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THE CHAIR OF PETER
THE CHAIR OP PETEE,
OR
THE PAPACY
CONSIDERED IN ITS INSTITUTION, DEVELOPMENT,
AND ORGANIZATION,
AND IN
THE BENEFITS WHICH, FOR OVER EIGHTEEN CENTURIES,
IT HAS CONFERRED OM MANKIND.
JOHN NICHOLAS MUEPHY,
SOMAN COUNT,
AUTHOK OF "TEKKA INCOGNITA."
%%\X& OEliitian,
WITH EVENTS AND STATISTIOS BBOITGHT DOWN TO THE PEKSBNT TIME.
'* Beatitudini tuse, id est CathedrsB Petri, communione consocior.
Super illam pettam sedificatam £ccle6iam scio." — Saint Jeromk
(Letter to Pope Damasus, a.d. 376).
LONDON: BUENS AND GATES, Ld.
PU]
[888,
NEW YORK : CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIElfT CO.
1888.
BY
\T\t rigJita of tratislation aTui of reproduction are ruervcd.']
TO MY FELLOW-SUBJECTS
OF ALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNIONS,
I RESPECTFULLY DEDICATE THIS BOOK
ON WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE
THE MAIN BULWARK OF RELIGION, LAW, AND ORDER,
AGAINST THE CONTINUOUS ATTACKS
OF INFIDELITY AND SOCIALISM,
IN THE PRESENT DAY.
HENRICUS F. NEVILLE,
Censor deputatus.
Jmptimatur.
>i> GULIBLMUS DELAISTY,
Episoopus Cokcagiensis.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
In this Edition, I have been enabled, by the progress
of events, to complete the history of the Kulturkampf,
practically brought to a dose by the Ecclesiastical
Laws Amendment Act of 1887 — a measure of relief
for which the hitherto grievously oppressed German
Catholics are indebted to four main causes; namely,
the firm, prudent, and conciliatory attitude of Pope
Leo XIII.; the devoted fidelity of the Bishops and
Priests to the See of Peter; the gallant action of the
Parliamentary " Centre " party, zealously sustained
by the entire body of the German Catholic electors ;
and the wise discretion of the Imperial Chancellor, in
courageously retracing his steps, by the removal of the
greater part of those disabilities, which, fourteen years
ago, he imposed on more than one third of the total
population of Prussia.
I have further been enabled to enter into the details
of the Mediation of the Holy Father between Germany
and Spain, in the affair of the Caroline Islands — an
event the importance of which it is impossible to over-
estimate. Indeed, now that the attention of the whole
civilized world has for some time been painfully ab-
sorbed by the signs and portents of a Continental war.
VIU PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
this successful instance of a pacific arrangement, so re-
cently effected by the intervention of His Holiness, at
the request of the two Powers concerned, is again and
again cited in the mouths of men, and in the public
Press of various countries, as an apposite precedent in
the existing state of affairs.
It is true that judicious alliances for the preservation
of peace, such as the Treaty recently concluded be-
tween Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, and now
spoken of as " the Central European League of Peace,"
will always constitute the most powerful factors in
successfully dealing with such conjunctures as the
present ; but the cause of Peace may now, and doubt-
less will, on future occasions, be further largely pro-
moted by the Mediation or other pacific intervention
of the Pope, which, when invoked by the parties in-
terested, will ever, assuredly, be most readily accorded.
A hopeful augury of this desirable consummation
is the respectful attention with which the recent pro-
nouncements of the Holy Father on this and cognate
subjects have been received, and the deep interest with
which they have been discussed in the various organs
of public opinion throughout the civilized world, as
well as the cordial relations that subsist between all
the Powers and the Vatican, as most pleasingly ex-
emplified in this auspicious year of the Sacerdotal
Golden Jubilee of His Holiness.
In the particular case of Papal Mediation above
referred to, we must not overlook the weighty circum-
stance, that this happy solution of a grave difiiculty
was, in the first instance, proposed by the non-Catholic
minister of a leading Protestant state — the Chancellor
of the great German Empire, perhaps the ablest, the
PKEFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. ix
most far-seeing, and certainly the most powerful states-
man of modern times.
Intimately connected with the question of Papal
Mediation is the officially expressed desire of the Pope
to have placed on a secure basis the complete freedom
of the Church, and the thoroughly guaranteed personal
and political independence of its Supreme Pastor ; which
at present do not exist.^ An indispensable preliminary
to this most desirable change, would be the reconcilia-
tion of the Vatican and the Quirinal, which would
largely promote, alike, the welfare of the Church, and
the best interests of the Kingdom of Italy,
In his Allocution of May 23rd, 1887, after dwell-
ing with pleasure on the restoration of religious peace
in Germany, the Holy Father says : —
Would that the spirit of peace with which We are animated
towards all nations may be shared in by Italy, which God Him-
self has so closely united with the Roman Pontificate, and which
is naturally so dear to Us. As We have often said, We have
long and most earnestly desired that the minds of all Italians
should be in possession of assured peace, and that the fatal
differences with the Roman Pontificate should at length be re-
moved ; without detriment, however, to justice, or to the dignity
of the Apostolic See, of which the rights are not so much violated
by national hostility as they are by the conspiracy of sects.
The King of Italy is stated to be equally anxious for
this reconciliation, as are the great majority of the
Italian people, who are now, at length, adopting prac-
tical means, within the constitution, to promote its
accomplishment. The first step, already initiated, is
the preparation of a monster petition to the Italian
legislature, to be signed by electors and heads of fami-
' See Index, " Law of Guarantees ; " also chapter xli., passim.
X PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
Kes, praying the repeal of the laws unjustly affecting
the national religion, and the restoration of its freedom
and dignity to the Holy See. To mere human appre-
hension, the question doubtless appears to be, under ex-
isting circumstances, one of great gravity and difficulty ;
but to many, regarding the course of recent events and
the well proved wisdom and prudence of the Holy
Father, and, above all, relying on the words of Him
Who has promised to abide for ever with His Church,
there seems good reason to hope that it is a problem of
which the solution lies in the near future.
Of the general contents of this book, I have little
further to add here. I may however observe that the
statistics are brought down to the present year. In
the chapter on the Hierarchy, the changes are great
and important. In the concluding chapter, the most
recent phases in the persecution of the Church in
Prance and Italy are referred to, as well as the actual
position of the organization of Catholics for the consti-
tutional defence of their altars, and of their inalienable
right to educate their children in the religion of their
fathers. The completely successful results of that
organization in Germany and Belgium are given to the
latest date. The question is also alluded to, of the
abstention of Catholics in Italy from voting at Parlia-
mentary elections. Easy reference to all the new
matter will be found, under its several heads, in the
Index.
Clifton, Cork, December Zth, 1887.
LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIII.
LEO, PP. XIII.
Dilecte Pili Salutem et] Apostolicamj Benedictionem.
Allatum Nobis fuit obsequiosis junctum Utteris, postridie
Idus Januarias datis, exemplar libri a te anglice exarati et
inscripti " The Chair of Peter " quod Nobis done misisti.
Nequivimus, Dilecte Fili, non delectari admodum turn
sensibus fiUalis studii et observantise singularis quos per eas
litteras exprompsisti, turn iis rationibus quas te permovisse
significas ad eum librum conscribendum. Dignum namque
pio et cordato viro Ulud est quod tibi propositum esse
affirmas, tueri nimirum contra grassantes errores Catho-
licain doctiinam, calumnias refellere quels Bcclesia impet-
itur, et benefacta ostendere quse ab hac Apostolica Sede per
ssBCula ferme undeviginti in. humanum genus dimanarunt.
Hoc operis suscepti consilium cum tibi laudi est, turn Nobis
accidit gratissimum; expedire enim censemus, ut, in hoc
gravi bello quo Catholica Keligio premitur, qui inter fideles
doctrina et prudentia prsestant, ingenii vires et industiiam
suam eo conferant, ut penitius indies agnoscant homines et
impensius diligant Ecclesiam, quse a Ohristo Domino con-
stituta est, ut omnibus lux veritatis affulgeat, omnibus certa
pateat saJutis via. Confisi itaque, Dilecte Fili, opus tuum
egregise voluntati qua illud scripsisti apprime respondere,
simulque optantes ut ex eo utiles ac salutares fructus per-
( ^ii )
dpiant legentes, pro tuo erga Nos officio meritas Tibi
gratias habemus, atque Apostolicam Benedictionem, patemae
dilectionis testem, Tibi tuisque peramanter impertimus.
Datum Eomse apud S. Petrum die iv. Martii Anno
MDcccLxxxvi., Pontificatus Nostri Nono.
LEO, PP. XIII.
Dilecto Filio,
COMITI JOANNI NiCOLAO MUEPHT,
COECAGIAM m HiBEBNIA.
[TRANSLATION.]
LEO, PP. XIIL
Beloved Son, Health and Apostolical Benediction. A
copy of a book written in English by you, and named
"The Chair of Peter," has been presented to Us, together
with your dutiful letter dated the 14th of January. "We
could not. Beloved Son, be otherwise than very much
pleased with the sentiments of filial devotion and singular
reverence which you have expressed in that letter, and
also with the reasons you set forth which induced you to
write that book. For worthy of a pious and earnest man
are the objects which you state you proposed to yourself —
namely, to defend Catholic doctrine against the errors by
which it is impugned, to refute the calumnies by which the
Church is assailed, and to show the benefits which, for
close on nineteen centuries, have abundantly flowed to the
himian race from this Apostolic See. This design of the
work undertaken by you, while it is praiseworthy on your
( xiii )
part, is most gratifying to Us, for We deem it expedient
that, in the grievous war now being waged against the
Catholic religion, those among the faithful who excel in
learning and prudence should devote their powers of mind
and their industry to the end that men should every day
more thoroughly acknowledge and more earnestly love the
Church, which has been established by Christ in order that
to all the light of truth may shine, to all a sure way of
salvation may lie open. Trusting therefore, Beloved Son,
that your work will eminently answer the excellent intention
with which you have written it, and at the same time wish-
ing that readers may gather from it useful and salutary
fruits, We thank you as you deserve for your devotion to
TJs, and, in testimony of Our paternal affection. We
very lovingly impart to you and yours ^the Apostolical
Benediction.
Given at Rome at Saint Peter's the fourth day of March
in the year 1886, the ninth of Our Pontificate.
LEO, PP. XIII.
To Our Beloved Son,
Count John Nicholas Muephy,
lCoek, Iebland.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAQS
I. Intkodiiction I
II. Scriptural Proofs of the Primacy of Peter 5
III. The Early Fathers on the Primacy of Peter 26
IV. Saint Peter, Bishop of Eome .... 47
V. Saint Peter's Successors in the See of Rome 70
VI. The Relations of Popes with Councils . . 85
VII. Appellate Jurisdiction of the Holy See . iij
VIII. The Greek Schism 130
IX. Origin of the Temporal Power of the Popes 156
X. The Growth of the Temporal Power . .168
XI. Collapse of the Western Empire . . .176.
XII. Donations of Pepin and Charlemagne . .187
XIII. Charlemagne crowned Emperor of the "West 202
XIV. Diplomas of the Emperors Louis, Otho, and
Saint Henry 210
XV. Relations of the Popes and the Emperors . 213
XVI. Vicissitudes of the Temporal Power in the
Middle Ages 22a
XVII. Saint Gregory VII 226.
XVIII. The Temporal Power ix the Twelfth Cen-
tury 254
XIX. The Temporal Power — Centuries XIII. to
XVIII. . 262
XX. The Great Schism of the West . . .274
XXI. Wycliffe 287
XXII. Luther and the Great Protestant Secession 30^
XVI CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
XXIII. The Other Leading Reformers . . . 344
XXIV. Introduction of the Reformation into
England . . 35^
XXV. The Council of Trent . • • 3^5
XXVI. The Symbolic Books op the Protestants 371
XXVII. The Religious Census of Europe . . 382
XXVIII. Effects of the Reformation in Protes-
tant States .... . . 391
XXIX. The Kulturkampf, and Catholic Organi-
zation 399
XXX. The Art of Printing and the Bible
before the Reformation .... 410
XXXI. Pius VL . . . .... 420
XXXII. Pius VII. ... . . 430
XXXIII. Pius IX. . . . . . . 453
XXXIV. Papal Infallibility . . 477
XXXV. The Hierarchy . . . 504
XXXVI. Ancient Papal Elections . . . .537
XXXVII. Alleged Unworthy Popes .... 545
XXXVIII. Cardinals 568
XXXIX. A Modern Papal Election .... 602
XL. Benefits conferred by the Papacy on
Mankind 619
XLI. Conclusion .... 654
Index .... . . 667
THE CHAIR OF PETEB.
CHAPTER L
INTKODUCTION.
The Papacy just now, for obvious reasons, absorbs a large
amount of public interest, likely to increase with each
successive year : and certainly there is no subject about
which, on calm investigation, there will be found to
exist more ignorance and misconception, and prejudice,
their necessary result. This latter fact is undeniable.
Its cause is evident.
In the Articles of Schmalkalden, drawn up by Luther
and his associates, in the year 1537, as an unalterable
basis of the creed of the Eeformation, they declare : —
That the Pope is not of Divine right ; that the power usurped
hy him is full of arrogance and blasphemy ; that all which he
has done and does, in virtue of that power, is diabolical ; . . .
and finally that the Pope is the true anti-Christ.
This doctrine has been continuously taught and
preached — it may be in more moderate language — by
the followers of Luther, down to the present day; so
that it is not only held by the unreflecting multitude,
but it is also professed, even against their own kindly
nature, by some of the most learned, most sincere, and
most pious members of the Protestant communion.
A
2 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
In his . Apologia pro vita sm, Cardinal Newman
says : —
But now, as to the third point on which I stood in 1833, and
■which I have utterly renounced and trampled upon since,— my
then view of the Church of Rome ;— I will speak about it as
exactly as I can. When I was young, as I have said already, and
after I was grown up, I thought the Pope to be anti-Christ. At
Christmas, 1824-25, 1 preached a sermon to that effect. In 1827 I
accepted eagerly the stanza in the " Christian Year," which many
peo^e thought too charitable, " Speak genily of thy sister'a fall."
From the time I knew Fronde I got less and less bitter on the
subject.!
Again, His Eminence says : —
As a matter, then, of simple conscience, though it went against
my feelings, I felt it to be a duty to protest against the Church
of Rome. But, besides this, it was a duty, because the prescrip-
tion of such a protest was a living principle of my own Church,
as expressed in not simply a catena, but a consensi(,s of her divines,
and the voice of her people. Moreover, such a protest was neces-
sary, as an integral portion of her controversial basis ; for I
adopted the argument of Bernard Gilpin, that Protestants " were
not able to give any jkm and solid reason of the separation , besides
this, to wit, that the Pope is anti-Christ." But while I thus
thought such a protest to be based upon truth, and to be a reli-
gious duty, and a rule of Anglicanism, and a necessity of the
case, I did not at all like the work.*
As these and other mistaken ideas of the kind,
regarding the Holy See and its occupant, still exten-
sively prevail, it may be useful, and certainly it appears
more desirable than ever at the present moment, that
there should be set forth a clear and explicit statement
of the Catholic doctrine of the Primacy of Saint Peter
and his successors, and of the grounds on which that
doctrine is based; together with a review, from a
Catholic standpoint, of the Papacy in its institution,
development, and organization, and a necessarily con-
densed history of the Temporal Power of the Popes
all brought down to the present day.*
^ "Apologia," p. 124. London, 1864. " Ibid., p. 128.
° Several able treatises in our language have been published on par-
INTRODUCTION. 3
Accordingly, as a layman, I venture to contribute
my humble share to this work, which I trust will be
continued by far abler hands ; and I am encouraged to
do so by the circumstance, that the subject has ever
been to me one of peculiar interest, and consequently
has engaged much of my attention.
To the reflecting Christian there must always be
something fascinating in the story of the humble Fish-
erman of Galilee, chosen by the world's Eedeemer, to
be His Vicar and the Visible Head of His Church —
that Church which was built upon Peter. The un-il
broken line of Peter's successors, which Catholics!
believe will endure to the end of time — that august
dynasty, continuously assaikd, but supernaturally up-
held— is a similar instance of the Divine power and
wisdom. Everything connected with the subject, while
abounding with interest, is matter for deep thought and
reverent investigation.
But, besides the interest and importance of the sub-
ject itself, there is an aU-sufiBcient reason why, just
now, it should be set in its proper light, and entirely
freed from the mists of ignorance and prejudice. And
that reason is, that in our day there is being waged an
unceasing warfare of unbelief against faith, of mate-
rialism against Christianity. Formerly, it was a ques-
tion of conflicting Christian creeds — Protestant against
Catholic. Now, it is, as pre-eminently seen in tl\e
proceedings of the French and Italian Chambers, an
unrelaxing struggle between those who deny, and those
, who believe in, the Gospel of Christ. Assuredly all
*;Christian communions should be united in presence
of this common danger: and, in order to promote so
desirable an end, our separated brethren, instead of
misrepresenting or misapprehending the tenets of the
ticular branches of the subject. Archbishop Kenriok's " Prunaey of
the Apostolic See," a most valuable work, deals with the whole ques-
tion ; but, having been written thirty-seven years ago, it does not
enbrgiQe the important events of this and the past generation.
4 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Catholic Church, ought loyally to accept her own ac-
count of the faith which is in her.
The devotion of Catholics of all ages and nations to
the Successor of Saint Peter, the reverence and filial
obedience which they render to him as the Vicar of
Christ, and the same -devotion, reverence and obedience
paid him by so many who formerly were distinguished
members of the Anglican communion, are in themselves
a standing argument against those writers and preachers
who inveigh against the Church of Eome and its Chief
Pastor.
During the last half-century, there has been a move-
ment within the bosom of the Anglican Church — a
" Eome- ward tendency," which, however some may
disapprove of it, all must admit to result from the
purest and loftiest motives. Undeniably, among the
seceders are some of the most highly gifted, most
exemplary, and best subjects of the realm — men who,
in obedience to the voice of conscience, have severed
family ties, cherished friendships, and life-long associa-
tions, and, in some instances, heroically leaving all to
follow Christ, have resigned valuable Church livings
and prospects of preferment, on which their families
depended altogether for their maintenance and settle-
ment in life. Surely such men must have clearly seen
their way out of the haze through which they had been
taught to regard the Catholic Church from their child-
hood. To join that Church, once they were convinced,
they freely sacrificed all that the world had given or
could give them ; and thus, in the words of the vene-
rable divine above quoted, they "utterly renounced
and trampled upon " the erroneous impressions of their
earlier years. Among those impressions, doubtless, not
the least was, that " the Pope is the true anti-Christ."
CHAPTER II.
SCRIPTURAL PROOFS OF THE PRIMACY OF PETER.
" Pierre paratt le premier en toutes mani^res ; le premier h confesser
la foi ; le premier dans I'obligation d'exercer I'amour ; le premier de
tons les Ap6tres, qui vit le Sauveur ressucit^ dea morta, comme il en
avait ^t^ le premier t^moin devant tout le peuple ; le premier quand il
fallut remplir le nombre dea Apdtres ; le premier qui confirma la foi
par un miracle ; le premier h, convertir les Juifs ; le premier h. recevoir
les Gentils ; le premier partout. Mais je ne puis tout dire ; tout con-
court k ^tablir sa primaut^ ; oui, tout, jusqu'b, sea fautes." — Bossubt.
Foe a long period, the title IIdinra<;, Papa, Pape, or
Pope, has been borne by the Bishop of Eome, who is
regarded by Catholics as the successor of Saint Peter^
not only as Bishop of Eome, but as Visible Head of
the Church, and Vicar on earth of Jesus Christ its
Founder.^ The word signifies Father, or, according to
some authorities, Father of Fathers,^ and was in tlie
early ages of Christianity applied to bishops generally ;
but, in the commencement of the sixth century, it
began to be exclusively aj)plied to the Bishop of Eome,
and at the close of the ninth, or early in the tenth
century, it had become universally adopted, as his
special designation.
' In the Greek Church, the title Yliinrai is still given to all the
clergy — the chief priest being styled irpm-oirdTTas, or " first father ; "
aa we use " Father ; " the French, Pire; the Italians, Padre, etc. ; thus
indicating the paternal relations of a paator to his flock.
* Some writers would derive Papa from the first syllables of the
wsrda i'oter Potrum, Father of Fathers, thua abbreviated. See
Bracci, "La Etimologia del Nome Papa," p. 102 et seq., Rome, 1630.
This derivation, however, seems somewhat far-fetched; although
actually it ia in this sense that the title waa originally given to
bishops and patriarchs, and subsequently exclusively attributed to the
Pope, as we shall presently see.
6 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
And this was the case alike in the Eastern and
Western Churches. Thus, Ennodius Ticinensis, the
learned Bishop of Pavia, Cassiodorus, and Liberatus,
" used to call the Bishop of Kome Pope, and the pre-
lates of all other Churches Bishops, in the sixth
century; and the custom gradually grew, so that, at
the close of the ninth, or the commencement of the
tenth century, the name of Pope was commonly attri-
buted, not to bishops or patriarchs, but to the Eoman
Pontiff alone." ^ To the same effect is the evidence of
the learned Maronite, Abraham Ecchelensis,^ treating
of the Oriental Churches, in his exhaustive work on
the subject, in which he proves, from the writings of
" learned and holy " Oriental bishops, that the Easterns
followed the same usage as the Western Christians in
this regard; first calling their patriarchs and bishops
Ah Aba, that is, Father of Fathers, but, in the course
of time, transferring and exclusively assigning the title
to the occupant of the See of Eome.*
He further observes, that, as early as the middle of
the third century, the Egyptian bishops, ordained by
Heraclas, Patriarch of Alexandria, began to call their
patriarch Ab Aba, which is Father of Fathers, and the
name was known from that time.* Afterwards, it was
^ Pagi, " Pontificum Eomanormu Gesta," torn. i. p. 5, Veaice, 1730.
Francis Pagi, a learned Franciscan, wrote the above work, published
in four volumes 4to, giving the lives of the Popes from St. Peter to
fingenlus IV. He was a painstaking and accurate writer. He died
in 1721, aged 67. A fifth and a sixth volume were added by his
nephew, a.d. 1748-1753.
^ Abraham Ecchelensis, a Maronite of Mount Lebanon, and a most
accomplished Oriental scholar, was, along with others, employed by
the sacred congregation De Propaganda Fide, in making an Arabic
translation of the Scriptures, a.d. 1636. He removed to Rome, for
the prosecution of his work, in 1652 ; and there he became Professor
of Oriental languages. He died in B«me, in 1664,
' Abraham Ecchelensis, "EutycWus Vindicatus; pars altera Da
Origine Nominis Papse et ejusdem Primatu," pp. 99-101. Borne
1660. '
* Heraclas governed the Patriarchal See of Alexandria, sixteen
years; a.d. 232-248. See Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History," book
y i., chaps. 26 and 35.
SCEIPTURAL PROOFS OF THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 7
transferred from tlie See of Alexandria to the Eoman
See, " because it is the See of the Apostle Peter, the
greatest of the disciples, and the Prince of the Apostles,
and Peter was the Patriarch of Eome, and his successor
is called Pope to this day." ^
And again : " Papa is a name derived from the Syriac
language, and is composed of these two words Ab Aba,
and signifies Father of Fathers, that is Grandfather,
Formerly it was common to all bishops j but it was
afterwards transferred to the Eoman Pontiff, and be-
came his exclusively, because he is the successor of
Peter and the Father of all Fathers." ^
He further quotes an ancient Mahometan writer, who
bears testimony to the fact, that the Oriental " bishops,
hearing the patriarchs call the Eoman Pontiff Aba,
said among themselves, 'It is right that we should
call the Eoman Pontiff Ab Aba ' (Pope). And thence-
forward the Eoman Bishop was known by this name,
above all others, among all the worshippers of the
Christian religion." ^
In the year 817, the Emperor Louis le D^bonnaire,
in his Diploma, speaks of Pope Pascal as " Supreme
Pontiff and Universal Pope — Bomino Pascfiali, Summo
PoyitifiM et UJtvaersali Fapce." i^^'^ — ^
FinaUy,'in_tha-yearr0747Tn-areoHacil-?fluch he held
/in Eome, Pope Gregory VII. decreed that the title of
Pope should be borne exclusively by the Eoman Pontiff,
and that it should not be lawful for any one to assume
iL or to attrib^teJi-to-any other-perstJiK*-^ —
Iif^the'^th century, observes Doctor Dollinger, the
name of Pope, Ta'pa, was first applied exclusively to
^ Georgius Homaidius ^gyptius, "Ohroniei in Nerone," par. i.,
apud Ecchelensem, '^De Origine Nominis Papae," pp. 99, 100.
^ Gabriel Elahi, Archiepiscopua Ledrensis, " Liber de Saoerdotio,"
cap. iii., de Sacris Ordinibus et Ecclesiasticis Bignitatibus ; apud
Ecchelensem, ibid,, pp. loi, 102.
* Abubacrua Habbasides, "Apology against the Christians," par. 2;
apud Ecchelensem, ibid., pp. 102, 103.
^ Concilia, in luco, Eccheleusia, p. 104, Bracci, p. 23.
8 THE CHAIK OF PETEE.
the Bishop of Eome, by certain writers; whilst by
others it was given, as late as the tenth age, to all
bishops in general. " But," he continues, " there were
not wanting names and titles, which, in the fourth and
fifth centuries, fully expressed the supreme ecclesias-
tical power and dignity of the Pope. He was called
father of fathers, the shepherd and the guardian of the
flock of Christ, the chief of all bishops, the guardian
of the vineyard of Christ. The Church of Eome was
named, by pre-eminence, the Apostolic See, the chief
of all Churches, the rock, the foundation of faith, the
Church which, as Prosper sings, possessed more by
religion than the city had before possessed by arms ; so
that Eome had become more powerful by the see of the
first bishop than it had been, in the first ages, by. the
throne of worldly dominion." ^
The topics here referred to will bsLtreated. in theiri
~own~plae6^rrrittrther jon. Meanwhiie/Tef us brieflyl
examine what CatEoKcs' actually believe about the
spiritual supremacy of Saint Peter and his successors
in the See of Eome, and the reasons, or proofs, on
-which that doctrine is based.
TbgCgtholic belief is, that Sirint-Peter was TTot^only
the head of the College of Apostles, but the divinely
constituted chief pastor of the Universal Church ; and
that the Bishop of Eome is Peter's successor, and, as
such, possesses the same authority and jurisdiction as
that Apostle received from Christ; and that all the
faithful, without exception, owe him veneration, and
obedience in matters spiritual.
The divinely conferred authority and jurisdiction of
Saint Peter over the Universal Church are proved,
according to Catholic doctrine, in the following passages
of Holy Scripture.
' "History of the Church," period the second, chap. v. sec. 3.
These words of Dr. DoUinger have peculiar interest, owing to the
antagonistic position to the Holy See, which that learned divine has
unfortunately taken up since they were written.
SCRIPTURAL PROOFS OF THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 9
In the sixteenth chapter of Saint Matthew, verses
16-19, -we read, that, when Peter confessed the Divinity i
of Christ, our Lord said to him, "Blessed art thou,|
Simon Bar-Jona : because flesh and blood hath not,
revealed it to thee, but My Father, who is in heaven,,-
And I say to thee : That thou art Peter ; and upon thia'
rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee
the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoeve][
thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also irl
heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth
it ^hallbe loosed also in heaven." i |
^Sm, |kl the twenty-second chapter of Saint Luke,'
verses 29-32, we read, that our Lord said to His '
Apostles: "And I appoint to you, as My Father hath,
appointed to Me, a kingdom : That you may eat and[
drink at My table, in My kingdom : and may sit upon
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And the
Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired
to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I
have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not : and thou,
being once converted, confirm thy brethren^" Here,
' The full meaning of the text will be best understood in the
original, the Syro-Chaldaic, in which our Lord spoke, and which was
the common language of the Jews at the time. It had superseded the
old Hebrew, and is called Hebrew in the New Testament, as well as
by several ancient writers. According to Fax>ias, Origen, Saint Irenaeus,
Eusebius, Saint Jerome, Saint Epipfaanius, and other Fathers Saint
Matthew wrote his Gospel in this language. In it, Peter and rock
are expressed by the same word, Cephas ; as, in the French, we have,
" Tu es Pierre, et sur cette pierre je b^tirai mon ^glise." Saint, Luke
and Saint John wrote their Gospels in Greek, while Saint Mark, who
wrote his at Rome, under the eye of Saint Peter, is supposed by some
to have written in Latin ; but more probably he used Greek, which
language was quite familiar to the Romans. The Evangelists who
wrote in Greek translate Cephas into TLirpoi, from irirpa, a rock, as
the Latins write Petrus from petra — the word for rock, in both lan-
guages, being feminine, whilst in the Syro-Chaldaic, as we have seen,
there is no such difference of termination. This subject is largely
treated in the learned work already referred to — " Eutychius Vindi-
catus, pars altera De Origine Nominis Papae et ejusdem Primatu," by
Abraham Ecchelensis, pp. 192-209.
lO THE CHAIR OF PJETEK.
the Divine Founder of the Church alludes to the
persecutions and dangers that the powers of darkness
would raise up against her, and the various schisms and
heresies that would exist from time to time; and He
then individually addresses Peter — the rock on which
He will build His Church, and to whom He will give
the keys of the kingdom of Heaven — and He says
to him; "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith
fail not : and thou, being once converted, confirm thy
brethren."
. Thus far, we have the promises of our Lord to Peter.
They had reference altogether to the future. They
were to take effect after the Resurrection, when Peter
was to be exalted to the high office and dignity of
Visible Head of the Church, and Vicar of Jesus Christ.
As admitted by all divines, non-Catholic as well
as Catholic, Peter,, in the lifetime of our Lord on
earth, held a precedency of rank, and was the first, or
chief, of the College of Apostles. , In this we must
recognise the design of God, preparing; "the great
Apostle " for the primacy which he was to enjoy after
the Ascension. When Peter was introduced to Christ
by his brother Andrew, " Jesus, looking at him, said :
Thou art Simon the son of Jona : thou shalt be called
Cephas, which is interpreted Peter." ^ Why He so
named the Apostle, our Lord subsequently explained,
in the passage already quoted from the Gospel of Saint
Matthew, when He told him, that he was the rock on
which He would build His Church. When Christ
gave power to His twelve disciples to cast out unclean
spirits, and to heal all manner of diseases and all man-
ner of sicknesses, Peter is enumerated, in the Gospel,
as "the first" — Tr/awros Si/jmv 6 7i^6fievo<} Ueroo?.*
Indeed, in naming the Apostles, the Evangelists, in
eveiy instance, place Peter first, the names of the
others being placed indifferently, save that of Judas^
which is always given last. Moreover, in the New
' John i. 42. " Matt. x. i, 2.
SCBIPTUEAL PROOFS OF THE PRIMACY OF PETER. I I
Testament, we frequently meet with such expressions
as " Peter and the rest," " Peter and the Apostles."
It is unnecessary to dwell, at length, on the several
other occasions on which this precedency of order or
rank was enjoyed hy Peter, and all which prefigured,
and prepared the way for, the primacy of authority
and jurisdiction which he was afterwards to enjoy. It
was Peter whom Christ commanded to walk to Him
upon the waters, and stretched out His hand to sup-
port, when, overcome by fear, he was about to sink.^
It was from the bark of Peter that Christ taught the
multitudes, on the shore of the Lake of Genesareth.^
It was Peter whom he commanded to launch out into
the deep, and let down his nets; resulting in the
miraculous draught of fishes — ^typical of the conversion
of multitudes to the faith ; ^ and it was to Peter He
said, " Pear not ; thou shalt henceforward catch men." *
Por Peter, He paid tribute as well as for Himself.^ Of
His Transfiguration, Peter was the principal witness ; *
and when by Peter, James, and John, He was ac-
companied to the Garden of Gethsemane, and found
them sleeping while He prayed. He addressed His
reproof of the three to one — ^the principal person —
saying, " Simon, sleepest thou ? Couldst thou not watch
with me one hour?"^ Then, after His Eesurrection,
He appeared to Peter before the rest of the Apostles,^
having previously sent to Peter in particular the news
"Xjs being risen.^
The'*ii«ely faith of Peter, too, was pre-eminently
manifested on several occasions, on which we find him
speaking with decision and authority, not for himself
alone, but for all the Apostles, who silently acquiesce
in his words. In the notable instance already referred
to, we have it on the authority of our Saviour himself-
_ -8-^nSEe^v. 3. ' Luke v. 4.
^ Ma.tt. xvii. 23-26. ° Matt. xvii. 1-4.
' Matt. xxvi. 37-40 ; Mark xiv. 33-37.
8 I Cor. XV. 5 ; Luke xxiv. 34. ' Mark xvi. 7.
I 2 THE CHAIR OF PETER,
that Peter's clear vision and knowledge of His divinity
was a special revelation of the Eternal Father ^ — a
revelation evidently made to him, as the Prince of the
Apostles, as the rock on which the Church was to be
built, as the future key-bearer of Heaven, and visible
Head of the Church, after its Divine Founder should
have ceased to dwell upon earth. Another striking
example was, when -some of the disciples, scandalized
at the doctrine of the Blessed Eucharist, deserted Jesus,
and He " said to the twelve : Will you also go away ?
And Simon Peter answered Him : Lord to whom shall
we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we
have believed and have known that Thou art the Christ
the Son of God." ^ Here, indeed, was one well suited
to rule and teach the flock of his Divine Master, to
preserve its unity, and to maintain and propagate the
truth revealed by Him.
Immediately after the Eesurrection, our Lord's pro-
mises to Peter were fulfilled. For Jesus, on manifesting
himself, the third time, to His disciples, after He was
risen from the dead, constituted Peter pastor of His
whole flock. " When therefore they had dined, Jesus
saith to Simon Peter : Simon son of John, lovest thou
Me more than these? He saith to Him: Yea, Lord,
Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to him:
Feed my lambs. He saith to him again : Simon son of
John, lovest thou Me ? He saith to Him : Yea, Lord,
Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to him:
Feed my lambs. He saith to him, the third time :
Simon son of John, lovest thou Me? Peter was
grieved, because He had said to him, the third time,
Lovest thou Me ? And he saith to Him : Lord, Thou
knowest all things: Thou knowest that I love' Thee.
He saith to him : Feed my sheep."*
' Matt. xvi. i6-ig. s joi,„ ^
> John xxL 15-17. The original Greek in this important text is
given in several ancient MSS., as BA(r« ri. ipyla iiov : noJ/tawe rd
vp6pard nov : p6ffK€ t4 ■trpi^ari nov. The Latin Vulgate however has •
SCRIPTURAL PROOFS OK THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 1 3
It is true that all the Apostles, in common with
Peter, were invested by Christ with the dignity and
powers of the priesthood, of the episcopate, and of the
apostolate. From Him they all received the power of
binding and loosing — of remitting and retaining sins ;
the power of consecration in the holy sacrifice; and
the power of ordaining priests and bishops. Confor-
mably with His promise, they were all replenished with
the gifts of the Holy Ghost. By Him, they were com-
missioned to teach all nations. As His Father sent
Him, so He sent them. But to Peter alone He said,
" Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My
Church ; " to Peter alone He promised that He would
give to him the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and,
further, that He would pray for him, that his faith
should fail not, so that he, being once converted, should
confirm his brethren. Finally, on Peter, and on him
exclusively, He conferred the plenitude of power and
jurisdiction, commissioning him to feed His lambs, and
Paace agnos meos ; Peace agnos meat ; Peace oves meas. Hence the
Rheims Version, which' ia a translation of the Vulgate, runs thus :
"Feed my lambs;" "Feed my lambs;" "Feed my sheep." The
Authorized Version of the Church of England is the same, save that it
reads "sheep." for "lambs," in the second part: but the Revised
Version, just published, differs from both, in reading " Tend my
sheep," in the second instance, which appears to be the more accurate
translation ; but, even so, it is insufficient. The Greek, Jloi/tawe, is
literally, " Be a shepherd to my sheep ; " that is, " not only feed them,
but tend them, take care of them, rule them, govern them." Thus, in
Saint Matthew, chapter ii., verse 6, we read, in the Rheims Version :
"And thou, Bethlehem, the land of Juda, art not the least of the
princes of Juda : for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall
rule My people Isra,el." Here the word translated " shall ri(Ze " is
iroiiiavci. The rendering of the Revised Version is : " For out of thee
shall come forth a governor, which shall ie the shepherd of My people
Israel." In Homer, we find the same word applied to temporal rulers,
where kings are styled Toi/iines Xouk, "the shepherds of the people."
Manifestly, Itol/juiipe, while it comprises, means much more than,
p6<rKf. It may be well to state here, that the English versions of the
Holy Scriptures which I follow in this book are, that of the Old Testa-
ment first published by the English College of Douai, A.D. 1609, and
that of the New Testament first published by the English College of
Rheims, A.D. 1582.
1 4 THE CHAIB OF PETER.
to feed His sheep — ^to rule and teach His entire flock,
pastors and people, as the one Supreme Pastor of all.
The Catholic belief therefore is, that when the other
Apostles (themselves commissioned to teach all nations)
transmitted their full power and authority to the bishops,
in whom the apostolate is continued, there was this dif-
ference; that whereas the authority of the Apostles was
not confined to any particular place, but extended itself
to all parts of the globe, to which they might be led by
their universal mission,. the authority of the bishops was
limited to their several districts or dioceses ; whilst, on
the other hand. Saint Peter transmitted to his successor
in the See of Eome, not only the Apostolic office, but
all the paramount power and privileges, and all the
supreme jurisdiction over the Universal Church, with
which he himself had been endowed by Christ.
Of this supreme power and jurisdiction over the
Universal Church, conferred by our Lord on Saint
Peter, and by him transmitted to his successors in
the See of Eome, the Keys are the symbol. In the
book of Isaias, we' find the following words dictated
by "the Lord God of hosts," to be addressed to Sobna,
on his deposition from the office of high priest, and the
elevation of Eliacim thereto in his stead : " And I will
drive thee out from thy station, and depose thee from
thy ministry. And it shall come to pass in that day,
that I will call My servant Eliacim the son of Helcias,
And I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen
him with thy girdle, and will give thy power into his
hand : and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and to the house of Juda. And I will lay
the key of the house of David upon his shoulder : and
he shall open, and none shall shut : and he shall shut
and none shall open." i-- In the Apocalypse, the same
words are applied to Our Saviour ; viz. " These things
saith the Holy One and the True One, He that hath the
key. of David; He that openeth, and no man shutteth-
^ Isa. xxii. 19-22.
SCEIPTURAL PROOFS OF THE PRIMACY OF PETER. I 5
shutteth, and no man openeth." ^ " By the keys given
to Peter, we understand the supreme power over the
whole Church ; " says Cardinal Bellarmin. «
That Peter began forthwith to exercise the duties of
his exalted office, we find recorded in the Acts of the
Apostles, chapter i., verses 13-26] when, immediately
after the Ascension, a.d. 29,^ in the midst of the assem-
bly of the Apostles and disciples, persevering with one
accord in prayer, to the number of about one hundred
and twenty, Mary the Mother of Jesus being present,
Peter rose up, and called on them to elect a successor
to Judas; and so Matthias was numbered with the
eleven. E"ext, after the Descent of the Holy Ghost,
Peter, standing up with the eleven, was the first to
preach to the Jews, and to announce to them the Eesur-
rection of Jesus Christ: and they, having heard him,
" had compunction in their heart, and they said to Peter
and to the rest of the Apostles : what shall we do, men
and brethren ? But Peter said to them : Do penance,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the remission of your sins : and you shaU
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." * And we further
read, that, with a great many other words, did Peter
' Apoc. iii 7.
^ "Per claves datas Petro intelligimus summam poteetatem in omuem
ecclesiam " (Bellarmin, " De Pontifice," i. 3).
' The Christian or Vulgar Era is by some considered to have com-
menced with the Birth of our Lord ; but the more general and more
probable opinion fixes its commencement four years later ; that is, four
years and seven days after the Nativity. I adopt the latter reckoning,
throughout this book. Accordingly, with most authorities, I take, as
a starting point, the year 29, as the year of the Crucifixion of our
Lord ; that is the fifteenth and sixteenth year of Tiberius, from the
death of Augustus — the Consuls being Lucius Kubellius Geminus and
Caius Fufius Geminus. For the chronology of Saints Peter and Paul,
all through, I rely principally on Constantius's " Annales SS. Petri et
Pauli," which form a valuable sequel to Cardinal Cortesius's able work,
'■De Romano Itinere Gestisque Principis Apostoldrum Libri Duo,"
both published in one volume, Rome, lyjo. I am also indebted to
Fogginius, "De Romano Divi Petri Itinere et Episoopatu," Florence
1741.
* Acts ii. 14 et seq. ; a.d. zg.
1 6 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
.testify and exhort them, and that they that received his
word were baptized, and that there were added to them
in that day about three thousand souls.^
Next, we find Peter performing the first miracle
wrought by the Apostles after the Ascension (in the
cure of the man lame from his birth), and preaching to
the people in the porch of the Temple ; ^ and many of
them who had heard the word believed ; and the num-
ber of the men was made five thousand.* And, on the
following day, the same Apostle, filled with the Holy
Ghost, addressed the rulers, ancients, and scribes,
gathered together in Jerusalem, and preached to them
Jesus of Nazareth, crucified by them, and raised by
God from the dead.* By Peter also were Ananias and
Sapphira judged and condemned.^ And, when by the
hands of the Apostles many signs and wonders were
wrought among the people, " the multitude of men and
women, that believed in the Lord, was more increased ;
insomuch that they brought out the sick into the
streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that, when
Peter came, his shadow, at the least, might overshadow
any of them, and they might be delivered from their
infirmities." ^
When Simon Magus offered money to the Apostles,
asking them to impart to him the power of conferring
the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands, it was
Peter who replied, rebuking him and exhorting him to
penance.^
Next, when " the Church had peace throughout all
Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria; and was edified,
walking in the fear of the Lord, and was filled with the
consolation of the Holy Ghost," we read of Peter " as
1 Acts ii. 40, 41. 2 Acts iii.
3 Acts iv. 4. * Acts iv. 8-12.
» Acts V. i-io; A.D. 30. 6 ^cts. V. 12-15 ; A D so
' Acts viii. 18-23 ; A.v>. 31. Hence, the crime of buying or selling
ecclesiastical preferment, or the corrupt presentation of any one to an
ecclesiastical benefice for money or reward, is called Simony.
SCRIPTURAL PROOFS OF THE PRIMACY OF PETER. I 7
he passed through, visiting all." ^ At Lydda, he healed
.^neas, who had lain on his bed eight years, ill of the
palsy; "and aU that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw
him ; and they were converted to th'e Lord : " ^ and at
Joppe he raised Tabitha from the dead, on which many
believed in the Lord.*
As Peter was the first to preach Christ Crucified to
the Jews ; so was he the first to open the Church to the
Gentiles. For we read, that Cornelius the Centurion, a
Gentile, was admonished by an angel to send for Peter,
who received him into the Church — Peter having
learned, in a vision, and by an order from heaven, that
Gentiles, as well as Jews, were to be received.* The
call of the Gentiles to the faith having been questioned
by some of the brethren of the Circumcision assembled
at Jerusalem, Peter, on his arrival there, addressed
them, defending the doctrine ; and they, at once, bowed
submissively to his decision; for the inspired writer
tells us, that, " when they had heard these things,
they held their peace, and glorified God, saying; God
then hath also to the Gentiles given repentance unto
life."«
With reference to this passage, a learned Protestant
writer judiciously observes : —
The Jews had, for several ages, conceived a radicated and
inveterate prejudice against the Gentiles. Indeed the Law of
Moses commanded them to be peculiarly kind to their own
nation ; and the rites and institution of their religion, and the
pecaliar form of their commonwealth made them different from
the fashion of other countries ; a separation which in after times
they drew into a narrower compass. Besides, they were mightily
puffed tip with their external privileges, that they were the seed
of Abraham, the people whom God had peculiarly chosen for
Himself, above all other nations of the world, and therefore with
a lofty scorn proudly rejected the Gentiles as dogs and repro-
> Acts ix. 31, 32 ; A.D. 34. ' Acts ix. 33-35 ; A.D. 34.
' Acts ix. 36-42 ; A.D. 34. * Acts x. ; A.D. 35.
" Acts xi. ; A.D. 36.
B
r8 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
bates, utterly refusing to sho^r them any office of common kind-
ness and converse.'
Hence, their immediate "holding their peace," on
this occasion, their ready submission to the authority
of Peter, their sacrificing their " radicated and invete-
rate prejudices against the Gentiles" to the duty of
prompt obedience to his teaching, are all the more
striking ; and present a remarkable illustration of how,
in the infancy of the Church, the Prince of the Apostles
exercised, unquestioned, that primacy of authority and
jurisdiction, which is challenged for him and his suc-
cessors in the Apostolic See, by all the early Fathers,
and Catholic Christians in all times.
Naturally, the hostility of the nnconverted Jews was
very strong against the infant Church, and especially
against its most prominent member. I'herefore, with'
a view to please them, Herod Agrippa caused Peter to
be apprehended, and lodged in prison, delivering him'
to four files of soldiers, for safe custody, and intending,
after the Pasch, to bring him forth to the people. On
this, we read that "prayer was made, without ceasing,
by the Church unto God for him/' its visible head and-
chief teacher; and those prayers were heard, and an
angel of the Lord was sent, to strike off his chains and
deliver him from captivity.^
Immediately after this, took place the dispersion of
the Apostles;* when Saint Peter, "as the head and
prince of the Apostolic Senate," entered Eome^ to erect
there, in the sight of the world, the standard of the
Cross, and to form out of the metropolis of the Empire,
the capital of Christ's spiritual kingdom, the Primatial
See, and the centre of Ecclesiastical Unity.*
1 " Antiquitates Apostoliose," by William Cave, i).D., p. 31. Lon-
don, 1684. Doctor William Cave, a celebrated English divine, was
born in 1637, and was educated in Saint John's College, Cambridge.
He was chaplain to Charles II., and a canon of Windsor. He was the
author of several learned ecclesiastical works. He died in 1713
■■' Acts xii. A.B. 41. s ^ u ^j^ ^2_
* Cuocagni, "Vita di S. Pietro, Principe degli Apostoli," vol iii p
SCRIPTURAL PROOFS OF THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 1 9
In the beginning of the year 49, on the expulsion of
the Jews from Eome by the Emperor Claudius,^ Saint
Peter, being compelled to leave the Imperial city,
returned to the East. At that time, certaid persons,
■who had come down from Judea to Antioch, taught
the doctrine, that the Gentiles entering the Church
should be circumcised, after the manner of Moses ; and
the Apostles Paul and Barnabas had no small contest
with them, and in vain endeavoured to convince them
of their error. Then the question was referred to the
Apostles and priests at Jerusalem, " Paul and Barnabas
and certain others of the other side " being deputed to
attend before them. " And the Apostles and ancients
assembled to consider this matter ; and when there had
been much disputing, Peter, rising up, said to them:
Men, brethren, you know that in former days God
made choice among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles
should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. And
God, who knoweth the hearts, gave testimony, giving
unto them the Holy Ghost, as well as to us ; and put
no difference between us and them, purifying their
.hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt you God
to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which
neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
But by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe
to be saved, in like manner as they also." On this,
"all the multitude held their peace," continues the
inspired writer. No more contest — no more disputing
— all bowed to the authority of Peter. Then Paul and
Barnabas were attentively heard, telling what great
signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles
by them ; and James followed, quoting the Prophets
5, Boma, 1781. This important event in the life of Saint Peter will
be treated, in its own place, further on.
1 Acts xviii. 2 ; Suetonius, "In Olaudto," cap. 24 (alias 25) ; Orositis,
"Historiarum," vii. 6. Fogginius, in his learned work, "De Komauo
Divi Petri Itinere et Episoopatu," pages 112, 123, 124, says, that Saint
Peter left Rome for Jerusalem in the beginning of the ninth year of
Claudius, and the nineteenth year from the Passion of our Lord,
20 THE CHAIK OF PETER,
in support of the doctrine laid down by Peter; and
expressed his opinion, that letters in accordance there-
with should be written to the Gentiles by whom they
had been consulted. On this, the council deputed
Judas, surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, to accompany
Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch, and transmitted
by them its decree or decision, commencing with the
words, " It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to
us " — a formula significant of the Divine aid promised
to the Church through all days to the end of the
world.^
Speaking of the decision of the Council of Jerusalem,
Saint Jerome styles Peter "the chief or principal of
this decree;" and states that, "beyond all doubt, he
was the first author of this opinion (or sentence)" —
namely, " that, after the Gospel, the Law is not to be
observed;" and he further says, that "the Apostle
James and all the elders with him acquiesced in Peter's
opinion (or sentence)." ^ To the same effect are the
observations of TertuUian and other Fathers.
Notwithstanding this, some Protestant commentators
infer, from the attribution, in the sacred naiTative, of _
the word Kpivw, " I judge," to Saint James, that he, and
not Saint Peter, presided at this council. But Kpivco,
or, as it is translated in the Yulga.te, j'vdico, means no
less " I think," or " I am of opinion," and is constantly
used in this sense.* Besides, the leading part taken by
^ Acts XV. A.D. 49.
"Saint Jerome, "Epistola xlv., alias xl;" "Principem hujns
decreti." "Nulli ergo dnbium est, quod Petrus Apostolus sententiEe
hujus . . . primus auctor extiterit ; i.e. legem post Evangelium non
esse servandam:" and "Epistola Ixxxix., ad Augustinum;" "In
Bententiam ejus Jacobus Apostolus omnesque simul presbyteri tiau-
Bierunt."
_ 3 " Verbum 'judico' frequenter in significatione usurpatur, ut idem
sit quod sentio seu opinor." Canus, " Loooram Theologicorum," 1. vi.
c. 8. Melchior Cano, or Canus, the learned Bishop of the Canaries'
flourished A.I). 1523-1560. His principal works are " Praelectionea de
Poenitentia," "de Sacramentis," and "Locorum Theologicorum libri
xii.," above quoted.
SCRIl-TUKAL PEOOFS OF THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 2 I
Saint Peter on the occasion, and the prompt acquies-
cence in his decision of all the disputants, who there-
upon " held their peace," and listened submissively to
Paul and Barnabas, whose doctrine they had previously
contested, all prove, that not only was Saint Peter the
head and director of that assembly, but that all silently
bowed to his teaching.
Even, as in our day, when Peter's successor speaks
for all, in his official capacity — ex cathedrd — and is
reverentially heard, all over the Catholic world.
The accounts in Holy Writ of the intercourse be-
tween Saints Peter and Paul, although scanty, are of
peculiar interest. It is generally agreed upon, that
Saint Paul's conversion and call to the Apostolate
must have taken place A.D. 31-32, of the Vulgar Era,
or between two and three years after" the Passion of
our Lord. Three years after that, as he himself tells
us, Saint Paiil went to Jerusalem, to see ^ Peter, and
stayed with him fifteen days, but of the other Apostles
he saw 2 none, save James the brother of the Lord.*
"He goes up to him," says Saint John Chrysostom,
" as to a superior and a senior." * " It was meet," says
Saint Ambrose, "that he should desire to see Peter,
because he was the first among the Apostles, and to
him the Lord had delegated the care of the Churches."^
Fourteen years later, a.d. 49, Saints Peter and Paul
met at the Council of Jerusalem.* About this time,
Peter went to Antioch, and there Saint Paul reproved
him for withdrawing from the table of the converted
' The word here used, in the Greet, hTopijffM, means much more
than " to see " — viz. " to know," " to become acquainted with." Hence
laropla, "history."
' The term here is simply elSov, " saw."
' Gal. L 18, 19. A.D. 35.
' " In cap. i. Epist. ad Galat."
" Ibid. " Dignum fuit ut cuperet videre Petrum, quia primus erat
inter Apostolos, cui delegaverat Salvator ouram ecclesiarum." This
Commentary, formerly considered the work of Saint Ambrose, is
latterly attributed to his cotemporary, Ambrosiaster.
' Gal. ii. I. A.D. 49.
22 THE CHAm OF PETER.
Gentiles, lest he should give offence to the Jewish
converts.^
That to which Saint Paul took exception was a
matter, not of faith, but of conduct. It was simply an
act of condescension on the part of Peter. " Clearly,"
says TertuUian, " Paul reproved him, not for any other
reason than the change in his mode of living, which he
varied according to the condition of persons, fearing
those who were of the circumcision ; and not for any
perversion of religion." ^ Saint Cyprian, admiring the
humility of Peter on this occasion, observes: "Peter,
whom the Lord elected first, and on whom He built
His Church, when Paul disputed afterwards with him
about circumcision, did not vindicate his own rights
proudly or arrogantly, as though he said that he held
the Primacy, and should be obeyed by those who were
his juniors and inferiors ; neither did he despise Paul
because he had formerly been a persecutor of the
Church; but he admitted the counsel of truth, and
readily acquiesced in the legitimate reason adduced by
Paul, affording us, truly, an example of concord and
patience, that we should not be obstinately attached to
our own ideas, but that we should rather make our own
those things which are sometimes usefully and whole-
somely suggested by our brethren and colleagues, pro-
vided they be true and lawful."* " Behold," says Saint
^ GaL ii. 11-21. a.d. 49. Some of the Fathers and some modern
^mters think that the Cephas here mentioned by Saint Paul was not
Saint Peter, but • a disciple named Cephas. Pkre Hardouin, in a
learned dissertation, written in 1 709, supports this view. He argues
that, whereas Saint Paul, in his Epistle to the Galatians, calls Saint
Peter " Peter," in chapter i., verse 18, and also in chapter ii., verses 7
and 8, it is very unlikely he would call him Cephas in verses 9 and 1 1
of the same chapter ii. However the great majority of the Fathers
and other writers are of opinion that the Cephas here mentioned is
Saint Peter.
" Tertullian, 1. v. contra Maroion., o. iii. " Plane reprehendit : non
ob aliud, tamen, quam ob inconstantiam viotus, quern pro personarum
qualitate variabat, timens eos qui erant ex oircumcisione, non ob aliquam
divinitatis perversitatem. "
8 Cyprian, " Ad Quintum," Epist. Ixxi. " Neo Petrus, quem primum
• SCKIPTUEAL PKOOFS OF THE PKIM4CY OF PETER. 2 3
Gregory the Great, " hei is reproved by his inferior, and
he is not impatient of the reproof : he does not remind
him that he has received the keys of the kingdom of
heaven."!
Here, the Prince of the Apostles simply carried out,
in practice, that personal humility, and that exemplary
moderation, which are sometimes such valuable quali-
ties in those who govern others — qualities which, in his
First Epistle, he inculcates on bishops, whom, as bishop
of bishops, and visible head of the Church, he pater-
nally exhorts to feed the flock of God, taking care of it,
not by constraint, but willingly according to God, not
lording it over the clergy, but being made a pattern
from the heart; so that, when the Prince of Pastors
shall appear, they may receive a never-fading crown of
glory.2
In reading the above-quoted passages of the New
Testament, however obvious may be their import, the
Catholic does not interpret them by his own lights
only; but is guided by tl^e authority of the Church,
which, froin the earliest ages, as we shall presently see,
has held the doctrine of the supreme jurisdiction of
Peter, conferred on him by our Lord, and by him trans-
mitted to his successors in the See of Eome.
Should some of my readers, who may not have studied
the question, take the trouble to consult the works of
certain leading Protestant divines, they will be in no
small degree surprised at the large concessions therein
made to the Catholic doctrine of the Supremacy or
Primacy of Saint Peter.
Of these writers, it will be sufficient to quote one —
the learned Doctor Barrow,^ who has argued so ably
Dominus elegit, et Euper quern sdificavit Ecclesiam suam, cum secum
Faulus postmodum de circnmcisione decerptaret, vindicavit sibi aliquid
ipsolenter, aut arroganter assumpsit, ut dioeret se primatum tenere, et
obtemperari a novellis et posteris sibi potius oportere : " etc.
' L. ii. in Ezech. hom. xviii. '' i Peter v. 1-4,
' Isaac Barrow, B.p. Tl^is eminent scholar and divine was born
in London in 1630. After three years at the Charter House public
24 THK CHAIR OF PETEB.
and exhaustively on the subject. Although his treatise
is written to controvert the Catholic doctrine, he frankly
admits Saint Peter's primiacy of worth, his primacy of
repute, and his primacy of order or hare dignity ; whilst
he denies his primacy of Jurisdiction} Having adduced
several instances of his personal endowments, capacity,
zeal, and affection for our Lord, in which "he did
exceed" and "outshine" the rest of the Apostles, he
observes : —
Upon these premises, we may well admit that Saint Peter had
a, primacy of worth; or that in personal aceomplishments he was
most eminent among the twelve Apostles. . . . This is the
primacy which EuseBius attributeth to him, when he calleth
him " the excellent and great Apostle, who for his virtue was the
prolocutor of the rest."''
As to a primacy of repute/ . . . this advantage cannot be
refused him ; being a necessary consequent of those eminent
qualities resplendent in him, and of the illustrious performances
achieved by him beyond the rest.
This may be inferred from that advantageous renown which he
hath had propagated from the beginning to all posterity.
This at least those elogies of the fathers (styling him the chief,
prince, head of the Apostles) do signify.
school, he was admitted a pensioner of Saint Peter's College, and sub-
sequently of Trinity CoUege, Cambridge. In 1660, he was appointed
Greek professor in that University. In 1662, he was named to a
congenial post— the professorship of Geometry in Gresham College •
and, two years later, he was chosen the first professor of the new chair
o£ Mathematics, founded by the executors of Mr. Lucas In 1669
Dr. Barrow resigned this appointment, in favour of his iUustrious
pupil, Sir Isaac Newton ; and thenceforward devoted himself exclu-
^vely to theological studies. In 1670, he was made Master of Trinity
CoUege, Cambndge, m succession to Dr. Pearson, appointed Bishop of
Chester and m 1675 he became Vioe-Chancellor of the University
Doctor Barrow was chaplain to Charles II., who used to speak of him
as 'the most learned man in England." He was the author of several
mathematical treatises, and of several learned theological works Ha
died in 1677, m his forty-seventh year.
'"A Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy," "The Theological Works
Pre?s''^°8jr"°"'' ■' " ^^' ^'^' ^^' ^^- Oxford^ UniveS^
oTTdn-uj' irpoirtopov (Eusebius, " Hist. Ecoles.," ii. 14).
SCEIPTURAL PKOOFS OF THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 2 $
This also may be collected from his being so constantly ranked
in the first place before the rest of his brethren.
As to a pi-imacy of order or bare dignity, importing that, com-
monly, in all meetings and proceedings, the other Apostles did
yield him the precedence, the vporiyopla, or privilege of speaking
first (whether in propounding matters for debate, or in delivering
his advice), in the conduct and moderation of affairs, . . . this
primacy may be granted, as probable, upon divers accounts of
use and convenience ; it might be useful to preserve order and
to promote expedition ; or to prevent confusion, distraction, and
dilatory obstruction in the management of things ; yea, to main-
tain concord, and to exclude that ambition or affectation to be
foremost, which is natural to men.^
Here, we are furnished by Doctor Barrow with a
strong argument in favour of the primacy which
Catholics attribute to the Chair of Peter, in all ages;
for, if such were necessary in the Apostolic times, " to
preserve order and to promote expedition, or to prevent
confusion, distraction, and dilatory obstruction in the
management of things; yea, to maintain concord,"
surely much more would it be necessary as the Church
became developed, and gradually extended itself to the
utmost bounds of the earth. And so it manifestly
entered into the designs of God, when He established
His Church, that it should ever have a centre of unity, a
principle of concord, a visible Head, whom all Catholics
recognize in the successor of Saint Peter in the Apos-
tolic See.
For this, a primacy of worth, of repute, of order or bare
dignity, would never suffice; a primacy of authority
and jurisdiction is required — that primacy which unites
more than two hundred millions of Catholic Christians
in one common faith, aU professing the same tenets,
without " change or shadow of alteration," all reverently
turning towards the Successor of Saint Peter, as their
Father and Teacher in matters spiritual — as Christ's
Vicar on earth, and the Visible Head of the Church.
1 "The Theological Works of Isaac Barrow, D.D.,'' voL vii. pp.
64-66.
CHAPTEE III.
THE KAELY FATHERS ON THE PKIMAOY OF PETEE.
"Ubi ergo Petras, ibi Ecclesia." ^ — Saint Ambeosb.
The writings of the early Fathers on the Primacy of
Saint Peter and his successors in the Apostolic Chair
constitute an interesting and valuable chapter in
Ecclesiastical history. The impartial reader by whom
they are carefully perused will not hesitate to admit,
that the doctrine of the Primacy was firmly maintained
and emphatically taught by those venerable men ; and,
at the same time, he must be impressed by the evidence,
thus afforded, of the Catholic, or universal, belief in that
doctrine, in the early ages of Christianity.
We have seen how the Primacy was conferred by
our Lord on the Prince of the Apostles, and exercised
by him in the Apostolic times, as recorded in Holy
Scripture. We shall now see, by the tradition of the
Church, in the writings of the Fathers, and other
authentic ancient documents, how it was recognized
and honoured in Peter and his successors, by the
hearers of the Apostles, and generations immediately
succeeding, and, again, by their successors; and how
it gradually grew and developed itself, with the growth
and development of the Church : so that, as Peter's
words were reverentially heard and obeyed, when the
faithful dwelt within a small area in Palestine, and
numbered between three and four thousand souls,^ the
> "For where Peter is, there is the Church." " Acts ii.
THE EARLY FATHERS ON THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 2 7
voice of his successor, in our day, is listened to, with
equal reverence and obedience, by Catholic Christians
of every tongue and tribe and people, in all parts of
the globe.
Tertullian,^ one of the most ancient Latin Ecclesi-
astical authors, writes as follows, towards the close of
the second century : —
Wag anything hidden from Peter, who was called the rook on
which the Church was to be built, who obtained the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and the power of loosing and binding, in
Jieaven and ou earth 1 "
And again : —
If thou thinkest that heaven is still closed, remember that the
Lord left the keys thereof here to Peter, and through hint to the
Church.'
The same writer, after his lapse into heresy, declaim-
ing against Pope Zephyrinus,* for condemning the
doctrine that sins of adultery and fornication were
unpardonable, says : —
I hear also that an edict has been published, and indeed a
peremptory one ; to wit, the Supreme Pontiff, that is, the Bishop
of Bishops, proclaims : " I remit the sins of adultery and fornica-
tion to those who have done penance." '
Here we have evidence, and, coming from a hostile
source, it is the more valuable, that, in the beginning
of the third century, the successor of Saint Peter was
known as the Supreme Pontiff and the Bishop of
^ TertuUian was born of Roman parents at Carthage, A.D. 1 6o. About
the year 195, he became a convert to Christianity. Shortly afterwards,
he was ordained a priest, and wi-ote his celebrated Apology for the
Christiana. In 204 he visited Rome. The following year he lapsed
into the heresy of Montanus. He died in 245.
" "Liber de Prsescriptionibus," cap. xxii. ^ "Scorpiace," n. 10.
* Saint Zephyrinus presided over the Church, A'.D. 202-219.
' " Liber de Pudicitia, " cap. i. " Audio etiam edictum esse proposi-
tmn, et quidem peremptorium ; Pontifex scilicet Maximus, quod est
Bpiscopus Episooporum, edicit : ' Ego et moeohiae, et fomicationls
delicta pcenitentia functis dimitto.' " TertuUian wrote this book, " De
Pudicitia," against the Pope's edict.
28 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Bishops, and, as such, exercised the authority of his
sacred ofBce, and maintained the true doctrine against
those who, thus early, had, through heresy, separated
themselves from the Church. The Pope's edict was
ordered by His Holiness to be read in the Church, and
was so read and proclaimed, as was the Epistle of Pope
Clement over a hundred years before.^ _ Of this Ter-
tullian, in no measured language, complains."
Writing a few years later, Origen * says : —
When the supreme authority as regards feeding the sheep was
delivered to Peter, and upon him, as upon a rock, was founded
the Church, the confession of no other virtue than charity was
required of him.*
Saint Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage,® writing about the
middle of tlie third century, speaks as follows of Saint
Peter's confession of faith : —
There speiiketh Peter, on whom the Church was built, in the
^ For Pope Clement's Epistle, see ludex, " Clement."
^ Tertullian, " Liber de Pudicitia." " Sed haec in Ecclesia legitur, et
in Ecclesia pronuntiatur, et virgo est ? Absit, absit a sponsa Christi
tale prseconium."
^ Origen, a writer of profound learning, was born at Alexandria, in
the year 185. He was the pupil of Clement of Alexandria, and, like
his master, taught in the Christian school of that city. On account of
his untiring labours and voluminous writings, he was sumauied Ada-
mantius, Indefatigable. He was ordained priest by Theoctistus, Bishop
of Csesarea in Palestine, A.D. 230 ; and laboured successfully, in con-
futing heresies, and reclaiming those who had fallen away from the
Church. Several of his pupils became illustrious prelates and cham-
pions of religion. Origen was accused of errors in his writings, out of
which he appears to have risen speedily. This, unhappily, was not the
case with his follower-s, called Origenists. In the Papacy of Zephy-
rinus, Origen visited Kome, to gratify his anxiety to see that most
ancient Church. About the year 248, he sent his written profession of
faith to Pope Fabian ; and, later in the same year, he visited Home, to
confer with the Pope. He died at Tyre in i254, aged sixty -nine.
* Origen, " In Epist. ad. Kom.," cap. vi. lib. 5.
= Saint Cyprian was consecrated Bishop of Carthage, A.D. 248, and
Buffered martyrdom in the persecution under Valerian and Gallienus ;
A.p. 258. His works are numerous and valuable. His controversy
with Saint Stephen, Pope, about the validity of baptism conferred by
heretics, will be noticed further on. See Index, " Cyprian."
THE EARLY FATHERS ON THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 29
name of the Church, teaching and showing that, although the
contumacious and proud multitude of those unwilling to believe
should depart, the Church notwithstanding does not withdraw
from Christ : and they are the Church, the people united to the
priest, the flock adhering to its pastor. Whence you ought to
know that the Bishop is in the, Ohuroli, and the Church in the
Bishop. 1
Again, writing to Saint Cornelius, Pope,^ he says : —
Peter, however, on whom the Church was built by our Lord,
one speaking for all, and answering with the voice of the Church,
says : "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life."*
The next extract is from the same Father's book on
the Unity of the Church ; and is a clear and emphatic
argument in support of the Primacy, on which that
Unity is based. In commending it to the attention of
the reader, it may be well to remind him that it was
written more than sixteen centuries ago.
The Lord speaks to Peter. "I say to thee," He says, "that
thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And to thee 1 will
give the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou
shalt bind on earth, shall be bound also in heaven : i\nd whatso-
ever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed also in heaven."
And again He says to him, after His Resurrection : " Feed my
sheep." Upon that one He builds His Church, avd, to him He com-
mits His sheep, to be fed. And, although after His Resurrection
He gives to all the Apostles equal power, and says, " As the
Father hath sent Me I also send you. Receive ye the Holy
Ghost : whose sins you remit, they are remitted them : whose
sins you retain, they shall be retained," yet, that He might maTii-
fest unity. He established one chair ; and He disposed by His
authority the origin of the same unity, which begins from one.*
' Cyprian, "Ad Florent.," Epist. 69.
' Saint Cornelius, a Roman, governed the Church, from June 4, 251,
to September 14, 252.
^ Cyprian, "Ad Cornelium," Epist. 55.
* "Super unnm ilium cedificat Ecdesiam suam, et Uli pascendas
mandat oves suas. Et quamvis Apoatolis omnibus post rasurrectionem
suam, parem potestatera tribuat et dicat, ' Sicut misit me Fater, et ego.
mitto vos : Accipite Spiritum Sanctum : Si cui remiseritis peooata,
30 THE CHAIR OF PBTEK.
Certainly the other Apostles werfewhat Peter was,''being endowed
with eq^ual participation of honour and power ; but the be^nmng
proceeds from unity. The Primacy is given to Peter, that the
Church of Ghrist may he shown to he one, and, the chaiM one} And
all are pastors, but the flock is shown to be one, which is fed by
all the Apostles, with unanimous accord. . . , Does he who does
not hold this unity of the Church believe that he holds the faith ?
Does he who strives against and resi?ts_ the Church, who deserts
the Chair of Peter, on which the Chii/rch is founded, trust that he is
in the Church ? ^
The celebrated treatise on the Unity of the Church,
from which thfese words are taken, was written by
Saint Cyprian about the year 252, against Novatian,
the first anti-pope, who sought to usurp the place of
Saint Cornelius.^ In a letter addressed to Antonianus,
remittunjiur illi ; si oui retinueritis, retinebuntur : ' tamen, ut unitatem
manifestaret, unaiu cathedram oonstituit, et unitatia ejusdem originem
ab uno incipientem, sua auctoritate disposuit."
1 " Primalus Petro datur, ut una ChrisH Ecclesia, et cathedra una
monstretur. " These words of Saint Oyprian are quoted by Pqpe Pela-
gius II., in his second Epistle to the bishops of Istria, A.D. 581. See
Baronius, " Arinales Eooleaiastioi," vii. 67S.
^ Oyprian, " Libfer de unitate Ecolesis," par. iv. " Hane EocIesisB
unitatem qui non tenet, tenere fidem se credit ? Qui Ecolesiffi reniti-
tur et resistit, qui OatTiedi'om Petri, super quam fimdata est Ecclesia,
deserit, in Ecclesia se esse confidit ? " " Oypriani Opera, Nioolai Kigal-
tii obaervaitionibus ad veterum exemplarinm fidem recognita et illus-
trata," pp. 207, 208, Paris, 1648. In the editions of Cyprian's works
by Erasmus, and TeU and Baluze, who followed him, as well as in
some manuscripts, the words, in Italics, in this and the two preceding
notes, are omitted ; whilst, on the other hand, they are found in the
edition of Rigault, Paris, 1648, from which I quote, an edition care-
fully compared with ancient manuscripts, and in those of Pamelius and
other editors. Moreover, they were quoted by Pope Pelagius II., in
his second Epistle to the bishops of Istria, a.d. 581. See Baronius,
" Annales Eooleaiastioi," vii. 678. In any case, the substance of the
controverted words is to be found, again and again,, in undisputed
passages of Saint Cyprian's writings.
f Novatian was an irregularly ordained priest in Home, who, a.d.
251, prevailed on three bishops in remote parts of Italy to come to
Rome, and consecrate hun bishop of that city, in opposition to the
Pope, Saint Cornelius. His principal supporter was Novatus, a sohis-
inatical priest of Carthage, who, on being condemned by Saint Cyprian,
had left Carthage, and repaired to Rome. Novatian, convicted ol
heresy and schisin, was excommunicated, in the Council of Rome
convened and presided over by Saint Cornelius, a.d. 251. The three
THE EARLY FATHERS ON THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 3 I
a bishop of Numidia, Saint Cyprian speaks of theor-
dination of the same holy Pope, as having occurred
"■when the place of Fahian, that i§, when the place of
Peter, and the rank of the sacerdotal chair, was vacant:"^
and in the same letter he observes : " You have written
also, that I should transmit to our colleague Cotnelius a
copy of your letter, in order that, laying aside all solici-
tude, he should know, that you are in communion with
him, that is, with the Catholic Church." ^
Again ; on the occasion of Fortunatus having been
chosen bishop by the schismatics at Carthage, they
dispatched envoys to Eome, to give the Pope, Saint
bishops who oonseorated him were deposed by the Pope, who appointed
others to fill their sees. One of them, who repented, was admitted by
Saint Cornelius to lay communion. ' " Three bishops, who ordained
Novatian the schismatic bishop, were deposed, and others ordained to
succeed them, by Cornelius Bishop of Ebriie, whose proceedings in this
matter were generally approved of, all over the world," says Arch-
bishop Potter ("A Discourse of Church Government," page 392).
^ Cyprian, " Epistola 52, Ad Antonianum de Cornelii Papse ordina-
tione." " Cum lE'abiani locus, id est, cum locus Petri et gradus cathedrae
sacerdotalis vacaret."
^ Ibid. " Ut, deposita omni solicitudine, jam sciret te secum, hoc
est, cum Catholioa Eccle^ia, eommunioare." The word " Catholic," or
Universal (from the Greek Kari, in, through, among, according to,
and oXous, the whole), here applied to the Church by Saint Cyprian,
was first so used in the Apostles' Creed, and next by an ApostoUo
Father, Saint Ignatius, who was a disciple of Saint John the Evangelist,
s'icoee.ded-Evodius, as Bishop of Antioch, and suffered martyrdom in
the year 107. He says : " Wherever Christ Jesus is, there is the
Catholic Church" — Ibairep Sirov S,v rj 'Xpurrbs 'IijiroCr, ixel 7] KadoKiK^
iKKkjiala ("Bpist. ad Smyrnaeos," ,c. 8). There are extant seven
Epistles of Saint Ignatius, inclusive of that to the people of Smyrna,
here quoted. With reference to the word " Catholic," Saint Cyril,
Bishop of Jerusalem, about A.D. 350, observes, that "the Church is
distinguished by the very name of Catholic from all heresies, which
strive in vain to usurp it. To the spouse of Christ this name always
exclusively belongs, as is apparent whenever any stranger in any city
inquires : 'Where is the Catholic Church?'" (Cyril, Catechesis xviii.,
n. 26). And Saint Augustine, writing A.D. 400, says : " The very
name of Catholic holds me in the Church — a name which, not without
cause, amidst so many heresies she alone has obtained ; so that, whilst
all heretics wish to be called Catholic, neveretheless should any stranger
inquire of them, where the Catholic church is, none of them dare to
point out their own church or house."
32 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Cornelius, a false account of his ordination, witli a view
to His Holiness receiving him into communion. Upon
this. Saint Cyprian addressed a letter to the Pope, giv-
ing him a correct version of the affair. In this letter,
he says : —
After these things, moreover, the schismatics, having set up a
false bishop for themselves, dare to cross the sea, and to bear
letters from schismatical and profane men to the Chair of Peter,
and to the principal Church, the source of sacerdotal unity ; and
they do not reflect that they are the Bomans, whose faith is
E raised by the Apostle preaching, and to whom infidelity cannot
ave access.'
Such clear and conclusive evidence of the Church of
Eome having heen regarded as "the Chair of Peter,"
" the principal Church," " the source of sacerdotal
unity," and of its communion having been sought, as
an indispensable condition of orthodoxy, by all, even
the most remote. Churches, at this early period, must
command at least the respectful attention and serious
consideration of those who are conscientiously opposed
to the Catholic doctrine of the spiritual supremacy of
the Holy See. '
Saint Cyprian's testimony derives additional weight
from the part taken by him in the controversy about
the validity of baptism conferred by heretics. This
subject will be spoken of further on.^
Strikingly in accord with the writings of Saint
Cyprian, above quoted, are the words of Saint Irenseus,
second bishop of Lyons, written more than seventy
years before.* Irena?us in his youth was a hearer of
> Cyprian, "Ad Comelium," Epist. S^. " Et ad Petri Cathedram,
atque ad ecclesiam principalem, unde unitas sacerdotalis exorta est,"
etc. Several authorities consider that the term " principalem," used
here, means more than "principal." The version perhaps ought rather
to be— the princely, chief, ruling or governing Church.
» See Index, "Cyprian."
2 Saint IrenffiUB, Bishop of Lyons and martyr, was bom in Asia
Mmor, about the year 120. His parents, who were Christians, placed
him under the care of Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. According
to Samt Jerome, he was also a pupil of Papias, another disciple of the
THE EARLY FATHERS ON THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 33
Polycarp, who was himself the disciple of Saint John
the Evangelist; and clearly his testimony must have
especial weight, as coming from one so immediately
connected with the Apostolic times. In his third book
against heresies, he says : —
Since it would be very tedious in such a volume as this to
enumerate the successions of all the Churches, we point to the
tradition (received from the Apostles) of the greatest, and most
ancient, and universally known Church, founded and established
at Rome, by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, and
to her faitli announced to men, which, through the successions of
bishops, has come down to us ; and thus we confound all those
who, in any way, either through self-complacency, or vain glory,
or blindness, or perverse sentiments, hold wrong opinions.' For
with this Church, in which the tradition of the Apostles has
always been preserved by the faithful everywhere, it is necessary,
on account of its more powerful primacy, that every Church, that
is, the faithful on every side, should agree.''
Apostles. He is styled by TertuUian "the most diligent searcher of
all doctrine," and by Saint Epiphanius, "a most eloquent and learned
man, endowed with all the gifts of the Holy Ghost." He was sent
by Saint Polycarp into Gaul, where he was ordained priest by Saint
Pothinus, first Bishop of Lyons, in which see he succeeded that pre-
late, in the year 177. According to Eusebius (Hist. Eccles. I. v. c. 4),
Irensus visited Rome, to see Pope Eleutherius, to whom he bore a
dutiful letter from the confessors and martyrs of Lyons. He sufEered
martyrdom, along with a multitude of Christians, in the persecution
of Severus, A.D. 202. Of Saint Lrenseus's principal work, " Against
Heresies," in five books, the original Greek has not come down to our
day ; only a few fragments having been preserved by Eusebius and
other writers. The existing Latin version is attributed by some to
his own time, and by others to the end of the fourth century. Its
accuracy is proved by the passages of the Greek original that have
been preserved.
' " Prseterquam oportet colligunt ; " literally " draw conclusions
which they ought not to draw." Thus Cicero says, ' ' Ita cogitatione
et ratione oollegit. "
^ Irenaeus, "Adversus Hffireses," lib. iii. 0. 3; Paris, 1545. "Ad
hanc enim Ecclesiam, propter potentiorem prinoipaHtatem, necesse est
omnem convenire ecclesiam, hoc est, eos qui sunt undique fideles, in
qua semper, ab his qui sunt undique, conservata est quse ab Apostolis
traditio. " The Greek version, given in the Leipsio edition of 1853, runs
as follows : TLpbs TaiTi}v yap t^v eK/cXiytriac 6t& ttjv Sta^^povtrav Trpondav
dy&yKT] TtSjrav ffvii^aiiicty iKKXrjfflav, rovria-Ti Toiis iravraxiSev vurrois, h
■g SiaTayris ivb tSiv Sttov SifiroTe avvrer'^pTiTai. t] irapa Tuv i,Tro(rTb\w>
SiiZoais. There has been considerable controversy on this passage.
0
34 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
Saint Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem,^ writing about the
year 350, says:—
They all remaining silent, for the doctrine was beyond the
reach of man, Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and the suprfeme
herald of the Church, not following his own inventions, nor per-
suaded by human reasoning, but enlightened in his mind by the
Father, says to Him, " Thou art Christ," not ;simply this, but
" the Son of the living God." »
And again : —
In virtue, therefore, of the same Holy Spirit, Peter, the Prince
of the Apostles, and the key-bearer of the kingdom of heaven, in
the name of Christ, restored to health Jiiieas, a paralytic, in
Lydda, now called Diospolls.'
About the same time. Saint Hilary, Bishop Of
Poitiers,* writes as follows : —
The confession of Peter manifestly obtained a fitting reward,
because he saw in the man the Son of God. Blessed is he who
Spine translate the Greek, irpis fairriv r^v iKKKiifflav avuPalvav, or the
Latin, ad hanc ecdesiam convenvre, as "should agree with this Church."
Others, again, regarding this as a forced construction, prefer the ren-
dering, ' ' should have recourse to," or " resort to," this Church. The
Greek avfi^aiveiv, as may be seen in any lexicon, means, among other
things, "to agree with," "to coincide," or, as in the French version,
convenir, tomber d'accord. This is equally the case with the Latin
convenire. Both renderings are considered correct ; but the first is
more generally adopted.
^ Saint Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, -was born A.D. 315 ; succeeded
Maximus in that see, in 350 ; and died in 386. His principal works
are his twenty-three Catechetical Discourses.
" Catechesis xi. I. Ilh-pos i trpoaTAmii ruv diroo'TiXwy koI tijs iKKKij-
ff/as Kopv^aios K'^pv^j k.t.X,
' Catechesis xvii., de Spiritu Sancto, ii. 37. '0 TpoaTdrris twi/ dTroo-ri-
\av Kal rrjs |8acri\eia! tuv oipavuv kXeiSoCxos II^pos, k.t.\,
* Saint Hilary, Doctor of the Church, was consecrated Bishop of
Poitiers, A.D. 353, and died in 368. He was one of the most eloquent
and most powerful opponents of Arianism. His principal writings are
"Twelve Books on the Trinity," a book on "The Faith of the Orientals,"
and Commentaries on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, and on a portion of
the Psalms. There have been several editions of his works. The best
are said to be those of L. Lemire, Paris, 1544, and of Constant, Paris,
1693, both in folio— the latter republished in Verona, by the Marquis
Maffei, in 1730, with additions.
THE EARLY FATHERS ON THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 3 5
was praised for observing and seeing beyond what human eyes
could perceive ; not beholding what was of flesh and blood, but
discerning the Son of God by the revelation of the Heavenly
Father ; and who was deemed worthy to be the first to recognize
that which was of God in Christ. O thou foundation of the
Church, happy in thy new name, and rook, worthy of that super-
structure which was to destroy the infernal laws, and the gates
of hell, and aU the bars of death ! 0 blessed gate-keeper of heaven,
to whose discretion the keys of the eternal porch are delivered,'
and whose judgment on earth is a prejudged authority in heaven ;
so that those things which are either boUnd or loosed on earth,
meet with a similar decision in heaven.*
Saint Epiphanius,* who also flourished about the
middle of the fourth century, writes : —
The Lord Himself says. He constituted him the first of the
Apostles, the firm rock upon which the Church of God is built,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against her.'
Saint Basil,* writing at the same time, speaks of
Peter, as follows : —
The blessed one who was preferred to the other disciples, and'
who alone received a testimony above all the others, and who was
pronounced blessed rather than all the others, and to whom
were entrusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven.^
Saint Gregory -Nazianzen,* a cotemporary and in-
timate friend of Saint Basil, says : —
^ HUary, " Commentarius in Matthseum, c. xvi."
' Saint Epiphanius was born in the district of Eleutheropolis, in
Palestine, A.D. 310, and died in 403. About the year 367, he wag
chosen Bishop of Constantia, now Salamis, in Cyprus. His " Ancorate"
is written as a stay or anchor, to hold the faithful steady against the
winds and waves of heresy. His principal work is the "Panarium,"
or Antidotes against all heresies. He confutes heresies by tradition
as well as by the Scriptures. The best edition of his works is con-
sidered that of Pere Petau, in Greek and Latin, 1622, with learned
notes, two volumes folio.
■^ " In Anoorat."
* Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of O^sarea in Cappadocia, and
Doctor of the Church, was born in Osesar-^, a.d. 329, was consecrated
archbishop in 370, and died in 379. His works consist of the Hexa-
meron, or discourses on the Six Days of the Creation, Commentaries,
Letters, and Moral Treatises.
^ "Prooem. de judicio Dei."
^ Saint Gregory Nmmzeii, Doctor of the Church, and surnamcd
36 THE CHAIR OF PETEB.
Do you wish me to adduce another example of order and dis-
cipline—an example Ulustrious and laudable, and especially
worthy of the present commemoration and admonition ( Xou
see how out of the disciples of Christ, all certainly great, and
exalted, and worthy of election, tliis one should be called a i;ock,
and have entrusted to his faith the foundations of the Church.i
Saint Gregory of Nyssa^ writes, about the same
time : —
The memory of Peter, the head of the Apostles, is celebrated,
and together with him the other members of the Church are
glorified ; but the Church of God is made solid in hmi ; for he,
according to the prerogative granted him by the Lord, is the
firm and most solid rock on which the Saviour built His
Church.3
Saint Optatus, Bishop of Milevis in Numidia, towards
the end of the fourth century, writing against Par-
menian, the successor of Donatus in the schismatical
see of Carthage, says : —
Therefore you cannot deny, that you know, that in the city of
Eome was first established by Peter the Episcopal Chair in
which sat Peter, the head of all the Apostles, whence also he is
called Cephas ; in order that in this one chair unity might be
preserved by all ; lest the other Apostles should, each for him-
self, defend their several chairs ; but that he should at once be a
schismatic and a sinner, who against this one chair should set
up another. Therefore in the one chair, which is first by its
prerogatives, first sat Peter, to whom succeeded Linus, etc.*
the Theologian, was consecrated Bishop of Sasima, in Cappadooia, by
Saint Basil, a.d. 372. His father was Bishop of Nazianzum. Saint
Gregory died in 391. His works consist of " orations," or discourses,
on faith and morals, and against heresies, panegyrics of martyrs,
letters, and poems.
1 " In Orat. de moderatione servanda."
" Saint Gregory of Nyssa in Cappadocia was the younger brother of
Saint Basil the Great. He was consecrated Bishop of Nyssa A.D. 372.
He attended the Council of Constantinople in 381. He died about
the year 400, His works are Funeral Orations, Sermons, Panegyrics
of Saints, Commentaries on Scripture, and Dogmatic Treatises.
^ "Laudatio altera Sancti Stephani, protomartyris. "
* "Optati Milevitani Opera," lib. ii., contra Pannen., p. 48. Paris,
1 63 1. The only work which we have from Optatus are his Seven
books against the Donatists, here quoted. He is praised by Saints
THE EARLY FATHERS ON THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 37
Here he gives the succession of the Bishops of Eome,
down to Siricius, the reigning Pope, whom he styles
" at this day, our colleague, with whom the whole world
as well as we are united in communion by the inter-
change of the usual letters." He then argues that the
schismatics are outside the Catholic Church, because
none of their bishops communicate with the same
Eoman Chair ; and he alludes to the saving keys given
to Peter, " our chief, to whom Christ said, ' I will give
to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against them.' Whence
is it, then, that you strive to usurp to yourselves the
keys of the kingdom, you who sacrilegiously wage war
against the Chair of Peter, by your presumption and
audacity ? " ^
Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan,^ writing about the
year 380, says : —
This is Peter, to -whom He said, " Thou art Peter, and upon
this rock I will build My Church." Therefore, where Peter is,
there is the Church : where the Church is, there is no death ; but
eternal life. And therefore He added : "And the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it ; and I will give to thee the keys of
the kingdom of heaven." Blessed Peter, against whom the gates
of hell did not prevail, nor the gate of heaven close itself ; but,
on the contrary, he destroyed the porch of hell, and laid open
that of heaven.*
Augustine, Jerome, and Fulgentius. Saint Augustine observes,
"Optatus might be taken as a proof of the truth of the Catholic
Church, if she depended on the virtue of her ministers." Optatus died
about A.D. 384.
' " Optati Milevitani Opera," lib. ii., contra Parmen., p. 49.
2 Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, and Doctor of the Church, was
bom A.D. 340, was consecrated Bishop of Milan in 374, and died in
397. The Benedictines of Saint Maur have given an edition of his
works, in two volumes folio, A.D. 1686-1690. They principally consist
of Treatises on the Holy Scriptures. His style is justly admired.
' Ambrose, " In Psalmum xl. ennaratio," sec. 30. " Ipse est Petrus,
cui dixit : 'Tu es Petrus, et super banc petram sedificabo Ecclesiam
meam.' Ubi ergo Petrus, ibi Ecolesia : ubi Eeclesia, ibi nulla mors,
sed vita Eetema," etc.
3 8 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Again : —
Oonld He not confirm the faith of him, to whom by His own
authority He gave the kingdom, *hom, when He called hiiji a
rock, He pointed out aa the foundation of the Church ?
Saint Aiigustine,^ another illustrious Doctor of the
Church, speaks of Peter as "holding the principality of
the Apostolate," ^ as " first in the order of the Apostles,
the most forward in the love of Christ, frequently-
answering, one for all,"* and as one "in whom the
Primacy of the Apostles is pre-eminent by so surpass-
ing a grace." ^
Again, writing against Julian, the Pelagian, Saint
Augustine exclaims : —
That part of the globe, I think, ought to suffice for you, in
which the Lord was pleased to crown with a most glorious mar-
tyrdom the first of His. Apostles. If you had desired to hear the
blessed Innocent," who presides over that Church, you would
then immediately have divested your dangerous youth of the
snares of Pelagianism. For what could that holy man have
replied to the African councils,'' unless what, as of old time, the
Apostolic See and the Poman Church perseveringly holds with
the others ? *
1 Ambrose, "De Kde," I. iv. o. 5, ji. 56.
^ Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in Numidia, and Doctor of the
Church, was bom in 354, was consecrated coadjutor bishop of Hippo
in December 395, and succeeded to that see, the following year. He
died in 430. Saint Augustine was a most voluminous writer. Per-
haps the best edition of his works is that of the Benedictines of St.
Maur, in eleven volumes folio, a.d. 1 679- 1 700.
^ Saint Augustine, Sermo Ixxxvi. cap. 2. " Apostolatus prinoipatum
teneus."
* Ibid., cap. I. " Ipse enim Petrus in Apostolorum ordine primus,
in Christi amore promptissiraus, saepe unus respondet pro omnibus."
" Saint Augustine, "De Baptism, contra Donat.," lib. ii. a. 2.
"Petrum, in quo primatus Apostolorum tarn excellent! gratia prie-
eminet."
' Saint Innocent I., a native of Albano, presided over the Church,
A.D. 402-417.
' The African councils here referred to were those of Carthage and
Milevis, which condemned the errors of Pelagius, and wrote to the
Pope against them. The synodal letters of both these councils were
drawn up by Saint Augustine. These and the Pope's reply will be
fully referred to, further on.
8 " Contra Julianum Pelagianum, Sancti Augustini," liber i. cap. iv.
THE EARLY FATHERS ON THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 39
And further, he speaks of " the Eoman Church, in
which the Primacy of the Apostolic Chair has always
flourished." ^
Next, let us hear Saint Jerome,^ on the same sub-
ject :—
But you say (he_ writes), the Church ia founded upon Peter ;
although the same is done elsewhere upon all the Apostles ; and
all received the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and the strength
of the Church is equally consolidated upon them. However
among the twelve one is chosen, in order that, a head being estab-
lished, the occasion of schism may be Removed.*
And again : —
As Plato was the prince of philosophers, so of the Apostles was
Peter, on whom was founded the Church of the Lord, an endur-
ing fabric*
Towards the end of the year 376, on account of the
schisms prevailing in the East, Saint Jerome wrote to
Pope Damasus, requesting his advice on certain contro-
verted points of doctrine, and asking him with whom
he ought to communicate at Antioch. In that letter
he says : —
. Therefore I have considered it my duty, to consult the Chair
of Peter, and the faith praised by the mouth of the Apostle,
thence now soliciting food for my soul where I formerly assumed
the livery of Christ. . . . Although your greatness terrifies me,
your humanity, nevertheless, invites me. From the priest I
* Epistola xliii. " Bomana Ecclesia, in qua semper Apostolicse
Cathedrae viguit principatus. "
" Saint Jerome, priest and Doctor of the Church, was born at Stri-
donium in Fannonia, now Hungary, in 331, and died in 420, aged
eighty-nine. The best editions of his works are that of Dbm, Mar-
tianay, Benedictine of the Congregation of Saint Maur, published A.D.
1693-1706, in five volumes folio, and that of Vallarsi of Verona, eleven
volumes folio, 1731.
* " Hieron. Adversns Jovinianum," 1. i. " Tamen propterea inter
duodecim unus eligitnr, ut, capite constituto, schismatis toUatur
ocoasio."
* "Hieron. Adversns Pelagium," 1. i. c. 4. "Siout ille princepa
philosophorum, ita hie Apostolorum fnit, super quern Ecclesia Douuni
stabili mole fundata est."
40 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
eagerly beg the safety of the victim ; from the shepherd, the pro-
tection of the sheep. Away with envy. Let the pomp of the
Roman dignity withdraw. I speak with the successor of the
fisherman, with the disciple of the Cross. I, following no leader
but Christ, am united in communion with Your Blessedness, that
is, with the Chair of Peterr On that rock I know that the
Church is built. Whoever eats the lamb out of that house is
profane. Whoever may not be in the ark of Noah, will perish
in the deluge.*
Saint John Chrysostom,* writing about the same
time, says : —
And why, passing by the others, does He speak to Peter about
the sheep i He was pre-eminent among the Apostles, the mouth
of the disciples, and the head of that assembly. Wherefore, too,
Paul went up to see him, above the rest. At the same time He
would show him, that he ought henceforward to have confidence ;
for, as though thinking no more of his denial, He commits to him
the government of the brethren ;' nor does He reproach him, but
He only says " to him : " If thou lovest me, preside over the
brethren." *
And again he says : —
Thus he washed away that denial, so that he became even the
first of the Apostles, and the whole world was committed to
him."
' "Hieron. Epist. xv., alias IvU.," Ad Damasnm Papam, scripta
circa finem anni 376. " Ego, nullum primum nisi Christum sequens,
Beatitudini tuae, id est Cathedrae Petri, communione oonsocior. Super
illam petram Eedificatam Ecclesiain scio."
' Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople and Doctor
of the Church, was born at Antioch in 344, was consecrated Archbishop
in 398, and, having suffered grievous persecution for the faith, died in
407. He was named "Chrysostom" ("golden-mouth," from the
Greek), oh account of his eloquence. He wrote many important works,
of which there have been several editions. They comprise Homilies
on the Scriptures, and a number of Treatises, Epistles, Sermous, and
other writings.
" "Tiii> TpoffTOfflav Twi' ASeKipHv."
* "Chryscst. in Joannem, Homil. Ixxxviii., alias Ixxxvii."
** irpotffTaTO TUP <l5e\0t3y."
' "Chrysost. Adversus Judseos," viii. 3. Oihws iTrepl<//aTo t^v
ipviiaw ixdniv, (lis Kal vpwros yevinBai. r&v iiroaTiXwp, Kal t})V olKovnhr)v
THE EARLY FATHERS ON THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 4 I
And, further : —
But if any one should say, " How then did James receive the
see of Jerusalem 1 " I shall answer him, that Peter was appointed,
by Christ, the teacher not of the see, but of the whole world.'
Finally, he styles Peter " the leader of that choir, the
mouth of all the Apostles, the head of that assemhly,
the president of the whole world, the foundation of the
Church, the ardent lover of Christ." ^
In the year 449, the celebrated Ecclesiastical histo-
rian, Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus in Syria,^ on the
occasion of his pretended deposition by the false synod
of Ephesus, appealed to the Pope, Saint Leo the Great,
as the sole legitimate judge in such causes. In the
letter presented to the Pope by his messengers, Theo-
doret says : —
If Paul, the herald of truth, and the trumpet of the Holy
Ghost, had recourse to the great Peter, in order that he might
convey from him a solution of the question, to those who were
' "Chrysost. In Joannem, Homil. Ixxxviii., alias Ixxxvii." El Si
X^ot TK, TTws odv 6 'Id.Ktij^os Thv Sp6vov IXtt/Se Twv 'lepuffoXO/iwy ; 4kuvo
&v etiroi/XL, 6Tt tovtqv oit toD &p6vov, dXXa T7}S oUovfi^fTis ^p^ei/joroVT/ffe o
Xpurris Si5d<rKa\ov.
^ " Chrysost. In illud, Hoc scitote quod in novissimis diebus, etc.''
'0 odv n^r/jos, 6 Kopvtpaios toD x^P^^t "^^ crhixa tSiv airoaTiKwv airdvTttJVy
7} KetpaXi] TTJs ^ptLTpids ^KCiyiys, 6 ttjs 6iKov/i4v7is &Tdff7js irpoaTdTqSy 6
Sefi^Xtos T^s * EKKXtjaias, d depfiits ipatTTTjS rod 'Kpiarov. •
* Theodoret, a celebrated Ecclesiastical writer, and Bishop of Gyms,
was born at Antioch, about the year 387. He was a proficient scholar
in Syriac, Hebrew, and Greek literature. In the year 423 he was
consecrated Bishop of Cyrus, a small town, about eighty miles from
Antioch. Being accused of a leaning to Nestorianism, a sentence of
deposition was pronounced against him by the false synod of Ephesus,
A.D. 449. On this, Theodosius the younger commanded him not to go
outside his diocese, and, the following year, banished him to his monas-
tery at Apamea, refusing him permission to go to Rome, to justify
himself before the Pope. In the year 451, Theodoret attended the
General Council of Chalcedon, and was there called on to anathematize
Nestorius and his doctrines. On his having done so, the council pro-
nounced him orthodox, and restored him to his see. He died in 457.
His Ecclesiastical History, in five books, extends from a.d. 322 to 427.
It is published with the several editions of Eusebius and the other
Greek Ecclesiastical Historians.
42 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
disputing at Antioch about the legal observances, with much
more reason we, who are worthless and weak, have recourse to
your Apostolic See, in order that we may receive from you
remedies for the wounds of the Churches. For it is fit that you
should in all things hold the primacy ; for your See is adorned
with many prerogatives.'-
Again, writing to Eenatus, he says : —
I therefore beseech you to persuade the most holy and blessed
chief bishop (Leo) to use his Apostolic power, and to order me to
hasten to your council : for that most holy see hath the govern-
ment of the Churches, throughout the universe, for many reasons,
and chiefly because it has continued free from the taint of heresy,
and no one holding erroneous opinions ever sat in it ; but it h^s
preserve^^?iolH6Srlhe Apostolic grace.^
Saitft^o^ the Great,* ahout the year 450, says : —
To' Peter the Apostle, above the rest, after the Keys of the
Kingdom, the care of the Lord's sheep-fold is committed.*
j4^ J!U;feh€r :— ,
Wve-ma-n-j-Peter, is chosen out of the whole world, to be placed
over 1;h8_calling of all Nations, and over all the Apostles, and all
the Fathers of the Church ; that, although there are in the people
' Theodoret, "Epist. cziii., Ad Leonem.'' 7roXX(J /iuiXXo)> ijneU, oi
eitreXeTs Kal fffitxpol, irphs rhv &iroffT6\tKov i/fiup rp^ofiev 6p6vov, &trre
Trap ii/iuv XdjSeti/ toTs twv iKK\7jfrtuv ?\/fe<ri depaweiav. Aid. irdvTa ydp
ifuv rb vptareieiv &pp.6rTTei. HoXXoTs yhp & ifi^repos 6p6vos KoiXfieiTai
TrXeoviicnjfitKjt,
^ Theodoret, "Epist. cxvi., Ad Renatum." ?x" y^P ° ira('A7ios
Bpbvos ixeivos Ttov Kark t^v olKovfiipr}V iKKKiii<nwv rijr ■fiye/j.ovlav Sii, ttoXXA,
K.T.\.
^ Saint Leo I., sumamed the Great, a. member of a noble Tuscan
family, bom in Rome, governed the Church, A.D. 440-461. He ren-
dered great services to religion and mankind during his eventful Pon-
tificate. His saving Rome from the Huns under Attila, and his
connection with the General Council of Chalcedon will be noticed
further on. Saint Leo's works extant consist principally of Sermons
and Letters. His style is pronounced by one of his biographers to
be polished, flowing, of a- pure and rich Latinlty, and full of dignity
and force. Of the several editions of his works, that of Pere Quesnel
is condemned by the Church, as falsifying several passages of his
writings.
* Sermo i., De Ascensions Domini. " Petro Apostolo supra oaeteros,
post regni ciaves, ovills Domini cura mandatur."
THE EAKLY FATHERS ON THE PEIMACY OF PETER. 43
of God many priests and many pastors, Peter however should, in
his own person, rule all, as Christ supremely rules them.i
A century and a half later, Saint Gregory the Great,^
writing to the Emperor Maurice, says : —
Eor it is evident to all who know the Gospel, that, by the voice
of the Lord, the care of the whole Church was committed to Saint
Peter, the Prince of all the Apostles. For to him it is said,
" Feed my sheep ;" " Peter, I have prayed for theey " " Thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church ;" etc. Behold
he' receives the keys of the heavenly kingdom : the power of
binding and loosing is given to him. To him is committed the
care and government of the whole Church.''
These^qXitJtations jnay ^ell be closed by the following
extracts from the writings of Saint Bernard.* On the
^ Sermo iii., De anaivers. assumpt. sueb ad Fontificatum. " Utius ds
toto mundo Petrus eligitur, qui et universarum gentium vooationi, et
omnibua Apostolis, cunctisque Eoclesiaa patribua prseponatur ; ut quam-
vis in populo Dei multi sacerdotes sint, multique pastores, omnea tamen
propria regat Petrus, quoa principaliter regit et Christua."
" Saint Gregory I., sumamed the Great, on account of his illustrious
actiona and holy life, was born of a senatorial family in Kome, in 540,
was consecrated Pope on September 3, 590, and died on March 12, 604.
His works consist of twelve books of Letters, his Dialogues, Homilies,
Commentaries, and other writings, of all which there have been pub-
lished several editions. His zeal for the conversion of all England, and
his sending over Augustine and his companions on that mission, are
already familiar to the reader.
^ "S. Gregorii Magui Epistolae,'' lib. iv., epist. 32, Ad Mauritiura
AuguBtum. " Cunctis enim Evangelium soientibus liquet, quod voce
Dominica sancto et omnium Appstolorum principi Petro Apostolo totiua
Ecclesiae cura commissa est. . . . Eoce claves regni ccelestis aooipit ;
potestas ei ligandi et solvendi tribmtur. Cura ei totius Ecclesise et
principatus committitnr."
* Saint Bernard was the third son of Tescelin and Alice, members of
two of the noblest families in Burgundy, and both related to the
sovereign dukes. He was bom in 1091, at the Chateau of Fontaines,
near Dijon, a lordship belonging to his father. In 1 113 he entered, as
a novice, the austere Cistercian monastery of Citeaux, then governed
by Saint Stephen Harding, an Englishman, the third abbot. In 11 14
Bernard was professed, and the following year Saint Stephen, who
entertained a high opinion of his sanctity and extraordinary talents,
sent him, with twelve monks, to establish a new monastery in the
diocese of Ijangres, in Champagne. They selected, as a site, a desolate
valley, surrounded by forests, eleven leagues from Chalons ; and here
arose Saint Bernard's celebrated abbey, afterwards known as Clairvaux,
44 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
death of Pope Lucius II., in 114S, one of Saint Ber-
nard's monks, Bernard of Pisa, was elected Pope, taking
the name of Eugenius III. He was a man of great
learning and piety, and had been appointed by Saint
Bernard first abbot of his new monastery of Three
Fountains, or, as it was more generally called, Saints
Vincent and Anastasius, near Eome. On hearing of
the elevation of his disciple, Bernard addressed to him
a letter of deep feeling, and singular eloquence, styled
by Cardinal Baronius " a truly golden letter." ^ In it
he says : —
Thou hadst indeed chosen to be an abject in the house of thy
God, and to sit down in the lowest place at His banquet : but it
pleased Him, who had invited thee, to say, "Friend, go up
higher."^ And so thou hast gone up high. Reli.sh not this
height, but fear ; lest perchance it may befall thee to utter, later
on, these lamentable words : " From the face of Thy wrath and
indignation, having lifted me up, Thou hast thrown me down."'
For thou hast obtained a higher place, but not a safer ; .more
sublime, not more secure. Terrible, truly terrible is this place.
The place, I say, in which thou standest is holy ground ; it is
the place of Peter, the place of the Prince of the Apostles, where
he has stood. It is the place of him, whom the Lord constituted
the lord of His house, and the prince of all His possessions. If
perchance thou swervest from the way of the Lord, he is buried
in the same place, that he may bear testimony against thee.
Worthily, indeed, to such a pastor, to such a governor, was the
Church committed when it was as yet young, as yet in its cradle ;
instructed by whose teaching, and educated by whose example, it
might trample on all earthly things ; even as one who had shaken
his hands free of every gift, and who used to say, out of a pure
or CUtra Vallie, the name given it by. the inhabitants of the neighbour-
hood, on account of the sanctity of its monks, and especially of the
abbot. Saint Bernard was, for many years, the trusted counsellor of
Popes and Kings, and exercised great and wide- spread influence, ren-
dering invaluable services to religion and the State. He died at Clair-
vaux in 1 1 53, in the sixty-third year of his age, and the thirty-eighth
of his office of abbot. The best edition of Saint Bernard's works is that
published by Mabillon In 1690, re-published in 1 7 19, in two volumes
folio.
' "Annales Eoclesiastici," xii. 307. "Has plane aureas litteras
dedit."
* Luke xiv. 10. ' Psa. ci. 11.
THE EARLY FATHERS ON THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 45
heart and a good conscience, "Silver and gold, I have none"
(Acts iii. 6).'
Saint Bernard also addressed to the same Pope his
Five Books " of Consideration," in which he impresses
on His Holiness the grave responsibilities and duties of
his exalted office, and urges the necessity of daily con-
templation and self-examination, as the best safeguards
of his soul, amidst the weighty cares and distractions
pressing upon him. In the second book he says : —
Come now, let us still more diligently investigate who thou
art ; that is to say, what character thou sustainest for the time,
in the Church of God. Who art thou 1 The great priest, the
supreme pontiff. Thou art the prince of bishops ; thou art the
heir of the Apostles. Thou art Abel in the primacy, Noah in
government, Abraham in the patriarchate, Melchisedech in order,
Aaron in dignity, Moses in authority, Samuel in judgment,
Peter in power, Christ in anointment. Thou art he to whom
the keys were given, to whom the sheep were entrusted. There
are indeed also other gate-keepers of heaven and pastors of flocks :
but thou hast inherited both titles, as much more gloriously as
differently, in comparison with the others. They have single
flocks severally assigned to them : all are entrusted to thee — one
flock to one man. Nor of the sheep alone, but of all the shepherds
also, thou art the one pastor. Dost thou ask me whence I prove
this 1 From the word of the Lord. For, to whom, I do not say
of the bishops, but of the Apostles themselves, were all the sheep
committed so absolutely and without distinction t "If thoulovest
Me, Peter, feed My sheep." What sheep 1 The people of this
or that city, or region, or particular kingdom ? " My sheep," He
says. To whom is it not certain that He did not designate some,
but assigned all ? Nothing is excepted where no distinction is
made.^
1 " Sancti Bemardi Epistola," 237. " Terribilis prorsus, terribilis est
locus iste. Locus, inquam, in quo stas, terra sancta est ; locus Petri est,
locus Principis Apostolorum, ubi steterunt pedes ejus. Locus illius
est, quern constituit DominuB dominum domus suae, et principem omnis
possessionis suae. Si forte deolinaveris a via Domini, sepultus est in
eodem loco, ut sit tibi contra te in testimonium. Merito tali pastori,
tali nutritio commissa est Ecclesia, cum adhuc tenera, adhuc in cuna-
bulis esset : cujus docta magisterio, et exemplo educata, omnia terrena
calcaret."
" "Sancti Bernard! De Consideratione Libri Quinque," lib. ii. cap. 8.
" Quis es ? Sacerdos magnus, summus Pontif ex. Tu princeps epis-
46 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Here, we have the concurrent testimony of holy and
learned prelates and doctors, from the East and the
West, from every quarter of Christendom at the time,
all establishing the historical fact of the primacy of
Peter and his successors, and the Catholic belief therein,
existing in those early ages. TertuUian and Saint
Cyprian speak from Carthage, the capital of Africa, and
anciently the rival of Eome ; Origen, from Alexandria,
the metropolis of Egypt ; Saint John Chrysostom, from
Constantinople, the seat of the Empire of the East;
Saint CyrU, from Jerusalem; Saints Basil, Gregory
Nazianzen, and Gregory of Nyssa, from Cappadocia, in
Asia Minor ; Saint Augustine and Saint Optatus, from
Numidia in Northern Africa; Theodoret, from Cyrus
in Syria ; Saint Epiphanius, from the classical island of
Cyprus ; Saint Jerome, now from Hungary, now from
Jerusalem, now again from Antioch; Saint Irenseus,
from Lyons ; Saint Hilary, from Poitiers ; Saint
Ambrose, from Milan; Saints Leo the Great, and
Gregory the Great, from Eome; and, although last
not least, several centuries later. Saint Bernard, as it
were, sums up, from the venerable abbey of Clair-
vaux. Much more, to the same effect, might be quoted
from these writers : much, again, from other generally
accepted authorities. But the extracts given are quite
sufficient for the purpose ; especially as a considerable
amount of collateral corroborative evidence will neces-
sarily occur, as we proceed.
coporum, tit h^res Apostolorum. . . . Tu es cui claves tradite, cui
oves creditae sunt. Sunt quidem et alii coeli janitores et gregum
paatores : sed tu tanto gloriosius quanto et diffei-entius utramque prse
caeteris nomen haereditasti. Habent illi sibi assignatos greges, singuli
singulos : tibi universi crediti, uni unus. Non modo ovium, sed et
pastorum tu unus omnium pastor. Unde id probem quaeria ? Ex
verbo Domini," etc.
CHAPTEE IV.
SAINT PETER, BISHOP OF ROME.
" Simon Petrus, filius Joatims, frater Andrese Apostoli, et prinoeps
Apostolorum, post episoopatum Antioohensia eoolesise, et praedicationem
dispeieionis eorum qui de circumciBione crediderant, in Ponto, Cralatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, et Bithynia, seoundo Claudii Imperatoris anno, ad
expugnandum Simonem Magum, Romam pergit, ibique viginti quinque
annis Cathedram Sacerdotalem tenuit, usque ad ultimum, id est quar.
turn decimum, Keronis annum, a quo affixus cruci martyrio coronatus
est, capite ad terram verso." — Saint Jerome.
According to Eusebius/ Saint John Chrysostom,^
Saint Jerome,* and many other writers, the See of
1 Eusebius Pamphili, Bishop of Csesarea in Palestine, styled "the
Father of Ecclesiastical History," was bom about the year 264, was
consecrated bishop in 313, attended the Council of Nice in 325, and
died in 340. His Ecclesiastical History, in ten books, comprises the
history of the Church, from the Ascension to the defeat and death of
Licinius, a.d. 324. His Chronicle, in two parts, gives the distinct
succession of the kings and rulers of the principal nations from the
beginning of the world down to the twentieth year of the reign of
Constantine. Of this, the second part was translated into Latin by
Saint Jerome. Eusebius also wrote a highly eulogistic "Life of
Constantine," and some minor works. He adopted the name Pamphili,
through love of his dear friend Pamphilus the martyr. Eusebius, all
through, inclined to favour the errors of Arius ; but he did not go so
far in this direction as his namesake, Eusebius, Bishop of Nioomedia,
with whom he is not to be confounded. Indeed, he anathematized the
Arian heresy at the Council of Nice, and proposed a formula of
orthodox faith ; but he had great difficulty in subscribing the word
"consubstantial," o/iooiicrtos, which the Fathers added to his formula.
The best edition of his " Ecclesiastical History " is considered that of
Henri de Valois, Valemis, in his collection of the Greek Ecclesiastical
Historians, published in Paris, in 1669, and again, with a Latin
version, in 1677. The Cambridge edition of 1720, by Reading, is also
highly esteemed. Each is in three volumes folio.
" Chrysostom, " In Inscriptionem Actorum, xi. 26."
s Hieron., In " Catalogo," i. ; et " In Epist, ad Galat. ii."
48 THE CHAIK OF PETER.
Antioch — the most ancient after that of Jerusalem —
was founded by Saint Peter. The date of its founda-
tion is variously stated ; some fixing it as early as the
year 35, and some as late as the year 38, of the Vulgar
Era. Antioch was the metropolis of Syria, and of all
the East. Moreover, it was the connecting link of the
East with the capital of that great Empire which then
ruled the world. Here the disciples were first called
Christians; and it was fitting, as observed by Saint
John Chrysostom, that the city which first gave the
faithful the name of Christians, should have for its
first pastor the Prince of the Apostles.^ Speaking of
Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, Eusebius, writing in the
commencement of the fourth century, bears testimony
to the fact, that he was celebrated by many, even to
that day, as the Successor of Peter at Antioch, and the
second who obtained episcopal consecration there;*
Evodius, ordained by Peter, having been the first, in
succession to the Apostle.* " We have received the
tradition, that Peter was the bishop of the Church of
Antioch, and then was translated to Eome," says Saint
Jerome, who, lest Saint Luke's silence thereon, in the
Acts of the Apostles, should give rise to doubts on the
subject, immediately adds : " Nor is it surprising if
Luke is silent about this fact, since, with the licence of
a historiographer, he omits many things, which Saint
Paul relates, as having happened to himself; and it
is not inconsistent, that what one person may consider
worthy of being related, another may, among other
things, altogether omit." *
Saint Peter held the See of Antioch, most probably,
seven years. " Not that he stayed there all that time,"
observes Dr. Cave, " but that, having ordered and dis-
' " In Insoriptionem Actorum, xi. 26."
' Eusebius, " Ecdesiastieal History," iii. 36.
' Ibid., iii. 22. Ignatius, Epist. 12. The very ancient feast of
"Saint Peter's Chair at Antioch " is celebrated by the Church on the
22nd of February.
* Hieronymus, " In Comment. Epist. ad Galat., cap. ii."
SAINT PKTER, BISHOP OF ROME. 49
posed things to the best advantage, he returned to
other affairs and exigencies of the Church, confirming
the new plantations, bringing in Cornelius and his
family, and, in him, the first fruits of the Gentiles'
conversion to the faith of Christ." ^ He preached the
Gospel in Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia, and
Asia Minor, as well as in Judea, before going to Eome.^
He was in Jerusalem in the year 35, when he was
visited by Saint Paul, who remained with him fifteen
days;* and, again, in 41, when he was imprisoned by
Herod Agrippa, and was miraculously delivered, through
iCaa prayers of the Church.*
; / In the partition of " all nations " for the preaching
// of the Gospel, made by the Apostles, immediately
before their dispersion, a.d. 41, 42, it was, in the over-
ruling designs of Divine Providence, arranged, that
Peter shoxdd be the one chosen to carry the light of
faith to the metropolis of the world.^ Rome had now
attained the summit of her greatness. Her legions had
subdued every foe. All nations were her tributaries.
Towards the city of the Csesars all mankind turned;
, , for in that great city were centred the power, the
?Mlth, the civilization of jthfi_garth. The geographical
' " Antiquitatea Apostolieae," by William Cave, D.D., p. 34.
^ Eusebius, " Ecclesiastical History," iii. I ; Saint Jerome, " Cata-
logue." Saint Leo the Great, Sermon 80; Epiphanius, "Hsereses,"
7, n. 6 ; also Peter, Epistle I.
' Galat. i 18, 19. Vide supra, chap. ii.
* Acts xii.
^ It is a very ancient tradition of the Church, that Christ desired
the Apostles to remain in Jerusalem and Judea for the space of twelve
years before they dispersed to fulfil the mission, which He gave them,
to teach all nations. This is stated by Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical
Hisfory," v. 18; as well as by the author of K^/siry/ta Il^r/jov, "The
Preaching of Peter," a work of great antiquity, quoted by Clement of
Alexandria, in his "Stromata," vi. 5. The words quoted are:
" Wherefore Peter says, that the Lord said to the Apostles, ' If any
one therefore is willing to be led out of Israel by penance, and on
account of My name to believe in God, his sins will be remitted.
Aiter twelve years, go forth into the World, lest any one should say,
We have not heard.'" " Meri 5c65e/ca irq e^iXSere els rbv kSctuov /nij
tIs rfirij, oiK ■iJKOvcranei'.''
D
so
THE CHAIR OF PETER.
position of Eome, too, alike central and accessiblSi was
peculiarly favourable. All these resources, and ad-
vantages, material and moral, were, in God's own time,
to be made subservient to the work of His Church.
Here, then, was fittingly established "the Apostolic
See " 1— « the Chair of Peter " ^—" the place of Peter " »
— « the place of the Prince of the Apostles " *— " the
episcopal chair in which sat Peter the head of all the
Apostles "5 — "the principal Church, the source of
sacerdotal unity ; " ^ and well indeed did Pope Pelagius
II. exclaim : " Who ever presumes to say, that Saint
Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, did not act well,
when he changed his see from Antioch to Eome ? " '^
To the same effect are the following remarkable words
of another successor of Saint Peter, Saint Leo the Great,
writing about the year 450 : —
W4i«n- the- 1 w«k®-A{M>stte7lrar5ingT?2Eived,jlto
Ghost, the gift of tongues, had undertaken to imbue the world
with the Gospel, distributing among themselves the regions of
the earth, the most blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostolic
order, was appointed to the capital of the Roman Empire ; that
the light of truth, which was revealed for the salvation of all
mankind, might more efficaciously be diffused from the head
through the whole body of the world. For of what country
^^ould there not be inhabitants in that city ; or what peoples
ahjmhere would be ignorajt of what Eome taughtJS_jHere,
^ Saint Augustine, " Contra Julianum PelagianuBi," lib. i. c. 4 ;
Theodoret, " Ad Leonem, epiat. cxili. ; " and the other early Fathers,
'■^ Saint Jerome's letter to Pope Damasus, written about the year
376 ; Epist. XV., alias Ivii. " I am united in communion with Your
Holiness, that is, with the Chair of Peter." Also the other early
Fathers, passim.
' Saint Cyprian, Epist. Jz, addressed to Antonianus, about the
ordination of Pope Cor&elius, a.d. 251.
* Saint Bernard, Epiat. 237, addressed to Pope Eugeniua III.
" Saint Optatus, against farmenian, book ii., written about A.D. 370.
« Saint Cyprian, Epist. 35, addressed to Pope Cornelius, a.d. 252.
' Pelagii II. Epist. i. " Quis enim unquam audet dioere, Sanctum
Petrum, Apostolorum prindipem, non bene egisse, quaudo mutavit
sedem de Antiochia in Eomam?" Pope Pelagius It, a Homau^
goTerned the Church, a.d, 578-590.
SAINT I'ETER, BISHOP OF ROME. 5 I
the opinions of philosophy' were to be trampled under foot;
here, the vanities of -worldly -wisdom -were to be annulled 1; here,
the worship of demons was to be confuted ; here, the impiety of
all sacrileges was to be overthro-wn ; -vi-here had been coliected,
by the most diligent superstition, whatever had anywhere been
instituted by vain errors. To this City, therefore, "most blessed
Apostle Peter, thou, dost not fear to come ; and, the partner of
thy glory, the Apostle Paul, being as yet occupied in the
ordaining of other Churches, thou dost enter tliis forest of
raging -wild beasts, this ocean of most turbulent depth, more
courageous than when thou didst -walk upon the waters.
Thou dost not fear Rome, the mistress of the world, who wert
afraid of the maidrservant of the high priest, in the, .house of
Caiaphas. Was the power ot Claudius or the cruelty of Nero
less than the judgment of Pilate or the fierce hostility of the
Jews t The force of love, then, conquered the occasion of fear ;
nor didst thou deem it right that thou shouldst yield to terror,
whilst consulting the salvation of those whom thou hadst uijder-
taken to sustain. When the profession of thy love for our Lord
was confirmed by the mystery of the triple interrogatioh, theii
indeed it was that thou didst conceive this disposition of intrepid
charity. Nor was anything else sought for by this earnest dis-
position of thy mind than that, in feeding the sheep of Him
whom thou didst love, thou shouldst bestow upon them the food
with which thou hadst thyself been enriched. Thy confidence,
too, was increased by so many prodigies of miracles, so many
gifts of graces, and experiences of virtues. Already, thou hadst
instructed the nations of the circumcision, who had believed j
already, thou hadst founded the Church of Antiocb, where first
arose the dignity of the Christian name ; already, thou hadst filled
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia with the laws of
the preaching of the Gospel ; and, neither doubtful of the advance-
ment of the work, nor ignorant of the term of thy life, thou didst
bear the trophy of the Cross of Christ to the Roman capital,
whither, by Divine pre-ordination, thou wert preceded by the
honour of power, and the glory of suffering.'!
Having appointed Evodius (previously his vicar) his
successor at Antioch, Saint Peter removed to Eome, to
establish his see there, a.d. 42, the second year of the
Emperor Claudius.^ In the words of the most ancient
Eeelesiastical historian, " Immediately under the reign
^ Lea, "Sermo i, in Natal. Apoatolonim Petri et PaUli."
' EuseWus, in " Chronico ; " Saifit Jeroilid, in " Catalogo," ubi de
Petro,
52 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
of Claudius, by the benign and gracious providence of
God, Peter, that powerful and great one of the Apostles,
who by his courage took the lead of all the rest, was
conducted to Eome," and, " like a noble commander of
God, strengthened with Divine armour; bore the price-
less treasure of the revealed light from the East to
those in the West, announcing the light itself, and the
soul-saving word — the proclamation of the kingdom of
heaven."^
Another very ancient Christian historian, writing in
the year 416, says: "Claudius obtained the Empire,
the fourth from Augustus, and remained in it foutteen
years. In the beginning of his reign, Peter, the Apostle
of our Lord Jesus Christ, came to Eome, and with faith-
ful word taught the saving faith to all believers, and
approved it by most sublime virtues." ^
On Saint Peter's arrival in Eome, he first joined his
fellow-countrymen the Jews, who, since the reign of
Augustus, had dwelt in the quarter beyond the Tiber.
Of these he converted many ; but, ere long, with a view
to entering on his mission of preaching the Gospel to
the Gentiles, he took up his abode with Pudens, a
Eoman lof high social position, and a convert to Chris-
tianity.* The house of Pudens stood in the valley
' Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History," ii. 14. Eusebius here speaks
of the complete discomfiture of Simon Magus by Saint Peter at Rome,
and the tragical death of the impostor. The story is doubted by some'
writers ; but, besides Eusebius, several of the Fathers allude to it—
notably, Justin, Irenseus, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius, Sulpitius
Severus, Isidore, and Prosper.
^ Orosius, " Historiarum Libri Septem," cap. vi. Paulus Orosius, a
learned Spanish priest, was bom at Tarragona in the latter part of the
fourth century. He was the cotemporary and friend of Saint Augus-
tme. His principal work is his "Seven Books of Histories, against
the Pagans," above quoted, completed A.D. 416. He also wrote an
Apology of Free Will against Pelagius."
» Some are of opinion that this Pudens was the Christian in Rome
mentioned by Saint Paul, in 2 Tim. iv. 21. Ancient writers speak of
him as Pudens the Senator ; but modern critics incline to the belief
ttiat he was not of senatorial rank, and that he was the ancestor of
Pudens the Senator, who lived about one hundred years later and
SAINT PETER, BISHOP OF ROME. 5 3
between the Viminal and Esquiline hills; and here
the Apostle resided seven years, 'a.d. 43-49, baptizing
vast numbers of converts,^ and preaching the religion of
Christ.
The house of Pudens was thrown open to the Chris-
tians for their religious assemblies ; and ultimately it
was converted by Saint Peter into a church, known
afterwards as the Title, or parish church, of the Pastor.^
On the same site now stands the very ancient church
of Saint Pudentiana, first erected by Saint Pius I., a.d.
14s.*
Ifotwithstanding the gigantic evils with which he
had to grapple, the widely spread and deep-rooted
prejudices which he had to eradicate, the effects of
the Apostle's zeal were immediate ; the harvest of his
labours was most abundant. In describing these, the
historian already quoted observes : " So greatly did the
splendours of piety enlighten the minds of Peter's
hearers, that, not content with hearing but ouce, or
with receiving the unwritten Gospel of God, they
whoise daughters, Saints Praxedes and Pudentiana, are venerated by
the Church. See Constantius, " Annales SS. Petri et Pauli, apud Cor-
tesium, " pp. 334 et aeq.
' TertulUan, writing towards the close of the second century, makes
allusion, as follows, to Saint Peter's baptizing in Rome : " Quos Joannes
in Jordane, et quos Petrus in Tiberl tinxit" ("De Baptis.," c. iv.).
* Baroniua, "Annales Ecclesiastic!," i. 593. "Domus (Pudentis),
ad radicem Yiminalis posita, prope Exquilinum, patuit omnibus Chria-
tianis, ubi et eacrae agebantur synaxes ; conversa deinde penitus in
ecclesiam, eadem Pastoris Titulus dicta est." Per " Title, " Titulus,
see Index.
* The church of Saint Pudentiana, several times rebuilt or restored,
is EsCid to be the most ancient of the churches of Home — omnium eccle-
siarum urbis vetustissima. Cardinal Wiseman, on receiving the purple,
took his title from this church. Soine writers say, that the present
venerable church of Saint Peter Ad Vincula occupies the site of the
first church erected in Kome by the Apostle. The balance of proba-
bility however inclines in favour of the church of Saint Pudentiana. All
appear to agree, that the first two churches erected in Kome by the
Apostle stood on the sites now occupied by these two churches. In
the most ancient martyrologies, we find mention made of "the feast of
the first church erected and consecrated in Home by Saint Peter." See
Fogginius, "De Romano Divi Petri Itinere et Episcopatu," p. 281.
54 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
perdeveringly entreated Mark, as the follower of Peter,
to leave them in writing, a nionument of the doctrine
thus orally communicated. Nor did their solicitations
cease until their object was attained ; and thus it is thaj;
we have that sacred writing which is called ' the Gospel
according to Mark.' It is said also, that the Apostle
(Peter), knowing what was done, by the revelation of
the^ Holy Spirit, was delighted with the ardent zeal, of
these men, and that the history was confirmed by his
authority fpr the puspose of being read in the Churches.
This is related by Clement in the sixth book of his In-
stitutions,^ to which is added the testimony of Papias,
Bishop of Hierapolia." ^
. Saint Mark is styled, by some of the most ancient
writers, " the interpreter of Peter," * Papias, a disciple
of the Apostles, Bishop of Hierapolis, and, according to
Ireneeus, " the hearer of John and the associate of Poly-
carp,"* tells us, that, "Mark, being the interpreter of
Peter, whatsoever he recorded, he wrote with great
accuracy, but not however in th& oyder in which it
was spoken or done by the Lord, for he never heard or
. ' The Clement here spoken of is Saint Clement of Alexandria, a
native of Athens, and a, Platonic philosopher before his conversion.
He was a very learned man, and succeeded Paptaenus, in the celebrated
catechetical school of Alexandria. Here, he had as pupils Origen and
Saint Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem and martyr. He was ordained
priest about the year 195. His principal works are, his " Exhortation
to the Grentiles," pointing out to them the follies of idolatry, his " Stro-
mata" (literally Hangings, or Tapestry), comprising eight books of
miscellanepus writings, his " Pedagogue," in three books, intended to
lead his spiritual children in the way of heaven, and his ' ' Hypotyposes,"
or "Institutions," above alluded to. His works were published by
l)ootor Potter, in Oxford, in 17 15. This edition is considered superior
to those of Paris, 1616, and Venice, 1757.
^ Eusebius, " Ecclesiastical History," ii. 15. See also Saint Jerome,
"De viris illustribus," in Marco.
» Saint Jerome, in " Catalogo ; " also " De viris illustribus ; " Atha-
nasius, " De Libris Sacrae Soripturse ; " Papias, apud Eusebium ; Ire-
nseuB, as presently quoted; Tertullian, "contra Maroioneui," iv. 5.
* Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, flourished in the begin-
ning of the second century. A few fragments of his writings are
preserved in the works of Eusebius, Saint Irenseus, and other ancient
writers.
SAINT PETER, BISHOP OF ROME. 5 5
followed the Lord ; but afterwards, as I have said, he
was a follower of Peter, who spoke for the purposes of
instruction, and not as giving a consecutive history of
the words of the Lord." ^
In the year 44, Saint Peter, having firmly established
the Eoman See, being mindful of the Churches which
he had founded in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Bithy-
nia, and Asia Minor, addressed to them his Pirst
Epistle.* In that sacred letter, "sparing in words,
but replete with instruction," Erasmus, Grotius, and
other commentators recognize "a fulness of authority
and Apostolic majesty, worthy of the Prince of the
Apostles." ^ The same observations may well be applied
to Saint Peter's Second Epistle also, which was written
in the year 66, immediately before his martyrdom.*
Clearly, the Pirst Epistle was written in Eome, " which,"
says Eusebius, " by a trope he calls Babylon " ^ — a name
commonly given to Eome by Christians, at the tirae,
according to TertuUian, Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine,
Orosius, and other writers.* It is generally supposed to
have been written in the year 44, as Saint Mark was
* Fapias, apud Eusebium, " Hiat. Ecoles.," Jii. 39. Saint Irenaus,
Bishop of Lyons, writing on this subject, about the close of the second
centuiy, says, " Matthew, among the Hebrews, published the work of
the Gospel in their language, whilst Peter and Paul were evangelizing
in Home, and founding the Church ; and, after its publication, Mark,
the disciple and interpreter of Peter, handed do.wn to us those things
which Peter used to preach" ("Contra Hsereses," lib. iii. c. l). A
Greek translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew was made in the Apos-
tolic times — some say, imder his own supervision.
" I Pet. i. I. Baronius, " Annales Ecolesiaatici," i. 343.
' "Praefat.'iu hano Petri Bpistolam." Erasmus: " Est autem Epis-
tola profecto digna Apostolorum Principe, plena auctoritatis et majesta-
tis ApostolicsB ; verbis paroa, sententiis ref erta." Grotius : " Conveniens
Prinoipi Apostolorum."
* 2 Pet. i. 14. " Being assured that the laying away of this my
tabernacle is at hand, according as our Lord Jesus Christ hath signified
to me." In these words the Apostle evidently alludes to his vision of
his Divine Master, as he passed out through the Porta Capena ; which
will presently be more fully referred to.
^ Eusebius, " Ecclesiastical History," ii. 15.
' TertulUan, " Adversus Judseos," 0. 9, et " Contra Marcion.," iii. 13.
Hieron. in " praef. de Spiritu Sancto." Augustin. " De Civitate Dei,"
56 THE CHAIK OF PETEK.
then in Eome.^ A few authors however fix its date
some years later.
About the year 45, Saint Peter sent Mark to found
the See of Aquileia, which, of the Western cities, was
next to Eome in importance, at that time.^ Mark also
preached the Gospel in several other parts of Italy. It
was probably two years later, that the Apostle sent
Mark to establish, and preside over, the See of Alex-
andria,^ which then took rank as the second city of the
Empire.* The success of Mark's mission in the metro-
polis of Egypt was signal and immediate ; for we are
told, that " so great a multitude of believers, both of
men and women, were collected there at the very out-
set, that, in consequence of their extreme philosophical
discipline and austerity, Philo considered their pursuits,
their assemblies and entertainments, and, in short,
their whole manner of life, deserving a place in his
descriptions."^ This Philo was a celebrated Jewish
philosopher, a native of Alexandria, in the Apostolic
times.^ About the year 40, he was sent by the Jews
of Alexandria, to Rome, at the head of an embassy to
Caius Caligula, to refute the charge that they neglected
lib. xviii. u. 22. Oiosius, " Histor. lib. vii." o. 2. See also Gibbon's
" Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," chap. xv.
1 I Pet. .. 13.
" MartyroL TJsuard. et Adon. sub die iv. Idus Junii. "Marcus
Evangelista Evangelium quod Komee scripserat, Petro mittente,
primum Aquileise prsedioavit."
* Eusebius in " Chronioo." Baroniue, " Annales Ecclesiastici," i. 344.
* Herodianus, lib. vii. : also Eusebius. Saint Mark founded many
other Churches in Egypt, and finally suffered martyrdom there, about
three years after the death of Saints Peter and Paul. " But the second
See," says Pope Gelasius, in his decree concerning the Apocryphal
books, " was consecrated, in the name of Blessed Peter, by Mark his
disciple and the Evangelist ; for he, being sent by the Apostle Peter
into Egypt, preached the word of truth there, and suffered martyrdom."
5 Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History," ii. 16.
" Philo Jud^us was so thoroughly imbued with the principles, and
so closely imitated the style, of Plato, that it used to be said, Aut Plato
philonizat, aut Philo platonizat. The general opinion is, that he did
not beopme a Christian ; although it is stated, by some writers, that
he was 'converted by Saint Peter in Rome.
57
the honours due to Caesar. On the occasion of his
second visit, in the reign of Claudius, A.D. 44, " he had
familiar intercourse with Saint Peter at Eome, whilst
he was proclaiming the Gospel to the inhabitants of
that city." 1
Besides Saint Mark, Saint Peter ordained numbers
of his disciples Bishops, and sent them to found
Churches in various countries. Even down to our
remote times, the names of several of these sees and
of their first bishops have been preserved. A long list
of these in Italy, Sicily, ITrance, Spain, and Germany,
is given by Cardinal Baronius,^ as taken from the most
ancient martyrologies.* These it is unnecessary, as it
would be tedious, to enumerate here.
The Jews having raised several tumults in Eome,
through their jealousy of the daily increasing body of
' Euaebius, " Ecclesiastical History," ii. 17; and Saint Jerome, " De
Script. Eocles. in Philone."
- Csesar Baronius, distinguished alike for his. learning and piety,
was bom at Sora, in the kingdom of Naples, A.D, 1538. At the age
of eighteen, he entered the Congregation of the Oratory at Rome,
under Saint Philip Neri, whom he succeeded as father superior, in
1593. In 1596, he received the Cardinal's hat from Pope Clement
VIII. He was shortly afterwards appointed Librarian of the Vatican,
for which important office he was well qualified by his learning. At
the age of thirty, in obedience to his superior, Saint Philip Neri,
Earouius entered on his great work, "Annales Ecclesiastici," ranging
from the year of our Lord I to 1197 ; and published in Kome, A.D.
1588 to 1593, in twelve volumes folio. This work was undertaken, to
oppose the compilation of the Centuriators of Magdeburg, whose main
objects were, to attack the Church of Rome, to establish the doctrines
of Luther, and to decry the Catholic Fathers and Theologians. Baro-
nius's Annals were continued by his brother Oratorians, Raynaldi for
the years 1198 to 1565, and Laderchi for 1566 to 1571, and they are
being brought down from 1572 to our times by Pr. Theiner, Priest of
the Oratory, Rome. Some faults, unavoidable in a voluminous work,
the first of its kind, and some inaccuracies in chronology, exist in the
Annals of Baronius, and have been pointed out by P. Pagi, and other
critics. All their remarks will be found in an edition of the Annals,
published in Lucca, in 1740. Notwithstanding these blemishes, the
work will ever stand forth, as a grand monument of learning, research,
and perseverance, such as we look for in vain in the present day.
' Baronius, "Annales Ecclesiastici," vol. i. p. 356 ; and Pogginius,
"De Romano Divi Petri Itinere et Episcopatu," p. 287.
58 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
Christians, the Emperor Claudius, by an edict, A.D. 49,
banished both Jews and Christians from the Imperial
City.^ On this, Saint Peter re-visited the East, and
was present at the Council of Jerusalem, which was
held the same year, and in which he took the leading
part.2 About this time, he also visited the Church of
Antioch, on which occasion he met Saint Paul there.
This remarkable interview of the Apostles has already
been alluded to.*
As during the seven years that he presided at
Antioch, so during the five and twenty years that he
filled the See of Home, Saint Peter travelled much,
founding Churches, visiting those already established,
and propagating and confirming the faith in various
countries.* According to some authorities, he penetrated
as far as the British Isles ; but the evidence adduced to
establish this fact appears rather vague and unreliable.*
Occupied as he |hus was with the care of the Uni-
versal Church, Saint Peter appointed auxiliary bishops,
to govern the Church of Home, during the frequent and
protracted periods of his absence, and to attend to those
who came from a distance to consult the Apostolic See.
According to some writers, this office was filled by
Linus and Cletus, his immediate successors ; according
to others, by Clement, whom Saint Peter ordained and
appointed to succeed^ himself, but who declined the
weighty charge of presiding over the Church until after
the pontificate of Cletus.*
1 Acts of the Apostles, xviii. 2. Orosiua, " Historianim," lib. vii
0. 6. Suetonius, " in Claudio," cap. xxv. This edict, directed against
the Jews, operated extensively against the Christians, who were oon-
fouiided with them. Its date is generally supposed to have been A.D.
49, " the beginning of ninth of Claudius."
^ Acts XV. Vide supra, chap. ii.
s Gal. ii. 11-14. Vide supra, chap. ii.
• This visitation of all the Churches by Saint Peter, at a still earlier
period, A.D. 34, is alluded to in the Acts of the Apostles, ix. 31, 32.
^ Vide Usher, " Britanniarum Eoolesiarum Autiquitates, pp. 7-0.
Dublin, 1639. • ri- /-»
« BaroniuB, "Annales Ecclesiastici," i. 673, 674. Tertnllian, "De
BISHOP OF ROME. 59
The wide-spread and rapid progress of the faith in
Eome,^ numbering adherents even within the walls of
the Imperial palace,^ and the preaching of the Apostles
Saints Peter and Paul, especially the former, inculcating
temperance, chastity, and other virtues, diametrically
opposed to the lives of the Emperor and his court,
greatly exasperated Nero, and were the main cause of
his sanguinary persecution of the Christians, which
commenced in the year 64. A large portion of the city
had been wantonly burned down by. the Emperor, with
the intent, according to some historians, of its being
rebuilt on a scale of unexampled magnificence. This
conflagration was laid to the charge of the Christians.
The details of the barbarous persecution they endured,
the refinements of cruelty invented for their extirpation,
and the unwavering faith and heroic constancy of their
martyrs, are recorded in history.*
Meanwhile, the two Apostles unceasingly ministered
to the afflicted flock, and fearlessly preached the truths
and maxims of the proscribed religion. In the height
of the persecution, Peter, considering that it was not
the Church of Eome alone, but the entire flock of
Christ, which demanded his pastoral care, wrote his
PrsBScriptionibuS," c. 32. Epiphanius, "Hsereaes," 27. "Concilia,"
Labbei et OoBsartii, i. 63 : " Hie ordinavit duos episoopos, Liuum et
Cletum, qui praesentialiter omne mimsterium^Bacerdotale, in urbe
Kom^ populo vel ad se venientibus, exhiberent."
^ About this time, Tacitus speaks of the Christians condemned by
Nero at Home, as " a huge multitude," ingens mvUitudo. Anuales xv.
44. A.S. 65.
2 This we learn from Saint Paul, writing from Kome, whither he
had been conveyed a prisoner, A.D. 64 : " All the saints salute you :
especially they that are of Caesar's household " (Phil. iv. 22),
3 Tacitus, "Annalea," xv. 44. "A huge multitude of Christians
were condemned, not indeed upon evidence of their having set the city
on fire, but rather on account of the hatred of the whole human race.
To their sufferings Nero added mockery and derision. Some were
covered with the skins of wild beasts, to make dogs devour them;
others were orucified ; and many, coypred with inflammable matter,
were lighted up, when the day declined, to serve as torches during t^e
night."
6o THE CHAIK.OF PETER.
Second Epistle.^ In it, he reminds the faithful of tlie
precious gifts they have received from God; counsels
them to join the practice of all virtues with their faith ;
strongly cautions them against false teachers ; and gives
an eloquent description of the dissolution of the world,
and of the final judgment. Here, as in several other
instances already enumerated, we recognize the Magis-
terium, or office of universal teacher, by Divine appoint-
ment, devolving on Saint Peter, and his successors in
the Apostolic See.
It was towards the close of the year 66, that the
Emperor's rage against the Christians was brought to a
climax by the vast number of proselytes who professed
the new doctrines, notwithstanding the persecution.^
By his orders, the Apostles, Saints Peter and Paul, were
arrested, and lodged in the Mamertine prison, in the
month of October that year. Here, they continued to
preach, not only to the prisoners, but to the faithful,
who came in crowds to see them. They also healed
the sick, and wrought many other miracles. Among
the guards were two soldiers. Processus and Martini-
anus, who were converted and baptized by Saint Peter.*
These two converts and forty-seven others of the guards
and prisoners eventually fell victims to the sword of
Nero. The martyrdom of the former is celebrated by
the Church on the 2nd of July ; and of the latter, on the
14th of March.
As at any moment the mandate for the execution of
the Apostles might arrive, the faithful strongly urged
Peter, with prayers and tears, to escape from prison,
and thus preserve a life of so much consequence to the
Church. At first, the Apostle refused to leave ; but
' Vide supra, chap. ii.
" Several of the Fathers allege, as an additional cause, the final dis-
comfiture of bimon Magus by Saint Peter, and the miserable death of
the impostor, who stood high in the Emperor's favour
3 The fountain is stiU shown, which, according to ancient tradition
miraculously sprang up in the floor of the prison, to supply Saint Peter
with water for the ceremony.
SAINT PETER, BISHOP OF ROME. 6 I
ultimately he yielded to their earnest solicitations.
Having joined in prayer with the brethren, and wished
them farewell, he escaped by night, getting over the
prison wall. It is related, that, going out through the
Porta Capena, the ancient gate at which the Appian
Way commenced, he had a vision of our Lord entering.
"Lord, whither art thou going?" said he. Christ
answered, "I am coming to Eome, to be crucified
again." 1 These words Peter considered as a reproof
of his flight ; and he inferred from them, moreover,
that it was his Divine Master's wish to be- crucified
again, in him, His servant. Accordingly, he immedi-
ately returned to the prison, and surrendered himself
to the guard. On the 29th of June following, after an
imprisonment of close on nine months, the Apostles
were led out to execution. Saint Peter having first
taken a most affectionate leave of the brethren, especi-
ally of Saint Paul. It was arranged that the executions
should take place in different quarters. Saint Paul,
whose quality of a Eoman citizen saved him from the
degradation of ciuciiixion, was beheaded at the Salvian
Waters, now Tre Fontane, on the Ostian Eoad, while
Saint Peter was crucified on the Janiculum, where now
stands the Church of S. Pietro in Montorio.^ At his
own request, he was crucified with his head down-
wards, considering himself unworthy to suffer as his
Divine Master had suffered. Over his remains, interred
nearihe same spot, now stands the magnificent basilica
which bears his name : —
" the vast and wondroua dome,
To which Diana's marvel was a cell —
Christ's mighty shrine, above His martyr's tomb ! " '
' "Domine quo vadis?" "VenioEomam iterum crucifigi." The
Church of "Domine quo vadis" now occupies the spot consecrated by
this tradition,
' It is the opinion of some writers, that Saint Peter was crucified in
the valley between the Janiculum and Vatican hills.
3 The body of Saint Peter was embalmed and interred, by the
62 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
Thus (observes Eusebins, writing in the early part of the fourth
century) Nero, proclaiming himself, above all others, the chief
enemy of God, was incited by his rage to murder the Apostles.
Paul is related to have been bfehedded at Komej in his reign, and
Peter to have been crucified likewise. And this account is con-
firmed by the ftict, that the names of Peter and Paul still remain
in the cemeteries of that city, even to this da.y. But likewise a
certain Ecclesiastical writer, Caius by name, who was born about
the time of Zephyrinus, Bishop of Kome,^ dis^utin^.with Proelus,
the leader of the Phrygian sect, gives the lolloping statement
respecting the places where the sacred tabernacles 'of the afore-
said Apostles are laid. " But, 1 can show," says he, " the trophies
of the Apostles. For, if you go to the Vatican, or to the Ostian
Road, you will find the trophies of those who have laidi the
foundation of this church. And that both suffered martyrdom
about the same time, Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth,* bears testi-
mony, as follows, in his discourse written to the Romans : '
' Thus, likewise, you, by means of an admonition of this kind,
have mingled the seed that has been planted by Peter and Paul
at Rome and Corinth. For both of these, having planted' in our
city of Corinth, instructing us, as they did likewise in Italy,
suffered martyrdom about the same tinie.'" This testimony I
have added, in order that the truth of the history may be more
confirmed.*
There is a variety of opinions amongst the learned
as to the year of Saint Peter's death. Some would
ascribe it to the year 65 ; others to 66 ; and others
again to 6?, of the Vulgar Era. To those who care-
fully weigh all the arguments, the year 6y is likely to
appear the most probable. As we have seen, the dis-
persion of the Apostles todk place A.D. 41-42 ; or twelve
brothers Marcellug and Apuleius, in the Vatican, not far from the
Via Triumphalis, at the gardens of Nero, where, under Oonstantine
the Great, a large temple was erected, and subsequently, by th? pontiffs
the present glorious ohuroh. Saint Paul's body was entombed by
Lucina, a matron of senatorial rank, in her land on the Ostian Eoad,
where a magnificent church is erected in his honour. Constantius,
" Annalea gS. Petri et Pauli," apud Oortesiura, p. 301.
^ Saint Zephyrinus presided over the Church, A.D. 202-219.
" Saint Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, flourished about the middle
of the second century.
» This letter was written in reply to that of Pope Soter, alluded to
in the next chapter.
* Eiisebius, "Ecclesiastical History,'' ii. 25.
^3
years after our Lord's Ascension. On this, Saint Peter,
led by Divine Providence, immediately journeyed to
Eome, arriving there in the year 42, "the second of
Claudius." If we add twenty-five years for his ponti-
ficate at Eome, we arrive at the 29th of June, 6y, " the
fourteenth of Nero," as the date of his martyrdom.^
This view is confirmed by the following words of
Saint Jerome : " Simon Peter, after presiding as bishop
of the Church of Antioch, and preaching to those of
the Circumcision dispersed in Pontus, Galatia, Cappa-
docia, Asia, and Bithynia, in the second year of
Claudius, went . to Eome to vanquish Simon Magus,
and there, for five and twenty years, he held his
Sacerdotal Chair, until the last, that is the fourteenth,
year of Nero, by whom being crucified, with his head
downwards, he was crowned with martyrdom." ^
The foundation of the Church of Eome, and the
establishment of his pontifical chair there by Saint
Peter, has been celebrated as a festival by the Universal
Church, from the earliest ages of Christianity. The
day of celebration is the i8th of January — the feast of
" Saint Peter's Chair at Eoine." In the, martyrologies
of Bede, Ado, and Usuard, this festival is mentioned ;
and in the most ancient Eoman rituals is to he found
the fallowing prayer, to be recited on the day : —
0 Almighty and Eternal God, who, by an ineflfable Sacrament,
didst confer on thy Apostle Peter the primacy of the city of
Kome, whence Evangelical truth might dmuse itself through all
' Claudius reigned a.d. 41-54 ; and Nero 54-68. Accordii»g to the
learned Jesuit, fienis Petan, Latinized Petavius, a high authority on
all matters of chronology, the reigns of the Roman Emperors were
always counted from the beginning o£ the first year and not from the
day on. which they commenced to reign. Peta-vius, "Rationarium
Temporum." Leyden, 1710.
* "In Oatalogo Soriptorum Bcclesiastioorum," in S. Paulo. The
original is given in the heading of this chapter. Busebius, in his
Chronicle, Says, " Peter, by nation a Galilean, the first pontiff of the
Christians, hairing, first founded the Church of Antioch, set out for
Rome, where, preaching the Gospel, he continued for five and twenty
yeafs the bishop of that city."
64 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
the kingdoms of the world, grant, we beseech thee, that universal
Christendom may devoutly follow that which from his preaching
has spread all over the globe.
Ttere are no data from which to infer the exact day
of the foundation of his see at Eome by Saint Peter,
beyond the fact of its ancient celebration by the Church
on the 1 8th of January. Some writers hold, that it is
by no means likely that it was that day in the year
42 — the year of the Apostle's arrival in Eome; inasmuch
as he is generally supposed to have arrived there later
in the year. Some again would refer it to the i8th
of January in the following year.^ Baronius, Panvinius,
and others set forth the duration of Saint Peter's ponti-
ficate at Eome as twenty-four years, five months, and
twelve days ; ^ which would accord with a period rang-
ing from the 18th of January 43 to the 29th of June
67. In this case, following the ancient usage, and
reckoning the first and . last, although incomplete, as
whole years, we have the five and twenty years men-
tioned by Saint Jerome, Eusebius, and other writers.
Again, Blanchinius and other authorities compute the
time twenty-five years and some months and days
over ; and this agrees with the modern Eoman Direc-
tory, which, in its list of Popes, states that Saint Peter
suffered martyrdom in Eome on the 29th of June of
the year 6^, of the Vulgar Era, having governed the
Church from that city twenty-five years, two months,
and seven days.*
Here, it may be well to notice the assertion of some
Protestant writers — assuredly more zealous than learned
— that Saint Peter never was at Eome ! This strange
' Cncoagni, "Vita di S. Pietro, Principe degli Apostoli," vol. iii. pp.
17 and 284. His authorities are set forth in the latter page here
indicated.
" Baronius, "Annales Ecclesiastici," i. 670. Panvinius, "Ohronicon,"
i. apud Platinam.
* "La Gerarchia Cattolica, per I'anno 1885," p. 3. Rome, March
3rd, i88s._ The whole subject is fully treated by Fogginius, "De
Komano Divi Petri Itinere et Episcopatu," pp. 445, et seq.
SAINT PETER, BISHOP OF HOME. 65
assertion, it is hardly necessary to observe, is directly at
variance with the testimony of all the Fathers, and
ecclesiastical historians — not to speak of the ancient
councils of the Church, and the Popes of the early ages.
Of these authorities, Greek and Latin, we have a long
list furnished by the learned Cardinal Baronius, with
full particulars for reference ;^ but it is unnecessary to
cite them here ; as the purpose is abundantly served by
the following testimony of English Protestant divines,
distinguished no less for their learning than for the
esteem in which their opinions are held by the members
of their own communion.
Many have argued him to have never been at Rome (says
Doctor Barrow) ; which opinion I shall not avow, as bearing a
more civil respect to ancient testimonies and traditions.^
But to deny that Saint Peter ever was at Rome (says Doctor
Cave), contrary to the whole stream and current of antiquity, and
to the unanimous consent of the most early writers, and that
merely upon little surmises, and trifling cavils ; and, in order
thereunto, to treat the Reverend Fathers, whose memories have
ever been dear and sacred in the Christian Church, with rude
reflections and spiteful insinuations, is a course, I confess, not
over ingenious, and might give too much occasion to our adver-
saries of the Church of Rome, to charge us (as they sometimes do
falsely enough) with a neglect of antiquity and contempt of the
Fathers ; but that it is notoriously known, that all the great
names of the Protestant party, men most celebrated for learning
and piety, have always paid a most just deference and veneration
to antiquity, and on that account have freely allowed the story
of Saint Peter's going to Rome, our author, who opposes it, is
forced to grant.'
Doctor Cave here quotes the following Protestant
authorities in support of his views : —
All the Fathers, with great unanimity, have asserted (says
Chamier) that Peter went to Rome, and administered that Church.
' Baronius, " Annales Eoclesiastioi," i. 318. Several of these autho-
rities have already been quoted in these pages.
^ "The Theological Works of Isaac Barrow," D.D., vol. vii. p. 175.
Oxford Tlmversity Press, 1830.
' "Antiquitates Apostoliose," by William Cave, D.D., p. 49. London,
1684.
E
66 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
And indeed to me so great a unanimity does not appear to be one
that may easily be impeached.^
To me those appear to have no shame ^says VossiTiB), who deny
these things, in contradiction to all antiquity ; as if, in history,
we could know anything from any other source than the writings
of the ancients.^
To these may be added the following observations of
Mr. Whiston* on the subject: —
Mr. Bower, with some weak Protestants before him, almost
pretends to deny that Saint Peter ever was at Rome ; concern-
ing which matter take my own former words, out of my three
Tracts, p. 53. Mr. Baratier* proves most thoroughly, as Bishop
^ Chamier, Daniel, "Panstratia Oatholica, de R. Pontif.," L 13,
c. 4, p. 483. "Omnes patres magno consensu asseruerunt Petrum
Romam esse piofectum, eamque Ecclesiam administrasse. Et mihi
quidem non facile vellicandus videtur tantus consensus." Daniel
Chamier was an eminent Protestant divine, a native of Dauphiny. In
1612, he was promoted to the chair of divinity at Montauban, during
the siege of which place he was killed, in 1621.
2 Vossius, Gr. J., "Harm. Evangel.," 1. 3., c. 4, p. 407. "Non habere
mihi frontem videntur, qui hsec negant, repugnante omni antiquitate :
quasi in historia aliunde sapere possimus, quam ex antiquorum monu-
mentis." Gerard John Vossius, a learned writer, was born near
Heidelberg, A.D. 1577. Through the favour of Archbishop Laud, he
obtained a prebend at Canterbury, in which he was installed on his
visit to England, in 1629. He was also made IiL.D. of Oxford He
died in 1 649. All his works were published at Amsterdam, in six
volumes, folio, in 1 701.
s William) Whiston, an English divine, was bom at Norton, in
Leicestershire, in 1667. In 1693, he took his degree of AM., and
became a fellow of Cambridge. He succeeded Sir Isaac Newton in
the Lucasian professorship of Mathematics in that ITniversity. He
published several scientific and theological works. In 1708, he began
to entertain doubts of the dogma of the Trinity, and theuceforvrard he
professed Ariauism. Consequently, he lost his professorship, and was
expelled from the University. He joined the Baptists, five years
before his death, which took place in 1752.
* John Philip Baratier, orBaratifere, was bom January 10, 1721, at
Sohwabach, near Nuremberg, where his father was a Prench Protes-
tant minister. He was a singiilar instance of precocious genius. It is
stated that in his boyhood he was master of the French, High Dutch,
Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages. He soon afterwards applied
himself to the acquisition of the Syriae, Chaldaio and Arabic. He
also engaged in mathematical and metaphysical studies. He was
honoured by the notice of the King of Prussia, and of several learned
societies. He died on the 5th October, 1740, towards the close of his
SAINT PETEE, BTSHOP OF ROME. 6^
Pearson.! ]iag jo^e before Mm, that Saint Peter was at Borne.
This is so clear in Christian antiquity, that it is a shame for a
Protestant to confess that any Protestant ever denied it. This
partial procedure demonstrates that Mr, Bower has by no means
got clear of the prejudices of some Protestants, as an impartial
writer of history, which he strongly pretends to be, ought to do,
and he has in this case greatly hurt the Protestant cause, instead
of helping it.*
Although last not least, may be cited the authorities
referred to by Mr. Whiston : —
All the ancients formerly and the great majority of modems
(says M. Baiatier) have undertaken to derive the succession of
the Bishops of Rome from the Apostle Peter. So great in this
matter has been the agreement of all, that in truth it ought to
be deemed a miracle, that certain persons bom in our day have
presumed to deny a fact so manifest.'
Bishop Pearson, in the heading of the seventh chapter
of his first dissertation on the subject, says : —
That Saint Peter was at Rome, is proved from Ignatius, Papias,
the very ancient author of K'/jpvyiJta hh-fiov, Dionysius of Corinth,
Irenseus, Caius, Clement of Alexandr, Tertullian, Origen,
Cyprian, Lactantius, Eusebius, Athanasius, Epiphanius, Julian
the Apostate, Augustine, Palladius. , Therefore it is wonderful
that those can be found who deny that Peter ever was at Rome.*
twentieth year. Among his several Essays and Treatises, is that here
referred to — "A Chronological Inquiry about the Succession of the
Roman Bishops from Peter to Victor," published in Latin at Utrecht,
in 1740.
' John Pearson, D.D., distinguished for his great learning, was born
in the county of Norfolk, in 1613. He was a fellow, and professor of
Divinity, in the University of Cambridge. In 1672, he was appointed
Bishop of Chester. He died in 1686. Bishop Pearson was the author
of several able works. Among these, were " Two Dissertations on the
series and succession of the First Bishops of Rome," above referred to,
published by Henry Dodwell among his "Posthumous Works," in
1688.
2 " Memoirs of his own Life and Writings," by William Whiston,
M.A., p. 599.
' "Disquisitio Chronologica de Suooessione Episcoporum Roma-
norum, inde a Petro usque ad Victorem," Auctore Johanne Philippo
Baraterio, A.M., p. 2. Ultrajeoti, 1 740.
* " Johannis Pearsonii, Cestrensis nuper Episcopi, Opera Posthuma
Chronologica, viz. De serie et successione Primorum Romse Episco-
porum," p. 32. London, 1688.
68 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Towards the close of the same chapter, he observes : —
When with, such great unanimity it is handed down to us by
tradition, from almost the beginning, that Saint Peter preached
the Gospel at Rome, and suffered there ; and when no one has
ever said that either Peter or Paul was crowned with martyrdom
anywhere else ; when in fine Christ himself plainly enough
signified that Peter was to be crucified ; I think we may safely
attach our faith to this history. For who would believe, that so
great an Apostle could die so obscurely that no one should ever
remember the place in which he died ? Who would believe,
that, while other regions claim their Apostles, no city, no region,
no Church should affirm, that it had been ennobled by the blood
of Peter?!
To the same effect are the story of the Catacombs,
the testimony of many a venerable monument in the
Eternal City, and the cogent evidence of modern ex-
plorations.2 Then there is the undeniable fact, that"
here, for more than eighteen centuries, has centered
the interest of the Christian world. "Like Thebes,
or Babylon, or Carthage, the name of Rome might
have been erased from the earth, if the city had
not been animated by a vital principle, which again
restored her to honour and dominion."* That prin-
ciple found expression in the tradition of the martyr-
dom of the Apostles. "One hundred and fifty years
after the glorious deaths of Saints Peter and Paul,
the Vatican and the Ostian Eoad were distinguished
by the tombs, or rather by the trophies, of those
spiritual heroes. In the age which followed the con-
version of Constantine, the emperors, the consuls,
and the generals of armies, devoutly visited the
sepulchres of a tent-maker and a fisherman, and their
! " Johannis Pearsonii Opera Posthuma Chrouologica," p. 42. A
number of other Protestant authorities might be quoted to the same
purport ; but those above given are sufficient.
" See G. B. De Rossi's " Roma Sotterranea Oristiana," two volumes
folio, Rome, 1864-67 ; and the Very Reverend Dr. Northcote's able
and most interesting work, on the same subject, two volumes octavo,
' Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," chap. xlv.
BISHOP OF KOME. 6g
venerable bones were deposited under the altars of
Christ, on which the bishops of the royal city continu-
ally offered the unbloody sacrifice."^ Again, we are
told how, some two centuries later, " the pilgrims from
the East and the West resorted to the holy threshold."^
And so it has been down to our day. When on the
29th of June, in the year of our Lord 6y, the life-blood
of the Prince of the Apostles was poured out on the
Janiculum, who could have foreseen the signal triumph
of the persecuted religion ? " On the same spot a
temple, which far surpasses the glories of the Capitol,
has been since erected by the Christian pontiffs, who,
deriving their claim of universal dominion from a
humble fisherman of Galilee, have succeeded to the
throne of the Caesars, given laws to the barbarian con-
querors of Eome, and extended their spiritual jurisdic-
tion from the coast of the Baltic to the shores of the
Pacific Ocean." *
In all this there is manifestly more than human
power could effect, or human wisdom devise. Here
we have a spiritual empire, supernaturally upheld — a
rule which has now subsisted for close, on nineteen
hundred years, and which every Catholic Christian
feels assured will continue to subsist until time shall
be no more.
1 Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," chap. xxviiL
' Ibid., chap. xlv.
' Ibid., chap, xvi.
CHAPTEE V.
SAINT PETEE'S SUCCESSOBS IN THE SEE OF EOME.
" Quis es ? Sacerdos magnus, snmiuus pontif ex. Tu princeps epis-
coporum, tu hserea Apostolorum. . . . Tu es cui claves traditsB, cui
oves oreditse sunt."^ — Saint Bebnaed {Letter to Pope Eugemua III.).
We have seen that the Catholic belief is, that the suc-
cessors of Saint Peter in the Apostolic Chair, down to
our day, have inherited from him all the power, privi-
leges, and jurisdiction over the Universal Church, which
he received from Christ, and that their successors will
continuously inherit the same until the end of the
world.
That this belief, derived from Holy Scripture, and
supported by the writings of the Fathers, has steadily
developed itself, with the growth of the Church, is a
universally accepted historical fact. Without entering
into minute details, which, however important the
subject, would be tedious to my readers, I now purpose
briefly referring to some of the prominent instances, in
the early ages, of the beneficial exercise of this primatial
authority by the Apostolic See, and of its general
recognition by the faithful.
About the year of our Lord 96, there arose in the
Church of Corinth "an impious and detestable divi-
sion," ^ when an attempt was made to depose the
1 "Who art thont The great priest, the supreme pontiff. Thou
art the prince of bishops ; thou art the heir of the Apostles. . . . Thou
art he to whom the keys were delivered, to whom the sheep were
entrusted."
* Saint Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians.
SAINT PETER'S SUCCESSORS IN THE SEE OF ROME. J I
priests of that Church, men who were distinguished by
the purity of their lives and the integrity of their doc-
trine, and who had been appointed by the Apostles
and Apostolic men, with the general consent. Certain
persons were deputed by the faithful at Corinth to
represent the condition of affairs to the Eoman Church,
and to request its interposition, to put an end to the
schism. And it is especially deserving of note, that,
although Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist was
then living, the people of Corinth did not apply to
him ; but they rather appealed to the Eoman Apostolic
See, to exercise its authority, in allaying the disturb-
ances by which they were distracted, and restoring
peace to their Church.
The Church was then presided over by Saint Clement,^
of whom St. Paul speaks, as one of those " whose names
are in the book of life." ^ Clement immediately, in
compliance with their request,* wrote " a most power-
ful* letter from the Church which is at Eome to the
' Saint Peter was succeeded by Saint Linus, a.d. 67. Linus is
spoken of by Saint Paul, in 2 Timothy iv. 21 ; and, according to Euse-
bius ("Hist. Eccles.," iii. 2, 4), he was "the first after Peter that
obtained the episcopate at Rome." He suffered martyrdom in the
year 78, and was succeeded that year by Cletus, whq, on his martyr-
dom in go, was succeeded by Clement. Saint Clement governed the
Church from a.d. 90 to 100. He is named, as are Linus and Cletus, in
the canon of the Mass. There is some confusion in the ancient lists,
as to the first four successors of Saint Peter. In some, Clement is
placed before Linus and Cletus ; but this may have arisen from the
fact, already noted, that Saint Peter destined Clement as his own
successor, but that the latter declined the heavy charge of governing
the Church until after the pontificate of Cletus. Again, in some lists,
Cletus and Anacletus are treated as one and the same, whereas they
were two distinct persons, as enumerated by Baronius, Flatina, Panvi-
nius, and others, including Anastasius the Librarian, whose "Lives of
the Popes " was written in the ninth century. The correct rotation, as
most generally accepted, is Peter, Linus, Cletus, Clement, Anacletus.
2 Pha. iv. 3.
^ It is the general opinion of writers and commentators, that Clement
or the Koman Church was consulted in this crisis by the presbyters of
Corinth, either by letter or messenger, as may be inferred from the
character and context of this letter.
* " iKavuTarriv ypatpipi." This is generally translated "a most
72 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Corinthians, reuniting them in peace, and re-establish-
ing their faith, and the tradition which it had recently
received from the Apostles." ^ This epistle was " uni-
versally accepted," and read in the Churches for a very
long period.?
"Of this Clement," says Eusebius,* "there is one
epistle extant, acknowledged as genuine,* of great
length and very remarkable, which he wrote in the
name of the Church of the Eomans to that of the
Corinthians, when there was a dissension in Corinth.
This we know to have been publicly read, for the
common benefit, in most of the Churches, both in
former times and in our own ; and that at. the time
mentioned a sedition did take place at Corinth, is
abundantly attested by Hegesippus." ^
powerful letter,'' epistola potentissima ; but to some the more literal
rende^'ing," fully adequate," or " all -sufficient," may appear preferable.
' Irenffius, "Ad versus Hsereses," iii. 3. Eusebius, "Hist. Eocles.,"
V. 6.
" Eusebius, " Hist. Eccles.," iii. 38, dvuijioXoyri/iiiiri vapi, iraaw.
' Ibid., iii. 16.
* The genuineness of Saint Clement's First Epistle to the Corinthians
is universally admitted ; but that of the Second is controverted. These
two Epistles, in modern times, until about seven years ago, were extant,
in only an imperfect form, in the ancient Alexandrian manuscript.
About one-tenth part of the First, and all the Second, save a few frag-
ments, were wanting. However, recently, FhUotheus Bryennius, the
Metropolitan of Serres, discovered, in the library of a monastery at
Constantinople, a manuscript, written by the notary Leo in the year
1056, in which the parts wanting are supplied : and thus he was
enabled to publish the two Epistles of Clement complete, in 1875.
About the same time, A.D. 1876, was discovered a Syriac manuscript,
containing the whole of the New Testament, except the Apocalypse,
and also giving the two Epistles of Clement. In the portions of
Clement's First Epistle thus supplied, there is a marked tone of autho-
rity observable, where he alludes to the dangers that would be incurred
by the Corinthians, should they " disobey the words spoken by God
through us," and where he calls on them to obey "what is written
by us through the Holy Spirit." Vide Jungmann, " Dissertationea in
Hist. Eccles.," i. 126, Ratisbonae, 1880.
^ Saint Hegesippus, a primitive Father immediately succeeding the
Apostolic times, was by birth a Jew, and was a member of the Church
of Jerusalem. He visited B^me, and remained there about twenty
years J viz. a.d. 157-177, from, the pontificate of Anicetus to that of
SAINT PETER'S SUOCESSOES IN THE SEE OF ROME. 73
To the same effect is the evidence of Saint Dionysins,
Bishop of Corinth, in a letter to the Eomans, which he
addressed to Pope Soter,i about the year 175, and in
which he alluded to the Epistle of Clement to the
Corinthians, " showing that it was the practice to read
it in the Churches, even from the earliest times : ' To-
day,' he says, 'we have passed the Lord's holy day,
in which we have read your epistle, which we shall
always read, in order to have our minds instructed,
as we shall also read that previously written to us
by Clement.'" 2
Even at this early period, notwithstanding the diffi-
culties and dangers of travelling, it was customary for
the clergy of remote Churches to visit Eome and to
confer with the Popes, on points of doctrine and dis-
cipline. By these means, uniformity was preserved.
Thus Hegesippus informs us, that, in making his long
journey from Jerusalem, to visit Pope Anicetus, about
A.D. 157, he "conversed with most of the bishops when
he travelled to Eome, and received the same doctrine
from all."^ Having alluded to the Epistle of Pope
Clement to the Corinthians, and its beneficial effects,
he adds : " And the Church of Corinth continued in the
true faith, until Primus was bishop there, with whom
I had familiar conversation (as I passed many days at
Corinth), when I was on the point of sailing to Eome,
during which time also we were mutually refreshed in
the true doctrine." * He then continues : " After com-
ing to Eome, I made my stay with Anicetus, whose
deacon was Eleutherius. After Anicetus, Soter suc-
Eleutherius, as he himself informs us (apud Busebium, " Hist. Eccles.,"
iv. 22). In the year 133, Hegesippus wrote a History of the Church,
down to his own times, unfortunately not extant. The little that
remains of his writings has been preserved by Eusebius and others by
whom he is quoted. It will be necessary to refer to this Father again,
further on.
1 Saint Soter, a native of Campania, governed the church, A.H.
16S-177. " Eusebius, " Eooles. Hist.," iv. 23.
' Apud Euseb., "Hist. Ecoles.," iv. 22. * Ibid.
74 THE CHAIR OF PETEE.
ceeded, and after him Eleutherius.^ In every succes-
sion however, and in every city, the doctrine prevails,
according to what is declared by the Law, and the
Prophets, and the Lord." ^
It was about the year 158, that the venerable Poly-
carp,8 Bishop of Smyrna, a disciple of Saint John the
Evangelist, travelled to Rome, in his extreme old age,
to confer with Pope Anicetus, about the time of cele-
brating Easter. The feast of Easter was then observed
in the Asiatic Churches, on the fourteenth day of the
vernal equinoctial, moon, or lunar month, on whatever
day of the week it fell (on which day the Jews were
formerly commanded to sacrifice the Paschal lamb);
whereas in all other parts of the world it was observed
on the Sunday immediately following ; such, says Euse-
bius, being, "the practice that has prevailed from
Apostolic tradition until the present time, so that it
would not be proper to terminate our fast on any other
but the day of the Eesurrection of our Saviour."* After
much discussion between the Pope and Bishop Polycarp,
it was agreed that each might keep the feast on the day
on which he had hitherto kept it ; and Anicetus, further,
in order to testify his respect for his venerable visitor,
allowed him to celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice, in his
place, in his own church.^
^ Pope Anicetus presided over the Church, A.D. 157-168 ; Soter,
168-177; and EleutheriuB, 177-193.
'^ Apud Buseb., " Hist. Eocles.," iv. 22.
^ Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, and martyr, became a Christian
in his youth — about the year 80. He was the disciple of Saint John
the Evangelist, by whom he was appointed Bishop of Smyrna, about
A.D. 96. He lived to a very advanced age ; and sulfered martyrdom at
Smyrna, in the year 166. For Polycarp's visit to Pope Anicetus, see
Eusebius, " Ecclesiastical History," iv. 14.
* Eusebius, " Ecclesiastical History," book v. chap. 23. The vernal
equinoctial moon is that of which the fourteenth day falls on, or next
follows, the Vernal Equinox or 21st March. Thus, in the year 1885,
the vernal equinoctial moon commenced on the 17th March ; its four-
teenth day was Monday, 30th March, and Easter Sunday fell on the
Sunday after ; viz. sth April.
" Eusebius, "Eccles, Hist.," v. 24.
SAINT PETER S SUCCESSORS IN THE SEE OF ROME. / 5
In the time of Pope Victor, who governed the Church
A.D. 193-202, the controversy was renewed, with much
warmth. The Pope was desirous that Easter day should
be universally observed on the Sunday ; and, to insure
this object, the Asiatic bishops were convened in council,
in obedience to his wishes, a.d. 193. They however
decided to persevere in following the tradition handed
down to them by their fathers, who, they alleged, had
received it from the Apostle Philip and Saint John the
Evangelist; and Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, who
presided at the council, wrote to the Pope, to that
effect.^ In his letter, he says : " I could also mention
the bishops that were present, whom you requested me
to summon, and whom I did call — whose names, did I
write them, would represent a great number." ^ Victor,
thereupon, proceeded to excommunicate the Asiatic
Churches, but was dissuaded from doing so by Saint
Irenseus, Bishop of Lyons, and other prelates of the
West.* In his letter, Irenseus reminds the Pope of the
forbearance of his predecessors, especially Anicetus, in
dealing with those who followed the Asiatic mode of
keeping the festival.* "And those bishops," he con-
tinues, " who governed the Church before Soter,^ and
over which you now preside, I mean Anicetus, and
Pius, Hyginus, with Telesphorus and Xystus, neither
did themselves observe it, nor did they permit those
with them to do so. And yet, though they them-
selves did not keep it, they were not the less in peace
1 EusebiuB, "Eccles. Hist.," v. 24. " Ibid.
' Baronius and others infer, from Eusebius's account, that the sen-
tence of excommunication was actually pronounced by Pope Victor ;
while Natalis Alexander, Thomassin, and other writers, are of opinion
that he confined himself merely to a threat. In either case, it is cer-
tain that the sentence was not proceeded with, in deference to the
dissuasion of Saint Irenseus and other Western prelates.
* Eusebius, " Ecclesiastical History," v. 24.
' Anicetus permitted the Asiatics to follow their own mode of
observing Easter, even in Home. But his immediate successor. Pope
Soter, obliged them to observe the custom of the place, where they
might be.
y6 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
with those from Churches where it was kept, whenever
they came to them." ^
A little before the conclusion of this (the second) century,
Victor, Bishop of Rome, cast Theodotus out of the Church, for
denying our Lord's divinity (observes Archbishop Potter). And
the same person excommunicated the bishops of Asia and their
Churches, for observing Easter at the same time as the Jews,
wherein he pretended they deviated from the Apostolic rule.
This indeed was an unjust act, and blamed by Irenseus and
other bishops of that age, who rightly thought that Churches
might differ from one another in things of this kind, without
any breach of Catholic, communion or charity. However, it is a
good evidence, that excommunication was used at this time in
the Church.'
Here, the Protestant Archbishop, while blaming the
course pursued by Pope Victor, as " unjust," admits that
it is good evidence that excommunication prevailed
at that time in the Church ; and, in this instance, and
the others which he alludes to, he bears testimony, at
^east indirectly, to the authority claimed by the Popes,
at that early period, and their vigilance and firmness,
not only in defending and preserving the deposit of
faith espejially entrusted to their guardianship, but
in strictly insisting upon uniformity of discipline and
ritualistic observance, where they deemed it essential
to the welfare of the Church,
The question was finally settled, in accordance with
the views of the Popes, at the Council of Nice, a.d.
325, as w;e shall presently see.*
In an earlier page, has been quoted a passage from
1 Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History," v. 24.
' "A Discourse of Church Government," by John Potter, D.D.,
p. 370, London, 1711. John Potter was born at Wakefield in Yorkshire,
in 1674. He was an accomplished scholar, and the author of several
theological and other learned works. In 1 708, he became regius pro-
fessor of divinity, and canon of Christ's Church, Oxford. In 1715, he
was named Bishop of Oxford ; and in 1737 he was promoted to the
Archiepiscopal See of Canterbury, by George IL He died in 1747.
2 The same decision had been arrived at by the Council of Aries,
A.D. 314 ; and confirmed by Pope Sylvester, but failed to secure uni-
formity.
SAINT PETER'S SUCCESSORS IN THE SEE OF ROME. "J J
the works of Saint Irenseus, Bishop of Lyons, written
about the year i8o, in which he alludes to the Eoman
See, as " the greatest, and most ancient and universally
known Church, ... in which the tradition of the
Apostles has always been preserved, and with which,
on account of its more powerful primacy, it is neces-
sary that every Church, that is, the faithful on every
side, should agree." ^ He then enumerates the Popes
from Saint Peter down to Eleutherius, who presided
over the Church in his day — a succession which; he
argues, is a confutation of all heretics, that is, of all
those who are not in communion with the successor of
Saint Peter.
With the same intent. Saint Optatus, an African
bishop, some two centuries later, gives the list, from
Peter to Siricius, the Pope of his time;^ and Saint
Augustine, writing about the year 400, enumerates
all the Eoman Pontiffs from Peter to Anastasius, who
then governed the Church. " If," says he, " the order
of the succession of bishops is to be considered, how
much more certainly and how salutarily do we reckon
from Peter himself, to whom, bearing the scheme of
the whole Church, our Lord says, 'Upon this rock
I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against her' (Matt. xvi. 18). For to
Peter succeeded Linus. ... To Siricius succeeded
Anastasius. In this order of succession no Donatist
bishop is found." '
At the same early period in which Irenseus flourished,
1 " Divi Irensei Opera," Contra Hsreses, p. 211. Paris, 1545.
