circumstances, an
election seemed threatened with insurmountable obstacles.
But divine Providence, ever watchful of the Church’s desti­
nies, triumphed over human passions and the difficulties of
the situation. The cardinals raised to the chair of St. Peter
Cardinal Guido de Citta di Castello, who took the name and
title of Celestin Π., while the people, forgetting their dis­

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

tensions, came in crowds to hail the new Pontiff. A few
weeks after his promotion, he simultaneously received two
embassies, one from King Louis VII., the other from Theobald,
count of Champagne. The king prayed for the removal of the
interdict laid upon the French kingdom by his predecessor.
The count entreated his mediation with the king. Louis
agreed to recognize the Archbishop of Bourges and to restore
the freedom of episcopal elections. When all these conditions
had been duly settled, the ambassadors were admitted to a
public audience-with Celestin. They swore obedience to him,
in their master’s name, and begged that the kingdom might be
freed from the interdict which weighed upon it. The Pope,
rising from his throne, stretched out his hand toward France,
gave his blessing to the whole land, and raised the inter­
dict. This was the only public act of Celestin’s Pontificate.
He died on the 9th of March, a. d. 1144, after a reign of five
months.
26. Celestin II. is the first of the Popes connected with
the famous prophecies on the Sovereign Pontiffs, attributed to
St. Malachy, archbishop of Armagh, in Ireland, whose friend­
ship for St. Bernard drew him to Clairvaux, where he died in
1148. These prophecies were first published in 1595, by
Arnold Wion, a Benedictine monk, four hundred and fifty years
after the death of their supposed author. This circumstance
favors the belief that they were forged to further party interests
in the conclave of 1590, which elected Gregory XV., for the
prophecies relating to that’ Pontiff’s predecessors are remarkably
clear and precise. No mention is made of them by any con­
temporary of St. Malachy. In the life of the illustrious arch­
bishop, written by St. Bernard, these verses are not noticed,
though the holy abbot speaks of some other prophecies made
by his friend, far less important in every respect. The learned
world has been divided in opinion respecting the origin and
value of these oracles, amounting in number to one hundred
and twelve, and claiming to reach the reign of the last Pope
who shall govern the Church at the end of the world. “ No

LUCIUS Π. (A. D. 1144-1148).

239

reasonable man,” says M. Artaud de Montor,♦ “ whether Catholic
or of the so-called Reformed religion, pretends to believe them
now, or ventures to say that he persists in such an error."
“ Though we make no account,” says M. Henrion, “ of the
prophecies relating to events anterior to 1590, still we cannot
but wonder how a forger, at that time, could have so truly
conjectured, for example, what was to happen in the eighteenth
century to Pius VI.”f
$ IV. Pontificate

Lüciüs II. (March 10, a. d. 1144—Feb­
ruary 25, a. d. 1145).

of

27. The reign of Lucius IL, who was elected on the 10th
of March, a. d. 1144, was to be short and stormy. Arnold of
Brescia, the seditious tribune, who, in the twelfth century, rep­
resented the revolutionary ideas which in later days brought
countless woes upon the world, had left many partisans in
Rome. The short sojourn of Celestin II. on the Papal chair
was like a lull between two fierce tempests. His death was
immediately followed by the re-appearance, at Rome, of Arnold
of Brescia, bolder and more vehement than ever. The popular
mind was filled with fevered fancies by the cry of liberty. The
names of Roman citizen, Republic, Comitia, Tribune, and
Forum were restored. Rome might have thought herself once
more in the times of Cato, less their sterling heroism. To com­
plete the pagan resurrection, a senate was created and the title
of Patrician bestowed upon Jordanus, a brother of Peter de
Leone. The now government celebrated its inauguration by a
triumphal procession, like those of the ancient conquerors, to
the capitol. What a singular spectacle is presented by these
popular reactions which, from time to time, startle the reader
of historical annals, break off the onward march of civilization,
and throw back the world into the darkest by-ways of the past 1
The would-be patriots demanded that the Pope, renouncing all
• Histoire des souverains Pontifes romains, l IL, p. 245.
f Histoire do la Papauté. L II

240

GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

right of suzerainty, should, like his predecessors of the eany
Church, depend upon the voluntary offerings of the faithful.
They accordingly seized upon all the revenues and property of
the Pontifical States. Lucius made an effort to check the
course of the disorder. He sent legates to ask help from Con­
rad, who had just succeeded Lothaire II. on the throne of
Germany. But before their return, he was severely wounded
in a popular tumult, and died a martyr to his courage in defend­
ing the rights of his See (February 25, a. d. 1145). While
his own rebellious subjects were trying to wrest from Lucius
the sceptre of his apostolic power, Alphonso I. (Henriquez),
proclaimed king of Portugal upon the field of Castro-Verde,
after a brilliant victory over the combined forces of five Moorish
kings (a. d. 1139), sent a solemn embassy to Rome, declaring
the kingdom of Portugal feudatory to the Roman See, and en­
gaged to pay to St. Peter a yearly tribute of four ounces in gold.
§ V. Pontificate of Edgenius III. (February 27, a. d. 1145—
July 8, a. d. 1153).
28. The critical circumstances of the times did not admit
of delay in giving a head to the Church. Two days after the
death of Lucius, the cardinals elected Bernard of Pisa, once a
monk of Clairvaux and afterward abbot of St. Anastasius, a mon­
astery founded at Rome by St. Bernard. He took the name
of Eugenius III. His consecration was solemnized on the 4th
<jf March, in the monastery of Tarfa, whither the disordered
state of Rome had compelled him to retire. Thus did Eugenius
III. begin his reign, an exile. The new Pontiff had been one
of St. Bernard’s dearest sons. When the tidings of his election
reached Clairvaux, the holy abbot felt all his paternal love re­
kindled within him. “What have you done?” he wrote to the
cardinals. “ You have brought back among the living a man
already entombed ! You have dragged back into the midst of
the world’s struggles and dangers one who was flying the world
and its dangers! You have made the last first·, and now his

ΕϋΠΕΝΙΠβ ΙΠ. (A. D. 1U5-1183).

241

latter state is worse than the former ! But the same God who
chose David, His servant, a lowly shepherd, to rule His chosen
people, has also, by your voice, called Eugenius to the govern­
ment of His Church. Yes, the finger of God is there!” His
letter written on the same occasion, to the new Pope, is a mas­
ter-piece of tenderness and delicacy. “ The tidings of the
great things which the Lord has done unto you have reached
our desert-solitude. I expected a word from you ; I hoped to
be prevented by you with blessings of sioeetness.* I hoped that
one of my children would come to assuage my grief with the
consoling words : ‘Joseph thy son is living, and he is ruler in
all the land of Egypt.’ I will speak, then, to my lord; for I
no longer dare to call you my son, since my son is now become
my father and I his son. Yes, if you deign to remember it,
‘ I have begotten you by the gospel.’ And are you not now
my hope, my joy, my crown, my glory, before God ? True,
you shall no longer bear the name of son, but rather the ‘ new
name’ which ‘ the Lord has given you.’ Though I have lost
the title of father, in your regard, yet I still keep all a father’s
love and fears ; I behold your elevation, and tremble lest you
fall. Who shall give me, ere I close my eyes in death, to see
the Church clothed again in the splendor of those early days,
when the Apostles cast their nets, not for draughts of gold
and silver, but to save immortal souls ! Oh ! that I could hear
you address every simoniac in the words of him whose chair
you hold: ‘May thy money be with thee unto perdition!’
What your mother, the Church, asks of you, what all her true
children ask, is that every tree which was not planted by the
Heavenly Father be uprooted by your hands ; for you are set
over nations and empires, to pluck up and to destroy, to plant
and to build. Stand firm, then, in the defence of those posses­
sions which the Lord has given you. Yet, remember that you
are but a man, and that God holds in His hand the fate of
kings. How many Roman Pontiffs have passed aw··, within
• “ Prærenisti eum io benedictionibus dulcedinis."_ Ps. rv 4.
Vr,u JIL—1β

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

a short time, before your eyes ! Their little reign warns you
that yours will he so too. As you have succeeded them upon
the throne, so must you soon follow them to the grave !”
29 Eugenius III. was true to these lofty counsels. His Pon­
tificate was marked by the watchful firn jess recommended by
St. Bernard. His first Pontifical act w is the excommunication
of Jordanus, the revolutionary patrician, with Arnold of Bres­
cia, and their partisans. The Roman people were not long in
learning, by bitter experience, that the rule of their so-called
liberators was a yoke of iron. They longed to feel once more
the paternal care of their Pontiffs. A reaction soon showed
itself in the city ; deputies were sent to lay at the feet of
Eugenius III. the expression of the submission and repentance
of his people. They abolished the order of patricians ; Jor­
danus and Arnold of Brescia sought safety in flight. The
merciful Pontiff pardoned all the guilty, and blotted out the
past by his fatherly indulgence. “ Then,” says Otho of Frei·
singen, a contemporaneous author, “ by the mercy of God, the
city was filled with joy at the news of the Pope’s unexpected
return. He was met by thousands bearing green branches in
their hands. They prostrated themselves on his way, kissed
the marks of his footsteps, and even every portion of his gar­
ments. Banners waved in the air ; the officers and judges
pressed forward in a body. The very Jews shared the general
gladness, and came forward bearing on their shoulders the law
of Moses. The Romans joined their voices in harmonious
strains, chanting their welcome in the words : ‘ Blessed is he
that cometh in the name of the Lord !’ ” (a. d. 1145.) St. Ber­
nard, in his motherly solicitude for Eugenius, dedicated to him
his magnificent work De Consideratione, which might very fitly
be styled the Manual of Pontiffs and Kings. He points out
all the duties and all the perils of sovereignty. St. Pius V.,
of undying memory, held this work in such high esteem, that he
had it read to him every day, while at table.
30. Meanwhile, tidings had reached Europe of the capture
of Edessa hy Zenghi, emir of Mosul, whose son Noureddin now

EÜGE.VIÜ3 ΓΠ. (A. D. 1145-1153).

243

threatened Antioch. At Jerusalem, Fulk of Anjou, son-in-law
and successor of Baldwin II., after a reign of uninterrupted
struggles against the Infidels, died of a fall from his horse,
leaving but two sons of tender years. Their mother. Queen
Melisendra, had obtained the coronation of the elder, a boy of
twelve, under the name of Baldwin III. The Saracens deemed
the opportunity favorable for driving the Christians from their
conquered territory. They took Ascalon and threatened the
Holy City. The Bishop of Gabael, in Syria, was sent to bear
the sad tidings to the West. He told with tears, how all the
Christians in Edessa had been massacred, the churches dese­
crated and plundered, the relics of saints trampled under the
hoof of the Moslem war-horse. The threatening danger
awaked in every heart the old chivalric spirit which, fifty
years before, found vent at the Council of Clermont, in the wellknown battle-cry, God wills it I Eugenius III. commissioned
St. Bernard to preach a second Crusade. The illustrious Ab­
bot of Clairvaux advocated a military expedition like that of
Godfrey de Bouillon, to be led by the King of France. Suger,
however, did not share his views. While Louis was wavering
between these two weighty authorities, the Bishop of Gabael
turned the scale. “ The kingdom of Jerusalem,” said he,
was founded by the Franks ; the Franks alone can save it.”
The new Crusade was decided. St. Bernard preached it before
an immense multitude, at the great assembly of Vezelay, on
the festival of Easter (a. d. 1146), with an impassioned elo­
quence, which roused a religious enthusiasm in all his hearers.
“ The cross ! the cross !” was the universal cry. The large
supply prepared for the occasion was soon exhausted, and the
zealous preacher tore his own habit in pieces, to supply the de­
*
ficiency.
Louis VII. was the first to take the cross, and was
followed by Eleanor, his queen, Robert, count of Dreux, his
• Pons, abbot of Vezelay, to perpetuato the memory of this great day, founded a chnr<À
dedicated under the title of the Holy Cross, upon the hill where the knights and barons
Lad met. The platform on which St Bernard stood was long exposed to tho venerahoa
of the faithful.

244

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

brother, the Counts of Toulouse, Champagne, Boissons and
Nevers, with an innumerable host of other nobles, zlmong tho
prelates were Geoffrey of Langres, Simon of Noyon and Ar­
nold of Lisieux. They loudly called for St. Bernard to lead
the great expedition ; but the successful power of his eloquence
had not enkindled in his own breast an enthusiasm like that of
Peter the Hermit. The saint entreated Pope Eugeni us not to
make him play a part for which he was not fitted. “ Who am
I,” he wrote, “ to appear as the commander of an army, to
marshal troops and lead them to battle ? And even though,
by some prodigy, I were now gifted with the capacity and phy­
sical power necessary, what could be more foreign to my pro­
fession ?” Bernard's zeal was not satisfied with seeing the
whole of France rise up, as one man, in answer to his call ; he
went to preach the Crusade in Germany. The German tongue
was unknown to him; he was compelled to use an interpreter,
who rendered his discourses as he preached. Still his very
presence, his reputation, but above all, his miracles, worked
wouders everywhere. At Spires, before King Conrad and all
his court, among whom was an ambassador of the Eastern em­
peror; at Friburg, Basle, Schaffhausen, Constance, Cologne,
Aix-la-Chapelle, Maestricht, and in most of the villages through
which he passed, miraculous cures marked the footsteps of the
man of God. These wonders were manifest, constant, of pub­
lic notoriety and witnessed by thousands ; and so firmly built
is their historical truth, that not even Protestant writers have
tried to shake it. Divine grace seemed to have made him the
channel through which it would pour itself out upon the
world. At Spires, the king interrupted St. Bernard in the
midst of one of his soul-stirring appeals, and demanded the
cross, with tears of deep emotion. The same eagerness was
displayed by his two brothers, Henry, duke of Suabia, and Otho,
bishop of Freisingen, the historian of his times, by his nephew
Fiederick, and a multitude of princes and nobles. Tho Duke
of Bohemia, the Marquis of Styria and the Count of Carinthia
took the cross soon after. The king, in a few months, found

ETTOENIUS ΠΙ. (Λ. D. 1146-1153).

245

himself at the head of two hundred thousand warriors, all eager
to march against the enemy. St. Bernard thus wrote to the
Sovereign Pontiff, in giving an account of the mission entrusted
to his zeal : “ You commanded and I obeyed ; your authority
has made my obedience fruitful ; cities and castles are emptied
of their inhabitants ; everywhere we meet widows and orphans
made so by absence, and not by death.” To hinder the disorders
attending the expedition of Peter the Hermit, and counteract
tho cruel fanaticism of the German monk, Rudolph, who. in
preaching the Crusade at Cologne, Mentz and the other cities
of the Rhenish provinces, advocated the massacre of the Jews
as the worst enemies of the gospel, the Abbot of Clairvaux
particularly insisted upon the obligation, binding on all the
Crusaders, to respect the lives of the Jews. “ They are,” said
he, “ the living figures and letters, which remind us of the
mysteries of our religion. Besides, they dwell peacefully in
our midst. In warring against the Unbelievers, we repel force
by force ; but it ill befits a Christian warrior to strike an un­
armed foe.”
31. The German Crusaders moved in three great divisions.
The first sailed in two hundred English and Flemish ships to
Portugal, where the Moors still held Lisbon. The city was
taken after a siege of four months, and restored, with the rest
of the kingdom, to Alphonso Henriquez (a. d. 1147). Their
mission thus happily crowned, they returned to their homes.
The second division turned its arms against the heathen Sclaves,
who had been for two centuries past ravaging Saxony and
Denmark. After spreading terror and desolation among the
barbarians, an honorable peace was at length concluded ; but
its provisions were violated immediately upon the departure of
the Crusaders. The third body was destined for the East, to
take part in the real Crusade. Louis VII. and Conrad were
discussing the route to be followed. Roger, king of Sicily,
whose long contests with the Eastern Empire made him thor­
oughly acquainted with Greek treachery, strongly urged tho
two kings to accept his offer of a sufficient number of ships

246

GENERAL HISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

to convey their troops by sea The advice was dictated by
wisdom and experience ; but it was unheeded, and bitterly did
its contemners rue their self-willed course. The kings deter­
mined upon following the path first traced by Peter the Hermit,
which would lead them by the way of Constantinople. Conrad
started first, and marched through Hungary. Louis followed
close in his rear, leaving France under the regency of his able
minister Suger, who saw the coming evils, and loudly be­
wailed his inability to ward them off (1147). The combined
forces of the two monarchs numbered about four hundred
thousand warriors. Had Roger’s counsel been received, a Sicil­
ian fleet would have landed this immense army on the shores
of Joppa, and Jerusalem had been saved ; Palestine, Syria, and
indeed the whole of Asia, would have been rescued from the thral­
dom of the Prophet, and safely sheltered under the standard
of Christ. The German and French armies, while traversing
Constantinople, learned to their cost the irretrievable mis­
take they had made. The Emperor Manuel,* with that du­
plicity which characterized the Comneni, received Conrad
and Louis with such exaggerated professions of devotedness
and admiration that the indignant prelate of Langres could
not forbear exclaiming : “ Prince, why speak so repeatedly
of the glory, the majesty, the wisdom and piety of the
king? He knows himself, and we, too, know him; tell us at
once and plainly what you wish.” Manuel required of the
Crusaders an oath that all the Asiatic cities taken from the
Turks should be immediately made over to the empire of Con­
stantinople. In the course of a council held by the Latin
•Manuel wu the grandma of Alexius, and the son and successor of John Comnenus,
whose noble virtues won him a surname strangely in contrast with his swarthy complexion,
harsh features and diminutive stature—Kalo-Johannes, or John tho Handsome. His modest
piety is evinced by the following trait. On his return from a successful expedition against
the infidels, Constantinople awarded him tho honors of a triumph. He was awaited at the
eity-gale by a gorgeous car, bright with gold and gems. The emperor refused to enter it,
but ordered a statue of the Blessed Virgin to be placed upon it, and gave the triumph to
Mary in thanksgiving for the protection she had bestowed upon his arms. The pious con­
queror mo Justly walked at the head of the procession with a cross in his hand. His son
Manuel inherited his crown, but not his virtues.

EÜGENIÜ8 III. (A. D. 1146-1153).

247

chiefs on the subject, the Bishop of Langres broke out into
these eloquent words : “ You now hear it yourselves. The
Greeks demand that you acknowledge their authority and obey
their laws. Now must weakness dictate to strength, cowardice
to valor
What has this nation done, what have its ancestors
achieved, to warrant this overweening pride ? To say nothing
of the snares which have beset our march, we have seen the
priests of Byzantium, adding insult to injury, purify by fire
the altars upon which our priests had offered up the Holy Sacri­
fice ; and now they would extort from us engagements which
honor forbids. Is it not time to put an end to their treachery
and their outrages ? Hitherto the Crusaders have had more to
suffer from faithless friends than from avowed enemies. Too
long has Constantinople been an offensive wall between us and
our brethren in Palestine. Now, at length, we should open a
free passage to Asia. The Greeks have been able to defend
neither the sepulchre of Christ nor any Christian city in the
East. Constantinople itself must soon, unquestionably, become
the prey of the Turks and Barbarians, and with wonted base­
ness open to them the gates of the West. Necessity, your
country, religion,—all demand the course I propose. God Him­
self calls us into the city of Constantine ; He opens its gates
to us, as He opened to our fathers those of Edessa, Antioch
and Jerusalem.” Had the voice of Geoffrey been heeded, the
second Crusade would have been successful. While Manuel
received a friendly greeting in the Christian camp, while he
lavished honors and adulations upon the King of France and
Eleanor of Aquitaine, and feasted the eyes of the French
knights with the sports of the hippodrome and brilliant tourna­
ments that recalled such vivid thoughts of home, he dared
to sell them flour mixed with lime, held secret communications
with the Sultan of Iconium, and kept the Turks informed of
every project of the Christian chiefs. While his lips spoke the
fairest words of love to the Crusaders, Manuel’s treacherous
heart would have rejoiced to see them swept away by some
violent stroke of fortune. From the day on which they crossed

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OEXERAL HfSTORV OF THE CHURCH.

the Bosphorus, which the chroniclers called the channel of St
George, Byzantine faith took care that they should ever he
beset with hidden foes . at one time the Christian host was led
astray by treacherous guides, well paid with Byzantine gold ;
at another, the emperor’s spies, who followed in their train, led
on the expectant Turks to where they struggled through the
deep defiles and gorges, a caged and easy prey. History can
tell that it was not the fate of arms, but Greek treachery, that
wrought the unhappy fate of the second Crusade. “ I may not
utter the name of that man," says a chronicler, speaking of
Manuel, “for that name is not written in the book of life !”
32. The hatred of the Greeks was to be the source of fatal
disasters to the Crusaders. On leaving Constantinople, Conrad
pushed forward into the plains of Anatolia, following the guides
given him by Manuel. These false leaders entangled the
army amid the lonely mountain passes, and left them there,
without resource, to the fury of the Turks. The Sultan of
Iconium, acting upon information received from Manuel, raised
a formidable army. At the head of these acclimated and
light-armed troops, he fell upon the famished and exhausted
Germans. The Turks hovered about the Christian flank and
rear, within bow-shot; they sent their arrows with impunity,
from the peaks and crags; every dart bore certain death to
some warrior of the Cross. Spear, sword, battle-axe, all the
bravery of the heavy-armed Germans, were of no avail against
an enemy who ever kept out of reach. There could be no
thought, now, of victory—they could but die. The bearing of
this martyr-host was truly heroic ; but the disaster was fear­
ful ; scarce a few thousand men escaped its fatal sweep. Con­
rad himself was wounded by two darts, while in the midst of
his knights, powerless to shield him ; he, however, succeeded in
reaching Nice, where he rallied the remnants of his shattered
army. Not a word of complaint ever passed his lips. “ God
is just," he said ; “ we alone are guilty." Louis was not more
fortunate. After defeating the Turks on the banks of the
Meander, the French army crossed Laodicea and marched for­

EÜGENIU3 III. (A. D. 1145-1183).

249

ward in three divisions, the advanced guard commanded by an
Aquitanian baron, Geoffrey de Rançon. The road seemed to
hang in mid-air, between steep precipices and over huge rocks
piled up in high and shapeless heaps. Geoffrey had been or­
dered to halt on the summit of the mountain, to await the
other two divisions. Unhappily, he failed in obedience. Hav­
ing crossed the most perilous defiles and perceiving a fertile
plain on the opposite declivity, he marched on and encamped
in it. The remainder of the army was meanwhile following
slowly. The centre, consisting of the baggage and the unarmed
multitude, hemmed in by the narrow passes and deep preci­
pices, was soon in a state of fearful disorder. The Turks
seized the favorable moment, which they had been expecting,
and poured down upon the terrified throng of pilgrims. The
defenceless victims were pitilessly mowed down by the Turkish
scimitar. Their piercing cries of agony and terror, repeated by
every echo of the mountains, carried the fearful tidings to the
king, who accompanied the rear-guard. Louis, with the
knights whom the warning of peril had drawn around him,
spurs forward to the scene of action. After a desperate strug­
gle the centre is freed from the attack of the Mussulmans and
continues its march ; the king and his knights alone remain to
meet the fearful odds. One by one his gallant comrades fall
around him ; finding himself alone, Louis seizes the pliant
branches of an overhanging tree and swings himself upon a
lofty rock. There his stout cuirass receives the darts of the
battled Turks, and his heavy sword lops off the head or hands
of the daring foe who seeks to scale his rocky stand. Un­
daunted valor and falling darkness saved the King of France.
He hurried, under the friendly cover of the night, to the camp,
which he found in tears over his supposed loss. A march of
twelve days, through a region wasted by the Turks, brought
them to the gates of Satalia, a seaport town inhabited by the
Greeks and governed in the name of the Emperor of Constanti­
nople. They were closed against the Crusaders ; a part of the
army embarked with the kiug and sailed to Antioch. The re-

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

mninder formed in line of battle to cross Cilicia and return to
Constantinople; but most of them were butchered by the
Turks. “God alone," say the old chronicles, “knows the
number of the martyrs and the streams of blood shed by the
scimitars of the Unbelievers and even by the Grecian sword.’’
Bereft of their army, Louis and Conrad continued their pilgrim­
age to Jerusalem, visited the sacred spots they had come to
rescue, and then set out for Europe. They had been outstrip­
ped by the tidings of their sad mischance. For a moment,
the old enthusiasm seemed to burn again, with the desire of
vengeance; the Sovereign Pontiff raised his voice; even tho
prudent Abbot Suger, who had refused to have any part in the
Crusade, formed the project of going to the East to redeem the
honor of the French arms and free Jerusalem. But the clergy
and nobles were too nearly ruined by the first expedition and
were unwilling to risk new dangers. St. Bernard, grieved at
the fatal issue of the war, for which he was held answerable,
refused the help of his eloquence to this second enterprise.
His silence and the death of Suger, which occurred at this
period, served to restrain the ardor of the West, about to break
forth anew (a. d. 1148).
33. During the whole of the second Crusade, Eugenius III.
had dwelt in France, where he was forced to take refuge, in
1146, from the partisans of Arnold of Brescia, still stirring up tho
passions of the Roman people. In the two Councils of Paris and
Rheims (a. d. 1147-1148), Eugenius condemned the errors of
Gilbert de la Porée, bishop of Poitiers. Like Abelard, he would
discuss the mystery of the Holy Trinity. He was arraigned
on four propositions, of which the two following are the most
intelligible: “The divinity is not God.—The divine nature did
not become incarnate." Two of Gilbert’s archdeacons pointed out
his errors to the Pope. They were solemnly examined before
Eugenius III., iu the Council of Paris. St. Bernard, who was
ever present when the cause of truth needed a champion, con­
vinced Gilbert, who, in turn, gave a noble example of submission,
by submitting to the sentence of the council and anathematizing

ED0ENIÜ8 ΠΙ. (Λ. D. 1146-1153).

251

his heresy. The Council of Rheims was called upon to condemn
a fanatical sectary, led by gross ignorance into an extravagant
schism. A nobleman of Brittany, called Eon de 1’Etoile, believed
himself the Son of God and judge of the living and the dead, be­
cause he often heard, in the prayers of the Church, the words :
“ Per eum (then pronounced eon), qui venturus est judicare vivos
et mortuos, et sœculum per iguem.” This vagary would have been
simply ridiculous, had it not found, among the people, some
minds credulous enough to make a serious matter of it. Follow­
ed by a lawless rabble, Eon exercised his assumed rights as Son
of God and universal Lord, stripping churches, plundering cas­
tles and monasteries, and spreading terror everywhere. The
public safety required his arrest. The fanatic was brought be
fore the council, leaning upon an ivory staff which diverged intc
two branches at the upper extremity. “This is a deep mystery,”
said Eon to the Pope. “ This staff is an emblem of the power
which is granted to me. As long as these two branches point
heavenward, God holds two parts of the universe and leaves me
the third. But when I reverse it, turning the double branch
toward the earth, then I take to myself two parts of the world,
leaving only the third to God.” There was no discussing such
an absurdity. Eon was placed in the hands of Suger, who or­
dered him into custody, to put an end to his disorders. The
most lamentable feature of all was the unyielding obstinacy of
some of his followers, who, when called up before the civil tri­
bunals, persisted until death in their criminal folly.
34. This was the period of the great religious and social
schisms which, spread abroad under the various names of Petro
brusian, Bulgarian, Henrician, Albigensian and Catbarian, re­
vived the principles of the early Manicheaus, and ravaged the
south of France and the chief cities of *Germany. Their doc• Tho Petrobrusians were so called from the name of Peter de Bruys, their leader ; the
Bulgarians were named from the country in which their sect first took its rise; the Henri·
dans, from Henry, a disciple of Peter de Bruys ; tho Albigenses, from Albi, a city in Langue­
doc. the head-quarters of the sect, in southern France ; the Catbari, derived their title from
the Greek word καθαρός (pure), pretending to assimilate themselves to the principle of good
by always rejecting the evil

252

OBN'BRAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

trine was nothing more than a total overthrow of all doctrine,
their civil and religious code inculcated a denial of all authori­
ty, hence insubordination and anarchy ; their morality necessa­
rily involved the destruction of the family, under the pretext
that the marriage-tie, by its very perpetuity, is incompatible with
Christian holiness; and an absence of all law, and consequently
of every call of duty, on the theory that laws are the work of
the evil principle. Utopian dreamers of our modern school may
here learn that they have invented nothing new, at least in re­
spect to final results. They reach the same point, though by a
different route; the error is essentially the same in both cases,
simply adapting its shape and color to suit the shifting tide of
the thoughts and passions of the times upon which it successive­
ly exerts his seductive power. For twenty-five years Peter de
Bruys infested the provinces lying along the banks of the Rhone
and the Garonne. Emboldened by success and by the number
of his followers, he carried plunder and conflagration to all the
churches and monasteries of Languedoc, and at length crowned
the measure of his excesses by burning, upon the public square
of St. Giles, a pile of crosses which he had broken down. This
spectacle roused the indignation of the faithful beyond endu­
rance ; they seized him, raised another pile upon the same spot,
and avenged the outraged honor of their faith by throwing the
iconoclast into the flames (a. d. 1147/. The enemies of the Church
would make a martyr of this wretched impostor. The summa­
ry act of justice which put an end to his disorders and his life,
they represent as a disgraceful and gratuitous atrocity. Unbias­
sed history can see, in Peter de Bruys, only a rebel in anna
against every civil aud religious law of his time. The flames of
St. Giles, kindled by tho just indignation of a people, were a
protestation against the outrage offered to the sacred sign of
salvation,the standard under which thousands of Crusaders were
shedding their blood on the battle-fields of Palestine. Peter the
Venerable and St. Bernard met the heretics with other weapons.
The Abbot of Cluny visited the southern provinces of Fiance,
teaching the misguided people the true doctrine of the gospel

EÜ0ENIU8 Πί. (A. D. 1145-1155).

253

We have still a tract of his, in which he eloquently refutes the
errors of the sectaries, and proves, against them, the divinity of
the hierarchy and sacraments of the Church. But all the won
ders of conversion, at this epoch, were held in reserve for St
Bernard, whom divine grace seemed to have marked as its chosen
minister. The,passage of the holy Abbot of Clairvaux through
Albi, Toulouse, and the principal cities of Languedoc, was a
real . triumph. The churches were unequal to the multitudes
that thronged to hear his words. His voice, his very presence
scattered the clouds of prejudice and error, which yielded to
the holy light of faith. The many miracles wrought through his
prayers were more convincing than even his burning eloquence ;
and when he quitted Languedoc, he seemed to have left not a
single heretic there. Unhappily, however, the root of the evil
remained ; many combats, fresh struggles and labors were need­
ed to pluck it out entirely. Peter the Venerable did not limit
the efforts of his zeal to the struggle against the Albigenses :
he undertook two important works which would alone have been
enough to illustrate his name. The first is a complete refuta­
tion of the Talmud, in which he proves, against the Jews, thr
divinity of Jesus Christ. The second is a similar work against
the Koran and the Mussulman doctrines. For the latter under
taking, the venerable abbot had the work of Mahomet translated
into Latin—the first attempt of the kind ever made in the West.
The spirit of heresy and error, so ably combated by the zeal
and learning of the pious Abbot of Cluny, could not check the
generous impulse which led many souls to the practice of the
highest virtues. The brightest era of saintliness and virtue
that adorned the Church’s early years seemed now reviv.
ed in Northern Europe, by St. Henry, bishop of Upsal;
St. Eric, king of Sweden; St. Vicelin, bishop of Oldenburg;
in Germany, by St. Hildegarde, a nun of Disemberg, in
the county of Spanheim, so renowned for her wonderful revela­
tions ; St. Leopold, margrave of Austria ; in France, by St.
Stephen of Obasine ; in England, by St. Gilbert of Sempring-

2Ô4

0B1ÎERAL nrSTOnr OF THE CHURCH.

bam; in Ireland, by St. Malachy, the friend of the Abbot <>Γ
Clairvaux.
35. Eugenius III. was at length enabled to return to Rome.
Before leaving France, he visited the monastery of Clairvaux,
in which ten years before he had dwelt a simple monk. As
he spoke a few words to the community, he could not restrain
his tears. He exhorted and consoled the companions of his
earlier years with the affection of a father. Under his Pontifi­
cal robes, he ever wore the hair-shirt. Embroidered cushions
were borne before him; his bed was decked with purple and
costly stuffs ; but within it was furnished with a straw mattress
and cotton sheets. The Sovereign Pontiff never forgot to live
the austere disciple of St. Bernard. Eugenius reached the
Pontifical city only to find it still a prey to popular anarchy ;
yet the ingratitude of the Romans did not lessen his generosity.
He endowed his capital with costly monuments, rebuilt the
church of St Mary-Major, with the addition of a splendid por­
tico richly ornamented with designs, in mosaic. The reign
of Eugenius plainly showed the hand of Bernard at the helm.
The holy abbot once wrote to him : “ They say that I am Pope,
and not you. Those who have business of weight to transact,
pour in upon me from all sides, and I cannot escape their im­
portunity." Eugenius III. displayed the zealous piety, disin­
terested prudence and devoted care in the government of the
Church, in the progress of religion and the extirpation of error,
which make up the character of a great Pope. He sought out
true worth, and knew how to reward it. To his care we owe
the Latin versions of many of the Greek Fathers, among others
the works of St. John Damascene, on the orthodox faith.
Eugenius died on the 8th of July, 1153, after a reign of eight
years. During the preceding year, Conrad III., the first em­
peror of the house of ELohenstauffen, had ceased to reign, leav­
ing the throne of Germany to his nephew, Frederick Barbarossa,
whose name, so fatal to the Church, was destined to a dark
renown.

ANA8TA9TÜ8 IV. (A. D. 1153-1184)

§ VI. Pontificate

A na sta sic8 IV. (July 9,
cember 2, a. d. 1154).

of

255
a d.

1153—De­

36. The very day on which Eugenius died witnessed the
election of his successor, Conrad, archbishop of Sabino, who
took the name of Anastasius IV. The new Pontiff was well
advanced in years and virtue ; his charity displayed itself during
the ravages of a famine then desolating Italy. The length of
his Pontificate was not proportioned to the just hopes awakened
by his promotion. Anastasius died on the 2d of December,
a. d. 1154.
37. The first days of his reign were marked by an event
which plunged the whole Church into the deepest grief. St.
Bernard had now reached the age of seventy-three years.
Deeply afflicted by the disastrous issue of the Crusade, broken
down by disease and toil, his only remaining strength was the
burning zeal that still struggled against the flagging energy of
his frame. His last act was one of charity. The city of Metz
was torn by civil discord ; the dying saint was carried to the
«icene. In tones deadened by disease, but ever powerful by
the living faith that gave them utterance, he spoke of peace to
the excited people. Thoughts of enmity, hatred and revenge
fled before the influence of that eloquence which, for half a
century, had controlled the passions and thoughts of the multi­
tude. The saint brought together the leaders of the two par­
ties, on an island in the Moselle, and there made them sign a
treaty of peace. After this triumph, worthy close to forty
years of ceaseless combat, he returned to Clairvaux. A few
days before his death, he wrote to his friend Arnold, abbot of
Bonneval, who bad sent him some fruit : “ I received the gifts
of your charity with gratitude, but without pleasure ; for what
can please when all is bitterness ? Still the spirit is free, in
the weakness of the flesh. Pray to our Lord not to delay my
departure from this world, and to be merciful to me in that
hour when I shall stand, worthless and empty-handed, before

256

GENERAL RISTORV OP THE CHURCH.

Him. I have written these few lines, weak ns I am, with my
jwn hand, that, recognizing the hand, you may also recognize
the heart." The heart of St. Bernard had, in its charity, em·
oraced both the East and the West. The whole world wept
his loss (August 20, a. d. 1153). The nobility and people of
all the neighboring places, startled by the tidings of hie death,
crowded (he hills that look upon Clairvaux and filled the valley
with the sound of their mourning. In expectation of the time
when the Church would grant him public honors, the remains
of St. Bernard were buried in the chapel of his monastery, be­
fore the altar of the Blessed Virgin, to whom the saintly ab­
bot had always shown a most tender devotion.
*
“ The whole
universe," says a chronicler, “ seemed to have lost its light, its
joy, its happiness and life. A king of Sardinia came down
from his throne, to spend the remainder of his life near St.
Bernard's tomb at Clairvaux. Eskil, archbishop of Lunden
and primate of Denmark, followed the devoted example. The
North and the South, the East and the West, all met to show
love and honor to him who had so much loved and honored
God and his fellow-men !”
• Tlie devotion of 8L Bernard to tbe Blessed Virgin is one of the best-established facts in
his history. Protestant writers have endeavored to call it in question, on the strength of
an isolated incident. In 1140, the Canons of Lyons, without any sanction from the Apos­
tolic See or any episcopal authority, and on their own responsibility, established in their
church the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. St. Bernard wrote
them along tetter, censuring their proceeding, for three reasons: 1. For instituting a new
feast; 2. Because he sees no legitimate ground for it; 3. Because they should not have
rolemnUed it before consulting Rome.” “However," says the Saint, in conclusion, "I
leave the queetion entirely to the judgment of the Holy See, ready to retract whatever I
may hare uttered contrary to its decision.” Since then, the Iloinan Church has not only
adopted the pions belief, but also encouraged it by numberless spiritual favors. She has
authorized the addition, in the solemn preface of the feast, of the word Immaculate. It
cannot be doubted that Mary’s most fervent client, were ho now on earth, would join his
prayers to those of the Catholica who humbly entreat the Holy Seo to give a dogmatic
decree in favor of the Immaculate Conception.
(The Church baa now pronounced upon the doctrine of the Immaculate Conceptior
The glorious decree of Pius IX. ia one of tho most splendid monuments of tho Church's
history.—Nove or Joni 1,1855.)

ADRIAN IV. (A. D. 11M-HW).

2*7

CHAPTER VII.
§ L Pontificats

of

Adrian IV. (December 3, a. d. 1154—September 1,1159)

1. Election and antecedents of Adrian IV.—9. Punishment of Arnold of Brea
cia.—3. Political state of Italy under Adrian IV. William the Bad, king
of Sicily. Frederick Barbarossa, emperor of Germany.—4. Coronation of
Frederick Barbarossa.—5. Restoration of peace between Adrian IV. and
William the Bad.—6. The Pope’s letter to Frederick Barbarossa.—7. Meet­
ing at Roncaglia.—8. Separation of Louis VII., king of France, and Eleanor
of Guienne.—9. Intellectual movement during the Pontificate of Adrian IV.
The scholastic system. Peter Lombard, the Master of the Sentences. De­
cree of Gratian.—10. Military orders in Spain.

9

Γ Pontificate or Alexander III. (September 7, a. d. 1159—August 30,
1181).

11. Voltaire’s eulogy of Alexander III. Schism of the antipope Victor HL—
12. The false Council of Pavia issues a sentence of deposition against Alex­
ander.—13. The lawful Pontiff is supported by the majority of the Catholic
world.—-14. Destruction of Milan by Frederick Barbarossa.—15. Alexander
retires into France, to escape the fury of Barbarossa. Conference between
Louis VII. and the deputies of the German emperor.—16. Council of
Tours.—17. Death of the antipope; is succeeded by Guy de Crème, under
the name of Paschal III. Return of Alexander III. to Rome. Restoration
of Milan. Frederick Barbarossa takes Rome. The Pope withdraws to
Anagni.—18. Congratulatory letters sent to Pope Alexander after the retreat
of Frederick Barbarossa.—19. Death of the antipope Paschal ΙΠ. John,
abbot of Strum, succeeds, as Calixtus III. Siege of Ancona.—20. Frederick
Barbarossa submits to the Pope. Ratification of the peace. Interview
between the Pope and the omperor.—21. Thomas à Becket, archbishop of
Canterbury.—22. Council of Northampton.—23. Thomas à Becket visito
France and is taken under the protection of Louis VII.—24. The Kiug
of England excommunicated by Thomas à Becket. Alexander IIL confirms
the sentence. Reconciliation of tho prelate and the king.—25. Martyrdom
of St. Thomas à Becket.—26. Penance of the King of England.—27
Eleventh general council and third Lateran.—28. Death of Alexander LU.—
29 Holy peroons of his Pontificate. Begninagea.
Vol. ΠΙ.-17

258

OENRRAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

§ III. Ρονπποατε or Lucius III. (September 1, a. d. 1181—November 2«
1186) .
80, Finn! treaty between Frederick Barbarossa and tho Lombard cities.—31,
Bull of Lucius 111. against the Albigenses, Cathari and Patarini. Origin
of the Inquisition.—32, The Humiliati, or Poor Mon of Lyons. Waldenscs
—83. Death of Lucius III.

j IV. Pontificate

ofUrdan

III. (November 25,
1187) .

a. d.

1185—October 19,

34. Election of Urban III. Accession of Isaac Angelus to the throne of Con­
stantinople.—35. Henry, eon of Frederick Barbarossa, crowned king of
Italy.—36. Jerusalem taken by Saladin. Death of Urban III.

§ V. Pontificate of Grioorî VIII. (October 20,
1187).

a. d.

1187—December 15,

87. Election and death of Gregory VIII.

jj VI. Pontificate of Clement III. (December 19, a. d. 1187—March 25,
1191).
88. Departure of Frederick Barbarossa for the Holy War.
death.—39. Death of Clement HI.

g VH. Pontificate

of

Celestin III. (March 28,
1198).

a. d.

His successes ana

1191—January 8,

40. Coronation of the Emperor Henry IV,—41. Departure of Philip Augustus
and Richard the Lion-hearted, for the Crusade. Siege of Ptolemais.—42.
Capture of Ptolemais.—43. Philip Augustus returns to France. Successes
of Richard in Palestine.—44. Return of Richard to Europe. Death of
Saladin.—45. Unjust detention of Richard by Leopold, archduke of Austria,
•nd by the Emperor of Germany. Efforts of Celestin III. to obtain his
release. Death of the Pope.—46. Saints of this period.

$ I. Pontificate

of

Adrian IV. (December 3,
September 1,1159).

a. d.

1154—

1. Nicholas Breakspear, the only Englishman who ever sat
in the Apostolic chair, was elected to succeed Eugenius III.
on the 2d of December, a. d. 1154, and took the name of Adrian
IV. The extraordinary circumstances attending his promotion
plainly betrayed the workings of the Almighty Hand. Ilia

ADRIAN IV. (A. D. 1184-1159).

259

father was a servant in the monastery of St. Alhan’s, and was
supported by the charity of the religious. Driven from hia
home by penury and the harsh treatment of his father,
Nicholas wandered about the country for some time, but at
length passed over to France ; but he was led by the unseen,
yet ever-present hand of Providence. The monastery of St.
Rufus, near Arles, afforded him hospitality. His studious and
regular habits, his lofty and generous disposition, and the
genius which displayed itself even in his lowly station, induced
the monks to make him abbot. Envy never yet spared the
noblest character; some of the monks soon afterward com­
plained of Breakspear to Eugenius III. “ Go,” answered the
Pope, “ and choose an abbot with whom you may be able, or
rather with whom you are willing to live in peace ; your present
superior shall not long be a burden to you; I appoint him Car­
dinal of Albano.” The new dignitary of the Church was sent,
as Apostolic legate to the northern kingdoms of Denmark,
Sweden and Norway. His eloquence, tact and gentle mannerendeared him to these half-savage people. He was also the
bosom friend and fellow-worker of St. Henry, bishop of Upsal,
and of Eskil, bishop of Lunden. On his return to Rome,
whither his high reputation had preceded him, he was unani­
mously elected to succeed Eugenius III., just deceased. The
poor English exile, led by such wonderful ways to the highest
earthly dignity, must now make ready to struggle against pop­
ular passion and royal encroachments; and we shall find him
equal to the task of upholding, amid stormy conflict the
grandeur and dignity of St Peter’s chair.
2. Arnold of Brescia Was still in Rome, busy with his plans
of pagan revival and republican government. Adrian IV.
found himself compelled to lay the Eternal City under inter­
dict. Such a punishment had never yet been inflicted upon
that august capital, even in the stormiest struggles of the
Church. The celebration of the Holy Mysteries and the solemn
ceremonial of the sanctuary were interrupted until the 23d of
March, D. 1155. But at length tho senators, unable lunger to

260

GENERAI, HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

withstand the entreaties of both clergy and people, made thei»
submission to the Sovereign Pontiff, in St. Peter’s church,
swearing, npon the holy gospels, to expel Arnold of Brescia
nnd his adherents from the city and territory of Rome. The
schismatic chief anticipated them by a voluntary flight, hut
fell into the hands of the troops sent by Frederick Barbarossa
to the Pope’s assistance. He was handed over to the Prefect
of Rome and beheaded in the castle of St. Angelo (1155).
Protestant and sectarian writers, hostile, on various grounds,
to the Papal power, have labored to surround the name of
Arnold of Brescia, the forerunner of modern revolutionists,
with the halo of martyrdom in the cause of freedom. He was
but fairly judged and punished according to the laws of his
country, which he had persistently and flagrantly outraged.
He aimed at the overthrow of society and order ; he fell in the
name and by the award of order and society. What would
become of the world, if the sword of justice were withheld
from striking the avowed enemies of all justice and rightful
authority ?
3. The same month which had witnessed the election of
Nicholas Breakspear to the throne of the Vatican was signal­
ized by the coronation of Henry Plantagenet, the second of his
name in the English realm. On learning the exaltation of his
subject to the Papal chair, Henry wrote him a congratulatory
letter. “The tidings of your promotion,” wrote the king,
“have been received with transport in your Western home,
proud of having given to the world this new luminary, the
light of Christendom. May the hand of God, which has trans­
planted you, as a tree of life, from the soil of England to the
midst of His paradise, in the Church, likewise shelter you from
the fury of the winds !” John of Salisbury, bishop of Chartres,
the friend and fellow-countryman of Adrian, was intrusted with
the grateful mission of bearing this letter to the *
Pope.
The
• John of Salisbury was instructed to ask tbe Popo’s permission for tho King of Eng­
land to enter and hold Ireland, with a view to tho restoration of the Christian reUgion.
oruahed down by native idolatry. Adrian granted tho request by a buU in which he thus

ADRIAN IV. (A. D. 1154—1159).

261

heart of the humble Pontiff wag not unduly elated by prosper,
ity ; he poured forth without restraint, into the bosom of
friendship, the cares which racked his breast. “ Our Lord,"
he said to John of Salisbury, “has ever kept my course be­
tween the anvil and the hammer; and now I beg of Him to
help me to bear the burden with which He has loaded me,
otherwise it must overcome my weakness." Adrian was indeed
surrounded by threatening dangers. William the Bad (a. d.
1154) had just succeeded his father Roger, on the throne of
Sicily. The prince’s surname is a sufficient indication of what
must have been his stand in regard to the Holy See He be­
came the avowed protector of the revolutionists in Rome, and
seized the principality of Beneventum by armed force. Adrian
hurled a sentence of excommunication against the unscrupulous
invader. Meanwhile Frederick Barbarossa was crossing the
plains of Lombardy, at the head of a vast army, marking his
path by blood and ruins. Since the days of Otho I., Northern
Italy had received no lasting marks of the imperial power; at
certain intervals, the German armies, like a destructive torrent,
swept along this great highway of nations, to have their
Cæsars crowned in Rome ; but the passing inroad left no per­
manent trace. The Italian nationalities would then resume the
work broken off, for a moment, by hostile arms, and strive to
build up their own independence. Thus, under the nominal
suzerainty of an uncertain German emperor, always an absentee,
Lombardy was split up into a number of petty republics, insig­
nificant in size, but whose ambition far exceeded their bounds ;
governed by their own laws, choosing their own chiefs, ready
to make war or peace, without once consulting the emperor’s
wish. Milan was the most powerful of these republics. Fredadaresses Henry II. : “ It is universally known, as you are aware, that Ireland, as well as
all the other islands which have received tho faith of Christ, belong, as fiefs, to the Roman
Churuh. Wo, therefore, gladly allow you the right which you seek for the spread of our
holy religion." The bull was accompanied by a gold ring, sot with a costly emerald, as a
mark of investiture. This fact, together with the express words of Adrian IV, perfectly
aatahlished the existence of the public law which gave to the Popos of tho middle-age
*
a
species of sovereign protectorate and universal suzerainty.

262

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

erick Barbaros?.! had ascended the imperial throne with a de­
termination to restore the universal monarchy. He indulged
the dream that the fallen greatness of the Roman Cæsars might
be again displayed in his person. " Let the Pope,” said he,
“bnt confirm, by his authority, the lawfulness of my undertak­
ing, and the whole world shall form but a single empire, with
the Sovereign Pontiff as its spiritual and the emperor as its
temporal chief." Such an achievement was possible only to a
genius equally correct and lofty, of equal virtue ami power.
But Barbarossa knew no justice, no law, other than his ambi­
tion, no higher virtue than that of arms. The project called
for another Charlemagne ; Frederick Barbarossa was but too
often a second Attila. Beside, this chimera of a universal em­
pire, which has ruined greater heroes than Frederick, would
be, at best, but the overthrow of all rights, the destruction of
all nationality, the annihilation of every patriotic sentiment, for
the sake of a single people, of a single man. Would the result
compensate the torrents of blood that must necessarily be shed
io iteachievement?
4. However, Frederick thought to begin the execution of
his vast design, by bringing back to his sway the Italian penin­
sula, which he esteemed the patrimony of the empire, and
which, in its decline, was still the fairest portion of its territory.
Full of such ambitious hopes, he crossed the Alps in October,
a. d. 1154, at the head of a formidable army. Milan, Pavia,
Cremona, Lodi, open their gates to the conqueror. Tortona
dares to resist; the merciless victor gives it to the flames and
passes the ploughshare over its smouldering ruins. Heralded
by the terror now coupled with his name, he soon stands be
fore the walls of Rome. “ He was eager to feel the weight of
the crown of the Roman Empire, and of the whole world."
Such are the significant words of the chronicler bishop, Otho
of Freisingen, his uncle. His approach revived the hopes of
the revolutionary faction, and their deputies met him in his
camp at Sutri. “ Stranger as you were,” they said, “ we have
made you our fellow-citizen and our prince. It remains for

ADRIAN IV. (A. D. 1154-1159),

263

you, now, to rescue Rome from the Pontifical yoke, io confirm
our ancient, customs, and to give back to the Eternal City its
early splendor by restoring the senate and the order of knight
*
hood." “ What !” exclaimed the irritated monarch. “ Is Rome,
then, to-day the Rome of Cœsar and Augustus? No, you have
made me neither citizen nor prince. Charlemagne and Otho
conquered you by force of arms. It does not become subjecta
k dictate to their sovereign.” Adrian had also come to meet
the German prince at Sutri. To set the Sovereign Pontiff at
rest uptn his ultimate intentions, Frederick had, through his
deputies, promised him inviolable fidelity. Yet, in their very
first interview, a seemingly trifling incident threatened to break
off all their friendly relations. Frederick refused to conform
to the usual etiquette in such cases, and would not hold the
stirrup while the Pope dismounted.
*
Adrian, in turn, refused
to admit Frederick to the kiss of peace. The point was dis­
cussed ; the emperor submitted, was solemnly conducted by
the Pope to the church of St. Peter, and there received the im­
perial crown from the Pontiff’s hands; “ Whereupon,” says a
■hronicler, “ the Germans gave vent to their joy in acclama­
tions like the rolling thunder” (June 18th, 1155). The Ro­
man revolutionists, seeing all their projects foiled by this
union of the Papacy and the empire, sallied forth from their
stronghold in the castle of St. Angelo, rushed upon the em­
peror’s attendants and slew them in the very basilica. The
imperial troops at once engaged the revolters ; a fierce struggle
• They who treat as puerile the firmness displayed by Adrian IV. in maintaining the
rights ot his predecessors, show themselves unacquainted with the workings of human na­
ture, whioh ill ways strives to assert its independence in apparendy insignificant matters.
The homage withheld by Frederick was not due to the person of the Pope,—in this case, a
poor English exile, raised, as ho used to say of himself, from his lowly rank to the royalty of
the Church,—it was directed to the Pontifical dignity itself, to the Vicar of St Peter, the
representative of Jesus Christ By tbe honor paid to the highest earthly exponent of au­
thority, princes, kings and emperors honored themselves and gave to their own power ·
higher sanction in the eyes of tfieir subjects. The emperors, from Charlemagne co Charles
V., understood this truth and ever paid their tribute of veneration to the Papacy. AU
Europe has learned, by bitter experience, what it costa to forget that the authority which
springe not from a divine principle is no longer un authority at all.

264

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

ensued, and the reign of Frederick Barbarcssa was inaugurated
amid streams of blood.
5. Adrian, placing but little dependence on the faith of his
new ally, hastened, after his departure from Rome, to make a
treaty of peace with William the Bad (a. d. 1156). lie recoglized William as king of Sicily, on condition of his continuing
to pay the yearly tribute, as his predecessors had done, and to
do homage to the Pope for the kingdom of Sicily, the duchy of
Apulia, the principality of Capua, and all their dependencies.
During the preliminary negotiations, Adrian IV. gave a proof
of his generosity and of his lofty views of policy, by refusing
the help offered by Manuel Comnenus, against William of
Sicily, in consideration of the suzerainty of three seaports on
the Italian coast. The Pope saw that such a system would
throw Europe hack to the time of Narses, and complicate a
situation of already doubtful issue. lie rejected Manuel’s pro­
posals, but availed himself of the relations thus established be­
tween the Holy See and the court of Constantinople, exhorting
the emperor to work earnestly for the re-union of the Latin
and Greek Churches, which had stood apart since Michael
Cerularius had dragged the Greeks from the pale of Roman
unity. The chief points on which they were, and are still,
divided, were : 1st The dogma of the Procession of the Holy
Ghost, and the addition of the Filioquc, made by the Latin
Church to the Nicene and Constantinopolitan Creed ; 2d. The
Pope's primacy and jurisdiction over the whole Church ; 3d.
The consecration of unleavened bread in the Eucharistic sacri­
fice. Adrian's endeavors to restore union, though not openly
opposed, failed to arouse the indifference of the Greeks and re­
mained fruitless. The hour marked by God was not yet.
6. The alliance between the Pope and William the Bad
was a source of deep irritation to Frederick Barbarossa, who
bad nourished a secret hope of possessing the whole of Italy by
means of the misunderstanding between the Holy See and the
kingdom of Sicily. The revolt of Lombardy (a. d. 1158) caused
bis anger to break forth openly. He crossed the Alps onco

ADRIAN IV. (A. D. 1154-1159).

26 ύ

more, at the head of one hundred and twenty thousand men,
and laid siege to Milan. Against such fearful odds resistance
was out of the question. True to the Italian policy which had
never failed them yet, the Lombard republics yielded to force,
swore to the terms of peace imposed upon them by the em­
peror, and thus saved their existence, in the hope that
•circumstances might yet bring them the occasion of regaining
their freedom. Mastei of Lombardy, the emperor thought
to treat the Pope as he would treat a conquered prince.
Adrian wrote to him in a tone of fatherly tenderness: ;‘We
have always felt for you the affection of a tender father for a
beloved son. You cannot already have forgotten the heart­
felt welcome extended to you by the Holy Roman Church,
your mother, when she bestowed (contulit) upon you the im­
perial crown. We do not regret having granted all you desired ;
were it possible, we could wish that your Majesty had received
even greater benefits (beneficia) at our hands." Frederick was
not a Latin scholar ; his chancellor was obliged to translate the
Pope’s letter for him into German ; the word beneficia was ren­
dered by fiefs and contulit by conceded. The emperor was thus
led to think that the Pope deemed the empire but a fief of the
Roman Church and the imperial crown a gift of his benevo­
lence, revocable at will. It was historically true that the Ger­
man empire, re-established by the Roman Church, to be its
sword and its arm, did derive immediately from the Popes.
This honorable condition was accepted by the immortal Charle­
magne, when he received the diadem from the hands of Leo
III. But Frederick Barbarossa knew as little history as his
chancellor did Latin. Adrian had used the words in their na­
tural acceptation : beneficia meant benefits. When he spoke of
the imperial crown, he merely wished to recall to the ungrate­
ful emperor the pure and simple fact of his coronation in St.
Peter’s. His explanations were vain; Barbarossa heard but
the counsels of his anger. After a warm debate, Roland, the
legate who bore the Pontifical rescript, was compelled to fly
from the imperial wrath. The Count Palatine of Bavaria,

266

OBHIRAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Otho of Wittelsbach, even drew his sword upon the prelate, in
the emperor's presence. An imperial edict forbade the clergy
and faithful of Germany to hold any further communication
with the Sovereign Pontiff.
7. The dream of universal sway was still uppermost in the
mind of Barbarossa; he thought to realize it best by such
deeds of violence. In 1158, he convoked a general diet of the
empire at Roncaglia ; thirty-two jurists, summoned by the em­
peror from Bologna, declared null and void all previous dona­
tions to the Popes, to bishoprics and monasteries. “ The
emperor alone," they said, “ has a right, as temporal lord, to
hold landsand fiefs." Thus the flattery of the courtier was no
less radical than the revolutionary madness of the partisans of
Arnold of Brescia. The courtier granted all to the emperor,
the revolutionists to popular sovereignty. The former thought
only of Cæsar, the latter remembered only the republic of
Brutus. Both equally disregarded the lessons conveyed by
the many changes effected in the world, during the past ten
centuries, in empires, in religion, in the manners and various
relations of individuals and nations. The arguments of the
jurists, backed by a hundred thousand German spears, were
unanswerable. The Archbishop of Milan in his address alluded
to Frederick as the only and universal emperor of Rome and
of the world. “ Your Majesty," said the pliant prelate, “ has
deigned to consult us about your rights and the honor of the
empire. Your will is rightjustice and law." We arc outraged
at such language from the lips of a minister of the altar. Un­
friendly writers have never been wearied iu lavishing calumni­
ous imputations upon what they are pleased to style Papal en­
croachments. But not one of them has ever thought of record­
ing the invasions of the temporal power. And yet the Popes
have ever upheld, even at the peril of their lives, the rights
of nationalities and the freedom of the world. Adrian excom­
municated the Archbishop of Milan, and feelingly reproached
the bishops of Lombardy for their slavish compliance. Adnan
(V. was one of those men that know not how to flinch when

ADRIAN IV. (A. D. 1154-11»»).

267

justice and truth are at stake. It is impossible to calculate
the length to which the emperor would have carried his revenge
against him, had not death come to the rescue of the unyielding
Pontiff (September, a. d. 1159). The Church found, in his
successor, the same fearless spirit and undaunted courage.
8. More favored in his relations with France and England,
Adrian succeeded in keeping up a friendly spirit between
Louis VII. and Henry II. The mutual attitude of these two
monarchs was singularly perplexing. Eleanor of Guienne,
wife of Louis VII., had accompanied her royal husband to the
Holy Land. The influence of Eastern manners acted upon the
light and passionate princess. On their return (a. d. 1552),
Eleanor demanded from the Council of Beaugenci a divorce,
on the plea of kindred. Though his honor was thus compro­
mised, yet the King of France unmurmuringly submitted to the
decree of the council. Adrian IV. had not been consulted.
He easily perceived the fatal consequences of such a decision,
which might have been averted by the conciliatory mediation
of his authority. This divorce deprived Louis of the vast pro­
vinces brought to him, as a dowry, by Eleanor. The southern
portion of France was again to be separated from the north.
It was in the power of a woman to give to whom she chose the
preponderance in the West. Two months after the dissolution
of her first marriage, Eleanor became the queen of Henry Plan­
tagenet, grandson of William the Conqueror, already duke of
Anj’ou and Normandy, and soon afterward king of England.
France afterward redeemed herself, but only at the cost of
streams of blood. Amid the complicated difficulties naturally
arising from such a state of affairs, the influence of Adrian and
the tact of his noble-hearted friend, John of Salisbury, bishop
of Chartres, were powerful enough to effect an alliance between
the daughter of Louis VII. and the son of Henry Plantagenet.
9. The intellectual current which was bearing on the
welfth century toward study and science continued, with
glory, under the Pontificate of Adrian IV. The method of the
Fathers, whose last representative was St. Bernard, now gave

2J8

OMBRAL· HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

way fo the scholastic system which should henceforth control
all minds and long reign as queen of theology, thanks to the
genius of St. Thomas Aquinas. It hns been objected that tho
scholastic method, by its close adherence to strict classifica­
tions. syllogisms, deductions and consequences, effectua Uy
shackles inspiration, eloquence and poetry. The method, as its
name clearly shows, is a method of teaching, not a system of
invention or of inspiration. But, in order to teach, it is neces­
sary to give clear and precise notions of the matter to be
taught; to give these notions, we must first have them our­
selves. Could an Aristotle rise up to-day, and resume, with
the clearness and precision of the great philosopher of old, in
intelligible language, all the existing sciences, thus presenting
all the branches of human knowledge in one exact whole, he
might justly claim an immortal glory. This immense task was
achieved for theology by the scholastic method, in the middle8ges. It bears to poetry and eloquence the relation of the
matter to the form, of the skeleton to the body blooming with
grace and freshness. Peter Lombard, bishop of Paris, and
known as the Master of the Sentences, was the first to apply
the scholastic system, in his celebrated work entitled Liber
Sententiarum (a. d. 1100—1164), so called from the fact that
all the arguments it contains are supported by sentences drawn
from the Scriptures and the Fathers. This work met with a
complete success ; it became the hand-book of theologians and
the text of every professor. It numbers no less than a hun­
dred and sixty commentators. It boasts such interpreters as
William of Auxerre, Albertus Magnus, St. Bonaventure, Wil­
liam Dumud, Giles of Rome, Scotus, Ockham and the great St
Thomas Aquinas, whose name was destined to take the place
of Peter Lombard's, though not to blot it out entirely. The
world of science gave, at the same period, an enthusiastic re­
ception to a similar work on canonical jurisprudence—the
Decretali of Gratian, a professor in the university of Bologna.
This collection, even at its first appearance, eclipsed all its pre­
decessors, not excepting the great work by Yvo of Chartres,

ADRIAN IV. (A. D. 1154-1159).

269

which had until then been the standing authority. From the
schools of Bologna it soon passed into France, Germany and
England, and became the only text used by the professors of
canon law, in their lessons and writings. Gallican authors
object that Gratian has quoted passages from the False Deere
lais, favoring the supremacy and authority of the Popes. We
have already answered these objections when treating of the
False Decretals themselves. Peter Lombard and Gratian were
not the only jewels that shone in the Church’s crown at this
period. Among the Greeks, Euthemius was publishing his
Panoply. Eustathius, archbishop of Thessalonica, illustrated
his name by learned commentaries on the Iliad and Odyssey,
and treatises on the hymns of the Greek liturgy; these works
were lately found and given to the world among the many
valuable contributions of the learned Cardinal Mai. Zonoras,
a celebrated annalist, was compiling bis chronicles, reaching
from the beginning of the world to the death of Alexius Comnenus, in 1118. In the West, Peter the Venerable left
worthy inheritors of his talent and zeal for the defence of the
Church. John of Salisbury dedicated to the Lord High Chan­
cellor of England, Thomas à Becket, afterward the martyr­
archbishop of Canterbury, his two works called the Polycraticus
and the Metalogicus. Richard of St. Victor produced his works
on the Trinity, the Incarnation and the Power of Binding and
Loosing. Peter de Blois, one of the most finished and pious
theologians of his day, taught in Paris, amid the enthusiastic
applause of the youth who frequented the schools. Thus did
Catholic science oppose its worthy representatives to the Jew
ish and Mussulman schools of Spain and of the East, which
held up the celebrated doctors Solomon Raschi of Troyes,
Eben-Ezra of Toledo, called the Wise, the Great, the Admira­
ble ; Moses Maimonides, and, in fine, Averroës, the only great
philosopher that Islamism can boast.
10. The Christian sword was as ably wielded as its pen. In
the Pontificate of Adrian IV. Spain witnessed the rise of the
new military orders of Calatrava, Alcantara, Evora, St. Michael

270

GENERAL HISTORY OF THF CHORCH.

«nd St. James of Compostella. Religion was arming, on the fron­
tier of Catholicity, a band of heroes ready to die in its defence.
§ II. Pontificate

of

Alexander III. (September 7, λ. d. 1159
—August 30, 1181).

11. "The man who, in the middle-ages, deserved perhaps
the highest tribute from the human race, was Pope Alexander
III. He it was, who, in a council held in the twelfth century,
abolished, as far as lay in his power, the curse of slavery. It
was he, again, who, in Venice, triumphed by his prudence over
the violence of the Emperor Barbarossa, and compelled Henry
II., king of England, to ask pardon of God and of men, for the
murder of Thomas à Becket. He restored the rights of na­
tions and curbed the passions of kings. Before his time, all
Europe, save a small number of cities, was divided into two
classes of men : the lords of the land, ecclesiastic and lay, and
the slaves. The men of law who assisted the knights in their
judgments, and the bailiffs, were but mere serfs by origin. If
men have recovered their rights, it is chiefly to Pope Alex­
ander that they are indebted for it; to him so many cities owe
their new or recovered splendor.” The writer who thus eulo­
gizes a Pope is Voltaire, the mortal enemy of the Papacy.
Alexander III. purchased, if we may so speak, the glory of
such a eulogy by twenty years of persecution, exile, struggle
and proscription borne with heroic constancy and unshaken
courage. His patience was equalled only by his sufferings ;
triumph never touched his modesty. The very day of his elec­
tion was marked by the premonitory symptoms of the storm
that awaited his Pontificate. After the obsequies of Adrian
IV. , the cardinals met in the basilica of St. Peter, and their
joint suffrage called him to the Papal chair. Three only pro­
tested against the election, and hastily named Cardinal Octa­
vian, who forced the doors of the church and took the name of
Victor III. Thus did a factious minority inaugurate a schism
fraught with the most deplorable consequences.

ALEXANDER ΠΤ. (A. D. 1189-1181).

271

12. Alexander III., yielding to the violence of the faction,
quitted Rome, and was consecrated in the monastery of Santa
Nympha (September 20, a. d. 1159), by Hnbald, bishop of
Ostia. On the 4th of October following, the antipope had him­
self crowned by the Bishop of Tusculum, in the monastery of
Farfa They both wrote at once to the Emperor Frederick,
each claiming the recognition of his own election. The prince
cherished personal motives of hatred against Alexander. It
was he who had been sent by Adrian IV. to Barbarossa, as
bearer of the famous letter which set the two sovereigns at
variance. The emperor accordingly recognized the antipope :
but, desirous of keeping up an appearance, at least, of neutral
ity, he wrote to both candidates that, to put an end to the
schism, he had determined to call a council at Pavia and to ex­
amine the question before uttering his final judgment. The
Bishops of Prague and Verdun bore to Alexander III. the ex­
pression of the imperial will. “ We recognize in the emperor
the armed defender of the Roman Church,” replied the Pope ;
“ but never shall the prerogative given by Jesus Christ to St
Peter be violated in Our person. The Roman Church judges
all others, and is subject to the judgment of none. We are
prepared to give Our life in defence of her rights.” These
noble expressions produced the effect that might have been
expected; the imperial envoys repaired at once to the anti­
pope, threw themselves at his feet and did him homage in their
master’s name. A council of venal bishops met at Pavia
(February 5, 1160), approved the election of Victor, and ex­
communicated the Sovereign Pontiff, “ who refused,” said
they, “ to appear before a council to which he had been regu­
larly summoned.” The emperor approved the sentence ; he
did homage to the antipope, led him in person to the Pontifi­
cal throne, and proclaimed throughout Germany and Italy that
all bishops should recognize the authority of Victor on pain of
perpetual banishment. Alexander replied by solemnly excom­
municating Frederick, with the antipope and his partisans.
13. This conflict aroused the whole of Europe; the Kings

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GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

of Franco anil Englnnd acknowledged the lawfill Pontiff. Spnin,
tho kingdoms of the North, the Latin princes of Jerusalem
Edessa and Antioch, followed the example. John of Salisbury
distinguished himself by his attachment to Alexander TTI. and
his zeal in defence of the right. " The conventicle of Pavia,”
said he, " irregularly convoked, held in contempt of all canoni­
cal rules, could utter no sentence that was not entirely null and
void. Have they forgotten the prerogative of the Roman
Church, founded upon a constant tradition, acknowledged by
the Fathers, confirmed by all the councils ? Who has under­
taken to arraign the Universal Church for judgment before a
national church ? Who has made the Germans judges of tho
other nations?" In the East, William, archbishop of Tyre,
and Amaury, patriarch of Jerusalem, spoke in the same strain.
The patriarch thus wrote to Alexander III. : “ With filial love
and reverence We received the letter addressed to Us by Your
Holiness. It is God Who has chosen you, by the voice of the
Roman clergy and people, to rule His Church. We excom­
municate the antipope Octavian with his abettors.” All the
most enlightened and virtuous men of the West expressed the
same sentiments in favor of the rightful Pontiff. The whole
order of Citeaux, which counted more than seven hundred
monasteries in Europe, acknowledged his authority. To crown
all, the Kings of France and England convoked a council at
Toulouse (a. d. 1161), in which they solemnly renewed their
recognition of Alexander III.
14. To meet this universal uprising, Frederick appealed to
arms. Milan had displayed the greatest energy in resisting
the German emperor’s schismatic tyranny. Twice during the
year (a. d. 1161), Barbarossa ravaged the Milanese territory
by fire. The prisoners taken by him, if allowed to live, were
at least deprived of their hands ; such mutilation was in the
course of a single day inflicted upon twenty-five peasants,
taken while conveying provisions to the beleaguered city. Fam­
ine at last achieved what force had failed to accomplish.
After a we of fourteen months, the magistrates, constrained

ALEXANDER ΙΠ. (A. D. 1159-1181).

273

hy the famished and dispirited population, appeared in the
emperor’s palace at Lodi (March 1st, 1162), laid their arms
at his feet, and surrendered the city at discretion. The
court, and even the army, were moved to tears at the sight of
such misfortunes so nobly borne. Frederick alone was un­
moved at the scene ; he ordered all the inhabitants to be
removed from within the walls ; men, women and children, all
were tom from their homes, and Milan was left an untenanted
city. The population, wandering in homeless destitution over
the plain, awaited in cruel suspense the final sentence of the
emperor. He uttered it at length : Milan was to be razed tc
its very foundation, and its name blotted out from the list of
cities. This heartless decree, which a Vandal would have been
ashamed to issue, was put into immediate execution. “ We
are filling the moats,” wrote Frederick himself to the Count of
Soissons ; “ we are overthrowing the walls and towers ; we
shall leave Milan but one vast heap of ruins.” This deed of
barbarous revenge was the beginning of a powerful reaction
against Barbarossa. The Milanese refugees, scattered through­
out the different Italian cities, spread a general horror of the
German name. While Frederick was congratulating himself
that his rigor must annihilate the Lombard league, that ven­
rigor was making the league more firm and formidable.
15. Alexander III. became the head and the leader about
whom all the Italian cities rallied, now that they saw their
independence in danger. The whole Peninsula, unmindful of
personal motives for dissension, feuds and wars, leagued to­
gether against the common foe. The Pope, in excommunica­
ting Frederick Barbarossa, the destroyer of Milan, became, in
the eyes of all Europe, the avenger of wrong, the protector of
the oppressed. He quitted Rome, at the conqueror’s approach,
but his flight was a real triumph. The King of Sicily, all the
Italian republics, even the Emperor of Constantinople, sent
deputies to assure him of their devotion and sympathy.
Manuel Comnenus repeated the propositioris he had made tc
Adrian IV., promising to protect him against the unjust aggreeVot. in.—18

2/4

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

eion of Barbarossa, on condition that the Iloly See should
recognize the claim of the Greek empire upon Italy. Like his
predecessor, Alexander III. intended to foster the spirit of
independence which was beginning to mark the political career
of Europe since the final expulsion of the Greeks. He ac­
cordingly wrote to the emperor: “Your propositions are too
important and touch too nearly the interests of the Western
sovereigns, to allow that we alone should pronounce upon
them. It is enough for us to have received so clear a testimo­
nial of your good will. We avail ourselves of it to call your
serious attention to the restoration of peace and union between
the two Churches." There was something truly great and
noble in the Pope’s refusal to accept the proffered help of a
foreign prince, because it might have imperilled the destinies
of Europe and the peace of the world. Alexander, on leaving
his capital, turned instinctively to the shores of France, evei
hospitable to the proscribed Papacy (a. d. 1162). /kt Montpel­
lier, he received the ambassadors sent forward by the Kings
of England and France to meet the Vicar of Christ. At
Coucy-sur-Loire he met the two sovereigns, who held, on either
side, the bridle of the Pontiff's horse, and never did Pope
seem greater than the exile who thus received the homage
paid by two crownçd heads to the majesty of the Sovereign
Pontificate. The honors heaped upon the Pope whom ho
refused to acknowledge, stung the emperor to madness. Fol­
lowed by the antipope, he came forward to Saint-Jean-deLosne, a little town in Burgundy, which was then on the boun­
dary between the states of the empire and those of France.
He invited Louis to meet him there, that they might discuss
together the claims of the two competitors. The conference
was to be held upon a bridge thrown across the Saône. Renold, archbishop of Cologne, and Imperial chancellor, spoke in
the name of Frederick : “ My master, the Emperor cf the
Romans, claims the sole right of pronouncing upon the validity
of Pontifical elections ; he seeks uot to interfere in any ques­
tions that may arise between princes and bishops in othe’

ALEXANDER ΙΠ. (A. D. 1159-1191).

27b

kingdoms. He therefore expects from j ou an entire submis­
sion to his will and to the sentence already pronounced by
him.” “ I am surprised,” answered Louis, with a smile, “ to
hear such words from a bishop, and in the name of a Christian
emperor. When Jesus Christ charged St. Peter, and, through
him, all his successors, to feed His lambs, did He mean to ex­
clude the kings and bishops of France ? Are not we too the
lambs intrusted by the Son of God to the Prince of the Apostles?"
And without further discussion Louis broke off the conference.
In the language uttered through his chancellor, Barbarossa
showed himself still bent upon his principle of universal des­
potism. In his system, the Popes would become merely Ger­
man bishops, and all Christendom must bow to the imperial
decrees.
1G. The King of France received the Pope in Paris, with
all the pomp of a triumph. On Easter-Day (a. d. 1163) the
Pope laid the corner-stone of the cathedral of Nôtre-Dame, of
which the bishop, Maurice de Sully, had just laid the founda­
tion. Then, repairing to Tours, where he had convoked a
council, he met a hundred and twenty-four bishops, more than
four hundred abbots, and ambassadors from every Christian
ruler except Barbarossa. Arnold, bishop of Lisieux, was
appointed to deliver the opening address : “ If we stand
united,” he said, “ we are invincible. We really constitute
the Church of God, as formidable to its adversaries as an
army in battle-array. On our side are the citizens of heaven,
the devotion of Catholic princes, and the almost unanimous
support of all that bears the name of Christian. Before all
this host, what is the protest of a single sovereign ? And
even yet, by the mercy of God, he too will bow his mind
and heart to the laws of justice, for his name would be great,
and his glory unparalleled among the princes of the earth, had
he not attempted to rise above the Church, his Mother. May
he yet humble himself beneath the hand of God, and learn
that to serve Him is to reign !" The council renewed the
excommunication of the antipope and his schismatical adhe

276

OENRRAI. HISTORY UF ΤΠΕ CHURCH

rents, forbidding tho recognition of any authority other than
that of the lawful Pontiff, Alexander III.
17. Meanwhile, the antipope died at Lucca (April 22, λ. d.
1164). The canons of the cathedral refused to grant him
burial in their church. When the news of this death reached
Sens, where Alexander was then holding his court, tho cardi
nais hastened to congratulate him upon the event.
The
Sovereign Pontiff wept as he answered: “Instead of rejoi­
cing, weep with me at the loss of a soul ; and beg of God to
grant mercy and eternal rest to one who has so deeply afflicted
the Church." Frederick filled the vacancy by the election of
Guy de Creme, one of the schismatical cardinals, who took
the name of Paschal III. Upon the book of the gospels, the
emperor swore fidelity to his creature, promising to acknowl­
edge him and his successors as the only lawful Popes (11G4).
Rome did not bend according to the emperor’s wish. Money,
entreaties and threats were lavished to draw the Romans into the
schism; but all in vain. A deputation of the clergy and peo
pie came to Sens, entreating the Pope to return to his faithful
subjects. Alexander journeyed through France amid uninter­
rupted acclamations and songs of joyful triumph ; he landed
at Messina, where the King of Sicily held a fleet in readiness
to receive and bear him to Rome. His return was the occa­
sion of an unexampled display of exultation and reverence.
Italy felt that she was greeting her liberator. Verona,
Vicenza, Padua and Treviso, entreated him to help them, by
bis all-powerful influence, in winning back their lost liberties.
In their oath of confederation, they contracted a league of
twenty years, and pledged themselves to raise up the city of
Milan from its ruins. The Milanese fugitives came together
from all the provinces of Italy. As they looked upon the
spot where their flourishing home once stood, they shed tears
of deep emotion, and swore to revenge its wrongs. Different
portions of the walls are assigned to the various divisions of
workmen. With the trowel in one band and the sword in the
other, they built up the ruined city (1167) and effaced the

ALEXANDER III. (A. D. 1169-1181).

277

marks of Frederick’s savage fury. Not satisfied with this
triumph, the grateful Lombards founded a new city at the junc­
tion of the Tanaro and the Bormida’, which they called Alexan­
dria, in honor of the Pope, the chief of their league and the father
of the faithful. Frederick felt that his hold on Italy was lost ;
yet he would make another desperate effort to regain it, and
appeared at the head of a formidable army before Ancona
(1166). For a year the city held out with heroic courage;
but at length famine obliged the inhabitants to open their
gates to the emperor. Elated by this first success, he marched
straight upon Rome, burned the basilica of St. Peter, attacked
and captured the castle of St. Angelo. Alexander, forced to
dabanon the Lateran palace and the city, escaped under the
disguise of a pilgrim. Frederick and the antipope, Paschal
III., took possession of the Eternal City. The emperor was
solemnly crowned, with the Empress Beatrice, in the church
of St. Peter ad Vincula ; and the triumphant schism might
revel in the delusion that it was about to rule the world ; but
the scourge of God’s wrath was at hand. On the day follow­
ing the coronation, a fearful mortality swept the ranks of the
imperial army ; Renold, the chancellor, was the first victim ;
they fell in such numbers that the living were too few to bury
the dead. Barbarossa hurried in dismay from a city in which
he was pursued by divine vengeance, more powerful, by far,
than armed hosts.
18. A remarkable feature of these time» of intestine and
bloody strife, was the fact that the Pope, conquered and strip­
ped of his possessions, still wielded a power which could crush
the conqueror. Alexander III., in his retreat at Anagni, re­
ceived the homage of the world. Rome was the prey of an
imperial barbarian ; from every quarter of the world arose one
unanimous cry of indignant rebuke against the outrage. The
illustrious Thomas of Canterbury, whose martyrdom we shall
soon have occasion to relate, hearing of Frederick’s retreat,
wrote to congratulate the Pope. He compares the retreat to
the defeat of Sennacherib ; and declares his belief that the

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OK.VERAL IIISTORV OP THE CHURCH.

excommunicated emperor has no longer any princely authority.
•‘Who," he exclaims in conclusion, “would be willing to sub­
mit to the decrees of a tyrant now persecuting the Church ·
Dare it who will! I could never consent to incur the ven­
geance of Heaven by such a cowardly compliance.” John of
Salisbury, another champion of the Papacy, speaks still
more plainly. “ The Pope,” he says, “after waiting in vain for
some sign of repentance from the German tyrant, has released
his subjects from their oath of allegiance, and stripped the
despot himself of all kingly power. Then, may the unworthy
emperor henceforth meet but defeat in battle, and taste neither
peace nor rest, until he acknowledge the lawful authority of
the Vicar of Jesus Christ, established by God over the nations
and kingdoms to waste and to destroy, to build up and to plant.”
Such words as these tell how deeply rooted was the work of
SI. Gregory VII. in Europe.
19. The antipope, Paschal, had, in the mean time, expired
in Rome (September 20, a. d. 1168). His death did not end
the schism ; his partisans gave him a successor in the person
of John, abbot of Strum, in Hungary, under the name of
Calixtus ΙΠ. He made Viterbo his usual residence ; but the
schism, now fallen into general disrepute, and successfully
combated by the Lombard league, had wearied out even the
Germans themselves, whose bishops were returning in crowds
to the Catholic fold, and making submission to Pope Alexander
1Π. It is in truth a singular spectacle ; on the one hand,
the Emperor of Germany destroying cities, spreading every­
where blood and terror, to oppress the Holy See ; on the other,
the populations of Italy, headed by the chief of the Catholic
Church, raising up the smoking ruins of their cities, founding
a new one, to which is given a name that shall immortalize
their love for the Church, and for true freedom, of which she
is the mother and patroness. Frederick had exhausted his
powers in the struggle against tne Pope. An aged man, bend­
ing under the weight of years and infirmities, had been able to
curb the proud ambition of a monarch aiming at universal cm-

ALEXANDER ΙΠ. (A. D. 1169-1181).

279

pire. As if to console himself for his failure vo revive, in his
own person, the great Charlemagne, Frederick gave himself
the fruitless satisfaction of disentombing the ashes of the
hero. A full court was convened at Aix-la-Chapelle ; the
antipope, Paschal III., pronounced the decree of canonization,
and the remains of Charlemagne were triumphantly enshrined
for universal veneration. All this pomp was powerless to re­
vive a scheme which the breath of divine indignation had
stricken down in death. Still Frederick did not yield without
a desperate struggle. Ancona was again besieged by a German
army (1171). The fury of the assailants was equalled only
by the heroic resistance of the besieged. The severity of the
famine had reduced the supplies of the twelve thousand inhabi­
tants to five measures of flour ; but their growing distress only
heightened instead of weakening their courage. A widowed
mother had seen her two sons nobly fighting upon the ramparts
for a whole day, without having tasted food; entering her home,
she opened a vein, and mingling her blood with some herbs, thus
prepared a dish of food, which she carried to her exhausted
children. The wives and daughters of this heroic city ap­
pealed before the magistrates, and said, “Is not our flesh as
good as that of lambs and beeves ? Then, eat us, or cast us into
the sea. We would rather die than fall into the hands of an
enemy who knows not how to spare.” Ancona was worthy of
the freedom it so well defended ; a Lombard force came in time
to rescue the city, and drive away the besiegers. In the month
of May, 1176, Frederick once more threw himself upon the
Milanese territory, wasting all with fire and sword. The
Lombards gathered their forces; the standard of Milan was
raised upon a car ; nine hundred warriors, the flower of the
army, called the The Squadron of Death, swore to bring back
their banner in triumph to the walls of their native city. The
armies met at Lignano. Frederick, while fighting in the fore
most rank, was unhorsed, aud disappeared in the confusion of
the fray ; his army, believing him killed, fled in dismay, utterlyrouted ; a few days later, Barbarossa, almost alone, reached

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Pavia. Tho army ho had proudly thought to load in triumph
through the world was flying in disorder beyond the Alps.
His fleet had, meanwhile, been defeated by the Venetians upon
the Adriatic
*
It was utterly impossible for him any longer to
carry on the struggle. The nobles, both ecclesiastical and
lay, who had hitherto adhered to him, declared that they
would forsake him now, unless he speedily made his peace
with the Church. The ambitious tyrant felt at length that he
must bow, and that only prompt submission could now save
his authority.
20. Vercmond, archbishop of Magdeburg, Christiern, arch­
bishop of Mentz, and Conrad, bishop-elect of Worms, were de­
puted by the emperor, and met Alexander III. at Anagni ; they
asked, in their master’s name, forgiveness for the past, and
peace for the future. “ No earthly message could have been
more grateful ‘,o Us," replied the Pope. “ We never refused to
recognize Frederick as the first among the princes of the earth.
May the peace he offers be final and irrevocable.” Negotiations
were begun. The Pope stipulated for peace, not only for himself,
but for his allies, tho Lombards, the King of Sicily, and the
Emperor of Constantinople. The deputies pledged their master’s
word to recognize the authority of the lawful Pope ; to restore
to the Roman Church the territory of the Countess Matilda,
and all other Pontifical estates seized by Frederick in the
course of the war. Finally, it was agreed that the treaty
should be solemnly ratified at Venice, by a personal conference
between the Pope and the emperor. Alexander III. set out
from Anagni; on his arrival at Venice, he met the Archbishops
of Ravenna, Milan, and Aquileia, and the deputies of all the
Lombard cities. The appearance among them of a Pontiff
so repeatedly and unjustly proscribed, recalling memories of
past struggles, of the twenty years of persecution and exile,
• “To perpetuate tho memory of thia nnvnl victory of tbo Venetians, Pope Alexander
ΠΙ. toot a gold ring to tho doge, wiling him to caat it into tbo Adriatic, which he gate
him u hie bride. Hence arose tho ceremony of wedding tho sea, practised by tho dogea
at their vuiUlhtioa.1'—President HturavT. Abrège Chronologique do ÏBittoirc de fYance.

ALEXANDER III. (A. D. IIN-IIM),

281

by which he had won the final triumph of the Church, drew
tears from every eye. “ Well-beloved sons,” said Alexander,
who shared the general emotion, “ it is a miracle of God’s
power, that an aged and unarmed priest should have resisted
the rage of the most powerful king on earth ; by this let all
men know that it is impossible to war against the Lord, and
against Tlis Christ. You shared all our dangers, it is just that
you should partake in our triumph. We would sign the treaty
of peace only among our faithful Lombards." The Pontiff's
words were hailed with general acclamation. The treaty was
signed by the two sovereigns. On the 23d of July, a. d. 1177,
six cardinals came, in the Pope’s name, to absolve Barbarossa
from the excommunication he had incurred. Before them, he
renounced the schism of Calixtus III., and promised obedience,
on his own and his successors’ behalf, to Pope Alexander.
The German nobles and prelates all tendered a similar
pledge. The emperor then repaired to the church of St.
Mark, where the Pope awaited his arrival. Frederick Bar­
barossa, laying aside his royal mantle, bowed his foiehead
to the dust and kissed the Pontiff’s feet. Alexander affec­
tionately raised him up and embraced him, with tearful eyes ;
he celebrated Pontifically, and the emperor received commu­
nion from his hand. At the close of the impressive ceremony,
the Pope mounted his horse, Frederick held the stirrup and
led the horse by the bridle to the palace of the doges, amid
the acclamations of the multitude, and the solemn chant of the
Tc Deum. A Pontifical bull carried the joyful tidings to ail
the bishops of Christendom. The antipope, Calixtus III.,
threw himself at the Pontiff’s feet, begged forgiveness for his
crime, and abjured his schism. Alexander thought only of
mercy, and received the prodigal with all a father’s affection.
A few obstinate sectaries made a fruitless effort to prolong the
schism, and elected a new antipope in the person of Lando
Sitino, who took the name of Innocent III. The Romans them­
selves iuilicted a just punishment upon the usurper, and Lando
wore out the rest of his days in the monastery of La Cava (1178).

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OBKERAL HiSTORÎ OF THE CHURCH.

21. A kindred struggle had, meanwhile, been going on *be
·
tween a cruel monarchand a heroic prelate; its end was martyr­
dom. Thomas à Becket, chancellor of England, had been raised,
in spite of all his own opposition, to the archiépiscopal see of
Canterbury (a.d. 1161). To Henry II., whose intimate friend
and confidant he had hitherto been, he had said; “Since
you compel me, I will be archbishop; you have known Thomas
as a courtier, you shall henceforth know him as a pontiff.
Your friendship for me will soon be changed into deadly
hatred.” The sad prediction was but too soon fulfilled.
Henry IL. true to the tyrannical traditions of William Rufus,
withheld the revenues of vacant sees, and protracted the va­
cancies, for the benefit of the royal treasury. Beside, secular
judges, in contempt of the canons, summoned ecclesiastics to
their tribunals, claiming to take cognizance of their causes
before they had been submitted to the judgment of the bishops.
In fine, the estates attached to monasteries and bishoprics
were openly held by secular nobles, and administered, in their
name, by laymen. The Archbishop of Canterbury, on taking
possession of his see, became a new man. Hitherto, he had
lived amid the display and luxury of courts, surrounded by
the pomp and splendor that became a chancellor of England.
When archbishop, he took the habit of the monks of his
cathedral, under which he always wore a rough hair-shirt ; he
was present at all the night-offices, and became by the auster­
ity of his life, his regular observance, his zeal for discipline,
and his pastoral energy, the model of prelates. His office of
chancellor be resigned into the hands of the king. This first
step brought him into disgrace with Henry; the difficulty
about the oath filled the measure of the monarch’s anger. The
king wished to exact from Becket an oath to observe all the
customs of England, under which name were included all the
abuses mentioned above. A council was summoned to meet at
Clarendon, to arrange the matters in dispute (1164). All the
bishops gave the required oath; Thomas à Becket alone refused.
The Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Loudon, on their

ALEXANDER HI. (A. D. 1159-1181).

283

knees, conjured him to yield, and to spare the church of Eng­
land all the woes which must necessarily follow an obstinate
resistance. Their tears and prayers moved the holy prelate; he
knew, better than any other, the violent and passionate natuie
of the king. “ His passion,” says Lingard, of Henry Π., “ was
said to be the raving of a madman, the fury of a savage beast.
We are told, that, in his paroxysms, his eyes were spotted with
blood, his countenance seemed of flame, his tongue poured a
torrent of abuse and imprecation, and his hands were employed
to inflict vengeance on whatever came within his reach.”
The archbishop thought that the good of the Church required
him to yield a little to such a man. He made the concession
against his own judgment ; and thus began his career of strife
and struggle, by an act of weakness, which was quickly re­
deemed by sincere repentance. As he was leaving Clarendon,
where he had just uttered the oath, he overheard a cleric in
his train giving free expression to his thoughts on the transac­
tion. “ What is now to become of innocence V said the cleric.
“ Who shall defend it, when its natural supporter has been
overcome?” “ To whom do you refer, my son?” asked the
archbishop. “To you, my lord,” replied the cleric, “to you,
who have this day compromised both honor and conscience;
who have left to posterity an odious example by stretching
forth your consecrated hands to swear to the observance of
those execrable customs!” “This,” says Bossuet, “ was the
cock-crow that aroused St. Peter.” The archbishop wept
bitterly. “I feel the full horror of my fault!” he exclaimed.
« I shall not again approach the holy altar, until I have received
absolution from the Pope.” He accordingly sent deputies to
Sens, to solicit absolution from Alexander; and, on tho follow­
ing day, sent to the king a recantation of his oath.
22. Henry IL summoned him to appear before the Council
of Northampton to answer for his rebellion. The archbishop
appeared with bis great pastoral cross in his hand. “ I carry
this cross myself," he said ; “ it is my standard and safeguard ;
it recalls the King of Heaven, whose cause I defend.” The

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GENERAL HI8T0RÏ OF THE CHURCH.

court-bred bishops were unable to appreciate such language,
All, save Roger, archbishop of York, pronounced Thomas à
Becket a perjured traitor. On hearing this sentence, the holy
prolate rose and addressed the king : “ Hear me once more, my
liege. The soul must rule the body; the Church must com­
mand kings in spiritual matters. I do not recognize your juris­
diction, but appeal to the Sovereign Pontiff, who, alone, can
judge m.e on the part of God; under his protection I place the
church of Canterbury, my dignity, my honor and my faith.
And you, my brother-bishops, who have preferred to obey a
mortal monarch rather than your God, I summon you also to
the judgment of the Pope ; and thus, I withdraw, protected
by the authority of the Church and of the Apostolic See.”
Then raising his cross, he went forth from the assembly. The
crowd pressing around the palace gates, led him in triumph to
bis abode.
23. On the next day, November 2, a. l . 1164, several pilgrims
landed at Boulogne. Among them was Thomas à Becket, arch­
bishop of Canterbury. He hastened through Normandy, to
escape the pursuit of Henry, and reached Sens, where Alex­
ander received him as a confessor of the faith. Meanwhile the
envoys of the King of England reached Compïègne, and de­
manded of Louis the Younger, that he should give up to their
master “the perjured Thomas à Becket, formerly archbishop of
Canterbury." “ And who has since deposed him ?” asked the
King of France. “ Surely I am as much a sovereign as Henry
IL, and yet I could not depose the meanest cleric in my realm.”
The Pope and the French monarch thus took under their pro­
tection the august fugitive, who withdrew to Pontigny, a mon­
astery of the Order of Citeaux. At the archbishop’s departure,
Henry confiscated all his property, banished his kinsmen, his
attendants, and all who were found to have been in the slightest
degree connected with him. The wretched exiles docked to
Pontigny, to increase the anguish of the heroic prelate by the
sight of their collected sufferings. To anticipate the interdict
which he expected the Pope to lay upon his kingdom, Henry

ALEXANDER HI. (A. D. 1189-1181).

285

caused the following proclamation to be published along the
whole English coast : “ If any religious attempt to bring Pon­
tifical letters into England, he shall lose his feet ; if a cleric,
his eyes ; if a layman, he shall be hanged, and if a leper,
burned.” The barbarous order was also promulgated in Nor. mandy and throughout the English possessions in France. The
king at the same time wrote to the general chapter of Citeaux,
in a threatening tone, complaining of the hospitality shown to
Thomas, whom he called his deadly enemy. “Drive him
quickly forth,” said the tyrant, “ from all the houses of your
order, if you would not see all your monasteries in my domin­
ions burned and destroyed.” The Abbot of Citeaux came to
Pontigny and acquainted the holy primate with the tyrant’s
order. “ I have not a stone whereon to lay my head,” replied
the august exile ; “ but I shall not allow the holy religious, who
have offered me a hospitality so generous, to suffer, on my
account, from the royal vengeance. I go, trusting that He who
feeds the birds of the air, will have a care of me and of my
companions in exile.” On learning this event, King Louis ex­
claimed : “ 0 Religion ! Religion ! where art thou ? Men whom
we thought dead to the world, fear the threats of the world ;
they forsake the work of God, and drive out those who are in
exile for His glory ! Go, tell the Archbishop of Canterbury that
the King of France will never forsake him. I will not lose the
ancient prerogative of my crown : it has always been my king­
dom's proudest right to protect down-trodden innocence, to shield
those who suffer for justice’ sake.” Such words are bright
honors upon a nation’s historic page, and adorn the king who
speaks them. Under the protection of the pious monarch, St.
Thomas made his abode at Sens, which the Pope had just
quitted to return to Rome.
24. It was time to act with rigor. Henry II. had filled
the measure of his iniquities. By his authority as archbishop,
and in the name of the Sovereign Pontiff, who had appointed
him legate in England, Becket fulminated an excommunication
against the king and against all those who, by his order, had

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OEN’ERAL niSTOnV OF THE CHURCÎT.

seized upon the estates and revenues of the archbishopric of
Canterbury. The letters containing these censures were brought
into England by some intrepid monks who succeeded in eluding
Henry's tyrannical precautions. They threw the whole kingdom
into a state of consternation; the excommunicated king could
not find a priest to celebrate the Sacred Mysteries in his
presence. It was in vain that he plied the Pope with every
influence at his command, to obtain the raising of the interdict ;
Alexander simply confirmed the sentence of the archbishop.
Henry saw that he could not carry on the struggle with any
hope of success. A reconciliation followed, through the media­
tion of the King of France. Henry II. came in person, to
Sens, to meet the august exile. He saluted him first, with
uncovered head, and embraced him with many tears. The
holy archbishop promised to forget the past, and ascribed all
the king’s faults to wicked counsellors rather than to the royal
will. The whole day was spent in the same familiar intercourse
that marked their relations when Becket was but chancellor of
England. Still it might be feared that the king’s reconciliation
was but feigned. The friends of the prelate urged him to pro­
tract his sojourn in France. “No, no!” he replied; “by the
help of God I shall go back to England, where I know that
martyrdom awaits me.”
25. He was right. Yielding to the false counsels of his
courtiers, Henry soon resumed his course of violence and
threats. “ Is there no one,” exclaimed the King in a fit of
Irritation, “who will rid me of this turbulent priest!” Four
Knights, William Tracy, Hugh de Moreville, Richard Brito and
Reginald Fitzurse, who were present when the king uttered
the fatal exclamation, taking it for the royal license, set olf at
once to execute the murderous deed. They made their assault
upon the cathedral church at the hour of vespers, as St.
Thomas, in full pontificals, entered the choir ; they rushed into
the church with drawn swords and loud cries of : “ Where is the
traitor?” No answer was returned; but to the question:
“Where is the archbishop?” Becket replied in a firm voice,

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287

“ Here I am, the archbishop, but no traitor. What is your
will?’’ “Die!” exclaimed the assassine. “ I am ready." returned the prelate, “ to die for the cause of God and the
Church. May my blood be the price of her peace and inde­
pendence ! ” Then as he recognized one of the murderers, he
reproachfully addressed him : “ Reginald, I have heaped favors
upon you. and now you come to murder me at the foot of the
altar.” “ Die,” replied the ungrateful wretch. Then falling
on his knees before the altar, he joined his hands and bent his
head in the attitude of prayer, and uttered the words : “ Into
thy hands, 0 Lord, I commend my spirit.” They were his
last; the assassins fell upon him with their swords, and one of
them, more inhuman than his fellows, drawing the brain out
of the skull with the point of his weapon, scattered it around
upon the bloody pavement. The news of this atrocious mui
der plunged all Europe into a deep melancholy. Alexander
III. gave bitter tears to the memory of the prelate whom he
had honored with his friendship; he refused to see any English­
man. “ Hold ! hold !” exclaimed the Pope, to one who was
about to utter the king's name in bis presence; “such a name
may not be spoken before a Sovereign Pontiff.” During the
solemnities of Holy Thursday, Alexander excommunicated, in
general terms, the assassins, with all their advisers, abettors
and protectors. Henry disavowed the deed and entreated the
Pope to receive his justification. Two legates were sent to
England. In their presence Henry made the following oath :
“ I neither designed, nor knew, nor commanded the death of
Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury. The news pained me as
deeply and as truly as if he had been my own son. .Yet I
cannot but plead guilty of having involuntarily given occasion
to the deed by an unthinking word of anger. As a reparation, I
swear to take the cross for three years and to make a pilgrim­
age to Jerusalem. I declare null and void the unlawful cus­
toms introduced by me into my States, and I forbid any of my
subjects henceforth to observe them.” After signing the pro­
testation, Henry knelt at the entrance of the ehurcu, the two

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GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

legates pronouncing over him the sentence of absolution in the
name of the Sovereign Pontiff.
26. God now seemed to smite Henry in what was dearest
to his heart. Discord rent the bosom of his family ; Queen
Eleanor and his three sons leagued against him ; the revolt was
supported by the King of France and several other princes.
Humbled by this chastening blow, Henry had recourse to the
Pope. “I throw myself at your feet," he said, “and entreat
your support. The kingdom of England is under your juris
diction, and by feudal right I derive only from you. Let Eng
land now feel the protecting power of the Sovereign Pontiff, and
since he wields no temporal weapon, let him shield the patri
mony of St. Peter with the spiritual sword.” The teachings
of misfortune had borne their fruit in the heart of the stricken
ruler. On the 12th of July, a.d. 1174, he entered Canterbury
barefoot and clothed in a pilgrim's dress ; descending to the
crypt he prostrated himself, all bathed in tears, before the
tomb of his victim. One whole day and night he fasted and
prayed before the martyr's remains ; and at his own command
every religious inflicted three blows with a discipline upon his
bare shoulders. Henry II. thus expiated the crime committed
to revenge his anger, and, by the rigor of his penance, removed
much of the odium attached to his name.
27. The domestic strife which had shaken the Pontificate
of Alexander III. produced a sad state of disorder in the
Church. Under cover of the long struggle with Frederick Bar­
barossa, the Albigensian heresy strengthened its position in
the South ; the bonds of discipline were loosened ; the people
became accustomed to disregard the authority of the Holy
See, when they saw it trampled upon by the emperor. To
check these disorders and establish a lasting peace, as well as
with a view to restore its unity and power to the Pontifical
government, the Pope convoked the eleventh general, which
was the third Lateran, council. It was opened in March, a. d.
1179. Three hundred and two bishops from all the provinces
jf the Catholic world, with a great number of abbots, mot

ALEXANDER HI. (A. D. 11S9-I181).

