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Stom  f  ^e  feifirat^  of 

(J)rofe66or  TJ?iffidm  J^^^^  (Breen 

(j$e<|ueat^^  fig  ^im  to 
f^  feifirati?  of 

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BR  Ib:^  .Mb4  IdVl  V.4 
Milman,  Henry  Hart,  1791 

1868. 
History  of  Latin 

Christianity 


HISTORY 


OP 


LATIN   CHRISTIANITY. 


HISTORY 


OP 


LATIN    CHRISTIANITY; 


INCLUDING    THAT   OF 


THE    POPES 


TO 


THE   PONTIFICATE   OF   NICOLAS   V. 


By  HENRY  HART  MILMAN,   D.D., 

DEAN  OF  ST.  PAUL'S. 


IN  EIGHT  VOLUMES. 
V0LU:ME  IV. 


NEW    YORK: 

W.    J.   WH)DLETOJT,    PUBLISHER. 

1871. 


CAMBRIDGE*. 
PRESSWORK   BY   JOHN   WILSON   AND  SON. 


CONTENTS 

OF 

THE  FOURTH  VOLUME. 


BOOK   YII.     {continued.) 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Crusades. 

A.D  PAGH 

Sanctity  of  the  Holy  Land 15 

Pilgrimages 17 

Relics  —  Commerce 19 

Scheme  of  Gregory  YII. 24 

Peter  the  Hermit 25 

1094       Council  of  Clermont 28 

1094       Results  of  Crusades 32 

1.  Estrangement  of  the  East 38 

2.  Power  of  the  Pope 41 

Wealth  of  clergy 46 

3.  Religious  wars  against  Jews  —  Heretics  —  Un- 

believers    49 

4.  Chivalry 54 


i-» 


BOOK  Yin. 

CHAPTER    I. 

End  of  the  Emperor  Henry  IV. 

1099       Paschal  H. ' 67 

The  Emperor  resumes  his  power 70 

Peace  of  the  Empire 73 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  IV. 


1103  The  Pope  excommunicates  Henry 75 

Unpopularity  of  the  peace 77 

1104  Revolt  of  Prince  Henry 79 

1105  Henry  IV.  a  prisoner 83 

1106  Death  of  Henry. 86 


CHAPTER    II. 
Henry  V.  and  Pope  Paschal  U. 

Synod  of  Guastalla 90 

1110  Diet  at  Ratisbon 93 

Henry  V.  in  Italy  —  Advances  on  Rome 94 

1111  Treaty 98 

Henry  V.  Emperor 100 

Pope  refuses  the  coronation 104 

Insurrection  in  Rome ib. 

Coronation  of  the  Emperor •  108 

1112  Council  in  the  Lateran Ill 

Council  of  Vienne  excommunicates  the  Emperor-  •  112 

Discontents  in  the  Empire 114 

1115  Death  of  Countess  Matilda 116 

Archbishopric  of  Milan 117 

1116  Council  in  the  Lateran ib. 

Henry  Y.  in  Italy 122 

Advances  to  Rome  —  in  Rome 123 

1118       Death  of  Pope  Paschal 124 

Gelasius  IL  —  seized  by  Frangipani 125 

Flies    to    Gaeta  —  Burdinus    Antipope    (Gregory 

VIII.) • 127 

Gelasius  IL  in  Rome  —  in  France  —  Death 128 


CHAPTER    III. 

Calixtus  II. 

1119       Calixtus  n. 130 

Council  at  Rheims • 133 

Negotiations  with  the  Emperor 135 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  lY.  vii 

A.l>  PAGE 

Excommunication  of  the  Emperor 138 

Calixtus  in  Italy —  The  Autipope 139 

1122  Concordat  of  Worms 144 

11 23  Lateran  Council 146 


CHAPTER    IV. 
St.  Bernard  —  1^:sock^t  U. 

1124  Death  of  Calixtus '  •  149 

1125  of  Henry  V. ib. 

1124       Honorius  II. 151 

1130       Contested  election  —  Innocent  11.  —  Anacletus  II.«  152 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux 155 

Molesme 160 

Stephen  Harding  —  Citeaux 161 

Early  life  of  St.  Bernard 163 

Innocent  IT.  in  France 167 

Acknowledged  by  France  —  England  —  the  Empire  171 

1132       The  Emperor  Lothair  the  Saxon  in  Italy • 172 

1139       Lateran  Council 175 

Innocent  H.  prisoner  of  the  Normans 1 78 


CHAPTER   V. 

Intellectual  Movement. 

Intellectual  movement 1 79 

Gotschalk 182 

John  Scotus  Erigena 184 

Roscelin 190 

Anselm 191 

Ab^lard 196 

William  of  Champeaux 198 

Heloisa - 200 

1121       Council  of  Soissons 205 

1122-5  The  Paraclete 207 

1126       St.   Gildas 209 

1140       St.  Bernard  —  Council  of  Sens 213 


Vili  CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  17. 

A.D.  PAGP 

Condemnation  of  Abelard  at  Rome 218 

1142  Death  —  Philosophy 220 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Arnold  of  Brescia. 

Arnold  of  Brescia  —  Doctrines 226 

1132       In  Brescia 229 

1139       Condemned  by  Council  of  Lateran 236 

In  Zurich  —  in  'Rome ib. 

1143  Death  of  Innocent  II.  —  Coelestine  11. 241 

1144  Lucius  II. 242 

Death  of  Lucius 243 

1146       Eugenius  III.  —  Arnold  in  Rome 244 

1146       Eugenius  flies  to  France 247 

Bernard  and  William  of  York ib. 

Gilbert  de  la  Poree 248 

Bernard's  Crusade 250 

The  Jews  —  Disasters  of  the  Crusades 253 

Suger,  Abbot  of  St.  Denys 257 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Hadrian  TV.  —  Frederick  Barbarossa. 

Hadrian  IV.  —  Frederick  Barbarossa 261 

1152-3  Eugenius  in  Rome  —  Death ib. 

1153-4  Anastasius  IV.  —  Hadrian  IV. ' 263 

1155  Fall  of  Roman  republic ^ 265 

Frederick  Barbarossa  in  Italy 266 

Death  of  Arnold  of  Brescia 269 

Romans  and  Barbarossa 271 

Frederick  and  Pope  Hadrian  —  Coronation 272 

1156  Frederick  retires  to  Germany 274 

Alliance  of  the  Pope  with  Sicily ib. 

1157  Diet  at  Besan9on  —  Strife  of  the  Emperor  and  the 

Pope 275 

1158  Frederick  in  Italy 278 

1159  Death  of  Hadrian 286 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  lY.  ix 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


ALEXA^^)ER  III.  —  Victor  IV.  —  Thomas  a  Becket. 

A  .D.  PAGK 

Contested  election  —  Alexander  III.  —  Victor  IV.  •  287 

1160       Schism 291 

Alexander  III.  in  France 294 

1164       Death  of  Victor  —  Paschal  III. 296 

Thomas  k  Becket ib. 

England  —  Decay  of  Saxon  clergy 298 

Norman  hierarchy  —  Lanfranc 299 

Anselm 303 

Bishops  under  Stephen 305 

Becket's  birth  and  youth 311 

1155-9  Becket  Chancellor 316 

1162  Becket  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 323 

Gilbert  Foliot ib. 

1163  Becket  at  Tours 327 

Beainnino;  of  strife 328 

Immunities  of  the  clergy 330 

Character  of  Henry  II. 332 

Parliament 334 

1164  Council  of  Clarendon  —  Constitutions 336 

Parliament  of  Northampton 343 

FHght  of  Becket • 352 

King  Louis  of  France 355 

Henry's  Ambassadors  at  Sens 35  7 

Becket  at  Sens 358 

Becket  at  Pontigny 361 

1165  Negotiations  with  the   Emperor  —  Diet  at  Wurtz- 

burg 362 

Becket  at  Vezelay 368 

1166  John  of  Oxford  at  Rome 373 

1167  William  of  Pavia  —  Cardinal  Otho  —  Legates 377 

FHght  of  Frederick  from  Italy ib. 

1168  Meeting  at  Gisors 379 

1169  Meeting  at  Montmirail 384 

War  of  France  and  England 386 

Excommunication  of  the  Bishops  by  Becket 387 


C  COXTENTS  OF  TOL.  lY. 

A.B.  PAOB 

Gratian  ami  Vivian  Legates 889 

Meeting  at  ^lontnuirtre 895 

King's  Proelamation 897 

Commission  to  Archbishop  of  Rouen  and  Bishop  of 

Nevers 898 

Bishops  absolved 899 

Coronation  of  Prince  of  AVales 400 

11 70       Treaty  of  Fretteville 402 

Eeturn  of  Becket  to  England 407 

Assassination 412 

Reconciliation  of  the  King  at  Avranches 419 

Penance  at  Canterbury 420 

Becket  a  saint 421 


CHATTER  IX. 

Alex^vndeu  III.  —  Popes  to  close  of  Twelfth  Century. 

1 1 1;;>       Alexander  embarks  for  Italy 427 

1 1 1>  7       Pestilence  in  Frederick's  army 430 

1 1  7G       Truce  of  Venice 434 

1181       Death  of  Alexander  III. 438 

Ibid.       Pope  Lucius  IIL 489 

1 185       Pope  Urban  III. 440 

1187       Pope  Gregory  VIIL 444 

Pope  Clement  III. 445 

1189       Barbarossa's  crusade  and  death 447 

Pope  Co?lestine  III. ib. 

Coronation  of  the  Emperor  Henry 448 

Demolition  of  Tusculum   449 

Imprisonment  of  Richard  I.  of  England 451 

1194  The  Emperor  Henry  in  Italy 454 

1 195  Cruelties  in  Sicily 455 

1196  Frederick  elected  King  of  the  Romans 457 

Queen  Constance ib. 

1197  Death  of  the  Emperor  Henry 458 

1 198  Death  of  Pope  Coelestine  HI. ib. 


CONTEXTS  OF  VOL.    IV.  XI 


BOOK  IX. 
INNOCENT   III. 

CHAPTER   I. 
Rome  and  Italy. 

A.D.  PAOB 

The  Papal  autocracy 460 

Its  growth lb. 

Eflfect  of  Crusades 464 

Innocent  III. : 467 

lieOor  1161  Birth  of  Innocent 468 

Education  and  connections ih. 

1190       Cardinalate 469 

1198       Election  to  Papacy 470 

State  of  Christendom 472 

1198-1202  I.  The  City  of  Rome 473 

Hatred  of  Home  and  Viterbo 475 

Orsini  and  Scotti 477 

n.  Italy 479 

Markwald  —  Conrad  of  Lutzenberg 480 

1198  Queen  Constantia 483 

Markwald  before  Monte  Casino 486 

1199  Markwald  excommunicated 487 

1201  Walter  of  Brienne 490 

1202  Death  of  Markwald 493 

Frederick  11.  —  his  youth 494 


CHAPTER  II. 

IXXOCEXT  A>T)   THE  EMPIRE. 

1198       Philip  the  Swabian,  King  of  the  Romans 497 

Ibid.       Otho  of  Brunswick tZt 


xii  COTTTENTS  OF  VOL.  IV. 

A.D.  PAGE 

1198  Conduct  of  Innocent-  • 500 

Coronation  of  Philip 602 

Civil  war 503 

Innocent's  declaration 504 

1199  Envoys  to  Rome 507 

War  renewed 509 

1200  Pope  Innocent's  Deliberation 510 

Activity  of  Innocent 514 

1201  Coronation  of  Otho 515 

Addresses  of  the  German  Princes 516 

1198-1208  Ten  years'  war 522 

1207  Absolution  of  Philip 524 

1208  Murder  of  Philip t6. 


CHAPTER    III. 

Innocent  and  the  Empekor  Otho  IV. 

1209       Otho  Emperor  —  Crowned  in  Rome 527 

Enmity  between  Innocent  and  Otho 528 

1211  Otho  excommunicated 530 

Ibid.       Movements  in  Germany •  •  •  •  531 

Overtures  to  Frederick •■ 532 

1212  Otho  in  Germany 533 

Frederick  King  of  the  Romans 536 

1214      Battle  of  Bouvines «&. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
Innocent  and  Philip  Augustus  of  Fbance. 

Monarchy  of  France 638 

1196       Marriage  of  Philip  with  Ingeburga  of  Denmark 540 

Agnes  of  Meran 542 

1198       Innocent's   letter  on    the   marriage   of  Philip    Au- 
gustus      ib. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  IV.  xiii 

A.D.  PAQE 

1199  Interdict 544 

Wrath  of  Philip  Augustus 547 

1200  Innocent  inflexible 549 

Council  of  Soissons 553 

Death  of  Agnes  of  Meran 554 


mSTOEY 


LATIN    CHRISTIANITY. 


BOOK    VII.     (Continued.) 
CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  CRUSADES. 

This  vast  subject,  the  Crusades,  with  all  its  causes 
and  consequences,  demands  its  place  in  the  History  of 
Latin  Christianity,  but  must  submit  to  be  limited  to  an 
extent  perhaps  not  quite  commensurate  to  its  impor- 
tance. 

The  sanctity  of  the  Holy  Land,  the  scene  of  the  Sav- 
iour's life  and  death,  untraceable  in  the  first  records 
of  the  religion,  had  grown  up,  as  the  faith  became  the 
mistress  of  the  whole  inward  nature  of  man,  of  the 
imagination  as  well  as  the  moral  sentiment,  into  almost 
a  part  of  the  general,  if  undefined,  creed.  Pilgrimage 
may  be  considered  as  belonging  to  the  universal  religion 
of  man.  Some  sacred  spots,  connected  either  with  the 
history  of  the  faith  or  with  some  peculiar  manifestation 
of  the  Deity,  have  ever  concentrated  the  worshippers 
within  their  precincts,  or  drawn  them  together  at  peri- 
odical intervals  to  revive  their  pious  emotions,  to  par- 
take in  the  divine  influences  still  supposed  to  be 
emanating  from  the  holy  ground,  or  to  approach  nearer 


16  LATIX    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  TH. 

to  the  present  and  locally-indwelling  godhead.  From 
the  lowest  Fetichism  up  to  Christianity  itself  this  gen- 
eral and  unconquerable  propensity  has  either  been  sanc- 
tioned by  the  religion  or  sprung  up  out  of  it.  Like 
the  other  more  sublime  and  purely  spiritual  truths  of 
the  Gospel,  the  impartial  ubiquity  of  God,  the  equable 
omnipresence  of  the  Redeemer  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
throughout  the  whole  universe  and  in  the  soul  of  every 
true  believer,  became  too  vague  and  unsubstantial,  at 
least  for  the  popular  faith.  It  might  seem  an  inevita- 
ble consequence  of  the  Incarnation  of  the  Godhead  in 
human  nature,  that  man  should  lean,  as  it  were,  more 
strongly  on  this  kindred  and  comprehensible  Saviour 
tlian  on  the  same  Saviour  when  retired  into  his  remoter 
divinity.  Eveiything  which  approximated  the  human 
Saviour  to  the  heart  and  understanding  was  cherished 
with  deep  reverence.  Even  in  the  coldest  and  most  un- 
imaginative times  the  traveller  to  the  Holy  Land  seems 
to  enjoy  a  privilege  enviable  to  the  Christian,  who,  con- 
sidering its  natural  effects  on  the  religious  emotions, 
will  not  venture  to  disdain  the  blameless  at  least,  if  not 
beneficial,  excitement.  The  objective  reality  wliich 
arises  from  the  actual  places  where  the  Saviour  was 
born,  hved,  rose  from  the  grave,  ascended  into  heaven, 
works  back  upon  the  inward  or  subjective  faith  in  the 
heart  of  the  believer.  "Where  the  presence,  the  being 
of  the  Redeemer,  is  more  intensely  felt,  there  it  is 
thought  to  dwell  with  greater  power. 

The  Holy  Land  was  very  early  visited  by  Christian 
pilgrims.  The  supposed  discovery  of  the  sacred  sepul- 
chre, with  all  the  miraculous  legend  of  the  Emperor's 
vision,  the  disinterment  of  the  true  cross,  the  magnifi- 
cent church  built  over  the  sepulchre  by  the  devout  He- 


ch.ip.yi.  passion  foe  pilgbdiages.  17 

lena  and  her  son  Constantine,  were  but  the  consequen- 
ces and  manifestations  of  a  preexistent  and  dominant 
enthusiasm.  This  high  example  immeasurably  strength- 
ened and  fed  the  growing  passion. 

It  is  remarkable,  however,  to  find  among  those  who 
yielded  in  other  respects  to  the  more  materi-  The  Fithera 
alizing  influences  of  the  dominant  Christianity  ages.  " 
some  who  attempted  to  maintain  on  this  point  a  lofty 
spirituality.  Gregory  of  Xyssa,  Augustine,^  even  Je- 
rome, remonstrated  against  the  dangerous  and  unne- 
cessary  journey  to  such  remote  lands  ;  dangerous  to  the 
virtue  especially  of  the  female  sex,  unnecessary  to  him 
who  might  worship  Gorl  with  equal  fervor  in  every 
remon.  Othere  of  the  Fathers  durincj  the  fourth  cen- 
tury  strongly  opposed  the  more  sublime  tenet  of  the 
divine  omnipresence  to  the  sanctity  of  peculiar  places ; 
the  superiority  of  a  quiet  holy  life  in  any  part  of  the 
world,  to  the  wandering  over  sea  and  land,  east  or 
west,  to  seek  more  intimate  assurance  of  the  divine 
presence. 

Jerome,  as  is  not  unusual  with  him,  is  vehement  on 
both  sides  of  the  question.  While  he  himself  was  rev- 
elling, as  it  were,  in  all  the  luxury  of  this  religious 
excitement,  and,  by  his  example,  dra\s*ing  multitudes, 
especially  the  noble  females  of  Rome,  who  followed  his 
steps  and  would  not  be  di\'ided  from  the  object  of  their 
pious  friendship,  to  the  Holy  Land ;  at  the  same  time 
he  dissuades  his  friend  Paulinus  from  the  voyage,  de- 
clares that   heaven  is  equally  accessible  from  Britain 

1  Compare  the  celebrated  letter  of  Gregory  of  Nyssa-  Dominus  non 
iixit,  vade  in  Orientem.  et  qaaere  justitiam;  naviga  usque  ad  Occidentem, 
nt  accipias  indulgentiam.  —  Augustin.  Senno.  de  Martyr.  Verb.  Noli  longs 
itinera  meditari:  ubi  credb,  ubi  (ibi)  venis:  ad  eum  enim  qui  ubique  est, 
amando  venitur  non  navigando.  —  Serm-  L  de  Verb.  Apost-  Petri. 

VOL.    IV.  2 


18  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VII. 

as  from  Palestine,^  and  laments  with  a  kind  of  selfish 
querulousness  the  crowds  which  from  all  quarters  throng 
the  sacred  places.  His  example  was  more  powerful 
than  his  precept. 

During  the  following  centuries  pilgrimage  become 
the  ruling  passion  of  the  more  devout.  The  lives  of 
Saints  teem  with  accounts  of  their  pious  journeys. 
Itineraries  were  drawn  up  by  which  pilgrims  might 
direct  their  way  from  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  to  Jeru- 
salem. It  was  a  work  of  pious  munificence  to  build 
and  endow  hospitals  along  the  roads  for  the  reception 
of  pilgrims.  These  pilgrims  were  taken  under  the 
protection  of  the  law ;  they  were  exempt  from  toll,  and 
commended  by  kings  to  the  hospitality  of  their  sub- 
jects. Charlemagne  ordered  that  through  his  whole 
realm  they  were  to  be  supplied  at  least  with  lodging, 
fire,  and  water.^  In  some  religious  houses  the  statutes 
provided  for  their  entertainment.  In  Jerusalem  there 
were  public  caravansaries  for  their  reception.  Gregory 
the  Great  sent  money  to  Jerusalem  to  build  a  splendid 
hospital.  The  pilgrim  set  forth  amid  the  blessings  and 
prayers  of  his  kindred  or  community,  with  the  simple 
accoutrements  which  announced  his  design  —  the  staflp, 
the  wallet,  and  the  scallop-shell :  he  returned  a  priv- 
ileged, in  some  sense  a  sanctified,  beino;.^  Pilcjrimacpe 
expiated  all  sin.  The  bathing  in  the  Jordan  was,  as 
it  were,  a  second  baptism,  and  washed  away  all  the 

^  De  Hierosolymis  et  de  Britannia  aequaliter  patet  aula  coelestis.  —  Epist. 
ad  Paul. 

2  Capitul.  A.D.  802.  Ut  in  omni  regno  nostro  neque  dives,  neque  pauper, 
peregrinis  hospitia  denegare  audeat:  id  est  sive  peregrinis  propter  Deum 
ambulantit)u.s  per  terram,  sive  cuilibet  itineranti.  Propter  amorem  Dei  et 
propter  saluteni  anini*  suaj  tectum  et  focum  et  aquam  nemo  illi  deneget. 

8  Compare  Wilken,  Geschichte  der  KreuzzUge,  i.  p.  10. 


Chap.  VI.  PASSIOX  FOR  PILGRIMAGES.  19 

evil  of  the  former  life.  The  shirt  which  he  had  worn 
when  he  entered  the  holy  city  was  carefully  laid  by  as 
his  winding-sheet,  and  possessed,  it  was  supposed,  the 
power  of  transporting  him  to  heaven.  Palestine  was 
believed  to  be  a  land  not  merely  of  holy  reminiscences, 
and  hallowed  not  only  by  the  acts  of  the  Saviour,  but 
by  the  remains  also  of  many  saints.  Places  had  already, 
by  the  pious  invention  and  belief  of  the  monks,  been 
set  apart  for  every  scene  in  the  Gospels  or  in  early 
Christian  history  —  the  stable  in  Bethlehem,  the  garden 
of  Gethsemane,  the  height  where  the  Ascension  took 
place ;  the  whole  land  was  a  land  of  miracle,  each  spot 
had  its  wonders  to  confirm  its  authenticity.  From  an 
early  period  the  descent  of  the  fire  from  heaven  to  kin- 
dle the  lights  around  the  holy  sepulchre  had  been  played 
off  before  the  wondering  worshippers.  The  privilege 
of  beholding  Jerusalem  and  the  sacred  places  was  not 
the  only  advantage  of  the  pilgrim.  There  was  the 
great  emporium  of  relics ;  and  the  pilgrim  returned 
bearing  with  him  a  splinter  of  the  true  cross,  or  some 
other  memorial  of  the  Saviour,  of  the  Virgin  Mother, 
the  apostles,  or  some  earlier  saint.  The  prodigal  de- 
mand did  not  in  the  least  drain  the  inexhaustible  su}> 
ply.  These  relics  bore  a  high  price  in  the  West, 
At  a  later  period  commercial  speculation  in  less  sacred 
goods  mingled  with  tlie  devout  aspirations  afVer  the 
H0I3"  Land ;  and  the  silks,  jewels,  spices,  paper,  and 
other  products  of  the  East,  were  brought  home  from 
Palestine  by  the  pious  but  not  unworldly  merchants  of 
Venice,  Pisa,  Marseilles,  and  even  of  France  and  Ger- 
many. 

Down  to  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  by  Chosroes  the 
Persian  the  tide  of  pilgrimage   flowed   uninterrupted 


20  LATIX  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VII. 

Pilgrimages  ^^  *^®  Holj  Land.  The  victory  of  Heraclius 
unchecked.  ^^^^^  ^j^^  recoverj  of  the  true  Cross  fi'om  the 
hands  of  the  fire-worshippers  reestablished  the  peaceful 
communication ;  and  throughout  this  whole  period  the 
pilgrims  had  only  to  encounter  the  ordinary  accidents, 
privations,   and  perils  of  a  long  journey. 

Nor  did  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Mohamme- 
dans at  first  break  off  this  connection  between  Christen- 
dom and  the  birth-  and  burial-place  of  the  Redeemer. 
To  the  Mohammedans  Jerusalem  was  no  indifferent 
possession  ;  it  was  sacred,  if  in  a  less  degree  than 
Mecca.  It  had  been  visited  by  their  prophet ;  once, 
according  to  their  legend,  in  a  mysterious  and  super- 
natural manner.  The  prophet  had  wavered  between 
Jerusalem  and  Mecca  as  the  Kebla  of  prayer  for  his 
disciples.  The  great  religious  ancestor  of  the  Jews 
was  also  that  of  the  Arabs  ;  the  holy  men  and  proph- 
ets of  Israel  were  held  in  honor  by  the  new  faith  ;  the 
Koran  admitted  the  supreme  sanctity,  though  not  the 
divinity,  of  Jesus.  On  the  surrender  of  Jerusalem  to 
the  Caliph  Omar,  Christianity  was  allowed  to  perform 
all  its  rites  though  shorn  of  their  pomp  and  publicity.^ 
Their  bells  might  no  longer  peal  over  the  city ;  their 
processions  were  forbidden ;  they  were  to  allow  without 
resistance  the  conversion  of  Christians  to  Islamism  ;  to 
keep  themselves  distinct  by  name,  dress,  and  language ; 
to  pay  tribute,  and  to  acknowledge  the  sovereign  power 
of  the  Caliph.  They  were  constrained  to  behold  the 
mosque  of  Omar  usurp  the  site  of  the  ancient  Temple 
of  Jerusalem.  Yet  pilgrimage  was  not  as  the  worship 
of  images  to  those  stern  Iconoclasts.     It  was  a  part  of 

1  They  might  not  speak  Arabic,  the  holy  language.    Compare  vol   iu 
page  159. 


Chap.  VI.      INCREASING  DANGER  OF  PILGRIMAGES.  21 

religion  so  common  with  their  own  behef,  that  they 
were  rather  disposed  to  respect  than  to  despise  this 
mark  of  attachment  in  the  Christians  to  their  own 
prophet.  The  pious  therefore  soon  began  to  flock  again 
in  undiminished  numbers  to  Mohammedan  as  to  Chris- 
tian J(irusalem. 

In  the  plan  of  his  great  Christian  Empire  Charle- 
magne threw  the  shadow  of  his  protection  over  the 
Christians  in  the  remotest  parts  of  the  world.  Not 
merely  did  he  assist  the  churches  in  Syria  with  large 
alms,  he  entered  into  treaties  for  their  protection  with 
the  Mohammedan  rulers.  In  his  amicable  intercourse 
with  Haroun  Al-Raschid,  the  courteous  Caliph  be- 
stowed on  him  no  gift  more  precious  than  the  keys  of 
the  holy  sepulchre.  At  the  great  millennial  period, 
the  close  of  the  tenth  and  the  commencement  of  the 
eleventh  century,  the  strong  religious  movement,  which 
arose  from  the  expectation  of  the  Lord's  coming  to  judg- 
ment, wrought  with  no  less  intensity  on  the  pilgrimages 
to  the  Holy  Land  than  on  the  other  religious  services. 
Men  crowded  to  Jerusalem,  as  to  the  scene  of  the 
Lord's  revelation  in  glory,  to  be  witnesses  of  the  great 
assize  in  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  They  were  eager 
not  merely  to  visit,  but,  if  their  death  anticipated  the 
last  day,  to  die  in  the  Holy  Land. 

The  wars  which  followed  the  fall  of  the  Caliphate 
had  towards  this  time  made  Syria  less  secure ;  more 
than  once  it  had  been  the  field  of  battle  to  contending 
parties  ;  and  in  the  year  1010  there  was  a  fierce  perse- 
cution of  the  Christians  by  Hakim,  the  fanatic  Sultan 
of  Eg}'pt.  The  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepul-  increasing 
chre,  and  other  Christian  buildings  in  Jeru-  pugrimages. 
salem  and  the  neighborhood,  were  razed  to  the  ground. 


22  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VH. 

The  persecution  of  the  Christians  in  Palestine  led  to  a 
furious  persecution  of  the  Jews  in  France.  Rumors 
spread  abroad  that  the  Jews  of  Orleans  had  sent  in- 
telligence to  Sultan  Hakim  of  a  meditated  invasion  of 
the  Holy  Land  by  the  Christians  ;  and  this  had  stirred 
up  his  slumbering  fanaticism.  It  was  an  awful  omen 
to  the  Jews,  probably  had  some  effect  in  producing 
those  more  terrible  calamities  which  awaited  them  at 
the  connnencement  of  the  actual  Crusades.  Hakim, 
however,  himself  repented  or  grew  weary  of  the  perse- 
cution, or  perhaps  dreaded  the  vengeance  of  the  mari- 
time powers  of  Italy,  now  becoming  formidable  to  all 
the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  pilgrims  were 
permitted  to  resume  their  interrupted  devotions ;  they 
had  no  great  peril  to  encounter  and  no  degrading  in- 
dignity to  undergo,  except  the  payment  of  a  toll  on  the 
entrance  to  Jerusalem,  established  soon  after  this  time 
by  the  Mohammedan  rulers.  This  might  sometimes 
be  a  grievous  affliction  to  the  poorer  pilgrims,  but  it 
gave  an  opportunity  for  the  more  Avealthy  to  display 
their  pious  munificence  by  defraying  the  cost  of  their 
admission. 

Throughout  the  earlier  half  of  the  century  men  of 
all  ranks,  princes  like  Robert  of  Normandy,  lordly 
bishops  like  those  of  Germany,  headed  pilgrimages. 
Humble  monks  and  even  peasants  found  their  way  to 
the  Holy  Land,  and  returned  to  awaken  the  spirit  of 
religious  adventure  by  the  account  of  their  difficulties 
and  perils  —  the  passionate  enthusiasm  by  the  wonders 
of  the  Holy  Land. 

Now,  however,  the  splendid,  polished,  and  more  tol- 
erant Mohammedanism  of  the  earlier  CaHphs  had  sunk 
before  the  savao;e  yet  no  less  Avarlike  Turks.     This 


Chap.  VI.    IXCREASINo  DANGER  OF  PILGRDIAGES.  23 

race,  of  the  Mongol  stock,  had  embraced  all  that  was 
enterprising,  barbarous,  and  aggressive,  rejecting  all 
that  was  humane  or  tending  to  a  higher  civilization  in 
Mohammedanism.  They  were  more  fanatic  Islamites 
than  the  followers  of  the  Prophet,  than  the  Prophet 
himself  The  Seljukians  became  masters  of  Jerusalem, 
and  from  that  time  the  Christians  of  Palestine,  fi'om 
tributary  subjects  became  despised  slaves  ;  the  pilgrims, 
from  respected  guests,  intruders  whose  hateful  presence 
polluted  the  atmosphere  of  pure  Islamism.  But  neither 
the  tyranny  nor  the  outrages  perpetrated  by  these  new 
lords  of  Jerusalem  arrested  the  unexhausted  passion 
for  pilgrimage,  which  became  to  some  even  a  more 
praiseworthy  and  noble  act  of  devotion  from  its  perils.^ 
The  pilgrim  might  become  a  martyr.  Year  after  year 
came  back  the  few  survivors  of  a  long  train  of  pil- 
grims, no  longer  radiant  with  pious  pride  at  the  accom- 
plishment of  their  holy  purpose,  rich  in  precious  rel- 
ics or  even  the  more  costly  treasures  of  the  East; 
but  stealing  home,  famished,  wounded,  mutilated,  with 
lamentable  tales  of  their  own  sufferings  and  of  those 
who  had  died  of  the  ill-usage  of  the  barbarous  unbe- 
lievers. 

At  length  the  afflictions  of  the  Christians  found  a 
voice  which  woke  indignant  Europe  —  an  apostle  who 
could  rouse  warlike  Latin  Christendom  to  encounter 
with  equal  fanaticism  this  new  outburst  of  the  fanaticism 
of  Islam.     This  was  the  mission  of  the  hermit  Peter. 

1  Lambert  the  historian  performed  a  furtive  pilgrimage.  He  was  much 
alarmed  lest  his  abbot  (of  Hertzfeld),  without  whose  permission  he  set 
forth,  should  die  without  having  forgiven  him.  He  speaks  of  having  in- 
curred extreme  peril,  and  of  having  returned  to  his  monaster^',  quasi  ex 
irapiis  redivivus.  "We  should  have  been  glad  to  have  heard  his  own  perils 
described  by  so  powerful  a  writer.  —  Sub  ann.  1059. 


24  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VH. 

Latin  Christendom  was  already  in  some  degree  pre- 
Eariier  pared  for  this  great  confederacy.     A  league  of 

Crus?des°  the  wholc  Christian  world  against  the  Moham- 
medans had  expanded  before  Gerbert,  Silvester  II. 
The  Caesar  of  the  West,  his  master  Otho  III.,  was  to 
add  at  least  Palestine  to  the  great  Christian  realm. ^  It 
was  amoncr  the  bold  visions  which  had  floated  before 
the  imagination  of  Gregory  VII. ^  His  strong  sagac- 
ity, aided  no  doubt  by  good  intelligence,  had  discerned 
the  revolution  in  the  spirit  of  Mohammedanism  from 
the  Turkish  superiority.  Hildebrand's  more  immediate 
object,  however,  was  not  the  recovery  of  the  Holy 
Land,  but  the*  defence  of  the  Greek  Empire,  which 
was  now  threatened  by  the  advance  of  the  irresistible 
Seljukians  into  Asia  Minor.  The  repression  of  Mo- 
hammedanism on  all  sides,  in  Italy  especially,  where  it 
had  more  than  once  menaced  Rome  itself,  conspired 
with  the  one  paramount  object  of  Hildebrand,  the  sub- 
jugation of  Christendom  to  the  See  of  Rome,  and  the 
unity  of  the  Church  under  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope, 
to  whom  all  temporal  powers  were  to  own  their  subor- 
dination. The  Greek  Empire  was  to  render  its  alle- 
giance to  the  Pontiff  as  the  price  of  its  protection  from 
the  Turks ;  it  was  to  become  an  integral  and  essential 
part  of  the  spiritual  Empire.  Gregory  had  intimated 
his  design  of  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  this  Cru- 
sade, which  was  at  once  to  consolidate  and  secure  from 
foreign  and  infidel  aggression  the  ecclesiastical  mon- 
archy of  the  West.  But  the  deliverance  of  the  de- 
crepit, unrespected,  and  often  hostile  Empire  of  the 
East  would  have  awakened  no  powerful  movement  in 

1  Gerbert's  letter  in  the  name  of  Jerusalem.    In  Murat.  R.  I.  S.  iii.  400 

2  Compare  Gregory's  Regesta,  i.  30,  i.  49,  ii.  31. 


Chap.  VI.  PETER  THE  HERmT.  25 

Latin  Cliristendom :  the  fall  of  Constantinople  would 
have  startled  too  late  the  tardy  fears  and  sympathies  of 
the  West.  The  ambassadors  of  Alexius  Comnenus  at 
Piacenza  were  received  with  decent  respect,  but  with 
no  passionate  impulse.  The  letters  from  the  East, 
imploring  aid,  had  no  power  to  hush  and  suspend  the 
hostilities  which  distracted  the  West.  If  not  heard 
with  indifference,  they  left  but  superficial  and  evanes- 
cent impressions  on  the  minds  even  of  those  who  had 
most  reason  to  dread  the  progress  of  the  Mohammedan 
arms. 

For  the  conquest  of  the  Holy  Land  a  zealous  Pope 
might  alone  in  favorable  times  have  raised  a  great 
Christian  army  ;  he  might  have  enlisted  numbers  of 
warlike  and  adventurous  nobles,  even  sovereigns,  in  the 
cause.  But  humbler  and  more  active  instruments  were 
wanting  for  a  popular  and  general  insurrection  in  favor 
of  the  oppressed  and  afflicted  pilgrims,  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Holy  Land  to  the  dominion  of  the  Cross. 
All  great  convulsions  of  society  are  from  below. 

Peter  the  Hermit  is  supposed,  but  only  supposed,  to 
have  been  of  gentle  birth.  He  was  of  igno-  p^^^^  ^^^ 
ble  stature,  but  with  a  quick  and  flashing  eye  ;  h^™^*- 
his  spare,  sharp  person  seemed  instinct  with  the  fire 
which  worked  within  his  restless  soul.  He  was  a 
Frank  (of  Amiens  in  Picardy),  and  therefore  spoke 
most  familiarly  the  language  of  that  people,  ever  ready 
for  adventurous  warfare,  especially  warfare  in  the  cause 
of  religion.  Peter  had  exhausted,  without  satisfying 
the  cravings  of  his  religious  zeal,  all  the  ordinary  ex- 
citements, the  studies,  the  austerities  and  mortifications, 
the  fasts  and  prayers  of  a  devout  life.  Still  yearning 
for  more  powerful  emotions,  he  had  retired  into  the 


26  LATIX    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VH. 

solitude  of  the  strictest  and  severest  cloister.  There 
his  undoubting  faith  beheld  in  the  visions  of  his  dis- 
turbed and  in  thralled  imagination  revelations  from 
heaven.  In  those  days  such  a  man  could  not  but  un- 
dertake a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land,  more  especially 
i'l  times  when  martyrdom  might  be  his  reward.  The 
deeper  his  feelings  at  visiting  the  holy  places,  the  more 
strono-  would  be  his  sorrow  and  indio-nation  at  their 
desecration  by  their  rude  and  cruel  masters.  Peter 
saw  with  a  bleeding  heart  the  sufferings  and  degrada- 
tion of  his  brethren ;  his  blood  turned  to  fire  ;  the 
martial  Frank  was  not  extinct  within  him.  In  an 
interview  with  Simeon,  the  persecuted  patriarch,  he 
ventured  to  rebuke  his  despondency.  When  Simeon 
deplored  the  hopeless  weakness  of  the  Byzantine  Em- 
pire, the  natural  lords  and  protectors  of  the  Christians 
in  Syria,  Peter  fearlessly  promised  him  the  succor  of 
Western  Christendom.  His  vow  seemed  to  obtain  the 
ratification  of  God.  Prostrate  in  the  temple  he  heard, 
as  it  were,  the  voice  of  our  Lord  himself,  "  Rise,  Peter, 
go  forth  to  make  known  the  tribulations  of  my  people ; 
the  hour  is  come  for  the  delivery  of  my  servants,  for 
the  recovery  of  the  holy  j^laces  I  " 

Peter  fully  believed  in  his  own  mission,  and  was 
A.D.1094.  therefore  beheved  by  others.  He  landed  in 
Italy,  he  hastened  to  Rome.  The  Pope,  Urban,  was 
kindled  by  his  fervor,  acknowledged  him  as  a  Prophet, 
and  gave  full  sanction  to  his  announcement  of  the  im- 
mediate deliverance  of  Jerusalem. 

The  Hermit  traversed  Italy,  crossed  the  Alps,  wath 
indefiitigable  restlessness  went  from  province  to  prov- 
ince, from  city  to  city.  His  appearance  commanded 
attention,  his  austerity  respect,  his  language  instanta- 


Chap.  VI.  PETER  THE  HERmT.  27 

neous  and  vehement  sympathy.  He  rode  on  a  mule, 
with  a  crucifix  in  his  hand,  his  head  and  feet  bare ;  his 
dress  was  a  long  robe  girt  with  a  cord,  and  a  hermit's 
cloak  of  the  coarsest  stuff.  He  preached  in  the  pul- 
pits, in  the  roads,  in  the  market-places.  His  eloquence 
was  that  which  stirs  the  heart  of  the  people,  for  it  came 
from  his  own,  brief,  figurative,  full  of  bold  apostrophes; 
it  was  mingled  with  his  own  tears,  with  his  own  groans ; 
he  beat  his  breast ;  the  contagion  spread  throughout  his 
audience.  His  preaching  appealed  to  every  passion,  to 
valor  and  shame,  to  indignation  and  pity,  to  the  pride 
of  the  warrior,  the  compassion  of  the  man,  the  religion 
of  the  Christian,  to  the  love  of  the  Brethren,  to  the 
hatred  of  the  Unbeliever,  aggravated  by  his  insulting 
tyranny,  to  reverence  for  the  Redeemer  and  the  Saints, 
to  the  desire  of  expiating  sin,  to  the  hope  of  eternal 
Hfe.  Sometimes  he  found  persons  who,  like  himself, 
had  visited  the  Holy  Land ;  he  brought  them  forth  be- 
fore the  people,  and  made  them  bear  witness  to  what 
they  had  seen  or  what  they  had  suffered.  He  appealed 
to  them  as  having  beheld  Christian  blood  poured  out 
w^antonly  as  water,  the  foulest  indignities  perpetrated 
on  the  sacred  places  in  Jerusalem.  He  invoked  the 
Holy  Angels,  the  Saints  in  Heaven,  the  Mother  of 
God,  the  Lord  himself,  to  bear  witness  to  his  truth. 
He  called  on  the  holy  places  —  on  Sion,  on  Calvary, 
on  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  to  lift  up  their  voices  and  im- 
plore their  deliverance  from  sacrilegious  profanation  ; 
he  held  up  the  Crucifix,  as  if  Christ  himself  were  im- 
ploring their  succor. 

His  influence  was  extraordinary,  even  beyond  the  im- 
mediate object  of  his  mission.  Old  enemies  came  to  be 
reconciled  ;  the  worldliest  to  forswear  the  world  ;  prel- 


28  LATIN   CHRISTIANITY.  Bock  VII. 

ates  to  entreat  the  hermit's  intercession.  Gifts  show- 
ered upon  him;  he  gave  them  all  to  the  poor,  or  as 
dowries  for  loose  women,  whom  he  provided  with  hus- 
bands. His  wonders  were  repeated  from  mouth  to 
mouth ;  all  ages,  both  sexes,  crowded  to  touch  his 
garments  ;  the  very  hairs  which  dropped  from  his  mule 
were  caught  and  treasured  as  relics. 

Western  Christendom,  particularly  France,  was  thus 
Council  of  prepared  for  the  outburst  of  militant  religion. 
Clermont.  Nothing  was  wanted  but  a  plan,  leaders,  and 
organization.  Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  Pope 
Urban  presented  himself  to  the  Council  of  Clermont, 
in  Auvergne. 

Where  all  the  motives  which  stir  the  mind  and  heart, 
the  most  impulsive  passion,  and  the  profoundest  policy, 
conspire  together,  it  is  impossible  to  discover  which  has 
the  dominant  influence  in  guiding  to  a  certain  course 
of  action.  Urban,  no  doubt,  with  his  strong  religious- 
ness of  character,  was  not  superior  to  the  enthusiasm 
of  his  times ;  to  him  the  Crusade  was  the  cause  of 
God.  This  is  manifest  from  the  earnest  simplicity  of 
his  memorable  speech  in  the  Council.  No  one  not 
frilly  possessed  by  the  frenzy  could  have  communicated 
it.  At  the  same  time,  no  event  (to  this  his  discerning 
mind  could  not  be  blind)  could  be  more  favorable,  or 
more  opportune  for  the  advancement  of  the  great  Papal 
object  of  ambition,  the  acknowledged  supremacy  over 
Latin  Christendom ;  or  for  the  elevation  of  Urban 
himself  over  the  rival  Pope  and  the  temporal  Sover- 
eigns his  enemies.  Placing  himself  at  the  head  of  this 
vast  popular  movement,  he  left  his  rival  at  an  immeas- 
urable distance  below  him  in  general  reverence.  He 
rose  to  no  less  a  height  over  the  temporal  Sovereigns. 


Chap.  VI.  SPEECH  OF  URBAN.  29 

The  author  of  the  Crusades  was  too  holj  a  person,  too 
manifest  a  vicegerent  of  Christ  himself,  for  men  either 
to  question  his  title  or  circumscribe  his  authority. 
Thus  the  excommunication  of  the  King  of  France, 
Hke  the  earthquake  during  the  victory  of  Hannibal 
at  Thrasymene,  passed  almost  without  notice. 

Never,  perhaps,  did  a  single  speech  of  man  work 
such  extraordinary  and  lasting  results  as  that  speech  of 
of  Urban  II.  at  the  Council  of  Clermont.  ^"^^*°  "• 
Urban,  as  a  native  of  France,  spoke,  no  doubt,  the 
language  of  the  country ;  ^  his  speech  has  survived 
only  in  the  colder  and  more  stately  ecclesiastical 
Latin  ;  and  probably  has  preserved  but  few  of  those  pa- 
thetic and  harrowing  details  of  the  cruelty,  the  licen- 
tiousness, the  sacrilege  of  the  Turks,  which  told  most 
effectively  on  his  shuddering  and  maddening  audience.^ 
He  dwelt  on  the  sanctity,  on  the  wonders  of  the  land 
of  promise  ;  the  land  chosen  of  God,  to  whom  all  the 
earth  belonged  as  his  own  inheritance  ;  the  land  of 
which  the  history  had  been  recorded  both  in  the  Old 
and  New  Testament ;  of  this  land  the  foul  Infidels 
were  now  the  lords  —  of  the  Holy  City  itself,  hal- 
lowed by  the  Life  and  Death  of  the  Saviour.  Whose 
soul  melted  not  within  ;  whose  bowels  were  not  stirred 
with  shame  and  sorrow  ?  The  Holy  Temple  had  be- 
come not  only  a  den  of  thieves,  but  the  dwelling-place 
of  Devils.     The  churches,  even  that  of  the  Holy  Sep- 

1  Certatim  currunt  Christi  purgare  sepulchnim 
Francigenus  cuuctus  populus,  de  quo  fuit  ortus 
Urbanus  Pastor.  Donizo. 

2  There  are  three  copies  of  Urban's  speech,  unless  they  are,  as  is  most 
probable,  different  speeches  delivered  on  diflferent  occasions:  one  in  William 
of  Tyre,  one  in  "William  of  Malmesbuiy,  one  printed  from  a  MS.  in  th© 
Vatican  in  the  Concilia. 


30  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Boor  VII. 

ulclire  itself,  had  become  stalls  for  cattle,  and  Chris- 
tian men  were  massacred  and  Christian  women  rav- 
ished within  the  holy  precincts.  The  Heavenly  fire 
had  ceased  to  descend ;  the  Lord  would  not  visit 
his  defiled  sanctuary.  While  Christians  were  shed- 
ding Christian  blood,  they  were  sinfully  abandoning 
this  sacred  field  for  their  valor,  and  yielding  up  their 
brethren  in  Christ  to  the  yoke,  to  the  sword  of  the 
Unbeliever :  they  were  warring  on  each  other,  when 
they  ought  to  be  soldiers  of  Christ.  He  assured  them 
that  the  Saviour  himself,  the  God  of  armies,  would  be 
their  leader  and  their  guide  in  battle.  There  was  no 
passion  which  he  left  unstirred.  "  The  wealth  of  your 
enemies  shall  be  yours ;  ye  shall  plunder  their  treasures. 
Ye  serve  a  commander  who  will  not  permit  his  soldiers 
to  want  bread,  or  a  just  reward  for  their  services.^  He 
offered  absolution  for  all  sins  (there  was  no  crime  — 
murder,  adultery,  robbery,  arson  —  which  might  not 
be  redeemed  by  this  act  of  obedience  to  God)  ;  abso- 
lution without  penance  to  all  who  would  take  up  arms 
in  this  sacred  cause.  It  w^as  better  to  fall  in  battle 
than  not  to  march  to  the  aid  of  the  Brethren  ;  he 
promised  eternal  life  to  all  who  should  suffer  the  glo- 
rious calamity  of  death  in  the  Holy  Land,  or  even 
in  the  way  to  it.  The  Crusader  passed  at  once  into 
Paradise.  For  himself,  he  must  remain  aloof;  but, 
like  a  second  Moses,  while  they  were  slaughtering 
the  Amalekites,  he  would  be  perpetually  engaged  in 
fervent  and  prevailing  prayer  for  their  success."  ^ 

1  Facultates  etiam  inimicorum  nostrorum  vestrae  erunt;  quoniam  et  illo- 
rum  thesauros  exspoliabitis.  .  .  .  Tali  Imperatori  militare  debetis  cui  panis 
deesse  non  potest,  cui  quae  rependat,  nulla  desint  stipendia.  This  is  from 
the  Vatican  speech.    I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  compiling  from  all  thi*ee. 

2  This  likewise  is  from  the  Vatican  speech. 


Chap.  VI.  CRUSADE  DETERMI>sED.  31 

The  Pontiff  could  scarcely  conclude  his  speech  ;  he 
was  interrupted  hy  ill-suppressed  murmurs  of  crusade 
grief  and  indignation.  At  its  close,  one  loud  ^^^^''^'''^^^ 
and  simultaneous  cry  broke  forth  :  "It  is  the  will  of 
God  !  it  is  the  will  of  God !  "  All  ranks,  all  classes, 
were  seized  with  the  contagious  passion  ;  the  assembly 
declared  itself  the  army  of  God.  Not  content  with  his 
immediate  success,  the  Pope  enjoined  on  all  the  Bishops 
to  preach  instantly,  unremittingly,  in  every  diocese,  the 
imperative  duty  of  taking  up  arms  to  redeem  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  The  epidemic  madness  spread  with  a  ra- 
pidity inconceivable,  except  from  the  knowledge  how 
fully  the  mind  and  heart  of  man  were  prepared  to  imbibe 
the  infection.  France,  including  both  its  Frank  and 
Norman  population,  took  the  lead  ;  Germany,  of  colder 
temperament  and  distracted  by  its  own  civil  conten- 
tions, the  Imperialist  faction  from  liatred  of  the  Pope, 
moved  more  tardily  and  reluctantly  ;  in  Italy  it  was 
chiefly  the  adventurous  Normans  who  crowded  to  the 
war;  in  Eno-land  the  Normans  were  too  much  occu- 
pied  in  securing  their  vast  possessions,  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  population  too  much  depressed,  to  send  large 
numbers  of  soldiers.  All  Europe,  however,  including 
the  Northern  nations,  except  Spain,  occupied  with  her 
own  crusade  in  her  own  realm,  sent  their  contingent, 
either  to  the  wild  multitudes  who  swarmed  forth  un- 
der Walter  the  Pennyless,  or  the  more  regular  army 
under  Godfrey  of  Boulogne.  The  Crusade  was  no 
national  war  of  Italy,  France,  or  Germany  against 
the  Egyptian  Empire  of  the  Fatimites,  or  the  Selju- 
kian  Sultan  of  Iconium  :  it  was  a  war  of  Christendom 
against  Mohammedanism.  No  government  hired  the 
soldiers,  unless  so  far  as  the  feudal  chief  summoned  b^ 


32  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VH. 

vassals  to  accompany  him ;  nor  provided  transports  and 
the  artillery  and  implements  of  war,  or  organized  a 
commissariat,  or  nominated  to  the  chief  command. 
Each  was  a  volunteer,  and  brought  his  own  horse, 
arms,  accoutrements,  provisions.  In  the  first  disastrous 
expeditions,  under  Peter  the  Hermit  and  Walter  the 
Pennyless,  the  leaders  were  designated  by  popular  ac- 
clamation or  by  bold  and  confident  self-election.  The 
general  deference  and  respect  for  his  admirable  charac- 
ter and  qualifications  invested  Godfrey  of  Boulogne  in 
the  command  of  the  first  regular  army.  It  was  fortu- 
nate, perhaps,  that  none  of  the  great  Sovereigns  of 
Europe  joined  the  first  Crusade ;  the  Emperor  and  the 
King  of  France  were  under  excommunication ;  Con- 
rad, King  of  Italy,  too  necessary  to  the  Pope  to  be 
spared  fi'om  Italy ;  in  William  Rufus  was  wanting  the 
great  impulse,  religious  faith.  The  ill  success  of  the 
later  Crusades,  undertaken  by  Emperors  and  Kings, 
their  frequent  want  of  ability  for  supreme  command 
when  alone,  their  jealousies  when  allied,  show  that  a 
league  of  princes  of  the  second  rank,  though  not  with- 
out their  intrigues  and  separate  interests,  was  better 
suited  for  this  kind  of  expedition. 

The  results  of  these  wars,  rather  than  the  wars 
Results  of  themselves,  must  find  their  place  in  the  his- 
crusades.  ^^j,y.  ^f  Christianity.  Urban  II.  lived  to 
hear  hardly  more  than  the  disasters  and  miseries  of  hi 
own  work.  His  faith  had  the  severe  trial  of  receiving 
the  sad  intelligence  of  the  total  destruction  of  the 
myriads  who  marched  into  Hungary  and  perished  on 
the  way,  by  what  was  unjustly  considered  the  cruelty 
of  the  Hungarians  and  treachery  of  the  Greeks ; 
scarcely  one  of  these   ever   reached    the  borders   of 


Chap.  VI.        CAUSES  OF  CRUSADES.  38 

the  Holy  Land.  His  depression  may  have  been  al- 
layed by  the  successes  of  the  army  under  Godfrey 
of  Boulogne :  he  heard  of  the  capture  of  Antioch, 
but  died  before  the  tidings  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem 
on  the  15th  of  July,  1099,  could  reach  Rome. 

The  Crusades  —  contemplated  not  with  cold  and  in- 
different philosophy,  but  with  that  lofty  spirit-  causes  of 
ualism  of  faith  which  cannot  consent  to  limit  cru^^ades. 
the  ubiquitous  God,  and  Saviour,  and  Holy  Spirit  to 
any  place,  or  to  any  peculiar  mountain  or  city,  and  to 
which  a  war  of  religion  is  essentially,  irreconcilably 
oppugnant  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity  —  may  seem 
the  height  of  human  folly.  The  Crusades,  if  we  could 
calculate  the  incalculable  waste  of  human  life  from  first 
to  last  (a  waste  without  achieving  any  enduring  result,) 
and  all  the  human  misery  which  is  implied  in  that  loss 
of  life,  may  seem  the  most  wonderful  frenzy  which 
ever  possessed  mankind.  But  from  a  less  ideal  point 
of  view  —  a  view  of  human  affairs  as  they  have  actu- 
ally evolved  under  the  laws  or  guidance  of  Divine 
Providence  —  considerations  suggest  themselves  which 
mitigate  or  altogether  avert  this  contemptuous  or  con- 
demnatory sentence.  If  Christianity,  which  was  to 
mould  and  fuse  the  barbarous  nations  into  one  great 
European  society  —  if  Latin  Christianity  and  the  po- 
litical system  of  the  West  were  to  be  one  in  limits  and 
extent,  it  was  compelled  to  assume  this  less  spiritual, 
more  materialistic    form.      Reverence  for  holy  places 

—  that  intense  passion  which  first  showed  itself  in  pil- 
grimages, afterwards  in  the  Crusade  —  was  an  insepa- 
rable part  of  what  has  been  called  mediaeval  Christi- 
anity.    Nor  was  this  age  less  inevitably  an  age  of  war 

—  an  age  in  which  human  Hfe,  even  if  it  had  not  been 


34  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VH. 

thrown  away  on  so  vast  a  scale  on  one  object,  would 
hardly  have  escaped  other  (probably  hardly  less  exten- 
sive) destruction.  It  would  be  bold  to  say  how  much 
the  Crusades,  at  such  a  time,  enhanced  the  mass  of 
human  suffering.  Those  who  strewed  the  plains  of 
Hungary  or  of  Asia  Minor  with  their  bones  —  who 
for  above  a  century  watered  the  soil  of  Palestine  with 
their  blood  —  would  probably  have  fallen  in  great 
numbers  in  nearer  and  more  intestine  wars ;  wars 
waged  for  a  less  generous  and  unselfish  end.  The  Cru- 
sades consummated,  and  the  Christian  Church  solemnly 
blessed  and  ratified,  the  unnatural  it  might  be,  but  per- 
haps necessary  and  inevitable,  union  between  Christi- 
anity and  the  Teutonic  military  spirit.  Yet  what  but 
Christian  warlike  fanaticism  could  cope  with  the  war- 
like Mohammedan  fanaticism  whicli  had  now  revived  by 
the  invasion  of  the  Turks,  a  race  more  rude  and  ha- 
bitually predatory  and  conquering  than  the  Arabs  of 
the  Prophet,  and  apparently  more  incapable  of  yielding 
to  those  genial  influences  of  civilization  which  had 
gradually  softened  down  the  Caliphs  of  Damascus, 
Bagdad,  Cairo,  and  Cordova,  to  splendid  and  peaceful 
monarchs  ?  Few  minds  were,  perhaps,  far-seeing  enough 
to  contemplate  the  Crusades,  as  they  have  been  viewed 
by  modern  history,  as  a  blow  struck  at  the  heart  of  the 
Mohammedan  power  ;  as  a  politic  diversion  of  the  tide 
of  war  from  the  frontiers  of  the  European  kingdoms 
to  Asia.  Yet  neither  can  this  removal  of  the  war  to  a 
more  remote  battle-field,  nor  the  establishment  of  the 
principle  that  all  Christian  powers  were  natural  allies 
against  Mohammedan  powers  (though  this  principle,  at 
a  later  period,  gave  way  before  European  animosities 
and  enmities),  have  been  without  important  influence 
on  the  course  of  human  affairs. 


Chap.  VI.         CHARACTER  OF  THE  CRUSADES.  35 

To  this  union  of  the  mihtary  spirit  of  Europe  and  of 
Christianity  each    brought   its    dowry  —  the  Aiuance  of 

.,.  ...  ;   .  1       /»  •  •      religious  and 

mintary  spmt  its  unmitigated  ferocity,  its  mmtary spirit. 
wild  love  of  adventure,  its  Kcentiousness,  its  contempt 
for  human  life,  at  times  its  generosity,  and  here  and 
there  touches  of  that  chivalrous  respect  for  females 
which  had  belonged  to  the  Teutonic  races,  and  was 
now  mingled  up  with  the  religion.  Christianity  was 
content  to  bring  its  devotional  without  any  of  its  hu- 
manizing influences,  its  fervent  faith,  which  was  assured 
of  its  everlasting  reward,  its  strict  obedience  to  all  the 
outward  ceremonial  of  religion,  its  earnest  prayers,  its 
profound  humility.  But  it  left  out  all  restraining  dis- 
cipline of  the  violent  and  revengeful  passions ;  it 
checked  not  the  fury  of  conquest ;  allayed  in  no  way 
the  miseries  of  the  strife.  The  knight,  before  the  bat- 
tle, was  as  devout  as  the  bishop ;  the  bishop,  in  the 
battle,  no  less  ferocious  than  the  knight.  No  one  de- 
nied himself  the  full  privilege  of  massacre  or  of  plun- 
der ;  it  was  rather  a  duty  against  unbelievers :  the 
females  of  a  conquered  town  had  no  better  fate  with  a 
crusading,  than  with  a  Mohammedan  soldiery. 