^ " Optati Milevitani Opera," lib. ii. contra Parmen, p. 48. Paris,
1631.
^ " Augustini Epistola," 165, alias 53. "Si enim ordo episcoporum
sibi succedentium considerandus est, quanto oertius et vero salubriter
ab ipso Petro numeramus, oui, totius Eoolesiae iiguram gerenti, Dominus
ait : super banc petram sedifioabo Ecolesiam meam, et portse inferorum
non Vincent earn (Matt. xvi. 18). Petro enim successit Linus. . . .
Siricio Anastasius. In hoc ordine successionis nullus Donatista epis-
copus invenitnr."
78 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
we find those who were outside the pale of the Church,
and were desirous to become Christians, either visiting
Eome, or applying to the Pope for missionaries, to in-
struct and baptize them. An interesting case in point
is that of Lucius, the first Christian British King, called
by the Welsh Llewer Mawr, or the Great Light, who,
about the year 177, sent an embassy to Eome, to Pope
Eleutherius, entreating that, "by his command, he
might be made a Christian." The Pope, thereupon,
sent missionaries, who baptized the king and great
numbers of his subjects; "and the Britons preserved
the faith which they had received, uncorrupted and
entire, in peace and tranquUlity, until the time of the
Emperor Dioclesian." ^
It was in the year 429 that Saint Celestine, who
then governed the Church, sent G-ermanus, Bishop of
Auxerre, as his Vicar, to Britain, to counteract the
diffusion by Pelagius of his heresy among his fellow
countrymen.^ Germanus was accompanied by Saint
Lupus, Bishop of Troyes ; and these two prelates, suc-
ceeded by their preaching, prayers, and miracles, in
freeing the inhabitants from the taint of false doctrines.
Three years later, Celestine ordained Patrick, for the
conversion of all Ireland ; * and in the year 596 Saint
Gregory the Great dispatched Augustine and his com-
panions, to confer a similar blessing on England. So
also the Gauls, the Germans, and many another race,
have reason to look back with joy and gratitude to
remote periods, now enveloped in the mists of antiquity,
when the light of faith was diffused among their ances-
tors, by devoted missionaries appointed to the work by
the successors of Saint Peter. Here, the inhabitants
1 Bede, "Ecclesiastical History," book i. chap. 4; and '-Anelo-
Saxon Chronicle." °
' Prosper, " Chronieon," ad ann. 429. « Papa Coelestinus Gennanum
Autissiodorensem Episcopum, viae sua, mittit, et deturbatis hffireticis
Britannos ad Catholicam fidem dirigit."
» A,D. 432. Long before this, parts of Ireland had been evangelized
X>j mission^nes from Borne, . '
SAINT Peter's successors m the see of home. 79
had to be rescued from the darkness of Paganism.
Here, the faith, already planted, had to he confirmed
and extended. Here, again, the evils of schism and
heresy had to he eradicated. Thus, from the Prince of
the Apostles down to Leo XIII., might each Pontiff, in
his turn, exclaim, in the words in which Pope Celestine
commenced his letter to the Bishops of Vienne and
Narbonne in Gaul, A.D. 432, " By no limits of place is
my pastoral vigilance confined : it extendeth itself to
all places where Christ is adored."
In the pages of Bede ^ and other early historians, we
find accounts of the close connection of our Saxon and
Celtic ancestors, in these islands, with the Holy See.
Thus, in the year 688, Csed walla, King of the West
Saxons, went to Eome, " at the time that Sergius was
Pope," in order to be baptized in the churcn of the
blessed Apostles ; and his successor Ina, after a reign
of thirty-seven years, "gave up his kingdom in like
manner to younger persons, and went away to Eome,
A.D. 728, when Gregory was Pope, to visit the blessed
Apostles, being desirous to spend some time of his
pilgrimage upon earth in the neighbourhood of the
holy place, that he might be more easily received by
the saints into heaven. The same thing was done,
about the same time, by many of the fervent English
nation, noble and ignoble, laity and clergy, men and
women." ^ The institution of Peter's Pence, or Eome-
' The Venerable Bede was bom in 673, in a village in the county of
Durham. At seven years old, he was committed to the care of Saint
Bennet Biscop, who founded the monastery of Wereraouth in 674, and
that of Jarrow in 680. Bede was principally educated at jarrow,
where he became a monk. In 702 he was ordained priest. His time
was chiefly occupied in study, and in copying and composing books.
He died in 735, aged sixty-two. His works were published in Paris,
in 1544, in three volumes folio; and again in 1554, in eight volumes ;
in Basle in 1563, and in Cologne in 1612 and 1688 — all in eight
volumes folio. His principal work is his " Ecclesiastical History of the
English Nation," first separately printed at Esslingen by Conrad Eyner,
in 1574.
" Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," book v, chap. 7.
8o THE CHAIR OF PETEB.
scot, by Ina is another proof of the intimate relations
subsisting at this period between the Saxon princes and
the Apostolic See.^
We have seen how, about the year 25 1, the schismatics
at Carthage, endeavouring to intrude a false bishop into
that see, sent a messenger to Eome, praying that their
candidate Fortunatus might be received into com-
munion by the Pope, Saint Cornelius — a notable proof,
that, as early as the middle of the third century, in the
remote capital of Africa, communion with the See of
Eome was deemed, not only by the faithful, but even
by schismatics, an essential condition of the legitimacy
1 Peter's Pence, or Eome-Scot, was a tax instituted, in the early
part of the eighth century, by Ina, King of the West Saxons, for the
support of the Pope, and, as some writers allege, in return for a house
for the reception of English pilgrims, erected in Some. Ina abdicated
in favour of his relative Ethelherd, A.D. 728, and made a, pilgrimage
to Rome, where he entered a monastery. His wife, Ethelburga, who
had accompanied him, took the habit in a house of religious women, at
the same time. Offa II., King of the Mercians, who reigned A.D.
755-796, following Ina's example, established Peter's Pence among his
subjects ; and, in the course of time, the payment became general aU
over England ; so that every family, possessing twenty pence worth of
goods of any kind, was liable to this tax of one penny in the year.
The payment of Peter's Pence in England continued until the time of
Henry VIII., when it was prohibited by. statute, 2Sth Henry VIII.,
cap. 21 in England, and 28th Henry VIII., cap. 19 in Ireland. Car-
dinal Garampi, writing towards the end of the last century, alleges
that Peter's Pence were originated by Oflfa, and not by Ina. To this
allegation is opposed the evidence of Hanulph Higden, the Monk, of
Chester, who writes in his Chronicle, concerning Ina, as follows : " Qui
primus omnium regum denarium ex singulis domibus regni sui Beato
Fetro fertur concessisse, quod diu ab Anglis Komescot, Latine vero
Denarius Petri vocabatur." Banulph Higden was a Benedictine
monk of Saint Werberg's, in the county of Chester, and died, close on
his hundredth year, a.d. t^S^. His Chronicle, written in Latin, was
styled "Ranulphi Higdeni Polychronici Libri Septem," and was trans-
lated into English, by John of Trevisa, in 1387. This translation was
retouched in 1482 by Caxton, who added an eighth book, bringing it
down to 1460. Caxton's version of the passage above quoted is : " Ina
bytoke his kyngedome of West Saxons to his oosyn ethelardus and
wente to rome hyt is sayd that he was the fyrst of kynges that graunted
to seynt peter of every hous of his kyngedome a peny that longtime by
englysshemen was oaUyd Rome scott but in Latyn it is callyd petres
peny " (" Cronica Ranulphi Cestrensis Monachi," lib. v. cap. 24.
Westminster, Caxton, 1482).
SAINT PETER S SUCCESSOKS IN THE SEE OF ROME. 8 I
of bishops. We have also seen how, on that occasion,
the legitimate bishop, Saint Cyprian, writing to Cor-
nelius, against " those schismatical and profane men,"
speaks of the Eoman See as " the Chair of Peter," " the
principal Church," and " the source of sacerdotal unity,"
and how, in a letter to Antonianus, an African bishop,
Cyprian speaks of Cornelius, as holding " the place of
Peter," and promises to inform His Holiness that
Antonianus is " in communion with him, that is, with
the Catholic Church." i
We have further seen how Saint Optatus, Bishop of
Milevis in Numidia, writing against the Donatists, a.d.
370, tells them, that they are outside the Church, be-
cause their bishops are not in communion with the
Successor of Saint Peter.^ We have read the touching
language of Saint Jerome, in his letter to Pope Damasus,
whom he consults on certain points of doctrine, and
whose advice he requests, as to whom he ought to
communicate with, at Antioch ; A.D. 376 : — " I am
united in communion with Your Holiness, that is, with
the Chair of Peter. On that rock I know the Church
is built."* We have also heard Saint Augustine, on
the primacy of Innocent I., " presiding over that Church
in which the Lord was pleased to crown with a most
glorious martyrdom the first of His Apostles."* We
have further listened to the learned Ecclesiastical
historian, Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus in Syria, appeal-
ing to Saint Leo the Great, that, out of his paternal
solicitude, he would furnish " remedies for the wounds
of the Churches," even as " Paul, the herald of truth
and the- trumpet of the Holy Ghost, had recourse to
the great Peter, in order that he might convey from
him a solution of the question to those who were dis-
puting at Antioch about the legal observances." *
This chain of evidence might be traced, link by link,
in the reign of every Pope, down to the present day ;
1 Vide Bupra, chap, iii * Ibid. = Ibid. ■" Ibid. ^ Ibid.
7
82 THE CHAIB OF PETEK.
but it would be tedious to follow it further. Besides,
it is quite unnecessary to do so; for even the most
inveterate enemies of the Papacy admit — nay, they ad-
duce many a familiar instance to prove — that, with the
growth and development of the Church, the assertion of
their supremacy by the Sovereign Pontiffs grew apace ;
and it is a fact well deserving the consideration of our
separated brethren, that, although continuously pro-
tested against and assailed by the great ones of this
world, that supremacy has survived, in full potency,
now over eighteen centuries and a half; which is in
itself an earnest (wholly irrespective of the Divine
promise to Peter and his successors) that it will con-
tinue to flourish, and exert its influence for good, until
the consummation of the world.
Before closing this chapter, it may not be amiss to
refer to the controversy about the validity of baptism
conferred by heretics, that arose between Saint Cyprian
and the Pope, Saint Stephen ; i especially as it is some-
times used by non-Catholics, as an argument against
the actual authority of the Holy See, at that early
period. This controversy arose about the year 255.
Cyprian pronounced baptism conferred by heretics
invalid and null; whilst, against this opinion, which
he condemned, Stephen upheld the ancient doctrine of
the Church, that baptism given in the Evangelical words,
that is, in the name of the three persons of the Holy
Trinity, is valid, although conferred by a heretic. Even
in the African Churches, this had been the doctrine,
until it was changed by Agrippinus, Bishop of Carthage,
about fifty years before Cyprian. To the more recent
tradition of his Church Cyprian adhered, confirming it,
in a synod of seventy-two bishops, which he convened
at Carthage. In acting thus, he and his colleagues
maintained, that the question was one which might
well be left to the discretion of each bishop in his own
' Saint Stephen presided over the Church, A.D. 253-257.
SAINT PETER'S SUCCESSORS IN THE SEE OF ROME. 83
diocese; but, clearly, they did not thereby intend to
dispute the authority generally of the Holy See. On
the contrary, as is evident from the extracts I have
given from his works, and from the whole tenor of his
writings, Cyprian was one of the most strenuous cham-
pions of the primacy of the Chair of Peter. On the
arrival at Eome of the messengers of the African
bishops, bearing the decision of the synod" to Saint
Stephen, the Pope refused to receive them ; but it does
not appear that he proceeded to the extreme measure
of excommunication, which, according to Saint Augus-
tine, he at one time contemplated. Indeed, all through,
he exhibited singular forbearance, being confident of
the ultimate triumph of truth, and clearly foreseeing
the submission which the African bishops soon after-
wards made to the Church.
Stephen (says Saint Augustine) had thought that those who
were endeavouring to overturn the ancient custom of the Church,
ahout receiving heretics, should be excommunicated ; but, being
influenced by the difficulty of that question, and endowed with
holy charity, he deemed it better to remain in union with those
who had thought differently. Thus, although he was extremely,
but fraternally, moved by anger, nevertheless the peace of Christ
prevailed in their hearts, so that, in the debate, no evil of schism
arose among them.^
When all cried out against the novelty (says Saint Vincent of
Lerins ^) and the priests everywhere opposed it, according to each
one's zeal, then Pope Stephen, of blessed memory, Bishop of
the Apostolic See, stood up with, his other colleagues against it ;
but he in a signal manner above the rest, thinking (as I believe)
^ Augustine, "De Baptism, contra Donat.," lib. v. cap. 25.
" Saint Vincent of Lerins flourished towards the middle of the fifth
century. He dwelt in the celebrated monastery of Lerins, in one of
the isles, so named, in the Mediterranean, off the coast of France,
department of Var. His Oommonitory against heretics was written
in the year 434. His style is remarkable for clearness, eloquence, and
close reasoning. He gives the following definition of Catholic truth :
— "Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est, hoc est
etenim vere proprieque Oatholicum." "That which is everywhere,
always, and by all believed, is consequently truly and properly
Catholic."
84 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
that he should surpass them all in the devotion of his faith, as
much as he excelled them in the au^thority of his place. Finally,
in the epistle which he sent to Africa, he decreed the same in
these -vt-ords : " Let there be no innovation, hut let that which is
handed down to us by tradition be observed." . . . What then
was the end of the entire affair? What but that which is
usual and eustomaiy ? Antiquity was retained and novelty was
exploded.^
Thus, through the whole course of Ecclesiastical
history, even from the earliest ages, we find the Popes
continuously engaged in the work of remonstrance,
exhortation, and instruction, addressing their letters,
and sending their legates, to distant Churches, about
the several subjects of controversy that, from time to
time, arose. In not a few instances, we meet with the
same spirit of zeal tempered by discretion, which
characterized Saint Stephen, in his bearing towards the
African bishops, and which, happily, tended to lead
them eventually to bow to the decision of the Church,
without " any evil of schism arising among them." ^
This holy Pope's martyrdom took place in the per-
secution of Valerian, in the year 257; and Saint
Cyprian gained the martyr's crown, the following year.
If, in the warmth of this controversy, Cyprian carried
his opposition too far, he effaced the offence by his
glorious martyrdom, as observed by Saint Augustine.
^ Vincentii Lerinensis, " Gommonitorium contra Hsereses," cap. ix.
' ' Tunc beatse memorise Papa Stephanus, Apostolicse sedis antistes, cum
cseteris quidem collegis suis, sed tamen prse oseteris, restitit ; dignum
(ut opinor) existimans, si reliquos omnes tantum fidei devotione vin-
ceret, quantum loci auctoritate superabat. Denique in epistola, qusB
tunc ad Africam missa est, idem his verbis sanxit : Nihil novandum :
nisi quod traditum est (uempe servetur). . . . Quis ergo tunc vmiversl
negotii exitus? Quis utique, nisi usitatus et solitus? Ketenta est
scilicet antiquitas, et explosa uovitas," These words were written
A.D. 434.
* According to Saint Jerome, the African bishops conformed to the
decision of the Church, on this question, A.D. 262, or four years after
Saint Cyprian's death.
CHAPTEE VI.
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH COtJlfCILS.
" Catholici omnea id muuua proprium esse decent Suinmi Pontifiois,
ut per se vel per legates prsesideat, et tamquam supremus judex omnia
moderetur." — Bellakmin {De ~
In the relations of Popes with Councils, in the early
ages, we may also discern the doctrine of the Primacy
of the Chair of Peter, gradually developing itself with
the growth and development of the Church.
In the commencement, as we have seen, the several
bishops used to communicate with each other, either
personally or by letter, on various points of doctrine —
the Bishop of Eome being especially consulted.^ Thus
was uniformity of doctrine maintained.^ Then, in time,
as the necessity arose, with the extension of the Church,
and the opportunity occurred, in the intermission of
persecution, councils were held.*
At first, owing to the difficulties of travelling and
inter-communication, the representative area of these
councils was necessarily circumscribed ; but the as-
sembled Fathers took care, by letters and messengers,
to communicate the result of their deliberations to
* Tide supra, chap. v.
' According to Hegesippus, speaking of his journey from Jerusalem
to Rome, to visit Pope Anicetus, A.D. 157. Vide supra, ibid.
^ Besides the Council of the Apostles at Jerusalem, A.D. 49, referred
to in a former chapter, there were more than twenty councils held,
down to the end of the third century. Particulars of these will be
found in the Collections of Councils of Labbe and Oossart, Hardouin
and others.
86 THE CHAIR OF PETEB.
distant Churches ; especially to that of Eome. In fact,
from a very early period, the sanction of their proceed-
ings by the Bishop of Eome was clearly deemed indis-
pensable, as communion with the Apostolic See was
universally regarded as an essential condition of ortho-
doxy. Moreover, it was by all considered to be the
special office of the Eoman Pontiff to communicate the
decrees of councils, ratified by him, to all the Churches.
In this, we cannot but recognize the hand of God —
the over-ruling providence of Him, who had promised
to remain with His Church for ever. Necessarily, with
the extension of Christianity, questions of doctrine
would constantly arise, heretical opinions would be
broached, from time to time — the former requiring
accurate definition ; the latter, immediate exposure
and confutation. But how, under the circumstances,
was uniformity of belief to be insured? A council
might be held at Antioch, or at Alexandria, or at
Constantinople, or at Lyons. How were the decisions
of such a council to be made generally known — ^how
rendered acceptable to other Churches ? How were the
opinions, possibly conflicting, of remotely divided pro-
vinces to be reduced to complete uniformity? How
were points of doctrine to be decided, that might be
controverted between them ? Was Antioch to yield to
Constantinople, or Alexandria to Lyons ? Or, again,
was each provincial or national Church to hold its own
independent opinions? Was there no court of final
appeal — no supreme tribunal, to decide all controver-
sies— no central authority, to give the stamp of its
sanction to the decisions arrived at, and to communis
cate those decisions, thus ratified, to all the Churches ?
In reply. Saint Irenseus, Saint Cyprian, Saint Jerome,
Saint Augustine — ^^aU the Fathers — point to the Chair
of Peter, the Apostolic See, as the centre of unity, the
keystone of the arch of Catholic faith, the divinely
constituted authority, to whose arbitrament all should
submissively bow, whose ruling all should unhesi-
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS. 87
tatingly accept; and, accordingly, this doctrine has
governed and shaped the proceedings of councils, from
the early ages of Christianity down to our times.
Councils are either Provincial — those of the bishops
of a province, presided over by the metropolitan; or
National, composed of all the bishops of a nation,
presided over by the patriarch, primate, or other chief
ecclesiastical authority;^ or CEcumenical — those of the
Universal Church, convened by the Supreme Pontiff,
and presided over by him, either personally, or through
his legates. The last are so named from the Greek
oIkov(16V7i, " the habitable world," or what was at one
time deemed equivalent to it, " the Eoman Empire."
National and (Ecumenical, or General, Councils were,
in the commencement, convened by the Christian Em-
perors ; for it was only out of the Imperial treasury the
heavy charges incidental thereto could be defrayed, and
through the Imperial power and resources the necessary
arrangements could be carried out. Generally, they
were convened at the request, and invariably with the
concurrence, or subsequent approval, of the Popes —
such approval being, from the earliest period, an essen-
tial condition of their validity.^ "In ancient times,"
says Hincmar of Eheims, writing A.D. 850, "councils
always were assembled by command of the Apostolic
See, and the convocation of the Emperor." *
After the fall of the Empire, when Christian States
were subject to many different rulers, (Ecumenical
^ National councils are sometimes called Plenary, especially wheu
presided over by an Apostolic Delegate, as in the case of the Third
Plenary Council of Baltimore, recently held.
* The Greek Emperors, who were restless and officious, in interfer-
ing in Ecclesiastical affairs, in some cases convoked councils, which the
Popes deemed unnecessary. Any councils, so convoked, unless subse-
quently confirmed by the Supreme Pontiff, were null and void.
' Epistle 33. " Concilia, Apostolicse sedis jussione, et Imperial! con-
vocatione, semper olim fieri consuevisse." Hincmar, a learned monk
of Saint Denys, was appointed Archbishop of Rheims, A.D. 845. He
died in 882. His works fill three volumes folio.
88 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Councils were necessarily convoked by tlie Successor of
Saint Peter.
The decrees of all councils-^provincial and national,
as ■well as oecumenical — require the Pope's sanction, to
become valid. That this was an established law of the
Church, in the early part of the fourth century, will be
seen further on.
"When the Fathers of the great Western Council of
Arles,^ A.D. 314, transmitted their decrees to the Pope,
for his approval and communication thereof to all the
Churches, they inscribed their letter, "To the most
beloved Pope Sylvester," saying, " We salute thee with
all due reverence, most glorious Pope." Having alluded
to all that they had suffered from the errors and excesses
of the Donatists,^ whom they had assembled to condemn,
^ The Council of Aries was convoked by Constantiue, A.D. 314,
the first year of the Pontificate of Saint Sylvester. According to the
letters of the Emperor to Chrestus Bishop of Syracuse, and to Ablavius
Vicar of Africa, bishops were invited to attend from places most various
and remote, and the governors of provinces were ordered to provide
them with food and all requisites for their journey, out of the Imperial
treasury. The number of bishops who assembled is uncertain : some
say two hundred. Twenty-two canons were enacted. In the eighth,
it was decreed, against the Donatists, that baptism conferred with due
form and matter by heretics is valid, and is not to be repeated — viz.
baptismjia ah hcEretids cu/m dehita forma et materia iwn repetatur.
^ Donatism. This schism arose about the year 306. It was so
called after Donatus of Casffi Nigrae, a Numidian bishop, and again
after another Donatus, who intruded into the See of Carthage in the
year 315. It originated in a party who were opposed to Mensurius,
Bishop of Carthage, and his deacon and successor Cecilian, on account
of their lenity towards those penitents who had been "Traditores," or
betrayers— that is, who, through fear of death in times of persecution,
had delivered up the Scriptures to the Pagan officers, by whom they
were burned. The Donatists were supported by fanatical and violent
mobs, who committed great excesses. With a view to justifying their
proceedings dogmatically, they broached the doctrine, that their sect
was the true Church, as the Catholics, by admitting Cecilian and others
like him to communion, had thereby separated themselves from the
Church; that, as the validity of the sacraments depended on the
sanctity of the minister, all sacraments conferred by those outside their
sect were invalid ; and, consequently, that those joining them should
be re-baptized. Constantino passed enactments against those dis-
turbers of the peace of the Church, and convoked the Council of Aries,
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH CODNCILS. 89
they continued : " Would that you were present at this
great spectacle, most beloved brother, for, we truly
believe, a more severe sentence would have been pro-
nounced, and, you sitting in judgment with us, our
assembly would have exulted with greater joy. But,
as you could by no means leave those parts in which
the Apostles sit daily, and their blood attests the glory
of God," we have taken counsel, etc. They then pro-
ceeded to lay their canons before him, in order that
through him, "most specially, as holding the greater
dioceses, they may be communicated to all." ^
" In all these proceedings," remarks Cardinal Baro-
nius, " it is most worthy of observation, that it was the
ancient custom of the Catholic Church, that when
Ecclesiastical laws were enacted, in a general assembly
of the Fathers, they used to send them to the Eoman
Pontiff, in order that, approved by his authority, they
might be promulgated by him to all the Churches."^
At the First (Ecumenical Council, that of Nice, the
capital of Bithynia in Asia Minor, held a.d. 325, we
find the primacy of the Chair of Peter no less fully
recognized. The object of that council, composed of
318 bishops, was, to condemn the heresy of Arius, who
denied the divinity of Christ.* It was convened by the
by which they were condemned ; and his successors also endeavoured
to repress them. But their own divisions tended prijioipally to effect their
extinction. Among their ablest opponents, were Saint Optatua Bishop
of Milevis, and Saint Augustine.
1 "Sacrosancta Concilia," Labbei et Cossartii, i. 1425, Paris 1671.
"Epistola Synodi Arelatensis ad Silvestrum Papam de rebus in eS,
gestis, et canonibus in eS, constitutis."
^ Baronius, " Annales Ecolesiastici," iii. 140.
' Arius, a priest of Alexandria, published his heresy A.D. 319. He
maintained that the Son of God, or the Divine Word, was ^ creature,
drawn from nothing, whom God the Father had produced before all
ages, and of whom He made use to create the world : consequently
that the Son of God was of a nature and dignity very inferior to the
Father, and, properly speaking, could not be called God. He further
taught that the Son of God was not of the same essence as the Father
{inooia-ios, oonsubstantial), but only of Uke essence [i/ioioiffios). These
errors were vigorously opposed and condemned by Saints Alexander
go THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Emperor Constantine, at the request of Pope_ Sylvester,
according to some authorities, but, according to the
Acts of the Sixth General Council, being the third of
Constantinople, by the Emperor and Saint Sylvester
conjointly.! The Pope, being unable to travel, on
account of his great age,^ presided by his legates, Osius
Bishop of Cordova in Spain, one of the most illustrious
prelates of the West, high in the Emperor's favour, and
Vitus, or Vito, and Vincentius, two priests of Eome.*
" The right of presiding was conceded without con-
tradiction by all the general councils to the Pope, in
and Athanasius, sucoessively Patriarchs of Alexandria, and by several
councils, especially by the General Council of Nice. At this last
council, the doctrine of the Church was set forth in the following
words, which are embodied in the Nicene Creed : " And in one Lord
Jesus Christ the Son of God, bom only-begotten of the Father, that
is, of the substance of the Father ; God of God, light of light, true
God of true God, born not made, consubstantial to the Father, by
whom all things were made, both those in heaven and those on earth."
Arius, who persisted in his errors, died A.D. 336. Notwithstanding
his condemnation by the Church, his heresy, favoured by some of the
emperors, and several of the Gothic and Lombard kings, flourished for
more than three hundred years after his death. On its being legislated
against by Theodosius, a.d, 384, it greatly diminished in the Koman
Empire ; but it extensively prevailed in the East, and in France and
Spain, being professed by the Goths, Visigoths, Lombards, Vandals,
and Burgundians. But, like aJl heresies, it became "a house divided
against itself." The principal divisions were the Arians and Semi-
Arians. One of the chief supporters of Arius was Eusebius, Bishop of
Nicomedia, after whom the sect were sometimes called Eusebians.
Arianism, as a distinct heresy, expired towards the end of the eighth
century ; but it may be said to exist in modem times, under the
Unitarian, Socinian, and other forms of error. It is generally regarded
as having been the most extensive and most powerful heresy, that ever
afflicted the Church, except perhaps the great Protestant movement in
the sixteenth century.
1 "Concilia," vi. 1049. " Constantinus et Silvester magnam in
Nicsea synodum oongregabant " (Concil. Constantinop. Tertium, Act
18).
" Socrates, "Hist. Ecoles.," i. 8; and Sozomen, "Hist. Bccles." i.
'_ "Ipse etiam Osius ex Hispanis, nominis et famse celebritate insignis,
qui Silvestri Episcopi Maximae Komse locum obtinebat, una cum
Romanis presbyteris Vitone et Vincentio, cum aliis multis, in consessu
illo adfuit" (Gelaaius of Cyzicus, " Concilii Nicseni Historia," lib. ii.
0.5).
THE KELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS. 9 1
the persons of his legates," says Dr. Bollinger. "That,
at Nice, Osius Bishop of Cordova, and the priests Vitus
and Vincentius, presided as the legates of the Pope, is
clear from the order in which Socrates names those
who were present, and from the testimony of Eusebius,
cited by Gelasius."^
This leading principle, consecrated by usage from
the earliest period, is clearly stated by Cardinal Bellar-
min,2 in his work on Councils, in the following words :
"AH Catholics teach, that it is the special office of the
Sovereign Pontiff, that, by himself or by his legates, he
should preside, and, as the supreme judge, govern all
things."*
Besides the condemnation of Arianism, the Council of
Nice finally decided the controversy about the keeping
of Easter, in accordance with the previous ruling of the
Popes, already referred to ; nattiely, that thenceforward
the celebration of Easter should be observed by the
Universal Church on the Sunday immediately following
the full moon that happens on, or next afterj the day
of the vernal equinox; and, as Alexandria then was
^ DoUinger, "History of the Church," period ii. chap. v. sec. 3.
See also Socrates, " Ecclesiastical History," i. 13.
'■^ Robert Cardinal Bellarmin, alike distinguished by his learning and
holiness, and one of the ablest controversialists of any time, was born
at Monte Pulciauo in 1542 ; became a Jesuit scholastic at eighteen ;
and professed theology at Louvain, where he excited so much interest
by his sermons that Protestants came from HoUand and England,
to hear him. After seven years sojourn in the Low Countries, he
returned to Italy, and was appointed by Gregory XIII. to give contro-
versial lectures in the college recently founded by that pontiff in Rome.
Clement VIII. created him Cardinal (a dignity which he received with
reluctance), and named him Archbishop of Capua in 1602. As Paul
v. wished to have him near himself in Rome, 'QeWarmin resigned his
see, and devoted his labours to the affairs of the Roman curia, nntU
his death in 1621. His principal works are, " Disputationes de Con-
troversiis Christianse Fidei;" " Institutiones Hebraicse linguae;"
"Explanatio in Psalmos;" "De Romano Pontifice;" "De ofBciis
Episcoporum ; " "De Soriptoribus Eoclesiastiois ; " and "Doctrina
' Christiana."
' Bellarmin, "De Conciliis," i. 19. See the heading of this chapter.
92 THE CHAIE OF PETEE.
pre-eminently advanced in the cultivation of astro-
nomical science, the Fathers ordered, that the bishop of
that Church "should have the necessary calculations
completed, each year, and should forward the same
to the Bishop of Eome, in order that the Universal
Church, throughout the world, should be informed, by
the authority of the Apostolic See, of the definite day
of Easter, all discrepancy being thus excluded."^
As to the formal conf/rmation of the Acts of the
Council of Mce, by Saint Sylvester, the direct evidence
thereof adduced in the ancient histories of councils,^ is
by many of the learned regarded as questionable, if not
spurious ; but the indirect evidence appears, in itself,
quite conclusive. Let us examine the latter. First,
the Papal legates, who presided at the council, signed
the Acts before all the other Fathers, including the
Bishops of Alexandria and Antioch, whose signatures
came next. Secondly, in the pontificate of Saint Julius,
which commenced only three years after the death of
Sylvester, it was an established law of the Church,
vo/jLov iepariKov, that the approval of the Pope is indis-
pensable to the validity of the ordinances of councils.*
Thirdly, the Council of Nice is cited and adhered to, as
of authority, through the approval of the Apostolic See,
by all the Fathers, all the councils, and all the Popes
of its own and succeeding centuries. Finally, we have
the following plain statement of the fact in the fourth
epistle of Pope Felix III., who governed the Church,
A.D. 483-492 : " The Lord having said to Peter, ' Thou
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church/
the 318 holy fathers assembled at Nice, following this
^ Saint Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, " Prologus Paschalis,"
written A.D. 437: also Saint Leo the Great, "Epistola ad Mar-
tianum Augustum."
" See Labbe, " Concilia," ii. 412, and the learned notes of Severinua
Biniua thereon.
' This historical fact and its proofs will be found, fully set forth in
the next chapter.
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS. 93
voice, referred the confirmation and authority of their
Acts to the holy Eoman Church."
The Second General Council was that of Constanti-
nople, convened by the Emperor Theodosius the Great,
A.D. 381, to condemn the heresy of Macedonius, who
denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost.^ It was com-
posed of 153 orthodox bishops, principally Orientals,
besides whom there were present thirty-six bishops
who held the doctrine of Macedonius. Besides con-
demning this heresy, it confirmed the decrees of the
Council of Mce, elected Nectarius to the vacant See of
Constantinople, and enacted several disciplinary canons.
The Pope, Saint Damasus,^ was not present at this
council, nor was he represented at it by his legates.
Nevertheless, by his subsequent approval of its dog-
matic canons, and its consequent acceptation by the
Church, it acquired the character of a general council.
Damasus however refused to confirm the remainder
of its canons, especially the third, which enacted, " that
the Bishop of Constantinople should take rank next
after the Bishop of Eome, because the former was the
New Eome." *
The Fathers of Nice had simply used in their symbol
the words, " We believe in the Holy Ghost." It now
became necessary to define more fully the doctrine of
the Church, and the following words were added : " the
Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father,
^ Macedonius was elected by the Arian sect to the See of Constan-
tinople, in opposition to the orthodox Patriarch Paul, in the year 341.
This led to great tumults and bloodshed. Macedonius for a long time
usurped the See, and violently persecuted the Catholics, several of
whom were put to death. He refused to subscribe to tjie doctrine
that God the Son was consubstantial to the Father, o/xooisios, and he
denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost. His followers were called
Pnewnatomachi, or "fighters against the Spirit," as well as Mace-
donians.
" Saint Damasus, a Spaniard, governed the Church, A.D. 366-384.
^ Xhe subject of the five great Patriarchal Churches vriU be fully
treated in the chapter on "The Hierarchy," further on.
94 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
and together with the Father and the Son. is adored
and glorified, who spoke by the prophets." Later on,
as we shall presently see, it was found necessary still
further to define the faith of the Church ; and the
words FiLlOQUE were added, declaring that the Holy
Ghost proceeds " from the Father aTid the Son." Thus,
from time to time, as controversies arose, or heresies
were put forth, the doctrine of the Church was af&rmed
and explicitly defined, to meet the necessity of the
occasion ; and this was done, generally with the initia-
tive, and invariably with the approval and confirmation,
of the Pope, as the Supreme Guardian and Teacher of
Faith.
It may be useful, here, to examine the Creed or
Symbol^ of the Council of Nice, side by side with that
of Constantinople. The latter is the complement of the
former. It does not contain the Filiogue, which was
afterwards inserted, in order still further to express
the faith of the Church. It is the Creed now recited
after the first Gospel in the Mass, with the Filiogue
inserted,^ and a few verbal variations made, which do
1 For further particulars, the reader is referred to chap, viii., on the
Greek Schism.
" Symbol, from the Greek trto together, and jSciXXw to throw, being
a collection, or putting together, of Ihe principal articles of faith. The
four great Symbols, or Creeds of the Church, are, the Apostles' Creed,
said to' have been drawn up by the Apostles, immediately before their
dispersion, A.D. 41-42 ; that of the Council of Nice, A.D. 325 ; that of
the Council of Constantinople, A.D. 381, which is the complement of
that of Nice ; and that of Saint Athanasius. This last, although it
bears the name and contains the doctrine of Saint Athanasius, is by
many supposed not to have been written by him ; and is ascribed to
Saint Hilary, Archbishop of Aries, in the fifth century. There is also
the Creed of Pope Pius IV., drawn up by the Council of Trent, in
obedience to that Pontiff, which will be fully spoken of, in the chapter
on the Council of Trent.
3 The article on the Holy Ghost in the Creed of Constantinople ran
as follows, in the Latin : " Credimus in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum
et vivifieantem, ex Patre procedentem, et cum Patre et Filio adoran-
dum et glorificandum," etc. As now settled, it runs : " Et in Spiritum
Sanctum, Dominum et vivifieantem, qui ex Patre FiUogue procedit,
qui cum Patre et Filin simul adoratur et conglorificatur," etc.
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS.
95
not in the least degree affect the sense/ as settled by
the Council of Trent.^
The Nicene Greed, a.d. 325.
We believe in one God, the
Father Almighty, the Maker
of all things, visible and invis-
ible. And in one Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, born
only-begotten of the Father,
that is, of the substance of the
Father; God of God, light of
light, true God of true God ;
bom not made, consubstantial
to the Father, by whom all
things were made, both those
in heaven and those on earth.
Who for us men and for our
salvation descended, and be-
came incarnate, was made man,
suffered, and rose again the
third day,ascended into heaven,
and will come to judge the
living and the dead. And in
the Holy Ghost.3
The GonstantmopoUtan Greed,
A.D. 381.
We believe in one God, the
Father Almighty, the Maker
of heaven and earth, of all
things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jeaus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all
ages ; God of God, light of light,
true God of true God ; born
not made ; consubstantial to
the Father, by whom all things
were made. Who for us men
and for our salvation descended
from heaven and became in-
carnate by the Holy Ghost of
the Virgin Mary, and was made
man. He was crucified also
for us under Pontius Pilate,
suffered, and was buried. And
the third day He rose again
according to the Scriptures,
ascended into heaven ; sits at
the right hand of the Father,
and He wUl come again with
glory, to judge the living and
the dead ; of whose kingdom
there shall be no end. And
in the Holy Ghost, the Lord
and giver of life, proceeding
' The verbal variations are : "Credimus," "we believe," is changed
into "Credo," "I believe ;" "natum non factum" into "genitum non
factum," that is "begotten" is substituted for "bom;" and "homo-
ousion Fatri, hoc est ejusdem cum Fatre substantise," is altered from
the Greek term to its Latin equivalent, " oonsubstantialem Fatri."
' This Creed is styled in our prayer-books the Nicene Creed. Strictly
speaking, it would be more accurate to call it the Niceno-Constantino-
politan Creed, as settled by the Council of Trent.
3 Thus far, the articles of faith are set forth. Then follows an
anathema against those who hold the opinions of Arius, which are
specifically stated.
g6 THE CHAIK OF PETEK.
from the Father,^ and with the
Father and the Son to be
adored and glorified ; who
Bpoke by the prophets. And
One, Holy, Catholio and Apos-
tolic Church. We confess one
baptism for the remission of
sins. We expect the resurrec-
tion of the dead, and the life
of the world to come. Amen.
In the year 416, were held the African councils
of Carthage and Milevis, to condemn the heresy of
Pelagius ^ and his disciple CcElestius, who denied the
necessity of Divine grace, and the existence of original
sin. The letters of these councils to the Pope, Saint
Innocent I.,* laying before him their proceedings, and
requesting his confirmation thereof, were drawn up
by Saint Augustine. In their letter, the •Fathers of
Carthage say-: "We have decreed, that Pelagius and
Ccelestius, the authors of these opinions, should be
anathematized." They do not proceed further, but
leave the execution of the sentence, they suggest, to
the Supreme See ; continuing as follows : " Therefore,
Lord brother, we have deemed that this affair should
be made known to Tour Blessedness, iu order that the
authority of the Apostolic See may be applied to our
humble statutes, to secure the salvation of many, as
well as to correct the perversity of some." *
* Here FiMo^te, "and from the Son," has since been added, when
the true belief of the Church regarding this tenet was assailed by
heretics.
_ " Pelagius, by birth a Briton, and a monk of Bangor in Wales,
visited Italy at the close of the fourth century, and dwelt for a long
time in Borne, where he gained a great reputation for sanctity. There,
unfortunately, he met Rufinus, a disciple of Theodore of Mopsuestia,
and imbibed his errors, the principal of which was, that Divine grace
is not necessary to man. About the year 409, Pelagius travelled into
Africa, where his heresy was vigorously opposed and refuted by Saint
Augustine. He was condemned by several councils, especially by the
General Council of Ephesus, A.D. 431. He died about the year 432.
" Saint Innocent I., a native of Albano, presided over the Church,
A.D. 402-417. i Apud. Sanot. August., Epist. 90.
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS. 97
The letter of the Council of Milevis no less clearly
sets forth the principle, then long established, that all
grave causes should be referred to the Eoman Pontiff.
It proceeds thus: "Because the Lord, by the special
gift of His grace, hath placed you in the Apostolic
Chair, and hath given such a one to our times, that,
were we to remain silent before Your Holiness, with
respect to those things to be suggested for the Church,
it would be rather the fault of our negligence than the
result of your hearing them disdainfully or indifferently,
we beg you will vouchsafe to apply your pastoral care
to the grave perils of the weak members of Christ."^
In his reply, Saint Innocent commends the action
taken by these Fathers, in which, he tells them, " you
have followed the ancient rule which you know, with
me, has been always observed by the whole world;
namely, that all Ecclesiastical affairs throughout the
world are, by Divine right, to be referred to the Apos-
tolic See; that is, to Saint Peter, the author of its
name and honour."^
It is with reference to the confirmation of the decrees
of these two councils that Saint Augustine observes;
" The decisions of the two councils have already been
sent to the Apostolic See, whence, moreover, the re-
scripts have arrived. The cause is finished. Would
that error at last were at an end."* The "rescript"
or reply of the Pope, thus confirming the proceedings
of councils, had then, and long before, all the force
and effect of an edict or law of the Church.
The Third General Council, that of Ephesus, com-
posed at first of one hundred and ninety-eight bishops,
subsequently increased to two hundred and fifty, was
held A.D. 431. Its object was, to condemn the heresy
1 Apud. Sanct. August., EpiBt. 92 ; et Epist. Rom. Pontif. In loco.
» Ibid.
• Saint Augustine, Sermo 132, ij. 10: "Jam enim do causa duo con-
cilia missa sunt ad sedem apostolioam. Inde etiam rescripta venerunt.
Causa finita est : utinam aliquaudo finiatur eiror."
O
98 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
of Nestorius/ who denied the Incarnation, and con-
sequently asserted that Mary was not the Mother of
God— ^eoTo«o9. It also renewed the condemnation of
Pelagius.
The Pope, Saint Celestine,** deputed Saint Cyril,
Patriarch of Alexandria,* to preside in his stead, at
this council, assigning to him the authority of his See,
and his place and power, for the occasion* In his
letter to Cyril, he prescribes the sentence to be carried
into effect against Festorius, in the following' words :
"Wherefore, assuming the authority of our See, and,
in our stead, using our place and power, you will carry
out, not without the required severity, the following
sentence; namely, that unless within the interval of
ten days, to be numbered from this our admonition, he
shall anathematize his nefarious doctrine, in written
terms, and pledge himself ever afterwards to profess
that faith, which the Eoman Church and that of your
holiness and the universal Christian religion preaches,
immediately your holiness wiU cast him out of the
Church. . . . We have written to this effect also to
our brothers and feUow-bishops, John, Eufus, Juvenal,
and Flavian, in order that our sentence — nay, the
^ NestoriuB, a, monk and priest of Antioch, was made Patriarch of
Constantinople in 428. Immediately on his elevation, he commenced
persecuting the Arians, Macedonians, and other heretics with great
severity : and at the same time preached a new heresy himself, as
above set forth. On his condenSnation by the General Council of
Ephesus in 43 1, he was deposed and banished to Oasis in the desert of
Upper Egypt, where he died impenitent.
^ Saint Celestine, a Campanian, governed the Church, A.D. 423-432.
' Saint Cyril succeeded Theophilus in the patriarchal chair of
Alexandria, a.d. 412. His writings are numerous and valuable. Of
these, the principal are "the Treasure," and his treatises against
Nestorius and Julian. In a homily on the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mother of God, delivered in an assembly of bishops during the Council
of Ephesus, he speaks of the Pope as "the most holy Celestine the
Father and Chief Bishop of the whole world, and the Patriarch of the
great city of Rome. Saint Cyril died a.d. 444.
* "Nostras sedis auctoritate adscita, nostraque vice et loco cum
potestate usus."
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS. 99
Divine sentence of Christ our Lord — concerning him,
may be known to many."^
Celestine had previously addressed a feeling but
peremptory letter to Nestorius himself, to the same
purport. In it, he tells him that he has appointed
Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, to act for him, and he
adds : " Unless by a public and written confession you
condemn your perfidious novelties, you will be cast
forth from the communion of the Catholic Church."^
Celestine also sent from Eome two bishops and a
priest, as his legates, with instructions that they should
act with Cyril. He wrote a letter to the council, more-
over, calling on the Pathers to adojit the sentence of
condemnation, which, in a council convened in Eome,
he had already pronounced against Nestorius. "Through
our solicitude," says he, " we have appointed our holy
brothers and fellow-priests, the suffragan bishops Arca-
dius and Projectus, and Philip our priest, well-proved
men, and of one mind with us ; in order that they may
take part in the proceedings, carrying out that which
has already been decreed by us, to which, we doUbt
not, assent will be given by your holy assembly, when
that which is done may seem decreed for the security
of the Universal Church." *
In these letters of Celestine, we have a conclusive
proof of the supreme authority exercised by the Popes
in the proceedings of councils, at this early period,
confirmed, as it is, by the declaration of the assembled
Fathers, in their judgment of Nestorius, that they con-
demn him, " constrained to do so by the sacred canons
and the letter of our most holy father and fellow-priest
Celestine, Bishop of the Church of Eome." *
Here it is deserving of note, that as far back as the
Council of Ephesus, A.D. 431, "it was cmtamcvfy that
a decree of the Apostolic See should precede the dog-
1 "Concilia Generalia Koclesise," i. 274; Rome, 1628. See also
Baronius, "Annales," v. 555.
■' Jbid., i, 274, ' Ibid., 405. * Ibid., 366.
lOO THE CHAIE OF PETER.
matical decisions of general councils, and this decree
was the authority and guide of the council." ^
It may perhaps be not uninteresting to the reader to
peruse the following additional particulars of the pro-
ceedings, taken from the Acts of this council, held
more than fourteen hundred years ago. When the
Pope's letter, condemning, and passing sentence on,
Nestorius, had heen read, it was hailed by the acclama-
tions of " all the most reverend bishops, who cried out,
with one voice, ' This is a just judgment.' " They then
rendered thanks, by acclaim, to " Celestine, the guardian
of the faith, to Celestine in accord with the synod," as
well as to Cyril, who presided in his name, adding:
" There is one Celestine, there is one Cyril ; the faith
of the synod is one; the faith of the whole world is
one." 2
"Then Projectus, the most reverend bishop and
legate, said, 'Consider, holy Fathers, the mandate of
the letter of the holy and venerable Pope, Bishop
Celestine, who, not as one teaching the ignorant, but
rather as one admonishing the learned, exhorts your
holy assembly, that you will, according to the rule of
faith and the interests of the Catholic Church, order
to be accomplished, in all particulars, those things
which he has already beforehand deigned to define, and
of which he now reminds you.' " ^
" On this, Firmus, Bishop of Csesarea in Cappadocia,
said, 'The Apostolic and holy See of the most holy
Bishop Celestine, through the letters which he has
sent to the most religious Bishops, Cyril of Alexandria,
Juvenal of Jerusalem, and Eufus of Thessalonica, as
well as to the holy Churches of Constantinople and
Antioch, has already beforehand prescribed, concerning
the present affair, the sentence and rule, which we also
now follow; . . . and we have ordered that mandate
' Diillinger, "History of the Church," period ii. chap. v. sec. 3.
' " Concilia Generalia Eoclesise," i. aok.
3 Ibid. '
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS. I O I
to be executed, thus carrying out the canonical and
Apostolic judgment against him (Nestorius).' " ^
The result of this council — the overthrow of the
Nestorian and Pelagian heresies — is alluded to by
Saint Prosper,^ a cotemporary, as follows: "Through
this man (Celestine) all the Eastern Churches were
freed from this double plague, when he, with the
Apostolic sword, aided Cyril the Bishop of Alexandria,
the most glorious defender of the Catholic faith, to ban
the Nestorian impiety; and by him also were the
Pelagians (associated in kindred errors) a second time
overthrown." *
It was on this occasion that the words, " Holy Mary,
Mother of God, pray for us," were added to the Angeli-
cal Salutation.*
The Fourth General CouncU, that of Chalcedon, com-
posed of six hundred bishops, was held in the year
451, to condemn the heresy of Eutyches, who denied
the existence of two distinct natures — ^the Divine and
human — in Christ.* It was presided over by Saint
1 " Concilia Generalia Eodesise, i. 405.
' Saint Prosper of Aquitaine was bom A.D. 403, He was a layman,
distinguished alike for Ms virtues and bis great talents and learning.
His zeal and success in opposing the heresies of his time were remark-
able. About the year 440, he wrote his admired poem " De Ingratis. "
He was also the author of many controversial works. His Chronicle
extends from the creation of the world to the year 455. Saint Leo
the Great, on his election to the Papal throne, A.D. 440, invited
Prosper to Home, appointed him his secretary, and entrusted the most
important affairs to his care. Saint Prosper died about the year 463,
* Prosper, " Contra CoUatorem," prope finem.
* Baronius, "Annales Ecclesiastici," v. 622.
" Eutyches was the abbot of a monastery of three hundred monks, in
the neighbourhood of Constantinople. He left his retreat to oppose
Nestorius ; but unfortunately he broached another heresy, as above set
forth. His doctrine was, that, after the Incarnation, the human nature
of Christ was altogether absorbed by the Divine. In the year 448,
Eutyches was condemned by a Council at Constantinople presided over
by Saint Flavian, Archbishop of that see. On this, he demanded a
General Council, which was convened at Ephesus by the Emperor
Theodosius II., and opened on the 8th of August, 449. This is known
as " the false Synod of Ephesus," and also has been called the Latrod-
male, or "assembly of robbers," on account of its violent proceedings.
102 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Leo the Great,i through his legates, Paschasinus Bishop
of Lilyb'seum, Lucentius Bishop of Ascoli, and Boniface
and Basil, priests of Eome. In his letter, dated June
25, 451, the Pope commends to the Emperor Marcian
the legates whom he is sending, and begs of him to
protect and defend the Catholic faith. In a letter
addressed to the Council, the following day, Leo states
that he cannot be personally present, " which neither
the necessity of the times nor any usage may permit," ^
adding, " However, my brethren, you will consider that
I preside over the synod in these brethren, Paschasinus
and Lucentius, bishops, and Boniface and Basil, priests,
who are appointed by the Apostolic See — my presence
not being denied you, as I am with you in my vicars,
It was composed of 135 bishops or their deputies, from Egypt and the
East. Ignoring the Papal legates, Dioscorus, a violent man, who had
succeeded Saint Cyril as Patriarch of Alexandria, presided. Eutyches
was present, accompanied by two of the imperial officers and a number
of soldiers to support his cause. Necessarily, in this packed assembly,
everything went in his favour. Saint Flavian, Archbishop of Constan-
tinople, and Eusebius, Bishop of Dorylseum, were deposed. The
Pope's legates were not allowed to read his letter to the synod ; and
they protested against the whole proceedings. Saint Flavian, on the
spot, appealed to the Pope, lodging his written appeal with the Papal
Legates. On this, he was grossly insulted and maltreated, being
actually beaten by the soldiers who had accompanied Dioscorus I The
venerable man, a martyr of the faith, survived these outrages only a
few days, dying at Hypepa in Lydia, to which place he had been exiled
by the Emperor. At the General Council of Chalcedon, all honour
was paid to the memory of Flavian, who was declared a saint and a
martyr, Eusebius was restored to his see, and Dioscorus was deposed
and excommunicated. The heresiarch Eutyches died shortly after his
condemnation by the Council of Chalcedon, aged seventy-five. His
followers were called Monophysites, from the Greek, /iiros, single, and
^iffis, nature.
1 In one of his letters to the Fathers of this council. Saint Leo says
that " it was convened by the precept of the Christian Emperors, and
with the consent of the Apostolic See." Fidei causd, propter guam ex
prwcepto Chriglianorwm Principum, et ex consensu, Apoetolias Sedis
placuit congregari ("Concilia Generalia Ecclesise," ii. 41).
* It will be noted that, down to this time, the Popes presided hy
tJieir legates, at General Councils, being unable to be present in person,
as they " could not leave those parts in which the Apostles sit daily."
Vide supra, page 89.
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS. IO3
and have long been unrelaxing in the preaching of the
Catholic faith ; so that you cannot be ignorant of what
we believe, or have any doubt as to what we desire." ^
The Emperor received the legates with all honour,
on their arrival at Constantinople, and addressed the
following reply to the Pope : —
"To Leo, the Most Reverend , Bishop of the most glorious
Church of the city of Rome, Maroian.
" Let not Your Holiness doubt our zeal and conduct of affairs;
since we wish the true religion and the firm Apostolic faith to
abide, and to be observed with a pious mind by every nation.
Indeed, we have no doubt that the safeguard of our power con-
sists in the true religion, and the propitiation of our Saviour.
Wherefore, we have willingly, as we ought, and with a grateful
mind, received the most reverend men whom Your Holiness haa
recommended to our good graces. It remains that, should it
please Your Blessedness to visit these parts and celebrate the
Synod, you will vouchsafe to do so, out of love for religion.
Then would Your Holiness gratify our desires, and decree mose
things which are useful to holy religion. But should it be
onerous to you to visit theSe parts. Your Holiness will please
make it known in your letters, so that our letters may be addressed
to the whole East, and also to Thrace and Illyria, in order that
all the most holy bishops may attend at a certain destined place,
which will be agreeable to you, and there, of their own dispo-
sition, declare- those things which are for the interests of the
Christian religion and Catholic faith, as Your Holiness, according
to Ecclesiastical rules, may define." *
This letter of the Emperor Marcian, written more
than fourteen centuries ago, affords an interesting
illustration of how the Successor of Saint Peter was
venerated, and how thoroughly his supremacy in the
definition of matters of faith was recognized, at that
early period.
At the council was read the letter of Leo, written,
'■ Leonis I., Epiatola 49 ; and " Concilia Generalia Eoolesise," ii. 41.
" "Concilia," torn. ii. Ante Comsil. Chalced.; and Baronius, "An-
nales Ecolesiastici," vi. 122. "Ut ad quemdam deatinatum locum, nbi
vobis placuerit, omnes sanctissimi Bpiacopi debeant convenire ; et quse
Christiana religioni et Catholiose fidei prosint, sicut Sanotitas Tua
secundum Eooleaiasticas regulas definierit, ana diapoaitione deolarent."
I04 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
two years before, to Saint Flavian, Archbishop of Con-
stantinople, but suppressed by Dioscorus at the false
synod of Ephesus.^ In that letter, which is inserted
in the Acts of the General Council of Chalcedon, the
Pope clearly explained the doctrine of the Incarnation,
defending it against the false teaching of Eutyches and
IsTestorius. On its being read by his legates, the entire
assembly hailed it, as dictated by the Holy Ghost, and
declared it a rule for the Universal Church. " This,"
said they, "we all believe. It is the faith of the
Apostles. Peter hath spoken by Leo."
On this occasion, Lucentius, one of the Papal legates,
complaining of the proceedings of the false synod of
Ephesus, declared, that it was highly criminal on the
part of Dioscorus, "to presume to celebrate a synod
without the authority of the Apostolic See, a thing that
never had been, nor could be, legitimately done." ^
The Fathers of the council, in their letter to Saint
Leo, declare, that he has "presided over them, as a
head over its members ; " and, in sending their decrees
for his approval and confirmation, they assure His
Holiness of their dutiful submission in these words:
" That you may know that we have done nothing for
favour or through ill-will, but as guided by the Holy
Spirit, we have made known to you the force of all
that has been done, for your concurrence and for your
confirmation and approval thereof." *
Saint Leo confirmed all the decrees of this council
regarding matters of faith, but he refused compliance
with the request of the Fathers, that he would con-
firm the twenty-eighth canon, giving the See of Con-
stantinople precedence, as a Patriarchal Church, over
Alexandria and Antiooh, and placing it next after
Eome. The Papal legates and some of the Oriental
' Yide supra, in this chapter.
* Conoil. Ohalced. Acta. " Synodum ausus est facere sine auctori-
tate Sedis Apostolicae, quod rite nunquam factum est, nee fieri licuit."
^ Ibid., Epist. Synod, ad Papam Leonem.
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS. I OS
bishops had protested against this canon in the
council.^
The formal approval of the proceedings of councils,
and the confirmation of their decrees, were thus sought
for from the Pope, even though he had presided by
his legates. In fact, as already stated, all councUs —
national and provincial, as well as oecumenical — derive
their authority from the confirmation of their canons
by the Pope. Without that confirmation, they would
be null and void.^
A strong case in point is the Fifth General Council,
the second of Constantinople, convened by the Emperor
Justinian, in the year 553, to deal with the afiair of
the Three Chapters.* This council commenced with
T53 bishops, increased at its close to 165. Its con-
vocation was certainly not fully approved of by Pope
VigUius,* who, although he gave his assent thereto
' Oonoil, Chaloed. Acta. At the Second General Council, that of
Constantinople, a canon, the third, to the same effect, was enacted ;
but the Pope, Saint Damaaus, refused to confirm it, as we have seen.
^ The great antiquity of this law of the Church will be seen in the
next chapter.
3 The "Three Chapters," Tpla Ke^dXoio, Tria Oapitula, are the
treatises of Theodore Bishop of Mopsuestia in Cilicia, the Epistle of
Ibas Bishop of Edessa to Maris the Persian, and the Tracts of Theo-
doret Bishop of Cyrus against Saint Cyril, all which writings were more
or less imbued with Nestorianism. Theodore was made bishop of Mop-
suestia, A.D. 381. His works laid the foundations of the Nestorian
and Pelagian heresies. His former friend. Saint John Chrysostom,
wrote eloquent and touching treatises for his conversion. His name
had been erased from the diptychs of his own church before the Fifth
General Council. He died in the communion of the Church, in 428,
Ibas and Theodoret attended the General Council of Ohalcedon in 451,
and, having there pronounced anathema against Nestorius and his
doctrines, were declared orthodox. The writmgs of these three bishops,
above referred to as the " Three Chapters," were not examined by this
Council; but they were brought under the notice of, and carefully
examined by, the Fifth General Council, and solemnly condemned by
that assembly, in 553. Pope VigUius confirmed their condemnation,
but he spared the persons of Ibas and Theodoret, who had anathe-
matized Kestorianism at the Council of Cbalcedon. Theodore of
Mopsuestia, as we have seen, had died many years before. For the
life of Theodoret of Cyrus, see Index, Theodoret.
* Vigilius, a Roman, governed the Church, A.D. 538-555. The
I06 THE CHAIK OF PETEK.
in writing, refused to attend it; but his subsequent
acceptance and confirmation of its dogmatic decrees
gave it the character of a General Council.^
Empress Theodora, wife of Justinian, being a partisan of the Eutychian
or Monophysite heretics, tried to induce Pope Saint Silverius to con-
demn the General Council of Ohaloedon, and to receive the Eutychians
into communion. This the Pope firmly refused to do ; and, in conse-
quence, he was arrested, deposed, and sent into exile, by the Imperial
general Belisarius, in obedience to the Empress. It having been art-
fully stated that Silverius had a'bdicated, the Roman clergy were called
upon to elect his successor. The Empress contrived that their choice
should fall on Vigilius, an archdeacon of the Roman Church, then
at Constantinople. Accordingly, Vigilius, who, unhappily urged by
ambition, had entered into her views, and was a party to these unlaw-
ful proceedings, was elected on 22nd November, 538. Silverius, broken
down by hardships, died in exile, in the island of Palmaria, on 20th
June, 540. Then Vigilius resigned, was re-elected, and was universally
acknowledged Pope. On this, he became a totally changed man, con-
demning the Eutychians, upholding the Council of Chalcedon, and in
every respect opposing the machinations of the Empress against the
Church. Visiting Constantinople, on the Emperor's invitation, he
was arrested, by Theodora's orders, grossly maltreated, and cast into a
dungeon. He died at Syracuse, on his journey back to Rome, on loth
January, 555. The history of Pope Vigilius forcibly reminds us of
Christ's promise to Saint Peter, Luke xxii. 32. The observations of
Dr. DoUinger thereon will be read with interest : "But God was still
watching over his Church. After the death of Silverius, Vigilius,
who was now lawful Pope, proved himself an altered man. He refused
the Empress the decree which she required of him in favour of the
Severians. He wrote to Justinian and to Mennas (Patriarch of
Constantinople), professing his firm adherence to the four General
CounoUs — to the doctrines of his predecessors, Leo and Agapitus ; and
he declared Anthimus and Severus excommunicated. When reproached
by his former friends with his want of faith to his promises, he
solemnly affirmed that he was willing to efface them with his blood."
Vigilius has been accused of vacillating, under the pressure of persecu-
tion ; "but his ohangings," observes the same learned writer, "had no
reference to dogmas of faith. In these he was ever the same. . . . He
varied only on the question of ecclesiastical economy, whether it were
prudent to condemn writings which the Council of Chalcedon had
spared, and to anathematize a man who had died in the communion of
the Church" ("History of the Church," period iL a iv. sec. 5).
' Evagrius, "Ecclesiastical History," book iv. chap. 38. Evagrius
was bom at Epiphania in Syria, in the year 536. He was an advocate,
Siud practised at Antiocb. His Ecclesiastical History ranges from a.d.
431 to 594. The letter of Vigilius, to which he alludes, was long lost,
but was discovered by Peter de Marca, who gave it to the public in
his learned treatise, "De Vigilii deoreto pro oonfirmatione Quinti
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS. lO/
The Sixth General Council, the third of , Constanti-
nople/ assembled. in that city, on the 7th November,
680. It was convoked by the Emperor Constantine
Pogonatus, -with the assent of the- Holy See. Pope
Agatho 2 presided over it, through his legates, Theodore
and George, priests, and John, a deacon, afterwards
Pope, as John V. The numbers . present were 286
bishops, besides the Papal legates.* The object of the
council was, to condemn the Monothelite heresy.* This
heresy had commenced about the year 616, its origina-
tors being Theodore, Bishop of Pharan in Arabia, and
Sergius, Patriarch of Constantinople. In some time,
these were joined and actively supported by Cyrus,
Bishop of Phasis, subsequently Patriarch of Alexandria,
and Pyrrhus, a monk, who succeeded Sergius in the
See of Constantinople, in 639.^ They held the doctrine,
that the union of the two natures in Christ — the Divine
and human — produced but one will (the Divine will)
and one operation, instead of two wills (the Divine and
human) and two operations, in harmony, as is the faith
of the Church. The Emperor Heraclius, and several
prelates and other influential persons and their fol-
lowers, were gained over to their doctrines — the more
readily that their professed object was to bring about
the desirable end of inducing the Eutychians, or Mono-
Synodi," Baronius questions the alleged assent of Vigiliua to the
convocation of this council.
' It is sometimes styled the First Trullan Council, after the Chapel
of the imperial palace in which it was held, named Trullus, from its
roof, which was shaped like a bowl or shell, in Latin truUa.
" Saint Agatho, a Greek, governed the Church, a.d. 678-682.
' This council was closed on i6th September, 681. We find only
196 bishops subscribing the Acts.
* Monothelites, from the Greek, /iicos, single, and 8i\ria-is, wiU.
° Pyrrhus, however, in the year 64S, went to Rome with Saint
Maximus, and there abjured his errors, before Pope Theodore (Baronius,
"Annales Ecolesiastici," viii 372, 710). His conversion was the
result of Maximus's " Disputation with Pyrrhus," which will be found,
in the Greek and Latin versions, at the end of volume viii. of the
"Annals of Baronius."
I08 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
physites (who had been condemned at the Council of
Ohalcedon) to re-enter the pale of the Church.
The Monothelite heresy, in reality a renewal of the
errors of Eutyches, was strenuously opposed by So-
phronius. Patriarch of Jerusalem, Maximus of Con-
stantinople, Abbot, one of the ablest theologians of the
day, and other Oriental prelates.^ Sophronius wrote
to Pope Honorius,^ calling his attention to so great a
danger; whereupon Sergius addressed a crafty letter
to the Pontiff, representing to him, that it would be a
sad discouragement to the Monophysites, if, by the
condemnation of one phrase, as suggested by Sophronius,
they were prevented re-entering the Church. Honorius's
reply to Sergius was incautiously framed, so that he
seemingly echoed the sentiments of the latter, and he
so far met his views, as to order that no Ecclesiastical
decision should be made on the subject, and that all
discussion thereof should forthwith cease. Honorius
died in 638 : and the death of Sophronius took place
the same year.
In 639, the Emperor Heraclius published a decree,
drawn up by Sergius, and styled an Ecthesis or Ex-
position of faith.* In it, the Emperor ordered, that
there should be no more controversy on the question ;
^ Saint Sophronius the Monk, an able and learned man, wag a
native of Damascus in Syria. In 634, he was appointed Patriarch of
Jerusalem, and was one of the most zealous and powerful opponents of
Monothelism in the East. He died in 638 (some say in 644). We
have from his pen the "Life of Saint Mary of Egypt," and Sermons.
Saint Maximus, Abbot, called by the Greeks "the Confessor," MdpTvp,
was another leading opponent of the Monothelites. He was bom, of
an ancient and noble family, in Constantinople. He died, from his
sufferings in prison, in 662. His works, chiefly Commentaries on
Scripture, and Treatises against the Monothelites, were published in
Paris, in two vols, folio, in 1675.
" Honorius, a native of Campania, governed the Church, a.d.
625-638.
» "EKdarK T17S 7r/ffreas. In the year 640, in a councU which he
assembled at Rome, Pope John IV. condemned the Ecthesis, which
the Emperor, thereupon, withdrew, explaining to the Pontiff, that it was
at the earnest solicitation of Sergius he had signed and published it.
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS. 1 09
and, at the same time, he clearly expressed himself as
favourable to the new doctrine. Thus supported hy
Heraclius, and Constans II., his immediate successor
in the Empire, the heresy grew and flourished. Its
leading opponent in the East, now that Sophronius
was dead, was Abbot Maximus. It was moreover con-
demned by John IV., Martin I., and the other suc-
cessors of Honorius in the Papal Chair, down to Saint
Agatho, who accomplished its complete discomfiture
and final solemn condemnation, in the Sixth General
Council, above described.
At this council, the Monothelites were heard, in the
first instance, through their leader, Macarius Patriarch
of Antioch; and then the Papal legates defined the
orthodox doctrine, as set forth in the Pope's Dogmatic
Epistle, unanimously adopting which, in their letter
addressed to the Emperor, in the final session, the
Fathers affirmed, that " Peter had spoken by Agatho." ^
At the close of the proceedings, the Fathers addressed
a Synodical Eeport to the Pope, which, along with the
Acts of the council, they transmitted to him by the
legates, praying that he would confirm all, by the
Apostolic authority. " We have," they wrote, " openly
proclaimed, with you, the shining light of the orthodox
faith, which we beg of Your Paternal Holiness to again
confirm by your Kescript, worthy of all honour."
As regards the subscription of the Acts, the "Papal
legates signed first, as "holding the place of Pope
Agatho;" secondly, the Patriarchs of Constantinople,
Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem; then, the three
^ " Sed per Agathonem Petrus loquebatur." " Address of acclama-
tion " by the Fathers of the Sixth General Council to the Emperor,
session seventeenth and last, on September i6, 68l. Writing to the
Council of Rome, afterwards, the Emperor commends the zeal with
which, "together with the Universal Prince of Pastors," they had de-
fended the Catholic faith, and he adds : " We prized the words of
Agatho as the voice of Blessed Peter himself," "Tanquam ipsius divini
Petri vocem, Agathonis relationem supermirati sumus" (Barouius,
"Annales," viii. 559, 560).
no THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Metropolitans of Thessalonica, Cyprus, and Eavenna;
after these, the legates of the whole council of the
Apostolic See of Eome;i and the other Fathers, in
their proper rotation.
But before their letter and that of the Emperor and
the Acts of the Council reached Eome, Agatho died ;
and consequently the formal approval and confirmation
sought for were given by his successor Leo 11.,^ in a
Eescript addressed to the Emperor, in the following
words: "Wherefore We and, through our office, the
Venerable Apostolic See, with unanimous accord, con-
sent to confirm, by the authority of Blessed Peter,
those things which have been defined by the holy,
universal, and great Sixth Council — definitions acquir-
ing firmness from our Lord, on, as it were, a solid
rock, which is Christ. Accordingly, as We receive and
firmly proclaim the five holy Universal Councils, Nice,
Constantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon, and the ' Second
of Constantinople, which the whole Church of Christ
approves and foUows ; so that council also which, with
the pious co-operation of Your Serenity, has lately
been celebrated in the Eoyal city. We receive with
equal veneration and authority, as following up and
interpreting them ; and We decree that it be deservedly
numbered with them, as having assembled with one
and the same grace of God; and We consider that
the priests of the Church of Christ who faithfully
met therein should be equally inscribed among the
holy Fathers and Doctors." ^
It is necessary to say a few words here on the case
of Pope Honorius. In the Acts of the Sixth General
Council, which we have just now been discussing, that
Pontiff is condemned, as "in all things a follower of
' These attended, with the Pope's approval, as well as the Papal
legates, at the special request of the Emperor, who was anxious to
have a full representation of the West, at the General Council.
' Saint Leo II., a Sicilian, governed the Church, A.p. 682-683.
^ Fagi, " fontifisum Komanorum Gesta," L 358,
THE RELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS. I I I
Sergius " ^ — a circumstance, which, taken in conjunction
with his letter to the latter, has led to much controversy
in later times ; so that his orthodoxy has been disputed
by non-Catholics, to this day. Evidently, Honorius
was misled by the crafty Greeks. At the same time,
it must be admitted that, by the tenor of his letter
to Sergius, and by his forbidding any discussion of the
question raised by the Monothelites, he laid himself
open to the charge of favouring the new doctrine,
which he ought at once to have authoritatively con-
demned. " Prom his inconsiderate letter," as observed
by Doctor DoUinger, " matter was drawn in later times
both for his condemnation and exculpation."^ Pope
Leo II., in his Epistle to the Bishops of Spain, on the
Acts of the Sixth General Council, blames Honorius,
" because he did not, as became the Apostolic authority,
immediately extinguish the flame of heretical error;
but by his negligence added fuel to the fire."* He
was icondemned, observes Pagi, " not as a heretic, but
as a favourer of heretics." * " We are fully justified,"
says Doctor DoUinger, "in supposing that Honorius
thought much more correctly than he expressed him-
self." * Indeed his cotemporary. Saint Maximus, asserts
that he was " an opponent of the Monothelites : " and
his own secretary, the Eoman Abbot John, affirms
that his letter to Sergius was falsified by the Greeks.
" Who then is the more worthy of faith and authority
as the interpreter of that letter," asks Saint Maximus,
"he who wrote it on behalf of Honorius, and who is
^ It is positively asserted by Baronius, that the Acts of this Oouncil
were, in this passage, falsified by the Greeks. "Annales," viii. 570,
et seq.
^ DoUinger, "Church History," period ii. chap. iv. see. 7.
^ Leonis, P.P. II. Epist. ad JGpiscopns Eispanise. "Flammaim hse-
retici dogmatis, non, ut decuit Apostolicam auctoritatem, incifaentem
extinxit, sed negligendo confovit. "
* Pagi, "Fontificum Romanorum Gesta," i. 350. "Damnatus est
Honorius Papa, non quidem ut hsereticus, sed ut hsereticorum fautor."
° PiiUinger, " History of the Chiiroh," period ii. chap. iv. pec. 7,
112 THE CHAIB OF PETER.
still alive, and who has enlightened all the West by his
virtues and teaching of the true Christian faith, or they
at Constantinople who spoke their own feelings ? " ^
Cardinal Baronius has written at great length, in his
Annals, in vindication of Honorius ; and besides him
there are many able and learned apologists of. that
Pontiff, in the past, as well as in modern times. In
our day, the controversy has been revived by the
celebration of the Vatican Council; and the result
is that, during the last fourteen years, considerable
additions have been made to the Kterature of the
question.
In reviewing the whole case, it is necessary to bear
in mind the following facts, if we would arrive at a
just conclusion: i. When Honorius wrote to Sergius,
no definition had ever been made by the Church, with
respect to the doctrine which formed the subject of the
correspondence. 2. Honorius in his letter, made no
definition himself : nay, he expressly said that he did
not mean to do so. 3. He forbade any further dis-
cussion of the doctrinal point submitted to his notice
instead of immediately examining it, with the aid of
his council, and deciding it with the Apostolic autho-
rity; and it is for this omission, or negligence, or
temporizing policy, that he is most generally censured.
4. Anything that Honorius actually wrote, or might
have written, to Sergius, could never be regarded as
that to which alone Infallibility is believed by Catholics
to attach; namely, a solemn ex Cathedra definition,
addressed by the Supreme Pontiff to the Universal
Church. This will be more clearly understood, when
we have before us, further on, in the chapter on Papal
Infallibility, the conditions, all of which are essential
' " Disputatio Sancti Maximi cum Pyrrho," apud Baronium, "An-
nales Ecclesiastioi," viii. 699. "Maximus : 'Quia fuerit fide et aucto-
ritate dignus epistolae hujus interpres, qui earn ex persona Honorii
Bcnpsit, adhuc superstes, et qui totum Ocoidentem cum aliis virtutibus,
turn dogmatibuB fidei Christianse, illustravlt ; an ii qui Oonstantinopoli
qusB ex corde eraut loquebantur ? ' "
THE EELATIONS OF POPES WITH COUNCILS. I I 3
to constituta an ex Cathedra pronouncement, as laid
down by the Vatican Council.
" Centuries of controversy have established beyond
all doubt," observes Cardinal Manning, " that the accu-
sation against Honorius cannot be raised by his most
ardent antagonists to more than a probability. And
this probability, at its maximum, is less than that of
his defence. I therefore affirm the question to be
doubtful; which is abundantly sufficient against the
private judgment of his accusers. The cumulus of
evidence for the Infallibility of the Eoman Pontiff
outweighs aU such doubts." ^
Here may be appositely quoted the following words
of Pope Agatho, in his Dogmatic Epistle, addressed to
the Emperor, on the occasion of the assembling of the
Sixth General Council : " For this is the true rule of
faith, which in prosperity and in adversity is firmly
held and defended by this spiritual mother of your
most serene Empire, the Apostolic Church of Christ,
which, through the grace of Almighty God, will be
proved never to have erred from the path of Apostolic
tradition, and which has never succumbed, corrupted
by heretical novelties: but as, from the beginning of
Christian faith, she has learned from her founders, the
princes of the Apostles of Christ, she remains undefiled
to the end, according to the Divine promise of our Lord
and Saviour Himself, which He spoke to the Prince
of His Disciples in the Sacred Gospels, saying, ' Peter,
Peter, behold Satan hath desired to have you that he
may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee,
that thy faith fail not : and thou, being once converted,
confirm thy brethren.' Wherefore let your Serene
Clemency consider, that, since the !Lord and Saviour of
all, of whom faith is, and who promised that the faith
of Peter should not fail, admonished him to confirm his
brethren, the same, as all know, has ever been confi-
dently done by the Apostolic Pontiffs, my predecessors
1 Manning, " Petri PrivUegium," iii. 223 ; London, 187a
a
114 "^^^ CHAIR OF PETER.
of whom my littleness, although unec[iial and the least,
desires to be a humble follower, for the sake of the
ministry assumed by me, through the Divine mercy ;
for it will be woe to me, if I shall neglect to preach the
truth of my Lord, which they sincerely preached."
Surely, Saint Agatho would not have written thus,
on such an occasion, and only forty-two years after the
death of Honorius, if he believed that the latter, one of
" the Apostolic Pontiffs, his predecessors," had swerved
one iota from the faith of Peter. All this tends to
strengthen the conclusion, that it was only for having
favoured heretics by his negligence in restraining them
that Honorius was condemned.
It is a matter to be especially noted, that the six
general councils treated of in this chapter were mainly
composed of Eastern bishops, were held in the East,
and were under the influence of the Emperors of the
East ; ^ which circumstances go to prove still more con-
clusively, if possible, the complete supremacy of the
Bishop of Eome, as visible Head and Teacher of the
Universal Church, in the early ages of Christianity.
To adduce further evidence on this subject would be
superfluous ; for, as all readers of Ecclesiastical history
are aware, the supreme authority of the successors of
Saint Peter, in their relations with councils, as in all
other respects, became more and more developed, in
each successive age, with the growth and extension of
the Church.
^ The Western bishops were prevented from attending, in numbers,
by the dangers and difficulties of the long journey, as well as by the
oiroumstanoe of their presence being required at home, to mitigate the
evils entailed on their flocks by wars, dissensions, and the Barbarian
incursions.
CHAPTEE VII.
APPELLATE JUEISDICTION OF THE HOLY SEE.
" Ipsi sunt canones, qui appellationes totius Eoclesiae ad hujus sedis
examen voluere deferri ; ab ipsa vero nusquam prorsus appellari debere
8anxerunt ; ac per hoc illam de tota Ecclesia judicare, ipsam ad uullius
oommeare judicium." — Pope GELAsros I., A.D. 493.^
The recognition of the supreme authority of the Holy
See, from a very early period, is further evidenced by
the appeals addressed to it from distant Churches,
its intervention in the affairs of those Churches, its
deposition of unworthy and schismatical bishops, its
restoration to their sees of bishops unjustly deposed,
its excommunication of heretics, and receiving back to
communion those who had abjured their errors, as well
as its firm and decisive condemnation of the proceed-
ings of irregular synods, convened without its sanction,
and lacking the stamp of its approval and confirmation.
The interposition of Saint Clement, fourth Bishop of
Eome, in the affairs of the Church of Corinth, in the
year of our Lord g6, has already been referred to.^
Next, we have the excommunication of Cerdon, a Syrian
heresiarch, by Pope Hyginus, A,D. 140, and the con-
demnation of the heresies of Valentine and Marcion by
his successor. Saint Pius I., ten years later.
^ Gelasii Fapae L, Epiat iv. " They are the canons which will, that
appeals of the whole Church be brought to the examination of this
See ; and have decreed that no appeal be ever made from it ; and that
thus it judges of the whole Church, but itself goes to be judged by no
one." Gelasius I., an African, governed the Church, A.D. 492-496.
" Vide supra, chap. v.
II 6 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Again, in the year 196, we find the Pope, Saint
Victor, excommunicatiDg Theodotus the currier of By-
zantium, who denied the Divinity of Christ^ — a decision
followed hy all the East. Another case in point was
the exercise of Victor's authority, with respect to the
celebration of Easter by the Oriental Churches.*
Next, we read of the penitence of Natalius, who,
having become a bishop of the heretical sect of Theo-
dotus, was admonished in a vision, and, being touched
by God's grace, covered himself with sackcloth and
ashes, and, shedding many tears, cast himself at the feet
of Pope Zephyrinus, and prayed to be received back
into the communion of the Church — a petition most
reluctantly complied with.* This occurred in the year
203. So active was the zeal of Zephyrinus in suppress-
ing this heresy, that he was styled, by Theodotus and
his followers, " the chief defender of Christ's divinity."
The excommunication of Privatus, an African here-
tic, by Saint Eabian, who governed the Church A.D.
236-250 ; the judgment of the cause of Origen by the
same Pontiff; the appeals to Saint Cornelius by Cy-
prian and the schismatics of Carthage, who sought to
depose him, A.D. 251 ; the sentence pronounced against
Novatian and Novatus by the same Pope Cornelius;
the condemnation of the heresy of Sabellius by Saint
Dionysius, A.D. 268 ; and the excommunication of Paul
of Samosata, the heretical bishop of Antioch, by the
same Pope, and by his successor Saint Felix ; are all so
many instances to the same effect.
In the early part of the fourth century, the supreme
authority of the Bishop of Eome had attained consider-
able development. Thus, in the years 335-345, those
Eastern bishops who had- adopted, or were inclined to
favour, the Arian heresy, assembled in synod, on several
occasions, and proceeded to extremes against Saint
' Eusebius, " Ecclesiastical History," v. 28.
* Vide supra, chap. v.
' Eusebius, " Ecclesiastical History," v. 28.
APPELLATE JURISDICTION OF THE HOLY SEE. I I 7
Athanasius, Patriarcli of Alexandria,^ and other pre-
lates who firmly adhered to the Nicene definition of
faith. By their specious statements and misrepresen-
tations of facts, they gained over to their side, for the
time being, the Emperors Constantine II. and Constan-
tius ;* and hence their decrees against the orthodox
prelates were upheld and carried into effect by the
strong arm of the civil power. The result was the
deposition of Athanasius and other illustrious confessors
of the faith.
The Arian bishops' formally addressed the Pope,
Saint Julius,* sending three deputies to lay before
him their accusation against Athanasius and the other
prelates. Julius having communicated the heads of
the accusation to Athanasius and his colleagues, they
immediately dispatched representatives to Eome, to
plead their cause ; the result being the complete refu-
tation of the charges made against them by the Arians.
Their accusers, baffled by the decision arrived at, de-
manded a councU, which the Pope consented to con-
vene at Eome, A.D. 341.* This council was attended
^ Saint Athanasius, Doctor of the Church, was born at Alexandria,
about the year 296 ; was chosen Patriarch of Alexandria in 326 ; and
died in 373. In the year 325, he accompanied Saint Alexander, his
predecessor in the patriarchal chair, to the Council of Nice. He took
a leading part ia the debates of that venerable assembly, being a
powerful and unrelaxing opponent of Arius and his abettors. Atha-
nasius's zeal in the cause of Catholic truth drew down upon him many
years of persecution and exile. His principal works are in defence of
the doctrine of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the divinity of the
Holy Ghost. His Creed has been alluded to, in the last chapter.
" Constantine the Great died on the 15th May, 337, and was suc-
ceeded by his three sons, among whom he divided the Empire : leaving
Gaul, Spain and Britain to his eldest son Constantine II., Asia, Syria
and Egypt to his second son Constantius, and lUyricum, Italy and
Africa to the youngest, Constans.
' These bishops were commonly called Eusebians, after their leader
Eusebius, the Arian Bishop of Nicomedia, who is not to be con-
founded with the celebrated historian, Eusebius, Bishop of Csssarea in
Palestine.
* Saint Julius I., a Roman, governed the Church, a.d. 337-352.
• "Sancti Julii Papse Epistolse," " Concilium indici postularunt, lit-
terasque et ad Busebianos et Athanasium Alexandriam quibus convo-
I I 8 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
by Athanasius, Asclepas of Gaza, Paul of Constanti-
nople, Marcellus of Ancyra, and Lucius of Adrianople,
all Oriental bishops, who, having been expelled from
their several Churches, on various charges, had arrived
at the imperial city, and " laid their cases before Julius,
Bishop of Eome."^ Their adversaries did not appear,
although it was at their request, in the first instance,
that the council was convened. The Pope formally
cited them to Eome once again ; but they, instead of
obeying the citation, held a council of their own at
Antioch, electing Gregory, an Arian bishop, to Athana-
sius's See of Alexandria, and detaining the Papal legates
beyond the day named for their appearance. At the
same time, they attempted to excuse to Julius their not
appearing at Eome, by the alleged difficulty of travel-
ling, owing to the Persian war, and other obstacles.
The Pope then proceeded, in the Council of Eome,
A.D. 341, to try the causes of St. Athanasius and the
others ; acquitted them of all the charges preferred by
the Eusebians; and restored them to their sees. In
the words of the historian of the period,^ " the Eoman
Bishop, on learning the accusation against each, aud
finding that they all held the same opinions as himself,
with reference to the doctrine of the Council of Mce,
admitted them to communion ; and, as, by the dignity
of his see, the care of all devolved on Mm, he restored to
each his own Ghwrch." * " He wrote to the bishops of
carentur mitti ; ut coram omnibus justo judicio de causa cognosci posset:
turn enim se de Athanasio probaturos esse, quod jam nequirent"
' Socrates, " Ecclesiastical History," book ii. chap. 1 5.
2 Sozomen : Hermias Sozomen was born at Bethelia, near Gaza in
Palestine, about the beginning of the fifth century. He followed the
profession of the law at Constantinople. H6 wrote a compendium of
Ecclesiastical History in two books, from the Ascension of our Saviour
to the year 323 ; but this work is not extant. The continuation of it,
at greater length, in nine books, down to the year 439, has fortunately
been preserved. Sozomen died about A.D. 450. His Ecclesiastical
History, with those of Socrates and Eusebius, was published by Robert
Stephanus in ISS4. by Valesius, Paris, in 1668, and by Reading, Cam-
bridge, in 1720 ; all in folio.
• Sozomen, " Ecclesiastical History," book iii. chap. 8. Edit. Vale-
APPELLATE JURISDICTION OF THE HOLY SEE. I 1 9
the East, and rebuked them for having judged these
prelates unjustly, and for having disturbed the peace
of the Church, in not acquiescing in the Nicene doc-
trines. He summoned a few among them to appear
before him on a day named, that they might account
to him for the sentence they had passed; and he
threatened them that he would not bear with them
any longer, should they introduce further innovations.
Thus Julius wrote. Athanasius and Paul received back
each his own see, and forwarded the letters of Julius
to the bishops of the East." ^
On this, the Eusebian bishops again assembled at
Antioch, and drew up a reply to the Pope, protesting
against his decision. " They confessed, in their letters,
that the Church of Eome was held in honour by all
as having been, from the beginning, the school of the
Apostles, and the metropolis of religion, although the
teachers of Christian doctrine came there from the
East." 2 They then complained, in strong language, of
the restoration of Athanasius, and the abrogation of
their decrees by the Pope. "After these complaints
and representations of the injuries done them, they
promised peace and communion with Julius, provided
that he would approve of * the deposition of the bishops
siua, Paris, 1668. Moffiiy 5^ 6 'Vd/iatw iTtaxoiros t& iKhffTOv iyKKi)-
/iaro, ^TretSV/ irdAiras ofioovvras eiipe Trepl rb bhr^iia t^s ^v ISiKaiq, trvvdSoVf
tbs 6fio86^ovs airrovs els Koivuviav TrpoaijKaro' ota S^ t^s iravrtav KTiSefwvias
dvTtfi irpoarTjKoOffTjs Std. t^v d^lav toO dp6vov, iKd(TT<^ t^v I8lav iKKKriaiav
&Tr^dojKe.
' Sozomen, " EeclesiaBtioal History," book iii. chap. 8.
* Ibid., ^ipeip /liv yiip irain <pi\mi.iilav rijp 'V<ii/Milui> lKK\ricrlav iv rots
ypdfifiafftv ibfi6\6yovv, us d.TOffrt'Kfjjv ippovria'T'^piOVf Kal eiae^elas fit]Tp6-
TToKiv i^ dpxTJS yeyevijfiivTjv' el xal ix ttjs "Ew eveS'^i^'qaav airy ol tov Sdyfia-
Tos etariyriTal. I have now before me a popular English translation'
of Sozomen's history, in which the important words in this passage, <!)s
&iroiTTt>Kbiv tppavTUTT'^pLOV KoX eiffe^elas p/ijTpdirQKiv i^ dpXV^ yeyev7]fi^P7}V,
are rendered, " because it had been founded by the Apostles, and had
enjoyed the rank of a metropolitan Church froin the first preaching of
religion" ! How different this from the literal translation above given,
which is, verbatim, the same as that of the learned Doctor Barrow
("Theological Works," vol. vii. p. 343), viz. "as having been from the
beginning the school of the Apostles and the metropolis of religion " I
' Sexi/'^eyv iJi'iy 'iovXiip TTjv KaffalpriffiJ', k.t.X.
I 20 THE CHAIR OF PETEB.
whom they had removed, and the appointment of those
whom they had elected in their stead. But, in case of
his resisting their decrees, they threatened opposition ;
for, they affirmed, the bishops who were their prede-
cessors in the East had not opposed the deposition of
Novatian by the Church of Eome.* In their letter
they made no reply about their opposition to the doc-
trine of the Council of Nice, " but they declared that
they had many imperative reasons to justify their
conduct, and that they deemed it useless at present
to make any defence, as they were accused of having
acted wrong in every particular." ^
Julius, in his reply, rebuked them for having clan-
destinely introduced innovations on the doctrine of the
Council of Nice ; and for having, contrary to the laws
of the Church, omitted inviting him to their synod
(at Antioeh) ; "for there is a sacerdotal law, that what-
ever is done against the sentiment of the Bishop of Rome
should he declared invalid."^ He further reproached
them with the injustice of their proceedings against
Athanasius ; and, finally, he reprehended the arrogant
style of their letter to himself.*
Exactly similar is the narrative of Socrates, another
standard Ecclesiastical historian of the period.* Hav-
ing given the names of the orthodox prelates, who had
been deprived of their sees in the East, and had gone
to Kome, to lay their causes before the Pope,* he thus
* Novatian. Vide supra, p. 30 note.
" Sozomen, "Ecclesiastical History," book iii. chap. 8. See also
Socrates, "Ecclesiastical History," book ii. chap. 15. "Sooratis et
Sozomeni Historia Ecolesiastica," Henricus Valesius, Paris, 1668.
^ Ibid., chap. 10. E&ai yip vbnov hpnTiKhv, &Kvpa iiro(palvea' Ti
rapi, yinifiriv irpwrrbiieva tov 'Pa/ialav iirurK6rov. In this passage and
one of the same purport in Socrates,' the word yvii/itiv is variously
translated ; viz. "sentiment," "opinion," "sentence," "judgment,"
and"wm." « Ibid.
' Socrates, an Ecclesiastical historian of the fifth century, was bom
at Constantinople, about the year 380. He pleaded at the bar, and
was therefore called Scliolasticus, or the Advocate. He wrote an
Ecclesiastical History, from the year 309 down to 445.
' Vide supra, p. 118,
APPELLATE JURISDICTION OF THE HOLY SEE. I 2 I
continues : " Accordingly, they made known their
causes to the Bishop of Eome ; but he, in virtue of the
prerogative of the Church of Borne, fortified them with
strongly worded letters, and sent them back to the
East, restoring to each his own see, and censuring those
by whom they had been rashly deposed." * Therefore
these, departing from Eome, and relying on the letters
of the Bishop Julius, resumed possession of their several
Churches, forwarding the letters to those to whom they
were addressed.*
Eeferring to a synod of these bishops, at Antioch,
convened by Eusebius, the same historian informs us
that " Maximus Bishop of Jerusalem, who had succeeded
Macarius, was not present, for he bore in mind the
fraudulent means by which he had been induced to
subscribe the deposition of Athanasius. Neither was
Julius the Bishop of Great Eome* there, nor did he
send any one to take his place, although the ecclesiastical
canon forbids that the Churches should make ordinances
against the sentiment of the Bishop of Borne." *
It is especially deserving of note, that in his letter
to the Eusebian bishops, above alluded to — a letter
written in the year 342, Pope Julius emphatically
^ Socrates, "Ecclesiastical History," book ii. chap. 15. Tvupliovaiv
o3p t^ iintTKdirtfi 'Fi^fiTjs 'XovXiqj tcl Ka6' ^avTods' 6 5^ dre irpopd/ua ttjs ev
'Pii/ig iKK\Tialas ixoiffv^, wappijauumKois ypdmiaffiv ibx^pi^^v airrois,
Kal firl rijv ivaroKriv &iroaT^'Kei, rbv oUeiov ixdaTif rlyirov &iroSiSoi>s, KoX
KaBaiTTd/ievos r&v Tpoirerus Kade\6vTtx)v dvToiis.
2 Ibid.
' p^ltrrris, 'Piifiris, " great or greatest Eome," so called in contra-
distinction to Constantinople, which was called " new Rome," and to
which Constantine had transferred the seat of government.
* Socrates, "Ecclesiastical History," book ii. chap. viii. 'AXXi /tiiv
oiSk 'I6v\ios irap^v 6 t^s /leyiarris 'Pi6/i7;s iirlcKOTros. oiSk fiijv els rbv
t6tov ajTov d.T€aTa,\K€L Tiva' Kairoi Kavdvos kKKKiiffiacTLKOv KeXevovroSf
fiTj Setv irapk tt)V yviaji'Tiv tov iTrityKbirov 'Pdjfiijs tAs 4KK\7jfftai Kavovlj^etv.
In another chapter (book iL chap. 17), Socrates repeats these impor-
tant words, respecting the Ecclesiastical canon, so clearly establishing
the Primacy of the Pope at that early period. He gives them, as
quoted by Julius, in his letter to the Eastern bishops, in which that
Pontiff complains of their having violated the canon in question, by
omitting to invite him to their s^nod.
122 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
reminds them that it was in accordance with usage
and the Canon law, that the causes of bishops should
be referred, in the first instance, to the Eoman Pontiff,
and that judgment should be pronounced by him:
" Por if, as you say," he writes, " they were absolutely
in fault, the cause should be judged not in this manner,
but according to the canon. You ought to have written
to us, that so what is just might be decreed by all.
For they who suffered these things were bishops, and
not of ordinary Churches, but of Churches which the
Apostles themselves had by their labour instructed
unto faith. Why therefore, and especially regarding
the city of Alexandria, have you not written to us ? ^
Are you ignorant that it is the custom, that in the first
instance we should be written to, in order that hence
should be defined what is just ? But now, having acted
entirely as you pleased, you ask us, whom you have
not informed on the subject, to assent to a sentence of
condemnation, in which we have had no part. These
are not the ordinances of Paid ; the Fathers have not
taught thus : this is an arrogant and novel proceeding.
I beg of you to hear me with prompt acc[uiescence. I
write for the public weal. I declare to you those
things which we have received from the blessed Apostle
Peter, and which, as being already known to you, I
should not have repeated, but that we are much troubled
at what you have done." *
As the Oriental bishops continued obstinate, the
Pope induced Constans, the Emperor of the West, to
obtain the concurrence of his brother Constantius, who
ruled the East, in convening a council at Sardica in
' Here, "us," nobis, clearly refers to the Pope and his council of
bishops, which was almost invariably convoked by the Supreme Pontiff
in the early ages, to aid him in his decisions on matters of importance.
The .standing congregations of Cardinals and the Consistories corre-
spond with this council, and fulfil its functions, in modem times. See
Chapter on Cardinals.
^ Apud Sauct. Athanaa., "Apologia contra Arianos,"- p. 141.
APPELLATE JURISDICTION OF THE HOLY SEE. I 2 3
lUyricum, A.D. 347.^ This almost ranks as a general
council, being considered an appendix to the Council
of Nice, of which it confirmed the decrees. Julius
was represented by his legates at this council. In its
canons, it was enacted, that any bishop deposed by a
synod, in his province, had a right of appeal to the
Bishop of Eome ; and that the Pope might, thereupon,
if he thought fit, depute bishops of a neighbouring
province to judge the cause ; and, further, if the deposed
bishop still appealed to him from the second decision,
that the Pope might depute priests from Eome, armed
with his authority, to decide the matter with those
bishops : but, should he consider the provincial bishops
sufficient to terminate the business, he might do what-
ever in his wise judgment he deemed best.^
That this was no new law, but one firmly established
at the time, is manifest from the fact of Saint Athaha-
sius and the other orthodox Eastern prelates, who had
been unjustly deposed, having appealed to Julius, and
having been restored to their sees by him, 6e/bre the
Council of Sardica; not to speak of the appeals of Saint
Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, and of the schismatics who
sought his deposition, to Pope Cornelius, one hundred
years before.*
In transmitting their canons to Pope Julius, the
Fathers of Sardica write : " For this will be seen to be
the best, and very much the most fitting course, that,
from each of the several provinces, the priests of the
Lord refer to the Head, that is, to the See of the Apostle
Peter."*
' Hefele argues that the Oounca of Sardica was held either in 343
or 344. His evidence however does not appear to outweigh the pre-
cise testimony of Socrates ii. 20, and Sozomen iiL 12, both of whom
fix the year as 347, being that of the consuls Kufinus and Eusebius, or
about eleven years after the death of Constantino the Great.
= Concilium Sardicense, canons 3, 4, 5. ' Vide supra, p. 31.
* Labbe, "Concilia," ii. 661. "Hoc enim optimum et valde oon-
gruentissimum esse videbitur, si ad caput, id est, ad Petri Apostoli
sedem, de singulis quibusque provinciis Domini referant sacerdotes."
Written A.D. 347.
124 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
Immediately after the Council of Sardica, we find
some of the Arian prelates proceeding to Eome, and
abjuring their errors before the Holy Father. " When
these things became known to them," says Socrates,
" Ursacius and Valens, who had been warm partisans of
Arianism, condemning their former zeal, proceeded to
Eome, and presented their written recantation to Julius
the Bishop, and embraced the doctrine of consubstan-
tiality. They then wrote to Athanasius, stating that
they would in future preserve communion with him." ^
I have gone rather fully into these important trans-
actions, as they bear directly on our subject. The
details of them given by Sozomen and Socrates, the
two great Ecclesiastical historians of the period, and
confirmed by other writers, prove, beyond all question,
the following facts : —
Pirst. The full assertion, in practice, of his Primacy
^ Socrates, " Ecclesiastical History," book ii. chap. 24. Here it
is necessary to refer to the case of Pope Liberius, who reigned A.D.
352-366. He is accused of having subscribed an Arian formula, and
of having anathematized Saint Athanasius — a question which has been
long and warmly discussed. In the year 355, Liberius was banished
by the Emperor Oonstantius to Beroea in Thrace, for having refused
to subscribe an Arian creed, and to condemn Athanasius ; and it is
alleged that, borne down by hardships and persecution in exile, and
anxious to return to his see, held by the antipope Felix, he weakly
yielded. Even among Catholic writers, opinions vary, as to what
document he signed. The general opinion is, that it was the formula
of the first council of Sirmium, drawn up in 351 — a formula which many
consider may bear an orthodox interpretation. Others think it was
the second creed of Sirmium, varied or subdued to meet the views of the
Pope ; and others again, the third, which omitted the terra o/iooiaios (con-
substantial). Whichever of these documents it was, certainly Liberius
was not free when he signed it, but was under coercion and threatened
with death, should he refuse. On his liberation in 358, he immediately
repented of his condescension, which he found had been much exag-
gerated and misrepresented ; and he openly expressed himself to this
effect. His having anathematized Athanasius, is positively contra-
dicted. His sentiments towards that holy confessor of the faith, and
his firm adhesion to the Nicene doctrine, are evident from his Con-
ference with the Emperor Oonstantius, of which the full details are
given by Theodoret, Hist. Ecoles., lib. ii. cap. 16, et seq. See also
Sozomen, Hist. Ecdes., lib. iv. cap. 11, 15, and Socrates, lib. ii. cap. 37.
APPELLATE JUKISDICTION OF THE HOLY SEE. I 2 5
by the Pope, in the early part of the fourth century,
and the practical recognition of that primacy, by the
Eastern, as well as by the Western prelates — not only
the orthodox, but even those who had fallen into
schism and heresy. Thus, of the latter, we find even
those who persevered in their errors, endeavouring to
obtain the assent of the Holy Father to their irregular
proceedings.
Secondly. The universal admission, at the time, of
the supreme jurisdiction of the Pope, as sole judge,
in all causes of appeal — ^restoring bishops to their sees,
when unjustly deposed, and deposing those who had
irregularly intruded therein, or who had fallen from
the orthodox faith.
Thirdly. The existence of the doctrine, embodied in
the canon law of the Church, at that early period, that
the approval of the Pope is indispensable to the validity
of the ordinances of councils — conformably with the
" Ecclesiastical canon, which declares invalid, whatever
is done (by councils) against the sentiment of the
Bishop of Eome." ^
When Saint John Chrysostom * was, by schismatical
intrigue and violence, driven from his See of Con-
stantinople, A.D. 404, he appealed to the Pope, Saint
Innocent I., begging of him to declare null and void
all that had been done in the matter of his expulsion.
The Pope complied with his request, and invoked the
aid of Honorius the Emperor of the West in his be-
half; but was unable to accomplish his restoration,
against the power of Arcadius the Eastern Emperor,
and his wife Eudoxia.
In the same way, Saint Flavian, unjustly deposed
from the same chair of Constantinople, as we have
seen,8 appealed, a.d. 449, to Saint Leo the Great, by
1 Sozomen, "Ecclesiastical Historjr," book iii. chap. loj and Soc-
rates, "Ecclesiastical History," book iL chaps. 8 and 17.
' For Saint John Chrysostom, vide supra, p. 40 mote
> Vide Bupra, p. loi note.
126 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
whom he was, in like manner, sustained, and his
memory vindicated, after he had died in exile.
Commenting on these two cases, about a century-
later, Pope Vigilius writes, that they. Saints John
Chrysostom and Flavian, " although they were violently
excluded, were not looked upon as condemned, because
the Eoman Pontiffs always kept unbroken communion
with them." i
Again, in the year 449, Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus
in Syria, under somewhat similar circumstances, ap-
pealed to the same Pontiff in the following words : " I
await the suffrage of your Apostolic See, and beseech
and earnestly entreat Your Holiness to succour me,
who appeal to your right and just jurisdiction." ^
It was towards the close of the fourth century, that
the Emperor Valentinian II. wrote to his colleague
Theodosius, at the request of the Pope, asldng him to
consent to the assembling of a council, in order that,
the clergy from all parts of the globe being congregated
in Italy, the Holy Father, "setting aside all precon-
ceived opinions, and making himself master of the
whole case in question from its beginning, by careful
evidence, may pronounce a decision, demanded by faith
and the interests of true religion : " ^ and Valentinian
urged this course, " seeing that the most blessed Bishop
of the City of Eome, to whom antiquity hath given the
principality of the priesthood over all, hath a place
and power to judge of faith and priests.*
^ Vigiliua Papa, "In constit. Athan., etc." "Qui licet violenter
exclasi sunt non tamen pro damnatis sunt habiti, eo quod semper
inviolatam eorum commuuiouem Komani pontiiices serraverant."
' Theodoretus, "Epistola 113, Ad Papain Leonem," a.d. 449.
3 "Concilia Generalia Eoclesise," ii. 30 ; Kome, 1628. "Ut prsedic-
tus sacerdoB, congregatis ex omni orbe etiam reliquis saceidotibua intra
Italiam, omni praejudicio submoto, a principle omnem causam quee ver-
titur BoUcita probatione cognosceus, sententiam ferat, quam fides et
ratio verae divinitatis expostulat."
* Ibid., ii. 30, 31. " Quatenus beatissimus KomansQ civitatis Epis-
copus, cui principatum sacerdotii super omnes antiqnitas contulit,
locum habeat ac facultatem de fide et sacerdotibus judicaru."
APPELLATE JURISDICTION OF THE HOLY SEE. 1 27
Pope Gelasius I., in the first year of his pontificate,
A.D. 492, wrote to the Bishops of Dardania, now
Southern Servia, cautioning them against holding com-
munion with the Eutychians — a letter which is not
extant : but the reply of the bishops, which has been
preserved, is to the following effect : —
To the Holy Apostolic Lord and Most Blessed Father of
Fathers, Gelasius of the City of Rome, the humble Bishops of
Dardania.
We have read with due devotion the most salutary precepts of
your Apostolate, conveyed to ua by the religious man, our son
Trypho, and we render the greatest thanks to Almighty God,
and to Your Blessedness, that you have deigned to visit us with
pastoral admonition and Evangelical doctrine, Holy Apostolic
Lord, and Most Blessed Father of Fathers. For it is our desire
and our vow, to obey your orders in all things ; and, as taught
us by our Fathers, to keep inviolate the precepts of the Apostolic
See, which is entrusted to your life and merits ; and to guard
witix faithful and faultless devotion, as far as our rude intellects
p6rmit, the orthodox religion of which you are the preacher.
For, before receiving your orders, we have avoided, as a pes-
tiferous contagion, communion with Eutyches, or Peter and
Acacius and all their followers ; and much more now, after the
admonition of the Apostolic See, is it necessary we should keep
ourselves free from such pollution. . . . And should any (con-
trary to our expectation and desire) think of separating them-
selves from the Apostolic See, we promise to shun all communion
with them ; since, as we have said, observing in all things the
precepts of the Fathers, and, following the inviolable institutes
of the sacred canons, we strive to obey, with common faith and
devotion, this your Apostolic and single See.i
Thus, we see how, in the fifth century, bishops, even
in remote regions, venerated and obeyed the Successor
of Saint Peter ; and this devotion to the Apostolic See
and obedience to its precepts was embodied, as a law
of the Church, in the sacred canons, at that early
period.
Two years later, the same Pontiff, again addressing
the bishops of Dardania, writes: "For we do not
remain sUent about that which every Church through-
^ Post secundam Gelaaii epistolam. Bpist, Decretal. , torn. i.
128 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
out the world knows; that the See of the blessed
Apostle Peter has the right of loosing whatever is
bound by the sentences of any persons whatsoever,
inasmuch as it has the right of judging concerning
every Church, and it is unlawful for any one to judge
its judgments. For, as, by the canons, appeals lie to it
from any part of the world, so no one is permitted to
appeal from its decisions." ^
These words were written as far back as the year of
our Lord 494. Even those who dissent from the doc-
trine which they involve must admit the value, in the
argument, of the historical fact, that the Popes of the
early ages, in their letters to the bishops of remote
provinces, thus clearly and emphatically asserted their
full Primatial authority and jurisdiction over the Uni-
versal Church.
It may be well to observe, that, from the latter part
of the fourth century — indeed from an earlier period,
the Popes were -frequently consulted by bishops, priests,
and even lay persons, in various countries, on questions
of morals and discipline ; and the collections of their
replies, which mainly constitute the body of the Canon
Law — Corpus Jims Canonici, are styled " Decretals," as
possessing the weight and authority of solemn decrees
or enactments of the Church. These will be fully
treated of in another chapter.^
On the whole, then, it is clear, from the foregoing
authentic evidence, that the Primacy of the Chair of
Peter had so far developed itself in the fifth century,
that the Pope was then universally regarded as the
Centre of Christian Unity, the Supreme Euler and
' Gelasii Fapse I., Epist. 13, Ad Episcopos !bardaniee, A.D. 494.
" Non reticemus autem, quod cnncta per mundum novit ecclesia :
quoniam quommlibet sententiis ligata, Sedes beat! Petri Apostoli jua
habet, resolvendi ; utpote quod de omni ecclesia fas habeat judicandi,
neo cniquam de ejus liceat judicare judioio. Siquidem ad illam de
qualibet mundi parte cauonea appellari voluerint, ab ilia autem nemo
sit appellare permissus."
" Por Decretals, see Index.
APPELLATE JURISDICTION OF THE HOLY SEE. 129
Teacher of God's Church, the Prince of Bishops, the
Final Arbiter of appeals in Ecclesiastical causes from
all parts of the world, and the Judge and Moderator of
General Councils, over which he presided by his legates,
of which the proceedings were based on his preliminary-
dogmatic letters, and of which the decrees depended
for their validity on his approval and confirmation.
CHAPTEE VIII.
THE GREEK SCHISM.
We have now to consider an important event — the
great Greek Schism, of which the causes, although in-
termingling, may he classed under two distinct "heads
— religious and political Of the former, the principal
was the rejection by the Greeks of the doctrine of the
Church, that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father
and the Son. The first trace of this error is to be met
with in Theodoret, in his censure of the ninth anathe-
matism of Saint Cyril, uttered against Nestorius, of
whom Theodoret was at that time a supporter. "We do
not find it again brought forward until it was professed
by the Monothelites, at Constantinople, about the middle
of the seventh century, from which period- the heresy
gradually extended, and, being upheld by those in
high places, like the great Protestant secession in the
sixteenth century, it assumed an enduring character,
inflicting grievous injury on the Church.
The doctrine of the Procession of the Holy Ghost,
not only from the Father, but also from the Son, as one
principle with the Father, was not expressed by the
word Filioqm in the Symbols or Creeds of Nice and
Constantinople, although it had ever been the faith of
the Church, because that doctrine had not been assailed
when those Creeds were drawn up. We find it set
forth, however, in the Creed of Saint Athanasius.^
^ The words in Saint AthanasiuB's Creed are, "The Holy G-host is
from the Father and the Son, not made, nor created, nor begotten, but
proceeding ; " in the Latin, " Spiritus Sanctna a Patre e( FiUo, noq
actus, nee qreatus, neo genitne est, eed procedene,"
THE GREEK SCHISM. I 3 I
From the beginning of the fourth century, the Filiogue
■was inserted in the Symbol in several Churches of
Spain, France, and Germany, and, as occasion or neces-
sity arose, it was affirmed and explained by early
councils. Of this we have proof in the Acts of the
First Council of Toledo, which condemned the Priscil-
lianist heresy in the year 400, and in those of the Third
Council of Toledo, A.D. 589, in which an order was made,
that the people should sing at Mass the Symbol, con-
taining this tenet.^ When, in the year 809, the dele-
gates of the Council of Aix-la-Ghapelle, convened by
Charlemagne, waited on Pope Leo III., to obtain the
permission of His Holiness to insert the Filioque, and
chant it in the Symbol, the Pontiff, although he had
already affirmed the doctrine, as of faith, in his letter
to the monks of Jerusalem, refused to make any order
on the subject, as he objected, on principle, to any
addition having been made to the Symbol or Creed
without the authority of the Church. Not long after
this, however, the formula was allowed to be inserted
in Eome — some writers say, by the authority of Pope
N"icholas I., who reigned a.d. 858-867.
By their pertinacious rejection of this article of faith,
the Greeks, adding heresy to schism, eventually cut
themselves off from the communion of the Apostolic
See. Hence, although their secession is generally called
" The Greek Schism," they are no less guilty of heresy.
It is certain, however, that political differences and
jealousies, of long standing, much more largely conduced
to the disastrous division ; and there is every reason to
believe that to these latter causes the persistence of the
Greeks in their errors of faith may, to a great extent, be
1 In the Acts of the First and Third Councils of Toledo, a.d. 400
and 589 respectively, we find the tenet, thus expressed : " Credimus et
in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificatorem, ex Patre et FUio pro-
cedentem, cum Patre et Tilio adorandum et conglorifioandum." The
Spaniards, when questioned on the subject, alleged that they inserted
the FUioque, in order to afiSrm more strongly the Divinity of the Son,
Sigainst the Arians, who so long over-ran Spain,
132 THE OHAIE OF PETER.
attributed. Indeed most writers allege that the Greek
Schism was mainly caused, or, to speak more accurately,
that the complex circumstances which had long been
tending to produce it were brought to a final crisis, by
the refusal of Pope Nicholas I.^ to condone the violent
deposition of Saint Ignatius, Patriarch of Constanti-
nople, and the intrusion into that see of the impious
Photius by Bardas Caesar, uncle of the Emperor Michael
III., A.D. 857. Ignatius had fearlessly rebuked the gross
immorality of the Csesar,^ and, moreover, he had, on
several occasions, proved his loyal devotion to the Chair
of Peter; whilst many of the Greeks, jealous of the
Primacy of the Bishop of Eome, would, if they could
accomplish it, secure complete independence for the
Bishop of their great capital, " the New Eome," on the
shores of the Bosphorus, and thus substitute, as their
spiritual chief, their own " fficumenical Patriarch " for
the Divinely appointed head of the Universal Church.*
Ignatius was of illustrious birth ; but more remark-
able than his high lineage were his piety, orthodoxy,
and exemplary patience and constancy under grievous
sufferings and persecution. His father Michael I.,
surnamed Eangabfe, had occupied the Imperial throne
' ^ Nicholas I., surnamed the Great, a Koman, governed the Church,
A.D. 858-867. He was distinguished by his zeal for religion, firmness,
and charity. ^. The difficulties which he had to encounter will be seen
in the text. In 867, he wrote to the French bishops, assembled at
Troyes, to place them on their guard against the dangerous doctrines
and pretensions of Photius and his party. His letters, one hundred in
number, on various points of morals and discipline, were published in
Borne, in folio, in 1542.
' On the feast of the Epiphany 857, Bardas, who had repudiated his
lawful wife, and was openly living in a state of sin, approached the
altar in the church of Saint Sophia, to receive the holy communion,
which Ignatius refused to administer to him.
^ The attachment of Saint Ignatius to the Holy See, and his thorough
recognition of the Papal Supremacy will be seen in his letters to Pope
Nicholas, further on in this chapter. His seemingly inconsistent line
of action in the affair of the Bulgarians, which will be presently
examined, can be accounted for only by the extremely difficult and
delicate circumstances in which he was placed.
THE GREEK SCHISM. I 3 3
of the East for nearly two years,^ but had abdicated in
favour of the all-powerful general, Leo the Armenian,
in order to avert a civil war. His mother, Procopia,
was daughter of the Emperor Mcephorus, his father's
immediate predecessor. Ignatius, who had adopted a
monastic life, and had attained the rank of Abbot over
the monks of the islands of Terebinthus and Hiatres,
was chosen Patriarch of Constantinople, in succession
to Saint Methodius, in 846. He had filled this impor-
tant post, eleven years, with the most edifying zeal and
devotion, when Bardas decided that he should cease to
rule, and banished him to the island of Terebinthus,
having in vain endeavoured to extort from him the
abdication of his dignity.^
Bardas next nominated Photius patriarch, dispensing
with the usual election, prescribed by the canons.
Photius, who was closely related to the Emperor and
the Csesar, was a man of great learning and extensive
experience in public affairs, having filled the offices of
Master of the Horse and Chief Secretary to the Em-
peror ; but he was a layman, ignorant of ecclesiastical
matters, and, moreover, of at least doubtful orthodoxy,
being the intimate friend of Gregory Asbestas, Bishop
of Syracuse, who had been condemned for schism
by Methodius, and deposed by Ignatius.^ Photius was
consecrated by the schismatical Gregory in six days,
being made a monk on the first, reader on the second,
sub-deacon on the third, deacon on the fourth, priest
^ Michael 1. reigned from October 8u to June 813.
^ November 23rd, 857.
' The deposition of Gregory, Bishop of Syracuse, in a synod held
by Saint Ignatius in Constantinople, A.D. 854, and confirmed by Pope
Benedict III., the following year, is by some writers regarded as the im-
mediate cause of the Greek Schism; inasmuch as Gregory, in retaliation,
plotted, and suggested to the too willing Bardas, the substitution of
Photius for Ignatius in the patriarchal chair. At that time, the island
of Sicily, although occupied by the Saracens, was under the rule of
the Greek Emperors. Consequently, the Patriarch of Constantinople
exercised jurisdiction over it, subject to the supreme jurisdiction of the
Bishop of Rome.
I 34 THE CHAIB OF PETER.
on the fifth, and bishop and patriarch on the sixth,
Christmas day 857.
Immediately on his elevation, the new patriarch
commenced a iierce persecution of all the bishops and
the other clergy who adhered to Ignatius ; and, at
his instigation, that venerable prelate was treated with
much cruelty and indignity in his island-prison by the
Imperial officers. The majority of the bishops took
part with Photius, but the legitimate patriarch whose
place he had usurped had still many adherents, clerical
and lay ; and these sent delegates to Eome, to complain
of the persecution which they endured, and to beseech
the Pope that he would restore Ignatius.
The Emperor, on the other hand, sent an embassy to
the Holy Father, (a.d. 860), praying him to recognize
Photius and thus to restore peace to the Imperial city.
Photius moreover dispatched four metropolitans to up-
hold his cause in Rome, and to present his letter to His
Holiness, in which he falsely alleged, that, in occupying
the Patriarchal chair, he had acted on the compulsion
of the Emperor, and that Ignatius had voluntarily re-
signed, on account of his age and infirmities. Finally,
both the Emperor and the new Patriarch requested
that the Pope would send his legates to Constantinople,
to represent him, in a council to be held in that city,
regarding this affair and the re-opened controversy about
holy images.
Nicholas, in compliance with this request, sent
Rhodoaldus Bishop of Porto and Zacharias Bishop of
Anagni to the Eastern capital, with the following in-
structions : first, that they were to decide in the affair
of holy images in accordance with the definitions of the
Seventh General Council; and, secondly, that, in the
case of Ignatius and Photius, they should confine them-
selves to collecting evidence, to be laid before him, for
the final decision of the Apostolic See. He further
charged them not to communicate with Photius save as
a laic.
THE GREEK SCHISM. I 3 5
In his letter to the Emperor,^ the Pope bitterly com-
plained of the deposition of Ignatius, and the intrusion
of a layman in his place, which was done, " against the
tradition of the Fathers, without the consent of the
Eoman Pontiff"; to inquire into, which things, and to
define the question regarding holy images, he now sent
his legates. He further protested against the usurpa-
tion of the rights of the Eoman See by the Orientals ;
namely, that, " at the instance of schismatical patriarchs,
the Emperors had withdrawn, from the immediate juris-
diction of the Roman Church, the two Epirus's, Ancient ,
and New, Illyricum, Macedonia, Thessaly, Achaia, the
two Dacias, Mysia, Dardania, and PrsevaJitan Dalmatia,
all which districts the Eoman Pontiffs used to govern
by their vicars ; and, further, that the said Emperors
had seized on the patrimonies of the Church in Sicily
and Calabria." Long before -that period, namely in the
year 731, the Emperor Leo the Isaurian had initiated
the alienation, from the Holy See, of those several pro-
vinces, more or less adjacent to Constantinople, which
had so long acknowledged the immediate jurisdiction
of the Bishop of Eome, as more than once illustrated in
these pages.^
On their arrival in Constantinople, the Papal legates
were lodged in the Imperial palace, in a condition of
honourable captivity, which consigned them to the care
of the party of Photius, and prevented their holding
any communication with the adherents of Ignatius.
They were also plied by court influence, tempted by
bribes and promises, and, further, they were threatened
with imprisonment and starvation, in case of non-com-
pliance. The result was, that they yielded at the end
of three months, and, proving false to their trust, at a
council held at Constantinople and composed of 3.16
bishops, A.D. 861, they joined in a sentence of deposition
against Ignatius, and recognized Photius as Patriarch.
^ September 24th, 86a
' 2 See chapter xi. and Index, " Greeks, Interference of the."
136 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
At this council, Ignatius, who was present by com-
pulsion, was treated with gross indignity and violence ;
after which he was cast into prison, and was subjected
to a course of privation and cruelty, of which the
details are too revolting to bear repetition. With the
constancy of a martyr, he resisted the importunities
of his jailers that he should execute a resignation of
his see. Finally, his hand was seized and made to
sign a cross on a blank sheet of paper, over which
Photius ordered that an act of renunciation should be
written, and he laid this document before the Emperor.
The holy prelate, thereupon, was liberated, and imme-
diately drew up and forwarded an appeal to Nicholas,
" as the Judge and Patriarch of all sees, the Successor
of the Prince of the Apostles, and the Universal Pope."
This document, supported by the signatures of ten
Metropolitans, fifteen Bishops, and a large number of
abbots, priests, and monks, was entrusted to the care
of Theognostus, formerly Exarch, afterwards monk, and
then an exile for the faith, who bore it to Eome, and
presented it to the Holy Father.
Nicholas, now being in full possession of all the
circumstances, disowned and annulled the action of his
legates, whom he severely censured and deposed. He
also wrote to the Emperor ^ and Photius, addressing
the latter as a layman,^ severely condemning the de-
position of Ignatius ; and, finally he addressed letters
to the entire East, enjoining, by his "Apostolical autho-
rity," on the Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and
Jerusalem, and the metropolitans and bishops, that
they should hold the same sentiments as he held re-
garding Ignatius and Photius, and that they should
publish his letter in their respective dioceses, in order
that it might be known to all men.^
All these decisions were solemnly confirmed by
' Nio. I. PapsB Bpist. v.
^ Ibid. vl. " Prudentissimo viro Photio. '
' Ibid. iv. " Ad omnes fideles ; " mens. Martii, 862.
THE GREEK SCHISM. I 3 7
Nicholas in a council which he held in Eome, the fol-
lowing year.^ On that occasion, he deprived Photius
and Gregory of all sacerdotal honour, and declared
invalid the ordinations conferred by the former.
The Emperor Michael next sent an embassy to Eome,
bearing his letters to the Pope, whom he begged to
re-consider his decision. The reply was unfavourable ;
and, in the course of time, a second embassy was dis-
patched, with the same object, and with a no less
adverse result. Then, with the Emperor's concurrence,
Photius convoked a council of his own adherents at
Constantinople, A.D., 867, in which he proceeded to
extremities against the Pope. In this council, there
were urged against the Eoman Church its prohibition
of the marriage of the clergy ; the abridgment of Lent ;
the rejection of confirmation administered by priests ;
the falsification of the confessions of faith approved of
by general councils by adding to them ; and the teach-
ing the doctrine of the Procession of the Holy Ghost
from the Father and the Son. On this last point, the
greatest stress was laid by Photius, as all the others
were of comparatively little importance. Pinally, the
schismatical assembly pronounced anathema against
the Pope, which was the end and aim of Photius's
machinations. This revolt from the Papal authority
is regarded by many as the actual commencement
of the Greek Schism, which however did not attain its
full development until close on two hundred years
later.
Basil the Macedonian, having obtained the throne of
the entire Empire by the murder of his colleague,
Michael III., A.D. 867, immediately deposed Photius,
and restored Ignatius, with all honour, to his see.* The
1 A.D. 864.
' Basil the Macedonian, a soldier of fortune, of humble birth, was
raised to the summit of human greatness, solely by his military genius.
He was an able and enlightened ruler, and, during a reign of nineteen
years, he laboured successfully in promoting the welfare of his subjects.
The main blot on his character was his procuring, or at least conniving -
138 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
letter which, on his restoration, Ignatius addressed to
Pope Nicholas is an interesting example of the ad-
mission, by the Greeks themselves, before the schism,
of the Primacy of the Koman Pontiffs over the Uni-
versal Church. In it, he recites the words of Christ
addressed to Peter, as in Matthew xvi., verses 17-19,
and he continues : —
For, by a certain' special appointment, the God and Saviour of
all assigned blessed words such, as these not alone to the Prince
of the Apostles, but through him to all the Pontiffs of the Roman
See that should succeed him. Hence always in the past, when
heresies and crimes cropped up, those noxious weeds and tares
were extirpated by your predecessors in the Apostolic See ; and
now Your Holiness, worthily wielding the power received from
Christ, has routed the enemies of truth, and with the healing
hand of your Apostolic authority you have cut off from the gene-
ral body of the Church him who crept up, as a robber, into the
fold of Christ ; and, as a most loving brother, you have rightly
pronounced us innocent, whom he had wickedly oppressed ; and
by your letters you have restored us to our church.^
The Fathers of the Eighth General Council, held in
Constantinople two years later, declared this Epistle of
Ignatius to be " canonically written and replete with
justice " ; ^ and they inserted it in the third Act of the
council.
The Emperor and the restored Patriarch immediately
dispatched delegates to Eome, praying the Pope that a
General Council might be convoked, in order to re-
establish peace and union in the Church. On the
arrival of the delegates, they found that Nicholas was
dead, and that Adrian II. had succeeded him. Adrian
gladly complied with the request. In the first instance,
according to usage, he held a council at Eome, in which
at, the assassination of his colleague ; but, at the time, It is alleged,
Michael was plotting his death. Basil died a.d. 886, by an accident
in the chase.
^ These words are equally applicable to the action of Pope Julius I.,
A.D. 341-345, in restoring Athanasius and other Oriental prelates to
their sees, as detailed in chapter vii.
^ " Canonioe soriptam et plenam justitise."
THE GREEK SCHISM. I 39
lie condemned and anathematized Photius, ordered the
Acts of his schismatical synod to be burned, and pro-
mised pardon to any of his adherents who would
renounce their errors and return to the communion of
Ignatius. He then convoked the Eighth General Coun-
cil, which assembled in the church of Saint Sophia,
Constantinople, on ihe Sth of October 869.
This council was presided over by the three Papal
legates, Donatus Bishop of Ostia, Stephen Bishop of
Nepi, and Marinus, one of the seven deacons of Eome,
afterwards Pope. After these, sat Ignatius and the
other Oriental patriarchs. A formula of union of the
Greeks and Latins was produced by the Papal legates,
which every Bishop was required to sign before he
could take part in the proceedings. This formula was
adopted, and the Primacy of the Eoman See was
acknowledged by the unanimous voice of the council.
Those prelates who repented and abjured their errors
were pardoned, and received back into communion,
whilst Photius, who was present on compulsion, Gre-
gory of Syracuse, and other recusants were condemned
and excommunicated. The Monothelite and Iconoclast
heresies were condemned anew, and the Acts of the
preceding seven General Councils were confirmed. ' In
a word, the decrees of the Pope in his council of Eome
were adopted. Pinally, two synodal letters were drawn
up — one addressed to the faithful generally, and one to
the Pope, requesting that he would confirm the pro-
ceedings, and communicate them to the entire West.
Immediately after the close of the Eighth General
Council, the question of the jurisdiction over the Bul-
garians was entered on in Constantinople. It will be
remembered that, about nine years before. Pope Nicholas
I. strongly remonstrated with the Emperor Michael III.,
on the withdrawal, by the Orientals, of several pro-
vinces, adjacent to Constantinople, from the immediate
jurisdiction of the Eoman See.^ Among these was
1 Vide supra, page 135.
I40 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Mysia {Moeda Inferior), which, with portions of some
other provinces named in the Papal letter, corresponds
with the modern Bulgaria. This district derives its
name from the Bulgarii, a Slavonic tribe, who, in the
sixth century, abandoning their settlements on the
banks of the Volga, took possession of the extensive
tract which lies between the Danube and the Balkan
mountains, and is bounded by the Black Sea on the
East, and by Servia^ on the West. In vain, through
several centuries, the Greek Emperors attempted to dis-
lodge or to subdue them ; and it was only in the year
1017 that they were reduced to a province by Basil II.
One consequence of their long series of wars with the
Greeks was their gradually acquiring, through captives,
a knowledge of the Christian religion. On the occasion
of a great famine and pestilence, about the year 848,
they addressed themselves to the God of the Christians,
and' were miraculously relieved. The result was the
conversion of their King, Bogoris, and of great numbers
of his subjects, to Christianity. In the first instance,
A.D. 848, the Bulgarians applied to the Greek Emperor,
Michael III., and his mother Theodora, to send priests
to instruct them ; and Saint Ignatius, Patriarch of Con-
stantinople, at the Empress's request, appointed Saint
Cyril to the mission. Cyril was soon afterwards joined
by his brother, Methodius, the monk. These two saints
are honoured by the Church as the Apostles of the
Bulgarians.^ Some years later, a.d. 865, Bogoris, who
had changed his name to Michael, in honour of the
^ Servia {Moesia Superior with a part of lUyriewm) was the country
of that section of the Bulgarii, who, on their settlement in the sixth
century, became subjects of the Greek Emperors, and were consequently
called Servii, in contradistinction to their compatriots who preserved
their independence.
^ Among the interesting discoveries in the very ancient underground
church of San Olemente in Rome, is a well-preserved picture of Saints
Cyril and Methodius, standing one on each side of Pope Nicholas I.,
which is considered, by Count de Rossi and other authorities, a further
proof of the communion of the Apostles of the Bulgarians with the
Holy See.
THE GREEK SCHISM. I4I
Emperor, sent an embassy, composed of his son and
several nobles, to Pope Nicholas I., to request that
missionaries might come from Eome, to instruct his
subjects ; and Nicholas, then afflicted by the schi^mati-
cal proceedings of Photius and his adherents, dispatched
two bishops, Paul and Tormosus, afterwards Pope, with
several priests, for this important object. Meanwhile,
the Greek party at Constantinople, backed by all the
power of the State, urged the Bulgarian monarch to
withdraw his people from the immediate spiritual juris-
diction of the Eoman See, and to place them under that
of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The King, availing
himself of the presence of the Papal legates in the
Eastern capital, appointed delegates to confer with
them, Ignatius, and the other Greek Patriarchs, on the
subject.
The Eighth General Council having just closed its
labours, the Papal legates who had presided at that
council, the Oriental patriarchs, including ^Ignatius, and
the Bulgarian delegates met in the Imperial palace, to
discuss this weighty question. The Orientals asserted
that, whereas the kingdom formerly belonged to the
Greek Empire, and the Bulgarians, when they took
possession of it, some two centuries before, found there
Greek and not Latin priests, they certainly ought to
be under the immediate jurisdiction of the Greek
Patriarch. The Papal legates strongly maintained the
opposite view, on the grounds that the country was, in
ancient times, under the immediate jurisdiction of the
Eoman See, from which it was withdrawn by the hos-
tility of the Emperor Leo the Isaurian ; that the King
had recently applied to Eome for missionaries, and had
placed his subjects under the Pope, and that, for the
last three years, they had been ministered to by bishops
and priests •sent to them by His Holiness ; but, above
all things, that the Eoman Church was the Universal
Church, circumscribed by no geographical limits, and
superior to all Churches. Ignatius, when appealed to
142 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
by the legates to support their cause, replied in rather
vague and indefinite terms, as if he would have the
discussion postponed. No doubt, his position was one
of no small difSculty and delicacy ; and even, were he
willing to carry out the Pope's views, he would be
powerless to do so; inasmuch as the question con-
cerned not alone the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of
Constantinople, but also the political interests of the
Greek Emperor. On the whole, the conference, in-
stead of settling the difficulty, appears to have had the
opposite effect. Ignatius, soon afterwards, assumed the
ecclesiastical government of Bulgaria, as belonging, to
his Patriarchal jurisdiction, and sent Theophylactus
to that country, as its first metropolitan. Pope John
VIII., Adrian's successor, gravely censured Ignatius
for his action in the matter, and expostulated with the
Emperor Basil thereon; but in vain. Ere long, un-
fortunately, the Bulgarians, pressed by their resolute
neighbours in Constantinople, lapsed into the Greelc
schism; and, in the course of time, their name was
given to a distinpt sect of heretics, numbering other
nations besides their own. This episode aptly illus-
trates the jealousy entertained, at so early a period, by
a large proportion of the Greeks, regarding the Primacy
of the Bishop of Kome, which had been universally
acknowledged throughout the East in previous cen-
turies.
Some nine years later, the Patriarchal chair of Con-
stantinople became vacant by the death of Ignatius j^
and Photius, who had contrived to ingratiate himself
with the Emperor Basil, was appointed by the latter to
the dignity. The Emperor and Photius sent deputies
to Eome, to solicit the approval of JLohn VIII., who
then filled the Papal throne. Under the circumstances,
as represented to him, and in order to preserve peace
and union, John consented to ratify the appointment,
1 Saint Ignatius, Patriarch of Constantinople, died October 2^rd,
P78, aged eighty. "^ ^ '
THE GREEK SCHISM. 1 43
and to receive Photius into communion, subject how-
ever to the conditions; that the latter should openly-
express his regret for his past crimes, in a council to
be held at Constantinople, presided over by the Papal
legates ; that the patriarchd jurisdiction of Eome over
the Bulgarians should be acknowledged ; that thence-
forward no layman should be appointed bishop; and
that those whom Ignatius had ordained should not be
disturbed. The councU was duly assembled ; but at it
these conditions were all disregarded ; and, further, the
Pope's letters to the Emperor and to Photius were read
in a falsified and interpolated form; so that the pas-
sages, lauding Ignatius and calling on Photius to peni-
tently acknowledge his misdeeds, were suppressed, and
replaced by words condemnatory of the former and
liighly eulogistic of the latter. On this being reported
to John, he censured and deposed his legates, who
appear to have been placed at great disadvantage by
their imperfect knowledge of the Greek language; he
excommunicated Photius, condemned the council,^, and
sent Marinus to Constantinople, with full legatine
powers, to uphold the decrees of his predecessor, Pope
Nicholas, and the Eighth General Council. John's
successors, the above-named Marinus, Adrian III., and
Stephen VI.,^ each in his turn, renewed the condemna-
tion of Photius, who, on the arrival of Pope Stephen's
letter, was finally deposed and exiled by the Emperor,
Leo the Wise, Basil's son and successor, a.d. 886.
Photius, thereupon, retired into a monastery in Armenia,
where he sank into obscurity, and died in 891.
Eor eighty yeare after the final deposition of Photius,
the union of the Greek and Latin Churches continued
to subsist, although their mutual relations were far
^ The Greek Schismatics substituted this false synod for the Eighth
General Council.
" John VIII., a Roman, governed the Church, A.D. 872-882 ; Mari-
nus, a native of Gallesa in Central Italy, 882-884 ; Adrian III., ^
Bo?nftn, 884, 885 ; and Stephen VI., a Iloman, 885-89;.
144 '^^^ CHAIE OF PETER.
' from cordiaL Then, in the year 968, when Luitprand
Bishop of Cremona was at Constantinople, as ambas-
sador of the Emperor Otho, the legates of Pope John
XIII. arrived at that capital, bearing letters from His
Holiness, in which Otho was named "Emperor of the
Eomans" and "Augustus," and Nicephorus Phocas,
the Eastern Emperor, was simply styled " Emperor of
the Greeks." This circumstance was a cause of grave
offence to the Orientals, and alienated them still further
from the Holy See ; so much so, that, even when hard
pressed by the Saracens, and sorely needing the aid
of the Western nations, they persistently rejected the
advances of the Popes, who were most anxious for
reconciliation and union.
Even yet, there was no complete rupture, and the
same state of affairs continued until the year 1053,
when Michael Cerularius, a worldly and ambitious
man, who ten years before had been raised to the
Patriarchal chair of Constantinople, completed the
work of schism and heresy, by irreparably widening
the breach between the Greeks and the Eoman See.
Cerularius, conjointly with Leo of Acrida, Metropolitan
of Bulgaria, drew up a circular letter, in which he
condemned certain ritualistic and disciplinary usages
and laws of the Eoman Church, and, later on, he laid
to her charge, that she had falsified the Symbol by the
insertion of the Filioque. In a word, he revived the
accusations which had been made by Photius one
hundred and ninety years before. In vain was he
remonstrated with by Pope Leo IX. and the Emperor,
Michael Strationicus. Supported by a vast body of
adherents, he resolutely persisted in his opposition to
the spiritual and the civil power ; and, accusing Michael
of plotting with the Pope against the Empire, he suc-
ceeded in accomplishing his deposition, and in replac-
ing him by Isaac Comnenus on the Imperial throne.^
Isaac, immediately on becoming Emperor, removed
' A.D. 1057.
THE GREEK SCHISM. 1 45
Cerularius from the Patriarchal chair, and banished
him to the island of Proconesus in the Sea of Marmora,
where, having been also excommunicated by the Pope,
he died two years later. The mischief which had been
done by Cerularius, however, survived him; the seed
which he had sown in the soil prepared by Photius and
his adherents now bore abundant fruit; and to this
period, A.D. 1053—1057, may be ascribed the complete
separation of the Greeks from the Catholic Church.
Anxious as the Popes were to repair these evils, and
to induce the Eastern populations to be reconciled to
the Church, of which for over eight centuries they had
been such dutiful children, all their exertions for the
next two hundred years, to promote so desirable an
object, proved of no avail. In the Twelfth General
Council, the Fourth Lateran, under Innocent III., a.d.
12 1 5, a scheme for the reunion of the Churches was
introduced and discussed ; but without result. Negotia-
tions in the reigns of Urban IV., a.d. 1261— 1265, and
Clement IV., 1 265-1 268, had progressed favourably;
but were cut short by the death of those pontiffs. At
length, the Emperor Michael Palseologus, mainly
through political motives, lent a willing ear to the
overtures of Gregory X., who governed the Church,
A.D. 1272-1276; and, through the loyal co-operation of
both parties, the affair was brought, at least temporarily,
to a successful issue. Gregory was wiUing to meet the
views of the Orientals in matters of discipline, rites,
and usages; but he could not yield one iota with
regard to the great tenets which they had rejected —
the Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and
the Son, and the Spiritual Supremacy of the Pope.
Michael had recently recovered his capital from the
Latins, who had held it fifty-seven years ;^ and he
' Constantinople was formerly called Byzantiuni, after Byzas the
Megarean, by whom it was founded in the year 656 Before Christ.
It was destroyed by Septimius Severus, A.D. 196 ; and in 328 it was
rebuilt by Oonstantine the Great, who gave it his own name, removed
E
146 THE CHAIK OF PETEK.
hoped, by conciliating the Holy Father, not only to
insure their making no further attempt to reconquer
it, but to obtain the aid of the Western nations against
the Saracens, then meditating the conquest of his
empire. The views of the Emperor were shared by
several of the Oriental bishops and by his ministers
and officers of State ; but a great many other bishops,
the monks, and a large proportion of the laity, were
averse to a restoration of the union of the Churches.
Joseph, the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, was
perhaps the most determined, as certainly he was the
most influential, opponent of any reconciliation with
Eome; and he emphatically refused to accede to the
Emperor's wishes. Nevertheless, Michael was deter-
mined to maintain his own course. With his cordial
approval, the Pope convoked the Fourteenth General
Council, the second of Lyons, which opened in that
city on the 7th of May 1274, and, having held six
sessions, closed on the 17th of July the same year.
Gregory presided in person at the Council, which was
composed of five hundred bishops,^ seventy mitred
abbots, and about one thousand minor dignitaries.
James II., King of Aiagon,^ was present; as were
the ambassadors of France, Germany, England, Sicily,
and other kingdoms, and the Grand Masters of the
Hospitallers and Templars. The Greek Emperoi-'s
bis court to it from Kome, and made it the capital of the empire. In
1204, it was taken by the Crusaders, and retained by them until
1261, when it was recovered by the Greek Emperor, Michael
Palseologus. The Greeks continued to bold it until 1453, when it was
conquered by the Turks, under Mahomet II., and the Greek Empire
ceased to exist. Since then, Constantinople has been the capital of
the Turkish Empire. Its Turkish name, Estamboul or Stamboul, is
said to be a corruption of the Greek words, it tIw ir6\ui, " into the
city," an expression used by the Greeks, when speaking of the capital
of their empire.
' The Patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch of the Latin rite
were present, but those of the Greek rite, persisting in their schism,
remained away.
2 The King of Aragon left on the dose of the second session. The
reason thereof is not clear.
THE GREEK SCHISM. 1 47
representatives were Germanus, formerly Patriarch of
Constantinople, which dignity he had resigned, Theo-
phanes Metropolitan of Nice, and two laics, high
of&cers of the Imperial court. The Greeks, having
been detained by adverse winds, did not arrive until
the 24th of June, when the Latin prelates went out
to meet them, and conducted them into the presence
of the Pope — His Holiness standing up to receive
them, and imparting to them the kiss of peace.
The objects of the Council, as set forth by Gregory
in the opening session, were, the relief of the Christians
in the Holy Land, the reunion of the Greek and Latin
Churches, the general reformation of morals and dis-
cipline, and the expediting of Papal elections.^ The
proceedings with reference to the reunion of the
Churches were of deep interest. In the foui'th session,
the Pope, celebrating High Mass on the feast of Saints
Peter and Paul, sang the Creed in Latin, twice repeat-
ing the Filiogue. The Creed was then sung, in the
same manner, and with the same addition, by Germanus.
in Greek. The Pope's Supremacy was also fully ad-
mitted. The letter of the Greek Emperor, presented
by his representatives to His Holiness, on the occasion,
was addressed as follows : " To the most holy and most
blessed First and Chief Pontiff of the Apostolic See,
the venerable Pope and common Father of all Chris-
tians, and the venerable Father of our Empire." In
this letter, the Emperor fully professed the faith of the
Holy Eoman Church, including the procession of the
Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son, and the
Supreme Primacy and Princedom of the Eoman See
over the Universal Church. Letters were also pre-
sented to the Pope, to the same effect, from the
^ Further on, we shall see how, before the election of Gregory X.
himself, there was an interregnum of three years, owing to the non-
agreement of the Cardinals ; and we shall have an opportunity of
examining, in detail, his wise decrees on Papal elections, enacted at
this council.
148 THE CHAIB OF PETER.
Eastern prelates, including twenty-six metropolitans.
The action of the Emperor however did not meet with
that general acceptance in the East, which would in-
sure a permanent union; and, on his death in 1283,
his son and successor Andronicus and -his subjects
relapsed into schism.
The next, and indeed the last, attempt to reunite the
Greek and Latin Churches was entered on in the year
143 1, when the Greek Emperor, John Palseologus II.,
apprehensive of the designs of the Turks against his
empire, concluded an arrangement with Pope Eugenius
IV., to have a general Council held in the West, to
accomplish the reunion. The Council of Basle which
had been convoked by Martin V., for this object and
for the reformation of morals, and had been opened on
the 23rd of May 143 1, under his immediate successor
Eugenius, was then sitting. Its early proceedings were
approved of by Eugenius, but ere long he issued an
order that it should remove to Eerrara, as being more
convenient to the Greeks. This order was strongly
resisted by a large proportion of the Fathers at Basle,
who refused to obey, and continued their sessions ; and
there ensued a series of excited and irregular proceed-
ings, which were a cause of grave scandal to Christen-
dom. The Pope's difficulties were vastly increased by
the support at first given by some of the secular princes
to the schismatics at Basle ; but he exercised commend-
able patience and discretion, hoping that, in time,
the party which factiously disobeyed him would be
brought to a sense of duty. At length, however, find-
ing that his hopes were vain, on the nth of September
1437, he issued a Bull removing the Council from Basle
to Eerrara. On this, the few now remaining at Basle,
persisting in schism, declared the Pope contumacious,
and decreed his deposition.^ They next elected Ama-
^ June 26th, 1439. The sovereign princes, who had previously sup-
ported the party of Basle, loudly condemned these ill-advised proceed-
ings.
THE GEKEK SCHISM. 149
deus, Duke of Savoy, antipope, who took the name
of Felix V.i This schismatical synod, or conventicle,
at the time of its election of an antipope, November
17th, 1439, numbered only thirty-four members, viz.,
D'AUemand Cardinal of Aries, twelve bishops, seven
abbots, five doctors of theology, and nine canonists.
Several of the prelates that had composed it, and its
president. Cardinal Julian Cesarini, were now with the
Pope at Ferrara. Its protracted existence ceased only
in May 1443, when Amadeus withdrew into retirement
at Lausanne. " The Council of Basle," observes Cardinal
Bellarmin, "was in the beginning legitimate; for the
Legate of the Eoman Pontiff was present and many
bishops ; but, from the time that it deposed Eugenius
and elected Felix, it was not an ecclesiastical council
but a schismatical conventicle, seditious and absolutely
of no authority." ^
Meanwhile, in obedience to the summons of Eugenius,
the Council had assembled at Ferrara on the 8th of
January 1438. At the second session, on the ijth of
February, Eugenius presided in person, and the Fathers
at Basle were, under grave penalties, ordered to attend.
The real business of the Council was postponed four
months, in order to give sufficient time for the arrival
of all those who were entitled to take part in it. Hence
the first general session was not held until the 8th of
October. The Greek Emperor was present, as were
Joseph the venerable Patriarch of Constantinople,^ the
representatives of the Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch,
and Jerusalem, twenty metropolitans, and a large
number of inferior dignitaries, from the East. The
total number of Greek and Latin bishops composing
^ In accordaace with the usage of the time, Amadeus was deposed
by Kugenius's successor, Nicholas V., and all his possessions were
declared confiscated, A.D. 1447.
* Bellarmin, "De Ecclesia Militante," c. 16.
" He is not to be confounded with his predecessor, the Patriarch
Joseph, who so strenuously opposed the union of the Churches, at the
General Council of Lyons, a.d. 1274.
I 50 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
the Council were one hundred and forty, besides abbots
and other members of the clergy. The main points
of difference between the two Churches, set forth, by
mutual agreement, for discussion, were: i. the Pro-
cession of the Holy Ghost; 2. the insertion of the
MHoque in the Symbol, which the Latins maintained
was not "a change" nor "an addition," but an ex-
jolanatory clause, for which there were precedents in the
Symbols of Nice and Constantinople; 3. Purgatory;
and 4. the Primacy.
During the sixteenth session, owing to an outbreak
of pestilence in Ferrara, the Council was, with the full
consent of the Greeks, transferred by Eugenius to
riorence, in which city its first session, being the
seventeenth in all, was opened on the 26th of February
1439. Hence' it is called the Council of Florence,
being the Seventeenth General Council.
In the discussion of the various important questions
to be decided^ the mode of procedure at Ferrara and
Florence was this : Six divines on either side were
appointed to uphold the opinions of their own party,
and to combat those of the opposite side. Of the
Greeks, the principal were, Marcus Eugenicus Arch-
bishop of Ephesus, an uncompromising opponent of
the union of the Churches, Antonius Archbishop of
Heraclea, and Bessarion Archbishop of Nice. Of the
Latins, the chief were. Cardinal Julian Cesarini, Andrew
Bishop of Ehodes, and John of Eagusa, Provincial of
the Dominicans in Lombardy. The disputants sat
opposite each other in the centre of the church. As
point after point was thoroughly discussed, the great
majority of the Greeks gave in their adhesion to the
Roman doctrine of each, in -succession. At length, in
the twenty-fifth session, July 5 th and 6th 1439, the
union of the Churches was accomplished. The Act of
Union was inscribed in the Diptychs, on the right-
hand side in Latin, to be signed by the Latins, with the
Pope's bull or seal appended, and on the left-hand side
THE GREEK SCHISM. I 5 I
in Greek, to be signed by the Greeks, with the golden
bull or aeal of the Emperor affixed. On Monday the
6th of July, all being assembled in the church of Sancta
Maria Liberata, and high mass having been celebrated
by Eugenius, and the litanies chanted, the Definition
was read out in Latin by Cardinal Julian, and in Greek
by Bessarion, as follows : —
Eugenius Bishop, servant of the servants of God, in. perpetual
remembrance hereof, with the consent hereunto of our dearest
son in. Christ, John. Palseologus, the illustrious Emperor of the
Romans, and of the delegates of our venerable brethren, the
Patriarchs, and the other representatives of the Oriental Church : —
Let the heavens rejoice and the earth break forth in songs of
gladness. The wall of separation has fallen ; the East and the
West are not now, as in the past, two Churches, but one ; Christ
has reunited them, and they are now bound together by the
strong bonds of charity and peace, '&c.
In the name therefore of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, this sacred General Council of Florence approv-
ing. We define that this truth of faith be believed and received
by all Christians, and so that all profess, that the Holy Ghost
eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son, as from one
principle, and by one simple spiration.^
We moreover define, that the explanatory words Filioque were
lawfully and rationally inserted in the Symbol, for the sake of
declaring the truth, and because a necessity therefor was then
pressing.
After this, the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory is
defined ; namely : —
That, as regards those who truly penitent depart in the charity
of God, before they have satisfied for their sins of commission and
omission by worthy fruits of penance, their souls are made clean
by purgatorial pains after death ;' and that for their relief from
such pains the suffrages of the faithful living are of avail, such as
the sacrifice of the Mass, prayers, alms-deeds, and other works of
piety, which the faithful are accustomed to perform for others of
the faithful, according to the institutes of the Church.
Piually, the doctrine of the Primacy is set forth as
follows :—
' In the Definition, this article of faith is set forth at much greater
length, being to the above effect.
152 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Likewise, We define that the Holy Apostolic See and the
Eoman Pontiff hold the Primacy over the whole world, and that
the same Roman Pontiff is the successor of Blessed Peter, Prince
of the Apostles, and that he is the true Vicar of Christ, and Head
of the whole Church, and Father and Teacher of all Christians ;
and that to him, in Blessed Peter, the full power of feeding,
ruling, and governing the Universal Church was given by our
Lord Jesus Christ ; as is also contained in the Acts of General
Councils, and in the Sacred Canons : renewing moreover the
order of the other venerable Patriarchs, handed down in the
Canons ; that the Patriarch of Constantinople should be second
after the most holy Eoman Pontiff, the Patriarch of Alexandria
third, of Antiooh fourth, and of Jerusalem fifth ; that is to say,
saving all their privileges and rights.
Given at Florence, in the public Synodal session solemnly
celebrated in the Greater church on the 6th of July in the year
of the Incarnation of our Lord 1439, °^ °^^ Pontificate the ninth
year.i
This decree was signed first by the Pope and eighteen
Cardinals, next by the Greek Emperor. Then followed
the signatures of the bishops and other dignitaries — the
total numbers being, Latins, inclusive of Cardinals, 1 14,
and Greeks 32.
Marcus, Metropolitan of Ephesus, however, positively
refused to sign, to the great disappointment of the I'ope.
Very different was the action of Joseph the aged Patri-
arch of Constantinople. This venerable prelate strongly
urged his suffragans and the other Greek bishops to
expedite the proceedings and accomplish the union of
the two Churches with the least possible delay — a
devoutly hoped for consummation he was not destined
to witness. On the 9th of June, being about four weeks
before the Definition, he retired to his room after the
evening meal ; and on the next morning he was found
dead in his chair, with the following profession of faith,
written by his own hand, on the table beside him : —
Joseph, by the Divine mercy Archbishop of Constantinople,
the New Rome, and (Ecumenical Patriarch.^ As I have now
1 In the Greek version, was added the year of the world, according
to the Greek computation, namely 6947. ,
' This assumption of the title, " CEcumenioal Patriarch," appears to
THE GREEK SCHISM. 153
arrived at the end of my life, and am about to pay the common
debt, by the grace of God, I write and subscribe my sentiments
openly for the universal body of my children. All things, there-
fore, which are believed and taught by the Catholic and Apostolic
Church of senior Rome, I also believe, and I give and declare
myself acquiescing therein. I profess also that the Pope of
ancient Eome is the most blessed Father of Fathers, and the
Supreme Pontiff, and the Vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the
sure faith of all. I profess also the Purgatory of souls. Sub-
scribed in the faith of these things, the ninth day of the month
of June 1439.
The Council's labours being concluded, as far as the
union of the Churches was concerned, the Emperor
and the Oriental prelates, on their return home, found
that its decrees were ignored by the majority of the
clergy and the people of the East ; and that they them-
selves were received with coldness and even hostile
demonstrations; whilst Marcus of Ephesus, who had
strongly opposed the union and still loudly denounced
it, became the object of enthusiastic popular favour.^
The new Patriarch of Constantinople, Metrophanes of
Cyzicus, steadily followed in the footsteps of his pre-
decessor Joseph, as did his successors in their turn;
and the Emperor loyally threw all his influence into
the scale of orthodoxy. On the other hand, the
Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, pro-
nounced against the Council and its decrees, although
subscribed by their delegates, and, amidst a general
revolt of the people, the union of the Churches was
declared at an end for ever.^
The bitter disappointment of Eugenius was in some
degree mitigated by the circumstance of his having
received into the bosom of the Church the Maronites,
the Armenians, and other Oriental schismatics, who, in
have been not through arrogance but simple custom, on the part of
Joseph, and to have been tolerated by Eugenius through prudential
motives, in the existing delicate crisis.
* The Greeks left the Council, to return home, on the 26tb of
August 1439.
2 A.D. 1442-43.
I 54 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
obedience to his invitation, had appeared, hy their re-
presentatives, at the Council, A-D. 1439-42. On the
26th of April in the latter year, for the convenience of
all parties, he transferred the Council to the Lateran
Church in Eome, where its protracted sessions were
finally closed in 1445.
Just ten years after the Greeks had finally severed
their connection with Eome, they endured that fate
which some dispassionate writers regard as the retribu-
tion of their obstinacy in schism. Eugenius's succes-
sor, Pope Nicholas V.,^ had in vain addressed to them
feeling letters of remonstrance, and had warned them,
with prophetic truth, of the impending catastrophe.
He even attempted to organize a great crusade for their
succour. But, ere this could be accomplished, Con-
stantinople fell before the powerful land and sea forces
of Mahomet II., and the Eastern Empire, after a rule
of 1 123 years, closed its existence.^
The long separation of the Greeks from the See of
Peter has led them into many abuses and objectionable
usages ; and it is an undeniable fact, often remarked
upon, that their Church has not, since its secession,
produced any great doctor or ecclesiastic, nor held one
council deserving of mention ; for, once that it was cut
off from the centre of unity, once that it was taken
from under the protecting influence of the Papacy, it
became the helpless slave of the civil power, merely
^ Nicholas V., a native of Sarzana in Northern Italy, governed the
Church, A.D. 1447 to 1455.
^ May 29th, 1453 The last of the Emperors, Coustantine Palseo-
logus, a devoted son of the Church, strenuously laboured to promote the
union ; but he was powerless against the determined opposition of the
great majority of his subjects. In his gallant defence of his capital,
with greatly disproportionate numbers against the desperate assaults
of the besiegers, he performed prodigies of valour, and fell fighting in
the front, after his troops had been repulsed, on the day above men-
tioned. Constantine's death sealed the fate of the Empire. Mahomet
immediately converted the beautiful church of Saint Sophia into a
mosque ; but he extended toleration to the Greek Christians, whom ho
permitted to remain in the city, freely practising their own religious
observances, but not communicating with the Roman See.
THE GREEK SCHISM. I 5 5
a portion of the great State-machine, occupying with
regard to the Emperor or Czar that dependent and
fettered position, to which the Pirst Napoleon, in the
zenith of his power, vainly endeavoured to reduce the
Catholic Church.
The members of the separated, or as they call them-
selves, the "Orthodox" Greek Church, are now esti-
mated at about 76,000,000. Of these 64,000,000 are in
Eussia, and 12,000,000 in Turkey and other countries.
Among the latter, it is gratifying to observe that
there exists a strong and steadily increasing feeling
in favour of reunion with the Catholic Church. In
Grreece, in Turkey, in the Balkan provinces — in a word,
everywhere outside the Eussian Empire — the same
sentiment prevails, to a considerable extent, amongst
the "Orthodox Greeks;" and it is to be hoped that,
through the wise and enlightened policy of Leo XIII.,
much will be accomplished towards the restoration of
those important Christian populations to communion
with the Holy See.
CHAPTER IX.
ORIGIN OF THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES.
" The successor of Saint Feter administeTed his patrimony with the
temper of a vigilant and moderate landlord. ... In the use of wealth
he acted like a faithful steward of the Church and the poor, and
liberally applied to their wants the inexhaustible resources of abstinence
and order." — Gibbon.
It appears to he generally agreed upon, that the tem-
poral power of the Popes, as independent sovereigns,
dates from the donation of Pepin to Pope Stephen III.,
in the middle of the eighth century. But it is certain,
that, long before that acquisition, the Bishops of Eome
possessed patrimonies, and revenues, and enjoyed poli-
tical influence, under the suzerainty of the Emperors,
which practically made them all hut independent rulers,
and laid the foundation of that benign sway which,
for eleven centuries, conferred such great and lasting
benefits, not only on their own immediate subjects, but
on the commonwealth of Christian nations, of which
the general consent so long constituted them the heads
and umpires.
During the first three centuries of her existence, the
Church passed through a series of sanguinary perse-
cutions under the Pagan Emperors. Notwithstanding
this— and here we have a striking proof of her Divine
origin — she had so grown and flourished, even in the
middle of the second century, that, as we are informed
by a cotemporary writer, the worshippers of Christ
crucified were then to be found in aU parts of the
habitable globe. "There does not exist," says Saint
OKIGm OF THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. I 5 7
Justin, Martyr/ "a people, whether Greek or Bar-
barian, by whatever name they are called, whether the
Hamaxobrii who live in wagons, or Nomads who have
no houses, or Scinitse who, tending their cattle, dwell
in tents; there is, I say, no race of the kind, among
whom prayers and thanksgiving are not offered up in
the name of a Crucified Jesus to the Father and Creator
of all things." ^
Tertullian, writing some fifty years later, states that
the number of the faithful was then so great, in every
region, that the kingdom of Christ had far overflowed
the boundaries of the Eoman Empire, and exceeded
the territories of the most powerful rulers ever known.^
"What," he writes, "shall I say of the Eomans, who
guard their empire by the garrisons of their legions,
and cannot extend the power of their rule beyond those
nations? But the kingdom of Christ extends every-
where, is believed in everywhere, is revered by all
the nations above enumerated, reigneth everywhere, is
everywhere honoured, receiveth tribute everywhere,
equally from all." * According to the same writer, the
^ Saint Justin, Martyr, was born, about the year of our Lord lOO,
at Neapolis, now N^bulus, the ancient Shechem, thirty miles north of
Jerusalem. He was educated a Pagan ; but, in his thirtieth year, was
converted to Christianity by the example of the virtues of the Chris-
tians, and the heroism displayed by many of them, whom he saw
martyred for the faith. After his conversion, he repaired to Kome,
where he remained for a long time. Some vpriters state, that he was
ordained a priest ; but this is uncertain. He wrote several contro-
versial works. Of these, the principal are, his two "Apologies for the
Christians ; " the first addressed to the !Emperor Antoninus, and the
second, to Marcus Aurelius : and his " Dialogue with Trypho," a
learned Jew. Saint Justin died a martyr, in Kome, about the year
167. His works were first published by Robert Stephanus, Paris,
1551-1571. The best edition is that of Dom. Maran, of the Congrega-
tion of St. Maur, Paris 1742, and Venice 1747.
' " Dialogue with Trypho."
^ Tertullian, "Ad versus Judaeos," cap. vii., Paris, Rigault, 1664.
In the same chapter, he speaks of the country of the Northern Britons
as a region inaccessible to the Komans, but subject to Christ : " Bri-
tannorum inaccessa Komanis loca, Cbristo vero subdita,"
■> Ibid.
158 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Christians, at that time, a.d. 198, constituted a most
important element in the population of the Eoman
Empire. "We are but of yesterday," says he, "and
we have filled all your possessions — islands, fortresses,
towns, assemblies, your very camps, wards, decurial
courts, the palace, the senate, the forum. The temples
only have we left you," ^ He further observes : " Un-
armed and without rebellion, were we at enmity with
you, we could have fought you, simply by divorcing
ourselves from you. For if, being so great a multitude
of men, we had withdrawn from you to any remote
corner of the earth, the loss of so many and such
citizens would verily have disgraced your rule, and
punished you by simple desertion. Doubtless, you
would have been terrified at your solitude, at the silence
of everything, at the stupor as of a world of the dead.
You would have looked for subjects to rule over; more
enemies than citizens would have remained to you;
but now you have fewer enemies, on account of the
multitude of Christians." ^
This was the state of affairs at the close of the second
century. About one hundred years later, so numerous
and influential had the Christians become in Eome,
that, according to Eusebius, Maxentius, a cruel tyrant,
sunk in the worst vices of Paganism, on his accession
to the throne 'of the Empire, pretended to be a Chris-
tian, in order to conciliate the Eoman people.®
1 TertuUian, " Apologet.,'' c. 37; written a.d. 198.
2 Ibid. As is justly observed by Mr. Gibbon (" Decline and Fall of
the Eoman Empire," 0. xv.), it is difficult to estimate accurately the
proportion borne by the Ohristians to the whole population of the
Empire before the conversion of Coustantiue. He sets it down as
probably one-twentieth ; observing, that, in all likelihood, the number
of the proselytes of Christianity was " excessively magnified by fear on
the one side and by devotion on the other." It may perhaps be safe to
take a medium between the two extremes — the alleged exaggeration
of the cotemporary Apologists, and the caution of the modem historian.
We have seen, that, even as early as A.D. 65, Tacitus describes the
Christians martyred by Nero at Eome as "a huge multitude "—ijMcrw
m/ultitudo ("Annales," xv. 44).
» Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History," viii. 14.
ORIGIN OF THJi TEMPOKAL POWER OF THE POPES. I 5 9
Moreover, besides the fact of their being so large a
proportion of the population, the exemplary lives of
the Christians, so strongly contrasting with the vices of
their Pagan neighbours, the fidelity with which they
discharged the duties of " the family " and citizenship,
and their consequent value, as a constituent of the
body politic, but, above all, the still more exemplary
lives of the clergy, and the still greater services these
latter rendered to the community, combined with the
beauty and purity of their doctrine, aU largely contri-
buted to extend the kingdom of Christ, as well as to
prepare the Empire for the fundamental changes to be
effected by the first Christian Emperors.
The bishops especially were, in many an instance,
revered even by the Pagans, in their respective dis-
tricts. Their exalted virtues, their paternal care of
their flocks, their boundless charity to the poor and
suffering, their inculcation of peace and good will
amongst men, their loyalty to the Emperor, and their
devotion, even unto martyrdom, to the God whom they
served, were everywhere remarkable, and bore fruit a
thousandfold, in the influence of their example and
teaching on their numerous "spiritual children ; so that
the Christians, notwithstanding the monstrous calum-
nies to their prejudice circulated by Pagan writers,
were in the course of time regarded and valued by
those in high place, as the best subjects of the State.
Unquestionably, the Empire, which was tending to
disruption before the accession of Constaiitine, was in
no small degree indebted for its preservation to the
cohesion of its numerous Christian subjects in every
country, all professing the same tenets which bound
them in one common brotherhood, and all turning to
their one spiritual Father, the Bishop of Eome. For
this reason, we may well understand how, even while
yet a Pagan, Constantino was most favourably disposed
towards the Christians, and, by his edicts and general
policy, pffected much towards remedying the evils in-
l6o THE CHAIR OF PETER.
flicted upon them by the cruelty of his predecessors,
and raising them to the political level of their Pagan
fellow-subjects, Naturally, after his conversion, the
Christians found still greater favour with the Emperor,^
Immediately on his accession, A.D. 312, Constantine
happily inaugurated this novel system of paternal rule.
He declared all religions lawful; and strictly forbade
any molestation or persecution of the Christians.^ In
an edict which, in conjunction with Licinius, his col-
league in the Empire, he promulgated at Milan, the
following year, full liberty of religious worship was
extended to Christians everywhere, and immediate
restitution was ordered, of the churches, and other
public property, of which they had been deprived ; the
Imperial treasury being charged with the indemnity of
those who had paid for such property.^ By another
edict, the clergy were exempted from all political ser-
vice, in order that, without molestation or distraction,
they might devote themselves exclusively to their sacred
functions.* Next, in every city, large sums of money,
and supplies of corn, were annually granted by the
Emperor to the bishops, for the support of widows,
orphans, and the ministers of religion.^
After the fall of Licinius, A.D. 323, the whole Empire
being united under Constantine, the Emperor showed
still greater favour to his Christian subjects. He pub-
lished an edict, "commanding all the people of the
^ There is much doubt, and considerable controversy, as to the exact
date of the conversion of Constantine. One fact is undeniable — that,
from the very commencement of his reign, his sentiments and prepos-
sessions were entirely Christian.
2 By a law of Constantine of ten years later, A.D. 322, it was enacted
that those using violence against Christians, to compel them to change
their religion, should, if slaves, be publicly scourged, or should, if of a
higher degree, be amerced in heavy fines ("Cod. Theodos.," 1. xvi.
tit. it n. 5).
' Eusebius, "Ecclesiastical History," x. 5.
' Ibid., X. 7. Letter to AnuUnus, Proconsul of Africa. In a
future chapter, I shall have occasion to refer more fully to this sub-
ject.
" Ibid., X. 6. Theodoret, "Ecoles. Hiat," iv. 4.
ORIGIN Otf THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 1 6 1
East to honour the Christian religion, to worship the
Divine Being, and to recognize as God alone, the one
true God, whose power endureth for ever." He revoked
all the laws and judgments that had been passed against
the Christians. He ordered restitution of all their pos-
sessions, and enacted, that those who had held high
appointments in the army or the civQ service, might
resume the same, giving them however the option of
remaining in a private station, should they prefer it.
The result was, that ere long a large proportion of the
important posts of the Eoman Government were filled
by Christians ; the worship of false gods was universally
interdicted ; ^ and the arts of divination, the dedication
of statues, and the celebration of Grecian festivals
were prohibited. The combats of gladiators, and other
objectionable customs were, at the same time, abolished.
Then, at the cost of the Imperial treasury, sumptuous
churches were erected in Eome, Jerusalem, Antioch,
Nicomedia in Bithynia, and other places ; church orna-
ments and sacred vessels were provided; and large
sums were placed at the disposal of the bishops, for
Ecclesiastical and charitable purposes.^
The faith and fervour of Constantino were further
illustrated in his promotion of the General Council
of Nice, and other councils. In his deference to the
assembled Fathers, on those occasions, and especially to
the Bishop of Eome, he set his subjects, and his suc-
cessors in the Empire, an example calculated to prove
^ That the worship of false gods was universally interdicted by Con-
stantine, towards the end of his reign, we learn from Eusebius, " Life of
Constantine," lib. ii., cap. 44, andl. iv., c. 23, 25 ; Sozomen, "Hist.,"
1. i., c. 8, and 1. iii., c. 17; and Theodoret, "Hist.," 1. v., c. 21.
Neither Constantine, nor his sons indeed, were able to enforce this
edict universally, as so great a change could not be effected on the
instant. Hence his general interdiction of idolatry has been questioned
by Libanius and other writers.
» Sozomen, "Ecclesiastical History," i- 8; Eusebius, "Hist. Eccles.,"
X. 6; Eusebius, "Infe of Constantine," pasma,. Anastasius, "Vita
Sanoti Silvestri."
l62 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
highly beneficial to the Church, of which he had the
welfare so warmly at heart.
Naturally, the Christian bishops, and especially the
patriarchs, were the chief objects of Imperial favour;
and this, under the circumstances of the times, would
clearly be no less a dictate of sound policy than of
zeal for the religion of Christ. Hence, under the first
Christian Emperor, we find bishops advanced to posi-
tions of high trust, and invested with a large share of
authority in their respective districts. About the year
321, a law was enacted, empowering litigants to bring
their causes before bishops rather than the secular
courts ; and it was declared that the decisions of the
bishops should be valid, and as much superior to those
of the civil judges, as if pronounced by the Emperor
himself; and it was ordered that all governors and
subordinate military officers should see to the execution
of those decisions, which, in every case, were to be
irreversible.^
That the bishops, even under the Pagan Emperors,
enjoyed large revenues, which were used for the pur-
poses of the Churches over which they presided, and
that those revenues accrued not only from the money
offerings of the faithful, first-fruits and tithes, but from
lands and houses, is evident, from the following pas-
sage in the Imperial enactment for the restoration of
the property of the Church, in all parts of the Empire :
" Therefore, all things which justly seem to have be-
longed to the Churches, whether houses, or lands, or
gardens, or anything else whatsoever, we order to be
restored; no right belonging to the ownership being
diminished, but all remaining safe and unimpaired."^
Erom the day which witnessed the retributive judg-
1 Sozomen, "Ecclesiastical History," i. 9. This policy of Constan-
tine was quite in accordance with that of his Pagan predecessors ; as
high honours and privileges had always been conferred on the ministers
of religion in the Roman and other ancient empires.
3 Eusebius, " Life of Oonstantine," ii. 39.
ORIGIN OK THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 1 63
ment executed on Ananias and Sapphira, now for three
centuries, large offerings had been continuously made
by individual piety to the treasury of the Church.
Besides, by the legislation of Constantine, bequests of
all kinds of property for Church purposes were declared
valid.^ To the Emperor's munificent benefactions, and
annual subsidies, to the Churches, in many parts of the
Empire, allusion has already been made.
But of all the Churches, that of Eome was, from a
very early period, the most richly endowed, and enjoyed
the largest share of political influence. This might
well have been expected ; for not only was Eome the
capital of the Empire, but the Bishop of Eome, as we
have seen, was "the bishop of bishops,"^ occupying
"the place of Peter," "the Chair of Peter," "the
Apostolic See," "the principal Church, the source of
sacerdotal unity."* With that Church "the faithful
everywhere were bound to agree;"* those only "in
communion with that bishop were in communion with
the Catholic Church." «
Thus we meet with frequent allusions, in early
Ecclesiastical history, to the large resources and com-
prehensive charity of the Christians in Eome, devoted
to relieving the necessities of their brethren in the
faith, in various countries, under the paternal direction
of the Popes.
As far back as the year 175, we find Saint Dionysius,
Bishop of Corinth, in his epistle to the Eomans, ad-
1 This law was promulgated at Home, a.d. 321, according to some
authorities ; but, according to others, eight years later. The clause in
question runs as follows : "Habeat unusquisque licentiam sanctissimo
Catholicee {Eeclesice) venerabilique conciUo, decedens, bonorum quod
optaverit relinquere ; et non sint cassa judicia ejus " (" Cod. Theodos.,"
lib. xvi. tit. 2, n. 4).
^ Tertullian, "Liber de Pudicitia," cap. i.
^ For references of these quotations from the early Fathers, see
chap. iii.
* Irenaeus, " Ad versus Hsereses," lib. iii. cap. 3.
° St. Cyprian, Epistola 52. Ad. Antonianum de Comelii Fapse
ordinatione.
1 64 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
dressed to Pope Soter, making allusion, as follows, to
a practice, which was then of long standing, and
which, Eusebius observes, continued down to his day —
one hundred and fifty years later : ^ —
For this practice (he writes) has prevailed among you, from the
very beginning, to do good to all the brethren in every way, and
to send contributions to many Churches in every city; thus
refreshing the needy in their want, and furnishing to the brethren
condemned to the mines all that is necessary. By these contri-
butions, which you have been accustomed to make, from the
beginning, you maintain, as Romans, the practices of your
ancestors the Romans, which have not only been observed, but
extended, by your holy bishop Soter ; inasmuch as he has not
only furnished great supplies to the saints, but has moreover
encouraged the brethren that come from abroad, as a loving
father his children, with blessed words.^
If the Church of Eome was able to dispense con-
tinuously such large contributions to the faithful "in
every city," in the ages of persecution, we may well
imagine how great must have been its resources in the
days of peace and prosperity under the first Christian
Emperors. Year after year, its income was swelled,
not only by large money offerings from princes and
people, but by deeds of gift, and bequests of houses
and lands, in various parts of Italy and the remote
provinces, as well as in the capital. Indeed, as we
learn from Saint Jerome, the wealth and influence of
the Popes were reputed to be so great in the time of
Pope Damasus, A.D. 366-384, that Praetextatus the
Senator, who died on being designated Consul, used
to say jestingly to the Holy Father : " Make me Bishop
of Eome, and I will at once become a Christian." '
It was for a long time supposed that Constantine, on
' Eusebius, "Eccles. Hist.," iv. 23.
"Epistle of Saint Bionysius of Corinth; apud Euseb., "Hist.
Ecoles.," iv. 23.
' Sancti Hieron., Epiat. 38, alias 61, ad Pammachiiun. " Miserabilia
Praetextatus, qui designatus consul est mortuue, homo sacrilegus,
idolorum cultor, solebat ludens beato Papse Damaso dicere: 'Facite
me Romanse urbis episcopum, et ero protinus Ohristianus.' "
ORIGIN OF THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 16$
removing his capital to Byzantium, had made a donation
of "the city of Eome, with Italy and all the pro-
viaces of the Empire of the West," to Pope Sylvester,
for the benefit of the Holy See. This opinion was
based on a deed of donation found among the spurious
Decretals in the Vatican ; but this deed has now long
been deemed apocryphal. The false Decretals, which
are commonly attributed to Isidorus Mercator, were
first published about the middle of the ninth century,
soon after the death of Charlemagne. That the authen-
ticity of "the donation" found general acceptance at
the time, may be accounted for by the fact of the
Popes being then actually the sovereigns of Eome and
of a considerable part of Italy, in virtue of the grants
of the French monarchs.
But even though Constantino did not execute a formal
deed of donation to Sylvester, he practically gave over
to that Pontiff and his successors in the Chair of Peter,
the temporal rule of Eome and the Italian provinces,
when he removed his capital to the " new Eome," which
he founded on the Bosphorus. Unconscious alike of
the fact, both Pope and Emperor were but instruments
in the hands of Him, who, in fulfilment of His all-wise
designs, created that temporal dynasty, which, for eleven
centuries down to our time, was to subserve the interests
of His Church, by rendering it independent of earthly
sovereigns, and safe from political revolutions, as well
as by affording it the means of extending and main-
taining its humanizing influence, and holy ministra-
tions, in all parts of the globe. As the early history of
the Church itself is a history of development, so is the
early history of the temporal power of the Popes,
Prom the reign of Constantino, the Popes possessed
several estates, continually increasing in number and
extent, which they carefully administered for the
benefit of the Church. These possessions were called
patrimonia — the patrimonies of Saint Peter, or of the
Apostolic See. So extensive had they become at the
1 66 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
close of the sixth century, that, in the reign of Saint
Gregory the Great, A.D. 590-604, the Church owned
large tracts in SicUy, Calabria, Apulia, Campania, Ea-
venna, Sabina, Dalmatia, lUyricum, Sardinia, Corsica,
Liguria, the Cottian Alps, and a small estate in Gaul ;
not to speak of more remote provinces.^ Some of these
were estates, and some were principalities, in which the
Papal deputies exercised ample civil and criminal juris-
diction. In the principalities were comprised several
cities and bishoprics. Thus, the Cottian Alps, above
mentioned, included Genoa, and- the whole sea-coast
from that city to the Alpine boundary of Gaul.^ Of
this extensive territory we are informed by a cotem-
porary historian,* that it was " restored " to Pope John
VI., in the year 704, by Aripertus the Lombard King,
as " hsiving formerly belonged to the jurisdiction of the
Apostolic See." * Aripertus, who is described as " a
pious man devoted to almsdeeds, and a lover of justice,"
1 " Letters of Saint Gregory the Great," passim. See also Baronius,
" Aunales Eoolesiastioi," viii. 27, a.d. 591, when "the Roman Church
had the richest patrimonies in all parts of the globe, not only in Italy
and Sicily, but in Asia, in Gaul, and in Africa."
^ Baronius, " Annales Ecclesiastici," viii. 669, quoting from the letter
of Olradus, Bishop of Milan, to Charlemagne : " Primo regni sui anno,
donationem, quam beato Petro Aripertus Rex donaverat, confirmavit,
scilicet Alpes Cottias, in quibus Janua est, et quidquid ab ea Alpes usque
ad Galliarum fines continebant."
* Paulus Wamefridus, better known as Pwidus Diaoomts, or Paul
the Deacon, was bom at Forum Julii, the modern Cividale, in
Northern Italy, a.d. 740. His education was completed at the court
of Raohis, King of the Lombards. He was ordained deacon at
Aquileia, and subsequently was appointed secretary to Desiderius,
the la«t of the Lombard kings. He was a man of great learning, and
was highly esteemed by all classes. His principal work is the history
of the Lombards, above quoted. He wrote also a "Life of Saint
Gregory the Great," "Gesta Episcoporum Metensium," and hymns,
poems, and homilies for Sundays and holidays. He died at the
monastery of Monte Cassino, A.D. 799.
* Paulus Diaconus, " De Gestis Longobardorum," lib. vi. cap. 43.
"Hoc tempore, Aripertus, rex Longobardorum, donationem patrimonii
Alpium Cottiarum, quw guondom. ad jus pertimuerant Apoetolicce Sedis,
Bed a Longobardis multo tempore fuerant ablata, rettituit." See also
Baronius, "Annales Ecclesiastici," viii 651.
