had by intervals held S. Peter's Chair ten years four months and nine days he died upon which the Sea cannot be said to have been vacant at all because he sold it Historians write that at this time Gerard a Venetian Bishop of the Hungarians an excellent Man and of great Learning chearfully suffer'd Martyrdom by the Enemies to the name of Christ being bound to a Cart and from a high Hill let down upon a Precipice and torn to pieces SYLVESTER III. SYLVESTER the Third a Roman Son of one Laurence was substituted into the room of Benedict when he was expell'd but held it not long for after nine and forty days Benedict was restor'd by his own Faction The Popedom was now brought to that pass that he who was most ambitious and would give most for it not he who was most religious and learned surely obtain'd this high Office to the great oppression and discouragement of all good Men a naughty custom which I wish were laid by even in our own times and yet this mischief is not so great but that I fear except God avert we shall see much worse I return to Sylvester who being Cardinal of Sabina was made Pope not by the College of Cardinals for that had been tolerable but meerly by Simony as some write and soon after justly deposed having entred like a Thief and a Robber not by the Gate but by the back door Benedict indeed was restor'd but the City continued in a hubbub sometimes desiring this Man and then another to be put up which uses to be the case of a Mobile who wanting a Governour to steer their giddy humours generally prefer the worse to the better Men. GREGORY VI. GREGORY the Sixth Arch-deacon of S. John at Port-Latin receiv'd as we said the Chair of Benedict But the Emperor Henry II. hearing of these miscarriages with a great Army enters Italy and calling a Council causes Benedict IX Sylvester III. and Gregory VI. all to be deposed for so many wretched Monsters and creates Syndegerus Bishop of Bamberg Pope by the name of Clement II. Yet Gilbertus the Historian affirms this Gregory to have deserv'd very well of the Church having by his Authority and great Spirit in a short time reasserted the dignity of the Sea Apostolick which had been much weakned in its Powers by the negligence of some of his Predecessors for he recovered the Patrimony of the Church and first with Excommunications and Curses and when they avail'd not with downright force of Arms he destroy'd the Banditi who lurking near the City would cruelly murther Pilgrims as they came to Rome for devotion sake For this reason some wicked Rogues slander'd him commonly with the names of Murtherer Simoniac and Blood-thirsty nay even some Cardinals would say so too which so mov'd Gregory that whilst he lay ill of that sickness of which afterward he died he sent for those Cardinals and rebuk'd them sharply for finding fault with that which was done with so much justice and honesty And that you may know says he whether I have done that which is right or no when I am dead carry my Corps to the Church-doors which first let be lock'd up and if they do miraculously open then think that I am an honest Man and worthy of Christian burial if not that both Soul and Body is damn'd and you may cast out my Corps where you please The Cardinals did accordingly and the doors were thrown open by a strong Wind that rose on a sudden and the Body brought in to the admiration of all Men and to the great reputation of his Sanctity This is the substance of what various Authors write of Gregory who sate in the Chair two years and seven months during the Schism CLEMENT II. CLEMENT the Second before call'd Syndegerus Bishop of Bamberg was made Pope in the Council by the consent or rather Authority and Command of Henry II. who having received at this Popes hands the Imperial Crown caused the Romans to take an Oath after a form he prescribed not to meddle in the Election of any Pope except by a command from him for the Emperor saw things to be come to such a height of Licentiousness that any factious and potent fellow however ignoble could arrive at that Dignity by purchasing the suffrages of the Electors which ought not to be conferr'd but by the Spirit of God upon those that excell'd in Learning and a holy life From hence he went to 〈◊〉 where he settled all things and having listed those Soldiers who had so stoutly resisted the Saracens he return'd by Rome for Germany He was no sooner gone as some write but the Romans contriv'd to poison the Pope because made so without their assent in the ninth month of his Popedom nay some Authors say the venemous Potion was prepared for him by that Stephen who by the name of Damasus II. succeeded him at the time when Odo Abbat of Clugny a Man of extraordinary holiness dying Hugo was made Abbat after him a noble Personage pious devout affable and learned Henry II. at this time reigning in France Alphonsos in Spain and Michael with his Son Constantine being Emperors of Constantinople which Empire was now in great weakness and distress DAMASUS II. DAMASUS the Second a Bavarian surnam'd Bagnario or Pepone as some say seiz'd the Papal Chair by force without any consent of the Clergy and People So deep root had this licentious custom taken that any ambitious fellow durst invade the Seat of S. Peter But the just God avenged himself upon this Villain that he might be an example to the rest who should seek by ambition and Simony that which ought to be the reward of Virtue for on the 29th day of his Pontificate he died Some would not have this Man put in the Catalogue of Popes because he came not regularly to that Dignity and admire that the Romans were not mov'd with the villany of the action contrary to their Oath to Henry to compel him to lay down his Office but because he liv'd so short a time that the Citizens could not so soon bethink themselves what to do I think they are not to be blam'd We shall then pass to Leo. LEO IX LEO the Ninth a German An. Dom. 1049. was made Pope after this manner The Romans having sent Embassadours to the 〈◊〉 to intreat him to send them a good Pope he immediately nominated to them Baunon Bishop of Toul a good Man and of great integrity Who taking his journey towards Rome in his Pontifical habit was met by the Abbat of 〈◊〉 and Hildebrand a Monk born at Soana who persuaded him to lay by his Pontifical habit and to enter Rome for that Henry had no power from God to create a Pope but it belonged of right to the Clergy and People of Rome With these words Leo was so mov'd and because as he came along he had heard a Voice saying Ego cogito pacis cogitationes non afflictionis that he
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
and prejudice not allowing them for true and legal excepting against the sum with which they had charged themselves which the Auditors would have to be eight Millions But Counsel pleading in behalf of the Barberins desired for justification of them it might be permitted to examine the Books of Accounts which were remaining in the Apostolical Chamber to which for their own discharge they referred themselves But this Demand gave no satisfaction or stop to the proceedings of Court whereby in an extraordinary manner and without form of Law the Estate belonging to the Barberins in the Monte was sequestred with all the other Rents belonging to them within the City of Rome or any other place within the Ecclesiastical Dominions wherefore the Barberins being apprehensive of farther proceedings against their Persons after consideration held with their Friends both Cardinal Francisco and Taddeo the Prefect retired from Rome and other parts within the Dominions of the Church to places of Sanctuary and Refuge In the mean time proceedings of Court against them were carried on with greater rigour and severity so that the news of their arrival in France was the common Discourse of all Rome and their resolution therein greatly applauded by all indifferent persons to be prudent and agreeable to their present circumstances considering that the French King had espoused their quarrel and taken them into his care and protection But the little esteem and great neglect which the Pope seemed to shew to those instances which the King made in behalf of the Barberins were so highly resented by his Majesty that both the Senate of Venice and the Great Duke though an Enemy to them greatly fearing that this Cause might introduce the French Arms into Italy interceded with the Pope to moderate the anger he had conceived against the Barberins and to allow of some Conditions and expedients of Reconciliation but all their good Offices were not able to give any stop or arrest of judgment seisure being made of their Estates and Revenue without any other reason than quia hic placet The news hereof being extreamly ill resented at the Court of France it was judged fit to send the Bishop of Angiers to Rome to confer with Cardinal Grimaldi upon this matter that so a greater Authority might be given to his Negotiations The Ambassadour of Venice being recalled from Rome by the Senate before his departure thence consulted with Cardinal Grimaldi and the Bishop of Angiers in what manner to govern his Discourse at his last Audience and having taken his directions from them he warmly applied himself to the Pope representing the danger of a War with France and that it was not prudent for the Cause of a private Family and to gratifie some particular grudges to engage the Church and all Italy in publick calamities but the Pope seeming regardless of all those considerations replied That it became not his greatness to capitulate with his Subjects but in case the Barberins would voluntarily come in and throw themselves at the feet of his mercy he would shew them such favour as the World might take notice how much the instances of his most Christian Majesty and the Republick of Venice in their behalf had prevailed upon him But these general terms and uncertain expressions giving no satisfaction to the French Court the King wrote to his Ambassadours at Munster where the general Peace of Christendom was then in Treaty Ordering them to give that Assembly to understand the Passion he conceived for the Cause of the Barberins was such as would obstruct all proceedings unless some Expedients were contrived and some Conditions provided for their security and restoration by which the Pope was made sensible that the King resolved to carry these matters to the highest extremity The Abbot of St. Nicolas having now for some time remained at Rome and informed himself of the true state of the Controversie with the Barberins he demanded Audience and being thereunto admitted he presented his Letters of Credence which the Pope received with many obliging expressions letting fall a few tears from his Eyes when he declared how much he loved the French Interest and how affectionate he had shewed himself thereunto even to a Passion of which his Christian Majesty was so sensible that had the whole Power of the Conclave been in the King he was persuaded he would have created him Pope in exclusion of all others in the World But the Abbat was little surprised with those tears esteeming them no indications of his mind but his usual preparations to important Treaties proceeded to discourse in favour of the Barberins whom he beseeched to receive again into his grace and good will which though his Master might expect from him as a point of Justice yet he would take it as an act of kindness and Obligation to himself That the Barberins should make their submission in such humble terms as he should require and direct and all things ordered to the greater reputation and glory of his Holiness that the refusal hereof would disturb the quiet of Christendom obstruct the general Peace in Treaty at Munster and hinder the succours which were then preparing to give the Catholicks in England and in fine would be the cause of great confusion and disturbance in Europe In answer hereunto the Pope desired the Abbat to represent unto the Queen Regent how much the Barberins had ruined the Church by the expence of more than twenty Millions which they had charged upon the People by unsupportable Impositions to maintain a War against the Duke of Parma for which no justifiable account could be given that they had so abused the Authority and Government of the Church in the last years of their Uncle's Pontificate that all the World cryed out for justice and vengeance against them and if now after all these mischiefs they should find refuge and protection for their crimes in France the Nephews of Popes would for the future become licentious and not fear what they acted or designed when after the example of the Barberins they might hope to find a Sanctuary and impunity for their crimes if not in France yet at least in Spain or Germany or some other Prince where they were able to make an Interest or a friendship That the Avarice and ambition of the Barberins was beyond all example having purchased a Revenue of above two hundred and fifty thousand Crowns a year besides their many Benefices and immense Riches which they had concealed and the magnificent furniture of their Palaces which out of respect to their Majesties of France he had suffered to remain without seisure or confiscation With these and the like Arguments was the cause of the Barberins debated between the Pope and the Abbat without any effect and the Audience ending without satisfaction to either side the Cardinals of the French Interest concluded that nothing would be done until such time as that the success of the Siege of Orbetello were known and the Fate of
But such a Government as this was long in growing and required much time to bring it to a maturity because many difficulties interposed in the way For in the first place the very foundation of Christianity which was humility was diametrically opposite to Grandeur and Dominion then the Popes were chosen by the People to whom they were accountable for all their administrations and to the Clergy for their soundness in Faith and Orthodox Doctrine for which reason Pope Eugenius the first was Interdicted by the Clergy from celebrating Divine Service in Santa Maria Maggiore until he had disclaimed publickly the Heresie he held of one Operation or Will in Christ the Assertors of which were called Monothelites and this Choice of the People required a confirmation from the Emperour before the Pope could be legally invested in his Authority the which is apparent in all History and in regard the Seat of the Emperours was far distant a Power was delegated to the Exarch of Ravenna to confirm the suffrages of the people in case the person they had chosen was not obnoxious or displeasing to the Emperour and so it was when Severinus was made Pope that Isaacius the Exarch of Italy made a journey to Rome to confirm him though before his departure he plundered the Lateran of its Treasures in which attempt though he was opposed by some of the Clergy yet his Soldiers being too strong for them he carried away his prize upon a pretence that it was unreasonable the Clergy should grow rich and the State poor and that they should amass vast sums into their Coffers when the Soldiers who were their defence and guard were miserably necessitous and in a starving condition Nor had the See of Rome less difficulty in its advancement by reason of the long disputes and contentions between that and the Church of Constantinople for precedency to which several Princes gave encouragement who asserted that the Supremacy ought to be lodged at that place which was accounted and esteemed the Capital Seat of the Empire On the other side the Roman Bishops termed Constantinople but a Colony of Rome since the Greeks themselves stiled their Prince 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Emperour of the Romans and the Constantinopolitans themselves even in that age were called Romans and not Greeks the which Controversie remained undecided until the time of Boniface the third who by great intercession and a powerful interest obtain'd of the Emperour Phocas that the See of Rome should be acknowledged and stiled the Head of all the Churches But notwithstanding this priviledg given to the See of Rome the Popes continued still in their dependence on the Emperor's confirmation without which their Election was not valid And though in the time of Mauritius the Emperour Pelagius the 2d was made Bishop of Rome without the Imperial consent and confirmation and though the same was excused by a cause of necessity occasioned by the Siege which the Lombards had laid to the City yet the Emperour was much displeased with this encroachment upon his Prerogative until such time as Gregory a Deacon a Person of great Piety and Learning was sent to Constantinople to appease his anger In this manner the Popes depended on the Emperours pleasure for their confirmation until about the year 705. when Benedict the second was created Pope a Person of so much piety and vertue and of compassion towards the poor that he gained an esteem aud veneration from all people of what degree soever and so great was his renown that the report of his Vertue and Devotion reaching the Ears of the Emperour he conceived such a high Opinion of his Sanctity that he sent him a Decree whereby he ordained and established that for the time to come He whom the Clergy and people of Rome should choose Pope should be immediately acknowledged without recourse to the Authority of the Emperour or his Exarchs according to former custom when the confirmation of the Emperour or his Lieutenant in Italy was esteemed necessary to the establishment of a Pope But whence this Temporal Power was derived in its first Original to the Popes hath been an enquiry of divers Authors There are those who pretend a Donation from the Emperour Constantine by which the City of Rome it self most part of Italy Africa and all the Islands of the Mediterranean Seas were conferred upon them But this Opinion is exploded by Guicciardin an Author without exception in this case And moreover in all History these particulars are very clear and apparent as namely That during the Exarchate the Popes had nothing to do with the Temporal Sword but lived as Subjects to the Emperour That after the overthrow of the Exarchate the Emperours neglecting Italy the Romans began to be governed by the advice and power of the Popes That Pepin of France having subdued the Kingdom of the Lombards gave unto Pope Gregory the 3d. and his Successours Ravenna Urbin Ancona Spoleto with many other Towns and Territories about Rome in testimony and remembrance of which there remains unto this day a Marble Stone ingraven in Latin with this Inscription thereupon and Englished thus Pepin the most pious King of France was the first who gave example to Posterity how and in what manner the Power and Authority of Holy Church was to be amplified and increased After which Charlemagne or Charles the Great the Son of Pepin having made his entrance into Rome in the time of Pope Adrian the first confirmed by Oath and amply enlarged the Donation which his Father Pepin had made to Gregory the 3d. which as our Platina saith contained in Liguria all that reaches from the long since demolished City Luna to the Alps the Isle of Corsica and the whole Tract between Luca and Parma together with Friuli the Exarchate of Ravenna and the Dukedoms of Spoleto and Beneventum And though the Popes having this Temporal Power began to set up for themselves maintaining That the Pontifical Dignity was to give Laws to the Emperours and not to receive them yet this Doctrine was not openly asserted during the Reign of Charlemagne who challenged and exercised the antient and original power to govern the Church to call Councils and to order the Papal Election The which Power continued for a long time in his posterity and so afterwards remained so long as wise and valiant Princes ruled but when weak Princes who were distracted with great and dangerous Wars governed then the Popes prevailed who were strong in their Councils being for the most part composed of subtil and designing Men Howsoever these turns of Fortune were carried in succeeding times with various changes and successes the Emperour sometimes tugging and plucking from the Pope and the Pope from the Emperour winning or losing ground as they were endued with abilities courage and understanding or as the circumstances of the World were ordered and disposed in different times So Hadrian the 3d. was a Man of so great a Spirit that
undertook to appoint Felix an Arian to be 〈◊〉 in the room of Liberius this S. Hierom tells us though I much marvel at it since as we have already said it is evident that Felix was a Catholick and a constant Opposer of the Arians At length after Felix had done all that in him lay for the propagation and defence of the true Faith he was seized by his Enemies and together with many other Orthodox Believers was slain and buried in a Church which himself had built in the Via Aurelia two miles from the City November the 20th He was in the Chair only one year four months two days through the means of a Sedition raised by Liberius whom I have inserted into the number of Bishops more upon the Authority of Damasus than for any deserts of his own DAMASUS I. DAMASUS a Spaniard Son of Antonius lived in the Reign of Julian Who was certainly an extraordinary person if we regard his fitness either for Civil or Military affairs He had his Education under Eubulus the Sophist and Libanius the 〈◊〉 and made such proficiency in the liberal Arts that no Prince was his Superiour in them He had a capacious Memory and a happy Eloquence was bountiful towards his Friends just to Foreiners and very desirous of Fame But all these qualities were at last sullied by his Persecution of the Christians which yet he managed more craftily than others had done for he did not persecute at first with Force and Torture but by Rewards and Honours and Caresses and Persuasions he seduc'd greater numbers of them than if he had exercised any manner of Cruelties against them He forbad the Christians the study of Heathen Authors and denied access to the publick Schools to any but those who worship'd the Gentile Gods Indeed he granted a Dispensation to one person named 〈◊〉 a most learned man to teach the Christians publickly but he with disdain refused to accept of that Indulgence He prohibited the conferring Military 〈◊〉 upon any but Heathens and ordered that no Christians should be admitted to the Government or Jurisdiction of Provinces upon pretence that the Laws of their Religion forbad them the use of their own Swords He openly opposed and banished Athanasius at the instigation of his 〈◊〉 and South-sayers with whose Arts he was wonderfully pleased they complaining to him that Athanasius was the cause why their Profession was in no greater esteem At a certain time as he was sacrificing to Apollo at Daphne in the Suburbs of Antioch near the Castalian Fountain and no Answers were given him to those things concerning which he enquired expostulating with the Priests about the cause of that silence the Devils replyed that the Sepulchre of Babylas the Martyr was too near and therefore no responses could be given Hereupon Julian commanded the Galileans for so he called the Christians to remove the Martyrs Tomb farther off This they applyed themselves to with wondrous exultation and chearfulness but rehearsing at the same time that of the Psalmist 〈◊〉 be all they that serve graven Images that boast themselves of Idols They hereby so 〈◊〉 the rage of Julian that he forthwith commanded multitudes of them to be put to death which he did not before intend I much wonder that Julian should act after this manner having had before experience of the vanity of diabolical Arts. For entring once into a Cave in company with a Magician and being sorely 〈◊〉 when he heard the Demons howl in the surprize he used the sign of the Cross at which the Demons immediately 〈◊〉 Upon this telling his Companion that certainly there must needs be something miraculous in the Sign of the Cross the Sorcerer made him this Answer That indeed the Demons themselves did dread that kind of punishment By this slight account of the matter Julian became more 〈◊〉 than before so strangely was he addicted to Magical delusions though he had formerly to decline the displeasure of Constantius seignedly embraced the Christian Religion publickly read the holy Scriptures and built a Church in honour to the Martyrs Moreover this Emperour on pur pose to spite the Christians permitted the Jews to rebuild their Temple at 〈◊〉 upon their declaring that they could not sacrifice in any other place By which concession they were so mightily 〈◊〉 up that they used all their endeavours to raise it more magnificent than the former But while they were carrying on the Work the new Fabrick fell down in an Earthquake by the fall of which multitudes of the Jews were crush'd to death and the Prophesie a second time verified That there should not be left one stone upon another On the following day the very Iron Tools with which the Workmen wrought were consumed by fire from Heaven a Miracle by which many of the Jews were so wrought upon that they became Proselytes to Christianity After this Julian undertakes an Expedition against the Persians of whom he had Intelligence that they were endeavouring a Change in the Government but before he set forth he spared not to threaten what havock he would make among the 〈◊〉 at his return But having vanquished the Enemy and returning Conquerour with his Army though in some disorder he died of a Wound given him near 〈◊〉 Whether he received it from any of his own men or from the Enemy is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 us that he was pierced through with an Arrow sent no 〈◊〉 knew from whence as also that when he was just expiring with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lift up to 〈◊〉 he cried out Thou 〈◊〉 overcome me O 〈◊〉 for so in contempt he was wont to call our Saviour the 〈◊〉 or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon which was grounded that Answer of a young 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 the Sophist asking him by way of derision What he thought the Carpenters Son was doing To whom the youth replyed That he was making a Coffin for Julian a witty and Prophetick Reply for soon after his saying so Julians dead body was coffin'd up and brought away We are told that this Emperour had once been in holy Orders but that afterwards he fell away from the Faith for which reason he is commonly call'd the Apostate He died in the 〈◊〉 month of his Reign and in the thirty second year of his Age. Him Jovinian succeeded who being voted Emperor by the Army refused to own that Title till they should all with a loud Voice confess themselves to be Christians This they having done and he having commended them for it he took the Government upon him and freed his Army out of the hands of the barbarous with no other composition but that of leaving Nisibis and part of Mesopotamia free to Sapores the 〈◊〉 King But in the eighth month of his Reign whether from some crudity upon his stomach as some will have it or from the faint and suffocating steam of burning Coals as others or by what means soever certain it is that he died suddenly Damasus being chosen to the Pontificate was
kiss He was a man of so obliging a temper that no person went away sad out of his Presence And being so happy as to have a Contemporary Emperour like himself he designed to hold a Council vpon the account of the Monothelites Only he waited the time till Constantine should return from the War who had vanquish'd the Saracens and made them tributary to the Roman Empire But the Bulgarians advancing out of Scythia into Thrace and the Emperour endeavouring to put a check to their motion he was with great loss routed between Hungary and Moesia Hereupon he found himself obliged to strike up a peace with them upon disadvantageous terms permitting them to inhabit Hungary and Moesia though that Concession in the event proved a great benefit to the State of Christianity For these are the men who for this seven hundred and seventy years since have maintained a continual War and been the Bulwark of Christendom against the Turks Well a Peace being upon these Conditions concluded Pope Agatho sends to Constantinople his Legates John Bishop of Porto and John a Deacon of Rome Them Constantine receiv'd with all expressions of respect and very affectionately advised them to lay aside all Cavils and sophistical wranglings and Controversies and sincerely to endeavour the uniting the two Churches There were present at this Synod two hundred and eighty nine Bishops and by the Command of the Emperour there were brought out of the Library of Constantinople those Books from whence the Opinions and Determinations of the Ancients might be collected Gregory Patriarch of Constantinople and Macarius Bishop of Antioch perverting the sense of the Fathers maintain'd only one Will and Operation in Christ. But the Orthodox pressing hard with their Reasons and Authorities they thereby reclaimed Gregory and Macarius adhering obstinately to his Opinion they 〈◊〉 him and his Followers and made Theophanes an Orthodox Abbat Bishop of Antioch in his stead This Affair being thus successfully managed that thanks might be return'd to God for this Union of the two Churches in heart and mind John Bishop of Porto on the Octave of Easter in the presence of the Emperour Patriarch and the People of Constantinople in the Church of S. Sophia celebrates the Mass in Latin all that were present approving that way and condemning those that thought otherwise This was the sixth General Council consisting of two hundred and eighty nine Bishops held at Constantinople wherein upon the Authority of Cyril Athanasius Basil Gregory Dionysius Hilary Ambrose Augustine and Hierom it was concluded that there were two Wills and Operations in Christ and their pertinacy was exploded who asserted one Will only from whence they were called Monothelites The first General Council of three hundred and eighteen Bishops was as we have already said held at Nice in the Pontificate of Julius and the Reign of Constantine against Arius who asserted several Substances in the Trinity The second at Constantinople of an hundred and fifty Bishops in the Reign of Gratian and the Pontificate of Damasus against Macedonius and Eudoxus who denied the Holy Ghost to be God The third in Ephesus of two hundred Bishops in the Reign of Theodosius the second and the Pontificate of 〈◊〉 against Nestorius Bishop of Constantinople who denied the Blessed Virgin to be the Mother of God and made Christs Humanity and Divinity two Persons asserting separately one to be the Son of God the other the son of Man The fourth at Chalcedon a City over against Constantinople of six hundred and thirty Prelates in the Pontificate of Leo and the Reign of Martian against Eutyches Abbat of Constantinople who durst affirm that our Saviour after his Incarnation had but one Nature The fifth at Constantinople against Theodorus and all other Hereticks who asserted the Virgin Mary to have brought forth Man only not God-man in which Synod it was concluded that the Blessed Virgin should be styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Mother of God Concerning the sixth Synod we have spoken already in which the Letters of Damianus Bishop of Pavia and Mansuetus Arch-bishop of Milain were very prevalent the principal Contents of them these viz. The true Faith concerning Christ God and Man is that we believe two Wills and two Operations in him Our Saviour says with respect to his Divinity I and my Father are one but with relation to his Humanity My Father is greater than I. Moreover as Man he was found asleep in the Ship as God he commanded the Winds and the Sea As for our Agatho in whose time after two Ecclipses one of the Moon another of the Sun there followed a grievous Pestilence having been in the Chair two years six months sifteen days he died and was buried in S. Peter's January the 10th The See was then vacant one year five months LEO II. LEO the second a Sicilian Son of Paul was as appears by his Writings a person throughly learned in the Latin and Greek Languages Having also good skill in Musick he composed Notes upon the Psalms and very much improved all Church Musick He ordained likewise that at the Celebration of the Mass the Pax should be given to the people Moreover he so vigorously maintained and asserted the sixth Synod of which we have spoken in the Life of Agatho that he Excommunicated all those whom in the presence of Constantine that Synod had condemned He also repress'd the pride of the Bishops of Ravenna a matter before attempted by Pope Agatho and ordained that the Election of the Clergy of Ravenna should be invalid unless it were confirmed by the Authority of the Roman See whereas before they presuming upon the power of their Exarchs managed all things arbitrarily owning no subjection to any but mating even the Popes themselves He likewise solemnly decreed that no person promoted to the dignity of an Archbishop should pay any thing for the use of the Pall or upon any other score a Decree which I could wish it were observed at this day seeing how many Evils have arisen through Bribery While Leo was busied in these matters Rhomoaldus Duke of Beneventum having raised a great Army possess'd himself of Taranto Brindisi and all Puglia and his Wife Theodata a devout Lady out of the spoils of the War built a Church in honour to S. Peter not far from Beneventum and a Nunnery Rhomoaldus dying was succeeded by his Son Grimoaldus who deceasing without Issue male left the Dukedom to his Brother Gisulphus Our Leo who besides his great Learning and Eloquence was also an extraordinary person for Devotion and Charity and by his Doctrine and Example very much promoted Justice Fortitude Clemency and Good Will among all men having been in the Chair only ten months died and June the 28th was accompanied to his burial in the Church of S. Peter with the tears of all men who deplored the loss of him as of a Common Father After his Death the See was vacant eleven months twenty one days The time
publickly put to Death Many of his Enemies he cut off by sundry kinds of Death and many he imprison'd some one or other of which he would every day order to be kill'd when the wiping of his Nose put him in mind of the injury that had been done him Moreover having caused the eyes of Callinicus the Patriarch of Constantinople to be put out he banish'd him to Rome and made Cyrus an Abbat who had maintain'd him in Pontus Patriarch in his stead Being acted by the same foolish humour as he had been before his loss of the Empire in the time of Pope Sergius he sends to Rome two Metropolitans to persuade Pope John to hold a Synod wherein they of the Western Church might confirm the truth of what those of the East believed concerning the Consubstantiality of the Son with the Father sending to him the Articles to which he would have him Subscribe The Pope sends the Men back again to the Emperour without doing any thing in the matter but yet he did not by his Censures and Interdicts correct the erroneous 〈◊〉 concerning God as it was fit he should and as it would have become a steady and resolute Pope to have done Some write though without good authority that Arithpertus King of the Lombards from a religious Principle gave the Cottian Alpes and all the Tract that reaches from Piedmont to the Coast of Genoa to the Church of Rome Others say that this Donation was only confirmed by Arithpertus But since there is no certainty concerning the Donation it self and the Lawyers call it the Chaff because it yields no Corn and it appears in no respect to have been the Gift of Constantine how can there be any evidence of its Confirmation I return to Pope John a Person who spake and lived very well and who built an Oratory in the Church of S. Peter in honour to the Blessed Virgin upon the Walls of which on each hand were wrought in Mosaick Work the 〈◊〉 of several of the holy Fathers Moreover he repaired the Church of S. Eugenia which had long before been decayed through Age. He adorn'd also the Coemeteries of the Martyrs Marcellinus and Marcus and Pope Damasus Finally he beautified divers other Churches with the Pictures and Statues of the Saints wherein the Painters and Statuaries had so well imitated the Gravity and Majesty of his own aspect that whosoever looked upon them thought they saw the Pope himself Having been in the Chair two years seven months seventeen days he died and was buried October the 18th in the Church of S. Peter before the Altar of the Blessed Virgin which himself had built The See was then vacant three months SISINNIUS SISINNIUS or as others call him Sozimus a Syrian his Fathers name John lived in the Pontificate no more than twenty days in which time 't is said the body of S. Benedict was by stealth conveyed away from Mount Cassino by reason of the solitude of the place and carried into France Now Sisinnius though he were so afflicted with the Gout both in his Hands and Feet that he could neither walk nor feed himself yet he took such 〈◊〉 both of the City and Church of Rome as to leave nothing undone which became a good Pope He had already prepared all materials for the raising the decayed Walls of the City and the repairing and beautifying of the old ruined Churches but he died suddenly and was buried in S. Peter's February the 6th The See was then vacant one month eighteen days CONSTANTINE I. CONSTANTINE another 〈◊〉 his Father's name likewise John was created Pope at the time when there happened to be a Famine at Rome which lasted three years in which exigence he was so charitable to all but especially the poorer sort that men thought him to have been sent down from Heaven for their relief In the mean time 〈◊〉 out of the hatred he bore to the name of Pontus sends Mauritius one of the Patrician Order and Helias one of his Guards with a Fleet to the Chersonese where he had been in Exile with Commission to put all above the age of fourteen to the Sword which to glut the Emperours Rage they accordingly put in execution And that we may not think that Cruelty was his only Vice he became guilty of so great Ingratitude as in an hostile manner to surprize King Trebellius by the Aid of whose Forces he had been restored to the Empire at a time when he was engaged in a War with the Thracians But Trebellius not only bore the Choque but also forced him to retreat with Loss There was no alteration from his former course of Life wrought in him by the Calamities he had underwent in any thing save in this that he now venerated and defended the Apostolick See contrary to 〈◊〉 he had formerly used to do For when Felix having been consecrated Arch-Bishop of Ravenna by the Pope was required according to custom to send in writing his ackowledgment of the Papal Authority and Money to Rome which he stifly refused to do Justinian upon knowledg of the matter presently sends order to Theodorus a Patrician his Admiral with the first opportunity to leave Sicily and go against the Ravennates He obeying the Emperours Order and having in 〈◊〉 gain'd a Victory over them exercises the greatest cruelty towards them and sends Felix bound in Chains to Constantinople whom Justinian afterwards banish'd into Pontus having first deprived him of his sight after this Manner He caused him to fix his Eyes long upon a red-hot Concave-vessel of Brass out of which there issued a firey Pyramid which easiy overcame his Eyes and blinded him Yet Constantine did by no means approve of this Cruelty being more desirous of his 〈◊〉 than his Punishment While the Pope and Emperour were thus employed Aisprandus endeavouring with the Aid of the Bavarians to recover the Kingdom of his Ancestours comes into Italy and engaging in a pitch'd Battel with Arithpertus vanquishes him and gains the Kingdom of the Lombards Arithpertus himself by a too fearful and hasty flight being drown'd in a swift River But Aisprandus not long after dying did with general approbation leave his Son Luithprandus Successour to his Kingdom Justinian being now very desirous to see Pope Constantine having sent Ships to convey him safely makes it his request that he would come to him Constantine yielding thereunto and approaching now near to Constant inople Tiberius Justinian's Son with a Princely Retinue and Cyrus the Patriarch with all the Clergy in honour to him go out eight miles to meet him and being dress'd in his Pontificalibus they conduct him with solemn Pomp into the City and lead him into the Palace Going from thence to Nicomedia whither also the Emperour was to come from Nice he was received there after the same manner as at Constantinople Justinian entring the City soon after 〈◊〉 only embraced the Pope but also kiss'd his Feet in sign of honour Having on the days following
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 of Basil was at the heighth King Alphonso who was then at War in Naples being desired to send some body thither he order'd Alphonso Borgia to go who taking it ill that a thing of such pernicious consequence should be committed to his management he got leave of the Queen to go into Italy to the King with Ferdinand the King's Son and exhort him that after so many dangerous expeditions and difficulties with which he was even at that time surrounded he would return into his own Country But the King told him he would not but sent him to Eugenius who was then at Florence to treat concerning a Peace For Viteleschus having enter'd the Kingdom of Naples in Eugenius's name with an Army plunder'd and spoil'd all that came before him to hinder the King from taking Naples which at that time he laid Siege to But the business taking up time and the Pope intending in the mean time to make twenty Cardinals among the rest design'd the Bishop of Valenza should be one though he refused the honour with all the earnestness imaginable because he said it was not fit for him to receive especially till he had done the business that he came for Afterward Eugenius return'd to Rome the Patriarch of Aquilegia whom he sent to Tarracina to the King having made a Peace between the Pope and the King upon Conditions at the making of which the Bishop of Valenza was present and interposed his Authority and care for which the Pope began to love him so well that he soon after made him Cardinal Sanctorum quatuor and sent for him to Rome where he used no less modesty in his Cardinalate than he had before in his Bishoprick being always free and far from pomp and vain-glory When he spoke in the Senate he was reckon'd so grave and sincere a person that he never spake any thing out of flattery or to win favour But Eugenius dying and Nicolas after him this Alphonso Borgia as I told you was made Pope in S. Peter's Palace taking upon him the name of Calistus and immediately proclaimed War against the Turks shewing his own hand-writing whereby he had vowed to do so even before his Pontificate in a Book of his to this purpose I Calixtus do vow to God and the Holy Trinity that I will persecute the Turks those Enemies of Christianity with War Curses Interdictions Execrations and by all the ways I am able All that were by admired at it that he should arrogate to himself the name of Pope before he had the honour conferr'd and that a Man who was so old and decrepit should have so much courage But that he might really perform his promise he sent Preachers through all Europe to animate all Christians against the Turks and to persuade such as were able to lend their helping hand in that momentous Expedition And of these he sent sixteen Gallies full built at Rome over whom the Patriarch of Aquilegia was Admiral and harass'd the Sea-coasts of Asia for three years together where he took several Islands and did the Enemy a great deal of damage King Alphonso and the Duke of Burgundy also took upon them the Cross and profess'd that they would either go against the Enemy in their own persons or at least would raise Men to send Yet this Affair as it was moved at an heat so it as easily cooled again whilst the Princes indulged their pleasures and neglected that which would have gain'd them immortal Fame Whilst the Pope was Crown'd in the Lateran two Soldiers one under the Earl Aversus and the other under Neapolio Vrsin Men of diverse factions and parties who quarrelling about a young Lad did so wound each other that they both dy'd upon the spot For that reason Neapolio raising the Vrsine Faction invaded the House where the Count Aversus lived but the Count being from home he would have gone to the Lateran to seise him but was with much ado kept back by his Brother Latinus the Pope's Chamberlain And indeed Neapolio could not have gone thither without great damage to the City because all the Faction of the Colonneses who favour'd the Count were then in Arms. The Pope also had sent John Baruncellus and Laelius de Valle two Advocates of the Consistory to both of 'em to make 'em Friends so that by this means the present disturbance was appeased but the old grudg betwixt them still remain'd For they had many trials of Skill to the great disadvantage of their Adherents The Pope however apply'd his mind to his Pontifical Affairs and Canoniz'd S. Vincent a Spaniard of the Order of Preachers and S. Edmund of England and upon that occasion said Prayers and Thanksgivings from Ecclesia Minervae to S. Peter's with a long train of Clergy and Laity following him But lest any thing should be wanting to disturb the Church some Country Fellows of Palombara a Town in Sabina who were formerly banish'd thence by James Sebellus Lord of the place return'd home and killing two Sons of James's promised to surrender the Town to the Church which Calixtus not only refused to accept but sent Cardinal Columna thither to appease them Neapolio fearing the Cardinal should seise Palombara in his own name he went thither with his Army and besieged the Town for some days Though when Matthew Poianus and Francis Sabellus with other Commanders came up by order from the Pope and the Cardinal they raised the Siege enter'd Palombara and hang'd twenty of the Country Fellows of those especially that had made the disturbance and quarter'd 'em to give example to others and warn 'em never to attempt so great a piece of Villany against their rightful Lords Soon after appeared a Comet for some days hairy and red of which when the Astrologers said that it portended a great Plague Dearth or some mighty Slaughter Calixtus appointed a Fast for several days to pray to God that if any judgment hung over them he would be pleased to avert and turn it upon the Turks the Enemies to Christianity He gave order likewise that God should be supplicated every day and that a Bell should be rung about Noon to give people notice when they should joyn in Prayer for the Christians against the Turks So that the Christians assisted by the Prayers of the whole Church fought against the Turks at Belgrade under the conduct of John the Vaivod an excellent Person and John Capistranus of the Order of Minors bearing the holy Cross and conquer'd 'em when they besieged Belgrade six thousand of the Enemies being slain by a few of our Men as Carviagalla Cardinal of S. Angelo wrote to the Pope and to Dominick Capranicus Cardinal of S. Crosses besides that all their Carriages and an hundred and sixty Guns were taken a blow that so much scar'd the Turk that he retir'd in haste to Constantinople And no doubt but that cruel barbarous Nation had been destroyed if the Christian Princes would but have laid aside their