The  Crusades  have  been  called,  and  justly,  the  he- 
roic ao;e  of  Christianity  —  the  heroic  age  in  Heroic  age 

,  1 .  1        /^i     •     •  1  n  of  Christi- 

tne  ordinary,  not  the  Christian  sense,  that  of  anity. 
the  Gospel  —  which  would  seek  her  own  heroes  rather 
among  the  martyrs  and  among  the  benefactors  of  man- 
kind. It  had  all  the  violence,  the  rudeness,  but  also 
the  grandeui,  the  valor,  daring,  endurance,  self-sacri- 
fice, wonderful  achievements,  the  development  of 
strength,  even  of  craft,  which  belongs  to  such  a  pe 
riod :  the  wisdom  of  Godfrey  of  Boulogne,  the  gal- 
lantry  of    Tancrijd   of    Hauteville,    the    subtlety   of 


36  LATIX  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YU. 

Rairaond  of  Toulouse ;  in  later  times  the  rivalry  of 
the  more  barbarous  Richard  of  England  with  the  more 
courteous  and  polished  Saladin.  But  in  no  point  are 
the  Crusades  more  analogous  to  the  heroic  ages  of  other 
times  than  in  the  elevation  of  the  heroes  of  the  war 
above  the  common  herd  of  the  soldiery.^  In  all  wars 
the  glory  of  the  few  is  bought  by  the  misery  of  the 
many.  The  superior  armor  and  weapons,  the  fighting 
on  horseback,  as  well  as  the  greater  skill  in  managing 
the  weapons  and  the  horse,  no  doubt  the  calmer  cour- 
age, maintained  the  nobles  as  a  martial  and  feudal  aris- 
tocracy, who  obtained  all  the  glory  and  the  advantages 
of  their  transient  successes.  Never,  perhaps,  were 
expeditions  so  utterly,  hopelessly  disastrous,  so  wildly 
prodigal  of  human  life,  as  the  popular  Crusade,  which 
set  off  first  under  Peter  the  Hermit.  Of  all  this  the 
blind  enthusiasm  of  that  day  took  as  little  notice  as  in 
later  times  did  Godfrey's  Frank  knights  in  their  poetic 
admiration  of  his  exploits.  In  the  fame  of  Godfrey's 
conquest  of  Jeinisalem,  in  the  establishment  of  that 
kingdom,  no  one  under  the  rank  of  knight  acquired 
honor,  power,  emolument.     But  since,  in  the  account 

1  The  Crusades  ought  to  have  been  the  heroic  age  of  Christianity  in 
poetry ;  but  their  Homer  arose  too  late.  At  the  time  of  the  Crusades  there 
was  wanting  a  common  language,  or  indeed  any  language  already  formed 
and  approaching  to  the  life  and  energy  of  the  Homeric  Greek;  at  the  same 
time  sufficiently  vernacular  and  popular  not  to  become  antiquated  in  the 
course  of  time.  Before  the  polite  and  gentle  Tasso,  even  the  Italian  had 
lost  the  rudeness  and  picturesque  simplicity  of  its  Dantesque  form :  the  re- 
ligious enthusiasm  had  been  subdued  to  a  timorous  orthodoxy,  which  trem- 
bled before  the  Inquisition ;  the  martial  spirit  was  that  of  the  earlier  ro- 
mantic poems  rather  than  the  Crusader's  fanatic  love  of  battle  and  hatred 
of  the  Unbeliever.  With  all  its  exquisite  and  pathetic  passages  the 
"  Jerusalem  Delivered  "  is  no  Crusader's  epic.  Beautiful  as  a  work  of  art, 
it  is  still  a  work  of  art.  It  is  suited  to  the  court  of  Ferrara  rather  than  to  the 
castle-hall  of  a  chieftain  returned  after  years  of  war  from  the  Holy  Land 


Chap.  VI.  INCIDENTS   OF  THE  CRUSADES.  37 

of  the  Crusades,  even  more  than  in  other  parts  of  the 
Christian  annals,  the  life,  the  reality,  the  character, 
even  the  terror  and  beauty,  the  poetry  of  the  whole  pe- 
riod, consists  in  the  details,  it  is  only  in  the  acts  an 
words  of  individuals  that  clearly  transpire  the  work- 
ings of  the  religion  of  the  times.  The  History  of 
Christianity  must  leave  those  annals,  as  a  separate  prov- 
ince, and  content  itself  with  following  out  some  of  the 
more  general  results  of  those  extraordinary  and  charac- 
teristic events.  I  will  only  relate  two  incidents :  one 
illustrative  of  the  frightfiilness  of  this  Holy  War ;  one 
of  the  profound  religion  which,  nevertheless,  lay  in  the 
hearts  of  its  leaders. 

No  barbarian,  no  infidel,  no  Saracen,  ever  perpe- 
trated such  wanton  and  cold-blooded  atrocities  incidents 
of  cruelty  as  the  wearers  of  the  Cross  of  crusades. 
Christ  (who,  it  is  said,  had  fallen  on  their  knees  and 
burst  into  a  pious  hymn  at  the  first  view  of  the  Holy 
City),  on  the  captm'e  of  that  city.  Murder  was 
mercy,  rape  tenderness,  simple  plunder  the  mere  asser- 
tion of  the  conqueror's  right.  Children  were  seized 
by  their  legs,  some  of  them  plucked  from  their  moth- 
ers' breasts  and  dashed  agahist  the  walls,  or  whirled 
from  the  battlements.  Others  were  obliged  to  leap 
from  the  walls ;  some  tortured,  roasted  by  slow  fires. 
They  ripped  up  prisoners  to  see  if  they  had  swallowed 
gold.  Of  70,000  Saracens  there  were  not  left  enough  to 
bury  the  dead ;  poor  Christians  were  hired  to  perform 
the  office.  Every  one  surprised  in  the  Temple  was 
slaughtered,  till  the  reek  from  the  dead  bodies  drove 
away  the  slayers.  The  Jews  were  burned  alive  in 
their  synagogue.  Even  the  day  after,  all  who  had 
taken  refuge  on  the  roofs,  notwithstanding   Tancred's 


38       .  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VII. 

resistance,  were  hewn  to  pieces.  Still  later  the  few 
Saracens  who  had  escaped  (not  excepting  babes  of  a 
year  old)  were  put  to  death  to  avenge  the  insults  to 
the  dead,  and  lest  they  should  swell  the  numbers  of 
the  advancing  Egyptian  army.  The  ghost  of  Bishoj. 
Adhemar  de  Puy,  the  Legate,  (he  had  died  of  the 
plague  at  Antioch)  was  seen  in  his  sacerdotal  habits 
partaking  in  the  triumph,  and  it  appears,  not  arresting 
the  carnage.^ 

Yet  when  Godfrey  was  unanimously  saluted  as  sov- 
ereign of  the  conquered  realm,  to  the  universal  admi- 
ration, he  refused  to  be  king :  he  would  only  be 
administrator,  where  the  Saviour  had  been  called  a 
servant ;  he  would  wear  no  golden  crown  where  the 
Redeemer  had  worn  a  crown  of  thorns.^ 

Return  we  to  the  effects  of  the  expeditions  to  the 
Holy  Land. 

I.  The  first  and  more  immediate  result  of  the  Cru- 
sades was  directly  the  opposite  to  that  which  had  been 
Estrange-  promiscd,  aud  no  doubt  expected,  by  the  ad- 
the  East.  visers  of  these  expeditions.  Though  not  the 
primary,  the  security  of  the  Eastern  Christian  Empire, 
and  its  consequent  closer  alliance  with  Latin  Christen- 
dom, was  at  least  a  secondary  object.  Latin  and  Greek 
Christendom  would  become,  if  not  one  Empire,  one 
indissoluble  league :  the  Greek  Church  would  become 
part  of  the  kingdom  of  St.  Peter.     But  instead  of  the 

1  Mulieres  mucrone  perfodenmt,  infantes  adhuc  sugentes  per  plantam 
pedis  e  sinu  matris  aut  cunahulis  arreptos  muris  vel  ostiorum  liminibus 
allidentes  fractis  cervicibus,  alios  armis  trucidarunt.  —  Albert.  Aquens.  p. 
281.  Alii  illorum  quos  levius  erat  captibus  obtruncabantur;  alii  autem 
sagittati  de  turribus  saltare  cogebantur,  alii  vero  diutissirae  torti  et  igni- 
bus  adiisti.  —  Hist.  B.  Sacri,  p.  179.  Compare  the  later  historians  of  the 
Crusades,  "Wilken,  Michaud,  i.  411;  Von  Raumer  (Hohenstaufen),  i.  216. 

*  All  the  later  authorities. 


Chap.  VI.  ESTRAXGE:kIENT  OF  THE  EAST.  39 

reconciliation  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  with  the  "West, 
the  Crusade  led  to  a  more  total  estrangement ;  instead 
of  blending  the  Churches  into  one,  the  hostility  became 
more  strong  and  obstinate.  The  Emperors  of  the  East 
found  their  friends  not  less  dangerous  and  destructive 
than  their  enemies  could  have  been.  Vast  hordes  of 
disorderly  and  undisciplined  fanatics  came  swarming 
across  the  frontiers,  trampling  down  everything  in 
their  way,  and  spreading  desolation  through  the  more 
peaceful  and  flourishing  provinces.  Already  the  Hun- 
garians had  taken  up  arms  against  these  unwelcome 
strangers ;  and  a  Christian  power  had  been  the  first 
to  encounter  the  champions  of  the  Cross.  The  lead- 
ers of  the  Crusade,  the  Hermit  himself,  and  a  soldier 
of  fortune,  Walter,  who  went  by  the  name  of  the  Pen- 
nyless,  were  altogether  without  authority,  and  had 
taken  no  steps  to  organize  or  to  provide  food  for  this 
immense  population  which  they  had  set  in  motion. 
This  aiTny  mainly  consisted  of  the  poorer  classes, 
whose  arms,  such  as  they  were,  were  their  only  pos- 
session. The  more  enthusiastic,  no  doubt,  vaguely 
trusted  to  the  protection  of  Providence  ;  God  would 
not  allow  the  soldiers  of  his  blessed  Son  to  perish 
with  want.  The  more  thoughtful  calculated  on  the 
hospitality  of  their  Christian  brethren.  The  pilgrims 
of  old  had  found  hospitals  and  caravansaries  established 
for  their  reception  ;  they  had  been  fed  by  the  inex- 
haustible bounty  of  the  devout.  But  it  had  occuiTcd 
to  none  that,  however  friendly,  the  inhabitants  of 
Hungary  and  the  Provinces  of  the  Byzantine  Empire, 
through  which  they  passed,  could  not,  without  mira- 
cles, feed  the  swelling,  and  it  seemed,  never-ending 
Bwarra  of  strangers.     Hunger  led  to  plunder,  plunder 


40  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VII- 

to  hostility,  hostility  hardened  and  inflamed  to  the  most 
bitter  mutual  antipathy.  Europe  rung  with  denuncia- 
tions of  the  inhospitality,  the  barbarity  of  these  more 
than  unbelievers,  who  were  accused  of  secret  intelli- 
gence and  confederacy  with  the  Mohammedans  against 
the  cause  of  Christ.  The  subtle  policy  of  Alexius 
Comnenus,  whose  craft  was  in  some  degree  successful 
in  the  endeavor  to  rid  his  subjects  of  this  intolerable 
burden,  was  branded  as  the  most  malignant  treachery. 
Hence  mistrust,  hatred,  contempt,  sprang  up  between 
the  Greek  and  Latin  Christians,  which  centuries  could 
hardly  have  eradicated,  even  if  they  had  been  centuries 
of  fi'iendly  intercourse  rather  than  of  aggravated  wrong 
and  unmingling  hostility.  The  Greeks  despised  the 
Franks  as  rude  and  savage  robbers  ;  the  Franks  dis- 
dained the  Greeks  as  wily  and  supple  slaves. 

The  conduct  of  the  more  regular  army,  which  took 
another  and  less  destructive  course,  was  restrained  by 
some  discipline,  and  maintained  at  first  some  courtesy, 
yet  widened  rather  than  closed  this  irreparable  breach. 
The  Emperor  of  the  East  found  that  his  Western  allies 
conquered  not  for  him,  but  for  themselves.  Instead  of 
considering  Syria  and  Palestine  as  parts  of  the  Eastern 
Empire,  they  created  their  own  independent  principali- 
ties, and  owned  no  sovereignty  in  him  who  claimed  to 
be  the  legitimate  lord  of  those  territories.  There  was 
a  singular  sort  of  feudal  title  made  out  to  Palestine : 
God  was  the  Sovereign  owner ;  through  the  Virgin, 
of  royal  descent  from  the  house  of  David,  it  descended 
to  our  Lord.  At  a  later  period  the  contempt  of  the 
Franks  reached  its  height  in  their  conquest  of  Constan- 
tinople, and  the  establishment  of  a  Latin  dynasty  on 
the  throne  of  the  Eastern  Emperors ;  contempt  which 


Chap.  YI.  POWER  OF  THE  POPE.  41 

was  amply  repaid  by  the  hatred  of  the  Greeks,  who, 
when  they  recovered  the  Empire,  were  only  driven  ly 
hard  necessity  to  cultivate  any  friendly  alliance  with 
the  West. 

This  implacable  temporal  hostility  did  not  tend  to 
soften  or  reconcile  the  relio-ious  difference.  The  su- 
premacy  of  the  Pope  became  a  sign,  a  bitter  remem- 
brancer of  their  subjugation.  Even  at  the  last  hour, 
after  the  Council  of  Florence,  the  Eastern  Church  re- 
fused to  surrender  its  freedom  or  to  accept  the  creed  of 
the  West. 

II.  The  Pope,  the  clergy,  the  monastic  institutions, 
derived  a  vast  accession  of  power,  influence,  po^erof 
and  wealth  from  the  Crusades.  Already  Ur-  *^®  ^°p®- 
ban,  by  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the  great  move- 
ment, had  enshrined  himself  in  the  general  reverence, 
and  to  the  Pope  reverence  was  power  and  riches.^  He 
had  crushed  his  adversaries  in  the  popular  mind  of 
great  part  of  Christendom.  He  bequeathed  this  great 
legacy  of  preeminence  to  his  successors.  The  Pope 
was  general-in-chief  of  the  armies  of  the  faith.  He 
assumed  from  the  commencement,  and  maintained  to 
the  end  of  the  Crusades,  an  enormous  dispensing  au- 
thority, to  which  no  one  ventured  or  was  disposed  to 
raise  any  objection;  not  a  dispensing  authority  only 
from  the  penalties  of  sin  in  this  world  or  the  next,  a 
mitigation  of  the  pains  of  purgatory,  or  a  remittal  of 
those  acts  of  penance  which  the  Church  commuted  at 
her  will :  the  taking  the  cross  absolved,  by  his  author- 


1  Compare  Heeren's  Essay  on  the  influence  of  the  Crusades,  Werke,  vol. 
\u,  and  Choiseul  d'Aillecourt,  who  obtained  the  second  prize  from  the 
French  Academy.  To  these  writers  I  would  refer  for  the  general  effects  on 
commerce,  arts,  and  literature. 


42  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VH. 

ity,  from  all  temporal,  civil,  and  social  obligation.  It 
substituted  a  new  and  permanent  principle  of  obedience 
for  feudal  subordination.  The  Pope  became  the  liege 
lord  of  mankind.  His  power  commanded,  though  un- 
happily it  could  not  enforce,  a  truce  from  all  other  wars 
throughout  Christendom.  The  theory  was  the  univer- 
sal amicable  alhance  of  all  Christians  against  the  com- 
mon foe,  the  unbeliever:  war  therefore  of  Christian 
against  Christian  became  treason  ao;ainst  the  sacred 
cause.  The  prmce  who  took  the  cross  left  his  domin- 
ions under  the  protection  of  the  Holy  See  ;  but  as 
the  more  ambitious,  rapacious,  and  irreligious  of  the 
neighboring  sovereigns  were  those  who  remained  be- 
hind, this  security  was  extremely  precarious.  But  the 
noble  became  really  exempt  from  most  feudal  claims  ; 
he  could  not  be  summoned  to  the  banner  of  his  Lord : 
even  the  bonds  of  the  villein,  the  serf,  and  the  slave 
were  broken  or  enfeebled  ;  they  were  free,  if  they 
could  extricate  themselves  from  a  power  which,  in  the 
eye  of  the  Church,  as  interfering  with  the  discharge  of 
a  higher  duty,  was  lawless,  to  follow  the  cross.^  Even 
the  creditor  could  not  arrest  the  debtor.  The  Crusa- 
der was  the  soldier  of  the  Church,  and  this  was  his 
first  allegiance  which  released  hiui  from  all  other.  The 
Pope  was  thus  invested  in  a  kind  of  supremacy  alto- 
gether new  and  unprecedented. 

But  though  the  acknowledged  head  and  leader  in 

1  Men  were  allowed  to  commute  base  or  even  capital  punishments  for 
perpetual  exile  to  the  Holy  Land.  James  de  Vitry  complains  bitterly  of 
the  degradation  of  the  honor  of  the  Crusades,  and  other  evil  consequences 
of  tliis  doctrine.  Viri  sanguinum  et  filii  mortis  in  patria  sua  deprehensi  in 
iniquitatibus  et  maleficiis  suis,  mutilationibus  membrorum  vel  suspendic 
ftdjudicati,  prece  vel  pretio  plerumque  obtinebant,  ut  in  terram  promis* 
Bionis  sine  spe  revertendi,  perpetuo  condemnati  exilio,  remanerent.  Hi 
autem  non  penitentia  compuniti,  &c.  —  Hist.  Orient,  i.  82. 


Chap.vi.  no  pope  a  crusader.  43 

this  universal  league,  no  Pope  was  so  rash  or  so  adven- 
turous as  to  commit  himself  to  the  actual  ^^  p^p^  ^ 
perils  of  an  expedition  to  the  Holy  Land.  Crusader. 
Some  pontiffs  professed  their  intention,  some  made  prep- 
arations to  place  themselves  at  the  head  of  a  cnisading 
army.  But  from  prudence  or  timidity,  from  circum- 
stances or  from  design,  Christendom  was  spared  what 
might  have  been  almost  the  fatal  humiliation  of  defeat 
and  disaster,  the  seeming  abandonment  by  God  of  his 
vicar  upon  earth,  the  desecration,  it  might  be,  of  his 
person  by  the  hands  of  barbarous  unbelievers,  his  cap- 
tivity in  a  foreign  land  —  fiery  trials  which  might  end 
in  glorious  martyrdom,  but  if  not  in  martyrdom,  might 
it  not  be  in  weakness  ?  dare  it  be  supposed  in  apostasy  ? 
No  devout  mind  could  contemplate  the  possibility,  under 
the  most  awfril  ordeal  ever  encountered  by  flesh  and 
blood,  of  a  renegade  Pope ;  still  it  might  be  well  that 
even  the  remotest  peril  of  such  an  appalling  event 
should  be  avoided.  He  was  spared,  too,  from  being  an 
eye-witness  of  the  indescribable  calamities,  the  bootless 
carnage,  the  sufferings  from  plague  and  famine,  as  well 
as  from  the  enemy,  by  which  the  Crusades  were  distin- 
guished from  almost  all  other  wars;  and  the  more 
unseemly  spectacle  of  the  crimes,  the  cruelties,  the  un- 
bridled licentiousness,  the  strife,  and  jealousies,  and 
treacheries,  which  prevailed  too  often  in  the  Christian 
camp,  and  would  hardly  have  been  overawed  by  his 
presence.  The  Pope,  however,  though  not  personally 
mingled  up  in  this  humiliating  it  might  be,  no  doubt 
almost  inevitably  disenchanting  and  too  frequently  de- 
basing intercourse  with  the  wild  soldiery,  was  present 
DY  his  Legate.  Adhemar,  Bishop  of  Puy,  was  the 
representative  of  the  Pope  in  the  first  Crusade ;    and 


4^  LATIX    CHKISTIAITITT  Book  VII. 

SO,  although  the  temporal  princes  assumed  the  right  ot 
election  to  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem,  yet  he  was  there 
to  assert  the  riMit  of  ecclesiastical  interference  in  the 
direction  of  a  war  waged  for  religious  ends  and  under 
religious  sanction. 

But  the  hold  on  the  human  mind,  which  directly  or 
indirectly  accrued  to  the  Pope  in  Europe  from  this 
right  of  levying  war  throughout  Christendom  against 
the  unbeliever,  of  summoning,  or  at  least  enlisting,  all 
mankind  under  the  banner  of  the  cross,  could  not  but 
increase  in  its  growth  as  long  as  the  crusading  frenzy 
maintained  its  power.  The  holy  war  was  a  means 
opened  by  God  of  atonement  for  sins,  besides  sacerdo- 
tal sanctity  or  devotion  to  the  monastic  life  ;  a  lower 
and  easier  kind  of  atonement  for  the  vulgar,  incapable 
of  that  higher  religiousness.  Who  was  beyond  or 
above  this  motive  ?  ^  Thus  that  which  was  at  first  a 
passion  became  a  duty,  and  once  recognized  as  a  duty, 
it  was  a  test  by  which  the  Pope  could  try  the  faith  or 
the  fidelity  of  his  more  contumacious  spiritual  subjects. 
To  take  the  cross  was  the  high  price  which  might  ob- 
tain absolution  for  the  most  enormous  offence ;  and 
therefore,  if  the  Pope  so  willed,  he  would  be  satisfied 
with  nothing  less.  There  were  few  sovereigns  so  cau- 
tious, or  so  superior  to  the  dominant  superstition,  as  not, 
in  some  period  of  enthusiasm  or  disaster,  of  ambition  or 
affliction,  either  from  the  worldly  desire  of  propitiating 
the  favor  of  the  Pope,  or  under  the  pangs  of  wounded 

1  Deus  nostro  tempore  praelia  sancta  instituit,  ut  ordo  equestris  et  valgus 
oberrans,  qui  vetustse  Paganitatis  exemplo  in  mutuas  versabatur  cjedes, 
novum  reptrirent  salutis  promerendas  genus :  ut  nee  funditus  electa,  ut  fieri 
assolet  monastica  conversatione,  seu  religiosa  qualibet  professione  saeculum 
relinquere  cogerentur;  sed  sub  consueta  licentia  et  babitu  ex  suo  ipsorum 
officio  Dei  aliquatenus  gratiani  consequerentur.  —  Guido  Abbas,  p.  1076. 


Chap.  VI.  THE  LEGATES.  45 

conscience,  to  entangle  themselves  with  this  irrevocable 
vow  ;  that  vow  at  least  which  could  only  be  annulled 
by  the  Pope,  who  was  in  general  little  disposed  to  relax 
his  hold  on  his  self-fettered  subject.  The  inexorable 
taskmaster,  to  whom  the  king  or  prince  had  sold  him- 
self in  the  hour  of  need,  either  demanded  the  imme- 
diate service,  or  held  the  mandate  in  teiTor  over  his  head 
to  keep  him  under  subjection.  It  will  appear  hereafter 
how  the  most  dangerous  antagonist  of  the  papal  power, 
the  Emperor  Frederick  II.,  was  trammelled  in  this 
inextricable  bondage,  from  which  he  could  not  release 
himself  even  by  fulfilhng  its  conditions. 

The  legatine  authority  of  the  Pope  expanded  to  a 
great  extent  in  consequence  of  the  Crusades.^  Legatine 
Before  this  period  an  ecclesiastic,  usually  of  the  Pope^  ° 
high  rank  or  fame,  had  been  occasionally  commissioned 
by  the  Pope  to  preside  in  local  councils,  to  determine 
controversies,  to  investio^ate  causes,  to  neo-otiate  with 
sovereigns.  As  acting  in  the  Pope's  person,  he  as- 
sumed or  exercised  the  right  of  superseding  all  ordi- 
nary jurisdiction,  that  of  the  bishops  and  even  of  the 
metropolitans.  The  Crusades  gave  an  opportunity  of 
sending  legates  into  every  country  in  Latin  Christen- 
dom, in  order  to  preach  and  to  recruit  for  the  Cru- 
sades, to  urge  the  laity  who  did  not  take  up  the  cross 
in  person  to  contribute  to  the  expenses  of  the  war,  to 
authorize  or  to  exact  the  subsidies  of  the  clergy.  The 
public  mind  became  more  and  more  habituated  to  the 
presence,  as  it  were,  of  the  Pope  by  his  representative, 
to  the  superseding  of  all  authority  in  his  name.  The 
hierarchy,  in  such  a  cause,  could  not  venture  to  resist 
the  encroachment  on  their  jurisdiction ;  the  exactions 

1  Compare  Heeren,  p.  147 ;  Planck,  ii.  p.  631. 


46  LATIN  CHKISTIANITY.  Book  VU. 

from  the  clergy,  though  still  disguised  under  the  sem- 
blance of  a  voluntary  contribution,  furnished  a  danger- 
ous precedent  for  demands  on  the  revenues  of  other 
churches  for  the  use  of  Rome.  Not  only  the  secular 
clergy  but  the  monasteries  were  bound  to  assign  part 
of  their  revenues  for  the  conquest  of  the  Holy  Land  ; 
with  them,  too,  the  free-will  oflPering  became  a  tax,  and 
the  principle  was  thus  established  of  taxation  for  for- 
eign purposes  and  by  a  superior  authority.^  The  Pope 
became,  to  a  certain  degree,  the  absolute  supreme  lord, 
as  far  as  the  right  of  assessing  burdens,  at  first  for  a 
specific  object,  at  length  for  his  own  objects  (whatever 
might  appear  so  to  his  wisdom  must  be  a  worthy 
object),  on  the  whole  ecclesiastical  property  of  Latin 
Christendom. 

But  to  the  clergy  and  to  the  monastic  institutions 
Wealth  of  the  ^hc  vast  iucrcasc  in  their  wealth  and  territo- 
ciergy.  j,j^j  posscssious  morc  than  compensated  for  this, 

at  first,  light  taxation.  There  may  have  been  few,  but 
doubtless  there  were  some  of  all  ranks  up  to  princedoms, 
who  in  their  reckless  enthusiasm  stripped  themselves 
of  all  their  goods,  abandoned  their  lands  and  posses- 
sions, and  reserved  nothing  but  their  sword,  their  horse, 
and  a  trifling  sum  for  their  maintenance,  determined  to 
seek  either  new  possessions  or  a  glorious  and  saintly 
grave  in  the  Holy  Land.  If  they  had  no  heirs,  it  was 
a  trifling  sacrifice ;  if  they  had,  it  was  a  more  praise- 
worthy and  truly  religious  sacrifice  to  make  over  their 

1  The  bishops  in  partibus  Infidelium  had  their  origin  in  the  Crusades ;  as 
the  Crusaders  conquered,  they  founded  or  reestablished  sees.  When  their 
conquests  fell  back  to  the  Mohammedans  the  bishops  were  obliged  to  fly: 
many  took  refuge  in  Rome.  These  being  already  invested  in  episcopal 
power,  they  were  often  employed  as  vicars-general  in  different  countries,  u 
new  office  of  great  importance  to  the  Papal  power. 


Chap.  YI.  WEALTH  OF  THE  CLERGY.  47 

estates  to  the  Church  ;  this  consummated  the  merit  of 
him  who  had  sunk  every  duty  and  every  tie  in  the 
character  of  champion  of  the  cross.  But  all  were  sud- 
denly called  upon  for  a  large  expenditure,  to  meet 
which  they  had  made  no  provision.  The  private  ad- 
venturer had  to  purchase  his  arms,  his  Milan  or  Da- 
mascus steel,  his  means  of  transport  and  provision  ;  the 
nobles  and  the  princes,  in  proportion  to  their  rank  ana 
territory,  to  raise,  arm,  and  maintain  their  vassals. 
Multitudes  were  thus  compelled  to  pledge  or  to  alienate 
their  property.  The  Jews  were  always  at  hand  to  re- 
ceive in  pawn  or  to  purchase  their  personal  possessions. 
But  the  Jews  in  most  parts  of  Europe  had  no  concern 
in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  in  some  could  not  be 
landed  proprietors.  Here  and  there  prudent  nobles,  oi 
even  kings,  might  watch  this  favorable  opening,  when 
estates  were  thrown  so  prodigally  and  abundantly  on 
the  market.  So  William  Rufus  bought  his  elder  broth- 
er's  dukedom  of  Normandy. 

But  there  was  one  wealthy  body  alone  which  was 
not  deeply  embarked  in  these  costly  undertakings  — 
the  Church.  The  bishops  who  took  up  the  cross  might 
possibly  burden,  they  could  not  alienate,  their  estates. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  clergy  and  the  monasteries 
were  everywhere  on  the  spot  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
embarrassments  and  difficulties  of  their  neighbors.  It 
was  their  bounden  duty  to  increase  to  the  utmost  that 
which  was  called  the  property  of  God  ;  rapacity  had 
lono;  been  a  virtue,  it  was  thouo;ht  to  have  lost  all  its 
selfishness  when  exercised  in  behalf  of  the  Church. 
Godfrey  of  Boulogne  alienated  part  of  his  estates  to 
the  Bishop  of  Verdun  ;  he  pledged  another  part  to  the 
Bishop  of  Liege.     For  at  least  two  centuries  this  traf- 


48  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VH. 

fic  went  silently  on,  the  Church  always  receiving,  rarely 
alienating ;  and  this  added  to  the  ordinary  offerings  of 
devotion,  the  bequests  of  deathbed  remorse,  the  exac- 
tions for  hard-wrung  absolution,  the  prodigal  bribes  of 
superstitious  terror,  the  alms  of  pure  and  self-denying 
charity.^  Whoever  during  the  whole  period  of  the 
Crusades  sought  to  whom  he  might  intrust  his  lands 
as  guardian,  or  in  perpetuity  if  he  should  find  his  grave 
or  richer  possessions  in  the  Holy  Land,  turned  to  the 
Church,  by  whose  prayers  he  might  win  success,  by 
whose  masses  the  sin  which  clung  to  the  soul  even  of 
the  soldier  of  the  cross  might  be  purged  away.  If  he 
returned,  he  returned  often  a  disappointed  and  melan- 
choly man,  took  refuge  from  his  despondent  religious 
feelings  in  the  cloister,  and  made  over  his  remaining 
rights  to  his  brethren.  If  he  returned  no  more,  the 
Church  was  in  possession.  The  churchman  who  went 
to  the  Holy  Land  did  not  hold  in  himself  the  perpetual 
succession  to  the  lands  of  his  see  or  of  his  monastery ; 
it  was  in  the  Church  or  in  the  fraternity .^  Thus  in 
every  way  the  all-absorbing  Church  was  still  gathering 
in  wealth,  encircling  new  lands  within  her  hallowed 
pale,  the  one  steady  merchant  who  in  this  vast  traffic 
and  sale  of  personal  and  of  landed  property  never  made 
a  losing  venture,  but  went  on  accumulating  and  still 
accumulating,  and  for  the  most  part  withdrawing  the 

1  On  sale  or  alienation  of  lands,  see  Robertson,  Introduction  to  Charles 
v.;  Choiseul  d'Aillecourt,  note  80. 

2  Heeren,  Werke,  p,  149.  Rappelons-nous  I'encan  g^n^ral  des  fiefs  et  de 
tons  les  biens  des  Croises.  Au  milieu  de  tant  de  vendeurs  empresses,  11  se 
pr^sentait  peu  d'acqu(''reurs,  autre  que  les  Eglises  et  les  Comniunaut«?s  re- 
ligieuses,  qui  n'abandonnaient  pas  leur  patrie,  et  qui  pouvoient  placer  des 
sommes  considerables.  They  gained  the  direct  domain  of  many  fiefs,  by- 
failure  of  heirs  to  those  who  perished  in  the  Holy  Land.  —  Choiseul  d'Aille- 
court, p.  90. 


Chap.  VI.  HOLINESS  OF  EELIGIOUS  WARS.  49 

largest  portion  of  the  land  in  every  kingdom  into  a 
separate  estate,  which  claimed  exemption  from  all  bur- 
dens of  the  realm,  until  the  realm  was  compelled  into 
measures,  violent  often  and  iniquitous  in  their  mode, 
but  still  inevitable.  The  Church  which  had  thus 
peaceably  despoiled  the  world  was  in  her  turn  unscru- 
pulously despoiled. 

III.  The  Crusades  established  in  the  Christian  mind 
the  justice  and  the  piety  of  religious  w^ars.  Holiness  of 
The  history  of  Christianity  for  five  centuries  wars. 
is  a  perpetual  Crusade  ;  in  this  spirit  and  on  these 
principles  every  war  against  unbelievers,  either  in  the 
general  doctrines  of  Christianity  or  in  the  dominant 
forms,  was  declared,  waged,  maintained.  The  cross 
was  almost  invariably  the  banner,  the  outward  sym- 
bol ;  the  object  was  the  protection  or  the  enlargement 
of  the  boundaries  of  the  Church.  The  first  Crusades 
might  be  in  some  degree  vindicated  as  defensive.  In 
the  long  and  implacable  contest  the  Mohammedan  had 
no  doubt  been  the  aggressor ;  Islam  first  declared  gen- 
eral and  irreconcilable  war  against  all  hostile  forms 
of  belief;  the  propagation  of  faith  in  the  Koran  was 
the  avowed  aim  of  its  conquests.  The  extent  and  ra- 
pidity of  those  conquests  enforced  toleration  ;  conversion 
could  not  keep  pace  with  subjugation ;  but  the  uncon- 
verted, the  Jewish,  or  the  Christian  sank  to  an  inferior, 
degraded,  and  tributary  population.  Nor  was  the  spirit 
of  conquest  and  invasion  either  satiated  by  success  or 
broken  by  discomfiture.  Neither  the  secure  possession  of 
their  vast  Asiatic  dominions  of  Egypt,  Africa,  and  Spain, 
nor  their  great  defeat  by  Charles  Martel,  quelled  their 
aggressive  ambition.  They  were  constantly  renewing 
hostilities  in  every  accessible  part  of  the  East  and  West, 


50  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VII. 

threatening  or  still  further  driving  in  the  frontier  of  the 
Byzantine  Empire,  covering  the  Mediterranean  with 
their  fleets,  subduing  Sicily,  and  making  dangerous 
inroads  and  settlements  in  Italy.  New  nations  or 
tribes  from  the  remoter  East,  with  all  the  warlike 
propensities  of  the  Arabs,  but  with  the  fresh  and  im- 
petuous valor  of  young  proselytes  to  the  Koran,  were 
constantly  pouring  forth  from  the  steppes  of  Tartary, 
the  mountain  glens  of  the  Caucasus  or  the  Himalaya, 
and  infusing  new  life  into  Mohammedanism.  The 
Turks  had  fully  embraced  its  doctrines  of  war  to  all 
of  hostile  faith  in  their  fiercest  intolerance;  they  might 
seem  imperiously  to  demand  a  general  confederacy 
of  Christendom  against  their  declared  enemy.  Even 
the  o])pressions  of  their  Christian  brethren,  oppressions 
avowedly  made  more  cruel  on  account  of  their  religion, 
within  the  dominions  of  the  Mohammedans,  might  per- 
haps justify  an  armed  interference.  The  indignities 
and  persecutions  to  which  the  pilgrims,  who  had  been 
respected  up  to  this  period,  were  exposed,  the  wanton 
and  insulting  desecration  of  the  holy  places,  were  a 
kind  of  declaration  of  war  against  evei:ything  Chris- 
tian. 

But  it  is  more  easy  in  theory  than  in  fact  to  draw 
the  line  between  wars  for  the  defence  and  for  the  prop- 
agation of  the  faith.  Religious  war  is  too  impetuous 
and  eager  not  to  become  a  fanaticism.  From  this 
period  it  was  an  inveterate,  almost  uncontested  tenet, 
that  wars  for  religion  were  not  merely  justifiable,  but 
holy  and  Christian,  and  if  holy  and  Christian,  glori- 
ous above  all  other  wars.  The  unbeliever  was  the 
natural  enemy  of  Christ  and  of  his  Church  ;  if  not 
to  be  converted  to  be  punished  for  the  crime  of  un- 


Ch^.  VI.  HOLINESS   OF  RELIGIOUS  WARS.  51 

belief,  to  be  massacred,  exterminated  by  the  righteous 
sword. 

Charlemagne  indeed  had  already  carried  simultane- 
ously conquest  and  conversion  into  the  forests  of  Ger- 
many ;  but  the  wars  against  the  Saxons  still  pretended 
to  be  defenidve,  to  be  the  repulse  of  invasions  on  their 
part  of  the  territories  of  the  Empire,  and  the  wanton 
destruction  of  churches  within  the  Christian  frontier. 
Baptism  was  among  the  terms  of  capitulation  offered 
to  conquered  tribes,  and  accepted  as  the  only  secure 
guaianty  for  tneir  future  observance  of  peace. 

But  the  actdal  crusades  against  Mohammedanism 
had  not  begun  before  they  were  diverted  from  their 
declared  object  —  before  they  threw  off  all  crusades 
pretence  to  be.  considered  defensive  wars.  ^==''*^^-"i^e- 
The  people  had  no  sooner  arms  in  their  '^^^  •^^'^^• 
hands  than  they  turned  them  against  the  first  ene- 
mies, according  to  the  new  code  of  Christ  and  of  the 
Church,  the  unfortunate  Jews.  The  fi-ightful  mas- 
sacre of  this  race  in  all  the  flourishino;  cities  in  Ger- 
many  and  along  the  Rhine  by  the  soldiers  of  the  Cross 
seemed  no  less  justifiable  and  meritorious  than  the  sub- 
jugation of  the  more  remote  enemies  of  the  Gospel. 
Why  this  fine  discrimination  between  one  class  of  un- 
believers and  another  ?  Shall  zeal  presume  to  draw 
distinctions  between  the  wicked  foes  of  the  Church  ? 
Even  in  the  later  Crusades  it  was  an  act  of  heroic 
Christian  courage  :  no  one  but  a  St.  Bernard  would 
have  dared,  or  dared  with  success,  to  distinguish  with 
nice  justice  between  the  active  and  passive  adver- 
saries of  the  faith,  the  armed  Saracen  and  the  de- 
fenceless Jew.  Long-suppressed  hatred,  jealousy  of 
their  wealth,  revenge  for  their  extortions,  which  prob- 


52  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VII. 

ably,  wlien  almost  every  one  was  at  their  mercy,  were 
intolerable  enough  (the  Jew  perhaps  might,  on  his 
side,  consider  the  invasion  of  the  Holy  Land  an  usur- 
pation of  his  inalienable  territory  by  the  Christian, 
and  might  impose  harder  terms  for  his  assistance  in 
the  purchase  of  arms  and  other  provisions  for  that 
end)  ;  many  old  and  many  recent  feelings  of  antip- 
athy might  still  further  designate  the  Jew  as  the 
enemy  of  the  Christian  cause  ;  but  it  was  as  the  Un- 
believer, not  the  wealthy  extortioner,  that  he  was 
smitten  with  the  sword.  The  Crusaders  would  not 
go  in  search  of  foreign  foes  of  the  Gospel,  and  leave 
in  their  homes  men  equally  hateful,  equally  obstinate, 
equally  designated  for  perdition  in  this  world  and  in 
the  next. 

That  Avhich  was  lawful,  just,  and  meritorious  against 
the  Jew  and  Mohammedan  was  so  against  the  idolater. 
Out  of  Orders  of  Christian  Knights  for  the  defence 
of  the  Christian  conquests  in  Palestine  arose  Orders  of 
armed  Apostles,  for  the  conversion  of  the  Heathen  in 
the  North  of  Germany.  The  Teutonic  Knights  were 
the  brethren  in  arms  of  the  Templars  and  Hospitallers 
of  the  Holy  Land. 

The  heretic  was  no  less  odious,  and  therefore  no  less 
Crusades  daugcrous  an  enemy  to  the  faith  :  he  was  a 
heretics.  rcncgadc  to  the  true  creed  of  the  Gospel,  a 
revolted  subject  of  the  Church.  Popular  opinion,  as 
well  as  the  decrees  of  the  Pope,  hallowed  the  exter- 
minating wars  against  the  Albigenses  and  other  schis- 
matics of  the  South  of  France,  as  undertaken  for  the 
cause  of  God.  They  were  openly  designated  as  Cru- 
sades. Simon  de  Montfort  was  as  much  the  champion 
of  the  true  faith  as  Godfrey  of  Boulogne.     The  In- 


Chap.  VI.  HOLINESS   OF  RELIGIOUS  WARS.  53 

quisition  itself  was  a  Crusade  in  a  more  peaceftil  and 
judicial  form  ;  it  rested  on  the  same  principles,  and 
executed  against  individuals  that  punishment  which  the 
Crusades  accomplished  by  the  open  and  indiscriminate 
carnage  of  war.  Crusades  were  even  preached  and 
proclaimed  against  persons  not  charged  with  Against  the 
heresy.  The  Popes  scrupled  not  to  unfold  mies. 
the  banner  of  the  Cross  against  any  of  their  disobe- 
dient sons.  The  expedition  against  John  of  England 
by  Philip  of  France,  to  reduce  the  refractory  King  to 
his  obedience  under  his  Papal  liege  lord,  was  called  a 
Crusade.  Philip  of  France  was  summoned  to  take 
arms  as  a  true  vassal  of  the  Church  against  a  rival 
Sovereign.  At  length  every  enemy  of  the  political 
power  of  the  Pope  in  Italy  became  as  a  heretic  or  an 
vmbeliever.  Crusades  will  hereafter  be  levied  against 
those  who  dared  impiously  to  attempt  to  set  bounds  to 
the  temporal  aggrandizement  of  the  Roman  See,  or  to 
the  personal  or  nepotic  ambition  of  the  ruling  Pontiff. 

A  new  world  of  heathens  was  opened  before  this 
great  dominant  principle  was  effaced  or  weak-  America. 
ened,  at  least  in  the  Spanish  mind.  Spain  had  owed 
almost  her  national  existence,  her  supremacy  within 
her  own  peninsula  to  crusades  of  centuries  with  the 
Mohammedans.  The  conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortes 
was  a  crusade  ;  the  rapacity,  and  avarice,  and  passion 
for  adventure  in  his  followers,  disguised  itself,  even  to 
them,  as  a  pious  act  for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel. 

Philip   II.  justified  his   exterminating   wars  in    the 
Low    Countries    and    his    hostilities    against  Phiiip  ii. 
England  on  the  same  principle  as  his  ancestor  Ferdi- 
nand the  Catholic  the  expulsion  of   the  Moors  from 
Spain.     That  expulsion  of  the  Moors  was  almost  the 


54  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  711. 

last  impulse  of  the  irreconcilable  hostility  which  had 
been  kindled  in  the  heart  of  Christendom  by  the 
speech  of  Pope  Urban  at  Clermont.  The  wars  of  the 
Low  Countries  were  crusades,  and  finally  the  Spanish 
Armada  —  the  last  crusade  —  was  swallowed  up,  we 
trust  bat  we  dare  not  vaticinate,  with  the  crusading 
spirit,  forever  in  the  Ocean. 

IV.  A  fourth  result  of  the  Crusades,  if  in  its  origin 
Chivalry.  less  Completely  so  and  more  transitory  and 
unreal,  yet  in  its  remote  influence  felt  and  actually  liv- 
ing in  the  social  manners  of  our  own  time,  was  Chiv- 
alry ;  or  at  least  the  religious  tone  which  Chivalry 
assumed  in  all  its  acts,  language,  and  ceremonial.  The 
Crusades  swept  away,  as  it  were,  the  last  impediment 
to  the  wedlock  of  religion  with  the  warlike  propensities 
of  the  age.  All  the  noble  sentiments,  which  blended 
together  are  chivalry  —  the  high  sense  of  honor,  the 
disdain  or  passion  for  danger,  the  love  of  adventure, 
compassion  for  the  weak  or  the  oppressed,  generosity, 
self-sacrifice,  self-devotion  for  others  —  found  in  the 
Crusades  their  animating  principle,  perpetual  occasion 
for  their  amplest  exercise,  their  perfection  and  consum- 
mation. How  could  the  noble  Christian  knight  endure 
the  insults  to  his  Saviour  and  to  his  God,  the  galling 
shame  that  the  place  of  his  Redeemer's  birth  and 
death  should  be  trampled  by  the  scoffer,  the  denier  of 
his  Divinity  ?  Where  were  adventures  to  be  sought 
so  stirring  as  in  the  distant,  gorgeous,  mysterious  East, 
the  land  of  fabled  wealth,  the  birthplace  of  wisdom, 
of  all  the  religions  of  the  world  ;  a  land  only  to  be 
approached  by  that  which  was  then  thought  a  remote 
and  perilous  voyage  along  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  or 
by    land    through    kingdoms    inhabited   by   unknown 


Chap.  VI.  CHIVALRY.  55 

nations  and  people  of  strange  languages ;  through  Con- 
stantinople, the  traditions  of  whose  wealth  and  mag-' 
nificence  prevailed  throughout  the  West  ?  For  whom 
was  the  lofty  mind  to  feel  compassion,  if  not  for  the 
down-trodden  victim  of  Pagan  mockery  and  oppression, 
his  brother-worshipper  of  the  Cross,  who  for  that  wor- 
ship was  suffering  cruel  persecution  ?  To  what  uses 
could  wealth  be  so  fitly  or  lavishly  devoted  as  to  the 
rescue  of  Christ's  Sepulchre  from  the  Infidel  ?  To 
what  more  splendid  martyrdom  could  the  valiant  man 
aspire  than  to  death  in  the  fields  which  Christ  had 
watered  with  his  own  blood  ?  What  sacrifice  could  be 
too  great  ?  Not  even  the  absolute  abnegation  of  home, 
kindred,  the  proud  castle,  the  host  of  retainer's,  the 
sumptuous  fare,  for  the  tent  on  the  desert,  the  scanty 
subsistence  it  might  be  (though  this  they  would  disdain 
to  contemplate),  the  dungeon,  the  bondage  in  remote 
Syria.  Lastly,  and  above  all,  where  would* be  found 
braver  or  more  worthy  antagonists  than  among  the 
Knights  of  the  Crescent;  the  invaders,  too  often  it 
could  not  be  denied,  the  conquerors  of  the  Christian 
world  ?  Hence  it  was  that  France  and  Spain  were 
preeminently  the  crusading  kingdoms  of  Europe,  and, 
as  it  were,  the  birthplace  of  chivalry :  Spain  as  waging 
her  un intermitting  crusade  against  the  Saracens  of 
Granada  and  Cordova,  France  as  furnishing  by  far  the 
most  numerous,  and  it  may  be  said,  with  the  Normans, 
the  most  distinguished  leaders  of  the  Crusades,  from 
Godfrey  of  Boulogne  down  to  Saint  Louis ;  so  that  the 
name  of  Frank  and  of  Christian  became  almost  equiv- 
alent in  the  East. 

This  singular  union,  this  absolute  fusion  of  the  re- 
ligion of  peace  with  barbarous  warfare ;  this  elevation 


56  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIL 

of  the  Christian  knighthood,  as  it  were,  into  a  secon- 
dary hierarchy  (even  before  the  estabhshment  of  the 
military  orders),  had  ah-eady  in  some  degree  begun 
before  the  Crusades.  The  ceremonial  of  investing  the 
young  noble  warrior  in  his  arms  may  be  traced  back  to 
the  German  forests.  The  Church,  which  interfered  in 
every  human  act,  would  hardly  stand  aloof  from  this 
important  rite.  She  might  well  delude  herself  with 
the  fond  tinist  that  she  was  not  transgressing  her  proper 
bounds.  The  Church  might  seem  to  enter  into  this 
closer  if  incono-ruous  alliance  with  the  deliberate  de- 
sign  of  enslaving  war  to  her  own  beneficent  purposes. 
She  had  sometimes  gone  further ;  proclaimed  a  Truce 
of  God ;  and  war,  at  least  private  war,  had  ceased  at 
her  bidding.^  The  clerk,  the  pilgrim,  the  merchant, 
husbandman,  pursued  his  work  without  fear ;  women 
were  all  secure ;  all  ecclesiastical  property,  all  mills, 
were  under  special  protection. 

But  in  such  an  age  it  could  but  be  a  truce,  a  brief, 
temporary,  uncertain  truce.  By  hallowing  war,  the 
Church  might  seem  to  divert  it  from  its  wanton  and 
iniquitous  destructiveness  to  better  purposes,  unattain- 
able by  her  own  gentle  and  persuasive  influences ;  to 
confine  it  to  objects  of  justice,  even  of  righteousness ; 
at  all  events,  to  soften  and  humanize  the  usages  of  war, 
which  she  saw  to  be  inevitable.     If,  then,  before  the 

1  The  whole  question  of  the  Treuga  Dei  is  exhausted  in  the  work  of 
Datt.  He  thus  describes  (quoting  de  Marca  de  lib.  Eccl.  Gall.)  and  dales 
the  first  Treuga  Dei.  Pacem  et  Treugam  dici  banc  a  bellis  privatis  feria- 
tionem,  quod  ratione  clericorum  omnium,  peregrinorum,  mercatorum,  agri- 
colarum  cum  bobus  aratoriis,  Dominarum  cvmi  sociis  suis  omnibus  mulierum 
omnium,  rerum  ad  clericos  monachosque  pertinentium,  et  molendinarum 
pax  ista  omni  tempore  indulta  est,  ratione  caeterorum  vero  Treuga,  tantum, 
id  est  induciae  aliquot  dierum.  Primordia  hujus  ad  annum  1032  aut  1034 
referunt.  —  Radulf.  Glaber,  v.  Datt,  p.  11. 


Chap.  VI.  TKUCE  OF  GOD.  57 

Crusades,  the  Church  had  thus  aspired  to  lay  her  spell 
upon  war ;  to  enlist  it,  if  not  in  the  actual  service  of 
religion,  in  that  of  humanity,  defence  of  the  oppressed, 
the  widow,  the  orphan,  the  persecuted  or  spoliated 
peasantry,  how  much  more  so  when  war  itself  had  be- 
come religious  !  The  initiation,  the  solemn  dedication 
to  arms,  now  the  hereditary  right,  almost  the  indispen- 
sable duty,  of  all  high-born  men,  of  princes  or  nobles 
(except  where  they  had  a  special  vocation  to  the 
Church  or  the  cloister),  became  more  and  more  formal- 
ly and  distinctly  a  religious  ceremony.  The  noviciate 
of  the  knight  was  borrowed  with  strange  but  unper- 
ceived  incongruity,  from  that  of  the  monk  or  priest. 
Both  were  soldiers  of  Christ  under  a  different  form, 
and  in  a  different  sense.  It  was  a  proud  day  in  the 
Castle  (as  it  was  in  the  cloister  when  some  distinguished 
votary  took  the  cowl)  when  the  young  heir  assumed 
his  arms.  The  vassals  of  all  orders  met  around  their 
liege  lord ;  they  paid,  perhaps,  on  this  joyous  occasion 
alone,  their  willing  and  ungrudged  fees ;  they  enjoyed 
the  splendor  of  the  spectacle  ;  feasted,  if  at  lower  ta- 
bles, in  the  same  hall ;  witnessed  the  jousts  or  military 
exercises,  the  gayer  sports,  the  tricks  of  the  jongleurs, 
and  heard  the  romances  of  the  Trouveurs.  But  the 
clergy  were  not  absent ;  the  early  and  more  impressive 
solemnity  was  theirs.  The  novice,  after  bathing,  bound 
himself  by  a  vow  of  chastity  (not  always  too  rigidly 
observed),  to  shed  his  blood  for  the  faith,  to  have  the 
thought  of  death  ever  present  to  his  mind.  He  fasted 
till  the  evening,  passed  the  night  in  prayer  in  the 
church  or  the  castle  chapel.  At  the  dawn  of  morn  he 
confessed;  as  the  evening  before  he  had  purified  his 
body  by  the  bath,  so  now  his  soul  by  the  absolution ; 


58  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VII. 

he  heard  mass,  he  partook  of  the  Holy  Eucharist.  He 
knelt  before  his  godfather  in  this  war-baptism.  He 
was  publicly  sworn  to  maintain  the  right,  to  be  loyal  to 
all  true  knighthood,  to  protect  the  poor  from  oppres- 
sion. He  must  forswear  all  treason,  all  injustice. 
Where  woman  needed  his  aid,  he  must  be  ever  prompt 
and  valiant ;  to  protect  her  virtue  was  the  first  duty 
and  privilege  of  a  true  knight.  He,  must  fast  every 
Friday,  give  alms  according  to  his  means,  keep  faith 
with  all  the  world,  especially  his  brethren  in  arms, 
succor,  love,  honor,  all  loyal  knights.  When  he  had 
taken  his  oath,  knights  and  ladies  arrayed  him  in  his 
armor :  each  piece  had  its  symbolic  meaning,  its  moral 
lesson.  His  godfather  then  struck  him  with  a  gentle 
blow,  and  laid  his  sword  three  times  on  his  neck  — 
"  In  the  name  of  God,  St.  Michael  (or  St.  George,  or 
some  other  tutelar  Saint),  and  (ever)  of  our  Lady,  we 
dub  thee  knight."  The  church  bells  pealed  out;  the 
church  rang  with  acclamations  ;  the  knight  mounted 
his  horse,  and  rode  round  the  lists,  or  over  the  green 
meadows,  amid  the  shouts  of  the  rejoicing  multitude. 

But  what  young  knight,  thus  dedicated,  could  doubt 
that  the  conquest  of  the  Holy  Land  was  among  his 
primary  duties,  his  noblest  privileges  ?  Every  knight 
was  a  soldier  of  the  Cross ;  every  soldier  of  the  Cross 
almost  enlisted  for  this  great  object.  There  could  be 
no  doubt  of  the  justice  of  his  cause,  nor  of  the  ene- 
mies whom  it  was  his  duty  to  attack  and  to  slaughter 
without  remorse.  The  infidel,  as  much  as  the  giant 
or  dragon  of  romance,  was  the  natural  foe  of  the  Chris- 
tian. Every  oppressed  Christian  (and  every  Christian 
in  the  Holy  Land  was  oppressed)  was  the  object  of 
his  sworn  protection.    Slaying  Saracens  took  rank  with 


Chap.  VI.  RELIGIOUS  TONE  OF  CHIVALRY.  59 

festings,  penitential  discipline,  visits  to  shrines,  even 
almsgivings,  as  meritorious  of  the  DiA^ne  mercy.  So 
by  the  Crusades  chivalry  became  more  religious,  re- 
ligion more  chivalrous  ;  for  it  was  now  no  unusual,  no 
startling  sight,  as  the  knight  had  become  in  one  sense 
part  of  the  hierarchy,  to  behold  bishops,  priests,  serv- 
ing, fighting  as  knights.  In  a  holy  war  the  bishop  and 
the  abbot  stood  side  by  side  with  the  prince  or  the  no- 
ble ;  struck  as  lusty  blows ;  if  they  conquered,  dis- 
dained not  the  fame  ;  if  they  fell,  supposed  that  they 
had  as  good  a  right  to  the  honor  of  martyrdom. 

Even  the  most  incongruous  and  discordant  part  of 
chivalry,  the  devotion  to  the  female  sex,  took  a  relig- 
ious tone.  There  was  one  Lady  of  whom,  high  above 
all  and  beyond  all,  every  knight  was  the  special  ser- 
vant. It  has  been  remarked  that  in  the  French  lan- 
guage the  Saviour  and  his  Virgin  Mother  are  worshipped 
under  feudal  titles  (Notre  Seigneur,  Notre  Dame). 
If  the  adoration  of  the  Virgin,  the  culminating  point 
of  chivalrous  devotion  to  the  female  sex,  is  at  times 
leavened  with  phrases  too  nearly  allied  with  human 
passion,  the  general  tone  to  the  earthly  mistress  is  puri- 
fied in  word,  if  not  always  in  thought,  by  the  rever- 
ence which  belongs  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven.  This 
was  the  poetry  of  chivalry  —  the  religious  poetry  ;  and 
in  an  imaginative  age  the  poetry,  if  far,  very  far  above 
the  actual  life,  cannot  be  absolutely  without  influence 
on  that  life.  If  this  ideal  love,  in  general,  existed  only 
in  the  outward  phrase,  in  the  ceremonial  address,  in  the 
sonnet,  or  in  the  song;  if,  in  fact,  the  Christianized 
Platonic  love  of  chivalry  in  real  life  too  often  degener- 
ated into  gross  licentiousness ;  if  the  sanctity  of  mar- 
riage, which   permitted  without  scruple,  the  homage, 


60  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VII. 

the  adoration  of  the  true  knight  in  consideration  of  his 
valor  and  fidelity,  was  not  only  perpetually  endangered, 
but  habitually  violated,  and  the  violation  became  the 
subject  of  sympathy  rather  than  of  reprobation  ;  yet, 
on  the  whole,  the  elevation,  even  the  inharmonious  re- 
ligiousness of  chivalry,  must  have  wrought  for  the  bene- 
fit of  mankind.  War  itself  became,  if  not  less  san- 
guinary, conducted  with  more  mutual  respect,  with 
some  restraint.  Christian  chivalry,  in  Spain  and  in  the 
Holy  Land,  encountered  Asiatic  Mohammedan  chiv- 
alry. For  in  the  Arab,  in  most  of  the  Oriental  races, 
there  was  a  native  chivalry,  as  among  the  Teutonic  or 
European  Christians.  If  Achilles,  as  has  been  finely 
said,  is  a  model  of  knighthood,  so  is  the  Arabian  Antar. 
But  both  Achilles  and  Antar  may  meet  in  Richard 
Coeur  de  Lion  ;  though  Saladin,  perhaps  (and  Saladin 
described  by  Christian  as  well  as  Mohammedan  writ- 
ers), may  transcend  all  three.^  Hence  sprang  courtesy, 
at  least  an  initiatory  humanity  in  war ;  hence  that  which 
proclaimed  itself,  which  might  have  been  expected  to 
continue,  the  most  bloody,  remorseless,  internecine 
strife,  gradually  became  subject  to  the  ordinary  laws 
of  war,  in  some  respects  to  a  restraint  above  the  pre- 
vailing laws  of  war.  Thus  the  most  intolerant  strife 
worked  itself  into  something  bordering  on  toleration. 
There  was  a  contest  of  honor,  as  of  arms. 

If,  finally,  the  Crusades  infused  into  the  mind  of  Eu- 
rope a  thirst  for  persecution  long  indelible  ;  if  they 
furnished  an  authority  for  persecution  which  wasted 
continents,  and  darkened  centuries  with  mutual  hos- 

1  Compare  Mr.  Hallam's  passage  on  chivalry.  It  were  presumption  now 
to  praise  that  book ;  but  I  may  be  permitted  to  say,  that  this  is  one  of  the 
very  best  passages  in  the  History  of  the  Middle  Ages.  —  Boston  Ed.  vol.  iii 
p.  380. 


Chap.  VI.  DEYOTIOX  TO  WO^IAN.  6l 

tility ;  yet  Chivalry,  at  once,  as  it  were,-  the  parent 
and  the  child  of  the  Crusades,  left  upon  European  man- 
ners, especially  iji  the  high-bora  class,  a  punctilious 
regard  for  honor,  a  generous  reverence  for  justice,  and 
a  hatred  (perhaps  a  too  narrow  and  aristocratical  ha- 
tred) of  injustice ;  a  Teutonic  respect  for  the  fair  sex ; 
an  element,  in  short,  of  true  nobleness,  of  refinement, 
of  gentleness,  and  of  delicacy.  The  chivalrous  word 
courtesy  designates  a  new  virtue,  not  ordained  by  our 
religion  ;  and  words  are  not  formed  but  out  of  the 
wants,  usages,  and  sentiments  of  men ;  and  courtesy  is 
not  yet  an  obsolete  term.  Even  gallantry,  now  too 
often  sunk  to  a  fi'ivolous  or  unnatural  sense,  yet  retains 
something  of  its  old  nobility,  when  it  comprehended 
valor,  frankness,  honorable  devotion  to  woman.  The 
age  of  chivalry  may  be  gone,  but  the  influences  of  chiv- 
alry, it  may  be  hoped,  mingling  with  and  softened  by 
purer  religion,  will  be  the  imperishable  heirloom  of 
social  man. 


62 


LATIN  CHEISTIANITY. 


Book  VIII 


BOOK  YIII. 

CONTEMPORARY   CHRONOLOGY. 


1009  Fasohain.  1118 


1118  Gelasius  II.  1119 

1119  Caliitua  U.  1184 
1118  (Burdinus. 

Gregory  VIII, 
antipope)  1121 
1121  (Theobald. 


1124  Uonorius  J 


1130  Innocent  II.  1143 
llSOAnacletuaU. 
antipope       1133 


1133  Victor  IV. 
antipope 

1143  C«lestineII.  1144 

1144  Luciua  II.      1145 
114jEugeiiiusm.llo3 


1153  Hadriaarv.  1159 


1159Alex'rni.    1181 
1159  (Victor  IV. 

antipope)    1164 


1168  (Calixtui  m. 
antipope)    1178 


^185  Urban  m.  1187 
1187  Gregory  VIII. 
1187  Clement  UI.  1191 


EHPSaOBS    OF 
GSBMANT. 


1137  Ckinradm.  1153 


1152  Frederick  I. 
(Baibarossa)  1190 


1190HeniyVI.   1197 


KINGS 
or    BUNGABT. 


ABCHBIBHOPS    or 
MEMTZ. 


Notket        1103 

1103  Ruthard      1109 

1111  Albert,  Chan- 
cellor,  of  Saar> 
imBiepheiin.U31  bruck  1137 


KIXGS 

or  FBAHoa. 


1060  PhUip  I.      1108 


U08  Louis  VI.     U37 


1131  BeUn.      1141 


U41GeiBaIII.    1161 


1161  Ladislaoa  II.  1162 

Stephen  III.  1102 

1163  Stephen  IV.  X173 


llTSBelain.      1196 


1141  Markolf       1142 
1142HeniT  1163 


1137LoillaVn.   1180 


1180  FUIip  Aogustui 


1097  Manasseh  11. 1106 
1107  Rodolf  1124 

1124  Rainald  II.     Il:i9 
1140  Samson  1161 

1K)2  Henry  I.          1176 
1176  WiUJam  1202 


Book  YIII.         CONTEilPORARY  CHRONOLOGY. 


63 


CONTEMPORARY    CHRONOLOGY. 


1 

Ki»G8  or 

0»   IHOLiSD. 

KISOS  or   BPAIS. 

KISGB 
or  DXXXABK. 

IMPEBOBB  or 
THI  «ABT. 

ABCHBIEH0P8   OT 
MILAS. 

A.D.                            A.D. 

WilUamEufiullOO 

A.D.                            A.D. 
CASTILE, 

10r2Alfon»L    1109 

A.D.                         A.D. 

lOOSErickL       1105 

A.D.                            A.D. 