ORIGIN OF THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 1 67
in order still further to testify his veneration for the
Successor of Saint Peter, caused the deed of gift, or
restitution, to be written in letters of gold." ^
The paternal manner in which these territories were
governed by the Popes, through their deputies, may be
gathered from the letters of Saint Gregory the Great,
who, on several occasions, expresses his desire, that his
tenants and vassals should get full time and indul-
gence, and be treated with all leniency — the needy in
some instances being accommodated with loans, to be
gradually repaid. The corn and other produce of the
lands were shipped from adjoining seaports to Eome,
to be there stored and distributed, for the supply of
the public necessities. The poor, widows, and orphans,
were supported ; pilgrims received hospitality ; and, in
remote cities and provinces, suffering from war and its
attendant evils, the clergy and the destitute members
of their flocks were relieved with wise discrimination
and economy.
The same system was uniformly carried out by
Gregory's successors ; and it is generally admitted that,
at this period, the revenues of the Church were most
carefully and ably administered. At the same time
the Pontiffs instructed their agents or deputies, in every
instance, to pursue that even course of just and bene-
ficent rule which befitted the representatives of the
Father of the Faithful
' Paul the Deacon, " De Gestis Longobardorum," lib. vi. c. 43 : " et
bauc donationem aureis exaratam litteris Bomam direxit."
CHAPTER X.
THE GEOWTH OF THE TBMPOBAL POWEB.
" II n'y a pas en Europe de souTerainet^ plus justifiable, s'il est per-
mis de e'exprimer ainsi, que celle des SouTerains Fontifes. Elle est
comma la loi divine, juttificata in semetipsd. Mais ce qu'il y a de
vdritablement ^onnant, c'est de voir les Fapes devenir souverains sans
s'en apercevoir, et mSme, & parler exactement, malgr^ eux." — Db
Maistbe.
The development of the political influence of the Popes
appears to have steadily kept pace with the increase of
their territorial possessions. This may be traced, as
a necessary consequence, to two main causes; first,
the incapacity, or the absence, of the Emperors, who,
whether at Eavenna, or in their remote Eastern capital,
were unable, or unwilling, to consult the welfare of the
Empire of the West ; and, secondly, the sacred character
of the Vicars of Christ, their disinterested zeal, and
their exalted Arirtues, which enlisted the sympathies
and confidence of all classes, and, in more than one
familiar instance, challenged the homage of the rude
Northern invader, and arrested his impetuous career of
bloodshed and rapine. The ^ufiierings of the people,
overtaxed and oppressed by the Emperors, and their
exarchs, the abuses and treachery of the military com-
manders, the barbarian incursions, and the many other
evils arising from the general decline of the Empire, all
naturally induced the Italian populations to turn to
those who alone could aid and protect them in the hour
of danger. Coerced by circumstances over which they
had no control, entirely against their tastes and inclina-
THE GROWTH OF THE TEMPORAL POWER. 1 6g
tions, the Popes were actually forced into the position
of temporal rulers.
As early as the year 452, when Attila, "the scourge
of God," with his savage Huns, having stormed and
sacked Aquileia and other Northern cities, meditated
the conquest of Eome, the saintly Leo, justly styled the
Great, fearlessly went forth, a long journey, to visit the
invader's camp, and turn aside the danger, even at the
risk of his own life. His venerable aspect, the fame of
his heroic virtues, his heaven-inspired eloquence pre-
vailed; the rugged nature of the barbarian, flushed
with victory, was subdued ; the city was saved ; the
army was withdrawn ; and peace was concluded with
the Empire, on the condition of an annual tribute.
From this arose the time-honoured legend, that, ia his
interview with Leo, Attila beheld the Apostles Saints
Peter and Paul, holding drawn swords over his head,
and menacing him with instant death, if he rejected
the prayer of the Pontiff.-*-
Two years later, the mediation of the Holy Father
was again exerted on behalf of the afflicted capital, the
prey of the fierce Genseric and his Vandal host. The
city, completely at the mercy of its conquerors, was about
to be given up to fire and sword, when the Pontiff,
attended by his clergy in procession, issued forth to
deprecate the meditated vengeance of the Vandal King.
Moved by his touching appeal, Genseric so far relented,
* Pagi, "Pontificum Romanorum Gesta,'' torn, i p. 154, Venetiia,
1730 ; and Flatina, " Historia de vitis Pontificum Romanorum," p. 63,
Coloniae, 1600. - Mr. Gibbon pronounces this to be " one of the noblest
legends of Ecclesiastical tradition" ("Decline and FaU of the Roman
Empire," chap. xxxv.). According to Paul the Deacon and other
writers, the apparition -was said to have been of Saint Peter alone,
"-whom, whUe Leo was speaking, Attila beheld, dad in sacerdotal
robes and of Divine aspect, threatening him with death unless he
obeyed the orders of Pope Leo " (Baronius, " Ajmales Ecclesiastici," vi.
183, A.D. 452). This embassy to Attila was undertaken at the desire
of the Emperor Valentinian III. In it, were associated with Leo,
Avienus (or Albienus) a Roman of Consular rank, and Trigetius, who
had been Praetorian Prefect of Italy.
I/O THE CHAIR OF PETER.
as to order the buildings to be spared from fire, and the
unresisting inhabitants from slaughter. Thus, although
immense booty and thousands of prisoners were car-
ried off, including the Empress Eudoxia and her two
daughters, the city was spared, through the intercession
of Leo, from the horrors of conflagration and indis-
criminate bloodshed, to which it had been destined.^
Kext followed the irruption of the Heruli, those
savage hordes, which, issuing from the dark forests of
Germany and Poland, and the inhospitable shores of
the Sea of Azov, swarmed over the Alps, A.D. 476, and
desolated the plains of Northern and Central Italy.
In rapid succession, Pavia, Eavenna, and Eome, suc-
cumbed to their assaults; and Odoacer, their leader,
proclaimed himself King of Italy, thus terminating the
existence of the Western Empire.^ At this time, the
Byzantine Emperors still ruled over Asia Minor, Syria,
Egypt, Greece, Thrace, and a part of Illyria ; but Gaul
was in the hands of the Franks ; the Anglo-Saxons
held Britain ; the Visigoths, Spain ; the Vandals, North
Africa ; and the Heruli, Italy.
In the year 493, Odoacer was, in his turn, over-
thrown by Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths,* who
founded a kingdom extending beyond the Italian
Peninsula, including Ehsetia, Noricum, Pannonia, and
Dalmatia. This monarch, who fixed his residence at
Eavenna, appears to have ruled with firmness and
prudence; and, under bis government, Italy enjoyed
peace for several years. Unfortunately, however, the
dissensions between the orthodox Christians and the
Arians, whom he favoured, caused much disturbance in
the latter part of his reign.
Theodoric died at Eavenna, a.d. 526, leaving his
' Pagi, "Pontificum Bomanorum Gesta," torn. L p. 155 ; Prosper, in
Chronico ; and Baronius, "Annates Ecdesiastici," vi. 211 ; A.D. a.K'i.
" August 23, 476. ^"
' The Eastern Goths were called, by ancient writers, Austrogothi or
Ostrogoths ; and the Western were called Vesigothi or Visigoths.
THE GROWTH OF THE TEMPORAL POWER. I 7 I
Italian kingdom to his grandson Athalaric, then only
twelve years old. This prince having died at the early
age of sixteen, Italy became the prey of iatrigues and
disputes. The Eastern Emperor, Justinian, resolved to
take advantage of this state of affairs, and dispatched
large forces to reconquer the country. After a pro-
tracted series of battles and sieges, victory declared
for the Imperial armies, under the able conduct of
Belisarius and Narses ; and the Gothic rule terminated
A.D. 553. On this, Central Italy once again became a
province of the Empire and was administered by the
Imperial exarch, who fixed his seat of Government at
Eavenna.^
Unhappily, the country enjoyed but a brief period
of repose; for, in the year 568, the Lombards and
their allies under the standard of Alboin, crossed the
Julian Alps, and overran those fertile plains, to which
their long possession has given the name of Lombardy.^
' The Exarchs (from the Greek i^, outside, and dpxos, governor)
were viceroys of provinces under the Byzantine Emperors ; such as
the Exarch of Italy, or of Sicily, or of Africa. They were invested
with all but supreme power, civil and military, within their respective
provinces, terminable only by their recall. The principal of these was
the exarch of central Italy, who was generally called " the Exarch of
Ravenna." This ancient and interesting city was the capital of Italy,
during the last days of the Western Empire, and was the seat of
government, successively, of the Emperors Honorius and Yalentinian,
of Odoacer, Theodoric, and his successors, and of the Imperial exarchs.
The first Exarch of Eavenna was Longinus, appointed by Justinus II.,
A.D. 568, and the last was Eutychius, whose term of office closed in
752, when the territory passed to the Popes. These civil officers are
not to be confounded with the Ecclesiastical exarchs, who anciently
held high rank in the Church, corresponding to patriarchs or primates.
^ The Lombards, or Longobards, were so called from their long
beards. Paul the Deacon, himself a Lombard, in his history of the
nation, written in the eighth century, says, " It is certain, that they,
first known as Winili, were afterwards called Lamgobards, on account
of the length of their beards, untouched by iron ; for in their language
lamg signifies long, and bemi; beard " (" De Gestis Longobardorum," i.
9). This long beard appears to have been the universal distinctive
appendage of the race ; for, on the occasion of the inhabitants of the
Duchy of Spoleto, Keati, and other places renouncing the Lombard
rule, and placing themselves under the dominion of the Popes, we
172 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
The affrighted inhabitants helplessly fled before them ;
the exarch was powerless to resist ; and Alboin, borne
onward by the tide of victory, menaced the capitals
of Eome and Eavenna. The only serious opposition
offered to the invaders, was that of the Gothic defenders
of Pavia, After a three years' siege and gallant defence,
that city fell, and became, for many generations, the
capital of the new kingdom of Lombardy.
For about two centuries from this time, the Northern
portion of Italy was ruled by the Lombard monarchs,
and the remainder by the exarch of the Byzantine
Emperor. The Lombard kingdom included those pro-
vinces now known as Piedmont, Lombardy, the Tyrol,
Continental Venice,^ Parma, Modena, Genoa, Tuscany,
and a small portion of IJmbria and the Marches.
The Imperial dominions comprised the Exarchate of
Eavenna, reduced to the Provinces of Eavenna, Perrara,
and Bologna; the Eomagna; the Pentapolis,^ or five
seaport cities of Eimini, Pesaro, Pano, Senegaglia, and
Ancona, with their surrounding territories ; a consider-
able portion of the seaboard of Southern Italy, and the
island of Sicily. The province of Naples was governed
by a Lombard prince, the Duke * of Beneventum, who
read, that they all shaved off their beards in the Roman fashion —
more Bomamorum tonsurati sunt ("Anastasius de vitis Pontificum
Romanorum," pp. 153, 154. Moguntise, 1602).
^ The Republic of Venice, so called from the Veneti, a people who
inhabited all the adjoining coasts, was formed by numbers of these
people and others from the interior of Italy, who had taken refuge
from the Northern invaders in the islands of the Adriatic, early in the
fifth century. They elected their first duke, or doge, A.D. 697. In
I797i Venice surrendered to France ; and shortly afterwards was
transferred to Austria, by the treaty of Oampo Formic. In 1866,
through the intervention of Napoleon III., it was relinquished by
Austria, and annexed to the kingdom of Italy.
" Pentapolis ; from the Greek, wivre, five, and TrAXeis, cities.
' Duke. This is the highest title of nobility next to Prince. The
word is derived from the Latin diux, a leader, or cfooo, to lead, and
was first applied to the generals-in-chief of the Romans, called duces
exercUmim, or leaders of armies. The title continued in times of peace ;
the duces, or dukes, being appointed governors of provinces. These
dukes, at first, exercised an all but supreme jurisdiction in their several
THE GROWTH OF THE TEMPORAL POWER. 1 73
was all but an independent sovereign ; and Eome was
ruled, nominally only, by a Patrician,^ appointed by the
Emperor. But, in reality, through the force of circum-
stances, the Popes became the supreme lords of the city.
The close of the sixth century is described by his-
torians as the darkest and most disastrous period in
the annals of Italy. War, famine, and pestilence, had,
for a long series of years, wrought their baneful effects
on the country. The sufferings of the people may well
be imagined — their industry paralyzed, their lives in
constant danger, their homes and possessions subject
at any moment to spoliation and destruction.
One man alone appears to have been equal to the
crisis. This was the holy Pope, Saint Gregory the
Great.^ Combining rare practical ability with devoted
districts, subordinate however to the Emperor or his exarch. Several
of them were confirmed by Charlemagne, who made the title hereditary,
subject of course to his suzerainty. In !France, there were a number
of duchies and counties, these latter being governed by counts, comtes,
or in Latin comites, literally companions of the sovereign. The counts
were of two kinds — governors of provinces, and governors of cities.
In the latter originated our counties of cities.
' Patrician. The word is derived from the Pai/res Conscripti, the
"conscript fathers," or senators of Rome, as opposed to plebs, the
common people; whence "plebeian." The office of Patrician was
first created by Constantine the Great. There were two kinds of
patricians, one honorary, the other official. The latter were officers
appointed to defend or govern a province, in the name of the Emperor.
Thus, the governors of Africa, Sicily, and Italy were sometimes styled
the patricians of those provinces. This title was always attached to
the exarchate of Ravenna, i.e., the province of Italy. Indeed, by
several writers, the titles "patrician" and "exarch" are regarded as
identical, when applied to governors of provinces of the Koman
Empire. The dignity of Patrician conferred on Pepin and Charlemagne
by the Popes, as we shall presently see, was one of great power and
of the highest honour. It is thus described by Peter de Marca : " The
name of patrician embraced two things : both the jurisdiction which
the kings, by the consent of the pontiff and the Koman people, pos-
sessed in the city, and the protection or defence which they bad pro-
mised the Koman Church." Pairidi rwmen duo qucsdam compleetebatw ;
et jurigdictionem, qua Reges in Urbe ex consensu Pontificis et Populi
Eomani potiehantur, eb protectionem seu defensionem quam Romarus
Ecdesice poUiciti erant,
^ ' ' The power as well as the virtue of the Apostles resided with
living energy in the breasts of their successors," says Mr. Gibbon ;
174 "^^^ CHAIR OF PETER.
zeal and heroic charity, he supplied iii his own person
for the neglect, or the powerlessness, of the nominal
rulers of the country. On him devolved the providing
corn for the capital and other cities, as well as the
watchful protection of the inhabitants against the
attacks of the enemy, on the one hand, and the treachery
and oppressions of the Imperial governors and generals,
on the other.i Here we find him dispatching Leontius,
as governor to Nepi in Etruria, enjoining on the inhabi-
tants that they should obey him as they would himself."
Here, again, he appoints Constantius to the important
post of governor of Naples.* Next, he writes to the
bishops about the defence and provisioning of their
respective cities;* issues orders to the military com-
manders ; * appeals again and again for aid and protec-
tion to the Eniperor and his exarch ; negotiates treaties
of peace with the enemy ; in a word, he becomes the
actual ruler and protector of Italy ; so that he is fully
justified in declaring, "Whoever fills my place, as pastor,
is gravely occupied by external cares, so that it fre-
quently becomes uncertain whether he discharges the
functions of a pastor, or of a temporal prince." *
A considerable portion of the wealth- of the Church
was judiciously employed by Gregory in propitiating the
enemy, and protecting his flock from those evils from
which the waning power of their temporal sovereign
was unable to shield them.'' In the letters of this great
" and the Chair of Saint Peter was filled, under the reign of Maurice,
by the first and the greatest of the name of Gregory " ("Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire" chap. xlv.). For particulars of his Ute,
see Index, " Gregory the Great."
^ " Sancti Gregorii Epistolae," lib. v. epist. 42.
" Ibid., lib. ii. epist. 1 1 (alias 8).
° Ibid., lib. ii. epist. 31 (alias 24).
* Ibid., lib. viii. epist. 18 (alias 20) , lib. ix. epist. 4 et 6 (alias 2
etS).
" Ibid., lib. ii. epist. 3 et 29.
^ Ibid., lib. i epist. 25 (alias 24). "Hoc in loco quisquis pastor
dicitur, curis exterioribus graviter occupatur, ita ut ssepe incertmn sit,
utrum pastoris officium, an terreni proceris agat."
' Ibid., lib. V. epist. 21 ; alias lib. iv. epist. 34,
THE GROWTH OF THE TEMPORAL POWER. 1 7 5
Pontiff, we may best understand the difficult circum-
stances in which he was placed, and appreciate the
services which he rendered to religion and the State.
Yet those services appear to have been but badly re-
quited by the Emperor, to whose falling fortunes he
practised, and preached, unswerving fidelity. Against
his wUl he had ascended the pontifical throne; alto-
gether against his inclination he became immersed in
public affairs ; he would, if possible, have shrunk from
the greatness thrust upon him; but an overruling
Providence ordained, that, in those difficult times, he
should preside over the Church ; and alleviate the
sufferings, and prolong the existence, of the Western
Empire. Nor did he consider the enemy excluded
from his pastoral care. In due time, he had the grati-
fication of seeing their King, Agilulph, and numbers of
his subjects abjure the Arian heresy. Lombard and
Eoman alike would he save from the evils of war, and
unite in the bonds of Christian charity.
CHAPTER XI.
COLLAPSE OF THE WESTERN EMPIEE.
" Sedes Boma Petri, quse pastoralis honoris
Facta caput mundo, quicquid non possidet annia
Belligione tenet. " '
St. Fbobfeb of Aqcitainb (a.d. 431).
The onerous duties of a temporal ruler which thus
devolved on Saint Gregory the Great, in addition to
the cares of his spiritual office, no less devolved on his
successors, who all displayed the same prudence and
charity, and, up to the final scene, the same loyalty to
the Emperors, as their saintly predecessor. In several
instances, the Emperors appear to have worthily
appreciated the well-regulated zeal of the Popes, and
to have viewed without reluctance or apprehension the
steady growth of their political influence. Not unfre-
quently, however, they adopted and favoured the
heresies which were but too rife among the Eastern
Christians, and opposed and thwarted the Pontiffs, on
whose good offices the existence of their rule in the
"West now mainly depended. Notwithstanding this,
the Popes, all through, even where the Emperors per-
secuted the Chnrch, inculcated loyalty on the people,
exhorting them to " render unto Ceesar the things that
are Csesar's " — a course which they pursued, as may be
seen in all cotemporary histories, until the Empire
completely collapsed.
1 " Rome, the See of Peter, which to the whole world has become
the head of the pastoral dignity, holds by religion that which she
possesses not by anns."
COLLAPSE OF THE WESTERN EMFIRE. I77
But, owing to the fatuity of those for whpse benefit
it was intended, this well-meant interposition was of
no avaU. Towards the close of the seventh century,
the alternate incapacity and tyranny of the Byzantine
government had completely alienated the masses of the
Italian population. The state of affairs however be-
came still worse, when an attempt was made to seize
the Sovereign Pontiff, and carry him off a prisoner to
Constantinople. This outrage was planned by the
Emperor Justinian II., with a view to extorting the
signature of Pope Sergius ^ to the Acts of the Council
of Quinisext, of which the Holy See had positively
refused its approval.^ On this occasion, the people
and the army of Italy interposed, to protect the sacred
person of the Vicar of Christ ; and, but for the inter-
ference of the Pontiff, would have put to death the
Imperial officer charged with his abduction.^
The year 726 initiated the final crisis. The Emperor
Leo the Isaurian then fiUed the Byzantine throne.
This prince appears to have been actuated by a frenzied
hostility against the Church. His zeal assumed the
form of an attack on all holy images, which he seized
and destroyed, in Constantinople and other cities of
the East; ordering his subjects everywhere to do the
same, and, in several instances, punishing their dis-
obedience with death or mutilation. He wrote, more-
^ Sergius I., a Sicflian, governed the Church, A.D. 687-701.
' This council was convoked by the Emperor Justinian IL, in 692,
in order to supplement the Acts of the Pifth and Sixth General
CouncilB — ^the former held to consider the "Three Chapters," A.D.
553, and the latter convened to condemn the Monothelites, A.D. 680.
Hence it is called "Quinisext" by the Latins, and ZiiyoSos HevdiKTri
by the Greeks. It was also named "In TruUo," from its meeting in
the large haU or chapel, called Trullus, in the palace of Constantinople,
Pope Sergius had no part in the convening of this council, which w^s
composed of 211 Greek bishops ; nor was he represented in it by his
legates ; and he persistently refused to comply with the Emperor's
pressing demands, that he should confirm its Acts.
' Anastasius, "Life of Sergius," and Platiua, "De Vitis Poutificum
Romanorum," p. 103.
M
178 THE CHAIE OF PETER,
over, commanding Pope Gregory II.'- to follow his
example, promising him his favour, as the reward of
compliance, but menacing him with deposition, should
he persist in disobeying. Gregory replied, remonstrat-
ing with the Emperor on his sacrilegious conduct, and
pointing out to him the danger of exasperating his
Italian subjects, who were so devotedly attached to the
Church.
You would terrify us (he -wrote), and you say, " I will send to
Borne and break the image of Samt Peter, and I will have Pope
Gregory carried off in chains, as Constans carried off Pope
Martin." 2 But yoii ought to know and feel assured that the
Popes for the time being presiding at Kome are the mediators
and arbiters of peace between the East and the West. . . . Our
predecessor Martin sat at Borne, exhorting to peace. The wicked
Constans, entertaining false opinions concerning the doctrine of
the Blessed Trinity, and adhering to the proscribed heretical
prelates, Sergius, Paul, and Pyrrhus, caused the Holy Father to
be arrested, and with tyrannical violence carried off to Constanti-
nople, and there, having inflicted upon him gross insults and
injuries, consigned him to exile. But Constans was slain, and
perished in his sins ; while the blessed Martin is now venerated
by the city of Cherson, to which he was banished, and by all the
Northern nations, who flock to his tomb, and obtain there the
cure of their maladies. Would to God, it were our lot to tread
in the path of Martia ; although for the welfare of the people we
desire to live and survive, inasmuch as the eyes of the whole
West are turned towards our humble person, and, although we
are not such as he was, the nations confide in us, and they revere
the blessed Peter, whose image you threaten to overturn and
destroy.'
In his second epistle to Leo, the Pope reminds him
'Saint Gregory 11., a, Roman, governed the Church, A.D. 7IS-73I-
^ Saint Martin, a native of Tuscany, governed the Church, A.D.
649-655. He condemned the Monothelite heresy, which was supported
by the Emperor Constans II., who published an edict in its favour.
In order to procure the Pope's signature to this edict, Constans caused
him to be seized and conducted a prisoner to Constantinople. The
refusal of the Holy Father to comply with the Emperor's wishes
entailed on him grievous indignities and hardships. After about two
years' imprisonment and exile, he died in the Tauric Ohersonesus, on
September 16, 655.
• Baronins, " Annales Eoolesiastici," vol. ix. pp. 71, 72, a.d. 726.
COLLAPSE OF THE WESTERN EMPIKE. 1 79
of the difference between Ecclesiastical and temporal
affairs — the distinct duties and functions of Pontiffs
and Emperors. " Give ear to our humility, Emperor,"
he writes : " cease ; and follow the holy Church, as you
have found it, and have received it. These are not the
dogmas of Emperors, but of Pontiffs ; as we speak the
wisdom of God." ^
So far was the Emperor from profiting by these
wise counsels, that he caused six closely consecutive
attempts to be made against the life of the Pontiff; but
those attempts were baffled by the vigilant care of the
Eomans and the Lombards, who, although otherwise
divided, united for the common purpose of protecting
the Pope against the machinations of his enemies.^
Gregory, on his part, in the words of his biographer,*
"redoubled his alms, and prayers, and fasts, relying
more on the protection of God than of man ; and, to
testify his gratitude to the people for their devotion
to him, he tenderly entreated them to serve God in
good works, and to be steadfast in faith ; but at the
same time he admonished them to persevere in attach-
' Baronitis, "Annales Bcclesiastici," ix. 75, A.D. 726. Vide i Cor-
inthians, ii. 7.
^ The full particulars of these attempts to assassinate the Pontiff,
will be found in the " Life of Gregory IL," by Anastasius the Librarian.
They are also given, less in detail, by Paul the Deacon, in his " History
of the Lombards." See, further, Baronins, "Annales," ix. 77, et seq.
' Anastasius Bibliothecarlus, or the Librarian. He was a Roman
abbot, who flourished in the ninth century, and was librarian of the
Koman Church, and one of the most learned men of the age. He
wrote the Lives of the Popes, from St. Peter to Nicholas L, who
reigned A.D. 858-867. Anastasius was present at the Eighth General
Council, held at Constantinople in 869, and presided over by the
legates of Pope Adrian IL He translated the Acts of this council
from Greek into Latin. He was a painstaking and reliable writer.
Cardinal Baronius ("Annales," ix. 212) pronounces his style to be
rude, but most truthful, and observes, "it is better to drink pure
water out of an earthenware cup than impure water quaffed from a
golden goblet." "Sed audiamus patienter Anastasium, hseo omnia
rudi stylo sed veraci prosequentem. Satins est enim puram in scuteUa
testea aquam bibere, quam impuram vase aureo propinatam." The
edition of Anastasius here quoted is that of Mentz, 1602.
l8o THE CHAIR OF PETER.
ment and loyalty to the Eoman Empire. Thus he
softened the hearts of all, and alleviated their con-
tinuous aflBlictions." ^
Indifferent to his own safety, in the sacred cause of
duty, Gregory did not confine himself to remonstrating
■with the Emperor; but emphatically condemned the
Iconoclast ^ heresy, and addressed letters to the faithful
everywhere, cautioning them against so great an im-
piety. Thereupon, the inhabitants of the Pentapolis,
and the Venetian army, refused to obey the Imperial
mandate ; and declared that they never would consent
to the death of the Pontiff, but would forcibly resist
any attempt upon his life. Then the people in all
parts of Italy, despising the authority of the Exarch,
elected dukes or leaders for themselves ; as thus only
could they consult their own and the Pope's safety.
Soon afterwards, on the Emperor's wicked designs be-
coming generally known, all Italy resolved to elect
another Emperor, and establish him on the Byzantine
throne ; but Gregory, " still hoping for the conversion
of the prince, restrained such counsels." *
Some writers date the commencement of the temporal
sovereignty of the Popes from this period, A.D. 726, or
eight and twenty years before the donation of Pepin.
' Anaataaius, "Life of Gregory II.," and Baronius, " Annales Eoole-
siastici," ix. 78, a.d. 726.
' Iconoclast, image-breaking ; from the Greek elxiiv, image, and
K\i,aT7ii, breaker.
' Anastasius, "Life of Gregory II." To the Bame effect is the
narrative of Paul the Deacon, "De Gestis Longobardorum," lib. vL
cap. 49 : " Omuis quoque RavennsB exercitus vel Venetianim talibua
jussis unanimiter restiterunt ; et nisi eos prohibuieset pontifex, impera-
torem super se oonstituere f uissent aggressi. " According to Anastasius,
Gregory, at this time, " armed himself against the Emperor as against
an enemy ; " jam contra vmpevatorem quasi contra hoatem se a/i'ma/eit.
The precaution was but natural, as Leo had made several attempts
upon his life. Under the circumstances, the Pope's inculcation on
the people of loyalty to the Empire is remarkable; and shows how
Gregory postponed all personal considerations to his sense of public
duty. However, it soon afterwards became evident to him, that Leo's
cause was utterly hopeless.
COLLAPSE OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE. I 8 I
For a considerable time previously, the Pontiffs exer-
cised supreme power over a large portion of Italy ; but,
all through, they appear to have considered themselves
as under the suzerainty of the Emperors, whose waning
authority they endeavoured to preserve. Even this, as
we have just seen, was, for some time, the policy of
Gregory II. But, now that the yoke of the successor
of Constantino the Great had been thrown off in what
had remained to him of his Italian dominions, namely,
the Exarchate, the Pentapolis, and the Duchy of Eome,
the people everywhere in those provinces elected local
leaders; and all — chiefs and followers — rallied round
the Pope, to whom they looked up, as their only reliable
nder and protector.
The action of Gregory himself, in the crisis, still
further justifies this view. Evidently regarding the re-
establishment of the Imperial cause as hopeless, and
seeing the continued hostility of the Emperor, and his
unceasing endeavours, by bribes and gifts, to induce
the Lombards to invade Eome, the Holy Father sent an
embassy to Charles Martel, Mayor of the Palace of the
Frankiuh King, soliciting his aid. The envoys of the
Pope bore the keys of the Tomb of the Apostles, and
several holy relics, as presents to that prince, and
offered him the dignity of Consul, or Patrician, of
Eome. Charles received the embassy with all honour,
accepted the proffered dignity, and concluded a treaty
with the Pope, undertaking to march with an army
into Italy, when necessary, to defend the Holy See
against all enemies.^
^ BaroniuB, "AnnaJes Ecdesiastici," ix. 80, a.d. 726. The Grreek
writers attribute this revolntion mainly to Gregory. Cedreno says,
" Gregory, the Apostolic man, and the coadjutor of Peter, the chief of
the Apostles, fell off from Leo on account of his impiety, and, having
concluded a treaty with the French, refused tribute to the Emperor."
To the same effect are the testimonies of Theophanes and Zonaras.
The Latins do not go so far. But clearly the Pope, who was univer-
sally trusted and revered by the Italians, must have had a large share
in determining the ultimate resolution.
l82 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Meanwhile, the Imperial envoy Eutychius was ac-
tively engaged in negotiations with Luitprand the
Lombard King ; and at length succeeded in inducing
that monarch to unite with the Exarch against the
Pontiff. Ere long, Luitprand, with a large force,
menaced Kome. Gregory, attended by his clergy in
procession, went forth to meet him. To confront the
invading army, he had but his sacred character, the
authority of his ofi&ce, his holy cause. The result of
the interview was, that the powerful monarch, the
master of many legions, cast himself at the feet of the
venerable priest, paying homage to him as the- Vicar of
Christ, and promising him "that he would injure no
man." Luitprand then entered the city along with the
Pontiff, divested himself of his armour, and deposited
his mantle, his bracelets, his belt and gilt sword, before
the tomb of Saint Peter, together with a golden crown
and .silver cross. Having prayed before the sac7ed
shrine, he begged of the Holy Father to admit the
Exarch also to peace, which was readily accorded;
whereupon the king retired with his army, and wholly
abandoned the wicked designs which he had concerted
with the Exarch.^
Pope Gregory IL, having died in 731, his successor,
the third Gregory,** the first year of bis election, wrote
three successive strong letters of remonstrance to the
Emperors, Leo and his son Constantino Copronymus,
on their promotion of the Iconoclast heresy, and their
grievous persecution of the Church. Although the
Papal messengers were intercepted and imprisoned in
Sicily, some of the letters reached. Leo's reply was,
to dispatch a powerful military and naval armament
against Italy, charging the officer in command to bring
back the Pope in chains to Constantinople. However,
he could not command the winds and the waves ; his
1 AnaBtasins, " Life of Gregory 11.," and Baronius, " Annales Eccleai-
astici," ix. 95, A.D. 729.
^ Pope Gregory III., a Syrian, governed the Ohurch, a.d. 731-741.
COtLAPSE OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE. I 83
fleet was scattered by a violent storm in the Adriatic ;
several ships were sunk, and the expedition proved
abortive. About the same time, Gregory convened a
council at Rome, attended by ninety-three bishops, in
which it was decreed that all those who condemned the
veneration of holy images should be cut off from the
communion of the Church.^
The Emperor, doubly incensed by the loss of hia
fleet and the action of the Pope and council, seized on
the patrimonies of Saint Peter in Sicily and Calabria ;
transferred Greece and lUyricum from the Eoman to
the Byzantine patriarchate;^ decreed new and most
onerous taxes, to be levied in Italy; and threatened
the Holy Father anew with his vengeance.
Meanwhile, Eome was again besieged by the Lom-
bards, under Luitprand, who had forgotten all his good
resolutions and promises to the late Pontiff. The
Greek Emperors, who ought to have been the defenders
of the beleaguered city, were now its determined,
though impotent, foes. To the inhabitants, therefore,
and indeed to the whole Central and Southern Italian
populations, and their trusted chief and protector, the
Pope, no course remained but to seek foreign aid.
Under these circumstances, Gregory, following the
example of his immediate predecessor, opened negotia-
tions with Charles Martel, whose aid he solicited in
several urgent letters.
These overtures not having had the desired effect,
Gregory dispatched an embassy, with presents of sacred
relics, to Charles, A.D. 741. The Papal envoys, Anas-
tasius a bishop, and Sergius a priest, were graciously
received by the French prince, to whom, on behalf of
the Pope, and the people and nobles of Eome, they
offered the dignity of Consul, or Patrician, praying
him, at the same time, to extend to them his powerful
^ BafoniuB, " Annales Ecclesiastiei," ix. loi, et seq. Pagi, "Pont.
Eom. Gesta," i. 415, 416. Anaatasius, Vit. Greg. III.
" Vide supra, p. 135.
I 84 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
protection. Charles readily promised to inarch with
an army into Italy, to defend the Church and the city,
with its territory, against all enemies : but, at the end
of October that year, in the midst of his preparations,
his career was cut short by death. Gregory died a few
days later; and the life of the Greek Emperor, Leo
the Isaurian, terminated about the same time.^
The new Pope, Zachary,^ successfully exerted him-
self to restore peace to Italy. Immediately, on his
accession, attended by his clergy, he visited Luitprand,
in his camp at Temi in Perugia, and prevailed on that
prince to suspend his warlike operations, and, further,
to make restitution of the four cities of the Duchy of
Eome which he had seized, and of several cities and
provinces which he had taken from the Exarchate,
thirty years before.*
That the feeble grasp of the Greek Emperors on
their Italian possessions had altogether relaxed at this
period, A.D. 742, is evident from the fact of the
Lombards having held a considerable portion of the
territory of the Exarchate fully thirty years, and of the
question of its restitution now being, not to the
Emperor Constantine Copronymus, but " to Saint Peter,
Prince of the Apostles," " to the holy man," Zachary,
and«to theEepublic."*
^ "Annals of Metz," anno 741'; and Baronms, "Annales," ix. 133
et Beq. It is stated by some, that Gregory III. actually crossed the
Alps this year, and visited Charles Martel, who received the Fope
with due honour, but was unable to comply with his request. The
evidence of existing records however supports the above account ;
namely, that Gregory rather sent an embassy, and was promised aid
by Charles.
' Saint Zacharias, or Zachaiy, a Greek, governed the Church, A.D.
741-752. He was revered and loved equ&y by Greeks, Lombards,
and Romans.
' AnastaaiuB, "Life of Zachary," and Baronius, "Annales," ix. 153
et seq., AD. 742. The four cities here mentioned were Orta, Bomarzo,
Blera, and Amelia. See Orsi, "Del Dominio Temporale de' Papi,"
p. 34. Rome, 1789.
_ * Anastasius, "Life of Zachary." "Prsedictas quatuor civitates
eidem sancto cum habitatoribus redonavjt viro. , . . Numanateuse et
COLLAPSE OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE. I 8 S
In the works of the historians and other writers of
this period, we meet with frequent mention of the
Roman Eepuhlic — Bespvblica Bomana. On the com-
plete extinction of the Byzantine rule in Italy,, this
form of government was created by the circumstances
of the times, and was constituted of the nobles or
senate, and the people of Eome, with the Pope as their
universally acknowledged and firmly established head
and ruler.^
The year 750 ushered in new troubles to Italy.
Eachis, now King of the Lombards, totally regardless
of a twenty years' treaty of peace, which he had con-
cluded with Zachary, invaded the province of the
Pentapolis with fire and sword, and laid siege to the
walled city of Perugia. Zachaiy, on hearing of these
proceedings, which were strangely at variance with
the previous exemplary and pacific disposition of that
monarch, set forth immediately for Perugia, attended
by several of the dignitaries of his clergy, and induced
the King to raise the siege. After some days' sojourn
of the Holy Father, the sentiments of Eachis were
completely changed. Not only did he decide to close
his warlike operations ; but he determined to abdicate
his royal dignity, and to withdraw from the world,
which, even in his exalted station and with his all but
boundless power, could, not satisfy the yearning of his
heart. Accordingly, he divested himself of the dis-
tinctive appendages of state, and, accompanied by his
wife and daughter, made a visit to Saint Peter's Church
in Eome. He then begged of the Pope to admit him
among the clergy, and took the habit, as a Benedictine
Tallem, quae vocatur magna, sitam in territorio Sutrino, per donationis
titnlum ipsi Beato Petro Apostolorum Frincipi reconceesit. . . . Duas
partes territorii Caesenae castri ad partem reipublicse restituit."
^ Keferring to this period of the history of the Popes, Mr. Gibbon
says, " Their temporal dominion is now confirmed by the reverence of
a thousand years ; and their noblest title is the free choice of a people,
whom they had redeemed from slavery" ("Decline and Fall of the
Boman Empire," chap. xUx.).
1 86 THE CHAIB OP PETEK.
monk, in the abbey of Monte Cassino.^ At the same
time, his wife, Thesia, and his daughter, Eatrada, -with
the Pontiff's permission, entered the nunnery of Plom-
bariola,2 in the neighbourhood of the abbey, and there
received the veU, and spent the remainder of their
lives in prayer and contemplation.* Here we are
reminded of a similar act, springing from a like motive,
some eight centuries Mter — the voluntary abdication,
and retirement into a monastery, of the Emperor
Charles V.
Zachary might well have been styled the father of
his adopted country. Not content with averting the
evils of war, and otherwise alleviating the sufferings of
the people, he seems to have endeavoured, as. far as
possible, to keep alive the lingering embers of the
Byzantine rule in Eavenna and the Pentapolis, pro-
bably entertaining a faint hope, that he and his suc-
cessors might thus be relieved of the heavy burden
devolving on them as temporal rulers.
That Constantine Copronymus acquiesced in the
actual position of affairs, appears not unlikely, if we
may judge from his friendly relations with Pope
Zachary, whose good services, evidently, he fully
realized. Thus, we read of his making a donation,
in perpetuity, " to the most holy and most blessed Pope
of the holy Eoman Church," of two estates, of consider-
able extent, in the small portion of Italy still subject
to the Empire.*
' Saint Benedict founded his first monastery at Monte Cassino, in
the province of Caserta, fifty miles north-west of Naples, A.D. 529.
' Saint Scholastica, sister of Saint Benedict, founded the nunnery of
Flombariola, about five miles south of Monte Cassino, and governed it
under her brother's rule and direction. This house was richly endowed
by Queen Thesia.
' Anastasius, "Life of Zachary." Leo Ostiensis, "Ohron. Cassin.''
cap. 8. Baronius, " Annales Eocles.," ix. 197, a.d. 750.
* Anastasius, "Life of Zachary." Those estates were called Nym-
phas and Normias. Their locality is not mentioned by the historian.
CHAPTER XII.
DONATIONS OF PEPIN AND OHAKLEMAGNE.
"£t ipsas claves, tarn Kavennatium TTrbie, quamque diversarum
civitatum ipsius Ravennatiuiu exacchatus, una cum suprascripta dona-
tione de eis a suo rege (Pipino) emissa, in coufessione Beati Petri
ponens, eidem Apostolo et ejus Yicario Sanctissimo Papee (Stepbano)
atque omnibus ejus Successoribus Fontificibus perenniter possidendaa
atque disponeudas tradidit. " — Anasiasius Biblioiheoabius.
Pope Zachaet having died on the isth of March 752,
his successor Stephen II. was elected on the 27tli of
that month, hut was carried off by a sudden illness,
four days after his election.. He was succeeded by
Stephen III.,^ who was no sooner seated in Saint Peter's
chair than he found himself face to face with a cruel
and relentless foe. This was Astolphus, the brother
and successor of Eachis on the Lombard throne. To
this prince, waging war against Eome and its dependent
cities and territories, Stephen, in the third month of
his pontificate, sent an embassy, offering costly presents,
and praying for peace. Astolphus was induced to con-
clude a forty years' treaty of peace with the Pontiff; but
treacherously resumed hostilities within four months.
In doing so, he openly avowed that his objeat was, to
seize the whole province, retaining it utider his juris-
^ Pope Stephen III., a Boman by birth, governed the Church, a.d.
752-757. His immediate predecessor, who reigned only four days, is
omitted by some writers from the list of Popes, because only elected,
and not consecrated Pope. Consequently they call this Pontiff Stephen
II. See Baronius, " Annales Ecclee.," ix. 208, A.D. 725. In such cases,
I follow the enumeration of " La Gerarchia Cattolica."
I 88 THE CHAIR Oy PETER.
diction, and levying an annual tribute of a golden
aolidus per head on the inhabitants of the city of
Eome.^
Having sent two more embassies to Astolphus, with-
out avail, Stephen next dispatched envoys to Constan-
tinople, representing to the Emperor that Home was
besieged, and that the Imperial provinces were in the
hands of a devastating enemy — the Exarch having fled,
utterly powerless to oppose the invasion.^ The Em-
peror was alike unable and unwilling to afford aid. In
the words of the annalist, " he was much more inclined
to wage war against the Church than to attack the
Lombards."
In the midst of these difficulties and dangers, the
eyes of the entire Eoman people were now turned
towards the Apostolic Father.* He alone appeared
calm and undismayed. In him all hopes were centred.
On an appointed day, with an implacable enemy surging
against the city walls, he assembled the terrified in-
habitants, and feelingly .exhorted them to turn with
their whole hearts to God, who alone could aid them in
their darkest hour of affliction. "I beg of you, my
dearest children," said he, " let us implore the clemency
of the Lord for out grievous sins ; and He will be our
helper and our deliverer from the hands of the per-
secutors." By his orders, public prayers were con-
tinuously ofi'ered up ; litanies were recited ; and there
filed through the desolate streets, to the Church of the
Blessed Mother of God, named " Ad Prsesepe," a solemn
procession, in which the Pope walked barefoot, attended
^ AnaBtasins, "Life of Stephen III." The golden eoUd/us, or sou,
was worth i6 franca, or 138. ^d, of our money.
' This was Eutychius, the last of the exarchs. By his flight, the
Exarchate of Ravenna was closed, after an existence of 184 years.
' In the early ages the Pope was generally so called. Even Ter-
tullian, writing in a hostile spirit, about a.d. 211, addresses Pope
ZephyrinuB as " Apostolic man. " We sometimes find Bishops so styled,
down to the ninth century. From that period, the designation has
been confined to the occapant of the Apostolic See.
DONATIONS OF PEPIN ANB CHARLEMAGNE. 1 89
by his clergy in their sacred vestments, and followed by
thousands of the population.^
Once again, now for the fourth time, an urgent appeal
was made to the better feelings of the Lombard King ;
but, finding that prince stiU deaf to his prayers, and
seeing that no aid could be looked for from the By-
zantine court; Stephen, imitating the example of his
predecessors, sent a message to Pepin, the son and suc-
cessor of Charles Martel, stating that he was desirous
of visiting him, in order to claim his powerful assistance
for the Church and her oppressed children. Pepin
forthwith dispatched to Eome the Bishop Eodigandus,
and the Duke Authcarius, to tender his respects to the
Holy Pather, and, with a sufficient escort, to conduct
him, with all honour, into France. On his way, the
Pontiff, ever anxious to avert bloodshed and rapine,
paid a visit to Astolphus in his capital, Pavia, and
there endeavoured to effect a pacific arrangement ; but,
this final effort having proved of no avail, he continued
his journey across the Alps. On his arrival at the
monastery of Saint Mauritz, the Pope was further
waited on by Fulradus, Abbot of Saint Denys, the
trusty councillor of Pepin, and the Duke Ehotaldus,
who presented him with their royal master's felicita-
tions upon his arrival on French soil.^
The reception of Stephen, and his progress through
France, were indeed well worthy of those ages of faith.
Hearing of the approach of his venerable visitor, Pepin
sent forward his son Charles (afterwards the celebrated
Charlemagne), and several nobles, a distance of one
hundred miles, to bid him welcome, and to impart ad-
ditional dignity to his escort; while he himself awaited
the Pontiff's arrival at his palace of Quierzy-sur-Oise,
^ Anastasius, " Life of Stephen III.,'' and Baroniua, " Annalea Eccle-
siastici," ix. 211, A.D. 753. This church was called "Ad Praesepe,"
because in it was preserved the holy manger of Bethlehem. It is now
Saint Mary Major's.
^ A.D. 754. Anastasius, " Life of Stephen III. ; '' and Baronius,
" Aunales Ecclesiastici," ix, 213,
IpO THE CHAIR OF PETER.
near Noyon.^ Three miles from the palace, Stephen
was met hj the monarch, his wife, his sons, and nobles,
who all prostrated themselves, to do homage to the
Vicar of Christ. Then, rising up, Pepin, with a loud
voice, returned thanks to God for the visit with which
his kingdom had been honoured ; and, to further testify
his veneration for the Pontiff, the King- walked at his
bridle-rein the whole way back to the palace. Arrived
there, in the chapel royal, he solemnly promised Stephen,
binding himself by oath, that he would, with all his
power, espouse the cause of Saint Peter and the Eoman
Republic, and accomplish the restoration to them of the
Exarchate of Eavenna, and of the other possessions,
usurped by the Lombards.^ Pepin and his sons then
executed a deed of donation, in writing, to the Pope, of
all the territories in question ; clearly regarding him as
the actual legitimate sovereign of the Italian provinces,
formerly ruled by the Emperors.^
Stephen was conducted by the King to the Abbey
of Saint Denys, where suitable preparations had been
made for his accommodation. Here, in the course of a
few days, he anointed Pepin and his sons, Charles and
Carloman, Kings of France, conferring on them at the
same time the dignity of Patricians of Borne, a title
by which, in his letters, he ever afterwards addressed
them, and which they always assumed, until it merged
in the superior dignity of Emperor, in the person of
Charlemagne.*
The question arises here: Was the Pope justified
^ A faTOurite paJace of the Carlovingian kings. Charles Martel died
here.
" Anastasius, "Life of Stephen m." Baronins, " Annales Ecdeei-
aBtid," ix. 213, 214, A.D. 754. Flatina, " De vitis Fontificam Roma-
nonun," p. 114,
^ AnaetasiuB mentions this vritten deed of donation, as read to and
confirmed by Charlemagne, in his "Life of Adrian I.," but does not
clearly aUude to It in his " Life of Stephen." It is also fully described
by Leo Ostiensis, the chronicler of Honte Cassino, as we shall pre-
sently see.
* Patridans of Borne. Vide supra, p. 173, note.
DONATIONS OF PEPIN AND CHARLEMAGNE. I9I
in thus confirming the deposition of Childerio, the
titular King ? ^ A fortiori, it may be asked : Was
Pope Zachary justified in approving of and authorizing
that deposition, two years before ? To answer these
questions, we must carefully regard the actual position
of affairs. Charles Martel died, A.D. 741, and was suc-
ceeded by his sons Carloman and Pepin in the de facto
sovereignty of France. Carloman received Austrasia,
and Pepin Neustria and Burgundy; each still bearing
their father's title of Mayor. Carloman, anxious to
withdraw from the cares of state, retired into a monas-
tery which he had founded on Mount Soracte, and
there received the Benedictine habit, from the hands of
Pope Zachary, in the year 746. He was succeeded in
his all but royal dignity by his brother, Pepin le Bref,
now sole master of France. The Merovingian race of
kings being rois faivMns, leading lives of indolence and
pleasure, and only rulers in name, all the power of the
kingdom was in the hands of the Mayor of the Palace,
who, of his own free motion, concluded treaties, declared
war, and, in every other respect, exercised sovereign
power. In the year 751, the whole nation determined
to put an end to this anomalous state of affairs, and
unanimously declared Pepin King. A difi&culty how-
ever arose. The nobles, including Pepin himself, were
bound by their oath of allegiance to Childeric. They
applied to Pope Zachary, who, carefully considering
all the circumstances of the case, and consulting alike
the unanimous wishes and the welfare of the nation,
granted them a dispensation from their oath.^ Accord-
^ Chaderio IIL, Burnamed the Stupid, was titular King of France,
A.D. 743-752. He died in the monastery of Saint Bertin, in 755.
With him closed the Merovingian, and with Pepin commenced the
Carlovingian, line of kings.
* EgiiSiard, "Annales," vol. iii. p. 4; also Baronius, "Annalea
Ecolesiastici," ix. 204, a.d. 752. The decision of Pope Zachary ia
given by the annalist, as expressed in the following words : "Melius
esse ilium vocari regem, apud quem summa potestas consisteret." "It
is better he should be styled King, in whom is vested the supreme
power."
192 THE CHAIE OF PETEB.
ingly, Pepin was solemnly crowned King of France,
at Soissons, in an assembly of the bishops and notables
of the kingdom ; Saint Boniface, Primate and Apostle
of Germany, officiating on the occasion, in obedience to
the orders of the Pope.^ The unction by Pope Stephen,
two years afterwards, appears to have been intended
as a confirmation of this ceremony; and, further, it
included the two young princes with their father, as
anointed sovereigns of France.
Pepin's first act, in fulfilment of his promise to
Stephen, was to send an embassy to Astolphus, calling
on him to conclude a treaty of peace with the Pope
and the Eoman Eepublic, and to make restitution of
the territories of which he had deprived them. Astol-
phus refused ; on which, the French King immediately
set his army in motion. Even then, in order to pre-
vent the effusion of blood, Stephen wrote an urgent
letter, a final appeal, to the Lombard King. This
pacific overture, however, was spurned, with threats of
vengeance against the jPontiff, the French monarch,
and the whole French nation. Attacked in the passes
of the Alps, Pepin swept the enemy from his path, and
pursued them, broken and dismayed, up to the walls
of their capital, the strong city of Pavia. Here, Astol-
phus had no alternative. A treaty was concluded
between the Eomans, the French, and the Lombards ;
Pepin receiving hostages, and Astolphus binding him-
self, by oath, to restore Eavenna and the various other
^ Bginhard, " Annales," vol. iii p. 4. Saint Boniface, named in baptism
Winfrid, was born at Crediton, in Devonshire, a.d. 680. He was edu-
cated partly in the monastery of Exeter, and partly at that of Nutoell near
Winchester. Having preached Christianity for some time in Friesland,
he visited Rome in the year 719, where he received from Pope Gregory
II. a commission to preach the faith in Germany. So gratified was the
Pope at the success of his labours, that he recalled him to Home, and
ordained him bishop for the same mission, A.D. 723. On his accession
in 732, Pope Gregory III. sent Boniface the pallium, and appointed him
Archbishop and Primate of all Germany. He stood equally high in
the favour of Popes Zachary and Stephen. Boniface suffered martyr-
dom, at the hands of the infidels of East Friesland, a.d. 755.
DONATIONS OF PEPIN AND CHARLEMAGNE. 1 93
cities and provinces which he had usurped. On this,
the French King recrossed the Alps, with his victorious
army ; and the Pope returned to Eome, where, in the
Church of Saint Peter, a general thanksgiving was
offered up for the favourable termination of the
struggle.*
But ere long the political horizon became as dark as
ever. The Lombards, forgetting the stern lesson they
had been taught, and wholly regardless of their treaty
obligations, once more levied war against the Eomans,
and besieged the city, devastating the surrounding pro-
vinces with fire and sword. Stephen again appealed
to Pepin and his sons for aid, now addressing them as
Patricians of Eome.* In a letter written to them on
the fifty-fifth day of the siege, he gives a lamentable
description of the devastations and outrages perpetrated
by the enemy, " worse than were ever perpetrated by
Pagans." In another letter, he speaks in the person
of Saint Peter, and adjures them to aid and defend the
Church, so that he may, in turn, protect them in the
day of judgment, and prepare places for them in
heaven.*
Pepin's second armed intervention in Italy was far
more complete and effective than the first. Astolphus,
hearing of his approach, raised the siege of Eome, which
had now lasted more than three months, and fell back,
with his army, on Pavia. Here, the Lombard was so
hard pressed that he was compelled to yield at discre-
tion, and, for his own sake, to act in perfect good faith.
At the dictation of his concLueror, he restored to the
' A.D. 754. Anastasiua, "Life of Stephen III.," and Baronius,
" Annales," ix. 220.
^ "Dominis excellentissimis Pipino, Oarolo, et Carlomanno, tribua
regibus, et nostris Romanis Patrioiis."
' This letter, written under the pressure of n, terrible emergency,
has been censured by the enemies of the Popes; "yet," observes Mr.
Gibbon, "they surely meant to persuade rather than deceive. This
introduction of the dead, or of immortals, was familiar to the ancient
orators, though it is executed on this occasion in the rude fashion of
the age" ("Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," chap. xlix.).
N
194 "^^^ CHAIR OF PETER.
Pope, by a written deed, all the cities arid territories
of which he had so lately promised to make restitution,
now adding Comacchio, as the penalty of his perfidious
breach of promise. To take possession of these cities,
Pepin deputed his councillor, Pulradus, Abbot of Saint
Denys, who went round with the deputies of Astolphus,
receiving the keys of each city, and taking with him,
as hostages, some of the principal inhabitants. With
these, he proceeded to Eome, and there, on behalf of
his royal master, he laid the keys and the deed of
donation of the cities and territories on the Confession
of Saint Peter,'- "delivering them up to the same
Apostle, and to his vicar, the most holy Pope, and to
all his successors, pontiffs, to be possessed and governed
by them for ever." ^
The cities restored by Astolphus to the Holy See,
as enumerated by Anastasius,^ comprised, with their
^ Immediately under the high altar of the basilica of St. Peter at
Kome, is a subterranean church, called " the Confession of Saint Peter "
and also Zimma Apostolorvm, or " the threshold of the Apostles."
Here are entombed one-half of the bodies of Saints Peter and Paul ;
the other half being enshrined in the basilica of Saint Paul without
the walls. In ancient times, churches dedicated to the memory of
martyrs were called by the Latins ' ' Confessio, " and by the Greeks
" martyrlum," from the Greek nd/yrvp, a, witness, which word, as well
as the Latin Confessor, is employed by the Church, to designate one
who has suffered death, to bear witness to Jesus Christ and the truth
of His Gospel. In the fourth century. Saint John Chrysostom speaks
of the Church of Saint Peter at Rome, as the moHyi-ium, or confession,
of the Apostles, referring to the underground Church. Anciently, as
observed by Panvinius, double churches were very general ; especially
in Italy — the lower, or underground church, commonly called the
crypt, from the Greek Kpivra, "hidden," being immediately under
the high altar and sanctuary of the upper church.
* Anastasius Bibliothecarius, "De Vitis Pontificum Romanorum,"
p. 126. The original is quoted in the heading of this chapter. Here,
it will be noted, the expression used is "donation," viz. donatione de
cis a suo rege (Pipmo) emissd. Anastasius says that this written deed
of donation was preserved in the archives of the church in his day —
A.D. 860.
' These cities, twenty in number, were Ravenna, Rimini, Pesaro,
Fano, Cesena, Sinigaglia, Jesi, Forumpopuli, Forli, with the fortress
of SusBubium, Castrooaro, Montefeltri, Acerragio, Monte Luco, Serra,
the Castle of San Marino, Bobbio, tTrbino, Cagli, Lucoli, and Gubbio.
DONATIONS OF PEPIN AND CHARLEMAGNE. I95
circumjacent territory, the Exarchate of Ravenna, then
reduced to the provinces of Eavenna, Ferrara, and
Bologna; and the Pentapolis, extending along the
Adriatic from Rimini to Ancona — the whole measuring
about one hundred and twenty geographical miles from
the Po to Ancona, by an average of between forty and
fifty from the Adriatic to the Apennines. As regards
the Duchy of Rome, which extended from Viterbo to
Terracina, and from Narni to the mouth of the Tiber,
the Popes had, for a long period, been the rulers de
facto of this district, under the suzerainty of the Greek
Emperors, and they were latterly its independent sove-
reigns— the province having been abandoned by its
original possessors. It was formally confirmed, or
guaranteed, by the donation of Pepin, along with the
cities and territories which had been usurped . by
the Lombards, and which he now compelled them to
restore.
There is some difference of opinion among ancient
writers as to the actual extent of Pepin's donation.
Anastasius, in his Life of Stephen, appears to define
it as above given; whilst, on the other hand, Leo
Ostiensis, the chronicler of Monte Cassino, widely
extends its limits, taking the Exarchate of Ravenna
as it was at the period of its greatest prosperity, and
not as it was in its latter day, when shorn of much of
its ancient possessions. Accordingly, he includes the
island of Corsica, Parma, Reggio, Mantua, Continental
Venice, and even Istria.^ Again, in his Life of Adrian
To these were added Comaccliio, above referred to, and Nami, " which
city had, in times gone by, been taken from the Bomans by the Duchy
of Spoleto." Anastasius, " De Vitis Pontificum Romanorum," p. 126.
Baronius, "Annales Ecclesiastici," ix. 234, A.D. 755.
^ Leo Ostiensis, " Historia Cassin," lib. i. 0. 7. " Fecit autem idem
inclytus Eex una cuin filiis concessionem beato Petro ejusque Vicario
de oivitatibuB Italiee et territoriis per designates fines, a Lunis cum
insula Corsica, inde Suranum, inde in montem Bardonem Vercetum,
Parmam, Regium, Mantuam, et Montem-silicis, simulque universum
Exarohatum Ravennse, sicut antiquitus fuit, cum provinciis Vene-
tiarum et Istrise, cunotumque Ducatum Spoletinum et Beneventanum."
196 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
I., Anastasius himself adopts these extended limits,^ in
describing the donation of Charlemagne, confirming
that of Pepin.i xhe writers however who question the
extent of this alleged more ample donation, argue, that
neither Pepin, nor even Charlemagne, had conquered
the island of Corsica and certain other territories men-
tioned in the deed, and consequently could not make
a grant' or donation of them : but this is met by the
not altogether unreasonable supposition, that the in-
habitants of those territories had, with a view to their
own safety, in the troubled state of the country, pre-
viously placed themselves under the sovereignty of
the Popes ; as certainly was afterwards done by the
inhabitants of the duchies of Spoleto and Eeati, when.
they transferred their allegiance from the King of the
Lombards to Pope Adrian I.^
The more extended limits of Pepin's donation, as set
forth by Leo Ostiensis, are adopted in the confirmatory
Diplomas of the Emperors, Louis le Ddbonnaire, Otho,
and Saint Henry, to which it will presently be neces-
sary more fully to refer. At this remote period, the
question is one of much uncertainty. On the whole,
the smaller limits, as above stated, appear the more
probable of the two.*
Leo Ostiensis wrote towards the end of the eleventh century. A monk
of Monte Cassino, and subsequently Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, he was
distinguished fo^ his learning. His chronicle of Monte Cassino comes
down to A.D. 1086.
' Anastasius Bibliothecarius, " Historia de Vitis Fontificum Roman-
orum," p. 156. Mogunti^, 1602. "Aliam donationis promissionem
ad mstar a/rdxriorii, , . . Carolus Franconim rex ascribi jussit, . . .
ubi concessit easdem civitates et territorla beato Fetro casque prsefato
Fontifici contradi spospondit per designatum confinium, sicut in eadem
donatione contineri monstratur : " Here follows the designation of
territories precisely as in the preceding note.
^ A.D. 773. Anastasius, "Life of Adrian L;" and Baronius,
"Annales Eoclesiastici," ix. 326. Charlemagne and his successors,
notwithstanding, expressly reserved one of these duchies under their
supreme jurisdiction, as we shall presently see. This appears to have
been so arranged between Charlemagne and Fope Adrian L
' Vide supra, p. 194.
DONATIONS OF PEPIH AND CHARLEMAGNE. 1 97
It was on the occasion of his second expedition into
Italy, that Pepin was waited on by the envoys of the
Greek Emperor, offering him a large amount of treasure,
in consideration of his delivering up the city of Eavenna
and the other cities and territories of the Exarchate to
their Imperial master. But the French King peremp-
torily "refused to suffer the alienation of those cities
and territories from the power of Saint Peter, and the
jurisdiction of the Eoman Church, or of the Pontiff of
the Apostolic See ; affirming, with an oath, that he had
entered on the war, not through favour to any man, but
through love of Saint Peter, and for the forgiveness of
his sins, and that no amount of treasure could induce
him to take away that which he had once given to the
blessed Apostle." ^
Stephen III. was succeeded in the Pontifical Chair
by his brother, Paul I., a.d. 757. This Pontiff, during
a reign of ten years, was constantly harassed by his
restless neighbours the Lombards ; as was his successor
Pope Stephen IV., who presided over the Church a.d.
768-771. After him came Adrian I.,^ who, immediately
^ Anastasius, "Life of Stephen III.;" and Baronius, " Annales Eoole-
siastici," ix. 234 ; A.D. 755. There has been considerable controversy
among writers, on the question, whether the grants of Pepin and his
successors to the Popes were a restitution, or simply donations or con-
cessions. The facts appear to speak plainly for themselves. Certain
cities and territories had been taken by the Lombards and other
invaders from the Popes, or from the Greek Emperors, whose place
in Italy the Popes occupied by common consent since the fall of the
Western Empire. These cities and territories were conquered by the
Erench monarchs, not for themselves, but to be handed over imme-
diately to the Holy See. Clearly, the action of the Lombard Kings,
who were compelled, at the point of the eword, to restore them, can be
regarded only as restitution ; whilst, with reference to the part of
Pepin, Charlemagne, and other devoted sons and defenders of the
Church, the term "donation," or "concession" may appropriately be
employed ; especially as, humanly speaking, it appears most unlikely,
that, without their aid, those possessions would have been recovered
by the Popes.
* Pope Adrian I., a Roman of noble birth, governed the Church
nearly twenty-four years, A.D. 772-795. He presided, by his legates,
at the Seventh General Council, the second of Nice, in 787.
IpS THE CHAra OF PETER.
on his accession, found himself so severely pressed by
their incursions, under King Desiderius, that he urgently
applied to Charlemagne for aid. The French monarch,
having tried negotiations in vain, marched over the
Alps, captured Verona and other Lombard cities, and
laid siege to the strong fortress of Pavia, their capital.^
When the siege had lasted six months, Charlemagne,
being desirous to visit the Pope, and to venerate the
Tomb of the Apostles, set out with a large retinue of
bishops, abbots and nobles, and a numerous military
escort ; and proceeded through Tuscany to Eome. His
journey was so timed, that he arrived in the city on the
eve of the great Easter festival. Adrian, hearing of his
approach, and wishing to receive him with due honour,
sent forward, a distance of thirty miles, all the judges,
with a suitable escort, and the state banners, to meet
him ; and when the King arrived within one mile of the
city gates, all the classes, or scholce, of the Roman youth
were there marshalled, with their officers, under arms ; ^
while younger boys bore palm and olive branches, and
chanted a hymn of welcome ; and the holy crosses were
displayed, with which it was customary to receive the
Exarchs and Patricians of Eome. On beholding the
sacred emblems of our Redemption, Charlemagne dis-
mounted, and with his suite proceeded on foot to the
Church of Saint Peter. Here, the Pope, attended by
his clergy and a vast concourse of the Roman people,
awaited the arrival of his august visitor. On reaching
the Church, the King, as he ascended, kissed each of
the steps ; * and, on his attaining the porch, he and the
Pontiff cordially exchanged embraces ; and, the King
taking the Pope's right hand, they reverently advanced
up the centre of the basilica; whilst the clergy and
religious communities rendered thanks to God, chanting
1 A.D. 773.
^ " TJniversaa soholaa militise una cum patronis " (Anastasius, p. lee).
_ » AnaBtasiuB, " De Vitis Pont. Rom.,'' page 155. " Omnes gradus
Bigillatim ejusdem aacratiesimae beati Petri Kcolesise deosculatus est"
DONATIONS OF PEPIN AND CHARLEMAGNE. 1 99
the appropriate verse/ " Benediotus qui venit in nomine
Domini." Then the Pope and the most Christian King,^
and all the bishops, abbots, nobles, and others compos-
ing his suite, approached the Confession of Saint Peter,
where, for some time, they remained prostrate in prayer,
thanking God for the victory they had gained over the
enemies of the Church, through the suffrages of the
Prince of the Apostles. His thanksgiving being con-
cluded, the King asked permission of His Holiness to
enter the city, and to perform his devotions in the
various other churches.*
Early on Easter Sunday morning, Adrian sent all his
judges, and his entire military force, to escort the French
monarch to the church of the Blessed Mother of God,
" Ad Prsesepe ; " and, after the celebration of Mass, the
Pontiff and the King proceeded to the Laterau Palace,
where Adrian entertained his royal guest. Next day,
the Pope celebrated a Mass of thanksgivings in the
Church of Saint Peter, after which he returned thanks
to " the most excellent King of the Prench and Patri-
cian of Eome," there present; and, on the following
day, he officiated in the Church of Saint Paul, accord-
ing to custom.*
On the fourth day, Adrian repaired in state to the
Church of Saint Peter, there to confer with Charle-
magne, whom he besought to fulfil, in all particulars,
the promises made to Saint Peter and his vicar Stephen,
of blessed memory, by his honoured father Pepin, him-
self, and his brother Carloman, that they would restore
1 "The most Christian King," ChristicmimmMS Reus. The great
antiquity of this title of the French monarohs is proved by its being
thus applied to Charlemagne by Anastaaius Bibliotheoarius, writing in
the ninth century. It was probably conferred on Charlemagne, or on
his father Pepin, by the Pope.
^ Anastasius, "Life of Adrian I.;'' and Baronius, " Annales Eoole-
siastici," ix. 328, a.d. 774. At this time, Saint Peter's was outside the
city walls.
^ Ibid. These stations are noted for the days above mentioned
respectively, in ancient Roman Missals. See Index, "Stations."
200 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
the cities and territories of the province of Italy to the
Popes " to be possessed by them for ever." ^
The King, having caused the deed of promise, which
had been executed in France, to be read to him, was
pleased to confirm its contents; and, of his own free
wiU, he ordered another deed of donation, " to the effect
of the former," to be drawn up by Etherius, his chaplain
and notary, in which deed he granted " the same cities
and territories " to Saint Peter and his successors, and
guaranteed to them the boundaries set forth therein.^
This deed he confirmed by his signature, and further he
caused it to be signed by the bishops, abbots, and coun-
cillors in his train, and his secretaries. He then laid it
on the altar of St. Peter ; and finally deposited it within
the Confession of the Apostle ; when he and his coun-
cillors bound themselves by oath to the same Blessed
Peter and his successor, Pope Adrian, that they would
religiously observe aU its provisions.*
Prom this account, it would appear that the deed
executed by Charlemagne to Adrian, on this occasion,
conveyed the same extent of territory as Pepin's deed
to Stephen, of which it was a confirmation. With re-
spect to Charlemagne's concession of the Sabine terri-
tory " in a written deed of donation " to the Holy See,
and other grants of that monarch, alluded to in the
Diplomas of the Emperors, Louis, Otho, and Saint
Henry, they are generally ascribed to a later period of
his reign.* Charlemagne now returned to his army,
^ Anastasius, " Life of Adrian L"
" Ibid.
<* Ibid., and Baronius, "Annalea Ecclesiastic!," ix. 329, A.D. 774.
The deed was drawn up in duplicate ; one part being deposited in the
Church of Saint Peter, and the counterpart being taken by the Bang.
* Father Fagi is of opinion, that, as may be inferred from Pope
Adrian's letters, although Charlemagne added many cities and terri-
tories to those which his father, Pepin, had granted to the Apostolic
See, he did not grant them altogether, or in this particular visit to
Rome : viz. " Constat vero ex Epistolis Hadriani Papas, Carolum civi-
tatibus ac provinciis, quas Flpinus pater Apostolicse Sedi concesserat,
plurimas addidisse, ted Jus nee omnes Hmul, nee in hoc JRomana Caroli
DONATIONS OF PEPIN AND CHARLEMAGNE. 20I
closely investing Pavia ; and, after a protracted struggle,
that city, reduced by famine and pestilence, was com-
pelled to surrender. King Desiderius and his family
were sent prisoners into Prance; and the conqueror,
adding those fair provinces to his dominions, legiti-
mately assumed the iron crown of Lombardy.^ Thus
terminated the Lombard rule in Italy, after an exist-
ence of 206 years.2
profectione datm mitt" ("Brev. Gestorum Pontifioum Romanorum, '
vol. L p. 461 ; Venice, 1730). This accords with the words of Anaa-
tasius, above quoted.
' The Iron Crown of Lombaidy is so called because, within a broad
golden band set with jewels, it contains a thin circlet of iron, said to
have been beaten out of one of the nails used at the Crucifixion of our
Saviour, and brought over from the Holy Land by the Empress
Helena. This crown was used at the coronation of several Emperors,
including Charlemagne, Charles V., and Napoleon I. The last, wear-
ing the diadems of Prance and Italy, placed the Iron Crown upon his
own head, amid great state and ceremony, in the Cathedral of Milan,
on the 26th of May, 1805, pronouncing at the same time these words :
Dieu me la dorme ; gore d, qui la touche.
' A.D. 568-774. Anastasius, "Life of Adrian I.," and Baronius,
« Annales Ecdesiastici," ix. 334 et seci., a.d. 774.
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAELEMAGNE CROWNED BMPEEOR OF THE WEST.
" Thou staadest like Imperial Chariemagne,
Upon thy bridge of gold ; thy royal hand
Outstretched with benedictions o'er the land."
Longfellow.
Some five and twenty years later, the aid of Charle-
magne was again invoked by the Successor of Saint
Peter; and the French King promptly and efficiently
interposed, as Patrician of Eome and Protector of the
Holy See. The occasion was as follows ; and its details
furnish a remarkable illustration of the condition of
society in those rude and troublous times. One day, in
the fourth year of his pontificate,^ as Adrian's suc-
cessor, Leo III.,^ was passing in a procession through
the streets of Eome, immediately in front of the monas-
tery of Saints Stephen and Sylvester, he was attacked
by a numerous body of hired assassins, irreverently
seized on, and savagely assaulted. The clergy and
laity, unarmed and unprepared, were powerless to pro-
tect him; and the Holy Father was carried oflf and
imprisoaed. The miscreants by whom this outrage
was perpetrated were the tools of a few influential
wicked men, who had conspired to depose Leo, and to
place a nephew of Adrian on the Pontifical throne.
Having effected his escape from prison, and furnished
by the Duke of Spoleto with a strong military escort,
the Pope crossed the Alps, to solicit the aid of Charle-
' ;A.prii 2s, 799.
' Pope Leo III., by birth a Roman, governed the Church, A.D. 795-
8i6>
CHARLEMAGNE CROWNED EMPEROR OF THE WEST. 203
magne, then encamped with his army at Paderborn in
Westphalia. That monarch, hearing of his approach,
sent forward several bishops and nobles, and his son
Pepin, to escort the Pontiff; and, on his arrival, he
paid him honours similar to those rendered by his royal
father to Pope Stephen. The king immediately sent
envoys to Eome to investigate the case. They found
that the perpetrators of the outrage could not aver
anything against Leo, nor palliate their own conduct.
They were thereupon condemned to death; but, in
deference to the Pope's wishes, the penalty was miti-
gated to exile. Eeturning to his capital, with a Prench
escort, Leo was received with loud acclamations by the
clergy and people, hailing him as their sole legitimate
Lord and Pontiff. ^
The following year, according to promise, Charle-
magne visited Eome, chiefly with the object of ter-
minating the troubles and scandals caused by the
factious proceedings of certain powerful subjects of the
Holy Father. Those unscrupulous men had dared to
lay before the King a series of false charges against
Leo, whose only offence was, that he alone had the
courage and the power to check their excesses. As
on a former occasion, Charles was received with all
honours by the Pope. On the seventh day after his
arrival, the King convened, with Leo's sanction, a great
assembly of the clergy, nobles, and other influential
persons, Prench and Eoman, in the Church of Saint
Peter. The Pope and the King occupied elevated seats,
on the same level, and invited the archbishops, bishops,
and abbots, to be seated also ; the principal nobles, of both
nations, and the remainder of the assembly standing.
Charles then stated that his chief object in coming to
Eome was, to investigate with the, Holy Father the
complaints that had been made, and that they invited
those present to join in the investigation. On this, the
' Auastasius, "Life of Leo III.," and Barouius, "Annales Eocleai-
astici," ix. 498, a.d. 799.
204 '^^^ OHAIB OF PETEK.
archbishops, bishops, and abbots unanimously replied,
"We dare not judge the Apostolic See, which is the
head of all the Churches of God; for by it and its
Vicar we all are judged, but it is judged by no one ;
such being the custom of ancient times. But, accord-
ing as the Supreme Pontiff himself will decide, we will
canonically obey."^ The Holy Father then stood up
and declared : " I tread in the footsteps of the Popes,
my predecessors ; and I am ready to clear myself of all
the false charges, which have been iniquitously pre-
ferred against me."^ No one having meanwhile re-
peated, or attempted to substantiate, those accusations,
Leo, on a subsequent day, in the same Church of St.
Peter, and in presence of the French monarch and the
same assembly, ascended the ambo,^ and, taking an
oath on the Holy Evangelists, said, in a loud and
' Anastasius, " De Vitis Pontificum Romanorum,'' p. 183, Moguntiae,
1602. "Qui universi archiepiBCopi, et episcopi, et abbates unanimiter
audientes dixerunt : ' Nos Sedem Apostolicam, quse est caput omnium
Dei ecclesiarum, jndicaie non audemus. Nam ab ipsd uos omnes et
Vicario suo judieamur ; ipsa autem a uemine judicatur, quemadmodum
et antiquus mos fuit. Sed sicut ipse Summus Fontifex censuerit,
canonice obediemus.'" This is indeed strong testimony, as to how
fully the Primacy of the Holy See was recognized at this early period ;
and it has the greater weight, as coming from a cotemporary historian,
remarkable for his accuracy and truth.
2 Ibid.
' Ambo (from the Greek, ivapalveiv, to ascend). This was a raised
platform of wood, or masonry, in the nave of churches, in the early
ages, surrounded by a low railing or wall. From it the Gospel and
Epistle were read or chanted, announcements to the congregation
were made, excommunications were pronounced, the Scriptures were
read, and sermons were preached.' In later times, it was replaced by
the pulpit. An interesting specimen of the ambo may be seen in the
ancient church of San Clemente, Home. The Diptychs also were read
from the ambo in ancient times. The Diptychs (from the Greek,
Slvrvxp,, double-folded) were double tablets or catalogues, read out to
the congregation from the ambo by the deacon, or, in a low Toice, to
the priest at the altar by the sub deacon, or referred to by the officia-
ting priest in his prayers. They were those of the living and of the
dead. In the former were inscribed the names of the Pope, the Bishops
and Clergy, the Emperor and Empress, the Consuls, the benefactors of
the Church, and others. In the latter were the names of the former
Bishops and others deceased. In the Diptychs were also mentioned
CHARLEMAGNE CROWNED EMPEROR OF THE WEST. 20 S
distinct voice : " It is notorious, most beloved brethren,
that bad men have risen up against me, and have
calumniated me and my life, by the gravest accusations.
Por the sake of sifting these things, the most clement
and most serene King Charles has come to this city,
along with his clergy and nobles. Wherefore I, Leo,
Pontiff of the Holy Eoman Church, neither judged by
any one nor acting by compulsion, of my own free will,
in your presence before God who knows our consciences,
and the angels of God, and the Blessed Peter, Prince
of the Apostles, hereby clear myself of having perpe-
trated, or ordered to be perpetrated, those things of
which I am accused, calling God as my witness, by
whom we shall be judged and in whose sight we stand.
And I do this, not bound by any laws, nor wishing to
impose this custom or ordinance in the Holy Church
on my successors or brother bishops : but only that I
would the more certainly free your minds from wicked
suspicions." i This declaration of the Holy Pather was
most joyfully and respectfully received; the litanies
were' recited ; and thanks were rendered to God by'
the entire assembly.
All this occurred in the middle of December 800.
On Christmas day, that year, as Charles prayed in the
Church of Saint Peter, Leo advanced with a precious
crown, emblematic of the Imperial dignity, and placed
it on the monarch's head ; and all the Eomans, present
in great numbers, witnesses of his devoted defence and
love of the Church, and of its chief pastor, exclaimed,
as with one voice, " Long life and victory to Charles,
the pious Augustus, crowned by God, the great and
the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Martyrs, and other Saints. In case of
heresy, excommunication, or public scandals, the name of the offender,
if on the Diptychs, would be erased. The commemoration of the
saints, and the mementos of the living and the dead, in the Diptychs,
may be traced in the canon of the Mass.
^ Ex Sacris Ritibus Romause Ecclesise ante Natalem Domini, apud
Baronium, " Annates Eoclesiastioi," ix. 503 ; and Anastasius, " De
Vitis Pontificum Romanorum," p. 183.
3o6 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
peace-giving Emperor."^ Then the Pontiff anointed
with holy oil the Emperor and his eldest son; and
Charlemagne bound himself by oath, to act ever as the
protector and defender of the Chnrch." «
The investiture of Charlemagne with the Imperial
dignity by Pope Leo III. may well be regarded as one
of the grandest, most solemn, and most important
events in history. In reviewing it, we must not con-
fine ourselves to the services rendered to the Church
by the Carlovingian King. We must further take into
account his paramount power; his widely extended
dominions, comprising all France and Germany, the
Low Countries, the Continent of Italy to Beneventum,
and portions of Hungary and Spain ; his peace-giving
victories over unjust warfare, spoliation, and anarchy;
his wise jurisprudence; his enlightened promotion of
education; his encouragement of agriculture and of all
the useful arts; and the other signal benefits which,
for a long series of years, he had conferred on the
populations of Western Europe. Moreover, it was but
right, as it was expedient, that the Imperial crown of
the West should be worn by him who now firmly held
the sceptre which had long since passed away from the
Byzantine Emperors.* By many writers, the hand of
Divine Providence is recognized in the intimate union
' " Carolo piissimo Augusto, a Deo ooronato, magno, pacifico Impera-
tori, vita et victoria."
' Anastasius, "Life of Leo IIL ;'' and Baronius, " Annales Ecclesi-
astici," ix. 502, A.D. 800. It is stated by Eginhard, and other writers
after him, that Charlemagne was ignorant of the Pope's intention,
and that the act of Leo took him completely by surprise ; nay, that he
afterwards affirmed, that, had be known of the intended coronation,
he would not have come to the church that day. This allegation how-
ever is not borne out by the monarch's seeming ready acquiescence in
the ceremony. Some writers again surmise, that the coronation had
been settled between the monarch and the Pope ; but that the time
was anticipated by Leo.
^ With reference to the fe-establishment of the Empire of the West
by Piipe Leo III., Sigonius observes, " This title of Imperial dignity,
which, in the person of Romulus Augustulus, the last Emperor of the
West, had succumbed to the rule of the Goths, almost three hundred
CHARLEMAGNE CROWNED EMPEROR OF THE WEST, 207
thus established between the Church and the Empire
— an union so fraught with advantages to all Christian
nations; and this, notwithstanding the fact, that, in
the course of time, there arose a few unworthy succes-
sors of Charlemagne on the Imperial throne.
Throughout the whole course of his long reign, this
powerful monarch, the master of the entire Western
world, displayed a filial affection for the successor of
Saint Peter, and the most devoted zeal for the welfare of
the Church. Thus, from the commencement, in setting
forth his titles, in pubHc documents, he used to style
himself "Charles, by the grace of God, King of the
Franks and the Lombards, Patrician of the Eomans,
Defender of the Holy Church of God." Such were his
sentiments of love. and veneration for Leo's predecessor.
Pope Adrian, that he would have the expression of
them embodied, as in an enduring record, in the
epitaph which he composed for the monument of that
holy Pontiff. In it, these verses occur : —
" Nomina jungo simul titulis, carissime, nostris ;
Hadrianus, Carolus, Eex ego, tuque Pater.i
On the death of Adrian, a.d. 795, Charlemagne,
desirous that the dignity of Patrician of the Eomans
should be confirmed to him by the new Pope, addressed
a letter to Leo, as follows: "As between the prede-
cessor of Your Blessedness and me there has been a
solemn treaty of holy paternity, so I now desire that
there should be established between us a similar cove-
nant of faith and affection, in order that, God enabling,
the See of the most holy Eoman Church may ever
be defended by our devotion." ^ Whether as King or
years before, was renewed by the Pontiff in the same West, in order
that the Eoman Church might have a Protector against infidels,
heretics, and seditions persons, which office the Emperor of the East
appears to hare long before repudiated." "De regno Italiae," lib. iv.,
ad annum 8oi. Carlo Sigonio, an eminent historian and antiquary,
was born at Modena in 1520, and died in 1584.
1 "Dearly beloved, I join together our names, with our titles;
Adrian, Charles ; I the King, and you the Father."
" " Sicut enim cum beatissimo praedecessore vestro sanotse paterni-
208 THE CHAIB OF PETER,
Emperor, he on all occasions acted up to these profes-
sions ; and, in his last will and testament, he solemnly
enjoined the same course on his three sons, Louis,
Pepin, and Charles, among whom he bequeathed his
dominions. In that document, written A.D. 806, he
says: "But above all things we order, that the said
three brothers shall together undertake the protection
and defence of the Church of Saint Peter, as formerly
undertaken by our grandfather Charles, and our father
King Pepin, of blessed memory, and afterwards by us ;
that they shall endeavour, with God's aid, to defend it
against all enemies ; and that, as far as pertaineth to
them, and reason demands, they shall vindicate its
rights."^ We find the same spirit pervading all his
letters to Pope Adrian.^ Here, indeed, is presented a
remarkable contrast with the course pursued by some
of the rulers of the earth in our day — a course directly
leading to the subversion of all authority, political
as well as religious, and the triumph of infidelity and
communism.8
tatis pactum inii, sic cum Beatitudine vestra ejusdem fidei et charitatia
inviolabile fcedus statuere desidero, quatenus sanctissimee Romanaa
Bcclesiee Sedes, Deo donante, nostra semper devotione defendatur."
1 The same instructions, in the same words, are given by Charle-
magne's son and successor, the Emperor Louis le Bdbonnaire, to his
three sons, in his last will and testament : viz. " Super omnia jubemua
atque praecipimus, ut ipai tres fratres curam et defensionem Ecclesise
Sancti Petri simul susdpiant, sicut quondam a proavo nostro Carolo, et
avo nostro Pipino, et beatae memorise genitore nostro Carolo Impera-
tore, et a nobis postea suscepta est: ut eam, cum Dei adjutorio, at
hostibus defenders nitantur, et justitiam suam, quantum .ad ipsob
pertinet, et ratio postulaverit, habere faciant."
* In these letters, Charlemagne styles himself, Dcvotus sanctce Dei
EccleiuB Defensor, hvmilisque Adjvtor j and PatHdui Somanorum,
Films et Defentor Sanctce Dei Ecclesice.
' Charles, or as he was afterwards called, Charlemagne (Charles the
Great), was the son of Pepin le Bref, and was bom at the Castle of
Salzburg in Upper Austria, in the year 742. Pepin, dying in 768, left
his dominions to his two sons Charles and Carloman, to be governed
by them jointly; but, the latter dying in 771, Charles became sole
master of Prance. An able, wise, and enlightened ruler, he largely
extended his dominions on every side. As we have seen, he was
crowned Emperor of the West, by Pope Leo IIL, a.d. 800. Shortly
CHARLEMAGNE CKOWNED EMPEROR OF THE WEST. 209
afterwards, his Imperial dignity was recognized by the Eastern Em-
press, Irene, and her husband Nioephorus ; and the boundaries of the
two Empires were amicably adjusted. At the same time, friendly
relations were established between Charles and the celebrated Caliph
of the Saracens, Haroun al Raschid, who presented him with the keys
of the city of Jerusalem and of the Holy places ("Claves sepulchri
Domini, claves etiam civitatis et mentis, cum vexillo detulerunt." —
William of Tyre). Charlemagne was a liberal patron of learning,
established schools extensively, and otherwise promoted education.
He everywhere encouraged agriculture, and all the useful arts. His
Capitularies, or celebrated code of laws, range from a.d. 769 to 813.
They were published by Baluze, Paris, in two volumes, folio, in 1677.
In the year 806, he drew up his last will and testament, dividing his
dominions among his three sons ; but, Pepin and Charles having died,
he associated his only surviving son, Louis, in the Empire with him-
self, at Aix-la-Chapelle, the year before his death, which took place on
the 8th of January, 814, in the seventy-second year of his age, and the
forty-seventh of his reign as King, and fourteenth as Emperor. It
is related that, several centuries later, his tomb in the Cathedral of
Aix-la-Chapelle was opened, when his body was found, attired in the
Imperial robes, and seated in a chair of state. On being touched the
whole crumbled into dust, save the diamond clasp which fastened his
cloak, and other jewels, now preserved at Vienna. It is sometimes
observed of Charlemagne, that he founded nothing of an enduring nature
— that his Empire, his laws, all his works, perished with him. To this
M. Guizot conclusively replies, "Although the vast domination of
Charlemagne disappeared with him, it is not true that he founded
nothing ; he founded all the States which sprung from the dismember-
ment of his Empire. His conquests entered into new combinations,
but his wars attained their end ; the foundation of the work sub-
sisted, although its form was changed. It is thus that the action of
great men is in general exercised. Charlemagne as an administrator
and legislator appears under the same aspect" ("History of Civiliza-
tion," lecture 20).
CHAPTEE XIV.
DIPLOMAS OF THE EMPEEOES LOUIS, OTHO, AND SAINT
HENEY.
" Has omnes supradictas prorinciaa, urbes et civitates, oppida atque
caatella, viculos ao territoria, simulque patrimonia, pro statu Regni
nostri, cunctoque Christianorum populo conservando, jam dictse Eo-
clesiae tuae, Beate Petre, Vicarioque tuo, Benedicto, ac successoribns
ejus, usque in finem sasciili, eo modo confirmamus, ut in suo detineant
jure, principatu, atque ditione." — Diploma of the Emperor Seniry II.
Thje donations of Pepin and Chailemagne to the Popes
appear to have been regularly confirmed by their de-
scendants, on the accession of each to the Empire.
Thus, Charlemagne's son and successor, Louis le D^-
bonnaire, or Louis the Pious, as he was styled, executed
a most ample diploma, or charter, to Pascal I.,^ A.D.
817, decreeing, granting, and confirming to him, as
Supreme Pontiff and Universal Pope, and to his suc-
cessors for ever, the City of Eome with its duchy and
territories, as theretofore held and governed by him
and his predecessors ; ^ certain cities, towns and dis-
tricts (enumerated) in Tuscany and Campania ; and the
Exarchate of Eavenna and the Pentapolis, together with
their cities, districts and dependencies, which had been
" restored by a deed of donation " to the Holy See by
Pepin and Charlemagne,' also the Sabine territory,
^ Pascal I., a native of Eome, governed the Church, A.D. 817-824.
" " Sicut a prsedecessoribus vestris usque nunc in vestra potestate et
ditione tenuistis et disposuistis. "
* " Quae piae recordationis dominus Fipinus Eex, ac bonaj memorise
genitor noster Carolus Imperator beato Petro Apostolo et praedeoessori-
bua vestris jamdudum per donationia paginam restituerunt." It is
deserving of notice that the Emperor here speaks of the Exarchate of
DIPLOMAS OF THE EMPERORS. 2 I I
which had been " conceded in a written deed of dona-
tion" to the Pope by the latter monarch, and certain
specified cities and provinces in Lombardian Tuscany,
together with the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and
Sicily, and all the patrimonies of the Church, "under
her power and jurisdiction," in all parts of the Empire.
Louis further confirmed to the Pope certain tributes
and pensions, which used formerly to be paid every
year out of the Duchies of Lombardian Tuscany and
Spoleto into the palace of the king of the Lombards ;
but, in doing so, he expressly reserved to himself his
sovereignty over the said two duchies,^ thus proving
that he did not aim at the least shadow of power or
jurisdiction over all the other territories conveyed and
confirmed in his diploma, no reservation whatever having
been made with regard to them.
This is further expressed in the clause, "And we do
not claim for ourselves any part in them (the said ter-
ritories, cities, etc.), nor any power of governing, judging,
taking from, or diminishing the same, unless when we
shall have been invited by him who, at any time, shall
hold the government of this holy Church."
•Next follow stringent provisions against any subjects
of the Empire in any way interfering with the Eomans,
in the free and canonical election of the Pope — a topic
which will be treated of fully in a future chapter.
To the same effect are the diplomas, or deeds of con-
firmation, of the Emperors Otho I. to Pope John XII.,
and Henry IL to Pope Benedict VIII., executed re-
spectively in the years 962 and 1020. In these, as in
that of Louis, we find the clause, " saving our rule in all
Ravenna and the Peutapolis, as having been restored to the Popes by
Pepin and Charlemagne in a deed of donation, whilst he alludes to
Rome and its duchy and territories, as having been " held under their
power and jurisdiction down to the present time " by Pascal and his
predecessors on the Pontifical throne, and governed by them.
1 " Eo scilicet modo ut aunis singulis praediotus census Eoclesise Beati
Petri Apostoli persolvatur, salva super eosdem ducatus nostra in omni-
bus dominatione, et illorum ad ncstram partem subjectione."
212 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
things over these duchies and their subjection to us,"
appUed only to the Duchies of Lombardian Tuscany
and Spoleto, the tributes annually paid by which are
confirmed to the Popes; while, with this sole excep-
tion, "all the provinces, cities and states, towns and
fortresses, villages and territories, together with the
patrimonies of the said Church," are confirmed to " the
Sovereign Pontiff and Universal Pope, and to his suc-
cessors, to the end of the world, to be held by them in
their right, princedom, and jurisdiction." ^
' Theiner, " Codex Diplomaticus Dominii Temporalis S. Sedis," torn,
i p. 2-8, Komse, 1861 ; Baronius, "Annales Boclesiastici," ix. 670;
Cenni, "Esiime del Diploma di Ludovico Pio," parte prima, and
" Esdme de' diplomi d'Ottone e S. Arrigo," parte terza. The authen-
ticity of the diploma of Louis le D^bonnaire has been questioned by
some writers, while admitted by the majority. It appears however to
be conclusively established, as an authentic document, by the Abbate
Cenni, in his learned treatise just named. Of the diplomas of Otho I.
and Henry II., to the same purport, the authenticity is universally
admitted.
CHAPTER XV.
RELATIONS OF THE POPES AND THE EMPEEOES.
" H ne faut jamais perdre de vue oette grande et incontestable v&it^
historique, que tous les souveraim rega/rdaient le Pwpe comme lev/r supi-
rieur mime temporel, mais surtout comme le suzerain des empereurs Uectifs.
Les Fapes ^taient census, dans I'opinion universelle, donner Tempire
en couronnant rempereur. Celui-oi recevoit d'eux le droit de se uom-
mer un sucoesseur. Les flecteurs Allexnands recevait de lui celui de
nommer un roi des Teutons, qui dtait ainsi destine ^ I'empire. L'em-
pereur ^u lui pr^tait serment, etc. Les pretentions des Papes ne
sauraient done paraitre dtranges qu'k ceux qui refusent absolument de
se transporter dans ces temps recules." — Db Maisibe.
There has been considerable discussion amongst the
learned as to the degree of power or jurisdiction exercised
by the Prankish or German Emperors and the Popes,
respectively, in Rome and its dependencies, after the
grants of Pepin and Charlemagne. Some writers assert
that all through down to the reign of Pope Julius II.,
A.D. 1 503, and some, that, at particular periods specified,
the Pontiffs exercised only the proprietary dominion,
dominium utile, uilder the supreme dominion, or suzer-
ainty, dominium altum, of the Emperors ; some again
hold, that they exercised supreme power conjointly
and equally with the Emperors, consortes et socii ejusdem
dominii; whilst several are strongly of opinion, with
Cardinal Orsi and the learned Fr. Theiner of our day,
that, from A.D. 754, the year of Pepin's donation, the
successors of Saint Peter continuously exercised the
supreme as well as the proprietary dominion of the
extensive territories of the Holy See.' One fact is un-
^ See Cardinal Orsi's able work, " Delia origine del Dominio de'
Bomaui Pontefioi," with which is published, as an appendix, the
Abb^te Cenni'a "Estoe del Diploma di Ludovipo Pio, e de' Diplom§
214 THE OH AIR OF PETER.
deniable, and it goes far towards reconciling these
various opinions ; namely, that, even although the
grants were made and confirmed to them by the French
and German monarchs, in a manner full and complete,
the Popes, in many an instance, were unable to enforce
their authority, in several of the provinces, or, again,
were powerless to resist attacks from outside ; and,
consequently, were obliged to request the Emperors'
interference and exercise of jurisdiction within their
States; whether to defend and protect them against
foreign invasion, on the one hand, or domestic faction,
unhallowed conspiracies, and sacrilegious outrage, on
the other.i In all probability, it was with reference to
this necessity of the Holy See, rather than with the
intent of arrogating supreme authority, . that the Em-
perors used to send, from time to time, into the Papal
States their envoys, Tivissi, who appear to have partaken
of the character of inspectors, or overseers, as much as
of amhassadors. On the whole, the view that the
Pontiffs exercised supreme dominion within their own
territories, at the period in question, is fully borne out
by the tenor of the diplomas of the Emperors, Louis,
Otho, and Saint Henry, above referred to, as well as by
the solemn acts of their successors.
Whilst, with the Pope's permission, the Roman people
took an oath of fidelity to the Emperor, expressly re-
serving however their allegiance to their sovereign lord,
the Pope,^ the Emperor, on his coronation, bound him-
d'Ottone e S. Arrigo ; " Rome, 1789 : also Father Theiner's " Codex
Diplomaticus Dominii Temporalis S. Sedis," torn. i. preface. Rome,
1861.
^ A notable instance of the latter, was the gross outrage perpetrated
on Pope Leo III., and Charlemagne's intervention, at his request ; A.D.
799, as above narrated.
' In the oath of fidelity to the Emperor, which Pope EugeniuB II.
prescribed, to be taken by all the Roman clergy (A.D. 824), we find
the clause, " saving the fealty which I have promised to the Apostolic
Lord" (the Pope) — aalvdfide quam repromin Domino Apostolico ("Sup-
plementum Longobardicorum," attributed to Paul the Deacon, and
recited in the end of his book, "Gesta Episcoporum Metensium."
See Pagi, Breviarium, etc. , iL 29).
KELATIONS OF THE POPES AND THE EMPERORS. 2 I $
self by oath to act as the Protector and Defender of
the Church ; thereby undertaking to enforce the obedi-
ence, to the Holy Father, of all the subjects of the
Papal dominions, and to defend those dominions from
all foreign aggression. Again, the Emperor was actually
indebted for his authority and title to the Successor of
Saint Peter, at whose hands he received the sacred
unction and the Imperial crown.
In this interchange of privileges and services, created
by the necessities of the times, originated the ofB.ce of
Patrician conferred by the Pontiffs of the day on Pepin
and Charlemagne — an of&ce subsequently amplified
and exalted in the Imperial dignity.
The coronation of Charlemagne as Emperor of the
West by Pope Leo III., a.d. 800, was really the com-
mencement of the "Holy Eoman Empire," although
the Empire was not generally so called until the change
from the Carlovingian to the German line of Emperors,
in 962. As was the case with Charlemagne himself,
his lineal descendants were indebted for the Imperial
rank and power to their coronation by the Supreme
Pontiff, who, moreover, in cases of conflicting claims,
namgd the Carlovingian prince to be promoted to the
Imperial throne. For instance, three years after the
deposition of Charles le Gros, the sixth Emperor of
the Carlovingian line, Pope Stephen VI., A.D. 891,
nominated to the Empire, not Charles's nephew,
Arnulph, who had succeeded him as King of Germany,
but Guido, Duke of Spoleto, who was descended from
Charlemagne in the female line only, but who was the
better able to protect and defend the dominions of the
Holy See.
Another illustration of the power of the Popes in
this regard, in the tenth century, is furnished by the
transference of the Empire from the French to the
German princes by Pope John XII, in 962.1 ^q^
^ This important event will be more fully referred to in the next
chapter.
2 1 6 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
long afterwards, the elective principle came into
operation. At first, the election of Emperor was made
by the Germanic Diet; but, from the middle of the
thirteenth century down to modern times, it devolved
on the high dignitaries of the Church and the Princes
of the Empire. The place of election was Frankfort
on the Main, to which city the electors or their delegates
were summoned by the Archbishop of Mentz. All
strangers, even sovereigns and foreign ambassadors,
were jealously excluded from access to the city on the
occasion. But, in reality, it was by the Pope alone
that the Imperial dignity could be conferred ; in-
asmuch as the prince who was elected King became
Emperor only on his receiving the Imperial crown at
the hands of His Holiness. Thus, by the Alemannic
law, it was enacted that " the Germans elect the King ;
and when, by the wiU of those who have elected him,
he is consecrated and enthroned at Aix-la-ChapeUe, he
then receives the power and name of King. But when
the Pope consecrates him, then he has the plenary
power of the Empire, and the name of Emperor." i
In the letter of Pope Innocent III. to King Otho IV.
and the princes of the Empire, a.d. 1201, the Pope,
addressing Otho, says, " By the authority of Almighty
God, conferred upon us in the person of Blessed Peter,
we receive thee as King, and we order, that hencefor-
ward royal reverence and obedience be paid thee ; and,
all preliminaries prescribed by law and custom being
observed, we shall invite thy royal majesty to receive
the crown of the Eoman empire, and, God granting, we
shall solemnly confer it upon thee, by the hands of our
humility." ^ Here the Pope speaks in the spirit of the
' "Juris Alemannici," cap. xviiL u. 1-3. "Germani eligunt regem.
. . . Quando ipse eonsecratur, et collocatur in solio Aquisgranensi,
ex eorum voluntate qui ipsum elegere, tunc accipit poteatatem et uomen
Regis. Quando autem Papa eum consecravit, tunc plenariam habet
imperii pntestatem, et nomen Imperatoris."
^ Baluze, "Epistolas Innooentii III.," Epist. 32. "Auctoritate Dei
Omnipotentis, nobis in Beato Petro collate, te in regem recipimus, et
RELATIONS OF THE POPES AND THE EMPERORS, 2 I 7
age, which invested the Head of the Church with such
extraordinary powers in matters temporal.
Again, as in the cases of Charlemagne, Louis le
D^bonnaire, Lothaire I., and others, we find the Pope
of the day confirming the right of succession in the
eldest son of the reigning Emperor, by anointing him
King, and thus sanctioning his association with his
father in the Empire.
But we have a still further proof of the paramount
authority of the Popes in the Middle Ages, in the fact
that it was from them that the Germanic princes, in a
certain sense, derived their power of electing the King,
and expectant Emperor. This historical fact stands
forth in a clear light, as incontestably proved by
several authentic official documents. From these let
us take the following extracts : —
In a letter of Pope Innocent III. to the Duke of
Carinthia, A.D. 1201, the following passage occurs:
" Wherefore, we acknowledge in those princes (Electors
of the Holy Roman Empire) the right and power of
electing the King, to be afterwards promoted Emperor,
as we ought to recognize it in those to whom it belongs
by right and ancient custom; especially as this right
and power has come to them from the Apostolic See,^
which transferred the Eoman Empire from the Greeks
to the Germans, in the person of Charles the Great.
But the princes, too, must acknowledge, and they do
acknowledge, that the right and authority of examin-
ing the person elected King, and of promoting him to
the Empire, belong to us, who anoint, consecrate, and
crown him." ^
regalem tibi praecipimus de caetero reverentiam et obedientiam exhiberi ;
pisemissisque omnibus quae de jure sunt et consnetudine prsemittenda,
regiam magnificentiam ad suscipiendam Roniani imperil coronam
vocabimus, et earn tibi, dante Domino, humilitatia nostrae manibus,
solemniter conferemus."
^ " Right and power," jus et potestas, are thus taken together, and
used in the singular number, in the original.
^ "Epistolae Innocentii PP. III.," epist. 62. This letter is the more
2 I 8 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
When Eudolph of Hapsburg, as Emperor-elect, con-
firmed and guaranteed, in the most ample manner, the
territories and privileges of the Holy See to Pope
Nicholas III, A.D. 1279, the Pontiff required, that the
Imperial diploma should be approved and ratified, in a
solemn deed by the Princes of the Empire. That deed
was accordingly executed by them ; and in it they ac-
knowledge, in language most emphatic, however florid,
that their electoral rights and power are derived from
the See of Peter ; and, further, they show the complete
accord of the Church and the Empire at that period.
The exact statement which they give of the actual ter-
ritories of the Papacy at the time — now six centuries
ago — is of no small interest, especially aS the territories,
set forth by them, so closely coincide with the posses-
sions of the Holy See in modern times." ^
They say that, in conferring the Empire on Germany,
the Eoman mother Church " has honoured her with a
terrestrial name of dignity which is above every name
of those who temporally reign upon earth ; " and has
established princes in her, who, supported by the
authority of the said Church, are the electors of him who
holds the reins of the Eoman Empire. " In order, then,'"
they continue, " that all matter of dissension and scandal,
or any occasion of ill-feeling, may cease to exist between
the Church and the Empire," they, in the name of their
princedom, in and through all particulars, approve and
ratify all that has been ratified and confirmed by
their lord, Eudolph, King of the Eomans, ever august,
to their most holy father and lord, Pope Nicholas III.,
with respect to the acknowledgments, concessions, and
acts or deeds, as well of the other Emperors and Kings,
as of the King himself, and especially with regard to the
important, that it is embodied in tho Corpus Juris Canonici, in the
Decretals of Pope Gregory IX., lib. i. tit. vi. cap. xxxiv.
1 "By the diplomas of Rudolph," says Sismondi, "the States of the
Church reached the extent which they have preserved to the present
day " (" Annals of Italy," torn. ii. p. 252).
RELATIONS OF THE POPES AND THE EMPEEOKS. 2 1 9
fidelity, obedience, honour, and reverence, due by the
Eoman Emperors and Kings to the Eoman Pontiffs,
and to the Church herself, and also with regard to the
possessions, prerogatives, and rights of the same Church.
They next specify in detail all the territories of the
Church thus confirmed — an enumeration which it is
unnecessary to repeat here, especially as these coincide
pretty closely with the Pontifical States, as settled by
the Treaty of Vienna in 1815. To this parchment
deed, dated A.D. 1279, are attached, by silken cords,
nine seals, viz., those of Henry, Archbishop of Treves ;
Sigfrid, Archbishop of Cologne ; Werner, Archbishop of
Mentz ; Louis, Count Palatine of the Ehine and Duke
of Bavaria; John, Duke of Saxony; Albert, Duke of
Saxony ; John, Marquis of Brandenburg ; Otho, Marquis
of Brandenburg ; and Gerard, Marquis of Brandenburg.^
Occasionally, when the usual election was prevented
by wars and disturbances, the choice, as we have seen,
was vested in the Sovereign Pontiff, by whom the
Emperor was nominated as well as crowned. This
great power in the hands of the Pope appears to have
been generally recognized in the Middle Ages. By
common consent, he was the arbiter of princes and
kingdoms ; and, as such, in a few grave cases, he de-
posed unworthy sovereigns and released their subjects
from their allegiance. Of this extreme exercise of his
authority, a few remarkable instances will be noticed
further on.
^ From the original deed in the Vatican Library ; apud Theiner,
"Codex Diplomaticus Dominii Temporalis S. Sedis ;" No. 393, torn. i.
p. 24 jr. In the year 1356, the Emperor Charles IV. issued the Golden
Bull, so called from a golden seal attached to it by silk cords, after the
manner of Papal Bulls. This BuU, also called " Caroline," after the
Emperor, regulates all, even the most minute, details to be observed
in the election of Emperor. It confines the privilege of voting to the
Archbishops of Mentz, Treves, and Cologne, and the Duke of Saxony,
the Count Palatine of the Rhine, the Marquis of Brandenburg, and the
King of Bohemia. Several other princes were subsequently added.
CHAPTEE XVI.
TICISSITTJDES OF THE TEMPORAL POWER IN THE MIDDLE
AGES.
The suTDdivision and rapid decline of the great Empire
of Charlemagne, after the death of its illustrious founder,
were, for a long period, detrimental alike to the Tem-
poral Power of the Popes and the spiritual interests of
the Universal Church. Charlemagne's son and suc-
cessor, Louis I., whose diploma we have examined, was
succeeded by his son Lothaire, a.d. 841, after a troubled
reign of twenty-seven years. When, three years later,
on the death of Gregory IV., Sergius II. ascended the
Papal throne, he was consecrated immediately on elec-
tion, without reference to the Emperor, matters having
been precipitated by the apprehensions arising from
the violence of faction. Lothaire thereupon sent his
son Louis, with «,n army, to invade the Papal States.
When Louis arrived at Eome, the Pope received him
on the steps of Saint Peter's ; and refused to open the
gates of the basilica to him until he should declare that
he entertained no designs hostile to the Holy See. On
the prince's making this declaration, Sergius crowned
him King of the Lombards, but refused to comply with
his demand, that the Komans should swear fealty to him
— an oath which could be claimed only hj the Emperor.
In the year 855, a short time before his death,
Lothaire divided his dominions among his three sons.
To Louis, whom he had associated with himself in the
Empire, six years before, he gave Italy; to Lothaire,
with the title of King, the provinces lying between the
VICISSITUDES OF THE TEMPOEAL POWER. 2 2 I
Ehine, the Meuse, and the Scheld, called after him
Lotharingia, and more recently Lorraine ; and to Charles
the Bald, the kingdom of Burgundy, Provence, and
Dauphin^.
In 849, Louis, who, as Emperor Associate, then
governed Italy, had witnessed the invasion of the
southern portion of the Peninsula by the Saracens, who
carried their audacity so far as to besiege Eome, which
he was powerless to defend, and which was saved solely
by the genius and influence of Pope Leo IV. ^
On the death of Louis II., without issue, in 875, he
was succeeded by his brother, Charles II., or the Bald ;
and other Carlovingian princes followed, several of
whom were indebted for the Imperial dignity to their
nomination by the Pope. But now the power of the
Empire had dwindled to a mere shadow of its former
substance. Consequently, the Emperors, even where
willing, were oftentimes unable to protect the Pontiffs ;
and not only was the control of the election to the .
Papacy usurped by certain powerful families and their
factions at Eome, but several portions of the States of
the Church were unrighteously seized on and appro-
priated by princes and nobles — the Emperors them-
selves, in some instances, participating in the spoliation.
Thus, from the latter part of the ninth to the middle of
the eleventh century — a period of close on two hundred
years — a large portion of the Pontifical dominions was
in the hands of laymen.
1 "Pope Leo IV.," eays Voltaire, "taking on himself, in this junc-
ture, an authority which the Emperor Lothaire's generals seemed un-
willing to assume, showed himseU worthy, by his defence of Rome, to
rule there as sovereign. He had employed the riches of the Church in
repairing the walls, raising towers, and extending chains across the
Tiber. He armed the militia, visited aU the gates himself, and re-
ceived the Saracens, not in warlike array, but as a Pontiff encouraging
a Christian people, and as a king watching over the safety of his
subjects. He had been born a Roman : the courage of the first ages of
the Republic reappeared in him, in a period of cowardice and corrup-
tion, like one of the great monuments of ancient Rome among the
ruins of later structures."
222 THE CHAIE OF PETEE.
From time to time, the Popes, sometimes aided by the
Emperors, and sometimes unassisted, endeavoured, with
varying success, to re-establish the Papal government
in its spoliated provinces. Their efforts in this direc-
tion, upheld by the spiritual power, which in the
Middle Ages was, in itself, a tower of strength, appear
to have been undec-estimated by certain writers, who
no less undervalue their results. Much additional
light, however, has been thrown on the actual position
of the Pontiffs, as temporal sovereigns, at this particular
period and in subsequent centuries, by the publication
of a complete series of authentic official documents,
which have been carefully extracted from the archives of
the Vatican, by a master hand, chronologically arranged,
and given to the public in our day.^ To these it will
be necessary several times to refer, as we proceed, in
this and the immediately following chapters.
' "Oodex Diplomaticus Dominii Temporalis S. Sedis," by Father
Augustin Theiner, Priest of the Oratory, Prefect of the secret archives
of the Vatican, Rome, 1861. The series commences with the Dona-
tion of Pepin, A.D. 756, and gives, in chronological order, the solemn
official acts of Pontifis, princes, and others, with reference to the tem-
poral dominions and government of the Holy See. Previously, a great
part of these important documents were scattered in the pages of
various historians and other authors. Several of them again lay badden
and forgotten in the manuscripts of the Vatican library. Here, we
have them all placed before us, in an easily accessible and admirably
arranged edition ; and they afford " the most abundant and most
reliable source of information to the historian of the Middle Ages."
They altogether refute those writers who allege that, for the first
seven centuries after the Donation of Pepin, the Popes did not
exercise real power over the territories that were assigned, or rather
restored, to them by that celebrated act; and that the temporal
government of the Popes dates from only^the commencement of the
sixteenth century — JuUus II. and Clement VIL, according to them,
being the true and sole founders of the temporal government of the
Holy See. Pather Theiner, not wishing to accuse these authors of bad
faith, observes, that we must attribute their error to ignorance of the
existing historical documents, relating to the governmental acts exer-
cised by the Popes over their States. This will be seen clearly by a
reference to his work. Allusion has already been made to Father
Theiner, as the oontinuator of the Ecclesiastical Annals of Baronius,
Kaynaldi, and Laderchi, which he is bringing down from 1572 to the
present time.
VICISSITUDES OF THE TEMPORAL POWER. 22$
In the year 962, a great change was effected, by the
transference of the Imperial dignity to Otho I., King
of Germany. This change, which was' the commence-
ment of the German line of Emperors, was brought
about as foUows. Pope John XII., having suffered
much wrong and indignity at the hands of Berengarius,
King of Italy, and his son Adelbert, sent legates to
invite Otho to Eome, to defend the Papal States and
the Holy Eoman Church from their tyranny; at the
same time, promising the German prince, that he would
make him Emperor of the Eomans — a dignity which,
owing to the public disturbances, had been vacant
since the death of Berengarius the elder, a.d. 924.
John laid down, as a condition, that, before entering
Italy, Otho should swear, in the presence of the
Apostolic legates, that he would consult the welfare of
the Roman Church, and accomplish the restoration to
it of all the possessions of which it had been deprived
by its enemies. Otho readily complied ; and, at the
head of his army, entered Italy, towards the close of
the year. Having occupied^ Pavia without opposition,
he proceeded to Eome, with a picked body of troops ;
and there he was anointed and crowned Emperor by
the Pontifif", before the 1 3th of February, 962, on which
day he issued his diploma, alluded to in a former
chapter. In that important deed, in which he styles
himself Emperor, he restores, and fully confirms, and
guarantees, the rights and territories of the Holy See.
Unhappily for himself and the interests of the
Church, John XII., ere long, yielded to the earnest
and frequently urged solicitations of Adelbert, Prince
Eoyal of Italy, and took part with him against the
Emperor. On this, Otho marched on Eome, and entered
the city, as a conqueror — the Pope and Adelbert fleeing
before him, with all the treasure they could collect.
Otho caused a synod to assemble at Eome ; and, at his
instance, they elected an antipope, who assumed thfe
name of Leo VIII., 6th December, 963. John shortly
234 '^^^ CHAIR OF PETER.
afterwards returned to the city ; and the antipope fled ;
but John died on the 14th of May following.
On the death' of John XII., Benedict the Deacon
was immediately elected his successor; and took the
name of Benedict V. This Pope was exiled, and im-
prisoned at Hamburg, by the Emperor, who had now
become completely master of the situation, and little
heeded the solemn obligations, which, in his diploma,
as well as in his coronation oath, he had contracted to
the Apostolic See.
The Emperor died in 973, and was succeeded by his
son Otho II. In the reign of this prince, the contend-
ing factions of the Eoman nobles again involved the
city and the Papacy in anarchy, which continued,
through the reigns of eight Pontiffs', until the year 996,
when Otho III. secured the election of his relative
Bruno, who ascended the Papal throne as Gregory V.^
Otho received the Imperial crown from Gregory, on
Ascension day, the same year. This Pontiff was driven
into exile by Crescen,tius, or Cenci, a powerful senator
of Eome,^ but was reinstated by the Emperor, who took
signal vengeance on the rebellious subjects of the Holy
See, Cenci and twelve of his followers were beheaded ;
and his puppet, the antipope "John XVI.," was de-
prived of Ms sight, and otherwise cruelly mutilated.*
' Gregory V., who reigned A.D. 996-999, was the first German who
occupied the Papal throne.
^ The family of Creacentius, or Cenci, possessed great power and in-
fluence in Borne in the latter part of the tenth, and the whole of the
eleventh, century. Their violent factious proceedings, and those of
other noble families, were a continual source of trouble to the Pontiffs,
and a hindrance to the progress and prosperity of the city, and of the
adjoining districts.
' This antipope was John Philagathus, Bishop of Piacenza, who
had been a great favourite of Othp II. and the Empress Theophania.
He had befeii' sent to" Constantinople, to negotiate the marriage of one
of the Greek princesses v/ith Otho III. On his return to Rome, with
the Greek envoys'. A. D. 997, urged on by Crescentius, he opposed, as
antipope, Gregory V. The barbarous cruelties inflicted upon him are
By some writers imputed to the Emperor ; while others state that they
■were the act ol certain Imperial officers, who avoided consulting Otho,
VICISSITUDES OF THE TEMPORAL POWER. 2 2 J
On Gregory's death in 999, Otho again interposed;
caused Gterbert to be elected, as Sylvester 11.;^ and
enabled him to maintain his ground against the factions
of the Eoman nobles, which still called for the severest
measures of repression.
Otho III. dying in 1002, Hardouin, Marquis of Ivrea,
■was crowned King of Italy at Pavia ; but Henry II.,
Duke of Bavaria, was, about the same time, elected
King of Germany by the German princes, and King of
Italy by the Milanese. Hence Italy was distracted by
a civil war. In 1014, Henry was invited to Eome, and
crowned Emperor, by Pope Benedict VIII., in the
church of Saint Peter : and his royal consort Cunegunda
was crowned Empress, on the same occasion. This ex-
emplary prince, whose diploma we have examined, and
whose name has been enrolled by the Church in the
calendar of the saints, was a worthy successor of Pepin
and Charlemagne, and a devoted defender of the rights
and territories of the Holy See. A few years later,^
Pope Nicholas II. effected much in vindication of the
temporal, as well as the spiritual, power, by his wise
enactments to regulate Papal elections, which will be
presently detailed. The good work was followed up by
the successful exertions of the renowned Hildebrand,
who governed the Church, as Gregory VII., a.d. 1073-
1085. These will be described in the next chapter.
lest he should order John's liberation. Vide Pagi, " Brev. Gest. Pont.
Rom.," ii. 218, 2ig.
^ Sylvester II., a Benedictine monk, and afterwards Archbishop
of Kheims, governed the Church, A.D. 999-1003. He was the first
Frenchman elected Pope.
^ A.D. 1059.
ComeU Catholic
Union Libraiy.
CHAPTEK XVIL
SAINT GREGORY VII.
" L'intdr6t du genre humain demande un frein qui retienne lea
souTerains, et qui met k couvert la vie des peuples : ce frein de la
Keligion aurait pu gtre, par une convention universelle, dans la main
des Papes. Ces premiers pontifes, en ne se mSlant des quereUes tem-
porelles que pour les apaiser, en avertissant les roia et les peuples de
leurs devoirs, en reprenaut leurs crimes, en r^servant lea excommunica-
tions pour les grands attentats, auraient toujours 6t4 regard^s comme
des images de Dieu sur la terre. Mais les hommes sont r^duits k
n'avoir pour leur defense que les lois et les moeurs de leurs pays ; lois
souvent m^pris^es, moeurs sou vent oorrompues." — Voltaike.
The pontificate of HildelDrand, who, on his election,
assumed the name of Gregory VII., is by many re-
garded as the most important and most interesting
epoch in the history of the Papacy. In examining its
prominent events, it is necessary that we should take
into account the corrupt state of society in every grade,
mainly induced by continual wars and disturbances, at
that period; the crimes of princes and nobles; their
lawless appropriation of Church property; their simo-
niacal sale of bishoprics and benefices ; and the lament-
able laxity of morals of numbers of the clergy, especially
in Germany and Northern Italy, and the neglected con-
dition of their flocks, which necessarily ensued — evils
which had been in vain struggled against by Gregory's '
predecessors. When we do this, and, further, when we
review his Hercul^afilabourg, which may best be done
through the medium of his Voluminous correspondence,
although we cannbtr fully realize, we may at least
approach a worthy estimate of, the character and
motives of this greatest of Pontiffs, who, actuated
SAINT GREGORY VH. 2 27
solely by a sense of duty, resolutely attacked all those
appalling scandals, and delivered God's Church from
the thraldom and desolation under which he had found
her so helplessly suffering.
Hildebrand was bom, of humble parentage, at Saono
in Tuscany, in the year 1013, and. was educated at
Eome, under the eye of his uncle, the Abbot of Santa
Maria on the Aventine Hill. Having embraced the
monastic state in the celebrated abbey of Cluni, he
soon became, even in that most austere community,
remarkable for his fervour and spirit of mortification.
He stood high in the favour of Bruno, Bishop of Toul,
who, on ascending the pontifical throne, under the
name of Leo IX., A.D. 1049, summoned him to Eome,
appointed him Abbot of Saint Paul's, and employed
him in several affairs of'importanee.i Hildebrand was
no less esteemed and consulted by Popes Victor II.,
Stephen X., Nicholas II., and Alexander II.; and he
largely influenced the policy of those Pontiffs.^ In
1055, ^s Papal Legate of Victor II., he held a council at
Lyons, to condemn simony ; and, the same year, he con-
vened a council at Tours, for the same pontiff, in which
Berengarius ^ retracted his errors concerning the Blessed
Eucharist. In 1059, Pope Nicholas II. created him
Archdeacon of Eome.*
' " Acta Vaticana," de rebus gestis Grregorii Septimi.
" Pope Victor II. governed the Church, A.D. 1055-1057; Stephen X.,
1057-1058 ; Nicholas II., 1058-1061 ; and Alexander II., 1061-1073.
* Berenger or Berengarius of Tours, Archdeacon of Angers, was the
precursor of Luther in his errors regarding the Blessed Eucharist. He
was condemned by several Popes and Councils. Retracting his errors
and relapsing again and again, he died, it is generally thought, penitent
and orthodox, in 1088.
* It is stated by some writers that Hildebrand was n,ot a Cardinal
when elected Pope. However, Panviniua affirms that he was. made
Archdeacon Cardinal of Sancta Maria in Dominica, by Nicholas II.
Panvinius, " Pontifioum Romanorum Chronicon," apud Flatinam :
"Abbas Sancti Pauli Romae ex S.R.B. CEConomo et subdiacono, archi-
diaoonus Cardinalis Sanotse Marise in Dominica a Nicolao II. factus."
And Pagi states that, in the month of August 1059, Hildebrand, yet
sub-deacon, was a Cardinal. — " Pontif. Rom. Gesta," ii. 301.
228 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
On the death of Alexander II., in 1073, Hildebrand
•was unanimously elected his successor by the cardinals,
with the assent and joyous acclamations of all the
clergy and people.^ Although he was chosen on the
22nd of April, his consecration did not take place until
the 29th of June, the feast of the Apostles Saints Peter
and Paul. His reluctance to accept the weighty charge
was the main cause of the delay. At this time, the
Kings of Germany, even when only Emperors elect and
not yet crowned by the Pontiffs, continued to claim
and exercise the right to confirm the election of Pope,
and to send ambassadors to be present at the Papal
consecration. Accordingly, Hildebrand sent off mes-
sengers to Henry IV., announcing his election ; but at
the same time clearly showing the monarch that he
was far from anxious to undertake so great a responsi-
bility.^ Henry however urged him to accept the dignity,
unhesitatingly gave his consent, and deputed Gregory,
Bishop of Vercelli and Chancellor of his Italian Mng-
dom, to be present at the consecration.^
Hildebrand, or, as he may now be styled, Gregory
VII., was no sooner seated in Saint Peter's Chair than
he addressed himself energetically to the correction of
all existing abuses, and the assertion of all the rights
and jurisdiction of the Apostolic See, Whether the
^ The decree of his election sets forth that he was chosen by the
Cardinals — the Bishops, Abbots, Clerics and Monks being present,
and crowds of the people of both sexes adding their acclamations.
Apud Pagi, "Pontif. Rom. Gesta," ii. 331.
" It is stated that in his letter Hildebrand earnestly besought the
king to withhold his assent or confirmation, adding that, if he were
once consecrated Pope, he would immediately take measures to repress
the monarch's flagrant excesses. "Acta Vaticana." "Sed cum ex-
cusationem de relinquendo Papatu non invenisset, nuntios ad Regem
Heuricum celeriter destinavit, per quos et electionem super se factam
aperuit, et ne assensum praeberet attentius exoravit. Quod si non
faceret, certum sibi esset, quod graviores et manifestos ipsius excessus
nnUatenus impunitos toleraret." See also Baronius, " Annales Ecole-
siastici," xi. 415, a.d. 1073, This is gravely doubted by Hefele.
' Baronius, iU supra. This was the last instance of the Imperial
confirmation of a Papal Election.
SAINT GREGORY VII. 2 29
■wrong-doer were prince, or prelate, or peasant, he
heeded not. In the unswerving discharge of his duty,
he made no distinction of persons. All alike he called
to account for their delinquencies. The King of Ger-
many, to be in due time crowned Emperor by the
Pope, was by far the greatest offender ; and, as he was
so exalted in station, his multiplied crimes, his gross
immorality, and his simoniacal dealings in Church pro-
perty, exercised the most pernicious influence through-
out Western Europe.
All these accumulated scandals were a cause of grave
solicitude to the newly elected Pontiff; and to these
was superadded a lively sense of his own responsibility
before God. He felt that his strength for the life-and-
death contest on which he was about to enter, could
come only from on high. At this period, he addressed
a touching letter to Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canter-
bury,^ imploring his prayers and those of his suffragans
1 Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, was bom a.d. 1005, at Pavia,
the capital of Lombardy, of which city his father was a magistrate.
Having completed his studies at Bologna, he followed the legal profes-
sion, and also taught jurisprudence for some years in Pavia. Removing
to Normandy, he entered the Abbey of Bee, of which, in the course of
time, he became prior. Here commenced his controvtrsy with Beren-
garius, against whom he triumphantly defended the doctrine of the
Church, on the Blessed Eucharist. Through the favour of William of
Normandy, he was promoted to the dignity of Abbot of Saint Stephen's
at Caen ; and, when William was established on the throne of England,
he was raised to the exalted post of Archbishop of Canterbury. During
William's absence, Lanfranc was virtually the ruler of England ; and
his power and influence were, if possible, stiU greater under the reign
of that monarch's son and successor, William Rufus. He died in loSft
aged 83. A devoted son of the Church, and a faithful servant and
trusted counsellor of the King, Lanfranc was sometimes placed in a
difficult position, as WiUiam was not always obedient to the vriU of the
Supreme Pontiff. However, the archbishop appears to have ever acted
with prudence, and to have endeavoured to promote, to the utmost
extent of his power, the interests of religion. His works are, Letters,
his Commentary on Saint Paul's Epistles, and his celebrated treatise
on the Blessed Eucharist, lAbdlua de corpore et sanguine Domini contra
Berengariwm. AU were published in one volume folio, by Luc D'Achery,
Paris, 1648.
230 THE CHAIE OF PETEK.
and clergy, in his great emergency. The letter ran
thus : —
Gregory, Bishop, Servant of the servants of God, to our beloved
brother, Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, Health and Apos-
tolic Benediction. How the honour and burden of the ApostoUc
government has been imposed upon us, and by what great troubles
we are pressed on every side, will be described to you by the
bearer of these letters, to whom, haying regard to your affection,
we have disclosed some things yet hidden from our own domestic
circle. Among other matters, in the first place, we beg of you,
our brother, to relax not in your constant prayers for us, and to
remind those subject to you or associated with you, to assist us
also by their fraternal supplications. Por, the greater the danger
in which we are. placed, so much the more do we need your suf-
frages, and those of all good men. Besides, if we would escape
the judgment of Divine vengeance, we are compelled to rise up
against a multitude, and to provoke them, even to the taking of
our life. For while almost all, in the words of the Apostle, seek
the things which are their own, and not those of Jesus Christ, the
princes of kingdoms and the powerful ones of this world, in order
that they may accomplish their desires, not alone negligently
desert, but with their utmost endeavours assail, the law of God
and justice ; so that we now behold fulfilled, under our eyes, that
of the Prophet : " The Kings of the earth stood up, and the
princes met together, against the Lord and against His Christ."
Even the bishops and those who ought to be pastors of souls,
seeking with insatiable desire the glory of the world and the
pleasures of the flesh, not only confound in themselves what is
holy, and what is religious, but draw down their subjects to
all wickedness, by the example of their works. How fraught
with danger to us, not to oppose these ; how difficult to resist
them, and to restrain their wickedness ; your prudence will fully
realize.!
Well indeed might Gregory have thus written ; for
at the time the condition of the Church, and of society
at large, was truly deplorable. Several unworthy per-
sons, had, through temporal motives, entered the sanc-
tuary. The sale of benefices was unblushingly carried
on. The law of the celibacy of the clergy was exten-
sively infringed. It is true, that many a holy priest
and bishop, all the inmates of the monasteries, and the
' BaroniuB, "Annales Eoolesiastioi," xi. 420, a.d. 1073.
SAINT GREGOEY VII. 23 I
great majority of the laity, were deeply pained by these
abuses ; but they were unable to prevent them ; for
their perpetrators were countenanced and abetted by
" the rulers in Israel " — the princes and nobles of the
land, in several countries of Continental Europe.^
These two crying evils — simony and the inconti-
nency of the clergy — ^which went hand in hand, and
acted and reacted on each other, as cause and effect,
could be grappled with only by him to whom, in his
capacity of Vicar of Christ, the greatest monarch 'or the
most exalted prelate was no less amenable than the
degraded serf. Equally impressed with the authority
and the responsibilities of his divinely conferred com-
mission, Gregory did not hesitate for one moment in
the path of duty.
Accordingly, early in 1074, he convened a council in
Eome, the chief objects of which were, the repression of
simony and the reformation of the morals of the clergy.
Former decrees were renewed, with increased strin-
gency, on these two important matters. All buyers
and sellers of Ecclesiastical benefices were declared
punishable with excommunication : and, as regards
holy orders, only those were to be ordained who bound
themselves to a life of celibacy; married priests were
to separate from their wives, or, in the event of their
refusing to do so, they were to be deprived of their
' Gregory, in allusion to congratulatory letters on his accession, ad-
dressed to him by Vf'illiam the Conqueror and his Queen, Matilda,
speaks in complimentary terms of the King, as being an exception to
the general rule with reference to the crimes, in the correction of
which the Holy See was then engaged. " The King of the English,"
says he, "although in some respects he does not conduct himself as
religiously as we desire, shows himself more deserving of approval and
honour than the other sovereigns ; as he neither destroys nor sells the
churches of God, and promotes peace and justice among his subjects,
and, further, he has refused the invitation of certain enemies of the
Church, that he should unite in a pact against the ApostoUc See ; and
has compelled priests to put away their wives, and laymen to surrender
tithes detained by them " (" Sancti Gregorii VII. Bpistolss," lib. ix.
ep. 5. April, 1074).
232 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
ofaces ; and in this latter case the laity were forbidden
to attend at mass celebrated by them, or to receive
the sacraments at their hands. In carrying out these
decrees, the Pope met with the most determined oppo-
sition; but that opposition had to succumb to his
inexorable sense of duty and his intrepid iron will.
The following year, he held a second council at Eome,
in which he proceeded to deal with the great question
of Investitures. Before considering the acts of this
council, it may not be amiss to say a few words on the
subject of Investitures generally.
When a suzerain lord made a grant of land to his
vassal, it was usual that he should complete the grant
by the outward ceremony of investing him therewith ;
as, for instance, taking him on the land and handing
him a turf, or a stone, or some other thing which formed
a portion thereof, whilst the vassal, on his part, used to
do homage and swear fealty to his supreme lord.^
Originally, princes, in conferring lands on bishops
and abbots, for the support of their state, and for
various purposes of religion and charity, invested them
with a crosier and a ring, as the symbols of their juris-
diction over the said lands. When a prelate died, those
symbols were borne back to the sovereign by a deputa-
tion of the chapter of the diocese or of the religious
community, as the case might be; and he, again, in-
vested the new bishop or abbot therewith. Thus far,
there was no objection urged ; but when, in the course
of time, sovereigns practically aimed at the right of
conferring the spiritual authority, as symbolized by the
crosier and the ring, by either interfering with the free
and canonical election of the new dignitary, or by
actually nominating him themselves, independently of
the chapter or the Pope, then there arose a serious
usurpation of the rights and jurisdiction of the Apos-
tolic See. On this, the Popes declared, that, whilst
^ " The grant of land or a feud was perfected by the ceremony of
corporeal investiture, or open delivery of possession," says Blackstone,
SAINT GREGORY VII. 233
they did not dispute investiture by the sceptre, which
symbolized the government of temporal domains, they
strongly objected to, and condemned, investiture by
crosier and ring, as symbolical of spiritual jurisdiction,
which could emanate only from the spiritual power.
To such a height had this abuse arisen, at the time of
the acession of Gregory VII., especially in Germany,
that the sovereigns used to nominate their own creatures
to Church preferments, without reference to their fit-
ness, and carried on and countenanced a shameless
traffic in the sale of benefices, repugnant to all common
decency, not to speak of the laws and exigencies of
religion.
The abuse of Investitures had already engaged the
earnest attention of Popes and councils. In the Seventh
General Council, the second of Nice, under Pope Adrian
I., A.D. 787, and again in the Eighth General Council,
the fourth of Constantinople, under Adrian II., a.d.
869, the most stringent canons had been enacted
against this flagrant evil.^ But thus far the zeal of
Popes and councils had been ineffectual: their enact-
ments had been disregarded. Gregory resolved that
this should no longer be the , case. In the council
convened at Eome, above alluded to, he passed the
following decree : —
If any one henceforward stall accept from the hands of any
lay person a Bishopric or Abbacy, let him not in any way be
reputed as among Bishops or Abbots ; and let no audience be
granted to him as to a Bishop" or Abbot. And moreover We
interdict to him the grace of Blessed Peter and the entry of the
' The canon of the Seventh General Council was to this effect : " Si
quis Eplscopus, secularibus potestatibus usus, ecclesiam per ipsos
obtinuerit, deponatur et segregetur, omnesque qui illi communicant ; "
and that of the Eighth General Council: "Promotiones vel conse-
crationes Bpiscoporum, conoordans prioribus conciliis, hsec sancta et
universalis synodua electlone et deoreto Bpiscoporum fieri constituit, et
statuit, et promulgavit, neminem laioorum Principum et potestatum
semet inserere electioni, vel promotioni Patriarchse, vel Metropolits?, •
aut cujuslibet Bpiscopi, ne inordinata hinc, et incongrua fiat oonfusio
vel oontentio," etc.
2 34 THE CHAIB OF PETER.
Church, until he abandon the place which he has taken through
the crime of ambition, as well as disobedience, which is the guilt
of idolatry.i And We decree in like manner concerning inferior
ecclesiastical dignities. Also, if any Emperor, Duke, Marquis,
Count, or any secular power or person shall presume to confer
the investiture of a Bishopric or of any ecclesiastical dignity, let
him know that he is hound by the chain of the same sentence.'
Gregory followed up tMs decree with characteristic
vigour. He wrote an urgent letter to Henry, calling
on him to obey it, by ceasing to exercise all investiture
of ecclesiastical benefices, and threatening him with
excommunication should he fail to do so. The King
at first promised compliance, probably because his
Saxon subjects were, at the time, in open rebellion
against him ; but, having conquered these, he returned
to his wicked simoniacal practices, conferring several
sees on unworthy persons — notably the Archiepiscopal
- See of Milan, in which he re-established Godfrey who
had been excommunicated for simony, by the Pope.
Gregory again wrote feeling letters of expostulation
to Henry; but without avail. He then dispatched
legates to the King, citing him to appear before a
council at Eome, on the second day of the second
week of Lent, A.D. 1076, to answer for his crimes, and
giving him notice, that, if he failed to obey the citation,
he should be cut off from the communion of the
Church.
Henry, enraged at these proceedings, dismissed the
legates with contumely, and forthwith convened a diet
of the clergy of his dominions, at Worms, to depose
the Pope.* This time-serving assembly, having passed
the sentence of deposition, transmitted it by one of
their number to the Holy Father, who, with dif&culty,
saved the life of the rash envoy from the hands of the
infuriated inhabitants of Eome. The Pope then, having
' I Kings XV. 23.
^ The Second Council of Eome, under Pope Gregory VII., a.d.
1075. At this council were present fifty bishops and a great number
of priests and abbots. » January 23, 1076.
SAINT GREGORY Vll. 235
first taken the opinion of his council, excommunicated
Henry and his principal advisers, clerical and lay, and
pronounced against him a solemn sentence of deposition
from his German and Italian kingdoms, absolving his
subjects from their oath of allegiance.^
Gregory immediately communicated this sentence
by letters and messengers to the prelates and princes
of the Empire ; and they, having assembled to consider
the best course to be pursued in such grave circum-
stances, arrived at the conclusion, that if the King did
not, within twelve months, the limit fixed by the Pope,
make his peace with his Holiness, and obtain from him
absolution from his sentence of excommunication, they
would proceed to elect another to the vacant throne.
Henry, seeing that he had no alternative, now resolved
to make full submission to the Pope. In the month of
January, 1077, with a few attendants, he travelled into
Italy, to meet the Holy Father, then on his way to
Augsburg, to confer with the German electors, who had
earnestly solicited his presence at their deliberations
about the affairs of the Empire. Henry also had been
invited to this meeting to explain his conduct, but he
preferred seeing the Pope separately. Hearing of his
approach, Gregory awaited him at Canossa, a strong
fortress in Northern Italy, belonging to the Countess
Matilda.^ Here, in accordance with the custom of the
^ The fearful profligacy of Henry IV. of Germany, and the outrages
and murders he perpetrated, in pursuit of his unhallowed pleasures,
even at a very early age, were in themselves sufficient to justify his
deposition, vrhoUy irrespective of his sacrilegious invasion of the rights
and jurisdiction of the Church. See Meury, " Histoire Eoclesiastique,"
vol. xiii.
^ The Countess MatEda, bom in 1040, was daughter of Boniface,
Marquis of Tuscany, and Beatrice, sister of the Emperor Henry III.
On the death of her only brother, without issue, she succeeded to all
his dominions, of Tuscany, Parma, Lucca, Mantua and Eeggio,
Rather late in life, she married Guelpho, son of the Duke of Bavaria
— ^no issue' resulting from their union. This princess displayed great
energy and administrative ability in the troubled times in which she
lived, occasionally appearing at the head of her ovm troopsj Ever a
devoted daughter of the Church, she specially venerated Pope Gregory
236 THE CHAIE OF PETEK.
age, the King remained in the outer court of the castle,
for three days, clad in a coarse woollen garment, and
barefoot, praying with tears for reconciliation with the
Church. Among those interceding for him were Saint
Hugo, Ahbot of Cluni, and several bishops, as well as
the Countess Matilda, and other noble ladies. On the
third day, Gregory was moved to give him an audience,
at which he received his promises of amendment,
absolved him, and restored him to communion.^ It
was then arranged that Henry should appear before a
Council of the German Princes, on a day and at a place
to be named by the Pope; and that there, in the
presence of the Holy Father, he should answer for his
crimes ; that, if cleared, he should be re-established on
his throne ; but, if not, he should lose his kingdom ;
and that meanwhile he shoulcj not assume the royal
robes or state, or exercise kingly functions.^
VII., to whom she afforded much material support, in the difficulties
by which he was constantly beset. To this Pontiff, she made a dona-
tion of a considerable portion of her dominions, for the benefit of the
Holy See, A.D 1077, confirming the same in a deed to Pope Pascal II.,
in 1 102, entituled " Cartula donationia Comitissae Mathildis facta S.
Gregorio PP. VII., et iunovata Pasohali PP. II. ; " apud Theiner,
"Codex Diplomaticus," etc., torn. i. p. 10. As the original deed to
Gregory VII. is not extant, and the deed of confirmation or renewal
does not recite the territories conveyed, there is some uncertainty
about their exact limits. However, it is generally thought, that they
comprised the district formerly known as the Patrimony of Saint
Peter, lying on the right bank of the Tiber, and extending from
Aquapendente to Ostia. The Countess Matilda died in 1 1 15, aged
seventy-five.
' Paulus Bernriedensis, "Gregorii VII. Vita," cap. 84. "Interea
Hex proprise causae diffidens, et idcirco audientiam totius regui subter-
fugiens, furtive Italiam cum excommunicatis, contra prseceptum Papse
et concilia Principum, intravit; et Apostolico ad praedictam diem
Augustam tendenti, ante Purificationem Sanctse Marias apud Canusium
obviavit ; ibique ante portam castri per triduum, deposito omni regie
cultu, miserabiliter, utpote discalceatus, et laneis vestibus indutus,
persistens, nou prius cum multo fletu Apostolic® miserationis auxilium
et consolationem implorare destitit, quam omnes qui aderant, et ad
quos rumor ille pervenit, ad tantam pietatem et compassionis miseri-
oordiam movit," etc. See also Lambertus Schafnaburgensis. "His-
toria," in loco,
" Ibid, and Baronius, "Annales Ecclesiastici," xi. 489-491, A.D.
SAINT GREGORY VII. 237
Although he appeared to be a consenting party to this
arrangement, and expressed his gratitude to the Holy-
Father, Henry ere long returned to his evU courses, and
paid no regard whatever to his undertaking to meet the
German Princes and the legates of the Apostolic See.
Having waited in vain for his appearance, the former
now proceeded, at Forcheim, to elect a King in his
place ; and their choice fell on Eudolf, Duke of Suabia,
who received the royal unction at the hands of the
Archbishops of Mentz and Magdeburg, at Mentz, on
the 26th of March, 1077.
It was not with Henry IV. of Germany alone that
Gregory had to deal. His vigilant care of the Church,
and his jealous guardianship of its rights and privileges,
led him into weighty controversies with other rulers.
A few months after his accession, he threatened Philip
I. of Prance with excommunication, and the loss of his
kingdom, should he persist in his simoniacal practices.^
About the same time, he dispatched, with full powers
and instructions, Dominic, Patriarch of Venice, as legate,
to the Emperor Michael, with the desirable object of
terminating the Oriental schism, and reconciling aU the
subjects of the Empire to the Church.^ The following
year, he addressed letters to Solomon, King of Hungary,
calling him to account for having received the investi-
ture of his kingdom from Henry IV. of Germany, when
he ought to have received it from the Apostolic See, of
which it was a fief.^ Again, on the expulsion of Solomon
1077. The reader will remember Prince Bismarck's exaggeratory
phrase, " We will not go to Canossa, " uttered a few years ago, when
his cabinet had been remonstrated with by the Holy See, on the
grievous persecution of the Church in the German Empire.
1 "Sancti Gregorii VII. Epistolae," lib. i. epist. 35, A.D. 1073. In
reply to this remonstrance, Philip I. sent an embassy to the Pope, the
chief object of which was, to profess obedience to Hia Holiness, in all
things (lib. i., epist. 57). Subsequently Pope Urban II. was obliged
to excommunicate Philip.
2 Ibid., lib. i. epist. 18, A.D. 1073.
» Ibid., lib. ii. epist. 13, A.D. 1074.
238 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
by his relative Geisa, when' the latter applied for inves-
titure to the Pontiff, Gregory endeavoured to bring about
an amicable arrangement between the two princes. In
his letter written on that occasion, he pointed out, that,
in accepting investiture from another King, instead of
from the Successor of Saint Peter, Solomon had de-
graded the monarch of the most noble kingdom of
Hungary from a king to a kingling ; and, as a judg-
ment, had suffered the loss of his dominions.^ At this
period, also, a.d. 1075, we find him in communication
with Boleslas II., King of Poland, with reference to
establishing a hierarchy in that kingdom.^ Four years
later he deposed the same Boleslas for his grievous
crimes, and especially for having murdered, with his
own hands, the venerable Saint Stanislas, Bishop of
Cracow, at the altar.* In 1075 also, with the assent of
Demetrius, King of the Russians, and the Queen Con-
sort, Gregory handed over the administration of that
kingdom to their son, who desired to receive it as a
fief of the ApostoHe See; and accordingly the Papal
legates were sent, to accomplish this and other im-
portant affairs of the Church, in that remote Northern
region.*
In the year 1076, Demetrius Suinmur, Duke of
Croatia and Dalmatia, of his own free will, made his
dominions a fief of the Holy See, taking the oath of
fealty, and receiving investiture, by a standard, sword,
sceptre, and crown, at the hands of the Papal legate.
On this occasion, he was raised by the Pontiff to the
1 " Sancti Gregorii VII. Epistolse," lib. ii. epist. 70, A.D. 1075.
^ Ibid., lib. ii. epist. 73, A.D. 1075.
^ May 8, 1079. Boleslas II., sumamed the Cruel, was steeped in
the same vices and flagrant crimes as Henry lY. of Germany. It was
for having remonstrated with him on his enormous public scandals that
he murdered Saint Stanislas. On his being excommunicated and
deposed by the Pope, Boleslas, universally shunned and detested, fled
into Hungary, and there died shortly afterwards, some say, by suicide.
* " Sancti Gregorii VII. Epistolas," lib. ii epist. 74 ; and Baronius,
" Annal. Ecoles ," xi, 46J.
SAINT GREGORY VII. 239
dignity of King.^ This placing of their dominions under
the suzerainty of the Popes by Christian princes was a
not uncommon circumstance at the time ; for thereby
they assured themselves of the powerful protection of
the Holy Father. Thus, three years later, the standard
of rebellion having been raised against Demetrius,
Gregory, as his suzerain lord, effectually interposed in
his behalf; writing as follows to Vuezelin, the leader of
the insurgents : " Know that we are greatly astonished,
that a person of your prudence, and one who has so
long ago promised fealty to Blessed Peter and to us,
should now attempt to rise against him whom the
Apostolic authority has constituted King in Dalmatia.
Wherefore we admonish and command you, not to pre-
sume to make war against this King, knowing that
whatever you do against him you do against the Apos-
tolic See." He concluded with a threat to Vuezelin,
that, should he not abandon his wicked design, the
sword of Peter would be unsheathed against him and
his followers.^
This year also, Anzir, King of Mauritania,^ "con-
fessing and knowing the primacy of Peter and the
princedom of the Eoman Pontiff over all the Churches,"
sent the priest Servandus to Eome, to be consecrated
Bishop of Hippo by the Pope. On the occasion, Anzir
liberated all his Christian captives. Gregory wrote a
feeling letter in reply, congratulating the African King
on his humanity, and his devotion to the Chair of Peter.
He also addressed a letter to the people of Hippo
commending to them their new " archbishop," whom he
had himself consecrated, and to whom he exorted them
to listen with docility and reverence. He further en-
joined on them the practice of mutual charity and
Christian fervour; "and thus," he added, "will you
^ Baroniua, " Annalea Ecolesiastioi," xi. 483, 484, A.D. 1076.
^ "Sancti Gregorii VII. Epistolae," lib, vii. ep. 4; and Baronius,
" Annales Eccles.," xi. 522, A.D. 1079.
' Maiiritani?!, Sitifensis, in I^orthern Africa.
240 THE CHAIR OF FETER.
edify your Saracen neighbours, so that they may be led
to glorify your Father who is in heaven." ^
In the year 1077, he dispatched ablegates to Eng-
land,^ France,' the Venetians,* Spain,^ and Corsica,® on
Ecclesiastical aifairs. The same year, on the death of
Sweyn, King of Denmark, he addressed feeling letters
to his son and successor, Harold, whom he exhorted
to imitate his father's devotion and obedience to the
OhurchJ Also, on the death of Geisa, King of Hun-
gary, he deputed Nehemiah, Bishop of Strigonium, to
wait on Ladislas, his successor, and to counsel that
prince to establish and maintain intimate relations with
the Holy See — a suggestion with which Ladislas readily
complied.*
In the year 1078, the Pope was obliged to remon-
strate strongly with Jordan, Prince of Capua, on his
invasion of the sanctuary and other acts of sacrilege :
and his admonitions were attended with the desired
effect.' At the same time, he excommunicated and
deposed Guibert, Archbishop of Eavenna, afterwards
antipope. Guibert had been several times cited to
Eome, to answer for irregularity and schism ; and, now
that the sentence long impending over him had been
carried out, Gregory wrote to the people of Eavenna, to
withdraw their obedience from him.^" At the close of
this year, he addressed a letter to Clave, King of Nor-
way, as he had, a short time previously, to the King of
Denmark, urging him to send youths to Eome, to be
instructed and ordained priests there, in orders that,
1 " Sanoti Gregorii VII. Epistolss," lib. 3, epist. 19, 20. BaroniuB,
" Annales," xi. 485, A.D. 1076.
'' Ibid., 1. iv. epist. 16-20.
' Ibid, 1. iv. epist. 22. The Synod of Langrea.
* Ibid., L iv. epist. 26, 27. » Ibid., 1. iv. epist. 28.
« Ibid., 1. V. epist. 2, 4. 7 Ibid., 1. v. epist. 10.
° Ibid., 1. iv. epist. 25.
•Ibid., I. vi. epist. 37 ; and Leo Ostiensia, 1. iii. cap. 46.
"Ibid., I. vi. epist. 10; and Baronius, "Annales BccleB.," xi. ii-i,
A.D. 1078.
SAINT GREGOEY VII. 24 1
being thus duly qualified, they might return to preach
the faith in their own country.^
In 1079, Gregory instructed his legate Hubert to
remonstrate with William the Conqueror, on his pro-
hibition of the bishops of his dominions visiting the
Tomb of the Apostles, and to require that at least two
bishops from each archiepisoopal province of England
and Normandy should attend a council to be celebrated
at Eome, in the approaching Lent ; adding, however,
that, should they not be able to attend at the time pre-
scribed, they should, at least, after Easter present them-
selves at the Apostolic See.* We learn from the Pope's
letters, that William complied with his wishes in this
respect, sending his ambassadors to Eome with Hubert,
on his return.* Gregory also demanded, through his
legate, that the king should take an oath of fealty to
the Holy See, and resume the payment of Peter's pence,
which had fallen into arrear.* The first, William re-
fused; the second, he promised to comply with; as
will be seen in his letter, as follows : —
To Gregory, the most excellent Pastor of the Holy Church,
William, by the grace of God, King of the Angles, and Duke of
the Normans, wisheth health, with friendship.
Most Holy Father, Your legate, Hubert, coming to me, has on
your behalf admonished me, that I should render fealty to you
and your successors, and that I should think better concerning
tlie money which my predecessors were accustomed to send to
the Roman Church. The one I have admitted : the other I have
not admitted. I have been unwilling to render fealty, and I
will not do so ; because I have not promised it, nor can I find
that my predecessors did so to your predecessors. The money,
for nearly three years, during my absence in Gaul, has been
negligently collected : now, however, as through the Divine
mercy, I have returned into my kingdom, whatever is collected
is being sent by your above-named legate ; and the remainder
shall be transmitted, as opportunity offers, through the envoys
* "Sanoti Gregorii VII. Epistolffi," 1. vi. epist. 13.
" Ibid., 1. vii. epist. i ; and Barouius, "Annalea Eocles.," xi., 520,
A.D. 1079.
' Ibid., 1. vii. epist. 25. * For Peter's Pence, see Index.
Q
242
THE CHAIR OF PETEB.
of our faithful Archbishop Lanfranc. Pray for us, and for the
state of our kingdom ; for we have loved your predecessors, and
•we desire to sincerely love and obediently hear you, above all
others.^
That the Pope felt acutely William's refusal to render
fealty to the Holy See, is manifest from his letter to
the legate Hubert, in which he says, "You yourself
have long ere this been able to understand what value
I set upon tribute paid, without honour rendered." ^
Harold King of Denmark having died this year, his
successor Canute immediately sent an embassy to
Gregory, professing his filial devotion and obedience to
the Eoman Church, by which he desired to be instructed
and directed. The Pope replied in a most affectionate
letter, congratulating the King on his anxiety to learn
all things appertaining to the practice of the Christian
faith, and his recognition of the Holy Eoman Church
as his mother, and the mother of all nations. He then
suggested that Canute should send a prudent ecclesi-
astic to Eome, to inform the Holy See about the con-
dition and requirements of his subjects, and to take
back all necessary documents and instructions.^
About the same time,* Gregory dispatched Cardinal
Eichard, Abbot of Marseilles, as legate, to Alphonsus,
King of Spain, to congratulate him on his filial and
devout attachment to the Chair of Peter, and to present
him with a golden branch, containing filings of Saint
Peter's chains, according to ancient custom.®
* BaroniuB, " Annales Ecolesiastici," xi. 521.
' "Sancti Gregorii VIl EpistoUe," lib. ix. epist. i. "Pecunias
Bine honore tributaa quanti pretii habeam, tu ipse potuiati dudum per-
pendere."
' Saxo Grammaticus, "Hiatoria Daniae," 1. ii. and "Sancti Gregorii
VII. Epistolse," 1. vii. ep. 5.
* October, 1079. " S. Greg. VIL Epist.," 1. vii. ep. 6.
" BaroniuB, "Annales Ecclesiastioi," xi. 523. "Qui et dono mittit
auream olaviculam, more majorum, cateuse Sancti Petri ramentis re-
feitam." This presentation resembles, if it was not the origin of, that
of the Golden Rose, sent, once a year, by the Pope to a sovereign or
other exalted personage. We read, in ancient authors, that on the
fourth Sunday of Lent, on which is sung the Lwtare Jerusalem, the
SAINT GREGORY VII. 243
In the year 1080, Eobert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia,
Calabria anc^ Sicily, who had been an enemy and in-
vader of the States of the Church, made submission,
and swore fealty to the Pope, at whose hands he re-
ceived investiture of all his dominions, as his predeces-
sors had, from Popes Nicholas and Alexander. On this
occasion, Eobert bound himself and his heirs and suc-
cessors to pay annually to Gregory and his successors
twelve denarii of Pavian money for each ploughland of
his lawful territories.^
Whilst Gregory was thus continuously engaged in
the affairs of the Church in the West, the interests of
religion in the East received his devoted attention.
This year, an embassy from the Patriarch of the Arme-
nians arrived in Eome, to consult the Pope, and to
obtain his condemnation of certain heretical opinions,
whfch had recently been broached in the East. These
are enumerated in Gregory's reply to the Patriarch.^
Supreme Pontiff used to blesa, and carry iu the procession, a Golden
Rose, full of balsam and musk, and afterwards send it to some prince
or illustrious per.ion, who had rendered good service to the Holy See.
The custom is said by some writers to have originated with Leo IX.,
A.D. 1049-105S ; and, by others, with Urban II., a.d. 1088-1099 J
and it has been regularly followed by succeeding Pontiffs. Pope
Alexander IIL, in sending the Golden Hose to Louis VII. of ^France,
in the year 1 163, explains its mystic meaning, as follows, in his letter
to that monarch : " This flower expresses and designates Christ the
King, who says of Himself, ' I am the flower of the field and the lily
of the valley.' For gold is, not inaptly, said to denote the King, since
with this figurative meaning it was offered by the Magi to the Saviour,
in order that thereby the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords should
be shown. And the red by which the gold is tinged and suffused
signifies the Passion of the Redeemer, concerning which we read, 'Who
is He who comes from Edom, with garments tinged from Bosra?'
And, again, 'Wherefore is thy raiment red, and are thy garments
as of those trampling in the winepress?' And the perfume of this
flower prefigures the glory of *Hia Resurrection."
' June, 1080. Baronius, " Annales," xL 534. We shall presently
see how, on several occasions, this prince most loyally fulfilled his
feudal duties, in coming to the Pope's rescue, and compelling Henry
IV. to raise the siege of Rome.
" " S. Gregorii VII. Epistolae," 1. vii. epist. 26 ; and 1. viii. epist. I ;
also Baronius, "Annales Ecclesiastici," xi. 544, a.d. 1080.
244 ^f^ CHAIE OF PETER.
But while we review the multiplied labours of his
ever-vigilant zeal in remote countries, we must not
overlook the difficulties and opposition which he had
to encounter nearer home. . In the early part of his
reign, when the decrees of his councils were promul-
gated, there arose, far and near, a storm of indignation,
in which his sacred character appears to have heen
altogether forgotten by the wrong-doers, even among
his own subjects. This is painfully illustrated by the
following instance, well-nigh incredible, however fully
authenticated.
There dwelt in Eome a powerful noble, of the family
of Crescentius, or Cenci, a man of great wealth and in-
fluence. The Pope, who had frequently remonstrated
with him privately, was at length obliged to excommu-
nicate him for his crimes. On Christmas day, 1075, as
Gregory was celebrating midnight mass at Saint Mary
Major's, Cenci entered the church, with an armed band,
mounted the steps of the altar, seized the Holy Father
by the hair of the head, dragged him through the streets,
and cast him into a dungeon. Immediately the rumour
of this appalling crime spread throughout the city.
" To arms, to arms ! " was shouted on every side. Eich
and poor, noble and simple, an infuriated multitude,
pouring in from every quarter, laid siege to the strong-
hold of the aggressor ; and so fierce was their assault,
that before the dawn of day the Pope was liberated.
Through his active interposition, which assumed the
form of a command, the lives of Cenci and his family
were spared, but all their property within and without
the city was destroyed by fire and sword. This sacri-
legious outrage, although it deeply pained Gregory, did
not for one moment deter him from performing what
he conceived to be his duty before God and man.^
^ Lambertus Sohafnaburgensis, "Historia," A.D. 1076. These par-
ticulars are taken literally from Lambert, a cotemporary historian,
who commeuoea the year with Christmas day. See also Baronius,
" Aunales EoolesiaBtici," xi. 464, 465. Paulus Bernriedensis, in his
SAINT GREGORY VD, 24$
We have now to return to Henry IV. Since his
deposition and the election of Eudolph, as his successor,
by the German princes, Henry had not been idle.
Joined by some of his former associates, he gradually
collected an army, chiefly among his late Lombard sub-
jects. When he deemed this force sufficient for his
purpose, he levied war against Eudolph. That prince,
who had reluctantly ascended the throne, was, after a
reign of three years and seven months, defeated and
slain ; and Henry, once again, became de facto master
of the Empire.^ Having thus removed every obstacle,
Henry next turned his arms against the Pope, who
recently, in a council at Eome, had renewed the sen-
tence of excommunication against him, and had con-
firmed Eudolph's election.2 In this campaign against
Gregory, Henry was accompanied by Guibert, the ex-
communicated Archbishop of Eavenna, whom, in a
synod of schismatical prelates at Brescia, he had caused
to be elected antipope, under the name of Clement III.
Three successive years, Henry devastated the Papal
dominions and laid siege to Eome. At length, in 1084,
through the co-operation of some traitors within the
walls, he gained possession of the city. Gregory took
refuge in the Castle of Saint Angelo ; the antipope
Guibert was enthroned in Saint Peter's; and at his
hands Henry received the Imperial crown.
The Duke of Calabria, with his Normans and Sara-
cens, appearing on the scene, Henry retired before him ;
and Gregory was restored to his palace of the Lateran.
account of this sacrilege, does not name the leader, and elsewhere he
speaks favourably of Cenci ; whence F. Pagi expresses some doubt of
the latter's having been the perpetrator. Mabillon however distin-
guishes between two Cenci — one the sacrilegious noble, and the other
justly praised by the historian.
^ October 1080.
^ March 1080. In this his seventh Council at Kome, Gregory also
renewed his decree against uncanonioal investitures. In confirming
Rudolph in his royal dignity, he sent that prince a golden crown, bear-
ing the inscription :
"Petra dedit Petro ; Petrus diadema Eodolpho."
246 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Here the Pope celebrated his tenth and last Eoman
Council, in which he renewed his decree of excommuni-
cation against Henry, Guibert, and all their adherents.
Peeling Eome insecure, he retired with his liberators, first
to Monte Cassino, and shortly afterwards to Salerno ;
and there, broken down by his anxieties and labours,
he calmly expired on Sunday, the 2Sth of May, 1085,
having governed the Church twelve years, one month,
and three days. His biographer relates, that, just im-
mediately before the last agony commenced, some of
the bishops and cardinals, who stood at his bedside,
congratulated him on the labours of his holy life and
teaching; when he replied, "My dearest brethren, I
deem my labours of but small account : in this only do
I trust — that I have always loved justice and hated
iniquity. Therefore I die in exile." ^ They then spoke
with anxiety about their position after his decease, and
begged of him to name his successor. Thus pressed, he
gave them the option of three names : Desiderius, Abbot
of Monte Cassino, who succeeded him, as Victor III. ;
Odo, or Otho, Bishop of Ostia, who succeeded Victor, as
Urban II. ; and Hugo of Lyons.^ Then the Holy Father,
in his dying breath, once again blessed his sorrowing
brethren, and promised them, that, when in heaven,
he would with earnest prayers commend them to their
merciful God.*
^ Paulus Bernriedensis, "Vita Gregorii VII.," cap. 108. "Ego,
fratres mei dilectissimi, nuUos labores meos alicujus momenti facio, in
hoc solummodo confidens, quod semper dilezi justitiam et odio habui
imquitatem : propterea in exilio morior."
' Ibid., cap. 109.
' Ibid., cap. 108. " Illuc, inquit, ascendam et obnixis precibua Deo
propitio vos committam." Henry IV. of Germany survived Pope
Gregory VII. over twenty years, without being reconciled to the
Church. His latter days were embittered by adversity and domestic
faction. His sons Conrad and Henry took part with his insurgent
subjects against him. Conrad died early ; but Henry compelled his
father to abdicate, taking his place as Henry V. The dethroned King
died at Liege in 1 106, at the age of fifty-six, after a troubled reign of
forty-six years. As he had died under the sentence of excommunica-
tion, his remains lay above ground, in a stone coffin, at Liege, withovit
SAINT GREGORY Vn. 247
Thus Emdebrand passed from this mortal scene. His
last moments were darkened by adversity and seeming
defeat: yet his mighty spirit was undaunted to the
end. He died in exile : but his great work had been
accomplished. The Holy See had been delivered from
Imperial control ; its political independence was firmly
established, and its influence was strengthened by judi-
cious alliances ; the free and canonical election of the
Sovereign Pontiff was assured; unhallowed intruders had
been driven from the sanctuary ; the discipline of the
clergy was summarily enforced, and the abuse of Inves-
titures had received its death-blow. In the words of an
able English Protestant writer, Gregory VIL "found the
Emperor the virtual patron of the Holy See ; he wrested
that power from his hands. He found the secular clergy
the allies and dependents of the secular power ; he con-
verted them into the inalienable auxiliaries of his own.
He found the higher ecclesiastics in servitude to the
temporal sovereigns ; he delivered them from that yoke,
to subjugate them to the Eoman tiara. He found the
patronage of the Church the mere desecrated spoil and
merchandize of princes ; he reduced it within the domi-
nion of the Supreme Pontiff. He is celebrated as the
reformer of the impure and profane abuses of his age ;
he is more justly entitled to the praise of having left
the impress of his own gigantic character on the history
of all the ages which have succeeded him." ^
It is only natural that the public life of Gregory VII.
should be variously estimated. No one denies the
greatness of his genius. Some would accord him the
highest praise; while there are others who condemn
him as ambitious and grasping, and who loudly protest
against his "arrogant assumption of authority over
sovereigns."
Christian burial, until Illi, when they were removed to the Imperial
vault at Spire by Henry V.
' Sir James Stephen, "Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography, " p. 56.
London, i860.
248 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
But, to arrive at a correct conclusion, we must, as far
as possible, divest ourselves of modern ideas and asso-
ciations, and transport our minds back, some eight
centuries, to the semi-barbarous age in which he lived.
Whilst all are of opinion that in our day Hildebrand
would be an anachronism, many, even non-Catholic,
authorities affirm that in his own times he was a neces-
sity. Obviously, the circumstances, political and social,
of the eleventh century were very different indeed from
those of the nineteenth. The paramount authority of
the Pope, formerly, over Christian sovereigns — an
authority exercised with moderation and discretion —
was universally recognised ; the rule being proved by
the exceptional resistance of a prince, here and there,
against whom the Papal decree had been promulgated.
But, what was the result of that decision, notwithstand-
ing ? Adherents, as in the case of Henry IV. of Ger-
many, or of Boleslas of Poland, fell away from the
deposed ruler, on every side; and his cause, if not
immediately, at least eventually, became hopeless. In-
variably, the great majority of Christian princes and
nations rallied round, and morally supported the judg-
ment of, the Holy Father. Excommunication, which,
unrevoked, was sure to be followed by, as it involved,
deposition, was an irresistible power in the hands of
the Successor of Saint Peter. In the troublous con-
dition of society in the Middle Ages, when might alone
constituted right, when our modem ideas of inter-
national law and constitutional government were alto-
gether unknown, and when, further, kings and nobles
were but too apt to forget that they had duties towards
their subjects to fulfil, and that the millions whom
they ruled were not made solely to be the slaves of
their caprices, and the victims of their crimes, that
power was not only a necessity, but a great public
advantage.^
^ In perusing the lives of the PopeB, and the history of the proceed-
ings of councils, it will be noted that the Popes almost invariably con-
SAINT GREGORY VII. 249
When a Pope, or a few bishops, proclaimed a sovereiga denuded
of his rights, and his subjects freed from the oath of fidelity, (says
Monsieur Guizot) such an intervention, although, doubtless, open
to serious abuses, was often in particular cases legitimate and
salutary. In general, whenever liberty has been wanting to
maniind, its restoration has been the work of religion. In the
tenth century, the people were not in a state to defend them-
selves, or to make their rights available against civil violence, and
religion came to the rescue in the name of Heaven. ^
Tne Papal power, by disposing of crowns, prevented the atroci-
ties of despotism (observes another Protestant writer).
Hence, in those ages of darkness, we see no example of tyranny
comparable to that of the Domitians at Home. A Tiberius was
then impossible ; Eome would have crushed him. Great des-
potisms exist when kings believe that there is nothing above
them. Then it is, that the intoxication of unlimited power pro-
duces the most fearful crimes.^
Of the same purport are the following words of
Voltaire, quoted in the heading of this chapter: —
The interests of the human race demand a check to restrain
sovereigns, and to protect the lives of the people. This check of
religion covild, by universal agreement, have been in the hands
of the Popes. These first pontiffs, in not meddling in temporal
quarrels except to appease them, in admonishing kings and
peoples of their duties, in reproving their offences, in reserving
excommunications for great crimes, would have been always
regarded as the images of God upon earth. But men are reduced
to have for their defence only the laws and morals of their
country, laws often despised, morals often corrupted.^
In the exercise of this great power, with which the
Supreme Pontiffs were invested, by general consent,
for the common weal, during the Middle Ages, they
appear to have been singularly devoid of those motives
of self-aggrandizement which so largely influenced the
vened and consulted councils, at least of their own suffragans, before
acting in grave matters, such as the excomnmiiication and deposition of
princes. In some instances, the Pontiffs laid affairs of this kind before
general councils, which happened to be sitting at the time.
^ Guizot, "Histoire de la Civilisation en Europe," 5me lecture.
" Coquerel, "Essai sur I'Histoire G^n^rale du Christianisme, " p. 75.
Paris, 1828.
' Voltaire, "Essai," torn. ii. chap. 9. More evidence, of the same
nature, will be found further on, in chap, xl., " Benefits conferred by
the Papacy on Mankind."
250 THE CHAIR OF PETEE.
policy of other sovereigns. Some fifty years before the
spoliation of the territories of the Holy See, which it
has been the misfortune of the present generation to
witness, Le Comte de Maistre remarked with truth : —
To the Papacy alone is reserved tie honour of possessing only
what it has possessed for ten centuries. Here one finds neither
treaties, nor battles, nor intrigues, nor usurpations : in going
back, one always arrives at a donation. Pepin, Charlemagne,
Louis, Lothair, Henry, Otho, the Countess Matilda,_formed this
temporal State of the Popes, so precious to Christianity.*
Finally, in one important particular, above all others,
the state of political society in those days differed
widely from that which exists in our time. All Chris-
tian nations were then within the pale of the Catholic
Church ; and, as the Pope was regarded as the spiritual
head of the entire Christian world, communion with him
was deemed an indispensable condition of the rulers of
Christian States receiving and preserving the allegiance
of their subjects. This is clearly set forth by the vene-
rable Archbishop of Cambrai, in the following words : —
Gradually this sentiment became deeply impressed on the
minds of Catholic nations ; namely, that the supreme power
could be committed only to a Catholic prince, and that this was
a law or condition established between the people and the prince,
that the people faithfully obey the prince, provided the prince
himself obey the Christian religion. Which law being established,
all thought that the bond of the oath of fealty, taken by the whole
nation, was immediately dissolved, on the prince, in violation of
that law, with a contumacious mind, resisting the Catholic reli-
gion. (And he observes further). It is not to be wondered at,'
that nations, greatly attached to their relif^on, should have thrown
off the yoke of an excommunicated prince. For, by that law,
they had promised that they would be subject to the prince, as
the prince himself would, in like manner, be subject to the
Catholic religion. But the prince who, through heresy or the
criminal and impious administration of the kingdom, was ex-
communicated by the Church, should now be no longer considered
the pious prince, to whom the whole nation wished to commit
itself. Therefore they deemed the bond of the oath dissolved.^
' De Maistre, " Du Pape," chap. vi.
' F^nflon, " Bissertatio de auctoritate Summi Pontificis," c. 39.
SAINT GREGORY VII. 2 51
The mainspring of Gregory's policy, the scope of his
life and labours, was to increase and consolidate the
influence of the Church, and through that influence to
promote the best interests of mankind. This was not
with him an affair of personal ambition, as some super-
ficial writers inconclusively allege ; for probably there
never lived a man more elevated above aU petty con-
siderations of self. It was rather a duty, which he felt
was entailed upon him by his exalted office of Universal
Pastor and Teacher. On that office, as we have seen,
he entered with reluctance ; but, once he had done so,
he readily accepted all its responsibilities, and fearlessly
fulfilled its every obligation. In this spirit, as evidenced
by his letters to foreign princes and prelates, he con-
tinuously laboured, even under circumstances the most
adverse, to diffuse among all nations the truths and
precepts of the Gospel. It is possibly for this reason,
that certain doctrinaires of that school, which would
eliminate the religious element from popular education,
somewhat flippantly pronounce him to have been a foe
to social and intellectual progress.
Let us now hear a distinguished writer, already
quoted, who deals with this subject in no superficial
manner, and has brought to bear fully upon it the
acuteness and thoroughness of his eminently philosophic
mind : —
We are accustomed to represent to ourselves Gregory VII., as
a man who wished to render all things immovable, as an adver-
sary to intellectual development and social progress, and as a
man who strove to maintain, the world in a stationary or retro-
grading system (observes M. Guizot). Nothing can be so false.
Gregory VII. was a reformer upon the plan of despotism, as were
Charlemagne and Peter the Great. He, in the Ecclesiastical
order, was almost what Charlemagne in France and Peter the
Great in Russia were in the civil order. He wished to reform
the Church, and through the Church to reform society, to intro-
duce therein more morality, more justice, and more law — he
wished to eflfect this through the Holy See, and to its profit.
At the same time that he strove to subject the civil world to
the Church, and the Church to the Papacy, with an aim of reform
252 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
and progress, and not one of immobility or retrogression, an at-
tempt of the same kind and a similar movement was produced in
the cloisters of monasteries. The desire for order, discipline, and
moral strictness was zealously shown. It was at this period that
Kohert de Molgme introduced a severe order at Citeaux. This
was the ase of Saint Norbert, and the reform of the prebendaries ;
of the reform of Cluni ; and, lastly, of the great reform of Saint
Bemard.i
Here, M. Guizot might have given a far more exten-
sive catalogue of the monastic institutes established
about this time — all of them adopting, and some even
surpassing, the primitive austerity of rule of the great
Benedictine order. Taken in rotation of date, they
would stand as follows : the Cluniacs, founded by Saint
Odo; second Abbot of Cluni, in the province of Bur-
gundy, in 927 ; the Camaldolesi, founded by Saint
Eomuald, Abbot of Camaldoli, near Arezzo in Tuscany,
in 1009 ; the order of Vallumbrosa, founded in the val-
ley of that name, in the diocese of Fiesoli in Tuscany, by
Saint John Gualbert, abbot, in 1070; the Carthusians,
founded by Saint Bruno, in the desert of Chartreuse,
near Grenoble, in 1085 ; the Cistercians, or Bernardines,
founded by Saint Eobert, Abbot of MolSme, in the forest
of Citeaux, near Dijon, in 1098, of which community
Saint Bernard became a novice in 11 13, founding his
celebrated abbey of Clairvaux, two years later ; the
order of Fontevrault in Poitou, founded by Saint Eobert
of Abrissel, in 1099 ; and that of Grandmont, near
Limoges, founded by Saint Stephen, abbot, about 11 20.
All these monastic orders were remarkable for their
spirit of fervour and austerity of rule.
Of the Canons Eegular, besides the Premonstraten-
sians, above-mentioned, founded by Saint Norbert, in
the valley of Premontr^, department of Aisne, in 1121,
may be enumerated the Canons of Saint Victor, founded
in the Abbey of Saint Victor, Paris, by William of
Champeaux, Archdeacon of Paris, under King Louis
VI., in 1 1 13 ; the Gilbertines, founded by Saint Gilbert,
' Gnizot, " History of Civilization in Europe," lecture 6.
SAINT GREGORY VH. 253
an Englishman, at Sempringham, in Lincolnshire, in
1 1 50 ; the military orders, and others.^
It is true, that several of these orders were instituted
after Gregory's death; but the founders and their
associates were thoroughly imbued with his spirit, and
influenced by his undying example.
In almost every chapter of Ecclesiastical history, we
find the same principle of good, developed and sustained
by supernatural grace, striving against, and eventually
overcoming, the evil tendencies of man's weak nature.
Even in the darkest, and, humanly speaking, the most
hopeless, period of the anarchy of the Middle Ages,
there were laid the foundations, broad and deep, of
those monastic institutes — so many seminaries of piety
and learning — ^which still diffuse priceless blessings
amongst us; and, moreover, God raised up illustrious
confessors, doctors, and martyrs, in various countries,
to illumine the moral waste, and to preserve, extend,
and perpetuate the benign influences of religion, by
their teaching and example. And thus it was, that the
Seventh Gregory had many a cordial sympathizer in
his life-long struggle with the combined powers of
earth and hell — a struggle in which he laid down his
life, but not before he had achieved those triumphant
results which have so long survived him, and which
continue to operate beneficially, even in our remote
' The Canons Kegular are commonly called " of Saint Augustine,"
whose rule they follow, with the exception of a few, who observe other
particular rules.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE TEMPORAL POWER IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY.
The contest of the Pontiffs and the Emperors ou the
great question of Investitures — a contest which may
really date its commencement from the accession of
Gregory VII., A.D. 1073, and which terminated in
favour of the Church, in the concordat of Worms
between Callixtus II. and Henry V., in 11 22 — while it
completely vindicated the spiritual jurisdiction of the
Holy See, tended at the same time still further to
consolidate the temporal power of the Popes.^
Thenceforward, with some troubled intervals, result-
ing from wars and domestic faction, the Pontiffs resumed
their legitimate position, in the government of their
temporal dominions, and the exercise of their functions
as supreme arbiters in the commonwealth of Christian
nations. That position was made more and more secure
by Eugenius III., who presided over the Church, A.D.
1145-53; by Adrian IV., A.D. 1154-59; ^^^ notably
^ The settlement of the Investiture question, which took place some
thirty-seven years after the death of Gregory VII., vras really the
result of that Pontiff's energetic action in the matter. Henry IV. of
Germany persisted to the end in his course of opposition to the Holy
See, and maintained his right of investiture of Ecclesiastical benefices,
against Popes Victor III., Urban II., and Pascal II. Henry V. at
first followed his father's example, and claimed the same right, until
the year 1122, when a concordat was concluded between him and Pope
Callixtus II., at Worms, the conditions of which were ratified at the
Ninth General Council, the first of Lateran, convoked by the same
Pontiff, the following year. These conditions were to the effect that
the Emperor should have the right of temporal investiture by the
sceptre, and the Pope the right of spiritual investiture by the ring and
crosier; as may be seen by the solemn declarations of both on the
occasion.
THE TEMPORAL POWER CENTURY XII. 255
by Alexander III., a.d. 1159-81. These three Pontiffs
were engaged in a protracted and desperate struggle
with the Emperor Frederick I., surnamed Barbarossa,
of the house of Hohenstaufen — a struggle from which
the Church eventually issued triumphant. The services
of Eugenius, in vindicating the power and jurisdiction
of the Papacy and the regalia of Saint Peter, will be
best seen in the concordat between him and Frederick,
executed at Constance, on the 22nd of March, 1152.^
Adrian, an Englishman, no less jealously maintained
the rights and prerogatives of the Holy See, and his
reign of close on five years has been fitly described as
"a series of perpetual conflicts," in the discharge of
what he conceived to be a sacred duty. Thus it was,
that he, a man of the humblest birth, without worldly
interest or vrorldly advantages, and promoted for his
own merits solely to the Apostolic throne, compelled
the greatest monarchs to pay him due obedience and
homage, as the Vicar of Christ.^
^ "Concordia inter Eugenium, PP. III. et rrederioum I. Impera-
torem, Komanoruin Eegem, a.d. 1152 ; ex Oenoio Camerario, fol. 112 ;
apud Theiner, "Codex Diplomatious, " torn. i. p. 22.