peace with paying the Armies of his Enemy Nor was the advantage which he gained at the conclusion acquired by the valour of his Arms or Virtue and Conduct of his Captains for they being men of lewd lives cowardly and base were prosperous in nothing all their actions tending to increase disorders and multiply errors whereby the Pope being at length forced to crave the assistance of all men paid dearly for the purchase of Vrbin In this manner the year 1518. began and continued with peace and with an unusual calmness in all the Regions of Italy only the success of Sultan Selim Emperor of the Turks who had been victorious in Persia Syria and Egypt alarm'd the Pope and the Christian Princes who apprehending with great dread the progress of his Arms the number of his Ships and Gallies which he was building and all other Provisions necessary for War feared lest he should invest Rhodes the Bulwark of Christendom in the Eastern parts or perhaps fall into Hungaria which tho formerly defended by the Valor of the Inhabitants yet now lay exposed by its own Civil and Intestine Dissentions and by the minority of a King governed by Priests and Jesuitical Councils Nor was Italy free from the like fears of Invasion by that Potent Prince which had under meaner circumstances of power entered the City of Otranto and put all Italy into a fear and consternation And therefore now to obviate and prevent the like dangers at a distance the Pope caused most devout Processions with the solemn Pomp of Images and Relicks of Saints to be made at Rome and in person walked bare-foot with all his Court from S. Peters to the Minerva where Prayers were made to God that he would be pleased to divert the fury of this Common Enemy to Christendom And because Prayers without human endeavours are not available Letters were wrote to all Christian Princes to joyn in this War for the more orderly management of which the task and enterprise which every one was to undertake was allotted and contrived in the Consistory and an Universal Truce for five years was published amongst all Christian Princes and States with grievous censures on those who should be repugnant thereunto In pursuance of this method and design the Emperor and King of Poland were to invade the Turk on the parts of Servia and Bulgaria The French King Venetians and other Princes of Italy were to Embark at the Port of Brundusium and pass into Albania and invade Greece on that side The Kings of England Spain and Portugal were to Rendezvous at Carâ—agena in Spain and with a Fleet of 200 Sail enter the Heliespont and attack Constantinople it self and for carrying on of this Holy War voluntary Contributions were to be made and Impositions to be laid as well on the Clergy as the Laity Now tho these matters were begun with great expectation and the Universal Truce accepted with a specious show and mighty promises made of advancing this Enterprise with ostentation and bravery of words yet at length private Interests over-ruling the zeal for Religion and the Universal Union the minds of the Princes became slackned in the design and the thoughts of War vanished every one looking at the peril as uncertain and far distant The Peace still continuing in Italy until the year 1520. Martin Luther a Frier of the Order of S. Austin began to make some disturbances in Germany which greatly opposed the Authority of the Church of Rome The beginnings thereof had their original from certain Indulgences which Pope Leo exercised in a more ample and licentious manner than was customed and practised by former Popes For in the year 1100. being in the Reign of Vrban II. Plenary Indulgences for Pardon and Remission of Sins were bestowed on those only who went to the Holy War with intent to deliver the Sepulchre of Christ out of the hands of Infidels These Indulgences were afterwards in like manner dispensed unto those who either were not able or willing to undertake the design in person provided that they entertained or payed another at their own charge Afterwards Indulgences and Pardons of this nature became more common being enlarged to those who took part in the Wars against those who resisted the Secular Arms of the Pope tho the same were Christians and Princes who in defence of their own Kingdoms and States opposed the Encroachments and Extravagancies of the Ecclesiastical Claims But now Pope Leo by the Counsel of Cardinal Puccio bestowed his Indulgences in more ample form and dispersed them in all parts of the Christian World without distinction of times persons or places not only for the help of such who were yet living but with power to deliver the souls of the Dead from the pains of Purgatory it being manifestly known that the design of these Indulgences was only to obtain money from the people which the Collectors exacted with an unparallel'd impudence the matter became scandalous especially in Germany where the Officers set the Indulgences to sale at a small price and sometimes in a Tavern this power of redeeming Souls out of Purgatory were set for a Stake at a Game at Tables This shame and dishonor was increased in the Country of Saxony and other parts of Germany when it was known that the proceed and benefit of those Indulgences extorted with great rigor and avarice by the Bishop of Arembauld a man fit to be employed in such a Commission was not to be paid in to the Apostolical Chamber at Rome but given to Magdalen Sister to the Pope and devoted to the avarice of a Woman for then the matter became detestable and the cries and exclamations lowed in all parts of Germany Luther being supported by the favour of the Duke of Saxony took this occasion to contemn these Indulgences and preach every where against them which being a matter very plausible his Sermons were heard with great attention by the people and his Doctrin approved by his Auditors who came from all parts to hear him Having this encouragement he began to question the Power of the Church and the Authority of the Pope and as matters grew higher he disputed against Pardons and Penance and Purgatory upon which the Doctrin of Indulgences had its foundation on the truth of which Doctrins he laid so much stress and was so positive in the certainty of all his Conclusions that he would often say he would not refer or submit them to the judgment of Angels After these beginnings which seemed plausible and honest and which made great noise and were highly controverted in the world by the most acute and subtil Wits of that Age Luther proceeded to preach against Images in Churches against Prayers to Saints to question Transubstantiation in the Holy Eucharist and to allow Marriage to Priests Monks and Friers the which he not only maintained by force of Argument but confirmed by his own example The Pope in opposition hereunto sent many Religious and learned men into
the Emperor became more moderate in his terms and discourses on that subject during which time there was a most profound silence amongst all the Cardinals in that August Assembly But then as to the proposition made of a League between the Italian Princes for expulsion of the French the Pope did with singular respect to the Emperor approve and praise the pious affection he had for the care and repose of Italy but yet as to himself he could not recede from his Principle and resolution of Neutrality which he had grounded on the foundation of his Pastoral Office and Charge which enjoyned him to seek and endeavour to the utmost of his power an Union and Peace between Christian Princes and therefore he heartily urged him to a Peace with the King of France offering himself to become the Mediator and Umpire in the accord between them But so far was the Emperor Charles transported with anger and disdain against Francis the French King that he treated him with all the terms of obloquy that his rage could suggest concluding that nothing could determin or put a period to the differences between them but only the death of one of them two and therefore did publickly defie and challenge Francis to a single Combat but the Pope being desirous to mitigate this heat with fair words and gentle persuasions embracing him desired him not to give way to his passion and when the Embassadors of France would have answered something farther in favour of their King he required them to be silent resolving not to give ear to any of their Expostulations Hence a cruel War arose between the Empire and France for the Emperor having remained 14 days at Rome departed thence with design to Invade France and so passing through Toscany and the Jurisdiction of Genoua at the persuasion of Antonio de Leva he entered Provence where for want of all Provisions and by reason of the Distempers and Sicknesses which at that time reigned in that Country his Forces were reduced to great difficulties which was the reason that this War did not continue a year before a Truce was concluded of ten months between them the opportunity of which quiet interval the Pope improving for making a firm and constant Peace laboured to appease the incensed Spirits of those two Princes by an interview at Nice which he proposed as a place for their Meeting and where he himself offered to be personally present for tho being 73 years old his age might excuse him from the fatigue of such a Journey yet for the sake of the peace of Christendom and the piety of this work he offered himself to be Arbitrator of their Controversies the which being assented unto by the two Princes about the beginning of June 1538. the Emperor and the French King and the Pope also personally appeared at the place appointed where the Pope taking the Propositions and the Demands on both sides into consideration he found so many difficult and knotty points to be determined that despairing of any conclusion in manner of a Peace he proposed a Truce for ten years between them during which time all acts of Hostility were to cease and free Commerce and intercourse of Trade to be admitted between their Subjects the which being accepted by both parties the Emperor and King returned to their Dominions and the Pope to Rome where he was received with the common joy and acclamations of all the City But to return from these secular Disturbances and Treaties to matters more nearly relating to Religion and the Church It was now about twenty years that Luther had preached his Doctrins in Germany and other parts and that the Christian Princes had long desired a General Council against which this Paul the Third having never shewed himself averse but rather testified a willingness and inclinations thereunto it was now thought fit to assign the time and place for assembling this Council the which was published by a Bull penned with great caution and subtilty by six Cardinals and three Bishops lest the words should prejudice or in any wise infringe the Papal Authority the which was dated in publick Consistory the 12th of June and signed by all the Cardinals the Tenure of which was to this effect That since the time that this Pope entered into the Papal Dignity he never had more passionately desired any thing than to purge the Church of Christ the care of which was committed to his charge of all Errors and Schisms and to restore it to the ancient Discipline and severity of the Primitive times to effect which he judged no expedient so agreeable and proper as a General Council the which he had often signified both to the Emperor and other Kings in hopes that after all Errors were corrected and exploded and abuses in manners reformed that such a Sacred Convention would procure and beget a right understanding between all Christian Princes that laying aside all Quarrels and Animosities amongst themselves they would unite together in a War against Infidels for recovery of the Countries they had usurped and rescue of our Christian Brethren who suffer under their servitude and slavery To which end by virtue of that absolute Power committed to him by God and by and with the consent of his Brothers the Cardinals he did Indict and publish a General Council to be held at Mantoua at or upon the 27th of May of the year following Commanding and requiring all Bishops and Prelates of what degree or place soever to be assistant and present thereunto as they were obliged by Oath and by Holy Canons and Decrees instituted on such occasions Desiring and intreating the Emperor and all Christian Princes for the love of Jesus Christ to be present and assistant there in person if it were possible and consistent with their Affairs and if not then to depute their Embassadors and Ministers with plenary Power and Authority as they had already promised both to Clement and himself c. The Pope also published an other Bull at the same time to purge as he called it the City of Rome from Vices and corruption of manners that so as his intentions were to reform all that was amiss in the Christian world of which in spiritual matters he was the Head and Chief so it was most pious to begin at home that the streams from the original Source might descend more pure and limpid into other parts But the first Bull indicting a Council at Mantoua had not been long published before the Duke of that place considering that for the security thereof it would be necessary to maintain a stronger Garrison than usual the extraordinary charge and expence of which he demanded of the Pope with many other hard conditions derogatory to the Papal Power and such as did infringe that liberty which was always accorded to places where General Councils had been celebrated it was therefore thought fit to assign an other place the which being not as yet agreed the time of
Assembling was deferred from May until the first of November following The month of November approaching near the Pope published an other Bull appointing the Council to be held at Vicenza a City under the Jurisdiction of the Venetians upon the first of May next in the year 1538. deputing for his Legates the Cardinals Campeggio Simonetta and Jeronimo Alexandro alledging for cause of such prolongation the nearness of the Winter which would be very incommodious to those who were to travel thither from remote parts Howsoever upon divers obstacles and inconveniences thereupon occurring the place for meeting of this Council was altered and the time deferred for some years after as will appear by the sequel hereof In the mean time Henry the Eighth King of England who in the year 1535. was by Act of Parliament Authorized Head of the Church of England did now absolutely throw off all Obedience to the Papal Sea at which time the whole Clergy of England was charged by the Kings Learned Council to be in a Praemunire for supporting and maintaining the Legantine power of Cardinal Wolsey and were thereupon called by Process into the Kings Bench but before that day of appearance came they in their Convocation concluded an humble submission in writing and offered the King a hundred thousand pounds to have their Pardon by Parliament which offer after some pause and deliberation was accepted and their pardon promised Until this time the Popes that is Clement VII and this present Paul the third had subtilly dissembled matters between them and Henry King of England intending if necessity had required to have confirmed his Divorce from Queen Catharine to which end Cardinal Campeggio was sent into England and joyned in Commission with the Cardinal of York with Authority to give Sentence in favour of the King and that the matter might receive a speedy dispatch and not be spun out by length of time required in the solemnity of Judgment and passing Sentence a Brief was ready framed and drawn up and the Bull or Seal thereunto affixed whereby the Marriage with Queen Catherine was made null and void in the most ample manner and with Terms and Clauses so full as nothing could be more expressive nor more large than that Instrument with instructions notwithstanding not to present or publish the same unless they received assurances that Henry would continue firm and constant in his Obedience to the Authority of the Church and in this manner things stood and thus far had proceeded in the year 1528. Clement the Seventh being then Pope and so remained in suspense until the time of this present Paul the Third when Henry bidding defiance to the Papal Authority proceeded to actions never to be reconciled with that Church whereupon the Pope issued out his Bull dated the 30th of August 1535. whereby he cited King Henry to appear personally before him and the College of Cardinals at Rome to give answer to all those Cruelties Sacrileges Adulteries and other Crimes whereof he stood accused and in case of refusal he pronounced him and all his Subjects to remain under censure of Excommunication declaring him actually deprived of his Crown and Kingdom his Subjects absolved from all Obedience all actions of Religion interdicted and forbidden to be performed or celebrated in his Dominions commanding all Ecclesiastical persons to depart from his Kingdoms and the Nobles to rise up in Rebellion against him But all this lightning and thunder of Excommunication did little terrifie the resolved mind of King Henry but rather incensed him to proceed in that course which since that time hath laid the happy beginning of that blessed Reformation under which by Gods mercy we enjoy the true and glorious light of the Gospel On these terms England stood in reference to the Pope when publication was made of a General Council to be held at Mantoua and then altered to Vicenza in which case King Henry judging himself concerned in despight of his Excommunication published a Manifesto in his own name and in the name of all his Nobility whereby he protested against any such Convocation assembled by the Popes Authority as being in it self of none effect excepting also against the place as unsecure and the Country as infested with continual Wars But whereas he was desirous of a General Council as being the only means whereby to reform the dissolute matters of the Clergy and suppress the exorbitant Tyrannies and Usurpations of the Clergy he should willingly give his consent thereunto provided that such Convocation were assembled by the Authority of the Christian Kings and Princes who had the sole power and disposal of such matters for as to the Pope he esteemed him only as a Bishop in his own Diocess with no farther extent of Jurisdiction than that which reacheth thereunto the which also was most reasonable at this time when the abuses of the Court of Rome were the chief matters to be reformed and to be presented to the cognisance and censure of such a Council Besides this great defection of England from the Papal Obedience which gave a fatal blow to the Church of Rome the Doctrin of Luther daily grew and dilated it self in all parts of Germany and France with much disturbance for allaying of which and establishment of the truth of the Gospel there was no other remedy mentioned and cried up by all parties but a General Council but this admitted of so many scruples disputes and nicities as to the time and place that nothing could as yet be resolved In the mean time the Turks taking advantage upon the discord amongst Christians entered Dalmatia with Fire and Sword and took the strong Town of Clissa which the pope had fortified with all sorts of Provisions and Ammunition which misfortune the Pope greatly resenting ordered solemn Processions to be made in Rome at which he was present in person and walked on foot and sent his Legates to most Christian Princes exhorting them to lay aside the Quarrels and Wars amongst themselves and unite together against the Common Enemy in order whereunto a League was made between the Pope the Emperor and the Venetians the conditions whereof were that the Emperor should set 82 Gallies to Sea and the Venetians the like number and the Pope 38 with which force of 200 Sail they agreed to invest the Turks Dominions in some parts of Greece Andrea D'Oria was constituted Admiral of the Emperors Fleet Vicenzo Capello of the Venetians and Marco Grimano Patriarch of Aquileia of the Popes and in case any descent were made or Forces landed then Fernando Gonzaga Vice-King of Sicily was to be Generalissimo or Commander in Chief but the success did not answer so great preparations which proved rather dishonorable than advantagious for this formidable Fleet being at Sea near the Promontory of Antium had sight of the Fleet of Barbarosso and might with much ease have charged and vanquished them but Andrea D'Oria the Emperors Admiral refused to engage so that leaving the
into whose hands he had committed the most important Government of the Ecclesiastical State for they having misbehaved themselves the Pope in a publick Consistory discharged Cardinal Caraffa of his Government and Legantine Power in Bologna the Duke of Palvano he dismissed from being General of the Ecclesiastical Army and Admiral of the Gallies belonging to the Church and the Marquis of Montebello from being Captain of his Guards which Sentence against them the Pope thundring with impetuous Rage certain Cardinals would have offered something to mitigate his fury and extenuate the faults of his Nephews but those Lenitives adding more flame to his Fury he instantly charged the Cardinal Caraffa without farther delay to depart from Rome and remain confined to the City Indivina and the other two unto their respective Castles in places of these he constituted other grave Prelats whom he esteemed able and worthy to bear that share of Government which by reason of the infirmity of his old age he was uncapable to support And having thus disposed the Affairs of his Temporal Government he returned his thoughts to perfect that Reformation which he had then projected when he first came to the Papal Chair believing that the accomplishment thereof would be the greatest Ornament of the Apostolical Sea and give it a reputation over all the World In pursuance whereof he erected a Congregation composed of twenty four Cardinals and forty five Prelats and other Persons of the most wise and learned of all the Court to the number of one hundred and fifty These he divided into three Classes or Chambers to each of which he allotted eight Cardinals and fifteen Bishops and as many others as made up the number of fifty the chief incumbence and business of whom was to examine and enquire into the several degrees and natures of Simony the which being stated and concluded by this Congregation Coppies thereof were taken and published and sent to all Universities and Schools of learned Men requiring them to take notice of the particular Cases stated and concluded by the Holy Sea which was the Chief Doctor and Cathedratical Casuist in all Points of Religion and Conscience And though he himself as he affirmed had no need of such Regulations being well acquainted with the mind of Christ and versed in the Duty of that Office to which he was called yet that he might in all his endeavours for Reformation forestall the Objection which might be made him of Physitian cure thy self he resolved to begin at home and reform the Crimes of Simony which were objected as the crying sins of the Court of Rome and that when he had gone so far he would then remonstrate unto other Princes the Simony of their own Courts which was more rife and more intolerable in them than was ever allowed or practised at Rome But when the particular Cases of Simony came distinctly to be handled instancing in what manner Money might be taken and in what not there arose such diversities of Opinions that at length the conclusions came to be laid before the Pope as the ultimate Moderator of all Differences the which he having with some perplexity considered he finally resolved That it was not lawful to receive any Price Money Alms or any reward whatsoever for conferring any spiritual Graces or Benefices Ecclesiastical and that as to the Dispensations in cases of Matrimony though it had been the custom to receive Money for them he resolved that the same should never be again brought into practice by himself Howsoever so many scruples and Objections arose in many particular matters that nothing could ever be drawn to general Heads and so being environed by difficulties which procured delays nothing came to a full resolution the which a certain Cardinal having observed proposed to have these Questions reserved for a General Council at which the Pope being moved with extreme Choler replied That he had no need of any Council being the supreme Head and above it but the Cardinal being desirous to mollifie and appease his anger with some qualifications of his Speech said that though it was true that a Council was not necessary for giving force and Authority to the Pope's Determinations yet it might be convenient to have a Council for settlement of that Uniformity of Worship which was necessary in all Christian Churches to which the Pope assenting farther added That in case he should at any time call a Council that the same should be held at Rome and not at Trent which was in the midst and almost the Nest of the Lutherans Moreover in case he should at any time call a Council it should be composed of none but Catholicks for that they might with as much reason admit a Turk to those Debates and Consults of Religion as a Lutheran or any other Heretick and that it was unreasonable and preposterous to send sixty able and learned Bishops and forty Doctors to a Town within the Mountains as had been done twice already on supposition that they were better able to govern the World than the Vicar of Jesus Christ joined to the wisdom of his College of Cardinals who were selected out of the most wise religious and excellent personages of the Chistian Church During his time this Pope at four several Ordinations created nineteen Cardinals and changed the Festival of St. Peter which by antient Canons was celebrated on the 18th of January to the end of June supposing that season of the year most convenient for that Solemnity It is certain that this Pope intended well and designed with the strictest severity the reformation of Manners but his way of acting therein was so fierce and with those disobliging circumstances having a motion with his Head which spoke anger and spight that he could perform nothing though never so holy and laudable but what was ill censured by evil Tongues and indeed he was generally hated and that even by good Men. And though all the good actions which this Pope performed were done with so ill a meen as made them appear bad yet he had the good Conduct and fortune to prove a successful Instrument in making that memorable Peace between Philip King of Spain and Henry King of France for which happiness and Rejoycing Tilts and Tornaments being appointed at the French Court King Henry himself acting a part in it was unfortunately slain and his Son Francis II. being then a Youth succeeded in his Throne About which time the Pope being fallen into a Dropsie with which finding himself to decay and his end approach he summoned all the Cardinals to his Chamber desiring them to cast their thoughts upon some Person excellently qualified both for holiness of Life and Wisdom whom they might judg worthy to succeed him in the Apostolical Chair but in an especial manner he recommended to them the continuance of the Inquisition to which he gave the Epithet of most Holy declaring to have by good experience proved that the same had been the support of his
liberty amongst which Cardinal Morone was one Now as Mercy is always to be accompanied with Justice it was resolved that those intolerable miseries and devastations which all Italy almost had sustained in time of Paul IV. should be considered and the Family of Caraffa who had been the Instruments and wicked Incendiaries in all those Calamities should be questioned and tried for the same in order whereunto on the 7th of January being the day after the Incoronation the Cardinals Charles and Alfonso coming from the Consistory were seized as was also the Count of Montorio then called Duke of Paliano who was the Brother of Charles the Cardinal together with Count Alife his Wife's Brother and Leonard de Cardini one of the Kindred for these having been evil Counsellours and worse Instruments of the fury and cruelty of the late Pope were all committed Prisoners to the Castle as were also several other Servants and Ministers of the late mischief The Process against them for these Crimes was encharged to certain Cardinals in Commission with the Bishop of Savona and Governour of Rome the Indictments being preferred against these Persons and the Depositions severally made and taken which work took up the space of nine months in which time the proofs and testimonies being given and every thing prepared for a Trial the whole Process was read before the Pope and Cardinals in publick Consistory where the Accusations being proved and made clear by several credible Witnesses Cardinal Charles Carafa was by the Pope himself convicted of Felony and the Count of Montorio with Count Alife and Leonard de Cardine found guilty by the Governour of Rome of Murther and other enormous Crimes and all delivered into the hands of the Civil Judges that Sentence of death might be passed upon them in execution of which the Cardinal and the two Counts were strangled and de Cardine beheaded Onufrius Panvinius tells us that he having had a familiar conversation with this Pope had often heard him lament the sadness of this Tragedy which he was constrained to execute in respect to the Duty he owed to Justice and for example and caution to the Nephews and Relations of succeeding Popes who when they soar aloft on the wings of good Fortune may by the fate of others be fore-warned how they commit the like excesses for which they may be questioned when times should alter Howsoever this Pope himself according to the custom of his Predecessors admitted his Sisters Sons to Rome raising them to all those Benefits and Dignities he was able to bestow upon them amongst which he had the fortune to have Charles Borromeo to be his Relation a Person of that modest wise and industrious temper as might deserve that honour and preferments which he designed for him for being skilful and well experienced in the Civil Law and in the management of worldly Affairs he committed the most important charge of all matters relating to Government to his fidelity and conduct of which Borromeo so well acquitted himself that being created Cardinal he gained the reputation of a wise Minister during the time of this Pius and afterwards by the holiness of his life in succeeding times was canonized for a Saint To this Borromeo and to Cardinal Morone he communicated all his thoughts and Counsels taking their Opinion in the highest emergencies and exigencies of State amongst which nothing appeared more difficult and worthy of disquisition than two things namely the recognizing or acknowledging Ferdinand for Emperor and reviving again the Council of Trent The first as we have said was denied by Paul IV. on allegation that the Constitution of an Emperor did essentially require the Pope's authoritative approbation but in truth the obstruction was in the Electors who challenged a right of electing the Emperor But now it was resolved to wave all that and to grant the Emperor's desires before they were demanded that so the frankness of this Pope's nature might be distinguished from the severity of his Predecessours In pursuance whereunto Letters were wrote to the Emperor adorned with all his Imperial Titles wherein the Pope approved the Surrender which Charles had made of the Empire and the succession of Ferdinand thereunto the news hereof was received with that satisfaction by the Emperour then at Vienna that he immediately dispatched his Ambassadour the Count d' Arco with Letters to the Pope congratulating his exaltation to that supreme Dignity and rendering him thanks for having out of his wisdom and paternal Justice freely determined that point in his favour which Paul IV. against all sense and reason had denied him But yet things did not so smoothly pass but that the Ambassadour being arrived at Rome encountred some difficulty before admission to his Audience for he having in his Instructions Orders onely to acknowledg Reverence to the Pope in behalf of his Master the expression seemed to sound low and to intimate as if the Emperor intended to infer an Equality with the Pope and therefore to clear that Scruple it was required that the word Reverence should be changed into Obedience The Ambassadour having no such warrant in his Instructions absolutely refused to accept his Audience upon those terms alledging that Imperial Ministers had never used that Stile towards any of his Predecessours in which resolution also he was farther confirmed by the advice of the Spanish Ambassadour Howsoever the Cardinals Morone and Madrucio persuading him to the contrary their Opinions prevailed because the Emperor had in all points of difficulty directed him to be governed by their Sentiments This difficulty being overcome It was resolved That the Pope should with the same free spirit declare his intentions speedily to assemble a General Council at Trent or rather a continuation of the same after divers Prorogations that so he might forestall the desires of the Christian Princes whom he understood were ready with their Addresses to that purpose But in regard the turbulent commotions about Religion were heightened with that fermentation in all parts of Christendom as would not admit of those slow Methods of cure which were to proceed from the Debates and Resolves of a General Council it was in the first place desired by the Duke of Savoy that Authority might be given him by the Pope for a Conference touching certain points of Religion to be held within his Dominions for better instruction of the People who were ready to fall off and revolt from the Church of Rome and indeed this expedient seemed most urgent at this time in which many who having made a total defection from the Church and finding themselves persecuted in Poland Germany Provence Puglia and other parts were fled into the Vallies of Mont-cenis Luserne St. Martin and the places adjoyning where they maintained themselves in separate Congregations under certain Ministers until such time as the Doctrine of Zuinglius should be planted and setled in the City of Geneva And whereas the Duke being resolved to reduce his Country to the profession
agreement between Leo X. and Francis the First was made void and all Friars and other Religious were made subject to the Bishop of their Diocese So that France seemed in a manner to be lost onely Spain being a people not given much to innovation adhered to the Pope's Authority and to a Continuation of the Old Council The Feast of Easter approaching which was the time appointed for the opening the Council the Pope deputed the Cardinals of Mantoua Warmia Seripanda and Simonette to be his Legats and Presidents of the Council and hastned all the Bishops of Italy to repair unto Trent that so they might counterballance the number of the French and Spanish Bishops who came as was believed with no other intention than to gain one Point which was that a General Council in its Determinations was superiour and above the Authority of the Pope a Position which the Bishops of Italy who had the honour of being the Head of all the Clergy ought on no terms whatsoever to admit But as yet there was a very thin appearance of Bishops at Trent for the eyes of all were fixed on the issue which the Convention of the Estates at Orleans and the Conference at Poissy would produce which in every Act struck at the Pope's Authority and exposed unto the people the corruptions and abuses of the Roman Sea In fine after all the Queen Regent wrote a Letter to the Pope wherein she represented to him the great numbers of Protestants in France and the daily encrease of them to suppress which a Reformation in many things was necessary as namely to take away Images out of the Churches the Spittle and Exorcisms in Baptism to grant the Eucharistical Chalice to the Laiety to admit the Divine Service in the vulgar Tongue and expunge the late Festival of Corpus Christi out of the Kalendar All and every Point of which were such mortal blows to the Church that the Pope could not think thereof with any patience nor give other answer thereunto than that those and other matters should be deferred to the decision of the Council With these expectations and Discourses the time was protracted until the month of December by which time there was a considerable appearance of Bishops at Trent so that the Pope commanded without farther delay that the Council should be commenced but by reason of some other Obstructions and at the desire of the Emperor's Ambassadours it was again deferred until the middle of January following The first Session was held the 18th of January at which the first preliminary afforded great matter of Dispute for it was there to be made a standing Rule That nothing should be propounded but what was first moved by the Legats Proponentibus Legatis which being opposed by four Spanish Prelats was notwithstanding over-ruled by the greater number and the next Sessions appointed for the 26th of February following In the mean time on the 17th of January the Edict was made at St. Germaines whereby the Protestants had liberty given them to have their Churches or Temples without the Cities to live under the protection of the King in observance of their own Discipline Provided that they taught nothing contrary to the Doctrine of the Old and New Testament and to the Council of Nice At Trent after several Congregations held there another Sessions commenced the 26th of February at which some matters were determined in relation to Precedency and the Index Expurgatorius and then the Council adjourned until the 14th of March which time being come nothing passed at that Session worthy of observation onely they adjourned until the 14th of May and then again to the 4th of June At the beginning of this Session the Marquis of Pescara who was Ambassadour for Spain instantly urged that this Council might be declared a Continuation of the former under Paul and Julius but the Emperor's Ambassadours made such fierce opposition that nothing for that time was concluded therein after which the Marquis de Pescara departed from Trent upon pretence that the affairs of his Government required his presence at Milan though in reality it was to avoid a concurrence with the French Ambassadours who were then upon their Journey to Trent namely the Lord of Lansac Ferrier who was a President of Parliament and Fabre Lord of Pibrac one also of the Long-Robe who arrived two or three days after the departure of the Spanish Ambassadour And now misunderstandings encreased between the Court of Rome and the Council of Trent the Cardinal of Mantoua himself who was one of the Pope's Legats being suspected of not having had sufficient zeal for the Authority of the Court of Rome because he had not seconded the Votes of the Spanish Party who would have declared this present Council a Continuation of the former so that it came to be debated at Rome whether it were not necessary to recall the Cardinal of Mantoua from his Presidency or to place some other Collegue in Commission above him On the other side the Council was as much dissatisfied with the Court of Rome as the Court of Rome was with Trent because that many things were designed there to moderate the Papal Authority and give a greater latitude of Power to Princes and Arch-Bishops in the exercise both of the spiritual and temporal jurisdiction nor were the Prelats free from all variance amongst themselves whose interests several times interfering one with other administred subject of Dispute which ended in Reproaches and Obloquies of one against the other The French Ambassadours being admitted to Audience in a Congregation assembled the 26th of May Fibrac made a very eloquent and pathetical Oration wherein he reproved the indiscreet and ill-guided zeal of those who would not part with one insignificant ceremony to gain the common quiet and peace of the Church and the salvation of many souls He also openly declaimed against the violence imposed in the Council which ought to have been free And considering that preceding Councils had for some Ages past suffered their Opinions and Sentiments to be overswayed by a superiour Power and serve an interest for whose sake they were not assembled he did therefore now exhort the Fathers then present that they would take such measures as might without mixture of other considerations cure and heal the Diseases of the Church produce Peace and propagate Charity in the World and secure the Flock of Christ from usurpation and Oppression This Speech so startled the Council that the Prolocutor having nothing to reply gave an end to the Congregation of that Day On the 4th of June a Session was held in which the Commissions of Ambassadours were read and an Answer given by the Prolocutor to the Speech of Pibrac which was ill resented by the French and then the Session ended and another appointed on the 16th of July In the mean time several Congregations were held whereat the chief matter debated was the administration of the Sacrament of the Holy Communion to
imaginations which Men conceive of Reliques Pilgrimages and Indulgences That the Doctrine and practice of Penance should be again renewed and established according to the custom of the Primitive Church All or most of which Articles were ungrateful to the Legats both for the substance of them and circumstances with which they were delivered the Ambassadours at the same time declaring that in case they were not granted such provisions would be made in France by a National Council as were agreeable to the State of their Affairs Howsoever the Legats seemed favourably to accept them and dispatched them to the Pope by the Bishops of Viterbo And now by this time the Pope was ready to make a return of the conclusions he had made in the Point about Residencies dispatched from Trent by the Bishop of Ventimille the matter of which though couched with great Art and in such ambiguous terms as might admit of various interpretations yet that artificial fraud could not pass on such subtil Heads who for their Learning and experience were chosen out of the wisest Men of Europe for they easily discovered the Pope's intent to advance himself above an Universal Council they could have been contented to have admitted him the Chief super Ecclesias Vniversas but not super Ecclesiam Vniversalem that is over all Churches in particular but not over the Universal Church as it was aggregated into one body in a General Council Hereupon great Contests arose the Pensioners of Rome produced in favour of the Pope's Authority a Canon made by the Council of Florence which having been received by the Spaniards gave them some trouble in what manner to make an Answer thereunto But the French who had never received the Articles of that Council for Canonical opposed the Councils of Constance and Basil against it which had determined that General Councils were superiour to the Pope but the Italians who maintained that the Council of Basil was Schismatical and that the Canons of Constance were partly received and partly rejected so heated their French Opponents that Reasons and Arguments being on both sides declined the Dispute ended with high words and reproaches of one against the other Which the Legats well observing and that there could be no good issue of such high Contests desired time to remit these matters to the Pope's Censures and so proceeded again to the Point about Residencies the which having already caused inextricable difficulties for the Pope's words did not please the Council the Cardinal of Lorain proposed something by way of Accommodation putting in some gentler terms which might serve the turn of both Parties but the Legats penetrating with their accustomary Acuteness into the words found that the sense would bear an Interpretation which might be expounded in favour of the Opinion that Residencies were constituted by Divine Right Wherefore slighting or laying aside the words which the Cardinal had projected they framed another according to their own humour and presented it to the Congregation the which so incensed the Cardinal of Lorain that from thence forward he began to deal plainly and express himself in free and high terms protesting that for the future he would meddle no farther for that he observed a secret Combination which in Cabinet Consults assumed to its self an Authority to dispose matters differing from the Sentiments of the General Council That the Legats sought nothing more than occasions to break up the Council in discontent That nothing was acted but according to the will of the Legats who moved by such measures only as they received from the Pope whose resolution in every thing they expected from Rome according to that old saying That the Holy Ghost was brought every week from Rome to Trent in the Courriers Portmantle That he for his part was resolved to have patience until the next Session at which if matters were not managed with more fair proceedings he was resolved to retire into France with his French Nation then at the Council where renouncing all farther applications to Rome or Trent they were resolved to assemble a National Council by which they would establish such a form of Concordat as should be agreeable to the present state of their Country and which might secure the safety of the King and the quiet of his People To the same purpose the French Ambassadour expressed himself at Rome but the Pope who had been long used to such kind of Menaces and a noise about National Councils little regarded their Censures or Threats but briskly answered That the Council was free even to a licentiousness that if there were Parties and Factions they were unknown to him and were only made by the Vltramontane Bishops whose design was to trample on the Authority of the Papal Chair And in this manner such distractions and Disputes arose at Trent occasioned by the Power and Interest which the Cardinal of Lorain had there with the greatest part of the Clergy that the Congregations were for some time suspended until the Cardinal of Ventimille returned from Rome freighted with abundance of Complements and Salutes and especially with supplies of Mony for the Pope's Pensioners and then the Congregations being again commenced and with them the Discords renewed it was agreed that the next Session should be deferred until the 22th of April which was presently after Easter The Cardinal of Lorain though he seemed outwardly to consent hereunto with some reluctancy and onely in compliance with the rest of the Council yet in reality he was well enough pleased hoping that a short time would put an end to the life of this Pope who was very aged and infirm when he imagined that his Greatness and Authority would be very instrumental in promoting such a Person to the Papacy as would be facil and easie in granting every thing agreeable to his desires And now to allay a little the heats about the Divine Right of Episcopacy and Residencies the Council diverted their thoughts and Discourse to eight several Points relating to Marriage During which time and the Interval between that and the next Session the Cardinal of Lorain took the opportunity to visit the Emperor's Court at Inspruck which administred great cause of jealousie to the Pope who not onely observed the Cardinal's dissaffection from his proceedings in the Council but likewise from his Letter wherein complaining of the many Factions and Intrigues which his Italian Bishops had caused he concludes that if matters were carried on with the same Measures there would remain nothing more for him either to consider or act than onely to pray unto God to direct the Council with his Holy Inspiration The Cardinal of Lorain being arrived at Inspruck where he remained five days had frequent Conferences with the Emperor and his Son the King of the Romans touching the many disorders and corruptions of the Council at Trent as also of the means how and in what manner the Cup might be restored to the Laiety how Marriage might be granted and dispensed
Master Order and command all the Prelats of the French Nation to retire unto their respective Dioceses until such time as a more free and lawful Council were convened To this high pitch and degree of Dissention were both Parties transported that no other event or issue thereof was expected than a speedy and rash dissolution of the Council of which every one growing weary wished to see an end of their fruitless labours but the Spanish Ambassadour remitting something of his former heat desired time to acquaint his Master with all the preceding passages in which Interval these Heats abated and the Council proceeded to other matters And now after all these Stirs and Combustions and the many Protestations which the Cardinal of Lorain made against the Pope and his complaints against the abuses and corruptions of the Court of Rome on a sudden his humour and affections changed without any visible causes which might move him thereunto so that now instead of inveighing against the Pope or being the Chief in private Cabals against him he with wonderful address applyed himself to the Legats and received the flatteries of Cardinal Moron with a pleasing rellish contenting himself to hear the Legats tell him that they desired to act nothing without his privity wishing that he would bear a share of the burthen with them being infinitely satisfied to have all their Affairs guided by his direction But this dearness between them lasted not long before the Queen Regent wrote a Letter to the Cardinal in which she required his speedy return into France where his presence would be much more serviceable to the Crown than it could be at Trent from whence no good effect either towards Peace or Reformation could be expected That having now concluded a Peace with her Protestant Subjects which seemed to be well established and permanent there was no farther necessity of giving them other satisfaction from Acts of the Council or concessions of the Pope and therefore that for the future he should give Order to the French Clergy not to combat with the Papal Authority but rather to be concurring in whatsoever might fortifie and confirm the same To which part and action the Cardinal seemed easily to incline in regard that standing on ill terms with the Protestants who were mortal Enemies to the House of Guise he found it necessary to support himself with the favour of the Court of Rome to which notwithstanding all former quarrels and Piques he professed himself a true Friend and an obedient Servant And now a new Ambassadour called Birague arrived at Trent from the Court of France with Letters rendering an account unto the Council of the Peace lately concluded with the Protestants for which and for the Articles granted to them in the free exercise of their Religion there was such a necessity that without such an accord the Crown and welfare of France would have been exposed to utmost extremity the which being performed with design of reducing the straying and wandering Sheep into the path and fold of the Church it was hoped that the Council would put a good Interpretation on this transaction and approve of this Cure and remedy which was unavoidable The Council being doubtful what Answer to make unto this Letter desired time to consider thereof intending to dispeed it by the Ambassadour Lansac who was preparing for his return into France Birague having in the mean time Commission to pass unto the Court of the Emperor And now the Congregation proceeded to examine the Point about Ecclesiastical Ordinations in the discussing of which the Bishops did not so strictly adhere to the matter in hand but that they made frequent excursions into the abuses of the Court of Rome and thence descended to the old controverted Points about the Divine Right of Episcopacy and Residences which were never mentioned without Heats and Quarrels In the treating of which Lainez General of the Jesuits undertook to give a more home-blow than any had done before him which he did with so much heat and vehemence as if the salvation of mankind had depended thereupon He took that occasion also to excuse Dispensations the Impositions and Taxes laid by the Church the Riches of the Court of Rome and all those things which are commonly termed Abuses thence he proceeded to exalt the Papal Authority above the Council above all the Church nay above the Clouds and higher than we can imagine the which Discourse tho displeasing both to the Spaniards and French and all but the Pensioners of Rome was highly applauded by the Legats to whom his long Orations did never seem tedious as if they had chosen him for the Interpreter and Explainer of all their thoughts and designs to which end when his turn came to speak he was commanded to take his place in the middle of the Assembly and heard always with patience and applause of the Legats when the Chiefes of other Orders were ordered to speak in their places and were brow-beaten and discouraged Howsoever a certain Benedictin Monk offered to confute Lainez and prove that the Position maintained by him namely That the Tribunal of the Pope is the same with that of Jesus Christ was impious and scandalous But the Cardinal of Lorain who had now changed his Designs and Interests moderated the zeal and heats of both Parties and the Legats laboured to pen such a Determination of that matter as might by the subtilty and ambiguity of those words seem to content all Parties which Instrument though the Cardinal of Lorain seemed to remain satisfied yet the Canonists of Trent and Pensioners of Rome made a thousand difficulties imagining that the words did not screw or strain up the Papal Authority to its true Note and degree About this time Maximilian who was no great Friend to the Pope having been lately chosen King of the Romans sent his Ambassadour to Rome to give him notice of his Election but not in the same method which his Predecessours had practised who promised and swore to whatsoever the Popes imposed upon them for before he would pass that Point he desired first to know what terms the Pope would require of him to which answer was made by the Cardinals That he should acknowledg his confirmation to the Pope's Authority and swear Obedience to him in such manner as his Predecessours had formerly practised which though the Ambassadour in the name of his Master refused to do in such strict sense as the Pope required and would onely promise Devotion Reverence and compliance with the Apostolical Chair yet the Pope was pleased to accept thereof and interpret those Expressions to be equivalent to the term of Obedeince and accordingly granted the Confirmation which was never demanded and accepted the Obedience which was never offered At a Congregation held on the 21th of June all things were preparing against the Session appointed for the 15th of July following that nothing might then obstruct the proceedings or give occasion to defer the time as