28?

together in this general congress of all Christendom. The al
tention of the council was especially called to two fundamental
points : the freedom of the Church, and the peace of Christian
kingdoms. To secure the former, the Pontifical elections must
he guarded against the dangers of schism, the bonds of
discipline must be drawn tighter, and the canonical laws re­
stored to their former honor. To accomplish the second ob­
ject, the foundations of society were to be secured against the
efforts of revolutionists, and the dangerous principles of tho
Manichean heresy, which was, in effect, but the total denial
of all authority. Such was the task set before the eleventh
general council. To prevent schism, it was decreed that in
case the suffrages of the cardinals were not unanimous, the
candidate who obtained a two-thirds vote should be declared
elected. The ordinations conferred by the antipopes Octavian,
Guy de Crème, John of Strum, and Lando Sitino, were declared
null, and the titularies appointed by them deprived of all eccle­
siastical dignities.—No one can be made bishop before the age
of thirty years.—Laymen are forbidden to assume the right of
investiture for ecclesiastical benefices.—No tribute or gift of
any kind shall be required for the installation of bishops or
abbots.—Vacant benefices must be filled within six months
after the death of the incumbent.—All existing regulations,
relative to simony and clerical continence, are renewed and con­
firmed.—Lords and vassals may not levy fresh taxes or tri­
butes, without the previous consent of their suzerain.—The
last canon of the council is expressed in the following terms :
“ The Church" says St. Leo the Great, “while deprecating
bloody executions, has a right to call upon temporal princes to in­
dicate the honor of her laws ; and the fear of corporal chastisement
has often induced a recourse to spiritual remedies. Under the
names of Cathari and Patarini, the heretics have secured so
firm a foothold in Gascony, and in the territory of Albi and
Toulouse, that they now rise up in open revolt; while the
heretics in Brabant, Aragon, Navarre and Biscay, the Coterelli and Triaverdini, respect neither churches nor monasteries,
vol. in.—1»

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GENERAL· HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

spare neither age nor sex, neither orphans nor widows. They
renew all the excesses of tho heathens and barbarians. W
declare them solemnly excommunicated. We enjoin all the
faithful steadily to resist their ravages and to defend the Chris
tiens against their inroads. We grant the usual indulgences
and the forgiveness of their sins, to all who arm for this holy
Crusade." The Church, queen of the European nationalities,
and confirmed in this supremacy by the public law of the
middle-ages, was thus arming her children against the eternal
enemies of all law, order and society. She did not usurp, but
only guided the temporal authority.
28. Tho Pontificate of Alexander III. was fitly crowned
hy the eleventh general council. After twenty years of strug­
gle, persecution and exile, the great Pontiff rested at length in
victory; he died on the 30th of August, a. d. 1181, bequeath­
ing to the Church, the repose he had won by so many combats.
As he looked, for the last time, over the Catholic world, his
eye rested with sorrow upon one spot alone—the Holy Land.
The disasters of the Latin kingdoms in the East, the conquer­
ing and ever-growing power of Saladin, known in Europe
through the sad accounts of returning pilgrims, had struck a
pang into the heart of the heroic Pontiff. He died, deeply
regretting his inability to repair these evils, and to secure, in
Palestine, the glorious fruits of Godfrey’s conquests. Alex­
ander was preceded to the grave by Louis VII. of France, and
by Manuel Comnenus, emperor of Constantinople. Louis had
blotted out the disgraceful record of Vitry-le Brûlé, by thirty
years of piety and glory, and left the French throne to a hero,
Philip-Augustus (1180). Manuel Comnenus had done much to
redeem his treachery toward the Crusaders, by his attachment
to the Holy See, in the struggle between Alexander III. and
Barbarossa. He was succeeded by Andronicus Comnenus, who
inherited all Manuel’s vices without a single redeeming trait uf
virtue.
29. The reign of Alexander III., so fearfully shaken by
fierce storms, was nevertheless fruitful in splendid examples oi

LUCIUS ΙΠ. (A. D. 1181-11M).

291

holiness. In Italy, St. Peter of Tarentaise ; St. Galdin, arch­
bishop of Milan ; St. Ubald, bishop of Gubio ; in France, StAnthelm, bishop of Belley; in England, St. Robert, abbot of
Newminster; St. Lawrence, archbishop of Dublin; St. Bar
tholomew, a hermit in the isle of Farn ; St. Aelred and St.
Waithen, in Scotland; in Germany, St. Elizabeth of Schuenau,
so famed for her revelations; St. Eberhard, archbishop of
Saltzburg, and Blessed Frederick., abbot of Mariengarten,
proved to the world that the divine virtue of the Church was
not yet exhausted ; that amid the wild tempests that beat upon
the bark of Peter, the grace of God was still as strong to save
immortal souls. At this period, a holy priest of Liège, Lauibert-le-Bègue (the Stammerer), brought together into large
communities a great number of pious women, who, without
making any perpetual vows, like other religious, devoted them­
selves to the service of God, in silence and retreat ; this was
the origin of the béguinages, so named from their founder Lambert-le-Bègue. They are still found in Belgium. In the single
city of Ghent, there are two celebrated béguinages, containing
more than 1,500 persons, who practise the virtues of the clois­
ter amid the din and distractions of the world around them.
§ III. Pontificate of Lucius III. (September 1, a. d. 1181—
November 24, 1185).

30. At the death of Alexander III. the cardinals, assembled
at Velletri, conformed to the decrees of the eleventh general
council, touching the Pontifical elections. Ubaldo Allucingoli,
of an illustrious family of Lucca, received two-thirds of the
votes, and was raised to the chair of St. Peter, under the name
of Lucius III. The Romans had nut given up the republican
theories taught by Arnold of Brescia. The Papacy, controlling
without opposition the whole Catholic world, was shut out from
its own capital alone. Lucius left the shadow of a Roman
senate to die a natural death, by its own innate weakness, and

292

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

fixed his residence at Vorona, whore he was visited by Fred
erick Barbarossa. Though a peace had indeed been concluded
between Alexander III. and the emperor, the Lombard league
nad nnt yet laid aside its arms. Barbarossa had familiarized
the world with perjury by too many examples,within a single day,
to justify Italy in trusting its destinies to the imperial pledge.
But the teachings of experience and misfortune had changed
the heart of Barbarossa, and the last years of his life were a
condemnation of the first. In a. d. 1183, at Constance, the em­
peror signed a final treaty of peace with the Lombard cities
and republics. This treaty became the groundwork of the pub­
lic law of Italy, and is comprised in the body of the Roman
Law which it completes. Frederick yielded to the cities all
the rights of regale which he had previously claimed. He ac­
knowledged their right to raise armies, and to exercise, within
their own bounds, civil and criminal jurisdiction. The bishop
of each city was empowered to decide, ultimately, the ques­
tions which might arise between the municipalities and the
empire. Thus, the Popes, in struggling to uphold the indepen­
dence of the Holy See, had been really combating for the cause
of the Italian nationalities. The fact is granted, and the
learned writings of Guizot unanswerably prove that the Lom­
bard republics owe their freedom and their very existence to
Alexander III.
31. Lucius III. nobly carried out the fearless policy of his
predecessor. In a council held at Verona (a. d. 1184), in the
presence of the emperor, he promulgated a severe decree
against the Western Manicheism which struck at both religion
and social order. “ By the authority of the blessed Apostles Pe­
ter and Paul," said the Pope, “ and before our beloved son, the
Emperor Frederick, at the request of the Christian rulers, as­
sembled from all parts of the world, we anathematize all the
heretics known as the Albigenses, Cathari, Patarini, and those
also who falsely style themselves Humiliati, or Poor Men of
Lyons. At the formal request of the emperor and the lords of
hi» court, we enjoin every bishop to visit, in person or by

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293

deputy, those parts of his diocese suspected of leaning toward
heresy. He shall call the accused parties before his tribunal,
and if they refuse to justify themselves, they shall be deemed
heretics, and, as such, given up to the secular power.” In thia
concurrence of the Church and the secular rulers, we find the
permanent establishment of what is known as the Inquisition
against heretics, which had already been, at least temporarily,
ordered in Rome, in the fifth century, by St. Leo the Great,
against the same Manicheans. Both the principle and the ac­
tion of the Inquisition have been deeply calumniated by writers
hostile to the Church. It has been described as, in principle,
an encroachment of the spiritual power, upholding, by armed
force, the teachings which concern only the conscience and
spiritual rule. Its action has been taxed with a refinement of
cruelty truly barbarous and altogether unheard-of in the treat­
ment of other crimes. The hour of justice has at length ar­
rived, and these odious charges have vanished before the deeper
and more impartial study of historic facts. The Church,
clothed in the middle-ages with a protective power, was in
duty bound to guard public order and the peace of society,
equally threatened by the heretics, whose blows were aimed
both at civil and religious institutions. A weak indulgence at
such a moment would have proved the Church false to its mis­
sion, and unworthy of the people’s confidence. As a spiritual
society, using first but spiritual weapons against the enemies
of order and religion, when her censures were disregarded,
then, at the formal request of the emperors and princes of
Christendom, she gave up to civil justice the rebels she could
not subdue. Insurrections, at the present time, fall within the
jurisdiction of the civil courts alone. In the middle-ages, the
guilty parties enjoyed the guarantee of two jurisdictione.
They fell under the sword of civil justice only when they had
cast off the merciful intervention of the Church. Time has
ewept away, in its course, the public right of the middle-ages ;
who shall say that humanity has gained by the change ? The
sentences decreed by the Inquisition were, indeed, uttered by

294

GENERAL HISTORÏ OF THE CIIOTICB.

a civil tribunal. In form, they were such as accorded with
tbe criminal law of the age. Personally, we may be moved to
pity by the fate of the unfortunate wretches who suffered at
a period when civil discord gave birth to scenes of horror un­
known oven to the ages of barbarism. But inflexible history,
the accomplice of no party, rejecting all a priori systems, bears
unquestionable witness that the punishments of the Inquisition
were those inflicted by every tribunal for other crimes. Can
we forget that the torture was not abolished in France until the
reign of the martyr-king, Louis XVI. ? And yet France had
lived through the age of the Grand Monarque, with all its
glories, without hearing a solitary voice raised to protest
against these remains of barbarism still perpetuated in her
laws. It might not be too wide of truth to say, that the period
which is most ready to weep over the cruel fate of criminals is
that in which crime stalks abroad most frequent and most un­
harmed. Under one name or another, the Inquisition neces­
sarily exists in every community that seeks its own preserva­
tion. A community can exist only inasmuch as it watches and
punishes all who plot or who attempt its overthrow. But, in
tbe middle-ages, the fundamental law of society was the Catho­
lic faith. This law took precedence of every other. He who
was not a Catholic was not a citizen. The Church, then, by
protecting its faith, upheld social order, secured the peace of
kingdoms and defended the sovereign law of civilization.
32. The Humiliati, or Poor Men of Lyons, mentioned by
Lucius III., were a new sect, known also as the Waldenses,
who owed their origin to Peter Waldo, a merchant of Lyons
(a. d. 1160). Following the literal interpretation of the words
of Scripture : “ Beati pauperes," he sold his property, preached
the poverty of the Apostles, and maintained that the Church
had fallen away from its divine institution by receiving a prince­
dom and temporal estates. Mgr. Charvaz, archbishop of Ge­
noa, in his learned work entitled “Historical Inquiries into
the true origin of the Waldenses and into the nature of their
primitive doctrine” (Paris, 1839), thus resumes their er-

LUCIUS HI. (A. D. 1181-1185).

295

rura : “ 1. They rejected the episcopal authority, and assumed
the right of preaching. 2. They taught that any layman could
hear the confessions of the faithful and consecrate the Eucha­
rist. 3. They maintained that the Church of Rome was not
the true Church, they themselves being the only tme disciples
of Jesus Christ. 4. They denied the existence of Purgatory
and the efficacy of prayers for the dead. 5. They asserted that
the priestly power was not granted exclusively to men, but that
women likewise might lawfully receive it. 6. That any sacra­
ment, administered by a priest in the state of mortal sin, is null
and without effect. 7. Every Crusader is guilty of homicide.
8. All clergymen holding ecclesiastical benefices, filii sunt deemonis. 9. All the rites, ceremonies and chants of the Church, the
worship of Saints, or the veneration of their relics and images,
are acts of idolatry. 10. Divorce is lawful under all circum­
stances.” Tbe teachings of the Waldenses prove them the fore­
runners of Luther; hence it has always been a favorite argu­
ment with the Protestants, that the Waldenses were not a new
sect, and that their doctrines could be traced back, through suc­
cessive ages, to the time of the Apostles. These interested
pretensions of Protestantism have been triumphantly refuted
by the learned Archbishop of Genoa, in the work already quoted,
and later by Monsignore Palma, secretary to His Holiness Pius
IX., in his Prœlectioncs Historiœ Ecclesiastica;. The Wal­
denses, like every other heretical body which has, at any time,
thrown off the yoke of the Church, were positively a new
sect; they broke off from the great Catholic unity. The words
addressed by Tertullian to the Marcionites, may with equal
fitness be applied to the Waldenses: “Are they of Christ?
No ; they date from Peter Waldo.”
33. Lucius III. died a few months after the close of the
Council of Verona (November 24, a. d. 1185). He, too, had
given more than a thought to the deplorable state of Palestine;
but time failed him to organize the force he purposed to send
to the help of the East.

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GENERAL BISTORT OF T1IE CHURCH.

§ IV. Pontificate op Urban III. (November 25, a. d. 1185—
Octobrr 19, 1187).
34. Cardinal Hubert Crivelli was unanimously elected Pope,
at Verona, on the 25th of November, 1185, and took the name
of Urban III.; while in the East, Andronicus, driven from the
throne of Constantinople, expiated his usurpation by capital
punishment. He was succeeded by Isaac Angelus, whose name
was doomed to bear the brand of history and the curse of the
Crusaders, as that of a traitor. The Eastern Empire was thus
sinking into ruin, in crime and disgrace, instead of joining its
efforts to those of the West, to break the yoke of Islam and
avenge the honor of Christendom.
35. For a moment, the struggle between Frederick Barba­
rossa and the Holy See threatened to break out anew, with
more fierceness than ever. The King of Sicily, William the
Good, who had, in 1166, succeeded his father, William the
Bad, died at this period, leaving his daughter Constance sole
heiress to his possessions. The princess was the wife of
Henry, son of Frederick Barbarossa. The emperor at once
caused his son to be crowned king of all Italy, by the Patri­
arch of Aquileia and the Archbishop of Vienna. A formidable
power was thus centred in the person of the future emperor
of Germany. Though Sicily depended immediately upon the
Huly See, the Pope had not even been consulted in this im­
portant affair. After repeated and fruitless complaints to
Frederick, Urban excommunicated the two prelates who had
ventured, without his knowledge or consent, to crown the
young prince (a. d. 1186). Every thing foreshadowed an in­
evitable strife, when a report from the East fell upon Europe
like a thunder-clap, and filled all minds with thoughts of an­
other nature.
36. Saladin, the renowned sultan, whose lofty character is
the theme of Eastern song and chronicle, and to whom even
Christian authors grant the praise of noble and chivalric gene-

URBAN III. (A. 1). 1185-118Ï).

297

cosity, had again planted the Prophet's standard upon the walls
of the Holy City. Guy of Lusignan had succeeded Baldwin
V. upon the throne of Jerusalem. The weakness of Baldwin's
rule, his want of experience, joined to a soft, and effeminate
mode of life, hastened the downfall of a kingdom founded at
the cost of so much blood, upheld with signal glory, a monu­
ment, in the East, of the superiority of the Latin arms and
civilization. Guy of Lusignan was defeated in a pitched battle
and made prisoner by Saladin. The remains of his army, the
children of the warriors slain on the field, a multitude of Chris­
tian families driven by the Mussulmans from their ruined
homes, fled for shelter to Jerusalem. One hundred thousand
persons were crowded within the walls of the Holy City.
Such a multitude of old men, of women and children, only in­
creased the distress without swelling the number of defenders.
Jerusalem was invested by the troops of the sultan, who swore
to overthrow its towers and ramparts and to revenge upon tho
Christians the memory of the Mussulman blood spilled by
Godfrey de Bouillon. The beleaguered Christians chose for
their leader Baléan d’lbelin, an old soldier, whose fearless
valor had stood the test of twenty battle-fields. The resistance
of the besieged was at first determined, and their courage
seemed equal to the danger. But the evidently fruitless issue
of their efforts against an ever increasing force filled them
with despair. They no longer dared, at night, to man the
walls which hourly threatened to crumble to pieces before the
powerful engines of Saladin. Queen Sibylla offered to capitu­
late ; and thus did the weakness of a woman surrender to the
enemies of the Christian name the noblest conquest of heroism
and faith. The treaty was signed on the 2d of October, a. d.
1187, after a siege of only a fortnight. The Christians were
allowed forty days to evacuate the city. At the end of the
fatal term, Saladin, seated upon a splendid throne, caused the
wretched population to defile before him. The sad procession
was headed by the Patriarch, with his clergy, bearing the
sacred vessels and the ornaments of the Holy Sepulchre.

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GENERAL DISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

They were followed by the Queen of Jerusalem, accompanied
by the chief barons and knights. Saladin respected her grief
and spoke to her a few words of kindly sympathy. The queen
was followed by a number of women carrying their children in
their arms; several of them approached the throne of Saladin
and said to him: “Yon see at your feet the wives, mothers
and daughters of the warriors whom you hold in captivity.
We are now quitting our homes which they nobly defended;
they helped us to bear life ; with them we lose our last hope.”
Moved by their tears, Saladin promised to mitigate the suffer­
ings of so many desolate families. He gave back the hus­
bands, fathers and sons to their bereaved kindred, and allowed
the Hospitallers to remain in the city to attend to the pilgrims
and the Christians wounded in the last war. Of the hundred
thousand persons who had been besieged in the Holy City, only
fourteen thousand remained as prisoners. All the churches
were changed into mosques, the Mussulman rite was once more
practised, as in the days of Omar, in the temple which covered
the ruins of the once splendid pile of Solomon. Such was the
end of the kingdom founded by Godfrey de Bouillon, after an
existence of eighty-eight years. The royalty of Jerusalem
was thenceforth but an empty title ; for the ephemeral rule of
the Emperor Frederick II. was but a chimera and made no last­
ing impression (1187). Urban III. died of grief on hearing of
the capture of Jerusalem (October 19, 1187).

§ V. Pontificate

of

Gregory VIII. (October 20, a. d. 1187—
December 15,1187).

37. It was a solemn moment; the Holy See remained
vacant but a single day; on the morrow of Urban’s decease,
Cardinal Albert of Beneventum received a unanimous vote and
ascended the chair of St. Peter, under the name of Gregory
VJIL Immediately upon his exaltation, he addressed an elo­
quent letter to all Christendom, appealing to every sentiment
of honor and faith, in behalf of wretched Jerusalem. Europi

CLEMENT ΠΊ. (A. D. 1187-1191).

299

responded by a universal cry of grief ; whole populations called
for the cross ; the days of Peter the Hermit seemed to have
come back to them. Gregory VIII. did not witness the effect
of his powerful appeal. He died after a reign of little more
than a month (December 15, a. d. 1187).
§ VI. Pontificate

of

Clement III. (December 19, a. d. 1187—
March 25, 1191).

38. Cardinal Paulinas, bishop of Palestrina, was elected,
on the 19th of December, a. d. 1187, to succeed Gregory VIII.
and was enthroned under the name of Clement III. The West
had been aroused by the tidings of disaster from Palestine.
The republic of Pisa was first in the field, and equipped a fleet
of fifty sail. Clement III. intrusted to Archbishop Ubaldus
the standard of St. Peter ; and the Crusaders landed at Tyre,
where they seconded the Marquis Conrad of Montferrat in
repelling the attacks of Saladin. The Kings of France and
England, Philip Augustus, and Richard the Lion-Hearted, who
had lately succeeded his father Henry II., took the cross and
levied an extraordinary tax in their realms to meet the ex­
penses of the Holy War. This tax received the name of Sala­
din's tithe, as it consisted of a tenth part of the income of
each private individual, and was destined to maintain the war
against Saladin. The Emperor of Germany, Frederick Barba­
rossa, and his son, the Duke of Suabia, led forth an army of a
hundred thousand men under the standard of the cross. Bar­
barossa, so long the scourge of Christendom, was now to become
its champion. He was the first to set out, and took the route
by way of Constantinople. Isaac Angelus had secretly con­
cluded a treaty offensive and defensive with Saladin. His
double-dealing and treachery toward the Crusaders could almost
make them regret the odious memory of Manuel Comnenus.
The German army found its march retarded by broken roads,
dearth of provisions, the military occupation or material ob­
struction of the mountain passes. The ambassadors sent by

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GENERAL HISTOR? OF THE CHURCH.

Frederick to complain at Constantinople of these hostile pro­
ceedings were thrown into a dungeon. In the transport of in­
dignation excited by this infamous violation of international
law, the Crusaders called aloud to be led against Constantinople,
to avenge the honor of the Christian name. But Barbarossa
was no longer the emperor who could vent a fit of rage by the
destruction of cities, and pass the ploughshare over the smoul­
dering site of Milan. Sincere faith had opened his heart to
sentiments of true greatness. He pacified his followers, re­
minding them that the end of their pilgrimage was Jerusalem,
not Byzantium. Through all the obstacles thrown in his path
by Greek treachery, he made his way to Adrianople. Isaac
Angelus was too sanguine when he wrote to Saladin : “ I have
made the European pilgrims powerless ; I have clipped the
wings of their victories.” He speedily released the ambassa­
dors of Frederick, who exclaimed, on beholding them again :
“I thank God who has given me back my sons !” Isaac now
sought to make a treaty of peace with the German em­
peror. The Greek deputies thus addressed Frederick : “ The
holy emperor, our master, expects you to swear fealty to him
as your suzerain. Your own interest demands it ; for we hold
you and your army hemmed in as by a net.” “ I too am an
emperor," answered Frederick, “ by the election of my subjects
and the confirmation of the Pope; but, mindful of my sins, I
do not claim the title of holiness. The toils in which you think
to have bound us, we shall break as we would a cobweb.”
Isaac deemed it prudent not to bring the storm upon his already
crumbling empire. He promised to furnish a sufficient number
of vessels to transport the Crusaders to the shores of Asia,
betrothed his daughter to Prince Philip, a son of the German
Emperor, and pledged himself by oath, in the church of St.
Sophia, faithfully to fulfil every article of the treaty. Tho
army embarked at Gallipoli. Frederick was the last to quit
the shores of Europe, and entered his boat only when the last
soldier was fairly embarked upon the fleet. As they stepped
upon the sands of Asia : “ Be of good heart,” said the emperor

CLEMENT ΙΠ. (A. D. 1187-1191).

301

to his troops, “ this soil is yours.” Frederick of Suabia, th·
emperor’s son, led the van, the baggage was placed in the cen
tre, while Barbarossa himself, in command of the rear-guard,
covered the column’s march. The envoys of the Sultan of
Iconium had promised, in the name of their master, to furnish
the Crusaders with supplies. This was but a stratagem con­
cocted with Angelus, to destroy the Christian host. On the
14th of May, 1190, while the Crusaders were slowly working
their way through a narrow valley, they suddenly beheld the
surrounding heights swarming with Turkish troops, sent by the
Sultan of Iconium, who hoped to crush the Christian army,
jaded by the toilsome march, exhausted by hunger and thirst,
amid the burning sands of the desert. The sultan had in­
trusted the general command of his troops to the Saracen
Melek, a skilful and experienced warrior; but he was present,
in person, to enjoy what he deemed a certain triumph. At
the sight of the enemy, Frederick called out to his followers :
“ Conquer or die ! we can hope for safety only in victory !”
Then dashing forward at the head of his troops, his fearless
courage supplying the vigor of youth, the aged hero threw
himself upon the enemy. Cheered and encouraged by his
example, the Crusaders signalized their courage by prodi­
gies of daring. Ten thousand Turks bit the dust; the remain­
der fled in dismay, and sought safety in the defiles of the
mountains. The victory was complete; but on returning to
their camp, at night, the triumphant army found no provisions,
and famine, more terrible than the weapons of the Mussulman,
threatened these unconquerable warriors with an inglorious
death. Their sinking hopes were raised by an order of the
day, in which Frederick promised them a new harvest of lau­
rels. “ Soldiers of Christ !” said the emperor, “ to-morrow,
by the help of God, we shall pitch our tents in the gardens of
the Sultan of Iconium : there we shall find abundance of food
and fountains of gushing water. To-morrow, at dawn, let every
man, then, be at his post !” On the morrow, accordingly, the
Crusaders, in line of battle, debouched upon the fertile plain

302

OTWERAL HI8T0RV OF THE CHURCH.

of Iconium. A detachment, led by the Duke of Suabia, in­
vested the walls of the city; the remainder of the army, under
the personal command of the emperor, took up a position in
the sultan’s gardens, and prepared to meet the onset of the
foe. Barbarossa had chosen for himself the post of honor.
The Turks soon came in sight; their cavalry covered the
neighboring hills. “ Follow me !” cried Frederick. “ To Christ
be the glory ! To Christ the empire ! To Christ the victory !”
All opposition fell before the spirited charge ; fifteen thousand
fallen Turks attest the keenness of the Christian blades. While
joyful pæane rise from the ranks of all the Latin host, the
standard of the cross is thrown to the breeze from the towers
of Iconium. The young Duke of Suabia, worthy son of a hero,
had made himself master of the city (1190). The victory of
Iconium secured to the Crusaders a means of communication
with Europe and a much needed supply of provisions ; the way
to Palestine was open; the day of Jerusalem’s redemption
seemed again to dawn. Saladin himself, dismayed by the news
of this brilliant victory, sent ambassadors to Frederick to ask
for peace and promise the restitution of the holy places. Yet
all this glorious success was doomed to a fruitless end. When
the army reached the Cydnus, Frederick, heedless of the en­
treaties of his followers, spurred his steed into the waves which
had already well-nigh proved fatal to another hero. Though
covered with sweat, the intrepid old warrior would swim the
stream. His strength failed him ere he reached the shore, and
the icy billows of the Cydnus rolled above the lifeless form
of Frederick Barbarossa (June 10, 1190). The deepest con­
sternation and despair seized upon the German army. They
had lost their emperor, their general, their father. The echo
of their groans aud lamentations resounded throughout all
Europe. “ Weep !" exclaims Peter of Blois, in an eloquent
letter; “weep, unhappy warriors, faithful subjects of the great­
est earthly king. Your life, your safety, your light and your
defence, your security and your strength, the anchor of your
hope, your refuge and your help—all, alas ! has been stricken

CELESTIN ΠΙ. (A. D. 1191-1198).

303

down by tho pitiless hand of death !” Peter of Blois was not
a subject of the Emperor Frederick; he dwelt in the states of
the King of England. His letter is a spontaneous expression
of the common grief and regret of all Europe. It is a noble
witness of the brotherly ties by which the Crusades had knit
together all the Catholic nations. Frederick of Suabia took
command of the bereaved army, and died like a hero, before
the walls of Ptolemais ; but he could not revive the genius of
his father. The death of Frederick left the German empire
in the hands of Henry VI., who inherited only his father’s
faults, and showed himself the most inveterate enemy of the
Holy See.
39. Clement III. hardly outlived Frederick Barbarossa;
he died on the 25th of March, a. d. 1191, just as, through his
means, Philip Augustus and Richard Cœur de Lion were set­
ting sail for Palestine.
§ VII. Pontificate

of

Celestin ΠΙ. (March 28, a. d. 1191—
January 8, 1198).

40. Cardinal Hyacinth, a member of the powerful family
of the Orsini, was raised to the chair of St. Peter (March 28,
a. d. 1191) as successor to Clement III. The first act of his
Pontificate was the solemn coronation of Henry VI. and the
Empress Constance. The new Cæsar pledged himself to the
Pope to respect all the rights of the Roman Church ; to folow, in his rule, the laws of justice and right, and to restore
all the estates unjustly wrested by his predecessors from
the patrimony of St. Peter. Henry VI. soon forgot his
oath.
41. The whole attention of Europe was now fixed upon the
Crusade. Its future historian, William, archbishop of Tyre,
had preached it in England and France. He related Co aston­
ished Europe the woes of the East, and the cruel disasters he
had himself witnessed. His was the eloquence of a broken
heart ; his tears, yet more eloquent than his burning words, bad

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GENERAL DISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

rallied nearly three hundred thousand men to the standard ot
the cross. Philip Augustus intrusted the government of hia
kingdom to Queen Adèle, his mother, and his uncle, the Arch­
bishop of Rheims. Richard left the regency of the English
realm to his chancellor, William de Longchamp, bishop of Ely.
The two kings had agreed to meet, with their respective forces,
at Vezelay. The fate of the first two Crusades, with the
more recent experience of Frederick Barbarossa, convinced the
Europeans that they could no longer trust the degenerate
Greeks of Constantinople. They determined to go by sea, and
the port of Messina was appointed as the place of general em­
barkation. Since the capture of Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan,
released from Saladin’s fetters, had succeeded in gathering
together nine thousand warriors, the last remains of so many
proud hosts, whose bones lay bleaching beneath the rays of the
Syrian sun. This was a small force to stand against the whole
of Asia, and against Egypt too, whose united powers obeyed
the orders of Saladin. Lusignan hoped against hope, and led
his little band to the siege of the immense city of Ptolemais, or
Acre. The Pisan fleet, equipped in the Pontificate of Gregory
VUI., joined him here ; and, soon afterward, twelve thousand
warriors from Friesland and Denmark unfurled their banners
beside those of the King of Jerusalem. Another fleet landed
more than twenty thousand Flemings under James d’Avesne,
already renowned in the Lombard wars, and destined to win
the martyr’s palm on the soil of Palestine. Thus did the West
arise, as one man, and pour into Asia the flower of its knight­
hood to meet the enemies of the Christian name. Nearly sixty
thousand warriors lay encamped about the walls of Ptolemais ;
the fearless daring of Guy of Lusignan was rewarded. On
learning the arrival of the immense armament, Saladin hastened
forward with a countless horde of Egyptians, Arabs and
Syrians. The Saracens encamped around the Christian leaguer,
like a belt; the besiegers were themselves besieged. The
plain before Acre was made a battle-field, which revived the
prodigies of valor and heroic feats of Homer’s warriors and the

CBLKST1N HI. (A. D. 1)91-1198).

305

siege of Troy. The fate of the world was to he decided on this
confined and narrow theatre.
42. Things were in this state when Philip Augustus, and.
soon after him, Richard Cœur de Lion, landed at Ptolemais.
This re-enforcement decided the chances of war in favor of the
Crusaders. Philip Augustus, brave and magnificent ; Richard,
whose heroic surname, Cœur de Lion, bestowed by the hound­
less admiration of contemporaries, sufficiently attests his fear­
less courage—were adversaries worthy of Saladin. All the
Latin chronicles bear witness in favor of the sultan, that he
worthily emulated the loftiness and generosity of the two Chris­
tian heroes. While the English monarch lay ill of a fever,
Saladin sent him fresh fruit of Damascus and other delicacies.
Intervals of truce occasionally hushed for a space the din of
hostile arms ; the Crusaders then indulged their love of knight­
ly sports by holding tournaments upon the plain of Ptolemais,
to which they invited their Moslem opponents. In these mar­
tial festivities, the Franks feasted at the board of Saladin, to
the sound of Arabian music, and the European troubadours
entertained the Saracens with their national songs and Chris­
tian poetry. The sultan carried his admiration of Richard to
such an extent that he would be knighted by the hero’s
sword. The homage paid to his royal vassal secretly irri­
tated Philip Augustus, nor did the innate pride of the English
hero tend to smottier this germ of jealousy. It was with diffi­
culty that a collision between the two sovereigns was pre­
vented. It was agreed that, when one of the two kings led an
assault upon the city, the other should stay to guard the camp
and meet any attack from Saladin, in the rear. This measure
•estored harmony, and the siege was pushed with redoubled
energy. Ptolemais suffered fearfully from famine ; the Chris­
tian squadron blocked the harbor ; the army cut *oft all com­
munications with the continent. After a resistance of two
years, the city offered to capitulate, with a promise to restore
the true cross, taken by Saladin in the last war; to set at
liberty sixteen hundred Christian prisoners, and to pav two
Vox. ΙΠ.—20

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ORNERAI. DISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

hundred thousand pieces of gold. Λ Mussulman soldier suc­
ceeded in passing through the Christian camp and carried the
news to the sultan. Saladin wept with grief at, the tidings;
he called his emirs to a council ; but at the moment of their
meeting, the standard of the cross appeared upon the towers
of Ptolemais (July 13,1191). It was too late to dream of
resistance.
43. The surrender of Ptolemais was the signal for Philip Au­
gustus to forsake the army of the Cross, and to return to France.
Richard’s haughty bearing had chiefly determined this early
departure. Philip’s feelings toward the English king were
shared by several other princes ; the Archduke Leopold of
Austria showed him a most marked aversion, and afterward
displayed his jealous anger against Richard, more like a pirate
than like a Christian prince. These intestine strifes did not
lessen the ardor of the Lion-Hearted monarch. Under his com­
mand, the army advanced to Joppa. In the forest of Arsur,
two hundred thousand Turks, led by the valiant Saladin, op­
posed the passage of the Christian host. The shock was fear­
ful; Richard was ever found where the Christian army was
weakest; everywhere the flight of the Turks announced his
presence and marked his passage. “ No Saracen,” say the
contemporary chroniclers, “ could stand before him ; he moved
about in this fearful fray like a harvester mowing down the
standing grain.” His battle-cry : “ God, help the Holy Sepul­
chre !" spread dismay and terror through the enemy’s ranks.
The battle of Arsur cost Saladin eight thousand of his warriors
and thirty-two emirs. The Christians lost but a thousand
men. But deep and heartfelt was their grief when they recog­
nized, amid the slain, one of their most skilful and fearless
leaders, James d’Avesnes. He was found covered with wounds
amid a heap of his companions-in-arms, who had fallen around
him. Even when he had lost an arm and a leg, he still con­
tinued to fight, and fell at last, exclaiming : “ 0 Richard !
avenge my death !” The victory of Arsur was a fruitless one ;
for Saladin, hopeless of defending Joppa, had left it in ruins.

CELESTIN ΠΙ. (A. D. Π01-11Μ).

30’

All its towers and battlements were dismantled, the country
was deserted, and the Christian army thus found itself in the
midst of a barren waste, destitute of provisions, exhausted by
the burning heat of the climate, and incessantly harassed by
the Arabs and Saracens, unseen foes, always inflicting hurt,
but always safe from pursuit. To crown all these misfortunes,
Guy of Lusignan was no more, and ambitious pretenders drew
their swords to dispute a nominal heritage: the fictitious royalty
of Jerusalem. In this trying juncture, the conduct of Richard
was even above his heroic fame. On one occasion, a body of
his troops, surrounded by the Mussulmans, were about to be
borne down by superior numbers. Richard heard of their dan­
gerous situation. His whole escort comprised but five war­
riors. Tearing himself away from those who would have
withheld him from rushing into the open jaws of death, the
hero sprang to the saddle and spurred to the scene of action.
“ When all these warriors,” he exclaimed, “ followed my
standard to the field, I promised never to forsake them ;
should they fall without an effort, on my part, to help them,
would I be worthy still to command them and to keep the name
of king ?” Then charging upon the Saracens, he mowed
down their ranks with his terrible blade. His presence gave
new courage to the Christian soldiers ; the unbelievers were
scattered and put to flight. Such was the terror inspired by
Cœur de Lion, that, for a century after the Crusade, his tre­
mendous name was employed by the Syrian mothers to silence
their unruly infants ; and if a horse suddenly started from the
way, his Saracen rider was wont to chide him with the excla­
mation : “ Fool I dost thou think King Richard is in that
bush ?”
44. In the spring of the year 1192, the English monarch
learned, while on the plains af Ascalon, that his unprincipled
brother, John, had profited by his absence to seize his
states. The hero then acquainted the council of chiefs that
the interest of his crown recalled him to the West. But
first he wished to look upon Jerusalem, which he had not yet

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

had time to conquer. Ascending the heights of Emmaiis, he
contemplated the walls and towers of the Holy City, which
protected Saladin with his two hundred thousand warriors. At
the sight of the august city, Richard burst into tears, and
covering his face with his shield, “ I am unworthy,” he ex­
claimed, “ to gaze upon the walls of Jerusalem, which my
arms have not been able to rescue.” But Saladin wished for
peace; his arm, now weakened by the weight of years, found
the sword of war too heavy for its failing strength. Λ truce
of four years was concluded between the King of England and
the Sultan. Jerusalem was to be left open to the devotion of
the Christians, who might also hold the sea-coast from Joppa
to Tyre. The city of Ascalon, which was, by its position, the
key of Egypt, became an object of contention between the
Crusaders and the Turks. To settle the dispute, it was agreed
to destroy the city. The third Crusade was at an end ; it left
to the Latins a vast kingdom in the East. This result, though
incomplete, yet worthily crowned so many deeds of warlike
prowess and prodigious daring (a. d. 1192). Saladin did not
live to çnjoy his triumph; but died at Damascus (1193).
Before breathing his last, he directed one of his emirs to dis­
play his winding-sheet through the streets of the city, and to
proclaim in a loud voice : “ This is all that Saladin, the con­
queror of the East, takes with him to the grave !” The grow­
ing power of Saladin had threatened, like a vast conflagration,
to sweep the world in its onward course ; the third Crusade
stopped its progress and saved Christendom.
45. Richard, on quitting Palestine, set sail from Joppa
(a. d. 1192). His vessel, for a long time tossed at the sport of
the winds and waves, was wrecked -»pon the coast of Dalma­
tia. The King of England, it must be confessed, would have
been safer in the power of Saladin than in the States of the
Christian princes of Europo. Leopold, archduke of Austria,
in contempt of all international laws, seized the unfortunate
monarch and confined him in the stronghold of Durnstein.
Europe was long unacquainted with the captivity of its favorite

CELESTIN ΙΠ. (A. D. 1191-1199).

309

hero. Leopold added a yet more disgraceful outrage to the
first, by selling his prisoner to Henry VI., emperor of Ger­
many. Pope Celestin III. excommunicated both tyrants. All
the Crusaders were under the immediate protection of the
Sovereign Pontiff. Celestin used the thunders of the Church
to rescue the hero who had so nobly fought for the holy causo
on the fields of Palestine. The shameful intrigue ended in an
infamous bargain, by which Henry VI. sold to the English the
liberty of their king for a hundred and fifty thousand marks
of silver. Celestin renewed the sentence of excommunication,
and declared that, unless the emperor and the Archduke of
Austria immediately returned the money paid for Richard's
ransom, they should be forever cut off from the body of the
Church, and at death be deprived of Christian burial. The arm
of divine vengeance seemed to take upon itself to execute .he
sentence of the Sovereign Pontiff. In 1194 Leopold died sud­
denly, of a fall from his horse. He had time, however, to ask
forgiveness for his crime, and commanded that the money re­
ceived for Richard's ransom should be restored. On this con­
sideration he obtained absolution from the censures he had in­
curred. In 1197, Henry VI. also died, but without having
been released from the sentence of excommunication. Trust­
ing in his treasures and in the number of his troops, he laughed
at the thunders of the Church. In spite of the express orders
of Celestin III. to the contrary, he had lately seized upon
Sicily, by armed force. Queen Sibylla and her youthful son,
William, the last heirs of the Norman princes, were condemned
to perpetual banishment; the young prince moreover was
cruelly deprived of sight. The emperor transferred to his own
territory all the treasures and wealth of Sicily; he ordered
the bodies of King Tancred and his son Roger to be unearthed,
that he might possess himself of the royal crowns with which
they had been buried. This inhuman act drew upon him an­
other sentence of excommunication. God Himself undertook
to confirm it. and Henry VI. died at Messina (September 28,
1197), cursed by all Sicily and abhorred by the whole world

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Popo Celestin forbade him Christian burial. This was the last
act of his Pontificate. Borne down by years and toil, he still
thought to arm the West for a fourth Crusade; death inter­
rupted his preparations (January 8,1198). With Celestin III.
ends the twelfth century.
46. The impulse which bore on chosen souls to the practice
of the highest virtues had not failed in this last period. It
may suffice to mention St. Hugh, bishop of Lincoln ; St. Al­
bert, bishop of Liege; St. Mary of Oignies; St. Homobonus,
a tradesman of Cremona; Blessed Peter Acolanto, of Venice;
St. William and his son St. Peregrinus, at Antioch, and St.
Drogo, patron of shepherds. Thus every rank, every con­
dition of societj', gave its tribute to the twelfth century in
bright examples of edification and holiness. While the Pon­
tilis carried on a vigorous struggle with the emperors and
kings of the earth, pious souls were triumphing in bloodless
warfare, and fought the battles of the Lord in the solitude of
the cloister as well as amid the tumult and agitation of the
world. The Church is the ark which ever affords a shelter to
the faithful dove ; and, through defections, apostasies and per­
secutions, she still holds her triumphant course through the
flow of aees, to the shores of endless life.

INNOCENT III. (A. D. 1108-121«),

311

CHAPTER VIII.
Pontificate of Innocent HI. (January 8, a. d. 1198—July 16, 1216).

1. Influence of the Papacy in the Middle-Ages.—2. Election and antecedente of
Innocent III.—3. Life of Innocent III., after his promotion.—I. State of
the world at the time of his accession. —5. Innocent IIL restores the Pon­
tifical power in Italy.—6. The Pope bestows the investiture of the kingdom
of Sicily upon Queen Constance. Affair of the Four Chapters. Innocent
HL becomes the guardian of the youthful Frederick Π.—7. Philip Augus­
tus repudiates Queen Ingelberga.—8. Philip Augustus solemnly excommu­
nicated in the Council of Dijon.—9. Philip submits and receives back Ingelberga.—10. The question of succession to the German throne. Guelphs
and Ghibellines.—11. Otho, duke of Aquitaine, elected and crowned em­
peror.—12. Otho, proving false to his oath to the Holy See, is deposed by
Innocent III., and the crown is bestowed upon Frederick H, king of Sicily.
—13. The Pope calls to his tribunal the question in dispute between Philip
Augustus and John Lackland.—14. King John excommunicated by Inno­
cent III. Hie submission. Battle of Bouvines.—15. Fourth Crusade.—
10. Capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders. Foundation of a Latin
empire in the East.—17. Success of the Christians in Spain.—18. Crusade
against the Albigenses. Simon of Montfort.—19. St Dominic.—20. St
Francis of Assist—21. Twelfth general, and fourth Lateran, Council.—22.
Death of Innocent HL

Pontificate of Innocent III. (January 8, a. d. 1198—July 16,
1216).

1. The history of the Church is the history of modern
civilization. The greatness and power of the one is always
the measure of the other’s progress. This position has already
been justified by the Pontificate of Gregory VII. ; that of In­
nocent III. will afford an undeniable confirmation. These two
names and their period of power mark the culminating point of
the middle-ages. Never did the Papacy more visibly rule the

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OENEKAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

world. Tho various interests of European nations, the claims
of rival kings, the imperial elections, the hopes of parties, the
prayers of whole populations—all turned to the Sovereign Pon­
tiff as to the centre of authority, the supreme arbiter of all
disputes, the distributer of crowns, and the universal mediator.
In view of this immense power wielded by the Popes, writers
are divided in judgment and opinion. Some can see in Greg­
ory VII. and Innocent III. only ambitious minds, profiting by
the credulity of their times to enslave the world and bind it
to the footstool of the Apostolic chair. Their theory exhibits
the Church, during the whole period of the middle-ages, as
straying wide of the right path ; the policy of her Popes must
be deemed a protracted wandering, and we must strike from its
annals those pages bright with so many glorious names. Grant­
ing, with Fleury and the other historians of his school, that the
Sovereign Pontiffs of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were
led on only by motives of personal ambition utterly foreign to
the true spirit of their divine mission, St. Gregory VII.,
Alexander III., Innocent III., would have been but illustrious
usurpers, using their august character as a cloak to their en­
croachments and unjust aggressions upon the temporal power.
Another view has been offered, in our own time, by the
influence of deeper and more impartial study ; and the fore­
most opponents of the hostile prejudices put forth in the
last century have been Protestant historians.
*
They hold, as
we have repeatedly observed, that the Popes in question, in
bestowing and withdrawing crowns, acted in virtue of a sover­
eign authority with which they had been clothed by the public
law and opinion of the middle-ages. They never sought con­
trol·, it was bestowed upon them. Nations, kings and emperors
sought their arbitration, submitted to their decisions, received
their decrees, as those of the highest authority, as expressions
of the will of God Himself, "Whose earthly representatives they
were. Thus viewed, the Church has not lived three centuries
• Voigt, History of tho Ponttftcato of St. Gregory VII.—Huutkb, History of the Poo·
bfccaU of Irmocool 111.—Risks, UisVjry of the Popes.

INNOCENT III (A. D. 1198-1316).

313

in error ; she has not deviated from the holiness of her insti­
tution ; she has not been, for a single instant, forsaken by the
spirit of Jesus Christ, Who had said to her: “Behold, 1 am
with you all days, even to the end of the world.”
2. In choosing a successor to Celestin III., the votes of the
cardinals fell upon the deacon Lothaire, a member of the illus­
trious house of Conti, and only thirty-seven years old. On his
promotion to the Apostolic chair, he took the name of Innocent
III. He was evidently the man destined by God to rule His
Church. He was endowed with all those qualities which go
to make up a great man ; a vast and lofty intellect, unwonted
skill and prudence, keen perception, premature experience, un­
flagging energy, and unruffled mildness. The early years of
Innocent’s life had been devoted to study. The University of
Paris, “ that fountain-head of all learning," in the words of
contemporary chroniclers, “ which rivalled the most renowned
schools of Greece and Egypt," had seen the youthful Lothaire
leading in the paths of science that people of studente who seemed
to form, a city in the midst of a city. The celebrated masters
Peter Cantor, Melchior of Pisa, Peter of Corbeil and Peter
Camestor, numbered him among their most studious disciples.
Quitting the capital of Fiance, for which he ever cherished an
almost filial love, he repaired to Bologna, which then contained
the most flourishing law-school in the world. Providence was
thus leading him, by the paths of learning, to the highest point
of worldly honor. Clement III. raised him to the cardinalate.
Austere, simple, and poor in the midst of wealth, Lothaire
showed himself the most unbending censor of luxury and plea­
sure ; and was the author of a work on “ The Miseries of Life,
or Contempt of the World." When elected Pope, he threw
himself at the feet of the cardinals, entreating them not to lay
upon him a burden he so much dreaded. “ Should the honor
of that august dignity,” he urged, “ be compromised by a young
and inexperienced man ?" It was that very youthfulness, nour­
ished by solid studies, trained up in meditation, sanctified by the
practice of every virtue, superior to its years by a consummate

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GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

prudence and a maturity worthy of gray hairs, which had t *.
termined the choice of the cardinals (January 8, a. d. 1198).
3. Raised, in spite of his protestations, to the chair of 11,
Peter, Innocent III. gave his whole mind to the task now before
him ; his life was entirely devoted to the service of the Churc'i
“There are so few,” he used to say, “who can fitly serve a
single master ; how, then, shall one alone serve all ? And yet I
am the servant of all the servants ; a debtor to the wise and to
the foolish!" His tireless energy was equal to the mo’-t
numerous and varied occupations. Every morning he held &
consistory with the most distinguished cardinals and religio *·.,
who composed his council, giving his undivided attention to
every question proposed, examining them with the strictest
care, requiring all the reports, proofs, testimonies and min ute
documents. His keen perception pierced' the most intri» ate
affairs and showed him their future issue, as by a kind of super­
natural divination; sound reason and correct judgment were
materially helped by a thorough knowledge of history. In the
evening he received all those who had petitions to present;
gave audience to strangers and royal ambassadors, heard all
complaints, investigated every wrong, did justice to all. His
judgments, stamped with the seal of solemn grandeur and im­
partiality, were uttered after mature deliberation, and were
always irrevocable. “ His love of justice,” says Hurter, “ was
a resolution interwoven, so to speak, with every act of his
life." Amid the important duties which consumed his every
moment, his active piety still found time to compose works
which spoke the retreat and silence of the cloister. One of his
works, still extant, full of tender feeling and moving pathos,
is entitled : Innocenta III. de sacro altaris mysterio, libri VI.
The liturgy of the Church is indebted to him for the insertion
of that sublime plaint, the Stabat Mater, and the pious petition,
Veni Creator.
4. The state of the world at the period of his accession
opened a vast field to the Apostolic zeal of Innocent III. The
Romans, still blinded by the memories of their classic heroes,

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315

could not yet understand the high destiny marked out by
Providence for Papal Rome. Political revolutions deluged
Sicily with blood ; its Norman dynasty
reduced to a
queen, widowed and captive, with her royal child deprived of
sight ; its German dynasty was also represented by a widowed
queen and a king five years of age. In Lombardy, the free
republics and the Germans were contending for an ephemeral
sovereignty ; anarchy reigned supreme, unity was utterly lost.
In Germany, the imperial sceptre of Henry VI. became an ob­
ject of strife between three rival claimants : Philip, duke of
Suabia, Otho, duke of Aquitaine, and the King of Sicily,
Frederick Π., son of the late emperor. In France, Philip
Augustus, blinded by a criminal passion, forgot his glory to
shock the world by an incestuous alliance. In England,
Richard Cœur de Lion was doomed to fall by an arrow from an
ignoble hand, at the siege of Chaluz, leaving his crown to John,
his brother, who possessed the qualities neither of a soldier, a
king, nor even of an honest man. In Spain, the bloody victory
of Alarcos, won by the Emir Almanzor over Alphonso IX.,
king of Castile (a. d. 1195), placed the Moors in full posses­
sion of all the southern provinces of the Peninsula. The
Christian kings of that country, utterly abandoned to the most
shameful passions, outraged the sanctity of marriage, and, in
domestic strife, turned against each other the weapons they
should have borne against the common enemy. In the East,
the fate of the world was to be decided by bloody struggle”
between Christian civilization and Mussulman barbarism ; while
in the West, a sect more dangerous than Islamism, the Albi­
gensian heresy, under a specious show of Christian orthodoxy,
strove to sap the foundation of all religion, morality and social
order. Such was the herculean task set before the new Pon­
tiff; Innocent III. will be found equal to the work.
5. On the day following his consecration, he distributed
among the inhabitants of Rome nearly four hundred thousand
crowns, on the occasion of his happy accession. This Pontifi­
cal bounty won the prestige of popularity for his administra-

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

tion, and he availed himself of it to destroy the remains of (|ιθ
revolutionary instituions established by Arnold of Brescia
Like every nation that has fallen from the zenith of its glorv
the Romans still imagined themselves at the heiglit of their
greatness, when uttering the names of their ancient heroes
while momentarily reviving social forms long since dead, or
weaving themselves crowns with the withered laurels of by­
gone ages Innocent III. countenanced this prejudice in as
far as it was allowable and not derogatory to the authority of
the Holy See. He appointed a senator, charged to represent
the interests of the Roman people, but bound, by oath, to pro­
tect the possessions of the Roman Church ; to undertake noth­
ing, either by counsel or by act, against the life of the Pope ;
to bear him out in his administration; in fine, to guard,
throughout the whole extent of his jurisdiction, the safety of
the cardinals. The præfect of Rome gave the same pledge.
During a terrible famine which ravaged Italy in 1202, tho
Romans were convinced that, if Innocent ruled his people with
the sceptre of a sovereign, he loved them with the heart of a
father. For six months the charitable Pontiff daily provided
for the subsistence of eight thousand poor persons. A people’s
love repaid these deeds of merciful charity ; they could not
but be faithful to a power which showed itself in acts of gener­
ous compassion. While Innocent was dispensing the treasures
of the Church with so liberal a hand, he acted with vigor
against the spoilers of the Holy See. Henry VI. bad, in the
last years of his reign, seized upon the marches of Ancona and
the Romagna, which he bestowed as fiefs upon his Seneschal
Markwald. Innocent sent two cardinals to demand the res
teration of the estates to the Roman Church. Markwald
refused to comply, and was excommunicated. The people were
weary of the German yoke, and longed to obey a Sovereign
Pontiff whose rule drew upon him the benedictions of his sub­
jects. The} rose up in arms against Markwald, drove him from
their territory, and laid the keys of their cities at the Pontiff’s
feet. Their example was followed by the exarchate of Ravenna.

INNOCENT ΙΠ. (A. D. ·19β-1ΐ1β).

317

The duchy of Spoleto, the county of Aeaisi, and Tuscaty, the
greater part of which had been bequeathed, by the Princes»
Matilda, more than a centufy before, to the Holy See, and
which the emperors had hitherto unjustly held, now expelled
their German governors and formed a league, of which the
Pope was declared the chief and the protector. Thus, in the
first year of his reign, Innocent had won back Ancona, Fermo,
Osimo, Fano, Sinigaglia, Spoleto, Rieti, Assisi, Foligno, Nocera,
Todi, Perugia, Sabinum and the county of Beneventum. Com­
paring the extent of the temporal domain held by his predeces­
sors with what he had just added to it, Innocent might justly
say that “ he owed these estates not to the power of sword or
spear, but to the marvellous providence of Him Who rules all
things.”
6. A wider field was opened in Southern Italy to the liber­
ating genius of Innocent III. Constance, queen of Sicily
and widow of Henry VI., was beset by powerful factions. She
felt that her best hope of strengthening the position of the
young king, her son, was to seek a closer alliance with the
Holy See, long recognized as suzerain of the kingdom of Sicily.
She sent a request to the Pope that he would confirm the claim
of the youthful Frederick IT. to his states, by bestowing upon
him the solemn investiture of them. Before proceeding to a pub­
lic recognition of the German dynasty upon the Sicilian throne,
Innocent III. gave a thought to the unfortunate remnants of
the fallen house. He pressed the release of the unhappy
Queen Sibylla, of her son, William, and her two daughters.
They were restored to freedom, and Europe once more re­
ceived a practical proof that the Holy See is the natural de­
fender of the widow and the orphan. Another preliminary ques­
tion was then treated between the Pope and Queen Constance
Adrian IV. had granted to King William I. very extensive
ecclesiastical privileges for all the Sicilian provinces. These
grants, known as the Four Chapters, regarded legations, eccle­
siastical nominations, appeals to the Holy See, and councils.
Innocent deemed it his most sacred duty to free the Church

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GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

from every secular influence opposed to its discipline. He be­
lieved, moreover, that after the extinction of the old Sicilian
dynasty, it no longer became the suzerain to uphold personal
privileges and favors inconsistent with the duties of his high
dignity. Queen Constance yielded to the Pontifical judgment ;
the Four Chapters were annulled, and the Pope at once granted
the bull of investiture (a. d. 1198). Constance did not live
to enjoy the concession. With the self-sacrificing spirit of a
mother, she had made heroic efforts to secure to her son Fred­
erick Π. the peaceful possession of the Sicilian throne. Even
in her last hour, still solicitous for the welfare of the royal
youth whom she was leaving without support amid foes of
every kind, upon a throne of questionable firmness, she in­
stinctively turned her dying looks upon Innocent III., intrusted
to his keeping what was dearest to her on earth, and named
him guardian of Frederick II. and of the kingdom of Sicily
(November 27, 1198). Receiving this bequest of a* mother's
tender love, the Pope wrote to the young king : “ Dry your
tears ; God gives you a spiritual father instead.of the temporal
father you have lost ; to fill the place of the Empress Constance,
your mother of glorious memory, He has given you a mother
that never forgets her children—the undying Roman Church.
We will love, protect and defend you with a mother’s care, for
the honor and dignity of the royal authority, for the safety of
your kingdom and the good of your subjects.” Innocent ac­
cordingly turned his thoughts, at once, upon the interests of
Sicily, displaying his personal energy and the vast resources
of the Apostolic authority against the ever renewed factions
of that unfortunate country. This tutelary watchfulness lasted
from the year 1199 until 1208, at which period Frederick
attained his majority, and the Pontiff delivered up to him his
inheritance in a prosperous and flourishing condition. Tho
office of the guardian was ended ; but gratitude made it a duty
for the youthful monarch not to break off friendly relations with
a counsellor like Innocent HI., at an age in which his want of
experience made a guiding hand so necessary. We shall find

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319

tho Pope still adding new favors to the services already ren­
dered ; Frederick repays them only with ingratitude.
7. Celestin III. left unsettled one of the most serious ques­
tions of his period—the divorce of Philip Augustus and Ingelberga. The French monarch had seen his first wife, Isabella
of Hainaut, daughter of Count Baldwin IV., consigned to the
grave in tbe flowei of her age. On his return from Palestine,
he wished to contract an alliance which might help his struggle
against the power of his rival, Richard Cœur de Lion. He
cast his eyes upon Ingelberga, daughter of Vlademar, king of
Denmark, hoping thus to turn away that kingdom from the
English cause. This union had hardly been solemnized, when
Philip began to show an uncontrolled aversion for Ingelberga,
whom all contemporary historians agree in describing as a most
virtuous and accomplished princess. On a false pretext of kin­
dred, he obtained the annulment of his marriage by a council
of venal bishops assembled at Compïègne. The wretched
queen, summoned before this tribunal, was utterly defenceless
—she knew not the language of her judges. When her sen­
tence was pronounced, it was translated for her by an interpre­
ter ; she could only cry in mournful accents : “ Rome ! Rome!”
The cry of outraged innocence appealed to the supreme tribu­
nal, to the champion of the right, to the refuge of the wronged.
She refused to return to Denmark. Philip, forgetful of his
knighthood and Christian royalty, ordered his victim to be con­
fined in the convent of Beaurepaire, and espoused Agnes of
Merania, the object of his criminal passion (a. d. 1196). The
case had been brought before the Holy See on the eve of the
death of Celestin III.
8. Innocent III. knew no by-ways in the path of duty
The check was as vigorous as the crime had been flagrant
“ This was not a question,” says Hurter, “ of temporal domain,
or of contested rights, with the Holy See ; the great point ai
issue was summed up in the question : Is the Catholic sover­
eign amenable to the laws of Christianity which bind his sub·
jects ? We may premise here, that if those laws were then

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GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

enforced in a different manner, and perhaps more sternly than
at present, the fact affords no ground for blaming the conduct
of the Pope in the present circumstance. In the matter of
this divorce, Innocent III. followed only a just appreciation of
his own duty and of that of princes; actuated by a truly
Apostolic zeal, he was open to no earthly consideration. II©
would never consent to sacrifice the high moral importance of
his dignity for the sake of a powerful ally in the German
troubles ; nor to purchase, at the price of a guilty concession,
the king's assistance for the Crusade. To call his firmness a
crime, would be to make a dangerous example for all ages ; it
would break down the barrier between power and duty, and re­
lease man from every moral obligation. What countless woes
would have been spared France and all Europe, had Louis XV.
found, in the Apostolic chair, the unbending severity, the un­
conquerable energy of Innocent III. ! The duty of the Pope
is to be the pastor of kings, and, thereby, the savior of the
people.” Peter of Capua was sent to France (a. d. 1198) as
legate. He was empowered, in the event of Philip’s refusal to
return to the path of duty, to lay the whole kingdom under
interdict. The monarch's stubborn will would not bend to the
arguments and threats of the legate, the counsels of the
clergy and the prayers of his true friends. He presented
Agnes to the army, crowned her with his own hands, and made
his knights and barons swear to shed the last drop of their
blood in her behalf. Following the express order of the Sover­
eign Pontiff, Peter of Capua convoked a council of the bishops
of France, at Dijon (1199). Philip refused to appear ; he sent
two delegates, however, who were instructed, by way of gain­
ing time, to appeal from the decision of the council to the im­
mediate judgment of the Holy See ; a subterfuge common to
all rebels, who appeal from the sentence of the Pope to tho
judgment of a council, and from the sentence of the council to
the judgment of the Pope. Innocent III., foreseeing this ma­
nœuvre, expressly forbade his legate to make any account of the
appeal which might be offered. On the 12th of December.

INNOCENT ΙΠ. (A. D. 1198-1218).

321

1199, at midnight, the mournful tolling of the cathedral hells
summoned the Fathers of the Council of Dijon. The bishop
*
and priests repaired in silence to the Basilica, lighted on their
way by flaming torches. The image of the Crucified was cov­
ered with a black veil. The sacred relics had been removed to
the crypts ; the last remains of the consecrated hosts had heen
burned. The legate, wearing a violet stole, as on the day that
commemorates the Saviour’s Passion, pronounced the ecclesias­
tical interdict “ upon all the provinces subject to the rale of the
King of France, so long as that prince refused to break off his
adulterous commerce with Agnes of Merania.” At these words,
all the torches were thrown to the ground and extinguished,
adding the horror of deep darkness to the awe inspired by
the impressive ceremony itself ; the arches of the cathedral
resounded with the mingled groans and sobs of women, children
and old men. “ The last great day,” says a contemporary
writer, “ seemed at hand.” The execution of the interdict
threw a veil of mourning over the whole of France ; all was
consternation, and the writers of the day describe the general
grief in the most pathetic terms. Numbers of the faithful
thronged to Normandy and other territories of the English
king, solely to enjoy the consolations of religion.
9. The French hierarchy, encouraged by the noble and fear­
less Peter of Arras, proved itself, with very few exceptions,
worthy of the Pope who had relied upon its concurrence. In
all the dioceses, the churches were closed and the divine office
suspended. The wrath of Philip was poured out upon the
clergy. The Bishop of Paris, Eudes de Sully, was banished,
and his dwelling given up to pillage. The Bishop of Senlis was
only saved by flight from a still more severe visitation. Ingel­
berga, the guiltless cause, and herself the victim, of this storm
of royal rage, was condemned to the most rigorous imprison­
ment in the stronghold of Etarapes. The king’s violence only
embittered the minds of his subjects; the barons appealed to the
sword ; Philip's attendants shunned his presence and fled from
him as from the enemy of God and men. In this extremity,
Vou in.—91

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0ENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

divided between a sense of duty and the promptings of a pas­
sion which seemed to grow by opposition, the king sent some
knights to Innocent, to complain of the legate's harshness.
'•The king, our master,” said they, “is ready to appear before
judges appointed by tho Holy See, and to submit to their sen­
tence." “ To what sentence ?" asked Innocent. “ There can
be but one, and that one has been already uttered. Let the
king put away Agnes of Merania and restore the queen to all
Her rights as lawful spouse.” This reply only redoubled the fury
of Philip. “Happy Saladin !” exclaimed the blinded mon­
arch ; “ he had no Pope !" Resolved upon making a last effort
in behalf of the object of his criminal love, Philip called to­
gether the prelates and nobles of the kingdom, to a solemn
assembly. Agnes of Merania appeared before them, pale and
wasted by the interior grief and struggles which preyed upon
her soul. “ Like the widowed partner of Hector,” says a con­
temporary writer, “ she would have moved the whole Grecian
host. The full freshness and glow of youth, the grace with
which, five years before, she bestowed the prizes upon the vic­
tors in the lists, had fled her wan and haggard cheek.” The
king hoped that the sad contrast might touch the hearts of his
warriors. The barons stood in deep silence. “ What must I
do?” asked Philip. “ Obey the Pope,” they answered ; “ put
away Agnes and restore Ingelberga.” To this unanimous Judg­
ment the king was forced to yield ; and never, not even upon the
field of Bouvines, did he appear greater ; never did he better
deserve the title of Augustus ; for the noblest, the hardest,
the most glorious victory is the triumph over self and over the
passions that struggle for mastery in the heart. Agnes was
repudiated, and died soon after. The pious Ingelberga re­
ascended a throne of which her virtues made her worthy.
Philip now thought only of obliterating the memory of these
stormy days by the splendor of his reign and by a wise adminis
tration (a. d. 1200-1207). Innocent had achieved his object ;
the scandal was repaired. “ If Christianity,” says Hurter, on
this subject, “has not been thrown aside as a worthless creed.

INNOCENT III. (A. D. 1198-1319).

323

into some isolated corner of the world ; if it has not, like the
sects of India, been reduced to a mere theory; if its European
vitality has outlived the voluptuous effeminacy of the East—
it is due to the watchful severity of the Roman Pontiffs, to
their unceasing care to maintain the principle of authority in
the Church.”
10. The whole attention of Innocent III. was demanded
by events of the highest political import. Germany, convulsed
to its very centre, sought from the Pontifical power a rule
of conduct amid the domestic strifes which were rending it
asunder. The princes of the house of Hohenstauffen, leaders
of the Weibling or Ghibelline faction, numbered three succes­
sive empeiors since Frederick I. The house of Welfs, or
Guelphs—a house of longer standing—vied with them in power
and *
splendor.
Philip, duke of Suabia, a brother of Henry
,
IV.
represented the Ghibellines ; Otho, duke of Aquitaine, was
the leader of the Guelphs. The two factions simultaneously
elected their respective chiefs to the imperial throne, without
any regard to the claims put forward in behalf of the young
king of Sicily, Frederick II., upon whom his father, Henry
,
VI.
had bestowed the crown, while yet an infant The two
active competitors, Philip and Otho, appealed, at the same
time, to the Sovereign Pontiff, to obtain the confirmation of
their respective elections. Here again we find an undeniable
evidence of the supreme authority with which the public law
of the middle-ages invested the Papacy, in all questions touch­
• "There were, in Germany, two powerful families, one of which was known by th·
name of Salic or Weiblingen, from Weibling, the name of * castle in the diocese of Aug>
burg, among the Hartz mountains, where thia race probably originated. The partisans of
this house, which had given several emperors to the German realm, were called the Weibling. Tho rival race, whose seat was in Altorf, at this period held Bavaria, and had been
successively represented by the princes hearing the name of Wiÿi The Popes had often
been engaged in struggles with tho Weiblings, while the Welfs frequently espoused the
Pontifical cause. Unhappy Italy, already so cruelly torn by its own domestic quarrels;
took part in the disputes of strangers. The names Welf and Weibling were poorly adapted
to tho Italian organs of pronunciation. Each faction fitted its name to the rhythm of the
national pronunciation- The Pope's adherents, in Italy, called themselves Guelfi—Guelph·;
their opponents took tho name of GMbellini—Ghibellines."—M. Abtaud di MohTOS. H»
toire d«e souverains PunUb», i. .1, p. 308.

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE C'MUwUu.

ing disputed successions and the peace of nations. “ By inter­
vening in the election of the German emperor,” says Hurtei,
‘•Innocent III. did not encroach upon the rights of the empire
to the profit of the Holy See; he simply complied with the
expressed wish of all Europe, which stood in expectation of his
decision."· Tho Pontiff's decision was determined by two lead­
ing considerations. He had no more thought, than the Ger­
man electors themselves, of setting forth the claims of his ward,
Frederick II. “ Woe to thee, 0 land, when thy king is a child !”
he exclaimed in the famous bull which made known his deci­
sion to Germany. “ Let it not be said that Frederick II. is
under Our guardianship. The imperial throne is elective, not
hereditary. Our duty, as guardian, does not extend to placing
I ho orphan in possession of the empire, but only to maintain
him in the kingdom of Sicily.”
11. The choice was thus limited to Philip of Suabia and
Otho of Aquitaine. In an alternative which was equally
threatening on either side, the Pope rose to the highest view of
public order and the general welfare. He must, on the one
hand, guard the rights of an essentially elective empire. He
was equally bound, on the other, in his choice of an emperor to
secure to the Roman Church a zealous defender, an obedient
son, worthy to bear the crown and the sword of Charlemagne.
Had the choice fallen upon Philip of Suabia, who was a brother
of Henry VI., he would have been the fourth emperor of the
•“Fleury professes to believe that the Popes grounded their daim to authority over
kings only upon a false interpretation of the well-known text from the Prophet Jeremies Eoce constitui te hodie super gentes et super regna, ut evellas, et destruas, et disperdas
et dissipes, et Edifices, et plantes.' We have already shown that this power was based
upon the public law of the middle-ages, nor need we hero repeat tho proofs. We may,
however, udd, that the writers hostile to tho Papacy have followed a falso reasoning, by
starting from the scholastic disputations of tl.o day and the words of the Popes loaning upon
the interpretation of tho {Scriptures. They have failed to see thst human affairs may
always be viewed Atom two points: tho one adopted by men. the other by truth, independ­
ent of purely human views. The same case holds with the Popes ; all the argumenta by
which they supported their authority may not be equally conclusive, and yet the admission
implies nothing against the principle itaelf."—Cousr di Bbaosobt. History of the Popes,
V1H.P.ÎW

INNOCENT ΠΙ. (A. D. 1199-131#).

325

house of Hohenstauffen, upon the German throne. He would
no longer have been an elective, but simply a hereditary prince.
“ If brother were now to succeed brother,” said the Pope, “ as
the son was wont to succeed his father, the empire would cease
to be conferred by election, and would descend by right of
inheritance ; and the abuse would speedily grow into a pre­
emption ” Besides, Philip had long before been excommunica
ted by the Holy See for having joined Henry VI. in usurping
Pontifical domains and fiefs in Italy, driven bishops from their
sees, and imprisoned all the clerics who showed any attach­
ment to the Sovereign Pontiff. Such antecedents gave little
promise of faithful championship for the Church. Innocent,
therefore, decided in favor of Otho, duke of Aquitaine ; thus
equally saving the rights of the empire and the elective free­
dom of the German princes. “To him,” says Hurter, “is
Germany indebted for the happiness of not having been
agglomerated into one single mass, which might, perhaps, have
outwardly displayed greater power, but which could never
have brought forth, within itself, that wealth and variety of
intellectual culture which distinguishes the German race above
all others.” Philip of Suabia was not prepared to bow to an
unfavorable decision ; he resolved to enforce his claim by
arms. From a. d. 1201 till 1208 Germany was made a battle­
field, on which the contending parties struggled with varying
success. Streams of blood attested the obstinacy of Philip’s
ambition. At length the divine power interposed to ratify the
Pontifical judgment. On the 21st of June, 1208, Otho of
Vittelsbach, count palatine of Bavaria, irritated by a persona
grievance received from Philip, rushed, sword in hand, into the
duke’s apartments in the palace of Bamberg. “Put up your
sword," said the duke, “ it is not needed here.” “ I do need
it,” replied the Palatine, “ to revenge myself of your faithless­
ness." With these words he struck him dead upon the spot
This event closed the struggle. There was now but one party
in Germany; the general Diet of Frankfort (November Uth,
1208) solemnly recognized the candidate chosen by Pope luno

,$26

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

cent III. To strengthen the bonds of pence, it was agreed that
Otho should marry Beatrice, daughter and heiress of Philip of
Suabia. The new emperor at once set out, with his youthful
bride, for the Eternal City, to receive the imperial crown from
the hands of the Pope, his benefactor. The ceremony took
place in St. Peter’s church, with a pomp and splendor until
then unparalleled. “Do you desire to live in peace with the
Church ?" asked the Pope. “ I do,” replied Otho. “ Then do
I give you peace, as it was given by our Lord to His disciples,”
said Innocent, kissing the emperor upon the forehead. “ Will
you bo a true son of the Church ?” again asked the Pontiff.
“I will," returned the emperor. “Then I receive you as a
true son of the Church and at these words the Pope cov­
ered Otho with the folds of his Pontifical mantle. Otho was
not to be more faithful than had been his predecessors to the
solemn obligation.
12. As he travelled by Assisi, on his way to Rome, Otho
had passed the hermitage of Rivo-Torto, the first retreat of SI.
Francis of Assisi. The holy solitary did not quit his cell to
view the imperial pageant as it passed, but simply sent one of
his disciples to bear to the prince this short message : “ The
glory that surrounds you will be short-lived.” The prediction
was true, but it was realized through the emperor’s own ingrati­
tude. He owed all his prosperity to Pope Innocent III.
When fairly seated upon the throne which had cost him so
many contests, he deemed himself strong enough to stand in
open opposition to his protector. He seized the estate of the
Church, in Tuscany, and invaded the territory of Frederick II.,
king of Sicily. But he was soon to learn that Innocent III.
could take back what he had bestowed. The ungrateful em­
peror was excommunicated. The Pontifical sentence pro­
nounced his deposition from the throne, and freed his subjects
from their oath of fidelity. Through the instrumentality of the
Pope, the Diet of Nuremberg then gave the crown to the young
King of Sicily. The late ward of the Holy See might have
learned, in the remarkable circumstances of his elevation and

INNOCENT 1Π. (A. D. 1198-191·).

327

of the sudden fall of his predecessor, that the Church of God
may not be outraged with impunity ; but he, too, was deaf to
the manifest warning. The deposed emperor appealed to arms;
but the justice of God awaited him at Bouvines.
13. The same field was to prove fatal also to John of Eng­
land. The character of John stands before us polluted with
meanness, cruelty, insincerity and suspicion. Arrogant in
prosperity, abject in adversity, a traitor to bis friends and a
coward before his enemies, John had reached the throne by
murder. In the strict order of hereditary succession, followed
in the feudal states, the crown, at the death of Richard, should
have devolved to his nephew Arthur, duke of Bretagne, a boy
in the twelfth year of his age. John, who made light of crime,
rid himself of his rival by a shocking murder (a. d. 1203).
Philip summoned the murderer, as vassal of the crown of France,
to prove his innocence in the presence of the French peers.
John, however, refused; he was declared guilty of felony, con
demned to death and to the forfeiture of all the lands he held
by homage. Philip took into his own hands the execution of
the sentence. Within a year, he had made himself master of
Normandy, Anjou, Maine and Poitou, which he added to the
royal domain, leaving only Guienne in the hands of the Eng­
lish. He would have carried his conquering arms still further,
and meant to follow up his false vassal into the very heart of
England, when John appealed to the Pope, entreating his pro­
tection against a powerful opponent. Innocent III., who had
styled himself “ the representative of Jesus Christ on earth,
the supreme peace-maker,” thought it fitting to intervene and
stop the shedding of blood. In the celebrated bull Novit Ille,
addressed to Philip, in the name of the spiritual jurisdiction
with which he was invested over kings and nations, in the
name of the sovereign authority given him by his divine mis­
sion, he commanded the King of France to cease hostilities.
Calling up the case before his own tribunal, he reserved the
rights of both parties until the rendering of a final judgment.
The enemies of the Papacy strongly censure the action of In­

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GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

nocent III. in this event, and, taking exception to the tenor of
the bull itself, they labor to prove that the ground upon which
the Sovereign Pontiff rested his assumed jurisdiction, has no
foundation either in fact or in right. The best answer to
their arguments is that afforded by the facts themselves.
Philip obeyed, and concluded a truce of five years with the
English king; and he certainly understood the public law of
the middle-ages better than the posthumous adversaries of In­
nocent III.
14. John was unworthy of the Pontifical protection.
Within a year of the time at which it had thrown its sheltering
mantle over him, he was renewing the contests and cruelty
of Henry IL, and driving from his see the virtuous Cardinal
Langton, archbishop of Canterbury. The same hand that had
been so readily stretched out to save was now raised, with
equal promptness and power, to hurl the thunders of the Church
against the ungrateful rebel. The whole kingdom of England
was placed under an interdict. John answered this display of
energy by an infamous act of cruelty and derision. He ordered
tbe intrepid Geoffrey, archdeacon of Norwich, who had dared
to promulgate the Pontifical decree, to be imprisoned and
clothed in a ponderous cope of lead, and in this state the un­
happy victim was left without food or assistance, until he ex­
pired. In a great chase, a few days later, coming in at the death
of a hunted stag, the king could affect to be witty on such a
solemn matter as tbe interdict that weighed upon his kingdom.
“ That beast was in a very good condition," he said, “ though it
had never heard a mass.” In his rage against the Pope and the
Christian princes, he solicited the aid of Mohammed-al-Nassir,
who had assumed the usual appellation of the Emir al Moumenim, offering to acknowledge him as suzerain and to embrace
the Mahometan faith, in return for his alliance against the
Pope. When the English deputies had made known their er­
rand, the emir closed a book which he had been reading, and
replied : “ I have just been reading a Greek work written by
a wise Christian named Paul; and 1 confess mysolf much

INNOCENT ΙΠ (A D. 1.98-1218).

329

pleased with his words and actions. The only fault I nave to
find with him is that he forsook the religion in which he wag
born. The same I may say against the King of England, who
desires, through mere inconstancy, to forsake a law so pure
and holy as the Christian. God knows that if I were without
any creed, I should certainly choose that one. Your master is
a shameless wretch and unworthy of my alliance !” The stub­
born persistence of John at length obliged the Pope to resort to
the last effort of his authority. He excommunicated and de­
posed him, absolving his vassals and subjects from their oaths
of fealty, innocent then bestowed the crown upon Philip
Augustus, to whom he intrusted the execution of the sentence.
The King of France received the charge, and a fleet of seven­
teen hundred sail met at the mouth of the Seine. Philip might
have cherished a hope of emulating the Conqueror ; but to
what results the invasion would really have led must remain
unknown, as it was rendered unnecessary by the submission of
John, who entered into arrangements with the Pope. “With
the consent of Our barons,” wrote the king, “ of Our own
accord and will, without any violence or constraint, We make
over Our person and Our States, Our Kingdoms of England
and Ireland, to the Sovereign Pontiff and his Catholic succes­
sors, in order to receive them back from their hands, as vassal
of God and of the Roman Church.” The reparation was full;
Innocent accepted it, and the intended French expedition was
not prosecuted. But John, enraged at his humiliation, now
turned his fury upon the King of France, and raised a hos­
tile feeling against him in all the courts of Europe. The late
Emperor Otho IV., the Dukes of Saxony, Lorraine and Brabant,
the Counts of Holland and Limburg, at the head of more than
sixty thousand men, poured into France, through Tournay
Philip had but fifty-five thousand warriors to oppose to the con­
federate host; but they were the chosen knights of France, led
by such chiefs as the Duke of Burgundy, the Count de SaintPaul, Matthew of Montmorency, and the valiant Hospitaller,
Brother Guérin, bishop elect of Senlis, who was on the field.

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GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

without sword or lance, but with counsel that was worth an
•rmy. The victory of Bouvines crowned their valor ; and
Philip Augustus, more powerful than ever, was an object of
fear and admiration to all Europe. Otho IV. died without
glory in his duchy of Brunswick. John returned to his king­
dom, to meet the contempt and defiance of his barons, who at
length wrung from him, in 1215, the Magna Charta, cele­
brated in history as the basis on which are founded the lib­
erties of Englishmen. The perjured king soon forgot his oath.
The barons again took up arms and offered the crown to Louis,
the eldest son of the King of France. John died, worthy
of his surname, Lackland, as Louis was taking possession of
London (a. d. 1216).
15. From the very beginning of his Pontificate, Innocent
III. had been meditating a new Crusade to win back Palestine,
which the powerful arms of Saladin had lately wrested from
the grasp of the Latins. Fulk, the curate of Ncuilly-surMarne, was the preacher of the fourth Crusade, and awaked
some of the accents of Peter the Hermit, to rouse the faith of
the people. The most prominent among the French leaders
were : Baldwin IX., earl of Flanders, Walter and John of
Brienne, Matthew of *Montmorency, Simon of Montfort, a
name destined yet to adorn a bright page in the annals of his
time, and Jeffrey of Villehardouin, marshal of Champagne, who
has left a most faithful and spirited account of the expedition
in which he bore a memorable part; Boniface II., marquis of
Montferrat, was proclaimed Generalissimo. The expedition,
which had been undertaken with a praiseworthy zeal, was soon
turned from its legitimate end by motives entirely foreign to its
scope. The Venetians had engaged to furnish the army with
ships, but required, as a necessary condition, that it should
help them to retake from the Hungarians the city of Zara, in
•"Matthew of Montmorency," any· Villehardouin. "wm one ot the beet knights u.
Franco, one of the most loved and esteemed." Ho was never to see hie nativo land again
When be was stricken down by death, before Constantinople, “ there was a general mnur»
mg throughout the whole army."

INNOCENT ΙΠ. (A. D. 1198-ΙΜβ).

33j

Dalmatia. The fleet was still before that city, when another
event helped to turn away the Crusaders from their original
design. The aged Emperor of Constantinople, Isaac Angelus,
had been lately dethroned by his brother Alexius, by whose
inhuman order he was deprived of sight and thrown into a dun­
geon. The son of the unfortunate Isaac appeared before the
Latin knights and urged them to avenge the outrage ; prom­
ising, in his own and his father’s name, to help their expedition,
to end the Eastern schism, and to effect the reunion of the
Greek and Roman Churches. Notwithstanding the express
prohibition of Innocent III., who reproached them with
“ looking back, like Lot’s wife,” the Crusaders received the
proposition of the Greek prince with enthusiasm. They agreed
to the enterprise against Constantinople, and the command of
the fleet was intrusted to Henry Dandolo, doge of Venice, who,
under the weight of eighty years and after the loss of his eyes,
showed the effects of old age only by its characteristic virtue
and experience. The fleet soon appeared before Constantinople.
The Eastern capital then numbered more than a million of in­
habitants ; its walls enclosed all the power, the wealth and the
• political life of the Greek empire. It was defended by one
hundred and fifty thousand warriors ; but their resistance
yielded to the heroes of the West, who boasted, says Villehardouin, “ that to them nothing less than the fall of the heavens
was a terror.” The usurper, Alexius, abandoned his capital,
his family and his troops, and sought, among the Thracian
mountains, a safe concealment for the imperial treasure, which he
bore with him in his flight. The Crusaders entered Constantino­
ple after a siege of less than six days (July 18, a. d. 1203). The
aged emperor, Isaac Angelus, was brought from his dungeon,
utterly ignorant of passing events; and, while he thought him­
self led to execution, he was borne in triumph to his throne.
There he received Matthew of Montmorency and Villehardouin,
who said to him, on behalf of the Crusaders : “ We have per­
formed our promises ; it now remains for you to fulfil these
made in your name. You are pledged to briug back the East-

332

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

era Church to the authority of the Holy See ; to pay us two
hundred thousand marks of silver; to furnish our army with
provisions for a year, and to send ten thousand troops with us
into Palestine."
16. Isaac swore to fulfil these conditions. But such promiscL are more easily made than kept. The Byzantines looked
upon the Crusaders as barbarians; the Crusaders, on the other
hand, regarded the Greeks as an intriguing, treacherous and
heretical race. Still the reunion of the two Churches was sol­
emnly proclaimed in the church of St. Sophia. The Patriarch
of Constantinople, before all the Western knights and the By­
zantine people, acknowledged “ Innocent, the third of the name,
as successor of St. Peter and Vicar of Jesus Christ.” The
Greeks answered the proclamation by a smothered murmur of
disapprobation. Standing between their liberators, who de­
manded the entire fulfilment of the treaties, and the people of
Constantinople, who upbraided them with ruining the shite for
the benefit of strangers, Isaac Angelus and his son Alexius re­
mained in a state of inaction and displeased all. The occasion
was seized by a perfidious traitor, Ducas, known by the epithet
of Mourzoufle, which in the vulgar idiom expressed the close
junction of his black and shaggy eyebrows ; the popular pas­
sions answered his expectation, and he was raised to the throne
of Constantinople (a. d. 1204). The aged Isaac died of a bro­
ken heart, at the tidings that his son had been put to death by
the usurper's order. The sudden change of affairs filled the
Crusaders with horror and indignation. The Franks, faithful
to their suzerains, said to Mourzoufle : “ The perpetrator of
such a crime is entitled neither to estate nor rank." They
swure revenge against the perfidious nation which had thus out­
raged the imperial honor and dignity ; and the siege of Con­
stantinople was again resolved upon. On the 9th of April, 1204,
Byzantium, with all ite treasures, fell into the hands of the
soldiers of the *cross. The usurper was stopped in his flight,
• Of all the Bjnantine treasure», thoeo nrhich moat excited the pioue cupidity of the Ctuwdete wen. the holy relic»- Martin Uta, a German prital, obtained a piece of the true

INNOCENT III. (A. D. 1198-131«).

333

and flung from the summit of Theodosius’ column. The choica
of n ruler for the conquered territory was intrusted to a council
composed of six Venetian nobles, six Frankish electors, the
Bishops of Soissons, Troyes, Halberstadt, Bethlehem and Ptole­
mais, and the Abbot Thierry of Loos. Their choice fell upon
the Count of Flanders, who was solemnly crowned in St. Sophia
(May 23, 1204), and inaugurated the Latin empire of Constan­
tinople under the name of Baldwin I. The kingdom of Thes­
salonica or Macedonia was established in favor of Boniface,
marquis of Montferrat, the conquered provinces were brought
under the feudal system, and the final reunion of the Greek and
Latin Churches proclaimed. Two passing attempts were made
to re-establish the Greek empire ; at Nice, by Theodore Lascaris,
and at Trebizond, by David Comnenus. These struggles of
exiled royalty gave little concern to the victorious Crusaders.
Innocent wept to see the Holy Land forgotten in the excite­
ment of an expedition foreign to the lawful end of a Crusade.
After the capture of Constantinople, he took every precaution
to strengthen the authority of the Holy See in the East. Un­
happily, the Latin empire of Constantinople, sole fruit of the
fourth Crusade, scarce outlived half a century ; its fall once
more threw the East into the darkness of schism.
17. If the Pope had failed to bring the knights of the
West into contact witd the Saracens in Palestine, he was more
successful in establishing a powerful league against the Moors
in Spain. His voice checked the intestine strife which disoro’s, a portion of the bones of St. John the Baptist and an arm of St. James. Galon do
Dampierre, a priest of the diocese of Langres, begged, with tears in his eyes, to take home
with him the head of St. Mamas ; a third priest, from Picardy, having found among the
ruins the heads of St. George and of St.John the Baptist, harried away from Constantino­
ple, with his proofous booty, and deposited in tho cuthedral of Amiens tho relics which
Providence had placed in his possession. Tho princes and barons did not disdain those
sacred spoils. Dandolo received a portion of tho true cross, which Constantine always had
carried before him to war ; the doge presented the precious relic to the Republic of Venice.
Baldwin kept for himself our Saviour's crown of thorns and several other relics found in
the palaoe of Boucoloon. Ho sent to Philip Augustus o piece of the true croxs, a foot in
length, the tresses of the infant Saviour, and tho swathing bands that wrapped the limb·
of the God-man, in the stable of Be tide hum.

334

■■■ I
I
■■■ 1

■Il 11 I

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

graced the land, and, obedient to its call, Peter II., king of Ara­
gon, Alphonse IX., of Castile, and Sancho VII., of Navarre,
united their efforts against the Emir Mohammed. The brilliant
victory of Las Navas de Tolosa, comparable, in its results, to
the battle of Poitiers, crowned the confederate princes with
imperishable glory (a. d. 1212). On this memorable field, the
Mussulman rule in Spain received a blow from which it never
recovered.
18. While Catholic arms were engaged on the frontiers of
Europe, in crushing the ehemies of the faith, in the very heart
of France, a confederation, powerful in numbers, strong in hate,
was preparing to overthrow, at once, every creed and religious
principle, civilization and morality. The Albigenses, a mon­
strous assemblage of the sects so often condemned under the
various names of Cathari, Patarini, Waldenses, &c., had sur­
vived in Languedoc, notwithstanding the thunders of the Church,
and the horror excited by their disorders in every upright
heart. Historians have been found, in our own day, to write
the apology of the Albigenses, representing them as martyrs
in the cause of freedom of conscience and religious indepen­
dence. But, in truth, these sectaries, having no other principle
than the utter denial of all authority, of all hierarchy, of every
moral obligation, were simply the forerunners of the various
socialistic systems reproduced at every succeeding stage of the
world’s history. The Albigenses overran the country, plunder­
ing churches, burning priests, ravaging the monasteries, out­
raging and profaning holy things. This destructive body would
have speedily disappeared before the public indignation aroused
by its crimes, had it not found a powerful leader and avowed
protector in tbe ambitious Raymond, count of Toulouse. By
a very plain political calculation, the Count thought that his
own power must increase in proportion as the spiritual power
was weakened, and he hoped to extend his domain by the ad­
dition of all the estates snatched from the Church. For tho
game reasons, the German princes, somewhat later, embraced
the cause of Protestantism. But Raymond VI. was doomed

INNOCENT ΙΠ. (A. D. 1199-1318).

335

to become the victim of his own odious policy. The spirit of
this revolutionary movement could not escape the watchful eye
of Innocent III. The great Pontiff was preparing to engage
in the strife, from which he should, as usual, come forth trium­
phant. Still he preferred to enter the field first as an apostle,
thus heralding justice by mercy. He named Peter of Castel­
nau his legate in Languedoc, and gave him several assistant
missionaries from the Order of Citeaux. The fatigues of the
mission were voluntarily shared by Diego, bishop of Osina, ac­
companied by a regular canon of his cathedral, whose name
was destined to shine forever in the Church’s calendar as St.
Dominic. These men of God, poor and barefooted, traversed
the various cities of Languedoc, everywhere preaching the
Catholic faith and winning respect for their teaching by contin­
ued examples of the highest virtues. The conversions effected
by their zeal drew upon them the vengeance of the leading secta­
ries. Peter of Castelnau had often said : “ The cause of Christ
cannot flourish in this country until one of the missionaries has
shed his blood for the faith. May I be the first victim of the
persecution !” The noble aspiration was heard. On the 3d
of January, a. d. 1208, two of Raymond’s officers coming upon
the legate on the banks of the Rhone, one of them inflicted
upon him a deadly wound with his lance ; the holy martyr fell,
several times repeating the prayer : “ 0 Lord, forgive him, as
I do !” The effect produced in France by the account of this
tragedy may be easily imagined. Public indignation laid the
odium upon Raymond VI. If he was never judicially con­
victed of the crime, he was, still, according to the expression
of Innocent III., “ strongly suspected ”—valde suspectas—since
he received into his court the murderers of the holy martyr.
The Pope immediately addressed a most energetic letter “ to
the noblemen, counts, barons, lords and knights of the prov­
inces of To douse, Narbonne, Arles, Embrun, Aix and Vienne.”
The address declared Raymond VI. excommunicated, bis
vassals and servants released from their oath of fidelity, his
person and lands placed under the ban of Christendum. lie

336

GENERAL HISTORÎ OF THE CHURCH.

enjoined all the faithful to arm against the enemy of the Church,
granting for this campaign the same indulgences as for the other
Crusades. France answered the Pontiff’s call by sending forty
thousand men against the tyrant. The Saracens were now not
only at Jerusalem ; they no longer confined themselves to the
southernmost provinces of Spain ; they held the fairest portion
of France, under a prince who displayed all the cruelty and
luxury of an Eastern emir. The chief command of the whole
Crusade was given to Simon of Montfort, an equally fearless
soldier and skilful captain, one of the finest types of the chiv­
alry of the day. Simon of Montfort claimed descent from the
house of Hainaut ; he had married Alice of Montmorency, who
possessed all the lofty heroism of her name. A more intrepid
warrior and faithful Christian could not have been chosen. To
the fearless daring of Cœur de Lion, he joined the fervent piety
of a religious. Beziers and Carcassona became the prizes of his
valor. The counties taken from the heretics were made over
to the chief of the Crusade. The whole campaign (from 1209
to 1213) was an uninterrupted series of attacks and assaults
on cities and strongholds, and the standard of the cross was
borne in triumph through the whole of Languedoc. Raymond,
everywhere overcome, called upon his brother-in-law, Pedro II.,
king of Aragon. Though one hundred thousand men were drawn
up to crush the little band of Simon of Montfort, yet this was
to be the brightest hour in the life of the Christian hero. His
standard rallied but twenty-five thousand warriors; but God
was on his side. On the morning of the eventful day, he laid
his sword upon the altar, and when the hour had come to bear
it to the field, he took it up with these words : “ From Thee, 0
Lord, do I this day receive my arms, since I must wield them
in Thy holy cause." The victory of Muret (1213) rewarded
this lively faith. The King of Aragon lay a corpse on the
field ; his army fled ; the cause of the Count of Toulouse was
lost. The Albigenses still struggled for a while, but finally
disappeared in the reign of St. Louis.
19. Simon of Montfort had been the hero of conquest ;

INNOCENT ΠΙ. (A. D. 1199-ΠΙβ).

337

St. Dominic was the hero of conversion. God had chosen him
to be the father of a generation of saints. The arms which
he wielded with powerful effect against the Albigenses were
boundless charity, an untiring devotedness, winning eloquence
and fervent prayer. Filled with the deepest devotion to the
Immaculate Virgin, “Who has destroyed all heresies in the
whole world,”* he had recourse to her, to insure the success
of his mission against the stubborn heretics. His confidence
in Mary was expressed in the institution of the Rosary, the
humble and pious prayer which has drawn such showers of
graces and blessings upon the world. These continued struggles
with the Albigenses convinced St. Dominic of the necessity of
a permanent apostolate in the bosom of the Church. This
conviction was embodied in the foundation of a new religious
order, exclusively devoted to preaching. The Friars Preachers,
or Dominicans, were established under the rule of St. Augus­
tine, with the particular modifications required by their special
calling. While the military orders defended the Church by the
sword, the Friars Preachers warred with the arms of the word. 1
Experience has fully proved the great wisdom of the founder.
In most religious orders time has worked reforms which have
divided them into different branches ; the Dominicans have
lived through the vicissitudes of six centuries, without division.
The great body has shot forth its strong boughs to all parts of
the world ; and not one has ever fallen away from the parent
stock that gives them life. France has again seen the sons of
St. Dominic worthy of their great father ; she has blessed
their virtue and hailed their lofty eloquence with grateful admi­
ration.
20. Another pillar of the medireval Church was also raised
in Italy at this period. A youth of Assisi, nurtured in the lap
of wealth and luxury, was one day unusually struck with these
words of the gospel : “ Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor
money in your purses." They came to him as an apparition of
rich and noble evangelical poverty. “ This is what I seek,” he
• “ Sola cunctas hæreees interemisti io universo mundo.”—Bret. fisas
Vou ΠΙ.—23

838

JE.VERAL HÎSTORÏ OF THE CHÜRC/Γ.

cried, “this is what my heart desires;" then, casting from him
his purse and cane, he took off his shoes, put on a coarse tunic
girded with a rope, and thus began the career of penitential
preaching which has won him a place on our altars as St.
Francis of Assisi
*
From that day (a. d. 1208), the Order of
Friars Minors was established. The disciples of St. Francis,
by their evangelical poverty, made a noble answer to the decla­
mations of the Waldenses against the luxury of the Church.
Called to live among the people, to subsist upon alms, to bear
■the hardest toil, their mission was to reconcile the people with
faith, to give a living example of Christian patience, devoted
sacrifice and self-denial. The rule prescribed by their holy
founder might be styled the great charter of poverty. The
new order received the sanction of Pope Innocent III. “ That
poor man,” said he, speaking of St. Francis, “ is the pillar des­
tined to uphold the Church.” What St. Francis had just doim
for men, St. Clare now repeated in behalf of her own sex.
The religious order founded by her took the name of Poor
Clares (1212), and received their rule from St. Francis. The
love of evangelical poverty became so general and so powerful
that all the faithful seemed eager to share the graces and
spiritual favors given to this perfect detachment. To meet this
general need, St. Francis found it necessary to institute a third
order for the benefit of those who lived in the world ; they
followed certain rules of mortification and penance, which gave
to a worldly life something of the regularity of the cloister.
It was a happy age for the Church, when not only the spirit of
the world did not invade monasteries, but the austerity of the
cloister reached the heart of the world, making it bloom with
fruits of life and holiness. The two great orders of Francis­
cans and Dominicans, with the Carmelites and the Augustinian
Hermits, formed what were called the Four Mendicant Orders.
• The wonderful life nf St. Francis of Aaaisi. tho history of the aacred stigmata which
God was pleased to Impress upon the person of Hie servant, have been recorded with equal
elegance and erudition by M. Caavm us MtuiH. it wtuld be superfluous to apeak of the
History of St. Dominic, by the illustrious Lacoudsihe.

INNOCENT Πΐ. (A. D. 1198-121«).

339

After being deprived, for nearly a century, of the light of
their virtues, France once more feels the ballowing power of
its mild radiance. At their first appearance in the world, in
the twelfth century, they were hailed by public gratitude and
admiration ; and they were soon to receive a solemn sanction
in the twelfth general council, the fourth held in the Lateran
Basilica.
21. Innocent III. would crown his glorious Pontificate by a
solemn assemblage of the great assizes of the Catholic Church,
in the Lateran Palace. The East and the West represented by
four hundred and twelve bishops, either the Patriarchs in per­
son or their legates ; the heads of the leading orders, a multi­
tude of abbots and priors ; countless deputies from collegiate
churches and chapters ; ambassadors from the Emperors of
Germany and Constantinople, and from every sovereign in
Christendom ; in short, the light and learning of the Christian
world had met under the presidency of the illustrious Pontiff.
The points of dogma discussed by the council were those
attacked by the Albigenses, the Waldenses, the Patarini, <&c. ;
the anathemas already hurled against the heretics, were con­
firmed. Raymond of Toulouse, with his son, came to make
his submission to the Sovereign Pontiff, who received him
kindly and gave him back his domain. The policy adopted by
the great Pontiff, in all parts of Europe, was approved and
confirmed in every particular. Hitherto the Roman Church
had always refused the patriarchal title to the See of Constan­
tinople, notwithstanding the repeated claims of the Greek em­
perors and of the ambitious incumbents. The foundation of
the new Latin empire of Byzantium and the restoration of the
East to the unity of the Roman Church had changed the state
of things. Innocent assigned to the Bishops of Constantinople
the second rank among the Patriarchs, immediately after that
of Antioch. Unquestionably, the most remarkable work of the
twelfth general or fourth Lateran Council, is the promulgation
of the disciplinary canons, which, in one complete body of regu­
lations, meet every want of the Church. The groundwork of

340

OBNERAT. HISTORV op THE CHURCH.

the great reform undertaken by St. Gregory VII., received a new
consecration; and the genius of that great Pontiff may he said
to have inspired the august assembly, through the voice of
Innocent III. The disorders of clerics were solemnly branded
by a special canon, which commends ecclesiastical celibacy as
the bulwark and support of faith and morals. Simoniacal
elections and the abuses still extant in ecclesiastical tribunals
were severely condemned and their recurrence prevented by
wise regulations. One important decree, which it is necessary
to understand well, was published by the Lateran Fathers,
regarding yearly confession and the Paschal communion. Until
that period, the fervor of the faithful, which drew them fre­
quently to the saving fountains of grace, had made such a canon
needless. We know that the Christians of the early Church
participated in the Sacred Mysteries as often as they were
celebrated. Little by little a coldness came upon their fervor,
and some Christians, unworthy of the name, allowed a consid­
erable space of time to elapse without seeking the spiritual
strength of divine grace in tho sacraments which are its chan­
nels. It was this consideration which led the Council of
Lateran to promulgate the celebrated canon, by which all the
faithful of both sexes are commanded, under pain of excom­
munication, to receive the sacraments of penance and the
Eucharist at least once a year, at Easter. Some heretical
writers have asserted that, by this regulation, the council had
brought in a new custom, and that, before the thirteenth cen­
tury, communion was not of obligation. The error has been
taken up and repeated by the philosophers and unbelievers of
our own time. The most ordinary acquaintance with ecclesi­
astical history would suffice to refute the calumny. To per­
petuate and spread the spirit of vigorous discipline which they
inculcated, the Fathers of the council ordained the yearly
meeting of provincial councils. They thought, and not with­
out reason, that neither error nor abuse could escape the
watchfulness of the bishops thus frequently gathered together
in these holy assemblies, and inspired by the Holy Ghost,

INNOCENT III. (A. D. 119»-1ί1β).

34)

according to the promise of Christ: “ Where there are two or
three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst
of them.”
As corollaries of the provincial councils, the
Lateran Fathers ordered the triennial meeting of the chapters
in monasteries and collegiate churches, in order that all the
members of the Church’s body might profit by the same
advantage of internal renewal, and by the uniformity of dis­
cipline which should animate the whole. Finally the impedi­
ment of kindred in marriage was declared to extend to the
fourth degree ; and thus closed the canonical legislation which
has crowned this council with immortal glory (a. d. 1215).
22. The Pope had directed the labors of the council with his
wonted energy. He seemed eager to finish his work ; nor did
he long outlive this last act of a Pontificate so fruitful in great
deeds. All Europe owned his authority. He had bestowed
the title of king upon the chief of the Bulgarians, Primislas,
prince of Bohemia, and upon Peter of Aragon, who came to
do him personal homage for his states, and to receive the crown
from his hands. Never had the Papacy shed a brighter lustre
over the world. The death of Innocent III. (July 16, a. d.
1216), was an occasion of universal mourning. His Pontificate
forms one of the most important epochs in modern history. He
knew how to make his own the lofty conceptions of St. Gregi ry
,
VII.
and to give them splendid developments, by the aid of
his own great mind. At a distance of three centuries, we find
again the same principles which underlay all the great works
of Gregory VII. and Sylvester II. This wonderful unity
stamps the Papacy with a character of lofty grandeur unattain­
able by any human institution. Forms of government pass
away with the generations that make them ; like them, they
are borne onward by the stream of time. The unchangeable
design of God alone stems the ever-flowing tide, and is reflected
upon the Pontifical power, which stands as firm as when it was
founded, eighteen centuries ago. The greater any Pontiff has
shown himself by the power of his intellect, the more closely
has he joined his works to those of his predecessors. The only

342

OENBRAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

way to appreciate tho history of the Sovereign Pontiffs, is to
follow up this admirable succession in men, principles and
events. Tho true glory of Innocent III. is founded upon this
rule. Going back to the fountain-head of Christian morality, he
carried on the work begun by St. Gregory VII. Like him, he
devoted his life to the realization of three ideas : the develop­
ment, within the Church, of a spirit of faith and piety, by win­
ning respect for discipline and canonical regulations ; the free­
dom of the spiritual authority from all the bonds of the
temporal power; and finally, the introduction of Christian civ­
ilization into the East, by means of the Crusades. This three­
fold design guided all his actions, and forms the glory of hi
*
reign.