" Adrian IV., whose name was Nicholas Breakspeare, was the only
Englishman who ever filled Saint Peter's Chair. He was born, of
very humble parentage, at Abbots Langley, near St. Alban's. His
father Robert had taken the habit at the monastery of St. Alban's;
and Nicholas, who had for some time been perforining menial services
there, applied to be also admitted a novice. The abbot, considering him
unsuitable, refused to receive him. On this, he went to Paris, sub-
sisting altogether on alms ; and prosecuted his studies at the famous
university of that city, with great success. Leaving Paris, he was
admitted into the house of the Canons Regular of Saint Rufus, near
Avignon, of which, in the course of time, he was elected prior. Repair-
ing to Rome about the affairs of his order, he made a most favourable
impression on Pope Eugenius III., who detained him at Rome, and
appointed him Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He was sent by Eugenius,
as legate, to the Kings of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, remaining
in those Icingdoms four years. On the death of Eugenius's successor,
Anastasius IV., he was unanimously elected to the Pontificate by the
cardinals, with the joyous acclamations of the Roman clergy and
people, and was enthroned in Saint Peter's ©n the 2nd of December,
1154. It was with the greatest reluctance that he submitted to the
heavy burden of the Papacy. In his reign of four years, eight months,
256 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Adrian's successor, Alexander III.^ justly styled "the
Liberator of Italy," continued the struggle with the
Imperial power. At first the tide of fortune strongly
set against the Pontiff and his allies in Northern Italy.
Alexander was exiled, and temporarily deprived of his
dominions ; antipope after antipope, in rapid succession,
was raised up against him ; but eventually the justice
of his cause, upheld by his genius and indomitable
sense of duty, prevailed, and brought the Imperial
offender, humbled and a suppliant, to the foot of his
throne.^
It is related that, early in the conflict, when Frederick
urged Louis VII. of France to join him in supporting
the antipope Octavian, the French monarch rejected the
overture, and plainly stated to the Imperial envoys,
that he did not see why he and his bishops should cut
themselves off from the communion of the Church of
Christ. The same view was taken by Henry II. of
England, the other European sovereigns, and the Greek
Emperor, who all steadfastly adhered to Alexander, as
the legitimate Pope.* We read in cotemporary history
an interesting account of the reception of the exiled
and twenty-eight days, Adrian IV. created thirteen cardinals — one
cardinal bishop, six priests, and six deacons. He died on the 3iet of
August, 1 1 59. All readers of history are familiar with the Bull of
Adrian, " favourably assenting to the petition " of Hemy II. of Eng-
land, and conferring on that monarch the sovereignty of Ireland.
Until recently this Bull was generally accepted as genuine ; but now,
apparently not without reason, it is regarded by several scholars as a
forgery.
^ Alexander HI., a native of Siena, governed the Church twenty-two
years. For the first nineteen years of his reign he witnessed a deplor-
able schism of antipopes, which happily he outlived. He presided in
person at the Eleventh General Council, the third Lateran. In the
chapter on Cardinals, will be found an account of his wise legislation,
to regulate the elections of Popes. Elected September 5, 1 159, he died
at Borne, August 26, 1181.
^ Pagi, "Pontificum Eomanorum Gesta," vol. iii. p. 42-83. See
also " Conditiones pacis inter Eredericum I., Imperatorem et Alexan-
drum PP. III., ab ipso Imp. approbatSB," A.D. 1 177 ; ex transsumpto
eocevo ; apud Theiner, torn, i, p. 22.
» Pagi, iii. 51.
THE TEMPOEAL POWER CENTURY XII. 257
Pontiff, at this period, A.D. 1161, by tke Kings of
France and England, who had respectively requested
him to honour their dominions with his residence. On
his arrival at Courcy on the Loire, he was met by the'
two sovereigns, who, having paid him the usual marks
of veneration, accompanied him on foot, one on each
side, holding his bridle rein, and thus they conducted
him to the pavilion prepared for his reception.
• On the submission of Frederick, after fifteen years'
futile endeavours to subjugate Italy, the conditions of
peace having been concluded by their respective minis-
ters, the Emperor travelled to Venice, to pay his homage
to the Holy Father, who awaited him in that city.
Alexander deputed certain cardinals to receive the
Emperor's abjuration of the schism of the antipopes
Octavian, Guido, and John, which he had instigated
and abetted, and his promised obedience to himself and
his successors in Saint Peter's Chair. This having been
accomplished, the cardinals absolved Frederick from the
sentence of excommunication, and restored him to
Catholic unity .^ The same favour was extended to all
the Imperial princes and councillors, ecclesiastical and
secular, and all others present, who were bound by the
same sentence. Then the Emperor, as a Catholic
sovereign, approached the Pope, who received him in
state, at the portals of the church of Saint Mark.
Taking off his cloak, Frederick prostrated himself, and
kissed the foot of the Pontiff, who raised him up, and
gave him the kiss of peace. They then entered the
church, amidst the joyful demonstrations of the people,
the Emperor taking the Pope's right hand, and, on
reaching the choir, Frederick reverentially received the
blessing of His Holiness.^
On the following day, the feast of Saint James, after
1 July 24, 1 1 77.
^ The same ceremonial was observed on the occasion of the visit of
Charlemagne to Pope Adrian I., at.Kome, four hundred years before,
as we have seen.
E
258 THE CHAIB OF PETER.
the Pope had celebrated high mass, Frederick conducted
him out of the church, and held his stirrup whilst he
mounted his horse; but, as the distance to the point
-of embarkation was considerable, Alexander dispensed
with his further attendance, the Emperor being desirous
to hold his bridle-rein, and thus accompany him on
foot the whole way, according to ancient custom. On
the first day of August following, in a full assembly
convoked for the purpose,' Frederick, through his pleni-
potentiaries, bound himself, by oath on the Holy Evan-
gelists, to preserve in good faith the peace of the Church
and the Empire, also the peace which he had concluded
with the King of Sicily, and the truce into which he
had entered with the Lombard cities. The Sicilian
ambassadors, and the Lombard delegates, bound them-
selves by a similar oath. Thus, mainly through the
exertions of Alexander, peace smiled once more on the
Italian Peninsula, so long afilicted by war and its
attendant evils.^
Still more triumphant were the results accomplished
by Innocent III., who reigned from 1198 to 12 16, and
who is generally reputed to have been one of the ablest
and most illustrious of the occupants of Saint Peter's
Chair.^ From the commencement of his reign, Inno-
^ Pagi, " Pontificum Homanormn Gesta," iii. 8$, 86. Baronius, in
loco. No less successfully did the Church maintain its rights against
Barbarossa's grandson, the Emperor Frederick II., A.D. 1227-1250,
during which period the cause of justice and truth was uncompromis-
ingly vindicated by Popes Gregory IX. and Innocent IV.
'^ Lothaire, afterwards Pope Innocent III. , was the son of Thrasi-
mond, Count of Segni, and was bom in Kome, A.D, 1161. In his
thirtieth year he was made cardinal deacon, of the title of Saints
Sergius and Bacchus, by his uncle Clement III. On the death of
Celestine III., January 8, 1 198, he was unanimously elected by the
College of Cardinals to the Papal Chair. He deeply regretted his
election, alleging his unworthiness and youth as disqualifications ; for
he was then only thirty-seven years old. However, the cardinals
thought otherwise ; and, although he was allied to some of the highest
of the noble families of the city, his promotion to so exalted a dignity
was due solely to his distinguished ability, holiness, and zeal for God's
honour. In the " History of Pope Innocent III. and His Cotempo-
THE TEMPORAL POWER CENTURY XII. 2 59
cent seems to have taken for his model his great pre-
decessor, Gregory VII. ; and, accordingly, he untiringly
and most successfully devoted his energies, with all the
weight of his influential office, to the exaltation of the
Church, the promotion of justice, the repression of
crime and great public scandals, the general reforma-
tion of morals, and the consulting the best interests,
temporal and eternal, of the whole human race. His
policy will perhaps be best understood, from his own
words, in the following extract from his first official
letter after his elevation : ^ —
It is our duty (he writes) to make religion flourish in the
Church of God ; and to protect it there where it flourishes. It is
our wish that during all our life Christianity should be respected
and protected, and that religious establishments should prosper
more and more. Neither death nor life separates us from justice ;
and we know that on us is imposed the duty of watching over the
rights of all. No favour towards any person whomsoever shall
make us deviate from this path. We are placed over peoples and
kingdoms, not on account of our merit, but as the servant of God.
Our firm resolution, in which nothing shall make us waver, is
then sincerely and faithfully to love all those who are devoted to
the Church, and to protect them with the buckler of the Holy
rariea," M. Frederic Hurter, President of the consistory o£ Schaffhausen,
who unceasingly for twenty years laboured at his great standard work,
has enabled us to realize this grand historical character — perhaps, with
the single exception of his predecessor Gregory VII., the most promi-
nent and most important personage of the medisEval period. "The
existence of a Pope of the Middle Age," says Hurter, " is a portion of
Universal history ; and this latter, without the Chief of the Church,
loses this central base, the source of the life which circulates in all
parts of the European body." "His pontificate," observes another
Protestant writer, " is the one most worthy of the attention and study
of European monarchs. . . . His reign is the most brilliant epoch of
the Papal power " (Daunou, " Essai Historique sur la Puissance Tem-
porelle des Papes.") Innocent died at Perugia, on the 6th of July,
1216, having reigned eighteen years, six months, and nine days. One
result of M. Hurter's labour of love, in studying and recording the
life and actions of Innocent III., was, that, after the completion of the
work, he abandoned the Protestant for the Catholic communion.
' So great was the pressure of affairs to be dealt with, in various
countries, on the accession of Innocent III., that the number of official
letters alone, which he wrote in the first year of his reign, was no less
than 583.
26o THE CHAIR OF PETEH.
See, against all insolence of oppressors. But, if we regard the
importance of the pastoral functions, and the weakness of our
l^owers, we trust not in our own capacity, but in Him only whose
place we hold upon earth. If we consider the diversity of the
affairs to be treated, the solicitude to be bestowed on all the
Churches — a solicitude which is for ua a daily duty, we recognize
ill ourselves, as expressed in the greeting of our letters, ' the ser-
vant of the servants ;'i if, in fine, we consider the burden of the
supreme administration, and the weakness of our shoulders, we
can apply to ourselves the words of the prophet : " I have come
into the deep sea, and I have perished in the storm." But it is
the hand of the Lord which has raised us from the dust to this
throne, where we render justice not only with princes, but above
princes.
Throughout the whole reign of this Pontiff, we have
unmistakable evidence of the paramount power of the
Popes, " rendering justice not only with princes, but
above princes," in the councils of Europe, in the Middle
Ages. The controversies of Innocent with Philip Augus-
tus of France and John of England, not to speak of
others in which he was engaged, proved that he carried
the assertion of his authority to the highest point ever
aimed at by an occupant of the Pontifical throne. To
that authority, in every instance, the monarchs were
compelled to submit. Those terrible weapons, the In-
terdict, laid on the dominions of recusant sovereigus,^
' This title, " Servant of the servants of God," was first xised by the
Popes, in the heading of their official letters, towards the end of the
sixth century. It is said to have originated with Saint Gregory the
Great, who, when John "the Paster," Patriarch of Constantinople,
assumed the title of " CEcumenical Bishop," deemed it his duty to set
an example of humility, and commenced signing himself aa " Servant
of the servants of God." This signature is to be found in several of
Saint Gregory's letters: for instance, among others, in those to
Romanus, the defender of Sicily ; to Innocentius, Prefect of Africa ; to
Virgilius, Bishop of Aries; and to Augustine and his companions,
whom he sent to evangelize England, a.d. 596. Its origin has been
erroneously ascribed to Pope Damaeus, who governed the Church, a.d.
366-384. See Pagi, " Pontificum Komanorum Geata," i. 34 and 276 ;
also Bede's "Ecclesiastical History of England," book i. chap. 23.
^ The Interdict. Local interdicts were resorted to by bishops in the
early ages, to repress great public scandals, such as the violence and
crimes of princes and nobles. We read of them in the sixth century.
THE TEMPORAL POWER CENTURY XII. 26 1
and the excommunication and deposition of princes, in
punishment of flagrant crimes, of the arbitrary abuse of
power, and of the gross violation of the rights and juris-
diction of the Church, may seem unjustifiable to those
who confine their scope to modern times, and regard
not the circumstances and the exigencies of an earlier
period: but every one must admire the disinterested
zeal, and the intrepid love of justice, which, with great
holiness of life, were the characteristics of this illus-
trious Pontiff.
National interdicts are ascribed to the Middle Ages, when the strong-
est measures were required in the interests of religion and humanity.
In a district or country under interdict, the churches were closed ; the
bells were silenced ; solemn religious services ceased ; the sacraments
were administered only to infants and the dying ; and the interment of
the dead took place without any religious service. Thus the sovereign
was punished through his subjects, to whom, in a short time, the
deprivation of all the aids and ministrations of religion became intole-
rable. Hence the offender was eveutuaJly compelled to submission,
preferring a request, in all penitence, that the interdict should be taken
off, and the public exercise of religion restored to his kingdom. Per-
haps the two most remarkable instances of national interdicts were the
following, in the reign of Innocent III. The first was A.D. 1200, when
the whole kingdom of Prance was laid under an interdict, because
Philip Augustus had repudiated his wife Ingelburga of Denmark, and
married, in her stead, Agnes de M^ranie. In eight months, Philip
was obliged to yield, sending away Agnes, and taking back his lawful
wife. The second instance was, when John, King of England, opposed
the Pope's nomination of Stephen Langton to the See of Canterbury,
persecuted the clergy, and seized on their revenues. Here, in like
manner, but after five years' obstinate impenitence — March 23, 1208
to May 15, 12 1 3 — with a sentence of excommunication and deposition
pronounced against him, and his whole kingdom laid under an inter-
dict, John was compelled to yield, swearing fealty to the Pope and his
successors ; even as, two years later, he signed the great charter of
English liberty, Magna Oharta, on the compulsion of his barons, at
Runnymede. Considerable mitigations of the above-recited penalties
of the law of interdicts were subsequently introduced by the Church.
CHAPTEE XIX.
THE TEMPOEAL POWER — CENTURIES XIII. TO XVm.
The election of Eudolph von Hapsburg to the Imperial
dignity, in the latter part of the thirteenth century,
marks another important era in the history of the
Temporal Power of the Popes.
Eichard, Earl of Cornwall, brother of Henry III. of
England, who had been chosen King of the Eomans and
Germans'in 1271, having died on the 2nd of April,
1273, and the rights of Alphonsus, King of Castile, who
had been elected to the same dignity, being doubtful and
most difficult of decision, Pope Gregory X., moved by the
disputes and disturbances in Germany, which necessarily
resulted, commanded the Ecclesiastical electors, under
penalty of the deprivation of office, and the secular
princes, under pain of excommunication, to determine
without delay, and give au Advocate to the Church ; ^
adding, that otherwise he would make the election him-
self. The electors, thereupon, immediately assembled
at Erankfort; and, after three days' deliberation, Eu-
dolph, Count of Hapsburg in Switzerland, then absent,
was chosen King and Emperor elect.* Eepairing to Aix-
' Advocate, i.e., Protector or Defender. Charlemagne and his sue-
cegsors, as we have seen, were commonly styled : Sanctce Dei McdeaicE
AdvocatUK, Adjutor, Defensor. Subsequently, during the Middle Ages,
the title Adm>catus was given to princes and nobles who protected local
churches, and who received a payment, or tribute, for doing so.
' Rudolph, or Rodolph, von Hapsburg was the founder of the present
Imperial house of Austria. Ottocar, King of Bohemia, having refused
to acknowledge him as Emperor elect, a war ensued between them,
resulting in the defeat and death of the Bohemian prince; A.D. 1278.
Kudolph then took possession of Ottocar's province of Austria, which
THE TEMPORAL POWER CENTURIES XIII. TO XVIII. 263
la-Chapelle, Eudolph there received the oaths of fealty
of the electors, and was crowned King. The following
year, he sent his ambassadors to the Pope, then pre-
siding over the Fourteenth General Council, at Lyons.
Gregory gave them audience, not at the council, but in
a consistory of cardinals ; on which occasion the leading
member of the embassy, Otho, Provost of the Church of
Saint Guide at Spires, and Chancellor of the Imperial
Court, in the name of Eudolph, confirmed all the rights
and territories of the Holy See, and promised that the
Emperor elect would not invade the possessions of the
Church, or levy war against the King of Sicily ; and,
further, that, on his receiving the insignia of the Empire
at Some, he would take the usual oath of fealty and
obedience to the Holy Father. On this, Gregory con-
firmed his election.
The next year, Eudolph, coming from Vienna, with
his Queen Consort and children, waited on Gregory,
then at Lausanne, taking an oath to the Pontiff, that
he would defend and guarantee the possessions of the
Church, and further binding himself to join the Cru-
he conferred on his own son Albert, afterwards Emperor : and Albert's
successors, abandoning the title of Hapsburg, assumed that of Austria,
as being more illustrious. Rudolph was succeeded by Albert in 1291 ;
and the male line continued until the death of Charles VI. in 1740,
■when it became extinct, and Charles's only daughter Maria Theresa
succeeded to the throne. She married Prancis I., Duke of Tuscany
of the house of Lorraine, who thus became the founder of the Haps-
burg-Lorraine dynasty. In 1780, Maria Theresa was succeeded by her
son Joseph II. ; and he, by his brother Leopold II., in 1 790. After
the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of France in 1804, Leopold's
son and successor, Erancis I., relinquished the title of Emperor of
Germany, and assumed that of Emperor of Austria. Some say that
this step was taken, in obedience to the imperious will of Napoleon,
while others, including a ootemporary writer, affirm that it was the
result of Francis's apprehension that, with the increase of the power of
the Protestant States, in the course of time, the title of Emperor of
Germany might be wrested from the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine by
the house of Hohenzollem — a view which has been borne out by recent
events. After an unusually long reign, Francis was succeeded by his
son Ferdinand IV. in 1835 ; and that monarch abdicated in favour of
his nephew, Francis Joseph, the present Emperor, in 1848'
264 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
sade.^ In his diploma, executed the same year, A.D.
1275, Kudolph placed on record his confirmation of
all the privileges conceded by the Emperors, his pre-
decessors, to the Holy Eoman Church, and his solemn
promise to defend the city and provinces which they
had recovered and restored to her.^
In this important deed, we find the following clause,
regarding matters spiritual : —
Anxious to abolish the abuse ■which some of our predecessors
are known and are said to have exercised in the election of pre-
lates, we concede and enact, that the election of prelates shall be
freely and canonically made, so that he shall be placed over a
widowed Church, whom the whole chapter, or the greater or
sounder part thereof, will have considered the person to be
chosen, provided the canonical statutes are fully observed. And
in Ecclesiastical affairs and causes, appeals shall be freely made
to the Apostolic See. And let no one presume to impede their
prosecution or progress. We also repudiate and repress the abuse
which our predecessors used to commit in taking possession of the
goods of deceased prelates or Churches, according to their own
pleasure. And all spiritual things we leave to be disposed by
you, and other prelates of Churches ; in order that all things
which are Osesar's may, by a right distribution, be rendered to
Caesar ; and all that are of God, to God.^
It is unnecessary to dwell on Eudolph's diploma to
Pope Nicholas III., issued a.d. 1279, and confirmed in
a solemn deed by the Imperial electors,* or on the
various other official documents at our disposal, illus-
trating the amicable relations of the Pontiffs and tljie
Emperors at this period. Thenceforward, as observed
by Father Theiner, speaking with all the experience of
' Pagi, " Pontifioum Romanorum Gesta," ill. 348 ; Bemardus Guido,
in " Ohronico B,om. Pontificum ; " and Ptolomaeua Luoensis, " Hist.
Eodea.," lib. xxxiii. cap. 4.
^ These territories are set forth, as " all the land from Kadicofani to
Oeprano, the March of Ancona, the Duchy of Spolpto, the land of the
Countess Matilda, the County of Bertinore, the Exarchate of Kavenna,
the Pentapolis, Massa Trabaria, with the aidjacent lands, and all others
belonging to the Roman Church."
' Theiner, " Codex Diplomaticus Domin. Temp. S. Sedis," tom. i.
p. 194.
* Vide supra, p. 218.
THE TEMPORAL POWER CENTURIES XIII. TO XVm. 265
his laborious learned researches, the integrity and in-
violability of the States of the Holy See became a
sacred law of the Empire, and even of all Christendom,
as the German Emperors resumed, according to the
sublime idea of the Middle Ages, the supreme Advocacy
of the Church, and the protection of all Christian king-
doms. The example of Eudolph von Hapsburg was
followed by his successors. The establishment of the
happy relations subisting between the Priesthood and
the Empire at this period, is justly attributed to " the
wise and magnanimous efforts of Popes Gregory X.,
Innocent V., Adrian V., and John XXI."
In the year 1309, Pope Clement V.,^ a Erenchman,
alarmed by the violence of the Eoman nobles, and at
the same time following his own inclinations, and
strongly influenced by the wishes of King Philip le
Bel, decided to transfer the Papal residence to Erance.
Evidently with a view to this change, he had the cere-
mony of his coronation carried out with great pomp at
Lyons, instead of at Eome, on the 14th of November,
1305. Eour years later, notwithstanding the urgent
remonstrances of the Sacred College, he removed with
his entire court to Avignon.^ The Popes continued to
' Bertrand do Got, » member of a noble family of Aquitaine, and
Archbishop of Bordeaux, was elected Pope, in the conclave held at
Perugia, in 1305, through the influence of his sovereign, Philip le Bel,
and ascended the Pontifical throne as Clement V. He reigned eight
years, ten months, and fifteen days, dying in 1314. Clement revoked
the Bulls issued by his predecessor Boniface VIII. against Philip le
Bel. In 1311, he convoked the Fifteenth General Council, that of
Vienne, at which the order of Templars was suppressed. As set forth
above, Clement removed the Papal residence tto Avignon in 1309. In
this, as in other matters, he appears to have been too subservient to
the wishes of King Philip. The alleged compact or bargain, however,
between Clement and Philip, set forth by Villani, as the price of
Clement's election to the pontificate, is gravely doubted by Dollinger,
Hefele, and other modem investigators. In another chapter, reference
is made to the Constitutions of this Pope styled Clanentince.
' Avignon. The Comtat Venaissin, Vomitatus Vendascerms, or county
of Avignon, on the east bank of the Rhone, now comprised in the
department of Vaucluse, was ceded by Philip III. to Pope Gregory X.
in 1273. In 1348, Pope Clement VI. purchased the City of Avignon,
266 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
hold their court in that city seventy years — Clement's
successors there being John XXII., A.D. 13 16-13 34;
Benedict XII., A.D. 1 334-1 342 ; Clement VI., A.D.
1342-1352; Innocent VI., A.D. 1352-1362; Urban V.,
A.D. 1362-1370; and Gregory XI.^ A.D. 1370-1378.
These were all Frenchmen, and naturally were favour-
able to the change ; and they were susceptible of being
swayed in the matter by the wishes of the French
monarchs. Their creation of French cardinals, out of
all proportion, gave France a preponderance in the
Sacred College; and thus the continued residende of
the Popes at Avignon became more assured, and the
foundations were laid of the great schism which, after
the death of Gregory XI., so grievously aflicted the
Church.
Meanwhile Eome and all Italy suffered severely from
the absence of the Pontiffs. The city became a solitude
— its population having fallen off one half; grass grew
in the streets; and the general lawlessness and in-
security of life and property were sadly aggravated by
the violence of the Roman nobles, who had fortified
their dwellings, and the public monuments of which
they had taken possession, and there maintained bands
-of armed followers. The legitimate rulers, in their
absence, were represeiited by cardinal legates, or vicars,
who, in many an instance, were inadequate to the
emergencies which arose.
An interesting episode at this time was the brief and
brilliant career of Eienzi, " the last of the Eoman Tri-
bunes." Nicola, or Cola, Eienzi was born in Eome, of
humble parentage, in the year 1 3 10. Having received ^
a good education, he used, from his earliest youth, to '
pore over "the pictured page of Livy," and other classics,
Avemio, from Joan, Queen of Naples and Oonntesa of Provence, for
80,000 gold florins of Florence. The French, on any difference arising
with Rome, from time to time, disputed this sale ; but long possession
preserved the city and territory to the Holy See, until 1791, when
they were annexed to France,
THE TEMPORAL POWER CENTURIES XIII. TO XVIII. 667
and there meditate on the departed glories of the
eternal city, sadly contrasting her past greatness with
her modern decline. Bitterly lamenting the absence
of the Papal court, and chaiing under the tyranny
of the barons and the outrages of their retainers, he
accompanied a deputation to Avignon, in 1 342, to sup-
plicate Clement VI. to return to his normal residence,
Eome. His dear friend the poet Petrarch ^ also formed
one of the deputation. Eienzi was the spokesman;
and Clement was so struck with his language and
bearing, that, although he would not allow his political
course to be shaped by popular harangues, he appointed
the youthful delegate a notary of the Apostolic Chamber
— an office to which were attached considerable emolu-
ments. Eienzi, thus honoured, returned to Eome ; and
frequently there, as occasion offered, he addressed his
fellow-citizens on his all-absorbing subject, with that
irresistible eloquence which appears to have been his
special gift. The leading idea of his life was, the sub-
stitution of the sovereignty of the Eoman people for
the existing oligarchy of factious nobles ; saving always
the rights and jurisdiction of the Apostolic Father.
At length, having carefully matured his plans, with
a number of trusty associates, Eienzi assembled the
people on the 19th of May, 1347, and invited them to
join him in acts of devotion, throughout the night,
in the Church of St. John of the Piscina, in order to
draw down God's blessing on his undertaking. The
following morning, being Ascension Day, he issued
from the Church, in full armour, but bareheaded ; one
hundred armed men formed his escort; banners em-
blematic of Liberty, Justice, and Peace, were borne
before him by. three of the principal patriots of Eome ;
and by his side walked the Pope's vicar, Eaymond,
Bishop of Orvieto, who fully entered into his views.
1 In a letter to Urban V., on this subject, some years later, Petrarch
boldly asked His Holiness : Bid he prefer living among sinners at
Avignon to dvfelling with the saints and martyrs at Borne f
268 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
He then proceeded to the Capitol, accompanied by a
multitude of peaceful and unarmed citizens. Arrived
at the foot of the grand staircase, he turned round and
addressed the people, detailing to them the measures
which he proposed to carry out for the common weal.
A guard of twenty-five horse and one hundred foot
soldiers was to be maintained in each quarter of the
city ; guard-ships, for the protection of commerce, were
to be stationed in the Tiber ; the fortresses and other
strong places, within and without the walls, were to be
taken from the nobles, and handed over to the people
or their officers, to whom were also to be given in
charge the bridges and the city gates ; public granaries
were to be established ; and arrangements were to be
made for the puompt punishment of crime, and the
speedy adjudication of civil causes. These wise proposals
were hailed by the joyous acclamations of all present ;
and Kienzi was invested with full power and authority
to carry them into immediate execution. Then were
conferred on him the titles of Tribune and Liberator
of Eome — the same titles being also conferred on the
Papal vicar.
The new Tribune forthwith became the supreme
dictator of Kome, and accomplished, with little or no
resistance, his peaceful revolution. The Colonnas,
Ursini, SaveUi, and other nobles were obliged to sur-
render or dismantle their strongholds, and to disband
their forces. Eobbers and murderers were summarily
tried and executed; and peace and security were as-
sured, not only in the city, but in all the adjoining
districts.
Other cities and states looked on with admiration ;
and, envious of Eome, appealed to her ruler for hia
countenance and protection. Even foreign powers sent
their envoys to him, with messages of peace and
friendship; and, in one instance, his arbitration was
invoked by two contending princes.
But, unfortunately, Eienzi's brain was turned by
THE TEMPORAL POWER CENTURIES XIII. TO XVIII, 269
his sudden elevation. On the ist of August, he pro-
ceeded in state to the church of Saint John Lateran ;
was there knighted; and assumed all the pomp of the
Imperial Csesars. On the following day, he summoned
Clement VI. and his cardinals and court to remove
from Avignon to Eome ; and cited the Emperor Charles
IV. and Louis of Bavaria to appear before him. The
Bishop of Orvieto protested against these extraordinary
proceedings : and, on their being reported to the Pope,
Clement sent a legate from Avignon to remonstrate.
Protest and remonstrance were alike disregarded by
the Tribune. Then a sentence of excommunication
was pronounced against him; the people fell away
from him on every side ; the barons resumed the offen-
sive; and on the 15 th of December, after a rule of
about seven months, he resigned his office of Tribune
of the people, and retired into private life.
In 1350, the Jubilee year, Eienzi re-appeared on the
scene. His reception at Eome was cold; and conse-
quently, after some delay, he determined to solicit
the Emperor's aid in carrying out his projects for the
welfare of Italy. With this view, in 1352, he visited
the Imperial court at Prague, when Charles had him
arrested and sent, a prisoner, to his legitimate sove-
reign, the Pope. Detained by Clement, he remained
three years in captivity at Avignon, studying the
ancient glories of Eome, in his favourite classics. At
length, in 1354, Clement's successor. Innocent VI., sent
him to govern Eome, as senator, under the authority of
the vicar. Cardinal Albornoz. Here his administration
was alike brief and unsuccessful. His former prestige
had to a great extent departed, and he appears to have
been deaf to the suggestions of ordinary prudence.
Being short of supplies, he levied taxes which were
most obnoxious to the people, who rose against him;
and, after four months' rule, as senator, on the 8th of
October, 1354, he was assassinated at the Capitol by
an infuriated mob. In Eienzi, a powerful character
270 THE CHAIK OF PETER.
appears to have been marred, and a grand career cut
short, by the absence of two essential qualities of true
greatness — discretion, and abnegation of self.
A no less remarkable man in this crisis was Cardinal
Albornoz, in whose person were combined the genius of
a great statesman, the talents of a military leader, and
the qualities of a zealous churchman. Giles or ./Egidius
Albornoz claimed descent from the Eoyal houses of
Leon and Aragon. At an early age, he became, Arch-
bishop of Toledo, and in 1352 he received a Cardinal's
hat from Pope Clement VI. The following year, he
was sent by Innocent VI., as his vicar to Rome, and he
governed in Italy for that Pontiff and his successor.
Urban V., till his death in 1 367. In his administra-
tion of fourteen years, Albornoz displayed rare political
ability and martial vigour, in summarily repressing
lawlessness and outrage, and in expe^ing from the
Papal towns and territories the turbulent nobles, by
whom they had been usurped.
Owing to the urgent remonstrances, not only from
Italy but from other countries also, that had reached
Avignon, and the insecurity of that city from the
crowds of disbanded soldiers and other marauders in
the neighbourhood, Urban V. determined to remove his
court to Rome in the year 1367. His arrival in his
capital was joyfully hailed by the inhabitants, and,
combined with the results of the able administration of
Cardinal Albornoz, tended to restore peace and con-
fidence in every quarter. After nearly three years'
sojourn in Rome, Urban returned to Avignon in 1 370,
in order to mediate between the Kings of England and
France, then preparing for war against each other.
However, he died within four months after his arrival ;
and it was reserved for his successor, Gregory XL,
to accomplish, some seven years later, the definitive
removal of the Papal court to Rome.
It is deserving of note, that the unwise proceedings
of Clement V, aud hi§ immediate successors did not by
THE TEMPORAL POWER CENTURIES XHI. TO XVIII. 27 I
any means diminish the weight and authority of the
Holy See, in its own dominions or in the -general affairs
of Europe, at this period. Indeed, of the Avignon Popes
it has been observed with truth, that they governed
their States with more real power than many of their
predecessors ; and that John XXII. was much more a
sovereign than any of the temporal princes of the age.^
When Louis of Bavaria entered Eome, and, in a large
assembly in front of Saint Peter's, pronounced the depo-
sition of John, and proclaimed the election of an anti-
pope in his stead, his attempts against the inviolability
of the rights of the Holy See were utterly f utile.^ In the
words of a disinterested witness, " Louis forgot his own
debility and the prejudices of the times; beyond the
precincts of a German camp, his useless phantom was
rejected; the Eomans despised their own workman-
ship; the antipope implored the mercy of his lawful
sovereign ; and the exclusive right of the Cardinals was
more firmly established by this unreasonable attack."^
The rise of the Italian free cities and republics, and
their struggles for independence, the sanguinary wars of
the Guelphs and GhibeUines,* the frequent usurpation
of portions of the Papal territories, and the measures
necessitated for their recovery, the continuous outrages
' Theiner, " Codex Diplomaticus Dominii Temporalis S. Sedis," torn.
i. prsf. ix. Father Theiner's opinions to this effect are based on the
several official documents which he places before ns.
' April 18, 1328.
' Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,'' chap. Ixix.
* Guelphs and Ghibellines. These were two powerful parties in the
Middle Ages, having their origin in Germany, and desolating Italy with
warfare for more than two centuries. The Guelphs were adherents of
the Popes ; and the Ghibellines, of the Emperors. The former were so
called after Guelpho, or Welf, of Altdorf, a powerful leader, brother of
Henry, Duke of Bavaria ; and the latter derived their name from the
great family of. Guibelinga, or Waeblinga, who owned a castle of that
title in the diocese of Augsburg. These names first became war-cries
after the battle of Winsberg, between Conrad III. and Guelpho, the
2 1st of December, 1140. As both parties were Catholic, the religious
element did not enter into their disputes, which were altogether
political.
272 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
of the Eoman nobles and their factions, and the occa-
sional paroxysms of Imperial or other foreign aggres-
sion on various parts of the Italian Peninsula, involved
the successive occupants of Saint Peter's Chair in an
almost unbroken series of anxieties and afflictions, for
at least three centuries. Into these events we have
not space to enter here. One result of the anarchy and
confusion thus created was, that the Church was again
and again despoiled of large portions of her possessions
— to be again and again recovered ; and thus, as in
the days of "the first and the greatest of the name
of Gregory," each Pope, in his turn, was occupied
by the cares of a secular prince no less than by the
solicitude of chief pastor of the Universal Church.
The action of the Popes all through such periods of
dif&culty and danger is variously viewed, according to
the ideas or prepossessions of various writers. All dis-
passionate readers, however, who carefully weigh the
evidence, wUl be likely to arrive at the conclusion,
that, as a rule, the exertions of the several Pontiffs were
confined to the preservation, or the recovery, of those
provinces which they regarded as a sacred trust, for the
benefit of the Church over which they presided, and,
further, to the discharge of tbb duties which devolved
on them, as the arbiters of Christian princes, and
supreme guardians of the rights and best interests of
the entire population of aU Christian States.
The much discussed military operations of Julius ID
were a,ll undertaken in this spirit ; and not unfrequently
his object was attained by an armed demonstration,
without any actual hostilities. "The re-establishment
of the States of the Church," says Eanke, " was in that
day considered not only a glorious, but even a religious
enterprise; every effort of the Pope was directed to-
wards this end ; by this one idea were aU his thoughts
* Julian della Rovere, nephew of Pope Sixtua IV., governed the
Church, A.D. 1503-1513, under the name of Julius II. He convoked
the Eighteenth Greneral Council, the fifth Lateran, in 15 12.
THE TEMPOEAL POWER CENTURIES XIIl. TO XVIU. 2/3
animated ; they were, if I may so express myself, steeled
and moulded into this one unvarying form. In further-
ance of this, his grand aim, he engaged in the boldest
operations, risking all to obtain all."^ Not only did
Julius thus recover his territories, which had recently
been usurped by Csesar Borgia in the Eomagna, the
Venetians in the same province, the Bentivogli in
Bologna, and the Fredducini in Fermo ; but he won
back Parma, Piacenza, and Eeggio, which had been so
long alienated from the Holy See. Over the whole
region from Piacenza to Terracina he ruled supreme.
" He had ever sought to present himself in the character
of a liberator ; governing his new subjects with a wise
benignity, he secured their attachment and even devo-
tion ; the temporal princes were not without alarm at
sight of so many warlike populations iu allegiance to
a Pope." ^
From this time forward, the various cities of the
Papal dominions, and the unruly barons, were brought
more and more into a state of unconditional subjection
to their sovereign lords, the Popes ; and, with occasional
vicissitudes arising from political disturbance and war-
Uke operations,* the territories of the Holy See continued
the same, till near the close of the last century, when
the French revolution and its consequences effected
great, though not enduring, changes in this, as in other
sovereignties. These will form the subject of future
chapters.
* Ranke's "History of the Popes," book i. chap 2.
" Ibid.
' Such, for instance, were the disastrous warlike policy and the un-
lucky alliances which were forced on Clement VIL by the defence of
Italy against Charles V., and which entailed such severe reverses and
so much humiliation on that Pontiff. Clement YII. reigned A.D.
1523-1534 ; and had the misfortune to witness the defection of England
from the Church, under Henry VIII.
CHAPTEE XX.
THE GREAT SCHISM OF THE WEST.
Of all the evils resulting from the removal of the
residence of the Popes to Avignon, which was, not
inaptly, compared by the Italians to the Babylonian
captivity, the most deplorable was that inflicted on the
Universal Church by the Schism of the Antipopes,i
which endured more than forty years. This schism
arose out of the transfer of the. Papal court back to
Kome, by Gregory XL, in 1377.
Gregory having died on the 27th of March, 1 378, the
sixteen cardinals then in Rome assembled in conclave,
and on the 8th of April unanimously elected, as Pope,
Bartolomeo di Prignano, Archbishop of Bari in Apulia,
outside the Sacred College. The elect, who assumed
the name of Urban VI., was immediately enthroned ;
and on Easter Sunday, the i8th, his coronation took
place, in front of Saint Peter's, all the cardinals who
had chosen him participating in the ceremony.
The inhabitants of Eome had iirgently besought the
cardinals, before their enclosure, to elect a Eoman, or
at least an Italian, and thus to put an end to the evils
inflicted on the City and Papal States by an opposite
course for the last seventy years. According to some
writers, they assumed a tone of menace ; and, further
on, large crowds, in a state of excitement, surrounded
the building in which the conclave was being held,
crying out that they would insist on the new Pope
• Generally called "the Great Schism of the West."
THE GREAT SCHISM OF THE WEST. 2^S
being a native of Eome. Although these proceedings
may not have amounted to coercion, there can be no
doubt that they would have had considerable effect in
making the result of the election different from whal
it might have been, were the majority of the cardinals
unanimous. For the conclave comprised four Italians
only, one Spaniard, Peter de Luna, and no less than
eleven Frenchmen ; and these last, if they agreed and
were not coerced, could and would have chosen one of
their own nation. But, it is alleged, the French car-
dinals were by no means of one mind, being divided
into two parties, that of Limousin, and that of the
other provinces of France, and therefore both favoured
the election of an Italian. Besides the sixteen who
entered the conclave, there were six who had remained
at Avignon, the total number of the members of the
Sacred College at the time being twenty-two.
On the 19th of April, the sixteen cardinals at Eome
wrote to their colleagues at Avignon, announcing their
election of Urban ; and the Avignon cardinals replied
by letter, acknowledging him as Pope.
Urban was a learned, pious, and austere man ; but,
in his zeal for the reformation of manners, the correction
of abuses, and the retrenchment of extravagant expendi-
ture, he appears to have been wanting in discretion ;
for immediately after his election he began to act with
harshness to the members of the Sacred College, and
he also offended several of the secular princes. To-
wards the end of June, twelve of the cardinals — eleven
Frenchmen and one Spaniard — obtained permission to
leave Eome, owing to the summer heats, and withdrew
to Anagni. Here, in a written instrument, dated 9th
August, 1378, they protested against the election, as
not having been free, and they called on Urban to
resign. A few days later, they removed to Fondi in
the kingdom of Naples, where they wete joined by
three of the Italians whom they had gained over to
their views; and, on the 19th of September, the fifteen
2/6 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
elected an antipope, the French Cardinal Eoberfc of
Cevennes,! who took the name of Clement VII., and
reigned at Avignon sixteen years, dying September i6,
1394, Thus there were two claimants of the Papal
throne — Urban holding his court at Eome, and Clement
residing with his followers at Avignon. The latter
was strong in the support of the sovereigns of France,
Scotland, Naples, Aragon, Castile, and Savoy; whUe
the remainder of Christendom adhered to Urban.
Clement was succeeded by Peter de Luna, the Car-
dinal of Aragon, who, on his election, assumed the name
of Benedict XIIL, and reigned at Avignon twenty-three
years — A.D. 1394-1417.
This lamentable state of affairs lasted altogether forty
years. Urban's successors at Eome, duly elected by
the Italian cardinals and those of other nations acting
with them, were, Boniface IX., a Neapolitan, A.D. 1389-
1404; Innocent VII., a native of Sulmona, A.D. 1404—
1406; Gregory XIL, a Venetian, a.d. 1406-1409;
Alexander V., a native of Candia, who reigned ten
months, A.D. 1409-1410; and John XXIIL, a Neapo-
litan, A.D. 1410-1417. As we have seen, there sat,
during the forty years, two antipopes at Avignon —
Clement VII., a.d. i 378-1 394; and Benedict XIIL,
A.D. 1 394-1417.
Although the Popes above enumerated, as having
reigned at Eome, are now regarded as the legitimate
Pontiffs, and, as such, are inscribed in the Catalogues
of Popes, while Clement and Benedict are classed as
antipopes, there prevailed at the time much uncertainty
on the subject. A great deal depended on the question,
whether or not the election of Urban VI. was made
under coercion and was consequently uncanonical.
That question was one most difficult of decision. The
party of each claimant was large and influential ; and,
^ Dollinger, Alzog, and other modem writers call him Robert of
Geneva; but Pagi, Panvinius, and others, nearer his own time, style
him ofCeveimei; "Robertus Uallus Gebennensis."
THE GREAT SCHISM OF THE WEST. 2/7
although diametrically opposed to each other, neither
was guilty of disobedience to the Church or its chief ;
as all were only anxious to know the true Pope and to
render him obedience.
" During the whole time that the schism lasted," says a
cotemporary, Saint Antoninus, Archbishop of Florence,^
" each party or obedience numbered men deeply learned
in the Holy Scriptures and the canon law, and also
most religious men, nay, men illustrious by their mir-
acles : nor could the question ever be decided, without
its remaining doubtful to many. For, although it is
necessary to believe that, as there is one Catholic
Church, not several, so also is its one chief pastor the
Vicar of Christ, if however it should happen that
tlirough schism several Supreme Pontiffs are created or
named at one and the same time, it does not seem
necessary to salvation to believe that this or that one,
but that one of them is the Pope eanonically elected.
Now, every one is not bound to know who has been
eanonically elected, as every one is not bound to know
canon law. In such matters, the people can follow their
superiors or prelates."
We may well imagine the uncertainty existing as to
the legitimate Pope, when we find ranged on opposite
sides two most illustrious saints, Catherine of Siena,
and Vincent Ferrer, — both spiritual children of Saint
Dominic, and burning with zeal for the glory of God.^
In February, 1395, Charles VI. of France convoked
1 Saint Antoninus, Archbishop of Florence, was born in that city, in
1389. At an early age he entered the Dominican order, in which he
was distinguished for his learning and piety. In 1446, he was conse-
crated Archbishop of Florence. He died in 1459, in his seventieth
year. His principal work is Summa Theologice Moralis, part'iius gua-
tuor distincta, which has passed through several editions.
" Saint Catherine of Siena, with her powerful influence, supported
Urban VL, while Saint Vincent Ferrer adhered to De Luna, Benedict
XIII., whom he regarded as the legitimate Pope, until 1416, when, in
common with the King of Aragon and several other adherents, he
renounced him, admitting that he had been mistaken in supporting
him.
278 THE CHAIB OF PETEB.
an assemtly of the clergy of his dominions, under the
presidency of Simon Cramandus, Patriarch of Alexan-
dria, in order, if possible, to terminate the schism. The
assembly advised that the rival Pontiffs, Boniface IX.
and Benedict XIII. should abdicate. The same view-
was taken by most of the universities of Europe. Both
claimants however were reluctant to act upon it ; and
consequently affairs remained as before.
About two years after the election of Boniface's
second successor, Gregory XII., by the Eoman cardinals,
a conference was proposed between him and his rival
at Avignon, in order that some agreement might be
come to between them — each having, on his election,
promised on oath that he would resign should the
oth^r do the same; but the difficulties as to pre-
liminaries, which were raised on both sides, were such
that no progress was made in the matter.^ Then the
French party, dissatisfied with Benedict, withdrew their
support from him ; and the Eoman cardinals, equally
displeased with Gregory, abandoned him likewise.
After this, the united cardinals met at Leghorn, and
there agreed, that, whereas both Pontiffs were bound
by their oaths and the uncertainty of their positions to
abdicate, and had refused to do so, thus prolonging the
schism, they had lost all claim to obedience. It was
therefore resolved that they, the members of the Sacred
College, should convoke a General Council, to meet at
Pisa, on the 2Sth of March, 1409. Gregory and
Benedict were duly informed thereof, and were re-
quested to attend the council; and legates were sent
with the same intimation to the sovereigns of France,
England, Germany, and other states.
The Council of Pisa sat from March 2Sth to August
7th, 1409. There were present twenty-four cardinals
of both "obediences," four patriarchs, twelve arch-
bishops, eighty bishops, eighty-seven abbots ; the pro-
' Panvinius, apud Platinam, " De Vitis Pontifioum Romanorum,"
p. 281.
THE GREAT SCHISM OF THE WEST. 279
curators of one hundred and two absent archbishops
and bishops, and of two hundred absent abbots; the
generals of four mendicant orders; the deputies of
thirteen Universities, namely, Oxford, Cambridge, Paris,
Toulouse, Orleans, Angers, Montpellier, Bologna, Flor-
ence, Cracow, Prague, Vienna, and Cologne ; the repre-
sentatives of over one hundred cathedral and collegiate
chapters, two hundred and eighty-two doctors and
licentiates of canon and civil law ; and the ambassadors
of the Kings of England, France, Poland, Bohemia,
Portugal, Sicily, and Cyprus. Guido de Malesec, the
oldest cardinal, presided.
This was a large and most influential representation
of the Church, and it afforded evidence of the great
anxiety of Christendom to put a period to the schism.
Yet, in the opinion of many, the validity of the council,
at best, was but doubtful ; as the essential condition of
its being convoked by the Pope, and participated in by
him, was wanting. This view was urged by Gregory's
representatives, as well as by those of the German
King, Eupert of the Palatinate, and of Ladislas, King
of Naples, both supporters of Gregory.
The crisis, no doubt, was one of extreme difficulty.
John Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris,
and other learned theologians argued, that the rule just
mentioned, that a General Council should be convoked,
and participated in, by the Pope, applied only when
there was an undoubtedly legitimate Pope; but that,
in the actually existing circumstances, where there
were two claimants of the Papal throne, each with a
large following, and where the legitimacy of each was
a doubtful question, the mandate of neither would be
generally obeyed, and consequently the lamentable
schism, so full of perplexity and uncertainty, and so
detrimental to the Church, would be perpetuated ; and
that therefore the council, convoked and participated
in by the united cardinals, was legitimate.
In its eighth and ninth sessions, the council discussed
280 THE CHAm OF PETEK.
the question of its being canonically convened, and
decided that question in the affirmative. The case of
the two claimants of the Papacy was next considered.
Their protests against the proceedings were set aside ;
and, as they both had failed to attend in person, judg-
ment went against them, and they were each declared
unworthy to preside over the Church, and forbidden to
act as Pope.i In the sixteenth session, each of the
twenty-three cardinals solemnly bound himself by an
agreement, that, if he were chosen Pope, he would not
dissolve the council until it had legislated for the com-
plete reformation of Ecclesiastical discipline, which
had been seriously impaired by the schism.
It was next decided that the united cardinals ex-
clusively had the right of electing the Pope. The
conclave commenced on the iSth of June, and, on the
26th, Peter Pilargo, a Friar Minor, and a native of
Candia, was chosen, taking the name of Alexander V.
Alexander presided at the last sessions of the council,
which broke up on the 7th of August, having accom-
plished its main work of electing a Pope. The refor-
mation of Ecclesiastical discipline was deferred to a
General Council, which the Fathers unanimously agreed
was to be convoked in three years for the purpose.
The newly elected Pope, as several had anticipated,
was not universally recognized. Gregory had stiU the
support of Germany, Naples, and some of the lesser
Italian States; while Scotland, Spain, and Portugal
adhered to Benedict. Alexander, after a short reign
of ten months, died on the 3rd of May, 1410, and
the cardinals elected as his successor Cardinal Cossa,
a pontic worldly man, who assumed the name of John
XXIII.
The Council of Pisa, intervening in a most difficult
crisis, intended well ; but it was irregular, as not hav-
ing been convoked and participated in by the Pope.
Consequently, it only aggravated the evil which it
' Session 15th, June 5, 1409,
THE GREAT SCHISM OF THE WEST. 28 I
laboured to cure. Instead of two, there were now
three claimants of the Papal Chair. It was reserved
for the General Council of Constance to restore union
and peace to the Church.
The Sixteenth General Council, that of Constance,
was, at the time of its assembling, the largest, and
perhaps the most important, ever held. It was con-
voked by John XXIII. for the ist of November, 1414,
in a Bull issued for the purpose on the 7th of December
previous. Its objects were, to terminate the schism of
the antipopes; to condemn errors of faith, especially
those of Wycliffe and Huss ; and to reform Ecclesias-
tical discipline.
The council assembled a vast number of ecclesiastics,
and comprised twenty-four cardinals, three patriarchs,
thirty-three archbishops, one hundred and fifty bishops,
one hundred and twenty-four abbots, fifty provosts,
and close on three hundred doctors and licentiates of
canon and civil law. Among the princes present were
Sigismund, King of Germany, Emperor Elect, and the
Dukes of Saxony, Mecklenburg, Pomerania, Lorraine,
and Austria, The concourse of strangers in the city
was over one hundred thousand.
On the 5th of November, 1414, the council was
opened by John, who advisedly spolce of it as a con-
tinuation of the Council of Pisa, which had pronounced
against his two rivals. However, the general sentiment
was quite otherwise, in accordance with the conclusion
arrived at by the university of Paris and other uni-
versities ; namely, that the schism could be ended only
by the resignation or deposition of the three claimants.
Gregory acted in this spirit ; for, in a public audience,
Ms delegates declared to the council that he was ready
to resign, provided that his two opponents would do
so, and that John should not preside at the council.
John refused, relying on the decision of the Council
of Pisa ; and further expressed a wish that the voting
should be by bishops alone ; but to this it was objected
282 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
that the bishops were a very small proportion of the
ecclesiastics attending; and that of these the Italian
bishops constituted the great majority, and they were
known to be in favour of John ; and that, moreover,
there were several laymen representatives of the uni-
versities, and they were entitled to a voice. Then it
was strongly urged, and especially by the French
Cardinal D'Ailly, that the Council should -distinguish
between affairs purely spiritual and the subject matter
of the existing schism; and that, under the circum-
stances, all who had been invited should have a vote.
On all these points, John was quite in a minority ; and
the definite arrangement made was as follows. The
whole assembly, including all the doctors, was divided
into four nations — Italian, French, German and English.
After De Luna was abandoned by the Spaniards, and
they joined the Council, a fifth nation, the Spanish,
was added. Each nation had its own officers and
president, and separately discussed the several subjects
of deliberation, every one present having a vote in
committee. The result was laid before the general
conference of nations — it having been agreed upon
that the final voting should be by nations, and not by
individuals, each nation having one vote; and the
decision of the majority, thus arrived at, was reported
to the council, in its next public session.^
On the 1st of March, 1415, the four nations being
assembled in the Apostolic palace, in presence of the
Emperor Sigismund, the Patriarch of Antioch, in the
name of the whole council, earnestly besought John,
who, as Pope, had convoked the council, that he would
restore complete peace to the Church by a renuncia-
tion of the Papacy — his two rivals renouncing also;
^ This mode of proceeding was, on due deliberation, deemed neoes-
Bary, in order to meet the extraordinary, nay unique, circumstances of
the emergency that had arisen ; the Fathers, however, declaring that
such a departure from the usage of individual voting must not be
regarded as a precedent.
THE GREAT SCHISM OF THE WEST. 283
which John of his own free wUl promised to do. On
the following day, the Pontiff, seated on his throne in
front of the altar, in the Cathedral, and in presence of
the Emperor and the whole council, in its second ses-
sion, read out in a clear voice the schedule, which on
the previous day had been presented to him by the
Patriarch, and of which the tenor was as follows : " I,
John XXIII., Pope, for the sake of the whole Christian
people, of my own accord and freely, profess, pro-
mise, vow, and swear to God, and to the Church, and
to this sacred council, that I will give peace to the
Church by way of my simple renunciation of the
Papacy; and that I will do and carry it into effect,
according to the deliberation of this present council, if
and when Peter de Luna and Angelus de Corario,
styled respectively by their followers Benedict XIII.
and Gregory XII., renounce in like manner, and also
in any case whatsoever of renunciation or decease, or
otherwise, in which my renouncing can give union to
the Church of God, for the extirpation of the present
schism." The Emperor thereupon laid aside his crown,
and kneeling kissed the feet of the Pontiff, thanking
him in his own name and that of the council. Thanks
on behalf of the whole council were also rendered to
him by the Patriarch of Antioch.
But ere long differences arose between the Pope on
the one hand and the Emperor and the council on the
other. John moreover appears to have immediately
regretted his solemn promise to abdicate. With the
aid of Frederick Duke of Austria, he withdrew, in dis-
guise, to Schaffhausen, on the night of the 20th of
March. Thence he summoned the cardinals of his
obedience to attend him; and he opened communica-
tions with the King of France and other princes, in
order to justify his flight. Meanwhile the business of
the council proceeded. By its order and that of the
Emperor, John was arrested by Frederick, Margrave of
Brandenburg, and detained a prisoner. The council
284 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
then appointed a deputation to confer with him on the
whole question ; and the result of their protracted con-
ference was, that John made fuU submission. There-
upon, the council, in its twelfth session, on the 29th of
May, 141 S, formally deposed him from the Papacy.
On the 31st, in presence of the delegates of the council,
he entirely acquiesced in the sentence, and affirmed on
oath that he would never act contrary to it ; and, now
resigning and renouncing the Papacy, he divested him-
self,°yet in their presence, of all the Papal insignia, and
expressed his regret that he had ever been elevated to
the position.^
Immediately on the deposition of John XXIII. by
the council, Gregory XII. came forward to redeem his
promise. On the Sth of June, 1415, Carlo de Malatesta,
Lord of the city of Eimini, where Gregory resided,
arrived at Constance, as his plenipotentiary, and declared
to the Emperor that he had been sent to him, and not
to the council, which Gregory did not recognize. In the
fourteenth session, at which Sigismund at first presided,
as Gregory refused to abdicate under the presidency of
a cardinal of another obedience, a Bull from him was
read, in which he first, through his legate the Cardinal
of Eagusa, convoked the council, in order that he might
afterwards acknowledge its authority. The cardinals of
the two "obediences" were declared united, and the
cardinals, created by Gregory, six in number, were re-
ceived into the Sacred College. Then, the Cardinal
Bishop of Ostia presiding, Malatesta read Gregory's
solemn act of renunciation, which was joyfully and
gratefully received by the whole assembly.^
' The deposed Pontiff, John XXIII., remained a, prisoner four
years. On his liberation in 1419, he cast himself at the feet of Martin
V. , whom he venerated as Vicar of Christ, and expressed his approval
of his election as Pope, by the Council of Constance. On the 23rd of
June that year, Martin named him Bishop of Tusculum aud Dean of
the Sacred College. He died on the 22nd of December following.
^ In » letter, a short time afterwards, which he addressed to the
council, confirming all that bad been done in the matter, Gregory
THE GREAT SCHISM OF THE WEST. 285
Benedict XIIL, although occupying the most doubt-
ful position of the three claimants, and now long uni-
versally regarded as an antipope, was the most difficult
to deal with. The council again and again endeavoured
to procure from him his renunciation. Even the Em-
peror Sigismund, accompanied by fourteen delegates of
the council, travelled to Perpignan, to hold an interview
with him on the subject; but, owing to Benedict's
obstinacy and subterfuges, they returned disappointed.
The Spaniards, so long his supporters, now withdrew
from him; and Saint Vincent Ferrer abandoned him,
declaring that he had been deceived in his regard.
Finally, in its thirty-seventh session, on the 26th of
July, 141 7, he was solemnly deposed by the council.^
The case now stood thus. Gregory XII. had volun-
tarily abdicated; John XXIII. had submitted to the
Council of Constance, by which he was formally de-
posed; and the antipope Peter de Luna (Benedict XIII.)
had also been deposed, without submitting, and was
abandoned by all his followers.
The election of a Pope was the next business of the
council. The conclave consisted of twenty-three cardi-
nals, and (on the proposition of the cardinals themselves)
of thirty deputies, six from each nation — a departure
from the general rule, which was allowed in this par-
ticular instance, but which, it was expressly stated,
should not be permitted in any other. After a con-
sultation of three days, on the nth of November, 141 7,
they unanimously elected Cardinal Ottone Colonna,
who assumed the name of Martin V., and was conse-
crated and crowned on the 21st of the same month.
Martin immediately addressed himself to carrying
out the proposed reforms of Ecclesiastical discipline, in
signed himself Angelo, Cardinal Bishop. He was appointed by Martin
v.. Cardinal Legate of Anoona. He died in October, 1417.
^ Obstinately adhering to his bare title of Benedict XIII., and with-
out any followers, Peter de Luna continued to reside in obscurity, in
the small Spanish town of Feuiscola, until his death, which took place
in 1424.
2 86 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
the council. In the forty-fifth and last session, on the
22nd of April, 141 8, he confirmed the decrees on
matters of faith, made according to the due forms of
councils;^ but he excepted all that had been done
otherwise. He then declared the council closed.
Thus happily terminated the great schism of the
West, equally disedifying and detrimental to religion ;
and all Christendom rejoiced that peace and union had
been restored to the Church.
^ " Quae in materia fidei conciliariter determinata, coticluea, et de-
creta fuissent."
CHAPTEK XXI.
"WYCLIFFE.
" In quo tandem religionis capite congruunt inter se Ecclesise quae
Romano Pontifioi bellum indizerunt ? A capite ad calcem si perourras
omnia, nihil propemodum reperias ab uno afBrmari quod alter etatim
non impium esse clamitet." — Beza.
From the earliest ages, the Church has had to contend
with heresies, •which, although they have led many of
her children astray, and have entailed on her much
trouble and affliction, have all plotted in vain against
her existence. Each form of error has run its course ;
and then has succumbed, to make way for another ; but,
conformably with the promise of her Divine Founder,
the Eternal Church has survived, and will continue to
exist until the ead of time. It is remarkable, however,
that, in all the heresies which have disturbed her peace,
whilst there is an endless variety of tenets, not only
dividing one sect from another, but rendering mutually
antagonistic the several subdivisions of each particular
sect, there are certain points of similarity which con-
stitute, as it were, a family likeness — certain charac-
teristic features, common to all.^
Of these perhaps the most striking is, their substitu-
^ The word heresy (in the Greek atpeffu from alpiu, I take, I choose)
was originally used by the ancient philosophers to denote a choice, a
party, a sect, good or bad ; such as the "Peripatetic heresy," and the
" Stoic heresy," meaning the philosophic sects of Aristotle and Zeno,
respectively. Heresy is now defined by the Church as " a voluntary
and pertinacious error against some dogma of faith." To constitute
formal heresy, according to Saint Thomas, it must be " deliberate and
pertinacious," which latter word implies the rejection of the authority
of the Church Teaching.
288 THE CHAIS OF PETEE.
tion of the right of private judgment for the authority
of the Church, in matters of faith. Hence, on the one
hand, we have the Teaching Church, Ecclesw docens,
and all her children, in every age, and every nation,
united in the profession of one common immutable
faith, as it has come down from the Apostles; and, on
the other hand, we have a perplexing crowd of varying
creeds, tot sententice quot capita, which, from the days
of Luther and Calvin down to our times, have been a
subject of deep regret to some of the most learned and
most zealous leaders of Protestantism.
"I have been long and greatly tormented by those
thoughts which you describe," says Theodore Beza,
writing to his friend, Andrew Dudith; "I see our fol-
lowers wandering, the sport of every wind of doctrine,
and borne out into the deep sea, now carried to this
side, and now to the other. What their opinion on
religion may be to-day, you may perchance know;
but what it may be to-morrow, you cannot with any
certainty af&rm. On what point of religion do the
Churches which have declared war against the Koman
Pontiff agree among themselves ? If ,you run through
them all, from head to foot, you will hardly find any-
thing affirmed by one which the other does nqt imme-
diately exclaim against as impious." ^
' Beza, Epistola ad Andream Dndit. "Exercuerunt me diu et
multom illse ipsa quas descri)»B cogitationes. Video nostros palantes
omni doctrinas vento, et in altum sublatos, modo ad banc, modo ad
illam partem deferri, Eorum, quae sit hodie de religione sententia
scire f ortasse possis ; eed quae eras de eadem futura sit opinio, neque tu
certo affirmare queas. In quo tandem religionis capite congruunt inter
Be Ecclesias, quse Bomano Fontifici helium indixerunt ? A capite ad
calcem si percurras omnia, nihil propemodum reperiaa ah uno affirmari,
quod alter statim non impium esse clamitet." For an account of
Theodore Beza, see Index, "Beza." Andrew Dudith was bom at
Buda in Hungary, in 1533 ; and, from his earliest youth, manifested
high abilities, combineid with love of study. He was employed in
several affairs of importance by the Emperor Eerdinand L, by whom
he was promoted to the see of Tinia in Croatia, in 1560. Two years
later, he was deputed by the clergy of Hungary to represent them at
the Council of Trent ; but the Council was so scandalized by his lean-
WYCLITFE. 289
Somewhat similar are the words of Melancthon,
Calvin, Grotius, and Leibnitz, on this subject, which
will be found in other chapters.^
Another common characteristic of the various heresies,
is their violent, nay virulent, abuse of the Church,
strikingly in contrast with the calm, deliberative, and
solemn tone of the Popes and Councils, by whom they
were condemned. The results of such language, and of
some of the doctrines taught therein — doctrines too
often subversive of law and order, were painfully
felt in the wars and outrages of the Albigenses, the
Wyclif&tes, or Lollards,^ the Hussites, the insurgent
German peasants in the days of Luther, and other
similar movements in various parts of Europe.
Some thoughtful writers are of opinion, that it was
to counteract the mischief thus caused by evil teachers,
and to avert the grave perils with which their extra-
vagant doctrines further threatened religion and social
order all over Europe, it entered into the designs of
Divine Providence to raise up, as co-operators with the
secular clergy, those powerful organizations, the Mendi-
cant Orders, which, endowed with the vitality of God's
own work, have now flourished for close on seven
centuries, and, during that time, have rendered incalcul-
able services to religion and humanity. Eelinquishing
the world and its enjoyments, and bound by the solemn
vows of holy poverty, chastity, and obedience, the sons
of Saint Francis, Saint Dominic, and Saint Augustine,
and the servants of Our Blessed Lady of Mount Carmel,
are at this day, as they have ever been since their
ing to the new doctrines, that the Emperor was obliged to recall him.
On his return home, he resigned his bishopric, took to himself a wife,
and professed the new religion. He died in 1589. He wrote several
works of controversy, physios, and poetry. He also left some Latin
translations from the Greek.
' See Index. "Melancthon," "Calvin," "Grotius," and "Leib-
nitz."
^ Lollards. This term appears to have been originally applied in an
opprobrious sense. Its derivation is ascribed to the German laUen or
Mien, to babble or prate.
T
290 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
institution, regarded by those who know them best —
the Catholics of Christendom — with sentiments of
gratitude and veneration. Each of these orders, with
its rule most carefully devised, and, after strict exami-
nation, approved of by the Holy See, and with its
discipline so perfect, that its many thousands of mem-
bers act in unison as one man, presented a compact
phalanx against the innovators, who not only impugned
the doctrines of the Church, but, in too many instances,
in their addresses to ignorant and unreasoning mobs,
condemned Christian marriage, the rights of property,
and other time-honoured institutions, for which, if
unchecked, they would, to a considerable extent, have
thus practically substituted flagrant vice and the worst
form of communism.
These observations are a necessary introduction to
our examination of the life and doctrines of the remark-
able man whose name is at the head of this chapter.
John Wycliffe, so called from his native place,
Wycliffe, in Yorkshire, was a member of an ancient
family established there before the Norman Conquest.
He was born in 1324, and, at an early age, entered the
University of Oxford. In 1360, he took a prominent
part in the controversy then carried on, between some
of the secular clergy, chiefly members of the University,
and the Mendicant Orders; and, the same year, he
published his "Objections to the Friars." In 1361, he
was elected by the Fellows Master of Baliol College,
and was also presented to the lucrative living of
Fillingham, in the county of Lincoln.
At this period, the Carmelites, Franciscans, Domini-
cans, and Austin Friars, had been established, over a
century, in England, where their several houses were
so many abundant sources of good to their respective
neighbourhoods. They all had flourishing communities
at Oxford,
The Carmelites or White Friars claim a very ancient
origin; but their first written rule on record is that
WyCLIFFE. 291
which the Hermits of Mount Carmel in Syria received,
A.D. 1209, from Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem. This
rule, chiefly founded on that of Saint Basil, was ap-
proved of by Pope Honorius III., in 1224, and was
coniirmed, with some additions and mitigations, by
Innocent IV., in 1246. The Carmelites were first intro-
duced into England in 1240, when they were estab-
lished at Alnwick in Northumberland; and shortly
afterwards they had houses also at Aylesford, Oxford,
London, and other places. The order was introduced
into Ireland, in 1274; its first foundation being that
of White Friars in Dublin, to which were soon added
those of Leighlin-Bridge, Ardee, Thurles, Drogheda,
Galway, and Kildare. Nowhere has the Carmelite
order been more flourishing than it was formerly in
the British Isles, numbering fifty-two houses in Eng-
land, and twenty in Ireland, before the suppression
under Henry VIII.
The Franciscans, Gray Priars,^ or Priars Minor, were
founded by Saint Francis of Assisium, A.D. 1209; and
the rule which he gave them was approved of by
Innocent III., in 12 10, and confirmed by Honorius III.
in 1223. They came to England, in 1224, their first
house being at Canterbury, and their second in London.
Formerly, they had sixty-five houses in England, and
seventy-nine in Ireland.
The Dominicans,^ or Priars Preachers, sometimes
called Black Friars, were founded by Saint Dominic,
A.D. 121$. Their constitutions were approved of by
Pope Innocent III., the same year, and confirmed by
Honorius III. in 1216. They were introduced into
England in 1221, their first house being at Oxford.
.The same year, they established themselves at Holborn,
then Oldboorne. Here were held two general chapters
of the order; those of 1250 and 1263. At the latter
1 Their original habit was gray. It is now brown.
^ The Dominicans formerly were also called "Jacobins," from their
first house in Paris, in the Rue St. Jacques. Wyoliffe speaks of them
as Jacobites, in his unmeasured attacks on the !Friars.
292 THE CHAIR OF PETEE.
was present the great doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Another famous house of theirs was that which stood
in a large plot of ground lying between the Lud Gate
and the Thames, now the site of Printing House Square.
Here were held two general chapters of the order, those
of I3i4and 1335. The order was established in Ire-
land in 1224, Before the dissolution, there were fifty-
eight houses of Dominican Friars in England, and forty
in Ireland,
The Austin Friars or Hermits,^ founded by Saint
Augustine in Northern Africa, in 388, were dispersed
by the Vandals in the fifth century; but they were
reconstituted in Europe, and their scattered congrega-
tions were united in one religious order, by Pope
Alexander IV., in 1256. Ere long, they were estab-
lished in these islands. At the dissolution by Henry
'VIII., they numbered thirty-two houses in England,
and twenty-four in Ireland.^
^ The Austin Friars are not -to be confounded with the Canons
. Regular of Saint Augustine, from whom they are quite distinct
2 The above particulars of the four principal Mendicant Orders are
taken, in an abridged form, from my book, " Terra Incognita," second
edition, pages 48 to 55. It may be well to state here, for the informa-
tion of some of my readers, that the orders of Friars, or religious
mendicants, established in the commencement of the thirteenth cen-
tury, are quite distinct from the various orders of Monks, ranging from
the fourth century down to the thirteenth. The Monks devoted them-
selves to a contemplative life, and laboured in agriculture, the tran-
scription of books, the extension of hospitality to travellers, the relief
of the poor, and the promotion of the best interests, material and
moral, of the peasantry that grouped around their abbeys ; while the
Friars, depending on alms for their maintenance, undertook missionary
duties, in towps and cities, as weU as in the rural districts. Besides
the Monks and Friars, there were the Canons Regular, who first took
solemn vows in the beginning of the twelfth century. They also ful-
filled missionary duties. Of the several religious orders, the Benedictine
Monks were by far the most numerous and influential in England, as
were the Canons Regular of St. Augustine in Ireland, before the sup-
pression by Henry VIII. Many of the districts formerly occupied by
the religious orders may be traced, by their names, in London, and
other parts of the United Kingdom; viz. Whitefriars, Grayfriars,
Blackfriars, Austin-Friars, the Temple, the Charter House (from the
Chartreuse), Crutched (or Crossed) Friars, the Minories, &c.
WYCLIFFE. 293
Thus the four great orders of Friars, or religious
mendicants, following a rule of holy poverty, and
depending for their support on the alms of the faithful,
had been long labouring in England and the sister
island, when the agitation of Wycliffe and his followers
arose against them ; and, beyond all controversy, they
formed, at the time, in their several districts, a number
of most exemplary and most useful communities,
aiding the secular clergy, instructing the ignorant, and
otherwise effecting much good by their zeal and de-
votion. Several of the members of these orders, too,
had been promoted to episcopal sees in England and
Ireland.
One of Wycliffe's principal objections to them appears
to have been, that they were mendicants.^ The reply
of their defenders was, that they imitated therein the
poverty of Our Saviour. " But," said he, " Our Saviour
did not importune as they do, and they are extor-
tioners, liars, blasphemers and impostors."^ No less
than thirteen chapters in his "Trialogus," and three
chapters in its supplement, are devoted to abusing them
in this fashion ; but not one specific fact is adduced
therein, to justify such opprobrious language.*
That in large religious commtinities there should have
been inequalities in the zeal, prudence, and dispositions
of the several members, is but natural ; and that, in all
countries and at all times, some of the clergy, -secular
and regular, should have been lukewarm, and more or
less backward in the discharge of their duties; nay,
that the lives of some few should have been disedifying
^ At this time, Richard Fitz Ralph, Archbishop of Armagh, had
expressed himself in strong language against the Mendicant Orders,
and it is generally thought that Wycliffe was influenced by his example.
They both objected to the importunities of the Friars, and they also
took exception to the " Letters of Fraternity," which these latter gave
to their benefactors, making them participators in the merit of their
prayers and other good works.
" Wycliffe, " Trialogus," lib. iv., cap. 34.
' Ibid., lib. iv., cap. 26-38 ; et supplementum, cap. 6, 7, 8.
294 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
rather than exemplary, is not a matter of surprise.
But, to generalize from such cases, and these, almost
invariably, grossly exaggerated, both in extent and
degree ; to impute to the many the faults of the few ;
and, on account of the occasional frailties of weak
human nature, to impugn the doctrines of the Universal
Church ; must, on calm consideration, be regarded as a
most illogical course of proceeding. Yet this is another
common characteristic of heresiarchs, which will be
further illustrated in future chapters.
Wycliffe's bitter hostility against the religious orders
was further stimulated by the following circumstance.
In 1361, a new college, called Canterbury Hall, was
founded in Oxford University, by Simon Islip, Arch-
bishop of Canterbury. It was composed of a warden,
who was to be a monk of Canterbury, and eleven fel-
lows, of whom three were to be monks, and eight were
to be secular priests. The first warden was Henry
Wodehall, D.D. This well-intended foundation, com-
prising secular and regular clergy, did not work well ;
and, consequently, Archbishop Islip transferred it alto-
gether to secular clergy, under John Wycliffe, as warden,
in 1365. The date of Wyclifife's appointment was the
gth December, that year ; and, on the 26th April fol-
lowing, Islip died. The new archbishop, Simon de
Langham, who . had been Bishop of Ely and Lord
Chancellor of the kingdom, saw fit to change this last
arrangement of his predecessor, and he deposed Wycliffe
from the wardenship, substituting WodehaU for him,
"during pleasure as is customary," and restoring the
establishment to the Monks. Wycliffe appealed to
Pope Urban V., whose decision was unfavourable to
him, and was confirmed by the King — Edward III.^
On this he submitted, not however without those feel-
ings of resentment, which, ere long, found expression
in his writings and discourses, in which he declaimed
1 May nth, 1370. The hearing of this appeal occupied three years.
WYCLIFFE. 29 s
against the temporal and spiritual power of the Pope,
and the episcopate and clergy generally.^
Soon after the unfavourable decision of his appeal to
Eome, Wycliffe appears to have removed to London,
where he was appointed to the ofBce of "the King's
peculiar clerk," or Eoyal chaplain. In this office, he
zealously supported the King in his resistance to the
claim of the Holy See to an annual tribute of one
thousand marks, and many years' arrears thereof, in
virtue of a right of suzerainty c'onferred by King John
on Pope Innocent III. For his services in the matter,
Wycliffe was rewarded, in April 1374, with the rich
benefice of Lutterworth in Leicestershire, which he held
until his death, ten years later, notwithstanding his in-
vectives against the possessions of the clergy. He also
gained powerful friends, including the King's third
son, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, with whom he
was associated, in the summer of the same year, in a
Eoyal commission, which met the Papal nuncios at
Bruges, to discuss the questions pending between Eng-
land and the Holy See.
The circulation of Wycliffe's writings was necessarily
restricted, as, at that period, some sixty years before
the invention of printing, the copies could be multiplied
only by the tedious labour of the transcriber. Neverthe-
less, by their boldness and novelty, they excited much
attention and interest among the educated classes ; and,
for the same reasons, his preaching was eagerly listened
to by numerous congregations, composed of rich and
poor.
In 1377, Wycliffe was summoned by Sudbury the
Lord Primate, and Courtenay Bishop of London, to
appear before them, to answer for his erroneous doc-
trines. They assembled a synod at Saint Paul's for
the occasion, when he appeared, accompanied by the
Duke of Lancaster, and Lord Percy Earl Marshal, who
1 In one of his sermons, he calls the Pope " Anti-Christ, the worldly
and arrogant priest of Kome, and an extortioner."
296 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
evidently attended in order to overawe the prelates.
In the course of the proceedings, whilst the bishops
maintained a tone of courtesy and dignity, Lancaster
and Percy treated them in so overbearing and insulting
a manner, that the populace rose in anger, and the
nobles were compelled to seek safety in flight. Lan-
caster's palace of the Savoy, moreover, was attacked
and plundered. Thus the synod broke up without any
result.
Towards the close o'f the same year, eighteen pro-
positions, taken from the writings of Wycliffe, were laid
before Pope Gregory XL, who directed the Primate and
the Bishop of London to proceed juridically against him.
Wycliffe, on citation, appeared before them, in synod
at Lambeth, in March 1378, and submitted a written
statement, again and again amended, in which he so
altered, and, with many subtle arguments, so explained
away, his doctrines, that he escaped with a reprimand,
and a caution to avoid such ambiguous language in
future.^ Thenceforward, assuming a garb of poverty,
he occupied himself in organizing a body of "poor
priests," with whom he went about the country, de-
claiming against the wealth of the clergy, and the
distinction of rich and poor, and attacking several of
the doctrines of the Church. These proceedings tended
to promote and to intensify the insurrection of the Com-
mons, A.D. 1 38 1, in which Archbishop Sudbury was
murdered, and which, for a short period, filled England
with so much alarm.
Peace having been re-established, Courtenay, who
had been translated from the see of London to that of
Canterbury, in succession to the murdered Primate,
convoked a synod, consisting of eight bishops and
^ The following is an example of Wycliffe's evasive explanations to
the synod : When questioned as to his declaration that " Charters of
perpetual inheritance are impossible, and that God Himself could not
give to man civil possessions for ever," he replied, that by the words
"for ever," he meant "after the day of judgment."
WYCLIFFE. 297
fourteen doctors, at the convent of the Dominicans at
Blackfriars, on the 21st of May, 1382, in which four-
and-twenty opinions of Wycliffe and his followers were
condemned — ten as heretical, and fourteen as erroneous
and dangerous to faith.^ Wycliffe appealed for pro-
tection to his patron, the Duke of Lancaster; but the
application was rejected by that prince, whose eyes
were now fully opened to the evil results of his teach-
ing. Immediately afterwards, by a Eoyal ordinance,
he was deprived of his professorship of divinity at
Oxford, expelled the University, and prohibited from
preaching ; and all his writings were seized, and handed
over to the Primate. On the urgent advice of Lancas-
ter, he submitted to the authorities, at a Synod at
Oxford, November i8th-24th, 1382, and made his pro-
fession of faith, in presence of the Primate and the
Bishops of London, Hereford, Lincoln, Norwich, Salis-
bury, and Worcester; on which he retired to his rectory ■
at Lutterworth, where, two years later, he was stricken
down by paralysis, and closed his eventful career,
December 28th, 1 384.
Wycliffe made a new translation of the Bible into
English, which cannot be regarded as of any value for
theological purposes, as he was ignorant of the Greek
and Hebrew languages. His version of the New Testa-
ment from the Latin of the Vulgate, however, published
in 1 73 1, and again in 18 10, is interesting, as a specimen
of the English language five centuries ago. That of
the Old Testament lay by in manuscript until the year
1850, when it first appeared in print.^ It is not to be
supposed that Wycliffe's was the first English version
of the entire Holy Scriptures. Sir Thomas More teUs
us, in his Dialogues, that "the hole byble was long
^ June 1382. During the celebration of this synod, London was
visited by an earthquake, which Wycliffe asserted was an indication
of God's anger, at the persecution of himself and his followers.
' Wycliffe's version of the Old and New Testaments and tlie Apo-
crypha, edited by the Reverend J. Porshall and Sir !F. Madden, Oxford
University Press, 1850, four volumes, 4to.
298 THE CHAIR OF PETEE.
before Wickliife's days by vertuous and wel learned
men translated into the English tong, and by good and
godly people with devotion and soberness wel and
reverently red." ^
Wycliffe's principal work, the "Trialogus," in Latin, is
a series of conversations between Truth, Falsehood, and
Wisdom — Alithia, Pseustis, Phronesis. It consists of
four books and a supplement. The first book treats
of God and Ideas ; the second, of the World, Immor-
tality, the Angels, and Predestination; the third, of
Virtues, Vices, and the Saviour; the fourth, of the
Sacraments, the Endowment of the Clergy, the Eriars,
and the Eour Last Things; and the supplement dis-
cusses the Endowment of the Church, and the Pope,
"the fountain of all the wickedness existing in the
Church !" The " Trialogus" is by some supposed to have
been written between the years 1372 and 1377, and by
others as late as 1381 and 1382.^ It contains the
greater part of Wycliffe's errors.
Throughout all his works, his style is characterized
by subtle distinctions and qualifications, carried to such
an extent, that it is often difi&cult to arrive at his exact
meaning. Prominent among his tenets, is the cardinal
error of all the Eeformers — that not the authority of
the Church, but each individual's own private judg-
ment, is the true rule of faith. Then, there is the
doctrine, that everything, whether good or evil, happens
by a law of necessity ; and that not only the creature,
but even the Creator Himself, is subject to this law !
^ More, Dialog, iii. 14. See, on this subject further, chapter xxx.,
"The Art of Printing and the Bible, before the Reformation."
" The first edition of the " Trialogus" was that of 1525, in the original
Latin ; but neither the name of the printer, nor the place of printing,
is given in the title-page or at the end of the volume. The second
edition was printed at Frankfort and Leipsic, in 1753, impenm lo. QotA.
Vierlingii, Both are in 4to. The edition used here is that of Professor
Lechler of Leipsic, published by the Clarendon Press, Oxford, in 1869 :
viz. "Joannis Wiclif Trialogus, cum Supplemento Trialogi. Ilium
recensuit, hoc primum edidit, utrumque commentario oritioo instruxit
Gotthardus Lechler," &c.
WYCLIFFE. 299
Next follow, in logical sequence, the denial of Eree
Will, and the pernicious doctrine of absolute Predes-
tination, afterwards the leading tenet of Calvinism.
He admits the seven Sacraments ; but, as regards the
Eucharist, he adopts a doctrine of Consubstantiation,
similar to that afterwards professed by Luther — namely,
that, after consecration, the body of Christ is present in
the Sacrament, the bread still remaining.^ On the
marriage contract, he writes diffusely; but he is far
from clear ; nay, sometimes unintelligible.^
According to Wycliffe, the Church was all that could
be desired, in doctrine and discipline, the first one
thousand years; but after that time, he affirms, the
great dragon of the Apocalypse was loosed, scattering
from his tail the new mendicant orders, and imme-
diately a lamentable change for the worse took place.
The working clergy, such as his own "poor priests,"
preaching the Gospel, he lauds as the true ministers of
religion, while he speaks of "Popes, Cardinals, Patri-
archs, Archbishops, Bishops, Archdeacons, Officials,
Deans, Monks, Canons, False Friars, recently intro-
duced, and Questors," as "the twelve classes of the
procurators of Anti-Christ, who, under the appearance
of clergy, plot against the Church of Christ." *
Finally, adopting the views of the Waldensian here-
tics, he authoritatively affirms, that a bishop or a priest
in a state of grievous sin cannot ordain, or consecrate,
or baptize ; that it is contrary to Holy Scripture that
ecclesiastics should possess temporal goods; and that
the forfeiture of all goods is the penalty of treason, sin
is treason against God, and therefore those who are in
a state of sin, whether Pope or Bishop or Temporal
Prince, should be deprived of all authority and property
^ " TrialoguB," iv. 4. "Etnon dubiumetiamlaiooidiotse, qulnaequi-
tur, ' iste panis est corpus Ohristi, ergo iste panis est et per cpnaequens
manet panis, et sic sm/iU est panis et corpus Cbristi.' " See also ibid,
iv. 27.
' Ibid., iv. 20, 22. ' Ibid., iv. 26.
300 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
— truly an acceptable doctrine to socialists, nihilists,
and the other foes of property, law and order, to be
found in all ages !
WyoMe's doctrine and writings, which had pre-
viously been condemned in synods held in England,
Bohemia, and Paris, and in the Council of Eome under
John XXIII., were examined, in its eighth session, by
the General Council of Constance, and forty-five articles
thereof were solemnly condemned, on the 4th of May
141 5, or thirty years after his death. His errors had
found their way into Bohemia and other states of Con-
tinental Europe, through certain German youths who
had made their studies in Oxford. These errors were
ardently received and propagated by John Hus or Huss
and his zealous co-operator, Jerome of Prague, both of
whom added heretical doctrines of their own. Those
innovators had powerful and cordial supporters in the
Bohemian nobles, who were but too anxious to get pos-
session of the wealth of the clergy. Huss was born, of
humble parentage, at Hussinetz in Bohemia, in 1369,
and by his unaided talents had raised himself to the
high position of Eector of the University of Prague.
He is said to have first become acquainted with Wy-
cliffe's tenets in 1391 ; and to have been a ready prose-
lyte to them. He translated the " Trialogus" into Bohe-
mian, and preached its contents to the people. Jerome
of Prague, Professor of Divinity in the same university,
had become imbued with Wyclifife's opinions, by copy-
ing some of that heresiarch's works, during his sojourn
in England. These he propagated as zedously as his
master, Huss. Both were denounced to the General
Council of Constance, A.D. 1414, as innovators and
teachers of errors in faith. Summoned to appear be-
fore the Council, Huss attended, having obtained the
Emperor Sigismund's. safe-conduct, from Prague to
Constance and back, under date Spires, October i8th,
1414 On his arrival at Constance, he began to preach
his errors ; and, for thus disturbing the public peace
WYCLIFFE. 301
and disseminating heresy, he was arrested and impri-
soned. The Emperor was appealed to against this
arrest, as a breach of the Imperial safe-conduct; but,
as Huss had brought it on himself, the appeal was dis-
regarded. The schedule of thirty heretical proposi-
tions, taken from his work, " Tractatus de Ecolesia," was
served upon him, and he was allowed ample time to
prepare his defence.
On the 6th, 7th, and 8th of June 1415, Huss ap-
peared before the council, acknowledged his writings,
but finally refused to retract his errors. On the 6th of
July, he was again arraigned, in the eighteenth general
session; and, as he continued obstinate, he was sen-
tenced to be degraded from the priestly office, and to
be handed over to the civil power. The ceremony of
degradation having been carried out, he was, by the
Emperor's command, transferred to the custody of the
magistrates of Constance, by whom he was sentenced
to be burned alive — the penalty at that time inflicted,
by the Germanic law, for obstinacy in the open profes-
sion' of heresy. He displayed remarkable firmness and
self-possession at the stake, and was speedily suffocated
by the dense smoke. After the execution, his ashes
were thrown into the Ehine.
The Emperor has been severely censured for not
having respected his safe-conduct in the case of John
Huss ; but the former's apologists argue that he had
given Huss only a free and safe passage to and fro, but
had not guaranteed him against the consequences of
his conviction. Indeed, in the general session of the
Council on the 7th of June, Sigismund cautioned Huss
that his safe-conduct could not interfere, in any way,
with the sentence of the Council. " I have fulfilled
my promise in your regard," said he : " should you now
persevere in your errors, the Council has its own rights
and laws, by which its proceedings must be governed.
I would rather prepare the wood for your burning,
302 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
than protect your errors. So the sooner you retract
the better."
Jerome of Prague was condemned by the Council, in
the same manner, was handed over to the civil power,
and suffered on the 30th of May 141 6.
It is not surprising that some of the tenets set forth,
in exciting language, by Wycliffe and his " poor priests,"
in their continuous harangues from the pulpit and the
platform in England, and by Huss, Jerome of Prague,
and others of the same school, in various parts of the
Continent, should have borne fruit, in the tumults and
domestic wars of the period. We have seen how Wycliffe
taught and preached, that Temporal Sovereigns in a state
of mortal sin should be deprived of all possessions and
authority. But Wycliffe himself was oatdone in this
direction by some of his leading disciples. Thus,
among -the doctrines of Huss, we find the following
proposition condemned in the fifteenth session of the
General Council of Constance: "Lawfully and meri-
toriously, any tyrant can be, and ought to be, killed by
any vassal or subject of his, even by means of secret
ambush and subtle blandishment or adulation, notwith-
standing any oath or pact made with him, without
awaiting the sentence or mandate of any judge whom-
soever." ^
From such examples, we may comprehend the mo-
tives of what naturally appears to us, in modern times,
to have been the unduly severe action of the civil
power, in dealing with obstinate heretics, convicted,
and handed over to its jurisdiction, by the ecclesiastical
tribunals. As observed elsewhere, in order to judge of
the policy of such legislation, we must take into account
' " Quilibet tyrannus potest et debet lioite et meritorie oooidi per
quemcumque vassallum suum vel subditum, etiam per clanculares in-
sidias, et Bubtiles blanditiaa vel adulationes, non obstante quoeumque
prssatito juramento seu oonfederatione faotis cum eo, non expeotata
sententia vel mandate judicis cuiuscumque,"
WYCLIFFE. 303
the circumstances, exigencies, and usages of a remote
age.
Wycliffe has been styled, by his admirers, " the morn-
ing star of the Eeformation " — and justly so, from their
standpoint; for in his writings are to be found nearly
all the new doctrines introduced by Luther, Calvin,
and the other innovators of the Sixteenth Century,
whose lives and actions will form the subject of the
next two chapters.
CHAPTER XXII.
LUTHER AND THE GEEAT PEOTESTANT SECESSION.
" And was there not religion when the Church
Was one — a common mother — Gloved and feared.
When haughty souls rejoiced to bear her yoke,
When all those grand monastic piles were reared ? "
— ^Ada Cambbidqb.
The great Protestant secession has been perhaps the
heaviest blow sustained by the Church since her foun-
dation. Of the several defections, too, not excepting
even the Greek schism, it has been the most rapid in
its development.
Its author, Martin Luther, was bom of humble
parentage at Eisleben, in the county of Mansfeldt in
Saxony, on the loth of November, 1483. In 1501 he
was placed by his father in the University of Erfurt, in
order that he might qualify himself for the profession
of the law. Here, in 1505, he took the degree of
Master of Arts ; and, showing but little taste for the
legal profession, he devoted himself to the study of the
Aristotelian philosophy. About this time, a startling
event occurred which changed the whole current of his
life. As he was walking one day in a meadow with a
friend named Alexis, the latter was struck dead at his
side by a flash of Lightning. Luther on the spot formed
a resolution — some say he made a vow — to dedicate
the remainder of his life to God. On the 17th of July,
1505, he privately left the University at nightfall, and
begged for admission into the convent of the Augus-
tinian Hermits at Erfurt. Here he was cordially re-
LUTHEE AND THE GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 3OS
ceived ; and in 1 507 he made his religious profession,
and was ordained a priest. The following year, on the
recommendation of Staupitz, the provincial of the
Augustinians in that district, he was appointed by
Frederick, Elector of Saxony, to the professorship of
philosophy in the newly established University of .Wit-
tenberg, where he lectured with marked success. So
high did he stand in the estimation of his superiors,
that in 1510 he was sent, with another brother, on the
affairs of the order to Eome. Arriving within sight of
the city, he cast himself on his knees, and exclaimed,
"Hail, Holy Eome, city sanctified by the blood of the
martyrs!"^ But this devotion did not last long, as
will presently be seen. In 15 12, he received the
Doctor's cap, alluding to which he says, " I was obliged
to take the degree of Doctor, and to promise on oath
that I would faithfully and without adulteration preach
the Holy Scriptures which are so dear to me."
In his preaching, ere long, Luther became remarkable
for his propensity to novelties ; and he showed himself a
strenuous opponent of the system of scholastic theology,^
' This he tells us himself : "Anno 1510, cum primum oivitatem iu-
spicerem, in terram prostratus dicebam : Salve sancta Boma."
'' The Scholastic Theology, based, as regards its machinery, or
reasoning process, on the system of Aristotle, prevailed extensively in
the Middle Ages. Its method was, to reduce all theology to one single
body, distributing the questions in order, so that one should tend to
throw light on another, and the whole should be made a system, con-
nected, consecutive, and complete. It observed in its reasoning the
rules of logic, made use of the notions of metaphysics, and reconciled,
as far as possible, faith with reason, and religion with philosophy. Its
followers were called Scholastics or Schoolmen ; but some of them, not
content with proceeding judiciously after the example of Saint Thomas,
entered into many nice and speculative points, in themselves unimpor-
tant, and having but little or no bearing on theology. So far was this
abuse carried, that Gregory IX. and other Popes were obliged to inter-
fere and recall the disputants from their extravagant departures outside
the legitimate domain of theological discussion. Peter Lombard is
generally regarded as the founder of this school, although, to a bon-
siderable extent, it existed before his time. He was a Doctor of Paris,
and bishop of that city from 1159 to his death in 1164. He is known
as the " Master of the Sentences," from his having established a system
U
3o6 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
of which the great Dominican, Saint Thomas of Aquino,
had been so illustrious a Doctor.^
Pope Julius II., who governed the Church, a.d.
1503-1513, being anxious to rebuild the basilica of
Saint Peter on a magnificent scale, published a BuU,
granting indulgences in certain countries of Europe to
all the faithful who, being truly penitent and having
confessed their sins and received the Blessed Eucharist,
would contribute money towards this great work. In
15 17, his immediate successor Leo X. extended these
of theology, in which he supported the various subjects with "sen-
tences," or passages from the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers. He
was followed by several theologians, who wrote elaborate " Commen-
taries on the Master of the Sentences." There were two great divisions
of the Schoolmen — the Thomists or the followers of Saint Thomas of
Aquino, and the Seotists or disciples of John Duns Sootus. The latter
was called Scotus, as being a native of Scotland or Ireland, although it
is generally thought that he was bom in the village of Dunstane in
Northumberland. He entered the Franciscan order, taught divinity
at Oxford, and subsequently established himself in Paris, where he
died in 1308, at the early age of thirty-four. He was called the
" Subtle Doctor." Saint Thomas will be spoken of fully m the next
note. These two opposed schools both adopted the Peripatetic or
Aristotelian system in questions of philosophy. In theology, Duns
Sootus and his followers, including the whole Franciscan order, strenu-
ously maintained the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, which, being then an open question, undefined by the Church,
was denied by the Dominicans. Beyond this, the points of dispute
between the two schools were on problematical questions of little con-
sequence.
I Saint Thomas of Aquino was bom in 1327, of the ancient family
of the Counts of Aquino, in Campania in the kingdom of Naples. In
1243 he entered the order of the Dominicans, or Friars Preachers. At
Cologne, he studied under the celebrated Albertus Magnus. Here he
combined assiduous application to his studies with the most edifying
holiness of life ; and his silence and love of retirement were such that
his fellow-students called him "the dumb Sicilian ox." On hearing
this, his distinguished master, who had already become acquainted
with his wondrous capacity and genius, exclaimed, " He is an ox, whose
bellowings will one day resound throughout the universe ! " In 1257,
Thomas received a doctor's cap in Paris, where he lectured and
preached with great distinction, and where Saint Louis frequently
invited him to his court. Pope Clement IV. offered him the Arch-
bishopric of Naples; but he shrank from so great a burthen, and
prayed to be excused by His Holiness. On his way to the Second
General Council of Lyons, to which he had been summoned by Gregory
LDTHEE AND THE GBEAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 3 07
indulgences to Germany. The publication thereof was
entrusted by the Pope to the Elector Albert, Arch-
bishop of Mentz and Magdeburg, and Administrator of
the diocese of Halberstadt. Albert appointed John
Tetzel of Leipsic, a leading member of the Dominican
order, to preach the indulgences in his extensive dio-
ceses. The preference of the Dominicans was a cause
of no small offence to the Augustinians ; especially to
Staupitz their provincial, and his favourite, Luther,
who, in the spirit of their holy institute, ought to have
been above such small jealousies, and certainly ought
to have avoided the grave scandals which arose from
the intemperate expression of their disappointment on
the occasion.^
It was asserted that some of the subordinates, called
questors, employed by Tetzel were guilty of abuses,
not confining themselves to the churches, but going
into the streets and public places, " to push the sale of
X., Saint Thomas was seized with his last illness, and closed his
labours and holy life at the Cistercian Abbey of Fossa Nova, in the
diocese of Terracina, on the 7th of March, 1274, in his forty-eighth
year. Saint Thomas's works are most voluminous ; and when one
takes into account his labours in preaching and discharging other
duties devolving on him, it is a subject of wonder how in twenty years
one man could have written so much. His style has been well
described as " characterized by a vast and profound genius, exquisite
judgment, admirable clearness, and unique precision. Whether in
establishing the truths of faith, or replying to difficulties raised, it is
very rarely one can observe that anything could be added to what he
has said." Such was his facility in writing, that he used to dictate to
his secretaries on three or four subjects at the same time. This great
theologian and saint was styled "the Angelical Doctor," "the Eagle of
Theologians," and "the Angel of the Schools." His works have run
through several editions, in Kome, Antwerp, Venice, and Paris,
ranging from seventeen to twenty-three volumes folio, and twenty-
eight volumes quarto. The abridgment of his theological works,
called the Summa Theologka, is held in the greatest esteem down to
the present day, and stands high in the favour of His Holiness Pope
Leo ZIII., by whose command a new edition of all Saint Thomas's
writings is being prepared by a: commission of the Dominican Fathers
in Rome.
1 Up to this time the preaching of Indulgences had always been
confided to the Augustinian order, who consequently now felt the
more its being entrusted to the Dominicans.
3o8 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
indulgences," that they imposed upon the credulity of
the ignorant people, and that a considerable portion of
the money so obtained found its way into their own
pockets — that, in fact, the intentions of the Holy See
were shamefully perverted to private ends.^ It was
further affirmed that in some of the sermons hetero-
dox opinions, absurdities, and even impieties were
advanced by the preachers. All these statements,
however, it may be well to add, mainly rest on non-
Catholic authorities.
That there were abuses, there can be little doubt,
as there must have been very great laxity of morals,
and the necessary consequence, weakening of faith,
amongst the clergy, especially in Germany. This may
be inferred from the fact of so many shortly afterwards
abandoning the Church of which they were ministers,
to profess the doctrines of the innovators. In taking
so momentous a step they appear to have been mainly
influenced by the action of their temporal rulers, in
whose hands were all the power and wealth and
patronage, and each of whom within his own dominions
usurped the place of the Vicar of Christ, and con-
stituted himself, by a novel instantaneous process, the
Chief Bishop of his own subjects, the politically limited
Visible Head of the Church.^
The German princes, moreover, had already expressed
themselves strongly opposed to, and had passed mea-
sures to prevent, or at least to restrict, the contem-
plated extensive "sale of indulgences," which would
withdraw so much money from their several States.
It is necessary here to say a few words on the
Catholic doctrine of Indulgences, about which much
misconception and misrepresentation have long existed,
' The oflBce of questor was abolished by the Council of Trent.
" In the Confession of Basle, it is written, with reference to the
opposing false, and defending true, doctrine : " Hoc officium gentili
magistratui commendatum esse debet, ut yero Dei Vimrio." "This
office ought to be entrusted to the national maeistraov. as the true
Vicar of God." "
LUTHER AND THE GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 309
and still prevail. Indeed, even in our day, an indul-
gence ia sometimes spoken of, possibly in good faith,
by non-Catholic authors, as " a remission of sin, on pay-
ment of a sum of money ;" or, again, as "a permission
from the Pope to commit sin ! " ^
N"ow, the Catholic belief is, that, when a sinner has
obtained from God, in the sacrament of Penance, the
remission of his guilt and of the punishment which
otherwise would be inflicted on him in the next world,
he is obliged, as a rule, to satisfy God's justice by
suffering a temporal punishment. Thus, when King
David repented of his sins of homicide and adultery,
and confessed them to the prophet, those sins were
forgiven, as regarded their guilt, and their penal con-
sequences to him in the next life; but a temporal
punishment was inflicted on him, in the death of his
newly born child: "And David said to Nathan: I
have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to
David : The Lord also hath taken away thy sin : thou
shalt not die. Nevertheless, because thou hast given
occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, for
this thing, the child that is born to thee shall surely
die." 2
Hence it is, that penances arp enjoined by confessors,
which generally consist, in modern times, of prayers or
pious lectures, but which in the primitive ages \^ere of
extreme severity.^ The ancient penances, proportioned
to the gravity of the offences, extended in some cases
1 Even Professor Kanke speaks of Indulgences as "forgiveness of
sins to be purchased for money " (" History of the Popes," vol, i. p. 59.
London, 1874, trans.).
2 2 Kings, ch. xii. v. 13, 14.
5 In the penny "Catechism for general use," we read, that the
Sacrament of Penance requires, on the part of the penitent, contrition,
confession, and satisfaction. The last refers to the performance of the
penance imposed, as a temporal punishment, to satisfy God's justice.
With reference thereto, the Council of Trent enjoins, that "the priests
of the Lord ought to endeavour to insure that the satisfaction virhioh
they impose should' not only be a preservative for the future, and a
remedy for the weakness of the sinner, but also a punishment and
chastisement for the past " (Session 14, de Poenitentia).
3 I O THE CHAIR OF PETER.
over several years ; andj for such crimes as murder or
adultery, over the remainder of the penitent's life.
They consisted in exclusion from the church — the
penitent remaining outside the church-door, in peniten-
tial garb, and, after some time, being admitted only for
instructions, or for a certain portion of the service ; and
they further comprised a course of fasting and prayer in
solitude, as prescribed by the penitential canons. The
mitigations of these penances by the bishops were called
indulgences, which were granted in consideration of
some good work substituted for them, such, for instance,
as alms, prayers, or pilgrimages.
In the course of time, commenced the usage of re-
deeming the duration of canonical penances, by sums
of money contributed towards the building of a church,
or for the defence of Christian populations against the
Infidels, or by some other such work in the service of
religion — a commutation which in each case should be
prescribed by the ecclesiastical authorities. Again, con-
tributing towards the cost of the Crusades, or taking
part in them in person, was proposed by the Church as
a condition of gaining indulgences. Thus, at the Council
of Clermont, in 1095, Urban II. granted a plenary in-
dulgence to all those who would take part in the
Crusade: that is, he superadded to a sincere confes-
sion of their sins, and a worthy reception of the Blessed
Eucharist, their aiding the expedition to liberate the
Holy Land from the yoke of the Mahometan oppressor.
Here, the sums of money which they would contribute,
or the labours, hardships, and dangers which they would
voluntarily undergo, in co-operating in the enterprise,
were substituted for the usual canonical penances.
Indulgences are divided into partial and plenary —
the former remitting as much temporal punishment as
would be expiated by a stated number of days or years,
of the ancient canonical penances, and the latter re-
mitting all the temporal punishment incurred by the
recipient's sins.
LUTHER AND THE GEEAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 3 I I
In conclusion, as will, I trust, be clear from the fore-
going statement, an Indulgence, according to Catholic
doctrine, is not " a remission of sin," but simply a re-
mission of the temporal punishment due to sin, after its
guilt and its consequent punishment in the next life
have been remitted in the sacrament of Penance.^
Luther did not confine himself to condemning the
alleged abuses of the preachers of indulgences and the
questors ; but he inveighed against the practice and
the doctrine of the Church on Indulgences generally.
It was on the 31st of October, 1517, that he affixed to
the church door of the Castle of Wittenberg his cele-
brated ninety-five propositions on Indulgences, which
were received with acclamation by Ms numerous fol-
lowers, and were widely circulated all over Germany.
These propositions were set forth, not as incontestable
doctrine, but as points which he submitted for dis-
cussion, in order to elucidate the truth.^ They called
forth many written replies, of which the principal
were TridvA Labor, the " Three Days' Labour " of the
Eoman Domiaican, Sylvester Prierias, a treatise in Ger-
man, " On Indulgences and Grace " by the Dominican
Tetzel, the "Obelisci" (notes on Luther's propositions
marked with obelisks) of the learned John Ecfc, Vice-
Chancellor of the University of Ingolstadt,^ and several
treatises by Hochstraten, a Dominican of Cologne,
Luther replied to all ; and, when full allowance has
1 It is the Catholic belief, further, that there is a middle state after
death, in which some of the soiils of the departed are detained, for a
time, to suffer the temporal punishment due to their sins, already re-
mitted by penance, and that, in this state, the suffering souls may be
aided by prayers, indulgences gained, and other good works, offered up
as suffrages on their behalf by their friends on earth.
2 Luther's own words prefixed to the propositions are as follow :
" Amore et studio elucidandse veritatis haec subsoripta themata disputa-
buntur Wittemburgse, prasidente E. P. Martino Luthero, Eremitano
Augustiniano, artium et S. Theologiae magistro, ejnsdem ibidem ordi-
uario lectore."
' Luther's reply to Eck, in the same form of notes is termed
"Asterisci."
3 I 2 THE CHAIR OF PETEE.
been made for his excitable temperament and the pro-
verbial heat of religious controversy, even his followers
at this day must admit, that his language was far
removed from the spirit of decorum and gravity de-
manded by the nature of the subjects under discussion.
For instance, alluding to Prierias, he says, " Should
the Pope and cardinals not silence this mouthpiece of
Satan, and compel him to retract, I hereby declare that
I will separate from the Eoman Church, and renounce
her with the Pope and cardinals, as an abomination
standing in the holy place. , , . Now farewell, unhappy,
lost, and blasphemous Eome. The wrath of God has
come upon thee, as thou hast deserved, in the end ; and,
notwithstanding the prayers offered up for thee, thou
didst incline to become, every day, only worse. ,We
have taken care of Babylon, and she is not healed.
Therefore we abandon her, that she may become the
habitation of dragons, hobgoblins, ghosts, she-devils,
and, after her name, eternal confusion — full to the
mouth with the perfidious idols of avarice, apostates,
robbers, abortions, and endless other monsters, as it
were, a new Pantheon of impiety." ^ A strange medley,
this, of menace and abuse poured out against the Church
and its Visible Head, whom he had, a short time pre-
viously, so reverently approached ! And what was its
cause? Namely, that the Pope and cardinals would
not silence an orthodox writer who had ventured to
confute his heterodox propositions on Indulgences !
Notwithstanding these and other similar outbursts,
so grossly insulting to the Holy See, Luther, as a mea-
sure of prudence, decided, in his cooler moments, to
present his propositions and their defence to the Pope.
' Luther," Opera Omnia," vol. i. p. 63. Jense, 1564. Melancthon,
who was pained ^nd disedified by Luther's intemperate language, on
this and other occasions, expresses himself, as follows, on the subject
in a letter to Erasmus : " Quem quidem virum ego meliorem esse
judioo quam q^alis videtur facienti de eo judicium ex illis violentia
soriptionibuB ipsius" (Epistola ad Erasmum, inter Bpistolaa ad Cam-
erarimn, p. 90).
LUTHEB AND THE GREAT PKOTESTANT SECESSION. 3 I 3
The tone of his letter was most submissive; and he
prayed for an investigation of the whole controversy.
He concluded as follows : . " Wherefore, Most Blessed
Father, I offer myself, prostrate at the feet of Your
Holiness, with all that I am and have. Bid me live,
slay me, call, recall, approve, condemn, as it may please
you. I acknowledge your voice, as the voice of Christ,
presiding and speaking in you." ^
His course of action, however, was quite at variance
with these professions ; for ere long he began to teach,
both in preaching and writing, doctrines quite opposed
to Catholic dogma; such as, that man is altogether
deprived of free-will by the fall of Adam, that faith
alone is sufficient for salvation, and that of their own
nature our best works are grievous sins.
Leo now found it necessary to interfere more actively,
and he cited Luther to Eome.* At the request of the
Elector Frederick, however, the citation was so far
altered as to require only his appearance before the
Imperial Diet of Augsburg, to meet there the Papal
Legate, Cardinal Cajetan, one of the greatest theologians
of the age. The cardinal received him with kindness,
but, acting on instructions, he refused to enter into any
discussion with him, and demanded an unconditional
retractation. Although Luther professed submission
and obedience to the Church, nothing came of the
conference; and, apprehensive of some design on his
person, he withdrew by stealth from the city, on the
20th of October, declaring that he appealed " from the
Pope not well informed to the Pope to be better in-
formed" ("a Papa non bene informato ad Fapam, melius
informandum ")?
' Ibid., i 75 b. This letter is dated Trinity Sunday, 1518. "Quare,
beatissime pater, prostratum me pedibua tnse beatitudinis, offero, cum
omnibus quse sum et habeo. ViviBca, oocide, voca, revooa, approba,
reproba, ut plaouerit. Voeem tuam vocem Christi, in te praesidentis
et loquentis, agnoscam. Die S. Trinitatis, Anno 1518."
2 August 7, 1518.
' Luther, " Opera," i. 195.
314 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
On the 9th of November following, Leo issued his
Bull Cvm postgucm, fully explaining the doctrine of
Indulgences, in order that no one might have the excuse
of being ignorant on the subject. In it he declared that
the Eoman Pontiff has full power of granting, for reason-
able causes, to the faithful who have been absolved in
the sacrament of Penance, indulgences for the remission
of the temporal punishment incurred by their sins, and
that these indulgences may apply to the suffering souls
in Purgatory, as weE as to those living upon earth.
Leo X. was perhaps ill qualified to deal with such a
crisis. A munificent patron of the fine arts, an en-
courager and promoter of polite literature, "the re-
storer," as he was styled, "of the Augustan age," he
was wanting in ' those qualities which distinguished
a Gregory VII., or an Innocent III, and which,
judiciously exerted, would probably have prevented,
or circumscribed to narrow limits, the evils resulting to
the Church from Luther's revolt.
On the Pontiffs making a final effort to restore the
peace of the Church, by a mandate to the heads of the
Augustinian Order to restrain their unruly subject,
Luther addressed an insulting letter to His Holiness,
along with which he sent him his tract on Christian
Liberty, which, full as it was of heterodox opinions, was
dedicated to Leo himself 1
The few following extracts will give the reader an
idea of the tone of the whole lengthy letter : " Neither
can you, nor can any man deny, that your See, which
is called the Eoman Curia, is more corrupt than any
Babylon or Sodom. ... Meanwhile you, Leo, are
seated as a lamb in the midst of wolves, as Daniel
amidst the lions, and dwell as Ezechiel among scorpions.
. . , Por what do you in your curia effect, my Leo,
unless, that the more wicked and the more execrable
each one is, so much the more easily does he use your
name and authority, to destroy the means and souls of
men, to multiply crimes, to oppress faith and truth.
LUTHER AND THE GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 3 I 5
■with the whole Church of God. Oh, verily, most un-
happy Leo, and seated on a most perilous throne ! . . .
Is it not true that under the vast heaven there is
nothing more corrupt, more pestilential, more odious
than the Boman Curia? For incomparably it sur-
passes the impiety of the Turks." ^ This extraordinary
effiision was dated, "Wittenberg, April 6, 1520.
On the isth of June, following, as all more lenient
measures had proved ineffectual, Leo published his
Bull, Exswrge Domine, etjudica causam tuam. In it he
condemns forty-one propositions extracted from the
writings of Luther, ordering his works to be burned
wherever they were found, and excommunicating him,
should he not retract his errors within sixty days.
Very different indeed was this important document,
in style, tone and matter, from the effusions of the
heresiarch who called it forth. In it there is not a
word of intemperate anger or abuse. On the contrary,
it is pervaded throughout by dignified forbearance,
Christian charity, and a tone of paternal exhortation
addressed from the loving heart of the Pather of
Christendom to his erring children, whom he would
recall to peace and the communion of the Church.^
^ The following is the original Latin of the above extracts from
Luther's letter to Leo X. : " Sedem autem tuam, quae curia Komana
dicitur, quam neque tu neque uUus hominum potest negare corrup-
tiorem esse quavis Babylone et Sodoma. . . . Interim tu, Leo, sicut
agnns in medio luporum sedes, sicut Daniel in medio leonum, et cum
Ezechiele, inter scorpiones habitas. . . . Quid enim facis in curia, mi
Leo, nisi ut quo quisque est sceleratior et execratior, eo felicius utatar
tuo nomine et auctoritate, ad perdendas hominum pecunias et animas,
ad multiplicanda scelera, ad opprimendam fidem et veritatem, cum tota
Scdesia Dei? 0 revera, infelicissime Leo, et periculosissimo sedens
solio ! . . . Nonne verum est sub vasto illo ccelo nihil est Romana
curia cormptius, pestilentius, odiosius? Incomparabiliter enim Tur-
carum vincit impietatem " (Luther, " Opera," i. 433 b).
' This Bull, drawn up under the eye of Leo by an accomplished
scholar, Cardinal Accoiti, is equally to be admired for its classical
Latinity, and the beautiful cadence of its every sentence. Erasmus
pronounces it to be " truly Ciceronian, a pure, limpid stream through-
out" " Quid enim nunc prsedicem Ulum verum Tullianum orationis
fluxum, ubique purum, limpiJum," etc.
3 1 6 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
In the course of his Bull, Leo says: "But, as regards
Luther himself, what, 0 Good God, have we neglected,
what have we not done, what exertion of paternal
charity have we omitted, that we might recall him from
errors of the kind ? For, after our citation, willing to
proceed more leniently, we invited him, and exhorted
him, as well by divers conferences held with our legate,
as by our own letters, to abandon his aforesaid errors,
or, without fear, without any apprehension, which
ought to be excluded by perfect charity, to come to us,
who had tendered him a safe-conduct and the money
requisite for the journey, and, after the example of our
Saviour and the Apostle Pa^l, to speak, not in secret,
but openly and to our face. Which if he had done,
assuredly, as we judge, entering into himself, he would
have known his errors, nor would he have found so
many faults in the Eoman Curia, which he so vehemently
abuses, from attaching too much weight to the vain
rumours of the malevolent ; and we should have taught
him, more clearly than light, that the Holy Eoman
Pontiffs, our predecessors, whom he injuriously attacks
beyond all observance of decorum, never erred in their
canons or constitutions, which he strives to impugn.
For neither balm nor the physician is wanting in
Gilead."
So far was Luther from being influenced, as intended,
by the Pope's action, that he issued immediately a
rejoinder, " Against the execrable Bull of Antichrist,"
and also an elaborate defence of all his propositions
condemned by the Pope. Both were dated ist Decem-
ber, 1520, and were expressed in his usual forcible
language.^
Luther next called together the students of the
University and the inhabitants of Wittenberg, and in
their presence burned the Papal Bull at the eastern
gate of the city, together with the Books of the Canon
Law, and the writings of Eck, Emser, and Prierias, hia
' Luther, " Opera Omnia," i. z86 and 293.
LtJTHER AND THE GHEAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 3 I 7
principal opponents. This event took place on the
loth of December, 1520.
At this period, there were many circumstances
which combined to favour Luther — such as the jealousy
of Eome's influence entertained by the German Electoral
Princes, who had inherited the feelings engendered by
the former contests of the Popes and the Emperors ;
the fact that the principal Episcopal sees in Germany
were filled by prelates who united in their persons the
Ecclesiastical ruler and the secular prince; the great
wealth. of the German Church, the most largely endowed
in Christendom ; the reprehensible practice, condemned
by the canons, of granting several prebends to one and
the same person; the successful endeavours of the
princely families to procure the appointment of their
own connections to the episcopal and archiepiscopal
sees ; and the luxurious pomp of those prelates, pain-
fully contrasting with the condition of the worldng
clergy, who were, in several instances, compelled to
resort to some trade, to supplement their small stipends,
insufficient for their subsistence.^ We must further
take into account, as factors, Luther's proposal, or
suggestion, that the sovereigns of the several States
should take possession of the lands and other property
of the monasteries suppressed in their dominions ; the
action of the younger Humanists, who arrayed them-
selves in hostility to the theologians of the Schools,
and too often achieved, by ridicule and satire, what
reasoning would in vain have attempted to effect ; ^ and
^ Janssen, "Gesohichte des Deutschen Volkes seit dem Ausgang
des Mittelalters," i, 601-604. Freiburg im Breisgaii, 1883.
^ The Hvunanists were so called, as cultivating "the humanities,"
literce humaniores, or polite literature. They may be divided into two
cla.s3es — the Elder and the Younger. The former originated in a new
religious institute, the Brothers of Christian Life, encouraged by Popes
Eugenius IT., Pius II., and Sixtus IV., A.D. 1431-1471 ; and number-
ing as pupUs that eminent patron of learning and promoter of educa-
tion, Cardinal Nicholas k Cusa, Eodolphus Agricola, "the second
Virgil," and Thomas k Kempis, whose name is a household word in
Christendom down to oiu: day. Those great men and their numerous
3 I 8 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
finally the laxity of morals which but too generally
prevailed.
Then, as the movement gained strength and develop-
ment, under the fostering patronage of the civil power,
a new combination of circumstances arose, to aid its
further progress. First, the tone of exaggeration and
invective in which Luther and his colleagues, in the
pulpit and the press, assailed the Church and her
ministers, had considerable effect among the masses;
especially as the Catholics were debarred from reply-
ing to their strictures, by the violence of a dominant
majority in several of the States. Next, while, the
books of the Lutherans were carefully printed, widely
circulated, and preserved in all the libraries in Ger-
many, the works of those who opposed them were
seized, and destroyed. Again, a number of the monks,
who had left their convents and married, entered the
service of printers, and zealously laboured in publish-
asaociates, more than half a century before the time of Luther, avail-
ing themselvea of the newly invented art of printing, brought the
treasures ot Greek and Latiii olaasioal literature and Hebrew lore, to
the aervice of religion ; and, whilst they suoceasfuUy laboured in
refining and elevating the tone of the Universities and Middle Schools,
they effected no less good by the example of their edifying lives, and
their devotion to the Ohurch. They also opposed, invariably with due
discretion, and without assailing the foundations of faith, any abuses
or scandals arising in ecclesiastical life, or any invasion of the sanctuary
by the secular princes. Their aims and character are happily described
in the following worda of Wimpheling, regarding Kodolphus Agricola :
"Science and philoaophy were but instrumenta in his hands for
subduing his passiona, and labouring with faith and prayer in that
great work of God, the elevation of mankind." The Younger
Humaniats came aome fifty years later; and, whilat they cultivated
polite literature, they appear to have had but little respect for religion.
Of these, the principal was Erasmus of Kotterdam. Although he
always remained within the pale of the Church, that gifted scholar
loved to indulge in a strain of exaggerating satire, when speaking of
the ecclesiastics and monks of his day. Of this seemingly irresistible
tendency he candidly pleads guilty : viz. " tJt ingenue, quod verum
est, fatear, sum natura propensior ad jocos quam fortasse deceat, et
linguee liberioris quam nonnumquam expediat" (Lib. i. epist. Ii).
The example of so eminent a writer was contagious, especially among
his numerous admirers.
LUTHER AND THE GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 3I9
ing the works of the Lutherans ; whilst it was almost
impossible for the Catholics to publish their replies in
Germany. Indeed in the rare instances in which the
latter succeeded, their books were very badly printed,
and abounded in errors, omissions, and typographical
blunders, the result of negligent indifference, if not of
design; as may be seen in the few copies that have
come, down to. our times.
The youthful Emperor, Charles V., now entered on
the scene. Under his safe-conduct, in April, 1521,
Luther attended the Imperial Diet of Worms, at which
Charles presided. Pressed to retract his errors by the
Chancellor, John Eck, he refused to do so. Urged by
princes, bishops, and divines, to submit to the judgment
of a General Council, he likewise refused.
Ordered to quit Worms, which he left on April 26th,
Luther, on his journey, was seized on by a friendly
party, and was carried off, " a willing prisoner," to the
Castle of Wartburg, near Eisenach, where he remained
in seclusion, under an assumed name, from May 1521
to March 1522.1 On the 25th of May, 1521, an Im-
perial decree was read to the diet, placing him under
the ban of the Empire, and was signed by the Emperor
on the following day. By this decree, taking effect
from the 15th of May, the date of the expiration of
his safe-conduct, all persons were forbidden to harbour
him, and were ordered to seize his person, and to deliver
him up to the Imperial of&cers, to be dealt with accord-
ing to law ; all his works, whether written in Latin or
German, were ordered to be burned, wherever they were
found, in Germany and Belgium ; and it was enjoined
that all aid should be given to the Apostolic Commis-
sioners in executing the decrees of the Holy See.
Owing to the support and countenance extended to
Luther by the Elector of Saxony and other German
' This friendly arrest was all arranged by Luther's patron, the
Elector of Saxony.
320 THE CHAIR OF PETEB.
princes, this enactment of outlawry against Mm was
practically inoperative.
Meanwhile, in his seclusion in the Castle of Wartburg,
which he used to speak of as his hermitage and his
Patmos, Luther had strong misgivings about his pro-
ceedings; but, as he himself informs us, he rejected
them as temptations of the DeviL During his ten
months' sojourn here, he laboured assiduously at his
translation of the Bible from the original Hebrew and
Greek text into German, a colossal work, which has
ever been regarded by his followers as a classic.^ The
idiom which he employed was the old Saxon German,
" so masculine and attractive ; " and, whilst fault has
been found with his far from perfect knowledge of the
Hebrew, his work is prized, " as a noble literary monu-
ment " by the whole German race.^ The printers, too,
were determined to do full justice to it, and completed
it " with an elegance and beauty of type previously
unknown." Yet the version was by no means faultless
in the main essential of accuracy. The exposure of
this, its weakest point, first devolved on Emser, au
accomplished theologian, and, moreover, a scholar pro-
foundly versed in the Greek and Hebrew languages.*
' Luther's translation of the New Testament was published com-
plete, in September, i j22 ; and in November that year he commenced
his version of the Old Testament, which he finished in 1530. The
whole was revised and conected in 1541, and again in 1 545. He was
assisted in the work by Melancthon,
" Audin's "Life of Luther," ii. 109.
> Jerome Emser, theologian, was bom at Ulm in 1477. Having
studied at Tubingen and Basle, he taught the humanities at Erfurt,
and subsequently was appointed Professor of Canon Law in the Uni-
versity of Leipsic George Duke of Saxony made him his secretary
and preacher in the city of Dresden, and engaged him to write against
Lutheranism, then beginning to spread in G-ermany. Emser, previously
the friend of Luther, had several conferences with him, hoping to gain
him back by friendly remonstrance ; but, on these overtures failing, he
proceeded vigorously to combat the new doctrines. Emser died at
Leipsic, November 8, 1527. He was the author of several learned
works. Among these were, "Eoasons why Luther's Translation of
the New Testament should be forbidden to the Faithful," Leipsic,
1523 ; reprinted with additions as "Annotations on the Translation of
LUTHER AND THE GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 3 2 I
He detected nearly fourteen hundred corruptions in the
text, and numerous misrepresentations in the marginal
notes." 1 To Eraser's criticism, Luther's reply was in-
vective. " I care not," said he, " for the Pontifical
asses. They are unworthy to judge of my labours." ^
Nevertheless, aided by Melancthon, he proceeded to
revise and amend his version, and published a new
edition. But even this latter was not approved of by
several of the most learned Protestants of the time, who
pointed out many errors in the work.
More recently, Pere Simon, who, .however some of
his opinions may be dissented from, must be admitted
to have been a learned Hebraist and an acute Biblical
critic, observes, that Luther understood Hebrew but
indifferently, and that, notwithstanding, he accused
Saint Jerome of being ignorant of that language — a
charge which might more justly be made against him-
self. He further blames Luther for having undertaken
a work, to which he could not devote the necessary,
time.
And Doctor DoUinger plainly states that, for 'the
sake of the doctrine of Justification by Faith, '' Luther
deliberately and purposely gave a mistranslation of
several passages in the Bible, and especially in the
Epistles of Saint Paul, and that it was also to uphold
this, his favourite dogma, that the great Eeformer
interpolated fanciful expressions of his own, that were
the New Testament," etc., Dresden, 1524; "Gennan Translation of
the New Testament, to be opposed to that of Luther," Dresden, 1527,
Paris, 1630 ; and several other controversial treatises.
' Jer. Emser, "in Praef. Ann." apud Audin, il III, 112: "Hunc
fere libris, singulisque prope capitibus, Biblia falsasse, ac fere mille
qnadringentos errores haereticos, mendaciaque oooultavisse : " and,
again, Seckendorf, " Commen. de Luth.," ibidem : " Ipsum non pauca
de quibus in notis suis litigat Emserus mutfese, supplevisse, aut quae
per errorem irrepserant sustulisse." Audin here gives several instances
of these errors.
" Ibid. " Asinos poutificios non euro. Indigni enim sunt qui de
laboribus meis judicent."
X
322 THE CHAIB OF PETER.
foreign to, and altogether undiscoverable in, the original
text."i
Besides the translation of the New Testament, Luther,
while at Wartburg, was engaged in writing several
pamphlets against the Church, and in reply to his
opponents — all published at Wittenberg and Basle in
1522-
On the death of Leo X., December i, 1521, his
successor Adrian VI. immediately addressed himself to
the retrenchment of the expenses of the Papal court,
and other salutary reforms of abuses, which had been
greatly exaggerated by the enemies of the Holy See,
hoping thus to withdraw the German populations from
the new doctrines. But the movement had gone en-
tirely beyond his control ; so that, at the close of his
brief pontificate, he observed, with his dying breath,
September 14, 1523, "Alas, how sad is the condition
of a Pope, who wishes to do good, but cannot ! "
Clement VIL, who reigned from November 1523 to
January 1534, resolved, immediately on his accession,
to deal with the distractions of the Church in a spirit
of vigour commensurate with the crisis. He sent his
legate Campeggio to the Diet of Nuremberg ; but here
the legate found the German princes far from favour-
able to the views of Eome. He therefore exerted him-
self in another quarter, and brought about an alliance
between the previously mutually estranged princes of
Austria and Bavaria in support of the Church ; ^ but,
on the other hand, the Elector of Saxony, the Land-
grave of Hesse, and the rulers of Prussia, Mecklenburg,
Anhalt, and Mansfeld, united to support Luther.
Not long afterwards Clement committed a serious
blunder in siding with Francis I. of France against the
powerful monarch Charles V., when the Imperial aid
and friendship were of so much consequence to the
1 Dollinger, "The Church and the Churches," p. 297. London,
1862, Trans. Sec further, ibid., p. 321. - June 5, 1524.
LUTHER AND THE GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 323
Church. Twice was Rome besieged, taken and plundered
by Charles's forces, the Pope being made prisoner, and
treated with marked indignity.
Ere long, Luther's novel theories, as set forth in his
sermons and writings, especially in his tracts on
Monastic Vows and the Abuse of Masses, were carried
by his followers into practical effect. Several of his
brethren of the Augustinians, and other friars, left
their convents, declaring their religious vows to be
null and void; and many of them took, wives — a step
naturally causing much surprise and disedification.
Several of the secular clergy, too, followed the same
course. Of these the most prominent was Andrew
Carlstadt, Archdeacon of Wittenberg. This man,
carried away by the excitement of passing events,
became suddenly changed into a violent fanatic. He
placed himself at the head of a riotous mob, who burst
into the churches, committing gross excesses, overturn-
ing altars, and destroying holy pictures and statues. He
further, assuming extraordinary ecclesiastical powers,
released monks from their convents, and bade them
marry, abolished auricular confession and fasting, and
capped the climax by administering the Blessed Eucha-
rist to aU comers, whether in the state of grace or
not'i
Luther remonstrated, but in vain, with this unruly
disciple. Yet the proceedings of Carlstadt and his
^ Andrew Kodolph Carolstadt, or Carlstadt, whose trne name was
Bodenstein, was canon, archdeacon, and professor of Theology, at
Wittenberg. He gave the doctor's cap to Luther, to whom he was
closely bound by the ties of friendship. He shared the opinions of
Berengarius, in denying the real presence. He was the first eoolesi-
astie in Germany who was publicly married. His disciples composed
prayers for this occasion, to be sung at the nuptial mass. The first
ran thus : " O God, who, after the blindness of the priests, h.oat deigned
to confer on happy Carlstadt the grace to be the first who has the
courage to take a wife, without having regard to the laws of the Papacy,
we pray," etc. Such were the profanities of some of the self-called
i^ormers. Carlstadt died at Bl.le, in want, in 1541. His several
controversial works are held in little esteem by Protestants.
324 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
associates were only consistent with Luther's own teach-
ing— his violent invectives against the Church, its
visible Head, its bishops, and clergy, and his declaration
that the time had come, not only to abolish monastic
vows for ever, "but to punish with all severity those
who make them, to destroy convents, abbeys, priories,
and monasteries; and thus prevent those vows being
ever again uttered." ^
Then his leading principle of justification by faith
alone, as he expounded it, when carried out to its in-
evitable conclusion, even although not so intended,
must have had a most pernicious effect with such men.
No doubt, the Lutheran doctrine is, that good- works
are the result and the sign of faith ; so that justifying
faith is never without good works. But how are we
to understand the following propositions ? ■
"As nothing justifies except faith, so nothing sins
except unbelief."
" If in faith adultery could be committed, it would
not be a sin." '^
Again, in his treatise, " On the Babylonian Captivity
of the Church," Luther says : " Thus then you see how
rich the Christian or baptized man is, who, even though
willing to lose his salvation by sins ever so great, can-
not do so except he should refuse to believe; for no
sins can damn him unless unbelief alone. . . . But
contrition and the confession of sins, and then satisfac-
tion, and all those practices devised by men will sud-
denly desert you, and render you more unhappy, if,
forgetful of this Divine truth, you fill yourself up with
them." 3
^ Lutheri "De Votis Monastiois Judicium," Opera ii. 477 b. Scriptum
A.D. 1521.
- Lutheri " Disputationes," Opera i. 488 b. " Questio. utrum opera
faoiant ad justifioationem ? " "i. Ut nihil justificat nisi iidea, ita
nihil peccat nisi inoredulitas.'' " 10. Si in fide fieri potest Eidulteriuin,
peccatum non esset."
'Luther. "De Captivitate Eabylonioa Eoolesise," Opera ii. 271.
ScriiJtum A.D. 1520. "Jta vides quam dives sit homo Christianus sive
LUTHER AND THK GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 325
Furtlier, he writes to Melancthon, on the 2ist of
August, 1521 : " Be a sinner and sin boldly; but more
boldly believe and rejoice in Christ, who is the con-
queror of sin, of death, and of the world. To sin is our
lot, as long as we are here. This life is not the habita-
tion of justice ; but we expect, says Peter, new heavens
and a new earth, in which justice will dwell. It is
sufficient that through the riches of the glory of God
we have known the Lamb, who taketh away the sins
of the world. Sin cannot separate us from Him, even
though a thousand times — a thousand times in one day
— we should commit fornication or murder." ^ Here,
indeed, is a convenient doctrine, likely to make many
proselytes among men of loose morals and practical
infidelity — a numerous class,. it must be admitted, in
Luther's day !
It cannot, then, be a matter of surprise to us to hear
from a learned German ecclesiastic of the present day,
that " the grand ' acquisition ' of the Eeformation, the
Protestant ' Justification' doctrine, is now abandoned
by the most distinguished theologians as 'untenable,'
and by the exegetists branded as ' uiibiblical.' " ^
It was in the year 1523 that Luther published his
remarkable work on " Tlie Secular Magistracy," which
was levelled against all authority, and which so in-
flamed the peasantry, that a large portion of Germany
was convulsed by their excesses. He had, in the com-
baptlzatus, qui etiam volens non potest perdere salutem suam quantis-
cunque peccatia, nisi nolit credere. Nulla enim peccata eum possunt
damnare, nisi sola incredulitas. , . Contritio autem et peccatoriim
confeasio, deinde et satisfactio, et omnia iUa hominum excogitata studia,
subito te deserent, et infeliciorem reddent, si oblitus veritatis hujus
divinae in ipsis tete distenderis."
^ " Esto peccator et pecca fortiter ; set fortius fide et gaude in
Christo, qui victor est peccati, mortis, et mundi. Feccandum est
quamdiu hie sumus. Vita hiec non est habitatio justitiae ; ped expec-
tamus, ait Petrus, ccelos noTos et terrain novam, in quibus justitia
habitabit. Sufficit quod agnovimus, per divitias glorias Dei, Agnum
qui tollit peccata mundi : ab hoc non avellet nos peccatum, etiamsi
millies, millies uno die, fornicemur aut occidamus." See Audin, i. 219,
^ Dollinger, "The Church and the Churches," p. 322.
326 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
mencemenb of his public career, called for the exter-
mination of Pope, cardinals, and bishops. He now
violently inveighed against all political rulers. In this
treatise, he writes : " Princes are of the world, and the
world is alien from God ; inasmuch as they live accord-
ing to the world, and against the law of God. Be not
astonished, therefore, by their furious fighting against
the Gospel, for they cannot act contrary to their own
nature. From the beginning of the world, a wise and
prudent prince has been a rara avis, and an honest and
upright prince still more rare. They are generally the
greatest fools, or the very worst scoundrels living under
the sun.^ . . . Trust them not, my good people."
The feuds of the peasants and nobles had existed
before the time of Luther. We read of risings of the
former against their " tyrants " in Flanders and along
the banks of the Ehine and the Moselle, in 1492. But
they had been reduced to submission by the prompt
and energetic measures of their spiritual and temporal
lords.
All their animosity was now intensified and roused
into fatal activity ; and this, to a considerable extent,
by the language of " the great Eeformer," whose doc-
trines, oral and written, were so enthusiastically received
and so widely circulated throughout Germany. That
language was enlarged on, to a startling degree, by
Carlstadt, Strauss, Muntzer, chief of the " Conquering
Anabaptists," and other unruly followers of Luther.^
The Black Forest, Saxony, Thuringia, Franconia, and
the Palatinate, were the chief scenes of the Peasants'
war. It was not without great slaughter that the
* " Ab initio mundi rara avis in terra tuit prinoeps prudentia pollens;
mnlto rarior probus prinoeps. Ut plurimum, vel maxirai aunt moriones,
vel nebulones omnium qui sub sole vivunt pessimi." This book on
" The Secular Miigistracy " was written by Luther, against an Impe-
rjal decree prohibiting the circulation of his version of the New Testa-
ment, and ordering its suppression. The Emperor's example in this
matter was followed by other princes.
^ Audin, "Life of Luther," vol. ii. chap. 10.
LUTHER AND THE GEEAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 327
authorities succeeded in suppressing this fanatical out-
break— the numbers slain being computed at not less
than one hundred thousand.^ In the first instance,
Luther had by his writings excited the peasants against
the bishops, priests, and Catholic princes ; but when he
found that the ignorant people, assembling in vast
numbers, made no distinction, but assailed with equal
animosity the Protestant rulers, who so warmly sup-
ported the new doctrines, he completely changed his
tone, and called on the sovereigns of Hesse, Brunswick,
and Saxony to exterminate " those murdering and pil-
laging peasants." In his " Table Talk," he says : " I,
Martin Luther, have shed the blood of the rebellious
peasants ; for I commanded them to be killed. Their
blood indeed is upon my head, but I put it upon the
Lord God, by whose command I spoke." ^
Henry VIII. of England came forward as an oppo-
nent of Luther, in 1521. His "Defence of the Seven
Sacraments against Martin Luther," said to have been
principally written by Fisher, Bishop of Eochester, is
considered a complete refutation of the arguments of
the Eeformer.* In recognition of Henry's services to
^ Audin, "Life of Luther," vol. ii. chap. lo. In this chapter, Audin
gives full details of this fierce but short-lived struggle. At the battle
of Mulhausen the peasants' army was utterly routed, with ■ immense
slaughter, by Philip Landgrave of Hesse, Henry Duke of Brunswick,
and George Duke of Saxony, on the 15th of May, 1525. These princes
are said to have taken the field, by the advice of Luther and Melanc-
thon. Shortly after the final battle, Muntzer was taken prisoner at
Trankenhausen, brought back to Mulhausen, and beheaded there.
In his last moments, he was attended by a priest, having abjured his
errors and expressed a desire to be reconciled to the Church, against
which he had so grievously offended.
2 "Table Talk," p. 276, Eisleben edition. In. a letter to Nicholas
Amsdorf, dated May 30, 1525, Luther wrote, that the peasants de-
served no patience, but the wrath and indignation of God and men ;
and that to justify them, to pity them, to favour them, would be to
deny God, to blaspheme, and to wish Him to be torn from heaven.
" Nulla patientia rusticis debetur, sed ira et indignatio Dei et homi-
num. Hos ergo justificare, horum misereri, illis favere, est Deum
negare, blasphemare, et de coelo velle eradicari."
" In his book on the " Babylonian Captivity of the Church " (Opera
328 THE CHAIR OF PETEE.
the Church in this matter, Clement conferred on him
the title Fidei Defensor, Defender of the Faith, which
was most acceptable to Henry, as it placed him, with
regard to the Church, on the level of the Kings of
France and Spain, styled respectively "the Most
Christian King," and "the Catholic King," through
the favour of the Apostolic See.
In his book, Henry, alluding to" Luther, says : " For
he cannot deny, that every Church of the faithful
recognizes and venerates the most holy Eoman See, as
its mother and spiritual ruler, to which neither distance
of place nor intervening dangers prevent its having re-
course. For even the Indians, separated from us by so
many tracts of land, sea, and desert, if those who come
from India speak truth, submit themselves to the Eoman
Pontiff. Therefore, if the Pontiff has acquired so great
and so widely diffused a power neither by the ordinance
of God nor by the will of man, but usurped it by force,
I would have Luther say, when it was tliat he tlirust
himself into the possession of such great authority. The
origin of so immense a power cannot be obscure, espe-
cially if it commenced within the memory of man. But,
if he should say that it is further back than one or two
generations, let him bring it to our recollection from
history." ^
ii. 360 b), Luther had reduced the number of the Sacraments from
se-ven to three. Baptism, Penance, and the Eucharist, " Baptismus,
Pesnitentia, Panis." Henry's work, against this innovation, admired
for its pure Latinity no less than for its matter, was styled, " Assei-tio
Septem Sacramentorum adversus Martinum Lutherum, edita ab invic-
tissimo AnglioB et I'rancise rege et domino Hibernise, Henrico ejus
nominis octavo." Londini, 1521, in sedibus Pynsonianis ; Antverpite,
1522, in sedibus Michaelis Hillehii ; Eomse, 1543. Several editions
were also brought oui in France, Holland, and Germany. The manu-
script, preserved in the Vatican Library, was presented to the Pope.
To it Is prefixed the foUovring distich : —
" Anglorum rex, Henrious, Leo deoime, mittit
Hoc opus, et fidei testem et amicitiaa. "
' "Assertio Septem Sacramentorum adversus Mart. Lutherum,
Henrico VIII, Angliee Eege auctore," p. 9. Parisiis, apud Gulielnmm
Beaboys, 1562.
LUTHilR AND THE GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 329
With reference to Luther's allegation, that the Pope
had acquired his " despotic power " by inere force, Henry
continues : " I greatly wonder that he expects his readers
to be so simple or so stupid as to believe, that a priest,
unarmed, alone, without retainers, supported by no right,
relying on no title, ever could have usurped, or possessed
himself of, or obtained, so great an empire over so many
bishops, his equals, over so many different and widely
divided nations, as that one would suppose that all
peoples, cities, kingdoms and provinces had been so
prodigal of their possessions, rights, and liberties, as to
confer on a foreign priest so much power over them-
selves— a power which he would scarcely dare to wish
for."i
Towards the end of his work, the King observes:
" Thus, then, there is no doctor so venerable, no person
so holy, no one of so great eminence in the knowledge
of sacred literature, whom this new petty doctor, this
diminutive saint, this dwarf of erudition,^ does not
reject, with an air of great authority. Wherefore, since
Luther despises everybody, since he believes in no one,
he should not be enraged if in turn no one believes in
him. For, of what use is it to hold any further con-
troversy with him, who dissents from all others, and
does not agree with himself — ^here asserting one thing,
here again denying it ; here denying another thing,
which he had previously asserted? He despises the
ancient doctors of the Church, and from his own exalted
position ridicules those of modern times. He assails
with abuse the Supreme Pontiff of the Church. He
sets at naught Ecclesiastical usages, dogmas, morals,
laws, canons, faith, and the Universal Church herself,
as if there were no Church save that which he has made
of two or three heretics, and of which he is the head." *
^ "Assertio,"' p. 10.
- "Novua doctorculus, sanctulns, eruditulus. " Luther is said to
have been greatly exasperated by these uncomplimentary expressions.
^ " Assertio," p. 97, 98.
330 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Luther's reply to Henry was published, both in Latin
and German, in 1522. The two texts vary consider-
ably ; but both are written in the same abusive style.'-
He unsparingly pours out the vials of his wrath against
the King, the Pope, and the Church. Of Henry, ha
says : " Now when this damnable rottenness and worm
purposely and wittingly composes lies against the
majesty of my King in heaven, it is my right, for
my King, to bespatter the majesty of England with
his own filth and dung, and to trample underfoot that
crown which blasphemes Christ." ^
He says further : " If the foolish King so forgets his
Eoyal majesty, that he dares to come forward with open
lies, and this, while treating of sacred things, why may
it not be excellent for me to cast back into his mouth
his falsehoods, so that, if he feel any pleasure in lying
against the Divine Majesty, he may lose it in hearing
the truth against himself." *
And again : " Here I have to deal not with the igno-
rance and dulness of Henry, but with his obstinate and
impudent wickedness. He not only utters untruths
here, like the most frivolous scoffer, but in these serious
matters he now dares, he now flees, he now corrupts,
he now perverts, he says all things, and again he re-
mains silent, entirely through mere caprice; so that,
if he does not surpass, he egregiously equals the most
worthless scoundrel." *
Luther did not remain long unanswered. A reply,
admired equally for its elegance of style and cogent
reasoning, was written by Bishop Fisher, refuting, at
great length, all his arguments ; ^ and another rejoinder
^ I quote from the Latin version. It is entitled, " Contra Henrioum
Regem Angliae Martinus Lutherus." " Opera," ii, 516 b.
' Luther, "Opera," ii. 518 b. » Ibid., ii. 521.
* Ibid., ii. 524 b.
" This work is styled " Assertionum Regis Anglise de Tide Oatholioa
adversus Lutheri Babylonicam oaptivitatem defensio : Authore B. D.
Johanne Roffenai Episcopo." Farisiis, apud Gulielmum Deaboys,
1562.
LUTHER AND THE GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 3 3 I
was composed by Sir Thomas More, under the assumed
name of " William Eoss," in which he attacked Luther
in a vein of banter, ridicule, and abuse, perhaps not as
appropriate and effective as would have been a more
serious tone.^
Three years later, Luther addressed a most humble
apology to Henry — a circumstance which is by some
writers attributed to his having shrewdly discerned
certain foreshadowings of the great change which even-
tually took place in the' King's relations with the Holy
See. Others ascribe it to the strongly urged sugges-
tion, or rather command, of Luther's patron, the Elector
of Saxony.^
In October, 1524, Luther threw off the monastic
habit, and in the following June he married Catherine
Bora, a young Cistercian nun. This lady had fled from
her convent at Nimptschen in Saxony to join Jhe
Eeformer, in 1523. The bride's age was twenty-six,
and the bridegroom's forty-one. Luther's marriage
came by surprise upon his disciples, none of whom he
had consulted on the subject. " He has unexpectedly
married," says Melancthon, in a letter to Camerarius.
"I shall not venture to condemn these sudden nuptials
as a fall and a scandal ; although God points out to us
in the conduct of His elect faults which we cannot
approve. Woe to him who rejects the doctrines because
of the sins of the teacher." ^ Luther himself shows an
anxiety, on more than one occasion, to explain or justify
this step, as one requiring at least explanation. He
writes to a friend, " It is indeed true, Amsdorf, that I
have married Catherine Bora. I may live some years
longer; and I could not refuse my father this proof
of filial obedience, in the hope of offspring. It is neces-
sary to strengthen precept by example; there are so
■* " Eruditissimi viri GuUelmi Kossei opus elegans, doctum, festi-
vum."
2 Luther's letter is dated Wittenberg, September I, 1525.
' Audin, "Life of Luther," ii. 220.
332 THE CHAIK OF PETER.
many weak minds who dare not look the Gospel in the
face." * Yet this explanation does not appear quite to
satisfy himself ; for he writes to another friend, Koeppe,
who had assisted Catherine to escape from her convent :
" You are aware what has happened to me : I am caught
in the snares of a woman. It is a perfect miracle ; God
must have pouted at the world and me," etc.^ Again,
he writes to Spalatinus, " I have made myself so vile
and contemptible by this marriage, that I may hope
the angels will laugh and all the devils weep." * In-
deed this and" other events in liis life appear to have
been surprises to himself and others — "things not
written in the stars."
" I am a peasant's son," he says, " and my father,
grandfather, and great-grandfather were all common
peasants. My father went to Mansfeld, where he got
employment in the mines ; and there I was born. That
I should ever become bachelor of arts, doctor of divinity,
and what not, seemed not to be written in the stars.
How I must have surprised folks by turning monk ;
and then, again, by changing the brown cap for another!
By so doing I occasioned real grief and trouble to my
father. Afterwards I went to loggerheads with the
Pope, married a runaway nun, and had children by her.
Who foresaw these things in the stars?- Who could
have foretold that they were to come to pass?"*
Erasmus, who could not resist the opportunity for a
sarcasm afforded by the marriage, observes, in a letter
to Nicholas Everard, dated December 24, 1525, "The
tumults of comedies generally end in marriage. Hence
the sudden tranquillity of all things. , . . The Lutheran
tragedy seems to be about to have a like ending. A
monk marries a nun," etc.^
' Audin, "Life of Luther," ii. 220. 2 Ibid., ii. 219.
' " Sio me vilem et contemptum his nuptiis feci, ut angelos ridere
et omnes deemones flere sperem."
* See Chalmers' " Memoir of Luther," prefixed to " Table Talk," p.
XXV. London, 1878.
' " Solent oomioi tumultus fere in niatrimonium ex ire ; atque hino
LUTHER AND THE GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 333
It is stated that sometimes in moments of cool
reflection the married pair had compunctious visitings.
' One evening, as they walked in their little garden,
the stars blazed with extraordinary lustre ; the heavens
seemed on fire. 'Do you see what splendour those
luminous points emit ? ' said Catherine. Luther looked
up, and said, 'What a glorious light! It shines not
for us ! ' ' And wherefore ? ' returned she. ' Have we
lost our right to the kingdom of heaven?' Luther
sighed. 'Perhaps so,' said he, 'as a punishment for
our having left our convents.' ' Should we not, then,
return to them ? ' said Catherine. ' It is too late ; the
car is sunk too deep,' replied the doctor, and the
conversation dropped."^
In 1529, Luther published, in plain language, in-
telligible to all, his two Catechisms, a greater and a
less, for the instruction of the clergy and the people in
his tenets. These Catechisms form part of the Sym-
bolic Books of the Lutherans.^
As agreed on by both parties at the Diet of Nurem-
berg, the German princes and prelates. Catholic and
non-Catholic, met at the Diet of Spire in 1526, and
again in 1529; but no settlement of the controverted
points was arrived at. In the latter assembly, in which
the Catholics were in a majority, a decree was passed,
explaining and confirming the decree of the diet of
1526, which approved of the moderate propositions of
the Catholic princes and prelates. Those propositions
were : That the Edict of the Diet of Worms should be
maintained in those States in which it had already
been received; that those who had adopted the new
doctrines should be allowed to observe them in quiet
until the assembling of a General Council, as any
rerum omnium subita tranquillitas. . . . Similem exitum habitura vide-
tuT Lutherana tragcedia. Duxit monachus monacham," etc. Erasmi
Epistola ad Nicolaum Eveiardum, Dec. 24, 1525.
* Audin, " Life of Luther, " ii. 243.
' Symbolic Books are the books containing the symbol, or creed, or
profession of faith, of a particular religious communion, or sect.
334 THE CHAIR OF PETEB.
attempt to prohibit them might lead to a sedition ; that
the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist should not be
preached against ; that the sacrifice of the Mass should
be continued, and that in those places in which it had
been abolished no one should be molested for offering
it in private, or for assisting at it; that the clergy-
should preach the Gospel according to the Church's
interpretation, but that controverted points should be
avoided until the assembling of the council ; and that
all the provinces of the Empire should live in peace,
committing no acts of hostility against each other.
The adherents of Luther in the diet drew up a strong
protest against this decree, setting forth their reasons
for doing so. This protest was signed by John, Elector
of Saxony; George, Marquis of Brandenburg; Ernest
and Francis, Dukes of Lunenburg; Philip, Landgrave
of Hesse ; and Wolfgang, Prince of Anhalt. Fourteen
Imperial cities joined in it, viz. Strasbourg, Nuremberg,
Ulm, Constance, Eeutlingen, Windsheim, Memmiugen,
Lindau, Kempten, Heilbronn, Isny, Weissenburg, Nord-
lingen, and St, Gall. It was dated the 19th of April,
1529; and from that day forward those whose opinions
it represented were known as Protestants, " which all
the Eeformers adopted as a glorious appellation."
Acting on his laudable resolve to leave nothing
untried which might reconcile the religious differences
prevailing in the Empire, Charles, as Advocate and
Protector of the Church, convoked a diet to assemble
at Augsburg on the 8th of April, 1530. At Charles's
desire, a statement of their Articles of Faith was pre-
pared and presented to him by the Protestants in the
diet, on the 25th of June. This symbol, or profession
of faith, known as the Confession of Augsburg, Coii/essio
Augusicma, was drawn up by Melancthon, and is
written in a conciliatory tone, characteristic of its
author. Melancthon was aided in his work by Luther
and other theologians, and some of the German princes ;
but it was mainly his own composition. When com-
LUTHER AND THE GKEAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 335
pleted, it met the full approval of Luther, who said :
" I am quite pleased with the document. I see nothing
in it that requires either change or emendation. I
could not myself have written it, having neither the
sweetness of temper, nor the self-restraint necessary to
the work."
The Confession of Augsburg consists of an introduc-
tion and two parts. In the first part, it sets forth what
the subscribers believe, comprised in twenty-one articles,
" based on the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds ; " and, in
the second, it states, in seven articles, the "abuses"
which they condemn. In the former, will be recognized
Luther's principal errors, involved as they are by
Melancthon in guarded and subdued language. In the
latter, objection is made to Communion under one
kind, private Masses, the celibacy of the clergy,
monastic vows, the distinction of meats for days of
abstinence, auricular confession, and the Ecclesiastical
hierarchy as a system of Church government.
On the 2Sth of June, 1530, the Confession was read
to the diet, in the presence of the Emperor, and handed
to him. The reply to it, Confutatio Gonfessionis
Augustance, as drawn up by the Catholic theologians,^
was read in a public session of the diet, on the 3rd of
August, when the Emperor and the Catholic princes
expressed themselves satisfied with it.
Luther, being under the ban of the Empire, could
not take part in the Diet of Augsburg, but remained at
Coburg, near enough for consultation.
Melancthon next drew up, under the direction of
Luther, a reply to the Confutation, and styled it " An
Apology for the Confession of Augsburg." ^ When this
Apology was laid before the Emperor, he rejected it,
' Of these the principal was John Faber, afterwards Archbishop of
Vienna,
* Melancthon published two editions of this Apology, Apologia Con-
feitionis Augustanm, one in quarto, and another in octavo, in 1 531, It
was immediately translated into German.
336 THE CHAIK OF PETER.
along with the Confession. About the same time,
appelired the Confession of Basle, composed by Zwingli,
in which were stated the points of difference between
his opinions and those of Luther on the "Lord's
Supper," 1 and also a Confession of the four cities
which adhered to Zwingli's doctrine, namely, Stras-
bourg, Constance, Lindau, and Memmingen. This
last was called Oonfessio TetrapolUana? _ Thus early
was brought into prominence, to the discomfiture of
Luther and his adherents, that divergence of doctrine
which necessarily results from the leading principle
of the Eeformers — the right of private judgment in
matters of faith.
In March 1531 a league, offensive and defensive,
in support of the new religion, was entered into, at
Schmalkalden, by the Protestant princes ; and the Em-
peror, regarding this proceeding as an act of rebellion,
called on them, one and all, to immediately abjure theii
errors. A civil war now appeared inevitable, and would.
certainly have ensued, but for the attitude of the Turks,
who meditated the conquest of Europe. The common
danger united those who otherwise would liave engaged
in fratricidal strife ; and negotiations opened at Frank-
fort were concluded at Nuremberg, July 23, 1532, to
the effect: that, until the assembling of a General
Council, no hostilities should be entered on by any of
the parties ; that meanwhile the status in quo should be
maintained ; that religious disputations should cease ;
and that those who had already received the Confession
of Augsburg should be included in the arrangements ;
the Emperor thus abrogating the decrees of the Diets
of Worms and Augsburg.
As the Augsburg Confession is " not only ' the f unda-
' The first edition of this ConfesBion was printed in German at
Baale in 1530.
^ From the Greek Tlrpa, four, and ir6\eis, cities. This Confession,
drawn up by Bucer, was published at Strasbourg, first in German, and
afterwards in Latin ; both in 1531.
LUTHEE AND THE GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 337
mental creed of the Eeformation,' but also the only one
which the great majority of Christ-believing Protestants
now acknowledge," i it may be well to refer briefly here
to its history and some few of its variations.
The original Confession, presented to the Emperor,
was drawn iip in German and in Latin ; and, by desire
of the Protestant princes, the German version was that
which was read to the diet. The Emperor retained the
Latin copy ; and handed that in German to the Arch-
bishop of Mentz. Both are now said to be lost. When
Charles dismissed the princes, he exacted a promise
from them that they would not publish the Confession
without his express permission. Notwithstanding this
promise, five editions in German, and two in Latin,
were published in the course of that year, all varying
more or less from each other.^
Melancthon himself issued a new edition towards the
close of the year (1530). In the preface he says, " We
now publish from a trustworthy copy a new and accu-
rately written out Confession." ^ Even in this will be
found variations from the original. How could it be
otherwise, when, in each successive edition, an attempt
was made to meet the necessarily conflicting views of
the leading theologians of the Eeformation, each of
whom asserted, in practice, his right of private judg-
ment in interpreting the Scriptures ?
How futile this attempt, will be seen in a com-
parison of Melancthon's edition of " the Confession of
Augsburg " of 1 540, with that which he published ten
years before. The earlier is known as the Gonfessio
invariata ; and the latter as the Gonfessio variata—a,
very necessaiy distinction.
In the original Confession, the tenth article says:
" Concerning the Lord's Supper, they (the Protestants)
1 DoUinger, "The Church and the Churches," p. 14.
' Audin, " Life of Luther," vol. ii. p. 33?.
' "Nunc emittiinus probe et diligenter desoriptam Confessionem ex
exemplar! bonee fidei."
V
338 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
teach, that the body and blood of Christ are really pre-
sent, and are distributed to those eating in the Lord's
Supper ; and they disapprove of those who teaoh other-
wise." To this article the Swiss theologians objected ;
and, in order to please them, Melancthon altered it in
his Confessio variaia, by omitting altogether the words
affirming the Eeal Presence, and substituting for them
the following : " that the body and blood of Christ are
given with the bread and wine to those eating in the
Lord's Supper."^ Luther severely censured his friend
for his action in the matter. "Who," he asked, "has
given you permission to alter a public Confession ? The
Confession of Augsburg is neither yours nor mine. It ia
the Confession of all who bear the name of Christians
at "Wittenberg." ^
Melancthon here had undertaken the impossible. As
well might he have attempted to turn back the Elbe to
its source. The three great chiefs of the Eeformation,
Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, held and professed widely
different views on the Lord's Supper. Their views, he
felt, could never be reconciled ; but he vainly hoped to
establish a modus vivendi between them. Luther at
first held the doctrine of Transubstantiation, as set
forth, with his approval, in the tenth article of tlie
original Confession of Augsburg. But eventually, hard
pressed by the opposition of the Sacramentarians,* he
abandoned this doctrine, and substituted for it that of
' In the Oonfe»ix> invariata, a.d. 1530, the Latin runs thus : "De
ccena Domini dooent, quod corpus et sanguis Ghriqtl vera ftdsint et dia-
tribuantur vepcentibug in coena Domini, et improbant secus docentes ; "
and in the Confetaio variaia, a.d. 1540, thus: " De coena Domini
decent, quod cum pane et vino exhibeantur corpus et sanguis Ohriiti
vesoaniibuB in o(jana Domini." It ia asserted by aome writera, th^t,;in
the original Copfessipn, hande4 to the Emperor, now not extant, the .
words " sub apecie pania et vini," occurred after " Ohristi." Audln is
positive on this point ("Life of Luther," ii, 351).
" Audin's " Life of Lutheir," ii. 352.
' Saoramentarians. So those were called who denied the Oatholio
and Lutheran doctrine of the real preaence of the body and blood of
Ohrist in the Eucharist.
LUTHETK AND THE GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 339
Consubstantiation, or Impanation, as he called it ; viz.
that the body of Christ is received in, under, and with
the bread — in, sub, et cum pane. Now, Zwingli'a doc-
trine was, that the language of our Lord at His Last
Supper was figurative ; that the word " is," est, or eWi,
in the text, means " is a sign of," or " represents," — the
import being, not " This is My body," but " This repre-
sents My body ; " and that the only presence of Christ
in the Eucharist is that which exists in the thoughts of
a contemplative mind : whUe Calvin maintained, that
nowhere but in heaven is the body of Christ really and
substantially present; that the bread and wine are
unchanged by the words of consecration ; but that at
the moment of communion a Divine power emanating
from the body of Christ in heaven is communicated to
the soul of the believer — that is, that Christ is received
spiritually.
Luther, strongly impressed with the Catholic doctrine,
had but little patience in his intercourse with the Sacra-
mentarians. In a work which was published in Zurich
in 1 526, Zwingli complains of his intolerance as follows :
" See, then, how these men, who owe everything to the
Word, would wish now to shut the mouths of those who
differ from them. Christians like themselves. They cry
out that we are heretics, who should not be listened
to ; they proscribe our books, and denounce us to the
magistrates. Is not this to do as the Pope did for- .
merly, when truth endeavoured to raise her head ! " ^
" We have Bibles in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Ger-
man," wrote Luther to his followers in Frankfort, " let
the Swiss, then, show us any version in which it is
written, ' This is the sign of My body.' If they cannot
do this, let them be silent. They are incessantly ex-
claiming, ' The Scriptures, the Scriptures ! ' But the
Scriptures as loudly and distinctly proclaim, ' This is
My body ; ' and these words defy them. There is not
' Audin's " Infe of Luther," ii 304.
,^0 THE CHAIR OP PETEK.
a child of seven years old who would give a different
interpretation of the text." ^
Again, with reference to Zwingli's main argument
against the real presence, namely, " that it is the doc-
trine of the Pope," Luther observed, " The Sacramen-
tarians prefer the true bread and wine, in order to show
disrespect to the Pope, thinking that they can m this
way directly overturn the Papacy. Truly this is a
frivolous argument, on which they will base nothing
that is good. For, according to it, they would be bound
to deny also the Holy Scriptures and the ofiSce of
preaching; for surely we have all this from the Pope.
What folly ! Christ found the abuses of the Pharisees
in the Jewish people : but He did not in consequence
reject what they held and taught. We must acknow-
ledge that under the Papacy is most that is good in
Christianity, nay, all that is good in Christianity, which
from the Papacy has come to us. For we must confess
that in the Papacy are the true Scriptures, true baptism,
the true sacrament of the altar, the true keys for the
remission of sins, the true office of preaching, the true
catechism, as are the Lord's prayer, the articles of faith,
the ten commandments. I say moreover that in the
Papacy is true Christianity, yes, the nucleus of Chris-
tianity." ^ Well indeed might Luther's biographer style
1 Audin, " Life of Luther," ii. 301 ; Luther, " Defensio de Coena
Domini."
" Audin, " Life of Luther," ii. 302. Claude de Sainotes (Sanotesius)
"De rebus Euoharistise oontroverais ; " Paris, 1575. Luther's words
are, " Saoramentarii veruni panem et vinum habere volunt in deapectum
Papte, arbitrantes se hoc paoto reote subvertere poaee Papatum. Pro-
fecto f rivolum est hoc argumentum supra quod nihil boni sedifioaturi
sunt. Hoc enim pacto negare eos oporterefr totam quoque Scripturam
saoram et prsedieandi offioium : hoo enim totum nimirum a Papa
habemus. Stultitia hoo est totum. Nam et Christus in gente Judaioa
invenit PharissBorum abusus : non tamen propterea rejecit quod illi
habuerunt et doouerunt. Nos autem fatemur sub papatu plurimum
esse boni Christiani, imo omne bonum Christianum, atque etiam illino
ad nos devenisse. Quippe fatemur in papatu veram esse Scripturam
saoram, verum baptismum, verum sacramentum altaris, veras claves ad
remissionem pecoatorum, \erum prsedieandi officium, verum catechis-
mum, ut sunt oratio Dominica, articuli iidei, decern prsecepta, Dicn
LUTHER AND THE GREAT PROTESTANT SECESSION. 34 1
this "a noble admission, which would cause us to re-
joice, if soon afterwards, when opposed to the Catholics,
Luther was not ready to deny words which he had
hurled against Zwingli." ^
In 1527, Luther reckoned eight different interpreta-
tions of the words of Christ : " Hoc est corpus meum."
Thirty years later, there were no less than eighty-five.^
It is not a matter of surprise, then, that in the dis-
putation on the Eucharist between Luther and Zwingli
at the conference of Marburg, in 1529, nothing was done
towards reconciling their differences.* On the contrary,
the breach was widened, and, not only on this, but on
other points of doctrine, to Luther's chagrin, it con-
tinuously increased until his death, which took place
at Eisleben, February 14th, 1546.
In estimating the public life and character of Luther,
much depends upon the standpoint from which he is
regarded. Whilst Protestants extol him to the skies.
Catholics view with horror his virulent attacks on the
Church and its Supreme Pastor, its sacred doctrines,
and venerable institutions. That he was a leader of
vast ability, a man to sway the multitude by his earnest
eloquence, cannot be denied ; but it is no less true that
his impulsive nature, aroused into full activity in main-
taining and propagating his own doctrines, and assailing
those of the Catholic Church, carried him, on many
occasions, far beyond the bounds of ordinary prudence,
and betrayed him into the use of language and the pro-
pounding of opinions, which, in moments of cool refleq-
insuper in Fapatu veram Christianitatem esse, imo verum nudeum
Christianitatis esse."
^ Audin, " Life of Luther," iL 302. ^ IbiA, ii. 301.
' The Conference of Marburg was held by desire of the Landgrave
of Hesse, who was anxious to restore peace to his dominions, disturbed
by the violent disputes of the two great Reformers and their followers.
Luther was accompanied by Melancthon, Justus Jonas, and CreuzigSr;
and Zvringli by (Eeolampadius, Martin Bucer, and Gaspard Hedion.
Osiander from Nuremberg, Hans Brenz from Halle, and Agrioola from
Augsburg were also present. The conference opened September 23,
1529.
342 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
tion, he might have been expected to regret. Yet, we
never meet with any retractation or apology from him,
save in the one instance of his penitent letter to King
Henry VIII.
Most accurately does he himself contrast his own
temperament and that of his best-beloved follower
Melancthon, in these words : '' I was born to contend
with the devil : henoe my writings are full of fury. It
is my destiny to roll rocks and masses, to eradicate
thorns and briars, to fill up marshes, to trace out roads :
but Philip has another mission ; he walks silently and
softly; and builds, plants, waters, and sows, in peace
and joy of heart." ^
Luther came forth as a professed reformer of the
doctrine of the Church. Yet he was wanting in the
coolness and calm reasoning qualities, which one would
naturally expect to meet with in any person entering
on so momentous, so difficult, and so delicate a task,
AH through his voluminous writings, there are to be
found force and fervid eloquence, mingled with un-
measured abuse of all those who differed from his
opinions, whether Pope or Prince, or prelate or Swiss
minister. Catholic or Calvinist — all the same : but we
often look in vain for sustained argument, amidst the
confusion and din of violent declamation; and the
result is, that the searcher after truth is rather confused
and bewildered than convinced by the perusal of his
works. With justice has it been observed of Luther,
that while he has pulled down or destroyed much, he
has raised up or built very little on the ruins of
his creation.
In his antagonism to particular tenets of the com-
munion of which he was once a consecrated minister,
he goes to the uttermost verge of the opposite extreme.
This is especially manifest in his treatise on Monastic
Vows, and his remarkable Sermon on Marriage, preached
* Audin'B "Life of Luther," ii. 363,
LUTHEK AND THE GREAT PKOTESTANT SECESSION. 343
at Wittenberg in 1522 — a discourse which certainly
would not meet the approval of any one of his followers
at the present day.^
Again, in the cause of the Eeformation, he sometimes
did not hesitate to sacrifice principle to expediency, as
is strikingly exemplified in the instance, which will
presently be detailed, of his of&cially sanctioning the
bigamy of the Landgrave of Hesse.
In all the relations of private life, Luther is repre-
sented as having been kindly and amiable ; and further
it is evident that he was personally most disinterested.
All his days, he was a poor man ; and, after his death,
his wife and children were steeped in poverty, which
latter circumstance was a disgrace to his powerful
patrons, whom he had enriched by transferring to them
so much Church property, and whom he had elevated,
severally in their own dominions, to the supreme head-
ship of the Church.
' "Martini Lutheri de Matrimonio, sermo habitus Wittembergae,
anno 1522;" "Opera," v. p. 19, Wittembergse, 1544. "It is remark-
able," observes Andin, " that this sermon is iiot to be found in sub-
sequent editions of Luther's works" ("Life of Luther," ii. 17).
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE OTHER LEADING KEFOKMEKS.
It is necessary that we should now dwell briefly on the
histories of the other leading Eeformers, who, although
differing from Luther and from each other on several
points of doctrine, were unanimous in repudiating the
authority, and opposing the teaching, of the Catholic
Church.
Of these the first to present himself is Melancfchon,
who may well be styled the lieutenant of Luther,
Philip Melancthon, or Melanchthon, was born at
Bretten in Western Germany, on the i6th of February,
1497. At the suggestion of his relative Eeuchlin,
under whom he made his studies, he altered his name,
Schwartz-Erde (black earth) to Melancthon, which in
Greek has the same signification — a usage not un-
common among scholars at that day. In 1518, on the
recommendation of Eeuchlin, he was promoted to the
professorship of Greek in the University of Wittenberg,
by Frederick, Elector of Saxony. There he became
united, in close bonds of friendship, with Luther, who
filled the chair of philosophy in the same university.
Ere long, the reputation of Melancthon widely spread
throughout Germany, and his lectures sometimes
numlaered over two thousand auditors, including several
persons of the highest rank. " Imagine," says one of
his cotemporaries, " a thin spare youth, buried in the
ample robe of a professor, with hanging sleeves; a
scholar apparently but fifteen, who, when he walks
scarcely reaches Luther's shoulder, but who is a perfect
THF OTHEK LEADING REFORMERS. 34$
giant in learning and languages — a fragile frame which
contains we know not wliat treasures of wisdom and
erudition." ^ At the same time his amiability, and
that spirit cf universal charity, in which, all through
life, he yearned for general peace and the reconciling of
religious differences, endeared him to all who knew him.
But unfortunately he did not possess strength of
character to resist the influences by which he was sur-
rounded ; and he too readily yielded himself captive to
every new doctrine, although he frequently looked
longingly back to the ancient Church which he had
left.
Melaucthon's accomplishments as a scholar and his
singular moderation pointed him out as the most suit-
able one of his party to draw up the Confession of
Augsburg in 1530, which, as we have seen, was a tt>ost
difficult task. His well-known disposition, and his
laudable anxiety to restore union among Christians, led
Francis I. of France to invite him to a conference with
the Doctors of Sorbonne in 1536; but the Elector of
Saxony could not spare him. It is said that Francis
became doubly anxious for this conference, on perusing
the " Twelve Articles," which Melancthon had presented
to him. In these will be found the following words,
which show how much the writer inclined to a recon-
ciliation with the Church : " First therefore we aU
unanimously profess this : that Ecclesiastical govern-
ment is a holy and useful thing ; so that there should
certainly be some bishops, who would preside over the
many ministers of the Churches ; again, that the Eoman
Pontiff should preside over all the bishops. For the
Church has need of rulers, to examine and ordain those
called to the Ecclesiastical ministry, ... to supervise
the doctrine of the priests : and, if there should be no
bishops, such nevertheless ought to be created." ^
1 Audin, " Life of Luther," ii. 356.
2 " Priinum igitur hoc omnes unanimiter profitemur, politiam eccle-
siasticam rem esse sanctam et utilem, ut sint utique aliqui episcopi qui
346 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
Again, as late as the year 1547 — ^fche year after
Luther's death — when the breach between the Catholics
and the Eeformers appeared irreparable, Melancthon
wrote to the Papal legate, Cardinal Campeggio, "We
would acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope and the
hierarchy of the bishops, if the Pope would not reject
us ; " and to the Emperor's chaplain, " We would all be
ready to obey the Holy Roman Church, so gracious to
us, as she has been in all ages to her children, if she
would concede to us a few unimportant points which,
however well inclined, we cannot retract." ^
A remarkable trait in Melancthon's character was
his filial piety. We read that, " with an indescribable
melancholy," he used to recall the image of his aged
father, the smith, a fervent Catholic, whom, in his
priBaint pluribUs ecclesianim minisfcriB, item ut Romanua Pontifex
praesit omnibuB episcopis. Opus est enim in ecclesia gubernatoribus,
qui vocatoB ad uinisteria eccleaiastica explorent et ordiuent, . . . ct
inspiciant dootrinam aaoerdotum ; ut si nuUi eaaent epiaoopi, tanien
oreari tales oporteret." Here, may alao be quoted the worda of another
learned Protestant, Grotiua, to the same effect. Writing to the
Calvinist minister, Eivetua, he says, " All those who know Grotiua are
aware how earnestly he has wished to see Christians united in onebody.
This he once thought might have been accomplished by a union of
Frotestants ; but afterwards he saw that such a union is impossible.
Because, not to mention the aversion of Calvinists to every kind of
union, Protestants are not bound by any Ecolesiastioal government, eo
that tneycan neither be united at present, nor prevented from splitting
into ftesh divisions. Therefore Grotius now is thoroughly convinced,
as are many others also, that Proteatants never can be united among
themselves, unless they join those who adhere to the Roman See, with-
out which there never can be any General Church government. Hence
he wishes that the revolt and the causes thereof may be removed ;
among which causes the Primacy of the Bishop of Borne was not one, as
was confessed by Melancthon, who also thought that primacy necessary
to restore union" (" Apol. ad Rivetum "). Hugo de Groot, Latinized
Grotiw, was born at Delft In Holland, in 1 583, He adopted the legal
profeasion ; but. was alao distinguished as a theologian, historian,
and general scholar. He is regarded as the founder of the science of
International Law. Having joined Barneveldt and the Arminians
againat Prince Maurice, he narrowly escaped being executed with his
friend and leader, in 1613. Grotius was a truly amiable and pious
man. He was the author of eeveral valuable works. He died in
1645, aged sixty-three.
* Audln, "Life of Luther," ii. 362.
THE OTHER LEADING REFORMERS. 347
childhood, he used to see rise from his bed every night,
at twelve o'clock^ to kneel in prayer to his Creator.^
It was a touching scene, when Melancthon stood by
the death-bed of his mother. "My son," said she,
'• you see your mother for the last time. I am about
to leave this world, and you also must die, and will
have to render an account of your actions to the
Supreme Judge. You know that I was a Catholic,
and that you induced me to abandon the religion of
my forefathers. Well^ I adjure you by the living God,
tell me unreservedly in what faith I ought to die ? "
To which he replied, " Mother, this faith is the more
convenient, the Catholic is the more sure." ^
Notwithstanding all this, Melancthon himself made
no change, holding the new doctrines to the end of his
life. He died at Wittenberg in 1560, aged 63. His
amiable qualities were marred by indecision and want
of firmness; so that, to use the words of one of his
biographers, " once he abandoned the bark of Peter, he
became the sport of the winds and the waves—
Nunc me pontus habet, jactantque in littore venti." '
Kext on the scene appears Zwingll, Latinized Zuin-
gliibs, Luther's co-operator in assailing the Church and
her doctrines, and, at the same time, as we have seen,
his uncompromising opponent in the tenet of the Eeal
Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Ulrich Zwingli
was born at Wildhausen, in the canton of St. Gall in
^ Audin, "Life of Luther," ii. 362. Villus Winshemius, in the
Funeral Oration of Melancthon, says, " Georgius Sohwartzer fuit vir
pius et pene usque ad snperstitionem religiosus ; singulis noctibus hora
duodecima consuevit e leoto surgere ad usitatarum precum recita,-
tionem."
^ Ibid., ii. 36D.
' Melancthon's works are "Loci Communes Theologici," " Dedama-
Mones," "Epistolae," and "Vita Martini Lutheri breviter exposita."
They have been many times published in several towns of Germany.
The first edition was that of Wittenberg, 1561-64, in four volumes folio.
348 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
Switzerland, in 1484, the year after the birth of Luther,
He made his studies at Berne, and subsequently at
Rome, Vienna, and Basle. In 1506, he was appointed
pastor at Glarus, and, after ten years' sojourn there, he
was promoted to Einsiedeln, a celebrated place of
pilgrimage. Thence, in 15 17, he removed to Zurich,
in the cathedral of which city he had received an
appointment. On the preaching of indulgences being
opened in Switzerland, Zwingli assailed not only the
doctrine of indulgences, but also the authority of the
Pope, the sacrament of penance, the sacrifice of the
Mass, the tenet of original sin, the effect of good works,
the invocation of saints, ecclesiastical laws, religious
vows, fasting, and the celibacy of the clergy. He re-
garded the Holy Scriptures as the one only rule of
faith. He denied Free Will ; and affirmed that man
is necessarily incapable of good and hopelessly prone
to evil. Not alone as regards the Lord's Supper, but
on several other points, did he differ from Luther,
whom he and his disciples considered to have stopped
very far short of the Eeform' of doctrine which wag
required. Hence the Zwinglians and Calvinists called
themselves the Reformers, and were known by that
name on the Continent, in contradistinction to the
followers of Luther.
The majority of the magistrates of Zurich sided with
and supported Zwingli.^ Under his rule, ere long,
law and order succumbed to mob-tyranny and riot.
Churches were desecrated, altars were overturned,
holy pictures and statues were destroyed, the Mass
was abolished, and all the ceremonies of the Church
were prohibited in the city and district. About this
time, acting up to his tenets, Zwingli married a
wealthy widow.
Besides Zurich, the cantons of Berne, Sohaffhausen,
and Basle adopted the new doctrines ; and so great
1 A,n. 1523,
THE OTHER LEADING REFORMERS. 349
were the disorders consequent thereon, that a civil war
broke out between the Catholic and Protestant cantons.
With gloomy forebodings that his last hour was at
hand, Zwingli, as chief pastor of Zurich, marched out
to battle reluctantly, at the head of his followers,
twenty thousand strong. They were signally defeated
on the field of Cappel, and their leader fell mortally
wounded, on the nth of October, 1531, at the age
of forty-seven. After Zwingli's death, his followers
generally became Calvinists. In mental powers and
acquirements, he was far inferior to Luther, Melancthon
and Calvin. His works were published in Zurich, in
1 58 1, in one volume folio. In his confession, addressed
to Francis I., he ranks Hercules, Theseus, and other
Pagans, among the Elect !