1081  Alexltu  L   U18 

A.D.                          A.D. 

1087  Anselm  rv.  1101 

UOO  Henry  L      1135 

1109  Urrae»        1128 

1128AIfon»on.  1157 

Baneho  m.  1158 

USSAlfoDW        1214 

1105  NieolM        1134 

lllSJohal.       1143 

1102  GioseoUno  1112 

1112  Giordano     1130 
liaODlrlck          1126 

1U6  Aaselm  T.   1138 

U35Stepb«      1154 

ABBACO>. 

1094PeterI.      1104 
U(HAJfonBoI.    1134 

1184EriekIL     1137 
1137Enekm.     1147 

U38  Sobalde      1145 

llMHenrlL    US9 

1134  BmJio  n.  1137 

U3T  PetronelU  and 
BaTmond  1162 

1162  Alfonso  XL  119S 

m7  Sweno  IV. 

Canute  V.  1156-7 
1157Waldem»  U81 

1143  Itoavel       1180 

U4fi  Oberto        1188 

UaQKichudL    1199 

1196  Pedro  H.     1213 

rOETVOAI.. 

1100  Henry         1112 
1112  Alfonw)        1185 
USaSanchoI.    1212 

1181  CumtoVL  1202 

* 

1180  Alexius  n.  1183 

'"^^TJ^    1195 
1195  Alexhum.  1204 

U66  Gaiamo       1176 
U78  Algim           1184 

""^.^em     11S7 
^^"^^^^^'-1195 

119D0bertoII.     1196 
U96PhaipdeCom. 
pagnara    11X16 

ABCHBlSBOPg   or 
OASTEBBOBT. 

Anselm        1109 
(Vacant)      1114 
1114  Ralph           1122 
1122  WiUiam        1127 
1127Corbell         1138 
ll'te  Theobald      1151 
1162  T.  IJecket     1170 
1173  Ric!.ard        1184 
ll^^B:.Hwin        119 1 

1191  Bednala      1192 

1192  Hubert 

64  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VUI. 


BOOK    VIII. 
CHAPTER  I. 

EXD  OF  THE  E3IPER0R  HEXRT  IV. 

The  hundred  years  which  elapsed  between  the  death 
General  view  ^^  Urban  II.  and  the  accession  of  Innocent 
of  the  period,  ijj^  ill  whom  the  Papal  power  attained  its 
utmost  height,  were  nearly  coincident  with  the  twelfth 
century.  Of  the  sixteen  Popes  who  ruled  during  this 
period,  the  Pontificates  of  two,  Paschal  II.  and  Alex- 
ander III.,  occupy  near  forty  years.  The  reigns  of 
Calixtus  II.,  of  Innocent  II.,  and  of  Adrian  IV.,  are 
distinguished  each  by  its  memorable  event ;  the  first 
by  the  settlement  of  the  dispute  concerning  the  inves- 
titures in  the  compact  of  Worms  ;  the  second  by  the 
coronation  of  Lothair  the  Saxon,  and  the  intimate  al- 
liance between  the  Papacy  and  the  Empire ;  the  third 
by  the  coronation  of  Frederick  Barbarossa  and  the  ex- 
ecution of  Arnold  of  Brescia. 

It  was  an  age  of  great  men  and  of  great  events,  pre- 
paring the  world  for  still  greater.  It  was  the  age  of 
the  Crusades,  not  merely  the  expeditions  of  vast  undis- 
ciplined hordes,  or  the  leagues  of  knights,  nobles,  and 
princes,  but  the  regular  armies  of  great  sovereigns  at 
the  head  of  the  powers  of  their  kingdoms.     Two  Em- 


Chap.  I.  GEXER.U.  TIE^   OF   THE  PEEIOD.  bO 

perors  of  Germany,  two  Kings  of  France,  and  one  of 
Encrland,  at  different  times  led  their  forces  for  the  re- 
covery  of  the  holy  sepulchre.  The  close  of  the  last 
centurv  beheld  the  rise,  the  present  will  behold  the  fall 
of  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  ;  the  vain  attempt  of 
Philip  Augustus  of  France  and  of  Richard  of  Eng- 
land to  restore  it  ;  the  rise  of  the  mihtary  orders,  the 
Knights  of  St.  John  and  the  Templars,  their  organiza- 
tion, their  loner  and  stubborn  resistance  to  ^lohamme- 
danism  in  its  Asiatic  tenitorv  ;  their  retreat  to  take 
their  defensive  stand  on  the  frontiers  of  Christendom  ; 
the  final  triumph  of  the  unconquerable  Saladiu  ;  after 
which  the  East  settled  down  again  under  the  scarce- 
disturbed  and  iron  sway  of  Mohammedanism.  The 
later  Crusades  were  diverted  to  other  quarters,  to  Con- 
stantinople and  to  Egypt  :  the  Emperor  Frederick  II. 
alone  ^-isited  the  Holv  Land,  and  bv  nec^otiation  rather 
than  by  arms  obtained  better  terms  of  capitulation  for 
the  Christians. 

"Western  Christendom,  in  this  age,  beheld  in  France 
the  growing  power  of  the  monarchy;  in  England  the 
first  ineffectual  struffirles  of  the  nation  and  of  the  kincr 
for  ecclesiastical  fi-eedom ;  in  Germany  the  rise  of  the 
House  of  Hohenstaufen,  the  most  foi*midable,  for  a  time 
the  most  successfid  antagonists  of  the  Papacy ;  in  Italy 
the  foundation  of  the  Lombard  republics,  the  attempt 
to  set  up  a  temporal  commonwealth  in  Rome ;  the  still 
growing  ascendency  of  the  Papacy,  notwithstanding 
the  perpetual  or  ever-renewed  schism,  and  the  aspira- 
tions of  the  Romans  to  share  in  the  general  establish- 
.tient  of  republican  institutions. 

Xor  was  it  only  the  age  in  which  new  political  views 
began  to  develop  themselves,  and  the  temporal  affairs 


66  LATIX  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

of  Christendom  to  take  a  more  permanent  form ;  a 
great  intellectual  movement  was  now  approaching. 
Men  appeared,  whose  thoughts  and  studies  began  to 
awaken  the  slumbering  mind  of  Europe.  Their  own 
or  after  ages  have  felt  and  recognized  the  power  of  An- 
selm,  Abelard,  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  and  Arnold  of 
Brescia.  The  religious  republicanism  of  Arnold,  the 
least  intellectual  impulse,  was  that  which  produced  the 
most  immediate  but  the  least  enduring  effects :  he  was 
crushed  by  the  uncongenial  times.  The  strong  arm  of 
the  temporal  and  ecclesiastical  power  combined  to  put 
down  the  rebel  against  both.  To  all  outward  appear- 
ance the  doctrines  of  Arnold  perished  with  him  on  his 
fimeral  pyre.  They  may  have  lurked  among  the  more 
odious  hidden  tenets  of  some  among  the  heretical  secui 
which  were  persecuted  so  violently  during  the  next 
century  ;  kindred  principles  are  so  congenial  to  human 
nature,  and  so  sure  to  be  provoked  into  being  by  the  in- 
ordinate wealth  and  ambition  of  the  Church,  that  no 
doubt  they  were  latent  and  brooding  in  many  hearts : 
but  i^rnold  founded  no  sect,  left  no  writings,  had  no 
avowed  followers.  Those  who  in  later  times  advanced 
similar  tenets,  Wycliffe,  Huss,  Savonarola,  may  never 
have  heard  of  their  premature  ancestor.  Of  the  other 
three  great  names,  Bernard  was  the  intellectual  repre- 
sentative of  his  own  age,  Anselm  the  forerunner  of  that 
which  Avas  immediately  to  come,  Abelard  of  one  far 
more  remote.  Bernard  has  been  called  the  last  of  the 
Fathers  ;  Anselm  was  the  parent  of  the  schoolmen  ; 
Abelard  the  prophet  of  a  bolder  and  severer  philosophy, 
the  distant  harbinger  of  Descartes,  of  Locke,  and  of 
Kant.  Each  must  find  his  proper  place  in  our  his- 
tory. 


Chap.  I.  POPE  PASCHAL  H.  67 

Paschal   II.,    another   monk  of  Ckigny,    already  a 
cardinal  of  the  Church,  succeeded  Urban  II.  pop^ 
He  had  been  bred  in  the  school  of  Gregory  TrS"' 
VII.,  but  with  much  of  the  ambition  he  pos-  ^"g-i3,i4. 
sessed  not  the  obstinate  fortitude  of  his  predecessors. 
The  death  of  the  Antipope  Clement,  expelled  ^^  ^qq 
at  length  from  Rome  by  Pope  Paschal  imme-  ^^^'^'^^''■ 
diately  on  his  accession,  followed  during  the  year  after 
that  of  Urban.     Guibert  of  Ravenna  must  have  been 
a  man  of  strong  resolution,  great  capacity,  and  power 
of  commanding  respect  and  ardent  attachment.      He 
had  not  only  an  active  and  faithful  party  while  he  had 
hopes  of  attaining  the  ascendency,  but  his  adherents, 
many  of  wlion;  no  doubt  could  have  made  their  peace 
by  disloyalty  to  their  master,  clung  fondly  to  him  under 
the   most  adverse  circumstances.     His   death  did  not 
extinguish  then-  affections  ;  the  followers  of  the  Anti- 
pope  declared  that  many  miracles  were  wrought  at  his 
tomb. 

Christendom  might  hope  that  the  schism  would  expire 
with  this  rival  of  so  many  Popes.  The  Imperial  party 
in  Italy  whose  interest  it  might  have  been,  if  still  power- 
ful, to  contest  the  see,  was  utterly  depressed,  and  indeed 
so  nearly  extinct  that  it  might  seem  the  better  policy 
to  conciliate  the  ruling  pontiff.  The  Emperor  Henry 
had  retired  beyond  the  Alps,  discomfited,  broken  in 
spirit  by  tha  revolt  of  his  son,  in  affliction,  in  disgust, 
in  despair.  The  affairs  of  Germany,  as  he  descended 
the  Alps,  might  appear  no  less  dark  and  unpromising. 
His  enemies  had  gained  the  ascendency  in  almost  all 
parts  ;  they  had  established  a  truce  throughout  the 
Empire,  which  might  seem  to  overawe  any  attempts 
on  his  part  to  resume  his  power,  while  it  left  them  to 


68  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Vin 

pursue  their  intrigues  and  strengthen  their  alHances  at 
their  pleasure. 

The  presence  of  Henry  in  his  native  land  appeared 
to  work  a  sudden  revolution  in  his  favor.  Germany, 
strong  re-  ^^^^^^  ^  geucrous  Sympathy,  seemed  disposed 
fevor'of^  to  console  her  now  aged  Emperor  for  the 
Henry.  wrongs  and  afflictions  which  he  had  suffered 

in  Italy.  In  a  few  years  he  found  himself  sufficiently 
powerful  to  establish  a  more  perfect,  it  might  be  hoped 
an  enduring.  Peace  of  the  Empire ;  and  Germany  as- 
sented to  his  just  revenge  against  his  revolted  son  Con- 
rad, by  assenting  to  his  demand  to  devolve  the  inheri- 
tance of  his  German  crown  on  his  younger  son  Henry. 

Many  circumstances  conspired  in  favor  of  the  Emper- 
or. The  German  leagues  seemed  fated  to  fall  asunder 
from  the  mutual  jealousy  of  the  princes.  Duke  Guelf 
of  Bavaria  had  been  driven  into  Henry's  party  by  his 
indignation  at  the  conduct  of  the  Countess  Matilda, 
and  the  fraud  which  he  asserted  she  had  practised  on 
his  son.  She  had  tempted  the  youth  to  marriage  by 
the  hopes  of  her  vast  patrimony,  which  she  had  deliber- 
ately in  brqken  faith  settled  on  the  Church.  His  only 
chance  of  wresting  away  that  patrimony,  to  which  he 
asserted  his  son's  right,  was  by  the  aid  of  Henry.  He 
became  an  ardent  Imperialist. 

The  Crusades  had  not  produced  the  same  effects  in 
Effect  of  Germany  as  in  France,  in  Burgundy,  and 
Crusades.  'j^  other  couutrics  in  Europe.  They  had  not 
drained  away  and  were  not  continuing  to  drain  away 
to  the  same  extent  the  turbulent  and  enterprising  of 
the  population.  The  more  calm  or  sluggish  German 
devotion  had  not  kindled  to  the  same  violent  enthusiasm. 
It  was  no  less  strong  and  profound,  but  was  content 


Chap.  I  EFFECT  OF  CRUSADES.  69 

with  a  more  peaceful  and,  as  it  were,  domestic  sphere 
Just  before  the  Crusades  the  monastic  system  had  shown 
a  sudden  and  powerful  impulse  to  development  and 
extension.  New  monasteries  had  been  founded  on  a 
magnificent  scale;  knights  and  princes  had  retired  into 
cloisters  ;  laymen  by  thousands,  especially  in  Swabia, 
made  over  their  estates  to  these  religious  institutions, 
and  even  where  they  did  not  take  the  vows,  pledged 
themselves  to  live  according  to  the  rule,  to  forsake  their 
secular  employments,  and  devote  themselves  to  the  ser- 
vice of  monks  and  ecclesiastics.  The  daughters  of  free 
peasants  formed  themselves  into  religious  sisterhoods 
under  the  direction  of  some  respected  priest,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  whole  villages  embraced  at  once  the  re- 
ligious life,  and  vied  with  each  other  in  their  austeri- 
ties.^ 

Still  the  Crusades  absorbed  the  public  mind,  and  di- 
verted it  for  a  time  from  the  internal  feuds  of  the  Em- 
pire. Germany,  where  not  drawn  away  by  the  torrent 
of  fanaticism,  was  suddenly  called  upon  to  defend  itself 
against  the  lawless  votaries  of  the  cross.  The  crusad- 
ing cause  was  by  no  means  commended  to  respect  or  to 
emulation  by  the  general  sufferings  witnessed  or  en- 
dured in  many  parts  of  the  land  from  the  Crusaders. 
The  hordes  of  the  first  loose  and  ungoverned  soldiers 
of  the  cross  passed  through  Germany  restrained  by 
no  discipline,  and  considering  their  holy  cause  not 
merely  an  expiation  for  their  former  sins,  but  a  Hcense 
for  sinning  more  freely,  from  the  assurance  of  full  par- 
don in  the  Holy  Land.  The  first  swarm  under  Walter 
Perejo  and  his  nephew  Walter  the  Pennyless,  with 
eight  knights  to  command  15,000  men,  had  straggled 

1  Stenzel,  page  560.    Bemold,  sub  ann.  1091. 


TO  LATIN  CHRISTL\N1TY.  Book  VHI, 

through  the  whole  of  Germany  from  Cologne,  where 
he  parted  from  Peter  the  Hermit,  to  the  frontiers  of 
Hungary.  Then  followed  Peter  the  Hermit,  whose 
eloquence  was  not  without  effect  on  the  lower  orders. 
His  host  gathered  as  it  advanced  through  Bavaria, 
Swabia,  Austria,  till  from  15,000  it  had  swollen  to 
40,000  followers,  without  the  least  attempt  at  array  or 
organization.  Two  other  armies  brought  up  the  rear, 
one  from  Lorraine  and  the  Lower  Rhine,  led  by  the 
ferocious  Emico,  Count  of  Leiningen,  the  other  under 
the  priests  Folkmar  and  Gotschalk,  a  man  whose  fanati- 
cism was  suspected  to  be  subservient  to  baser  sordid 
motives.  The  march  of  these  formidable  hosts  spread 
terror  throughout  the  whole  land.  They  had  begun 
by  the  massacre  of  the  Jews  in  the  great  cities  on  the 
Rhine  ;  their  daily  sustenance  was  by  plunder,  or  from 
that  compulsory  provision  for  their  necessities  which 
was  plunder  in  another  form,  and  which  was  reluc- 
tantly doled  out  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  unwelcome 
guests.  All  this  tended  to  quell  rather  than  awaken 
the  crusading  enthusiasm  among  the  Germans,  who  had 
few  examples  either  among  their  princes  or  princely 
bishops  to  urge  them  into  the  tide.  The  aged  Guelf 
of  Bavaria,  almost  alone  among  the  sovereign  princes, 
the  Bishops  of  Saltzburg,  Passau,  and  Strasburg, 
among  the  great  prelates,  the  two  first  strong  anti- 
Imperialists,  left  their  palaces  ;  and  as  of  these  not  one 
returned  to  his  native  land,  their  example  rather  re- 
pressed than  excited  the  ardor  of  others. 

The  secret  of  the  Emperor's  quiet  resumption  of 
The  Emperor  Dower  lay  no  doubt  in  a  great  degree  in  the 

resumes  his      ^  "^   .  ,.,.,,., 

power.  preoccupation  of  men  s  mmds  with  this  ab- 

sorbing subject.    His  first  act  on  his  return  to  Germany 


Chap.  I.         THE  E^IPERuE  RESUMES   HIS  POWER.  71 

was  one  of  generous  justice  and  humanity  —  the  pro- 
tection of  the  persecuted  Jews.  This  truly  imperial 
conduct  was  not  without  its  advantage.  He  exacted 
severe  restitution  of  all  the  wealth  plundered  from  these 
unhappy  men  ;  that,  however,  of  those  who  had  been 
murdered  was  escheated,  as  without  lawful  owner,  to 
the  Imperial  treasury.  Some  of  the  ecclesiastics  had 
behaved  with  Christian  humanity.  The  Bishops  of 
Worms  and  of  Spires  ran  some  risk  in  saving  as  many 
as  they  could  of  this  defenceless  people.  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Treves,  less  generous,  gave  them  refuge  in 
his  palace  on  condition  that  they  would  submit  to  bap- 
tism. Some  of  the  kindred  of  Ruthard,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Mentz,  had  joined  in  the  general  pillage  ; 
the  prelate  was  more  than  suspected  of  participation  in 
the  guilt  and  in  the  booty.  When  summoned  to  an 
account  he  fled  from  the  city,  and  with  his  kindred 
shut  himself  up  in  the  strong  castle  of  Hardenberg  in 
the  Thuringian  forest.  The  Emperor  seized  the  reve- 
nues of  the  see,  but  took  no  steps  to  depose  the  Prel- 
ate. It  was  probably  from  this  time  that  the  Jews 
were  taken  under  feudal  protection  by  the  Emperor  ; 
they  became  his  men,  owing  to  him  special  allegiance, 
and  with  full  right  therefore  to  his  protection.  This 
privilege,  in  after  times,  they  bought  dearly,  being  con- 
stantly subject  to  heavy  exactions,  which  were  enforced 
by  merciless  persecutions. 

The  Emperor  had  already  reinstated  Guelf  of  Ba- 
varia in  his  dukedom,  and  entailed  the  inheritance  on 
his  sons.  Henry  held  a  Diet  at  Mentz  to  Dec.  1097. 
settle  the  contested  claims  of  Swabia.  A  satisfactory 
arrangement  was  made,  by  which  the  rising  house  of 
Hohenstaufen    became    Dukes   of    Northern    Swabia. 


72  LATI^■    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

For  their  rival,  Berthold  of  Zahringen,  a  new  dukedom 
was  created,  comprehending  Zuricli,  the  country  be- 
tween the  Jura  and  the  St.  Bernard,  with  his  patrimo- 
nial Countship  of  the  Brisgau.  Of  all  the  great 
princes  and  prelates  none  were  in  hostility  to  the  Em- 
peror but  the  fugitive  Archbishop  of  Mentz. 

Henry  seized  the  favorable  opportunity  to  compass 
the  great  object  which  he  had  at  heart.  He  urged 
upon  the  princes  and  bishops,  in  public  and  in  private, 
the  unnatural  rebellion  of  his  son  Conrad,  who  had 
conspired  against  the  crown,  and  even  the  life  of  his 
father.  He  pressed  the  fatal  example  of  such  treason 
against  a  sovereign  and  a  parent.  Conrad  had  justly 
forfeited  his  claim  to  the  succession,  which  fell  of  right 
to  his  younger  brother  Henry.  To  Conrad  there  could 
be  no  attachment  among  the  princes  in  Germany ;  if 
known,  he  could  only  be  known  as  a  soft  and  fantastic 
youth.  He  had  fallen  into  contempt,  notwithstanding 
his  royal  title,  in  Italy,  as  a  mere  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  the  crafty  Matilda  and  of  the  Pope.  Sympathy 
with  the  injured  father,  and  prudent  considerations  for 
the  interest  of  the  Empire,  as  well  as  the  urgent  solici- 
tations of  the  Emperor,  swayed  the  majority  of  the 
Jan.  6, 1099.  priuccs.  In  a  great  Diet  at  Cologne,  Con- 
rad was  declared  to  have  forfeited  his  title.  With 
unanimous  consent  the  succession  was  adjudged  to  his 
younger  brother  Henry,  who  was  anointed  King  at  Aix- 
la-Chapelle.  The  suspicious  father  exacted  a  solemn 
oath  from  his  son,  that  during  his  father's  lifetime,  and 
without  his  permission,  he  would  neither  claim  the 
government  of  the  Empire,  nor  even  the  patrimo- 
nial territories.  As  if  oaths  would  bind  a  son  who 
should  despise  the  affection  and  authority  of  a  father ! 


Chap.  I.  PEACE  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  73 

The  death  of  Conrad  removed  all  fears  of  juiy,  iioi. 
a  contention   between  the  brothers  for   the   Imperial 
Crown. 

All  was  prosperity  with  Henrj :  his  turbulent  and 
agitated  life  seemed  as  if  it  would  close  in  an  august 
and  peaceful  end.  By  skilful  concessions,  by  liberal 
grants,  by  courteous  demeanor,  he  reconciled,  or  more 
firmly  attached  the  Princes  of  Saxony,  Bohemia,  and 
other  parts  of  Germany  to  his  cause.  Even  religious 
hatred  seemed  to  be  dying  away  ;  his  unrepealed  ex- 
communication was  forgotten ;  and  some  of  the  severest 
ecclesiastics  of  the  Papal  party  condescended  to  accept 
promotion  from  the  hands  of  the  interdicted  Sovereign. 

The  Emperor  proclaimed  Peace  throughout  the  land 
and  the  realm  for  four  years  ;  ^    he  required  Peace  of  the 

-  1      P  1  •  •         •      empire.    Jan. 

a  solemn  oath  trom  the  prmces  to  mamtani  a.d.  iios. 
this  peace ;  he  imposed  heavy  penalties  on  its  violation ; 
and  (in  these  times  a  wonderful  and  unprecedented 
event !)  the  Emperor  was  obeyed.  The  writers  of  the 
period  speak  of  the  effects  of  this  peace  on  all  classes 
and  conditions,  especially  on  the  poor  and  defenceless, 
with  admiring  astonishment.  The  ways  became  safe, 
commerce  began  to  flourish  ;  the  cultivation  of  the 
land  went  happily  on.  What  seemed  most  astonishing 
was,  that  boats  could  descend  the  large  rivers  without 
being  stopped  and  plundered  by  the  great  cities  on  the 
banks,  who  might  be  in  want  of  their  com  and  other 
commodities  ;  that  the  powerful  were  held  in  check  ; 
that  might  for  a  time  ceased  to  be  right.  The  truce  of 
the  Empire,  though  proclaimed  by  the  excommunicated 
Henry,  was  as  well  observed  and  as  great  a  blessing  as 
the  tmce  of  God  at  times  proclaimed  by  the  Pope  or 

1  Land  und  Reich's  Friede.    It  comprehended  private  and  public  wars. 


74  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIH 

the  hierarchy .1  Still  the  fatal  excommunication  hung 
over  the  head  of  Henry.  The  golden  opportunity  was 
missed  of  putting  an  end  to  the  schism,  on  the  death 
of  the  Antipope  Guibert,  without  loss  of  dignity ;  of 
obtaining  from  a  Pontiff  of  Paschal's  more  pliant  char- 
acter less  injurious  terms.  The  miserable  failure  of 
the  attempt  to  support  a  successor  to  Guibert  ought  to 
have  urged  the  same  policy.  Three  were  appointed  in 
succession  :  one,  Theodore,  fled  from  the  city  imme- 
diately that  he  was  invested  in  his  perilous  honors. 
One  hundred  and  five  days  after  he  was  in  the  power 
of  Paschal,  condemned  to  be  a  hermit.^  The  second, 
Albert,  was  chosen  Pope  and  "  dispoped  "  in  the  same 
day  ;  dragged  on  a  horse  with  his  face  to  the  tail  before 
the  Pope,  who  sat  in  state  in  the  Lateran  ;  he  was 
thrust  into  the  monastery  of  St.  Laurence,  in  Aversa.^ 
The  third,  Maginolfo,  who  took  the  name  of  Silvester 
A.D.no5.  IV.,  had  a  longer  Papal  life.  He  had  been 
Not.  18.  raised  by  a  strong  party  hostile  to  Paschal  II., 
but  was  abandoned  by  all,  and  eventually  deposed  by 
the  Emperor  himself.*  To  this  more  pacific  course, 
the  recognition  of  Paschal,  the  Emperor  was  strongly 
persuaded  by  his  wiser  friends  :  he  even  announced 
his  intention  of  visitino-  Pome  to  efiect  a  reconciliation 
of  all  parties  by  his  personal  presence  ;  to  submit  to  a 
General  Council  the  whole  dispute  between  himself  and 
the  Pope.  It  would  have  been  well  not  to  have  an- 
nounced this  intention  to  which  it  was  difiicult  to 
A.D.  1101-2.    adhere,  and  which  he  had  strong  motives  to 

1  Vita  Henrici,  p.  386. 

2  Pandulph  Pisan.,  1.    Ann.  Roman.,  1. 

3  This  was  the  one  who,  according  to  Muratori's  expression,  was  dis* 
Doped,  dispapato.  — Annal.  Roman.  Pandulph  Pisan. 

4  Annal.  Leodicen.  apud  Pertz.  —  Annales  Roman. 


Chap.  I.        PASCHAL  EXCOMMUNICATES  HE^^lY.  75 

renounce.  Henrj  may  naturally  have  shrunk  from 
venturing  again  on  the  inhospitable  soil  of  Italy,  so 
fatal  to  his  glory  and  his  peace.  He  may  have  hesi- 
tated to  leave  the  affairs  of  Germany  in  their  yet 
precarious  state ;  for  the  peace  had  neither  been  pro- 
claimed nor  accepted  by  the  princes.  Many  of  the 
Imperialist  bishops  may  have  been  alarmed  lest  their 
titles,  resting  on  the  authority  of  the  Antipope,  might 
be  shaken  by  any  concession  to  that  Pope  who  had 
condemned  them  as  usurpers  of  their  sees. 

Henry  appeared  not  in  Italy  ;  and  Paschal  proceed- 
ed without  delay  to  renew  the  Excommuni-  pas^ijai  ex. 
cation.  This  sentence  is  remarkable,  as  being  cat'e?Hrn'ry. 
recorded  by  one  who  himself  heard  it  delivered  ^■'^-  ^^^^■ 
by  the  Pope.  "  Because  the  King,  Heniy,  has  never 
ceased  to  rend  the  vesture  of  Christ,  that  is,  to  lay 
waste  the  Church  by  plunder  and  conflagration  ;  to 
defile  it  by  his  sensualities,  his  perjuries,  and  his  homi- 
cides;  and  hath  therefore,  first  by  Pope  Gregory  of 
blessed  memory,  afterwards  by  the  most  holy  Urban, 
my  predecessor,  on  account  of  his  contumacy,  been 
excommunicated  and  condemned  :  We  also,  in  thig 
our  Synod,  by  the  judgment  of  the  whole  Church, 
deliver  him  up  to  a  perpetual  anathema.  And  this  we 
would  have  known  to  all,  especially  to  those  beyond 
the  Alps,  that  they  may  abstain  fi'om  all  fellowship  in 
his  iniquity."  ^ 

This  renewal  of  the  excommunication  ha»d  no  imme- 
diate effect  on  the  fidelity  either  of  Henry's  temporal 
or  spiritual  subjects.  Many  ecclesiastics  of  high  rank 
and  character  were  about  his  court;    above  all,   Otho 

1  March  12.    Urspergensis.    See  Mansi,  Concil.  Ann.  1102.    Eccard, 
Chronic,  ap.  Pertz,  vi.  224. 


76  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VHI 

the  Apostle  of  Pomeranla.  Otho  had  been  compelled 
with  difficulty  to  accept  the  bishopric  of  Bamberg. 
"  The  ambitious  man,"  said  the  Emperor  to  the  Am- 
bassadors from  that  city,  "  he  has  already  refused  two 
bishoprics,  Halberstadt  and  Augsburg,  and  would  now 
reject  the  third."  Otho  accepted  the  investiture  of 
the  fief  from  Henry,  but  required  the  assent  of  the 
Pope  to  his  consecration.  In  other  respects  this  holy 
man  was  on  the  most  intimate  footing  with  the  Em- 
peror ;  his  private  chaplain,  who  instructed  him  in  the 
Church  psalmody.  The  Emperor  even  learned  to  sing 
and  to  compose  Church  music.  Otho  prepared  for  him 
a  course  of  sermons  for  the  whole  year,  so  short  as  to 
be  easily  retained  in  the  memory. 

Nor  did  this  violent  measure  of  the  Pope  provoke 
the  Emperor  to  hostility.  At  the  same  time  that  he 
established  peace  throughout  the  Empire,  he  endeav- 
ored with  apparent  earnestness  to  restore  peace  to  the 
Church.  He  publicly  announced  his  intention,  as  soon 
as  he  should  be  reconciled  to  the  Pope,  to  make  over 
the  Empire  to  his  son,  and  to  undertake  a  Crusade  to 
the  Holy  Land.  Many  of  the  more  distinguished  war- 
riors of  Germany  were  prepared  to  follow  his  footsteps. 

But  this  most  secure  and  splendid  period  in  the  life 
of  Henry  IV.  was  like  one  calm  and  brilliant  hour  of 
evening  before  a  night  of  utter  gloom.  The  greatest 
act  of  his  power,  the  establishment  of  peace  throughout 
the  Empire,  was  fatal  to  that  power.  The  proclama- 
tion of  war  against  Mohammedanism  was  the  triumph, 
the  confirmation  of  the  Pope's  supremacy  ;  the  main- 
tenance of  peace  the  ruin  of  the  Emperor.  At  the 
same  time  when  the  interdict  seemed  to  sit  so  lightly 
upon  him,  it  was  working  in  secret,  and  reconcihng 


Chap.  I.        UNPOPULARITY  OF  PEACE.  77 

his   most   faithful   followers  to  treason  and   to   rebel- 
hon. 

The  peace  —  so  precious  and  so  unwonted  a  blessing 
to  the  lower  orders,  to  the  peasant,  the  artisan,  the 
trader,  which  made  the  roads  and  rivers  alive  with 
commerce  —  was  not  merely  irksome,  it  was  degrading 
and  ruinous  to  the  warlike  nobles.  The  great  feuda- 
tories more  immediately  around  the  court  complained 
that  the  Emperor  had  not  only  deprived  them  of  their 
occupation,  of  their  glory,  of  their  power;  but  that  he 
was  deluding  them  with  a  false  promise  of  employing 
their  eager  and  enterprising  valor  in  the  Holy  Land. 
They  were  wasting  their  estates  on  soldiers  for  whom 
they  had  no  use,  and  in  idle  but  costly  attendance  on 
a  court  which  dallied  with  their  noble  solicitude  for  ac- 
tive life.  Throughout  the  Empire  the  princes  had  for 
thirty  restless  years  enjoyed  the  proud  privilege  of 
waging  war  against  their  neighbors,  of  maintaining 
their  armed  followers  by  the  plunder  of  their  enemies, 
or  of  the  peaceful  commercial  traveller.  This  source 
of  wealth,  of  power,  of  busy  occupation,  was  cut  oiF. 
They  could  no  longer  sally  from  their  impreg-  unpopu- 
nable  castles  and  bring  home  the  rich  and  peace. 
easy  booty.  While  the  low-born  A^ulgar  were  rising  in 
opulence  or  independence,  they  were  degraded  to  dis- 
tress and  ruin  and  famine.  *  Their  barns  and  cellars 
were  no  longer  stocked  with  the  plundered  produce  of 
neighboring  fields  or  vineyards  ;  they  were  obliged  to 
dismiss  or  to  starve  their  once  gallant  and  numerous 
retinue.^  He  who  was  accustomed  to  ride  abroad  on 
a  foaming  courser  was  reduced  to  a  sorry  nag  ;  he  who 
disdained  to  wear  any  robes  which  were  not  dyed  with 
1  Vita  Henrici  apud  Pertz. 


78  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Ym. 

purple  must  now  appear  in  coarse  attire  of  the  same 
dull  color  which  it  had  by  nature.  Among  the  princes 
of  the  Empire  it  was  more  easy  to  establish  than  to 
maintain  peace.  The  old  jealousies  and  animosities 
were  constantly  breaking  out;  the  Bavarian  house 
looked  with  suspicion  on  the  favor  shown  to  that  of 
Saxony.  Lawless  acts  were  committed,  either  in  popu- 
lar insuiTection  or  in  sudden  quarrels  (as  in  the  murder 
of  Count  Sighard  near  Ratisbon).  Dark  rumors  were 
immediately  propagated  of  connivance,  at  least  of  in- 
dolent neghgence,  on  the  part  of  the  Emperor.  The 
dissatisfaction  was  deep,  dangerous,  universal.  The 
rebellion  was  ripe,  it  wanted  but  a  cause  and  a  leader.. 
The  Emperor  had  seen  with  delight  the  intimacy 
The  young  which  had  grown  up  between  his  son  and  the 
Henry.  noblcs  lu  his  court.     This  popularity  might 

streno-then  and  secure  his  succession  to  the  throne. 
The  Prince,  in  all  the  ardor  of  youth,  joined  in  their 
sports,  their  huntings,  their  banquets,  and  in  less  seemly 
diversions.  The  associates  of  a  prince  soon  grow  into 
a  party.  The  older  and  more  subtle  enemies  of  Henry, 
the  Papal  or  religious  faction,  saw  this,  too,  with  pleas- 
ure. They  availed  themselves  of  these  younger  agents 
to  provoke  and  inflame  his  ambition.  It  was  time,  they 
suggested,  that  he  should  be  released  from  the  yoke  of 
his  weak  and  aged  but  severe  father ;  that  he  should 
no  longer  live  as  a  slave  without  any  share  or  influence 
in  public  affairs  ;  the  succession,  his  lawful  right,  might 
now  be  his  own,  if  he  would  seize  it.  What  it  might 
be  after  his  father's  death,  what  rivals  might  contest  it, 
who  could  foresee  ?  or  even  in  his  father's  lifetime  ;  for 
it  depended  entirely  on  his  caprice.  He  had  disinherited 
one  son,  he  might  another.  The  son's  oath,  his  extorted 


Chap.  T.  REVOLT  OF  PRINCE  HENRY.  79 

oath  of  obedience,  was  itself  invalid ;  for  it  had  been 
pledged  to  an  excommunicated  person  ;  it  was  already 
annulled  by  the  sentence  of  the  Church. 

The  Emperor  was  without  the  least  apprehension,  or 
even  suspicion  of  this  conspiracy.  With  his  son  he  set 
out  at  the  head  of  an  army  to  punish  a  certain  Count 
Theodoric,  who  had  surprised  Hartwig  the  Archbishop 
Elect  and  the  Burgrave  of  Magdeburg  on  their  way  to 
Liege,  where  the  Prelate  was  to  receive  his  investiture 
from  the  Emperor.  The  Papal  party  had  chosen  an- 
other Archbishop,  Henry,  who  had  been  al-  Revolt  of 
ready  expelled  from  the  see  of  Paderborn.  Henry. 
They  had  reached  Fritzlar,  when  the  Prince  Heniy 
suddenly  left  his  father's  camp,  fled  to  Ratisbon,  where 
he  was  joined  by  many  of  the  younger  nobles  and 
princes,  and  raised  the  standard  of  revolt. 

No  sooner  had  the  Emperor  heard  of  his  son's  flight 
than  he  sent  messengers  after  messengers  to  implore 
him  to  respect  his  solemn  oath,  to  remember  his  duty 
to  his  father,  his  allegiance  to  his  sovereign,  and  not  to 
expose  himself  to  the  scorn  and  hatred  of  mankind. 
The  son  sent  back  a  cold  reply,  that  he  could  have 
nothino;  to  do  with  one  under  sentence  of  ex-  Dec.  1104. 
communication.  In  deep  sorrow  Henry  returned  to 
Mentz ;  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne  and  Duke  Freder- 
ick of  Swabia  undertook  the  pious  office  of  reconciling 
the  son  and  the  father.  The  son  rejected  all  their 
advances  until  his  father  should  be  reconciled  to  the 
Church. 

No  evidence  implicates  the  Pope  in  the  guilt  of  sug- 
gesting or  advising  this  impious  and  unnatural  rebel- 
lion. But  the  first  act  of  the  young  Henry  was  to 
consult  the  Pope  as   to  the  obligation  of  his  oath  of 


80  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

allegiance.  The  holy  father,  daringly  ascribing  this 
dissension  between  the  son  and  his  parent  to  the  inspi- 
ration of  God,  sent  him  without  reserve  the  apostolic 
blessing,  and  gave  him  absolution,  on  condition  that  he 
should  rule  with  justice  and  be  faithful  to  the  Church, 
for  his  rebellion  against  his  father,  an  absolution  in  the 
final  judgment  of  Christ !  ^ 

So  was  Germany  plunged  again  into  a  furious  civil 
war.  Everywhere  in  the  State  and  in  the  Church  the 
old  factions  broke  out  in  immitigated  ferocity.  The 
papal  clergy  were  the  first  to  show  their  weariness  of 
the  unwelcome  peace.  At  a  meeting  at  Goslar  the 
clergy  of  Saxony  resolved  to  expel  all  the  intruding 
and  Simoniac  bishops  (those  who  had  received  investi- 
ture from  the  Emperor),  if  alive,  from  their  sees,  if 
dead,  to  dig  up  their  bodies  and  cast  them  out  of  the 
churches ;  to  reordain  by  Catholic  hands  all  whom 
those  prelates  had  received  into  orders,  to  interdict  the 
exercise  of  any  function  in  the  Church  to  the  married 
clergy. 

The  young  Henry  conducted  his  own  affairs  with 
consummate  vigor,  subtlety,  perfidy,  and  hypocrisy.  In 
a  great  assembly  of  bishops,  abbots,  monks,  and  clergy, 
as  well  as  of  the  people,  at  Nordhausen,  he  appeared 
without  the  dress  or  ensigns  of  royalty,  and  refused  to 
ascend  the  throne ;  but  while  he  declared  himself  ready 
to  confirm  all  the  old  laws  and  usages  of  the  realm,  he 
dared  to  pray  with  profuse  tears  for  the  conversion  of 
his  father,  protested  that  he  had  not  revolted  against 


1  So  writes  an  ecclesiastical  chronicler.  "  Apostolicus,  ut  audivit  inter 
patrem  et  filium  dissidium,  sperans  hoc  a  Deo  evenire  .  .  .  .  de  hoc  com- 
misso  sibi  promittens  absolutionem  in  judicio  futuro." — Annal.  Hilde« 
sbeim. 


Chap.  I.  CONFERENCE  AT  MENTZ.  81 

him  with  any  view  to  the  succession  or  with  any  design 
to  depose  him ;  that  on  the  instant  of  his  reconcihation 
with  the  Pope  he  would  submit  in  dutiful  fidelity.  The 
simple  multitude  were  deluded  by  his  tears ;  the  assem- 
bly broke  out  into  an  unanimous  shout  of  approbation; 
the  Kyrie  Eleison  was  sung  by  priests  and  people  with 
accordant  earnestness. 

The  tragedy  was  hastening  towards  its  close.  In 
every  quarter  the  Emperor  found  lukewarmness,  treach- 
ery, and  desertion.  Prelates  who  had  basked  in  his 
favor  were  suddenly  convinced  of  their  sin  in  commu- 
nicatinoj  with  an  interdicted  man,  and  withdrew  from 
the  court.  The  hostile  armies  were  in  presence  not 
far  from  Ratisbon ;  the  leaders  were  seized  with  an  un- 
wonted respect  for  human  life,  and  with  dread  of  the 
horrors  of  civil  war.  The  army  of  the  son  retired,  but 
remained  unbroken,  that  of  the  father  melted  away 
and  dispersed.  He  was  obhged  to  take  refuge  in 
Mentz.  Once  before  young  Henry  had  moved  towards 
Mentz  to  reinstate  the  expelled  Archbishop  Ruthard, 
khe  man  accused  of  the  plunder  and  even  of  the  massacre 
ef  the  Jews.  Thence  he  had  retired,  being  unable  to 
gross  the  Rhine ;  now,  however,  he  effected  his  passage 
with  little  difficulty,  having  bribed  the  officer  command- 
mg  in  Spires.  Before  Mentz  the  son  coldly  rejected  all 
pi'opositions  from  his  father  to  divide  the  Empire,  and 
to  leave  the  decision  of  all  disputes  between  them  to 
the  Diet.  He  still  returned  the  same  stern  demand  of 
an  impossible  preliminary  to  negotiation  —  his  father's 
reconciliation  with  the  Church :  but  as  if  with  some 
lingering  respect,  he  advised  the  Emj)eror  to  abandon 
Mentz,  lest  he  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies. 
Henry  fled  to  the  strong  castle  of  Hammerstein,  from 


82  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

thence  to  Cologne.  The  Archbishop  of  Cologne  had 
already  taken  the  stronger  side  ;  the  citizens  were  true 
to  the  Emperor.  A  Diet  was  summoned  at  Mentz,  at 
which  the  legate  of  the  Pope  was  to  be  present.  The 
Emperor  hastily  collected  all  the  troops  he  could  com- 
mand on  the  Lower  Rhine,  and  advanced  to  break  up 
this  dangerous  council.  The  army  of  the  younger 
Henry  having  obtained  some  advantage  stood  opposed 
to  that  of  the  father  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  not  far 
from  Coblentz.  But  the  son,  so  long  as  he  could  com- 
pass his  ends  by  treachery,  would  not  risk  his  cause  on 
the  doubtful  issue  of  a  battle.  An  interview  took  place 
on  the  banks  of  the  Moselle.  At  the  sight  of  his  son 
the  passionate  fondness  of  the  father  overpowered  all 
sense  of  dignity  or  resentment.  He  threw  himself  at 
the  feet  of  young  Henry ;  he  adjured  him  by  the  wel- 
fare of  his  soul.  "  I  know  that  my  sins  deserve  the 
chastisement  of  God,  but  do  not  thou  sully  thy  honor 
and  thy  name.  No  law  of  God  obliges  a  son  to  be  the 
instrument  of  divine  vengeance  against  his  father." 
The  son  seemed  deeply  moved ;  he  bowed  to  the  earth 
beside  his  father,  entreated  his  forgiveness  with  many 
tears,  promised  obedience  as  a  son,  allegiance  as  a  vas- 
sal, if  his  father  would  give  satisfaction  to  the  Church. 
He  proposed  that  both  should  dismiss  their  armies,  each 
with  only  three  hundred  knights  repair  to  Mentz,  to 
pass  together  the  holy  season  of  Christmas.  There  he 
solemnly  swore  that  he  would  labor  for  lasting  recon- 
cilement. The  Emperor  gave  orders  to  disband  his 
army.  In  vain  his  more  cautious  and  faithful  followers 
remonstrated  against  this  imprudence.  He  only  sum- 
moned his  son  again,  who  lulled  his  suspicions  by  a 
second  solemn  oath  for  his  safety.     At  Bingen  they 


Chap.  I.  HE^STiY  IV.  A  PRISONER.  83 

passed  the  niglit  together;  the  son  showed  the  most 
profound  respect,  the  father  yielded  himself  up  to  his 
long-suppressed  feelings  of  love.  The  night  was  spent 
in  free  and  tender  conversation  with  his  son,  not  un- 
mingled  with  caresses.  Little  thought  he,  writes  the 
historian,  that  this  was  the  last  night  in  which  he  would 
enjoy  tlie  luxury  of  parental  fondness.  The  following 
day  pretexts  w^ere  found  for  conveying  the  Emperor, 
not  to  Mentz,  but  to  the  strong  castle  of  Bechelheim 
near  Kreuznach.  Henry  could  but  remind  his  son  of 
the  perils  and  difficulties  which  he  had  undergone  to 
secure  him  the  succession  to  the  Empire.  A  tliird 
time  young  Henry  pledged  his  own  head  for  the  security 
of  his  father.  Yet  no  sooner  was  he,  with  a  few  attend- 
ants, within  the  castle,  than  the  gates  were  closed  —  the 
Emperor  Henry  IV.  was  a  prisoner !  His  ^^^^^  ^^ 
jailer  was  a  churchman,  his  enemy  the  Bish-  *  P"*oner. 
op  Gebhard  of  Spires,  whom  he  had  formerly  expelled 
from  his  see.  Either  from  neo;lect  or  crueltv  he  was 
scantily  provided  w^ith  food ;  he  was  denied  a  barber  to 
shave  his  beard  and  the  use  of  the  bath.  The  inexo- 
rable bigot  would  not  permit  the  excommunicated  the 
ministrations  of  a  priest,  still  less  the  Holy  Eucharist  on 
the  Lord's  Nativity.  He  was  compelled  by  menaces 
against  his  life  to  command  the  surrender  of  all  the  re- 
galia  which  had  been  left  in  the  castle  of  Hammerstein. 
The  Diet,  attended  by  almost  all  the  magnates  of 
the  Empire,  assembled  at  Mentz ;  but  it  was  not  safe 
to  bring  the  fallen  Henry  before  that  meeting,  for  there, 
as  elsewhere,  the  honest  popular  sympathy  was  strong 
on  the  side  of  the  father  and  of  the  Emperor.  He 
was  carried  to  the  castle  of  Ingelheim  in  the  Palati- 
nate ;  there,  stripped  of  eveiy   ensign  of  royalt}-,  bro- 


84  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

ken  by  indignities  of  all  kinds,  by  the  insolent  triumph 
of  his  foes,  the  perfidy  of  his  friends,  the  Emperor 
stood  before  a  Diet  composed  entirely  of  his  enemies, 
the  worst  of  those  enemies  his  son,  and  the  Papal  Leg- 
ate at  their  head.  He  was  urged,  on  peril  of  his  life, 
to  abdicate.  "  On  that  condition,"  he  inquired,  "  will 
ye  guarantee  my  life  ?  "  The  Legate  of  the  Pope  re- 
plied, and  demanded  this  further  condition ;  he  should 
publicly  acknowledge  that  he  had  unjustly  persecuted 
the  holy  Gregory,  wickedly  set  up  the  Antipope  Gui- 
bert,  and  oppressed  the  Church.  In  vain  he  strove 
for  less  humiliating  terms,  and  even  for  delay  and  for  a 
more  regular  judgment.  His  inexorable  enemies  offer- 
ed him  but  this  alternative  or  perpetual  imprisonment. 
He  then  implored  that,  at  least,  if  he  conceded  all,  he 
might  be  at  once  released  from  excommunication.  The 
Cardinal  replied,  that  was  beyond  his  powers ;  the  Em- 
peror must  go  to  Rome  to  be  absolved.  All  were 
touched  with  some  compassion  except  the  son.  The 
Emperor  surrendered  everything,  his  castles,  his  treas- 
ures, his  patrimony,  his  empire :  he  declared  himself 
unworthy  to  reign  any  longer. 

The  Diet  returned  to  Mentz,  elected  and  invested 
Henry  V.  in  the  Empire,  with  the  solemn  warning 
that  if  he  did  not  rule  with  justice  and  protect  the 
Church,  he  must  expect  the  fate  of  his  father.  A 
deputation  of  the  most  distinguished  prelates  from 
every  part  of  Germany  was  sent  to  Rome  to  settle 
the  terms  of  reconciliation  between  the  Empire  and 
the  Pope. 

But  in  the  German  people  the  natural  feelings  of 
People  in  justice  and  of  duty,  the  generous  sympathies 
Henry  IV.      with  age  and  greatness  and  cruel  wrong,  were 


Chap.  I.        PEOPLE  IX  FAYOPt   OF  THE  EMPEROR.  85 

not  extinguislied,  as  in  the  hearts  of  the  princes  by 
hatred  and  ambition,  in  the  ecclesiastics  by  hatred  and 
bigotry.  In  a  popular  insurrection  at  Colmar,  caused 
partly  by  the  misconduct  of  his  own  troops,  the  new 
Emperor  was  discomfited  and  obliged  to  fly  a.d.  iio6. 
with  the  loss  of  the  regalia  of  the  Empire.  The  old 
Henry  received  warning  from  some  friendly  hand  that 
nothing  now  awaited  him  but  perpetual  imprisonment 
or  death.  He  made  his  escape  to  Cologne ;  the  citizens 
heard  the  account  of  his  sufferings  with  indignant  com- 
passion, and  at  once  embarked  in  his  cause.  He  re- 
tired to  Lieo-e,  where  he  was  received  with  the  utmost 
honors  by  the  Bishop  Otbert  and  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city. 

The  abdicated  Emperor  was  again  at  the  head  of  a 
powerful  party.  Henry  of  Lorraine  and  other  princes  of 
the  Empire,  incensed  at  his  treatment,  promised  to  meet 
him  in  arms  at  Lieo;e,  and  there  to  celebrate  the  feast 
of  Easter.  The  young  Henry,  intoxicated  by  his  suc- 
cess, and  miscalculating  the  strength  of  feeling  aroused 
in  his  father's  cause,  himself  proclaimed  a  Diet  at  Liege 
to  expel  his  father  from  that  city,  and  to  punish  those 
who  had  presumed  to  receive  him.  He  rejected  with 
scorn  his  father's  submissive,  suppliant  expostulations. 
So  mistrustful  had  the  old  man  become  that  he  was 
with  difficulty  prevailed  upon  to  remain  and  keep  his 
Easter  at  Liege.  His  friends  urged  the  unseemliness 
of  his  holding  that  great  festival  in  some  Avild  w^ood  or 
cavern.  But  the  enemy  approached  ;  Cologne  offered 
no  resistance :  there  the  young  Emperor  observed  Palm 
Sunday  in  great  state.  He  advanced  to  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
but  in  an  attempt  to  cross  the  Maes  his  troops  suffered 
a  shamefiil  defeat.     He  fled  back  to  Cologne ;  that  city 


86  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

now  ventured  to  close  its  gates  and  drove  the  king  and 
the  archbishop  from  their  walls.  Henry  Y.  retired  to 
Bonn,  and  there  kept  his  Easter,  but  without  imperial 
pomp. 

At  Worms  he  passed  Whitsuntide,  and  laid  Henry 
of  Lorraine  and  all  his  father's  partisans  under  the  ban 
of  the  Empire  :  he  summoned  all  the  feudatories  of 
Germany  to  meet  at  Wurzburg  in  July.  Once  more 
at  the  head  of  a  formidable  army  he  marched  to  crush 
the  rebellion,  as  it  was  called,  of  his  father,  and  to 
avencre  the  shame  of  his  recent  defeat.  But  Colomie 
had  strengthened  her  walls  and  manned  them  with  a 
large  garrison.  The  city  resisted  with  obstinate  valor. 
Henry  V.  was  forced  to  undertake  a  regular  siege,  to 
blockade  the  town,  and  endeavor  to  reduce  it  by  famine. 
His  army  advanced  towards  Aix-la-Chapelle ;  all  nego- 
tiations failed  from  the  mutual  distrust  and  animosity  ; 
a  battle  seemed  inevitable  which  should  decide  the  fate 
of  the  father  and  the  son. 

But  Henry  IV.  was  now  beyond  either  the  melan- 
Deathof  choly  triumph  over  a  rebellious  son  or  the 
Henry.  shame  of  defeat,  and  of  those  consequences 

which  might  have  been  anticipated  if  he  had  fallen 
aa;ain  into  those  ruthless  hands.  On  the  7th  of  Au- 
gust  Erlembold,  the  faithful  chamberlain  of  the  Em- 
peror, arrived  in  the  camp  of  Henry  with  the  diadem 
and  sword  of  his  father,  the  last  ensigns  of  his  imperial 
dignity.  Worn  out  with  fatigue  and  sorrow,  Henry 
IV.  had  closed  in  peace  his  long  and  agitated  life,  his 
A.B.,1056-  eventful  reign  of  near  fifty  years.  His  dying 
^^^^-  prayers  to  his  son  were  for  forgiveness  on  ac- 

count of  these  last  acts  of  hostility,  to  which  he  had 
been  driven  by  hard  extremity,  and  the  request  that 


Chap.  I.     mS  DEATH  —  TKEATMEXT  OF  HIS  EEMAIXS.     87 

his  eartlily  remains  might  repose  with  those  of  his  an- 
cestors in  the  cathedral  of  Spires. 

jSTo  one  can  know  whether  anj  gentler  emotions  of 
pity,  remorse,  or  filial  love,  in  the  tumult  of  rejoicing 
at  this  unexpected  success,  touched  the  heart  of  the 
son  with  tender  remorse.  The  last  request  was  inex- 
orably refused ;  the  Church  continued  its  implacable 
warfare  with  the  dead.  The  faithful  Bishop  of  Liege, 
Otbert,  conveyed  the  body  of  his  sovereign  in  decent 
pomp  to  the  church  of  St.  Lambert.  His  nobler  parti- 
sans had  dispersed  on  all  sides  ;  but  more  true  mourners, 
widows,  orphans,  the  whole  people  crowded  around  as 
though  they  had  lost  a  father  ;  they  wept,  they  kissed 
his  bountiful  hands,  they  embraced  his  cold  body ;  they 
would  scarcely  permit  it  to  be  let  down  into  the  grave. 
Nor  was  this  mere  transient  sorrow  ;  they  kept  watch 
round  the  sepulchre,  and  wept  and  prayed  for  the  soul 
of  their  deceased  benefactor.^ 

Nevertheless,  haughtily  regardless  of  this  better  tes- 
timony to  the  Christian  virtues  of  the  Emperor  than 
all  their  solemn  services,  the  bishops  of  the  adverse 
party  declared  that  he  who  was  excommunicate  in  life 
w^as  excommunicate  in  death.  Otbert  was  compelled, 
as  a  penance  for  his  precipitate  act  of  gratitude  and  love, 
to  disinter  the  body,  which  was  placed  in  an  unconse- 
crated  building  in  an  island  on  the  Moselle.  No  sacred 
ceremonial  was  permitted  ;  a  single  monk,  just  returned 
fi'om  Jerusalem,  had  the  pious  boldness  to  sing  psalms 
beside  it  day  and  night.  It  was  at  length,  by  his  son's 
permission,  conveyed  to  Spires  with  a  small  attendance 

1  Even  Dodechin  writes :  "  Enimvero  ut  de  eo  omnia  loquar,  erat  valde  . 
misericors."     Having  given  an  instance  of  his  mercy,  that  he  was  "  valde 
compatiens  et  juisericors  in  eleemosynis  pauperum." — Apud  Struvium, 
p.  677. 


88  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

of  faitliful  servants.  It  was  received  by  the  people, 
and  even  the  clergy,  with  great  honor  and  conveyed 
to  the  cathedral.  At  this  the  implacable  bishop  was 
seized  with  indignation  ;  he  imposed  penance  on  all 
who  had  attended  the  procession,  he  prohibited  the 
funeral  service,  and  ordered  the  body  to  be  placed  in 
an  unconsecrated  chapel  within  the  cathedral.  The 
better  Christianity  of  the  people  again  rebuked  the 
relentlessness  of  the  bishop.  They  reminded  him  how 
the  munificent  Emperor  had  enriched  the  church  of 
Spires  ;  they  recounted  the  ornaments  of  gold  and 
silver  and  precious  stones,  the  silken  vestments,  the 
works  of  art,  the  golden  altar-table,  richly  wrought, 
a  present  of  the  eastern  Emperor  Alexius,  which  had 
made  their  cathedral  the  most  gorgeous  and  famous  in 
Germany.  They  loudly  expressed  their  grief  and  dis- 
satisfaction, and  were  hardly  restrained  from  tumult. 
But  they  prevailed  not.  Yet  the  bier  of  Henry  was 
still  visited  by  unbought  and  unfeigning  witnesses  to 
his  still  more  Christian  oblations,  his  boundless  chari- 
ties. At  length  after  five  years  of  obstinate  contention 
Henry  was  permitted  to  repose  in  the  consecrated  vault 
with  his  imperial  ancestors. 


Chap.  n.  HEXRY  T.  AXD  POPE  PASCHAL  n.  89 


CHAPTER    11. 

HENRY  Y.  AXD  POPE  PASCHAL  H. 

If  it  were  ever  unpresnmptuous  to  trace  the  retribu- 
tive justice  of  God  in  the  destiny  of  one  man,  it  might 
be  acknowledged  in  the  humiliation  of  Pope  Paschal 
II.  by  the  Emperor  Henry  V.  The  Pope,  by  his  con- 
tinual sanction,  if  not  by  direct  advice,  had  trained  the 
young  Emperor  in  his  inordinate  ambition  and  his  un- 
scrupulous avidity  for  power.  He  had  not  rebuked  his 
shameless  pei-fidy  or  his  revolting  cruelty ;  he  had  ab- 
solved him  fi'om  thrice-sworn  oaths  ;  he  had  released 
him  from  the  gi'eat  irrepealable  obligations  of  nature 
and  the  divine  law.  A  rebel  against  his  sovereign  and 
his  father  was  not  likely,  against  his  own  interests  or 
passions,  to  be  a  dutiful  son  or  subject  of  his  mother 
the  Church,  or  of  his  spiritual  superiors.  If  Paschal 
suffered  the  result  of  his  own  lessons,  if  he  was  driven 
from  his  capital,  exposed  to  personal  sufferings  so 
great  and  menacing  as  to  compel  him  to  submit  to 
the  hardest  terms  which  the  Emperor  chose  to  dic- 
tate, he  had  not  much  right  to  compassion.  Paschal 
is  almost  the  only  later  Pope  who  was  reduced  to 
the  degrading  necessity  of  being  disclaimed  by  the 
clergy,  of  being  forced  to  retract  his  own  impec- 
cable decrees,  of  beincr  taunted  in  his  own  dav  with 
heresy,   and    abandoned    as    a    feeble   traitor    to    the 


90  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Vni. 

rights  of  the  Church  by  the  dexterous  and  unscru- 
pulous apologist  of  almost  every  act  of  the  Papal 
See. 

Hardly  was  Henry  V.  in  peaceful  possession  of  his 
father's  throne  when  the  dispute  about  the  investitures 
was  unavoidably  renewed.  The  humble  ally  of  the 
Church  was  not  more  inclined  to  concede  the  claims 
of  the  Teutonic  sovereion  than  his  contumacious  and 
excommunicated  father.  The  implacable  enmity  with 
which  the  Pope  had  pursued  the  older  Emperor  turned 
immediately  against  himself.  Instead  of  an  adversary 
weary  of  strife,  worn  out  with  premature  old  age,  under 
the  ignominy  not  only  of  his  former  humiliation  at  the 
feet  of  Hildebrand,  but  of  his  recent  expulsion  from 
Italy,  and  with  almost  the  whole  of  Germany  in  open 
arms  or  leagued  by  discontent  against  him,  Paschal 
had  raised  up  an  antagonist,  a  youth  of  unrivalled 
activity  and  unbridled  ambition,  flushed  with  the  suc- 
cess of  his  rebellion,  holding  that  authority  over  the 
princes  of  the  Empire  which  sprang  from  their  com- 
mon engagement  in  a  daring  and  unjustifiable  cause, 
unencumbered  with  the  guilt  of  having  appointed  the 
intrusive  prelates,  who  held  their  sees  without  the  papal 
sanction,  yet  sure  of  their  support  if  he  would  maintain 
them  in  their  dignities.  The  Empire  had  thus  become 
far  more  formidable  ;  and  unless  it  would  humbly  cede 
all  the  contested  rights  (at  such  a  time  and  under  such 
a  king  an  event  most  improbable)  far  more  hostile. 

Pope  Paschal  held  a  synod  chiefly  of  Lombard  bishops 
Synod  or  ^^  Guastalla."^  The  first  act  was  to  revenge 
Guastaiia.  ^^le  dignity  of  Rome  against  the  rival  see  of 
Ravenna,  which  for  a  century  had  set  up  an  Antipope. 

