of the Christian name He re-edified the City-Walls and Gates that had suffer'd by Age and raised from the Ground fifteen Forts 〈◊〉 the defence of the City of which two were very necessary one 〈◊〉 the right 〈◊〉 other on the left hand of the Tiber below the Hills Janiculus and Aventinus to hinder the Ships of any Enemy from entring the Town He by his diligence found out the Bodies of the Sancti quatuor coronati and built a Church to them after a magnificent manner and reposited their bodies under the Altar viz. Sempronianus Claudius Nicostratus Castorius to which he added those of Severus Severianus Carpophorus Victorinus Marius Felicissimus Agapetus Hippolytus Aquila Priscus Aquinus Narcissus Marcellinus Felix Apollos Benedict Venantius Diogenes Liberalis Festus Marcellus the head of S. Protus Cecilia Alexander Sixtus Sebastian Praxedes But while he was diligently intent upon these Affairs as became so holy a man news was brought that the Saracens were coming with a huge Fleet to sack the City and that the Neapolitans and the Inhabitants upon that shore would come to his assistance whereupon with what forces he could raise he march'd to Ostia and summon'd thither the Auxiliaries designing upon the first opportunity to fight the Enemy But first this holy Pope exhorted his Souldiers to receive the Sacrament which being devoutly perform'd he prayed to God thus O God whose right hand did support the blessed Peter when he walk'd upon the Waves and sav'd him from drowning and delivered from the deep his fellow-Apostle Paul when he was thrice shipwrack'd hear us mercifully and grant that for their merits the hands of these thy faithful ones fighting against the Enemies of thy holy Church may by thy almighty arm be confirm'd and strengthened that thy holy Name may appear glorious before all Nations in the Victory that shall be gained Having pronounc'd this by making the sign of the Cross he gave the signal for Battel and the onset was made by his Souldiers with great briskness as if they had been sure of Victory which after a tedious Dispute was theirs the Enemies being put to flight many of them perish'd in the fight but most were taken alive and brought to Rome where the Citizens would have some of them hang'd without the City for a 〈◊〉 to the rest very much against the mind of Leo who was very remarkable for Gentleness and Clemency but it was not for him to oppose the rage of a multitude Those that were taken alive Leo made use of in 〈◊〉 those Churches which the Saracens had heretofore ruin'd and burnt and in building the Wall about the Vatican which from his own name he call'd 〈◊〉 Leonina This he did lest the Enemy should with one slight assault take and sack the Church of S. Peter as heretofore they were wont The Gates also had his Prayers for upon that which leads to S. Peregrin this was graven in Marble O God who by giving to thy Apostle S. Peter the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven didst 〈◊〉 upon him the Pontifical Authority of binding and loosing grant that by the help of his intercession we may be delivered from all mischievous Attempts and that this City which now with thy assistance I have newly founded may be free or ever from thine anger and may have many and great Victories over those Enemies against whom it is built And on the second Gate near S. Angelo that leads into the fields were these words O God who from the beginning of the World didst vouchsafe to preserve and establish this holy Catholick and Apostolical Church of Rome mercifully blot 〈◊〉 the hand-writing of our iniquity and grant that this City which we assisted by the Intercession of the Apostles Peter and Paul have newly dedicated to thy holy name may remain secure from the evil machinations of its Enemies The third was on the front of the Gate by which we go to the Saxons School in these words Grant we beseech thee almighty and merciful God that crying to thee with our whole heart and the blessed Apostle Peter interceding for us we may obtain thy favour We continually beg of thy mercy that the City which I thy servant Leo IV. Bishop of Rome have dedicated anew and called Leonina from my own name may continue safe and prosperous This City he began in the first year of his Pontificate and finish'd in his sixth and gave it to be a habitation for the men of Corsica who had been driven out of that Island by the Saracens to each of whom also he assign'd a piece of ground for his maintenance But I wonder now that another Inscription is to be read on these Gates in dull Hexameter Verse which I cannot by any means think to be Leo's though it go under his name Of the Spoils of the Saracens he made several donations of Gold and Silver to the Churches of Rome Some write that 't was by his command that S. Mary's Church in the new street and the Tower in the Vatican next S. Peter's now to be seen were built Beside he restor'd the Silver-door of S. Peter which had been pillag'd by the Saracens He held a Synod of 47. Bishops wherein Anastasius Presbyter Cardinal of S. Marcellus was by the Papal Canons convict of several Crimes upon which he was condemned and excommunicate the chief allegation being that for five years he had not resided in his Parish Moreover he brought Colonies from Sardinia and Corsica which now upon the repulse of the 〈◊〉 had some respite and planted them in Hostia which partly by reason of the unhealthiness of the Air and partly by being so often 〈◊〉 was left without Inhabitants Lastly he fully satisfied Lotharius who having been inform'd that Leo was upon a design of translating the Empire to the Constantinopolitans came himself to Rome But the Informers being caught in Lies received condign punishment and the friendship was on both sides renewed 'T is said that Johannes Scotus a learned Divine liv'd at this time who coming into France by the command of K. Lewis translated S. Dionysius's Book de Hierarchia out of Greek into Latin but was soon after as they say stab'd with a Bodkin by some of his Scholars but the occasion of this villanous act is not any where recorded 'T is said too that now Ethelwolph K. of England out of devotion made his Countrey tributary to the Church of Rome by charging a penny yearly upon every house Our holy Pope Leo having deserv'd well of the Church of God of the City of Rome and of the whole Christian name for his Wisdom Gravity Diligence Learning and the Magnificence of his works died in the eighth year third month and sixth day of his Pontificate on the 17. day of July and was buried in S. Peter's Church The Sea was then void two months and fifteen days JOHN VIII JOHN of English Extraction but born at Mentz is said to have arriv'd at the Popedom by evil Arts for disguising
should succeed him a Right for ever to chuse a Successour and certainly he could not mean a Successour to the Kingdom of Germany which was hereditary and independent of the Roman See and therefore it can onely have reference to the Imperial Dignity Now whereas by the decease of Otho the 3d. who died without issue this Right of the Emperour devolved to the States who succeeded to the Sovereign Authority for it is a sure Maxim That the King cannot die they therefore challenged and appropriated to themselves the same Right of chusing Emperours the which afterwards they resigned and transferred to the seven Electors who exercise the same power unto this day three of which viz. Mentz Triers and Colen are Ecclesiasticks being Arch-bishops and Arch-Chancellours to shew and keep in remembrance that the Ecclesiastical State had once a Right in the Election of Emperours But Historians are so much at variance in this point and relate it with such variety that we shall not search farther into this matter but proceed to our purpose of the Election of Popes and of the formality therein used in this Age. We have in our foregoing Discourse mentioned that Popes were antiently chosen by the Nobility Clergy and people of Rome which was certainly the Original Custom Though the Book of the Sacred Ceremonies used in the Church of Rome tells us That St. Peter named Clemens for his Successour provided that it might so seem good to the Senators of the Roman Church that is to the Presbyters of which St. Peter had constituted a College of twenty four before his death with power and Authority to decide and determine all matters of difficulty arising in the Church The which Presbyters having little or no regard to the nomination and appointment of St. Peter chose Linus and after him Cletus and then Clemens succeeded who was rather recommended than chosen by St. Peter that so it might more plainly appear that Popes had not a Right to Elect their Successours for if that priviledg was denied to St. Peter much more ought it to be unto those who succeeded him These twenty four Presbyters were in the time of Pope Sylvester the first called Cardinals that is Princes in the Church on whom Innocent the 4th at the Council of Lions bestowed the red Hat as a mark and badg of their Dignity afterwards Schisms and Dissentions arising amongst the Senators the Clergy and people of Rome were admitted to be present at the Election but to have no Voice or Suffrage therein afterwards the force and violence of the people was such that they would have a Voice and concur with others in their Votes This popular way of Election caused such heats and disturbances that the Emperours were constrained for keeping the peace to interpose by their Authority and to Order that no Election should stand good until it was confirmed by the Imperial approbation The Kingdom of the Lombards being overthrown in the year 776. the Roman Empire was translated from the Greek to the German Princes and then Charles the Great assumed and exercised this power of Electing or what is all one the confirming of Popes Afterwards a Series of pious Emperours succeeding and considering that the Supreme Bishop was Instituted and Ordained by Christ himself to be a Shepherd to the Emperour as well as to feed his other Flock and to purge and spiritually to judg them they renounced the power of confirming Popes and entirely transferred it to the Roman Presbyters the Clergy and the people This popular manner of Election produced parties Schisms and contentions which often broke forth into bloud and wounds so that there was scarce a Regular Election for a long time the strongest always possessing the Chair until he was subverted by another more powerful than himself so that in the space of few years nine several Men seized on the Papal Chair namely Benedict the 9th Sylvester the 3d. Gregory the 6th Clement the 2d Damasus the 2d Leo the 2d Victor the 2d Stephen the 9th and Benedict the 10th To which last Nicolas the 2d succeeding a person of unparallel'd Sanctity and Wisdom did in the year 1051. study to cure and prevent these riotous courses for the future which upon the choice of every Pope were ready to bring and precipitate every thing into confusion For a Remedy whereunto he established a Law which was afterwards confirmed by the Council of Lateran that the election of the Popes should entirely rest and remain in the power of the Cardinals the which Law or Canon was afterwards confirmed by Alexander the 3d. and by Gregory the 10th in the Council of Lions and at Vienna by Clement the 6th The which happy Constitution hath tended much to the peace and quiet of the Church and as a Rule hereof Alexander the 3d. instituted at a General Council that he onely should be esteemed to have been canonically elected who had obtained his Choice by at least two Thirds of the College of Cardinals This power of Election hath ever since that time rested in the power of the Cardinals who after the Octaves appointed for solemnizing the Funerals of the deceased Pope have on the 9th or 10th day entered the Conclave in order to a new Election The Conclave is for the most part held at the Vatican Palace where in a long Gallery are erected small Apartments or Cells made of boards covered with purple Cloth for every Cardinal which place is appointed for the more convenient conference each with other to every Cardinal is allowed no more than two Servants which are called his Conclavists unless in case of sickness or other infirmity when three may be admitted The Cardinals being entered the Conclave is strictly guarded with the City Militia to hinder all commerce and intercourse of Letters from without The Gallery also is very closely watched being kept by a Master of the Ceremonies so that when the Cardinals have their Dishes served up to them they are visited and inspected by him lest any Letters or Advices should be concealed within the Meat According to this first Institution the Cardinals have a free use of several dishes of Meat for the first three days and whilst they are eating or doing any thing else in their Cells the outward Curtains are to be open and undrawn unless in the Night when they sleep or at other times that they take their repose when great care is taken that no undecent noise or disturbance be given It hath been accustomary of late years for the Cardinals to premise certain particular points and Articles necessary and convenient for the better government of the Church which are subscribed by the whole Community and every one takes an Oath to observe them in case he should prove to be the person chosen and promoted to the Pontifical Dignity After which matters are performed they proceed to an Election There are three ways by which Popes are chosen namely by Scrutiny by Access or