(Ecolampadius, who was to Zwingli what Melancthon
was to Luther, was born at Weinsberg in Suabia, in
1482. His name was Hausshein (House-light), which
he altered to its equivalent in Greek. He became a
Bridgettine monk in the Abbey of Saint Laurence, near
Augsburg; but, after a short time, he abandoned the
cloister, and retired to Basle. Here he met Erasmus,
who was taken by his highly cultivated mind and store
of learning. When the new doctrines of Luther and
Zwingli were broached, he immediately adopted them,
preferring the opinion of the latter to that of the former
on the Eucharist. He was then pastor of Basle, and
published a work, maintaining his own and Zwingli's
interpretation of the words of Christ, "This is My
body." The Lutherans replied to this in a work styled
"Syngramma," on which he published a rejoinder,
" Anti-Syngramma." He also wrote treatises against
Eree Will, the Invocation of Saints, and other Catholic
tenets, as well as Commentaries on several books of the
Bible.
After the example of Luther and other EeformerSj
(Ecolampadius took a wife, to the great disappointment
of Erasmus, who wrote about his friend's marriage in
350
THE CHAIK OF PETER.
terms still more severe than those ■which he applied to
the tmion of Luther and Catherine Bora. In 1529,
CEcolampadius and his adherents, in abolishing the
Catholic religion, committed in Basle and other pantons
excesses simUar to those perpetrated by the Zwinglians
in Zurich. He died of the plague, at Basle, in 1531,
the year of Zwingli's death. On his tomb in the
Cathedral of that city, may be read the inscription :
"Auctor evangelicse doctrinse in hac urbe primus, et
templi hujns verus episcopus." ^
John Calvin, or Cauvin, -who is generally regarded as
the second chief of Protestantism, was born at Noyon,
in the department of Oise, on the loth of July, 1509,
His father was a cooper in that town, and afterwards
became notary and procurator-general to the bishopric.
Calvin studied at Orleans and Bourges ; and at the
latter place he was imbued with the new doctrines by
his Greek Professor, the Lutheran Melchior Wolmar.
Thence he passed to Paris, where he became known by
his Commentary on the two books of Seneca, " On
Clemency." This work was evidently written to
mitigate Francis I.'s persecution of his Protestant
subjects ; and was published in 1532. Calvin, who had
for some time been preaching and expounding the new
creed, was now regarded as the head of the Eeformation
in Prance. Ere long, for his own safety, he was obliged
to flee from France ; and he settled in Basle, where h©
had a cordial welcome from the Protestant party. Here
he published his " Institutes of the Christian Religion,"
a summary of his doctrine, dedicated to the King of
France. This work appeared in French in 1535, and
in Latin the following year. In subsequent editions it
was considerably modified.
_ In the beginning of 1537, Calvin, then in his twenty-
eighth year, settled at Geneva, on the urgent solicitation
of Farel, an ardent promoter of the Eeformation in that
1 " The first author of evangelical doctrine in this city, and of thia
temple the true bishop." '
THE OTHER LEADING EEFOEMEKS. 3 5 I
city. Two years afterwards, in consequence of a dis-
pute with the civic authorities, on the administration
of the Lord's Supper, he and Farel were banished, Farel
going to Neufchatel, and Calvin to Strasbourg. Ee-
called in 1541, Calvin passed the remainder of his life
in Geneva. It was during his sojourn at Strasbourg
that he was married to Idelette, the widow of the Ana-
baptist, Storder, whom he had converted.
Calvin established in Geneva an extraordinary theo-
cratic system of government, civil and religious, which
was carried on through his agents and secret police with
extreme severity. A word against him or his doctrines
was liable to be visited with signal punishment — im-
prisonment, exile, or even death. The most remarkable
case was that of Michael Servetus, a physician, whom
he ordered to be burnt alive for heresy about the Holy
Trinity; which sentence was carried out at Champel,
near Geneva, on the 27th of October, 1553. It is right
to add, that the apologists of Calvin contend that such
Draconian measures were necessary at the time, in
order to check the riots and outrages caused and per-
petrated by the Anabaptists and other dissenters from
his doctrines. But might not the Anabaptists and other
disturbers of the public peace have justly pointed to
the example so recently set them by the Swiss Ee-
formexs themselves, in the desecration of churches, the
overturning of altars, the destruction of church furniture,
and the persecution of Catholics, by which strong
measures they sought to enforce the profession of their
own particular tenets — tenets owing their existence to
the exercise of that right of private judgment, which
in theory they challenged for all Christians, but in
practice they rigorously denied to all those who dis-
sented from their views ? It is painful to behold, in a
visit to the Cathedrals of Berne, Geneva, and other
Protestant cities of Switzerland, the bare, neglected
interiors of those venerable structures, covered with
dust and cobwebs — dark and gloomy solitudes, unfre-
352 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
quented by daily worshippers, and exhibiting not a
single emblem or memento of Christianity. Surely,
according to the same principle of the right of private
judgment, the Catholics, by whose piety those churches
had been erected and adorned, ought to have been left
in peaceable possession of them, to worship God in the
manner they deemed best and most conformable to
His will.
It must be admitted, even by those who altogether
dissent from his teaching, that Calvin, like Luther, was
a man of great genius, a leader of almost irresistible
force of character. Not only did he adopt the iirst
principle of Zwingli, that Luther's reformation of the
doctrine of the Church required a still further reform ;
but, to a very great extent, he remodelled Zwingli's
own tenets. We have already examined the dift'erence
of Zwingli and Calvin on the Eucharist. Then, Zwingli
would make the clergy subject to the civil power.
Calvin would have them independent of such control ;
his maxim being, EccUsia est sui Juris. Moreover,
Calvin conceived and successfully carried out the idea,
that Geneva should be the mother and mistress of all
the Reformed Churches — that she should be to them
what Rome had ever been to the Church Catholic.
With this object, he induced the Senate of Geneva to
establish an Academy in that city, under his presi- •
dency; and, owing to his erudition, accomplishments,
and mental powers, and the gifts of the learned men
wliom he had attracted around him, students from
France, Germany, and other Continental nations, as
well as from England and Scotland,^ flocked to the new
institution, imbibed there the Reformed principles, and
returned to propagate them in their native countries.
We have seen how widely divergent were the views
of Zwingli, Calvin, and the other Swiss Reformers,
' The celebrated Scotch Reformer, John Knox, wlio twice visited
Geneva, and spent a considerable time in that city, was the firm friend
and active associate of Calvin,
THE OTHER LEADING KEFORMERS. 353
from those of Luther, on the Eucharist. Varying in
degree, and from different standpoints, Luther, Zwingli,
and Calvin severally denied the Catholic dogma of
Free WiU in man ; as did their pioneers, Wycliffe and
the earlier innovators. This denial necessarily led to
the doctrine of absolute Predestination, which may
be regarded as the most prominent, and indeed the
characteristic, feature of Calvin's creed — a doctrine
affirming that, " by an eternal decree, God preordains
what shall be the lot of each individual." The ten-
dency, if not the necessary consequence, of this belief
appears to be, to discourage its professors from any
effort to please God ; for, according to it, no matter
whether their acts are good or bad, whether they lead
the holiest of lives, or commit every conceivable sin,
it will be all the same, as regards their eternal happi-
ness or reprobation — their lot having been absolutely
preordained by God ! Could a more gloomy or k more
dangerous creed be conceived ?
"I have been thoroughly plagued and tormented
with such thoughts of predestination," says Luther:
" I would needs know how God intended to deal with
me," etc. " But at last, God be praised, I left them ;
I took hold again on God's revealed word." ^ Yet
Luther's favourite doctrine, that man is justified by
faith alone, even though he should lead the most
wicked life,^ may be regarded as likely to conduce to
similar results ; with this difference, that it substitutes
presumption for despair. Certain it is, that neither
doctrine accords with "God's revealed word," as ex-
pressed in the Old and New Testaments.*
Calvin's followers have long since altered or qualified
nearly every one of his tenets. They now commonly
1 Luther's " Table Talk," p. 279.
^ Vide Bupra, p. 324.
' Gen. xxii. 16-18; Psa. xvii. 21-24; I^*- '• l^> Hzek. xviii.
21-23 ; Dan. iv. 24 ; Matt. v. 16, x. 42, xvi. 27, xxv. 34-46 ; John
xiv. 21 ; I Cor. iii. 8 ; James i. 22-27 5 "■ 24-
Z
354 THE CHAIR OF I'ETEB.
hold the view of Zwingli oa the Eucharist, namely,
that it is only a sign of the body of Christ ; and a great
many of them reject the doctrine of absolute predesti-
nation. As was the case with Luther, Calvin had
reasoii to lament the divisions inevitably arising, in
his own lifetime, from the right of private judgment
in interpreting the Scriptures. In a letter to Melanc-
thon, towards the end of the year 1552, he says, "Truly
it is of no little importance, that there should not go
down to posterity the suspicion of any discord having
arisen amongst us. For it is more than absurd that
we, who have been compelled to break with the whole
world, should in the very beginning fly apart from
one another." ^
Calvin's system would abolish all external worship,
sacred ceremonies, festivals. Pope, bishops, and priests.
Tor them it would substitute a severe discipline, con-
sistories, conferences, synods, elders, deacons, and super-
intendents. Like Lutheranism, it admits but two
sacraments — baptism, and the Lord's Supper.^
Calvin died at Geneva on the 27th of May, 1564, in
his fifty-fourth year. His entire works were published
at Amsterdam, in 1 671, in nine volumes folio. They
are principally composed of his commentaries on the
Scriptures.
Theodore Beza, the principal adherent and the suc-
cessor of Calvin, was born at Vezelai, in Burgundy,
in 15 19. He made his studies iu Paris and Orleans,
and finally at Bourges, where his professor, Melchior
Wolmar, gained him over to the new doctrines, then
' " Joannis Oalvini Epistolss et Eeeponsa,'' p. I08, Genevse, 1575.
"CalvinuB Melancthoni, Genevse, 4 Calend., Deoemb., 1552. Neo
vero parvi refert ne quse ad posteros exeat uUius inter nos exortse
discordise suepioio. Plusquam eiiim absurdum est, poetquam disoes-
sionem a toto mundo faoere coacti sumus, inter ipsa prinoipia alioa ab
aliis dissilire." To this volume is prefixed Calvin's Life by Theodore
Beza.
° At first, Luther reduced the number of Sacraments from seven to
three. Subsequently, he further reduced them, by discarding Penance,
THE OTHER LEADING EEFOKMERS. 355
exciting so much attention on the Continent. On
his return to Paris, he freely entered into the gaieties
of that capital, and his society was much prized, on
account of his personal graces and accomplishments,
as well as his mental gifts. At this time he led a
dissolute life ; and published a collection of licentious
poems, styled "Poemata Juvenilia," which were ad-
mired by his young companions, as much for their
immoral tone as for their classical elegance. Tired of
the dissipations of Paris, he went to Geneva, in 1 548,
and there he became the intimate friend of Calvin,
whose tenets he adopted, and, on whose death, in
1564, he succeeded to the government of the Eeformed
Church. In 1571, Beza presided at the Conference of
Eochelle, at which all the Calvinist Churches' of France
were represented. He was a violent controversialist,
and is accused of having excited civil war in France,
and of having instigated the murder of the Duke de
Guise.
When advanced in life, he republished his juvenile
poems, deprived of their licentious passages, under the
new title of "Poemata Varia." He also published a
Life of Calvin, a translation of the New Testament,
a Confession of Faith, a History of the Eeformed
Churches, a treatise asserting the Eight of Magistrates
to punish Heretics, and other works. In his old age,
he married a young girl, with whom he lived in
a state of extreme poverty, depending altogether on
private charity. He died in Geneva, in 1605, aged
eighty-six.
CHAPTEE XXIV.
INTRODUCTION OF THE KEFOKMATION INTO ENGLAND,
In 1534, Luther had the gratification of witnessing the
rupture of Henry VIII. with the Pope, and the exten-
sion of the Eeformation to England by that monarch.
These were events little expected some ten years before,
when the King and the great Eeformer fought out their
controversial battle d I'outrance, and the Holy Father
then reigning conferred on the former the highly prized
title of Defender of the Faith. It was on the 22nd of
April, 1 509, that Henry, then in his eighteenth year,
succeeded his father on the throne. On the 9th of
June following, he was married, with great pomp, to
Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and
Isabella. Catherine, who was in her twenty-sixth year,
was the widow of his elder brother Arthur, with whom
her brief union had produced no issue.^ The married
life of Henry and Catherine continued apparently un-
clouded until 1527, Catherine having borne the King
three sons and two daughters, all of whom had died in
childhood, except the Princess Mary, afterwards Queen
of England.
When eighteen years of their union had passed, and
Catherine's charms began to wane, Henry became deeply
enamoured of one of her ladies of honour, Anne Boleyn,
whom he wished to substitute for her, as Queen. He
now, for the first time, spoke of scruples which he
' A dispensation from Pope JuUuh II. had removed all difficulty
about this first marriage, which, according to Catherine's solemn
declaration, had never been cunsuinmated.
THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND. 357
enterbamed about the validity of his marriage with his
brother's widow ; and, after much consultation with his
ministers and the bishops of his kingdom, he applied,
in the year 1527, to Pope Clement VII. to pronounce
the marriage invalid. Clement bestowed the most
careful consideration on the cause, and referred it to a
commission in England, composed of his legate. Cardinal
Campeggio, and Henry's powerful minister. Cardinal
Wolsey. But Catherine entered a protest against this
commission; first, because it was composed of the
King's subjects ; ^ and secondly, because, being held in
England, it was directly under the King's control.
Meanwhile, on the suggestion of Cranmer, the Uni-
versities of Europe were consulted. In Oxford and
Cambridge, the royal influence prevailed; and those
learned bodies pronounced against the marriage. But
the Universities of Germany, France, and Italy, were
entirely in favour of its validity. Indeed, in France
and Italy, the decision was, that, in the case, a divorce
was impossible, as the first marriage, that of Arthur
and Catherine, had never been consummated.
The matter was now referred by the Pope to a
congregation of cardinals, and the proceedings were
necessarily very protracted ; certainly not too much so,
as will appear, when the importance of the interests
involved are taken into account. Besides, Clement
hoped that the delay would lead Henry into a better
frame of mind. This, however, was not the case ; for,
while the cause was yet pending, Henry repudiated
Catherine, and on the 2Sth of January, 1533, he
privately married Anne Boleyn, who was crowned, with
all circumstances of magnificent display, at West-
minster, on the 1st of June following.
In May that year, Cranmer, whom Henry had
recently appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, held a
' Cardinal Campeggio had recently been presented by Henry to the
episcopal see of Salisbury.
3 g g THE OHAIE OF PETER.
court at Dunstable, in -whioh, on the 23rd, he pro-
nounced the King's marriage with Catherine invalid
and null ; and on the 28th, in a court which he held at
Lambeth, he declared the toyal marriage with Anne
Boleyn valid and lawful.
In March, 1534, Clement, acting on the all but
unanimous opinion of the cardinals,^ made his final
decision, refused to grant the King's suit, declared his
marriage with Catherine valid, and required him to
take her back, as his wife.
Henry now resolved to break altogether with the
Pope, and to prohibit all communication between his
own subjects and the Holy See. Accordingly, his Par-
liament passed statutes, to order, " utterly renouncing,
refusing, relinquishing, and forsaking the Bishop of
Eome, and his authority, power and jurisdiction,"
declaring the King to be Supreme Head, on earth, of
the Church in England and Ireland, and framing, and
making obligatory on all the subjects of the realm, an
oath affirming the Eoyal Supremacy.* Henry, how-
ever, although he thus severed himself and his kingdom
from the Church, was neither Lutheran nor Calvinist,
but adhered to the Catholic doctrines^transubstantia-
tion, auricular confession, communion under one kind,
and other tenets, which he had formerly defended
against Luther. i"or denying any of these, he burned
or beheaded his Protestant subjects ; while, for refusing
to take the Oath of Supremacy, the Catholics likewise
suffered. Among these latter victims were some of the
first men of the kingdom — -notably Sir Thomas More
and Bishop Fisher.
Sir Thomas More was born in London in 1480. He
was the son of a judge, and stood high in the favour of
' Dr. Lingard states that, out of two and Wenty cardinals, nineteen
decided for the validity of the marriage, and three only proposed a
further delay. (" History of England," vi. 202.)
" Statute 25 Henry VIII., caps. 19, 20, and 21, for England 5 and
28 Henry VIII., caps. 13 and 19, for Ireland.
THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND. 359
Cardinal Wolsey, an whose suggestion he was made
privy councillor, in 1 516. At this time he had beeii
for some years a member of Parliament, and had gained
a high reputation by his eloquence and independence.
King Henry VIII. formed a very favourable opinion of
him, cultivated his society, constantly consulted him on
affairs of State, and employed him on embassies. In
1 52 1, he was knighted aild promoted to the office of
Treasurer of the Exchequer. In 1523, he was elected
Speaker of the Parliament convoked that year. On the
25th of October, 1529, he was appointed Lord Chan-
cellor, in succession to Wolsey ; but, strongly dis-
approving of Henry's repudiation of Queen Catherine
and his intended marriage with Anne Boleyui to which
his official assent would necessarily be looked for, he
resigned his exalted post in 1532, and retired into
private life. However, his retirement from public
affairs, his past services, as valuable as they were dis-
interested, his noble character, and the esteem in which
he was held in every European country, did not save
him ' from Henry's unrelenting tyranny. He was
impeached and condemned for his conscientious refusal
to take the Oath of Supremacy, and was beheaded on
Tower Hill, on the 6th of July, 1535. Writers of all
creeds concur in pronouncing Sir Thomas More to have
been one of the greatest men produced by England, in
any age.^
Well worthy to stand beside his friend, the ex-
chancellor, was the venerable Doctor Fisher, Bishop of
Eochester. John Fisher, born at Beverley, in 1459,
was preceptor to Henry VIII., in his youth ; and had
ever been a devoted friend and servant of that monarch
and his royal father. He was distinguished alike for
piety and learning, and was one of the first controver-
1 Sir Thomas More was an accomplished scholar and writer. His
principal work, " TTtopia," was written in Latin, and was published at
Basle in 1518 ; and was almost immediately translated into English,
Trench, Italian, and other European languages.
360 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
sialists of his day. He, no less strongly than Sir
Thomas More, disapproved of Henry's treatment of his
lawful wife, and his unhallowed second marriage. For
this offence, and for his refusal to take the Oath of
Supremacy, he suffered a long and painful imprispn-
ment in the Tower, and was beheaded on the 22nd of
June, 1535, in his seventy-seventh year. When Henry
heard that the Pope was about to send the aged bishop
a cardinal's hat, he said: "Well, let the Pope send
him a hat wlien he will, Mother of God, he shall wear
it on his shoulders then, for I will leave him never a
head to set it on." ^
After three years, Henry preferred against Anne
Boleyn a charge of infidelity as his wife, which would
be equivalent to the crime of high treason. Anne
appears to have been guilty of some levity ; but, on her
trial, no adequate evidence was adduced of more serious
crime. She was unaided by counsel, and was attended
only by her ladies-in-waiting — a cruel act of injustice,
even though she were guilty ! She was convicted, and
sentenced to be beheaded. On hearing her sentence,
she exclaimed, " 0 Father and Creator ! 0 Thou who
art tlie way, the truth, and the life ! Thou knowest
that I do not deserve this death." Then, turning to her
judges, she said, " My lords, I do not arraign your judg-
ment. You may have sufficient reasons for your sus-
picions; but I have always been a true and faithful
wife to the King." Slie was executed at the Tower, on
the 19th of May, 1536; and in her last moments dis-
played admirable firmness, resignation, and fervour.
Her last words were, " 0 Lord God, have mercy on my
soul," which were scarcely uttered when, at one stroke,
her head was severed from her body.
Some writers allege that the real cause of the accusa-
tion against Anne Boleyn was that Henry wished to
• " Life of Dr. John Fisher," by the Rev. John Lewis, A.M. ii. 178.
Doctor Fisher's works were published at Wurtzburg, in one vohima
folio, in 1597.
THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND. 36 1
replace her by Jane Seymour, one of her maids of
honour. Of this there can be but little doubt, as, on
the morning after Anne's execution, Henry was married
to Jane Seymour.
Cranmer, who, in obedience to the King's wishes, had
annulled the Eoyal marriage with Catherine, and pro-
nounced that contracted with Anne to be valid, was
now called upon by Henry to revoke his former deci-
sion, and to declare that the King's marriage with Anne
had ever been null and void. This was a painful and
humiliating position for the archbishop; but, as non-
compliance would have cost him his head, he pro-
nounced the decree, two days before Anne's execution.
In 1537, Jane Seymour died in childbirth, leaving a
son, who succeeded his father, as Edward VI. For two
years Henry remained a widower; and then he married
Anne, sister of the reigning Duke of Cleves. On meet-
ing this lady, on her arrival at Dover, Henry was sadly
disappointed with her appearance, with respect to which
he had been misled by a highly flattering portrait of
her by Hans Holbein. However, he could not then
find any decent pretext for withdrawing from the mar-
riage; and, moreover, he could not afford to array
against himself the hostility of the German Protestaait
Princes. A few months later, Anne reluctantly con-
sented to a divorce, a bill for which was, by the King's
order, passed by the Lords and Commons ; ^ and the
much-wronged princess retired into private life, on a
pension of ^3000 a year — a condition being that she
should reside within the realm of England.
On the 8th of August, 1 540, Henry's fifth marriage
took place — his choice having fallen upon Catherine
Howard, niece of the Duke of Norfolk. This unfor-'
tunate lady was arraigned on the same charge as Anne
Boleyn, and was condemned and executed at the Tower,
ou the 14th of February, 1542. The balance of evi-
^ This Bill received the royal assent on the 24th of July, 1540.
362 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
dence appears to incline in favour of her innocence
of the charges made against her; but, under the
despotic sway of Henry VIII., the King's accusation of
any of his subjects, no matter how exalted their rank,
or how insufficient the evidence, was equivalent to a
conviction.^
Henry's sixth queen was Catherine Parr, widow of
Lord Latimer. The marriage was celebrated privately
at Hampton Court, on the 12th of July, 1543. Catherine
favoured Luther's doctrines ; and, one day, she had the
temerity to uphold some of them against the King's
opinions, in a polemical discussion. Henry, who at
the time was suffering from a painful illness, construed
the Queen's argument as a grave offence against the
Eoyal Supremacy ; and he commanded the Lord Chan-
cellor and the Bishop of Winchester to have articles
of impeachment prepared against her. A friendly hint
communicated to Catherine was immediately acted
upon by her. She hastened to the King's cabinet, and
assured His Majesty that his learned arguments had,
since their conversation, been working in her mind,
and had completely converted her, and she apologized
for the pain she had caused him. Henry was alike
flattered and mollified. " Is it so, sweetheart ? " said
he. "Then we are friends again." Next morning a
guard arrived to convey the Queen a prisoner to the
Tower ; but they were dismissed without her. Catherine,'
it need hardly be observed, was careful not to offend
aigain ; and she survived Henry, who died on the 28th
of January, 1547.^ Such was the founder and first
^ With reference to Catherine Howard, Doctor Lingard observes :
" On a review of the original letters in the state-papers, of the act of
attainder, and of the proceedings in Parliament, 1 see no Buffioient
reason to think her guilty." ("History of England," vi. 317, n.
London, 1844.)
" Henry settled the succession of the crown on his own three children,
and their issue respectively ; first, on Edward, his son by Jane
Seymour ; next, on Mary, his daugliter by Catherine of Aragon ; and,
next, on Elizabeth, his daughter by Anne Boleyn— and this, notwith-
THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND. 363
supreme head of the Reformed Chutch in England — a
heartless voluptuary, a monster of cruelty and in-
justice !
Further on, we shall have occasion to consider the
Anglican religious Articles, drawn up by Eoyal autho-
rity, the suppression of monasteries by Henry and his
successors, and the effects thereof on the condition of
the people.
If Clement VII. was reluctant to dispetise with the
laws of Christian marriage, at the request of Henry
VIII., Luther was far more compliant in the celebrated
case of Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, which arose in 1539.
This Prince was a main pillar of the Eeformation in
Germany. He had been sixteen years married to
Christina, daUghtet of George Duke of Saxony, during
which time that Princess had borne him eight children.
He now became enamoured of Lady Margaret de Saal,.
maid of honour to his sister, the Princess Elizabeth,
and he desired to wed her, still retaining Christina as
his wife. He addressed to. Luther and his colleagues
at Wittenberg, a letter, drawn up by Martin Buoer,
under his own supervision, asking for permission to
have two wives.
It is unnecessary, as it would be undesirable, under
any circumstances, to quote at length from this revolt-
ing document ; but it may be mentioned, that, in the
course of it, the Landgrave cites, as a precedent in his
favour, the fact that " Luther and Melancthon advised
the King of England not to put away his first wife,
standing his repudiation of Queen Catherine and Queen Anne. In
default of issue of his own children, he further settled the succession
on the descendants of his younger sister Mary, wife of Louis XII. of
France, to the exclusion of the line of his elder sister Margaret, wife
of James IV. of Scotland. This latter arrangement was set aside by
Slizaheth, who, when dying, was asked, who was to succeed her.
" Who," she replied, " but my cousin James (VI.) of Scotland ? " In
any case, James was her legitimate heir, and had, with the aid of CecU,
the Queen's prime minister, privately made all necessary arrangements
to successfully resist any attempt to dispute his right to the throne on
the death of Elizabeth.
364 THE CHAIR OF I'ETER.
but to take another wife besides her." » The conolud«
ing paragraph is remarkable for its undisguisedly hypo-
critical tone : " In fine, I repeat," says thij sensualist
prince, " my petition is, that Luther, Philip, and Bucer
■will disclose to me, in writing, their opinion on this
affair ; in order that afterwards I may be able to amend
my life, to approach the Sacrament with a good con-
science, and to transact all the business of our religion
more freely and more confidently."
The reply, an elaborate composition, comprised in
twenty-four articles, was favourable. It granted the
Landgrave the desired licence to- have two wives ; but,
at the same time, it pointed out that the case was
especially exceptional ; and that it should not be taken
as a precedent; and that, for this reason, and more-
over to prevent ^candal, the marriage should be strictly
private ; and that all who took part in it should be
bound to secrecy under the seal of confession. This
letter was dated Wittenberg, the Wednesday after the
feast of Saint Nicholas, i S 39, and was signed " by the
obedient subjects and servants of his Highness," Martin
Luther, Philip Melancthon, Martin Bucer, Antony Oor-
vinus, Adam, John Leningus, Justus Winther, and
Denis Melander.
The marriage was privately celebrated at Eothenburg
on the Fulda, ou the 3rd of March, 1 540, Melancthon
and Bncer being present. But the secret was not kept,
as the bride and her family were directly interested in
the matter being set in its proper light. The result
was painful dissatisfaction in the Landgrave's own
family, and much of that scandal which had been
apprehended by Luther and the other doctors of
Wittenberg.
' " Item aoio Lutherum et Philippum regi Angliie suasisse ut priinam
uxorem non dimitteret, aed alinm prretor ipsani duoeret."
CHAPTER XXV.
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT.
A General Council had now for a long time been
desired, in order to settle, if possible, tlie religious
difl'erences that distracted Europe. At one period,
Luther himself appealed from the Pope to a Council ;
and several of his followers expressed the same senti-
ment, in the early days of their secession from the
Church. But great difficulties interposed — especially,
wars, riots, and dissensions, in the several States, mainly
arising from one cause, the introduction of the new
doctrines. Anxious as the Popes were to re-establish
Christian peace and union, they were deterred by these
difficulties. Moreover, the Protestants refused to
acknowledge their authority; and insisted that, if a
General Council were to assemble, it should be con-
voked, not by the Pope, but by the Emperor and the
other Christian princes.
At length, the Nineteenth (Ecumenical Council,
couvened by Pope Paul III., assembled .in the cathedral
of the city of Trent, in the Tyrol, within the geogra-
phical boundaries of Italy, on the 13th of December,
1 545 ; and it continued, though with several interrup-
tions, through twenty-five sessions, under that Pontiff,
and his successors Julius III., Paul IV., and Pius IV.,
under whom it concluded its labours in 1563.
Its objects were : to examine and condemn the
numerous errors taught by Luther and the other inno-
vators of the day ; to explain the faith of the Church
on the various points of doctrine then contested ; to
366 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
defend her worship, which the Protestants attacked as
superstitious and idolatrous; to propagate Catholic
doctrine ; to restore peace and union among Christians ;
to promote the reformation of morals ; and to overthrow
the enemies of the Christian name.
Its decrees, which were carefully examined and dis-
cussed by the most able canonists and theologians, are
admittedly drawn up with admirable clearness, preci-
sion, and wisdom. They were signed by two hundred
and fifty-five Fathers, including the four Papal legates,
and were confirmed by Pope Pius IV., in his Bull,
JBehedictus Deus, on the 26th of January, 1564.^
The Pope ordered a Profession of Faith of the Council
to be drawn up, which is a summary of its dogmatical
decrees, and is known as the, "Tridentine Profession
of Faith," or the Creed of Pope Pius IV. It commences
with the Creed, which is redted after the first Gospel at
Mass, and which, in Catholic prayer-books, is styled the
Nicene Creed.^ After this, It expresses a firm belief in
the Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions, and the
other observances and constitutions of the Church ; also
in the Sacred Scriptures, according to that sense which has
been, and is, held by the Holy Mother, the Church, whose
office it is to judge of the true sense and interpretatiojj
of the Sacred Scriptures. It professes also that there are
truly cpnd properly seven sacraments, Baptism, Confirma-
tion, Euoharisi, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and
Matrimony ; atid that these confer grace : and that Bap-
tism, Confirmation, and Orders cannot be repeated with-
out sacrilege. It receives and embraces all and singular
the definitions and declarations of the Council of Trent
concerning Original Sin and Justification. It professes
1 One English and three ttlsh Bishops assisted at the Counml of
Trent. The English prelate was Thomas Goldwell, Bishop of St.
Asaph's ; and the Irish were, Thomas O'Herlihy, Bishop of Ross j
Donat Mao Ognaail, Bishop of Jlaphoe ; and Eugene O'Hart, a Domini-
can, Bishop of Achtmry. An EtigUshmad, Cardinal Pole, was one of
the Papal legates presiding.
' Vide supra, p. 94.
THE COUNCIL OY TRENT. 367
that in the Mass is offered to God a true, proper, and pro-
pitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead ; and that
in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Ev/iharist the Body and
Blood of Christ, together with His soul and divimty, are
traly, really, and substantially present ; and that there is
made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread
into the. Body, and of the whole substance of the wine
into the Blood, which conversion the Church calls Tran-
substantiation. It confesses also, that under either
speeies the whole and entire Christ, and the true sacra-
ment, is received. It firmly holds, that there is a
Purgatory, and that the souls there detained may be
aided by the suffrages of the faithful: likewise that
the Saints reigning with Christ may le venerated and
invoked ; and that they pray to God for us, and that
their relics are to be venerated. It asserts that the
images of Christ and of the ever Virgin Mother of
God, as well as of the other saints, are to be kept and
venerated. It affirms that the power of Indulgences has
heen left by Christ in the Church, and that their use is,
m the greatest degree, salutary to the Christinn people.
It acknowledges the Holy Catholic and Apostolical
Eoman Church to be the Mother and Mistress of all
the Churches ; and it promises true obedience to the
Eoman Pontiff, the successor of Saint Peter and the
Vicar of Jesus Christ. Pinally, it undoubtingly receives
and professes all other things, handed down, defined,
and declared, by the sacred Canons and (Ecumenical
Councils, and chiefly by the most holy Council of
Trent; and, at the same time, it equally condemns,
rejects, and anathematizes' aU things contrary thereto,
and all heresies whatsoever condemned by the Church.
This it declares to be the truer- doctrine of the Church,
indispensable to salvation.
It was enacted that this Profession of Faith should
be made by all those thenceforward entering on
any , Ecclesiastical office or charge, or obtaining any
academical degree, as well as by those who should
368 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
abjure heresy, and return to tlie Church, It need
liardly be observed that its doctrine is no less obliga-
tory on every Catholic Christian.
The " Catechism of the Council of Trent," drawn up
by the Pope's orders, at the request of the Council, is a
precise and comprehensive statement of all that Catho-
lics believe. It is sometimes called "The Eoman
Catechism," and Catechismus ad Parochos.
Not unnaturally, the Protestants, at all times, have
decried the conduct and the decrees of the Council
of Trent. Down to the year 1540, they blamed
the Pope for his delay about convoking a council;
but, immediately on the Bull of. Convocation being
issued by Paul III., in 1 542, Luther published several
writings, to deter his adherents from taking part in it,
or accepting its decisions. In 1547, the year after
Luther's death, Calvin strongly opposed it, in his
" Antidote to the Council of Trent." Again, in 1 549,
in a second diet at Augsburg, when the Lutheran
princes were asked by the Emperor if they would
submit to the decrees of the Council, Maurice, Elector
of Saxony, said that he would acquiesce in them only
on three conditions : first, that the points of doctrine
already decided in it should be discussed anew ; secondly,
that the Lutheran theologians should be admitted, and
should have a deliberative voice, and that their votes
should count as those of the bishops ; thirdly, that the
Pope should not preside, either personally or by his
legates. This was taken as a formal refusal.
In 1560, when Pius IV. issued his Bull for the
resumption and continuation of the interrupted sessions
of the Council, the German Lutheran princes published
their " Grievances " against its decrees. The work first
appeared in German, and was immediately translated
into Latin, with the title, ConcilU Tridentirvi Decretis
opposita Gravamina. These grievances have been re-
peated and enlarged on, and the proceedings of the
Council of Trent have been misrepresented, by several
THE COONCIL OF TRENT. 369
Protestant authors and their copyists, and notably by
Fra Paolo Sarpi, an excommunicated Servite friar,^
and Le Courayer, an apostate Augustinian, his trans-
lator and annotator.^
To refute Fra Paolo, Cardinal Pallavicino wrote his
celebrated " History of the Council of Trent," which is
the Catholic standard work on the subject.*
The decrees of the Council of Trent on faith were
received by all Catholic nations. Certain governments,
• Peter Paul Sarpi, better known as Fra Paolo, was born in Venice,
in 1552. Having become a Servite friar, he attained the rank of
provincialin that order, in 1579, although only twenty-seven years old.
Thedifferences between the republic of Veniceand Pope Paul V. brought
into prominence Fra Paolo's sentiments, which were anything but
dutiful to the Holy See. On being summoned to Borne, he refused to
obey the Papal citation, and was excommunicated in consequence. In
1617, his " History of the Council of Trent " was published in London,
in Italian, under the assumed name of "Pietro Soave Polano," an
anagram of " Paolo Sarpi Veneto," by Marc Antonio de Dominis, with
a dedication to James I. He was the author of several other works.
He was styled by Febronius "the Hater of the Papacy and of the
Popes, the disciple of Luther and Calvin." He died in 1623, aged
seventy-one.
^ Peter Francis Le Courayer was bom at Rouen, in 1681. He
became a Canon Regular of Saint Augustine, and was appointed
Librarian of Saint Genevieve's, Paris. Ere long he manifested Jansenist
sentiments ; and, not content with this, he went still further, and
professed Anglican views, as expressed in his "Dissertation on the
Validity of Anglican Orders," published at Brussels in 1723. This
work having been condemned by the Fcclesiastical authorities in Paris,
he passed over to England, where he was hospitably received. He died
in 1776. Among his works is "The history of the Council of Trent
of Fra Paolo, translated from the Italian into French, with critical,
historical, and theological notes." London, 1736, 2 vols, folio ; and
Amsterdam, 1736, 2 vols, quarto.
' Cardinal Sforza Pallavicino was born in Rome, in 1607. Although
the head of his noble family, he chose to abandon the world and its
Honours for a religious life ; and, in his thirtieth year, he entered the
Society of the Jesuits. He was employed by Innocent X. in several
important affairs ; and Alexander VII. promoted him to the Sacred
College. His principal work, "The History of the Council of Trent,"
written in Italian, was published in Rome in 1656-1657, in two
volumes folio ; and in a second edition, in Rome, in 1664, and in a
Latin version, in 1670 ; each in three volumes quarto. In this work,
he convicts Sarpi of no less than 360 errors in names, dates, and facts.
He died on the 5th of June 1667.
2 A
370 THJi OHAIB OF PETER.
especially that of France, objected to some of its
decrees on cl/isovplw, as not being in accordance with
the laiys of the kingdom. The difficulties on this
head have long since, to a considerable extent, been
adjusted.
Under all the circumstances above referred to, it
was, humanly speaking, impossible that the Protestants
should be reconciled to the Ohuroh, even by a General
Council, at this particular period. Angry pagsions were
in the ascendant ; the temporal interests of princes
and nobles were deeply involved ; and the conflict of
creeds was intensified by violent political antagonism.
Hence, there unhappily ensued a series of wars, which
lasted until 1648, when peace was restored by the
Treaty of Westphalia,^ guaranteed by all the European
powers, and affairs were placed in pretty mucji the
same position as they stand in at the present day.
^ Sometimea Bpoken of as the Treaty of Munster, or of Osnnburg, as
St was sigrted at those places.
CHAPTJIE XXVI.
THE STltlBOLIG BOOKS OF THE PROTESTANTS.
While Paul III., hoping to reconcile, by a final effort,
the existing religious differences, was making the neces-
sary arrangements for convoljipg the General Council
described in the last chapter, the Protestant German
Princes, and the Jeq.ding ministers of the Reformation,
assembling at Schnialkalden, in February, 1537, assumed
an attitude of determined opposition to the lar^dable
endeavours of the Holy Father. At their meeting, on
the suggestion of tjie Elector of Saxony, it was resolved
that a formulary of belief, to constitute the unalterable
basis of their doctrines, should be drawn up ; and this
work was entrusted to Luther, Melanethoq, Justus
Jonas, Creu^iger. Bugenhagen (Pomeranus), Armsdorf,
and Agricpla. This formulary, known as " the Artiples
of Schmalkalden," was couched in language very dif-
ferent indeed from the conciliatory tone which Melanc-
thon had adopted in drawing up the Confession of
Augsburg. It altogether denied the spiritual rights of
the Pope; affirmed that hig office ought to be abo-
lished ; and asserted that he was the true anti-Christ.
In subscribing it, Melancthon did so with the folloi/?ing
resefvation : " I, Philip Melancthon, approve of the
above articles, as true. But, as regards what con-
cernpth the Pope, I am of this opinion: If he will
admit the Gospel, then for the sake of peace and public
concord, on account of the Christians who are now
under him and may be under him in future times, the
superiority over the bishops, which he holds otherwise,
372
THE CHAIB or PETER.
by human right should be conceded to him by us also," i
Melancthon's pacific views, on this as on other occa-
sions, were overborne, to hig bitter disappointment.
The Confession of Augsburg, the Apology for that
Confession, the Articles of Schmalkalden, and Luther's
Greater and Less Catechisms constitute the Symbolic
Books of the Lutherans. Besides these, there is " The
Form of Concord," or " The Book of Torgau," drawn up
at Torgau, in 1576, witli the object, as the name
imports, of reconciling the differences of the several
Lutheran Churches, and of guarding them against the
erroneous doctrines of the Reformers, or followers of
Zwingli and Calvin, on the Lord's Supper. This for-
mulary has been adopted by some of the Lutheran
Churches, and rejected by others.
There are certain Confessions of Faith, which may
be classed with the Symbolic Books of the Lutherans;
for, although they vary from each other and the Con-
fession of Augsburg on some points, they mainly agree
with the Lutheran doctrines. These are, the Saxonic
Confession, prepared by Melancthon, at the desire of
Maurice, Elector of Saxony, styled by its author "A
Eepetition of the Confession of Augsburg," presented to
the Council of Trent in 1551, and published in Latin
and German in 1552; the Confession of Wiirtemberg,
drawn up in Latin by Brentzen,^ in obedience to
' "Ego Philippus Melancthon hos articulos supra positos probo
tanquam veros. Ad pontificem autem quod attinet sic sentio : Si
admittere velit Evangelium, quod tunc pacis et publicsB ooncordiai
gratia propter Christianos qui sub ipso jam sunt et futuris temporibus
esse forsan possunt, superioritas in episoopos, quam alioquin habet,
jure humane per nos illi sit quoque concedenda."
* Johann Brentz, or Brentzen, was bom at Weil in Suabia, in 1499,
and was a canon of Wiirtemberg. On the persuasion of Lutfler, he
became his follower. However, he did not on all points adopt his
doctrines, Brentz held that " the body of Christ was not only in the
Eucharist with the bread, but everywhere, like His divinity, since the
Ascension." Hence his adherents in this opinion were called "Ubi-
quitarians." On Luther's death he succeeded to the head of the
Lutheran party. He died at Tubingen, in 1 570. His works consist
of Disputations in favour of Lutheranism, in eight volumes folio.
THE SYMBOLIC BOOKS OF THE PROTESTANTS. 373
Christopher Duke of Wiirtemberg, presented to the
Council of Trent, in January, 1552, and published the
same year ; and those of Mansf eld, Suabia, Pomerania,
Antwerp, and Copenhagen.
We have next to glance at the Confessions of Taith,
or Symbolic Books of the Calvinist, or Helvetic, or
Eeformed, Churches. The first of these is the Confes-
sion of Basle, first printed, in German, in 1530. The
next is " The Summary and General Confession of Faith
of the Helvetic Churches,"^ dated 1536, and presented
to the Council of Trent. The third is the Helvetic
Confession, drawn up by Henry BuUinger, under the
supervision of the Elector Palatine, in 1566, and adopted
by all the Protestant cities of Khsetia and Switzerland,
save Basle.^ The ministers of Basle refused to sign it,
not that they disapproved of its doctrine, but because
they considered their own Confession of 1530 sufficient.
Calvin's tenets, once establislied in Geneva, ere long
penetrated into France ; and were adopted in preference
to Lutheranism by the great majority of those who in
that kingdom had abandoned the Church. In 1561, at
the Conference of Pdissy, the Confession of Faith of the
French Eeformers, drawn up by Theodore Beza, Calvin's
principal assistant and successor, was presented to
Charles IX. It was signed by the Queen Dowager of
Navarre, her son Henri de Bourbon, King of Navarre,
afterwards Henri IV. of France, the Prince de Cond^
the Count of Nassau, the Admiral Coligni, and other
infiuential persons.
There was also the Belgic Confession, adopting
^ This is a second and improved edition of the Confession of Basle.
It is styled " Eoolesiarum per Helvetian! ConfeBsio Tidei Summaria et
Geneialis."
- This is the Helvetic Confession, par excellence. It is styled " Con-
fessio et Expositio simplex orthodoxse fidei et dogmatum catholiconim
sinoerae religionis Christianae, concorditer ab ecclesise ministris, qui
sunt in Helvetia, Tiguri, Berni, Scaphusii, Sangalli, CuriEe-Rhsetorum,
et apud confederatos Mylhusii, item et Biennue, quibus adjunxeiunt se
et Genevensis ecolesia; ministri, edita)."
374 THE CHAIR OF PETEK,
Calvin's tenets, drawn up in 1561 for the Eeformed
Cljurches of Flanders, approved of in synod in 1 579, and
confirmed by the Synod of Dort in 1619. The Dutch,
who previously had professed adhesion to the Lutheran
Confession of Augsburg, subscribed the Belgic Confes-
sion, on being freed from the Spanish yoke.
Arminiu8,i a professor of theology in the University
of Leydeftj having dissented from Calvin's severe
doctrines on the five points of Free Will, Predestination,
Justification, Perseverance, aud Grace, a violent contro-
versy arose thereupon among the Dutch Pieformers.
To settle their differences, there was held, in 1618,
1619, the celebrated Synod of Dort, under Prince
MauticBj which was attended by delegates, not only
from all patts of the If etherlands, but from Switzerland,
the Palatiu&te, Hesse, Bremen, aud England. This
synod upheld Calvin's doctrines, excommunicated the
Arminiaus, adopted the Belgic Confession, and drew up
canons concerning the five articles controverted in the
Belgic Churches. These canons M'ere promulgated on
the 6th of May, 1619,^
The Atminians, according to Mosheim, maintained
their opinions with so much spirit, courage, and elo-
quence, that " a great number of persons were convinced
of the justice of their cause." Four provinces of
' James Harmenaen, Latinized Armmius, was born at Oudewater
in Holland, in 1560, studied for some time at Geneva, and was, for
fifteen years, a minisier at Amsterdam. In 1603, he was appointed to
the chair of theology at Leyden. He suffered much hardship and
persecution, on account of his opinions. He died in 1609. His works
were published at Frankfort, in 1631, in quarto. His followers were
called Arminians, or Remonstrants, from a remonstrance, which they
presented to the States General of Holland, against the decrees of the
Synod of Dort, in 1619. Arminius's principal opponent was Gomar,
his colleague at Leyden, who upheld the Calvinist doctrine. The
followers of the latter were called Gomarists, and sometimes Anti-
Kemonstrants.
'' The canons of the Synod of Dort were published with the follow-
ing title; "Judicium Synodi nationalis reformatarum ecclesiarum
habiti Dordrechii anno 1618 et 1619, dfe quinque doctrinse capitibus, in
ecclesiis Belgicis controversis : Promulgatum VL Mail MDCXIX."
THE SYMBOLIC BOOKS OF THE PROTESTANTS. 37 S
Holland refused to subscribe the canons of the Synod
of Dort. This synods moreover, was regarded with little
favour in England ; " for the English preserved respect
for, the ancient Fathers, not one of whom dared to set
bounds to the Divine mercy." In the Churches of
Brandenburg, Bremen, and even of Geneva, Armiui-
anism held its ground.
On the death of Prince Maurice, the Arminians were
permitted to return to Holland, when they gradually
built churches and established schools; and in time
they ventured to found a college at Amsterdam, for
the dissemination of their religious tenets. Their Con-
fession of Faith was composed by Arminius's chief
adherent, Episcopius, who was the first professor of
theology in this college. It was published in 1622.
The ministers of the Established Church of Holland
wrote a Eefutation of it, which the Arminians replied
to, in their Apology; in 1626.
The Symbolic Books of the Church of England are
the Thirty-nine Articles and the Book of Common
Prayer^ To these may be added the "English Theo-
logical Oaths," as embodied in certain Acts of Parlia-
ment. Of these oaths, some affirm the Eoyal Supre-
macy dnd Jurisdiction in matters spiritual ; and others
are declarations against Transubstantiation, the Sacrifice
of the Mass, and the Invocation of Saints.
In July, 1536, Henry VIII., in order to remedy the
evil of the diversity of doctrine preached in the pulpits
of England, addressed a circular to the bishops, com-
manding that preaching should cease until Michaelmas
next ensuing; and meanwhile he had "Ten Articles
of Eeligious Credence'" drawn up, and submitted to
Convocation, by which body they were unanimously
adopted. These Articles comprised the Sacraments of
Baptism, Penance, and the Eucharist, as well as the
1 The Armiman Confession of Faith is styled, "Confessio sive
Declaratio sententise Pastorum, qui in Tederato Belgio Remonstrantes
vodanturj super prseoipuos artioulos Keligioais Christiani MDCXXII.
376 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
doctrine of Transubstantiatioii, Auricular Confession,
and the Invocation of Saints; leaving the tenet of
Purgatory at least doubtful. These were followed up
by the "Statute of the Six Articles" of the year 1538,
which were all in unison with the tenets of the Church
of Eome.
Next came a further reformation of the doctrine of
the Church of England, in the "Forty-two Articles of
Edward VI.," which were called " Articles agreed upon
by the Bishops and other learned men, in the Convo-
cation held at London in the year 1552, for avoiding
diversity of opinion and establishing consent touching
true religion, published by the King's authority."
Tiiese were mainly the work of Archbishop Cranmer,
and were in substance all but the same as the Thirty-
nine Articles of Elizabeth, by which they were soon
afterwards superseded.
The Thirty-nine Articles were drawn up by Arch-
bishop Parker, and were submitted to, and unanimously
approved of by, the Convocation of Canterbury in
1562. They were tiie Forty-two Articles of Edward
VI., reduced to thirty-nine, with some alterations.
They were confirmed by Parliament in 1 566, and again
in 1571, with some further variations. In the Act
entituled " An act to provide that the Ministers of the
Church will be of sound religion," a.d. 1571, it was
enjoined that all Ecclesiastical persons should subscribe
tlie Thirty-nine Articles, which are described in the
Act as " the Articles of religion comprised in a book,
imprinted, entitled Articles whereupon it was agreed
by the Archbishops and Bishops and the whole clergy
ill the convocation holden at London, in the year of
our Lord God 1562, according to the computation of
the Church of England, for avoiding of the diversities
of opinions, and for establishing of consent, touching
true religion, put forth by the Queen's authority."
There is great uncertainty, and there has been much
controversy, as to M'hich is the imprinted book, here
THE SYMBOLIC BOOKS OF THE PROTEST A.\TS. 377
mentioned, as in the several printed copies, English
and Latin, anterior to 1562, and in the manuscript
copies, in both languages, down to the same year, there
are several various readings.
The Thirty-nine Articles profess the Catholic doc-
trine of the Unity and Trinity of God, the Incarnation,
Death, Descent into heU, Eesurrection, and Ascension
of Our Saviour, and the Final Judgment. They also
profess the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, "proceeding
from the Father and the Son." They hold the dogma
of Original Sin ; and affirm that " the baptism of young
children is to be retained, as most agreeable with the
institution of Christ." They hold, that those who fall
into sin after baptism may by repentance rise again
and amend their lives. They receive as canonical all
the books of the New Testament; but of the Old
Testament, while the greater part is adopted, they set
forth certain books, namely, Tobias, Judith, a portion
of the Book of Esther, the Book of Wisdom, Ecclesias-
ticus or Jesus the Son of Sirach, -Baruch the Prophet,
and the two Books of Machabees, which they state,
"the Church doth read for example of life and in-
struction of manners, but yet doth not apply to estab-
lish any doctrine" — all which books are received as
canonical by the Catholic Church.^
' Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Barucb, and the two
Books of Machabees, are called by Catholic writers the deutero-
canonical books ; not as being of less authority than the other bocks of
the Old Testament, which are called proto-canonical, but because
they were inserted in the Canon of the Scriptures at a later period.
Writings which are not recognised by the Church as Divine are styled
apocryphal. The following is the List of the Sacred Books, annexed to
its Decree concerning the Canonical Scriptures by the Council of Trent ;
session iv., April 8, 1546 ; signed by 255 Fathers, December 4, 1563,
and confirmed by Pope Pius IV., January 26, 1564 : The Old
Testament, 45 books ; viz. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy, Josue, Judges, Kuth, I. Kings ur Samuel, II. Kings or
Samuel, III. Kings or I., IV. Kings or II., I. and II. Paralipomenon
or Chronicles, I. and II. Esdras, Tobias, Judith, Esther, Job, Psalms,
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticle, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Isaias, Jere-
mias and Lamentations, Baruch, Ezechiel, Daniel, Osee, Joel, Amos,
37S THE CHAIK OF PETER.
Again, the Thirty-nine Articles hold, that all doctrine
taught by Christ and His Apostles is contained in the
Scrfptures ; whereas Catholics believe that many things
taught by Christ and the Apostles are not recorded in
the Sct'lptutes, but are known to us only by tradition.
They receive, with the Catholics, the Apostles', the
McenOj and the Athatiasian, Creeds, They profess that
man is justified by faith alone, against the Catholic
doctrine of faith that worketh by charity (Saint James,
chapter ii.). Article xvii. professes the doctrine of
Predestination and Election.
Articles xxv. to xxxi., inclusive, treat of the Sacra-
ments, which they reduce fi'om seven to two; viz.,
" Baptism and the Supper of the Lord." They affirm
that the communion should be administered under
both kinds ; and they condemn the Sacrifice of the
Mass in language most irreverent, and rash, and, to
Catholic ears, blasphemous.
According to Article xxi,, "General Councils may
not be gathered together without the commandment
and will of Princes : and, when they be gathered to-
gether, they may err, and sometimes have erred, even
in things pertaining unto God."
Article xxii. condemns the Catholic doctrine of
Purgatory, the veneration of Images and Eelics, and
the Invocation of Saints.
Article xxxvii. declares, that the Queen's Majesty
hath the chief power in this liealm of England, and
other her dominions, in all causes Ecclesiastical or
Civil, and is not, nor ought to be, subject to any foreign
Abdias, Jonas, Micheas, Nahum, Habacac, Sophonias, AggetlB, Zach-
arias, Malachy, and Macbabees I. and II. : The Kew Testament, 27
books J viz. The Gospels of Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
the Acts of the Apostles, by Saint Luke, Epistles of Saint Paul, to the
Komans, I. Corinthians, II. Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philip-
plans, ColoSsians, Thessalonians I. and II,, Timothy I. and II., Titus,
Philemon, and Hebrews, the Epistles of Sts. James, Peter I. and IL,
John I., II. and III. and Jude, and the Apocalypse or Eevelations of
Baint John,
THE SYMBOLIC BOOKS OF THE PROTESTANTS. 379
jurisdiction; that "we give not to our Princes the
ministering either of God's Word or of the Sacraments;"
and that "the Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction
within this realm of England."
The Book of Common Prayer forms the Liturgy of
the Church of England. In the year 1546, Heniy
VIII. published the King's Primer, which contained
the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Commandments,
and several hymns and collects.
Edward VI.'s First Prayer Book, published in 1 549,
was an enlargement of the King's Primer. Its title
was, " The Book of the Common Prayer and Adminis-
tration of the Sacraments, and other Eites and Cere-
monies of the Church : after the use of the Church of
England. Londini in officina Edouardi WJdtchurche.
Cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum. Anno. Do.
1 549, Mense MartiL" ^
The Second Prayer Book of Edward VI., called
"The Book of Common Prayer," was published in
1552. It has several variations from that of 1549.^
Queen Elizabeth's " Book of Common Prayer "
was published in 1559;* and that of James I.
' There were six various " imprints ", of Edward VI.'s First Prayer
Book, all in 1549, besides that above mentioned ; viz. two more by
Whitchnfche, one in May, and oiie in June ; three by Kichard Grafton,
the King's printer, London, in March ; and one by John Ofmoen, in
Worcester, in July. The cplophbn of the first edition ran as follows :
" Imprinted at London in Fletestrete, at the signe of the Sunne oner
againste the condnyte, by EdWarde Whitchnrche. The seventh
daye of Marche, the yeare of our Lorde, 1549." In some copies, is
found, at the end; the following list of prices, varying according to the
impression ; "The Kinges Maiestie, by the aduyse of hismoste deare
uncle the Lorde Protector and other his highnes Couusell, streightly
chargeth and commaimdetb, that no maner of person do sell this
present booke unbounde, aboue the price of ii. shyllynges & ii. pence
the piece. And the same bounde in paste or in boordes, not above the
price of three shyllynges and viii pence the piece. Grod sane the King."
^ Of Edward VI. 's Second Prayer Book there were four " imprints,"
in 1552 ; two by Edward Whitchnrche, and two by Kichard Grafton.
^ Of Queen Elizabeth's " Book of Common Prayer," there are three
"imprints," in 1559 ; two by Richard Grafton, and one by Richard
Jugge and John Cawode.
380 THE CHAIR OF TETER.
in 1604;^ each varying more or less from the pre-
ceding.
The "Book of Common Prayer" of the Scottish
Episcopal Church was published , in 1637,^ and has
several variations, especially in the office for the Com-
munion.
In 1662, was published the "Book of Common
Prayer " of King Charles 1I.,8 revised by both houses
of Convocation, and sanctioned in its present form by
Act of Parliament.
In tlie dogmatic division of the Symbolic Books of
the Church of England, the old and new religions pre-
vail in very different proportions from those in which
they will be found in the liturgical section. Indeed it
has often been observed that, while the Thirty-nine
Articles, or Creed, are more Protestant than Catholic,
the "Book of Common Prayer," or Liturgy, is more
Catholic than Protestant,
Next in authority to the Thirty-nine Articles and
the Book of Common Prayer, are the Homilies, which
are a collection of plain sermons, approved of by the
State, in order that one of them may be read out in
church on every Sunday on which there is no sermon.
The first book, attributed to Archbishop Cranmer and
Bishops Eidley and Latimer, was published in the reign
of Edward VI. ; and the second was added, by order of
Convocation, in the reign of Elizabeth.
It is unnecessary here to refer to the Symbolic Books
of the Socinians and others of the minor sects that
arose very soon after Luther and Calvin had led the
great secession from the Church.
' James I.'s " Book of Common Prayer " was " imprinted at London,
by Kobert Barker, Printer to the King's Most lixoellent Majesty,
Anno 1604."
' The Scotch " Book of Common Prayer " was printed in Edinburgh
by Robert Young, Royal printer, 1637.
3 " The Book of Common Prayer " of King Charles II. was printed
in London in 1662, by His Majesty's Printers. AU the editions above
mentioned were published Cum privUegio.
THE SYMBOLIO BOOKS OF THE PROTESTANTS. 3 S I
The more we consider these several Confessions of
Faith, all varying from one another, and some of them
diametrically opposed to others, on important points of
belief, the more clearly have we brought before us the
necessary consequences of the exercise of the "right of
private judgment " in the interpretation of the Scrip-
tures. Here indeed is a striking contrast with the
unity of the Church Catholic, of which aU the members,
in every clime, profess oae and the same doctrine, in
union with their one' Supreme Pastor and Teacher,
Saint Peter's Successor in the See of Eome.^
^ For the substance of the Symbolic Books of the Catholics, see the
"Tridentine Confession of Faith," in chap, xxv., on the Council of
Trent
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE EELIGIOUS CENSUS OF EUROPE.
It is a generally admitted fact, that, within the first
fifty years of its existence, the Eefoymatjon attaiped its
fullest development. It was then firmly established
in England, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, and
Switzerland, a small portion of France, and the greater
part of Germany ; and it seemed likely to comprise still
further ' provinces of the Continent of Europe. But
here, contrary to all human calculations, its progress
ceased. Nay, it commenced to recede; and, in the
contest thenceforward, the Church of Eome was trium-
phant on every point, regaining much of what she had
lost — a triumph "to be chiefly attributed, not to the
force of arms, but to a great reflux in public opinion." ^
Moreover, not only was there more zeal among the
Catholics than among the Protestants, but the whole
zeal of the Catholics was directed to one common
object, the maintenance and extension of their common
faith ; " while almost the whole zeal of the Protestants
was directed against each other." ^ At the same time
that Jesuit and other missionaries, with the sanction
and blessing of the Holy See, " overspread Europe, eager
to expend every faculty of their minds and every drop
of their blood in the cause of their Church, Protestant
doctors were confuting, and Protestant rulers were
punishing, sectaries who were just as good Protestants
as themselves." *
* Macaulay's Essay on Eanke's " History of the Popes."
" Ibid. » Ibid.
THE RELIGIOUS CENSUS OF EUEOPE. 383
" As the Catholics in zeal and in union had a great
advantage over the Protestants, so had they also an
infinitely superior organization. In truth, Protestantism,
for aggressive purposes, had no organization at all. The
Beformed Churches were mere national Church^js. The
Church of England existed for England alone. It was
an institution as purely local as the Court of Common
Pleas, and was utterly without any machinery for
foreign operations. The Church of Scotland, in the
same manner, existed for Scotland alone. The opera-
tions of the Catholic Church, on the other hand, took
in the whole world." ^
■ Perhaps the best idea of the geographical distribution
of Catholicism and Protestantism respectively in Europe,
not alone at present but in past times, may be formed
from the following statement of the actual number of
Catholics and of Protestants of all communions, in the
several European countries. It is necessary, in sub-
mitting it, to direct attention to the circumstance, that
in Catholic States, nearly the whole, if not the whole,
population is Catholic, while in the principal Pro1;estant
countries, the Catholics constitute a large proportion,
being an average of considerably over one-third, of the
whole population of those countries, inclusive of Great
Britain.
In Erance, by the census of May, 1872, there were
enumerated 35,387,703 Catholics, being 98'03 per cent,
of the total population, 580,757 Protestants, or v6 per
cent., 49,439 Jews, and 85,022 members of other sects.
In Belgium, in 1879, the population was 5,536,654,
nearly all of whom were Catholics. The Protestants
do not amount to 1 3,000, while the Jews number less
than 1500.
In Austria-Hungary, of a population of 37,754,792,
^ Maoaulay'a Esaay on Ranke'a "History of the Popeg." The
organization of the Catholic Church, here so highly lauded by this
distinguished Protestant writer, is fully treated of in another chapter — ■
that on the Hierarchy. /
384 'fHE CHAIR OF PETER.
in 1880, fully two- thirds, or 67 per cent., were Catholics,
about 20 per cent, were Greeks, 10 per cent, were Pro-
testants, and 3 per cent, were Jews and otlier sects.
In Spain, with a population of 16,625,860, on the
31st of December, 1877, the entire, save 60,000 persons,
were Catholics. Of these 60,000, about one-fifth may
be taken as Protestants, according to the returns laid
before the Cortes, in July, 1876. ,
In Portup;al, with a population of 4,348,551, on
January i, 1878, the whole may be said to be Catholic
— the number of Protestants, mostly foreigners, not
exceeding 500.
In Italy, of a population of 26,801,154, in the census
of 1 87 1, 99f per cent, were returned as Catholics, Pro-
testants 0'i5, and Jews on.
In European Paissia, inclusive of the Eussian pro-
vinces of Poland, in 1879, besides 64,000,000 "Orthodox"
Greeks, 3,000,000 Jews, and 2,600,000 Mahometans,
there Avere 8,355,000 Catholics (including 55,000 United
Greeks and Armenians) and 2,950,000 Protestants.
In Greece, at the census of 1879, there were 1,635,698
members of the "Orthodox" Greek Church, 14,677
other Christians, " mainly Eoman Catholics," 2652
Jews, and 917 Mahometans. Here, the Catholics may
be fairly estimated at 13,000.
In European Turkey there are no accurate statistics
of the various religious denominations ; but, according
to " a rough estimate " made over twenty years ago,
the number of Catholics, in communion with the See
of Eome were, at that time, 640,000. These may now
be safely taken as over 1,000,000, as there has been,
within the last twenty years, a great increase in their
numbers.^ Of Protestants of all kinds, 10,000 may be
considered a liberal estimate.
Let us now take the Protestant European countries : —
By the census of December i, 1875, the German
* Inclusive of United Greeks and Armenians in comninnion with
the See of Rome.
THE RELIGIOUS CENSUS OF EUROPE. 385
Empire numbered 26,718,823 Protestants, 15,371,227
Catholics, 1x6,735 of various other Christian sects, and
520,575 Jews. This shows 62'5 per cent, of Protestants
and 36 per cent, of Catholics..
In Sweden and Norway, by the census of 1875 and
that of 1879 respectively, the total population was
6,270,266, aU of whom were 'Lutherans except 1 3,676.
Of these, there were about 2000 Jews, and of the
remainder 8000 may be estimated as Protestant dis-
senters, and 3600 as Catholics.
In Denmark, according to the census of 1880, the
population was 1,969,454. Of these, all were Lutherans
except 9093 persons, comprising 3946 Jews, 3000
Catholics, and the remainder were Protestant dissenters,
some Mormons, and some of no creed.
In the Netherlands, by the census of 1880, the num-
ber of Protestants is given as 2,469,814; of Catholics,
as 1,439,137; of divers other Christian denominations,
as 22,049; and of Jews, as 81,693.
In Switzerland, according to the census of 1880, the
Protestants are 1,667,109, and the Catholics 1,160,782,
being respectively 59 per cent, and 41 per cent, of the
population. There were also 7373 Jews — a small item,
not affecting these proportions.
In Great Britain and Ireland, on the 4th of April
1881, the total population was 35,246,562. In Ireland,
the Catholics were 4,141,933, and in Great Britain
and the Channel Islands they are estimated at over
2,000,000. Deducting these from the total population,
and making allowance for the Jewish body, which may
be taken as 52,000, of whom 40,000 reside in London,
we may estimate the Protestants of the United
Kingdom at nearly 29,000,000, and the Catholics at
6,200,000.^
^ Tor all the above figures, respecting the total population, and the
numbers of the various religious denominations of the several European
States, I am indebted to the "Statesman's Year-Book for 1882."
They are borne out by Hiibner's statistical tables, and the numbers set
2 B
in the following
Catholics.
Protestants.
, 29,201,703 .
580.757
. . 5.522,154 .
13.000
, 25,295,716 .
3,775,479
. 16,565,860 .
12,000
. 4,348,051 .
500
. 26,734,151 •
62,000
. . 8,355.000 ■
2,950,000
. 1,000,000 .
10,000
13,000 .
1,677
. 15,371,227 .
26,718,823
3,600 .
6,256,590
. . 3,000 .
1,960,361
• 1,439,137 •
2,469,814
. 1,160,782 ,
. 1,667,109
md . 6,200,000 .
. 29,000,000
141,213,381
75,478,110
386 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
All the above figures are comprised
synoptical table : —
France . . •
Belgium
Austria- Hungary .
Spain . . <
Portugal . t
Italy . ...
European Russia .
Turkey in Europe
Greece .
German Empire .
Sweden and Norway
Denmark
The Netherlands .
Switzerland .
Great Britain and Ireland
Total
Here it will be seen that the Catholic is to the Pro-
testant population of Europe very nearly in the propor-
tion of two to one.
The principal divisions of Protestantism are primarily
Lutherans and Calvinists. Of the former, some Churches
adopt, whUe others reject, episcopal government.
The district of Lutheranism is Sweden, Norway,
Denmark, Prussia, Hanover, Saxony, Wiirtemberg, and
others of the smaller German States, and the Baltic
provinces of Eussia. It is also professed, to some
forth in the Deutsche Eeioheszeitung. In the "Statesman's Year-
Book for 1887," the relative proportions of Protestants and Catholics
in the several countries of Europe are the same as in the Year-Book
for 1882, save as regards Prance, where there are set down, in the
last Census — that of December 1881, no less than 7,684,906 persons
"who declined to make any declaration of religious belief." These
" non-prof essants," now mentioned for the first time, were, iniormer
returns, enumerated as Catholics. Now, they are given separately;
and, although, doubtless, a large proportion of them would avail them-
selves of Catholic ministrations at the hour of death, I omit them all
in the above synopsis, in which I adopt the figures of the enumerators,
who give the Catholics of Prance as only 29,201,703, in December 1881,
against 35,387,703 in May 1872, being respectively 78 '50 and 98 '02
per cent, of the total population.
THE RELIGIOUS CENSUS OF EUROPE. 387
extent, in Hungary, and other parts of the Austrian
Empire.
Calvinism prevails in Holland, in the Protestant
cantons of Switzerland, in the Duchy of Nassau, in
Hesse, Anhalt, and Lippe in Germany, to some extent
in a few of the Southern departments of France, and
in Hungary, Transylvania, and Prussia, in Scotland and
the North of Ireland, and partially in England.
Although the Arminians do not now form distinct
Churches, their opinions, opposed to and moderating
the severe tenets of Calvin, are extensively held by
Protestants, especially in England and Holland.
The Anglican Church, which is Episcopalian in
government, is quite distinct from, although akin to,
Lutheranism and Calvinism, modified by the doctrine
of Arminius. It is almost entirely confined to England
and her colonies.
Making full allowance for the great increase of popu-
lation during the past three centuries and a half, and
for the fact that, as a rule, children, in each successive
generation, follow the religious opinions of their parents,
we cannot but regard the 75,000,000 Protestants in
Europe, in our day, as a powerful proof of the extent
and enduring character of the revolt from her authority,
which all but rent the Church in twain in the lifetime
of Luther, and, to mere human apprehension, appeared
to threaten her existence. Yet, sustained by her Divine-
Pounder, she not only survived the ordeal, coming forth,
from it purified and strengthened, but, in due time,
regained much of what she had lost at home; and,
further, conquered in the New World many a province
in lieu of those of which she had been bereft in the Old.
Then, from her bosom went forth — to edify and instruct,
to revive a spirit of holiness in Europe, and to evan-
gelize, in far remote regions, multitudes who sat in
darkness and the shadow of death — that gallant band,
the Society of Jesus, numbering in its ranks Ignatius
of Loyola, its holy founder ; Francis Xavier, the Apostle
388 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
of the Indies ; Francis Borgia, still more illustrious for
his humility and zeal for God's honour than for his
noble descent; Aloysius Gonzaga and Stanislas Kotska,
eloquently preaching to the youth of all nations, even
down to this day, by the example of their stainless
young lives; John Francis Eegis, a truly Apostolic
missionary, — all enrolled in the calendar of the saints ;
and their no less devoted associates, Faber, Salmeron,
Bobadilla, Laynez, Eodriguez, and others, each dedicat-
ing his life and labours, his every thought and aspira-
tion, to the promotion of "God's greater glory," ^ and
the salvation of souls.
In a similar spirit were founded, about the same
time, with the cordial approval of the Holy See, the
following other orders of Clerks Eegular : * the Theatins,
established in 1524 by Saint Cajetan of Thienna, and
John Peter Caraffa, Archbishop of Theate, afterwards
Pope Paul IV. — ^the scope of the institute being the re-
vival of the spirit of holiness in the clergy and people ; '
the Clerks Eegular of Somascha, instituted by Saiut
Jerome ^miliani, in 1530 — their chief object being the
training of young clergymen and the instruction of
youth ; the Clerks Eegular of Saint Paul, or Barnabites,
founded also in 1530, with a view to forming the lives
of Christians after the model prescribed in the Epistles
of Saint Paul, and to providing ministers for the con-
fessional, the pulpit, the education of youth in colleges
and seminaries, and the conducting of missions ; * the
• " Ad majoretn Dei gloriam," the motto of the Society.
' The Clerks Regular are clergymen living in community, following
a rule and taking vows, in order to devote themselves to the functions
of the sacred ministry, the instruction of the people, the aiding the sick,
the conducting of missions, and other similar works.
' The Theatins were so named from Caraflfa's diocese of Theate, the
archbishop having been chosen the first general of the order.
* The Barnabites were so called from the Church of Saint Barnabas
at Milan, which was given to them on their institution. Their founders
were three Italian gentlemen of good family, Antonio Maria Zachari,
Bartolom^ Ferrari, and Giac(5mo Antonio Morigia. They were
specially favoured by Clement VII. and Saint Charles Borromeo.
THE RELIGIOUS CENSUS OF EUROPE. 389
Clerks Eegular, Assisting the Sick, even those affected
by the plague, founded by Saint Camillus de Lelis in
Eome, in 1584, and the Clerks Eegular, Minors, insti-
tuted in Naples in 1588, for the exact fulfilment of all
the duties of the Ecclesiastical state, and the promotion
of holiness in all classes.^ Besides these, there were
the Congregations, composed each of a number of secu-
lar priests, living in community, and. following a rule ;
such as that of the Oratory, founded by Saint Philip
ISTeri in Eome, in 1564; and the Oblates^ of Saint
Ambrose, now called of Saint Charles, instituted by
Saint Charles Borromeo, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan,
in 1578. All these associations, no less by their
example than by their , untiring labours, largely pro-
moted the reaction, or " reflux in public opinion," that
so strongly set in, about fifty years after the commence-
ment of the Eeformation. The ancient orders, more-
over, reanimated by their pristine fervour, contributed
their share to the movement.
And so it has continued ever since. The Clerks
Eegular of the Scholse Pise and of the Mother of God,
and the Congregations of the French Oratory, the
Lazarists or Fathers of the Mission, the Eudistes, the
Sulpiciens, the Passionists, the Eedemptorists, and the
Fathers of Charity have been instituted; as well as
many a congregation of religious women, and many a
brotherhood of monks, for charitable, educational, and
missionary purposes. The great College of the Pro-
paganda, the French Association of the Propagation of
the Faith, the Society of the Foreign Missions, and
other kindred institutions, have also been unceasingly
engaged: and the Universal Church, notwithstanding
' The founders of the Clerks Eegular, Minors, were Giovanni
Angustino Adorno, a Genoese gentleman, and his friends Augustino
and Francisco Caraccioli.
^ The Oblates are organized under the bishop of a diocese, and bound
to him by a simple vow of obedience, or an oblation, to be employed,
as he may direct, in labouring for the salvation of souls.
390 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
grievous persecution at home, even within the capital
of Catholic Christendom, is now as full of vigour and
activity, and as strong in the adhesion of her children
in all parts of the globe, as she has been at any period
of her existence.^
^ This is especially the case in all parts of the British dominions,
throughout which the practice of their religion by Catholics is free
and unfettered. In the Canadas and Australia, the condition of the
Catholic Church, its growth and prosperity, are all that could be
desired. Alike remarkable is the position of Catholicism in the United
States, brought into prominence by the Plenary Council of Baltimore,
celebrated in 1884. In 1783, there were in the newly-formed North
American Kepublic about 27,000 Catholics, of whom nine-tenths were
in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Now, there are in the United States
more than 7,000,000 Catholics. The numbers given in the decennial
census of 1880, viz. 6,143,222, are not considered accurate by those
likely to be best informed. The numerical increase would have been
much greater but for the suddenness and vast proportions of the
influx of Irish Catholics, after the years 1847-1849, when the existing
ecclesiastical and educational arrangements were quite unequal to so
great and rapid an accession of numbers — a want which has since been
amply provided for by the Holy See. In 1790, there was only one
Catholic Bishop in the Bepublic — Doctor Carroll, the first Bishop of
Baltimore, consecrated in England, that year. Now there are in the
United States a Cardinal, twelve Archbishops, fifty-seven Bishops,
five Vicars Apostolic (Titular Bishops), and one Prefect Apostolic.
See Index, "Australasia," "The Canadas," "New English-speaking
Cardinals."
CHAPTEE XXVIII.
EFFECTS OF THE EEFOEMATION IN PROTESTANT STATES.
Again and again, in these pages, has it been proved,
even on Protestant testimony, and many a historical
fact has been cited in illustration thereof, that, in the
Middle Ages, the Church was ever the champion and
protector of the lowly and the oppressed against the
tyranny of those in high place. When, however, many
fair provinces in central Europe were withdrawn from
her spiritual jurisdiction by the revolt of Luther, an
undeniable change for the worse ensued in the social
condition of the masses.
The learned Doctor Dollinger, himself a German,
and one who is generally regarded as a reliable and
indeed an unimpeachable witness as to facts, bears very
unfavourable testimony to the immediate effects of the
Eeformation on the personal liberty and the well-being
of the .populations of the several German States. In
doing so, he gives, in all cases, exact references to his
authorities — ^nearly all of them German writers of high
repute.
It was a natural result of the movement in Germany,
that the increased power of the temporal prince, now
supreme head of the Church in his own dominions,
should be accompanied by a corresponding diminution
of the freedom of the lower grade of nobles and of the
humbler classes.
In Mecklenburg, on the establishment of the new
doctrine, the order of prelates ceased to belong to the
Diet. .Since the year 1552, only two orders appeared
3p2 THE CHAIB OF PETEB.
therein, the BUterschaft, or Equestrian order ; and the
Landschaft, or Provincial Estates, The nobles had
seized their share of the Church property, and the
peasants, whose interests were now no longer repre-
sented in the national assembly, as they had been by
the clergy, were subjected to a system of tyranny and
plunder, under which their labour was appropriated
by the nobles, and they were expelled from their farms
by the process called Legem, or laying — the tillage
lands being converted into large manors and pastures.
Indeed, the peasantry were treated by their lords " like
the most abject slaves," and they attempted, whenever
they could, to make their escape even into Eussia.
It was only in 1820 that serfage was abolished in
Mecklenburg.^
In Pomerania, where Protestantism was established
in 1534, the fate of the peasantry was the same. Here
the oppression of the tillers of the soil became such,
that " even those who still held farms fled the country."
In the peasant law of 1616, they were " declared to be
' serfs without any civil rights,' and preachers were com-
pelled to proclaim fugitive peasants from the pulpit." ^
In the territories of Brunswick and Hanover, the
new absolute Ecclesiastical power of the princes (simul-
taneously with the substitution of the Eoman law for
the German, which took place after the Reformation)
was attended with results detrimental equally to the
towns and the rural districts. The habits of extra-
vagance engendered and encouraged by the robbery of
the Church property, the disorder of the finances of
the principalities, the debasing of the coinage by the
nobles, and the annihilation of the ancient freedom and
independence of the Estates, all conduced to aggravate
the lamentable state of affairs.*
In the Brandenburg and Prussian dominions, "the
' Bollinger, "The Church and the Churches," p. 92 ; London, 1862,
Trans.
» Ibid., pp. 93, 94. • Ibid., pp. 94, 9S.
EFFEC3TS OF THE REFORMATION. 39^
condition of the peasants had become more and more
miserable since the Church had fallen, and the nobles
and princes were the only powers in the country."
After the seventeenth century, the monarch usurped
all power; the estates were not convoked; and taxes
were imposed at the King's pleasure. " Military execu-
tions, formerly quite unknown in Germany, became
frequent, especially for non-payment of imposts." So
oppressive were the taxes levied by the Eoyal head of
the Church, that the peasants left their farms in troops
and turned robbers, and numbers of them fled into
Poland, leaving twelve thousand farms uncultivated.
Under Frederick William I., "the Lutheran clergy
had to drink to the very dregs the bitter cup of mon-
archical Church supremacy." The Church and the
State were reformed by the King in the same ignorant
and arbitrary spirit, and were ruled as he ruled his
army. " He dictated to the Lutheran clergy, as their
spiritual head, what subjects they were to preach about,
and what they were to avoid, as well as which cere-
monies were to be observed in divine service, and what
was to be omitted." ^
In the Electorate of Saxony, in Hesse, Wtirtemberg,
and the smaller States, it was all the same: so that
Arnold the historiographer of the King of Prussia
observes, " It cannot be denied that, since the Keforma-
tion, tyranny, injustice, and extortions had risen to the
highest point." ^
In Denmark and Sweden, purely Lutheran countries,
the dwellers on the great estates of the Church were
obliged to exchange the mild rule of the clergy for the
oppressive yoke of the nobles. They became mere
thralls. At this day, the clergy are all slaves to the
King, their temporal and spiritual head.
Similar results were produced in England by the
introduction of the Eeformation, under Henry VIII.
' Dollinger, " The Church and the Churches,'' pp. 95-98.
" Ibid., pp. 98, 99.
394 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Here, commencing with Henry, and continuing through
subsequent reigns, there was carried out by the State
a system of suppression of monasteries and seques-
tration of Church property, familiar to all readers of
history. It is needless to dwell on the sufferings of
the members of religious communities, male and female,
who were thrown penniless on the world, or on the
great change effected in the condition of the mass of
the population, who had previously received instruction,
and relief in their corporal necessities, from the mon-
astic institutions which dotted the land. Then, the
tillers of the soil on the domains of the Church were
transferred from the kindly sway of the clergy and
monks to the reckless tyranny of rapacious nobles,
residing at a distance; tillage was extensively super-
seded by pasture ; and cattle and sheep were substituted
for human beings. One fact speaks volumes for the
mischief done, and the necessity created ; and that is,
that, as far back as the reign of Elizabeth, a Poor Law
was enacted, and thus was "free Christian charity
degraded into a legal obligation, and a compulsory op-
pressive tax substituted for a willing gift." ^
As regards the Calvinistic or Reformed Churches,
they were far less pliant than the Lutheran, and by their
resistance to secular authority, from time to time, they
drew down on themselves grievous persecution. Calvin,
as we have seen, would make the ministers of his own
Church at Geneva independent of the civil power ; and
in this, through the concurrence of the civil magistrates,
he succeeded. But what was thus effected in certain
cantons of Switzerland, was not to be accomplished in
larger states. Influenced by Calvin, the Protector,
Somerset, in a marked manner favoured the doctrines
• DoUinger, " The Church and the Churches," p. ijo. The learned
author, viewing our Poor Law frona a Continental standpoint, alludes
to the Workhousea, added in more recent times, and observes that
" their arrangements, by the separation of husband and wife, parents
and children, are completely nn-Christian, and in their present state a
disgrace to the country."
EFFECTS OF THE REFORMATION. 39 5
of Geneva in England, in the reign of Edward VI. ; ^
and in Scotland, Holland, and some of the German
principalities, they met with the like acceptance from
the ruling powers. Yet in every instance the sovereign
maintained unimpaired his own rights and jurisdiction,
as supreme head of the Church.
But if the Calvinists suffered persecution themselves,
they no less carried out, and suggested, the persecution
of others. "The Calvinistic religion," says Niebuhr,
" has everywhere, in England, in .Holland, as in Geneva,
set up its blood-stained scaffold as well as the Inquisi-
tion, without its possessing a single one of the merits
of the Catholic."^ The burning alive of Servetus
in Geneva, and the judicial murder of Barneveldt in
Holland, are notable examples. But it must be admitted
that, with the exception of the first mentioned, the
political element entered largely into all such cases ;
and all Christian communions at the present day will
doubtless unite in reprobating such proceedings as
these, and the martyrdom of More and Fisher, the fires
of Smithfield, the massacre of Saint Bartholomew, and
the cruelties of the Spanish Inquisition, in all of which
the sacred name of religion was prostituted to political
purposes.
This is especially apparent in the cotemporary records
of the Massacre of the French Calvinists in Paris, on
Saint Bartholomew's day, the 24th of August, 1572.
That lamentable act was entirely political. The Church
had no connection with it whatever. The Calvinists
had plotted against the King's life; had levied war
against him; had met his troops in several pitched
battles ; had introduced foreign soldiers into his
dominions ; and had detached several towns from his
obedience. The massacre, an extreme measure which
^ See the long letter, of seven closely-printed pages folio, from Calvin
to "the Protector of England," dated Geneva, October 22, 1546,
" Icannis Calvini Epistolse," p. 65 ; Geneva, 1575.
^ Niebuhr, apud DolUnger, " The Church and the Churches," p. 100,
396 THE CHAEB OF PETEE.
no circumstances could justify, was forced on the
youthful monarch ^ by his mother Catherine de Medicis
and his councillors, who represented to him, that, if
such immediate action were not taken against the leaders
of the plot, he would lose not only his kingdom but his
life, and the other members of the Royal family would
also fall victims.
It has been urged against the Catholics that Pope
Gregory XIII. publicly returned thanks to God when
he heard of the event! This false charge carries its
own contradiction in its absurdity. The facts simply
are, that Charles wrote to aU the sovereigns in Europe,
including the Pope, that he had detected and cut short
the plot against his life ; and the Pope rendered thanks
to God for the King's safety — not for the massacre.
But what is, and has long been, the result of the
complete subjugation of the Church, in matters spiri-
tual, to the civil authority, ' in the several Protes-
tant States of Europe ? We are informed, that " there
are now in Germany about thirty-eight Protestant
Churches, each of which is independent of the other,
and has its own organization; and since in each of
the States the Church has been degraded into a mere
branch of the Administration — has been inserted as a
wheel in the great State machine — it has come to pass
that all the threads of Ecclesiastical government come
together, and are united in the hands of a single
Government official, the Minister of Public Worship." ^
Hence the Eoyal Supreme Heads of the Church, in
their several dominions, have long acted as they pleased
in matters Ecclesiastical; as they act at this day.
True, they are said to consult theii theologians; but
those theologians may be changed at any time accord-
ing to the Eoyal pleasure. The " Union," which, for
' Charles IX. of France was bom Jnne 27, 1550, ascended the throne
December 15, 1560, his mother acting as Kegent. He died May 31,
1574, aged twenty-fonr.
. » DolUnger, " The Church and the Churches," p. 275.
EFFECTS OF THE REFORMATION. 397
State reasons, was begun in Prussia and was imitated
elsewhere, " has, since 1817, amalgamated the Lutheran
and Calvinist Churches, and given an essentially dif-
ferent form to German Protestantism."^ The new
Church, thus constituted by Royal command, is called
" Evangelical," which name, in the present day, we are
told, is used in official documents, as, " a collective term
to express opposition to Catholicism." ^ Genuine Calvin-
ism, as represented by the decisions of the Synod of
Dort and the old Lutheran Church, have almost died
out in Germany.*
To any one remembering how widely apart were the
opinions of Luther and those of the first Swiss Re-
formers, on the Lord's Supper and other essential tenets,
it wiU not be difficult to draw accurate conclusions, as
to the results of the compulsory amalgamation of con-
flicting creeds, and other similar measures, enacted by
the civil power. Not only are the several Churches
reduced to a state of slavery, and deprived of that
freedom of thought which was the proud boast of the
first Protestants; but the abandonment of cherished
tenets, the laying aside of fixed opinions, the open pro-
fession of doctrines inwardly ignored, the system' of
give-and-take, enforced by the State, must necessarily
conduce to the extensive prevalence of indifference, and
rationalistic principles, culminating in materialism.
To enslave in like manner the Catholic Church has
been the aim of the Kulturkampf, and of all the German
an ti- Catholic enactments in our day — an attempt which
happily, has been rendered futile by the constitution
of the Church, and the steadfastness of her sons. This
particular subject will be fully treated in the next
chapter.
It has frequently been asserted that the atmosphere
of Catholicism is unfavourable to material progress
and the industrial arts. Italy and Spain are pointed
1 Dbllinger, " The Church and the Churches," p. 276.
' Ibid. ' Ibid., p. 277.
398 THE CHAIE OF PKTEB.
to in support of this allegation, and, on the other hand,
England, Prussia, and other Protestant States are in-
stanced, as nations which occupy foremost places in
industrial progress, under the influence of Protestant-
ism. Superficially regarded, this may appear to some
to be a correct view of the case. But a calm investi-
gation of actual facts will show that it is altogether
erroneous. The question is geographical rather than
religious — one of climate and material resources, rather
than of creed. Thus, there is not in the world a more
successful nation in every branch of human industry
than Belgium. In agriculture she occupies the first
place; in her iron manufacture she closely presses
England ; in other branches of industry she has attained
a high position ; and yet, perhaps, not excepting Ireland
herself, there is no more Catholic country. Then there
is Catholic France, second to none, if not first of all, in
the industrial arts and material prosperity. This was
proved, if proof were necessary, in her rapid rise, after
the payment of five milliards of francs, or two hundred
million pounds sterling of indemnity to Prussia, at the
close of the Eranco-German war. England herself
would have found it a very difficult task to discharge
this huge liability, on the termination of a costly cam-
paign. France appears to have scarcely felt it.
Again, in some of the prosperous Protestant coun-
tries mentioned, the Catholic population is an impor-
tant element. For instance, in the German Empire,
of a population of forty-six millions, twenty-eight millions
are Protestant, and sixteen millions are Catholic.
CHAPTEE XXIX.
The Kultuekampf, and Catholic Okganization,
The German Kulturkampf,^ or civilization-figlit, as its
illustrious chief promoter is said to have named it, may
equally well he styled the religion combat, or education
strife ; and practically it is the same lamentable war-
fare as is now being so fiercely waged against the
Church in several other countries of Europe.
The arena of the Kulturkampf in Germany is, strictly
speaking, Prussia and Hesse Darmstadt — pre-eminently
the former. According to the census of December i,
1 880, the population of Prussia is 27,278,9 11. Of these,
the Protestants are 17,645,462, being 647 per cent.,
and the Catholics 9,205,136, or 34' i per cent., of the
total population. The remainder are principally Jews,
amounting to 363,790, or i'334 per cent.
It was on the 9th of January, 1873, that Dr. Talk,
Minister of Public Worship, first introduced into the
Prussian Diet the bills, which were afterwards to be
known as the May Laws.^ These laws, which, for the
future, were to regulate the relations of Church and
State, purported to apply to the Evangelical or united
Protestant State Church of Prussia, described in the
last chapter, as well as to the Catholic Church. Their
^ K'vJ.t/u.rkam'pf or Cidturkam/pf : composed of the German Kultur,
derived from the Latin (yidtura, culture, figuratively applied to the mind
— that is, its education, or training intellectual, moral and religious,
and the German KaMpf, combat, fight, conflict, struggle.
* May Laws : so called because they were generally passed in the
month of May, although in different years.
400 THE CHAIR OF PKTEE.
professed main objects were: first, to insure greater
liberty to individual lay members of those Churches ;
secondly, to secure a German and national, rather than
an " Ultramontane " and non-national, training for the
clergy; and, thirdly, to protect the inferior clergy
against the tyranny of their superiors — which simply
meant, as proved in the sequel, the withdrawal of
priests and people, in matters spiritual, from the juris-
diction of the bishops, and the separation of Catholic
Prussia from the Centre of Unity ; thus substituting a
local or national Church, bound hand and foot, under
State regulation, for a flourishing branch of the Uni-
versal Church. To promote these objects, it was pro-
vided, that all Ecclesiastical seminaries should be placed
under State control; and that all candidates for the
priesthood should pass a State examination in the
usual subjects of a liberal education;^ and it was
further provided, that the State should have the right
to confirm or to reject all appointments of clergy.
These bills were readily passed : and all the religious
orders and congregations were suppressed, with the
provisional exception of those which devoted them-
selves to the care of the sick; and all Catholic semi-
naries were closed. In vain did the Catholic deputies
protest against these unconstitutional measures; and
when they appealed to the existing law of the Prussian
constitution, which, in articles 15, 1 6 and 18, guaranteed
the free exercise of their religion to the Catholics in
common with other denominations, that law was, on
the motion of ministers, immediately repealed.
The Bishops refused to obey the new laws, which in
conscience they could not accept ; and they subscribed
a collective declaration to this effect, on the 26th of
May 1873. On the 7th of August following, Pope
Pius IX. addressed a strong letter of remonstrance to
the Emperor William ; but entirely without effect, as
1 Subsequently changed to the production of a certificate of having
attended a course of University lectures thereon.
THE KULTURKAMPF, AND CATHOLIC OKGANIZATION. 4OI
may be seen in the Imperial reply of the 5th, of
September.
In punishment of their opposition, several of the
Bishops and great numbers of their clergy were fined,
imprisoned, exiled, and deprived of their salaries.
Especially notable among the victims of persecution,
were the venerable Archbishop of Cologne, Primate
of Prussia, the Bishop of Muuster, the Prince Bishop
of Breslau, the Bishop of Paderborn, and Cardinal
Ledochowski, Archbishop of Gnesen and Posen, on
whom, then in prison, a Cardinal's hat was conferred
by the Pope, in March 1875, as a mark of sympathy,
encouragement, and approval by His Holiness of the
constancy and devotion of the whole episcopate of
Prussia. The previous month, the sentiments of Pius
IX. had been expressed to those confessors of the faith
in an Encyclical — a letter in every respect worthy of
so grave a crisis.^
The determined spirit in which those retrograde laws
were carried out by the Government, and the hardships
thereby inflicted on the entire Catholic population —
being 24'i per cent, of the total inhabitants of Prussia
— will, in some degree, be realized, on a perusal of
the following figures. The fifteen Catholic dioceses of
Prussia comprised, in January 1873, a Catholic aggre-
gate of 8,711,53s souls.2 They were administered by
4627 parish -priests, and 3812 coadjutor-priests, or
curates, being a total of 8439 clergy. Eight years
later, owing to the operation of the May Laws, there
were exiled or dead, without being replaced, 1770 of
these clergy, viz., 1 125 parish-priests, and 645 coadjutor-
priests; and there were 601 parishes, comprising
644,697 souls, quite destitute of clerical care, and 584
^ Encyclical of February J, 1875.
^ The Prussian Catholic dioceses are, Cologne, Miinster (Prussian
portion), Paderborn, Treves, Hildesheim, Osnaburg, Fulda, Liraburg,
Ermelaud, Gnesen-Posen, Culm, Breslau, Prague (Prussian portiou),
Olmutz (ditto), and Freiburg (ditto).
2 C
402 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
parishes, or 1,501,994 souls, partially destitute thereof.^
Besides these 1770 secular priests, dead or exiled,
and not replaced, there were the regular clergy (the
members of religious orders), all of whom had been
expelled.
All through from the commencement, the clergy
have been well seconded by the laity. In the Prussian
Chamber of Deputies, and, more especially, in the
Eeichstag of the Imperial Parliament of Germany, there
was formed a powerful and admirably organized party
of Catholic deputies, about one hundred in number,
under the able leadership of Doctor Windthorst. This
party, known as " the Centre," actually holds the balance,
of power between the Government and the opposition ;
and can, by a solid vote, on any question, ecclesiastical
or other, turn the majority in favour of whichsoever side
it supports. Happily for the peace and prosperity of
the Empire, this all-powerful party is conservative, in
the true sense of the word ; and it acts with judgment,
patriotism, and a wise regard for law and order. The
result is, that, after a gallant struggle of fourteen years,
all within the limits of the constitution, the cause of
civil and religious freedom has signally triumphed. By
the bills of July 14th, 1880, and May 31st, 1882,
Government made some concessions; and these were
followed up by the Church Bill of June sth, 1883, of
which the subjoined brief particulars may be here
stated.^
This bill, amending the May Laws, contains six
clauses. By the first clause, Bishops are no longer
obliged to notify to the Government the appointment
to parishes of priests who may be unconditionally
^ Abridged from a Keturn communicated to the members of the
Chamber of Deputies of the Prussian Landtag, as a pUce justijicaiive in
connection with the Bill introduced by Doctor Windthorst for exempt-
ing in future from punishment the celebration of Mass and the adminis-
tration of the Sacraments. January 1881.
* These measures were brought in by Herr von Puttkamer, Dr.
Falk's successor.
THE KULTUKKAMPFj AND CATHOLIC ORGANIZATION. 4O3
recalled, viz., coadjutor-priests or curates ; but clause
2 enacts that this concession does not extend to the
cases of priests entrusted with the administration of
parishes, i.e., parish-priests.^ Consequently, the spiritual
wants of vacant parishes may now at once be supplied
through curates or vicars appointed at the discretion of
the Bishops. Clause 3 declares that the Ecclesiastical
Court is no longer the highest tribunal of appeal for
the clergy against the decisions of the Government
authorities in matters regarding appointments, the
discipline of clerical seminaries, or episcopal rights in
vacant dioceses. Such appeals now lie to the Minister
of Public Worship, whose decision is final. By clause
4, the Government authorities are entitled, as hereto-
fore, to oppose the appointment of any candidate who
shall appear to be unfit for an ecclesiastical office-,
on account of his civil or political position, or whose
education has not been completed according to the
existing laws. The reasons for opposing, the appoint-
ment of a candidate are always to be given, and the
ecclesiastical authorities are allowed to appeal against
the Government decision to the Minister of Public
Worship, the highest Court of appeal. Clause 5 enacts
that the Holy Sacraments can be administered by mis-
sionary priests in all vacant parishes, as well as in
those in which the priests have been forbidden to
conduct religious services, under the May Laws. Clause
6 repeals all former legislation which is contrary to the
above five clauses. The bill, as .remodelled in com-
mittee, was passed, on the third reading, in the Lower
Prussian Chamber, by 224 votes against 107, being a
majority of over two-thirds. In other respects, too,
the operation of the May Laws was mitigated, even
where they had not been altered.
So inconvenient had the attitude of the Centre party
1 This is the celebrated Anzeigepflicht, or " notification-duty," which
will be referred to further on.
404
THE CHAIR OF PETER.
proved to the Government, that in the year 1879, Prince
Bismarck opened negotiations with the Vatican, through
the Papal nuncios at Munich and Vienna ; but without
any agreement being arrived at. Prussia urged that
the Holy See should declare its approval of the May
Laws. This the Vatican refused ; but it expressed its
willingness to discilss those laws seriatim, and to make
some concessions, while it insisted on the reservation
to the Bishops of the right to nominate parish priests ;
the amnesty and restoration of the Bishops and priests
in exile ; and an assurance that the Prussian Govern-
ment would make its legislation comformable to the
principles of the Catholic Church, which require the
free exercise of the sacred ministry, the education of
the Catholic clergy, and the religious instruction of
Catholic children.^
Notwithstanding these and subsequent negotiations,
the Catholics of Prussia still suffered under several
heavy grievances. What those grievances were will be
seen in the following Syllabus drawn up by the Com-
mittee of the Catholic Union of Ehineland, and sub-
mitted to the Congress of that Union, in May 1884: —
1. The Archbishops of Cologne and Posen have been super-
seded, and the other prelates of Prussia remain liable to be super-
seded at any time.
2. Upwards of 1000 parishes are bereaved. In the archdiocese
of Cologne alone, as many as 300 are without priests.
3. In the archdiocese of Posen, the priests are still deprived
of their stipends.
4. All the seminaries for priests have been closed.
5. The Koyal Ecclesiastical Court continues to exist, as a
monument of the oppression of Catholics.
6. Priests are still liable to be turned out of the country, at
a minute's notice.
7. Most of the religious orders have been suppressed. The
few remaining are oppressed.
' Despatch of Cardinal Nina, Papal Secretary of State, dated
March Z3rd, 1880, and read by Cardinal Jacobinl to Prince von Renss,
in Vienna, on March zgtb.
THE KULTURKAMPF, AND CATHOLIC ORGANTZATION. 4OS
Still later, the actual condition of the Church in
Prussia is described as follows by the Episcopate, in
their reply to the letter of sympathy addressed to them
by the Prelates of the late Plenary Council of Baltimore,
on the persecution they endured. That reply, signed,
on behalf of his venerable brethren, by Paul, Archbishop
of Cologne, and dated March loth, 1885, says : —
" Unfortunately we are far from seeing the end of our afflic-
tions. Tlie chain of the May Laws, which fetters the rights and
the liberty of the Church, still weighs upon us ; our seminaries
and our monasteries still remain suppressed ; thousands of
parishes are still desolate or deprived of their pastors. The
Religious Orders and Congregations are still expelled and
banished from their native land. The discipline of the Church,
the discharge of the episcopal office, and the administration of
ecclesiastical property are subject, in many respects, to the
management and control of the Government, which claims^ more-
over, to manage the schools. Ecclesiastics and even priests are
bound to serve in the armj'. The Archbishops of Prussia still
languish in exile under a foreign sky. "We are thus deprived of
many precious graces, which, in the midst of the struggle and
the danger, we need, to aid us to preserve intact and inviolable
our unity and constancy to the end."
In addition to their united Parliamentary action, and
with a view to render that action still more effective,
because more thoroughly identified with popular feeling,
the Catholic party in Germany hold great annual meet-
ings, in which are discussed all topics, religious, civil,
economic, and political, bearing on Catholic interests ;
and, as might well be expected, the Catholic population
of every province of the German Empire is represented
in those great meetings.
Throughout their struggle, the German Catholics
have had the sympathy and cordial co-operation of a
great number of enlightened Protestants, themselves
sufferers by the kulturhampf. The following account of
the disastrous effect of such legislation on the Protestant
Church of Prussia, taken from one of the leading
German Protestant papers, the Beichsbote,^ contains a
1 October 1878.
4o6 THE CHAIB OF PETEE.
lesson well worthy of the attention of the statesmen of
every land : —
"The Evangelical Church, has suffered grievously from the
kultwkampf. . . . Indifference and hatred towards the Church
and Christianity have increased to an astounding degree, and
the uBchristianized masses of the humbler classes have ranked
themselves in tens of thousands in the army of social democracy.
As a result of the putting aside of the Church and of Christianity,
and of the impious doctrine that ' everything is nature,' -which
has been the outcome, immorality has increased, and the number
of crimes is being multiplied to au appalling extent."
Unhappily, it cannot be denied, that the fourteen
years' persecution of the Church in Prussia has operated
somewhat similarly, but, let us hope, not to so great an
extent, among the Catholic population.
In the continuous negotiations carried on between the
Cabinets of Berlin and the Vatican on the Ecclesiastical
question, there has been evinced, especially of late, a
commendable disposition, on the part of the former, to
meet the wishes of the Pope, who, on his side, has uni-
formly acted in a spirit of peace and conciliation, without
abating an iota of principle. In 1886, an important
Bill was passed by the Prussian Landtag, still further
amending the May Laws. But the Bill of April 29th,
1887, completed the work, and practically closed the
Kulturkampf. The leading features of this Bill, taken
in conjunction with previous legislative enactments,
are : the freedom of Bishops in the government of their
dioceses; the re-opening of ecclesiastical seminaries;
and the re-admission of Eeligious orders and con-
gregations.
The compulsion of Bishops by the State to make
immediate permanent appointments to vacant clerical
offices is repealed. With the Pope's acquiescence, the
Anzeigepflicht, or 'notification-duty,' in its amended
form, continues.^ Kext, the Government veto on a
clerical appointment must be based on the fact of the
1 Anzeigepflicht. Vide-supra, page 403.
THE KULTUEKAMPF, AND CATHOLIC OEGANIZATION. 407
person's civil or political unfitness for the office ; and
this fact must be clearly stated by the Government.
The penal clauses against the celebration of Mass and
the administration of the Sacraments, under certain cir-
cumstances, enacted in the Laws of May i ith, 1873, and
May 2 1st, 1874, are repealed, as regards alike the secular
and the regular clergy recognized in the Kingdom of
Prussia.
The Bishops of Osnaburg and Limburg are authorized
to erect and support Ecclesiastical Seminaries in their
dioceses.
The Eeligious orders and congregations admitted are
those whose members devote themselves (a) to assisting
in the cure of souls, (&) to works of Christian charity,
(c) to the instruction and education of female youth in
higher schools for girls, and similar educational estab-
lishments, and {d) to leading a contemplative life.
By clause 3 of article v., these orders and congrega-
tions are permitted to train missionaries for foreign
service, and to erect establishments for this purpose.
By clause 4, the property of the dissolved communities,
taken preserved and managed by the State, will be
given back to them on their restoration, as soon as they
possess corporate rights, and have legally undertaken
the maintenance of the members.
This final Bill, 'The May Laws Amendment and
Eepeal Act of 1887,' was submitted to the Pope by the
Prussian Minister, and approved of by His Holiness,
before its introduction in the Landtag. It was strongly
supported by Prince Bismarck, who, on the opposition
objecting to the interference of the Pope, " a foreigner,"
in the affairs of Germany, emphatically remarked that
there might be two opinions as to the Pope being a
foreigner, but " if this foreigner likes to be our friend
he will be a very welcome one."
The Centre party were by no means satisfied with
the enactment, which fell considerably short of their
demand that the Church should be entirely free from
40 8 THK CHAIR OF PETEE.
restrictions, as slie was before the introduction of the
May Laws. However, in deference to the wish of the
Holy rather, communicated to them by the Cardinal
Secretary of State, through the Nuncio at Munich, they
supported the Bill as it stood ; and it passed the third
reading in the Landtag, on April 27th, 1887, by 243
votes to 100.
About a month previously, the Centre displayed an
exemplary degree of respect for the Pope's views on
the Septennate or Seven Years' Army Bill, which they
regarded as a purely secular question. They had
decided to vote for a three years' term of service in
preference; but, on its being intimated to them that
the Holy Father was desirous that they should not
oppose the Government, as he would thus have a return
made to the Emperor and his Ministers for their favour-
able Ecclesiastical legislation, and, moreover, as he con-
sidered the Septennate essential to the peace of Europe,
they dutifully withdrew their opposition, and the Bill
was passed in the Eeichstag, by an overwhelming
majority.
In his Allocution of May 23rd, 1887, the Pope ex-
presses his great joy and gratitude to God, " the Consoler
and Defender of the Church," for the termination of
this violent conflict, "so sad for the Church and so
useless to the State." He highly eulogizes the services
of the German Bishops, and also of the Catholic
Deputies, " those men so constant in defence of the best
of causes, from whose united and persevering action
the Church has gathered so much fruit, and expects
more in the future." The Holy Father next observes : —
" If there are yet other things wliich the Catholics, not without
reason, still desire, We must bear in mind all that We have
already obtained. Foremost is the fact that the power of the-
Roman Pontiff in the government of the affairs of Catholics is
no longer looked upon as foreign in Prussia, and that it has been
established that henceforth this power can be exercised without
hindrance. You understand, Venerable Brothers, that it is no
slight thing that the Bishops should now be free to administer
THE KULTURKAMPF, AND CATHOLIC OEGANIZATION. 409
their dioceses, that seminaries for the education of the clergy
should now be re-opened, and that many of the religious orders
should be recalled from exile. With regard to other things still
to be done, "We shall continue Our efforts, and taking into con-
sideration the good -will of the august Sovereign and the disposi-
tion of his ministers, We wish all Catholics to be of good heart
and full of hope, as We Ourselves are, that even better things
will follow.
He further rejoices that, " not only in Prussia but in
other parts of Germany also-, a fairer view of Catholic
rights and interests is being taken ; " and he specially
alludes to the fact, that quite recently "the Grand
Duke of Hesse Darmstadt has sent Us an envoy with a
view of modifying the laws of his principality in respect
to the liberty of the Church."
It is unnecessary to dwell here on how much this
happy change is due to the untiring solicitude, tact, and
prudence of the Holy Father himself.
Let us hope that, sustained by the influence and
blessing of the Holy See, the subjects of other Conti-
nental States, especially Catholic France and Catholic
Italy, will, in the exercise of their constitutional rights,
emulate the course so nobly and so successfully pursued
by a Catholic minority in Fatherland.^
^ The success of Belgium in this respect, and the satisfactory results
of united Catholic action in the Municipal elections in Home and
other cities of Italy, are fully referred to in. the concluding chapter. In
Holland, the Catholic members, heretofore divided, have now resolved
to unite in one compact body, and, combining vi^ith the Kight or
Conservative party, they will constitute a majority in the Lower House,
Bavaria is also organizing a Centre party.
CHAPTEE XXX.
THE AET OF PRINTING AND THE BIBLE BEFORE THE
EEFOEMATION.
Here, it will not be out of place to refer to the off-hand
assertions of certain Protestant writers, that, for the
great activity and extension of the newly invented art
of Printing, the world was mainly indebted to the
Eeformation, and that Luther was the first to give the
Bible, in their own language, to the people.
We have seen that it was on the loth of December
1520 that Luther publicly burned the Pope's Bull at
Wittenberg, and that he completed his German version
of the New Testament in 1522, and of the Old Testa-
ment in 1 5 30. The art of Printing was invented, some
seventy-five years before, by John Gutenberg at Mentz,
and was rapidly perfected by him, in conjunction with
John Fust and Peter Schoeffer,^ Fust's son-in law. The
three partners appear to have contributed, each his own
share, to the completion of the invention. Gutenberg's
first attempt, about a.d. 1440, was cutting out type
from blocks of wood. Schoeffer, ere long, invented the
casting of metal type and punches, and also the manu-
facture of printer's ink ; and Fust, a goldsmith of con-
siderable wealth and great skill in working metals,
effectively co-operated by his means and experience.
They published three editions of Donatus, said to have
been the first books printed entirely with movable
type, probably in 1450 ; and, five years later, bearing
^ Sometimes written " Schoiffer."
THE ART OF PRINTING AND THE BIBLE. 4 1 I
the date of 1455, Litterce Indulgentim Nicolai V. Pont.
Max., simply one page. About the same time, they
brought out the celebrated Mazarin Bible, BiUia Sacra
Latina, in two volumes folio.
Pust and Schceffer separated from Gutenberg in 1455,
and continued their work, in partnership, at Mentz,
publishing several books, in their joint names, for
eleven years.^ Amongst these was the Psalter of 14S7,
Psalmorum Codex, printed in large type of three-eighths
of an inch high, beautifully executed, the capitals being
finished in three colours, blue, red, and purple, in the
style of cameos. It is the first book which bears the
printer's name, with the date and place of printing. A
second edition followed in 1459, in the same type. On
the 1 6th of October 1459, they published one of their
most remarkable works, with' a new fount of type and
all their improvements, Durandi Eationcde Divinorum
OJiciorum, and, in 1462, their second Latin Bible, the
first edition of the Bible published with a date, two
volumes folio, a justly admired example of their art.^
^ There are no books extant, in -which Gutenberg's name appears
conjointly with those of Fust and Schoeffer. In the earliest printed
books, the name, and the date and place of printing, are, as a rule,
omitted'; but occasionally they appear at the end of the book. The
character was invariably Gothic until the year 1467,, when Roman
letters were first introduced. At the beginning of sentences, blanks
were left for the capitals, which were afterwards supplied by the
illuminator. There were also several contractions of words. The
only points used were the colon and full stop ; and sometimes only
vertical strokes at the end of sentences.
^ The high value set upon these splendid specimens of early typo-
graphy has been recently exemplified at the Syston Park Library sale,
which took place in London, in December 1884. Among the books
sold was a copy of the Mazarin Bible, above referred to, and described
in the catalogue as follows : — " Biblia Sacra Latina e Versione et cum
Praefatione S. Hieronymi, two vols., the first edition of the Bible, and
the earliest book printed with metal types, by the inventors of printing,
splendidly bound in blue morocco, a magnificent copy folio. Sine
Nota, sed Moguntise, per J. Gutenberg et J. Fust, circa, 1450-55.
This excessively rare edition, of which a copy sold in the Perkins sale
for ;^z6go, has been designated the Mazarin Bible ever since the dis-
covery by Debure of a copy in the library of Cardinal Mazarin. It is
printed in double columns, in large letters similar to those used by
412 THE CHAIB OF PETER.
Fust died in Paris in July 1466, a victim of the
plague, which in August and September of that year,
carried off several thousands of the inhabitants of the
capital. Schceffer survived his partner and father-in-
law thirty-six years, having published a great number
of books up to his death in 1502, Meanwhile the art
had been carried on and widely diffused by many other
master printers, in various cities and countries, as we
shall presently see.
Well indeed may the Germans be proud of the
invention of this justly styled "almost divine art:"
and equally are they entitled to the world's admira-
tion and gratitude for its immediate wide diffusion.
The account of their wondrous activity and energy in
developing their great invention is best given by one
of themselves, Doctor Janssen of our day, to whose
standard work, " The History of the German Nations
from the end of the Middle Ages," ^ I am indebted for
the interesting and valuable facts and figures which
follow in this chapter.
On the conquest of Mentz by its Archbishop Count
Adolphus of Nassau, in 1462, the new invention, ere
long, became widely dispersed. In what may be called
the infancy of the art, Mentz numbered five printing
of&ces, Ulm six, Basle sixteen, Augsburg twenty, and
Cologne twenty-one. From the year 1470, the cele-
scribes for church missals and choral books, and for firmness of paper,
brightness of ink, and exact uniformity of impression, it has never been
surpassed by any other work," This remarkable book was sold for the
unexampled sum of ;^3900. Still more wonderful was the amount
subsequently obtained for a copy of the Psalter of Fust and SchceSer,
PicUmorum Codex, folio, also above described, the edition of 1459 —
namely £^g^o. Another Bible by the same printers, Biblia Sacra
LaHma, Moguntise 1462, two volumes folio, beautifully printed on
vellum, also mentioned in the text, sold for ;^iooo.
1 " Geschichte des Deutschen Volkes seit dem Ausgang des Mittel-
alters." Von Johannes Janssen. Freiburg im Breisgau 1883-1886,
5 volumes 8vo. The learned author's masterly refutation of the hereto-
fore too prevalent opinion, with regard to the alleged neglect of educa-
tion and the barbarous state of the people before the time of Luther,
has rendered invaluable service to the Catholic cause.
THE ART OF PRINTING AND THE BIBLE. 4 1 3
Tarated Antony Koburger •worked no less than twenty-
four presses in Nurenberg, and he had establishments
also in Basle, Strasbourg, and Lyons. Hans Shonsperger
in Augsburg, and John Amerbach, Wolfgang Lachner,
and John Froben, master printers in Basle, were no less
active than Koburger. In 147 1, Conrad Schweynheim
began to print maps from metal plates ; and in 1482
he initiated the printing of architectural and mathe-
matical figures; and Erhard Oeglin invented the
printing of music with movable type, about the same
time.^
The att was extended to Subiaco and Eome by
Schweynheim and Pannartz, in 1465 ; to Venice in 1469 ;
to Milan, the same year ; and to Siena, Foligno, Perugia,
Florence, Modena, Ascoli, Urbino, Naples, Messina,
and Palermo, all by German printers, about the same
date. At the close 9f the fifteenth century, Italy
numbered over one hundred master printers. At that
date Spain had over thirty, all Germans; and there
were some in Portugal also.^
The art of printing was planted in Buda in 1473 ;
in London in 1474, by William Caxton ; ^ in Oxford
^ Janssen, "Geschichte des Deutschen Volkes," vol. i., pp. lo, II.
' Ibid. i. II.
' William Caxton was born in Kent in 1412, his father being a wool
merchant. He was apprenticed to a mercer ; and he resided in . the
Netherlands for several years, as agent of the London Mercers' Com-
pany. In 1464, he visited the Low Countries again, as one of the
Deputies of Edward IV., to Philip, Duke of Burgundy, with reference
to a commercial treaty ; and, on the occasion of the marriage of the
King's sister Margaret with Charles Duke of Burgundy, he went over
as a member of the princess's household. When on the Continent,
Caxton translated from the French, the " Kecuyell of the Historyes of
Troye by Raoul le Teure," which he printed at Strasbourg. From
that city he removed to England, and established his press at West-
minster. Here he published the first book printed in England, the
Game of Chess, bearing date 1474. He published altogether sixty-
two works. He died in 1491, in his eightieth year. When removing
from the Continent, he brought over with him Wynkyn de Worde, a
native of Lorraine, who acted as his foreman, and became his successor.
De Worde was a very enterprising and energetic printer, and published
a great many works. He died in 1534. Theodprie Rood, the first
414 THE CHAm OF PETER.
in 1478, by Theodoric Eood; in Denmark in 1482;
in Stockholm in 1483; in Moravia in i486; and in
Constantinople in 1490.
The Church took an active and enlightened part in
promoting and encouraging the new invention ; for the
clergy regarded it as a powerful agent in advancing
missionary activity, and extending the faith, and along
with this, all science and education. The Brothers of
Common Life at Eostock, in one of the first publications
of their printing press, A.D. 1476, call Printing "the
mistress of all arts for the good of the Church ; " and
they style themselves " priests who preach not only by
word of mouth, but by the press." On every side, in
the monasteries, printing presses were established ; as,
for instance, in the Aargau monastery at Beromiinster,
in the year 1470; in the Benedictine monastery of
Saints Ulrich and Afra at Augsburg, in 1472; with
the Benedictines of Bamberg, in 1474; and those of
Blaubeuren, in 1475 ; with the Premonstratensians
of Schussenreid, in 1478 ; with the Austin Hermits of
Nurenberg, in 1479; and the Benedictines of Saint
Peter's of Erfurt, the same year.^
The Minorites and the Carthusians were the most
zealous helpers of Johann Amberbach at Basle; the
Doctors of Sorbonne, in the year 1470, introduced
the first printers into Paris, namely, " the Alemannic
Brethren/' Ulrich Gering, Martin Crantz, and Michael
Friburger, already mentioned, whom they cordially sup-
ported; and so, in like manner, was the art of printing
extended to Leipsic and Tiibingen, through the zeal of
ecclesiastics.^
In Italy, the German printers Conrad Schweynheim
and Arnold Pannartz found their first welcome from
the Benedictine Monks at Subiaco ; and, later on, they
continued their publications at Eome, under the direction
printer of Oxford, was another friend of Caxton's, and probably came
over from the Continent on his suggestion.
' Janssen, i. 13. s Ibid. i. 14.
THE ART OF PRINTING AND THE BIBLE. 4 1 5
of Bishop Giovanni Andrea d'Aleria, Librarian of Pope
Sixtus IV. The master printer Ulrich Hahn of lugol-
stadt was invited to Eome by Cardinal Turrecremata in
1466; as was George Lauer of Wiirzburg by Cardinal
Caraffa in 1469. In 1475, that is, forty ^five years before
the commencement of the Eeformation, Eome had
twenty printing establishments ; and up to the close of
the century there were published therein no less than
nine hundred and twenty-five works, chiefly through
the exertions of the clergy. Indeed, the principal
encouragers of the new art were ecclesiastics, who were
also the largest purchasers of books.^
Doctor Janssen gives interesting details of the early
days of German bookselling, which was a continuation
and extension of the manuscript traffic that had long
been growing, and at the time of the invention of
printing had attained considerable development. Be-
sides the transcribers in the monasteries, there was a
numerous class of copyists in the large towns, who,
laboured not alone for the learned, but for the general
wants of the people. The books were sold by itinerant
dealers, who had previouly distributed their catalogues.
After the invention of typography, bookselling followed
in the same course, and so rapidly increased and
flourished, that towards the end of the century, or five
and twenty years before the commencement of the
Eeformation, it embraced the whole of civilized Europe.
It was at the fair of Frankfort that booksellers prin-
cipally met and exchanged their works. This great
fair had attained large proportions in this traffic in the
year 1510.^
Peter Schceffer, Gutenberg's early associate, established
a book store in Paris as early as the year 1475. The
Koburgers of Nurenberg also opened a house in Paris ;
and in the year 1500 they had sixteen shops for their
flourishing book trade in Hungary, the Netherlands,
' Janssen, i. 14. ^ Ibid. i. 15.
4l6 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
Italy, especially Venice, Poland, and other countries.
In the classic publications of the Italian presses,
Koburger rivalled the Froben Lachner firm, whose
waggon-loads of classics of the best Aldine editions,
from Venice,^ were so eagerly sought after, as some-
times to cause a scufSe amongst the anxious crowd of
purchasers. Franz Birkmann of Cologne was no less
energetic in pushing an active trade in Germany,
France, the Netherlands, and especially in England.^
Among the productions of the Press, above referred
to, the Bible took the first place in Germany, and, for
over a century, occupied more than any other work
the printers of Europe. Down to the year 1 500, the
Vulgate was printed over one hundred times. The
Latin Bible, brought out by Fust and Schceffer in 1462,
was followed by Koburger's German Bible of 1483, a
fine work, furnished with more than one hundred wood
engravings by Michael Wolgemut. Of this work, down
to the end of the century, there followed fifteen editions
1 Aldine Editions. Aldo Pio Manuzio (Latinized Aldus Pius
Mamitiui) was born at Bassiano, a village in the Duchy of Sermoneta
in the Papal States, in 1447. In 1488 he settled in Venice, where he
lectured on the Greek and Latin languages, and opened a printing
office. In 1494, he published his first book, a poem, ffero and Leandcr,
and, soon afterwards, several other works, including his much-praised
edition of Aristotle. Down to his time, books were generally pub-
lished in the large folio size ; but he struck out a new course, by
printing the classics in a smaller and more convenient form, and in a
new writing-like type which he devised, known as the Aldine or Italic.
In this work he was aided by several literary friends, including Eras-
mus, and with these he formed the Aldine Academy. His first publi-
cation in this style was a Virgil, Venice, 1501. The early Aldine
classics are highly prized by book collectors. The reader will have
noticed the press-mark in their title pages — a dolphin coiled round an
anchor. Aldus was about to publish the Bible in three languages,
when he died, A.D. 1515. His son Paolo, bom in Venice in 1512, was
summoned to Rome by Pope Pius IV., in 1 561, to establish and direct
the Papal printing office. He left several learned works. He died in
Rome in 1574 ; and was succeeded in the direction of the Apostolic press
by his son Aldus junior, who was born in Venice in 1547. The latter
was a distinguished scholar and author, and was in every way worthy
of his father and grandfather. He died in Rome in 1597.
^ Janssen, i. 16.
THE ART OF PRINTING AND THE BIBLE. 417
from the same publishers, and nine editions from the
Amerbach press at Basle, in the years 1479-1489.^
Besides the several translations of the whole Bible
before the Eeformation, there were versions of books of
the Old and New Testaments, in themselves, printed
in great numbers. Of these, there can be mentioned,
in our day, eleven German editions of the Psalms down
to the year 1513, and twenty-five editions of the Gos-
pels and Epistles down to 1518; and, down to the
commencement of the Lutheran secession, there are
known, at least, fourteen complete Bibles in High
German, and five in Low German. Among the former,
are the beautiful Augsburg editions of 1477, 1480, 1487,
1490, 1507 and 1518, and those of Nurenberg of 1483,
and of Strasbourg of 1485. The quick succession of
impressions, and the circumstantial testimony of cotem-
poraries, quoted by Doctor Janssen, conclusively estab-
lish the fact, that the German translations of the Bible
spread far among the people.^
Thus it will be seen how different from the real
state of affairs are the possibly unintentional misrepre-
sentations of certain uninformed non-catholic writers,
as to the Bible having been withheld from the people
before the days of Luther. That the whole Bible
should not be given indiscriminately and without
interpretation to the ignorant and the young, is and
has ever been the rule of the Church — a rule based on
the principle that the Scriptures are to be interpreted,
not by each individual reader or hearer, but by the
infallible Church. On the other hand, the Protestant
doctrine is, that each person is entitled to interpret the
Scriptures for hiipself, the evils of which system, as we
have already seen in these pages, have been deplored
by several learned Protestants.
After ecclesiastical subjects, the publishers next
devoted their labours to the printing of the old classics.
' Janssen, i. 17. ' Ibid. i. 51-54.
2 D
A I 8 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Besides those above named, Gottfried Hittorp of
Cologne, and the brothers Leonhard and Lucas Alantree
of Vienna are especially deserving of honourable men-
tion in this department. Prayer books, catechisms,
popular works, and books of natural and medical science,
all chiefly composed by the clergy, were also printed
and sold in large numbers.?- _
Prom the multiplication of works at the time, that
is, down to the year 1 500, we can form an idea of the
avidity with which books were received and read.
Generally each edition was of 1000 copies. Of the
Bible, there were over one hundred editions: of the
writings of Jacob Wimpheling, for the instruction of
youth, there were thirty editions in twenty-five years :
and, down to the year 1500, there were no less than
fifty-nine editions of " The Imitation of Christ." 2 ^
The great energy and success with which the primary
and intermediate schools and the universities were
conducted in Germany, mainly through, and with the
co-operation of, the clergy, notwithstanding the tepidity
of some of the prince-bishops, are fully detailed by
Doctor Janssen. The evidence on this subject, ad-
1 Janssen, i. l8.
2 Ibid, i 19. The authorship of this universally prized book, "I)e
Imitatione Christi," according to Fontenelle, "The most excellent book
ever produced by man, the Holy Scriptures being of Divine origin," is,
and has long been, a subject of controversy. By some it is ascribed to
John Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris, about A.D. 1400,
and by others, again, to John Gersen, a Benedictine Abbot at Vercelli,
who lived in the thirteenth century ; but it is most generally regarded
as the work of Thomas a Kempis, of whose life the following brief par-
ticulars may be given here. Thomas Hammerlein or Hiimmerchen
(Latinized Malleoliis) was bom, of poor parents, in the village of Kempen,
near Dusseldorf, in 1380. He first studied under the Brothers of
Common Life at Derventer ; and afterwards he entered the monastery
of the Canons Regular of Mount Saint Agnes, near Zwoll in Overyssel.
Here he was ordained priest in 141 3. He gave the greatest edification
to the whole community by his sweetness of disposition and holy life.
His principal employment was copying manuscripts, especially th^
Bible. He wrote several works of piety, of which the best edition is
considered that of Sommalius the Jesuit ; Antwerp, 3 vols. 8°., 1600
and 1615. He died in 1471, aged ninety-one.
THE ART OF PRINTING AND THE BIBLE. 4 I 9
duced by him, presents a powerful array of facts,
which disprove the assertion that, before the d'ays of
Luther, the wants of the people in this regard were but
ill attended to; and it further reminds us that, in
investigating questions of this kind, we must be on
our guard against vague general assertions, unsupported
by specific facts, and unauthenticated by reliable
autliorities.
CHAPTEE XXXI.
PIUS VI.
" Nemo est in mundo sine aliqua tribulations vel anguatia, quamvia
Bex sit vel Papa." — Thomas k Kbmpis.
When France was visited by the fatal Eevolution,
which eventually overturned alike the altar and the
throne, necessarily violent and fundamental changes
were to be expected in the Ecclesiastical affairs of the
country. At first, the National Assembly decreed, that
all Church property should be sequestered, as it be-
longed to the State — subject, however, to the expenses
of Divine worship, the maintenance of its ministers, and
the relief of the poor.^ In lieu of tithes, now abolished,
and the vast property in Church lands taken possession
of by the State, small stipends were fixed for the sup-
port of the clergy, whose numbers were computed at
over 100,000. The scale of payment, it need hardly be
observed, was extremely low,^ and, consequently, a very
large balance accrued to the national exchequer.
Every chapter in the kingdom protested against the
alienation of the property of the Church; but their
protests were as unavailing as the passing wind.
Next followed the enactment of " the Civil Constitu-
tion of the clergy." ^ By this law it was decreed, that
' December 19, 1789.
' The stipend set down for a curS, or parish priest, was from izcxD to
2000 livres (;£'48 to ;£So) a year, according to the population of the
parish ; and for a vicaire or curate, 7CX) livres {£28) ; with the use of
a house and garden for both,
" July 12, 1790.
PTUS VI. 421
promotions to all Ecclesiastical benefices should no
longer take place according to the provisions of the
existing Concordat with Eome, but that they should be
elective, the bishops and priests being chosen by the
Departmental electoral assemblies, without any refer-
ence to the Pope — not only every sect of Christians, but
even Jews and Infidels, being entitled to vote on the
occasion. The episcopal sees were reduced from one
hundred and thirty-six to eighty-three, being a bishop-
ric for each of the new departments into which France
was divided; religious orders were abolished; the
Pope's confirmation of appointments of Bishops was
interdicted; but it was provided that new Bishops
might, as a simple matter of courtesy, inform the Holy
Father, by letter, of their appointment ; the reception
of a Papal bull or brief, unauthorized by Government,
was made a criminal offence ; and all the clergy were
required to take the oath to observe this constitution,
under pain of forfeiture of their offices and of the
emoluments attached thereto. Only four bishops, out of
one hundred and thirty-six, and a very small minority
of the priests, gave in their adhesion to the new law,
which was rejected by the great majority, who preferred
exile and poverty to the sacrifice of their sacred obli-
gations.^ Several of the nonjuring priests, however,
remained in France, secretly ministering to the faithful,
at the risk of their lives.^ In the course of the follow-
ing year, many hundreds of these devoted men were
massacred in Paris, Meaux, Ch§,lons, Lyons, and other
cities, with circumstances of revolting cruelty.
Pius VI.,^ who then governed the Church, issued
^ The four bishops who acted so unworthily were Lomfaie de
Brienne, Archbishop of Sens ; Jarente, Bishop of Orleans ; Savines,
Bishop of Viviers ; and the celebrated Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun.
^ Those who took the oath to observe the Civil Constitution of the
Clergy were called Assermentds, or Jurors, and those who refused to
take it were styled Inserment^s, or Nonjurors.
' Pope Pius VI., John Angelo Braschi, was born at Ceseno in 1717.
He governed the. Church a.d. I77S-I799- He expended very large
422 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
monitory letters, and a brief, against this flagrant vio-
lation of the rights and jurisdiction of the Apostolic
See. In these documents, he emphatically condemned
the " Civil Constitution of the Clergy," severely censur-
ing the ecclesiastics who had given in their adhesion to
it, and highly commending those (the great majority) by
whom it had been rejected.^ The intrepid bearing and
decisive action of the Holy Father in this crisis had
considerable effect in the provinces of France, and
caused much disappointment and annoyance to the
revolutionary party in the capital. It was intimated to
him, that, if he expected to be allowed to remain in
peaceful possession of his territories, he should at once
revoke his edicts, aiid accept the Civil Constitution.
To this he firmly replied, that as Vicar of Christ he
could not be false to his trust. " I have prayed to
God," said he, " for aid and ligtt, and inspired, as I
believe I am, by the Holy Spirit, I refuse to accede to
these conditions." The French Directory appeared to
acquiesce. Their hands were full. They had more
than enough to occupy them in other quarters. Their
quarrel with the Pope could be adjourned.
Meanwhile, anarchy and infidelity swept over France
with resistless force. The King, the Queen, and other
membetS of the Eoykl family, were ruthlessly mur-
dered,^ together with a vast multitude of the friends
eums on the drainage of the Pontine marshes and othel- improvements.
This Pope was distinguished for learning, piety, prudence, and sublime
resignation under affliction. He suffered from the hostility of Joseph
II., Emperor of Germany, and of Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, as
well as from the wrongs and outrages inflicted by revolutionAry Prance.
' April, 1 79 1.
" Louis XVI. was guillotined on the 2 1st of January, 1793. This
amiable J)ut most unfortunate prince was attended in his last moments
by the Abbd Edgeworth, who, on the fatal axe descending, uttered
the sublime words, "Pils de Saint Louis, moutez au ciel." Marie
Antoinette was executed on the l6th of October following, the in-
famous Duke of Orleans, " Egalit^," shortly afterwards, and the King's
sister, thel'rinceBs Elizabeths on the loth of May, 1794. On the 8th
of June, 1795, the youthful Dauphin, Louis XVII., died in the prison
of the Temple, the victim of cruelty and neglect.
PIUS VI. 423
of religion and social order, of every condition of life ; ^
Christianity was proscribed; the Sabbath was abolished;
the National Convention decreed, that the only deities
in France should be Liberty, Equality, and Eeason ;
the Churches were desecrated ; the sacred vessels were
polluted, and carried off by profane hands ; holy pic-
tures and statues were destroyed; the church bells
ceased to toll ; the pulpits were deserted ; the adminis-
tration of the sacraments ceased ; and the doctrine was
promulgated, that " there is no God," and that " death
is an eternal sleep." For over seven years, this sad
state of affairs continued — ^rlamely, from the decree
of the Convention, abolishing Christianity, 7th of
November, 1793, to the re-establishment of religion by
Napoleon, then First Consul, in 1801, and his Con-
cordat with the Pope, the same year.
In the month of June, 1796, having disposed of
more pressing affairs. General Bonaparte, with his
victorious army, entered the Papal States, taking pos-
session of Ferrara, Bologna, and Urbino. The Pope,
completely at his mercy; immediately entered into
negotiations with the conqueror, for a cessation of hos-
tilities. Bonaparte, having surmounted every obstacle,
thus far, in his career of universal conquest, and acting
on the principle of might constituting right, dictated
the following most onerous and humiliating terms,
which the Holy Father had no choice but to accept.
In consideration of an armistice, the Pope was to cede
' The following particulars are given by Prudhomme, in "Les
Victimea de la K^volution." There were guillotined, under the sen-
tences of the Tribunals, 2028 of the nobility of both sexes, 1467 wives
of workmen, 1135 priests, 350 nuns, and 13,623 of the humbler classes ;
being a total of 18,603. To these must be added 3748 women who died
in premature labour or from g*ief ; the 32,000 victims of the inhuman
monster Carrier at Nantes, comprising 1400 nobles, and 5300 artisans
dtowued, 300 priests shot and 460 drowned, 500 children shot and 15012
drowned, and 264 women shot and 500 drowned ; 3 1,000 killed at Lyons ;
and 900,000 rnen, 15,000 women, and 22,000 children, slaughtered in
La Vendee, where so gallant a stand was made in behalf of religion
and order. Thus the number of victims amounts to 1,022,351 !
424
THE CHAIR OF PETER.
to the French the cities of which they had taken
possession, as well as Ancona, which would give them
the command of the Adriatic ; to pay them twenty-one
millions of livres (:^87S,ooo), besides the contributions
to be levied on the cities they had taken ; to set at
liberty all political prisoners ; to separate himself from
his former allies, and to close his ports against them ;
and to deliver up to his conquerors one hundred pic-
tures, busts, vases, and statues, and two hundred manu-
scripts— all to be selected, from the treasures of his
capital, by commissioners, who were to be sent from
Paris to Eome for the purpose.
Of these conditions, alike ruinous and unjust, Pius
naturally deferred the fulfilment, as long as the for-
tunes of war were undecided between the French and
Imperial armies. This the French general saw with
indignation; and, having completely subdued the
Austrians in Northern Italy, he decided once again to
invade the States of the Church, with the avowed
object of punishing the Pope for his temporizing policy.
Early in February, 1797, the French entered the
Eomagna; dispersed the Papal troops, capturing one
thousand prisoners and aU their cannon, and took
possession of Imola, Faenza, Eavenna, Forli, Cesena,
Urbino, and Ancona ; thus becoming masters of the
entire tract from the Apennines to the Gulf of Venice.
On the 1 2th of February the Pope dispatched Cardinal
Mattel and other plenipotentiaries, to negotiate a treaty
of peace. That treaty, dictated by Bonaparte, was
signed on the 19th, at Tolentino ; and its conditions
were still more disastrous and humiliating than those
of the armistice of the previous year. The Pope was
compelled to cede to the French the provinces of Bologna,
Ferrara, and Eavenna, and further to formally confirm
to them Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin, of which
they had already taken possession ; ^ to pay fifteen
* As decreed by the National Assembly, September 14, 1791.
PIUS VI. 425
millions of livres (;£'62S,ooo), besides the twenty-one
millions to be paid according to the terms of the
armistice, and a further sum of three hundred thousand
francs, compensation to the family of Basseville, the
French ambassador, murdered a short time previously
by a riotous mob in Eome ; to leave the French in pos-
session of Ancona, and the provinces of Macerata,
Umbria, Perugia, and Camerino, until the entire thirty-
six millions of livres should be paid ; and to confirm
the articles as to the release of the political prisoners,
ftnd the transfer of pictures, works of sculpture, and
manuscripts, to the French Eepublic.
Not content with these concessions iniquitously
wrung from a helpless and unoffending State, the
French Directory now resolved, that the temporal
sovereignty of the Popes should cease to exist. Already
French revolutionary and atheistical principles had
been widely disseminated in Italy and in Eome itself.
Thus, unhappily, was the way prepared. Towards the
close of the year 1797, Joseph Bonaparte was sent
ambassador from the French Eepublic to the Pope.
Immediately on his arrival, he demanded the liberation
of all political prisoners, a reduction in the numbers of
the Papal army, the expulsion of all French refugees,
and the dismissal of the Austrian general, Provera,
from the Pope's service. Although maintaining an
appearance of modera,tion, he seems, from the com-
mencement, to have favoured the revolutionary party.
His' residence, the Corsini palace, and its enclosure,
were entirely outside the control of the Papal govern-
ment. Here the disaffected used to assemble, wearing
the tricolour cockade, and, issuing forth, used to erect
poles, surmounted by the cap of liberty, in various
quarters of the city.
On the 28th of December a large body of insurgents
assembled in front of the Corsini palace; and, after
listening for some time to the iniiammatory addresses
of violent demagogues, they attacked the Pontifical
426 THE CHAIR OF TETEK.
troops, who were sent to disperse them. Joseph Bona-
parte, General Duphot, and other French officers came
out of the palace to preserve peace, when Duphot was
accidentally shot by a suh-officer of the Papal Guards.
This unlucky occurrence gave their opportunity to the
French Directory. Their ambassador was withdrawn.
No explanation would be listened to. The French
army, under Berthier, marched on Eome. By the
Pontiff's orders, no resistance was offered to their
advance. They entered the city, and immediately took
possession of the Castle of Saint Angelo, liberating all
the prisoners, and thus adding to the revolutionary
elements abroad. Under the protection of the French
flag, the populace assembled in great numbers in the
Campo Vaccino, on the 15 th of February, 1798, and
there, planting the tree of liberty, proclaimed the
Roman Eepublic. The same day Berthier marched, in
military pomp, to the Capitol; and, not only by his
presence and countenance, sanctioned these proceedings,
but further participated in them, by delivering the
following inflated address : —
Shades of Oato, of Pompey, of Brutus, of Cicero, and of Hor-
tensius, accept the homage of the emancipated French, in the
Capitol, where you have so often defended the rights of the people,
and added new glories to the Roman Republic.
The descendants of the Gauls, bearing olive branches, now
repair to this august spot, to restore the altars of liberty erected
by the elder Brutus.
And you, Romans, who have recovered your legitimate rights,
remember the monuments of glory that surround you, resume
your pristine greatness, and emulate the virtues of your ancestors.
Thus was celebrated the anniversary of the Pope's
accession, in his own capital ! The Holy Father was,
at the time, engaged in his devotions in the Sistine
chapel, when Haller, the French Commissary General,
abruptly entered, and announced to him that his reign
was at an end. Several attempts were made to induce
him to flee: seemingly friendly advice, threats, even
PIUS VI. ' 427
insults, were resorted to, but all in vain. Then force
became necessary: the room in which he sat was
plUiidered in his presence ; the few trifling articles
required for his personal comfort were withdrawn •
even the Fisherman's ring was taken off his finger ; and
when the venerable Pontiff, then in his eighty-second
year, asked to be allowed to die where he was, he
received the curt and brutal answer that he could die
anywhere. On the 20th of February he was removed,
a prisoner from the Vatican, and, under an escort of
French cavalry, was compelled to travel towards France.
A fatiguing journey of five days brought him to Siena.
After a brief sojourn there, with the monks of Saint
Barbe, he was removed to the Chartreuse, about two
miles from Florence. Here he was visited by the exiled
King of Sardinia, Charles Emanuel IV.,^ and his
queen ; and, in reply to their expressions of condoleiice,
he rerharked: "In this world all is vanity. No one
can say so with more truth than we can. Yes, all is
vanity, but to love and serve God, the giver of every
good. Let us, then, raise our eyes toi Heaven, where
thrones are prepared for us, of which men cannot deprive
us." During his residence in this monastery, and
wherever else he sojourned on the route, his fortitude
and resignation commanded the sympathy of all — even
his captors.
Towards the end of March, an order arrived from the
Directory, that the Pope should be transported into
France. Crossing the Alps in very severe weather, he
suffered much from cold and fatigue. When this cir-
cumstance was deplored by his attendants, he observed,
" It is the will of God. Let us go wherever they please."
At Gap, Grenoble — every city, town, and hamlet on the
way- — the inhabitants crowded around him to obtain his
blessing, and to testify their profound sympathy and
veneration. Owing to the advanced years and broken
• Chades Emanuel IV. was dispossessed by the French of his
capital, Turin, and his continental dominions, in 1798.
428 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
health of the august prisoner, three months are said to
have been occupied in this dreary journey. Shortly
after his arrival at Valence, his destined place of deten-
tion, his over-tasked strength entirely gave way, and
the brief illness supervened which was to put a period
to all his earthly troubles. When administering the
holy viaticum, the officiating priest asked him if he
forgave all his enemies. "From the bottom of my
heart," was the reply ; and thus, with the most edifying
sentiments of resignation to God's will, and charity to
all mankind, on the 29th of August, 1799, he peacefully
yielded up his soul to the Divine Master, whom he had
so faithfully followed in the rugged path of suffering.^
After the deposition of Pius VI. from his temporal
throne, his spiritual authority continued to be exer-
cised by his vicar in Eome ; while the temporal govern-
ment devolved on a body of consuls, senators, tribunes,
questors, and other officials of the ancient classic model,
created under a new and cumbrous constitution, framed
in Paris for the occasion. Under this constitution it
was enacted, that the French General should have a
veto, for ten years, on all laws passed by the governing
body in Eome.
A natural consequence of this revolution was a wide-
spread system of confiscation and pill^e. All the
Papal domains, and the properties of religious com-
munities and of the Eoman nobles were sequestered ;
churches and palaces were plundered; paintings, statues,
and other objects of art — the accumulated treasures of
centuries — were home away by the invaders, or sold
by them to brokers, chiefly wealthy Jews, who, jackal-
like, followed in the track of spoliation. The total
amount of spoil thus gathered by the French, whether
in the shape of plunder, confiscations, or exactions,
is roughly estimated by cotemporary writers at two
' In 1802 the rf-mains of Pius VI. were removed from Valence to
Rome, and interred there, with great pomp, by his successor Pius VIL,
assisted by eighteen cardinals.
PIUS VI. 429
hundred millions of livres, or ;^ 8,500,000 of our
money.^
Meanwhile French revolutionary ideas were zealously
propagated in Italy ; a Jacobin Club was established in
Eome ; the Sabbath was declared abolished, the priest-
hood was proscribed ; and, in order to carry out the prin-
ciple of " equality," the Colonna, and other princes and
nobles, were compelled to serve as private soldiers in
the ranks.^
In the adjoining towns and hamlets, the work of
pillage was likewise carried on. In a few instances,
French soldiers were killed by the infuriated people ;
and the result was, that numbers of the peasantry were
massacred, in retaliation.
^ Such was the rapacity of the French, that they carried off thirty-
six sets of type, of the several characters of as many different languages,
from the great missionary coUege of tlie Propaganda. This was a wanton
act ; for, it need hardly be observed, these types could not be of any
nse whatever to the plunderers.
" After some time, substitutes, for payment, were permitted.
CHAPTER XXXII.
PIUS VII.
" Cum tot Bustineas et tanta negotia solus," — Hobace.
On the death of Pius VI., a prisoner and in exile,
there was great joy among the Infidel party in France ;
while in Protestant England, naturally enough, the
question was asked: "How can a successor to the
deceased Pontiff be elected ? The cardinals are dis-
persed ; Eome is in the hands of the spoiler ; close by
' the Threshold of the Apostles,' an altar of Liberty has
been set up ; the priesthood is annulled, the Sabbath
abolished. Has the Papacy ceased for ever to exist ? "
Even to many a sincere Catholic it appeared as if the
spirit of revolutionary France had permanently settled
down, in darkness and desolation, on the Eternal City ;
and, but for tlie Divine promise, it would have seemed
that the gates of hell had at length prevailed against
the Church.
But here, as on many a former occasion, when human
hope had well nigh become extinct, God's providence
intervened in behalf of His Church. Under the pro-
tection of Austria, the Sacred College assembled at
Venice, and there, on the 13th of March, 1800, elected
Cardinal Chiaramonti, who assumed the name of Pius
VII.i On the 3rd of July following, the new Pope
entered his capital, amidst the joyous acclamations of
^ Pius VII., Gregory Barnabas Chiaramonti, bom at Oeseno, in
1740, governed the Church from A.D. i8cx5 to 1823.
PIUS VII. 431
the people — the city having been restored to him by
the successes of the Austrians and Eussians, under
Suwarrow, against the forces of the French Eepublic.
Napoleon, now First Consul, plainly saw that the
experiment of Atheism in France was an utter failure.
Infidelity had had its trial, as a substitute for Chris-
tianity, and had miserably broken down. The worship
of the goddess of Eeason and other similar absurd pro-
fanities had no hold on the masses. The great heart
of the nation was far from altogether unsound. There-
fore he resolved to restore Catholic worship in France ;
it may have been not so much on account of his innate
love for religion as because he felt that his doing so
would be in accord with the sentiment of the great
majority of Frenchmen, and because, moreover, he had
learned from experience that good Christian men are
those most likely to make good citizens and good
subjects. Accordingly, on the 15th of July 1801, he
concluded a Concordat with the Pope, who was repre-
sented by his special delegate Cardinal Cousalvi, to the
effect, that the Government of the Eepublic acknow-
ledged the Catholic Apostolic and Eoman religion to
be the religion of the great majority of French citizens ;
and that the hierarchy was to be constituted of ten
archbishops and fifty bishops, who were to be nominated
.by the First Consul, and were afterwards to receive
canonical institution from the Pope, according to the
usage under the lately suppressed monarchy. To carry
out this arrangement, it was agreed upon that the Pope
should call upon the lawful bishops of the old dioceses
to resign their sees, in the interests of peace and unity ;
and that, before entering on office, the bishops should
take an oath of fidelity to the First Consul, who was
recognised by the Pope, as possessing the -same rights
and privileges as the late King ; and it was provided,
by articles 14 and 15, that the State should make a
suitable annual grant for the support of the bishops
and clergy ; and should facilitate the making of fresh
432 THE CHAIR pF PETER.
endowments by French Catholics, who desired to do so.
The Concordat was signed in Paris on the 1 6th of
July 1 80 1, and was ratified by the Pope on the 15th
of the following month. The pontiff further published
a bull, to the same effect, on the 29th of November.
It was with the deepest regret that Pius VII., bow-
ing to the necessities of an extraordinary emergency,
called upon all the canonically instituted bishops of
Prance, now in exile, to resign their sees, deposed those
who refused to do so, abolished the ancient dioceses,
and erected sixty new sees to replace them. Of the
eighty-one prelates then surviving, forty-four immedi-
ately obeyed the Holy Father, as did fourteen bishops
of new territories recently annexed to Prance ; but
thirty-seven refused to resign, and were deposed by
the Apostolical authority.^ Cardinal Caprara was sent
to Prance by the Pope to give canonical institution to
the new bishops.^
The Concordat was laid before the legislature by
Portalis, minister of ecclesiastical affairs, on behalf of
the Pirst Consul, on the Sth of April 1802, when,
without consultation of the Pope, several enactments,
called Organic Laws, were passed, to regulate details.
Of those enactments, the principal were : that no
' Ab regards the fifty-nine " Constitutional " bishops appointed by
the State, on its throwing off the Papal authority, the Pope could not
take cognizance of them. These had simply to retire, in obedience to
the civU power.
" The action of Pius VII., on the conclusion of the French Concordat
of 1801, affords, as observed by Dr. Dollinger, "the most conspicuous
instance of an extraordinary application of the highest Chiiroh power,
because the weal of the Church urgently required it." " With a stroke
of the pen (by his Bull of the 29th of November of the same year), he
deprived of their dignity thirty-seven French bishops who had refused
to resign. He, too, abolished all the Episcopal Churches for ever, with
their chapters and privileges ; and he erected, at the same time, ten
metropolitan sees and fifty bishoprics. A proceeding so unprecedented,
such an abolition of well-founded rights, was only to be justified by
the most extreme necessity — by the imperative duty of creating a new
system of order out of the deeply convulsed Church of France." (" The
Church and the Churches," p. 47.)
PIUS VII. 433
bull, brief, or other official document of the kind from
the Pope, should be received or acted on in France, with-
out permission of Government ; that bishops should be
amenable for misdemeanours to the Council of State ;
that professors in seminaries should teach the Four
Articles of the Declaration of the French clergy; that
no synod should be held in France without permission of
Government ; that parish priests should give the nuptial
benediction only to those who can prove that they have
been already married before a civil magistrate!
These enactments which materially altered the sub-
stance and spirit, of the Concordat agreed upon, were a
flagrant breach of good faith. Pius VII., in a secret
Consistory, on the 24th of May 1 802, protested against
them, observing that, in promulgating the Concordat,
the French Government had added several articles, of
which he had no knowledge whatever.^
On the promotion of Napoleon to the Empire by the
Senate, in 1804, Louis XVIII. issued a protest, at
Warsaw, against his assumption of a title and dignity,
. conferred on him by a body having no legal existence.
Louis further protested against all acts that followed
therefrom ; and he stated that, making this protest in
the presence of all the sovereigns of Europe, he acted
in their interests as well as his own. To meet this
move, by obtaining what had long been regarded as
the highest sanction and confirmation of the Imperial
dignity, Napoleon resolved that he should be crowned
by the Pope. Acting differently from Charlemagne
and other monarchs, who had repaired to Eome on
similar occasions, he insisted, in his arrogance, that the
Holy Father should come to Paris, to crown him.
The Pope felt extreme reluctance to depa,rt thus from
the ancient usage. In fact, he considered it derogatory
to his exalted office, that he should be' asked to do so.
1 The publication of the Concordat took place in Paris, April 18,
1802, when there was a solemn religious ceremony, attended by the
three Consuls and the public bodies.
2 E
434 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Moreover, he entertained grave apprehensions of the
fatigues of the journey, in his enfeebled state, and
greatly feared that he might never see Eotne again.
In a secret Consistory, held a few days before his de-
parture, the Holy Father gave expression to all these
anxieties and doubts; adding, however, on the other
hand, that he rejoiced at the opportunity, now afforded,
of substantially testifying his gratitude to Napoleon for
the restoration of religious worship in France, and that
he hoped, in a personal interview, to obtain further
advantages for the Church. Therefore it was that he
determined to go.^
The Holy Father set out for Paris on the 2nd of
November, 1804; and was met by a guard of honour
on the French frontier. In his progress through France,
he was received with all marks of veneration by the
people ; and his heart was gladdened, as he on several
occasions observed to the members of his suite, by the
evidence afforded, on all sides, that the efforts of infi-
delity to eradicate the faith of Christ in the provinces
had met with but little success.
On the 2nd of December, the ceremony of the coro- '
nation took place, with great pomp, ill the cathedral of
Notre Dame, in presence of the Senate, the Council of
State, the Legislative body, the high officials of the
Empire, and the Foreign Ambassadors. In the actual
coronation, however. Napoleon departed from all ancient
precedents, and broke through the programme that had
been agreed on; for, when the Pontiff was about to
place the crown on his l)gad, he seized it, and crowned
himself ; and he also placed her crown on the head of
the Empress. Of this unworthy slight Pius deemed it
advisable, as it was more dignified, to take no notice at
the moment; but a shade of displeasure was observed
to pass over his coiintenance.^ Fiually, the Emperor,
^ Allocution in the Secret Consistory of October 29, 1804.
^ In acting thus, Napoleon probably wished to show the world, that
he considered it was to himseli alone he was indebted for the Imperial
PIUS VII. 435
wearing his crown, and with his right hand upon the
Book of the Gospels, took the oath of fidelity to the
constitution, and bound himself to respect, and to cause
to he respected, the laws of the Concordat ; and to have
no object in governing but the maintenance of the
interests, the happiness, and the glory of the French
people. After this, the chief herald made proclama-
tion in these words: "The most glorious and most
august Emperor Napoleon, Emperor of the French, is
crowned and enthroned. Long live the Emperor."
The acclamations of the people and salvos of artillery
concluded the grand and solemn ceremony.
Not only on this, but on several other occasions,
Napoleon showed but little respect for his venerable
visitor; thus presenting a striking contrast with the
conduct of Charlemagne, and other Imperial princes,
crowned by the Popes. It may be that he felt his
newly fledged honours required raore self-assertion
than the inherited rank of the Emperors of ancient
lineage. Bat, in any case, he had long since proved
himself to be strangely indifferent to all Christian
principles and obligations, whenever these appeared to
stand in the way of his ambitious projects. This was
painfully evinced in his extraordinary proceedings, with
the object of conciliating the followers of Mahomet,
during his campaign iu Egypt, some six years before.
And now it was deeply to be regretted that the un-
doubtedly great services which he rendered, in sub-
jugating anarchy and communism to law and order,
dignity. A writer of our day, who assuredly is no friend of the Papacy,
observes, " This unruly will of a parvenu, always anxious to establish
his title, could not but deeply wound the Pope, who had come from
Rome to Paris to perform a ceremony of which he appeared to be
thought no longer worthy. He complained of this alteration of the
programme, and gave notice that if the Momteur reported the fact, he
should be under the necessity of reminding Napoleon that he had
broken his word. Hence the silence, so long unexplained, of the
official journal on this imposing ceremony, and the incidents which had
marked it." ("The History of Napoleon L," by P. Lanfrey, vol. ii.
p. 407. Trans., London, 1872.)
/
436 THE CHAIR OF PETKR.
and re-establishing religious worship in France, were
obscured by his unworthy treatment of the Pope, who
had, at the cost of so much personal inconvenience and
of so much violence to his own feelings, come from
Eome to crown him. " I will say nothing," writes the
able minister of His Holiness, Cardinal Consalvi, refer-
ring to this period, "of the humiliations that were
heaped upon Pius VII. My memory and my pen alike
refuse to dwell upon such narratives."
In visiting Paris, to crown Napoleon, Pius VII., as
we have seen, hoped to be able to secure important
advantages to the Church. On that occasion, he
strongly urged the Emperor to follow the example of
his predecessor Charlemagne, and to restore to the Holy
See the provinces of which it had been bereft. " I re-
cognize in his coming to Paris for my coronation," says
Napoleon, " the act of a holy prelate ; but he has asked
me to resign the Legations to him." ^ This, of course,
was quite out of the question. The ambitious policy
of the conqueror of Continental Europe tended in quite
the opposite direction. Italy must be made a province
of the Empire ; and its viceroy, a member of the Im-
perial family, must date his decrees from Eome. Such
was the programme, which he had laid down, to be
carried out wlien practicable. Even as early as the
period of his coronation, he pressed the Pope to i-emove
his court to Paris or Avignon. Thus would the Papacy
have become a powerful instrument in liis hands, to
subjugate the nations to the Imperial sway. " Abroad,"
said he, in his conversations with Las Cases at St.
Helena, " the Pope was bound to me by Catholicism,
and with my influence and our forces in Italy I did
not despair, sooner or later, of obtaining the direction
of the Pope for myself; and then what an influence,
what a lever of public opinion in the rest of the world
should I not have possessed ! . . . I should have made
1 Napoleon's letter of July 22, 1807.
PIUS vn. 437
an idol of him: he would have remained near my
person. Paris would have become the capital of
Christendom, and I should have governed the religious
as well as the political world." ^ But these specula-
tions were baffled by the firmness of Pius, who insisted
on returning to his capital, and plainly told the
Emperor, that before leaving Eome he had provided for
the contingency of his detention in France, by execut-
ing a formal act of abdication, which was deposited at
Palermo, then under the protection of the British fleet,
and which would be promulgated, immediately on its
becoming necessary.
On this, the Pope was permitted to depart peace-
ably; but it was not for a moment to be supposed
that Napoleon had changed his plans. In his aims at
universal empire, he was not to be discomfited by the
feeble ruler of a fourth or fifth-rate state. Thence-
forward, the relations of the cabinets of the Tuileries and
the Vatican became far from cordial ; and several serious
misunderstandings arose. The Emperor's brother. Prince
Jerome, had contracted marriage with an American
lady, Miss Patterson. The marriage had been annulled
by the Imperial law of succession, and the Emperor
requested the Pope to annul it likewise. The Pontiff,
in terms conciliatory but firm, refused to do so ; assuring
His Majesty that, all the circumstances considered, his
conscience forbade his compliance. Napoleon, it need
hardly be observed, could ill brook such independence,
even in the Head of the Church ; especially as it entered
into his designs that the Papacy should become the
passive instrument of his ambition.
In February, 1808, Tuscany, Parma, and Piacenza
having been annexed to the Empire, the French army,
under General Miollis, entered the Papal territories;
and, whoUy regardless of the energetic protests of the
Government, took possession of Eome ; imprisoning or
1 " Memorial of St. Helena. "
438 THE CHAIK OF PETEK.
banishing the cardinals attached to the person of His
Holiness, as well as the Papal officials in the city and
the provinces; occupying the Post Office in order to
examine the correspondence passing through it ; seizing
on the printing presses, particularly those of the Camera
Apostolica ahd the Propagailda ; searching with violence
for papers and writings of all kinds in the offices of
the Pontifical magistrates, not even excepting the
cabinet of the Prime Minister; absorbing the Papal
troops in their own ranks; and disbanding the noble
guard.^ These acts were followed by the plunder of
ecclesiastical property; the abolition of religious houses ;
the expulsion of holy virgins fronl their cloisters ; the
profanation of the churches ; the loose rein given to
libertinism; the despising of ecclesiastical discipline
and the sacred canohs; the promulgation of a code,
not only contrary to these same sacred canons, but
even to the precepts of the Gospel and the Divine law ;
the persecution and degradation of the clergy; the
subjecting of the sacred power of the bishops to the lay
power ; the violence done in many v/ays to their con-
sciences ; their forcible expulsion from their cathedrals ;
and other similar wicked and sacrilegious attempts
against the liberty, the immunity, and the doctrine of
the Church.^
Pius, now a prisoner in his palace, witnessed, day
after day, the rapidly growing evils resulting from this
gross violation of his sovereign rights, and sacrilegious
contempt of his spiritual authority; but, all through,
he displayed the most edifying resignation and dignity,
under circumstances so humiliating and afflicting.
Protracted diplomatic negotiations ensued; but with
no benefit whatever to the weaker party. The fable of
the wolf and the lamb was fully realized. After con-
' From the Bull of ExcSommunication of Napoleon and his abet-
tors by Pope PiuB VII., published and posted up in Koine, June lo,
1809.
= Ibid.
PIUS vu. 439
siderable pressure, the Pope bad reluctantly giveil in
his adhesion to the Berlin and Milan decrees j^ hut,
when Napoleon further insisted that he should actively
join in hostilities against England, the Holy Father
positively refused to do so; stating that for no con-
sideration whatever would he take part in the warlike
operations against that powet ; that he ought not to be
called ilpon to regard the enemy of another as his
enemy ; that he was the Universal Pastor, the common
Father of all, the minister of pe^ce ; and that the pro-
posals submitted to him, in the name of the Emperor,
were most abhorrent to his feelings. Finally, he made
a solemn protest against the spoliation of the territories
of the Church.
Little heeding the remonstrances or the protest of the
Holy Father, Napoleon forthwith published a decree to
the following effect : " Whereds the temporal sovereign
of Eome has refused to make wat against England, and
the two kingdoms of Italy and Naples ought not to be
divided by a hostile power,^ and whereas the donation
of territories, made by our illustrious predecessor Char-
lemagne to the Holy See, was for the benefit of the
Church, and not for the good of the enemies of our
lioly religion ; We therefore decree, that the duchies of
TJrbino, Ancona, Macerdta, and Catnerino be for ever
united to the kingdbm of Italy."* To this it was
1 T'he Berlin decree, dated 2ist Novemljer, 1806, and that of Milan,
dated lytli December, 1807, constituted what was called "the Conti-
nental System." By these decrees, Gireat Britain was declared in a
state of blockade ; and all the Continental nations adopting them, at
the instance of Napoleon, closed their ports against British commerce ;
and all trading with Britain, and the use of British goods were strictly
prohibited.
' At this time, all Northern Italy, down to the boundary of the
Papal States, formed the Kingdom of Italy, under Napoleon ; and the
Kingdom of Naples, or the Two Sicilies, was ruled by the Emperor's
brother Joseph. On the promotion of Joseph to the throne of Spain,
he was succeeded by Murat (mari:ied to his sister Carolinie), proclaimed
King of the Two Sicilies, under the name of Joachim-Napoleon,
August I, 1808.
' This act of spoliation is alluded to, as follovs, by the Holy Father
440 THE CHAIR OF PKTEK^
added, that the Pope should continue to be Bishop of
Eome, exercising his spiritual functions as his prede-
cessors had done in the early ages, down to the reign of
Charlemagne.
The following year, emboldened by the successes of
liis arms, the Emperor resolved that the Pope should be
deprived of his now nominal sovereignty — the mere
shadow of temporal power, that still remained to him
in his capital and the adjacent districts.^ Accordingly,
he issued a new decree, from the palace of the Austrian
Caesars at Shoenbrunn, that Eome should be an Imperial
free city; that its civil administration should be con-
ducted by a council then nominated by the Emperor ;
that its monuments and art-treasures should be taken
under French protection; and that, the Pope having
ceased to reign, an income of two millions of francs
(;^ 80,000) sliould be settled on His Holiness."
On the loth of June, 1809, this decree was promul-
gated in Eome by the lieutenants of Napoleon, then for
over a year the actual rulers of the city. In doing so,
they reminded the people of their ancient glory, and
congratulated them on their having exchanged the
government of the Popes for that of the French Em-
pire. On the same day, Pius strongly protested against
this fresh act of spoliation, and published a Bull, which
had been for some time prepared for an event but too
in the Bull of Excommunication : " But if our temporal power should
have been reduced to a vain and empty' appearance in this our metro-
polis and the adjoining provinces, it was at this time entirely taken
away in the flourishing provinces of the March of Ancona, Urbino, and
Camerino. We entered a solemn protest against this open and sacri-
legious usurpation of so many States of the Church, with the view to
protect our dearest subjects against the seduction of an unjust and ille-
gitimate Government, and sent instructions to our venerable brethren,
the bishops of those provinces. "
' When, on the 2nd of February, 1808, the Treuch, under General
Miollis, took possession of Rome, they left the civil government, and
the administration of the finances, for the moment, to the Pontifical
ministers and the ordinary tribunals — a mere mockery of government,
dominated, as it was, by those military dictators,
^ May 17, 1809.
PIUS vu. 44 1
clearly foreshadowed, excommunicating the Emperor
and all his agents and abettors. In that document, no
one was named, while all were plainly designated ; and
the sentence, moreover, was considerably mitigated,
by the Pontiff's adding an instruction to all Christian
people, not in any way, in consequence thereof, to
damage, injure, hurt, or prejudice, the said parties,
their rights, prerogatives, or property. On personal
grounds. Napoleon probably little heeded this solemn
act of the Pope, cutting him and his agents off from
the communion of the Church ; but he was in no small
degree troubled by the apprehension of its moral effect
on an exclusively Catholic country, such as Italy, as
well as on the great majority of the population of
France, especially in the provinces.^
However, a proceeding of still greater recklessness
on his part immediately followed. After night-fall on
the 5 th of July, General Eadet, acting on the orders of
his superior officer MioUis, escaladed the palace of the
Quirinal, with a number of soldiers, forced his way
into the Papal apartments, and, in the Emperor's name,
called on the Pope to sign a deed of renunciation of his
temporal sovereignty ; adding, that if the demand were
refused, his instructions were to seize the person of His
Holiness and carry him off a prisoner. To this Pius
' The account which Cardinal Pacoa gives of his presentation to the
Emperor, whose levee, in Paris, he attended, in obedience to the Holy
Father, on the 2rst of February, 1813, shows how sore Napoleon felt
about the Bull of Excommunication. On his being presented to the
Emperor by the minister as the Cardinal Pacca, his Majesty repeated
with a serious countenance, " The Cardinal Pacca ! " Then, smiling in
his most gracious manner, he said, " You, Pacoa, were a long time in
a fortress ? " The cardinal answered, " Three years and a half. Sire."
The Emperor bowed his head a little, and, making a sign of writing
with his right on his left hand, said, " You wrote the Bull of Excom-
munication ? " The cardinal prudently maintained silence ; when the
Emperdr resumed, "But now the past must be all forgotten," — alluding
to the tenth article of the Concordat of Fontainebleau, in which he had
promised to restore to his good graces the cardinals, bishops, priests,
and laity, who had incurred his displeasure, in regard to the events
referred to therein. Notes, etc., p. 210.
442 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
replied, "If, on account of your oath of fidelity and
obedience to the Emperor, you have deemed it your
duty to execute these orders, reflect how We ought to
maintain the rights of the Holy See, to which We are
bound by so many oaths. We will not, We cannot,
We ought not, either to surrender or renounce that
which is not outs. The temporal dominions belong to
the Church, We are only their administrator. The
Emperor may cut them into pieces ; but he can never
obtain from us theit renunciation." On this, the Pope
was carried off, a prisoner, at three o'clock in the morn-
ing of the 6th, — his minister, Cardinal Pacca, alone
being allowed to accompany him, and that only as far
as Elorence.^ Thence the Holy Father, subject to fear-
ful hardships and privations, was transported across
the Alps to Grenoble. But here the feelings of the
inhabitants who crowded around the carriage and the
palace where he was lodged, to testify their sympathy
and veneration for him, proved a source of alarm to his
captors; and, consequently, after a sojourn of about
ten days at Grenoble, he was removed back to Italy,
and domiciled at Savona on the Gulf of Genoa, where
he was detained nearly three years. Thence, by the
Emperor's orders, he was removed to Pontainebleau,
where he remained a close prisoner, until the colossal
fabric of Napoleon's power was nodding to its fall, in
presence of the armies of united Europe, in January,
1 8 14, when, through motives of expediency, he was
unconditionally released.^
^ Ito the joumey from Florence to Grenoble, Cardinal Pacca travelled
in a separate carriage, and was not allowed to communicate with Hia
Holiness. From Grenoble, the cardinal was removed to the dreary
fortress of San Carlos, at Fenestrelles, where he remained a close
prisoner, from the 6th of August, 1809, to the 5th of February, 1813.
On the completion of the Concordat he was liberated, and joined the
Pope at Fontaiuebleau.
= Pitts VII.'s detention at Grenoble was from the 21st of July to the
1st of August, 1809 ; at Savona, from about the isth of August, 1809,
to the 9th of June, 1812 ; and at Fontainebleau, from the 2cH;h of June,
181^ to the 24th of January, 1814. His forced absence from his
PIUS VII. 443
The sufferings endured by Pius VII. in his forced
journeys, may be imagined on perusing the following
brief details, extracted from the Memoirs of Cardinal
Pacca : —
On the first day, leaving Eome, they travelled in a
close carriage shut up, almost without air, in the most
burning hours of the day, under the hottest sun of Italy,
in the month of July. After nineteen hours of a most
painful journey, to the great inconvenience of the Pope,
who several times complained of his sufferings to the
cardinal, then ignorant of the malady by which His
Holiness was afflicted, they arrived, one hour before
midnight, at a wretched inn on the mountain of
Eadicofani, and there alighted. Not having a change
of clothes, they were obliged to keep on those which
they wore, and which had been quite wet with per-
spiration, and were dried on their backs by the cool air
of the night. Nothing had been prepared for them at
the inn. A small room was assigned to the Holy
Father, and another next to it to his minister, with the
gendarmes posted at the doors.^
Cardinal Pacca, on his liberation from the fortress of
Fehestrelles in February, 1813, travelling to Paris,
sojourned for a day at the hospice of the monks of Mont
Cenis, and was informed there of what had befallen
the Pope in his journey from Sdvona to Pontainebleau.
Late at night on the nth of June, 18 12, the Holy
Pather arrived at the hoSpice in a state of health,
giving cause of serious alarm for his life. On the
morning of the 14th, he was so much worse that the
viaticum was administered to him. Notwithstanding
this, the French escort insisted that he should resume
his journey in the evening of that day, and this, in
spite of the earnest remonstrances and prayers of the
capital was close on five yeats, viz., from the 6tli of July, 1809, to the
24tii of May, 1814.
^ "Notes on the Ministry of Cardinal B. Pacca, Secretary of State
to His Holin«ss Pope Pius VII.," pp. 98, 99.
444 THE CHAIK OF FETEK.
monks and of the surgeon, Clara, who had expressly
come from Lans-le-Bourg to prescribe for him. When
Cardinal Pacca called on Clara, the latter told him that
he had had the honour of accompanying the Holy
Father in this journey, and had been alone with him
in the carriage, to take care of him ; that they travelled
night and day for five nights and four days, without
resting any single night; and, finally, that while the
servants, and others who accompanied the illustrious
prisoner, took their supper in the evening, the carriage,
with His Holiness in it, was put up in a coach-house
of the inn.^
It is difficult to believe these details, although circum-
stantially set forth and accurately verified by the
cardinal. Yet, such brutal treatment of the venerable
Pontiff was only in keeping with his arrest, deportati/?j,
imprisonment, and cruel persecution in prison, by the
Emperor Napoleon.
In 1810, while Pius VII. lay in captivity at Savoua,
the Emperor caused a decree of the Senate to be passed,
enacting that the Papal States should be united to the
Erench Empire ; that Home should be the second city
of the Empire ; that the Prince Imperial of France
should bear the title of King of Eome ; ^ that the French
Emperors, having been duly crowned in Paris, were,
before the tenth year of their reign, to be crowned at
Saint Peter's ; that the Popes, on their elevation, should
take an oath, never to act contrary to the four propo-
sitions of the Galilean Church, enacted in 1684;' that
lands of the annual value of two millions of francs
should be settled on the Pope, who was to have a palace
" "Ministry of Cardinal B. Paooa," pp. 194, 195. Cardinal Pacca
mentions, that the colonel in command of the escort sent a meseage by
courier to the government in Turin, representing the state of the Pope's
health, and requesting instructions ; and that the reply was that he
should obey his instructions from Paris, and proceed on his journey.
' Napoleon's expected heir, "the King of Rome," was bom shortly
afterwards — March 20, 18 11.
'' For the Gallioan Articles, see Index.
PIUS VII. 445
in Paris as well as in Eome ; and that the expenses of
the College of Cardinals and of the Propaganda should
be under the direct charge of the Imperial Government.
Meanwhile, the clergy and the few cardinals allowed to
remain in Rome maintained, to the best of their power,
the spiritual authority of the exiled Pontiff; and un-
mistakable symptoms of dissatisfaction were exhibited
by the people. To preserve order, and enforce obedience
to his edicts, twenty thousand additional troops were
dispatched by the Emperor to Eome; and, for their
accommodation, some of the churches were converted
into barracks !
Daring the five years of his captivity — a gross and
wanton outrage in the eyes of all civilized nations —
Pius VII., whether at Savona or Pontainebleau, was
jealously debarred from communication with tlie ex-
ternal world, and was thus kept in ignorance of passin"
events. Prom time to time, false representations were
made to him by those who were allowed to approach
him — either the tools of the Emperor, or conscientious
men who were themselves deceived. They told him
that the Church was severely suffering from his un-
yielding nature ; that religion languished ; that schism
prevailed ; and tliat all might be remedied, by his
making some concessions to the Emperor.
Thus pressed again and again in his solitary prison-
house, without a minister of state or even a trusty friend,
to whom he could turn for counsel in his perplexity ,i
and studiously kept in ignorance of the real state of
European politics, after a severe struggle, acting for the
best, the Holy Father consented, first at Savona, and
again, to a still greater extent, at Pontainebleau, to
entertain, conditionally only, the Emperor's demands,
which involved a renunciation of some of his temporal
and spiritual rights.
' Cardinal Pacca and other leading members of the Sacred College
were at this time incarcerated in various fortresses, and thus debarred
from advising or communicating with the Pope.
446 THE CHAIK OF PETER.
It was on the 9th of May, 181 1, that Monseigneurs
de Barral, Archbishop of Tours, Duvoisin, Bishop of
Nantes, and Mannay, Bishop of Treves, deputed by the
Emperor, arrived at Savona. Joined by the Bishop of
Faenza, they had several audiences of His Holiness,
from the loth to the 19th of the month. With ex-
treme difficulty, they persuaded the Pope to meet the
Emperor's wishes, assuring him that his doing so was
imperatively demanded by the interests of the Church.
Again, on the 13th of January, 181 3, the Emperor,
accompanied by the Empress, unexpectedly arrived at
Fontainebleau, and, on that day, and the four days
following, he held conferences with the Pope on the sub-
ject of a Concordat, the preliminaries of which were
agreed on between them, and signed by His Holiness.
Before affixing his signature to these Preliminary
Articles, Pius expressly declared that he would sign
them only subject to their being thoroughly discussed
seriatim by his cardinals, in secret Consistory, as re-
quired by the laws of the Church ; and he stipulated
that they should not be promulgated until this had
been done.'-
' In the course which he pursued on this , occasion, Pius VII., solely
anxious for the welfare of the Church, acted for the best, under circum-
stances the most difficult and perplexing. " He yielded for a moment
of conscientious alarm," says a distinguished Englishman, brought up
at the feet of the venerable Pontiff, " he consented, though conditionally,
under false, though virtuous, impressions, to the terms proposed to
him for a new Concordat. But no sooner had his upright and humble
mind discovered the error than it nobly and successfully repaired it."
(" Recollections of the Last Pour Popes," by Cardinal Wiseman, p. 62.)
To this may be added the following words of a disinterested witness ;
" In Savona, to which city the Pontiff had been carried, he was alone,
left to his own resources, and without any adviser. By the earnest and
almost extravagant representations made to him, of the distractions and
perplexities occasioned to the Church by his refusal of the institution,
the worthy old man was at length prevailed on, though not without
bitter grief, and after violent conflicts with himself, to resolve on the
virtual renunciation of this right. . . . Nor was even this all that was
required of him. He was hurried to Fontainebleau with an impatient
and reckless speed, by which his physical infirmities were painfully-
aggravated ; and, when arrived there, was assailed by repeated impor*
PIUS VII. 447
On the Pope's consultiug the cardinals, which he did
on the first favourable opportunity, they altogether dis-
approved of his having conceded so much, and they
strongly advised His Holiness to address a letter of re-
vocation to the Emperor. But Napoleon anticipated
this step, and ordered the Articles in question, which
were intended only as the basis of a future agreement,
to be promulgated as the Concordat of Fpntainebleau,
bearing date January 25, 1813.^
We have .seen that this consummation was the aim of
Napoleon as early as the period of his coronation, a.d.
1804. Now he had, at length, apparently succeeded.
He held the Papacy in his grasp, as a powerful instru-
tunities, and pressed by the. most urgent representations, that he ought
completely to restore the peace of the Church. By these means he was
.at length effectually wrought on to comply ; the remaining points were
finally conceded — even those most decisive."— Ranke, "History of. the
Popes," ii. 465.
^ The principal articles of this Concordat, one aifecting the temporal,
and the other the spiritual, rights of the Roman Pontiff, are as follows :
— " Article III. The territories, or fixed property, which the Holy
Father possessed, and which are not alienated, shall be exempted from
all sorts of taxation. They shall be administered by his agents, charges
d'affaires. Those which have been alienated shall be replaced as far as
the sum of two millions of francs." This article appears to involve, on
the part of the Pope, an acquiescence in, or a condonation of, the spolia-
tion, by the Emperor, of the territories of the Church. " Article IV.
The Pope shall give the canonical institution, conformably to the
Concordatum, and in virtue of the present indulgence, within the six
months which shall follow the notification, according to usage, of the
nomination of the Emperor to the archbishoprics and bishoprics of the
Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. The first information shall be
notified by the metropolitan. At the termination of the six months,
if the Pope has not accorded the institution, the metropolitan, and in
failure of him, or if it should relate to the election of the metropolitan
himself, the oldest bishop of the province, shall proceed to the institu-
tion of the bishop nominated, so that a see shall not remain in future
vacant at any time longer than one year." Clearly, this article would
deprive the Pope of the salutary power of a veto, in the case of an unfit
person being nominated by the Emperor to a vacant see. It would,
moreover, put the metropolitan in opposition to the head of the Church,
" thus," in the words of the Holy Father, in his letter of revocation,
addressed to the Emperor, "constituting the person inferior in the
hierarchy, judge, and reformer of the head of that Merarchy, to whom
they all owed suljmission and obedience."
448 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
ment of State policy. Little did he foresee that his
plans were to be frustrated, in the all-wise designs of
God — that, the following year, he should sign his own
abdication in the same palace of Fontainebleau ; ^
and that, two years later, the despoiled and outraged
Pontiff should reign in his own capital, more secure
and more independent, and with larger territories than
ever, whilst he, so long the master of kings and nations,
should fret, in hopeless captivity, on a reinote volcanic
island in the Southern Atlantic.^
Being now fully aware of his mistake, arising out of
the difficult circumstances in which he was placed, and
the gross misrepresentations that had been made to
him, Pius revoked all that he had done, and emphatically
declared that thenceforward he would treat with no
one except in his own capital. In his letter of revoca-
tion, addressed to the Emperor, dated Fontainebleau,'
March 24, 181 3, he expressed his bitter regret at having
signed " the Articles which were to form the basis of
the definitive treaty ; " adding, " But our grief increased
in proportion when, to our surprise, we saw, notwith-
standing the agreement made with Your Majesty, those
same articles published under the title of a concordatum,
whilst they were only the basis of a future agreement."