had formerly been done to the great dis-reputation of the Council and scandal of its Enemies The great difficulties in the questions so often discussed about Residences and Institution of Bishops were still undecided and therefore the great care then incumbent on the Legats was to frame and pen those Points in such words as might please at least the Plurality or major part of the Congregation which being tired out and wearied with the frequent recital of those Arguments Pro and Con were willing to accept of indifferent terms or such as might bear a dubious Interpretation or such perhaps as contained no sense at all and others were for having those Articles buried in silence only the Spaniards remained unchangeable and unwearied being still constant to their first Principles Howsoever the Legats were resolved to exhibit their Decree about Residences in the manner they had already penned namely That all those who have a Cure of Souls were obliged by the Commandment of God to have a particular knowledg and acquaintance with every Member of their Flock which not being to be performed but by a continuance in the Parish or Diocese it was thence inferred and interpreted that Residences were by Divine Right The second Point about Episcopal Institution was concluded in general terms that the Hierarchy of Bishops was an Ordinance of God Howsoever these terms did not please the subtle and hot-headed wits of neither side The Spaniards did not think the words plain and explicite enough and the Bishop of Tarante and the other Favourers of Rome who were jealous of the least shadow of that which might infringe or abate the Papal Authority were apprehensive that such consequences might be deduced from those words as might plainly infer that the Orders of that Hierarchy were rather by Divine than Papal Institution but these People were more jealous of the Pope's Authority than the Pope himself for though this very form of words had been debated above a hundred times at Rome and approved and proposed by the Legats yet these Canonists and zealous favourers of Papirius were violent sticklers against and opposers of the Decree howsoever the Assembly by plurality of Voices passed the Decree and ordered that they should remain in the same form and words delivered In fine the 15th of July which was the day of the Session being come which had been so often adjourned and with such impatience expected all the points of Doctrine were reduced to four Chapters and eight Canons with Anathemas The first established that Ecclesiastical Ordination is a Sacrament That under the New Testament there is but one visible Order of Men which can offer the Sacrifice of the true and real Body and Blood of Jesus Christ That there are several degrees higher and lower of this Order That Priesthood hath a character impressed upon it and inspires with it the Holy Ghost That Unction is necessary at the institution of a Priest That the Hierarchy of Priests is by Divine Right That Bishops are superiour to Priests That the Bishops and Priests who are established by the Pope or by Authority derived from him are onely true and Evangelical in their Orders Then proceeding to the eight Canons which respect Reformation the first was that about Residence which had made so much noise and disturbance the words of which obliged every Pastor to be acquainted with and to feed his Flock in explanation of which this Canon forbad all long absence from their charge under severe penalties howsoever that clause was moderated with a Dispensation for three months and with a proviso unless the benefit and service of the Church and State should require it The other Canons had respect onely to the collation and regulation of Orders and that they were not to be conferred upon debauched persons or such as were unworthy of them and directed the manner and government of Seminaries in which Priests were educated with several other matters of little importance all which passed and were enacted in the Council without any opposition or disturbance though the Spaniards would never more be reconciled to the Cardinal of Lorain for deserting their party in the point of Residencies to which he had so often promised and assured them of his constancy but what he lost on one side he gained on the other the Legats and favourers of Rome crying up his wisdom and conduct and true zeal to the Church and the Apostolical Sea All Europe in the mean time was in great expectation of the issue of this Session which had been preparing for the space of ten months and with the wit and contrivance of two or three hundred Prelats and Divines At the end of which nothing could be more surprizing to the World than to find their expectations so wholly defeated and the product of this mighty Machine or Engine to be so inconsiderable as not to have yielded matter sufficient to have employed the brains of one intelligent person for the space onely of a single Week the contradictions which appeared in their Canons and the weak preambles to all their conclusions were the common talk and subject of sport and derision in all places and administred matter and discourse for the Protestants to treat and rally upon in their Sermons particularly Vergere who had once been the Pope's Nuncio in Germany but now become a preaching Minister in the Valtoline which is a Country of the Grisons did with great perspicuity and strength of reason lay before his Flock the many false reasonings and vain contestations amongst the Bishops and the scandalous proceedings of the whole Council the reports of which with all the particular passages he dispatched to all places where the most Eminent Divines and Preachers of the Protestants resided for he being a near Neighbour to Trent was in a better capacity to receive true and constant information of all passages than those who resided at farther distances for which the Pope and the Cardinal Moron were so offended at him that they endeavoured by menaces to affright and drive him to more remote parts but he resolved still to continue his Station notwithstanding several attempts that were made upon his life The Session being in this manner ended the Legats designed to hasten all remaining Points and contract them in such a compass as might tend towards a speedy end and conclusion of the Council The points of Indulgences Invocation of Saints Images and Purgatory were gathered all into a bundle requiring no great examination in regard that being matters which intrenched on the Interest of no Party administred little cause of Dispute or opposition onely a Controversie arose about Clandestine Marriages or such as were contracted without the consent of Parents which the French would have to be declared in themselves void and null by reason of the inconvenience and ruins which such sort of Marriages have proved to certain Families in that Kingdom but herein a difficulty arose for that Marriage which is one of the seven Sacraments
which by some side-wind or far-fetched notion of Spiritual Concernment reduced almost every thing under cognisance of the Church According to this natural course of worldly affairs Lewis the 14th the most Christian King being high and prosperous in his fortune resolved to put a period to the process for the Regale which had continued near thirty years and at last in the year 1673. came to a conclusion and Declaration was made That the King had Right of Regale in all his Dominions without distinction except onely in those Sees that had purchased their exemption from it And therefore all Bishops who had not yet registred their Oaths of Fidelity in the Chambers of Accounts were required to do it and to take out a Writ upon it for closing the Regale otherwise rheir Bishopricks were still to be looked on as under it All the Bishops of France unwilling to incurr the displeasure of their successful Monarch submitted excepting the Bishops of Alet and Pamiers It was now under the Reign of Clement X. an old doating Pope who having his parts and understanding enfeebled by old Age he committed the management of the Pontificate to the sole direction of Cardinal Paluzzi afterwards adopted by the Pope and called Altieri a Person who from his first beginning was distastful to the Court of France and not until this time well reconciled unto it as we have at large declared in the foregoing Life This was the time I say when open Claim to the Regale was renewed in favour of the King and when the Pope himself was scarce able to distinguish his Interest and Altieri was so thwarted and opposed by the Court of France that he had enough to do to conserve his own personal Interest much less to vindicate and contend for the Rights of the Church in a case so litigious as this In January 1676. the King 's Right was claimed in disposal of the Deanry of Alet the Dispute of which was left unto the Bishop to maintain for the Pope being under the foregoing Circumstances took little cognisance thereof either by himself or his Cardinal But this good Pope dying in the month of August next following the Controversie fell to the lot of Innocent the 11th to maintain and to dispute in opposition to the eldest Son of the Church This quarrel was increased by a Contest at Pamiers where one Paucet was provided in Right of the Regale to be Arch-deacon of Pamiers but was rejected by the Bishop and Chapter howsoever the Regale prevailed for the Arch-Bishop of Tholouse was on their side and gave judgment in favour of the Regalist But on the contrary the Bishop of Pamiers acquiesced not with this Sentence but made his appeal to the Pope who was now engaged in the Controversie and the matter lodged in his hands Wherefore the Pope in the year 1678 wrote his Brief to the French King and in soft and yet pressing terms complained of the Innovasions made on the Liberties of the Church and the Authority of the Council of Lions and after several Arguments to persuade him to desist from this Enterprise he concludes that he cannot forget those Popes his Predecessours who upon the like occasions had endured long and great afflictions But these Allegations satisfied not the King who pretended that the Rights of the Regale were inherent in the Crown and had been enjoyed by his Ancestors and by them derived down to himself The Pope on the other side affirmed that the Secular Powers had no right to things sacred but as it was derived to them by the Authority of the Church and that the Church had not granted any such Right having expresly limited it by the Council of Lions which hath now been observed four hundred years This Controversie seemed to lie dormant from September 1678. to December 1679. until it was again revived and stirred in the See of Pamiers in that point which concerned the vacant Benefices and the mean Profits for the King's Officers seized on them likewise so that the good old Bishop had nothing to live on the last twenty months of his life but the Oblations and Charities of his People On this occasion the Pope wrote to the Cardinal d' Estreé to interpose in this Affair as being a Person more than ordinarily concerned in the dignity of the Apostolical See To which the Cardinal made answer in the style of a Court-Bishop extolling the King's merit his zeal for the Faith and respect for the Apostolical Chair what he had done for the suppression of Calvinism and Heresie within his Dominions and how bravely he had defended the Christian Cause against the Turks and in fine he laid down the dangers which would follow if any dissention should arise between the King and the Church At length Cardinal d' Estreé was dispatched to Rome with a Letter of Credence and Orders to treat immediately with the Pope himself but it seems his Negotiations produced little alteration for the Pope continued steddy and constant to his Principles And on the other side the Parliament of Paris became as zealous for the King 's Right and Authority for which the King's Attorney General pleading made little esteem of the Pope's Censures which were passed for Obedience to the King's Orders The Church said he may indeed have an Authority to punish Men for Heresie and an ill life but the World was now too well enlightned not to discern that the Thunders of Rome had been for several Ages vainly employed for extending its Authority beyond all due bounds the limits of which were to be found in the Canons of the Church by which the Pope as well as others ought to govern himself And therefore desired that the last Brief sent by the Pope might be suppressed which was accordingly done by a Judgment of the Court of Parliament on the last of March 1681. And to give a farther Authority to this Judgment an Extraordinary Assembly was called of all the Bishops then residing at Paris where were present six Arch-Bishops twenty six Bishops and six that were named to Bishopricks to whom the Agents of the Clergy represented the Invasions made on the Liberties of the Gallican Church by the Pope's Briefs both in general concerning the Regale and in particular in the Affair at Pamiers and the Nunneries and concerning a Book of Gerbais a Dr. of Sorbonne De causis Majoribus which were equally contrary both to Church and State to the Canons and the Concordate by which the Pope upon a simple Complaint without any Appeal did by the plenitude of his Power judg at Rome concerning the validity of Elections and the Authority of arch-Arch-Bishops and Primats c. The issue of which Assembly was this They asserted the Authority of National Churches for judging of all matters both of Faith and Manners and in the conclusion agreed to make an Address to the King praying him to give leave either for a National Council or an Assembly General the latter
THE LIVES OF THE POPES From the time of our Saviour Jesus Christ TO THE REIGN OF SIXTUS IV. Written Originally in Latine by BAPTISTA PLATINA Native of Cremona And Translated into ENGLISH And the same History continued from the Year 1471. to this present time wherein the most remarkable Passages of Christendom both in Church and State are Treated of and Described By PAUL RYCAUT Esq LONDON Printed for Christopher Wilkinson at the Black Boy over against S. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1685. TO THE READER THE History of Platina of the Lives of the Popes being rendred into English by an unknown hand was delivered to me by the Bookseller and considering that Platina was an Author of good Reputation and Authority in the World I often wished that he had lived in that Age in which he might have deduced his History from ancient to the present times or that some other of our learned men would have continued the same in the Language of our own Country for since our Tongue is so well refined and so copious it ought justly to comprehend all those Histories Sciences and Arts which are related and made known in forreign Languages But observing that this Work was neglected and not thought worthy the labour of better Pens I essayed to do it in my own rude and plain Style without affectation or ornament more than what the simplicity of naked truth would afford me in search of which I have always had recourse to the best and to the most impartial Authors who have neither disguised the Vices of Men by flattery nor out of prejudice branded those Actions with shame and obloquy which might have admitted of a fairer character Nor have I mixed any thing of Religion in this History but where the nature of the relation could not subsist without it for in regard the Court and not the Church of Rome is the subject on which I treat I have made the Points of Religion accidental only to the following Discourses But as to Platina himself Trithemius in his Treatise of Ecclesiastical Writers gives him this Character He was born sayes he at Cremona was Breviary to the Pope and a man learned in all Sciences he was an excellent Philosopher and a famous Orator of an acute and ready wit and perswasive eloquence he was couragious and so constant to his principles that under Pope Paul II. he was deprived of his Estate and Preferments and after having endured the wrack or torture he was cruelly cast into Prison where he remained during the Reign of this Paul II. afterwards he was set at liberty by Sixtus IV. to whom he dedicated this following History of the Popes He died at Rome of the Plague Aged 60 years A. D. 1481. Frederick III. being Emperour and Sixtus IV. being Pope AN INTRODUCTION To the following HISTORY THIS continuation of Plaetina the subject of which is the Lives and Reigns of the Popes is a Treatise purely historical collected from feveral Latin French and Italian Authors whose design being solely to transmit matter of Fact to posterity did not intermeddle with points of Religion but as they accidentally occurred in the connexion of History there being a vast difference between the Church of Rome and the Court of Rome To this latter Notion which consists of a Pope who is Sovereign and of seventy Cardinals or more who are his Counsellours besides a great number of Prelats we shall confine our Discourse And whereas the Pope is a Prince who hath a Temporal Dominion under his Government and Jurisdiction it is no wonder if he and the Creatures and Confidents who attend him in all his Counsels should act by Maximes purely civil and political whence it is that Popes are approached with so much more awe and profound Reverence than is performed towards Kings and Emperours because the Spiritual comes in to maintain and uphold the Authority of the Temporal and both being united do mutually support each other hence proceed all the flatteries used in that Court all the contrivances which Ambition can suggest to raise Families and make those great who are in Authority And in short nothing is omitted which the Wit of Man and the Artifices of the most refined Heads in the World such as those are at Rome can devise to conserve and exalt the Interest and Authority of that Court. The Original of this Jurisdiction which is encreased to such a degree of Power and Greatness as is become suspected by Kings and formidable to its people sprang at first from those words of our Saviour to his Apostles Whose sins ye shall forgive on Earth shall be forgiven in Heaven and whose sins ye shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven the which large and extensive priviledg was attended with a Commission to feed Christs Flock to preach the Gospel and to administer the Sacraments and with an exhortation to all the faithful to love one the other and to pardon and forgive each other their offences The Primitive Church which was always zealous to reconcile the Brethren and procure pardon of the Offender from the person offended did ordain according to the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians that the Saints or Christians should not maintain a process of Law one against the other at the Bar or Tribunals of Infidels but that they should rather appoint and constitute some of the Faithful who were Men of approved wisdom and integrity to hear and examine and determine all their differences This manner of trial was certainly submitted unto with great charity of the both parties and with an unbiassed sentence of the Judg for the first had no power over them to enforce execution unless the constraint of their own Consciences which bore witness that the adjudgment was from God Nor did the Ecclesiastical Judg pronounce sentence without regret sorrow and grief for the Delinquent as appears by the words of St. Paul 2 Cor. chap. 2. where the sorrow of the Offender is said to be so great as to require comfort and that the Judg also did partake in the like affliction and anguish of heart with him This dispensation of the Ecclesiastical Censures being a work of great Charity was an Office onely proper for such as had attained to a good esteem for piety and to the degree and dignity of a Bishop But as the Faithful encreased and the Churches became numerous so the deliberations on Causes were too heavy and burdensom for the Bishop alone and therefore though the Bills and Processes at Law were received by the hands of the Bishop they were yet afterwards transferred to the consideration of the Ancients who were called Presbyters which being digested by them received their ultimate determination and sentence from the General Assembly of the Church the which practice was in use in the year of our Lord 250. as appears by the Epistles of St. Cyprian wherein he writes to the Presbyters of his Diocese of Carthage that he intended not
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
immediately upon his advance to the Popedom Anno 895. he proposed to the Senate and people that a Law should pass that no regard should be hereafter given to the Authority of the Emperour in the creation of a Pope taking as Platina saith an advantage when the Emperour Charles was marched with his Army out of Italy against the rebellious Normans This must have been Charles le Gros and the year 885. according to those Authors who have written the History of France But that which must have given this Pope courage herein was the weakness of Charles the Bald a Prince bold in his undertakings but unable in the execution of them for so soon as he received information of the death of the Emperour Lewis the 2d he resolved to seize the Empire which at that time was confined to the narrow compass of Rome and all Italy because his two Uncles had miserably rent the French Monarchy in pieces and divided between them after the death of Lotharius those two Kingdoms which belonged unto him But to be short Charles the Bald in order to his design raised all the Troops he was able and on a sudden passing the Alps he so surprised the Lombards that not being provided of a Force to resist they presenty yielded themselves unto him and therewith the Treasure of Lewis deceased which he so well employed at Rome that he corrupted therewith both the Senate and the Magistrates and promised great matters to Pope John the 8th if by his means he might obtain the Imperial Crown This Pope whom we call Pope Joan the Story of whom being a Woman and with Child is related by divers Authors and not wholly disbelieved by our Platina acting according to the false wisdom of this World as appears in many particulars of which Baronius accuses him or her thought fit to make advantage of this ambition of Charles that thereby he might for the future procure a right to Popes to elect and create Emperours But our Platina saith it was John the 9th but be it John the 8th or the 9th he conferred with the Barons and principal Lords of Rome on this point who being already prepared by the bribes of Charles and overjoyed to become Electors easily concurred with the Pope in the proposal he made to them in favour of Charles who being accordingly invited to Rome made his entry there on the 18th of December in the year of our Lord 856 and on the 25th day following being Christmas day the Pope proclaimed and Crowned him Emperour in St. Peter's Church with the consent of the Prelates Chief of the Clergy and all the People of Rome But lest this assumption of Charles to the Empire should seem to proceed from a right of Succession and not of Election like the other three French Emperours his Predecessours the Pope designing to put the matter out of dispute that so the Emperour might own his Title to be derived from him and his Nobles and no other he held an Assembly at Pavia composed of Bishops and Counts where having first shamefully fiattered him with praises of notorious falsity extolling him above Charlemagne he declared that his Election was an effect of his merit and piety and agreeable to the Will of God which had long before been revealed to Pope Nicolas by divine inspiration and in pursuance hereof the Act of Election was signed and confirmed by the whole Assembly and registred in the Books of that Court. In this manner the right of those who were descended from Charlemagne and the Sovereignty which the Emperours had until that time exercised in Rome and in all the Lands of the Ecclesiastical State was surrendred up into the hands and power of the Pope in vertue of which as it is most certain that several succeeding Popes did challenge a right of Creating Emperours or at least to the confirmation of them by that right which they had to Crown them so also it is apparent that there have been Emperours who after this time have exercised a Sovereign power in Italy and without regard to the base condescention of Charles the Bald have made themselves Masters of Rome and of the Pope himself An example whereof we have in Otho the Emperour who recovered three advantageous points which the Greek and French Emperours had enjoyed and which Charles the Bald had lost and betrayed to the Pope Namely 1. The Sovereign power in Rome it self 2. The right of Succession of his Children to the Empire 3dly A power to Elect a Pope or what amounts to the same thing a Right to hinder any from being chosen who was not agreeable to his good will or pleasure Nay farther it is apparent in History that the Popes themselves as well as others did take the Oath of Fidelity as it was administred to them by the Emperour's Commissioners and it is as certain that from the time that Justinian recovered Rome from the Goths the Emperours were ever Masters of the Election in such manner as that either it could not pass without his permission or being done required his confirmation Accordingly Otho the 3d. caused Bruno his near Kinsman Son of Otho Duke of Franconia and Suabia his own Cousin-German to be chosen Pope who took upon himself the name of Gregory the 5th But at length by other turns of fortune Hildebrand who was Gregory the 7th in the year 1073. raised the Papacy to the highest pitch of power and honour that ever it was in Upon consideration of which whole matter it is certain that the Pope had some right in the Election of the Emperour for when the Kingdom of Italy with Rome it self was united to the Teutonick or German Kingdom and that by the Donation of Pepin the Popes were Masters of the Exarchate Urbin Ancona Spoleto and other Towns and Countries and confirmed by Charles his Son then the Pope himself representing the people of Rome by his Legats with the Princes Lords and Deputies of the Towns of Italy had a priviledg of giving his Votes at those Elections and on no other foundation than this could the Pope pretend co a right of Electing Emperours nor in any other manner than as he was Prince over a Dominion which had a right of Election in concurrence with other States Princes and Feudataries of the Empire But when and in what manner and by what Methods afterwards this power of Election came to be transferred to the seven Electors is not very clear in History there being many and various conjectures thereupon Maimbourg in his History called la Decadence de l'Empire concludes that this Institution was established by the Authority of Gregory the 10th in the year 1274. And farther he proceeds to say That the second Pope from whom we may conjecture that this Authority was derived was Leo the 8th who by a Decree made by and with the consent of the Clergy and people of Rome gives and grants unto the Emperour Otho the first and to those who
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
the Romans with rain from Heaven and at the same time destroyed the Germans with Thundershot The truth of which the Emperour himself testified by his Letters But at his return to Rome he utterly renounced all Virtue and goodness and shamefully gave himself up to all manner of Luxury and uncleanness He used in imitation of Nero to combat with the Gladiators and oftentimes encountred with wild beasts in the Amphitheatre many of the Senatours he put to death and those especially whom he observed to be more conspicuous for extraction or merit Soter diverting his mind from the contemplation of this wretched Scene of things to the care of Ecclesiastical affairs decreed That no Deaconess should touch the Altar-cloth or put the Incense upon the Censer at the time of celebration There is extant an Epistle of his concerning that matter written to the Bishops of Italy He ordained likewise that no Woman should be accounted a lawful Wife but she whom the Priest had formally blessed and whom her Parents had with the usual Christian solemnities given to her Husband This Constitution he made to remove the danger and scandal that was incident to new-married persons from the jugling Magical tricks of lewd Fellows Indeed Gratian ascribes this Decree to Euaristus but whose due it is I leave the Reader to judg for it matters not much whether it be attributed to the one or the other During the Pontificat of Soter as Eusebius tells us lived Dionysius Bishop of Corinth a person of so great parts and Industry that he instructed not only the people of his own City and Province but also by his Epistles the Bishops of other Cities and Provinces For being throughly acquainted with the Writings of St. Paul he could the more easily keep others within the bounds of their duty by the Authority which his Learning and Sanctity had gained him 〈◊〉 also an Asian Scholar to Tatianus wrote several things in defence of our Religion and in particular he very handsomly exposed Apelles the Heretick for worshipping a God whom he professed he did not know for he denied Christ to be truly a God and affirmed him to be only in appearance a Man Some say that the Cataphrygian Heresie was at this time set on foot by Montanus Moreover Clemens a Presbyter of Alexandria and Master to Origen was now a great Writer among other things he was Author of Strom. lib. 9. 〈◊〉 lib. 8. and one book against the Gentiles There are some who make Pinytus a person of admirable Eloquence 〈◊〉 a famous Poet who wrote the Halieutics or books concerning Fishes and Herodian the Grammarian Contemporaries to our Bishop Soter who having at five Decembrian Ordinations made eight Presbyters nine Deacons eleven Bishops he died and was buried in the Via Appia in the Sepulchre of Calistus He was in the Chair nine years three months twenty one days And the See was vacant twenty one days S. ELEUTHERIUS ELEUTHERIUS a Grecian of Nicopolis Son of Habundius lived also in the Reign of L. Antoninus Commodus For whose flagitious Life the City of Rome smarted sorely for in his time the Capitol being fired with Lightning together with the famous Library which had cost the Ancients so much care in collecting were consumed nor did the Neighbouring Houses escape the same calamity Not long after another Fire brake forth in which the Temple of Vesta the Palace and a good part of the City were burnt to the ground He was of so rash and freakish a humour that he caused the Head of a vast Colosse to be taken off and that of his own Statue to be placed in the room of it and in imitation of Augustus he would needs have a month of his own name ordering December to be called Commodus But these things were soon changed after his Death and himself adjudged an Enemy to mankind such an hatred and detestation did all men entertain of his Villanies He was strangled in the twelfth year and seventh month of his Reign Eleutherius soon after his entrance upon the Pontificate received a Message from Lucius King of Britain wherein he expressed a desire that 〈◊〉 and his Subjects might become Christians Hereupon Eleutherius sends Fugatius and Damianus two very religious men to that Island to baptize the King and his People there were at that time in Britain twenty five Heathen Priests called Flamens and among them three styled Arch-flamens in the place of which as Ptolomy says were constituted three Arch-bishops the ancient Church being wont to fix Patriarchs there where in the time of Gentilism Proto-flamens had been seated Furthermore Eleutherius ordained that no person should superstitiously abstain from any sort of meat which was commonly eaten and that no Clergy-man should be degraded before he were legally found guilty of the Crime laid to his Charge following herein the Example of our Saviour who so patiently bore the fault of Judas being not yet convicted though really guilty that whatsoever he acted in the mean time by virtue of his Apostleship remained firm and valid He also prohibited the passing sentence against any person accused unless he were present to make his defence which was afterwards confirmed by Damasus and the Pontifical Laws In his Pontificate the Church enjoy'd peace and tranquility and Christianity was wonderfully propagated in the World but especially at Rome where many of the best quality with their Wives and Children received the Faith and were baptized Only Apollonius a great Oratour was now a Martyr having first in the Senate made an excellent Speech in favour of Christianity the doing of which was then a capital Crime Apollonius being dead several Heresies very much prevailed For the Sect of the Marcionites was divided into several Parties some of them owning but one Principle or God others two others three thereby utterly undermining the credit of the Prophets and other discoverers of revealed Religion Moreover Florinus and Blastus set up new Figments against the Truth asserting God to be the Author of all kinds of evil in contradiction to that Text that every thing which God made was good Opposite to these were the Quotiliani who denied God to be the author of any kind of evil in equal contradiction to that other Text I the Lord create evil Some are of Opinion that Galen of Pergamus the famous Physician and Julian the great Lawyer and Fronto the Rhetorician lived at this time though whether they did or no in so great a confusion of time and Story I shall neither affirm nor deny But I dare be confident concerning Modestus and Bardesanes the former of which wrote against Marcion the latter against Valentinus being now as strenuous an opposer as he had been formerly a zealous follower of that Heretick S. 〈◊〉 upon the perusal of his books translated out of the Syriack language into Greek affirms this Bardesanes to have been a wonderfully brisk ingenious Writer And if says he there be
so much smartness in the Translation how much more shall we judg to be in the Original As for 〈◊〉 having at three Decembrian Ordinations made twelve Presbyters eight Deacons fifteen Bishops he died and was buried near S. Peter in the Vatican May 26. He was in the Chair fifteen years three months two days and the See was vacant five days S. VICTOR I. VICTOR an Asian Son of Felix was as I believe in the time of Aelius Pertinax Which Aelius being seventy years of Age was from the Office of City-praefect created Emperour by a Decree of the Senate Being afterwards desired to declare his Lady Augusta and his Son Coesar he refused both saying it was enough that he himself was Emperour against his Will But undergoing the reproach of that unprincely Vice Covetousnes being so sordid as to cause the half of a Lettuce or Artichoke to be served up to his Table he was without any opposition slain in the Palace by Didius Julianus the Lawyer in the sixth month of his Reign This is that Julian who made the perpetual Edict and who in the seventh month after his coming to the Empire was vanquished and slain in a Civil War by Severus at Pons Milvius Victor out of his care of the Affairs of the Church decreed that according to a former constitution of Eleutherius as Damasus tells us Easter should be kept upon the Sunday which fell between the fourteenth and twenty first day after the Phasis or appearance of the Moon in the first Month. Theophilus Bishop of Coesarea Palestinoe was obedient to this Decree and wrote against those who observed that Feast as the Jews did their 〈◊〉 always upon the fourteenth day of the Moon whatever day of the Week it happened to be But Polycrates Bishop of Ephesus very hotly declaimed against this Constitution stifly contending that according to ancient Custom it ought to be celebrated precisely on that day on which the Jews kept their 〈◊〉 For he maintain'd that herein he 〈◊〉 the Example of S. 〈◊〉 the Apostle and others the Ancients We says he observe the exact day neither anticipating nor protracting it Thus did Philip who died at Hierapolis thus did John who leaned on our Lords bosom thus did Polycarp Thraseas Melito and Narcissus Bishop of Hierusalem 〈◊〉 some tell us that a Council was held in Palestine at which were present 〈◊〉 Irenoeus Narcissus Polycarp Bacchylus all Bishops of great Note in Asia But the whole matter was afterwards refer'd to the Council of Nice in which it was decreed that Easter should be kept on the Sunday following the fourteenth day of the Moon to avoid all appearance of Judaizing 〈◊〉 also ordained that in cases of necessity Proselytes might at their 〈◊〉 be baptized in any kind of Water or at any time of the year 〈◊〉 his Pontificate there flourished many learned men As for instance Appion who wrote the Hexaëmeron or account of the six days work of Creation 〈◊〉 Samosatenus who together with Theodotus held our Saviour to have been a meer man Sixtus who wrote of the 〈◊〉 and Arabianus who published several Treatises of Christian Doctrine Now also one Judas wrote a Cronology to the tenth year of Severus the Emperor wherein yet he is guilty of a mistake in asserting that Antichrist would come in his time an Errour into which I suppose him to have fallen from the observation he had made of the Cruelty and other Vices of the Age which he saw now grown to such an heighth that he thought Almighty God could not bear with mankind any longer By which very thing Lactantius and S. Austin themselves were after deceived Our Victor having first written some books concerning Religion died and was buried near S. 〈◊〉 in the Vatican whose Feast we observe on the twenty eighth of July He was in the Chair ten years three months ten days And the See was vacant twelve days S. ZEPHYRINUS ZEPHERINUS a Roman Son of Habundius lived in the time of Severus the Emperour Who being by birth an Asrican of the Town of Leptis upon the death of Julian succeeded in the Empire and took the Surname of Pertinax He was first an Officer of the Exchequer then a Colonel in the Army till by several steps he advanced himself to the Dignity of Imperator He was of a very frugal temper the cruelty of his nature was heightened by the many Wars he had been engaged in and he exercised great Valour in defending and great care in governing his Subjects He was eminent not only for his skill in Arms but in Letters too taking very much delight in the study of Philosophy He conquer'd the Parthians and Adiabeni and made Arabia Interior a Province of the Roman Empire For this Atchievement he triumphed and upon the Arch erected to him in the Capitol he was styled Parthicus Arabicus and Adiabenicus Moreover he adorned the City with publick buildings For he made those 〈◊〉 from his own name are called the Severian Baths and erected the famous Septizonium that part of which noble Pile that is now remaining hardly 〈◊〉 being pull'd down some years ago by order of Pope Paul the second to make the best of the stones But Bishop Zephyrinus 〈◊〉 more intent upon Ecclesiastical than secular Affairs decreed that every Deacon and Priest should be ordained in the presence of the Faithful both Clergy and Laity which was afterwards 〈◊〉 in the Council of Chalcedon He decreed likewise that the 〈◊〉 at the Communion should not be consecrated as had been 〈◊〉 used in a wooden Chalice but in Glass Though this 〈◊〉 was altered in following times wherein order was given that it should 〈◊〉 be in Wood because of its spunginess whereby some of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might soak into it nor of Glass because of its brittleness and the 〈◊〉 of its being broken nor of any ordinary course mettal by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ill taste it might contract from it but only in 〈◊〉 of Gold or Silver or at least of Pewter as appears in the Canons of 〈◊〉 Councils 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Reims He also ordained that all 〈◊〉 of fourteen years of Age should communicate every year upon Easter-day which in after-times Innocent the third extended not only to Communion but Confession too He commanded likewise that no Bishop being 〈◊〉 by his Patriarch or Primate or Metropolitan should have sentence pass'd against him but by the Authority of the See 〈◊〉 Lastly he ordained that when the Bishop celebrated all his Presbyters should be present In his time flourished Heraclius who wrote a Comment upon the Apostle Maximus who in a large book 〈◊〉 the great Controversie of this Age viz. concerning the Author 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Original of Matter Candidus who com posed an 〈◊〉 and Origen who in the tenth year of Severus 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being rais'd against the Christians and his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 put to death for his Religion whom he himself being yet a Youth did very much confirm in
Forum a place of greatest Concourse and the most publick thorow-fare he should be suffocated with smoak the common Cryer in the mean time proclaiming these words He that sold smoak is punish'd with smoak Though his Mother Mammoea as she was a Woman had a great love for Money yet he was altogether above it and for Jewels he slighted them as feminine Trifles being often wont to say that in Virgil whom he called the Plato of the Poets there were more and more precious Gems to be found The Revenue which arose from Bawds and Whores and Catamites he forbad to be laid up in the sacred Treasury and judg'd it more fit to be assign'd to the defraying some publick Charge as the repairing of the Theatre the Cirque the Amphitheatre and the Stadium Having after great search gotten a Collection of the Images of Famous Men he caus'd them to be set up in the Transitory Forum and likewise finish'd and beautified those which are at this time call'd the Antonian Baths having been begun by Antoninus Caracalla He had it in his design to acknowledg our Saviour to be a God and build a Temple to him and did actually set up the Effigies of Christ and Abraham and Orpheus in his Domestick Chappel Being renowned for so many excellent qualities and created Emperour while he was very young he immediately engag'd in a War against the Persians and bravely vanquish'd their King Xerxes In reforming the Military Discipline he was so strict that he cashier'd some whole Legions at once which severity of his was the occasion of his being slain in a tumult of the Soldiers at Mentz Pontianus being now Bishop of Rome at the instigation of the Idol-Priests both he and Philip a Presbyter were at the Emperours Command transported from the City of Rome to the Island Sardinia much about that time when Germanus a Presbyter of Antioch and Beryllus a Bishop of Arabia were converted to the Truth by Origen The Heresie of Beryllus was his denial that Christ had any Being before his Incarnation He wrote some small Pieces and particularly certain Epistles in which he returns thanks to Origen for his sound Doctrine There is extant likewise a Dialogue between them wherein Origen convicts Beryllus of Heresie As for Origen himself he was a Person of so great Wit and Learning that seven Amanuenses taking their turns were scarce sufficient for him He had also as many Transcribers and young Women well-skill'd in Writing all which he wearied out with the copiousness and fertility of his Inventions Being sent for from Antioch to Rome by Mammoea the pious Emperours Mother he was in great esteem with her and having fully instructed her in the Christian Faith he returned to Antioch But Pontianus having suffered divers calamities and severe Torments for the Faith of Christ at length died in Sardinia his body being afterward at the request of the whole Clergy brought back with great Veneration to Rome by Bishop Fabian and interred in the Via Appia in the Coemetery of Calistus At the Ordinations which he held twice in the Month of December he made six Presbyters five Deacons and six Bishops He was in the Chair nine years five months two days and from his Martyrdom the See was vacant ten days S. ANTERUS ANTERUS a Grecian the Son of Romulus was made Bishop of Rome in the time of Maximine who Anno U. C. 987. having fortunately managed the War in Germany was elected 〈◊〉 by the Army without any Authority of the Senate He was a Man of a mighty Stature being above eight foot high and had a Foot of such a magnitude that it is since become Proverbial when men speak of a tall Silly Fellow to say he needs Maximine's Hose His Wives Bracelet served him only for a Ring and his Appetite was so large that he would drink a Rundlet of nine Gallons of Wine at a Sitting He raised the sixth Persecution against the Christians but in the third year of his Reign himself together with his Son Maximine was slain by Pupienus at Aquileia a City which he besieged and so an end was put to his Life and that Persecution together by which means Mammea a Christian Lady and the famous Origene the blood of both which he very much thirsted for escaped his Cruelty 'T is reported that during this Siege of Aquileia when their bowstrings failed the Women of the City supplied that want with their hair for which reason in honour to those Matrons the Senate dedicated a Temple to Venus the Bald. Anterus was the first who for the sake of one Maximus a Martyr ordained that the Acts of the Martyrs diligently search'd after should be committed to Writing by certain Notaries appointed to that purpose and being written should be reposited in the Treasury of the Church that so the memory of good men might not perish with their Lives He ordered likewise that no Bishop should be translated from his first Bishoprick to another for his private Need or Benefit but only for the sake of the Flock committed to him and by the leave of the Supreme Bishop A Constitution which at this day is made void by common Practice for now the Prelates being intent upon their own Profit and Pleasure are always looking out for a fatter Not that they are at all inquisitive how they may feed a larger Flock but the great Enquiry is how much any See may be made worth yearly There is very little discourse among them concerning the care of Souls but very much concerning the encrease of their Revenues that thereby they may be able to keep more Horses and have a greater Retinue of useless lubberly Servants In his time flourished Julius Africanus an eminent Writer who as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tells us founded a famous Library at Coesarea This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Reign of M. Aurelius Antoninus undertook an Embassie for the rebuilding the City of Emmaus which as I have already said was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nicopolis He wrote also an Epistle to Origen shewing that the story of Susanna was not received among the Jews against whom Origen afterwards penn'd a large Epistle upon that Argument At this time likewise flourished Geminus a Presbyter of the Church of Antioch and Heraclas Patriarch of the Church of Alexandria As for Anterus himself having consecrated only one Bishop he suffered Martyrdom and was interr'd in the Coemetery of Calistus in the Via Appia on the third of January He was in the Chair eleven years one month twelve days and the See was then vacant thirteen days S. FABIANUS FABIANUS a Roman the Son of Fabius continued from the Reign of Gordianus and Philip to that of the Emperour Decius Gordianus getting the Empire and having given a mighty Defeat to the Parthians that made head against him in his return home to Triumph was slain by the two Philips His chief commendation was that he is reported to have had sixty two thousand books in his Library Philip Anno U.