Pope again that he would please to Anathematize Rodolphus who endeavour'd to get possession of his Kingdom Which Gregory refusing to do Henry was so angry that he studied day and night to ruin the Pope In the mean while lest Sedition should be wanting in Christendom Michael and Andronicus his Son who had been by force depriv'd of the Empire of Constantinople by Nicephorus Bucamor came for refuge to Gregory who not only excommunicated Nicephorus but employ'd Rogerius a feudatary of the Roman Church to restore Michael with whom he discours'd at Ceperano to the Empire In pursuance of which command he got a Navy and leaving his younger Son Rogerius in Italy he took Boëmund his other Son along with him and sailed first to Valona but pitch'd his Camp near Durazzo resolving to make sure of that City which was so convenient for the carrying on of the War But Dominick Sylvius Duke of Venice who was of Nicephorus's party beat Rogerius from the Siege with great loss on both sides But not long after Nicephorus was betray'd by Alexius Mega General of his Forces and made a Prisoner the City being given up for three days to be plunder'd by the Soldiers according to compact Nicephorus himself was taken in the Church of Sancta Sophia but his life 〈◊〉 upon condition that he would take upon him the habit of a Monk for as long as he lived Gregory seeing that Henry was incited against the Church by some seditious Bishops called a great Synod and forbad Gilbert Arch-bishop of Ravenna for his pride and malice the exercise of his Episcopal or Priestly function under pain of an Anathema or Curse For when he was summon'd to appear before the Sea Apostolick being conscious of his crimes he would not obey the Citation for which alone he deserv'd the penalty of an Anathema He likewise censured Roland of Treviso for that when he was Legat in order to a Peace between him and Henry he sowed the seeds of discord and not unity to get a Bishoprick by the bargain 〈◊〉 did he spare Hugo Cardinal of St. Clements who had seditiously and heretically conspired with Cadolus Bishop of Parma In fine he chose three at the same Assembly to wit Bernard the Deacon the other Bernard Abbat of Marseilles and Odo Arch-bishop of Treves to go Legates à Latere from the Sea Apostolick to compose all differences between Henry and Rodolphus For the wise Pope saw that such a quarrel unless it were timely ended would occasion great calamities one time or other to Christendon But because he well knew that there would not be lacking such mischievous men as would endeavour to hinder it because it was their interest to foment rather than remove the dissention he gave the Legates Letters Apostolical to the several Princes and States written after this manner We taking notice of the weakness covetousness and ambition of mankind do charge all manner of persons whether Kings Arch-bishops Bishops Dukes Counts Marquesses or Knights that either out of pride cunning or covetousness they give no hindrance to our Legats whilst they negotiate the Peace And whosoever shall be so rash as to contravene this Order which I hope none will and shall hinder our Legats from composing a Peace I bind him under an Anathema both in Spirituals and Temporals by Apostolick Power and take away from him the advantage of any Victory he has gain'd that he may at least be confounded and be converted by a double penance He likewise commanded the Legates to call a Diet in Germany and deliberately examine who of the two Kings had the right and accordingly by the consent of all good Men to assign him the Kingdom whose cause was justest and that He when he should hear what they had determin'd would confirm it by the authority of God and S. Peter than which there cannot be greater But in the mean while Gregory lest the Church of Rome should suffer by Simony called a Council and therein confirm'd the Decrees of his Predecessors made to put a stop to that evil in these words We following the example of our Predecessors as we have formerly in other Councils do decree and ordain by the authority of Almighty God that whoever for the future accepts of a Bishoprick an Abbacy or any other Ecclesiastical preferment from a Layman shall not by any means be esteemed a Bishop an Abbat or a Clergy man nor let the same person dare to approach the Apostolical Sea before he has repented and left the place that he gain'd by ambition and contumacy which is the sin of Idolatry And under the same Censures we bind Kings Dukes and Princes who shall dare to confer Bishopricks or other Ecclesiastical Dignities upon any person against Law and Reason Furthermore we confirm the sentence of Anathema which was justly given against Theobald Archbishop of Milan and Gilbert Arch-bishop of Ravenna as also against Roland Arch-bishop of Treviso and we lay the same Censure upon Peter who was formerly Bishop of Redona but is now an Usurper in the Church 〈◊〉 Narbonne Moreover we deny S. Peter's favour and entrance into the Church to all such till they have repented and satisfied for their offences be they Normans Italians or any other Nation who have in the least injured or violated the Marcha di Termo in Ancona the Dutchy of Spoleto Campagna di Roma Sabina Tivoli Palestrina Frascati or Alba or the parts that lie toward the Tuscan Sea Add to these the Monastery of St. Benedict and all the Country of Cassino as also Benevent in Abruzzo But if any one pretends a just cause for taking what he has not yet restored let him demand justice of us or our Officers and if they are not satisfied we grant them leave to take back as much as will satisfie them not excessively like Robbers but as becomes Christians and such Men who only retake what is their own and desire not other mens goods fearing the anger of God and the Curse of S. Peter After that he confirmed the Curse against Henry afresh in these words Blessed Peter and thou Paul Doctor of the Gentiles I beseech you to hearken unto me a little and hear me in mercy for you are Disciples and Lovers of Truth and what I say is true I undertake this cause for Truths sake that my Brethren whose salvation I desire may obey me more willingly and that they may know how I rely upon your assistance next to that of Christ and his Virgin Mother whilst I resist the wicked and am a present guard continually to the faithful For I did not ascend this Sea willingly but against my inclinations even with tears in my eyes that they should think such a worthless Man as me fit to sit in such a lofty Throne But this I say because I did not chuse you but you me and imposed this heavy burden upon my shoulders But the Sons of Belial are risen up against me since I have ascended the Mount
the Council in or else they threaten'd to oppose him as a prevaricating and an obstinate person Eugenius was moved at their words and confirmed the Council at Basil by a new Breve giving every one leave to go thither for he was so tormented with Wars on all sides of him that he had hardly time to breath But having recover'd Rome he sent John Viteleschus thither immediately who was a Man indeed very fit for business but savage and severe who marching against the Colonneses the Sabelli and all the Gibellin faction he sack'd and razed the Castle of Gandulpho standing on the Lago Albano as also Savello and Borgeto He likewise took Alba Civita Lapuvina Palestrina and Zagatolo and sent all the Inhabitants that were alive to Rome Then turning his course into Campagna di Roma he brought 'em all over to the Church and having taken Anthony Pontadera he hang'd him upon an Olive-Tree at Fraselone Then coming back to Rome he put 'em all in a fear and pull'd down several Houses of Conspirators that had taken possession of the Porta Maggiore in a tumult and declared them Enemies to the Church Among the rest he took one Pulcellus and tortur'd him with red hot Pincers and then hang'd him in Campo Fiore When the Roman people complain'd that the covetousness of some rich Men had brought a Famine upon the Country there was so much Wheat immediately brought into the Market by his Order that there ensued great plenty of all things in a short time so readily were his Commands obey'd When he had thus setled Affairs he went into the Kingdom of Naples which Alphonso had lately got possession of and which he said belonged to the Pope and the Church and there he took the Prince of Tarento with two thousand Horse and invaded the Dominion of the Earl of Nola. He also had like to have taken Alphonso by fraud rather than force when they had made a Truce and a Peace was as good as concluded When he had taken the Towns belonging to the Church he freed the Prince And going back to Rome he demolish'd Palestrina which was ready to rebel by the persuasion of Lorenzo Colonna and turned out the Inhabitants in great numbers to roam about the Country in the year 1435. In which year Eugenius went from Florence having first consecrated the Cathedral Church there and going to Bologna he built a Fort near that Gate which leads towards Ferrara and fortified the House where the Legate now resides with a good high and broad Wall behind especially and with Turrets The year after he in a publick Consistory translated the Council of Basil though he had approved of that place from thence to Ferrara and said that the Greeks who had a mind to join with the Church of Rome had chosen that City to meet in Then the Presidents of the Council at Basil were very urgent with the Greeks and did exhort them with Prayers and Promises that they would leave Eugenius and come to them Nor were they content to do so onely but they bragg'd that they would depose Eugenius too if he would not come thither also Eugenius could not tell for some time what to do but yet he sent thither as Legate one John Francis Capitelista a Lawyer and a Knight of Padua to plead his cause But when Sigismund the Emperor was dead by whose favour the Council of Basil flourish'd and Albert Duke of Austria was chosen in his room the Cardinal of S. Crosses began the Council of Ferrara in the name of Eugenius Eugenius also went thither when he heard the Emperor of Constantinople whose name was John Paleologus was coming with a great many Gallies of his own as well as what the Venetians for Eugenius's sake sent to meet the Emperor lest any violence should have been offer'd him because he had an account that certain French Gallies were sent by the Council into the Archipelago with Orders either to bring the Emperor to them or if they could not do so that at least they should keep him from going to Ferrara But Eugenius so far corrupted the Admiral of those Galleys with Money that he left the Council at Basil and came over to his Party When the Emperour came to Ferrara he was entertain'd by Eugenius as the Roman Emperours used to be treated But Viteleschus when he had quieted the Church Dominions and punish'd several Priests that had pilfer'd certain Jewels out of the Heads of Peter and Paul the Apostles in the Lateran Church to which they belong'd and after that had put James Galesius and his Accomplices to death for attempting to make Innovations upon the Government he went to Ferrara where in a publick Consistory he was receiv'd into the number of Cardinals with great Honour For he had been made Cardinal six months before at Bologna and then returning with greater Authority he put the Governour of Vetralla and the Lord of Fuligno after he had expell'd him from his usurp'd Dominion to death in the Castle of Surio But Eugenius desiring to unite the two Churches that were so long of different Opinions in the year 1438 having made solemn Prayers and celebrated the Mass of the Holy Ghost he went to the Council along with the Emperour and Patriarch of Constantinople where the Emperour being seated on a Throne suitable to his Dignity and the other Greeks in a place opposite to the Pope the question was first ask'd Whether the Latins and the Greeks who had been so long of different Opinions were willing to be united into one Church At which they all cry'd out They would very willingly provided that their differences were first reconciled by Reason In order to which there were Disputations every day between those that the Latins and Greeks had chosen to debate those weighty Points But there happening a Plague at Ferrara which continued a good while it was not safe staying there and therefore the Council was removed to Florence And as soon as they came thither Picenninus presently took possession of Forli Imola Ravenna and Bologna by command from Philip with a design to thwart Eugenius's intentions who was a Friend to the Florentines and Venetians his Enemies After that he came back into Parma and raising a great body of Horse he passed the Po and took in a short time the greater Casal and Platina my native Country and all that the Venetians had about Cremona Then he routed Gattamelata General of the Venetian Army at Calvatoni and with the Prince of Mantoua his Ally he besieged Brescia for some months which was stoutly defended by the Citizens and one Francis Barbar a very learned Man and their chief Magistrate Whereupon he pass'd from thence to seize several Castles thereabout and hinder provisions from being brought into the City plundering and destroying all the Country as far as Verona and Vincenza so that he left the Venetians nothing to live upon but yet all this was not accomplish'd without great damage to