Early in the year 18 14, Pius VII. was waited on at
Fontainebleau, by Cardinal Maury and two bishops
delegated by the Emperor, to inform him that he would
be immediately liberated on his voluntarily renouncing
a portion of his temporal dominions. To this condition
he peremptorily refused to accede, as the territories of
Saint Peter were not his, but belonged to the Church.
' April 4, 1814: ratified by treaty with the allied powers, executed
April I :th.
^ That Napoleon was heartily ashamed of the carrying off, and pro-
tracted detention, as a prisoner, of Pius VII., is evident from his con-
versations with Las Cases, at St. Helena. " It was done without
my authority," said he. If so, why was not the wrong immediately
redressed, and reparation made ? No : the so-called mistake appears to
have admirably accorded with the Emperor's general policy.
PIUS VII.
449
He was then informed that he was unconditionally
at liberty. " It must be with all my cardinals," he
replied. When told that under existing circumstances
this was impossible, "Then let me have a carriage
to convey me home," said he ; "I wish to be at
Eome, in order to fulfil my duties as Head of the
Church."
In his parting address to the cardinals, seventeen in
number, assembled at I'ontainebleau, the Pope com-
manded them not to accept any pay or pension from
the French Government ; not to wear any French
decoration ; and not to assist at any public festival to
which they might be invited. Leaving Fontainebleau
on the 24th of January, he travelled homeward by easy
stages, frequently resting by the way. At Fiorenzula,
his French escort was relieved by an Austrian guard of
honour; for the Papal States were then temporarily
garrisoned by the Austrians. Having delayed a con-
siderable time at Viterbo, for the assembling of his
cardinals, on the 24th of May he re-entered his capital,
greeted by the joyous vivas of the inhabitants, and
accompanied by the cordial good wishes of all civilized
nations.
All through his troubles, Pius VII. experienced
much sympathy from the three great non-Catholic
sovereigns — the Czar, the King of Prussia, and the
Prince Eegent of England. This sympathy was sub-
stantially evinced by the readiness with which they
acquiesced in, and supported, the Pontiff's demand that
all his territories should be restored to him. No doubt,
the amiable character of Pius, and the cruel wrongs of
which he was the innocent victim had their effect.
But, moreover, in the Papacy — the most ancient of all
dynasties — the sovereigns must have recognized the
type, and centre of the system, of legitimate monarchy ;
which circumstance, no doubt, largely influenced their
decision, that its temporal possessions should be restored
in their integrity. In the present day, when inter-
2 F
4SO
THE CHAIR OF PETER.
nationalism, communism, and nihilism are so rife, it
would be well for themselves if the rulers of certain
great States were influenced by the like considerations.^
But, perhaps, no Government exhibited more kindly-
feelings towards Pius VII., than that of Protestant
England. On more than one occasion of peril, a "British
ship of war was placed at his disposal, in case he should
decide to escape by sea from his enemies. We have seen
how reluctant he was to join in the Continental system,
aimed against the commerce of Great Britain ; and how
peremptorily he refused to take part in active hostilities
against that power, even though his refusal involved
the loss of his temporal dominions. In June, 1 8 14,
when the Czar and the King of Prussia visited London,
Cardinal Consalvi arrived there on behalf of the Pope,
and was received with condescending kindness and all
due honour by the Prince Regent, to whom he was the
bearer of a brief, expressing the sentiments of " admira-
tion, friendship, and attachment," entertained by the
Holy Father towards His Royal Highness, and towards
" that valiant and in so many ways illustrious nation,"
England.^ The success of the Cardinal, in influencing
the preliminary deliberations in London and the still
more important proceedings of the Congress of Vienna,
was in a great degree due to the favourable disposition
of England.
When Napoleon, two months before his abdication,
^ " The most immediate support of the Papacy,'' Bays Banke, alluding
to this period, "was the idea of secular legitimacy, and it is to be
observed that this support was offered with even more determination
from the side of its opponents in faith, than from that of its adherents
and the followers of its creed. It was from the victory of the four
great allied powers, three of which were non-Oatholic, over that ruler,
who had thought to make his capital the centre of Catholicism, that
the Pope was restored to freedom and enabled to return to Home. It
was to the three non-Catholic monarchs alone, at that time assembled
in London, that the Pope hod first expressed his desire to recover the
entire States of the Church." (History of the Popes," II., 467.)
' These expressions are taken from the Allocution of Pius VII. to
the Consistory of September 4, 181 5, in which he alludes to Cardinal
Oonsalvi's mission to London of the previous year.
rius VII. 45 1
liberated the Pope at Fontainebleau, Eome and its sur-
rounding district only were restored to His Holiness.^
By the Treaty of Vienna, the following year, the
Marches, with Camerino, and their ' dependencies, as
well as the Duchy of Benevento, the Principality of
Poute-Corvo, and the legations of Eavenna, Bologna,
and Ferrara, with the exception of that part of Ferrara
which is situated on the left bank of the Po, were
restored to the Holy See. The right, however, of the
Emperor of Austria and his successors, to place gar-
risons at Ferrara and Comacchio was formally recog-
nized.^
One of the decisions of the Allied sovereigns was,
the immediate restoration to Eome of the works of art
wliich had been carried off to the Louvre. The heavy
cost of transporting these was generously defrayed by
England.^ The eminent sculptor Canova * was deputed
by the Pope to superintend the important work of their
removal. Having satisfactorily completed his arrange-
ments in Paris, Canova crossed over to London ; and on
his return he was the bearer of a most friendly letter
from the Prince Eegent to the Pope, and also of letters
from Lord Castlereagh to His Holiness and to Cardinal
Consalvi. Early in 1816, he reached Eome, with his
precious charge — those unique treasures of painting
and sculpture, and those rare manuscripts, which had
' Decree of February 10, 1814.
' Treaty of Vienna, signed June 9, 1815, article 103. Cardinal
Consalvi strove hard against the reservation of the part of Ferrara on
the left bank of the Po. He also endeavoured to procure the resto-
ration to the Holy See of the Comtat Venaissin and Avignon ; but
without success.
' Wiseman's "Last Four Popes,'' p. 140.
* Antonio Canova, perhaps the most eminent of modern sculptors,
was bom at Possagno, in the province of Treviso, in Northern Italy,
on the 1st of November, 1757 ; and died at Venice, October 13, 1822.
On the completion of his important mission of 1816, above referred to,
his name was inscribed, by the Pope's own hand, in "the Golden
volume of the Oapitol," and he was created Marquis of Ischia by
His Holiness, who also settled on him an annual pension of 3000
crowns.
452 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
SO long been the ornament and gloiy of that ancient
city.i
' Subsequently, Pius VII., to mark his sense of gratitude, and the
high esteem he entertained for the Prince Begent of England, presented
His Royal Highness with a collection of casts of the principal great
works of sculpture in Rome, carefully taken for the purpose under the
supervision of Canova. One evening, at the Pavilion at Brighton, the
Prince, speaking of this valuable collection, said that he did not know
what to do with it. The first Viscount Ennismore, soon afterwards
created Earl of Listowel, who was present, said, that, under favour of
His Royal Highness, he would venture to ask for it for the School of
Art in Cork, in connection with the Royal Cork Institution. The
Prince graciously complied with his request ; and the casts were sent
to Cork. They may now be seen in that part of the Institution which
is occupied by the School of Design. Here, Maclise, Hogan, and other
Cork men eminent in the Fine Arts, drew their first inspirations from
these splendid models.
CHAPTEE XXXIII.
PIUS IX.
**= Justum ac tenacem propositi virum
Non civium ardor prava jubentium,
Non vultus instantis tyranni
Mente quatit solida."
— Horace.
GiOTAKNi Masta.1 Peeretti, the second of several
children of Count Jerome Mastai and his wife Catherine
Sollazzi, was born at Sinigaglia in the Papal States, on
the 13th of May 1792. Prom the earliest age, he was
remarkable for hiS' great piety and devotion to the Chair
of Peter, yhich, in the designs of Divine Providence, he
was destined to fill for so many years. At the age of
twelve, he was placed in the college of Volterra, con-
ducted by the religious congregation of the Scholse Pise.
Here, he made rapid progress, and at eighteen he
returned to his family.
He now resolved to embrace the ecclesiastical state ;
but his pious intentions were interfered with .by a severe
and protracted visitation of epilepsy. The malady was
pronounced incurable by his physicians : yet God had
otherwise designed. Giovanni gradually recovered ;
and he himself attributed his cure to the intercession
of the Mother of God, to whom his own pious mother
had dedicated him from his birth.i
^ It is stated that at the age of nineteen, the future Pope, for a short
time, adopted the profession of arms. This statement is denied by his
able biographer. Monsieur Villefranche.
454 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
On Easter day 1819, he was ordained priest, under a
dispensation, on the condition that, in consequence of
his recent malady, he should not celebrate Mass with-
out the assistance of another priest. Ere long, how-
ever, he, one day, cast himself at the feet of Pius
VII., and prayed His Holiness to remove the con-
dition, and to allow him to celebrate alone. The holy
pontiff kindly raised him up, saying : " Yes ; we grant
you the favour you ask, and the more readily be-
cause we believe that henceforward the malady will
cease to torment you." These words were prophetic.
From that day out, the young priest enjoyed perfect
health.
In 1 823, he was appointed by Leo XII. auditor to
Monsignor Muri, the Papal nuncio to Chili, sent to re-
establish the ecclesiastical affairs of that country, over-
turned by the revolutions of Southern America.
On his return to Eome in 1825, Padre Mastai was
named Canon of Santa Maria in Via Lata, admitted to
the prelature, and appointed president of the Hospital
of Saint Michael. This last office he administered with
so much zeal and wisdom, that the Pope deemed him
a fit pel son to govern a diocese, and appointed him
. Archbishop of Spoleto in 1827. At the close of 1832,
he was translated to Imola, a far more important diocese,
although only a bishopric, and regarded as a stepping-
stone to the Sacred College.
On the 14th of December 1840, in his forty-ninth
year, Bishop Mastai was proclaimed Cardinal by
Gregory XVI. The death of that pontiff having taken
place on the ist of June 1846, the Conclave assembled
on Sunday the 1 4th. Fifty-four Cardinals were present ;
Gizzi and Lambruschini were those spoken of, as likely
to be chosen ; but on the 16th, in the fourth scrutiny,
Cardinal Mastai Ferretti, the youngest member of the
Sacred College, was elected by thirty-six votes, out of
the fifty-four present, taking the name of Pius IX.
His reign extended to thirty-one years, seven months,
PIUS IX. 45 5
and twenty-two days — far beyond the twenty- five
years of Saint Peter, which had never before been
equalled — his death taking place on the 7th of Feb-
ruary 1878.
On the long and eventful career of this illustrious
pontiff, his trials, and exemplary virtues, it is unneces-
sary to dwell in detail. It will be sufficient for our
purpose to refer to those great public acts and events
which render his pontificate one of the most im-
portant and most remarkable in the history of the
Papacy.
Let us first review his action as a sovereign prince,
and those fundamental political changes which so
seriously affected the Temporal Power in his reign.
After that, his principal oificial public acts, as Vicar
of Christ and Visible Head of the Church, may be
separately considered.
The Papal dominions, as settled by the Congress of
Vienna, stood as follows, after the Peace of 18 15.
They comprised an area of. 16,155 English, or 12,041
Geographical, square miles, in the centre of Italy, being
bounded, on the west by the Mediterranean from a
little south-east of Orbitello in Tuscany to Terracina
on the Neapolitan frontier, and on the east by the
Adriatic from the southern mouth of the Po to the
Tronto. Further south, but included in the above
area, lay the Duchy of Benevento and the Principality
of Ponte-corvo, each being entirely surrounded by
Neapolitan territory.
The Papal States were divided into twenty provinces.
Of these the principal was the Comarca of Eome,
including the capital. Then, there were six " legations,"
each governed by a cardinal, and thirteen "delega-
tions," each governed by a prelate. The legations and
delegations were severally divided into districts, which
were subdivided into governments, and these last were
again subdivided into communes.
45 6 THE CHAIK OF PETER.
In the following table will be found the area and
population of each province : —
Proviuceo.
Areain
Geographical
Population, inclnding
Towns.
Sqtiare Miles.
In j8i6-
In 1853.
ComRTca di Boma ....
Legations.
Bologiia
Ferrara
Forli
Eavenna
Urbino with Pesaro . . .
Velletri
Delegations.
Ancona
Macerata
Camerino
Pernio
Ascoli
Perugia
Spoleto . ......
Rieti
Viterbo
Orvieto
Civita Vecchia
Frosinone with Ponte-corvo
Benevento
^-
I319-2
1023
823-4
54'
528
1064-7
430
332-5
673-6
240-9
252-7
358-5
1 1 70-7
885
400-2
872-2
238-3
286- z
555-4
46-2
245,203
280,701
170,727
150,933
123,767
198,145
48,098
147,355
197,313
31,136
77.089
69,058
181,542
102,053
55,861
101,164
21,736
15,886
116,770
20,184
326,509
375,631
244.524
218,433
175.994
257,751
62,013
176,519
243,104
42,991
no, 321
91,916
234.533
135.029
73.683
128,324
29,047
20,701
154,559
23,176
12,041-6
2,354,721
3,124,758
On the restoration of Pope Pius IX., by the Catholic
powers, after the outbreak of 1848, His Holiness, pre-
paratory to his return to his capital, issued a " Motu
Proprio" from Portici, dated 12th September, 1849, com-
pletely re-organizing the government of his dominions.
After his return to Eome, several edicts were published,
in the name of the Pope, by the Cardinal Secretary of
PIUS IX. 457
State, in September, October, and November, 1850,
regulating the details. Thus, the following new
organization was established.
The whole of the States were distributed into five
great divisions : one of these was to bear the name of
the District of Eome (" Circondario di Eoma"), and
the other four were to be termed Legations. These
great divisions were subdivided into provinces; the
provinces again into governments; and the govern-
ments into communes.
In the District of Eome were included, besides Eome
and the Comarca, or country immediately about the city,
three provinces, Viterbo, Civita Vecchia, and Orvieto.
The four Legations were : —
1. Eomagna, comprising four Provinces, Bologna,
Ferrara, Forli, and Eavenna.
2. Le Marche, comprising six Provinces, Urbino and
Pesaro, Macerato with Loreto, Ancona, Permo, Ascoli,
and Camerino.
3. Umbria, comprising three Provinces, Perugia,
Spoleto, and Eieti.
4. Marittima e Campagna, comprising three Pro-
vinces, Velletri, Frosinone, and Benevento.
Each of these four legations was to be governed by a
cardinal with the title of Legate, and under the legate each
province by a functionary with the title of Delegate.^
In the same important document, His Holiness
announced the institution of a council of State, of a
consultative council on financial matters, of provincial
councils, and of communal councils. He declared that
the municipal representation and administration should
be founded on the most liberal principles (" piii larghe
franchigie ") compatible with the local interests of the
communes: and that the election of the communal
^ " Despatches of Mr. Lyons respectins; the condition and adminis-
tration of the Papal States," 1855-1857; p. II. Presented to the
House of Commons by command of Her Majesty, in pursuance of theii
address dated June 26, i860.
458 THE CHAIB OF PETER.
conncillors should be based upou aa extensive number
of electors, regard being chiefly had to property .^
It has frequently been observed that the government
of the Papal States, even under Pius IX., was too much
in the hands of ecclesiastics, to the exclusion of the
laity; but it will be seen, from the following official
statement, that there has existed considerable miscon-
ception on this head.
In Mr. Lyons's despatch to the Marquis of Normanby,
dated Eome, May 26, 1856, he quotes from a statistical
return of the number of ecclesiastics in the civil em-
ployment of the Pope, made up to the ist of January,
1848, or nearly two years prior to the " Motu Proprio "
of His Holiness above referred to. The following is
the general result : —
Employed in the Different Departments of the
State.
Ecclesiastica . . .
Laymen . . . , .
Number.
Salaries.
Scudi.
Founds Sterling.
243
S,0S9
190,31s
1,186,192
41,373
257,868
Employed in the Exolustvely Ecclesiastical
Departments.
Ecclesiastics . . .
Laymen
Number.
Scudl.
Founds Sterling.
161
316
36,119
61,83s
7,852
13,442
'Deepatches of Mr. Lyons,'' p. 11.
PIUS IX. 459
Prom the number given above of ecclesiastics em-
ployed in the Departments of State, should be deducted
134 chaplains of the prisons and similar establishments,
whose duties were exclusively religious.^
It would appear, therefore, that out of the number of
5302 persons in the Civil Service of the Papal States, on
the 1st of January, 1848, only 109 were ecclesiastics.
The army, which was of course composed entirely of
laymen, was not included in the Eeturn.^
" The number, then, of ecclesiastics holding civil offices
in the State," observes Mr. Lyons, " is very small com-
pared with the number of laymen ; and the aggregate
of the salaries received by such ecclesiastics is very
much less than the aggregate of those received by lay-
men. The laity have besides a compensation in being
employed in greater numbers than ecclesiastics, and
at a greater aggregate amount of salary, in the purely
ecclesiastical departments, the revenues of which are
principally, if not entirely, derived from foundations or
contributions from abroad. It is maintained, moreover,
and, I believe, not without reason, that the attempts
which have been made to carry secularization further,
have not contributed either to satisfy the people or to
improve the administration." *
On the other hand, the rank and character of the
civil offices occupied by Churchmen must be taken into
account. The Secretary of State, who had, under the
Pope, the supreme direction of all affairs, home and
foreign, was a cardinal ; his substitute, or Under-Secre-
tary of State, was a prelate ; all the ministers, except
1 " DespsitcheB of Mr. Lyons," pp. 7, 8.
' Ibid. Thia interesting Return was plsloed at Mr. Lyons's disposal
by Cardinal Antonelli. In handing it to him, Monsignor Berardi, the
Under-Secretary of State, told him that the number of ecclesiastics
was smaller then (May, 1856) than in 1848 ; and he observed, "that
it must also be remembered that among the ecclesiastics are counted
persons who, like himself and the present Minister of the Interior,
although Roman prelates wearing the Ecclesiastical habit, are not in
holy orders."
' Despatch of Mr. Lyons, May 26, 1856.
460 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
the minister of arms, were prelates; as were all the
delegates or governors of provinces, except three. Thus,
although the number of ecclesiastics in office was not
large, nevertheless, as they occupied almost without
exception the high and influential posts, the whole
direction of th& Government was essentially Ecclesi-
astical.^ " It is strenuously maintained by the warm
partisans of the Papacy, and is reluctantly admitted
by many moderate and sensible men, that this is a
necessity under the Government of a sovereign who
is an Ecclesiastic, claiming to be Head of the Universal
Church ; and that whether a few more or less laymen
be admitted to office, the real secularization of any
government, with a Pope at its head, is impossible.
Such, indeed, appears at this moment to be the opinion
of Cardinal Antonelli, and, indeed, of Pope Pius IX.
himself." 2
This last is, in the eyes of Catholics, a most impor-
tant consideration. For, inasmuch as the spiritual
character and functions of the Supreme Pastor of the
Universal Church were incomparably above and beyond
his status and duties as a temporal ruler, so it was
fitting that the principal offices of his Government
should be filled by ecclesiastics. The Temporal States,
under Divine Providence, for many centuries, were
instrumental in securing the complete personal and
political independence of the Pope, who ought not to
be the subject of any sovereign ; and, moreover, they
furnished him with means for the discharge of the
duties of his office, in all parts of the globe. At the
same time, in the opinion of thoughtful persons well
qualified by observation and experience to speak with
authority on the question, the inhabitants of the Papal
dominions were happier and better under the paternal
rule of the Pontiffs than they now are under a secular
prince.
' Mr. Lyons's Despatch, May zfe, 1856. ' Ibid
PIUS IX. 46 1
The gross public revenue of the Papal States ranged
from ^2,389,076, in 1853. to ;^3,009,S24, in 1857;
whilst, in the same period, the expenditure mounted
from ;£; 2,643,660 to ^3,104,692.
One half of the revenue accrued from customs and
excise; one fourth, from direct taxes and domains;
and the remainder, from stamps, post-of&ce, and mis-
cellaneous items.
Of the expenditure, the interest on the public debt
amounted to considerably more than one third ; being
£9SO,7So, in 1853, and ;^i,o68,079, in 1857. The cost
of the Papal army averaged ;^ 390,000, in the five years ;
being ;^3S9,i94, in 1853, and ;£'424,247, in 1857.
The exact figures of the gross revenue and expendi-
ture, during the five years, were as follow : —
Year.
Revenue.
Expenditure.
Deficit.
1853 .
. ;^2,389,o76
;^2,643,66o
.^254,584
1854 .
• 2,405,574
2,727,688
322,114
18SS •
2,672,141
2,882,886
210,745
1856 .
. 2,866,89s
3,009,493
142,598
1857 •
• 3.009.524
3,104,692
95,1681
In 1856, ther Pontifical army comprised two regiments
of foreign soldiers, called Swiss, but not composed ex-
clusively of Swiss, 3500 strong, and about to be
increased to 4800 ; whilst of native troops the numbers
were 5000 gendarmes, 5000 regular troops, and 3000
dispersed in small bodies. " Thus," observes Mr. Lyons,
" the Papal army, supposing the Swiss regiments to be
completed, may be stated, in round numbers, at about
18,000 men — a force sufficient to enable the Pope to
dispense with foreign aid, if its fidelity can be relied
upon.'"'' At that time, the French had 5000 men in
the Eoman States, and the Austrians 8000.
1 The annual deficit was met by a foreign loan. It is deserving of
note that, the last three years, the finances were being brought into
a healthier condition, as indicated by the steady diminution of the
deficit.
^ Despatch to the Marquis of Normanby, from Rome, May 24, 1856.
462 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
The revolutionary movement in Italy, in the years
1 859-1861, deprived the Pope of the greater part of
his territories, which, together with Tuscany, Parma,
and Modena, were annexed to the new Kingdom of
Italy. Of the twenty provinces, which he previously
ruled, only five now remained to the Holy Father, along
with the city of Eome. These were : —
Provinces,
Area in
Goographical
SquareMiloS.
Population in 1853.
In Towns.
In Country.
Total.'
Eome and its Comarca
Viterbo
Civita Vecchia . .
Velletii
Frosinone ....
1319.2
872.2
Z86.I
430
555-4
313,230
112,976
19,117
59.197
115,021
13.279
15.348
1,584
z,8i6
39.538
326,509
128,324
20,701
62,013
154,559
3462-9
619,541
72.565
692,106
And even of this small remnant of the territories of
the Holy See, including the capital of Catholic Christen-
dom, the Italian Government took possession, in the
month of September, 1870.
A brief review of the events which led to these acts
of spoliation will not be out of place here.
Pius IX. commenced his reign with a political
amnesty, by which he magnanimously liberated some
thousands of prisoners who had plotted against the
State. His. clemency, however, had not the desired
Mr. Lyons etates that it had been suggested to Cardinal Antonelli
to increase the Swiss, and diminish the native, troops. This His
Eminence did not approve of. It was commonly thought that most
of the native soldiers were in league with the secret societies. But M.
de Rayneval, the French envoy at the Vatican, "and others in a
situation to be well informed," did not believe this. They thought
that although the native troops could never be expected to act vrith
any great zeal or vigour, they might bo depended upon to represi
ordinary disorders ; but they were also of opinion that in case of a
general or really formidable insurrection many would desert, and not
a few join the insurgents.
PIUS IX. 463
I
effect, and those whom he restored to their fftmilies and
society, immediately rejoined the ranks of the enemies
of the Papal rule.
Unfortunately, at the time, a zea^lous and ever-active
propagandism of revolution and • infidelity had long
been working and extending its baneful influence over
all Europe, through the agency of those secret associa-
tions which have always been emphatically condemned
by the Church.^ The principles of Mazzini and his
colleagues — principles levelled against all the most
venerable institutions, and aiming at the destruction
alike of religion and civil government, had, to a con-
siderable extent, undermined Continental society, and
they rose to the surface in the year 1848.
At the close of the previous year, Pius IX. had intro-
duced considerable reforms in his dominions; advanc-
ing laymen to the principal offices, and attaching
responsibility to his ministers. His example was
followed by the sovereigns of Piedmont, Tuscany, and
Naples, who granted constitutional government to their
subjects. But such concessions were quite insufficient
for the revolutionary party in Italy, whose avowed object
was the destruction of all the "governments in the
Peninsula, in order to create one sole Italian State,
under the Eepublican form." ^
In other Continental countries, the same spirit dis-
played itself with unmistakable significance. The
overthrow of Louis Philippe,^ the establishment of the
' The members of the revolutionary secret societies in Italy were
first called carbonari (charcoal burners) ; as, although the societies were
composed of various classes, they comprised a large number of the most
hard-working of the labouring population, such as the charcoal-burners.
^ Statutes of the secret society, named "Young Italy," to be estab-
lished under the auspices of Mazzini ; article i. Article ii. ran as
follows : " By reason of the evils flowing from absolute rule, and the
still greater evils produced by Constitutional Monarchies, we must
unite all our efforts to form a Republic, one and indivisible." Subae-
. quent articles, upholding assassination, incontestably prove the wisdom
of the Holy See's condemnation of secret societies.
' February 24, 1 848.
464 THE CHAIR OK PETEK.
Eepublic in France, and the attack on the representa-
tive assembly in Paris two months later ; ^ Vienna in
a state of open rebellion, the mob forcing its way into
the Imperial palace,^ and, notwithstanding his con-
cessions, the compelled flight of the Emperor and his
court to Innspruck ; * the Austrian garrisons expelled
from Milan ; barricades erected in Berlin, the populace
in conflict with the Royal troops, and the capital
temporarily thrown into a condition of anarchy and
panic ; * Naples in a state of siege, its newly convened
constitutional assembly dissolved, and its civic guard
disbanded ; insurrectionary tumults and the subversion
of governments in minor States ; and rioting and
anarchy in Eome ; — all simultaneously occurring, mark
the year 1848 as one of the most memorable in
European history.
But the climax was reached in the month of
November, when the world was filled with alarm and
horror by the assassination of the Pontifical prime
minister, Count Eossi, on the crowded steps of the
senate house, in the broad light of day,^ the attempts
of the revolutionists to coerce the Holy Father, and
bend him to their nefarious projects, and his flight to
Gaeta, to escape their sacrilegious designs against his
freedom of action and his life.*
In the month of February, 1849, the Constituent
Assembly, charged with the formation of a new con-
stitution, met in Eome, and decreed the abolition of the
temporal power of the. Pope, erecting in its stead a
democracy pure and simple, under the name of the
Eoman Eepublic ; and, ere long, the conduct of affairs
mainly devolved on Mazzini, the head and centre of the
secret societies, the apostle of revolution and infidelity.^
' May isth. " March 13th. ' May 17th.
* March i8th. ' November iSth. « November 24th.
' Armellini, Saffi, and Mazzini were appointed a triumvirate, to
TOndact the supreme government ; but, as might have been expected,
the real power and direction of affairH were all but exclusively vested
m the master spirit of the movement, Mazzini.
PIUS IX. 465
Meanwhile, all the Catholic powers, save Piedmont,
proffered their aid to restore Pius IX. to his throne:
but a formal application from the Pope was necessary,
to authorize their intervention. This application was
accordingly made by the Cardinal Secretary of State,
Antonelli, under date, Gaeta, February 18, 1849. Act-
ing thereon, the Austrians immediately occupied the
legations, from which they dislodged the revolutionists ;
and the expeditionary force under General Oudinot,
dispatched by Prince Louis Napoleon, President of the
French Eepublic, disembarked at Civita Vecchia on
the 25th of April. On the 30th of June, the French
entered Eome; and, two days later, the victorious
general sent Colonel Neil with the keys of the city, to
be laid at the feet of His Holiness, at Gaeta. Imme-
diate steps were taken by the Holy Father to organize
a new administration. On the 12th of September, he
issued his "Motu Proprio," already referred to, from
Portici, to which town he had removed from Gaeta;
and, on the 12th of April 1850, amid the rejoicings
of his people and of the whole Catholic world, he re-
entered liis capital
In the year 1859, the war between Austria, on the
one hand, and France and Italy, on the other, wrought
great and fundamental changes in the Italian Peninsula.
The Austrians lost their Lombardo- Venetian dominions,
which passed to Victor Emanuel; and, before the close
of the year, Bologna and the other legations were taken
possession of by that monarch, and annexed to his
kingdom. Against this act of spoliation of the terri-
tories of the Holy See, neither France nor Austria
made a sign.^ The following year, Umbria and the
^ Napoleon III. was then all powerful, and it has been observed
with truth, that one word of remonstrance from him would have stayed
the hand of Victor Emanuel, and preserved the Papal territories intact.
In reply to an application from the Pope, the Emperor wrote His
Holiness, December 31, 1859, urging him, for the sake of the peace
of Europe, to relinquish those provinces which had been a source of
trouble to the Holy See for the last fifty years ; and adding that, in
2 G
466 THE CHAIB OF PETEK.
Marches were also annexed by Victor Emanuel, not-
withstanding the gallant resistance of the Pontifical
army, under the chivalrous Lamoricifere.
Having thus dispossessed the Pope of the greater
part of his dominions, the Italian revolutionists no
longer disguised their plan of depriving him of the
remainder, and of making Kome the capital of a
"United Italy." This project would have been put
into immediate execution but for the Prench occupa-
tion. However, the triumph of Garibaldi and the
Mazzinians was only a question of time. That triumph
was to be accomplished by the transfer of the protec-
torate of the territories of the Holy See from France to
the new kingdom of Italy !
In September, 1864, a convention was concluded
between the cabinets of Paris and Turin, in which the
Italian Government, then about to transfer its capital
from Turin to Florence, bound itself, not only to abstain
from invading the present territories of the Pope, but
to prevent, by force, all others doing so. Next, it was
agreed, that the French troops should be gradually
withdrawn from the Papal States, as the formation of
the new Pontifical army proceeded ; but that, in any
case, the French evacuation should take place within
two years. It was further agreed, that the Pope might
organize an army, even composed of foreign Catholic
volunteers, for the preservation of peace and order
within his dominions; but it was expressly provided
that this army should not enter into hostilities against
the Italian Government. Finally, the kingdom of Italy
declared its willingness to assume, by arrangement
«uch a ca«e, the powers would guarantee the integrity of hia remaining
dominions. Napoleon has been severely censured for the course he
pursued on this occasion. The key to his conduct manifestly is furnished
by his apprehension of a repetition of the Orsini plot of the previous
year — of a fresh attempt to assassinate him by the emissaries of the
Mazzinians, should he have counteracted the plans for which they had,
for years, been preparing the ground, in the States of the Church, by
the dissemmation of their pernicious principles.
PIUS IX. 467
■with the Pope's Government, a portion of the public
debt of the former States of the Church.
This treaty, made without the consent of the Holy
Father, nay, without his having been consulted, was
signed by the ministers of Napoleon III. and Victor
Emanuel, on September 15, 1864; and when, on the
23rd of the same month, it was officially communicated
by the Emperor to Pius IX., the Pope declined to par-
ticipate in it.
The events which foUowed show the wisdom of the
Holy Father's decision, at the same time that they
illustrate how little importance was attached to the
obligations of this solemn treaty by the Italian Govern-
ment.
A French legion of 1200 volunteers, recruited at
Antibes, arrived in Eome in September 1866. These,
with the Papal Zouaves, 1500 strong, of various nation-
alities, and about an equal number of native troops, now
constituted the Pontifical army, which was commanded
by General Kanzler. They replaced the French Im-
perial troops, of which the withdrawal was completed
in the following November.
A few months afterwards, with the connivance of the
Italian prime minister Katazzi, who was anxious that
Rome should be the capital instead of Florence, Gari-
baldi and his followers collected money and arms, and
enrolled volunteers, in order to invade the States of
the Church, and overturn the rule of the Pope. A
remonstrance of the French Cabinet, addressed to the
Italian minister, had the effect of a temporary check to
this hostile tnovement. But the intervention of Eatazzi
was merely with a view to keep up appearances ; for,
after a short time, the machinations of the revolutionists
were carried on without let or hindrance. On the 29th
of September, 1867, the Garibaldians entered the Ponti-
fical States, without any opposition from the Italian
Government. Napoleon therefore again dispatched a
military force, under General De Failly, which dis-
468 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
embarked at Civita Vecchia on the 29th of October,
After several engagements, the Garibaldians were com-
pletely broken and routed at Mentana, on the 3rd of
November ; and, peace and order having been re-estab-
lished in the Papal territories, the French troops were
finally withdrawn in February 1868 — one division,
Tinder General Dumont, being left to garrison Civita
Vecchia.
The Franco-German war, which proved so disastrous
to Catholic France, for nineteen years the protectress of
the Holy See, afforded the enemies of religion and order
in Italy their long-desired opportunity. On the 2nd
of September 1870, MacMahon's array, 90,000 strong,
capitulated at S^dan, and Napoleon III. rendered him-
self prisoner to King William of Prussia. On the 8th
of that month, Victor Emanuel sent a letter to Pius
IX., by Count Ponza di San Martino, in which, " with
the affection of a son, with the faith of a Catholic, with
the loyalty of a king, and the sentiments of an Italian,"
he addressed himself " to the heart " of His Holiness.
In it, he observed, that a storm fraught with the gravest
dangers menaced Europe ; that the party of universal
revolution, favoured by the portentous events then
being enacted on the Continent, were prepared to strike,
especially in the Papal States, the last blow at Monarchy
and the Papacy. He added, that in such a crisis he
deemed it his duty to assume the responsibility of main-
taining order in the Peninsula, and guarding the integ-
rity of the Holy See ; and that for these ends he felt
that it was absolutely necessary he should enter the
Papal dominions, the frontiers of which he then pro-
tected. He continued: "Your Holiness will not see
in this precautionary measure an act of hostility. My
Government and my troops will strictly confine them-
selves to a conservative line of action, guarding the
rights of the Eoman populations, which are reconcilable
with the inviolability of the Sovereign Pontiff, his
spiritual authority, and the independence of the Holy
PIUS IX. 469
See." He then requested that the Holy Father would
concert with Count Ponza di San Martino, who was
fully in possession of the views of the Italian Govern-
ment, the necessary measures to insure these important
objects. Finally, he implored the Apostolic benedic-
tion, and repeated the assurance of his sentiments of
profound respect for His Holiness.
To the Pope, under the circumstances, only one course
was open. Peremptorily rejecting all the propositions
contained in the letter, and submitted to him by the
envoy, he sent the following reply to the King : —
" Sire, — Count Ponza di San Martino has placed in my hands
a letter which Your Majesty has been pleased to address to me ;
but it is not worthy of an affectionate son, who glories in the
profession of the Catholic faith, and the observance of kingly
honour. Into the details of that letter I do not enter, lest I
should renew the sorrow which its first perusal has caused me.
I bless God, who has permitted Your Majesty to fill up to over-
ftowing the afflictions of the close of my life. As for the rest, I
cannot comply with the demands, or assent to the principles, con-
tained in your letter. Agaia I invoke God, and in His hands I
place my cause, which is wholly His. I pray Him to grant
abundant graces to Your Majesty, to deliver you from all dangers,
and to bestow on you the mercies of which you stand in need. —
From the Vatican, the nth September 1870. — Pio Papa IX."
On the same day, the nth of September, the King,
on the proposition of the council of ministers, ordered
his army, under the command of General Cadorna, to
enter the Papal States. As protracted resistance would
have been useless, the Holy Father, anxious to spare
the unnecessary effusion of blood, issued orders that
opposition should be carried no further than would be
sufficient to establish the fact of violence. On the 19th
the invaders stood before the gates of Eome, which had
been closed against them on their approach. On that
day the Pope addressed a letter to General Kanzler
thanking him and the army under his command for
their gallant services and devoted attachment to the
Holy See. He then continued: "With regard to the
470 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
duration of the defence of the capital, I deem it my
duty to command, that the resistance shall be such
only as to constitute a protest, establishing the fact of
violence done us. Once a breach is made in our walls,
let negotiations for surrender be entered on."
At five o'clock on the morning of the 20th, fire
was opened by the besiegers; and in a few hours a
practicable breach was effected. Then the garrison
surrendered, as prisoners of war; and the city was
taken possession of by the army of Victor Emanuel.^
On the 2nd of October, a plebiscite, or secret vote of
the whole Roman people, was taken, as to whether
they would wish to be incorporated with the Kingdom
of Italy. As the Eoyal troops were already in posses-
sion, and the Pontifical States and capital were overrun
by the Garibaldians and Mazzinians, and, moreover, as
the majority of the population, being sound Catholics,
advisedly abstained from the ballot, lest their voting
might appear to be an acquiescence in those revolution-
ary proceedings, there could have been but one result —
an overwhelming majority in favour of the incorporation.
On the same day a royal decree, based on this vote,
promulgated the following articles : —
" I. Rome and the Roman provinces form an integral
part of the Kingdom of Italy.
"II. The Sovereign Pontiff retains the dignity, the
inviolability, and all the prerogatives of the sovereign.
" III. A special law will sanction the conditions proper
to guarantee, even by territorial immunities, the inde-
pendence of the Sovereign Pontiff and the free exercise
of the spiritual authority of the Holy See."
The King immediately assumed the government of
' ^^^ Papal army which surrendered on this occasion, in obedience
*S-*j Pope's wishes, was close on 10,000 men, of whom at least two-
thirds were Italians, and the remainder were foreigners. Among the
Papal Zouaves, the Irish were honourably distinguished for their
bravery and devotion to the Holy See. The invading army numbered
between 50,000 and 60,000.
PIUS IX. 471
the Papal territories, shortly afterwards making Rome
his capital, and taking up his abode in the Pope's palace
of the Quirinal. To the Holy Father there remained
but the Vatican, and that only on sufferance.
On the 13th of March 1871, the special law above
referred to was promulgated. It is called the " Law of
Guarantees." It declares the person of the Sovereign
Pontiff sacred and inviolable, recognizes his right to
sovereign honours, secures to him an annual endowment
of 3,225,000 francs (^129,000), as well as the palaces
of the Vatican and the Lateran and the Pontifical villa
of Castel Gandolfo, and it provides for the complete
liberty of future conclaves and general councils.
But this law is one-sided. The Holy See was no
party to it. It may be altered or contravened by any
future Parliament, and it has been so contravened.
Thus in article 13 it is enacted that
In the city of Borne and in the six surhurhan sees, the semi-
naries, the academies, the colleges, and the other Catholic institu-
tions, founded for the education and the formation of ecclesiastics,
shall continue to depend solely on the Holy See, without any
intermeddling of the scholastic authorities of the Kingdom.
Entirely opposed to the spirit of this article are the
Italian Army Bills of July 19th, 1871, and of June 7th,
1875, compelling the clergy and ecclesiastical semina-
rists to serve in the army, as detailed in the concluding
chapter of this volume. The same may be said of " the
intermeddling " with the funds of the Propaganda, the
sequestration of the Eoman College, and other similar
acts of the Government referred to in these pages. That
these latter acts were contemplated by the framers of
the Law of Guarantees is evident from article 18,
which says : —
In a future law, provision shall be made for the reorganization,
conservation, and administration of the ecclesiastical properties
in the Kingdom.
Surely all these matters are essentially the province
472 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
of the Sovereign Pontiff, and should "continue to depend
solely on the Holy See."
It is unnecessary to observe that the Law of Guar-
antees has never been recognized by the Pope. In
reality, as shown above, it gives no reliable or per-
manent guarantee, and is practically a dead letter.^
Let us now briefly review the principal great ofBcial
acts of Pius IX., as "Vicar of Christ and Visible Head
of the Church. On the 8th of December 1854, he pro-
claimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
From an early age, it was the common opinion of
Catholic theologians that the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mother of God was preserved from the stain of original
sin when she was conceived in her mother's womb.
This belief is founded, first, on the opinion of the prin-
cipal Fathers; secondly, on the precaution taken by
the Council of Trent, when, in deciding that all the
children of Adam are stained with original sin, it
declared that its intention was not at all to include the
Blessed Immaculate Virgin Mary therein ; and, thirdly,
on the decrees of several Popes, who have approved of
the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin and
of the office composed for it, and have forbidden the con-
trary doctrine to be preached and taught.* Neverthe-
less, as it was not an article of faith until defined by the
Church, its belief was not obligatory on the faithful.
On the 2nd of February, 1849, ^i^s IX. issued his
encyclical letter, Ubi primum, addressed to the patri-
archs, primates, archbishops, and bishops of the Church
all over the globe, to collect from them the universal
tradition respecting the belief in the Immaculate Con-
ception of the Mother of God. In the course of time,
replies arrived, to the number of six hundred and three.
Of these, five hundred and forty-six were not only in
favour of the belief, but they demanded with urgency
* See Preface on this subject.
" Sixtus IV., Pius v., Paul V., Gregory XV., and Alexander VII.,
were the PontifEs especially approving of this Feast.
PiDS IX. 473
its doctrinal definition; whilst, on the other hand, there
were a small minority who hesitated, solely on the
ground of opportuneness. The Pope called to his side,
to assist him in this solemn affair, all the bishops who
could repair to Eome. In obedience to his summons,
one hundred and ninety-two arrived from all countries
excepting Eussia, of which the subjects were prevented
from going by the despotic will of the Emperor Nicholas.
These prelates, along with the cardinals and bishops
resident in Eome, assisted in putting the finishing
hand to the work of the commission charged with the
preparation of the Bull. When the moment arrived
of determining the definitive publication, the question
arose, whether the bishops assisted there as judges, to
pronounce the definition simultaneously with the Suc-
cessor of Saint Peter, and whether it was necessary to
mention their presence there with this title, or whether
the supreme judgment was to be attributed to the sole
word of the Sovereign Pontifi". The debate terminated
suddenly, as it were by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
"It was the last sitting," relates Monsignor Audisio,
who was present; "mid-day had sounded, the whole
assembly knelt down to recite the Angelus. Then each
one resumed his place, and a few words had scarcely been
exchanged, when an acclamation to the Holy Father, a
cry of eternal adhesion to the Primacy of the See of
Saint Peter, arose, propagated itself, and closed the
debate : Petre, doce nos ; confirma fratres tuos ! ' Peter,
teach us ; confirm thy brethren ! ' And the teaching
which these pastors demanded of the Supreme Pastor,
was the definition of the Immaculate Conception." ^
This was indeed an auspicious foreshadowing of the
main work to be accomplished by the General Council
of the Vatican, in its doctrinal definition of Papal
Infallibility, sixteen years later.
In 1862, Pius IX. carried out with grand ceremonies,
' Villefraoche, "Pie IX., sa Vie, Son Histoire, Son Si&cle," p. 133,
Lyon, 1877.
474 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
in Saint Peter's, the Canonization of the Japanese
Martyrs.^ There were present, in obedience to the
invitation of the Holy Father, three hundred and
twenty-three cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, and
bishops, over four thousand priests, and a vast number
of lay visitors, of whom fully one hundred thousand
had come to Eome for the occasion. The great basilica
was completely filled, the enthusiasm was unbounded,
the moral effect was immense, gradually extending to
the most remote regions of Christendom.
On the following day a Consistory was held in the
Vatican, at which assisted all the bishops assembled in
Eome. In his address, the Pope forcibly denounced
certain errors, ever recurring, but, at the time, most
prominent and dangerous — errors hostile to religion
and social order, industriously circulated in bad books
and journals, and extensively permeating society. In
responding to the words of the Holy Father, Cardinal
Mattel, Dean of the Sacred College, speaking for the
episcopate of the Catholic world, said —
Holy Father, you are for us the master of sound doctrine, the
centre of unity ; you are the rock, the foundation of the Church
itself, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. When
you spealc, it is Peter whom we hear. When you decree, it is
Jesus Christ whom we obey. We admire you in the midst of so
many trials and tempests, with countenance serene, with heart
imperturbable, accomplishing your sacred ministry, standing firm
and invincible.
Then followed an allusion to the Temporal Power,
"established by a design of Divine Providence, and
essential to the good of the Church, and the free govern-
ment of souls."
The Most Eminent Dean next dwelt forcibly on the
close union of the whole Catholic world with the Vicar
of Christ, and continued :
1 These confessors of the faith, twenty-six in number (twenty-three
rranoiBoans and three Jesuits), were martyred in Japan in 1507 On
the same ocoasion, was canonized the Blessed Michael de Sanctis.
Trmitarian of the Redemption of Captives,
PIDS IX. 475
On behalf of our absent brethren as well as those here present,
\re condemn the errors which you have condemned, we reprove
the sacrileges, the violations of ecclesiastical immunity, and the
other crimes committed against the See of Peter. May it please
God that kings and the powerful ones of this age may understand
that the cause of the Pontiff is the cause of all states. May it
please God that they may take into consideration the placing in
security this sacred cause of the Christian universe and of social
. order.
The Pope replied —
United as we are, Venerable Brethren, it is manifest that the
God of peace and charity is with us. And if God is with us
who shall be against us ? Praise, then, honour and glory be to
God. To you peace, salvation and joy. Peace to your hearts ;
salvation to the faithful committed to your care ; joy for you
and for them ; so that you may exult with the saints, singing
a new canticle in the house of the Lord, for ever and ever !
On the 8th of December 1864, Pius IX. issued his
Encyclical,^ Qicanta cura, accompanied by the Syllabus,^
or systematically arranged collection of errors, con-
demned from time to time, by himself and his prede-
cessors. The Syllabus comprises eighty erroneous
propositions. These are set forth under ten distinct
heads, viz. I. Pantheism, Naturalism, and Absolute
Rationalism; II. Moderated Rationalism; III. Indif-
ferentism, Latitudinarianism ; IV. Socialism, Com-
munism, Secret Societies, Biblical Societies, Clerico-
liberal Societies ; V. Errors concerning the Church and
her rights; VI. Errors concerning Civil Society, as
well in itself as in its relations with the Church ; VII.
Errors concerning Natural and Christian Ethics ; VIII.
Errors concerning Christian marriage ; IX. Errors con-
cerning the CivS Princedom of the Roman Pontiff;
X. Errors in relation with Modern Liberalism. Im-
mediately under each error are given the two initial
1 Encyclical, from the Greek 'Ev, in, and kiSkXos, a circle; i.e., a
circular letter addressed by the Pope to all the Patriarchs, Primates,
Archbishops and Bishops of the Church, throughout the world.
2 Syllabus, from the Greek Si)XXa/3os {(riv, with or together, and
\an§av(a, to take) ; an index, or complete list
476 THE CHAIR OF PETEE.
words, and the date, of the particular Papal Allocution,
Encyclical, Letter Apostolic, or Epistle, in which it is
condemned. Whilst, on the one hand, the publication
of the Encyclical and Syllabus was hailed by many as
the greatest act of the pontificate of Pius IX., on the
other hand, their appearance excited the angry feelings,
and intensified the hostility, of the enemies of the
Church.
The next important event was the celebration at
Eome, in the year 1867, of the Eighteenth Centenary
of the Martyrdom of Saint Peter. On that solemn
occasion, a still greater number of strangers than in
1862 repaired to the Eternal City, and five hundred
and twelve cardinals and bishops assembled, to pay
their homage to the Holy Father, and, at his bidding,
to take part in the ceremonies. When, on the 29th of
June, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, that year.
Pope Pius IX. celebrated Pontifical High Mass, above
the Tomb of the Apostles, in the noblest temple ever
erected for the worship of God, it was indeed a sublime
and touching spectacle, to behold grouped around him,
in their gorgeous and picturesque attire, emblematic of
their sacred office, those five hundred prelates, nearly
all of advanced years, some with the snows of more
than eighty winters on their heads — men of every
language, of every nation, and of every race ; and when
they, the pastors of many flocks, dispersed throughout
the world, lifted up their voices and openly professed
their adhesion to all the teachings of the Supreme
Pontiff, the one Chief Pastor of all, the effect was
simply indescribable. A scene so solemn and impres-
sive, so full of deep meaning, was one ever to be
held in vivid recollection by the countless thousands.
Catholics and non-Catholics, by whom it was witnessed.
The final and crowning great official act of the ponti-
ficate of Pius IX. was the holding of the Vatican Council
and the definition of the dogma of Papal Infallibility,
which will form the subject of the next chapter.
CHAPTEE XXXIV.
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY.
"Veritas Catholica est, Pontifioem definientem ex cathedra esse
regulam fidei, quae errare non potest, quaudo aliquid authentice pro-
ponit toti Ecdesise, tanquam de fide credendum." — Suabez.^
Perhaps the best course to pursue in this chapter, is to
commence with a plain statement of what the Church
means by the Infallibility of the Pope. Indeed this is
the more necessary, because considerable misconception
appears to prevail on the subject, even among the
educated classes, notwithstanding all that has been
written thereon during the past fourteen years.
In the first Dogmatic Constitution, De Ecclesia Christi,
published in the fourth session of the General Council
of the Vatican, chapter iv., we find the following de-
finition : ^ —
Therefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from
the heginning of the Christian faith, for the glory of God our
Saviour, the exaltation of the Catholte Keligion, and the salva-
' " It is a Catholic truth, that the Pontiff defining ex Cathedrd is a
rule of faith which cannot err, when he authoritatively proposes to the
whole Church anything to be believed, as of faith." These words were
written towards the end of the sixteenth century. Their author,
Francis Suarez, a Jesuit father and a distinguished theologian, was
born in Granada in 1548, and died at Lisbon in 16 17. Benedict XIV.,
in his work De aynodo dioeeesana, calls him the excelling Doctor, doctor
eximius, and Grotius speaks of his being " so profound a philosopher
and theologian, that it would be hardly possible to find his equal."
His works fill twenty-three volumes folio.
'■' Enacted July 18, 187a
478 THE CHAIR OF' PETEB.
tion of Christian people, the sacred Council approving, We teach
and define, that it is a dogma divinely revealed : that the Roman
Pontiff, when he speaks ex Oathed/rd, that is, when in discharge
of the office of Pastor and Doctor of all Christians, by virtue of
his supreme Apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regarding
faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, by the
Divine assistance promised to him in Blessed Peter, is possessed
of that infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed that
His Church should be endowed in defining doctrine regarding
faith or morals ; and that therefore such definitions of the Roman
Pontiff are of themselves, and not from the consent of the Church,
irreformable.1
Here, ifc will be noted that, according to this definition.
Catholics are bound to believe, that Infallibility is
attached to the Pope only when he speaks ex Oathedrd,
that is, from the Chair of Peter ; which means that he
speaks, (i) in discharge of his office of Pastor and
Teacher of all Christians, (2) by virtue of his supreme
Apostolic authority, (3) defining a doctrine regarding
faith or morals, (4) addressing the Universal Church,
and (5) requiring her to hold the doctrine which he so
defines. And Catholics are further bound to believe,
that the Pope possesses this Infallibility, by the Divine
assistance promised to him in Saint Peter, in defining
doctrine under all the above conditions; and that,
therefore, such definitions are of themselves, and not
from the consent of the Church, irreformable — that is
they cannot be altered or amended.
^ " Itaque Nos, traditioni a fidei Christianse exordio perceptse fideliter
iiihserendo, ad Dei Salvatoris nostri gloriam, religionis Catholioffi exalta-
tionem, et Ohristianorum populorum salutem, saoro approbante Oonoilio,
docemuB et divinitus revelatum dogma ease definimus : Romanum
Pontifioem, cum ex Cathedra loquitur, id est, cum omnium Christian-
orum Pastoris et Dootoris munere fungens, pro suprema sua ApoBtolioa
auotoritate, dootrinam de fide vel moribus ab universa Eoclesia tenendam
definit,_per assistentiam divinam, ipsi in beato Petro promissam ea
intallibilitate poUere, qua divinns Redemptor Ecolesiam suam in de-
finienda dootrina de fide vel moribus instruotam esse voluit : ideoque
ejusmodi Romani Pontifieis definitiones ex sese, non autem ex oonsensu
EooleeiED, irreformabiles esse. Conoilii CEoumenici Vaticani Oonstitutio
?''#".?';;?\F"!"'' ^^ Eoclesia Christi, caput iv., De Romani Pontifieis
Inlallibili Hagisterio."
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. 479
There is nothing in this doctrine to preclude a Pope's
erring, as a man, as a prince, or even as a private
Doctor. Thus, in a sermon or a discourse addressed to
a particular congregation, or in a theological treatise,
published by him as an author, a Pope may err — not
indeed a probable contingency, though one quite pos-
sible: but, as Pastor and Teacher of all Christians,
addressing the Universal Church on any question of
faith or morals, he cannot err.
By losing sight of this distinction, many persons, of
late, have formed strangely mistaken ideas of the mean-
ing ■ of Papal Infallibility, as held by the Church.
Therefore it is, that we not infrequently find writers of
no small authority confounding the actions of Popes as
men, or as sovereigns, or as arbiters of kings and nations
in the Middle Ages, with their solemn acts, defining
questions of faith or morals, in their official capacity of
Pastors and Doctors of the Universal Church. Indeed,
one distinguished statesman affirms, that Catholics,
accepting the above recited definition of the Vatican
Council, do so at the sacrifice of their civil allegiance !
In thus arguing, Mr. Gladstone appears completely to
ignore the account which Catholics give of the faith
which is in them, and to substitute his own ideas for
the Church's clear and explicit interpretation of the
dogma in question. The allegation, coming from so
influential a public man, has caused much pain to the
Catholics of these kingdoms ; and has been several
times conclusively replied to — notably by His Eminence
Cardinal Newman.
On this subject, Monseigneur Fessler, Bishop of St.
Polten in Austria, and Secretary-General to the Vatican
Council, argues with equal cogency and authority, in
his " True and Palse Infallibility of the Popes." This
work, which was honoured with a Brief of approbation
by His Holiness Pius IX., was written in reply to a
pamphlet of Doctor Schulte, which was pubUshed at
Prague in 1 871, attacking the Infallibility dogma of
480 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
the Vatican Council.^ In that pamphlet the deposi-
tion of princes by the Pope in the Middle Ages is
assumed to have been regarded by the Pontiffs and by
the Church, as coming within the scope of Papal
Infallibility !
Tor example, in arguing his case. Dr. Schulte cites
the fact " that Gregory VII. deposed King Henry IV.,
released his subjeets from their oath of allegiance, and
installed Rudolph in his place." To this Bishop Fessler
replies : " That is an action of the Pope, but it is not
an Infallible definition which a Catholic must accept."
Again, the instance is adduced of " Pope Gregory
IX., in the year 1239, declaring the Emperor Frederick
II. excommunicated, and releasing from their oath of
allegiance aU who had pledged their fidelity to him."
The reply is : " That is a penal sentence whereby ex-
communication, with all its legitimate consequences,
according to the laws of that period, was fulminated
against the offender; but it is not a definition of faith;
it is not an utterance of the Pope ex Cathed/rd upon
faith or morals at all, as anybody who will open his
eyes may see."
"The same answer,' continues Dr. Pessler, "holds
good in regard to the deposition of the above-named
^ "Dr. Schulte," observes M. Oosqum, in his introduction to the
Trench translation of 1873, "is a Westphalian by birth, up to the
present time Professor of Canon and German Law in tlie University
of Prague, and has been recently appointed by the Prussian Govern-
ment to a chair in the University of Bonn." Down to the year 1862,
his teaching was orthodox ; but, that year, he displayed tendencies to
unsound doctrines, which gradually increased. In 1871, he published
among other writings, under his own name, the pamphlet above referred
to, entitled, " The Power of the Koman Popes over Princes, Countries,
Peoples and Individuals, examined by the light of their doctrines and
their acts since the reign of Gregory VII,, to serve for the appreciation
of their Infallibility, and set face to face with contradictory doctrines
of the Popes and the Councils of the first eight centuries." This
pamphlet Bishop Tessler deemed it his duty not to leave unanswered ;
but he did not long survive his most successful work ; as he succumbed
to his heavy duties at the council and other labours which followed,
dying in 1872 (J-essler, « The True and False Infallibility of the
Popes," xiL, London, trans. 1875).
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. 48 I
Emperor Frederick II. by Innocent IV. in the year
1245, in which were bound up the consequences of
such a sentence, according to what was the Jtis puhlicjim
common in those times."
" Pope Nicholas V., " urges Dr. Schulte, " deposed
the Antipope Felix (Dake Amadeus of Savoy) in the
year 1447, .and declared all his possessions confiscated,
as the possessions of an anathematized heretic ; " to
which the learned bishop replies : " Neither is this a
definition of faith, but an execution of the punish-
ment which, according to the Jus pvblicum common in
those times, was bound up with the Anathema, an
execution [executio) with which, in this case, the King
of France was charged.
"No more," he continues, "is there a dogmatic,
definition before us in the Papal Bull whereby King
Henry VIII. of England, in the year 1535, was
threatened with an excommunication, carried into
effect in the year 1538, with all its legal consequences,
according to the Jus piiUicum common in those times.
It is a simple penal sentence in the spirit and in the
form which once was customary, but which in later
times fell into disuse.
"The same holds good of the penal sentence pro-
nounced upon Queen Elizabeth of England by Pope
Pius v., issued in the year 1570.
" Now, since all the Bulls here brought forward have
not the faintest trace of being Papal doctrinal, or de
fide, definitions — utterances of the Popes ex Cathedrd ;
and since they plainly and incontestably belong to an
entirely different class of Papal deliveries, it clearly
follows that no one of these is to be regarded as an
infallible utterance of Popes ; and this alone it is which,
by the definition of the Vatican Council, a Catholic is
to believe and obey as part of the doctrine of the
Catholic Church." ^
^ Fessler, " The True and False Infallibility of the Popes,'' pages
70-73-
2 H
482 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
The distinction to be clearly borne in mind is well
illustrated by Bishop Fessler, in the parallel case of a
judge who has to decide a suit. In private life he may
perhaps hold and express his opinion, and that on
various occasions ; but in the suit nothing passes for
law but his solemn judicial utterance, which, however
(and here the parallel ceases), is by no means infallible.
" The example, nevertheless," he further observes,
" will suffice to show that a man who is invested with
an official position can be readily conceived as thinking
and speaking as a man, on the one hand, and, on the
other hand, as an official personage in his forensic
utterances and acts." ^
Until defined by the Vatican Council of 1 870, Papal
Infallibility was not, strictly speaking, an article of faith ;
and while the great majority of theologians believed in
and maintained the Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff
speaking ex Oathedrd, a minority, chlelBy those of the
Galilean school, held the opposite doctrine — their con-
tention being, that Infallibility resides only in a General
Council, or, again, in its equivalent, the judgment of
the Pope, confirmed by the acquiescence, express or
tacit, of the Ecalesia dispersa — that is, the great majority
of the bishops throughout the Church.
It was on the 19th of March, 1682, that the French
clergy, who had been convoked by command of Louis
XIV., subscribed their four celebrated resolutions on
the power of the Pope, commonly called the Galilean
articles.
This assembly was held in order to maintain the
Regale against Pope Innocent XL The Begale was a
privilege or right, by which the King received the
revenue of certain archbishoprics and bishoprics during
their vacancy, and could collate certain benefices, the
disposal of which strictly belonged to the incoming
^ Feesler, "True and False Infallibility," p. 76. To such extremes
does Dr. Sohulte go as to elevate Concordats to the rank of dogmatic
decisions and utterances of the Pope ex Cathedrd I
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. 483
bishops. It extended to only some dioceses — those
which had been founded by the Kings of Prance ; but
Louis XIV. now aimed at its extension to all the
archiepiscopal and episcopal sees of the realm. This
was strenuously resisted by the Pope. The assembly
was to be composed of two bishops and two deputies
of the second order of clergy from each metropolitan
province. Therefore it numbered only thirty-six arch-
bishops and bishops out of one hundred and twenty, and
thirty-eight of the second order of clergy — clearly an
inadequate representation of the entire clergy of France.
The decision of the assembly was expressed in its
Actes et Procis Verbaux, under date of February 3rd
1682, to the following effect : —
We the imdersigned Arohbisliops and Bishiops, representing
the Galilean Church, have consented and do consent by these
presents that the right of Regale enjoyed by His Majesty over the
greater part of our churches before the decree of the Parliament
of the 24th of April 1608, continues extended to all the churches
of the kingdom in the terms of the decree of the loth of February
1673 ; hoping that our Most Holy Father the Pope, desirous to
enter into the true interest of our churches, will receive favour-
ably the letter which we have resolved to write to His Holiness
on this subject, and that, allowing himself to be touched by the
^motives which have inspired us to take this course, he will give
his Apostolic Benediction to this work of peace and charity.
It may well be conceived how strongly. the Pope
disapproved of this line of action. In his brief of
Apnl nth, 1682, he addressed the French bishops in
the following emphatic words : —
• How, above ail, the affair itself shows, that, by the abuse of
the Begale, not only is Ecclesiastical discipline' overturned, but
even the integrity of faith is imperilled, may easily be understood
from the very words of the Eoyal decrees, which claim for the
King the right of conferring beneflces, not as if flowing from any
concession of the Church, hut as if innate and coeval with tha
Boyal crown. But we have not been able to read without horror
of mind that part of y^ur letter in which you say that you,
abandoning your right, have conferred it on the King ; as if you
were the absolute masters, not the guardians (arUti-i non ciistodes).
4,84 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
of the churches which have been committed to your care ; and
as if those churches and their spiritual rights could be put under
the yoke of the secular power by the bishops, who for their liberty
should give themselves into slavery.
When the discussion of the Eegale was concluded,
Monseigneur Le Tellier, Archbishop of Eheims, pro-
posed that they should now deal with the subject of
the Pope's authority, but, on the objection being raised
that such a discussion would be inopportune, the pro-
position was withdrawn. It was, however, urged anew
by the minister Colbert and Franqois de Harlay, Arch-
bishop of Paris, and ordered by the King to be proceeded
with. Hence arose the four Gallican resolutions, above
referred to — a cause of much mischief and bitter grief
to the Church, They were drawn up in Latin by
Bossuet, at the request of the assembly.
Of these, the First affirms, that to Saint Peter and
his successors. Vicars of Christ, and to the Church
herself, power has been given by God over things
spiritual only; and that Kings and Princes are by
God's ordinance not subject to Ecclesiastical power in
matters temporal ; that neither directly nor indirectly
can they be deposed by the authority of the Keys of
the Church ; and that their subjects cannot be dispensed "
from the obedience they owe them, or released from
their oath of fidelity to them.
More than once already we have considered the wide
difference between the state of affairs in the Middle
Ages, when, by common consent, the Supreme Pontiff
was the head and arbiter of united Christendom, and
the circumstances of modern times, when such a power
in the hands of the Pope, in matters temporal, would
be an anachronism, and indeed, owing to the multiplicity
of religious sects and the spread of unbelief, an impossi-
bility. It is therefore unnecessary to allude further to
the subject here.
The Second Gallican Article affirms, that the pleni-
tude of power over things spiritual possessed by the
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. 485
Apostolic See and the successors of Saint Peter, Vicars
of Christ, is such that the decrees of the General
Council of Constance (sessions iv. and v.), on the
awthority of General Councils, continue in their full
force ; and that the Gallican Chutch does not approve
of those persons who impugn those decrees, or weaken
them by asserting that their authority is doubtful and
not well established, and that they had reference
merely to a period of schism, such as existed at the
time of the council.
Any one perusing the decrees of the Council of
Constance will plainly see that those here referred to
were enacted only for the occasion, ad extirpatioTiem
schismatis, to put an end to schism, at a time when
there were three claimants of the Papacy, and no one .
could tell who was the legitimate Pope ; which, under
such circumstances, a General Council only could
decide;! Their text runs as follows : — That of the
fourth session says: "This Holy Synod, legitimately
congregated in the Holy Ghost, constituting a General
Counc3, representing the Catholic Church militant,
has power immediately from Christ; and any one of
any dignity whatsoever, were it even Papal, is bound
to obey it in those matters which appertain to faith,
and the extirpation of the said schism, and the general
reformation of the Church in its head and members."
That of the fifth session says : " Whoever, of whatsoever
condition, rank, or dignity he may be, even though he
were Pope, shall obstinately refuse to obey the regula-
tions of this Holy Synod and of every other General
Council legitimately assembled, on the matters afore-
said, either decided or to be decided, if he repent not,
shall receive the punishment which he deserves."
Here the crisis was exceptional — nay unprecedented,
as were the decrees. But, as we have seen, the Pope,
canonicaUy chosen, possesses within himself, as Vicar
of Christ and Head of the Church, the plenitude of
^ Vide supra, chap, xx.
486 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
power and authority in spiritual affairs: and, to con
stitiite an CEcumenical Council, it is necessary that it
should be convened by him, that he should preside over
it, either personally or by his legates, and that its de-
crees should be approved of and confirmed by him. In
this regard, the Pope may be said to be above a General
Council, instead of being " subject to it," as alleged by
the Galileans.
Again, it is argued, against the Gallicans, that the
decrees of the fourth and fifth sessions of the Council
of Constance are of no authority, as they were passed
in March and April 1415, when the council was not as
yet CEcuinenical, being composed of only those who
acknowledged John XXIII., the other claimants of the
Papacy, Gregory XII. and Benedict XIII. and their
followers not being present ; and, finally, that the two
decrees in question were not confirmed by Martin V.,
whose election and general recognition as legitimate
Pope, on November 11, 1417 (the Council of Constance
still sitting), put an end to the schism.
The Third of the Gallican Articles is to the effect,
that the use of the Apostolic power ought to be regu-
lated by the canons made by the Spirit of God, and
consecrated by the reverence of the whole world ; that
the rules, customs, and institutions received by the
Kingdom and Church of Prance ought to be main-
tained, and the limits marked out by the fathers remain
unmoved ; and that it belongs to the greatness of the
Apostolic See that the statutes and customs, estab-
lished with the consent of that Venerable See and of
the Churches, should be unchanged.
The Fourth Article afiBrms that " the Pope has the
chief part in questions of faith, and his decrees regard
all Churches and each Church in particular. Never-
theless, his judgment is not irreversible,- so long as it
does not obtain the consent of the Church."
It is scarcely necessary here to remind the reader,
that these resolutions emanated from what could not be
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. 487
called even a merely national synod, at which were pre-
sent only thirty-six archbishops and bishops and thirty-
eight of the second order of clergy, and that assuredly
it was not the function of such an assembly to define
the power and jurisdiction, in matters spiritual, of the
Head and Teacher of the Universal Church.
But to whom did the Gallican Bishops apply for the
confirmation of their proceedings in this assembly ?
Was it to the Holy Father ? No : it was to King
Louis XIV. ! This circumstance alone would be suffi-
cient, irrespective of any other, to place them outside
the category of Ecclesiastical synods, or, in other words,
to put them out of court. On the 20th of March, 1682,
the four articles received the King's approval, and an
edict was passed, giving them the force of law, and on
the 23rd of the same month they were enregistered by
the Parliament. But the faculty of the Sorbonne re-
fused to enregister them ; whereupon their registrar
was compelled by the Parliament to do so, but without
the assent of the doctors. The Articles were immedi-
ately condemned,- as were also the proceedings in the
matter of the Begale, by Innocent XI., as we have
above seen.^ This condemnation of both was repeated
by Alexander VIII. in 1690,^ and by Clement XI. in
1706.* They were also emphatically pronounced against
by Italy, Spain, Austria, Hungary, and Belgium ; * and
their enactment was deeply deplored by several of the
French bishops.^ Finally, they were annulled by the
^ In his Brief Patemw Charitati, addressed to the Bishops of France,
nth of April 1682.
* In his Bull Inter Multiplieei, of August 4, i6go, published by that
Pontiff, on his death-bed, in the presence of twelve cardinalsj in
January, i6gi.
' In his Brief of August 31, 1706, addressed to Louis XIV.
' In the solemn Acts and Declarations of the Universities and
Chapters of those countries, and a National Council in Hungary.
° In the assembly itself, they were opposed by Monseigneur De
Brias, Archbishop of Cambrai ; and they were afterwards disapproved
of and condemned by some other French Bishops, who had not been
present. They were even, in the end, abandoned by Bossuet, by whom
the Articles had been drawn up.
488 THE CHAIR or PETER.
King, and retracted by the bishops of Trance, in 1693 ;i
and in 1794 their condemnation was renewed by Pope
Pius VI.2
So much for the once celebrated Gallioan Articles,
which, it will be observed, were mainly levelled against
the privilege of Papal Infallibility in matters spiritual,
as since defined by the Church.
From the opinions on the other side, as held by all
theologians in the early ages, and by the great majority
since the Council of Constance, the following may be
quoted here ; and it is only to be regretted that more
cannot be given in our necessarily restricted space.
We commence with a high authority. Saint Thomas
of Aquino, who, writing about the year 1260, in his
treatise Contra Gentiles, says : —
As therefore in one particular people one bishop of one church
is required, who should be the head of the whole people, so in
the whole Christian people it is necessary that One should be the
head of the whole Churcn. Likewise it is requisite for the unity
of the Church, that all the faithful should agree in faith. But
about those things which are of faith, it happens that questions
are raised : and, through diversity of opinions, the Church
would be divided, unless it were preserved in unity by the
opinion of one. Therefore the preservation of the unity of the
Cnurch demands that there should be one to preside over the
whole Church. But it is inanifest that Christ is not wanting in
^ This was done in virtue of an agreement, or Act of reconciliation
between Pope Innocent XII., on the one part, and Louis XIV. and
the clergy of France, on the other, in 1693. In the King's letter, he
assures the Pope that, in order to testify his filial respect for His Holi-
ness, he has ordered the Acts, approved of in the royal edict of 20th
of March, 1682 (forced upon him by circumstances), not to be observed.
The clergy of France, in their letter, expressed their profound regret
at the said Acts, which had so deeply afflicted His Holiness and his
predecessors, and they declared that everything which had thus been
done against ecclesiastical Authority was regarded by them as not
decreed ; and they assured His Holiness that to him, as to the Suc-
cessor of Saint Peter, the Vicar of Christ, and the Head of the whole
Church militant, they now repeated the vows of true and sincere
obedience, which they had already promised and sworn.
^ In his Bull Auctorem Fidei, condemning the adoption of the De-
claration of 1682, by the Synod of Pistoia.
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. 489
things necessary to the Church, which He loved and for which
He shed His blood, since it was said of the Synagogue by the
Lord : What is there that I ought to do more to My vineyard, that
I have not done to it ? Therefore it is not to be doubted that, by
the ordinance of Christ, one presides over the whole Church.
But, if any one should say that the one head and the one
pastor is Christ, who is the one spouse of the one Church, he
does not answer sufficiently. For it is manifest that Christ
perfects all the sacraments of the Church ; for it is He who
baptizes, it is He who remits sins, He is the true priest, who
offered Himself on the altar of the cross, and by virtue of
whom His body is daily consecrated on the altar : and, however,
because He was not to be in future corporally present with all
the faithful. He chose ministers through whom He would dis-
pense the above mentioned things to the faithful. Therefore,
for the same reason, because He was about to subtract His
corporal presence from the Church, it behoved that He should
commit to some one, to bear, in His place, the care of the Uni-
versal Church. Hence it is that He said to Peter before the
Ascension : Feed my sheep, John xxi. 17 ; and before the Passion :
Thou, leing once converted, confirm thy brethren, Luke xxii 32 ;
and to him alone He promised : / will give to thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, Matthew xvi. 19 ; in order that the power of
the keys should be shown to be derived through him to the
others, for the conservation of the unity of the Church.'^
^ S. Thomas Aquiu. " Summa contra Gentiles " lib. iv., cap. 76, cui
titulus : "De Episcopali dignitate, et quod in ea uiraa sit summua."
Apud Bianchi, " De Constitntione Monarchica Ecclesiae et de Infallibili-
tate Komani Pontificis." Komse, 1870. "Sicut igitur in uno speciall
populo uniuB Ecclesise requiritur uuus Episcopus, qui sit totius populi
caput, ita in toto populo Cbristiano requiritur, quod unus ait totius
Ecoleaise caput. Item. Ad unitatem Ecclesise requiritur quod omnes
fideles in fide conveniant. Circa vero ea, qnse fidei sunt, contingit
quaestiones moveri ; per diversitatem autem sententiarum divideretur
Eoclesia, nisi in unitate per unius sentestiam conservaretur. Exigitur
ergo ad unitatem Ecclesise conservandam, quod sit unus qui toti
Ecolesiae prsesit. Manifestum est autem, quod Christus Ecoleaise in
necessariis non deficit, quam dilexit, et pro ea aanguinem suum fudit.
. . . Non est igitur dubitandum, quin ex ordinatione Ohriati unua toti
Eccleaiee prseait. . . ■ Eadem igitur ratione, quia prsesentiam oorpo-
ralem erat Eocleaise aubtracturus, oportuit ut alicui committeret qui
loco aui nnirersalia Ecclesi% gereret curam. Hiuc Petro dixit ante
Aacenaionem : Paace oves meas ; et ante Paasionem : Tu aliqua/ndo con-
versus conjirma fratres tuos ; et ei soli promiait Titn dabo claves regni
ccelorum : ut ostenderetur potestaa olavium per eum ad alios derivanda,
ad conservandam Eccleaise unitatem."
490
THE CHAIR OF PETKK.
Saint Thomas supposes the case of a new edition of
the Symbol or Creed heing required, and he puts the
question: "Whether it belongs to the Supreme Pontiff
to draw up a Symbol of Faith ? " He replies : —
Granted that a new edition of the Symbol is necessary, to avoid
arising errors. Then an edition of the Symbol belongs to the
authority of him to whose authority it appertains finally to de-
tennine those things which are of faith, that they may be held
by allin unshaken faith : but this belongs to the authority of
the Supreme Pontiff, to whom the greater and more difficult
questions of the Church axe referred. Whence the Lord, in
Luke xxii. says to Peter, whom He constituted Supreme Pontiff :
Peter, I have prayed, for thee, that thy fcdth fail not, and thou, being
once corwerted, confirm thy brethren. And the reason of this is,
that til ere ought to be one faith of the whole Church, according
to that of I Corinthians J. that you all speak the same thing, and
that there be no scMems among you, which cannot be observed
unless a question of faith which has arisen concerning faith be
determined by him who presides over the whole Church, that so
his opinion may be firmly held by the whole Church. And
therefore to the sole authority of the Supreme Pontiff belongs a
new edition of the Symbol, alike as all other things which apper-
tain to the whole Church, such as the assembling a General Council
and other matters of this kind.*
Alluding to the prohibition by the Universal Church,
at the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, of a new
edition of the Symbol or Creed being made, Saint
Thomas says : —
The prohibition and sentence of the Council applies to private
persons, whose function it is not to determine concerning faith ;
lor this kind of sentence of a General Council does not take away
' S. Thomas Aquin., apud Bianchi, ut supra, p. 37. " Ad illius ergo
auctoritatem pertmet editio Symbol!, ad cajus auctoritatem pertinet
finaliter determinare ea, qua; sunt fidei, ut ab omnibus inconcussa fide
teneantur ; hoc autem pertinet ad auctoritatem Summi Fontifiois, ad
quem majores et difBciliores Ecclesise queestiones referuntur. . . . Kt
hujns ratio est ; quia una fides debet esf,e totius Ecclesiee, . . . quod
servari non posset, nisi qusstio fidei de fide exorta determinetur per
eum qui toti EcclesisB prsest, et sic ejus sententia a tota Ecclesia
firmiter teneatur. Et ideo ad solam auctoritatem Summi Pontificifl
pertinet nova editio Symboli, sicnt et omnia alia, quse pertinent ad
totam Ecclesiam," etc.
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. 49 I
from a subsequent Council the power of making a new edition
of the Symbol, not containing another faith, but the same, more
explained. For thus any Council whatsoever has observed, that
a subsequent Council might expound anything over and above
the exposition given by a preceding Council, on account of the
necessity of some arising heresy, whence, to draw up a new
Symbol of faith belongs to the Supreme Pontiff, by whose
authority a Council is congregated and its sentence is confirmed. ^
Here yre have a strong declaration, indeed, of the
doctrine of Papal Infallibility, as seb forth by one of
the greatest Doctors of the Church, over six centuries
ago — a belief universally held at the time.
Writing about two hundred and fifty years ago,
Sylvius,^ a divine of high authority, observes : —
The answer is certain of faith, that the judgment of the Roman
Pontiff, in determining matters of faith, is infallible ; so that
when he defines ex Oathedrd, or when, as Pontiff, he propounds
anything to the Church, to be believed, of faith, he can in no case
err, whether he defines with a General Council or without it.
The first proof of this is, that Christ, as recorded in the 22nd
chapter of Saint Luke, speaks to Blessed Peter thus : " Simon,
Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift
you as wheat : but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not."
With reference to these words, Saint Leo says :'■' "To all the
Apostles there was a common danger of a temptation of fear, and
^ S. Thomas, apud Bianohi, ut supra, p. 40. "Prohibitio et sen-
tentia Synodi se extendit ad privatas- personas, quarum non est deter-
minare de fide ; non enim, per hujusmodi sententiam Synodi Generalis,
ablata est potestas sequent! Synodo novam editioneta Symboli faoere,
non quidem aliam fidem eontlnentem, sed eamdem magis expositam.
Sic enim quselibet Synodus observavit, ut sequens Synodus aliquid
exponeret supra id, quod prseoedens Synodus exposuerat, propter neces-
sitatem alicujus hseresis insur^entis : unde pertinet ad Sumtnuiu Pon-
tificem ordinare novum Symbolum fidei, cujns auctoritate Synodus
congregatur et ejus sententia confirmatur."
^ Francois Sylvius, or Du Bois, was born at Braine-le-Comte in
Hainault in 1581. He was Canon and Dean of Saint Amd at Douai,
and was for over thirty years professor of theology in that town. He
died there on the 27th of February, 1649. He was the author of
several learned works, among which are his much valued OommentarieB
on the Summa of Saint Thomas, above quoted. His worlss were
published, in six volumes folio, in Antwerp in 1698, and in Venice
in 1746.
' Saint Leo the Great, Pope, writing about A.D. 450.
492 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
they equally needed the assistance of the Divine protection, since
the Devil was desirous to terrify all and to destroy all : but
special care is taken of Peter by the Lord, and He particularly
prays for the faith of Peter, as, assuredly, the state of the others
would be more certain, were the mind of the chief not conquered."
Conformably with which, Pope Agatho, in the Sixth General
Council, affirming that " the Apostolic Church of Christ, through
the grace of God, will never be proved to have wandered from
the path of Apostolic tradition, and never succumbed, corrupted
by heretical novelties," proves this from the same quoted words
(Luke xxii.),i as had before been proved by Lucius I. and Felix I.,
where we have shown from their words, and those of Leo IX.,
Bernard, Innocent III., and Saint Thomas, that the sentence of
Christ had reference to Peter and also to his legitimate successors
in the Primacy of the Church."
Atout the same time, Andrew Duval, Doctor of
Sorbonne, and Eoyal Professor of Theology in the
Academy, Paris, wrote : —
The Pontiff alone, without a General Council, if he decrees as
Pontiff, or, as they say, ex Cathedrd, can decree nothing whatever
against faith or good morals. It is otherwise if he act as a private
person, for so he may strike on either shoal. But he is said to
act or define as Pontiff, when he propounds any dogma or precept
to the whole Church, to be believed or observed ; but as a private
person, when as a particular doctor he propounds or teaches
anything, in which manner Innocent III. issued the Commentaries
on the Decretals.'
' A.D. 680. Vide supra, p. 113.
" Sylvius (Fralncisous) "Opera," torn. v. p, 246. Venioe, 1746.
" Responsio fide carta est, Romanl Pontificie judicium in rebas fidei
determinandis esse iafalUbile ; ita ut quando ex Cathedra definit, siVe
quando ut Pontifex proponit Ecclesia) quidpiam fide credenduin, nullo
casu possit errare, sive cum G-enerali Concilio definiat, sive sine illo.
Prob. I. quia ChristuB (Luc. xxii.) sic B. Petrum alloquitur: 'Simon,
Simon, ecce Sathanas expetivit vos, ut cribaret sicut triticum ; Ego
autem rogavi pro te, ut non deficiat fides tua.' . . . Hoc probat
(Pontifex Agatho) ex allegatis Christi verbis (Luc. xxii.) quemadmodum
antea idem probaverant Lucins I. et FeUx I. ubi ex eorum, ut et ex
Leonis IX., Bemardi, Innocentii III. et Sancti Thomse, verbis osten-
dimuB, eententiam Christi pertinere ad Petrum, ac etiam ad legitimos
ejus iu Primatu EcclesiEe succeBeores. " The first two Pontiffs here
named governed the Church, in the third century; viz., Lucius I.,
A.D. 252, 253 ; and ITelix I., A.D. 269-275.
^ Duval. " He Suprema Romani Pontificis in Ecclesiam potestate,"
pars. II. De Pontificis in definiendo infallibilitate, p. 200. Paris, 1614.
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. 493
Gotti, an eminent theologian, about a.d. 1700,
writes : —
Know therefore that we would not have the Pope to be in-
fallible, in his every private judgment, or of a pure private fact ;
but we would distinguish between the Person and the Chair;
between the Pope as a private Doctor, and the Pope as universal
Doctor and Teacher, who speaks to the whole Church, and teaches
it faith and morals ; between a pure private fact, in no manner
connected with law and dogma, and law, or a fact connected with
law, and dogmatic. We say therefore (whatever can be said of
the Pope as a Person and a private Doctor, and of a matter of
pure fact) : this is certain, that when the Pope speaks with the
voice of his Chair, as universal Doctor and Teacher, and proposes
to the whole Church any truth to be believed, and to be held,
and separates true from false dogma ; in those cases his judgment
and discretion enjoy the privilege of infallibility, and cannot be
liable to any error. For then he pronounces his sentence with
the mouth of Blessed Peter, and in his name and prerogative, of
whom he is the Successor in the Ministry, and whose it is
(according to the promise of Christ, Lulce xxii. 32) to confirm in
the faith his brethren ; and for whom He had prayed, that he
might remain indefectible in teaching her : But I ham prayed, for
thee that thy faith fail not, and thou, being once converted, confirm
thy brethren.^
" Solus Pontifex, absque concilio aristocratico, si ut Pontifex, seu (ut
loquuntur) ex CathedrS, decemat, nihil quicquam contra fidem aut bones
mores potest decemere. Aliud, si ut privata persona agat : sic enim
in utrumque scopulum potest allidere. Dicitur autem ut Pontifex
agere seu definire, quando dogma seu praeceptum aliquod toti EccIesisB
credendum vel observandum proponit ; ut privalta vero persona, quando
ut particularis Doctor aliquid proponit vel docet, quo pacto Innocentius
III. commentaria in decretales edidit." Andrew Duval, born at
Pontoise in 1564, Doctor of the House and Society of Sorbonne, was
the first who filled the chair of theology newly established by Henri
IV. in 1596. At his death in 1638, he was senior of Sorbonne and
Dean of the faculty of theology. He was author of a " Commentary
on the Summa of Saint Thomas," two " Tracts against Richer," and
other works, including the above quoted, " De Suprema Romani Ponti-
ficis in Ecclesiam Potestate," 4to, Paris, 1614.
' Gotti, "DeRom. Pontificis auctoritate," Colloquio vi. class. 2, n. 8.
apud Bianchi, p. 33. " Dioimus ergo (quidquid dici possit de Papa, ut
Persona et privato Dootore, et de re puri facti) : hoc certum est, Papam
cum voce suae Cathedrae loquitur, ut Doctor, et Magister universalis,
totique Ecolesiae aliquam veritatem credendam, tenendamque proponit,
verumque a falso dogmate separat ; in his casibus, ejus judicium ao
494
THE CHAIK OF PETEK.
Billuart, a French theologian,^ writing about A.l). 1746,
observes, with reference to the two opinions then pre-
vailing on the question of the Infallibility of the
Supreme Pontiff, speaking ex Cathedrd : —
The first is that of the French, who for the greater ]5art hold
that the Supreme Pontiff is not infallible in matters of faith and
morals, unless there is added the consent of the Church, either
congregated in a General Council or at least diffused throughout
the world — from the declaration of the Gallioan Clergy 1682
. . . The other opinion is that of all qj;her nations, who con-
stantly hold, that the Supreme Pontiff speaking ex Cathedrd . . .
independently of the consent of the Church, either congregated,
or diffused, is infallible in determining questions of faith and
morals.^ For, although, after the Council of Constance, some
theologians outside France, few however, thought the contrary,
now the opinion about the infallibility of the Pope in our sense
is everywhere received, except in France : so at least says Bene-
dict XIV., who to-day governs the helm of the Church.'
The several texts of Scripture, proving the Primacy
of Peter, have been considered in former chapters,
diseretionem infallibilitatis privilegio gaudere, neque uUius erroris
obnoxium esse posse. Etenim tunc ore Beati Petri ejusque nomine,
cujus est Successor in Ministerio, ac prserogativa, sententiam profert,
cujusque est (secundum Cbristi promisstmi, Zucm xxii. v. 32) confinnare
in fide fratres kuob ; et pro quo rogaverat, ut in earn docendo indefecti-
bilis permaneret." Vincent Louis Gotti, of Bologna in Italy, was
bom in 1664. He entered the Dominican order, and on account of
his learning and piety was made Cardinal by Benedict XIII. in 1738.
His principal work is "Theologia Scbolastica Dogmatica," after St.
Thomas, Borne, 12 vols. 4°, and Venice, 3 vols. foL, 1750.
1 Charles R6a6 Billuart, theologian, was born at B;evin on the
Meuse, three leagues from Bocroi, in 1685. He entered the Domini-
can order, and professed theology therein, with great reputation. His
Course of Theology was published at Li^ge, in 19 vols. 8°, 1 746-48, and
reprinted in Venice and Wurtzburg, in 3 vols, folio. He died in 1757.
'■' " Altera sententia est omnium alianim nationum, qiiss constanter
tenent Summum Fontificem loquentem ex Cathedrd . , . independenter
a consensu Ecclesiae, sive congregatse, eive diffuese, esse infaUibilem in
quaestionibus fidei et morum dirimendis." This is confirmed by Cardinal
Gotti, who states that such was the opinion of all, before the Council
of Constance, and that be who would assert the contrary would be
noted as a heretic ; and that it was only after the Council of Constance
that theologians began to think otherwise. " De Rom. Pont, auctori-
tate," colloq. 6, class 2, n. 6, apud Bianchi, p. 28.
■' Billuart, "Suiania Tract, de Beg. fidei," iJiss. 4, a. 5, apud
Bianchi, p, 28.
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. 495
His Infallibility is implied in all of these ; but especi-
ally in that so often quoted from the twenty-second
chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke. Several passages
from the writings of the Fathers have also been cited,
and several historical facts have been carefully weighed ;
all corroborative of the Scripture evidence, and all
clearly setting forth the Catholic belief, from the
Apostolic times, that the prince of the Apostles
transmitted to his successors in the See of Eome, all
his gifts and powers, and special privileges, as Vicar of
Christ and Visible Head of the Church. Of these not
the least is the essential gift of Infallibility, as defined
by the Vatican Council.
In this sense, it is constantly affirmed by the Fathers,
that Peter ever lives and judges in his successors in the
Apostolic Chair. In addition to the several instances
already given, the following few may not be out of place
liere.
At the Third General Council, that of Ephesus, held
A-D. 431, Philip, the legate of the Apostolic See,
addressing the assembled Fathers, declared, that no
one doubted, nay that it was known to all ages, that
Peter the Prince and Head of the Apostles and founda-
tion of the Church had received from Christ the keys
of the kingdom, and the power of binding and loosing,
and that now and ever he both lives and judges in his
successors.! The exact words of the legate are embodied
in the constitution of the Vatican Council on this
subject, which will be immediately quoted.
A few years later. Saint Leo the Great, a worthy
successor of the Prince of the Apostles, said : Blessed
Peter " ceases not to preside over his own see ; and
unfailing he enjoys association with the Eternal Priest :
for that solidity which, when he was made a rock, he
received from the rock, Christ, has transmitted itself to
his heirs." ^
' "Ooncilii Ephesini Acta," torn. ii. cap. 16.
2 "Saneti Leonis PP. Magni Sermo iv." in Nat. Ord. u. 4. "Sedi
496 THE CHAIB OF PETEE.
At the Fourth General Council, that of Chalcedon,
assembled in the year 451, when the letter of the same
holy Pope to Saint Flavian was read, the Fathers
exclaimed : " This is the faith of the Apostles. So we
all believe. Peter hath spoken by Leo."
With a like acclamation, the dogmatic letter of Pope
Agatho was received by the Fathers of the Sixth
General Council, the Third of Constantinople, held
A.D. 680.1
The following words uttered by Domitius, Bishop of
Prusa, on that occasion, are most significant ; especially
as they express the unanimous sentiment of the council :
" I receive and embrace and so believe the suggestions
of our father Agatho, the most holy Archbishop of the
Apostolic and principal See of ancient Eome, as dictated
by the Holy Ghost, through the mouth of the most holy
and most blessed Prince of the Apostles, Peter, and
written by the hand of the thrice most blessed Pope
Agatho."
And now, twelve centuries later, the Vatican Council
declares : " Truly no one doubts, nay rather it is known
to all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince
and head of the Apostles, the pillar of the faith and
foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of
the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour
and Eedeemer of the human race; and that he lives,
presides, and judges, to this day and always, in his
successors, the Bishops of the Holy Eoman See, founded
by him, and consecrated by his blood." ^
Buae praeeBse non desinit, et indeficiens obtinet cum ^temo Sacerdote
consortium. Soliditas enim ilia, qnam de petril Christo ctiam ipse
petra factua accepit, in suob qnoque se transfndit hseredes."
^ Vide supra, p. 109.
' " CoDstitutio dogmatica prima, de Ecclesia, caput IL De perpetui-
tate Primatus Beati Petri it Romanis PontificibuB." "Nulli sane
dnbium, imo seculis omnibus notum, quod sanctus beatiseimusque
PetruB, Apostolorum princeps et caput, fideique columna et Ecclesiae
Catholics fundamentum, a Domino noatro Jeeu Christo, Salvatore
hnmani generis ac Eedemptore, claves regtii accepit ; qui ad boo usque
tempus et semper in suis successoribuR, Episcopis sanctse Bomanae
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. 497
The Council of the Vatican, being the Twentieth
General Council, was opened by its First Public Session
on the 8th of December 1869, in the transept on the
Gospel side of the high altar of Saint Peter's; with
the prescribed solemn ceremonial. Pope Pius IX.
presided in person. On the loth, was held the First
General Congregation for business. At the Second
Public Session, on the 6th of January 1870, being the
Feast of the Epiphany, the Pope recited in a loud voice
the profession of faith, namely, the Creed of Nice and
Constantinople, together with the definitions of the
Council of Trent, called the Creed of Pius IV. ; after
which it was read aloud from the amho by the Bishop
of Fabriano. " Then for two whole hours," to use the
words of one of the prelates present, "the cardinals,
patriarchs, primates, archbishops, bishops, and other
fathers of the council made their adhesion to the same,
by kissing the Gospel at the throne of the head of the
Church." 1 A truly sublime spectacle — those seven
hundred bishops from all parts of the earth, " the
representatives of more than thirty nations and of two
hundred millions of Christians," ^ thus openly making
profession of one common faith, in communion with
the one Supreme Pastor and Teacher of all !
When the question of the Infallibility of the Pope
was about to be entered on, about one hundred of the
Fathers signed and presented a petition praying that
the question should not be brought before the council,
as they deemed its discussion " inopportune." It has
been erroneously stated that these one hundred prelates
"did not believe in the doctrine, in which until it was
defined by the Church they deemed themselves qmte
justified." But such was not the case; for, on the
Sedis, ab ipso fundatsa, ejueque consecratae sanguine, vivit et prsesidet
et judicium exercet." In this sentence are embodied the words of the
legate Philip, alluded to in the preceding page.
^ Carding Manning's "True Story of the Vatican Council," p. 91.
London, 1877.
" Ibid.
2 I
498 THE CHADB OF PETER.
authority of those who took. part in the proceedings,
"not five bishops in the Council could be justly thought
to have opposed the truth of the doctrine;" and by
these it was readily accepted, once it was defined by
the Church. On the other hand, four hundred and
fifty of the Fathers preferred a petition that the doctrine
should be discussed in the Council.^
By this time, the summer heat, which in 1870 was
exceptionally great, had already seriously affected the
health of many of the bishops. Several had been com-
pelled by illness to return home ; several still in Eome
were unable to attend the Council ; and some had died.
Thus the numbers were reduced to six hundred and
one.
In the final vote in congregation before the Fourth
Public Session, these six hundred and one Fathers
voted: 451 Placet, or aye; 62 Placet juxta moAum, or
aye conditionaUy or with modifications; and 88 If^on
placet, or no.
The modifications or amendments, 163 in number,
were sent in to the commission in writing, and, on
their being duly examined and reported, many of them
were adopted.
The Fourth Public Session was held on the i8th of
July, presided over by Pius IX. in person. After the
usual ceremonial, the decree Be Romano Porvtifice was
read from the amibo by the Bishop of Fabriano, and
every Father of the Council was caUed on by name to
vote. There were present 535. Of these, 533 voted
Placet and 2 Non placet? The decree was then con-
firmed in the usual form by the Holy Father.*
' Cardinal Manning's " True Story of the Vatican Council," pp. gg
and 113.
» On the 17th of July, SS bishops signed a declaration, that they
would not appear at the Public Session of the next day. Adding these
and II unaccounted for to the 535 who voted, we have the total of 601.
There voted in the majority 52 of the 62 who had previously voted
Placet juxta modum or aye wUh modificaUont.
» I am indebted for these figures and dates to Cardinal Manning's
" True Story of the Vatican Counea"
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. 499
On a calm and dispassionate consideration of the
question, fairly stated, as I trust it has been in this
chapter, not a few non-Catholics, I am confident, will
feel inclined to admit the reasonableness of the Catholic
doctrine, that Papal Infallibility, as defined by the
Vatican Council, is indispensable to the Church. This
granted, the enjoyment of the privilege by the succes-
sors of Saint Peter, speaking ex Cathedrd, is a necessary
consequence. For, as Saint Thomas of Aquino observes,
"It is manifest that Christ has not been wanting in
necessary things to His Church, which He loved,
and for which He shed His blood." Therefore, as
General Councils cannot be frequently assembled, and
it is necessary that there should be one visible Head
and Teacher, to decide officially on questions of faith
and morals which are constantly arising, Christ con-
ferred on Saint Peter, and through him on his succes-
sors, the privilege of Infallibility, as now defined by the
Church.
The following impressive words of an illustrious
Protestant writer, on this subject, may be appositely
quoted here : —
Wheu therefore (says Leibnitz i) Almighty God established His
Chvirch upon earth, as a sacred city placed upon a mountain, His
immaculate spouse, and the interpretress of His will, and enjoined
that throughout the whole world her unity should ever be main-
tained by the bond of charity, and ordered that she should be heard
1 Gottfried WUhelm von Leibnitz was born at Leipsic, July 3, 1646.
From the earliest age he evinced an ardent love o£ study. At twelve
years old, as he himself tells us, he was well acquainted with the Latin
clasBios, and had acquired some knowledge of Greek. In his fifteenth
year, he entered the University of Leipsic, to study law ; at the same
time devoting himself assiduously to mathematics and the writings of
Plato and the other Greek philosophers. In 1673, Leibnitz visited
England, where he made the acquaintance of Newton, and was elected
a Pellow of the Royal Society. He became a member of the Royal
Academy of Sciences at Paris in 1699. In 1700 he laboured in the
formation of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin, of which he
was appointed the first president by the Elector of Brandenburg, after-
wards Erederick I. of Prussia. He was the author of several learned
JOO THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
by all under pain of being confounded with heathens or publicans,
it follows that He should establish a mode by which the will of
the Church, the interpretress of the Divine Will, might be known.
And this was shown by the Apostles, who represented the body
of the Church in the beginning. For they, the Council of Jeru-
salem being assembled, explaining their decision said, " It hath
seemed good to the Holjr Guiost and to us." Nor did this privilege
of the Holy Ghost assisting the Church cease on the death of the
Apostles, but it ou^ht to endure to the consummation of the
world, and in the whole body of the Church it was propagated
through the bishops, as the successors of the Apostles.
But as a councU. cannot continuously nor frequently be held,
for the bishops cannot often be absent from the flocks over which
they preside, and yet the Church should personally exist and
subsist, in order that her will should be known, it follows, by
the Divine law itself, and by the very memorable words of Christ
addressed to Peter (when He specially committed to him the
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and likewise when three times
He emphatically commended to him His sheep to be fed) that it
was insinuated, and believed in the Church, that one among the
Apostles, and one successor of him among the bishops, should be
endowed with greater power ; in order that through him, as a
visible centre of unity, the body of the Church might be bound
together; the common necessity might be provided for ; if needed,
a council might be convoked, and, when convoked, directed ; and
in the intervals of councils it might be possible to take measures
that the common interests of the faithful should not suflPer. And
when the ancients continuously hand down the tradition that in
the city of Kome, the capital of the world, Peter the Apostle
governed the Church, and suffered martyrdom, and designated
works of science, philosophy, theology, and history. Among these
was his Syilema Theologicwm, an unfinished manuscript, in his own
handwriting, published after his death. In his latter years, he main-
tained an angry controversy with Newton, as to the discovery of the
Differential Calculus, which appears to have been arrived at by both
these eminent men at about the eame period. The dispute was
referred to the Koyal Society, of which body Newton was president ;
and the decision was unfavourable to Leibnitz. The long and able
correspondence of Leibnitz and Bossuet on the Reunion of tJU Churches,
a correspondence as remarkable for its learning as for its tone of
Christian charity and kindliness, was closed without any result, about
the year 1700. He died on November 14, 1716, in his seventy-first
year. Leibnitz was a man of wide toleration in matters of religion ;
and some writers impute to him a leaning towards the Catholic Church.
His life and works, however, mark him a steadfast Protestant. Vide
"G.6. Ijeibnitii Opera Omnia," 6 vols. 4to. Geneva, 1768.
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. SOI
his successor,! noj ^{^ gj^y other bishop ever come in that manner,
we acknowledge with good reason the Roman bishop to be the
prince of the rest. Therefore this at least ought to be certain,
that, in all things which would not bear the delay of a General
Council, or are not sufficiently important for a General Council,
the Prince of Bishops, or the Supreme Pontiff, has meanwhile the
same power as the whole Church ; that through him any one can
be excommunicated and restored, and that to him all the faithful
owe true obedience ; of which the force goes to the extent, that,
as far as an oath is to be kept in all things which can be observed
with the safety of one's soul, so also to the Supreme Pontiff, as
the one visible Vicar of God on earth, obedience is to be rendered
in all things, which we, examining ourselves, judge can be done
without sin and with a safe conscience ; so far that, in doubtful
matters, other things being equal, obedience is to be considered
safer ; and this is to be done "through love of the unity of the
Church, and in order that we may obey God in those whom He
has sent. For we ought to suffer anything more willingly, even
with great loss to ourselves, than be dissevered from the Church and
give cause for schism. But concerning the primacy and authority
of the Roman Pontiff, more will hereafter have to be said.
All these things however are to be understood, saving the right
of earthly powers, which Christ did not take away ; for although
Christian princes owe obedience to the Church no less than each
of the least ones of the faithful, however, unless it appears to be
otherwise provided and done by the law of the kingdom, the
Ecclesiastical power is not to be extended so far as that it should
arm subjects against their true lords ; for the arms of the Church
are tears and prayers. And this is the best and safest limitation
of the secular and the Ecclesiastical power, after the example of
the primitive Church.^
' Here is another instance of Protestant recognition of the fact of
Saint Peter's having held his See at Borne, which might well be added
to those quoted at the end of chapter iv.
2 "Exposition de la Doctrine de Leibnitz sur la Religion, onvrage
Latin in^dit, et traduit en Trangais, par M. Emery," page 300, Paris,
1819 ; and " Systfeme Religieux de Leibnitz, public d'aprfes le manu-
sorit original, par I'Abb^ Lacroix ; traduit par Albert de Broglie,"
page 260, Paris, 1846. Leibnitz, dying in 1716, in his seventieth year,
left this manuscript, written by his own hand. It passed from his
library into the Royal library of Hanover ; and in 1810, by permission
of King Jerome, it was sent to Cardinal Eesoh, who had it transcribed
by M. Emery, superior of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice, by whom it was
published in Paris, in 1819. So important is the above quoted passage
that I deem it right to subjoin here the whole of the original Latin : —
" Cum igitur Deus Optimus Maximus Eoolesiam oonstitueritjn terris
502
THE CHAIR OF PETER.
But it is not for a moment to be supposed that the
Pope does not avail himself of all means within his
reach, to aid his judgment, when he makes a definition
ex Cathedrd. This is manifestly his duty ; and accord-
ingly he consults his canonists and congregations of
cardinals; as, in ancient times, on similar occasions,
his predecessors consulted their suffragans and other
bishops, in a council in Eome.
Moreover, the Holy Father has the power, should
he in his discretion deem it advisable, of collecting the
suffrages of the bishops dispersed, all over the world.
This, as we have seen, was the course pursued by Pius
tanquam civitatem aaoram super montem positam, sponsam snam
immaculatam,'et voluntatis suae interpretem, cujus unitatem per totum
orbem oaritate colligandam usque adeo commendavit, et quam audiri
jubet ab omnibus qui Ethnicis aut publicanis sequiparari nolunt, oon-
sequens est ut modum constituent quo voluntas Ecclesise, interpres
voluntatis divinse, cognosoi possit, Et hoe jam turn Apostoli ostendSre,
qui corpus Ecclesiaj initio representabant. Hi enim, Conoilio Hiero-
solymis coacto, sententiam suam explicantes, inquiunt : ' Visum est
Spiritui Sancto et Nobis.' Neque hoc privilegium assistentis Ecclesiae
Sancti Spiritus Apostoloram morte cessavit, sed usque ad consumma-
tionem seculi durare debet, atque in toto corpore Ecolesiae per Episcopos
tanquam Apostolorum successores fuit propagatum. Quoniam autem
Don semper nee frequenter haberi potest concilium, nam episcopi populos
quibus praesunt crebro deserere non possunt, et tamen semper persona
Ecclesiae vivere et aubsistere debet, ut voluntas ejus possit cognosci,
consequens fuit, ipso divino jure, et memorabllibus admodum Christi
ad Petrum verbis (quando claves regni coeloruir specialiter oommisit,
pariter ac cum oves suas pascendas tribus vicibus emphatice commen-
davit) insinuatum atque in Ecclesia creditum est, ut unus inter
Apostolos, bujusqne successor unus inter episcopos, majore potestate
exornaretur, ut per eum, tanquam visibile centrum unltatis, colligari
corpus Ecclesise, provideri communi necessitati, convocari, si opus, con-
cilium, et convocatum dirigi, et tempore interconciliari dari opera posset
ne quid res fidelium pnblica detrimenti caperet, Et cum Petrum
Apostolum in principe orbis terrarum urbe Roma et Ecclesiam guber-
nasse et martyrium subiisse, et Successorem sibi designasse, constanter
veteres tradant, neque uUus alius episcopus unquam ea ratione venerit,
Komanum cseterorum principem merito agnoscimus, Itaque saltem
illud certum esse debet, in omnibus quae moram Concilii Universalis
non ferunt, aut Concilium Universalem non merentur, interim eamdem
esse Episcoporum Principis sive Pontificis Maximi potestatem, quae
totius Ecclesise ; per eum excommunicari quemvis et restitui posse,
eique omnes fideles veram debere obedientiam, cujus vis eo porrigitur
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY. S03
IX. in defining the dogma of the Immaculate Concep-
tion in the year 1854.
In conclusion, as there may be some of my non-
Catholic readers, who, with the Galileans of former
times, would place the decrees of General Councils
above ex Cathedrd Papal pronouncements, it will not
be out of place to remind them here, that, the definition
of the dogma of Papal Infallibility was not the act of
the Pope alone; but the act of a General Council —
namely, the Bishops of the Universal Church, con-
voked by, united with, presided over, and confirmed
by, the Pope.
ut quemadmodum juramentum seivandum est in omnibus quEs cum
salute animse servari possnnt, ita et Pontifici Maximo tanquam uni
visibili Dei Yicario ia terris sit obediendum in omnibus quse sine
peccato salvaque conscientia fieri posse, ipsi nosmetipsos interrogantes,
judicamus ; usque adeo ut in dubio, eaeteris paribus, obedientia tutior
sit censenda ; idque faciendum est amore unitatis Ecclesise, et ut Deo
in his quos misit obediamus. Quidvis enim libentius pati debemus,
etiam cum magna jactura nostra, quam ut Ecclesia divellamur, et
schismati causam prsebeamus. Sed de primatu et auctoritate Romani
Fontificis postea pluribus erit dicendum.
" Hsec tamen omnia intelligenda sunt salvo jure terrenarum potes-
tatum quod Christus non sustulit ; etsi enim Christiani principes non
minus Ecclesise obedientiam debeant quam minimus quisque fidelium,
tamen nisi ipso jure regni aliter provisum actumque esse constet,
Ecclesiastica potestas eo extendenda non est ut subditos in veros
dominos armet ; Ecclesise enim arma sunt lacrymse et preces. Et haec
optima tutissimaque Secularis atque Ecclesiasticse potestatis coUimitatio
est, primitivse Eoolesise exemplo. "
Extracted from "G-. G. Leibnitzii Systema Theologicum, ipsiua
auctoris manu scriptum," Paris, i8i9>
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE HIEEAECHY.
The Hierarchy, from the Greek kpa, sacred, and dp^rj,
government, is the body of clergy, of Divine institution,
governing the Church, and, as defined by the Council
of Trent, is composed of bishops, priests, and deacons
or ministers.'^
That the Hierarchy is of divine institution we learn
from Saint Paul, i Corinthians xii. 5 and 28: "And
there are diversities of ministries ; " " And God indeed
hath set some in the Church; first apostles, secondly
prophets, thirdly doctors;" and Ephesians iv. 11, 12:
" And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and
other some evangelists, and other some pastors and
doctors, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."
The power of ordination conferred by Christ on His
Apostles was by them conferred on their disciples,
whom they ordained bishops, and was by these latter
imparted to the bishops whom they in their turn
ordained. In his Epistle to Titus (i. 5), Saint Paul
says, "Eor this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou
shouldst set in order the things that are wanting, and
shouldst ordain priests in every city, as I also appointed
thee : " and in Eusebius's " Ecclesiastical History,"
book iii c. 4, we read that " Titus was appointed
bishop over the Churches of Crete." While the mission
of the Apostles was not confined to any particular
region, that of the bishops whom they ordained was
1 Council of Trent, Session xxiii. chap. iv. canon 6.
THE HIERARCHY. 5 05
circumscribed by the dioceses over which they severally
presided.
The word " bishop " literally means an overseer, from
the Greek eirl, over, and a-KOTrico, to see, to view, to
watch. With the extension of Christianity, the term
spread to many languages, varied in the commutable
letters, according to the genius of each language. Thus
the Greek 67rw7«o7ro?, and the Latin episcopus, became
in the French, by gentle gradations, episcope, evescope,
and ultimately ivesgue or 4vSgm, which last, although
there is only one letter in common, claims the same
origin as the English episcop, biscop, and finally bishop.
So is it also in the Swedish and Danish lisJcop, German
biscJwf, Saxon bisceop, Spanish oMspo, Portuguese M^o,
Italian vescovo, Celtic easbog, and corresponding terms
in other tongues of the great Indo-European family.
Priests, or Presbyters, from the Greek irpea-^VTepoi,
were literally ancients or seniors ; but, moreover, they
were " estimable or approved men," and " constituted
in honour." In the primitive ages they sat in council
with the bishop, by whom they had been ordained, and
under him they administered the affairs of the Church,
and dispensed the sacraments. Tertullian, in his
" Apology," vsrritten towards the end of the second
century, speaks of them as follows : " There preside
over us certain approved elders,^ who have obtained
the honour, not by payment, but by the testimony of
their merit." ^
In the first century, the terms m-pecr^vTepof;, priest or
elder, and iiriaKOTro';, bishop, were generally applied to
one and the same person ; and the bishop of a city or
district was, not uncommonly, spoken of as its chief
priest, snjm/mAns sacerdos. When Saint Paul addressed
the elders {irpea-^vrepovi) of the Church of Ephesus, he
1 Here, Tertullian makes use of the Latin word seniores, although,
in the same sense, he elsewhere adopts the Greek equivalent preshyteri.
" Tertullian, "Apologet.,"c.xxxix. " Nobis prsssident probati quique
seniores, houorem istum non pretio sed testimonio adepti."
506 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
said to them, "Take heed to yourselves and to the
■whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you
bishops (eTTto-KOTToi/s) to rule the Church of God, which
He hath purchased with His own blood." ^ However,
as Saint Thomas observes, this identity was in imme
only, for in reaUty the distinction between bishops and
pries'ts was always observed even in the Apostolic
times.^
But, ere long, with the development of the Church,
these distinctive terms were more strictly applied.
Writing about the year 200, TertuUian alludes to " the
bishop," and "the priests" and " deacons," as subject to
him, in the following words : "The chief priest, who is
the bishop, has the right of giving baptism, and then
the priests and deacons, not however without the
authority of the bishop;"^ and, some fifty years later,
Saint Cyprian writes: "Whence you ought to know
that the bishop is in the Church, and the Church in
the bishop, and if any are not with the bishop, they are
not in the Church." *
We read in the life of Saint Simplicius, Pope, that
A.D. 470, he ordered the priests of the Eoman Church
to attend weekly at the seven basilicas, for the admini
stration of the sacraments of baptism and penance
1 Acts XX. 17-28.
" Saint Thomas's words are : " Qnantam ad nomen olim non dU-
tinguebantur Episcopi et PresbyterL . . . tJnde et Apostolus com-
muniter utitur nomine Presbyterorum quantum ad utrosque, cum dicit,
I Tim. : Qui tene prcesunt Preibyteri duplici honore digni hdbeant/u/r ; et
similiter etiam nomine Episcoporum, unde dicit, Acta xx., Presbyteris
Eoclesiae Ephesinae loquens : AttendMe vobis et unwerso gregi, in quo vot
SpwiMis Sanctus posuU Epiicopoa regere Ecdetiam Dei; sed secundum
rem semper fuit inter eos distinctio, etiam tempore Apostolorum, at
patet per Dionysium."
' Tertullian, "De Baptismo,'' c. 17. "Dandi baptismi habet jus
summus sacerdos qui est episcopus, dehinc presbyteri et diaconi, non
tamen sine episcopi auctoritate."
* Cyprian, Epist. 69, Ad Florent. " Unde scire debes episcopnm in
ecclesi^ esse, et ecclesiam in episcopo, et si qui cum episcopo non sint,
in ecclesia non esse."
' Auastasius Bibliothecarius, "De Vitis Pontificum Bomauorum,"
p. 40.
6
THE HIERARCHY. 50/
They were called the priests of the penitents, and heard
their confessions. The chief of these was called the
Major Penitentiary, who in modern times is a cardinal ;
and the others were called Minor Penitentiaries.
Deacons were so called from the Greek BiuKovot,
ministers. The Apostles, being occupied in preaching
the Word of God, and unable to attend to secular
affairs, ordained seven ministers, who were called
Deacons, and to whom was committed the care of the
poor, and widows, and orphans. Their function also
was to administer the Eucharist to communicants, and
to carry it to the absent ; and, moreover, by permission
of the bishop, they used to preach and baptize. In
the course of time, as the chief of the priests was styled
the Arch-priest; so the first of the body of deacons
was called the Arch-deacon.
As we have seen, the first bishops were chosen and
ordained by the Apostles. The successors of these, in
their turn, were chosen by the clergy and people, with
the assent of the neighbouring bishops, by whom they
were ordained. Saint Cyprian, writing about the year
250,^ tells us that a bishop was appointed by the vote
of the whole brotherhood (the clergy and people),
universcB fraternitatis suffragio, and by the judgment of
the bishops, episcoporum judicio. Prom an early date,
there were strong objections to secular interference,
whether of princes or people, in the elections of bishops.
By the fourth canon of the Pirst General Council
(Nice), A.D. 325, it was enacted that " a bishop shall be
appointed by aU the bishops of the province." ^ The
Seventh General Council (second of Nice), A.D. 787,
interprets this canon to the efiecfj, that a bishop could
be elected only by bishops, and the Eighth General
Council (the fourth of Constantinople), A.D. 869, decides,
in accordance with "former councils," that a bishop
' Cyprian, Epist. 68.
^ 'ETlffKOTrov irponiKei /id'KurTa /iiv iirb TdvTUv T&v h> tj; lirapxlf
Ka6lt7Taa6<u,
508 THE CHAIE OF PETEK.
cannot be elected save by the college of bishops,^ By
the most ancient canons it was enacted that the ordina-
tion of a bishop should be performed by at least three
bishops. This is seen in the " First Apostolical Con-
stitution," which says, Upiscopus a duobus aut tribus
episeopis ordmdur; and "three bishops" are prescribed
as the minimum number to take part in the election of
a bishop, by the First General Council (of Nice), and
by the Councils of Antioch, Fourth of Carthage, and
others, in the earlier half of the fourth century. It
was further enacted by those councils that the election
of the bishop should be approved of in writing by the
absent bishops of the province, and confirmed by the
metropolitan.*
In the West, about the eleventh century, the election
of a bishop was exclusively confined to the clergy of
the cathedral church, with the confirmation of the
metropolitan. In the course of time, this confirmation
passed from the Metropolitan to the Pope.*
Later on, the appointment of all bishops practically
devolved on the Supreme Pontiff, to whom, in every
instance, of right, it belongs. The Popes, however, in
modern times, restored the election to the chapters, in
parts of Germany — subject always to the Papal con-
firmation. In France, Spain, Portugal, and some other
Catholic countries, the sovereigns are permitted to
nominate bishops, for the Pope's approval and institu-
tion. In England the Holy Father nominated the
bishops himself until a recent period. Latterly, by a
concession of Pius IX., the canons of a vacant diocese
in England are empowered to send forward to the Holy
^ Hetele, Councils, i. 385.
' In China and similar countries exposed to sanguinary persecutions,
which may suddenly deprive a flock of its pastor, a bishop has the power
of consecrating a successor to himself, without other bishops assisting.
Thus, foreseeing the approaching danger, he may select one of his own
priests, and consecrate him bishop — two other priests assisting at the
ceremony. Then the whole proceeding is, at the earliest opportunity,
reported to the Holy See, for its approval and confirmation.
• Hefele, Councils, i. 386.
THE HIEKARCHY. 509
See the names of three persons, one of whom may be
selected, to fill the vacancy. They must be the three
receiving the greatest number of votes, and each must
be at least thirty years of age and in holy orders.
They are elected in presence of the Metropolitan, or, in
his absence, of the senior bishop of the province, who
forwards their names to Eome. In Ireland, the usage
has long been, that the parish priests and canons of a
vacant see vote by ballot for a successor, in the presence
of the Metropolitan. The fecclesiastic receiving the
highest number of votes is styled dignissimus, the next
dignior, and the third dignus. These names are sent to
Eome by the Metropolitan, accompanied by his opinion
and those of his suffragans. In each case, the affair is
referred to the congregation of Cardinals of the Pro-
paganda, who report thereon to the Pope. The Holy
Father generally selects from the three; but not in-
variably. If he should think fit, he may appoint an
ecclesiastic outside the list, even one wholly uncon-
nected with the diocese.
In the Synod of Laodicea, held about the year 372,
it was ordered that each bishop should have his see in
a city within his district.^ The observance of this
ancient law has led to a city's being defined as a town
corporate, which has a bishop and a cathedral church,
and is called civitas, oppidum, and %rbs.^
As, from the early ages, a city and the circumjacent
district formed a diocese,^ governed by a bishop, so with
1 Canon 57. There is uncertainty atoat the exact date of the Synod
of Laodicea in Phrygia. The general opinion is, that it was some time
between that of Sardica, in 347, and the second General Council, that
of Constantinople, in 381.
" There were also country bishops, for exclusively rural districts,
called Chorepiscopi ; from the Greek xi^P"! country, and iwltr kotos,
bishop. They were under the jurisdiction of the bishop of the adjoining
city, and could confer only minor orders, being little more than parish
priests. They are first mentioned by the Council of Anoyra, Canon 13,
A.D. 314. They ceased to exist altogether in the tenth century, being
replaced by archpriests and rural deans.
3 Diocese : from the Greek SioUtiffis, administration, government,
jurisdiction.
5 I O THE CHAIE OF PETEE.
the extension of the Church, several dioceses forming a
province, were subject to the Metropolitan,^ or arch-
bishop of the chief city of the province, under whose
presidency provincial councils were held as occasion
arose. While each bishop was subject to the jurisdic-
tion of the metropolitan, the latter was bound, by
the canons of the earliest councils, not to take any
important step, as metropolitan, without consulting
his suffragans. Indeed, as before observed, the Pope
himself, in ancient times, rarely acted in grave causes,
without convoking and consulting his council of
bishops. Hence the numerous councils of Rome.
Gradually, with the growth of the Church, the Hier-
archy became further developed in the primatial and
patriarchal dignities. What the archbishop was to
the bishops of his province, the Primate ^ was to the
prelates of a nation. The same may be said of a Patri-
arch,* but with, in some instances, a wider limit of
circumscription.
At first, the jurisdiction of the metropolitans over the
bishops of their provinces, as well as that of patriarchs
and primates over national Churches, was considerable ;
but it was, from time to time, curtailed by the decrees
of councils; and in latter days it has become merely
nominal, at least to all practical intents. This may be
accounted for by the increased facilities of travel and
intercommunication, which have brought all bishops
into such close relations with the successor of Saint
Peter, the head and source of all ecclesiastical juris-
diction.
The Patriarchal dignity is of very ancient date. It
was first enjoyed by the three great sees of Eome,
' Metropolitan : from the Greek /iijri/ft mother, and irSKit, city.
' Primate, Low Latin Prvmai, is derived from the Latin pnmiu,
first. In some instances, the dignity of primate is simply honorary,
without any actual primatial jurisdiction.
' Patriarch, from the Greek TroTpii, a family, or Tarijp, a father, and
ipx4s, chief, may be interpreted head of the family, or chief of the
Fathers.
THE HIERARCHY. 5 I I
Alexandria, and Antioch. Eome, as not only being
the patriarchate of the West, but as being the See of
Peter, and holding the primacy over the Universal
Church,' took the first place. Next came Alexandria,
as having been founded and governed by Saint Mark
the Evangelist, in obedience to Saint Peter; and the
third place was occupied by Antioch, founded by Peter,
and by him committed to Evodius.
The following words on this subject, uttered by Pope
Gelasius I., in a synod at Eome, composed of seventy
bishops, close on fourteen hundred years ago, will,
doubtless, prove interesting to the reader : ^ —
The Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church is placed
above other Churches by no decrees of councils, but has obtained
the primacy by the evangelical voice of our Lord and Saviour,
Baying : " Thou art Peter, and upon this rocfc I will build My
Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it ; and I
■will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And what-
soever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be hound also in
heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be
loosed also in heaven." To whom was given also the society of
the most blessed Apostle Paul, the Vessel of Election, who, not
at a different time (as heretics state), but on one and the same
day, suffering along with Peter, under the Emperor Nero, in the
city of Borne, was crowned by a glorious death ; and alike they
consecrated to Christ the Lord the said holy Roman Church, and,
as such, put it above aU the cities of the whole world by" their
presence and venerable triumph.
And therefore First is the See of Peter, the Roman Church,
having neither spot nor wrinkle, nor anything of the kind.
But the Second See was consecrated at Alexandria, in the
name of the blessed Apostle Peter, by Mark his disciple and the
Evangelist, who, being sent to Egypt by the blessed Apostle
Peter, preached the word of truth, and consummated a glorious
martyrdom.
And the Third See, at Antioch, is held in honour by the name
of the same most Blessed Apostle Peter, because he dwelt there
before he came to Rome, and there first arose the name of the new
people of Christians.
1 A.D. 494. Saint Gelasius, an African, governed the Church, a.d.
492-496.
512 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Jerusalem, having been declared a Patriarchal Chiirch
by the General Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 45 1, took the
fourth place. On that occasion, the contention between
Juvenal of Jerusalem and Maximus of Antioch was
adjusted ; and, with the sanction of the Papal Legates,
the three ecclesiastical provinces of Palestine were
taken from the Patriarchate of Antioch, and were placed
under the Bishop of Jerusalem, to be governed by him
with Patriarchal jurisdiction. In earlier times, how-
ever, Jerusalem held an honorary rank, probably in
consideration of its having been the See of Saint James
the Apostle, although, according to Saint Jerome, it
was then subject to the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan
of Csesarea in Palestine.
The fifth in order anciently was the Patriarch of
Constantinople. As that city was the " New Eome,"
founded by Constantino, as the capital of the Eastern
Empire, the Emperors and clergy were naturally anxious
to obtain for its chief bishop a high place in the hier-
archy. Accordingly, at the Second General Council,
the first of Constantinople, held A.D. 381, and at the
Fourth General Council, that of Chalcedon, A.D. 451,
canons were enacted giving the see of Constantinople
precedence over Alexandria and Antioch, and placing
it second only to Kome.^ But the Popes, Saints
Damasus and Leo L, respectively, refused to ratify
these canons ; and it was only in the year 1215, in the
Twelfth General Council, the fourth Lateran, that Pope
Innocent III. conceded this precedency to the Byzan-
tine Capital, which thus de jure took rank after Eome.^
This. decree was confirmed in the Fourteenth General
Council, the second of Lyons, under Gregory X. A.D.
1274, and in the Seventeenth, that of Florence, held
A.D. 1438, 1439, under Pope Eugenius IV., for the
1 First General Council of Constantinople, canon 3 ; and of Chalcedon,
canon 28, or, according to the Greeks, 30. The latter canon was
passed at the close of the Council of Chalcedon, the Papal Legates
protesting against it in vain.
^ Twelfth General Council, canon 5.
THE HIERARCHY. 513
reunion of the Geeek and Latin Churches, as we have
already seen.^
That the Eoman See is, and has been, from a very
early period, regarded as the head and fountain of the
episcopate and of all Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, is
clearly proved by the extracts from the writings of the
Fathers, and from the decrees of Popes and councUs, to
that effect, already given in these pages. The following
further quotations may be appropriately introduced
here.
In the year 252, Saint Cyprian wrote as follows : —
The Episcopate is one, of which a part is held by each, in one
undivided ■whole. The Church also is one, though the more
widely extended and multiplied by the increase of her fruitful-
ness. Even as the sun has many rays, but one light ; a^ a tree
has many branches, but one trunk firmly fixed in a tenacious
root ; and as from one fountain many streams proceed, so that a
number may be seen in the abundance overflowing, whilst unity
is preserved in the source. Take away a ray from the body of
the sun ; unity does not admit a division of light. Break a branch
from a tree ; that branch cannot bear fruit. Cut off a stream
from its fountain ; cut off, it becomes dry. Thus the Church of
the Lord, pervaded by light, sheds her rays all over the world :
yet there is but one light, which is everywhere diffused ; nor is
the unity of the body divided. In her prolific abundance, she
extends her branches over the whole earth — more widely diffuses
her largely flowing streams : yet there is one head, and one
source, and one mother ; rich in the copious successions of her
fruitfulness.^
According to the same Saint Cyprian, the " one head,
one source, one mother," here alluded to, is the Apos-
toHc See — "the Chair of Peter, the principal Church,
the source of sacerdotal unity." ^
In the year 445, the Emperor Valentinian III. pub-
lished an edict against the irregular proceedings of
Hilary, Archbishop of Aries, who, as metropolitan,
through mistaken zeal, had deposed certain bishops of
^ Vide supra, chapter viii.
' Cyprian, " Liber de Unitate Ecclesiae."
^ Cyprian, Epistola Iv. Ad Comelium.
2 K
SI4
THE CHAIE OF PETEK.
the Trans-Alpine Churches, and ordained others in
their place, "against the will and opposition of the
inhabitants," and " without consulting the Pontiff of
the Koman Church." These proceedings having been
examined, by Order of the Pope, Saint Leo the Great,
in a council at Eome, which Hilary attended, they
were condemned, and " the sentence of condemnation,"
says the edict, "was about to take effect throughout
Gaul, even without the Imperial sanction. For what
would not be lawful to the authority of so great a
Pontiff over the Churches 1 " ^ It then proceeds to
state that the Emperor issues a precept, in support of
the Pope's authority, to the effect, that " it shall not be
lawful for the Bishops of Gaul or of the other provinces,
in contravention of the ancient custom, to attempt any-
thing without the authority of the venerable man, the
Pope of the Eternal City.^ But they and all others
must regard as a law whatever has been sanctioned or
may be sanctioned by the authority of the Apostolic
See ; ^ so that whatever bishop is summoned to the
tribunal of the Eoinan Pontiff, and neglects to come,
he shall be compelled by the Governor of the province
to attend." *
In the year 451, the Emperor Marcian and the
Fathers of the General Council of Chalcedon, in a
letter to the Pope, Saint Leo, begged of him to grant
the Patriarchal dignity after Kome to the See of Con-
stantinople, conformably with the canon of their own,
and of the Second General Council,^ to that effect.
' " Quid enim tanti Pontificis auctoritati in ecclesiaa non liceret ? "
' "Ne quid tarn Bpiscopis Gallicanis quam aliarum provinciarnm,
eontra consuetudinem veterem, lioeat, sine viri venerabilis Papae Urbis
jStemss auctoritate, tentare. " We have seen that, one hundred years
before — namely, in the reign of Pope Julius, A.D. 342 — this doctrine
was spoken o£ as embodied in the canon law of the Church. Vide
supra, p. 125.
' Sed illis omnibusque pro lege sit quioquid sanxit vel sanxerit Apos-
tolicse Sedis auctoritas.
* Baronius, " Annales Eoclesiastioi," vi. 31.
" The first of OonBtantinople, a.d. 381.
THE HIERARCHY.
SIS
They say, "Vouchsafe to extend over the Church of
Constantinople a ray of your Apostolic Primacy," ^
which shows, as observed by a learned writer, that in
the opinion of the Church, at that early period, "the
Patriarchate was but a partial emanation of the Primacy
of Saint Peter, of which the plenitude resides in the
See of Eome." *
In the year 5 16, John, Archbishop of Mcopolis and
Metropolitan of Ancient Epirus, immediately on his
election, sent his written profession of faith to Pope
Hormisdas,^ and sought the communion of the Apos-
tolic See ; at the same time requesting the prayers of
His Holiness, and his advice to govern him in the
difficulties by which he was surrounded, in consequence
of the opposition of Dorotheus, Bishop of Thessalonica,
and other factious men. In his letter, forwarded by
the Deacon Eufinus, he addressed the Pope thus : —
To my Lord and ever most holy and most blessed Father of
Fathers, Fellow-minister, and Prince of BishopSj Hormisdas, John
wisheth health in the Lord.
Having announced his election, he continues : —
But referring all things to God, who looses the tongues of
stammerers, I, as in duty bound, have recourse to your prayers ;
in order that, according to the custom of the Apostolic See, which
hath the care of all the Churches, you may vouchsafe to extend
your solicitude to that of Nieopolis, conformably with the ancient
spiritual disposition. ... It is my desire to follow your doctrine,
^ " Confidentes quia, luoente apud vos Apostolico radio, et usque ad
Constantinopolitanorum Ecclesiam consuete gubemando ilium spar-
gentes, hunc saepius expanditis, eo quod absque invidia consueveritis
vestronim bonorum participatione ditare domesticos." It is worthy
of note, as observed by Baronius, that the Fathers of Chaloedon here
earnestly beg of the Pope to confirm the canon passed by two General
Councils, which they knew and considered could not stand without the
confirmation of the Roman Pontiff (" Annales Ecclesiastid," vi. 165).
We have seen how Saint Leo refused to comply with their request.
° Eohrbacher, " Histoire UniverseUe de I'Eglise Catholique," voL ii.
P- 546.
' Hormisdas, a native of Campania, governed the Church, a.d.
SI4-S23-
5 1 6 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
as did prominently Alcyson, my predecessor, now among the
saints : and I anathematize Diosoorus^ and Timothy named
^lurus and Peter their successor, and his associates Aeacius and
that Peter who disturbed the Church of Antioch ; and thus I
follow the Synodal and Apostolic letters -written by Leo, the
Chief Prelate of the Roman Church. But I entreat you to
admonish me more fully and completely as to what ought to be
observed, and to intimate to me by your safeguarding letters
those from whom I ought to stand aloof ; so that if, perchance,
through my inexperience, I have said or done anything at vari-
ance with your apostolic doctrines, I may, being imbued with
your teaching, be able to withstand the machinations of heretics.
Doing this, Most Holy Father, you will find the bishops and our
holy synod more steadfast, and you will confirm the clergy and
people in good deeds, making the Holy Church of Nicopolis, as it
were, of your own household.i
The principle indicated in these extracts was further
developed in succeeding generations. From the eleventh
century down, bishops usually affixed to their signa-
tures, in solemn documents, the formula, " By the grace
of God and favour of the Apostolic See, Bishop of ."
In the primitive ages, when they were chosen by the
clergy and people, they held the necessity of com-
munion with the Bishop of Eome, which at least
implied his approval or confirmation of their election.
In subsequent centuries, when elected by cathedral
chapters, or presented by sovereigns in virtue of a con-
cordat, or, again, when translated from one diocese to
another, the Pope's approval was invoked, as indispens-
able to the validity of their institution. Further, no
new Episcopal See could, in later times, be established
except by the Pope. From a very early period, too,
archbishops, on their consecration and election, received
the pallium, transmitted to them by the Supreme
Pontiff, as a token of their spiritual jurisdiction over
their respective provinces, and as an emblem of the
charity and innocence by which their lives ought to be
distinguished.^
1 Baronius, "Annales EccleBiastici," vi. 678; "Epistolse Ponfcif.
xComan,, torn. i.
' The Pallium, from the Latin, signifying a cloak, is a vestment or
THE HIERAEGHY. 5 I J
The following condensed particulars of the College of
Cardinals, the patriarchates, the residential archiepis-
copal and episcopal sees, the apostolic delegations, the
vicariates apostolic, and the apostolic prefectures, will
enable us to form an idea of the distribution of the
Hierarchy over the globe. They are brought .down to
the Sth of January, 1887.^
decoration sent by the Pope to patriarchs and archbishops (and, excep-
tionally, in some very few special cases, to bishops) on their consecra-
tion. It is a white woollen band, made in the fashion of a circle, and
is worn on the shoulders and breast. From it depend similar bands,
one each on the breast, back, and both shoulders. These bands are all
marked with red or purple crosses. The pallium is made of a portion
of the wool of two spotless white lambs, which are blessed, each year,
on January 2ist, the IFeast of Saint Agnes, at the church of that saint
on the I^omentan road, without the walls of Kome, and which, after
the ceremony, are confided to the care of certain nuns until the time
of shearing arrives. The palliums made of this wool are laid on the
tomb of Saint Peter, the whole night of the vigil of the festival of the
Apostle, and are blessed on the following day in the basilica. The
pallium, observes Pagi, is conferred only on patriarchs and archbishops ;
but it has been, for special merit, given to some bishops. The first
bishop that we read of as having received it was the Bishop of Ostia,
at the hands of Saint Mark, Pope, A.D. 336-337. It was not given
indiscriminately to all metropolitans until after the middle of the
eighth century, when it was decreed by Pope Zachary, and became a
law of the Church, that they all should receive it on their election and
consecration. The pallium was also sent to Apostolic legates and
Papal vicars in missionary countries : for instance, by Pope Symmaohus
to Csesarius, Archbishop of Aries, his vicar in Gaul, about the year
500 ; by Saint Gregory the Great to Saint Augustine in England
about a century later ; and by Gregory III. to Saint Boniface, whom
he had appointed Archbishop and Primate of all Germany, in 732 :
not to speak of other examples. Among the questions submitted to
the Pope by the Apostle of England, A.D. 597, we find the following,
as recorded by the Venerable Bede ("Bccles. Hist.," lib. i. cap. 27) :
" AugiiMne's seventh question : How are we to deal with the bishops of
Gaul and Britain? Gregory answers : We give you no authority over
the bishops of Gaul, becanse the Bishop of Aries received the pallium
in ancient times from my predecessor, and we are not to deprive him
of the authority which he has received." The pallium must be applied
for by the prelate entitled to wear it, within three months after his
consecration, or, if already consecrated (as in the case of translations),
within three months of the confirmation, of his appointment, by the
Pope.
' They are taken, in a condensed form, from " La Gerarchia Cat-
tolica per I'anno 1887," published in Rome, 5th of January, 1887.
5 I 8 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
At the head of all, is His Holiness Pope Leo XIII.,
whose titles are. Bishop of Eome, Vicar of Jesus
Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles,
Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of
the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metro-
politan of the Eoman Province, Sovereign of the
Temporal Dominions of the Holy Roman Cliurch.^
Next in rank are the Sacred College of Cardinals
of the Holy Roman Church, collaterals and coadjutors
of the Supreme Pontiff. These are the six Cardinal
Bishops, holding the six suburbioarian Sees of Rome,
forty-four Cardinal Priests, and thirteen Cardinal
Deacons, making a total of sixty-three. Of these,
twenty-four were named by Pius IX., and thirty-nine
by His present Holiness. There are seven hats vacant,
of the full complement of the Sacred College, which is
seventy.'' Of the Cardinal Priests, two are patriarchs,
twenty-five are archbishops, and two are bishops, of
distinct sees, which will be included in the following
enumeration. The fifteen remaining cardinal priests are
not members of the episcopate.
The Patriarchal sees are thirteen in number — eight
being of the Latin, and five of the Oriental rites. They
stand as follow, in their order of rank : —
Constantinople, Latin rite. Antioch, Maronite rite.
Alexandria, Latin rite. Antioch, Syriac rite.
Antioch, Latin rite. Jerusalem, Latin rite.
Antioch, Melchite rite. Babylon, Syro-Chaldaic rite.
1 His Holiness Leo XIII. (Gioacohino Pecci, of the Counts Pecoi,)
was bom at Carpineto, in the diocese of Anagni, on the 2nd of March
l8lo; was consecrated Bishop of Perugia in January 1846; was
created Cardinal Priest of the title of Saint Chrysogonus, on the 19th
of December 1853 ; was elected Pope on the 20th of February 1878 ;
and was crowned on the 3rd of March following.
' Full particulars of the Sacred College will be found in the chapter
On Cardinals. Although the numbers are limited to seventy, the
number of hierarchical titles of cardinals is seventy-four, as we shall
see further on.
THE HIERARCHY.
519
Oilioia, Armenian rite.
West Indiesj Latin rite.
Lisbon, Latin rite.
Venice, Latin rite.
East Indies, Latin rite.
The Eesidential Sees of Archbishops and Bishops
throughout the world are distributed as follows : —
T.ATIN KITE.
iilUKOFE.
Archbishops.
Bishops.
Austria-Hungary
II
42
Bosnia and Herzegovina
I
4
Belgium .
I
s
I
Bulgaria
0
Prance
17
66
Germany
s
21
England
I
14
Ireland
4
25
Scotland
2
Greece
3
6
Italy : Piedmont and Liguria
3
23
„ Lombardy and Venice *
3
20
„ States of the Church
8
56
„ Tuscany and Emilia
s
22
„ Neapolitan Province
22
78
„ Insular Italy 2
9
22
Holland . . .
I
4
Montenegro
I
3
Portugal 3 .
3
9
Eoumania .
I
0
Bussia
I
6
Eussian Poland .
I
7
Servia
I
I
Spain
9
44
Switzerland
0
s
Turkey .
•
3
3
' Inclusive of the Patriarch of Venice.
^ Comprising Malta, Oozo, Corsica, Sicily, and Sardinia.
Bishop of Ajaccio, Suffragan of Aix, is included herein.
^ Inclusive of the Patriarch of Lisbon.
The
520 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
ASIA.
East Indies.
Archbishops. Bishops.
The Patriarch of the East Indies (Goa),
and his suffragans, the Bishops of Cochin,
Dainao (Cranganore), Macao, St. Thomas
of Meliapor I 4
The Archbishops of Agra, Bombay, Calcutta,
Columbo, Madras, Pondicherry, Verapoly 7 o
The Bishops of Eastern Bengal, Central
Bengal, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Jaffna-
patam, Kandy, Madura, Mangalore, Mysore,
Patna, Poona, Punjab, Quilon, Vizaga-
patam o 14*
Persia.
The Bishop of Ispahan* . . . . o i
Asiatic Tueket.
The Archbishop of Bagdad 2 . . . i o
The Archbishop of Smyrna, and his suffragan,
the Bishop of Candia (Europe) . . . i i
AFBICA.
Julia Csesarea or Algiers, Archbishop of, and
the Bishops of Constantine and Gran . i 2
Carthage (Tunis) ' I o
1 The Episcopal Hierarchy of the East Indies was created by the
Letters Apostolic of Pope Leo XIII., dated Rome, September 1st, 1886,
as follows : The residential sees of the province of Goa were confirmed ;
namely, the Archbishopric of Goa (raised on the occasion to a
Patriarchate), and its suffragan sees, Cochin, Damao (a see newly
created by His Holiness, with the title of Archbishop of Cranganore),
Macao, and St. Thomas of Meliapor ; and all the Vicariates Apostolic of
the Peninsula of India and of the Island of Ceylon, and the Prefecture
of Central Bengal, were converted into residential sees — viz. the other
seven Archbishoprics and fourteen Bishoprics above mentioned.
^ The sees of Ispahan and Bagdad are immediately subject to the
^ The two Archiepiscopal sees of Algiers and Carthage are held by
His Eminence Cardinal Lavigerie.
THE HIERARCHY.
521
Bishops' Sees in Africa subject to Metropoli-
tans in Europe ; —
Angola (Lower Guinea) ; Angra (Azores) ;
Funohal (Madeira) ; Santiago (Cape Verd
Islands) j Saint Thomas's : all Suffragans
of Lisbon
The Canaries, and St. Christopher de Luguna,
both Suffragans of Seville
Reunion or Saint Denis, Suffragan of Bor-
deaux
Archbishops. Bishops.
Immiediately Subject to the Holy See :—
Port Louis (Mauritius) and Tangiers
ASEEBICA. '
Canada, 6 17
Newfoundland o 2
United States 12 57
Mexico 3 ig
Bolivia ....... x 3
Brazil i 11
ChUi I 3
Argentine Confederation . . . . i 5
Ecuador I 7
Haiti I 4
United States of Colombia . . . . i 9
Peru I 7
Uruguay o i
Venezuela i 4
Antilles (West Indies) 3 3
Guatimala . i 4
Suffragans of Metropolitans in Europe : —
Guadeloupe and Martinique, Suffragans of
Bordeaux
' America has also sixteen Vicariates Apostolic and seven Prefectures
Apostolic, enumerated further on.
522 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
OCEANIA.
Arcltbishops. Bishops.
Philippine Isles i 4
Australia ....... 2 I2
New Zealand, immediately subject to the Holy
See o 3
EESIDENTIAL SEES OF THE OEIENTAL EITE.1
GREEK EITE.
GSiECO-BOtTJIIANIAir.
Austria - HuNaART. — The Archbishop of
Fogaras and Alba Julia, in Transylvania,
and his Suffragans, the Bishops of Armen-
opoli or Szamos-Ujvar, GrandT Varadino or
Gross- Warden, and Lugos . . . . i 3
GR.ffiCO-RtTTHENIAN.
Austria- Hungary. — The Archbishop of
Leopoli or Lemberg, in Austrian Galicia,
and his Suffragans, the Bishop of Przemysl
Sanechea and Sambor, and the Bishop of
Stanislaow I 2
The Bishop of Kreutz, Suffragan of the Car-
dinal Archbishop of Zagabria or Agram . o I
The Bishops of Eperies, and Munkaos, Suffra-
gans of the Cardinal Archbishop of Gran . o 2
Russian Poland.— The Bishop of Minsk,
Suffragan of the Archbishop of Mohilev . o i
The Bishop of Chelm and Belz, the Bishop
of Supraslia o 2
{The last two immediately subject to the Holy See.)
' Here, I give the name of each see, in order to indicate the more
accurately the districts or countries in which the several rites are
followed.
THE HIEEAECHY. 523
OBiSCO-BTTI.aAKIAN.
Archbisbops. Bishops.
These Catholics have an Archbishop and two
Bishops of their rite. The Archbishop is
Vicar Apostolic for the Bulgarians of Con-
stantinople and its environs. One Bishop
is Vicar Apostolic for Thrace, and the other
for Macedonia.
gb.ze:co-xi:ei4Chit£.
The Melchite Patriarch of Antioch.
The Archbishops of Aleppo, Damascus,
Emessa or Hoas and Apamea, and Tyre :
and the Bishops of Beyrout and Gibail,
Bosra, Heliopolis or Baalbek, Farzul or
Zahleh, Hauian, Sidon or Saida, Ptolemais,
Tripoli, and Caesarea Philippi ... 4 9
ARMENIAN EITE.
Austria-Hungary. — The Armenian Arch-
bishop of Lemberg.
Asia. — The Patriarch of CiUcia.
The Archbishops of Aleppo and Mardin ;
and the Bishops of Adana, Alexandria,
Ancyra, Artvin, Bursa, Diarbekir, Erze-
roum, Karputh, Sebaste, Tokat, Trebi-
zonde, Ispahan, Caesarea, Marasc, Melitene,
and Muse 3 16
SYEIAC RITE.
SYHIAC.
The Syriac Patriarch of Antioch.
The Archbishops of Aleppo, Bagdad, Da-
mascus, and Mossul ; and the Bishops of
Alexandria, Beyrout, Diarbekir, Emessa or
Horns, Gezir, Keriatim, Mardin, and Tri-
poli in Syria 4 8
524 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
SYBO-CHALDAIO.
Archbishops. Bishops.
The Patriarct of Babylon.
The Archbishops of Diarbekir, Kerkuk,
Mosul, and Sehanan ; and the Bishops of
Akra, Amadiah, Gezir, Mardin, Salinas,
Seert, and Zaku ..... 4 7
SYHO-HAKONITE.
The Maronite Patriarch of Antioch.
The Archbishops of Aleppo, Archis, Beyrout,
Damascus, Tyre and Sidon, and Tripoli ;
and the Bishops of Cyprus, Baalbek, and
Gibail and Botri 6 3
• COPTIC RITE.
COPTO-EaTPTIAN.
Apeica. — ^The Catholics of this rite have not
a constituted hierarchy, and depend on a
Vicar Apostolic of Egypt of the same rite.i
COPTO-ETHIOPIO OB ABYSSINIAN.
These Catholics also are without a consti-
tuted hierarchy, and are under the juris-
diction of a Latin Vicar Apostolic, who
resides in Abyssinia. "^
Before proceeding further, it is necessary to say
sometMng about the various rites, or forms of religious
■worship, prevailing in the Church.
As the reader is aware, the Latin rite is that of the
entire West, with the very few exceptions above noted,
and is also followed in some parts of the East, and in
almost all Foreign Missions under Apostolic Vicars and
Prefects. The Liturgical language is the ancient classical
Latin.
' Enumerated among the Vicars Apostolic.
THE HIERAKCHY. 52$
The Oriental Catholic rites differ considerahly from
the Latin, and are followed with the full sanction of
the Holy See. From a very early period, the numbers
of the orthodox Eastern Christians have been greatly
diminished by the inroads of the Arian, Eutychian or
Jacobite,^ and other heresies ; so that the great majority
of the Oriental Christians are, and have been, for ten
centuries, outside the pale of the Church. These are
the Greek schismatics, the Syriac, Egyptian or Coptic,
and Ethiopian Jacobites, the Nestorians of Persia and
the East, and the schismatical Armenians. It is de-
serving of note that all these sects hold the Catholic
dogmas rejected by Protestants — the real presence of
Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, Trans ubstantiatiouj
the sacrifice of the Mass, the adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament, the veneration and invocation of Saints,
and the number of the Sacraments — a proof that these
articles of belief and these usages prevailed in the
Church, in the fifth century. However, it is the
orthodox Oriental Christians only that claim our
attention here.
There are four Greek rites in communion with Eome.
Of these, the Grseco-Eoumenian prevails in Transylvania
and Hungary, and numbers one Archiepiscopal and
three Episcopal sees.
The Grseco-Euthenian rite prevails in Austrian
Galicia, Austrian Croatia, and Hungary, in the dio-
ceses of Chelm and Belz, Minsk, and Supraslia, in
Eussian Poland. There are one archbishop and eight
bishops of this rite.
The Grseco-Bulgarian rite is followed by the Catholics
of Bulgaria, who are governed by an archbishop and
two bishops of their own rite, with the title of Vicars
Apostolic.
^ The Eutychian or Monophysite heretics took the name of Jacobites
from Jacob Baradaeus or Zanzala, who, in the sixth century, was in-
truded into the see of Edessa, and actively propagated their errors.
They regarded him as their second founder.
526 THE CHAIE OF PETEB.
The Graeco-Melchite rite prevails in Palestine, and
in various other parts of Syria, It numbers four arch-
bishops and nine bishops, all subject to the Melchite
Patriarch of Antioch, The Melchite Christians are so
called from the Syrian word MalcJc, or Melck, meaning
King or Emperor, on account of their adherence to
the General Council of Chalcedon and the Emperor
Marcian, against the Eutychians, condemned by that
council, A.D. 451.^
In the four Greek rites, the Liturgical language is
the ancient classical Greek.
The Armenian rite is followed by a large number
of orthodox Christians in the East, The Armenians
are so called from their having formerly inhabited
Armenia. At the commencement of the fourth century,
they formed a flourishing province of the Church ; but
they soon became affected by the Arian heresy, and
again in the year 535 great numbers of them embraced
the Jacobite or Monophysite errors, A large proportion
of the Armenians were, from time to time, brought
back to the Church, especially in the seventeenth
General Council, under Pope Eugenius IV,, a.d. 1439-
1442. The Armenians in communion with the Holy
See abound in Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Turkish
Armenia, and Persia. They have three archbishops, one
of whom is the Archbishop of Lemberg in Austrian
Galicia. The other two, and sixteen bishops, their
suffragans, have sees in the East. All are immediately
subject to the Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians.
Their Liturgical language is the ancient Armenian, not
understood by the people at the present day.
Of the Syriac rites there are three — ^the Syriac, the
Syro-Chaldaic, and the Syro-Maronite. The first pre-
vails in Egypt, Syria, and Turkish Armenia. It numbers
four archbishops and eight bishops, subject to the Syriac
^ The term was originally applied to them by the Eutychians, in
the same opprobrious sense as that in which Catholics were formerly
called Papists in these countries.
THE HIEEAECHY. 527
Patriarch of Antioch. The Liturgical language is the
ancient Syriac ; and these Christians are justly proud
that they use for the purposes of public worship the
language spoken by our Lord, while on earth.
The Syro-Chaldaic rite is followed in Kurdistan,
Turkish Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Persia. It num-
bers four archbishops and seven bishops, under the
Syro-Chaldaic Patriarch of Babylon. The Liturgical
language is the ancient Chaldaic.
The Syro-Maronite rite prevails extensively in
Syria and other provinces of Asiatic Turkey, and
also in the island of Cyprus. The Maronites princi-
pally inhabit the districts of Mount Lebanon and
the other mountains of Syria. They take their name
from Saint Maro, a celebrated solitary, and after-
wards abbot, who flourished in the commencement of
the fifth century, and whose monastery was built in
the diocese of Apamea, on the banks of the Orontes.-
This name distinguishes them from the Jacobites and
other schismatical Syrians. In the eighth century, the
Maronites were infected by the Monothelite heresy;
but they abjured their errors in the year 1182, and
again more fully in the sixteenth century, when they
were all reunited to the Church, under Popes Gregory
XIII. and Clement VIII. Their Patriarch is elected
by the clergy and people, according to the ancient
usage of the Church; but, before he can exercise his
functions, his election must be confirmed by the Holy
See. His title is the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch,
and he resides at Coenobin^ on Mount Lebanon,
and has under his jurisdiction six archbishops and
three bishops. The Liturgical language is the ancient
Syriac ; but at Mass the Gospel is read in Arabic, the
language of the people, after it has been read in Syriac.
The Maronites have a college in Eome, from which
have issued several eminent scholars, notably Abraham
' From the Greek KoivliPiov, a community of monks.
t28 THE CHAIB OK PETER.
Ecchelensis, already aUuded to, and Joseph, Stephen
and Simon Assemani, who have thrown so much light
on Oriental literature.^
Of the Coptic rites, there are two— the Oopto-
Etryptian and the Copto-Ethiopio or Ahyssinian. The
Copts or Cophts, derive their name from a contraction
of the Greek ^^t^Trrtot, Egyptians, according to some
authorities, or, according to others, from the city of
Coptos, the ancient capital of the Thebaid. They have
three liturgies, of which one is attributed to Saint Basil,
one to Saint Gregory Nazianzen, and one to Saint Cyril.
These are said to have been written originally in Greek,
which was, at the time (fourth and fifth centuries), ex-
tensively understood in Egypt; and, about the same
period, versions were made in the Coptic or Ancient
Egyptian, for the general use of the people. At the
present day there are versions in Arabic, now the
vulgar tongue of Egypt; and at Mass, which is cele-
brated in Coptic, the Epistle and Gospel are read in the
Arabic, after being read in the Liturgical language.
Egypt, as we have seen, was first converted by Saint
Mark, the Evangelist, sent by Saint Peter to found
the See of Alexandria. After the condemnation of
Eutyches by the General Council of Chalcedon, in 451,
the inhabitants adhered to his heresy and seceded from
the Church, mainly at the instance of Dioscorus, the
deposed and excommunicated patriarch of Alexandria.
1 Joaepb Assemani was bom at Tripoli, in Syria, in 1687. Educated
in Rome, he was appointed by Pope Clement XI. to collect ancient
manuscripts in the convents of Egypt and Syria, for the Vatican
Library. After the successful execution of this commission, he was
consecrated Arebbishop of Tyre, and made Librarian of the Vatican.
He wag the author of several works, of which the principal was his
BiUiotheea Orientalis Clementino-Vatieana, four volumes folio, 1719-28.
He died in Rome, A.D. 1 768. His nephew, Stephen, Bishop of Apamea,
succeeded him as Vatican librarian, and published two folio volumes
of Oriental Catalogues of Vatican MSS., and other works. Joseph's
grand-nephew, Simon Assemani, was, for many years. Professor of
Oriental langnages in the University of Padua. He died in 1821.
He, also, was a distinguished scholar and writer.
THE HIERARCHY. 529
The ortliodox Copto-Egyptians have no constituted
hierarchy, but are governed by a vicar apostolic of
their own rite.^
The Copto-Ethiopians, or Abyssinians, were, like the
Egyptian Christians, led away by the Eutychian or
Jacobite heresies, and seceded from the Church, in the
sixth century. The orthodox Copto-Ethiopians are
governed by a vicar apostolic, who resides in Abyssinia.
Their Liturgical language is the ancient Ethiopic, which
resembles the Hebrew.
We have seen above set forth the numbers of Arch-
bishops and Bishops of each of the Oriental rites, and
the designation of their several sees. Under these pre-
lates are a large number of clergy ; and, moreover, there
are many convents of monks, and some houses of
religious women.
With regard to the marriage of the clergy of the
Oriental rites, it may be well to say a few words here ;
especially as there prevails some misconception on the
subject. The Holy See permits marriage only to the
clergy who are below the rank of subdeacon. When
one of these is promoted to the orders of subdeacon^
deacon, and priest, he is allowed to retain his wife;
but, should she die, he cannot marry again. No one
already in orders, down to the subdeacon inclusive, is
allowed to marry ; and married priests are never pro-
moted to posts of dignity, which are filled by the un-
married only. Hence the patriarchs, archbishops, and
bishops are, almost invariably, taken from the body of
the monks. The same rules as to the marriage of the
clergy prevail among the schismatic Oriental Christians.
Of the occupants of the Eesidential Sees of the Latin
rite, 14 archbishops and 86 bishops are immediately
subject to the Holy See; and 147 archbishops, and
595 bishops, their suffragans, are divided over ecclesi-
astical provinces ; whilst, of the Oriental rite, 2 bishops
1 There i? also a Vicar Apostolic for Egypt, of the Latin rite,
2 L
530 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
are immediately subject to the Holy See ;_ 3 archbishops
and 9 bishops form ecclesiastical provinces; and 18
archbishops and 45 bishops are subject to the patriarchs,
under the supreme jurisdiction of the Pope.
Besides these, there are Titular Sees, or, as they were
styled until the year 1882, Sees in partibus vnfidelivm —
that is, sees which in ancient times existed in regions
that have now lost the faith, and have fallen into
barbarism.! The Pope nominates archbishops and
bishops of these Titular Sees, as required, to act as
delegates apostolic, prefects apostoUe in some few
instances, administrators apostolic, vicars apostolic,
coadjutor bishops, auxiliary bishops, apostolic nuncios
or ambassadors, and internuncios or special envoys, and
also to fill important offices in the Papal court.
In countries in which, on account oi persecution, or
for other reasons, a hierarchy either has been suppressed
or has never existed, the Pope appoints Delegates
Apostolic, and Vicars Apostolic, creating them arch-
bishops or bishops of titular sees ; and these prelates,
in their several districts, enjoy the same jurisdiction
and powers, and exercise the same functions, as the
bishops of dioceses in countries possessing a hierarchy.
Thus, for example, immediately before the re-estab-
lishment of the hierarchy in England, by Pope Pius
IX., on September 29, 1850, England and Wales were
divided into eight ecclesiastical districts, each governed
by a vicar apostolic. Doctor Wiseman, afterwards
Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, was then " Bishop
of Melipotamus, in partibus infidelium, and Vicar
Apostolic of the London district ; and the seven other
vicars apostolic were, in the same way, titular bishops
of other ancient foreign sees. The same was the case
in Scotland up to the restoration of the hierarchy in
1 It was in the year 1882 that the Holy Father decided that these
sees should be called Titular, instead of in partibus infideUvm. The
reason alleged is, that some of the Oriental Christians have objected to
their countries being styled " the districts of the infidels."
THE HIEKAECHY. 53 I
that country, on the 4th of March, 1878, by Leo XIII. ;
immediately before which there were three districts
governed by three vicars apostolic, with three titular
sees, or sees then styled in partibus infidelium. One
of these, the late Doctor Strain, Archbishop of St.
Andrews and Edinburgh, was then Bishop of Abila in
Phcenicia, and Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern District of
Scotland ; and the other two held similar titular sees.
Delegations Apostolic are more extensive than
Vicariates. The two are sometimes administered by
one and the same person. For example, the Titular
Archbishop of Siunia is at present Delegate Apostolic
of Syria, for the Orientals, and Vicar Apostolic of
Aleppo, for the Latins.
The Prefectures Apostolic are, with very few excep-
tions, administered by priests, to whom the Pope has
given full episcopal jurisdiction, and aU powers, save
that of conferring holy orders.^ This jurisdiction and
these powers are imparted to them personally, for the
work of their prefectures ; but are not necessarily
attached to the office of prefect apostolic. In some
instances the office is held by the superior general of
one of the congregations of the foreign inissions, or of
one of the religious orders; and then the prefecture is
administered by a vice-prefect or pro-prefect.
The delegations, vicariates, and prefectures apostolic
are all dependent on the Sacred Congregation De Pro-
paganda Fide.
The Delegations Apostolic are : —
In Europe, two : Constantinople ; ^ Greece.'
' The exceptional cases of bishops being prefects apostolic are those
of Kuang-si and Kuang-tong in China, Senegal, and New Norcia in
Oceania.
" Monsignor Rotelli, Titular Archbishop of IFarsaglia, is both Dele-
gate Apostolic at Constantinople for the Oriental, and Patriarchal
Vicar for the Latin, rite.
^ The Archbishop o£ Athens, akeady enumerated among the prelates
of Besidential Sees.
532 THE CHAIE OF PETKR.
In Asia, four : East Indies ; Mesopotamia, Kurdistan and
Armenia Minor ; Persia ; Syria.
In Africa, one ; Egypt and Arabia 7
The Vicariates Apostolic are : —
Europe. Anhalt ; North Germany ; Gibraltar ; Saxony ;
Sweden; Constantinople, OrcBco-Bulga/rian rite; Con-
stantinople, Latin rite; Macedonia, Orceeo-Bidgarian
rite; Thrace, Orxeo-Bulgarian rite ; Sophia and Philip-
popolis ; Moldavia ii
Asia. China : Chan-si ; Chan-tong North ; Chan-tong
South ; Chen-si ; Emoy ; Fokien ; Ho-nan North ;
Ho -nan South; Hong-Kong; Southern Hu-nan;
Northern Hu-nan ; Eastern Hu-p^ ; North- Western
Hu-pd ; South-Western Hu-pd ; Klansou ; Kiang-si
North ; Kiang-si East ; Kiang-si South ; Kui-tch6ou ;
Nan-kin ; Su-tchuen North- West ; Su-tchuen East ;
Su-tchuen South ; Tche-kiang ; Tohe-ly North or Pekin ;
Tohe-ly South-East ; Tohe-ly South-West ; Yunnan . 28
KiNODOMS ADJACENT TO China : Cambodia ; Cochin-China
West; Cochin -China East; Cochin -China North;
Cochin-China South ; Corea ; Japan South ; Japan
North ; Manchuria ; Malacca ; Mongolia Central ; Mon-
folia South-West ; Mongolia East ; Siam ; Tibet ; Ton-
in Central ; Tonkin South ; Tonkin East ; Tonkin
West ; Tonkin North 20
Teansganqetic India : Burma East ; Burma North ; Burma
South 3
Asiatic Tukkbt : Aleppo ; Asia Minor .... 2
AraiOA. Abyssinia, or Oriental Africa; Central Africa;
Africa, for the Galla country ; Cape of Good Hope, two
vicariates, East and West ; Coast of Benin ; yreiioh
Congo ; tipper Congo ; Egypt, for the Latins ; Egypt,
for the Copts ; Guinea ; Seychelles Islands ; Madagascar ;
Natal ; Senegambia ; Sierra Leone ; Ounianembd (Equa-
torial Africa) ; Orange Free State ; Victoria Nyanza ;
Sanganigka ; Zanguebar 21
America. Athaba«ka — Mackenzie ; Lower California ;
Brownsville ; North Carolina ; British Colombia ;
Curasao ; Dakota ; Jamaica ; Demerara or British
Guiana ; Surinam or Dutch Guiana ; North Minnesota ;
Territories of Colorado, Idaho, Arizona ; North Pata-
gonia ; Pontiac i5
Oceania. Navigator's Islands; Batavia ; Melanesia and
THE HIERARCHY. 533
Micronesia ; Marquesas or Mendana Islands ; Central
Oceania ; Sandwich. Islands j Tahiti ; Queensland ; New-
Caledonia q1
The Prefectures Apostolic are : —
Europe. Denmark ; Norway ; Schleswig Holstein ; Mel-
socina and Calanca in Switzerland ; Eezia in Switzer-
land ; Miznia and Lusatia in Saxony .... 6
Asia. Aden ; Knang-si ; Kuang-tong .... 3
Afeica. Upper Egypt ; Cape of Good Hope, Central ;
Cimbebasia ; Congo ; Gold Coast and Ivory Coast ; De-
sert of Sahara ; Islands of Sainte Marie, Mayotte, and
Nossi Be ; Islands of Annabo, Corisoo, and Fernando
Po ; Morocco ; Senegal ; Tripoli ; Zambesi ; Dahomey ;
Niger ; Orange River ; Transvaal 16
America. St. George's, Newfoundland ; French Guiana, or
Cayenne ; Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon ; Placentia
Bay, Newfoundland ; The Indian Territory ; Gulf of
St. Lawrence ; Southern Patagonia .... 7
Oceania. • The Viti or Feejee Archipelago ; Labuan and
Northern Borneo ; New Norcia, in Australia . . 3
The following is a Synopsis of the Hierarchical
Titles of the Church :—
The Sacred CoLLEaE.
Suburbicarian Sees of the Cardinal Bishops ... 6
Titular Churches of Cardinal Priests . . . -52
Deaconries 16
74
Patriarchal Sees.
Latin Rite 8
Oriental Rite S
13
ArchiepiscopaIi Sees.
Latin Rite 161
Oriental Rite 21
182
^ Several of the Vicars Apostolic, especially in China and adjacent
kingdoms have Coadjators, who, like themselves, are Titular Bishops.
534 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Episoopal Sees.
Latin Bite 68i
Oriental Bite 5°
737
Sees or no Diocese.
Abbacies -I2, Archabbacy i, Arohpriest i, Priorate i,
Prelatures 2, Vicariate Apostouo I . • . . i8
Titles Depending on the Sacked Congre-
gation DB Propaganda Fide.
Delegations Apostolic 7
Vicariates* Apostolic no
Prefectures Apostolic 35
152
Total 1176
Of these Titles, there are at present eighty-six vacant.^
On the other hand, there are one hundred and
ninety-four archbishops and bishops of titular sees,
besides those of the delegates, vicars, and four prefects,
apostolic, already referred to. Of these, thirty-four
are coadjutor bishops, forty-four are auxiliary bishops,
six are apostolic nuncios, two are internuncios, and five
are delegates apostolic and envoys extraordinary, while
there are several, moreover, who hold important ofEices in
the government of the Church, and in the Papal court.
Adding these one hundred and ninety-four Titular
prelates, not heretofore enumerated, and deducting the
eighty-six vacant sees, and further allowing for sees
held by Cardinal Priests, and for the few instances in
which two or more sees are held by one archbishop or
bishop, we arrive at the following result : — '
^ On the 5th of January, 1887, there were vacant, titles and deaoonries
of the Sacred College, 7 ; patriarchate, i ; archiepisoopal and episcopal
Bees, 54 of the Latin, and 17 of the Oriental, rites j sees of no dioceses,
7 ; total 86.
THE .HIEKAECHy. 53 5
Dignitaries Composing the Catholic Hieeaechy on
THE 5TH op JaNUAEY, 1 887.
Members of the Sacred College ....
Patriarchs of both Rites 1
Archbishops and Bishops, Residential, Latin Rite
Do. Do. Do. Oriental Rite
Do. Do. Titular ...
Do. Do. without title .
Prelates of no Dioceses
63
10
762
56
315
21
5
1232
It would be impossible to form an approximate
estimate of the vast number of priests under each and
all of these prelates. Besides these, there are the
religious orders and congregations, male and female,
extending their branches to even the most remote
regions — all existing with the sanction, and subject to
the supreme control, of the Successor of Saint Peter —
all having their governing heads in or near Eome.
On the whole, even in the condensed particulars of
the Hierarchy, above given, we have a most interesting
illustration of the Catholicity of the Church, and of her
marvellous organization in all parts of the globe.^
^ Although the Patriarchal sees occupied are twelve, only ten digni-
taries are set down here, as two, who are Cardinals, are enumerated in
the preceding item. A deduction is similarly made for twenty-seven
Archiepiscopal and Episcopal sees filled by Cardinals.
^ The following are the additions made to the Hierarchy by His
Holiness Leo XIIL, from his accession down to January 1887.
Patriarchal See erected I "
Archbishops' Sees erected . . . . . .12
Archbishoprics of Sees already existing ... 4
Bishops' Sees erected . 42
Delegation Apostolic ...... i
Vicariates Apostolic ....... 25
Vicariates Apostolic of Prefectures already existing . 4
Prefectures Apostolic 9
~98
In page 520 will be found the details of the Hierarchy created in the
536 THE CHAIE OF. PETER.
East Indies by Leo XIII., in September 1886. The sees erected on
that occasion are included in the above enumeration. Not su included
are the additions to the Hierarchy in Australasia made by His Holiness
in May 1887 : viz. the episcopal sees of Brisbane (Queensland),
Adelaide (Sopth Australia), and Wellington (New Zealand) have been
raised to archbishoprics ; and iive new episcopal sees have been erected
— Grafton, Wilcannie, Sale, Fort Augusta, and Christchvirch (New
Zealand) ; and also Vicariates Apostolic for Kimberley (Queensland),
for the Fiji Islands, and for Melanesia, the last comprising British
New Guinea,
To the auspicious reign of Leo XIII. will also belong the Beatifica-
tion of the English Martyrs, under Henry YIII, and in subsequent
reigns.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
ANCIENT PAPAL ELECTIONS.
Obiginally the election of a Pope was made by the
clergy and people of Eome — ^the clergy actually nomi-
nating or presenting the Pontiff, and their choice being
supported by the assent and acclamation of the people,
and confirmed by the neighbouring bishops. It is de-
scribed as follows by a cotemporary. Saint Cyprian,
speaking of the election of Cornelius, in succession to
Pope Pabian, in the year 251 : "Cornelius was made
Bishop by the judgment of God and of His Christ, by the
testimony of almost all the clergy, by the suffrage of the
people then present, by the college of the elder priests and
of good men, when no one had been elected before him,
when the place of Pabian, that is, when the place of Peter,
and the grade of the Sacerdotal Chair, was vacant." ^
In this manner, the elections were held, until the
conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the
fourth century ; and thenceforward the same mode
of proceeding was followed for a long period. But, as
the Christian Emperors were deeply interested in the
result, they began, in the course of time, to exercise
more or less influence in the election ; and eventually,
with the concurrence of the Pontiffs, they had a voice
in the matter, at least as far as the confirmation or
approval thereof.^
* Cyprian, "Epistolae," Ep. 52, ad Antonianum, A.D. 251.
^ Justinian and the other Emperors, who succeeded him, demanded
a sum of money for confirming the Papal elections. Constantine Pogo-
natus and Pope Saint Agatho united in liberating the Church from this
tribute, A.D. 681.
538 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
However objectionable the system of Imperial con-
firmation or approval may seem, in principle, it appears
to have operated beneficially in many an instance, in
guarding the proceedings from foreign interference and
domestic intrigue and violence. That such was its
intent, is evident from the clauses in the Diplomas of
the Emperors, Louis le Debonnaire, Otho, and Saint
Henry, implying at least the condition of Imperial
approval. Louis, in his diploma, in the year 817,
made stringent provisions against any of the subjects
of the Empire in any way interfering with the Eomans,
on a vacancy occurring in the Holy See ; so that the
funeral obsequies of the deceased Pontiff "might be
conducted with all honour and without any disturbance,
and that he whom, by Divine inspiration and the inter-
cession of Blessed Peter, all the Eomans, with one
counsel and concord, without any promise, should elect
to the order of the Pontificate, might be consecrated
without ambiguity or contradiction, in the usual man-
ner." Next, it was provided, that, on the consecration
taking place, legates should be sent to Louis, or to his
successors, the Kings of the Franks, to establish between
the Pope and the Emperor relations of friendship, love,
and peace, as was, customary in the days, of pious
memory, of his great-grandfather Charles Martel, his
grandfather Pepin and again of his father Charles the
Emperor.i
Seven years later, A.D. 824, when Louis sent his son
Lothaire, then associated with him in the Empire, to
Eome, to put an end to the troubles caused by the
opposition of Zizinius, the Antipope, to Pope Eugenius
II.,2 Lothaire, with the Pope's full assent, made an
enactment, with a view to preventing the recurrence
of such evils, that the consecration of a Pope should
' Theiner, " Oodex Diplomations Dominii Temporalis S. Sedia," torn.
1. pp. ^1 3. 4; Baronius, "Anrialee," ix. 670; Cenni, "Eoame del
Diploma di Ludovico Pio," parte prima.
Eugenius II., a Roman, governed the Church, a.d. 824-827.
ANCIENT PAPAL ELECTIOMS. 539
thenceforward take place in the presence of the Emperor
or his envoys.^
Again, in their respective diplomas, the Emperors,
Otho I. A.D. 962, and Henry II. a.d. 1020, each with
the concurrence of the reigning Pontiff, inserted the
following clause : " Saving in all things our power and
that of our successors, according to what is contained
in the pact and constitution and firm promise of Pope
Eugenius, and of his successors, that all the clergy and
all the nobility of the Eoman people, for various urgent
causes, and in order to mitigate unreasonable severity
on the part of Pontiffs towards the people subject to
them, bind themselves by oath, so far forth as that the
future election of Pontiffs, according to each one's dis-
cernment, may be canonically and justly conducted : ^
and that no one will consent to the consecration of him
who may be chosen to this high and Apostolic govern-
ment, until he make, in presence of our envoys or of
the whole public, such a promise for the satisfaction
and future conservation of all, as our lord, and vene-
rable spiritual father, Leo, is known to have made, of
his own free accord.^
Pope Leo IV., here alluded to, governed the Church
A.D. 847-855. This Pontiff, as well as his immediate
predecessor, Sergius II., had, through fear of disturb-
ances, been consecrated without time being allowed to
communicate with the Imperial court. Leo's "pact,"
or promise, appears to have been to the effect, that he
would, as far as possible, take measures to insure, that
' SigoniuB and other authorities are of opinion that this enactment
was made by Eugenius himself : " Eugenium nempe ipsum, Lotharib
Komee existente, statuisse ut consecrationi Komani Pontificia legati
Imperiales interessent."
" The original words of this passage in the constitution of Pope
Eugenius II. are here set forth, as follow : " Ut oranis clerus et
nniversa populi Romani nobilitas, propter diversas necessitates et
Pontificum irrationabiles erga populum sibi subjectum asperitates
retundendas, Sacramento se obligent, quatenus futura Fontificum electio
(quantum uniusoujusque intellectus fuerit) canonice et juste fiat."
^ Cenni, " Esame de' Diplomi d'Ottone e S. Arrigo," parte terza.
540 THE CHAIS OF PETER.
on his decease, the election and consecration of his
successor should be duly and canonically conducted in
the presence of the Imperial envoys.^
With the same intent, it was enacted, in the Council
pf Eome, held by John IX., A.D. 898, canon x., that, on
the death of a pope, in order to protect the Church
from the violence of faction, the new pontiff should be
elected by the assembled bishops and universal clergy,
the senate and people being present, and that the Elect
should be consecrated in the presence of the Imperial
legates.
Wholly irrespective of the weighty spiritual interests
involved — of the things necessary to the headship of
the Universal Church, it was felt to be of the utmost
consequence to the temporal subjects of the Popes, that
the elections to the Pontifical throne should be "justly
and canonically conducted ; " for thus only could they
be assured of having wise and paternal rulers. It was
also a matter of vital importance to the entire common-
wealth of Christian nations, over whose temporal as
well as spiritual affairs the Pope at that period, by
common consent, exercised paramount control. There-
fore it was, that the clauses just recited were inserted
in the Imperial diplomas ; and this, with the full assent
of the Pontiffs. Moreover, any interference whatever,
by any of the subjects of the Empire or others, with
the free election of Pontiffs by the clergy, nobility, and
people of Rome, was most strictly prohibited. Should
such interference nevertheless be attempted, the Em-
perors bound themselves to repress it by all means in
their power, punishing the offenders by exile or death.^
As the Empire declined, however, it sometimes
'■ This is clear from the Pontiff's own letter to the Emperors Lothaire
and Louis ; viz. " Leonis PP. IV., Epistola ad Imperatores Lotharium
et Ludovioum;" apud Gratianum, Deoretales, 63, c. 31. "Inter nos
et vos pacti serie statutum est et confirmatum, quod electio et consecratio
futurl Romani Pontificis nonniei juste et oanonioe fieri debeat."
* Cenni, as supra. Theiner, "Codex Diplomatious," etc., torn. L
pp. 4-8 ; Baronius, " Annales," in locis.
ANQENT PAPAL ELECTIONS. 54 1
occurred, especially in periods of anarchy, that the
Pope was consecrated immediately on election, -without
reference to the Emperor.^ Again, on the other hand,
we read of a few Popes nominated by the Emperors,
and presented by them to the clergy, nobility,, and
people of Eome.2
Notwithstanding the safeguards above recited, agreed
on between the Popes and the Emperors, it unfortu-
nately happened that, from the close of the ninth to
the middle of the eleventh century * — a period of strife
and anarchy, created by the decline of the Western
Empire — the Papal throne became an object of conten-
tion to ambitious and unprincipled factions; and the
prize was the more coveted, because, as we have seen, the
elected King of Germany could become Emperor only
by being crowned by the Pope ; and, further, because,
in disputed cases, the choice between rival candidates
for the Imperial dignity, was determined by the voice
of the Pontiff. Hence occurred the intrusion of a few
unworthy persons into Saint Peter's Chair. The Popes
of that day, no matter what their merits, enjoyed
severally but a short tenure of power. Some were
violently deposed and cast into prison; some were
exiled ; and some were murdered. Princes and nobles
little heeded what scandals might arise, provided that
their creatures filled the Apostolic throne, and that
thus they themselves became participators in the
revenues, and controlled the political influence, of the
' Among several Popes consecrated at this time, without awaiting
the arrival of the Imperial envoys, may be mentioned, Paschal I., a.d.
817 ; Valentinus, 827 ; Sergius IL, 844 ; Saint Leo IV., 847 ; Adrian
IL, 867 ; and John VIIL, 872.
* Thus Saint Leo IX., previously Bruno, Bishop of Toul, was chosen
Pope in a great assembly of nobles and prelates at Worms, convened
and presided over by the Emperor Henry III., A.D. 1048. Leo, who
resisted the burden sought to be imposed upon him, finally consented
to bear it, only on the condition of his election being ratified by the
entire clergy and people of Rome, which was done with joyful accla-
mation. He governed the Church A.D. 1048-1055.
' Strictly speaking, this period extended from the extinction of the
Carlovingian Empire, A.r. 888, to the middle of the eleventh century.