H0N0RIU8 ΠΙ. (A. D. U16-11M).

343

CHAPTER IX.
§ I. Pontificate OP Honoriüb III. (July 18,

a. d.

1216—March 18, 1297)

1. Condition of the East nt the accession of Honoring III.—2. Fifth Cru­
sade.—3. Honorius declares himself the protector of Henry III., king of
England.—4. Renewal of the Crusade against the Albigenses, by Louis of
France, son of Philip Augustus.—5. The Inquisition.—6. Death of Philip
Augustns. Louis VIII. carries on the war against the Albigenses. Saint
Lonis.—7. End of the war against the Albigenses.—8. Death of Honorine
TH. Saints of this period.
Gregory IX. (March 18, a. d. 1227—August 91,
1241).
0 Frederick II., emperor of Germany.—10. Sixth Crusade.—11. Gregory IX.
deposes Frederick II. Submission and reconcilation of the emperor.—19.
Various works of Gregory’s Pontificate—13. Fresh attacks of Frederick
II. upon the Holy See. Is again excommunicated. Death of Gregory
IX.

§ 2 Pontificate

of

§ 3. Pontificate of Celestin IV. (October, a. d. 1241—November, 1941).
14. Election and death of Celestin IV.

§ 4. Pontificate

of Innocent

IV. (June 24, a. d. 1243—December 7, 1254).

15. First relations of Innocent IV. and Frederick Π. The Pope is threatened
with imprisonment and takes refuge in *Lyon
.
—16. The thirteenth general
council, the first of Lyons.—17. Gengis Khan Oktai.—18. Circumstance·
determining the seventh Crusade.
Its lamentable issue.—19. The *
·
Po
toureaux.—20. Labors of Innocent’s Pontificate. Death of the Pope.—21.
Saints of this period.
S 6. Pontificate of Alexander IV. (December 25, a. d. 1254—May 25,
1261).

2' Contest between Alexander TV. and Manfred, regent, and afterward king,
of Sicily.—23. Revolt in Rome. Alexander TV. flies to Viterbo.—24.
Constitutional charter of Prussia, promulgated by Jarnos Pantaloon, Apos

GENERAL BISTORT OP THE CHURCH.

344

tolic legate.—2». The Inquisition in Franco.—26. Dispute of the Universify of France with the Dominicans and Franciscan·».—27. Roger Bacon.
Alexander of Bales. Duns Scottis. St. Bonaventure. Vincent of Beau­
vais. Albert the Great. St. Thomas Aquinas.—28. Death of Alexander
IV.
§ 6. Pontificate of Urban IV. (August 20, a. d. 1261—October 2, 1264).
in. Letter of Urban IV. to James III., king of Aragon.—30. The Pope offers
the throne of Sicily to Charles of Anjou.—31. Institution of the feast of
Corpus Christi. Death of Urban IV.

§ 7. 1’ontimoate

of

Clement IV. (February 5, a. d. 1266—November 29,
1268).

82. Charlo· of Anjou crowned king of Sicily, by order of Clement IV.—
83. Trial and death of Conradin.—34. Death of Clement IV. Pragmatie
Sanction. Liberties of the Gallican Church.

g 8. Vacancy

in the

Holt See. (November 29, a.
M71).

d.

1268—September 1,

>6. Eighth and last Crusade. Death of St Louis.—36. End of the last Cru­
sade. The Christiana expelled from Palestine.—37. Remarks on the Cru­
sades.

§ 9. Pontificate of Gregory X. (September 1, a.
1276).

d.

1271—January 10,

18. Gregory's projected Crusade. Efforts to bring back the Greek Church.—
39. Fourteenth general council, held at Lyons.—40. The Carmelites, Ser­
vitos of Mary, and Celestins, approved by the fourteenth general council.—
41. Cession of the County of Venaissin to the Holy See by Philip tho
Bold.—42. Rodolph of Hapsburg, emperor of Germany.—43. Death of
Gregory X.

I 10. Pontificate of Innocent V. (January 21, a. d. 1276—Juno 22, 1270).

44. Election and death of Innocent V.
§ 11. Pontificate or Adrian V. (July 4, a. d. 1276—August 18, 1276).
46.

Election and death of Adrian V.

§ 12. Pontificate of John XXI. (September 18,
1277).
46. Election and death of John XXL

a. d.

1276—May J6,

HONORIUS III. (Λ. D. 1318-1287).

§ 13. Pontificate
47.

of

Nicholas III. (November 25, a. d. 1277—Augurt 22,
1280).

Opposition of the Greeks to the Treaty of Union.—48.
Nicholas III.

§ 14. Pontificate

of

345

Death

Martin IV. (February 22, a.d. 1281—March 28, 1284.)

49. Treaty of Martin IV. with the Roman people.—50. Sicilian Vespers.—51.
Accession of Andronicus to the throne of Constantinople.
§ 15. Pontificate

of

Honorius IV. (April 2, a. d. 1285—April 3, 1285).

52. Election and death of Honorius IV.

§ 16. Pontificate

of

Nicholas IV. (February 15, a. d. 1288—April 4, 1292).

53. Election and death of Nicholas IV.
§ 17. Pontificate of St. Celestin V. (July 7, a.d. 1294—December 13,1294).
54. Election and abdication of St Celestin V.

§ 1. Pontificate

of

Honorius III. (July 18, a. d. 1216—
March 18, 1227).

1. The Sovereign Pontificate had now become the great
central power of the world. But if it was the highest, it was
likewise the most fearfully responsible post. Cardinal Cencio
Sa velli, elected Pope, under the name of Honorius HL, two
days after the death of Innocent, proved himself worthy of
such a heritage, and resolutely followed in the footsteps of his
illustrious predecessor. His voice aroused Europe to under­
take the fifth Crusade. The youthful Frederick II. (a. d. 1221)
came to Rome to receive the imperial crown from the hands of
Honorius. At the ceremony of the coronation, he promised to
take the cross and fly to the rescue of the Holy Land. The
promise was as readily forgotten as it had been made. The
ward of the Roman Church was already planning to turn
against his adoptive mother the power he held from her. The
Latin empire of Constantinople could give no help to the Cruwido ; the Western knights, by whom it had been established.

f

346

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

were too much occupied in maintaining if against the treachery
of the Greeks and the inroads of Joannices, king of the Buigarians. Baldwin I., confined in the dungeons of the barbar­
ian, imitated the heroic chastity of Joseph and died in the
most frightful torture. He was succeeded by his brother,
Henry of Hainaut, who was poisoned in 1216. The imperial
crown was offered to Peter of Courtenay, count of Auxerre,
who had married the Princess Yolande, sister of Henry of
Hainaut. His many noble alliances made him one of the most
powerful lords of Christendom. He was cousin-german to
Philip Augustus, king of France.
*
He had given his daughter
Yolande in marriage to Andrew, king of Hungary. Peter of
Courtenay was crowned at Rome by the Sovereign Pontiff
(April 9, 1217), and set out, in company with the Apostolic
legate, John Colonna, to take possession of his new empire.
While crossing the mountains of Albania, he was seized by the
troops of Theodore, despot of Epirus, and died in chains. Rob­
ert, his brother, was chosen to succeed him, and received the
crown in the church of St. Sophia (March 25, 1221). Amid
so manj vicissitudes, subjected to the repeated attacks of
Theodore Lascaris and David Comnenus, the two Greek Em
perors of Nice and Trebizond, Robert of Courtenay could not
spare bis forces for an expedition into Palestine. Constanti­
nople was taken a century too late. Had Godfrey’s warriors,
in 1097, followed the counsels of Geofrey, the eloquent bishop
of Langres, they would have secured a happier issue for the
subsequent Crusades.
2. To preach the fifth expedition, Honorius was without
most of the necessary elements of success. Frederick II., not­
withstanding his oath, renewed before the Pope in the confer­
ence of Ferentino (a.d. 1222), was far more eager to realize the
• Peter of Courtenay *u the son of the Princc-Royol of France, Peter, fifth eon of K ing
Louis VL, who married the heiress of Courtenay. This branch of tho house of France,
after giving several emperors to tho throne of Constantinople and one titulary empress, be­
came orfuicl in 1130, in tlie person of Helena Courtenay, wife of Louis BSnlgno do
Bea iffremont, whose descendants, created princes of tho Holy Empire, by Francis I. of
Austria, in 1151, still live to revive the glorious traditions of the old Freuch nobility

HONORIUS ΙΠ. (A. b. 131S-UM).

347

dream of a universal monarchy, so fondly cherished by the
members of the house of Ilohenstauifen, than to rescue the
sepulchre of Jesus Christ. Philip Augustus was too far ad­
vanced in age to incur the risks of a distant war. Henry III-,
who had just succeeded John upon the English throne, was
but twelve years old, and was kept at home to ward off any
attempt of France upon his crown. Spain was herself the field
of a perpetual Crusade, and was even obliged to call to her aid
the knights of Northern Europe, who helped her to regain Al­
cazar (1217). The new Christians of Prussia and Livonia were
oppressed by Pagan persecution. These wars of Spain against
the Moors, of Northern Europe against the Infidels, of France
against the Albigenses, and the incessant strifes between the
Christian princes themselves, hindered the West from taking
as large a part in the fifth Crusade as in those which preceded
it. Andrew of Hungary was the only king who answered the
Pontiff’s call. The Crusade was preached in Dalmatia, Croatia,
Bosnia and Gallicia—provinces but lately hostile to the Chris­
tian name. These tribes of wanderers through the northern
forests heard the wail of captive Sion, and swore to fight the
Infidels. The half-savage warriors of Hungary, who, a century
before, had filled with terror the followers of Peter the Her­
mit, eagerly sought the cross, and followed their monarch to
the Holy Land. Accompanied by the Dukes of Bavaria and
Austria, Andrew set sail from Spalatro, where he was expected
by a fleet of ships from Venice, Zara, 2kncona, and other cities
of the Adriatic coast. Here he was joined by Hugh of Lusig­
nan, king of Cyprus, with his followers ; and they both added
their forces to those of John of Brienne, king of Jerusalem,
*
before Acre, still beleaguered by the Latin knights who re­
mained from the fourth Crusade. But justas his presence was
beginning to throw a ray of hope upon the Christian cause in
the East, Andrew suddenly abandoned his companions in arms,
• Tho purely nominal title of King of Jerusalem had not disappeared with the capture
of the city by Saladin. Goy of Lusignan was followed by Henry IL. count of Champagne
(1J 94), Amouri of Lusignan (1206), and dually by John of Brienne (12021

348

GENERAL DISTORT OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

recalled to his kingdom by the unruly conduct, of his nobles.
Hugh met with a sudden death. Undismayed by these diffi­
culties, John of Brienne conceived the bold project of changing
the seat of war, by attacking the Sultan of Egypt, Sapheddin,
in the very heart of his dominions. This skilful policy might
change the fortune of war, and restore the nominal king of
Jerusalem to his throne. It led the Crusades into a new path.
Had it succeeded, the name of Islam would have disap­
peared from the page of history. With high and enthusias­
tic hopes, the Crusaders raised the siege of Acre, sailed for
Egypt, and landed under the walls of Damietta. Here they
were strongly re-enforced by troops from Italy, France and
England, under the guidance of two cardinals, Robert de
Courson and Pelagius, the latter being legate of Honorius III.
A siege of seventeen months ended in the fall of Damietta ;
but on entering the city, the Christians found only the sad
traces of plague and famine. They were quickly landed at the
mouth of the Nile, almost without a blow. The Saracens, in­
trenched upon the opposite shore, were not without fear, in
spite of the courage of their leader, Meledin Melek-el-Kamel,
tire eldest son of Sapheddin. But for the repugnance of the
Crusaders to treat with the Unbelievers, John might then have
obtained the restoration of Jerusalem. The Latin army was
surprised by the overflow of the Nile, while in a state of im­
prudent inaction. Overcome by flood and famine, they were
forced, in turn, to sue for peace. St. Francis of Assisi, had
come to Egypt, in the hope of converting by persuasion those
whom the Crusaders were combating with arms. On the day
before the last engagement, the defeat of the Christians was
made known to the saint by revelation. Francis gave due
warning to the chiefs, who slighted his information. Displeased
with the indifference of the Crusaders, and devoured by the
zeal of God's house, he thought to win a triumph for the faith
by his eloquence, and by the unaided arms of the gospel.
Proceeding into the enemy’s camp, he allowed himself to be
«eized by the Saracen troops, and led to the sultan. “ God

HONORIUS ΤΠ. (A. D. Ulfl-HîT).

349

ha» sent me to you,” said Francis, “ to show you the way of
salvation.” Then the holy missionary exhorted Melek to em­
brace the true faith. He dared all the Mussulman doctors to a
discussion, and offered to throw himself into the midst of a
blazing pile, to confound imposture and prove the truth of the
Christian religion. The sultan, though somewhat surprised,
dismissed the zealous preacher, who saw neither of his wishes
fulfilled ; for he neither converted the chief of the Unbelievers
nor won the palm of martyrdom. Melek-el-Kamel met with a
triumph where he had looked but for defeat, and showed that
he could be generous as well as brave. He freed his prisoners,
and the remnant of the Latin army returned to Palestine
(1222). John of Brienne sailed to Europe. He bestowed
upon Frederick II. the hand of his daughter Yolande, with his
title of King of Jerusalem. The fifth Crusade was at an end.
It could bequeath to Europe but gloomy memories. Still the
impulse which bore on the Christians of the West to engage in
these glorious enterprises survived the indifference of rulers and
the terror of multiplied disasters. The opening years of the
thirteenth century witnessed a sight unparalleled even in those
ages of wonders and great events. Fifty thousand children,
gathered together in France and Germany, traversed city and
country, singing the words : “ Lord Jesus, give us back our
holy cross.” When asked whither they were going and what
was their object, “ We are going,” they replied, “to Jerusalem,
to rescue the sepulchre of the Saviour.” A great part of this
youthful army crossed the Alps, to sail from the Italian ports
(1212). Many lost their way in the forests, and perished from
heat, hunger, thirst, or fatigue. Of those who actually set
sail, some were wrecked, or given up to the Saracens whom
they came to fight; others were martyred, and showed the
Unbelievers what firmness and courage the Christian religion
can give to the tenderest age.
3. Hostilities had not yet ceased between France and Eng­
land, when Henry III., a boy of ten years, ascended the English
throne ; on the day of his coronation he was supported by two

350

GENERAL HISTORV OF THE CHURCH.

bishops and three barons. The remaining English knights had
joined the standard of Louis of France, who thus became mas­
ter of nearly the whole of England. But the royal orphan
found a protector and father in the Sovereign Pontiff. The
Church had excommunicated his father ; the spiritual thunders
had fallen upon a guilty head. The son of John was innocent
of his father’s crimes ; the Church took up his cause and in­
sured its triumph before all Europe, in spite of his enemies.
The Papacy never failed in the performance of ite noble mission.
St. Gregory VII. had watched over the early years of Henry
IV. ; Innocent III. was the guardian of Frederick IL ; Hono­
rions III., on ascending the chair of St. Peter, wrote to the
English barons : “ The law of Jesus Christ forbids that the son
should pay the penalty of his father’s faults. Any revolt
against the orphan is an infamous act of treason. Religion,
conscience and honor require you to make peace wi+h your
young king, whose age is the best guarantee of his innocence.”
At the same time, the Papal envoys appeared before Louis.
“ Command him,” said the Pope to his deputies, “ by the au­
thority of the Holy See, to cease a war which has now become
unwarrantable. The fatherless Henry III. is henceforth the
pupil of the Holy See. Should Louis continue his war in Eng­
land, we shall call down upon him the powers of heaven and
earth. The God Who is above all kingdoms and Who bestows
them as He pleases, will fight for us." Philip Augustus had
learned the results of making war against a Pope. He recalled
his son, and, under the auspices of the Pontiff, peace was con­
cluded between the two kingdoms (a. d. 1218).
4. The valor of Louis was soon offered a field worthy of its
display; Honorius III. called him to the glorious task of
crushing the last remains of the Albigensian heresy in Langue­
doc. After his submission in the Lateran council, Raymond
returned to Toulouse. His intentions were doubtless honest
but no party-leader is a free-agent. The return of the olo
count awaked the hopes of the Albigenses, a formidable reac­
tion look place, in Languedoc, against Simon of Montfort, who

HONOBTUS ITT. (A. D. »218-1222).

351

died a hero’s death at the siege of Toulouse (a. d. 1218).
Honorius took energetic measures, in concert with Philip Au­
gustus, to crush a heresy which had been, for half a century,
shedding torrents of Christian blood. “ The secular power,”
wrote the Pope to Philip, “is to punish rebels by the sword,
when spiritual weapons prove ineffectual. It is due to your
glory ami to your name as Christian prince, to deliver your realm
from these obstinate enemies of the faith. We rely upon your
piety to achieve this great work.” A prompt and willing agree­
ment was then entered into by Philip and Honorius, that
the war against the Albigenses should be carried on with re­
newed vigor, and that Prince Louis should direct the operations
in person. St. Dominic was charged with the duty of seeking
the heretics and pointing out to the secular power those who
obstinately persisted in their wanderings.
5. This was giving a form to the doctrines put forth by
Lucius III. ; it was the institution of a tribunal of Inquisition
A somewhat similar mission had already been given by In­
nocent III. to his legate, Peter of Castelnau. It may not be
amiss, here, to call attention to two important facts: 1. The
Church, wielding a purely spiritual power, did not herself pun­
ish heretics. St. Dominic was enjoined to meet them with the
arms of persuasion. Faith combated against error; holiness
struggled against heresy; the Church was on just ground and
did her duty. But the Albigenses were not only heretics ; they
were also, and especially, rebels in arms against social order,
they fought with the weapons furnished by false teachings;
the Church alone could not adequately meet révoltera. Hence,
when peaceful means had failed, the part of civil justice began.
The Church at first opened to them her arms, like a tender and
devoted mother ; if they refused to hear her voice, they fed
under the sword of their judges. In the estimation of society,
which they hud outraged, repentance and abjuration were ·■
sufficient title to mercy ; this was an additional chance *offere'.
to the accused by the legislation of the middle-ages, more ba
mane, in this point, at least, than our own. 2. The Inquisition

352

GENERAL BISTORT OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

vu not the work of the Pope alone
*;
Philip shared with him
in its institution. This twofold character has been overlooked.
Instead of a military tribunal, to which Philip might have sent
revolutionists, taken with arms in their hands, he preferred, in
a spirit of mercy and piety conformable to tho sentiment of the
period, to soften the rigor of the law by the gentle influence
of evangelical persuasion. Thus, punishment was visited only
upon hardened criminals. The penalty, when pronounced at all,
came from a civil tribunal, and in the regular course of ordinary
jurisprudence ; even the mode of punishment varied according
to the time and country, and was the same as for other crimes.
All the furious declamation so lavishly hurled against the In­
quisition, must fall powerless before these two facts. The In­
quisition was so thoroughly a political institution, that we shall
hereafter find it set up in Spain, in spite of the protestations of
Pope Sixtus IV., who regarded it as an encroachment on the
rights of the Church ; and its existence in the republic of
Venice was an exclusive means of government, with very little,
if any, religious character. The illustrious Count de Maistre
has proved that, in justice, every government may, and ought
to, secure the enjoyment of peace, by lawful measures,
against all disturbers of public order. In Spain, where the
Catholic faith had been obliged to redeem itself, by centuries of
warfare against the Moors and their Jewish allies, any thing that
could touch tho unity of that faith was a danger to the State.
This it was which led Ferdinand the Catholic, in 1481, to
enact the severest penalties against all heretics. The value of
this policy and tho lawfulness of the monarch’s acts may be
questioned ; but the decision can in no wise affect the Church.
The inquisitors were asked : “ Is it heresy to hold such a dootrine Δ and tho heretics were punished as enemies to society.
Such is the true view of the Inquisition.
6. Philip Augustus did not witness the triumph of the Λ1• In the house in which Bl. Dominic laid tho foundations of hie order, In Toulouse, t here
wore throe or four Dominican» called the Father Inquisitors. The house ia etill known b?
the name of the 11 Hôtel de Γ Inquisition."

HOKORIÜfl ΓΠ. (A. D. Ule-liH),

353

bigensian Crusade. Ile died in 1223, with the reputation
of a great and successful monarch. His last bequest was in
favor of Queen Ingelberga, whom he called Aw beloved tpouu.
He was succeeded by Louis VIII., called the Lion. With an
army of one hundred thousand men, Louis laid siege to Avig­
non, took the city, subdued the whole province of Languedoc,
and died like a Christian hero, in the assault upon the city of
Montpensier (a. d. 1226). The throne of France descended to a
child of twelve years, Louis IX., whose accession was hailed
with joy by the whole of France, and whom the Church honora
with higher reverence, as St. Louis. Each period of history
has its living representative. St. Louis is the model man of
the middle-ages ; as legislator, hero and saint. The period in
which he lived adds a new lustre to his glory by the very art­
less simplicity of the times. Whether we view Louis on the
fields of Saintes and Masaoura, or in a library, dispensing, to
those who sought them, the literary treasures he had drawn
from the collected volumes ; whether in his public audiences,
when deciding disputes at the gate of the palace, or under the
oak at Vincennes, without court or guards, or when chosen
as umpire between contending princes, or dying near the ruins
of Carthage; we are at a loss to tell what we should most ad­
mire in him, the knight, the scholar, the patriarch, the king, or
the Christian. His gentle manners, an unalterable serenity of
soul, a great love of justice, a singular care to prevent all
troubles, or at least to stifle them at their birth, but, above all,
his most tender piety, won all hearts. Magnificent, when his
statipn required it, he knew how to blend the duties of great­
ness with his taste for personal simplicity. When he had de­
voted the greater part of his time to affairs of state, he delight­
ed tc relax his mind in the society of the learned. Vincent
af Beauvais was his librarian and St. Thomas Aquinas his fre­
quent guest. While pouring forth his soul in prayer, before
he altar, he looked like an angel prostrate before the throue
uf the Most High. “ Men are strange beings,” he used to say.
“ They loudly complain that I give too much time to prayer ;
VOL. in.—23

.164

GENERAI, HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

though notn word of reproach would be heard did I waste the
same hours in gambling or hawking.” How would the present
age receive the universal witness of contemporary writers, on his
austerities ? What a contrast between the manners of our own
day and those of a young king, covered with a hair-shirt, giv­
ing up his body to every penitential practice, visiting hospitals,
ministering in person to the poor and the sick with a self-devo­
tion which religion alone could inspire. Louis, controlled by
the ever-present thought of eternity, was always the worthy
son of Queen Blanche, who used to say to him when a child :
“My son, God knows how dear you are to me. Yet I would
rather see you dead at my feet, than guilty of one mortal sin.”
The young king’s minority was a stormy one, but Queen
Blanche, in whose hands the regency resided, was able to ward
off threatened dangers, to recall rebellious subjects, and to pre­
pare the kingdom for a reign which will be the endless glory
jf France, of Christian Europe and of all humanity.
7. In the year 122S, Raymond VI1M who had succeeded his
father as Count of Toulouse, solemnly abjured the Albigensian
heresy and promised to acknowledge the suzerainty of Louis IX.
Barefooted and stripped of every mark of dignity, the count
presented himself before the Cardinal of St. Angelo, the Pope’s
legate, and, prostrate at his feet, received solemn absolution
from the censures he had incurred. The Albigensian war was
ended Its issue was for France a step forward in the path of
glory. A salutary union was then established between the
Southern and the Northern provinces, until then divided by
difference of language and manners; it extinguished a hitherto
ever-rekindling flame of discord and war.
8. Honorius did not witness the happy issue of these
events. He died in the year 1227, at the moment when
the Emperor of Germany, Frederick II., was renewing the con­
test of the house of Hohenstauffen against the Church. Ilia
Pontificate may be considered, in some sort, the complement of
that of Innocent 111. The thirteenth century, so fruitful of
glorious and holy deeds, presents, under these two Pontiffs, a

GREGORY IX. (A. D. 1237-1241).

355

rich harvest of heroes and saints. We must lament our ina­
bility to do more here, than merely to quote their names, with­
out the details we would wish to give. St. Ferdinand, king
of Castile, and the celebrated Rodrigo of Ximenes, his chan­
cellor ; Blessed Egidius, Bernard of Quintavalle, and Peter of
Catana, disciples of St. Francis of Assisi; Sts. Ceslas and Hy
ncinth ; Blessed Jordan of Saxony ; St. Anthony of Padua
and St. Raymond of Pennafort, disciples of St. Dominic; St.
Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury; St. Verdiana of Flor­
ence, St. Zita of Lucca and Blessed Margaret of Louvain, all
three of whom sanctified themselves in the discharge of menial
duties ; St. Conrad of Bavaria, and St. Hedwige, duchess of
Poland, formed a wreath of holiness and virtue to adorn the
Church in their day. St. John of Matha and St. Felix of
Valois founded the Order of the Trinity for the redemption of
Christian captives in the East ; St. Peter Nolasco, in the same
view, established the Order of Our Lady of Mercy : these pious
ami noble institutions, sprung from the fire of Christian charity,
sent forth their members in the train of the Crusades to dry
the tears of the exiles, whom they restored to their homes and
freedom.
§ 2. Pontificate

of

Gregory IX. (March 18, a. d. 1227—
August 21, 1241)

9. Cardinal Ugolini, of the illustrious house of Conti, was
over eighty years old when elected to succeed Honorius (March
18, A. D. 1227). But the spirit of Innocent HI. glowed in
*hi aged breast. Zeal and energy, consummate pi jdence, quick
discernment, universal knowledge, shrewd and skilful manage­
ment, waning eloquence, firmness of character, lofty senti­
ments—every quality, in fine, that helps to make a great man,
shone forth in the new Pontiff) and God gave him time to use
them well for the glory of the Church and the honor of the
Holy See. He was fated to meet an adversary no less formid­
able than Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II. The ambition

356

GENERAL BISTORT OF TUE CHURCH.

of the princes of Hohenstauflen, their projects for achieving
greatness, their dream of universal monarchy, were embodied
in Frederick II., the ungrateful ward of the Church, who after­
ward became its bitterest enemy. At once emperor of Ger­
many and king of Sicily, Fiederick displayed a strange medley
of the most opposite qualities and vices. He equalled his pre­
decessors in valor and outstripped them in learning. lie
cultivated Provençal poetry, and his verses arc not devoid of
feeling, fire and harmony. His natural dignity of manner was
tempered by a mild and affable address. The able masters
provided by Innocent had left him in ignorance of none of
the attainments of his period. But to these gifts of a superior
mind, he joined a boundless ambition, a cruelty truly barbarous,
and such a degree of infidelity that, in the thirteenth century,
he openly professed his admiration for Mahometanism. In
constraining John of Brienne, his father-in-law, to yield to him
the title of King of Jerusalem, he had no thought of rescuing
Palestine or the Sepulchre of the Redeemer from the Mussul­
man yoke. He merely sought the right to extend to the East
the suzerainty he hoped to acquire in the West. To effect
this purpose, he stopped at no sacrifice, not even of his word,
his oaths, the rights of others, the interests of the Church and
even his honor as a Christian. The Popes, the natural defend­
ers of the interests and rights of all, steadily opposed his
grasping policy and became involved in a new series of bloody
struggles with the empire. But for the influence of the Papacy,
it is most likely that Europe and the whole Christian world
would have been brought under the German yoke. In the
time of Honorius III., Frederick had already, in the kingdom
of Sicily, encroached upon the established rights of the Holy
See, in the case of episcopal elections. His chancellor, Peter
des Vignes, drew up a code of laws, separating the two powers,
temporal and spiritual, thus doing away with the primitive
constitution of the new empire of the West and of Christian
society. The two parties, so celebrated in history, the Guelphs
and Ghibellines, were taking a defmed'shape and stand in Italy.

UREUORY IX. (A. D. 1327-1241).

357

The Guelphs held to the independence of Italy and the Pontifical
rule ; they were represented by the Lombard League, of which
Milan was the centre, and which was pledged to oppose the
German policy of invasion. The Ghibellines formed under the
imperial standard. Frederick gave to the contest a character
of almost savage animosity and hatred. Tie was excommuni
*
cated by Gregory IX., in the first year of that Pope’s Pontifi­
cate (1227).
10. The sentence required to be enforced by arms against
a prince who scoffed at the thunders of the Church. The Pope
gave the command of the Lombard League, with the title of
Defender of the Holy See, to John of Brienne, the emperor's
father-in-law. Frederick, on the other hand, invited the Sara­
cens into Italy, joined them to his own troops under the com­
mand of Raynaldi, duke of Spoleto, who invaded the Pontifical
territory. The excommunicated emperor himself, a rebel
against the Church, the better to brave the Pope, whom he
deemed an enemy, set out for Palestine. One hundred thousand
warriors awaited him at Messina, and sailed with him on the
expedition, improperly styled the sixth Crusade, as it had
really no religious object, at least on the part of the prince who
commanded it. On landing at the port of Acre, they found
two Franciscans, sent, by Gregory IX. to warn the Patriarch of
Jerusalem, the Knights of the Temple, of the Hospital and of
the Teutonic order, against holding any intercourse with the
excommunicated emperor. The sentence was solemnly promul­
gated and punctually obeyed. Frederick, who sought in the
East only the prestige of a distant expedition, now thrown
upon his own resources, had recourse to an infamous .apostasy
foi’ the success he could not win by arms. “ I am your
brother,’ he wrote to the Sultan Meledin. “ The religion of
Mahomet is, in my estimation, as respectable as that of Jesus
Christ. As heir to the kingdom of Jerusalem, I come to take
possession of my states, without disturbing you in your own.
Let us, by our alliance, save torrents of human *blood.'
Meledin could not, in this impious speech, have recognized the

858

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

successor of Godfrey do Bouillon. He granted all that was
asked, and Frederick II. entered Jerusalem. The emperor had
promised the sultan not to rebuild the walls of the city ;
this condition filled the Christiana with indignation On the
day after his arrival, Frederick, in full royal regalia, proceeded
to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ; but no bishop was
found to place the crown upon the head of an excommunicated
prince, and he was obliged to take it from the altar and perform
the office for himself. The first king of Jerusalem was far
greater when he refused to wear a royal diadem on the spot
where his Redeemer had worn a crown of thorns. Frederick
II. was the last European prince who appeared in the Holy
City as its sovereign. Here he made a sojourn of two days,
which enabled him to date thence the letters by which he in­
formed the Pope and the chief Western bishops that he had
restored the Latin kingdom of Palestine. A more truthful
account from the Patriarch of Jerusalem disabused Europe,
and told that Palestine had recognized in Frederick II. but
another traitor to the Church. The so-called sixth Crusade
was ended. The imperial troops left Jerusalem, and on the
morrow it was again in the hands of the Saracens.
11. The war still raged in Italy between the Guelphs and
Ghibellines. A faction, raised in Rome by the imperial in­
trigues, had driven Gregory IX. from the Eternal City. The
heroic Pontiff repaired to Assisi, where he proceeded to the
canonization of St. Francis. At his departure, he had given
to John of Brienne, commander of the Pontifical forces, instruc­
tions worthy of a Pope. “ God,” said the Pontiff, “ wishes to
preserve the freedom of His Church, but He does not wish to
see its defenders thirsting for blood or tampering with the
liberty of their brethren. This thought should control your
whole campaign. Treat your prisoners with a generosity that
may recall the wanderers to the arms of their father. Thus
shall we save our owu and the Church’s honor.” The return
of Frederick gave a new and fiercer impulse to the struggle.
His rage was heightened by a thirst for personal revenge

GREGORY IX. (A. D. 1237-1241)

359

against his father-in-law, John of Brienne. After a speedy
conquest of all the fields that Raynaldi had been forced to yield
co the Lombard League, he compelled John of Brienne to tly to
France, where he was met by the deputies charged to offer him
the crown of Constantinople. The Pontiff's cause might well
have been deemed desperate ; but Gregory IX. knew not how
to quail before reverses. He renewed the excommunication
already hurled against Frederick, with the addition of this
fatal clause : “ As he has braved the thunders of the Church
and refused to submit to the decrees of the Holy See, We de­
clare all his subjects in Germany and Sicily freed from their
allegiance to his person. No one may justly adhere to him
who bears arms against God and tramples upon His com­
mands.” The deposition of a ruler, by the Pope, was a serious
matter in the thirteenth century. Frederick II. understood
its importance, and accordingly opened negotiations with Greg­
ory IX. After long discussion, the much-desired peace was
at length concluded in the month of August (a. d. 1230). Two
Apostolic legates performed the ceremony of absolving the
emperor from the sentence pronounced against him. Frederick
then appeared before Gregory, in person, at Anagni, stripped of
all the badges of imperial dignity, and prostrated himself at the
Pontiff’s feet. The Vicar of Christ received him with affec­
tionate kindness. The Roman Church opened the bowels of its
mercy to receive the returning prodigal. But, on the part of
Frederick, this submission was only a feint; he returned to
Germany, more embittered, more implacable than ever.
12. Gregory availed himself of the short interval of peace
to recall the rebellious Romans to their duty. His efforts were
successful, and he entered Rome amid the joyous acclamations
of that inconstant and fickle people (a. d. 1235). In the pre­
ceding year the indefatigable Pontiff’ had published the collec­
tion of Decretals which bears his name, and of which he had
■intrusted the compilation to St. Raymond of Penna fort, his
chaplain and grand penitentiary, and a member of the order of
Friars Preachers. The Pontifical Constitutions are classified.

360

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

in this collection, under different titles and in chronological
or(]or—an improvement · pon all previous compilations. The
Decretals of Gregory IX. begin with those of Alexander III.,
thus forming a continuation of Gratian's work, which was only
carried down to that period. The watchful eye of the Sover­
eign Pontiff reached every part of the world. lie opened com­
munications with the Emperors of Nice and Trebizond, with a
view to the re-union of the Greek and Latin Churches. His
letters reached the northern bounds of Europe, to shield the
Christians from the oppressions of the Hungarian" and Sclavonian kings. The obstinate heathens still struggled, in Prus­
sia, against the light of faith. Gregory sent them Dominican
missionaries, who speedily opened a way for the gospel and bent
these savage nations, little by little, to the yoke of Christ. The
Friars Minors were equally faithful in the spiritual warfare
carried on by the Holy See. They followed the footsteps of
their holy founder, through Egypt and the other Eastern coun­
tries under the Mussulman domination. Their usual fate was
martyrdom. But their sublime self-devotion taught the sons
of the Prophet to know and to respect the religion which could
inspire it. Dissension now began to tear the Order of St.
Francis. Brother Elias, who had succeeded the holy founder
as Superior-General, openly declared against the austerity of
the rule, which he pronounced excessive. “ It is a rule,” said he,
“ better fitted for the observance of angels than of men.” The
innovator was denounced to Pope Gregory IX., who deposed
and afterward excommunicated him (1230-1253). Brother
Elias had his partisans and his opponents, and his doctrine
outlived him. This schism gave rise to the division into Con­
ventuals, who lived in large monasteries, under a mitigated rule,
and Observantins or Friars of the Regular Observance, who
followed the original rule. In Spain, under St. Ferdinand III.,
king of Castile, aud James I., king of Aragon, the Christian
arms, nearly always successful, since the brilliant victory of
Las Navas de Tolosa, were now assuming a decided superior­
ity The most important cities, Cordova, Seville, &c., were re­

GREGORY IX. (A. D. 1227-1241).

361

taken from the Moors, with the islands of Majorca. Minorca and
Iviça; everywhere the churches and episcopal sees were ris­
ing again. France, freed at last from the long struggle with
the Albigenses, and from the storms which threatened the
minority of Louis IX., now rested peacefully under the sceptre
of the royal saint, who used his power only to establish the
kingdom of God. Stringent laws were enacted against blas­
phemers. “ Gladly,” said the pious monarch on their publica­
tion, “ would I undergo all the pains they decree, could I,
by that means, prevent the scandals and repair the outrages
offered to the Divine Majesty !” France was now receiv­
ing with reverent and holy enthusiasm the priceless relics
sent to St. Louis by Baldwin II. of Courtenay, who had
lately succeeded John of Brienne on the throne of Constanti­
nople. The crown of thorns which the Redeemer wore upon
the cross, had long been preserved in the chapel of the Eastern
emperors. Two noble sentiments led Baldwin to part with
this inestimable treasure in favor of St. Louis—the love of his
native land, and the too-well-grounded fear that the sacred
relics might fall into the hands of the schismatical Greeks, who
were daily drawing their lines closer round Constantinople.
“ We are unavoidably reduced,” wrote the Latin king, “ to the
cruel necessity of seeing this sacred memorial pass into the
hands of strangers. Allow me, then, to intrust it to your care,
my kinsman, my suzerain and benefactor ; and let France, my
beloved country, become its repository." St. Louis, accom­
panied by his brother, the Count of Artois, came forward as
far as Sens to receive the holy crown. The respectful devo­
tion of the king raised near the royal palace the splendid
edifice of the Holy Chapel, that elegant masterpiece of the
Gothic art of the thirteenth century, to receive under its grace­
ful arches and fretted vaults the sacred memorial of a Re­
deemer’s love (1239).
13. Frederick II. had again risen up in arms against the
Holy See. His first wife, Yolande, daughter of John of Bri­
enne. died in 1233 ; he then sought the hand of St. Agnes,

362

GENERAL DISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

daughter nf Primislns, king of Bohemia. The young and pious
princess preferred the service of Jesus Christ to all the world’s
greatness. Turning to the Pope, she begged him to protect
her, and not to allow an alliance which she thought contrary to
tho views of God in her regard. Gregory heard her petition,
and by his Apostolic authority forbade Frederick to proceed
further in his suit. The emperor at first showed great irrita­
tion, but yielded in the end. “ Had she rejected me,” said he,
“for any mortal man, I should have revenged myself by arms ;
but I cannot blame her for preferring a heavenly Spouse.”
This contradiction left in his heart a germ of hatred and ven­
geance, which was more deeply embittered by the complaints
of Gregory, who reproached him for his relations with the Sara­
cens in Sicily. In 1238, his army, like a raging torrent, pour­
ed into Lombardy. Ezzelino de Romano, the emperor's sonin-law, placed himself at the head of the Ghibelline faction,
deluged Italy with blood, and won the deserved epithet of
Ferocious, applied by general execration. The imperial forces
seized Sardinia, a fief of the Roman Church, and there erected a
throne for Entius, a natural son of Frederick II. Gregory IX.
was drawing near to the venerable age of a hundred years.
If the emperor imagined that weight of days had impaired the
Pope’s energy, he was sadly at fault. The aged Pontiff as­
sembled the cardinals, the clergy, and Roman people, in the
Basilica of St. Peter. In their presence he excommunicated
the perjurer, and declared all his subjects in Germany and
Italy freed from their allegiance. While the Pontifical letters
bore these tidings to all the Christian princes in Europe, the
Pope sent a legate to France to offer the imperial crown to
Robert, count of Artois, and brother of Louis IX. The holy
king, in his brother’s name, refused the dignity which might
trouble the peace of his states. But Frederick resented the
Pontiff’s energetic action by acts of unprecedented violence.
He ordered the immediate expulsion from his territory of all
the Franciscan and Dominican religious, whose devotion to the
Holy See he well knew. The imperial chancellor, Peter des

GREGORY IX. (A. D. 1MT-1M1).

363

Vignes, published in his master’s name an imperial constitu­
tion. which condemned to the flames any person, of whatever
condition, age, or sex, Who should obey the sentence of inter­
dict pronounced by the Pope. Any one found to be the bearer
of Pontifical letters, of whatever tenor, should be immediately
hanged. Frederick had, in the mean time, entered Sicily, in­
creased his own force by the alliance of the Saracens of that island,
and was now at their head, ravaging Beneventum and the other
provinces of the Papal domination. His ambassadors visited
every European court, with the mission of protesting against
the conduct of Gregory, whom the einperor called Antichrist,
and of appealing for redress to a general council. With a view
to deprive the faithless prince of this last pretext, and to clear
himself before the world of the charge of violence brought
against him, the Pope himself convoked a council, to be held in
the Basilica of St. John Lateran, in the year 1241. All the
French bishops, with zealous eagerness to uphold against a
tyrant the independence of the Roman Church, answered the
Pontiff’s call. They came to Genoa, where ships, furnished
by the republic, were waiting to take them by sea to Rome.
But Frederick was deeply concerned in thwarting a measure
which must have fully laid open his treachery and bad faith.
The Genoese fleet was surprised by a Sicilian squadron ; the
French bishops were seized, sent to the emperor, and thrown
into prison. A cry of indignation arose throughout all Europe
at the news of this outrage. St. Louis wrote to the tyrant :
“ We demand the immediate release of all the captive bishops.
Think well upon the step you are taking. The kingdom of
France is not so fallen as to bear without return the galling
of your spurs.” The holy king who thus addressed the em­
peror had signalized bis energy at Taillebourg and Saintes,
against the English. Frederick deemed it prudent to comply,
and, after two years of captivity, the bishops were released.
Gregory IX. did not witness this event; he had died of a bro­
ken heart, on learning the infamous conduct of Frederick II.
(April 20. a. d. 1241).

364

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

§ III. Pontificate

of

Celestin IV. (October,
vember, 1241).

a. d.

1241—No­

14. The Church was left in a lamentable condition. The
cardinals were scattered in all directions; two of them were
prisoners in the hands of Frederick. The emperor seemed
triumphant everywhere ; and yet, two days before his death,
the heroic Gregory thus spoke in a letter addressed to all the
faithful: “Be not overcome by present vicissitudes; be nei­
ther weak in adversity nor proud in success. Put your trust
in God, and await His good time. The bark of Peter is often
driven before the storm, and dashed upon dangerous shoals ;
but it soon rises again above the raging billows, and rides in
triumph on its heavenward course.” Such faith cannot be vain.
In spite of the obstacles to the election of a Sovereign Ponti IT,
Cardinal Geoffrey Castiglione war laised to the chair of St.
Peter, under the name of Celestin IV. But the new Pope was
never crowned ; he died sixteen days after his election.

§ IV Pontificate

of

Innocent IV. (June 24, a. d. 1243—De­
cember 7, 1254).

15. The vacancy of the Holy See did not check the impious
warfare of Frederick II. During the whole course of Greg­
ory’s Pontificate, the emperor repeatedly called heaven and
earth to witness that the Pope alone was the cause of strife
between the Papacy and the empire—that tbe Pope alone was
opposed to peace. Gregory IX. and his successor had both
passed away, and still the hostile attitude of Frederick was
unchanged. A Sicilian force surrounded Rome by sea ami
land, thus closing its entrance to the cardinals. For nearly two
years, Frederick disregarded the repeated protests of all Chris­
tendom. At length, in the month of June, a. ». 1243, he al­
lowed the cardinals to meet for an election, which resulted in

INNOCENT ΠΓ. (A. D. 1243-1154).

365

the promotion of Cardinal Sinihaldo Fiescbi, under the name
of Innocent TV. The new Pope had contracted a close acquaint­
ance and intimacy with the emperor, as legate to the German
court, under Gregory IX. The election should have pleased
Frederick ; yet his expression was of anxiety. “The Pope
and the cardinal,” said he, “ are two very different men. I
much fear that, instead of a friendly cardinal, we may find
a hostile Pope. No Pope can be a Ghibelline.” His fears were
justified by the event, which, however, can be attributed to
nothing else than his own obstinacy and violence. The first
relations of the two powers gave hopes of peace; Frederick
sent an embassy to Rome to negotiate a reconciliation. On tbe
31st of March, 1244, the imperial deputies solemnly pledged
their master’s word that he was ready to make satisfaction tc
the Church for all the wrongs he had done ; to return all the
usurped lands and domains ; to free all the captive bishops,
and guard the freedom of episcopal elections. Innocent IV.
trusted the profession of sincere repentance ; but he was soon
undeceived. Frederick returned to his natural perfidy, and
protested that he could not stand to the pledge given by his
ambassadors. “ It was,” he said, “too prejudicial to his inter­
ests.” Hoping to win over the emperor to better sentiments
by a personal interview, Innocent went forward to meet him at
Citta di Castello. Frederick meditated the seizure of the Pon­
tiff’s person, and had, in fact, given the necessary' orders for
his arrest ; but Innocent, receiving timely warning of the in­
famous treachery, started alone at midnight, and dismounted
only when he had reached Civita-Vecchia, whence he sailed to
Genoa, and soon after landed upon the shore of France, the
wonted refuge of the persecuted Popes, and fixed his residence
at Lyons (1244).
10. The first care of the exiled Pontiff was to summon ail the
bishops of the Catholic world to a council—the thirteenth ecu­
menical and first of Lyons (λ. d. 1245). One hundred and forty
bishops were present with the Latin Patriarchs of the East.
Baldwin IL, emperor of Constantinople, Raymond VII., count

366

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

of Toulouse, and deputies from every Christian prince. The
emperor was summoned to answer for his conduct toward
the Roman Church; but he did not appear in person. Λ
ieputation, headed by the imperial counsellor, Thaddeus of
Suessia, a man of eminent tact and eloquence, was charged to
offer the emperor's defence. The imperial at torney, who figur­
ed, in the acts of the council, as knight, doctor in the study of
law, played his part with a duplicity which his master would
not have disavowed. “ Frederick II.," said he, “ is at a loss to
conceive the Pontiffs motive for quitting Italy as a fugitive.
What danger could threaten him in the imperial camp, in the
midst of faithful troops who would have defended him with
their lives? My master requires buta word to bring him to
the Pontiffs feet, to offer the service of his sword and his per­
son. His only aim is to establish a lasting peace at home,
which may enable him to turn his arms against the Eastern
schismatics, against the Mussulmans in Palestine and the Tar­
tars in Northern Europe, and prove to the world that the
Priesthood and the Empire, when closely united, are invincible.”
Innocent interrupted this magnificent flow of specious profes­
sions : “ All these fair promises," said he, “ were made a year
ago, and already have they been violated.” The instructions
of the imperial ambassador allowed full scope for all the ora­
torical exaggerations he might think favorable to the success of
his plan ; but he was strictly forbidden to accept any of the
grounds of reconciliation discussed during the preceding year,
in the Italum conferences. Frederick’s object was to gain time
and to turn the current of popular opinion ; he had no serious
thoughts of peace. Still, the Fathers of the council, anxious
to make a final effort, granted him a respite of fifteen days in
which to make good his means of justification or to propose ac­
ceptable conditions. Thaddeus of Suessia also wrote, urging
him to avert, by his submission, the sentence which must other­
wise inevitably be pronounced. Frederick was unyielding.
The hour of justice had come. Innocent IV. appeared in the
midst of the council, holding in his hand a lighted taper. Every

INNOCENT ÎV. (A. D. 1243-ΠΜ).

367

bishop also held a similar taper in his own. This was the usual
ceremonial of solemn excommunications. Thaddeus, persisting
to the end in his desperate part of imperial advocate, called out
aloud : “ In the name of my master, Frederick II.. I appeal from
the sentence you are about to pronounce, to the next Pope and to
a more general council !” His protest was unheeded. Amid the
deep and impressive silence of the august assembly, the Pope
read the decree of excommunication launched against the Em­
peror of Germany: “After mature deliberation with the car­
dinals and Fathers of the Holy Council, We declare Frederick
II. rejected from the pale of the Catholic Church. We absolve
forever from their oath all who have sworn allegiance to him;
by the Apostolical authority, we forbid any one henceforth to
obey him as emperor of Germany or king of Sicily ; and who­
ever, hereafter, affords him help and counsel, shall, by the very
fact, incur excommunication. The electors are bound to name,
with as little delay as possible, a successor to the empire. As
for the kingdom of Sicily, we shall provide for it, with the ad­
vice of our brethren, the cardinals." At the concluding words
of the sentence, the Pope and all the prelates threw down and
extinguished their tapers. An indescribable emotion seized
upon the vast throng that crowded the cathedral; Thaddeus of
Suessia, overcome by awe and terror, cried aloud : “ The blow
is struck ; this is truly the day of wrath !” Some modern
writers claim to distinguish in the decree two different sen­
tences : one of excommunication, the other, of deposition. They
claim, moreover, that the sentence of deposition was pronounced
in the presence, but without the concurrence, of the council.
But it is evident, from the very formula, that there was no
such distinction in the minds of the Fathers, and that they ap­
proved of the whole decree. Besides, their very silence would
have heen a tacit consent, inasmuch as the Pope states that he
had taken counsel with them. Contemporary writers all look
upon it in this light, and state that the sentence was pronounced
with the approbation of the council. Frederick received the
news of his sentence at Turin. In a transport of rage, h·»

355

GENERAL HTSTORV OF THE CHURCH.

exclaimed ; “This Pope, then, has deposed me in his council,
and taken away my crown ! Bring me my caskets ; let me see
if my crowns are lost!” Then placing one of them upon his
head : “No!” he cried, with eyes flashing fury, “ neither Pope
nor council can deprive me of these without bloodshed. Shall
an insolent monk tear the imperial dignity from me who have
no equal among princes?” Once more calling the Sicilian
Saracens to his aid, he overran Italy with fire and sword. But
the hand of God was withdrawn from him. Christian Europe
looked upon him as a scourge. The Lombard League and the
Guelphs, now fired by a spirit of dauntless resolution and
valor, taught him that “it is not good for a mortal man to fight
against God.” The imperial army was shamefully routed un­
der the walls of Parma. Frederick’s cruelty seemed to in­
crease in proportion to his reverses. He ordered Peter des
Signes, his chancellor, who had hitherto shared his most inti­
mateconfidence, to be deprived of sight, and, thus maimed, to
be delivered to his bitterest enemies, the Pisans. Peter escaped
the torture that was prepared for him, by dashing his head
against the column to which he was chained. King Henry,
the emperor's eldest son, was poisoned by his father’s order,
and died in a dungeon. Divine justice was laying its hand
upon all the accomplices of the guilty monarch. Thaddeus of
Suessia, after losing both hands in battle, was killed in the
rout of his army. Entius, the son of his guilt, whom Fred­
erick wished to place upon the throne of Sardinia, died after
a captivity of twenty-five years in an iron cage. Ezzelino the
Ferocious, who had carried murder and desolation into Verona,
Vicenza, Padua and Brescia, ended his dark career, amid the
tortures of hunger, in a dungeon. Frederick himself was at
length stricken down, strangled to death, according to some
historians, by another of his natural sons, Manfred or Mainfroy,
upon whom he had bestowed the principality of Tarentum
*
Ί250).
As if the arm of Divine vengeance was stretched
• The manner of Frederick'» death la disputed. Some writer» assort that he died a
natural death other», that he was atraiiglud by Manfred. The former declare that, ou hi»

INNOCENT IV. (A. D. 1243-1ÏM).

369

forth against every generation of the accursed race, Conrad,
the legitimate son of Frederick, was poisoned at the age of
twenty-six years, by the infamous Manfred, who soon after fell
in battle; Gonadin, the last lawful scion of the house of
Hohenstauffen, died on the scaffold at the age of seventeen.
With him fell the politically anti-Christian empire of Ger­
many, which sought to enslave the Church and rule the world.
Λ more humane empire is inaugurated in the person of Rodolph
of Hapsburg, whose descendants still wear the crown.
17. The Council of Lyons had taken steps to procure
some assistance for the Latin empire of Constantinople, which
seemed to be at its last gasp, and to arm a new Crusade, with
the twofold object of rescuing the Holy Land and of saving
Europe itself from a Tartar invasion. The Tartars or Mon­
gols had conquered Persia and part of China, under their
renowned king, Gengis-Khan, whose existence, power and
fierceness cost the human race five or six millions of men, and
vhose death (a. d. 1237) left his successor master of the country,
stretching from Tauris to Pekin, over a space of more than
fifteen hundred leagues. His sons completed the conquest of
China, and after plundering Russia, Poland and Hungary, ex­
acted from them a yearly tribute. The West was once more
threatened with a barbarian invasion. These movements of vast
bodies of armed men had convulsed the whole East. The
strange and savage hordes of Carizmians or Corasmins, flying
before the conquering arms of the Mongols, rolled headlong on
Palestine ; they took Jerusalem, profaned the Holy Sepulchre,
and turned the land into a vast desert. There was urgent
need of a Crusade, and Innocent IV. proclaimed it from Lyons.
At his call, all the Christian nations of Northern Europe ral­
lied round the standard of the cross and marched forward to
meet the advancing Mongols ; the plain of Wollstadt, near
Ligni tz, witnessed one of those giant contests, which, in num­
bers and savage fierceness, vied with the invasions of Attila
Jeatb-bed, be wae reooucded Co the Church, and received absolution from the Arvhbuliop ai
balermo. The latter hold that he died excommunicated and with every mark of deepair.
VOU ΙΠ.—24

370

GENERAL HISTORV OF THE CHURCH.

and Abderahman. The Christians were defeated ; and the fate
af the West was sealed, had not the death of Oktai, the chief
of the barbarians, recalled them to Asia (1243).
18. An event of a personal nature powerfully seconded the
appeal of Innocent and determined the seventh Crusade. In
1244, St. Louis, while at Pontoise, was hurried by a violent
illness to the verge of the grave. The whole kingdom re­
sounded with the prayers and vows of his people, but still the
king grew worse, until at length he fell into a trance, which
the attendants took for death. Suddenly, however, he was seen
to rouse himself as if from a deep sleep, and the first use he
made of returning speech was to ask for the cross. The queen­
mother, the lords and even the prelates of his court, made every
effort to turn him from the design. He informed them that, in
the crisis which threatened to carry him off, he had made a
vow to God, in case of his recovery, to fight the Infidels in
the Holy Land. As soon as his convalescence permitted it,
he summoned Queen Blanche, the Bishop of Paris and the
chief counsellors of the crown, to a deliberation. “ You may
imagine,” said Louis, “ that I was not in full possession of my
faculties when I made the vow to go to the Holy Land. Here
is the cross, which I now tear from my shoulder ; I return it
to you.” And with these words he tore the cross from his
shoulder and handed it to the Bishop of Paris, who was over­
joyed at this unlooked-for change in the king’s sentiments.
“Now," said the monarch, “ you will allow that l am of sound
mind. Then, give me back the cross. He Who knows all
things, be my witness that I shall not taste food until I am
again invested with-that sacred sign.” “ It is the will of God,”
exclaimed all present; “ we can no longer oppose the project."
8t. Louis now gave his whole attention to the fulfilment of his
vow. In 1248 he came to St. Denis, to receive the oriflamme
at the hands of the Pope’s legate, Eudes de Châteauroux.
The hardships and perils of the expedition were shared by his
royal consort, Queen Margaret, by the Counts of Artois and
Aujou, his brothers, by the legate himself, beside a great num·

INNOCENT IV. (Λ. D. 1243- 1254}.

371

ber of lords and bishops. He left the regency in the hands nf
his mother, Blanche of Castile, whose wise and prudent admin­
istration had long been a source of prosperity and happiness to
France. On his way through Lyons, he received the Pontifical
blessing of Innocent IV., to whom he said, on faking his leave :
“ France has every thing to fear, in my absence, from the at­
tempts of Henry III. of England, and Frederick II. of Ger­
many. To you I intrust its defence.” Louis sailed from
Aigues-Mortes to Cyprus, the general mustering ground of the
Crusaders, where the campaign was planned. Since the period
of the sixth Crusade under Frederick IL, in 1229, Jerusalem,
after passing through the hands of several princes of the
Ayoub dynasty, and more lately into those of the Carizmians,
had at length fallen, together with Damascus, under the sway
of Malek-Saleh, sultan of Egypt. The question was discussed
whether it would be more fitting to enter Palestine at once and
march upon the Holy City, or attack the sultan in the heart
of his kingdom, to force him to give up Jerusalem. The latter
opinion, advocated by John of Brienne, in the fifth Crusade,
prevailed also in the council of St. Louis. They were working
their own destruction. A march through Egypt must be dis­
astrous, from the very nature of the soil, at one time flooded
by the waters of the Nile, at another, parched by the burning
heats of summer. The Christian army, ill-provided, was to un­
dergo all the horrors of famine besides the ravages of the plague,
almost perennial on these reedy shores. On the 4th of June,
1249, the French fleet appeared before the mouth of the Nile.
A countless host of Saracens lined the shore with an unbroken
hedge of spears and scimitars. In complete armor, with the
oriflamme waving before him, Louis leaped foremost into the
waves, followed closely by his knights. The Moslems, under the
Emir Fakhr-Eddin, gave way before the spirited charge of tho
French, and the well-fortified city of Damietta, forsaken by its
frightened garrison, became an easy prey. The overflow of the
Nile forced the Christians to remain within the city walls, and
stayed their course of conquest. The arrival of Alphonse.

372

GENERAL BISTORT OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

count of Poitiers, the king’s third brother, brought, with fresh
troops, a new energy. In a council of war, the impetuous
Robert, count of Artois, uttered the exclamation : “ To kill the
serpent, we must crush his head !” The sentiment was ap­
proved, and it was resolved to attack the sultan in his capital,
though the movement would draw the Crusaders away from the
true object of their expedition. They ascended the Nile and
found the Mussulmans in full force on the opposite bank of the
deep canal of Achmoum ; a Bedouin’s cupidity revealed an un­
guarded ford, and the Saracen camp was carried by a resistless
charge. The victory would have been complete, had the Count
of Artois tempered his valor with prudence. With the enemy
in full flight before him, the fiery soldier, forgetting or disre­
garding the king's positive order not to advance, drew on the
cavalry with him, rushed headlong into Massoura upon the
heels of the flying Egyptians, surprised and slew Fakhr-Eddin,
and spread death and terror around his path. But the Sarasens, recovering from their first surprise, and discovering the
email number of their pursuers, rallied round the brave and
able chief of the Mamelukes, Bibars-al-Bondokdari, and fell
upon the followers of the imprudent Robert. The inhabitants
of the town joined their efforts to those of the troops ; every
thing conspired to the count’s destruction. Nearly all his fol­
lowers fell around their chief, who, after a desperate but vain
display of valor for several hours, borne down at length by
numbers, exhausted and covered with wounds, falls upon a heap
of Infidels, slain by his own hand. The Earl of Salisbury, the
Count of Couci, more than six hundred Templars and Hospital­
lers perished in this disastrous fray (1250). Meanwhile St. Louis
had crossed the ford and was engaged by a superior force of
the enemy. Au irregular struggle, hand to hand, raged during
the whole day, and left the Christians masters of the enemy’s
camp. But the triumph cost them dear. The flower of their
chivalry had fallen ; the army found itself without provisions,
in a country cut up by a great river and numerous canals sur­
rounded by swarms of enemies, who seemed to spring up a^ain

INNOCENT IV. (A. D. 1Î43-13M).

373

as fast as they were destroyed. When the death of the Coant
of Artois was communicated to his royal brother, Louis replied,
while the tears streamed from his eyes : “ God is chastising us;
blessed be His holy name.” The Saracens had now cut oft’ all
communication between the camp and Damietta, and the army
began to suffer the pangs of hunger. To add to the unhealthi­
ness of the camp, the multitude of corpses washed up by the
waters of the Nile produced a fatal pestilence in the army. It
became necessary to retreat, though the exhausted and weak­
ened state of the army made any movement almost impossible.
Still the watchful prudence and courage of St. Louis would
perhaps have succeeded in effecting his object, had not his
fearless charity toward his plague-stricken soldiers prostrated
his own strength and energy, and soon reduced him to a dan­
gerous state of illness. The Saracens seized the opportunity
to surround the Crusaders with an impassable barrier. The
whole army was captured ; the king, the Counts of Poitiers
and Anjou, the hope of France, the honor of Christendom, the
glory of the West—all was in the power of the Unbelievers.
When the tidings of the disaster reached Damietta, Queen
Margaret, who bad been left in that city by the king, had just
given birth to a son, who, in consideration, says Joinville, of
the sadness (tristesse) and grief in which his mother then was,
received the name of Jean-Tristan. St. Louis was as great in
chains as he had ever been upon the throne. The Mussulmans
were lost in admiration at his patience, calmness and unshaken
firmness. “ We considered you our prisoner and our slave,”
said his Saracen captors ; “ but, even in your chains, you treat
us as though we were ourselves your captives.” The Sultan
of Egypt, Malek-al-Moadhem, struck by the high and saintly
bearing of the unfortunate monarch, offered his own physicians
to heal the king; and a few days after sent to demand the sur­
render of Damietta, and, for the king’s ransom, a million be­
zants of gold, which Joinville makes equivalent to five hundred
thousand livres of Parisian money. “Tell your master,” said
Louis to the sultan's envoys, “ that a king of France is not to

• 374

OBNKRAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

he purchased for money. Bnf I will give Damiel tn for myself
and the million bezants for my subjects.” He was then re­
quired to give security for tho payment of the ransom, by an
oath which seemed repugnant to his religious principles, ami he
steadily refused to sign it, in spite of the fearful threats of the
Saracens. “Work your will upon me,” said the dauntless hero;
“my body is yours, but my soul belongs to God.” The sultan
accepted the simple signature of St. Louis, and the clauses of
the treaty were about to be executed when the transaction was
broken off by a tragic occurrence. Malek-al-Moadhem was
murdered by the Mamelukes (1250), and the bloody scene took
place within view of the Christian prisoners, who expected to
be made the next victims of the insurgents. One of the assas­
sins, who had torn out the unfortunate sultan’s heart, held it
up to the king’s face, asking : “ What wilt thou give me for
having slain thine enemy ?” The king turned away his head
in silent horror. His majestic silence so excited the respect
and admiration of these fierce warriors that, as Joinville relates,
they actually proposed to elect him sultan. However, the
rebel emirs ratified the treaty already agreed to by the late
sultan. The king and his barons were set at liberty. St.
Louis did not immediately return to France, but visited Pales­
tine, where he spent four years, notwithstanding the urgent
entreaties of Queen Blanche that he would return to his king
dom. Doomed to inaction by the treaty he had lately signed,
the king contented himself with repairing the fortifications of
Acre, Sidon, Jaffa and Cæsarea. He intervened, as mediator,
between the Christian princes in the Mussulman States, and
established friendly relations with the old man of the mountain
*
and the Khan of the Mongols. Louis was at length recalled
to France, by the death of Queen Blanche, and found his king­
dom in a most peaceful and prosperous condition. But one in­
cident had troubled his mother’s regency.
19. The holy monarch had won his people’s love by his vir• Tbe character known as the old man 0/ the mountain, was tho chief of a band cm a*■Miins. who executed with a fanati-al obcdiouco any deed of murdor intrusted to then.

INNOCENT IV. (A. D. 134Ï-1Î54).

375

tue and his benefits. The tidings of his disaster caused a
general demonstration in his favor. The sentiment was every­
where expressed that the national honor demanded his rescue,
the punishment of his enemies and his triumphal return to his
kingdom. The first movement was made among the shepherds ;
hence the name of Pastoureaux, given to those who took part
in this almost general uprising. But soon robbers, outlaws
and vagabonds of every description crowded to their standard,
and their progress was marked by all manner of crimes. Queen
Blanche at first encouraged the Pastoureaux, in consideration of
their original design ; but when informed of their depredations,
she adopted the most stringent measures against them, and in
a short time the whole band of vagrants had disappeared.
20. When St. Louis was re-entering France, Innocent IV. had
just set out for Italy, now opened to him again by the death
of Frederick II. The watchful energy of the Sovereign Pon­
tiff was not impaired by age. He excommunicated the King
jf Aragon, James I., called the Conqueror, who had, in a fit of
rage, deprived Beranger, bishop of Girone, of his tongue. In­
nocent thus wrote to the king on that occasion : “ Your cruelty
is inexcusable, for Beranger was innocent; but, even granting
that he was guilty, it belonged not to you to take the punish­
ment into your own hands. You should have claimed redress
from the successor of St. Peter, who is his master and judge."
James submitted to the penance imposed upon him, and received
absolution. At the same time, tbe Pope received from the
bishops and nobles of Portugal well-attested complaints against
the exactions and the tyranny of King Sancho II. Innocent
excommunicated that prince, placed the kingdom under inter­
dict, and bestowed the regency upon Alphonso, the king's
brother and heir presumptive. Sancho withdrew to Toledo,
where he died, abandoned by all his subjects, in inglorious
exile. Facts of this nature clearly enough demonstrate the
historical principle, already repeatedly laid down, of the tem­
poral power of the Popes in the middle-ages. Further argu­
ment were needless. Meanwhile the Pope renewed the often

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GENERAI. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

repeated attempt to effect a final union of the Greek ano Latin
Churches; but his correspondence with Theodore Lascaris was
as fruitless as ever. He now encouraged the establishment of
the Sorbonne, which the doctor Robert Sorbon, chaplain to St.
Louis, had lately founded in Paris, by means of the royal
bounty. This institution was intended for poor theological
students, whose means were inadequate to meet the necessary
expenses of a university course. The University of France
was beginning, in a spirit of rivalry, its great struggle with the
Dominicans and Friars Minors, w’hose chairs of theology, filled
by the most illustrious teachers of the day, attracted disciples
from all parts of Europe. Innocent put forth all his energy to
shield the holy religious from their opponents. Amid these
multiplied calls upon his unwearied activity, the Pope steadily
made head against the sacrilegious attempts of the young king
of Sicily, Conrad, son of Frederick II., and against the armed
inroads of the prince’s tutor, Manfred. But death snatched him
away from amid the new complications which marked the close
of his Pontificate (December 7, a. d. 1254). To the administra­
tive ability and firmness which become a great Pope, Innor-'nt
added the most extensive and varied attainments. He illus­
trated his Pontificate by the publication of the Apparatus ad
Decretales, which won him the title of Father of the Canon Law.
21. The spirit of faith, zeal and holiness, which has made of
the thirteenth century the most glorious epoch in the Church’s
aimais, adorned the Catholic world with wonders of virtue.
Germany admired St. Elizabeth of Hungary, duchess of Thurin­
gia, whose touching history has been given to our admiring age
with a grace and elegance of style worthy of its noble author.
The episcopal and eremitical virtues were embodied in England
by St. Richard, bishop of Chichester ; in France, by the illus­
trious religious, St. Theobald of Montmorency, worthy descendant
of a race of heroes ; in Spain, by St. Raymond Nonnatus. In
the midst of the bloody strifes waged by the Guelphs and
Ghibellines in Italy, St. Anthony of Padua and Brother John
of Vineenza, sons of St. Dominic, traversed city and country,

ALEXANDER IV. (A. D. 12M-1M1).

377

like two angels of peace, preaching union and harmony to
audiences numbering at times thirty thousand men. Their
winning eloquence and burning charity reconciled the most in­
veterate hatred, hushed all unkindness, and brought men back
to the only true and holy brotherhood, that of the gospel. St
Peter of Verona was martyred by a misguided mob. The
Church, as in the days of her infancy, still spoke to the world
by the eloquence of her apostles and the blood of her martyrs.

§ V. Pontificate

Alexander IV. (December 25,
1254—May 25, 1261).

of

a. d

22. Cardinal Raynaldi, of the house of Conti, was elected
Pope on the 25th of December, a. d. 1254, and took the name of
Alexander IV. The first care of the new Pontiff was to check
the progress of Manfred, whose troops were ravaging the Pon­
tifical States bordering on Sicily. Manfred had but lately ex­
pelled the Papal legate sent to Apulia, to guard the rights of
the Holy See, and stabbed, under the Pontiff’s eyes, Burel,
count of Anglona, for his devotion to the Roman Church.
Alexander summoned the murderer to answer before his tribu­
nal for the crime he had committed. Hostile writers have mis­
represented the events of this period. As usual, they here
again charge the Sovereign Pontiffs with encroachment and
usurpation to the prejudice of secular rulers. Whereas, in this
case, the encroachment and usurpation were evidently on the
part of Manfred and his ward Conrad. Sicily was a fief of the
Roman Church ; by every previous treaty the Popes had been
acknowledged its suzerains and had always acted as such with­
out opposition. Each successive Pontiff, in taking bis seat
upon the chair of St. Peter, pledged himself to defend, at the
risk of his life, every prerogative of the Roman Church.
Those who so bitterly inveigh against their fidelity to their
oath would perhaps prefer to see them perjured. Manfred bad,
in the name of his nephew, positively refused to receive the

378

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

investiture of Sicily at tho hands of the Pope ; taking a stand
of open hostility, he murdered the servants and ravaged the
territory of his suzerain. In accordance with the principles of
tho feudal system, and even of all justice and legislation, the
Popes wore not only entitled, but even in duty bound, to de­
fend themselves against a rebellious vassal. This was precisely
the position of Alexander IV. To the Pontifical summons,
Manfred replied that the rights of his brother Conrad were
superior to the pretensions of the Pope, and that he meant to
assert them by force of arms. Alexander punished this inso­
lence on the part of a vassal, by excommunicating Manfred and
Conrad and declaring the Sicilian throne vacant. He sent the
Bishop of Bologna to England, to crown Henry’s second son,
Prince Edmund, king of Sicily and Apulia. But the new in­
cumbent, kept at borne by the intestine strife which desolated
his father’s kingdom, was unable to enter into possession of the
states offered him in Italy.
23. Manfred still waged war against the Holy See. The
death of Conrad, which occurred in the interval, is generally
looked upon as a fresh crime of Manfred’s, to whom it brought
the crown of Sicily (a. d. 1258). Conrad was but twenty-six
years of age, and left an infant son, Conradin (little Conrad),
the last legitimate representative of the house of Hohenstauffen, who was then in Germany, too far removed to resist
his uncle’s usurpation. Dangers thickened about the Sovereign
Pontiff. The electors of the Holy Empire were unable to
agree in the choice of a successor to Frederick II. ; their votes
were divided between Richard, earl of Cornwall, brother to the
King of England, and Alphonso X., called the Wise, king of
Castile (1257). Richard repaired to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he
was solemnly crowned. Alphonso had the wisdom to prefer
remaining within his states rather than run the personal risk of
an uncertain struggle, though he still kept all his pretensions
and numbered many adherents in Germany. The ambassadors
from the rival claimants reached Rome together; but Alexan­
der, for the sake of the Church’s peace, withheld his judgment

ALEXANDER IV. (A. D. IlM-IMly

379

The Romans, ever restless and fretting nnder the yoke, were
now more eager than ever to accomplish their seditious dt signs
of independence and liberty. They wished to constitute a
federative republic, like the Genoese, the Pisans and the Vene­
tians. The doctrines of Arnold of Brescia outlived their author
and still worked upon the popular mind; the Eternal City was
in a state of almost unceasing disorder. The flame of discord
was liberally fed by the perfidious wiles and the gold of Man­
fred. Alexander IV. found it necessary to quit his capital, in
order to preserve his sacred person from the violence of the
faction, and sought peace and quiet at Viterbo (1257-1258).
24. The domestic troubles of Italy did not withdraw the
attention of the Sovereign Pontiff from the general government
of the Church. He endeavored, through his legates, to restore
peace and harmony among the princes of Northern Europe.
In 1257, he effected a reconciliation, by an alliance between
Vlademar, king of Sweden, and Christopher, king of Denmark.
James Pantaleon (afterward Pope Urban IV.), then Apostolic
legate in Prussia and Pomerania, drew up, in the castle of
Chritsburg, the constitutional charter of Prussia, which country
had been recently rescued from heathen darkness by the knights
of the Teutonic order. By drawing together, in the bonds of
Christian brotherhood, the northern nations of Europe, Alex­
ander meant to oppose a dyke to the flood of Tartar invasion
which still threatened Hungary and Poland, the two gates of
the West. In 1260 he addressed to the Christian kingdoms of
the North a celebrated circular, organizing a real Crusade against
the common enemy, and assigning the number of troops and
the contributions to be furnished by each state in case of a
coming expedition. Thus did the Papacy discharge the pro­
tective duty intrusted to it by the confidence of nations and
the public right of the middle-ages ; thus was it ever first in
the breach, wherever European civilization was threatened by
the assaults of barbarism.
25. In the year 1255, the Pope, in compliance with a
formal request of St. Louis, established the Inquisition through

580

GENERAL HfSTORV OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

out the whole kingdom of France. “ This gencial Inquisition,
«ays Fleury, “ is especially remarkable as being instituted at
the petition of St. Louis." The measure which Fleury found
it so hard to understand seems to us perfectly easy of explana­
tion on the principles already laid down. A king like St. Louis
would, above all others, be expected to protect in his kingdom
the Catholic faith which was the moving principle of his private
life. The Manichean errors of the Albigenses continued to
threaten public order, notwithstanding the vigor of the last
Crusade undertaken against them, and tho union of Provence
and Toulouse under the king’s brother, Alphonse, effected at
the death of Raymond VII., the last count of Toulouse.
*
The
Jews were, at this period, subjected to the most shocking im­
putations ; and, in truth, the ordinary tribunals were but too
often obliged to bear witness to the fearful crimes and execrable
murders committed in their mysterious meetings. The Crusades,
which had placed the Christians in momentary possession of
Jerusalem, only embittered the Jews, who saw in this event
but a fresh profanation of the Holy City. They were popu­
larly charged with torturing to death every Christian child that
fell into their hands. These atrocities, clearly authorized by the
Talmud and repeatedly verified by judicial inquiries ; the
notorious cupidity and usurious exactions of the children of
Israel ; the natural loathing felt, in the ages of faith, for a deicido
nation, had often led to bloody requital among the people of
France, England, Germany and Italy. Philip Augustus had
upon his accession to the throne, banished the Jews from every
portion of his kingdom. Innocent IV. ordered Eudes de Cha.·
teauroux, his legate in France, to issue a condemnation of the
Talmud (a. d. 1248). Every copy that could be fouud was given
to the flames. In spite, or rather, perhaps, in defiance, of this
• Raymond V1L (tho younger) gave the hand of hie only daughter, Jeanne, to Alphonse,
count of Poitiers and brother of St. Louis (a. D. 1231). This alliance brought tho province
of Toulouse, at the death of Raymond VII., into the house of France, and it was finally
snaeied to the crown in 1211, after tho death of Alphonse and Jeanne, who wore without

ALEXANDER IV. (A. D. UM-1181).

381

very rigor, the Jews continued to brave the general execration
heaped upon them. The Inquisition, established in France by
Innocent IV. at the desire of St. Louis, was chiefly directed to
uphold against them the purity and integrity of the Catholic
faith. The office of inquisitor, throughout the whole French
monarchy, was intrusted to the Provincial of the Friars Preach­
ers and to the Guardian of the Friars Minors of Paris. How­
ever, the institution was short-lived and never firmly constituted
in France. The duty of repressing heresies, in so far as they
disturbed the public peace, was imposed by the civil power
upon the parliaments, which afforded the singular anomaly of
secular magistrates deciding in religious matters, and claiming
cognizance of purely spiritual causes, as though they bad been
Fathers of the Church, constituting the permanent Council of
Gaul.
26. The children of St. Dominic and St. Francis saw new
enemies springing up around them, in proportion as they were
favored with the privileges granted by the Sovereign Pontiffs
to the mendicant orders, and honored by the esteem and affec­
tion which drew from St. Louis the expression : “ Could I
divide myself in two, I should give one half to the Friars Preach­
ers and the other to the Friars Minors.” The University of
Paris, jealous of their superiority in every branch of human
learning, waged a fierce war against them. One of its doctors,
Amaury of Chartres, a bold innovator, whose pantheistic teach­
ing seems, by a rather singular analogy, to foreshadow the
errors taught in our own day, had been solemnly condemned in
the Council of Lateran. In the Dominicans and Franciscans
he had found his most sturdy opponents. The University
sought to revenge itself by a decree forbidding the bestowal of
any chair of theology or philosophy upon a member of the men­
dicant orders. They might crush, but they could not conquer,
their rivals. Alexander IV. reversed the decree and restored
the religious to all their former prerogatives. His letter, how­
ever, was full of the most flattering encomiums upon tboso
against whom it was directed. “ The School of Paris,” said the

382

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Pope, '· is as the tree of life in the earthly paradise, or as a
shining light in the house of the Lord.” The contest was
speedily renewed by tho work of William de Saint-Amour, on
The Dangers of the Latter Times, and the Eternal Gospel of the
Franciscans, which latter work, falsely ascribed by him to the
Minors, was the production of a visionary, who declared that
the reign of the gospel of Jesus Christ was to end in 1260, to
be followed by a new doctrine which he called the Eternal Gos­
pel. Alexander IV. condemned the work of William de SaintAmour, which was burned in his presence and that of the
assembled cardinals.
27. The hatred of the University was, as we have intimated,
chiefly based upon envy, the meanest and most implacable of
sentiments. Never, in any age, did the religious orders display,
at one time, such a galaxy of great and holy men. The introduc­
tion into Europe of the works of Aristotle had opened a new
path to theology. From that great philosopher the scholastic
system borrowed its clear, vigorous, logical and precise method
of teaching. The Franciscans—Roger Bacon, Alexander of Hales,
Duns Scotus, and St. Bonaventure ; the Dominicans—Vincent
of Beauvais, Albertus Magnus, and St. Thomas Aquinas, gave
a bold impulse to the learning of this period. Their names,
the admiration and pride of their contemporaries, have come
down to us through succeeding ages, crowned with the twofold
halo of science and sanctity. The University was certainly
rich in eloquent and learned men ; but no one of them could
cope with the giants of the schools. The English Franciscan,
Roger Bacon (a. d. 1214-1294), who deserved the title of
Doctor Mirabilis, was the first to substitute experimental
philosophy for the purely speculative method. He reached
results that might seem incredible even with all the resources of
modem science; and by his contemporaries he was more than
suspected of dealings with preternatural agencies. Ilis chief
works are, the Opus Majus, dedicated to Pope Clement IV.,
his friend and protector. This work underwent two successive
revisions, under the names, Opus Minus and Opus Tertium, both

ALEXANDER TV. (A. D. 1254-1281).

383

etill in manuscript.—Epistola de Secretis operibus naturœ et artis
et de nulUfate magiœ.—Speculum alchimicum.—To Roger Bacon
is attributed the invention of gunpowder, of the magnifying
glass, the telescope, the air-pump, and of a combustible sub­
stance, similar to phosphorus: at least, his writings contait
very exact descriptions of the manner of these discoveries.
Another English Franciscan, Alexander of Hales, a student
of the University of Oxford, attended a course of theology
and canon law, in Paris, and soon won, by his close and correct
reasoning, the epithets of Doctor Irrefragabilis, and Fons vitee.
It was said of him that he owed all his learning to the Blessed
Virgin, who one day appeared to him, as he called upon her in his
despair of mastering the difficulties of study, and opened to him
the treasures of wisdom. In spite of all the obstacles thrown
in his way by the University of France, Alexander obtained a
chair of theology in Paris. He published the first commentaries
upon the Liber Sententiarum of Peter Lombard ; his works on
the Metaphysics of Aristotle and the Holy Scriptures are
lasting monuments of his vast learning and tireless activity
(1245). John Duns Scotus, a native of Northumberland,
studied, if we may believe Trithemius, under Alexander of
Hales. He taught with great applause in Paris and Cologne,
and is celebrated as the Doctor Subtilis. The Franciscans
opposed his authority to that of St. Thomas Aquinas ; and if
he is inferior to the illustrious Dominican in intellect, he some­
times equals him in power of reasoning; yet the acuteness of
his mind and the obscurity of his style make it very hard to
read his works. With Duns Scotus, began the contest between
the Thomiste and the Scotists. The whole scholastic world,
witness of their struggle, was divided into two parties; it was
impossible to belong to either of the two orders, Dominican or
Franciscan, without, by the fact, becoming a Thomist or a
Scotist. In philosophy, Scotus admitted the doctrine of the
Realists, and held that Universals, the only real existences,
form the individual by the intervention of a particular principle,
which he calls the principle of individuation or hœcceitas. In

384

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHDRCH.

theology, St. Thomas and the Dominicans held the strict
principles of St. Augustino, on the question of grace and
the collateral dogmas ; while Scotus and the Franciscans
adopted a less rigorous opinion. The Dominicans also denied
the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, which their
opponents warmly defended. This rivalry was of service, by
raising serious and deep discussions on several points of doc­
trine, and by banishing exclusive opinions, though the debate
but too often assumed a tone of bitter hostility. John Fidenza.
better known as St. Bonaventure, general of the Franciscans,
was a native of Bagnarea, in Tuscany, and taught theology in
Paris, where he received the title of Seraphic Doctor. Ilis
soul was as angelic as his intellect, and his master, Alexander
of Hales, used to say of him. “ Verus Israelite, in quo Adam
non peccasse videtur.” The prominent feature in the writings
of St. Bonaventure is their practical tendency ; still, they
showed the union of the mystic with the speculative element,
witness the remarkable work on the relation of the sciences to
theology ; Reductio artium liberalium ad theologiam. Of his two
manuals (Centiloquium and Breviloquium), Gerson gave the
preference to the latter, a close and full exposition of dogma,
which the illustrious chancellor especially recommended ' to
young theologians, as peculiarly fitted to enlighten the under­
standing and inflame the heart. The works of the Seraphic
Doctor fill six folio volumes. In the midst of his scientific
labors, St. Bonaventure displayed great activity for the general
good of the Church. Pope Gregory X. availed himself of his
lights in matters of the highest importance, and raised him to
the cardinalate, notwithstanding the saint’s humble opposition.
It is well known that the legates, sent to present him with the
insignia of his new dignity, found him in the kitchen of the
monastery, aiding in the lowliest duties. St. Bonaventure
died at Lyons (1274), during the session of the fourteenth
general council, amid his unfinished labors, and in the prime of
life. The heartfelt mourning of every member of the council
was the most splendid panegyric that could have honored the

ALEXANDER IV. (A. D. 1354-1351),

385

illustrious departed. Gregory X., with the Patriarchs of Con­
stantinople and Antioch, led the funeral procession, and paid
a tearful tribute to the memory of the saint. He was canon
ized in 1482. The Dominican order could also point to a
list of illustrious names. About the year 1228, the attention
of St. Louis was attracted by a religious, in the Abbey of
Royaumont, called by his brethren the Devourer of Books
(librorum helluo). This was Brother Vincent, of Beauvais,
who was soon after appointed royal librarian, and intrusted
with the collection of the most rare and valuable works. The
work of Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum historiale, naturale,
morale, is a real encyclopædia, comprising all the information
of his day. We cannot withhold an expression of wonder and
admiration before such a monument raised to the science of a
period, by a simple religious, unaided by all our modern ap­
pliances of printing or enlightened comment to give success to
the great undertaking. Vincent designed to complete his work
by a fourth pari, to be called the Speculum doctrinale, when his
labors were broken off by death, to which he peacefully yielded
in 1264, leaving to the world the memory of an almost unequalled
learning, and of virtues which won him the title of Blessed from
many of his contemporaries. Another son of St. Dominic, Al­
bert, called the Great, a member of the noble house of Vollstœdt,
professor of theology successively in Paris and Cologne, pro
vincial of the Dominicans, and afterward bishop of Ratisbon,
had studied in the celebrated University of Padua. The
extent of his learning made him the wonder of his age. His
writings on philosophy, theology, law, Sacred Scripture, the
physical sciences, chemistry and natural history, fill twenty-one
folio volumes. But his proudest title to glory is that he was
the master of St. Thomas Aquinas. He had marked the lofty
intellect, the deep penetration, sound judgment and vast know'edge of the modest youth, whose habitual silence provoked from
his fellow-students the derisive surname of the Dumb Ox.
“ The bellowing of the dumb ox,” said Albert, u will yet be
heard throughout the whole world.” St. Thomas Aquinas, the
Vou III.—25

386

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Angelic Doctor, was indeed appointed to teach all future ages,
and towin the names of “Universal Doctor” and “Angel of the
Schools,” bestowed by the general admiration of grateful theo­
logians. The Summa of St. Thomas is the most wonderful pro­
duction of human genius; and the learned world may lament
that this monument to theological learning should have remained
unfinished. St. Thomas divided it into three parts. The first,
after a general view of the method to be followed in theological
studies, treats of God, of the Trinity, of the creation of man, in
the four parts of his being; the soul, the understanding, the
will, and the body. The second part is subdivided into two
sections, which have been styled Prima Secundœ, and Secunda
Secundœ. The first section comprises the articles on the last
end of man, supreme happiness, human actions, the virtues and
vices, sin and its kinds. The second section of the second part
is more extensive, and has always been held in higher esteem.
It treats of faith, hope, and charity, grace, spiritual gifts, the
active, the contemplative, and the religious life. The third part
is chiefly devoted to a treatise on Jesus Christ, and an unfinished
treatise on the Sacraments. The writings of St. Thomas, but
especially the Summa, have always been an object of universal
admiration in the Church of God. John XXII. said of it that
“ the Angelic Doctor might count bis miracles by the number of
his articles.” “ With all due respect to others,” said Cardinal
Tolet, “ St. Thomas alone is enough for me.” A heresiarch of
the sixteenth century uttered the blasphemy, “ Take away
Thomas, and I will destroy the Church !” St. Louis of France
admitted St. Thomas to relations of the closest intimacy, and
often made him his guest. The learning of the Angelic Doctor
was equalled only by his piety; his ordinary prayer was an
ecstasy, lie was one day discovered by one of his disciples,
Dominie de Caserte, rapt in adoration before a crucifix. The
witness asserts that the image of the Crucified addressed the
saint : “ Thou hast well written of me, Thomas ; what reward
wilt thou have?” “None,but Thyself, Lord,” replied Thomas.
Tht illustrious and holy religious died in the monastery of

URBAN IV. (A. D. 1941-1304).

387

Fossanova, near Frusinone, while on his way, by order of the
Pope, to the fourteenth general council (1227—1274).
28. While these bright lights of learning and holiness shed
a flood of glory about the Church, Pope Alexander IV. had
closed his Pontificate (May 25, a. d. 1261). The same year wit­
nessed the fall of the Latin empire of Constantinople, founded
half a century before, at the time of the fourth Crnsade. The
endeavors of Baldwin II. were powerless to avert the catastro­
phe. Michael Palæologus, of the Comnenian race, seized Con­
stantinople by armed force ; Baldwin IL, a crownless king,
withdrew to Italy, where he died 1273, after vainly exhaust­
ing every effort to rebuild his ruined throne.

ζ VI. Pontificate of Urban IV. (August 29, a. d. 1261—Oc­
tober 2, 1264).

29. At the death of Alexander IV., James Pantaleon,
Patriarch of Jerusalem, who, as Apostolic legate, had promid­
gated the new constitution of Prussia, was at Viterbo, whither
he had been summoned by the particular wants of his Church.
James was a native of Troyes ; his father is styled by Bury,
Sutor veteramentarius. From this lowly station God had
designed to raise him to the pinnacle of earthly greatness.
When seated on the Papal chair, he raised up over his father’s
bench, a church dedicated to St. Urban ; the choir of this
church is one of the finest monuments of Gothic architecture.
This generous acknowledgment in some sort ennobled his hum­
ble extraction. Urban IV. carried on the struggle begun by
his predecessors against Manfred, king of Sicily, who sought
to strengthen his authority by the union of the Princess Con­
stance of Sicily with the eldest son of James II., king of Ara­
gon. “ We are surprised,” wrote the Sovereign Pontiff to
James, “ that you should allow yourself to be deceived by the
artifices of Manfred. Ilis crimes must be known to you. You
know how, in contempt of solemn treaties and his sworn faith.

388

GRSRRAL BISTORT OP THE CHURCH.

be declared war against Our predecessor, Innocent IV., of
blessed memory, and brutally murdered Burel, count of An·
glona, in the very presence of the Sovereign Pontiff. At the
death of his brother, Conrad, he leagued with the Saracens to
rob his youthful nephew Conradin, and, by the help of the
Infidels, to establish himself upon the usurped throne. Since
then he has continually plundered the churches in his states ;
and notwithstanding the excommunication now resting upon
him, he violently compels the bishops to celebrate the Sacred
Mysteries in his presence. He has inflicted the most cruel
death upon the Sicilian lords attached to the Catholic faith, and
banished their families. Notwithstanding all his crimes, the
Church, like a merciful and tender mother, would have received
him back with open arms, had he shown the least sign of sincere
repentance. We offered him proposals of peace, which were
contemptuously rejected. Under such circumstances, We think
it unbecoming that you should contract an alliance with an
enemy of the Church of which you have ever proved yourself
the devoted son and faithful defender" (a. d. 1262).
30. The Pontiff’s warning was unheeded ; James became
the ally of the Sicilian usurper. Urban IV. could hesitate no
longer. He declared the throne of Sicily vacant, and, upon the
refusal of St. Louis to accept it, offered it to the king’s brother,
Charles, count of Anjou and Provence, who made serious prep­
arations to take possession of his new kingdom.
31. Since the death of Frederick II., a space of more than
twelve years, the throne of Germany had remained unfilled. The
rival claimants, Richard, earl of Cornwall, and Alphonso, king
of Castile, urged the Pope to give a final decision in their case.
A third party had lately appeared in Germany, in favor of the
young Conradin. The question was equally important and
complicated. Urban appointed a day on which the rival princes
should appear before him to receive the final decision; but the
design was thwarted by the untimely death of Urban IV.
(October 2, a. d. 1264), whose wisdom, moderation and Apostobo
firmness had awakened the brightest and most warrantable an-

CLEMENT IV. (A. D. 1ÎTC-1M·).

389

ticîpations. Urban IV., however, immortalized hia short Pon­
tificate by an institution dear to every Catholic heart. A few
months before his death he published a solemn bull, establishing
the feast of the Blessed Sacrament ; and, at his command, St.
Thomas Aquinas composed its admirable office.

$ VII. Pontificate of Clement IV. (February 5, a. d. 1265—
November 29, 1268).

32. The cardinals met at Viterbo, where the Papal court
had been held since the time of Alexander IV., and elected
Guy Fulcodi as successor to Urban IV. At the time of his
election, Guy was returning from England, whither he bad been
sent as legate. He received the news of his promotion while
still on the way, and, to escape the snares of Manfred, he
travelled as far as Perugia, in the habit of a mendicant friar;
here he met the cardinals, who prostrated themselves at his feet
and proceeded to the ceremony of installation. The new Pon­
tiff took the name of Clement IV. The firmness and energy,
the perfect disinterestedness which, in regard to his kindred,
was carried even to rigor, the vigilance and activity, the perfect
self-denial of the new Pontiff, recall the great qualities of
Gregory VII. and Innocent III. Time alone was wanting to
make his Pontificate one of the most illustrious in the annals of
the Church. By a bull of the 6th of February, a. d. 1265, he
solemnly proclaimed Charles, count of Anjou and Provence,
king of Sicily, with the proviso that the prince should pay to
the court of Rouie a yearly tribute of eight thousand ounces of
gold and a palfrey, and receive his kingdom as a fief without the
Salic law : “ The ecclesiastical elections shall be perfectly free
from any claim whatever on the part of the king. All the laws
made by Frederick II., Conrad, or Manfred, against the freedom
of the Church, shall be revoked ; and there shall be no regales
for vacant sees." Charles accepted all these conditions and
proceeded to Rome, where he was solemnly crowned by foui

300

GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

cardinals, delegated by tbe Sovereign Pontiff, who resided at
Perugia.
33. The new King of Sicily was worthy of the favor be­
stowed by the Roman Church. Equally brave and prudent, of
quick and sure perception, watchful in success, unshaken by
adversity, true to his word, sacrificing even his hours of rest to
the labors of his position, Charles of Anjou might have left a
glorious name in history, had he not afterward stained it by
the judicial murder of the youthful Conrad in, and forgotten
that moderation preserves the state which valor has founded.
After his coronation, Charles marched toward Naples to meet
Manfred, against whom Clement IV. had preached a Crusade.
The two armies met at Beneventum (a. d. 1266). It is as­
serted that Charles owed the victory which crowned his arms
to the order given by him to his followers, to strike al the
horses. This was a violation of the laws of chivalry ; and con­
temporary writers, favorable to the cause of Manfred, did not
fail to hold up this act as a forfeiture. However this may be,
the Sicilian troops were soon in full rout. Manfred, mad with
despair, threw himself upon the French ranks and fell covered
with wounds. Naples, Messina, Manfredonia, with all South­
ern Italy and Sicily, submitted to the conqueror. Charles of
Anjou reigned actually and of acknowledged right. This was
another crown bestowed by the Holy See. To the enemies of
the Papal power, this is but another flagrant encroachment of
the Sovereign Pontiffs upon the rights of temporal lords ; to
us, such encroachments would seem utterly impossible, had not
the legislation and public law of the period clothed the Popes
with a supreme and incontestable jurisdiction. The defeat and
death of Manfred had nut crushed the hopes of Conradin, who
was the last of bis race. Not content with the nominal title of
King of Jerusalem, left him by Clement III., the young prince,
hardly yet fifteen years old, wished to reign as actual king of
Sicily. The violence displayed by Charles of Anjou soon began
to irritate his new subjects. “ He scattered throughout the
land," says a contemporary writer, “ a swarm of greedy offi

CLEMENT HT. (A. D. ΗΜ-1Μβ).

391

ciale, who came like locusts to devour tbe fruit, the tree, and
almost even the very earth.” The Sovereign Pon tiff severely
reproved the conqueror. Complaints were loud in all Italy and
even beyond the Alps. The Ghibelline party in Naples, Tus­
cany, and especially in Pisa, called for Conradin. His mother
long opposed his departure, fearful to see him, still so young,
enter the fatal realm which had been the tomb of his race
But his blood was hot with all the daring rashness of his ances­
tor, Frederick II.. and he tore himself away from his mother’s
arms. Accompanied by the youthful Frederick of Austria, he
crossed the Alps at the head of a large and brilliant retinue of
knights. Beside the Ghibellines of Italy, many Spanish
nobles, who had retired to Rome, now flocked to his standard.
Charles of Anjou was expecting them on tbe opposite bank of
the Tagliacozzo. The German troops boldly crossed the
stream, scattering all before them, and Conradin already re­
joiced in an anticipated triumph. But this was merely a feint
by which Charles entrapped the unskilled youth of his oppo­
nent. The mass of his army, drawn up at a greater distance
from the stream, now fell upon the advancing Germans and
threw them into irretrievable disorder. The Spaniards alone
rallied, but only to be utterly annihilated. Conradin and
Frederick were taken. Charles, yielding to a disgraceful feel­
ing of revenge, handed over the two prisoners to a military
tribunal. One member alone uttered the sentence of condem­
nation ; the others were silent, or spoke to protest against the
form of procedure. The ill-fated Conradin was beheaded with
his inseparable friend, Frederick of Austria. “ Oh ! my
mother," he cried, as he stood upon the scaffold, “what sad
tidings must you hear of me !" Then, throwing his glove into
the surrounding crowd, he gave his head to the executioner.
The glove was picked up by a faithful servant and carried to
Conradin’s sister and his brother-in-law, the King of Aragon,
whose vengeance we shall yet have occasion to record (1268).
With Conradin fell the house of Hohenstauffen, ι·ipereu m semen
JFrederici secundi; so speaks a historian of that day.

392

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

34. Pope Clement IV. and the cardinals were loud in their
condemnation of the king’s conduct on this occasion. The
French prince had forgotten that clemency, the greatest orna­
ment of royalty, is often a necessary part of skilful policy.
He was soon called to a sense of his fault by cruel expe­
rience. Clement IV. did not live to witness it; he died
within a month after the execution of Conradin (November
29, a. d. 1268). In the year 126G, the Pope published a
decree, declaring that the disposal of all benefices belongs to
the Sovereign Pontiff, so that he has not only the right to be­
stow them all, when vacant, but also to dispose of them as he
pleases before they become vacant. These anticipative collations
were afterward called expectancies. French historians and
canonists generally connect with this bull of Clement IV. the
famous decree of St. Louis, known as the Pragmatic Sanction
(1268), containing the five following articles: “1. Churches,
prelates and ordinary collectors of benefices, shall be left in the
full enjoyment of their rights and jurisdiction. 2. Cathedrals
and other churches shall have full liberty to carry on elections
according to canonical rule. 3. It is our wish that simony,
that crime so fatal to the Church, be utterly banished from our
kingdom. 4. Promotions and the collation, provision and
disposition of prelacies and other ecclesiastical benefices, of
whatever nature, shall be regulated by the common law, the
councils and the Fathers. 5. We renew and approve the
freedom, the franchise, prerogatives and privileges granted by
our predecessors and by ourself, to churches, monasteries and
other pious institutions, as well as to ecclesiastics.” Such is
the text of the Pragmatic Sanction, as found in the oldest
manuscripts. But to the five articles already mentioned, some
more modern copies add a sixth, in the following terms : “We
forbid anybody to levy or collect the duties and charges im
posed, or that may yet be imposed, by the Court of Rome, un­
less for urgent reasons and with our full and free consent.” The
authenticity of this last article has furnished critics with the
subject of a most lively discussion. AU the Gallican writers

CLEMENT IV. (A. D. 13M-19M).

393

nave, of course, taken the affirmative ; but, in a question which
eo nearly concerns them, their authority seems to us at least
questionable. Thomassinus, Roncagha and the other Italian
critics have demonstrated, by arguments which, to us, seem con­
clusive, that the sixth article, falsely ascribed to St. Louis, is a
recent addition by a strange hand. Be this as it may, the con­
troversy can be of little interest at the present time. Even
granting the very doubtful authenticity of the sixth article, we
would ask what great advantage it affords the enemies of the
Papacy and the opponents of the dogmatic infallibility of the
Sovereign Pontiff’. The levying of a tribute or a tax is a right
of suzerainty ; the Popes never claimed any such right in
France. What more natural, then, than that St. Louis, as
temporal sovereign, should declare that no tribute or tax may
be imposed upon his kingdom without his consent? Why such
long and wordy debates upon a point so clear? The name of
St. Louis has been even more directly brought into conjunction
with what has generally been known as the Liberties of the
Gallican Church. But the attempt to associate the royal saint
with the origin of these celebrated Liberties rests upon a pure
sophism. In 1229, after the submission of Raymond VII,
count of Toulouse, St. Louis published, throughout all the
province of Languedoc, the following decree : “ From the first
hour of our reign, we have always sought to promote the glory
of God and to exalt our Holy Mother, the Church, so long
desolated, in your provinces, by the revolt of the people and
lords, by tribulations without number. Therefore do we de­
cree that henceforth the churches and ecclesiastics of Langue­
doc shall enjoy, fully and without hindrance, the liberties and
immunities enjoyed by the rest oj the Gallican church.'' St. Louis
evidently meant by this decree to free the churches of the
South from the odius bondage to which they had been reduced
by Albigensian persecution. The French canonists, who have
tried to give another interpretation to the words : the liberties
of the Gallican church, which are here used for the first time,
have proved themselves but sophists and untruthful translators.

394

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

§ VIII. Vacancy of the Holy See (November 29, a. d. 1268_
September 1, 1271).
35. Tho cardinals met at Viterbo, but could not agree in the
choice of a Sovereign Pontiff to succeed Clement IV. The Holy
See remained vacant for three years, which interval was signal­
ized by the eighth and last Crusade. The Sultan of Egypt,
Bibars-al-Bondokdari, the victor of Massoura, had repeatedly tri­
umphed over the Syrian Christians, and now held possession of
Damascus, Tyre, Cæsarea, Antioch and Jaffa. During all this
time, Louis ceased not to bear on his shoulder the Crusader’s
cross, as a sign that his pilgrimage was still unfinished. He
determined to try a new Crusade, which was doomed to a more
wretched and fruitless end than the former. His brother,
Charles of Anjou, king of Sicily, and Prince Edward of Eng­
land, the eldest son of Henry III., took the cross at the same
time. Providing for the safety of his kingdom by a wise and
able selection for the council of regency, Louis sailed from
Aigues-Mortes, on the 1st of July, a. d. 1270, for Cagliari, the
general place of meeting for the expeditionary army. The
leaders had not yet decided what point of the Mussulman em­
pire they should first attack, when the ambassadors of Mohammed-Mostauser, king of Tunis, reached the camp of the Crusa­
ders. They assured St. Louis that their master wished to em­
brace the Christian religion, and that he relied upon the Chris­
tian army to protect him from the rage of Bibars, which would
be aroused by his conversion. The holy king, listening only
to the counsels of his piety, and utterly unsuspicious of the
Mussulman’s treachery, resolved to sail to Africa. The French
army landed amid the ruins of Carthage; but the promised
conversion of Mostanser was a cheat, and the Crusaders invested
Tunis. The Unbeliever maintained an obstinate defence. Soon
the parching heat, unwholesome waler and still more unwhole­
some food, filled the camp with malignant fevers which swept
away nearly half the army. The first Christian baron, Mat­

■

VACANCY OF THE HOLY BEE (A. D. 1388-1171).