punish those Crimes in them which savoured of partiality or corruption Examples hereof we have in many kinds and particularly it is not to be forgotten that a certain Nobleman of Rome having been guilty of many enormous Crimes could not be protected from his Justice by the Power and Interest of his Friends and Relations for having threatned one of the Judges to be revenged one day upon him in the vacancy of the Sea he was apprehended and accused upon those words which though they would bear no action in rigour yet they were so severely interpreted against him being aggravated by his former Offences that he was condemned to die and accordingly suffered in the publick face of all the City Another instance we have of his fortitude in the punishment of a Judg of the Court for Bribery whom he committed to Prison and afterwards condemned to the Gallies With the like impartiality and resolution he punished the people of Firma for having in a Mutiny and Sedition killed Viscount Vbert their Governour in prosecution of which justice he sent Count Vidman his chief Captain with some Troops against the City that those who were the principal leaders in this Sedition might without fear or favour be brought to condign punishment and accordingly some were imprisoned others banished others fined or sent to the Gallies or put to death and that he might attemper in some measure Clemency with his Justice he enclined a favourable Ear to the submissive petitions of that People and received them into his gracious favour and mercy Nor was his justice less eminent in the punishment of Mascambruno who was Sub datary of the Apostolical Chamber in which Office having behaved himself without regard to the faith and integrity required he forged many false Writings affixing the Pope's Seal to them and counterfeited his Hand besides many other accusations of bribery and corruption all which being proved against him he was devested of his Office and dignity of Priesthood and publickly executed in the face of the whole City It is also farther to be added in commendation of this Pope that he restored the Elogy which Alexander III had inscribed in the great Hall of the Vatican in memory of the assistances which the Venetians had given to the Church and which Vrban VIII without any just cause or reason had blotted out and defaced He was also munificent in publick Buildings and adornments of the City and according to the generous temper of his nature had been much more had not his Moneys been intercepted by Olympia Howsoever he enlarged the common Prisons of the City and built others which were before so narrow and streight as to be noisom and unhealthy to the Prisoners He also finished the Walls of the City on the other side of the Tyber which were begun by his Predecessour Vrban VIII He farther repaired and adorned the Church of St. John Lateran being much decayed since the time of Constantine the Great who had built it for a Chappel to his Palace and had been neglected by former Popes But more especially munificent was he towards the great Church of St. Peter for that a Memorial might remain of his Beneficence amongst other Popes to that place he added many and various Works and beautified those places which wanted Ornament but what the particulars were will best appear by this following Inscription which was engraven over the great Gate of this Church Basilicam Principis Apostolorum In hanc molis Amplitudinem Multiplici Romanorum Pontificum Aedificatione perductam Innocentius X. Pont. Max. Novo Caelaturae Opere Ornatis Sacellis Interjectis in utraque Templi Ala Marmoreis Columnis Strato è Vario lapide Pavimento Magnificentius Terminavit Besides all which publick Works many others are recorded of him by Ciconius in the life of this Pope to whom the Reader may be referred In the beginning of 1649. the year of Jubily approaching he caused great provisions to be made for entertainment of Pilgrims and that there should be no want of Bread and Wine in the City he sent Ofcers and Purveyors into all the neighbouring Countries to buy up the Corn and fill up the granaries of the City and lest in so general a concourse of people who flocked to enjoy the Indulgences and Pardons granted at that season Provisions should be raised to excessive Rates care was taken to moderate the prices and render every thing cheap and commodious for Pilgrims On the 24th of December 1649. the year of Jubily began when the Pope in presence of all the Cardinals Ambassadours and Magistrates of the City opened the Holy Gate which being again shut by him at the end of the following year this Inscription was engraven upon a Cross of stone over the portal of the Gate Innocentius X. Pont. Max. Portam Hanc Sanctam Reseratam Clausam AB Vrbano VIII Pont. Max. Anno Jubilei MDCXXV Aperuit Clausit Anno Jubilei MD.C.L. About this time a Book was published in France written by an unknown Author which aimed to subvert the Pope's Authority by proving that there was an equality in Order and Government between the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul or that the Authority of St. Paul was not subordinate to that of St. Peter This Book falling under the examination and scrutiny of the Inquisition was condemned as heretical and the same Censure was passed thereupon by the Pope who caused a Brief against it to be affixed in all publick places of Rome But the Opinions of Jansenius Bishop of Ypres more successfully prevailed in France and Flanders for prevention whereof and to give a stop to the farther spreading of those Tenents which were five in number a Congregation composed of Cardinals and Divines was appointed by Innocent to examine the several Articles and to give their Opinion upon the same And to quicken the Pope and make him more zealous in the Work both the King of France and Queen Regent sent their Letters to the Pope desiring him in a matter of such importance the determination whereof would tend to the settlement and quiet of Mens minds and Consciences to interpose with the final Sentence of his Infallibility and Apostolical Doctrine In like manner most of the Bishops of France desired the Pope's distinct determination of every one of those five Propositions for though Vrban VIII of happy memory had in general terms published a Bull against the Book of Jansenius and had confirmed the Decrees of Pius V. and Gregory XIII against Michael Baius whose Doctrines concurred with those of Jansenius yet were not convincing to the multitude for want of a distinct explication and particular Sentence against every one of those five Propositions wherefore the Pope after discussion of all those Points by the aforesaid Congregation at which he was for the most part personally present he promulged these his determinations thereupon and affixed these distinct Notes and Censures to every Proposition which we have thought fit to deliver in Latin
From him they passed to Cardinal Pio and then to Odescalchi against which last were not many exceptions only that the French Party esteemed him too much inclined to the Spanish Interest and though the reputation of Odescalchi was high and his merits great yet his time being not yet come all endeavours for him vanished into Air he also himself beseeched Chigi as it were upon his knees to desist from farther actions in his favour howsoever the Conclave being impatient of farther delay seemed generally inclined to make choice of Odescalchi yet some esteemed him too young others too morose and austere and Chigi himself freely discoursing with Celsi taxed him for want of practice in business and that having addicted himself much to speculation and study imagined that he would prove unpleasant in his humour and that Abbat Marc Antonio being his Brother it was more than probable he would be created Cardinal and Favourite who also being a Person of an austere life and severe Vertue might concur with the Pope in designs to reform the Vices and luxury of the Clergy Which considerations being weighty and prevalent with the Conclave his exclusion was publickly declared After which every one was at a stand and in expectation of what time and the power of Barberino and others would produce Chigi had laboured to the utmost of his power to advance one of his Friends but all proving ineffectual he gave them at least the satisfaction that nothing had been wanting on his part Medici was well contented with the exclusion of Nerli who was a Creature of Rospigliosi because Altieri who was under the same notion of a Friend and dependant on that Family was still in nomination In the mean time the aged Cardinals zealous for the honour and sanctity of the Conclave exclaimed against the delatory proceedings which gave scandal to the World and cause of complaint to the People who by reason thereof were impoverished by a deadness of Trade and oppressed by the extortions of the Mons Pietatis which during the vacancy of the Sea exacted four times more from indigent Persons than the known rates allowed by Law and the justice of the Popes The Ambassadour of Spain more concerned than any other for these delays having Audience in the Conclave requested the Cardinals in the name of his Master to agree in their Election for whereas they had an Authority free and independent of temporal Crowns and secular considerations they were obliged to proceed in the speedy choice of a Successour to St. Peter and of a Pastor to the Universal Church and not suffer the same to become subservient to Intrigues and private Interests which as they were daily more scandalous they gave occasion to the World of discourse as if the inspirations of the Holy Ghost were banished the Conclave the divine Illuminations damped and eclipsed by the interposition of Secular designs It was strange to observe how on a sudden after this discourse the humour of the Conclave was altered the old Cardinals weary of their restraint would yield to the Election of any provided they might gain their liberty and the young Men were ready to give their suffrages for whomsoever the Leaders of their Party and Interest should direct so that now merit and Vertue and experience in Government were laid aside and a Pope chosen by those who were most obstinate and tenacious of their Opinion and could hold out longest Thus different Interests began to agree and Chigi and Medici to entertain discourse with Barberino proposing to pitch upon the Creature or favourite of the House of Rospigliosi to which both these leading Factions were well inclined the Person nominated was Cardinal Emilio Altieri generally grateful to the whole Conclave for his great Age having passed the years of eighty Chigi took occasion hereupon to complement Barberino declaring that rather by divine Inspiration than humane fansie he had fixed on the sole Person of the World whom he had reserved in his breast as the most worthy of this Dignity for that he was a Man who never concerned himself in embroils and Intrigues of different Parties never was a Pensioner of France or Spain or depended on the favour of Italian Princes or was obliged by any of