discovered by a certain Servant 〈◊〉 when his Enemies were just ready to seize him by Divine Admonition he 〈◊〉 to the Emperour Constans who by Menaces compelled his Brother Constantius to receive him again In the mean time Arius as he was going along in the streets attended with several Bishops and multitudes of people stepping aside to a place of Easement he voided his Entrails into the Privy and immediately died undergoing a Death agreeable to the filthiness of his Life Our Bishop Iulius having been very uneasie amidst this confusion of things at length after ten months banishment returns to Rome especially having receiv'd the news of the death of Constantine the younger who making War upon his Brother Constans and fighting unwarily near Aquileia was there slain But notwithstanding the present face of things Iulius desisted not from censuring the Oriental Bishops and especially the 〈◊〉 for calling a Council at Antioch without the command of the Bishop of Rome pretending it ought not to have been done without his Authority for the preheminence of the Roman above all other Churches To which they of the East returned this Ironical Answer That since the Christian Princes came from them to the West for this reason their Church ought to have the preference as being the fountain and spring from whence so great a blessing flowed But Iulius laying aside that Controversie built two Churches one near the Forum Romanum the other in that part of the City beyond Tyber He erected also three Coemeteries one in the Via Flaminia another in the Via Aurelia the third in the Via Portuensis He constituted likewise that no Clergyman should plead before any but an Ecclesiastical Judg. He appointed likewise that all matters belonging to the Church should be penned by the Notaries or the Protonotary whose Office it was to commit to writing all memorable Occurrences But in our age most of them not to say all are so ignorant that they are scarce able to write their own Names in Latin much less to transmit the actions of others Concerning their Morals I am ashamed to say any thing since Pandars and Parasites have been sometimes preferr'd to that Office During the Reign of Constantine and Constantius Marcellus Bishop of Ancyra was a man of considerable Note and wrote several things particularly against the Arians Asterius and Apollinarius wrote against him and accused him of the Sabellian Heresie as did likewise Hilarius whom while Marcellus is confuting his very Defence shews him to be of a different Opinion from Iulius and Athanasius He was opposed likewise by Basilius Bishop of Ancyra in his Book de Virginitate which Basilius together with Eustathius Bishop of Sebastia were the principal men of the Macedonian Party About this time also Theodorus Bishop of Heraclea in Thrace a person of terse and copious Elequence was a considerable Writer as particularly appears by his Commentaries upon S. Matthew S. John the Psalms and Epistles As for Iulius himself having at three Decembrian Ordinations made eighteen Presbyters three Deacons nine Bishops he died and was buried in the Via Aurelia in the Coemetery of Calepodius three miles from the City Aug. the 12th He sat in the Chair fifteen years two months six days and by his death the See was vacant twenty five days LIBERIUS I. LIBERIUS a Roman the Son of Augustus lived in the times of Constantius and Constans For Constantine as I said before engaging unadvisedly in a War against his Brother Constans was therein slain And Constans himself having fought with various success against the Persians being forced by a Tumult in the Army to joyn Battel at midnight was at last routed and designing afterwards to make an example of his seditious Soldiers he was by the fraud and treachery of Magnentius slain at a Town called Helena in the seventeenth year of his Reign and the thirtieth of his Age. Constans being dead the old Boutefeaus of the Arian Heresie began afresh to make head against Athanasius For in a Council held at Milain all those that favoured Athanasius were banish'd Moreover at the Council of Ariminum because the subtil 〈◊〉 Eastern Prelates were too hard at Argument and 〈◊〉 for the honest well-meaning Bishops of the West it was thought good to let fall the Debate for a time the Orientalist denied Christ to be of the same substance with the Father This because Bishop Liberius did at first oppose and because he refused to condemn Athanasius at the Emperours Command he was banish'd by the Arians and forced to absent from the City for the space of three years In which time the Clergy being assembled in a Synod in the place of Liberius made choice of Felix a Presbyter an excellent person and who immediately after his choice did in a Convention of forty eight Bishops excommunicate Ursatius and Valens two Presbyters for being of the Emperours opinion in Religion Hereupon at their request and importunity Constans recalls Liberius from Exile who being wrought upon by the kindness of the Emperour though he became as some tell us in all other things heretical yet in this particular Tenent he was on the Orthodox side that Hereticks returning to the Church ought not to be re-baptized 'T is said that Liberius did for some time live in the Coemetery of S. Agnes with Constantia the Emperour's Sister that so through her assistance and intercession he might procure a safe return to the City but she being a Catholick and apprehending he might have some ill design utterly refused to engage in it At length Constantius at the Instance of Usatius and Valens deposed Felix and restor'd Liberius Upon which there arose so fierce a Persecution that the 〈◊〉 and other Clergy were in many places murthered in their very Churches Some tell us that they were the Roman Ladies at a Cirque-shew who by their intreaties obtained of the Emperour this Restauration of Liberius Who though he were of the Arian opinion yet was very diligent in beautifying consecrated places and particularly the Coemetery of S. Agnes and the Church which he built and called by his own Name near the Market place of Livia During these calamitous times lived Eusebius Bishop of Emissa who wrote very learnedly and elegantly against the Jews Gentiles and Novatians Triphyllius also Bishop of Ledra or Leutheon in Cyprus wrote a large and exact Commentary upon the Canticles Moreover Donatus an African from whom the Sect of the Donatists are denominated was so industrious in writing against the Catholick Doctrine that he infected almost all Africa and 〈◊〉 with his false Opinions He affirmed the Son to be inferiour to the Father and the holy Spirit inferiour to the Son and rebaptized all those whom he could pervert to his own Sect. Several of his heretical Writings were extant in the time of S. Hierom and particularly one Book of the Holy Spirit agreeing exactly with the Arian Doctrine And that the Arians might neglect no ill Arts of promoting their
In his time lived 〈◊〉 Bishop of 〈◊〉 who 〈◊〉 twelve Books 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 and one against 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not long 〈◊〉 he 〈◊〉 at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also an 〈◊〉 who had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 old Age so great a Proficient in those Arts which most require the assistance of sight particularly in Logick and Geometry that he wrote some excellent Treatises in the Mathematicks He published also Commentaries on the Psalms and the Gospels of Matthew and John and was a great opposer of the Arians Moreover Optatus an African Bishop of Mela compiled six Books against the 〈◊〉 and Severus Aquilius a Spaniard who was kinsman to that Severus to whom Lactantius penn'd two Books of Epistles wrote one Volume called 〈◊〉 As for our Siricius having setled the Affairs of the Church and at five Ordinations made twenty six Presbyters sixteen Deacons thirty two Bishops he died and was buried in the Coemetery of Priscilla in the Via Salaria Febr. 22. He was in the Chair fifteen years eleven months twenty days and by his death the See was vacant twenty days ANASTASIUS I. ANASTASIUS a Roman the Son of Maximus was made Bishop of Rome in the time of Gratian. This Gratian was a young Prince of eminent Piety and so good a Soldier that in an Expedition against the Germans that were now harrassing the Roman Borders he did in one Battel at Argentaria cut off thirty thousand of them with very little loss on his own side Returning from thence to Italy he expelled all those of the Arian Faction and admitted none but the Orthodox to the execution of any Ecclesiastical Office But apprehending the Publick-weal to be in great danger from the attempts of the Goths he associated to himself as a Partner in the Government Theodosius a Spaniard a person eminent for his Valour and Conduct who vanquishing the Alans Hunns and Goths re-establish'd the Empire of the East and entred into a League with Athanaricus King of the Goths after whose Death and magnificent Burial at Constantinople his whole Army repaired to Theodosius and declared they would serve under no other Commander but that good Emperour In the mean time Maximus usurped the Empire in Britain and passing over into Gaul slew Gratian at Lions whose death so 〈◊〉 his younger Brother Valentinian that he forthwith fled for refuge to Theodosius in the East Some are of opinion that those two Brethren owed the Calamities which befell them to their Mother Justina whose great Zeal for the Arian Heresie made her a fierce Persecutor of the Orthodox and especially of S. Ambrose whom against his will the people of Milain had at this time chosen their Bishop For Auxentius an Arian their late Bishop being dead a great Sedition arose in the City about chusing his Successour Now Ambrose who was a man of Consular dignity and their Governour endeavouring all he could to quell that disorder and to that end going into the Church where the people were in a tumultuary manner assembled he there makes an excellent Speech tending to persuade them to Peace and Unity among themselves which so wrought upon them that they all with one consent cryed out that they would have no other Bishop but Ambrose himself And the event answered their desires for being as yet but a Catechumen he was forthwith baptized and then admitted into holy Orders and constituted Bishop 〈◊〉 Milain That he was a person of great Learning and extraordinary Sanctity the account which we have of his Life and the many excellent Books which he wrote do abundantly testifie Our Anastasius decreed that the Clergy should by no means sit at the singing or reading of the holy Gospel in the Church but stand bowed and in a posture of 〈◊〉 and that no Strangers especially those that came from the parts beyond the Seas should be receiv'd into holy Orders unless they could produce Testimonials under the hands of five Bishops Which latter Ordinance is suppos'd to have been occasioned by the practice of the Manichees who having gained a great esteem and Authority in Africa were wont to send their Missionaries abroad into all parts to corrupt the Orthodox Doctrine by the infusion of their Errours He ordained likewise that no person 〈◊〉 of body or maimed or defective of any Limb or Member should be admitted into holy Orders Moreover he dedicated the Crescentian Church which stands in the second Region of the City in the Via Marurtina The Pontificate of this Anastasius as also that of Damasus and Siricius his Predecessors were signaliz'd not only by those excellent Emperours Jovinian 〈◊〉 Gratian and Theodosius but also by those many holy and worthy Doctors both Greek and Latin that were famous in all kinds of Learning Cappadocia as Eusebius tells us brought forth 〈◊〉 Nazianzen and Bazil the Great both extraordinary Persons and both brought up at Athens Basil was a Bishop of 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 a City formerly called Mazaca He wrote divers excellent Books against Eunomius one concerning the Holy Ghost and the Orders of a Monastick life He had two Brethren Gregory and Peter both very learned Men of the former of which some Books were extant in the time of Eusebius Gregory Nazianzen who was Master to S. Hierom wrote also many things particularly in praise of Cyprian Athanasius and Maximus the Philosopher two Books against Eunomius and one against the Emperour Julian besides an Encomium of Marriage and single Life in Hexameter Verse By the strength of his reasoning and the power of his Rhetorick in which he was an imitatour of Polemon a man of admirable Eloquence he brought off the Citizens of Constantinople from the Errours with which they had been infected At length being very aged he chose his own Successour and led a private life in the Countrey Basil died in the Reign of Gratian Gregory of Theodosius About the same time 〈◊〉 Epiphanius Bishop of Salamine in Cyprus a strenuous oppugner of all kinds of Heresies as did also Ephrem a Deacon of the Church of Edessa who composed divers Treatises in the 〈◊〉 Language which gained him so great a Veneration that in some Churches his Books were publickly read after the Holy Scriptures 〈◊〉 having at two Decembrian Ordinations made eight Presbyters five Deacons ten Bishops died and was buried April 28. He was in the Chair three years ten days and by his death the See was vacant twenty one days INNOCENTIUS I. INNOCENTIUS an Alban Son of Innocentius was Bishop in part of the Reign of Theodosius Who with great Conduct and singular Dispatch overcame the Usurper Maximus and at Aquileia whither he had fled retaliated upon him the Death of Gratian. A
Soon after his growing ambition prompts him to endeavour the gaining of the Western Empire and therefore getting together in a very little time a great Army he begins his March upon that Design This Aetius having intelligence of forthwith sends Ambassadours to Tholouse to King Theodorick to strike up a Peace with whom so strict a League was concluded that they both jointly engage in the War against Attila at a common charge and with equal Forces The Romans and Theodorick had for their Auxiliaries the Alanes Burgundians Franks Saxons and indeed almost all the people of the West At length Attila comes upon them in the Fields of Catalaunia and Battel is joyn'd with great Valour and Resolution on either side The Fight was long and sharp a Voice being over-heard none knowing from whence it came was the occasion of putting an end to the Dispute In this Engagement were slain on both sides eighteen thousand men neither Army flying or giving ground And yet 't is said that Theodorick Father of King Thurismond was killed in this Action Sixtus had not long enjoyed the Pontificate before he was publickly accused by one Bassus but in a Synod of fifty seven Bishops he made such a Defence of himself that he was by them all with one consent acquitted Bassus his false Accuser was with the consent of Valentinian and his Mother Placidia excommunicated and condemn'd to banishment but with this compassionate provision that at the point of death the Viaticum of the Blessed Sacrament should be denied him the forfeiture of his Estate was adjudged not to the Emperour but the Church 'T is said that in the third month of his Exile he died and that our Bishop Sixtus did with his own hands wrap up and embalm his Corps and then bury it in S. Peters Church Moreover Sixtus repaired and enlarged the Church of the Blessed Virgin which was anciently called by the name of Liberius near the Market place of Livia then had the name of S. Mary at the Manger and last of all was called S. Maries the Geeat That Sixtus did very much beautifie and make great additions to it appears from the Inscription on the front of the first Arch in these words Xystus Episcopus Plebi Dei for according to the Greek Orthography the name begins with X and y though by Custom it is now written Sixtus with S and i. To this Church that Bishop was very liberal and munificent among other instances adorning with Porphyry stone the Ambo or Desk where the Gospel and Epistles are read Besides what he did himself at his persuasion the Emperour Valentinian also was very liberal in works of this nature For over the Confessory of S. Peter which he richly adorned he placed the Image of 〈◊〉 Saviour of Gold set with Jewels and renewed those Silver Ornaments in the Cupola of the Lateran Church which the Goths had taken away Some are of an Opinion that in his time one Peter a Roman Presbyter by Nation a Sclavonian built the Church of S. Sabina upon the Aventine not far from the Monastery of S. Boniface where S. Alexius is interred 〈◊〉 I rather think this to have been done in the Pontificate of Coelestine the first as appears from an Inscription in Heroick Verse yet remaining which expresses as much 'T is said also that at this time 〈◊〉 Eusebius of Cremona and Philip two Scholars of S. Hierom both very elegant Writers as also Eucherius Bishop of Lyons a man of great Learning and Eloquence and Hilarius Bishop of Arles a pious Man and of no mean parts Our Sixtus having employed all his Estate in the building and adorning of Churches and relieving the poor and having made twenty eight Presbyters twelve Deacons fifty two Bishops died and was buried in a Vault in the Via Tiburtina near the body of S. Laurence He was in the Chair eight years nine days and by his death the See was vacant twenty two days LEO I. LEO a Tuscan Son of Quintianus lived at the time when Attila having return'd into Hungary from the Fight of Catalonia and there recruited his Army invaded Italy and first set down before Aquileia a Frontier City of that Province which held out a Siege 〈◊〉 three years Despairing hereupon of success he was just about to raise the Leaguer when observing the Storks to carry their young ones out of the City into the Fields being encouraged by this Omen he renews his Batteries and making a fierce assault at length takes the miserable City sacks and burns it sparing neither Age nor Sex but acting agreeably to the Title he assum'd to himself of being God's Scourge The Huns having hereby gain'd an Inlet into Italy over-run all the Countrey about Venice possessing themselves of the Cities and demolishing Milain and Pavia From hence Attila marching towards Rome and being come to the place where the Menzo runs into the Po ready to pass the River the holy Bishop Leo out of a tender sense of the calamitous state of Italy and of the City of Rome and with the advice of Valentinian goes forth and meets him persuading him not to proceed any farther but to take warning by Alaricus who soon after his taking that City was by the Judgment of God removed out of the World Attila takes the good Bishops Counsel being moved thereunto by a Vision which he saw while they were discoursing together of two men supposed to be S. Peter and S. Paul brandishing their naked swords over his head and threatning him with death if he were refractory Desisting therefore from his design he returns into Hungary where not long after he was choaked with his own bloud violently breaking out at his Nostrils through excess of drinking Leo returning to the City applyes himself wholly to the defence of the 〈◊〉 Faith which was now violently opposed by several kinds of Hereticks but especially by the Nestorians and Eutychians Nestorius 〈◊〉 of Constantinople affirmed the Blessed Virgin to be Mother not of God but of Man only that so he might make the Humanity and Divinity of Christ to be two distinct persons one the Son of God the other the Son of Man But Eutyches Abbot of Constantinople that he might broach an Heresie in contradiction to the former utterly confounded the divine and humane Nature of Christ asserting them to be one and not at all to be distinguished This Heresie being condemned by Flavianus Bishop of Constantinople with the consent of Theodosius a Synod is called at Ephesus in which Dioscorus Bishop of Alexandria being President Eutyches was restored and Flavianus censured But Theodosius dying and his successour Marcianus proving a Friend to the Orthodox Doctrine Leo calls a Council at Chalcedon wherein by the authority of six hundred and thirty Bishops it was decreed as an Article of Faith that there are two Natures in Christ and that one and the same Christ is God and Man by which consequently both Nestorius and Eutyches the pestilent Patron of the
and therefore he preferr'd his Son-in-law before his Father-in-law And gaining the Victory over the French in a very important Battel he recovers Gascoigne and undertakes the present Government of it till Almaric the son of Alaric should come to Age. The same Theodoric to his Conquest of Italy added that of Sicily Dalmatia Liburnia Illyricum Gallia Narbonensis and Burgundy He also walled round the City of Trent and to secure Italy from a forein Invasion upon the Frontiers of it near Aost placed the Heruli whose King being yet a Minor he made his adopted Son Gelasius in the mean time condemns to banishment all the Manichees that should be found in the City and causes their books to be publickly burnt near S. Mary's Church And being satisfied of the repentance of Messenus who had given in his Retractation in Writing at the request of the Synod he absolved him and restored him to his Bishoprick But having intelligence that several murthers and other notorious outrages were committed in the Greek Churches by the factious followers of Peter Mog and Acacius he forthwith sends his Legates thither with Commission to Excommunicate for ever all those who did not immediately recant their Errours a new and unusual severity whereas the Primitive Church was wont to wait long in hopes that Separatists would at length return to her Bosom At this time John Bishop of Alexandria an Orthodox Prelate and who had been very much persecuted by these seditious people fled for resuge to the Bishop of Rome who very kindly and courteously received him The Churches which Gelasius consecrated were that of S. Euphemia the Martyr in Tivoli that of S. Nicander and Eleutherius in the Via Labicana and that of S. Mary in the Via Laurentina twenty miles from Rome He had a great love and honour for the Clergy and was very liberal and charitable to the poor He delivered the City of Rome from many dangers and particularly from that of dearth and scarcity He composed Hymns in imitation of S. Ambrose published five Books against Eutyches and Nestorius and two against Arius made very elegant and grave Orations and wrote weighty and learned Epistles to his Friends of the houshold of Faith all which Works of his are at this time to be seen in the publick Libraries Some tell us that he Excommunicated Anastasius successour to Zeno in the Eastern Empire for favouring Acacius and other Hereticks which is an argument as clear as the Sun that the Bishop of Rome has power to Excommunicate any Prince who is erroneous in the Faith if he continue refractary after Admonition The same course likewise he took with the Vandals and their King who being infected with the Arian Heresie proved now very cruel and barbarous persecutours of the Orthodox At the beginning of his Pontificate lived Germanus and Epiphanius the latter Bishop of Pavia the former of Capua men who by the authority which the Sanctity of their Lives had gain'd them and by their humble and obliging deportment wrought so much upon the minds of the barbarous Invadors that afflicted Italy fared the better for their sakes At the same time also Lannociatus Abbat of Chartres with Aurelianus and Mezentius of Poictiers persons of great Piety and Learning gain'd so much ground in Gaul that they persuaded Clodoveus the French King and his Queen Crocildis to become Christians and to undertake the protection of the Catholick Faith throughout their Dominions though some attribute this honour to Remigius as hath been already said Gelasius having ordained thirty two Presbyters two Deacons sixty seven Bishops died and was buried in S. Peter's Church November 21. He was in the Chair four years eight months seventeen days and by his death the See was vacant seven days ANASTASIUS II. ANASTASIUS the second a Roman Son of Fortunatus was Contemporary with the Emperour Anastasius At which time Transamund King of the Vandals shut up the Churches of the Orthodox Clergy and banished one hundred and twenty Bishops into the Island of Sardinia 'T is reported also that one Olympius an Arian Bishop having publickly in the Baths at Carthage declared his detestation of the Doctrine of the Trinity was immediately smitten and his body burnt with three flashes of Lightning And when Barbas another Bishop of the same Faction was going to baptize a certain person in this form of words Barbas baptizeth thee in the name of the Father by the Son and in the Holy Ghost 't is said the Water disappeared which Miracle so wrought upon the man who was to be baptized that he immediately came over to the Orthodox It was this Bishop Anastasius as some Writers tell us who Excommunicated the Emperour Anastasius for favouring Acacius though afterwards being himself seduced by the same Heretick and endeavouring privately to recall him from Exile he thereby very much alienated the minds of his Clergy who for that reason and also because without the consent of the Catholicks he communicated with Photinus a Deacon of Thessalonica and an assertour of the Acacian 〈◊〉 withdrew themselves from him 'T is generally reported that the divine vengeance pursuing him for this Apostacy he died suddenly and some say that the particular manner of his death was that going to ease Nature he purg'd out his Bowels into the Privy In his time Fulgentius an African Bishop of Ruspoe though he were among the other Orthodox Bishops of Africa banish'd into Sardinia by Transamund yet neglected nothing that might contribute to the propagating of the Catholick Faith whether by Exhortation Preaching or Admonition He likewise published several Books of the Trinity of Free-will and the Rule of Faith and besides the several elegant and grave Homilies he made to the people he wrote against the Pelagian Heresie The Learned Egesippus also who composed Monastical Constitutions and in an elegant style wrote the Life of S. Severinus the Abbat was at this time very serviceable to the Church Moreover Faustus a Gallican Bishop was now a considerable Writer but among all his Works the most in esteem was his Tract against Arius wherein he maintains the persons in the Trinity to be Co-essential He wrote also against those who asserted any created Being to be incorporeal demonstrating both by the Judgment of the Fathers and from the Testimonies of holy Writ that God only is purely and properly incorporeal But I shall here conclude the Pontificate of Anastasius who at one Decembrian Ordination having made twelve Presbyters and sixteen Bishops was buried in S. Peter's Church November 19. He sat in the Chair one year ten months twenty four days and by his death the See was vacant four days SYMMACHUS I. SYMMACHUS a Sardinian Son of Fortunatus succeeded Anastasius though not without great Controversie and after a long bandying of two contrary Factions For while one part of the Clergy chuse Symmachus in the Church of S. John 〈◊〉 another part of them in S. Maria Maggiore make choice of one Laurence
whereupon the Senate and people of Rome being divided into two Parties the dissention rose to such an heighth that to compromise the business a Council was by mutual consent called at Ravenna where the whole matter being discuss'd in the presence of Theodoric he at length determined on the side of Symmachus and confirmed him in the Pontificate who by a singular act of Grace made his very Competitour Laurence Bishop of Nocera Yet about four years after some busie and factious Clergy-men being countenanced and assisted by Festus and Probinus two of the Senatorian Order set up for Laurence again upon which King Theodoric was so highly displeas'd that he sends Peter Bishop of 〈◊〉 to Rome to depose them both and possess himself of the Chair But Symmachus called a Synod of an hundred and twenty Bishops wherein with great presence of mind he purg'd himself of all things 〈◊〉 to his Charge and by a general suffrage obtained the banishment of Laurence and Peter who had occasion'd all this mischief Hereupon so great a 〈◊〉 arose in the City that multitudes both of the Clergy and Laity were slain in all parts not so much as the Monastick Virgins escaping In this Tumult Gordianus a Presbyter and a very good man was kill'd in the Church of S. Peter ad Vincula nor had an end been put to slaughter here had not Faustus the Consul in compassion to the Clergy appear'd in Arms against Probinus the Author of so great a Calamity After this the Christians having some small respite Clodoveus banishing the Arian Hereticks restores the Orthodox and Constitutes Paris the Capital City of his Kingdom Symmachus at this time expell'd the Manichees out of the City and caused their Books to be burn'd before the Gates of S. John Lateran Several Churches he built from the ground and several others he repair'd and beautifi'd That of S. Andrew the Apostle near S. Peters he entirely built enriching it with divers Ornaments of Silver and Gold and he adorn'd S. Peters it self and its Portico with chequer'd Marble making the steps of Ascent into it more and larger than they were before Moreover he erected Episcopal Palaces He built also the Church of S. Agatha the Martyr in the Via Aurelia and that of S. Pancrace He repaired and adorn'd with painting the Cupola of S. Pauls and built from the foundations the Church of SS Silvester and Martin the Altars of which he very richly adorned He made also the steps that lead into the Church of S. John and S. Paul and enlarged S. Michaels He built from the ground the Oratories of Cosmus and Damianus being assisted in that work by Albinus and Glaphyras two men of principal Note Besides this near the Churches of S. Peter and S. Paul he builded two Hospitals making provision of all things necessary for the poor who should dwell in them For he was in all respects very charitable and sent supplies of Money and Cloaths to the Bishops and other Clergy in Africa and Sardinia who had suffered banishment for the profession of the true Religion He repaired the Church of S. Felicitas and the Cupola of that of S. Agnes which was decay'd and almost ready to fall He also at his own charge redeemed multitudes of Captives in several Provinces He ordained that on Sundays and the Birth-days of the Martyrs the Hymn Glory be to God on High should be sung and indeed left nothing undone which he thought might tend to the Glory of Almighty God In his time Gennadius Bishop of Marseille a great imitatour of S. Augustine did good service to the Church He wrote one Book against Heresies wherein he shews what is necessary to every man in order to his Salvation and another de viris illustribus in imitation of S. Hierom. As for Symmachus having at several Ordinations made ninety Presbyters sixteen Deacons one hundred twenty two Bishops he died and was buried in S. Peters Church July the 19th He sat in the Chair fifteen years six months twenty two days and by his death the See was vacant seven days HORMISDA I. HORMISDA the Son of Justus born at 〈◊〉 lived in the time of Theodoric and Anastasius as far as to the Consulship of Boethius and Symmachus These two upon suspicion of designing against his Government were by Theodoric at first banish'd and afterwards imprisoned Boethius during his confinement wrote several things extant to this day and translated and made Commentaries upon the greatest part of Aristotles Works He was throughly skill'd in the Mathematicks as his Books of Musick and Arithmetick clearly demonstrate But at length both he and Symmachus were put to death by the order of Theodoric Some tell us that the cause of Boethius his sufferings was the zeal he shewed in opposing the Arians who were favoured by Theodoric but I think the former Opinion to be more probable Hormisda with the advice of Theodoric held now a Provincial Synod at Rome in which the Eutychians were again condemn'd by universal consent He also sent Letters and Messengers to John Bishop of Constantinople admonishing him to renounce that Heresie and to believe there are two Natures in Christ the Divine and Humane But John continued refractory trusting to the interest he had with the Emperour Anastasius who not long after was struck dead by a Thunderbolt which was believ'd to be a just Judgment upon him both for his patronizing so pernicious an Heresie and especially for his ill usage of the Legates sent to him by Hormisda whom contrary to the Law of Nations he treated very contumeliously and sent them home in a shattered leaky Vessel ordering them to return directly into Italy without touching at any shore in Greece 'T is said that he bid them tell the Bishop that he must know it to be the part of an Emperour to Command not to obey the Dictates of the Bishop of Rome or any other These Legates were Euodius Bishop of Pavia Fortunatus Bishop of Catina Venantius a Presbyter of Rome and Vitalis a Deacon Anastasius dying in the twenty seventh year of his Reign Justine a Patron of the Catholick Faith succeeds him who forthwith sends Ambassadours to the Bishop of Rome to acknowledge the Authority of the Apostolick See and to desire the Bishop to interpose his Ecclesiastical Power for the setling the peace of the Church Whereupon Hormisda with the consent of Theodoric sends Germanus Bishop of Capua John and Blandus Presbyters and Felix and 〈◊〉 Deacons his Legates to Justine by whom they were receiv'd with all imaginable expressions and testimonies of Honour 〈◊〉 Respect John the Bishop of Constantinople with multitudes of the Orthodox Clergy and other Persons of principal Note going forth in Complement to meet them and congratulate their Arrival But the followers of Acacius dreading their coming had shut themselves up in a very strong Church and upon Consultation what to do sent Messengers to the Emperour declaring that they would by no means subscribe to
died and was buried in S. Peter's Church October the 12th He was in the Chair four years two months thirteen days and by his death the See was vacant three days BONIFACE II. BONIFACE the second a Roman Son of Sigismund was also in the time of Justinian A Prince whose vast Parts and Learning qualified him for that great Work which for the publick Good he undertook of collecting and methodizing the scattered Roman Laws and retrenching those which were useless and superfluous Yet herein he made use of the Advice and assistance of John a Patrician Trebonianus Theophilus and Dorotheus men of great Learning and Authority With their help an immense number of near two thousand Volumes of Decrees made from the building of the City to this time confusedly heaped together were digested under their respective Titles into fifty Books which are sometimes called Digests and sometimes Pandects because they contain the whole Civil Law He made also an Epitome of the Laws in four Books which go under the name of Institutes or Justinian's Code Moreover some tell us that Justinian wrote certain Books concerning the Incarnation of our Lord and that at his own charge he built the Temple of S. Sophia than which there is not a more noble and magnificent Pile of Buildings in the World In his Reign 〈◊〉 was made Bishop of Rome though not without some opposition for the Clergy being divided one Party of them chose Dioscorus into the place of Felix deceased The Contention about this matter lasted twenty eight days but the death of Dioscorus put an end to the Controversie Things being quiet Boniface applyed himself to the setling of the Church and decreed that no Bishop should appoint his own successour which was afterwards confirm'd by several following Bishops of Rome He decreed also that upon the decease of any Bishop of Rome another should be chosen to succeed him if it might be within three days to prevent any bandying or dissention which might be occasioned by delay He ordained likewise that the Clergy should be seperated and placed distinct from the Laity at the time of Celebration At the same time many of the Roman Nobility were so wrought upon by the Sanctity of Benedict that they retired to Mount Cassino and became Monks there among whom the more eminent were Maurus and Placidius Other men of Note and esteem were Dionysius the Abbat famous for the extraordinary Skill and Judgment which he shewed in his Paschal Cycle Famundus whose writings against certain Eutychians then springing up were very much commended and Martin who by his Preaching and Writings converted the People of Soissons from the Arian Heresie to the Truth But Boniface having sat in the Pontifical Chair two years two days died and was buried in S. Peter's Church The See was then vacant two months JOHN II. 〈◊〉 the second a Roman Son of Projectus lived in the time of Justinian and soon after his entrance upon the Pontificate condemned Anthemius an Arian Bishop some say that he had been Bishop of Constantinople Justinian to shew his 〈◊〉 to the Roman See sent Hypatius and Demetrius two Bishops to 〈◊〉 both to complement John in his name and to make to S. Peter's Church several rich Presents During this Embassie Mundus Justinian's General took the strong City of Salona and gain'd a Victory over the Goths though not without great loss on the Conquering side For Mundus himself together with his Son a Valiant and brave young Gentleman was slain in that Engagement the news of which misforfortune was extreamly laid to heart by Justinian he having always had a great value for that Leaders Courage and Fidelity Our Bishop John of whom Historians say very little having at one Ordination made 〈◊〉 Presbyters twenty one Bishops died and was buried in S. Peter's Church May 27. He sat in the Chair two years four months and by his death the See was vacant six days AGAPETUS I. AGAPETUS a Roman Son of Gordianus a Presbyter of the Church of S. John and S. Paul being created Bishop by Theodatus who was by him forthwith sent to the Emperour Justinian was highly incens'd against that King for his having first banish'd Amalasuntha the Mother of Athalaric into the Island of the Lake of Bolsena and afterwards caused her to be put to death there For she was a Woman so well acquainted with Greek and Latin Learning that she durst engage in Disputation with any profess'd Scholar Moreover she was so throughly skilled in the Languages of all the barbarous Invadors of the Roman Empire that she could discourse any of them without an Interpreter Her Death Justinian so highly resented that he threatned to make War upon Theodatus for that reason Hereupon Agapetus was sent to him who being receiv'd with great honour and affection and having obtain'd the peace he was sent to sue for he was then practis'd with to confirm the Eutychian Opinions But Justinian finding that the good man utterly detested any such proposal from desiring and 〈◊〉 he fell to Threats and Menaces Upon which Agapetus told him that he should have been glad to be sent to Justinian a Christian Prince but that he found a Diocletian an Enemy and Persecutor of Christians By this boldness of Speech and Gods appointment Justinian was so wrought upon that he embraced the Catholick Faith and having despos'd Anthemius Bishop of Constantinople who patroniz'd the Eutychian Heresie put into his place Menas one of the Orthodox who was consecrated by Agapetus himself But not long after Agapetus died at Constantinople and his body being wrap'd up in Lead was convey'd to Rome and buried in S. Peter's Church He sat in the Chair eleven months twenty one days and by his death the See was vacant one month twenty nine days SYLVERIUS SYLVERIUS a Campanian Son of Bishop Hormisda was chosen Bishop of Rome at the command of Theodatus though till this time the Emperours only not the Kings had interposed their Authority in that matter But the Menaces of Theodatus prevailed who had threatned to put to death every man of the Clergy who would not subscribe his name to the choice of Sylverius For this reason and that he might also revenge the death of Amala suntha Justinian sends Belisarius a Patrician with an Army into Italy In his passage thither he first put in at Sicily and brought that Island to the Emperours devotion In the mean time Theodatus dying and the Goths having chosen themselves a King against the will of Justinian Belisarius quits Sicily that he might deliver Italy from the Tyranny of the Goths Coming into Campania and the City of Naples refusing to obey the Emperours Summons he took it by Storm and plundered it putting to the Sword all the Goths that were in Garrison there and a great part of the Citizens carrying away their Children and what other spoil they could lay their hands on The Soldiers pillaged the very Churches violated the chastity of Cloystered Virgins
Popedom or any other Bishoprick should undergo the same Penalty He decreed likewise that the choice of any Bishop should be by the Clergy and People and that the Election should then stand good when it were approved by the Civil Magistrate and when the Pope had interposed his Authority in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Command An Institution in part very necessary for our times especially so many corruptions daily creeping in For it is probable that the Election being free the Clergy and People will chuse and the Magistrate approve of no other than such an one as deserves and is fit to be Governour in the Church Though if I may speak it without offence to any that are good the truth is multitudes do now aspire to the Dignity of Bishops not as they ought to do for the sake of the publick good but that they may satisfie their own Covetousness and Ambition For the great Question is what any Bishoprick is worth not how great a Flock there is to take the charge of But enough of this I return to Boniface whose Decrees as it appears were extinct with his Life He died in the ninth month of his Pontificate and was buried in the Church of S. Peter The See was then vacant one month six days BONIFACE IV. BONIFACE the fourth born in Valeria a City of the Marsi the Son of John a Physician obtained of the Emperour Phocas the Pantheon a Temple so called because it was dedicated to Cybele and all the Gods and having cast out all the Heathen Images that were in it he consecrated it on May the 12th in honour to the Blessed Virgin and all the Martyrs 〈◊〉 it was afterwards called S. Maria Rotunda and Virgo ad Martyres At this time the Persians under the Conduct of their King 〈◊〉 making an irruption into the Roman Provinces and having routed Phocas's Army possess themselves of Jerusalem prophane and pillage the Churches of the Christians carry away the Wood of our Saviour's Cross and take Captive Zacharias the holy Patriarch of that City Hereupon Phocas falling into contempt with all men but especially the Senate was deprived of his Empire and Life by Heraclius General of the Forces and Governour of the Province of Afrique Now also Caganus King of the Avares forcing his entrance through Pannonia and Illyricum into Italy was so much too hard for the Lombards that he was very near making himself Master of the Province it self and through the treachery of Romilda who was enamour'd of him he did actually take Friuli and sack'd it in such a manner that scarce any footsteps of it were left remaining While things went thus in Italy John Bishop of Girone proved a great Defence to Christianity both by his Preaching and Writings He being a Goth born in Portugal so soon as he came to the years of discretion travelled to Constantinople and parted thence so well skill'd in Greek and Latin Learning that at his return into Portugal he was able easily to 〈◊〉 the Arian Heresie which very much prevailed there For this reason he was by the Hereticks confined in Barcellona But afterwards upon the death of King Lemungildus who countenanced those Hereticks he came back into his own Countrey and both wrote very much concerning the Christian Religioon and also founded a Monastery and prescribed Rules of living which the Monks thereof were to guide themselves by Eutropius also Bishop of Valentia was now by his Learning and Example very instrumental to keep the Spaniards sound in the Faith Moreover Columbanus an Abbat a very holy man by descent a Goth coming first out of Scotland into Burgundy built there the stately Monastery of Luxevil and thence passing into Italy built another fair one at Bobio Pope Boniface that he might not be behind-hand in this matter with either of them converted his Father's House into a Monastery and gave his Estate for the maintenance of the Monks in it But not long after he died having been in the Chair six years eight months seventeen days and was buried in the Church of S. Peter in a time of Dearth Pestilence and great Innundation of Waters By his Death the See was vacant seven months twenty 〈◊〉 days DEUS-DEDIT I. DEUS-DEDIT a Roman Son of Stephen a Sub-deacon being unanimously chosen to the Pontificate proved a great Lover and Encourager of the Clergy 'T is reported that he was a person of so great Sanctity that meeting with a man who had a Leprosie he cured him of that Disease with a Kiss He ordained that the Son should not marry any Woman to whom his Father had been Godfather At this time Heraclius with a great Army recovered several Provinces which the Persians had possess'd themselves of dismounted and slew their General in a single Combat vanquish'd their King Chosdroës and took his Son Prisoner whom having first Christned he released and sent home again Entring Persia he took a strong Tower in which 〈◊〉 's Treasure lay part of which he distributed among his Soldiers and assign'd another part for the repairing of the Churches which the Persians had pillaged and spoil'd Returning to Jerusalem with seven Elephants loaded with other great Booty he brought along with him the Cross of our Blessed Saviour which the Persians had taken away and laid it up in the place where it was before Those of the Persians whom he had taken Prisoners he suffered to return into their own Countrey After this being arrived at Constantinople and taking delight in study he applied himself to Astrology But yet this great Emperour against all Law both Divine and Humane married his own Sister's Daughter and to add one Crime to another as is usual when men once become guilty he falls off to the Eutychian Heresie This happened at the time when Anastasius a Persian being converted to Christianity and having entred upon a Monastick Life was seized by his own Countrey-men and suffered Martyrdom for the sake of his Religion whose body was afterwards conveyed to Rome and reposited in the Monastery of S. Paul 'T is said that at this time Sisebute King of the Goths reduced several Cities of Spain which had revolted to the Romans and that by Torment he forced all the Jews which he discovered in his Kingdom to profess the belief of Christianity This it is reported he did at the request of Heraclius who had been fore-warn'd to beware of the Circumcised but yet afterwards he being not sufficiently careful to prevent his Fate was crush'd by the Saracens who observed Circumcision Thus things went in the East nor did the West want it's Assertours of the Christian Faith For Arnulphus Bishop of Metz by his Piety and Prudence kept Dagobert the French King within the bounds of his Duty being therein assisted by Amandus an excellent person and a vigorous defender of the Christian Religion Among the Spaniards Isidore Bishop of Sevil successour to Leander wrote several things very beneficial to the State of Christianity particularly of the
only in Christ. But these Seducers at the Instance of Honorius who was very diligent to reclaim Heraclius were afterwards banished And Honorius having now some respite from other cares by his Learning and Example proved a great Reformer of the Clergy The Church of S. Peter he covered with Brass taken out of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus repaired that of S. Agnes in the Via Nomentana as appears by an Inscription in Verse therein and likewise that of S. Pancras in the Via Aurelia built those of S. Anastasius S. Cyriacus seven miles from Rome in the Via Ostiensis and S. Severinus in Tivoli all which he made very stately and adorn'd with Gold Silver Porphyry Marble and all manner of Ornamental workmanship He repaired also the Coemetery of SS Marcellinus and Peter in the Via Labicana and was at the charge of building other Churches besides those before-mentioned Moreover he ordained that every Saturday a Procession with Litanies should be made from S. Apollinaris to S. Peter's But having been in the Chair twelve years eleven months seventeen days he died and was buried in the Church of S. Peter October the 12th By his death the See was vacant one year seven months eighteen days SEVERINUS I. SEVERINUS a Roman Son of Labienus being chosen in the place of Honorius deceased was confirmed therein by Isaacius Exarch of Italy the Election of the Clergy and People being at this time reckoned null and void without the Assent of the Emperours or their Exarchs Now Isaacius having made a Journey to Rome upon the occasion of confirming this Pope that he might not lose his labour fairly sets himself to plunder the Lateran Treasury being assisted in that attempt by several Citizens though he were resisted for a time but in vain by the Clergy of that Church the principal of which he afterwards banished The ground of this Action was Isaacius's Resentment that the Clergy alone should grow rich without contributing to the Charge of the Wars especially at a time when the Soldiers were reduc'd to the greatest want and extremity Part of the spoil he distributed among the Soldiers part he carried away with him to Ravenna and of the rest he made a Present to the Emperour Those of the Saracens who had been listed by Heraclius being discontented for want of Pay march'd into Syria and made themselves Masters of Damascus a City subject to the Empire Then joyning with the other Arabians and being furnished with Provisions and Arms and heated by Mahomet's Zeal they over-run Phoenicia and Egypt and put to the Sword all those who refused to subscribe to their Government and Mahomet's Religion Advancing thence against the Persians and having slain Hormisda the Persian King they ceased not to commit all manner of outrages upon that People till they had entirely reduced them to subjection But Heraclius having intelligence of what work these Saracens made especially upon their taking of Antioch and searing that they might possess themselves of Jerusalem it self which they not long after did took care to have the Cross of our Saviour conveyed to Constantinople that it might not again come into the hands of the Agarens for so the Greeks in contempt call the Arabians as descending from Agar Abraham's Servant But Mahomet as we are told dying at Mecha was succeeded in the Command by Calipha and he by Hali who being laid aside for his being too superstitious the Egyptians make another Calipha their Commander 'T is said also that to complete the Calamities of the Roman Empire Sisebute King of the Goths did at this time recover out of the hands of the Romans all the Cities of Spain and so a period was put to the Roman Government in that Countrey As for 〈◊〉 who was a person of extraordinary Piety and Religion a Lover of the Poor kind to those in affliction liberal to all and in adorning of Churches very munificent having been in the Chair one year two months he died and was buried in S. Peter's Church August the 2d The See was then vacant four months twenty days JOHN IV. JOHN the fourth a Dalmatian Son of Venantius entring upon the Pontificate forthwith expressed a wonderful Compassion in employing the remainder of the Treasury of the Church which Isaacius had left behind him for the redemption of a multitude of Istrians and Dalmatians who had been taken Captive In the mean time Rhotaris who succeeded Arioaldus in the Kingdom of Lombardy though he were a person eminent for Justice and Piety yet became a Favourer of the Arians and permitted that in every City of his Kingdom there should be at the same time two Bishops of equal Authority the one a Catholick and the other an Arian He was a Prince of great Parts and reduc'd the Laws which Memory and Use alone had before retain'd methodically into a Book which he ordered to be called the Edict His Excellency in Military Skill appear'd in that he made himself Master of all Tuscany and Liguria with the Sea-coast as far as Marseille But in the sixth year of his Reign he died and 〈◊〉 the Kingdom to his Son Rhodoaldus 'T is reported that a certain Priest entring by night into the Church of S. John Baptist and there opening the Tomb in which the Body of Rhotaris lay rob'd it of all the things of value with which the Bodies of Kings are wont to be interred Hereupon John Baptist a Saint to whom Rhotaris had been in his life-time very much devoted appear'd to the Priest and threatned him with Death if he ever entred his Church again The like happened even in our times to Cardinal Luigi Patriarch of Aquileia whose Sepulchre was broke open and pillaged by those very men whom he himself had enriched and raised from a mean condition to the Sacerdotal Dignity Rhodoaldus entring upon the Government of the Kingdom marries Gundiberga the Daughter of Queen Theudelinda who imitating her Mother's Devotion built and richly adorned a Church in Honour to S. John Baptist at Terracina in like manner as Theudelinda had done at Monza But Rhodoaldus being taken in Adultery was slain by the Husband of the Adulteress Successour to him was Aripertus Son of Gudualdus and Brother of Queen Theudelinda he built our Saviour's Chappel at Pavia and very much beautified and plentifully endowed it Pope John fearing now lest the Bodies of Vincentius and Anastasius might sometime or other be violated by the barbarous Nations took care to have them safely conveyed to Rome and with great Solemnity reposited them in the Oratory of S. John Baptist near the Baptistery of the Lateran We are told that in his Pontificate Vincentius Bishop of Beauvais and Muardus Arch-bishop of Reims were in great esteem for their Learning and Sanctity Moreover Reginulpha a French Lady was very eminent for Piety and Renaldus Bishop of Trajetto famous for his Life and Miracles Jodocus also was not inferiour to any of these who though he were the Son of a King of the