1  Labbe  et  Mansi,  Concil.  sub  ann.  1106,  Oct.  18. 


Chap.  II.  FIEST  ACTS   OF  PASCHAL  n.  91 

Already,  jealous  no  doubt  of  the  miracles  reported  by 
his  followers  to  be  wrouoht  at  liis  tomb,  Paschal  had 
commanded  the  body  of  Guibert  to  be  taken  up  from 
its  sepulchre  and  cast  into  the  Tiber.  The  metro- 
politan see  of  E-avenna  was  punished  by  depriving  it 
of  the  province  Emilia,  and  its  superiority  over  the 
bishoprics  of  Piacenza,  Parma,  Reggio,  Modena,  and 
Bologna.  A  prudent  decree,  which  expressed  profound 
sorrow  for  the  divisions  in  Germany,  acknowledged  the 
titles  of  all  those  prelates  who  had  been  consecrated 
during  the  schism  and  had  received  the  imperial  in- 
vestiture, in  fact  of  the  whole  episcopacy  with  few 
exceptions,  in  the  Empire.  Those  alone  who  were 
usurpers,  Simoniacs,  or  men  of  criminal  character, 
were  excluded  from  this  act  of  amnesty.  But  an- 
other decree  condemned  the  investiture  by  lay  hands 
in  the  strongest  terms,  deposed  the  prelates  who  should 
hereafter  admit,  and  excommunicated  the  laymen  Avho 
should  dare  to  exercise,  this  authority.  Ambassadors 
from  the  young  Emperor,  the  Bishops  of  Treves  and 
Halberstadt,  courteously  solicited  the  presence  of  Pas- 
chal in  Germany.  They  proposed  a  council  to  be  held 
at  Augsburg  to  arrange  definitively  the  ecclesiastical  af- 
fairs of  the  Empire,  at  the  same  time  expressing  their 
hope  that  the  Pope  would  fully  concede  all  the  rights 
of  the  Empire,  an  ambiguous  phrase  full  of  dangerous 
meaning  !  ^ 

The  Pope  acceded  to  the  request,  but  the  Emperor 
and  the  princes  of  the  Empire  held  their  Christmas  at 
Augsburg,  vainly  awaiting  his  arrival.     The  Pope  had 

1  "  Qu£erens,  ut  jus  sibi  regni 

Concedat,  sedi  sanctge  cupit  ipse  fidelis 
Esse  velut  matri,  subici  sibi  vel  quasi  patri." 

DONIZO. 


92  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII 

advanced  as  fai'  as  Yerona ;  a  tumult  in  that  city  shook 
his  confidence  in  the  commanding  sanctity  of  his  pres- 
ence. His  more  prudent  counsellors  suggested  the 
unconquerable  determination  of  the  Germans  to  main- 
tain the  right  of  investiture,  and  the  danger  of  placing 
himself  in  the  power  of  a  prince  at  once  so  daring  and 
perfidious.^  He  would  be  more  safe  in  the  friendly 
territory  and  under  tlie  less  doubtful  protection  of  the 
King  of  France.  The  acts  of  Henry  might  justify  this 
mistrust.  The  king  proceeded  at  once  to  invest  the 
Bishops  of  Verdun  and  Halberstadt,  and  commanded 
the  Archbishop  of  Treves  to  consecrate  them ;  he  rein- 
stated the  Bishop  Udo,  wlio  had  been  deposed  by  the 
Pope,  in  the  see  of  Hildesheim ;  he  forced  an  abbot 
who  was  actually  under  an  interdict  in  the  monastery 
of  St.  Tron  to  violate  his  suspension.  The  papal  clergy 
throughout  Germany  quailed  before  these  vigorous  meas- 
ures. So  utterly  were  they  prostrated  that  Gebhard  of 
Constance,  Oderic  of  Passau,  under  the  specious  pre- 
tence of  avoidino;  all  communion  with  the  excommuni- 
cate,  had  determined  to  engage  in  a  foreign  pilgrimage. 
Paschal  entreats  them  to  remain  as  shining  lights,  and 
not  to  leave  Germany  a  land  of  utter  darkness.^ 

The  tone  of  Henry's  ambassadors,  before  a  Council 
held  by  Pope  Paschal  at  Troyes,^  in*  Champagne,  was 
as  haughty  and  unyielding.  He  demanded  his  full  priv- 
ilege of  electing  bishops,  granted,  according  to  his  as- 
sertion, by  the  Pope  to  Charlemagne.^     He  would  not 

1  Chronicon  Ursbergense,  sub  ann.  1107. 

2  Epist.  Gebhard.  Constant.,  &c.     "  Et  in  medio  nationis  pravse  et  per- 
*inqiiam  luminaria  lucere  studeant."  —  Oct.  27,  1106. 

y  23, 1107.    The  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  Rothard,  refused  to  be  j 

es. 

ronicou  Ursbergense,  sub  ann.  1107. 


Chap.  II.  HENRY  DESCENDS  INTO  ITALY.  93 

condescend  to  permit  questions  wliicli  related  to  the 
German  Empire  to  be  agitated  in  a  foreign  country,  in 
France.  At  Rome  this  great  cause  should  be  decided  ; 
and  a  year's  truce  was  mutually  agreed  upon,  to  allow 
the  Emperor  to  make  his  appearance  in  that  city. 

It  was  not,  however,  till  the  third  year  after  this 
truce  that  Henry  descended  into  Italy.  These  years 
were  occupied  by  wars  in  Bohemia,  Hungary,  and 
Poland.  Though  not  always  or  eventually  successful, 
the  valor  and  determination  of  Henry,  as  well  as  his 
unscrupulous  use  of  treachery  when  force  failed, 
strengthened  the  general  dread  of  his  power  aud  his 
ambition. 

In  a  great  Diet  at  Ratisbon  on  the  Feast  of  the 
Epiphany,  a.d.,  1110,  the  Emperor  anounced  Diet  at 

...  .  p  T  -A  -       T      -n.        Ratisbon. 

ms  intention  oi  proceeding  to  Rome  —  i.  Jb  or  a.d.  iiio. 
his  coronation  ;  the  Pope  had  already  expressed  to  the 
King's  ambassadors  his  willingness  to  perform  that 
ceremony,  if  Henry  would  declare  himself  a  faithful 
son  and  protector  of  the  Church.  II.  To  reestablish 
order  in  Italy.  The  Lombard  Republics  had  now  be- 
gun to  assert  their  own  freedom,  and  to  wage  furious 
battle  ao-ainst  the  freedom  of  their  neio;hbors.  Almost 
every  city  was  at  war  with  another ;  Milan  with  Lodi, 
Pavia  with  Tortona,  Pisa  with.  Lucca.  III.  To  take 
measures  for  the  protection  of  the  Church  in  strict 
obedience  to  the  Pope.^  He  delayed  only  to  celebrate 
his  betrothal  with  Matilda,  the  Infant  daughter  of 
Henry  1.  of  England. 

The  summons  was  obeyed  in  every  part  of  the  Em- 
pire.    Above  30,000  knights,  with  their  at-  Henry's 
tendants,  and  the  infantry,  assembled  under  ^™^" 
1  "  Ad  nutum  patris  apostolici.' 


94  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

the  Imperial  banner,  the  most  formidable  army  which 
for  some  centmies  had  descended  from  the  Alps ;  and 
to  be  increased  by  the  Italian  partisans  of  the  Em- 
peror. Large  contributions  were  made  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  the  expedition.  In  order  to  cope  with  the 
papal  party,  not  in  arms  only,  but  likewise  in  argument, 
he  was  attended  by  the  most  learned  of  the  Transal- 
pine ecclesiastical  scholars,  ready  to  do  theological  bat- 
tle in  his  cause.^  Though  an  angry  comet  glared  in 
the  heavens,  yet  the  Empire  seemed  to  adopt  with 
eager  loyalty  this  invasion  of  Italy. 

Tlie  first  act  of  Henry  struck  terror  into  all  minds. 
Henry  in  With  a  Considerable  division  of  the  army,  the 
Italy.  Emperor  himself  descended  from  Savoy  upon 

Ivrea,  and  reached  Vercelli.  Novara  presumed  to  re- 
sist. The  unfortunate  town  was  given  up  to  the  flames, 
its  walls  razed  to  the  ground.  All  the  other  cities  of 
Lombardy,  appalled  by  this  example,  sent  their  plate 
and  large  contributions  in  money  to  the  Emperor.  The 
haughty  and  populous  Milan  alone  refused  this  mark 
of  subjection.^  The  other  division  of  the  army  had 
descended  by  the  valley  of  Trent ;  the  united  forces 
assembled  in  the  plains  of  Roncaglia,  near  Piacenza. 
The  proud  and  politic  Matilda  had  entertained  the  im- 
perial ambassadors  on  their  return  from  Rome  with 
friendly  courtesy.  The  Emperor  knew  too  well  her  im- 
portance not  to  attempt  to  gain  her  neutrality,  if  not 


1  His  chaplain,  David  the  Scot,  was  to  be  the  historian  of  the  expedition. 
His  work  is  lost,  but  was  used  by  the  author  of  the  Chronicon  Ursbergense^ 
and  by  William  of  Malmesbury. 

2  "  Aurea  vasa  sibi,  necnon  argentea  misit 

Plurima,  cum  multis  urbs  omnis  dcnique  nummis. 

Nobilis  ui-bs  solum  Mediolanum  populosa 

Non  servivit  ei,  nummum  neque  contulit  seris."  — DoNizo. 


Chap.  n.  HENRY  IX  ITALY.  95 

her  support ;  slie  was  too  prudent  to  offend  a  warlike 
sovereign  at  tlie  head  of  such  a  force.  She  swore  alle- 
giance, and  promised  fealty  against  all  enemies  except 
the  Pope.  Henry  confirmed  her  in  all  her  possessions 
and  privileges. 

The  army  advanced,  but  suffered  great  losses  both 
of  horses  and  men  from  continued  heavy  rains  in  the 
passes  of  the  Apennines.  The  strong  fortress  of  Pon- 
tremoli  followed  the  example  and  shared  the  fate  of 
Novara.  At  Florence  Henry  held  hia  Christmas,  and 
compelled  Pisa  and  Lucca  to  make  9  treaty  of  peace. 
Such  an  army  as  Henry's  was  not  likf  /y  to  be  restrained 
by  severe  discipline,  nor  was  Henr  ,  likely  to  enforce 
discipline,  unless  from  policy.  Of  m^-ny  cities  he  gained 
possession  by  delusive  offers  of  pea^e.  Ne  person  or 
property  was  treated  with  respect ;  churches  were  de- 
stroyed :  religious  men  seized  and  plundered,  or  ex- 
pelled from  their  monasteries.  In  Arezzo  Heni'v  took 
the  part  of  the  clergy  against  the  people,  levelled  the 
walls  and  fortifications,  and  destroyed  great  part  of  the 
city.^ 

And  still  his  march  continued  unresisted  and  ui? 
checked  towards  Rome.  He  advanced  to  Aquapen 
dente,  to  Sutri.  There  the  Pope,  utterly  defenceless, 
awaited  this  terrible  visit.  He  had  endeavored  to  pre- 
vail on  his  vassals,  the  Norman  princes  of  Calabria  and 
Apulia,  to  succor  him  in  the  hour  of  need  ;  not  a  knight 
obeyed  his  summons. 

From  the  ruins  of  Arezzo  Henry  had  sent  forward 
an  embassy  —  the  Chancellor  Albert,  Count  Henry  ad- 
(jrodtrey  ot  Oalw,  and  other  nobles,  to  nego-  Rome. 
tiate  with  the  Pontiff.     Peter,  the  son  of  Leo,  a  man 

1  Annalist.  Saxo.,  sub  arm.  1111. 


96  LATIX  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

of  Jewish  descent,  once  a  partisan  of  the  Antipope 
Guibert,  now  a  firm  supporter  of  the  Pope,  who  had 
extraordinary  influence  over  the  people  of  Rome,  was 
called  in  to  assist  the  Cardinals  in  then'  council.  The 
dispute  seemed  hopelessly  irreconcilable.  The  Pope 
could  not  cede  the  right  of  investiture,  which  his  pred- 
ecessors and  himself  in  every  Council,  at  Guastalla, 
at  Troyes,  still  later  at  Benevento,  and  in  the  Lateran,-^ 
had  declared  to  be  a  sacrilegious  usurpation.  Such  an 
Emperor,  at  the  head  of  an  irresistible  army,  was  not 
likely  to  abandon  a  right  exercised  by  his  ancestors  in 
the  Empire  since  the  days  of  Charlemagne. 

To  the  amazement  and  indignation  of  that  age,  and 
to  the  A^^onder  of  posterity,^  the  plain  principles  of  right 
and  equity  began  to  make  themselves  heard.  If  the 
clergy  would  persist  in  holding  large  temporalities,  they 
must  hold  them  liable  to  the  obligations  and  subordinate 
to  the  authority  of  the  State.  But  if  they  would  sur- 
render all  these  fiefs,  royalties,  privileges,  and  immu- 
nities, by  which  they  were  perpetually  embroiled  in 
secular  concerns,  and  return  into  their  purely  eccle- 
siastical functions,  all  interference  of  the  State  with 
the  consecration  of  bishops  became  a  manifest  inva- 
sion on  the  Church.  The  Church  must  content  her- 
self with  its  tithes  and  offerings  ;  so  the  clergy  would 
be  relieved  from  those  abuses  inseparable  from  vast 
temporal  possessions,  and  in  Germany  in  general  so 
flagrantly  injurious  to  the  sacred  character.  Through 
their  vast  territorial  domains,  bishops  and  abbots  were 

1  At  Benevento,  Oct.  1008;  in  the  Lateran,  1110,  March  7.  Annalist. 
Saxo.  apud  Pertz,  vi.  748.     Annal.  Hildesheim.,  ibid.  iii.  112. 

2  "  Anchd  oggi  si  ha  pena  a  credere,  che  im  pontifice  arrivassi  a  promet- 
tere  una  si  smisurata  concessione." — Muratori,  Ann.  d' Italia,  sub  ann. 
1011. 


Chap.  n.  HENKY  m  EOME.  97 

not  only  compelled  to  perpetual  attendance  in  the  civil 
courts,  but  even  bound  to  military  service,  by  which 
they  could  scarcely  escape  being  partakers  in  rapine, 
sacrilege,  incendiarism,  and  homicide.  The  ministers  of 
the  altar  had  become  ministers  of  the  court.  Out  of 
this  arose  the  so  branded  monstrous  claim  of  the  right 
of  investiture,  which  had  been  justly  condemned  by 
Gregory  and  by  Urban.  Remove  the  cause  of  the 
evil,  the  evil  would  cease.^ 

Pope  Paschal,  either  in  his  fear,  and  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  desperate  and  helpless  position,^  or 
from  some  secret  conviction  that  this  was  the  real  in- 
terest of  the  Church,  as  well  as  the  most  Christian 
course ;  or  anticipating  the  unconquerable  resistance  of 
the  clergy,  which  would  release  him  from  the  fulfilment 
of  his  part  of  the  treaty,  and  throw  the  whole  prelacy 
and  clergy  on  his  side,  suddenly  acquiesced  in  this  basis 
for  the  treaty.^  The  Church  surrendered  all  the  pos- 
sessions and  all  the  royalties  which  it  had  received  of 
the  Empire  and  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy  from  the  days 
of  Charlemagne,  Louis  the  Pious,  and  Henry  I. ;  all 
the  cities,  duchies,  marquisates,  countships,  rights  of 

1  The  Emperor  recites  the  letter  of  Paschal.  "  In  vestri  autem  regi»i 
partibus  episcopi  vel  abbate?  adeo  curis  secularibus  occupantur,  iit  comita- 
tum  assidue  frequentare,  et  militiam  exercere  cogantur,  quiB  nimirum  aut  vix 
aut  nuUo  modo  sine  rapinis,  sacrilegiis,  incendiis,  aut  homicidiis  exhibetur. 
Ministri  vero  alians,  ministrl  curice  facti  sunt^  quia  ciiitaies,  ducatus.  mar  ■ 
cJiionatus,  monetas.  turres,  et  cetera,  ad  regni  servitium  jyertinentia  a  regibns 
acceperunt.'"  — Dodechin  apud  Struvium,  p.  669. 

2  He  had  already  congratulated  Henry,  "  quod  patris  nequitiam  abhor- 
reret."  Paschal  had  been  perplexed  to  showwhat  wickedness  of  his  father, 
as  regards  the  Church,  Henry  abhorred.    Chron.  Casin. 

3  There  is  much  which  is  contradictory  in  the  statements.  According  to 
the  writer  of  the  Chronicon  Casinense,  the  treaty  was  concluded  while  Henry 
was  still  at  Florence  by  Peter  Leonis  on  the  side  of  the  Pope,  and  the  am- 
bassadors of  Heuxy. 

VOL.  IV.  7 


98  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIH. 

coining  money,  customs,  tolls,^  advocacies,  rights  of 
Feb.  12,  nil.  raising  soldiers,  courts  and  castles,  held  of  the 
Empire.  The  King,  on  his  part,  gave  up  the  now 
vain  and  unmeaning  form  of  Investiture.^ 

The  treaty  was  concluded  in  the  porch  of  St.  Peter's 
Treaty.  Cliurch,  it  might  seem,  in  the  actual  presence 

of  the  Apostle.  The  King  pledged  himself  on  the  day 
of  his  coronation,  in  the  sight  of  the  clergy  and  the 
people,  to  grant  the  investiture  of  all  the  churches. 
The  Pope,  at  the  same  time,  was  to  confirm  by  an  oath 
the  surrender  of  all  the  royalties  held  by  the  Church. 
On  one  point  alone  the  Pope  was  inflexible.  Henry 
entreated  permission  to  bury  his  father  in  consecrated 
ground.  The  Pope,  who  had  already  significantly  re- 
minded Henry  that  he  had  acknowledged  and  professed 
to  abhor  the  wickedness  of  his  father,  infamous  through- 
out the  world,  declared  that  the  martyrs  sternly  exacted 
the  expulsion  of  that  guilty  man  from  their  churches  ; 
they  would  hold  no  communion  in  death  with  him  who 
died  out  of  communion  with  the  Church.^ 

The  King  pressed  this  point  no  further ;  but  he  con- 
sented to  swear  never  hereafter  to  intermeddle  in  the 
investiture  of  the  churches,  which  clearly  did  not  be- 
long to  the  Empire,  or  to  disturb  them  in  the  free  pos- 
session of  oblations  or  property.  He  was  to  restore 
and  maintain  to  the  Holy  See  the  patrimoii}^  of  St.  Pe- 
ter, as  it  had  been  granted  by  Pepin,  by  Charlemagne, 
and  by  Louis.     He  was  to  pledge  himself  neither  in 

1  "  Advocatias  regum,  jura  centurionum." 

2  The  first  convention  in  Pertz,  Leg.  ii.  68.     Eccard,  ii.  270. 

8  "  Hostis  enim  nequitiam,  toto  jam  socculo  difFamatam,  et  interius  cog- 

nosceret,  et  gravius  abhorreret Ipsos  etiam  Dei  Martyres  jam  in 

coelestibus  positos  id  tembiliter  exegisse  sciret,  ut  sceleratormn  cadavera  de 
suis  Basilicis  pellerentur,  ut  quibus  viventibus  non  communicamus,  nee 
mortuis  communicare  possum  us."  —  Chron.  Casin.,  cap.  xxxvi. 


Chap.  II.  TREATY.  99 

word  nor  thought  to  injure  either  in  life  or  Hmb,  or  by 
imprisonment  by  himself  or  others,  the  Pope  or  any  of 
his  adherents,  by  name  Peter,  the  son  of  Leo,  or  his 
sons,  who  were  to  be  hostages  for  the  Pope.  All  the 
great  princes  of  the  Empire,  among  them  Frederick 
Prince  of  Swabia  and  the  Chancellor  Albert,  were  to 
guarantee  by  oath  the  fulfilment  of  the  treaty.  Both 
sides  gave  hostages  :  the  Emperor  his  nephew  Fred- 
erick of  Swabia,  Bruno  Bishop  of  Spires,  and  three 
others ;  the  Pope  the  sons  or  kindred  of  Peter,  the  son 
of  Leo.  The  Pope  not  only  consented  on  these  terms 
to  perform  the  rite  of  coronation,  he  also  pledged  him- 
self never  hereafter  to  disturb  the  Emperor  or  the 
Empire  on  these  questions  ;  to  bind  his  successors  by 
an  anathema  not  to  presume  to  break  this  treaty.  And 
Peter  the  son  of  Leo  pledged  himself,  if  the  Pope 
should  fail  in  his  part  of  the  contract,  to  espouse  the 
cause  of  the  Emperor,  and  to  be  his  faithful  vassal. 

Such  was  the  solemn  compact  between  the  two  great 
Powers  of  Latin  Christendom.  The  oaths  may  still  be 
read  with  which  it  was  ratified  by  the  contracting  par- 
ties.^ 

On  Saturday,  the  11th  of  February,  Henry  appeared 
on  the  Monte  Mario.  A  deputation  from  the  city  met 
him,  and  required  his  oath  to  respect  the  liberties  of 
Rome.  Henry,  perhaps  from  ignorance  of  the  language, 
replied  in  German  ;  a  suspicion  of  treachery  arose ;  the 
Romans  withdrew  in  deep  but  silent  mistrust.  The 
hostages  were  exchanged  on  each  side  ;  Henry  ratified 
his  compact,  and  guaranteed  to  the  Pope,  besides  the 
patrimony  of  St.  Peter,  that  which  belonged  to  neither, 
Apulia,  Calabria,  Sicily,  and  the  principality  of  Capua. 

1  Apud  Pertz.    Mansi,  sub  ann. 


100  LATIN  CHRISTIANirY  Book  VIII. 

The  next  day  (Sunday)  a  magnificent  procession  of 
Procession  to  ^^^^  authorities  and  of  the  people,  under  their 
Bt.  Peter's,  cliffcront  banucrs,  escorted  the  King  into  the 
city.  The  standards  of  the  old  Republic  and  the  new 
religion  were  mingled  together.  The  torchbearers,  the 
bearers  of  the  Cross,  the  Eagles,  the  banners  em- 
blazoned with  the  Lion,  the  Wolf,  and  the  Dragon.^ 
The  people  strewed  flowers  and  palm-branches ;  all 
the  guilds  and  schools  marched  in  their  array.  Ac- 
cording to  usage,  at  two  difPerent  places  the  Emperor 
took  the  oath  to  protect  and  maintain  the  franchises  of 
the  people.  The  Jews  before  the  gate  of  the  Leonine 
City,  the  Greeks  in  the  gate  itself,  the  whole  people  as 
he  passed  through  the  streets,  welcomed  him  with  songs 
and  hymns  and  all  royal  honors.  He  dismounted 
from  his  horse,  ascended  the  steps  of  St.  Peter,  ap- 
proached the  Pope,  who  was  encircled  by  the  cardinals, 
by  many  bishops,  by  the  whole  clergy  and  choir  of 
the  Church.^  He  kissed  first  the  feet,  and  then  the 
mouth  of  the  Pontiff;  they  embraced  three  times,  and 
three  times  in  honor  of  the  Trinity  exchanged  the 
holy  kiss  on  the  forehead,  the  eyes,  and  the  lips.  All 
without  was  the  smoothest  and  most  cordial  harmony, 
but  within  there  was  profound  misgiving.  Henry  had 
demanded  that  the  gates  and  towers  of  the  Vatican 
should  be  occupied  by  his  soldiery. 

The  King  took  the  right  hand  of  the  Pope ;  the  peo- 
Henry  P^®  ^^"^  *^^®  ^^^  ^'^^^  acclamatious.    The  King 

Emperor        made  liis  solemn  declaration  to  observe  the 

1  Annalista  Saxo. 

2  The  Chron.  Casin.  makes  Henry  mount  his  horse  again,  and  as  it 
should  seem  ride  up  the  steps,  for  he  dismounts  again  to  greet  the  Pope. 
This  is  not  unimportant,  as  the  monk  makes  Henry  hold  the  Pope's  stirrup 
(stratoris  officium  exhibuit).    But  was  the  Pope  on  horseback? 


Chap.  II.  DISSATISFACTION.  101 

treaty  ;  the  Pope  declared  liim  Emperor,  and  again 
the  Pope  bestowed  the  kiss  of  peace.  They  no-v^  took 
their  seats  within  the  porphyry  chancel. 

But  after  all  this  solemn  negotiation,  this  imposing 
preparation,  which  would  trust  the  other  ?  which  would 
first  venture  to  make  the  full,  the  irrevocable  con- 
cession ?  The  character  of  Henry  justifies  the  dark- 
est suspicion  of  his  treachery,  but  the  Pope  must  by 
this  time  have  known  that  the  Chm'ch  would  never 
peraiit  him  to  ratify  the  rash  and  prodigal  conces- 
sion to  which  he  was  pledged  so  solemnly.  All  the 
more  lofty  Churchmen  had  heard  with  amazement  that 
the  successor  of  Hildebrand  and  of  Urban  had  sur- 
rendered at  once  half  of  the  dignity,  more  than  half 
of  the  power,  the  independence,  perhaps  the  wealth  of 
the  Church.  The  Cardinals,  no  doubt,  as  appointed 
by  the  late  Popes,  were  mostly  high  Hildebrandines. 
Many  of  the  Lombard  bishops  held  rights  and  privi- 
leges in  the  cities  which  would  have  been  at  the  least 
imperilled  by  this  unlimited  surrender  of  all  royalties. 
But  the  blow  was  heaviest  on  the  Transalpine  prelates. 
The  great  prince  bishops  of  Germany  ceased  at  once 
to  be  princes  ;  they  became  but  bishops.  They  were 
to  yield  up  all  their  pomp,  all  their  vast  temporal 
power.  It  was  the  avowed  design  to  banish  them  from 
the  camp,  the  council,  and  the  court,  and  to  confine 
them  to  the  cathedral.  They  were  no  longer,  as  hold- 
ing the  most  magnificent  imperial  fiefs,  to  rank  with 
the  counts,  and  dukes,  and  princes  ;  to  take  the  lead 
at  the  Diet ;  to  grant  or  to  withhold  their  contingent 
of  armed  men  for  service  under  the  Imperial  banner  ; 
to  ride  abrqad  with  a  splendid  retinue  ;  to  build  not 
only  sumptuous  palaces  but  strong  castles ;  to  be  the 


102  LATIX  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

great  justiciaries  in  their  cities,  to  levy  tolls,  appoint 
markets  and  havens.  Their  sole  occupation  henceforth 
was  to  be  their  spiritual  cure,  the  services  in  their 
churohes,  the  superintendence  of  their  dioceses :  the 
clergy  were  to  be  their  only  vassals,  their  honor  only 
that  which  they  might  command  by  their  sacerdotal 
character,  their  influence  that  only  of  the  chief  spirit- 
ual pastor  within  their  sees.  The  Pope  might  seem 
deliberately  and  treacherously  to  sacrifice  all  the  higher 
ecclesiastics,  to  strip  them  remorselessly  of  all  those  ac- 
cessories of  outward  show  and  temporal  influence  (some 
of  the  better  prelates  might  regret  the  loss  of  that 
power,  as  disabling  them  from  the  protection  of  the  poor 
against  the  rich,  of  the  oppressed  against  the  oppressor) : 
at  the  same  time  he  secured  himself :  to  him  the  patri- 
mony of  St.  Peter  was  to  be  confirmed  in  its  utmost  am- 
plitude. He,  and  he  only,  was  still  to  be  independent 
of  the  tithes  and  oblations  of  the  faithful ;  to  be  a  sov- 
ereign, at  least  with  all  the  real  powers  of  a  sovereign. 
They  sat,  then,  the  Emperor  and  the  Pope,  watch- 
ing each  other's  movements ;  each  determined  not  to 
commit  himself  by  some  hasty  word  or  act.  The  ob- 
ject of  each  was  to  throw  upon  the  other  the  shame 
and  obloquy  of  the  violation  of  contract.  Their  his- 
torians have  faithfully  inherited  their  mistrust  and  sus- 
picion, and  cast  the  blame  of  the  inevitable  breach  on 
either  of  the  irreconcilable  parties.  Henry  indeed  is 
his  own  historian,  and  asserts  the  whole  to  have  been  a 
stratagem  on  the  part  of  the  Pope  to  induce  him  to 
abandon  the  claim  to  the  investiture.  And  no  doubt 
the  advantage  was  so  clearly  on  the  side  of  the  king 
that  even  some  of  his  own  seemingly  most  ardent  adhe- 
rents might  dread,  and  might  endeavor  to  interrupt,  a 


Chap.  II.  DISSATISFACTION.  103 

treaty  which  threw  such  immense  power  into  his  hands. 
Not  merely  was  he  reUeved  from  the  salutary  check  of 
the  ecclesiastical  feudatories,  but  some  of  the  superior 
nobles  becoming  his  vassals,  holding  directly  of  the 
Emperor  instead  of  intermediately  of  the  Church,  were 
less  safe  from  tyranny  and  oppression.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  asserted  that  Henry  had  determined  never 
to  concede  the  investiture  —  that  this  was  one  more 
added  to  his  acts  of  perfidy  and  falsehood.^ 

At  length  the  king  withdrew  into  a  private  chamber 
to  consult  with  his  nobles  and  his  prelates  :  among  these 
were  three  Lombard  bishops,  of  Parma,  Reggio,  and  Pia- 
cenza.  His  principal  adviser  was  the  Chancellor  Albert, 
afterwards  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  a  man  of  daring  and 
ambition :  of  the  secrets  of  this  council  nothing  transpired. 

Time  wore  away.  The  Transalpine  prelates,  to  re- 
monstrate (no  doubt  their  remonstrance  deepened  into 
expostulation,  into  menace),  threw  themselves  at  the 
feet  of  the  Pope.  Paschal,  if  credit  is  to  be  given  to 
the  most  full  and  distinct  account,  still  held  the  lofty 
reliorious   doctrine  that  all    should   be  surrendered   to 

o 

CaBsar  which  belonged  to  Cassar,  that  the  clergy  should 
stand  altogether  aloof  from  temporal  concerns.^  This 
doctrine,  it  might  have  been  supposed,  would  have  been 
most  acceptable  to  the  ears  of  Cassar,  who  had  now  re- 
sumed his  place.  But  instead  of  the  calm  ratification 
of  the  treaty,  the  assembly  became  more  and  more 
tumultuous.  Loud  voices  clamored  that  the  treaty 
could  not  be  fulfilled.^   A  partisan  of  Henry  exclaimed, 

1  Annal.  Roman.,  p.  474;  Eccard,  Chron.;  Annal.  Hildesheim.,  1111; 
Pandulf.  Pisan. ;  Chron.  Casin. 

2  Chronic.  Casin. 

3  The  monk  of  ^Monte  Casino  would  persuade  us  that  this  was  a  ciy 
treacherously  got  up  by  the  partisans  of  Henry;  probably  the  loudest  re- 
monstrants were  Transalpines. 


104  LATIN"  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

"  What  need  of  this  dispute  ?  Our  Emperor  shall  re- 
ceive the  crown  as  it  was  received  by  Charlemagne,  by 
Pepin,  and  by  Louis  !  "  The  Pope  refused  to  proceed 
to  the  ceremony.  As  it  grew  later  he  proposed  to  ad- 
journ the  meeting.  The  Imperialists,  as  the  strife 
grew  more  hot,  took  measures  to  prevent  the  Pope  from 
leaving  the  church  until  he  should  have  performed  the 
coronation.  He  and  the  clergy  were  surrounded  by 
files  of  soldiers  ;  they  were  scarcely  allowed  approach 
to  the  altar  to  provide  the  elements  for  the  Eucharist 
or  to  celebrate  the  evening  mass.  After  that  mass  they 
again  sat  under  guard  before  the  Confessional  of  St. 
Peter,  and  only  at  nightfall  were  permitted,  under  the 
same  strict  custody,  to  retire  Into  an  adjacent  building. 
Acts  of  violence  were  committed  ;  some  of  the  attend- 
ant boys  and  even  the  clergy  were  beaten  and  stripped 
of  their  vestments :  two  bishops,  John  of  Tusculum 
and  Leo  of  Ostia,  made  their  escape  in  disguise. 

The  populace  of  Rome,  as  soon  as  they  heard  of  the 
imprisonment  of  the  Pope,  indignant  at  his  treatment, 
or  at  least  hating  the  Germans,  who  had  already  given 
much  cause  for  suspicion  and  animosity,  rose  In  furious 
insurrection.  They  slew  all  the  unarmed  Teutons  who 
had  come  up  to  the  city  for  devotion  or  for  trade.  The 
next  day  they  crossed  the  Tiber,  attacked  the  army 
without  the  walls,  and,  flushed  with  some  success, 
turned  upon  the  Emperor  and  his  troops,  which  occu- 
pied St.  Peter's  :  they  almost  got  possession  of  the  porch 
of  the  church.  The  Emperor,  who  had  mounted  his 
horse  half  armed,  and  charged  into  the  fray,  having 
transfixed  five  Romans  with  his  lance,  was  thrown  from 
his  horse  and  wounded  in  the  face.  A  devoted  adhe- 
rent, Otho,  a  Milanese  count,  gave  the  Emperor  his 


Chap,  n.     THE  POPE  REFUSES  THE  CORONATION.  105 

horse,  but  was  himself  taken  prisoner,  carried  into  the 
streets  and  torn  Hmb  from  limb  :  his  flesh  was  thrown 
to  the  dogs.  The  Emperor  shouted  to  his  knights  in  a 
tone  of  bitter  reproach,  "  Will  ye  leave  your  Emperor 
to  be  murdered  by  the  Romans  ? "  The  chivalrous 
spirit  kindled  at  his  voice  ;  the  troops  rallied  ;  the  bat- 
tle lasted  till  nightfall,  when  the  Romans,  having  plun- 
dered the  dead,  turned  back  towards  the  city  with  their 
booty.  But  the  Imperialists  had  now  recovered  from 
their  surprise,  charged  the  retreating  enemy,  and  slaugh- 
tered a  great  number,  who  would  not  abandon  their 
plunder  to  save  their  lives.  The  castle  of  St.  Angelo 
alone,  which  was  in  the  power  of  the  Romans,  checked 
the  Germans  and  protected  the  passage  of  the  river. 

All  that  night  the  warlike  Bishop  of  Tusculum  ^  ha- 
rangued the  Romans,  and  exhorted  them  to  rescue  the 
Pope  and  the  cardinals  from  the  hands  of  their  ungodly 
enemies  ;  he  lavished  on  all  sides  his  offers  of  absolu- 
tion. Henry  found  it  prudent  after  three  days  to  with- 
draw from  the  neio-hborhood  of  Rome :  his  Feb.  16. 
army  was  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  Tiber,  which  lay 
between  him  and  the  city.  He  marched  along  the 
Flaminian  Way  towards  Soracte,  crossed  the  Tiber, 
and  afterwards  the  Anio,  and  there  joined  his  Italian 
adherents.  On  that  side  of  Rome  he  concentrated  his 
forces  and  wasted  the  whole  territory.  His  prisoners, 
the  Pope,  the  bishops,  and  the  cardinals,  were  treated 
with  great  indignity,  the  Pope  stripped  of  his  robes  of 
state,  the  clergy  bound  with  ropes.  The  Pope,  with 
two  bishops  and  four  cardinals,  were  imprisoned  in  the 
castle  of  Treviso  ;  no  one  of  his  Roman  adherents  was 

1  The  Bishop  of  Tusculum  enhances  the  prowess  and  success  of  the  Ro- 
mans.   Compare  his  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Alba.  —  Labbe,  p.  775. 


106  LATIN   CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Till. 

permitted  to  approach  him  ;  the  other  cardinals  were 
confined  in  the  castle  of  Corcodilo. 

The  indefatigable  Bishop  of  Tusculum  showed  the 
utmost  energy  in  keeping  up  the  resistance  of  the  Ro- 
man people.  But  no  help  could  be  expected  from  the 
Normans.  Duke  Roger  and  his  brother  Bohemond 
were  just  dead  ;  the  Normans  could  only  hope  to  pro- 
tect their  own  territories  against  the  advance  of  the 
Emperor.  The  prince  of  Capua  made  an  attempt  to 
throw  300  men  into  Rome  ;  at  Ferentino  he  found  the 
Count  of  Tusculum  posted,  with  other  Italian  partisans 
of  Henry  :  his  troops  returned  to  Capua. 

Two  months  passed  away.^  The  German  army 
wasted  the  whole  land  with  merciless  cruelty  up  to  the 
gates  of  Rome.  But  still  the  resolute  Paschal  refused 
to  acquiesce  In  the  right  of  investiture  or  to  crown  the 
Emperor.  Henry  is  said,  In  his  wrath,  to  have  threat- 
ened to  cut  off  the  heads  of  the  Pope  and  all  the  car- 
dinals. In  vain  the  weary  and  now  dispirited  cardinals 
urged  that  he  gave  up  only  the  Investiture  of  the  roy- 
alties, not  of  the  spiritual  powers  ;  in  vain  they  repre- 
sented the  danger  of  a  new  schism  which  might  distract 
the  whole  Church.  The  miseries  of  his  Roman  sub- 
jects at  length  touched  the  heart  of  Paschal ;  with 
many  tears  he  exclaimed,  "  I  am  compelled,  for  the 
deliverance  of  the  Church  and  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
to  yield  what  I  would  never  have  yielded  to  save  my 
own  life."  ^ 

1  The  rest  of  February  and  the  whole  of  March,  with  some  days  of 
April. 

2  "  Proponebatur  pontifici  captivorura  calamitates  quod  amissis  liberis  et 
uxoribus  domo  et  patria  exules  durioribus  compedibus  abducebantur.  Pro- 
ponebatur Ecclesise  Romanse  desolatio,  quae  pene  omnes  Cardinales  amiserat. 
Proponebatur    gravissimum    schismatis    periculum,  quod  pene  universaa 


Chap.  II.  THE  POPE  YIELDS.  107 

Near  Ponte  Mommolo  over  the  Anio,  this  treaty  was 
ratified.  The  Pope  surrendered  to  the  Emperor  the 
right  of  investiture  over  the  bishops  and  abbots  of  the 
Empire.  He  promised  to  take  no  revenge  for  what 
had  passed,  more  especially  he  solemnly  pledged  him- 
self not  to  anathematize  Henry,  but  to  crown  April  ii,  12. 
him  as  King,  Emperor,  and  Patrician  of  Rome,  and 
to  render  him  all  due  allemance.  The  kino;  on  his 
part  covenanted  to  set  the  Pope,  the  cardinals,  and  all 
his  other  prisoners  at  liberty,  and  not  to  take  Treaty. 
them  again  into  captivity;  to  make  peace  with  the 
Romans  and  all  the  adherents  of  the  Pope ;  to  main- 
tain the  Pope  in  the  possession  of  his  sacred  dignity, 
to  restore  all  the  property  of  which  he  had  been  de- 
spoiled, and,  saving  the  dignity  of  the  kingdom  and  of 
the  Empire,  to  be  obedient  to  the  Pope  as  other  Cath- 
olic sovereigns  to  other  Catholic  Pontiffs  of  Rome. 

The  Germans  suspected  that  into  the  written  treaty 
might  furtively  be  introduced  some  protest  that  the 
Pope  was  under  force.  Count  Albert  Blandrade  de- 
clared to  Paschal  that  his  concession  must  be  uncon- 
ditional. "  If  I  may  not  add  a  written  condition," 
replied  the  Pope,  "  I  will  do  it  by  word."  He  turned 
to  the  Emperor :  "  So  will  we  fulfil  our  oath  as  thou 
givest  assurance  that  thou  wilt  fulfil  thine."  The 
Emperor  could  not  but  assent.  Fourteen  cardinals 
and   ecclesiastics   on   the   part  of  the  Pope,  fourteen 


Latinse  ecclesise  immineret.  Victus  tandem  miseriis  filiorum,  laborans 
gravibus  suspiriis  et  gemitibus,  et  in  lacrymis  totus  effusus  ecclesiae  pro 
liberatione  ac  pace  hoc  pati,  hoc  permittere,  quod  pro  vita  mea  nullatenus 
consentirem."  —  Annal.  Roman,  p.  475.  Au  Imperialist  writer  strangely 
compares  the  conduct  of  Henr^-,  in  thus  extorting  the  surrender,  with 
Jacob's  wrestling  for  a  blessing  with  the  angel.  —  Chron.  Ursbergense, 
m  he.    Also  Annalista  Saxo. 


108  LATIN  CHEISTIANITT.  Book  VIII. 

princes  of  the  Empire  on  that  of  Henrj,  ^aranteed 
by  oath  the  fulfihnent  of  the  treaty.  The  written 
compact  menaced  with  the  anathema  of  the  Church 
all  who  should  infi'inge,  or  contumaciously  persist  in 
infringing,  this  Imperial  privilege.  No  bishop  was  to 
be  consecrated  till  he  had  received  investiture. 

The  army  advanced  again  to  Rome  ;  they  crossed 
April  13.  the  Salarian  bridge  and  entered  the  Leonine 
the  Emperor,  city  bcyoud  the  Tiber.  With  closed  doors, 
fearful  of  some  new  tumult  of  the  people,  the  Pope, 
in  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  performed  the  office  of  cor- 
onation. Both  parties  seemed  solicitous  to  array  the 
treaty  in  the  most  binding  solemnities.  That  there 
might  appear  no  compulsion,  the  Emperor,  as  soon  as 
he  had  been  crowned,  replaced  the  charter  of  his  priv- 
ilege in  the  Pope's  hand,  and  received  it  a  second  time, 
contrary  to  all  usage,  from  his  hands.  The  mass  closed 
the  ceremony ;  the  Pope  brake  the  host :  "As  this  part 
of  the  living  body  of  the  Lord  is  severed  from  the  rest, 
so  be  he  severed  from  the  Church  of  Christ  who  shall 
violate  this  treaty." 

A  deputation  of  the  Romans  was  then  permitted  to 
enter  the  church  ;  they  presented  the  Emperor  with 
the  golden  diadem,  the  insignia  of  the  Patriciate  and 
Defensorship  of  the  city  of  Rome.  Yet  Henry  did  not 
enter,  as  his  predecessors  were  wont,  the  unruly  city ; 
he  withdrew  to  his  camp,  having  bestowed  rich  gifts 
upon  the  clergy  and  taken  hostages  for  their  fidelity : 
the  Pope  passed  by  the  bridge  over  the  Tiber  into 
Rome. 

The  Emperor  returned  to  Germany,  having  extorted 
in  one  successful  campaign  that  which  no  power  had 
been  able  to  wrino-  from  the  more  stubborn  Hildebrand 


Chap.  II.  DISSATISFACTION  IN  RO^ME.  109 

and  Urban.  So  great  was  the  terror  of  his  name  that 
the  devout  defender  of  the  Pope  and  of  his  supremacy, 
the  Countess  Matilda,  scrupled  not  to  maintain  the 
most  friendly  relations  with  him.  She  would  not  in- 
deed leave  her  secure  fortress,  but  the  Emperor  con- 
descended to  visit  her  at  Bianello ;  he  conversed  with 
her  in  German,  with  which,  as  born  in  Lorraine,  she 
was  familiar,  released  at  her  request  the  Bishops  of 
Parma  and  Reggio,  called  her  by  the  endearing  name 
of  mother,  and  invested  her  in  the  sovereignty  of  the 
province  of  Liguria. 

It  would  be  unjust  to  Paschal  not  to  believe  him  sin- 
cere in  his  desire  to  maintain  this  treaty,  so  Dissatisfac- 
publicly  made,  so  solemnly  ratified.  But  he  Rome. 
could  no  more  resist  the  indignation  of  the  clergy  than 
the  menaces  of  the  Emperor.  The  few  cardinals  who 
had  been  imprisoned  with  him,  as  his  accomplices, 
feebly  defended  him  ;  all  the  rest  with  one  voice  called 
upon  him  immediately  to  annul  the  unholy,  the  sacri- 
legious compact ;  to  excommunicate  the  Emperor  who 
had  dared  to  extort  by  violence  such  abandonment  of 
her  rights  from  the  Church.  The  Pope,  who  was  om- 
nipotent and  infallible  to  advance  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  when  he  would  make  any  concession  lost  at 
once  his  power  and  infalhbility.  The  leader  of  the  old 
Hildebrandine  party,  more  papal  than  the  Pope  him- 
self, was  Bruno,  afterwards  a  saint,  then  Bishop  of 
Segni  and  abbot  elect  of  Monte  Casino.  He  addressed 
the  Pope  to  his  face  :  "  They  say  that  I  am  thine 
enemy ;  I  am  not  thine  enemy :  I  owe  thee  the  love 
and  reverence  of  a  father.  But  it  is  written,  he  who 
lovetli  father  or  mother  more  than  me,  is  not  worths/  of  me. 
I  love  thee,  but  I  love  Him  more  who  made  both  me  and 


110  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

thee."  He  proceeded  to  denounce  tlie  treaty,  to  arraign 
the  Pope  for  violation  of  the  apostolic  canons,  for  her- 
esy. "If  I  do  not  deprive  him  of  his  Abbey,"  said 
the  Pope  in  his  bitterness,  "  he  will  deprive  me  of  the 
Papacy."^  The  monks  of  Monte  Casino,  at  the  Pope's 
July  5.  instigation,  chose  another  abbot ;  and  as  the 

new  abbot  was  supported  by  arms,  Bruno  gave  up  his 
claims  and  retired  to  his  bishopric  of  Segni. 

The  oath  which  the  Pope  had  taken,  and  ratified 
Embarrass-  by  sucli  awful  circumstauces,  embarrassed 
Pope.  the  Pope  alone.      The  clergy,  who  had  in- 

curred no  danger,  and  suffered  no  indignity  or  distress, 
taunted  him  with  his  weakness,  contrasted  his  pliancy 
with  the  nobly  obstinate  resolution  of  Hildebrand  and 
of  Urban,  and  exhorted  him  to  an  act  of  perfidy  and 
treason  of  which  he  would  bear  at  least  the  chief  guilt 
and  shame.  Paschal  was  sorely  beset.  He  sought  for 
reasons  which  might  justify  him  to  the  world  and  to 
himself  for  breaking  faith  with  the  Emperor ;  he  found 
none,  except  the  refusal  to  surrender  certain  castles 
and  strongholds  in  the  papal  territory,  and  some  vague 
charges  of  ill-usage  towards  the  hostages.^  At  one 
time  he  threatened  to  lay  down  his  dignity  and  to  retire 
as  a  hermit  to  the  desert  island  of  Pontia.  At  length 
the  violent  and  incessant  reproaches  of  the  cardinals, 
and  what  might  seem  the  general  voice  of  tlie  clergy, 
overpowered  his  honor,  his  conscience,  his  religion. 
In  a  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Vienne,  he  declared 

1  Chronic.  Casin. 

2  See  his  letter,  apucl  Eccard,  ii.  274  and  275.  "  Ex  quo  vobiscuni  illam, 
quam  nostis,  pactionem  fecimus,  non  solum  longius  positi,  sed  ipsi  etiara, 
qui  circa  nos  sunt,  cer\'icem  adversus  nos  erexerunt,  et  intestinis  bellis 
viscera  nostra  collacerant,  et  niulto  faciem  nostram  rubore  perfundunt."  — 
Oct.  26,  nil. 


Chap.  II.  EQUIVOCATIOX  OF  THE  POPE.  HI 

that  he  had  acted  only  from  compulsion,  that  he  had 
yielded  up  the  right  of  investiture  only  to  save  the  lib- 
erties of  the  Church  and  the  city  of  Rome  from  total 
ruin  ;^  he  declared  the  whole  treaty  null  and  void,  con- 
demned it  utterly,  and  confirmed  all  the  strong  decrees 
of  Gregory  VII.  and  of  Urban  II.  When  this  intel- 
ligence was  communicated  to  the  Emperor,  his  German 
nobles  were  so  indignant  that  the  legate,  had  he  not 
been  protected  by  the  Emperor,  would  hardly  hctve  es- 
caped with  liis  life. 

But  more  was  necessary  than  this  unauthoritative 
letter  of  the  wavering  Pope  to  annul  this  solemn 
treaty,  to  reconcile  by  a  decree  of  the  Church  the 
mind  of  man  to  this  signal  breach  of  faith  and  dis- 
regard of  the  most  sacred  oath. 

In  March  (the  next  year)  a  council  assembled  in 
the  Lateran  Palace  ;  almost  all  the  cardinals,  March  is, 
whether  bishops,  priests,  or  abbots,  were  pres-  iiteran 
ent,  more  than  a  hundred  prelates,  almost  all  ^^'^'^^^^• 
from  the  south  of  Italy,  from  the  north  only  the  Vene- 
tian patriarch,  from  France  the  Archbishops  of  Lyons 
and  Vienne,  from  Germany  none. 

The  Pope,  by  a  subtle  subterfuge,  endeavored  to 
reconcile  his  personal  observance  with  the  Equivoca- 
absolute  abrogation  ot  the  whole  treaty.  He  Pope. 
protested  that,  though  the  Emperor  had  not  kept  faith 
with  him,  he  would  keep  faith  with  the  Emperor ;  that 
he  would  neither  disquiet  him  on  the  subject  of  the  in- 
vestitures, nor  utter  an  anathema  against  him,^  though 

1  Card.  Arragon.  ap.  Muratori. 

2  "  Ego  eum  nunquam  anathematisabo,  et  nunquam  de  investituris  in- 
quietabo,  porro  scriptum  illud,  quod  magnis  necessitatibus  coactus,  non  pro 
vita  mea,  non  pro  salute  aut  gloria  mea,  sed  pro  solis  ecclesiae  necessitatibus 
sine  fratrum  consilio  aut  subscriptionibus  feci,  super  quo  nulla  conditione, 


112  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

he  declared  the  act  of  surrender  compulsory,  and  so  not 
obligatory:  his  sole  unadvised  act,  an  evil  act  which 
ought  by  God's  will  to  be  corrected.  At  the  same 
time,  with  consummate  art,  he  made  his  profession  of 
faith,  for  his  act  had  been  tainted  with  the  odious  name 
of  heresy ;  he  declared  his  unalterable  belief  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  in  the  statutes  of  the  GEcumenic 
Councils,  and,  as  though  of  equal  obligation  with  these, 
in  the  decrees  of  his  predecessors  Gregory  and  Urban, 
decrees  which  asserted  lay  investiture  to  be  unlawful 
and  impious,  and  pronounced  the  layman  who  should 
confer,  or  the  churchman  who  should  accept  such  in- 
vestiture, actually  excommunicate.  He  left  the  Coun- 
cil to  do  that  which  he  feared  or  scrupled  to  do.  The 
Council  proceeded  to  its  sentence,  which  unequivocally 
cancelled  and  declared  void,  under  pain  of  excommu- 
nication, this  privilege,  extorted,  it  was  said,  by  the 
violence  of  Henry.  The  whole  assembly  with  loud 
acclamations  testified  their  assent,  "  Amen  !  Amen ! 
So  be  it !    So  be  it !  "  ^ 

But  Henry  was  still  within  the  pale  of  the  Church, 
CouDciiof  and  Paschal  refused  so  flagrantly  to  violate 
communi-  his  oath,  to  wliich  on  this  point  he  had  been 
Emperor.  Specifically  pledged  with  the  most  binding 
distinctness.  The  more  zealous  churchmen  determined 
to  take  upon  themselves  this  act  of  holy  vengeance. 
A  council  assembled  at  Vienne,  under  the  Archbishop 
Guido,  afterwards  Pope  Calixtus  II.  The  Emperor 
condescended  to  send  his  ambassadors  with  letters,  re- 


nulla  promissione  constringimur !  —  prav6  factum  confiteor,  et  omnino  cor- 
rigi,  domino  prfestante,  desidero."  —  Cardin.  Arragon.  he.  cit. 

1  "Neque  vero  dici  debet  pnVilegium  sed  pravilegium." — Labbe  et 
Mansi,  sub  ann.  1112.    Acta  Concilii,  apud  Pertz. 


Chap.  II.  DISCONTENTS  IN  THE  EMPIRE.  113 

ceived,  as  he  asserted,  from  the  Pope  since  the  decree 
of  the  Lateran  Council,  in  which  the  Pope  professed 
the  utmost  amity,  and  his  desire  of  peace.  The  Coun- 
cil were  amazed,  but  not  disturbed  or  arrested  in  their 
violent  course.  As  they  considered  themselves  sanc- 
tioned in  their  meeting  by  the  Pope,  they  proceeded  to 
their  decree.  One  metropolitan  Council  took  upon 
itself  to  excommunicate  the  Emperor  !  They  declared 
investiture  by  lay  hands  to  be  a  heresy  ;  by  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  they  annulled  the  privilege  granted 
by  the  Pope,  as  extorted  by  violence.  "  Henry,  the 
King  of  the  Germans,  like  another  Judas,  has  betrayed 
the  Pope  by  kissing  his  feet,  has  imprisoned  him  with 
the  cardinals  and  other  prelates,  and  has  wrung  from 
him  by  force  that  most  impious  and  detestable  charter  ; 
him  we  excommunicate,  anathematize,  cast  out  of  the 
bosom  of  the  Church,  till  he  give  fall  satisfaction." 
These  decrees  w^ere  sent  to  the  Pope,  with  a  signifi- 
cant menace,  which  implied  great  mistrust  in  his  firm- 
ness. "  If  you  will  confirm  these  decrees,  abstain  fi:-om 
all  intercourse,  and  reject  all  presents  from  that  cruel 
tyrant,  we  w^ll  be  your  faithful  sons  ;  if  not,  so  God  be 
propitious  to  us,  you  will  compel  us  to  renounce  all  sub- 
jection and  obedience."  ^ 

To  this  more  than  papal  power  the  Pope  submitted ; 
he  ratified  the  decree  of  the  Council  of  Vi-  oct.  20. 
enne,  thus  doing  by  others  what  he  was  solemnly  sworn 
not  to  do  himself;  allowing  what  w^as  usually  supposed 
an  inferior  tribunal  to  dispense  with  the  oath  which  he 
dared  not  himself  retract ;   by  an  unworthy  sophistry 

1  Letter  of  Aichbishop  of  Vienne,  and  the  account  of  the  Council,  apud 
Labbe  et  Mansi,  a.d.  1112. 

VOL.  IV.  8 


114  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIIL 

trying  to  obtain  the  advantage  without  the  guilt  of  per- 
jury.^ 

But  these  things  were  not  done  without  strong  re- 
monstrance, and  that  from  the  clergy  of  France.  A 
protest  was  issued,  written  by  the  learned  Ivo  of  Char- 
tres,  and  adopted  by  the  Archbishop  of  Sens  and  his 
clergy,  denying  the  temporal  claim  to  the  investitures 
to  be  heresy,  and  disclaiming  all  concurrence  in  these 
audacious  proceedings.^ 

A  good  and  prudent  Emperor  might  have  defied  an 
interdict  issued  by  less  than  the  Pope.  But  the  man 
Discontent  who  had  attained  his  sovereignty  by  such 
of  the  violent  and  unjustifiable  means  was  not  likely 

German  .  .  .  ,       .         .  -,  ,  . 

prelates.  to  cxercisc  it  witli  justicc  and  moderation. 
He  who  neither  respected  the  authority  nor  even  the 
sacred  person  of  his  father  and  Emperor,  nor  the  more 
sacred  person  of  the  Pope,  would  trample  under  foot, 
if  in  his  way,  the  more  vulgar  rights  of  vassals  or  of 
subjects.  Henry  condescended  indeed  to  attempt  a 
reconciliation  Avith  his  father's  friends,  to  efface  the 
memory  of  his  ingratitude  by  tardy  piety.  He  cel- 
ebrated with  a  mockery  of  splendor  the  funeral  of  his 
father  (he  had  wrung  at  length  the  unwilling  sanction 
of  the  Pope)  in  the  cathedral  of  Spires ;  he  bestowed 
munificent  endowments  and  immunities  on  that  church. 
The  city  of  Worms  was  rewarded  by  special  priAaleges 
for  her  long-tried  attachment  to  the  Emperor  Henry 
IV.,  an  attachment  which,  if  it  could  be  transferred, 
might  be  equally  necessary  to  his  son.  For  while 
Henry  V.  aspired  to  rule  as  a  despot,  he  soon  discov- 
ered that  he  wanted  despotic  power  ;  he  found  that  the 

1  Mansi.    Bouquet,  xv.  52. 

2  Apud  Labbe  et  Mans.^,  sub  ann.  1112. 


Chap.  II.  DISCONTENTS  IN  THE  EMPIRE.  115 

habit  of  rebellion,  which  he  had  encouraged  for  his 
own  ends,  would  be  constantly  recoiling  against  himself. 
His  reioTi  was  almost  one  long  civil  war.  Prince  after 
prince,  either  alienated  by  his  pride  or  by  some  violent 
invasion  of  their  rights,  the  seizure  and  sequestration 
of  their  fiefs,  or  interference  with  their  succession, 
raised  the  standard  of  revolt.  Instead  of  reconciling 
the  ecclesiastical  princes  and  prelates  by  a  temperate 
and  generous  use  of  the  right  of  investiture,  he  be- 
trayed, or  was  thought  to  betray,  his  determination  to 
reannex  as  much  of  the  ecclesiastical  domains  as  he 
could  to  the  Empire.  The  excommunication  was  at 
once  a  ready  justification  for  the  revolt  of  the  great 
ecclesiastical  vassals  of  the  Empire,  and  a  formidable 
weapon  in  their  hands.  From  the  first  his  acts  had 
been  held  in  detestation  by  some  of  the  Transalpine 
prelates.  Gerard,  Archbishop  of  Salzburg,  had  openly 
condemned  him  ;  the  holy  Conrad  retired  into  the  des- 
ert, where  he  proclaimed  his  horror  of  such  deeds. 
The  monks  of  Hirschau,  as  their  enemies  the  monks 
of  Laurisheim  declared,  spoke  of  the  Emperor  as  an 
excommunicated  heretic.  The  Archbishop  of  Cologne 
almost  alone  defied  the  whole  force  of  Henry,  repelled 
his  troops,  and  gradually  drew  into  one  party  the  great 
body  of  malecontents.  Almost  the  whole  clergy  by 
degrees  threw  themselves  into  the  papal  faction.  The 
Legates  of  the  Pope,  of  their  own  authority  it  is  true, 
and  without  the  express  sanction  of  the  Pope,  dissem- 
inated and  even  published  the  act  of  excommunication 
in  many  quarters.  It  was  renewed  in  a  synod  at  Beau- 
vais,  with  the  sanction  of  the  metropolitan ;  it  was . 
formally  pronounced  in  the  church  of  St.  Geryon  at 
Cologne.     The  inhabitants  of  Mentz,  though  imperial- 


116  LATIN  CHEISTIAJNITY.  Book  Vlil 

ists  at  heart,  rose  in  insurrection,  and  compelled  the  Em- 
peror to  release  their  archbishop  Albert,  once  Henry's 
most  faithful  partisan,  his  counsellor  throughout  all  the 
strong  proceedings  against  Pope  Paschal  in  Italy,  but 
now  having  been  raised  to  the  German  primacy  by 
Henry's  influence,  his  mortal  enemy .^  Albert  had 
been  thrown  into  prison  on  a  charge  of  high  treason  ; 
he  was  worn  to  a  skeleton  by  his  confinement.  He 
became  an  object  of  profound  compassion  to  all  the 
enemies  of  Henry ;  his  bitter  and  powerful  mind  devot- 
ed itself  to  revenge.  Erlang,  Bishop  of  Wurtzburg, 
of  whose  fidelity  Henry  thought  himself  secure,  was 
sent  to  negotiate  with  the  revolted  princes  and  prelates, 
and  fell  off  at  once  to  the  papal  party. 

While  half  Germany  was  thus  at  open  war  with  the 
Death  of  Emperor,  the  death  of  the  great  Countess 
Studr.^  Matilda  imperiously  required  his  presence  in 
i?i5.  *'  Italy.  If  the  Pope  obtained  peaceable  posses- 
sion of  her  vast  inheritance,  which  by  formal  instruments 
she  had  made  over  on  her  death  to  the  Apostolical  See, 
the  Pontiff  became  a  kind  of  king  in  Italy.  The  Em- 
peror immediately  announced  his  claim  not  only  to  all 
the  Imperial  fiefs,  to  the  march  of  Tuscany,  to  Mantua 
and  other  cities,  but  to  all  the  allodial  and  patrimonial 
inheritance  held  by  the  Countess  ;2  and  thus  sprung  up  a 
new  subject  of  irreconcilable  strife  between  the  Popes 


1  The  Pope  urged  his  release ;  his  only  fault  had  been  too  great  love  for 
Henr)'.  "  Quantum  novimus,  quantum  experti  sumus,  testimonium  fecimus, 
quia  te  super  omnia  diligebat."  —  Epist.  Paschal,  apud  Eccard,  ii.  276. 
Mansi,  sub  ann.  1113. 