the Roman Families Barberino on the other side vowed that the nomination he had made of Altieri was rather an effect of his good wishes towards Chigi than to his own Family for that he was not ignorant of the great Obligations which Cardinal Paluzzi the Creature of Emilio Altieri had unto him by whose means onely he was first preferred to be Auditor of the Camera then to be a Prelate and lastly to be a Cardinal all which were such good Offices as would certainly oblige Altieri in case that to the preceding kindnesses which he had performed towards his Favourite he should add that also of being an Instrument to advance himself unto the Papacy In the mean time great Interests were made for Odescalchi and his Party was so earnest thereupon that they designed secretly to elect him by Accession as a more ready way than by Treaties or making Parties But Barberino was zealous for Altieri and instant to have his Election passed without other dispute or consideration Howsoever Chigi was a little wavering because he doubted whither Paluzzi would prove constant to him and bear him the same respect in the time of his prosperity and under the circumstances of the Pope's favour as he had testified to him in his former condition of fortune wherefore that he might secure him the better he addressed himself to Paluzzi persuading him to believe that his endeavours for the promotion of Altieri were in a great measure founded on that friendship and good will which he owed to him and for that reason before he would engage his Party and Interest in his Election he would be assured that Altieri should promise to adopt Paluzzi and create him Cardinal Nephew than which nothing could be more just and due to a Person of his Wisdom and Talents and practised in all Affairs of the Court of Rome Having said thus much Chigi conducted Paluzzi to Medici and they together with Buglion and Barberino went to the lodging of Altieri to whom the Dean Cardinal Barberino with a loud Voice and profound reverence made the same Complements as were accustomary to Popes elect with which Altieri being surpriz'd made Answer with tears in his Eyes That he was unfit for the performance of so great a function which might more easily be sustained by any of their Eminencies than by himself and pointing to Cardinal Brancacci Behold said he the Man whose Virtues Godliness and Abilities have rendered worthy of this high Exaltation By this time the Cell or Lodging was filled with Cardinals who with one Voice two onely excepted proclaimed Altieri Pope on the twenty eighth day of April and having performed the usual Ceremonies of Adoration and other matters practised at the Election of Popes he
to act in any thing without the counsel and advice of them and consent of the people and that he would examine the Causes and the merits thereof in their presence and moreover he reproves certain Priests for their irregular proceedings in cases of judgment threatning to give an account thereof unto the people This charity and plain dealings of the Bishops gained them such reputation that their advice and sentence was almost in all matters followed and admitted by the people whose charity in after-Ages growing cold and careless of the mutual good and benefit each of other came by degrees to cast off this burdensom Office of Judgment and to remit it solely to the Incumbence of the Bishop who also degenerating from the primitive humility easily gave way to the allurements of ambition and under the disguise of Charity and Vertue embraced the Authority of passing sentence without the assistance or consultation with co-ordinate Judges So soon as the persecutions ceased great loads of business Cases and Trials at Law devolved upon the Bishop so that then he was forced to erect a Tribunal of Justice and contrive Methods and rules for Judicial proceedings howsoever in those times of simplicity and innocence things were not so wholly corrupted but that though the antient Discipline of remitting matters to the determination of the Church did cease yet sincerity and uprightness in passing Sentence still continued The which when Constantine the Emperour observed and considered the great difference there was between the captious and litigious proceedings of secular Advocats and Proctors who made Law-suits and wranglings their benefit and Trade and the honest and conscientious Methods and determinations of the Clergy he ordained that the Sentence of the Bishop should be definitive and without appeal with power to grant an injunction to all proceedings at Common Law in case the party agrieved should desire to have recourse to the Episcopal judgment and jurisdiction in his case Hence it came to pass that the Sentence of the Bishop was made a judgment of Court and put in execution by the hands of the secular Magistrate and this jurisdiction was farther amplified and increased in the year 365. by the Decree of the Emperour Valens But the extent of this Authority established by the Law of Constantine being afterwards abused by the corruption of succeeding Bishops was recalled by the Emperours Arcadius and Honorius and confined to causes purely religious without Courts or formal processes of Law and without power to intermeddle in civil differences unless the parties concerned should on both sides agree to remit their case by way of Arbitration or compromise to the Sentence of the Bishop But in regard the Bishops of Rome had for a long time been powerful in that City little notice was taken of this Injunction until in the year 452. it was again enforced and renewed by Valentinian the Emperour But not long afterwards the succeeding Emperours restored part of that Authority which had been taken from them and Justinian again erected their Courts of Judicature to which he assigned all Causes about Religion complaints and differences between the Clergy Ecclesiastical Fines and forfeitures with power to determine Cases between Lay-persons who should by way of Umpirage or Arbitration refer themselves to the Episcopal Court and in this manner did that charitable correction and that plain and sincere way of ending and composing differences between Brethren instituted by Christ Jesus begin to degenerate into that Dominion which our Saviour had forbidden to his Apostles And farther to strengthen and confirm this Episcopal Authority so soon as the Empire was divided and that the Western Provinces were separated from the Eastern Dominions then were many of the Bishops taken into the Councils of Princes whereby the Secular Power being annexed to their Spiritual capacity served much to advance and raise the reputation and Authority of the Episcopal Dignity so that two hundred years had not passed in this manner before the Bishops arrogated to themselves a Power to judg the Clergy in all Cases both Criminal and Civil And to extend their Jurisdiction farther they framed a Term called Mixed Actions in which the Bishop as well as the Secular Magistrate might grant Process that is in matters where the Judg had not been diligent or cold and remiss or dilatory in his proceedings then the Bishop might take the Causes out of his hands by which pretence and usurpation little business remained for the Secular Courts And farther by vertue hereof they established a general standing Rule as unalterable as a fundamental of Faith that in Cases where the Magistrate was remiss or delayed to do Justice those Causes did ipso facto devolve to the cognizance of the Bishop Had the Prelats stuck at this point and not proceeded farther it had been pretty tolerable for then a Power might have remained still in the hands of the Civil Magistrate to moderate and retrench the excesses of Ecclesiastical encroachments as occasion served but those who had imposed this yoak on the people thought fit for their own security to rivet it in such manner about their necks that it could never be shaken off again having to that purpose forged a principle in their own Shops under the Title of a fundamental point of Faith That the Bishops power of judging in Causes as well temporal as spiritual took not its Original and Authority from the Decrees or connivence of Emperours or from the will and pleasure of the people or by custom or prescription but from a right inherent in the Episcopal Dignity and conferred thereupon by the institution of Christ himself As appears in the History of the Council of Trent wrote by Father Paul Sarpi This was certainly a bold and a hardy Assertion which could so easily have been refuted by those who had read the Codes of Theodosius and Justinian with the Capitularies of Charles the Great and Concessions and Ordinances of succeeding Princes both of the Eastern and Western Empire in reading and considering which a Man must be strangely blind or stupid who cannot observe by what ways and Methods the excess and exorbitance of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction was introduced into the World And indeed it is strange to consider that on the bare foundation of that Spiritual Power to bind and loose given by Christ to his Church and by that Ordinance of St. Paul to compose differences between the Brethren and prevent their going to Law before Infidels should by a long tract of time and by several Artifices and subtil contrivances be erected a Temporal Tribunal the most extensive and most considerable of any that ever was in the World and that in the midst of divers Kingdoms and Principalities of Europe there should be an other State established independent on the Publick which is such a Model and form of Political Government as never any of the Antient Legislators could ever fansie or imagine to be consistent with the Sovereignty of a Temporal Prince
LINUS LINUS by Nation a Tuscan his Father's name Herculeanus was in the Chair from the last year of Nero to the times of Vespasian and from the Consulship of Saturninus and Scipio to that of Capito and Rufus In this space of time there were no less than three Emperours Galba Otho and Vitellius each of them reigning but a very little while Galba a Person descended of the most ancient Nobility being created Emperour by the Soldiers in Spain assoon as he heard of the death of Nero came immediatey to Rome But rendring himself obnoxious to all men by his Avarice and Sloth through the treachery of Otho he was slain at Rome near Curtius's Lake in the seventh month of his Reign together with Piso a Noble Youth whom he had adopted for his Son He was doubtless a man who before he came to the Empire was very eminent in the management both of Military and Civil affairs being often Consul often Proconsul and several times General in the most important Wars That which makes me speak this in his praise is the Learning of M. Fabius Quintilianus whom Galba brought with him out of Spain to Rome Otho a man of better extraction by his Mother 's than by his Father's side who while he led a private life was very loose and effeminate as being a great and intimate Friend of Nero's in the midst of tumults and slaughters as I hinted before invaded the Empire But being ingaged in a Civil War against Vitellius who had been created Emperour in Germany though he got the better in three small Skirmishes one at the Alps another at Placentia the third at Castor yet losing the day in the last and most considerable which was at Bebriacum he thereupon fell into so deep a melancholly that in the third month of his Empire he stab'd himself Vitellius concerning whose Extraction there are different Opinions coming to Rome and obtaining the Empire soon degenerated into all manner of lewdness cruelty and gluttony being used to make several Meals in a day and some of them to such an height of Luxury that there have been at one Supper no less than two thousand Fishes and seven thousand Fowl serv'd up to his Table But having intelligence that Vespasian who had been created Emperour by the Army in Judoea was advancing with his Legions he at first determin'd to quit the Empire yet being afterwards encouraged by those about him he took up Arms and forc'd Sabinus Vespasian's Brother with his Flavian Soldiers into the Capitol which being set on fire they were all burnt Hereupon being surpriz'd by Vespasian and having no hope of pardon left him he hid himself in a private Chamber in the Palace from whence he was most ignominiously drag'd and carried naked through the Via Sacra to the Scaloe Gemonioe where being quartered he was thrown into the River Tyber During this time Linus was Successor to St. Peter though there are some who place Clemens here and wholly leave out Linus and Cletus who yet are sufficiently confuted not only by History but also by