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
necessary he should oppose the Enemy in Person For both the Gascons had revolted whom in a short time he reduc'd and those of Bretaigne began to endeavour a change of Government whom in like manner by his Arms he kept in Obedience and moreover at an Assembly held at Aken he granted Peace to the Ambassadours sent from the Saracens inhabiting Saragosa Stephen being now upon his departure in Imitation of our Saviour who spared even his Enemies obtained of Louis that all those whom Charles had punished with Banishment or Imprisonment for their Conspiracy against Leo might have their Liberty He also carried with him a Cross of great Weight and Value made at the Charge of Louis and by him dedicated to S. Peter But returning to Rome he died in the seventh month of his Pontificate and was buried in S. Peter's and by his Death the See was vacant eleven days PASCHAL I. PASCHAL a Roman Son of Bonosus was created Pope without any Interposition of the Emperours Authority Whereupon at his first Investiture in that Office he forthwith sends Nuntio's to Louis excusing himself and laying all the blame upon the Clergy and People of Rome who had forcibly compell'd him to undertake it Louis accepting this for Satisfaction from Paschal sends to the Clergy and People admonishing them to observe the ancient Constitution and to beware how they presum'd for time to come to infringe the Rights of the Emperour Also in the Assembly held at Aken he associated to himself in the Empire his eldest Son Lotharius and declared Pipin his second Son King of Aquitain and Louis his third Son King of Bavaria But Bernardus King of Italy having upon the Instigation of certain Bishops and seditious Citizens revolted from the Empire and compelled some Cities and States to swear Allegiance to himself Louis being hereat incensed sends a strong Army into Italy whose Passage over the Alpes Bernardus endeavouring to oppose he was vanquished The Heads of the Rebellion being taken were presently cut off and Bernardus himself though he very submissively begg'd forgiveness was put to Death at Aken Those Bishops who had been Authors of the mischief were by a Decree of Synod confined into several Monasteries This Tumult for so it was rather than a War being thus composed Louis moves with his Army against the Saxons rebelling now afresh and overcomes and slays Viromarchus their hardy Chief who aspired to the Kingdom After this he sends his Son Lotharius whom he had declared King of Italy to the Pope by whom he was anointed in the Church of S. Peter's with the Title of Augustus But there arising great Commotions in Italy and Lotharius seeing himself unable to withstand them he goes to his Father in order to provide greater Force Upon which Theodorus the Primicerius and Leo the Nomenclator having had their Eyes first pull'd out were murdered in a Tumult in the Lateran Palace There was some who laid the blame of this Disorder upon Paschal himself but he in a Synod of thirty Bishops did both by Conjectures and by Reasons and by his Oath purge himself of it Louis rested himself satisfied herewith and as Anastasius tells us that no future Disturbance might arise from uncertain Pretensions writing to Paschal he declared in his Letters what Cities of Tuscany were subject to the Empire viz. Arezzo Volterra Chiusi Florence which had been repaired and enlarged by his Father Charles the Great Pistoia Luca Pisa Peragia and Orvieto the others he allowed to be under the Jurisdiction of the Church of Rome He added moreover Todi in Umbria and Romagna beyond the Appennine with the Exarchate of Ravenna The same Anastasius says that Louis granted to Paschal a free Power the same which he also tells us was given by Charles to Pope Adrian of chusing Bishops whereas before the Emperours were wont to be advised and their consent and Confirmation desired in the Case Our Paschal who for his Piety and Learning had been by Pope Stephen made Prior of the Monastery of S. Stephen in the Vatican being now in the Chair both caused the Bodies of several Saints which before lay neglectedly to be conveyed into the City with great Solemnity and honourably interred and also by paying their Creditors procured the Release of divers poor Prisoners He also built from the ground the Church of S. Praxedes the B. Martyr not far from the old one which through Age and the Clergy's neglect was run to Ruin This Church having consecrated he oftentimes celebrated Mass in it and also reposited therein the Bodies of many Saints which lay about unregarded in the Coemeteries In the same Church was an Oratory dedicated to S. Agnes which he made very stately and ornamental Moreover he built the Church of S. Cecily as appears still by an Inscription on the Nave of it in which he in like manner reposited the Bodies of that Virgin her self and her affianced Husband Valerianus as also of Tiburtius and Maximus Martyrs and Urban and Lucius Bishops of Rome adorning it with all kinds of Marble and enriching it with Presents of Gold and Silver He also repaired the Church of S. Mary ad Praesepe that had been decayed by Age and alter'd the Nave of it to advantage In fine having been very exemplary for Religion and Piety Good Nature and Bounty after he had been in the Chair seven years two months seven days he died and was buried in S. Peter's The See was then vacant only four days EUGENIUS II. EUGENIUS the second a Roman Son of Boemundus was for his Sanctity Learning Humanity and Eloquence unanimously chosen into the Pontificate at that time particularly when Lotharius coming into Italy made choice of a Magistrate for the Administration of Justice and Execution of the Laws among the People of Rome who after a long and heavy Servitude had enjoyed some Liberty under the Emperour Charles and his Sons In the mean time Louis after he had for forty days been spoiling and laying waste the Countrey of Bretagne with Fire and Sword having received Hostages he goes to Roan and there gives Audience to the Ambassadours of 〈◊〉 Emperour of Constantinople who came to consult what his Opinion was concerning the Images of the Saints whether they were to be utterly abolished and destroyed or kept up and restored again But 〈◊〉 referred them to the Pope who was principally concerned to determine in the Matter After this he marched against the Bulgarians who were now making Inrodes into the Pannonia's and at first repelled them but Haydo Governour of Aquitain upon confidence of 〈◊〉 Forces from Abderamann King of the Saracens having rebelled he was obliged to quit this War and so the Bulgarians in an hostile manner march'd without controll through the middle of the hostile manner march'd without controll through the 〈◊〉 of the Pannonia's into Dalmatia But before Louis advanced 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great part of Spain had revolted to Haydo who sent out a 〈◊〉 which annoyed the Sea-port Towns all
of St. Giles Hugo Magnus King Philip of France's Brother and the two Roberts whereof one was Earl of Normandy and the other of Flanders together with Stephen Earl of Chartres who passing over the Alps into Italy came first to Rome Where when they had visited the SSts Tombs and Shrines and received the Pope's Benediction they went to Brundusium with an intent to go from thence into Albania But because one Port would not hold 'em all some went to Bari and some to Otranto But Boemund who we told you had taken Melfi being desirous of glory left Melfi and went upon the same Expedition with twelve thousand choice and young Italians And this his Valour so prevail'd with his Brother Roger that he laid down his Arms and promised that for the future all things betwixt him and his Brother should be equally shared and presently sent his Son Tancred who was desirous to go into the War along with his Brother By this time Peter the Eremite was come to Constantinople and pitching his Camp in the Suburbs did so much damage to the Citizens not voluntarily but through the licentiousness of his Soldiers that the Greeks wish'd 'em all cut off Alexius the Emperour was very much concerned for the injuries which his Subjects suffer'd and therefore forced Peter for want of forage to pass the Bosphorus before he was willing However being compelled to it Peter and his Men went over and first going to Nicodemia and then to Nicopoli attaqued that City though it was well guarded by the Saracens But they wanting provisions to maintain the Siege and the Christian Soldiers dying apace they were worsted by the Sarazens and forced to raise their Siege but besides that received such damage in their flight that Reginald General of the Germans renounced the Christian faith and surrender'd himself to them and Peter went as it were back like an Ambassadour to Constantinople without any Soldiers to attend him This was welcome news to Alexius who hoped that the Christians upon such a discomfiture would quit that Expedition But in the mean while other supplies came in and Alexius finding that he could not beat 'em back with open force he set upon 'em in the Night time as they were pitching their Camp in the Suburbs of Constantinople but to no purpose for they that were posted there maintain'd their Camp with great courage till the rest of the Soldiers awaked got to their Arms. They fought too the next day with small damage on either side Then Boemund was sent to Alexius in the name of the Army and partly by Menaces partly by Promises induced him to enter into a League upon these terms That they should not onely pass through his Territories with safety but have all necessaries supply'd and that whatever they took from the Saracens should be his except Jerusalem When he had so done he repassed the Bosphorus and arrived first at Nicomedia and then at Nicopolis which was briskly defended by the Turks within Both Saracens and Turks being Allies at that time in the War against the Christians sixty thousand Turks who lay upon the adjacent Mountains made signs to the Townsmen to sally out while they set upon the Christian Camp but were so briskly repulsed that they return'd to the Mountains without doing any execution Yet it was difficult to take the City because all kind of Provisions were carried into it by a Lake that joins to it till the Lake being fill'd with small Vessels from Constantinople the Townsmen were so streightned for want of necessaries that fifty two days after the beginning of the Siege they surrender'd the Turks who were in Garrison there being permitted to march out with their Arms and Baggage After which the Christians fortified Nicopoli and then left it and being forced to travel through Deserts they divided their Army into two parts But it so happen'd that Boemund sound out a 〈◊〉 place near a certain River where designing to stay and refresh his Men who were weary of travelling on a sudden the Turks and Saracens under the conduct of Soliman set upon him and had certainly overpower'd him with multitudes had not Hugo and Godfrey with forty thousand Horse come to his aid 〈◊〉 as they heard of it They fought very smartly and a great while on both sides nor could the Battel be ended but by the Night coming upon them and in that fight it was found next day that there were forty thousand men slain either Turks Medes Syrians Chaldeans Saracens or Arabians But nevertheless Soliman made all the haste possible from thence and bragging in all places that he was Victor he met ten thousand Arabs who were acoming to the Army whom he carried with him into Lycaonia to intercept the Christians passage and hinder Provisions from being carry'd thither But the Christians being supply'd by the Corn then almost ripe upon the ground arrived first at Iconium the chief City of that Country and having taken that by surrender possess'd themselves of Heraclea and Tarsos with the same success Then Baldwin a Man of great Courage and Wit first got a Signiory in Asia for he had Tarso and all that he took in that Country bestowed upon him and not long after made himself Master of Edessa and Manista From thence the bigger Army went into Cilicia now called Armenia minor which submitting upon the first Onset they made Palinurus an Armenian who had fought on the Christian side Governour of it Afterward they took Coesarea in Cappadocia and then march'd on toward Antioch over the high Mountains At that time Cassianus was King of Antioch formerly called Reblata but that same King who formerly govern'd all Asia double wall'd it and called it by his own name and built about it four hundred and sixty Towers Here was also once St. Peter's Sea and here were born Luke the Evangelist and that Theophilus to whom Luke directs his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles and here Men that were regenerate by Baptism were first called Christians and lived there a thousand years under Christian Government Moreover it appears that there were one hundred and sixty Bishops under the Patriarch of Antioch before the Barbarians took it and that there were in it three hundred and sixty Parish Churches In the year therefore of our Redemption 1491. Antioch began to be besieged with great application At which time Urban who was vexed with tumultuous insurrections shut himself up for two years in the House of one Peter Leo a noble Citizen near St. Nicolas's Church But when John Paganus a most seditious Fellow was dead he was a little more at liberty and then he applied himself to settle the State of the Church For he received into favour the Arch-bishop of Millain before deposed because he had been consecrated by one Bishop against the Canon and custom of Holy Church he having by way of penance changed his habit and lived in a Monastery voluntarily and holily upon that account And
soon after gathering his forces together he march'd into Cilicia to meet with Emanuel whose Army by a feigned flight he drew into narrow and difficult ways where he set upon 'em and vanquish'd 'em taking the Emperour Prisoner whom he set at large again upon condition that he should quit whatsoever he had taken in Asia At this time Alexander was met at Venice by Frederic there to treat of a Peace where in S. Mark 's Porch the Emperour kiss'd the Pope's feet and from thence they went together to the high Altar and having perform'd the mutual Ceremonies of Civility they discours'd a great while upon the Articles of the Peace which the next day was concluded Hence the Emperour with the good leave of the Pope departed first to Ravenna and then to Bertinoro which Town he design'd to keep in his hands because of the commodiousness of its situation but the Pope at last persuaded him to restore it to the Church Alexander also left Venice having first made several Presents and conferr'd many honours upon that State for the services they had done him and with thirteen Gallies of William King of Sicily and four of the Venetians he sail'd first to Siponto and from thence to Troia and Benevent and then passing S. Germano he went to Anagni where he staid not long but came to Tusculum to treat with the Romans about deposing the Consuls they had set up before a Peace should be concluded but because the Consuls had been so chosen for fifty years it was found to be a difficult thing to alter the custom wherefore they agreed that thereafter no one that was chosen Consul should enter upon his Office till he had taken an Oath to be dictated by the Pope that he would be true to the Church of Rome and never attempt any thing that should be a violation of the Pontifical Dignity Thus all matters being settled the Pope went the third time to Rome all the great Men of the City coming forth to attend and congratulate him soon after he held a Council in the Lateran partly to find a way to reform the great licentiousness of that Court but chiefly that it might be decreed that no Man under pain of an Anathema should furnish the Infidels with Iron Wood or any sort of Arms. At this time died Emanuel Emperour of Constantinople leaving his Son Alexius heir of his Empire under the Guardianship of Andronicus one of the blood Royal who for some years shew'd great prudence and fidelity in his publick Administrations and by his consent the young Emperour was married to Agnes Daughter to Philip King of France Baldwin IV. also King of Jerusalem to strengthen himself by the Alliance married his Sister Sibyl to William surnam'd Long-sword Marquess of Montferrat an excellent Soldier not doubting but that upon occasion William and other Princes of Christendom would come to his assistance if his affairs were in any danger Mean time Alexander after having undergone so many and continual labours when now he seem'd to be at rest from all his troubles died at Rome when he had been Pope twenty one years nineteen days having yet liv'd to see four Anti-Popes go before him who with their factions had almost destroy'd the Church of Rome LVCIVS III. LVCIVS the Third a Tuscan of a noble Family of the City of Lucca was made Pope by general consent at the time when Andronicus who we told you was Guardian to Alexius having driven out the Latins who favour'd the young Emperour and drown'd him in the Sea where he was wont for his recreation carelesly sometimes to venture in a little Bark usurp'd the Empire of Constantinople and to secure his Empire thus unjustly gotten he added another great wickedness for in a short time he cut off all the Nobility whose Virtue rendred them suspected to him Now also William surnamed Long-sword dying at Jerusalem King Baldwin taking care of his Nephew married his Sister Sibyl again to Guy of Lusignan a Picard upon condition that after his own decease Guy should enjoy the Kingdom during the nonage of his Nephew Baldwin after which he should resign it to him All which was confirm'd by the Pope's Authority who thought it very necessary for the Christian Cause that the Princes of Asia should be knit together with the strictest bonds of Amity and Friendship to enable them the better to resist the insults of the Turks and Saracens but he was quickly after expell'd the City of Rome while by the favour of some Citizens he attempted to abolish the Office of the Consuls and his Friends in that affair being taken had their Eyes put out Upon this horrid affront the Pope betook himself to Verona and call'd a Council where the exorbitant pride and licentiousness of the Romans was condemned and all Christian Princes were exhorted to afford assistance to the holy War especially because Saladine had entred and wasted the Territories of Jerusalem encouraged by the dissension among the Christian Commanders who had turn'd out Guy of Lusignan for his Arrogance from the Government and had substituted Bertrand Count of Tripoli Protector in his room so that all things seem'd to threaten a Civil War But the Pope incessantly persuaded them by Letters and Ambassadours to lay by their Animosities and with one heart and the same mind to oppose the common Enemy at least so long as till fresh Auxiliary forces could be sent to ' em For by the instance of Heraclius Patriarch of Jerusalem who came for that purpose first to Verona and thence went to Philip King of France upon the same Errand a good number of Soldiers under the Cross were listed and sent away But William King of Sicily in an ill time designing to revenge the wrongs offered to the Latins by Andronicus Emperour of Constantinople passing into Greece with his Army confounded all things for he took Thessalonica the chief City of Macedonia by storm and harassing many other of his Territories he took and plundered several Cities Adronicus not appearing against him being hated of God and Man for the many murthers and banishments he had been the Author of The Constantinopolitans were hereby reduc'd to necessity and forc'd to fetch from Pelopennesus and to set up for Emperour one Isaac who was of the blood Royal and he overthrew Andronicus in Battel took him and with various Tortures put him to death Upon which it became easie for Pope Lucius to persuade King William to make Peace with Isaac and with Promises and Rewards to prevail with him to turn his Arms against the Asians but while this matter was transacting by Internuntio's this excellent Pope died in the fourth year second month and eighteenth day of his Papacy at Verona and was buried with great Pomp before the Altar of the Cathedral Church This Pope had a great regard for his own Country and conser'd upon it many advantages both Civil and Spiritual before he died particularly he obtain'd of Frederick the Emperour with
much out of hopes of success that upon hearing this ill news of the misfortune of his Friends and Allies he began to think of retiring to Rome though his coming thither was opposed by one John Cincio a potent Citizen and Senator whose intolerable arrogance yet was so curb'd by James Capocio another Roman Citizen that the Pope was received into Rome with great splendor magnificence This was that James whose name is yet to be seen and read in the little Chappel of Mosaic Work which was built at his charge in the Church of S. Mary Maggiore in which also was buried Peter Capocio who was a Cardinal of the Church of Rome and while he liv'd a bitter Enemy of this Schismatical Emperour Frederic at whose expence the Hospital of S. Anthony not far from the aforesaid Church and the College for Scholars at Perugia now call'd la Sapientia was also erected Gregory having quieted the minds of Men in the City again pronounces an Anathema against Frederic and declares him to have forfeited his right to the Empire and deprives him of it then he sends for the Ambassadours of the States of Venice and Genoa between whom there was so great a quarrel as it was fear'd a War would ensue to mediate their differences which he did so effectually as that he procur'd an Agreement between 'em to a Peace upon condition that without mutual consent neither of the two States should make Peace with the Emperor of Constantinople that they should be Enemies to the Enemies of each other and join their Forces upon every occasion for the common defence and this Treaty to be in force and complied withal for nine years by them both under pain of Excommunication to be denounc'd by the Pope upon the Infractor About this time died Baldwin who upon the Death of John had succeeded to the Empire of Greece and made shift to hold it for two years but with so great difficulty by reason of his poor Treasury that he could hardly defend himself from his Enemies being forc'd to deliver his Son for a Pledg to the Venetian Merchants for Money that he had borrow'd of 'em and to make Money of the Lead that belong'd to the Churches beside he sold to the Venetians who were wealthy and able to purchase 'em the Spear with which our Saviour Christ's Body was pierc'd and the Sponge which was reach'd to him to drink out of Frederic had a great spight at these Venetians because they were on the Pope's side and drove them into their Marishes where their City stands for security and did them great damage but in the mean while happened a general revolt of the Cities of Lombardy by the Procurement and instigation of Gregory Monte-longo who was Legat at Bononia and Ferrara which had revolted before from the Pope to the Emperour was retaken by them though Salinguerra a valiant Commander was in it and made a brave defence As soon as it was taken it was put into the hands of Azo of the House of Este who was a considerable Person in this Enterprize to be govern'd by him in the name of the Church An. Dom. 1240. This so alarm'd the Emperour who was then at Pisa that being under great uncertainty whom to look upon as Friends to himself or Wellwishers to the Pope he divided first the Cities of Italy into two Factions giving the name of Guelphs to those who were for the Pope's Interest and that of Gibellines to them that were for the Imperial These most pernicious names of distinction invented surely for the mischief of mankind were first made use of at Pistoia where when the Magistrates expell'd the Panzatichi who were Gibellines out of the City there chanc'd to be two Brothers Germans the one of which whose name was Guelph was for the Pope the other for the Emperour and his name was Gibel from which these two Parties were discriminated by those different appellations On the other side those of Arezzo and Sienna drive out the Guelphs whose example being follow'd by many other Cities of Italy gave occasion and rise to a worse than Civil War Several Cities after this revolted from the Pope as well in Vmbria as in Tuscany and particularly the Citizens of Viterbo threw off their obedience The Romans also would fain have been doing the same thing but that the Pope carrying the heads of the Apostles SS Peter and Paul through the City in Procession moved the People to commiserate the State of the Church and then making a most excellent Oration in S. Peters Church he had the power and good fortune by it to persuade even the Seditious who were ready to mutiny to take his part and to list themselves under the holy Cross for the defence of the Church of God These when some time after Frederic came in hostile manner before the Walls of Rome gave him a repulse which so enrag'd him that whatsoever Prisoners he had taken he put to death with divers tortures and retir'd towards Beneventum which City he took by force sack'd and dismantled it Then returning by the Via Latina with his heart full of fury toward the City by the way he plunder'd the Monastery of Monte-Cassino and turn'd out the Monks he destroy'd also with fire and sword the City of Sora formerly belonging to the Samnites situate at the head of the River Garigliano and pillag'd any thing that belong'd to the Templers wherever he could meet with it He was so great a Lover of the Saracens that he made use of them rather than any other People in his Wars made Magistrates of them and gave them a City for themselves which is call'd to this day Nocera di Pagani He threaten'd the Brother of the King of Tunis because he was come as far as Palermo to receive the Sacrament of Baptism By a sudden Onset he also made himself Master of Ravenna which appertain'd to the Church All which Gregory well considering he appointed a Council to be holden in the Lateran there to find out means to depose Frederic but the Emperour had so beset all the ways that with the help of the Pisans he took several Cardinals and Prelates as they were travelling both by Sea and Land and cast them into Prison Which so griev'd the good Pope that he liv'd not long after dying when he had been Pope fourteen years and three months There happen'd an Eclipse of the Sun a little before his death greater than ever was seen Raymund of Barcelona flourish'd in his time and assisted him in compiling his Book of Decretals whom many Authors so commend that nothing can be added to his Praise CELESTINE IV. CELESTINE the Fourth a Milanese of the Family of the Castiglioni Bishop of Sabina famous in his time for his exemplary life and great Learning being very old and sickly was yet chosen Pope in the room of Gregory but died on the eighteenth day of his Pontificate and was buried in S. Peter's Church to the great
disappointment of all Men who hoped to see much better times under his Government After his decease the Sea was vacant twenty one months for those who were then in the highest Authority in the Church of God did not think good to elect any Man to the Popedom so long as the Cardinals which were taken by Frederic were detain'd in Prison During this vacancy of the Holy Sea Frederic over-ran the Marca di Ancona and Romagna as far as Faenza and Bologna which after some resistance he took by force and transferred the University which was at Bologna to Padoua and beside gave many troubles and did great mischiefs to all those that were look'd upon as Favourers of the Churches Cause Then Baldwin Emperour of Constantinople despairing of managing the Asian Affairs to any purpose together with Raymund Earl of Tholouse came into Italy and what with his intreaties and by reason of the respect which Frederic who was then at Parma had for him he procur'd that the Cardinals and other Ecclesiastical persons who were kept under custody by him should be set free who in a little time after had a meeting at Anagni to consider of the Choice of a new Pope INNOCENT IV. INNOCENT the Fourth before call'd Sinibaldo of the Family of the Fieschi Counts of Lavagna was created Pope at Anagni at the news of which Frederic was not very well pleased for he knew him to be a Man of resolution and of a great Spirit they having lived together familiarly for some time before and he was very much afraid he would call him to account for his past actions So that when some of his Friends were complementing him upon this occasion he is said to have told 'em that Cardinal Sinibaldo was indeed his special Friend but now being made Pope he was his bitter Enemy Innocent having put on the Pontifical Robes comes to Rome where by the way he is met by all the Nobility and Men of note and receiv'd with universal Acclamations and having perform'd all the Ceremonies of the Consecration and Coronation which are usual in such cases he begins to discourse of making Peace with Frederic Baldwin also interposing his Authority to bring it about But the business met with many delays till after four months had been spent in negotiating the result was this that the Pope should remove to the City of Castellana and tarry there a while till the Emperor came thither also personally to treat about the Peace But Innocent receiving certain information that Frederic had laid snares and Ambushes for him both at Rome and in his way to that place he made use of some shipping of the Genoeses which then lay in the Port of Civita-vecchia and with a prosperous gale arriv'd in France where at Lions he was receiv'd very generously by all People and with great kindness and at that City he appoints a Council to be holden An. Dom. 1246. to which he cites the Emperour by Nuntios and Letters first and at last by an Officer for the purpose setting him under a penalty if he were disobedient In answer to this the Emperour onely sends thither a Civilian of Sinuessa to desire of the Pope some longer time promising shortly to begin his Journey thitherward and so much time as was fit was allow'd him But his craft appearing and that he onely sought an occasion to scandalize and ruine the Pope by universal consent he was declar'd to be depriv'd of his Title to the Empire and his other Dominions This Frederic took with so great indignation that he commanded the Houses and Palaces of some of Pope Innocent's kinsfolks who by his advice were remov'd from Parma where their Estates lay to Piacenza to be pull'd down and then making a League with the Duke of Burgundy he resolv'd to go to Lions and for that purpose he prepar'd a vast Retinue with which he came as far as Turin where news was brought him that those persons who had been banish'd from Parma were return'd and having defeated their fellow-Citizens near the River Taro had entred the City by force and made great slaughter of the contrary party This caused Frederic to break off his intended Journey and to return into Italy where gathering into one Army all his Forces which had been dispersed through the whole Country he made up a body of sixty thousand Men and with these he marches to invest the City of Parma which the associated Cities being solicitous to defend they put into it very great reliefs under the command of the Pope's Legat who having with great obstinacy sustain'd the Siege for two years at last making a bold sally when Frederic expected no such thing he utterly routed and destroy'd his Army and made himself master of his Camp which was plentifully stor'd with all manner of necessaries because Frederic had fortified it after the manner of a City with Out-works designing when he should have plunder'd and rased the City of Parma against which he had conceiv'd the utmost hatred to build a City in the place where his Camp stood and where he had already coin'd pieces of Money call'd Victorines and to name it the City Victoria According to some Authors himself had much ado to escape to Cremona from this great defeat in which he lost a Crown of inestimable value and several Vessels of Gold of huge weight but he durst not enter the Walls of Cremona for fear of the Cremoneses many of whose fellow-Citizens had lost their lives in that Engagement Innocent being advertised of this great blow given to the fortune of Frederic and that his heart was so broken with it that he let himself loose to all manner of voluptuousness and made himself Gardens of Pleasure where he kept a number of beautiful Women and Eunuchs he took pity upon the Man and dismissing the Councils without farther prosecution of him he dispatch'd Nuncios through France and other Countries to persuade the people to engage in the Holy War and to follow Lewis King of France who was preparing for an Expedition into Asia which he had promised and vow'd to perform when he lay under a great fit of sickness But the Tartarians put a stop for a while to this Journey who with two numerous Bodies of men had entred Europe and Asia where those who invaded the latter having pass'd through the Countries of Georgia and Armenia pierc'd as far as Iconium then the Royal Seat of the Turkish Princes the other party which entred Europe under the conduct of one Batto ravag'd all through Poland and Hungary and then turning toward the Euxine Sea they depopulated the vast Realms of Russia and Gazaria At the same time the Grossoni a people of Arabia by the instigation of the Soldan of Babylon set upon the Templars and put 'em to flight and without any trouble took Jerusalem which was before stripp'd of its Walls putting the Christians that were in it to the Sword and dishonouring our Saviour's Sepulchre with all
long for they soon altered their minds and clap'd him in Prison This affront gave great offence to the Bononians who seizing several Romans protested they would never release them but upon the delivery of their Brancaleon which so wrought upon the cautious Romans that they not onely released him but restor'd him to his former dignity setting up also another Court of men chosen out of every Ward in the City whom they called Banderese to whom they committed the Power of life and death The Pope plainly found the reason of this insolence of the Romans to be that they observ'd how Manfredus had plagu'd him and that he was not able to help himself That he might therefore at last free the Church from the tyranny of these men he sent Legates to Lewis King of France to exhort him that he would assoon as possible send his Cousin and Son-in-law Charles Earl of Provence and Anjou with an Army into Italy he intending upon the expulsion of Manfredus to create him King of both Sicilies And this no doubt he had done so high were his resentments of the Ingratitude of Manfredus if sickness had not taken him off from business Which yet was brought to pass as is supposed by the following Pope To the times of this Pope is ascribed Albertus a High German of the Order of Friers Predicant who for the vastness of his learning got the Surname of Magnus He Commented upon all the Works of Aristotle and explain'd the Christian Religion with great acuteness beside he wrought very accurately concerning the secrets of Nature He also put forth a Book de Coaequaevis wherein he endeavours to shew the little difference that is between Theology and Natural Philosophy He expounded a great part of the Holy Bible and illustrated the Gospels and S. Paul's Epistles with excellent Notes He began also a Body of Divinity but liv'd not to perfect it He was a man so modest and so much given to Study that he refused the Bishoprick of Ratisbon because it could not be manag'd without trouble and force of Arms sometimes as the Bishops of Germany are wont to do He liv'd therefore in private at Cologn reading onely some publick Lectures At length he died there in the eightieth year of his age leaving behind him many Scholars for the good of Posterity especially Thomas Aquinas who leaving his Countrey and his noble kinred for he deriv'd his pedigree from the Counts of Apulia and going to Cologn he made such progress in learning that after a few years he was made Professor at Paris where he published four Books upon the Sentences and wrote a Book against William de St. Amour a pernicious Fellow Beside he put forth two Books one de qualitate essentiis the other de principiis naturae At last he was sent for to Rome by Vrban but refusing those promotions that were offered him he gave himself wholly to Reading and Writing He set up a School at Rome and at the desire of Vrban he wrote several Pieces and ran through almost all Natural and Moral Philosophy with Commentaries and set forth a Book contra Gentiles He expounded the Book of Job and compiled the Catena aurea He composed also an Office for the Sacrament in which most of the Types of the old Testament are explained But to return to Vrban he died at Perugia in the third year first month and fourth day of his Pontificate and was buried in the Cathedral Church The Sea then was vacant five months CLEMENT IV. CLEMENT the fourth formerly called Guidodi Fulcodio a Narbonnese of S. Giles's deserv'd to be made Pope upon the account of his Holiness and Learning For he being without question the best Lawyer in France and pleading with great integrity in the Kings Court was created after the death of his Wife by whom he had several Children first of all Bishop of Pois and then of Harbonne and last of all a Cardinal by universal consent and afterward was chosen out as the onely Person whose sincerity and Authority had qualified him to compose the Differences between Henry King of England and Simon Earl of Montford As soon as he was chosen Pope some say he put on the Habit of a Religious Mendicant and went incognito to Perugia Thither immediately went the Cardinals who having chosen him Pope though in his absence attended upon him pompously to Viterbo In the mean time Charles whom we said Pope Vrban sent for to bestow a Kingdom upon him set out from Marseilles with thirty Ships and coming up the Tiber arriv'd at Rome Where he lived as a Senator so long by the Popes order till certain Cardinals sent from his Holiness came and declared him King of Jerusalem and Sicily in the Palace of St. Giovanni Laterano upon this condition that Charles should take an Oath to pay the Sea of Rome a yearly acknowledgment of forty thousand Crowns and should not accept of the Roman Empire though it were freely offer'd to him For there was at that time a great contest for the Empire between Alphonsus King of Castile who sought to procure it by Power and bribery too and the Earl of Corâ—wall the King of Englands Brother whom the Electors had no great thoughts of Therefore lest Manfred should hope to make use of any quarrels between Alphonsus and Charles to whom many people said the Empire was justly due though he could not challenge it the Pope animated Charles against Manfred as one that stood in Contempt of the Roman Church For Charles's Army was already gotten over the Alpes into Italy and marching through Romagnia had brought all the Soldiers of the Guelphs Party as far as Rome From whence Charles removed and took not onely Ceperane having beaten out Manfred's men but posted himself in a Forest near Cassino which Manfred himself had undertaken to defend although his mind was soon alter'd and he resolv'd to march for Benevento to expect the Enemy in plain and spacious places because his forces consisted most of Cavalry Thither also did Charles move and assoon as he had an opportunity to fight did not decline it though his Soldiers were very weary with travelling Each of them encouraged their men to engage But Charles coming to relieve a Troop of his Soldiers that were like to be worsted more eagerly than usually as in such cases Military Men will do he was knock'd down from his Horse at which the Enemy was so transported that Manfred fought carelesly out of rank and file and was kill'd which when Charles appeared again straight turn'd the fortune of the Day For many of his men that ran away were kill'd and a great many others taken Prisoners Charles having obtain'd so great a Victory removes to Benevento and marches into it upon a voluntary surrender of the Citizens From thence he went to storm Nocera de Pagani where both the modern and the ancient Saracens lived but sent his Mareschal into Tuscany with five hundred Horse to restore
that the presence of two such great Kings would certainly move them as it did to make Theobald of Piacenza Arch-deacon of Liege Pope though he were absent But to return to Clement Whose life is to be commended in every part of it for his Learning Piety Religion Humanity Charity to his Neighbours and to all poor Christians As for the goods or the Church he distributed them at such a rate and with such discretion that he in all probability gave more to God than to his own Relations He had two Daughters by his Wife who died before his Popedom to one of which that liv'd in a Nunnery he gave thirty pounds of small Deniers Tournois and to the other who was married to a man of an equal fortune he ordered a portion of three hundred pounds Tournois upon condition she should never ask for one penny more He had besides a Nephew that was a Clergy-man whom when he found to have three Prebends for so they call Canonries he forced him to take his choice which of 'em he would keep and leave the other two But when his friends were urgent with him not onely to let his Nephew enjoy what he already had but give him more and greater preferments the Holy Man made answer I would the Popes in our time would follow his Example that he would obey God and not flesh and bloud That it was Gods pleasure what belong'd to the Church should be bestow'd to charitable uses nor was he worthy to be S. Peter's Successor who would give more to his Kindred than to Religion and to Christ But whilst he was at Viterbo and news was daily brought to him that Ednigeth a Dutchess of Poland who had been long dead was in very great esteem for her Miracles he canoniz'd her He was also wonderfully satisfied with the Doctrine of Bonaventure General of the Order of Friers Minors who at that time wrote gravely and copiously upon the first second third and fourth Books of the Sentences Now the Holy Man dying with such a Character was much lamented and miss'd by all men And hence arose the Controversie among the Cardinals to find out a fit Person to succeed Clement GREGORY X. GREGORY the tenth formerly called Theoâ—ald an Italian born at Piacâ—nza and Arch deacon of Liege was created Pope by the Colledg of Cardinals at Viterbo whilst he was in Asia For at that time when Lewis went into Africa Edward Son to the King of England sailed from England into Asia with a great Navy in order to regain the holy Land But staying so long at Ptolemais till Lewis King of France came out of Africa with Victory according to his promise he was stab'd in three places by one Arsacida a Companion of his as he was alone in his Bed chamber and by the assistance of another friend of his very hardly escaped his Death For that other person held the Russians hand so long till the People of the House came in who tare treacherous Arsacida to pieces and dragg'd him out of the Room But Edward when he was cured of his Wounds had a great esteem for his friend Theobald because he continually animated all Christian Kings and Princes against the Saracens and when he went to Rome in order to receive the Popedom being sent for by the Cardinals who had elected him he assisted him extraordinarily with a Ship with Money and a splendid equipage especially at that time when Henry a Youth and Son of Richard Earl of Cornwall who was lately dead came to Viterbo to see Clement After whose death staying there for some time he was unluckily kill'd For Guido Monford who went to the Cathedral Church along with Philip the French King to hear Divine Service stabbed him before the Altar because his Father Simon had been basely murther'd in England by Richard He having reveng'd his Fathers death in this manner he escaped with safety to Ruffus Governour of Tuscany Not long after Philip and Charles vexed at such an Indignity went from Viterbo the former into France the latter into Puglia For having made a Peace with the Saracens Charles went along with Theobald who was arrived at Siponto now call'd Manfredonia as far as Ceperano From thence his Holiness travell'd through Marsi and Sabini to Viterbo where he was receiv'd by the Cardinals with all Respect and Honour imaginable and being crown'd with the Pontifical Diadem he was invested with all the Power that Christ left Peter When that was done and that he had setled the Popedom for a time he was desirous to make Peace between the Genoeses and the Venetians For these two States had been engaged one with another in great and bloudy Conflicts for a long time Upon this account Philip King of France who tarried at Cremona was prevail'd upon by the Pope to send for the Genoese and Venetian Embassadors and made a Peace between 'em for five years that they might all go in one body against the Saracens Italy was now quiet when the beginning of an universal disorder rose from the Venetians now Exactions For they made a Law that no one should sail in the Adriatick especially from Pola to Venice unless they paid a Gabel according to the value of their goods But the Bologneses could not endure this as being at that time masters of a great part of Romagna and therefore for three years together they fought the Venetians with great variety of Fortune At last being tired out they accepted of a Peace upon this Condition that they should demolish a Castle which they had built upon the very mouth of Po that they should have free leave to carry out some goods that were there and then the Venetians should have the sole custody of the Mouth of the River Po. They also of Ancona were offended that the Venetians challenged the absolute dominion of the Adriatick Sea and exacted Custom from those that sailed there And hereof they complain'd to the Pope whose Duty it is to see that no new Taxes be imposed He therefore immediately commanded the Venetians to take off that Imposition who answered him in these very words That the Pope did not perfectly understand the matter and that when he did he would be able to judg better of it Gregory could not make an end of this matter to his mind because he was forced to go to the Council which he had called at Lyons Thither also went Paleologus Emperor of Constantinople with a great Retinue and made the Greeks comply and subscribe to the Opinion of the Church of Rome now the thirteenth time they having so often revolted Nay farther some Noblemen of Tartary were induced by his Authority to receive Baptism Mean time the Western Empire being vacant Rodolphus Earl of Assia is made Emperor by the Electors upon condition that he would go to Rome the next year to receive the Crown there But the Florentines who were Guelphs immediately turned out their Countrymen the Gibellins though they had been restored
manner in Lombardy the Emperor went through Piacenza to Genoa along with Amadeus of Savoy attended by the Agents from Pisa and Genoa Thither came Embassadors from Robert of Naples and Frederick King of Sicily not long after the former to make a shew of friendship and the latter to assure him of the real love which they had for him For Robert had sent his Mareschal into Tuscany with two thousand Horse to assist the Floretines and those of Lucca if need were against the Emperor But Henry went by Sea to Pisa and having sent his Land-forces before him did the men of Lucca a great deal of damage Hitherto I thought fit to relate all the inconveniences which were brought upon the Italians which some impute wholly to Clement who solicited Henry to come with an Army into Italy Whilst others tell us that Clement did it for the advantage of the Country because of the civil Discords among 'em which were the cause of much blood-shed in every City nay in every little Castle The Citizens were slain old men murther'd young Children dash'd against the ground with a boundless cruelty Whereupon Clement used that saying of Homer Let there be but one chief Lord one Judg of all matters Henry went on toward Rome and sent Lewis of Savoy Son to Amadeus with five hundred Horse before who taking up his quarters at one Stephen Columna's House near the Lateran put the Vrsin Faction in a terrible fear But Henry came first to Viterbo and thence to Rome where he was very kindly received not onely by all the Nobility but by the Citizens in general After that being Crown'd by three Cardinals he made the Romans swear Allegiance to him as the custom is and made a great Feast to which he invited all the Noblemen of the City except the Vrsins But lest in such a concourse of people there should arise any tumult through the animosities of some men he planted his Soldiers in the Theatres Baths and other fortified places in the strength of which Guards he was so confident that he had the courage to demand of the people a Tribute which they never used to pay Hereupon all the Citizens of both Factions fled to the Vrsins who had set good Guards about their House which stood near the Tiber and hard by Hadrians Bridg. At that the Emperor was so enraged that he summoned the Sea-Archers whom the men of Pisa had sent him to march into the City against the Romans but they were surprised and soon routed by John the Brother of King Robert who had placed his Sea-forces under the Mount di S. Sabina He also let in the Horse who quarter'd not far off and by the aid of the Roman people forced the Emperour himself to retreat as far as Tivoli After him John Robert's Brother went away by Command from the Cardinals and left the City quiet But Henry going from Perugia arrived at Arezzo where he accused Robert the King of Treason and because he did not appear upon Summons deprived him of his Kingdom against the mind of Clement who thought he had done a thing of such consequence in a very improper place besides that it was none of his Prerogative For he said It was Popes peculiar Province to dispose of the Kingdom of Sicily on both sides the Pharo The Emperor marching from Arezzo led his Army toward Florence and Lucca who were Allies to Robert But seeing he was not able to storm a Town he possess'd himself of Poggibonci which when he had fortified he declared War against the Seneses because they were so niggardly and sparing in supplying him with Provisions But falling sick he went to the Bath at Macerata from whence he came back to Bonconvento much weaker than he was before There after some days he died but it was suspected he was poison'd by a Monk at Florence who was induced by large Rewards and Promises to give him the Eucharist dipped in Poison The State of Pisa now that the Emperor was dead feared the power of the Florentines and therefore chose Vgutio Fagiolano their Captain and sole Governor who not long after reduced those of Lucca and took away their Lands from 'em by the assistance of the Cavalry that had served under Henry In the mean time Clement was very much troubled not onely at all the other evils that Italy underwent but that S. Constantines Church should be burnt down Wherefore he sent Money to the Clergy and people of Rome toward the repair of that Church though there was such scarcity and Dearth in his Country at that time that he could hardly buy himself Victuals and Drink Which miseries were foretold by frequent Eclipses of the Sun several Comets and the Plague which was almost Epidemical But Clement apply'd himself to settle the State of the Church and therefore he exercised his Episcopal Function three times not onely in making several Cardinals who were excellent Men but in three Councils which he called in several places and at several times he did many things with prudence and deliberation For he suppress'd Dulcinus's Sect as I told you that opposed the Churchmen and took off the Templers who were fallen into very great Errors as denying Christ c. and gave their goods to the Knights of Jerusalem He likewise withstood the King of France at Poictou when he made unreasonable and unhandsom Demands for the King would have had Boniface censur'd and Nogaretius and Sarra absolv'd The first request he never obtein'd but the second he at last had granted to him upon Nogaretius's Promise that he would go against the Saracens for Penance Which expedition Clement himself had a great mind to as appears by his Councils Afterwards he canonized Caelestin the fifth by the name of Peter the Confessor because approved by Miracles and set forth the Clementines which he composed during the Council at Vienna But in succeeding time he was afflicted with divers Diseases for he was troubled sometimes with a Dysentery sometimes with a pain in his Stomach or his Sides of which he dy'd in the eighth year tenth month and fifteenth day of his Pontificate The Sea was then vacant two years three months and seventeen days whilst the Cardinals were at a stand whom they should choose Nor was there less Discord among the Electors of the Empire upon the Death of Henry some proposing Lewis of Bavaria others Frederick Duke of Austria And these two engaging in War one against the other Frederick was Conquer'd at which Lewis grew so proud that he not onely called himself Emperor without Authority from Rome but favour'd the Viconti in Lombardy so far that they got into Millain And this he did to make his own passage more easie toward Rome where he was to receive a golden Crown according to the usual Custom Then began the people of Tuscany and all the Guelphs to tremble when they saw Lewis Emperor and that he was likely to recover all the rights of the Empire in