395

thew 1Π. of Montmorency, fell by the fatal disease, on the 1st
of August. The king’s sons, Philip, Tristan and Peter of France,
and the king himself were attacked. On the 7th, the contagion
seized one of the Pontifical legates, Raoul de Grosparmy. As
Prince Philip began to grow better, St. Louis felt himself rapidly
sinking. He met this last struggle with all the greatness of
soul that makes the Christian hero. Evei
*calm
and undisturbed,
rising superior to surrounding events, he interrupted none of
the duties of royalty; always more anxious about the wants of
his soldiers than about his own, so long as his failing strength
allowed, he watched and served them himself. Still they
awaited the arrival of Charles of Anjou. “ On the 25th of
August," says M. de Villeneuve-Trans, “ the waves had hardly
begun to sparkle under the rays of the rising sun, when the
streamers of the Sicilian fleet were descried in the far horizon.
But Charles of Anjou was never more to see his brother in life.
The last hour of the saintly king was at hand. The tidings
awoke the Christian camp. Knights, men-at-arms, the wounded
and the sick, all gather in trembling haste about the royal tent;
one of the folds is opened and displays Louis supported by his
faithful attendants, clothed in a sackcloth garment, holding a
crucifix in bis already livid hands, his eyes fixed upon a bed of
ashes hastily strewn upon the parched earth. Upon that couch
the pious monarch wished to breathe his last. Isabella of Ara­
gon, Amicio of Artois, the Queen of Navarre, and the Countess
of Poitiers strive in vain to stifle their sobs ; their noble hus­
bands, the sons of the dying monarch, Peter of Alençon, the
lords, almoners and chaplains, the imperial ambassadors of
Michael Palæologus, are kneeling round the dying saint, whose
majesty never shone with more undimmed lustre than upon that
throne of agony, his sceptre a crucifix, his diadem the halo of
martyrdom, his canopy the sky of Carthage, a weeping army
for a court, and eternity his kingdom. Though torn by the
most acute pain, no complaint, no regret, no murmur escapes
his lips ; they move but to utter, in faltering accents : ‘ 0
God ! have mercy upon those who have followed me to these

Î96

oehf.ral hibtort of the church.

shores ! Bring them back in safety to their home, that they
may not be constrained to deny Thy holy name !”’ To his son
and successor, Prince Philip, he gave admirable lessons of wis­
dom and virtue. The shadows of death were fast falling about
the royal sufferer; he was several times heard to exclaim:
“ Jerusalem ! Jerusalem !” At length, repeating aloud the words
of the Psalmist: “I®rd, I will enter into Thy house, I will
worship toward Thy holy temple,” he calmly expired. “Le
roi est mort, vive le roi !” that ancient proclamation of the
monarchy, was hushed in the overwhelming grief of the hour ;
the heralds-at-arms, the high officers of the crown, were silent;
the wail that broke forth from the whole camp, alone announced
the immense loss of the Crusaders. Thus the crown of France,
in a strange land, passed to Philip III., called the Bold. Robert,
count of Clermont, the youngest son of the late king, had re­
cently been united to Beatrice of Burgundy. From this union
sprang the royal Bourbons of France, Spain and Naples, whoso
history, greatness and misfortunes ire interwoven with the des­
tinies of the world.
36. The siege of Tunis was pushed on until lhe conquered
Saracens sued for peace. Philip the Bold and Charles of Anjou
concluded, with Mostanser, a truce of ten years, on conditions
favorable to religion ; after which they withdrew their troops to
Europe. Prince Edward of England had not given up the de­
sign of helping the Christians in Jerusalem, and he accordingly
landed his forces on the shores of Palestine. Here his ranks
were swelled by the Templars and Hospitallers, and together
they gained some advantages over the Infidels ; but the death
of Henry III. suddenly recalled Edward to England (a. d. 1272).
The eighth and last Crusade was ended. Every endeavor since
made by the Sovereign Pontiffs to rekindle in Europe the spirit
of the Holy Wars has proved fruitless; and the Christians in
Palestine, left to their own weak resources, fell at last before
the power of the Mamelukes. One by one they lost their sea­
port towns and strongholds. Tortosa, Laodicea, Tripoli, were
successively wrested from their grasp, plundered and destroyed.

■

VACANCY OF THE HOLY BEE (A. D. 19M-1111).

397

At length, in 1291, the Sultan Khalil-Archraf, at the head of
two hundred thousand Saracens, laid siege to Acre. The last
refuge of the Christians fell, and the Latin empire in Asia
ceased to exist. The remains of the three knightly order·
withdrew to the island of Cyprus, which then formed an inde­
pendent Latin kingdom.
37. If we are to judge the Crusades by this sad result, they
must appear but a series of unhappy expeditions, disasters and
useless wars. In this light they have been, and are still, viewed
by superficial minds, strangers to those higher laws of Provi­
dence, which Catholic teaching alone cau discover. To form a
true estimate of these distant and religious expeditions, we
must bike into consideration the vast influence they exercised
upon nations, by taming their still savage energy ; upon the
great, by forcing them into domestic quiet; upon the whole of
Europe, in giving it a political unity by the fusion of its various
nationalities, in establishing a community of views and interests;
in fine, upon commerce and industry, by opening frequent and
recular communication between the East and the West. “ When,
in the middle-ages,” says De Maistre, “ we entered Asia, sword
in hand, in the attempt to cast down, upon its own soil, that
formidable crescent which threatened the liberties of Europe,
France was foremost in the memorable enterprise. A simple
monk, who has left to posterity only his baptismal name, coupled
with the unpretending title of the Hermit, supported only by
his faith and an unbending will, aroused all Europe, struck ter­
ror into Asia, broke down the barriers of feudal distinctions,
ennobled the serf, brought back the torch of learning, and
changed the face of Europe.” This view alone can give us a
true idea, independent of purely Christian considerations, of the
immense advantages conferred by the Crusades upon humanity
and civilization.

898

GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

§ IX. Pontificate

of

Gregory X. (September 1, a. d. 1271 —
January 10, 1276)

88. Philip III. passed through Italy on his return to France,
carrying with him five coffins, containing the remains of his
father, Louis IX., and the bodies of his brother, Jean-Tristan,
count of Nevers, of his brother-in-law, the King of Navarre ;
of his wife, Jane of Aragon, and of the child whose birth to a
momentary existence had been fatal to its mother. Never had
the royal necropolis witnessed such mourning. As he passed
through Viterbo, Philip urged the cardinals to hasten a Pontifi­
cal election, and give to the Church a Supreme Pastor. On
the 1st of September, a. d. 1271, the long dissentient votes met
at length, under the influence of St. Bonaventure, upon Theo­
bald de Visconti, archdeacon of Liege, who was at the time
with Prince Edward, as Apostolic legate in Palestine. The
new Pope received the news of his promotion at Acre, on the
27th of October, and took the name of Gregory X. This pro­
motion revived the drooping spirits of the Eastern Christians.
Before leaving Ptolemais for Europe, the new Pope took leave
of the Christians in a most touching address, at the end of
which he exclaimed, in the words of the Psalmist, “ If ever I
forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten. Let
my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I do not remem­
ber thee, if I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy !”
During the whole course of his Pontificate, Gregory accordingly
cherished the project of a new Crusade ; but his efforts were
fruitless and fell before the general spirit of indifference. This
design was still the object of his solicitude, with the hope of
winning back the Greek Church—a hope which seemed to be
brightening in the distance. The Greek emperor, Michael
Pakeologus, who had again become master of Constantinople,
stood in great dread of Charles of Anjou, whose arms had al­
ready more than once been turned against the Illyrian provinces.
Whether from motives of policy, to win the favorable medio-

GREGORY X. (Λ. ύ. 1371-1378).

399

cion of the Pope, or through a sincere desire to bring back hie
subjects to the bosom of Catholic unity, Michael labored with
persevering energy, and against all the prejudices of the Greeks,
to bring over the bishops of his empire to thoughts of union.
The pious and learned Veccus, the imperial librarian, afterward
raised to the see of Constantinople, nobly seconded the em­
peror in his difficult endeavor. Ambassadors were sent to
acquaint Gregory X. with these promising dispositions.
39. With a view to add greater solemnity to the reconcilia­
tion and to preach the Crusade upon a wider field, the Pope
convoked the fourteenth general council, to meet at Lyons. A
circular was addressed to all the princes and prelates of Chris­
tendom. “We might,” wrote the Pontiff, “have convened the
council in Rome ; but the Western princes would have found it
difficult to be present, and the Holy Land would not have found
so many champions. For this reason We have chosen a city
beyond the mountains, of well-known fidelity and devotion to­
ward the Holy See, and already celebrated as the scene of the
thirteenth general council.” Five hundred bishops from all
parts of the Catholic world, two Latin Patriarchs, Pantaleon of
Constantinople and Opizon of Antioch, Philip, king of France,
James II. of Aragon, ambassadors from Germany, England,
Sicily and the kingdoms of Northern Europe, and more than a
thousand mitred abbots, poured into the city of Lyons to attend
the council which was opened on the 2d of May, a. d. 1274.
In the presence of this vast assembly, the most imposing and
august in the world, Gregory X. officiated Pontifically, and, in
a discourse upon the text : “ Desiderio desideravi hoc pascha
manducare vobiscum," he laid before them his reasons for calling
the council : 1st, the Crusade; 2d, the re-union of the Greeks;
3d, tbe reformation of morals. In accordance with tbe wish of
the Sovereign Pontiff, a decree was passed insuring considera­
ble aid to the Holy Land. “ We have witnessed in person,”
said the Pope, “ the woes of those generous pilgrims. We
have traced, one by one, all their sufferings. Their courage is
even greater than their fatigues ; their piety is superior to ad­

40Π

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

versity. Like the warriors of Godfrey de Bouillon, they are
the worthy sons of the cross. Let us, then, also hasten to the
rescue of Palestine. This is not the time to found new king­
doms in the provinces of Asia, nor to attack the unbelieving
sovereigns of Africa. We must march to the rescue of the
Holy Sepulchre !” The council answered the appeal of the
heroic Pontiff by ordering contributions and tithes in the various
States of Christendom, for the benefit of the Crusade. But the
Pope needed warriors, not gold. Warriors were wanting ; the
time of the Crusaders was past. On the 1st of July the Pope
officiated Pontifically in the presence of the Greeks and of the
whole council. The Epistle and Gospel were read in Greek and
Latin. The Creed was also chanted in both tongues, the cele­
brated addition : Qui a Patre Filioque procedit, being thrice re­
peated. St. Bonaventure delivered a discourse upon the unity
of the Catholic Church. After the Holy Sacrifice, letters were
read from Michael Palæologus and the Greek bishops, contain­
ing an entirely orthodox profession of faith. They addressed
the Pope as : First and Sovereign Pontiff, Ecumenical Pope,
the Common Father of all Christians. George Acropolita, the
imperial ambassador, representing Michael Palæologus, pro­
nounced, in his master’s name, the following oath : “ I abjure
the schism in my own and my master’s name. I believe in
my heart, as I profess with my lips, the Catholic, orthodox and
Boman faith ; I promise ever faithfully to follow, never to for­
sake it. I acknowledge the primacy of the Roman Church and
the obedience due to it; I pledge myself to all these profes­
sions, by oath, upon the soul of the emperor and my own.”
After this solemn declaration, which put an end to the schism
of Photius and Michael Cerularius, after two centuries of
struggle and contest, Gregory stood up and intoned the Te
Deum, while his cheeks were bathed with tears of grateful
emotion. This was the last session in which St. Bonaventure
appeared ; he died on the 15th of July, 1274, and the Pope
would officiate in person at his funeral, to honor, by this glorious
exception to the Pontifical usage, the genius and virtue so emi

GREGORY X. (A. D. 127I-H78).

401

nently displayed by the illustrious Doctor. The remaining
sessions of the council were now occupied with questions con­
cerning the general discipline of the Church and the reformation
of morals. Among all the decrees directed to that end—on
the collation and plurality of benefices, the rights known as
regales, the freedom of ecclesiastical elections and the regularity
of clerics—three claim our more particular attention. The
first establishes the conclaves in the form which they still pre­
serve. The prolonged vacancy of the Holy See, after the
death of Clement IV., naturally called attention to the means
of guarding against the recurrence of a similar state of things.
Gregory ordained that, after the death of the Sovereign Pontiff,
tho cardinals should meet in a suitable place, and remain en­
closed until the election of a successor. The Constitution was
read and solemnly approved by the Fathers of the council. The
wisdom of the measure has been fully vindicated by experi­
ence, though it has had to meet the fate of every other useful
reform, and struggle against a host of obstacles ; at length,
however, it has triumphed over all opposition and become a
fundamental rule in the government of the Church. A second
decree condemns the new sect of Flagellantes, a body of fanatics
whose exaggerated notions of penance had drawn them into
heresy. Terrified at the sight of the crimes so openly com­
mitted in all parts of the world, and penetrated with a lively
fear of the judgments of God, the Flagellantes went about
stripped to the waist, with disciplines in their hands, scourging
themselves, groaning and sobbing aloud. This sect took its
rise in Perugia, and soon spread through Italy, France, and
Germany.
Crowds of these penitents, to the number of
several thousands, ran through the streets staining them with
their blood. They maintained that the baptism of water was
useless ; that flagellation alone, or the baptism of bl-wd, was
necessary for salvation. The Council of Lyons put a stop to
their excess and their errors. By a third decree, the council
promulgated strict regulations against the useless multiplication
of religious orders. " It is not our intention," said the Fathers,
vou ni—ue

402

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

“ to include the Friars Preachers, nor the Friars Minors, who
render such valuable services to the Church. We also approve
the Cannelites, Celestines and Servîtes, whose authorized estab­
lishment is anterior to our decree.”
40. In 1205, the hermits of Mount Carmel, known as the Car­
melites, received a rule from Blessed Albert, Patriarch of Jeru­
salem. Two English knights, returning from the Holy Land,
brought some of these religious with them into England and
built them two monasteries, one in the forest of Holme, in
Northumberland, the other in that of Aylesford, in Kent ; both
these institutions stood until the time of the Reformation. St.
Simon Stock, who was elected general of the order in 1245,
decided that most of the brothers should leave Asia and pass
over to Europe, to escape the oppression of the Saracens. Popes
Honorius III. and Gregory IX. solemnly approved the consti­
tutions of the new order, which was soon spread through all the
provinces of the Christian world. St. Simon founded, in honor
of the Blessed Virgin, the Confraternity of the Scapular, in
which pious body generations of faithful souls have been en­
rolled under the standard of Mary. The Order of Servitos
(Servi B. Μ. F.) was founded in 1233 by seven noble citizens
of Florence, under the rule of St. Augustine, and w'ith the ob­
ject of promoting more particularly the honor of the Mother of
God. The institute had already received the sanction of
former Pontiffs, when Gregory X. solemnly confirmed it in the
Council of Lyons, at which their general, St. Philip Beniti, was
present. The Celestines, founded at Sulmona (a. d. 1250), by St.
Peter Moroni, afterward Pope Celestin V., embraced the rule
of Si. Benedict, with the addition of some more austere regu­
lations. Peter lived alone in a narrow cell, with no other open­
ing than a small window through which he received his daily
allowance of bread, so hard that he was obliged to use a ham­
mer to break it. He wore a shirt of knotted horse-hair, and
an iron chain about his waist. His scanty rest was taken
upon the hard earth, or upon an uncovered board, with a
stone for a pillow. Hearing that the general Council of Lyons

GREGORY X (A. D. 1271-1276).

403

intended to suppress the new religious orders, Peter quitted
his usual dwelling on the mountain of Magella, -and presented
himself before Gregory X., who was moved with admiration for
his virtue, and confirmed the sanction already given to the insti
tute by Urban IV., in 1263.
41. The \vork of the fourteenth general council was done.
Before leaving France, Gregory obtained from Philip the ces­
sion of the county of Venaissin in favor of the Holy See.
This county formed part of the marquisate of Provence, which
had been ceded by Raymond VII., in 1229, to Pope Gregory
IX. The Pope afterward gave back the marquisate to Ray­
mond, to be held as a fief of the Holy See. At the death of
the count, all his domains reverted to the crown. Gregory X.
claimed the county of Venaissin in return for his right of
suzerainty over the other states which had belonged to the
counts of Toulouse. The cession made by Philip was destined
to produce the most important results, and to brine the Popes of
a whole century to reside in Avignon.
42. The crown of Germany, so long disputed by Richard of
Cornwall and Alphonso X. of Castile, was at length bestowed
upon a prince who was to fix it in his family and found a sove­
reign dynasty that still reigns. In the preceding year (a. d. 1273),
the Pope, after mature deliberation, annulled the election of
Alphonso; the claims of Richard were no longer in debate, as
he had died a few months before. The chief motive for Pope
Gregory’s decision, was the great prejudice which pervaded all
the German States against the King of Castile. The Sovereign
Pontiff accordingly notified the imperial electors to proceed to
a final election. In the Diet of Frankfort (September 1,
1273), they unanimously voted the crown to Rodolph of Hapsburg, landgrave of Upper Alsace. His house claimed mater­
nal descent from Charlemagne. The new king had given proofs
of his solid virtue. Among others, the following pious action
is ascribed to him. As he was riding one day among the
mountains of Switzerland, he met a priest carrying the holy
Viaticum to a sick person. Hastily alighting, Rodolph con

404

GENERAL HISTORV OF THE CHURCH.

strained the priest to mount his horse, while he himself, on
foot, accompanied the King of Heaven to the poor cabin which
Be was about to visit. The priest then wished to return the
horse to the generous knight. “ God forbid,” said the prince,
"that I should ever mount a horse that has borne the King of
kings!" And he left his steed to the priest. Gregory X.
confirmed the election of Rodolph, with whom he had an inter­
view at Lausanne (1275). The new king pledged his word to
respect the property and rights of the Roman Church, and to
restore those of which it had been deprived. lie also promised
to recognize Charles of Anjou as king of Sicily, and not to
disturb him in his possessions.
43. The peace which Rodolph’s accession secured to Ger­
many and Italy seemed to Gregory X. favorable for his projected
Crusade, lie labored strenuously to restore concord and har­
mony among all the states of Christendom, to assure the success
of the holy war which he was meditating. In Italy, the Guelphs
and Ghibellinesc at the sound of the Pontiff’s voice, forgot their
old feuds, to bind themselves by the ties of a noble and holy
friendship. The Christian rulers of Spain were awakened to
something of their old zeal by the letters and legates of the
Pope. Gregory inveighed most sharply against the effeminacy
and criminal voluptuousness of some of them, hoping thus to
gain them as auxiliaries in his new Crusade; but time failed
the energetic will of the holy Pontiff who was struggling almost
single-handed against the indifference of all Europe. Gregory X.
died at Arezzo, on the 10th of January, a. d. 1276. “ His Pontifi­
cate,” says the Protestant historian Sismondi, “ was a glorious
one, and would certainly have left a deeper impress upon the
memory of men, had it lasted longer. His impartial spirit had
pacified nearly the whole of Italy, when the rage of civil strife
seemed to have banished all hope of peace. The interregnum
in the empire was ended by the election of a prince who
covered himself with glory, and founded one of the most
powerful dynasties of Europe. The Greek and Latin Churches
were reconciled. Finally, a general council, undei the presi­

ADRIAN V. (A. D 1279).

405

dency of tho Pope, promulgated laws most beneficial to Christendoin, and worthy, in every respect, of so august an assembly.'·
The historian of the Church has nothing to add to this tribute
paid by a Protestant to a Pope.
§ X. Pontificate

of

Innocent V. (.January 21, a. d. 1276—
June 18, 1276).

44. Conformably to the decree of the fourteenth general
council, the conclave was held in the manner prescribed ; ten
days after the death of Gregory X., Cardinal Peter of Tarantasia was chosen to succeed, and took the name of Innocent V.
Rodolph of Hapsburg prepared to set out for Rome to receive
the imperial crown, when the new Pope sent legates requesting
him to defer his visit until the conclusion of a final treaty of
peace between himself and Charles of Anjou. Innocent feared
that the presence of a new emperor might rekindle the hardly
extinguished feuds of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, and that
Rodolph might he inclined to renew the claims of Frederick IL
upon the kingdom of Sicily. He had, in the mean time, restored
peace between the Luccans and the Pisans, and was now en­
gaged in quelling the dissensions which stained with blood the
rising city of Florence ; but, while the Church was rejoicing in
the bright promise of this reign, the Pope was taken away by
death, on the 18th of June, a. d. 1276, after a reign of only five
months.
§ XI. Pontificate of Adrian V. (July 4, a. d. 1276—August 18.
1276).

45. Cardinal Ottoboni Fieschi, elected Pope under the name
of Adrian V.. held the Papal chair for even a shorter time than
his predecessor. He was already seriously ill when the votes
of his colleagues called him to the supreme dignity. As the
members of his family came to congratulate him on his promo­
tion : “I would rather,'· he replied, "you had found me a ear-

406

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

dinal in health than a dying Pope." He had barely time, by a
fatal haste, to revoke the Constitution of Gregory X., concern
ing the conclave, when he died on the 18th of August, a. d. 1276

§ XII. Pontificate of John XXL (September 13,
1276—May 16, 1277).

a. d.

46. During this rapid succession of Popes, the Pontifical
court was still held at Viterbo. Rome, more than ever a prey
to the furious struggles of the Guelph and Ghibelline factions
for the sovereign power, forgot its lawful rulers, and wasted its
strength in endless disputes. The great war of influence and
intrigue was led by the two rival houses of Colonna and Orsini,
whose origin was referred to the days of the Roman empire.
At the death of Adrian V., the cardinals, on the strength of
the bull of revocation promulgated by him, refused to enter
into a conclave, but the inhabitants of Viterbo, fearing the
perils of an interregnum, compelled them to submit to the
ordinance of the fourteenth general council; and on the 13th
of September, a. d. 1276, the Portuguese cardinal, Peter Julian,
was elected Pope, taking the name of John XXL Gifted with an
extensive learning and with a piety equal to his knowledge,
the new Pope gave to the Church the promise of a firm and
enlightened administration. He had sent legates to the court
of Michael Palæologus, to second that emperor's earnest en­
deavors for restoring the East to the Catholic union promul­
gated in the Council of Lyons. He furnished pecuniary
means to the Christians in the Holy Land, to enable them to
meet the attacks of the Sultan of Egypt. Finally, he had just
condemned the erroneous teachings of some members of the
University of Paris, who were bringing into the study of the­
ology the principles of a false rationalism. The cheering pros­
pect of this Pontificate was suddenly blighted by a fatal accident.
While visiting the Pontifical palace which he was building at
Viterbo, a scaffolding gave way beneath bin and the Pope was·
ao seriously injured that he died within 7,x days of the disas

NICHOLAS ΙΠ. (A. D. 1377-1280).

4 07

ter (May 16, 1277). The only reproach incurred by this Pon­
tiff, is his confirmation of Adrian's decision revoking the decree
concerning the conclave.
§ XIII. Pontificate of Nicholas III. (November 25, a. d
1277—August 22, 1280).
47. The cardinals, resting upon this twofold revocation,
refused to submit to the Constitution of Gregory X., and the
Holy See remained vacant rnore than six months. On the
25th of November, a. d. 1277, the votes at last met upon Cardinal
Gaetano Ursini, who took the name of Nicholas III. The new
Pope gave his first thoughts to the East. Charles of Anjou
had given the hand of his daughter to Philip of Courtenay, son
of Baldwin IL, the last Latin emperor of Constantinople, nor
did he hide his intention of overthrowing Michael Pakeologus
and of restoring, in favor of Baldwin, a throne which should
become the inheritance of his daughter. The union of the two
Churches, effected by the Greek emperor, if not the result of
sincere conviction, was at least a master-stroke of skilful policy,
since it secured the sympathy of the Holy See, and placed an
effectual barrier to the attempts of the Sicilian king. But the
schism was too deeply rooted in the East. On their return
from the council, the imperial ambassadors were received with
imprecations by the people and clergy, who cursed them as
heretics and apostates. The Greek signers of the act of union
and submission to the Holy See were not men to suffer mar­
tyrdom for tho sacredness of an oath ; they trampled under
fool all that they had sworn to observe at Lyons. The Patri­
arch, Veccus, who had, with his own hand, drawn up the oath
of obedience to Rome, did not afterward hesitate to publish a
decree, classing among the companions of Judas those who abjured
the schism and acknowledged the supremacy of the Latin Church.
Charles of Anjou availed himself of this reaction to continue
his warlike projects, and, in 1278, renewed all his preparations
for an expedition against Palmologus. Nicholas III., as hi»

4U8

GENERAL HfSTORV OF THE CHURCH.

suzerain, forbade the hostile expedition. “ By his voice the
sword of Charles was chained tc the scabbard ; and the Greek
ambassadors," says a contemporary historian, “ beheld him in
the Pope’s antechamber, biting his ivory sceptre in a transport
of fury." Meanwhile the Ponti IT had sent legates to Constan­
tinople, to urge the fulfilment of the treaty of union. The em­
peror quieted their doubts by splendid promises, which he was
probably powerless, if willing, to fulfil, while be secretly pre
pared against Charles of Anjou a treacherous and cruel act of
revenge.
48. The energies of Nicholas III. were multiplied to meet
at once all the wants of the Church. He sought to reconcile
the Kings of France and Castile. Philip had espoused the
cause of the children of Laccrda, despoiled by their uncle, Sancho
IV., of their hereditary right to the throne of Castile. The
Pope succeeded in healing the feud between the two monarchs,
lie was at the same time engaged in defending the Friars
Minors from the calumnies heaped upon them ; and the Apos­
tolic authority, by an energetic decree, shielded the religious
order which equally illustrated the Church by its virtue and
its learning. Nicholas was at the same time in continual cor­
respondence with Rodolph, and together they meditated a
design fraught with the most important consequences to the
future destinies of Italy and of all Europe. The Pope had
conceived the design of dividing the empire into four great
sovereignties : that of Germany, for the house of Hapsburg, and
Vienne, in Dauphiny, to be given as a dowry to Clementia,
daughter of Rodolph, and wife of Charles Martel, the grandson
of the King of Sicily. Italy was to be divided into two king­
doms: one in Sicily, the other in Lombardy. The sudden
death of Nicholas III. (August 22, a.d. 1280), frustrated the
vast design.

MARTIN IV. (A. D. 1381-.M6).

§ XIV. Pontificate

409

Martin IV. (February 22, a. d. 1281
—March 28, 1285).
of

49. After a vacancy of six months, due to a want of agree­
ment among the cardinals, and the intrigues of the Guelphs
and Ghibellines, Cardinal Simon of Brienne was elected Pope,
on the 22d of February, a. d. 1281, and took the name of Martin
IV. in memory of the church of St, Martin of Tours, of which
*
he had been canon and treasurer. His reign was inaugurated
by a treaty with the Romans, concluded on rather extraor­
dinary terms. Exhausted by the republican anarchy which
had been rending it for the past half century, Rome at length
felt the necessity of returning to the Pontifical rule, alone capa­
ble of restoring quiet and prosperity. To avoid offending the
popular prejudice by the immediate re-establishnient af monar­
chical power, a compromise was sought ; Martin IV. was elected
senator of the Roman people, and in that capacity charged
with the government of the city. “ In consideration,” says the
deed of election, “ of the virtues displayed by our Holy Father,
Pope Martin IV., and of his love for the city and people of
Rome, hoping that his wisdom may find the means of restoring
order and tranquillity, we have intrusted him, not because of
his Pontifical dignity, but out of regard for his merits and illus­
trious lineage, with the government of the Senate of Rome and
of its territory, to hold it for life.” The Pope did not think
that this treaty would secure him a sufficient preponderance in
Rome to induce him to make that city his residence. He re­
mained in Viterbo, where he soon after received tidings of an
event which sent a thrill throughout the whole of Europe.
50. The glove flung from the scaffold by the hapless Conradin, was received by John of Procida, a knight of Salerno,
who SAVore to avenge the death of the youthful prince. John
bad found an asylum at the court of Peter, king of Aragon,
• Though he who in truth but tho second of the name, ret tho enumeration of both
Popes Marinus in the list of Martins wx^sionod tho error which usage has sanctioned.

410

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

who had married Constance, the daughter of Manfred, and last
heiress of the house of Hohenstauflen, by the will of Froderck
Π., wno, in the default of his legitimate children, had declared
his natural son, Manfred, heir to all his rights of sovereignty.
The firm resolve and unbending will of Procida let no day
pass unmarked by preparations for the fulfilment of his oath.
Twice did he appear in the palace of Palæologus, urging him to
join the great conspiracy of which Peter of Aragon had con­
sented to take the risk. The emperor was easily persuaded to
seize the opportunity of striking in his own behalf, and a Greek
subsidy of thirty thousand ounces of gold was profitably em­
ployed to hasten the hostile preparations against Sicily. The
King of Aragon also furnished a considerable armament, under
specious pretexts. It was in vain that Pope Martin IV. ques­
tioned him concerning the destination of his expedition ; he
refused all explanation, declaring that he would cut off his left
hand if it were conscious of the intentions of his right. Martiu
then expressly commanded him not to attack any Christian
prince. The Pope and the King of Sicily began to entertain
misgivings ; but they were far from suspecting the terrible
issue of the conspiracy. John of Procida and the chief Sicilian
nobles met in Palermo, to celebrate the Easter festival. On
Monday, the 29th of March, a. d. 1282, at the hour of vespers, all
the French were massacred, without distinction of age, sex, or
condition. They were recognized by being required to pro­
nounce the Italian word ciceri ; not one escaped the fury of the
populace. This dreadful massacre has obtained the name of
the Sicilian Vespers. The conspirators fast spread through the
whole island, every where renewing the same shocking carnage,
in which upward of twenty thousand of the French were immo­
lated to the popular hatred. The news filled the court of Rome
with horror. Martin promised Charles of Anjou all the spirit­
ual and temporal help at his command. A sentence of excom­
munication was hurled against the authors of the massacre,
including Peter of Aragon and Michael Palæologus, their ac­
complices. The city of Palermo addressed to the Pope an

MARTIN IV. (A. I). 1381-1285).

411

apology, closing with an insolent jest. “ After the murder of
the French,” wrote the Sicilians, “ we raised the banner of St.
Peter, and placed ourselves under the protection of the Roman
Church ; but, as you disdained our prayers, God sent to our
assistance another Peter whom we did not expect.” This was
Peter of Aragon, who, on learning the news of the massacre,
had steered his fleet to Palermo, and was crowned king of
Sicily. The Pope met this act of open defiance by deposing
Peter from his throne and freeing the Aragonese from their
oath of fidelity. He offered the crown of Aragon to Charles
of Valois, second son of Philip the Bold. The Sicilian Vespers
disturbed the peace, at once, of France, Spain, and Italy. Philip
deemed it a point of honor to avenge the slaughter of the French
in Sicily. Jayme of Aragon, king of Majorca, whose family
had been dethroned by that of Philip HL, was likewise in arms,
while Charles of Anjou was preparing a most vigorous resist­
ance against his adversaries. But he was defeated before Mes­
sina and in the waters of Trapani. The whole success of the
French arms was limited to the capture of Girona, while the
celebrated Catalan admiral, Roger de Loria, three times de­
feated the combined fleets of Naples and France, off the coast
of Catalonia. In 1285, hostilities were suspended by the simul­
taneous death of the Pope and of the Kings of France, Naples,
Castile and Aragon. Martin IV. died at Perugia on the 28th
of March, 1285.
51. Two years before, Michael Palæologus had died, still
under the ban of excommunication, for his share in the Sicilian
Vespers ; and the Greeks, comparing him to Julian the Apos­
tate, devoted his soul to everlasting perdition. In conjunction
with the monks and bishops, his son Andronicus IL, a prince
utterly devoid of talent, affection, or valor, refused him Chris­
tian burial. The new emperor pursued a course in direct
opposition to that of his father. He burned the act of reunion
adopted in the fourteenth general council, openly broke with
Rome, and persecuted the Greeka lately converted to the
Catholic faith. Informers, victims and torture became ae

412

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

common as in the days of Constantius, Leo the Isaurian and
Copronymus. When an appeal was made to his clemency in
favor of any particular ecclesiastic or layman who had embraced
the Catholic faith, he replied that he made no distinctions
among the azymites, and “ that he judged of them all by a few,
as he was satisfied of the bitterness of the sea by applying a
single drop to his tongue.” The Eastern schism, after a mo­
mentary interruption, was thus again more firmly established
than ever.

§ XV. Pontificate of Honorius IV. (April 2,
April 3, 1287).

a. d.

1285—

52. On the 2d of April, a. d. 1285, Cardinal James Savelli was
elected at Perugia, and crowned at Rome, on the Gth of May,
us Pope Honorius IV. The Constitution of Gregory X. regard­
ing the conclave had again been disregarded in this election ;
so odious was it to the cardinals, that, in the circular announ­
cing his election to the bishops of Christendom, the new Pope
thus speaks of it : “ After the funeral obsequies of Pope Mar­
tin IV., of happy memory, we assembled freely, on the 1st of
April, without the confinement of the conclave, a censurable
abuse lately introduced into the Roman Church.” Simultane­
ously with the promotion of Honorius IV., Alphonso X. inau­
gurated his reign in Castile, and Philip IV., surnamed le Bel,
in France. The rightful successor of Charles of Anjou was his
son Charles, called the Lame. But that prince had been taken
prisoner, in the preceding year, by Roger de Loria, and was
now in the dungeons of the King of Aragon. Honorius IV
hoped, by gentle means, to end the conflict to which the Sicil­
ian Vespers had given rise among these various princes. He
opened communications with Alphonso III., king of Aragon,
to obtain the liberation of Charles II. ; but the disadvantageous
terms proposed by the Aragonese prince broke oil' the negotiation,
lie was preparing to resume it on a new ground, when death
snatched him away, in 1287, after a Pontificate of two years.

NICHOLAS IV. (A. D. 1388-1Î9Î).

413

§ XVI. Pontificate of Nicholas IV. (February 15, a. d. 1288
—April 4, 1292).

53. The vacancy of the Holy See was prolonged for nearly
a year by a plague which swept Italy at the moment when the
cardinals, obedient this time to the decree of Lyons, bad met
in conclave for the election of a new Pontiff. At length, Car­
dinal Tinei, in spite of his humble protestations, was chosen on
the 22d of February, a. d. 1288, and assumed the name of Nicho­
las IV. Happier, in his mediation, than Honorius, he obtained
the release of Charles the Lame, whom he crowned with his
own hands in the Vatican Basilica, upon the same conditions as
had been imposed upon Charles I. by Clement IV. By the
treaty of Tarascon, which ended this great dispute (1291),
Alphonso III.renounced his claim to the Sicilian crown ; Charles
of Valois abandoned his pretensions to the throne of Aragon,
to which he had been called by Martin IV., and Charles of
Sicily gave up the duchy of Anjou in favor of the Count of
Valois. While the influence of the Pope was winning back the
peace of Europe, the city of Rome was still the prey of bloody
factions. Jacopo Colonna was, in 1290, proclaimed lord of the
new Roman empire. The Ghibellines, who had bestowed the
dignity, bore the princely shadow in triumph through the
streets of the city, amid the acclamations of the multitude, who
hailed him Cæsar. But the Orsini faction, the leaders of the
Guelphs, began a fierce and bloody strife. Rome was dis­
graced by daily scenes of carnage and conflagration. In 1292,
after a fearful struggle, the two parties agreed to a compromise.
Stefano Colonna and Orso Orsini were jointly elected senators.
The truce was short. Within a month, the death of Stefano
and the resignation of Orsini became an occasion of fresh strug­
gles ; and the death of Nicholas IV., at the same period (April 4,
1292), precluded the possibility of a pacific mediation of the
Pontifical authority. The last two years of the Pope’s reign
were absorbed by his solicitude for the deplorable condition of

414

GENERAL· HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

the Christians in Palestine. Europe was still in mourning fur
the fall of Ptolemais, the last bulwark of the Latin kingdom of
Jerusalem. In vain did Nicholas IV. appeal in the most press
mg terms to the Western monarchs, to engage them in a new
Crusade ; his voice was unheeded. Egypt, Palestine, Syria—
all those fair provinces, once so rich in numerous and flourishing
churches, were now held in the firm grasp of the sons of the
Prophet. No hand has since been raised to free them from the
shameful yoke. The Church has kept the purely nominal titles
of their once famous sees, now bestowed as bishoprics in partibus

§ XVII. Pontificate of St. Celestin V. (July 7, a. d. 1294—
December 13, 1294).
54. For more than two years the cardinals could not agree
in the choice of a Sovereign Pontiff. These long and repeated
vacancies in the Holy See should alone have sufficed to prove
the wisdom of the decree to which the cardinals refused obe­
dience. After a long and animated discussion, their choice at
length fell upon St. Peter Moroni, whom we have already men­
tioned as the founder of the Celestines. The news of his elec­
tion surprised the pious old man in his austere retreat, and
drew from him tears of bitter grief. It was found necessary to
tear him from his loved solitude and crown him, in spite of his
resistance, at Aquileia(August 29, a. d. 1294). He took the name
of Celestin V. Torn suddenly away from the ecstasy of con­
templation, a stranger to the world, its workings and its pas­
sions—he lacked acquaintance with men. While he gave him­
self up to the sweets of prayer and contemplation, in a cell
which he had built in the midst of his palace, the government
of the Church was in a state of the utmost confusion. The
same favor was granted to two, three, or even four persons at
once, and for this disgraceful practice sheets of blank parchment
were prepared and stamped with the Pontifical seal. Charles
the Lame thus obtained a decree releasing him from the oath
required of him by the cardinals, not to impede the Roman

8T. CELE3TTN V. (A. D. 1294).

415

court in the Neapolitan States. Celestin was thus unwittingly
placing the Pontifical power in the hands of the wily monarch.
Men of judgment loudly complained of such a state of things;
their complaints reached the ears of the Pope. He had ao
cepted the onerous charge only to avoid a seeming opposition
to the will of God. In these complaints he heard the expres­
sion of the same divine will warning him to cast down a burden
too heavy for his weak shoulders. On the 13th of December,
1294. the holy Pope convoked the cardinals in a solemn con­
sistory. He appeared before them in full Pontificals, and read
aloud his resignation of the Papal dignity. Then stripping off
all the Pontifical vestments, he once more put on the modest
habit of the hermit and took leave of the assembled dignitaries,
who followed him in tears, recommending to his prayers the
now widowed Church. Celestin’s abdication closes the fifth
period of ecclesiastical history.

416

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH,

CHAPTER X.
HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE FIFTH PERIOD UF THE CHURCH.
1. Hontilo attitude of tho German emperora toward the Church.—2. Doline»
of the Pope's mission at this period.—3. Cardinals.—4. Relation of the
episcopate to the Holy See.—5. Morals of tho clergy of this period.—Ç.
Influence of the Church upon society in tho middle-ages.—7. The Cru­
sades.— 8. The Albigensian war.—9. Propagation of tho gospel.—10.
The spirit of faith. Worship. Devotion to tho Blessed Virgin.—11.
Religious orders.—12. Universities.—13. Gothic architecture.—14. Reli­
gious symbolism of Gothic art. The cathedrals of this period.

1. Never did the Church more fully and freely display her
power of action than during the fifth period of her history, the
brightest epoch of mediaeval annals. The Papacy, rescued by
Sylvester II. from the degradation of the tenth century, be­
came, under Gregory VII. and Innocent III., the controlling
power of the world. We know at what cost the triumph was
achieved, what struggles went before. The boiling passions of
youthful and untamed nations ; the growth of the feudal sys­
tem, which made of every lord a petty sovereign ; the prêt en
sions of princes upon ecclesiastical elections, were so many
barriers to the development of the guardian power residing iu
the Sovereign Pontiffs. But the greatness of the difficulties
only proved more clearly the absolute necessity of a vigorous
power, in the midst of Christian society, to check all violence,
to prevent abuses, to punish crime and humanize the world.
By exercising a universal mediation between princes and sub­
jects, between the people and the State ; by sitting in judgment
upon kings and nations, in the name of God ; by opposing in­
justice under every aspect, the Popes supplied a crying want,
and exercised a right, acknowledged by the unanimous voii e
of the age. It seems impossible to doubt the fact, if we b it

HISTORICAL REVIEW OP THE FIFTH PERIOD.

41»

follow the course of events in this period. In Germany,
Henry IV., and later, Frederick Barbarossa and Frederick 11 ,
vainly strove to struggle against that spiritual supremacy to
which all Europe bowed. The martyrdom of St. Thomas of
Canterbury, in England, afforded an equally striking display
of the power and the rights of the Papacy. On this subject,
Bossuet is, as usual, impressive : “ Henry II. of England,”
says the illustrious prelate, “ declares himself the enemy of
the Church ; he attacks her both in spirituals and temporals,
in what she holds from God and what she has received from
men ; he openly usurps her power ; he lays his hand upon her
treasure, the support of the poor ; he tarnishes the honor of her
ministers by the abrogation of their prerogatives, and shackles
them by laws which strike at their freedom. Rash and mis­
guided prince ! Why is it not given him to foresee the fearful
blow which will yet fall upon his kingdom, from the contempt
of ecclesiastical authority and the unbridled excesses into which
nations shall be hurried, when they shall have cast off the sav­
ing yoke !”
2. In these later times it has become fashionable to repeat,
on the authority of writers of the last century, that the Popes
had weakened and lowered the royal power by subjecting it to
their censure. This is one of the many calumnies which must
fall before a calm investigation of facts. In the middle-ages
the Popes were the natural mediators between kings and nations.
Public opinion had clothed them with the mission of judges and
umpires ; and—the truth is undeniable—they justified this
confidence by a display of large and liberal views, a perfect
disinterestedness and a line of conduct always traced by honoi
and virtue. Had the Popes sought, in the discharge of theii
exalted mission, to subserve their own interests, to increase
their influence or their temporal sway, it seems clear that, in
the repeated struggles in which they were involved, they would
have taken part with the powers of the earth. But the con­
trary was invariably the case. Intrusted with the charge to
defend the unchangeable principles of faith and morality against
Vol. ni.—27

41S

GENERAL HISTORV OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

the great ones of the world, they never for a moment fultered
in the noble duty. With no other weapons than those of (ruth
and right, with no other power than that of conscience, they
proclaimed that the sovereign had oppressed his subjects or
violated the laws of Christianity, and declared him cut off from
the communion of the faithful, fallen from his right to rule.
From the moment of this proclamation, the guilty monarch saw
himself forsaken by all his dependants. If he risked an armed
resistance, it infallibly returned against himself. They who
seek, in thèse facts, to show up Papal encroachments, should
notice that they are arraigning the whole Christian society of
the middle-ages. That society had judged it beneficial to
have some supreme tribunal, without the sphere of national
and party influence, to which they might refer all questions of
higher moment, all royal suits. This tribunal was that of the
vicar of Christ. So deep-set and firm was this foundation of
the public law, that rulers, stricken by the thunders of the
Church, found no other means of extenuating the effects of the
blow, than to obtain their reinstatement by an antipope. What
more manifest acknowledgment could be asked for the rights
of the Papacy?
3. As centre of the universal religious and political sys­
tem, the Papacy found it necessary, in order to supply this
immense radiation, to keep permanent ambassadors or legates
in the sovereign courts. The Holy See, by the sacred char­
acter which distinguished its authority from that of all other
powers, gave the highest sanction to those governments which
received its envoys. The exclusive charge given to them of
electing the Pope, in the name of the clergy and of the Church
naturally gave a great addition to their influence. In the elec­
tion of the Sovereign Pontiffs, they were to represent the three
orders of the clergy; hence their division into cardinal­
deacons, priests and bishops, which distinction is still pre­
served. If we take the trouble to notice, moreover, that the
cardinals are chosen from among the members of the régulai
an! secular clergy, on the only consideration of eminent virtue,

HISTORICAL REVIEW OP THE FIFTH PERIOD.

415

talent and service, we must acknowledge that the world can
present nothing more august than this permanent council of
the Papacy. The Roman chancery was necessarily enlarged
to meet the calls of a correspondence which reached every
quarter of the globe. We shall notice, as occasion offers, the
institution of the various tribunals which have gradually
sprung into being around the chair of St. Peter.
4. The episcopate, bound to the Papacy by the closest ties,
formed but one solid body, communicating to the farthest
extremities of the earth the influence of the Holy See. The
war of investitures might alone suffice to prove that the canon­
ical institution and election of bishops belongs to the Sovereign
Pontiffs. The attempted encroachments of the German empe­
rors were repulsed by the Popes, upheld, in the great struggle,
by the universal sense of right. Thus, in the eleventh cen­
tury, we already find the formula still in use, Bishop, by the
grace of God and the authority of the Holy, Apostolic and
Roman See.” The sacred principle of the Catholic hierarchy,
which draws the power of bishops from the supreme power of
the Pope, is the foundation and safeguard of the Church’s
unity. The pallium, a badge of the archiépiscopal dignity, is
conferred only by the Pope. It belongs only to Rome to erect
new bishoprics throughout the world, to hx their limits, to
delegate their administration. We have had occasion to
remark that it is reserved to the Popes to convoke the
general councils aud to preside over their deliberations, per­
sonally or by their legates. Finally, it became their exclu­
sive charge, about the ninth and tenth centuries, to canonize
saints, a measure as intrinsically wise as it was useful to
the general interests of the Church, since, by the elevation
of the tribunal appointed to judge matters of such high
import, the decision is rendered more august and unim­
peachable. Side by side with the episcopal authority, rises,
with new power, the jurisdiction of chapters. They formed
themselves into a kind of independent congregation, following
particular rules of their own, enjoying the administration o

420

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

their property, and providing for the direction of the diocèse
at the death of the bishop. They thus constituted a standing
council around the episcopal throne, analogous to that of the
cardinals about the Sovereign Pontiff. In this admirable
simplicity of growth, the ecclesiastical power was gradually
developing itself. The twelfth general Council of Lateral
decreed that every bishop should appoint a penitentiary, whose
duty it should be to help him in the administration of public
and private penance. There was also another official who pre­
sided, in their name, over the ecclesiastical tribunal. Beside
these auxiliaries of the episcopal power, the bishops in partibus
infidelium began at this period to act as coadjutors to the titu­
lary bishops. By the fall of the Latin empires of Jerusalem
and Constantinople, a number of Eastern bishops were deprived
of their sees and returned to Europe, where many bishops
took them as coadjutors. The Church has since preserved the
custom of conferring the titles of those great sees, now fallen
into the hands of the Infidels, as if to keep alive and conse­
crate, from age to age, the glorious memories and illustrious
names connected with them.
5. Under the powerful impulse given by the Popes to the
government of the Church, the morals of the clergy were
speedily brought back to the standard of regularity from which
they had fallen during the tenth century. The strong arm of
St. Gregory VII. restored the youthful vigor of canonical legis­
lation. The law of ecclesiastical celibacy, which had with­
stood all the attempts at relaxation, raised the moral dignity of
the Western clergy, and saved it from the disgrace of corruption
and forgetfulness of duty. In the thirteenth century, the
clergy, both regular and secular, gave a splendid example of
every virtue. Science and sanctity, that twofold crown of the
priesthood, never shone more brightly ; the whole world, led
on by the powerful influence of the Papacy, was steadily
advancing in the path of evangelical perfection ; and, to every
true Christian, this period must appear the most fruitful and
wonderful in works of faith, charity and devotedness.

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE FIFTH PERIOD.

421

6. The hierarchy of the Church, thus constituted in strength
and power, was in a condition to act with vigor upon the
society of the middle-ages. This influence was outwardly dis­
played iu the Crusades against Islamism and the Albigensian
heresy, and by the spread of the gospel among heathen
nations : its inward working was seen in the wonderful devel­
opment and spread of a spirit of faith and holiness ; by the
foundation of religious orders ; by the intellectual movement
which regenerated learning, established a new school of Chris­
tian art, and dotted the world with universities.
7. We have already enlarged upon the beneficial results of
the Crusades, in a religious point of view. We ‘deem this a
fitting place to resume the chief fruits derived from them by
European society in general. Their immediate effect was to
eave the Christian world from a Turkish invasion, and to teach
the sons of the Prophet what they had to fear from the war­
riors of Jesus Christ. They increased the spiritual and tem­
poral power of the Popes, by bringing under their supremacy
the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Antioch, and by drawing
closer the hierarchal tie almost severed by the Eastern schism.
The distant expeditions turned away the thoughts of Christian
emperors and princes from aggressive attempts against the
temporal power of the Holy See. As supreme directors of the
transmarine warfare, the Sovereign Pontiffs stood at the head
of the Christian confederation. Moreover, the Crusades gave
rise to new principalities under the suzerainty of the Popes.
The political influence of the Crusades extended : 1st. To
rulers, who were thus enabled to extend their domain and to
strengthen their authority. 2d. To the nobility. The orders
of knighthood established in the East shed their lustre upon
Europe, and were imitated in every Christian kingdom. The
West was charmed with the tournaments which represented the
exploits performed on the fields of Palestine; and the knights
from beyond the seas displayed, in full courts, the splendors
ol the East ; armorial bearings became a necessity, and family
names began. 3d. To the people. The Crusades did more

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

than any other agent to favor emancipation, the establishment
of the municipalities, and, as a consequence, of the third estate,
or commons. 4th. To commerce and industry. The growing
necessity for more frequent journeys, their profitable issue, and
many practices borrowed from the pilots of the Levant, gave
a great impulse to the nautical art. By the opening of a wider
field for speculation and increased facility of exchange, navi­
gation shared with commerce the advantages resulting from
the transmarine expeditions. Works of art and of nature,
hitherto unknown, brought new pleasures and sometimes new
modes of industry. The maritime cities, which became the
emporiums of Eastern commerce, drew to themselves the bulk
of European population, and some of them became powerful
republics. Witness the prosperity of Venice, Genoa, Pisa,
Marseilles and Barcelona. From the same source, though by
a less direct action, sprung the wealth and activity of the
Flemish cities, which were, at once, commercial and manufac­
turing towns, serving as great marts between the North and
the South, between the Mediterranean ports and the cities of
the Hanseatic League. The soil was taught to bear new pro­
ducts; and the mulberry, buckwheat, sugar-cane, &c., were
brought into Europe to satisfy the wants of the poor or the
taste of the rich. The Crusades advanced general civilization
by opening new relations between the various nations, and by
the mutual interchange of practical knowledge. The laws of
honor and courtesy were communicated by chivalry to the
practices of daily life, and did much to raise the middle
classes, which owed their wealth and freedom, in a great meas­
ure, to the Crusades. New and lofty themes were offered to
poetic genius, which, indeed, made not the highest use of the
advantage. But talent was, at least, held in honor ; the
nobles, not satisfied with patronizing the poet who sung their
feats of arms, cultivated his art themselves. Poetry now took
a peculiar turn, from which sprung the knightly romances and
troubadour lays so popular at that period. Under the influence
of this culture, the vulgar dialects began to shake off their bar

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE FIFTH PERIOD.

423

barons character. The repeated expeditions to Syria, the
diplomatic relations consequently opened with the Mongols,
and the new roads thus cleared for commerce, gave to the
West a much more correct notion of the East, and even of the
interior of Asia. Oriental history also shared the new light
thrown upon geography; and Arabia gave to medical science
new ideas for the treatment of diseases and the use of sim­
ples, while mathematics and mechanics were enriched from
the treasures of Eastern lore. The Crusades were thus, in
many respects, productive of the greatest benefits to European
civilization.
8. The military expeditions directed against the Albigenses
were equally laudable in their object and useful in results.
The spirit of their heresy was the overthrow of the essential
principles which constitute society. Insubordination, contempt
for all authority, the destruction of the ecclesiastical hierarchy,
were natural consequences of their impious dogmas, which
bioke up all social relations, and gave free course to the most
shameful immorality. Temporal princes joined their efforts to
those of the Church’s head, to repress their excesses. The
malignity and extent of the evil may be calculated from the
length and fierceness of the struggle. The principles of the
Albigenses threatened not only the overthrow of the faith, but
of every government, of every throne. Like the modern
Socialists, they applied the torch to every institution which the
people had learned to love and respect. When plundered mon­
asteries, ruined churches, pillaged and wasted cities attested,
by their smoking ruins, the fury of the fanatical sectaries, a
general cry of indignation went up from all the hind ; and could
we expect that the Christian society of the twelfth century
should have stood a passive witness of such sacrilegious out­
rages ? The outcry against these deeds of violence was not
confined to the Pope and tho bishops ; all the sovereigns of the
day were unanimous in calling for their suppression. Frederick
II., the bitterest enemy of the Papacy, in framing a code of
laws tor Sicily, decreed the most fearful punishments against

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GENERAL JIISTORV OP THE CHÜRCH.

these sectaries. Even the Count of Toulouse, after opening his
eyes to the truth, complained, with tears, that the Albigenses,
for whom he had so long and so often fought, wasted his terri­
tory and ruined his vassals. Bowed down by age and grief,
he appeared in the General Chapter of Citeaux, to utter his
energetic but tardy appeal : “ My gray hairs,” he exclaimed,
“ are outraged. Men are dragged along by the torrent of cor­
ruption; my decrees are despised; the laws of the Church are
trampled upon ; there is nothing left but to appeal to arms.
I shall call upon the King of France to meet the heretics, and
give the last drop of my own blood in this cause, too happy if
I can but help to crush so dangerous a sect!” The Church, in
organizing a Crusade against these formidable enemies, pro­
tected European unity, crushed the socialism of that day,
secured general tranquillity and the existence of modern
eociety.
9. At every period of ecclesiastical history, the Popes were
careful to provide for the propagation of the faith in heathen
lands. By the help of their unwearied zeal, the gospel had
steadily widened the bounds of its empire. The new nations,
which had taken the place of the Roman world, successively
bowed before the cross of Christ. Yet, in the far north of
Europe, there were still fields to win, and souls still sitting in
pagan darkness. The Sovereign Pontiffs gathered together
bands of apostolic workmen in Rome, and formed them to the
duty of foreign missions. The labors of Otho, bishop of Bam­
berg and legate of Pope Calixtus II., in Pomerania, were
crowned with a glorious success (a. d. 1124). The Sclaves,
obedient to his exhortations, gave up the practices of murder­
ing or exposing infants, burning the dead, and many other
pagan customs. On quitting the country into which he had
brought the light of faith, the apostle left twelve nourishing
churches under the metropolitical jurisdiction of the see of
Julin. A second effort (1128) of his prudent and tireless
energy sufficed to remove the last traces of idolatry. The
island of Rugen, the stronghold of Sclavonic supeistitiou, made

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE FIFTH PERIOD.

425

a more vigorous and continued resistance to the introduction
of Christianity. It was not until 11G8, after the conquest
by Vlademar, king of Denmark, that the Rugians received
baptism from the hands of the Bithop Absalom of Roskild,
who overturned all the temples of the false gods. In
1158, Livonia was visited by ministers of the gospel, who
followed in the way opened by the traders of Bremen and
Lubeck. Like the light germ, borne through space upon the
wings of every wind, the spiritual seeds of the gospel are
wafted to every shore by the sails of all nations. In 1168,
a more efficient and lasting mission was established in Livonia
by Meinhard, a regular canon of the monastery of Sigebert, in
Holstein. Having built a church at Iskull, on the shores of
the Duna, he went to Rome, to obtain from the Sovereign Pon­
tiff an episcopal charter for the new church. On his return, he
found the natives in full revolt, making inroads into the territory
of the neighboring Christians. Celestine III. ordered a Cru·
sade against them. Albert of Apridern, a canon of Bremen, al
the head of a powerful anny, defeated the Infidels (1200), laid
the foundations of the city of Riga, instituted the Order of
Knights Sword-bearers (120)2, with Winno of Rohrbach as
their first grand master. From that date, the country was
really a conquest of the Catholic faith. Esthonia was won in
1223, and an episcopal see erected at Dorpat. The terri­
tory of Semigallia was made a diocese, with its see at Selon.
The bishoprics of Wecland and Revel, erected in 1230,
were a powerful help to the conversion of the people of Courland. During the glorious Pontificate of Innocent III., Chris­
tianity made its way into Prussia. A religious, called Chris­
tian, of the Cistercian monastery of Oliva, was its first apostle
and bishop. He instituted the Order of Knights of Prussia,
soon afterward merged into the Teutonic order, which subjected
all Prussia to a lasting rule (1209—1220). The triumphs
of the Church, in the thirteenth century, were not limited to
the nations of Europe. The formidable invasion of GengisKban revealed to the Christian world the ex:stence of a race

426

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

still more redoubtable than the Turks and Saracens. The
Mongols had already awakened the zeal of St. Louis, who, in
connection with Pope Innocent IV., had sent them missionaries
*
In 1288, a holy Franciscan, John of Monte Corvino, made
another effort to introduce the faith among them. He had tho
happiness to see his work crowned with success ; and Clement
V. made him bishop of the countries he had evangelized
(1307). His archiépiscopal see was the city of Kambulik, the
present Pekin. This little community of Chinese Christians
lasted until the year 1369, at which period the Mongol domi­
nation was destroyed by a political revolution. Only a few
Nestorians survived the disaster, and China remained closed
against every new attempt of the missionaries until the intel­
ligent and heroic efforts made in the seventeenth and nine­
teenth centuries once more opened to the zeal of our apostles
the field so often fertilized by the blood of martyrs.
10. In proportion to its outward development, the Church
multiplied, within, the means of sanctification and spir itual pro­
gress. In its laws, habits and manners, society seemed to aim
solely at Christian perfection ; and this tendency was displayed
by prodigies of virtue and holiness in every rank and condition.
Christian solemnities were multiplied to satisfy the piety of
the people. It did not enter into the spirit of the age to
bargain with Heaven, and to reckon as lost the days taken from
labor and given to God. All the rejoicings and feasts were
consecrated by religion, and never was the sentence of Scrip­
ture more truly verified than in that age : Beatus populus qui
scit jubilationem. The whole year was a religious cycle, each
phase of which was marked by a new solemnity. The festival
of the Body of Jesus Christ (festum Corporis Christi), so
popular in Fiance under the name of Fête-Dieu, was first
instituted by Hugh, bishop of Liège (a. ». 1220), and made
obligatory throughout the whole Church by Urban IV. Al)
the external pomp of ceremonial, all the splendors of worship
were displayed to make the solemnity worthy of the Sacrament
of love it was designed to honor. After all the efforts of the

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF ΤΠΕ FIFTH PERIOD.

■127

Inst two centuries to extinguish the fire of faith in the hearts
of nations, and to pluck out the Catholic memories and tradi
*
tions cherished there, still, in our own days, the feast of Corpus
Christi is ever the feast by excellence. Year after year, as
well in the lowliest hamlet as in the stateliest capital, triumphal
arches span the way on which the King of Peace advances
amid the lavished wealth of nature and art. But what must
have been the enthusiasm awakened by the institution of this
august solemnity among the intensely Catholic population of
the thirteenth century ! The admirable office composed by St.
Thomas Aquinas, a true master-piece of piety, learning and
faith, was rehearsed by every tongue, felt by every heart.
The Sacrament of the altar, august centre of the world’s spi­
ritual life, was surrounded with new homage. The remon­
strances (oslensorium), the throne on which the Majesty of the
God of love rests to bless His adoring children, were enriched
with gold and gems. The liturgy of the Mass was a subject
of eloquent dissertation for the greatest minds. Innocent III.
consecrated to it his pious work, “Mysteriorum Missæ.” A
parallel impulse gave to the worship of the Mother of God
a wide-spread and wonderful activity. As early as 1140.
the canons of Lyons celebrated the feast of the Immaculate
Conception, and drew from St. Bernard the prudent warning
of which we have had ocasion to point out the real bearing.
In 1389, Urban VI. made general in the Church, the feast
of the Visitation, instituted by St. Bonaventure. The vener­
ation of Mary was the soul of the middle-ages. All the great­
est men of the period appear as the faithful servants of that
Queen of love. St. Francis of Assisi takes her for the Charter
of hie indulgences
*
St. Dominic weaves her a chaplet of
roses, to which every hand contributes a dower. To her St.
Thomas Aquinas owed the gift of purity, sister of genius. St.
Bonaventure speaks her praises with the affection of a child
for his mother, of an exile for his home. For her Alexander
**
tho

• Ihis expression wes used by the saint tn speaking of tho indulgence» granted
wbe visit the Portiuncula.

428

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

of Hales foregoes the glory of an illustrious name, the ap.
plause of the schools, the joys of science ; and from her Albert
the Great seeks the knowledge of the mysteries of nature
Si. Bernard, too, the master of kings, the counsellor of Popes,
the guardian of empires, enthrones the Virgin as the Queen of
the world, by making her the queen of his heart. To the
writers of this period Mary was as a divine mirror, reflecting
every idea, theological or speculative, every fact of history,
religion and nature. The various Suminas giving the life of
the Blessed Virgin, bore the names of “ Mirror of the Virgin,"
“ Our Lady’s Rose-bush,” “ Crown of Stars,” “ Mary’s Grove,"
or “Mary’s Flower-garden.” The custom of writing her
praises gave rise to a special designation for such works, which
were styled “ Mariais.” There she appeared as she was repre­
sented over the portals of the great cathedrals, surrounded by
all the angelic choirs, the kings of Israel, the patriarchs of the
old law and the saints of the new. The love and veneration
of the Queen of Heaven received a new impulse at that time
from a miraculous event, attested by the most respectable tra­
ditions. It was said that, on the 10th of May, 1291, one
mouth after the fall of Tripoli and Ptolemais, the last two
cities held by the Latins in Palestine, the Πο/y House in which
the Blessed Virgin had dwelt at Nazareth, was carried by the
hands of angels into Italy and set down at Loretto, where it
soon became the seat of a celebrated pilgrimage.
Other
oratories, dedicated to Mary, rose up in all parts of Catholic
Europe, and received the homage of the multitude. Happy
ages when the whole world bent the knee to her who was styled
Our Lady, in the language of Christian chivalry ! The image
of the Virgin was the chaste companion of the thoughts of the
youth ; it purified his affections and raised his hopes ; it was
hailed by the aged as the beacon-light that marks the port of
home. It crowned every work, enhanced all glory, in triumph
and victory ; it rested amid floods of light upon the panes of
cathedrals, in the sacred light of every sanctuary ; it bore up
the knight beneath his heavy armor aud tho religious under his

HISTORICAL REVIEW OP THE FIFTH PERIOD.

429

coarse habit. That form is traced in everlasting verse as the
crown of Dante’s matchless poem.
*
11. The influence which was drawing on the middle-agoa
in the path of holiness was admirably seconded by the spread
of religious orders. The gates of the cloister were opened to
misguided souls and to repentant sinners, while it was ever
the safest refuge and shelter of letters and science. The va­
rious aspects of human life were developed around the monas­
teries ; they became the nucleus of later cities ; industry, agri­
culture and the arts, of which our own age is so proud, were
born under the shadow of the religious orders. The thirteenth
century witnessed their steady growth, in proportion as piety
and faith called a greater number of souls to the practice of
evangelical perfection. In vain did ecclesiastical legislation,
ever marked by a prudent reserve, take measures to keep
within stated bounds the faculty of instituting new religious
orders ; the Holy Ghost, while sending these various vocations
into the Church, knew how to smooth the way to their fulfil­
ment.—The congregation of Cluny comes first in chronological
order. We have already seen how much its splendor owed to
the high sanctity of Peter the Venerable, and the glory reserved
for him, of bringing so many souls to the height of religious
perfection. The preeminence of Cluny was felt throughout
the whole Order of St. Benedict. This was a lasting source of
influence which carried the power and wealth of the congrega­
tion to the highest degree. Relaxation soon followed, in
obedience to a law whose action we see in every page of his­
tory, and which establishes a parallel between the advance and
decline of every religious order.—The reaction showed itself in
the very heart of the community of Cluny, in the person of St.
Robert of Molême, who chose, for the seat of his reform, the mon­
astery of Citeaux, near Dijon, for which so great renown and
glory were in store (a. d. 1098). It was not until twenty years
afterward that Paschal II. gave a final sanction to the reform,
• Vid. "Legendo do NuUv-Dmbo," by Darhas; 3d od

430

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

by the famous bull known us the Charta Caritatis. Citeaux wag
goon illustrated by the glory of St. Bernard, which shone with
all-pervading splendor.—The Order of Grand-mont, founded by
St. Stephen of Thiers, in 1073, had also begun by giving an ex­
ample of surpassing fervor and regularity. The words uttered
by St. Gregory VII. when confirming the new order, have been
often quoted: “Increase,” said the Pontiff, “and multiply
your houses to the number of the stars in the heavens ; but
seek rather spiritual graces than earthly favors.” Like all
founders of religious orders, Stephen had formed his rule upon
that of St. Benedict, though without affiliating his congregation
to the great order. “If you are asked,” said he to his re­
ligious, “to what order you belong ; answer, to that of the gos
pel, which has given birth to every rule.” To save the monks
from all intercourse with the world, he left to lay-brothers
the entire charge of the temporal concerns of the order.—
The foundation of the Carthusians, by St. Bruno (1084), was
another protest of the spirit of penance against the relaxation
which had begun to corrupt some religious houses. Never,
perhaps, had the monastic life surrounded itself with such
rigors and holy austerities. St. Bruno placed the nursery of
his order in the desert of Carthusium (Chartreuse), near Gre­
noble. The religious were bound to a life-long silence, having
renounced the world to hold converse with Heaven alone. Like
the solitaries of Thebais, they never eat meat, and their dress,
as an additional penance, consisted only of a sack-cloth gar­
ment. Manual labors, broken only by the exercise of common
prayer ·, a board on the bare earth for a couch ; a narrow cell,
where the religious twice a day receives his slight allowance
of boiled herbs ;—such is the life of pious austerities of which
the world knows not the heavenly sweetness. For eight hun­
dred years has this order continued to edify and to serve the
Church by the practice of the most sublime virtue ; and its very
rigor seems to hold out a mysterious attraction to pious souls.
A. congregation of women has embraced the primitive rule, thus
carrying the fervor of those voluntary penances to a hero? 3

HISTORICAL REVIEW OP THE FIFTH PERIOD.

431

degree of self-denial and of faith. It is a pleasing duty to fol­
low, through the course of ages, the gradual unfolding of that
life-giving principle which strengthens its power of self-denial,
in proportion as sensuality takes deeper root in society, and
protests, in its own expressive language, against the general
pursuit of material enjoyments, of the vanities and pleasures of
the world. It is impossible to tell how powerfully the serene
beauty of the peace which reigns in the shade of the most
austere cloister charms the soul and wins the heart. One of
the Fathers of the spiritual life in the primitive Chartreuse,
the Prior Guigo, has left us a work redolent with these per­
fumes of the desert, a seeming foretaste of Heaven. He called
it the “Manual of Monks,” and we may well believe that more
than one of its readers found in its pages the beginning of a mo­
nastic vocation. It sometimes rises to the loftiest heights and
seems to soar in the sphere of heavenly intelligences. “ The
pleasures of earth," says the saintly prior, “ seem to confound
the soul and body in sensual enjoyment ; man becomes
gross ; the like takes place, in an inverse order, in the joys of
contemplation. The soul so entirely controls every appetite,
every motion of the body, that matter itself seems to become
spiritualized. Pilgrims go to Jerusalem : your journey is much
longer; you must reach patience and humility. The Holy
City is on the earth ; your goal is in Heaven.” Such words
reach our ears like a stray echo from the heavenly converse of
angels.—We have already spoken of the Orders of Prémontré,
of the Carmelites and Fontevrault, ot St. l'rancis and St.
Dominic. Religious establishments were multiplied to meet
every misery and console every suffering. Charity grew with
want and took every form to soothe every pain. It would be
an interesting and a pleasing task to trace the course of Charity,
springing forth from the Precious Blood of Calvary and passing
on through time, like its King and model, Jesus Christ, doing
good io all. The middle-ages are the period of the great epi­
demics which dispeopled whole cities, and, under tue generic
name of plague, returning from time to time, spread dismay

432

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

and death throughout the land. Religious confraternities were
then organized to struggle against tho scourge, with the wcapone of zeal and self-devotion. The associations of Penitents
which still exist in Southern France and in Italy, date their
origin from this period. Leprosy, though proved to have been
common enough in Europe even before the Crusades, still
spread more widely and fatally after those distant expeditions;
here again the spirit of Catholic charity appeared in the laza­
rettoes, in which religious devoted themselves to the service of
the wretched patients. In an old ritual of mediaeval date, we
have seen the form for consecrating these heroes of charity ;
nor could we read, without deep emotion, the words of the
sublime pledge of simplicity and faith, by which timid maidens,
youths, their fond mothers’ pride and hope, tore themselves
away from the love of kindred, to become the brothers and
sisters, by grace, of those whose natural brothers and sisters
had forsaken them, and making a vow to die for Jesus Christ
and his suffering members.—The Antonines, or Hospitallers,
were founded in the year 1096, to meet a fearful contagion
known as the sacred fire, or St. Anthony’s fire, which swept off
thousands of victims in the most cruel sufferings.—The Trini­
tarians, who afterward took the name of Fathers of Mercy, be­
cause they placed themselves under the protection of our Lady
of Mercy (de Mercede), devoted themselves in the beginning of
the fifteenth century to the redemption of the Christian cap­
tives among the Infidels. Hand in hand with these peaceful
warriors of the cloister, the hospital, and of every work of
charity, we find, in connection with the Crusades, the military
orders defending with the sword that faith which their breth­
ren illustrated in the shades of solitude. Christianity found a
field on every strand, under every banner, wherever charity
found a tear to wipe away, a wound to dress, a pang to
soothe. To give to our light and frivolous age a better idea
of the interior life and saintly habits of a monastery in the
thirteenth century, we borrow from a contemporary chronicler
an oft-quoted passage. The picture bears little likeness to the

HISTORICAL REVIEW OP THE FIFTH PERIOD.

433

slanderous representation circulated by an unfriew !y philo­
sophical writer, to traduce these heroes of solitude aud cast a
slur upon their memory. “I spent eight months at Marmoutiers," wrote Guibert of Gemblours, “ where I was received
more like a brother than a guest. Hatred, jealousy and illfeeling are unknown in this peaceful dwelling; they are for­
ever banished by the law of silence, observed with exactness
and guarded with a fatherly prudence. A glance fiom tho
abbot suffices to recall the rule and insure its observance.
The offices of the house are intrusted to religious of tried virtue.
Where shall we find deeper recollection at the divine office,
greater piety in the celebration of the Holy Mysteries, more
kindness and charity toward strangers ? Every count nance
beams forth modesty, mildness, the inward peace of 8 good
conscience ; all breathes the true peace of Jesus Christ. Mu­
tual deference and regard secure a heavenly harmony, the
^stronger supports the weaker brother, the superior devote. him­
self to the service of the inferiors, who repay by sincere grati­
tude and reverence what they receive from his care and rolicitude Here the head and the members truly make but one
body. Every thought of the world has been left at the ga
*e
of
the monastery ; no one boasts his lineage, or the offices and
dignities he held ; the only nobility, the only soldiery acknowl­
edged here, is that devoted to the service of Jesus Christ.
Labor, fast and watching, tame the passions and bring the body
into subjection. Every action, the whole outward conduct, is
subjected to a wise and all-foreseeing rule. Whether in the
field, the church, or the workshop, everything is done only in
the measure and at the time prescribed. The divine presence
controls the whole course of life and animates every action.
Strict necessity alone measures the rest granted to nature ; all
the remaining hours are given to God. In this spiritual war­
fare the soldiers seem to wield their arms from dawn until the
sixth hour. God alone knows the secret of their abundant
alms. The poor receive their daily bread at the gate of the
monastery, and the abbot, moreover, eutertains at meals three
Vol. 1Π-—28

434

GENERAL niSTORT OP THE CHURCH.

poor men, as representatives of Jesus Christ. During the time
of meals, the religious also receive spiritual food by some pious
reading, and they are more careful of this heavenly nourish
ment than of that of the body. A great number of them are daily
occupied in transcribing precious manuscripts. These are the
treasuries from which they draw stores of learning and virtue.
Beside the daily exhortation, on each great festival, some elo­
quent preacher breaks the bread of the divine word to his breth­
ren. I have heard those pious solitaries mutually' urging each
other on in the path of virtue, consoling one another by
thoughts of their journey heavenward. Holy walls ! saintly
citizens ! With what grief shall I quit ypu ! Still you keep
the better part of me ; while my body leaves you, my thoughts
and affections are still with you !”
Such were the religious orders upon which the rage and
malice of our predecessors have been let loose. Since human
weakness leaves its mark upon every work of man, we may
fearlessly assert that though, in the course of many ages, and
among so many monasteries springing up in every quarter of
the Christian world, there have certainly been found many reli­
gious unworthy of their high vocation ; yet, the monastic insti­
tutions are unquestionably the most splendid monuments of
faith, the noblest creations of charity, the most perfect embodi­
ment of the self-devotion, purity and abnegation taught by the
gospel.
12. This monastic development was accompanied by an
intellectual movement which we have already pointed out, and
■which was displayed in the creation of universities and the rise
of a new form of Christian art, peopling the land with its Avon
ders. It is certainly worth while to remark the utterly eccle­
siastical origin of universities, which took their name from the
general knowledge they professed to give of every branch of
learning We have seen how the eloquence of Lanfranc, Abe­
lard and St. Anselm of Canterbury, drew about them a world
of scholars. History shows us, at certain favored epochs, an
awakening of the human mind, eager for learning, hurrying on

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE FIFTH PERIOD.

435

after some brilliant intellects, into the fruitful realms of litera­
ture and art. It was from the heart of the cloistered life that
the signal for this intellectual revival was given. There were
kept the precious manuscripts of ancient literature with which
the monks were so familiar, that Vincent of Beauvais, in his
great work, which might be called the Encyclopœdia of the
thirteenth century, quotes more than three thousand passages
from Latin and Greek authors. The torch of literature was
thus relighted at the shrine of the immortal names of Rome
and Athens. The Popes were foremost in keeping the human
mind upon this newly-opened path ; hence the universities.
This institution of the Sovereign Pontiffs, afterward so often
in arms against them, deserves a careful scrutiny. Every cor­
poration, in the middle-ages, had its own existence, its consti­
tutions, dignitaries, privileges and laws. The universities
were established upon the same principle. Each nation was
represented and defended by its own procurator; justas, in tho
political system, the ministers or consuls accredited to foreign
courts, are the official protectors of their fellow-countrymen.
The truth is, that love of learning was far more general at that
period than in our own day. Germany, Great Britain, Italy,
Sicily and Spain, poured their youth into the gates of the most
celebrated French universities ; while France, in turn, sent her
sons to fill the schools of Bologna, Salerno, Salamanca, etc
On reaching these distant cities, the strangers almost seemed
to find their absent home, its standard, its tongue and its repre­
sentatives, in the person of their procurators. These officers
chose the rector, the supreme head of the university, whose
duty it was to regulate the appointment of professors, the
course of studies and the distribution of lessons; to preside at
literary solemnities and official ceremonies ; to communicate
with the civil power, and to rule the too-often turbulent repub­
lic, in which the noble aim of their life could not always con
trol the restless and thoughtless ardor of youth. Below tho
procurators were the deans, the representatives of particular
provinces and dioceses, who exercised a subordinate authority

436

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

over the various fractions of each nation. The Popes had
secured, from the ecclesiastical revenues, the maintenance of
each student; and to preclude all possibility of disorder, tho
severest penalties, even excommunication, had been used to
prevent any fluctuation in the price of necessaries in the uni­
versity cities; since too great an advance in price might com
promise the general security. Too little heed has been paid to
the great organizing power of the Popes, which guided the
movement of European society through the middle-ages. The
modern mind is returning to a higher and more unbiased ap­
preciation of that period of history, and it is our firm conviction
that the Church can only gain by a deeper study and appre­
hension of her history. The French Revolution was not satis­
fied with the material destruction of every institution of the past;
it even sought to crush each honored remembrance by general
contempt and disdain. As in all the great convulsions of the
social body, it was helped in the work of destruction by an
enthusiasm carried even to fanatical phrensy. But when the
reaction takes place, when peace follows the storm oi passion
and over-excited interest, the historian reverently explores the
heap of fragments, and under the mass of ruins he finds the
strong, fruitful and life-giving principle which animated fallen
society, the great deeds of which men had sought to tarnish the
memory ; he will find the lofty ideas, the saving institutions
which made Christian France the foremost nation in the world.
13. The thirteenth century witnessed the birth of Christian
art, which has, up to our own time, and for our country and
climate, realized the ideal of religious architecture. Our old
cathedrals, still standing where they were reared by our
forefathers, are fit monuments of a people whose aspira­
tions, soaring high above material and earthly objects, owned
no bounds, no hope, but Heaven. The Gothic spire which
crowns our cities and springs aloft far above all surround
ing summits, is the prayer of a whole province, of a whole
country, ever rising heavenward. A whole world lives,
breathes, and prays in the Gothic cathedral. We borrow

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE FIFTH PERIOD.

437

from the pen of a man of genius, whose unrepented fall the
Church has wept, a description of the Gothic temple and its reli­
gious symbolism. “ The Christian temple,” says De Lamennais,
represents the conception of God and of His work; it represents
the creation in its present state and in its relations with the
State, the laws and the future destinies of man. Emblem of
the divine creative plan, the body of the building seems, like
its ideal archetype, to swell out indefinitely, and by its deep
shadows and dim twilight, its lofty arches, which recede
like the empyrean dome, to express the gloom cast over
the world by its fall. A mysterious melancholy seizes us
at the threshold of the gloomy precincts, where fear, hope,
life and death, rising up from all its parts, form, by their
indefinable mingling, a kind of silent atmosphere, to calm and
soothe the senses, and reveal, in vague and shadowy outline, a
glimpse of the invisible world. We own the secret power that
leads us on to where the long-drawn aisles converge, where
shrouded in mystic veils, rests the Saviour-God, the repairer of
fallen creation. The transept recalls the instrument of the
world’s redemption ; above, is the image of the ark, the only
hope of the human race in the days of the flood, and always a
true emblem of man’s toilsome struggle with the billows of life.
The pointed arch, the flying buttress and graceful spire spring­
ing into space; the upward tendency of every part and of the
whole mass of the temple, speak to the soul of the natural
aspiration of the creature toward God, its beginning and its
end. The temple has its vegetation too. Its walls are covered
with various flowers ; twining themselves into garlands, open­
ing in the sunshine, creeping along the fretwork, clinging
around the slender pyramids, and shooting upward with
them, while the delicate-clustered shafts, are crowned with
flowers and foliage. Still, the art of sculpture can but poorly
reproduce the wonderful wealth of God’s works. It can­
not give the varied effects of perspective, of fight and color;
nor gather into one single view, in a narrow frame, the
many objects which nature sets in harmonious combination be­

438

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

fore our eyes, nor the complicated scenes of life. From tin
*»
want springs a new form of art : painting. The dull, gray
vaults of (he basilica receive an azure tint ; the reliefs are made
more prominent. Painting leaves nothing to be regretted by
tbe eye ; in this respect, it perfects the creation of the temple.
The entering light gathers a thousand varied tints as it strug­
gles into the vast pile through the richly-colored panes, bearing
their religious impress to every part; and this light, at once
ideal and real, the vague splendor of a mysterious luminary,
gives an indefinable expression to the forms of the many­
peopled temple.”
14. Beside this purely natural symbolism, the Gothic cathedral
presents a religious and Christian emblem from which springs
its peculiar character of almost divine majesty. Over the portal
we sometimes see Jesus Christ, the Conqueror of death, coming
in the clouds of heaven with great power and majesty*, setting on
one side ‘.he elect, in His mercy ; on the other the reprobate,
in His justice ; representing, in that awful scene, the tremen­
dous power of God, Who reposes in the sacred silence of the
sanctuary, calling the sinner to penance and the just to a higher
perfection.-'f Sometimes the same Jesus appears there, sur­
rounded by His Apostles, seemingly calling upon the people to
come to His temple to hear the words of life. Sometimes we
are received at the sacred entrance by the Virgin, escorted by
the patriarchs, whose hopes she was, by the kings of Israel, her
ancestors, by the just men and the prophets of the old law,
whose life and whose oracles she inspired ; crowned by the
angels as their Queen, hailed as Mother by the confessors, mar­
tyrs and virgins. She seems to open the gate of salvation to
men, and to draw them to the divine Infant that rests within
her arms. Janua Coeli ’. The interior ordonnance of the tem­
ple is h. keeping with its outward splendor—the Gothic cathe­
dral is the representation, in stone, of the cross upon which
• Cum potestate magna « majestate. (Luke xxl 31.)
I Qiu laactui oat sanctificetur adhuc. (Apoc. xxiL 11.)

/I.

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE FIFTH PERIOD.

439

Jesus died. The apsis has generally a visible leaning to the
left, as if to imitate the last bowing down of the eternal Word,
dying upon the cross.
*
The columns of the central nave are
twelve, to signify the twelve Apostles bearing the glad tiding»
of the gospel to the ends of the earth. All nature has met to
adorn the dwelling of the incarnate God among men. The
storied capitals offer to the King who has conquered death, a
luxuriant growth of flowers and fruit. The whole magic pic­
ture receives new life and charms from the windows, richly
colored with scenes from sacred history, darting their deep
and varied tints upon the flags of the sanctuary and lighting
the humble prayer of the faithful adorer, like a wayward beam
from the glory of Heaven. In fine, all this tongueless nature,
all this illumined history, borrows a powerful and mysterious
voice from the majestic organ, the king of religious instruments,
filling with its heavenly strains the fretted vaults, the granite
bowers, the sculptured domes that crown the splendid edifice.
No vulgar artists were they who raised those majestic temples,
in which unfailing symmetry, slender columns, forests of pil
lars, the thousand graces of arch and vault, of pendant and
capital, form a whole of matchless splendor. And yet their
names are, for the most part, unknown to us, because their
genius was guided by faith. Content to have done their work,
they only asked to be buried beneath the threshold of their
cathedral ; and upon their tombs, which have not always
escaped the corroding tooth of time, they took the modest title
of carvers in stone. It was given to the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries to witness, in every part of Christian Europe, the sight
of faith moving mountains, and raising up these noble basilicas,
which stand a living challenge to modern impotence. To this
date Spain owes the churches of Burgos and Toledo; England
has received from it Westminster abbey, Durham cathedral,
the choir of Ely, the cathedrals of Salisbury and York ; France,
those oi Chartres, Rheims, Troyes, Orleans, Tours, Beauvais,
• Et

cujmW

trudidil spiritum. (Juhn m. 36 )

440

GENERAL HTSTORT OF THE CHURCH.

Strasburg, Amiens, and Notre-Dame and tho Sainte-Chapelle in
Paris; Belgium has the church of St. Gudule at Brussels; and
Germany, the cathedrals of Cologne, Treves and Friburg; in
Denmark, the cathedral of St. Olaus at Drontheim, etc., etc.
Thus did Christian art scatter its wonders among a society
which made the religious element the beginning and end of all
things, and always held the interests of earth subservient to
those of Heaven.

SIXTH PERIOD.
/Yum Honlfaoe VIH. (A. D. 1294) to Luther (A. D. 1517).

CHAPTER I.
§ I. Pontifioatb or Bokiface VIII. (December 24, a. d. 1294—October 11
1303).

I Character of the sixth period.—2. State of the world at the accession of
Boniface.—3. Trace between the Holy See and James II. of Sicily vio
lated as soon as concluded. —4. Revolt in Rome. The Colonnas.—5. Bull
of the Jubilee.—0. Struggle between Albert of Austria and Adolphus of
Nassau for the imperial crown. Albert recognized as emperor of Austria.
—7. Philip the Fair, king of France. Edward I. of England. Bull
Clericis laicos.—8. Bull Ineffabilis.—9. Bull Ausculta, fili. States-General
of France assembled in Paris.—10. Council of Rome. Bull Unam sanc­
tam.—11. Sacrilegious outrage of Anagni. Death of Boniface VI1L

{5 II. Pontificatb of B. Brxbdict XI. (October 22, a. d. 1303—July 6, 1304)
12. Difficulties in the government of the Church at the accession of Benedict
XI.—13. Death of Benedict.—14. Guelphs and Ghibellines in Florence.
Dante.
IlJ. Poxtificatb of Clbmbxt V. (November 14, A.D. 1305—April 20, 1314).

15 Reproaches incurred by the administration of Clement V.—16. Election
of Clement. Calumnies brought against it.—17. Translation of the Holy
See to Avignon.—18. First acts of Clement V. He refuses to annul the
bull Unam sanctam.—19. The Templars.—20. Arrest of the Templars.—
21. Charges brought against them.—22. Fifteenth general council at
Vienne. Publication of the bull suppressing the Templars.—23. Execu­
tion of James Molay.—24. Critical review of the trial of the Templars^—
25. Condemnation of the Albigenses by the genera) Council of Vienna
Division in the Order of St. Francis.—26. Henry of Luxemburg, emperor.
Death of Philip the Fair and of Clement V.—27. Saints of the period.

442

GENERAL H ISTO R F OF THE CHURCH.

§ I. Pontificate of Boniface VIII.
*
(December 24, a. d. 1294
—October 11, 1303).
1. The sixth period of ecclesiastical history opens a new
phase for the Church. The life of faith which animated the
world during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries ceases to
display its wonders; faith grows cold in Europe; the Papacy,
hardly yet convinced of its triumph, after the long and weary
war with the empire, now meets a more formidable obstacle in
the kings of France. The public law undergoes a change among
the nations of Europe ; the voice of the Sovereign Pontiffs is
no longer supreme. Their temporal power receives its death­
blow at the band of Philip the Fair, when he removes their See
to Avignon. The great Western Schism adds its disastrous
complication to the general decline. The Greek Church strove
in vain to rejoin the Latin. Constantinople was taken by the
Turks, while in the West, the disciples of John Huss and of
Wycliffe infested Germany, showing themselves worthy fore­
runners of Luther. The sixth period was thus a seeming re
action of the last.
2. Ten days after the abdication of Celestin V., the twentytwo cardinals composing the Roman court, met in conclave,
and before the close of the first day all the votes were united
upon Cardinal Gaetano, who took the name of Boniface VIII.
(December 24, a. d. 1294). The new Pope was one of those
favored men whose greatness of mind equals their talent, one
of those strong men who understand their mission and go
straight to their end with the unswerving steadiness of a heart
moved only by the will of God. Though advanced in years,
his soul had lost none of the fire and energy of youth. Imme­
diately after his coronation, Boniface set out for Rome, where
his predecessors had not dared to make their abode. His
• AU our account of the fourteenth century in but a rapid analyeie of tho learned and
admirable work of U l'abbé OuweiOPllB: Histoire de la Papauté pendant le XIV SMs
Faria: Uaieon, 1853, 3 volt. yo

8 .

BONIFACE Vin. (A. D. 1394-1303).

443

renown had gone before him; the highest honors everywhere
awaited him. Rome even outdid, in this respect, all that she
had over bestowed upon her most beloved Pontiffs. The fac­
tions seemed to have fled at his approach, in order not to mar
the unbroken harmony of enthusiasm lavished by all the orders
of the State. The Pope took advantage of their absence to
seize the reins of government, which the weakness or the
quick succession of his predecessors had allowed to drop. The
situation of the Christian world called for a vigorous aim
guided by a sound head. In the North, the imperial throne
was left vacant by the death of Rodolph of Hapsburg (1291);
Germany was divided between Adolphus of Nassau and Albert
of Austria. The King of France, Philip the Fair, and Edward
I. of England were entering upon the struggle which was
eventually to drag on France to the brink of ruin. In the
south, Sicily, still dripping with the French blood shed in the
Sicilian Vespers, and confident in the patronage of the house of
Aragon, equally dared the censures of the Church and the
arms of Naples ; while the counterpart of its revolt was now
witnessed in Spain. In Italy—Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, were
at war; Tuscany was convulsed by the new factions of the
Blacks and Whites, which, rising in Pistoja, soon poured like a
torrent over the whole country.
3. Boniface set himself to his task of general pacification.
But the rival hatred was too deeply rooted to yield to the voice
of the common Father of the faithful. The Pope’s efforts at
first met with general failure, except in Aragon, where his
mediation obtained the conclusion of a treaty between James
II. and the King of Naples, Charles II., on condition of the
payment, by the King of Aragon, of the yearly tribute of thirty
ounces of gold, stipulated by his grandfather in favor of the
Roman Church; that he should lend his co-operation to bring
back Sicily to the rule of its lawful king, and begin by with­
drawing the Aragonese auxiliaries. The Pope, in return, pro­
mised to James II. the sovereignty of Sardinia and Corsica,
two ancient fiefs of the Holy See, of which he conferred the

444

GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

solemn investiture upon the king in the following year (1297).
The news of this peace occasioned general rejoicing; but it was
short-lived. The Sicilians had not been consulted in the trans­
action; and when they learned its result, the nobles, indignant
at being brought, without their knowledge or consent, under a
hated domination, cried out : “ The Sicilians purchase peace,
not with parchment, but by the sword !” They sent deputies
to the King of Aragon, entreating him not to forsake his faith­
ful subjects; and, on the monarch’s refusal to break the faith
of a treaty, they gave the throne of Sicily to his brother
Frederick, who was solemnly proclaimed at Palermo, a few
months later; and Sicily was again plunged into the horrors
of war.
4. Meanwhile, a sedition, more formidable than any of
those which preceded it, had broken out in Rome. The whole
Ghibelline faction was up in arms, under the Cardinals Jacopo
and Pietro, the heads of the powerful house of *Colonna.
Boniface hurled a sentence of excommunication against tho
rebels, deprived the two cardinals of all their ecclesiastical
dignities, and declared every member of the Colonna family, to
the fourth generation, incapable of receiving Holy Orders.
The decree was accompanied by a summons to the deposed
cardinals, to appear before the Holy See, within a space of ten
days, under penalty of the confiscation of all the property of
their house. The Colonnas, in answer to the Pontifical sum­
mons, posted upon the doors of the Roman churches, and even
laid upon the altar of St. Peter’s, a protest, in which they
styled Boniface an antipope, on the ground that the abdication
of Celestin V. was uncanonical ; at the same time appealing to a
general council from whatever steps might be taken against them
by the Pope. This bold proceeding was met by the Pope with
increased severity. On the 23d of May, a. d. 1298. a second
bull confirmed the previous excommunication and extended it
to every member of the family, declared their property con•On the abdication of Celestin V., the Colonnas declared that they would never »»
enowiedge bi» a icooasor aa lawful Pope.

BONIFACE Vili. (A. D. HD4-1303).

445

fiscate and themselves disqualified; all were forbidden to
give them aid or protection, on pain of sharing the sentence
pronounced against them, and an interdict was laid upon the
place that should afford them shelter. The Colonnas would not
yield. Driven from Rome, stripped of their wealth, they con­
centrated all their power in the city of Palestrina. Boniface
could not allow their sacrilegious revolt to go unpunished.
The Pontifical troops forced the rebels from their last retreat,
and in the year 1298, the two cardinals who had led the sedi
tion, accompanied by their kindred and friends, barefooted,
with a rope about their necks, and in mourning weeds, came to
Rieti to throw themselves at the feet of Boniface, who received
them on his throne, wearing the tiara, amid all the magnificence
of the Papal court. He treated the captives with mildness,
but made conditions in the terms of peace. The two cardinals
remained deprived of the purple ; Palestrina, which had been
the hot-bed of revolt, was destroyed and replaced by another
city, called the Cilla papale. The guilty called these acts of
rigorous justice, treachery ; the Colonnas once more appealed
to arms and were again crushed by the energy of the Sove­
reign Pontiff. Their palaces were destroyed and their property
confiscated. They themselves sought shelter in France, in
Sicily, and in Germany, to escape the thunders of the Pontifi­
cal power (1299).
5. The following year opened the fourteenth century. A
popular tradition, founded on no written authority, claimed
that special indulgences were granted, at the beginning of each
century, to the pilgrims who visited the tomb of the Apostles,
in Rome. On the 1st of January, of the year 1300, the church
of St. Peter was thronged to excess by the faithful eager for
the indulgences. In order to give some system, for the future,
to this pious devotion, Boniface VIII. published the celebrated
bull instituting the centennial Jubilee. “ By the authority of
the holy Apostles, in the name of Almighty God, and in the
fulness of Our supreme authority, We grant to all the faithful
who shall have confessed their sins with true contrition, and

(46

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHÜRCH.

visited the Basilica of St. Peter, during the course of the pres­
ent year and, in future, in every hundredth year, the full and
entire remission of their sins.” This decree excited general
enthusiasm in all Christian Europe. From Sicily, Sardinia,
Corsica, France, Spain, England, Germany and Hungary, the
highways were thronged with swarms of pilgrims ; “ but the
greatest wonder,” says the Florentine Villani, “ was, that
during the whole year, the two hundred thousand strangers
always in Rome were abundantly supplied with provisions."
Such was the origin of the centennial Jubilee, of which the
term was afterward reduced to fifty, and finally to twenty-five
years. Well may the universal spirit of faith and devotion
displayed by the Christian people at the close of the thirteenth
century, put to shame the irreligious indifference of our own.
6. Two serious questions now absorbed all the attention
and solicitude of the Sovereign Pontiff. At the death of
Rodolph of Hapsburg (a. d. 1291), his son, Albert, duke of Aus­
tria, presuming his right of succession unquestionable, assumed
the royal *insignia. But the harsh and violent disposition of
the prince had already made him many enemies ; the electors
iccordingly gave the preference to Count Adolphus of Nassau,
who was proclaimed King of the Romans, and crowned at Aixla-Chapelle (1292). The exactions of the newly-chosen mon­
arch, and the ill-advised rigor of his rule, speedily estranged
the affections of the German people ; and in 1298, three of the
imperial electors—the Archbishop of Mentz, the Duke of Saxony
and the Margrave of Brandenburg—declared Adolphus deposed,
and solemnly bestowed the crown upon Albert of Austria,
whose election was confirmed, in the following year, by the
general Diet of Frankfort. The two rivals laid their respective
claims before the Pope, and then, without waiting for his
decision, met in arms. The contest took place at Gelhem, near
* The imperial dignity, according to the legislation of the Holy Empire, was conferred
only at the coronation by the Pope or hia representatives. Rodolph bad never cared to
receive the imperial diadem in Romo; during hie whole life, his official title was that of
King of the Romans.

BONIFACE VIII. (A. D. 1ÎM-130S).

447

Spires ; Adolphus was drawn into a snare and treacherously
murdered by his rival. This event gave a new feature to the
question submitted to Boniface. The inglorious triumph of
Albert, won at the cost of every law of chivalry, by a cowardly
trap, had aroused the indignation of the whole of Europe;
Boniface excommunicated the murderer (1301). Terrified by
this display of rigor, Albert sought to make his peace with the
Holy See, and sent ambassadors to Rome, not to demand a
right from the Pope, but to throw himself upon the Pontiff
*s
mercy. He promised every satisfaction that should be asked
of him. The letters-patent intrusted to his deputies were
substantially as follows: “I acknowledge that the Roman
Empire, established by the Holy See for the defence of the
rights of the Church, can only be conferred by the Sovereign
Pontiff : I promise to make use of the imperial power, should
it be intrusted to me, only for the honor of religion and the
exaltation of the Holy Church. I confirm all the grants made
by my father, Rodolph, and by his predecessors. I swear to
defend the rights of the Holy See against all its enemies, who­
ever they may be, and never to enter into any alliance or truce
with them.” Boniface yielded, and, in 1303, published a bull
confirming the election of Albert of Austria. “ In virtue of
the fulness of Our Apostolic authority,” said the Pope, " We
choose you to be King of the Romans and the son of the Holy
Roman Church. We command all the subjects of the Holy
Empire to obey you, as such, and We do, by these presents,
absolve you from whatever defects may have existed in your
election and administration.” Gallican historians have given
little prominence to this remarkable document, which would
be utterly unintelligible, did we not admit the principle so
often quoted in our pages, that the public law of mediæval
times had clothed the Pontiffs of that period with an unques­
tionable supremacy in questions of civil polity.
7. The first and most vehement protest against this prin­
cipio was uttered in France. When Boniface VIII. ascended
the steps of the Papal throne, nine years had already passed

448

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

since the accession of Philip IV., called the Fair. Invested
with sovereign power at an age which generally knows but sub­
jection, the youthful monarch nevertheless ruled his kingdom
with an ability which even his opponents have never called
in question. No man ever possessed, in a higher degree, the
pride of power, or showed himself more jealous of it ; never
was a monarch’s will made known in a tone more firm and
resolute. But his greatness of soul degenerated into haughti­
ness; his courage into rashness. His firmness of will often
became obstinacy, which was the more unyielding that he
esteemed it a point of honor to enforce even his errors. He
was, moreover, irritable to excess, implacable in his anger, per­
sistently resentful, and placed self-devotion only on a level
with duty. Failing to measure the extent of his undertakings,
he was more than once led into pecuniary troubles which made
him unjust toward his subjects, and drove him to the perform­
ance of an act most disgraceful to a king—the debasement of
the currency, which brought confusion and trouble into every
fortune. The disputes between Boniface VIII. and Philip the
Fair were not the anticipated outbreaks of a secret antago­
nism ; they were the spontaneous growth of circumstances
beyond all calculation. A fierce war was carried on between
Philip and Edward Lof England. In 1293 the King of France
summoned Edward to appear before the peers of the realm to
answer the charges brought against him. As might have been
expected, Edward did not appear, and the court declared the
English province of Guienne confiscate to the French crown.
All Europe took part in the great quarrel. Edward saw
beneath his standard, Adolphus of Nassau ; the Duke of Bra
bant; Amadeus V., called the Great, duke of Savoy, and John
IL, earl of Brittany. Philip was supported by Baliol, king of
Scotland; Albert of Austria, the competitor of Adolphus of
Nassau for the imperial throne ; the Dauphin of Vienne, who waa
hostile to Amadeus V., and Eric IL, king of Norway. Boni­
face, alarmed at the prospect of a general conflagration,
thought it time to interfere ; but his mediation was rejected.

BONIFACE Vin. (A. D. J3M-18M).

449

and the war was carried on with renewed violence. The Pope
had now no other concern than to provide, by prompt and
vigorous measures, for the safety of the Church and of the
nations, whose dearest rights were set at naught by the ambi­
tion of rulers. He summoned the two kings to answer before
his tribunal for their unjust exactions, and on the 18th of
August, 1296, published the bull Clericis laicos, forbidding every
member of the clergy, on pain of incurring ecclesiastical cen­
sures, to pay auy tax whatever without the express leave of the
Holy See ; excommunicating any one, whether prince, duke,
baron, or minister, who should make the requisition, and
placing under interdict the cities and communities consenting
to the exaction.
8. Had Providence seated Philip upon the Papal chair in­
stead of placing him upon the throne of France, he would,
unquestionably, have used the very same language that was
used by Boniface VIII. in this bull, which differs neither mate­
rially nor formally from the ancient decretals of the Popes;
but he had grown up as the head of a powerful monarchy, and
understood but the language of obsequious submission. He
was stung by the authoritative tone of the Pontifical decree,
and answered it by a royal edict, closing the kingdom against
all strangers, cutting off all appeals to the Holy See, and the
transmission of all subsidies or pecuniary assistance to the
Sovereign Pontiff. Such a decree might naturally have been ex­
pected to draw down upon its daring author the thunders of the
Vatican ; but the Pope forbore. Before proceeding to extreme
measures, Boniface wished to exhaust all conciliatory means.
The bull Ineffabilis, which he sent to the king immediately
after the publication of the edict, was couched in terms of the
noblest indulgence and most touching kindness. “ The time is
ill-suited,” wrote the Pontiff, “ to the provocation of a dispute
with the Vicar of Jesus Christ, since, from the moment of Our
accession We have not ceased to watch, with heartfelt earnest­
ness, over your interests, and endeavored to effect an honorable
reconciliation between France and England. We have not deVol. III.—29

450

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

creed that ecclesiastics should not contribute to the defence
and the wants of the kingdom ; but that Our leave is necessary
in such subsidies, in order to put a stop to the unbearable
oppression with which your officers load the clergy. Tn cases
of need, We should, Ourself, order the ecclesiastics to make tho
necessary contributions; and, if it became necessary, We would
rather sell the sacred vessels and crosses of the churches than
expose to the least danger a kingdom such as France, always so
dear and so devoted to the Holy See.” These noble words
were powerless with Philip ; his pride would yield to no con­
cession. But Boniface, still hoping to win the stubborn mon­
arch, published the decree of canonization which, after a process
of twenty-five years, raised Philip’s grandfather, Louis IX.,
upon the altars of the Church. The generation that witnessed
the virtues of the holy king had not yet sunk into the grave.
The tidings that the object of an admiration so recent was
about to become that of the Church's veneration, excited an
indescribable joy throughout all France. Drawn by the general
impulse, Philip yielded at last. The execution of the royal
order was stayed ; Boniface VIII. was declared supreme arbiter
between France and England, and harmony seemed to reign
again between the spiritual and the temporal power.
9. Men cease to war when they cease to hate ; the war of
principles never ends, because principles endure. When the
Bishop of Durham, as legate of the Holy See, presented to
Philip the arbitral decision pronounced by the Sovereign Pontiff,
the king allowed the Count of Artois, his brother, to snatch it
from the legate’s hands and to throw it into the fire, in his very
presence, while he himself declared that he would abide by
none of its articles. A second legate, Bernard de Saissot,
bishop of Pamiers, was thrown into prison. When summoned
to answer for this outrage, the King of France sent to Rome
Peter Flotte, the shameless minister of his exactions. Dis­
daining even the merest conventional decencies of intercourse,
that emissary brought to the Pope but words of insolent and
haughty contempt. When Boniface reminded him that he had,

BONIFACE Vin. (A. D. 1194-1303).