the authority of S. Hierom who tells us that Clemens was the fourth Bishop of Rome after Peter for Linus was accounted the second and Cletus the third notwithstanding that most of the Romans immediately after Peter reckon Clemens To whom though St. Peter had as it were by Will bequeath'd the Right of Succession yet his modesty was so great that he compelled Linus and Cletus to take upon them the Pontifical Dignity before him lest any ambition of preheminence might be of ill example to after Ages This Linus by Commission from St. Peter ordained that no Woman should enter the Church but with her Head veiled Moreover at two Ordinations which he held in the City he made eighteen Presbyters and eleven Bishops He wrote also the Memoirs of St. Peter and particularly the Contention he had with Sinion Magus In his time lived Philo a Jew by Nation of Alexandria in whose Writings there is so much Wit and Judgment that from the likeness there appears between them he deserv'd to have it proverbially said Either Plato does Philonize or Philo does Platonize By his Learning and Eloquence he corrected the rashness of Appion who had been sent Ambassadour from the Alexandrians with Complaints against the Jews While he was at Rome in Claudius his time he contracted an acquaintance with St. Peter and thereupon wrote several things in praise of the Christians Josephus also the son of Matathias a Priest at Hierusalem being taken Prisoner by Vespasian and committed to the custody of his son Titus till that City was taken coming to Rome during the Pontificate of Linus presented to the Father and the Son seven Books of the Jewish War which were laid up in the publick Library and the Author himself as a reward for that performance had most deservedly a Statue erected to him He wrote likewise twenty four other Books of Antiquities from the beginning of the World to the fourteenth year of the Emperour Domitian As for Linus himself though he had gain'd a mighty reputation by the sanctity of his Life by his Power of casting out Devils and raising the Dead yet was he put to Death by Saturninus the Consul whose very Daughter he had dispossess'd and was buried in the Vatican near the Body of St. Peter on the twenty first day of September when he had sat in the Pontifical See eleven years three months and twelve days There are some who affirm that Gregory Bishop of Ostia did according to a Vow which he had made remove the Body of this holy Bishop to that place and solemnly interr it in the Church of St. Laurence S. CLETUS CLETUS born in Rome in the Vicopatrician Region Son of Aemilianus through the persuasion of Clemens unwillingly took upon him the burden of the Pontificate though for his Learning Life and Quality he was a Person of very great esteem and Authority among all that knew him He lived in the time of Vespasian and Titus from the seventh Consulship of Vespasian and the fifth of Domitian to Domitian and Rufus Coss according to Damasus Vespasian as I said before succeeding Vitellius committed the management of the Jewish War which had been carrying on two years before to his Son Titus which he within two years after with great resolution finished For all Judoea being conquer'd the City Hierusalem destroyed and the Temple levelled to the ground it is reported that no less than six hundred thousand Jews were slain nay Josephus a Jew who was a Captive in that War and had his life given him because he foretold the death of Nero and that Vespasian should in a short time be Emperor relates that eleven hundred thousand perished therein by sword and famine and that a hundred thousand were taken Prisoners and publickly exposed to sale Nor will it seem improbable if we consider that he tells us this happened at the time
Brother who had before as we have already said taken the habit of a Monk and indeed the Lombards generally except those of Tuscany were on his side But Desiderius by making large Promises to the Pope and the Romans wrought them into a favour of his Pretensions and accordingly they with all speed sent Ambassadours and among them Holcadus the Abbat to Rachis to require him to lay down his Arms and submit to Desiderius And so Faenza and Ferrara were at last delivered to the Pope and the name of the Exarchate which had continued from the time of Narses to the taking of Ravenna by Aistulphus an hundred and seventy years was extinguished Things being now peaceably setled and the Jurisdiction of the Church greatly encreased Stephen holding a Synod takes an account of his several Flocks and their Pastors gently chastises those who had offended directs such as had gone astray teaches and instructs the ignorant and finally sets before them the Duty of a Bishop of a Presbyter and of all Orders in the Clergy Moreover he appointed Litanies for the appeasing of the Divine Anger the Procession on the first Saturday to be to S. Marie's ad Proesepe on the second to S. Peter's in the Vatican on the third to S. Paul's in the Via Ostiensis He also repaired several Churches which had been damaged by Aistulphus while he layed Siege to the City yet he did not recover the Reliques of the Saints which that King had carried with him to Pavia and there reposited not dishonourably in divers Churches The good man having by these means proved serviceable to God his Countrey and the Church died in the fifth year and first month of his Pontificate and was buried April the 26th with general lamentation as for the loss of a Common Father The See was then vacant thirty two days PAUL I. PAUL a Roman son of 〈◊〉 Brother of Stephen the second became well skill'd and practiced in all things belonging to a Churchman by his having been educated in the Lateran Palace under Pope Gregory the second and Pope Zachay by which latter he was together with his Brother ordained Deacon and when upon the Vacancy of the Popedom by the Death of Stephen some persons proposed Theophylact the Arch-Deacon for his Successour yet others stood for Paul as one who both for the Integrity of his Life and great Learning deserved to succeed his Brother in that Dignity After a long Dispute therefore Theophylact was rejected and Paul by general suffrage chosen in the time of Constantine and Leo. This Paul was a person of an extraordinary meek and merciful Temper and who in Imitation of our Saviour never returned to any man evil for evil but on the contrary by doing good to them he overcame those ill men that had oftentimes injur'd him He was of so kind and compassionate a Nature as that he would go about by night with only two or three Attendants to the Houses of poor sick people assisting them with his Counsel and relieving them with his Alms. He also frequently visited the Prisons and paying their Creditors discharged thence multitudes of poor Debtours The Fatherless and Widows that were over-reach'd by the tricks of Lawyers he defended by his Authority and supported by his Charity Moreover having assembled the Clergy and People of Rome he did with great solemnity translate the Body of S. Petronilla S. Peter's Daughter with her Tomb of Marble upon which was this Inscription Petronilloe Filioe dulcissimoe from the Via Appia into the Vatican and placed it at the upper end of the Church dedicated to her Father At this time the Emperour Constantine having in all places plucked down the Images and put to death Constantine Patriarch of Constantinople for opposing him therein and made Nicetas an Eunuch his Abettour in the Sacriledg Patriach in his stead the Pope consulting by all means the Interest of Religion sends Nuntios to Constantinople to advise the Emperour to restore and set up again the Images he had taken away or upon his refusal so to do to threaten him with the Censure of Excommunication But Constantine persisting obstinately in what he had done not only despised this good Counsel but also granted Peace to Sabinus King of the Bulgarians because he also made the like havock of Images with himself though he were before engaged in a War against him Having also associated to himself into part of the Empire his Son Leo the fourth whom he had married to the most beautiful Athenian Lady Irene he enters into a League with the Saracens thereby to despite and provoke the Orthodox Christians In the mean time Pipin entirely subdues Taxillo Duke of the Bojarians and admits of a League with the Saxons but upon this Condition that they should be obliged to send three hundred Horsemen to his Assistance as often as he should have occasion to make an Expedition Against the Aquitains he maintained a tedious War which at length he committed to the management of his young Son Charles himself being so worn out with Age that he could not be present at it This War being ended Charles takes by Storm Bourbon Clermont and several other Towns of Auvergne But Pipin who as we have said was now very old not long after dies leaving in the Kingdom his two Sons Charles and Caroloman Some tell us that Aistulphus King of the Lombards who as is above declared had carried away the Bodies of divers Saints from Rome to Pavia died at this time and that he had built Chappels to those Saints aud also a Cloister for Virgins in which his own Daughters became Nuns He was an extraordinary Lover of the Monks and died in their Arms in the sixth year and fifth month of his Reign At the beginning of his Government he was fierce and rash in the end moderate and a person of such Learning that he reduc'd and form'd the Edicts of the Lombards into Laws He was as has been said succeeded by Duke Desiderius the Valour of the Lombards beginning now to dissolve and lose it self in Luxury Our Paul having repaired some old decayed Churches died in S. Paul's in the Via Ostiensis in the tenth year and first month of his Pontificate and his Body was with very great Solemnity carried into the Vatican The See was then vacant one year one month STEPHEN III. STEPHEN the third a Sicilian Son of Olibrius entred upon the Pontificate A. D. 768. a learned man and in the management of Affairs especially those belonging to the Church very active and steddy Coming to Rome very young by appointment of Pope Gregory III. he took Orders and became a Monk in the Monastery of S. Chrysogonus where he was inured to the stricter way of living and instructed in Ecclesiastical Learning Being afterwards called by Pope Zachary into the Lateran Palace and his Life and Learning generally approved of he was constituted Parish-Priest of S. Caetilia and for his great Integrity and readiness in Business both
safe through the whole adverse Army with great disficulty into Castle S. Angelo where being besieged for some time and seeing little hope of getting out free he corrupted the Besiegers with three hundred pounds in Silver and mounting a lean Horse he escaped all alone In the mean while Otho Arch bishop of Cologn before Henry the young Emperor charg'd his Mother Agnes with meddling too much with the affairs of State in Christendom to the great dishonour of the Empire whereupon a Commission was given to him to compose the Church-divisions according to his discretion and he coming to Rome at first rebuk'd Alexander with very hard words for entring upon the Papacy without the consent of the Emperor contrary to Law and Custom but Arch-deacon Hildebrand took him up and stiffly defended what the Pope had done proving that both by Law and antient Usage the Election of Popes belong'd to the Clergy and convinc'd Otho so far that the Emperor Henry being also at last conscious of his Error desir'd Alexander to call a Council and promised to come thither himself The City of 〈◊〉 was pitch'd upon as most fit and thither every one came who was concern'd for the safety and protection of the Church where all things being settled the Emperor himself not onely got the favour of the Pope but begg'd and obtain'd of him a Pardon for Cadolus who submitted to him and for Gilbert the Author as we said of all this mischief the Arch-bishoprick of 〈◊〉 The first of these the Pope easily agreed to by the example of our Saviour who even pray'd for his Persecutors but the second he granted much against his will and not till tir'd with the importunity of Henry fearing what fell out afterward that it would be very pernicious to the Church of Rome The Pope departing from Mantua and passing through Lucca consecrated the great Church there of which he had been Bishop with great solemnity intending to stay there till Arch-deacon Hildebrand had settled matters a little in Apulia who having received some auxiliary Forces of the Countess 〈◊〉 not only opposed the Power of Richard and William but forced them to restore what they had taken from the Church And