animosities arisen in the Kingdom of Naples For King Robert dying without Issue male bequeathed Johanna Daughter of Andrew his Nephew for a Wife to King Charles of Hungary's Son who came at that time a Youth to Naples But Johanna hating him for a dull fellow kill'd him by surprise in the City which was generally against the Match and was married to his Cousin German one Lewis Son to a former Prince of Tarento who was known to be Robert's Brother But Lewis King of Hungary and Brother of her first Husband resolving to revenge so great a piece of Villany came into Italy with a very well order'd Army and first attaqued the Sulmoneses who had the boldness to oppose him But in the mean while the manner of choosing Senators at Rome was alter'd by Apostolical Authority and Nicolas de Renty Citizen of Rome and publick Notary a man very earnest and high for Liberty when he had taken the Capitol gain'd so much good will and Authority among all the people that he could incline them to what he pleased And that he might work upon them the more effectually he used this Motto Nicolas the severe and merciful Patron of Liberty Peace and Justice and the illustrious Redeemer of the Sacred State of Rome With these great Words he created such an admiration of himself that all the people of Italy desired by their Embassadors to enter into League and friendship with him Beside that some forein Nations look'd upon the glory of the Roman Empire to be now reviving But his vain Boasting continu'd not long for whilst he was kind to some Citizens and an Enemy to others he all on the sudden was accounted instead of a Patron a Tyrant So that in the seventh month of his Government of his own accord without any bodies knowledg on a dark Night he went disguised from Rome into Bohemia to Charles the Son of John whom Clement a little before had made the Electors put in nomination for Emperor because he was so fine a Scholar besides that he had a mind to affront the Bavarian by setting up a Competitor So the Tribune i.e. Nicolas was taken by Charles and carry'd to Avignion for a Present to the Pope But Lewis having gotten into Sulmona after a long Siege makes himself easily master of the whole Kingdom since Johanna and the Adulterer Lewis were fled for fear into Narbonne and had left onely the Duke of Durazzo Nephew to King Robert to protect the Kingdom who was conquer'd and taken by Charles and put to Death But the Plague being very hot all over Italy Charles left sufficient Garisons there and return'd into Hungary in the third month after his arrival which was just about the time when John the Arch-Bishop a man of great courage and conduct received from the Pope the Lieutenancy of Millain upon the death of his Brother Luchino But Clement kept Nicolas in Prison and sent some Cardinals to Rome to settle the State of the City to whom Francis Petrarcha wrote persuading them to chuse Senators impartially out of the Commonalty if they would appease the Tumults since it did not sufficiently appear in Rome who were of the Senatorian and who of the Plebeian rank because they were almost all Foreigners and born of strange Parents Upon this Petro Sarra of Columna and John Vrsini were declared Senators At this time the Plague raged so all over Italy for three years that there was scarce one man in ten that escaped Nor is that any wonder for there was such a concourse of men from all places to Rome at the Jubilee which was then celebrated that they not onely brought the Contagion along with 'em but by the throng and bustle and sweating that was among 'em infected all places and persons At that time the Town of Colle and Geminiano were made subject to the Florentines and Bologna to the Arch-Bishop of Millain by the voluntary surrender of the Citizens At which the Pope being disturb'd sent a Legate into Italy to instigate the Florentines and Mastino Scala against the Viconti But when Mastino was dead the Arch-Bishop endeavour'd to draw Canegrande Son to Mastino and all the Gibellins in Romagna and Tuscany to make an Alliance with him and sent his Nephew Bernabos to Bologna to keep the Citizens in Obedience In the mean time the Florentines without any resistance set upon the Pistoians and the Prateses and at length reduced 'em by main force But after that being harrass'd by the Arch-Bishop's force under the command of John Aulegius they could hardly defend themselves within their Walls At that time Anguillara and Borgo di Sancto Sepolchro belonging to the Church revolted to the Viscounts and then also we read that the Genoeses and Venetians fought a Sea-Battel in which the Genoeses at first were conquer'd but afterward they were more victorious under the Command of Admiral Philip Auria and not onely took the Island Scio from the Venetians but kill'd a great many men in Vbaea now called Necroponte But Clement resolving at last to consult the quiet of Italy Decreed that Lewis Prince of Taranto should be King of Naples renew'd the Peace with the Hungarian bought the City of Avignion of Queen Joan whose Inheritance it was and paid for it by remitting of a certain Fee that amounted to rather more than the price of it and was due from her to the Church of Rome upon the account of the Kingdom of Naples But whilst Olegio Viconti besieged Scarperia in Muciallia those of Siena Arezzo and Perugia being affrighted enter'd into a new Confederacy with the Florentines against the Viconti The Pisans could not shew their friendship to the Viconti for the Gambacorti a Noble Family that were Allies of Florence who being now unable to withstand the Viconti alone call'd Charles the Emperor into Italy At this the Pope was concern'd and fearing Italy might be destroy'd with fire and sword as the Emperor threaten'd he deliver'd Bologni ro the Viconti upon Condition that they should pay the Church twelve thousand pound a year and made Peace between the Viconti and the Florentines upon these terms That neither of 'em should molest those of Pisa Lucca Siena or Perugia and that Borgo di Sancto Sepolchro should be subject to the Church and the Viconti should preserve the Liberty of the Cortoneses He also endeavour'd to compose the differences between Philip of France and Edward of England but in vain for they were so incens'd to fight that in one Battel Edward kill'd twenty thousand French and after eleventh months Siege victoriously took Calais by storm The same success he had against the Scots But the Pope having done the Duty of a good Shepherd seeing he could not advantage Christendom abroad he consulted how to do the Church some good at home For he chose excellent Persons for Cardinals especially Giles a Spaniard who was Arch-Bishop of Toledo Nicolas Cappocius a Roman Citizen Rainaldo Vrsina Protonotary of the Church of
Thomas chiefly with the assistance of his Infantry gave the Enemy such a blow that of six thousand Horse which fought under Hawkwood few escaped and the Captain himself yielded Those that had revolted from the Church when they heard of this great Victory immediately surrender'd Vrban then came into Italy in the fourth year of his Pontificate to settle things and Giles the Legate met him at Corneto and rendring an account of what he had done was discharg'd from his Legateship and the Pope going on his way from Corneto to Rome he retired quietly in his old Age at Viterbo where he died in three months after He was a Man of singular Virtue and Courage and preserv'd the Honour of the Church whilst he lived most wonderfully His Body was carried to Assisi and buried in the Church of S. Francis in a Tomb that he built himself whilst he was living When Charles the Emperor understood that Vrban was gone to Rome he went thither too as fast as he could with his Wife and Children but by the way took Lucca from the Pisanes and Sancto Miniato from the Florentines Whether he went to Rome or no is not certain because 't is said he received his Imperial Crown from Pope Innocent the Sixth who sent the Cardinal of Ostia to Rome for that purpose But having received a great sum of mony of the Florentines to buy their own peace he march'd out of Italy the third month after he came thither in the year 1368. Vrban had sought a long time for the Heads of SS Peter and Paul which through the ignorance of the times had long been neglected and having light upon them at Sancta Sanctorum he put 'em up in Silver Cases next the great Altar of the Lateran where they were highly honourâ—d by a great concourse of all the Clergy and People of Rome The same Pope built one Palace in the old City and another in Montefiascone that he and other Popes might retire thither to avoid the Heat and bustle of the Town But resolving to go back shortly into France he made John Hawkwood an excellent Commander whom he released out of Prison General of all those Forces that had serv'd under Giles to guard the Church Patrimony till he return'd again For he design'd to return for Italy But going into France he died at Marseilies in the eighth year and the fourth month of his Pontificate or as others will have it he dy'd at Avignion just about the time when Briget a devout Woman who was a Princess of Switzerland came to Rome upon a Vow she had made There were at the same time some Commotions in Puglia after the death of Nicolas Acciolo who was Governour of that Province and a Stout Wise Man GREGORY XI GREGORY the Eleventh of Lymosin formerly call'd Peter Belford and Cardinal-Deacon of New S. Maries was made Pope at Avignion by a general consent Clement VI. his Uncle made him Cardinal when he was scarce seventeen years of age But that he might not seem to consult the good of his Kindred more than that of the Church he sent him to the best Masters he could find for breeding and especially to Baldus who at that time was a Professor at Perugia Under whom he made such progress in all sorts of Learning that Baldus often used his Authority to clear a Doubt And then he was a Man of such innocence good nature affability and piety that he was generally beloved At his entrance upon the Pontificate this was the state of things in Italy at Rome the Courts of Justice were held by Senators whom the Pope appointed for every six months but the Guard of the City and all the management of publick Affairs were in the hands of the Banderesii so named from their Banners a Teutonic word which they used in War by which every Decuria now called Capo di Regione or Head of a Ward was distinguish'd In Lombardy those Nobles who as I said before conspired against the Viconti surprised the City of Reggio by treachery which was before in their possession but the Castle holding out Bernabos entring the City that way at the first Onset overthrew the Enemy and driving away Lucius the German Commander repossess'd himself of the place Thus went matters in Italy when Perinus King of Cyprus who succeeded his Father Peter was the cause of great animosities between the Genoeses and the Venetians For when he was Crown'd at Famagosta and two Bailiffs as the Merchants call their Residents one from Genoa and the other from Venice were there attending they strove who should walk on the right hand the King which raised such a Tumult that the Genoeses were beaten and wounded basely the King favouring the Venetians The Genoeses hereupon got a Navy of 40 Ships together under the command of Peter Fregoso Brother to Dominick Fregoso and invaded Cyprus and landed fourteen thousand men to destroy all the Island with fire and sword for violating the Law of Nations The King being deserted on all sides submitted to their mercy and surrendering Famagosta promised the Genoeses to give them 40000. per annum to purchase his Peace The Popes Legate was now come into Italy and had setled the state of the Church he made a Peace with the Viconti when a new Tumult arose at Prato which was the original of great confusion For the Inhabitants of Prato endeavouring to vindicate themselves from the Dominion of the Florentines called the Church Forces into Tuscany by permission from the Legate But the Florentines so far corrupted them with money that they enter'd Prato by their assistance put the Conspirators to death and sent a great many Banners with Liberty written upon them by several Troops to several Towns exhorting the People as their Lords that they would remember the Liberty of the Church and cast off the yoke of Servitude The first that revolted from the Church were the Castellani then the Perugians those of Todi Spoleto Gubio Viterbo Forli and Ascoli follow'd their Example At that time too Astorgius Manfred under the Bavarian having tasted the sweetness of absolute Dominion had possess'd himself of Granariolo a Castle near Faenza against whom the Legate sent John Hawkwood with some Troops out of Bologna The Florentines and those of Bologna defended Astorgius and keeping out Hawkwood with all his men asserted their Liberty But Hawkwood seeing the Faenzeses ready to rebel he not onely plunder'd the City severely and kill'd all that his Soldiers met but he sold the very ground on which it stood to Nicolas and Albert d' Este two Brothers for 20000 l. reserving onely Bagnacavallo to himself where the Carriages of his Army lay The Pope hearing of such great Revolutions sent Cardinal Cevennes as his Legate with six thousand British Horse ito Italy who coming down through Piedmont march'd as far as the very Gates of Bologna without doing any hurt designing to besiege the City But when the Legate heard the Florentines were come to
though it was offer'd him And afterward when he was sent Embassadour from Felix to Frederick the Emperour he so far prevailed upon him by his ingenuity that he made him a Poet Laureat his Companion and a Prothonotary which in Germany is a Secretary of State Not long after he was made a Counsellour of State and shew'd such Learning and Authority that he was reckon'd the most ingenuous Man there by far although he wanted not Rivals and Detractors When Eugenius and the Emperour first treated about putting an end to the Schism and Aeneas went to the Pope upon that account he stay'd some time at Siena where his Friends desired him not to go to Eugenius for they feared the Pope would use him severely because his Authority was often opposed as people said by Aeneas in Epistles and Orations at the Council of Basil But he was resolute and trusting to his own innocence slighted the intreaties of his Relations and went to Rome where in the first place he acquitted himself before Eugenius in an elegant Oration for submitting to their Opinion who approv'd of the Council of Basil And when he had so done he began to treat with him about that which the Emperour sent him to negotiate Thereupon two Agents were sent from Eugenius into Germany of whom one was Sarzanus and the other John Carvagialla by whose good management and Aeneas's industry together the Neutrality as I told you in the Life of Nicolas was taken off But that it might appear really to be so and not in words onely the Emperour sent Aeneas himself to Rome to make a publick Declaration of Submission in all matters to Eugenius in the name of himself and all Germany Eugenius dying about this time Aeneas was President of the Conclave till another Pope was chosen in the room of the deceased there being no Orator in the City more fit for so great an Employment Nicolas being chosen Pope he had leave to depart and as he went into Germany he having been made Sub Deacon by Eugenius was made Bishop of Trieste that Bishop being just then dead by the Pope and the Emperour without his own knowledg After which Philip Viconti dying without an Heir the Emperour sent him Envoy to Millain where he made an Oration concerning the descent of the Inheritance of that City and exhorting to Allegiance which if they preserv'd inviolate they might enjoy their liberty still He was sent thither another time when they were besieged by Francis Sfortia and suffer'd great extremities in defence of their Liberty at which time he enter'd the City with great hazard alone for his Collegues left him at Como and durst not go on for fear But he departed thence without any success and whilst the Emperour sent him to Alphonso King of Aragon the Pope Nicolas made him Bishop of Siena the place of his Nativity And when the Emperour and Alphonso had contracted an Alliance by Marriage he return'd into Germany where he persuaded the Emperour to go as soon as possible into Italy and receive his Imperial Crown Upon that advice Frederick went thither but sent Aeneas before to meet and complement his Wife Leonora who was to come from Portugal into Tuscany Who when he came to Siena stay'd not long there but he began to be suspected by the people as if he design'd because the Emperour was coming to turn out the populace and make the Government an Aristocracy Aeneas therefore to free the people from that jealousie went to Talamone where he thought Leonora would arrive and yet the people were not satisfied For they banish'd the Nobility into the Country for a time and a little while after according to the mutable humour of the Mobile gave 'em leave to come back again when they understood the integrity of the Emperour and the modesty of Aeneas Hence he went to Pisa where he heard the Portugueses were landed and brought the Infanta who was committed to his sole care to the Emperour then at Siena Then going to Rome he managed all things whilst the Emperour was crown'd both private and publick Afterward the Emperour went to visit Alphonso and left Ladislaus a Princely Youth whom the Hungarians and Bohemians had often endeavour'd to steal away from him under the tutelage of Aeneas who kept him very faithfully When the Emperour came back to Rome and had given the Pope thanks he went for Ferrara and having made Borsius d' Este Duke of Modena he departed And no sooner was he come into Germany but he presently dispatch'd away Aeneas by the Pope's Order as Envoy extraordinary into Bohemia and all the Cities of Austria For there was a Controversie between them and the Emperour about King Ladislaus whom they would needs have him send into their Country But the Dispute was ended and a Peace made between 'em so that Aeneas was not long after sent to the Assembly at Ratisbone where he in the name of the Emperour and in the presence of Philip Duke of Burgundy and Lewis of Bavaria spoke of the Turks cruelty and calamities of Christendom with such vehemency and passion that he forced sighs and tears from every one there but especially he seemed so far to animate the Duke of Burgundy that a War was decreed immediately by general consent though it was after laid aside through the ambition and folly of those who thought too well of themselves And now Aeneas was grown old and tired with the tedious Journeys he had taken into forein parts wherefore he resolv'd to return to Siena his native Country but the Emperour easily chang'd his mind by telling him that he yet design'd to make War upon the Turks Thereupon he was sent to the Convention at Frankfort where all the German Princes were met together and in a grave long Oration persuaded them with many reasons to undertake that dangerous but necessary War And indeed he seemed to move 'em all exceedingly though it is natural for those to cool soon whose affections are quickly heated There was also a third Convention in Cittanova about the same thing wherein Aeneas employ'd all his endeavours to bring about what he desired exhorting every one of them both in publick and private to assist in that War upon which the safety of all Europe the Liberty of both Princes and people and the honour of Christianity did depend And just as he expected to do the business there was news brought that Pope Nicolas was dead which put all things into a new Confusion For the Convention broke up and the Germans desirous of Novelty endeavour'd to persuade the Emperour no longer to obey the Pope unless he would grant them some certain Demands for they said the Germans were in a worse condition than either the French or Italians whose Servants they might be termed unless things were alter'd especially to the Italians And truly the Emperour had hearken'd to those Mutineers if Aeneas with his gravity had not interposed and told the Emperour That
this Dignity Julius appeared extremely grave and modest in all his actions so that he acquired the good esteem and opinion of all persons obliging all those with whom he treated by his courteous and affable behaviour he afterwards obtained the Title of Bishop of Albano then of Sabino and great Penitentiary and lastly of Bishop of Ostia Velletri and Legate at Avignon In the time of Innocent the Eighth he had gained great power and interest in the Court of Rome but in the time of Alexander the Sixth he was forced to give way to other Favorites and the difficulties of those times and retire into France where he remained for the space of ten years At length as we have said having amassed great wealth he was almost by the common agreement of the whole Conclave promoted to the Papal Chair not without the astonishment and displeasure of many who being acquainted with his fierce and impetuous Spirit did admire as Guicciardin saith how a man known to be impatient of rest and tranquillity who had consumed his Youth in continual Travels offended many by necessity and exercised hatred and hostility could so speedily operate on so many dissenting Spirits and cause them to conspire in an unanimous agreement for his promotion But on the contrary it will not seem so strange if it be considered that he had been a long time Cardinal and by degrees gained such interest and authority in the Court of Rome that he was stiled the principal Defender of the Ecclesiastical Dignity and Authority that he was magnificent in his Buildings generous in his benefits and so punctual to his word that Pope Alexander who was otherwise his mortal enemy would yet do him that right as to confess him faithful and just to the performance of his promises but yet this good quality which he was so careful to preserve in his private condition he made no scruple or conscience to violate that he might become Pope for the obtaining of which he made such immoderate promises to Cardinals Princes and Barons that he well knew the whole Revenue and Price of the Papal Sea if set to sale had not been able to have satisfied and therefore 't is not difficult to imagin how the promises of a person not used to beguile should procure a confidence in the minds of the most scrupulous and wary persons Nor were the Cardinals only possessed with these expectations but Cesar Borgia himself conceived hopes upon his promises of being confirmed General of the Armies of the Church and of a Marriage between his Daughter and the Popes Nephew called Francis Maria de la Rovere the Prefect of Rome But he soon discovered the vanity of these hopes for Julius being Crowned the 26th of November and setled in the Papal Chair would afford him no other grace or favor than his liberty and freedom from imprisonment upon condition that he should deliver up into the Power of the Church the Fortresses of Cesena and Forli which were the retirements of his impious Guards Borgia who had deserved a thousand deaths being in this manner set at liberty from the Castle of S. Angelo embarked at Ostia in a Boat for Naples where so soon as he arrived he was seized by the great Captain Gonsalvo by order from the Catholick King and being thence transported into Spain he made his escape and fled to John King of Navarre where in a certain fray he was cut in pieces by the Cantabrians who are a people that border upon Asturias Julius being thus rid of this Pest of mankind by whom all Italy was embroiled and several dominions dismembred from the Church he endeavoured to recover all back again for being a true Defender of the Ecclesiastical Possessions and Rights he would compound for nothing but rather amplifie than retrench the Dominions of the Church The first enterprise therefore that he undertook was to drive out and expel John Bentivoglio his old inveterate enemy who had unjustly usurped a power over the City of Bologna forcing him with his Wife and Children to remain banished in Bassetto a Country belonging to the Dominions of Parma and contentedly to consent to the destruction of his Palace which was a fair and noble structure His next design was against the Venetians for recovery of Arimino and Ravenna with the Territories thereunto belonging by force of Arms from the Venetians and to that end entered into a League with Maximilian the Emperor the Kings of France of Spain with the Dukes of Ferrara and Mantoua all conspiring to the total ruin and subversion of the Venetian State the which League was agreed and signed at Cambray a City of Flanders Moreover the quarrel between the Pope and the Venetians was augmented by the dispute they had for the City of Faenza which the Pope laid claim unto as having always been a part of the Ecclesiastical State the which he resolved to wrest from their hands by the Spiritual as well as by Temporal Arms having thundered out his Excommunications both against the Senate and People On the contrary the Venetians pleaded that the City of Faenza was no part of the Possessions of the Church in regard that the Pope and Cardinals had in a full Consistory amply transferrred the Rights and Jurisdiction thereof to Cesar Borgia formerly Duke Valentino That before that Grant the Popes had never possessed Faenza but from time to time had given it to new Vicars without acknowledging other superiority than the Tribute which they offered to pay readily when it should be required These Arguments were seconded by the Venetians with an Army which appearing before Faenza and the Batteries began the City yielded it self into the hands of the Enemy they might with like facility have taken Imola and Furli but not to excite the indignation of the Pope too far they abstained from farther proceedings being masters already of Faenza and Rimini in Romagna with their Countries Montefiora S. Archangeo Verruca Gattere Savignano and Meldole with the Haven and Country of Cesena and in the Territory of Immola of Tossignana Solarvola and Montfattagla Notwithstanding this success and force of the Venetians the storm and power of so many potent Confederates raised against them was too furious and a match unequal for them to contend with The first beginning to so great a War was made the 15th of April when Monsieur de Chaumont with 3000 Horse passed the Ford of Adda and joyning afterwards with the other Confederates gave Battel to Alviano the General of the Venetian Forces the Fight was continued and maintained with great bravery and resolution on both sides but at length the Venetians being overwhelmed with the number of their Enemies and deprived of strength rather than courage without turning their backs to the Enemy they remained almost all dead upon the place After this Defeat which happened on the 14th of May 1509. at Guiaradadda the Emperor Maximilian took possession of Verona Vicenza Padoua and Trivigiano
they reversed and defac'd through the City the Arms of that Family they brake the Images of Leo and Clement which were rare pieces of Sculpture and famous through the world and in short they omitted nothing which might affect the Pope with indignity and dishonor and nourish division and discord in the City At Rome the Army was very disorderly and tumultuous governing themselves rather than obeying the command of their General the Prince of Aurange for they were wholly disposed to prey and violence to get Ransoms and receive the mony promised them by the Pope no care being had of the interest of the Emperor nor was there any resolution taken to remove the Army from Rome where the Pestilence raged and was entered into the Castle of S. Angelo to the great hazard of the Pope's life many being dead thereof who served about his person during which time as the Imperial Army yielded little obedience to their Captains so they made no great disturbances nor gave fears to their enemies for the Spaniards and Italians flying from the infection of the Plague lay dispersed about the Confines of Rome and the Prince of Aurange was gone to Siena to avoid the Plague and keep that City in Devotion and Obedience to the Emperor Wherefore all matters of action at that time were quiet and in repose until Monsieur De Lautrec who was Captain General of the League made between Henry the Eighth of England and Francis King of France for setting the Pope and all Italy at liberty appeared in Piedmont whose success was so fortunate that he took Genoua compelled Alexandria de la Paglia to surrender and having for four days battered Pavia he forced it to yield at discretion giving it up to the plunder and cruelty of his Soldiery and lastly ended that years Champaign with glory wintering his Army in the City of Bologna The Imperialists being a little mortified and abased with this success of Lautrec were desirous to make the best bargain they could with the Pope before he were forced from them and agreed upon the payment of 60000 Ducats to the Germans and 30000 to the Spaniards with engagement to pay the residue at a certain time to set the Pope and Cardinals at liberty and afford them safe conduct to Orvieto which was nominated and chosen by the Pope for the place of his security and retreat Upon this accord the Pope being guarded by the Imperialists with less caution than before gave him opportunity in the disguise and habit of a Merchant to make his escape which he rather determined to do and recover his freedom in that manner than to expect the formal conduct of the Imperial Guards suspecting that Don Hugo de Moncada who was Vice Roy of Naples in the place of Lanoia dead of the Plague and who had no good will towards him would play him some trick and baffle with him at the conclusion of all The Pope being now at liberty in Orvieto after seven months imprisonment was instantly congratulated by the Duke of Vrbin the Marquiss of Salutta and other Captains of the League to whom having returned thanks for their kind and obliging Offices he desired them to withdraw their Forces out of the Dominions of the Church assuring them that the Imperialists had promised to depart thence in case the Confederates would shew them the first example He wrote also Letters to Monsieur Lautrec giving him to understand that he with great sence acknowledged the influence which his appearance in Italy had contributed towards his liberty having much facilitated and eased the conditions on which he was to receive it and that the reason why he did not expect the glorious time in which he was to have been delivered by his powerful hand was because his necessities compelled him to procure his liberty with the greatest speed for he observed that the conditions imposed on him always changed from bad to worse that in the mean time the Church was oppressed his Authority contemned and he rendred uncapable of being that happy instrument of mediation which was now required to settle peace among Christian Princes Thus far were excellent words and such as became a Bishop under his mortifying circumstances but his words and answers in other things according to his natural temper were in substance different at one time to what they were at an other For when Gregory Castle the King of Englands Embassador came to him about the beginning of the year 1528. desiring him to continue firm to the Confederates he would some time give him hopes and then again excuse himself as being so unfortunate as to have neither Men Mony nor Authority remaining to him The Pope having now abandoned Rome and Monsieur Lautrec upon his march towards Naples the Imperialists on the 17. of February left the City in a naked and poor condition despoiled of all its Ornaments and Riches and applyed themselves to Counsels in what manner they might give a stop to the proceedings of Lautrec who departed from Bologna the 9th of January No sooner were the Imperialists departed than the Vrsins with their Tenants and Paisants entered to complete the spoil and desolation of that City of which not only the Houses were ruined and the Riches carried away but all the Statues Columns and curious pieces remained a prey to these Locusts Lautrec in his march towards Naples took not the nearest way but rather for the more commodious carriage of his Cannon and for the benefit of Forrage and other Provisions fetched a compass by the way of Puglia his Army consisted of 400 Lances 6000 Footmen old and Veterane Soldiers besides the Forces of the Marquiss of Salutta who marched in the Van and the Regiments of the Venetians and the Black Bands of Florence which were in much esteem and reputation with Monsieur Lautrec In short at the first appearance of Lautrec within this Kingdom Capua Nola Acerra Aversa and all places yielded to him but Naples endured a long Siege at which Monsieur Lautrec dying of a Fever and most of the Captains and Soldiers dead of the Plague caused by the Contagion of those that were privately sent out of the City to infect the Camp the enterprise upon that Kingdom had an end In the mean time whilst these things were in action Sassatello rendred to the Pope the Rock of Imola and Sigismond Malatesta upon some conditions resigned Rimini into his hands and the Pope having a great desire to re-instate his Friends and Relations and advance his own Interest and Power again in Florence he seemed inclining to the party of the Emperor in whose power only it was to settle the Affairs of his Family in their pristine state and therefore perceiving the Affairs of the French and the other Confederates to decline in Italy he forgot all the former injuries done to him by the Emperor and entered into a perfect friendship and fair correspondence with him And farther to advance himself in the good
the Pope delegated to consult thereof and tho the Marriage was the main point which moved the Pope to undertake this Journey yet it was in the last place and as it were accidentally and by the by treated of The first thing assumed was the proposal about a General Council but that was soon rejected and executed with the same reasons and replies as were given to the Emperor In the next place the King of Englands case was warmly insisted upon by the Commissioners of the French King as it had been formerly agreed between the two Kings at Bulloin but those instances produced little effect for the Ministers of the King of England being in a huff were always to the diminution of the Popes Authority appealing to a Council with which the Pope referred their Cause to be farther debated at his return to Rome and the French King being desirous in all things to satisfie and comply with the Pope he told him that it would not be displeasing to him in case he proceeded against that King according to the Rule of Justice and the ancient Canons of Ecclesiastical Censure by which fair and friendly compliance the Pope would not refuse at the instance of the French King to create four Cardinals tho much against his own inclinations fearing thereby to have rendered the French Faction too strong which already was more prevalent in the Court of Rome than the Pope desired In the last place tho the first in design the Marriage between the Duke of Orleans and the Pope's Niece was treated and concluded and the parties married by the Pope himself by which a strict and firm Alliance and friendship being created between the French King and the Pope it seemed as if all those professions of amity and good will which had lately interceded at Bologna between the Emperor and the Pope had vanished or signified little and now amongst other Articles it being capitulated that the Duke of Orleans should be invested in the Dukedom of Milan it was with no less wonder considered that the interest of Francis Sforza the true and right Heir to that Dutchy and for which both this and other Popes had so earnestly contended could so easily be made void and transferred over to a Forein Prince who could pretend no other right thereunto than the might and power of his own Arms. With entertainment of these Affairs a months time being spent at Marseille the Pope returned to Rome where so soon as he arrived he foretold his own death acquainting his Friends and Domesticks about his person that he had not long to live and therefore in order to his Burial he commanded the Ring to be provided and the Vestments in which Popes were usually interred howsoever before his death he thundered out his Bulls of Excommunication against Henry VIII King of England and all the people of his Realm with which the King being highly incensed immediately withdrew his Obedience from the Papal Sea and declared himself Head under Jesus Christ of the Church of England forbidding mony to be transported out of England to Rome and commanded the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury to renounce his Title of Legate from the Pope the which was the beginning of that blessed Reformation which hath purged the Church of England from Errors rendred it pure in its Doctrin introduced the true and glorious light of the Gospel which will with Gods assistance for ever remain sure and immovable in despight of all the contrivances either of the Fanatical irreligious malice or the power or policies of the Roman Church And moreover it was the beginning of that liberty which we now enjoy and the enrichment of this flourishing Nation which now keeps its Treasures and Acquisitions to its self which in former days were emptied into the Coffers of the Pope to make Foreiners opulent and its people poor But to return to Pope Clement being taken with a pain in his stomach a Fever ensued upon it of which according to his own prediction he departed this life the 25th day of September 1534. leaving behind him in the Castle of S. Angelo many Jewels in the Pontifical Chamber infinite Offices but a very small sum of mony he had at divers Ordinations created three and thirty Cardinals all which except Cardinal De Medicis were made to please others rather than himself He had been exalted to the Popedom with wonderful felicity and with the general applauses and grand expectations of the world but in a short time he fell strangely in their opinion for being of a temper naturally irresolute and diffident suffered himself to be divided by his two familiar friends men differing in their humors affections and interests which laid him low in the esteem of mankind and hated and detested by the Romans and yet he was sober abstemious and a greater conqueror of himself but accounted covetous of no fidelity or faithfulness to his word nor readily inclined to do any man a good office unless forced thereunto by some constraining necessity and yet he was grave and well advised in his actions if timorousness had not oftentimes corrupted his judgment He proved such diversity of fortunes that it is hard to determin whether his bad or his good fortune was greatest for what evil can be compared to the sacking of Rome which he beheld with his own eyes his own and the long imprisonment of the Cardinals the desolation of his own Country of which he was an instrument for the promotion only of the Family of the Medices He died in the 67th year of his age having held the Papal Chair ten years ten months and seven days His Corps were first interred in the Church of S. Peter but afterwards transported to the Minerva by his own Relations and laid by the Body of Pope Leo the tenth over which they erected a stately Monument of Marble PAVL III. THE Funeral Rites of Clement VII being performed with due solemnity the Cardinals entered the Conclave the 12th of October 1534. and the same day towards night agreed unanimously in their Election and published Alexander Farnese Dean of the College of Cardinals to be with general consent chosen Pope The motives which the Cardinals might have to hasten with such facility and unanimous assent this election might be various for his family was great and ancient He had been forty years a Cardinal and thereby acquired a competent knowledg of the Affairs of the world and of the practices of the Court of Rome and being 68 years of age and of a weak and tender constitution of body the more robust and ambitious Cardinals expected that his Reign could not be long before he made way for one of them And in regard that in all the actions and negotiations of his life he had ever shewed an indifferency not inclining either to the Imperial or French Faction the parties of neither side did make it their business or concernment to oppose him for tho the Family of Farnese were Guelfs and
Enemy they all divided themselves into three Squadrons under their respective Commanders sailing away in manner of a flight to the great ignominy and shame of the Christian Arms which inglorious action did greatly displease the Pope and more especially the Venetians who instead of some great benefit which they expected in return for all their expence and hazard lost Castlenuovo which was soon afterwards taken by the Enemy Howsoever this publick Disgrace was in some manner repaired by the favour and good will of the Emperor towards the Pope whh bestowed on his Son Pier-luigi the City of Novara and gave Margaret of Austria the Widow of Alexander de Medicis in marriage to his Nephew Ottavio with a Portion of 250 thousand Ducats It happened about this time that Francis Naria da Meltro Duke of Camerin died the Pope immediately resolved to make seizure of Camerino pretending that that place was devolved to the Church ever since the death of John Maria Varano whom Leo X. had made Duke of that place for that he leaving no Heirs Male Feltro had by Usurpation taken possession of that place in right only of Julia the Daughter of John Maria Varano whom his Son Guido Vbaldo had taken to Wife and held the same in despight of Clement the late Pope And now whereas the present Duke was a youth of tender age and no experience the Pope made use of this opportunity to lay his claim which he had concealed during the life of the old Duke and to make it good raised an Army and marched against Camerino with which this young Duke being terrified surrendred the place without other difficulty to the Pope who having satisfied all pretenders to any Arrears by disbursement of great sums of mony he invested his Nephew Ottavio Farnese in the place creating him Duke of Camerino chief Prefect of Rome and Censuary of the Church By this and other expences the Chamber was greatly exhausted of its Treasure to recruit which the Pope laid new Gabels and Impositions on all Commodities in his Dominions and especially upon Salt the which so discontented the People of Perugia that from a mutiny they took Arms and appeared in open Rebellion but being soon queâ—led by the Popes Forces all their Immunities and Privileges were seized whereby they were forced to send their Messengers to Rome with all humility and submission to beg Pardon from the Pope promising all Loyalty and Obedience for the future Ascanius Colonna making also some disturbance on the like occasion was for his contumacy deprived of his Estate in Campagna Paliano was dismantled and his Fortress of Rocca entirely demolished Things being thus reduced and settled in the Temporal State he converted his thoughts to the quiet and security of the Church and considering that disturbances in the world proceeded commonly from want of good Instruction and corruption of manners he commanded the Bishops to their respective Diocesses enjoyning them to reside there and teach their Flocks with good Lectures by their own exemplary lives In the year 1540. he augmented and enlarged the Immunities and Privileges of the Chamber and the Authority of the Referendaries He gave liberty to Clergy men to dispose of their Estates by Testament without leave or interruption of the Apostolical Chamber He gave liberty also to Jews which were converted to Christianity to dispose of their Estates according to their own will and pleasure and reformed many abuses in the administration of Civil and Criminal Causes and towards the end of this year constituted Cardinal Farnese his Nephew Legate at Avignon in the place of the Cardinal D'Auch deceased The Pope as we have declared before shewing himself unresolved in the matter of a Council being very wavering as to the time and place tho he seemed always ready to agree thereunto and from the first time that he was created Pope evidenced an earnest desire above all things to comply with the Christian Princes in that particular at length the Emperor and Princes of Germany finding their Country tossed and embroiled with various disputes of Religion resolved to call a Diet at Regensburg supposing that a National Assembly might settle and determin Controversies in want and for defect of a General Council and in pursuance thereof a Diet was opened at Regensburg about the beginning of March 1541. At this Diet the Emperor himself was present with great hopes that all Controversies about Religion would be here determined and Germany united in the same opinion Hereunto the Pope sent Cardinal Gaspar Contarini to be his Legat a person of excellent prudence and learning accompanied with several others well instructed in the Interest of the Court of Rome and with publick Notaries skilful in drawing up Authentick Acts and Forms of Law to whom above all things it was committed in charge not to receive any Papers or Memorials which might tend to the least abatement or diminution of the Papal Authority but in such case to break up abruptly referring those matters to the determination of a General Council In short after long Conferences and Debates the Diet broke up on the 28th of July the Emperor referring all that had been done or transacted there to a General Council or to a National Synod of Germany or to a Diet of the Empire promising to go himself into Italy to treat with the Pope on that matter and in case the Pope should appear refractory thereunto that then notwithstanding he would within the space of eighteen months by virtue of his own Authority issue forth his Writs for calling a Diet of the Empire for setling the Affairs of Religion and prevail with the Pope to send his Legat to it And in the mean time he commanded the Protestants not to receive any other new Doctrins than such as had already been debated and enjoyned the Bishops to reform the abuses of their Churches He forbad also the dissolution of Monasteries or any seizure to be made on the Estate of the Church and any person or persons whatsoever to change or alter his or their Religion And for the better satisfaction and contentment of the Protestants that in those points which were still under Controversie he left every man free and at liberty in his own judgment and farther that such Monasteries as were not yet demolished should still remain but howsoever should be reduced to a Godly and Christian way of practice That the Goods of the Church should not be seized but left for maintainance of the Ministers without any distinction or difference relating to their Sect in Religion He also prorogued the Assembly at Ausburg until such time as the points there in Controversie could come to the decision of a General Council or a Diet of the Empire After this the Emperor passed into Italy and at Luca met the Pope where in a long discourse he treated at large concerning a Council and the management of a War against the Turks the result of which was this That
Clement VII how he had sacked Rome and imprisoned the Pope and at the same time in a most hypocritical manner illuding God Almighty had made Processions at Madrid for the Pope's deliverance when he himself was the sole Author of his confinement farther purging himself of being any impediment or hinderance to the proceedings of a Council or giving an interruption to the quiet and settlement of Religion Hereupon the Pope that he might shew himself the common Father of Christian Princes on which title he laid the great stress of his Authority desired to interpose himself as Mediator of their differences and to that end dispatched Cardinal Contarini to the Emperor and Cardinal Sadoler to the French King but Contarini dying in his journey Cardinal Viseo was constituted in his place who being a person not very acceptable to the Emperor was not a proper instrument to effect the Pacification intended Howsoever tho the War proceeded and that acts of Hostility were committed in divers places yet the Pope prosecuted the design of a Council judging it his honor to be now positive as to the time and place and accordingly towards the beginning of November he sent three Cardinals viz. Peter Paul Parisio John Morone and Reginal le Poole an Englishman to be his Legates for preparing matters in order to the Council which was appointed to be holden at Trent besides whom many other Bishops were sent who were all men of excellent Learning and subtil Disputants but the Protestants refusing to meet at that place by virtue of the Pope's Authority these learned Doctors became all of one side and finding none to make opposition against them they might with much facility have confirmed and established what Fundamentals and conclusions they had pleased But as yet things were not prepared for any publick Act nor had the Legates Instructions as yet to conclude any thing but only entertain the Prelates and Embassadors which were sent thither The appearance at first was very thin and few Princes had sent their Ministers to Trent howsoever the Emperor tho he entertained little hopes of a good issue of these proceedings yet he resolved for prevention of Plots or Designs against him to send Don Diego de Mendoza and Cardinal Granvel to be his Embassadors at that place who being arrived pressed the Pope's Legates to proceed to the business that their time might not be there consumed to no purpose which the Legates endeavouring to evade and still to put delays and impediments in the way it was so displeasing to the Emperor's Ministers that they protested against those delatory excuses to which the Legates giving no answer Granvel was recalled and sent to reside at the Diet at Noremberg which was opened about the beginning of the year 1543. so that nothing moved forward in this Council by reason of the many obstructions and especially of the fierce War which now grew very hot between the Emperor and the French King and of the Plague which was begun at so that after some few Sessions to little purpose the Council was by order of the Pope adjourned to Bologna The Pope having advice that the Emperor who had now entered into a League with Henry VIII King of England against France intended to pass into Flanders by way of Italy he resolved to meet and speak with him pretending that his Errand was no other than like a Father and Spiritual Pastor to persuade and exhort him to Peace and Unity and to impart some things to him relating to the Council of Trent tho in reallity he had a more secret and peculiar design under the covert of these publick interests which was to procure the Dukedom of Milan for one of his Nephews and for an inducement thereunto intended to make offer of a good sum of mony which he supposed might be very prevalent with the Emperor at a time when his Wars in Flanders were pressing and expensive And therefore departing from Rome on the 26th of February and not regarding the coldness of the season which was inconvenient to one of his age he travelled through the Dominions of the Church and taking Modena Reggio Parma Ferrara Ancona Perugia and Viterbo in his way he at length came to Bologna where he remained until the middle of Summer when Charles V. arrived at Genoua where he was received into the Palace of Prince D'Oria prepared for him in all Royal and sumptuous manner he was there complemented by several Princes of Italy and particularly by Pier luigi Farnese whom the Pope had expresly sent to the Emperor intreating him to assign a time and place where the Pope might have discourse with him in order to some matters of great concernment The Emperor who was pressed to make all the speed possible into Flanders and had resentment of things which he took unkindly from the Pope made several excuses pretending that his Affairs would not permit him the leisure for such a meeting and that in case the Pope's business were exhortations to Peace and Reconciliation with France the matter was too far gone for him to afford any ear thereunto until he had first received some revenge and compensation for the injuries which had been offered him Pierluigi not succeeding in this request the Cardinal Farnese was immediately dispatched in post to Genoua to urge the Emperor with more pressing instances and being a person very eloquent and importunate he prevailed with the Emperor to meet and discourse with the Pope at Busetto a place between Vicenza and Cremona provided that this interview should not retard him in his journey for above the space of three days Accordingly the Pope came to Busetto on the 20th of June and the next day also the Emperor arrived when falling immediately upon business the Emperor would by no means hearken to the proposition which was made him for investing his Nephew Ottavio in the State of Milan and tho a sum of mony was offered for it which the present necessities did greatly require yet being supplied with two hundred thousand Crowns by agreement with Cormo de Medicis whereby he released to him all the Fortresses of the State of Florence he would upon no terms give ear to the proposition concerning Milan which when the Pope perceived and that his arguments and importunities for it were all insignificant he turned his discourse to matters of more publick concernment desiring him to consider the present state of the Church which was torn in pieces by diversity of Sects in Religion which took their advantage of those confusions which the Wars between him and France had caused and farther he represented to him the great danger in which his Brother Ferdinand was engaged by the formidable forces of the Turk which threatned Hungary in consideration of all which he begged of him to put an end to his Wars against Christians that he might repress and give a stop to the violent incursions of the common enemy all which discourse had no other effect than