451

as supreme head of the Church, both the spiritual and the
temporal power, Peter replied . “True, Holy Father; but the
power in the hands of your Holiness is merely nominal, whereas
my master's is real." To this rash boast the Pope replied by
revoking all the favors and privileges granted to the king for
the defence of his States, and by publishing the famous bull
Ausculta fili, against which all the fury of Gallicanism has
since spent itself. “Let not the king flatter himself that he
has no superior on earth but God, and that he is not subjeet to
the power of the Pope. He who thinks thus is an infidel.’’
This preamble is followed by an enumeration of the Sovereign
Pontiff's complaints against the King of France, whom he
charges with bestowing benefices without consulting the Holy
See; of admitting no judgment but his own, either within or
without his kingdom, on the unjust and violent acts committed
in his name ; of arbitrarily seizing upon Church property ; of
appropriating to his own use the revenues of vacant sees, which
abuse was not saved from odium by the specious name >f
regale ; of his abasement of the currency ; and of loading his
subjects with intolerable burdens. “ We have repeatedly,”
continues the Pope, “ but vainly, warned Philip to return to
justice. Therefore We now enjoin all the bishops, abbots and
doctors in France to meet Us in the month of November of
next year (a. d. 1302), that, by the help of their counsel, We
may take measures for the reform of the kingdom and the re­
storation of order." Such is, substantially, the tenor of the
bull which has been made the object of so much recrimination.
Its tone is vigorous, but temperate even in its reproaches. It
is charged with being derogatory to the royal dignity, and of
bearing the maxim unknown before the days of Boniface VIII.,
“ That the Pope, us vicar of Jesus Christ on earth, is master of
*
Now, the Sovereign Pontiff
all the kingdoms of the world."
does not say that the Pope is the master of all kingdoms, but
that the Pope is placed above those who rule kingdoms, to keep
them in the path of justice. To any impartial reader, the bull
• Baillbt, HUtory of Iho Duputo, etc., p. 96

452

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Ausculta, fill, shows Boniface VIII. taking in hand the rights
of subjects against the exactions and violence of a king, legiti­
mate, indeed, but who abused bis authority. On the prin­
ciples of civil polity which then ruled Europe, Boniface VIII.
was not only in the right, he was discharging an imperative
duty; and had he flinched for a moment in its performance,
words would have failed the school of philosophers to brand
his weakness and compliance. “How immeasurably happier
for people and sovereigns,” says the Protestant historian Sismondi, “ did they recognize some superior Heaven-sent power
to check them in the career of crime ! Far better that the
Popes should resume their former authority, and that kings
and kingdoms should tremble at the threat of an interdict or
anathema, as in the days of Gregory VII!” On the 11th of
February, 1302, Philip caused the bull to be burnt before all
the nobility then assembled in Paris. His minister, Peter
Flotte, circulated a spurious bull, in which the Pope was made
to claim the kingdom of France as a fief of the Holy See and
to declare the king his vassal. Boniface VIII. and the whole
College of Cardinals protested in vain against the falsity of the
forged document. Philip, in the desperate necessity of his
cause, persisted in declaring it authentic, and even replied to it
by an insulting parody, unfit to appear on the page of history.
Nor did he stop here. On the 10th of April following, the
States-General were opened, by his order, in the Church of
Notre-Dame. The moving spirit of the assembly was Peter
Flotte, who had been appointed, since his mission to Borne,
keeper of the seal. He opened the session by a long and art­
ful discourse, summing up the complaints of the government
against the Sovereign Pontiff. “ He aims,” said the speaker,
“at subjecting the King of France to the power of the Holy See ;
but that monarch protests here, before you all, that, like his
illustrious forefathers, he acknowledges no superior but God
alone ; and he calls upon you, as his friends and nobles, to lend
your earnest coopération for the support of the ancient liberties
of the nation.” Peter Flotte was evidently making himself the

BONIFACE Vili. (A. D. 1294-1303).

<53

champion of what has since been called the Liberties of the GaOican Church. The question was put; the barons, syndics and
procurators of the commons, after a short and secret delibera­
tion, unanimously declared themselves ready to do the king’s
good pleasure, and to give up to him not only their fortunes,
but also their persons and their lives. This general consent
will not seem strange if we reflect that the nobles, who were
guilty of the same exactions as the king, saw the same necessity
for defending them ; while the syndics and procurators of the
commons were still too weak to venture any opposition. The
votes of the clergy were not so easily won. More disinterested
than the nobility and more independent than the commons, the
bishops saw clearly that the government aimed at making them
sharers in an act of gross injustice. They sought, by gentle
words, to soften the king and the barons. When summoned to
come to an explanation, like the two other orders, they thought
to gain time by asking a respite to take counsel among them­
selves. Their request was denied, and they were notified that
if they did not, at once, give a satisfactory answer, the clergy
should be proclaimed false to the king and to the State. Now
or never was the time to begin, if they would make a heroio
resistance. The bishops lacked the spirit ; they ranged them­
selves beside the nobility and commons, excusing themselves, in
a collective letter to the Pope, on the plea of necessity. By
this act of slavish compliance, the clergy bad hoped to gain the
king’s leave to attend the council convoked in Rome by Bonitace
VIII. ; but Philip immediately issued a royal edict, forbidding
all the prelates, under the severest penalties, to leave France
without his express permission. Such was the result of this fa­
mous assembly. If, as it has been asserted, the liberties of the
Gallican Church were first defended in its sessions, it must be
allowed that their champions took a strange view of the word
liberti/. Where was cringing dependence ever more solemnly
consecrated ?
10. The Pope administered an energetic rebuke to the base
compliance of the Gallican Church, which he styled a foolish

454

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHCRCH.

daughter: “verba delirantis filiæ." He threatened the Frenob
bishops with canonical censures if they still refused to obey th»
orders of the Holy See and did not appear in the Council of
Rome. Boniface personally presided over the council, which
he opened on the 1st of November, a. d. 1302. In spite of the
repeated prohibitions and strict precautions of the government,
the French episcopate was represented by four archbishops
and thirty-five bishops, who preferred to forfeit the monarch’s
favor rather than betray their duty. The decisions of the
council were promulgated in the celebrated bull, Unam Sanc­
tam, which appeared immediately after its close : “ The Church
is one ; she forms but one body ; she cannot have many heads,
but one alone, which is Jesus Christ and His Apostolic Vicar.
The Scripture teaches ue that to the Church are given two
swords, the spiritual and the temporal. The first is to be used
by the Church, the second for the Church ; the former is placed
in the hand of the Driest, the latter is intrusted to kings. One
of these weapons must needs be subject to the other, and the
temporal power must obey the spiritual authority. We, there­
fore, declare, pronounce and define, that every human being is
subject to the Roman Pontiff, of necessity for salvation.” This
constitution put forward no new claims ; we have seen its foun­
dation in the public law. Philip, who bitterly inveighed against
it as an unprecedented assumption, should have remembered that
Innocent III., in his contest with Philip Augustus, appealed to
this prerogative of the successor of St. Peter. It is, in fact, a
fundamental article of Catholic faith that every Christian is
subject to the Vicar of Jesus Christ. And if private individ­
uals depend upon his jurisdiction, why should not princes be
amenable to it as well? Were such a doctrine as generally
acknowledged as it is logically sound, it would prove a safe­
guard of nations, fur more lasting than the ephemeral consti­
tutions brought forth with cruel pangs by tho people, and
crushed in a day by revolution. The publication of the Unam
Sanctam made a deep impression throughout the French king­
dom, where it was received simultaneously with the disastrous

BONIFACE νΠΙ. (A. D. 1294-1303).

455

news of the defeat of Courtrai, in which the flower of the
French nobility had fallen before the spears of the Flemings.
The Pope might trust that this reverse would soften Philip ;
but if such was his hope, it was sadly at fault. The king
ordered the arrest, at Troyes, of the archdeacon Nicholas Benefrato, bearer of the Pontifical rescripts; while a second
assembly of the States-General, held in the Louvre (1303),
declared Boniface VIII. a heretic, and a simoniacal usurper, and
deposed him, as such, from all ecclesiastical dignities. After
the reading of this unparalleled decree, Philip rose and re­
quested the prelates to assist him in the convocation of a
general council, to which he appealed, beforehand, from every
act of the deposed Pontiff. The royal agents sent into the
different provinces, returned in a few months with more than
seven hundred acts of adhesion to the decree of the StatesGeneral. This unanimous sanction on the part of France to
so monstrous an outrage would be the problem of history, had
we not contemporaneous authority to disclose the odious
mystery. The imprisonment of the Italian religious, then in
the kingdom, as well as of the abbots of Cluny, Citeaux and
Prémontré, warned the dissenting subjects to comply with the
orders of the king. Violence completed what calumny had
begun.
11. Philip’s boldness dared yet more. The Sovereign
Pontiff was then in his native town of Anagni. On the 7th of
September, a. d. 1303, William of Nogaret and Sciarra Colonna,
leading a troop of French and Ghibelline soldiers, broke into
the town with loud shouts of “ Death to the Pope ! Long live
the King of France!” The palace gates were forced, the
soldiers poured in, fire and sword in hand. “ Open the doors of
my apartments,” said the Pope to his attendants, “I shall know
how to die for the Church of God.” Then putting on his ponti­
fical vestments, with the crown of Constantine on his head, with
the cross in one hand and the keys of St. Peter in the other,
he seated himself on the Papal throne and awaited his mur­
derers. Colonna and Nogaret approached the Pontiff, and the

|56

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

former, giving way to his natural brutality, poured out a tor­
rent of abuse. It is even stated by some historians, that he
went so far as to lay sacrilegious bands upon the Vicar of Jesus
Christ. It is certain, however, that Nogaret threatened to
take him, fettered like a criminal, to Lyons, to be tried by the
pretended general council. “ Here is my head,” replied the
Pope; “I shall be too happy to shed my blood for the faith of
Jesus Christ and in behalf of His Church.” During three days
Boniface remained in the hands of his enemies, who throw him
into a dungeon and loaded him with insults. The Pontifical
treasury was plundered, the palace was rifled, the relics of
saints were profaned and scattered. But the end of this dis­
graceful scene came at last. Indignation seized upon the
people of Anagni ; they rose, surprised the followers of Sciarra
and Nogaret, in the disorder of their inglorious triumph, and
drove them, with their leaders, from the town. Boniface was
borne back, in triumph, to the throne which he had honored by
his dauntless courage. When asked what punishment should
be inflicted upon the prisoners, “ I forgive them,” he replied
with noble generosity. On bis return to Rome, he was re­
ceived with transports of enthusiasm. The Roman clergy and
people were proud of their Pontiff’s heroism. But these fierce
storms had broken the strength of the aged Pope. He met the
final summons with the same intrepid courage he had ever dis
played before his enemies. In the presence of many witnesses,
he declared that he died in the Catholic faith, and then sur­
rendered his great soul to God, on the 11th of October, 1303.
Such was the life and such the death jf this Pontiff, so foully
slandered by all writers hostile to the Papacy. Greatness of
soul, a firm will, vast learning, skilful management—Boniface
possessed all the qualities which make men great. Religion
owes to him the consoling institution of the Jubilee ; eccle­
siastical jurisprudence, the sixth book of the Decretals; and
general science, the foundation of the Roman university known
as the Sapienza.

B. BEïTEDICT XL (A. D. 1304-1.104).

I II. Pontificate

of

457

B. Benedict XI. (October 22, a. d. 1303
—July 6, 1304).

12. Ten days after the death of Boniface VIII., the cardinals
went into conclave, and their unanimous suffrage immediately
fell upon Cardinal Nicholas Boccassini, who took the name of
Benedict XI. The new Pope was unquestionably one of the
most virtuous and learned members of the Sacred College.
No one was surprised at his election, except himself. Trained
in the school of Boniface VIII., Benedict XI. held the same
views He was firmly convinced that the Pontifical power
was as the centre of all European society, and quite as firmly
resolved not to yield one step on the ground held by his illus­
trious predecessor. But all was anarchy about him ; the
Ghibellines triumphed, and the impious attempt of Nogaret
was the signal of a fearful reaction against the Pontifical
authority. Freed from their exile, and heedless of the cen­
sures still weighing upon their heads, the Colonnas re-appeared
in Rome, bringing with them all the passions that follow in the
train of discord. Philip’s policy had found an entrance into
the Sacred College, where it soon made a powerful party. To
avoid the confusion and peril that surrounded him, Benedict
quitted Rome, in spite of the opposition of the cardinals, and
fixed his abode in Perugia. At his departure from the Eternal
City, a considerable portion of the inhabitants escorted him as
far as the gates; the Romans, as they saw him depart, seemed
to forbode a lengthened absence ; and, indeed, from this depart­
ure of Benedict XI may be dated the translation of the Holy
See.
13. In his quiet retreat at Perugia, Benedict XI. could carry
out the measures of justice which be had planned. To add
solemnity to their execution, he wished to begin by an act of
indulgence and mercy. He accordingly granted the prayer of
Philip, and revoked the censures incurred by that prince, in
person, and by the French bishops who had not appeared in

458

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

the council convoked at Rome by Boniface VIII. He re­
stored the privileges formerly granted to the kings of France,
for the nomination to vacant sees. But these measures were
but the preliminary lenitive for the great blow about to fall.
On the 7th of June the bull Flagitiosum scelus, taught the
world that the Lord's anointed may not be outraged with
impunity. “ If, for just reasons,” said the Pope, “We have
delayed until now to punish the disgraceful outrage committed
at Anagni, upon the sacred person of our predecessor, it is
time that God should arise to scatter and destroy his enemies.’’
Benedict then goes on to detail, in terms of lively indignation,
the leading features of the outrage, the insults heaped upon
the Pontiff, the plunder of the Church’s treasure, and the dis­
graceful scenes enacted within the precincts of the palace ; of
which lamentable sight he had been an eye-witness. The
indignant Pontiff then broke forth into the exclamation
“Who so hardened as to withhold hio tears at such a spec­
tacle ? What enemy could be so deaf to the voice of pity !
0, inexpiable crime ! 0, unheard of outrage ! 0, wretched
city of Anagni, that witnessed without hindering it ; may the
dew of heaven never more fall upon thee !” Benedict con
eluded by excommunicating the authors of the crime, with al·
who had given aid, counsel, or consent to its commission. If
the name of Philip did not appear in the bull, it was only
through consideration ; but nobody was misled by the Sover­
eign Pontiff’s silence, for everybody knew that the instigator
of the outrage of Anagni was the King of France. The strug­
gle threatened to re-open with fresh violence, when the worthy
avenger of Boniface VIII. was suddenly snatched away from
the hopes of the Church and the execution of his great
designs. Benedict fell victim to a sudden illness, bearing all
the symptoms of poisoning, one month after the publication
of the bull Flagitiosum scelus. Some historians throw the
odium of this fresh crime upon the memory of Philip ; but
the charge has never been substantiated. The holiness of
Benedict XI. was attested, after his death, by many miracles

JLEMENT V. (A. D. 1305-1314).

459

which have won him the title of Blessed, in the Roman
martyrology.
14. His Pontificate was the period of the fiercest struggles
between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, in Florence. Benedict
tried in vain to effect a reconciliation ; his voice was drowned
by the storm of strife. During this struggle, the fiery Ghibel­
line and illustrious poet, Dante, saw his property confiscated,
and a price set upon his own head, at Florence. Driven forth
a wanderer from his native land, he bore with him, in exile, all
the deep and burning hate which is immortalized in the Divina
Commedia, the masterpiece of the middle-ages. Like Homer’s
Iliad, Dante's epic is at once a poetical, philosophical and theo­
logical work. The Christian dogma and the discoveries made
by science in the universal system, appear in all the splendor
of a poesy equal to that of the rhapsodist of Smj-rna. At its
very first appearance, the Divina Commedia was received with
universal applause. Florence, which had proscribed its author,
founded a special chair, in 1373, to expound his poem. Still·,
aside from the literary merit of this deathless work, we cannot
extend our admiration to its odious calumnies against the
Popes and the princes of the Church. The capricious and
spiteful fictions of the Ghibelline are no criterion by which to
judge the celebrated characters of his day. Granted all the
praise due to the literary talent displayed by the poet, the
unwarrantable outbreaks of the political partisan must awake
the indignation of every honest heart.
§ HI. Pontificate of Clement V. (November 14, a. d. 1306—
April 20, 1314).
15. The annalists of this period all betray, more or less, a
spirit of party which throws a shade of suspicion about their
record. This bias is traceable to two leading influences : 1.
The feuds between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, no longer the
champions of the sacerdotal or the imperial power, but the

460

GENIRAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

representatives of the party of Philip or of Boniface VIII.,
and warring with all their original animosity. The Ghibellines
always showed a vehement opposition to the Papal power ,
their testimony is, of course, too far from disinterested to bo
received without question. 2. The translation of the Holy
See to Avignon, by Clement V., was displeasing to the Guelphs
themselves and made them hostile to the French Popes. This
twofold antipathy explains the bent of contemporaneous wri­
ters. The conscientious historian must take into account the
passions and strifes of a period ; he must seek truth, and truth
is independent of party. No Pontificate was ever more slan­
dered by the united voice of Guelphs and Ghibellines than that
of Clement V. He is charged with securing his election by
scandalous bargain with Philip the Fair, and fixing the
Holy See at Avignon only through a servile compliance with
the monarch’s will, which, according to the same testimony,
obtained from him the annulment of all the dogmatic bulls of
Boniface VIII., and the condemnation of his memory. Lastly,
and especially, his conduct has been much censured in the af­
fair of the Templars ; and he is represented as the abettor of
the royal cupidity and exactions. To answer these various
objections, is to give the history of Clement’s Pontificate.
16. At the death of Benedict XL, the cardinals, assembled
at Perugia, were divided into two factions. The one wished to
promote an Italian, favorable to the memory of Boniface VIII. ;
according to the custoih of the day, it was called the Guelph
faction. The other, on the contrary, called for a French Pope,
devoted to the interests of Philip. By a combination of cir­
cumstances which it would be hard to unravel, the joint vote
of both parties elected Bernard de Goth or d’Agoût, arch­
bishop of Bordeaux, though not a member of the Sacred Col­
lege. He was acceptable to the Ghibellines, because he was a
Frenchman ; he received the votes of the Guelphs, because he
had always been true to the cause of Boniface VIII., and
moreover, his opposition to the measures of the two assemblies
of the States-General had procured his banishment by Philip.

CLEMENT V. (A. D. 1305-1314).

461

He had afterward, however, returned to France and regained
the royal favor All modern historians state, as an unques­
tionable fact, that, before his election, Clement V. had a secret
interview with Philip, in a lonely chapel in the forest of
Saint-Jean d’Angély, and that a solemn promise was there
signed by the archbishop, in which he bound himself, if raised
to the Sovereign Pontificate : 1. To absolve the king from all
the censures pronounced against him by Boniface ; 2. To rec­
oncile him, without restriction, to the Church of Rome ; 3. To
grant him the tithes of the revenues of France for five years ;
4. To brand the memory of Boniface VIII., and blot out his
name from the roll of Sovereign Pontiffs ; 5. To bestow the
cardinalate upon all the candidates offered by the king, and
to restore the Colonnas. The sixth condition was to remain a
secret until the king deemed that the fitting time had come for
its disclosure. But this compact, which would have made
Clement V. nothing more than an intruded simoniac, never exsted. All the writers who bring it forward lean upon th?
same contemporary authority of Villani. Not one of the
many other chroniclers of the time ever mentions, or even indi­
rectly alludes to it. In putting forward a charge so serious
against a Pope universally acknowledged as legitimate, it
would be well to show unanswerable proofs. Now, in the first
place, Villani never disguised his hostility to the Popes who
sat in France. An Italian by birth, he never forgave them
for quitting Rome to reside in Avignon. 2. His assertion,
which, as we have said, is supported by no other testimony,
receives a formal contradiction from the decree of election,
which positively states that the Archbishop of Bordeaux was
elected by ballot. 3. His account implies untenable supposi­
tions. For we cannot believe that Villani alone should have
obtained information which was denied to all his col temporaries,
quite as well acquainted as himself with the general state of
the ecclesiastical and political affairs of Europe ; it is incredi­
ble that the cardinals of the Italian faction, whose disappoint­
ment must have been most bitter at being summoned, by the

462

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

new Pontiff, to cross the Alps, should never have uttered a
complaint against such an act ; it is not to be supposed that
Philip would have neglected so powerful an argument to urge
the execution of the promised articles ; that he should never
have reminded Clement of his oath, especially when the Pope,
instead of branding the memory of Boniface VIII., proclaimed,
on the contrary, that he had been lawful Pope, and that his
doctrine had always been unimpeachable. Before such an array
of moral and physical impossibilities, we may, therefore, fairly
assert that the compact between Clement V. and Philip the
Fair is but a fiction put forward to satisfy the spirit of party.
17. The envoys of the conclave were charged to present to
Clement V., with the decree of election, a special address in
which the cardinals, with a seeming presentiment of his design,
earnestly entreated the new Pope to come to Perugia. “ We
beseech you, Holy Father,”they wrote, “to come to your See.
for the bark of Peter is tossed by the waves, the fisher’s net is
breaking, the sun of peace is hidden by dark clouds ; the domain
of the Roman Church and the neighboring provinces are wasted
by war. Holy Father, hasten to help us by your presence.”
Clement did not yield to their prayer. He had witnessed the
political strife which rent Italy ; he knew that the Sacred
College was divided into two rival factions, springing from the
quarrels which raged in the whole Peninsula. Instead, there­
fore, of acquainting them with his speedy departure for Italy,
he ordered the cardinals then in Perugia to repair to Lyons,
with as little delay as possible, since he had chosen that city
as the place of his coronation. In 1309, he definitively placed
the Roman court at Avignon, the chief city of the Comtat-Ve­
naissin, a dependency of the Pontifical estate. This step of
Clement was dictated by no slavish cringing to the will oi
Philip. The translation of the Holy See formed no part of
the compact alleged by Villani. Beside, the city of Avignon
did not belong to the King of France ·, and, by making it his
residence, the Pope did not forsake the Roman States, but only
avoided the discussions, strifes and popular seditions which

CLEMENT V. (A. D. 1305-1314).

463

were ceaseless in Italy. For a century and a half, Rome had
been restless under the honorable yoke of the Holy 8ee; it had
become the hot-bed of revolt, the centre of anarchy. The Ro­
man people saw not the part assigned them by Providence in
the history of Catholicity; they longed for a republic like Pisa
or Florence. Instead of reigning the queen of nations, Italy was
now the scorn of the world. Without the Pope, Rome is but
a vast ruin ; her stones tell the story of the past and are with­
out a future. It was good that this momentary absence of the
Popes should teach her the solemn lesson of experience. The
rest of Italy had, to a greater or less extent, shared the ingrat­
itude of the Romans ; the Vicar of Christ had but too often
been betrayed or abandoned for the favor of the Caesars. The
infamous outrage perpetrated upon Pope Boniface was fresh in
every mind, and it was well known that Italians had not hesi­
tated to join the King of France in outraging the Pontifical
majesty. It was time that there should be found a Pope who
could say : “ Rome is no longer in Rome ; it is altogether whereI am.” This Pope was Clement V. ; and his removal of the
Holy See was a punishment and a lesson for the Romans. It
is true that deplorable results afterward sprung from the
change ; but they can in no way be laid to the charge of
Clement V.
18. As soon as the Pope had entered upon the government
of the Church, Philip at once demanded of him the repeal of all
the bulls of Pope Boniface, the solemn condemnation of that
Pontiff and the obliteration of his name from the list of
Popes. Clement lacked the enterprising energy of Boniface,
and did not, like him, beat down resistance by main strength;
but he was gifted with that persevering tenacity of character
which wears out the force of passion by time and forbearance.
Benedict XI. had already absolved Philip from the personal
censures incurred by him ; Clement confirmed the sentence of
absolution. He also removed the particular prohibitions ex­
pressed in the bull Clericis laicos. These concessions touched
no point of dogma. The circumstances which bad dictated tho

4G4

GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

course of Boniface were no longer the same ; the bearing of the
Pope could, therefore, and even should, of necessity, change
with them. But Philip was not satisfied with these first acte
of indulgence ; he particularly insisted upon the annulment of
the bull Unam Sanciam. This constitution of Boniface VIII.
was indeed a fundamental principle ; it positively defined that
the temporal power is subject to the power of the Roman
Pontiff, and that rulers are answerable to his tribunal in all
matters of conscience. Philip now demanded the utter abroga­
tion of the bull ; Clement refused. He declared that the doc­
trinal decision was founded on law and on fact, and that he could
never consent to annul it. However, to soften his refusal and
to ward off the dangerous effects of Philip’s violent passion,
the Pope agreed to make a declaration which should, at once, re­
spect the rights of truth and the claims of the monarch. “ By
preserving the bull Unam Sanctam," said Clement, “ We do not
mean to prejudice, in the least, the interests of France. It is
Our will that things remain as they were before the publication
of the decretal.” As we before intimated, the bull in question
set forth no new doctrine ; Boniface, in promulgating it, had no
thought of creating new rights for the Holy See ; he only sought
to uphold those which it already enjoyed. Clement agreed
with Boniface ; their conduct differed in form, but was the
same in substance ; and the result, in both cases, was identical
When Philip, following up his plan of revenge with new ardor,
demanded that the memory of Boniface should be condemned
and his name erased from the sacred diptychs, Clement met
this outrageous claim with the same mild and prudent firm­
ness which he had hitherto found so successful. He allowed all
the accusers of Boniface to present their charges. Countless
documents, drawn up by the royal theologians, by the partisans
of the Colonnas, and by Nogaret himself, were poured into
Avignon from all parts of Europe. The Catholic sovereigns,
alarmed at this extraordinary movement and ignorant of Clem­
ent’s real design, wrote to him, urging the suspension of tho
odious trial. But this was precisely opposed to the policy by

CLEMENT V. (Λ. D. 1805-1314).

46ό

which tho Pope meant to decide this serious question. Had ho
refused to hear the accusers, they would not have failed to
reject his decision as partial ; hence did the Pope summon
them to his tribunal (September 23, a. d. 1309). The trial was
opened with the greatest solemnity, the Pontiff presiding in per­
son. When all the charges had been put forward, all the recrim­
inations uttered ; when the accumulated hate had been vented
in an immense explosion, the defenders were called upon to
speak. They had prepared their defence with the utmost care,
by order of the Pope, and accordingly met every charge with
an unanswerable clearness, precision and vigor, which triumphed
:ver all opposition. Philip and his counsel expected nothing
of this kind. Baffled in his projects and forebodings fatal issue,
the king suddenly resolved to drop the matter (1311). He
announced that he would leave it wholly to the decision of
Clement, whether he chose to pronounce it in person or through
the general council about to meet in Vienne. This was pre­
cisely the object Clement had in view. Satisfied with having
gained his point, he delayed the final sentence, in order to give
it the solemn sanction of a general council. Then, in the ful­
ness of his Apostolical authority, with the assent of the Fathers,
in the face of the whole Catholic world, Clement V. declared,
by a solemn bull, that the memory of Boniface VIII. was un
assailable ; that the great Pope had deserved well of the Church
and of mankind. What ground does this fearless but yet
prudent conduct afford for a charge of slavish and cowardly
compliance ? We more than question whether this Pontiff’s
detractors would have been equally able to protect every in­
terest and every right, by using forbearance in so critical a
crisis, toward a monarch whose violent passion was but too well
known.
19. A motive if possible still more serious, had determined
Clement V. to call a general council. The Catholic world was
now exclusively preoceupied with the question of suppressing
a religious and military order, sprung from the Crusades, and to
which the Crusades owed a considerable portion of their glory.
Vol. I IL—80

406

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

This event, which has given a lasting celebrity to the Council
of Vienne, was equally calculated to awake the warmest sym
pathies and the most bitter hate. The question still remains,
to a certain extent, a problem in history. In the impossibil­
ity of procuring the chief documents relating to the trial, we
cannot speak with a positive knowledge of the subject. But
though the very ground of the question remains buried in dark­
ness, though the solution of the problem must still be intrin­
sically doubtful, the position of the Sovereign Pontiff in tho
case is by no means equivocal ; it is clearly defined by con­
temporary history. It shall be our task to present it as fairly
as we may. The Order of the Templars had flourished through­
out Christendom for nearly two centuries ; its birth was con­
nected with the first fervor of the Crusades. In the beginning
it was guided by the sola object of protecting pilgrims against
the arms and the savage fury of the Mussulmans, and of guard­
ing the roads that led to Jerusalem. Little by little, whether
from the necessity of resisting the daily inroads of the Un­
believers or from a natural taste for war, the order became
militdty. So long as the Templars observed poverty, they
were at truly the ornament of religion by their virtues, as they
had been its bulwark by their valor ; and when, in the middle
of the twelfth century, St. Bernard eulogized their devotion to
the Church, their piety and their courage, his praise was but
the expression of the truth. But when the multiplied munifi­
cence of prince-t had poured into their coffers the wealth of
kingdoms, the vices which usually follow in the train of opu­
lence found an easy entrance among them. They lost the first
spirit of their order, and their downward course began.
*
The very men whose aim, at first, had been to imitate the sim­
plicity of the Saviour, now displayed a scandalous magnificence,
dwelt in gorgeous palaces and treated, on terms of equality,
• “ Postquam voro divitias regales impetrasaont Templarii, humane more, quo arridenti·
tortuosi blanditia» insolenter plerumque accipimus, cristam erexere." (Gurti.br, Hiet. Temp,
p. 3»8) —"Ob superbiam et tyranmdem fert ab omnibu» historici» reprehensi eunt"
-Ubut)

CLEMENT V. (A. D. 1305-1314).

467

with kings Those men, whose life should have been ruled by
charity, wen. seen in the full glare of pride, and violence, and
plunder, spoiling the churches of their tithes and primitial
offerings, and laying hands upon ecclesiastical property.
*
In­
nocent. III. complained, in 1218, “thatthe Templars trampled
upon the respect due to the Apostolic See, and had already,
by their insubordination, deserved to lose the privileges granted
by his liberality.”f While the great struggle between Chris­
tianity and Islamism was raging in the East, the many brilliant
exploits of the Knights of the Temple, their signal services to
the cause of religion, were powerful palliatives to the charges
brought against their private life. But when the fall of Ptole­
mais closed this field of their glory and brought them back to
the peaceful life of the convent, the public mind, no longer
dazzled by their splendid feats of arms, gave ear to the un­
favorable reports now circulated against them, and only too
openly substantiated by the worldly and voluptuous life cf
the heads of the order. These reports were at first spread
abroad with hesitation, were received with some doubt, and nc
one ventured to investigate them until they met with the most
formidable inquisitor in Philip the Fair.
20. On the 13th of October, a. d. 1307, throughout the whole
extent of France, in obedience to sealed orders received by all
the royal officers, to be opened on the same day, all the Tem­
plars, not excepting the Grand Master, were arrested, confined
in different strongholds and their property confiscated. This
blow had been prepared with a degree of secrecy as remark­
able as the precision with which it was struck. Clement V.,
who was then at Poitiers, had received no intimation of the
measure. When informed of this encroachment upon ecclesi• "Neglecta humilitate, domino patriarchs Hierosolimitano so subtraxerunt, obodientiam
el denegantes; eed et ecclesiis Dei decimas et primitias substrahentes, et eorum indebit·
turbando possessiones facti sunt valde molesti."
cliulmos Tnt, lib. 32, cap. 7, vol. 1,
Qala Dei per Franco*.)
f “Et licet per hæo et alia nefanda quas idcirco plenius exaggerare subsistimur oe
.ogarrur gravius vindicare, apostolicis privilegiis, quibus tum enormiter abutuntur, eaamt
■ arito spoliandi "—(Bull of Innocent I1L, Dorois, p. 141.)

(O

468

GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

astical jurisdiction, since the Templars were a religious order
depending immediately upon the Holy See, he wrote to the
king in a tone of the deepest indignation and surprise : “ You
have overstepped the bounds of your authority in constitutin
yourself the judge of immediate subjects of the Church, and
by seizing upon their possessions.” And, to show that he die
not limit his protest to the mere promulgation of a bull, the
Pope suspended the powers of the archbishops, bishops, pre·
, lates and inquisitors in France, called up the whole case of the
Templars before his own tribunal, and at once sent legates tc
Paris, with the express mission of demanding the surrender
both of the persons and the property of the Templars and of
treating the matter in due legal order. From this period
the conduct of the Sovereign Pontiff begins to appear in a
clear light ; it is ever at variance with that of the King of
France. The sudden arrest, the trial, the question by torture
and the capital sentence, are the work of Philip, and of Philip
only. Juridical inquiry, the examination without any appear­
ance of torture, the canonical investigation, carefully carried
on through four years, and finally the sentence of suppression
without the slightest bodily pain, promulgated in the fifteenth
general council at Vienne, constitutes the part taken by Clem­
ent V. in this famous trial. This is the capital point of the
whole case. Whatever opinion we may adopt as to the guilt
or innocence of the Templars, the conduct of the Sovereign
Pontiff must be unconcerned in our judgment. As Pope he
suppressed a religious order whose existence was in fact aim­
less, since the loss of Palestine, whereas its continuance was a
source of serious evil in the Church; but he sent no one io
torture or to the stake.
21. The Pope’s decree, calling the whole case to his tri­
bunal. completely disconcerted Philip’s plans; still he was
forced to submit. He sent to Poitiers all the reports of the
examination begun by his order, with seventy-two knights
already examined in Paris, who, of their own accord, without
constraint or torture, acknowledged, before the Pope, all the

CLEMENT V. (A. D. 130S-1314).

469

crimes imputed to them. They confessed, as a general custom
consecrated in the order, and not as a single occurrence, “ the
horrible impiety of denying Jesus Christ, of spitting and
trampling upon the august sign of salvation, the worship of
obscene idols, the practice of the most shameful disorders, and
that the assent to all these infamous usages was made a neces­
sary condition of the admission of a candidate into the order."
Well might the world stand astonished at such disclosures con­
cerning a religious order instituted for the defence of the faith,
and, until then, distinguished for heroic intrepidity in its sup­
port. Yet the authentic documents still extant, the numberless
witnesses summoned from all parts of the world, the highest
dignitaries of the order, the Grand Master himself, both at Paris
and at Chinon, more than six hundred knights in France. Eng­
land, Germany, Italy and Spain—all repeat and confirm the
same strange confession. If we may venture here, without
presumption, to oiler an observation which seems to have been
hitherto overlooked by historians, we would say that a strong
presumption of the truth of these charges may be based upon
the continued existence, even up to our own time, of a secret
society, opposed to all civil and religious authority, professing,
under the name of Free-Masonry, to have directly inherited
the mysterious doctrines of the Templars. Clement V. had
always doubted the truth of the crimes alleged against the
order; but he was shocked at the conviction forced upon him
by the unqualified avowal, made in full consistory, by the
seventy-two knights examined. He wrote at once to all the
bishops of the Christian world, urging them to institute canon­
ical inquiry into the case of the Templars residing in their
respective dioceses. Then began the great trial which lasted
four successive years, making all Europe one vast court of
inquiry.
22. With a view to close this immense procedure, and to
decide a question which held the world in suspense, the Pope
convoked the fifteenth general council at Vienne. The first ses­
sion was opened on the 16th of October, a. d. 1311. Moro than

470

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

three hundred bishops, exclusive of cardinals, answered the
call of the Apostolic chair. All the official reports were sub
initted to the Fathers of the council, and more than six months
were devoted to their discussion. Two opinions prevailed in
the assembly. Some would have the investigation begun
anew before the council, and punishment inflicted upon indi
«duals without any mention of the order in general. This
was evidently impracticable; many long years would have
necessarily been consumed by this countless series of individual
inquests, the materials of which must be gathered from every
quarter of the world. Others maintained the necessity of
speedily suppressing an order whose corruption was proved by
the unvarying testimony of more than two thousand witnesses,
which sufficiently warranted the justice of such a measure.
The pious and learned William Duranti, bishop of Mendo,
induced the council to adopt a middle course, by requesting
the Pope to pronounce the sentence himself, in virtue of the
fulness of his Apostolic authority. Therefore, after a consis­
tory composed of the most distinguished prelates, in presence
of Philip, his three sons, his brother, Charles of Valois, and an
immense multitude drawn together by interest or curiosity,
Clement V. published the bull of suppression (April 3,
1312). Tender of the inspect due to every judicial form,
Clement declared that since the suit was not brought against
the order, but against individual members, the suppression was
decreed only by way of provision, or by Apostolic authority.
*
and not by condemnation or sentence ; yet adding that the
suppression was irrevocable, and that no one might thenceforth
enter the order, wear its dress, or bear the name of Templar.
The property of the order was transferred to the Hospitallers,
or Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who had lately con·
• "Ejus ordmie statum, habitum atque nomen, non sino cordis amaritudine et dolore
sacro approbante consilio, non per modum dofluitivic sonlontim, cum eam super secundum
Inquisitiones et processus super his habitos, non possumus ferre do jure, sed per viam
provisionis, seu ordinationis apostolicm, irrefragabili et perpetuo valitura suetulimui eant»
tjOua"—(BuU Ad Providam Chritti, DtTPUte, p. 422.)

CLEMENT V. (A. D. 1305-1314).

471

quered the island of Rhodes and adopted its name. In regard
to the knights themselves, the council acted with mingled kind­
ness and Severity. The Pope reserved to himself the sentence
of the highest dignitaries ; the remainder were left to be dealt
with by the authority and wisdom of provincial councils.
Clemency was urged in favor of the knights who showed signs
of repentance for the crimes which they confessed. From the
property of the suppressed order, they were to receive an hon
orable maintenance, to support and console their broken and
branded existence. But those who met every charitable admo
nition with a stubborn impenitence were to suffer the severest
severest penalties, civil and canonical.
23. Without consulting either Pope or council, Philip had
already begun the work of punishment. The years 1310 and
1311 witnessed those extraordinary executions which filled the
nation with astonishment and terror, and especially that of the
fifty-nine Templars burnt in Paris near the Porte Saint-An­
toine. After the Council of Vienne, the judicial investigation
being wholly intrusted to the ecclesiastical tribunals, these exe­
cutions ceased. That of the Grand Master, Jacques Molay,
and of Guy of Auvergne, was a deplorable violation on the
part of Philip of all ecclesiastical rights; Clement V., had no
part in the deed. He had reserved to himself, as we have al­
ready said, the right to decide the fate of these illustrious pris­
oners. A commission of cardinals, appointed by the Pope and
clothed with the full powers from the Holy See, accompanied
by the Archbishop of Sens and some other prelates, came to
Paris. The four chief dignitaries of the order appeared before
the delegates of the Sovereign Pontiff and confirmed all the
confessions made in the preceding examinations. But, on
hearing the sentence pronounced which doomed them to per­
petual imprisonment, Molay rose and cried aloud : “ The
time has at length come to disclose all the wickedness of the lie
and to proclaim the truth. I accordingly declare before Heaven
and earth that I have committed the greatest of crimes in
granting the truth of those imputed to a guiltless order The

472

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

fear of death cannot induce me to confirm the first falsehood
by a second; if so infamous be the condition, I gladly give up
my life." The same recantation was made by Guy of Au­
vergne ; though their two fellow-prisoners, Hugh Peyraud,
visitor of France, and Geoffrey of Gnnneville, preceptor of
Aquitaine, held to their first avowal. The Papal commission­
ers, unwilling to act hastily in the unexpected occurrence, ad­
journed the proceedings to the following day and delivered the
prisoners to the custody of the king’s provost of Paris. But
while the judges were in deliberation, Philip, hearing what bad
happened, without condescending to consult the Pope or his
representatives, ordered the execution of the two unyielding
Templars. On an order issued by the royal court, Jacques Molay and Guy of Auvergne were burnt alive on a small island
of the Seine, the site now occupied by the Pont-Neuf (March
11th, a. d. 1314). The people, who had assembled in crowds
to witness the execution, heard them, to the last, proclaim their
innocence and that of the whole order.
*
24. The Templars had flourished for a period of a hundred
and ninety-four years. Their fall awakened an echo which still
resounds through the domain of history, though shrouded in a
veil of impenetrable mystery. Bossuet has said that “ tho
Templars denied at the stake what they confessed on the rack.”
The antithesis is more pointed and brilliant than true, since it
is incontestable that all the confessions were not wrung from
them by torture. The splendor and renown of the Templars,
their sufferings and final catastrophe, are still a subject of deep
interest, though time has rolled a space of five centuries be­
tween them and us. So great is the power of misfortune,
even when deserved, that it must ever win some sympathy ;
•It is popularly though falsely believed, on the authority of Mézoray, that Jacques Molar,
as the flames enwrapped him, with his last breath aummonod tho Popo to apoear before
the judgment-seat of God within forty days, and the king within a year. The death f
Clement V. and of Philip the Fair (April 20th and November 29th, 1314), following ·ο
dose upon that of the Grand-Master, lent a coloring of truth to tho popular version and
to Die pretended summons of the Grand Master, which is mentioned by no contemporary
writer.

CLEMENT V. (A. D. 1305-1314).

473

and io this power the Templars owe many defendere. Compas­
sion bears with it a certain undefinable and jealous glory. But
we mistrust those tardy vindications which seem to place their
highest glory in accusing a Pope. The line of demarcation be­
tween the conduct of Philip and that of Clement V., in this
long and painful trial, seems to us plain enough to clear the
memory of the Sovereign Pontiff from any shadow of reproach.
The guilt or innocence of the Templars remains a problem in
history. But that the order of Templars had become hurtful
to the Church, is a fact beyond doubt, in history ; Clement V.
suppressed the order ; Philip the Fair burned the Templars.
It belongs to posterity to give to each one the credit of his
works.
25. The general Council of Vienne was called to decide other
questions more directly concerned in the maintenance of the
faith. The Manichean sects of the Albigenses, so vigorously
attacked and conquered, at last, in the south of France, where
they had gathered all their forces, now appeared under cover
of a false mysticism, as dangerons as it was criminal. Under
the various appellations of Fratricelli, Béguards, Béguines,
Bizoques, Dulcinists, &c., they taught the most impure doc­
trines of quietism, and held that man is capable of reaching a
degree of grace and perfection which would make him impecca­
ble. This point once attained, he is no longer bound to practise
virtue ; fasting and prayer become useless ; he is freed from
all human law and authority, in virtue of the freedom which is
the unfailing companion of the Spirit of God ; in fine, he may
grant to sense and nature every imaginable gratification, with
out receiving any moral stain. Such was the final development,
the last expression, of those infamous sects which, by an im­
pious abuso of the highest teachings of gospel morality, made
them a kind of refined seasoning to their gross voluptuousness.
The sectaries were anathematized by the council. The at­
tention of the Fathers was arrested by a serious division in the
Order of St Francis. The most austere followers of the primi­
tive rule bad obtained, in Italy, the permission of Pope Celestin

474

GENERAL HISTORY OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

V. to unite in the strict observance, under the name of Poor
Hermits. An overstrained severity of discipline threw some
of them into apostasy. On the ground that poverty was not
only an evangelical counsel but a strict and universal precept,
they declaimed against wealth and temporal possessions as a
kind of idolatry. The Mitigated, on the other hand, fell into
the opposite abuse, and sought to introduce a scandalous relax­
ation into the rule of poverty imposed by St. Francis. Both
parties had their errors and their dangers. The council en
deavored, by the introduction of a moderate constitution, to
remove the abuses existing in the monasteries and to bring back
those who had left them. But the prudent measure failed to
heal the division. The lay-communities of Béguines also suf­
fered from the neighborhood of the false mystics and to whom
they seemed to bear a resemblance. The Fathers of the coun­
cil condemned their manner of life and authorized only such as
were willing to return to their original regularity. There is
one decree of the Council of Vienne which claims the undying
gratitude of the literary world ; that which introduced into the
West the study of the oriental languages. It was decreed
that the Hebrew, Arabic and Chaldean tongues should, in fu­
ture, be publicly taught, wherever the Roman court was held,
as well as in the universities of Paris, Oxford, Salamanca and
Bologna; that two professors for each language should be
maintained in Paris, by the king of France, and in the other
schools by the Pope and the various prelates.
26. Events of vast importance had in the mean time hap­
pened in Italy and Germany. Albert I. of Austria had fallen
in 1308 by the dagger of his nephew, John of Suabia. The
murdered emperor is ranked by history among the oppressors
of the people. It was during his reign that Switzerland,
driven to desperation by the tyranny of its governor, Gessler,
and freed by the heroism of William Tell, asserted its indepen­
dence. Henry of Luxemburg was promoted (a. d. 1308) to the
imperial dignity ; Clement V. ratified the election and in the
following year sent five cardinals, with special powers, to crown

CLEMENT ▼. (A. D. 1305-1314).

175

him emperor, in St. Peter’s church, at Rome. Rodolph of
Hapsburg and his successors had entertained but slight rela­
tions with the Italian peninsula. Since the fatal attempt nf
Conradin, forty-two years had passed away, and the German
standard was never unfurled south of the Alps, when, in 1310,
it was known that Henry of Luxemburg, king of the Romans,
was marching to Rome, to receive the diadem of the Othos and
the Fredericks. Clement V. was guided by a motive of lofty
policy in the step he was then taking. He had favored the
claim of Henry only to thwart the design of Philip, who wished
to secure the imperial crown for his brother, Philip of Valois.
Henry VII. very soon forgot the ties of gratitude by which he
was bound to the Sovereign Pontiff. Hailed with enthusiasm
by the Ghibellines in Italy, he thought the juncture favorable
to revive the obsolete pretensions of the house of Hohenstauffen,
and to assume the character of restorer of the rights of the
empire. Clement, alarmed at the new course taken by the
emperor, appealed to the King of Naples, Robert of Anjou, who
had succeeded his father, Charles the Lame, in 1309. Robert
justified the confidence reposed in him by the Holy See and
placed himself at the head of the Guelphs in Tuscany and
Lombardy. Henry VII. immediately prepared to invade the
Neapolitan States. Clement V. excommunicated him, and, as
if God had wished to ratify the sentence by a solemn punish­
ment, Henry was carried off by a short illness, in the flower of
his age (1313). This event changed the condition of things.
The German troops, deprived of their chief, disbanded and re­
crossed the Alps ; the Guelphs again took the ascendant, and
Italy was once more saved from the German domination.
Clement outlived the emperor but a year ; his strength was
exhausted by his labors in the Council of Vienne, and he died
at Roquemaure, on the 20th of April, 1314. Philip the Fair
expired at Fontainebleau, on the 29th of November, of the same
year, and was succeeded by his eldest son Louis X., called le
Hutin (the Brawler). The philosophical schools class the king
and the Pope in the same category ; we trust that we have,

476

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

with sufficient clearness, drawn the line that widely separates
their respective course of action. Clement possessed a natural
kindliness of disposition, which led him to choose the milder
course in every alternative ; thus was he enabled to protect, at
once, tho rights of the Church and those of truth, in the midst
of the stormy events which convulsed his Pontificate.
27. If we look upon the history of the Church only as a
series of wars, divisions, heresies, or schisms, without taking
into account the inward life and the wonders of Divine grace
unceasingly renewed within its fold, we must necessarily form
but a superficial judgment, having examined but one side of
the picture. The saints are the soul and the heart of the
Church. They perpetuate all that is truly high and holy in
Christian life. Not always are their names surrounded with
the renown and splendor of a worldly glory ; but they are no
less the salt of the earth, the light hidden for a moment under
a bushel, which shall one day be known by a marvellous bright­
ness. In the desert, in the shades of the cloister, in the low­
liest social estate, as well as amid the gorgeous trappings cf
royalty, the saints are the glory of the earth, the living miracle
of the world, the hope of the future and the models of coming
generations. The Pontificate of Clement is adorned with a
profusion of these illustrious examples of piety and virtue ;
and again we must lament the impossibility of more than in
scribing their names upon our page, without those edifying
details which nourish faith, enkindle new zeal, warm the heart
and raise the soul. In Italy the blessed Joachim Pclacani,
Anthony Patrizzi, Andrew Dotti and Bonaventura Bonacorsi,
were the glory of the Order of Servîtes of Mary. St. Agnes
of Monte-Pulciano, BB. Benvenuta Bojano, Emily Bicchieri
and Margaret de Metela, illustrated the third Order of St.
Dominic, while St. Clare of Monte-Falco practised the highest
virtues of Christian perfection in the Order of St. Augustine.
The Franciscan Order possessed BB. Conrad of Oflida, Francis
Venimbeni, Oderic of Friuli, Henry of Treviso, Angela of
Foligno and Clara of Rimini. France admired a marvel of

i

CLFMF.NT V. (A. D. 1305-1314).

<77

tirginity in wedlock, in St. Elzear, count of Sabran, and his
youthful bride, St. Delphine, while St. Rosalind of Villeneuve,
their relation, was practising all the rigors of penance in the
Order of Chartreuse ; and St. Roch, the glory of Montpellier,
after devoting himself to the service of the plague-stricken,
buried the light of his holiness in a lonely forest, happy to
suffer, far from all human consolation, the painful infirmities
contracted while nursing the victims of a loathsome contagion.
At length he came back under the disguise of a foreign beggar,
to die in a dungeon of his native Montpellier, where he was
confined as a spy by his uncle, the governor of the city, to whom
he was unknown. Spain gave St. Peter Pascal and St. Armen
gol of the Order of Mercy to shed their blood for the faith, by
the Moslem’s sword. Germany heard with reverent wonder
the revelations of St. Gertrude, abbess of the monastery of
Heldelfs, in Saxony ; St. Mechtildes, her sister, walked by her
side in the path of perfection. In the two extremities of
Europe, St. Cunegunda, princess of Poland, and St Elizabeth,
queen of Portugal, sanctified the throne by all the virtues of
the cloister. The Church of God is like the ocean; storms
only serve to purify its waters.

oENTRAL HI8T0RT OF THE CHURCH

478

CHAPTER II.
g 1. Pontificate

of

John XXII. (August 7, a.

d.

1316—December 1, 1334)

1. State of the world at the accession of John XXIL—-2. Canonization of St.
Louis, bishop of Toulouse, and of St Thomas Aquinas. Universities. Di­
vision in the order of St. Francis.—3. Heresy of the Fratricelli. Michael
of Cesena. William Ockham.—4. Contest between Louis of Bavaria and
the Holy See.—5. Excommunication of Louis by John XXII. Louis deCoses the Pope. Election of the antipope, Nicholas V.—6. Popular outb­
reak against Louis of Bavaria and the antipope.—7. John of Luxemburg,
king of Bohemia. Submission of the autipope. Death of John XXIL—
8. Controversy on the Beatific vision.
§ II. Pontificate or Benedict ΧΠ. (December 20,
1342).

a. d.

1334—April 25,

0. Election and character of Benedict XII.—10. Building of the Papal palace
at Avignon.—11. Publication of the bull Benedictus Deus, closing the con­
troversy on the Beatific vision.—12. Diet of Reuss. Illegitimate marriage
of the son of Louis of Bavaria.—13. Truce effected between Charles the
Fair and Edward III. of England, through the intervention of the Pope.- 14. Defeat of the Spanish Saracens on the field of Tarifa.—15. Death of
Benedict XLI.
§ HL Pontificate

of

Clembnt VI. (May 7, a. d. 1342—December 6, 1352).

16. Noble generosity of Clement VI.—17. Embassy of the Romans to Clement
VI.—18. State of the world al the Pope’s accession. Treaty of Malestroit
between France and England.—19. Feigned submission of Louis of Bavaria
to the Holy See.—20. Clement VI. deposes Louis of Bavaria and bestows
the imperial crown upon Charles of Luxemburg.—21. Truce of Calais
between France and England.—22. Expedition of Louis, king of Hungary
against Joanna, queen of Naples.—23. Nicholas of Rienzi.—24. The Black
Plague.—25. Jubilee of 1350.

U IV. Pontificate of Innocent VI. (December 18, a. d. 1352—September 12,
1362).
26. Compromise in the conclave. Election of Innocent VL His first acts.—
27. Stale of Europe at the accession of Innocent VL—28. Cardinal Æjr'

I

I

ΤΟΗΝ ΧΧΠ. (A. D. 1Ï16-1334).

479

dia· Albomoz.—29. Peter tbe Cruel.—30. Battle of Poitiers. Peace of
Brétigny.—31. Crusade organized by Blessed Peter Thomas. Death of
Innocent VI.
§ V.

Pontificate

or

Urban

V. (September 27, a. d. 1362—December 19,
1370).

32. Election of Urban V.—33. Success of B. Peter Thomas in Egypt
*
—
34. Excommunication and death of Peter the Cruel.—35. Wise administr»·
tion of Urban V. Tbe Pope acquaints the Sacred College and the Chris­
tian princes with his intention of returning to Rome.—36. Return of the Pope
to the Eternal City.—37. The Eastern and the Western emperors at Rome.
—38. St, Bridget. Return of Urban V. to Avignon. His death.

g VT.

Pontificats of Grkoort

XI. (December 30, a. d. 1370—March 27,
1378).

39. Election of Gregory XI. Revolt of Italy.—40. The Pontifical troops sent
into Italy. St. Catharine of Sienna.—41. Return of Gregory XL to Rome.
—42. Wycliff» Death of Gregory XI. at AnagnL

j I. Pontificate

of

John XXII. (August 7, a. d. 1316—De­
cember 4, 1334).

1. The death of Clement V., happening at a distance from
the natural seat of the Papacy and amid circumstances which
had wrought great changes in the College of Cardinals, gave
every presage of a stormy conclave. That which met at Carpentras justified the anticipation; it remained without result:
the Holy See was vacant for nearly two years. At length, the
cardinals, meeting in Lyons, elected James d’Euse, on the 7th
of August, a. d. 1316 ; he took the name of John XXII. The
new Pontiff was born of a humble family of Cahors ; but he
had studied in Italy, had resided at the court of Charles the
Lame, and been preceptor to the two princes, his sons. If
John XXII. was a Frenchman by birth, he had become an
Italian by education and manners ; the historians who accuse
him of u blind partiality for France have overlooked bis ante­
cedents. As a cardinal he had learned the fickle disposition
of tbe Roman people and the continual disorders to which
anarchy doomed the Eternal City, its Pope, he understood

480

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

the necessity of rescuing the Holy See from the rival influence
of the Guelphs and Ghibellines ; he accordingly made his
residence in the episcopal palace of Avignon, which was thence­
forth known as the palace of the Popes ; and from this throne,
during the twenty years of his Pontificate, he ruled the Church
and the world. In the interval preceding his election, Louis
had left the throne of France to his brother Philip V., called
le Long (the Tall) ; while a double election, in Germany, had
set up, as candidates, Louis, duke of Bavaria, and Frederick of
Austria, a son of the late emperor Albert I. (1314), who were
now in armed competition for the imperial crown. Meanwhile,
England, under the reign of the weak monarch Edward IL,
was dyed with blood by the contests of the nobles with the
king’s favorites and by the war against Robert Bruce, king of
Scotland. Italy, still a prey to the fatal dissensions of the
Guelphs and Ghibellines, counted as many battle-fields as
cities. Robert of Anjou, king of Naples and pupil of the
Pope, was engaged in a contest with Frederick, king of Sicily.
Christian blood was flowing in all parts of the world.
2. John XXII. inaugurated his Pontificate by the canoniza­
tion of St. Thomas Aquinas and of St. Louis of Anjou, bishop
of Toulouse and eldest brother of Robert, king of Naples. He
had been, like his brother, under the direction of James
d’Euse, and the feelings of the Pontiff may be imagined, as ho
raised upon the altars the prince whose youth he had trained.
The saint’s mother, the widow of Charles IL, still lived. “What
a triumph for you,” wrote the Pope to her, “what a subject of
joy to have given to the world a son whose influence pleads
for you in heaven, while his glory crowns you upon earth ! In
consideration of his merits, of the many miracles wrought
through his intercession, and by the advice of all the prelates
of Our court, We have placed his name in the Calendar of the
Saints.” The human mind can hardly conceive a more touch­
ing situation than that of a mother, a queen, who sees her son
the object of public worship, who can offer him her incense
and prayers, collect his sacred relics and surround them with

JOHN ΧΧΠ. (A. D. 131·—1334).

48)

all that love and veneration can suggest. While the Pope thus
consecrated, by Apostolic authority, a memory which must
have been to him most dear, he was also engaged in regulating
all that could tend to the improvement of the studies and in­
ternal discipline of the universities. He founded the celebra­
ted school of Cambridge, and granted numerous privileges to
those of Orleans and Toulouse ; he completed the collection of
decretals by adding the bulls of his predecessor, which were
called the Clementine
*
(a. d. 1317). But John’s solicitude was soon
aroused by cares of weightier concern. The divisions intro­
duced into the Order of St. Francis by the question of absolute
poverty, though momentarily checked by the decision of the
general Council of Vienne, were renewed with more animosity
than ever during the interregnum following the death of Clem­
ent V. Popular favor leaned toward the Spirituals or Fratricelli ; supported by the authority of Peter John d’Oliva,
a Franciscan monk, but a man of intemperate zeal, they main­
tained that the Friars Minors could not claim ownership even
of their own food. The Conventuals were accused of violating
the vow of poverty by keeping in their houses the necessaries
of life. The rabble broke into their monasteries and churches
and gave them up to pillage. In the first year of his pontifi­
cate, John XXII. published the decretal Quorumdam exigit, in
which, after a masterly discussion of the points disputed by
the Spirituals, he commands them to abide by the judgment
of superiors, and recommends submission in these remark­
able words : “ Poverty is great, and greater still is chastity,
but obedience is above both these virtues.” This paternal ad­
monition was unheeded, and rigor became a necessity. The
tribunal of Inquisition at Marseilles handed over four of the
fanatics to the secular arm (1318), which condemned them to
capital punishment. Grave men like Nicole, and passionate
men like Sismondi, have ridiculed the sect of Fratricelli ; they
saw only a ridiculous vagary in the obstinate efforts of those
monks to realize an impossible degree of poverty; and hence
they tax the Church and the Pontiff with barbarous cruelty.
Vol. in.—«1

(82

GENERAL IÏTSTORY OF ΤΠΕ CHÜRCIT.

Not many years since, the doctrines of St. Simon, of Fourier
<nd the phalanstery, were treated as mere absurdities ; but
fear soon took the place of contempt, when these senseless
theories, suddenly joining the spirit of revolution, rose up
against all principle, under the name of Socialism. What is
Socialism, after all, but an offshoot of Fratricellian commu­
nism-property proscribed in the name of an immoral well­
being, and opposed by Franciscan spiritualism, in the name of
an overstrained perfection ? Thus, names and forms may
change, but the principles remain ; and, after struggling for cen­
turies to reach the path of progress, humanity is astonished to
find that it has been moving in a circle.
3. The peace restored to the Order of St. Francis by these
energetic measures was soon disturbed by a new contest, the
more dangerous that it did not attack only the unity of the
order, but jeoparded the very unity of the Church. The Spir­
ituals, banished from their convents, took refuge in the theo­
logical schools and set up the proposition that “ Jesus Christ
and the Apostles, the models of evangelical perfection, never
possessed any thing, either in particular or in common.” The
new tenet was no sooner given to the light than it overran the
world like an electric flash. Michael of Cesena, general of the
Franciscans, and William Ockham, an English brother of the
same order, remarkable respectively for eminent station and
superior powers of reasoning, openly embraced and upheld the
«rror, the former with all the influence of authority, the latter
■with all his intellect. Ockham led the Nominalist school,
which had fallen into disrepute during the latter half of the
thirteenth century, until, raised up again by the efforts of his
powerful mind, it had, in a few years, become the preponder­
ating system. Leibnitz gave to Nominalism a crown of glory,
in calling it the deepest sect of the schools. Ockham was.
therefore, not only one of the most distinguished members of
the Franciscan order, but one of the brightest ornaments of
Christianity. The opinion embraced by him in the new con­
troversy was of immense weight, and he secured its triumph

JOHN ΧΧΠ. (A. D. Ι31Λ-1334).

483

in the general chapter of the order, held at Perugia (a. d.
1322). The Franciscans undertook to support it as an article
of faith, and to defend it against all attacks. The Pope justly
considered the doctrinal decision of Perugia as a factious
expression, and he immediately promulgated the decretal Ad
conditorem canonum, in which he taught that, in things which
are consumed by use, the distinction between the propriety
and the use itself is inconceivable ; that the use essentially
presupposes a right, without which it would be unlawful. The
Pontifical decree was not yet definitive ; it foreshadowed the
judgment which the Pope was preparing to pronounce ; but it
did not settle the question. Before pronouncing the final deci­
sion, the Pope deliberated during the space of a year, availing
himself of every counsel, causing statements of the question
to be drawn up by the most celebrated theologians of the uni­
versities, using every light, proceeding with that majestic
deliberation which has ever characterized the Roman Church,
and which stood out in such marked opposition to the hasty
action of the chapter at Perugia. At length, tne 12th of
November, 1323, witnessed the promulgation of the decretal
Cum inter nonnullos, by which the Sovereign Pontiff brands, as
heresy, the proposition that “ Jesus Christ and His Apostles
possessed nothing, either in particular or in common, and that
they had not the right of alienating what they might have had.”
Michael of Cesena and Ockham were excommunicated and
withdrew to the court of Louis of Bavaria, who was then iu
open hostility to the Holy See. On presenting himself to the
emperor, Ockham said to him, “ Prince, I bring you the help
of my pen ; do you lend me that of your sword.” Each ful­
filled his part of the compact.
4. Louis of Bavaria had triumphed over his rival, Fred­
erick of Austria, in the battle of Mühldorf (a. d. 1322). Fred­
erick, defeated and a prisoner, renounced his claim to the
crown. This event might have secured the peace of Germany
and Italy, had Louis been willing to act his part as a Christian
emperor; but, blinded by the promptings of an ambition which

484

GENERAL HI3TORV OF THE CHURCH.

grew in proportion ns fortune seemed to smile upon him. he
aimed at withdrawing the empire from the necessity of con­
firmation by the Holy See, and declared that he would wear
his crown by the right of his sword and not as from the hands
of the Pope. John XXII. now' found himself standing
opposed to Louis of Bavaria, exactly as St. Gregory VIT. had
been to Henry IV. He met the crisis with energy, and sum­
moned the King of the Romans before his tribunal. Louis
answered the summons by invading Lombardy and Tuscany,
making an alliance with the Visconti of Milan, and every­
where stirring up a hostile feeling against the Pontifical author­
ity. With a view more openly to brave the Sovereign Pontiff,
he marched his army to Rome, where he was solemnly crowned
emperor by a deposed bishop; while venal writers flooded
Italy and Germany with insulting pamphlets, in which John
was styled Antichrist, heresiarch, the dragon with seven heads
spoken of in the Apocalypse. We could almost imagine the
authors of such libels as prematurely de\reloped disciples of
Luther. Two celebrated doctors of the period, Marsilius of
Padua, and John Jeaudun, signalized themselves by their bit­
ter and boundless hate, even among the rabble of low’ slan­
derers, styled by a contemporaneous annalist: Genimina vipe­
rarum. In a work on the imperial and the Pontifical authority,
entitled,“Defensor Fidei," Marsilius maintained that “ Jesus
Christ had placed no visible head over His Church ; that the
primacy of St. Peter was a fable invented by the ambition of
the Popes; that the emperor alone could raise one bishop
above the others, and that this precedence was revocable at his
will. It also belongs to the emperor to convoke general coun­
cils, to choose, install, judge and depose bishops.” Here we
may discover that the constitutional heresy which delivers up
religion, bound and gagged, into the hands of secular princes and
magistrates, is not a thing of yesterday. The doctrine of Marsilius of Padua, moreover, betrays the powerful reaction which
was then going on in minds of men against the public law of the
middle-ages and the political power with which it had clothed

JOHN XX U. (A. D. 1316-1334,.

485

the Popes. Thatime was not far off when the same public law
should, in turn, undergo great changea. The Sovereign Pon­
tiffs battled bravely against the tendency of the times. 'The
rulers eventually triumphed, and thought to have achieved a
great victory when they freed themselves from the political
authority of the Popes. They soon learned that, by stripping
their own power of this sacred sanction, they had surrendered
it, naked and unarmed, to the fury of revolutions and popular
caprice.
5. Meanwhile John XXII. had published a bull of excom­
munication against Louis of Bavaria and all his adherents,
declared all his subjects released from their allegiance, and
himself cut off from all right to the imperial crown. Louis
thought himself powerful enough to brave the Pontifical sen­
tence. On the 14th of April, a. d. 1328, he proceeded to the great
square before St. Peter s Basilica in Rome, surrounded by all
the pomp and parade of the imperial court ; ascending a throne
which bad been raised above the assembled multitude, he caused
his chancellor, amid the deep silence which reigned in the mul­
titude, to make this proclamation : “ Is there any one here
present willing to undertake the defence of the priest James
of Cahors, who styles himself Pope John XXII. ?” The ques­
tion was thrice repeated ; no answer being made, the following
royal decree was then read : “ To give back to the Roman peo­
ple their ancient glory, we have quitted our country and our
family ; we have come to Rome, the capital of the world, the
centre of the Catholic faith.” This pretentious exordium was
followed by a sentence of deposition against. Pope John XXII.
“James of Cahors,” said the edict of Louis, “ that man of
blood, that hypocrite who may justly be called Antichrist, or at
least his forerunner, has been convicted of heresy by his writ­
ings against the holy poverty of Jesus Christ, and of treason
by his unjust measures against the Empire, in our person.
Therefore by the unanimous advice and request of the Roman
•clergy and people, of the nobles, the bishops, and the faithful
•of Germany and Italy, we depose him from the bishopric of

486

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Rome, from every ecclesiastical rank and dignity and command,
that he he given up to our imperial officers to be punished as a
heretic.” To crown the sacrilege, Louis had only to create an
antipope. Four days later, the Roman people were again called
together in the same place. Two thrones wore erected upon
the steps of St. Peter’s, on one of which Louis took his seat.
At the same moment, a member of the sect of Fratricelli, Rainallucci of Corbière, was seen approaching through the throng,
which made way for him as he advanced. Louis rose at his
approach and invited him to sit upon the throne beside his own.
The deposed Bishop of Castello, who acted as imperial herald,
thrice put tho question to the crowd : “ Will you have Rainailucci of Corbière for Pope ?” To each demand a certain num­
ber of voices replied : “ We will.” Then Louis rose, bestowed
upon the antipope the name of Nicholas V., invested him with
the fisherman’s ring, and the whole assembly, in triumphal
procession, entered St. Peter’s church, where Louis and his
creature crowned each other.
6. While Louis was losing valuable time in these sacrile­
gious ceremonies, the Pope was at work. On the very next
day, in spite of the watchful German guards, a fearless hand
posted upon the doors of the Vatican the sentence of excom­
munication pronounced against. Louis of Bavaria, and which no
one had yet dared to publish in Rome. A member of the
house of Colonna, so long hostile to the Popes, repaired, by a
holy daring, the revolts of past days. John rewarded his de­
votion by raising James Colonna to the episcopal dignity. At
the Pope’s request, Robert of Anjou, king of Naples, encamped
with his army before the walls of Ostia. Fortune seemed to
frown upon Louis of Bavaria from the day on which he con­
summated the schism; still he only redoubled his deeds of
cruel violence. Two Roman citizens were burnt alive on the
peat square before St. Peter’s, for the crime of calling John
XXII. the rightful Pope. The antipope published two decrees
confirming the deposition of John XXII., depriving all his
ecclesiastical adherents of their benefices, and threatening with

JOHN XXII. (A. D. 1316-1384).

487

fire all seculars who refused to forsake his cause. Louis under­
took to execute the sentences with his troops. Frederick of
Sicily, and the Ghibellines in Lombardy, openly showed their
indignation against the schismatical intrusion of the antipope.
They refused to send to Louis the subsidies long since promised.
He was in want of means, and sought to levy an extraordi­
nary tax upon the city of Rome. The people revolted and
Louis was forced to fly, dragging along with him his Pontifical
puppet and his court. While passing through Viterbo and the
other cities of the Pontifical domain, the royal train was pursued
by the insults of the rabble, who threw stones at it, crying out :
“ Death to the antipope ! Long live the Holy See !” The
excommunicated prince seemed fated to see every stay give
way at once ; Marsilius of Padua, who was quite convinced, in
the course of this journey, that his imperialist doctrines had not
yet worked their way into the popular heart, died of exhaustion,
hunger and fatigue. Milan and Pisa, upon which Louis tried
his system of forced taxation, were not more docile ; and the
monarch, leaving his antipope to protect himself, hastily quitted
Italy and hurried on toward his own kingdom.
7. A champion of the outraged honor of the Holy See ap­
peared at the same time in Lombardy, in the person of John of
Luxemburg, son of the Emperor Henry VII., and crowned by
his father, in 1310, king of Bohemia. He did not sit upon
that royal throne. A stranger to his subjects, as much in
manners as in blood, he preferred the faithful people of his duchy.
Indeed, all Europe was his residence; for he appeared with his
trusty followers wherever weakness needed a helping hand
against the strong oppressor. John possessed, in an eminent
degree, all the qualities which make the hero. His noble coun­
tenance was a true index of his lofty soul ; active, tireless,
careless of danger and of difficulties, he was the very type of
chivalry in its highest sense ; the lists and the field were his
real kingdom, and there he had won a renown which made him
the most influential prince in Europe. His presence in Italy
■ was the signal of a Guelphio reaction which gave the death

48R

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

blow to the party of Louis of Bavaria. Brescia, Bergamu,
Cremona, Pavia, Novarra, Parma, Modena, Mantua, Reggio and
Verona declared for John of Luxemburg. Everywhere he
recalled the exiles, crushed the factions and blotted out the
last traces of discord. The Romans, wild with joy, hoped, fora
time, that these changes would give them back the Sovereign
Pontiff. The antipope, Rainallucci of Corbière, hastened to
Avignon, in the garb of a penitent, with a rope about his neck,
and publicly threw himself at the Pontiff’s feet. Touched by
his sincere repentance, John kindly embraced him, offered him
a lodging in his palace and daily sent him dishes from his own
table. Happy in the close of the deplorable schism and in the
submission of Italy, John was preparing to restore the Holy
See to Rome ; but he was removed by death, at the age of
ninety years, before he could accomplish his design (December
4, a. d. 1334). Years had not weakened the tireless energy of
bis mind ; his pontificate was a model of prudent, firm and
well-regulated administration. During the eighteen years of
his reign, John XXII. governed the world without quitting the
walls of his palace, without once going forth to enjoy the lovely
scenery about his beautiful residence. He regulated the in­
ternal administration of the Pontifical court; to him the Roman
chancery and the tribunal of the Rota owe their existence.
His care was especially given to the regulation of the finances.
The expenses of the ecclesiastical government were supplied by
foui sources of revenue. 1st. The offerings of the faithful ;
2d. The subsidies furnished by kingdoms placed under the immediite protection of St. Peter. These kingdoms were seven
in number, viz. : Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Portugal,
Aragon and England ; 3d. The feudal imposts levied upon the
two kingdoms of Naples and Sicily and upon the islands of
Sardinia and Corsica, as fiefs depending upon the Duly See ;
4th. The domanial possessions. But the difficulties of collec­
tion, the dishonesty of the collectors and the ill-will of princes
too often choked up these sources of revenue. To meet tho
want, Clement V. and John XXII. extended the duties on

JOHN ΧΧΠ. (A. D. 131S-1334).

489

annals, expectancies and tithes. The annate were the first
year's income of a vacant bishopric, in favor of the Roman
court. The expectancy was an assurance given by the Pope
to a cleric, of obtaining a benefice in a certain cathedral, when
it should become vacant ; this promise was subject to a tax
which went to the Pontifical treasury. The tithe was a duty of
the tenth part, levied on property of all kinds. John XXII.
was the first Pope who applied these contributions to the tem­
poral needs of the Papacy. If we remember that the sums thus
collected were turned to the most sacred use, to the support of
numerous good works, to the maintenance of general order, to
the subsistence of the ambassadors, nuncios, legates and other
officers of the Pontifical court, we cannot take offence at this
seeming wealth. As a temporal power, the Papacy suffers the
same need as any other government. With it, money is not an
end. but a means. John XXII. simplified the operations of
the intricate system of finance, and, at his death, left the Pon­
tifical treasury in a flourishing state.
8. In the last years of his life, John, in treating of the in­
tuitive vision, seemed to lean to the opinion that the blessed
will enjoy the presence of God only after the General Judg­
ment. This was a purely speculative opinion, which the Pope
merely advanced on theological arguments, without any inten­
tion of uttering a dogmatic definition. The Fratricelli, who
had already charged him with heresy in the question of the
poverty of Jesus Christ, eagerly seized this new occasion of
assailing the Pontiff who had rebuked them ; but John cleared
himself by stating that he had simply put forward a debatable
opinion, like all those which were then discussed in the schools.
To silence more effectually any calumnies on the subject, the
Pope, on his death-bed, made a most orthodox profession of
faith, touching the beatific vision.

490

GENERAL HISTORV OF THE CHURCH.

(II. Pontificate of Benedict XII. (December 20, a. 1». 1334—
April 25, 1342).
9. The .Sacred College met in conclave at Avignon. The
influence of Cardinal Talleyrand de Périgord first drew the
votes upon Cardinal Comminges. The cardinals demanded of
him that, in the event of his election, he should promise to keep
the Holy See in France. Cardinal Comminges replied : “ Not
only would I refuse to purchase any new dignity at such a
price, but I would rather give up that which I now hold ; for
I am convinced that the Papacy, thus transplanted from its
native soil, would be placed in a situation of the greatest dan­
ger." Having, by this noble reply, ruined his own chances of
election, he was forsaken by all his late partisans, who now
cast their votes, with the evident intention of throwing them
away, upon James Fournier, called the *
White Cardinal, whose
election no one would have suspected. To the great astonish­
ment of the conclave, he was found to have received two thirds
of the votes; he was accordingly proclaimed Sovereign Pontiff
and took the name of Benedict XII. The son of a baker of
Saverdun, he entered the Order of Citeaux and became a dis­
tinguished theologian; his merit alone had raised him to tbe
cardinalate, and now Providence had led him, by mysterious
ways, to the pinnacle of ecclesiastical greatness. He proved
himself worthy of his elevation by the austerity of his life, the
strictness of his principles, and the firmness of his character.
He showed none of the natural weakness of flesh and blood.
“ A Pope,” he used to say, “ should be like Melchisedec, with­
out father, mother, or genealogy.” He took the greatest care
to bestow benefices only upon worthy ecclesiastics and after a
strict examination. “ It were better that the dignities re­
mained vacant" he said, “than that they should fall into un­
worthy hands.” Benedict was ruled by a high sense of duty,
• The cardinal had received hie surname from the white Cistercian habit he always

BENEDICT XII. (A. D. 1334—1342).

491

which, on certain occasions, gave to his personal character a
degree of energy seldom equalled. “ Had I two souls,” said
Benedict, one day, to the King of France, “ I might sacrifice
one for you ; but I have only one, and that one I shall try to
save.”
10. Among the last thoughts of John XXII., the most im­
portant was that of restoring the Roman court to Italy. Bene­
dict XII. took up the project, and it was on this occasion that
the illustrious Petrarch addressed to him a celebrated epistle
in Latin verse, in which he represents Rome under the figure
of a desolate widow calling upon her spouse to return. Two
legates were sent to bear the glad tidings to Italy ; but they
found that country in such a state of factious disorder that
they advised the Pope to delay his return. On the other
hand, the cardinals, who were mostly French, entreated the
Pontiff to remain at Avignon, and not to expose the Holy See
to the storms which awaited it in Italy. Thus compelled to
remain in France, the Sovereign Pontiff set about building for
the Papacy an independent dwelling, which might answer the
purposes at once of a palace and a stronghold. He accord­
ingly raised upon the rock of Notre-Dame-des-Doms the edifice
which still stands, and of which he completed all the northern
portion.
11. The death of John XXII. left two important matters
to be settled by his successor : the question of the beatific
vision, and the quarrel of Louis of Bavaria with the Church.
The controversy on the beatific vision had become too noto­
rious, had awakened too lively an interest in the minds of the
princes, doctors and theologians of the day, to be waived.
Conferences on the subject were opened at Avignon, withiu
the second month of the new Pontificate, and lasted a year.
At length, on the 4th of February, a. d. 1336, in a solemn
consistory, Benedict XII. promulgated the decretal Bene­
dictus Deus, in which he defined, in virtue of the Apostolic
authority, that “the just souls, which have no guilt yet to
expiate, enjoy, immediately after death, the intuitive vision.

492

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

that ie, the happiness of beholding God, face to face, as Ge
is."
12. The contest with Louis of Bavaria was not so easy oi
solution. Benedict undertook to end it by gentle means, which
accorded better with his natural mildness of disposition than
severe measures. He wrote to Louis, proposing the terms of
reconciliation, and sent special legates to Germany, charged to
enter into an agreement with the monarch upon these conditions.
Louis met these generous advances by a feigned submission.
He promised to annul the measures taken against John XXII.,
to revoke all grants of Church property made in the name of
the empire, to perform whatever penances the Pope might
think fit to impose, and to make satisfaction to the Roman
court on a number of other equally important points. This
was but a feint suggested by the faithless policy of Louis. By
the advice of Michael of Cesena and William Ockham, whose
perfidious counsel he always followed, while sending these
words of peace to the Sovereign Pontiff he was assembling
the electors and princes of the Empire in a diet at Reuss
(a. d. 1338), where he published a decree maintaining that “ the
imperial dignity derived directly from God, that the election
alone constituted the emperor, that the confirmation of the
Pope only lowered the majesty of the empire, and that whoever
held a different opinion was guilty of high-treason.” On learn­
ing this bold assertion, Benedict gave expression to his indig­
nation at the treachery of Louis in energetic terms. “ Your
Holiness,’’ said the Bavarian ambassadors, “ lately used milder
language in regard to our master.” . “ He has chosen to return
evil for good,” replied the Pope. The king soon found an oc­
casion to crown his scandalous career. Margaret Maultasch,
duchess of Garin thia and countess of Tyrol, had long been
wedded to John Henry, a son of the King of Bohemia. The
unprincipled duchess determined to quit her husband, and
offered her dominions to Louis of Bavaria, on condition of his
procuring her union with his son, the Marquis of Brandenburg.
The proposal was doubly criminal, for, beside the scandal of an

BENEDICT ΧΠ. (A. D. 1334-13«).

493

immoral divorce, there wag between Margaret and the Mar­
quis of Brandenburg an impediment of kindred in the third
degree. Benedict at once interposed his authority to hinder
the accomplishment of this criminal project; but an alliance
which added two fair provinces to his hereditary domain was a
more convincing argument with Louis than the Pope's remon­
strances. Recalling the ultra-imperialist maxims of Marsilius
of Padua, Louis himself authorized the divorce of Margaret
from Prince John Henry, granted a dispensation for the impedi­
ment of kindred between the princess and his son, and solem­
nized their union with royal pomp (1340). Such proceedings
closed every avenue to a reconciliation.
13. The zeal of Benedict found an equally arduous field in
the relations existing between France and England. The death
of Philip V. (a. d. 1322) left the French crown to Charles IV.,
the third son of Philip, and, like his father, surnamed the Fair.
Charles died in 1328, without male issue, and with him the
eldest branch of the Capetians became extinct. Philip VI., or
Philip of Valois, ascended the throne. He was the son of
Charles of Valois, brother of Philip the Fair ; but Edward III.
of England disputed his succession, on the claim transmitted by
his mother Isabella, daughter of Philip the Fair. By the Sa­
lic law, which excluded females from the right of succession to
the throne, the claims of Edward III. had no legal foundation ;
but he had a powerful army to back them and a hereditary ha­
tred against the royal family of France. Hostilities began with
equal fierceness on both sides. In this juncture Benedict dis­
played the greatest energy; he ordered public prayers through­
out all Christendom to obtain from Heaven the close of a strug­
gle which desolated the Church and rejoiced the enemies of the
faith. Addressing the w’iser counsellors of either monarch, he
exhorted them to take pity upon the miseries of the people
and to urge upon their masters the necessity of concord. A
year’s truce followed this peaceful intervention (1340-1341).
14. His authority triumphed in Spain, over difficulties of
another nature. He prevailed upon the King of Castile Al-

494

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

phonso XL, to break off his criminal relations with Eleanora
de Guzman, reconciled him with the King of Portugal, and
silenced all the dissensions which tore the Spanish Peninsula,
weakening the strength of the Christians and increasing the
boldness of the Mussulmans. The African Moors, availing
themselves of the disputes of Christian rulers, were preparing
to cross the straits with a formidable armament under Alboacen,
king of Morocco. Benedict was greatly distressed at the danger
which threatened Spain. All Christendom was concerned in
the coming struggle. The Greek empire, beaten down on all
sides, opposed but an insignificant barrier to the Turks ; Ger­
many, France and England were divided ; Italy was but one
great battle-field, where Guelph and Ghibelline bled for a fruit,
less preponderance. What would become of Europe when the
Pyrenees ceased to be a bulwark ? The Pope felt the need
of strengthening the resistance in Spain, and he accordingly
summoned into the field the valor of Christian princes and
knights,by preaching the Crusade in every land. The forces of
Castile, Aragon and Portugal, when joined by the knights of
St. John of Calatrava and of St. James, by the Genoese troops
and the barons of all the kingdoms of Europe, numbered forty'
thousand men, not an eighth of the Saracen army, which his­
torians number at three hundred thousand foot and seventy
thousand horse. The Moorish host laid siege to Tarifa ;* the
Crusaders hastened to the rescue ; and the walls of the be­
leaguered city witnessed one of the bloodiest struggles men­
tioned in history (October 30, a. d. 1314). Two hundred thou­
sand Mussulmans were left upon the field, while the remains
of the formidable expedition which had threatened Spain with
utter ruin, hurriedly re-crossed the Straits under cover of night.
On the morrow the Christians looked in vain for their insolent
foe. With the tidings of this brilliant success, the king of
Castile sent to the Pope twenty-four Mussulman standards,
which were suspended to the arches of the Pontifical chapel.
• Th· ore«ont Joes, situated on tho Straits of Gibraltar, 8. E of Cadix

BENEDICT ΧΠ. (A. D IM4-1843).

495

Benedict XII., whose paternal care had so opportunely restored
harmony to the Peninsula, might justly claim to share the
honor of this splendid feat of arms.
15. While Rome, still the prey of factions, forgot her right­
ful lords, she was renewing, for her idol Petrarch, the pagan
ceremony of a coronation in the Capitol (a. d. 1341). Benedict,
however, had not forgotten Italy ; he sent, as legate to that
wretched country, Bertrand de Deux, archbishop of Embrun,
who fulfilled his mission with admirable tact. By prevailing
upon the Colonnas and Orsini in Rome to conclude a truce for
several years, he restored quiet to the city. His efforts were
equally successful in reestablishing harmony in the Pontifical
Slates, the Duchy of Spoleto, the Romagna, and the Marches
of Ancona. These pacific triumphs were the last of Benedict’s
Pontificate ; he died at Avignon on the 25th of April, 1342
His administration was marked by useful reforms and by the
abolition of several arbitrary exactions, by which some bishops,
under pretext of dues, oppressed the ecclesiastics in their pas­
toral visitations. He made every effort to give back to the
cathedrals the exactness of the divine service, which is the
life of piety. Ambition, and carelessness in the observance of
monastic vows, had gradually weakened the religious spirit
among the regular canons, the monks of St. Benedict and those
of Citeaux. Benedict drew up wholesome regulations to revive
the regularity, love of study and primitive fervor of the three
orders. Under his reign the finances continued to prosper.
Though he had abolished the reserves and expectancies, yet, as
the strictest economy was observed in the least details of his
administration, the ordinary income met its expenses. The
origin of the Papal tiara is ascribed to the reign of Benedict
XII. ; its triple diadem represents either the three powers :
royal, imperial and sacerdotal; or the spiritual royalty over the
faithful, the supremacy over the bishops, and the temporal
princedom of Rome.

496

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

§ HI. Pontificate

Clement VI. (May 7,
December 6, 1352).

of

a. d.

1342—

16. The Holy See remained vacant only thirteen days
The votes of the conclave, assembled at Avignon, fell sponta­
neously upon Cardinal Peter Roger, who took the name of
Clement VI. The new Pope was born in the castle of Mau·
mont in the diocese of Limoges. lie was presented to John
XXII. by Cardinal Mortemart, his fellow-countryman, who
loved him with the tenderness of a father. The Pope discov­
ered and appreciated the qualities of Peter Roger, who became
successively bishop of Arras, archbishop of Sens and of Rouen,
the confidential adviser of Philip of Valois, and finally cardinal
under Benedict XII. Clement VI. loved splendor and magnifi­
cence ; he displayed all their pomp upon the Pontifical throne.
His large-hearted generosity, his mildness, liberality and amia­
ble qualities of mind even outshone the external pageantry
which surrounded him. He often repeated the maxim of a
celebrated emperor : “ No one should leave the presence of the
prince unsatisfied;” and his own rule was: “We are Pope
only for the happiness of Our subjects.” When compelled by
necessity to refuse a favor, he could always redeem the refusal
by the manner in which it was given. During the first year
of his pontificate, he issued a bull calling upon all clerics
without benefices to apply to him for one. Avignon was
thronged with petitioners, and no one withdrew without having
received some favor. To meet the claims of his liberality,
Clement reserved to himself the nominations to abbeys and
bishoprics, declaring all conventual and capitulary elections
null. When reminded that these nominations were abuses, and
bad always been rejected by his predecessors : “ Ah !” said the
Pope, speaking of his liberal presentations, “ my predecessors
knew not how to be *Popes." May we not look with indulgence
upon some unusual reserves in a Pontiff whose whole aim was
the happiness of his subjects 1
• “ PrasdecesMTfcB nortr. M
dverunt
*

case Papa."

(Biloe·, Vid. Vita, p. 311.)

CLEMENT VI. IA. D. 1342-1362).

497

17. As soon as the Romans learned the elevation of Clem­
ent VI., they seized the opportunity of again soliciting the
restoration of the Holy See to Rome. Petrarch, now become
a Roman citizen by his coronation at the capital, was a
member of the embassy sent to lay the request before the
Pope. The Romans had not yet awaked from their Utopian
dream of an independent republic ; they begged the Pope to
receive the titles of Senator and Governor of the city, not as
Pope, but as Lord Roger. This clause alone is sufficient proof
of the spirit of anarchy which still ruled them. We are often
told that the Popes transferred their See to Avignon only in
obedience to French influence, to which they were willing to
sacrifice their freedom and their dignity. This is a historical
calumny. An exiled prince would lower his character by
accepting a crown on such conditions as those now offered to
the Pope; he could enter Rome only in triumph; a compro­
mise with a republic was unworthy of the Papacy. It was this
consideration which led Clement VI. to refuse the offers made by
the Romans, notwithstanding all the eloquence and poetry of
Petrarch. Still, to show the Eternal City that, even amid all
its wanderings, it was still the favored child of the Church,
Clement shortened the interval of the Jubilee to fifty years,
and by the bull Unigenitus Dei Filius (a. d. 1343) proclaimed
it for the year 1350. “ We shall gladly seize the favorable
moment to restore the Papacy to its natural seat,” said the
Pope to the deputies ; “ but the moment does not seem to
us to have yet arrived.”
18. In his political relations with Europe, Clement found
himself in a trying position. In Spain, the excesses of Peter
the Cruel, king of Castile, the ambition of Peter the Ceremoni­
ous, king of Aragon, and the attempts of both these monarchs
were preparing disastrous days for the Peninsula. France and
England, united,for a short season,by the wisdom of the medi­
ator, but always hostile by the rivalry of their monarchs, were
again at war. In Germany, Louis of Bavaria, persisting in his
rebellion against the Roman Church and at the same time, the
Vol. ΙΠ—32

GENERAL HI8T0R f OF THE CHURCH.

avowed protector of a handful of schismatics, cnee more
threatened the Italian States. Naples was still at peace under
the rule of its good king, Robert of Anjou ; but that prince was
sinking into the grave under the weight of premature old age,
and the fatal signs of a revolution already began to appear
among his subjects. The intricate situation called for a Pontiff,
firm, active and energetic. Clement VI. was equal to his
Providential mission ; his quick eye took in at a glance the state
of things, and his energy placed him at once in the field. It
was of primal importance to maintain, between France and
England, the treaties, of the violation of which those two
powers mutually complained. Two cardinals were sent to the
two kings, who lay encamped before Vannes. The influence
of the Sovereign Pontiff prevailed, and the negotiations resulted
in the truce of Malestroit (January 19, a. d. 1343). The truce
was but for three years, and yet even during this interval was
broken ; but the deeply-rooted hate of the belligerent powers
gave no ground for better hopes.
19. Meanwhile, the Cardinals Aymeri de Chastellux and
Curtil visited Lombardy to confirm the Pontifical authority in
that part of the Italian peninsula. This mission was doubly
important, as upon its issue depended the success of the step
which Clement was preparing to take against Louis of Bavaria.
The Pope meant to come to a final understanding with the
schismatic. “ It is unbearable," said he, “ that, for thirty
years, Louis should have set at naught two Popes, and is
now preparing to brave a third." Struck with fear by these
hostile dispositions, the King of Germany understood the
necessity of submission, at least in appearance. In spite of all
the endeavors of the imperialist school, the popular mind was
still strongly in favor of the Sovereign Pontiffs ; besides, the
exactions of Louis had alienated the affection of all his subjects ;
the adulterous union of his son with Margaret had aroused
Bohemia and Moravia ; the people were becoming weary of the
iule of a monarch always at war with the Holy See. An act
of submission was easy to Louis. He announced to the Sove­

CLEMENT VI. (A. D. 1341-135S).

499

reign Pontiff that he acknowledged all his faults, resigned the
empire into his hands, and would resume the reins of govern­
ment only by his order. This humble profession was received
at Avignon as a forerunner of peace after these long disputes;
but Louis had no other view, in this humiliation, than that of
gaining time by a feigned resignation. In the month of Sep­
tember, a. d. 1344, he called a general Diet of the empire at
Frankfort. “ We are prepared,” said the king to the assembled
knights, “ to lay down the imperial crown. We shall never
incur the reproach of sacrificing the public weal to our personal
interest. Still, if your prudence judges the Pope’s conditions
unreasonable, we shall not hesitate, for the honor of the
Empire, to dare the dangers and sufferings which await us.”
lie then laid before the electors, as coming from the Holy See,
the conditions which he had himself submitted to the Pontifical
judgment. With one voice, the assembly protested against the
ambition and violence of Clement. “These articles,” cried the
barons, “ would be the ruin of the Empire ; your oath cannot
be binding under the circumstances; it would be a crime to fulfil
it.” An embassy, composed of the noblest and most distinguished
members, was charged to convey to Avignon the decision of
the imperial Diet of Frankfort. Clement saw through the
deceitful policy of Louis of Bavaria, and from that hour negotia­
tion became useless ; the monarch’s deposition was decreed.
20. The choice of a successor to the Empire was now the
Pope’s only care. He had first thought of John of Luxem­
burg, king of Bohemia, and had even offered the honor to that
prince; but John was aged and sightless; a great name with­
out life or power. He felt his inability, and offered, in his
place, his son, Charles of Luxemburg, one of the most polished
and courteous knights of the period, and then thirty-six years
of age. Philip of Valois favored the claim of Charles, with a
view to revenge bimsell on Louis, who had formed an alliance
with England. In 1345, Charles of Luxemburg went with his
father to Avignon, where he was received with a pomp and
magnificence worthy of the dignity to which he was destined

500

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

The Pope assured himself of his dispositions and caused him tc
sign n promise that, in the event of his election to the imperia)
throne, he would respect the estates of the Church in Italy ;
confirm all the existing rights of the Holy See ; give help and
assistance to the Roman Church against the attempts of Louis
of Bavaria; annul all the acts of that prince, and never renew
the claims of the house of Hohenstauffen. Charles gave the
required pledge, and kept it with a fidelity but too rare at that
time. On the 13th of April, a. d. 1346, Clement VI., secure in
the step he was about to take, published a ball declaring Louis
of Bavaria deposed from the royal dignity, releasing his subjects
from their allegiance, and directing the electors of the empire
to proceed at once to the election of a new emperor, threaten­
ing, in case of their refusal, to make the choice himself. In
accordance with this express injunction, the electors of Treves,
Cologne, Mentz, Saxony, and Bohemia * met at R.heims and
elected Charles of Luxemburg, who then took the title of
Charles IV. (July 20,1346). On the 10th of Noi ember, in
the same year, the Pope confirmed the election in a public
consistory. Charles was emperor as fully as the possession of
the lawful title can constitute the authority ; but he had now
to win the substance of his dignity, which still remained in the
hands of his rival. The importance of his position aroused
all the energies of Louis. At the head of bis whole army, he
visited the Rhine cities, everywhere satisfying himself of tho
fidelity of his subjects. Charles, unable to gain entrance
either into Aix-la-Chapelle or Cologne, was forced to hold his
coronation ceremony at Bonn, in the presence of a few knights
true to his cause. The Germans styled him, in derision, the
“Emperor of the Priests.” God took upon Himself to proclaim
the justice of His Pontiff’s choice. On the 11th of October,
1347, in the midst of a great hunt, Louis was stricken down
by apoplexy. This sudden death changed the position of
• These electore were: Baldwin of Hutaelburg, archbishop of Trevee; Waldemar of
Juliets, archbiehop of Cologne; Gerlach of Nassau, archbishop of Monta; Rodolph, duke
of fUrnny -, uad John, king of Bohemia, the futher of Charte» of Luxemburg.

CLEMENT VI. (A. D. 1841-1363).

501

«flairs ; ail opposition vanished, and the authority of Charlee
IV. was acknowledged throughout Germany. Thus ended the
long struggle between the empire and the Holy See.
21. The difficulties between France and England promised
no such peaceful solution. The fatal defeat of Crecy plunged
all France into mourning. Clement was a Frenchman and
shared the general grief of his country, which the disastrous
field had robbed of the flower of its nobility—Charles of
Alençon, the king’s brother, the aged hero, John of Luxem­
burg, who, blind as he was, would still be carried to the field
to fight the English once more, beside thirty thousand men-atarms. England hailed, as the hero of the day, the king’s son,
a youth scarce sixteen years of age, afterward celebrated as
the Black Prince ; this battle signalizes the first use, in North­
ern Europe, of artillery and gunpowder. The Pope hastened
to offer his mediation. Two legates, the Cardinals Hannibal de
Ceccano and Stephen Aubert, prevailed upon the two monarchs
to s:gn a truce, at Calais, on the 28th of September, a. d. 1347,
to last until the 24th of June, 1348.
22. Naples was at this period made the scene of the most
lamentable events. Robert of Anjou died in 1342, leaving his
throne to his eldest daughter, Joanna, whom he had given in
marriage to Andrew, second son of the King of Hungary. The
character of the princess was a compound of elegance, frivolity
and intrigue. Her conduct and morals were far from regular ;
they had already shocked the public mind, which was driven
to the highest pitch of indignation when it became known that
or the 20th of September, a. d. 1345, King Andrew had been
cruelly murdered in the queen’s own apartments. Joanna, in­
stead of pursuing the assassins, openly took them under her pro­
tection ; Louis of Hungary swore to revenge his brother’s death.
The indecent haste with which the queen bestowed her hand
upon the Prince of Tarentum, her favorite courtier, revolted all
Europe. The King of Hungary sent before him, to the guilty
queen, a letter remarkable for its laconic brevity : “Joanna, the
irregularity of your past, lite, the impunity of the assassin, your

602

GENERAL HISTORF OF THE CHURCH.

precipitate marriage, sufficiently prove you guilty of the death
of your first husband.” With the speed of a thunderbolt, (he
king of Hungary crossed the Alps, traversed the whole of
Italy, and fell upon the Neapolitan States before Joanna and
the Prince of Tarentum could gather an army to meet him.
On the 24th of January, 134S, he entered the capital, where
he began to act with an implacable severity. The rigor of the
brother’s vengeance struck terror into all the inhabitants, while
Joanna and her husband fled by sea to France, and hastened to
Avignon to place themselves and their States under the pro­
tection of (he Sovereign Pontiff. Clement, without as yet
pronouncing upon the merits of the case, accepted their appeal
and called the matter before his tribunal. Legates were sent
to Naples to acquaint the victorious king with this decision ;
but that short interval had sufficed to change the current of
events. Louis of Hungary had learned that it is easier to win
a kingdom than to keep it. The Neapolitans soon became
weary of his stern and despotic rule ; their wishes were favored
by a plague, and, after a sojourn of four months, Louis quitted
Naples. The fugitive queen, with her princely consort,
entered almost simultaneously by another gate. But her for­
midable conqueror was resolved to give her no peace. A
second triumph was as easy as the first, and Joanna reduced to
the limits of her capital, again took to flight and sought an
asylum at Gaëta. Fortunately for her, the king of Hungary
was beginning to grow weary of these distant expeditions,
which drained his treasure without leading to any lasting result.
He was accordingly prepared to give a favorable ear to the
propositions of an accommodation, made by Pope Clement
through Cardinal Guy of Bologna ; he agreed to restore her
kingdom to the queen, on the condition that she should ju­
ridically clear herself of the murder of Andrew, and pay an
indemnity of three hundred thousand florins to cover the
expenses of the war. The first clause was easily complied
with. When the case was opened before the Pope, no witness
appeared at his tribunal to accuse the queen, and, as no

CLEMENT VL (A. D. 1341-1352).

503

authenticated charge was made against her, she was pro­
nounced guiltless. The payment of the indemnity was simply
impracticaole for a queen whose treasure was completely
drained. A renewal of hostilities seemed inevitable, when
the Hungarian deputies declared that their master had not
made war to amass wealth, but to revenge a brother’s blood,
and that he remitted the indemnity at first required. This
generous resolve drew from the consistory loud expressions
of admiration, and a final treaty of peace, signed by the pleni­
potentiaries, was ratified by the Pope, on the 14th of Jaz.iary,
1352.
23. Meanwhile, Rome had again been undergoing the throes
of popular revolution, from which sprung one of those celebra­
ted adventurers who astonish the world, perplex history, shine
for a brief moment, as heroes, and fall back, as rapidly as they
rose, into the obscurity to which they seemed to have been
doomed. Nicholas of Rienzi, whose birth was in the lower
walks of life, was one of those daring characters for whom
every revolution is a stepping-stone to power. The horrors of
anarchy which he witnessed, even in his tender years, had
wearied his soul. He would take back his country to the most
glorious periods of the past. With this object, he obtained a
place in the second deputation sent to Clement VI., and spared
no entreaties to induce the Pontifical court to recross the Alps.
But the time had not yet come. The Sovereign Pontiff, the
enlightened patron of every form of talent, to which his palace
was ever open, admired the eloquence, the bold aspirations and
superior mind of the youthful deputy. He sent back Rienzi
loaded with gifts, and bestowed upon him the lucrative office of
Apostolic notary resident at Rome. This favor was used by
the tribune as an offensive arm against his benefactor. On the
20th of May, a. d. 1347, Rienzi went up to the Capitol, caused
himself to be proclaimed Liberator of Rome and Italy, pub­
lished a constitution which placed the dictatorship in his hands
and proposed to rebuild the Roman Empire on the plan of Au­
gustus. Couriers were sent to Avignon to beg the Pope’s con­

504

GENERAL HISTORF OF TUB CHURCH.

firmation of this new power. Rienzi’s renown was, in the mean
time, becoming known in Europe ; the tribune was looked upon
as an extraordinary man, his name was on every tongue ; the
poets, headed by Petrarch, wrote his praise in verses which soon
became popular. Clement was wise enough to make no open re­
sistance to an enthusiasm which was too violent to be lasting.
He returned an evasive answer, acknowledged the constitution
in so far as it was within the laws of justice, at the same time
blaming the irregular and revolutionary manner in which it had
been established, and reserving the right of afterward pronoun­
cing a final sentence, when he might deem it proper. Time and
the course of events settled the matter without the intervention
of the Pope. Rienzi's character was not equal to his high posi
tion ; he was dizzied by the lofty pitch of power he had reached.
Pride carried even to folly, and a rule degenerating into
cruelty, soon disgusted his warmest partisans. A tumult had
raised him upon his lofty pedestal ; a tumult dragged him down.
He fled to Germany, disguised in a Franciscan habit ; the le­
gate of the Holy See pronounced a solemn sentence of excom­
munication against him and his adherente ; the authority was
placed in the hands of the Pontifical vicar and the senators.
In a few days no trace remained of the tribune’s power (1348).
24. While the Sovereign Pontiff was exerting the most
generous efforts to quench the flames of war which ravaged
France, England, Spain, Italy and Germany; the East poured
in upon Europe a most fearful scourge. The disastrous conta­
gion known as the Black Plague, and coming from the Western
provinces of China—then called Cathay—was brought by some
Italian ships to Pisa and Genoa. It spread with frightful rapidity
through Italy, France, Germany and England. Two-thirds of
the population of Europe were swept away. Here again was
witnessed one of those results of great public calamities, of which
it would be hard to explain the natural cause. As the symp­
toms of the plague were somewhat like those of poison, the
mortality was ascribed to corruption in the atmosphere and wa­
ter, and the Jews were charged with producing the corruption

CLEMENT Π. (A. .D 134»-1353).