then Alexander came to the City and after a Pontificate of eleven years and six months he died and was buried in the Church of S. John in the Lateran no manner of Pomp being spared that could be at the funeral of a Pope either by the Clergy or People In his time flourish'd John Gualbertus a Monk of 〈◊〉 and first of the Order a most holy Man and famous for Miracles GREGORY VII GREGORT the Seventh formerly called Hildebrand a Florentine of Soane whose Father's name was Bonicius was chosen Pope by consent of all good Men The words of the Election are these We the Cardinals Clerks Acolytes Sub-deacons and Priests with the Bishops Abbats and many others both of the Laity and Clergy do chuse this day April 22. at the Church of S. Peter in chains in the year 1472. as Christ's true Vicar Arch-deacon Hildebrand a Man of much learning piery prudence justice constancy religion modesty sobriety and contincncy who governs his Family very well is hospitable to the poor having been ingenuously brought up in the bosom of our holy Mother the Church whom we think sit to govern the Church with the same Authority as St. Peter by God's commandment formerly did And when he had gotten the Popedom he immediately admonished Henry the Emperour that he should not for the time to come take any bribes and 〈◊〉 Bishopricks or Benefices in a Simoniacal manner for if he did he and those that bought them should suffer the severity of Ecclesiastical Censures But Henry was so far from obeying his Admonitions though they were very grave that he deprived Agnes the Empress of all her share in the Government for telling him soberly what ought to be done in point of Religion And she upon that went to 〈◊〉 where she lived not long ere she died for grief At last after many Embassies to and fro the Emperour and Gregory were reconcil'd and Gregory was by him confirm'd in his Pontificate as then it was the custom for Emperours to do But when Henry who was fickle in good and obstinate in ill resolutions persisted in his Simony though often admonished the Pope laid an Anathema upon all those who had gain'd Bishopricks and Benefices by bribery And that he might not seem to have done it in an heat he called a Council in the Lateran at which many Bishops were present particularly Gilbert Arch-Bishop of Parma born at Ravenna where he gave a reason why he laid such Censures upon Simoniacks and said He would do the same to the Emperour unless he alter'd his mind Gilbert when the Council was dismiss'd having gotten a fair occasion to accuse Gregory and withal being ambitious of the Popedom incensed Cincius a Roman Citizen Son to Stephen who was Governour of the City no less rash than seditious against the Pope and promised him great things in the Emperour's name if he would do as he would have him Thereupon Cincius laid wait for the Pope and whilst he was saying Mass upon Christmas day at midnight in St. Maries the Great he broke in upon him with others of his gang took him as he was just administring the Eucharist haled him away and shut him up in a well fortified Tower The next day the people of Rome when they knew of it took up Arms against Cincius set the Pope at liberty demolish'd his House and the Tower and expell'd all his Family out of the City with their Noses cut But Cincius himself who was the Author of all that Roguery escaped and got through by ways to the Emperor in Germany Gilbert who was the contriver of that Stratagem seeing his Design frustrated dissembling his 〈◊〉 to him got leave of the Pope to retire to Ravenna meaning there to set on foot much worse intrigues For he induced Theobald Arch Bishop of Millain and many other Prelates of Lombardy to conspire against Gregory besides Hugo Candidus a Cardinal who though he had done the same before and was reconciled too yet at this time he seemed to be ill affected For he endeavour'd all he could to instigate the Emperour and the Normans who were at variance about the Empire to make a Peace with one another and joyn against the Pope Which when Gregory understood he called a Synod in the Lateran and giving his reason for so doing deprived Gilbert and Hugo of their Dignities and laid a Curse upon them Whilst these things were transacted at Rome Henry who had fought with his Enemies the Saxons very successfully was so puss'd up with his good fortune that he call'd an Assembly at Wormes of which Sigifred Arch-Bishop of Mentz was President where he was so bold as to prohibit all people from obeying the Pope in any case whatever And from that Assembly came Romandus a Clerk of Parma by Henry's
because I cry aloud and tell the people of their crimes and the Sons of the Church of their sins and have laid violent hands upon me even unto blood For the Kings of the Earth stood up and the Princes of the World with some Ecclesiasticks and others have conspired against the Lord and me his Anointed saying Let us break their bonds asunder and cast their yoke from us and this they did that they might either kill or banish me Of these one was King Henry as they call him Henry I say Son to Henry the Emperour who exalted his horns and lifted up his heel too proudly against the Church of God in a conspiracy with many Bishops of Italy Germany and France whose ambition your authority has yet opposed This same person came to me in Lombardy when he was rather forced by necessity than sober in his resolutions and begg'd to be absolv'd from his Anathema and accordingly I receiv'd him because I thought him a Penitent but only admitted him to the Communion of the Church not restored him to his Kingdom from which I had justly expelled him in the Council at Rome nor did I give the Subjects of the Kingdom leave to pay him their former Allegiance And this I did that if he delay'd his reconcilement with the neighbouring Nations whom he had always vexed and should refuse to restore as well Ecclesiastical as Secular Estates according to his word he might be forc'd to his duty by Anathema's and Arms. Some Bishops of Germany made use of this opportunity as also certain Princes who had been long tormented by this wild beast thought fit to chuse Rodolphus for their King and Governour since Henry had lost his Throne by his flagitious actions And truly Rodolphus like a modest and just King sent Embassadours to let me know he was forced to take the Government into his hand though he was not so desirous of Dominion but that he would rather obey us than those that had chosen him to the Kingdom That he would always be at Gods and our disposal and that we might believe him he offered his Sons for hostages for his performance Thereupon Henry began to rage and first to desire us that we would use our spiritual Sword to depose Rodolphus I answered him That I would see who had most right and would send Agents thither to examine the matter and then I my self would judg whose cause was the juster Henry would not suffer our Legates to determine the matter but kill'd a great many men both Ecclesiastical and Laick plunder'd and prophan'd Churches and by this means made himself obnoxious to an Anathema Wherefore I trusting in Gods mercy and judgment in the patronage of the blessed Virgin and relying upon your Authority do lay Henry and his accomplices under a Curse and once more deprive him of his regal Power interdicting all Christians whom I absolve from all Oaths of Allegiance to him from obeying Henry in any case whatever but command 'em to receive Rodolphus as their King whom many Princes of the Realm have chosen since Henry was deposed For it is fit that seeing Henry is deprived of his Power for his pride and contumacy Rodolphus who is beloved by all should be invested with the Kingly power and dignity for his Piety and Religion Go to then ye Princes of the holy Apostles and confirm what I have 〈◊〉 by your authority that all men at last may know that if you can bind and loose in Heaven that We also upon Earth can take away and give Kingdoms Principalities Empires and whatsoever is in the possession of Mortals For if you can judg of things divine what may we think of things prophane here below And if you may judg of Angels that govern proud Princes what may you not do to their Servants Let all Kings and Princes of the World take notice by his example what you can do in Heaven how God esteems you and then let 'em not contemn the Decrees of the Church And I 〈◊〉 you suddenly to execute judgment upon Henry that all may see that son of Iniquity did not lose his Kingdom by chance but by your permission and consent And this I have requested of you that he may repent and be saved in the day of Judgment by the help of your prayers Given at Rome the 5th of March Indiction III. After that he degraded Gilbert the Author of all this discord and Schism from the Church of Ravenna and commanded all Priests belonging to that Church to pay no obedience to him who was the cause of all their misfortunes and therefore Anathematized And that the people might not want a Governour he imitated Peter who used to send 〈◊〉 in his own room upon occasion and sent 'em another Arch bishop with full power to extirpate Gilbert's Faction and confirm mens minds in the faith But then Henry who was rather provoked than chastized by these Censures and had taken the Bishop of Ostia then Legate as he return'd home called a Council of the disaffected Bishops and chose Gilbert formerly Arch-bishop of Ravenna Pope and called him Clement But being teazed by the 〈◊〉 he left his new Pope for a time and went against them where he engaged and received a great overthrow Rodolphus though he was Conquerour yet was found dead at a little distance of a wound which he received They say Henry was so affrighted at that bloody ingagement that he could scarce be found in seventeen days and that the Germans in the mean time had put his Son Henry in his room by the name of Henry IV. Both these coming after with an united Body of Men into Italy to settle their Pope Clement in the Pontificate and to turn 〈◊〉 Gregory they easily subdu'd Maude who came to meet 'em with a small Army This same Maude when her first Husband died not long before that time was married to Azo Marquis d'Este her former Husbands near kinsman by blood and related to her in the third degree of Affinity But when the matter was known she was divorced from Azo at Gregory's persuasion Henry having conquer'd Maude at Parma march'd to Rome and her Husband Azo after an hostile manner and pitch'd his Camp in the Prati di Nerone and going into the Borgo di Sancto Pietro he and his Pope Clement prophaned St. Peter's Church and demolish'd the Portico and did the like by St. Pauls But seeing he could not get into the City he went to Tivoli from whence as from a Castle he made daily incursions upon the Romans till by wasting all that came near him he reduced them to such necessity that they desired Peace upon any terms of which notice being given to Henry by some deserters who got out of the Town he drew his men up and entred in whereupon the Pope who could not trust the People betook himself into the Castle St. Angelo where he was besieged for some time they within maintaining the place stoutly Gregory's Nephew