542 THE CHAIE OF PETEB.
Church. In vain, in those unsettled times, was the
evil struggled against by several Pontiffs — notably
John IX., Benedict IV., Anastasius III., Leo VII.,
Sylvester II., Clement II., Saint Leo IX., Victor II,,
and Stephen X,* The night of the Dark Ages was now
at its darkest. Yet God did not desert His Church.
By His ordinance, and in fulfilment of His promise,
not one of the few personally unworthy men, who
appear in the long roll of the occupants of the Chair of
Peter> ever made any solemn ex Cathedrd definition of
faith.
The emancipation of the Holy See from such lament-
able evils was well commenced by Pope Nicholas II.,
who governed the Church A.D. 1058-1061. He clearly
saw that the remedy lay in a complete change in the
mode of Papal election, namely, that it should no longer
be made in a general assembly of " all the clergy and
all the nobility of the Roman people," but that it should
be mainly the work of a select body of the leading
clergy, placed in an elevated position by the Supreme
Pontiff, on account of their piety, talent, and devotion
to the Church. Accordingly, in a council, held at
Eome A.D. 1059, and composed of one hundred and
thirteen bishops, he decreed that, on the Pope's death,
the Cardinal Bishops should first most diligently to-
gether consider the election ; that they should after-
wards call into their councils the Cardinal Priests and
Deacons ; and that in this way the new election should
obtain the assent of the rest of the Clergy and the
people. It was further enacted that the choice should
be made out of the bosom of the Roman Church, if a
suitable person could be found therein; and, if not,
that the elect should be taken from another Church ;
always saving due honour and reverence to the Emperor,
^ John IX. governed the Church a.d. 898-900; Benedict IV
900-903; Anastasiu. Ill 911-913 ; Leo VII., 936-939; Sylvestei
11, 999-1003; Clement II., 1046-1048; Saint Leo IX., i04Q-io« •
Victor II„ 1055-1057 ; and Stephen X., 1057, 1058.
ANCIENT PAPAL ELECTIONS. 543
conformably with the right conceded to hini and his
successors by the Apostolic See.^
Saint Peter Damian, a cotemporary, interprets this
law as follows: "That the election of the Pontiff
should be made by the principal judgment of the
Cardinal Bishops ; that, in the second place, the Clergy
should, by right, give their assent; that, thirdly, the
popular favour should add its applause ; and that so
the affair should be suspended until the Eoyal autho-
rity should be consulted, unless that danger should
perchance impend, and render the greatest possible
expedition necessary." ^
Thenceforward, notwithstanding the revolutions and
anarchy of the times, the principle so wisely laid down
by Nicholas II., and maintained and developed by
successive Pontiffs and councils, became gradually more
^ The following are the words of the decree of Pope Nicholas II., A.D.
1059 : " Quapropter instructi prBedecessorum nostrorum aliorumque sanc-
torum patrum auctoritate, decernimus atque statuimus, ut, obeunte hujus
Bomanse TJniTersalis EcclesiEe Pontifice, in primis Cardinales Episcopi
dlligentissime simul de electione tractantes, mox sibi Clericos Cardinales
adhibeant, sicque reliquus Clerus et populus ad consensum uovse elec-
tionis accedant. . . . Eligatur autem de ipsius Ecclesise gremio, si
reperitar idoneus ; vel si de ipsa non invenitur ex alia assumatur, salvo
debito honore et reverentia dilecti filii nostri Henrici, qui in prassenti-
arum Rex habetur, et futurus Imperator, Deo concedente, speratur,
sicut jam ipsi concessimus et successoribus ipsius, qui ab Apostolica Sede
personaliter hoc jus impetrarerint." This last clause appears to refer
to the constitution of Lothaire, that the consecration of the newly
elected Pope should take place in the presence of the Emperor or his
envoys.
^ Petri Damiani Opera. Epist. 20, lib. i. " Electionem Fontificiam
per Episcoporum Cardinalium fieri debere principale judicium ; ita ut,
secundo loco, jure prsebeat Clerus assensum ; tertio, popularis favor
attollat applausum ; sicque suspendendam esse causam, usque dum
Begise Ce&ituflinis consulatur auctoritas, nisi periculum fortassis immi-
neat, quod rem quantocius accelerare compellat." Saint Peter Damian
was born in Ravenna, A.D. 988. He adopted a monastic life, under
the rule of Saint Benedict. In 1057, Pope Stephen X. named him
Cardinal Bishop of Ostia. He was highly esteemed, and employed in
important affairs by several successive Popes, including Nicholas II.
His works consist of several letters, some sermons, five lives of saints,
and some short treatises. He died at Paenza in 1072, at the age of
eighty-three.
544 THE CHAIR OF PETEU.
and more firmly established ; so that, on the death of
Pope Alexander III. — to whose legislation on the
subject, in the Eleventh General Council, the Third
Lateran, it will presently be necessary more fully to
refer, — his successor, Lucius III., was chosen a.d. ii8r,
by the cardinals exclusively, the body of the people
and the clergy taking no part whatever in the proceed-
ings. This was the first instance of a Pope being
elected solely by the Sacred College,^ The cardinals,
their institution, privileges, powers, and dignity, as
well as the several constitutions enacted to regulate
their election of a Pope, will be treated of, at length, in
a future chapter.
■ Panvinius Annotat. in Vitam Alexandri III., apud Platinam,
page 206.
CHAPTEE XXXVir.
ALLEGED UNWORTHY POPES.
It would require a large volume, to discuss, in detail,
the alleged crimes of some twenty Popes, at various
dates, among the two hundred and sixty-two successors
of Saint Peter. The subject, however, notwithstanding
our limited space, here justly claims a comparatively
brief, yet not insufficient, notice.
The characters of the Pontiffs in question have but
too long been estimated from the statements of a few
writers of small authority, who were manifestly in-
fluenced either by hostility to the Holy See, or by a
desire to flatter the prejudices of those in high place,
unfriendly to the Papacy, such as several of the
Byzantine Emperors. Among these writers, the prin-
cipal, indeed for several of the biographies the only,
authority was Luitprand, sometimes called Liutprand,
Canon of Pavia, and subsequently Bishop of Cremona.
He was secretary to Berengarius II., King of Italy, by
whom he was sent ambassador to the Emperor Con-
stantine Porphyrogenita at Constantinople, in 949. On
his return he left the service of Berengarius iov that of the
German Emperor Otho I. On Otho's conquering Italy,
Luitprand accompanied him thither, and, in recompense
for his services, he was presented by the Emperor to the
Bishopric of Cremona. In 968, he went again to Con-
stantinople, as ambassador to the Emperor Nicephorus
Phocas. He wrote a History of his diplomatic missions
to Constantinople, and a Eelation, in six books, of all
that took place in Europe in his time. This work is
2 M
546 THE CHAIK OF PETEB,
styled Historia rerum gestcmtm db Uuropce Impera-
torihus et Begibus} The Author calls it also Aivta-
podosis, or " Eetribution," being "a scourge to his
enemies and a recompense to his friends." In it he
speaks as follows of his former Eoyal patrons : " The
object of this book is, that it should expose, show up,
and call out against, the acts of that Berengarius who
now tyrannizes, rather than reigns, over Italy, and of
his wife Willa, who, on account of her surpassing
tyranny and insatiable rapine, is properly called a
Jezebel and a Lamia." ^
Not only is Luitprand's testimony rendered of little
value by such a strain of writing, but, on investigation,
he has been proved to be, as a rule, unreliable as to facts.
Moreover, he introduces many free anecdotes, ill becom-
ing an ecclesiastic ; and these are generally irrelevant.
Of them Sismondi observes that " they do not give a
favourable idea of the tone prevailing among the great,
and in what was in that day considered good society,
especially if one bears in mind the rank at court and
the Ecclesiastical functions of the historian."
As remarked by Dean Milman, Cardinal Baronius
mainly, nay solely, relies on Luitprand as his authority
regarding certain passages in the private lives of the
Popes of this period; which circumstance implies an
absence, at the time, of corroborative evidence of Luit-
prand's statements ; for, if such existed, it would have
been alluded to by so laborious a writer as Baronius.
The latter's strong expressions of regret at such a state
of affairs, and of indignation against the offending
Pontiffs, the greater part of whom are now proved to
have been sadly maligned, are echoed by such Catholic
writers as Bellarmin* and Graveson,* who, as well as
^ "The Lives of the Popes, from Saint Peter to iFormosus," and
" The Chronicles of the Goths," are attributed to Imitprand ; but it is
generally supposed that these works are not from his hand.
- Luitprand! " Antapodosis," Introduction to the third book.
' Bellamiin. Vide supra, p. 91, note.
* Graveson, Ignace Hyaointhe Amat de, bom at Oraveson, near
ALLEGED UNWORTHY POPES. 547
the learned annalist, were to a great extent misled by
the unsupported testimony of Luitprand. But they
all, with Baronius, regard as a further proof of the
divine origin of the Church, the fact of her having
passed unscathed through such trials.
Modern investigators, however, have carefully sifted
all extant records, including much that has been
brought to light since Baronius's day ; and the result
is, that the generally accepted accounts of the lives of
the Pontiffs referred to, have turned out to be in several
particulars inaccurate, and, in many more, directly
opposed to truth. Among those investigators especially
deserving of mention is the learned Father Pagi,* who in
his valuable work, " Breviarium Poutificum Eomanorum
Gestorum," has, in the life of each of the several
Pontiffs, in detail, ably and impartially treated the
whole question, setting forth the evidence on both
sides in a calm judicial tone. Still more perhaps has
been done for the cause of truth and justice by
Professor Jungmann of the Catholic University of
Lodvain, in an exhaustive treatise on the subject,
which appears in the fourth volume of his " Select
Dissertations on Ecclesiastical History," quite recently
published.^
Let us now enter into details. We have seen that,
Avignon, in 1670, was a Dominican and Doctor of Sorbonne. He was
summoned to Rome by his general, and was one of the theologians of
the Council of Rome in 1725. He died at Aries in 1733. His principal
work is an Ecclesiastical History, down to 1730, first published at
"Venice in 1740, with his other works, in seven vols. 4to, and separately
at Augsburg in 1752, and again in 1762 with notes and a continuation,
down to 1760, by John Dominic MansL
' Pagi. Vide supra, p. 6, note.
^ " Dissertationes Selectae in Historiara Ecclesiastieam," auctore
Bernardo Jungmann, Ecoles. Cathedr. Brugens. Canon hon., Philos.
et S. Theolog. Doct., ac Profess, ord. Hist. Ecol. et Patrol in Univer-
sitate Cath. Lovaniensi. Tomus iv. pp. l-lo8. Ratisbon, 1884.
This treatise comprises the reigns of thirty-one Popes, from Eormosus
to Silvester IL, both inclusive. It has the advantag'e of being the last
publication on the subject. Of the several authorities consulted, in
the writing of this chapter, I am most indebted to Father Pagi and
Professor Jungmann, especially the latter,
548 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
of cotemporary writers, Luitprand stands alone and
unsupported, and that his character as a witness is
greatly impaired by the frivolous, gossiping, and too
often indelicate, tone in which he repeats what have
been proved, in many an instance, to be wicked
slanders. On the other band, we shall now see how
he is again and again contradicted by Flodoard and
others, his cotemporaries, who by character and recti-
tude of life, are entitled to respect, and whose testimony
has been unreservedly accepted and adopted by modern
investigators and writers of acknowledged weight and
impartiality, such as Pagi, the Benedictines of St. Maur,
and Muratori.
Flodoard, the historian, was born at Epemay, near
Eheims, in 894. He was a priest and canon of the
cathedral of Rheims, and so marked were his abilities
that he had been appointed curator of the Archives of
Saint Eemi before his ordination. He was equally
held in esteem for his learning and his edifying life;
and his love of truth and literary tastes and occupations
eminently qualified him for the work of a historian.
According to Eohrbacher, himself a writer of learning
and research, " Flodoard is represented by his cotem-
poraries as a priest respected for all kinds of virtues,
and more than human wisdom. As an author, he was
no less distinguished." ^ He wrote a Chronicle of his
own times, from the year 919 to 966 — a work much
lauded for its accuracy, also a " History of the Church
of Eheims," in four books, and a work in metre, com-
prising fourteen books, " On the Triumph of Christ in
Italy," or " The Lives of the Eoman Pontiffs from Saint
Peter to Leo VII." In the year 936, he was ambassador
to the latter Pope, by whom he was honourably re-
ceived at Eome and much esteemed. He died in the
year 966.
Another cotemporary of Luitprand was Auxilius, a
French priest, who dwelt in Southern Italy. He had
' Rohrbacher, " Histoire Universelle de I'Eglise." L. 59, p. 439.
ALLEGED UNWORTHY POPES. 549
been ordained by Pope Formosus, in defence of whose
ordinations he wrote three treatises, in the year 907.
Throughout his writings, he throws light on several
events occurring at the close of the ninth and in the
beginning of the tenth centuries. John the Deacon, a
Neapolitan, another cotemporary, who has left a
" Chronicle of the Bishops of Naples," and other works^
also affords us information regarding the period. Both
these were learned men, and will be quoted further dn,
as well as Flodoard.
We have now to consider, in a necessarily condensed
form, the lives of thirty-one Popes, from Pormosus to
Silvester II., both inclusive, ranging from A.D. 891
to 1013.
Formosus (a.d. 891-896), a native of Ostia, was
consecrated Bishop of Porto, in 864, under Nicholas I.,
and in 866 he discharged, with great success, the
functions of Papal legate to the Bulgarians, so that
their King Michael earnestly prayed that he might be
made their Archbishop, to which request Pope Nicholas
and his successor, Adrian II., refused to accede. Some
ten years later, Charles the Bald was nominated and
crowned Emperor by Pope John VIII., when an
influential party in Eome plotted the deposition of
Charles, and the Bishop of Porto was one of the leaders
of this party. The Pope, in consequence thereof,
excommunicated and deposed Formosus. The latter,
however, was absolved from his ecclesiastical censures
by John's successor, Marinus I.,^ and, after some delay,
was restored by him to his see of Porto. On the death
of Stephen VI., in 891, Formosus was elected Pope,
and reigned four years, six months, and eleven days,
dying May 23rd, 896. Beyond his political action
above related, and his having, "through ambition,"
looked for the See of Eome when he was already a
bishop, Formosus is not charged with any offences. On
' Marinus I., a, Gallesian (a.d. 882-884), reigned one year and five
months.
5 50 THE CHAIK OF PETER.
the contrary, his personal character, his piety and
acquirements, are highly praised by cotemporary writers
Tor instance, Auxilius, who was ordained by Formosus,
speaks of him as a man remarkable, throughoufc his
whole life, for piety, moderation, and abstinence, deny-
ing himself the use of flesh meat and wine. He also
lauds his Apostolic labours amongst the Bulgarians.
Plodoard speaks of him as an illustrious prelate, " morti-
fied and munificent to the poor, sowing the seeds of the
Faith amongst the Bulgarian nation, and affording in
his own person a worthy example to all." Luitprand
calls him a most religious Pope, and says that he was
venerated for true piety and his knowledge of the
Scriptures and doctrine ; and Hincmar of Eheims speaks
of him as a religious bishop, justly praised for the fame
of his sanctity. Formosus was the first bishop elected
Pope — those previously elected to the Papal throne
being simply priests or deacons before their election.^
Boniface VL, a Eoman (June 896), was, by a popular
movement, raised to the Papal throne in succession to
Formosus, but, on the fifteenth day after his election,
he died of gout. He is alluded to by Flodoard in
terms of praise.
Stephen VII. (by some called Stephen VI.),^ a
Eoman (A.D. 896, 897). The history of this Pontiff,
elected through the influence of the anti-Formosian
party, affords a painful illustration of the state to which
Eome was reduced by anarchy and faction at this period.
In his brief pontificate, was enacted a crime, which was
then unexampled, and which has made his name in-
famous in his own and succeeding generations.' In
' Panvinius, annotat. in vitam Foimoai P.P., apud Platinam, page
145 ; and Pagi, "Pontif. Rom. Gesta," ii. 125. Both theee writera
contradict the statement that Marinus was the first Pope who was a
bishop before his elevation to the supreme pontificate, ae was simply
Archdeacon of Rome, when elected,
" The cause of this Irregularity in the enumeration of Popes named
"a;ephen," is explained in an earlier page. Vide supra, p. 187, note.
Baronms says, that he dares not enumerate him in the list of Roman
ALLEGED DNWORTHY POPES. 5 5 I
the month of February 897, he assembled a synod in
Eome, to condemn his predecessor Formosus, then nine
months dead, for having, through ambitious motives,
against the canons, abandoned the see of Porto and
occupied that of Rome. By Stephen's order, the dead
body of Formosus was exhumed and brought into the
council, divested of ecclesiastical and reclad in lay
attire, and two fingers of the right hand (some say
three), those used in the consecration of priests, having
been amputated, it was reinterred, in the tomb of the
pilgrims. Immediately afterwards, it was again ex-
humed by an excited mob, and cast into the Tiber.
A.t this council, Stephen declared the ordinations of
Formosus invalid, overlooking or ignoring the fact
that Formosus had been duly consecrated Bishop of
Porto, and consequently could ordain. At the time
the sacred canons forbade, under penalty of depriva-
tion of even lay communion, the migration of bishops
from one see to another, through ambition or avarice ;
but the Eoman- synod, held in 898, under John IX.,
declared that the translation of Formosus from the
church of Porto to the Apostolic See, for his merito-
rious life, was a matter of necessity ; but that it should
not be taken as a precedent.^ The enemies of Formosus
further charged him with having got himself reconse-
crated, when elected Pope. This is contradicted by
his cotemporary Auxilius, who states that he was
merely enthroned. Stephen himself was overtaken by
Pontiffs; and Muratori, "Annalea," anno 896, observes: "Sempre
detestabile la memoria sua nella chiesa di Dio. "
'■ Canon iii. "Quia necessitatis causa de Portuensi iEcclesia IFormosus,
pro vitee merito, ad Apostolicam Sedem provectus est, statuiiuus et
omnino decemimus, ut id in exemplum nuUus a'bsumat. " Auxilius, in
his work on " the Ordinations of Formosus," cap. 20, lib. ii. shows that
by the canons quoted against Formosus, viz., 16 of K^ice, and I and 2
of Sardica, the migrations of bishops from their own to other sees,
through avarice or ambition, are condemned ; but not those which are
demanded by necessity or the good of the Chwch — viz. "Canonibus
Nicsenis et Sardicensibus migrationes episcoporum nou prohiberi, quae,
necessitate Tel utilitate Ecclesise postulante, fiunt."
5 52 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
a sad fate, which to many would appear retributive.
In August 897, he was cast into a dungeon by a Eoman
mob, and was there strangled, after a reign of one year
and two months. It is but right to observe here that
the learned and painstaking Panvinius affirms that
what is related about the disinterment of the corpse of
Formosus " looks more like fiction than truth, from
the variety and discrepancies of the several accounts
thereof." ^ However, the great majority of writers and
critics hold the opposite opinion.
Eomanus, a Gallesian (a.d. 897, 898), reigned only
three months and twenty-one days. He is spoken of
by Flodoard as a meritorious Pontiff, " meritos sortitur
honores."
Theodorus IL, a Pioman (a.d. 898), reigned only
twenty days, and during that short time, he had the
remains of Formosus taken from the Tiber and en-
tombed with honour. He further declared the ordina-
tions of Formosus valid. He is praised by Flodoard
for his prudence, virtues, and love of the poor, and as
" the beloved of the clergy, and the promoter of peace."
Some modern writers surmise that these two Pontiffs
were murdered, but ancient records aflford no data for
that supposition.
John IX., a native of Tivoli (a,d. 898-900). This
Pontiff was a Benedictine monk. In his election, he
had to contend against the claims of Sergius (after-
wards Sergius III.) He worthily governed the Church ;
and, in two councils in Eome and one in Eavenna, he
strenuously laboured in the establishment of discipline
and the allaying of faction. In his Eoman council of
898, he cancelled the decrees of Stephen VII. against
Formosus ; and in the same council, as we have seen,
he passed a wise and salutary enactment to insure that
all future Papal elections should be peaceably and
canonically conducted. John is spoken of by Flodoard
as having suffered persecution and banishment; as
' Panvinius, annotat. in vitam Formosi PP. apud Platinam, page 145.
ALLEGED UNWORTHY POPES. . S 5 3
having taught the saving faith handed down by the
Fathers ; and as having been a shining light in his
exalted sphere. He died in June 900, having reigned
two years and fifteen days.
Benedict IV., a Eoman (a.d. 900-903), reigned three
years and two months. According to Flodoard, he was
" a great pontiff, who well deserved the title of great,
illustrating by his piety all his works, meditating the
precepts of God, and paternally cherishing the friend-
less poor."
Leo v., a native of Ardea (a.d. 903). After a reign
of one month and twenty-six days, he was cast into
prison, where he died — some say, by violence or starva-
tion. Auxilius styles him " a man of God, of praise-
worthy life and sanctity." His deposition is generally
attributed to his successor, Christopher, a Eoman
(A.D. 903, 904).
On Leo's death, Christopher was acknowledged by
the Church, as Pontiff; but he was himself deposed,
after a reign of six months, when he retired into a
monastery to do penance, according to some writers.
According to others, he was murdered. On a minute
examination of the evidence on both sides, Christopher's
guilt does not appear to be indisputably established.
Plodoard does not accuse him; but seems to regard
him as having legitimately succeeded Leo V.; and
Auxilius says nothing of a violent death inflicted on
him or on his predecessor. However, the majority of
writers speak of him as " Christophorus invasor," and
condemn his usurpation of the Apostolic See. The
latest investigator. Professor Jungmann, is doubtful,
and sums up in these words : rem igitur in ancipiti
rdinguamus.
About this time, A.D. 904, the influence of the Counts
of Tusculum and of the Marquises of Tuscany was all-
powerful in Eome, and continued to prevail for many
years, with results most detrimental to religion. Certain
Roman ladies, too, connected with those noble families.
5 54 • THE CHAIR OF PETER.
women of the highest rank, but of notoriously wicked
lives, then began to exercise control over the Papal
elections — a control alike disgraceful and disastrous.
Of these, the first claiming notice is Theodora, the
elder, a princess remarkable for her beauty, talents, and
crimes. She was the daughter of Adelberfc I., Marquis
of Tuscany, and sister of Adelbert II. Her husband
was Theophylactus, a judge, and afterwards Consul,
Eoman Senator, and head of the nobility of Eome,
By him she had two daughters, Marozia, and Theodora
the younger, both fully equal to their mother in per-
sonal gifts, mental powers, and ambition, and of no
less disreputable lives. Marozia was married to Alberic
I., Count of Tusculum, Duke of Camerino, and Prince
of Spoleto. After his death, she espoused Guy, Marquis
of Tuscany, and, on the demise of the latter, she was
united to his brother-in-law, Hugo, King of Italy. By
her first husband, Alberic, she had issue four sons, viz.,
Alberic 11., Constantine, Pope John XL, and Sergius,
Bishop of Nepi. Her sister, Theodora the younger,
became the wife of Theophylactus Vestiarius, and had
by him three daughters, Marozia the younger, Stephania,
and Theodora the third. This last was married to John,
Senator and Duke, by whom she had two sons, Lan-
dolphus and Crescentius.^
Theodora the elder, and, after her, her daughter
Marozia, with the co-operation of the Roman nobles,
obtained possession of the Castle of Saint Angelo, the
great fortress of Rome ; and thus each of those prin-
cesses, in her turn, enjoyed supreme power over the
city. Unfortunately, they availed themselves of this
position to secure the elevation of their relations to
the Papal Chair; and thence arose a state of affairs,
in which, as observed by Doctor DoUinger, " the Holy
' This clear genealogical statement, drawn up by de Bossi, apud
Jungmann, "Dissertationes," iv. 62, will aid the reader in hig con-
Bideration of the argument regarding the slanderous etatements retailed
by Luitprand.
ALLEGED UNWORTHY POPES. 555
See might be compared to a captive in chains, to
■whom, being deprived of freedom, we are not to impute
the disgrace which he endures."
The next Pope on the list is one upon whose memory
the severest aspersions have been cast, for centuries,
not alone by the enemies, but by some of the most
devoted champions, of the Papacy. Let us nfJw examine
how far those aspersions were merited.
Sergius III. (a.d. 904-911), a Eoman, and a member
of the noble family of the Marquises of Tuscany, was
placed in Saint Peter's chair in the year 904, and
reigned seven years and three months. Luitprand
describes him as an immoral, wicked man, and as an
usurper of the Pontifical See ; and Baronius, following
Luitprand, speaks of him in the strongest terms of
reprobation.^ On the other hand, such cotemporary
writers as Flodoard and John the Deacon by no means
speak of him as an usurper, and a bad man : on the con-
trary, they praise him ; and Muratori ^ and other modern
authors of weight, having closely sifted the evidence,
much of which was not available to Baronius, pronounce
many of the charges made against him to be fictions.
1 "Annales," a.d. 908. It may be observed here that Baronius
erroneously seta down the reign of Sergius IIL as of four years, begin-
ning A.D. 908, whereas, in reality, it was over seven years, commencing
in 904.
^ Luigi Antonio Muratori, bom at Vignola, in the Duchy of Modena,
October 21, 1672, was devoted to literature from a very early age down
to his death, which took place January 23, 1750, in his seventy-eighth
year. When only twenty-two years old, he was invited to Milan by
Count Charles Borromeo, who intrusted to his care the Ambrosian
library. In 1700, the Prince of Modena claimed him as his subject,
and appointed him his librarian and keeper of the Ducal archives.
Muratori was consulted by all the learned men of the age, including
the Benedictines Mabillon and Montfaucon, the Jesuit father Pape-
broke, Magliabecchi, Ciampini, Maffei, and others. Few authors have
written so much. His works, sixty-four in number, fill forty-six
volumes folio, thirty-four 4to, thirteen 8vo, and several i2mo. That
which I quote in the text is " Annali d'ltalia dal principio della era
volgare fino all' anno 1500," twelve volumes 4to, Venice, 1744-1749.
He was a man of wondrous memory and vast erudition, but he is
considered to have been sometimes deficient in judgment.
556 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
It is stated byLuitprand that the election of Formosus,
A.D. 891, was contested by Sergius, but that the more
powerful party of the former prevailed, and Sergius was
expelled from Eome, having been elected but not con-
secrated. This statement, like many more of Luit-
prand's, is discredited by modern critics, including
Jungmann* as all others, who wrote in the time of
Formosus, record that the election of that Pontiff was
unanimous.^ There appears to be little room to doubt,
however, that, at a later period, namely in the year
898, when John IX. was elected, Sergius was expelled
from Eome, under circumstances such as above detailed,
and that, after a sojourn in Tuscany of seven years, he
returned to Eome, A.D. 904, on the solicitation of the
people, and was elected Pope. Luitprand's statement
that Sergius had compassed the deposition of Christopher,
his immediate predecessor, is disproved by his cotem-
poraries, Auxilius, Flodoard, and John the Deacon.^
We now come to a very serious charge against this
Pontiff — a charge of gross immorality, resting on the
sole and unsupported cotemporary evidence of Luit-
prand — ^namely, that he had illicit intercourse with
Marozia, Countess of Tusculum, resulting in the birth
of a son, afterwards Pope John XI. This alleged crime
is not alluded to by any other cotemporary writer ; but,
as the allegation has been incautiously adopted from
Luitprand by Baronius and other authors, a heavy slur
has long unjustly rested on the memory of Sergius ;
* Pagi, "Pontif. Rom. Geeta," ii. 135, 147. Jungmann, "DisBerta-
tiones," iv. 19.
' John the Deacon says " revooatus e»t Cominus Sergius ; " and
Flodoard writes : —
" Sergius inde redit, dadum qui leotus ad arcem
Culminis, exilio tulerat rapiente repnlsam :
Quo profagus latuit, septem volventibus annis.
Hinc popufi remeans precibus, sacratur bonore
Pridem adsignato."
AuxiliuB states distinctly, that Christopher had been deposed before
Sergius's return to Rome.
ALLEGED UNWOKTHY POPES. 557
but it has been removed, in the light of their careful
examination of all extant evidence, by modern investi-
gators— notably, Muratori, Eohrbacher, and Jungmann
who affirm that John XI. was the legitimate third son
of Marozia by her first husband, Alberic I., Count of
Tusculum. Professor Jungmann justly observes that
in the disposition of Sergius there was nothing that
would lead us to suppose that he was inclined to such
vice. On the contrary, he was pre-occupied by far
different thoughts, being a rigid enforcer of ecclesias-
tical discipline ; and those writers, his cotemporaries,
who vindicated, against his condemnation, the memory
and ordinations of Formosus, would readily have laid
hold of such a degrading charge, and urged it against
the Pontiff, had they any grounds for such a line of
action. Not one word is to be found in their writings,
regarding the alleged intrigue of Sergius and Marozia.
That more than doubtful, and indelicate, tale is confined
to Luitprand alone. On the contrary, Sergius is praised
for his piety by Flodoard and John the Deacon, his
cotemporaries, both of them reliable writers and
exemplary men ; and their testimony would but ill
accord with his merits, and their own candour, were he
guilty of the. crime imputed to him by one solitary
writer of no weight. Indeed, unless by Luitprand, and
authors of subsequent ages, misled by him, Sergius III.
is not censured save for his condemnation of his pre-
decessor Formosus, regarding whom controversy ran so
high in those days.
To Sergius succeeded Anastasius III., a Roman
(a.d. 91 1-9 1 3). He reigned two years and two months.
He was a mild and pious Pontiff, zealous iu the pro-
motion and preservation of peace and concord among
the clergy and nobles in those troubled times.
Next succeeded Lando, a Sabine, who reigned six
months and ten days (a.d. 913, 914). He is falsely
accused, by Luitprand, of having, at the urgent request
of Marozia, irregularly consecrated, as Archbishop of
558 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Bavenna, John, who succeeded him as John X. As
regards the statement that the election of Lando was
promoted by Marozia, there is no cotemporary evidence
to corroborate Luitprand.
John X., a native of the diocese of Imola (a.d.
914-928), was named Bishop of Bologna by Sergius
III. ; but before he was consecrated he was translated
to the Archiepiscopal see of Eavenna, to which he
had been elected by the clergy, in the year 905. On
the death of Lando, he was elected Pope, by the unani-
mous voice of the clergy, A.D. 914; as at the time it
was deemed desirable that a prudent and energetic
Pontiff should be chosen, to hold in check the Saracens,
who were seriously threatening Rome, John governed
the Church and State with great zeal and wisdom.
In 915, he crowned, as Emperor, Berengarius, King of
Italy. He defeated the Saracens, and freed from their
presence the Papal States and other Italian provinces ;
and, moreover, he strongly repressed the excesses of the
Roman nobles. He also strenuously promoted the
welfare of the Church in foreign countries. In the
Roman States, towards the close of his reign, great
political dissensions and troubles arose. John asserted
his independence too determinedly for the pleasure of
the powerful Marozia. By her contrivance and that of
her husband Guy, Marquis of Tuscany, the Pontiff's
brother Peter, " too influential in Rome, was murdered
in his presence, and he himself was cast into prison,
and there strangled, A.D. 928, having reigned thirteen
years and two months.
Another of Luitprand's scandals is, that, previously
to his elevation, John X. had illicit intercourse with
Marozia's sister, Theodora the younger, the issue thereof
being Crescentius. This scandal rests, as do other
similar fictions, on the narrative of Luitprand alone ;
and it is not even alluded to by any other cotemporary
writer. There appears to have been some bungling in
concocting this slanderous story ; for, as we have seen.
ALLEGED UNWORTHY POPES. 559
Theodora II. had only three daughters,- but no son;
and her third daughter, Theodora III, was the wife of
John, Duke and Consul, by whom she had two sons,
Landolphus and Crescentius, to the latter of whom
Luitprand alludes.^ John's character alone is a suffi-
cient refutation of so base a calumny ; for, after sifting
all extant records of his life, the learned Muratori
speaks of him as " a Roman Pontiff, received and vene-
rated as such by the whole Church of God, one who
laudably fulfilled the duties of his pontificate, and
encountered the hatred and violence of the wicked,
solely because he asserted the temporal rights of the
Holy See." 2
Leo VI., a Eoman (a.d. 928, 929), reigned eight
months and five days. John Stella speaks of him, as
" a good man, in whose life was no tyranny," and as a
promoter of concord and peace.*
Stephen VIII. (by some called VII.), a Eoman
(a.d. 929-931), reigned two years, one month, and twelve
days. Of him Platina says : " His life was full of
clemency and religion." *'
John XI., a Roman (a.d. 931-936), reigned four years
and ten months. He was the third son of Marozia,
by her first husband, Alberic I., Count of Tusculum.
There is no doubt that his mother's influence greatly
promoted his election. Born in 906, he was twenty-
^ Vide supra, p. 554.
2 Muratori " Annales,'' anno 928.
^ John Stella is known by his " Lives of the Sovereign Pontiffs," a
much esteemed work, published at Basle by Michael Purter, in 1507.
It begins with Saint Peter and ends with the commencement of the
reign of Julius IL
■* Bartolomfo de Sacchi, called Platina from his native place, Fiadena
(in Latin Platina), near Cremona, was born in 1421. He was an
author of great learning and industry. He wrote the "Lives of the
Eoman Pontiffs," from Saint Peter to Paul II., inclusive. His oon-
tinuators were Fanvinius, down to Pius IV., and Cicarella, to Clement
VIII. The first edition was that of Venice in 1479, Latin, in folio,
which was followed by several other editions. The annotations of
Fanvinius greatly enhance the value of the book. Platina wrote
several other works. He died in Rome in 1481.
560 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
live years of age when raised to the supreme pontificate,
Cotemporary writers give but little information about
John's reign. Eatherius the monk, afterwards Bishop
of Verona, who was in Eome in 931, alludes to him as
a Pontiff of a glorious disposition — gloriosce indolis}
However, it is certain that he was deprived of all power
in his own states by Marozia and his elder brother
Alberic II., and was restricted to the discharge of his
spiritual functions. Luitprand's slander about the
paternity of John XI. has been already disposed of.
On the death of her second husband Guido, Duke of
Tuscany, Marozia contracted a third marriage with
Hugo, Bang of Italy, in 932. One day, she urged her
eldest sou Alberic II. to pour out water for his Eoyal
stepfather, to wash his hands. Alberic rendered this
service awkwardly — perhaps reluctantly, whereupon
Hugo struck him a blow. The result was, that the
young Count, with the aid of his friends, the young
Eoman nobles, raised an armed force upon the spot,
seized on the Castle of Saint Angelo, drove Hugo out
of Eome, detained his mother a prisoner, and held also
in honourable captivity his brother the Pope, all whose
temporal power he usurped, simply permitting him to
act only in ecclesiastical matters, in which latter even,
it is said, he sometimes unwarrantably interfered.^
Alberic, calling himself Prince and Tribune of the
Eomans, held the government of Eome more than
twenty years. Hugo in vain besieged the city. Sub-
sequently, A.D. 936, he gave his daughter Alda in
marriage to Alberic, but even then he was not admitted
into Eome. John died a prisoner in 936. The wretched
Marozia also died in captivity, having endured the
mortification and disgrace of being repudiated by Hugo,
on the ground that their marriage was irregular, the
' The works of Katherius were published at Verona, in folio, by
Ballerini Brothers, in 1 765.
" Flodoardus, in his Chronicle, anno 933, writes ; " Joannem Fapam
sub custodia detinuit, matrem quoque suam Maroziam clausam servans,
et Komam contra Hugonem Kegem tenens. "
ALLEGED UNWORTHY POPES. 56 1
king being iinmediately afterwards united to Bertha,
widow of Eudolph TI., Kinof of Burgundy, A.D. 938.
In succession to John XL, Leo VII., a Eoman, was
chosen Pope (a.d. 936), and reluctantly entered on his
responsible ofiELce. He is universally regarded as a
zealous, wise, and holy man.- In obedience to his
wishes, Saint Odo, founder and abbot of Cluny, visited
Eome, to reconcile Alberic and King Hugo. Leo
governed the Church three years, six months, and ten
days (A.D. 936-939).
He was succeeded by Stephen IX. (by some called
Stephen VIIL), a Eoman, who reigned three years, four
months, and five days (a.d. 939-942). Next came
Marinus II., a Eoman, who reigned three years, six
months, and thirteen days (a.d. 943-946); and, after
him, Agapetus II., a Eoman, who governed ten years
and three months (a.d. 946-956). These three Pontiffs
were worthy successors of Leo VII. They zealously
laboured for the welfare of the Church in Italy and in
foreign countries, enforced ecclesiastical discipline, and
endeavoured to promote concord among princes. All
the temporal power of the Popes in the City was still
wielded by Alberic, who, apart from this usurpation,
treated the Pontiffs with all honour and deference, and
aided them in the promotion of ecclesiastical discipline.
The money which he coined bore the Pope's effigy along
with his own ; and in public documents the year of the
Pontificate was recited.
Alberic died in 954, and was succeeded, in his
temporal dominion of Eome, by his son Octavian, a
cleric, who, two years later, on the death of Agapetus
II., was elected Pope, as pre-arranged by Alberic and
his powerful friends and party. Octavian was then
only eighteen years of age, according to some ; twenty-
two, according to others.^ He was the first Pope who
changed his name, on being chosen. Of the clergy who
concurred in his election, it is stated that several were
^ Jungmami, " Diasertationes," iv. 72, 73.
2 N
562 THE CHAIR OF FETER.
influenced by the hope that it would be advantageous
to the Church, that the spiritual power should be con-
ferred on him who already firmly held the temporal
dominion ; and consequently they overlooked his ex-
treme youth — a sad mistake, as proved by the sequel !
Octavian assumed the name of John XII., and reigned
seven years and nine months (a.d. 956-964). Having
been canonically elected, he was universally accepted
as Pope, notwithstanding the disedification he gave
throughout his whole reign. We have already seen
how he invited Otho I. to Eome, and crowned him
Emperor, and how, shortly afterwards, he leagued
against that monarch with Berengarius, King of Italy,
thereby entailing defeat and exile on himself.^ That
John XII. was vicious, and in every respect unworthy,
cannot be denied, even though his faults appear to
have been exaggerated by Luitprand and some other
writers of the German party, whose hostility his incon-
sistent treatment of Otho had provoked. His wicked
life, .however, could not affect the Church. He died of
apoplexy on the 14th of May 964.
Benedict v., a Eoman (A.D. 964, 965),nominallyreigned
one year, one month, and twelve days. Driven out of
Eome by the faction of the antipope, " Leo VIIL," and
imprisoned by the Emperor in Hamburg until his death,
he gave general edification by his piety and patience.
John XIII., a Eoman (a.d. 96s-972),sufifered imprison-
ment and exile at the hands of a Eoman faction, and was
reinstated by the Emperor, on whose son, Otho IL, then
aged fourteen, he conferred the Imperial crown. He
reigned six years, eleven months, and five days, and is
described as " a good pope, solicitous for the welfare of
the Church."
Benedict VI., a Eoman (a.d. 972, 973), reigned one
year and three months. He was another victim of
the violence of faction, having been imprisoned by
Crescentius, and by his orders murdered in prison.
^ Vide Bupra, page 223.
ALLEGED DNTVOKTHY POPES. 563
Bonus II., a Eoman (a.d. 973), reigned only three
months, and was entombed at Saint Peter's. He is
described by John Stella as " a man of great modesty
and integrity."
Benedict VII., a Eoman, of the Counts of Tusculum,
reigned nine years and five months (a.d. 975-984). He
was opposed by the antipope " Boniface VII." He is
described as " a most worthy pope and a zealous pro-
moter of ecclesiastical discipline."
John XIV., of Pavia (a.d. 984, 985), reigned eight
months and ten days. He also suffered much from
the opposition of the antipope " Boniface VII.," by whom
he was imprisoned in the Castle of Saint Angelo, where
he died of hunger.
Boniface VII., a Eoman, named Franco (a.d. 985),
heretofore antipope, but now acknowledged Pope,
reigned only seven months and fifteen days. Some
writers question his being a legitimate Pontiff. His
name, however, appears in the calendar of the Popes.
He is charged, moreover, with complicity in the
murders of Benedict VI. and John XIV., of which
charge some modern critics would acquit him.^ At
best, his case is but doubtful.
John XV., a Eoman (a.d. 985-996), reigned ten
years, four months, and twelve days. In his reign,
Crescentius, Patrician and Consul of the Eomans,
usurped the civil government of Eome ; and refused to
admit foreign envoys to approach the Pope, unless they
paid him, as Patrician, sums of money for his admit-
ting them to an audience. To this circumstance, perhaps,
may be attributed Pleury's statement, that John XV.
was fond of gain. As Jungmann observes, " his actions
prove that he was a worthy pope, a learned man, and
solicitous for the rights of the Apostolic See and the
good of the Church." ^
Gregory V. (a.d. 996-999) reigned two years and
^ Jungmann, " DissertationeB," iv. 89-94,
^ Ibid., iv. loi.
564 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
eight months. He was the first German Pope, being
Bruno, nephew of the Emperor Otho III., who caused
him to be elected at twenty-four years of age. He
governed with vigour and upheld the authority of the
Eoman See. For his history further, the reader is
referred to an earlier chapter.^
Sylvester II. (a.d. 999-1003) governed the Church
four years, one month, and nine days. He was Gerbert,
a native of Aquitaine, and was the first French Pope.
He is described as " a man of learning, magnanimous
and worthy," and as " shedding lustre on the Church
during his brief pontificate." ^
Of this series of thirty-one Popes, extending over
one hundred and thirteen years, A.D. 891-1003, the
darkest period of the history of the Church, there
appear to have been only three indisputably liable
to grave censure; viz. Stephen VII., John XII., and
Boniface "VII. Some writers would include Christopher,
which would make the number four. To these may be
added two of later dates ; namely, Benedict IX., a scion
of the noble house of Tusculum, who was elected through
the influence of his powerful family, when a mere
youth,^ and reigned eleven years, a.d. 1033-1044; and
Alexander VI., who reigned eleven years, eleven months,
and eight days, a.d. 1492-1503. Benedict IX. appears
to have been fully as unworthy as his predecessor and
relative, John XII. ; and, as regards Alexander VI., whose
name has long been held up as a scandal and a reproach,
it is only fair to observe that some of his alleged
misdeeds are now proved, in the progress of modern
criticism, to have been fictions, some grossly exagge-
rated, and some doubtful. That, in his earlier years,
Alexander, even though an ecclesiastic, led a dissipated
^ Vide supra, page 224.
^ Jangmanti, "DisBertationes," iv. 107. Vide supra, page 225.
' At eighteen. Some state, at an earlier age. Pagi, " Pontif Rom.
Gesta," ii. 246, He was Theophylaotus, son of the Count of Tusculum,
and a lineal descendant of Alberio I. and Marozia.
ALLEGED UNWOKTHY POPES. 565
life, cannot be denied ; but, that he was guiltless of the
grievous crimes he is said to have committed after his
election as Pope, appears to have been fully established
by reliable writers.^ Indeed the principal fault of his
pontificate seems to have been his toleration of the
excesses of his reputed son, the infamous Caesar Borgia,
and his lavish bestowal of wealth, honours, and terri-
tories on that prince and on the four other reputed
children of his early life. It is recorded that he always
performed his public functions decorously, and that he
had due regard to the interests of religion in the numerous
official documents which he published. He was, more-
over, uniformly charitable and kind to the poor and lowly.
Consequently, he was very popular with the masses,
whilst among the Eoman nobles, whom he held in severe
check, he had many secret enemies and calumniators.
He undeniably was not without good qualities ; but, on
the whole. Catholics must admit that the memory of
this pontiff, although not so black as it is painted, transi-
ently casts a dark shade on the annals of the Papacy.
On a careful and dispassionate examination of aU
extant records of this important chapter in the history
of the Church, it must strike us as being but natural,
that, in the heat of the struggle of parties for the
possession of the Papal throne, and in the midst of
wars, anarchy, and the violence of faction, much should
have been said and written in a strain of exaggeration
or falsehood, which has been disproved by patient and
impartial investigators of modern days.
■■ The memory of Alexander VL has, to a considerable extent, been
vindicated by Koscoe in " The Life and Pontificate of Leo X.," by
B.ohrbacher in his " Histoire TJniverselle de I'Eglise Catholique," by
Capefigue in " L'Eglise pendant les quatre derniers si&cles ; " and,
quite recently, by A. Leonetti, D.S.P., in his " Papa Alessandro VL,
secondo documenti e carteggi del tempo ; " 3 vols. 8vo, Bologna, 1880.
Professor Oreighton, also, in his " History of the Papacy during the
Reformation," just published, fairly exonerates Alexander VL from
much of the graver charges made against him, charges reproduced by
Guicciardini as " rumours ; " and he justly remarks that " a rumour
gains nothing in credibility by repetition ; the question must always
be what is the evidence of it."
566 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Again, we can understand how, by continuous repeti-
tion, several of these statements have, in the course of
time, been established as matters of fact, and accepted
as such even by a number of fair and impartial
people. No inapt illustration thereof is afforded in the
credence once given by some educated Protestants to
the oft recited, but now almost forgotten, story of Pope
Joan.
It is scarcely necessary, in the present day, to dwell
upon this long exploded "fahU of a female Pope," to
use the words of Gibbon, " which, as it is false, deserves
that name." "• The story was, that a disguised female,
Joanna or Joan, was elected Pope, and reigned two
years, five months, and four days, as John VIII., in
immediate succession to Leo IV. Now, Leo IV. died
in 855, and, according to Anastasius the Librarian, who
lived at the time, he was immediately succeeded by
Benedict III., who governed the Church A.D. 855-858.
Neither Anastasius, in his Lives of the Popes, nor any
other writer for two centuries later, makes mention of
Joan.2 " On the writers of the ninth and tenth centuries,
the recent event would have flashed with a double
force," says Gibbon. "Would Photius have spared
such a reproach ? could Liutprand have missed such a
scandal ? " * The fiction first appeared in the chronicle
of Marianus Scotus, A,D. 1086, and was repeated by
Martinus Polonus, A.D. 1278. It is attributed by F.
Pagi to the Waldensian heretics. Not to speak of
Catholic authors, the fable of Pope Joan is conclusively
refuted by a number of learned Protestant writers.*
It is to be noted, however, that, once canonically
elected, each of the few unworthy Popes, above referred
to, was recognized in his oflBcial capacity, as visible head
^ Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," chapter xlix.
== " A most palpable forgery is the passage of Pope Joan, which has
been foisted into some MSS. and editions of the Soman Anastasius,"
says Gibbon. Ibid.
» Ibid.
* Among these may be mentioned Aventinns, "Annales Boionun,"
lib. iv. ; Bayle, " Dictionnaire Historiqne ; " Basnage, " Histoire des
ALLEGED UNWORTHY POPES. 567
of the Church, and communion with him was preserved
unbroken by all nations. For the voice of truth itself
has said : " The Scribes and the Pharisees have sitten
on the chair of Moses. All things therefore whatsoever
they shall say to you, observe and do : but according to
their works do ye not. For they say, and do not." ^
Here we are reminded that the chiefs of religion are
not essentially impeccable, any more than then- humblest
followers ; and that the faults they commit prove
nothing against the worship of which they are the
ministers, or against the doctrine of which they are the
depositaries. Yet there are some persons who would
condemn the Papacy, because there have been a few
Pontiffs whose morals and conduct were not in accord-
ance with their sacred office. But, even though the
number of such Pontiffs were much greater, that circum-
stance could not affect the Church, any more than the
presence of Judas Iscariot could have detracted from the
holiness and authority of the College of the Apostles.
Some few Popes are blamed for worldliness and
ambition ; and some for nepotism ; nearly all of these
being, in other respects, irreprehensible. But, for grave
crimes — a stumbling-block and a scandal to Christendom
— out of two hundred and sixty-three Pontiffs, from
Saint Peter to Leo XIII., as we have seen, only five
or six can, in common justice, be condemned. But
that any such men, no matter how few, should have
been intruded into the Apostolic Chair, and that it was
possible, at any period, for the factions of the Eoman
nobles to exercise such control over the election of
Pontiffs, is deeply to be deplored.
Sv^nements de I'Eglise ; " Blondel, " Eolairoissement de la Question
si une Tenime," etc.; Bochart, "Ouvres," Leyden, 1712 ; Boxhorn,
"Historia Universalis," Leipsic, 1675 ; Courcelles, in his Latin version
of Blondel, Amsterdam, 1657; Gesselius Timann, "Historia Sacra et
Ecclesiastica," Utreclit, 1661 ; Leibnitz, "Flores sparsi in tumulum
Papissas," in Bibliothec. Histor., Gottingen, 1758; and Sohook, "Fabula
Hamelensis," Groningen, 1662.
^ Matthew xxiii. 2, 3.
CHAPTEE XXXVIII.
CABDINALS.
" CaPvDINAL " is derived from the Latin cardo, a hinge,
implying one on whom an establishment or system
depends and turns. The word, in general acceptation,
when used as an adjective, means chief, principal, pre-
eminent, fundamental. Thus, the ancients spoke of
the cardinal virtues — ^justice, prudence, temperance,
and fortitude — these being deemed by them the base
or foundation of all the others ; and, in the reign of the
Emperor Theodosius, the chief officers of the Empire
were called cardinal (that is, principal) governors, etc.
About the year of our Lord loo. Pope Evaristus^
divided the city of Eome into parishes, appointing one
priest to each, to minister to the faithful in the small
church of the parish.^ Forty years later. Pope Hyginus ^
considerably increased the number of priests ; and hence
it gradually came to pass that the chief priest of each
church was called the cardinal priest, presbyter car-
dinalis* At the accession of Pope Sylvester, a.d. 314,
this designation had, for some time, become general.
On any of the cardinal priests being made bishops, in
' Saint Evaristus, a Syrian, governed the Church a.d. 100-109.
^ Parish, parish church, Latin Paroecui, parochia, is by some derived
from the Grerk, Ilapi,, close by, and oTkos, a bouse, that is, a number
of houses contiguous. Others derive it from Hapoxi), a salary, or allow-
ance for maintenance,
' Saint Hyginus, a Greek, governed the Church A.D. 139-142.
* Even outside Rome this was the case. Thus in ancient records,
we read of prHret cardinmix and curis cardinaux, in France, in the
same sense.
CARDINALS. 5 69
the early ages, they dropped their title of cardinal, as
the episcopate was then considered a superior dignity.^
In the course of time, the parishes in the city were
varied and multiplied by successive Pontiffs, according
as the numbers of Christians increased. The church
of each parish, presided over by its cardinal priest, was
called a title, titulus. The titles, or parish churches,
were, not infrequently, erected close by the cemeteries.
During the first three centuries, they were necessarily
small and unpretending buildings ; but, after the acces-
sion of Constantine the Great, they were replaced by
structures, in style and dimensions, more worthy of the
objects for which they were destined.^
Besides the parish churches, or titles, there were
deaconries, Diaconice, first established by Saint Fabian,
Pope, about the year 240. Before this, the deacons had
no fixed place for their ministrations in the city. The
deaconries were public hospitals, where the poor and
widows and orphans were relieved and ministered to.
Chapels or oratories were attached to them. The
deaconries were distributed over the districts or regions
of Eome — one to each. Hence the deacons severally
serving them were called regionarii. As the number
^ For this reason, in some of the early councils, the cardinal priests
subscribed the decrees after the bishops.
^ The first attribution of the term tUvZus to parish churches is
ascribed to Pope Evaristns, A.D. 100. There are three explanations
given of the term. First, because, in the place or plot on which the
church was to be erected, the standard of the Cross, Vescillum Qmcis,
was set up as a sign or title of the object of the intended building.
The usage is still observed in the laying the foundation-stone of a church,
as, the day before the ceremony, a wooden cross is erected on the spot
where the altar is to stand. Secondly, the term is said to refer to the
name of the saint in whose honour the church is to be built. Thus
the Church of Saint Peter is called the Title, or Titulus of Saint Peter.
Thirdly, it is stated to have reference to the name of the individual
who gave the site and bore the expenses of the building and support of
the church. Thus we find the church erected in the house of Pudens
sometimes designated the Titulus of Pudens. In this way, an edifice
may be described under a twofold Titulus, as in the case of Vestina,
who built a church in honour of Saints Gervase and Protase, Martyrs.
Bouvry, " Expositio Eubricarum," vol. i. Appendix, ad Tit.
570 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
of deacons increased, the chief of each deaconry was
called Diaconus Cardinalis — ^the Cardinal, or principal,
deacon. Long after the hospitals had ceased to exist,
the chapels, in many an instance, survived, and gave
titles to members of the Sacred College ; such as the
Cardinal Deacon of Saints Cosmas and Damian, Saint
Adrian, and others.
The dignity and importance of the office of cardinal
gradually increased with the growth of the Church.
For instance, in a council held in Kome, and presided
over by Pope Stephen IV., ^ A.D. 769, it was decreed,
that no person, whether layman or of any other order,
should be promoted to the dignity of the sacred Ponti-
ficate, unless, ascending by distinct grades, he had been
made a cardinal priest or deacon.^
This had actually been the usage, without a single
exception, from the elevation of Saint Gregory II, to
the Papal throne, A.D. 715, to that of Stephen IV. him-
self, A.D. 768 ; and it continued down to the election of
Marinus I., A.D. 882, inclusive — both periods compris-
ing the reigns of twenty-one Pontiffs. Then, the rule
fell into disuse, owing to the anarchy that universally
prevailed; and Adrian III. was elected from outside
the Sacred College, in the year 884 : and from Adrian
to Alexander II., A.D, 1061, both inclusive, there reigned
forty-eight Pontiffs, of whom only six were cardinals be-
fore election. In 1073, Saint Gregory VII. was chosen ;
and from jhis reign to that of Urban VI., A.D. 1378,
both inclusive, there were forty-six Popes, of whom, on
their election, all, save eight, were members of the
Sacred College. However, even at this time, the decree
of Stephen IV. does not appear to have been considered
one of absolute necessity. For, as we shall see further
on in this chapter. Pope Gregory X., in his Constitution
* Stephen IV., a Sicilian, governed the Church A.D. 768-772.
* See BaroniuB, " Annates EccleBiastici," ix. 299, 300, A.D. 769 ;
and Anastasins, "De Vitis Pontificnm Eomanorum.'' pp. 1:16. n7,
Mognntlas, 1602. J > o/>
CAKDINALS. 5/1
ITbi periculum, A.D. 1274, enacted, that "not only
absent cardinals, but also all men of any order or con-
dition can be created Eoman Pontiff." ^
It is in this same year 769, that we find the first
mention of cardinal bishops, when the same Pope
Stephen IV. created seven cardinal bishops, and
decreed that they should, each in his weekly turn,
celebrate Mass, every Sunday, in the Church of the
Saviour (the Lateran), on Saint Peter's altar, and recite
the " Gloria in excelsis Deo." ^
These were the bishops holding the seven suburbi-
carian sees of Kome, and assisting the Sovereign
Pontiff; and they were called Mebdomadarii,^ or weekly
bishops, and Collaterales, or assistants of the Pope.
Those prelates were, the Bishop of Ostia, who was the
first, and whose duty it was to consecrate the Apostolic
Father, above all others ; the Bishop of Saint Eufina,
the second ; the Bishop of Porto, the third ; the Bishop
of Albano, the fourth; the Bishop of Tusculum, the
^ Gregory X. himself was one of those elected from outside the
Sacred College.
^ Anastasius, "De Vitis Pontifienin Eomanorum," p. 139. "Ut
omni Dominico die a septem Episcopis Cardinalibiis hebdomadariis,
qui in Ecclesia Salvatoris observant, Missarum solemnia super altare
beati Petri celebrarentnr, et Gloria in excelsis Deo diceretur." Saint
Peter's altar in the Lateran Church was exclusively reserved for the
Pope and these seven cardinal bishops. "No one," says John the
Deacon, "presumes to offer the Holy Sacrifice on this sacred altar,
besides the Apostolic Lord and the seven cardinal bishops of the same
church, who celebrate Mass in this holy basilica, each in his own week "
("Liber de Ecclesia Lateranensi," cap. 8). Originally the "Gloria in
Excelsis Deo " was recited in the Mass by bishops on all Sundays and
festivals ; but by priests on Easter Sunday only. This rule was con-
firmed by Saint Gregory the Great, about a.d. 595. The distinction is
said to have ceased about the middle of the eleventh century, when
priests, as well as bishops, were allowed to recite it, on all days to which
it is proper. The opening words, " Glory to God in the highest and on
earth peace to men of good will," are those recorded by the Evangelist,
as uttered by the heavenly host on the morning of the Nativity. The
date of the authorship of the remainder is uncertain, but is of a very
remote period. This hymn is called the greater, and the " Glory be to
the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost," etc., the lesser,
doxology. (Erom the Greek S4|a, glory or praise, and "hiyu}, to speak.)
' Hebdomadarii — from the Greek, f^So/i&s, a week.
572 THE CHAIK OF PETER.
fifth ; the Bishop of Sabina, the sixth ; and the Bishop
of Praeneste, the seveuth>
The residence of cardinals in their bishoprics or
parishes was obligatory, by the canon law, from a very
early date. In a synod, composed of sixty-seven
bishops, convened in the Church of Saint Peter, Eome,
by Pope Leo IV., a.d. 853, Anastasius, Cardinal Priest
of the title of Saint Marcellus, was deposed from all
his dignities, and deprived of the priestly honour, on
account of five years' non-residence in his parish, and
dwelling in a foreign country, in contravention of the
canons. Two councils had been assembled to consider
his cause, and, cited to these by the Apostolic letters,
borne by three bishops deputed for the purpose, he
had failed to attend.^ Here we may infer, how great
was the dignity of cardinals in those days, when three
bishops were sent to serve a citation on Anastasius;
and further we see, that the law of residence was then
stringently enforced on the members of the Sacred
College.' Cardinals having dioceses to govern gene-
rally reside in their dioceses, of course frequently going
to Eome, to pay their homage to the Holy Father, and
to take part in the business of the sacred congregations
of which they may be members. Should it be necessary,
however, or desirable, that they should reside in Eome,
they are authorized to do so by decrees of councils,
for valid reasons, dispensing with the residence of
cardinals in their bishoprics. Thus they are enabled
to fill certain important offices in the Eoman Court.
In such cases, their dioceses are administered by coad-
jutor bishops, auxiliary bishops, or vicars general.
Cardinals who have not bishoprics are bound to reside
at the Papal court, unless in very rare cases, when a
special dispensation is granted.
^ At present there are only six cardinal bishops, instead of seven,
as formerly— the See of Santa Rufina having been united to that of
Porto.
^ Anastasius, "De Vitis Pontificum Romanorum," p. 286.
' Pagi, " Pontificum Romanorum Gesta," ii. 54.
CAKDINALS. 573
In the year 882, Pope John VIII.^ drew up a Con-
stitution, respecting the law, or regulation, of cardinals,
in which he commands them to meet, twice a month
or more frequently, at any title (parish church), or
deaeonry, or any church whatever, to consider the lives,
manners, qualities, and style of dress of their own
order, and of the inferior clergy, and likewise the bear-
ing of superiors towards their subjects, and the obedi-
ence of subjects to their superiors ; to cut off all things
unlawful and to remedy all matters complained of by
the clergy and laity, as far as appertains to the Papal
jurisdiction. In this document the Holy Father likens
the cardinals to the seventy ancients in Holy Writ,
and himself to Moses.^ He recommends to their care
the monasteries deprived of abbots, and the filling up
of vacancies, and the making changes, therein ; with
the proviso, that he shall be first consulted. Further,
in order that they may take care of the churches, and
the discipline of the clergy thereof, and see to the
remedying the grievances of the laity, he commands
them to attend, twice a week, at the sacred palace (the
Lateran), conformably with the decrees of his prede-
cessor Leo IV. Finally, he sanctions their enjoying
perpetual benefices in his parishes, as far as is con-
venient to the Pontiff, and 'their officiating daily, in
turn, in the principal churches, near the primatial
church of their consecration, and their participating
equally in the offerings of those churches, both for
their own use, and for the lighting of their respective
churches, saving always the ancient custom of the
cardinal deacons.^
' Pope John VIII., a Roman, governed the Church A.D. 872-882.
' " Quippe cum sicut nostram mansuetndinem Moysi, ita et vestram
fraternitatem aeptuaginta eeniorum, qui sub eodem causarum negotia
dijudicabant, vioissitudinem gerere, certum habeamus." See Exodus
xviiL 13-23, and Numbers xi. 16, 17-
' "Liber canontim inscriptus Constitutio Joannis Papse VIII., de
Cardinalibus, in Bibliotheca Vaticana." Baronius, "Annales Ecclesi-
astici," X. 565. Pagi, "Pontificum Romanorum Gesta," ii. 124.
574 THE CHAIR OF PETEE.
The following interesting account of tlie Sacred
College under Pope Stephen X., in the year 1057, when
Saint Peter Damian had been recently appointed
Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, is taken from an ancient
manuscript, "On the Sacred Eites," in the Vatican
Library : ^ —
There are in the Eoman Church (at Eome) fire Patriarchal
churches.2 xhe first is the Lateran, also called the Chmch of
Constantine, and the Basilica of the Saviour. It has seven car-
dinal bishops, who are called Oollaterales, and also Hebdomadwrii ;
because, each week, in turn they officiate in the place of the Pope.
These cardinal bishops are the bishops of Ostia, Porto, Saint Eufiiia
or Silva Candida, Albano, Sabina, Tusculum, and Praeneste.
Another Patriarchal church is that of Saint Mary Major, to
which are attached seven cardinal priests — those of Saints Philip
and James the Apostles, Saint Cynacus in Thermis, Saint Euse-
bius, Saint Pudentiana, Saint Vitalis, Saints Peter and Marcel-
linns, and Saint Clement.
Another Patriarchal church is that of Saint Peter, in which
are seven cardinal priests — those of Saint Maiy beyond the Tiber,
Saint Chrysogonus, Saint Cecilia, Saint Anastasia, Saint Laurence
in Damaso, Saint Mark and Saints Martin and Sylvester.
Another Patriarchal church is the basilica of Saint Paul, in
which are the Cardinals of Saint Sabina, Saint Prisca, Saint Bal-
bina. Saints Kerens and AchiUeus, Saint Sixtos, Saint MarceUns,
and Saint Susanna.
The fifth Patriarchal church is Saint Laurence outside the
walls, in which are the Cardinals of Saint Praxedes, Saint Peter
ad Yincnla, Saint Laurence in Lucina, Saints John and Paul,
Saints the Four Martyrs (Quatuor coronatorum), Saint Stephen
in Monte Coelio, and Saint Quiritius.
The prefects of these Patriarchal churches are : of the Lateran,
the first collateral bishop ; of Saint Mary Major's, the cardinal
archpriest ; of Saint Peter's, the cardinal archpriest ; of the
Church of Saint Paul, the cardinal abbot ; and of the Church of
Saint Laurence, the cardinal abbot.
Besides the Titles (parish churches) there are the Deaeonries,
presided over by the cardinal deacons, of whom there are twelve
^ Apud Baronium, " Annales Ecclesiastici," xi. 238.
* These five churches are called Fatriardial, in honour of the five
great Patriarchal sees — Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antiocb,
and Jerusalem.
CARDINALS. 575
called Begionarii,'^ and six Palatini.^ These Deaoonries are, Saint
Mary in Dominica, over which presides the archdeacon, Saint
Lucia ad Septem Solia, Saint Mary Nova, Saints Oosmas and
Damian, Saint Adrian, Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Saint Theo-
dore, Saint George, Saint Mary in Schola Grseca, Saint Mary in
Porticu, Saint Nicholas in Carcere, Saint Angelus in Foro Pis-
cario. Saint Eustachius, Saint Mary in Aquiro, Saint Mary in
Via Lata, Saint Agatha in Equo Marmoreo, Saint Lucy in capite
Suburrse, and Saint Vitus in Macello. It is the duty of the
Eegionarii to sing the Gospel at the stations ; ' and of the Pala-
tini to sing it in the Lateran Church.
Here we see that at this period, a.d. 1058, the Sacred
College comprised fifty-three members, viz. seven car^
dinal bishops, twenty-eight cardinal priests, and eighteen
cardinal deacons.
There is a list of the cardinals and their titles in the
reign of John XXIL, A.D. 13 16-1324, in which are
enumerated seven bishops, thirty-one priests, and nine-
teen deacons, making the total number fifty-seven.*
The numbers of each order have, from time to time,
' Regianwrii — so called, as above stated, from the several districts
or regions, into which Home was divided for Ecclesiastical purposes.
From the fifth century, we find mention, in Ecclesiastical history, of
regionary deacons, each of whom had charge of the poor, widows, and
orphans, and of the distribution of alms, in his own district.
^ Palatini — so called from the Latin, palaiium, a palace, as these
cardinal deacons were attached to the Lateran, which was the pal'atial
church, or principal basilica of the Fope.
' Stations. From the early ages, the Pope, at the head of his clergy,
in procession, used to go round to the several basilicas, in turn, and
there recite the office, celebrate Mass, and preach ; and the days for
this particular celebration, in the several churches, were marked
"Stations," in the Roman Missal. These stations, that is, solemn
processions and devotions, in the several churches, so called, are men-
tioned by the author of the Acts of Pope Saint Damasus, A.D. 365-384,
and by Anastasius, in his Life of Saint Hilary, Pope A.D. 461-468.
At the close of the celebration, the archdeacon used to announce where
the station would be held on the following day. The stations in Rome
are said to have been fixed in the several districts by Saint Gregory
the Great. At the Mass, celebrated by the Pope at the Stations, the
Gospel was recited or sung by the regionary deacons. Vide Pan-
vinium, Interpretatio, etc, p. 73, apud Platinam " De Vitis Pontifioum
Romanorum."
* Pagi, "Pontificum Romanorum Gesta," iv. 29a
576 THE CHAIB OF PETEE.
been varied by the decrees of Popes and councils.
They were made, six bishops, fifty priests, and fourteen
deacons, or a total of seventy, by Sixtus V., a.d. 1586;
the same as they stand at the present day.
We have seen, that, in the year 1059, Pope Nicholas
II. placed the election of Pope mainly in the hands of
the cardinals, decreeing, that, on the death of a Pontiff,
the cardinal bishops should, first, most diligently to-
gether consider the election of a successor ; that after-
wards they should call into their councils the cardinal
priests and deacons; that in this way the election
should obtain the assent of the rest of the clergy and
the people; and that the consecration should take
place in the presence of the Imperial envoys.^
This law or constitution of Nicholas 11. was carried
out, in its integrity, in the elections of eleven out of
fifteen Pontiffs, in succession, from his reign down to
that of Alexander III, inclusive, covering a space of
one hundred and twenty years. In the four exceptional
instances, the Cardinals elected the Pope, as in the
others ; but it does not appear that the popular assent
was obtained. In each instance, the omission was the
result of the troubles of the times. The immediate
successor of Nicholas, Pope Alexander II., was, in
consequence of popular tumults, elected hurriedly by
the cardinals, on the suggestion of the Archdeacon
Hildebrand, who succeeded him as Gregory VIL But
even here the Boman nobility were consulted.2 Hilde-
brand himself, as set forth in the decree of his election,
was chosen by the Sacred College, "with the assent
and acclamation of immense crowds of both sexes and
of every rank." » Next came Victor III., " elected by
' Vide gnpra, p. 542.
' A.D, 1061. "Hildebrandos Archidiaconiu, habito consilia cum
Cardinalibua nobilibnsque Somanis, ne disseiiBio incresceret," etc. (Leo
Ostiensis, " Historia," lib. iiL cap. 20).
» A.D. 1073. " CJoiuentientibas plnrimia tnrbis ntrinsqne aexra
diveraiqne ordinis acclamantibus " ("Electionis S. GreKorii Papa VIL
decretnm }.
CARDINALS. 577
the cardinals, clergy, and people." ^ Urban II. was
chosen at Terracina, " in accordance with"the -wishes oi
the clergy and people of Eome."^ Paschal II. -was
elected by " the Fathers (i.e. the cardinals), the clergy,
and the people of the city."* So also was Gelasius
II.* Callixtus II., in his letter to Adalbert, Archbishop
of Mentz, speaks of the general body of the clergy, and
the laity of the Eomans, as having taken part in his
election.^ Honorius II. was chosen by the cardinals,
" with the consent of all the Eoman clergy." ^ Innocent
II., owing to the schism caused by the antipope Peter
Leonis, or Anacletns, was elected by the cardinals
alone.' In the choice of Celestine II., the acclamations
of the Eoman clergy and people were united with the
unanimous vote of the cardinals ; ^ whilst in the ele-
vation of Lucius II.,» Eugenius III.,^" and Anastasius
IV.,-^^ the wishes of the Eoman people appear not to
have been consulted, in the pressing necessity of a
speedy election. In the election of Adrian IV.,i^ and
' A.r). 1086. " Episcopi Cardiuales una cum clero et populo "
(Baronius, "Aniiales Eoclesiastioi," Ix. 579).
^ A.D. 10S8. Baronius, "Annales," ix. 590.
' A.D. 1099. " Ecoe te in Pastorem sibi elegit dari populus Urbis,
te elegit Olerus, te coUaudant Patres denique " (Pandulphus Pifsanus,
"Vita Paschalis PP. II.").
* A.D. 1 118. "Omnium Cardinaliiuu consensu, Cleri et populi voce
ac votjs expetitus " (Pandulphus Pisanus, in Vita).
' A.D. II 19. "Episcopi, Cardinales, et Clerici et laici Romanornm
invitum me penitusque renitentem in Komanae Ecclesiee Pontiflcem
CaUistum unanimiter assumpserunt " ("Epistola Callisti PapaB II. ad
Adalbertum Arcbiepiscopum Moguntinum ").
" A.D. 1 124. "Consensu omnium clericorum Romanorum." Cec-
canus in Chronico.
' A.D. 1 130. Pagi, "Pontificum Romanorum Gesta," ii. 493; and
Baronius, in loco.
' A.D. 1 143. " Clero et populo Romano acclamante partim et
expetente." " Cselestini Papae II. Epistola ad Cluniascenses."
"Onmium consensu oreatur," Platina, 199.
' A.D. 1144. Pagi, iii. 3 ; and Baronius, in loco.
^" A.D. 1 145. Ibid.,, iii. 7; Ibid.
^' A.D. 1153. Ibid., iii. 28 ; "Convenientibus Patribus, sumnia Con-
cordia elegerunt," etc. Otto Erisingensis.
" Adrian IV., an Englishman, was elected, A.D. 1 154, by the cardinals
2 0
578 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
that of Alexander III.,^ the assent and acclamations of
the Eoman clergy and people were joined to the suffrages
of the Sacred College. But the events which signalized
the accession of the latter of these two Pontiffs rendered
absolutely necessary a complete change in the manner
of Papal elections. Alexander III. was chosen Pope
by twenty-three cardinals, on the 5th of September,
1 159. On the same day, five dissentient cardinals^
elected Octavian of Monticello, Cardinal Priest of the
title of Saint Cecilia, who, as antipope, took the name of
" Victor IV." On Octavian's death, in 1 164, the schisip
was continued by Guido, Cardinal Priest of the title of
Saint Eustachius, who called himself " Pascal III.^' ; by
John, Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum, a.d. 1169, as
" Callixtus III." ; and by Lando, A.D. 1 177, as " Innocent
III." After a few months, Lando was compelled to
retire; and thu^ the schism ceased, after an existence
of nineteen years.
Painfully impressed by the grave scandals and
detriment to the Church arising from such a state of
affairs, Alexander III. wisely decided to alter the mle
requiring an unanimous vote of the cardinals, in electing
the Supreme Pontiff. Accordingly, in the year 11 79,
in the Eleventh General Council, the third Lateran, he
decreed, that, in case the cardinals were not unanimous,
the person obtaining the votes of at least two-thirds of
the members of the Sacred College present, should be
considered the Roman Pontiff. This Constitution of
— "the clergy and laity alike hailing him by acclamation" (Ancient
MS. in Vatican Library). For his biography, vide supra, p. 255, note.
^ The biography of Alexander III., elected in 1159, will be found
in another chapter. Vide supra, p. 256, note. According to Baronius,
" Annales," xii. 421, his election was made with the popular assent —
"assentiente clero et populo Romano." In the course of his long
pontificate, he created thirty-four cardinals ; viz. nine cardinal bishops,
sixteen priests, and nine deacons.
^ Onuphiius Fanvinius says that the dissentients, electing Octavian,
the antipope, were five in number. Their names are given by Baronius,
"Annales," xii. 425. On the other hand, Pagi (iii. 41), asserts, that
they were only two, namely, .John, Cardinal Priest of gaipt Martin,
and Guido, Cardinal Priest of Saint Callixtus,
CABDINALS.
579
Alexander III., Licet de evitanda, lias ever since been
a4Qpte4, as_ embodying one of the leading principles of
Papal elections.
A necessary consequence of this law was, that all car-
dinals should have an equal right of voting, thus setting
aside the priority given to cardinal bishops over cardinal
priests $nd deacons, by the decree of Nicholas 11.^
It was further enacted, on the occasion, that elections
to the Poptificate should thenceforward be made by the
cardinals alone ; the assent of the bqdy of the clergy
and people of Eome being altogether dispensed with"^
This rule, ^.s we have seen, was carried out in the
election of Alexander's successor, Lucius III.
The first Conclave, or strict enelosicrre of cardinals,
for the election of a Pope, is said by some writers to
have been on the occasion of the election of Honorius
III., A.D. 1216;^ but this is positively contradicted by
the learned and accurate critic, Panvinius,* in his
annotations on Platina's Life of Gregory X. ; and his
account of the first institution of the Conclave, as
follows, is that which is generally accepted : ^ —
' The distinction was observed, up to this time, as may be seen in
the accounts of several Papal elections, in v?hich the cardinal bishops
are spoken of, separately and first ; e.g. Epiacopi et Cardinales, i. e.
" the cardinal bishops, and the cardinal priests and deacons." Some-
times the cardinal bishops alone are spoken of, as in the election of
Victor III., above alluded to ; Episcopi Cardinales una cum clero et
popylo. This we may well understand, as, under the Constitution of
Pope Nicholas II., the election was invariably initiated by the cardinal
bishops alone, and, doubtless, in most instances, their choice was con-
oirred in by the cardinal priests and deacons, whom they called into
their councils.
2 Panvinius, " Annotat. in Vit. Alexandri PP. III.," apud Platinam,
p. 206.
^ Ciaconius, in Honorio III.
^ Onufrio Fanvini, a learned historian, antiquary, and critic, was
bom at Verona, in 1529. He became aii Augustinian hermit, it ip
said, in order to have abundant leisure for his studies. In 1555, Pope
Marcellus IL gave him an jippointment in the Vatican Library. His
works are numerous, and display much learning and research. He
died in 1568, at the early age of thirty-nine.
^ Panvioios, apud Platinam, " De Vitis Pontificum Eomanorum,''
P- 233'-"
580 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Pope Clement IV. having died at Viterbo, on the
20th of November, 1268, the Holy See remained
vacant for nearly three years, owing to the dissensions
of the cardinals, about electing his successor.^ After
the obsequies of the deceased Pontiff, they assembled
at Viterbo, seventeen in number, and, although they
held frequent meetings, they were unable to arrive at
any definite result. At that time the cardinals were
not, as was soon afterwards the custom, shut up in
conclave, but, early in the morning of each day, they
met to treat of the election of a Pope, if at Eome, in
the Lateran or the basilica of Saint Peter, or elsewhere,
as occasion offered ; or, if not at Rome, in the cathedral
church of that city, in which they then sojourned ; as
in the present instance at Viterbo.^
Meanwhile Philip, King of France, and Charles,
King of Sicily, visited the Roman court at Viterbo,
and urged the Sacred College, in the interests of Chris-
tendom, to make " a speedy and mature election of a
Pontiff." However, those monarchs effected nothing
by their intervention, and had to return to their respec-
tive homes, leaving matters in the same unfinished
state. At length, on the suggestion of Saint Bona-
venture,^ the cardinals agreed to leave the election,
by way of compromise, to six of their own number;
' The vacancy lasted from the 29th of November, 1268, to the IBt of
September, 1 27 1.
^ PanviniiiB, apud Platinam, p. 233. This statement of Panvinius,
made about the year 1560, is questioned by Pagi and other writers, on
the authority of Augustinus Oldoinns, who, in a supplement to Ciacouius,
says, that, on the death of Clement IV., a.d. 1268, the cardinals were
shut up in conclave by Rayneriug Gatto, acting for the Prefect of
Viterbo, and Albertus de Montebono, magistrate of that city ; and
that the cardinals issued a "diploma" from the conclave, cajling on
those two persons to allow Henry, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, who was
very ill, to leave the conclave, which request was complied vrith. The
date of the diploma is given as "the 13th June, 1270, the Apostolic
See being vacant."
' Saint Bonaventure was then General of the Franciscan order.
Shortly afterwards, he was nominated Cardinal Bishop of Albano. by
Gregory X. ' ''
CARDINALS. , 5 8 1
and these fixed their choice on Theobald, Archdeacon
of Liege, of the family of the Visconti of Piacenza, a
holy religious man, outside the Sacred College. This
election took place on the ist of September, 1271.
At the time, Theobald was at Ptolemais in Syria, on
his way to Jerusalem, with the Prince of Wales, after-
wards Edward I., then engaged in the Crusade. Im-
mediately on receiving the decree of his election, from
the legates of the Sacred College, the new Pope returned
to Italy, travelling by Brindisi to Viterbo, and thence
to Eome, where he was consecrated on the 27th of
March, 1272, and entered on his pontificate, assuming
the name of Gregory X.^
All these proceedings impressed Gregory with the
necessity of preventing the recurrence of such delays
and discord in Papal elections; and, accordingly, at
the Fourteenth General Council, the second of Lyons,
which assembled, on his summons, in May, 1274, he
enacted his celebrated code of laws, contained in his
constitution ZTbi periculum, to be observed thencefor-
ward, in all meetings for the election of a Supreme
Pontiff. As given by Panvinius, they contain the few
additions or variations, not very material, made by Boni-
face VIII. and Clement V. They run as follows : ^ —
I. That the meetings for the election of a new Pontiff be held
in a fit place, in which the preceding Pontiff, residing with his
court, and holding audience of causes and of Apostolic letters,^
* Gregory X. governed the Church, A.D. 1272-1276. He presided,
in person, at the Fourteenth General Council.
2 I have seen these laws of Gregory X. given in a varied form, but
practically to the same effect, by a modem writer. But I adopt, in
preference to any other, the version of Panvinius, which, he tells us, he
has taken from the Decretals, Sextwa of Boniface VIII., and dementiiux
of Clement V., with the confirmation of, and some additions by, those
Pontiffs. Vide Panvinium, apud Platinam, "De Vitis Pontificum
Eomanorum," p. 233-235.
* We have seen what large jurisdiction, in civil as well as Ecclesias-
tical causes, was granted to Bishops, by Constantino the Great, supra,
p. 162. This was the origin of the Bishop's court, audientia episcopalis.
The Papal court above referred to, causarum et lUerarum J,poatolicarum
582 THE CHAIE O* PETER.
died. But if he should have died in a conntfy house, village, or
town, and consequentlj the itleetingS caniiot be conveniently-
held there, then that they be held in the cityy within the diocese
of which the said country house, or village, or town, is situated,
unless the said city be interdicted. In which case, the election
ought to be made in the nearest city not interdicted. But if the
audience was in another place, then let the election of the future
Pontiff be held, not where the Pope died, but where the audience
was.
II. That, on the death of the Pontiff, the meetings be not held,
unless after an interval of at least ten days, during which time
the abseiit cardinals should be waited for, and the nine-days'
obsequies of the deceased Pontiff performed by the cardinals
present.
III. That all cardinals, for any reason whatever, absent from
the conclave, can have no right of voting.
IV. That not only absent cardinals, but also all men of any
order and condition, can be created Roman Pontiff.*
V. That, the nine days' obsequies being finished, and the Mass
of the Holy Ghost on the tenth day being celebrated, all the
cardinals who are present (whether those absent arrive, or not)
be shut up, in the palace in whieh dwelt the deceased Pontiff, in
a safe place, enclosed on every side, and guarded in the best
manner, which is called the Conclave, with only two, or, as is
the custom now, three or four servants, who will minister to them
in all things necessary, in the place where the meetings are held.
Nor may it be lawful for any one to enter or go out of the place,
unless on account of infirmity, save these and Certain other men
whose aid is very necessary to those who are in conclave. And
the place of conclave may have no dividing wall, but all the
cardinals shall inhabit it in cotamon, in their cells, divided by
woollen cloths.
VI. That the place and gates of the conclave be most diligently
guarded ; if the election be held at Eome, first, by the praetorians,
then by the Roman nobles and the ambassadors of princes, pre-
viously bound by oath, and finally in the nearer dooiway of the
conclave by the bishops and the conservators of the city ; but if
these meetings be held outside the city, then by the temporal
lords of the place, bound by the same oath of fidelity. The duty
audientia, was of the same nature, but of a far more important and
wider scope, as it embraced all Christendom. The business thereof, in
EccleBlastical affairs, is transacted by certain congregations of cardinalB,
at the present day, as we shall see further on, in this chapter,
1 The election of Urban VI., A.D. 1378, is the last instance of a
person from outside the Sacred College being chosen Pope. Since
then, no one but a Cardinal has been elected to the Papal throne.
CARDINALS. 583
of these is, to guard the conclave, and diligently to take care,
that uothing be iaken into, or sent out from, the conclave, which
might interfere with legitimate voting ; and to examine each
article brought in to them, either for food, or for any other pur-
pose ; and to provide that no detriment be suffered by the car-
dinals ; and to attend to all their wishes, and to urge'them to an
early choice, should they delay the election of a Pontiff. And it
is the duty of the prsetorian soldiers and the Roman nobles to
preserve the conclave safe from all intrusion.
VII. That the cardinals cannot come out o^ the conclave for
any reason, without having created a Roman Pontiff. But should
they come out, the affair being incomplete, they ought to be com-
pelled to enter again, by those who preside over the custody of
the conclave.
VIII. That to cardinals coming, after the entry of the conclave
and before the election of tope, there be power to enter the
conclave and vote with the others ; and no cardinal, on any
occasion or pretext, even though he should be bound by the
chain of excommunication, can be prevented from taking part in
the election.
IX. That after three days' entrance into the conclave, unless
the Pontiff is declared, the Roman nobles and those who preside
over the fcustody of the conclave, shall have strict care of the
meaJs and food brought in to the cardinals, and will allow only
one dish to be taken in.'
X. That, in holding the meetings, it shall, under pain of
anathema, be unlawful for any orie, either to bribe, or to promise
anything, or to solicit, or to secure to himself, by canvassing, the
favour of the cardinals in the new election. And, during the
time, the cardinals shall have no right nor power of attending to
any other business — to the end that the election be expedited.
XI. "That no one can be declared Roman Pontiff, uiiless he
receive the entire votes of two-thiMs of the cardinals present in
the conclave.
XII. That on the death of the Roman Pontiff, all the Ecclesi-
astical magistrates cease to hold tlieir offices, and to receive their
remuneration, excepting the greater Penitentiary, and the minors,
and the Camerlengo {Gamerarius) of the Holy Roman Church,
whose functions continue, even though the Pope be dead.
These laws for the election of a Supreme Pontiff,
published by Gregory X., in the Fourteenth General
Council, A.D. 1274, were suspended by Adrian V.,
1 Such stringent rules as this were mitigated by Clement VI., who
reigned a.d. 1342-1352, Pius IV., 1559-1565, and Gregory XV.,
1621-1623.
584 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
immediately on his election, in 1276. This, he is said
to have done with a view to their modification ; 1 but,
as he died in one month and nine days after he had
been chosen, and was never consecrated, the act was
considered invalid. However, it was duly ratified by
his successor, John XXI., who appears to have con-
curred in his views. This suspension of the law of
conclave, seemingly suggested by attempts on the part
of the people of Viterbo to coerce the cardinals, now
greatly reduced in number, continued for the space of
sixteen years, a.d. i 276-1 292 ; during which time six
Pontiffs were elected by the cardihals, without enclosure
of conclave. These were, John XXI., who reigned
A.D. 1276, 1277; Nicholas III, 1277-1280; Martin
IV., 1281-1285 ; Honorius IV., 1285-1287; Nicholas
IV., 1 288- 1 292 ; and Saint Celestine V., 1292, 1293.
On his accession, in 1292, Saint Celestine V. restored
the law of conclave, which has continued in force ever
since. He also increased the number of cardinals by
twelve, promoting seven French, and five Italian,
ecclesiastics to the purple. The Constitution of Gre-
gory X. was further confirmed by Boniface VIII., in his
book of Decretals, entitled "Sextus,"^ A.D. 1298, and
by Clement V, in the Fifteenth General Council, held
at Vienne, in 131 1, as set forth in the Constitutions of
that Pope, entitled " Clementinse." ^
All previous enactments, however, including the
fundamental Constitutions of Alexander III., and
Gregory X., are comprised in the Bull, JSterni pairis,
of Pope Gregory XV., dated November 15, 162 1.
This important Bull was the result of the labours of a
' Jordanua, a cotemporary writer, in MS. in the Vatican Library,
apud Eaynaldum, num. 26. " Hio statim poet suam creationem Con-
stitutionem Gregorii de restriotione Cardinaliam in electione Papa
suspendit, iutendena earn aliter ordinare, sed morte prseventus non
potuit, neo Saoerdos ordinatus est."
'' " Liber Sextus Decretalium Bonifacii Papae VIIL," lib. i. cap. 6,
tit. 3. For "Decretals," see Index.
" " Clementinae," lib. i. tit. 3.
CARDINALS. 585
commission of cardinals and canonists, appointed by
His Holiness, to consider the entire subject.^ The
following year, he published his Ceremonial, Decet
Momanum Pontificem, arranging all the details of the
conclave.^ These were confirmed, and, in some few
particulars, slightly modified or supplemented, by the
Bull of Urban VIII., Ad JRomani Pontificis, dated 28th
of January, 1626,* and by the Constitution of Clement
XII., Apostolatus officium, dated Sth of October, 1732 ;*
and they constitute the law of Papal Elections, as it
now stands. It is unnecessary here to recite their
provisions, as the greater part of these have already
been given in extracts from the Constitutions of pre-
ceding Pontiffs ; and as, moreover, their substance will
be found, and several of their clauses will be referred
to, in the next chapter, giving an account of a conclave,
and of the election of a Pope, in modern times.
We have next to consider, in detail, the creation,
office, duties, privileges, and dignity of Cardinals, at the
present day.
The College of Cardinals comprises seventy members;
viz. six of the order of bishops, fifty of the order of
priests, and fourteen of the order of deacons.^ The
first order, necessarily, is always kept filled up. It is
composed of the bishops of the six suburbicarian sees
' Cocquelines, " Bullamm Privilegiorum ao Diplomatum Romauorum
Pontificum amplissima Collectio," torn. v. p. 316, et seq. Roma, 1739,
et seq.
" Cocquelines, " Caeremoniale in Electione Summi Romani Pontificis
observandum. "
^ Ibid., torn. V. p. 397. Urbani PP. VIII. Confirmatio et appro-
batio Constitutionis Gregorii XV. de electione Romani Pontificis et
Cseremonialis oontinentis illius ritus.
* Ibid., torn. xiii. p. 302. Clement XII. here names his predecessors
who published Constitutions on the subject ; especially Symmachus,
A.D. 500, " Contra ambientes Pontificatum," Nicholas II. , Alexander
III., Gregory X., Clement V., Clement VI., Julius II., Paul IV.,
Pius IV., Gregory XV., and Urban VIII.
" Although the number of cardinals is restricted to seventy, the
actual number of the hierarchical titles of the Sacred College is seventy-
four ; viz. bishops six, priests fifty-two, and deacons sixteen.
586 THE CHAIR OF PETEE.
of Eome. They are the vicars of the Pope. Other
bishops or archbishops, promoted to the purple, are
cardinal priests ; aiid in this otder there are also several
who have not attained episcopal rank. The third order
— ^that of deacons — ^is altogether composed of ecclesi-
astics below the rank of bishops."- In these two orders,
there are always a few hats left vacant, for occasions of
promotion that may arise.
Of the cardinal bishops, the first is the Bishop of
Ostia and Velletri.^ He is the Dean of the Sacred
College. From the early ages, the Pope has always
been consecrated by the Bishop of Ostia, assisted by the
Bishops of Porto and Albano ; and, should the Bishop
of Ostia himself be the person chosen Pope, or should
he, through illness or any other unavoidable cause, be
absent, or should the See of Ostia be vacant, then the
Archpriest of Ostia assists the other bishops in the
consecration.^
The next of the cardinal bishops is the Bishop of
Porto and Santa Eufina,* who is Sub-Dean of the
Sacred College and Vice Chancellor of the Holy Roman
Church. The third is the Bishop of Albano ; the fourth,
the Bishop of Palestrina (anciently Prseneste) ; the
fifth, the Bishop of Frascati (anciently Tusculum) ; and
the sixth, the Bishop of Sabina.
The cardinal priests take their titles from the titular
churches of Eome. Each is superior of his own titular
church, with jurisdiction and the right of a throne
therein. Similar privileges are enjoyed by cardinal
deacons, who take their titles from churches which
were formerly deaconries.
' The late Cardinal Antonelli, so long Secretary of State to Pius IX.,
waa not even a priest, having received only deacon's orders.
" The See of Velletri was united to that of Ostia, by Pope EugeniuS
III., in 1 1 50.
^ A case in point is that of Ubaldo, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia and
Velletri, consecrated Pope, aa Lucius III., A.D. uSi, by the Cardinal
Bishop of Porto, the Archpriest of Ostia, among others, assisting.
■* Formerly two separate sees.
CARDINALS. 587
The caMinals aire the council and senate of the Pope ;
as they have been for many centuries. Jttsi one ihott-
sand years ago, Pope John: VIII.^ published a Gonsti-
ttition, in -which he laid down a coul-se of duties for his
cardinals, authorizing theni to represent hinii, a;iid, in
certain matters which he sets forth, to act in his behalf
— all subject to his confirmation, " inasmuch as," he says,
" that we may be assured that as our clemency bears
the part of Moses, so may your fraternity bear that of
the seventy elders who adjudicated on causes under
him." 2
As it was in the reign of this Pontiff of ten benturifes
ago, so is it in otir day. What an augiist council
assembles around the Holy Pather — learned, pious,
venerable men, far advanced in the vale of years, with-
out fainily ties or worldly aspirations,— aS it were,
standing apart frOm all others, raised above their fellow-
men, — educated by a severe discipline, from their
earliest youth, in the traditions of the Apostle^, the
doctrineis and maxitns of the Gospel of Christ, — and
chosen bjr the Supreme Pontiff for their transcendent
talents, virtues, and holiness ! What earthly monarch
is Surrounded by such a court ? To form a just estimate
of the composition of the Sacred College, we have only
to regard the lives, gifts, and characters, of two of those
princes of the Church now residing amongst uS — men
of whom British subjects of every creed may well be
proud. And it is indeed a striking advantage possessed
by the Catholic Church and her Chief Pastor, that when,
within her pale, in any part of the world, a Manning
or a Newman should be raised up by God, to shed the
light of learning and holiness around him, far and near,
he may be summoned by the Holy Father to his sidd,
to become his trusty councillor and assistant, with a seat
in the most majestic and most venerable senate the
world has ever known.
1 John VIII. governed the Church, A.D. 872-882.
' Vide supra, p. 573.
588 THE CHAIR OF PETEB.
Pope Sixtus v./ in his Constitution PostqvMm varias
declares, that " the cardinals of the most holy Eoman
Church, representing the persons of the holy Apostles,
while they ministered to Christ our Saviour, when He
preached the Kingdom of God, and wrought the mystery
of human salvation, stand forth, the councillors and
coadjutors of the Eoman Pontiff, in the fulfilment of
the Sacerdotal Office, and the government of the
Catholic Church over which he presides;" and Saint
Bernard, in his celebrated address to Eugenius HI.,
says, " Let us come now to thy collaterals and coad-
jutors (the cardinals). These are to thee assiduously
devoted — thy intimates. It is thiae^ after the example
of Moses, to call and summon to thyself, from every
side, elders, not youths ; but elders not so much in age
as in moral qualities, whom thou hast known, because
they are the elders of the people. Are not those who
are to judge the world to be chosen from the whole
world? "2
It is indeed a mistake, to suppose that the life of a
cardinal is a life of dignified leisure — that, once he is
promoted to the purple, he has little else to do than to
enjoy his otiwm, cum dignitate. To know that the con-
trary is the case, one has only to bear in mind that the
Holy See is charged with "the solicitude of all the
Churches " — the supreme spiritual direction of Catholic
Christians in all parts of the globe. Superficial ob-
servers, before the late revolution, were but too apt to
regard the Papal court, as chiefly occupied with adminis-
tering the temporal affairs of a third or fourth-rate
power; the maintaining the state and ceremonial that
surround the Sovereign Pontiff; the giving audiences
to bishops, and other distinguished persons coming
from foreign countries ; the appointing bishops to
vacant sees ; and the carrying out the grand religious
functions, on certain great festivals. Now that the
1 Sixtua V. governed the Church, A.D. 1585-1590.
' "De Consideratione," lib. iv. cap. 4. Written A.D. 1 145.
CARDINALS. 589
Holy Father has been despoiled of the last shred of
his temporal dominions, they conceive, that the cere-
inonial, audiences, and appointment of bishops, alone
remain. Perhaps the best mode of dissipating such
erroneous ideas may be, to enumerate the several
Sacred Congregations of the Eoman Curia, which are
composed of cardinals, and of which the labours, in
most instances, are not confined to Eome, but embrace
the whole Catholic world.
These are : —
The Eoman and Universal Inquisition, or Holt
Office : for the examination and repression of heretical
doctrines, for matrimonial causes, and for other impor-
tant matters — Prefect, His Holiness the Pope. This
congregation comprises twelve cardinals, including the
Secretary ; and it has a number of archbishops, bishops,
monsignori, and members of religious orders, as Con-
suitors ; and several officials.^
' The Inquisition. In the year 1204, Pope Innocent IIL established
the tribunal of the Inquisition, to seek oiit and examine heretics, and,
if they continued obstinate in their errors, to hand them over for punish-
ment to the civil power. This measure was mainly intended to meet
and repress the excesses of the Albigenses, so called from the town of
Albi in Languedoc, in which town and province they existed in great
numbers, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Their doctrines
were levelled against religion and social order. They taught, that
marriage was a crime, that all external OathoMc worship was an abuse
which should be destroyed, and that the pastor-s of the Church were
ravening wolves which should be exterminated. Their acts; the result
of these principles, as described by Peter the Venerable, in his letter
to the Bishops of Embrun, Die, and Gap, in 1 147, comprised the pro-
fanation of churches, the overturning of altars, the scourging of priests,
and other similar outrages. These were evils which required to be
dealt with by strong measures. The Albigenses were condemned by
the Council of Albi in 1176, and by other provincial councils; and
they were excommunicated by Pope Alexander III., in the Eleventh
General Council, the third Lateran, in H79. The Inquisition was
confided to the Dominican Order by Pope Gregory IX., in 1233 : and,
about twelve years later. Innocent IV. extended it to all Italy, except
the Kingdom of Naples. In 1255, it was established in France, with
the consent of Saint Louis, by Alexander IV. Spain was altogether
subjected to it, in 1484, under the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella ;
and Portugal adopted it, under King John III., in iS37i according to
the form received from Spain. When the Spaniards made a settle-
590 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
CoNSiSTOBUl Affaies : fof the preparation of matter
for the Papi^il consistpfies ^—Prefect, His Holiness the
Pope. This ,congreg3,tion numbers six cardinals, with
^ monsignore as Secretary,
Apostolic Visitation : for the visitation of the
churches in 'Rome— Prefect, His Holiness the Pope.
This congregation numbers four jcardinals, including
the President, and has &^. arcjibishop as Secretary, and
several Consultors, and officials. It represents the
Pope, in discharging his duty, as a bishop visiting his
d|ocese.
PiSHOPS AND ;^EQ0LAi!S : ^ fpr the judging of appeals
fpom the decisions of bishops ; for the Ji^ariiig of causes
between bishops and regp-lar^ j and for ]the revision and
ment in America, they carried the Inquisition there with them ; and
the Portuguese introduced it into the East Indies. By these details,
observes the A^b^ Bergier, as well as by ptfier historical facts, it is
clear that the Tribunal was established in no kjngdoioi of Christendom
but with the consent, and often at tiie request, of tiie sovereign. In
1 545, Pope Paul III. formed the Congregation of the Inquisition under
the name of the Holy Office; and Sixtus V. confirmed it in 1588. The
cruelties perpetrated under the Inquisition in the Middle Ages, in
Spain, are deeply to be lamented. Here, under Ferdinand and Isabella,
and in accordance with their policy, it became mainly a political institu-
tion ; and several Pontiffs, from time to time, interposed to mitigate its
severities — -notably Sixtus IV., Leo X., and Innocent X. In any
case, its objects and its faults, its use and its abuse, must be viewed
in the light of former times. Happily, in modem days, the action of
the Inquisition or Holy Office is very different indeed from what it
was in those troubled times, when heretical sects, emboldened by their
numbers, gave vent to their feelings, in acts of violence against person
and property, not alone injurious to religion, but subversive of the
peace and order of civil society. It is right to observe that Llorente,
the historian of the Spanish Inquisition, is by no means regarded as a
reliable authority. Bom in Old Castile in 1756, he was appointed
secretary general of the tribunal in' 1789, which post he held three
years. He became a devoted adherent of Joseph Napoleon, King of
Spain, who, on suppressing the "Holy Office" in 1809, placed all its
papers at his disposal, and commanded him to write its history, which
was published in Paris in 1817, in 4 vo1b.-8vo. Llorente died inTVIadrid,
in 1825.
• Consistories. See Index.
^ Kegulars. The members of religious orders, "living by rule," are
Bp called, from the Latip, regula, a ruje. The pr^inary parochia)
clergy are called secular.
CARDINALS. 59 1
approval of the rules of religious orders and congrega-
tions. This congregation comprises thirty-two cardi-
nals, including the Prefect. It has a bishop as Secretary,
and a number of bishops, monsignori, and members of
religious orders, as Consultors, and several officials.
The Council : for the interpretaticm and carrying
out of the decrees of councils; and for receiving and
considering the reports which bishops are required to
render of their dioceses. The Prefect is a cardipal,
besides whom there are twenty-eight other cardinals
in the pongregatiop. 4-ttached to i%, is a cominittee of
prel9.tes, for consultation, and for receiviug and examin-
ing the reports of bishops on the state of their dioceses.^
There is also a Special Congregation, foif: the Bevision
OF Provincial Councils. It numbers six cardinals,
including the Prefect — all members of the S9,cred con-
greg9.tion of the Council. Attached to it, are several
Cpnsuljtors, chiefly members of religious orders. Its
Secretary is an archbishop.
Eesidence of Bishops : for enforcing the canons,
obliging bishops to reside in their dioceses — Prefect, a
cardinal, with an archbishop as Secretary.
On the State of the Eegulars : for insuring the
observance of their rules aijd constitutions by religious
orders and congregations. This congregation comprises
two cardinals, with a bishop as Secretary.
^ By a very ancient Is^w of the Church, all bishops are bound to
present themselves, from time to time, before the Sovereign Pontiff ;
1st, to venerate the Tomb of the Apostles ; zndly, to render homage to
the Successor of Saint Peter ; 3rdly, to lay before him, in writing, a
full and minute account of their dioceses. The Constitutions of
Benedict XIV. enact, that this visit should be made by the Italian
bishops once in three years, by those of Spain, Germany, Great Britain,
and the North of Europe, once every four years, of Ireland, and more
distant parts of Europe, once every five years, and of more remote
countries once every ten years. As regards Ireland, " on account of
her povefty," the period was extended to ten years, in the indult of
l63J, by Urban VIII. ; but, the cause no longer existing, it was re-
duced to five years by Pius IX. in his decree of 1st September, 1876.
We have seen how firmly Gregory VII. insisted on the fulfilment of
this duty by British bishops eight centuries ago.
592 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Ecclesiastical Immunity: for the regulation and
maintenance of Ecclesiastical privileges, immunities, and
exemptions, as regards persons and places. This con-
gregation numbers eight cardinals, including its Prefect,
with an archbishop as Secretary. It also has four pre-
lates, Consultors, It is provisionally united to the
congregation of the COUNCIL, by command of His
Holiness.
De Propaganda Fide : for the propagation of the
faith, and the government of the Church, in missionary
countries. This congregation comprises thirty-one car-
dinals, including its Prefect, with an archbishop as
Secretary. It has a number of archbishops, bishops,
monsignori, and members of religious orders, as Con-
sultors, and several oflScials.
There is also a congregation De Propaganda Fide,
for the Affairs of the Oriental rite. It consists of
its Prefect, and seventeen other cardinals, all members
of the preceding congregation. It has a monsignore as
Secretary, and several archbishops and bishops, chiefly
Orientals, and members of religious orders, as Consultors,
and several officials.^
Attached to the latter congregation, is a Commission,
consisting of three cardinals (taken from the eighteen
above named) for the revision and correction of books of
the Oriental church.
The Index : for the condemnation of books contrary
to faith and morals. It comprises twenty-five cardinals,
including its Prefect ; and it has a member of the Order
of Preachers as Perpetual Assistant, and another as
Secretary. This congregation has a large number of
archbishops, bishops, monsignori, and members of
religious orders, as Consultors.
Sacred Eites : for the regulation of all matters, and
the decision of all questions, concerning the Liturgy,
rites, and ceremonies ; and for the conduct of the pro-
^ For an account of the College of Propaganda, see Index, "Propa-
ganda."
CARDINALS. 593
cesses of the beatificfition and canonization of Saints.
This congregation is composed of thirty-six cardinals,
including the Prefect; and it has several official pre-
lates, including the Bishop of Porfirio, Sacristan to His
Holiness, a Protonotary Apostolic,^ the Dean and two
Auditors of the Eota,* and the Master of the Apostolic
Palace. The Monsignori Masters of the Pontifical
Ceremonies have place in this congregation. It also
comprises several Prelates, and members of religious
orders, as Consultors.
Ceremonial: for all matters of ceremonial, and
questions of precedence — Prefect, the Cardinal Dean of
the Sacred College, besides whom there are eighteen
other cardinals, and two monsignori as Secretaries. The
Monsignori Masters of the Pontifical Ceremonies are
Consultors of this congregation.
Discipline of Eegulaes : for maintaining the obser-
vance of their rules and constitutions by religious orders
and congregations in Italy. It comprises ten cardinals,
including its Prefect ; and it has a bishop as Secretary,
and two Consultors, who are members of religious orders.
Indulgences and Sacred Eelics: for all matters
' Protonotary : from the Greek irpuTos, first, and the Latin, notarius,
a notary. The College of Protonotaries Apostolic consists of its Dean
and four other domestic prelates of His Holiness. It also has a large
number of Supernumerary Protonotaries, all monsignori. Its duties
are to keep oflBcial records of Pontifical Acts, of the beatification and
canonization of Saints, and of other solemn affairs.
2 Auditors of the Rota. The Rota is the highest tribunal of the
Papal Government. It exercises an appellate jurisdiction. Latterly,
its business is much diminished, first, in consequence of the revolution
of 1870, and next, because spiritual causes of foreign countries are novf
usually heard and settled on the spot by Apostolic Delegates. The
Bota, when complete, is composed of twelve auditors or judges, includ-
ing its Dean — all domestic prelates of His Holiness. Of these, eight
are Italians, two are Spaniards, one is an Austrian, and one a Ifrench-
man. The tribunal was originally so called from the Latin, rota, a
wheel, probably because the members sat in a circle. The Segnatura
Papale di Giustizia, which has a cardinal as Prefect, seven Voting
Prelates, and a large number of Referendary Prelates, deals with suits
of nullity of marriage, and other causes, which may or may not come
before the Rota.
2 P
594
THE CHAIR OF PETER.
appertaining thereto. This congrecfation comprises
thirty-one cardinals, including its Prefect; and has
several officials, with a number of Prelates, and members
of religious orders, as Consultors.
Examination of Bishops: for the examination of
priests named for the Episcopate. This congregation,
consists of two divisions. The first, for the examina-
tion in Sacred Theology, numbers two cardinals, an
archbishop, and a Dominican, Master of the Apostolic
Palace ; and the second, for examination in the Sacred
Canons, is composed of two cardinals, and Monsignore
the Auditor of His Holiness.
The Venerable Fabric of Saint Peter's : for the
administration, repairs, and preservation of this un-
rivalled structure. The Prefect is the Cardinal Arch-
priest of the Basilica, who is assisted by seven other
cardinals, a monsignore, as Secretary, and several
officials. To this congregation are also entrusted the
care of pious bequests, and other similar objects.
Lauketana: for the care of the holy sanctuary
of Loreto — with a cardinal as Prefect, and eight other
cardinals, and officials.
Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs : for the pro-
tection and advocacy of Catholic rights in diplomatic
and international questions. This congregation com-
prises twenty cardinals, including its Prefect. It has
a monsignore as Secretary, several archbishops, bishops,
and members of religious orders, as Consultors, and
several officials.
Studies: for Education in Eome and the Papal
States. This congregation numbers twenty-three cardi-
nals, including its Prefect, with a monsignore as Secretary,
Consultors, and officials. In connection with this con-
gregation is a Commission of Cardinals, five in number,
with several Consultors, for Historical Studies.
Each cardinal is a member of several of these con-
gregations— some more, some less. For instance. Car-
dinal Sacconi, Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, and Dean of
CAHDINALS. S9S
the Sacred College, is Prefect of the congregation of
Ceremonial, and a member of eight other congregations :
besides which, he is Protector of several colleges, semi-
naries, religious communities, and other institutions, of
any of which he may at any time be called on to
advocate the interests with the Holy See. The more
recently appointed cardinals, especially those who can-
not permanently reside in Eome, have not so many
weighty cares at the Eoman Court as this venerable
cardinal bishop. Nevertheless each of them, on his
elevation, has been named by His Holiness a member
of several congregations.
The following are the English-speaking members of
the Sacred College : Cardinal Manning, Archbishop of
"Westminster, created and published by Pius IX., on
the 15th of March, 1875, Cardinal Priest of the Title
of Saints Andrew and Gregory on the Ccelian Hill;
Cardinal Howard, created and published by Pius IX.,
on the 1 2th of March, 1877, Cardinal Priest of the
Title of Saints John and Paul, now Cardinal Bishop
of Prascati; Cardinal ITewman, created and published
by His present Holiness, on the 12th of May, 1879,
Cardinal Deacon of Saint George in Velabro ; and the
following three Cardinals, also created and published
by Leo XIII., Cardinal Moran, Archbishop of Sydney,
Cardinal Priest of the Title of Santa Susanna, on the
27th of July, 1885 ; Cardinal Taschereau, Archbishop
of Quebec, Cardinal Priest of the Title of Santa Maria
deUa Vittoria; and Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of
Baltimore, Cardinal Priest of the Title of Santa Maria
in Transtevere; the last two on the 7th of June, 1886.
Here, as in the chapter on the Hierarchy, we have
evidence of the deep interest felt by the Holy Pather
in those important English-speaking provinces of the
Church. Hence, as weU as from the indisputable fact
that nowhere is Catholicism more free and flourish-
ing than in the wide dominions under the rule of
Queen Victoria, there is good reason to hope that the
5g6 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
present cordial relations, as emphasized on the occasion
of Her Majesty's Jubilee, will long continue to subsist
between the British Empire and the Holy See.
Besides the Sacred Congregations, there are several
important offices, each of which is generally presided
over by a cardinal. These are : —
The Apostolic Chancery:^ This court carefully
examines, minutes, seals, and registers Bulls,^ pro-
visions of great benefices, and other similar documents
of importance. It is presided over by a cardinal, who
is Vice-Chanoellor and Compiler (Somrmsta). Under
him are several officials, such as a Regent, who is
a prelate, a Sub-Gompiler, a Depositary General of the
leaden seal, a Sealer {Piombatore),a Notary-Secretary, and
^ The Chancery is bo called from the Latin, canceUi, lattices or rails,
behind which the judge sat, and which divided him from suitors, in
ancient times.
2 A Papal Bull is so called from the Latin, luUa, the boss or seal
attached to it. It is written on parchment and sealed with lead, and
issued, by orders of the Pope, from the Apostolic Chancery. One side
of the leaden seal is impressed with the heads of the Apostles, Saints
Peter and Paul ; and the other with the name of the Pope and the
year of his pontificate. Bulls are issued for the celebration of jubilees,
and concerning doctrine, and, in such cases, are addressed to the
TTniversal Church. Bulls are also issued for the consecration of
Bishops, and such other solemn objects. They are generally desig-
nated from the first word or few words — for example, the famous Bull
Unigmilua, issued by Pope Clement XI., in September 1713, com-
mencing with the words, " UnigeniVuts Dei Films." This Bull condemns
one hundred and one propositions extracted from the book of P4re
Quesnel, entitled " Le Nouveau Testament avec des reflexions morales,"
etc. Doctrinal decisions, such as those contained in this Bull, are
binding on all Catholics, being pronounced by the Pope, ex Oathedrd,
as Head and Teacher of the TTniversal Church, and they have the
same weight as if they emanated from a General Council. This subject
has been fully treated, in the chapter on Papal Infallibility. Bulls
concerning doctrine are sometimes called Constitutions.
A Brief, from the Latin brevit, is, as the word indicates, a more
concise document than a Bull, and is a letter addressed by His Holiness,
to princes, bishops, magistrates, communities, or even a private indivi-
dual, about any important affair. It is written on paper or fine parch-
ment, and sealed with red wax, with the impress of the Fisherman,
or Saint Peter in a boat. It is signed by the Secretary of Briefs, or
the Cardinal Penitentiary. Briefs terminate thus — " Given at Kome,
under the Pisherman's ring," etc.
CARDINALS. 597
others. There is also attached a College of Prelates,
called Abbreviators of the Parco Maggiore, four in
number, including their dean, with several super-
numerary prelates, and their substitutes. The duty of
the Abbreviatori is to minute the Bulls, and to decide
questions or controversies that' may arise about them.^
The Apostolic Penitentiary: presided over by a
cardinal, who is called the Major Penitentiary. Under
him are several officials, chiefly prelates. These are a
Regent, who is an Auditor of the Eota, a Theologian, a
Batary, a Corrector, a Sealer, a Canonist, secretaries,
writers, and others. The Major Penitentiary gives dis-
pensations, and absolutions in reserved cases, where the
dispositions or repentance are such as deserve them ;
and, in various other ways, he exercises the power of
binding and loosing. For this purpose, he sits in the
basilicas of Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter, and Saint
Mary Major, on certain days. All the officials of this
court are sworn to secrecy ; and no money can be received
in it, even for stationery, under the pain of simony.
The Apostolic Dataeia : presided over by a cardinal,
who is Pro-Batary. Under him, are the Suh-Batary, who
is a Prelate, and a large number of officials. This court
is charged with the expediting of Bulls and Briefs, the
registration of the collation of benefices, and other im-
portant matters. The Dataria is so called from the Latin
word, datum, " given," used in dating Bulls and Briefs :
viz. Battim api^ S. Petrum ; " Given at Saint Peter's." ^
The Venerable Apostolic Chamber (Beverenda
Camera Apostolica) : presided over by a Cardinal, who
is the Camerlengo, or Chamberlain, of the Holy Eoman
^ They are called Abbreviatori, because they take short minutes of
Bulls and other Papal documents, which afterwards they draw up in
a more extended form. They are further styled of the Paroo Maggiore,
from the place, Parco, in which they meet. Subordinate to thera are
the prelates of the lesser Parco, who transmit and deliver Bulla to
them.
2 Hence the word date in English, and similar terms, in the same
sense, in several other European languages.
598 THE CHAIR OF PETEE.
Church. Under His Eminence are a Vice-Camerlengo,
an Auditor-General, and a Treasurer-General There
are several Prelates Clerics of the Chamber, and officials.
This department administers the Papal Finance.
When the Holy See becomes vacant, the Cardinal
Camerlengo occupies the Papal palace, and assumes
supreme authority in the government, until the Conclave
is assembled. Formerly, during the interregnum, he had
the power of coining money, with his own armorial
bearings, and a symbol of the Holy See being vacant.
Besides these, there are the Secretariates of the
Palace {Segreterie Palatine). The Secretary of State is
Cardinal Eampolla, with a prelate as Substitide and
Secretary of the Cipher, and several officials. The
Secretary of Briefs is also a cardinal, as is the Secretary
of Memorials ; each being assisted by several officials.
The Secretariates of Briefs to princes, of Latin Letters,
of the Almcmry, and of the Auditor's office of His
Holiness, are filled by prelates.
The Grand Consistory is an assembly of all the
cardinals, convoked by the Holy Pather, who presides
on his throne, arrayed in Pontifical robes, and attended
by prelates, the Protonotaries Apostolic, the Auditors
, of the Eota, and other high officials. The members of
the diplomatic body accredited to the Holy See are also
present. In this assembly, princes and ambassadors
are received, and other important affairs of public
ceremonial are transacted.
There is also the Secret Consistory, which meets
frequently, and is composed exclusively of the cardinals,
presided over by the Pope. Here, the work prepared
in the Consistorial and other congregations, is ratified —
the cardinals giving their votes or opinions, sententice,
on the several matters submitted to them.
It is in Consistory that the Holy Pather names new
cardinals, closes and opens the mouths of cardinals
recently created, and appoints bishops and abbots to
vacant sees and abbacies, throughout the world.
CARDINALS. 599
The Conclave, or enclosed and guarded meeting of
the cardinals, to elect a Pope, has already been spoken
of, and will be further described in the next chapter.
The Pope alone creates cardinals. In doing so, he
first announces to the assembled members of the Sacred
College, in secret consistory, the names of those whom
he purposes to elevate to that high dignity ; so that, in
a certain sense, they are created with the approval of
their future colleagues.
A cardinal may be created by the Pope, six months,
or even a much longer time, before being published or
proclaimed. He is, in this case, said to be " reserved
in petto ; " that is, in the breast of the Holy Father.
When proclaimed, he takes precedence according to
the date of his creation.
The Catholic powers, conformably with ancient usage,
are allowed to recommend to the Pope a few prelates
for the cardinalate.
When a cardinal is named, if he should be in Eome,
he receives the Berretta (a red silken cap) from the hands
of the Pope, at the Vatican ; and, in the next consistory,
the Holy Father places the cardinal's hat on his head.
Should he be in a foreign country, the Pope sends him
the berretta, by a monsignore and a chamberlain of
honour. The berretta was first given to cardinals by
Pope Paul II., in 1460. The red hat, however, must
be received from the hands of the Holy Father himself ;
so that the newly created cardinal, if in a foreign
country, loses no time in repairing to the Vatican, for
this purpose, as well as to render thanks and homage to
His Holiness.
The red hat was first conferred on cardinals by
Innocent IV., at the Thirteenth General Council, the
first of Lyons, a.d. 1245, as a mark of their obligation
to shed their blood, if necessary, in the cause of God
and His Church. The colour of their robes, which is
either red, or dried rose, or purple, according to the
season or occasion, is ascribed to the same origin. Car-
6oO THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
dinals of the religious orders wear their robes of the
colour of their orders respectively, with a red lining ;
but the berretta and red hat are common to all.
Ciaconius states, that purple garments were first assigned
to cardinals by Boniface VIII., A.D. 1^94-1 303. This
must apply to cardinals generally ; for, unquestionably,
Cardinal Legates a latere, or ambassadors of the Pope,
wore purple long before that period. Thus, in the
year 12 13, when Pelagius, Cardinal Bishop of Albano,
was sent as legate to the Emperor at Constantinople by
Innocent III., according to a cotemporary historian,^
even his shoes were red, and his bridle and saddle-cloth
were of the same colour. Again in 1227, on the acces-
sion of Gregory IX., the author of that Pontiff's Life,
describing his coronation, mentions " the purpled train
of venerable cardinals, clergy, and prelates."^ Then,
according to Matthew of Westminster, in the year
1 265, when Clement IV. sent Cardinal Ottoboni, of the
title of Saint Adrian, as his legate, to Henry III.
of England, the cardinal, "robed in red," presided at
the council which he convoked in Westminster Abbey,
and there caused the Apostolic mandate to be published,
and pronounced sentence against the King's enemies." '
When a cardinal is created, his mouth is closed, in
secret consistory, by the Pope, and, in a subsequent
consistory, it is opened by His Holiness. The meaning
of this ceremony is, that, in the interval, the new
cardinal has no power of voting in consistory or in
conclave — this power being conferred only by the open-
ing of his mouth by the Pope. The Pope also places the
cardinal's ring on his finger, and assigns him his title
from one of the titular churches of the city.
All this, it will be seen, is conformable with the
legislation of four hundred and fifty years ago. On the
' GeorgiuB Logotheta.
^ Apud Pagi, iii. 215. " Purpuratam venerabilinm Cardinalium, etc.,
comitivam."
' Ibid. iii. 319. "Qui cum rubeis in Angliam veniens indumentis,''
etc.
CARDINALS. 6o I
2Sth of October, 1432, Pope Eugenius IV. published a
decree, "that cardinals named in a secret consistory
ought not to be considered such, until they shall have
received the insignia (marks and tokens) thereof ; that
is to say, the red hat, the assignation of a title, and the
ring put on the finger ; nor, even' having received these,
and having been named cardinals in a public consistory,
can they have an active voice in the election of a
Eoman Pontiff or in any other act whatever, until,
having been thoroughly instructed in those things which
it is usual to treat of and observe in consistory, they
receive leave from, and their mouths are opened by, the
Eoman Pontiff, with the consent and advice of the
older cardinals."
Therefore, should there be a newly created cardinal
whose mouth had not been opened, before the death of
the Pope, that cardinal would have only a passive voice in
the conclave. He might be elected ; but could not elect.
Formerly cardinals were always addressed by Catholic
sovereigns as " Cousin ; " and in France they took pre-
cedence of the princes of the blood royal. But this
was changed by the edict of 1566, which gave the first
place to the latter.
In courts holding diplomatic relations with the Holy
See, the Papal nuncio has always taken precedence of
all other ambassadors, not as a cardinal, however, but
as representative of the Pope.i
The members of the Sacred College rank above
patriarchs, primates, archbishops, and bishops, by their
sole dignity of cardinal. On the loth of January, 1630,
Urban VIII. gave them the title of " Eminence." Before,
that, they were styled " Most Illustrious," illusirissimi.
^ In modem times, the Apostolic nuncios to foreign courts are titular
archbishops — not cardinals — and are called Legati missi. When, how-
ever, the Pope sends special nuncios, on rare important occasions, they
are cardinals, and are called Legates a latere, that is, " from the Pope's
side," — the members of the Sacred College, as we have seen, having
been, for many centuries, regarded as the CoUaterales et coadjutores of
His Holiness. i
CHAPTER XXXIX.
A MODEEN PAPAL ELECTION.
Immediately on the death of a Pope, the Cardinal
Camerlengo, or Chamberlain, assumes, in virtue of his
high office, the sovereign authority.* He enters the
chamber of death, accompanied by the derici of the
Reverenda Camera Apostolica, and with a small gold
or silver hammer, two or three times, lightly strikes
the forehead of the deceased Pontiff, calling him by
his family name.^ Then, having knelt by the bedside
and prayed, he declares, in a loud voice, that the Holy
Father has ceased to live. Before the late revolution,
the Pope's death, thus authenticated, was announced
to the outside public by the bell of the Capitol, tolling
twenty-three times. Then the Fisherman's ring, Anello
Feseatorio, is drawn off the deceased Pontiff's linger by
the Maestro di Camera, and handed to the Cardinal Cam-
erlengo. This ring, and the mould for the leaden seals
to be attached to Pontifical Bulls, are broken, accord-
ing to usage; and the fragments are afterwards pre-
sented to the assembled cardinals by the Camerlengo.
1 The important office of Camerlengo oi the Holy Roman Church
was filled, and its duties were performed, by His present Holiness on
the death of Pius IX.
^ This ceremony resembles, if it did not originate in, the custom of
calling the dead, which prevailed among the Romans, before the
Christian era. The friends of the deceased used to call him aloud by
his name, for eight successive days ; and, on the ninth day, the inter-
ment or cremation of the body took place. Thus, we read in Lucan,
Corpora ruyndum, eondamata jaeent. Hence, by a figure of speech,
condamatum est became a phrase, used to denote, that an affair was all
over— beyond all hope. Bee Terence, " Eunuchus," it 3, 56.
A MODERN PAPAL ELECTION. 603
Next it is the duty of the Cardinal Camerlengo,
assisted by the three heads of orders of cardinals, to
notify the Pope's death to all the foreign courts, through
the Apostolic nuncios, and to summon the absent car-
dinals to the conclave. Meanwhile the Dean of the
Sacred College convenes all the cardinals in Eome, for
the purpose of making the necessary arrangements for
the work before them.
As we have seen, in the Constitution of Gregory X.,
the conclave is not necessarily held in any particular
place in Eome, nor indeed in Eome itself, should the
death of the Supreme Pontiff occur elsewhere, or should
war or disturbances, in any way, interfere with the
freedom of election in Eome. Thus, for the latter
reason, in the year 1800, Cardinal Chiaramonti was
elected Pope, under the name of Pius VII., in a con-
clave assembled at Venice. In Eome, nearly all the
conclaves were held at the Vatican up to 1823, since
which time they have been held at the Quirinal, save
the last, at which His present Holiness was elected,
and which was held at the Vatican, the only palace
left to the Pope by the Italian Eevolution.
On the day fixed for opening the conclave, which is
generally about ten days after the decease of the late
Pontiff, including the Novendiali, or nine days' solemn
obsequies, the cardinals, assuming the cappa magna,
or cardinalitial violet cloak, assemble at Saint Peter's,
where they assist at the Mass of the Holy Ghost, cele-
brated by the Dean of the Sacred College, or other
senior cardinal, to implore the Divine light and guid-
ance in their deliberations. On this occasion is preached
a sermon De eligendo Summo Pontifice, in which their
Eminences are reminded that their sole thought should
be the glory of God, and the providing a suitable
pastor for His Church.^ They then proceed in state
to the church attached to the palace in which the con-
' All this is as prescribed in the Bull and the Ceremonial of Gregory
Xy., dated respectively 1621 and 1622.
6o4 THE CHAIB OF PETEE.
clave is to be held.^ The order of procession is as
follows. First come the attendants of the cardinals;
then the Papal choir, chanting the hymn Veni Creator
Spiritus; then a master of ceremonies, bearing a Papal
cross ; then the cardinals, walking in rotation of rank
and seniority, bishops, priests, and deacons ; and finally,
the prelates and officials of the conclave. This cere-
mony is called the opening of the conclave. Formerly,
the Governor of Eome always took part in this proces-
sion, walking by the side of, but a little behind, the
Cardinal Dean; but, since the occupation' of Rome
by the Italian Government, the ceremonial, in this as
in several other respects, is necessarily varied and
curtailed.
Arrived in the chapel, the Cardinal Dean recites the
prayer Deus qui corda fidelium ; and their Eminences
kneel, for some time, in adoration of the Blessed Sacra-
ment, exposed on the altar. After this, the Cardinal
Sub-Dean reads, in a loud voice, the Pontifical Constitu-
tions regarding conclaves, and the cardinals take the
usual oath to observe the same. Subsequently, the
Governor of the Conclave, the Prince Marshal, and all
the other officials likewise take the oath of secrecy and
faithful observance of the rules, before the Sub-Dean,^
The remainder of this first day is devoted by their
Eminences to receiving their friends, the Eoman nobility,
foreigners of distinction, and the Diplomatic body. At
the close of the day a bell sounds through the corridors,
and the Master of Ceremonies calls out Exeant omnes,
on which all strangers withdraw, leaving the cardinals
and their conclavists alone. Then the Camerlengo and
^ Formerly, the Cardinals drove, in their carriages, from Saint Peter's
to the Quirinal ; but now, as the Quirinal palace is occupied by the
King of Italy, the conclaves can no longer be held there ; and, there-
fore, on the last occasion, when His Holiness Leo XIII. was elected,
the procession moved from the Pauline chapel, in which the Mass of
the Holy Crhost was celebrated, through the Sala Begia, to the Sistine,
where the conclave was held,
' All these proceedings are as prescribed in the Ceremonial of
Gregory XV,
A MODERN PAPAL ELECTION. 605
Cardinals heads of orders, along with the Prince Marshal
and the Masters of Ceremonies, and their attendants,
proceed to search every cell and apartment ; and, having
satisfied themselves that there is no intruder in the
building, they draw up an official minute to that effect.
Immediately thereupon the conclave is closed, not to
he opened again until a Pope is elected. Should a
cardinal, however, arrive any time after the closing,
he is admitted, through a wicket reserved for the
purpose.
On the last occasion, the proceedings of closing the
conclave were as follows : Prince Chigi, the Hereditary
Marshal of the Holy Eomaa Church and Guardian of
the Conclave, proceeded from the chamber of the
Maestro di Camera, attended by his four Captains, and
a number of Noble guards, and Swiss guards, and
several servants in state liveries bearing torches, to the
great door of the conclave. Here he was met by the
Cardinal Camerlengo and the three heads of orders of
cardinals. While they locked the door on the inside,
he locked it on the outside, placing the keys in a
crimson velvet bag, which he kept in his custody.
Then Monsignor Eicci-Parracciani, the Governor of the
Conclave, walked round the building, in order to assure
himself that there could be no communication from
outside. These precautions are prescribed in the Cere-
monial of Gregory XV., to insure the conclave's being
really closed, as otherwise the election would be nuU
and void, even though all the other requirements of the
Pontifical Constitutions were fully complied with.
Formerly, there were wickets, at which all articles of
food for the meals of the cardinals and their conclavists
were received ; and over these strict watch was kept by
prelates and other officials — every dish being examined,
the poultry being carved, and the bread broken: in
order to prevent any surreptitious correspondence. In
the last conclave, this precaution was unnecessary ; as
there was a kitchen prepared within the building, and
6o6 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
a number of cooks and attendants were provided, for
the preparation of food.
Early on the morning of the second day, the cardinals
are summoned to the chapel, to enter on the important
business for which they have assembled — the Master of
Ceremonies passing along the corridor of the cells, and
calling out, " In capellam, domini." ^
The preparations in the chapel are as follows : —
On both sides are lofty screens extending the whole
length. In front of these, are thrones or seats for the
cardinals. Before each seat, is a small square table,
with writing materials; and over it is a canopy. Screens,
seats, tables, and canopies, are all draped or covered
with violet cloth, except in the case of cardinals who
have before taken part in a conclave ; and for these the
draperies are all green. The robes of their Eminences
are marked by the same colours ; but all retain the red
hat. The same rule applies to the draping of the
cells.
In the last conclave four cardinals took part, who
had been created by Gregory XVI., and had been in
the previous conclave. The remaining fifty-seven had
received the hat from Pius IX. Besides these, there
were Cardinal Brossais Saint Marc, who was absent
through illness, and who died shortly afterwards, and
Cardinals Cullen and McCloskey, who arrived late.
Thus, the numbers of the Sacred College, on the death
of Pius IX., were sixty- four, of whom all save three
took part in the election of his successor. The vene-
rable Cardinal Amat, Dean of the Sacred College, was,
on this occasion, carried into the conclave ; and imme-
diately went to bed, where he remained the whole time.
Another in very feeble health was Cardinal Morichini,
who ascended the steps, supported on either side by his
conclavists.
When their Eminences are assembled in the chapel,
the Dean or another senior cardinal celebrates Mass ;
1 " To the chapel, My Lords."
A MODERN PAPAL ELECTION. 607
after which they talie their seats, and proceed to the
election.
In modern times, there are three recognized modes
of electing a Pope, as set forth, together with the rules
for conducting them, in the Bull and Ceremonial of
Gregory XV.
The first of these is what is called quad per Itispira-
tionem — " as it were by Inspiration," when, for instance,
all the cardinals, unanimously and aloud, proclaim one
of their number Supreme Pontiff. This must be done,
first, in the conclave, and that closed ; secondly, by all
the cardinals present in the conclave ; thirdly, in .com-
mon or conjointly (communiter), no one dissenting, no
treating concerning the person having preceded, and
by the word eligo, " I elect," uttered in an intelligible
voice, or expressed in writing if it cannot be so uttered.
Thus, one of the cardinals may say, " Most Eeverend
Lords, I elect {ego eligo) the Most Eminent Lord, Car-
dinal N , as Supreme Pontiff." All present assent,
vivd voce, each, one using the word eligo; and the person
so chosen is Pope. This mode of election, practically
unknown in our day, is also called Acclamation or Adora-
tion,^ according as it is slightly varied. In the one
case the cardinals all simultaneously exclaim that they
elect N N Pope ; and in the other they all,
approach the person they wish to elect, kneel down,
and reverentially salute him as Supreme Pontiff.
The second mode of election is by Compromise, and
has been resorted to only in those very rare cases in
which the cardinals are unable so far to agree, as to
unite at least fully two-thirds of their votes in favour
of one person. Then all the cardinals, present in the
conclave, unanimously leave the election to certain of
their number. These Compromissarii retire to, a separate
apartment ; and, having agreed among themselves that
no verbal consent, but a written consent only, shall;
^ Adoration. See Index.
6o8 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
be valid, they elect a Pontiff; and their election is
" canonical and true." ^
The third mode of electing a Pope is hj scrutiny,
or Scrutiny and Accessus. In latter times, this is the
only mode followed. The proceedings are these: On
the first morning of the conclave, after Mass has been
celebrated, the cardinals take their seats in the chapel,
as already described, and proceed to ballot. There are
sheets of paper, called Scheduler, prepared for this pur-
pose. Each cardinal takes one of these, and writes in
the centre of it the name of the person he would elect
Pope. The form is this : Ego N. Cardinalis If. eligo
in Summum Pontifibem Eeverendisdmivm, Dominvm
meum Cardinalem N. : i.e. " I (Christian name) cardinal
(surname), elect for Supreme Pontiff, my most Keverend
L<ird, Cardinal (name)." Besides his own name written
at the top, he adds a short text of scripture at foot ; and
folds the billet, sealing it at both ends. It is so folded,
as that only the name of the person for whom he votes
can be seen. He next advances, and kneels at the foot
of the high altar, where he repeats aloud the following
oath : I'estor Christum Dominwm, qui me jvdicatwrus est,
me eligere quern secundum, Deum judico eligi debere et
gTwd in accessu prcestcibo : i.e. " I call to witness Christ
the Lord, who will judge me, that I elect him whom
before God I judge ought to be elected ; and which I
shall make good in the accessus." He then goes up to
the altar, lays the folded schedula, or billet, on the paten,
and drops it thence into the large chalice, placed there
for the purpose.
The voting is presided over by the three Scrutineers,
who are chosen by lot, every morning, from all the
cardinals present, to examine the tickets and announce
the result. Should there be sick or infirm cardinals
confined to their cells, the scrutineers take with them
a locked empty ballot-box, the key being left behind;
^ We have seen how Gregory X. was elected by way of CompromiBe,
A.D. 1271. Vide supra, p. 580.
A MODERN PAPAL ELECTION. 6og
and they proceed to the cells, where they witness the
oaths, and receive in the box the votes, of the sick
cardinals ; and these votes so received are brought back
by them to the chapel, and deposited, with the others,
in the chalice. Should a sick cardinal be too ill to
vote, another cardinal, at his request, fills the schedula
for him, being first bound by oath never to divulge the
name of the person voted for therein. All the members
of the Sacred College are bound to vote ; and any one
refusing or refraining from doing so incurs the penalty
of excommunication.
When all have voted, one of the Cardinal Scrutineers
takes up the chalice, covers it with the paten, and
shakes the billets well up together. Another then
takes them out, and counts them into another chalice.
Should their number not agree with the number of
cardinals voting, the billets are burned, and the voting
recommences de novo. But if the number corresponds,
as is almost invariably the case, the scrutiny is entered
on as follows.
The Scrutineers take their seats at a large square
table, draped in violet, and so placed in the chapel as
that they are face to face with all the cardinals. The
senior Scrutineer then draws a billet from the chalice,
seeing and reading only the name of the person voted
for; he hands it to the second Scrutineer, who also
reads it, and notes the name down. The latter then
hands it to the third, who also sets down the name,
and announces it to the assembly. Each of the other
billets is treated in the same manner. The cardinals
are furnished each with a large sheet of paper, on
which are printed the names of all the members of the
Sacred College ; and on this sheet, as each vote is read
out, a mark is made by each, opposite the name of thel
person for whom the suffrage is given. As we have
seen, to constitute an election by Scrutiny or by Scrutiny
and Accessus, at least the entire two-thirds Df the votes
pf those present must be given to one person — the vote
2Q
6lO THE CHAIR OF PETER.
of the Elect not being computed ; for no one can vote
for himself, as expressly declared in the Bull and
Ceremonial of Gregory XV., A.D. 1621, 1622.
Should there be no election, on the first scrutiny, the
billets are all burned ; and the cardinals are summoned
again in the afternoon, when, after the recital of the
hymn Veni Creator Spiritus, the same process of voting
is repeated; and it is continued twice a day, until a
Pontiff is elected. There naturally is felt profound
interest in Eome, as throughout all Catholic Christen-
dom, about the result ; and, consequently, every morn-
ing and evening, a large crowd assembles near the hall
of conclave, watching for the smoke of the burned
billets, on seeing, which ascend from the small flue or
pipe of the stove, used for the purpose, the people dis-
perse, thus knowing that the election has not yet taken
place.
Should there be no election by simple scrutiny, the
Accessus then comes into operation. This is the giving
of votes (previously given in the scrutiny to another)
to a cardinal who has already received, in the scrutiny,
such a number of votes, as would be likely with this
accession, to make him Pope. In the schedula used
for this, the word accedo, " I accede to," is substituted
for digo, " I elect." Care is taken by the Scrutineers
that no one who has voted, in the scrutiny, for the
person in question, now votes again. This can be
seen, by examining the Scripture motto on each billet.
Should a cardinal, voting in the Accessus, not wish to
give his suffrage to this particular person, he writes in
the schedula, after accedo, the word nemini, " to no one ; "
i.e. " I accede to no one."
Should the Accessus not raise the number of votes
in favour of one person to the regulated two-thirds, the
proceedings above described are repeated at the next
meeting, and so continue until an election is made.
On this last occurring, the Masters of Ceremonies are
called in, and the schedules are opened in their presence/
A MODERN PAPAL ELECTION. 6 1 I
in order to ascertain that no Cardinal has voted for
himself, as in that case the election would be null and
void. Then the Cardinal Dean, two Cardinal Deacons,
and the Masters of Ceremonies approach the Elect;
and the Dean says to him : Acceptasne electionem de
te canonice faciam in Summum Hcdesice Catholicm
Pontijicem ? " Do you accept the election canonically
made of you, as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic
Church ? " On his accepting the dignity, using the
word Accepto, the Cardinal Dean genuflects, the First-
Master of Ceremonies claps his hands, all the cardinals
rise and remain standing, and all 'the canopies are
instantly lowered, save one, that of the newly elect,
now the lord and master of all. The Cardinal Dean
then inquires what name His Holiness will be pleased
to assume — Qioo nomine vis vocari ? ^ This is immedi-,
ately signified by the new Pope ; and an of&cial minute-
of the election, its acceptance, and the choice of name
by the Pontiff is drawn up by the Protonotary Apostolic,
and signed by him, the Marshal of the Conclave, the
Masters of Ceremonies and the secretaries. The en-'
closures are then immediately thrown down, the great
doors are opened, and the conclave is at an end.
The two senior Cardinal Deacons then conduct the
^ The change of name by the Pope, on his election, originated in the
year 965, with John XII., whose baptismal name was Octavian. Some
writers say that it was in imitation of the change of name of Saint Peter,
originally called Simon ; but William the Librarian states that it was
simply because Octavian considered the naaie John more appropriate
to the Pontifical dignity than his own name ; and that, for the same ,
reason, his example was followed by the German Popes, whose names,
Bruno, Gerbert, Suidiger, Gerhard, etc., were not so well suited to that
exalted ofBioe. The change has been erroneously attributed to Sergius
II., who reigned A.D. 844-847, and of whom it has been said, that, his
name being Peter, he changed it through humility, as he would not
reign under the same name as the Prince of the Apostles, His name,
however, was not Peter, but Sergius, before his election. In this
matter, he appears to have been confounded with Pope Sergius IV.,
who was elected A.D. loog, and whose original name was Peter or
Pietro. See Pagi, "Pontif. Rom. Gesta," ii. 43, 177; and Panviniua
apud Platinam, annotat. p. 156.
6l2 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
new Pope behind the Altar, where he takes off his
cardinalitial ring, and is divested by them of his robes
as cardinal, and clothed in the Pontifical white cassock,
with the coyd and gold tassels round the waist, and the
rochet, hood, white skull-cap, and stole ; and his valet
puts on him white silk stockings and scarlet shoes,
ornamented with a golden cross. Thus arrayed, he is
conducted to the front of the Altar, where, seated on a
throne — the sedia gestatoria} he receives the homage or
" obedience " of all the cardinals, who, kneeling before
him, kiss his foot, and then his hand ; and he, in his
turn, gives each the Kiss of Peace on both cheeks.^
When the Cardinal Camerlengo makes his obedience
he puts the Fisherman's ring, Anello Pescatorio, on the
fincrer of His Holiness, who hands it back to his Emi-
nence, in order to have his name engraved on it. Mean-
while, the First Cardinal Deacon asks the new Pope's
permission to proclaim the election; having obtained
1 The seat, or throne, in which the Pope is borne in solemn pro-
cessions. .
' This ceremony is called the " Adoration " of the Pope, which
expression has been objected to ; but to any one familiar with the
Latin language the word adorare will not appear inapplicable here ; as
it means not only " to worship the Supreme Being," but, moreover,
" to honour, to pay homage to, to ssjute." Dr. Webster's second
definition of Adoration is, " Homage paid to one in high esteem ; pro-
found reverence." In the "Revised Version of the New Testament,
1881," will be found, at the end of the volume, the following passage,
in the "List of readings and renderings preferred by the American
Committee, recorded at their desire : " " At the word ' worship ' in
Matt. ii. 2, etc., add the marginal note, 'The Greek word denotes
an act of reverence,' whether paid to man (see chap, xviii. 26) or to
God (see chap. iv. 10).' " The Greek word in the three verses here
referred to is the verb vpoaicvveai, of which the literal translation is,
" to adore," Latin, adora/re. Kissing the Pope's foot was " an ancient
custom " as far back as the middle of the ninth century. Anastasiua
the Librarian, a cotemporary, tells us, in his Life of Saint Leo IV.,
that, in the year 847, on the occasion of the election of that Pontiff,
" all the people kissed his feet, preserving the ancient custom ; " qui
morem coniervantes antiqwum omnes otcvlati sunt pedes. " Historia de
Vitis Fontificum Romanorum," p. 257. It was intended then, as it is
now, as a mark of veneration for the Successor of Saint Peter, as Vicar
of Jesus Christ.
A MODERN PAPAL ELECTION.' 613
which, he proceeds, attended by the Masters of Cere-
monies, Cross bearer, mace bearers and acolytes, to
the external loggia, or grand gallery of the basilica, and,
thence addressing the anxious crowd assembled below,
says : Annuntio vohis gaudium magnum. Papam habe-
mus Uminentissimum et Meverendissimum Sominwm,
Joachim, tituli Sancti Ghrysogoni, PresbyteruTw Cardin-
alem Peed, Hpiscopum, Pervsinum, qui sibi nomenimposuit
Leonis XIII. "I announce to you a great joy. We
have as Pope the Most Eminent and Most Eeverend
Lord, Joachim of the Title of Saint Chrysogonus Priest
Cardinal Pecci, Bishop of Perugia, who has given
himself the name of Leo XIII." ^ Shortly afterwards,
His Holiness proceeds in state to the loggia, and gives
his first Apostolical Benediction, Urli et Orhi, to the
city and the world.
This most interesting and solemn ceremony used to
be performed from the grand external gallery over the
entrance gates of Saint Peter's; but, owing to the
seizure of the Papal dominions by the Italian Govern-
ment, it took place on the late occasion from the
interipr gallery looking down into the vast nave of
the basilica. Formerly, moreover, it was not, as
it is now, confined to the day of the election of a
Supreme Pontiff; but it also followed the Pope's
High Mass on Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, Whit
Sunday, Corpus Christi, and the Feast of Saints Peter
and Paul. On those occasions, having concluded his
prayers after Mass, at the foot of the grand altar in
Saint Peter's, the Holy Father, in full pontificals, was
borne down the nave, in the sedia gestatoria, accom-
panied by the College of Cardinals, their chaplains, and
the domestic prelates and of&cials, and escorted by the
noble guard and numerous attendants. Ascending the
Scala Eegia, the procession entered the grand gallery
' I fill in the spaces for name and title with those of His present
Holiness, as announced by Cardinal Caterini, the First Cardinal
Deacon, in proclaiming his election, February 20, 1878.
6 14 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
looking down on the Piazza, lined with troops and
filled with thousands of spectators. The chanting of
the Papal choir was heard in the distance ; every eye
was fixed on the central arch of the gallery ; and, when
the venerable Pontiff appeared there, elevated on his
throne, all the spectators immediately knelt down ; the
cannons of Saint Angelo fired a grand salute ; and then,
amidst silence the most profound, the Holy Pather
stood up, and with his eyes raised to heaven, and, in a
sonorous voice reaching far on every side, thrice blessed
the prostrate multitude, the city, and the whole world.
Non-Catholic spectators of this scene have oftentimes
acknowledged, that they were deeply impressed by its
sublime accessories and solemn import. It was indeed
a ceremony quite consonant with the sacred office of
Chief Pastor and Teacher of God's Church, in all parts
of the globe. Omitted since the Eevolution of 1870,
let us hope that ere long political circumstances wiU be
so far changed in the Italian Peninsula as to admit of
its resumption, along with other grand functions which,
for the same cause, have fallen into abeyance.^
On returning to the Sistine chapel, the newly elected
Pope receives the homage of the Prince Marshal, the
Governor of the Conclave, and other officials ; and then
the cardinals make their second adoration or obedience.
The third adoration of the members of the Sacred
College used formerly to be made with great state and
ceremony at Saint Peter's; but, in the case of His
present Holiness, it was performed in the Sistine.
Meanwhile the Holy Father will have received the
Eoman nobility and other distinguished personages, as
well as the foreign ambassadors, who come to pay him
their respects, and to tender him the congratulations
and friendly assurances of the courts which they seve-
rally represent. A few days later follow the coronation
'■ The Pope used also to give the grand benediction UrU et Orbi
from the portico of Saint John Lateran's on the ABcension, and of
Baint Mary Major's, on the Assumption.
A MODERN PAPAL ELECTION. 615
and enthronization, conducted with due ceremony and
splendour, according to the ancient ritual.^
The conclave in which His Holiness Leo XIII. was
elected was one of unprecedentedly short duration. At
the first ballot Cardinal Pecci had nineteen votes, while
the remainder of the suffrages were divided over a
number of other cardinals ; at the second, he had thirty-
four ; and at the third, that is, on the morning of the
second day of voting, he had forty- four, being more than
the requisite two-thirds of the sixty-one who voted.
' The first instance of the coronation of a Pope is that of Nicholas I.,
which took place in the year 858. According to Anastasins, a cotem-
porary writer, Nicholas was enthroned in the Lateran, after which,
being escorted by the nobles and people to Saint Peter's, he was there,
in the Emperor's presence, consecreted Supreme Pontiff. He then
celebrated Mass above the tomb of the Apostle ; and was conducted
back, with hymns and spiritual songs, to the Lateran, where he was
crowned, amidst the rejoicings of the city, clergy, senate, and people.
Pagi is rather doubtful about his coronation having taken place at the
Lateran basilica, as his successors were crowned at Saint Peter's, after
which they proceeded, in state, to take possession of their cathedral,
the Lateran. Consequently, he surmises that a slight variation has
crept into Anastasius'a text, and he would read Lateranum- perduetus
coronatus for Lateranum perduetus cwonatur. The Papal Tiara, or
triple crown, is a high cap, circled by three golden crowns, and sur-
mounted by a ball and cross. It is worn at the coronation, and when
the Pope gives his benediction Ui'bi et Orhi. It is quite distinct from
a mitre. Innocent III., in his sermon on Saint Sylvester, says, "The
Koman Pontiff uses a crown as a sign of Empire, and a mitre as a sign
of the Pontificate." Both, however, may be said to be conjoined in the
tiara. Jacobus Sancti Georgii states that Constantino, on being bap-
tized by Saint Sylvester, placed his own crown on the Pope's head.
But this idea appears to have originated in the fabled donation of
Constantino to Sylvester. Papebroke however observes, that, apart
from all fables, it may be said, that, ecclesiastical peace having been
established by the Emperor, Sylvester, either by his own free choice or
at Constantine's desire, assumed a cap in the Koman fashion, as the
symbol of liberty, ornamented, where it touched the head, with a golden
crown or diadem, to signify the royal priesthood conferred by Christ on
the prince of all priests. This was about the year 325. Boniface YIII,
about A.D. 1296, added a second crown, in order that the prerogatives
of the double kingdom, temporal and spiritual, might be symbolised.
Some writers attribute this addition to an earlier date. Finally, in 1362,
Urban V. assumed the tiara of three crowns, " possibly," says Pagi,
" on account of the mystic number " — numeri mystici f organ cauad ;
or, as others observe, to indicate the paternal character which should
be conjoined with the other two.
6l6 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
Here the conclave lasted only thirty-six hours. The
conclave which elected his predecessor, Pius IX., lasted
forty-eight hours, the election having been made in the
fourth scrutiny. Gregory XVI. was elected by a con-
clave which sat fifty days ; and Pius VIII. in one of
thirty-six days.
Three Catholic powers, France, Austria, and Spain,
have a right of Veto in the conclave, in recognition of
' ancient services to the Holy See.^ This right can be
exercised only once by each power, in a conclave. In
other words, the State exercising its right can exclude
only one cardinal from being elected. This is done in
the following manner. Should there be a particular
member of the Sacred College in whose favour the
voting is likely to go, and who may happen to be
obnoxious to one of the above-named three States, a
cardinal of that nation, or its ambassador to the Holy
See, intimates to the Dean of the Sacred College that
the State which he represents objects to the cardinal in
questioij. This renders the election of that cardinal
impossible; and the votes are therefore given for
another.^
Por example, in the conclave of 1830-31, which
elected Gregory XVI., Spain exercised her veto against
the election of Cardinal Giustiniani, who seemed certain
of receiving the requisite majority of votes at the time ;
and consequently Cardinal Capellari was chosen in his
stead. Giustiniani had been nuncio at Madrid, and
had rendered invaluable services to Ferdinand VII. ;
but, in doing so, he appears to have contravened the
plans of the Spanish prime minister in certain ecclesi-
astical arrangements ; and to this circumstance, as the
^ Portugal is also stated to have a veto ; but this is not clear ; and
that State has never attempted to exercise the right.
" It is necessary, however, that the veto, when resorted to, should
be exercised in due time, so as to anticipate an actual election. For,
once that two-thirds of the cardinals in conclave have voted for one
person, no veto or protest can abrogate the election, thus canonically
IQ£lrC16.
A MODERN PAPAL ELECTION. 617
minister was now restored to power, the cardinal's ex-
clusion from the pontificate was generally attributed.
On the 6th of January, 1 831, the twenty-second day
of the conclave, Cardinal Marco-y-Catalan, a Spaniard,
received the following formal note from Labrador, the
Spanish ambassador to the Holy See, bearing date the
24th of December previous : —
"The undersigned, Ambassador ExtraoTdinary and Plenipo-
tentiary of His Catholic Majesty to the Holy See, presents his
distinguished reverence to His Eminence, and prays him to make
known to the Sacred College united in conclave, that he, in the
name of his august sovereign, anji by the express orders of His
Catholic Majesty, gives the exclusion to the Most Eminent
Cardinal Giustiniani.
" Pedro Gomez Labhador."
In the scrutiny of the following morning, Cardinal
Marco, seeing that there were twenty-one votes recorded
for Cardinal -Giustiniani, sixteen of scrutiny and five of
accessus, and that four more of accessus would suffice
for his election, hastened to communicate the exclusion
to Giustiniani's nephew, Cardinal Odeschalchi, and to
Cardinal Pacca, Dean of the Sacred College. Then the
Cardinal Dean, having first informed Cardinal Gius-
tiniani thereof, before the midday scrutiny, read out
the note of exclusion to the assembled conclave : after
which Cardinal Giustiniani proceeded to the middle of
the chapel, and spoke as follows : —
Were I not acquainted with coi^rts by experience, I certainly
should have reason to be surprised at " the exclusion," published
by the Most Eminent Dean ; since, far from being able to re-
proach myself with having given his Catholic Majesty any cause
of complaint during my nunciature, I dare congratulate myself
on having rendered His Majesty signal services in the most diffi-
cult circumstances in which he was placed. His Majesty has
given proof of his being sensible thereof, by having honoured
me (immediately on his restoration to the complete exercise of
his sovereignty) with the grand cross of the Conception, and by
having actively interested himself with the Holy Father, a short
time before my departure, in order to have conferred on me a
diguity in the Cathedral chflrch of Valencia. I will always
6l8 THE CHAIK OF PETEE.
cherish the memory of the favours which His Catholic Majesty
has bestowed upon me, and I will entertain tlie most profound
respect for him, and the most lively interest in all that can con-
cern his welfare and that of his august family. I have further to
observe, that, of all the benefits conferred on me by His Majesty,
I consider the greatest and the most acceptable to me (at least
in its effects) that of his having this day closed to me the high
dignity of the Pontificate. Well aware of my own weakness, I
could never have anticipated that I should be loaded with so
lieavy a burden. Yet, during the past few days, seeing, to my
surprise, that I was thought of in this matter, my soul has been
penetrated with bitter grief. To-day, I find myself freed from so
great a trouble, my tranquillity is restored, and there remains to
ine the gratification that some of my most worthy colleagues have
been able to cast their regards on me, and have honoured me
with their votes ; and to them I will ever profess my sincere
gratitude.!
It was well kaown that Cardinal Giustiniani had the
strongest objection to be elevated to the exalted post to
which he had been destined by his colleagues, by whom,
doubtless, this circumstance was deemed an additional
recommendation in his favour. It may be interesting
to the English reader to be reminded that His Eminence
was connected by family ties with these countries —
being uncle to Sigismund, Prince Giustiniani-Bandini,
Earl of Newburgh in Scotland.
While France has not exercised her veto in modern
times, Austria has done so frequently, and Spain once
only — on the occasion just referred to.
' Moroni, " Dizionario,'' xxxl 221-224. Venice, 1845.
CHAPTEE XL.
BENEFITS CONFERRED BY THE PAPACY ON MANKIND.
To any careful and dispassionate reader of history, no
matter what his religious tenets may be — nay, even
though he should altogether reject the Christian dis-
pensation— it must be obvious, that the Papacy, quite
apart from its highest, its most sacred, functions, has,
during its existence of close on nineteen hundred years,
conferred signal and enduring benefits on mankind.
Not one modern Catholic writer need be quoted in
support of this proposition ; as, happily, it is upheld by
a host of non-Catholic witnesses.
Before we come to these, let us take up those co-
temporary historians, whose authority is so widely
accepted ; and what do we find ? In the midst of the
anarchy induced by the decline and disruption of the
Eoman Empire, all through the horrors of the Bar-
barian incursions in the North, and the dangers of the
Mahometan invasions in the South, and further on in
that gloomy period commonly denominated the Dark
Ages, we constantly meet with one venerable figure
standing prominently forth in the desolate scene — reduc-
ing anarchy to order, staying the red hand of massacre
and rapine, confronting the royal or imperial oppressor
in the stronghold of his power; assembling around
him, protecting, relieving, and consoling the oppressed,
the helpless, and the sorrow-stricken ; and, as it were,
supernaturally upheld, succeeding, beyond all human
hope, in his heroic efforts to save society.
In perusing the records of this sad epoch, we cannot
620 THE CHATE OF PETER.
but conclude, that those who rendered such services
to mankind were, each in his turn, raised up by God
to counteract the evils which He, in His inscrutable
designs, permitted to exist; and that their wondrous
success was mainly due to the fact, that, in their
exalted position of Yicars of Christ, before the eyes of
the whole world, they were recognized and revered as the
impersonation of a principle ever abiding in His Church,
and enunciated, on His advent, by the angelic choirs
in these words : " Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth Peace to men of good will." Thus, the action of
the Popes was regarded by themselves, and accepted by
all Christendom, as a dictate — nay more, as a solemn
obligation, of their sacred office.
It is unnecessary here to dwell on those passages in
early Church History, which illustrate the heroism and
charity of the First Leo, and the First Gregory, and of
several of their successors on the Papal throne, else-
where alluded to in these pages. Eeferring to a later
period, a learned Protestant writer observes : —
During the Middle Ages, wlien there was no social order, the
Papacy alone perhaps saved Europe from total barbarism. It
created bonds of connection between the most distant nations ; it
was a common centre, a rallying point for isolated States. . . .
It was a supreme tribunal, established in the midst of universsi
anarchy, and its decrees were sometimes as respectable as they
were respected. It prevented and arrested the despotism of the
Emperors, compensated for the want of equilibrium, and
diminished the inconveniences of the feudal system.*
By all sorts of methods (says M. Guizot) the Church likewise
strove to repress the tendency of society to violence and continual
wars. Every one is aware that it was by " the truce of God," and
^ Anoillon, " Tableau des Revolutions du Systfeme Politique de
I'Europ^," vol. i. pp. 79, io6. Berlin, 1803. Johann Peter Friedrich
Ancillon was born in Berlin in 1766, and died in that city in 1837.
He became a Protestant minister, and was appointed Professor of
History in the E^yal Military Academy at Berlin. He was moreover
one of the leading members of the Royal Academy of Sciences; of
Prussia. In 1803, he published the able work above quoted. He
was also the author of several essays, literary and philosophical, and of
several sermons. '-'•
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 621
numerous measures of the same nature, that the Church struggled
against the employment of force, and devoted itself to introduce
into society a greater degree of order and mildness. These facts
are so well known that I am spared the trouble of entering into
any detail .^ »
It must be confessed (says Leibnitz) that the solicitude of the
Popes, concerning the canons and Ecclesiastical discipline, was
from time to time most beneficial j and that, by influencing
kings, in season and out of season, either by the authority of their
office, or by the threat of Ecclesiastical censures, the Pontiffs
hindered many evils. And nothing was more common than that
kings should subject themselves, in their treaties, to the censure
and correction of the Pope, as in the treaty of Bretigny, in 1360,
and in the treaty of Etaples, in 1492.2
Leibnitz further observes : —
I have seen something of the project of M. de St. Pierre to
maintain perpetual , peace in Europe. . . . My idea would be,
to establish, ay even in Eome, a tribunal (to decide controversies
between sovereigns), and to make the Pope its president ; as he
really, in former ages, figured as judge between Christian princes.^
A case in point is the arbitration of Alexander VI.
between the Kings of Spain and Portugal, as to the
boundaries of their respective territories in the New
World. The question was settled by Alexander's Bull,
Inter ccetera, May 4th, 1493 ; and thus not only was
war between the two sovereigns averted, but the Pope
availed himself of the occasion to exhort them to
extend the blessings of religion and civilization to their
new subjects.
But a still more remarkable instance is the quite
recent reference by Germany and Spain of their dispute
about the Caroline Islands to the arbitration of Pope
Leo XIIL, and the successful mediation of His Holiness
therein.
The Caroline Islands or New Philippines, including
the Pelews, distributed in numerous groups in the
' Guizot, " Lectures on Civilization in Europe," lecture vi.
^ Leibnitz, Dissert, i., " De Actorum publioorum iisu." Opera
Omnia, torn. iv. p. 299. Geneva, 1768.
' Leibnitz, "Deuxi^me Lettre i M. Grimaret." Opera, tom. v. p. 65.
62 2 THK CHAIE OF PETER.
North Pacific Ocean, extend from the Equator to 1 1"
North latitude and from 133° to 164° East longitude
(Greenwich). They are of coral formation, and are
sparsely populated by Malays, who mainly subsist by
fishing. They were discovered by Lopez de Villalobos,
a Spaniard, in 1543, and they lay neglected until 1666,
when they were again occupied by the Spaniards and
named after Carlos II., the reigning King of Spain.,
The Spaniards, however, had no fixed settlement in
these islands ; but from time to time they supplied them
with missionary aid, chiefly through the Propaganda.^
In 1875, Germany and England expressly informed
the Spanish Government that they could not recognize
the sovereignty of Spain over the Carolines, as it is
only the effective occupation of a territory which
creates a sovereignty. It was on this principle -that
Germany took possession of the island of Yap, which
led to the difference with Spain.
On the suggestion of Prince Bismarck, the matter
was referred by. both powers to the arbitration of Leo
XIII. The decision of the Holy Father, which was
most readily and gratefully received by the parties
concerned, may be briefly stated in the following points,
set forth in the Proposition of His Holiness, as Mediator,
under date of October 22nd, 1885 : —
Point I. To confirm the sovereignty of Spain over the Caroline
and Pelew Islands. 2. The Spanish Government^ to render her
sovereignty effective, engages to establish as quiokly as possible
in that airchipelago a regular administration, with sufficient force
to guarantee order and the rights acquired. 3. Spain offers to
Germany full and entire liberty of commerce, of navigation, and
of fishing at the same islands, as also the right of establishing
a naval station and a coal dep6t. 4. The liberty of making
plantations in those islands and of founding agriciiltural estab-
lishments on the same footing as Spanish subjects to be also
guaranteed to Germany.
1 The Caroline Islands are now included in the Vicariate Apostolic
of Melanesia-Micronesia, administered by the Missionaries of the
3acred Heart,
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 623
Here, on the initiative of a leading Protestant
power, we have practical recognition by both States, of
a principle which operated so beneficially in the Middle
Ages. The complete success of the Papal Mediation,
and the peace-giving results likely to accrue from such
a precedent in our days, may be best illustrated by
the following extracts from the German Chancellor's
acknowledgment of the Pope's " gracious letter " to him,
dated December 31st, 1885, and "the high decoration
accompanying it " : —
Tour Holiness says, in that letter, that nothing responds more
to the spirit and nature of the Roman Pontificate than the per-
formance of works of peace. It was by that same thought that I
■was guided in begging Your Holiness to undertake the noble
office of arbitrator in the difference pending between Germany
and Spain. The consideration of the fact that the two nations
did not stand in an analogous position towards the Church which
venerates in Your Holiness its Supreme Head never weakened
my firm confidence in the eleyated views of Your Holiness, which
assured me of the impartiality of your verdict. . . .
There is therefore every reason to hope that Your Holiness's
pacific action will have lasting effects,, and first among these I
coTuit the grateful recollection the two parties will retain of their
august mediator.
For my own part, I shall gladly avail myself of every occasion,
which tlie fulfilment of my duties towards my master and my
country may furnish me, to testify to Your Holiness my lively
gratitude and my very humble devotion. — Von Bismakck.
Finally, in discussing this class of the benefits, mate-
rial and moral, conferred by the Papacy on mankind,
we must not overlook the fact that, even down to the
nineteenth century, the sanction of the Successor of
Saint Peter has been again and again invoked by the
holders of supreme, power in Europe- As it was with
Pepin in the eighth century, when his kingdom acquired
the halo of legitimacy from the decision of Pope Zachary,
so was it with Napoleon in the nineteenth, when he
sought to have the fabric of his mighty empire con-
solidated by the consecrating hand of Pius VII, ; and
624 THE CHAIK OF PKTEE.
SO was it with many another prince, between those two
widely divided epochs.
The chief of Austrasia, Pepin, son of Charles Martel, in his turn,
had need of the Pope (says M. Guizot). He wished to get himself
declared King of the Franks, and, however well his power might
be established, he wanted a sanction to it. I have many times
remarked, and am not tired of repeating it, that power does not
suffice to itself ; it wants something more than success ; "it wants
to be converted into right ; it demands that characteristic, some-
times of the free assent of men, sometimes of religious consecra-
tion. Pepin invoked both. (" Hist. Civ.," lee. xix.)
It is refreshing, in these days of conspiracy and
rebellion against social order and religion, to dwell upon
such indications, that there is ineradicably implanted
in the human mind a certain recognition of authority,
primarily emanating from Him who, in the family, the
tribe, the kingdom, and above all, in His Church, has
appointed that there should be a Head to unite and
govern all, and while promoting the best interests, in
detail, to preserve the existence, of society.
Let us next view the Papacy in its relations with
Slavery. The amelioration of the condition of slaves,
the promotion of their enfranchisement, and the solacing
and redemption of Christian captives among the Infidels,
from a very early period, engaged the attention of the
Church. She found slavery a. firmly established insti-
tution; and, from her infancy, although unable to
attempt the abolition, she endeavoured to mitigate the
evils, of the system. She at once declared all Chris-
tians, no matter vrhat their condition of life, to be one
and the same before God, the common Father of all.
" For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ,
have put on Christ," says Saint Paul. " There is neither
Jew nor Greek ; there is neither bond nor free ; there
is neither male nor female. For you are all one in
Christ Jesus " (Gal. iii. 27, 28).
From the commencement, the enfranchisement of
slaves, among Christians, was accompanied by religious
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 625
ceremonies. On his conversion to Christianity, in the
first quarter of the fourth century, the Emperor Con-
stantine, desirous that the practice should become
general, decreed that all enfranchisements should take
place in the Church, in the presence of the Bishop, and
that in this case the usual legal formalities might be
dispensed with.^ Thenceforward, in the spirit of Chris-
tianity, laws were enacted by this enlightened prince,
to moderate and regulate the power of the masters;
and the churches were thrown open, as sanctuaries, or
places of refuge, to slaves unjustly or cruelly treated.
On the other hand, the rights of the masters were
respected; and the ancient canons forbade that any
slave should be admitted amongst the clergy, or received
into a monastery, without the consent of his lord.
The liberation of their brethren from slavery by the
Christians, was a usage of very ancient date. Among
other instances, we read of Saint Gregory the Great
applying the revenues of the patrimonies of the Holy
See in Gaul for this purpose. With the development
of the Church, this charitable work was embodied,
systematized, and perpetuated, in those great religious
orders, which, under the sanction of the Supreme Pon-
tiff, sprang into existence some seven centuries ago, and
achieved such marvellous results — results equalled only
by the dangers and difficulties that had to be sur-
mounted. Such was the Order of Trinitarians, founded
by Saints John of Matha and Felix of Valois, approved
by Pope Innocent III., in 1198, and confirmed by the
same Pontiff, in 1209. In the six centuries that elapsed
from the date of its foundation to 1787, no less than
nine hundred thousand Christian captives were redeemed
' Theodosian Code, lib. iv. tit. vii. ii. i. "Qui religiose mente, in
Ecclesiae gremio, servulis Buia meritam concesserit libertatem, eamdem
eodem jure donasse videatur, quo civitas Bomana, solemnitatibns
decnrsis dari oonsuevit ; sed Iioe duntaxat iis qui sub aspeotu antistitum
dederiut, plaouit .relaxari." Much of the wise legislation of Con-
stantine is preserved in the Cbdes of his successors, Theodosius and
Justinian, as will presently be seen.
2 B
626 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
from slavery by this one organization. Such again was
the Order of Our Blessed Lady of Mercy for the Ee-
demption of Captives, founded by Saint Petgr Nolasco,
and approved and confirmed by Pope Gregory IX., in
1235. Not to speak of its labours in other regions,
this order, in six centuries, ransomed over three hundred
thousand Christian slaves, in Barbary alone. In addi-
tion to the ordinary three vows, there was a fourth
vow, by which the brothers bound themselves " to take
the place of a captive, if there were no other means of
effecting his liberation." Here may also be enumerated
the Lazarists or Fathers of the Mission, instituted by
Saint Tincent de Paul, approved by Pope Urban VIII.,
in 1632, and confirmed by Alexander VII., in 1655.
The devoted labours of these Fathers among the Chris=-
tian slaves, under Mahometan masters in Northern
Africa, for a long period, were attended with the most
gratifying results, as were also the missions of the
Franciscans, and other religious orders, all under the
sanction of the Holy See.
The Churoh (observes M. Gnizot) resolutely struggled against
the great vices of the social state, for example, against slavery.
It has been often asserted that the abolition of slavery in modern
Europe was exclusively owing to Christianity. I think this is
saying too much. Slavery long existed in the heart of Christian
society, without greatly exciting its astonishment or drawing
down its anathema. A multitude of causes, and a great develop-
ment in other ideas of civilization, were required to eradicate this
evil of evils, this iniquity of iniquities. Yet it is indubitable
that the Church employed its influence in restraining it. There
exists an unquestionable proof of this fact. The greater part of
the formulas of enfranchisement, made out at different eras, are
founded upon a religious motive ; it is upon the invocation of
religious ideas, of hopes of eternal bliss, and the equality of men
in the eyes of Heaven, that the enfranchisement is almost invari-
ably pronounced.!
We have next to regard the services of the Papacy
in the field of Jurisprudence. Those who study the
! Guizot, " History of Civilization in Europe," leot. vi.
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 627
laws of Constantine and his successors, will find therein
abundant evidence that the legislation of the first
Christian Emperors was largely influenced by the Chief
Pastors of the Church. This conclusion will be con-
firmed by a perusal of the works of Eusebius, Sozomen,
Socrates, and the other early Ecclesiastical historians.
Therefore, it is not a matter of surprise that the wiser
and milder spirit of the Theodosian and Justinian
Codes should place them in strong contrast with the
system which they superseded.^
' The Theodosian Code received the sanction of the Emperor Theo-
dosius, on the 15th of February, 438. This was not Theodosius the
Great, as some erroneously suppose, but his grandson Theodosius II.,
son of Arcadiua, Emperor of the East — Theodosius the Great having
divided the Empire between his sons, allotting the East to Arcadius,
and the West to Honorius. This Code contains the enactments of
fifteen Emperors, commencing with Constantine, and covering a period
of one hundred and twenty-six years, from a.d. 312 to 438. It includes
the edicts of Julian the Apostate. The Theodosian Code is divided
into sixteen books. These laws of the Eaustem, were immediately
adopted in the Western Empire. When the Visigoths conquered Spain
in the year 473, they permitted their new subjects to retain the Theo-
dosian Code, of which a compenditun was drawn up and completed at
the Council of Toledo, in 506, with the approval of Alaric, King of the
Visigoths, who then was master of nearly the whole of Spain and some
provinces of Gaul. It was styled the Code of the Visigoths ; and it
strikingly illustrates "the immense superiority of the ideas of the
Church, on the subject of legislation and the administration of justice."
The Justinian Code followed that of Theodosius after a lapse of about
a century. It was drawn up by the celebrated Tribonian, and nine
other civilians, appointed by the Emperor for the purpose. It is a
most comprehensive compilation, containing not only the Theodosian
Code, but all the edicts and rescripts of the Emperors from Hadrian to
Justinian, both inclusive. Of these, some are condensed, and some
are consolidated with others ; whilst unimportant matter is excluded.
This Code, intended to supersede its predecessors, received the sanction
of the Emperor on the 7th of April, 529. Three years later, under the
auspices of Justinian, was published the Digest, or Pandects, In fifty
books, containing over five hundred decisions in legal causes ; and
these were soon followed by the Institutes, which comprise all the
principles of Koman jurisprudence. In 534, the Emperor revised his
Code, and published it anew ; and he subsequently added several new
statutes called Novella, or Novels, thus completing what is known as
the Civil or Koman Law. Appropriately indeed might Justinian, the
greatest of all legislators, have uttered the words attributed to the
First Napoleon, " I shall go down to posterity with the Code in my
band."
628 THR CHAIK OF PKJEB.
Let US take a few examples from the legislation of
Constantine. "We have examined his edicts to amelio-
rate the condition of slaves, and to facilitate their
enfranchisement. He further enacted, that any master
deliberately killing his slave should be adjudged guilty
of homicide. Next, he abolished the cruel and revolt-
ing punishment of tlie crucifixion, and breaking the
legs, of criminals. He caused those who heretofore
were condemned to gladiatorial combats, to be sent to
labour in the mines; and he forbade their being
branded on the face and forehead. He provided that
no one accused of a crime should be condemned with-
out sufficient proof. He put an end to the exactions
of magistrates and public officers who demanded pay-
ment for the discharge of their functions, and incon-
venienced suitors by the delay of justice. He em-
powered all his subjects to prefer complaints, where
there was abundant proof, against the governors of
provinces and their officers. He passed laws for the
protection of orphans and minors, against the cruelty
and malversation of their guardians. He ordained that
widows, minors, the poor, the sick, and the disabled
should not be obliged to plead out of their own province.
He forbade any resort to violence in the collection of
the State revenue, and prohibited the imprisonment of
those who were in arrear for taxes, or the seizure of
their slaves or animals employed in agriculture. Finally,
he promulgated several other ordinances, equally humane
and judicious.
All these enactments, and many others of a similar
character — the outcome of the legislation of the first
Christian Emperor and his immediate successors —
were mainly inspired by the Church. They are all
included in the comprehensive Code of Justinian,
which, together with its supplements, the Digest or
Pandects, the Institutes, and the Novelise, constitutes
what is called the Roman or Civil Law, which is the
groundwork of the legislation of all civilized countries.
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 629
We have seen, that, as early as the reign of Con-
stantine. Bishops were invested with extensive jurisdic-
tion in civil causes, in which suitors elected to have
recourse to their arbitrament. Under Constantine's
successors, that jurisdiction was rather increased than
diminished.^ In the midst of an unlettered population,
the clergy alone were studious and learned ; for, owing
to the anarchy resulting from the decline of tlie Empire,
literature, once so flourishing in ancient Greece and
Rome, became, generation after generation, more and
more circumscribed to the sanctuary and the cloister.
Moreover, the force of events, in Eome and Italy,
threw the weight of government, and the preservation
of the framework of society itself, on the Pope and the
clergy. Nor were these circumstances confined to the
Italian Peninsula. In nearly eveiy European State,
from at least the seventh or eighth, down, to the six-
teenth, century, the Church took a leading part in the
work of legislation. Even our own history tells us,
that for a long period, commonly, the office of Lord
High Chancellor of England was filled by an ecclesi-
astic ; and that many a bishop, and many a mitred
abbot, took his seat in the upper council of the nation,
side by side with the descendants of the mail-clad
barons of Eunnymede, and of the ennobled conquerors
of Agincourt, Crecy, and Poitiers. For these reasons
especially, among others, the civil law of all Europe is
deeply imbued with the principles and precepts of Chris-
tianity. Moreover, in the adjudication of causes purely
civil, the bishops, in their courts, availed themselves, as
far as practicable, of the Ecclesiastical laws already exist-
ing on Constantine's accession. Those enactments were
the foundation of the Canon Law of the Church.^
' Charlemagnefully confirmed the jurisdiction of bishops in civil causes,
in which suitors had recourse to them ; and, further, he gave the bishops
a power of supervision over the temporal judges. The bishops, pre-
occupied by Ecclesiastical affairs, frequently delegated their jurisdiction
to Ecclesiastical, and sometimes to lay, deputies, presiding in their place.
2 Canon Law. From the Greek Kaviiv, a rule, a law.
630 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
The Canon Law is composed of the Decrees of general
and particular councils, approved by the Holy See, and
the Decretals of Popes, concerning questions of morals
and Ecclesiastical discipline.^ In the first three cen-
turies of Christianity, while the Emperors were yet
Pagan, there were held more than twenty councils, in
the East, in Italy, in Gaul, and in Spain, and, in the
greater part of these, laws of discipline were enacted.
The laws of these and subsequent councils, till the end
of the fifth century, wgre collected under the title of
the Canons of the Apostles. The first fifty were trans-
lated from the original Greek, by Dionysius Exiguus,
a Eoman abbot, about the year 500. They were pub-
lished again, half a century later (increased in number
to eighty-five), by Joannes Scholasticus, who was made
Patriarch of Constantinople in 565. But these could
not be unreservedly accepted; as, for instance, the
forty-sixth pronounced all baptism by heretics invalid.
Taken as a whole, however, they formed the first foun-
dation of the Canon Law. They were called Apostolic
^ Decretals are the letters of Popes, deciding points of morals and
discipline, in reply to bishops, or others, consulting them. They are
called Decretals, because they are decisions having the force of law in
the Church. The earliest extant are the collection of Dionysius Exiguus,
alluded to in the text, who wrote about A.D. 500. They range from
Pope Saint Siricius, A.D. 385, to Saint Anastasius II. , A.D. 498. The
first is that addressed by Siricius to Hymerius,- Bishop of Tarragona,
under date of I Ith of February, 385. These were followed by several
other collections. One of the principal was that of Gratian, a Benedic-
tine monk, which comes down to A.D. 1150, and has, several times,
been republished, with corrections and emendations. Perhaps the
most important are the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX., drawn up, in
obedience to his orders, by Saint Raymond of Pegnafort, and extending
from A.D. 1 1 50 to 1234. This work, styled Deeretaliwm I). Oregorii IX.
Compilatio, is divided into five books. Next were published, in 1298, the
Decretals of Boniface VIII. In this collection, which Boniface entitled
Seoaus, or the Sixth Book, although it is itself divided into five books,
we have, not only the Decretals of that Pontiff and of his predecessors
ba«k to Gregory IX., but also the decrees of the Thirteenth and Four-
teenth General Councils, both held at Lyons, in 1245 and 1274 respec-
tively. Next followed the ClementincB, enacted in the Fifteenth General
Council, held at Vienne, a.d. 131 i, and presided over by Clement V.,
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 6 3 I
Canons ; according to some, as having been drawn up
by the Apostles ; but, more probably, according to others,
from having been adopted by the earliest councils, as
containing Apostolic doctrine. Dionysius himself is
doubtful of the first view, as in his preface he speaks of
them as Canones qui dicuntur Aposfolorum. They
regarded not only the administration of the Sacraments,
the duties of bishops, the morals of the clergy, the
observance of Lent, and the celebration of Easter ; but
they moreover dealt with the administration of Ecclesi-
astical property, the validity of marriage, and other
matters which concern civil order ; and, on many points,
necessarily, they were applicable to ordinary secular
causes. Eor, in a Christian community, notwithstand-
ing the theories of certain modern doctrinaires to the
contrary, it is impossible to keep separate and distinct
the principles of civil jurisprudence and the maxims
and precepts of the Gospel.