505

by the use of certain hurtful compositions. Some Jews, overcome
by torture, having acknowledged the truth of this charge, and
some poison having been actually found in a well, the suspicion
soon grew into an assumed fact. A general slaughter of the Is­
raelites then began in Switzerland, Alsatia and in all the Rhine
provinces. Clement VI. was too enlightened to credit the
charges made against the Jews, and his fatherly heart was too
deeply wounded, by the persecutions which they suffered from
popular credulity, to look on in silence ; he accordingly threw
over them the ægis of his Pontifical authority. By a bull of
the 4th of July, a. d. 1348, he decreed that the Jews should not
be made the victims of groundless charges, that they should
not be touched, either in their persons or property, without the
sentence of the lawful judge. Amid the general irritation, this
decree produced but a partial effect ; the Pope issued a second
bull, on the 26th of September, in which, after proving the in­
nocence of the Jews in the present case, he ordered all the
bishops to publish a sentence of excommunication against those
who should carry on the persecution in any way whatever.
During the whole period of the epidemic, Clement displayed all
the zeal and charity which was to be expected from the com­
mon Father of the faithful. Severe as was the visitation of
the disease at Avignon, the Pope never thought of quitting his
post Like a good shepherd, he stood by his flock in the hour
of danger. He paid physicians to minister to the poor, sup­
plied the funds for a regular association to remove and bury
the dead, and exerted the most vigilant care to check the pro­
gress of the contagion.
The action of the disease was too
wide-spread to come entirely within the Sovereign Pontiff’s
reach ; he supplied the absence of his personal ministry by
granting to all the metropolitans the right of giving, by their
suffragans and parish-priests, a general absolution to all the
faithful who died of the plague, adding the most ample indul­
gences for all the priests and faithful who devoted themselves
to the care, whether spiritual or temporal, of the sufferers.
Consoled by these favors, the sick bore their pains more pa­

606

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

tiently, died with greater resignation, and those who were not
yet stricken down found in them the generous courage of
charity. The idea of divine justice, so visibly stamped upon
the visitation, aroused among the people a fanatical spirit of
devotion, such as had already been witnessed in the preceding
century. The Flagellantes re-appeared in Flanders, Lorraine,
Hungary and throughout Germany. They soon began to dis­
turb the civil administration by their deeds of plunder, cruelty
and license, while the Church was called to act against several
errors in matters of faith. Philip of Valois shut them out from
France, and Pope Clement condemned them in a bull of the
20th of October, 1349, by which he enjoined all bishops
and princes to check the progress of the superstition by pre­
venting tbe meetings of the sects and confining their leaders
(1348-1350).
25. The Jubilee was opened just as the plague was begin­
ning to abate its violence. This spiritual favor—as of old, the
rainbow after the flood—was a sign of the reconciliation of
Heaven and earth, and a source of deep consolation to those
whom the plague had spared. Everywhere the faithful hailed
the coming season of grace with heartfelt joy. The prodigious
number of pilgrims whom piety led to Rome was noted by his­
torians as a remarkable event. From the beginning of the
Jubilee, at Christmas, until the 28th of March, on which day
the festival of Easter occurred in that year, there were at
times twelve hundred thousand, and never less than a million
pilgrims in the Eternal City. The throngs of pious strangers
who poured through its gates might almost throw a doubt upon
the truth of the fact that a three-years’ plague had well-nigh
turned the world into one vast solitude. For two years, the
epidemic had so exclusively occupied all minds that few other
events have been chronicled. Human energy seemed to stand
appalled before this destroying monster. Italy was the first
country that showed signs of returning life, and the awakening
was signalized by a reaction, more formidable than ever, against
the Pontifical power. The Pepoli of Bologna, the Manfredi of

INNOCENT VI. (A. D. 1363-1383).

507

Faënza, the Pollente of Ravenna, the Ordelaffi in Forli. the
Malatesta at Rimini, the house of Este in Ferrara, became the
heads of as many separate States. At Milan, the Duke­
archbishop John Visconti seized upon a portion of the Romagna,
in contempt of the rights of the Holy See. The Pope summoued him before his tribunal (a. d. 1351). The archbishoj
made no immediate answer, but requested the legate to appear,
on the next morning, in his cathedral, where, before the assem­
bled people, he caused the Pontifical summons to be repeated ;
then holding up in one hand his episcopal crozier and a drawn
sword in the other, he turned to the nuncio exclaiming : “ Go,
tell the Pope, my lord, that with the one I shall know how to
defend the other." Clement answered the defiance by placing
Milan under interdict. Visconti then came to terms. The
Pope consented to pardon him on the payment of a fine of one
hundred thousand florins to the Apostolic chamber (1352).
This was the last Pontifical act of Clement VI. ; he expired on
the 6th of December, two years after Philip of Valois, who had
died in 1350, leaving his crown to his son John II., called the
Good, whose reign was doomed to bring disaster on the land
he ruled.
§ IV. Pontificate

Innocent VI. (December 18, a. d. 1352—
September 12, 1362).

of

26. The conclave which met at the death of Clement VI.
was signalized by a hitherto unexampled proceeding, betray­
ing new and strange pretensions on the part of the cardinals.
They drew up a kind of compact, which all signed and swore
to observe. By this deed the future Pope could create no new
cardinals without the consent of the Sacred College ; the same
consent was necessary for the nomination and deposition of the
higher officers in the Roman court, for the bestowal of the
government of provinces or cities in the Pontifical States. Had
such a compact ever possessed the force of a law, the Pope
might indeed have still remained the object of the people’»

608

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

veneration ; but he would have been, none the less, only
shadow of power; the Sacred College would have ruled. Tho
Cardinal of Ostia, Stephen Aubert, a native of the little village
of Beyssac in Limousin, was elected on the 18th of December,
a. d. 1352, and took the name of Innocent VI. His first act was
to annul the compact made by the cardinals * and to revoke the
constitution of his predecessor on the reserves and expectancies.
He discountenanced the plurality of benefices and enjoined each
incumbent, on pain of excommunication, to keep the law of
residence, which measure cleared the Roman court of a host of
idle courtiers seeking only their own interest. The magnificence
of Clement VI. gave way to a strict and frugal administration
and to au enlightened zeal for reform. Holy orders and bene­
fices were reserved for worthy candidates. “ Ecclesiastical dig­
nities," said Innocent, “ should be the reward of virtue, not of
birth." Thus the Pontifical throne is successively filled by men
of the most opposite dispositions, uniting in an eminent degree
the most various qualities. An ever-watchful Providence
chooses, at each period in the Church’s career, the most fitting
pilot to steer her course ; unity of teaching, the deposit of faith,
are guarded with the same integrity, notwithstanding the differ­
ence in the various administrations.
27. The political state of Europe was, at this time, most
critical, and the new Pope was called upon to settle a number
of important and complicated questions. In the North, France
and England had broken their truce, and were making ready,
notwithstanding all the efforts of Cardinal Guy of Boulogne,
for a third struggle, more disastrous than either of the former
ones. In the South, Italy was but one great field of blood.
The authority of the Holy See was merely nominal there.
Castile was still wasted by the fury of Peter the Cruel. Ger­
many alone was at peace under its emperor, Charles IV. ; the
policy of Clement VI. had triumphed.
28. Charles, true to his promises, had annulled the acts
• Innocent VL, before his election, had signed tho compact, with the addition of th·
following clause: “ In sc far as it is consistent with juslioo 1

INNOCENT VI. (A. D. 1364-13Λ2).

509

and decrees of Louis of Bavaria, in so far as they opposed the
rights of the Popes. In 1355 he set out for Rome to receive
the imperial crown ; his journey through Italy resembled a
triumphal march. Cardinals, delegated by the Pope, presided
at the coronation, after which Charles immediately quitted the
Eternal City. Innocent had, meanwhile, been maturing the
design of restoring the Papal chair to Italy. The task
involved nothing less than a conquest; the Pope set himself to
the work with energy. To this end he devoted the means left
in his hands by a frugal administration. The success of the
undertaking required that its leader should be a man endowed,
at once, with political genius and military valor. Such a man
was fortunately found in the very ranks of the Sacred College,
and Innocent VI. had the tact to discover his worth. Cardinal
Ægidius Albornoz had been counsellor of state and standardbearer to the King of Castile, Alphonso XI. He had greatly
contributed to the brilliant victory of Tarifa, after which the
Castilian monarch insisted upon receiving the honor of knight­
hood at his hand. Having been afterward promoted to the
archbishopric of Toledo, he continued to serve his country
until the accession of Peter the Cruel. The open remon­
strances which he had the courage to address to the tyrant
resulted in his being compelled to seek shelter from his
revenge under the shadow of the Apostolic chair. His repu­
tation had reached Avignon before him, and Clement VI. made
him a cardinal. Resigning his archbishopric of Toledo, he
attached himself exclusively to the Pontifical court. This
was the leader to whom Innocent intrusted the army he wished
to send into Italy. With our modern views, we cannot under­
stand the idea of a military cardinal. A complete reaction
against the system of the middle-ages has so perfectly sepa­
rated the two powers, that a cleric, though gifted with every
quality that makes a great man, may no longer serve his coun­
try by his talents or his counsel. Each particular age views
the same facts in a light peculiar to itself. Men did not think
in the fourteenth century as they do in the nineteenth ; and

51Û

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

so Spain had herXimcnes; France, her Cardinal d’Amboise
end later, a Richelieu; nor have their names left a stain on the
page of history. Albornoz belonged to this race of great men.
For fifteen years Italy was the scone of his masterly plans and
ready execution ; here he displayed the hidden resources of
military science with the most intricate combinations of policy;
all that a powerful mind can bring to bear upon complicated
positions ; all the readiness of consummate skill to profit by
the chances of fortune; in a word, all the intrepidity of a hero
joined to the unshaken firmness of a sage. At the end of his
immortal mission, the Holy See was again in possession of its
Italian States, which had been lost to it for half a century, and
Albornoz has earned the gratitude of the world by the great
benefit conferred upon it in the reestablishment of the Papal
power in Rome. This fickle people still dreamed of the days
)f its heathen glory ; the name of Rienzi was again becoming
popular. Albornoz knew that to wear out prejudices by yield­
ing a little to them at times, is more efficient than open resist
ance; he recalled the tribune from his exile in Germany,
obtained his release from the excommunication which weighed
upon him, and then sent him to the Romans. The news of his
approach aroused all the old enthusiasm of the people in his
regard. The multitude, intoxicated with joy, ran in crowds to
meet him; it was as if Scipio Africanus had once more come in
triumph to the Capitol. Had Rienzi known how to use his
power with moderation, his reign might have been long ; but
for him greatness was an intoxicating beverage, and his reason
was disordered by the draught. His extravagance, pride and
debauchery, which were only varied by deeds of bloody
revenge, soon aroused the popular indignation against him.
Hardly a year had passed since his triumphant restoration,
when his ears were stunned with the cries of, “ Death to the
tyrant 1 Long live the people 1” The Capitol is surrounded by
a furious mob. The tribune appears at a window and motions
(or silence ; the outcry is redoubled, and the palace is set on
fire ; the multitude is ever ready to outrage to-day the idols

INNOCENT VI. (A. D. 1353-1361).

511

before which it bowed but yesterday ; Rienzi’s remains, after
receiving the grossest insults of the excited populace, are
thrown into the flames (a. d. 1354). Albornoz did not think
the hour had come to take possession of Rome. Seldom do
lasting peace and order follow, without gradual transition, the
last struggles of anarchy. He allowed the Romans to raise
up a new dictatorship, more disgraceful than any that had pre­
ceded it, in favor of a cobbler named Lelio Calzolaio. The
Romans seemed at a loss for means to disgrace themselves.
The cardinal was, in the mean time, successively destroying
the petty despotisms set up in the various towns of the Marches
of Ancona and the Romagna ; he wrested Bologna from the
hands of the Visconti, and, after a series of brilliant victories,
concluded treaties of submission and peace with the Malatestas,
the Ordelaffi, the Manfredi and Pollentas, and finally brought
under his power the whole domain of the Church, by the
splendid feat of arms at San Ruffello (1361).
29. While the temporal power of the Papacy was winning
these triumphs in Italy, its moral influence was less successful
in other quarters. In Spain and France the authority of Inno­
cent VI. was ignored. At the very opening of his reign, Peter
the Cruel had repudiated his royal consort, Blanche of Bourbon,
one of the most accomplished princesses of the period, to give
himself up to all the excesses of a criminal passion for a
female adventurer named Maria Padilla, who was, in turn, put
away to make room for Jane de Castro. The shameless monarch
dared to contract an alliance with this last victim of his un­
bridled passion, in spite of the ties which bound him to the
queen ; and two false prelates, the Bishops of Avila and Sala­
manca, were found to sanction the divorce and bless the sacri­
legious nuptials. Blanche was imprisoned in the castle of
Siguenza ; the bishop of that see, for daring to plead the cause
of the wronged and outraged queen, was put in irons. The
Pope, on learning the outrage, sent an internuncio to Castile and
pronounced a sentence of excommunication against Peter the
Cruel, Jane de Castro, Maria Palilia and the two venal pre-

512

GENERAL HÎGTORV OF THE CHDRCH.

lates. The kingdom of Castile was, at the same time, placed
under interdict. The tone of the Sovereign Pontiff, on this
occasion, was worthy of the defender of outraged religion and
morality. " The whole world,” says the Pontiff to the tyrant,
“ is shocked by the accounts of your disorders ; your scandalous
life is no longer a secret to any one. God had set you up to
correct the wanderings of the people, and you have become their
leader in iniquity! 0 crime ! 0 infamy ! The sword which
the Almighty gave into your hands to punish the wicked and
to defend the good, you brandish against an innocent woman !”
Peter answered the reproaches of the Sovereign Pontiff by
sending two executioners to murder the hapless queen in her
dungeon. The thunders of the Church were unavailing against
the cruelty of a crowned barbarian ; but Blanche of Bourbon
was a French princess ; France had a Duguesclin to avenge
her wrongs.
30. The kingdom of France had now fallen so low that its
final ruin might not unreasonably have been predicted. In
1356, war was again begun between Edward III. and King
John. At the head of eighty thousand men, the French mon­
arch had succeeded in surrounding, near Poitiers, sixteen
thousand English, commanded by Edward and his son, the
Prince of Wales. Cardinal Talleyrand, the Pope’s legate,
hastened to the field and spoke words of peace. The English,
who thought themselves irretrievably lost, offered to restore all
their conquests. Talleyrand entreated King John to spare so
much Christian blood and to accept so fair an offer; John was
unyielding. Never was a battle begun with a greater presump­
tion; and never was a field more disgracefully lost. The
English sought only death, and fought like lions ; the most un­
looked-for triumph crowned their valor. Ten thousand knights,
the flower of the French chivalry, remained upon the field.
The king, his son, and a number of great lords were captured
(a. d.1356). France uttered a wail of despair and robed her­
self in mourning at the news of this fearful disaster. Innocent
had been unable to avert the evil, but he at once set about

INNOCENT Π. (A. D. 1353-1363).

513

repairing it. A truce of two years was signed at Metz (1357),
by the Prince of Wales and the Dauphin Charles, who had
seized the reins of government when his father was taken pris­
oner ; this truce was due to the efforts of Cardinal Talleyrand.
At the expiration of the truce, Edward took up arms once more
against a kingdom without an army, wasted by the faithless
depredations of Charles the Bad, king of Navarre, and torn to
shreds by contending factions, sprung from its own lacerated
bosom. Innocent alone could save France ; and he did it.
Androin de ]a Roche, abbot of Cluny, was charged by the
Pope to negotiate a peace. The meeting took place in the
village of Brétigny, about a league from Chartres, and the
treaty was signed on the 18th of May, 1360. Its conditions
reduced the territory of France to a few provinces, while Eng­
land gained an immense preponderance ; but it struck off the
chains of King John. The peace of Brétigny was then esteemed
a master-stroke of policy. It may, perhaps, even now be look­
ed upon in that light, if we reflect upon the imperious necessity
existing for it, the difficulties to be overcome in its execution,
the joy it gave to both parties, and the gratitude felt toward its
author, since both English and French joined in entreating
the Sovereign Pontiff to bestow the cardinal’s hat upon the
abbot Androin, as a reward for his skilful negotiation.
31. The Papacy watched over the general wants of the
Catholic world. Italy, now in arms, furnished no subsidy;
France and England were so deeply engaged in their national
contest, that they forgot to pay their tithes; Germany alone
could afford the means necessary for so many undertakings.
To crown the series of misfortunes, Charles IV. hitherto devoted
to the interests of the Holy See, refused to allow in his States
the collection of the Pontifical dues. The anxiety caused at
Avignon, by this gloomy state of things, was soon dispelled.
Charles had been, for a moment, misled by exaggerated notions
of reform ; he was easily convinced by the mild representations
of Innocent, and recalled his prohibition. The Pontiff’s atten
tion was next drawn in another direction. John Palœologus.
Vol. ΠΙ.—33

514

GENERAL ÏUSTGRÎ OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

the eastern emperor, had lately seen the city of Adrianople,
the key of Greece, the bulwark of the empire, fall into the
hands of Amnrath I. The East, reduced to a few scattered and
disjointed provinces, was utterly defenceless ; Byzantium was
in its agony. Palæologus begged more earnestly than ever for
the help of the chief of Christendom ; as an inducement, he
promised the re-union of the two Churches, a re-union so often
tried but always thwarted by the bad faith of the Greeks.
There was, at Avignon, a man whose energy and talent seemed
to warrant, for the expedition to the East, a success like that
of Cardinal Albomoz in the Peninsula. This was Blessed Peter
Thomas, an apostle, a diplomatist, a dauntless warrior, equally
preeminent in the council and in the field. Repeated missions
had made him thoroughly acquainted with the wants and the
manners of the people of the East. Innocent appointed him
legate a latere, and intrusted him with the organization of a Cru­
sade. With a fleet of Venetian galleys and the squadron of the
Knights of Rhodes, Thomas visited Smyrna and the other sea­
ports of the Asiatic coast, inspired the Christians with new
hope and courage and at length reached Constantinople, where
he was received with transports of joy ; the schismatical Patri­
arch was deposed, and the emperor tendered to the legate his
oath of fidelity to the Holy See. Thomas laid siege to Lamp­
sacus, and took it by storm in sight of a Turkish fleet, power­
less to defend it. The islands of Crete and Cyprus abjured the
schism and acknowledged the Roman supremacy. After these
brilliant successes, Thomas returned to Europe to obtain addi­
tional forces; but he did not find Innocent VI., who had sunk
under the weight of years and infirmities, on the 22d of Sep­
tember, a. D. 1362, in the tenth year of his Pontificate.

V. Pontificate of Urban V. (September 27, a. d. 1362—De­
cember 10,1370).
32. Twenty-one cardinals went into conclave, and before
the close of the first day two-thirds of the votes were given to

URBAN V. (A. D. 13A2-1370).

515

Cardinal Hugh Roger, a brother of Clement VI. Moved by a
sentiment of humility seldom found in the history of great
men, the prelate, whose thoughts were fixed upon works of
holiness and never turned to the tiara, refused the proffered
honor. The suffrages then turned to Cardinal Raymond de
Canillac, but not in sufficient numbers to insure his election.
■At length, tu put an end to all delay and intrigue, it was
agreed that the Pope should be chosen without the Sacred
College, and, on the 27th of September, a. d., 1362, the abbot
of St. Victor’s of Marseilles, William Grimoard, was elected
Sovereign Pontiff. The abbot was at the time in Florence, on
his way to Naples, to fulfil a mission intrusted to him by
Innocent VI. From that city he addressed to the conclave a
letter of acceptance, and assumed the name of Urban V. The
new Pontiff was a Frenchman, born in the castle of Grisac,
near Mende; but all his sympathies were for Rome. Long
before his election, he had openly made known his views on
the subject. He considered the removal of the Holy See to
Avignon as a temporary measure, of which the highest interests
of the Church required the speedy change. As Pope, it was in
his power to realize the project. To him the Papacy owes that
glorious initiative.
33. His first care was to carry on the expedition begun by
his predecessor and so gloriously opened by Blessed Peter
Thomas. The successful commander was now visiting all parts
of Europe, accompanied by Peter of Lusignan, king of Cy­
prus, everywhere imparting a portion of the enthusiasm with
which they were themselves animated and receiving favorable
answers. John II. of France, Wlademar III. of Denmark,
even the proud Duke of Milan, Barnabo Visconti, who had
succeeded his uncle, the archbishop, in the government of that
city—all took the cross. An immense armament was the ιθeult of this generous impulse on the part of these princes ; all .
seemed to promise a powerful and triumphant expedition. But
before crossing the sea to fight the Mussulmans, John was mind
*ul of his obligations to his English conquerors. Finding him

616

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

self unable to fulfil all the conditions of the treaty of Brétigny
he went back to London of his own accord, as a prisoner, with
these noble words, which are more glorious than fields of tri­
umph : “If truth were banished from earth, it should find an
asylum in the hearts of kings.” His was the bearing of a true
hero; to meet such noble conduct with equal generosity, Ed­
ward had but one course to pursue ; to break the chains which
were thus asked of him. But in this he failed ; and John died
in the Tower of London, a prisoner on parole. He was sue
ceeded by his son Charles V., surnamed the Wise. The Cru­
sade was without a leader ; the King of Cyprus and Petei
Thomas could gather but five hundred horse and six hundred
foot for an undertaking which would have needed all the pow­
ers of the West. Around this little nucleus they rallied the
army of the Knights of Rhodes, ten thousand in number, and on
the 4th of October, a. d. 1365, this handful of Christian warriors
triumphantly entered the city of Alexandria, defended by up­
ward of fifty thousand Saracens under the Soldan of Egypt.
Had the victors been supported, a second Latin kingdom might
nave been established in Jerusalem ; but their weakness in
numbers lost them the fruits of their splendid daring. Four
days after their entrance into the capital of Egypt, they again
set sail for Cyprus. Their losses were not irretrievable so long
as Peter Thomas, the soul of these undertakings, was spared to
them. But, worn out by the labors of so many arduous mis­
sions, and still more by grief at his inability to rescue the Sa­
viour’s sepulchre from the tyranny of the Unbelievers, he fell
at last, on the feast of the Epiphany, 1366. He had lived an
apostle and a hero; he died the death of the blessed. The
splendor of his virtues, the prodigies which glorified them
after death, and the judgment of the Church, have asserted hia
claim to the title.
34. Urban V. was now engaged in another Crusade. Upon
his accession to the Pontifical throne, he had renewed the sen­
tence of excommunication pronounced against Peter the Cruel,
with the addition of a sentence of deposition, conveying the

URBAN V. (A. D. 1382-1370).

517

kingdom of Castile to the king’s natural brother, Henry of
Transtamare. For nearly twenty years France and Italy had
been overrun by bands of plunderers who ravaged city and
country under the various names of Compagnies blanches (white
companies), Jacquerie, Routiers and Tard venus (late comers).
Urban V. vainly endeavored to enlist these disorderly bands in
the Eastern expedition. The mere thought of fighting the
Turks, who would bring them, as they said, to an evil end
(“ qui les feraient mourir de male mort ”), filled them with dread.
It was easier to persuade them to cross the Pyrenees with Ber­
trand Duguesclin for their leader and a bounty of two hun­
dred thousand livres in gold, paid by the Apostolic chamber.
Peter the Cruel was powerless against this formidable invasion,
and was forced to give up to his brother his crown, with his
life, which the latter took with his own hand. This tragic reso­
lution of the question took place in the year 1369 ; it was
hailed by Spain as an inestimable benefit, and won for Henry
of Transtamare the glorious title of Liberator.
35. Urban V. was steadily carrying out a policy of wise
and useful reform. Benefices were bestowed only upon pious
and learned candidates. The modest worth which thought
itself hidden in the shade of seclusion was astonished at find­
ing itself discovered and drawn forth by the Pontiff’s hand, to
be placed upon the candlestick. Pope Urban had appointed a
certain number of prudent and strictly conscientious agents in
each province, to gather the information necessary to guide him
in his choice, and to send him faithful reports. By this means
he soon acquired a clear and correct knowledge of the capacity,
morals, learning and piety of nearly every ecclesiastic. He
then sent out visitors who, without distinction of persons, re­
warded the meritorious, punished the bad and deposed the
unworthy. The highest eulogy of this Pontificate is contained
in the answer made by Cardinal *
Talleyrand, when asked what
• Cardinal Talleyrand, by hie consummate.ekill and unerring policy, hod for half a rq»··
<ury exorcised a paramount influence in tho court of Arignon. It was said of him that ba
had promoted many Popes but would rot be one himself.

518

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

be thought of Urban V., « I think,” replied the aged Cardinal,
"that we have now a Pope. Duty compelled us to honor
others; but we fear and reverence the reigning Pontiff because
he is powerful in word and work.” The Sovereign Pontiff was
preparing for the translation of the Holy See. In 1365
the emperor, Charles IV., visited Avignon to confer with him
upon the great project. The removal from Rome had, to a great
extent, lowered the Papacy. This position had not been of its
own choosing, but was a natural consequence of the factious
dissensions in Italy. The assertion of many superficial histo­
rians, that the Popes of the fourteenth century pledged them­
selves to the French monarchy to reside beyond the Alps, is
false ; the best proof that such an engagement never existed
is the fact that the French kings never appealed to it in their
endeavors to oppose the removal of the Holy See. The Popes
dwelt in France only so long as it pleased them to do so ; they
quitted it only with the same restriction and in spite of the
efforts of kings to the contrary. Still their residence at Avig­
non placed them in an abnormal position. In a temporal point
of view, no city can take the place of Rome as the seat of the
Pontifical power. Since the transfer of the See to Avignon,
the Sacred College had been almost entirely made up of French­
men. Their habits, manners and affections were in harmony
with their place of abode. This was doubtless an honor for
France. But the exclusively local character thus given to the
Roman court had an appearance of nationality in strong con­
trast with its traditions and duties of universality. Other
nations naturally found, in this position, a pretext for jealousy
and mistrust. “ Rome,” said Pope John ΧΧΠ., “must ever
be the capital of the world, whether we wish it or not.” Urban
V. was keenly alive to the exigencies of his position. In
1366 he acquainted the Sacred College and all the Christian
princes with his intention of returning to Rome in the following
year. Cardinal Albornoz, whose policy was crowned by this
resolution, since it was made practicable only through his vic­
tories, received directions to prepare the palace of Viterbo and

URBAN V. (A. D. 1362-1370).

519

the Vatican for the reception of the Sovereign Pontiff. Charles
V. of France at once sent, as ambassador to the Pope, Nicholas
Oresme, whose reputation for learning and eloquence was at its
height in Paris. He was charged to use every available means
to turn Urban V. from his purpose. The ambassador employed
all the resources of the oratorical art to dissuade the Pontiff
from his purpose; representing the anarchy which was rending
Rome and Italy, and holding up all the advantages offered by
a residence in France, his native land ; but he was convinced
of the fruitlessness of his efforts when Urban replied to his
lengthy discourse : “Not only have you failed to dissuade Us
from our projected undertaking, but your arguments rather
serve to hasten Our departure.” Petrarch was more favorably
heard when he wrote to the Pope : “ You give bishops to the
other churches ; will you not restore her own to Rome ?” The
French cardinals, with three exceptions, joined their entreaties
to those of Charles ; but the Pontifical resolve was irrevocably
fixed ; nothing could shake it. Urban threatened to depose
the delinquents and to give their places to Italians ; there was
no remedy but to bow before a will so firm.
36. On the 30th of April, a. d. 1367, the Pontifical court left
Avignon and embarked at Marseilles upon a fleet of twentythree ships fitted out for the purpose. On the 3d of June the
Sovereign Pontiff landed at Cormeto, where he was received by
Cardinal Albornoz with an immense concourse of nobles and
prelates of the States of the Church. A deputation of Roman
citizens laid at his feet the sovereignty of Rome with the keys
of the Castle of St. Angelo. The Pope hastened to Viterbo,
where he received the ambassadors sent by the various Chris­
tian powers to congratulate him on his happy return. The em­
peror, the Queen of Naples, the King of Hungary, the republic
of Tuscany—all seemed to vie with one another, on this occa­
sion, in magnificence and devotion. We may safely assert that
never was homage more heartfelt. The brilliant pageant was
increased by the arrival of the Patriarch of Constantinople,
accompanied by a number of great Eastern lords. The prelate

620

GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

brought nn assurance of the sincere return of the Greek em
peror to Catholic unity, and of an approaching visit of that
prince to the Pontifical court. The general rejoicings were
interrupted only by the death of Cardinal Albornoz (August
24, 1867). Three months later, Urban V. made his triumphal
entry into Rome, which, for sixty years, had not enjoyed
the presence of the successor of St. Peter. The air was filled
with shouts and hymns of joyful praise. The Pontifical train
could with difficulty make its way through the dense throngs
that packed the streets, closing around the escort eager to gaze
upon the features of their pastor, so long and so earnestly de­
sired. Urban went first to the church of St. Peter to pray at
the tomb of the Apostles, and then took possession of the
Vatican.
37. Within a year, Rome was made the scene of another
and scarcely less imposing display, by the reception of the
emperors of the East and of the West. Charles IV. came to
receive the imperial crown from the bands of Urban V., in the
church of St. Peter; John Palæologus wished to renew, in the
presence of the Sovereign Pontiff, his oath of fidelity to the
Roman Church. Urban received him on the steps of St.
Peter’s ; the Greek emperor made three genuflexions as he
approached the Pope and prostrated himself to kiss his feet.
The Pontiff raised him up, affectionately embraced him, and
led him by the hand into the Basilica amid the solemn chant
of the Te Deum. Palæologus hoped to obtain from the West
some help against the Turks ; Urban made every effort to organ­
ize a Crusade, but the time of those expeditions was forever
gone. Charles V. of France was wholly taken up with the
duty of raising his kingdom from the fall it had received in the
treaty of Brétigny. Edward HI. needed all his strength to
hold his conquests. Charles IV. of Germany was too far ad­
vanced in age to risk a distant expedition ; beside, he was not
a warrior, and his whole attention was given to the civil and
ecclesiastical reform of bis States. Urban himself did not long
enjoy the peace and quiet he had hoped to find in Rome

URBAN V. (A. D. 1361-1370).

6k l

38. The factious and uneasy spirit of the Italians wii -won
again in motion. Sedition and tumult began to resumo tbeii
reign in the cities of the Ecclesiastical States, and the Pope
learned to regret the peaceful abode of Avignon. The car­
dinals availed themselves of these dispositions to urge the
Pope's return to France. After some hesitation, the Ponti
thought proper to yield to their prayers. This determination
was a source of deep grief to all the faithful, who saw in it a
return of the exile of the Papacy. Rome was at that time the
abode of an illustrious Swedish princess, whose virtues the
Church has since crowned with the title of saint. Bridget was
burn unuer the cheerless skies of Scandinavia, and her very
piety seemed to have borrowed some of the native harshness
of the climate. The very mention of her penances is fearful ;
they might be deemed incredible, did we not know that divine
love raises human nature above itself. Though St. Bridget wri
so severe toward herself, her outward bearing was marked oy
modesty, mildness and charity. Piety seemed to possess her
in its very perfection, even from the cradle. At the early ago
of seven years, God began to favor her with His communica­
tions, which became more frequent as she grew in age. In
one of her visions she was told to make a pilgrimage to Rome ;
her object was to obtain the Pontifical sanction for a religious
order which she had lately founded. When the Pope made
known his intention of quitting Rome, St. Bridget was favored
with a revelation and commanded to make it known to Urban
V. The saint fulfilled her mission, and warned the Pope that
a speedy death awaited him in France. Either Urban doubted
the authority of the revelation or intended to avoid the result
by afterward returning to Italy, and his resolution remained
unchanged. On the 16th of September, a. d. 1370, the galleys
of the French king landed him at Marseilles, and on the 24th
he entered Avignon amid transports of joy on the part of the
people, the more lively as they had thought never to see him
again. But St. Bridget’s fatal prophecy was soon verified.
While the full vigor (f strength and energy seemed to promise

β22

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

him a long reign, Urban was suddenly seized by an unknown
disease, which, by its rapid progress, gave warning of his np.
proaching end. It is said that his soul was filled with a lively
sorrow for having restored the Holy See to France, and that
he made a tow to return to Rome in the event of hie recovery.
But he was never to see Rine or Italy again. He died on the
19th of December, 1370, alter a Pontificate of eight years.

§ VI. Pontificate

of

Gregory XI. (December 30,
—March 27, 1378).

a. d.

1370

39. Providence gave to the illustrious deceased a worthy
successor in Cardinal Peter Roger of Beaufort, a nephetv of
Clement VI. He took the name of Gregory XI., and was the
last of the French Popes. The principle of French exclusion,
which has since prevailed in the Papal elections, rests upon no
Apostolic law or C institution. It is a natural result of the
situation and of the fear that a French Pontiff might renew the
transfer of the Holy See into his own country. All contem­
porary historians vie with each other in extolling the virtues
of Gregory XI.—his humility, modesty, prudence, liberality,
unruffled sweetness and affability of disposition, form the theme
of their unbounded praise. He likewise saw the importance of
restoring the Papacy to its natural sea1 ; and, happier than his
predecessor, he settled the great question. It seems to us
that sufficient credit has not been given to the French Popes
for the fact that the first steps toward the restoration of the
Holy See to Italy came entirely from them ; that they carried
it out with heroic courage, against all the entreaties of the
Sacred College and the multiplied obstacles of all kinds which
barred their way. The first difficulty which met the new Pope,
in the execution of his project, came from Italy itself. The
flames of discord had broken out with renewed violence, and
Milan had joined Florence in a powerful league against the
Pontifical power. A troop of adventurers, led by an English­
man named John Hawkwood, offered their services to Barnabe

GREGORY XL (A. D. 1370-13781

523

Visconti and the Milanese lords. This band of marauder»
plundered all the towns of the Romagna and of the Marches of
Ancona. The inhabitants, expecting no help from the Pope,
joined the freebooters and ravaged the whole country under a
standard on which was written, in letters of gold, the word
Liberty. The disorder spread like a contagion. Viterbo, Peru­
gia, Assisi, Spoleto, Civita-Vecchia, Ravenna, and Ascoli, threw
off the authority of the Roman Church. The insurrection had
broken out in the month of November, a. d. 1375, and at the
end of December there was not a single port in Italy where the
Pope could land. The republic of Venice had first raised the
standard of revolt; against that power Gregory aimed his first
blow.
40. Spiritual weapons alone would have been powerless to
check so many seditions. The Pope took into his pay a force of
Bretons, commanded by two valiant knights, John of Malestroit
and Sylvester of Bude This independent troop, comprising
six thousand horse and four thousand foot, had levied a tribute
upon the southern provinces of France. They were warriors of
fierce and untrained courage, as renowned for their blustering
as for their valor, and when asked if they expected to enter
Florence : “ Since the sun enters it,” replied the fearless adven­
turers, “ why should not we ?” Such were the champions won
by the skilful policy of the Pope to the defence of tho Holy
See. The Bretons crossed the Alps, accompanied by Cardinal
Robert of Geneva, who laid Florence under interdict, excom­
municated the chiefs of the Republic and summoned them to
appear in person before the tribunal of the Apostolic See. The
Pontifical army rolled like a torrent through all the towns with­
in the jurisdiction of the Republic ; the Florentino garrisons
quailed before these fierce opponents and fell back upon the
capital. Meanwhile the Pope banished all Florentine traders
from Avignon ; he pursued them through every part of Europe ;
he allowed the confiscation of their goods, the imprisonment of
their persons and their subjection to bondage. These measures
overthrew the whole commerce of Florence and caused it a Jos·

624

GENERAI HISTORY OF THE CHÜHCH.

of three millions of florins. The chiefs of the Republic, terrified
by this display of vigor, began to think of treating for peace
In the convent of the Sisters of Penance of St. Dominic, at
Sienna, dwelt a holy virgin named Catherine, who lived on
earth like an angel of heaven. She was one of those chosen
souls that God loves to fashion in the mould of perfection, even
in the tendercst age, to show them to the world as the marvels
of His grace. She was but twenty-nine years of age, and yet
all Italy was full of the renown of her virtues. To this lowly
virgin the nobility of Florence now turned, deeming her the
best defender of their interests before the court of Avignon,
the only ambassador capable of appeasing the just indignation
of the Sovereign Pontiff. The servant of God was accordingly
summoned to Florence and loaded with honors. The noblest
citizens went out to meet her and begged that she would
undertake their reconciliation with the Holy See. Catherine
took upon herself this delicate mission, for the glory of God ;
and the youthful religious, whose life had hitherto flowed
emoolhlj on in cloistered silence and rapt contemplation, sud­
denly found herself the envoy of a powerful republic. Gregory
XL received Catherine of Sienna with all the distinction due to
her virtue and devotedness ; and as a proof of his thorough con­
fidence, and of his desire for a reconciliation, he left to her
judgment the conditions of the treaty, only recommending her
to save the honor of the Church. But the negotiations were
not yet to close. While the saintly ambassadress of Florence
was trying to smooth the way for peace, the Republic had
established the famous tribunal known as the Eight of the War.
On learning this news at Avignon, the Pope said to the saint:
“ Believe me, Catherine, they will deceive you as they have
already deceived me." The war still continued with unabated
fury. The Florentines had met the terrible Bretons w ith Hawk­
wood’s Englishmen. Conflagration, slaughter and pillage, under
various standards, visited every town in wretched Italy.
41. Notwithstanding the anarchy which was rending the
Peninsula, Gregory still prepared to set out for Rome. St

GREGORY XT. (A. D. 1370-1318).

525

Catherine strongly urged the measure. “You ask my advice
touching your return to Rome,” wrote the Saint in 1376. “ In
the name of Jesus Christ crucified, I say that you should start
as soon as you possibly can.” The disputes between France
and England, so fatal to the first kingdom under John, were
more equalized, since the prudence of Charles V. had somewhat
restored the fortunes of France. The interests of this king­
dom, then, could no longer hold back the Sovereign Pontiff.
On the 13th of September, a. d. 1376, Gregory XI. looked for
the last time upon the Pontifical palace and city of Avignon.
As he passed through Provence, the people flocked about him
to manifest their deep regret at his departure. He was awaited
at Marseilles by twenty-two galleys, commanded by the Grand
Master of the Knights of Rhodes, Ferdinand of Heredia. The
restoration of the Papacy aroused so great an enthusiasm in
Italy, that even the republic of Florence, though waging war
against the Church, sent to Gregory a splendid ship, equipped at
the expense of the republic. The fleet weighed anchor on
the 2d of October. “ Great God !” exclaims the French annal­
ist, an eye-witness of the scene, “ who can express the tears
and sighs and wails to which the cardinals then gave free
course ! The Pope himself wept. No, the throes of childbirth
are less agonizing than was the pang of such a parting. On
the 18th of January, 1377, the Pope, on horseback, made his
entry into Rome, surrounded by multitudes intoxicated with
joy. His path was strewn with flowers ; flaming torches light­
ed his way, the walls reechoed the repeated cry : “ Long live
Gregory XI !” Nothing was wanting to add to the splendor of
the pageant; nothing save, perhaps, the triumphal pæans with
which Petrarch would have hailed the wished-for event ; but
the poet had died three years before (1374). In reestablish­
ing the Holy See at Rome, Gregory found there a popular
magistracy existing under the name of Bannerets, who, how­
ever, came at once to lay at the Pontiff’s feet the wands em­
blematic of their rank and power. Gregory, moved by a noble
sentiment of generosity, wished to signalize the opening of hie

62b

general history OP THE CHURCH.

administration by no changes in the form of government. He
accordingly allowed things to move on in their wonted course;
but he soon had occasion to repent of his liberality. In the
history of the Church, nothing has been found to equal the
fickleness of the Roman people, unless it be the patience of
the Popes. Gregory soon found himself beset by the eternal
factions which cursed the city; and he was obliged to withdraw
to Anagni.
42. To the anxiety caused by these political troubles was
suddenly added the alarming intelligence that a great heresy
was springing up in England. The author of the new doctrine
was an Oxford theologian named John Wycliffe, a proud, rest­
less spirit, but deeply versed in scholastic subtleties. His of­
fice of guardian in the university having been transferred to
a certain monk, Wycliffe appealed to the Holy See, which con­
firmed the last appointment. From that time AVycliffe’s anger
was turned against the Pope. He was at first content to re­
new the errors of Marsilius of Padua, concerning the ecclesias­
tical power; but he soon fell into a systematic heresy. Wyc­
liffe’s doctrine may be viewed under two aspects : the philo­
sophical, and the theological. Philosophically, this reformer’s
doctrine is a rude compound of Manicheism, Pantheism and
Fatalism. In his system., God abandons the world to the pow­
ers of evil, or, in other words, the good principle obeys
the evil ; every creature partakes of the divine nature.
Blind necessity rules every event ; whence it follows that there
is, in God, neither providence, nor liberty, nor power. Theo­
logically, Wycliffe taught pure Presbyterianism ; the Pope was
no longer the head-of the Church Militant ; there was no longer
any use for cardinals, patriarchs, bishops and councils ; the
priests and deacons could discharge all the sacred functions.
Wycliffe was clearly the forerunner of Luther. Gregory XI.,
in a congregation of cardinals, condemned the innovator’s prop­
ositions and wrote to Richard II., who hud lately succeeded his
fo’her, Edward III., on the English throne, urging him to use
the strictest measures to check the growing error ut the outset.

GREGORY XT. (A. D. 1370-137®)·

52?

The new doctrines were condemned in a council held at Lam­
beth by tho Archbishop of Canterbury ; but Wycliffe con­
tinued to dogmatize more boldly than ever. Gregory did not
see the end of this dangerous heresy; he died at Anagni on
the 27th of March, a. d. 1378. Before breathing his last, he
framed a decree announcing that, to avert the danger of an inte-recnum, it would suffice for the next Pontiff to receive a
simple majority of votes to constitute a lawful election. The
existing regulation required two-thirds of all the votes for a
valid choice

62b

OBNBRAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER
Western Schism (September 20, a.
1417.)
Lawful Popes in Rome.

III.
d.

1378—November 11,

Antipopes at Avignon

Urban VL (April fl, A. d. 1378—Octo­ Robert of Geneva, styled Clement
ber 15, 1389).
VII. (September 20, a. d. 1378—
Boniface IX. (November 3, a. d. 1380
September 16, 1394).
—October 1,1404).
Innocent VII. (October 17, a. d.
1404—November 8, 1406).
Greuory XII. (December 30, a. d.
1400—abdicates at the Council of
Pisa, for the peace of the Chnrch,
Jone 5,140ft).
Alexander V. (Juno 26, a. d. 1409—
May 3, 1410).
John XXIII. (May 17, a. d. 1410—ab­ Peter di Luna, styled Benedict XI1L
(September 28, a. d. 1304—hi»
dicates, for the peace of the Church,
authority ended in the Council of
at the Council of Constance, May
29,1415).
Constance, July 26, 1417).
Martin V. (November 11, a.d. 1417) restores peace to the Church and ends the
Great Western Schism after a struggle of thirty-nine veara.

§ 1. Pontificate

of

Urban VL (April 9, a. d. 1378—October 15, 1389).

1. Historical reflections upon the Great Western Schism.—2. Theological
view of the schism.—3. The system adopted in classifying the lawful
Pontiffs and the antipopes.—4. Election of Urban VI. Troubles arising
out of the election.—5. Character of the new Pope.
Breach between
Urban and the cardinals. Letter of St. Catherine of Sienna to the cardi
nais.—6. Election of the antipope Clement VII.—7. The University of
Oxford supports the rightful Pope against the University of Paris.—8. St
Peter of Luxemburg, cardinal-bishop of Metz.—9. Affairs of Naples.
Charles of the Peace.—10. Charles of ‘Anjou. War of Charles o
Durazzo against Urban VL Death of Urban VL

529

URBAN VI. (A. D. 1ΒΊ&-Ι389).

g Π. Pontificate

of

Bonifaoe IX. (November 3,
1404,

a. d.

1389—October 1,

11. Election of Boniface IX.—12. Alliance between Ladislas, king of Naples,
and the Holy See.—13. Bajazet I., enltan of Turkey. Battle of Nicopo­
li». Battle of Ancyra. Death of Bajazet, a captive of Tamerlane.—
14. St. Vincent Ferrer.—15. St. John Nepomucene.—16. Death of the
antipope Clement VII. The cardinals at Avignon elect a successor in the
person of Benedict XIII.—17. Doctors of the University of Paris. Peter
d’Ailly. The Chancellor Gerson.—18. Benedict XIIL driven from Avig­
non. Death of Boniface IX.

§ III. Pontificate of Innocent VIL (October 17, a.
1406).

d.

1404—November 6,

19. Election of Innocent VII.—20. Troubles in Rome appeased by tho
intervention of Ladislas, king of Naples. Death of Innocent VIL—
21. St. Colette.
§ IV. Pontificate

of Gregory ΧΠ. (December 30, a. d. 1406—is deposed
in the Council of Pisa, June 5, 1409).

Letter of Gregory XII. to the antipope Benedict XIII.—23. Gregory re­
fuses to appear at the Conference of Savona.—24. Council of Pisa.—25.
Legitimacy of the Council of Pisa. Gerson’s De Auferibilitate Papa.—
26. Deposition of Gregory XII. and Benedict XIIL by the Council of Pisa.
§ V. Pontificate of Alexander V. (Jnne 28, a. d. 1409—May 3, 1410).

22.

27.

Election of Alexander V.—28. The Catholic world divided between three
obediences. Death of Alexander V.

g VL Pontificate of John XXIIL (May 17, a. d. 1410—abdicates in the
Council of Constance ; recalls his abdication, and is finally deposed on the
29th of May, 1415).
20. Election of John XXIIL—30. Ladislas in Rome.—31. Sigismund, em­
peror of Germany.—32. Council of Constance.—33. John XXIIL leave·
Constance. Is deposed and submits.—34. Abdication of Gregory XIL—
35. Deposition of Benedict XIIL—36. Condemnation and execution ol
John Huss and of Jerome of Prague.

§ I. Pontificate

of

Urban VI. (April 9, a. d. 1378—October
15, 1389).

1. With the Pontificate of Urban VI. the Church enters
npon the lamentable period of her history, when tho Panacv
Vol. ΠΓ.—34
r J

630

GENERAL HISTORY OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

seemed, in the eyes of the world, torn and almost destroyed.
The removal of the Holy See to France bore its bitter fruit
only after the return of the Popes to Rome. The great
majority of the cardinals were Frenchmen;
*
and it was not
without a pang that they quitted their palaces on the banks of
the Rhone and the Durance. The popular clamors which sur­
rounded the conclave during the election resulting in the pro­
motion of Urban VI. only added to their earnest longing for
their native land. Whatever designing historians may say to
the contrary, this was the only cause of the twenty-second
schism, which, from its length and deplorable consequences,
has been called the Great Western Schism. Consummated by
the uncanonical election of Robert of Geneva (Clement VII.),
it was carried on under the influence of French policy, which
was interested in the return of the Popes to Avignon and in
supporting the claims of a rival of Urban VI., whose au­
thority was acknowledged by England. The decisions of tho
University of Paris, on this great question, have been repeat­
edly brought forward as strong arguments by the opponents of
the rightful Popes. History, as impartial as truth itself, must
say that these decisions could not help, in spite of their
authors, being dictated by foreign influences and national
antipathy. The support given to the antipopes by the pious
and prudent monarch, Charles V., sprang from the same
sources; and on his death-bed that great king thought it
proper, for the peace of his own conscience, to declare that he
submitted to the decision of the Church in the question of the
schism. He was evidently not positive about the authority of
the Pope at Avignon.
2. In a theological point of view, the Great Western
Schism, however lamentable in other respects, offered no ma­
terial hinderance to the growth of the virtues and holiness
which constitute the interior life of the Church. Great saints
were not wanting to give the brightest examples of perfection,
• The conclave which elected Urban VI. was composed of sixteen cardinals, of whom
•teren were Frenchmen, four Italians, and one Spaniard.

URBAN VI. (A. D. 137B-138»>

531

un 1er both obediences. If it be asked where we shall seek
for the centre of unity, the ever-visible authority, while divided
Christendom presents the appearance of two hostile camps,
we answer that, by a special Providence, it dwells in the
Papacy itself. Though the understanding of men was con­
fused by the seemingly double embodiment of the spiritual
power, still one universal and well-defined belief pierced
through every cloud of doubt: that the Papacy must be one,
like the God-Man it represents. The faithful, thus divided
in their views of a fact, were not at variance on the principle ;
the schism was a question of persons, not of principles. It
was not essential to know whether the See of St. Peter should
be in Rome, or at Avignon ; but whether it was really filled
by Urban VI., or by Clement VII. Some theologians of great
authority even assert that this fatal.division should not be
called a schism, because the number of obediences did not
impair the principle of unity, since all the churches equally
held, as an article of faith, that there is but one only Roman
Church and one only Sovereign Pontiff, the successor of St.
Peter, who was, indeed, for each one of them, the Pontiff
they respectively acknowledged ; and not several Roman
Churches and several Sovereign Pontiffs. The variety of
claims to authority, then, divided Christian society only upon
a matter of form, not upon a fundamental point of law and
doctrine. When time shall have cooled the heat of passion,
and the nations, weary of ceaseless strife, feel the necessity
of unity of opinion, we shall find them at the feet of the
Papacy, still sovereign and unchanged, in spite of all the
disorders of revolution, laying aside all feelings of hate and
throwing themselves into the arms of Christian charity. The
Church never seemed in greater danger, and yet never was
she more truly great ; overcoming, by the strength of her
foundation, the disorders raised by the rending of her author­
ity; protesting against abuses; instituting reform; every­
where putting scandal to flight by a display of the highest
virtue; shielding truth against the attacks of heresy; burling

532

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

her thunders at Wycliffe, John Huss, Jerome of Prague, anrf
their followers ; and still ever guiding the world in the path
of justice and truth. Never did the Church appear more
admirable than during the fearful tempest called the Great
Schism ; never did she more splendidly show that none but a
Divine Hand was at the helm. Had the Church been a human
institution, it must inevitably have fallen at a juncture when
all the resources of genius, the powers of intellect, the united
endeavors of learned doctors, the combined authority of princes,
and even the efforts of the very saints, were powerless.
3. The historians to whose lot it has fallen to record this
stormy period are divided as to the system on which to base
the legitimate succession of Sovereign Pontiffs, amid so many
and such vehement disputes. Some refuse to give the title
of antipopes to the Pontiffs who sat at *
Avignon.
We feel
that we can hardly err in following, in this particular as in all
others, the usage of the Roman Church, which has registered
on the roll of Sovereign Pontiffs the names of those who sat
at Rome during the period of the Great Schism, placing among
the aotipopes the two Pontiffs of Avignon. We have yet to
learn to be catholic by halves. Besides, one simple preliminary
consideration will suffice, even independently of the principle
of authority, to justify the opinion which we adopt. Was
there, at the time of Clement’s election by the dissident
cardinals, at Fondi, a Pope already elected ? With the his­
tory of the period open before us, there can be but one
answer. For three months Urban VI. had been acknowl­
edged as lawful Pope by all the churches of the Catholic
world. The cardinals who afterward took part in the new
election, had, during all this time, given the most unquestion­
able proofs of their submission to the reigning Pope, at whose
• Of ibis number is the Abb6 Christophe, whose work has been our guide since tho
Tontifioite of Clement V. Hero wo are compelled to differ from him in opinion, for reasons
which shall bo given as tho narrative of events naturally suggests them. This diversity
of opinion docs not detract from our high esteem for his talent and for the incontestable
tnsrit of his work, from which wo have largely borrowed.

Irl

URBAN VI. (A. D. 1378-138·).

533

bands they had received indulgences, favors and dignities.
They had unhesitatingly taken part in the ceremony of his
coronation, and given notice of his election to all the princes
of Christendom. They had uttered no protest. There was
undoubtedly, then, a Pope already in power, when they
elected Clement VII. ; and that Pope was Urban VI. It is
idle to assert that the election was not free. This objection
will be met when we treat of the facts in their proper place.
The acts of violence to which they refer lasted but one day.
For three months the cardinals had been perfectly free, and
yet they had not protested ; they had sworn to be faithful to
Urban VI. We repeat it, there was already a Pope at the
time of the conclave of Fondi ; therefore, Clement VII., who
was there elected, was an antipope. This looks clear and
simple enough to us, standing, as we do, aloof from the pas­
sions and prejudices of the period. It was not so plain at
that time ; hence the fearful extent of the schism. It was in
dispensably necessary to lay down these fundamental princi­
ples, as a preliminary to the narrative of events which we are
about to present.
4. At the death of Gregory XI., the sixteen cardinals then
at Rome met in conclave in the Vatican. The great square
before St. Peter’s was filled by an armed multitude crying aloud :
■“ Give us a Roman Pontiff!” The anxiety of the people was
quite natural, in view of the well-known intention of many of
the cardinals to elect a French Pope, with the hope of an
ultimate restoration of the Holy See to Avignon. But the
popular wish was not easy of accomplishment. There were
but two Roman cardinals in the Sacred College ; of these, one
was too young, not having yet reached the canonical age ; the
other, on the contrary, was weighed down by age and infirmi­
ties, and died at the close of the conclave. During the whole
night, the armed crowd kept guard upon the Vatican with una­
bated clamor. Under the circumstances, the French cardinals
were compelled to abandon the design of electing one of their
own number It was proposed to dress a Franciscan monk in

634

GENERAL II ISTO

OF THE CHURCH.

the Pontifical robes and to present him to the people as the new
Pope, in the hope that this might serve to calm their agitation
But the Cardinal of Limoges, the chancellor of the King of
France, stood up and spoke as follows: “ We must of necessity
choose an Italian Pope; now, you, Cardinal of Florence (Pietro
Corsini), cannot aspire to the Papacy, because your republic is
hostile to the Roman Church. You, Cardinal of Milan (Simon
de Brossano), have no better claim, since you are a subject of
the Visconti, who have always fought against the rights of the
Church. Cardinal Orsini, you are too young to be Pope, whereas
you, Cardinal Thebaldeschi, are too far advanced in years.
Therefore, I look beyond the Sacred College and give my vote
to Bartholomew Prignano, archbishop of Bari.” These words
were like a ray of light to the conclave ; the votes, with only
twe exceptions, were for the archbishop. That prelate had
managed the Roman chancery, under Gregory XI., with the
greatest distinction, and had won, in the discharge of that duty,
universal and deserved esteem. In the private conferences
which preceded the conclave, the cardinals had already spoken
of him in connection with the Sovereign Pontificate, which cir­
cumstance explains the favor with which his name was received
as soon as it was uttered by the Cardinal of Limoges. But
Prignano was absent. The cardinals feared to acquaint the
multitude with the result of the election, since the Pontiff-elect
was not a Roman. The public excitement was at its height ;
the crowd still clamored for a Roman Pontiff, and Prignano was
a Neapolitan. Meanwhile the Archbishop of Bari had been
summoned to the conclave. When informed of his election, ho
alleged his want of capacity, and refused his consent. The
cardinals entreated him to receive the glorious burden. Yield­
ing, at length, to their prayers, he gave his consent, and took
the name of Urban VI., amid the solemn strains of the Te
Deum and the cries of the exultant multitude. All the cardi­
nals did homage to the new Pope, attended him in the ceremo­
nies of the possesso and of his coronation, which touk place in St.
Peter’s, on the festival of Easter, a. ». 1378. They sent notice

URBAN VI. (A. D. 1878-13«!»)

535

of the event to their colleagues at Avignon and .0 the Christian
princes of Europe. Urban VI., then, was acknowledged by all
Christendom. The cardinals constituted his court, pledged
themselves to him as they had done to his predecessor, sought
favors and indulgences at his hands ; and one of them. Cardinal
Glandève, was promoted to the see of Ostia. This state of
things lasted three months, without a single voice being raised
to protest.
5. The new Pope brought to the discharge of his Pontifical
duties an energy which was characterized as violence, a strict­
ness of principle represented as rigorism, a frankness of speech
ungenerously attributed to passion. From the very opening of
his administration, he freely proclaimed his intention of obliging
titularies to the duty of residence, and of reforming the luxury
of the Roman court. He even published a sumptuary law, to
which he was himself the first to conform, and by which he
regulated the establishments, and even the meals of the car­
dinals. This measure was, it must be allowed, worthy of a
Pope ; though it may be said that Urban did not sufficiently
take into account the power of long-indulged habits, and the
kind of prescriptive force attached to uninterrupted usage.
They who know human nature and its proud weakness, know
that the reformation of such abuses must be very gradual, and
that the surest way of confirming it in evil is to try to force it
into good ! * These measures alienated the minds of the car­
dinals, which were yet more embittered by Urban’s positive
refusal to their formal request, that the Holy See should be
removed to Avignon ; this refusal was certainly fully justified
by late events. Yet this was the pretext of which the cardinals
availed themselves to break openly with Urban VI. They met
at Anagni with the avowed intention of holding a new election,
alleging that the former one “ had not been free." The three
Italian cardinals remained with the Pope. With a view to
seduce them from their duty, those at Anagni wrote to them
aintoirc de la Papauté pruiant le XIV tilth, L 3, p. 1«

636

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

individually, holding out to each one, successively, the certainty
of his election. They fell into the snare and joined the sece·
ders. While ambition and intrigue thus scattered the men who
should have stood by him to the last, St. Catherine of Sienna
hastened to Rome and gave to the Sovereign Pontiff the help
of her virtues and her burning eloquence. “ Can it be true,"
she wrote to the cardinals at Anagni, “ that you, who should
be the bucklers of the faith, the defenders of the Church, the
pastors of the flock, have become hirelings, and ungrateful
children ! For you know the truth, you know, and have re­
peatedly proclaimed, that Urban VI. is the rightful Pope ; that
his election was rather the work of a heavenly inspiration than
of your worldly wisdom. To what, then, can your change be
ascribed, if not to the venom of self-love which poisons the world ?
Thus it is, that instead of standing firm, as the pillars of the
sacred edifice, you are borne like chaff before the winds. In­
stead of shedding abroad a sweet odor of holiness, as flowers
of the Church, you infect it with your pestilential error ; instead
of shining as lights set upon a mountain, you have become fol­
lowers of the angel of darkness.” The admirable letter, which
we should have wished to quote entire, was of no avail. Urban
made a last effort ; he offered to lay the validity of his claim
before a general council. Their refusal of this proposal will
ever remain an indelible stain upon their memory. Urban then
created twenty-six new cardinals to fill the places left vacant
by the secedere. It is a remarkable fact that, in the course of
thia contest, which nothing could make excusable on the part
of the cardinals, not even the violence and harshness with which
they charged Urban; that Pontiff, whom they styled passionate,
a man of unbridled temper, never once resorted to the spiritual
weapons at his command, while the cardinals flooded the world
with copies of a manifesto, in which they abused the Pope as
an apostate and an intruder.
6. This factious measure resulted as miglt have been
expected. The false cardinals quitted Anagni, where they felt
too unsafe, for Foudi, a city of the Neapolitan States, whither

URBAN VI. (A. D. 1378-138»).

537

they had been invited by Joanna, queen of Naples, who had
espoused their cause. Here they met in conclave on the 20th of
September, a. d. 1378, and the first ballot, to the utter astonish­
ment of the three Italian cardinals, each of whom looked upon
his own election as certain, resulted in the promotion of Robert
of Geneva, under the name of Clement VII. The schism was
consummated. Robert of Geneva belonged to an old and illus­
trious house allied by marriage to most of the royal families of
Europe. It cannot be denied that he possessed great personal
courage and a certain greatness of mind which gave him some­
thing of the bearing of a prince ; but he was a prelate of over­
weening ambition, worldly in his manners, passionately fond of
display, and of light and frivolous tastes ; in a word, just such
a man as might be expected to accept the part of an antipope.
St. Catherine of Sienna protested with all her power against
the schismatical election. The greater part of Christendom
continued to acknowledge Urban VI. as legitimate Pope. Ger­
many, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, England, Brittany,
Flanders, Spain—notwithstanding some momentary incon­
stancy on the part of the Kings of Castile and Aragon—all
Northern Italy and, in fine, the Emperor of Constantinople,
remained true to his authority. The schism would have been
crushed at the outset, had not France upheld the cause of
Clement VII., who went to reside at Avignon, where he was
received with enthusiasm. The influence of France prevailed
with those nations accustomed to yield to its sway, as the
Queen of Naples and the Kings of Cyprus and Scotland. To
these nations only did the authority of the antipope extend,
notwithstanding all the proclamations and decrees of the Uni­
versity of Paris to the contrary.
7. The point at issue might be summed up in the question :
Was the election of Urban VI. canonical or not ? In reply to
the repeated protests of the French canonists, the Oxford theo­
logians brought it to a triumphant conclusion. Their leading
arguments were the following: “ 1. It is alleged that the elec
lion was not free ; but the Roman people did not limit tho

538

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CIIÜRCH.

choice of the conclave to any particular individual. They only
demanded, and not without reason, that the Pope should be a
Roman ; and the cardinals did not even yield to this demand,
but chose a Neapolitan of whom the people had never thought.
They cannot, therefore, complain that they were forced to pro­
mote a man not of their own choice. 2. When the Archbishop
of Bari was informed of his election, he resolutely refused the
honor offered to him. The cardinals entreated him to yield to
their prayers. If the election had not before been free, it cer­
tainly became so then. Instead of recalling, the cardinals con­
firmed it by their entreaties. They cannot complain that
Urban VI. was raised to the Papal chair against their will. 3.
The cardinals crowned the new Pope. Even those who had
left Rome returned for the ceremony. How could they have
spontaneously returned to crown a Pope whom they had not
elected ? 4. If there was any violence, it was only during one
night. Whereas for three whole months the cardinals remained
quietly with Urban VI., received Holy Communion from his
hand, pledged him their fidelity, sought and received his
favors. The people did not stand in arms around the Pontifical
palace during these three months. The cardinals were then free ;
they freely communicated with Urban VI. as rightful Pope.
5. There is but one alternative ; either the cardinals knew and
believed that Bartholomew Prignano was Pope, or they knew
that he was not. If, in their belief, Prignano was Pope, why
did they elect Clement VII. ? If he was not Pope, why did
they acquaint all Christendom with his election as legitimate ?
If the notification was a lie, they tried to deceive all the Holy
Church of God ; from that time forth, their testimony must,
therefore, of justice and necessity, become worthless.” To us
these arguments seem conclusive ; nor do we know that they
have as yet been answered. Thus it is that in our view of the
case, as in the judgment of the Roman Church, Urban VI. was
the rightful Sovereign Pontiff and Clement VII. an antipope.
8. From Rome and Avignon, their respective residences,
the two Pontiffs launched their anathemas against each other.

URBAN VI. (A. D. 1378-13»).

539

but here ends the parity between the two Pontificates Clem­
ent VIT., the Pope of the French, delighted in the splendor of his
court, appropriated the ecclesiastical revenues of the kingdom
and lowered the dignity of his usurped tiara by subjecting it to
the royal influence. “ What a sad condition !” cries the French
writer Clémengis. “ Our Pontiff Clement had become so
utterly the slave of the courtiers that he bore the most shame­
ful treatment from them without daring to complain. It was
upon courtiers that he bestowed bishoprics and other dignities
of the Church. He bought the favor of princes by gifts, by
granting them tithes upon the clergy, by the preponderance
which he gave them over ecclesiastics, so that many secular
lords were more truly popes than Pope Clement himself.” We
must, however, state, as a modification of this extract from a
contemporary writer, that Clement VII. made some appoint­
ments which did not dishonor the Church. It was his choice
which placed the episcopal see of Metz in charge of St. Peter
of Luxemburg, who was born in 1369, in the town of Ligny.
He was a youth of fifteen when Clement called him to the
government of the church of Metz and to the cardinalate,
though he was never ordained priest. The virtues and sanctity
of Peter were far beyond his years. He died at the age of
eighteen and was canonized in 1527, from which time he became
the patron saint of Avignon, where he had spent the last
moments of his life. Still, however great may have been his
merit, his promotion to the dignities of bishop and cardinal may
justly be deemed premature, and, in taking this step, Clement
rather obeyed the desire of winning the support of an illustrious
and powerful family than the voice of the canonical regulations.
9. Urban VI. was pursuing a different course in Rome.
He has never been charged with any act of guilty weakness
toward princes. If any thing, he may be said to have enter­
tained too high a sense of the Pontifical dignity and inde­
pendence. The only reproach which history can bring against
him is an undue attachment to his nephew, the Chevalier Prignano, who proved lamentably unworthy of his favors, and the

()40

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

worthlessness of the favorite, heightened by his shameful
disorders, reflected with greater force upon the august charac­
ter of his uncle. Urbans first act of authority was directed
against the Queen of Naples, who had scandalized Italy by her
schism in espousing the cause of the antipope. This defection
was the more criminal, as the kingdom of Naples was a Pon­
tifical fief. Pope Urban deposed the queen, freed her subjects
from their allegiance, and requested Louis I. of Hungary to
send him Charles, duke of Durazzo, as he had determined to
bestow upon him the investiture of the kingdom of Naples.
The queen was childless. Her fourth husband, Otho, was
incapable of an armed defence of her rights. To avert the
threatened blow, she adopted Louis, duke of Anjou, brother to
the King of France, as her son. This skilful stroke of policy
brought a new element into the contest; but Joanna was not
to reap the fruit of her well-concerted manoeuvre. The death
of Charles V., king of France, delayed the departure of tho
French expedition, while, on the other hand, Charles of .Du­
razzo had already reached Rome. The prince, hitherto poor
end unknown, was in the prime of life when he stepped upon
the soil of Italy as a conqueror. His manners betrayed none
of the rude training of the camp ; his speech was fluent, win­
ning and persuasive ; but under this fair exterior lurked a
deep dissimulation, a pitiless heart, and that unprincipled
policy which gains its end without regard to the justice of the
means. He received from Urban VI. the investiture of the
kingdom of Naples, with means and men to put him in posses­
sion of his realm ; he swore fidelity to the Holy See, and
marched against the Neapolitan troops commanded by Otho of
Brunswick. The arm of divine vengeance was at length about
to strike the faithless queeu. The march of Charles through
Italy was a triumphal progress. The people revolted and
opened the gates of the city. Joanna surrendered and her
rival remained master of the kingdom. The queen, a prisoner
in the castle of the Egg, was awaiting her fate when, on the
22d of May, a. d. 1382, as she was praying in the royal chapel.

URBAN VI. (A. D. 1378-1389).

541

two Hungarian soldiers rudely broke into the apartment and
offered her a cup filled with a poisoned draught. “ Drink !"
oried the soldiers ; but the wretched queen refused the cup
Then laying their hands upon their swords, “ Choose,” said
they, “between poison and the sword.” Joanna chose the
kind of death which seemed to her less frightful ; and after
making her confession she drained the fatal draught. While
she was still struggling in the agonies of death, the impatient
executioners hastened her end by strangling. Thus perished,
after a reign of thirty-eight years, this princess, who has been
too generally accused to be held wholly guiltless, too deeply
calumniated not to deserve pity.
10. The triumph of Charles should have set at rest all Pope
Urban’s solicitude about the kingdom of Naples ; but his hopes
were disappointed. The conqueror forgot all the promises he
had signed when only a pretender. As soon as the succession
of Charles VI. to the throne of France, with all the confusion
usually attending the first moments of a regency, had been
finally settled, Clement reminded the royal council of the
Neapolitan expedition designed by the late king in favor of
Louis of Anjou. Louis came to Avignon, to receive from the
antipope the investiture of the kingdom of Naples. He then
set out for Italy at the head of a brilliant army. In this enter­
prise Louis was accompanied by Amedeus VI., count of Savoy ·,
the Chevalier de Montjoie, count of Geneva and brother of
Clement VII. ; Henry of Brittany, Raymond des Beaux, and
by a number of nobles who were willing to share the fortunes
of Louis, hoping, under his standard, to increase their power
and military renown.
They marched through the whole
length of Italy, following the shore of the Adriatic, and reached
the territory of Abruzzo, July 13, a. d. 1382. But Charles was
not sc easily conquered as the late queen. He concentrated
his forces in the strongholds, removed all means of subsistence
and left the splendid army of Louis to be wasted by hunger
and the parching climate of Italy. This system proved success­
ful, and his rival died of vexation (1384), while the remnant.

642

general

nrsnonr

of the church.

of bis expedition were scattered and destroyed. Tin's new
triumph rondo Charles more haughty and overbearing in his
conduct toward Urban VI. The Pontiff came in person to
Naples to demand the observance of the treaties. Charles, in
contempt of the most sacred laws, dared to seize the Pope and
to confine him as a prisoner. He also succeeded in drawing six
cardinals into a plot against the Pontiff’s life. But Pope
Urban succeeded in escaping and took refuge in the fortress of
Nocera, one of his own castles. The rebel cardinals were tried,
their guilt was proved, and capital punishment followed. In
this case justice was stronger than mercy ; the Pope was in­
flexible. Yet in this circumstance he acted as kings usually do
in like cases; though it has been attempted to fix this as a blot
upon his name. In his complicated position, beset by snares,
surrounded by traitors, clemency would perhaps have been
misplaced. However this may be, Charles still carried on hos­
tilities and besieged him in his retreat, in return for a sentence
of excommunication and deposition which the Pope had just
issued against him. The castle held out against the Neapolitan
army for seven months, when it was relieved by a Genoese
squadron which the Pope had called to his assistance. Tho
ingratitude of Charles did not long remain unpunished. At the
death of Louis the Great, king of Hungary, the nobles of the
kingdom offered the crown to the King of Naples. The hope
of wearing both great crowns at once was too tempting for the
grasping ambition of Charles. He accepted the offer, set out
for his new realm, and was enthusiastically received at Buda.
His proud and haughty bearing soon revolted all the Hungarian
magnates. Before a year had passed, Charles fell by the dagger
of an assassin ; and, to hasten the death which seemed too slow
to his enemies, a draught of poison finished the work begun by
the steel. He must then have remembered the tragic end of
Queen Joanna, which had been consummated, by his order,
in the same manner (1386). Louis of Anjou seized the
occasion to revive his father’s claims to the throne of Naples.
Clement VIT. received him at Avignon with royal pomp, and

BONIFACE IX. (A. D. 1383-1404).

543

renewed in his favor the investiture of the Neapolitan States.
The young prince marched into Italy at the head of a formid­
able army and succeeded in establishing his claim to the crown
of Naples, notwithstanding the efforts of Queen Margaret and
Ladislas, the widow and son of Charles. Urban was pre­
paring to oppose the usurper, when he died, at Tivoli, on the
15th of October, 1389. Few Pontiffs leave a more incrimi­
nated name. Much evil and very little good has been said and
written of Urban, and the storms which visited his Pontificate
afford an easy explanation of this animosity. Urban VI. was
gifted with an unusual love of justice, an angelical purity of
morals, the utmost simplicity of life, an unconquerable horror
for simony, and a thorough acquaintance with ecclesiastical
learning. It was his misfortune—a common one—to possess
the defects of his qualities. His severity toward himself was
also too often exercised in his dealings with others ; his austerity
terrified the prelates accustomed to a life of luxury, display
and ease. Their protest took the shape of the Great Schism of
the West.
§11. Pontificate of Boniface IX. (November 3, a. d. 1389—
October 1, 1404).

11. When the announcement of Urban’s death reached Avig­
non, an extraordinary council was held in the Pontifical palace.
A courier was instantly dispatched to the King of France, beg­
ging him to use his influence with the Roman cardinals, to pre­
vent an election. This would, doubtless, have been the surest
means of putting an end to the schism ; and all the Christian
princes expressed this conviction. But, before their ambassa­
dors could reach Rome, a successor had already been elected,
in the person of Pietro Thomacelli, who took the name of Boni­
face IX. The Roman cardinals were urged to this precipitate
measure by the fear of seeing the Holy See again transferred
to Avignon. Clement VII. immediately excommunicated his
rival, who replied by the same censures. Boniface IX., on as

544

GENERAL HISTORY’ OF THE CHURCH.

cending the Pontifical throne, found himself first engaged
with the seditious spirit of the Roman people, who thought
to find, in the schism, a favorable opportunity of recovering
their freedom, and of at length establishing the ideal repub
lie they had for so many centuries been building. But the
Pope was unexpectedly supported by a kingdom which, at
first sight, seemed to promise him more trouble than help. At
his death, Urban VI. had seen Louis of Anjou seated upon the
throne of Naples, and the party of the youthful Ladislas appa­
rently crushed without hope of recovery. Boniface IX. raised
up the fallen prince ; the Pontiff was a Neapolitan ; he knew
better than any one else the character, habits, and manners of
his fellow-countrymen, and how unpopular was the French rule
among them. He was connected with all the families devoted
to the fallen house, and made a masterly use of his influence
to combine all the resources of the most ingenious policy.
Louis of Anjou, a young, inexperienced prince, brought up in
a land where disputes were always settled by armed arbitra­
ment, and where the art of negotiation was far less popular
than that of war, was unable to stand against the skilful com­
binations of the Pope. Moreover, Ladislas was far superior to
him both as a warrior and a politician. The treasury of Boni­
face afforded him an exhaustless fund for the payment of his
troops, and he entered Naples in triumph, while Louis, for­
saken by all his subjects, withdrew to France.
12. Ladislas, in gratitude to the Sovereign Pontiif, helped him
to re-establish his authority in Rome. With this assistance,
Boniface definitively restored the temporal power of the Papacy
in all the States of the patrimony of St. Peter. He deprived
the citizens of the right of sovereignty which they claimed, and
showed that the government of the State belonged exclusively
to the Pontiff, who alone could appoint all public functionaries,
and he abolished all popular magistracies.
13. In following the train of domestic strife entailed upon Eu­
rope by the Great Schism, we have, for a moment, lost sight of
the other portions of the Catholic world, lately snatched from

BONIFACE IS. (A. I>. 1389-1404)

645

ft more threatening danger than that from which it had been
saved by Charles Martel on the field of Poitiers. The Turkish
sultan, Bajazet I., poured down his countless hordes upon tho
frontier of Hungary (a. d. 1396). Sigismund, who then reigned
in that kingdom, which formed the bulwark of Christendom,
called upon the European princes for help. The sultan was
less intent upon a war of conquest than of religion, as appears
from his boast that “ he would feed his horse with a bushel of
oats upon the altar of St. Peter’s.” This blasphemous boast
stirred up in the heart of France the warlike ardor of the Cru­
sades ; the remains of France’s chivalry, so nearly annihilated
at Crecy and Poitiers, flew to the banks of the Danube, under
the command of the Count of Nevers, John the Fearless,
afterward Duke of Burgundy. He resigned the chief command
of this brilliant expedition to the Marshal de Boucicaut, the
greatest captain of his day, after Duguesclin. This army joined
the forces of Sigismund before the walls of Nicopolis, a name
linked with the memory of a most fatal and bloody reverse. On
the 25th of September, 1396, the sultan cut to pieces the
Christian army, the only hope of Europe. The cowardly flight
of Sigismund decided the fortune of the day. Not a French­
man gave ground ; each man made a rampart of the Saracens
slain by his own hand. But even their unparalleled heroism
was forced to yield to the weight of numbers. Boucicaut, John
of Nevers, Enguerrand of Coucy, and the Count of Eu, were
made prisoners, with all their surviving followers. They were
etripped, and, with their hands tied behind their backs, were
brought before the fierce conqueror, who ordered the slaughter of
all the private soldiers, for whom he did not expect a great ransom.
The nobles spared by his cupidity were led away captives into
Bithynia. Defenceless Europe was appalled at the tidings of
disaster from Nicopolis. The Christian name was seemingly
doomed to be swept away from the soil of Europe by a new
Mussulman invasion, when Providence sent another ravager of
nations, the celebrated Mongol conqueror, Tamerlane, to at­
tack with his undisciplined hordes the troops of Bajazet. Tho
Vol. ILL—15

£46

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

two worlds seemed to have met on the plain of Ancyra, where
the struggle took place, in which Bajazet was conquered and
taken prisoner. The humiliations inflicted by Tamerlane upon
bis wretched captive almost pass the bounds of belief. lie
used his body as a step to mount his horse ; he obliged him
to crouch beneath his table when he eat, and limited his means
of subsistence to the crumbs which fell to the floor; finally he
kept him in an iron cage, in which the victor of Nicopolis killed
himself by dashing his head against its bars.
14. Far from these scenes of blood, Italy admired the mira­
cles, the zeal and the virtue of St. Vincent Ferrer. This glory
of Spain was born at Valencia in 1357, and the world was soon
full of his renown. Entering the order of Friars Preachers, he
made St. Dominic the standard of his perfection. Cardinal
Peter di Luna had been sent by the antipope to establish his
jurisdiction in Spain ; here tbe cardinal won the confidence of
St. Vincent Ferrer, who sincerely believed Clement to bo the
legitimate Pupe. On his return to France, Peter di Luna was
accompanied by the humble *religious.
Clement would have
attached the saint to his court, but God called him to the
apostolate. He spent fifteen years in the missions of Provence,
Piedmunt, Savoy, Lombardy, and Spain, everywhere sowing
the seed of the gospel, which God fostered by renewing for
him the miracle of Pentecost. Though Vincent preached in
Latin, he was understood, at once, by Greeks, Germans, Eng­
lishmen and Hungarians, who knew no language but their own.
The conversions wrought by his preaching recalled the won­
* It may seem strange that SL Vincent Ferrer should have acknowledged the authority
of the sntipope. We have already mentioned St Peter of Luxemburg, who did the same.
A contemporary writer, St Antoninus, archbishop of Florence, thus speaks on the subject :
“ During the whole period of the schism, each obedience was recognized by learned doctor*
and persons illustrious for holiness and even for tho gift of miracles. But -n the case 01
a double Pontifical election, we cannot see that it is essential to salvation, to hold that such
0» such a Pope, in particular, is the lawful Pontiff. Tho people aro not bound to know the
canon law, nor, therefore, to decide which candidate was canonically elected. It is enough
for them to have a general intention of obeying the rightful Pope, whoever he may be · and
tn this they may rely upon the judgment of their bishops.

BONIFACE IX. (A. D. 1389-1404).

547

ders of the Apostolic age. It is computed that twenty-five
thousand Jews were converted by his ministry.
15. At the same period the capita] of Bohemia witnessed
the glorious death of a martyr to the secret of the confessional.
Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia, succeeded his father Charles IV.
on the German throne (a. d. 1376) ; a life of debauchery,
cruelty and turpitude won him the infamous surnames of the
Slothful and the Drunkard. The crowned monster had received
the hand of Jane, daughter of Albert of Bavaria, an accom­
plished princess, whose virtues were in strong contrast with the
vices of the unworthy emperor. The brutal conduct of her
husband only confirmed her in the way of perfection. She had
intrusted her spiritual direction to St. John Nepomucene, a
canon of Prague, whose reputation was spread far and wide.
Under his guidance the pious empress made daily progress in
the way of salvation. But a corrupt heart turns the highest
virtues into poison ; those of the empress served but to irritate
the savage mind of Wenceslaus, who had long neglected her
to give way to the most shameful disorders. Still his jealousy
increased with his neglect; the simplest actions of the princess
awakened his suspicions. Blinded by his passion, he sent for
St. John and commanded him to reveal the confessions of the
empress. The holy priest, filled with horror, endeavored to
show the emperor how sinful was his sacrilegious curiosity.
Wenceslaus, maddened by tbe refusal, ordered Nepomucene to
be stretched upon a rack, while executioners applied burning
torches to various parts of his body. The martyr bore the bar­
barous treatment with heroic courage ; in the keenest agonies
r>f the torture, no word escaped his lips save the sacred names
jf Jesus and Mary. He was taken half dead from the rack,
and thrown into a dungeon. On learning the condition of her
director, the empress threw herself at the feet of Wenceslaus
and by prayers and tears obtained the release of the servant of
God. His freedom was short-lived, for the emperor soon sen
for him again and abruptly said : “ Choose between death and
te instant revelation of the confessions of the empress." The

548

GENERAL HISTORY OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

Faint made no answer; but his silence was more eloquent than
words. The emperor, losing all reason in the excess of hie
rage, ordered his guards to throw the heroic confessor into the
river as soon as the darkness should be deep enough to hide
the execution from the people. St. John used the few hours
of life now left him to prepare for his sacrifice, and du­
ring the night he was thrown, bound hand and foot, into the
waters of the Muldaw, which wash the walls of Prague (May
16,1383). On the morrow, a halo of heavenly light revealed
to the faithful the body of the martyr and the emperor’s crime.
The whole population of Prague hurried to the banks of the
stream to venerate the precious relics. General indignation
broke out against Wenceslaus. In 1394 the Bohemian nobles
peized his person and confined him in a castle, where he was
guarded like a wild beast. He succeeded in effecting his es­
cape and again ascended the throne, whence he was hurled
down by a second revolution (1397). As if fortune could not
weary of heaping favors upon him, he again overcame the
rebels and seized the reins of government. But his excesses,
now more unbearable than ever, finally let loose upon him all
the force of popular vengeance. The princes of the empire
asked the consent of Boniface IX. to depose the monster,
which was granted. A general diet held at Ladenstein de­
clared Wenceslaus deposed, and elected in his stead Robert of
Bavaria king of the Romans; the election was ratified by
Boniface IX.
16. Thus, while the Papacy, rent by a schism of which no
human mind could foresee the end, seemed fated to lose all its
power and influence, it was still powerful enough to hike away
and to bestow crowns at will. The remainder of this Pontifi­
cate was devoted to strengthening the foundations which sup­
ported the Roman government. Clement VII. died at Av ignon
on the I6th of September, a. d. 1394. The University of Paris
was uneasy at the obstinacy of the antipope, and the despair of
ever effecting the peace and union of the Church by such fruit­
less negotiations produced a reaction, in its own midst, unfavor­

BONIFACE IX. (A. D. 1389-1404).

549

able to the Pontiff of Avignon. Λ solemn assembly of the
French doctors and princes, convoked by Charles VI. in one
of the lucid intervals of his illness, unanimously approved the
proposition of forcing both Pontiffs to an absolute renunciation
of their claims, in order that a new election might be held.
Ambassadors were sent to bear the decree to Clement VII.,
who died of vexation at the tidings. “ In an age of peace,”
says a learned historian,
*
“ Clement’s personal qualities
would have made him a Pope worthy of praise ; the schism
made him a Pontiff less than tolerable; and we cannot over­
come a feeling of sadness when we see the depth to which this
fatal division lowered men and principles.” The cardinals at
Avignon then broke up into different factions; some thought
that no successor should be given to Clement VII., others would
have Boniface himself elected. Had the latter opinion pre­
vailed, the schism would necessarily have received its death­
blow. Unfortunately, the majority adopted the more mis­
chievous opinion : it was resolved to proceed to a new election,
under the illusory pretext that a vacancy would offer less
facility for the extinction of the schism. However, before
entering the conclave, each cardinal was required to swear
upon the Holy Gospels that, in the event of his election, he
would spare no means to restore the unity of the Church, not
even excepting the abdication of the Sovereign Pontificate.
Such promises are more easily made than kept, and ambition
will never want means to escape their fulfilment at the ap­
pointed hour. The votes of the conclave fell upon Peter di
Luna, who took the name of Benedict XIII. (September 28,
13 14). The new Pope was of a mild, affable and winning dispo tition, of an exemplary and irreproachable life, and was one
of the most earnest in favor of the oath required before the
conclave. He renewed it immediately upon his enthrone­
ment; but, either he was insincere, or the all-conquering love
of power soon changed his disposition. He began by excomM rnbM. CHBisToriiK, Ι/ûtoin it la Papatfi L IIL, p. 139.

050

GENERAL HISTORF OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

municating Boniface IX., and returned a somewhat sharp
answer to the complaint of the King of France, that they
had been too hasty in an election which could only perpetuate
the schism.
17. The University of Paris, which had been, for half a
century, discussing this interminable question and striving to
solve it by a deluge of addresses and memorials of every kind
and quality, deemed it a personal offence that the cardinals of
Avignon should have acted in this serious matter without con­
sulting it. The doctors urged the king and the princes who
ruled in his name to withdraw from the jurisdiction of Bene­
dict, without, however, submitting to that of Boniface. The
most anomalous doctrines were put forth in the midst of this
anarchy. When the French doctors were asked where the
centre of unity would reside, one of them answered : “ Have
we not the archbishops of Sens, Lyons and Bourges ?” The
very darkest days of the Church offered no worse expression.
“ It is time,” cried other deciaimers, “ to rescue the kingdom
from the tyrannical exactions of the Popes.” The liberties of
the Gallican Church found warm defenders in the disorders
produced by the schism. Under a show of great zeal for
the unity of the Church, the university was only surrounding
the subject with a more tangled web of intricate and sophis­
tical discussion. Meetings were multiplied ; the ponderous
eloquence of the doctors and masters-of-arts poured forth, from
an exhaustless source, a thick, turbid stream of undigested
learning, swathed in pedantic Latin which they called Cicero­
nian. Yet two great figures stand out from the throng su
e.'gerly striving to make the schism a stepping-stone for their
ambition. Pierre d’Ailly, called the “Eagle of France,” and the
“Hammer of the Heretics,” was then chancellor of the University
of France. He was born in 1350, of a poor family of Compïègne,
but had started early on the path of renown, by a devoted ap­
plication to study. His uncommon talent shone with the greatest
splendor, and he soon stood among the most celebrated doctors
of the period, whether in philosophy, theology, or canon lav

BONIFACE LX. (A. D. 1389-1404).

551

Tie had acknowledged the authority of Clement VII. and of
Benedict XIII., by whom he was respectively raised tn the
bishopric of Cambray, and to the cardinalate in 1411. Not­
withstanding the bonds which tied him to the schism, he
showed a true independence of character, working, in good
faith, for the restoration of unity, and distinguished himself in
the Councils of Pisa and Constance, where his authority and
eloquence were ever enlisted in the cause of truth and justice.
The high dignity which he left vacant in the university, by
his promotion to the see of Cambray, was ably filled by one of
the scholars who most largely share the celebrity of the period.
The name of Gerson recalls the scourge of heresy and schism,
the light of councils, and the scholar who has, more than
any other, added lustre to his genius by a true modesty of
character. Born of poor but honest parents, in the village
of Gerson,
*
in Champagne (a. d 1363), he was, at an early
age, sent to Paris to cultivate the happy dispositions with
which nature had favored him. His progress was rapid, his
success brilliant. He was a worthy pupil of Pierre d’Ailly.
If the admirable work known as the “Imitation of Christ”
came to us from his pen, he has proved that a soul inspired
by faith and charity needs none of those adventitious aids
of style, to which we attach too much importance, to com­
pose the most admirable of books, after the gospel. After
leading, for nearly thirty years, the first university in the
world, and winning an immortal name in the Council of Con­
stance, Gerson came to bury his learning and renown in
Lyons, in the collegiate church of St. Paul, where he de­
voted the last days of his noble career to teaching children
the first principles of the faith. During the schism, he la­
bored for the peace of the Church with that prudent mode­
ration which conciliates all minds, but also with the uncon­
querable perseverance which is sure to triumph over every
obstacle.
18. The University of Paris showed its displeasure at the
• Tho romaine of this village may now be aeon near th· city of Bethel

552

GENERAI. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

election of Benedict XIIL, by decreeing the nullity of his juris­
diction All French subjecte attached to the court of Avignon
received an order to quit it at once. Marshal Boucicaut, the
hero of Nicopolis, had just returned to his native land from the
chains of the Turkish sultan, which had been broken by a
heavy ransom. He received the command of an army intended
to keep Benedict a prisoner in his palace at Avignon ; but the
antipope effected his escape and found an asylum in Marseilles,
under the protection of Louis of Anjou, titulary king of Naples
and count of Provence. Meanwhile Boniface IX. died in
Rome, where he had firmly re established the Pontifical power
and won the eulogy long since pronounced on the great Fabius ·
“Cunctando restituit rem” (October 1, a. d. 1404).
§ III. Pontificate

of

Innocent VII. (October 17, a. d. 1404—
November 6, 1406).

19. At the death of Boniface IX., ambassadors from the
court of Avignon were already in Rome, charged by Benedict
XIII. to negotiate a reconciliation. They tried to prevent the
cardinals from holding an election ; but the Roman people, who
had been momentarily checked by the firm and vigorous hand
of the last Pope, now sought to profit by his untimely death to
regain (heir freedom. The mob ran through the streets with
loud cries of, “ Viva il Popolo !” Terrified by this seditious move­
ment, the cardinals thought it necessary to give themselves a
head. To guarantee both the general interests of Christendom
and the particular wants of Rome, the cardinals, before enter­
ing the conclave, signed a solemn declaration, substantially the
same as that which had preceded the conclave of Avignon.
Each cardinal bound himself personally, in case of his election,
to effect the union of the Church, even by the renunciation of
the Sovereign Pontificate. Under these circumstances, the con­
clave proclaimed Cardinal Meliorato, with the title of Innocent
VII. The new Pope had already won all hearts by his learn­
ing. his pure and simple manner of life, his horror of urice

INNOCENT VII. (A. D. 1404-1404).

553

and simony, nnd an exemplary piety. It was hoped that his
modesty and perfect freedom from all personal vanity would
succeed in healing the schism which had now been rending the
See of Peter for so many years. His reign was too short to
allow the realization of the hopes entertained of him. Perhaps
it may also be said that power has charms capable of seducing
the noblest hearts and against which virtue itself is not always
proof.
20. The first care of the new administration was to put
down the political reaction which followed the death of Boni­
face IX. Without troops, means, or allies, Innocent VII.
seemed destined to fail in his undertaking. A champion ap­
peared in behalf of the Papacy, but under circumstances of
equal intricacy. In bringing aid to the Sovereign Pontiff, he
seemed to act only from a motive of gratitude ; but his skilful
aud deceptive policy was based on less disinterested and more
ambitious views. He had chosen for his motto the significant
words : “ Aut Cœsar aut nullus.” By intervening in the
troubles of Rome, he thought to open the way for the re­
establishment of an Italian monarchy of which he should be the
head. With this intention, he marched an army before the
gates of Rome, for the ostensible purpose of protecting the life
and freedom of Innocent VII. Though terrible in private
broils, the Romans always felt their courage cool at the sight of
armed soldiery. The arrival of Ladislas was enough tc restore
perfect order. Tn return for this service, the Pope bestowed
upon the King of Naples the government of Campania and of
the city of Ascoli. Ladislas, to whom this concession seemed to
promise a successful issue to his hopes for the future, now re­
turned to his states. His departure was speedily followed by
a second revolt of the Roman people, and the Pope withdrew
from the tumult, to Viterbo, whence he was soon recalled by
the fickle and inconstant Romans; be died in his capital on tbe
6th of November, a. d. 1406. Benedict XIIL, still at variance
with France, was wandering along the shores of the Mediter­
ranean, shifting his court successively from Genoa to Savona,

554

OKNBRAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH

from Savona to Monaco, from Monaco to Nice, and finally te
Marseilles.
21. God seemed to multiply marvels of Christian virtue in
proportion as the schism surrounded the Church with greater
difficulties. St. Colette was now the glory of France and the
restorer of discipline in the order of St. Clare. Colette was
born at Corbie, in 1380, of poor and humble parents. Her
earliest years were marked by a love of retirement and prayer;
humility was her favorite virtue. The severest practices of
penance had nothing that could daunt her courage, and she took
the religious habit in a monastery of Poor Clares. Here God
made known to her that she was to work a reform in the order
of St. Francis. As soon as she was convinced of her vocation,
she went to confer on the subject with Benedict XIII., and to
obtain from him the necessary powers. “Born in France,” says
F. Berthier, “ and having passed her life in solitude, Colette
never doubted the authority of the Popes of Avignon.” In
this she followed the teaching of the bishops in her own coun­
try ; she was a representative of the simple-hearted confidence
which guided the faithful, who, without seeking to set up their
own judgment in important questions, followed, without hesita­
tion, the decision of their lawful superiors. Benedict at first
made some objections to the requests of Colette, but yielded,
in the end, to her prayer ; he made her superioress-general of
the Poor Clares and authorized her to make whatever regula­
tions she might think fit to promote the honor of God and the
salvation of souls. Eighteen monasteries of nuns and several
communities of monks, both in France and Germany, received
her reform. Death took away Colette in the midst of her good
works, and God was pleased to show the glory of His servant
by many miracles. As if the holiness of this period was to be
shared by both obediences, the Roman Church was illus­
trated by St. Bernardin of Sienna, who was at this time be
ginning to draw the attention of Italy by the splendor of hi a
evangelical life. He was born in 1380, at Massa, of the pow­
erful family of the Albizeschi, and was early distinguished by

I

GREGORY XII. (A. D. 1406-1409).

555

tender piety and a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
While pursuing his studies at Sienna, Bernardin won ‘.he ad­
miration of his masters by his quick and graceful imagination
tnd his progress in learning, while his virtues gave him a still
higher claim to their esteem. Holiness seemed to beam forth
in his countenance, his words and all his actions. He after­
ward undertook the mission of recalling the Franciscans of
the stricter observance to the first fervor of their institution.
The Church has enrolled his name in the catalogue of her
Saints and raised altars in his memory.
h

§ IV. Pontificate of Gregory XII. (December 30, a. d. 1406—
deposed by the Council of Pisa, June 5, 1409).

22. Once more the opportunity was offered of giving back to
the Church unity of government. Both parties were heartily
tired of the schism ; they had both promised themselves to bring
it to an end by abstaining from double elections at the death of
the two claimants. The King of France, on learning the death of
Innocent VII., wrote at once to the Roman cardinals, entreating
them to suspend their election until some final measures could
be agreed upon. Unfortunately, his letter was too late. The
Roman cardinals, left to their own unaided resources, amid the
factions by which the last Pontificate had been so fearfully
agitated, felt that Rome could not do without a Pope ; and this
conviction, rising above all considerations of a higher order, in­
duced them to form the conclave. Before engaging in any
electoral proceeding, they resolved to place the election in tho
impossibility of offering any obstacle whatever to the work of
peace, by subjecting the successful candidate to such an obliga­
tion of resigning the Papacy, that he might seem less a Pontiff
than an agent charged to lay down the Pontifical *
dignity.
With this object in view, they drew up a document more explicit
than that which , had been signed at the election of Innocent
• Ut eo magia procuratorem ad deponendum Pontificatum, quam Pontificem factum ex
«elimare poMot.·’—Spec Hut, SozoM. PtsTOa., p. 1190.

556

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

VII., by which they pledged themselves, collectively and indi
vidually, that if any one of their number were elected he should
give up the Pontifical dignity, readily, freely and entirely, in
the event of his rival's abdication or death ; after which the
two Colleges should meet to choose a legitimate Pastor by a ca­
nonical election. The future Pope bound himself, moreover,
within the space of three months after his enthronement, to
convoke a general council to end the schism, and to appoint no
new cardinals. He was, immediately upon his election, and
before its public announcement, fully to ratify and approve
each article of the convention, and finally to renew the ratifica­
tion and approval in the first public consistory held after his
coronation. The cardinals, with their hands upon the Holy
Gospels, swore to observe these conditions, and Cardinal Angelo
Corrario was proclaimed Sovereign Pontiff as Gregory XII.
The uprightness, generosity, lively faith and real virtues which
characterized the aged cardinal of seventy years, gave the
council every hope that he would prove more faithful to his
promise than any other. His first acts, indeed, warranted the
hope. On the day after his promotion, he thus wrote to Benedict
XIII. : ‘‘You see into what an abyss of shame and misfortunes
the Church has been plunged by a schism of thirty years. It is
for you to ask your conscience what course you should follow.
For Our part, We openly announce Our design and fixed resolve.
In proportion to our conviction that Our claim is just, do We
perceive tho merit of sacrificing it to the peace and union of
Christendom. It is no longer time to discuss the question of
rights, but to make them yield to the public welfare, and to the
exigencies of the times. We are prepared to resign Our lawful
claims to the Papacy, if you are ready to do the same.”
23. This letter caused the deepest emotion in France. Pub­
lic thanksgiving was solemnly offered up ; the long-desired
haven of peace and union seemed reached at lust. Benedict
would not be outdone in generosity by the Roman Pontiff.
In his reply, he declared his readiness to accept, at once,
the conditions offered, and to give up the Pontifical dignity

GREGOR? XII. (A. D. 14)9-1400)

557

entirely and unreservedly, for the good of souls. This pro
testation filled the measure of public joy. A conference be­
tween the two Pontiffs was appointed to be held at Savona ;
Benedict came to the appointed place, with great pomp ; the
prayers of France went with him. But the Catholic world
learned, with the deepest sorrow, that Gregory XII., not­
withstanding the urgent entreaties of the cardinals, had re­
fused to meet the engagement. Regardless of the oath by
which he had thrice bound himself, he appointed four new
cardinals, two of whom were his nephews. This conduct
of Gregory is a fresh proof that the stores of human ambi­
tion contain expedients for eluding the most solemn engage­
ments, which lie beyond the farthest range of mortal vision.
24. After so many fruitless attempts, it was evident that the
uociperation of the Pontiffs could not be relied upon to end
the schism. Yet this disastrous state of things could not
be allowed to last. Discipline, weakened by so many repeated
struggles, contempt for the ecclesiastical censures so often
abused, the neglect of the most sacred rules of the highest
duties, habits of simony, relaxation of morals, unchecked
license, disorder and anarchy—all baneful results of the schism
—threatened to throw back the Church into the most disas­
trous days of her history. The danger was imminent, the
situation without precedent or example, an extraordinary evil
called for an extraordinary remedy. The Spirit of God, which
never forsakes the Church, suggested the only possible means
of salvation. The glory of the initiative belongs to France.
Charles VI., or, rather, the council of regency which ruled iu
his name, decided that a perfect neutrality should thenceforth
be observed toward both Pontiffs. Most of the Christian
princes followed the example. Negotiations were opened with
the cardinals of both obediences, and they were at length with­
drawn from their respective Popes. The two colleges opened
communications, and a council, in which they should all take
part, was convoked at Pisa, for the 25th of March, a. d. 1409.
Gregory withdrew to Gaeta, under the protection of Ladislas,

558

OBSERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH,

king of Naples, while Benedict returned to his home at Saia
gossn, to weep over his ruined hopes and blasted ambition.
25. At the period fixed for the general council, Pisa received
the ambassadors of all the Christian princes, twenty-two car­
dinals, the titulary Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusa­
lem, and Aquileia, one hundred and eighty archbishops and
bishops, three hundred abbots, and an equal number of doctors
in theology. The canonicalness of this assemblage has been
called in question. It seems to us to admit of none. It is
quite true, according to the principles of canonical jurispru­
dence, that, under ordinary circumstances, no council can be
held without the sanction of the Roman Pontiff. But, in
the present case, neither Pontiff could have brought together
a general council, since neither was universally acknowl­
edged. In the doubt which then existed about the legiti­
macy of the Sovereign Pontiff, the cardinals were empowered,
and even bound, to act as if the Holy See had been
vacant. No general council can be convoked without the
Pope’s consent; but the very object of the council was to point
out the centre of this authority by a final decision, and to with
draw it from the cloud by which it was then surrounded. Both
competitors had, at their election, promised to cooperate in
the work of peace. Both had broken their word ; Gregory
openly, Benedict with a dissimulation more in keeping with the
subtlety of his character, and with an appearance of good faith
which no longer deceived any one. It then devolved upon tho
cardinals who had elected them, who had bound them by for
mal conditions, who had constituted them their representatives
to end the schism, “ as agents, to lay down the Pontifical dig­
nity at the fitting time,” to take into their own hands the work
of restoring lost unity. They understood their duty ; the
Council of Pisa was the work of their devotedness to the
Church, and will ever be their proudest title to glory. The
theologians who wrote in support of the council’s rights were
moved by an ardor and animation which sometimes carried
them beyond the bounds of the law Gerson, whose réputation

GREGORY ΧΠ. (A. D. 140«>-1409).