Affairs With which this Diet was dissolved on the 4th of August and an other published to be held in the month of January following at Regensburg In this manner time passed without any issue or determination of Disputes the Protestants refused to own or acknowledg the Council of Trent to be lawfully Convened and the Pope could not suffer the Points of Religion to be debated in the Diets of Germany which were assembled by the Secular Authority So that the Pope published a Jubily to be held at Rome on the 15th of July 1546. in the Bull for which after he had amply set forth the great care and pains he had used for the suppression of Heresie which could not be compassed by any other human means than by a General Council yet such was the obstinacy of Hereticks that they contemned and slighted its Sentence and denied Obedience to its Authority And therefore as the last remedy and ultimate prevention of these growing evils he declared that he was forced to make a League with the Emperor that he might by force of Arms reduce those to the Church who were by no other more gentle means capable to be reclaimed from their Heresies and Rebellion for the success of which he exhorted all good Catholicks to have recourse unto God by Prayers Fastings Confessions and Communion The Emperor on the other side on the 20th of the same month published a Remonstrance against the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hess in which omitting to mention any particulars about Religion he charged them with disobedience to his commands and opposition to his designs that they had made Alliances and entered into Confederation with other Princes of the Empire against him that they had seized Bishopricks and Ecclesiastical Benefices into their own hands under the specious pretences of Religion Peace and Liberty And therefore that as seditious Rebels Traitors and Disturbers of the publick Peace he resolved to proceed against them absolving the Nobility from their Oath of Allegiance to them and requiring the people to withdraw themselves from their Obedience not to joyn with them nor afford them any aid succor or assistance Tho the Pope and the Emperor were joyned in the same League and intended the same thing yet the motives for this War mentioned in their Remonstrances were displeasing to each other as not corresponding to their mutual interests for the Emperor was unwilling to have this War stiled a War of Religion lest that denomination should engage a stronger and a more numerous party than he was able to Master the Pope howsoever was desirous to have it so named and believed that the Emperor having to contend with a numerous and formidable Enemy his Power might be attempered and his Greatness reduced to some tolerable equality in the Ballance of Christendom Notwithstanding these different considerations the Pope united his Army with that of the Emperors who now casting off all thoughts concerning the transaction of Affairs at Trent attended wholly to the War in prosecution of which on the 24th of April 1547. both Armies were drawn up and stood ranged one against the other near the River Albiâ— the Protestant Army consisted of eighty thousand Foot and fifteen thousand Horse that of the Emperors was much inferior in number not amounting with the three Italian Regiments and six hundred Horse sent by the Pope to more than three and forty thousand men Howsoever the Emperor gained the Victory the Elector of Saxony being wounded and taken Prisoner and his whole Army defeated and in a few days after the Landgrave of Hesse by mediation of Maurice his Son-in law and the Duke of Brandenbourg with all submission came in and presented himself before the Emperor The Duke of Saxony was in the first place tryed and condemned to dye but afterwards procuring a remission of the Sentence he yielded to some other very severe terms and conditions with exemption notwithstanding from being obliged to the Acts and determinations of the Council of Trent in points of Religion with which the Emperor was willing to dispense provided he would subscribe and oblige himself to other Articles The Landgrave tho he was hardly pressed to that point also yet would not subscribe but only in general terms that he would refer himself to the Decrees and Determinations of a Council that was free and holy and purged from the leven of a corrupt Head and Members as did also Duke Maurice of Saxony and the Elector of Brandenbourg Howsoever the Duke of Saxony was condemned to perpetual imprisonment and the Landgrave during the pleasure of the Emperor By which great Victory the Emperor becoming absolute Master of all Germany and having gained much Cannon and Artillery and exhausted great sums of mony from the Towns and Countries which were in subjection to those Princes whom ho had conquered he was arrived to that pitch of heighth and greatness which the Pope could not gladly allow and in this condition for security of the peace and quiet and for the better regulation of the Affairs of Germany the Emperor assigned a Diet to be held at Ausbourg Upon the first news of this Victory the Pope to outward appearance seemed to be transported to an extremity of joy and thereupon immediately dispatched away the Cardinal Francis Sfondrato with Congratulatory Letters for the success of this Victory stiling the Emperor Invictissimus Maximus Imperator Howsoever his secret thoughts did not correspond with these external Demonstrations for ever since the denial which the Emperor had made of investing his Nephew in the Dutchy of Milan he had conceived a grudg against him which he dissembled until this time when his displeasure being exalted with a jealousie that the Emperor by this success would aspire to the absolute Dominion of Italy and observing with what little regard the Prelates of the Empire had comported themselves during the Council of Trent towards the Papal Authority and reflecting farther that he could never obtain from the Emperor the confirmation of his Son Pier-luigi in the States of Parma and Piacenza which he had conferred upon him he could not longer suppress these resentments but vented with all the spight imaginable many reproaches against Charles saying that out of malice to him he had joyned himself to Henry VIII King of England who was condemned of Heresie and Excommunicated from the Church In which passion he prorogued the Council which in compliance with the Emperor he had called at Trent to be now transferred and held at Bologna for which he seemed to have received some just motives from the Behaviour of certain Prelates who having banded themselves into Factions seemed to intend something in diminution of the Popes Dignity and Prerogative to prevent which all those Prelates which sided with the Pope pretending that the Air of Trent was too sharp for them removed to Bologna from which place the Emperor was not able to dissuade the Pope with all the excuses and
of the Catholick Religion had by the Authority of the Inquisition established condemned some to the Gallies and others to the Fire yet finding that these severities operated little upon minds already prepossessed with an Opinion of Religion and Conscience he was desirous to make trial of the more gentle and soft means of Instructions lest his People becoming desperate under their hardship and torments should be persuaded to believe it lawful to take up Arms in defence of their Persons and their Religion The Pope ill relished this Proposal declaring that he would never consent to have his Authority put to compromise or his Power compounded for that he was well acquainted with what obstinacy the Hereticks maintained their Doctrines which were never to be confuted but by the Sword the which he esteemed to be the most effectual way of Instruction and having persuaded the Duke to that remedy a War was begun in the Valleys which continued for a long time Nor were the disturbances in France less grievous than in Savoy where many were put to death for no other cause than for their zeal to the true reformed Religion and the salvation of their own Souls though it is true that many who were ambitious and desirous of Novelty did under this guise and cloak of Religion and with pretence of rescuing the King and the Dignity of the Sovereign Magistrate from the usurpations and tyranny of the Duke of Guise and his Party take up Arms and enter into Rebellion against their King but being afterwards beaten and many killed others were afterwards tried and for their Offences justly condemned to die and to all others who being misguided by Religion should lay down their Arms in the space of twenty four hours Proclamation was made that they should be received to mercy by a full and plenary Pardon from his Majesty But now the humours of the People being moved and hopes conceived of obtaining liberty of Conscience great tumults were raised in Provence Languedoc Poitou and other places so that how to suppress these tumults and quiet the minds of the people which were feavered with the heats of Religion was the great matter debated in the Councils of France and whereas it was objected by the Cardinal Armagnac that no Ecclesiastical remedy could be applyed without the assent and concurrence of the Pope this scruple was soon exploded by the contrary Opinion of the most of the Council who alledged that God had given to every Nation a full Power and Authority within it self to provide remedies necessary and agreeable to the present government of their State without having recourse to forein and far distant Powers for as it were unreasonable in case of fire and terrible incendiations within the City of Paris to expect till waters were brought from the Tybur to extinguish the flames and in the mean time neglect the use of the more near and convenient streams of the Seine and Mearne so also would it be in this great conflagration of civil-War to neglect remedies at home until we can fetch them from remote and distant Countries In short therefore it was agreed that a National Council should be assembled composed of all the Prelats of the Kingdom whose business it should be to consult and find out means to give a stop to the growing evils and to the course of those infections which were ready to poison and overwhelm the whole Kingdom Howsoever lest this Edict for summoning a National Council should be ill taken by the Pope and interpreted for a point of disrespect to the Apostolical Sea without his consent thereunto or at least an intimation given thereof it was ordered that the Ambassadour residing at Rome should by word of mouth represent the many dangers and growing evils within the Kingdom of France which could be cured by no other remedy than a National Assembly and that the dangers thereof were so pressing as not to admit the slow Methods of forein Assistance These matters being exactly in this manner represented to the Pope were very ill resented by him judging that such an Assembly of Prelats could not be convened without a breach of the Ecclesiastical Canons nor without prejudice to the Papal Authority which to make more clearly appear he resolved to dispatch the Bishop of Viterbo into France to make known unto his Majesty That such an Assembly was never admitted by former Popes in any Country or Kingdom whatsoever they being well assured that such a meeting would serve to no other end than to administer unto greater division and confusion and produce a Schism in the Church Catholick and That it would serve farther to exalt the pride of the Prelats inspiring them with an Opinion of some superiour Authority inherent in them above that of the Pope or of the King but if he would apply a true and an effectual remedy none could be so successful as a General Council which he had resolved shortly to assemble and that in the mean time nothing could be so available as that the Bishops be commanded to repair to their respective Dioceses and the Curats to their Parishes and there to watch over their Flocks and hinder Thieves and Wolves from breaking within the Fold and finally desired that their Spiritual Authority might be reinforced by the Power of the Civil Magistrate and the Arms of Regal force The Bishop of Viterbo being with these Instructions dispeeded into France he was farther commanded in his Journey thither to negotiate matters in the same form at the Court of Savoy and to incite the Duke to make War upon Geneva which they called the Nest of Heresie and the root from whence sprang all the false Doctrines of the new Religion the Bishop accordingly did not fail on his part to represent all matters to the Duke agreeable to his Instructions and found in him a ready disposition to embrace all the Proposals made him by the Pope especially the Enterprise against Geneva provided that with the consent both of Spain and France he might possess and enjoy that City This Demand was easily admitted on the side of Spain but they well knew that it would never be granted by France which had long aspired to that Dominion to which the Spaniards would accord being more willing to see that place the Capital Throne of the new Religion than a Seat of the French Power for that being near to the Dukedom of Burgundy might prove an ill Neighbour to that part of the Spanish Dominions Howsoever that the King of Spain might follow the Pope's inclinations in concurrence with the French as far as prudence and caution directed he dispatched Don Antonio de Toledo his Ambassadour into France to offer unto that King his utmost assistance and to joyn his Arms unto his for the total ruin and extirpation of Heresie But the Court of France would yield no ear to either of these Propositions they would gladly indeed have had the possession of Geneva but the Enterprise seemed difficult
whilest the Civil Wars continued and whilest Geneva remained in League with the Swisses who had promised to afford their utmost succour and aid unto that place and as to the National Synod they persisted in their resolution promising the Pope that nothing should be attempted therein derogatory to his Power and the Authority of the Church But this assurance did little satisfy the jealousie of the Pope who suspected the very Prelats to be tainted with Heresie and to have an inclination to set up a Gallican Church as they called it separate and independant of the Roman Sea The fear and jealousie hereof constrained the Pope positively to resolve on a General Council and to hasten the convocation thereof with all speed possible supposing that the convention of a General Council would break the former Measures and invalidate the Authority of all National Synods This being agreed the next thing proposed was the place which the Pope would have had to be his own Town of Bologna but that he knew it would be generally disliked by the Prelats nor would the Spaniards consent to have it held at Milan for though they were zealous Catholicks yet in matters of worldly interest they distrusted the Pope as much as other Princes In fine Trent was agreed to be the most commodious and least subject to exceptions of any howsoever the French were of another Opinion as was also the Emperour who proposed Wormes Triers Constance or Hagunaw as more convenient for that the Protestants did so abhor the name of Trent that they would take a prejudice to any thing formed there nor would they endure to have the Council stiled a Continuation of a former but one new and established on its own foundation nor was this the only scruple of the Emperor for he declared that he could not answer for the Empire unless it were first prepared and disposed by a General Diet nor would the Clergy of his hereditary Countries be induced to be present at the Council unless the Cup in the Sacrament were first granted to the Laiety and License for the Priests to marry but all these matters being diametrically opposite to the Papal interest the Pope declared his resolution was rather to give his life than his assent thereunto In the mean time the numbers of those of the Reformed Religion encreased greatly in France so that it was resolved in case a General Council were not speedily assembled that a National Synod should meet at Meaux on the 13th of January 1561. for the tumults and combustions about Religion were so pressing that they required a speedy and an effectual cure the fear of which so touched the Pope as did also the Declaration of the Emperor that taking no notice of the exceptions of either he resolved to surmount the difficulties and therewith signed the Bull for calling a Council to commence on Easter day 1561. giving this Title thereunto Indictio Concilii Tridentini as if it had been to be a New and not the continuation of a former Council howsoever in the body of the Bull the word Continuation being mentioned it gave great scandal and offence to all though the Pope's Legats endeavoured to smooth it over by saying that the Continuation could be no impediment to any revision of what had formerly passed nor hinder the Council from repealing any Act which had been Decreed and ordained in the times of Paul and Julius III. And now Francis II. King of France being dead and his Brother Charles IX a Youth of ten years of age succeeding gave great expectations of a happy change to the Protestants for that the King of Navarre having declared himself of the Reformed Religion to whom of right as first Prince of the Blood the Government belonged during the minority of the King and that he was ruled much by the Counsels of the Admiral de Coligny who was the grand Protector of the Reformed gave them hopes that the severity of proceedings against them would be abated and liberty of Conscience granted to the whole Kingdom the which though it did not take effect fully to their desires yet at an Assembly of the Estates at Orleance it was ordained That an Arrest of judgment should be given and all penal Processes stopped which were made against any for account of Religion and at the same time Orders were given to the Prelats to prepare themselves for their Journey to Trent At this time the Protestant Princes were assembled at Naumbourg with intention to guard themselves from the Plots which would be contrived against them in the Council of Trent and to take off the reproach of Divisions and disagreement in the points of Faith amongst themselves But such was the variety then of Opinions that it was difficult to concur in one Symbol of Faith for the Confession of Augsburg had lately been printed in several Editions and every one with some difference from an other And as to a General Council they petitioned the Emperour that such an one might be convened as was free and where the Pope might not preside and overawe the Votes of the Protestants the which request they made rather in excuse for their not going to Trent than out of any prospect of a concession to their grant In the mean time the Pope having sent two Nuntios to the Emperor he advised them to go to Naumbourg accompanied with two of his Ambassadours and receive the sense of the Assembly which was there convened The Protestants received the Ambassadours with great respect and heard the Nuntios with equal civilities but still continuing firm to their Principles declared that they could not acknowledg the Pope's jurisdiction and therefore could not esteem themselves obliged to make known unto the Pope the Opinion they had of a Council having already signified their thoughts thereof unto the Emperor with the like coldness they were received at Norimberg Frankfort Ausbourg and other Protestant Towns Elizabeth Queen of England at the same time refused to admit the Abbot Martininguez sent by the Pope within her Dominions And the King of Denmark in like manner denied entrance to the Nuncios within his State saying That neither his Father nor he having ever had to do with the Pope he knew no business his Nuntios could have with him Thus did these Nuntios meet Oppositions in all parts nor did they find any encouraging compliance in the Emperor himself who insisted on the Indiction of a new Council which was not founded on the Continuation or basis of a former France likewise made many exceptions to the Bull of Indiction being for a New and not for a Continuation of the Old Council Nor was this all many other things concurring in that Kingdom to the diminution of the Pope's Authority for not onely were the penal Laws against the Protestants taken away but also at a Convention of the Estates at Orleance the Pope's Annates or yearly Revenue was taken off and all Moneys forbidden to be carried to Rome the
the Laiety in both kinds the Imperial and French Ambassadours contended for it as did also the Minister of the Duke of Bavaria and on that subject joyned together in a Memorial in which they represented and produced the Writings of the Popes Paul and Julius wherein they had acknowledged the necessity of yielding the Cup to such of the Laiety as should demand it it being the only means whereby to conserve the Kingdom of Bohemia in obedience to the Sea of Rome That already in the Kingdom of Hungary the People did force the Priests to administer the Sacrament to them in both kinds threatning for want thereof to seize their Estates and take away their lives After many Debates on divers Subjects at several Congregations at length the day of Session came being the 16th of July at which the Decrees were read and four Canons confirmed with Anathemas thereunto annexed First That the faithful Laiety are not obliged by any Command to communicate in both kinds Secondly That the Church upon very good grounds and reasons had taken away the Cup from the Laiety Thirdly That whosoever receives the Bread onely receives Jesus Christ as fully and intirely to all ends and purposes of spiritual Grace and Salvation Fourthly That the Communion is not necessary for Infants All which was impertinent to the question demanded namely whether such as were not satisfied herewith might not receive the Sacrament in both kinds if desired by them wherefore to please the Germans who made great noise about this Point the determination thereof was referred to the following Session likewise many other matters were enacted and decreed for Reformation of abuses committed by the Questors who were a sort of Rascals and Caterpillers who under the pretence of recommendatory Letters to all Good People exhorting them to contribute their Alms to pious Works such as the building of Hospitals for the sick and for maintenance of Orphans framed a thousand damnable Artifices to extort Money from the People in which for the more formality they disguised themselves in strange Habits and by sound of Bell carried before them assembled the People and offered their Indulgences to sale terrifying those who refused to buy them with a thousand Curses and Maledictions the which Money by agreement with Officers at Rome was appropriated to their own use and a part to the benefit of those who had procured the Authority for raising these Collections So that this abuse was condemned and wholly abolished Likewise other Decrees passed for regulation of Dioceses Parishes and Non-Residencies And in the mean time Posts ran continually from Trent to Rome and back again with Treaties and Negotiations between the Ambassadours of several Princes and the Legats besides a thousand other Intrigues formed by the Prelats who were encreased to a number four times greater than in the time of the two preceding Councils under Julius and Paul III. All which in the conclusion produced so little that we may well apply that saying Parturiunt montes nascetur ridiculus mus The French Ambassadours attended all this time in the Council without any reasonable satisfaction for they observed that the most material Points of Religion were debated and determined in the absence of their Bishops all being carried by the Vogue and suffrages of Spaniards Portugueses and Italians Wherefore they earnestly wrote to the King to hasten his Bishops who might maintain and support the Points they had to propose for a Reformation for want of whom and that nothing could be proposed in the Council but by the Legats that clause availing in the Method agreed Proponentibus Legatis the Court of Rome became absolute Moderator in all Disputes carrying every thing at pleasure by the great numbers of their Pensionary Bishops and in short that there was very little hopes of any good result from the determination of this Council After this Session matters were preparing at several Congregations against the next which was appointed to be held on the 17th of September for confirmation of the Sacrifice of the Mass in discussing of which Point an unlucky question was started Whether Jesus Christ did then offer and sacrifice himself when he first instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist for if he did not at that time sacrifice himself then the Mass which is founded on this Institution Do this in remembrance of me is no Sacrifice and if he did sacrifice himself it must have been propitiatory and then the Sacrifice on the Cross had been unprofitable and unnecessary for it is said He Offered himself but once and then the sins of mankind had been expiated by the Sacrifice of the Eucharist the which created so much doubt and Dispute that some were of Opinion that it were best to leave the ceremonies of the Roman Mass free and undetermined by any particular Decree or Canon of the Church the which Opinion though displeasing to the generality of the Council was yet seconded by the Bishop of quinque Ecclesiae the Emperor's Ambassador who moved that Germany might not be obliged to any uniformity of Ceremonies and particularly might have the Cup granted to their Laiety in the Sacrament and not be obliged to have their Service in the Latin Tongue The which he represented in the name of his Master to be so agreeable and necessary to the present State of that Country that without such a Dispensation it was impossible to contain his people under any obedience to the Church or oblige them to make resistance against the Turk whose violences they less feared than the impositions and tyrannies of the Papal Sea This matter being argued with great heat on both sides and without any determination it was moved that this Proposal of the Germans should be remitted to the Pope but this also was opposed by the Bishop of Lavaur who argued that it was very improper to remit that to the Pope which he had referred to the judgment of that Assembly and that it might reasonably be questioned whether that reference were made to him under the notion of being Superiour or Inferiour to the Council and then in that case that question was first to be determined Howsoever at length it was carried in the Affirmative and the question referred to the judgment of the Pope to consider and determine under what restrictions and circumstances the Cup might be granted to the Laiety In this manner with a thousand Disputes and difficulties an other Session was held on the 17th of September At which after the usual Ceremonies were performed they immediately fell upon the particulars treated in the preceding Congregation containing nine several Articles all which were confirmed and strengthned with Anathemas the contents of which were to establish the Doctrine of the necessity of a perpetual Sacrifice to verifie the Sacrifice of the Mass and that the same was truly and really propitiatory The Ceremonies also of this Sacrifice and the purity of the Canon of the Mass and the celebration of it in the Latin
Tongue were all confirmed as likewise that the Mass might be performed without other Communicants than the Priest onely that it might be celebrated in honour of the Saints and that the Wine ought to be used with a mixture of Water To which particulars the Fathers gave their Placet 22 or 23 only excepted amongst which the chief was the Arch-Bishop of Granada who could by no means be persuaded to relish the Doctrine that Jesus Christ did offer himself in the first institution of the Holy Eucharist Moreover other Decrees were read and passed relating to the regulation of Bishopricks giving the Bishops full power to inspect the nature of Dispensations whether they were fairly or subreptitiously procured as also Authority to visit Hospitals and Colledges and survey the Buildings of religious Foundations with this clause and under this Character howsoever as being Delegates of the Holy Sea Likewise other things passed of no great moment with which this Session was concluded The Decrees of this Session were satisfactory to very few for the Emperor remained highly displeased that the matter of the Cup was referred to the Pope well knowing that the concession of this Point would have been much more acceptable to his Subjects from the Council than from the Pope against whom they had demonstrated a detestable aversion Exceptions were also made to that Decree which gives the Bishops a Power over religious Houses contrary to the intention of the Donors who desired that the Revenues and management thereof should be administred by Lay-persons for thus said they was the manner how the Clergy possessed themselves of the Lands and Revenues of Hospitals and Colledges and other religious Foundations making themselves Owners and absolute Masters of what they were onely Stewards and Administrators and this formerly the Parliament of Paris looked upon as an Usurpation and encroachment of the Clergy on the civil Right and Jurisdiction the like judgment also they gave of Wills and Testaments the inspection into which by the Bishop was judged an intrenchment of the Secular Power Howsoever the Pope remained extreamly satisfied with the conclusion of this Session all things having been managed according to his own Orders and Instructions And now for the future he resolved to stand upon his guard and countermine the Plots and Artifices of the Cardinal of Lorain who came as he was well assured with vast designs as did also the French Bishops who were armed with Maxims diametrically opposite to his Authority against whom and the other Ultramontanes he resolved to reinforce his numbers and power in the Council by new recruits of Italian Bishops The same day that this last Session was concluded the French Ambassadours received Letters from their Master requiring them to move the Council that a stop might be given to their proceedings in matters of Doctrine until the Bishops from France should arrive and that in the mean time they would prepare matters tending to the Reformation of manners and abuses crept into the Church which was the only Sovereign remedy capable to cure the distempers of the Church the which Instructions the Ambassadours having made known to the Legats by whom according to due Order all matters were proposed received this Answer from them That they could not invert the Rule and method already designed for decision of the Doctrines of Faith and reformation of Manners but were forced to proceed in their usual course without any delay and interruption and if their King had any thing to propose it might be done by them his Ambassadours whom he had deputed to represent his concernments at the Council This Answer did little please the Ambassadors so that they appeared openly discontented and the Pope on the other side fearing lest the power and wisdom of the Cardinal of Lorain should be stronger than his Auxiliaries of Italian Bishops endeavoured by his Legat in France to take him off persuading him that his Negotiations in the Council could procure him no reputation in regard that all things were already done and concluded And indeed they were much in the right for the Legats having a desire to dispatch and put a period to the Council were resolved to hearken unto no delays but to proceed to the two Articles of Doctrine namely the Sacraments as they called them of Ordination and Marriage which were the onely Points remaining to be examined and determined On which Points the Congregations began to treat on the 25th of September and continued their Discourses and Treatises thereupon until the second of October But all the Disputes which arose upon these Subjects seemed impertinent and loss of time to the Bishop of quinque Ecclesiae and the other Hungarian Prelats as also to the Polanders and Spaniards who at a private Conference amongst themselves concluded that their meeting was chiefly with design to reform abuses in manners which were crept into the Church rather than to determine matters of Faith that in this work it was necessary to begin the Reformation at the Court of Rome which was the Head and source from whence the streams ought to be derived in their purity reflecting with deep sense of displeasure on the encroachments which the Court of Rome made on their Episcopal Dignity and in order hereunto the Arch-Bishop of Braganca was of Opinion that the first thing to be done was to reduce the Cardinals to their primary Institution for that until the 10th Century they were mere Priests and onely began from that time to exalt their Dignities and yet until the 12th Century they were esteemed inferiour to Bishops though since that time by several degrees and steps they have so elevated and promoted their quality with Titles and extention of Power that a Bishop is esteemed to have had honour sufficient in being onely admitted a domestick Chaplain to a Cardinal and therefore to bring the Episcopal Dignity again into request it were necessary to have it expresly declared by the Council that that Hierarchy is Jure Divino and that Bishops hold their Power and Authority immediately from Jesus Christ and not from the Pope The which question came at a seasonable and an opportune time to be discussed for one Article under consideration being then to define that the Order of Episcopacy was above that of Priesthood it fell naturally into the Enquiry Whether that Superiority was by Divine Right or not Now the Legats at first not comprehending the meaning and design why this question was proposed with so much heat suffered it to proceed to a free examination but so soon as they discovered by the Bishop of Fortosa who was a Spaniard and yet Pensioner of Rome that the Arch-Bishops of Granada and Barganca intended on the consequences of this Determination to infer that their Order being established by Divine Right and not received from the Papal Chair their Power would seem more inherent in themselves and less dependant on the Supreme Bishop So that the Legats being awakened by this intimation denied
to have that question put on the tryal and notwithstanding the high and passionate words which intervened between them and the arch-Arch-Bishops of Spain they positively forbad the Divines to treat farther on that Subject Howsoever after the Legats had considered that the Authority of these great Men had so deeply impressed this Opinion in the minds of the inferiour Clergy as was not to be defaced by the single dash of an over-ruling Power they appointed four Divines to confute the Arguments of the Spanish Prelats and to prove that the Bishops held their Power from the Pope and not immediately from Jesus Christ and that Episcopacy was no otherwise of Divine Right than as the whole Order of that Hierarchy was inherent in the Pope as the Head and source from whence all Ecclesiastical Power was derived by virtue of which it was in him onely to ordain Bishops over particular Churches to augment enlarge or restrain their jurisdiction and to depose suspend and transfer their trust and dignity unto others as he in his wisdom and infallible judgment should determine and command In defence of this Opinion Lainez General of the Jesuits an Orator of particular Note was appointed in a set Speech and at a Congregation purposely called to hear him on this question and thereupon such liberty was given him of Discourse that he declaimed for the space of two hours without any interruption alledging every thing which with any appearance of colour might be deduced from Scripture or the Antient Fathers all which was concluded with the general Applause of the Papal Party whilest others of the contrary Opinion were offended and netled in the highest degree Amongst the rest the Bishop of Paris at the next Congregation spake high and protested publickly against this Doctrine which as he said was invented by Cajetan who thereby merited the reward of a Cardinals Hat that the gentle Government of the Church was degenerated into Tyranny that the Spouse of Jesus Christ was made a Slave and prostituted to the Arbitrary pleasure of a single Person That for his part he was weary of those affronts and contempts which were daily offered to the Episcopal Dignity on which every petty Monk began to trample nor could he longer support the neglects which the Order of begging Friers put on that Sacred Function nor the insolences of the upstart Company of Jesuits who being neither Seculars nor Regulars but a mix'd composition of both acknowledged no other Jurisdiction but their own All which was delivered with such heat and vehemence as moved the bloud and farther incensed the minds of all those who were already enflamed with Resentments against the Speech of Lainez so that there was a common murmur through the whole Council universally concluding that the Speech of the Bishop of Paris was a clear refutation of all the frothy Oratory delivered by the General of the Jesuits howsoever the Legats still persisted in their Assertion and for support thereof were forming a new Party against the Spanish Prelats But these Disputes and heats were for a while suppressed by the many instances which were made by the Spaniards French Germans and others for a Reformation desiring that all other Debates and Controversies being laid aside the Council would be wholly intent to that great work of rectifying abuses which was the onely means that could produce peace and quiet in the Church But the Legats withstood this shock and endeavoured by delays and Artifices to evade this Assault made upon the Papal Power on which they dreaded the storm which the Cardinal of Lorain would make thereupon for he being now on his Journey to Trent gave out in all places through which he travelled that his Design was to abate the greatness and pride of the Pope and to ease the People of their Oppressions and Tyrannies which they suffered by the Court of Rome This Cardinal was a Person of great Power Interest and Revenue in France and therefore impatient of subjection to a Foreiner and desirous himself to be Pope or supreme Head of the Gallican Church to break all these Measures and countermine these Plots the Legats proposed several and different means sometimes it was resolved that the Pope should come to Bolegna that his near residence might over-awe the Council but not knowing how this might operate the next expedient was to adjourn the Council to some other place to proâ—ogue it for some certain time and in fine if all should fail then to dissolve it But this Remedy seeming too violent it was judged more convenient to suspend for a while the ordinary course of the Congregations hoping that with time the spirits and heats which Lainez Discourse had raised would abate and be allayed But this Remedy produced a contrary effect for the Prelats being at leisure banded together and dividing into several Factions and Meetings formed as many Councils as were Parties or interests Thus seven days passing without Congregations the Spaniards grew weary of the delays and with a haughty and arrogant manner associating themselves together came to the Legats and possitively demanded that Episcopacy should be declared to be by Divine Right to oppose this Spanish stiffness natural to the humour of that Nation eighteen or twenty Prelats were set up to contradict this Demand and require that no Determination should be made of that Controversie So that the Legats making use of these divisions to excuse themselves not being able to satisfie both Parties all things remained in suspense and in the mean time there was nothing but confusion and tumult and Consults how and in what manner to make Parties and Interests which gave the Legats just cause to fear the ill effect which these Disorders might produce After this intermission of Congregations on the 3d. of November they began again to meet when many Expedients were proposed to accommodate the Disputes which made so great a noise namely Whether Episcopacy and the Residence of Bishops in their respective Dioceses were instituted by Divine Right As to the latter the Cardinal of Mantoua one of the Legats did propose to have the question remain undecided but howsoever that every Bishop should be obliged under severe penalties to reside in his Diocess it being not material whether such residence were Jure Divino or not provided that every person observed and performed his duty therein But the first question was controverted with more passion the Bishop of Segovia averring that the Order of Episcopacy was declared by the Council held under Julius III. to be Jure Divino Upon reading the Act though the Roman Party would not dare to say that the Council had erred in that Point yet they endeavoured to evade the force of it by distinguishing between the Order abstractively and the Jurisdiction of it During these Contests the Cardinal of Lorain arrived at Trent where he made his entry on Horse-back with a great Train and Pomp supported between the two Cardinals of Mantoua and Seripande who were
the principal Legats By this addition the Council began to be numerous the Prelats onely amounting to the number of two hundred and eighteen which though much inferiour to Antient Councils were howsoever a greater appearance than any that had yet been known in Trent The favourers of the Roman Party looked on this increase as a recruit of Auxiliaries which were come in to reinforce their Enemies and therefore to redouble their vigilance and augment their force the Pope dispeeded all the Power he had of Cardinals and Bishops to the Council fearing that the Union which was formed between the Spaniards French and Germans would be too powerful for his Italian Adherents The 23d of November was the day when the Cardinal of Lorain made his first appearance in the Congregation when as a Prologue to all the rest the King's Letters were first read containing little more than to pray and exhort the Council in general terms that they would bend all their labours and endeavours towards a Reformation and to those means which might restore Peace and Unity in the Church The Letters being read the Cardinal in an elaborate and pathetical Speech began to relate the calamities which the Wars about Religion had caused in France desiring the Council that for a remedy thereof they would be pleased to be indulgent to the Protestants in condescending to their weak and tender Consciences so far as was consistent with the Doctrines of Faith and then declaiming against the corruptions which were crept into the Church he instantly desired that an inspection might be made into the many abuses of which the Clergy were guilty to whom he ingeniously applyed the History of the Prophet Jonas We said he are the cause of all these storms we that have departed and fled from the face of God cast us into the Seas and the tempest will abate This Discourse was seconded by the French Ambassadour du Ferrier much to the same purpose and then concluded thus If you ask me why France is not in Peace and what is the cause of all these divisions which thus miserably rend and tear out the bowels of that distressed Nation I must answer you in the same manner as Jehu did to Joram 2 Kings c. 9. v. 22. when he asked Is it peace Jehu How can it be peace so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many In fine he frankly told them That in case they took not some course to reform the disorders in France all the bloud that was there spilt would be laid to their charge and though this plain dealing did infinitely displease the favourers of the Court of Rome yet they judged it seasonable to dissemble their Resentments fearing lest France in that doubtful state should make a total defection from the Sea of Rome And now it is curious and worthy our observation to consider that whilest the specious Proposal of Reformation was offered it was plausible and consented unto in general terms by every Party and Interest but when they descended to particulars and would apply the remedies to the respective abuses then there appeared a strange and prodigious diversity in their Opinions every one being willing to reform others but not himself or his Party easily observing the Moat in their Brothers Eye but not the Beam in their own The Court of Rome would gladly assent to a reformation of Princes and Bishops but not yield to any inspection which might be made into the corruptions of their Consistories or into the Power which they had usurped The Bishops could easily agree to a reformation of Manners in the Courts of the Pope and of their respective Princes but could not hear of having their Authority or Revenues retrenched The Kings and Princes instantly pressed to have a reformation of the Clergy both of the Head and of the Members but could not endure to hear of having their Regalia diminished or the Power of conferring and disposing Benefices according to their pleasure Wherefore it was impossible that all their different Interests could ever be reconciled or at the end concenter in a single Tertio or common agreement Wherefore being wearied with these Debates and finding out new Expedients which could never square with the form of such Dissenting Interests they again re-assumed the old and wearisom Debates about the being of Residencies and Episcopacy by Divine Right in which nothing of the former heats were abated The Bishop of Auranch declared positively that his Opinion was that Episcopacy was by Divine Right and that the Authority of the Pope differed not from that of an ordinary Bishop but onely in degree and was restrained within the limits of the Canons He farther applauded the Decrees of the Parliament of Paris which declared the abusive Bulls of the Pope to be void in their own nature and forbad to have them put into Execution and thus much said he the Power of my Master is able to verify and make good But the heats about Residencies began to abate it being made appear that if that Point were once gained it would not onely be an eclipse but a total ruin of the Papal Authority for if the Residence of Bishops were declared to be by Divine Right it would follow that the Pope thenceforth remains devested of all Power to transfer diminish divide or make any change or alteration in the Episcopal Seas All which though the Spaniards knew very well and that their aim was onely to advance their own Interest and Authority yet they would seem to maintain the contrary and that this Concession would serve to render the Papal Power more considerable and glorious In fine it was agreed to send this Point about Residencies to the Pope by the Bishop of Ventimille Thus was this whole year consumed in these Controversies the last day of December concluding with a Congregation at which it was resolved that the Session should be deferred for fifteen days At the beginning of this year 1563. the French proposed thirty four Articles in order to a Reformation the most part of which respected the Clergy tending to the correction of abuses in Ordinations and promotion of unworthy Persons both for their lives and knowledg to places of eminence and honour in the Church Some also related to the Court of Rome and to the retrenchment of its Revenue the exaction whereof was an agrievance to the People of France Other Articles forbad Plurality of Benefices and Moneys or rewards to be given for administration of the Sacraments It was also required that Divine Service might be rendred and performed in the French Tongue at least that the principal Prayers be pronounced both in the French and in the Latin Tongue That the Communion be delivered in both kinds That Bishops within their respective Dioceses have a jurisdiction over the Religious in Monasteries as well as over Seculars That all abuses be taken away in the superstitious worship of Images and the fond and vain
arrived his hands and raised thereupon two millions and five hundred thousand Livres By this time the Cardinal of Lorain was returned and the eleventh of November came which was the day appointed for the Session after the usual ceremonies of which were performed the Article about Clandestine Marriages was read and after some Contests thereupon was passed by plurality of Voices but yet it did not pass the raillery of some witty Men who reflected on the words of the Canon which pronounces Anathema against those who deny Clandestine Marriage to be a true Sacrament and yet in the conclusion saith that the Church hath ever disapproved and detested it Afterwards the Decrees of General Reformation were read which are too long to be here inserted upon passing of which the Cardinal of Lorain declared that the French Nation did so far accept them as they were not prejudicial to the Priviledges Rights and antient Constitutions of the Kings of France Howsoever amongst all the Chapters of General Reformation there was not one Point of those many touched which the People of divers Nations required nothing being therein contained or resolved but what served to advance the Pope's Authority over the Clergy and warrant the Power of the Clergy in oppression of the People Amongst these Points of General Reformation there was one which made void all Titles or Rights to Benefices which were obtained by Simony which in the Opinion of some would have ruined the greatest part of the Pope's Annates or yearly Income had it been strictly observed but this was as duly obeyed as the Canon which prohibits Cardinals to enjoy plurality of benefices in both which time and experience have shewn us how little either the one or the other hath been regarded Another Chapter which ordained that those who had publickly sinned should do publick Penance seemed as if it designed to restore the Primitive Discipline but that was again spoiled by this clause Ni aliter Episcopo videatur with these and matters of the like nature this Session concluded And now the Scene of Affairs began much to change their face for every one growing weary of Disputes passed every thing almost without examination or contest The Pope was infinitely tired and fainted under the burthen of the Council The French who now expected no benefit from this Assembly followed the dictates of the Cardinal of Lorain who had intirely devoted himself to the Papal Interest The Germans had long since abandoned the Council despairing of any good or cure from it onely the Spaniards to whom delays have been always pleasing and to whom by force of gravity all fatigues of long continuance are rendered Ease were those who willingly would have protracted the longer course of the Council but not being able to stem the Torrent with which other Nations precipitated the Council to a conclusion they yielded to the same humour and concurred with the Cardinal of Lorain and others in their Design to put an end to the Council at the next Session The Points about Indulgences on which Luther had grounded his first quarrel with the Pope Adoration of Saints Purgatory Images and Fasts were all slubber'd over and passed in the space of fifteen days The greatest difficulty was that which related to the Reformation of Princes against which the Ambassadours of France had so seriously protested which being a knotty and insuperable Point it was resolved to leave it undecided and in lieu thereof to perform something for the better satisfaction of the Clergy allowing unto the Bishops some enlargement of Power over their respective Chapters But as to the Decree which was drawn up for reforming and moderating the Authority of Princes they thought fit in lieu thereof to renew the tenure of the Antient Canons not enforcing them with Menaces or Anathemas but onely with exhortations to Princes to conserve and maintain the Church in its priviledges concluding with gentle terms full of respect to the Sovereign Power The expressions of this Article being thus moderated to the satisfaction as the Cardinal of Lorain imagined of temporal Princes he endeavoured to persuade the French Ambassadours to return again from Venice to Trent which they absolutely refused to do for though the Article for reforming Princes ' was revoked yet several other Acts being pass'd to the prejudice of the Gallican Church the Ambassadours pretended that their return and presence would imply or argue a concurrence or an assent to all the Decrees of the Council Notwithstanding this refusal the Council proceeded forward to consider of the reformation of Friers Monks Abbots and other Religious in respect to whom few Rules were altered onely some additions were made according to the Proposals and desires of the Generals of the respective Orders All other things as we have said proceeded smoothly the Point of Indulgences being superficially touched for considering the many difficulties comprehended in that question which might if distinctly treated have taken up a long time in the examination of every Point it was thought fit to couch all in few words prohibiting the abuses thereof in general terms Thus did matters hasten towards an end but what did more eagerly precipitate a conclusion was the Pope's indisposition of health for it was feared in case the Pope should die during the Session that then the Council would by the example of that of Constance take upon themselves a Power of electing an other so that notwithstanding the opposition of the Spaniards who desired to proceed with gravity and phlegm until they could receive an answer of what they had wrote to Madrid the ultimate Session was appointed for the 9th of December but in regard that time seemed too long to Persons impatient of an end the day was shortned to the third of that month and to be continued on the day following in case the Affairs seemed too weighty and various to be ended at one sitting The Spanish Ambassadour with fourteen of his Bishops not being able to withstand this general Torrent promised to concur with the others on these two conditions First That the Pope should regulate all matters not determined by this Council And secondly That in the Chapters of Indulgences the word gratis should not be used lest it should prejudice the Indulgences granted by the Crusada of Spain All the difficulties being now overcome the Session was held on Friday the 3d. of December at which after the Sermon and usual Ceremonies all the Acts prepared according to form were read but being too long for the work of one day the remaining part was left until the day following at the conclusion of all fearing lest in any of the Decrees of Reformation some words should have escaped which might seem to entrench or diminish the Pope's Authority it was determined that the Interpretation of the Canons and the liberty to dispense with any of them should remain in the breast and at the free pleasure and will of the Pope in confirmation of which it was publickly declared