manner of filthiness The tidings of which mov'd Innocent to urge King Lewis to hasten his march towards Asia with those Forces he had already got together for that intent He complied and arriv'd at Cyprus but it was at so unseasonable a time of the year that he was forc'd to take up his Winter quarters there but as soon as Spring came on he sail'd to Damiata where he got the better of the Soldan's Navy and defeated his Land-forces who would have hindred his coming on Shore where he pitch'd his Camp for so long as till the rest of his Troops could arrive from Italy But these were very much retarded by the fury of Frederic who weaning himself after a while from the pleasures in which he had been immers'd takes up his Arms again and fills the whole Country with confusion and compells several Cities in which were many factious Persons to throw off their subjection to the Pope the chief of which were the Inhabitants of Forli Arimino Vrbin and all the Marca di Ancona In Vmbria none stood to their Allegiance but those of Todi Perugia and Assisi and in Tuscany onely the Florentines were on the Pope's side who therefore were so harass'd by the Army of Frederic that they were forc'd at last to banish so many of their fellow-Citizens as were of the Guelphs Faction The Bologneses had better luck for giving Battel to Henry one of Frederic's Generals they overthrew him and cut him to pieces Some write that 't was at this time that Frederic passing into Sicily died at Palermo while others affirm that he was taken desperately sick in Puglia and when he began to recover he was smother'd to death with a Pillow by one Manfred who was his natural Son begotten upon a Noble-Woman his Concubine Howsoever this was 't is certain that some time before his death he had made Manfred Prince of Tarento and had bestow'd upon him beside that Principality many other Towns and Territories He left Conrade whom he had by his Wife Jole Daughter to John King of Jerusalem Heir of all his Estates but he was afterwards taken off by Poison as was manifest by the means of Manfred having before seiz'd upon Naples and Aquino and sack'd them much against the mind of the Pope who vigorously opposed these proceedings though in vain in order to procure the peace of Italy that he might have liberty to transport the Italian Soldiers to recruit the Army of King Lewis then lying before Damiata But Damiata was now taken and Robert Earl of Poitiers coming with fresh supplies from France he marches from thence with his Army towards the City of Pharamia whither the Soldan apprehending his design was already come with great Forces There happen'd to be a River betwixt the two Armies by reason whereof they could not join Battel but they had frequent light Skirmishes both Generals keeping themselves within their Camps in one of which Robert rashly venturing too far was taken Prisoner by the Enemy By this time Innocent had almost extinguish'd those flames of War with which Italy had so long been consum'd and intended to have return'd to Rome having first canoniz'd Edmund Arch-bishop of Canterbury but when he came to Perugia he thought good to decline his journey to Rome understanding the Senate there arrogated to themselves more Power than stood with the dignity of the Pope and Court of Rome and there he canoniz'd and enroll'd among the holy Martyrs Peter of Verona a preaching Frier who had been murthered by some Hereticks between Milan and Como and the same honour he gave to S. Stanislaus Bishop of Cracow who in his life-time was very famous for working Miracles Hence he was invited by the Noblemen of the Kingdom of Sicily and immediately departed for Naples then newly repair'd where he died and was buried in S. Laurence's Church when he had been Pope fourteen years six months twelve days just in the nick of time when he had hopes to have brought into his possession all that Kingdom It was by the Decree of this excellent Pope Innocent that the Octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin was commanded to be observ'd yearly in the Church of God as a Festival He with good advice fill'd up the places in the College of Cardinals which had long been vacant with very worthy personages and ordain'd that when they rode abroad they should always wear a red Hat for an honourable distinction of the degree they held Moreover this learned Pope though raised to the highest dignity in the Church compil'd and publish'd several things for he composed the Apparatus or Glosses to the Decretals which are of great use to the Canonists because they contain many nice disquisitions which render the Text wonderfully plain and he put forth another upon the Councils which Hostiensis in his Summa calls the Authenticks He wrote also a Book concerning the Jurisdiction of the Emperour and the Authority of the Pope in answer to one Peter surnam'd Vinea who asserted that the Empire and every person and thing thereunto belonging were absolutely subject to the Emperour to which Book Innocent afterwards gave the Title of his Apologetick He was extremely delighted with the conversation of learned Men whom also he remembred to prefer to dignities in the Church particularly one Hugo who wrote Comments and Concordances upon the holy Bible a Person famous for his learning and good life he advanc'd to be Cardinal of S. Sabina which great promotion yet did not make him leave his former course of life being a Frier of the Order of S. Dominic In this Pope's Reign and by his Order Alexander of the Order of Friers Minors who was well in years when he took upon him a religious Habit wrote a very copious sum of Theology by the procurement also of this Pope and enabled by his bounty Bernardus Parmensis and Compostellanus two very learned Men at this time made publick their Works upon the Decretals which they call'd Apparatus Innocent had not long been dead when he was follow'd by his Nephew William whose Tomb is yet to be seen in the Church of S. Laurence without the Walls ALEXANDER IV. ALEXANDER the Fourth a Campanian born at Anagni was chosen Pope in the room of Innocent and streight sends monitory Letters to Manfred that he should not at his peril attempt any thing that might be a diminution of the honour of holy Church for he calling to his aid the Saracens from Nocera had surprised the Church-Forces utterly unprepared that were in Foggia and either put 'em to the Sword or took 'em Prisoners and pretending that Conradine was dead and that himself was his rightful Heir he had taken upon him to rule as King In the mean while the Christians who we told you had encamp'd near the City of Pharamia were very much visited with sickness and press'd with want of Provisions that part of Nile being prepossess'd by the Enemy by which they were wont to be
Sedition into a safe Port. He therefore having obtained this great Dignity and seeing the Hydras head which might grow out again and multiply was still left that is Benedict formerly called Peter Luna who kept with some few Cardinals and Prelates in a place that might be called the very Fort of Schism Whilst some People of Aragon were at a stand which way to incline He by approbation of the Council sent Alemannus Ademarius a very learned Man whose Tomb is still to be seen in new S. Maries a Florentine and Cardinal of S. Eusebius as Legate à Latere into Aragon to admonish Peter upon Ecclesiastical Penalties and Censures to resign the Pontificate Nay even the Cardinals that were on Peter's side when they heard this ultimate resolution of the Pope and Council went to Peter and desired him at last to remove all Schism out of the Church of God with which Christendom had been for so many years afflicted and told him that John and Gregory had done the same in order to save the Church from ruin Peter gave 'em some slight answer and told 'em he could not do it but he would agree with Martin if all were true which people said of his integrity and humanity and bid 'em let him alone to manage the business and trouble themselves no more about it But of the four Cardinals who went to him two observing his obstinacy immediately revolted from him to Martin And those two that continued on his side were presently counted Anti-Cardinals one of which was a Carthusian and the other called Julian Dobla Upon this all Spain acknowledged Martins Authority and so did the Scots and those of Armagnac not long after And so all Christendom except one Peninsula owned the Authority of Martin This great Affair thus setled by the pains and industry of the Ecclesiastick and secular Princes especially of Sigismund the Emperor they began to talk of reforming the manners of both the Laiety and Clergy which were debauched with too much Licence But because the Council of Constance had lasted already four years to the great inconvenience of Prelates and their Churches it was Martin's pleasure and the Opinion of the Council that weighty Affair should be deferred till some more seasonable opportunity it being he said a work that would require much time and deliberation because as Jerome says every Country has its peculiar Manners and Customs which cannot be easily remov'd without great disturbance Now because the Schism from a small beginning had lasted a long time to the great disadvantage of Christendom upon notice that John XXIII was escaped out of custody fearing lest he should call another Council he publish'd a Decree concerning the calling of Councils That from the end of the Council at Constance no other Council should be held within five years and after that within seven and from thence it was drawn out to ten years and was made a Law That every ten years a General Council should be held in some convenient place to treat of matters of Faith and the common good of Christendom In confirmation whereof by the approbation of the Council Martin publish'd his Bulls But he abrogated all Decrees that were made during the Schism before his Pontificate except such as were made to promote faith or good manners That all Men might know he intended to call a Council he publickly advised concerning a commodious place for it and at last chose Pavia by general approbation and gave out his Breves to this purpose Martin Bishop and Servant of Gods Servants for the future remembrance of the thing being desirous to have Obedience paid to the Decree of this General Council upon a Debate had concerning a Place where the next Council shall be holden we do with the approbation and consent of the said Council and by the Authority of these presents appoint the City of Pavia for that purpose And let no man contravene this our Decree upon pein of the displeasure of God Almighty and of his Apostles SS Peter and Paul Given and enacted at Constance in the publick Council-House April 18. in the first year of our Pontificate And now he was willing the Council should be dissolv'd wherefore calling a full Assembly with the good liking of the Emperor and of all the rest he commanded Ibaldo Cardinal of S. Vitus to dismiss them which he did by saying Sirs Depart in peace Every one now having leave to be gone the Pope was desired on the one side by the Emperor and the Germans that he would tarry some time in their Country and by the French Princes on the other side to go into France but he told 'em he could not do it by any means because he said the Churches Patrimony was torn and spoiled by Usurpers in Italy whilst the Pope was absent and that the City of Rome which was the Metropolis of Christendom was almost ruin'd for want of the presence of its Governour so much it had suffer'd by Plague Famine Sword Fire and Sedition beside that the Churches and Chappels of the holy Martyrs by the Pope's absence were either in ruins or ready to fall and therefore he must be gone thither He desired 'em to take that kindly which reason and necessity forced him to and that they would let him sit in Peter's Chair since they had unanimously chosen him Pope That the Church of Rome was the Mother and the Head of all other Churches and therefore the Pope ought to reside there lest the true Pilot should be displaced from the Stern to the Stem to the great hazard and detriment of both Passengers and Sailers i.e. all Christian Men. So he went from Constance through Savoy into Italy and arrived at Millain where he was very kindly received by Duke Philip and all his People who gave him all the respect imaginable Philip was at that time in Arms endeavouring to recover his paternal inheritance which the Usurpers kept from him with great bravery and courage for having once tasted how pleasant it was to govern they were not easily turn'd out of possession However Carmignola Philip's chief Commander press'd Pandulphus Malatesta very hard who having taken Pergamo by bribing the Governour to betray the Castle moved toward Brescia and would have quickly strip'd him of all his Dominions had he not been aided by the Venetians with great sums of Money and stout Cavalry or had not Pope Martin persuaded Philip to make a Peace with Pandulphus which was accordingly afterward composed and agreed upon at Mantoua in the presence of Martin and by the Umpirage of John Francisco upon these terms to wit That Pandulphus paying a yearly Tribute should keep Brescia so long as he lived but should not have Power to give it away by Will because at his Death it naturally devolv'd upon Philip. But the next year Pandulphus broke his Peace by endeavouring by Men and Money to keep Cabrinus Fundulus in the possession of Cremona For Philip made War against him