In the lapse of time, the body of the Canon Law,
Corpus Juris Ganonici, was gradually increased by the
in person. They contain also several of that PontifE's decisions given
before and after that council. They were promulgated by his successor,
John XXII., A.D. 1317, and were followed by the Extrwvagamies of the
latter. John's Decretals were so named, because they "wandered
outside," or beyond, the limits of former collections, or, in other words,
were vagtmtes extra Corpiis Jwis Oanonici. The same may be said of
the Bxtravagantes Communes, which comprise the Constitutions of
a series of Popes, from Urban IV. to Sixtus IV., both inclusive, A.D.
1 26 1 to 1484. They both now, however, form a portion of "the Body
of the Canon Law," Corpus Jwris Oanonici, which, at the present day,
comprises six collections of Decretals ; viz. the JDecretum of Gratian,
the Decretaies of Gregory IX., the Sextus of Boniface VIII., the
Clementince, the Bxtravagantes of John XXII.,. and the Exlra/vagantes
Communes. The OlemerctmcB here mentioned are not to be confounded
with the apocryphal writings so called, falsely attributed to Saint
Clement Pope. I have elsewhere alluded to the False Decretals of
Isidore Mercator, published in the beginning of the ninth century.
The six collections of Decretals, above mentioned, are supplemented
by the Jus namsmnum, or most recent law, which comprises the canons
of General Councils, since that of Vienne, the Decretals of Popes, and
the decisions of the Roman Congregations confirmed by the Holy See,
in modern times.
632 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
additional enactments of Popes and councils, as the
necessity arose.^ Conceived in the wise and beneficent
spirit of Christianity, and drawn up with that careful
deliberation, which is admittedly a characteristic of the
proceedings of the Holy See, the Canon Law is more or
less interwoven with, and, in many particulars, bene-
ficially influences, the jurisprudence of all Christian
nations.
So deep (says Lord Stair) hath this Canon Law teen rooted,
that even where the Pope's authority is rejected, yet consideration
must be had to these laws, not only as those by which Church
benefices have been erected and ordered, but as likewise contain-
ing many equitable and profitable laws, which, because of their
weighty matter and their being once received, may more fitly be
retained than rejected.^
We now come to the Crusades — a vexed question,
but one in which the weight of evidence is all in favour
of the general opinion, that, in originating and encour-
aging those expeditions, in the Middle Ages, the Papacy
conferred great benefits on mankind. Naturally, at the
time, all Christian hearts were turned towards Palestine,
a land sanctified by the life and actions of the world's
Eedeemer. But the holy places were desecrated, the
Christian inhabitants were oppressed and enslaved, and
the numerous Christian pilgrims were plundered and
otherwise maltreated, by the Infidel masters of the
country. Not only this; but, in his design of extir-
pating the Christian name, and universally substituting
the Crescent for the Cross, the Mahometan menaced
the great capital of the Eastern Empire, had made good
his ground in Spain, and was preparing for the con-
quest of all Western Europe. " It cannot be denied,"
says M. Michaud, the most laborious and probably the
1 This was especially the case after the death o£ CharlemagBe, when
the wars and confusion that ensued rendered the meeting of councils
difficult — nay, for the time, impossible. Then the Popes were very
much consulted, by bishops, abbots, and sovereign princes — sometimes
eyen about temporal aSairs.
' Stair. "Institutions of the Law of Scotland," L i. 14.
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 633
most learned writer on the subject, " that the Crusades
powerfully contributed to save European societies from
the invasion of the barbarians, and "in this, no doubt,
lay the first and the greatest of all the advantages which
humanity derived from them."
The most striking feature of the Crusades was their
Catholicity, or universality. At the bidding of the
Holy Father, all Europe rose en masse — youth and age,
rich and poor, noble and peasant ; and kings were the
leaders of the vast armaments. The undertaking was
in accord with the spirit of the age — an age of religion
and chivalry. Not for the annexation of territory, not
for plunder, not for revenge, but from the highest
motives of vindicating God's glory, and rescuing their
fellow Christians from tyranny and bondage, those
countless hosts were set in motion ;. and, bound by vow
not to retrace their steps until their glorious end was
accomplished, they endured privation, suffering, the
breaking up of their homes, the loss of worldly goods,
and the sacrifice of life itself — all on a gigantic scale, —
thus presenting a unique spectacle of Christian faith
and union, and forming one of the grandest and most
sublime passages in human histoiy.
It must be admitted that with all this there was an
intermixture of evils unavoidable in such enterprises ;
but, again, for the time, wars and dissensions ceased at
home, commerce was extended, the useful arts were
imparted and acquired, and in other respects civilization
received a considerable impulse from the movement.
Such was then the influence of the Successor of Saint
Peter, that the seemingly deserted strongholds of prince
and -duke, and the slenderly garrisoned capitals of kings,
all remained secure and intact, under the safeguard of
the Holy See. For the power of the Keys alone — the
fear of excommunication — was sufficient to restrain the
ambitious designs of those who might otherwise have
attempted the usurpation of territories, which their
rulers, in assuming the cross, had placed under the
634 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
special protection of the Pope. More than one non-
Catholic writer, in modern times, has deplored that the
spirit of Christian chivalry, which animated men in
those days of united Christendom, appears to have
departed for ever.
In the care of the poor, widows, orphans, and the
destitute sick, the Church, from the earliest ages, has
followed the precepts and example of her Divine
Founder. The ancient Greeks and Eomans, notwith-
standing all their refinement and intellectual culture,
made no provision for such objects. But under the
Christian dispensation, which regarded not only the
eternal but the temporal interests of man, the case was
different. Hence the Apostles immediately appointed
Deacons, to minister to the needy and helpless ; and,
with the growth of the Church, this good work steadily
increased, and, varying in form with time and place,
has ever since continued. It was. a touching scene,
when in the persecution of Valerian, A.D. 258, after the
martyrdom of the holy Pope Xystus, the Deacon
Laurence was summoned before the Pagan Prefect oi
Eonie, and was ordered to produce the treasures of the
Church ; and Laurence begged to be allowed till the
following day to coUect them; and at the appointed
hour next morning he appeared again before the tribunal,
attended by the poor, the infirm, the aged, the helpless
orphans, and the consecrated virgins who ministered to
them ; and pointing to these he said : " Behold our trea-
sures. In the sight of Heaven, they are of great price."
In the fourth century, when persecution was at an
end, and the Church breathed freely, under the Chris-
tian Emperors, we find gradually established, £repho-
tropMa,^ or houses for foundlings or other destitute
infants, who but for such aid would have perished;
OrpJianotrophia,^ or orphanages for children of both
^ From the Greek Bp^^os, an infant at the breast, and rpiAa oi
Tpo<t>i(ji, to nourish.
" Prom the Greek 'Op<t>ij.vhi, ^, an orphan, and rpoipiui, to nourish.
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 635
sexes ; Nosocomial or hospitals for the sick ; Geronto-
comia^ or asylums for the aged; Ptochotrophia,^ or
general asylums for the poor, and Xenodochia,^ or houses
of hospitality for strangers, in all of which not only the
temporal but also the spiritual necessities of the inmates
were fully attended to. From the capital of Christendom,
the example spread, in time, and in the large cities of
the East and West similar anstitutions were founded.
The wars and confusion which followed the breaking
up of the Empire of Charlemagne, in the ninth and
tenth centuries, destroyed nearly all these houses ; but,
on the return of peace, they were re-established by the
Church. As centuries moved on, the great religious
orders, under the special sanction of the Holy Father,
first out of their resources, and subsequently by more
active co-operation, largely aided the good work : and,
in more recent times, the numerous religious congrega-
tions, approved by the Pope, each fulfilling its own
special function, devoted, as they still devote, them-
selves, with all the power of their untiring zeal and
perfect organization, to the succour of suffering
humanity.
But we are told by modern economists that alms beget
idleness and improvidence. " Better give no such aid ;
but let labour and economy supply the workman with
means, out of his savings, to meet all emergencies."
Then, if a poor man should be stricken down by fever,
or disabled by an accident, is there to be no hospital
to receive him ? Is there to be no Christian society or
association, to maintain his wife and six or eight young
children, during his illness and convalescence? Will
he have been able to save sufidcient for all casualties
out of his small earnings, even where employment is
constant ? Again, are the orphans of the poor to be
^ From the Greek TS&iros, sickness, and Ko/iiu, to take care of.
^ From the Greek Tipav, yipovTOS, an old man, and Ko/iiu, to take
care of.
' From the Greek IItwxJs, poor, and rpoipiu, to nourish.
* From the Greek S^os, a stranger, and d^xo/Mi to take or receive.
636 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
allowed to perish, by a Christian community ? Is no
helping hand to be extended to the widow, with young
children, starving on the scanty pittance, earned by her
unceasing toil? True, there should be no abuse of
charity ; alms ought not to be given to the improvident
01- undeserving ; but by no means can abuses be better
guarded against than by the rules, the experience, and
the personal ministrations, of the several religious
societies established for charitable purposes, with the
sanction of the Holy See.^ A visit to a hospital or an
orphanage, or an asylum, under the care of nuns, such
as the Santo Spirito in Eome, the Hotel Dieu in Paris,^
the Mater Misericordice in Dublin, or any of the Irish
workhouse hospitals, will speak far more eloquently
than any words that could be written on the subject.
It is well, however, thus far to allude to an objection
to all alms-giving, or relief of the poor, which one hears
urged of late, and which is especially in accord with
the views of some of the objectors — happily in these
countries a small number, — who ignore the Sacred
Volume, in which we are told, " The poor you have
always with you." Even England, over and above her
innumerable charitable institutions, supported with a
munificence characteristic of the nation, is obliged
annually to expend, under the cumbrous system of her
Poor Laws, a sum of about eight million pounds
sterling, of which two million two hundred thousand
pounds are absorbed in charges, whilst in Ireland
^ The association, established in London, a few years ago, for the
" Organization of charity," in order to prevent and detect imposition,
is, no doubt, of great value, especially in large cities ; not only directly,
in fulfilling its main. object, but indirectly also, in educating and bene-
fioially influencing charitable institutions and individuals, particularly
the latter, in the exercise of that discriminating care by which all alms-
giving should be accompanied and directed.
^ Since the publication of the first edition of this book, the hatred
of all religion has led the French Government to expel the nuns from
the Ilotd Dieu, and to substitute lay nurses for them, to the deep
regret, emphatically expressed, of the entire medical staff of the
Hospital,
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 637
and Scotland the total annual expenditure in legal
relief of the poor, is one million and nine hundred
thousand pounds, respectively.^
Formerly, all those who required it were cordially
relieved at the doors of the monasteries in these
countries, \^ithout any staff expenses whatever. But,
in instituting a comparison of the two systems, full
allowance must be made for the difference between the
present dense population, and the sparse numbers of
the inhabitants of these islands before the reign of
Elizabeth.
Allusion has already been made to the early labours
of the Church, in fulfilment of her mission to teach all
nations. In modern times, as detailed in the chapter
on the Hierarchy, the same work unceasingly goes on.
Here, the benefits are not confined to the mere impart-
ing of the truths and maxims of the Gospel ; for, over
and above the humanizing effects of Christianity itself,
wherever the missionary has appeared, civilization and
the arts of peace have followed in his footsteps. ' This
is pleasingly illustrated in the history of the Jesuit
missions in Paraguay and Brazil, where were established
those happy communities, of simple tastes and blame-
less lives, such as More loved tjo picture in imagination,
and a celebrated philanthropist in our day sighs for,
seemingly in vain. Not to dwell on the great French
' Poor Law Relief ; 1880: —
England and Wales :
In-door relief ;£^I,7S7.749
Out-door relief ... . . 2,710,778
Maintenance of lunatics in asylums . 994,204
Workhouse loans and interest repaid . . 319,426
Salaries and rations of officers and superan-
nuation iiOS3,2i8
Other expenses ..... 1,181,511
Total . 8,016,886
Ireland : total expenditure, including that
under Medical Charities Acts . . . 1,083,342
Scotland : ditto, ditto 93i>l44
638 THE CHAIR OF PETEE.
association of the Propagation of the Faith, and other
kindred institutions and religious societies, under the
immediate control of the Holy See, let us take a glance
at the College " De Propaganda Fide," and we shall see
what the efforts .of the Papacy are, as they have ever
been, in the field of missionary labour.
In order to systematize, and increase the efficiency of,
existing material, the great College of the Propaganda
was founded in 1622, by Gregory XY., for the educa-
cation of young men " from infidel or heretical coun-
tries," who would return, as missionaries, to diffuse the
Catholic faith among their fellow-countrymen. The
present building, after the designs of Bernini, was
erected by Gregory's immediate successor, Urban VIII.
It possesses a good theological library ; and has a most
interesting collection of the letters and memoirs of the
foreign missions ; and is also rich in Oriental Manu-
scripts. In the printing-office, there are the characters
of over fifty different languages, or, rather, groups of
languages, for printing books for the foreign missions.
This important institution is presided over by a body
of cardinals, called "the Sacred Congregation of the
Propagation of the Faith," and it has a sub-congrega-
tion for the affairs of the Oriental rite. The Propa-
ganda has the immediate charge of all the delegations,
vicariates, and prefectures, Apostolic — ^that is, the mis-
sionary Churches throughout the world.^
Formerly, there used to be an annual academical
exhibition held at the Propaganda, within the octave of
the feast of the Epiphany, in the presence of the Papal
court, the foreign ambassadors, and distinguished
strangers. It was discontinued, on the usurpation of
the Pope's territories, by the ItaUan Government in
1870; but it was resumed in 1880, by orders of his
present Holiness. It was held in the month of April
^ The recent spoliation, by the ItaUan Government, of the revenues of
this great Cosmopolitan establishment— fvmda contributed by all nations
— has called forth an indignant protest from Catholic Christendom.
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 639
that year, in the Vatican ; and the following particulars
thereof are abridged from the account given by the
Eoman correspondent of an Irish Journal.^
The Consistorial Hall was arranged with a throne at one side
of the splendid chamber, and with seats for the cardinals and
ambassadors placed in a circle, with rows of chairs extending at
either side for the prelates and the privileged persons permitted
to be present. Mustafa and the gentlemen of the Sistine choir
occupied part of the upper end of the room, and sang some
beautiful pieces of music with exquisite skill.
Leo XIII. entered the hall at a quarter past ten, attended by
Monsignor Cataldi, Prefect of Pontifical Cereinonies, his major-
domo and master of the camera, his private chamberlains, Boccali
and Castrocane, the Marq'uis Serlupi and Prince Antici Mattel,
and several cardinals. The seats for the cor^ps diplomatique were
occupied by the ambassadors or ministers of France, Spain,
Portugal, Monaco; Bolivia, and other States.
The proceedings commenced by the reading in Italian of a
prolusion by the Rev. Michele Camillieri, of Smyrna, and then
followed the recitation of poetical compositions in forty-nine
different languages, including Hebrew,, Chaldaic, Coptic, Arabic,
Turkish, Curd, Cingalese, Tartar, Armenian, Persian, Syriac,
Ethiopic, and Akka. Twenty-one languages of Asia and Africa
were spoken in the first part of the Accademia by young men of
colour, ranging from the pale yellow of natives of the Lebanon
or Mesopotamia to the sooty black of the Nubians and Central
Africans. The recitations were interspersed with popular songs
in Chaldee, Arabic, Curd, Cingalese, Armenian, and Syriac.
The second part comprised recitations and songs in twenty-
eight languages of Europe, including Greek, Giorgian, Celtic,
Bulgar, and Rumanian. The Accademia was brought to a ter-
mination by the benediction given by the Holy Father, and
at half-past twelve p.m. the assemblage broke up. To this
Accademia were admitted deputations from the students of the
Ecclesiastical colleges in Rome.''
1 Letter in the Freeman's Journal, dated Rome, April 18, 1880.
' An interesting feature formerly in the Academical exhibitions of
the Propaganda was the examination of the students in their own several
languages by Cardinal Mezzofanti — probably the greatest linguist that
ever lived. Joseph Caspar Mezzofanti was bom of humble parentage
in Bologna in 1774. From bis early boyhood, he displayed a singular
taste for, and power of acquiring, languages. At the age of twenty-
three, when he was ordained priest, he was complete master of nine
languages, besides his native Italian — namely, Latin, Greek, Hebrew,
640 THE CHAIE OF PETEK.
The preservation of Literature and Science, through
the wars and anarchy of the Middle Ages, is universally
admitted to have been altogether the work of the
Church. When districts were overrun and plundered
by hostile bands, the monasteries were generally re-
spected; and the inmates of those hallowed retreats,
regardless of the outer world, devoted themselves to
prayer, labour, study, and the transcription of manu-
scripts. There, too, were elaborated those great works,
such as the Summa of Saint Thomas, which are destined
to live for ever. We need not go back to that early
period, when the crowded monastic seminaries of these
islands were hospitably thrown open to all strangers, —
" When the Churcli of the Isles saw her glories arise—
Columba the dove-like, and Oarthagh the wise ;
And the school and the temple gave light to each shore,
From clefted Zona to wooded Lismore : "
but, in recalling the familiar names of the Venerable
Bede, Alcuin of York, Lanfranc, Saint Anselm, Saint
Coptic, Arabic, French, Spanish, German, and Swedish. About thia
time, he was appointed Professor of Arabic in the University of Bologna.
He remained in that city several years, devoted to his favourite study,
and discharging his sacred functions with exemplary zeal and punctu-
ality. Meanwhile the fame of his acquirements had gone forth ; and
he received pressing invitations to settle in B«me, Paris, Naples,
Vienna, and Plorenoe ; but he preferred remaining in his native place.
On the accession of Gregory XVI., in 1831, he was one of a deputation
from Bologna, to congratulate His Holiness ; when the Pope expressed
a wish, that he should reside in Rome. According to etiquette, this
wish of the Supreme Pontiff was a command, which could not be dis-
obeyed. Two years later, Mezzofanti was appointed Warden of the
Vatican Library, in succession to the learned Angelo Mai, promoted
to the post of Secretary of the Propaganda ; and in 1838 he and Mai
received Cardinal's hats. It has been ascertained, beyond all doubt,
by careful inquiry of persons of different nations who knew him well,
that Cardinal Mezzofanti spoke fluently fifty-eight languages, and that
he knew twenty others more or less perfectly. Those with whom he
conversed in their own tongues, Europeans and Orientals, bore testi-
mony, not only to his fluency, but to his accuracy in grammar and
accent, as well as his acquaintance with the literature of their several
countries. Latterly, among his linguistic exercises, he used to preach,
in their own language, to the Chinese students of the Propaganda.
This singularly gifted man died in Rome on the 15th of March, 1849.
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 64 1
Bernard, Albertus Magnus, Saint Thomas of Aquin,
Saint Bonaventure, John Duns Scotus, and Thomas i
Kempis, ranging from the eighth to the fifteenth cen-
tury, and taken from amidst a crowd of fellow-labourers
in the same field, we cannot but plainly see how deeply
learning and religion were indebted to the monastic
institutions of the Middle Ages.
Among the religious orders, which in former times
accomplished so much for the preservation and revival
of learning, the Benedictines hold a proud pre-eminence ;
and, in more recent days, their great Congregation of
Saint Maur has given to the world the works of
Mabillon, Bernard de Montfaucon, Jean Luc D'Achery,
PrauQois Lami, Denys de Sainte Marthe, Edmond Mar-
tfene, and Thierry Euinart — writers justly enjoying the
respect and grateful appreciation of students of every
Christian communion.'
On the present occasion (says Dngald Stewart) I shall content
myself with remarking the important effects produced by the
numerous monastic establishments all over the Christian world,
in preserving, amidst the general wreck, the inestimable remains
of Greek and Roman refinement ; and in keeping alive, during
so many centuries, those scattered sparks of truth and of science,
which were afterwards to kindle into so bright a flame. I
mention this particularly, because, in our zeal against the vices
and corruptions of the Eomish Church, we are too apt to forget
how deeply we are indebted to its superstitious and apparently
useless foundations, for the most precious advantages that we now
enjoy.2
^ The Benedictine order was founded by Saint Benedict at Monte
Cassino, in the province of Caserta in Italy, in 529. According to
Mabillon and other authorities, it was estabUshed in England as early
as A.D. 596, as, in their opinion, Augustine and his companions, sent
over by Saint Gregory the Great, that year, for the completion of the
conversion of England, were Benedictine monks. It was by far the
most numerous and most influential of the religious orders in England,
down to the suppression under Henry VIII. The Congregation of
Saint Maur was established in France in 1621, reviving the austerity
of the original rule, with the approval of Pope Gregory XV., and was
confirmed by his successor. Urban VIII.
^ Dugald Stewart, Preliminary Dissertation, in JEncydopcedia Britan-
nica, " On the Progress of Metaphysical and Ethical Philosphy, since
2S
642 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
It was (says Voltaire) for a long period, a consolation for the
human race, that there should be asylums open to aU who
wished to escape the oppressions of the Goth and Vandal rule.
Almost all who were not lords of castles were slaves : the peace
of the cloister afforded a refuge from tyranny and war. . . .
Whatever little knowledge remained among the Barbarians, was
perpetuated in the cloisters. The Benedictiiies transcribed books.
By degrees useful inventions issued from the monasteries. More-
over, the religious cultivated the earth, sang the praises of God,
lived frugally, exercised hospitality, and their example might
serve to mitigate the ferocity of those times of barbarism. . . .
It cannot be denied that there were great virtues in the cloister.
There is hardly one monastery at present that does not contain
some admirable souls, who are the honour of human nature.^
Besides the labours of the monks, the bishops too, as
a rule, did what lay in their power to keep alive the
scattered embers of knowledge. Close by the bishop's
house, which generally adjoined the Cathedral, there
was a school or seminary, opened for the education of
youth; and it frequently happened that, in troubled
times, those establishments were respected, as well as
the monasteries.
A necessary consequence, and at the same time a
conclusive proof, of the Church having been the pre-
server and promoter of learning, in the Middle Ages,
is that all the literature and all the jurisprudence — in a
word, the whole moral and intellectual life, of that period
— was deeply imbued with the spirit of Christianity.
It is generally admitted that, now for many ages,
the Church has spared no pains to make Literature,
Science, and the Arts the handmaids of Eeligion. In
the revival of letters in Europe,'" p. 14. The above testimony is
perhaps the more valuable, as coming from a writer so prejudiced
against the Church. Indeed, his preju(Sce here leads him into a strange
inconsiBtenoy, or self-contradiction, where he speaks of "how deeply
we are indebted to its superstitious and apparently useless foundations,
for the most precious advantages that we now enjoy." The word
apparerUly, qualifying "useless," is especially deserving of note. Why
not similarly qualify "superstitious".? If appearances deceive in the
one case, may they not deceive in the other ?
* Voltaire, "Essai sur les Mceurs et I'Esprit des Nations," chap.
(xxxix, *^
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 643
the splendid libraries and galleries of art treasures,
amassed by the Popes ; in their munificent patronage
of men of learning and genius; in the universities,
colleges, and seminaries, they have, for so many cen-
turies, founded and liberally endowed ; we have abun-
dant evidence of their anxiety that the cultivation of
letters, science, and the arts, should go hand in hand
with the bringing up of youth in the knowledge and
practice of the truths and precepts of Christianity.
Even in semi-barbarous nations, this training has gained
the missionary access, where otherwise he might have
met with rigid exclusion, if not death ; and so it has
come to pass that the Jesuit father has made the
observatory at Pekin, or the laboratory at Yedo, a
stepping-stone to the erection of Christian schools and
temples, in perhaps the most anti-Christian empires in
the world.
Here, a most interesting fact may be referred to — the
Eeformation of the Calendar by Pope Gregory XIIL,
in the year 1582. The Calendar is so named from the
Greek KoKem, "I call;" because on the first day, or
calends, of each month, the Pagan priests used to call
the people together, to announce to them the festivals
or sacred days, to be observed during the month.
Amongst the ancient Eomans, the year commenced
with March. Hence, as indicated by their names,
September, October, November, and December, were
respectively the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth
months. The lunar synodical month, or revolution of
the moon, occupies twenty-nine and a half days, or, to
speak more accurately, twenty-nine days, twelve hours,
forty-four minutes, and three seconds. Twelve of these
months made the year 354 days, or ii^ days less than
the actual solar year. In consequence of this, the lunar
computation was abandoned for the solar; but the
twelve months, with a day or two added to some, were
retained as a convenient division of the 365 days of
the year. This change was accomplished by Julius
644 "^^^ CHAIR OF PETER.
Csesar, who called in the aid of the celebrated astro-
nomer, Sosigenes of Alexandria, for the purpose. It
was accordingly decreed, that, whereas the mean length
of the year was 365^ days, the four quarters of a day,
added together, should be given to every fourth year,
which, consequently, would consist of 366 days, while
the other years would consist of 365. The year thus
receiving an additional day. is called Bissextile, or Leap
year.i
But the solar year is not quite 36 5 i days, being,
accurately speaking, 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes,
and 49.62 seconds : that is, there is short of 365^ days
in each year a space of 1 1 minutes and 10.38 seconds,
which would amount to a day in 129 years, or about
three days in four centuries. The Julian period com-
menced on the 1st of January, 46 Before Christ, or
708 of the Founding of the City. The vernal equinox
that year fell on the 2Sth of March ; and at the Council
of Nice, held A.D. 325, it had gone back to the 21st, and
in A.D. 1582, the year of the reformation of the Calendar,
it had receded to the i ith of that month.^ In other
words, the civil year was then ten days wrong, or ten
days behind the true solar year.
To remedy this. Pope Gregory XIII.^ issued a Bull,
' This additional day, every fourth year, was given to February, as
being the shortest month in the year ; and was intercalated, or inserted
in the calendar, between the 24th and 25th of that month. The 24th
was, in the old Koman Calendar, called the Sexto CcUendas Martii, or
the sixth day before the Calends of March, and the Intercalary, or
inserted day, was called Ms-Sexto, or double-sixth before the Calends of
March. Hence the year itself was called Bissextile. " Leap year " is
said to be so styled from the year's leaping over, as it were, one day
more than ordinary years. Thus, if the Ist of April this year is Monday,
next year it will be Tuesday ; but supposing the year after that to be
Leap year, it will leap over one day, so that the ist of April will fall
on Thursday.
" The Equinox, from the Latin ceqwus, equail, and nox, night, is the
precise time when the sun enters the equinoctial circle, and there is
equal day and night throughout the world. This happens on the 2i8t
of March, and 23rd of September, whence they are called the vernal
and autumnal equinoxes, respectively.
' Gregory XIIL, a Bolognese, governed the Church, A.D, 1572-1585.
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 64 S
in the month of March, 1582, abolishing the Julian,
and substituting for it the Gregorian Calendar, or " New
Style." As it was found that there was an error of 1 1
minutes and 10 seconds annually, or of three days in
every four centuries, in the Julian calculation, the Pope
ordered that there should be no intercalation, or inser-
tion of a day in February, in centenary years, save those
which are multiples of four hundred. Thus, in the
year 1600, there were twenty-nine days in February;
in 1700 and 1800, there were only twenty-eight; in
1900, also, there will be only twenty-eight: but, in
A.D. 2000, there will be twenty-nine days in that month.
In other words, there are, under the Gregorian system,
ninety-seven Leap years in every four centuries, or
three less than under the Julian code, which it has
superseded. This arrangement, for all practical ends,
is sufficiently accurate ; as, under it, there would be a
difference of one day only in four thousand years.
Gregory further ordered, that the sth of October, 1582,
the day after the feast of Saint Francis, should be
reckoned the 15th of that month. Thus, the vernal
equinox, which fell on the nth of March, was restored
to the twenty-first. The Pope's chief agents in this
important work were Cardinal Serleto, Luigi Lilio
Ghiraldi, and Father Clavius the Jesuit; especially the
last, who made all the calculations, and published a
voluminous work on the subject." ^
The Gregorian Calendar was immediately adopted by
' Christopherus Clavitia was bom in Bamberg, in Bavaria, in 1537.
He entered young among the Jesuits ; and became remarkable, ere
long, for hia high scientific attainments. By order of Pope Gregory
XIII., he took the leading part in the reformation of the Calendar.
His works, which were published in five volumes folio, contain his
Roma/ni Calenda/rii a Gregorio XIII., P.M. restituti Explicatio, Eomce,
1603. Hedied in 1612. Luigi Lilio Grbiraldi, a celebrated astronomer
of Naples, is said to have been the actual author of the Gregorian
system ; but he died before its completion. The idea of reforming the
Calendar had been entertained by Pope Sixtus IV., a.d. 1474 ; but the
work was abandoned, owing to the death of the astronomer Regiomon-
tanus, to Whom its supervision bad been entrusted by His Holiness.
646 THE CHAIE OF PETER.
all the Catholic States ; but' in Denmark, Sweden, and
the Protestant States of Germany, it was not admitted
until the year 1700. England was stiU more tardy in
acknowledging its merits;, and it was only in 175 1
that she passed an Act of Parliament for its adoption.^
This change was carried out hy making the day immedi-
ately following the 2nd of September, 1752, the 14th
of that month, and thenceforward observing the Gregorian
computation. At the same time it was ordered that
the commencement of the civil year should be altered
from the 2Sth of March to the ist of January.^ In
Scotland, however, the New Style had been introduced
from the ist of January, 1600. In Eussia, the Julian
Calendar is still adhered to.
For many centuries, the Papacy has stood alone, in
what it may justly lay claim to, as an exclusively
special function — the patronage and development of
the Fine Arts, in the service of religion. And it is a
fact well worthy of the consideration of the unbeliever,
that the greatest works of art which have ever been
produced, have drawn their inspiration from, and have
' " The Protestant countries came much more Blowly into the altera-
tion," says Mr. Hallam, "truth being no longer truth when promul-
gated by the Pope." ("Introduction to the Literature of Europe,"
vol. ii. chap. 8, n. 15.)
" The 24th of George II., entituled "an Act for regulating the com-
mencement of the year, and for correcting the Calendar now in use "
(Public General Acts, 1751, p. 571. London, Baskett, 1 751). At one
period, the 2Sth of December, the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord,
was reckoned the first day of the year by Christian nations ; and, at
another period, the 25th of March, the Feast of the Annunciation, or,
again, Easter Sunday, was so observed. In England, the system of
commencing the year with the 2Sth of December is said to have pre-
vailed as early as the seventh century, and to have continued to the
close of the twelfth. Then the 25th of March was substituted, and was
observed as the first day of the year, until the adoption of the Gregorian
Calendar in 1752. By bearing these facts in mind, we are able to
account for, and reconcile, some apparent discrepancies in the dates
aaoribed by different Mediaeval writers to certain important events in
history. We have seen, that the year commenced with the 1st of
January under the Julian system. Vide Petavium, "Rationarium
Temporum," p. 409, et aliis locis ; Leyden, 1710.
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACy. 647.
been dedicated to, the religion of Christ. This is
exemplified in the wondrous Cartoons of Eaphael, his
Transfiguration, his Madonna di San Sisto, and his
other immortal works; Domenichino's Communion of
Saint Jerome ; the Assumption of Oorregio ; and the
grand creations of Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci,
Guido Eeni, Carlo Dolci, the Caracci, Murillo, and the
other great Masters. Here we find portrayed, in lines
of surpassing dignity and grace, the Incarnate God, the
Immaculate Virgin Mother, the solemn scenes of the
mystery of Man's Redemption — those familiar and
ever-abiding truths, which, from our earliest childhood,
have been so closely interwoven in our minds, as to
form, as it were, part of our existence. All those
who have visited the cathedrals of Continental Europe,
must have, over and over again, felt, how the storied
fresco, the glowing canvas, the breathing marble —
combined with "the genius of the place" — tend to
raise our hearts above worldly afifairs, and to fill
them with high and holy aspirations, befitting man's
eternal destiny.^
Still more conducive to such a salutary train of
thought are the venerable piles themselves, so sug-
gestive in their grandeur of design, their perfection of
detail, their chastened beauty. Let us visit a Gothic
cathedral — the work of those Middle Ages which some
persons in our day affect to despise; and yet they were
Ages of Faith, when all Christian peoples were united
in one flock, under one Chief Pastor — ages which could
give embodiment and form to their faith and devotion,
in such glorious structures. On entering, we behold,
drawn out in long perspective, the graceful columns
bearing the lofty clerestory, with its exquisite tracery
^ " The Church of Rome has ever been the nurse of Arts, but paint-
ing has been its favourite child," observes Sir David Wiliie, writing
from Italy in 1827. "The art of painting seems made tor the service
of Christianity. Would that the Catholics were not the only sect that
had seen its advantages " (Cunningham's Life of Wilkie, vol i.).
648 THE CSAIK OF PETER.
of interlacing arches, which at a dizzy height daringly
overspan the nave, reminding us of the primeval forest,
in which the first men raised their hearts, in prayer, to
the Creator. Alike impressive are the choir and sanc-
tuary, so rich in appropriate detail; the aisles, with
their several recessed chapels and votive altars — each
in itself an artistic study; "the dim reKgious light,"
toned down by its tinted medium ; the solemnity, grace,
and beauty of the whole, combined with a soKdity and
strength which seem to bid defiance to the march of
time. Both within and without, it wUl be observed
that all the lines tend upwards, as if converging to one
supreme apex — pointed arch, and pier, and flying
buttress, all harmonizing with and sustaining the aerial
spire, which crowns the hallowed work, and soars to
heaven.
In Southern Europe, a preference was given to the
horizontal lines, circular arch, portico, and colonnade,
of ancient Greece and Eome — ^traditions of the Classic
period ; probably as being more suitable to the climate,
and more in accordance with the genius of the people.
Here the expansive dome or cupola is seen in its per-
fection. Of many familiar specimens of this style, let
us take one, which stands alone and unapproachable
in its majestic grandeur. To describe Saint Peter's
would be a vain attempt. It must be seen to be appre-
ciated. "We stand in the vestibule of the Vatican
Basilica,'' says Mabillon, "nor do we dare to violate
with a rude pen the majesty of so Divine a fabric.
For there are some things which are praised in no way
better than by amazement and silence." ^
My readers are, no doubt, acquainted with the re-
lative proportions of Saint Peter's and Saint Paul's in
London, the latter being considered to come next to
the great Eoman Basilica, longo tamen intervallo. It
may be well, however, to repeat here, that the height,
' Mabillon, " Iter Italioum.''
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 649
from the floor to the top of the cross surmounting the
dome, is 458 feet in Saint Peter's, and 362 in Saint
Paul's ; that the area covered by the floor is five English
acres in the former, and two in the latter; and that
the entire actual bulk of material in each building is
estimated in the relative proportions of four and one.
The cost of Saint Peter's, with its mosaics, paint-
ings, sculptures, ornaments, and furniture, is set down
at over twelve million pounds sterling, whilst Saint
Paul's was finished at a cost of three-quarters of a
million.
Nowhere perhaps is the difference more striking
than in the two domes — Saint Paul's being constructed
of wood, brick, and plaster, sheeted with copper, and,
doubtless, presenting a noble external appearance,
whilst Saint Peter's is a double dome of solid stone-
work, in size and grandeur incomparably beyond the
other.
There is an anecdote in connection with the building
of Saint Peter's which brings vividly before us its
crowning glory — the matchless cupola ; at the same
time that it worthily illustrates the genius of Michael
Angelo. According to Bramante's plan, the dome was
to have been of the dimensions and elevation of
the dome of the Pantheon, the summit of which is
143 feet above the pavement. Michael Angelo, who,
in his seventy-second year, A.D. 1546, was appointed
architect of the building, by Pope Paul III., conceived
the sublime idea of elevating the dome, so that the top
of the cross, by which it is surmounted, should stand
at the stupendous height of 458 feet above the floor of
the church. In submitting the alteration for the Pope's
approval, he said, " Bramante would have reproduced
the dome of the Pantheon on the earth, but I propose
to give it to Tour Holiness in the clouds." And thus
it is, that we now behold, as it were, suspended in mid
air, the most marvellous of all the creations of human
genius — " the vast and wondrous dome," —
650 THE CflAlft OP PETfiK.
" Whicli vies,
In air with earth's chief structures, though their frame
Sits on the firm-set ground, but this the clouds must claim." 1
There is yet another point of contrast. The interior
of Saint Paul's Cathedral is bare, cold, and unfurnished,
and wears an air of neglect ; whereas Saint Peter's, in
every part, displays the perfection of care,^ and is
furnished, as a great church ought to be, with costly
artistic altars, fonts, mosaics, —
^ Of the Basilica of Saint Peter, or the Vatican, well indeed has the
same great poet written : —
' ' Bat thou, of temples old or altars new,
Standest alone — with nothing like to thee —
Worthiest of God, the holy and the true."
It is said that about a.d. 90, Saint Cletus, third Bishop of Rome,
erected an oratory here over the remains of Saint Peter, and, soon
afterwards, was himself interred close beside the Apostle. In the early
part of the fourth century, Constantiue the Great raised a basilica on
the same site. The building having become ruinous, the present
church was commenced by Pope Nicholas V., a.d. 1450 ; but the pro-
gress of the work was slow, until the accession of Julius II., by whom
it was vigorously pushed on. JuUus employed Bramaute as architect,
in 1503, and laid the foundation-stone, three years later. Tlie church
was consecrated by Urban VIII., in 1626, or one hundred and seventy-
six years after it was commenced by Pope Nicholas. If, however, we
take into account the colonnades, sacristy, decorations and other
works, the whole time occupied in carrying it out to completion will
be found to have exceeded three centuries, and to have extended over
the reigns of forty-three Pontiflts. Of the several architects successively
employed, the principal were Bramante, Raphael, Antonio di Sangallo,
Michael Angelo ; Giacomo della Porta, who, under Pope Sixtus V., in
1590, completed the dome ; Carlo Maderuo, who constructed the fa9ade
and portico, A.D. 1614 ; Bernini, who erected the colonnades, uuder
Alexander VII., A.D. 1657-1667 ; and Carlo Marchionni, after whose
designs the sacristy was finished, under Pius VI., in 1780. The facade
of Saint Peter's is greatly found fault with, as being too much broken
up by details, and is considered inferior to the more simple fa?ade of
Saint Paul's. Here, Carlo Mademo is to be blamed for his departure
from the original design.
" There is, as we have already seen.'a special congregation of cardinals,
aided by several officials, charged with the care and repairs of Saint
Peter's, the average annual expenditure on the Basilica being 30,000
Bcudi, or ;^630O.
BENEFITS Of THE PAPACY. 6 S t
" Rich marbles, richer paintings, shrines where flame
The lamps of gold," '
in a word, all that the most lavish expenditure and
the highest art can consecrate to God's glory, and man's
edification.
How the Catholic heart is touched, in a first visit to
this noble temple, on recognizing so many details
appropriate to, and suggestive of, tenets taught us from
the first use of reason ! Of these, not the least is the
inscription, in mosaic, round the circumference at the
base of the dome : TV ES petrvs et svpee banc petram
AEDIFICABO ECCLESIAM MEAM ET TIBI DABO CLAVES EEGNI
COELOEVM.^
And here I may be permitted to observe that a great
many persons — even non-Catholics — question the taste
that could exclude statues and pictures of Christ and
His saints from Saint Paul's, and crowd its walls with
sculptured figures of naval and military heroes— all,
undoubtedly, deserving of honour in a temple raised by
the nation to her great men, but out of place in a church
dedicated to the worship of God.
It is mortifying to reflect (remarks a Protestant writer) that
the Eeformation, favourable as it was to the exercise of the
^ In an earlier chapter, allusion has been made to the Confession or
Tomb of the Apostles, Limina Apostolorum, to which the visitor descends
by a handsome white marble staircase, immediately beneath the dome
of Saint Peter's. Along the balustrade surrounding this sacred shrine,
and dividing it from the floor of the basilica, are ninety-three golden
lamps, perpetually burning, night and day. Here may be seen a
number of devout visitors — bishops, priests, members of religious orders,
and the laity of all ranks — engaged in prayer, some of them frequently
being pilgrims from remote countries. The expression Zimina Aposto-
lorum applies to this holy spot, when there is question of the pilgrimage
to Rome. But when the visitation of bishops to the Limina Apostolorum
is spoken of, it means the place in which the Pope is residing at the
time. Ferraris, " Limina Apostolorum."
^ In the tribune, at the extreme end of the basilica, is the Chair
used by Saint Peter and his immediate successors. It is made of
wood, inlaid with bronze and ivory, and cased in » large, handsome,
bronze chair, supported by four Doctors of the Church — Saints Augus-
tine and Ambrose, Latin, and Saints Athanasius and John Chrysoatom,
Greek.
652 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
human intellect and the general cause of liberty, had, in this
country at least, a very chilling effect upon the state of the
Elegant Arts. In the reign of Edward the Sixth, images and
pictures were not only ejected from the churches, but the people
were publicly tatight to hold in utter abhorrence all graphical
representations of sacred objects. Queen Elizabeth went farther,
and issued a decree for obliterating all such delineations on the
walls of churches, by whitewashing them, and inscribing sentences
of Holy Writ in the room of these figures. When, about seventy
years afterwards, the spirit of Puritanism gained the ascendency,
and broke down all the barriers of the constitution, civil and
ecclesiastical, the ornaments in the churches were among the first
objects of spoliation and destruction. Hence the churches were
converted into barracks for soldiers, and stabling for horses ; the
costly monuments of the dead were stripped of their most valuable
carved work ; the highly ornamental fonts were carried away,
and profanely applied to the vile use of troughs for swine ; in
addition to which sacrilegious outrage, men were hired by the
governing powers, at a daily stipend, to tear down crosses and
images wherever they could be found, and to break in pieces the
beautiful paintings in the windows of the churches ; while, as
the finishing stroke to the climax of iconoclastic fury, all pictures,
without any regard to their beauty, having the figure of the
Saviour of the World, or His Virgin Mother, were commanded to
be destroyed by an express ordinance of Parliament.^
The enemies of the Catholic Church have, in all ages,
been but too rpady wilfully to misrepresent her doctrine
and practice. The " iconoclastic fury " of Edward VI.
and Elizabeth, above referred to, was but a repetition
of the proceedings of Leo the Isaurian and his son
Constantino Copronymus, in the eighth century.^ It
is now nearly thirteen hundred years since Saint
Gregory the Great wrote as follows : " Pictures are the
books of those who cannot read ; they are not adored,
but people see there that which is to be adored." «
' Pilkington, " Dictionary of Painters," Preface to ISditlon of 1820,
p. ix.
^ Vide supra, p. 177.
' "S. Gregorii Magni PP. Epiatolffi," lib. vii. ep. 109. Here we are
reminded of the familiar distich of the Jesuits :
"Effigiem Christi, dum transis, pronus honora ;
At non effigiem, sed quern designat, adora."
In the Most Reverend Doctor James Butler's Catechism, adopted in
BENEFITS OF THE PAPACY. 653
an improved form by the four Catholic Archbishops of Ireland, as a
general Catechism for the kingdom, and now over a century in use, we
find the following : —
Q. Is it proper to show any mark of respect to the crucifix, and to
the pictures of Christ and His saints ?
A. Yes ; because they relate to Christ and His saints— being repre-
sentations and memorials of them,
Q,. Why do Catholics honour the relics of the saints ?
A. Catholics honour the relics of the saints, because their bodies had
been the temples of the Holy Ghost — and at the last day will be
honoured and glorified for ever in heaven.
Q. May we then pray to the crucifix, or to the images and relics of
the saints ?
A. By no means ; for they have neither life, nor sense, nor power to
hear or help us.
Q. Why then do we pray before the crucifix, and before the images
and relics of the saints !
A. We pray before them — because they enliven our devotion, by
exciting pious affections and desires — and by reminding us of Christ
and His saints — they also encourage us to imitate their virtues and
good works.-
The reader is, no doubt, acquainted with the BiMia Pauperum,
" the Poor Man's Bible," so called because it was intended, by pictorial
representations, to impress the truths of religion on the minds of those
unable to read. It contained from forty to fifty leaves, with woodcuts,
on one side, of scenes in the New Testament, and of the corresponding
prophecies and types of the Old Testament bearing thereon. There
were also Latin texts and inscriptions referring to the subjects. The
original work is ascribed to Ansgarius, Bishop of Hamburg and
Bremen, about the middle of the ninth century. Several editions were
printed immediately on the invention of printing, and continued for a
considerable time after. There were other similar pictorial works of
religious instruction at the same period.
CHAPTEE XLI.
CONCLUSION,
" A milk-white hind, immortal and unchanged,
Fed on the lawns, and in the forest ranged ;
Without unspotted, innocent within.
She feared no danger, for she knew no sin.
Yet had she oft been chased with horns and hounds,
With Scythian shafts, and many wingfed wounds
Aimed at her heart ; was often forced to fly,
And doomed to death, though fated not to die." — Drtden.
We have now seen the trials which, from her infancy
down to the present day, have been endured by the
Chupch — three centuries of Pagan persecution; the
invasions of the Huns, the Vandals, the Heruli, the
Lombards, and other barbarians from the North; the
incursions of the Saracens on the South; the Arian,
Macedonian, Nestorian, Eutyohian, Monothelite, and
other heresies ; the furious outburst of the Iconoclasts ;
the Greek schism ; the contests of the Popes and the
Emperors on Investitures and other burning questions ;
the forty years' schism of the Antipopes; the great
Protestant secession; and, near our own times, the
horrors of the French Eevolution, when in Catholic
France the religion of Christ was proscribed by legis-
lative enactment, when Eome was occupied by the
Eepublican forces, when the Pope was carried off a
prisoner, in his eightieth year, and died in exile, and
when his successor was, with every circumstance of
cruelty and insult, similarly deported, and for nearly
five years detained in captivity by the fiist Napoleon.
CONCLUSION. 6S5
We have also witnessed the anti-Christian conspiracies
and the machinations of secret societies, aimed at the
subversion of authority in every European State. And,
at the present moment, we deplore the condition of the
Successor of Saint Peter, without one shred of the
patrimony of the Church — actually a prisoner in the
Vatican, where his existence is merely tolerated; the
clergy subjected to conscription for the army in Italy,
and ecclesiastical seminarists bound to three years'
military service in Italy and France ; all Christian edu-
cation assailed ; religious orders extensively abolished ;
their property confiscated ; and several other venerable
institutions of Christianity practically doomed to anni-
hilation.
Perhaps the most directly anti- Christian and the most
pernicious of the proceedings of the enemies of the
Church — and those, alas ! in Catholic countries — are
the banishing of religion from the school, and the con-
scription of the clergy and ecclesiastical seminarists for
the army.
As regards the first, it is unnecessary, in addressing
Christian readers, to dwell, at any length, on this mon-
ster evil, this undisguised attempt to un-Christianize
the rising generation. How strongly the present rulers
of France are actuated by such a lamentable policy,
may be seen in the "Manuals of Moral and Civil
Instruction," published for the use of schools, and
intended to supersede the Catholic catechism. Of these,
perhaps, the most noteworthy are the Manuals of M.
Paul Bert, Deputy, and M. Edgar Monteil, member of
the Municipal Council of Paris. M. Bert, in his Civil
Iristncetion in Schools, openly assails Catholic doctrine ;
and, among other things, teaches the children as
follows : —
When you are twenty-one years of age, you -will have attained
your majority ; yon ■wfll be free to go to church or to stay away,
to change your religion at will, or not to, have any religion at all.
You may work on Sunday or not, as you choose.
6^6 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
But M. Monteil, in his catechism, Lay Instruction,
goes still farther, denies point-blank the existence of
God, and utters other blasphemies which I shrink from
reproducing.^ We may well imagine the evils to reli-
gion, civil government, and social order, that would
result from such books circulating among the youth,
male and female, in the schools of Prance, in place of
the catechisms of Christian doctrine, heretofore placed
in their hands. God alone can avert such a calamity,
but man must co-operate. Catholic France ou'ght not
to forget the proverb : Aide toi, et Dieu faidera.
Of the imposition of military service on the clergy
and ecclesiastical students, a brief notice will be useful,
especially as the details are unlikely to be known to
the majority of my readers.
When the new Military Law was being discussed in
the Italian Chamber in the year 1875, enacting, among
other things, the conscription of the clergy for the army.
His Holiness Pius IX. addressed the following eloquent
and touching remonstrance to King Victor Emanuel : —
Sire, I beg of you and conjure you, in the name of your august
ancestors, in tlie name of the Saints of your family, in the name
of your Virgin de la Consolata, in the name even of God, in the
name of yoijr dearest interests, do not giye your sanction to a law
so fatal to the Church — this military law, which would be the
destruction of the clergy, and consequently, if such were possible,
of the Catholic Church. Ah ! through pity, Sire, for yourself,
for your subjects, for society, do not increase the debts, which
you have contracted, to God ; do not burden your conscience
with new outrages against the Church. Stop, and go no further
on a road which leads you to the deepest abyss.
Notwithstanding this appeal, Victor Emanuel was
unmoved. The law was voted by the Senate, and was
signed and promulgated by the King,
And what is the purport of this law? That every
ecclesiastic up to the age of forty, whether he be
curate, parish priest, canon, or even bishop, no matter
^ See "Liberty of Conscience and Lay-Instruction in France," by
the Reverend Frederick Eouvier, in " The Month " for May, 1884.
CONCLUSION. 657
.what his dignity, may be taken away from his church,
his parish, his diocese, clothed in military uniform, and
incorporated in a regiment.
Again : At the moment of commencing his Ecclesias-
tical studies, and his preparation for the sacred ministry,
the young aspirant to the priesthood, having attained
his eighteenth year, is obliged to quit the seminary, and
to go, for three years,^ to the barrack, or the regiment ;
and there he leads the life of a soldier, in the common
barrack-room ; and this continuously ; the result being
that at least seventy per cent, of the students lose their
vocation.^
Having served his three years, during which he is
fully exercised in drill and manoeuvres, he is a soldier
up to the age of forty ; and, in time of war, whether
student or priest, he is liable to be called out, to serve
in the ranks.
By the law of 187 1, it was provided that ecclesiastics
should be employed, by preference, in hospital and am-
bulance duties; but this provision was rejected by a
vote, and so excluded from the law of 1873.* However,
in practice, priests serving as soldiers are employed iii
the hospitals, or in some writing office.
In Italian cities, it is not an uncommon occurrence,
that a young soldier in uniform is seen entering the
sacristy of a church, and coming out again, in a few
minutes, in vestments to celebrate Mass, and, having
^ The term varies from three to five years, according to the branch
of the service.
^ If he pleases, and has the means, which few students have, he may
abridge the time, by paying 1500 or 2000 francs, and going to live one
year' in barrack, as a soldier, with soldiers. A friend of the author, a
British subject, writes as follows, from a small town in Italy, in July,
l88z : "There are thirty lads in the seminary here, taken in at twelve
years old, and kept and educated until they are eighteen, when they
must become common soldiers. Perhaps, of all, these, ten may not
persevere for the priesthood." This agrees with the above-stated
proportion of 70 per cent, losing their vocation through serving in
the army.
' The Law of July 19, 1871, and that of June 7, 1875.
2 X
658 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
thus satisfied his devotion, resuming his military garh,
and returning to his harrack ! 1 ■ • ■,
The object of the conscription of seminarists and
priests is to destroy the Church by depriving it of
ministers ; and, humanly speaking, it is succeeding ; so
that, in many dioceses of Italy, so much are the numbers
of the clergy reduced, that priests are obliged to dupli-
cate (that is, to say two Masses) on Sunday, in some
country places.
The reader will not be surprised to hear, after the
foref^oing statements, that there is no chaplain in the
Italfan army, and that the troops are never sent to
religious worship. They may go, or remain in barrack,
as they please. They all have the ordinary daily
parade on Sunday. The law ignores that day, and on
it the Government and Municipal works are carried on
the same as on week-days.
Jews, Mahometans, Pagans, would not act thus.
They respect their priests, as sacred persons reserved
for sacred things. Not so the Infidel party in Italy,
and those who, more recently, would follow their
example in France. They hate the clergy. They
believe not in God. They would destroy all religion.
They happily are only a minority of the population:
but they are a compact phalanx, perfectly organized ;
and hence they prevail, but, let us hope, only for a
time, against the unorganized masses in Italy and
France alike.
For instance, on the 25th of June, 1887, in the
debate on the French Army Bill, the Chamber decided,
by 373 votes to 173, on abolishing the exemption of
ecclesiastical seminarists from military service.^ Bishop
' In Euch a case as this, the priest must either be known to the
Fathers of the Church, or must satisfy them by producing the necessary
papers f lorn his bishop.
^ On the renewed discussion of the Bill, on the 30th of June, it
was settled that clause 24, as ultimately agreed to, should empower
the granting of four years' postponement of military service to semi-
narists and collegians, in order that they may complete their studies —
CONCLUSION. 659
Freppel, on this as on former occasions, ably led the
forlorn hope in supporting the amendment, and he
reminded the Chamber that the Concordat guaranteed
the free exercise of Catholicism, and it would be
virtually violated by a measure drying up the supply
of priests; and he further observed that, of the total
number of conscripts brought in annually under the
present system, no less than 60,000 are exempted,
solely because there is not barrack accommodation for
them, neither is there provision made in the military
budget for their maintenance; and that, under these
circumstances, it could not be injurious to exempt 1500
ecclesiastical students, unless the object was to annihi-
late the priesthood.
M. Eouvier, on the part of the Government, replied
that they considered that, in order to secure the accept-
ance of the new military duties by all, it was indispens-
able to diffuse in all directions the feeling, that the
blood-tax was one to be borne by all; and that all
should be prepared in time of peace for the duties which
they would have to discharge in time of war.
These ominous words of the Premier, supported by so
overwhelming a majority, lay down a principle which
involves also the long-threatened repeal of the exemp-
tion of the clergy from serving in the army.
Let us now sum up the main results of the recent
anti-Christian legislation in Prance, and we have the
following : the extensive dispersion of religious orders ;
the crushing taxation of communities of women, without
regard to their services to the poor, the sick, and the
young ; the expulsion of the Sisters of Charity and other
similar congregations from the hospitals, to be replaced'
by lay nurses ; the exclusion of religious teachers and
of all religious instruction from primary schools; the
in other words, that their three years' service in the army should
commence at the age of twenty-two, instead of eighteen. A strange ^
prelude this to their ordination and exercise of the sacied functions of
the priesthood !
660 THE CHAIR OF PETER.
compelling ecclesiastical seminarists to serve three years
as soldiers, and the now all but certain repeal of the
dispensation of the clergy from military service; the
diminution from year to year of the Budget of Catholic
Public Worship, to the extent of over seven millions
of francs in the last six years ; ^ the reduction of the
incomes of the Bishops ; the suppression of curacies by
hundreds ; the withdrawal of grants for seminaries, and
for the repairs and maintenance of the cathedrals ; and
the threatened separation of Church and State, notwith-
standing the large amount of Church property which
was seized on by the State at the first Eevolution, and
compensation for which, in the payment of the clergy,
and in defraying the expenses of public worship, was
guaranteed in the Concordat.^
In presence of these painful facts, the question natu-
rally suggests itself : When will Catholic France arise
from her unaccountable apathy, and, once and for ever,
by the peaceable but firm exercise of her constitutional
rights, shake off the intolerable tyranny of a small
minority by which she is oppressed ?
As regards Italy, I may be permitted to observe, that
the systematic abstention of Catholics from voting at
Parliamentary elections has now had a trial of sixteen
years, and the still unrelaxing persecution of the Church
may ere long cause that policy of abstention to be
deemed by the Holy Father at least deserving of recon-
sideration. Were the Italians generally to exercise the
franchise, their representatives in the Chamber of Depu-
ties would constitute a powerful factor in legislation,
and the present lamentable state of affairs would not
exist.*
^ In the Budget of 18S7, the amount provided for Catholic worship
was 44,327,123 francs, against 51,713,695 in that of 1881.
Several of these crying grievances are set forth in the touching
letter of Cardinal Guibort, Archbishop of Paris, to President Grevy,
dated March 30th, 1886. The venerable Cardinal died on the 8th of
July following, in his eighty-third year.
' At the Parliamentary election in Rome, on the 15th of May, 1887,
CONCLUSION. 66 r
In 1872 and 1875, when the Italian Catholics took
part in the Municipal elections, they demonstrated their
power, carrying the day in Venice, Florence, Palermo,
Modena, Genoa, and Verona.
Much later still, in the capital itself, the combined
action of the great majority has been attended with
signal success. Thus in June 1884, at the Eoman
Municipal elections, the sixteen vacant seats in the
Municipal Council were filled by Catholic nominees, as
were the three vacancies in the Provincial Council.
In June 1886, the results were equally significant —
the whole eighteen seats in Eome being filled by the
candidates adopted by the Catholic party ; viz. twelve
Catholics and six moderate liberals, favourable to the
freedom of religious education. In June 1887, also,
their victory was complete.^ '
By thus exercising their right of voting at Municipal
elections, the Catholics of Italy are able, to a great
extent, to save their primary schools from the Atheis-
tical teaching now being forced on the children of the
great majority in France.
The Catholic victory in Belgium, in June 1884, is
no less encouraging. In the partial elections for the
Belgian Chamber of Eepresentatives, sixty-seven Catho-
lics, and only two Liberals, were returned ; so that the
Catholic party, heretofore 59 against 79 Liberals, now
numbers 85 to 53. Transitory ebullitions of violence
and outrage, on the part of the defeated minority,
might well have been expected; but these are as
to fill the seat vacated by the Duke Torlonia's acceptance of the o£Sce
of Syndic, there voted only 5100 out of the 25,758 registered electors
of the city and suburbs. Of the registered Parliamentary electors of
the Kingdom of Italy, it is estimated that about one-fifth only exercise
the franchise.
^ The Municipal elections at Rome, held on the 19th of June, 1887,
resulted in the full victory of the " TJnione Bomana, " or Catholic list ;
the lowest candidate on which polled 200 more than the first on the
Liberal list, who stands at 6829, to 12,733 polled by the first on the
list of the "TJnione Eomana." The electors inscribed were this year
28,249, of whom 13,787 voted.
662 THE .CHAIK OF PETEK.
nothino' against the great good accomplished. More-
over, the moderation of the Catholic party, now m
power, and their generous and conciliatory bearing
towards their opponents, have already done much to
allay irritation. In the Belgian Senate, the elections
of July 1884 gave the Catholic party a majority of
seventeen.^ The next elections promise to result in a
still greater preponderance of the Catholic vote.
It is to be hoped that France will follow such
examples. The triumphant and impregnable position
gained by the Centre party in Germany has been
noticed in the chapter on the Kulturkampf . In HoUand,
as we have seen, a similar Parliamentary organization,
in defence of Catholic interests, has been formed.
Firmness and united action in the exercise of their
constitutional rights, combined with complete toleration
of the political opinions of others who think differently
from them, would ere long enable the Catholics of
-France and Italy to assert themselves, and to practically
demonstrate their loyalty to the religion which they
profess, as well as to the states of which they are sub-
jects. In the present condition of affairs, in those two
great Catholic countries, it seems to have been for-
gotten, not only by their rulers but by the people them-
selves, that the professors of the persecuted religion
constitute the vast majority of the population.^
^ The Belgian Chamber of Eepresentatives consieta of 138 members,
being one representative for every 40,000 of the population, enumerated
at 5,536,684, by the Census of December 31st, 1879. They are elected
for four years, one half going out every two years. The Senate consists
of one half the number of the lower house. They are elected every
eight years, one half going out every four years. In case of a dissolu-
tion, all the members of both houses go out, and there is a general
election. The members of the Chamber of Kepresentatives and of the
Senate are chosen by the same electors in the several districts, the
suffrage being held by all citizens paying direct annual taxes to the
amount of 43 francs, or £1, i6s.
' Vide supra ; chapter xxvii.. The Religious Census of Europe. In
the Census of 1881, the proportion of Catholics in Italy is about the
same as in that of 1871, namely, 99I per cent, of the population. In
France, as we learn by the Census of Becember 188 1, the professing
CONCLUSION. 663
rWell indeed in his powerful letter to the Italian
Minister, on the New Law of Military Conscription,
does Monseigneur Dupanloup observe : —
Once again, it is not a question of what you yourself believe,
but of what is the creed of the nation for which you make your
laws.
"Well, in the eyes of Tthe Catholic, be it kuown to you, the
Catholic priest continues here below the mission and the priest-
hood of Jesus Christ ;
Every day he immolates on the altar the Divine and atoning
Victim for the salvation of the world ;
With it, under the Eucharistic form, he nourishes the Christian
people ;
He is, moreover, the delegate of Jesus Christ for the reconcilia-
tion of man with God ;
And at the same time he teaches all, little and great, princes
and people, the doctrine and the morality of Jesus Christ.
Eeligious functions, doubtless, before all, but social functions
also, and civilizing in the highest degree.^
Further on he utters the following impressive
words : —
I say, that to see the same man celebrate at the altar and take
part in musketry practice ; to see him in the confessional and on
guard ; to see him in the pulpit and in the barrack-room ; to see
him with the same hand with which he elevates the sacred host
wielding the sabre and the gun, discharging the howitzer and
canister shot ; with the same hand with which he absolves and
blesses, shedding blood, — all this is repugnant to the Catholic
conscience, as it is to the human conscience.
How different was the action, in this regard, of the
first Christian Emperor, fifteen centuries ago ! He
would not — neither indeed would his predecessors, the
Pagan Emperors — have ever contemplated, that the
ministers of religion should serve in the army: but
more than this, Constantine the Great would exempt
Catholics are 78'SO per cent of the population, notwithstanding the
newly introduced item of " Non-Professants." See Index, " Non-
Professants."
' "Seconde Lettre k M. Minghetti, sur la nouvelle Loi MlUtaire
Italienne et ses consequences pour le olerg^ par Mgr. L'i^vgque
B'Orl^ans, Membre du S^uat." Deuxi&uie Edition, Paris, 1876, p. 13.
664 '''^^ CHAIR OF PETER.
the clergy from any civil or political office whatsoever ;
"to the°end that they may not, by any error or sacri-
leo-ious deviation, be withdrawn from the service due to
the Deity, but rather may devote themselves to the
Divine law, their special province, without disturbance ;
inasmuch as by their exhibiting the greatest possible
reverence to the Divinity, the greatest good appears to
accrue to the State." ^
Not to dwell on the higher motives which dictated
the course here pursued by Constantine, his thoughtful
regard for the ministers of religion was in accordance
with sound policy ; for thus he permanently assured to
himself the devoted loyalty of the largely increasing
Christian population of the Empire. On the other
hand, a glance at the religious census of Europe will
show how impoKtic has been the persecution of their
Catholic subjects by certain rulers in modern times.
But there is another consideration of human prudence
which ought not to be lost sight of ; and that is, that
the. Church, on principle, inculcates on her children
the duty of order and loyalty.^
Indeed it has recently come to pass, as we have seen,
that a powerful Continental sovereign and his minister,
almost as powerful, have discovered and practically
acknowledged their mistaken policy in endeavouring
to enslave the Catholic Church, and in visiting her with
grievous persecution: for thus have they temporarily
weakened that great moral organization, which has
always denounced and striven against those unscrupu-
lous enemies of religion and social order, those oppo-
nents of all government. Ecclesiastical and civil — the
secret societies that exist in almost every European
State.
Those in high place, who have so acted, have been
} Constantine's letter to Anulinua, Proconsul of Africa, about A.D.
325. Eusebius, " Hist. Eooles.," x. 7.
^ A notable instance of this, is the powerful Encyclical, Immortale
Dd, of Pope Leo XIII., concerning the Christian Constitution of
States, dated November ist, 1885.
CONCLUSION. 66$
but instruments in the hands of men who plot alike
against God and King.
It, is this unnatural combination which has mainly
deprived the Vicar of Christ of his temporal power —
that power which, in its origin, development, and exist-
ence prolonged far beyond that of all other dynasties,
was manifestly the work of God, and pre-eminently
embodied that divinely established principle of order^
" by which kings reign and legislators decree what is
just." That the Pope should be totally free from the
control, however indirect, of any earthly potentate, has
long been the opinion of wise and experienced states-
men of every creed. For the Church over which the
Holy Father presides is not the Church of a nation, or
of a language, or of an epoch, but the Church of all
time — the Church of every tongue, and tribe, and people.
Hence whilst Catholic Christians, in every clime, loyal
and true in temporal affairs to their respective sove-
reigns or other constituted rulers, rendering unto Caesar
the things that are Caesar's, turn to her, and acknow-
ledge her authority in matters spiritual, rendering unto
God the things that are of God, few non-Catholics will
be found, on calm reflection, to deny, that he whom so
many millions believe to be divinely commissioned to
govern this Church — the Church of all nations — should
be free and independent, not the subject or vassal of
any monarch.
However, it may be well to observe that the Temporal
Power of the Popes is not, in the strict sense of the
word, essential to their sacred office. For, whether con-
cealed in the Catacombs or enthroned amidst the princes
of the Church in the first Christian temple in the world,
whether receiving the envoys of kings at the Vatican,
in exile at Gaeta, in captivity at Fontainebleau, or,
again, as at present, a prisoner in his own capital, the
Successor of Saint Peter alike claims and receives the
veneration and spiritual allegiance of the faithful.
But, although not strictly essential, this principality,
666 THE CHAIR OF PETEK.
iu the designs of an all-ruKng Providence, has been, for
eleven centuries, highly expedient, and most useful to
religion.
Now, for a brief period, the Temporal rule of the
Popes, has ceased to exist— doubtless to be restored in
God's own time, and in the form which He deems best.
At the present moment, it is true, while the Church
is so flourishing in remote regions, the outlook is
gloomy at home. Even in the capital of Catholic
Christendom, the enemies of Eeligion appear to be
triumphant on every point. . So far have they succeeded
in their unholy warfare, that they may ere long attempt
to carry their daring projects as far as those who, at
the close of the last century, decreed the abolition of
Christianity in Prance. But there is a God in Israel
now, as there was then. All things are in His hands.
Angry storms may rage, and the bark of Peter may be
beaten upon, and be all but submerged by the winds
and the waves; but in it there reposes One, Who,
should we tremble for its safety, may justly reproach
us in the hallowed words, " Why are you fearful, 0 ve
of little faith ? " ^
' Matt. viiL 23-26.
INDEX.
Abbeeviators of the Parco Maggiore, S97
Abstentions in Italy from Parliamentary Elections, 660, 66i
Academical exhibition of the Propaganda, 639
Acceasus. Sea Papal elections.
Acclamation „
Accolti, Cardinal, 315 note
Additions to Hierarchy by Leo XIII., 536 note
Adoration, Two meanings of, 612 note
Adrian I., Pope, 197 note
„ seeks the aid of Charlemagne, 198
„ Charlemagne's love and reverence for, 207
Adrian II. and Eighth General Council, 139
Adrian IV., an Englishman, 255 note
„ renders great services to the Holy See, 25s
„ Bull of, regarding Ireland, 255 note
Adrian VI., Pope, 322
Advocate, 262 note
Agapetus II., Pope, 561
Agatho, Saint, Pope, 107 note
,, presides by his legates at the Sixth General Council, 107
„ "Peter hath spoken by Agatho," 109
„ on the unfailing faith of the Apostolic See, 113
Agricola, Rodolphus, 317 note
Alberic, Count of Tusculum, master of Rome, 560
Albigenses, 289
Albomoz, Cardinal, 270
Aldus, and the Aldine editions, 416 note
Alemannic Law, on the election of Emperor, 216 note
Alexander III., Pope, 256 note
„ Struggles of, with the Emperor, 256
„ How reverenced by the Kings of France and Italy, 256
„ reconciled with the Emperor Frederick I., 257, 258
„ Laws of, for Papal Elections, 578, 579
Alexander IV., Pope, and the Austin Friars, 292
Alexander V., Pope, 280
jAlexander VI., Pope, 564
„ Memory of, vindicated by certain writers, 565 note
668 INDEX.
Alexander VL, arbitrates between Spain and Portugal, 621
Alexandria, See of, founded, 56
,, Patriarchate of, 511
Alleged unworthy Popes, 545
Almsgiving, Opponents of, 635, 636
Alphonsus King of Spain, and Gregory VII., 242
Ambo, 204 note
Ambrose, Saint, 37 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 37, 38
America, U. S. of, Catholicism past and present in, 390 note
Anacletus, Pope, 71 note
Anastasius III., Pope, SS7
Anastasius the Librarian, 179 note
Ancillon on the power of the Popes in the Middle Ages, 620
Andronicus, Emperor, 148
Angelical Salutation, Addition to the, at Council of Ephesus, 10 1
Anglican Church, 375-380, 387
,, Great movement in, the last fifty years, 4
,, " Rome-ward " tendency in, 4
Anglicanism, District of, 387
Anicetus, Pope, 74
Annals of Baronius, S7 note
Anne Boleyn, 356 et seq.
,, Trial and execution of, 360
Anne of Cleves, 361
Antioch, See of, founded by Saint Peter, 48 _
,, Here the disciples, first called Christians, 48
,, Patriarchate of, 511
Anti-Christ, the Pope regarded as, by Protestants, i, 2
Anti-Christian proceedings in certain European States, 655-659
Banishing religion from the School, 655
Catechisms and Manuals in France, 655, 656
MiUtaiy Laws of Italy, 656-659
Conscription of clergy and seminarists, 656-659
Full particulars thereof, 656 et seq.
Bad results thereof, 658
Religion practically ignored by the State, 658
Touching appeal of Pius IX. to Victor Emanuel, 656
Touching appeal of Monseigneur Dupanloup to the
Italian Minister, 663
A contrast with the action of Constantine the Great, 663,
Sound policy of Constantine, 664
Impolicy of Modern rulers, 664
Practical admission thereof, 664
The unconscious instruments of Communists, 665
Antipopes, in reign of Alexander III., 256
,, Great Schism of the, 274
„ at Avignon, 276
Antonelli, Cardinal, 586 note
Antoninus, Saint, Archbishop of Florence, 277 note
INDEX. 66^
Antoninus, Saint, on the Schism of the Antipopes, 277
Anzejgepflicht, The, 403, 406
Anzir, King of Mauritania, and Gregory VII., 239
Appeals to the Pope. See Pope
„ None from the Pope. See Pope
Apostles, Dispersion of the, 49,. 49 note
Apostolate, continued in the bishops, 14
Apostolic, a term especially applied to the Pope and his See, 188 note
Apostolic See, All Ecclesiastical causes to be referred to the, 97
,, The decree of the, the authority and guide of general
councils, 99
„ Appeals of the whole Church to the. See Pope
„ No appeals from the. See Pope
Aquileia, See of, founded, 56
Arbitration of the Pope between the Kings of Spain and Portugal,
621
Archbishops. See Metropolitan
Arius and Arianism, 89 note
Aries, Council of, 88
Armenians, 525
Arminianism, 374, 387
Arminius, 374 note
„ controverts five points of Calvinism, 374
Army BUls, in Italy, 656 et seq.
„ in France, 658 et seq.
Articles, The Thirty-nine. See England, Church of
Assemani, Joseph, Stephen, and Simon, 528
Astolphus, King of the Lombards, invades Home, 187, 193
„ conquered by Pepin, 192, 193
,, restores the territories of the Holy See, 194
Athanasius, Saint, wj note
„ appeals to Pope Julius, 117 .
„ Creed of, 94 note, 130
Attila and Saint Leo the Great, 169
Augsburg, Diet of, 334 .
„ Confession of, 334, 335, 372
„ „ the fundamental creed of the Reformation, 334,
335, 336
Confutation of, 335
Apology for, 335
Variations of, 337
Several editions of, 337
Article of, on the Lord's Supper, 337
This article how varied, 338
Augustine, Saint, 38 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 38, 39, 77
„ on the word "Catholic," 31 J! o<e
,, Apostle of England, 78
Austin Friars or Hermits, 292
Australasia, Catholics in, 390 note '
670 INDEX.
Austria, Dynasty of, 262 riote , . „ , • j £„
Authority, Recognition of, implanted m the human mmd, 623
AuxiHary Bishops, 534 «o<e . ^ , , a • * b *„ rR
„ of Borne appointed by Samt Peter, 58
Auxilius, writer, 548
Avignon, Removal of the Popes to, 265
,, City of, 265 note
„ County of, 265 note
„ List of Popes at, 266
„ The Popes return to Rome, from, 270, 274
„ Antipopes at, 276
Baptism by heretics, Controversy on, 82
Baratier, 66 note
,, on Saint Peter in Rome, 67
Bardas Caesar, 132
Bamabites, or Clerks Regular of St. Paul, 388
Bameveldt, Execution of 395
Baronius, Cardinal, 57 note
„ Annals of, 57 note
„ misled by Luitprand, on Popes of the Tenth century, 546
Barrow, Isaac, D.D., 23 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 24, 25
„ on St. Peter in Rome, 65
Bartholomew, Saint, Massacre of, 395
,, and Pope Gregory XIII., 396
Basil, Saint, 35 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 35
Basil, the Macedonian, 137
Basle, Council of, 148
Bavaria organizing a Centre party, 409 note
Beatification of English Martyrs by Leo XIII., 536 note
Bede, the Venerable, 79 note
Belgium, Material progress and prosperity of, 398
„ Elections for Chambers in, 662
,, Catholic triumph in, 662
Bellarmin, Cardinal, 91 note
„ on the power of the Keys, 15
„ on the Pope's right of presiding at General Councils, 91
„ on the Council of Basle, 149
Benedict IV., Pope, 553
,, v.. Pope, 224, 562
„ VL, Pope, 562
„ VIL, Pope, 563
„ IX., Pope, 564
" Benedict XIII." Antipope, 276, 285
Benedict, Saint, 641 note
Benedictines, The, 641
Berengarius, 227 note
Berlin and Milan Decrees, 439 note
INDEX. 671
Bernard, Saint, 43 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 44, 45
„ on the Cardinalate, 588
Berretta, The, 599
Bert, Paul, 655
fiertrand de Got. See Clement V.
Beza, Theodore, 354
,, laments the discords of Protestants, 288
Bible, The, held the first place among the earliest printed books, 416
„ The Mazarin, a.d. 1450-1455, 411
,, The Latin, of Fust and SchoeflFer, a.d. 1462, 411
„ The German, of Koburger, sixteen editions to a.d. 1500, 416
,, Nine editions at Basle, A.D. 1479-1489,417
,, Over one hundred editions of the Vulgate, down to a.d. 1500.
416
„ Wycliife's translation of, 297
, , Luther's translation of, 320
„ The Catholic Church, and the, 23, 288, 366, 381, 417
Biblia Pauperum, 653 note
Billuart, theologian, 494 note
BUluart on Papal Infallibility, 494
Bishop's Court, 162
Bishops, the successors of the Apostles, 14
The Apostolate continued in, 14
limited to their dioceses, 14
favoured by Constantine, 162
constituted judges by him, 162
bound to visit the Pope, at stated times, 591 note
See Hierarchy
Bismarck, Prince, 407, 622, 623, 664. See Preface
Bissextile or Leap Year, 644 note
Boleslas II., King of Poland, 238, 238 note
Bonaparte, Joseph, at Kome, 425
Bonaventure, Saint, 580 note
Boniface, Saint, Apostle of Germany, 192 note
Boniface VI., Pope, 550
„ yiL, Pope, 563, 564
Books, First printed, 410, 411
,, Extraordinary prices paid now for earliest copies, 411 note
„ Traffic in, in fifteenth century, 415
,, Multiplication of, down to A.D. 1500, 418
„ See Biole, Classics, Printing
Bracci, on the title "Pope," 5 note
Brentz, Johann, 372 note
Briefs, Papal, 596 note
Britain, Christians in, in second century, 157 note
,, Missionaries sent to, by Popes, 78
British Empire, Pleasing evidence of cordial relations between, and
the Holy See, 595, 596
„ Dominions, Freedom of Catholicism in the, 390 note, 595 .
6^ 2 INDEX.
Bulgarians, The, 139-142
Bul&, Papal, 596 note
C^DWALLA, King of West Saxons, Visit of, to Rome, 79
Calendar, The, reformed by Gregory XIII., 643
Calling the recently dead by name, 602 note
Calvin, 350
" Commentary on Seneca " of, 350
" Institutes of the Christian Religion" of, 350
at Geneva, 350
System of government at Geneva by, 351
condemns Servetus to be burned alive, 351
and the Anabaptists, 351
and Zwingli, 35,2
How he differs from Zwingli, 352
and John Knox, 352 note
Academy of, at Geneva, 352
and Somerset, Lord Protector of England, 394, 395
Character of, 352
Doctrine of, on the Eucharist, 339
„ on Predestination, 353
„ Results of, 3S3
System of, 354
laments discords of Protestants, 354
admits only two sacraments, 354
Tenets of, much modified since his time, 353
well supported in France, 373
Calvinism, Five points of, controverted by the Arminians, 374
,, Districts of, 386
,, persecuting, 395
,, suffering persecution, 394
,, favoured m England, Scotland, and Holland, 394, 395
Canadas, Position of Catholics in the, 390 note
Canon Law, The, 630
,, Lord Stair on, 632
Canons of the Apostles, 630
Canons Regular, 252, 253 note
Canosaa, 235
Canova, 451, 451 note
Canus, Melchior, 22 note
Canute, King of Denmark, and Gregory VII., 242
Carbonari, 463 note
Caroline Islands, 621
Cardinal, Derivation of the word, 568
Priests, in former times, 568
Deacons, in former times, 569, 570
„ Begionarii, 569, 575 nate
„ Palatini, 575 note
Bishops, first created a.d. 769, 571
,, called Hebdomadarii and Collaterales, 571
INDEX. 673
Cardinal Bishops, Sees of, 571, 572, 586
„ Camerlengo, The, S97, 602
Cardinals, Residence of Cardinals strictly enforced, in ninth century,.
S72
„ Rule thereon in modern times, 572
„ Constitution of John VIII., A.D. 882, regarding Cardinals,
573
,, Account of the Sacred College, A.D. 1057, 574
„ Numbers of, at various periods, 575, 576
„ Election of the Pope by the Cardinals, the clergjr apd
people assenting, from a.d. 1059, by the constitution of
Nicholas II., 542, 576
,, This law altered by Alexander III., A,D 11 79, 578
,, The Cardinal Bishops no longer to have precedence is
electing, 579
„ The votes of two-thirds only required, 578
,, The Cardinals exclusively to elect, 579
,, The first Conclave, 579
,, Gregory X. elected by Compromise, 580
,, Code of laws of Gregory X. to regulate Conclaves, A.D.
1274, 581
„ ,, suspended by Adrian V., A.D. 1276, 583
,, ,, restored by Celestine V., A.D. 1292, and in
force ever since, 584
„ BuU Mte/rni Patris of Gre^iory XV., a.d. 1621, 584
„ Caeremoniale of Gregory XV., a.d. 1622, 585
Bull Ad Romani Pontificis of Urban VIII., A.D. 1626, 585
„ Constitution Apostolatus Officmm of Clement XII., a.d.
1732. 58s
„ Urban VI., the last person, not a Cardinal, elected Pope,
582 note
„ The sacred College, as it now stands, 585
„ Bishops, 585, 586
,, Priests, 586
,, Deacons, 586
,, The Bishop of Ostia, Dean of the Sacred College, always
consecrates the Pope, 586
„ „ is assisted by the Cardinal Bishops of Porto
and Albano, 586
„ Titles of, £86
„ form the Council and Senate of the Pope, 587
„ Constitution of Pope John VIII. thereon, a.d. 882, 587
,, of Pope Sixtus V. thereon, A.D. 159s, 588
,', Saint Bernard thereon, a.d. 114S, 588
,, worthily represented in these countries, by Cardinals Man-
ning and Newman, 587
,, Laborious avocations of, 588
„ The Sacred Congregations, 589
,, The Inquisition or Holy OfBoe, 589
„ CoBsistorial Affairs, 590
2 U
674
INDEX.
Caidinals, Apostolic Visitation, 590
Bmhops and Regulars, 590
- „ The Council, 591
Revision of Provincial Councils, 591
" Residence of Bistops, 591
" On the state of the Regulars, 591
" Ecclesiastical Immunity, 592
" De Propaganda Fide, 592 ^ , t>-* ,
„ De Propaganda Fide, for the Oriental Rite, 592
", The Index, 592
„ Sacred Bites, 592
Ceremonial, 593
Discipline of Regulars, 593 _
Indulgences and Sacred Relics, 593
'! Examination of Bishops, 594
The Fabric of Saint Peter's, S94
' Lauretana, 594 .,.«.•
Extraordinaiy Ecclesiastical Afiairs, 594
Important^ offices of the Roman court, generally presided
" over by Cardinals, 596
The Apostolic Chancery, 596
The Apostolic Penitentiary, 597
The Apostolic Datai-ia, 597
The Venerable Apostolic Chamber, 597
", The Secretariates, 598
„ The Grand Consistory, 598
The Secret Consistoiy, 59?
„ The Conclave, 599
,, Creation of Cardinals, 599
reserved in petto, 599
Privilege of Catholic powers, regarding, 599
", The berretta, 599
„ The red hat, 599
The Cardinal's ring, 600 ,,,„,,,
„ The closing and opening the mouths of, by the Pope, 600,
601
„ How honoured by Catholic sovereigns, 6oi
„ Precedence of, 601
,, when first styled " Eminence," 601
Carlovingian line, 191 mote
Carlstadt, 323
Carmelites, 290
Carthage, Council of, 96, 97
Catechism of the Council of Trent, 368
,, Irish popular, 652 Jiote
Catechisms, Luther's greater and less, 333
,, French anti-Christian, 655
CathedrA, Ex, 478
Catherine of Aragon, 356, 357
INDEX. 67 S
Catheriue Howard, 361
Catherine Parr, 362
Catherine, Saint,, of Siena, 277
" Catholic," Etymology and primitive use of the word, as applied to
the Church, 31 note
,, Saints CyiU and Augustine thereon, 31 note
,, Saint Vincent of Lerins' definition of, 83 note
Catholic helief regarding the Pope, S
„ „ on the Primacy of Peter and his successors, 14
Catholic Church, The Protestant Secession a great blow to the, 304,
382, 387
„ Kapid recovery of the, 382
, , Gains of, in the New World, 387
„ Missionary work of, 387
„ and slavery, 624
„ and the art of printing, 410 et seq.
„ and the Bible, 416, 417
,, and literature and science, 640
,, and the fine arts, 646
,, and Jurisprudence, 626
, , Flourishing condition of, in the British Empire, and
the United States, 390 note
Catholic organization, in Germany, 403, 406, 407, 408
,, in Belgium, 409 note, 659, 660
,, in Holland, 409 note, 661
„ in Italy, 659
,, in France, desirable, 408, 660
" Catholic King, The," a veiy ancient title of the Kings of Spain, 328
Catholicism alleged to be unfavourable to material progress, 397
,, This allegation disproved by facts, 398
,, Freedom of, in English-speaking countries, 390 note
Catholics guided by the Church in interpreting the Scriptures, 23
„ Devotion of, in all ageS to the Pope, 4, 417
" Causa finita est," 97
Cave, WUliam, D.D., 18 note
„ on the Jews, 17
,, on Saint Peter in Kome, 65
Caxton, 80 note, 413 note
Celestine, Saint, Pope, 79, 98 note
„ sends Germanus and Lupus to Britain, 78
„ sends Patrick to Ireland, "78
Cenci. See Cresoencius
Centuriators of Magdeburg, 57 note
Cephas, 9 note
Cerularius, Michael, 144
Cesarini, Cardinal Julian, 149, 150
Chair, The, used by St. Peter, preserved in Ms basilica, 651
Chalcedon, Council of, loi
Chamier, Daniel, 66 note
„ on Saint Peter in Rome, 65
6^6 INDEX,
Chapters, The Three, 105 note
Charity, Fathers of, 389
Charity, Society for the Organization of, 636 note,
Charles Martel, i8r, 183
Charlemagne, visits Pope Adrian I., 198
,, aids the Pope against the Lombards, 198
,, conquers King Desiderius, 201
„ assumes the iron crown of Lombardy, 201
,, confirms Pepin's donation, 200
„ subsequent donations by, 200
„ visits Leo III. in Kome, 203
„ crowned Emperor by Leo, 205
,, Great devotion of, to the Holy See, 207
„ Biogi'aphical account of, 208 note
„ Capitularies, or Laws of, 209 note
Charles V. convokes the Diet of Worms, 319
places Luther under the ban of the Empire, 319
,, endeavours to reconcile existing differences, 334
at the Diet of Augsburg, 334
,, twice besieges Rome, 323*
Childerio IIL of France, 191 note
„ Deposition of, approved by the Pope, 190
,, ,, Justitcation thereof, 191
Chorepiscopi, J09 note
"Christian Kmg, Most,'' a very ancient title of the King of France,
199 note, 328
Christian Life, Brothers of, 317 note
Christians, first so named at Antioch, 48
,, and Jews banished from Rome by Claudius, 57
,, Cruel persecution of, by Nero, 59
,, Great numbers of, in Rome, about A.D. 65, 59
,, ,, in various countries, in second century,
156-158
,, Virtues of the early, 159
,, Value of, to the State, 159
Christopher, Pope, 553, 564
Chrysostom, Saint John, 40 note
,, on the Primacy of Peter, 40, 41
„ deposed by schismatics, appeals to the Pope, 125
Church of England. iSee England, and AngUcan
Church of Rome. See Rome, Papacy, Pope
Churches, Gifts of Constantine to the, 161
City, A Bishop's See constituting a, 509
Civil Constitution of the Clergy. See French Revolution
Classics, The earliest printed, 417
Claudius, Emperor, 63 note
Clavius the Jesuit, and the Calendar, 645 note
Clement, fourth Bishop of Rome, 58, 71, 71 note
„ interposes, to allay the sclusm at Coiinth, 71
,, Epistles of, to the Corinthians 72, 72 note, 73
INDEX. 6^^
Clement V. Pope, 265 noU
,, removes his comt to Avignon, 265
Clement VH. Pope, 322
,, Disastrous policy of, 273 note, 322
„ and Henry VlII., 357
,, declares Henry's marriage ■with Catherine valid, 358
" Clement VII.," Antipope, 277
Clement, Saint, of Alexandria, 54 note
Clemente, Church of San, Rome, 140 note, 204 note
Clerks Eegular, 288 note
,, Minors, 389
„ Assisting the Sick, 389
,, of the Soholse Pise, 389
,, of the Mother of God, 389
Cletus, third Bishop of Borne, 58, 71 note
Coadjutor Bishops, 534
Combined Political action of Catholics. See Catholic organization
Cotamon Prayer, Book of. See England, Church of
Commons, Rising of the, in England, 296
Conclave. See Cardinals
Concord, Form of, 372
Concordats of Pius VII. and Napoleon, 431, 446, 447
Confession of Saint Peter, 194 note
„ of Augsburg. See Augsburg
„ of Basle, 336, 373
,, Tetrapolitana, 336
„ Saxonic, 372
„ of Wiii'temberg, 372
Confessions, Sundry others, 373
„ of the Oalvinist, Helvetic, or Reformed, Churches, 373
„ Belgio, 373
,, See Symbolic Books _
Congregations, Sacred. See Cardinals
Consalvi, Cardinal, 450, 452
Conscription of the clergy in Italy, 656 et seq.
Constance, General Council of, 281
„ Novel mode of voting at, 282
,, Decrees of, examined, 484
Constans II., Emperor, carries ofif St. Martin, Pope, 178 note
Constantino the Great favours his Christian subjects, 160 et seq.
,, promotes the Council of Nice, 161
„ makes munificent donations to the churches, 16 1
exempts the clergy from poKtical service, 160,
662
Letter of, thereon to the Pro-Consul of Africa,
662
,, especially favours the bishops, 162
,, appoints them judges, 162
„ Alleged donation of, to Pope -Sylvester, 165
,, Enlightened legislation of, 625, 628
678 INDEX.
Constantine the Great, Death of, 117 note
Constantine Oopronymus, 182, 186
„ Palaeologus, the last Greek Emperor, 154 note
Constantinople, Second General Council, the First of, 93
Fifth General Council, the Second of, 105
Pope Vigilius not present at this council, 105
,, suhsequently approved of its decrees,
106
Sixth General Council, Third of, 107
Constantinople seeking second place, next after Bome,
but refused by Popes, 93, 104
,, ultimately conceded, 512
Eighth General Council, Fourth of, 139
Origin and name of city of, 145 note
Patriarchate of, 512
Copts, -why so called, 528
Coquerel, on the Power of the Popes in the Middle Ages, 249
Cormth, Schism at, 70-72
Cornelius, Saint, Pope, 29 note, 116, 537
,, Appeals to, from Amca, 31, 32
Council of the Apostles at Jerusalem, 19
of Aries, 88, 88 note
of Nice, First General, 89
of Sardica, 122
of Laodicea, 509
of Constantinople (ist) Second General, 93
of Carthage, 96, 97
of MUevis, 96, 97
of Ephesus, Third General, 97
of Cfialcedon, Fourth General, loi
of Constantinople (2nd) Fifth General, 105
of Constantinople (3rd) Sixth General, 107
of Constantinople (4th) Eighth General, 139
of Lyons (2nd) Fourteenth General, 146
of Pisa, 278
of Constance, Sixteenth General, 281
of Basle, 148
of FeiTara — Florence, Seventeenth General, 149-153
of Trent, Nineteenth General, 365
of The Vatican, Twentieth General. See Vatican
Councils of the first three centuries, 85 note
,, Decrees of, ratified by the Pope, and by him communicated
to all the churches, 86
„ Provincial, National, and (Ecumenical or General, 87
,, " Plenary," 87 jioie .
„ All General, presided over by the Pope, or by his legates, 87,
90,91
,, Convocation of General, 87, 102 note
„ Dogmatic letter of the Pope, the authority and guide of
General Councils, 99, 100
INDEX. 679
Councils, Decrees of, derive validity from the Pope's approval and
confirmation, 88, 105
,, ,, promulgated by the Pope, 89
,, The Pope's approval sought for, even though he should pre-
side through his legates, lOJ
„ Great power of the Apostolic See regarding councils, 105
Courayer, P. F. Le, 369
Com-tenay, Bishop of London, subsequently Archbishop of Canterbury,
29s, 296
Oranmer, Archbishop, 357, 358, 361
Creed, Apostles', 94 note
,, Athanasian, 94 note
„ Nicene, 94, 94 note
,, Constantinopolitan, 94, 94 riofe
,, of Pope Pius IV., 94 note
Crescentius or Cenci, 224, 244 note
„ Sacrilegious outrage on the Pope by, 244
Crusades, 632
Crypt, ig/i note
Ciilturl
Iturkampf, 400
,, Bad effects of, on Protestant Churches, 397
,, leading to materialism, 397
„ Futile attempt to enslave the Catholic Church by, 397
,, See Prassia, May Laws
Cusa, Cardinal Nicholas ^, 317 note
Cyprian, Saint, 28 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 28-32
„ appeals to the Pope against the schismatics of Carthage, 32
,, Controversy of, with Pope Saint Stephen, on Baptism by
heretics, 82
,, On the Roman See, as the head and fountain of the Episco-
pate, 513
Cyril, Saint, Bishop of Jerusalem, 34 note
,, on the Primacy of Peter, 34
„ on the word " Catholic," 31 note
Cyril, Saint, Patriarch of Alexandria, 98 note
„ presides for the Pope at the Council of Ephesus, 98
CyrU and Methodius, Apostles of the Bulgarians, 140
Cyrus, Bishop of Phasis, 107
DAMASUS, Saint, Pope, 93 note
„ not represented at Second General Council, 93
,, subsequently approves of its dogmatic canons, 93
Dardania, Address of the Bishops of, to Pope Gelasius I., 127
Daunou on Innocent III., 258 note
Deacons, 507
Decretals, 128
„ False, 165
Delegates Apostolic, 530, 531
Demetrius, Czar, and Pope Gregory VII., 238
680 INDEX.
Demetrius, Duke of Croatia, and Pope Gregory VII., 238
Desideiius, the last of the Lombard kings, 198
Diet of Worms, 319
„ of Nuremberg, 322, 333
„ of Spire, 333
„ of Augsburg, 334
Diocese, why so called, 509 note
Dionysius, Saint, Pope, 1 16
Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, 62, 62 note
„ Letter of, to the Bomans, 73, 163
Dioscorus at the false synod of Ephesus, loi note
Diplomas of the Emperors to the Popes,' 210, 218, 264
Diptycha, 204 note
DoJlinger, on the title Pope, 7, 8
„ on Pope Honorius, III
,, on the Pope's right of presiding at General Councils, 90
,, on the Papal decree, as the authority and guide of General
Councils, 99
,, on Luther's Bible, 321
,, on the doctrine of Justification, 325
,, on effects of the Reformation, 391
"Domine quo vadis," 61 note
Dominicans, 291
Donatns and Donatism, 88 note
Donus II,, Pope, 563
Dort, Synod of, 374
Doxology, 571 note
Duchies of Spoleto and Eeati, 196
Dudith, Andrew, 288 note
Duke, 'Title of, 172 note
Dupanloup, Monseigneur, Appeal of, to the Italian Minister against
the conscription of the clergy, 661, 662
Duval of the Sorbonne, 492 note
J, „ on Papal Infallibility, 492
Easteb, Controversy on, 74-76
,, how calculated, 74 note
„ Early Popes on, 75
„ Council or Nice on, 91
Ecchelensis, Abraham, 6 note
„ on the origin of the title Pope, 6, 7
Eck, John, 311
Ecthesis of Heraclius, 108
Edward III. and Wycliffe, 294, 295
Eleutherius, Pope, 73, 74
„ sends missionaries to Britain, A.D. 177, 78
Elizabeth, Queen of England, 362 note
Empire, Princes of the. See Princes
,, Holy Eoman, 215
„ conferred by the coronation of the Elect by the Pope, 215
INDEX. 68 1
Empire, transferred by Pope John XII. from the French to the Ger-
mans, 215
Emperors, Eolations of, with the Popes, 213
,, the sworn protectors of the Church, 215
„ Election of, 216
„ crowned by the Pope, 216
Eraser, Jerome, 320 note
„ on Luther's Bible, 320, 321
Encyclical and Syllabus of Pius IX., 474
England, Church of, Symbolic Books of, 375
,, The Ten Articles 01 Religious Credence of Henry
VIII., 375
,, The Statute of the Six Articles of Henry VIII.,
376
,, The Forty-two Articles of Edward VI., 376
„ the Thirty-nine Articles of Elizabeth, 376-379
„ The iTrvprinted book of the Thirty-nine Articles,
376
,, The King's Primer of Henry VIII., 379
„ The First Prayer Book of Edward VI., 379
,. The Second leaver Book of Edward VI. , 379
,; Elizabeth's Book of Common Prayer, 379
„ Scottish Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, 380
Book of Common Prayer of Charles II., 380
„ The Theological Oaths, as in Acts of Parliament,
37S
,, The Homilies, 380
„ The Dogmatic Articles of, more Protestant than
Catholic, 380
,, The Liturgy of, more Catholic than Protestant,
380
Ephesus, Council of, 97
„ False Synod of, loi riote
Epiphanius, Saint, 35 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 35
Episcopius, 375
Equinox, Vernal, 74 note
Era, Christian or Vulgar, 15 note
Erasmus and the Humanists, 317 note
Eucharist, The, as in the Confession of Augsburg, 337
„ „ varied, 338
,, Luther's doctrine on, 338, 339
,, ,, how modified, 338
„ Zwingli's doctrine on, 339
,, Calvin's doctrine on, 339
,, Catholic doctrine on, 367
Eudistes, 389
Eugenius II., Pope, 53^, 539
Eugenius III., Pope, 44, 254
„ Saint Bernard's remarkable letters to, 44, 45
682 INDEX.
Eugenius III., Services of, to the Church, 254
,, Concordat of, with Frederick I., 255
Eugeniua IV., Pope, 148
„ opens Council of Basle, 148
,, removes it to Ferrara, 148
,, ,, to Florence, 150
,, temporarily completes the union of the Churches, ijo
EuseMans, Arians so called, 117 note
Eusebius, Arian Bishop of Nicomedia, 117 note
Eusebius PamphUi, historian, 47 note
Eutyches, loi note
Evagjrius, historian, 106 note
Evaristus, Saint, Pope, 568 note
„ divides Eome into Parishes, 568
Evangelical Church in Germany, 396, 397
,, Disastrous effects of the Culturkampf on, 407
Evodius, second Bishop of Antioch, 48, 51
Exarchs, 171 note
Excommunication, 75, 76, 248, 440
Fabian, Saint, Pope, 116, 569
Falk, Doctor, and the May Laws, 400
F^n^lon, on the Power of the Popes in the Middle Ages, 250
Fenura-Florence, Council of. See Florence
Fessler on Papal Infallibility, 479 et seq.
' Fidei Defensor," Title of, conferred on Heniy VIII., 328
Filioque, 94, 130, 131
Fisher, Bishop of Eochester, 359
,, reputed author of the Defence of the Seven Sacraments, 327
„ Reply of, to Luther's attack on Hem-y VIII., 330
„ named Cardinal, 360
„ beheaded by Henry VIII., 360
Fisherman's Ring, 'The, 612
Fitz-Ralph, Archbishop of Ai-magh, 293 note
Flavian, Saint, Archbishop of Constantinople, loi note, 125
„ Appeal of to Saint Leo the Great, loi note
Flodoard, historian, Biography of, 548
„ on alleged unworthy Popes, 548 et seq.
Florence, Council of, Seventeenth General, 149-153
,, Definitions of, 151, 152
,, Act of Union at, 150
Foreign Missions, 389
Formosus, Pope, 549
,, The first Bishop elected Pope, 550
„ Life and character of, 549, 550
,, Desecration of remains of, 551
,, Ordinations of, 551
France, Material progi-ess and prosperity of, ^q8
Franciscans, 291 r i- j , jy
Franco-German War, 468
INDEX.
683
Frederick I. Emperor, 255-257
Frederick II. Emperor, 258 note
Free Will, 299, 353
French Legislation, Tendency of, to destroy Christianity, 655, 656, 658
Lay Anti-Christian Catechisms of, 655, 656
Conscription of Ecclesiastical Seminarists by, 658
French Revolution, 420
Church property sequestered in France, 420
Number of clergy, 420
New stipends of clergy, 420
" Civil Constitution of the Clergy," 420-422
Bishops and Priests to be elected to benefices, 421
Jews and Infidels to vote, 421
Seduction of Episcopal sees, 421
Religious orders abolished, 421
The Clergy refuse to take the oath, 421
AssermenUs and Insermentis, 421 note
Massacre of the clergy, 421
" Civil Constitution of the Clergy," condemned by
Pius VI., 421
Murder of the King, Queen, and other members
of the Royal FamUy, 422
Numbers of the victims of the, 423 note
Christianity proscribed, 423
The Sabbath abolished, 423
The Papal States invaded, 423
Ruinous conditions of armistice imposed on the
Pope, 424
Second invasion of the Papal States, 424
Treaty of Tolentino, 424
Further cessions and indemnity exacted, 424
Decree that the Temporal sovereignty of the
Popes should cease to exist, 425
Joseph Bonaparte at Rome, 425
General Duphot shot, 426
Tree of Liberty planted, 426
Berthier's inflated address, 426
Brutal treatment of Pius VI., 426, 427
Pius carried off, a prisoner, 427
,, Death of, at Valence, 428
Spoliation of Rome and its territories, 428
Anti-Christian conduct of the invaders, 429
Freppel, M., Bishop of Angers, Deputy, 658
„ „ opposes the Conscription of Ecclesiastical Semina-
rists, 658
Friars or Religious Mendicants, 289
,, Great services of, 289, 293
,, Distinction between, and Monks, and Canons Regular, 292
note
„ Wycliffc's hostility to, 290, 293
684 INDEX.
Fiihadus, Abbot of St. Denys, 189, 194
Fust and the art of printing, 410, 411
Gallioan Articles, detailed, 482, 484-488
„ by whom confirmed, 487
,, condemned by the Church, 487
,, pronounced against by Italy, Spain, Austria,
Hxmgary, and Belgium, 487
, , annulled T)y Louis XI v. , 487
,, renounced by the bishops of France, 488
Garibaldi invades the Papal States, 467
Gelasius I, Pope, 115 note
,, on the appellate jurisdiction of the Holy See, 115
,, on the Primacy, 127
,, on the Patriarchal Sees, 511
Genseric and Saint Leo the Great, 169
Cleiman Empire, Thirty-six per cent, of the population Catholic, 385,
399
,, Thirty-eight distinct Protestant Churches in the,
396
,, and the May Laws. See May Laws and Prussia
Germany and the Art of Printing, 412, 413
,, and Book-selling, 415
„ Intermediate schools and Universities of, before the Re-
formation, 418
Gerson, John, and the Great Schism of the West, 279
Gibbon, on Saints Peter and Paul at Rome, 68, 69
„ on the Basilica of Saint Peter, 69
,, on Saint Gregory the Great, 156, 173 rlote
„ on the temporal dominion of the Popes, 185 note
,, on the Fable ef Pope Joan, 566
Giustiniani, Cardinal, 616-618
Gladstone, Mr., on Papal Infallibility, 479
„ on the civil allegiance of Catholics, 479
"Gloria in Excelsis Deo," The, 571, 571 note
Golden Bull, The, 219 note
Golden Bose, The, 242 note
Gomar and Gomarists, 374 note
Gospels of Saints Matthew, Luke, John, and Mark, 9 note, 54, 55 note
Gotti, Cardinal, on Papal Infallibility, 493
Graveson, 546
Greek Schism, Causes of the, 130, 131
„ Main points of difference, 130, 145, 150
„ Efforts of the Popes to restore union, 139, 145, 148
Greek Schismatics, all hold those Catholic dogmas which are rejected
by Protestants, 524
Greek Church, Deterioration of, since its secession, 154
„ Numbers of, 155
Growing feeling of, outside Enssia, in favour of re-
union, 155
INDEX. 68 s
Greelss, Jealous of the Pope's Primacy, before secession, 142
„ Interference of the, with the Jurisdiction of the Holy See, 135,
183
,, warned hy Pope Nicholas v., 154
„ snhdued by Mahomet II., 154
Gregory Nazianzen, Saint, 35 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 36
Gregory of Nyssa, Saint, 36 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 36
Gregory the Great, Saint, Pope, 43 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 43
,, saves Italy, 173
,, and Saint Augustine, 78, 517 note
„ on holy pictures, 652
Gregory II. Saint, Pope, 178 note
„ resists the Iconoclasts, 178 et seq.
,, remonstrates with the Emperor Leo, 178
„ Life of, sought by Leo, 179
„ solicits aid of Charles Martel, i8i
,, names Charles Patrician of Home, 181
Gregory III., Pope, condemns Leo and his son, 182
„ besieged by the Lombards, 183
„ solicits aid of Charles Martel, 183
Gregoiy V. the first German Pope, 224, 564
Gregoi-y VII., Saint, Pope, 227
,, Election of, 228
,, Letter of, to Lanfranc, 229
,, Measures of, against Simony, etc., 231
,, „ on Investitures, 232 et seq.
„ reproves Henry IV. of Germany, 234
„ excommunicates Henry, 235
,, absolves Henry at Canossa, 236
,, Dealings of, with other princes, 237 et seq.
„ Kings rendering fealty to, 238, 239
„ Kelations of, with various Christian sovereigns, 237
et seq.
,, requires British and other foreign bishops to visit
Kome, 241
„ requii-es William the Conqueror to render fealty, and
to pay Peter's Pence, 241
,, pained by William's refusal of the former, 242
„ Attention of, to the affairs of the Church in the East, 243
,, Sacrilegious outrage upon, by Cenci, 244
,, driven from Kome by Henry IV., 245
„ dies at Salerno, 246
,, Character of, 247
,, Opinions on the public life of, 247-251
,, Mainspring of the policy of, 251
,, compared to Charlemagne and Peter the Great, 251
,, Monastic institutes of the time of, 252
686 INDEX.
Gregory VII., Far-reacMug results of the reign of, 247, 253
Gregory X., 145,262, 263, 580, 581 . „ ,
„ Laws of, for election of Pope in Conclave, 581
„ endeavours to reunite the Greeks to the Catholic Church,
145 et seq.
,, holds the Fourteenth General Council, for this object, 146
Gregory XI. definitively removes the Papal court from Avignon to
Kome, 270
GregoiyXIL, 276
„ formally re-convokes the Council of Constance, 284
, , renounces the Papal throne, 284
Gregory XIII. reforms the Calendar, 643 et seq.
Gregory Asbestas, of Syracuse, 133
Grotius, 346 note
„ anxious for the union of all Christians, 346 note
,, advocates the Primacy of the Pope, 346 note
Guelphs and Ghibellines, 271 note
Guibert, antipope, 240, 245
Guizot, on Gregoi-y VII., 251
,, on the Power of the Popes in the Middle Ages, 249, 621, 623
Gutenberg, Inventor of printing, 410, 41 1
Hapsbueg. See Eudolph von Hapsburg
Hardouin, Pfere, 22 note
Harold, King of Denmark, and Gregory VII.; 240
Hassoun, Cardinal, 526 note
,, Services of, to the Church in the East, 526
Hegesippus, Saint, 72 note
„ Journey of, to Rome, A.D. 157, 73
,, on the Popes of his time, 73
Henry, Saint, crowned Emperor, 225
,, Diploma of, 211
Henry IV. of Germany, 228, 229, 235 note
„ remonstrated with by Gregory VII., 234
,, attempts to depose Gregory VII., 234
,, excommunicated by Gregory VII., 235
,, absolved at Canossa by Gregory VII., 235
,, deposed by the German Princes, 2371
,, slays Rudolph in battle, and recovers his kingdom, 245
invades the Papal dominions, 245
,, captures Rome, and elects an antipope, 245
,, deposed by his son, 246 note
„ Death of, 246 note
Henry VIII. and Luther, 327
,, Defence of the Seven Sacraments by, 327
„ Title of Fidei Defensor conferred on, by the Pope, 328
,, replied to by Luther, 330
,, Gross abuse of, by Luther, 330
„ Subsequent apology of Luther to, 331
,, Marriage of, to Catherine of Aragon, 356
INDEX. 687
Henry VIII. applies to Pope Clement VII. to annul the marriage, 357
repudiates Catherine, and marries Anne Boleyn, 357
brealcs \yith the Pope, 358
enacts the oath of Royal Supremacy, 358
beheads Sir Thomas More, 359
beheads Bishop Fisher, 360
beheads Anne Boleyn, 360
marries Jj^ne Seymour, 361
marries Anne of Cleves, 361
repudiates her, 361
marries Catherine Howard, 361
beheads her, 361
marries Catherine Parr, 362
orders her impeachment, 362
Narrow escape of Catherine, 362
Death of Henry, 362
Succession settled by, 362 note
Religious ordinances of. See Church of England
Suppression of Monasteries by, 393, 394
Heradas, Patriarch of Constantinople, third century, 6 note
Heraclius, Emperor, favours the Monothelites, 107
Heresies, The Church has ever had to contend with, 287
„ Features common to all, 287, 288, 289
Heresy, Origin of the word 287 note
„ How punished, on conviction, under the Germanic Law, 301,
302
Heruli, The, invade Italy, 1 70
Hesse, Philip, Landgrave of, and Luther, 363
„ applies to Luther for licence to have two wives, 363
„ Application of, granted, 364
Hierarchy, Meaning of, 504
of Divine institution, 504
Power of ordination imparted to Bishops, 504
Bishops, 505
Priests or Presbyters, 505
Terms bishop a,ni presbyter, in Apostolic times, 505, 506
,, more strictly applied after the first century
S06
Saint Thomas thereon, 506 ,
Tertullian on the superior jurisdiction of bishops, 506
Priests Penitentiary, 506, 507
How bishops were first chosen, 507
How bishops are now appointed, 508
Three bishops required for ordaining a bishop, 508
Exceptional cases, in an emergency, 508 note
a bishop's see constituting a city, 509
Chorepiscopi, 509 note
Deacons, 507
A Diocese, 509
Metropolitans or Archbishops, 510
688 INDEX.
Hierarchy, Primates, 510
Patriarchs, 51°^,
Jmisdiction of the ahove, 5 10
" The five great Patriarchal Churches, 510, 511
,, Kome, 510
„ Alexandria, 511
„ Antioch, 511
„ Jerusalem, 512
Constantinople, 512
Poue Gelasius I. thereon, 511 T,„oifti,
" Constantinople promoted to second place by Twelfth
" General CouncU, 512
:: ^^^^^it'il'S^lil^^^oi the Episcopate
" It'fc-'valSili III. on the Primacy of the
"„ The Em"eror'Mat;S.n'1;f General CouncU of Chalcedon
thereon, A.D. 451, Si4 , _ . ,, »,,?,(; c,t
The Metropolitan of Ancxent Epirus thereon, A-D- 5i6. S'S
Elections of Bishops, from an early period, confirmed hy
the Pope, S16
„ The Pallium, 516 note
The Pope, 518
His titles, 518
The Cardinals, 518 „
The Cardinal Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, JiS
" The twelve Patriarchal Sees, 518
" Eesidential Sees of the Latm Rite, 519
" ,, in Europe, 519
" „ in Asia, 520
" „ in Africa, 520
" „ in America, 520
" ,, in Oceania, 521
Residential Sees of the Oriental rite, 521
" Grseco-Roumenian, 521
" " Grseco-Ruthenian, 522
" " Greeco-Bulgarian, 522
" „ Giseco-Melchite, 522
" „ Armenian, 522
" ,, Syriac, 523
" „ Syro-Chaldaic, 523
" „ Syro-Maronite, 523
" Coptic Rite, under Vicars Apostolic, 523
!! „ Copto-Egyptian, 523 _ _
Copto-Ethiopio or Ahyssmian, 524 , ^ . . ,
Considerable difference between the Latin and Oriental
rites, 524
„ Districts of the Latin rite, 524
INDEX. 689
Hierarchy, Districts of the several Oriental rites, 522-528
„ Liturgical language of each of the latter, 525-529
,, Maronite Christiana, why so called, 527
,, Melchite Christians, why so called, 526
,, Marriage of the Oriental clergy, 529
,, Number of occupants of the Residential Sees, 529
,, Titular Sees, 53a
„ ,, no laager callei Seea in partibusinfidelimn,
530 note
,, Archbishops and bishops of Titular Sees, iu countries
without a hierarchy, 530
,, ,, in Great Britain, formerly, 530, 531
,, Delegations Apostolic, in Europe, Asia, and Africa, 531
,, Vicariates Apostolic, in Europe, 532
in Asia, 532
„ >, in Africa, 532
„ ,, in America 532
,, ,, in Oceania, 532
,, Prefectures Apostolic, throughout the world, 533
,, Synopsis of the Hierarchical Titles of the Church, 533
„ Coadjutor Bishops, 534
,, Auxiliary Bishops, 534
,, Apostolic Nuncios, 534
,, „ Internuncios, 534
,, High Officials of the Papal Court, 534
,, Titles vacant on January sth 1887, 534 note
„ Dignitaries composing the, in 1S87, 535
„ Additions to by Leo XIII., 535, noie
Higden, Kanulf, 80 note
„ on Peter's Pence, 80 note
Hilary, Saint, Bishop of Poitiers, 34 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 34
Hilary, of Aries, 513
HUdebrand. See Gregory VII.
Hincmar of Kheims, 87 note
,, on convocation of councils, 87
Hoohstraten, the Dominican, 311
Holland, Centre party in, 409 note
Holy Ghost, The Divinity of the, denied by Macedonius, 93
,, Procession of the, 130
Holy Office, The. See Inquisition
Holy pictures and statues. Destruction of, in the eighth century, 177
„ „ in rei^s of Edward VI.
and Elizabeth, 652
,, Saint Gregory the Great, on, 652
„ Catholic Catechism, on, 652 note
Honorius, Pope, 108 note
„ Case of, considered, 1 10-114
Hospitals managed by Nuns, 636
Hotel Dieu, Lay nurses substituted for Nuns in the, 636 note
2 X
690 INDEX.
Howard, Cardinal, 595
Hugo, King of Italy, 560
Humanists, 317 note
Hurter, historian of Innocent III., 258 note
Huss, John, 300
,, ' Execution of, 301
„ Emperor's safe conduct to, 301
Hyginus, Pope, 115, 568
Ibas, Bishop of Edessa, 105 note
Iconoclasts of the eighth century, 177-180
" Iconoclastic fury " of Edward Vl. and Elizabeth, 652
Ignatius, Saint, third hishop of Antioch, 31 note, 48
,, first uses the word CathoUc, 31 note
Ignatius, Saint, Patriarch of Constantinople, 132, 132 note et seq.
Ignatius of Loyola, Saint, and his companions, 387
Imitation of Christ, Authorship of, 418 note
„ Large circulation of, before the Reformation, 418
Immaculate Conception, The, 472
a very ancient belief, 472
Council of Trent thereon, 472
Pius IX. collects the suffrages of the dispersed
bishops thereon, A.D. 1849, 472
,, invites all bishops, to whom con-
venient, to come to Itome to assist
him thereon, 473
,, defines the dogma, 473
„ Remarkable scene on the occasion,
473
Ina visits Rome, and establishes Peter's Pence, 79, 80
Indies, East, Hierarchy established in, by Leo XIII., 520
Indulgences, under Julius II., 306
,, under Leo X., 307
„ Publication of, 307
„ Alleged abuses therein, 307
,, Catholic doctrine of, 308
,) ,, errors concerning, 308-311
Infallibility. See Papal Infallibility
Innocent I., Pope, 96 note
,, confirms the councils of Carthage and MUevis, 97
Innocent III., Pope, 216, 217, 258 note
„ Energetic policy of, 259-261
Inquisition, The, 589 note
„ a political institution in Spain, 590 note
„ Cruelties of, in Spain, 590 note
Interdict, The, 260 note
Internuncios Apostolic, 530, 534
Investitures, 232 et seq., 254
,, Abuses of, 233
„ The question settled, 254 note
INDEX. 6g I
Ireland, Saint Celestine, Pope, sends Patrick to, yS
Irenseus, Saint, second Bishop of Lyons, 32 note
„ on the Primacy of the Roman Church, 33, 77
,, Letter of, to Pope Victor, 75
Iron Crown of Lombardy, 201 note
Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury, 294
Itahan legislation. Tendency or, to destroy Christianity, 658
„ Parliamentary and Municipal Elections, 660, 661
,, Catholic abstentions from former, 660, 66 1 note
„ Catholic successes in latter, 661, 661 note
Jacob Barad^us or Zanzala, 525 note
" Jacobins," The Dominicans so called, 291 note
Jacobite heresy. The, 525
James I. of England, 363 note
Jane Seymour, 361
Janssen, Br. Johannes, Work of, on the German people, &c., 412
Japan, Canonization of the Martyrs of, 474
Jerome, Saint, 39 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 39
, , on Saint Peter fixing his See at Rome, 48, 63
„ on Saint Peter, twenty-five years Bishop of Rome, 63
Jerome of Prague, 302
Jerusalem, Council of, 19
„ Patriarchate of, 512
Jesuits, The, 387
Jews, The prejudices of the, in ancient times, 17
-• Jews and Christians banished from Rome, A.D. 49, 19
Joan, Fable of Pope, 566
John the Evangelist, Saint, 71
„ Gospel of, 9 note
John VIII., Pope, and the Greek Schism, 142, 143 note
,, Constitution of, regarding Cardinals, 573, 587
John IX., Pope, 552
John X., Pope, 558
„ Luitprand's slander about, refuted, 558, 559
John XI., Pope, 559, 560
John XII., Pope, 223, 561, 562, 564
„ transfers the Empire to the Germans, 223
John XIII., Pope, 562
John XIV., Pope, 563
John XV., Pope, 563
John XXIL, Pope, 271
John XXIIL, Pope, 276
„ convokes the Council of Constance, 281
,, renounces the Papacy, 283
,, is formally deposed by the Council, 284
John, King of England, and the Interdict, 260 note
John the Deacon, 549
John Palaeologus, Emperor, and the Greek Schism, 148 et seq.
692 INDEX.
John Philagathus, Antipope, 224 note
Joseph, Patriarch of Constantinople, 152
,, Remarkable profession of the Primacy by, 152
Julius I., Saint, Pope, 117 note
„ Appeals to, a.d. 341, 117, 118
Julius II., Pope, 272 note
„ The motive of his warlike operations, 272
„ and Indulgences, 306
Jungmann, Professor, on alleged unworthy Popes, 547
Justification, Luther's doctrine of, 321
Justin Martyr, Saiat, 157 note
„ on tbe number of Christians in second century, 157
Justinian I., Emperor, Wise legislation of, 627 note
„ The Code of, 627 note, 628
Justinian II., Attempt of, to seize Pope Sergius I., 177
Kempis, Thomas 1, 317 note, 418 note
Kenrick, Archbishop, 2 note
Keys, The power of the, 14
Kissing the Pope's foot, 612 note
Knox, John, 352 note
Koburger, printer, 413, 4x6
,, German Bibles of, down to a.d. 1500, 416
Kulturkampf. See Culturkampf
LA.DERCHI, Annals of, 57 note
Lancaster, John of Gaunt, Duke of, 295, 296, 297
Lando, Pope, 557
Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, 229 note
Langham, Archbishop of Canterbury, 294
Laodicea, Council of, 509
Laurence, Saint, and the treasures of the Church, 634
Law of Guarantees, 471
Lazarists or Fathers of the Mission, 389, 626
Leap Year, 644 note
Ledochowski, Cardinal, 401
Legates, 60 1 note
Leibnitz, Biographical accoftnt of, 499 note
,, on the Popes as supreme arbiters, in the Middle Ages, 621
„ advocates the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome, 499
,, would have the Pope the arbitrator of sovereigns, 621
Leo, Saint, the Great, Pope, 42 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 42
,, on Saint Peter's establishing his See in Rome, 50
presides by his legates at the Council of Chaldedon, loi
,, Letter of the Emperor Marcian to, 103
„ " Peter hath spoken by Leo," 104
,, and Attila, 169
,, and Genseric, 169
Leo II., Saint, Pope, no, no note
INDEX. 693
Leo III., Pope, 202 note
,, Sacrilegious assault upon, 202
,, avenged by Charlemagne, 203
„ visited by Charlemagne, 203
,, Charges against, and how dealt with, 203
„ crowns Charlemagne Emperor, 205
Leo IV., Pope, saves Rome from the Saracens, 221
,, Voltaire's eulogium on, 221 note
Leo v., Pope, 553
Leo VI., Pope, 559
Leo VII., Pope, 561
Leo IX., Pope, 541 note
Leo X., Pope, Character of, 314
„ publishes Indulgences, 307
,, issues a Bull explanatory of, 314
,, cites Luther to Kome, 313
„ issues a Bull against Luther, 315, 316
Leo XIII., 307 note, 518, 535 note, 613, 615, 665. See Preface
„ Additions to the Hierarchy by, 535 note
„ as Mediator and promoter of the peace of Europe. See
Preface
„ mediates between Germany and Spain, 621-623
,, Encyclical of, Immortale Dei, 664 note
Leo the Isaurian, Emperor, 177, 182
Leo Ostiensis, 196 note
Liberius, Pope, Case of, 124 note
Limina Apostolorum, 194 note, 651 note
Linus, Saint, second Bishop of Rome, 58, 71 note
Llorente, historian of the Spanish Inquisition, 590 note
Lollards, 289
Lombards, why so called, 171 note
,, conquer Italy, 171
„ besiege Rome, 182, 185, 187, 193, 198
Lombardy, annexed by Charlemagne, 201
„ Iron Crown of, 20 1 note
Lothaire, Emperor, 220
Louis I., Emperor, 220
„ Diploma of, 210
Louis of Bavaria, and his antipope, 271
Lucius, the first Christian British king, 78
Lucius III., the first Pope elected exclusively by the Cardinals, a.d.
1181, 544
Luitprand, King of the Lombards, 182
Luitprand, Canon of Pavia, 545
,, Character and writings of, 545, 546
,, Statements of, incautiously adopted by Baronius, 546
,, ,, refuted by modern investigators, 547
Luke, Saint, Gospel of, 9 note
Luna, Peter de. See Benedict XIIL Antipope
Luther, Birth of, 304
694
INDEX.
Luther, Early life of, 304 et aeq.
„ attacks the doctrine of Indiilgences, 311
,, The celebrated propositions of, thereon, 311
,, "Violent language of, against the Church of Rome, 312
,, Unorthodox teaching of, 313
,, cited to appear before Leo X., 313
„ Insulting letter of, to Leo X., 314
,, bums the Pope's Bull, 316
„ at the Diet of Woi-ms, 319
„ refuses to retract, 319
, , placed under the ban of the Empire, 319
„ a willing prisoner at Wartburg, 319
translates the Bible into German, 320
,, Inaccuracies therein, 321
,, Results of doctrines of, 323-327
,, Justification doctrine of, 321, 324, 325
,, on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, 324
,, on the Secular Magistracy, 325, 326 note
„ on the Peasants' War, 327
,, Abusive reply of, to Henry VIII., 330
,, Subsequent apology of, to Henry VIII., 331
, , throws off the monastic habit, 331
„ marries Catherine Bora, 331
,, Observations of, on his own marriage, 331, 332
„ publishes his two Catechisms, 333
,, and the Confession of Augsburg, 334 et seq.
,, Doctrine of, on the Eucharist, 338
„ on the number of the Sacraments, 327 note, 354 note
, , censures the Sacramentarians, 339
, , upholds the Papacy against Zwingli, 340
, , declares that in the Papacy is true Christianity, 340
„ at the Conference of Marburg, 341
,, on Predestination, 353
,, Character of, 341-343
,, Sei-mon of, on Marriage, 342, 343 note
„ sanctions the bigamy of the Landgrave of Hesse, 363, 364
Macedonius, and his heresy, 93, 93 note
Magisterium, The, 60
Maistre, Comte de, 168, 213, 250
Mamertine prison, 60
Manning, Cardinal, on Pope Honorius, 113
,, as a member of the Sacred College, 587
,, Date of creation, and title of, 595
,, on the Vatican Council, 497
Marburg, Conference of, 341
Marcian, Emperor, and Saint Leo the Great, 102, 103
Marcus Eugenicus of Ephesus, 150, 152, 153
Marinus I., Pope, 549
Marinus II., Pope, 561
INDEX, 69 s
Mark, Saint, Gospel of, 9 note, 54, 55 note
,, the Interpreter of Peter, 54
,, founds the sees of Aquileia and Alexandria, 56
,, suffers martyrdom, 56 note
Maronites, 527
Marozia, Countess of Tusculum, 554
„ Intrigues of, S54
„ Wretched end (rf, 560
Marriage of the Oriental clergy, 529
Martel, Charles, 181, 183, 184
Martin, Saint, Pope, 178 note
Martin V., Pope, 285
Martyrium, 184 note
Matilda, The Countess, 235 note
,, Donation of, to the Holy See, 235 note
Matthew, Saint, Gospel of, 9 note, 55 note
Maur, Congregation of Saint, 641, 641 note
.. Maxentius, Emperor, 158
Maximus, Abbot, 108, io8 note
May Laws, why so called, 399 note
„ Professed objects of, 400
„ Provisions of, 401-406
,, rejected by the Catholics of Prussia, 400
,, „ and the Bishops, 401 et seq.
,, Action of Pius IX. with regard to, 401, 402
,, Disastrous effects of, in Prussia, 401, 403, 405, 406, 407,408
,, Amendment of, 402-405
,, Negotiationsof the cabinetsof,Berlinand the Vatican on,403
„ Gallant resistance to, by the " Centre party," 402, 403, 408,
„ Exemplary deference of the Centre to the Pope'swishes, 408
,, Repeal of the, 408
,, See Culturkampf, Prussia
Mazarin Bible, The, 411
„ Immense prices paid for copies of, 411 note
Mazzini and his colleagues, 46^ note
Mediation of Leo XIII., in affair of Caroline Islands, 621-623
Melancthon, 344-347
,, advocates the Pope's Primacy, 345, 346, 371
Melchites, 526
Mendicant Orders. See Friars
Mercy, Order of, for the redemption of captives, 626
Merovingian line closed, 191
MetropoUtans, 510
Mezzof anti, Cardinal, 639 note
Michael III., Emperor, 139
Michael Palseologus, Emperor, and the Greek Schism, 145
Michael Strationicus, Emperor, deposed, 144
Milan and Berlin decrees, 439 note
Milevis, Council of, 96
Missionary labours of the Church, 637
696 INDEX.
Monastic Institutions of the Middle Ages, 252, 640 et seq.
„ * Dugald Stewart on, 641
„ Voltaire on, 642
Monks, Distinction between, and Friars, and Canons Regular, 292 note
Monophysite heresy, 101, 101 riote
Monothelite heresy, 107
Monte Cassino, 186 note
Monteil M., Anti-Christian Catechism of Lay Instruction by, 656]
More, Sir Thomas, 331, 358, 359, 536 note
Mulhausen, Battle of, 327 note
Muntzer, 326, 327 note
Murat, 439 note >
Muratori, 555 note
Napoleon I. For early history see French Revolution
„ Concordat of, with the Pope, A.D. 1801, 431
,, restores Catholic worship in France, 431
,, crowned Emperor A. D. 1804, 434
, , assumes the iron crown of Lombardy, 201 note
, , Ambitious views of, regarding the Papacy, 436
,, invades the Papal States and Capital, a.d. 1808, 437
,, deposes Pius "VII., and annexes his States to France,
.> 439. 440
,, excommunicated by the Pope, 440, 441
,, imprisons the Pope at Savona, three years, 442
)j „ „ atFontainebleau,ayearandahalf,
442
,, and Cardinal Pacca, at levde, 441 note
„ visits Pius VII., at Fontainebleau, 446
„ prematurely publishes the Concordat, 447
,, Abdication of, 448
Napoleon III. restores Pius IX. to Rome, in 1849, 465
,, Letter of, to Pope, in 1859, 465 note
„ Convention of, with Victor Emanuel regarding the
Papal States, 467
,, sends a militaiy force, to protect the Papal States, in
1867, 467
,, defeats and expels the invaders, 468
„ Capitulation of, at Sedan, 468 1
Natalius, 116
Necessity, Wycliffe's doctrine of a Law of, 298
Nero, Emperor, 59, 63 note
Nestorius, 98 note
„ Heresy of, 91
Newman, Cardinal, on the doctrine that the Pope is Anti-Christ, 2
!. on Papal Infallibility, 479
,, Date of creation and title of, 595
„ ^ '!. , as a member of the Sacred College, 1:87
New English-speaking Cardinals, 595 s > o /
New Testament, List of the Books of, 377 note
INDEX. 697!
Nice, Council of, 89 »
„ Papal confirmation of Acts of, 92
Nicholas I., Pope, 132 note
Nicholas II., Pope, 542
„ changes mode of Papal Elections, 542
Nicholas v., Pope, 154
" Non-Professants " in France, 385, 386 note
Novatian, the first antipope, 30 note, n6
Novatus, the schismatic, 30 note, n6
Nuncios, Apostolic, 530, 535, 601 note
Delates of Saint Charles, 389
CEcolampadius, 349
CEcumenical Patriarch, 152 note
Old Testament, List of the Books of, 377 note
Optatus of Milevis, Saint, 36 note
,, on the Primacy of Peter, 36, 37, 77
Oratorians of Saint Philip Neri, 389
„ French, 389
Origen, 28 note
,, on the Primacy of Peter, 28
„ Judgment of, by Pope Fabian, 1 16
Orosius, 52 note
„ on Peter's going to Rome, 52
Osius, Bishop of Cordova, 90
Ostia, The Cardinal Bishop of, 586
Ostrogoths, The, invade Italy, 170
Otho I., the first German Emperor, 223
,, Diploma of, 211
Pacca, Cardinal, 441 note, 442, 443
Pagi, Francis, 6 note, 547
Paflavicino, Cardinal, 369
PaUium, The, 516 note
Panvini, Onuphrio, 579
Papacy, Erroneous ideas about the, i, 2
„ The, Benefits of, to mankind, 619
, , a, supreme tribunal in the midst of the anarchy of the
Middle Ages, 620, 622
,, repressing the excesses of sovereigns, 621
,, protecting, relieving, and consoling the oppressed, 620
,, a bond of connection between the most distant nations,
620
„ in its relation -with Slavery, 624
,, Enactments of the first Christian Emperor on Slavery,
inspired by the Church, 625
,, Enfranchisement of Slaves, encouraged and blessed by
the Church, 625
The liberation of Christian Slaves by the Church, 625, 626
in its relation with Jurisprudence, 626
698 INDEX.
Papacy, The, The laws of Constantine the Great, 625. 628
The Theodosian Code, 627 note
The Justinian Code, 627 note, 628
The laws of the Visigoths, 627 note
„ all largely influenced by the Popes, 627, 628
Examples thereof, 629
Canon Law, 630-632
Decretals, 630 note
The care of the poor, widows, orphans, and destitute
sick, 634
Asylums and hospitals, 634
The Foreign Missions, 637
The Propaganda, 638
,, Academical exhibition of, 639
The preservation of Litei'ature and Science, 640
The Benedictines, 641
The Congregation of Saint Maur, 641
Voltaire on the Benedictines, 642
Effects of the Papacy on all the Literature and all the
Jurisprudence of the Middle Ages, 642
has striven to make Literature, Science, and the Arts,
the handmaids of Religion, 642
The great Libraries and Galleries amassed by the Popes,
643
Their munificent patronage of men of learning and
genius, 643
Reformation of the Calendar by Gregory XIII., 643
Patronage and development of the Fine Arts in the
service of Religion, 646
Sir David Wilkip thereon, 647 note
The perfection of Ecclesiastical architecture, 647
The Gothic Cathedral, 647
The Duomo of Southern Europe, 648
Saint Peter's, 648
,, compared with Saint Paul's in London, 64S
,, Michael An^elo's grand conception regard-
ing the Dome, 649
,, See Popes
Papal Dominions, Extent of, at various periods, 165, 218, 264 note,
455. 462
„ as settled by Congress of Vienna, A.D. 1815, 455
,, as remodelled by Pius IX., a.d. 1848, 457
„ as cut down by the revolution of A.D. 1859-1861, 462
, , all usurped by Italian Government in A.D. 1870, 462
Papal Elections, Ancient, 537
,, Account of, by Saint Cyprian, A.D. 251, 537
,, Imperial confirmation gradually introduced, 537
, , Lothaire's enactment, 538
,, Promise of Pope Eugenius II., 539
INDEX. 699
Papal Elections, Provisions of the Imperial diplomas, 539
Promise of Pope Leo IV., 539
A few Popes nominated by the Emperors, 541
In periods of anarchy, the Papal throne contended
for by ambitious factions, 541
A few unworthy persons elected, 541
None of these ever made an Ex CathedrA definition, 542
Gross exaggerations concerning them. See Popes
Luitprand, canon of Pavia, the main authority. See
Luitprand
Most of his slanders refuted by modem investigators,
546
Koscoe and other writers, on Pope Alexander VI.,
565 note
M. Leonetti, on Alexander VI., 565 note
Fable of Pope Joan, 566
Falsity thereof, proved by Protestant writers, 566
Judicious change in mode of election, made by Pope
Nicholas II., a.d. 1059, 542, 543
the Pope to be chosen by the CardOmals, 542
The last Imperial confirmation of a Papal election,
228 note
The first Pope chosen by the Cardinals exclusively, 544
Law of Stephen IV., that the Elect should be a
Cardinal, A.D. 769, 570
Disuse of this law, after a.d. 884, 570
Formosns, the first Bishop elected Pope, A.D. 891, 550
The last Pope elected from outside the sacred college,
A.D. 1378, 582 note
See Cardinals
Modern, 602
Ceremonies immediately on the Pope's death, 602
The Cardinal Camerlengo assumes the sovereign
authority, 602
The Pope's death notified to foreign courts, 603
The Cardinals are assembled, 603
The Nine-days' solemn obsequies, 603
The Cardinals assemble for the Conclave, 603
The procession, 604
The closing of the Conclave, 605
The first day of election, 604, 605
Arrangements in the chapel, 606
The three recognized modes of electing a Pope in
modem times, 607
The first : As it were by Inspiration, 607
The second : By Compromise, 607
The third : By Scrutiny, or Scrutiny and Accessus, 608
The mode of voting, 608-610
The scmtineers, 608, 609
The Accessus, 610
70Q INDEX,
Papal Elections, Ceremonies on an election taking place, 610-613
Change of name by a Pope, on election, 611 note
The obedience or adoration of the Cardinals, 612
The Fisherman's King, 612
Kissing the Pope's foot, 612 note
The election announced to the people, 612, 613
The solemn Apostolic Benediction Urbi et Orbi, 613
Homage rendered to the new Pontiff, 614
Coronation of a Pope, 615 note
Duration of recent conclaves, 615, 616
Veto of Catholic powers, 616
,, exercised by Spain in conclave of 1830-31, 616
Papal Infallibility, 477
,, Much misconception about meaning of, 477
,, Definition of, by the Vatican Council, 477
,, A Pope may err, as an individual, 479
, , But he cannot eiT, when speaking ex Cathedrd, 479
, , Errors of those who lose sight of this distinction, 479
,, Mr. Gladstone on the civil allegiance of Catholics,
479
,, Monseigneur Fessler, Secretary to the Vatican
Council, 479
, , His " True and False Infallibility of the Popes," 479
, , His lucid reply to Dr. Schulte, 480 note
„ The four Galilean Articles, 484-488
,, Opinions on Papal Infallibility, in past times, 488
et seq.
,, Saint Thomas of Aquino on, 488-491
,, Sylvius on, 491
,, Duval on, 492
,, Suarez on, 477
,, Cardinal Gotti on, 493
,, Billuart on, 494
„ Infallibility implied in the Primacy, 495
n Peter lives and judges in his successors, 495
The legate Philip thereon, at Council of Ephesus,
A.D. 431,495
„ Saint Leo the Great thereon, about a.d. 450, 495
,, The Council of Chalcedon thereon, a.d. 451,' 496
,, The Sixth General CouncU thereon, a.d. 680, 496
1. The Vatican Council thereon, a.d. 1870, 496
The Twentieth General Council, of the Vatican, 497
Voting of, on Papal Infallibility,
497, 498
>• by no means an unreasonable doctrine, 499
,, Important ciuotation from Leibnitz, 499
„ when defining ex Cathedrd, the Pope avails him-
self of all aid within his reach, 502
„ He can, should he deem it advisable, consult the
bishops, dispersed, 502
INDEX. 701
Papal Infallibility, This course pursued by Pius IX., in defining the
Immaculate Conception, in 1849, 50Z
,, The definition of Papal Infallibility the act of a
General Council, 503
Papias, 54
Paraguay, Jesuit missions in, 637
Parish, 56S
Passionists, The, 389
Patriarchs, 510
Patriarchal Churches, 510-512
Patrician, 173 note
„ dignity conferred on Charles Martel by the Pope, 181
Patrick, Saint, Apostle of Ireland, 78
Patrimonies of the Church, 165
„ How administered by St. Gregory the Great, 167
Paul, Saint, 21, 22, 59-62
Paul the Deacon, 166 note
Paul III., Pope, convenes the Council of Trent, 365, 370
Paul's, Saint, Cathedral, London, 648-65 1
Pearson, John, Bishop of Chester, 67 note
,, on Saint Peter in Rome, 67, 68
Peasants' War, The, 326, 327
Pelagius, 96 note
„ JHeresy of, 96
Penitentiaries, Major and Minor, 507, 597
Pentapolis, The, 172 note
Pepin, receives Pope Stephen III., 190
is made Patrician of Eome, igo
replaces Childeric III., as King of France, 190, 191
marches into Italy to aid the Pope, 192
conquers Astolphus, King of the Lombards, 192, 193
The Deed of donation of, 190
Cities and territories comprised therein, 194, 195
Persecution of the Church in France and Italy, 655-660
Peter, Saint, Catholic belief regardin^the Primacy of, 14
„ Scriptural proofs of the Primacy of, 8 et seq.
,, Precedency of, over the other Apostles, 10 et seq.
Early FatJfiers on the Primacy of, 26
',', Councils on the Primacy of, 104, 109, 152, 367, 495, 496
,, Protestant writers on the Primacy of, 23
,, Origin of the name Peter, 9 reoite
,, Exclusive privileges of, 13
„ transmitted all his power and privileges to his suc-
cessors, 14
,, Preaching of, before §oing to Rome, 49
„ founds the see of Antioch, 47
,, appoints Evodius his successor at Antioch, 47, 51
,, goes to Rome, 18, 51
,, first sojourns with the Jews in Rome, 52
,, removes to the house of Pudens, 52
702 INDEX.
Peter, Saint, dwells therein seven years, 53
,, baptizing in Home, 53 note
„ "The Preaching of Peter," a very ancient work, 49 note
„ authorizes IVIark to write his Grospel, 54
„ writes his First Epistle, 55
,, Praise of this Epistle by Erasmus and Grotius, 55
,, dates it from "Babylon," as Kome was then commonly
,, called, 55
,, Second Epistle of, 55, 59
,, sends Mark to found the see of AquUeia, 56
, , sends Mark to found the see of Alexandria, 56
,, sends many others to found sees in various countries, 57
,, travels much, founding Churches, 58
,, appoints auxiliary bishops of Rome, 58
,, is compelled to leave Borne, A.D. 49, 19, 58
,, is present at the Council of Jerusalem, 19, 58
,, head and director thereof, 19, 20
„ Acquiescence of all in decisions of, 19-21
,, Intercourse of, with Saint Paul, 21-23
„ reproved by Saint Paul, at Antioch, 21, 22
,, Humility and exemplary moderation of, 22
,, arrested by order of Nero, 60
,, escapes from prison, 61
,, has a vision of our Lord, 61
,, returns to prison, 61 ,
,, is cnicified^ 61 '
„ Interment of, 61 note
,, Year of death of, 62
,, Date of foundation of the Church of Borne by, 63, 64
,, Bishop of Bome twenty -five years, 63, 64
,, Feast of his Chair at Antioch, 48 note
I. , ' ,) at Bome, 63
„ Chair used by, preserved in his Basilica, 651
,, First five successors of, 71 note
„ Ancient writers on the Martyrdom of, 62
Eighteenth Centenary of Martyrdom celebrated 476
His bemg at Bome, denied by a few Protestants, 64
et seq.
" » asserted by Protestant divines of
high repute, 65-68
r> ♦ '" a • t Tj -T 'i o ^ , proved by ancient monuments, 68
Peter's, Samt, Basilica, 648-651, 650 note
„ Pence, 80 note
Peter Damian, Saint, 543 note
Peter Lombard, 305 note
Peter de Luna. See Benedict XIH
Petrarch, 267 '
Philip I. of France, and Gregory VII., 237
Philip Augustus and the Interdict, 260 note
Philip Landgrave of Hesse. See Hesse
INDEX. 703
Philip le Bel, 265
Philo Judaeus, 56
,, met Saint Peter in Rome, 57
Photius and the Greek Schism, 132, 133 et seq.
Pisa, Council of, 278
Pius I., IIS
Pius VI., 421 note
„ condemns the " Civil Constitution of the Clergy," in France,
421, 422
„ Intrepidity of, 422
,, Brutal treatment cxf, by the French, 426, 427
,, carried off, a prisoner, 427
,, meets the deposed King of Sardinia, 427
„ edifyinft sentiments of, 427, 428
,, death of, at Valence, 428
Pius VII., 430 note
„ Concordat of, with France, A.D. iSoi, 431
„ makes extraordinary changes in the Church of France,
431, 432
,, goes to Paris to Crown Napoleon, 433, 434
„ Slights passed on, by Napoleon, 434, 435, 436
„ Firmness of, 437
„ refuses to annul Prince Jerome's marriage with Miss
Patterson, 437
,, States of, invaded by France, 437
,, a prisoner in Rome, 438
,, adopts the Berlin and Milan decrees, 439
„ refuses to make war against England, 439
,, deprived of his territories by France, 439
protests against this spoliation, 440
,, excommunicates Napoleon, 440, 441
„ dethroned, and carried off, a prisoner, 441, 442
,, Brutal treatment of, 443, 444
„ at Savona three years, 442
„ at Fontainebleau a year and a half, 442
,, kept ignorant of passing events, 445
,, urged to make concessions to Napoleon, 445
„ visited by the Emperor at Fontainebleau, 446
,, signs preliminary articles of Concordat of 18 13, 446
, , Pnncipal articles of Concordat considered, 447 note
,, addresses letter of revocation to Napoleon, 448
,, liberated from Captivity, 449
„ returns to Rome, 449
,, Sympathy for, by three non- Catholic sovereigns, 449
,, ,, especially the Prince Regent of England, 450
„ Friendly relations of, with England, 450
„ TeiTitories all restored to, by Treaty of Viennaj 451
,, Works of Art restored to, 45 1
Pius IX., Early history of, 453
,, elected Pope, 454
^04 INDEX.
Pius IX., grants a political amnesty, 462
Extent of Papal States, early in reign of, 455
„ after 1861, 462
Revolution of 1848, 463, 464 _
Assassination of Count Kossi, 464
flees to Gaeta, 464
aided by Austria and France, 465
restored to his throne, 465
issues his Motu Proprio of 1849, 456
New organization of his States by, 457
Eelative numbers of clergy and laity in government of, 458-
460
Revenue and Expenditure of States of, 461
Strength of Pontifical Army under, 461
Great reforms of, in Papal States, 457, 463
witnesses events of 1859, 462
deprived of the Legations, 462, 465
rejects the Convention of Napoleon III. and Victor Emanuel,
regarding the Papal States, 466, 467
States of, invaded by Garibaldi, 467
Invaders expelled by the French, 467
Important letter to, from King Victor Emanuel, in 1870, 468
Reply of, to the king, 469
Papal States invaded by the King, 469
Rome taken, 470
The Plebiscite, 470
The King assumes the government, 470, 471
Royal decree regarding the Pope, 470
The Law of Guarantees, 471
„ so miscalled, 472
,, The Pope no party to it, 472
Appeal of, to Victor Emanuel, against the conscription of the
clergy, 656
collects the sufirages of the Bishops, dispersed, on the Imma-
culate Conception, 472
defines the dogma thereof, 472
Rematkable scene on the occasion, 472
re-establishes the Hierarchy in England and Wales, 531
Canonization of the Japanese Martyrs by, 474
Denunciation of prevailing errors by, 474
Interesting reply of the Sacred College and Bishops to, 474,
475
issues his Encyclical Quanta Cura, and the Syllabus, 475
celebrates the Eighteenth Centenary of the Martyrdom of
Saint Peter, 476
convokes the Vatican Council, 497
defines the dogma of Papal Infallibility, the Sacred Council
approving, 498
Platina, the Papal biographer, 559 riote
Polycarp, Saint, 74 note
INDEX. 705
Polyoarp, Saint, visits Rome to confer with Pope Anioetus, 74
Poor Law, The, in United Kingdom, 394
Pope, Origjji and meaning of the title, 5-8
„ the title applied to oishops generally, in the early ages, 5
,, ,, exclusively attributed to the Bishop of Rome, from the
ninth century, 6
,, Catholic doctrine about the Pope, 5, 8 '
„ The Pope deemed Anti-Chi-ist by Protestants, i, 2
,, Devotion of Catholics of all ages and nations to the Pope, 4
,, ,, of many, formerly Anglicans, to the Pope, 4
„ Supreme power and jurisdiction of the Pope symbolized by
the Keys, 14
,, All ecclesiastical causes to be referred to the Pope, 97, 121, 123
,, presides, either in person or by his legates, at all General
Councils, 90
„ The Dogmatic letter of the Pope, the authority and guide of
General Councils, 99
,, The approval and confirmation of the Pope, essential to the
validity of the decrees of councils, 88, 89, 120, 121, 123, 125
,, Office of the Pope, to communicate decrees, thus ratified, to all
the churches, 89
,, Rescript of the Pope, conclusive, 97
,, Care of all the churches, devolving on the Pope, 1 18
,, in former times, always consulted his council of bishops, in
important cases, 122 note, 248 note
,, The Primacy of the Pope, fully established, early in fourth
century, 124, 125
„ ,, strongly advocated by Melancthon, 345, 346,
371
,, „ ,, by Grotius, 346 note
„ „ „ by Leibnitz, 499
„ ,, Definition of, at Council of Florence, 152
,, The Bishops of Dardania thereon, a.d. 492, 127
,, Appeals to the Pope, 115, 116, 117-123, 128, 204
,, No appeals from the Pope, 115, 128, 204
„ Benediction of, "Urbiet Orbi," 613
,, should enjoy complete personal and political independence, 664
Popes, Relations of, with Emperors, 213
Power of, in the Middle Ages, 248-251
Excommunication and deposition of princes by, 248, 249, 250
the saviours of society in the Middle Ages, 619
preserved Europe from total barbarism, 620
send missionaries to evangelize various countries, 78, 79
became temporal rulers against their will, 168
Popes the arbiters of sovereigns, 248, 249, 250
„ Guizot thereon, 249
„ Coquerel thereon, 249
„ Voltaire thereon, 249
,, AnciUon ihereon, 620
„ Leibnitz thereon, 621
2 Y
7o6 INDEX.
Popes, the arbiters of sovereigns, F^n^lon thereon, 250
,, This great power of, would now be am anachronism, 248
„ Sanction of, sought for by the holders of supreme power in
Europe, 623
„ „ by Pepin, by Napoleon, and by many between
these, 623
,, Coronation of, 615
,, Exaggeration about unworthy Popes, 545 et seq.
„ ,, examined in detail, 547 et seq.
„ ,, Luitprand chief, and often sole, witness against,
548
„ ,, Flodoard on, 548 et seq.
,, ,, Auxilius on, 548 et seq.
„ „ John the Deacon on, 549
Pagi on, S47 et seq.
„ ,, Muratori on, 548 et seq.
,, ,, Jungmann on, 547 et seq.
„ ,, Kesults of investigations of, 567
„ ,, Number of unworthy Popes very small, 567
,, ,, do not, and could not, affect the Church, 567
„ „ Pope Formosus acquitted, 549
,, ,, Case of Stephen VII., 550
Sergius III., S5S-SS7
,, JohnX.,ss8j
,, ,, John XII., 561, 562
„ ,, Boniface VII., 563
„ „ Christopher, 553, 564
„ „ Benedict IX., 564
,, „ Alexander VI., 564, 565 note
,, Eemoval of the, to Avignon, 265
,, Eetnm of the, thence to Rome, 270
Potter, John, Archbishop of Canterbury, 31 note, 76, 76 note
Prsetextatus the Senator, 164
Predestination,'3S3
„ Luther on, 353
Prefects Apostolic, 53°, 531
Presbyter, 505
Prierias, Sylvester, 311
Priest, 505
Primacy, Remarkable evidence regarding the, 124, 125, 204, 495, 496
„ See Councils, Peter, Pope
Primates, 510
Princes of the Empire, The, 218, 219
Printing, Invention of the Art of, seventy-five years before the Re-
formation, 410
First books printed, 410, 411
Rapid diffusion of the Art, 412-415
Extension of to Italy, a.d. 1465, 413
„ to Hungary, A.D. 1473, 413
,, to England, A.D. 1474, 413
INDEX. 707
Printing, Extension of, to other countries, 414
,, Activity of the Church in the promotion of, 414, 415
,, See Books, Bible, Classics
Private interpretation of the Scriptures, 28S, 298, 351, 354, 381
Procession of the Holy Grhost, 130
Processus and Martinianus, Saints, Martyrs, 60
Propaganda, 638, 639
„ Spoliation of, by the Italian Government, 638 note
Propagation of the Faith, Association of the, 389
Prosper of Aquitaine, Saint, loi, loi note
Protestants, Origin of the word, 334
„ Concession of some, on the Primacy, 23
,, Lamentations of leading, on the discords existing among
„ their followers, 288, 345, 346 note, 354
Protonotary Apostolic, 593 note
Prussia, May Laws of. See May Laws and Culturkampf
„ Catholic population of, 400, 402
,, „ dioceses of, 402 note
,, Parliamentary organization of the Catholics of, 403, 408
,, Annual meetings of ditto, 406
,, Protestant sympathy with ditto, 407
,, Sympathy of American Bishops with, 406
,, Bad effects of May Laws on, 402, 403, 405, 406, 407, 408
,, Centre party of, 403, 406, 408
,, Eeligious orders abolished in, 401, 403
" Fsalmorum Codex " of Fust and Sohoetfer, 41 1
„ Unexampled price paid for a copy of, 41 1 note
Fadens, the Roman, 52 note
,, receives Saint Peter, 52
,, House of, converted into a church, 53
Pudentiana and Praxedes, Saints, 52 moie
Pudentiana, Ancient church of Saint, 53
Purgatory, Doctrine of, 151, 311 note
Pyrrhus, Monk, and Patriarch of Constantinople, 107, 107 note
QuiNlSEXT, Council of, 177 note
Bachis, King of the Lombards, 185
Bavenna, 171 note, 195
Bayualdi, Annals of, 57 note
Redemptorists, 389
Refonnation, The, attained its fullest development, in the first fifty
years, 382
, , commenced to recede after fifty years, 3S2
Followers of, divided, 382
,, Sects of, persecuting each other, 382
,, The several Churches of, merely local, 383
,, Lord Macaulay thereon, 383
,, (See Religious Census of Europe
,, Effects of, in Protestant States, 391
708 INDEX.
Eeformation, effects of, in Mecklenburg, 391
in Pomerania, 392
" in Brunswick and Hanover, 392
" 'in Brandenburg and Prussia, 392, 393
„ in Saxony, Hesse, and Wurtemburg, 393
" ', in Denmark and Sweden, 393
',', „ in England, 393, 394 , „,. . ^,
' ^^ Slavery of the Protestant Church, on the
" " Continent, 396 ■,„■,.. ^
Amalgamation of the Lutheran and Calvinist
" " Churches by the State, in Germany, 397
The Evangelical Church in Germany, 397
" ,, Bad effects of State interference, 397
" „ A German Protestant Journal thereon, 407
[[ „ See. Culturkampf
Reformers, who so called, 34.8
Begale, The, in France, 482-484
Regulars, 590 note
ReUgious Census of Europe, France, 383
Belgium, 383
,, Austria- Hungary, 383
,, Spain, 384
,, Portugal, 384
Italy, 384
„ European Russia, 384
„ Greece, 384
„ European Turkey, 384
,, German Empire, 384
,, Sweden and Norway, 385
„ Denmark, 385
„ Netherlands, 385
,, Switzerland, 385
Great Britain and Ireland, 385
,',' Total, in synopsis, 386
,, District of Lutheranism, 386
,, of Calvinism, 386
„ ,, of Anglicanism, 387
Religious Orders, abolished in Prussia, 401, 403
,, traced in the nomenclature of streets and districts,
292 note
Remonstrants. See Arminianism
Rescript of the Pope, 97
Reunion, Temporary, of the Greek and Latin Churches, 139, 147, 151
Revolution, fee French
Revolutionary movement on the Continent, in 1848, 463, 464
Rienzi, the Roman Tribune, 266-270
Rite, The Latin, 519, 524
Rites, the various Oriental, 521, 524-529
,, ,, Districts of, 525-528
Robert Guisoard and Gregory VII., 243, 245
INDEX. 709
Rome, the Bishop of, visited by Bishops from the earliest times, 73
,, ,, iSee Pope
„ commonly called "Babylon " by early Christian writers, 55
Koman Church, The, Great wealth of, 163, 164
,, Great charity of, 164
,, Patrimonies of, 165
Koman Nobles, The, Violence of, 224, 244, 266
Roman Republic, The, in the Eighth Century, 185
Romanus, Pope, 552
Rood, Theodoric, first printer at Oxford, 413
Rossi, Count, Assassination of, 464
Rota, Auditors of the, 593 note
Rudolph of Suabia elected Emperoi', 237
,, receives a golden crown from Gregory VII., 245 note
„ defeated and slain by Henry IV., 245
Rudolf von Hapsburg elected Emperor, 262
,, Dynasty of, 262 note
,, Relations of with Gregory X., 263, 264
,, Diplomas of, 218, 264
Sackamentaeians, 338 note
Saracen invasion of Italy, 221
Sardica, Council of, A.D. 347, 122
„ on Appeals to the Pope, 123, 123 note
Sarpi, Era Paolo, 369
Satisfaction, in the sacrament of Penance, 309 note
Schmalkalden, Articles of, i, 371
„ League of, 336
Schceffer and the aft of Printing, 410, 411, 412, 415
Scholastic Theology and Schoolmen, 305 note
School, Banishing religion from the, 655
Schulte, Doctor, against Papal Infallibility, 479 et seq., 480 note
Scotus, John Duns, and Scotists, 305 note
Scriptures, Canonical, and Deutero-Canonical, 377
„ Difference of Protestants and Catholics, concerning, 377
,, See Bible
Scrutiny. See Papal Elections
Secret societies, always condemned by the Church, 463, 663
Sedan, Capitulation of, 468
Sees, Residential, 519
,, Titular, no longer styled inpartibits Infidelium, 529
Seminarists, Ecclesiastical, obliged to serve three years in the army,
in Italy and France, 657, 658
Sergius, Patriarch of Constantinople, 107
Sergius I., Pope, 177 note
Sergius III., Pope, 555
,, condemns his predecessor Formosus, 557
„ Grave aspersions on, examined, 555-557
" Servant of the servants of God," 260 note
Servetus, burned alive, 351, 395
7IO
INDEX.
Servians, The, 14CJ note
Sigismund, Emperor, and John Huss, 300, 301
Sigonio, Carlo, 207 note
Silvering, Pope, Saint, 106 note
Simon Magus, 16
Simon, Pfere, on Luther's Bible, 321
Simony, 16 note, 230 et seq.
Slavery and the Papaxjy. See Papacy
Smithfield, Fires of, 39S
Socrates, Ecclesiastical historian, 120 note
Solomon King of Hungary and Gregory VII., 237
Somascha, Clerks Regular of, 388
Somerset, Lord Protector of England, 394
Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, 108, 108 note
Soter, Pope, 73 note, 164
Sozomen, Ecclesiastical historian, 118 note
Spanish Inquisition, Cruelties of the, 395
Stair, Lord, on the Canon Law, 632
State control of Protestant Churches in Germany, 396
„ Bad effects of, 397
„ A German Protestant Journal thereon, 407
Stations, held in Rome in the early ages, 575 note
Staupitz, the Augustinian, 305, 307
Stella, John, Papal biographer, SS9 note.
Stephen I., Saint, Pope, 82, 82 note
Stephen III., Pope, 187 note
„ Action of, during the siege of Rome, 188
,, visits Pepin, to obtain his aid, 189
,, Progress of, through France, i8g
,, Reception of, by Pepin, 190
„ Anoints Pepin King, 190
,, Deed of Donation by Pepin to, 190
Stephen VII., Pope, 550, 564
,, outrages the remains of Formosus, 551
Stephen VIIL, Pope, 559
Stephen IX., Pope, 561
Stephen, Sir James, on Gregory VII., 247
Stewart, Dugald, on Monastic Institutions, 641
,, Strange self-contradiction of, 641 note
Sulpiciens, The, 389
Suarez, on Papal Infallibility, 477
Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, 295
,, Murder of, 296
Switzerland, Protestant Cathedrals of, 351
Syllabus, The, and Encyclical, Quanta Cura, 474
Sylvester I., Saint, Pope, 88
,, Constantme's alleged donation to, 164, 165
Sylvester II., the first French Pope, 225 note, 564
Sylvius (Du Bois) on Papal Infallibility, 491
Symbol or Creed, 94 note
INDEX. 7 I 1
Symbols, the four great, 94 note
Symtolio books, 333 note
„ of the Lutherans, 372
„ of the Calvinists, 373
„ of the Church of England, 375
,, of the Catholics, 381 note
„ See Confession of Faith
Syro-Chaldaio, spoken by our Lord, 9 note
Tacitus, on Nero's persecution of the Christians, 59 note
Temporal Power of the Popes, The, the work of God, 663
„ pre-eminently embodied the principle of order by which
kings reign, 664
, , not strictly essential to the sacred oflSce of the Popes, 665
,, yet expedient and most useful to the Church of all
nations, 665
„ preserved the Visible Head of that Church in a posi-
tion of complete personal and political indepen-
dence, 665
,, deemed desirable by wise statesmen of every creed, 664
„ will, doubtless, in God's own time, be restored, as in
1815, 66s
Tertullian; 27 note
,, on the Primacjr of Peter, 27
„ on Peter's baptizing in Rome, 53 note
„ on the great number of Christians, A.D. 200, 159
,, on the superior jurisdiction of Bishops, 506
Theatins, The, 388
Theiner, Father, The " Codex Diplomaticus " of, 222, 222 note
,, The " Ecclesiastical Annals " of, 57 note
Theodora, Princess, tenth century, 554
„ the younger, 554
Theodore of Mopsnestia, 105 note
Theodore, Bishop of Pharan, 107
Theodoret the historian, 41 note
„ on the Primacy of Peter, 41, 42
,, Appeal of, to Saint Leo the Great, 126
,, Writings of condemned, 105
Theodoric the Goth, 170
Theodoras II., Pope, 552
Theodosius II., Emperor, Wise legislation of, 627 note
„ Codfi of, 627 note
Theodotus the currier, excommunicated by Saint Victor, Pope, 115
Thirty-nine Articles. See England, Church of
Thomas of Aquino, Saint, 306 note
„ on Papal Infallibility, 488-491
„ on the terms bishop and presbyter in the Apostolic
times, 506
Thomists, 306 note
Threshold of the Apostles, 194 note
7 I 2 INDEX.
Tiaia, Papal, or triple cro-wn, 615 note
Title, or parish church, TiPulus, 569, 569 note
Titles of Cardinals, 586
Titles, Hierarchical, Synopsis of, 533
Toledo, Councils of, 131
Torgau, The Book of, 372
Trent, General Council of, wened, 365
„ Objects of, 365, 366
,, Decrees of, confirmed, 366
„ Profession of Faith of, 366, 367
,, Catechism of, 368
,, The Protestants opposed to, 368
,, " Grievances " of tne Protestant princes re-
garding, 368
,, misrepresented by Fra Paolo, 369
„ „ Courayer, 369
,, FaUavicino, historian of, 369
Trialogus of Wycliffe, 298
Trinitarians, Order of, for the redemption of captives, 625
TruHus, 107 note, 177 note
Tuscany, Marquises of, 553 et seq.
„ „ Influence of, in Rome, 553
Tusculum, Counts of, 553 et seq.
,, ,, Great power of, in Home, SS3 et seq.
„ ,, Genealogical statement regarding, 554
„ ,, Princesses of those families, 554
Ubiquitarians, 372 note
Unworthy Popes, Alleged. See Popes
Urban II. and Indulgences, 310
Urban V. removes the Papal Court from Avignon to Kome, 270
Urban VI. elected Pope, 274
,, decides on the appeal of Wycliffe, 294
,, the last Pope chosen from outside the Sacred College, 582
Ursacius and Valens, Kecantation of, 124
ValentihiAN II., Emperor, on the Primacy, 126
,, III., Emperor, on the same, 513
Vatican, General Council of the, 497
,, ,, Assembling of, 497
., >, presidedoverby Pius IX., in person, 497
„ ,, Decree of, on Papal Infallibility, 477
>, ,, Voting on Papal Infallibility, 497, 498
Venice, Republic of, 172 note
Vicars Apostolic, 530
Victor, Pope, 75, 116
Victor Emanuel seizes on the Papal Legations in 1859, 465
„ Convention of, with , Napoleon III., regarding the
Papal States, 466
INDEX. 7 I 3
Victor Emanuel, Letter of, to Pius IX. in 1870, 468
,, The Pope's reply to, 469
„ invades tlie Papal States, 469
„ takes Home, 470
,, assumes the government of the Papal tenitories, 470,
471
„ Decree issued thereon, 470
Vienna, Treaty of, 451
Vigilius, Pope, History of, loj note
„ and the Fifth General Council, 105, 106
Vincent Ferrer, Saint, 277
Vincent of Lerins, Saint, 83 note
, , on the controversy of Pope Stephen and Cyprian, 83
Visigoths, 170 note
,, The laws of the, 627 woie
Voltaire, on the power of the Popes in the Middle Ages, 249
„ on the Benedictines, 642
„ High praise of Pope Leo IV. by, 221 note
Vossius, G. J., 66 note
,, on Saint Peter in Borne, 66
Vulgar Era, ij note
Vulgate, Over one hundred editions of, printed down to A.D. 1500, 416
Warfare of Unbelief against Christianitj'-, 3
Wars after the Reformation, 370
Westphalia, Treaty of, 370
WMston, William, 66 note
„ on Saint Peter in Home, 66
Wilkie, Sir Bavid, 647 note
William the Conqueror, praised by Gregoiy VII., 231 note
„ refuses to render fealty to the Holy See, 241
,, agrees to pay Peter's Pence, 241
„ Letter of, to Gregory VII., 241
Windthorst, Herr von, 403, 407
Wiseman, Cardinal, 53 note, 446 note
Workhouse system, 394 note
Worms, Concordat of, 254
„ Diet of, 319
Wycliflfe, Biography of, 290
,, His hatred of the Friars, 290, 293
,, His abuse of ,, 293
,, enters Oxford University, 290
,, made Warden of Canternury Hall, 294
„ deposed from that office, and appeals to Rome, 294
,, The Pope's decision adverse to, 294
,, abuses the Pope, Bishops and clergy, 295
,, appointed Royal Chaplain, 295
„ ,, Royal Commissioner to (neet Papal nuncios at
Bruges, 295
„ Rector of Lutterworth, 295
714 INDEX.
WyclifFe, summoned to answer for his erroneous doctrines, at Saii)t
Paul's, 295
„ ,, at Lambeth, 296
,, ,, at Blackf liars, 297
„ Writings of, 29S
,, ,, condemned by Pope Gregory XI., 296
,, ,, „ Pope John XXIIL, 300
,, submits, and makes profession of faith before the Primate
and Bishops, at Oxford, 297
, ,' Doctrines of, 298, 299
,, ,, contain almost all the errors of Luther, Calvin,
and the other Reformers, 303
„ institutes his poor priests, 296
,, Translation of the Bible by, 297
,, The Trialogus, the principal work of, 298
,, Characteristics of the writings of, 298
Wynkyn de Worde, 413 note
Year, First day of the, changed from March 25th to January ist, in
England, 646
Young Italy, Statutes of, 463
Zachaey, Saint, Pope, 184
„ authorises the deposition of Childeric III. of France, 191
Zanzala, 524 note
Zephyrinus, Saint, Pope, 27 note, ii5
Zwingli, 347
considered Luther's Reform insufficient, 348
Doctrine of, on the Eucharist, 339
complains of Luther's intolerance, 339
at the Conference of Marburg, 341 note
and Calvin, 352
Death of, on the field of Cappel, 349
THE END.
THE CHAIR OF PETER.
EXTRACTS FROM OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
From the STANDARD.
" The method of the argument of this book involves most of
the controversial matter between Protestants and Papists, in
respect of the spiritual Papal supremacy. The question between
Anglicanism and Kome is partly one of doctrine and partly one
of authority ; but it is incontestable that there are large numbers
of Anglican Catholics who would find little or no doctrinal
difficulty in becoming Roman Catholics to-morrow, if assured
that the Bishop of Eome had unanswerable claims to their
allegiance. To supply this assurance is a portion — but only a
portion — of the scope of Mr. Murphy's work. . . . We must
compliment the author upon the admirable spirit he has pre-
served throughout. . . . There is not a word in his book that
need hurt the feelings of the most sensitive opponent."
From the TABLET.
" The author makes an admirable distribution of his subject,
separating and keeping apart various issues which in other writers
are frequently allowed to run into one another and intermingle,
to the confusion of the reader's thoughts and the utter marring
of legitimate argument. . . .
" In writings of the controversial character of the one before
us, nothing is more unsatisfactory and disappointing than the
economy which is so frequently adopted by writers in dealing
with the arguments or objections of their adversaries. We meet
with no such unpleasantness in our perusal of The Chair of Peter.
Mr. Murphy is a fair disputant ; he gives full measure and just
weight to the reasons advanced against his position. The
7l6 OPINIONS OF THE PEESS.
alleged 'reproving' of St. Peter by St. Paul, with the inference
sought to be deduced therefrom, is given in full— it is neither
shirked nor minimised. Even the doubt, which is a grave one
and resting on an argument of great force, that Cephas in this
passage of the second chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians
does not mean St. Peter, is not dwelt upon, but the other inter-
pretation is admitted, and the argument from it against the
primacy is eflfectually disposed of by another explanation. This
mode of dealing with an opponent is at once satisfactory to
the reader and begets confidence in the writer. The same fair-
ness of inquiry and honesty of expression accompany the author
throughout. , . . We conclude with a hope that The Chair of
Peter will meet with the acceptance amongst Catholics which
its comprehensive learning, admirable precision of thought and
expression, and unquestionable orthodoxy entitle it to. We
congratulate Mr. Murphy on having achieved a great theological
success, and produced a work of immense usefulness to religion
in English-speaking countries. Infidel talent is in the present
very busy and exceedingly prolific, on which account we are the
more gladdened and comforted by the appearance of such a pro-
duction as The Gha/ir of Peter, with the healthy ring of genuine
Catholicism in every page of it."
From the ACADEMY.
" This is a book which it is impossible to read without respect-
ing the writer. It is the work of a Roman Catholic, who wishes
that Protestants, 'instead of misapprehending or misrepresentiiig
the tenets of the Catholic Church, should accept her own account
of the faith which is in her.' ... If all controversialists wrote
with Mr. Murphy's good feeling and obvious sincerity, misunder-
standings and misrepresentations would be less common."
From the CATHOLIC WORLD (New York).
" The excellent history of the temporal power of the papacy,
the sketch of the destinies of the Roman See through the different
ages,_the account of the Greek Schism, of the Great Western
Scission, of the Reformation, of the present state of the Catholic
Church, &c., make, in connection with the argument for the
primacy in the first part, a complete exposition of the origin,
influence, and history of the papacy. On this account the book,
taken as a whole, is perhaps the most instructive and generally
usefal treatise on the Roman See which either Catholic or mon-
Cathohc readers can peruse. ... We esteem this work as one
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 717
of great value and importance, extremely useful to intelligent
Catholics, and likely to do great good by diffusing generally among
educated persons knowledge and information respecting that
greatest of all institutions existing on earth, the Boman Church."
From the MONTH.
"The author has been at much pains to avoid uttering a word
calculated to wound the feelings of those whose religious tenets
differ from his own, a praiseworthy endeavour in which we think
it will be found that he has fully succeeded. He has quoted
largely from Protestant authors — in every case writers of learning
and weight — of whom he speaks invariably with the respect they
deserve. The chapter on the ' Benefits of the Papacy is built
up almost entirely on the evidence furnished by non-Catholic
writers, such as Leibnitz, Guizot, Ancillon, Lord Stair, Dugald
Stewart, and even Voltaire. Another very pleasing feature of
this excellent work, and one which adds immensely to its useful-
ness, is, besides a copious index, and some excellent tables of
statistics, its very numerous, comprehensive, and valuable notes.
To the name of each author, when first quoted, for example, a
brief biographical account is appended, which will enable the
reader, if previously unacquainted with his history, to form his
own opinion of the value of the testimony adduced. This alone
will give a very fair idea of the care and completeness with which
the author has discharged his task. . . .
" In conclusion, we heartily commend The Chair of Peter both
to Catholics, as a valuable, full, and yet compendious addition to
the literature we already possess on the important subject it treats,
and to those of our Protestant fellow-countrymen, who, desiring
in these days of the unceasing warfare of unbelief against Chris-
tianity to make common cause with us against a common enemy,
are sincerely anxious to grant us a hearing, and, instead of mis-
apprehending, 'loyally to accept our own account of the faith
that is in us.' "
From the BBITISH QUAHTERLY REVIEW.
"Mr. Murphy is already known to ns as the author of two
works — one on ' Ireland : Industrial, Political, and Social ; ' and
another titled ' Terra Incognita,' which was an endeavour to dis-
abuse the Protestant mind of the idea that conventual life was
all that ecclesiastical partizans had painted it. He there arrayed
a vast body of facts to show that . . . the system in its ideal
was calculated to be of great benefit to mankind, and has been,
7l8 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
and indeed still is so. His power of grouping facts, and a certain
temperance of statement beyond what we had expected, recon-
ciled us to much in the book, and cerUinly Mr. Murphy's style
is readable. He has now essayed the wider subject of a defence
of the Papacy, and has taken up the historical ground. Of
course, it is well to have our minds recalled to the benefits which
any institution has conferred in the past, to have our minds
recalled to the fact that no great institution can long survive save
through its merits and services to mankind. There is no hope
of justice being done otherwise. . . . Mr. Murphy has been
laborious in research, and, on the whole, has used his knowledge
well, carefully giving references to authorities, and making
Protestant learning aid him. ... He deserves all praise for the
calmness of temper which on the whole he maintains."
From the WEEKLY BEGISTEB.
" No one has brought together in one volume a more complete
view of this subject in all its branches, from the ' Thou art Peter '
of our Lord to the decree of Papal Infallibility in the Vatican
Council of 1870, than the author of The Chair of Peter, and his
method is distinguished from that of his predecessors in the same
path of history in several particulars. He q^uotes largely from
Protestant authors of learning and weight. . . . He is careful to
avoid wounding the feelings of those whose religious tenets differ
from his own, and thus conciliates the attention and esteem of
opponents."
From the MANCHESTEB EXAMINES.
" We shall scarcely be accused pf venturing on a rash or
debatable proposition in saying that to attempt a history of the
development and organization of the Papacy in a single volume
is to attempt anything but an easy task. Nor does it make the
task any easier when the author, himself avowedly believing in
the institution he describes as ' the main bulwark of law, religion,,
and order,' endeavours at the same time to state and enforce his
conviction 'without uttering a word which might wound the
feelings of those whose religious tenets differ from his.' Mr.
Murphy has attempted this task, and it is only fair to say that he
has to a great extent succeeded in it. His position is of course
mainly controversial, but it is also in no small degree explana-
tory. . . . This sketch of the contents, with a repetition of the
commendation due to Mr. Murphy's general accuracy and fair-
ness, may suffice for his book, which otherwise could only be
noticed controversially and at great length."
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 719
From the DUBLIN BEVIEW.
"This is a valuable addition to our Catholic literature — an
able and well-written book. . . . Mr. Murphy's Chair of Peter
will be very acceptable reading to Catholics, and there is abun-
dant information in its pages which the ordinary Catholic reader
will find new to him. But we appraise it and consider it most
valuable as a manual to be placed with confidence in the hands
of inquirers. Not only does the author make large use of
Protestant authorities, but there is an entire and laudable absence
from his pages of any tone or expression that could offend a non-
Catholic reader."
From the FREEMAN'S JOUBNAL.
" Had the author of ' Terra Incognita ' rested from his labours
after writing that valuable book, he should be held to have acted
a maaly p^ in promoting the good cause of religion ; but he
has not been idle ever since, and in publishing the present work
it must be said that he has succeeded in a task of much greater
difficulty. ... It is gratifying to notice within recent years how
the writers of history, even Protestant historians, speaking of
Catholic subjects, seek judicial fairness in preference to the one-
sided advocacy so characteristic of many of their predecessors.
The difficulty of being fair is really great in writing ecclesiastical
history, where the waves of controversy have surged so high,
and so much personal to the writer is involved in every conflict.
On this head, ... we venture to think that even non-Catholics
will agree with us in pronouncing Mr. Murphy's book an im-
partial treatment of the subject with which it deals. Indeed,
the author not unfrequently is content with a bare statement of
facts, leaving the reader to draw his own conclusion ; and, as far
as his authorities are concerned, while always trustworthy, they
are as often Protestant as Catholic writers. . . . Within recent
times so many able men, particularly in Germany, have devoted
their attention to the study of ecclesiastical history, that it bids
fair at no remote period to take rank next after theology as a
science. Mr. Mui-phy had of course the advantage of their
investigations in composing his work. Still his labour must have
been enormous ; and, although we have English editions of
Alzog and Darras, that labour was well expended in doing here
for ecclesiastical history what Dollinger, Palma, Jungmann, and
others have been doing on the Continent. But the work before
us, besides being historical, contains no small sprinkling of
720 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
Dogmatic Theology and Canon Law. The chapters on ' Papal
Elections,' from the latter subject, are of striking interest, and
will be a real treat to the majority of readers, lay and clerical."
From the CORE EXAMINEB.
" The author of ' Terra Incognita ' has. laboured effectively in
producing this work, which must be regarded as an able exposi-
tion of the Catholic Faith with regard to its fundamental
truths. . . . Nothing can be clearer than the evidence which he
marshals respecting the primacy of St. Peter and the direct
transmission of that dignity and authority to the succeeding
Popes. Not only are the early fathers of the Church laid under
contribution, but Protestant authorities are brought in evidence.
The foolish notion some years since ventilated by some sectaries,
that St. Peter had never appeared in Rome, is demolished by a
perfect cumulus of testimony. The few chapters devoted to this
portion of the work raise our admiration alike by their varied
scholarship and by the dialectic skill with which the author's
knowledge is arrayed in support of his propositions. . . . The
temperate style in which the most trying portions of the history
have been written, is a special merit in the work, and one
reflecting all credit upon the author's discrimination."
Cornell Catholic
Union Library.
PRINTKD BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND COMPANY
EDINBURGH AND LONDON.
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