2  Muratori  suggests  that  the  Emperor  put  forward  the  claim  of  the 
house  of  Bavaria,  insisting  that  they  were  settled  on  Duke  Guelf  the 
younger,  on  his  marriage.  This  claim  was  acknowledged  afterwards  by 
the  Emperor  Frederick  Barbarossa. 


Chap.  II.  LATEKAN  COUNCIL.  117 

and  Emperors.     Henry  expressed  his  determination  to 
cross  the  Alps  in  the  course  of  the  following  year. 

At  Rome  the  preparations  of  Henry  for  his  second 
descent  into  Italy  were  heard  by  some  with  apprehen- 
sion, by  some  with  a  fierce  determination  to  encounter, 
or  even  to  provoke  his  worst  hostility  in  defence  of  the 
rights  of  the  Church.  Early  in  the  spring  which  was 
to  behold  this  descent,  a  Council  was  sum-  Late^an 
moned  in  the  Lateran.  The  clergy  awaited  2L"ch6 
in  jealous  impatience,  the  Hildebrandine  party  ■^^■^^• 
mistrusting  the  courage  of  the  Pope  to  defy  the  Em- 
peror, the  more  moderate  doubting  his  firmness  to  resist 
their  more  violent  brethren.  As'  yet  the  great  momen- 
tous question  was  not  proposed.  There  was  first  a  pre- 
liminary one,  too  important,  even  in  the  present  state 
of  affairs,  not  to  receive  due  attention  ;  it  related  to  the 
Archbishopric  of  Milan.  Grossolano,  a  man  of  learn- 
ing and  moderation,  had  been  elected  to  that  metropol- 
itan see  ;  he  had  taken  the  cross  and  gone  to  the  Holy 
Land.  During  his  absence  the  clergy  of  Milan  had, 
on  some  charge  of  simoniacal  proceeding  (he  may  not 
have  been  so  austerely  opposed  as  they  might  wish  to 
the  old  unextinguished  faction  of  the  married  clergy), 
or,  as  it  is  alleged,  because  he  had  been  uncanonically 
translated  from  the  see  of  Savona,  declared  him  to  have 
forfeited  his  see.  They  proceeded  to  elect  a.d.  1112. 
Giordano,  represented,  by  no  friendly  writer,  as  a  man 
without  education  (perhaps  of  the  monastic  school)  and 
of  no  great  weight.  Giordano  had  been  consecrated 
by  three  suffragans  :  Landolf  Bishop  of  Asti,  who  at- 
tempted to  fly,  but  was  brought  back  and  compelled  to 
perform  the  office ;  Arialdo  Bishop  of  Genoa ;  and 
Mamardo  Bishop  of   Turin.      Mamardo   hastened   to 


118  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Boor  VIII. 

Rome  to  demand  the  metropolitan  pall  for  Giordano. 
The  Archiepiscopate  of  Milan  was  of  too  great  dignity 
and  influence  not  to  be  secured  at  any  cost  for  the  high 
party.  The  Pope  abandoned  unheard  the  cause  of 
Grossolano,  and  sent  the  pall  to  Giordano,  but  he 
was  not  to  be  arrayed  in  it  till  he  had  sworn  fidelity  to 
the  Pope,  and  sworn  to  refuse  investiture  from  the  Em- 
peror. For  six  months  Giordano  steadfastly  declined  to 
receive  the  pall  on  these  terms.  A  large  part  of  the 
people  of  Milan  were  still  in  favor  of  Grossolano,  and 
seemed  determined  to  proceed  to  extremities  in  his 
favor.  The  Bishops  Azzo  of  Acqui,  and  Ardt^ric  of 
Lodi,  strong  Imperialists,  took  up  the  cause  of  Gros- 
solano. Already  was  Giordano's  determination  shaken  ; 
when  Grossolano,  on  his  return  from  the  Holy  Land, 
having  found  his  see  occupied,  nevertheless  entered 
Milan.  His  partisans  seized  the  towers  of  the  Roman 
Gate ;  Giordano  at  once  submitted  to  the  Papal  terms ; 
and,  arrayed  in  the  pall,  proclaimed  himself  Archbishop 
on  the  authority  of  the  Pope.  After  some  strife,  and 
not  without  bloodshed  of  the  people,  and  even  of  the 
A.D.  1113.  nobles,  Grossolano  was  driven  from  Milan  ;  he 
was  glad  to  accept  of  terms  of  peace,  and  even  pecun- 
iary aid  (the  exhaustion  of  his  funds  may  account  for 
his  discomfiture),  from  his  rival  ;  he  retired  first  to 
Piacenza,  afterwards  to  Rome,  to  submit  to  the  decision 
of  the  Pope.^ 

But  this  great  cause  was  first  mooted  in  the  Council 
A.D.  1116.  of  Lateral!.  There  could  be  no  doubt  for 
whicli  Archbishop  of  Milan  —  one  who  had  sworn  not 
to  accept  investiture  from  the  Emperor,  or  one  at  least 
suspected    of    Imperialist    views  —  it   would    declare. 

1  Eccard,  Chronic.  Landulf  junior,  apud  Muratori  S.  H.  T.  V.  sub  ann. 


Chap.  II.  ARCHBISHOPRIC  OF  ISIILAN.  119 

Giordano  triumplied ;  and,  whether  as  part  of  the  price 
stipulated  for  the  judgment,  or  in  gratitude  and  bold 
zeal  for  the  cause  which  he  had  espoused,  he  returned 
rapidly  to  Milan.  Henry  was  on  the  crest  of  the  Alps 
above  him  ;  yet  Giordano  dared,  with  the  Roman  Car- 
dinal John  of  Cremona,  to  publish  from  the  pulpit  of 
the  principal  church,  the  excommunication  of  the  Em- 
peror. Even  this  affair  of  Milan,  important  as  it  was, 
had  hardly  commanded  the  attention  of  the  Lateran 
Council.  But  when,  after  this  had  been  despatched, 
some  other  questions  were  proposed  concerning  certain 
disputes  between  the  Bishops  of  Pisa  and  Lucca,  they 
would  no  longer  brook  delay,  a  Bishop  sprang  up  and 
exclaimed,  "  What  have  we  to  do  with  these  temporal 
matters,  when  the  highest  interests  of  the  Church  are 
in  peril  ? "  ^  The  Pope  arose ;  he  reverted,  in  few 
words,  to  his  imprisonment,  and  to  the  crimes  and  cru- 
elties to  which  the  Roman  people  had  been  exposed  at 
the  time  of  his  concession.  "  What  I  did,  I  did  to  de- 
liver the  Church  and  people  of  God  from  those  evils. 
I  did  it  as  a  man  who  am  dust  and  ashes.  I  confess 
that  I  did  wrong :  I  entreat  you,  offer  your  prayers  to 
God  to  pardon  me.  That  writing  signed  in  the  camp 
of  the  King,  justly  called  an  unrighteous  decree,  I  con- 
demn with  a  perpetual  anathema.  Be  its  memory 
accursed  forever ! "  ^  The  Council  shouted  their  ac- 
clamation. The  loudest  voice  was  that  of  Bruno,  the 
Bishop  of  Segni — "Give  thanks  to  God  that  our 
Lord  Pope  Paschal  condemns  with  his  own  March  8. 
mouth  his  unrighteous  and  heretical  decree."     In  his 

1  It  was  rumored  in  Germany  that  the  Council  had  determined  to 
depose  Paschal,  if  he  refused  to  revoke  the  Emperor's  charter  of  in- 
vestiture. 

2  Ursbergensis,  and  Labbe  and  Mansi  sub  ann. 


120  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII 

bitter  triumph  he  added,  "  He  that  uttered  heresy  is  a 
heretic."  "  What !  "  exclaimed  John  of  Gaeta,  "  dost 
thou  presume  in  our  presence  to  call  the  Roman  Pon- 
tiff a  heretic  ?  What  he  did  was  wrong,  but  it  was  no 
heresy."  "  It  was  done,"  said  another  Bishop,  "  to 
deliver  the  people."  The  Pope  interposed  with  calm 
dignity :  he  commanded  silence  by  his  gesture.  "  Give 
ear,  my  brethren ;  this  Church  has  never  yielded  to 
heresy.  It  has  crushed  all  heresies  —  Arian,  Euty- 
chian,  Sabellian,  Photinian.  For  our  Lord  himself 
said,  in  the  hour  of  his  Passion,  I  have  prayed  for  thee, 

0  Peter,  that  thy  faith  fail  not." 

But  the  strife  was  not  over.  On  the  following  day, 
Paschal  Pasclial,  with  his  more  moderate  counsellorsy 
own  act.  John  of  Gacta  and  Peter  the  son  of  Leo, 
began  to  enter  into  negotiations  with  the  Ambassador 
of  Henry,  Pontius  Abbot  of  Clugny.  The  majesty 
of  the  Papal  presence  could  not  subdue  the  indignant 
murmurs  of  the  more  Papal  party,  who  insisted  on  the 
Church  holding  all  its  endowments,  whether  fiefs  of  the 
temporal  power  or  not,  absolutely  and  without  control, 
ccnon,  At  length  Conon,  Cardinal  of  Praeneste,  broke 

pr^neste.  out,  and  demanded  whether  the  Pope  acknowl- 
edged him  to  have  been  his  legate  in  Germany,  and 
would  ratify  all  that  he  had  done  as  legate.  The  Pope 
acknowledged  him  in  these  terms :  "  What  you  have 
approved,  I  have  approved  ;  what  you  have  condemned, 

1  have  condemned."  Conon  then  declared  that  he  had 
first  in  Jerusalem,  and  afterwards  five  times,  in  five 
councils,  in  Greece,  in  Hungary,  in  Saxony,  in  Lor- 
raine, in  France,  excommunicated  the  Emperor.  The 
same,  as  appeared  from  his  letters,  had  been  done  by 
the  Archbishop   at  Vienne.      That   excommunication 


Chap.  n.  HENRY  IN  ITALY.  121 

was  now  therefore  confirmed  by  the  Pope,  and  becama 
his  act.  A  feeble  murmur  of  dissent  soon  died  away ; 
the  Pope  kept  silence. 

But  Paschal's  troubles  increased.  If  the  Emperoi 
should  again  appear  before  Rome,  in  indignation  at  the 
broken  treaty,  and,  by  temperament  and  habit,  httle 
disposed  to  be  scrupulous  in  his  measures  against  an 
enemy  whom  treaties  could  not  bind,  his  only  hope  of 
resistance  was  in  the  attachment  of  the  Roman  people. 
That  attachment  was  weakened  at  this  unlucky  mo- 
ment by  unforeseen  circumstances.  The  Prefect  ol 
Rome  died,  and  Paschal  was  persuaded  to  appoint  the 
son  of  Peter  Leonis  to  that  office.  The  indelible  taint 
of  his  Jewish  descent,  and  his  Jewish  wealth,  made 
Peter  an  object  of  envy  and  unpopularity.  The  vul- 
gar* called  him  a  Jew,  an  usurer  —  equivalent  titles  of 
hatred.  The  people  chose  the  son  of  the  late  Prefect, 
a  boy,  and  presented  him  to  the  Pope  for  his  confirma- 
tion. On  the  Pope's  refusal,  tumults  broke  out  in  all 
the  city ;  skirmishes  took  place  between  the  populace 
and  the  soldiers  of  the  Pope  during  the  Holy  Week. 
The  young  Prefect  was  taken  in  the  country  by  the 
Pope's  soldiers,  and  rescued  by  his  uncle,  the  Count 
Ptolemy.  The  contest  thus  spread  into  the  country. 
The  whole  territory  of  Rome,  the  coast,  Rome  itself, 
was  in  open  rebellion.  The  Pope  was  so  alarmed  that 
he  retired  to  Sezza.  The  populace  revenged  them- 
selves on  the  houses  of  Peter  Leonis  and  those  of  his 
adherents. 

The  Emperor  had  passed  the  Alps ;  he  was  received 
in  Venice  by  the  Doge  Ordelaffo  Faliero  with  March 29. 
loyal  magnificence.     Some  of  the  other  great  cities  of 
Lombardy  followed  the  example.     The  Emperor  had 


122  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII 

taken  peaceable  possession  of  the  territories  of  the 
Henry  in  Countess  Matilda:  neither  then,  nor  dur- 
Apriis.  ing  his  lifetime,  did  the  Pope  or  his  suc- 
cessors contest  his  title.  Italy  could  not  but  await 
with  anxious  apprehension  the  crisis  of  this  second, 
perhaps  personal  strife  between  the  Emperor  and 
the  Pope.  But  the  year  passed  away  without  any  at- 
tack on  Rome.  The  Emperor  was  engaged  in  the  af- 
fairs of  Tuscany ;  the  Pope  by  the  rebellion  of  Rome. 
Early  in  the  following  year  terrible  convulsions  of 
nature  seemed  to  portend  dire  calamities.  Earthquakes 
shook  Venice,  Verona,  Parma,  and  Cremona;  the 
Cathedral  of  Cremona,  with  many  churches  and 
stately  buildings,  were  in.  ruins,  and  many  lives  lost. 
Awful  storms  seemed  to  join  with  civil  commotions  to 
distract  and  desolate  Germany. 

The  Ambassadors  of  Henry,  the  Bishops  of  Asti, 
Piacenza,  and  Acqui,  appeared  at  Rome,  to  which  Pas- 
chal had  returned  after  the  cessation  of  the  civil  com- 
motions, with  a  public  declaration,  that  if  any  one 
should  accuse  the  Emperor  of  having  violated  his  part 
of  the  treaty  with  the  Pope,  he  was  ready  to  justify 
himself,  and  if  guilty,  to  give  satisfaction.  He  de- 
manded the  abrogation  of  the  interdict.  The  Pope,  it 
is  said,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Cardinals,  declared 
that  he  had  not  sent  the  Cardinals  Conon  and  Theodo- 
ric  to  Cologne  or  to  Saxony  ;  that  he  had  given  no 
authority  to  the  Archbishop  of  Vienne  to  excommuni- 
cate the  Emperor  ;  that  he  had  himself  pronounced  no 
excommunication  ;  but  he  could  not  annul  an  excom- 
munication pronounced  by  such  dignified  ecclesiastics 
without  their  consent.  A  general  Council  of  the 
Church  could  alone  decide  the  question.     Henry  had 


Chap.  II.  HENRY  IJS"  ITAXY.  123 

too  many  enemies  in  the  Churcli  of  Germany  as  well 
as  Rome  to  submit  to  such  a  tribunal. 

A  second  time  Henry  V.  advanced  towards  Rome, 
but  this  second  time  under  very  different  cir-  a.d.  1117. 
cumstances.  He  was  no  longer  the  young  and  suc- 
cessful Emperor  with  the  whole  of  Germany  united  in 
his  cause,  and  with  an  army  of  overwhelming  numbers 
and  force  at  his  command.  But  with  his  circum- 
stances he  had  learned  to  change  his  policy.  He  had 
discovered  how  to  contest  Rome  with  the  Pope.  He 
had  the  Prefect  in  his  pay ;  he  lavished  gifts  upon  the 
nobles ;  he  established  his  partisan  Ptolemy,  the  Count 
of  Tusculum,  in  all  the  old  possessions  and  rights  of 
that  house,  so  long  the  tyrant,  at  one  time  the  awarder, 
of  the  Papal  tiara,  gave  him  his  natural  daughter  in 
marriage,  and  so  established  a  formidable  enemy  to  the 
Pope  and  a  powerful  adherent  of  the  Emperor,  within 
the  neighborhood,  within  the  city  itself.  There  was 
no  opposition  to  his  approach,  to  his  entrance  into 
Rome.  He  passed  through  the  streets  with  his  Em- 
press, the  people  received  him  with  acclamations,  the 
clergy  alone  stood  aloof  in  jealous  silence.  The  Pope 
had  retired,  first  to  Monte  Casino,  then  to  March  I6. 
Benevento,  to  implore,  but  in  vain,  the  aid  of  the  Nor- 
mans. The  Cardinals  made  an  offer  of  peace  if  Henry 
would  surrender  the  right  of  investiture  by  the  ring 
and  staff;  but  as  on  this  point  the  whole  imperial  au- 
thority seemed  at  that  time  to  depend,  the  terms  were 
rejected.  No  one  but  a  foreign  prelate,^  Burdinus,  the 
Archbishop  of  Braga,^  who  had  been  Legate  of  Pope 

1  The  Abbot  of  Farfa  was  a  strong  Imperialist. 

2  Baluzius  (Miscellanea,  vol.  iii.)  wrote  a  life  of  Burdinus,  to  vindicate 
his  memory  from  the  sweeping  censure  of  Baronius,  with  whom  an  Anti- 


124  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIIL 

Paschal  to  Henry,  and  had  been  dazzJed  or  won  to  the 
Imperial  party,  could  be  tempted  to  officiate  in  the 
great  Easter  ceremony,  in  which  the  Emperor  was  ac- 
customed to  take  off  his  crown  in  the  Vatican,  to  make 
a  procession  through  the  city,  and  to  receive  it  again 
from  the  hands  of  the  Pontiff.^ 

But  no  steps  were  taken  to  approximate  the  hostile 
powers.  The  Emperor  remained  in  undisturbed  pos- 
session of  Rome  ;  the  Pope  in  his  safe  city  of  refuge  in 
the  south  of  Italy ;  from  hence  he  fulminated  an  ex- 
communication against  the  Archbishop  of  Braga.  As 
the  summer  heats  approached,  the  Emperor  retired  to 
the  north  of  Italy. 

Paschal  was  never  again  master  of  Rome.  In  the 
Jan.  6, 1118.  autumii  he  fell  ill  at  Anagni,  recovered,  and 
Paschal  II.  early  in  the  following  year  surprised  the  Le- 
onine city  and  the  Vatican.  But  Peter  the  Prefect 
and  the  Count  of  Tusculum  still  occupied  the  strong- 
pope  was  always  a  monster  of  iniquity.  Maurice  Bourdin  was  a  French- 
man of  the  diocese  of  Limoges.  When  Bernard,  Archbishop  of  Toledo, 
went  to  the  Council  of  Clermont,  he  was  struck  with  the  learning  and 
ability  of  the  young  French  monk,  and  carried  him  back  with  him  to 
Spain.  Bourdin  became  successively  Bishop  of  Coimbra  and  Archbishop 
of  Braga.  While  Bishop  of  Coimbra  he  went  to  the  Holy  Land,  and 
passed  three  years  in  the  East,  in  Jerusalem  and  Constantinople.  On  his 
return  he  was  involved  in  a  contest  with  his  patron  Bernard,  resisting  the 
claims  of  the  archbishopric  of  Toledo  to  supremacy  over  the  metropolitan 
see  of  Braga.  There  is  a  decree  of  Pope  Paschal  favorable  to  Maurice, 
acknowledging  his  jurisdiction  over  Coimbra.  He  was  at  present  in  Rome, 
in  order,  according  to  Baronius,  to  supplant  his  patron  Bernard,  who  had 
been  expelled  from  his  see  by  Alfonso  of  An-agon.  He  was  scornfully  re- 
jected by  Paschal,  of  whom  he  became  the  deadly  enemy.  This,  as 
Baluzius  repeatedly  shows,  is  directly  contradicted  by  the  dates ;  for  after 
this  Paschal  employed  Maurice  Burdin  as  his  Legate  to  the  Emperor. 

1  Henry  had  been  already  crowned  by  Paschal:  this  second  coronation 
is  probably  to  be  explained  as  in  the  text ;  though  some  writers  speak  of 
it  as  his  first  coronation.  Muratori  says  that  he  desired  "  di  farsi  coronare 
di  nuovo."  —  Sub  ann.  1017. 


Chap.  II.  DEATH  OF  PASCHAL  II.  125 

holds  of  the  city.  Paschal  died  in  the  Castle  of  St. 
Angelo,  solemnly  commending  to  the  cardinals  that 
firmness  in  the  assertion  of  the  claims  of  the  Church 
which  he  alone  had  not  displayed.  He  died  leaving  a 
D;reat  lesson  to  future  Pontiffs,  that  there  was  no  limit 
to  which  they  might  not  advance  their  pretensions  for 
the  aggrandizement  of  the  hierarchy,  but  to  retract  the 
least  of  these  pretensions  w^as  beyond  their  otherwise 
illimitable  power.  The  Imperialists  made  no  opposi- 
tion to  the  burial  of  Paschal  II.  in  a  great  mausoleum 
in  the  Lateran  Church.  The  Cardinals,  in  the  utmost 
haste,  before  the  intelligence  could  reach  the  Emperor, 
proceeded  to  fill  the  vacant  See.  John  of  Gaeta, 
though  he  had  defended  the  Pope  fi'om  the  unseemly 
reproach  of  St.  Bruno,  and  at  one  time  appeared  in- 
clined to  negotiate  with  the  Emperor,  seems  to  have 
commanded  the  confidence  of  the  high  party ;  he  was 
of  noble  descent ;  the  counsellor  of  more  than  one 
Pope,  and  had  been  a  faithful  partisan  of  Pope  Urban 
against  the  Antipope  Guibert ;  he  had  adhered  in  all 
his  distresses  to  Paschal,  and  had  shared  his  imprison- 
ment. He  was  summoned  from  Monte  Ca-  Geiasms  n. 
sino  secretly,  and  without  any  notice  chosen  Pope  by 
the  Cardinals  and  some  distinguished  Romans,  and 
inaugurated  in  a  Benedictine  monastery  near  the  Cap- 
itol. 

The  news  reached  the  neighboring  house  of  Cencius 
Frangipani  (this  great  family  henceforward  appears 
mingled  in  all  the  contests  and  intrigues  of  Rome),  a 
strong  partisan  of  the  Emperor.  In  a  sudden  access 
of  indignation  he  broke  with  his  armed  fol-  ggj^ed  \y 
lowers  into  the  church,  seized  the  Pope  by  the  pa^^™"^" 
throat,  struck   him  with   his  fists,   trampled  *'^''-  ^' 


126  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Vm. 

upon  him,  and  dragged  liim  a  prisoner  and  in  chains  to 
his  own  strong  house.  All  the  Cardinals  were  miser- 
ably maltreated  ;  the  more  fortunate  took  to  flight ; 
some  were  seized  and  put  into  irons.  But  this  atro- 
cious act  rekindled  all  the  more  generous  sympathies 
of  the  Roman  people  towards  the  Pope.  Both  parties 
imited  in  his  rescue.  Peter  the  Prefect  and  Peter  the 
son  of  Leo,  the  captain  of  the  Norman  troops,  who  had 
accompanied  Paschal  to  Rome,  the  Transteverines,  and 
the  twelve  quarters  of  the  city,  assembled  under  their 
leaders  ;  they  marched  towards  the  Capitol  and  sum- 
moned Frangipani  to  surrender  the  person  of  the  Pope. 
Frangipani  could  not  but  submit ;  he  threw  himself  at 
the  Pope's  feet,  and  entreated  his  forgiveness.  Mount- 
ing a  horse,  the  Pope  rode  to  the  Lateran,  surrounded 
by  the  banners  of  the  people,  and  took  possession  of 
the  papal  palace.  There  he  received  the  submission  of 
the  laity  and  of  the  clergy.  The  friends  of  the  new 
Pope  were  quietly  making  arrangements  for  his  ordina- 
tion as  a  presbyter  (as  yet  he  was  but  a  deacon),  and 
his  consecration  as  Pope.  On  a  sudden,  in  the  night, 
intelligence  arrived  that  the  Emperor  had  not  merely 
set  off  from  the  north  of  Italy,  but  was  actually  in 
Rome,  and  master  of  the  portico  of  St.  Peter's.  The 
Pope  was  concealed  for  the  night  in  the  house  of  a 
faithful  partisan.  In  the  morning  he  embarked  on  the 
March  1.  Tiber,  but  a  terrible  storm  came  on  ;  the 
German  soldiers  watched  the  banks  of  the  river,  and 
hurled  burning  javelins  at  the  vessel.  At  nightfall, 
the  Germans  having  withdrawn,  the  fugitives  landed, 
and  the  Pope  was  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  Cardinal 
Ugo  to  the  castle  of  Ardea.  The  next  day  the  Ger- 
man soldiers  appeared  again,  but  the  followers  of  the 


Chap.  II.      GELASIUS  II.  — GREGORY  YIU.  127 

Pope  swearing  that  he  had  escaped,  they  dispersed  in 
search  of  him.     He  was  again  conveyed  to  the  vessel, 
and   after   a   perilous  voyage  of  four   days,  March  9. 
reached  Gaeta,  his  native  town.     There  he  was  or- 
dained Presbyter,  and  consecrated  Pope. 

Henry  endeavored  by  repeated  embassies  to  per- 
suade Gelasius  H.,  such  was  the  name  assumed  by 
the  new  Pope,  to  return  to  Rome  ;  but  Gelasius  had 
been  a  fellow-prisoner  with  Pope  Paschal,  and  had  too 
much  prudence  to  trust  himself  in  the  Emperor's 
power.^  He  met  cunning  with  cunning  ;  he  offered  to 
hold  a  council  to  decide  on  all  matters  in  dispute,  eithei 
in  Milan  or  in  Cremona,  cities  in  which  the  papal  in- 
terest now  prevailed,  or  which  were  in  open  revolt 
against  the  Emperor.  This  proposal  was  equally  offen- 
sive to  the  Emperor  and  to  the  Roman  people.  "  What,' 
was  the  indignant  cry,  "  is  Rome  to  be  deserted  for 
Milan  or  Cremona  ?  "  They  determined  to  set  up  an 
Antipope ;  yet  none  appeared  but  Burdinus,  now  called 
Maurice  the  Portuguese,  the  Archbishop  of  Braga.^ 
This  stranger  was  led  to  the  high  altar  of  St.  Peter's 
by  the  Emperor ;  and  it  was  thrice  proclaimed  March  8. 
to  the  people,  "Will  ye  have  Maurice  for  Pope?' 
and  thrice  the  people  answered,  "We  will."  The  Bar- 
barian, as  he  was  called  by  his  adversaries,  took  the 
name  of  Gregory  VIII.  Of  the  Roman  clergy  only 
three  adherents  of  the  old  unextinguished  Ghibeline 
party,  Romanus  Cardinal  of  St.  Marcellus,  Cencius  of 
St.  Chrysogonus,  and   Teuzo,  who  had  been  long  in 


1  Epist.  Gelas.  II.  apud  Labbe,  Concil.  Ann.  1118. 

2  The  famous  Imerius  of  Bologna,  the  restorer  of  the  Roman  law,  was 
in  Rome ;  the  form  of  election  was  supposed  to  be  regulated  by  his  legal 
advice. 


128  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII 

Denmark,  sanctioned  this  election.  He  was  put  in 
possession  of  tlie  Lateran  palace,  and  the  next  day  per- 
formed the  papal  functions  in  St.  Peter's. 

No  sooner  did  Gelasius  hear  this  than  he  thundered 
his  sentence  of  excommunication  against  the  peijurer 
Maurice,  who  had  compelled  his  mother  the  Church  to 
public  prostitution.^  Now,  however,  his  Norman  vas- 
sals, as  they  acknowledged  themselves,  William,  Duke 
of  Apulia,  and  Robert,  Prince  of  Capua,  obeyed  his 
summons  ;  under  their  protection  he  returned  towards 
Rome.  Henry,  who  was  besieging  the  papal  castle 
Toricella,  abandoned  the  siege,  and  retired  on  Rome. 
But  almost  immediately  his  presence  was  imperiously 
required  in  Germany,  and  he  withdrew  to  the  north 
of  Italy.  Thence,  leaving  the  Empress  as  Regent  in 
April  7.  Italy,  he  crossed  the  Alps.  Gelasius  had  al- 
ready at  Capua  involved  the  Emperor  in  the  common 
excommunication  with  the  Antipope.  Some  misunder- 
standing arose  between  the  Norman  princes  and  the 
Pope; 2  they  withdrew,  and  he  could  now  only  bribe 
his  way  back  to  Rome. 

Gelasius  entered  Rome  as  a  pilgrim  rather  than  its 
July  5.  master.     He  was  concealed  rather  than  hos- 

pitably entertained  by  Stephen  the  Norman,  by  Pas- 
chal his  brother,  and  Peter  with  the  ill-sounding  name 
of  the  Robber,  a  Corsican.^  Thus  were  there  again 
two  Popes  in  the  city,  one  maintained  in  state  by  the 
gold  of  the  Emperor,  the  other  by  his  own.  But 
Gelasius  in  an  imprudent  hour  ventured  beyond  the 


1  "Matris  Ecclesise  constupratorem  publico."  —  Gelasii,  Epist.  ii. 

2  It  seemed  to  relate  to  the  Circaea  arx,  which  the  Pope  having  granted 
to  the  people  of  Terracina,  repented  of  his  rashness.  —  Vit.  Gelas. 

8  Latro  Corsorum. 


Chap.  II.  DEATH   OF   GELASIUS.  129 

secure  quarters  of  the  Norman.  He  stole  out  to  cel- 
ebrate mass  in  the  church  of  St.  Praxedes,  in  a  part  of 
the  city  commanded  by  the  Frangipani.  The  church 
was  attacked  ;  a  scene  of  fearful  confusion  followed  ; 
the  Normans,  under  the  Pope's  nephew  Crescentius, 
fought  valiantly,  and  rescued  him  from  the  enemy. 
The  Frangipani  were  farious  at  their  disappointment, 
but  when  they  found  the  Pope  had  escaped,  withdrew. 
"  O  what  a  sight,"  writes  a  sad  eye-witness,^  "  to  see 
the  Pope,  half  clad  in  his  sacred  vestments,  flying,  like 
a  mountebank,^  as  fast  as  his  horse  could  gallop  !  "  — 
his  cross-bearer  followed  ;  he  fell  ;  the  cross,  which  it 
might  seem  that  his  enemies  sought  as  a  trophy,  was 
picked  up  and  concealed  by  a  woman.  The  Pope  him- 
self was  found,  weary,  sorrowftil,  and  moaning^  with 
grief,  in  a  field  near  the  Church  of  St.  Paul.  The 
next  day  he  declared  his  resolution  to  leave  this  Sodom, 
this  Egypt ;  it  were  better  to  have  to  deal  with  one 
Emperor  than  with  many  tyrants.  He  reached  Pisa, 
Genoa,  Marseilles  ;  but  he  entered  France  Jan.  29, 1119. 
only  to  die.  After  visiting  several  of  the  Geiasius. 
great  cities  of  the  realm,  Montpellier,  Avignon,  Orange, 
Valence,  Vienne,  Lyons,  a  sudden  attack  of  pleurisy 
carried  him  oflP  in  the  abbey  of  Clugny. 

1  See  the  letter  of  Bruno  of  Treves,  in  Hontheim,  Hist.  Trevir.  Pandulph 
Pisan.,  p.  397. 

2  Sicut  scurra. 

8  His  foDower  says,  "  ejulans." 


VOL.  IV. 


130  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIU. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CALIXTUS  n.  — CONCORDAT  OF  WORMS. 

The  cardinals  in  France  could  not  hesitate  an  in- 
Caiixtus  n.  stant  in  their  choice  of  his  successor.  Gelasius 
Feb.  2,ni9.  jj^(j  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  Bishop  of 
Palestrina,  but  Otho  excused  himself  on  account  of  his 
feeble  health.  Exiles  from  Rome  in  the  cause  of  the 
Church,  and  through  the  hostihty  of  the  Emperor  and 
his  partisans,  the  Conclave  saw  among  them  the  prelate 
who  had  boldly  taken  the  lead  in  the  excommunication 
of  Henry ;  and  who  to  his  zeal  for  the  Church  added 
every  other  qualification  for  the  supreme  Pontificate. 
Guido,  Archbishop  of  Vienne,  was  of  more  than  noble, 
of  royal  birth,  descended  from  the  Kings  of  Burgundy, 
and  so  allied  by  blood  to  the  Emperor ;  his  reputation 
was  high  for  piety  and  the  learning  of  the  age.  But 
Guido,  either  fi:om  conscientious  scruples,  or  in  politic 
deference  to  the  dominant  opinion,  refused  to  become 
the  Pontifi*  of  Rome  without  the  assent  of  Rome. 
Messengers  were  speedily  despatched  and  speedily  re- 
turned with  the  confirmation  of  his  election  by  the 
cardinals  who  remained  at  Rome,  by  Peter  the  son 
of  Leo,  by  the  prefect  and  consuls,  by  the  clergy  and 
people  of  Rome.  It  appears  not  how  this  assent  was 
obtained  in  the  presence  of  the  Imperial  garrison  and 
the  Antipope.    Rome  may  have  already  become  weary 


Chap.  III.  CALIXTUS  II..  131 

or  ashamed  of  her  foreign  prelate,  unconnected  with 
the  great  families  or  interests  of  the  city ;  but  it  is 
more  probable  that  it  was  the  assent  only  of  the  high 
papal  party,  who  still,  under  the  guidance  of  Peter  the 
son  of  Leo,  held  part  of  the  city. 

Germany  had  furnished  a  line  of  pious,  and,  on  the 
whole,  high-minded  Pontiffs  to  the  Roman  caiixtus 
see.  Calixtus  II.,  though  by  no  means  the  Pope. 
first  Frenchman,  either  by  birth  or  education,  was  the 
first  French  Pontiff  who  established  that  close  connec- 
tion between  France  (the  modern  kingdom  of  France 
as  distinguished  from  the  Imperial  or  German  France 
of  Pepin  and  Charlemagne)  and  the  papacy,  which  had 
such  important  influence  on  the  affairs  of  the  Church 
and  of  Europe.  From  this  period,  of  the  two  great 
kingdoms  into  which  the  Empire  of  Charlemagne  had 
resolved  itself,  the  Pope,  who  succeeded  eventually  in 
estabhshing  his  title,  was  usually  connected  with  France, 
and  maintained  by  the  French  interest ;  the  Antipope 
by  that  of  Germany.  The  anti-Imperialist  republics 
of  Italy  were  the  Pope's  natural  allies  against  the  Im- 
perial power.  For  a  time  Innocent  III.  held  his  im- 
partial authority  over  both  realms,  and  acknowledged 
in  tm-n  the  king  of  each  country ;  but  as  time  advanced, 
the  Popes  were  more  under  the  necessity  of  leaning  on 
Transalpine  aid,  until  the  secession  to  Avignon  almost 
reduced  the  chief  Pontiff  of  Christendom  to  a  French 
prelate. 

Christendom  could  scarcely  expect  that  during  the 
pontificate  of  so  inflexible  an  assertor  of  its  claims,  and 
during  the  reign  of  an  Emperor  so  resolute  to  maintain 
his  rights,  the  strife  about  the  Investitures  should  be 
brought  to  a  peaceful  close  with  the  absolute  triumph 


132  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

of  neither  party,  and  on  principles  of  mutual  conces- 
sion. Nor  was  the  first  attempt  at  reconcihation,  which 
appeared  to  end  in  a  more  irreparable  breach,  of  favor- 
able augury  to  the  establishment  of  unity.  Yet  many 
circumstances  combined  to  bring  about  this  final  peace. 
The  removal  of  the  scene  of  strife  into  France  could 
not  but  show  that  the  contest  was  not  absolutely  neces- 
sary. The  quarrel  had  not  spread  into  France,  though 
the  feudal  system  prevailed  there  to  the  same  if  not 
greater  extent.  In  France  had  been  found  no  great 
diflficalty  in  reconciling  the  free  election  of  the  bishops 
wjth  their  allegiance  in  temporal  concerns  to  their  sov- 
ereign. The  princes  of  Germany  began  to  discover 
that  it  was  a  question  of  the  Empire,  not  of  the  Em- 
peror. When  in  revolt,  and  some  of  them  were  always 
in  revolt,  the  alliance  of  the  clergy,  and  the  popularity 
which  their  cause  acquired  by  being  upheld  against  an 
excommunicated  sovereign,  had  blinded  them  at  first. 
They  were  firm  allies  of  the  Pope,  only  because  they 
"were  implacable  enemies  of  the  Emperor.  The  long 
controversy  had  partly  wearied,  partly  exhausted  men's 
minds.  Some  moderate  views  by  prelates  of  authority 
and  learning  and  of  undoubted  churchmanship  had 
made  strong  impression.  Hildebrand's  vast  plan  of 
rendering  the  clergy  altogether  independent  of  the 
temporal  power,  not  merely  in  their  spiritual  functions, 
but  in  all  the  possessions  which  they  then  held  or  might 
hereafter  obtain,  and  thereby  becoming  the  rulers  of  the 
world,  was  perhaps  imperfectly  understood  by  some  of 
the  most  ambitious,  and  deliberately  rejected  by  some 
zealous  but  less  worldly  ecclesiastics. 

At  first  the  aspect  of  affairs  was  singularly  unprom- 
ising ;  the  contending  parties  seemed  to  draw  together 


Chap.  III.  COU^^CIL  AT  RHEIMS.  133 

only  to  repel  each  other  with  more  hostile  violence. 
The  immediate  recognition  of  Calixtus  by  the  great 
German  prelates,  not  his  enemies  alone  but  his  adhe- 
rents also,  warned  Henry  of  the  now  formidable  an- 
tagonist arisen  in  the  new  Pope.  Henry  himself,  by 
treating  with  Calixtus,  acknowledged  his  supremacy, 
and  so  abandoned  his  own  unhappy  pageant,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Braga,  to  his  fate. 

Calixtus  summoned  a  council  at  Rheims,  and  never 
did  Pope,  in  Rome  itself,  in  the  time  of  the  council  of 
world's  most  prostrate  submission,  make  a  nov.'i9 
more  imposing  display  of  power,  issue  his  ■^^^^• 
commands  with  more  undoubting  confidence  to  Chris- 
tendom, receive,  like  a  feudal  monarch,  the  appeals  of 
contending  kings  ;  and,  if  he  condescended  to  negotiate 
with  the  Emperor,  maintain  a  loftier  position  than  this 
first  great  French  Pontiff.  The  Norman  chronicler 
beheld  in  this  august  assembly  an  image  of  the  day  of 
judgment.^  The  Pope's  consistorial  throne  was  placed 
before  the  portal  of  the  great  church  ;  just  below  him 
sat  the  cardinals,  whom  the  annalist  dignifies  with  the 
appellation  of  the  Roman  Senate.  Fifteen  archbishops, 
above  two  hundred  bishops,  and  numerous  abbots  and 
other  ecclesiastical  dignitaries,  were  present ;  Albert  of 
Mentz  was  attended  by  seven  bishops,  and  guarded  by 
five  hundred  armed  men. 

The  first  part  of  the  proceedings  might  seem  singu 
larly  in  accordance  with  true  pacific  Christianity.  After 
some  canons  on  simony,  some  touching  lay  investitures 
and  the  marriage  of  the  clergy,  had  been  enacted  in  the 
usual  form  and  spirit,  the  Pope  renewed  in  the  strong- 
est language  the  Truce  of  God,  which  had  been  pro- 

1  Orderic.  Vital.,  i.  726;  Mansi,  sub  ann. 


134  LATIX  CHPJSTIAXITY.  Book  YlH. 

claimed  by  Urban  II.  At  certain  periods,  from  the 
Advent  of  the  Lord  to  tbe  Octave  of  the  Epiphany ; 
from  Quinquagesima  to  Pentecost,  and  on  certain  other 
fasts  and  festivals,  war  was  to  cease  throughout  Chris- 
tendom. At  all  times  the  Church  took  under  its  pro- 
tection and  commanded  peace  to  be  observed  towards 
monks  and  their  property,  females  and  their  attendants, 
merchants,  hunters,  and  pilgrims.  The  chaplains  in  the 
army  were  to  discountenance  plunder  under  severe  pen 
alties.  The  violators  of  the  Truce  of  God  were  to  be 
excommunicated  every  Sunday  in  every  parish  church : 
unless  they  made  satisfaction,  by  themselves  or  by  their 
kindred,  w^ers  to  be  held  unworthy  of  Christian  bur- 
ial.i 

The  King  of  France,  Louis  the  Fat,  appeared  in  per- 
Kings  of  son  with  his  barons,  and,  as  before  a  supreme 
England.  tribunal,  himself  preferred  his  complaint 
against  Henry  I.  King  of  England.  His  complaint 
related  to  no  ecclesiastical  matters  ;  he  accused  -King 
Henry  of  refusing  the  allegiance  due  from  the  Duke  of 
Normandy  to  the  King  of  France,  of  imprisoning  his 
own  brother  Robert,  the  rightful  Duke  of  Normandy, 
of  many  acts  of  hostility  and  persecution  against  the 
subjects  of  France.  Geoffrey,  Archbishop  of  Rouen, 
rose  to  defend  King  Henry.  But  the  fierce  tumult 
wdiich  broke  out  from  the  more  numerous  partisans  of 
France  compelled  him  to  silence. 

After  the  Countess  of  Poitou  had  brought  a  charge 
against  her  husband  of  deserting  her  and  marrying 
another  wife,  there  arose  a  new  dispute  between  the 
Franks  and  Normans  concerning  the  bishopric  of  Ev- 

1  Labbe,  p.  684.    Datt.  de  Treuga  Dei  in  Volum.  Rer.  German.  Ulm, 
1698.     Ducaiige  in  voce  "  Trtuya.'''' 


Chap.  HI.     IXTERYIEW  OF  THE  POPE  AXD  EaiPEROE.     135 

reux.  Audoln,  tlie  bearded  bishop  of  Evreux,  accused 
Amalric  of  expelling  liim  from  his  see,  and  burning  his 
episcopal  palace.  The  chaplain  of  Amalric  stood  up 
and  boldly  replied,  "  It  is  thine  own  wickedness,  not 
the  injustice  of  Amalric,  which  has  driven  thee  from 
thy  see  and  burned  thy  palace.  Amalric,  disinherited 
by  the  King  through  thy  malignant  perfidy,  like  a  true 
Norman  warrior,  strong  in  his  own  valor  and  in  his 
friends,  won  back  his  honors.  Then  the  Kino-  be- 
sieged  the  city,  and  during  the  siege  the  bishop's  palace 
and  several  of  the  churches  were  buraed.  Let  the 
synod  judge  between  Audoin  and  Amalric." 

The  strife  between  the  French  and  the  Normans  was 
hardly  appeased  by  the  Pope  himself.  Calixtus  deliv- 
ered a  long  address  on  the  blessings  of  peace,  on  the 
evils  of  war,  war  alike  fatal  to  human  happiness  and  to 
religion.  But  these  beautiful  and  parental  sentiments 
were  jealously  reserved  for  -the  faithfril  sons  of  the 
Church.  Where  the  interests  of  the  Church  were 
involved,  war,  even  civil  war,  lost  all  its  horrors.  The 
Pope  broke  oflp  the  council  for  a  few  days,  to  meet  the 
Emperor,  who  had  expressed  his  earnest  desire  for 
peace,  and  had  apparently  conceded  the  great  point  in 
dispute.  It  was  no  doubt  thought  a  great  act  interview 
of  condescension  as  well  as  of  courage  in  the  Emperor. 
Pope  to  advance  to  meet  the  Emperor.  The  character 
of  Henry  might  justify  the  worst  suspicions.  He  was 
found  encamped  at  the  head  of  30,000  men.  The  seiz- 
ure and  imprisonment  of  Paschal  was  too  recent  in  the 
remembrance  of  the  Pope's  adherents  not  to  excite  a 
reasonable  apprehension.  Henry  had  never  hesitated 
at  any  act  of  treachery  to  compass  his  ends  ;  would  he 
hesitate  even  on  the  borders  of  France  ?     The  Pope  was 


136  LATIN  CHEISTIAXITY.  Book  VHI. 

Oct.  23, 25.     safely  lodged  in  the  strong  castle  of  Moisson  ; 
his  commissioners  proceeded  alone  to  the  conference. 

Their  mission  was  only  to  give  and  to  receive  the 
final  ratification  of  a  treaty,  already  consigned  to  writ- 
ing. Henry  had  been  persuaded,  in  an  interview  with 
the  Bishop  of  Chalons  and  Abbot  Pontius  of  Clugny, 
that  he  might  surrender  the  investiture  with  the  ring 
and  the  pastoral  staff.  That  form  of  investiture  (argued 
the  Bishop  of  Chalons)  had  never  prevailed  in  France, 
yet  as  Bishop  he  had  always  discharged  all  the  tem- 
poral claims  of  the  sovereign,  tribute,  military  service, 
tolls,  and  the  other  rightful  demands  of  the  State,  as 
faithfully  as  the  bishops  of  Germany,  to  whose  investi- 
ture the  Emperor  was  maintaining  this  right  at  the 
price  of  excommunication.  "  If  this  be  so,"  replied 
the  Emperor,  with  uplifted  hands,  "  I  require  no  more." 
The  Bishop  then  offered  his  mediation  on  the  condition 
that  Henry  should  give  up  the  usage  of  investitures, 
surrender  the  possession  of  the  churches  which  he  still 
retained,  and  consent  to  peace  with  all  his  enemies. 
Henry  agreed  to  these  terms,  which  were  signed  on 
the  part  of  the  Emperor  by  the  Bishop  of  Lausanne, 
the  Count  Palatine,  and  other  German  magnates.  The 
Pope  on  this  intelligence  could  not  but  suspect  the 
ready  compliance  of  the  Emperor  ;  the  Bishop  of  Ostia 
and  the  Cardinal  Gregory  were  sent  formally  to  con- 
clude the  treaty.  They  met  the  Emperor  between 
Metz  and  Verdun,  and  drew  up  the  following  Con- 
cordat :  —  Henry  surrendered  the  investiture  of  all 
churches,  made  peace  with  all  who  had  been  involved 
in  war  for  the  cause  of  the  Church,  promised  to  restore 
all  the  churches  which  he  had  in  his  possession,  and  to 
procure  the  restoration  of  those  which  had  been  granted 


Chap.  m.  TREATY  BROKEN  OFF.  1C7 

to  others.  All  ecclesiastical  disputes  were  to  be  settled 
by  the  ecclesiastical  laws,  the  temporal  by  the  temporal 
judges.  The  Pope  on  his  side  pledged  himself  to  make 
peace  with  the  Emperor  and  with  all  his  partisans  ;  to 
make  restitution  on  his  part  of  everything  gained 
in  the  war.  These  terms  by  the  Pope's  orders  had 
been  communicated  to  the  Council,  first  in  Latin  by 
the  Bishop  of  Ostia,  afterwards  explained  to  the  clergy 
and  laity  in  French  by  the  Bishop  of  Chalons.  It  was 
to  ratify  this  solemn  treaty  that  the  Pope  had  Treaty 
set  forth  fi'om  Rheims  ;  while  he  remained  in  on. 
the  castle  of  Moisson,  the  Bishop  of  Ostia,  John  Car- 
dinal of  Crema,  the  Bishop  of  Vivarais,  the  Bishop  of 
Chalons,  and  the  Abbot  of  Clugny,  began  to  scrutinize 
with  more  severe  suspicion  the  terms  of  the  treaty. 
They  discovered,  or  thought  they  discovered,  a  fraud 
in  the  general  concession  of  the  investiture  of  all 
churches  ;  it  did  not  express  the  whole  possessions  of 
the  churches.  The  Emperor  was  indignant  at  this  new 
objection,  and  strong  mutual  recrimination  passed  be- 
tween him  and  the  Bishop  of  Chalons.  The  King 
demanded  time  till  the  next  morning  to  consider  and 
consult  his  nobles  on  the  subject.  But  so  little  did  he 
expect  the  sudden  rupture  of  the  treaty  that  he  began 
to  discuss  the  form  of  his  absolution.  He  thought  it 
beneath  his  dignity  to  appear  with  bare  feet  before  the 
Pope.  The  legates  condescended  to  this  request,  pro- 
vided the  absolution  were  private.  The  next  Oct.  26. 
day  the  Emperor  required  farther  delay,  and  entreated 
the  Pope  to  remain  over  the  Sunday.  But  the  Pope 
declared  that  he  had  already  condescended  too  far  in 
leaving  a  general  Council  to  confer  with  the  Emperor, 
and  returned  with  the  utmost  haste  to  Rheims. 


138  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  TIIL 

At  first  tlie  conduct  of  the  Pope  by  no  means  foulid 
universal  approval  in  the  council.  As  the  prohibition 
of  the  investiture  of  all  churches  and  ecclesiastical  pos- 
sessions in  any  manner  by  lay  hands  was  read,  a  mur- 
mur was  heard  not  merely  among  the  laity,  but  even 
among  the  clergy.  It  seemed  that  the  Pope  would 
resume  all  possessions  which  at  any  time  might  have 
belonged  to  the  Church,  and  were  now  in  lay  hands ; 
the  dispute  lasted  with  great  acrimony  till  the  eA^ening. 
On  the  morning  the  Pope  made  a  long  speech  so  per- 
suasive that  the  whole  Council  bowed  to  his  authority. 
He  proceeded  to  the  excommunication  of  the  Emperor, 
which  he  endeavored  to  array  in  more  than  usual  awful- 
ness.  Four  hundred  and  thirty-seven  candles  were 
brouo-ht  and  held  lio-hted  in  the  hands  of  each  of  the 
bishops  and  abbots.  The  long  endless  list  of  the  ex- 
communicated was  read,  of  which  the  chief  were  Henry 
the  Emperor,  and  Burdinus  the  Antipope.  The  Pope 
then  solemnly  absolved  from  their  allegiance  all  the 
subjects  of  the  Emperor.  When  this  was  over  he  pro- 
nounced his  blessing,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son, 
Nov.  20.  and  Holy  Ghost,  and  dismissed  the  Council. 
After  a  short  time  the  Pope  advanced  to  Gisors,  and 
had  an  interview  with  King  Henry  of  England.  Henry 
boldly  justified  his  seizure  of  the  dukedom  of  his  brother 
Robert,  from  the  utter  incapacity  of  that  prince  to  ad- 
minister the  affairs  of  the  realm.  He  had  not  impris- 
oned his  brother  ;  he  had  placed  him  in  a  royal  castle, 
like  a  noble  pilgrim  who  was  broken  with  calamities ; 
supplied  him  with  food,  and  all  that  might  suffice  for  a 
pleasant  life.  The  Pope  thought  it  wiser  to  be  content 
with  this  hardly  specious  apology,  and  gently  urged  the 
Norman  to  make  peace  with  the  King  of  France.-^ 
1  Orderic.  Vitalis,  i.  2, 13;  W.  Malmesbuiy. 


Chap.  HI.  CALIXTUS  H.  Ds   ROIME.  139 

Thus  acknowledged  by  the  greater  part  of  Christen- 
dom, Calixtus  II.  determined,  notwithstanding  the  un- 
reconciled hostility  of  the  Emperor,  to  reoccupy  his 
see  of  Rome.  He  made  a  progress  through  France, 
distributing  eveiywhere  privileges,  immunities,  digni- 
ties ;  crossed  the  Alps,  and  entered  Italy  by  the  pass  of* 
Susa.^ 

The  journey  of  Calixtus  through  Italy  was  a  tri- 
umphal procession.  The  Imperialists  made  no  attempt 
to  arrest  his  march.  On  his  descent  of  the  Alps  he 
was  met  with  loyal  deputations  from  the  Lombard  cities. 
Giordano,  the  Archbishop  of  Milan,  hastened  to  pay 
homage  to  his  spiritual  sovereign.  Landulph,  the  his- 
torian, appeared  before  the  Pope  at  Tortona  to  lodge 
a  complaint  against  the  Archbishop  for  unjustly  de- 
priving him  of  his  church.  "  During  the  winter  we 
tread  not  the  grapes  in  the  wine-vat,"  replied  Lambert 
Bishop  of  Ostia  ;  ^  the  Archbishop  of  Milan,  he  inti- 
mated, was  a  personage  too  important  to  run  the  risk 
of  his  estrangement.  Piacenza,  Lucca,  Pisa,  vied  with 
each  other  in  paying  honors  to  the  Pope.^  As  he 
drew  near  to  Rome  the  Antipope  fled  and  shut  himself 
up  in  the  strong  fortress  of  Sutri.  Rome  had  never 
received  a  Pope  with  greater  apparent  joy  or  unanim- 
ity. After  a  short  stay  Calixtus  visited  Monte  Casino 
and  Benevento.  The  Duke  of  Apulia,  the  Prince  of 
Capua,  and  the  other  Norman  vassals  of  the  Church 
hastened  to  do  homage  to  their  liege  lord.  His  royal 
descent  as  well  as  his  high  spiritual  office,  gave  dignity 


1  Compare  the  Regesta  fix)in  Nov.  27, 1119,  to  March,  1120. 

2  Landulph,  jun.,  c.  35. 

8  He  was  at  Piacenza,  April  17;  Lucca,  early  in  May;  Pisa,  May  12, 
Rome,  June  3 ;  Monte  Casino,  July ;  Benevento,  Aug.  8. 


140    •  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

to  the  bearing  of  Calixtus  II.  He  sustained  with 
equal  nobleness  the  part  of  King  and  Pope. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  following  year  he 
collected  an  army  to  besiege  the  Antipope  Gregory 
VIII.  in  Sutri.  Gregory  in  vain  looked  for  succor, 
•for  rescue,  to  the  Emperor,  who  had  entirely  aban- 
doned, it  might  seem  entirely  forgotten,  his  cause. 
The  Cardinal  John  of  Crema  commanded  the  papal 
forces.  The  Pope  himself  joined  the  ex'pedition.  Sutri 
made  no  determined  resistance  ;  either  through  fear  or 
bribery  the  garrison,  after  eiglit  days,  consented  to 
Capture  and    Surrender  the  miserable  Gregory.     The  cruel 

degradation  of         ,  ,  p   /-<    t     ^  •£>   •, 

the  Autipope.  aucl  uumauly  revenge  or  Calixtus,  it  it  were 
intended  as  an  awful  warning  against  illegitimate 
usurpers  of  the  papal  power,  was  a  signal  failure.^ 
The  mockery  heaped  on  the  unsuccessful  Gregory  had 
little  effect  in  deterring  future  ambitious  prelates  from 
setting  up  as  Antipopes.  AVhenever  an  Antipope  was 
wanted  an  Antipope  was  at  hand.  Yet  degradation 
and  insult  could  go  no  further.  On  a  camel  instead  of 
a  white  palfrey,  with  a  bristling  hogskin  for  the  scarlet 
mantle,  the  Archbishop  of  Braga  was  placed  with  his 
face  towards  the  rump  of  the  animal,  holding  the  tail 
for  a  bridle.  In  this  attire  he  was  compelled  to  accom- 
pany the  triumphant  procession  of  the  Pope  into  Rome. 
He  was  afterwards  dragged  about  from  one  convent- 
Aprii23,  prison  to  another,  and  died  at  length  so  ut- 
^^^'  terly  forgotten  that  the  place  of  his  death  is 

doubtful. 

The  Pope  and  the  Emperor  might  seem  by  the  sud- 

1  "  Ut  Ipse  in  suS,  confunderetur  erubescentia,  et  aliis  exemplum  prseberet, 
ne  similia  ulterius  attemptare  prassumant."  —  Cardin.  Arragon.  in  Vit. 
Callist. 


Chap.  III.  AFFAIRS  OF  GERIVIANY.  '     141 

den  rupture  of  the  negotiations  at  Moisson  ^g^^j^g  ^j 
and  the  pubhc  renewal  of  the  excommunica-  ^^'"'^^^y- 
tion  at  Rheims,  to  be  committed  to  more  implacable 
hostility.  But  this  rupture,  instead  of  alienating  still 
further  the  German  princes  from  the  Emperor,  ap- 
peared to  strengthen  his  party.  His  conduct  in  that 
affair  excited  no  disapprobation,  no  new  adversaries 
availed  themselves  of  the  Pope's  absolution  to  renounce 
their  allegiance.  In  the  West  of  the  Empire,  when 
he  seemed  most  completely  deserted,  a  sudden  turn 
took  place  in  his  affairs.  Many  of  the  most  powerful 
princes,  even  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  returned  at 
least  to  doubtful  allegiance.  Saxony  alone  remained 
in  rebellion,  and  in  that  province  Albert,  Archbishop 
of  Mentz,  having  fled  from  his  metropolitan  city,  was 
indefatio;able  in  organizing  the  revolt. 

Henry,  having  assembled  a  powerful  army  in  Alsace, 
and  having  expelled  the  rebellious  Bishops  of  Worms 
and  Spires,  marched  upon  Mentz,  which  he  threatened 
to  besiege  as  the  head-quarters  of  the  rebellion. 

Albert,  as  legate  of  the  Pope,  appealed  to  the  relig- 
ion of  the  Saxons ;  he  appointed  fasts,  he  ordered 
public  prayers  to  be  offered  in  all  the  churches :  he  ad- 
vanced at  length  at  the  head  of  an  army,  powerful 
enough  to  cope  with  that  of  the  Emperor,  to  the  relief 
of  M^entz.  The  hostile  armies  of  Germany  were  com- 
manded by  the  temporal  and  spiritual  head,  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Primate  :  a  battle  seemed  inevitable. 

But  a  strono;  Teutonic  feelino;  had  arisen  in  both 
parties,  and  a  disinclination  to  shed  blood  in  a  quarrel 
between  the  Church  and  the  Empire,  which  might  be 
reconciled  by  their  commanding  mediation.  The  more 
extravagant  pretensions  of  both  parties  were   equally 


142  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIIL 

hostile  to  their  interests.  It  was  not  the  supreme  feu- 
dal sovereign  alone  who  w^as  injured  by  the  absolute 
immunity  of  all  ecclesiastical  property  from  feudal 
claims  ;  every  temporal  prince  had  either  suffered  loss 
or  was  in  danger  of  suffering  loss  by  this  slow  and  ir- 
revocable encroachment  of  the  Church.  They  were 
jealous  that  the  ecclesiastics  should  claim  exemptions 
to  which  they  could  have  no  title.  On  the  other  hand 
it  could  by  no  means  be  their  desire  that  the  Emperor 
should  fill  all  the  great  ecclesiastical  sees,  the  principal- 
ities, as  some  were,  either  with  his  own  favorites  or 
sell  them  to  the  highest  bidder  (as  some  Emperors  had 
been  accused  of  doing,  as  arbitrary  Emperors  might 
do),  and  so  raise  a  vast  and  dangerous  revenue  which, 
extorted  from  the  Church,  might  be  employed  against 
their  civil  liberties.  Both  parties  had  gradually  receded 
from  their  extreme  claims,  and  the  Pope  and  the  Em- 
peror had  made  such  concessions  as,  but  for  mutual 
suspicion,  might  at  Moisson  have  led  to  peace,  and  had 
reduced  the  quarrel  almost  to  a  strife  of  words. 

After  some  negotiation  a  truce  was  agreed  upon  ; 
twelve  princes  were  chosen  from  each  party  to  draw 
up  the  terms  of  a  future  treaty,  and  a  Diet  of  the  Em- 
pire summoned  to  meet  at  Michaelmas  in  Wurzburg. 

The  Emperor  appeared  with  his  more  distinguished 
followers  in  Wurzburg,  the  Saxon  army  encamped  at  a 
short  distance.  Hostages  were  exchanged,  and,  as 
Wurzburg  could  not  contain  the  throng,  the  negotia- 
tions were  carried  on  in  the  plain  without  the  city. 