speedily the which he accordingly did in the space of two days after in words to this effect That his Holiness would be pleased together with him to render thanks to God Almighty for being pleased to conserve the remnant of his Fleet from such dreadful storms and tempests and for bestowing on him Riches and Power sufficient to set out and equippe an other equal to the former That he had sent his Fleet to fight against the Enemies of Christ but not to Combat with the Seas and Winds and therefore saw no cause to blame his Officers either Civil or Military And in fine perceiving the subtil manner of the Pope to forestall his demands of succours or reparations he concluded his Letter in this manner That the loss did as well concern the Pope as himself by whose directions and encouragement he had undertaken that Enterprise That he having had the glory to have lost a Fleet in the service of Christ had already performed his part and that now for the future the next attempt belonged to the Church in which he promised to follow but not to precede It was believed that the King wrote with this resolution and indifferency of mind to the Pope to let him know that this misfortune did not abate his Courage or force in defence of his own Dominions for the King was jealous and had cause sufficient to suspect that the Gallies which the Pope had lately built and the vast sums of Money which he had lately amassed were with design on the Kingdom of Naples on which the Count Olivarez Ambassadour at Rome having always a vigilant Eye did constantly inculcate to the Pope in his Discourses That so much as his Master had lost in seeking the Conquest of others Kingdoms as much he did not doubt but to recover on any Prince who should attempt on his Dominions This year 1588. famous for the destruction of the Spanish Armada was signalized also towards the end thereof on the 23d of December by the death of the Duke of Guise a Prince of such popular esteem that he appeared greater than the King and to eclipsed the Sovereignty that not longer enduring to be so clouded he resolved to break through the obscurity by the destruction of the Duke whom the King caused to be assassinated by eight Executioners as he was entering into his Closet being thereunto called by his Command these Officers of the King's displeasure so effectually performed their work by the mortal stabs they gave him that he had not time to utter one word but onely breathed out his life with dying groans the same day the Cardinal his Brother was imprisoned and the next day being the Eve of Christmas was put to death the which misfortune to the House of Guise was followed by the imprisonment of the Cardinal of Bourbon the Pope's Legat at Avignon the Arch-bishop of Lions and of the eldest Son of the Duke of Guise The news of the Duke's death was dispeeded to Rome with such diligence by an Express that the Pope received it on the 3d. of January 1589. at the same time that he was discoursing with the Cardinal Joyeuse touching the Affairs and interest of France The Pope at the arrival hereof did not seem troubled or in the least manner surprized for though the Duke was a zealous Defender of the Roman Catholick Religion yet considering that he was ambitious and popular and one who checked the Sovereign power the Pope who was a great Assertor of the Monarchical Authority in its Supreme degree received the news of his unhappy fate without any remorse or resentment and so shrinking up his shoulders said Had we been King of France we should have done the same And when the particulars were all recounted he added Such is commonly the destiny of Men who committed many Errors with subtil Arts but then know not how to conserve themselves with mature judgment and due caution But when about four days after that Intelligence came how that the Cardinal of Guise was likewise put to death and that the Cardinal of Bourbon and the Arch-bishop of Lions were imprisoned he then began to fume and storm like an enraged Bear venting his passion with ten thousand violent expressions against the King clapping his hands and stamping with his feet on the floor in such manner as affrighted all his Servants and Attendance Henry III. of France being acquainted with the humour of Sixtus and how apt he was to resent the least injuries towards Ecclesiastical persons and encroachment on his Authority dispatched Girolamo Gondi a Florentine Gentleman with all expedition to Rome to join with his Ambassadour the Marquess Pisani in making excuses for the death of the Cardinal and the imprisonment of the Cardinal of Bourbon and Arch-Bishop of Lions being thereunto necessitated contrary to his own nature for the conservation of his own life and Crown Gondi being arrived at Rome and having consulted together with the Ambassadour the way and manner to address themselves unto the Pope and being admitted to Audience the Pope with a stern Countenance looked on them and with sharp and severe terms began to reproach the King wondering how he could dare to violate the immunities and priviledges of the Ecclesiastical State and the dignity of Cardinals and against all Laws both Divine and humane could entertain so much wickedness in his heart as to murther a Cardinal and imprison two others of eminent dignity in the Church as if they had been subjected to the Secular power The Ambassadours for Reply hereunto in modest terms but yet with grave and unmoved constancy began to relate the Treason and Plots of which the Cardinal was guilty contrary to the Faith and Allegiance which he owed unto the King with whom also the Cardinal of Bourbon and the Arch-bishop of Lions had been Complices It is true said they it would have best become the righteousness and judgment of a King to have proceeded in a juditiary way according to all the methods and rules of Law but the Cardinal assisted by the power of his Brother and by the Authority of the two other potent Prelates was become too strong for the Law or to be treated by the usual formalities of common Process for they having forced the King to abandon his Palace and fly in disguise through the streets of Paris there remained no mild terms of Accommodation but either the King must become a Subject unto them and divest himself of his Dignity and resign his Power into the hands of those Guardians as if he were in his pupillage or years of minority or else he must serve himself of those means which God appointed him for conservation of his Crown and Regal Office in which he was anointed In fine they concluded that the King was an obedient Son of the Church and was ready to satisfie the desires of his Holiness to the utmost of his power and to that end he had expresly sent this Gondi now present before him
any Tax or Imposition on Christian Princes and require from them whatsoever they judged for the common good and welfare of Christendom But the Pope did not think this ground to have sufficient foundation on which to build and commence a quarrel but rather on the matters which did more neerly relate to the Interest of the Papal Sea It was not long before an occasion of this nature offered it self by means of one Scipio Saraceno a Prebend of Vicenza who had contemptuously torn off and broken the Seals which the Magistrates had fixed on the Episcopal Chancery during the vacancy of that Office and likewise finding that he could not debauch a Lady of known Vertue whom he tempted in the Churches and Streets and in all places where he could have any convenience to meet her he became so enraged with lust and malice that he besmeared with filthiness and tar the Gate and front of her House which being a high affront and disgrace to the Lady she with the advice of her Friends cited this insolent Prebend before the Court of Justice at Venice who as readily and willingly appeared being encouraged and bolstred up by the Bishop of Citta Nuova a person of great esteem in Venice and one who was Director of the Affairs of all the Nuntios and Papal Ministers at that place The Nuntio who was desirous to obtain a licentious exemption of all Priests from the Secular Power embraced the cause of the Prebendary with all readiness imaginable and immediately dispatched the news hereof to the Pope and to the Bishop of Vicenza who was then at Rome where after divers Consultations it was resolved as an essential Point relating to the Ecclesiastical liberty that the Cause of the Prebend should be maintained and defended and therefore the Pope who was glad of this occasion to assert the Authority and Rites of the Churches stormed and raved with the Venetian Ambassadour telling him that he would not endure or suffer the imprisonment of an Ecclesiastical Person by the Precepts of a Secular Tribunal nor would he admit that a Judg of temporal matters should take cognisance of any Cause wherein a Priest or Churchman was concerned Of all which the Ambassadour gave advice to the Senate The Pope at an other Audience complained to the said Ambassadour that the Senate of Venice had since the death of Clement VIII made a Statute of Mortmain whereby Lay-persons were forbidden and restrained from bequeathing or bestowing their Estates on the Church which Statute though it were founded on an old Law yet the new one was more restrictive but both of them being against the antient Canons Councils and Imperial Laws were in themselves void and null being scandalous and impious in that they made the state and condition of Churchmen worse than that of infamous persons and therefore those who made these Laws did incur the Censures of the Church in the like terms the Nuntio at Venice explained the mind of the Pope unto the Senate and when the Ambassadours arrived at Rome to congratulate the Pope for his exaltation to that dignity he could not refrain even before the Ceremony was ended to make his resentments and complaints of those Laws made in derogation of the Rites and immunities belonging to the Church And thus we have laid down the true state of the quarrel between the Pope and the Venetians to which we shall add a third Point namely a Law made at Venice in the year 1603. prohibiting the building of Churches without consent and license for it obtained from the Senate which the Pope termed a piece of Heresie These being the three Points in Controversie the Senate for answer thereunto commanded their Ambassadour to represent in their name unto his Holiness That the just Right and Title they had to judg Ecclesiastical Persons in Secular Causes was founded in the natural Power of the Supreme Prince and confirmed by an uninterrupted course of a thousand years the which may be proved by the Pontifical Briefs extant in their publick Archives or Records That the Law of Mort-main or Statute restraining Laymen from alienation of their Estates to the Church was not onely enacted at Venice or peculiar to the Cities under that Metropolis but exercised in other Christian Kingdoms and States and that this Law was more conducing to the welfare of Venice than to any other people being that which could onely conserve its Forces entire against the common Enemy of Christendom which would otherwise be enfeebled by those daily Legacies and Endowments which were bequeathed and conferred on the Church The Pope was so netled with this way of reasoning that he sat all the time uneasie in his Seat shrugging his shoulders and turning his head which intimated the unquietness of his mind At length he replyed That those arguments were invalid and of no force for that there was no foundation to be made on the accustomed course of their Judicature which was so much the worse by how much more they pretended Antiquity And as to the Briefs there was no authentick Register or Record of them but what was found at Rome and that the others were forged Copies and cheats imposed on the Clergy And as to their Acts and Ordinances he was so well acquainted and versed in them since the time of his youthful Studies and that having passed the Offices of Vice-Legat Auditor of the Chamber and Vicar of the Pope he was sufficiently assured that that Law could not stand and that the old Act made in the year 1536. which takes from the Laiety a power of disposing of their own private Estates was in it self void and of no force and a tyrannical imposition on the Subject That the Senate themselves were so sensible of this injurious Law that they were ashamed to issue forth any Copies of it and if in case a Law of this nature were found in any other Country it was established by the Authority and with the concurrence of the Popes and then he concluded that he was resolved not to make a long work of it for that in case he were not obeyed he would make use of such Remedies as he thought convenient being so positive in this matter and zealous for the Church that he was ready to spill his blood in this righteous Cause and in the defence thereof That in case it were necessary to give a stop to the alienation of Lands or a restraint of building Churches he would always have been ready to have followed the sentiments of the State and to have concurred in just causes with the desires of the Secular Council but as to the point of drawing the Clergy to the Secular Tribunals he would never admit that such as were his Subjects should be liable to the sentence of an other Jurisdiction this in fine was his resolution on the three foregoing Cases in which he was resolved to be obeyed and make use of that Power which God had given him over all things and over all
Principle That no way or concession was to be given to the least point or particle which might prejudice the publick Liberty News came about the beginning of September that a new Congregation was erected in Rome called the Congregation of War which was appointed to assemble twice every Week to consult of the manner and means of waging the Temporal War This new term of a Congregation of War which was never heard of before in Rome administred subject of Discourse to all Italy both because it was contrary to the antient practices of that Court which did always cover their temporal Designs with Spiritual names and because the management thereof was committed to the care of fifteen Cardinals who were all Men of Letters but not of Arms howsoever they served the present turn for being Men of the Spanish faction and depending upon Spain it was believed that their Interest and Power would have been very available in that Court for carrying forward the War and engageing the principal Ministers in their quarrel All Princes of Christendom being now concerned in this difference and great endeavours made for reconciliation it was encharged to Giustiniano Ambassadour to the Court of England to represent unto that King the provisions which were making at Rome for a War desiring that his Majesty would prepare those Forces which he had already promised in defence of their Republick for that Spain was arming and threatned on all sides to invade them To which the King answered That he was resolved to defend their Cause not out of any grudge or quarrel of his own with the Pope but as he called God to witness out of a principle of duty to conserve that Liberty which God had given to Princes nor had he any respect to his own particular benefit or hopes to receive Rewards from the Republick but onely to the justice of that Cause which was most just and pleasing to God and that therefore he would speedily perform his Promise with more sincerity and constancy of mind towards the Republick than the King of Spain had done to the Pope whose Letters and Promises contained nothing but froth and vanity Thus were all Christian Princes concerned in this quarrel on one side or the other some being intent to accommodate differences by middle and moderate terms and others to take Parties and assist with Arms and open Violence until at length about the middle of October the Pope taking it into his consideration that so much the longer that this quarrel continued and that the Venetians remained in their separation from the Church so much more did his Reputation suffer and the Power of the Spiritual Authority discover its own weakness wherefore calling Monsieur d' Alincourt the French Ambassadour unto him he declared and protested that he was infinitely desirous of an Accommodation and was ready to accept of any terms which were not prejudicial or derogatory to the honour of the Papal Sea Upon which Alincourt entering into consultation with the French Cardinals some Proposals were sent to the Republick and communicated by the hand of de Fresnes containing a Project for making and establishing a Peace Nor was the King of Spain unactive herein but to shew his zeal he dispatched an Ambassadour Extraordinary to Venice upon this occasion who declared in the Senate that his Master was so passionate in this business That if he had two Sons he would be contented to sacrifice one of them on condition it might be an offering of atonement and reconciliation between the Pope and the Venetian State Whilest all these Treaties and Instances were a foot Letters were dispatched from the Court of Spain to the Count de Fuentes Governour of Milan that he should levy an Army to be in a readiness for assistance of the Pope and accordingly three thousand Italian Foot were raised for this Service which with the other Forces already prepared and levied in other parts the King designed to compose an Army of twenty five thousand Foot and four thousand Horse The Senate of Venice observing that the Spaniards armed did not think it agreeable to the Rules of good Government for them to sit idle but to put themselves in a posture of War to repel Force with Force and to be in a readiness on all occasions which might happen And accordingly they added six hundred Italian Foot and one thousand Albanians to the nine thousand six hundred Foot and six hundred Men at Arms and one hundred and fifty Albanian Horse which were already listed and in a readiness They also ordered Count Martinengo to raise four thousand French Soldiers and six hundred Curassiers and not to be wanting in their Fleet at Sea they ordered that to the thirty eight Sail of Gallies already equipped twelve more should be set out with addition of five more which were recalled from the Islands in the Levant Whilest the Spaniards and Venetians were arming in this manner on one side and the other Priuli Ambassadour for the Republick in France acquainted the King with all these preparations desiring his Majesty would be pleased to declare himself in favour of the Senate to which the King gave Answer That it was not as yet time and that there remained still hopes of Accommodation and that being moved and sollicited herein by all the Princes of Italy he was dispatching the Cardinal Joyeuse to Venice and thence to Rome to interpose effectually in this Mediation And indeed this Cardinal was the most fit and proper Instrument of any to effect this accord for he was not onely a Person of great Esteem and Authority in the Court of Rome being a Cardinal of the first degree and rank but also of great reputation with the Senate of Venice who being desirous to commit the Office of mediation to the Interest of the French King whom they had found more sincere and real to them than the King of Spain and his Adherents they received the Cardinal with entire satisfaction who arrived at Venice about the middle of February The Cardinal spending little time in formal Ceremonies and Visits immediately entered on his business delivered his Credential Letters and opened his Commission and in the first place insisting that as it was necessary to provide for the security and reputation of the Republick so also it was necessary to contrive such means as might give satisfaction to the Pope whose Proposals were these That an Ambassadour be sent from the Republick to desire his Holiness that he would be pleased to take off the Ecclesiastical Censures which he had passed upon them That all the Religious as well Jesuits as others who had left and abandoned their dwelling and Habitations should be again restored That the King should give his word to the Pope that during this Treaty at Rome the Laws about which this Controversie arose should be suspended And the Cardinal insisting more on this Point than on any other earnestly urged that some resolution might be taken speedily and with
to the protection of France being no longer a secret both the Prefect and Cardinal Francisco with that whole Family loudly professed themselves Servants to his most Christian Majesty and in testimony thereof replaced the Arms of France again over their Gates The reception also of the Barberins to favour was signified by the King in a Letter to the Pope which was delivered by the hand of Cardinal Grimaldi who was at that time employed in the Affairs of France but this Letter operated little of good but served rather to irritate the mind of the Pope for within three days afterwards he erected a Congregation of five Cardinals all Enemies to the Barberins to inspect the Affairs of that Family and to proceed by the methods of Law against them so that Cardinal Francisco who was esteemed innocent and unblameable in his Conversation and had not as yet been attacked by any was cited to make his personal appearance before this Court where an Act was intimated unto him which annulled and made void the Dispensation which his Uncle Vrban had made to indemnifie his Nephews and exempt them from rendering an account of the publick Moneys which had passed through their hands and in pursuance hereof Taddeo the Prefect was enjoyned to bring in all the Accounts of Expences and Moneys which had issued out of the Chamber during the time of his Uncle though the Books and Receipts were in the hands and Office of the Paymasters And in regard that Cardinal Antonio was absent in France a Brief was sent him to appear personally at Rome within the space of two months under pain of Excommunication and forfeiture of all his Estate Revenues and Benefices which he held of the Church and in the mean time Cardinal Francisco and the Prefect were obliged in a Bond of thirty thousand Crowns to advertise Cardinal Antonio of these proceedings and not to remove any of their Goods Housholdstuff Jewels c. out of their Houses at Rome or any other place sequestring also the whole revenue of Cardinal Antonio And whereas Cardinal Francisco had been superintendent over the Revenues of the Church he was ordered not only to give an account of the Moneys but of all other managements and transactions during the Government of his Uncle These violent and severe proceedings against the Nephews of a former Pope seemed a Policy disagreeable to the inclinations and designs of Innocent who intended to advance his Nephew Cardinal Pamfilio and was as passionate towards his Relations as ever Vrban had been and more perhaps than he for being wholly guided by the directions of Donna Olympia Mildachini a Woman of untamed Pride and unsatiable Avarice it was not to be imagined that the Revenues of the Church should be better employed or used with more moderation than they were in the times of the late Vrban This Donna Olympia was but of an ordinary extraction in Rome but being married to Signior Pamfilio Brother to this Pope made the off-spring which came from her to be illustrious and for governing one who governed the Church hath made herself famous in all the Histories of Italy and the Ecclestastical State She was a Woman which naturally affected Rule and Dominion and therefore because her Husband crossed her desires and would subject her to Obedience she had a quarrel to him and held him in abhorrence and detestation though his person was comely and handsom enough to be beloved on the other side none was more pleasing and acceptable to her than her Husband's Brother first Abbat and then Cardinal Pamfilio for though he was one of the most ugly and ill-favoured persons in the World yet because he never entered on any Affair either publick or private before he first consulted his Sister-in-law making her his Oracle and presenting her with the entire disposal of his Will she became perfectly enamoured of his Person and Soul and would never be separated from his company After he was created Pope she then took upon herself the State and Garb of a Princess and seizing with absolute Dominion and Authority on the person of the Pope exerted her Power to such a degree that she made the whole Court of Rome subservient to her Beck and obsequious to her Commands The greediness of the Barberins in amassing Money was the most exorbitant that ever had been known before in Rome but when this Woman came she swept with both hands making the rapine and extortion which had been used before seem to be attempered with some qualifications of modesty and mercy For no Judg of criminal Causes being made without her recommendations they all received their Instructions from her which she gave with such Rules and Methods as conduced to her Avarice She ordered them to bleed the Purse rather than the Veins of Malefactors that all the Fines and redemptions of the Guilty should be sent to her that she might employ them to the use and benefit of the Poor by which means and to satisfie the Judges who would always have their share in the Booty the Fines were raised beyond all the measures of Justice and though complaints hereof were made unto the Pope yet neither were the oppressed relieved nor the Judges punished We have said before that the Pope had created his Nephew Don Camillo Cardinal who was the Son of Donna Olympia and at her instigation was declared Cardinal Patron being a Title commonly conferred on the Pope's nearest Relation the which was done to disappoint the match between Camillo and the Daughter of the Prefect But this young Gallant being of a gay and light temper and uncapable of serious thoughts and business was weary of his Cardinal's Hat which against the consent and without the knowledg of the Pope and his Mother he laid aside to marry the Princess Rossana who by the death of her Husband the Prince was become a Widow The news of this Wedding was strangely surprising to all Rome but more especially to the Pope and his Sister who after a conference of two hours together in private resolved that Prince Camillo and his Lady should be banished from Rome The disgrace of these two personages was as surprising to the World as was the Marriage for there was in reality no Objection to the match especially since he was the onely branch of the House of Pamfilio whose noble change to joyn himself with a Lady of Beauty Quality Riches and Understanding was conducing to that common desire of mankind which is to keep up and perpetuate their Families wherefore there being no just reason why the Pope should be displeased at the match the cause of banishing the new married couple was attributed solely to Donna Olympia who being jealous of having the Princess Partner or Corrival with her in the Government thought fit to keep her at a distance from the Court But the World in the mean time could not but remain astonished at this passage for it was wonderful to see a Pope so sensless as to
which related to the welfare of the Church he took this Omen for an Admonition obliging him to govern with the same Spirit which animated his Predecessour Sylverius Wherefore attending to the welfare of his Subjects and to the advancement of the Christian Cause he eased as we have said his People of several Taxes and in lieu thereof charged himself with a Debt of a million of Crowns to extinguish which and to make that provision which the Venetians required against the Turk who that year hardly pressed the City of Candia he assented to the dissolution of certain Religious Houses which seemed superfluous and of little benefit or concernment to the Church namely the Canons of St. George in Alga the Gesuati the Jeronimites of Fiesole which being places remote and of no great use were formerly under the consideration of Innocent X. and Alexander VII and by both marked out with design to be reduced when the emergent pressures of the Republick should require a supply And now that time being come for the Vizier Kuperlee had for above the space of a whole year besieged the City of Candia had strongly intrenched himself and being daily re inforced with new supplies was in a probable and fair way to gain the Town and therewith to become Master of all the Island of Candia Wherefore the Pope issued his Bull granting licence to the Venetian Republick to sell the Lands and Revenues belonging to those places afore-mentioned within their Dominions and to make use of the Money to carry on their War and expel the Turks from the Kingdom of Candia In this conjuncture the Pope intended to avail himself of the urgencies and necessities of the Republick and to induce them thereby to consent to the abolition of certain Laws which were and had been very derogatory to the Power of the Court of Rome but the wise Republick adhering to the same principles which influenced them in the time of Paul V. declared their unshaken constancy and resolution to admit no innovation of such a nature as was demanded of which the Pope being well advised relinquished his pretensions it seeming unseasonable to take an advantage on the present emergencies of the Republick to obtain that from them which could not be granted without unhinging the whole frame of the publick Liberty And though the suppression of these Convents proceeded currently within the Dominions of the Republick yet on this occasion great difficulties and Disputes arose between the Court of Rome and the Governments of Milan and Naples For at Milan they pretended that these Convents being of Royal foundation could not be dissolved without the King's consent and at Naples they refused to admit that the Money arising from the dissolved Convents should be disposed according to the will and pleasure of the Court of Rome denying all Power to the Archbishop to intermeddle therein as Delegate to the Pope by vertue of his Ecclesiastical Authority and this Controversie was maintained with that heat that the Provost of Naples opposed the Arch bishop with armed Bands when he came to execute the Decrees of Rome on which the Pope made use of his thundering Excommunications howsoever they availed little for the heats were blown into a flame and the matters become so intriguesom as not to be composed until the time of Clement X. the succeeding Pope Howsoever this Pope being in an extraordinary manner zealous for the success of the Christian Cause against the Turk and sollicitous for the preservation of Candia omitted no means which might conduce to the safety of it And therefore after the example of his Predecessours he laboured to engage the Christian Princes in a holy League against the Turk but in regard that it could not possibly be performed until such time as a Peace was concluded between France and Spain the Pope recalled his Nephew Cardinal Rospigliosi from Bruxels where for the space of three years he had resided in quality of Internuntio by Commission from Alexander VII ordering him in his return home to pass through Paris and in a private manner to complement the King endeavouring to discover the inclinations of his Majesty to a Peace with Spain and how he was disposed to yield those succours which were necessarily required for the preservation of Candia In pursuance hereof Rospigliosi performed the Offices enjoined him by his Uncle so well that he inclined the mind of his Majesty to succour Candia which was languishing and almost ready to expire and to yield itself to the prevailing Arms of the Turk and hence it was that Count S. Paul the Duke of Beaufort and Monsieur la Fenillade with many other Cavaliers adventuring themselves in this generous Enterprise at least prolonged the fate though not able to divert it or rescue Candia from the subjection of it's unchristian Enemies Moreover Rospigliosi made those impressions of kindness and good correspondence between the King and the Pope as continued during the whole term of his Uncle's Reign and as an evidence of this friendship the Pope upon return of his Nephew at Rome dispatched the Arch-bishop of Thebes in quality of Legat in Extraordinary into France and Frederick Borromeo with a like Character into Spain which Legats finding a disposition in both Kings towards a Peace so well negotiated in behalf of the interest of Rome that Lewis XIV of France and the Queen Regent of Spain her Son being in his minority appointed Aquisgrane for the place to treat a Peace of which the Pope was by mutual consent of both Kings ordained the sole Umpire and Moderator The zeal which affected the Pope for the succour and relief of Candia was so great that he laboured with all his Power to bring the Peace between the two Crowns to a speedy issue but the French King proceeding in a prosperous course of his Arms concluded that his successes did merit and require the grant of such conditions from his Catholick Majesty as were not consistent with the honour and welfare of that Crown and therefore resolved to make an entire Conquest of the Franch Compte before he entered into farther Treaties or restrain himself within any narrower bounds or limits than those he designed Whereupon the Prince of Conde being declared General for this Expedition in the beginning of the year 1668. he marched to Digion in Burgundy to prepare military Affairs in a readiness to begin early the ensuing Campaign the King also notwithstanding the inconvenience of the Winter season thought fit to be there present in Person which gave that life to action that neither cold or rains or shortness of the days interrupted the progress of the War the Officers and Soldiers issuing from their Winter quarters with the same chearfulness as in the Summer readily invested the most considerable places of the Franch Compte which in a few days surrendred themselves to the victorious Arms of the French leaving the World to wonder at those effects of fear which a sudden surprize had
made to which Altieri not judging fit to condescend remained firm in his denial and therein being resolved until the death of this Pope an ill correspondence passed between Poland and Rome during the Reign of this Clement X. Though all these difficulties were made in exception to the person of the Bishop of Marseille yet Altieri was more easie and favourable to the Family of the late Pope and accordingly about the beginning of the year 1673. Felice Rospigliosi was advanced to the degree of Cardinal whereby the Pope in gratitude to Clement IX returned the Hat he had received from him to a person of the same name and Family at the same time also he promoted Peter Basadonna Knight and Procurator of St. Mark for the Republick of Venice to the same degree together with Monsignor Nerli a Florentine and then Nuntio at Paris this year also the College of Cardinals lost four of their number three of which were principal Members and Persons great in their worth and Offices viz. Frederick Borromeo Secretary of State Imperiali à bury and an active Cardinal as also Cualtieri and Roberti In this year the most Christian King designed to reform the Order of St. Lazarus and cast it into some other model for that this Order being almost worn out and the constitutions of it either abrogated or out of use his Majesty judged it more convenient to renew it again and establish it upon some other foundation and in pursuance of this resolution a new Chief or General was appointed for this Order This right of Regalia or Jus Patronatus which his Majesty had on this occasion exercised in the Gallican Church greatly offended Cardinal Altieri who to vindicate the Papal Authority in opposition to the King 's usurped pretences persuaded a certain Gascon who was come to seek preferment at Rome to accept the honour of Abbat of the Order of St. Lazarus and to qualifie him for this dignity the Title of Abbat of Colombiere was conferred upon him This simple Gascon for no other would be so vain as to accept of an Employment so intriguesom and difficult as this not having the Talent or capacity to manage an Affair of this weight and moment signed and dispatched away the Orders requisite for regulation of his Abby and though his friends and acquaintance dissuaded him from an Enterprise so offensive to the King yet this bold Gascon persisted in his folly being therein encouraged by the Creatures of Altieri The Duke d' Estreé then Ambassadour for France at Rome highly resented this pretence of the Pope in derogation to the Right of his Master but more especially was offended with the Gascon who had conspired with the Cardinal to deprive the King of his Right and Prerogative Wherefore the Duke being highly incensed seized the Scrivener who had drawn up the Abbat's Memorial to the Pope and after severe words and Reproofs caused him to be imprisoned the Abbat in the mean time fearing the like treatment retired into a priviledged place within the jurisdiction of the Pope's Palace and under the protection of the Cardinal who allowed him a Pension for his necessary maintenance At length the Abbat instigated by his Friends and encouraged by Altieri departed from Rome and passed the Alps into France where so soon as he was arrived he was seiz'd by the King's command and committed to Prison where we shall leave him to the Law and the disposal of the Order of St. Lazarus to the pleasure of his Majesty This and other discontents encreased the ill correspondence between the Duke d' Estreé Ambassadour of France and the Cardinal which Altieri though an Italian could not conceal or dissemble for being passionately affected to the Interest of Spain received the news of the French Conquests and successes against Holland with regret and displeasure either disapproving the intelligence as false or otherwise relating it with such circumstances as much abated and eclipsed the glory of those Victories all which served to inflame the differences between the Duke and the Cardinal But none was of greater consequence than that which intervened between the Cardinal and all the Ambassadours and Representatives for forein Princes residing in the Court of Rome the occasion and matter whereof was this It being now the year 1674. immediately preceding the year of Jubily when more than ordinary provisions are made for entertainment and sustenance of Pilgrims who croud in great numbers to obtain the Indulgences Pardons and Dispensations which are granted at that holy time It happened that the Farmers and Collectors of the Customs and Impositions which are laid on all sorts of Victuals and Provisions made complaints of the great damage which the Pope suffered in that branch of his Revenue from the abuses and frauds of forein Ministers who having all provisions for their Families allowed to them free from Taxes and Impost did under that pretence colour the goods and provisions of others and thereby raised considerable sums of Money to their own advantage which belonged and appertained to the Apostolical Chamber The Farmers had often complained of these abuses in the times of other Popes and though many remedies and expedients were proposed for prevention of the Cheat yet they produced nothing besides Affronts and blows to the Officers At length Altieri who esteemed himself more politick and powerful than all the Nephews of preceding Popes resolved on occasion of the approaching Jubily to raise the Farm on provisions to a more exorbitant price than ever was known and to obviate the complaints of the Customers he published an Edict That all Ambassadours and Cardidinals should for the future pay the Taxes and Impositions on their Domestick provisions in such manner as all other persons not exempted by priviledges were obliged to pay This Edict being published greatly surprized not only the Ministers from forein Princes but the whole College of Cardinals who finding themselves hereby deprived of their chief benefit and priviledg murmured and talked loud against the arbitrary and irregular Government of Cardinal Altieri who little regarding the empty air of words returned no other answer than that the Pope was Master of his own Family and Dominions The Ambassadours then residing at Rome were the Cardinal Landgrave of Hesse for the Emperour the Duke d' Estreé for France Cardinal Nitardo for Spain besides the Representatives of Venice the Grand Duke Genoua and other lesser Princes all these being disobliged and sensibly touched by the loss or suspension of their priviledg entered into consultation together of the method whereby to proceed when after some debate they agreed to go together to the Palace of Monte Cavallo where the Pope was then lodged and there without any previous Ceremony or notice taken of the Cardinal Nephew to demand Audience immediately of the Pope Accordingly these forein Ministers being on their way thither which made a great noise and combustion in the City of Rome the Cardinal at the alarm roused up
and wise Men who conceived hopes by an instance of this nature that Vertue and wisdom would return again into use and fashion and the Court of Rome in general rejoyced to find themselves freed from the pride insolence and covetousness of Nephews Howsoever the Family of Altieri was continued in their Military Employments and others confirmed in their respective Offices but because War was extrinsecal and not the Trade or profession of the Church which was now in peace with all the World he retrenched the pay or Pension belonging to the Officers of the Papal Army causing them to remain satisfied with the Name and Dignity without the benefit or profits of their respective Commands which proved of great ease to the Apostolical Chamber Howsoever knowing that Authority is not to be maintained without Power and force and resolving to become Master of Rome he encreased the number of his Archers in the listing of which he took not every fellow that came to offer his service but such onely as were sober Men not given to quarrels or to commit such insolences as the Corsi who were the cause of great disturbance to Alexander VII Howsoever on the other side not to receive insults from Ambassadours or other Representatives of Kings or Nobles and Princes of Rome in prejudice to Justice and the rules of severe Government he absolutely denied to them the priviledg to protect Miscreants and Criminals within the Precincts or certain limits assigned by themselves to be Sanctuaries for all Villains and Murtherers that should fly for refuge to those quarters and in pursuance of this resolution he seized a certain famous Bandito at Riccia where the Prince and Princess Chigi have a Seat and possession the which was admitted without any opposition made thereunto Farther the Pope confirmed the seventeen Articles which were signed as we have said in the Conclave by all the Cardinals being such as for the most part tended to a Reformation of manners and to an amendment of those abuses which were crept into the Church And farther to demonstrate his great zeal for the welfare and reputation of the Papal See he openly reproved the vanity of those Cardinals who pleased themselves with fine Coaches and rich Liveries giving them to understand the incongruity there was between those worldly Gayeties and the profession of those who had devoted themselves to that sober and serious life which becomes the gravity of a good and a holy Prelat And in regard that in times of preceding Popes many unworthy persons by the force of Money and Simonaical dealings were arisen to Episcopal Dignities the Pope appointed four Cardinals and four other Clergymen to examine the lives and manners of such who aspired to the degree of Bishops ordering them to admit none thereunto suspected or in the least blemished with an ill fame or taxed of ignorance as well as of a debauched conversation And in order to a thorough reformation the Pope drove out all the Courtesans and Strumpets from Rome and persons openly scandalous and dissolute in their manners and amongst others he banished a Gentleman of quality into Germany for having made a violent attempt on the chastity of a Lady of approved modesty All Houses of Play or gaming for Money were put down and all leud and unlawful Assemblies were fobridden And in regard the Barons of Rome had by the priviledg of their Nobility raised themselves above the reach of their Creditors The Pope ordered Cardinal Cibo to make a narrow inspection thereinto and to pay the Debts of the Barons out of the Money of the Chamber by which means these Debts being assigned over to the Chamber a payment of the same might more easily be forced by vigour of that Law which enforces the proceedings of the Exchequer To these Acts of Justice the Pope added one of great generosity towards Christina Queen of Sweden who having by the late Wars lost the greatest part of her Revenue in Sweden in recompence thereof he allowed unto her a Pension of twelve thousand Crowns a year And having laid these first foundations and beginnings of good Government the Pope's next work was to labour in the promotion of a Peace between the two Crowns and all other Christian Princes that laying aside all differences and quarrels amongst themselves they might unite their forces for the good and welfare of Christendom against the common Enemy the Turk to this effect he wrote Letters to the Emperour and to the Kings of France and Spain exhorting them to Peace and Concord of which he offered himself to be the Mediator and to be assistant thereunto in Person provided that the place appointed for the Treaty were assigned in some City of the Catholick Religion On the other side he animated the King of Poland to continue his War against the Turk and not to lay down his Arms until he had recovered Kaminiec and revenged himself of the Affront put upon him by the late Visier Kuperlee who had taken Contribution under the notion of Tribute from his City of Leopolis and to enable and encourage him thereunto he remitted to him the sum of fifty thousand Crowns But whilst the Pope laboured for Peace abroad he was not able to keep himself nor his Court free from disturbances at home for the Marquis del Carpio who resided at Rome in quality of Ambassadour for his Catholick Majesty being informed of the great want his Master had of Soldiers to send into Sicily adventured to make some levies of men in Rome pretending that the French on some occasions had practised the like but the People not being ignorant of the bad pay and ill treatment of the Spaniards came very slowly to enroll their names and moreover a report was rumoured abroad that many people were wanting who were hid in Cellars by the Spaniards till an opportunity presented to transport them into Sicily This report whether it were true or false yet served the turn of such who delighted in troubles and Seditions for being entertained with some malice in the minds of the people they conceived such an abhorrence of the Spanish Nation that they affronted them in all places which sometimes proceeded to fightings and scuffles in which several were killed and wounded but the Spaniards being few in number and the weaker side were at last forced to keep within their quarters for fear of the multitude The Pope to suppress these tumults and prevent disorders punished several persons who were guilty of the Riots with just severity but the Spanish Ambassadour not contented herewith pretended some higher and more exemplary satisfaction at which the Pope grew angry declaring that the Ambassadour was in arrear to him and obliged rather to give than to demand satisfaction upon which the Ambassadour to shew his resentment refused to appear at Court and at the same time the Vice-King of Naples without any cause or reason denied Audience to the Pope's Nuntio at that City This manner of proceeding was highly
when he petition'd with all humility to send him a Pall he did it and restor'd him to his Authority in this form of words We are persuaded by thy Letter to send thy Brotherhood a Pall together with the Blessing of the Sea Apostolick which kind of Honour was never before conferr'd upon any person absent from us After that he gave a Pall and several priviledges to the Arch bishop of Toledo who came to Rome and swore fidelity to the Pope and made him Primate of all Spain But he laid a Curse upon the King of Portugal and all the Diocese of St. James because he had thrown the Bishop of that Province into Prison without hearing what he had to say for himself About the same time Henry Bishop of Soissons came to Urban at Rome and freely quitted his Bishoprick which he had received from the King of France without any hopes of Restitution Whereupon Urban lest his Diocese should suffer for want of a Bishop restored him to his Bishoprick though he were unwilling to take it but he was sworn in this manner I for the future will not communicate with any that are excommunicated by this Sea wittingly and willingly nor will I ever be present at the Consecrations of those that accept of Bishopricks or Abbies against Law and Reason from Laymen and so help me God and this holy Gospel I never intend to break my resolution So also they say he dealt with the Bishop of Bellay Nor can any one say he was pertinacious for doing so for he knew how and when to alter his mind upon occasion which every good Man should do For when he had admitted a Clerk whom Gibert the Anti-Pope had made a Sub deacon to second Orders he chang'd his mind because it was a thing of ill Example and like to be of very pernicious consequence He confirm'd the Order of Cistercians which was first set up in Burgundy and some say the Carthusians began their Order in his time though others say it was in the time of Victor III. But when Urban had settled the Church of God not onely by his pains and Example but by his Writings too which he set forth against the Hereticks he died near St. Nicolas's in the House of Peter Leo an eminent Citizen twelve years four months and nineteen days after he came to the Popedom upon the 28th of August His Body was carried over Tiber to avoid the contrivances of his Enemies who would have done him an injury if possible after death and buried very honourably in St. Peter's at the Vatican PASCHAL II. PASCHAL the Second before call'd Raynerius an Italian of Romagna whose Father's name was Crescentius and his Mother Alphacia was chosen Pope about that time when the Christians fought in Asia and took Antioch into which they were lett by Pyrrhus an eminent Citizen For he admired Böemunds valour so much that he promised to surrender the City to 'em if the rest of the Christians would let Böemund be Governour of it The Christians when they enter'd the City spared almost all but onely that they were severe upon the Saracens and Cassianus their King who fled to the Mountains was kill'd by the Armenians They had taken all but the Castle which whilest Böemund attaqued he was shot through the thigh with an Arrow which pained him so that he was fain to desist from the Siege for several days But when Corbanes the King of persia's General came up with Sensadolus Castianus's Son to retake Antioch Böemund was by that time well of his Wound met and would have engaged ' em But the Enemy kept up in the Mountains and could not be tempted to fight by any means Whereupon Böemund being necessitated for lack of Provisions was resolv'd to fight 'em though the place was much to his disadvantage So he order'd that Lance wherewith Longinus pierced Christ's side which they found in St. Andrew's Church at Antioch to be carry'd before 'em as the best Ensign they could have and marching up to 'em he defeated them with the slaughter of an hundred thousand though at first they made a brisk resistance Besides that they say there were fifteen thousand Camels taken in their Camp and so much plunder carry'd off that from the greatest extremity of want they were advanced to the greatest abundance of all things necessary The Governour of the Castle when he knew of it surrender'd the Castle to Böemund and embraced the Christian Faith and all that were in the Garrison if they would do the like were permitted to march off with Bag and Baggage whither they pleased After that there arose a great debate betwixt Böemund and Raymund when Böemund demanded Antioch and Raymund said it belong'd to the Emperour of Constantinople by the contract they had before freely made But the Priests to whom it was referr'd gave it to Böemund without any more ado In the mean time Hugo Magnus who was gone to Constantinople to compose things died and then the other Officers all but Raymund who besieged Caesarea in Cappadocia resolv'd to go to Jerusalem with their Army and rendezvouz'd in Lycia But by the way they attempted to take Tortosa and after they had spent three months in vain they raised the Siege and march'd to Tripoli the petit King of which place furnish'd 'em liberally with Mony Provisions and Arms and thereby obtain'd a Peace upon Condition that he if Jerusalem were taken should embrace the Christian Religion Hence they removed and passing by Coesarea in Palestine came at five encampings to Jerusalem which stands upon an high Hill and is divided also by several Dales so that it cannot be besieged but by a very great Army Beside there wants Fountains and River-waters which are necessary for an Army For there is no other rivolet but Siloe and that very little in the Summer time and sometimes nothing at all which runs down Mount Sion into the Valley of 〈◊〉 Yet there are a great many Cisterns in the City and the Countrey to furnish the Citizens with Water but cannot supply great Armies and Beasts of carriage Notwithstanding the Christians got what Provisions they could and attaqued the City in four places very fiercely whilest the Jerusalemites defended it as stoutly and upon the 13th of July they took it by storm the thirty ninth day after they began to besiege it in the year 1499. four hundred and ninety years after the Saracens took it under the Reign of Heraclius Godfrey was most to be commended in that action for that he first master'd that part of the Wall which was allotted for him and his Brother to storm and help'd Balion down into the City to open the Gates for the Christians at whose entrance there was such a slaughter both in the City and especially in the Temple that Men were above the ancles in bloud And the same day they had taken the Temple too if Night had not come upon ' em However the next day the Attaque was