his Men especially in the dead of Winter which was the time they took to do it He likewise secured great part of the Rivers Menzo Adige Lago di Garda and Lago d' Iseo that nothing might be carried that way by Water to the needy Inhabitants But the fitting up of some Ships that were removed out of the Adige into the Lago di S. Andreas and careened below in the Lago di Garda near Forboli gave the Venetians some respite Then seeing nevertheless that Picenninus press'd those of Verona and Vincenza very hard the Venetians thought themselves quite lost if they did not get a good Commander and therefore they sent James Donatus to Florence then in League with 'em to desire that if the Florentines had any regard to the Republick of Venice or the safety and Liberty of Italy in general that they would send Francis Sfortia immediately with all his Forces to Venice now almost ruined by the Arms of Philip and the Mantuan The Florentines being concern'd for their own danger as well as that of their Allies persuade Francis to take up Arms for the Venetians and promised him in the name of the City to defend all the Towns that he had which belong'd to the Church of Rome which was his greatest desire They also got Letters Apostolical from Eugenius with much ado to declare Francis Marquis and Lord of Ancona but with these words Let him take it and the Devil give him luck with it Francis going with his Cavalry along the Coast of the Adriatick Sea fell into Ferrara and passing the Po in Boats and having augmented his Army in Padua for he is said to have had twelve thousand Horse and five thousand Foot he met the Enemy first at Suave near Verona where they fought very smartly for some time and neither had the better on 't Afterward Picenninus by reason of his indisposition and want of Men gave way to his Power and then Francis having recover'd all the Castles from them of Vincenza and Verona he was about to raise the Siege from before Brescia but seeing all other Avenues stopp'd he passed the Adige and marching into the parts about Trent he went to Archo a Town he had a mind to take because the Earl of Archo was an Ally of Philip. Picenninus also came thither to assist the Earl but fighting more eagerly than cautiously as he used to do he was deserted by the rest of the Army and receiving great damage was fain to fly into the neighbouring Vallies where he had been taken by the Enemy if Charles Gonzaga son to John Francis had not come between him and them and so saved him from that imminent danger and yet for all that he was taken afterward the Foe gathering strength and carried Prisoner to Verona There are that write how Picenninus was so weaken'd in one side with Wounds which he receiv'd in the several Battels that he was not able to ride back to his Army but was wrapp'd in a Sack as if he had been dead and so carried upon a lusty Fellows shoulders even through the Enemies Camp Whilst these things were transacted in Venice Philip taking it ill that the Florentines by the help and persuasion of Eugenius had sent Francis Sfortia to aid the Venetians he treated with those that were at the Council of Basil to cite Eugenius before 'em which they did twice or thrice But when it did not answer his expectation he so far infatuated them as that they deposed Eugenius and chose Amadeus Duke of Savoy his Father-in-law who lived like an Hermit at Ripalia with some other Noblemen Pope and called him Felix Hence arose great Seditions in the Church of God for Christendom was divided into three parts and some follow'd Eugenius some Felix and the rest were Neuters For all that Eugenius was not dejected but held frequent Assemblies and Disputations between the Greeks and Latins till at last it came to this result that the Greeks were convinc'd that the Holy Ghost did proceed from the Father and the Son and that he was homusius that is of the same substance and did not come forth from the Father onely as they formerly believ'd and that they ought to consecrate the Body of Christ with unleaven'd bread made of Wheat and to believe a Purgatory Lastly That the Pope of Rome was Christ's true Vicar and the lawful Successor of Saint Peter to whom all the Eastern as well as Western Churches ought to submit as being the universal Patriarch The business thus setled the Greeks went away and then the Armenians also agreed with us in Faith their Errors being confuted and Eugenius's Letters to that purpose promulgated to shew the reason why they accorded with this Inscription Given at the Holy General Council held at Florence in the Cathedral there Novemb. 22. 1439. When that was done he contrived how to strengthen himself and at the same time weaken the Council of Basil and that was by making eighteen Cardinals at once in the publick Consistory of which number two were Greeks to wit Rutenus and Nicenus that the Greeks might be kept in the Faith by their example and Authority and yet that Nation fell back in a little time to its old State Others were Peter Barbo his Sisters Son and Alouisius Patavinus whom he afterward made Patriarch of Aquilegia and Chamberlain having advanced Francis Condelmerius to the Vicechancelourship Whilst these things were acted near Trent and People thought that Picenninus and the Prince of Mantoua would yield at last having received such damage they removed thence with all speed to Verona and took it by the help of Ladders wherewith they scal'd the Walls and enter'd in at the Cittadelle unknown to any of the Sentinels who to avoid the extream cold of the North Wind which that Night was very boisterous had quitted their Posts and were got into the Tents But Francis Sfortia when he heard that Verona was taken by the Enemy march'd thither presently with all his Army to recover it knowing that the Venetians had still possession of the old Castle and the Fort of S. Felix in the Mount And therefore he enter'd the City that way with his Army and ran upon the Enemy with a mighty shout Philip's Men met him with a few Horse for all his Forces were not yet come up and they fought very sharply in that part of the City which they call the Island At last the few were fain to yield to the many and Picenninus and the Mantuans betook themselves to the new Bridg as they call it where for some time they bore the shock of their Enemies There as the Horse were engaging and a great many crowded in a little room the Draw-bridg broke with the weight of Men and Horses and almost all that fell into the River were drown'd because they were tired with fasting so long and sunk by the very weight of their Arms. Thereupon Francis flying to a Bridg of Boats put over
it as he said There was also left a good pretence for a War either by the neglect or design of the Embassadours which Alphonso made use of afterward against Sigismund Malatesta that he should receive Money of Alphonso as a Soldiers pay and yet fight under the Florentines against him But Nicolas the Pope whether for grief at Constantinoples being taken or whether of a Fever and the Gout wherewithal he was very much tormented died in the eighth year of his Pontificate 1455. and was buried in S. Peter's very honourably upon whose Tombstone this Epitaph is deservedly inscribed Hic sita sunt quinti Nicolai antistitis ossa Aurea qui dederat secula Roma tibi Consilio illustris virtute illustrior omni Excoluit Doctos doctior ipse Viros Abstulit errorem quo Schisma infecerat urbem Restituit mores moenia templa domos Tum Bernardino statuit sua sacra Senensi Sancta Jubilei tempora dùm celebrat Cinxit honore caput Frederici conjugis aureo Res Italas icto foedere composuit Attica Romanae complura volumina linguae Prodidit en tumulo fundite thura sacro He was commendable for his Liberality toward all especially Learned Men whom he advanced with Money Court-preferments and Benefices whom he would sometimes put upon reading publick Lectures sometimes upon writing some new thing and sometimes upon translating Greek Authors into Latin insomuch that the Greek and Latin Tongues which had lain hid for six hundred years at last regain'd their splendour to some considerable degree He also sent those Learned Men all over Europe to find out such Books as had been lost either by the negligence of Antiquity or the brutal fury of the barbarous Nations So that Poggius found out Quintilian and Enoch Asculanus Marcus Caelius Appicius as also Pomponius Porphyrio a famous Writer upon Horace Besides he erected most stately Buildings in the City and the Vatican in the City a noble House for Popes near S. Marie the Greater and repaired S. Stephen's Church that stands in the Mount di S. Giovanni but built S. Theodores that stands upon the Plain between the Palazzo Maggiore and the Campidoglio from the ground He likewise covered the roof of S. Mary the Round which stands in the middle of the City an ancient Temple built by Agrippa with Lead And in the Vatican he not onely beautified the Pope's House after that manner which we see but he began the Walls of the Vatican very large and high laying foundations for Towers and a vast Superstructure whereby to keep the Enemy from plundering the Pope's House or St. Peter's Church as formerly was often used Furthermore at the upper end of S. Peter's he began a great Gallery to make the Church more glorious and hold more People He also repaired Ponte Melle and built a fine House at Viterbo near the Baths Nor onely so but he lent many others Money who were a building in the City and by his order the Streets were paved He was very Charitable especially to Persons of Quality if they happen'd to be reduced to poverty and gave poor Maids a competent Portion when they were married He always received forein Embassadours very honourably and freely He was easily anger'd to say the truth being a cholerick Man but he was easily pleased again and that gave some ill-natur'd People the occasion to carp at him though he deserved extreamly well of God and Man Then he was so far from Covetousness that he never sold any Place nor ever was guilty of Simony He was kind to them who had deserved well of himself and the Church of God a lover of Justice the Author and preserver of Peace merciful to Offenders a diligent observer of Ceremonies and would omit nothing belonging to Divine Worship The Vessels of Gold and Silver Crosses set with Jewels Priestly Robes adorn'd with Gold and Pearls the Arras Hangings interwoven with Gold and Silver and a Papal Crown are yet to be seen as Monuments of his Munificence I do not mention the many holy Books that were transcribed by his Order and embossed with Gold and Silver but you may see the Pope's Library which was wonderfully augmented by his care and at his charge He was so kind to the Religious that he gave 'em a great deal of Money and Ecclesiastical Benefices besides and Canonized S. Bernardine of Siena a Frier Minor because by his Preaching Admonitions and Reproofs he had almost extinguish'd the Factions of Italy that is to say the Guelphs and the Gibelline Faction and shew'd Christians the way to live well and happily whose Body is now to be seen and daily visited with great veneration at Aquila CALIXTVS III. CALIXTVS the Third first called Alphonso Borgia a Spaniard born at Sativa in the Diocese of Valenza whose Father and Mother were called John and Francis of a Gentile Family and gave him good Education was made Pope by consent of the Cardinals April 8. 1455. First for his Education he was but fourteen years old when having laid the foundations of Learning elsewhere he went to the University of Lerida where he attained to such perfection that in a short time he commenced Doctor in Civil and Canon Law and made very learned Readings to those that came to hear him So that Peter Luna called Benedict the XIII on his own accord and without asking gave him a Canonship of the Church of Lerida And now becoming famous for his Learning he went to Alphonso King of Aragon and was made his Secretary and one of his Privy Council Afterward he was made Governour of the Church of Majorca and his Friends persuaded him to be Parson of that Church he refused it and said he expected to be Bishop of Valenza as not long after he deservedly came to be For when Benedict the XIII was dead and those two Anti-Cardinals which I told you of in the life of Martin had made one Giles a Canon of Barcelona Pope in the room of the other that dy'd at Panischola whom they called Clement the eighth Alphonso Boria was presently sent thither by King Alphonso who was now agreed with Martin not without apparent danger of his own life as well as those that attended on him So tyrannically was Panischola kept and govern'd by those chiefly whose interest it was to breed discord This Alphonso then made Giles so sensible of his Errour by his Reason and Authority that upon the arrival of Peter the Pope's Legat he quitted the Popedom and submitted to the Papal jurisdiction Upon this account Martin made Giles Bishop of Majorca and Alphonso Bishop of Valenza After that when Wars arose between Alphonso of Aragon and James King of Castile Alphonso Borgia was thought the onely fit Man to go and exhort the two Kings to peace and amity which after seven years Wars he procured and made such a lasting Peace by conjugal Alliances as well as other means that some Conditions of that League are observed even to this day But when