The  Diet  had  full  powers  to  ratify  a  peace  for  the 
^p^^ty  jjf  Empire  ;  the  terms  were  simple  but  compre- 
wurzburg.  j^ensivc.  The  Church  and  the  Empire  should 
each  maintain  its  rights  and  revenues  inviolable  ;  all 


Chap.  ni.  TREATY   OF  WURZBUEG.  143 

seized  or  confiscated  property  was  to  be  restored  to  its 
rightful  owner  ;  the  rights  of  each  estate  of  the  Empire 
were  to  be  maintained.  An  Imperial  Edict  was  to  be 
issued  against  thieves  and  robbers,  or  they  were  to  be 
dealt  with  ac(;ording  to  the  ancient  laws ;  all  violence 
and  all  disturbance  of  the  peace  to  be  suppressed.  The 
King  was  to  be  obedient  to  the  Pope,  and  with  the 
consent  and  aid  of  the  princes  make  peace  with  him, 
so  that  each  should  quietly  possess  his  own,  the  Em- 
peror the  rights  of  the  Empire,  the  Pope  those  of  the 
Church.  The  bishops  lawfully  elected  and  consecrated 
retained  their  sees  till  the  arrival  of  the  Pope  in  Ger- 
many, those  of  Worms  and  Spires  were  to  be  restored 
to  their  dioceses ;  hostages  and  prisoners  to  be  liberated 
on  both  sides.  But  the  dispute  between  the  Pope  and 
the  Emperor  concerning  the  investitures  was  beyond 
the  powers  of  the  Diet,  and  the  papal  excommunication 
was  revocable  by  the  Pope  alone.  These  points  there- 
fore were  reserved  till  the  Pope  should  arrive  in  Ger- 
many to  hold  a  General  Council.  But  the  Emperor 
gave  the  best  pledge  in  his  power  for  his  sincerity  in 
seekino;  reconciliation  with  the  Church.  He  had 
granted  a  general  amnesty  to  the  rebellious  prelates  : 
he  had  agreed  to  restore  the  expelled  Bishops  of  Worms 
and  Spires.  Even  Conrad,  Archbishop  of  Salzburg, 
who  had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  war  against 
Henry,  had  been  compelled  to  fly,  and  to  conceal  him- 
self in  a  cave  for  a  year,  returned  to  his  bishopric.  On 
their  side  the  Saxon  bishops  did  not  decline  to  enter 
into  communion  with  the  Emperor ;  for  even  the  prel- 
ates most  sternly  adverse  to  Henry  did  not  condescend 
to  notice  the  papal  absolution  fiom  their  allegiance; 
it  was  considered  as  somethincr  which  had  not  taken 
place. 


144  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

Notwithstanding  an  ill-timed  dispute  concerning 
Concordat  *^^^  succession  to  the  bishopric  of  Wurzburg, 
of  Worms,  wliich  led  to  some  hostilities,  and  threatened 
at  the  last  hour  to  break  up  the  amicable  settlement, 
affairs  went  smoothly  on. 

The  Pope  himself  wrote  with  the  earnestness  and 
Feb  19  conciliatory  tone   of  one  disposed  to  peace 

•^■^"  He  reminded  Henry  of  their  consanguinity, 

and  welcomed  him  as  the  dutiful  son  of  St.  Peter,  as 
worthy  both  as  a  man  and  as  an  Emperor  of  the  more 
affectionate  love  and  honor  of  the  Holy  See,  as  he 
had  surpassed  his  later  predecessors  in  obedience  to 
the  Church  of  Rome.  He  emphatically  disclaimed  all 
intention  in  the  Church  to  trench  on  the  prerogative 
of  the  Empire.^ 

The  treaty  was  framed  at  Mentz  under  the  auspices 
of  the  papal  legates,  Lambert  Bishop  of  Ostia,  Saxo 
Cardinal  of  Monte  Cselio,  and  the  Cardinal  Gregory. 
It  was  sealed  with  the  golden  seal  of  the  Empire  by 
the  Chancellor,  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne  ;  it  was 
subscribed  by  the  Archbishops  of  Cologne  and  Mentz, 
the  Bishops  of  Bamberg,  Spires,  Augsburg,  Utrecht, 
and  Constance,  and  the  Abbot  of  Fulda  ;  by  Duke 
Frederick  of  Swabia,  Henry  of  Bavaria,  the  Margraves 
Boniface  and  Theobald,  the  Palsgrave  of  the  Rhine, 
and  some  other  princes. 

So  was  it  ratified  at  Worms  by  the  papal  legate  and 
accepted  by  the  German  people. 

These  were  the  terms  of  this  important  treaty,  which 
were  read  to  the  German  nation  amid  loud  applauses, 

1  "  Nihil  de  tuo  jure  vindicare  sibi  curat  ecclesia;  nee  regni  nee  imperii 
gloriam  affectamus;  obtineat  ecclesia,  quod  Christi  est;  habeat  Imperator 
quod  suum  est." 


Chap.  m.  CONCORDAT   OF  TTORMS.  145 

and  received  as  the  flindamental  principles  of  the  Papal 
and  Imperial  rights. 

The  Emperor  gives  up  to  God,  to  St.  Peter,  and  to 
the  Catholic  Church,  the  right  of  investiture  by  the 
ring  and  the  pastoral  staff;  he  grants  to  the  clergy 
throughout  the  Empire  the  right  of  free  election ;  he 
restores  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  to  all  other  churches 
and  nobles,  the  possessions  and  feudal  sovereignties 
which  have  been  seized  durino-  the  wars  in  his  father's 
time  and  his  own,  those  in  his  possession  immediately, 
and  he  promises  his  influence  to  obtain  restitution  of 
those  not  in  his  possession.  He  grants  peace  to  the 
Pope  and  to  all  his  partisans,  and  pledges  himself  to 
protect,  whenever  he  shall  be  thereto  summoned,  the 
Church  of  Rome  in  all  things. 

The  Pope  grants  that  all  elections  of  bishops  and 
abbots  should  take  place  in  the  presence  of  the  Em- 
peror or  his  commissioners,  only  without  bribery  and 
violence,  with  an  appeal  in  cases  of  contested  elections 
to  the  metropolitan  and  provincial  bishops.  The  bishop 
elect  in  Germany  was  to  receive,  by  the  touch  of  the 
sceptre,  all  the  temporal  rights,  principalities,  and  pos- 
sessions of  the  see,  excepting  those  which  were  held 
immediately  of  the  See  of  Rome  ;  and  faithfully  dis- 
charge to  the  Emperor  all  duties  incident  to  those 
principalities.  In  all  other  parts  of  the  Empire  the 
royalties  were  to  be  granted  to  the  bishop  consecrated 
within  six  months.  The  Pope  grants  peace  to  the  Em- 
peror and  his  adherents,  and  promises  aid  and  assistance 
on  all  lawful  occasions. 

The  treaty  was  ratified  by  the  most  solemn  religious 
ceremony.     The  papal  legate,  the  Bishop  of  a.d.  1122. 
Ostia,  celebrated  the  mass,  administered  the  Eucharist 

VOL.   IV.  10 


146  LATIN  CHKISTIANITY.  Book  YHI. 

to  the  Emperor,  declared  hini  to  be  reconciled  with  the 
Holy  See,  and  received  him  and  all  his  partisans  with 
Feb.  27  *^®  ^^^^  ^^  peace  into  the  bosom  of  the  Cath- 
■^^^"  olic  Chm'ch.     The  Lateran  Council  ratified 

this  momentous  treaty,  which  became  thereby  the  law 
of  Christendom. 

So  closed  one  period  of  the  long  strife  between  the 
Church  and  the  Empire.  The  Christendom  of  our  own 
calmer  times,  when  these  questions,  excepting  among 
rigid  controversialists,  are  matters  of  remote  history, 
may  wonder  that  where  the  principles  of  justice,  domi- 
nant at  the  time,  were  so  plain  and  simple,  and  where 
such  slight  and  equitable  concessions  on  either  side  set 
this  long  quarrel  at  rest,  Germany  should  be  wasted  by 
civil  war,  Italy  suffer  more  than  one  disastrous  inva- 
sion, one  Emperor  be  reduced  to  the  lowest  degradation, 
more  than  one  Pope  be  exposed  to  personal  insult  and 
suffering,  in  short,  that  such  long,  bloody,  and  implaca- 
ble warfare  should  lay  waste  a  large  part  of  Europe,  on 
points  which  admitted  such  easy  adjustment.  But,  as 
usual  in  the  collision  of  great  interests,  the  point  in  dis- 
pute was  not  the  sole,  nor  even  the  chief  object  of  the 
conflict :  it  was  on  one  part  the  total  independence,  and 
through  the  independence  the  complete  ascendency  ;  on 
the  other,  if  not  the  absolute  subjugation,  the  secret 
subservience  of  the  spiritual  power ;  which  the  more 
sagacious  and  ambitious  of  each  party  aimed  eventually 
at  securing  to  themselves.  Both  parties  had  gradually 
receded  from  this  remote  and  unacknowledged  purpose, 
and  now  contended  on  open  and  ostensible  ground. 
The  Pope  either  abandoned  as  unattainable,  or  no 
longer  aspired  to  make  the  Church  absolutely  inde- 
pendent both  as  to  election  and  as  to  the  possession 


Chap.  III.  CONCORDAT  OF  WORMS.  147 

of  vast  feudal  rights  without  the  obligations  of  feudal 
obedience  to  the  Empire.  In  Germany  alone  the 
bishops  and  abbots  were  sovereign  princes  of  such 
enormous  territorial  possessions  and  exalted  rank,  that 
if  constant  and  unswerving  subjects  and  allies  of  the 
Pope,  they  would  have  kept  the  Empire  in  complete 
subjugation  to  Rome.  But  this  rival  sway  had  been 
kept  down  through  the  direct  influence  exercised  by 
the  Emperor  in  the  appointment,  and  his  theoretic 
power  at  least  of  withholding  the  temporalities  of  the 
great  spiritual  fiefs  ;  and  the  exercise  of  this  power  led 
to  monstrous  abuses,  the  secularization  of  the  Church, 
the  transformation  of  bishops  and  abbots  to  laymen  in- 
vested in  mitres  and  cowls.  The  Emperor  could  not 
hope  to  maintain  the  evils  of  the  old  system,  the  direct 
appointment  of  his  creatures,  boys  or  rude  soldiers,  to 
those  great  sees  or  abbacies  ;  or  to  sell  them  and  re- 
ceive in  payment  some  of  the  estates  of  the  Church, 
and  so  to  create  an  unconstitutional  and  independent 
revenue.  It  Avas  even  a  wiser  policy,  as  concerned 
his  temporal  interests,  to  elevate  the  order  in  that 
decent  and  imposing  character  which  belonged  to 
their  sacred  calling  —  to  Teutonize  the  Teutonic  hie- 
rarchy. 

Indirect  influence  through  the  chapters  might  raise 
up,  if  a  more  free  and  more  respected,  yet  more  loyal 
race  of  churchmen  ;  if  more  independent  of  the  Empire 
they  would  likewise  be  more  independent  of  the  Pope ; 
they  would  be  Germans  as  well  as  churchmen ;  become 
not  the  sworn,  immitigable  enemies,  but  the  allies,  the 
bulwarks  of  the  Imperial  power.  So  in  the  subsequent 
contest  the  armies  of  the  Hohenstaufen,  at  least  of 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  appear  commanded  by  the  gi'eat 


148  LATDT  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Vm. 

prelates  of  the  Empire  ;  and  even  Frederick  11.,  if  he 
had  been  more  of  a  German,  less  of  an  Italian  sov- 
ereign^s  might,  supported  by  the  German  hierarchy, 
have  maintained  the  contest  with  greater  hopes  of 
success. 


Chap.  IV.  DEATH  OF  CALIXTUS  U.  149 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ST.  BERNARD  AND  INNOCENT  H. 

Calixtus  II.  had  restored  peace  to  Christendom ; 
his  strong  arm  dui'ing  the  latter  part  of  his  Pontificate 
kept  even  Rome  in  quiet  obedience.  He  compelled 
both  citizens  and  strangers  to  abandon  the  practice  of 
wearing  arms ;  he  levelled  some  of  the  strongholds 
from  which  the  turbulent  nobles  sallied  forth  with  their 
lawless  followers  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  city,  and 
to  interfere  in  the  election  of  Popes,  or  to  defend  some 
usurping  Antipope  against  the  legitimate  Bishop  of 
Rome :  the  tower  of  Cencius  and  that  of  Donna  Bona 
were  razed  to  the  ground.  But  neither  Cahxtus 
nor  Henry  lived  to  see  the  effects  of  the  pacification. 
The  death  of  Cahxtus  took  place  a  year  before  that 
of  the  Emperor.^  With  Henry  V.  closed  the  line 
of  the  Franconian  Caesars  in  Germany  ;  the  second 
family  which,  since  the  separation  of  the  dominicms  of 
Charlemagne,  had  handed  down  the  Empire  for  several 
generations  in  regular  descent.  Of  the  Franconian 
Emperors,  the  first  had  been  the  faithful  alKes  of  the 
Papacy ;  the  restorers  of  the  successors  of  St.  Peter  to 
freedom,  power,  and  even  sanctity,  which  they  had  lost, 

1  Death  of  Calixtus,  1124  (rather  Dec.  13  or  14,  1123).  The  death  of 
Henry,  1125,  May  23.  —  Falco  Beneventanus  in  Chronic;  Pandulphus 
Pisanus. 


150  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

and  seemed  in  danger  of  losing  forever,  as  the  slaves 
and  instruments  of  the  wild  barons  and  potentates  of 
Rome  and  the  Romagna.  The  two  later  Kings,  the 
Henrys,  had  been  in  perpetual  and  dangerous  conflict 
with  those  Pontiffs  whom  their  fathers  had  reinvested 
in  dignity. 

Calixtus  had  controlled,  but  not  extinguished  the 
Roman  factions ;  they  were  only  gathering  strength 
and  animosity  to  renew  the  strife  for  his  spoils,  to  con- 
test the  appointment  of  his  successors.  Even  on  the 
death  of  Calixtus,  a  double -election,  but  for  the  un- 
wonted prudence  and  moderation  of  one  of  the  can- 
didates, might  have  broken  out  into  a  new  schism,  and 
a  new  civil  war.  The  Frangipanis  were  at  the  head 
of  one  faction,  Peter  the  son  of  Leo  of  the  other. 
A.D.  1123.  They  watched  the  last  hours  of  the  expiring 
Dec.  15, 16.  Pontifl"  with  outward  signs  of  agreement,  but 
with  the  inward  determination  each  to  supplant  the 
other  by  the  rapidity  of  his  proceedings.  Lambert  of 
Ostia,  the  legate  who  had  conducted  the  treaty  of  pa- 
cification in  Germany,  was  the  Pope  of  the  Frangipani. 
Their  party  had  the  scarlet  robe  ready  to  invest  him. 
While  the  assembled  Bishops  in  the  Church  of  San 
Pancrazio  had  already  elected  Tebaldo  Buccapecco,  the 
Cardinal  of  Santa  Anastasia,  and  were  singing  the  Te 
Deum,  Robert  Frangipani  proclaimed  Lambert  as  Pope 
Elect,  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  people.  Happily, 
however,  one  was  as  sincerely  humble  as  the  other 
ambitious.^  The  Cardinal  of  Santa  Anastasia  yielded 
up  his  claim  without  hesitation  ;  yet  so  doubtful  did  the 
legality  of  his  election  appear  to  the  Pope  himself,  that, 

J  Jaff^  however  says,  I  think  without  ground,  "  Voluntate  an  coactua 
abdicaverit,  parum  liquet." 


Chap.  IV.  HONORIUS  H.  POPE.  lot 

twelve  days  after,  lie  resigned  tlie  Papacy  into  the 
hands  of  the  Cardinals,  and  went  through  the  forms  of 
a  new  election. 

The  Pontificate  of  Honorius  II.,  during  six  years, 
was  not  marked  by  any  great  event,  except  a.d.  1124- 
the  accession  of  the  Saxon  house  to  the  Im-  Honorius  n. 
perial  throne.  Yet  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican  were 
not  silent ;  his  reign  is  marked  by  the  anathemas  which 
he  pronounced,  not  now  against  invaders  of  his  ecclesi- 
astical rights  and  possessions.  The  temporal  interests 
and  the  spiritual  supremacy  of  the  Popes  became  more 
and  more  identified ;  all  invasion  of.  the  actual  property 
of  the  Pope,  or  the  feudal  superiority  which  he  might 
claim,  was  held  as  sacrilege,  and  punished  by  the  spir- 
itual censure  of  excommunication.  Already  the  Lat- 
eran  Council,  under  Calixtus,  had  declared  that  any 
one  who  attacked  the  citv  of  Benevento,  beino^  the 
Pope's  (a  strong  city  of  refuge,  in  the  south  of  Italy, 
either  against  a  hostile  Emperor  or  the  turbulent  Ro- 
mans, was  of  infinite  importance  to  the  Pontiff),  was 
under  anathema.  The  feudal  sovereignty  of  the  whole 
South  of  IWy,  which  the  Popes,  on  some  vague  claim 
as  representatives  of  the  Emperors,  had  appropriated 
to  the  Roman  See,  and  which  the  Normans,  holding 
only  by  the  precarious  tenure  of  conquest,  were  not 
inchned  to  dispute,  since  it  confirmed  their  own  rights, 
was  protected  by  the  same  incongruous  arms ;  and  not 
by  these  arms  alone,  Honorius  himself  at  times  headed 
the  Papal  forces  in  the  South.^  When  Roger  the  Nor- 
man laid  claim  to  the  succession  of  William  Duke  of 


1  See  Chron.  Foss.  Nov.,  Falco  Beneventan.,  Romuald.  Salernit  for 
brief  notices  of  the  Pope's  campaigns.  Apud  Muratori,  G.  R.  It.  vii. 
Council  at  Troja,  Nov.  11,  1127. 


152  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIIL 

Apulia,  wlio  had  died  childless,  the  Pope  being  unfa- 
vorable to  his  pretensions,  he  was  cut  off  from  the 
Church  of  Christ  by  the  same  summary  sentence. 

In  Germany  all  was  peace  between  the  Empire  and 
the  Papacy.  Lothair  the  Saxon,  the  faithful  head  of 
the  Papal  party,  had  been  elected  to  the  Empire.  Ho- 
norius,  in  gratitude  for  past  services,  and  in  prophetic 
dread  of  the  rising  power  of  the  Hohenstaufen,  hast- 
ened to  recognize  the  Emperor.  Lothair,  in  his  hum- 
ble submission,  did  not  demand  the  homage  of  the 
clergy  for  their  Imperial  fiefs.^  Conrad,  the  nephew 
of  the  deceased  King  Henry,  having  attempted  to  seize 
A  rii24  ^^^^  kingdom  of  Italy,  was  excommunicated 
^^^^-  as  a  rebel  against  his  rightful  Sovereign.     The 

humiliation  of  his  rival  Frederick  of  Swabia,  and  the 
failure  of  Conrad,  left  the  Papalizing  Emperor  in  his 
undisturbed  supremacy. 

The  death  of  Honorius  was  the  signal  for  a  more 
Feb.  14, 1130.  violciit  collisiou  between  the  ruling  factions 
election.        at  Romc.    Thcv  watched  the  dyins;  Pope  with 

Innocent  II.      .      ,  .  \  ^  ''       ^ ,. 

Anacietus  II.  indcccnt  impaticncc.  In  secret,  (it  was  as- 
serted before  the  death,  certainly  on  thei  day  of  the 
death  and  before  the  ftmeral  of  Honorius,)  a  minority 
of  the  Cardinals,  but  those,  in  their  own  estimation  and 
in  that  of  their  adherents,  the  most  eminent,  elected 
Gregory,  the  Cardinal  of  St.  Angelo,  who  took  the 
name  of  Innocent  II. ^     The  more  numerous   party, 

1  JafF^,  Lothair,  p.  36,  &c. 

2  St.  Bernard  himself  admits  some  irregularity  at  least  in  the  election  of 
Innocent.  "  Nam  etsi  quid  minus  forte  solenniter,  et  minus  ordinabiliter 
processit,  in  ea  quae  pnecessit,  ut  hostes  unitatis  contendunt."  Bernard 
argues  that  they  ought  to  have  -waited  the  formal  examination  of  this 
point,  and  not  proceeded  to  another  election.  But  if  the  election  was  ir- 
regular and  uncanonical,  it  was  null  of  itself. 


Chap.  rV.  ANACLETUS  U.  153 

waiting  a  more  decent  and  more  canonical  time  for 
their  election,  chose  the  Cardinal  Peter  Leonis,  one  of 
the  sons  of  that  Peter  who  had  so  long  been  conspic- 
uous in  Roman  politics.  He  called  himself  Anacletus 
II.  On  his  side  Anacletus  had  the  more  canonical 
election,  the  majority  of  the  Cardinals,^  the  strongest 
party  in  Rome.  He  immediately  made  overtures  to 
Roger  Duke  of  Sicily,  who  had  been  excommunicated 
by  Honorius.  The  Sicilian  espoused  at  once  the  cause 
of  Anacletus,  in  order  to  deserve  the  title  of  King,  the 
aim  of  his  ambition.  Thus  there  was  a  complete  rev- 
olution in  the  parties  at  Rome.  The  powerful  family 
of  Peter  Leonis  and  the  Normans  were  on  the  side  of 
the  Pope,  eventually  reputed  the  Antipope  ;  the  Em- 
peror with  all  Northern  Christendom  united  for  the 
successful,  as  he  was  afterwards  called,  the  orthodox 
PontifP.  The  enemies  of  Leo  (Anacletus),  who  scru- 
pled at  no  calumny ,2  attributed  his  success  to  his  pow- 
erful connections  of  family  and  of  interest.  He  inher- 
ited a  vast  patrimonial  property  ;  he  had  increased  it 
by  a  large  share  in  the  exactions  of  the  Curia,  the 
Chancery  of  Rome,  of  which  he  had  the  command, 
and   in  legations.     These  treasures  he  had   carefully 

1  There  were  16  cardinals  for  Innocent,  32  for  Anacletus.  —  Anonym, 
apud  Baronium,  Epist.,  pp.  191,  192,  196.    Other  writers,  of  inferior  au- 

.thority,  deny  this. 

2  "  Qui  licet  monachus,  presbyter,  cardinalis  esset,  scorto  conjugatus, 
monachas,  sororem  propriam,  etiam  consanguineas  ad  instar  canis  quoquo 
modo  habere  potuit,  non  defecit."  —  Epist.  Mantuin.  Episcop.  apud  Neii- 
gart,  diplom.  Alemannise,  63,  64.  Yet  there  seems  no  doubt  that  the 
Epistle  of  Peter  the  Cardinal,  written  by  St.  Bernard  (notwithstanding 
Mabillon's  doubts),  was  addressed  to  Anacletus.  "  Diligimus  enim  bonam 
faraam  vestram,  reveremur  quam  in  vobis  audivimus  circa  res  Dei  soUicitu- 
dinem  et  sinceritatem."  Jaff^  (p.  89)  well  obsen^es  that  it  would  be  fat*^ 
to  the  character  of  Calixtus  II.  to  have  promoted  a  man  of  such  mouj»ifw«* 
dissoluteness  to  the  cardinalate. 


154  LATIN  CHRISTIAI^ITY.  Book  VIII. 

hoarded  for  his  great  object,  the  Pontificate.  Besides 
this,  he  scrupled  not,  it  is  said,  to  convert  the  sacred 
wealth  of  the  churches  to  his  use ;  and  when  the  Chris- 
tians trembled  to  break  up  the  silver  vessels  and  cruci- 
fixes, he  called  in  the  Jews  to  this  unholy  work.  Thus 
it  is  acknowledged  that  almost  all  Rome  was  on  his 
side  ;  Rome,  won,  as  his  enemies  aver,  by  these  guilty 
and  sacrilegious  means  and  maintained  by  the  harshest 
cruelties.-^ 

Innocent  had  in  Rome  the  Frangipanis,  a  strong 
minority  of  the  Cardinals,  the  earlier  though  question- 
able election  ;  he  had  the  indelible  prejudice  against 
his  adversary  —  his  name  and  descent  from  a  Jew  and 
an  usurer. 2  But  he  obtained  before  long  the  support 
of  the  Emperor  Lothair,  of  the  King  of  France,  of 
Henry  King  of  England,  and,  greater  than  these,  of 
one  to  whom  he  owed  their  faithful  aid,  who  ruled  the 


1  Innocent  thus  arraigns  his  rival :  —  "  Qui  papatum  a  longis  retr©  tem- 
poribus  affectaverat,  parentum  violentia,  sanguinis  eflfusione,  destructione 
sacrarum  nnaginum,  beati  Petri  cathedram  occupavit  et  peregrines  ac  re- 
ligiosos  quosdam  ad  apostolorum  limina  venientes  captos,  et  tetris  carceris 
squaloribus  ac  ferreis  vinculis  mancipatos  fame,  siti,  diversisque  torraen- 
torum  generibus  toi-mentare  non  desinit."' — Pisa,  June  20,  apud  Jaffe,  p. 
561.  On  the  other  hand  Anacletus  asserts,  "  Clerus  onmis  Romanus  indi- 
vidua  nobis  charitate  cohgeret;  prgefectus  urbis  Leo  Prangipane  cum  filio  et 
Cencio  Fi-angipane  [this  was  after  the  flight  of  Innocent]  et  nobiles  omnes, 
et  plebs  omnis  Romana  consuetam  nobis  fidelitatem  fecerunt."  —  Baronius, 
sub  ann.  1130. 

2  In  the  account  of  the  Council  of  Rheims  by  Ordericus  Vitalis,  we  read 
that  Calixtus  II.  declared  his  willingness  to  liberate  the  son  of  Peter  the 
son  of  Leo,  whom  he  had  brought  with  him  as  one  of  the  hostages  of  the 
former  treaty  with  the  Emperor.  "  So  saying,  he  pointed  to  a  dark  pale 
youth,  more  like  a  Jew  or  a  Hagarene  than  a  Christian,  clothed  in  rich 
raiment,  but  deformed  in  person.  The  Franks,  who  saw  him  standing  by 
the  Pope,  mocked  him,  imprecated  disgrace  and  ruin  on  his  head  from  their 
hatred  to  his  father,  whom  they  knew  to  be  a  most  unscrupulous  usurer." 
This  deformed  boy  could  not  be  the  future  Pope,  then  probably  a  monk; 
most  likely  it  was  a  brother. 


Chap.  IV.  ST.  BEENAED.  155 

minds  of  all  these  Sovereigns,  Bernard,  the  Abbot  of 
Clairvaux. 

For  half  this  century  the  Pope  ceases  to  be  the  cen- 
tre around  whom  gather  the  gi'eat  events  of  Christian 
history,  from  whose  heart  or  from  whose  mind  flow 
forth  the  impulses  which  animate  and  guide  Latin 
Christendom,  towards  whom  converge  the  religious 
thoughts  of  men.  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  now  rising 
to  the  height  of  his  power  and  influence,  is  at  once  the 
leading  and  the  governing  head  of  Christendom.  He 
rules  alike  the  monastic  world,  in  all  the  multiplying 
and  more  severe  convents  which  were  springing  up  in 
every  part  of  Europe,  the  councils  of  temporal  sov- 
ereigns, and  the  intellectual  developments  of  the  age. 
He  is  peopling  all  these  convents  with  thousands  of  ar- 
dent votaries  of  every  rank  and  order;  he  heals  the 
schism  in  the  Papacy ;  he  preaches  a  new  crusade,  in 
which  a  King  and  an  Emperor  lead  the  armies  of  the 
Cross  ;  he  is  believed  by  an  admiiing  age  to  have  con- 
frited  Abelard  himself,  and  to  have  repressed  the  more 
dano^erous  doctrines  of  Arnold  of  Brescia.     His  almost 

CD 

worshipping  admirers  adorn  his  life  with  countless  mir- 
acles ;  posterity  must  admit  the  almost  miraculous 
power  with  which  he  was  endowed  of  guiding  the 
minds  of  men  in  passive  obedience.  The  happy  con- 
geniality of  his  character,  opinions,  eloquence,  piety, 
with  all  the  stronger  sentiments  and  passions  of  the 
time,  will  account  in  great  part  for  his  ascendency  ; 
but  the  man  must  have  been  blessed  with  an  amazing 
native  power  and  greatness,  which  alone  could  raise 
him  so  high  above  a  world  actuated  by  the  same  influ- 
ences. 

Bernard  did  not  originate  this  new  outburst  of  mo- 


156  LATIN  CHKISTIANITY.  Book  Vm 

nasticism,  which  had  abeady  made  great  progress  in 
Germany,  and  was  gi'owing  to  its  height  in  parts  of 
France.  He  was  a  dutiful  son  rather  than  one  of  the 
parents  of  that  great  Cistercian  order,  which  was  now 
commencing  its  career  in  all  its  more  attractive  seclu- 
sion from  the  world,  and  its  more  than  primitive  aus- 
terity of  discipline ;  which  in  a  short  time  became 
famous,  and  through  its  fame  covered  France,  parts  of 
England,  and  some  other  countries,  with  new  monas- 
teries under  a  more  rigorous  rule,  and  compelled  some 
of  the  old  institutions  to  submit  to  a  harsher  discipline. 
These  foundations,  after  emulating  or  surpassing  the 
ancient  Benedictine  brotherhoods  in  austerity,  poverty, 
obedience,  solitude,  grew  to  equal  and  surpass  them  in 
splendor,  wealth,  and  independent  power. 

It  was  this  wonderful  attribute  of  the  monastic  sys- 
tem to  renew  its  youth,  which  was  the  life  of  medi- 
aeval Christianity ;  it  was  ever  reverting  of  itself  to 
the  first  principles  of  its  constitution.  It  seized  alike 
on  all  the  various  nations  which  now  formed  Latin 
Christendom  ;  the  Northern  as  the  Southern,  the  Ger- 
man as  the  Italian.  In  this  adventurous  age  there 
must  be  room  and  scope  for  every  kind  of  religious 
adventure.  The  untamable  independence  and  individ- 
uality of  the  Teutonic  character,  now  dominant  through- 
out Germany,  France,  and  England,  still  displays  itself, 
notwithstanding  the  complicated  system  of  feudal  ten- 
ures and  their  bondage,  in  the  perpetual  insubordina- 
tion of  the  nobles  to  the  sovereign,  in  private  wars,  in 
feats  of  hardihood  and  enterprise,  bordering  constantly 
on  the  acts  of  the  robber,  the  freebooter,  and  the  pirate. 
It  had  been  at  once  fostered  by,  and  found  vent  in  the 
Crusades,  which  called  on  every  one  to  become  a  war- 


Chap.  IV.      THIEST  FOR  RELIGIOUS  ADVENTURE.  157 

rior  on  his  own  account,  and  enrolled  him  not  as  a  con- 
script or  even  as  a  feudal  retainer,  but  as  a  free  and 
voluntary  soldier  of  the  Cross,  seeking  glory  or  plun- 
der for  himself,  or  working  out  his  own  salvation  by 
deeds  of  valor  against  the  Unbelievers. 

It  was  the  same  within  the  more  immediate  sphere 
of  religion.  When  that  yearning  for  inde- Thirst  for 
pendence,  that  self-isolating  individuality  was  adventure. 
found  in  connection  with  the  strong  and  profound  pas- 
sion for  devotion,  there  was  nothing  in  the  ordinary 
and  established  forms  to  satisfy  the  aspirations  of  this 
inordinate  piety.  Notwithstanding,  or  rather  because 
of  the  completely  organized  system  of  Church  govern- 
ment throughout  the  West,  which  gave  to  every  prov- 
ince its  metropolitan,  to  every  city  its  bishop,  to  every 
parish  its  priest,  there  could  not  but  be  a  perpetual  in- 
surrection, as  it  were,  of  men  ambitious  of  something 
higher,  more  peculiar,  more  extraordinary,  more  their 
own.  The  stated  and  uniform  service  of  the  Church, 
the  common  instruction,  must  be  suited  to  the  ordinary 
level  of  faith  and  knowledge ;  they  knew  no  change, 
no  progress,  no  accommodation  to  more  earnest  or  crav- 
ing spirits.  The  almost  universal  secularization  of  the 
clergy  would  increase  this  holy  dissatisfaction.  Even 
the  Pope  had  become  a  temporal  sovereign,  the  metro- 
politan a  prince,  the  bishop  a  baron,  the  priest  perhaps 
the  chaplain  to  a  marauding  army.  At  all  events  the 
ceremonial  of  the  Church  went  on  in  but  stately  uni- 
formity ;  the  most  religious  man  was  but  a  member  of 
the  same  Christian  flock  ;  there  was  little  emulation  or 
distinction.  But  all  this  time  monastic  Christianity 
was  in  the  theory  of  the  Church  the  only  real  Christian 
perfection  ;  the  one  sublime,  almost  the  one  safe  course, 


158  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIH. 

was  the  total  abnegation  of  the  monk,  renunciation  of 
the  world,  solitude,  asceticism,  stern  mortification. 
Man  could  not  inflict  upon  himself  too  much  humilia- 
tion and  misery.  The  true  Christian  life  was  one  long 
unbroken  penance.  Holiness  was  measured  by  suffer- 
ing; the  more  remote  from  man  the  nearer  to  God. 
All  human  sympathies,  all  social  feelings,  all  ties  of 
kindred,  all  affections  were  to  be  torn  up  by  the  roots 
from  the  groaning  spirit ;  pain  and  prayer,  prayer  and 
pain,  were  to  be  the  sole,  stirring,  unwearying  occupa- 
tions of  a  saintly  life. 

All  these  more  aspiring  and  restless  and  insatiable 
spirits  the  monasteries  invited  within  their  hallowed 
walls  ;  to  all  these  they  promised  peace.  But  they 
could  rarely  fulfil  their  promise ;  even  they  could  not 
satisfy  the  yearnings  for  religious  adventure.  Most  of 
the  old  monasteries  which  held  the  rule  either  of  St. 
Benedict  or  of  Cassian  had  become  wealthy,  and  suf- 
fered the  usual  effects  of  wealth.  Some  had  altogether 
relaxed  their  discipline,  had  long  renounced  poverty ; 
and  the  constant  dissensions,  the  appeals  to  the  bishop, 
to  the  metropolitan,  or  where,  as  they  all  strove  to  do, 
they  had  obtained  exemption  from  episcopal  jurisdic- 
tion, to  the  Pope,  showed  how  entirely  the  other  great 
vow,  obedience  to  the  abbot  or  prior,  had  become  obso- 
lete. The  best  were  regular  and  tranquil ;  they  had 
achieved  their  labors,  they  had  fertilized  their  imme- 
diate territory,  and  as  though  they  had  now  but  to 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  toil,  they  sunk  to  indolent  re- 
pose. Even  where  the  discipline  was  still  severe,  it 
was  monotonous,  to  some  extent  absolute ;  its  sanctity 
was  exacted,  habitual,  unawakening.  All  old  establish- 
ments are  impatient  of  innovation  ;  a  higher  flight  of 


Chap.  IV.  MONASTIC  SYSTEM.  159 

devotion  becomes  insubordination,  or  a  tacit  reproach 
on  the  ordinary  course.  Monasticism  had  been  and 
was  ever  tracing  the  same  cycle.  Now  the  wilderness, 
the  utter  solitude,  the  utmost  poverty,  the  contest  with 
the  stubborn  forest  and  unwholesome  morass,  the 
most  exalted  piety,  the  devotion  which  had  not  hours 
enough  during  the  day  and  night  for  its  exercise,  the 
rule  which  could  not  be  enforced  too  strictly,  the- 
strongly  competing  asceticism,  the  inventive  self-disci- 
pline, the  inexhaustible,  emulous  ingenuity  of  self-tor- 
ture, the  boastful  servility  of  obedience :  then  the  fame 
for  piety,  the  lavish  offerings  of  the  faithful,  the  grants 
of  the  repentant  lord,  the  endowments  of  the  remorse- 
ful king  —  the  opulence,  the  power,  the  magnificence. 
The  wattled  hut,  the  rock-hewn  hermitage.  Is  now  the 
stately  cloister ;  the  lowly  church  of  wood  the  lofty 
and  gorgeous  abbey ;  the  wild  forest  or  heath  the  pleas- 
ant and  umbrageous  grove  ;  the  marsh  a  domain  of  in- 
termingling meadow  and  cornfields ;  the  brawling 
stream  or  mountain  ton'ent  a  succession  of  quiet  tanks 
or  pools  fattening  innumerable  fish.  The  superior, 
once  a  man  bowed  to  the  earth  with  humility,  care- 
worn, pale,  emaciated,  with  a  coarse  habit  bound  with 
a  cord,  with  naked  feet,  is  become  an  abbot  on  his  cur- 
vetting palfi'ey,  in  rich  attire,  with  his  silver  cross 
borne  before  him,  travelling  to  take  his  place  amid  the 
lordliest  of  the  realm. 

New  orders  therefore  and  new  institutions  were  ever 
growing  out  of  the  old,  and  hosts  of  youthful  zealots 
were  ripe  and  eager  for  their  more  extreme  demands 
of  self-sacrifice,  and  that  which  appeared  to  be  self- 
abandonment,  but  in  fact  was  often  a  loftier  form  of 
Belf-adoration.      Already,  centuries  past,  in  the  Bene- 


160  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

dictine  abbeys,  tlie  second  Benedict  (of  Aniane)  bad 
commenced  a  new  era  of  discipline,  mortification, 
saintliness  according  to  tbe  monastic  notion  of  saint- 
sbip.  But  that  era,  like  the  old  one,  had  gradually 
passed  away.  Again,  in  the  preceding  century,  Clugny 
had  displayed  this  marvellous  inward  force,  this  recon- 
structing, reorganizing,  reanimating  energy  of  monasti- 
cism.  It  had  furnished  the  line  of  German  pontiffs  to 
the  papacy,  it  had  trained  Hildebrand  for  the  papal 
throne  and  placed  him  upon  it.  But  Clugny  was  now 
undergoing  the  inevitable  fate  of  degeneracy  :  it  was 
said  that  the  Abbot  Pontius  had  utterly  forgotten  the 
stern  inflexibility  of  his  great  predecessor  St.  Hugh : 
he  had  become  worldly,  and  as  worldly,  weak  in  disci- 
pline. 

But  in  the  mean  while,  in  a  remote  and  almost  inac- 
Moiesme.  ccssiblc  comcr  of  Burgundy,  had  been  laid 
the  foundations  of  a  community  which  by  the  time 
that  the  mind  of  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  should  be  ripe 
for  his  great  change,  would  be  prepared  to  satisfy  the 
fervid  longings  even  of  a  spirit  so  intensely  burning 
with  the  fire  of  devotion.  The  first  origin  of  this 
fraternity  is  one  of  the  most  striking  and  character- 
istic" stories  of  this  religious  age.  Two  brothers  of 
the  noble  house  of  Molesme  were  riding  through  a 
wild  forest,  in  arms,  on  their  way  to  a  neighboring 
tournament.  Suddenly  in  the  mind  of  each  rose  the 
awful  thought,  "  What  if  I  should  murder  my  brother, 
and  so  secure  the  whole  of  our  inheritance  !  "  The 
strong  power  of  love,  of  virtue,  of  religion,  or  what- 
ever influence  was  employed  by  the  divine  blessing, 
wrestled  down  in  each  the  dark  temptation.  Some 
years  after  they  passed  again  the  same  dreary  road ; 


Chap.  IV.  STEPHEN  HARDING.  IGl 

the  recollection  of  their  former  trial  came  back  upon 
their  minds ;  they  shuddered  at  once  at  the  fearful 
power  of  the  Tempter.  They  hastened  to  confess  them- 
selves to  a  holy  hermit ;  they  then  communicated  each 
to  the  other  their  fratricidal  thoughts  ;  they  determined 
to  abandon  forever  a  world  which  abounded  in  such 
dreadful  suggestions,  to  devote  their  lives  to  the  God 
who  had  saved  them  from  such  appalling  sin.  So  rose 
at  Molesme  a  small  community,  which  rapidly  became 
a  monastery.  The  brothers,  however,  disappear,  at 
least  are  not  the  most  conspicuous  in  the  history  of 
this  community.  In  the  monastery,  in  the  forest  of 
Colan  near  Molesme,  arose  dissension,  at  length  seces- 
sion. Some  of  the  most  rigid,  including  the  abbot,  the 
prior,  and  Stephen  Harding,  an  Englishman,  Stephen 
sought  a  more  complete  solitude,  a  more  obsti-  ^^''•^"s- 
nate  wilderness  to  tame,  more  sense-subduing  poverty, 
more  intense  mortification.  They  found  it  in  a  desert 
place  on  the  borders  of  Champagne  and  Burgundy. 
Nothing  could  appear  more  stubborn,  more  dismal, 
more  hopeless  than  this  spot ;  it  suited  their  ligid 
mood ;  they  had  more  than  once  the  satisfaction  of 
almost  perishing  by  famine.  The  monastery  of  Ci- 
teaux  had  not  yet  softened  away  the  savage  character 
of  the  wilderness  around  when  it  opened  its  gates  to 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux.  Stephen  Harding  had  become 
its  abbot,  and  Stephen  was  the  true  founder  of  the  Cis- 
tercian Order. 

Stephen  Harding  had  been  bestowed  as  an  offering 
by  his  pious  parents  on  the  monastery  of  Sherborne  in 
Dorsetshire.  There  he  received  his  education,  there  he 
was  fed  with  cravings  for  higher  devotion  which  Sher- 
borne could  not  satisfy.     He  wandered  as  a  pilgrim  to 

VOL.   IV.  11 


162  LAXm  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  YIIL 

Rome ;  lie  returned  with  his  spiritual  wants  still  more 
pressing,  more  fastidious,  more  insatiate.  Among  the 
brethren  of  Molesme  he  found  for  a  time  a  relief  for 
his  soul's  necessities :  but  even  from  Molesme  he  was 
driven  forth  in  search  of  profound  peace,  of  more  full 
satisfaction ;  and  he  was  among  the  seven  who  retired 
into  the  more  desolate  and  unapproachable  Citeaux.^ 
citeaux.  Yet  already  had  Citeaux,  though  still  rude 
and  struggling  as  it  were,  with  the  forest  and  the 
marsh,  acquired  fame.  Odo,  the  mighty  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  the  first  patron  of  the  new  community,  had 
died  in  the  Holy  Land.  Ere  he  expired  he  commanded 
that  his  remains  should  not  rest  in  the  vaults  of  his 
cathedral  at  Dijon,  or  any  of  the  more  stately  abbeys 
of  his  land,  where  there  were  lordly  prelates  or  chap- 
ters of  priests  to  celebrate  daily  the  splendid  masses 
with  their  solemn  music  for  his  soul.  He  desired  that 
they  should  rest  in  the  humble  chapel  of  Citeaux, 
blessed  by  the  more  prevailing  prayers  of  its  holy 
monks.  In  after  ages  Citeaux,  become  magnificent, 
was  the  burying-place  of  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy ; 
but  over  their  gorgeous  marble  tombs  it  might  be 
questioned  whether  such  devout  and  earnest  supplica- 
tions were  addressed  to  heaven  as  by  the  simple  choir 
of  Stephen  Harding. 

But  its  glory  and  its  power  rose  not  from  the  sepul- 
ture of  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy,  but  from  the  entrance 
of  the  living  Bernard  within  its  walls.^      Bernard  was 

1  Compare  the  Life  of  Harding,  in  the  Lives  of  the  English  Saints.  If 
the  Tvriters  of  some  of  these  biographies  had  condescended  to  -write  history 
rather  than  to  revive  legend,  they  might,  from  their  research  and  exquisite 
charm  of  style,  have  enriched  our  literature. 

2  The  Life  of   St.   Bernard  (the  first  book)  by  William   the  Abbot. 
(Gulielraus  Abbas),  was  written   during   his   lifetime,  but  without   the 


Chap.  IV.  YOUTH  OF  ST.  BERXAED.  163 

born  of  noble  parentage  in  Burgundy.  His  father, 
Tecelin,  was  a  man  of  great  bravery  and  unimpeach- 
able honor  and  justice  ;  his  mother,  Alith,  likewise  of 
high  birth,  a  model  of  devotion  and  charity.  Bernard 
was  the  third  of  six  brothers ;  he  had  one  sister.  The 
mother,  who  had  secretly  vowed  all  her  children  to 
God,  took  the  chief  part  in  their  early  education,  es- 
pecially in  that  of  Bernard,  a  simple  and  studious,  a 
thoughtful  and  gentle  youth,  yet  even  in  childhood  of 
strong  will  and  visionary  imagination.  The  mother's 
death  confirmed  the  influence  of  her  life.  Ha  vino-  long; 
practised  secretly  the  severest  monastic  discipline,  she 
breathed  out  her  spirit  amid  the  psalms  of  the  clergy 
around  her  bed :  the  last  movement  of  her  lips  was 
praise  to  God. 

The  world  was  open  to  the  youth  of  high  birth, 
beautiful  person,  graceful  manners,  irresistible  influ- 
ence. The  Court  would  at  once  have  welcomed  a 
young  knight,  so  endowed,  with  her  highest  honors, 
her  most  intoxicating  pleasures ;  the  Church  would 
have  trained  a  noble  disciple  so  richly  gifted  for  her 
most  powerful  bishoprics  or  her  wealtliiest  abbeys. 
He  closed  his  eyes  upon  the  world,  on  the  worldly 
Church,  with  stern  determination.  He  became  at 
once  master  of  his  passions.  His  eyes  had  dwelt  too 
long  and  too  curiously  on  a  beautiful  female ;  he 
plunged  to  the  neck  in  a  pool  of  cold  water.  His 
chastity  underwent,  but  unattainted,  severer  trials. 
Yet  he  resolved  to  abandon  this  incorrigible  world 
altogether.  He  inquired  for  the  poorest,  the  most 
inaccessible,  the  most  austere  of  monasteries.     It  was 

knowledge  or  sanction  of  Bernard.  The  second  book  bears  the  name 
»f  Bernard,  Abbot  of  Beauvale. 


164  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

that  of  Citeaux.  He  arrived  at  the  gates,  but  not 
alone.  Already  his  irresistible  influence  had  drawn 
around  him  thirty  followers,  all  equally  resolute  in  the 
renunciation  of  secular  life,  in  submission  to  the  most 
rigorous  discipline ;  some,  men  of  middle  life,  versed 
in,  but  weary  of,  the  world  ;  most,  like  himself,  youths 
of  noble  birth,  with  life  untried  and  expanding  in  its 
most  dazzling  promise  before  them.  But  this  was  not 
all ;  his  mother's  vow  must  be  fulfilled.  One  after  the 
other  the  strange  and  irresistible  force  of  his  character 
enthralled  his  brothers,  and  at  length  his  sister.  Two 
of  the  brothers  with  an  uncle  followed  his  steps  at 
once  :  the  elder,  Guido,  was  married ;  his  wife  refused 
to  yield  up  her  claims  on  her  husband's  love.  A  sea- 
sonable illness  enforced  her  submission  ;  she  too  retired 
to  a  convent.  A  wound  in  the  side,  prophesied,  it  was 
said,  by  Bernard,  brought  another,  a  gallant  warrior,  as 
a  heart-stricken  penitent  into  his  company.  When  they 
all  left  the  castle  of  their  fathers,  where  they  had  al- 
ready formed  a  complete  monastic  brotherhood,  Guido, 
the  elder,  addressed  Nivard  the  youngest  son.  "  To 
you  remains  the  whole  patrimony  of  our  house." 
"  Earth  to  me  and  heaven  to  you,  that  is  no  fair 
partition,"  said  the  boy.  He  lingered  a  short  time 
with  his  aged  father  and  then  joined  the  rest.  Even 
the  father  died  a  monk  of  Clairvaux  in  the  arms  of 
Bernard.  But  it  was  not  on  his  own  kindred  alone 
that  Bernard  wrought  with  this  commanding  power. 
When  he  was  to  preach,  wives  hurried  away  their 
husbands,  mothers  withdrew  their  sons,  friends  their 
friends,  from  the  resistless  magic  of  his  eloquence. 

Notwithstanding  its  fame,  the  Cistercian  monastery 
up  to  this  time  bad  been  content  with  a  few  unincreas- 


Chap.  IT.  YOUTH   OF   ST.  BERNARD.  165 

ing  votaries.  Warlike  and  turbulent  Burgundy  fur- 
nished only  here  and  there  some  conscience-stricken 
disciple  to  its  dreary  cells.  The  accession  of  the  noble 
Bernard,  of  his  kindred  and  his  followers,  raised  at 
once  the  popularity  and  crowded  the  dormitories  of 
this  remote  cloister.  But  Bernard  himself  dwelt  in 
subjection,  in  solitude,  in  study.  He  was  alone,  except 
w^hen  on  his  knees  with  the  rest  in  the  choir ;  the  forest 
oaks  and  beeches  were  his  beloved  companions  ;  he 
diligently  read  the  sacred  scriptures  ;  he  strove  to  work 
out  his  own  conception  of  perfect  and  angelic  a.d.  ni3. 
religion.  He  attained  a  height  of  abstraction  from 
earthly  things  which  might  have  been  envied  by  an 
Indian  Yogue.  He  had  so  absolutely  withdrawn  his 
senses  from  communion  with  the  world  that  they 
seemed  dead  to  all  outward  impressions :  his  eyes  did 
not  tell  him  whether  his  chamber  was  ceiled  or  not, 
whether  it  had  one  window  or  three.  Of  the  scanty 
food  which  he  took  rather  to  avert  death  than  to  sustain 
life,  his  unconscious  taste  had  lost  all  perception  whether 
it  was  nauseous  or  wholesome.  Yet  Bernard  thought 
himself  but  in  his  novitiate  ;  others  might  have  attained, 
he  had  but  begun  his  sanctification.  He  labored  with 
the  hardest  laborers,  discharged  the  most  menial  offices, 
was  everybody's  slave  ;  the  more  degrading  the  office 
the  more  acceptable  to  Bernard. 

But  the  monastery  of  Stephen  Harding  could  no 
longer  contain  its  thronging  votaries.  From  this  me- 
tropolis of  holiness  Bernard  was  chosen  to  lead  ciairvaux. 
the  first  colony.  There  was  a  valley  in  Champagne, 
not  far  from  the  river  Aube,  called  the  Valley  of  Worm- 
wood, infamous  as  a  den  of  robbers :  Bernard  and  his 
companions  determined  to  change  it  into  a  temple  of 


166  LATm  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Vin. 

God.  It  was  a  savage,  terrible  solitude,  so  utterly  bar- 
ren that  at  first  they  were  reduced  to  live  on  beech- 
leaves  ;  they  suffered  the  direst  extremity  of  famine, 
until  the  patient  faith  of  Bernard  was  rewarded  by 
supplies  pouring  in  from  the  reverential  piety  of  the 
neighboring  peasants. 

To  the  gate  of  Clairvaux  (Bernard's  new  monastery 
had  taken  that  musical  name,  to  which  he  has  given 
immortality)  came  his  sister,  who  was  nobly  married, 
in  great  state  and  with  a  splendid  retinue.  Not  one  of 
her  brothers  would  go  out  to  see  her  —  she  was  spurned 
from  the  door  as  a  sinner.  "  If  I  am  a  sinner,"  she 
meekly  replied,  "  I  am  one  of  those  for  whom  Christ 
died,  and  have  the  greater  need  of  my  brothers'  kindly 
counsel.  Command,  I  am  ready  to  obey  ! "  Bernard 
was  moved  ;  he  could  not  separate  her  from  her  hus- 
band, but  he  adjured  her  to  renounce  all  her  worldly 
pomp.  Humbeline  obeyed,  devoted  herself  to  fasting 
and  prayer,  and  at  length  retired  into  a  convent. 

Bernard's  life  would  have  been  cut  short  by  his  aus- 
terities ;  this  slow  suicide  would  have  deprived  the 
Church  of  tlie  last  of  her  Fathers.  But  he  had  gone 
to  receive  orders  from  the  Bishop  of  Chalons,  William 
of  Champeaux,  the  great  dialectician,  the  teacher  and 
the  adversary  of  Abelard.  With  him  he  contracted  a 
strong  friendship.  The  wise  counsel,  and  something 
like  the  pious  fraud  (venial  here  if  ever)  of  this  good 
prelate,  compelled  him  to  support  his  health,  that  most 
precious  gift  of  God,  without  which  the  other  high  gifts 
of  the  Creator  were  without  value.^ 


1  The  more  mature  wisdom  of  Bernard  viewed  this  differently.  "  Non 
ergo  est  temperantia  in  soils  resecandis  superfluis,  est  et  in  admitteudis 
necessariis."  —  De  Consider.,  i.  viii.    Compare  the  whole  chapter. 


Chap.  IV.  INFLUEXCE  OF  ST.  BERNAED.  167 

The  fame  and  influence  of  Bernard  spread  rapidly 
and  widely;  his  irresistible  preaching  awed  and  won 
all  hearts.  Everywhere  Bernard  was  called  in  as  the 
great  pacificator  of  religious,  and  even  of  civil  dissen- 
sions. His  justice,  his  mildness,  were  equally  com- 
manding and- persuasive.  It  was  a  free  and  open  court, 
to  which  all  might  appeal  without  cost ;  from  which  all 
retired,  even  if  without  success,  without  dissatisfac- 
tion ;  convinced,  if  condemned  by  Bernard,  of  his  own 
wrono-fulness.  His  wonderincr  followers  saw  miracles 
in  all  his  acts,^  prophecies  in  all  his  words.  The  Gos- 
pels contain  not  such  countless  wonders  as  the  life  of 
Bernard.  Clairvaux  began  to  send  forth  its  colonies ; 
to  Clairvaux  all  looked  back  with  fervent  attachment 
to  their  founder,  and  carried  his  name  with  them  by 
degrees  through  France,  and  Italy,  and  Germany,  to 
England  and  Spain. 

Bernard,  worthy  as  he  was,  according  to  the  biogra- 
pher, to  be  compelled  to  accept  them,  firmly  declined 
all  ecclesiastical  dignities.  The  Abbot  of  Clairvaux, 
with  all  the  wealth  and  all  the  honors  of  the  Church 
at  his  feet,  while  he  made  and  unmade  Popes,  remained 
but  the  simple  Abbot. 

From  the  schism  in  the  Papal  See  between  Innocent 
II.  and  Anacletus  II.,  his  life  is  the  history  of  the  West- 
ern Church. 

Innocent,  not  without  difficulty,  had  escaped  from 
Rome,  had  dropped  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  j^^^  j^^^^ 
Tiber,  and  reached  the  port  of  Pisa.     Mes-  lin^ocent  in 
sengers  were  immediately  despatched  to  secure  ^'^^^®- 

1  Some  of  them,  of  course,  sink  to  the  whimsical  and  the  puerile.  On 
one  occasion  he  excommunicated,  the  flies,  which  disturbed  and  defiled  a 
church ;  thev  fell  dead,  and  were  swept  off  the  floor  by  baskets-full. 


168  LATIN  CHRISTIAOTTY.  Book  VIII. 

the  support  of  the  Transalpine  Sovereigns,  more  espe- 
cially of  Louis  the  Fat,  the  King  of  France.  The 
•King,  who  had  now  become  a  recognized  protector  of 
the  Pope,  summoned  a  Council  of  the  Archbishops  and 
Bishops  of  the  realm  at  Etampes.  Both  the  King  and 
the  Prelates  imperatively  required  the  presence  of  Ber- 
nard, the  holy  Abbot  of  Clair vaux.  Bernard  arrived, 
torn  reluctant,  and  not  without  fear,  from  his  tranquil 
seclusion,  and  thus  plunged  at  once  into  the  affairs  of 
the  world.  The  whole  assembly,  the  King  and  the 
Prelates,  with  flattering  unanimity,  referred  the  decis- 
ion of  this  momentous  question  to  him  alone.  Thus 
was  Bernard  in  one  day  the  arbiter  of  the  religious  des- 
tinies of  Christendom.  Was  he  so  absolutely  superior 
to  that  last  infirmity  of  noble  minds  as  to  be  quite  un- 
dazzled  by  the  unexpected  majesty  of  his  position  ?  He 
prayed  earnestly ;  did  he  severely  and  indifferently  ex- 
amine this  great  cause  ?  The  burning  passion  of  his 
letters,  after  he  had  embraced  the  cause  of  Innocent, 
does  not  impress  the  unbiased  inquirer  with  the  calm- 
ness of  his  deliberations.  To  the  Archbishop  of  Tours, 
who  was  slow  to  acknowledge  the  superior  validity  of 
Sept.  11, 1130.  Innocent's  claims,  he  writes  peremptorily  — 
"  The  abomination  of  desolation  is  in  the  holy  places. 
Antichrist,  in  persecuting  Innocent,  is  persecuting  all 
innocence :  banished  from  Rome,  he  is  accepted  by  the 
world."! 

Innocent  hastened  to  the  hospitable  shores  of  France. 
Oct.  25.  He  landed  at  St.  Gilles,  in  Provence,  and 
proceeded  by  Viviers  and  Puy, ,  in  Auvergne,  to  the 
monastery  of  Clugny.  There  he  was  received,  in  the 
King's  name,  by  Sugfr,  Abbot  of  St.  Denys,  and  pro- 
1  "  Pulsus  ab  urbe,  ab  orbe  receptus."  — Epist.  124. 


Chap.  IV.  COUNCIL  OF  RHEDIS.  169 

ceeded  with  horses  and  with  a  suitable  retinue  upon  his 
journey.  At  Clermont  he  held  a  Council,  Nov.  is,  29. 
and  received  the  allegiance  of  two  of  the  great  Prel- 
ates of  Germany,  those  of  Salzburg  and  Munster. 
Near  Orleans  he  was  welcomed  by  the  King  and  his 
family  with  every  mark  of  reverence  and  submission. 
At  Chartres  another  monarch,  Henry  I.  of  Jan.  30,  nsi. 
Eno-land,  acknowledo;ed  Innocent  as  the  legitimate  sue- 
cessor  of  St.  Peter.^  The  influence  of  Bernard  had 
overruled  the  advice  of  the  English  Prelates,  and 
brought  this  second  kingly  spiritual  vassal,  though  re- 
luctant, to  the  feet  of  Innocent.  "  Thou  fearest  the 
sin  of  acknowledging  Innocent :  answer  thou  for  thy 
other  sins,  be  that  upon  my  head."^  Such  was  the 
language  of  Bernard  to  the  King  of  England.  The 
Pontiff  condescended  to  visit  Rouen,  where  the  Nor- 
man Barons,  and  even  the  Jews  of  the  city,  made  him 
splendid  presents.  From  Germany  had  come  Mayio. 
an  embassy  to  declare,  that  the  Emperor  Lothair  and 
a  Council  of  sixteen  Bishops,  at  Wurtzburg,  had  ac- 
knowledged Innocent.  Anacletus  was  not  only  re- 
jected, but  included  under  proscription  with  the  disobe- 
dient Frederick  the  Hohenstaufen  and  Conrad  the  Kino; 
of  Italy;  they  and  all  their  partisans  were  menaced 
with  excommunication.  The  ambassadors  in-  councu  of 
vited  Innocent  to  visit  Germany.  He  held  Oct.  is.' 
his  first  Council  at  Rheims,  where  he  crowned  the  King 
of  France  and  his  infant  son.  He  visited,  before  or 
after  the  Council,  other  parts  of  France.  He  was  at 
Etanipes,  Chalons,  Cambray,  Laon,  Paris,  Beauvais, 
Compiegne,  Auxerre,  as  well  as  at  Liege,  Rouen,  Gisors, 

1  "William  Malmesburv.  —  Cardin.  Arragon.  in  Vit. 

2  Vita  Bernardi. 


170  LATIN   CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

Pont-Ysere,  with  Bernard  as  his  inseparable  compan- 
ion. In  public  affairs  he  appeared  to  consult  his  Cardi- 
nals ;  but  every  measure  had  been  previously  discussed 
in  his  private  conferences  with  the  Abbot  of  Clairvaux. 
At  Liege.  Bernard  accompanied  him  to  Liege.  The 
1131.  '  Pope  was  received  with  the  highest  honors 
by  the  Emperor  Lothair  ;  the  Emperor  held  the  reins 
of  the  Pope's  white  palfrey ;  but  to  the  dismay  of  In- 
nocent and  his  Cardinals,  Lothair  renewed  the  old 
claim  to  the  investitures  ;  ^  and  seemed  disposed  to  en- 
force his  demand  as  the  price  of  his  allegiance,  if  not  by 
stronger  measures.  Innocent  thought  of  the  fate  of 
Paschal,  and  trembled  at  the  demand  of  the  Barbarian. 
But  the  eloquence  of  Bernard  overawed  the  Emperor : 
Lothair  submitted  to  the  spell  of  his  authority .^  On 
his  return  from  Li^ge,  the  Pope  visited  the  Abbey  of 
Clairvaux.  It  was  a  strange  contrast  with  the  magnifi- 
cence of  his  reception  in  the  stately  churches  of  Rheims, 
of  Rouen,  and  of  Li^ge,  which  were  thronged  with 
the  baronial  clergy,  and  their  multitudes  of  clerical  at- 
tendants, and  rich  with  the  ornaments  offered  by  pious 
kings  and  princes  ;  nor  less  the  contrast  with  the  gor- 
geous state  of  the  wealthy  monasteries,  even  the  now 
splendid,  almost  luxurious  Clugny.  He  was  miet  at 
Clairvaux  by  the  poor  of  Christ,  not  clad  in  purple  and 
fine  linen,  but  in  tattered  raiment ;  not  bearing  Gospels 
or  sacred  books  embossed  in  gold,  but  a  rude  stone 

1  "  Episcoporuin  sibi  restitui  investituras,  quas  ab  ejus  prsedecessore 
Imperatore  Henrico,  Romana  Ecclesia  vindicarat."  —  Ernold.  Vit.  Ber- 
nard. 