559

gave him an almost sovereign authority, wrote two treatises on
this subject, which caused a great sensation. In the first, the
illustrious chancellor refuted, with a great deal of sound judg­
ment and moderation, the various objections brought against
the council. But in the second, entitled De Auferibilitate Papœ,
he reasoned from a particular question to a general conclusion,
and asserted that, in any case, a Pope may be deposed by a
general council. All tradition protested against this doctrine,
which Gallicanism has since tried to revive. The deposition of
Gregory XII., Benedict XIII., and John XXIII., by the Coun­
cil of Constance, of which we shall treat hereafter, cannot be
quoted as precedents in favor of this opinion. These two conn
oils were not called to pass judgment upon a legitimate and
universally acknowledged Pope, but, on the contrary, to con­
stitute a Pope, and thus end the division of the Papacy. The
shortest, and, in fact, the only means of reaching this end was
simply to effect a renunciation of both obediences, in order to
concentrate all the suffrages and all interests on one person.
The plan was but partially successful in the Council of Pisa,
because passions were still too warm ; it triumphed, later, at
Constance, thanks to the co-operation of Christian rulers.
26. After summoning Gregory XII. and Benedict XIII. to
appear before the council, the Fathers of Pisa entered into a
careful examination of the important question. The various
expedients calculated to bring about a pacification were dis­
cussed at length. The debate resulted in the decision that
both claimants should be required to renounce the Sovereign
Pontificate, that all authority should be withdrawn from them,
and thus a Pope elected by the cardinals of both parties could
rule without opposition. Viewing, as we do, from a distance,
the events which then agitated all minds, the system of cession
adopted by the council seems to us most fitting to end the dis­
pute. The object would have been reached but for the pre­
tensions of the rivals and the obstinate attachment of some
rulers to their obedience. Neither Gregory nor Benedict
appeared before the council. On the 5th of June, a. d. 1409

560

ORNERAI. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

the doors of the Basilica, in which the (“Hindi sat, were thrown
open to the multitude which poured in to hear the final sen­
tence. Amid the deepest silence, the Patriarch of Alexandri;»
nosed his voice and announced that “Peter di Luna and
Angelo Corrario, known in their respective obediences as Bene­
dict XIII. and Gregory XII., were deposed from the Pontificate,
(hat the faithful were released from all obedience to them,
and that the Holy See was vacant.” This sentence, as un­
exampled as the circumstances which called it forth, was
received with acclamations of joy, and followed by a solemn
Te Deum.
§ V. Pontificate

of

Alexander V. (June 26, a. d. 1409—May
3,1410).

27. Notwithstanding the obstinacy displayed by the two
deposed Pontiffs, in refusing to accept the sentence pronounced
against them, the Holy See was vacant; the Council of Pisa
now turned its attention to the choice of a successor whose
’daim should be unassailable. In the preliminary meetings,
the manner of the new election was a matter of dispute Home
were of opinion that the election should be made by tho whole
council; others held that the cardinals—though they held
their dignity from a somewhat doubtful source—should alont
be intrusted with the choice, in order not to swerve from estab­
lished usage. The latter opinion prevailed ; and the cardinals,
after pledging themselves by oath to disregard, in the holy
work, all secondary personal interests, entered into conclave.
Never was Heaven implored with more fervent vows for tho
happy issue of a Pontifical election. The council, the ambas
sadors, the faithful—all were in prayer. No doubt was felt
that the schism was at its last gasp. On the 26th of Juno,
a. d. 1409, all the votes centred on Cardinal Peter Philargi, of
Candia, who took the name of Alexander V. Never was elec­
tion more free from political intrigues and court influence. The
new Pope could boast neither long lineage nor powerful reh

ALEXANDER V. (A. D. 1409-1410).

561

tions. lie had been charitably harbored, while still an infant,
in the island of Candia, and knew neither father, nor mother,
nor kindred. His merit and intelligence supplied the want of
all human recommendations. Having received the habit of the
Friars Minors, he studied successively in Bologna, Oxford, and
Paris, and published a Commentary on the “ Liber Sententia­
rum ” of Peter Lombard, equally remarkable for depth of thought
and elegance of style, and which won for its author the welldeserved admiration of the theological world. After having,
for some time, held the archiépiscopal see of Milan, he waa
raised to the cardinalate by Innocent VII., and at length
ascended the Papal throne at the age of seventy years. The
election of Alexander V. gave rise to an incredible enthusiasm
in the city of Pisa. The goodness of the Pontiff was as bound­
less as his charity ; he had known misfortune, and his highest
ambition was to make others happy. His bounty soon drained
the Pontifical treasury, and he loved to repeat with a true
spiritual gayety : “ I was once a wealthy bishop, I have since
been a poor cardinal, and now I am a needy Pope.”
28. This accession, though hailed with such joyous accla­
mations, only complicated, instead of extinguishing the schism.
Instead of two, there were now three rival claimants for the
Pontifical authority. Gregory XII., in his retreat at Gaëta,
was still acknowledged by the Neapolitan States, Hungary,
Bavaria, Poland, and the kingdoms of the North. Castile,
Aragon, Navarre, and Scotland, with the islands of Sardinia
and Corsica, remained true to Benedict XIII. The jurisdic­
tion of Alexander V. was recognized only in France, England,
Portugal, and Northern Italy ; though Rome soon followed
their example, and Avignon, so long the dwelling of the anti­
popes, submitted of its own accord to the authority of the
legitimate Pontiff. The envoys of the Roman people met the
Pope at Bologna, whither he had proceeded after the Coum-il
of Pisa, and laid at his feet the keys of the Tternal City, en­
treating him to honor it by his presence. The Pope received
them kindly and promised to accede to their request. With a
Vol. HL—36

I

562

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

new tc the reëstablishment of unity in tho Church, he con
vokcd a general council for the year 1-112. His phm of ad.
ministration also included the reform of abuses, the repression
of simony, the union of the Greek and Latin Churches, now
becoming daily more desirable on account of the progress of
the Turks; and finally the extinction of the Wycliffe heresy,
which had left England to ravage Germany. Death, however,
thwarted his plans, he expired at Bologna on the 3d of May,
a. d. 1410; his last words were addressed to the cardinals
who stood about his death-bed : “ Peace I leave you, my peace
I give you.”

§ VI. Pontificate of John XXIII. (May 17, a. d. 1410—abdi­
cates at the Council of Constance, recalls his abdication, and
is finally deposed on the 29 th of May, 1415).
29. The peace which Alexander V., on his death-bed, would
have left to the world, was to be conquered. Seventeen of the
twenty-three cardinals constituting the Sacred College met at
Bologna. They went into conclave on the 15th of May, and
three days afterward Balthazar Cossa, cardinal of St. Eusta­
thius, was elected, and took the name of John XXIII. The
new Pope was not yet a priest at the time of his promotion,
which circumstance will explain the charges brought by con­
temporary writers against his worldly life. Balthazar Cossa,
was a Neapolitan ; the noble rank of his father, John of Troja,
lord of Prucida, had early accustomed him to a luxurious man­
ner of life. Being destined for the Church, be studied canon
law at the University of Bologna. Boniface IX., perceiving in
him the rare tact, correct judgment, bold conceptions and prompt
action, which make a useful man, raised him to the cardinalato
and employed him in the most important affairs. The cardinal
faithfully served the interests of the Holy See in a legation to
Bologna. Still, it must he confessed that Cossa did not always
use his influence with disinterested zeal, but too often allowed
bis actions to follow the promptings of personal ambition. His

JOHN XXIII. (A. D. M10-U1S).

5β3

life, mot «o ter, was too much like that, of the secular princes
of the age, and the world admired in him rather the great mili­
tary and political leader, than the edifying prelate. Whatever
may have been the failings of John XXIII., he certainly made
a bitter atonement for them. The blow which ended his Pon­
tificate, forever crushed his earthly hopes ; and never did he
appear greater that when, beaten down by the storm of adver­
sity, he equalled his misfortunes by an admirable submission.
30. The reign of John XXIII. was inaugurated by a series
of triumphs closely followed by corresponding reverses. An
attempt of Ladislas, king of Naples, to surprise Rome, was
defeated by the valor and devotedness of the Pontifical troops.
Λ deputation of Roman citizens was sent to entreat the Pope to
fix his See in the Eternal City. He yielded to their request,
and his entrance into the city of the Apostles was celebrated
with unwonted pomp. John had summoned Louis of Anjon to
meet Ladislas. He named the French prince gonfalonier of the
Roman Church, and intrusted its standard to his keeping. Louie
led a splendidly equipped army into the kingdom of Naples, and
conquered his opponent in the celebrated battle of Roccasecca
(May 19, a. d. 1411). Had the victor made good use of his
advantage, Ladislas would have been undone. But the French
are better soldiers than organizers. Ladislas availed himself of
the moments lost by his rival. He succeeded in rallying his
scattered forces, placed his strongholds in a state of defence,
and took possession of the various passes by which the enemy
could reach the heart of the kingdom. Louis soon found himself
in want of money and provisions and unable to hold the field he
had won ; his whole endeavor was then to lead back his army
to Rome, whence he himself soon started for Provence. With­
in a year (1413), Ladislas was again before Rome, with a large
army. The Pontifical troops deserted their posts at the ap­
proach of the Neapolitans. The city was sacked, while the Pope
fled, almost alone, to Viterbo, and Ladislas completed the sub­
jection of the Roman territory.
31. The imperial throne bad been left vacant by the death

564

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

of Robert of Bavaria (a. d. 1410). The empire became a spoil
offered to the ambition of the German princes. Among the real
candidates, two were foremost, with very nearly equal influence :
Sigismund, king of Hungary, and Josse, marquis of Moravia
and elector of Brandenburg. When these two powerful cham­
pions entered the lists, all others disappeared, and the imperial
prize was left to be disputed by them alone. With a view to
add weight to his claims, Sigismund hastened to solicit the
support of Gregory XII., whose cause he favored, promising to
use his best endeavors to end the schism in his favor. But
John XXIII. was too skilful a diplomatist not to appreciate the
great advantage of an alliance with the King of Hungary. lie
spared no pains to secure his allegiance and offered him his
patronage, which was accepted. John then wrote to the electors,
urging them to bestow the crown upon the King of Hungary,
whom he represented as the prince most worthy to uphold the
dignity of the empire. His appeal had the desired effect, and
Sigismund was proclaimed, by the Diet of Frankfort, Emperor
of Germany (a. d. 1410). The Pope thought that he had
secured a faithful ally in Sigismund, and he accordingly wrote
from his retreat at Viterbo, soliciting help against Ladislas.
But the new emperor aimed at something higher. He deemed
it a nobler task to labor for the extinction of the schism than
to take part in personal quarrels, and, without returning any
direct answer to the Pope’s appeal, he sent him ambassadors to
request the convocation of a council for the following year.
John had hoped to bring the schism to an amicable end, and
he was somewhat startled by the emperor’s proposal. Yet he
felt bound to yield his consent, and accordingly sent legates
to confer with Sigismund about the most suitable place for
the meeting of the council. Sigismund named Constance, a
city within his own realm, and the opening of the council was
appointed for the 1st of November, 1414. The last favorable
event of John’s Pontificate occurred shortly before this mem­
orable date. Ladislas died suddenly at Naples (1414), leav­
ing the throne to his sister, Joanna II. His death saved Italy

JOHN ΧΧΠΙ. (A. D. 1410-1416).

5 (ft

from the general conquest which he meditated, and which it
could hardly have resisted, against his formidable army and
persevering ambition.
32. The whole Catholic world was looking toward Constance,
whither it had sent its most illustrious representatives. Eigh­
teen thousand ecclesiastics of all ranks thronged the city and
its neighborhood. All Europe was in motion; the Emperor
Sigismund appeared in person at the deliberations of the great
assembly. The nuncios of Gregory XII. and of Benedict XIII.
came with full powers from their masters. John was at first
doubtful as to the course he should adopt; but the cardinals
at length induced him to preside in person over the meetings of
the council. The first session was opened on the 5th of No­
vember, with all the dazzling splendor which John XXIII.
loved to exhibit in great solemnities ; but the gorgeous pageant­
ry, in which he affected to display the glories of the Papacy, was
but an ephemeral triumph. To preserve order in an assembly
of this size, it became necessary to divide it into nations; each
entitled to one vote only. The divisions were four in number:
Italy, France, Germany and England ; Spain was afterward
added to the list, when the council had decided the case of
Peter di Luna. These national divisions separately discussed
the various questions proposed for general deliberation. Their
respective suffrages were decided by a majority of voices. The
result of these conferences was then communicated in the gen­
eral congregations and read in the sessions of the council.
This system of organization destroyed whatever hopes John
might have rested upon the preponderance of Italian prelates.
The first question laid before the council was, to determine the
best means of effecting a union. Two means were offered : the
unconditional recognition of John XXIII. and the deposition
of the two other Pontiffs ; or the simultaneous abdication of
the three claimants and the definitive election of a universally
acknowledged Pope. John himself naturally advocated the
first proposition, which might perhaps have been adopted, but
for the publication of a memorial containing the most serious

666

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

charges against the Pontiff’s person and his private life. This
accusing voice utterly deprived the Pope of the consideration
and energy necessary to rule the general mind. A decree was
read in the fifth session, which blasted all his hopes. The
proposition of an absolute renunciation had been unanimously
adopted, and the Pope was requested to sign a formula of abdi­
cation in the following terms : “ For the peace of the whole
Christian world, I declare, I promise, I pledge myself, and I
swear before God, the Church and this holy council, freely and
jf my own accord, to give peace to the Church by a simple ab­
dication of the Pontificate, as soon as the council may deem it
proper and when the measure may secure the restoration of
unity." The Pope read the formula in silence, and then said ;
“It has always been my intention to win peace for the Church ;
for this am I in Constance. I accept the formula.” At these
words, the emperor, the cardinals and all the members of the
council broke out into expressions of thanksgiving; the bells
were rung in token of gladness ; the Te Deum was solemnly
chanted, while every eye was dimmed with tears of joy. On
the next day the Pope officiated Pontifieally. At the close of
the ceremony, seating himself upon his throne before the altar,
he read aloud the formula which he had accepted on the pre­
ceding day. Before uttering the words : “ I promise, I pledge
myself, I swear,” he left his seat, knelt at the foot of the altar,
ind laying his right hand upon his heart, said, in a voice of deep
emotion: “Thus do I promise.” The whole multitude broke
forth into a resistless storm of applause. The emperor rose,
thanked the Pope on his own and the council’s behalf, and,
laying aside his crown, knelt to kiss his feet. The joy of
the clergy and people was unbounded.
33. Had John persevered in this course of action, ho might
indeed have lost the Papacy, but he would have won a stainless
and undying *glory. But in an unhappy hour he yielded to
• While «peaking of the difficulty experienced by thceo Pontifia in renouncing tho Pa­
pacy, we cannot forbear quoting the following words of M. Artaud do Monter, remarkable
(or th sir tons of prudence and moderation·. 11 We do not believe," eaye the learned writer.

JOHN xxm. (A. D. 1410-1415).

56T

other inspirations, and, on the night of the 21 st of March, fled
eecretlj from Constance to Schaffhausen, whence, a few days
afterward, he sent forth a long memorial, striving to justify his
conduct by bitter complaints against the oppression he had suf­
fered at Constance, with the most violent invectives against
the emperor and the council. The assembly was more indig­
nant than surprised at these threats. The most extreme opin­
ions on the authority of the Sovereign Pontiffs were freely
uttered and discussed. Gerson, the chancellor of the University
of Paris, endeavored to prove the superiority of the council
over the Pope. These radical principles were rejected by the
more prudent and moderate members. On March 30, a. d. 1415,
the council promulgated a decree containing the three following
clauses: “1. Every individual, of whatever rank, even though
he be Pope, is bound to obey the Council of Constance in what
concerns faith, the extinction of the present schism, and the
reform of the Church in its head and in its members. 2.
Whoever stubbornly refuses to obey the decrees, statutes and.
regulations of the council, shall be held amenable to canonical
punishment. 3. Pope John XXIIL, the prelates and all tho
other members of the council have always been free. The
flight of the Sovereign Pontiff was an open violation of his
engagements.” Meanwhile the Pope everywhere proclaimed
that his oath had been extorted by violence and that he did not
feel bound to abide by it ; and he withdrew, for greater safety,
to Brisach. The council opened negotiations with the fugitive
Pope, but they proved fruitless. He might still have warded
off the blow which threatened him. Had he suddenly appeared
in the midst of the assembly and freely resigned into the hands
"that tho mot.vo of this lengthened resistance can be sought in the force of ordinary
obstinacy, of that common obstinacy which binds certain men to the things of earth. Nor
should wo, perhaps, even class among human frailties the somewhat unnatural tenacity
which refuses to give up what has been acknowledged by cardinals, by wboie nations, and
by ruisrs, deeming it a right which no power existing among us can take away. We may
not, then, indulge in hsrsh judgments, in useless and unmeaning anathemas. God has
not made man strong enough to survive many such struggles.”—Lives of the Sovereign
Pontifie, t. IF., p. 262.

668

liNERAL HISTORY OF THF. ΟΙΙϋΠΟΠ.

of the Church’s representatives the dignity which he wu no
longer able to maintain, he would have spared himself the
greatest humiliation ; but he remained inflexible, and, on the
29th of May, the council began its twelfth session, which was
to crush forever the earthly hopes of John XXIII. Asa matter
uf form, the culprit was summoned for the last time. The pro­
moter then announced that, all the canonical formalities having
been satisfied and the procedures e'jded, the hour of justice had
now arrived. The Bishop of Arras rose and read the sentence,
which concluded with the following words : “ The holy council
declares John XXIII. deposed and deprived of the Sovereign
Pontificate, releases all the faithful from their obedience to him,
and forbids them henceforth to acknowledge his claim to the
rank or title of Pope.” This sentence, which was without a
precedent in history, was read amid a deep and solemn silence.
The whole assembly confirmed it by the usual word, placet, and
the Pontifical seal was broken. Four cardinals were charged
with the painful mission of communicating the sentence to the
fallen Pontiff. Misfortune had, within a very short time past,
chastened the soul and ennobled the character of John XXIII.
He received the envoys of the council with calm and dignified
resignation, and made this reply to their announcement : “ I
swear never to protest, either in public or in private, against
this sentence, and I now here renounce, of my own will, what­
ever right I may have to the Papacy. Not only do I wish no
longer to remain Pope, but I would that I had never held tho
dignity ; for since 1 bore that august title, I have never known
a happy hour.” A resignation so lofty repairs many faults and
blots out the memory of many failings. And yet it did not
disrim the enemies of John XXIII. Sigismund, fearful, per­
haps, that John might soon repent of his abdication, confined
him to the castle of Manheim, under the care of Louis, palatine
of the Rhine. The imprisonment of the fallen Pontiff was a
measure of severity from which his absolute submission should
have saved him.
34. Tbe council was still at work. Theie were yet two

I

JOHN ΧΧ1Π. (A. D. 1410-1415).

569

claimants to be disposed of. Gregory XII., enlightened as to the
realities of his position, by the fall of John, made Count Charles
of Malatestathe bearer of two Pontifical bulls to tho Council cf
Constance. The first recognized the legitimacy of the council,
the second contained an absolute renunciation of the Papacy.
The two acts were read in a general session, amid the acclama­
tions of the Fathers. Gregory had, meanwhile, called together
for the last time the members of his council at Rimini, where
he had found an asylum under the protection of Malatesta. In
their presence, he renewed his abdication, and protested that
he would never again look to the Sovereign Pontificate. Re­
turning to his rank of cardinal, to which was afterward added
the title of perpetual legate in the Marches of Ancona, he died
two years later at Recanati, great in history by the gener­
ous tone of his unconditional abdication.
35. Benedict XIII. did not follow his example. He still as­
serted his claim, supported by Scotland, Aragon, Castile, Sar­
dinia and Corsica, but especially by his indomitable resolution.
Shutting himself up in the stronghold of Peniscola, in the
kingdom of Valencia, he avowed his firm resolve to live and
die a Pope. Sigismund requested an interview, which took
place at Perpignan. The emperor, in the name of the council,
urged him to give up all his claims, and, for the good of the
Church, to resign a dignity which would be forcibly taken from
him in the event of his resistance. The stubborn old man re­
plied only by evasion and subterfuge. Sigismund demanded a
final answer. Benedict then convoked a solemn consistory,
which he addressed at great length, ending with these words :
“‘I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I
have kept the faith ; for the rest, there is laid up for me a
crown of justice.’ I am now the sole Pontiff. In the present
state of things, it is not I who keep alive the schism, it is the
aasembly at Constance. Let them acknowledge me as Pope,
and then there will be no schism, since there are no rival claim­
ants But never shall it be said that I forsook the bark of
Peter, when God had placed me at the helm.” These words

570

GENERAL HISTORY OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH

bo plainly betrayed his motives of personal ambition as to tietach Ferdinand of Aragon from his cause. Benedict learned,
on his return to Peniscola, that the king had forsaken his obe­
dience. In vain did St. Vincent Ferrer exert all the resources
of his mind and his influence to bend the obstinacy of the anti­
pope. “ Holy Father,” urged the saint, “ it were far better to
live in poverty than to maintain discord among Christians by
an excessive attachment to earthly dignities.” His prudent
counsels were unheeded. Benedict had recourse to his spiri­
tual weapons, and, as though they could longer have been for­
midable, launched an anathema against the King of Aragon and
declared bis states forfeited. The bull produced an effect di­
rectly opposite to that which the antipope expected.
The
Kings of Castile, Navarre and Scotland abandoned his cause.
With these events to facilitate their work, the Fathers of Con­
stance, in their thirty-seventh session, pronounced the in evoca­
ble deposition of Benedict XIII. A solemn Te Deum follow­
ed the reading of the sentence which overthrew the most
powerful bulwark of the schism. The first part of the council’s
work was done.
36 During the negotiations with Benedict XIII., the coun­
cil bad pronounced a solemn judgment upon John Huss, Jerome
of Prague and their adherents. These two disciples of Wyc­
liffe had come to Constance to advance their errors, which were
reducible to four leading propositions : “ 1. The Church is a
mystical body, of which Jesus Christ is the head, the just and
predestined are the only members, to the exclusion of sinners
and the reprobate. Since no one who has been predestined
can be lost, no member can be separated from the body of the
Church ; excommunication, therefore, does not cut off from
eternal life. Besides, the Pope and the bishops not being em­
powered to make the distinction between the elect and the rep­
robate, the Church would not cease to subsist even were there
neither Pope nor bishops. 2. Every action of a virtuous man
is good; every act of a sinner is bad ; hence civil and religious
officers lose their respective authority by the commission of

JOHN XXIII. (A. D. 1410-1415).

57)

mortal sin, in which case revolt is a right. 3. Jesus Christ
alone has the power to bind and to loose ; the delegation of that
power, made by Him to the Apostles and to their successors,
involves no more than a mere declaration that forgiveness is
granted or withheld ; hence, sins are remitted by contrition
alone and not by the priest’s absolution. 4. The Scripture is
our only rule of faith and conduct ; any ecclesiastical ordinance
opposed to the Scripture deserves neither respect nor obedi­
ence. Thus, it is contrary to the Scripture to restrict, within
certain territorial limits, the power radically granted to every
priest to preach the gospel.” These four propositions con­
tain the germ of all Protestantism. They were obstinately
defended by John Huss and Jerome of Prague, in spite of all
the public and private conferences, exhortations and entreaties
which were used to win a recantation. Huss, indeed, seemed
for a moment to waver; but, as he was about to sign the pro­
fession of faith, which was dictated in the Bohemian dialect, he
threw away the pen, exclaiming : “ Never shall I be guilty of
such a sacrilege !” On the 6th of July, a. d. 1414, the final
sentence was, therefore, pronounced, and the heresiarch, de­
graded from the priesthood, was placed in the hands of Sigis­
mund, who condemned him to the stake. As the flames were
encircling the pile, the Duke of Bavaria called out to him :
“ Will you retract ?” “ It is better to obey God than man,”
replied the misguided fanatic ; and with the words : “ Jesus
Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy upon me!” John
Huss expired. Jerome of Prague met with the same fate. The
flames that consumed these two innovators wrapt Bohemia,
Moravia and a part of Poland in a conflagration of civil strife,
which all the endeavors of the Emperor Sigismund, during
the remainder of his reign, were powerless to check. The
Council of Constance is charged with having violated the safe·
conduct granted to the Bohemian reformers by Sigismund, and
with an unjust display of excessive rigor in their regard. These
two charges rest, respectively, upon a false understanding of
facts and a real or assumed ignorance of the legislative system

572

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

of the middle-ages. In granting safe-conducts to John Husr
and Jerome of Prague, the emperor had no intention of exempt­
ing them from obedience to the decrees of the council lie
meant only to protect them during their journey and while
they remained in Constance ; during which period they were
treated with due regard and left perfectly free. Until then
they had only been suspected ; hut when their doctrine had
been condemned, their stubborn defence of it against the unani­
mous judgment of the Fathers changed their situation and
placed them in open revolt. They were now obstinate cul­
prits ; they became amenable to the penal legislation then in
force. This legislation, as we have already noticed, was charged
to protect an essentially Christian society. Whatever could
tend to weaken the faith, or to undermine its foundations, was
a crime of high-treason against society. Hence the rigor of
the laws against heresiarchs and sectaries. Though circum­
stances differ now, yet we are not justified in viewing a fact of
past history by the light of our present habits and ideas. Our
age has too often seen the criminal of one day hailed the hero
of the morrow, not to understand the necessity of weighing
the thoughts and habits of the time, before pronouncing judg­
ment upon men and facts. No new punishment, therefore, was
inflicted upon the Bohemian innovators. They were tried and
punished by the constant and universal legislation of the mid­
dle-ages, which decreed death by fire against obstinate heretics
aud sectaries. Moreover, Huss and Jerome were not mere
theological wranglers whose errors might be deemed unimport­
ant. Their teaching had armed thousands of followers and
cost torrents of blood. The philanthropic wail raised by
Lutheranism and the Voltarian school over their deserved fate
had been more fittingly uttered over the wretched victims of
Hussite errors and the innocent blood which they so plentifully
shed. The sentence of Constance threw back Protestantism at
least a century, in time, and saved the Church.

MARTIN V. (A. D. 141Î-1431).

673

CHAPTER IV.
I I. Pontificate of Martin V. (November 11,
1431).

a. d.

1417—February 20,

1. Election of Martin V. Submission of John XXIII. to the new Pope. End
of the schism of Benedict XIII. and of his successor, Clement VIII.—
2. Closing sessions of the Council of Constance.—3. Entrance of Martin V.
into Rome.—4. Ravages of the Hussites in Germany.—5. Embassy of John
Palæologus to Rome.—fl. Joan of Arc. Orleans delivered.—7. Coronation
of Charles VII. at Rheims. Execution of Joan of Arc at Rouen. Death
of Martin V.
§ II. Pontificate

of

Eüoeniüs IV. (March 4, a. d. 1431—February 23, 1447).

8. Systematic opposition to the Papacy.—9. Election of Eugenius IV.
The Hussites in Germany.—10. Council of Basle. Its attacks upon the
authority of Eugenius IV.—11. Moderation displayed *.y tie Pope.—
12. “Bright days” of the Council of Basle.—13. Hussites in :neCouncil of
Basle.—14. Eugenius dissolves the council.—15. The council sets itself in
open rebellion against Eugenius IV. Election of the antipope Felix V.
Pragmatic sanction of Charles VII., king of France.—16. Council of
Florence, the sixteenth ecumenical. Reunion of the Greek Church.—
17. The people of Constantinople refuse to accept the reunion.—18. Æneia
Sylvius, secretary of the Council of Basle, submits to Pope Eugenius IV.
§ HI. Pontificate

of

Nicholas V. (March 6, a. d. 1447—March 24, 1455).

10. Concordat of Nicholas V. with Germany. Submission of the antipope
Felix V.—20. John Hunyades. Battle of Varna.—21. Mahomet II. before
Constantinople.—22. Heroic defence of Constantine Dragases. Fall of
Constantinople.—23. The Pope offers an asylum to the Greek writers
spared in the fall of their capital. Invention of printing.—24. Death of
Nicholas V.

§ IV. Pontificate

of

Calixtus III. (April 8, a. d. 1455—August 6, 1458).

25. Crusade preached throughout the whole of Europe, against tho Tnrk
*
Siege of Belgrade by Mahomet IL Institution of the Angelus. Death of
Calixtus 1Π.

574
§ V.

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE ΟΠΠΗΟΗ.

Pontificatu or Pit’s II.

(August 27, a. d. 1458—August 14, 1404),

tC Efforts made by Pius II. to arm the Christian princes against, the Turks —
27 He confers the investiture of tho kingdom of Naples on Ferdinand I.—

28. Condemns the principles and the nets of the Council of Basle.

The

bull i'iecrabilù.—20. Rejection of the bull by the Parliament of Paris.—
80. Accession of Louis XI. to the French throne. Revocation of the prag­
matic sanction of Charles VII.—31. Letters of Pins II. to the Christian
rulers and to Mahomet II. Death of the Pope.

§ I. Pontificate of Martin V. (November 11, a. d. 1417—Feb­
ruary 20, 1431).
1. Every throne in Europe was either vacant or overturned;
it was necessary to raise up the chair of Peter and to give it
to a Pontiff who should gather around him the whole flock of the
Supreme Shepherd. The Fathers, mindful of the disasters en­
tailed by the hasty election at Pisa, deemed it best to act with
cautious deliberation, and indefinitely postponed the meeting
of the conclave. Though the return of the Spanish kingdoms
seemed consummated, yet the council was not sufficiently sure
of their lasting fidelity. It was feared that Peter di Luna
might yet find sympathizers among those who had so long up­
held his cause. Meanwhile the year 1417 was drawing to a
close amid the repeated professions and proofs of submission
given by the Catholic world, when, in the month of November,
the council, satisfied with the state of things, began seriously
to think of ending the widowhood of the Church. But before
proceeding to an election, a decree was published, setting forth
the chief points of general reform upon which the future Popo
would be expected to take some definitive measures.
*
It was
then decreed, for this time only, without any force of precedent
in future contingencies, that beside the twenty-three cardinals,
the Pontifical election should also be intrusted to thirty deputies
appointed by the nations, six for each ; that none of the late
rivals should be eligible ; that the successful candidate must
• These articles were eighteen in number and nearly all reuited to tho collation of benflees, annnte, Pontifical revenues, cominendame, tithes, Ac. Wo must here remark, with
Monaguoro Palma, that tho council expressly said, in treating of thia subject : " Quod Pup·
electu» non potest liguri."

MARTIN V. (A. D. 1417-1431).

575

have received two-thirds of the votes cast in the double college
of cardinals and deputies. With this preliminary agreement,
the fifty-three electors went into conclave, and, after a delibera­
tion of four days, unanimously proclaimed Cardinal Otho Co­
lonna, who, in honor of the Saint of the day, took the name of
Martin V. (November 11, a. d. 1417). The election which dis­
interested and united zeal had alone determined, was hailed
with general enthusiasm. The new Pope was saluted with the
grateful titles of Angel of Peace and Public Happiness. The
great schism of the West was ended. Within two years, the
Vicar of Christ saw at his feet the late captive, Balthazar
Cossa. MnrtinV. could not restrain his tears at a sight which
so strikingly displayed the emptiness of human greatness. He
affectionately embraced the fallen Pontiff, made him Dean of
the Sacred College, and directed that he should always sit at
his side upon a throne higher than those of the other cardinals.
Cossa did not long enjoy the distinction which was no longer
one for him ; he died within six months, greater on his cardi­
nal's throne than on that of St. Peter. Benedict XIII. still held
out in his schism, and died in 1424, in his stronghold of
Peniscola, attended by four pseudo-cardinals of his own crea­
tion, and who formed his whole obedience. They gave him, as
successor, Giles Munoz, who took the name of Clement VIII.
But that shadow of a Pontiff, yielding at length to the voice
of reason, laid aside the tiara, went into conclave with his car­
dinals, and together they elected Martin V., who had already
reigned twelve years (August 20, 1429). Such was the end
of this fatal schism, more destructive to the Church than the
persecutions and heresies of all former ages. It gave birth to
the Lutheran schism and may justly claim the parentage of such
an offspring; it robbed the Papacy of much of.its prestige and
well-nigh overthrew the institution itself. Still, the great evil
has borne the good fruit of a valuable lesson, which must force
itself upon the dullest understanding—that the Papacy is
really the centre of the marvellous unity which makes the
Church unconquerable. As the foundation of the whole build­

fi76

GENERAL HISTORV OP THE CHURCH.

ing, it cannot be shaken without communicating the shock t?
the remotest ends of the whole earth.
2. The council held two sessions under the personal prési­
dence of Martin V. They chiefly aimed a«t the reforms men
tioned above. The Sovereign Pontiff entered into special agree­
ments with Germany, France and England, respecting the
disposal of benefices and ecclesiastical revenues ; the three
treaties were called the Concordats of Martin V. He also
approved the sentence pronounced against John Huss and
Jerome of Prague, with their adherents, and renewed the
anathema uttered against Jacobel of Prague, another sectary,
who asserted the necessity of allowing the faithful to receive
communion under both kinds. Finally, it was agreed to convoke
a general council, within a short time, at Pavia, and Cardinal
Braocaccio pronounced the usual formula at the closing of the
council : “ Domini, ite in pace,” et responsum et per adstantes :
“Amen" (April 22, a. d. 1418). At the same time a bull of
Martin V. bound all the faithful “ to acknowledge the Council
of Constance as representing the Universal Church.” “ It is Our
wish,” said the Pontiff, “that all should receive what has been
decreed, concluded and determined by you as a council, in the
assembly, in matters of faith ; for We approve all that has been
lone by you as a council in matters offaith, but not tvhat may have
ken done differently and in another manner." The plain and welldefined distinction which the Pope has drawn in these words
falls, evidently, upon the decree of the fourth and fifth sessions,
m which the council, after the flight of John ΧΧΙΠ., took vigor­
ous measures for the extinction of the schism, declaring that it
meant to include, in the regulation, all persons of whatever dig­
nity, even though of Papal rank. The Gallicans defend the
ecumenicalness of this decree, from which they draw the general
conclusion of the superiority of a general council over the Pope.
The Ullramontanists. on the other hand, maintain that the
decree was never ecumenical, since Pope Martin V., took par­
ticular care to except it from his approbation. If we may oiler
our own view of the question, we would say : 1. The claim of

MARTIN V. (A. D. 1417-1431).

677

the fourth and fifth sessions of the Council of Constance, to he
called ecumenical, is at least doubtful, as no one can deny, since it
always has been and is still a matter of so much controversy ;
and, according to an axiom of canon law, lex dubia, lex nulla. 2.
Either the ecumenical authority of the above-mentioned sessions
depends upon the sanction of Pope Martin V., or it does not.
If it depends upon the Pontifical sanction, this would be in oppo­
sition to the decree which places the council above the Pope. If
it is independent of the Pope’s sanction, the question of principle
remains, after the council, as it was before ; for we cannot grant
full force to the decrees not confirmed by the Pope, without
granting the point in question, that is, without supposing that,
before the Council of Constance, the superiority of a general
council over the Pope was a truth already recognized by the
Church. But such an assumption would be more than gratui­
tous. since, in all the history of former ages, not a single general
council, not a solitary decree was ever received by the Church
until approved by the Pope. It is true that several theologians,
especially French doctors from the University of Paris, in me­
morials and discourses addressed to the council, unconditionally
maintained the doctrine and claimed to erect it into a dogma.
But they constituted only a small minority in the assembly and
their extreme views never received force of law. 3. If tho
ecumenicalness of the fourth and fifth sessions were a fact, tho
superiority of a general council over the Pope would be a dogma
of faith. But, for more than four hundred and forty years, all
□be Popes, with a vast majority of the doctors and theologians
out of France, have loudly, publicly, distinctly denied this claim.
Must we, then, believe that all the Popes and the great majority
of doctors and theologians of the past four centuries have al­
ways held and taught a great heresy? No man, we hope, is
prepared to defend such a monstrous absurdity. The most we
can conclude is, that the University of Paris and the more or
less direct heirs of these Gallican traditions have followed a
course too exclusively national to be the most correct.
*
• The Council of Constance ie not considered ecumenical by tho court of Rome, notinUh
Von III—37

67S

CENTRAL HISTORY OP THE 3EURCH.

8. Theie was no longer any thing to detain the Pope at Con·
etance. On the 22d of September, a. d. 1421, “a day,” in the
words of the annalists, “ ever to be remembered, and recorded in
’etters of gold, in the annals of Rome,” Martin V. entered the
gates of the Eternal City. The multitude, thronging his path,
hailed him as the true father of his country. The Holy Father
felt these proofs of affection the more sensibly, as Rome was
his native city, and the house of Colonna had always held a
high rank among its nobility. But his eyes surveyed with
grief the heaps of ruins which marked the passage of bloody
revolutions. “ Everywhere,” says a contemporary writer, “ we
looked upon ruined dwellings, shattered temples, deserted
streets, impassable roads, a city devoured by famine.” The
same fearful lesson the Roman people might learn from every
page of their history ! Every time that Rome has cast off the
Popes, she has dug a deep gulf beneath her own feet ; with­
out the Sovereign Pontiffs, the traveller might yet be seeking
the place where once stood the city of the Cæsars. The pres­
ence of Martin V. soon brought back life and activity to the
great capital ; money circulated freely ; the earth gave forth
its treasures ; strangers again poured through its gates, and
the gratitude of the people confirmed by public monuments the
name of father of his country, with which the general enthusiasm
had first hailed Martin V.
4. The Hussites, under the lead of John Zisca, were in the
mean time ravaging Germany. Prague fell into their hands
(a. d. 1419). Monasteries with their religious, churches with
their priests, whole cities with their inhabitants ; all were over­
whelmed in blood and conflagration. Two Crusades were
preached against them by the Sovereign Pontiff, with the same
indulgences as for the Holy Wars. From the fortress of Thabur, which he had built upon a height near the city of Prague,
standing the approval of some of lie acts by Pope Martin V. In thia question, as usual
we follow the sense of the Roman Church, the mother and mistress of nil others, fearless of
being led astray while she is our guide.— Vide the admirable work of Monsiguore alma
Pro^Mr.rw lluloria Ecduia. Bomw, 18
8,
*
Typû S. Conyrtgatûmû de Propapanda Ad·

P

,

MARTIN V. (A. D. 1417-1431).

579

John Zisca pointed out to Lia followers the formidable imperial
armies which Sigismund was leading against them, and these
armies successively fell beneath their swords. He was already
master of Bohemia, when he was carried off by the plague in
1424, after which his party divided itself into three sepa­
rate factions. Some wanted no chief, and styled themselves
Orphans ; the others chose leaders and took the name of Iloreb·
iies. The third and most numerous division elected, as Zisca’s
successor, his disciple Procopius Razes, called the Great. This
separation did not check their progress. They united against
the Catholics, and thus continued to ravage Bohemia and Moravia
during the whole Pontificate of Martin V.
5. The Eastern emperors still looked anxiously to the West
for defence and support. In 1420, Manuel sent to Rome John
Palæologus IL, his son, and heir presumptive to the Eastern
throne, for the purpose of soliciting the assistance of the Pope
against the formidable attacks of the Sultan Amurath II. The
prince was, in return, to make the already so often repeated
promise of a reunion of the two Churches. The distinguished
envoy was favorably received by Martin V., who sent legates
to Constantinople, with orders to effect a final settlement of
this difficult matter. Ladislas I., king of Hungary, who was
in constant communication with the court of Byzantium, was
charged to second the efforts of the legates. Manuel proposed
the hoi ting of an ecumenical council at Constantinople, as the
surest means of reaching the desired end. The legates returned
to Rome for instructions, and, before the negotiations on the
subject could be satisfactorily concluded, Manuel was stricken
down by apoplexy. The parting instructions which he gave,
on his death-bed, to John Palæologus, may serve to show the
measure of his sincerity. “ My son,” said the dying emperor,
“oui wretched age affords no field for the display of greatness
or heroism. Our situation calls less for a warlike emperor than
for a careful steward of our shattered fortune. Our only re­
source against the Turks is the fear of our union with the
Latins and their dread of the valiant nations of the West.

5S0

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

When the Infidels press close upon you, let them perceive this
danger. Propose a council, open communications with Rome;
but always protract the negotiations, put oil the convocation o(
the council, and manage to satisfy the Latins with words.” The
whole Greek policy in regard to the West is revealed in this
deceitful counsel of the father to his son. The capture of Con­
stantinople by the Turks was the result of the faithless policy.
G. At the very moment when Manuel Palæologus was
speaking in such a hopeless strain of virtue and honor, the
whole world was ringing with the Lime of a Christian heroine,
the glory of France and the admiration of all time. The dis­
asters which marked the reign of Charles VI., his mental disor­
der, the fury of Isabeau of Bavaria, the assassination of John
the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, the excesses committed by
the Armagnac and Burgundian factions ended in the disgrace­
ful treaty of Troyes (a. d. 1420), by which a mother dethroned
her son, a queen of France gave up her kingdom to the English.
The wretched Charles, the sport of the most astonishing revo­
lutions, died two years afterward, and Henry VI. of England
was proclaimed king of France, while the rightful heir, Charles
VH., was reduced to the empty title of King of Bourges.
Nothing less than a miracle could save the most Christian king­
dom ; and God wrought the miracle. The English were be­
sieging Orleans, vainly defended by Lahire and Xaintrailles,
whose devoted courage was capable of every thing save the
creation of armies. Charles VII., safe beyond the Loire, for­
got, amid feasting and pleasure, the loss of his kingdom. On
the 24th of February, 1429, the court was visited by a poor
shepherdess of Domrémy. “ The King of Heaven,” said she
to the monarch, “ has sent me to tell you that you shall be
anointed and crowned at Rheiins and shall rule France.” The
maiden was Joan of Arc. She said that mysterious voices ha
enjoined her to quit her native village and, in the armor of
warrior, to save her king and her country. The youthful hero
ine of eighteen yeais was sent to Poitiers that her vocation
might be tested by the oishop and doctors “ God needs not

MARTIN V. (A. D. 1417-1431).

5*1

warriors," they said io her, “ if it be His will to save France?
“ The warriors," replied the maid, “ must fight, and God will
give the victory." “ And what kind of language do your voices
speak?” asked a doctor of Limousin. “A better one than
yours,” replied Joan with some fire. “If you show no better
signs to give authority to your words,” said the doctor, “ the
king will not trust you with his soldiers, for you would lead
them into danger.” “ I am not sent to Poitiers to give proofs
of my mission,” answered the heroine ; “ take me to Orleans
and you shall see the truth of my words. The sign I am to
give is the rescue of that city from siege.” She was believed
at last. The young heroine armed herself with a sword found
in the chapel of St. Catherine of Fierbois, and pointed out to
her by the mysterious voices. She held a white standard
spangled with golden lilies, and bearing, as a pledge of victory,
the names of Jesus and Mary. On the 1st of April, 1429, in
open day, she passed through the English lines and entered the
beleaguered city at the head of a provision-train ; on the 8th of
May, the enemy fled before the youthful maid, leaving their
camp and military equipage in the hands of the French. On
that glorious day Joan of Arc received her title of Maid of
Orleans.
7. The heroine might now claim to be believed on her word.
4‘ The will of God,” she said to Charles VIL, “ is that you come
to receive the crown at Rheims.” In a natural point of view,
the idea seemed absurd and chimerical ; such, at least, was the
opinion of all the leaders. They were more than eighty leagues
from that city, which was, with all the intervening country, in
the hands of the enemy. But what is impossible 'to man is
easy to God, and Joan of Arc had proved that she was the en­
voy of God. Charles yielded to her request and set out for
Rheims with only twelve thousand men, without provisions or
artillery. Auxerre, Troyes and Chalons successively opened
their gates. Rheims expelled its English garrison and received
Charles with triumphal pomp, on the 17th of July, a. d. 1429.
During the whole ceremony of the coronation, Joan, shedding

682

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

tears of joy, stood by the king with her white banner in her
baud. “She has shared the struggle,” said the heroine, “she
must have part in the reward.” At the close of the solemnity
Joan threw herself on her knees before Charles and kissed his
feet “ My liege,” she said with tearful eyes, “ now the will of
God is done ; He had decreed to raise the siege of Orleans and
to bring you to Rheims. My mission is ended ; I would go
back to iny parents to resume my life as a shepherdess.” The
lofty simplicity of her words drew tears from every eye. Rut
Joan had become the army, the hope, the treasure of France,
and Charles could not spare her then. She accordingly contin­
ued her glorious career ; but she had said : “ I shall last but
another year, or very little longer ; I must therefore use it well.”
The sad prediction was only too strictly fulfilled. On the 24th
of May, 1430, Joan of Arc was taken by the English before the
walls of Compïègne. If any thing could add to her glory, it
would be the unbounded exultation displayed by the enemies
af France over their prisoner; their whole camp resounded
with cries of joy. The soldiers thronged around to gaze upon
her whose very name had made them tremble. The heroine was
taken to Rouen and tried for witchcraft. Peter Cauchon, bishop
of Beauvais, whose name is a disgrace to the Church and a stain
on the page of history, dared to condemn the guiltless victim
to the stake. The execution of the Maid of Orleans will ever
remain an infamous blot on the English nation (May 30,
1431). It is said that Joan appealed from the venal judges in
the pay of her enemies, to the Holy See, the hope of all tho
wronged. Had the appeal been heeded, or had the political
passions which guided every act of the shameful transaction
allowed it, humanity would have to blush for one crime less.
Twenty-five years after the death of Joan of Arc, Pope Calix·
tus III. ordered the Archbishop of Rheims to institute an in­
quiry into the particulars of the case. The heroine’s innocence
was clearly proved and her memory gloriously vindicated. Calixtus published a solemn sentence declaring that Joan of Arc
« had died a martyr for her faith, her king and her country.”

EÜGEN1Ü3 IV. (A. D. 1431-1447).

583

Meanwhile Pope Martin V. had died at Rome February 21,
1431), after a peaceful reign of nearly fourteen years. Hi
*
last act was to convoke a council at Basle to close the difficulty
with the Hussites and effect the reunion of the Greek Church.

§11. Pontificate of Eugenics IV. (March 4, a. d. 1431—Feb­
ruary 23, 1447).

8. The peaceful close of the last Pontificate was but the lull
before a fresh storm. The Council of Constance had given
birth to a spirit of unprecedented opposition. Some doctors
maintained that the legislative should take the place of the
Pontifical power, in the Church; and that general councils, held
every three years, should form, so to speak, the permanent
council and the centre of ecclesiastical administration. Deliber­
ative assemblies almost invariably give rise to seasons of dan­
gerous excitement, by the disputed questions discussed, the ani­
mosity which they awake and the self-love they excite. In the
new movement which signalized the first half of the fifteenth
century, and of which the Council of Basle was the symbol and
standard, France was too unmindful of her exalted title of
“ eldest daughter of the Church.” Her attachment to anti-papal
doctrines appeared in the decrees which aimed at setting up
Gallican ideas as dogmas of faith. The Council of Constance
had deposed three Popes ; this unprecedented step was com­
manded by circumstances and justified by the necessity of re­
storing peace to the Church. The Council of Basle, without
any necessity whatever, in a season of perfect peace, assumed
the right of deposing a Pope universally acknowledged; it
claimed for itself the whole direction of the government and
administration, proclaimed its superiority over the Pope, and set
up a shadow of a Pontiff under whose name it sought to reign.
Apply ing the doctrine and the facts to a purely political assem­
bly, we have a perfect identity, in form and substance, will the
States-General of 1789. Had the claims of the Council of Basle
ever obtained force of law, the Church would have ceased to

684

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

exist Λ8 s monarchy and would have become a federal republic ;
tho chair of St. Peter would have yielded to the rostrum, and
harangues been substituted for decrees. We are, therefore,
warranted in styling the pontificate of Eugenius IV. one long
tempest, and in asserting that his efforts to resist doctrinal
innovations, truly saved the Church.
9. Cardinal Gabriel Gondolmerio, a nephew of Gregory
XII ,, was elected Pope on the 3d of March, a. d. 1431, and took
the name of Eugenius IV. Ilis first thoughts were given to the
twofold object of repressing the Hussites and continuing the
Council of Constance. Since the death of John Zisca, Bohemia,
Moravia and Poland were in a state of the greatest disorder.
A dispute on purely theological grounds—the question of com­
munion under both kinds—soon grew into fearful proportions.
There are crises in the world’s history when the minds of men
eeem but to await the falling of a spark to break out into a fear­
ful explosion. The fifteenth century was one of those decisive
moments. The whole of Northern Germany was soon involved
in a social revolution. The reformatory notions given to the
world during the Western Schism were displayed in deeds of
revenge. On the plea of restoring religious discipline, monas­
teries were laid in ashes ; under pretext of reforming the abuse
of the temporal power, all ecclesiastical and civil property was
seized, and communism set up. In reading the account of
his mission, left us by Æneas Sylvius, the Papal legate at
Prague, we might almost fancy ourselves present at one of the
displays of which modern socialism has furnished us recent
examples. “ It was a strange sight,” says the legate, “ and
quite novel to us, to see that ill-clad, wretched rabble, giving
itself the title of brotherhood, and imagining that by this sordid
herding together they were restoring the manners of the primi­
tive Church. They claim that society should supply the wants
of its individual members, that royalty and rank, of any kind,
are abuses, since a king is, in their eyes, but a useless member
who alone profits by the labor of all his brethren.” Had the
Hussites confined these doctrines to the limits of some monas
*

JKUOENIÜS IV. (A. D. 1431-1441).

685

tery, they would have been looked upon as Utopian dreamer-,
more to be pitied than feared. But they commanded formi­
dable armies. Thrice had the Emperor Sigismund seen them
destroy the armaments which had drained his treasure and his
state. Eugenius IV. ordered a third Crusade against the Bohe­
mian revolutionists. He also sent, as missionary and legate,
St. John Capistran, who joined his preaching and Labors to
those of Æneas Sylvius to recall the wanderers to the fold.
10. But higher hopes of success were founded upon the
general council which Martin V. had appointed to meet at Basle.
We have already intimated that this assembly did not fulfil
the expectation of the Catholic world. Instead of an ecumen­
ical council, it turned out to be but a wretched cabal, which
lasted twelve years, composed of a few insubordinate prelates,
pandering to the political passions of a crowd of inferior eccle­
siastics; granting them a deliberative voice in the assembly, in
contempt of all canonical rules; undertaking, in union with them,
to reform the Church, claiming its administration as their right;
summoning before them the lawful successor of St. Peter, de­
posing him by a sacrilegious sentence, and crowning the schism
by the election of an antipope. The opening of the seditious
council presented a strange sight. On the 3d of March, a. d.
1431, the day appointed by Martin V., the Abbot of Vezelai
alone appeared in answer to the summons. The abbot solemnly
entered the cathedral ; in the presence of the canons he de­
clared the council opened, and took note of the singular inaugu­
ration. In the following September, Cardinal Julian, the le­
gate of Eugenius IV., came to Basle, where he found only three
bishops and seven abbots. Notwithstanding the repeated rep­
resentations of these ten prelates, the European princes refused
to send their ambassadors and the bishops of their respective
realms. Under the circumstances, the Pope thought it neces­
sary to dissolve a council which seemed to command so little r^
epect. Moreover, John Palæologus, the emperor of Constanti­
nople, in obedience to his father’s advice, but in a truer spirit
of good faith, had begged the Pope to choose some Italian city

086

GENERAL HISTORV OF THE CHURCH.

as the seat of the general council, which he announced his for·
mal intention of attending in person with the Patriarch and
chief members of the Greek clergy. The situation of Basle
would have increased the difficulty of such a journey and hin­
dered a negotiation so important to the Chunch. Eugenius,
yielding to these urgent motives, published a bull dissolving the
assembly at Basle and convoking a general council at Bologna
(November 12, 1431). The measure was one of wisdom.
The members of the assembly at Basle did not deem it such.
Their number amounted, in all, to fourteen, but their ambition
was not in proportion. They answered the Pontifical decree
by an insolent declaration. “ The most holy Council of Basle,”
said they, “declares, defines and decrees : 1. That it is canoni­
cally and lawfully assembled, and represents the Universal
Church ; 2. That it holds its authority immediately from Jesus
Christ, and that any person, of whatever dignity, even were he
Pope, who refuses obedience to the holy council, shall be pun­
ished according to the provisions of the law. All the members
of the Council of Basle are, therefore, forbidden to leave it,
whether in obedience to the orders of the Pope or for any other
cause whatever ” Here, then, we have fourteen prelates who,
in opposition to the head of the Universal Church, claimed to
constitute an ecumenical council possessing authority, not over
a doubtful Pontiff, as at Constance, but over a certain and law­
ful Pope, recognized by the whole Catholic world. This was
surely too great a breach of all moderation and propriety. But
minds once led astray always forget the bounds of reason : they
are carried away by their own excesses. The members of the
assembly at Basle, persisting in their seditious course, sum­
moned the Sovereign Pontiff to appear before the council in
person, or by his legates, within three months, to answer for his
conduct. On his refusal to obey, they passed a succession of
decrees, in the following sessions, to meet all the acts of au­
thority they might have to fear from the Pope and thus to re­
strain him in his rights—all this by virtue of the decree of
Constance, renewed by them, and subjecting the Holy See to &

EUGENIUS TV.

A. D. 1431-1447).

537

general council. Eugenius IV. published a bull, annulling ail
these summonses and revolutionary measures. The prelates
replied by threatening to deprive him of all ecclesiastical ad­
ministration, and directing that the cases hitherto brought be­
fore the court of Rome should now be subject to their decision
(1433).
11. Had the thunders of the Church been hurled, at this
juncture, against the factious assembly, history would have
recorded that they had been deservedly incurred, by the obsti­
nacy of a few bishops composing the Council of Basle. Yet,
with a forbearance beyond all praise, Eugenius could reflect, in
his trying position, that he was even more a father than a judge,
and mercy stayed the uplifted arm of justice. The Emperor
Sigismund repaired to Basle and offered his mediation between
the Sovereign Pontiff and the rash prelates. It was accepted.
Eugenius, trusting to the power of an act of clemency, the more
efficacious that it was undeservedly generous, consented to over
look the past. He recalled the bull of dissolution and allowed
the council to continue in session on the condition of its work­
ing thenceforward in a spirit of peace and mildness, for the ex­
tirpation of the Bohemian heresy and the spiritual good of
Christendom. Sigismund sent the bull of the Sovereign Pontiff
to the members of the council, exhorting them to conduct their
operations in such a manner as to save the Church from the
misfortune of a schism. To the seditious prelates the imperial
admonition was as distasteful as it was necessary. They sent
to Sigismund a haughty reply, telling him that the Holy Ghost,
in Whose name they had come together, was not a spirit of
“ discord and schism.” They took particular exception to the
article of the Pontifical bull, by which Eugenius announced that
“ he would send four legates to preside in his name at the meet­
ings of the assembly.” “ This clause,” said the captious pre­
lates, “ necessarily implies the condemnation of all that has hith­
erto been done without the participation of the legates. It con­
sequently destroys the authority of this council and of all th·
other general councils, especially that of Constance, which has

668

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHDRCH.

decided that the general council holds its authority immediately
from God.” The revival of the discussion threatened to crush
all hopes of peace. Sigismund once more intervened and ob­
tained a still more explicit declaration from Eugenius IV., in
which the Pope speaks thus: “We are ready to receive the
Council of Basle without reservation, and wish to favor it with
all our power, provided our legates are allowed to preside, and
all the proceedings are revoked which attack our person, autho­
rity and prerogatives (August 1, a. ru 1433).” The emperor
was so forcibly struck by the conciliatory tone of this declaration,
drawn up in his presence, that he could not forbear exclaiming,
“Really,Holy Father, this is too much. Should they refuse to
receive this bull without restriction, I shall take upon myself to
bring them to order.”
12. The conduct of the Fathers of Basle was beginning to
awake the indignation of the Catholic world. The emperor
showed a disposition to use harsh measures if the disorder con­
tinued. The anarchical doctrines maintained by the council did
not threaten the Church alone. In fact, if twenty or thirty pre­
lates, in opposition to the Holy See, are entitled to set them­
eelves up as the representatives of the Catholic world, and as
euch to control the Pope, to dictate new laws to him, to suspend
or depose him at will ; with stronger reason, may twenty or
thirty deputies style themselves the States-General, the Parlia­
ment or national representation of a whole people, and, as such,
control, depose, suspend, banish, or put to death kings and em­
perors. It is evident, then, that these principles threatened
the civil governments as well as the spiritual power. Charles
VII. of France thus wrote to the council (August 20, a. d. 1433) .
“We are shocked at your disgraceful conduct toward the Sov­
ereign Pontiff, and we entreat you to show more reserve and
moderation in the future.” The prelates perceived that, by per­
sisting in their obstinacy, they were estranging all the sympa­
thies of Europe; their conduct then became more prudent, and this
period has been called the “ Bright days of the Council of Basle
it extends from the fifteenth to the twenty-fifth session. The

EUOENTÜS TV. (A. D. 1 «1-1447).

589

seditions spirit which had ruled the assembly, though confined
within certain bounds, was not entirely dead. Thus it was da.
creed that the Papal legates should not enjoy a co-active juris
*
diction. For the fourth or fifth time they renewed the decree·
of Constance, asserting the superiority of a general council
over the Pope. The arguments upon which the orators of
Basle pretended to base this doctrine are worthy of notice.
“ We are met with the objection,” they said, “ that our Lord
bestowed a universal authority upon St. Peter when he said to
him : ‘ Feed my sheep.’ But here we must make a distinction ;
our Lord intrusted to Peter each one of his sheep in particular,
but not /*11 the sheep together.” Which amounts to saying that
in a flock of a hundred sheep, for example, the shepherd has a
right to lead each one separately, but when they are together,
it belongs to the flock to guide the shepherd. “ It is in vain,”
they continue, “ that our opponents quote the words of canon
law to prove that the Pope is recognized as pastor of the whole
Church. To say that the Pope is placed over the whole Church
is to suppose that he is placed over the head and the members
of all the churches established throughout the world. But the
Pope cannot be placed over the head of the Roman Church,
since he cannot be placed over himself. Hence he is not placed
over all the churches which, in their union, constitute the Uni­
versal Church.” In other words, a general is not placed over
his army, nor a father over his family, because they cannot be
placed over themselves. Could scholasticism be fairly convicted
of always teaching men to reason as wide as this, it might well
be deemed the most dangerous invention of human genius. Bui
all the sophistry of subtle dialecticians cannot impair the claim
of logic to be the foundation and root of science ; the abuse can·
not destroy the established usage.
13. The Fathers of Basle now turned their attention to
questions more worthy of a council of the Church. Four
hundred Hussites appeared before the council, protected by the
safe-conduct of Sigismund. Their arrival excited an unusual
amount of interest and emotion. “ The people," says .Eneas

690

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

Sylvius, secretary of the council, “ crowded around them ng
they passed, anxious to look upon the warlike men of whom
they had heard so much. Their strange dress, their fierce
countenances and fiery looks awakened an instinctive feeling
of terror. The chief object of attention, however, was their
leader, Procopius, whose very name inspired them with fear.
‘It is he,’ said they, ‘who has so often routed the imperial
forces, who has overthrown so many cities ; butchered so many
thousand men; the unconquerable, bold, fearless and indefati­
gable leader, as terrible to his own soldiers as to the enemy.’”
On behalf of his followers, who had assumed the name of
Calixtines, from their doctrine that the chalice should be
granted to the laity, Procopius demanded : 1. Communion
under both kinds for the laity ; 2. For all priests, the right to
preach the word of God without restriction of place ; 3. The
promulgation of a canonical regulation forbidding ecclesiastics
to hold temporal possessions ; 4. The declaration that every
one of the faithful is authorized to punish public sinners with
his own hand, and according to his own view. The council re­
jected these demands in the unlimited sense in which they
were made, and proposed the following modifications : “ The
custom of giving communion to the faithful under the simple
form of bread was very properly introduced by the Church, to
avoid the danger of irreverence and profanation which might re­
sult from the common use of the chalice ; this prudent measure
may not be changed without the authority of the Church. Still
the Church has authority to allow the faithful, with stated con­
ditions, to receive communion under both kinds. It might
even be granted, for a time, to the Bohemians, if they would
promise to return sincerely to Catholic unity. The right of
every priest to preach the gospel without restriction must
always remain subject to the approval of the diocesan. The
right of ecclesiastics to hold temporal possessions is warranted
by examples in both the Old and New Testament. The Church,
however, has the power and the will to prevent or to reform
abuses by wise regulations. The punishment of public crimes

BÜGENIÜ8 TV. (A. D. 1431-144T).

591

belongs immediately, in spiritual matters, to the ecclesiastical
tribunals ; in temporal concerns, to the civil magistrates. Any
canonical decree to the contrary would only make vengeance
lawful, perpetuate feuds and authorize countless murders.”
Upon this basis a concordat was drawn up to the satisfaction
of the Calixtines and more moderate Hussites. The Taborites,
Orphans and Horebites openly opposed the union, and again
took up arms. Their first engagement, near Prague (a. d. 1434),
cost them twenty thousand men, the second, in the same year,
their chief, Procopius. The loss of their leaders induced the
sectaries to listen to the propositions of the council, which
allowed them to receive under both kinds, until a general rule
should be established in the final arrangements for the re-union.
The remains of the Hussite faction gradually disappeared
among the various rising sects, thus forming a nucleus of op
position, which would afterward help to swell the ranks of
Lutheranism.
14. The conduct of the Fathers of Basle in this matter
was irreproachable ; it is their only claim to the respect of
posterity. The urgent request of John Palæologus, that a
nearei· and more accessible city than Basle should be chosen,
in order to facilitate the re-union with the Greek Church, was
the signal for a fresh outbreak on the part of the prelates.
They were unwilling to leave the city in which they pretended
to hold sovereign sway. The Greek ambassadors vainly en­
treated them not to allow secondary considerations to mar so
important a result. “ Is it possible,” said the Greeks, “ that
while our emperor, the Patriarch of Constantinople and the
Greek prelates, are willing to cross the sea and expose them­
selves to the dangers of a long and toilsome voyage, you can
refuse to undertake a journey of seven or eight days, to effect
a reconciliation so desirable !” The prelates were unyielding ;
and, in their twenty-fifth session, May 7, a. d. 1437, they decreed
that the council for the re-union with the Greek Church should
bo held at Basle, or at Avignon. The Papal legates refused to
sanction the measure, and Eugenius IV. issued a bill naming

592

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

Ferrara as the seal of the general council, and dissolving that
of Basle.
15. The lawful existence of the council was now at an end ;
the Papal legates and the more moderate prelates accordingly
withdrew. A few prelates remained with a number of the inferior
clergy, whose obstinacy was proportionate to their canonical in­
capacity to take an active part in the regular deliberations. This
party, which might be styled the popular faction, was led by
Cardinal 1’Allemand, archbishop of Arles. Though endowed
with many good and noble qualities, the cardinal had two faults
which led him astray and kept him long a wanderer from the
true path; he sometimes showed a want of tact and judgment
with an unconquerable obstinacy. After the departure of the
legates and the other cardinals, he sought to win popularity by
obtaining a decree that simple priests should thenceforth have
an active voice. The famous expression of the Fathers of
Chalcedon was quoted in opposition : “A council is an assembly
of bishops, not of clerics to which he replied by a subtlety
unworthy of his character : “ In the sense of the Council of
Chalcedon, a council is an assembly of bishops, priests, deacons,
subdeacons, lectors and acolytes, but not of simply tonsured
clerics.” But at the time of the Council of Chalcedon there were
no merely tonsured clerics in the Greek Church. Moreover, it
is plain enough that by these words the council meant to estab­
lish a distinction between the bishops and all the inferior clergy,
including priests. However, the majority ruled and the motion
of the Archbishop of Arles was carried. From this date the
Council of Basle is but a reproduction of the Latrocinale of
Ephesus. In the twenty-sixth session, the factious members
began to take violent measures against the Pope, who was sum­
moned to appear before them, and, on his failing to comply, was
condemned and deposed as contumacious. To crown all their
outrages, they elected an antipope ; the object of their choice
was Amadeus VIII., duke of Savoy, who was then living in
retirement at Ripaille, a delightful retreat on the shores of the
lake of Geneva (a. m 1439). Amadeus had ruled his states

EUGENICS IV. (Λ. D. 1491-1441),

593

with singular prudence and justice; his code of laws, published
n 1430, under the name of Statutes of Savoy, won the admira
lion of all Europe and obtained for their author the title of the
Solomon of his age. Disgusted with worldly honors, he abdi­
cated in 1434, in favor of his eldest son, Louis I., and withdrew
to the hermitage of Ripaille, where, with seven lords of his
court, who had followed to share his retreat, he instituted the
military order of St. Maurice. When he received the tidings
of the dignity offered by the schismatical prelates at Basle,
Amadeus was utterly ignorant of the real character of the
assembly. For six years the Catholic world had been looking
upon it as a general council. A small number of theologians,
more enlightened than the common people, had alone followed
it steadily through all its changes and formed an opinion on the
question. The mass of Catholics erred in good faith in recog
nizing its claims. Amadeus VIII. was of this number, which
will appear less surprising when we see that the error was shared
by men even more able than himself; that Æneas Sylvius—
afterward Pope Pius II.—was at that time secretary of the
council, and had even acted as master of ceremonies in the con­
clave which elected the antipope. Amadeus at first refused the
offered dignity; he was loath to change the sweets of solitude
for the cares and responsibilities of a throne. At length, how­
ever, he yielded a reluctant and tearful consent, and took the
name of Felix V. He made his solemn entry into Basle, and
was crowned by the Archbishop of Arles (1439). The anti­
pope’s authority was recognized only in Switzerland, Savoy and
Piedmont. The Emperor Sigismund, dying in 1437, was suc­
ceeded by Albert II. of Austria ; this short reign of two years
was followed by that of Frederick III., who agreed with
Charles VII. of France to keep a strict neutrality between the
candidate of Basle and Eugenius IV. Yet France showed a
(.•jrtain leaning toward the schismatical council in which the
I'rench element was predominant. Charles even issued, at
Bourges, in an assembly of the princes of the blood and dignitarius of the Church, under the name of Pragmatic Sanction
*
Vol. III.—3β

694

okxeral

nrsTonr

of the church.

mo edict calculated to flatter the Fathers of Basle.
The king
declared that " the general council is superior to the Pope ; he
suppressed the annats, reserves and expectancies, which had
hitherto accrued to the court of Rome ; he restored elections
to their primitive forms, denying the right of the Sovereign
Pontiff to nominate subjects for bishoprics or benefices.” It
has been attempted to represent this Pragmatic Sanction as a
concordat; but such an assumption betrays utter ignorance of
the simplest principles of jurisprudence. The very word con­
cordat implies two contracting parties. But at Bourges, the
King of France alone decreed in his own case ; the Roman court
was in no way represented ; the Pope had not even been con­
sulted. By what right could the Papacy be bound by a treaty
to which it had not subscribed ? After the consummation of
the schijm, the Council of Basle held out, in spite of the gen­
eral disrepute into which it had fallen, until 1443, at which
period the wars in Germany compelled the prelates to withdraw.
8uch was the end of the assembly which has too long been
nonored with the title of ecumenical. To us it can appear but
the seditious protestation of a few ambitious prelates against
the Papacy.
16. The true ecumenical council was opened at Ferrara on
the 10th of January, a. d. 1438 ; Nicholas Albergati presided at
Apostolic legate. Eugenius reached the city on the twenty-sev­
enth of the same month, annulled all the acts and decrees of the
false Council of Basle and launched a sentence of excommunie λtion against the antipope and his adherents. A plague which
broke out at this time in Ferrara obliged the Pope to transfer the
council to Florence (January 16, 1439), whence it derives its
name of general Council of Florence, and sixteenth ecumeni­
*cal The Greek emperor, John Palæologus, with the Patri­
arch of Constantinople and the bishops of the principal Eastern
sees, landed at Venice, and appeared in the council on the 4tb
of March, 1438. On meeting the Pope, Palæologus would have
U treating of ecumenical councils, we adopt the nomenclature of Monaignore Palma

EUGENIUS IV. (A. b.

431-1447).

69ύ

knelt to salute him, but Eugenius stopped him and embraced him
with great affection. The heads of Sts. Peter and Paul had
been brought from Home and were placed, with the book of
gospels, upou a splendid throne, as if to consecrate the solemn
assembly by the presence of the august relics. On the follow­
ing day the Latin and Greek Churches stood face to face and
the contest began The Latins, but especially Cardinal Julian,
showed a degree of learning, logic and eloquence for which the
astonished Greeks were not prepared and with which they felt
themselves hardly equal to cope. Preeminent among the east­
ern prelates were Bessarion, archbishop of Nice, whose splendid
gifts of mind were enhanced by an unswerving uprightness of
heart, and Mark, archbishop of Ephesus, whose talents’ were
degraded by a pitiful and unyielding stubbornness. The dis­
cussion turned upon the doctrine of Purgatory, which the
Greeks refused to admit, at least in the Catholic sense; upon
the use of unleavened bread in the Eucharistic Sacrifice; upon
the beatific vision, which is to begin, according to the Greeks,
only after the general judgment; upon the procession of the
Holy Ghost, with the addition of the Filioque to the Creed ; and
upon the primacy of the Pope. The first articles were easily
settled ; but upon the last two the debate was long and violent.
The Greeks yielded the point of the procession of the Holy
Ghost and the addition of the Filioque, only when thoroughly
convinced of a truth of which they had hitherto been, or feigned
to be, ignorant : that the Latins admitted but one principle of
the Holy Ghost, or that, the Holy Ghost proceeds from the
Father and the Son tanquam ab uno principio. The opposition
to the primacy of the Pope was not made by the Eastern bish­
ops or theologians, but by the emperor himself. He was will­
ing to grant the preeminence of the Roman Pontiff, in general ;
but he was not prepared to allow the right of appealing to hia
tribunal from the judgment of any Patriarch, nor the exclusive
right of the Pope to convoke general councils. Palæologus saw
that if this principle were conceded, he would lose the species
of supremacy in the Church which had been claimed by his

596

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

predecessors ; and, for a moment, he entertained serious
thoughts of breaking off the negotiation. But the Greeks were
beginning to realize that their own liberty and independence
rested entirely upon the liberty and independence of the Roman Pontiff. The Patriarch of Constantinople had just died
in Florence, after a long illness. He was found dead, at his
table, upon which he left these last words, traced with a falter­
ing hand : “Joseph, by the mercy of God, archbishop of Con
stantinople, the new Rome, and ecumenical Patriarch. While
I am fast sinking into the grave, I wish to communicate my dy­
ing sentiments to all my beloved sons. I admit all that the
Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Ancient Rome believes
and teaches. I confess that the Pope is the Pastor of Pastors,
the Sovereign Pontiff and Vicar of Jesus Christ, appointed to
confirm the faith of Christians.” The profession of the dying
Patriarch produced a powerful effect upon the Greek prelates
in the council. With the single exception of Mark of Ephesus,
they unanimously acknowledged the primacy of the Pope, and
by their concert overcame the reluctance of the emperor him­
self. The discussion was at an end ; the union of the two
Churches was accomplished. On the 6th of July, 1439, Eugenius IV. officiated Pontifically before the assembled Greeks
and Latins. After the solemnity, he took his seat upon a
throne on the right of thte altar; John Palæologus occupied a
throne on the left ; all the prelates, in full episcopal dress, sat
in their respective places. The celebrated decree of union,
Lœtentur cœli, was read in Latin, by Cardinal Julian, and
then in Greek by Bessarion, metropolitan of Nice. The em­
peror and all the members of the council kissed the Pope’s
hands, according to the usual custom. On the 26th of August,
Palæologus left Florence, hearing back to Byzantium the faith
of Constantine. Eugenius sealed the act of union by bestowing
the Roman purple upon the Archbishop of Nice, the great Bessarion, whose virtue and talent had won the admiration of tho
whole council. The same honor was conferred upon Isidore,
archbishop of Kiew and metropolitan of all Russia. All the

EUGENIUS IV. (A. D. 1431-144T).

597

Eastern churches seemed to have been simultaneously convinced
of the necessity of union, and Florence received, in close suc­
cession, the deputations from Armenia, from the Patriarch of
the Ethiopian Jacobites (the famous Pres ter-John), from the
churches of Jerusalem and Mesopotamia, and from the Syrian
Patriarch Ignatius, who all sent in their submission to the Ro­
man Pontiff. It would almost seem that this general submis­
sion of the East was sent to console the Church after the dis­
grace of the Western schism. The sixteenth ecumenical
Council of Florence closed its sessions with these glorious re­
sults (April 6,1442). The mere comparison of its acts with
those of the seditious Council of Basle should suffice to deter­
mine their respective value.
17. The peace so hardly won at Florence, signed by the
Greek emperor and bishops, confirmed by the oath of so many
prelates, was not ratified by the Eastern people. Mark of
Ephesus was, in their eyes, a hero and almost a martyr, because
he alone had held out to the last against the act of union.
Metrophanes, who succeeded the Patriarch Joseph in the see of
Constantinople, inherited his spirit of submission to the Church,
and died of a broken heart under the bitter persecution of the
schismatics (a. d. 1443). John Palæologus was too weak to re­
sist the torrent of popular opinion. The see of Constantinople,
after a vacancy of three years, was at length accepted by Gregory
Melissenus, who likewise struggled against the schism. The death
of the emperor, in 144 5, left the throne to John VIII., also a Palæ­
ologus, who ascended it rather to witness the obsequies of the em­
pire than to reign. The Turks were coming to make the Greeks
atone for their insubordination and repeated revolts against the
Holy See. “ How did it happen,” says Monseigneur Parisis, “ that
the peace concluded at Florence was disturbed within a few
months ; and by what means had the schism asserted its power,
within four years after the council, in all the points comprised in
the decree of union ? It was the work of the popular feeling, of
the spirit of the masses, a spirit of division helped on by the
action of i liera, by the silence and inaction of bishops. The

Ô9S

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

emperor made fruitless efforts to assert the supreme power
before which all had been wont to bow ; he was accused of hav
ing betrayed his religion and dishonored his throne. Tho
bishops in vain appealed to the confidence of their flocks ; they
were contemptuously styled azyinites and apostates. The
popular prejudice was kept alive, and fanned into fanaticism
against the partisans of Rome, so that, in 1444, the emperor,
finding most of the prelates who had signed the act borne
down by the torrent of schism, was powerless to fulfil the terms
of the treaty which he had signed in the face of the world.”
18. The two Councils of Basle and Florence had lasted
during the whole Pontificate of Eugenius IV. He died on the
23d of February, a.d. 1447, at the moment when Germany was
on the point of abandoning the neutral position it claimed to hold
between the two obediences, to declare openly for the lawful
Pontiff. Æneas Sylvius, who had acted as secretary to the
Council of Basle, was charged by Frederick III. to arrange the
terms of reconciliation, as ambassador of Germany. “ Holy
Father," said the envoy, when presented to the Pope, “ before
submitting the message of the emperor, allow me to say a word
concerning myself. I have spoken, written and done many
things at Basle against your authority. I was in error ; and
I wandered in company with great men, with justly renowned
doctors. Yet I had no wish to injure Your Holiness ; I only
sought to serve the Church. I was afterward convinced of the
unlawful character of the Council of Basle; I withdrew from it
at once, yet not to throw myself into the arms of your mercy,
as did most of the others. 1 feared to strike upon a new shoal
while trying to avoid the one I had already discovered. I have
spent three years in the emperor’s court, in this state of neutral­
ity. The conferences which I have since held with your legates
have completely convinced me of the justice of your cause.
Now I know and firmly believe that justice and truth are on
your side. It is this which has led the emperor to chooso me
for this mission. I have sinned through ignorance; I en’teat
Your Holiness to absolve a repentant sinner.” We know not

NICHOLAS V. (A. D. UM-1465).

599

that history can furnish any thing more noble, more truly great,
han a retraction so frank and sincere. The heart that was
apable of these lofty sentiments was yet to embrace in its love
the care of all the churches. Eugenios not only pardoned
Æneas Sylvius, but attached him to his own person as hia
secretary.

§ III. Pontificate

of

Nicholas V. (March 6, a. d. 1447—March
24, 1455).

19. The work of reconciliation was not broken off by the death
of Eugenius IV. His successor, Thomas Sargano, cardinal of
Bologna, who took the name of Nicholas V., signed the concor­
dat between the Holy See and Germany, drawn up by the Car­
dinal-legate Carvajal (a. d. 1448). All the claims against the exac­
tions of collectors and the abuses of ecclesiastical administrators
were fully satisfied. Episcopal elections were restored to their
primitive condition. Each church named its pastor, who was
then to receive the confirmation of his authority from the Sov­
ereign Pontiff. This concordat served as a foundation to the
ecclesiastical jurisprudence of Germany, until 1803. Its ratifi­
cation was a death-blow to the schism. Charles VII. of France
had lately sent an unconditional act of submission to Nicholas
V. Under the circumstances, Felix V., who had reluctantly
accepted his questionable dignity, saw that it was time to offer
his submission too. He transmitted it to Rome through Charles
VII., who arranged the terms, in concert with the Pope. Nicho­
las received, with merciful indulgence, the propositions which
were to put an end to the schism. On the 9th of April, 1449,
Amadeus solemnly declared that he renounced the Sovereign
Pontificate; the Pope made him cardinal of Santa-Sabina, dean
of the Sacred College, and perpetual legate of the Roman court
in Savoy. He moreover granted him the right to wear the Pon­
tifical insignia, excepting the fisherman’s ring, the cross upon his
slippers, and a few prerogatives attached to the person of the
Pope himself. Amadeus, however, made but little use of these

800

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

privileges. He returned to his peaceful solitude at Ripaille,
where he died ft holy death in 1451.
20. The Greek empire was now in a truly pitiable condition.
In 1442, Eugenius IV. had preached a Crusade against the
Turkish sultan Amurath II. Ladislas Jagello, a pious, just
and valiant prince, the idol of his subjects, then wore the two
crowns of Hungary and Poland. He was proclaimed leader of
the Holy War. Ever at his side shone his illustrious general,
John Hunyades, whose exploits are known to the whole Chris­
tian world, and whose very name was so terrible to the Ottomans
that they used it to frighten their perverse children, as Jancus
Lain, or the Wicked. The Pope made over to Ladislas the income
of the Peter-pence, to meet the expenses of the Holy War. A
fleet of fifty galleys, equipped by Eugenius IV. and commanded
by Cardinal Julian,
*
as Apostolic legate, sailed toward the
Bosphorus, while the Christian legions crossed the Danube and
marched triumphantly to Sophia, the capital of Bulgaria. Two
great victories over Amurath (July, a. d. 1444) opened the way to
Constantinople. But the Crusaders forgot themselves in their
success, and the sultan gave them cause to repent most bitterly
their careless inaction. On the 10th of November he attacked
the Christian army on the plain of Varna. Hunyades with his
wonted impetuosity charged and routed the left wing of tho
Mussulmans, while Ladislas with his cavalry pierced their cen­
tre and reached the Sultan himself. The two monarchs were
about to engage in personal com'bat, when the King of Hungary,
borne down by numbers, fell covered with wounds. His death

NICHOLAS V. (A. D. 1447-1405).

gQ|

fell, died w’thout glory, in 1449. He was succeeded by Con­
stantine Dragases, whose heroic death redeemed, at least to
some extent, the inglorious end of the Lower Empire. The
name of Constantine seemed fated to attend the rise and the
fall of the Byzantine empire.
21. Amurath was succeeded by his son Mahomet IL, upon
whom the Turks bestowed the title of Great, “ doubtless,” says
Fleury, “ because he never showed any thing like moderation
in pride, avarice, rapine, perfidy, cruelty, in all manner of licen­
tiousness, and especially in impiety.” Immediately upon his
accession to the throne, his first care was to add these words
vo the public prayers, in all the mosques : “ The best prince is
he who shall capture Constantinople ; the best army shall be
his.” These significant words soon became the watchword
throughout the Mussulman army. In 1452, six thousand
workmen, under the personal superintendence of the sultan,
were engaged in building a fortress upon the right bank of the
Bosphorus, within the imperial domain, for the purpose of in­
tercepting the Greek commerce in the Black Sea, and the forces
that might be sent to the help of the Eastern capital. Con­
stantine protested against this violation of his territory, at first
in moderate terms. “ Go tell your master," answered the Mus­
sulman to the Greek ambassadors, “ that the sultan who reigns
to day is not like his predecessors, and that their highest am­
bition did not reach the bounds of his present power.” Palæologus replied like a Christian and a soldier: “ Since neither
oaths nor treaties are able to secure peace, I shall do my duty,
1 shall defend my people ; with them I can couquer or die.”
Three hundred thousand Turks sat down before Constanti­
nople, which was defended by ten thousand men. Palæologus
had written to Pope Nicholas V., asking for help in his great
danger, and urging him to send a legate to Constantinople, to
attempt to recall the schismatics. The Sovereign Pontiff ad­
dressed the most earnest appeals to all the Western courts, to
arouse the zeal of the Christian princes, and to rekindle the
spirit of the Holy Wars in the hearts of the people. Venice and

C02

GENERAL HISTORY JF THE CHURCH.

Genoa alone answered the Pontiff’s call to arms. They could
best appreciate the importance of the crisis, since their com­
mercial relations were more frequent with the countries now
held by the Turks. Their notions of geography were far su­
perior to those of most European nations at that time; they
sent their troops to swell the ranks of the Greek emperor and
bring him, not the hope of victory, but the means of holding
out longer in his desperate resistance. Tbs Latin auxiliaries
were received with curses by the people of Byzantium. Re­
ligious antipathies and the hatred of the schismatics against
the Catholics, had never raged with more fury. Constantine
Palæologus, a hero worthy of the brightest days of chivalry, a
model of the purest patriotism, was assailed by his shameless
subjects with the bitterest and most insulting taunts. “ Away
with them !" cried the Greeks ; “ we want no Latin allies !
Away with the worship of the azymi tes !” The popular frenzy
reached even the higher classes ; and the Grand-Duke Notaras
was heard to say : “ For my part, I would rather see the
turban of Mahomet than the Pope’s tiara, in Constantinople.”
Cardinal Isidore, the legate sent by Pope Nicholas, at the re­
quest of the Greek emperor, was not spared by the violence
of the schismatics. “ Wait,” they cried, “ until the city is de­
livered from the attack of the fierce sultan, and we will show
you whether we are reconciled to the azymites.” A demoniac
named Scholarius went about through the most populous portions
of the city, fanning the flame of discord. “ Why will you give
up your faith ?” he exclaimed. “ With your faith you must lose
your city. Do not trust the Italians. If you submit to them.

troops fought like
■ Constantine Palæthe assaults of the
• Mahomet’s personal
-he walls. The beif darts, javelins and
iperor encouraged bif

NICHOLAS V. (A. D. 1Μ7-14ΛΛ)

603

soldiers by word and example ; he was always found where
danger threatened. He knew no rest; his days were spent in
combat, his nights in directing the repair of the walls shattered
or broken down by the besiegers. He had kept up this heroio
resistance for nine months. Mahomet, despairing of victory
over such determined valor, planned and executed one of those
daring feats of strategy which change the fortune of war and
compel the admiration of history. His fleet of eighty ships
rode at anchor in the Bosphorus ; but the strong defences of
the city on the water side made it comparatively useless. He
conceived the thought of conveying all the ships, by land, to
the Golden Horn, the port of Constantinople, protected only
by iron chains which could be easily broken. The Turkish
fleet was drawn, by main strength, along an inclined plane of
well-greased planks, and on the following morning was anchored
in the port of Byzantium. “ Within a few days,” said Mahomet
II., “ Constantinople shall hold my throne or my grave.” Tho
29th of May, a. d. 1453, was the day appointed for the assault.
Palæologus, equal in this crisis to the greatest heroes of
antiquity, spent the night in the discharge of his last religious
duties ; then quitting the palace of his fathers, which he was
never again to behold in life, he armed himself, mounted his
horse, called together his handful of brave warriors in the
Hippodrome and thus addressed them : “ Companions in arms,
we go to our last triumph or to our last hour ! Glory awaits
us, our country calls! The spirits of our departed heroes look
down upon us at this moment ! I shall share with you all the
dangers of the field, as well as the glorious fruits of victory.
But if Constantinople must fall, I shall find a grave beneath its
ruins.” Such was the testament of the last Greek emperor.
The Turks entered the city and massacred its defenders.
Seeing his troops cut to pieces about him, and the last hope
ol success destroyed, Constantine threw himself into the thick­
est of the fight and received the welcome stroke of death. All
the heroism of its last prince was unavailing to save the Lower
Empire from the punishment deserved by the unprincipled

604

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

faithlessness and cruelty of so many unworthy predecessors.
Byzantium fell after an existence of eleven hundred and
twenty-three years from the time of Constantine the Great.
23. In less than two hours, fifty thousand Byzantines had
become bondmen, to be scattered over the vast Asiatic empire
of Mahomet II. Some more fortunate Greeks found shelter in
the Venetian galleys anchored in the Golden Horn, and sailed to
Italy, bearing with them, beside the pang of forced exile, the
precious manuscripts of ancient Greek literature and of the
Fathers of the Church; noble monuments of human genius,
which they had snatched from the flames that laid waste their
homes.
The Pope received the exiles with the twofold respect
due to genius and to great misfortunes. Theodore Gaza of
Thessalonica; Calchondyles; George of Trebizond ; John Argyropules and Gemistes Pletho, of Constantinople, brought to
the West these literary treasures which would only have ex­
cited the contempt of the ferocious sultan. Nicholas V. showed
a splendid liberality toward these martyrs of science, who re­
paid his hospitality by enriching the Vatican library with rare
manuscripts. Thus the hour of ruin for Constantinople was
that which gave a new impulse to letters in Italy. By a re­
markable coincidence, this revival took place at the very time
when Guttemberg discovered, at Mentz, the wonderful art of
printing, which was destined to perpetuate and carry abroad
human thought and to open to modern civilization hitherto un­
trodden paths. A brilliant invention which was destined to
make human language, in the hands of coming generations, a
potent lever of usefulness or a fearful hammer of destruction.
A two-edged sword, equally powerful for good or for evil, de­
serving of all praise for the good, and of maledictions for the
evil, it has done and will yet do in the world.
24. Mahomet had the wisdom to secure the fruits of his
victory by moderation. He even pretended to consider himself,
to a certain extent, the successors of the Greek emperors and
to exercise their rights. Finding the patriarchal see of Con-

t 1

605

CALTXTTJ8 ΠΤ. (A. D. 1455-1488)

itanti no pie vacant, he ordered an election and conferred tho
investiture with the usual ceremonial and formula. Thus these
proud metropolitans, styling themselves ecumenical, who had
thrown off the guardian authority of the s accessors of St
Peter, of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, now saw themselves de­
graded to the point of receiving their pastoral staff from the
hands of an unbelieving barbarian whose tools they would
thenceforth become. The most important result of the fall of
Constantinople was the establishment of the Turkish empire io
its formidable unity. The war between the Gospel and the
Koran was now to be waged upon the boundaries of the Chris­
tian States and of European Turkey. We shall now find re­
corded on every page of history the attempts of the Turks to
invade Europe and the efforts of the Popes to repel and crush
them. This constant struggle lasts until our own day. Pope
Nicholas V. inaugurated the holy war and made every effort,
during the years 1454 and 1455, to form a great league of all
the Christian princes against Mahomet II. He seemed to be
upon the point of gathering the fruit of his labors, when death
put an end to his glorious reign (March 24, a. d. 1455).

§ IV. Pontificate

of

Calixtus III. (April 8,
August 6, 1458).

a. d.

1455—

25. Cardinal Alphonsus Borgia, bishop of his native city of
Valencia, in Spain, was seventy-eight years of age when the
votes of his colleagues called him to the Papal throne, upon
which he sat as Calixtus III. St. Vincent Ferrer had foretold
his elevation. Though at an age when men are wont to lose
their native energy, the new Pope still kept his youthful vigor
unimpaired. On the day of his exaltation, he uttered the solemn
vow : “ In the name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, I
swear to pursue to the death, by every means in my power, the
infidel Turks, those cruel enemies of the Christian name.” He
kept his word. Æneas Sylvius was sent to all the Europeat
courts tn organize the Crusade·, while the illustrious St. Juho

606

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHÜRCH.

Capistran, of the Order of St. Francis, was appointed to preach
it in Germany. The emperor and the Kings of France, Eng­
land, Aragon, Castile and Portugal, promised their cooperation
The Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, had taken the cross­
end pledged his word as a knight to rescue Constantinople from
the Mussulman yoke. This general movement in favor of the
Holy War warranted the brightest anticipations. Mahomet II.
had likewise ordered the most extensive military preparations.
One of his viziers ventured a respectful inquiry concerning the
object of the formidable armament. “ Were a single hair of my
beard conscious of my design,” answered the sultan, “ I should
pluck it out and burn it” On the 3d of June. a. d. 1456, an
Ottoman force of one hundred and fifty thousand men appeared
before Belgrade. The young king, Ladislas VI., fled from
Vienna. Europe was open to the Turks. John Hunyades be­
came its bulwark ; and the great captain was ably seconded by
St. John Capistran. The great Franciscan had already acquired
a high renown by his preaching, in Bohemia, against the Huss­
ites. He was revered by the people as a prophet, and Calixtus
could have chosen no better leader for the Crusaders he was
sending to Hungary. The Christian princes had not kept
their promise. The ardor for the Holy War proved but
a passing enthusiasm, which fell as rapidly as it had risen. All
the Pontiff’s efforts to rekindle the flame were useless. Hope­
less of arousing the West, the Pope would at least call upon
Heaven to rescue threatened Hungary. He ordered that in
every parish church in Europe the bells should be rung at
noon, to remind the faithful to pray for the defenders of Chris­
tianity, then fighting against the Turks. Indulgences were
granted to all who should, at the sound of the bells, recite ouce
the Lord’s Prayer and the Angelical Salutation, for that inten­
tion. This was the origin of the Angelus, which the custom of
the Church has consecrated and preserved down to our own day.
Compelled to rely upon his own scanty force, Hunyades per­
formed prodigies of valor. St. John Capistran, with no other
weapon than a crucifix, was ever in the breach, inspiring the

PIUS ÎL (A. D. 146»-14β4).

607

Christian warriors with a superhuman courage. Ail fell before
these heroes, and the proud sultan, seriously wounded, withdrew
his shattered forces in a frenzy of rage (August 6, 1456).
Had Europe now seconded the Sovereign Pontiff’s efforts, the
Turks must assuredly have lost the empire of Constantinople
But all the western princes were occupied with national inter­
ests or ambitious rivalry ; and to crown the train of evils,
Hunyades, the glorious liberator of Belgrade, and St. John
Capistran, died within the year which their triumph hadimmor
talized ; the Turks continued to threaten the Catholic world
with their ever-growing power.
The Pontificate of Calixtus III. was shortened by his grief at
the cold indifference of the Christian rulers. Deeply versed in
jurisprudence, he instituted a thorough investigation of the trial
of Joan of Arc and vindicated the memory of the heroic Maid.
His resolute firmness commanded respect for the power of which
he wielded the sceptre. Juan II., king of Aragon, of whose
kingdom Calixtus was a native, thought to rule him still upon
the Papal chair. The king’s ambassadors were instructed to ask
the Pope upon what terms they should live : “ Let him rule
his States,” replied the Pope, “ and leave me to govern the
Church.” History has but one reproach to bring against Calix­
tus : the promotion to the cardinalate of his nephew, Roderico
Lenzuoli, whom he allowed to assume the name of Borgia, and
who afterward sat in the Papal chair as Alexander VI.,
though his habits and manner of life were far from suitable to
a minister of the altar. Calixtus died at the age of eighty
years (August 6, a. d. 1458).
§ V. Pontificate of Pius II. (August 27, a. d. 1458—Augus»
14, 1464).
26 The chair of Peter may receive a new incumbent ; it
can never admit a new line of policy in regard to the great in­
terests of the world. At the death of Calixtus III. the vote·
of the assembled cardinals fell upon Æneas Sylvius, who had

608

GENERAL HISTORY OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

icted as secretary to the Council of Basic, and whose noble re­
traction before Eugenius IV. we have had occasion to record
His election to the Sovereign Pontificate was due to his vast
Knowledge, his elo pience, skill and prudence in the discharge
of his difficult duties. As poet, historian and orator, he has
left a glorious name. At his accession he took the name of
Pius II., and openly declared his intention of carrying on his
predecessor’s plans for the Holy War. He formed the design
of calling a general assembly to discuss the means of carrying
out the important expedition. The city of Mantua was ap­
pointed as the place of meeting and the time fixed for the 1st
of June, a.d. 1459. All the kings and princes of Europe were
invited to attend in person or by their ambassadors. To the last­
ing disgrace of the age, the appeal of the Sovereign Pontiff
was once more unheeded. Cyprus, Rhodes, Lesbos, Albania,
Epirus, Bosnia and Illyria—in other words, only the provinces
immediately threatened by the Turkish invasion—sent their
representatives ; but they met with no encouragement from the
western nations. Pius II. wept as he spoke of the danger
which threatened Europe, of the need of prompt and energetic
succor. He offered all the resources at his command and
directed that all the revenues of the Holy See, in every
Catholic kingdom, should be devoted to the purposes of the
Crusade. France refused to pay her subsidies ; the Parliament
appealed from the Pope’s decree to the next general council.
Charles VII., whose reign was drawing to a close amid an un­
hoped-for prosperity, utterly forgot the duty of gratitude tc
Providence, and did not second the generous efforts of Pius II.
Germany, whose interest and resources should have called it
first into the field against Mahometanism, was wholly given up
to civil strife. England was prodigally shedding its best blood
in the wars of the roses. Aragon was engaged in an attack
upon Catalonia. The south of Italy was also becoming a field
of unceasing struggles. The often disputed kingdom of Naples
was divided between the factions of René of Anjou and Ferdi­
nand I. of Aragon, a natural son of Alfonso the Magnanimous

Plüfl Tl. (A. D.

600

Ferdinand had been adopted by Joanna II. ae her heir; but
his succession was disputed by the Duke of Anjou, who
sought to revive the claims of his family to the throne so re­
peatedly contested and never definitively conquered.
27. Amid the complicated struggles which were exl lusting
the Christian world, Pius II. saw that his first duty was to se­
cure universal peace. He began with Italy, and, as suzerain
of Naples, pronounced between the two competitors. Ferdinand
commanded the sympathies of the people over whom he had
been reigning for a year (a. d. 1458). The cruel and crafty
disposition of the prince had not yet had time to display itself
openly, and public opinion was in his favor. Under the circum­
stances, the Pope did not hesitate to confer upon him the in
vestiture of the Neapolitan States. This decision was the more
disinterested, as, hitherto, the Popes had generally shown a
leaning toward the ’’'•••sc of Anjou. But Charles VII. was a
stranger to the generous policy which acts only upon the lofty
motives of general good and public peace. He sent ambassa­
dors to Mantua to protest against the Pope’s decision and to put
forward the claims of the French prince. Pius vindicated his
policy in a clear and energetic reply which lasted no less than
three hours. “ We are astonished,” said the Pope, in conclu­
sion, “ that France should have expected the investiture of Na­
ples, in favor of one of her sons, while she yet pretends to en­
force a fraudulent contract, openly hostile to the Holy See ;
we mean the Pragmatic Sanction. It is made a fundamental
law of the State ; and it is attempted to put forward, as an
ordinance of the Church, the most injurious act ever set up
against the Pontifical authority.” It will be remembered that
the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VII. was framed in the
States-General of Bourges, during the sessions of the Council
of Basle and in perfect conformity with the views of that
assembly.
28. The closing words of the Pope’s reply were, therefore,
a formal disavowal of the Council of Basle, of which Ænea·
Sylvius had boon secretary. To mark still more clearly rhe
vœ. Π1—3»

610

GENERAL HISTORY OF ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

difference between th<
* Chancellor of Basle and the Sovereign
Pontiff. Pins II. determined to publish a solemn bull, condemn·
mg. in the face of the whole world, all that had been done at
Basle against the lawful authority of Eugenius IV. This duty
he discharged with a self-forgetfulness and frankness-which won
universal admiration. “ We are human,” said the Pontiff, “ and,
as such, subject to the weakness and ignorance of humanity.
Among the things We may have said or written before Our pro­
motion, many are censurable; We wandered because misled;
We persecuted the Church of God through ignorance. Like
the great Augustine, We do not hesitate to retract the errors
that may exist in our discourses or writings. Then, I spoke and
acted like a youth; now, receive the word of an old man; lis­
ten to the Sovereign Pontiff rather than to a private individual;
discard Æneas Sylvius and hear Pius Π.” After a declaration
so clear and explicit, the Pope was free to follow the course he
had marked out for himself. On the 18th of January, a.d. 1459.
he published the famous bull Execrabilis, unreservedly con­
demning any appeal from the Pontifical decision to that of a
future council. “ It has been reserved for our age,” says the
Pope, “to witness an execrable abuse, unknown to all former
time. Driven on by a spirit of insubordination, some rebellious
spirits claim the right of invalidating the sentence of the Roman
Pontiff, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, to appeal to a future council.
Who can fail to see tbe fallacy of refusing the decision of a
certain tribunal to seek that of a tribunal not yet in existence
and not even convoked? The most limited notion of canon-law
must suffice to show bow prejudicial such a system would prove
to the Church of God. Anxious to remove from the flock of
Christ so dangerous a poison, by the advice of our Venerable
Brethren the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, of all the
prelates and jurists of Our court, We condemn these appeals,
We censure them as unlawful, and forbid any one, under penalty
of excommunication, ipso facto, to make any such appeal in
future.” The spirit which dictated this decree was the same
that animated a Gregory VII. and an Innocent III.

PTÜ3 Π. (A. D. 14ββ-14β4).

611

29. The publication of the bull aroused a fearful storm in
France. The University of Paris, the bulwark of Gallicanism,
still held to the teaching of Basle. It had learned with favor
able anticipations the promotion of Æneas Sylvius to the chair
of St. Peter, not doubting that the Pope would prove faithful
to the traditions of the chancellor The wreck of these flatter­
ing hopes called forth the full force of its displeasure. Charles
commissioned the Parliament to examine the bull. It was a
strange pretension in the eldest son of the Church, to clothe
a body of civil magistrates with the power of changing Apos­
tolic ordinances to suit their own views. Deep indeed must be
the blindness with which party-spirit affects even tbe strongest
minds, since for so many centuries this enormous inconsistency
was allowed to pass unnoticed ! The procurator-general,
Dauvet, appealed from the bull to a future council, and had his
appeal registered in the parliamentary court. Charles was
highly gratified by this expression of the magistracy against
the Pontifical authority, little dreaming that the opposition now
displayed against the Pope would at a later day be turned
against the royal authority. Excessive abuse of power ever
brings its own punishment with it, and, in a historical point of
view, it is but too true that children must bear the punishment
of their fathers’ faults.
30. The death of Charles VII. (a. d. 1461) put an end to
the disputes which seriously threatened the peace of the
Church. The crown of France descended to Louis XI. By
nature harsh, gloomy and intriguing ; bold in prosperity, but
timid to excess under reverses ; habitually penurious, but liberal
by policy ; devout even to superstition, and regardless, when
his interest was at stake, of the most solemn oaths ; ?ourti ng
popularity by a feigned condescension, while the walks of his
park at Plessis-les-Tours were set with traps ; cold and calcu­
lating in his cruelty, and sporting with bis victims before im­
molating them—the new king came to the throne with a de­
termined plan of action, with ideas long matured. He had re­
solved to build up tne royal power upon the ruins of the

612

GENERAL HISTORF OF ΤΠ· CHÜRCH.

aristocracy, and pursued his object through the most tortuous
paths, overturning nil that stood in the way of his design. The
acquisition of Burgundy, Maine, Anjou, Provence, Cerdagne
and Roussillon, were the fruits of his policy. It cost the lives
of Charles the Bold, of the Count of Armagnac, Charles d'Albret. the Duke of Nemours, the Constable de Saint-Pol and
of several other notable characters. “ But,” said Louis, “such
are the fruits of the tree of war.” Louis XI. inaugurated his
reign by removing all the officers who had until then managed
the affairs of state, and gave their places to those whom his
father had discarded. He intended to enter upon a totally dif­
ferent line of policy. The Pragmatic Sanction, maintained by
Charles VII. as a fundamental constitution, was included in
the general condemnation of the preceding system. “ We
deem the act detrimental to Your authority and to the rights
of the Holy See," wrote Louis to the Pope. “ Produced by a
season of schism and sedition, it can tend only to the over­
throw of law and order, since it hinders the free exercise of
the legislative power attached to Your dignity. It destroys
subordination in the Church ; and, under its protection, the
bishops of our realm are raising up an edifice of license ; the
unity and uniformity which should exist in Christian States
is thus broken. Therefore do we annul and revoke the Prag­
matic Sanction in all the States under our authority, and
Testore every thing to the condition in which it was before the
appearance of that edict. Be assured that, henceforth, the
prelates of the French Church shall be subject to Your decrees,
and act in perfect harmony with Your Holiness." This nego­
tiation had been intrusted by Louis to John Geoffrey, bishop
of Arras, who returned from his mission with the cardinal’s
hat. The measure was, however, received with general dis­
approval in France. The Universily of Paris and the Par­
liament remonstrated on the subject with tho king. Louis re­
served to himself the right of violating the promises he had
just made to the Pope. His respectful demonstrations wen
but a feint, to give to his opening reign, in the eyes of Europe

PIÜ8 II. (A. D. U58-14M;.