2  "  Sed  nee  Leodii  cervicibus  imminens  mucro  barbaricus  compulit  ac- 
quiescere  importunis  improbisque  postulationibus  iracundi  atque  irascentis 
regis."  —  S.  Bernard,  Epist.  150.  Bernard  has  rather  overcharged  the 
wrath  of  the  meek  Lothair. 


Chap.  IV.  INNOCENT  AT  CLAIEYAUX.  171 

cross.  No  trumpet  sounded,  no  tumultuous  shouts 
were  heard ;  no  one  lifted  his  looks  from  the  earth,  no 
curious  eye  wandered  abroad  to  gaze  on  the  ceremony: 
the  only  sound  was  a  soft  and  lowly  chant.  The  Prel- 
ates and  the  Pope  were  moved  to  tears.  The  Roman 
clergy  were  equally  astonished  at  the  meanness  of  the 
Church  furniture,  the  nakedness  of  the  walls  ;  not  less 
by  the  hardness  and  scantiness  of  the  fare,  the  coarsest 
bread  and  vegetables,  instead  of  the  delicacies  to  which 
they  were  accustomed ;  a  single  small  fish  had  been 
procured  for  the  Pope.  They  had  little  desire  to  so- 
journ long  at  Clairvaux.^ 

Bernard  could  boast  that  Innocent  was  now  acknowl- 
edcred,  and  chiefly  throuo;h  his  influence,  by  innocent  ac- 

.  .  knowledged 

the  Kings  of  France,  England,  Spain,  and  by  by  aii  the 
the  Emperor.  The  more  powerful  clergy  be-  kings. 
yond  the  Alps,  all  the  religious  communities,  the  Ca- 
maldulites,  the  Vallombrosans,  the  Carthusians,  those  of 
Clugny,  with  other  Benedictines  ;  his  own  Cistercians, 
in  ail  their  wide-spreading  foundations,  were  on  the 
same  side.  In  Italy,  the  Archbishop  of  Ravenna,  the 
Bishops  of  Pavia,  Pistoia,  Asti,  and  Parma,  offered 
their  allegiance.  Of  all  the  Sovereigns  of  Europe, 
Duke  Roger  of  Sicily  alone,  bribed  by  the  promise  of 
a  crown,  adhered  to  his  rival. 

Bernard  has  now  become  an  ardent,  impassioned, 
disdainful  partisan  ;  he  has  plunged  heart  and  soul  into 
the  conflict  and  agitation  of  the  world.^     Anacletus 

1  Epist.  125. 

2  Bernard  insists  throughout  on  the  canonical  election  of  Innocent.  In 
one  place  he  doubtfully  asserts  the  numbers  to  have  been  in  favor  of  Inno- 
cent: "  Cujus  electio  sanior  numerum  eligentium  et  numero  vincens  et 
merito."  In  other  passages  he  rests  the  validitj  of  the  election  altogether 
pn  the  soundness  of  his  adherents.    It  is  the  "  dignitas  eligentium.    Hano 


172  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

had  dared  to  send  his  legates  into  France :  Aquitaine 
had  generally  espoused  his  cause.  "  Why  not,"  writes 
the  indignant  Bernard  to  the  Bishops  of  that  province, 
"to  Persia,  to  Decapolis,  to  the  farthest  Scythians?" 
Bernard's  letters  are  addressed  to  the  cities  of  Italy  in 
terms  of  condescending  praise  and  commanding  author- 
ity rather  than  of  meek  persuasion.  He  exhorts  them, 
Genoa  more  especially,  which  seemed  to  have  been  de- 
lighted with  his  presence,  to  reject  the  insidious  alliance 
of  the  King  of  Sicily.^  He  threatens  Milan,  and  hints 
that  the  Pope  may  raise  bishops  into  archbishops,  de- 
grade archbishops  into  bishops.  His  power  over  the 
whole  clergy  knows  no  limitation.  Bernard  offers 
his  mediation  ;  but  the  price  of  reconciliation  is  not 
only  submission  to  the  spiritual  power  of  Pope  Inno- 
cent, but  to  the  renunciation  of  Conrad,  who  still 
claimed  the  kingdom  of  Italy.  They  must  make  satis- 
faction, not  to  the  Pope  alone,  but  to  the  Emperor 
Lothair,  the  Pope's  ally.^ 

The  Emperor  Lothair  had  promised  to  reinstate  In- 
nocent in  the  possession  of  Rome.  Innocent  entered 
Italy;  he  was  received  in  Asti,  Novara,  Piacenza,  Cre- 
mona, Brescia ;  he  met  the  Emperor  on  the  plains  of 
Nov.  8, 1132.  Roncaglia.  From  Piacenza  he  moved  to  Pisa, 
reconciled  that  city  with  her  rising  rival  Genoa,  and 

enim,  ni  fallor,  partem  saniorem  invenies."  —  Epist.  126.  "  Electio  me- 
liorum,  approbatio  plurium,  et  quod  hie  efficacius  est,  morum  attestatio, 
Innocentium  apud  omnes  commendant,  summum  confirmant  Pontificem." 
Consult  these  three  epistles,  of  which  the  rhetoric  is  more  poAverful  than 
the  argument. 

1  "  Habet  tamen  ducem  Apulise,  sed  solum  ex  principibus,  ipsumque 
usurpatae  coronie  mercede  ridicula  comparatum."  — Anacletus  had  kept  his 
compact,  and  advanced  Roger  to  the  kingdom  of  Sicily,  Sept.  27,  1130.  — 
Epist.  129  to  134.  Some  of  these  were  written  (Epist.  129)  during  Bernard's 
progress  through  Italy. 

2  Epist.  137,  addressed  to  the  Empress. 


Chap.  IV.   CORONATION  OF  EMPEROR  LOTHAIR.      173 

rewarded  the  obedience  of  Genoa  by  raising  tlie  see 
into  an  archbishopric.  The  fleets  of  Genoa  March,  1133. 
and  Pisa  became  the  most  useful  alUes  of  the  Pope. 
The  next  year  the  Emperor  and  the  Pope  advanced  to 
Rome,  Bernard  still  by  the  side  of  the  con-  April  30. 
quering  Pontiff.  Anacletus  did  not  venture  to  defend 
the  city  ;  he  retired  beyond  the  Tiber,  occupied  the 
Vatican,  and  maintained  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo.  On 
either  side  of  the  river  sat  a  Pope  launching  his  inter- 
dict against  his  adversary.  The  Pope  rewarded  the 
Emperor's  fidelity  by  crowning  him  and  his  Empress 
Richilda  with  great  solemnity  in  the  Lateran  Church. 
Lothair  swore  to  protect  the  Pope  and  the  royalties  of 
St.  Peter  to  the  utmost  of  his  power  ;  to  en-  June  4. 
force  the  restoration  of  all  the  rights  and  possessions 
withheld  by  violence  from  the  See.  But  the  presence 
of  Lothair  was  the  only  safeguard  of  Innocent  in  Rome. 
No  sooner  had  the  Emperor  returned  to  Germany  than 
Innocent  retired  to  Pisa,  which,  in  St.  Bernard's  words, 
had  the  dignity  of  becoming  a  second  Rome,  the  seat 
of  exiled  Pontiffs.  Bernard  was  indignant  at  the  long 
though  necessary  tardiness  of  the  Emperor.  It  was 
not  for  him  to  excite  to  war,  but  it  was  for  the  Em- 
peror to  vindicate  his  throne  from  the  Sicilian  usurper ; 
to  defend  the  Church  from  the  Jewish  schismatic.  His 
letter  is  that  of  a  superior,  under  the  guise  of  the  low- 
est humility,  dictating  what  is  irrefragably  right ;  in  its 
address  it  is  the  supplication  of  a  suitor ;  in  its  sub- 
stance, in  its  spirit,  a  lofty  reprimand. ^  He  rebukes 
him  for  other  weaknesses ;  for  neglecting  the  interests 
of  God  by  allowing  the  Church  of  St.  Gingoulph  to  be 
oppressed ;  he  rebukes  him  for  his  ingratitude  to  Pisa, 

1  Epist.  139,  UO. 


174  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIIl 

always  the  loyal  subject  and  the  most  powerfiil  ally  of 
the  Empire. 

It  was  not  till  the  fourth  year  of  Innocent's  retire- 
ment had  begun  (at  Pisa  ^  he  exercised  all  the  func- 
tions of  a  Pope,  except  over  Rome  and  in  the  south  of 
Italy),  that  Lothair  appeared  again  under  the  Alps  at 
the  head  of  a  formidable  army.  The  Pope,  at  the 
head  of  one  division,  marched  against  the  cities  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Rome ;  Lothair  against  the  great  ally 
of  Anacletus,  the  King  of  Sicily.  Lothair  subdued 
the  March  of  Ancona,  the  Principality  of  Capua,  and 
almost  the  whole  of  Apulia.  But  this  conquest  endan- 
gered the  amity  between  the  Emperor  and  the  Pope. 
Each  claimed  the  rio;ht  of  investiture.  Since  the  Nor- 
man  conquest  the  Popes  had  maintained  their  strange 
claim  to  sovereignty  over  the  whole  kingdom  of  Na- 
ples ;  their  right  was  grounded  on  the  exercise  of  the 
right.  The  Emperor,  as  Emperor  and  King  of  Italy, 
declared  himself  undoubted  sovereign  of  all  which  had 
not  been  expressly  granted  by  his  predecessors  to  the 
Holy  See.  A  compromise  took  place ;  the  new  Duke 
Rainer  swore  fealty  both  to  the  Emperor  and  to  the 
Pope.  The  King  of  Sicily  had  quietly  withdrawn  his 
troops,  and  waited  his  opportunity,  when  the  Emperor 
should  return  to  Germany,^  to  resume  the  offensive. 
Anacletus,  in  his  impregnable  fortress  of  St.  Angelo, 
Jan.  25,  n38.  defied  his  enemies.  But  his  death  relieved 
Innocent  from  his  obstinate  antagonist.  The  descend- 
ant of  the  Jew  was  buried  secretly,  lest  his  body, 
like  that  of  Formosus,  should  be  torn  from  its  resting- 

1  Innocent  was  at  Pisa  from  Nov.  16, 1133,  to  Feb.  28, 1137.  He  -was  on 
the  plain  of  Roncaglia,  Nov.  3,  1136. 

2  The  Emperor  Lothair  died  on  his  return  to  Germany,  Dec.  3-4, 1137. 


Chap.  IV.  LATERAI^  COtJNCIL.  175 

place  by  the  vengeance  of  his  enemies.  An  Antipope 
was  elected  two  months  after  the  death  jj^rch  to 
of  Anacletus ;  he  held  his  state  but  for^^^^^^* 
two  months  more.  For  Innocent  had  retmiied  to 
Rome,  with  Bernard  by  his  side.  Bernard,  he  himself 
declares,  was  constantly  sighing  for  the  quiet  Jan.  12. 
shades  of  Clairvaux,  for  seclusion,  for  unworldly  self- 
sanctification  ;  but  the  interests  of  God  and  the  com- 
mands of  the  Pope  detained  him,  still  reluctant,  in  the 
turmoil  of  secular  affairs.  His  eloquence  now  wrought, 
perhaps,  its  greatest  triumph  ;  it  prevailed  over  Roman 
faction  and  priestly  ambition.  Victor  II.,  such  was 
the  name  which  the  Cardinal-Priest  Gregory  had  as- 
sumed with  the  Popedom,  renounced  his  dignity  ;  the 
powerful  family  of  Peter  the  son  of  Leo  abandoned  the 
weary  contest,  and  all  Rome  acknowledged  the  Pope 
of  St.  Bernard. 

Never  had  Rome  or  any  other  city  of  Christendom 
beheld  so  numerous  a  council  as  that  held  by  Innocent 
II.  in  the  Lateran  Palace  on  the  4th  of  April,  1139  — 
a  thousand  bishops  (five  from  England),  countless  ab- 
bots, and  other  ecclesiastical  dignitaries.  The  decrees 
have  survived,  not  the  debates  of  this  Council.  The 
speech  of  the  Pope  may  be  read  ;  there  is  no  record  of 
those  of  Bernard  and  of  the  other  ruling  authorities. 
But  the  decrees,  as  well  as  the  speech  of  Innocent,  im- 
age forth  the  Christianity  of  the  times,  the  Christianity 
of  St.  Bernard. 

The  oration  of  the  Pope  is  remarkable,  as  distinctly 
claiming  a  feudal  superiority  over  the  whole  clergy  of 
Christendom.  Every  ecclesiastical  dignity  is  held  of 
him,  as  the  great  spiritual  liege  lord.^     After  inveigh- 

1  "  Quia  a  Romani  pontificis  licentia  ecclesiastici  ordinis  celsitudo,  quasi 


176  LATIN    'CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

ing  against  the  sacrilegious  ambition  of  the  Antipope, 
Innocent  annulled  all  his  decrees.  "  We  degrade  all 
whom  he  has  promoted ;  we  expel  from  holy  orders  and 
depose  all  whom  he  has  consecrated."  Those  ordained 
by  the  legate  of  Anacletus,  Gerard  of  Angouleme, 
were  interdicted  from  their  functions.  Each  of  these 
degraded  Prelates  was  summoned.  The  Pope  assailed 
those  that  appeared  with  indignant  reproaches,  wrenched 
their  pastoral  staves  out  of  their  hands,  himself  stripped 
the  palls  from  their  shoulders,  and  without  mercy  took 
away  the  rings  by  which  they  were  wedded  to  their 
churches. 

The  decrees  of  the  Lateran  Council,  while  the  Pope  as- 
serted his  own  unlimited  power  over  the  episcopal  order, 
gave  to  the  bishops  the  same  unlimited  power  over  the 
lower  clergy.^  Even  for  irregular  or  unbecoming  dress 
they  might  be  deprived  of  their  benefices.  The  mar- 
riage of  subdeacons  was  strictly  forbidden.  A  remark- 
able statute  inhibited  the  prevailing  usage  of  monks  and 
regular  canons  practising  law  and  medicine ;  the  law, 
as  tending  not  merely  to  withdraw  them  from  their 
proper  occupation  of  psalmody,  but  as  confounding 
their  notions  of  right  and  wrong,  of  justice  and  iniqui- 
ty, and  encouraging  them  to  be  avaricious  of  worldly 
gain.  The  same  avidity  for  lucre  led  them  to  practise 
medicine,  the  knowledge  of  which  could  not  be  recon- 
ciled with  the  severe  modesty  of  a  monk. 

Another  significant  canon  betrayed  that  already  a 
secret  insurrection  was  broodino;  in  the  hearts  of  men 
against  the  sacerdotal  authority  of  the  Church.     These 

feodalis  juris  consuetudine  suscipitur,  et  sine  ejus  permissione  legaliter  non 
tenetur."  —  Chronicon.  Maurin.  apud  Labbe. 
1  Decret.  iv. 


Chap.  IV.  DECREES   OF   THE  COUNCIL.  177 

very  times  witnessed  a  formidable  struggle  against  her 
wealth  and  power;  and  some  bolder  men  had  al- 
ready begun  to  question  her  doctrines.  The  twenty- 
third  canon  of  the  Lateran  Council  might  seem  direct- 
ed against  the  anabaptists  of  the  16th  century.  "  We 
expel  from  the  Church  as  heretics  those  who,  under  the 
semblance  of  religion,  condemn  the  sacrament  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ,  the  baptism  of  children, 
the  priesthood,  and  the  holy  rite  of  marriage."  The 
heretics  against  whom  this  anathema  was  aimed  will 
before  long  force  themselves  on  our  notice. 

The  legislation  of  the  Lateran  Council  did  not  con- 
fine itself  to  the  affairs  of  the  clergy,  or,  strictly  speak- 
ing, of  religion.  The  Council  assumed  the  office  of 
conservator  of  the  public  morals  and  the  public  peace. 
It  condemned  usurers  and  incendiaries.  It  repeated 
the  enactment  demanding  security  at  all  times  for  cer- 
tain classes,  the  clergy  of  all  orders,  monks,  pilgrims, 
merchants,  and  rustics  employed  in  agriculture,  with 
their  beasts,  their  seed,  and  their  flocks.  The  Truce 
of  God  was  to  be  observed  on  the  appointed  days  under 
peril  of  excommunication;  after  a  third  admonition 
excommunication  followed,  which  if  the  clergy  did  not 
respect,  they  were  to  be  degraded  from  their  orders. 
The  persons  of  the  clergy  were  taken  under  especial 
protection.  It  was  sacrilege  to  strike  a  clergyman  or  a 
monk  —  a  sacrilege,  the  penalty  of  which  could  only 
be  absolved  on  the  death-bed.  A  rigid  decree  prohib- 
ited tournaments  as  a  vain  display  of  strength  and 
valor,  and  as  leading  to  bloodshed.  Another  singu- 
lar decree  condemned  the  use  of  the  cross-bow  against 
Christians  and  Catholics  as  an  act  deadly  and  hateful 
to  God. 

VOL.  IV  12 


178  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

This  solemn  Christian  protest  against  the  habits  of  a 
warlike  age,  as  might  be  expected,  had  no  immediate  or 
visible  effect ;  yet  still  as  a  protest  it  may  have  worked 
in  the  depths  of  the  Christian  mind,  if  not  absolutely 
compelling  its  observance,  yet  giving  weight  and  au- 
thority to  kindred  thoughts  in  reflective  minds ;  at  all 
events,  rescuing  Christianity  from  the  imputation  of  a 
total  forgetfulness  of  its  genuine  spirit,  an  utter  extinc- 
tion of  its  essential  character. 

In  that  strange  discordance  indeed  which  is  so  em- 
barrassing in  ecclesiastical  history,  almost  all  the  few 
remaining  years  of  Innocent  II.,  the  great  pacificator, 
are  occupied  in  war.  He  is  heading  his  own  armies, 
first  against  Tusculum  and  other  rebellious  cities  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Rome ;  then  in  an  obstinate  war 
against  the  King  of  Sicily.  It  would  be  curious,  if  it 
were  possible,  to  ascertain  how  far  the  papal  troops  re- 
spected the  monk  and  the  pilgrim,  the  merchant  and 
the  husbandman ;  how  far  they  observed  the  solemn 
days  of  the  Truce  of  God.  In  these  unseemly  martial 
expeditions  the  popes  were  singularly  unfortunate,  yet 
their  disasters  almost  always  turned  to  their  advantage. 
Like  his  predecessor  Leo  IX.,  Innocent  fell,  as  a  pris- 
oner of  war,  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies.  Again  the 
awe-struck  Norman  bowed  before  his  holy  captive  ;  and 
Innocent  as  a  prisoner  obtained  better  terms  than  he 
would  have  won  at  the  point  of  the  sword. 


Chap.V.  AB]£lARD  — AENOLD  of  BRESCIA.  179 


CHAPTER  V. 

GOTSCHALK  —  AB^LARD. 

The  papacy  is  again  united  iil  the  person  of  Inno- 
cent 11. ,  but  the  work  of  the  real  Supreme  Pontiff  of 
Christendom,  of  the  ruling  mind  of  the  West,  is  but 
half  achieved.  Bernard  must  be  followed  to  other 
conquests,  to  other  victories  ;  victories  which  for  some 
centuries  left  their  influence  upon  mankind,  and  ar- 
rested the  precocious,  irregular,  and  perilous  struggles 
for  intellectual  and  spiritual,  and  even  civil  freedom. 

Monastic  Christianity  led  to  two  unexpected  but  in- 
evitable results,  to  the  expansion  of  the  human  rj,^^  g^eat 
understanding,  even  till  it  strove  to  overleap  movements 
the  lofty  barriers  of  the  established  Catholic  ^''^'°" 
doctrine,  and  to  a  sullen  and  secret  mutiny,  at  length 
to  an  open  insurrection,  against  the  power  of  the  sacer- 
dotal order.  The  former  revolt  was  not  only  prema- 
ture, but  suppressed  without  any  immediate  outburst 
menacing  to  the  stability  of  the  dominant  creed  and 
institutions.  It  was  confined  not  indeed  to  a  few,  for 
the  schools  of  those  whom  the  Church  esteemed  the 
most  dangerous  teachers  were  crowded  with  young  and 
almost  fanatical  hearers.  But  it  was  a  purely  intellect- 
ual movement.  The  Church  raised  up  on  her  side  as 
expert  and  powerful  dialecticians  as  those  who  strove 
for  emancipation.     Wherever  philosophy  aspired  to  be 


180  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIIl. 

independent  of  theology,  it  ^vas  seized  and  carried  cap- 
tive back.  Nor  did  the  Church  by  any  means  exclu- 
sively maintain  her  supremacy  by  stern  and  imperious 
authority,  by  proscribing  and  suppressing  inquiry. 
Though  she  did  not  disdain,  she  did  not  entirely  rely 
on  fixing  the  infamy  of  heretical  doctrine  upon  the 
more  daring  reasoners  ;  she  reasoned  herself  by  her 
sons  with  equal  vigor,  if  with  more  submissiveness  ; 
sounded  with  her  antagonists  the  depths  of  metaphysical 
inquiry,  examined  the  inexhaustible  processes  of  human 
thought  and  language,  till  gradually  the  gigantic  bul- 
wark of  scholastic  theology  rose  around  the  Catholic 
doctrine. 

Of  this  first  movement,  the  intellectual  struggle  for 
emancipation,  Abelard  was  the  representative  and  the 
victim.  Of  the  second,  far  more  popular,  immediate, 
and  while  it  lasted,  perilous,  that  which  rose  up  against 
the  whole  hierarchical  system  of  Christendom,  the 
champion  was  Arnold  of  Brescia.  This  last  was  for  a 
time  successful ;  combining  with  the  inextinguishable 
republican  spirit  of  the  Roman  populace,  it  curbed  and 
subjugated  the  great  head  of  the  hierarchy  in  the  very 
seat  of  his  power.  It  required  a  league  between  a 
powerful  Emperor  and  an  able  Pope  to  crush  Arnold 
of  Brescia  ;  but  in  the  ashes  of  Arnold  of  Brescia's 
funeral  pile  smouldered  for  centm*ies  the  fire,  which 
was  at  length  to  blaze  out  in  irresistible  violence. 

Both  these  movements  sprang  naturally  out  of  mo- 
nastic Christianity ;  it  is  necessary  to  trace  the  birth 
of  each  in  succession  from  this  unsuspected  and  unsus- 
pecting origin.  It  was  impossible,  even  in  the  darkest 
times,  to  seclude  a  large  part  of  mankind  from  the 
active  duties  of  life  without  driving,  as  it  were,  some 


Chap.V.  CONTENTUAL  DISCIPLINE.  181 

into  intellectual  occupation.  Conventual  discipline 
might  enslave  or  absorb  the  greater  number  by  its  per- 
petual round  of  ritual  observance  ;  by  the  distribution 
of  day  and  night  into  short  portions,  to  each  of  which 
belonged  its  prayer,  its  maceration,  its  religious  exer- 
cise. It  might  induce  in  most  a  religious  terror,  a  fear- 
ful shrinking  of  the  spirit  from  every  possibly  unlawful 
aberration  of  the  mind,  as  from  any  unlawful  emotion 
of  the  body.  The  coarser  and  more  sluggish  minds 
would  be  altoo-ether  ice-bound  in  the  alternation  of  hard 
labor  and  unvarying  religious  service.  They  would 
rest  contented  in  mechanical  drudgery  in  the  field,  and 
as  mechanical  religion  in  the  chapel.  The  calmer  and 
more  imao-inative  would  surrender  themselves  to  a 
di-eamy  ecstasy  of  devotion.  Mysticism,  in  some  one 
of  its  forms,  would  absorb  all  their  energies  of  mind, 
all  their  aspirations  of  heart.  Meditation  with  them 
miglit  be  one  long,  unbroken,  unceasing  adoration,  the 
more  indistinct  the  more  awful,  the  more  awful  the 
more  reverential ;  and  that  reverence  would  suppress  at 
once  any  question  bordering  on  presumption.  Submis- 
sion to  authority,  the  vital  principle  of  monasticism, 
would  be  a  part  of  their  being.  Yet  with  some  con- 
templation could  not  but  lead  to  thought ;  meditation 
would  quicken  into  reflection  ;  reflection,  however 
checked  by  authority  and  restrained  by  dread,  would 
still  wander  away,  would  still  strive  against  its  barriers. 
The  being  and  the  attributes  of  God,  the  first  pre- 
scribed subject  of  holy  contemplation,  what  were  they  ? 
Where  was  the  bound,  the  distinction,  between  things 
visible  and  things  invisible  ?  things  material  and  things 
immaterial?  the  real  and  the  unreal?  the  finite  and 
the  infinite  ?     The  very  object  which  was  continually 


182  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VHI. 

enforced  upon  the  mind  by  its  most  sublime  attribute, 
the  incomprehensibility  of  God,  tempted  the  still  baf- 
fled but  unwearied  desire  of  comprehension.  Reason 
awoke,  composed  itself  again  to  despairing  slumber  on 
the  lap  of  authority ;  awoke  again ;  its  slumbers  be- 
came more  disturbed,  more  irregular,  till  the  anodyne 
of  awe  had  lost  its  power.  Religion  itself  seemed  to 
compel  to  metaphysical  inquiry  ;  and  the  region  of 
metaphysical  inquiry  once  expanding  on  the  view, 
there  was  no  retreat.  Reason  no  sooner  began  to  cope 
with  these  inevitable  subjects,  than  it  was  met  on  the 
threshold  by  the  great  question,  the  existence  of  a 
world  inapprehensible  by  our  senses,  and  that  of  the 
mode  of  its  apprehension  by  the  mind.  This  great  un- 
answerable problem  appears  destined  to  endure  as  long 
as  mankind  ;  but  no  sooner  was  it  started  and  followed 
out  by  the  contemplative  monk,  than  from  an  humble 
disciple  of  the  Gospel  he  became  a  philosopher ;  he 
was,  perhaps,  an  unconscious  Aristotelian,  or  an  uncon- 
scious Platonist.  But  in  truth  the  tradition  of  neither 
philosophy  had  absolutely  died  out.  Among  the  few 
secular  books  which  survived  the  wreck  of  learning  and 
found  their  way  into  the  monastic  libraries,  were  some 
which  might  foster  the  bias  either  to  the  more  rational 
or  more  ideal  view.^ 

So  in  every  insurrection,  whether  religious  or  more 
philosophical,  against  the  dominant  dogmatic  system,  a 
monk  was  the  leader,  and  there  had  been  three  or  four 
of  these  insurrections  before  the  time  of  Abelard.  Even 
early  in  the  ninth  century  the  German  monk  Gotschalk 
had  revived  the  dark  subject  of  predestination.  This 
subject  had  almost  slept  since  the  time  of  Augustine 

1  The  Isagoge  of  Porphyrius;  the  works  of  Boethius. 


Chap.  V.  GOTSCHALK.  183 

and  his  scholar  Fulgentius,  who  had  relentlessly  crushed 
the  Semi-Pelagianism  of  his  day.-^  It  is  a  singular 
circumstance,  as  has  been  before  shown,  that  this  re- 
ligious fatahgm  has  been  so  constantly  the  creed  or 
rather  the  moving  principle  of  those  who  have  risen  up 
against  established  ecclesiastical  authority,  while  an  es- 
tablished religion  tends  constantly  to  acquiesce  in  a  less 
inflexible  view  of  divine  providence.  The  reason  is 
simple  and  twofold.  Notliing  less  than  a  stern  fanati- 
cism, which  makes  the  reformer  believe  himself  under 
the  direct  guidance,  a  mere  instrument,  predestined  by 
God's  providence  for  this  work,  would  give  courage  to 
confront  a  powerful  hierarchy,  to  meet  obloquy,  perse- 
cution, even  martyrdom  ;  the  same  fanaticism,  by  awak- 
ening a  kmdred  conviction  of  an  absolute  and  immedi- 
ate call  from  God,  gives  hope  of  a  successful  struggle 
at  least,  if  not  of  victory ;  he  is  pre-doomed  or  specially 
commissioned  and  avowed  by  the  Most  High.  On  the 
other  hand  an  hierarchy  is  naturally  averse  to  a  theory 
which  involves  the  direct  and  immediate  operation  of 
God  by  an  irreversible  decree  upon  each  individual 
mind.  Assuming  itself  to  be  the  intermediate  agency 
between  God  and  man,  and  resistance  to  its  agency  be- 
ing the  sure  and  undeniable  consequence  of  the  tenet, 
it  cannot  but  wish  to  modify  or  mitigate  that  predesti- 
nation which  it  does  not  altogether  reject.  It  is  per- 
petually appealing  to  the  fr-ee-will  of  man  by  its  offers 
of  the  means  of  grace ;  as  the  guide  and  spiritual  di- 
rector of  each  individual  soul,  it  will  not  be  superseded 

1  It  is  curious  that  the  first  heresy,  after  the  establishment  of  Mohamme- 
danism, was  the  denial,  or  questioning  at  least,  of  predestinarianism.  "  A 
peine  le  prophete  dtait  mort  qu'une  dispute  s'eleva  entre  les  theologiens 
^ur  le  dogme  de  Predestination."  —  Schmolder's  Essai,  p.  192.  See  also 
Eitter,  Christliche  Philosophie,  p.  693. 


184  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Yin. 

by  an  anterior  and  Irrevocable  law.  Predestination,  in 
its  extreme  theory  at  least,  disdains  all  the  long,  slow, 
and  elaborate  work  of  the  Church,  in  training,  watch- 
ing, controlling,  and  submitting  to  ecclesiastical  disci- 
pline, the  soul  committed  to  its  charge.  The  predesti- 
narian,  though  in  fact  (such  is  the  logical  inconsistency 
of  strong  religious  belief)  by  no  means  generally  anti- 
nomian,  is  always  represented  and  indeed  believed  to 
be  antinomian  by  those  from  whose  rigid  authority  this 
primary  tenet  emancipates  the  disciple.  So  it  was  that 
the  Transalpine  hierarchy,  under  the  ruling  influence 
of  Hincmar,  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  who  at  one  time 
possessed  almost  papal  authority,  persecuted  the  Pre- 
destinarlan  as  a  dangerous  and  lawless  heretic ;  and 
Gotschalk  endured  the  censure  of  a  council,  the 
scourge,  the  prison,  with  stubborn  and  determined 
confidence,  not  merely  that  he  was  falfilling  his  di- 
vine mission,  but  that  in  him  the  Church  condemned 
the  true  doctrine   of  the  irrefrao-able  Aucmstine.^ 

Hincmar  called   to  his  aid,  against  this  premature 
Scotus  Luther,  an  ally  who  alarmed  the  Church  no 

Erigena.  j^gg  ^^13^  Gotschalk  himsclf  by  his  appeal  to 
a  new  power  above  Catholic  authority,  human  rea- 
son.    We  have  already  encountered  this  extraordinary 

1  Gotschalk  stands  so  mucli  alone,  that  I  thought  it  not  necessary,  during 
the  age  of  Hincmar,  to  arrest  the  course  of  events  by  the  discussion  of  his 
views.  His  tenets  may  be  seen  in  one  sentence  from  his  own  works  in 
Hincmar's  De  Prtedestinatione :  "Quia  sicut  Deus  incommutabilis  ante 
mundi  constitutionem  omnes  electos  suos  incommutabiliter  per  gratuitam 
gratiam  suam  prjedestinavit  ad  vitam  aeternam,  similiter  omnino  omnes  re- 
probos,  qui  in  die  judicii  damnabuntur  propter  ipsorum  mala  merita,  idem 
ipse  incommutabilis  Deus  per  justum  judicium  suum  incommutabiliter  prse- 
destinavit  ad  mortem  merito  sempiternam."  In  Archbishop  Usher's  works 
will  be  found  the  Avhole  controversy.  —  Gotteschalci  et  Pr£Bdestinatiarisa 
Controversiae  ab  eo  motae  Historia.    See  also  the  Lectures  of  M.  Ampere. 


Chap.V.  scotus  erigena.  185 

man  as  tlie  spiritual  ancestor,  the  parent  of  Berengar 
of  Tours  and  of  his  anti-transubstantiation  doctrine. 
A  sudden  revulsion  took  place.  Hincmar,  by  his  over- 
weening pride  and  pretensions  to  supremacy,  at  least 
over  the  whole  Church  of  France,  had  awakened  a 
strong  jealousy  among  the  great  prelates  of  the  realm. 
Prudentius  of  Troyes  took  the  lead  against  him ;  and 
though  eventually  Gotschalk  died  in  a  prison,  yet 
Hincmar  became  a  tyrannical  persecutor,  wellnigh  a 
heretic,  Gotschalk  an  injured  victim,  if  not  a  martyr. 
This  fatal  ally  of  Hincmar  was  the  famous  John,  com- 
monly called  Erigena. 

Perhaps  the  only  fact  which  may  be  considered  cer- 
tain as  to  the  early  years  of  John  the  Erin-born  is, 
that  he  must  have  commenced  at  least  this  train  of 
philosophic  thought  in  some  one  of  the  monastic  schools 
of  Ireland  or  of  the  Scottish  islands.  In  some  seclud- 
ed monastery  among  those  last  retreats  of  knowledge 
which  had  escaped  the  Teutonic  invasion,  or  on  the 
wave-beat  shore  of  lona,  John  the  Scot  imbibed  that 
passion  for  knowledge  which  made  him  an  acceptable 
guest  at  Paris,  the  partner  of  the  table  and  even  of  the 
bed  of  Charles  the  Bald.^  Throuo^hout  those  wild  and 
turbulent  times  of  Charles  the  Bald  Erigena  lived  un- 
disturbed by  the  civil  wars  which  raged  around,  reso- 
lutely detached  from  secular  affairs,  not  in  monastic  but 
in  intellectual  seclusion.  John  is  said  to  have  made  a 
pilgrimage,  not  to  the  birthplace  of  the  Saviour,  but 
to  that  of  Plato  and  Aristotle ;  ^  and  it  is  difficult  to 


1  Hence  the  anecdote,  true  or  false,  of  his  famous  repartee  to  the  King, 
"  Quid  distat  inter  Scotum  et  sotum?  — mensa." 

2  Brucker  thinks  that  John's  knowledge  of  Greek  gave  rise  to  this  report 
of  his  travels  to  the  East. 


186  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

imagine  where  in  the  West  he  can  have  obtained  such 
knowledge  of  Greek  as  to  enable  him  to  translate  the 
difficult  and  mystic  work  which  bore  the  name  of 
Dionysius  the  Areopagite.^  John  the  Scot  professed 
an  equal  admiration  for  the  antagonistic  philosophies  of 
Plato  and  of  Aristotle ;  he  even  attempted  the  yet  un- 
accomplished, perhaps  the  impossible,  task  of  reconcil- 
ing the  poetry  and  prose  of  the  two  systems.  In  his 
treatise  on  Predestination  he  boldly  asserts  the  suprem- 
acy of  Reason ;  he  throws  off,  what  no  Latin  before 
had  dared,  the  fetters  of  Augustinianism.  His  free- 
will is  even  more  than  the  plain  practical  doctrine  of 
Chrysostom  and  the  Greek  Fathers,  who  avoided  or 
eluded  that  inscrutable  question  :  it  is  an  attempt  to 
found  it  on  philosophic  grounds,  to  establish  it  on 
the  sublime  arbitration  of  human  reason.  In  his 
translation  of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite  with  the  Com- 
mentary of  Maximus,  Erigena  taught  the  mysticism 
of  the  later  Platonists.  He  aspired  to  the  still  higher 
office  of  harmonizing  philosophy  with  religion,  which 
in  their  loftiest  sense  he  declared  to  be  the  same.^ 
Thus  John  the   Scot  was   at   once  a  strong  Ration- 

1  Archbishop  Theodore  of  Canterbury,  himself  a  Greek,  had  given  a 
temporary  impulse  to  the  study  of  the  language.  It  will  be  seen  that  two 
centuries  later  the  universal  Ab^lard  was  ignorant  of  Greek;  and  I  doubt 
whether  his  fair  pupil  understood  more  than  her  master. 

2  Erigena' s  most  remarkable  work  bears  a  Greek  title,  nepl  (pvaeibv 
fiepiciJ.ov,  published  by  Gale,  Oxford,  1681;  recently  by  M.  Schruter, 
Munster,  1838.  On  this  book  compare  Haureau,  De  la  Philosophie  Scho- 
lastique  (an  admirable  treatise),  p.  112,  et  seq.  "Quel  ^tonnement,  disons 
meme  quel  respect,  doit  nous  inspirer  la  grande  figure  de  ce  docteur,  qui 
causera  tant  d'agitation  dans  I'^cole,  dans  I'Eglise;  qui  semera  les  vents, 
et  recueillera  les  tempetes,  mais  saura  les  braver;  qui  ne  laissera  pas  un 
h^ritier  direct  de  sa  doctrine,  mais  qui  du  moins  aura  la  gloire  d'avoir 
annonce,  d'avoir  pr^c^d^  Bruno,  Vanini,  Spinosa,  les  plus  tdm^raires  des 
logiciens  qui  aient  jamais  err6  sous  les  platanes  de  TAcad^mie."  See  also 
the  Lectures  of  M.  Amp6re. 


Chap.  V.  SPECULATIONS  OF  SCOTUS.  187 

alist  (he  brings  all  theologic  questions  to  the  test  of 
dialectic  reasoning);  and  at  the  same  time,  not  by  re- 
mote inference,  but  plainly  and  manifestly  a  Pantheist. 
With  him  God  is  all  things,  all  things  are  God.  The 
Creator  alone  truly  is;  the  universe  is  but  a  sublime 
Theophany,  a  visible  manifestation  of  God.  He  dis- 
tinctly asserts  the  eternity  of  the  universe ;  his  dialectic 
proof  of  this  he  proclaims  to  be  irresistible.  Creation 
could  not  have  been  an  accident  of  fhe  Deity ;  it  is  of 
his  essence  to  be  a  cause:  all  things  therefore  have 
existed,  do  exist,  and  will  exist  through  him  their  cause. 
All  things  flow  from  the  infinite  abyss  of  the  Godhead, 
and  are  reabsorbed  into  it.^  No  wonder  that,  not- 
withstanding the  profound  devotion  which  John  the 
Scot  blended  with  his  most  daring  speculations,  and  the 
valuable  service  which  he  rendered  to  the  Church, 
especially  by  his  confutation,  on  however  perilous 
grounds,  yet  which  the  foes  of  the  predestinarian 
alleged  to  be  a  full  confutation  of  the  predestinarian 
Gotschalk,  he  was  met  by  a  loud  and  hostile  clamor. 
Under  the  general  denunciation  of  the  Church  and  of 
the  Pope,  Nicolas  I.,  he  was  obliged  to  fly  to  Eng- 
land :  there  he  is  said  to  have  taken  refuge  in  Alfred's 
new  University  of  Oxford.^  But  if  by  Ms  bolder 
speculations  John  the  Scot  appalled  his  age,  by  his 

1  Compare  Brucker,  vol.  iii.  p.  618,  Schmidt  der  Mysticismus  der  Mittel 
Alter.  See  also  Guizot,  Civilis.  Modeme,  Lee.  29 ;  Rousselot,  Etudes  sur 
la  Philosophic  dans  le  Moyen  Age,  cap.  2.  John  Scot  had  in  distinct  tenna 
the  "cogito,  ergo  sum"  of  Descartes;  but  in  fact  he  took  it  from  Au- 
gustine. —  Haureau,  p.  133.  Compare  Ritter,  ii.  p.  186.  "We  may  return 
to  John  Scot. 

2  The  account  of  his  death  is  borrowed  by  Matthew  of  "Westminster  from 
«hat  of  a  later  John  the  Saxon,  who  was  stabbed  by  some  monks  in  a 
quarrel.  The  flight  to  England  does  not  depend  on  the  truth  of  that 
Btory. 


188  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  BookYIII. 

translation  of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite  lie  compensat- 
ed to  the  monastic  system  as  supplying  to  the  dreamy 
and  meditative  a  less  lawless  and  more  absorbing  train 
of  thought,  a  more  complete,  more  satisfactory,  yet 
inoffensive  mysticism  to  the  restless  mind.^  What 
could  be  more  congenial  to  the  recluse,  who  aspired 
beyond  the  daily  routine  of  toil  and  psalmody,  than 
this  vision  of  the  Godhead,  this  mystic  union  with  the 
Supreme,  the  emancipation  of  the  soul  from  its  corpo- 
ral prison-house,  the  aspiration  to,  the  absorption  in,  the 
primal  fountain  of  light  and  blessedness,  the  attainable 
angelic,  and  higher  than  angelic  perfection,  the  ascent 
through  all  the  gradations  of  the  celestial  hierarchy  up 
to  the  visible  at  once  and  invisible  throne  of  God  ? 
The  effect  of  this  work  on  the  whole  ecclesiastic  sys- 
tem, and  on  the  popular  faith,  it  is  almost  impossible 
justly  to  estimate.  The  Church  of  France  had  now 
made  it  a  point  of  their  national  and  monastic  honor 
to  identify  the  St.  Denys,  the  founder  and  patron  saint 
of  the  church  at  Paris,  with  the  Areopagite  of  St. 
Paul ;  to  them  there  could  be  no  gift  so  acceptable, 
none  so  greedily  received.  But  when  the  whole  hie- 
rarchy found  that  they,  each  in  their  ascending  order, 
were  the  image  of  an  ascending  hierarchical  type  in 
heaven  ;  that  each  order,  culminating  in  the  Pope,^  was 
the  representative  of  a  celestial  order  culminating  in 
the  Supreme  ;  this  was  too  flattering  to  their  pride  and 
to  their  power  not  to  become  at  once  orthodox  and 
ecclesiastical  doctrine.     The  effect  of  this  new  angel- 

1  William  of  Malmesbury  says  of  Erigena:  "  Si  tamen  ignoscatur  ei  in 
aliquibus,  in  quibus  a  Latinorum  tramite  deviavit,  dum  in  Graecos  acriter 
oculos  intendit."  —  P.  190,  N.  S.  edit. 

2  See,  however,  vol.  vi.    This  tenet  would  be  added  in  the  West 


Chap.  V.  DIALECTICS.  189 

ology  on  the  popular  belief,  on  the  arts,  and  on  the  im- 
agination of  Latin  Christendom,  will  be  more  ftilly 
developed  in  om*  consideration  of  the  rise  and  progress 
of  Christian  mythology. 

Though  an  outcast  and  an  exile,  John  the  Scot 
maintained  such  authority  on  account  of  his  transcen- 
dent learning,  that  in  the  second  great  rebelHon,  not 
merely  against  the  supremacy  but  almost  the  life  of  the 
mediaeval  system,  Berengar  of  Tours  appealed  to  him 
as  one  whose  name,  whose  intimacy  with  Charles  the 
Bald,  ought  to  overawe  the  puny  opponents  of  his  time. 
He  seems  to  have  thought,  he  fearlessly  and  repeatedly 
asserted  even  so  learned  and  renowned  a  prelate  as 
Lanfranc  to  be  presumptuous  in  not  bowing  at  once  to 
the  decisions  of  John  the  Scot. 

As  time  rolled  on,  these  speculations  were  no  longer 
working  only  in  the  minds  of  solitary  men,  often  no 
doubt  when  least  suspected.  They  were  not  promul- 
gated, as  those  of  Gotschalk  had  been,  by  public  preach- 
ing ;  even  those  of  Berengar  had  gained  their  full 
publicity  in  the  schools  which  were  attached  to  many 
of  the  greater  monasteries.  In  these  schools,  the  par- 
ents of  our  modern  universities,  the  thought  which 
had  been  brooded  over,  and  perhaps  suppressed  in.  the 
silence  of  the  cloister,  found  an  opportunity  of  suggest- 
Aig  itself  for  discussion,  of  commanding  a  wilHng,  o^ 
ten  a  numerous,  auditory  ;  and  was  quickened  by  the 
collision  of  adverse  opinion.  The  recluse  and  medita- 
tive philosopher  became  a  teacher,  the  head  of  a  new 
philosophy.  Dialectics,  the  science  of  logic,  was  one 
of  the  highest,  if  not  the  highest,  intellectual  study. 
It  was  part  of  the  Quadrivium,  the  more  advanced 
and  perfect  stage  of  pubhc  education  ;  and  under  the 


190  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Vni. 

specious  form  of  dialectic  exercises,  the  gravest  ques- 
tions of  divinity  became  subjects  of  debate.  Thus 
began  to  rise  a  new  Christian  theology;  not  that  of 
the  Church  embodied  in  the  devout  forms  of  the  Lit- 
urgy, and  enforced  in  the  simple  or  more  impassioned 
discourse  from  the  pulpit ;  not  that  of  the  thoughtful 
divine,  following  out  his  own  speculations  in  their 
natural  course  ;  but  that  of  the  disputant,  bound  by 
conventional  scientific  forms,  with  a  tendency  to  de- 
generate from  a  severe  investigation  of  truth  into  a  trial 
of  technical  skill.  In  its  highest  tone  acute,  ingenious, 
and  subtile,  it  presented  every  question  in  every  possi- 
ble form ;  it  was  comprehensive  so  as  to  embrace  the 
most  puerile  and  fi'ivolous  as  well  as  the  most  moment- 
ous and  majestic  inquiries ;  if  dry,  wearisome,  un- 
awakening  in  its  form,  as  litigation  and  as  a  strife  of 
contending  minds,  it  became  of  intense  interest.  It 
W£is  the  intellectual  tom-nament  of  a  small  intellectual 
aristocracy,  to  which  all  the  scholars  who  were  bred  to 
more  peaceful  avocations  thronged  in  multitudes. 

The  strife  between  the  Nominalists  and  Realists, 
famous  names,  which  to  the  schools  were  as  the  Guelfs 
and  Ghibellines  in  the  politics  of  Europe,  was  on^  of 
the- first  inevitable  results  of  this  importance  assumed 
by  the  science  of  dialectics.  It  is  difficult  to  translate 
this  controversy  out  of  its  logical  language,  and  to 
make  it  clearly  intelligible  to  the  popular  apprehension  ; 
nor  is  it  immediately  apparent  how  the  fundamental 
truths  of  Christianity,  of  religion  itself,  as  the  jealous 
and  sensitive  vigilance  of  the  hierarchy  could  not  but 
perceive,  were  involved  in  this  dispute.  The  doctrine 
and  fate  of  Roscelin,  the  first  great  Nominalist,  the  au- 
thoritative interpreter  if  not  the  author  of  the  system, 


Chap.V.  '  ROSCELIN.  191 

show  at  once  the  character  and  the  fears  excited  by 
Nominalism.  RosceHn  peremptorily  denied  the  real 
existence  of  universals  ;  nothing  actually  is  but  the  in- 
dividual, that  of  which  the  senses  take  immediate  cog- 
nizance. Universals  were  mere  conventional  phrases. 
Each  animal  subsists  ;  the  animal  race  is  but  an  aggre- 
gate of  the  thought ;  man  lives,  humankind  is  a  crea- 
tion of  the  mind ;  the  inherent,  distinctive,  accidental 
qualities  of  things  are  inseparable  from  the  objects  to 
which  they  belong.  He  even  denied  the  proper  exis- 
tence of  parts,  the  whole  alone  had  actual  being ;  it 
was  divided  or  analyzed  only  by  an  effort  of  reflection. 
Though  the  materializing  tendency  of  Roscelin's  doc- 
trine was  clearly  discerned  ^  and  sternly  denounced  by 
his  adversaries,  yet  Roscelin  himself  did  not  absolutely 
deny  the  reality  of  the  invisible,  immaterial  world  :  the 
souls  of  men,  the  angels,  the  Deity,  were  to  him  un- 
questioned beings.  This  appears  even  from  the  fatal 
syllogism  which  awoke  the  jealousy  of  the  Church,  and 
led  to  the  proscription  of  Roscelin.  For  philosophy 
could  not  stand  aloof  from  theology,  and  Roscelin  was 
too  bold  or  too  consistent  not  to  push  his  system  into 
that  forbidden  domain.  The  statement  of  his  opinions 
rests  on  the  e^ddence  of  his  adversary,  but  that  adver- 
sary, Anselm,  cites  his  own  words,  and  in  a  form  likely 
to  have  been  used  by  so  fearless  a  dialectician.  While 
he  reasoned  of  the  Godhead  as  if  having  no  doubt  of 
its  real  being,  his  own  concessions  seemed  of  necessity 
to  perplex  or  to  destroy  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

1  "  In  eorum  (the  Nominalists)  quippe  animabus,  ratio,  quae  et  princeps 
et  judex  omnium  debet  esse  quae  sunt  in  homine,  sic  est  in  imaginationibus 
corporalibus  obvoluta.  ut  ex  eis  se  non  possit  evolvere;  nee  ab  ipsis  ea  quae 
ipsa  sola  et  pura  contemplari  debet,  valeat  discemere."  —  Anselm,  apud 
Eousselot. 


192  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  *  Book  VIII. 

If  the  three  persons  are  one  thing  and  not  three  things, 
as  distinct  as  three  angels  or  three  souls,  though  one  in 
will  and  power,  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  must 
have  been  incarnate  with  the  Son.^ 

It  was  a  churchman,  but  a  churchman  bred  in  a 
monastery,  who  in  the  quiet  of  its  cloisters  had  long 
sounded  the  depths  of  metaphysical  inquiry  and  was 
practised  in  its  schools,  one  really  compelled  to  leave 
his  contemplative  seclusion  to  mingle  in  worldly  affairs 
■ —  Anselm,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who 
rose  up  to  denounce  and  confute  at  once  the  heretical 
logic  and  heretical  theology  of  Roscelin. 

The  Norman  abbey  of  Bee  seemed  to  aspire  to  that 
The  abbey  samc  preeminence  in  theologic  learning  and 
of  Bee.  ^-j^g  accomplishments  of  high-minded  church- 

men which  the  Normans  were  displaying  in  valor, 
military  skill,  and  the  conquests  of  kingdoms.  The 
Normans  had  founded  or  subdued  great  monarchies  at 
each  extreme  of  Europe.  Normans  sat  on  the  thrones 
of  Sicily  and  England.  From  the  Norman  abbey  of 
Bee  came  forth  two  archbishops  of  England,  the  cham- 
pions of  the  Catholic  doctrine,  one,  Lanfi'anc,  against 
Berengar  of  Tours,  the  other,  Anselm,  the  triumphant 
adversary  of  Roscelin,  and,  if  not  the  founder,  the  pre- 
cursor of  the  scholastic  theology.  The  monastery  of 
Bee  had  been  founded  by  Herluin,  a  fierce  and  igno- 
rant knight,  who  toiled  and  prayed  as  a  monk  with  the 
same  vehemence  with  which  he  had  fought  as  a  war- 
rior.    Herluin,  accustomed  to  head  a  band  of  savage 


1  "  Si  in  Deo  tres  personae  sunt  una  tantum  res,  et  non  sunt  tres  res, 
nnaquseque  per  se  separatim,  sicut  tres  angeli,  aut  tres  animae,  ita  tamen  ut 
voluntate  et  potentia  sint  idem,  ergo  Pater  et  Spiritus  Sanctus  cum  Filio 
incarnatus  est."  — Anselm  de  fid.  Trinit.,  Eousselot,  t.  i.  p.  160. 


Chap.  V.  ANSELM.  193 

freebooters,  suddenly  seized  witli  a  paroxysm  of  devo- 
tion, had  become  the  head  of  a  religious  brotherhood, 
in  which  the  no  less  savage  austerity  made  a  profound 
impression  upon  his  countrymen,  and  obtained  for  it 
that  fame  for  rigid  discipline  which  led  the  Italian  Lan- 
franc,  as  afterwards  the  Italian  Anselm,  to  its  walls. ^ 
It  is  true  that  the  great  theologians  of  Bee  Avere  stran- 
gers by  birth,  but  they  w^ere  adopted  Normans,  called 
to  Norman  sees,  and  protected  by  Norman  kings. 

The  profound  devotion  of  his  age  was  the  all-absorb- 
ing passion  of  Anselm.^  The  monastery  was  Anseim. 
his  home;  when  he  was  forced  into  the  Primate's 
throne  of  England,  his  heart  was  still  in  the  quiet  abbey 
of  Bee.  In  his  philosophy,  as  in  his  character.  Faith 
was  the  priest,  who  stood  alone  in  the  sanctuary  of  his 
heart ;  Reason,  the  awe-struck  and  reverential  minister 
was  to  seek  satisfaction  not  for  the  doubts  (for  from 
doubts  Anselm  would  have  recoiled  as  from  treason 
against  God),  but  for  those  grave  questionings,  liow  far 
and  in  what  manner  the  harmony  was  to  be  established 
between  the  Godhead  of  Revelation  and  of  Reason. 
The  theology  of  the  Church,  in  all  its  most  imperious 
dogmatism,  was  the  irrefragable  truth  from  which  An- 
selm set  out.  It  was  not  timidity,  or  even  awe,  which 
kept  him  within  the  barriers ;  his  mind  intuitively 
shrunk  from  all  without  those  bounds,  excepting  so  far 
as  profound  thought  might  seem  to  elucidate  and  make 

1  Compare  throughout  C  R^musat,  Anselme.  This  excellent  book  has 
appeared  since  the  greater  part  of  my  work  was  written ;  the  whole  indeed 
of  this  passage.  See  also  the  treatises  of  Anselm,  many  of  them  sepa- 
rately republished;  Frank,  Anselm  von  Canterbury;  Mohler,  Anselm; 
Bouchette. 

2  Anselm  will  appear  again  in  his  high  sacerdotal  character  as  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury. 

VOL.  IV.  13 


194  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

more  clear  the  catholic  conceptions  of  the  Godhead  and 
of  the  whole  invisible  world.  His  famous  philosophi- 
cal axiom,  which  alone  perpetuated  his  renown  during 
the  centm'ies  which  looked  with  contempt  on  the  intel- 
lectual movements  of  the  middle  ages,  the  a  priori 
proof  of  the  being  of  God  —  "  The  idea  of  God  in  the 
mind  of  man  is  the  one  unanswerable  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  God"  —  this  with  Anselm  was  an  illustra- 
tion rather  than  the  groundwork  of  his  theology.  It 
was  not  the  discovery  of  God,  whom  his  soul  had  from 
its  earliest  dawn  implicitly  believed,  whom  his  heart 
had  from  his  youth  upward  loved  with  intense  devo- 
tion ;  it  was  not  even  a  satisfaction  of  his  craving  in- 
tellect (his  intellect  required  no  satisfaction)  ;  it  was 
the  bright  thought  which  flashed  across  the  reflective 
mind,  or  to  which  it  was  led  by  the  slow  gradations  of 
reasonins;.'^  Faith  condescended  to  knowledo-e,  not  be- 
cause  faith  was  insufficient,  but  because  knowledge  was, 
as  it  were,  in  the  contemplative  mind  a  necessary  fruit 
of  faith.  He  could  not  understand  unless  he  first  be- 
lieved. But  the  intellect,  which  had  for  so  many  cen- 
turies slumbered  on  the  lap  of  religion,  or  at  least  only 
aspired  to  activity  on  subjects  far  below  these  primaiy 
and  elemental  truths  ;  which  when  it  fought,  fought  for 
the  outworks  of  the  creed,  and  left  the  citadel,  or  rather 
(for,  as  in  Jerusalem,  the  Temple  was  the  fortress  as  well 
as  the  fane)  the  Holy  of  Holies,  to  be  guarded  by  its  own 
inherent  sanctity  ;  —  the  intellect  however  awakened 
with  reverential  hand,  once  stirred,  could  not  compose 

1  "  Neque  enim  quaero  intelligere,  ut  credam,  sed  credo  ut  intelligam. 
Nam  et  hoc  credo,  quia  nisi  credidero,  non  intelligam."  —  Prolog.,  c.  iv. 
"Gratias  tibi,  bone  Domine,  gratias  tibi:  quia  quod  prius  credidi  te  du- 
cente;  jam  sic  intelligo  te  illuminante,  ut  si  te  esse  nolim  credere,  non 
Dossem  non  intelligere." 


Chap.  V.  ANSELM.  195 

itself  to  the  same  profound  repose.  Anselm  uncon- 
sciously, being  absolutely  himself  without  fear  and  with- 
out danger,  had  entered  ;  and  if  he  did  not  first  throw 
open,  had  expanded  wide  the  doors  of  that  region  of 
metaphysical  inquiry  which  others  would  hereafter  tread 
with  bolder  steps.  Questions  which  he  touched  with 
holy  dread  were  soon  to  be  vexed  by  ruder  hands. 
Reason  had  received  an  admission  which,  however  tim- 
idly, she  would  never  cease  to  assert. 

It  may  appear  at  first  singular  that  the  thought  which 
suggested  itself  to  the  mind  of  a  monk  at  Bee  should 
still  be  the  problem  of  metaphysical  theology;  and 
theology  must,  when  followed  out,  become  metaphysi- 
cal ;  metaphysics  must  become  theological.  This  same 
thought  seems,  with  no  knowledge  of  its  media9val  ori- 
gin, to  have  forced  itself  on  Descartes,  was  reasserted 
by  Leibnitz,  if  not  rejected  was  thought  insufficient  by 
Kant,  revived  in  another  form  by  Schelling  and  by 
Hegel ;  latterly  has  been  discussed  with  singular  fiil- 
ness  and  ingenuity  by  M.  de  Remusat.  Yet  will  it 
less  surprise  the  more  profoundly  reflective,  who  can- 
not but  perceive  how  soon  and  how  inevitably  the 
mind  arrives  at  the  verge  of  human  thought ;  how  it 
cannot  but  encounter  this  same  question,  which  in  an- 
other form  divided  in  either  avowed  or  unconscious 
antagonism,  Plato  and  Aristotle,  Anselm  and  his  oppo- 
nents (for  opponents  he  had  of  no  common  subtilty), 
Leibnitz  and  Locke  ;  which  Kant  failed  to  reconcile  ; 
which  his  followers  have  perhaps  bewildered  by  a  new 
and  intricate  phraseology  more  than  elucidated  ;  which 
modern  eclecticism  harmonizes  rather  in  seemino;  than 
in  reality  ;  the  question  of  questions ;  our  primary, 
elemental,  it  may  be  innate  or  instinctive,  or  acquired 


196  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

and  traditional,  idea,  conception,  notion,  conviction  of 
God,  of  the  Immaterial,  the  Eternal,  the  Infinite. 

Anselm,  at  first  by  his  secluded  monastic  habits,  af- 
terwards on  account  of  his  dignity  as  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  and  the  part  which  he  was  compelled  to 
take  in  the  quarrel  about  investitures  in  England, 
either  shrunk  from  or  stood  above  the  personal  conflicts 
which  involved  other  metaphysicians  in  active  hostili- 
ties. Yet,  however  the  schools  might  already  have 
been  startled  by  theories  of  alarming  import  (the  more 
alarming,  since  few  could  foresee  their  ultimate  end), 
so  far,  without  doubt,  in  all  these  conflicts  between  the 
intellectual  and  religious  development  of  man,  in  these 
first  insurrections  against  the  autocracy  of  the  Church, 
as  regards  its  power  over  the  public  mind,  the  Church 
had  come  forth  triumphant.  Its  adversaries  had  been 
awed,  it  might  be  into  sullen  and  reluctant  silence,  yet 
into  silence.  Even  in  the  strife  between  Abdlard  and 
St.  Bernard  it  seemed  to  maintain  the  same  superi- 
ority. 

The  life  of  Abelard,  contrasted  with  that  of  St. 
Bernard,  gives,  as  it  were,  the  full  measure  and  perfect 
image  of  the  time  in  its  intellectual  as  in  its  religious 
development. 