613

the support and concurrence of the Holy See. In reality, the
Pragmatic Sanction continued, at least in its more important
provisions, to rule with force of law until 1515, when the final
concordat was concluded between Leo X. and Francis I.
31. Meanwhile Mahomet II. had planted the standard of
the Prophet in the islands of Lemnos, Lesbos and NegroponL
The heroic resistance of Scanderbeg, worthy heir to the glory
of John Hunyades, was the only barrier to his progress in
Epirus. The ambassadors of Greece again came to the Sov­
ereign Pontiff for help; and again did Pius IL appeal to the
Christian princes to make head against the common enemy.
His appeal was unheeded. He then resolved to address Ma­
homet himself, in the hope that the unsearchable workings of
Providence might, by this, stay the scourge which threatened
Europe. “ Your victory, till now, has been over the Greeks,”
wrote the Pope to the sultan. “ because the Greeks were not,
in the true sense, Christians. You have no idea of the power of
the West, which you have not yet encountered in the field. If
you would but examine the dogmas of the religion of Christ,
you could not fail to perceive their superiority over the teach­
ings of Mahomet. By embracing the true faith and receiving
baptism, you would strengthen your empire and crown your
name with immortal glory. Clovis, among the Franks, Recarede, the Goth, the Roman Constantine, have led the way.
You would then become the lawful possessor of what you have
usurped by violence and enjoy by injustice." As might have
been anticipated, this exhortation was powerless with the
sultan. He carried on his warfare with renewed violence.
Still the Pope was not disheartened. “ We have but one
means left,” he said to the cardinals, “ to move the Christian
princes to engage in the Holy War. We must enforce Our pre­
cepts and prayers by Our own example. It may be that when
they see the Roman Pontiff, their father, the Vicar of Jesus
Christ, marching, in person, against the Turks, their hearts will
reproach them for their coldness and inaction.” The Sacred
College applauded the heroism of the Sovereign Pontiff, and a

614

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

bull, dated October, a. d. 1463, acquainted the Catholic world
with the high-soulcd resolution of the Vicar of Christ. The Pope
announced that he would proceed to the port of Ancona, where
a Venetian fleet was in readiness to receive him, and that he
would go in person to fight the Unbelievers. Pius accordingly
went to Venice, where he was joined by the Doge and the
troops of the Republic. As he was on the point of setting sail,
death interrupted his journey (August 4, 1464), and thwarted
the projects he had formed for the glory of Christendom

PAUL Π. (X D. 1464-1471).

615

CHAPTER V.
|< I. PoNTiriCAiM of Paul II. (August 31, a. d. 1464—July 26, 1471)

I. Election of Paul Π. Scanderbeg.—2. Paul deposes Podiebrad, king of
Bohemia, and gives his place to Uladislaa.—3. Question of the Pragmatie
Sanction resumed.—4. Cardinal de la Balue.—5. Prudent administration
of Paul II. Death of the Pope.

§ II. Pontificate

of

Sixtus IV. (August 9, a.

d.

1471—August 13, 1484).

3. Efforts of Sixtus IV. to organize a Crusade against the Turks.—7. Peter
d’Aubusson. Siege of Rhodes. Death of Mahomet Π.—8. Revolution in
Florence. Execution of Francis Salviati, archbishop of Pisa. The city of
Florence placed under interdict. League of the Italian principalities with
France against Sixtus IV.—9. Policy of the Sovereign Pontiffs in Italy
Death of Sixtus IV.—10. Death of Louis XI. St. Francis of Paola.
§ IIL Pontificate

of

Innocent VIII. (August 29, a. d. 1484—July 24, 1492).

II. Contest in the East for the succession of Mahomet Π. Bajazet I. Prince
Zizim.—12. Fruitless attempt of Bajazet upon Italy.—13. Troubles in
Naples.—14. Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic. Inquisition in Spain.
Torquemada.—16. Death of Innocent VIIL Pico della Mirandola.
I) IV. Pontificate of Alexander VI. (August 11, a. d. 1492—August 18»
1503).

16. Election of Alexander VI. His character.—17. Alexander divides th·
territory of the New World between the Kings of Spain and Portugal.—
18. Safety and order restored to Rome by Alexander. Ludovico Sforza, il
Moro, duke of Milan, calls the French into Italy.—19. The Roman noble·
submit to Charles VIII. Entry of Charles into Rome. Expedition against
Naples.—20. Punishment of the Roman nobles.—21. Savonarola.—22. Re­
volt of Savonarola against the auth»··ity of the Holy See. His execution.—
23. Accession of Louis XII. to the throne of France. New attempt upon
Italy. Death of Alexander VI.

§ V. Pontificate
24.

of

Pius III. (September 23, a. d. 1603—October 18, 1508)»

Election and death of Piua III.

616

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

J VI. 1’OKTIFICATB OF Jeune II. (November 1, a. d. 1503—February 21,1513),
«5. Character of Julius IL—26. League of the European rulers against the
Pepe. The false Council of Pisa deposes the Pope.—27. Seventeenth gen­
eral Council of Lateran.—28. Intellectual movement in Italy at this period.

fknainfanrt.

§ I. Pontificate

of

Paul IT. (August 31, a. d. 1464—July 26,
1471).

1. The cardinals were all at Ancona; but Pius II. had
enjoined them not to proceed to the election of his successor
until their return to Rome. They respected the wish of the
dying Pontiff; and, on their return to the Eternal City, elected
the Venetian cardinal, Nicholas Barbo, of the title of St. Mark,
who took the name of Paul II. During the conclave, the
cardinals renewed an attempt which had hitherto met with but
little success. Notwithstanding the canonical axiom : “Papa
electus ligari non potest,” they drew up an agreement by which
the future Pope was to bind himself : 1. To promote no one to
the cardinalate without the consent of the Sacred College ; 2.
To restore the ancient discipline of the Roman Court ; 3. To
convoke a general council within three years ; 4. To prosecute
the war against the Turks. The first act of the new Pope was to
annul the agreement, declaring that he felt himself bound to
the observance only of the last article ; and, to console the
cardinals in their disappointment at this check, he granted
them the privilege of wearing the purple dress and red hat,
until then exclusively used by the Popes.
Paul II. now turned his whole attention to the Eastern ex­
pedition. He gave the example by obliging himself to furnish
a yearly subsidy of a hundred thousand gold crowns to the
Hungarians, and the same sum to Scanderbeg, to defray the
expenses of the Turkish war. The Venetian fleet was joined
by twenty galleys, equipped by the Pontifical treasury. Car­
dinal Francis Piccolomini was sent, as Apostolic legate, to a
diet of the empire, and charged to preach the Crusade to the
assembled princes. The most brilliant promises were made to

PAUL II. (A. D. 1464-1471),

617

the nuncio. One hundred thousand Germans wore to be in
arms, within a year, to fly to the assistance of Hungary.
“ But these were mere words," say the contemporary historians
“Neither the victories of the Turks, nor the wretched con­
dition of Christendom, nor the zealous efforts of Paul II., in so
just and glorious a cause, were able to overcome the indiffer­
ence of the head and members of the empire.” They larked
the soul of Scanderbeg, who was popularly called the second
Alexander and the Christian Gideon. The hero, learning that
Mahomet II. had sent fifty thousand men to invest Croya, the
Albanian capital, hurried forward to the rescue, threw himself
• into the city, and, after a resistance of two months, forced the
Turks to raise the siege. A second attempt of the sultan was
not more successful. The province of Albania, poor and wasted
by war, rendered almost impassable by its many rugged defiles,
defended by a hero and by troops deemed unconquerable, was
a tho.n in the breast of the Turkish sultan. Hopeless of con­
quering Scanderbeg, Mahomet determined to have him mur­
dered. The treachery was discovered and the assassins put
to death. Scanderbeg did not long survive this attempt upon
his life. He died at Lissus (January 17, a. d. 1467). He had
been, for twenty-three years, the terror of the Turks, whom
he had beaten in twenty-two pitched battles, at a time when
all Europe trembled before them, and their power was at its
height.
2. These great military preoccupations did not impair the
zeal with which Paul II. guarded the integrity of the faith
and of ecclesiastical discipline. George Podiebrad, king of
Bohemia, had openly declared himself the protector of the
Hussites, and, like them, he loudly declared against the author­
ity of the Sovereign Pontiff, the temporal possessions of the
Church and episcopal rule. The Catholics of Bohemia brought
a formal charge against him, to the Holy See, and called for
his trial. Frederick III. of Germany vainly endeavored to
mediate in his favor. The investigation was carried on with
great activity, and Podiebrad was found guilty of perjury.

618

GENERAL HISTORV JP THE CHURCH.

sacrilege and heresy. It now only remained to pronounce tho
sentence. Paul II. hesitated ; he was not sufficiently satisfied
as to the disposition of Germany. But the Cardinal of Porto,
John Carvajal, whose decision was paramount in all doubtful
questions, dispelled the Pontiff's fears. “If human help fail
us,” he cried, “God Himself will arm to overthrow the designs
of the wicked. Let us first do our duty ; Providence will
provide for the rest.” The Pope accordingly pronounced his
final sentence on Christmas Day, a. d. 1466, in St. Peter's
church. Podiebrad was condemned as a heretic, and the
sentence pronounced him “deposed from the government of
Bohemia, which he had unjustly acquired and still more un­
justly administered.” The confidence of Carvajal was not de­
ceived. As soon as the judgment of the Holy See was known
in Bohemia, the nobles met together and offered the crown to
Matthias Corvinus, worthy son of the great Hunyades.
The
new king was crowned at Olmutz. However, a certain number
of the electors had given their votes to Uladislas, eldest son of
Casimir IV., king of Poland ; while Podiebrad himself was
not without adherents. The struggles between the various
claimants lasted until the death of Podiebrad (1470), when
Uladislas was acknowledged by all the States of the realm.
Thus, notwithstanding the decline of the Pontifical authority
in Europe, in consequence of the Great Western Schism, the
Papacy still exercised a sovereign power.
3. The Pope next proceeded to settle the question of the
Pragmatic Sanction, which had been agitated during the last
Pontificate. Geoffrey, cardinal of Arras, and John de la Baluo,
then bishop of Evreux and confidant of Louis XL, were in­
trusted with this negotiation ·, but the opposition of the Parlia­
ment was stronger than ever. The procurator-general, John de
Saint-Romain, obstinately refused to confirm the letters-patent
by which the king had revoked the edict. De la Baine used
every means at his command to overcome this stubborn resist­
ance ; his efforts were vain, though his zeal was rewarded by
promotion to the cardinalate. From the procurator-general he

PAUL Π. (A. D. 1464-1471).

ftl9

could obtain nothing but the positive assurance that he would
never consent to the abrogation of a law which he looked upon
as the safeguard of the kingdom. “ The revocation of the
Pragmatic Sanction,” said he, “would destroy the ancient order
of elections and throw the Church into a state of fearful dis­
order. The most distinguished subjects would hasten to Rome
to seek favors and gifts; the universities would thus be de­
prived of men of worth and able professors. Again, if the
edict were revoked, all the money of the kingdom would be
taken to Rome.” Such exaggerated statements will not bear
a serious examination. The old form of elections was precisely
that which Paul aimed at restoring. Should the distinguished
men visit Rome, the only inconvenience to be apprehended was
that the Pope would become personally acquainted with their
worth. They would then have been sent to the various posts
for which they were respectively fitted. The care of keeping
his money within his own kingdom might safely have been left
to Louis. The shallow arguments of the parliamentary official
were, in reality, but the protest of Gallicanism at bay. Still
the University of Paris strongly seconded the opposition of the
Parliament. The rector appeared officially before the legate
and declared that he appealed to the future council. Struck
by the energy of the movement, the representatives of Rome
dared not proceed further in the matter, which remained at
the same point during the reign of Louis XI.
4. Cardinal de la Balue, whose zeal had been so signally
displayed in this intricate affair, did not long remain in favor
with the suspicious monarch. The cause of his disgrace is not
clearly known. Without entering here upon discussions foreign
to our subject, it seems to us that the well-known character of
Louis XI. might alone suffice to explain it. However this may be,
the king imprisoned his late minister in an iron cage for a space
of eleven years (a. d. 1469-1480). In his quality of cardinal,
La Balue could be sentenced only by the Pontifical court. Paul
II. accordingly made the strongest protestations in favor of the
unfortunate captive. He sent five commissioners to France

620

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHÜRCH

with instructions to call the case before their tribunal and to
make the necessary investigations. But Louis XI. did not
readily drop the prey he had once seized. He refused all ex­
planation and kept his former favorite in the odious prison to
which he had consigned him. The Pope continued to protest
most earnestly against this act of arbitrary cruelty. His suc­
cessor, Sixtus IV., succeeded in obtaining the release of La
Balue, who withdrew to Rome, where the honors heaped upon
him soon healed the smart of his long and painful captivity.
5. Paul II. had not ceased to exhort the Christian princes
to a Crusade. He was beginning to believe that his prayers
and hopes would soon be granted, when he was snatched away
by a sudden death, on the 26th of July, a. d. 1471. His ad­
ministration was that of a firm and watchful Pontiff. He
signed a constitution forbidding all legates, governors and judges
of provinces, to accept any present whatever. This decree was
designed to do away with the venality which had so long dis­
graced the negotiations of ecclesiastical officers. As a relief to
the people and to make his rule more light, Paul decreed that
the custody of fortresses and the government of cities should
thenceforth be exclusively intrusted to ecclesiastics. Human
motives never influenced his choice in the collation of benefices.
“Ecclesiastical dignities,” he used to say, “ should be bestowed
with care, without regard to the prayers and recommendations
of influential persons, after a deep and mature examination of
the personal worth of the candidate.” To Paul II. is due the
first introduction, into Rome, of the art of printing, twenty-five
years after its first discovery by Guttemberg. “His highest
claim to glory," says Quirini, “is to have endowed the capital
of the world with the divine art of typography."

§ II. Pontificate of Sixtus IV. (August 9, a. d. 1471—August
13,1484).
6. The voice of the conclave first called to the Papal chair
Cardinal Bessarion, one of the most illustrious men of his time.

SIXTUS IV. (A. D. 1471-1484).

621

for learning, virtue and greatness of soul. But he excused
himself on the plea of his weight of eighty years, and turned
the suffrages upon his friend Francis della Rovere, cardinal of
the title of St. Peter ad vincula, who took the name of Sixtus
IV. The defence of Europe against the Turkish arms was
the unceasing care of the Papacy. History will always bear
witness, to the glory of the Sovereign Pontiffs, that they alone,
among all the Christian rulers, never lost sight of that sacred
duty and ever proved themselves the true representatives of
patriotism and civilization. Fired by the same zeal which had
animated his predecessors, the new Pope gave his first care to
the formation of a league against the Turks. To further this
design, he first thought of convoking a council at Rome, but the
Christian princes refused to send their ambassadors ; he then
determined to carry on the work by means of his legates. The
Cardinal of Aquileia was sent to Germany, Hungary and Po­
land ; Cardinal Bessarion to France, and Cardinal Borgia to
Spain. Cardinal Caraffa was appointed to the chief command
of the fleet, consisting of the Pontifical squadron, with those of
Venice and Naples. The Cardinal of Aquileia, unable to re
concile the German princes among themselves, returned without
having effected any thing. Cardinal Bessarion met with no
better success in France, where Lovis XI. was busy with
expeditions less distant than that against Turkey. Borgia,
though splendidly received in his native country, Spain, only
succeeded in amassing on his own account a large sum of
money, which he lost on his return by a shipwreck, barely
escaping with his life. Cardinal Caraffa alone was successful.
His combined fleet took possession of Attalia and Smyrna after
a successful engagement with the Turks.
7. Mahomet Π. led his hosts against the island of Rhodes
only to cover with undying glory a name ever illustrious on thb
page of history. A hero of the stamp of Ilunyades and Scauderbeg, Peter d’Aubusson, grand master of the Knights of St.
John of Jerusalem, belonged, by paternal descent, to the noble
line of the counts of la Marche, and was allied, through hie

622

GENERAL nrSTORT OP THE CHURCH.

mother, to the royal race of England. The blood of heroes that
flowed in hie veins, naturally called him to deeds of glory,
which proved him worthy of his descent and superior even to
his ancestors. On learning the approach of Mahomet, Peter
d’Aubusson called the knights of his order from all parts of
Christendom to Rhodes. “ The enemy is at our gates," he
wrote; “the sultan places no bounds to his ambitious designs,
while his power is daily growing more formidable. His count­
less hosts are led by able officers and maintained by an im­
mense treasure. We have no hope but our own valor, and we
are lost unless we can meet the foe ourselves. Hasten, then,
with equal zeal and courage, to the rescue of religion. Your
mother calls ; the tender mother that nourished and raised you
at her breast. Can there be any knight so lost to all feeling of
gratitude as to leave her to the fury of the Barbarians ?"
Every knight answered the appeal of the grand master ; with
one voice they swore to shed the last drop of their blood in
defence of the faith. To avoid all delay arising from a diver­
sity of commanders and the formality of councils, the chapter
requested D’Aubusson to take upon himself the entire control
of the military operations and financial concerns of the order,
which deemed it fitting to clothe him with this species of dic­
tatorship, during this season of danger. In the month of May,
a. d. 1480, the great Turkish fleet appeared before Rhodes ; it
consisted of one hundred and sixty ships, bearing an army of a
hundred thousand men, commanded by the renegade Missach
Palæologus, of the race of the last Greek emperor. During a
siege of two months, every means was tried to reduce the
island : assaults by day and by night, the constant fire of
heavy artillery, secret manœuvres to surprise, spies sent to
poison the grand master and to learn the weak points of the
place. Some of the knights, becoming disheartened, spoke of
a surrender. The grand master summoned them to his piesence. “ If any one of you,” he said, “ feels too unsafe here, the
harbor is not so closely blockaded that I may not find means to
eel you free. But while you choose to stay with me, let roe

SIXTUS IV. (A. D. 1471-14A4).

623

ont hear of composition, or I shall put you all to the sword ”
Ashamed of their passing weakness, the knights promised to
wash out the stain in their own or the Moslems’ blood ; and
they kept their word. The general assault was fixed for the
27th of July. Under cover of night, the Turks advanced in
good order, amid the deepest silence, scaled the ramparts without
meeting the slightest resistance, and unfurled their standards in
triumph on the walls. But for the dauntless energy and valor
of d’Aubusson, the fate of Rhodes was sealed. Perceiving the
danger which threatened, he seized his arms, and commanded
the great standard of the order to be raised. “ Forward, my
brethren,” he cried to the knights who surrounded him ; “ let
us rescue Rhodes or die beneath its ruins.” Two thousand
five hundred Turks stood in the breach and upon the rampart;
giving the order to charge, d’Aubusson was the first upon the
ladder; twice stricken down and wounded, twice he rose again,
and stood at length upon the rampart with his knights. Now
they fought on more equal terms and the Unbelievers began to
waver. Twelve janizaries, especially appointed by the apos
tate Palæologus, directed all their efforts against the intrepid
d’Aubusson. The brave commander bled profusely from five
deep and dangerous wounds. The knights entreated him to
withdraw from the scene of carnage. “ Let us die on this spot,”
he replied, “ rather than yield a step. Can we ever hope for a
more glorious occasion to die for our faith and duty ?" Such
words and such an example raised the Christians above them­
selves. Every man became a hero. The Turks fled in terror
and dismay, killing one another in the confusion of the rout.
Palæologus, sinking under shame and vexation at his defeat,
was forced to withdraw his shattered army. Rhodes was saved.
The tidings of this glorious triumph was received in all parts
of Europe with an enthusiastic burst of exultation ; and in tho
following year Peter d'Abusson was made a cardinal. Never
had more heroic blood ennobled the Roman purple. The baffled
sultan, furious at his defeat, revenged his shame upon the city
of Otranto, which was given up to flames and slaughter. The

624

GENERAL HFSTORV OF ΤΠΕ CHURCff.

number of Christians slain or led into bondage was estimated
at twelve thousand (August 11, 1480). Mahomet raised a
new army of three hundred thousand men, to attempt the
conquest of Italy. Judging by appearances, nothing could now
save Christendom from the coming danger, when the storm was
instantly dispelled by the death of Mahomet II., after a brief
illness, in the fifty-third year of his age (May 3, 1481).
8. Italy was still a prey to domestic strife. The house of
the Medici was beginning to fill the republic of Florence with
its glory; but as every elevation attracts some measure of envy
and hatred, the new dukes, Lorenzo and Julian, counted many
enemies among their fellow-citizens. The ancient line of Pazzi
was earnestly striving to regain its former power. Two pow­
erful factions thus contended for the sovereignty of Florence,
and soon dragged all the other States of Italy into the great
struggle. Sixtus IV. sent them his nephew, the Cardinal of
St. George’s, on a mission of peace. The Pazzi had organized
a conspiracy which only awaited a favorable moment for execu.
tion. During the solemn mass celebrated by the cardinal on
the 22d of April, a. d. 1478, the conspirators rushed upon the
two’Medici. The plot only half succeeded. Julian fell beneath
the daggers of the assassins ; Lorenzo contrived to escape with
a slight wound in the throat. The crime was avenged by the
public indignation. James Pazzi, who had been the leading
spirit in the whole conspiracy, was put to death with fifteen of
his accomplices, among whom was Francis Salviati, archbishop
of Pisa. The execution of a bishop, without previous trial or
judgment, without any recourse to the Holy See, was a serious
matter. The Pope could not allow the outrage to pass unpun­
ished, without lowering the dignity of the Apostolic chair in
the eyes of Europe. His conduct, in this matter, needed no
guidance from political motives ; and vainly have the historians
of the Medici tried to implicate him in the plot against Loicnzo
and Julian. Sixtus was utterly ignorant of its existence. Rome
received, at once, the account of the crime, of its arbitrary
punishment, and of the arrest of the Cardinal of St. George’s,

8LXTÜ8 IV. (Λ. D. 1411-1484).

626

who was thrown into prison as an accomplice of the Pazzi. Io
this state of things, the Pope felt bound to lay an interdict upon
the city of Florence and excommunicate Lorenzo de Medici.
An alliance was at once formed between the Florentines,
France, Venice and Milan. Under the influence of the league,
the bishops of Tuscany met together and appealed from the
Pope to a general council. Louis XL was. at the same time,
preparing new troubles for the Pope. He assembled the clergy
and nobles of the realm, at Orleans, to restore the Pragmatic
Sanction, which he had himself so repeatedly sought to annul,
at the same time sending ambassadors to the Pope, to beg the
removal of the interdict which weighed upon Florence, and the
punishment of the murderers of Julian de Medici. The Pon­
tiff’s situation was trying in the extreme. He had nobly up­
held the interests of the Holy See, and now saw himself threat­
ened, at once, by Louis XI. and by the most powerful republics
of Northern Italy. The Viscount de Lautrec, the French am­
bassador, was instructed, in the evezt of the Pope’s refusal to
comply with the wishes of the king, to pretest and to appeal
from the Pontifical judgment to that of the general council.
Sixtus IV. answered as became the Vicar of Jesus Christ.
“ The King of France,” he said, “ cannot think of restoring the
Pragmatic Sanction, without proving false to his conscience and
to the Laws of honor, since he has already publicly proclaimed
the injustice of the edict. If the ordinance be lawful, why did
he revoke it by formal decrees ? If it be contrary to canoni­
cal regulations, no law can effect its reestablishment. As for
the affairs of Florence, the judgment of ecclesiastics and the
direction of spiritual matters do not belong to the king; they
exclusively concern the head of the Church.” Lautrec there­
upon made his solemn protest, with an appeal to the future
council, and quitted Rome, leaving the Pope in a situation of
the greatest peril. The mediation of the German emperor,
Frederick III., however, brought it to a peaceful issue. He
persuaded the King of Franco and the Italian princes to send
their ambassadors to Florence, for the conclusion of some final
Vou in.—40

626

GENERAL HÏSTORT OF THE CHURCH.

ferme of accommodation. The treaty of peace was negotiated
by Lorenzo de Medici, and signed in 1480; Sixtus turned
against tho Infidels the arms which had threatened a renewal
of the fatal schism; he imposed upon the Venetian republic tho
duty of furnishing fifteen ships for the expedition against tho
Turks.
t
9. The death of Mahomet freed Italy from the greatest dan
ger with which it was ever threatened. The various republics
were reconciled, and Sixtus was building, in Rome, the Church
of Peace, as a lasting monument of the happy event. But the
spirit of faction was once more abroad, breathing discord into
all the States of the Peninsula, where each city erected its own
particular sovereignty, for the benefit of some powerful family.
This state of things imposed upon the Holy See the political
necessity of restoring unity of power by crushing the tyranny
of petty lords. This policy, thenceforth a duty for the Sov­
ereign Pontiffs, was inaugurated by Sixtus IV. with a firmness
worthy of his high character, and displayed in the remainder
of his laborious Pontificate, which closed in death on the L3th
of August, a. d. 14S4.
10. Louis XI. had sunk, before him, into the grave (Au­
gust 30, a.d. 1482). The approach of death filled his heart with
the most abject terror. The life he had led gave him more
cause than usual to dread the judgments of God, nor was his
conscience quieted by the thought of the leaden images of the
Blessed Virgin and the saints, which he always wore in his hat ;
of the many offerings made to the most venerated shrines;
by the predictions of his favorite astrologers, or the prescrip­
tions of the physicians whom he always kept about him. Italy
was, at this time, the scene of the wonderful miracles by which
God made known the holiness of St. Francis of Paula, an illus­
trious solitary of Calabria, and founder of the religious order
of Minims. He had retired, in 1425, to a frightful solitude
tmid his native mountains, where he was soon surrounded by
fervent disciples, prepared to undergo the sternest rigors of the
eremitical life. The faithful called them the hermits of St

6ÎXTUS TV. (A. D. 1411-1484).

627

Francis ; but the humble founder would have them look upon
themselves as the least in the ranks of religion, and bear the
lowly name, of Minims. Their rule was most austere, enjoin­
ing a strict and perpetual Lent. He perfected it by degrees,
drew up a second, for the religious of his institute, and a third
for the third order. This was the man whom Louis wished tc
see by his death-bed. He hoped, perhaps, that the prayers
of the saint would prolong a life to which he was bound by
so many ties. The envoys of the French king presented their
master’s letters to the solitary, who refused to comply with
their request. The King of Naples, whose intervention Louis
had requested, urged him to grant the favor; but Francis only
replied : “ Is it reasonable to undertake a journey of four hun­
dred leagues, for a prince who seeks only bodily health ?” The
saint’s resistance increased the impatience of the aged mon­
arch, and he entreated the Pope to use his all-powerful media­
tion. The arrival of a Papal briefat once drew the obedient reli­
gious from his loved solitude, and he set out for the royal resi­
dence of Plessis-les-Tours. His journey through Italy and the
southern provinces of France was a triumphal progress. At
Amboise, he was met by the dauphin ; near the castle, the king
himself came out to meet the saint, threw himself on his knees,
and, with tears in his eyes, begged him to obtain from God the
prolongation of his life. Francis promised the help of his
prayers, but exhorted him rather to attend to his soul, than to
seek the life of a body already weakened and reduced by
infirmities. Louis followed his advice, and died soon after,
imploring, with his last breath, the protection of the Blessed
Virgin. " Sweet Lady of Embrun,” he repeatedly exclaimed,
“ my good Mother, help me !” After the death of Louis, St.
Francis vainly begged the permission of his successors, Charles
VIII. and Louis XII., to return to Calabria. Neither monarch
was willing to lose the wise and holy counsels of the saint,
who died in 1508, in the monastery which he had founded at
Plessis-les-Tours.

β28

OENERAL BISTORT OP ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

§ III. Pontificate op Innocent VIII. (August 29, 1484—Julv
25, 1492).
11. The Cardinal of Melfi, John Baptist Cibo, of a noble
Genoese family, was chosen to succeed Sixtus IV., and took
(he name of Innocent VIII. Before receiving holy orders, he
had contracted a matrimonial alliance, and two of his children
still survived when he was raised to the chair of St. Peter.
Francis Cibo, the elder of the two, married the daughter of
Lorenzo de Medici, and became the founder of the princely
house of Massa. Though these antecedents were of a perfectly
honorable nature, the malice of some contemporaneous writers
has seized upon them to build up, against the youth of the new
Pope, the odious charges which grave historians have been too
slow to discriminate. The first glance of Innocent VIII. was
directed toward the East. The throne left vacant by Mahomet
II. had become a cause of intestine strife in the Ottoman empire.
Of his three sons, the eldest, Mustapha, was strangled by his
own order ; the growing renown and military prowess of the
young prince had awakened his father’s jealousy. The two
remaining princes, Bajazet and Zizim, contested the succession,
the more fiercely as Mahomet had appointed no successor
before his death. Bajazet founded his claim on the birthright
generally recognized in the East. Zizim, on the other hand,
appealed to the ancient custom of the Greek emperors, who
gave the throne to the Porpfryrogenitus, to the exclusion of the
other princes ; and Zizim was born after the capture of Con
stantinoplc. The civil war springing out of these rival claims
ended favorably for Bajazet. Zizim was defeated, and fled to
Rhodes to seek the protection of Grand Master Peter d’Aubusson. The person of a Turkish prince was a most important acqui­
sition, and one which might greatly forward the interests of the
Catholic world. All the Christian rulers were eager to offer
hospitality to Zizim. Matthias Corvinus, the king of Hun­
gary, who had won the glory of checking Mahomet II. in

INNOCENT VIII. (A. D. J4S4-HS2).

629

hie victorious career ; the Kings of Sicily and of Naples, whose
States were threatened by the continual inroads of the Turks,
severally claimed the privilege of receiving the fugitive prince,
but the advice of Charles VIII. prevailed ; the King of France
declared that the custody of such a charge should be intrust­
ed to Innocent VIII. This judgment was based upon the
credit and confidence then enjoyed by the Popes. Zizim ac­
cordingly set out for the capital of the Christian world. On
meeting Innocent, the Mussulman prince touched with his lips
the right shoulder of the Pontiff. It was a singular spectacle
—a claimant of the Turkish throne asking an asylum from the
head of Christendom. Bajazet looked upon his brother’s re­
ception by the European rulers as a threat of war ever hanging
over his head. Beside, Zizim proved himself in every way
worthy of the respect shown him in his honorable captivity.
His noble character had won the heart of the Sovereign Pontiff,
who tried to win his guest to the Christian faith. “ No, no,”
answered the young prince, “I would forsake my religion
neither for the Ottoman throne to which I yet aspire, nor for
the sovereignty of the whole world.” Innocent respected the
conscientious scruples of the prince, and spoke to him words of
kindness and comfort.
12. The opportunity was a favorable one for the Euro­
pean princes. Had they then been united in one great aim,
and, turning against the common enemy the arms they wielded
in domestic strife, announced to the world their intention of
placing Zizim upon his father’s throne, the fall of the Ottoman
empire had been almost inevitable. Innocent saw the advan­
tage. He equipped a fleet of sixty sail and garrisoned all the
cities in the Marches of Ancona. He wrote to the King of
Naples and to the other Italian rulers, urging them to prepare
to meet the attempts of Bajazet. The sultan made a descent
upon Sicily, in the following year, but was signally defeated by
the combined Pontifical, Neapolitan and Spanish forces. This
was all that the Pontiff’s zeal could effect ; he would have wished
to carry on an offensive war, and thought, for a moment, that

630

GENERAL· HISTORY OF THE CHDHCH.

the desired opportunity had come, when Andrew Pnlœologiw
the nephew of the last Greek emperor, and a fugitive like
Zizim, sold his claim on the Eastern throne to Charles VIΠ
of France. But the French monarch soon found himself en
gaged in other matters of importance nearer home.
13. Ferdinand I., king of Naples, who had received the in­
vestiture of his kingdom from Sixtus IV., soon showed himself
as ungrateful to the Holy See as he was cruel to his subjects,
lie had made his name odious by thi most despotic and merci­
less violence. In contempt of all Law and justice, he had
caused the murder, in a solemn banquet, of the Count of Sai
no, and of all tbe nobles whom he deemed hostile to his rule.
The Neapolitans arose and called upon the Pope, as suzerain,
to punish these enormous crimes of his vassal. Innocent
could not turn a deaf ear to the cry of a downtrodden people.
The appearance of the Pontifical army, led by Robert of SanSeverino, changed the conduct of the king; he sought to con­
ciliate the lords of his kingdom, and offered to submit to the
Pope on whatever terms it should please him to name. The
treaty was concluded, and the King of Naples pledged himself
to the regular payment of the tribute of eight thousand ounces
of gold and the palfrey. But with the danger that extorted them,
the memory of his promises soon faded from the mind of Ferdi­
nand. He resumed his system of oppression against the Nea­
politan nobles, refused to pay the tribute to the Holy See, and
returned an insulting answer to the Apostolic legates who en­
deavored to recall him to the observance of the treaty. Inno­
cent VIII. nowarmed himself with the spiritual weapons of
the Church and launched a sentence of excommunication
against the faithless monarch. Ferdinand was deposed and
the investiture of his kingdom conferred upon Charles VIII,
of France, who also claimed a legitimate right to it, as heir of
the bouse of Anjou.
14. The Crusade against the Moors in Spain was at length
ended, after a struggle of eight hundred years, by the capture of
Qranada, the death-blow of the Mussulman domination (a. d.

INNOCENT VIIL (A. il. 1434-UM).

«31

1492). Ferdinand V., the Catholic, by his union with Isabella
the Great, h id brought together under one sceptre the kingdoms
of Castile and Aragon, though both sovereigns continued, with
uncommon ability and perfect accord, to rule their respective
kingdoms separately, which gave occasion to their title of the
two kings. A. rare good fortune, or rather the peculiar gift
of great princes to recognize and appreciate true worth, graced
their court with such a combination of illustrious names as
Gonsalvo of Cordova, the Great Captain; the immortal Chris­
topher Columbus, whose genius discovered a world; Hernan
Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico ; Ignatius of Loyola, the
founder of the Society of Jesus, and Cardinal Ximenes, of
whom Leibnitz has said that “ if great men could be bought,
Spain would have cheaply purchased the advantage of having
such a minister, even at the cost of one of her kingdoms.”
After a siege of eight months, Boabdil, the last of the Abencerrages, surrendered his capital into the victorious hands of
Gonsalvo of Cordova. Ferdinand and Isabella made their sol­
emn entrance into Granada on the feast of the Epiphany, 1492,
and from that time assumed the title of kings of Spain. The
power of the Moors was destroyed, but their religion remain­
ed ; the doctrines of Mahomet still reigned in the lands where
the crescent had so long ruled in triumph. The Jews, the
natural allies of every power hostile to the Christian name,
secretly encouraged the resistance of the Saracens, and thus
kept alive in the midst of Spain an ever-burning brand of
anarchy and revolt. Ferdinand and Isabella felt the necessity
of placing their authority upon an immovable foundation.
The greater a power is, the more energetic should be its
action. They accordingly determined to establish, in Spain, a
royal tribunal of inquisition, to secure the faith, union, peace
and happiness of their subjects. The Inquisition had hitherto
been a purely ecclesiastical tribunal, taking cognizance of
crimes against religion, and handing over the guilty to tbe sec­
ular arm. The Spanish Inquisition lost this spiritual charac­
ter and became, in the hands of Ferdinand and Isabella, what

632

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

we might now call the general police administration. So mark­
ed was this character of the Spanish Inquisition, that Sixtus
IV. at first refused his sanction to the establishment of a
tribunal so formidable (1479), lest the odium of the institution,
directed by ecclesiastics in the name of the royal power, should
bring a storm of hatred and maledictions upon the Church.
Ferdinand solemnly declared that his only intention was to
establish a royal tribunal of justice, wholly independent of all
purely spiritual jurisdiction; that the peculiar position of Spain
called for greater rigor in the punishment of heresy and infi­
delity, because of the continual contact of the Spanish people
with Jews and Saracens; that the tribunal, though directed
by ecclesiastics, should be a truly civil institution, imperatively
demanded by the interests of the crown. On these conditions,
Sixtus IV. and Innocent VIII. consented to confirm the appoint­
ment of Torquemada to the dignity of Inquisitor-general.
The enemies of the Church have heaped the most bitter in­
vectives, the foulest calumnies upon the name of Torquemada.
They have represented him as the minister of a religion of
peace, staining his hands by bloody executions ; as the sole
framer of the inquisitorial statutes, and of the rigorous penal
code under which its victims suffered. In a word, the name
of Torquemada appears to frightened imaginations, surround­
ed by flames which consume the hapless victims of the Inqui­
sition’s autos-da-fé. These are but examples of those phil­
osophical misrepresentations which have almost acquired
the force of truth by dint of repetition. The laws of the
Inquisition were framed, in royal council, by Ferdinand
and Isabella; Torquemada was only their minister. It is as
unjust to cast upon him the odium of these executions, as it
would be to apply the name of executioner to a minister of
justice, because capital punishment hits been inflicted during
bis administration. The penal laws condemning heretics to
tbe stake were not peculiar to Spain. We have several times
had occasion to observe that, in mediaeval legislation, this form
of punishment was universally applied to the crime of heresy.

tWNocRNT rm.
•

(λ. d.

uw-iui).

633

The ideas and customs of our own day are naturally opposed to
this degree of severity. But we cannot pretend to judge the
actions of past ages by the standard of our own. Be this as
it may, the history of the Spanish Inquisition has nothing in
common with that of the Church. It was an institution de­
pending upon the royal authority, holding from that authority
its jurisdiction, laws, constitution and form. It belongs to po­
litical history to judge this tribunal ; and, even on this ground,
it would not be hard to justify it. It will suffice to quote a
single expression of M. de Maistre :—“ Had there been an In­
quisition in Germany, to condemn Luther to the flames of an
auto-da-fé, his death would have spared that of several millions
of innocent victims.”
15. While the standard of Ferdinand the Catholic was
crowned with victory in Spain, it was also planted on the shores
of America, by Columbus, and Luther first saw the light in an
obscure village of Germany. Protestantism, the great heresy
of modern times, was soon to stain Europe with blood. These
two names and events changed the destinies of the world. Inno­
cent VIII. had, meanwhile, died at Rome, on the 25th of July,
a. d. 1492. The last years of his Pontificate were illustrated
by a prodigy of learning, in the celebrated Pico della Mirandola, who, at the age of twenty-three years, defended before
the assembled Roman doctors the famous thesis : de omni re
scibili, et quibusdam aliis. This thesis contained nine hundred
propositions drawn from the writings of Greek, Latin, Hebrew
and Chaldean authors. This intellectual feat was, perhaps, not
really as difficult as might, at first sight, appear, and shows
rather a retentive memory than vast acquirements. The loci
communes of the scholasticism then in vigor furnished well-pre­
pared reasons and intrinsic arguments, in support of every
opinion. This may have been the whole secret of the wonder
ful leputation of Pico della Mirandola.

634

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

§ IV. Pontificate

Alexander VI. (Augjst 11, 1492—
August 18, 1503).

of

16. In the course of the funeral oration pronounced over
Innocent VIII. by the bishop, Leonelli, the orator thus
addressed the assembled cardinals : “ Hasten to choose a suc­
cessor to the deceased Pontiff, for Rome is hourly made the
scene of some new deed of robbery or murder.” “In fact,”
says a contemporary writer, “ the city was full of evil-doers, of
bandits, of men whose very look was threatening and repul­
sive.” The cardinals followed the advice. On the day following
the obsequies of Innocent, they went into conclave. The first
ballot was divided on Cardinals Ascanio Sforza and Roderico
Borgia (Lenzuoli). Sforza was favored by the influence of his
name and the power of his family ; the energy and vigor of
Borgia seemed better fitted to meet the dangers which threat­
ened the Church. He was elected and took the name of Alex­
ander VI. If the Apostolic See were an ordinary throne,
requiring in its incumbent only ability, quick perception, a lib­
eral disposition, sound judgment with a prompt and energetic
execution—Alexander VI. would have been worthy to occupy
it He possessed those qualities which shine in rulers : affa­
bility, magnificence, display and prestige. His accession was
hailed with transport by the Roman people. “ All,” says
Guicciardini, “ appreciated the prudence of Borgia, his uncom­
mon perspicacity, deep penetration, lofty eloquence, incredible
perseverance, tireless activity and the tact displayed in all his
undertakings.” But these qualities, which make a finished
statesman, are not sufficient to make a good Pope. Alexander
lacked the virtues of a Pontiff. His youth had been given up
to the sway of his passions. Four children, the offspring of a
licentious intrigue, remained a living witness of his disorders.
Cæsar Borgia, the eldest, was made Duke of Valentinois, by
the King of France, and brought disgrace upon his father’s
Pontificate by the deeds of violence which he perpetrated in

ALEXANDER Vi. (A. 1

1492-1503).

635

Italy in the Pontiffs name. His brother, the Duke of Gandin,
whose conduct was equally irregular, died by violence, and
was found in the Tiber, with nine stiletto wounds upon hia
body. In fine, the celebrated Lucretia, exalted by some as the
wonder of the age, by others degraded beyond the possibility
of truth, was too highly praised and too deeply calumniated
to save her morality from question. The odious charges
brought against Alexander VI. himself, in connection with Lu
cretia, are the inventions of bitter malice; they have not been
received by historians of any weight. Their only resource
was the license of romance. There are pens which gather up
every item of scandal from contemporary libels, and dispense
them under the pretence of contributing to the moral education
of the public, while flooding the world with immorality. We
hold that there were two phases in the life of Alexander VI. :
the life of the individual, which was, indeed, but too much like
that of most princes of his day ; and that of the Pope, which
carried out, on the chair of St. Peter, the policy inaugurated
by his predecessors, and preserved, in its integrity, the deposit
of faith and of ecclesiastical discipline.
17. Europe was in a transport of enthusiasm at the great
tidings of a new world, discovered by Christopher Columbus.
The illustrious Genoese had obtained, from Ferdinand and
Isabella, the command of three vessels, and in his first voyage
discovered the Bahama islands (a. d. 1492). His success won him
the highest honors from the Spanish court; he was made highadmiral, and placed in command of a powerful fleet. The
Portuguese, whose navy had, until then, been unrivalled, now
eagerly entered the new field so marvellously opened by the
genius of Columbus. Their first fleet anchored on the coast of
Brazil A warm contest now arose between the two powers
for the discovery of new territory. Ferdinand bad already
obtained, from Alexander VI., the investiture of all the
countries of the new continent. John II. of Portugal pro­
tested against the decision. To check, at the very outset, a
dispute which might easily grow into a war, the Pope tracp?

636

OBNERAL HISTORY OF THE OHORCH.

opon the chart a line of demarcation which made tw s portions
of the new world, to which the Florentine, Americus Vespucius, unjustly usurping the glory due to Columbus, had attached
his own name. The lands on the east of the line were granted
io the Portuguese, those on the west, to the Spaniards. The
intervention of the Pope, thus solicited by the two rival nations,
and the respect paid to his decision, as a final sentence, are no
insignificant facts. It is another one of the accumulated proofs
of history, that the middle-ages had made the Iloly See the
final court and supreme tribunal in which all the great interests
of the world were submitted to the judgment of the highest
and most conciliative authority that ever existed. The bull
Inter cœtera, which determined the new destinies of America,
has given occasion to certain men to inveigh most violently
against the pretended interference of the Popes in temporal
concerns. “ Instead of censuring the decree,” says a modern
author, “ may we not rather regret those times when a single
word from the Pope restored harmony among princes ; when
the voice of the common Father of the faithful at once dis­
pelled the clouds which threatened long and disastrous storms ?
Those were happy days when the wronged and downtrodden
subjects turned a look of hope toward Rome, and soon saw the
tempest succeeded by a calm, bloody strife by peace, and
public prosperity taking the place of the ruin which inevitably
follows political discord.”
18. After the settlement of these distant claims, Alexander
turned his thoughts to the necessities of Rome and Italy.
Order and security were speedily restored in the capital of the
world. Within a few weeks after the new Pope’s accession,
according to the testimony of contemporary writers, crime was
crushed by a stern and inexorable judge. The Italian pen­
insula was torn by the most violent convulsions, the result of
the intrigues and quarrels of the petty sovereigns who ruled
its several States. Ludovico Sforza, surnamed II Moro, ruled
the duchy of Milan, as guardian of his nephew, John Galeazzo. Becoming enamored of the sovereign power, he dreaded

ALEXANDER VI. (A. D. 1493-1803).

637

the approach of the hour when he should be called npon to
yield it into other hands, and took measures to avert the un­
welcome necessity. No step seemed unwarrantable to him,
provided it led to the end he had in view ; this he afterward
proved by causing the death of his nephew (a. d. 1494). Bat
he knew that the success of his usurpation depended upon the
concurrence of the Italian princes. Alexander VI. received
the proposition with horror and indignation. Ferdinand, king
of Naples, who had been excommunicated by Innocent VIII.,
and reconciled to the Church by Alexander VI., also opposed
the project. Sforza, as a last resource, urged Charles VIII.
of France to invade Italy, for the purpose of asserting his
claims, as heir of the house of Anjou, to the sovereignty of
Naples. Torrents of blood must now flow to satisfy the ambi­
tion of a covetous prince.
The court of France hesitated, at first, to undertake the
hazardous expedition. The wisest counsellors feared the perils
of a distant war. But the most prudent were allured by the
love of conquest, and cautious forethought was laid aside for the
time. Charles sent an embassy to Rome, under the direction
of General d’Aubigny, to discover the sentiments of Alexander
VI. The ambassadors were charged to obtain from the Pope,
either by promises or threats, the investiture of the kingdom
of Naples. “ Three times,” replied the Pope, “ has the crown
of Naples been granted by the Holy See to the house of Ara­
gon. The grant cannot be annulled, unless Charles can show
a better title. The Neapolitan realm is a fief of the Holy See ;
it belongs, therefore, to the Pope to confer the investiture.
If the King of France wishes to make good his claims upon
Naples, he should have recourse to the tribunal of the Sove­
reign Pontiff, and try to decide the important question by law­
ful and pacific means.”
The policy of Alexander VI. was the only one that could
save the independence of Italy It was received by the Duke
of Savoy, the republic of Venice and most of the other Italian
princes. Their remonstrances were, however, unavailing to

U38

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

change tho purpose of the French monarch. In the month of
September, a. d. 1494, the invading army, led by the king in per­
son, crossed the Alps, and poured down, like a torrent, upon the
Italian plain. It was like a coalition of all the various Euro­
pean nations. French, Biscayans, Bretons, Swiss, Germans
and Scotch—all seemed to have met under the standard of
Charles, as in the Barbarian inroads. This formidable host
brought with it a number of bronze cannon, which the French
had succeeded in making light enough to be moved with their
armies, at will.
19. It has always been the prerogative of power to command
the adhesion of the majority. The Roman nobles, fearing for
their property, forsook the cause of Alexander VI., and made
their submission to the King of France. The Colonnas, Orsini
and Savelli, the representatives of the most powerful houses in
Rome, promised to furnish Charles with a certain number of
horsemen aud men-at-arms. Their desertion was a disastrous
blow to the Pontiff, who was left unarmed before a powerful
enemy; and, to crown his misfortunes, Ferdinand IL, king of
Naples, died while making preparations for a strong defence
(January 21, a. d. 1494). He was succeeded by his son Al­
phonso, upon whom Alexander conferred the investiture of a
kingdom now more easy to receive than to hold.
Charles passed through the principal cities of Italy, as
a conqueror. All the old governments crumbled at his ap­
proach. Pisa threw off the Florentine yoke ; Florence ex­
pelled the Medici. The celebrated Dominican Savonarola—
of whom we shall yet have occasion to treat more at length—
received Charles, in Florence, as the Scourge of God sent to
punish the sins of Italy. Ferdinand was in Rome, with Alexan­
der VI. He hurried back to his capital, and the King of
France entered the Eternal City. The Pope had shut himself
up in the castle of St. Angelo. This step nearly proved fatal
to him, as his enemies took advantage of his absence to ruin
him in the estimation of the king ; for, if the conduct of the
Pope had been unimpeachable, it was far different with that

ALEXANDER VI. (A. D. 1492-1503%

639

of the individual. The ominous words deposition and general
council were audibly whispered about the person of the French
monarch ; but Charles needed the countenance of Alexander.
Schismatical measures against his authority would only have
complicated the difficulties of the already troubled times ; and,
after much debate, a treaty of alliance was at length concluded.
The Pope was obliged to yield to Charles the possession of
Civita-Vecchia, and other strongholds in the States of the
Church, until after the issue of the Neapolitan expedition,
which it was now impossible to hinder. The king, on the
other hand, pledged himself to support the Pope, to do him
homage in person, and to treat him with all the considera­
tion due to his rank and dignity. It was agreed that the
Cardinal of Valencia, Cæsar Borgia, should remain with
Charles, as a hostage, during the campaign, and that Zizim
should be intrusted to the keeping of the King of France,
who would appoint him a residence at Terracina.
*
After
signing the treaty, the Pope and the French king met in the
gardens of the Pontifical palace. At the Pontilf’s approach,
Charles twice bent the knee before him; but Alexander hastened
toward him, and would not allow him to pay the accustomed
homage, though at the official reception Charles insisted upon
observing the usual formalities. Notwithstanding all these de­
monstrations, the Pope steadily refused to confer upon Charles
the investiture of the kingdom of Naples. Some writers, rely­
ing upon the authority of Guicciardini, have falsely asserted
the contrary. Many serious charges weigh upon the reputation
of Alexander VI.; but no one can accuse him of weakness or
defection in his political career. His courage seemed to increase
with reverses ; the errors of his private life never afiected his
conduct as Pope ; and this is the highest lesson taught by the
history of his Pontificate. Alphonso had, in the mean time.
• Z'zirn died soon afterward, of dysentery, while in the French camp. Guicciardini
accuse·· Alexander VI. of having caused his death by u slow poison. The calumny has
covr been rejected even by the historians otherwise hostile to the Papacy.

640

GENERAL HI8TORV OF THE CHURCH.

disgracefully abdicated his throne and taken refuge in a Sicilian
convent, leaving the sceptre in the feeble hands of a prince but
eighteen years of age. The youthful Ferdinand II., deserted
st San-Gennano, withdrew to the island of Ischia, and saw his
palace sacked by the populace of Naples, always ready to spoil
the vanquished. The French finished their work of conquest
without a battle, and took triumphant possession of the cities
which opened their gates to the conqueror (a. d. 1495). But the
triumph hod been too easily achieved to warrant a hope of last­
ing benefit. The establishment of a feudal system, modelled
on that of France, soon roused the hatred of the Neapolitans.
Italy, galled by the weight of a foreign yoke, appreciated the
necessity of returning to the policy first proclaimed by the
Pope. Even Sforza trembled at the triumphs of the monarch
whom his own faithless ambition had called into Italy. A
general league was formed against Charles. The cities which
bad received him as a liberator now prepared to bar his pas­
sage, and to treat him as a common enemy. Alliances were
determined by self-interest ; such has always been the course
of human affairs, in all times and places. The Pope alone, true
to the treaty concluded with the King of France, remained
neutral. The confederate forces, to the number of forty thou­
sand, awaited Charles, at the foot of the Apennines, near Fornova. The alternative was victory or death. In less than an hour
tbe French had cut their way through the living barrier, and
withdrew, at least with glory, from a country which they had
found it so easy to enter, but so hard to leave (a. d. 1495). This
was the whole result of the Italian expedition. The renowned
Gonsalvo de Cordova, the conqueror of Granada and of the
Moors, was sent to the assistance of Ferdinand II., drove out
the French garrisons left by Charles, and the Peninsula was
restored to its accustomed state.
20. Alexander VI. did not forget the treachery of the Roman
aobles in the hour of danger. Their punishment was left to
Cœsar Borgia; and the duty was performed with terrible
fidelity. Moderation formed no part of his character. The

ALEXANDER VT. (A. D. UM-1603).

64]

Colonnas, who had heen the first to forsake the cause of the
Holy See, received the first blow. They made a vain effort to
avert the storm, by placing their fiefs under the protection of
the Sacred College. Overcome by the avenging Cæsar, they
were obliged to come, as suppliants, to the Pope and to lay at
his feet the keys of their strongholds. The Savelli likewise
obtained forgiveness, by giving up their wealth and possessions
to the Sovereign Pontiff. The greater obstinacy of the Orsini
brought down upon them a more cruel chastisement. They
were taken by surprise and executed at Sinigaglia, as traitors
to their country. This act of severe justice was accompanied
by circumstances which must ever disgrace the memory of
Cæsar Borgia.
21. Florence had, meanwhile, been made the scene of events
perhaps without example in human annals. They have con­
ferred its celebrity upon the name of Jerome Savonarola.
Jerome was a Dominican monk and prior of the convent of St
Mark. He seemed to have been destined for the retreat of the
cloister, where his austerity and fervor were the edification of
his religious brethren. But Fra Girolamo had received the dan­
gerous endowment of genius, and his virtue was unhappily too
weak to bear the splendid gift. Savonarola was unknown ; he
was placed in the pulpit, and his eloquence won him a power
which met and overcame that of the princely Medici. When
Charles VIII. had entered Florence, he demanded from the
citizens one hundred and twenty thousand gold crowns, which
he needed to continue his campaign. Twenty-four hours were
allowed to collect the sum. The required amount could not be
raised, and the irritated monarch threatened to destroy the
city. The terrified inhabitants hastened to the cell of the
Dominican monk. “I will go to the king,” said Jerome, who
had repeatedly warned the people, for more than a year past,
that God was about to punish their crimes by giving them up
to the power of the French. Savonarola appeared at the
palace-gates, but was refused admittance ; he persevered in bis
efforts and was al length led before the king. Drawing a

642

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

imcifix from beneath his religious habit and holding it, up
before Charles, he exclaimed: “Prince, do you know this
sign ? It is the image of Christ Who died on the cross for
you, and for me, and for all of us, and Who, with his last
breath, implored pardon for His murderers. If you will not,
hear me, you will at least hear Him Who speaks by my mouth,
the King of kings, Who gives victory to faithful princes, Who
casts down the wicked. Unless you renounce your cruel design
of destroying this wretched city, the tears of so many guiltless
victims will plead to Heaven with a power far diderent from
that of your armies and your cannon. What are numbers and
strength before the Lord ? Moses and Josue triumphed over
their enemies by prayer ; we too will use the arms of prayer,
if you will not relent Prince, will you be merciful ?” The
monk, as he spoke, held up before the king the image of the
Crucified Redeemer. Charles was overcome and abandoned
jis fatal project. His impassioned eloquence was always a
most powerful weapon in the hands of the religious ; and
Savonarola soon found another occasion to try its efficacy.
The Medici were driven from Florence by a popular revolution.
A new form of government was to be established, and the
Dominican prior was called upon to frame it. Retiring for a few
days from the pulpit, he set himself to his new task and drew
up a Constitution on the plan of the Venetian. It was read by
him, in the cathedral, before the magistrates and the people ;
and from that moment the monk was, at once, priest, magis­
trate, judge and lawgiver. He used his boundless influence
only for the greater glory of God, with results which, at the
present day, may seem incredible. By his order, eight pyra­
mids were erected in the public square, and upon them were
promiscuously piled dangerous books, indecent ornaments,
dice, cards, and other instruments of vice ; the whole was then
given to the flames. All the citizens were present at this
holocaust of the sensual world, offered up to the God of pen­
ance and mortification.
22. So far Savonarola had shown himself worthy of hia

ALEXANDER VT. (A. D. 1492-15··).

643

high renown; but the Spirit of God, which animated the first
period of his life, seemed to have withdrawn its guidance from
the second. An instant sufficed to dispel, like a light cloud, all
the prestige which had attended his name. The Constitution
given by him to the Florentines decreed, among other articles,
that every citizen condemned for a political fault should have
the right to appeal to the great council of the nation. Five
conspirators, who had been arrested and condemned to capital
punishment, availed themselves of the new law and appealed
to the grand council. Savonarola opposed the appeal, and they
were executed. The general indignation broke out into a,fearful storm. The religious replied only by invectives hurled
from the pulpit, not only against vices but against individuals.
The Roman court, the Pope and the cardinals were all included
in his sweeping denunciations. The secular clergy withdrew
(heir support, the people gave free rein to their fury and a thou­
sand arms were raised to tear down the idol of yesterday. From
all sides arose a demand for prompt and just satisfaction. The
judgment of the important case was left to Alexander VI. The
Pope enjoined silence in the matter until sentence should have
been pronounced upon the culprit, who was at the same time
requested to appear in Rome to explain and justify his conduct.
Savonarola refused, and continued his furious harangues. A
second and a third admonition, likewise unheeded, were fol­
lowed by a sentence of excommunication, publicly read in all
the churches in Florence. The proud reformer had rejected
the advances of mercy, laughed at the thunders of the Church,
persisted in his sacrilegious preaching, and now stood in open
revolt against the supreme head of the Christian world. Tho
schismatic was tried before the tribunal of the Archbishop of
Florence. Savonarola was burnt at the stake, after having
made his confession and received the body of the Saviour with
the plenary indulgence, in articulo mortis, sent by the Pope
(a. d. 1498) Thus perished one of the most splendid intel­
lects of the fifteenth century, victim of his own ungovernable
pride

£44

OBNBRAL HISTORT OP ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

23. The throne of France had passed from Charles VIII lu
Louis XII., the Father of (ho people, who inaugurated the
Orleans branch of the house of Valois. He had been con­
strained to marry the Princess Jeanne, daughter of Louis XL,
and availed himself of his accession to power, to break off a con­
nection which fear alone had cemented. He applied for the
necessary dispensation to Alexander VI., who, after mature
deliberation, thought proper to grant the king’s *
request.
The
bull of dissolution was brought to France by Cæsar Borgia,
upon whom the king bestowed the title of Duke of Valentinois.
Charles VIII. claimed, as heir of the house of Anjou, only the
right of succession to the throne of Naples. Louis XII. also
laid claim to the duchy of Milan, in right of his grandmother,
Valentina Visconti, and openly declared his intention of appro­
priating these two splendid domains : the first as a personal
inheritance; the second as a right belonging, by devolution, to
his crown. Circumstances favored his design. The Milanese
were weary of the tyranny of Ludovico Sforza. Frederick
HI., of Naples, who had lately succeeded Ferdinand II.. was at
war with the Holy See. All the Italian rulers, including the
Pope, favored the views of Louis, who crossed the Alps with
a well-appointed army under d’Aubigny and Marshal Trivulce.
The invader’s march was rapid, but was rapidly followed by
reverses. The victory of Cerisolles was the counterpart of the
exploit at Fornova, but it only added another bright page to
the history of France without giving an inch of territory to the
crown.f Amid the warring of men and the din of arms, the
• The inquiries to which tho application of the king gave rise clearly showed that Tx>uia
XL had not only used moral compulsion, but even physical violence, to force Louis XIL
into an alliance with his daughter, lie had even kept him, for three years, in close confine­
ment The absence of his free consent was, thus, nn impediment on the part of the king ;
and Alexander could very properly annul the marriage, .hough ho has been unjustly chargod,
in thia instance, with a violation of tho canons.
I We have mentioned this action in tho exact terms of the original, though tho author
seems to have confounded the battle of CeriaoUoa, in which tho French troops defeated th·
Impérialiste, in 1644, with that of Cerignola, in which tho forces of Louis XIL were routed
by ths Spaniards, under Qonsalvo of Cordova, in 1603.—ΤκΑ»βη*τθΒ-

645

PIUS m. (A. D. 1503).

Pontificate of Alexander VI. drew to a close. “ He died,’’ says
one of his biographers, “of a tertian fever, after having re­
ceived the Sacraments with edifying piety ; and breathed his
last surrounded by the cardinals.” This account differs materi­
ally from that of the romances of the day, which state that
Alexander died from the effects of a poisoned draught prepared
(or some cardinals, and which was, by mistake, given to the
Pope at a banquet. His death has been as much belied by cal­
umny as his life (a. d. 1503). Alexander’s last days were devoted
to a great and noble enterprise. He had used his most earnest
endeavors to unite the Christian princes against the Turks ; his
persevering efforts only succeeded in obtaining help for the
Venetians, who were bearing the whole weight of the war.
Whatever may be thought of Alexander VI. as a man, it must
be allowed that throughout the whole course of his administra­
tion he proved himself a skilful diplomatist, and did much for
the good of Italy and of the Church. “ It is, in fact, chiefly
since his Pontificate, that the Popes have begun to appear as
a secular power, and that Italy has seen its unity rising upon
the ruins of a host of petty kingdoms which had formerly
divided its territory.”

§ V. Pontificate of Pius III. (September 23,
October 18, 1503).

a. d.

1503—

24. The conclave which met to choose a successor to Alex­
ander VI. bestowed the tiara upon the Cardinal of Sienna,
Francis Piccolomini, who took the name of Pius HI. He was
a nephew of Æneas Sylvius, and it was hoped that he would re­
vive the glory of his uncle’s Pontificate; but after a leign of a
few weeks God released him from the heavy yoke, and the
tiara, which he had hardly time to wear, served only to adorn
tiis monument.

646

GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CllUROH.

§ VI. Pontificate op Julius II. (October 31, a. d. 1503—Fel>
ruary 21, 1513).

25. “Julius Π., elected by a unanimous vote, on the 31st
of October, a. d. 1503, to succeed Pius III., was to bo the
Moses of Italy. History presents no example of a man des­
tined towear the crown, who possessed in a higher degree all
the qualities of a great ruler. Equally unsearchable to all that
approached him, he was still a stranger to dissimulation ; bold
in his designs, but never rash in his execution ; quick to resolve,
but correct in his calculations. He was patient in adversity,
fearless in danger, merciful in the hour of victory.”* Nearly
the whole of Italy was under foreign domination. On learning
the tidings of his election, Julius exclaimed: “Lord deliver
us from the Barbarians by which term he meant the strangers
and the petty sovereigns who were contending for power in
every city. This expression pointed out plainly enough the
political course which the new Pope might be expected to fol­
low. The reestablishment of Italian unity became his first and
highest aim ; and this object, to which he devoted his Pontifi­
cate, necessarily drew him into military undertakings which
have brought reproach upon his memory. In judging the Pontifi­
cate of Julius II., the fact has been too much overlooked, that he
was intrusted with the defence of a temporal crown, as well as
of spiritual power. The impartial historian will give him the
glory of having preserved both, in their integrity, amid tho
fury of uninterrupted storms.
26. The Venetians had profited by the late troubles to seize
the provinces of the Romagna. The famous league of Cambray
was formed against them by the Pope, the Emperor Maximilian,
who had succeeded his father, Frederick III., in 1493, and the
Kings of France and Spain (a.d. 1508). The Venetians were
defeated by the French, and their submission satisfied Julius
II.. who withdrew from the league. Louis XII. had entered
• M. Audis, Hùtoire de Lion X, U 1, n. 257 12mo.

JULIOS Π. (A. D. 1503-1613).

647

into the compact from motives of policy, dceciing it *he best
means of keeping a foothold in Italy. He accordingly refused
ίο cease hostilities, and sought to revenge himself upon the
Pope, by supporting the Duke of Ferrara, a rebellious vassal of
the Holy See. Julius asserted his outraged suzerainty by ex­
communicating Louis, and formed a league against him. Thia
was the signal for a new schism. The irritated monarch re­
solved to throw off the authority of the Pope. He assembled
the French bishops, first at Orleans and afterward at Tours, and
proposed to them some questions which, according to the theo­
ries of Basle and Constance, led the prelates to the decision
that the Pope should be warned and requested to convoke a
general council, and that, in the event of his refusal, they should
take the matter into their own hands (1510). In the following
year, Louis forbade the French clergy to hold any communica­
tion whatever with the court of Rome, and took measures, in
concert with the Emperor Maximilian, for the meeting of a gen­
eral council. The convocation was made by the three cardinals,
Brissonnet, Carvajal and Borgia, and the so-called council was
opened at Pisa (1511), with the attendance of four or five car­
dinals, several archbishops and bishops, with a number of
doctors and jurists. The German clergy refused to take part
in what was deemed, even in France, no better than a sacrile­
gious burlesque. After the first three sessions, the schis­
matical prelates, finding themselves unsafe among the Pisans,
took refuge in Milan, where they were no better treated. They
held but five sessions here, when they removed to Aati and
thence to Lyons, where the ecumenical council of Louis XII. dis­
appeared amid universal contempt and ridicule. Its acts con­
sisted of reiterated anathemas and sentences of deposition
against the legitimate Pontiff. It was the Council of Basle on
a small scale.
27. Julius II. had, in the mean time, convoked a real ecu­
menical council, in Rome. The seventeenth general and
fourth Lateran Council was opened on the 3d of May, a. d. 1512.
It numbered more than one hundred bishops, archbishops and

648

GENERAL hîstorv of ΤΠΕ church.

patriarchs, with a large number of doctors, heads of orders and
abbots. The Emperor Maximilian, Henry VIII. of England,
(ho King of Aragon and the Venetian Republic were repre­
sented by their ambassadors. The opening address, by the
general of the Auguslinians, presented a lively picture of the
woes which afflicted the Church. “ Can we,” he exclaimed.
“ without shedding tears of blood, look around us to-day, upon
the disorder and corruption of a wicked age, the monstrous de­
pravity of morals, the ignorance, ambition, license and impiety
triumphantly enthroned in the holy place, whence even the
shadow of vice should be eternally banished ? Who can re­
press a groan of anguish as he looks upon the fields of Italy,
stained, watered, nay, if I may so speak, more deeply imbued
with blood, than with the dew and rain of heaven ! Innocence
is crushed, cities stream with the blood of their inhabitants,
butchered without mercy ; the streets are encumbered by heaps
of slain; the whole Christian republic looks up to you, and
implores your protection ; a council alone can stay the toirent
of evils by which it is borne down and destroyed.” With this
vast field open before them, the Lateran Fathers began their la­
bors. In the first five sessions, they condemned all the schis­
matical cardinals and the pseudo-Council of Pisa. An anathe­
ma was launched against the Pragmatic Sanction, which the
King of France had kept as a weapon to be used, on occasions,
against the Holy See. Every election of an antipope was de­
clared null. This decree, promulgated in the fifth session, was
the last one signed by Julius IL, who died on the 21st of Feb­
ruary, 1513. At the time of his death, the Pope’s policy was
triumphant. The French had been driven from Italy and the
tyrants banished from the cities they had so long oppressed ;
the way was opened for the age of Leo X.
28. The political and military undertakings of his Pontifi­
cate had not wholly absorbed the attention of Julius IL;
literature and the arts found in him a liberal and zealous pa­
tron. He resolved to rebuild the decaying Basilica of St. Peter,
and intrusted the gigantic design to the celebrated Bramante.

JJUU9 Π. (A. D. ΙΙΟΒ-ΙβίΛ

649

Indulgences were proclaimed in favor of those who should con.
tribute toward the erection ; and on the 18th of April, a. d. 1Ô06,
the Pope laid the corner-stone, in the presence of the cardi­
nals and an immense multitude of people. Amid the bloody
strifes of the Italian princes, letters and the arts began to feel
the onward impulse so splendidly developed under Leo X.
The mediaeval epoch was at an end ; its spirit was everywhere
yielding to the study and imitation of pagan antiquity. Per­
fection of form was becoming the only care of poets, painters,
and sculptors ; they were, little by little, breaking with the
Christian traditions of the middle-ages ; they sought inspira­
tion only in the models of antiquity. The destruction of the
Basilica of St. Peter was the expression of this tendency.
Michael Angelo and Bramante, the two illustrious masters of
that period, forgot their rivalry, and joined together in urging
on the Pope to the bold design. The middle-ages would
have stood aghast at the daring sacrilege of laying a destroying
hand upon the old metropolis of Christianity. But the impulse
was given ; pagan literature, brought to light by the fall of Con­
stantinople, had opened the way for pagan art. Julius II. was
drawn along by the spirit of his age. Antiquity triumphed;
the worship of form was to inspire the master-pieces of the six­
teenth and seventeenth centuries. The full development of
these tendencies belongs to the history of a subseouent period.

660

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER VI.
HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE SIXTH PERIOD OF THE HISTORY OP THE

CHURCH.
1. *
Effect of the Great Western Schism.—2. Opposition to tho Pontifical
Power.—3. Straggles of tho Papacy against the hostile tenJcncy.—4. Tho

Episcopate.—B. Morals of the clergy.—6. Religions orders.

Olivetans.

Jesnatea. Hieronymites. Sisters of St. Bridget. Minims. Free clerics.
—7. Mendicant orders.—8. Preachers. John of Vicenza. Berthold. John
Taulcr. St Vincent Ferrer. Savonarola.—9. Saints of tho period. St.
Veronica of Mihm. St. Catherine of Genoa. Nicholas of the Flue.—10.
General decline of faith and morality among the people.—11. Penitential
discipline. Flagellantes. Dancers.—12. Mystical writers. Taulcr. Suao.
Ruysbroek. Gerson. Thomas à Kern pis.—13. Literary revival.
Petrarch. Boccacio. Christian art.

Dante.

1. The life of the Church, in all ages, has been one unbroken
struggle between the spirit of God and the spirit of the world.
These two immortal principles, implanted with a never-ceasing
antagonism in the human heart, are found, under one form or
another, in every period of the world’s history. But never was
the combat more perilous, never were its dangers more evident
and more real, than during the Great Schism of the West.
Until then, the authority of the Church had always been sole and
unquestioned ; a visible centre of action ; the source of power
and the crown of the hierarchy, against which the furious
billows of sectarian impiety dashed in vain. The schism
compromised that supreme authority itself ; the faithful weue
placed in a state of doubt as to the legitimate Pontiff; they
might remain neutral, and consequently without guide or coun­
sel. The bonds of ecclesiastical discipline were loosened ; the
spiritual weapons of the Church, too prodigally hurled by the
rival Pontiffs, lost their influence upon the people ; they became
accustomed to slight the decisions of the Roman court ; and,
when Luther rose to preach revolt against the Holy See, he

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE SIXTH PERIOD.

651

found the field for hie work of destruction already prepared
by past events.
2. When the election of Martin V. had restored peace to the
Church, the Papacy found itself opposed to hostile tendencies
which it was necessary to meet. A complete system of opposi­
tion was framed in the Councils of Constance and Basle, by
theologians commendable in other respects, but then misled by
national prejudice and the impulse of the moment. Such men,
for instance, were Gerson, d’Ailly, Nicholas of Clémengis and
Nicholas of Cusa. The state of things, at that time, favored
the inauguration of a set of doctrines hitherto unknown, and
tending to make the Church a kind of deliberative republic, by
removing the authority from its head and bestowing it upon
the general councils. The new doctors held : 1. That the tem­
poral power is wholly independent of the spiritual ; 2. That the
Popes, even in the exercise of their spiritual jurisdiction, de­
pend upon the general councils, to which alone it belongs to pro­
nounce decisions, to frame laws, to impose regulations, to pro­
mulgate decrees binding upon the Pope; 3. That it is always
lawful to appeal from the judgment of the Pope to that of a
general council, and thus arbitrarily to stay the effect of the
Pontifical sentences. We have so often had occasion, in the
course of this history, to offer our own view on this pretended
independence of the temporal power in regard to the spiritual
authority, that it would be superfluous to repeat it here. Tbe
second article, the superiority of the general council over the
Pope, decided affirmatively and for all possible contingencies,
by the Councils of Constance and of Basle, seems to us utterly
irreconcilable with the words of Jesus Christ: “Thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church “ Feed my
sheep, feed my lambs.” Indeed, this appealing from the judg­
ment of the Pope to that of a general council had always con
stituted the great subterfuge of all heresiarchs ; and this fact
may help to appreciate the spirit of the innovators at Con­
stance and Basle. A fourth and a far more dangerous proposi
lion ascribed to the Pope but a purely episcopal jurisdiction.

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GENERAL BISTORT OF THE CHURCH.

with the title of First of the Bishops, but without any real
authority over the othc-s. Here we see the germ of what was
afterward developol in the assemby of 1082, in the famous
Declaration of the clergy of France, and in the four articles of
the Gallican Church. We are not surprised to find these bitter
disputes bringing down the most odious charges, from all sides,
upon the Papacy. We can only regret to find, in the ranks of
such a cause, names otherwise illustrious for piety and zeal.
And yet it would seem that, at certain periods of history, the
noblest minds must be hurried away, by a spirit of blindness
and error, into tho devious ways of disregard and contempt for
wen the most august authority.
3. The Popes, strong in an immemorial possession, in an un­
broken tradition, in a right so often and so solemnly acknow­
ledged, could not admit a system which must overthrow all
principle, condemn the whole teaching of history, and drag
European society into untried and dangerous paths. Their
defenders, like Torreoremata and Thomas of Sarzano, leaning
also upon unquestionable monuments, maintained that the
Sovereign Pontiff is the source of the episcopal authority, tha’
he is superior to councils and infallible in dogmatic decisions.
The theologians of Constance and Basle, supported in their
opposition by the state of events and by the popular spirit,
did not give a hearing to the theologians of the Holy See.
They might dare any thing, with impunity, against a divided and
disputed authority, which had now lost the prestige of unity
and power. And yet more. It was already easy to perceive
the tendency, forerunner of Protestantism, which led sovereigns
to throw off the spiritual supremacy of Rome and to seize in
their own grasp all ecclesiastical power. Yet amid these com­
plicated difficulties and hostile tendencies, amid a society
worked into a violent ferment by the leaven of discord, there
still remained a tradition ever respected by the people, and far
more powerful vhan the false reasoning of the theologians of
Constance and Basle. This firm and unshaken tradition was the
idea itself of the Church, the basis of its authority, the bul·

HISTORICAL REVIEW OP THE SIXTH PERIOD.

653

wark of its faith. The Papacy had not yet ceased to be looked
upon as the centre of unity, and the history of past ages con­
secrated this character by the incontestable authority of facts.
4. The doctors hostile to the Holy See had especially 1&
bored to make the episcopal elections independent of the Papal
power, and to confer upon bishops an exorbitant share of au­
thority. But the bishops themselves refused the extraordinary
prerogatives offered by the synods of Basle and Constance ;
they readily perceived that the abasement of the Papacy must
be closely followed by their own depression and by the transfer
of their authority into the hands of temporal princes. They
continued, therefore, to swear fidelity to the Sovereign Pontiffs
and to acknowledge their jurisdiction ; but they no longer re­
spected the canons, the observance of which, only the authority
of the Pope could have secured, had not that authority itself
been impaired by the divisions attending the Western Schism.
The regulations concerning the plurality of benefices were the
most openly abused ; and when the accumulation grew into
proportions too nearly akin to flagrant scandal, many prelates
were known to have united several foundations into one, in or­
der to escape ecclesiastical censures. The chapters, too often
ruled in the choice of subjects by motives of interest, or, perhaps,
by a desire to preserve and extend their influence through al
hances with the higher classes of society, would admit only the
sons of noblemen into their institute. It is not hard to see the
danger to which such a state of things would expose the
Church ; the episcopal ministry, being generally conferred upon
members of the various chapters, was in great danger of falling
into the hands of ignorant or unworthy subjects. It is well
worth while to note that the spirit of the Church has never
changed upon this point. The ministry of the Altar is exclu­
sively reserved to no class of society, to no privileged race.
God, in His sovereign wisdom, calls to it the little and the great;
the lowliest names He places side by side with the most illus­
trious. St. Paul, the Roman citizen, sat in the Apostolic col­
lege, among the humblest fishermen of Judea. The Holy Ghost

654

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

breatheth where He will, and if lie sometimes chooses the
weakest things of earth to triumph over the powers of the world,
He likewise bends, at times, the great ones of the earth under
the yoke of tbe gospel, and clothes them with that divine
weakness stronger than all earthly power. We cannot, there­
fore, but applaud the decisions of the councils which checked
the extravagant pretensions of the chapters, by reserving a
fourth of the vacant places among them for the doctors in the­
ology to be chosen at large, from all classes of society. Λ still
greater abuse was threatening to assume the character of a
common law by an already long indulgence. The majority of
bishops claimed exemption, on a thousand empty pretexts,
from the duty of residence in their respective sees. It is hard to
see how they could base their claim upon the example even of the
Popes who sat at Avignon. The violence of the seditions which
bad momentarily driven the Popes from the city of Rome was
a fact of public notoriety. The hereditary turbulence of the
Romans and their hankerings after a republican government,
renewed with every period of history, have but too often forced
the Popes to remove for a while the chair of St. Peter. It
was therefore a kind of outrage on the part of certain bishops,
to rest their culpable neglect of duty upon the constraint under
which the Sovereign Pontiffs labored, and we can see but a
gratuitous insult in the reply made by a bishop when warned
of this duty by Pope Gregory XI. : “ Then do you, likewise,
return to Rome.” However this may be. the councils took
measures, as just as they were severe, to check the abuse, and
to end the widowhood of so many churches forsaken by their
chief pastors,
5. These numerous permanent sources of disorder had ne­
cessarily produced a deplorable relaxation in the morals of the
clergy. Intrigue, simony, corruption and venality, so repeat­
edly branded by canonical censures, were again rending the
bosom of the Church. The scandals were loudly denounced
from the Christian pulpit; and the words of the preachers at­
test the depth and extent of the evil The faithful wept to see

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE SIXTH PERIOD

655

the bad example given by those whose office bound them to
oppose it and to guard their flocks from its blighting influence.
As in the days of St. Gregory VII., the private life of the
clergy presented a sad spectacle ; the spirit of the world, sen­
suality and avarice reigned supreme in their hearts. The
synods and councils found it necessary to use the last degree
of severity, in dealing with the scandalous clerics. The relax­
ation of discipline had reached such a pitch that some doctors
did not blush to maintain, as their fellows of the eleventh cen­
tury had done before them, that marriage should be made law­
ful for the clergy ; they thought that they could best meet the
«caudal by making it legitimate. But outraged morality found
eloquent and zealous defenders, and among them we read with
pleasure the name of the pious Gerson, chancellor of the Uni­
versity of Paris. Clerical celibacy was saved, the most rig­
orous penalties were decreed against concubinary priests, and
discipline was brought back to its almost forgotten bounds.
If we reflect upon human perversity and its ceaseless endeavor
to overthrow the work of Jesus Christ on earth, if we recount
the intestine struggles by which the Church has been torn, at
every epoch of her history, we must recognize the hand of
God upholding, guiding, protecting His work ; and we thus
gradually follow up the accomplishment of the divine promise
spoken on the day of its foundation : “ Et portæ inferi non
praevalebunt adversus eam.”
6. The religious orders, too, felt the effects of the general
decline. As monasteries became wealthy, the monks neglected
manual labor ; the obligation of fasting was relaxed in propor­
tion, and modifications were made in the primitive rules cor
cerning the quantity and quality of the food. Particular coun­
cils were compelled to establish penalties against those who
quitted their retreats to mix in worldly society, at the invita­
tion of seculars. The word reform was now heard in connec­
tion with the religious orders, as it had already been applied to
the secular clergy. We deem this the most fitting time to ex­
press our views on this word, which was soon to become, on the

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GENERAL HISTORY OF THR CHURCH.

lips of Luther, the signal for the greatest confusion in the
Church, for the destruction of the Catholic faith in many parts
of Europe, and for the triumph of heresy. Unquestionably, if
Gerson, (TAilly, St, Vincent Ferrer, and the other doctors
who then proclaimed the word reform could have foreseen the
enormous abuse which Protestantism was soon to make of it,
they would have protested with all the power of their elo­
quence and of their outraged faith. While proclaiming the
necessity of putting a speedy check upon the unbridled license
and disorder brought into the Church by this period of storm
and trouble ; while preaching conversion to so many covetous
and corrupted hearts, they certainly never dreamed of reforming
the teaching, the belief, the faith of the Church, changeless by
their very nature, and ever the same through all succeeding
ages. When they recalled the wandering mind to the contem­
plation of the eternal truths of religion, they did not pretend to
reform the truths themselves; when they placed before the
returning sinner the virtues of the saints as an incentive, theii
intercession as a help, and their perseverance as a model, they
had no thought of reforming the worship of the saints ; when
they called upon every soul to come and drink of the livins
waters, through the sacramental channels of divine grace, they
were far from presuming to reform the teaching of the Church
on the question of grace, and still less to reform the Sacraments
themselves. In a word, they preached the reform of morals,
and not of the faith ; a peaceful reform, in perfect harmony
with the true spirit of the Church, perfected by the Council of
Trent amid the grateful applause of the Catholic world, and far
from the spirit of the sacrilegious revolution led by Luther and
Calvin. If some of the old religious orders had fallen from
their primitive austerity, new congregations sprang up by their
side, to console the Church by their fervor and their brilliant
virtues. The Olivetans, who derived their name from a solitude
near Sienna, thickly covered with olive-trees, and which they
made their first home, were established by John Ptolemy, and
confirmed, as a religious order, by John XXII., in 1319. The

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE 8ΠΤΗ PERIOD.

'»5

Jeauates were established in the city of Sienna, by John
Colombino, and renewed the austerities of the monks of The­
bais. In Spain, Peter Ferdinand Pecha, chancellor of Pctei
the Cruel, casting aside all earthly hopes of honor and rank,
founded the congregation of Hieronymites, or Hermits of St.
Jerome, which was soon after introduced into Italy, under the
direction of Peter of Pisa. St. Francis of Paula was, at the
same period, forming the Order of Minims, by which name he
wished to remind his children that they should be the least and
the lozvliest in the house of the Lord. The rapid growth of
this order borders on the miraculous ; so powerful is the charm
of evangelical poverty and hunmity (a.d. 1470). The northern
provinces of Europe were not unconscious of this religious
movement. A new order, for religious of both sexes, owed its
existence and its name to St. Bridget, a Swedish princess, of
that royal race whose name is closely connected with the eccle­
siastical history of the fourteenth century. The mother-house
of the new order was established at Wadstena, in the diocese
of Linkœping ; its abbess held supreme authority over all the
other monasteries of the order, whether of men or of women.
The number of these monasteries was fixed at eighty-four, in
aonor of the twelve Apostles and seventy-two disciples of our
Lord. The Order of St. Bridget was approved by Pope Sixtus
IV., in 1474, one century after the death of the illustrious
foundress. It is known that St. Bridget was favored with the
gift of propnecy. The book of her revelations, dictated by her
to the holy religious, Peter, prior of Olvastro, was printed iu
Rome, in 1455. Holland was, at the same time, made the seat
of a new congregation of free clerics, devoted to the duty of
<eaching. The time which was not given to preaching, they
spent in manual labor, and in the practices of a common rule
followed individually by each member of the new institute.
This was a new form of the regular canons, of whose institution
we have already spoken in its proper place.
7. >Side by side with these religious orders which were sent
to console the Church in her bitter grief, the mendicant orders,
Vol. in.—4î

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GENERAL HTSTORT OP ΤΠΡ. CHURCH.

true soldiers of Jesus Christ, fought with fearless valor in ths
cause of God. In the midst of the general decline of morals,
they still pursued their life of self-sacrifice and zeal, sprca I
abroad the science of theology, and controlled their age by thr
ascendency of their lofty virtues. It is, in truth, a moving
sight, in the midst of h society eagerly running after wealth and
every material enjoyment, to behold these humble religious
marching on joyfully beneath the standard of holy poverty,
consecrated by their Redeemer. It has taken all tho sophisms
of a skeptical philosophy to bring popular contempt and ridicule
upon those truest friends of the people, of their sufferings and
miseries. The children of St. Dominic, chiefly devoted to the
duty of preaching, undertook the noble task of defending the
integrity of the faith against the assaults of heresy. They
were the soldiers of the gospel, and on every shore, in every
clime, they won new victories for the truth. The Franciscans,
or Brothers of the Regular Observance, recognized under that
title by the Council of Constance, made themselves the ser­
vants of the poor and taught them, by the example of their
resignation and charity, so to bear their sufferings as to make
them meritorious before God. Europe gazed with reverent
wonder upon these heroes of charity, when the plague was
scourging cities and whole provinces, shutting themselves up in
the lazar-house and the hospital, braving contagion and death,
which swept away their victims by thousands, making them­
selves the fathers and brothers of those who had been forsaken
by their own fathers and brothers. Each year, as the harvest­
time returned, the sons of St. Francis, in their humble capuchin
dress, went forth into the fields to lend the strength of their
arms to the poorest families, to the widow and the orphan, who
saw their crops gathered in by the servants of the God of char­
ity. From our own cold and self-loving age, the artless narra­
tive of deeds of love performed by the mendicant orders for
their poor brethren, may perhaps draw but a smile of contemp­
tuous pity. But if the scoffers will only take the trouble to
study out the true mission of charity, they will perhaps find

HISTORICAL REVIEW OP THE SIXTH PERIOD.

659

that its truest expression is the devotion of one’s self and
person to the poor after having given them all we had. The
external cares of this ever-active charity did not so wholly
absorb the majority of the mendicant orders as to exclude
zeal for study and the influence of the great literary movement
which was then agitating the world. The history of their con­
tests, in the fields of science, theology and letters, with the
Sorbonne and the University of Paris, at the period of the liter­
ary revival, is an indisputable proof of the contrary. At the
moment when the intellectual world, following an impulse per­
haps somewhat immoderate, was hurrying on to throw itself, in
a body, into the path that led to pagan Olympus, the religious
orders felt bound to protest against the dangers of this too
exclusive tendency. If their endeavors were fruitless, the fault
lies with the weakness of the human mind, which is prone to
run into excess in all things ; but it were in the highest degree
unjust to accuse them of wilful ignorance, against which their
learned writings and laborious erudition bear an unanswerable
testimony.
8. The pulpit was well and ably represented. John of
Vicenza, the preacher of peace, whose words seemed gifted with
a power to allay all hatred and dissension in Italy, was cover­
ing his name with undying glory. The wonderful conversions
ascribed to him recall the halcyon days of religion ; never,
perhaps, since the time of St. Bernard, had greater power been
given to the words of an apostle. Germany gave to the Church
the Franciscan monk Berthold, an equally popular preacher,
whose immense success was wholly independent of the political
controversies which John of Vicenza too often admitted into his
sermons. On the shores of the Rhine, John Tauler brought to
the Christian pulpit a style of eloquence less graceful and bril­
liant, in appearance, but which he carried to the height of sub­
limity. The learned Dominican had studied theology in Paris.
After his return to Strasburg, his native city, his warm and
lender heart was opened to inspirations of the deepest mysticism.
His works on the subject are truly classical. But, if we mav

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OKNT.RAÎ. BISTORT OP ΤΠΕ CHURCH.

believe the testimony of his contemporaries, it is impossible to
express the resistless charm, the powerful attraction, t he unci ion
end grace of his discourses. He is said to have retired from
the pulpit, through a humble fear at his marvellous success. He
spent two years in solitude meditating on the mysteries of the
Saviour’s life, refusing to appear again in public, to address the
thronged assemblages of which his eloquence made him the
king and master. At length, however, obedience drew him
forth. When he found himself again before the multitudes
eagerly waiting to hear his words, he broke out into sobs and
tears of emotion ; he could make no other discourse. This
wordless eloquence converted more souls than the highest
efforts of elocution could have won. St. Vincent Ferrer met
with alike success in the provinces of Italy, France and Spain,
which he visited as a missionary. He was everywhere received
with transports of enthusiasm ; triumphal arches were erected
at his approach ; multitudes came forth to meet him, bearing
green branches in their hands, and hailed him with the words
addressed to the Redeemer as He entered Jerusalem : “ Bene
dictus qui venit in nomine Domini.” The holy son of St.
Francis, John Capistran, visited the chief cities of Germany,
Poland, Hungary and Bohemia, everywhere combating the
heresy of the Hussites, from whose ranks he snatched more than
four thousand souls. We have already spoken of Savonarola,
the celebrated Dominican who reigned, for a Hme, the spiritual
sovereign of Florence. Had he not unhappily carried with him
into the Christian pulpit such ideas as prevail in purely human
politics, and which led him to deplorable excesses and a tragic
end, he would have been held up, for all time, as the model of
Christian orators.
9. Though the preaching of the gospel be a powerful means
of sanctification and of salvation, yet the example of virtue m
even more eloquent. The Church, in every period of her *hi
tory, has produced an abundant harvest of great saints, proving,
by the wonders of their lives, the admirable fecundity of the
faith. St. Veronica of Milan and St. Catherine of Genoa pre·

HISTORICAL REVIEW OP THE SIXTH PERIOD.

b61

tented to Italy the spectacle of the highest perfection St
Veronica was a poor peasant girl, utterly devoid of all human
instruction and could not even read. But divine grace became
her teacher and revealed to her the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven, which are “ hidden from the wise and prudent,” and
revealed to the lowly and humble of heart. The interior light
which she drew from prayer enabled her to meditate almost
uninterruptedly on the mysteries and principal truths of re­
ligion. Having, at an early age, entered the Augustinian con­
vent of St. Martha, at Milan, she felt an earnest desire to learn
to read, in Older to study, with more fruit, the lessons of the
gospel. Her manual labors left her no leisure during the day;
she accordingly spent the time, which others give to repose, io
diligent study, and succeeded, without the help of an instructor,
in overcoming the incredible difficulties of her pursuit. As she
one day complained to the Blessed Virgin of her slow progress,
the Queen of Heaven deigned to console her, in a vision. “ Ban­
ish your anxiety,” said her august visitor, “ it is enough for
you to know three letters : the first is purity of heart, which
consists in loving God above all things, and in loving creatures
only in Him and for Him ; the second is, to hear with unmur­
muring patience the faults of your neighbors; the third is, to
set aside, each day, a certain time for meditation on the suffer­
ings of your Redeemer Jesus Christ.” True to the teaching ol
her Heavenly Patroness, St. Veronica made rapid progress in
the path of perfection. Her heart was always closely united
to God in prayer; and the sincerity of her contrition kept her
eyes continually filled with tears. The most hardened sinners
were irresistibly won by the unction of her words. St. Ve­
ronica died in 1494, at the very hour which she had fore­
told ; her sanctity was attested by numberless miracles, and
she was canonized by Pope Leo X. St. Catherine of Genoa,
the daughter of James Fieschi, viceroy of Sicily, illustrated
her noble house by the glory of sanctity. Married, in earlj
youth, to a rich Italian nobleman, Julian Adorno, she was com­
pelled to bear the hard yoke of the world, amid a constant sue

662

GENERAL HISTORY OP THE CHURCH.

cession of frivolous pleasures, a whirlwind of cares, joys, and
caprices, which enervate the soul by fruitless lassitude and con
inual distractions. But God called her to a higher state. Ju­
lian, converted by the prayers of his pious consort, entered the
third order of St. Francis, where he died a holy penitent; and
Catherine, released from the only ties which had bound her to
tho world, determined to make herself the servant of the poor
and the sick, in the great hospital of Genoa. The same grace
which had called her to this state of life helped her to over­
come all the natural repugnance against which she had, at first,
to struggle. The accomplished woman of the world displayed
the same affectionate and tender delicacy, the same gentle and
winning kindness toward these suffering members of Jesus
Christ, which had won for her universal love and respect in all
her social relations. Her charity was most admirably displayed
during the season of plague which swept with fearful severity
over the city of Genoa in 1497 and' 1501. Her austerities
were truly frightful. She had become so used to fasting, that
for twenty-three years she passed the whole season of Lent and
Advent without taking the least nourishment. During these
seasons she received the Blessed Sacrament daily and drank
a glass of water mingled with vinegar and salt It must bo
remarked, however, that the hosts which were then given in
communion to the laity, were much larger than those used at
the present time. We also read in the life of the saint, that
immediately after the communion she was always offered a
chalice of wine, a custom still in practice with those who are
about to receive holy orders.
*
A life so holy was rewarded
by special favors and graces. She was often seen, in the fer­
vor of her devotion, borne up from the ground ; as if her body,
breaking asunder the bonds which tied her to earth, would have
• Baillet has corrupted this statement into an assertion that St. Catherine received the
Eucharist under both kinds. Communion under both kinds was for several centuries p-w
Used in the Church; but when tho Hussites thence argued that it was of divino p'-vopt
and binding upon all the faithful, the Catholic Church confirmed, Ural by usage, ' ■ 4 later
by decrees, the universal practice for tho laity, of receiving under tho single species of
broad

historical review op the bixth period.

663

soared al jft to the home of her thoughts and of endless rest,
St. Catherine has left us her own account of the marvellous
transformation hy which her soul was made a partaker of
heavenly converse while her body still held it captive on earth.
Her two principal works, entitled “A Dialogue” and “On Purga­
tory,” breathe the highest spirit of mysticism and sublim·· per
fection. God favored her with wonderful visions, in which she
was allowed to behold a part of His glory and to enjoy a kind
of foretaste of the heavenly happiness to which she was pre­
destined. The saint died on the 15th of September, a. d. 1510.
Numberless miraculous cures encouraged the public veneration,
and the solemn declaration of her sanctity was made by Clem
ent XII., in 1737. A name even more illustrious than that of
St. Catherine of Genoa adorned the last years of the sixth
period ; it is that of St. Theresa, of whom we shall yet have
occasion to speak in the sequel of this history. This was the
period of heroic virtue and high social renown. In proportion
as the world was hurrying away from the paths of piety and
fervor, God seemed to be teaching it, by new marvels, that
holiness is not only useful to those upon whom it is bestowed,
but that it draws down general blessings for the peace and
happiness of nations. While all Italy was pouring with en­
thusiastic devotion toward the lowly cell of St. Catherine of
Sienna, Joan of Arc taught France that true piety is more pow­
erful than marshalled hosts, that faith, too, is strong for vic­
tory.—Blessed Nicholas of the Flue, among the mountains of
Switzerland, taught lessons of the highest virtue. He bad
torn himself away from honors and rank in the world, to hide
himself among the shepherds of the Alps; and still, as if fear­
ful that he had done too little, he continually repeated, with
the deepest humility : “My God, my God, save me from my­
self.” For twenty years he made this rugged mountain-side
bloom with flowers of sanctity; the faithful thronged around
the man of God to gather the words of grace and benediction
which fell from his lips. In 1481, in the famous assembly of
Stanz, his influence obtained the pacifleation of the confederate

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0ENTRAI, HT8TORY OF ΤΠΕ CÎTÜRCH.

Swiss, who renewed the convention of Sempach, concluded in
1393.
10. In spite of the living protest of so many holy souls,
ugainst the general spirit of license and disorder, it must be
confessed that the evil was making fearful progress. “ It is for
sacred institutions to change men,” said the Dominican, Egidius
of Viterbo, in the Lateran Council, “ and not for men to change
the institutions. Your whole mind,” he added, addressing Tope
Julius II., “should be turned to the reformation of morals, to
the renewal of the spiritual life, to the means of staying the de­
structive torrent of corruption, license and error.” Indeed, the
world was so deeply sunk in sensual depravity, that the holy
mortification taught by the gospel was a thing no longer un
derstood ; while superstition was growing into fearful propor­
tions, especially among the lower classes, where the grossest
deceit met with shamefully easy success. The dark practices
of magic, sorcery and alchemy, were everywhere held in honor.
The Papacy took in hand these dangerous vagaries of the human
mind, and Innocent VIII. published rigorous decrees against
the absurd errors (a. d. 1484).
11. The discipline of penance could not wholly escape the
moral blight which had fallen upon the religious life. Disor­
ders were encouraged by the impunity of crime, while the vices
and immorality of the people found a lamentable and disgrace­
ful palliation in the scandalous life of the clergy. In vain the
Catholic doctors raised their voices, by word and by writing, to
recall the necessity of Catholic penance, of those saving rigors
to which the Christians of the early Church submitted with such
edifying docility. They were no longer beard ; no attention
was paid to the interdicts and excommunications launched by
tbe bishops against hardened sinners. The abuse was general,
and tbe reaction against the spirit of the Church seemed so
much the more energetic, that its triumph, during the preceding
epoch, had been more complete. Still the hardened conscience
was at times startled from its sinful lethargy by the fearful
catastrophes hurled by the band of God, like thunderbolts,

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE 9ΙΧΤΠ PERIOD.

665

upon the guilty world. The plague—that sweeping scourge
which makes its fatal rounds among the European nations al
periods marked by Providence, and especially the black plague,
which dispeopled whole nations—was often the prelude to a
momentary season of conversions. But even the little good
which appeared at this period seemed branded with the same
character of degeneracy, and the very reaction toward penance
was attended with new disorders. The Flagellantes ran about in
troops, through cities and villages, presenting a spectacle of
senseless maceration ; while the sect of Dancers, on a diamet­
rically opposite principle, thought to check the ravages of the
plague by giving themselves up to the most extravagant demon­
strations of joy. The most rigorous punishments were found
necessary to check this twofold excess.
12. Catholic science, now called into the field against so
many disorders, was not, as is so often repeated, exclusively
confined to tbe, perhaps, too absolute system of the Schools.
We have already spoken of the mystic doctor, John Tauler,
whose words were so fruitful on the borders of the Rhine. The
same period received from Henry Suso, a religious of the Order
of St. Dominic, a mystical treatise, entitled The Nine Rocks.
John Ruysbroeck, of Brussels, amid the sublime beauty of his
writings, betrays the germ of the false mysticism afterward de­
veloped by Madame Guyon, and which even misled, for a moment, the beautiful mind of Fénelon. These dangerous ten­
dencies were ably met by Gerson. “ The essence of mysticism,”
says the illustrious chancellor, “ is to know God by the ex­
perience of the heart. By means of love, which raises the soul
to God, we attain to an immediate union with the divinity.
While the 'bject of speculative theology is truth, mystic theol­
ogy aims at goodness and holiness itself. Scholasticism and
mysticism correspond to the faculties by which the sou
knows and desires, comprehends and loves ; and by all these
means may lead to God. Scholasticism must guide and main­
tain mysticism within the rules of truth. But it is not enough
merely to apprehend God in idea ; the idea of God must enter

666

GENERAL fflSTORV OF THE CHURCH.

into and animate the whole life of man. and thug mysticism
realizes what scholasticism perceives and comprehends.” Those
high and beautiful thoughts are worthy of a writer to whom
the divine books of the Imitation have been ascribed. Thomas a
Kempis, who shares with him the reputation of having written
this beautiful treatise, was at the same period an inmate of the
monastery of Kempen, in the present kingdom of Prussia ; if
his title to the authorship of the sublime work is not irrefragably proved, it is glory enough for his memory that he was
deemed capable of having written it.
13. The human mind was not long to abide in this high Chris­
tian sphere, where its powers were exercised on the deepest
mysteries of our divine religion. The literary revival, a move­
ment of immense import, opened new paths to its active re­
searches. The study of the pagan authors had, until then, ex­
ercised only a secondary influence upon writers and poets. It
was subject to the spirit of faith which ruled the age. This
Riihordination of pagan literature to Christian faith was ex
pressed by Dante, in his Divina Commedia, where ne is guideo
through the regions of hell and purgatory by the heathen
Virgil.—Petrarch drew the materials for his canzoni and Italian
poems, as well as for his Latin treatises, from the purest sources
of antiquity, whose forms and images were familiar to him.
But the Christian worship, the love of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
is still uppermost in his heart; and if his works are resplendent
with the literary gems of Homer and Virgil, it is only to express
more fitly his admiration for the God of the gospel. Every
thing was helping to prepare the field of literature for the age
of Leo X., and for the elegant latinity of Erasmus, oi Bude,
Bembo and Sadolet; while, in the domain of art, the celebra­
ted paintings of Cimabue, Giotto, Domenico del Ghirlandajv.
Fra Angelico of Fiesole, Masaccio, Leonardo da Vinci and
Perugino, were but a magnificent prelude to the unrivalled
gemus of Raphael.

END or

vol.

m.