Peter  Abelard  was  a  Breton  (a  native  of  Palais,  about 
Abelard  born  f*^^^i'  Icagucs  from  Nautcs).  lu  him  were  cen- 
A.D.io<9.  |.j,g^  ^Yie  characteristics  of  that  race,^  the 
uncontrollable  impetuosity,  the  individuality,  which 
delighted  in  isolation  from  the   rest  of  mankind,  the 

1  On  Abelard,  see  above  all  his  own  works  (the  first  volume  of  a  new 
edition  has  appeared,  by  M.  Cousin),  more  especially  the  Historia  Calami' 
tatum  and  the  Letters.  The  Sic  et  Non  edited,  with  reservations,  by  M. 
Cousin ;  more  completely  by  Henke.  —  Rousselot,  Etudes ;  C  de  R^musat, 
Abelard 


Chap.  V.  PETER  AB^LAED.  197 

self-confidence  which  swelled  into  arrogance,  the  perse- 
verance which  hardened  into  obstinacy,  the  quickness 
and  fertility  which  were  speedily  fostered  into  a  passion 
for  disputation.  His  education  ripened  with  unexam- 
pled rapidity  his  natural  character ;  no  man  is  so  over- 
bearing or  so  stubborn  as  a  successful  disputant ;  and 
very  early  in  life  Abelard  became  the  most  powerful 
combatant  in  the  intellectual  tilting  matches  of  the 
schools,  which  had  now  become  one  of  the  great  fash- 
ions of  the  day.  His  own  words  show  the  singular 
analogy  between  the  two  paths  of  distinction  open  to 
aspiring  youth.  "  I  preferred,"  said  Abelard,  "  the 
strife  of  disputations  to  the  trophies  of  war."  Skill 
in  dialectics  became  to  the  young  churchman  what  the 
management  of  the  lance  and  of  the  courser  was  to  the 
knio'ht.  He  descended  into  the  lists,  and  challeno^ed 
all  comers  ;  and  those  lists,  in  the  peaceful  conventual 
schools,  were  watched  with  almost  as  absorbincr  interest 
by  spectators  hardly  less  numerous.  Before  the  age 
of  twenty  Abdlard  had  Avandered  through  great  part 
of  France  as  an  errant  logician,  and  had  found  no  com- 
batant who  could  resist  his  prowess.  He  arrived  in 
Paris,  where  the  celebrated  William  of  Cham-  j^^^^^. 
peaux  was  at  the  height  of  his  fame.  The  '^•"'  ^^^^- 
schools  of  Paris,  which  afterwards  expanded  into  that 
renowned  University,  trembled  at  the  temerity  of  the 
youth  who  dared  to  encounter  that  veteran  in  dialectic 
warfare,  whose  shield  had  been  so  long  untouched,  and 
who  had  seemed  secure  in  his  all-acknowledged  puis- 
sance. Abelard  in  a  short  time  was  the  pupil,  the 
rival,  the  conqueror,  and  of  course  an  object  of  im- 
placable animosity  to  the  vanquished  chieftain  of  the 
schools.     To  have  been  the  master  of  Abelard  might 


198  LATIN  CHRISTIAXITY.  Book  VUI 

seem,  indeed,  to  insure  his  rebellion.  He  seized  at 
once  on  the  weak  parts  of  his  teacher's  system,  and 
in  his  pride  of  strength  scrupled  not  to  trample  him  in 
the  dust.  Abelard  had  once  been  the  pupil  of  Rosce- 
lin ;  he  denounced,  refuted  Xominalism.  He  was  now 
William  of  the  hearer  of  William  of  Champeaux  ;  the 
champeaux.  peculiar  Rcalism  which  Wilham  taught  met 
with  no  more  respect.  Notwithstanding  the  opposition 
of  his  master,  he  set  up  a  rival  school,  first,  under  the 
favor  of  the  Court,  at  Melun,  afterwards  at  Corbeil, 
nearer  Paris.  A  domestic  affliction,  the  death  of  his 
beloved  mother,  sent  him  back  to  Brittany,  where  he 
remained  some  short  time.  On  his  return  he  renewed 
the  attempt  to  dethrone  William  of  Champeaux,  and 
succeeded  in  drawing  off  all  his  scholars.  The  philos- 
opher, in  disgust  at  his  empty  hall,  retired  into  a 
brotherhood  of  black  canons.  Abelard  assumed  his 
chair.  The  Court  interest,  and  perhaps  the  violence 
of  some  older  and  still  faithful  disciples  of  William  of 
Champeaux,  expelled  him  from  his  usurped  seat.  He 
retired  again  to  Melun,  and  reestablished  his  rival 
school.  But  on  the  final  retirement  of  William  of 
Champeaux  from  Paris,  Abelard  returned  to  the  city ; 
and  notwithstanding  that  William  himself  came  back 
to  support  his  appointed  successor,  a  general  desertion 
of  his  pupils  left  Abelard  in  undisputed  supremacy. 
William  of  Champeaux  was  consoled  for  his  discom- 
fiture by  the  Bishopric  of  Chalons. 

But  there  was  one  field  alone  for  the  full,  complete, 
and  commanding  development  of  dialectic  skill,  which 
had  now  to  a  certain  extent  drawn  itself  apart  into  a 
distinct  and  separate  camp  :  philosophy  was  no  longer, 
as  with   Anselm,  one  with   divinity.      That  field  was 


Chap.  V.  AB^LARD  A  THEOLOGIAX.  199 

theology.  This  was  the  single,  all-engrossing  ^^^lard  a 
subject,  which  the  disputant  could  not  avoid,  t'leoiogian. 
and  which  alone,  through  the  Church  or  the  monastery, 
led  to  permanent  fame,  repose,  wealth,  or  power.  As 
yet  Abelard  had  kept  prudently  aloof,  as  far  as  was  pos- 
sible, from  that  sacred  and  uncongenial  domain.  For 
Abelard  had  no  deep  devotional  training,  no  severe 
discipline,  no  habits  of  submission.  He  might  aspire 
remotely  to  the  dignity,  honor,  or  riches  of  the  church- 
man, but  he  had  nothing  of  the  hierarchical  spirit,  no 
reverence  for  rigid  dogmatic  orthodoxy  ;  he  stood  alone 
in  his  conscious  strength,  consorted  not  intimately  with 
the  ecclesiastics,  espoused  not  ostentatiously  their  inter- 
ests, perhaps  betrayed  contempt  of  their  ignorance.  Of 
the  monk  he  had  still  less  ;  whatever  love  of  solitude 
he  might  indulge,  was  that  of  philosophic  contempla- 
tion, not  of  religious  or  mystic  meditation.  His  place 
in  the  convent  was  not  the  chapel  at  midnight  or  before 
the  break  of  morning ;  his  was  not  either  the  richly- 
intoned  voice  swelling  the  full  harmony  of  the  choir, 
or  the  tender  orison  of  the  humble  and  weeping  peni- 
tent. Of  his  fasts,  of  his  mortifications,  of  his  self-tor- 
ture, nothing  is  heard.  His  place  is  in  the  adjacent 
school,  where  he  is  perplexing  his  antagonists  with  his 
dexterous  logic,  or  losing  them  with  himself  in  the 
depths  of  his  subtle  metaphysics.  Yet  the  fame  at 
least  of  theologic  erudition  is  necessary  to  crown  his 
glory  ;  he  must  be  profoundly  learned,  as  well  as  irre- 
sistibly argumentative.  He  went  to  Laon  to  study 
under  Anselm,  the  most  renowned  theologian  of  his 
day.  The  fame  of  this  Anselm  survives  only  in  the 
history  of  Abelard  —  lost,  perhaps,  in  that  of  his 
greater  namesake,  now  dead  for  many  years.     With 


200  LATIX  CHKISTIANITY.  Book  Via 

more  than  his  characteristic  temerity  and  arrogance, 
he  treated  Anselm  even  less  respectfully  than  he  had 
treated  William  of  Champeaux.  He  openly  declared 
the  venerable  divine  to  owe  his  fame  to  his  age  rather 
than  to  his  ability  or  knowledge.  Ab^lard  began  at 
once  to  lecture  in  opposition  to  his  master  on  the 
Prophet  Ezekiel.  His  renown  was  now  at  its  height ; 
there  was  no  branch  of  knowledge  on  which  Abelard 
did  not  beheve  himself,  and  was  not  believed,  compe- 
tent to  give  the  fullest  instruction.  Not  merely  did  all 
Paris  and  the  adjacent  districts  throng  to  his  school, 
but  there  was  no  country  so  remote,  no  road  so  diffi- 
cult, but  that  the  pupils  defied  the  toils  and  perils  of 
the  way.  From  barbarous  Anjou,  from  Poitou,  Gas- 
cony,  and  Spain,  from  Normandy,  Flanders,  Germany, 
Swabia,  from  England  notwithstanding  the  terrors  of 
the  sea,  scholars  of  all  ranks  and  classes  crowded  to 
Paris.  Even  Rome,  the  great  teacher  of  the  world  in 
all  arts  and  sciences,  acknowledged  the  superior  wis- 
dom of  Abelard,  and  sent  her  sons  to  submit  to  his  dis- 
cipline. 

The  romance  of  Abelard's  life  commenced  when  it 
Heioisa.  usually  begins  to  languish  in  others  ;  *  that 
romance,  so  singularly  displaying  the  manners,  habits, 
and  opinions  of  the  time,  becomes  grave  history.  He 
was  nearer  forty  than  thirty  when  the  passions  of  youth, 
which  had  hitherto  been  controlled  by  habits  of  severe 
study,  came  upon  him  with  sudden  and  unresisted  vio- 
lence. No  religious  scruples  seem  to  have  interposed. 
The  great  philosopher,  though  as  yet  only  an  ecclesias- 
tic in  dignity,  and  destined  for  the  sacred  function,  a 
canon  of  the  Church,  calmly  determines  to  reward  him- 
self for  his  long  continence.     Yet  his  fastidious  feelings 


Chap.  V.  HIS  MARRIAGE.  201 

loathed  the  more  gross  and  vulgar  sensualities.  His 
studies  had  kept  him  aloof  from  the  society  of  high-born 
ladies  ;  yet,  as  he  asserts,  and  as  Heloisa  in  the  fervor 
of  her  admiration  scruples  not  to  confirm  his  assertion, 
there  was  no  female,  however  noble  in  birth  or  rank, 
or  spotless  in  fame,  who  would  have  scrupled  to  receive 
the  homage  and  reward  the  love  of  Ab^lard.  Thouo;h 
Abelard  was  looking  out,  like  a  gallant  knight,  for  a 
mistress  of  his  affections,  there  was  nothing  chivalrous 
or  reverential  in  his  passion  for  Heloisa.  He  delib- 
erately planned  the  seduction  of  this  maiden,  who  was 
no  less  distinguished  for  her  surpassing  beauty  than  for 
her  wonderful  talents  and  knowledo;e.  He  offered  to 
board  in  the  house  of  her  uncle,  the  Canon  Fulbert,  in 
order  that  he  mio-ht  cultivate  to  the  utmost  the  mind  of 
this  accomplished  damsel.  The  avarice  and  vanity  of 
the  uncle  were  equally  tempted ;  without  suspicion  he 
made  over  his  niece  to  the  absolute  authority  of  the 
teacher,  permitting  him  even  to  inflict  personal  chas- 
tisement. 

Abelard's  new  passion  only  developed  more  fully  his 
wonderful  faculties.  The  philosopher  and  theologian 
became  a  poet  and  a  musician.  The  lovers  made  no 
attempt  at  the  concealment  of  their  mutual  attachment. 
All  Paris  admired  the  beautiful  amatory  verses  of 
Abelard,  which  were  allowed  to  transpire ;  and  He- 
loisa, in  the  deep  devotion  of  her  love,  instead  of 
shrinking  from  the  breath  of  pubhc  fame,  thought  her- 
self an  object  of  envy  to  all  her  sex.  The  Canon  Ful- 
bert alone  was '  ignorant  that  he  had  intrusted,  in 
Abelard's  own  words,  "  his  spotless  lamb  to  a  ravening 
wolf."     When  the  knowledge  was  at  last  forced  upon 


202  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIIL 

him,  Heloisa  fled  with  her  lover  in  the  disguise  of  a 
nun,  and  in  the  house  of  his  sister  in  Brittany,  gave 
birth  to  a  son,  whom  he  called  by  the  philosophic  name 
of  Astrolabius.^  The  indignant  Canon  insisted  on  the 
reparation  of  his  family  honor  by  marriage.  Ab^lard 
consented  ;  Heloisa  alone,  in  an  absolute,  unrivalled 
spirit  of  self-devotion,  so  wonderful  that  we  forget  to 
reprove,  resisted  ;  she  used  every  argument,  every  ap- 
peal to  the  pride,  the  honor,  even  to  the  love  of  Abelard, 
which  are  usually  urged  to  enforce  that  atonement,  to 
dissuade  her  lover  from  a  step  so  fatal  to  his  fame  and 
his  advancement.  As  a  philosopher  Abelard  would  be 
trammelled  by  the  vulgar  cares  of  a  family ;  as  a 
churchman  his  career  of  advancement,  which  might 
soar  to  the  highest  place,  was  checked  at  once  and 
forever.  Moral  impediments  might  be  got  over,  canon- 
ical objections  were  insuperable  ;  he  might  stand  above 
all  but  the  inexorable  laws  of  the  Church  through  his 
transcendent  abilities.  Though  she  had  been,  though 
she  might  be  still  his  mistress,  she  did  not  thereby  inca- 
pacitate him  for  any  high  dignity ;  as  his  wife  she  closed 
against  him  that  ascending  ladder  of  ecclesiastical  hon- 
ors, the  priorate,  the  abbacy,  the  bishopric,  the  metro- 
politanate,  the  cardinalate,  and  even  that  which  was 
beyond  and  above  all.  There  was  no  place  to  which 
Abelard,  as  her  heart  and  mind  assured  her  the  first  of 
men,  might  not  reasonably,  rightfully  aspire,  and  was 

1  M.  Cousin  (Nouveanx  Fragments  Philosophiques,  vol.  ii.)  has  pub- 
lished a  long  Latin  poem  addressed  to  his  son  by  Abelard.  It  is  in  part  a 
versification  of  the  Book  of  Proverbs.  Of  the  life  of  Astrolabius  nothing 
is  known.  M.  Cousin  found  this  singular  name  in  the  list  of  the  abbots  of 
a  monastery  in  Switzerland,  of  a  date  which  agrees  with  the  age  of  Ab6. 
lard's  son. 


Chap.  V.  FULBERT'S  REVENGE.  203 

his  Heloisa  to  stand  in  his  way  ?  ^  These  were  the 
arguments  of  Heloisa  herself:  this  is  a  heroism  of 
self-abnegation  incredible  in  any  but  a  deeply-loving 
woman  ;  and  even  in  her  so  rare  as  to  be  matter  of 
astonishment. 

The  fears  or  the  remorse  of  Ab^lard  were  strong- 
er than  the  reasonings  of  Heloisa.  He  en-  Marriage. 
deavored  to  appease  the  injured  uncle  by  a  secret  mar- 
riage, which  took  place  at  Paris.  But  the  secret  was 
soon  divulged  by  the  wounded  pride  and  the  vanity  of 
Fulbert.  Heloisa,  still  faithful  to  her  lover's  least  wishes 
and  interests,  denied  the  marriage ;  and  Abdlard  re- 
moved her  to  the  nunnery  of  Argenteuil.  There,  in 
all  but  taking  the  veil  and  in  receiving  his  stolen  visits, 
which  did  not  respect  the  sanctity  of  the  place,  her 
sweetness,  her  patience,  her  piety,  her  conformity  to 
all  the  rules,  won  her  the  universal  respect  and  es- 
teem. 

Fulbert  still  suspected,  he  might  well  suspect,  that 
Abelard  intended  to  compel  his  wife  to  take  the  veil, 
and  so  release  him  from  the  ties  of  wedlock.  His  re- 
venge was  that  of  the  most  exquisite  and  ingenious 
malice,  as  well  as  of  the  most  inhuman  cruelty.  It 
aimed  at  blasting  the  ambition,  as  well  as  punishing 
the  lust  of  its  victim.  By  his  mutilation  (for  Mutilation. 
in  this  respect  the  canon  law  strictly  followed  ^'^'  ^^^^' 

1  Her  -whole  soul  is  expressed  in  the  quotation  from  Lucan,  uttered,  it  ii 
laid,  when  she  entered  the  cloister  at  Argenteuil :  — 

"  0  maxime  conjux  I 
0  thalamis  indigne  meis.     Hoc  juris  habebat 
In  tantum  fortuna  caput  ?     Cur  impia  nupsi; 
Si  miserum  factura  fui  ?    Nunc  accipe  poenas, 
Sed  quas  sponte  luam." 

Koble,  but  not  nunlike  lines ! 


204  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIIL 

that  of  Leviticus)  Abelard  mlglit,  he  thought,  be  for- 
ever disqualified  from  ecclesiastical  honors.  The  pun- 
ishment of  Abelard's  barbarous  enemies,  of  Fulbert 
and  his  accomplices,  which  was  demanded  by  the  pub- 
lic voice,  and  inflicted  by  the  civil  power,  could  not 
console;  the  general  commiseration  could  only  aggra- 
vate his  miseiy  and  despair.  He  threw  himself,  at  first 
determined  to  shun  the  sight  of  the  world,  into  the  mon- 
astery of  St.  Denys  ;  Heloisa,  still  passive  to  his  com- 
mands, took  the  veil  at  Argenteuil.  But  even  to  the 
end  the  fervent  affections  of  Heloisa  were  hardly  trans- 
ferred to  holier  and  more  spiritual  objects  ;  religion, 
when  it  became  a  passion,  might  soften,  it  could  not 
efface  ft-om  her  heart,  that  towards  Abelard. 

The  fame  of  Abelard,  and  his  pride  and  ungoverna- 
in  St.  Denjs.  blc  soul.  Still  pursucd  him  ;  his  talents  re- 
tained their  vigor ;  his  temper  was  unsubdued.  The 
monastery  of  St.  Denys  was  dissolute.  Abelard  be- 
came a  severe  reformer  ;  he  rebuked  the  abbot  and  the 
whole  community  for  their  lax  discipline,  their  unexem- 
plary  morals.  He  retired  to  a  priA^ate  cell,  and  near  it 
opened  a  school.  So  great  was  the  concourse  of  schol- 
ars,, that  lodging  and  provision  could  not  be  found  for 
the  countless  throng.  On  the  one  side  was  an  object 
of  the  most  excessive  admiration,  on  the  other  of  the 
most  implacable  hatred.  His  enemies  urged  the  bishop 
of  the  province  to  interdict  his  lectures,  as  tainted  with 
secular  learning  unbecoming  a  monk.  His  disciples, 
with  more  dangerous  adulation,  demanded  of  the  great 
teacher  the  satisfaction  of  their  reason  on  the  liiMiest 
points  of  theology,  which  they  could  no  longer  receive 
in  simple  faith.  They  would  no  longer  be  blind  leaders 
of  thft  blind,  nor  pretend  to  believe  what  they  did  not 


Chap.  Y.  COUNCIL  OF  SOISSOXS.  205 

clearly  comprehend.^  Abelard  composed  a  theological 
treatise,  in  which  he  discussed  the  awful  mystery  of 
the  Trinity  in  Unity. 

His  enemies  were  on  the  watch.  Two  of  his  old  dis- 
comfited antagonists  at  Laon,  named  Alberic  Council  of 
and  Litolf,  denounced  him  before  Rodolph  a  d.  im. 
Archbishop  of  Rheims,  and  Conon  Bishop  of  Prseneste, 
the  Legate  of  the  Pope.  He  was  summoned  to  appear 
before  a  Council  at  Soissons.  A  rumor  was  spread 
abroad  that  he  asserted  that  there  were  three  Gods. 
He  hardly  escaped  being  stoned  by  the  populace.  But 
no  one  ventured  to  cope  with  the  irresistible  logician. 
Abelard  offered  his  book ;  not  a  voice  was  raised  to  ar- 
raign it.  The  prudent  and  friendly  Godfrey,  Bishop 
of  Chartres,  demanded  a  fair  hearing  for  Abelard ;  he 
was  answered  by  a  general  cry  that  the  whole  world 
could  not  disentangle  his  sophisms.  The  council  was 
drawing  to  a  close.  The  enemies  of  Abelard  persuaded 
the  Archbishop  and  the  Legate,  who  were  unlettered 
men  and  weary  of  the  whole  debate,  to  command  the 
book  to  be  burned,  and  the  author  to  be  punished  by 
seclusion  in  a  monasteiy  for  his  intolerable  presump- 
tion in  writing  and  lecturing  on  such  subjects  without 
the  authority  of  the  Pope  and  of  the  Church.  This 
was  a  simple  and  summary  proceeding.  Abelard  was 
compelled  to  throw  his  book  into  the  fire  with  his  own 
hands,  and,  weeping  at  the  loss  of  his  labors,  to  recite 
aloud  the  Athanasian  creed.  He  was  then  sent,  as  to  a 
prison,  to  the  convent  of  St.  Medard,  but  before  long 
was  permitted  to  return  to  his  cell  at  St.  Denys. 

1  "Xec  credi  posse  aliquid,  nisi  primitus  intellectixm,  et  ridiculosum  esse 
aliquem  aliis  praedicare,  quod  nee  ipse,  nee  illi  quos  doceret,  intellectu 
capere."  —  Abelard,  Oper. 


206  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

His  imprudent  passion  for  truth  plunged  him  in  a 
new  calamity.  He  ventured  to  question,  from  a  pas- 
sage in  Bede,  whether  the  patron  saint  of  the  abbey 
St.  Denys.  was  indeed  the  Dionysius  of  St.  Paul,  the  fa- 
mous Areopagite.  The  monks  had  hardly  endured  his 
remonstrances  against  their  dissolute  lives;  when  he 
questioned  the  authenticity  of  their  saint,  their  fiiry 
knew  no  bounds.  They  declared  that  Bede  was  an 
incorrigible  liar,  Ab^lard  a  sacrilegious  heretic.  Their 
founder  had  travelled  in  Greece,  and  brought  home  ir- 
refragable proofs  that  their  St.  Denys  was  the  convert 
of  St.  Paul.  It  was  not  the  honor  of  the  monastery 
alone  which  was  now  at  stake,  but  that  of  the  whole 
realm.  Abelard  was  denounced  as  guilty  of  treasona- 
ble impiety  against  France  by  thus  deposing  her  great 
tutelar  saint.  The  vengeance  of  the  Kino;  was  invoked 
against  him.  Abelard  fled.  Both  he  and  the  prior  of 
a  monastery  near  Troyes,  who  was  so  rash  as  to  be  one 
of  his  believers,  were  threatened  with  excommunica- 
tion. The  blow  so  shocked  the  Abbot  of  St.  Denys 
(he  was  said  indeed  to  have  broken  his  constitution  by 
intemperance)  that  he  died,  and  thus  relieved  Abelard 
from  one  of  his  most  obstinate  and  bitter  enemies.  The 
Court  was  appeased,  and  through  the  royal  interest, 
Abelard  was  permitted  to  withdraw  to  a  more  peaceful 
solitude. 

After  some  delay  Abelard  availed  himself  of  the 
royal  permission  ;  he  found  a  wild  retreat,  near  the 
small  river  Ardrissan,  not  far  from  Troyes.  There,  like 
the  hermits  of  old,  he  built  his  solitary  cabin  of  osiers 
and  of  thatch.  But  the  sanctity  of  Antony  or  of 
Benedict,  or  of  the  recent  founder  of  the  Cistercian 
order,  was  not  more  attractive  than  the  cell  of  the  phi- 


Chap.v.  the  paeaclete.  207 

losopher.  Ab^lard,  thus  degraded  in  the  eyes  of  men 
and  in  his  own  estimation  hj  his  immorahty  and  by 
its  punishment,  branded  with  the  suspicion  of  heresy 
by  a  council  of  the  Church,  with  a  reputation  for  arro- 
gance and  an  intractable  temper,  which  brought  discord 
wherever  he  went,  an  outcast  of  society  rather  than  a 
world-wearied  anchorite,  had  nevertheless  lost  none  of 
his  influence.  The  desert  was  peopled  around  him  by 
his  admiring  scholars ;  they  left  the  castle  and  the  city 
to  dwell  in  the  wilderness  ;  for  their  lofty  palaces  they 
built  lowly  hovels ;  for  their  delicate  viands  they  fed 
on  bread  and  wild  herbs ;  instead  of  soft  beds  they  re- 
posed contentedly  on  straw  and  chafp.  Abelard  proudly 
adapted  to  himself  the  words  of  Scripture,  "  Behold, 
the  Avhole  world  is  gone  after  him ;  by  our  persecution 
we  have  prevailed  nothing,  w^e  have  but  increased  his 
glory."  A  monastery  arose,  which  had  hard-  ^^^  1122, 
ly  space  in  its  cells  for  the  crowding  votaries  ;  ^^^' 
Abelard  called  it  by  the  name  of  the  Paraclete  —  a 
name  which,  for  its  novelty  and  seeming  presumption, 
gave  new  offence  to  his  multiplying  enemies.-^ 

But  it  was  not  the  personal  hatred  alone  which  Abe- 
lard had  excited  by  his  haughty  tone  and  vituperative 
language,  or  even  by  his  daring  criticism  of  old  legends. 
His  whole  system  of  teaching,  the  foundation,  and  dis- 
cipline, and  studies,  in  the  Paraclete,  could  not  but  be 
looked  upon  with  alarm  and  suspicion.  This  new  phil- 
osophic community,  a  community  at  least  bound  to- 
gether by  no  religious  vow  and  governed  by  ^he  Para- 
no  rigid  monastic  rules,  in  which  the  profound-  ^^^^^' 
est  and  most  awful  mysteries  of  religion  were  freely  dis- 
cussed, in  which  the  exercises  were  those  of  the  school 

1  0pp.  Abelard,  Epist.  i.  p.  28. 


208  LATIN   CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

rather  than  of  the  cloister,  and  dialectic  disputations 
rather  than  gloomy  ascetic  practices  the  occupation, 
awoke  the  vigilant  jealousy  of  the  two  great  reformers 
of  the  age,  Norbert,  the  Archbishop  of  Magdeburg, 
whose  great  achievement  had  been  the  subjection  of 
the  regular  canons  to  a  severer  rule,  and  Bernard 
whose  abbey  of  Clairvaux  was  the  model  of  the  mos 
rigorous,  most  profoundly  religious  monastic  life.  The 
founder  of  the  Paraclete  was  at  least  a  formidable  rival, 
if  not  a  dangerous  antagonist.  Abelard  afterwards 
scornfully  designated  these  two  adversaries  as  the  new 
apostles  ;  but  they  were  the  apostles  of  the  ancient 
established  faith,  himself  that  of  the  new  school,  the 
heresy,  not  less  fearful  because  undefinable,  of  free  in- 
quiry. Neither  Norbert  nor  Bernard  probably  compre- 
hended the  full  tendency  of  this  premature  intellectual 
movement,  but  they  had  an  instinctive  apprehension  of 
its  antagonism  to  their  own  power  and  influence,  as 
well  as  to  the  whole  religious  system,  which  had  now 
full  possession  of  the  human  mind.  There  was  as  yet 
no  declaration  of  war,  no  direct  accusation,  no  sum- 
mons to  answer  specific  charges  before  council  or  legate ; 
but  that  worse  hostility  of  secret  murmurs,  of  vague 
suspicions  spread  throughout  Christendom,  of  solemn 
warnings,  of  suggested  fears.  Abelard,  in  all  his  pride, 
felt  that  he  stood  alone,  an  object  of  universal  suspicion ; 
he  could  not  defend  himself  against  this  unseen,  unag- 
gressive  warfare ;  he  was  as  a  man  reported  to  be  smit- 
ten with  the  plague,  from  whom  the  sound  and  healthy 
shrunk  with  an  instinctive  dread,  and  who  had  no 
power  of  forcing  an  examination  of  hi«  case.  His 
overweening  haughtiness  broke  down  into  overweening 
dejection.     He  was  so  miserable  that  in  his  despair  he 


CHAP.  V.  AB]£lAED  at  ST.   GILDAS.  201^ 

thought  seriously  of  taking  refuge  beyond  tlie  borders 
of  Christendom,  of  seeking  elsewhere  that  quiet  which 
was  refused  him  by  Christian  hostility,  to  live  as  a 
Christian  among  the  declared  foes  of  Christianity.^ 

Whether  from  personal  respect,  or  the  national  pride 
of  the  Bretons  in  their  distinguished  countryman,  he 
was  offered  the  dignity  of  Abbot  in  a  monas-  Abeiard  at 
tery  on  the  coast  of  Brittany  in  Morbihan,  that  Biittln^  ^ 
of  St.  Gildas  de  Bhuys.  It  was  a  bleak  and  ^•"- 1^^^- 
desolate  region,  the  monks  as  rude  and  savage  as  the 
people,  even  the  language  was  unknown  to  Abeiard. 
There,  on  the  very  verge  of  the  world,  on  the  shores 
of  the  ocean,  Abeiard  sought  in  vain  for  quiet.  The 
monks  were  as  lawless  in  life  as  in  manners  ;  there  was 
no  common  fund,  yet  Abeiard  was  expected  to  main- 
tain the  buildings  and  religious  services  of  the  commu- 
nity. Each  monk  spent  his  private  property  on  his 
wife  or  his  concubine.  Abeiard,  always  in  extremes, 
endeavored  to  submit  this  rugged  brotherhood  to  the 
discipline  of  a  Norbert  or  a  Bernard ;  but  rigor  in  an 
abbot  who  knows  not  how  to  rouse  religious  enthusi- 
asm is  resented  as  tyranny.  Among  the  wild  monks 
of  St.  Gildas  the  life  of  Abeiard  was  in  constant  peril. 
From  their  obtuse  and  ignorant  minds  his  w^onderful 
gifts  and  acquirements  commanded  no  awe  ;  they  were 
utterly  ignorant  of  his  learned  language  ;  they  hated 
his  strictness  and  even  his  piety.  Violence  threatened 
him  without  the  walls,  treachery  within.  They  tried 
to  poison  him  ;  they  even  drugged  the  cup  of  the  Holy 

1  "  Stepe  autem,  Deus  scit,  in  tantam  lapsus  sum  desperationem,  ut 
Christianorum  finibus  excessis,  ad  gentes  transire  disponerem,  atque  ibi 
quiete  sub  quacunque  tnhuti  pactione  inter  iniraicos  Christi  Christian^ 
vivere."  Does  not  the  tribute  point  to  some  Mohammedan  country? 
Had  Abeiard  heard  of  the  learning  of  the  Arabs  ?  —  Hist.  Calamit. 
VOL.  IV.  14 


210  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

Eucharist.  A  monk  who  had  tasted  food  intended  for 
him  died  in  agony.  The  Abbot  extorted  oaths  of  obe- 
dience, he  excommunicated,  he  tried  to  the  utmost  the 
authority  of  his  office.  He  was  obhged  at  length  to 
take  refuge  in  a  cell  remote  from  the  monastery  with  a 
very  few  of  the  better  monks  ;  there  he  was  watched 
by  robbers  hired  to  kill  him. 

The  deserted  Paraclete  in  the  mean  time  had  been 
reoccupied  by  far  different  guests.  Heloisa  had  lived 
in  blameless  dignity  as  the  prioress  of  Argenteuil.  The 
rapacious  monks  of  St.  Denys,  to  whom  Argenteuil 
belonged,  expelled  the  nuns  and  resumed  the  property 
of  the  convent.  The  Paraclete,  abandoned  by  Abe- 
lard's  scholars,  and  falling  into  decay,  offered  to  Heloisa 
an  honorable  retreat  with  her  sisters  :  she  took  posses- 
sion of  the  vacant  cells.  A  correspondence  began  with 
the  abbot  of  St.  Gildas.  Ab^lard's  history  of  his  ca- 
lamities, that  most  naked  and  unscrupulous  autobiog- 
raphy, reawakened  the  soft  but  melancholy  reminis- 
cences of  the  abbess  of  the  Paraclete.  Those  famous 
letters  were  written,  in  which  Heloisa  dwells  wdth  such 
touching  and  passionate  truth  on  her  yet  unextinguished 
affection.  Age,  sorrow,  his  great  calamity,  his  perse- 
cutions, his  exclusive  intellectual  studies,  perhaps  some 
real  religious  remorse,  have  frozen  the  springs  of  Abe- 
lard's  love,  if  his  passion  may  be  dignified  with  that 
holy  name.  In  him  all  is  cold,  selfish,  almost  coarse ; 
in  Heloisa  the  tenderness  of  the  woman  is  chastened  by 
the  piety  of  the  saint :  much  is  still  warm,  almost  pas- 
sionate, but  with  a  deep  sadness  in  which  womanly, 
amorous  regret  is  strangely  mingled  with  the  strongest 
language  of  religion. 

The  monastery  of  St.  Gildas  seemed  at  length  to 


Chap.  V.  AB^LARD  AND  ST.  BERNARD.  211 

have  been  reduced  to  order ;  but  when  peace  sur- 
rounded Ab^lard,  Ab^lard  could  not  be  at  peace.  He 
is  again  before  the  world,  again  in  the  world ;  again 
committedj  and  now  in  fatal  strife  with  his  great  and 
unforgiving  adversary.  His  writings  had  now  obtained 
popularity,  as  wide  spread,  and  jDerilous,  as  his  lectures 
and  his  disputations.  Abelard,  it  might  seem,  in  des- 
peration provoked  the  contest  with  that  adversary  in 
his  stronghold.  He  challenged  Bernard  before  kings 
and  prelates  whom  Bernard  ruled  with  irresistible  sway ; 
he  entered  the  lists  against  authority  where  authority 
was  supreme  —  in  a  great  Council.  At  issue  with  the 
deep-  devotional  spirit  of  the  age,  he  chose  his  time 
when  all  minds  were  excited  by  the  most  solemn  action 
of  devotion  —  the  Crusade :  he  appealed  to  reason 
when  reason  was  least  likely  to  be  heard. 

A  Council  had  been  summoned  at  Sens  for  a  relio;- 
ious  ceremony  which  more  than  all  others  June  2, 1140. 
roused  the  passions  of  local  and  national  devotion  — 
the  translation  of  the  body  of  the  patron  saint.  The 
king,  Louis  VII.,  the  Counts  of  Nevers  and  Cham- 
pagne, a  train  of  nobles,  and  all  the  prelates  of  the 
realm  were  to  be  present.  Before  this  audience  Abe- 
lard dared  his  adversary  to  make  good  his  charges  of 
heresy,  by  which  it  was  notorious  that  Bernard  and  his 
monks  had  branded  his  writings.  Bernard  st.  Bernard, 
himself  must  deliver  his  opinion  of  Abelard's  writino-s 
in  his  own  words  :  he  is  a  witness  as  well  to  their  ex- 
tensive dissemination  as  to  their  character  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  clergy  and  of  the  monks.  "  These  books 
of  Abelard  are  flying  abroad  all  over  the  world  ;  they 
no  longer  shun  the  light ;  they  find  their  way  into  cas- 
tles and  cities  ;  they  pass  from  land  to  land,  from  one 


212  LATIN    CHKISTIANITY.  Book  VUI. 

people  to  another.     A  new  gospel  is  promulgated,  a 
new  faith  is  preached.     Disputations  are  held  on  virtue 
and  vice  not  according  to  Christian  morality ;  on  the 
Sacraments  of  the  Church  not  according  to  the  rule  of 
faith  ;  on  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  not  with  simplic- 
ity and  soberness.     This  huge  Goliath,  with  his  armor- 
Tbearer  Arnold  of  Brescia,  defies  the  armies  of  the  Lord 
to  battle ! "  ^     Yet  so  great  was  the  estimation  of  Abe- 
lard's  powers  that  Bernard  at  first  shrunk  from  the 
contest.     "  How  should  an  unpractised  stripling  like 
himself,  unversed  in  logic,   meet  the  giant  who  was 
practised  in  every  kind  of  debate  ?  "     He  consented  at 
length  to  appear,  not  as  the  accuser,  only  as  a  witness 
against  Ab^lard.     But  already  he  had  endeavored  to 
influence  the  court ;  he  had  written  to  the  bishops  of 
France  about  to  assemble  at  Sens  rebuking  their  re- 
missness, by  which  this  wood  of  heresies,  this  harvest 
of  errors,  had  been  allowed  to  grow  up  around  the 
spouse  of  Christ.     The  words  of  Ab^lard  cannot  be 
cited  to  show  his  estimation  of  Bernard.     Outwardly 
he  had  even  shown  respect  to  Bernard.     On  a  visit  of 
friendly  courtesy  to  the  neighboring  abbess  of  the  Para- 
clete a  slight  variation  in  the  service  had  offended  Ber- 
nard's rigid  sense  of  ecclesiastical  unity.     Ab^lard,  with 
temper  but  with  firmness,  defended  the  change.^     But 

1  Epist.  ad  Innocent.  Papam. 

2  The  question  was  the  clause  in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  "  our  daily  bread," 
or  "  our  bread  day  by  day."  This  letter  commences  in  a  tone  almost  of 
deference;  but  Abelard  soon  resumes  his  language  of  superiority.  What 
he  says  on  the  greater  degree  of  authority  to  be  ascribed  to  St.  Matthew's 
Gospel  over  that  of  St.  Luke  is  totally  at  variance  with  the  notion  of  plen- 
ary inspiration.  He  asserts  from  Augustine,  Gregory  the  Great,  and  even 
Gregory  VII.,  that  usage  must  give  way  to  reason;  and  retorts  very 
curiously  on  the  innovations  introduced  by  Bernard  himself  into  the 
ordinai-v  services. 


Chap.V.  ST.  BERNARD.  Zlli 

the  quiet  and  bitter  irony  of  his  disciple,  who  described 
the  contest,  may  be  accepted  as  an  unquestionable  tes- 
timony to  his  way  of  speaking  in  his  esoteric  circle  and 
among  his  intimate  pupils,  of  the  even  now  almost  can- 
onized saint.  "  Already  has  winged  fame  dispersed 
the  odor  of  thy  sanctity  throughout  the  world,  vaunted 
thy  merits,  declaimed  on  thy  miracles.  We  boasted  of 
the  felicity  of  our  present  age,  glorified  by  the  light  of 
so  brilliant  a  star ;  we  thought  that  the  world,  doomed 
to  perdition,  continued  to  subsist  only  through  your 
merits  ;  we  knew  that  on  your  will  depended  the  mercy 
of  heaven,  the  temperature  of  the  air,  the  fertility  of 

the  earth,  the  blessing  of  its  fruits Thou  hadst 

jived  so  long,  thou  hadst  given  life  to  the  Church 
through  so  many  holy  institutions,  that  the  very  devils 
were  thought  to  roar  at  thy  behest ;  and  we,  in  our  lit- 
tleness, boasted  of  our  blessedness  under  a  patron  of 
such  power."  ^  Bernard  and  his  admirers  might  well 
hate  the  man  whose  scholars  were  thus  taught  to  de- 
spise that  popular  superstition  which  beheld  miracles  in 
all  his  works. 

With  these  antagonistic  feelings,  and  this  disparaging 
estimate  each  of  the  other,  met  the  two  great  councu  of 
champions.  In  Bernard  the  Past  and  the  ^^^^' 
Present  concentred  all  their  powers  and  influences,  the 
whole  strength  of  the  sacerdotal,  ceremonial,  inflexi- 
blv  docrmatic,  imaginative  religion  of  centuries  —  the 
profound  and  submissive  faith,  the  monastic  austerity, 
the  cowering  superstition  ;  he  was  the  spiritual  dictator 
of  the  age,  above  kings,  prelates,  even  above  the  Pope, 
he  was  the  model  of  holiness,  the  worker  of  perpetual 
wonders.     Abelard  cannot  be  accepted  as  a  prophetic 

1  Berengarii  Epist.,  in  Abdlard  Oper.,  p.  303. 


'ZM  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII 

type  of  the  Future.  Free  inquiry  could  only  emanci- 
pate itself  at  a  mucli  later  period  by  allying  itself  with 
a  strong  counter-religious  passion  ;  it  must  oppose  the 
strength  of  individual  Christianity  to  the  despotism 
of  ecclesiastical  religion.  Abelard's  rehgion  (it  were 
most  unjust  to  question  his  religion)  was  but  a  colder 
form  of  tlie  dominant  faith ;  he  was  a  monk,  though 
against  his  own  temperament  and  tone  of  feeling.  But 
Abelard  was  pure  intellect,  utterly  unimaginative,  log- 
ical to  the  most  naked  precision,  analytical  to  the  mi- 
nutest subtilty  ;  even  his  devotion  had  no  warmth  ;  he 
ruled  the  mind,  but  touched  no  heart.  At  best  there- 
fore he  was  the  wonder,  Bernard  the  object  of  admira- 
tion, reverence,  love,  almost  of  adoration. 

The  second  day  of  the  Council  (the  first  had  been 
devoted  to  the  solemn  translation  of  the  relics)  was 
appointed  for  this  grand  theological  tournament.  Not 
only  the  king,  the  nobles,  the  prelates  of  France,  but 
all  Christendom  watched  in  anxious  solicitude  the  issue 
of  the  conflict.  Yet  even  before  a  tribunal  so  favora- 
ble, so  preoccupied  by  his  own  burning  words,  Ber- 
nard was  awed  into  calmness  and  moderation.  He 
demanded  only  that  the  most  obnoxious  passages  should 
be  read  from  Abelard's  works.  It  was  to  his  amaze- 
ment, no  less  than  that  of  the  whole  council,  when 
Abelard,  instead  of  putting  forth  his  whole  strength  in 
a  reply,  answered  only,  "  I  appeal  to  Rome,"  and  left 
the  hall  of  Council.  It  is  said,  to  explain  this  unex- 
pected abandonment  of  the  field  by  the  bold  challenger, 
that  he  was  in  danger  of  his  life.  At  Sens,  as  before 
at  Soissons,  tlie  populace  were  so  exasperated  at  the 
daring  heretic,  who  was  reported  to  have  impeached 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trini<-y,  that  they  were  ready  to 


Chap.  V.    CLOSE  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  SEXS.       215 

rise  against  him.^  Bernard  himself  would  hardly  have 
interfered  to  save  him  from  that  summary  refutation ;  ^ 
and  Abelard,  in  the  confidence  of  his  own  power  and 
fame  as  a  disputant,  might  perhaps  expect  Bernard  to 
decline  his  challenge.  He  may  have  almost  forgotten 
the  fatal  issue  of  the  Council  of  Soissons ;  at  a  dis- 
tance, in  his  retreat  in  Brittany,  such  a  tribunal  might 
appear  less  awful  than  when  he  saw  it  in  undisguised 
and  unappeased  hostility  before  him.  The  Council 
may  have  been  disappointed  at  this  sudden  close  of  the 
spectacle  which  they  were  assembled  to  behold ;  but 
they  were  relieved  from  the  necessity  of  judging  between 
the  conflicting  parties.  Bernard,  in  the  heat  and  pride 
of  his  triumph,  after  having  in  vain,  and  with  taunts, 
provoked  his  mute  adversary,  proceeded  now  in  no 
measured  language  to  pursue  his  victory.  The  martial 
and  unlearned  prelates  vainly  hoped  that  as  they  had 
lost  the  excitement  of  the  fray,  they  might  escape  the 
trouble  and  fatigue  of  this  profound  theological  inves- 
tigation. But  the  inflexible  Bernard  would  as  little 
spare  them  as  he  would  his  adversary.  The  faithful 
disciple  of  Abelard  describes  with  some  touches  of  sat- 
ire, but  with  reality  which  reads  like  truth,  the  close 
of  this  memorable  day.  The  discomfited  Abelard  had 
withdrawn ;  his  books  were  now  produced,  a  person 
commanded  to  read  aloud  all  the  objectionable  parts  at 
full  length  in  all  their  logical  aridity.  The  bishops,  as 
evening  drew  on,  grew  weary,  and  relieved  their  fa- 
tigue with  wine.     The  wine  and  the  weariness  brought 

1  "  Dum  de  sua  fide  discuteretur,  seditionem  populi  timens,  apostolicae 
aedis  prsesentiam  appellavit."  —  Otho  Freisingen,  i.  46. 

2  "  An  non  justius  os  loquens  talia  fustibus  conderetur,  quam  rationibus 
repelleretur."  —  So  writes  Bernard,  Epist.  p.  1554- 


216  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  '  Book  VHL 

on  sleep :  the  drowsy  assembly  sat,  some  leaning  on 
their  elbows,  some  with  cushions  under  their  heads, 
some  with  their  heads  dropping  on  their  knees.  At 
each  pause  they  murmured  sleepily  "  damnamus,"  we 
condemn,  till  at  length  some  cut  short  the  word  and 
faintly  breathed  "  namus."  ^ 

Abelard  had  appealed  to  Rome  ;  at  Rome  his  adver- 
saries had  prepared  for  his  reception. 

The  report  of  the  Council  to  Rome  is  in  such  terms 
as  these :  "  Peter  Abelard  makes  void  the  whole  Chris- 
tian faith  by  attempting  to  comprehend  the  nature  of 
God  through  human  reason.  He  ascends  up  into 
heaven,  he  goes  down  into  hell.  Nothing  can  elude 
him  either  in  the  heio-ht  above  or  in  the  nethermost 
depths.  A  man  great  in  his  own  eyes,  disputing  about 
faith  against  the  faith,  walking  among  the  great  and 
wonderful  thino-s  which  are  above  him,  the  searcher  of 
the  Divine  Majesty,  the  fabricator  of  heresy.  Already 
has  his  book  on  the  Trinity  been  burned  by  order  of 
one  Council ;  it  has  now  risen  from  the  dead.  Ac- 
cursed is  he  that  builds  again  the  walls  of  Jericho.  His 
branches  spread  over  the  whole  earth  ;  he  boasts  that 
he  has  disciples  in  Rome  itself,  even  in  the  College  of 
Cardinals ;  he  draws  the  whole  world  after  him  ;  it  is 
time  therefore  to  silence  him  by  apostolic  authority." 

An  appeal  from  Bernard  to  Rome  was  an  appeal 
from  Bernard  to  himself.  Pope  Innocent  II.  was  too 
completely  under  his  influence,  too  deeply  indebted  to 
him,  not  to  confirm  at  once  his  sentence.  Bernard  had 
already  filled  the  ears  of  the  Pope  with  the  heresies  of 
Abelard.  He  urged,  he  almost  commanded,  the  Pope 
to  proceed  to  instant  judgment.     "  Shall  he  venture  to 

1  Epist.  Berengar.  apud  Abelard  Oper. 


Chap.  V.  BERNARD'S  TRIUIVIPH.  217 

appeal  to  the  throne  of  Peter  who  denies  the  faith  of 
Peter?  For  what  has  God  raised  thee  up,  lowly  as 
thou  wert  in  thine  own  eyes,  and  placed  thee  above 
kings  and  nations  ?  Not  that  thou  shouldest  destroy  but 
that  thou  shouldest  build  up  the  faith.  God  Bernard's 
has  stirred  up  the  fiiry  of  the  schismatics  *""™p^- 
that  thou  mightest  have  the  glory  of  crushing  it.  This 
only  was  wanting  to  make  thee  equal  to  the  most  fa- 
mous of  thy  predecessors,  the  condemnation  of  a  her- 
esy." ^  Bernard  addressed  another  long  controversial 
epistle  to  Innocent,  and  through  him  to  all  Christen- 
dom ;  it  was  the  full  view  of  Abelard's  theology  as  it 
appeared  to  most  of  his  own  generation.  He  inveighs 
against  Abelard's  dialectic  theory  of  the  Trinity,  his 
definition  of  faith  as  opinion  ;  his  wrath  is  kindled  to 
its  most  fiery  language  by  the  tenet  which  he  ascribes 
to  Abelard,  that  the  Son  of  God  had  not  delivered  man 
by  his  death  from  the  yoke  of  the  devil ;  that  Satan 
had  only  the  permitted  and  temporary  power  of  a 
jailer,  not  full  sovereignty  over  mankind :  in  other 
words,  that  man  had  still  free-will ;  that  Christ  was 
incarnate  rather  to  enlighten  mankind  by  his  wisdom 
and  example,  and  died  not  so  much  to  redeem  them 
from  slavery  to  the  devil,  as  to  show  his  own  boundless 
love.2  "  Which  is  most  intolerable,  the  blasphemy  or 
the  arrogance  of  his  language  ?  Which  is  most  dam- 
nable, the  temerity  or  the  impiety  ?  Would  it  not  be 
more  just  to  stop  his  mouth  with  blows  than  confute 
him  by  argument  ?    Does  not  he  whose  hand  is  against 

1  Apud  Labbe,  et  Mansi,  et  in  Oper.  S.  Bernardi. 

2  "  Ut  dicat  totum  esse  quod  Deus  in  carne  apparuit,  nostram  de  vita  et 
exemplo  ipsius  institutionera,  sive  ut  postmodum  dixit,  instructionem : 
totum  quod  passus  et  mortuus  est  suae  erga  nos  charitatis  ostensionem  vel 
commendationem."  —  Epist.  xcii.  1539. 


218  LATIN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

every  one,  provoke  the  hand  of  every  one  agamst  liim- 
self  ?  All,  he  says,  think  thus,  but  I  think  otherwise ! 
Who,  then,  art  thou  ?  What  canst  thou  advance 
which  is  wiser,  what  hast  thou  discovered  which  is 
more  subtile?  What  secret  revelation  canst  thou 
boast  which  has  escaped  the  saints  and  eluded  the  an- 
gels ?  .  .  .  .  Tell  us  what  is  this  that  thou  alone  canst 
see,  that  no  one  before  thee  hatli  seen  ?  That  the  Son 
of  God  put  on  manhood  for  some  purpose  besides  the 
deliverance  of  man  from  bondage.  Assuredly  this  has 
been  discovered  by  no  one  but  by  thee,  and  where  hast 
thou  discovered  it  ?  Thou  hast  received  it  neither  from 
sage,  nor  prophet,  nor  apostle,  nor  from  God  himself. 
The  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  received  from  God  himself 
what  he  delivered  to  us.  The  apostle  of  the  Gentiles 
declares  that  his  doctrine  comes  from  on  high  — '  I 
speak  not  of  myself.'  But  thou  deliverest  what  is 
thine  own,  what  thou  hast  not  received.  He  who 
speaks  of  himself  is  a  liar.  Keep  to  thyself  what 
comes  from  thyself.  For  me,  I  follow  the  prophets  and 
the  apostles.  I  obey  the  Gospel,  but  not  the  Gospel 
according  to  Peter.  Thou  makest  thyself  a  fifth  evan- 
gelist. What  says  the  law,  what  say  the  prophets, 
what  say  the  apostles,  what  say  their  successors,  that 
which  thou  alone  deniest,  that  God  was  made  man  to 
deliver  man  from  bondage  ?  What,  then,  if  an  angel 
should  come  from  heaven  to  teach  us  the  contrary, 
accursed  be  the  error  of  that  angel !  " 

Absent,  unheard,  unconvicted,  Abelard  was  con- 
condemna-  deiuued  by  the  Supreme  Pontiff.  The  con- 
Ab?iard  at  dcmnatiou  was  uttered  almost  before  the 
Eome.  charge  could  be  fully  known.    The  decree  of 

Innocent  reproved  all  public  disputations  on  the  myste- 


Chap.  V.  C0NDE3^DTATI0N  OF  AB^LARD.  219 

ries  of  religion.     Abelard  was  condemned  to  silence ; 
his  disciples  to  excommunication.^ 

Ate  lard  had  set  out  on  his  journey  to  Rome ;  ho 
was  stopped  by  severe  illness,  and  found  hos-  Abeiard  at 
pitable  reception  in  the  Abbey  of  Clugny.  ^^"^ny- 
Peter  the  Venerable,  the  Abbot  of  that  famous  mon- 
astery, did  more  than  protect  the  outcast  to  the  close 
of  his  life.  He  had .  himself  gone  through  the  ordeal 
of  a  controversy  with  the  fervent  Bernard,  though 
their  controversy  had  been  conducted  in  a  milder  and 
more  Christian  spirit.  Yet  the  Abbot  of  the  more 
luxurious  or  more  polished  Clugny  might  not  be  sorry 
to  show  a  gentleness  and  compassion  uncongenial  to 
the  more  austere  Clairvaux.  He  even  wrought  an  out- 
ward reconciliation  between  the  persecuted  Abelard 
and  the  victorious  Bernard.  It  was  but  an  outward,  a 
hollow  reconciliation.  Abelard  published  an  apology, 
if  apology  it  might  be  called,  which  accused  his  adver- 
sary of  ignorance  or  of  malice.  The  apology  not  mere- 
ly repelled  the  charge  of  Arianism,  Nestorianism,  but 
even  the  slightest  suspicion  of  such  doctrines ;  and  to 
allay  the  tender  anxiety  of  Heloisa,  who  still  took  a 
deep  interest  in  his  fame  and  happiness,  he  sent  her  his 
creed,  which  might  have  satisfied  the  most  austere  or- 
thodoxy. Even  in  the  highest  quarters,  among  the 
most  distinguished  prelates,  there  was  at  least  strong 
compassion  for  Abelard,  admiration  for  his  abilities, 
perhaps  secret  indignation  at  the  hard  usage  he  had 
endured.  Bernard  knew  that  no  less  a  person  than 
Guido  di  Castello,  afterwards  Pope  Coelestine  II.,  a  dis- 
ciple of  Abelard,  spoke  of  him  at  least  with  affection. 
To  him  Bernard  writes,    "  He  would  not  suppose  that 

1  Apud  Bernard,  Epist.  cxciv. 


220  LATm    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

thougli  Guido  loved  the  man  he  could  love  his  er- 
rors." ^  He  suggests  the  peril  of  the  contagion  of  such 
doctrines,  and  skilfully  associates  the  name  of  Ab^lard 
with  the  most  odious  heresies.  When  he  writes  of  the 
Trinity  he  has  a  savor  of  Arius  ;  when  of  grace,  of 
Pelagius ;  when  of  the  person  of  Christ,  of  Nestorius. 
To  the  Cardinal  Ivo  he  uses  still  stronger  words  — 
*'  Though  a  Baptist  without  in  his  austerities,  he  is  a 
Herod  within."  Still  for  the  last  two  years  of  his  life 
Abelard  found  peace,  honor,  seclusion,  in  the  Abbey 
April  21,1142.  of  Cluguy.  He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
Abeiard.  three :  ^  Peter  the  Venerable  communicated 
the  tidings  of  his  death  to  the  still  faithful  Heloisa. 
His  language  may  be  contrasted  with  that  of  St.  Ber- 
nard. "  I  never  saw  his  equal  for  humility  of  manners 
and  habits.  St.  Germanus  was  not  more  modest ;  nor 
St.  Martin  more  poor.  He  allowed  no  moment  to  es- 
cape unoccupied  by  prayer,  reading,  writing,  or  dicta- 
tion. The  heavenly  visitor  surprised  him  in  the  midst 
of  these  holy  works."  ^  The  remains  of  Abelard  were 
transported  to  the  Paraclete ;  an  absolution  obtained  by 
Peter  was  deposited  in  his  tomb ;  for  twenty-one  years 
the  Abbess  of  the  Paraclete  mourned  over  her  teacher, 
her  lover,  her  husband ;  and  then  reposed  by  his  side. 
The  intellectual  movement  of  Abelard,  as  far  as  any 
acknowledged  and  hereditary  school,  died  with  Abelard. 
Even  his  great  principle,  that  which  he  asserted  rather 


1  Epist.  cxii. 

2  Peter  writes  to  Pope  Innocent  in  the  name  of  Abelard :  "  Ut  reliquos 
dies  vitae  et  senectutis  suae,  qui  fortasse  non  multi  sunt,  in  Cluniaca  vestr& 
eum  consummare  jubeatis,  et  ne  a  domo  quara  velut  passer,  ne  a  nido  quem 
velut  turtur  se  invenisse  gaudet,  aliquorum  instantia  aut  expelli  aut  com- 
moveri  valeat."  —  Petri  Venerab.  Epist.  ad  Innocent. 

8  Petri  Vener.  Epist.  ad  Heloisam. 


Chap.  V.  HIS  DEATH.  221 

than  consistently  maintained  —  the  supremacy  of  rea- 
son —  that  principle  which  Bernard  and  the  high  devo- 
tional Churchmen  looked  on  with  vague  but  natural 
apprehension  as  eventually  fatal  to  authority,  fell  in- 
to abeyance.  The  schoolmen  connected  together,  as 
it  were,  reason  and  authority.  The  influence  remained, 
but  neutrahzed.  The  Book  of  Sentences  of  Peter 
Lombard  is  but  the  "  Sic  et  Non "  of  Abelard  in  a 
more  cautious  and  reverential  form.  John  of  Salisbury, 
in  his  Polycraticus,  is  a  manifest,  if  not  avowed  Con- 
ceptualist.  The  sagacious  and  prophetic  jealousy  of  his 
adversaries  seems  to  have  had  a  more  clear  though  in- 
stinctive perception  of  the  remoter  consequences  of  his 
doctrines  than  Abelard  himself.  Abelard  the  philoso- 
pher seems,  notwithstanding  his  arrogance,  to  be  per- 
petually sharing  these  apprehensions.  He  is  at  once 
the  boldest  and  most  timid  of  men  ;  always  striking  out 
into  the  path  of  free  inquiry,  but  never  following  it  on- 
ward ;  he  plunges  back,  as  if  afraid  of  himself,  into 
blind  and  submissive  orthodoxy.  The  remorse  for  his 
moral  aberrations,  shame  and  fear  of  the  world,  seem 
weighing  upon  his  mind,  and  repressing  its  fi-ee  energy. 
He  is  no  longer  the  arrogant,  overbearing  despot  of  the 
school ;  church  authority  is  compelling  him  to  ungra- 
cious submission.  In  his  Lectures,  even  in  his  later 
days,  it  is  probable  that  he  was  bolder  and  less  incon- 
sequent ;  many  of  the  sayings  on  which  the  heaviest 
charges  of  his  adversaries  rested,  whether  withdrawn 
or  never  there,  are  not  to  be  found  in  his  works :  he 
disclaims  altogether  the  Book  of  Sentences,  which  may 
have  been  the  note-book  of  his  opinions  by  some  of  his 
scholars.  He  limits  the  notion  of  inspiration  to  a  kind 
of  moral  or  religious  influence  ;  it  belongs  to  those  who 


222  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VI II. 

are  possessed  with  faith,  hope,  and  charity.  He  is  still 
more  restrictive  on  the  authority  of  the  Fathers,  and 
openly  asserts  their  contradictions  and  errors.  In  his 
idolatry  of  the  ancient  philosophers,  he  compares  their 
lives  with  those  of  the  clergy  of  his  day,  to  the  disad- 
vantage of  the  latter ;  places  them  far  above  the  Jews, 
and  those  who  lived  under  the  Jewish  dispensation  ; 
and  gives  them  a  dim,  indeed,  yet  influential  and  saving 
knowledge  of  the  Redeemer.  When  Bernard,  there- 
fore, confined  himself  to  general  charges,  he  might 
stand  on  strong  ground  ;  when  he  denounced  the  the- 
ology of  Abelard  as  respecting  no  mystery,  as  rashly 
tearing  away  rather  than  gently  lifting  the  veil  from 
the  holiest  things,  of  rushing  into  the  sanctuary,  and 
openly  disdaining  to  believe  what  it  could  not  make 
pervious  to  the  understanding.^  But  when  he  began  to 
define  his  charges,  he  was  betrayed  into  exaggeration 
and  injustice.  No  two  great  minds  were  probably  less 
capable  of  comprehending  each  other.  Some  of  the 
gravest  charges  rest  on  works  which  Abelard  never 
wrote,  some  on  obvious  misconceptions,  some  on  illus- 
trations assumed  to  be  positions  ;  all  perverted  into 
close  assimilation  or  identification  with  the  condemned 
and  hated  ancient  heresies. 

The  mature  and  peculiar  philosophy  of  Abelard,  but 
for  its  love  for  barren  logical  forms,  and  tliis  dreaded 
worship  of  reason,  his  Conceptualism,  might  in  itself 
not  merely  have  been  reconciled  with  the  severest 
orthodoxy,  but  might  have  opened  a  safe  intermediate 
ground  between  the  Nominalism  of  Roscelin  and  the 
Realism  of  Anselm  and  William  of  Champeaux.  As 
the  former  tended  to  a  sensuous  rationalism,  so  the  lat- 

1  Epist.  ad  Episcop.  137, 138. 


Chap.  V.  COXCEPTUALISM  OF  ABl^LARD.  223 

ter  to  a  mystic  pantheism.  If  everything  but  the  indi- 
vidual was  a  mere  name,  then  knowledge  shrunk  into 
that  which  was  furnished  by  the  senses  alone.  When 
Nominalism  became  Theology,  the  three  persons  of  the 
Trinity  (this  was  the  perpetual  touchstone  of  all  sys- 
tems), if  they  were  more  than  words,  were  individuals, 
and  Tritheism  inevitable.  On  the  other  hand,  God, 
the  great  Reality,  absorbed  into  himself  all  other  Re- 
alities ;  they  became  part  of  God ;  they  became  God. 
This  was  the  more  immediate  danger  ;  the  deepest  de- 
votion became  Mysticism,  and  resolved  everything  into 
God.  Mysticism  in  Europe,  as  in  India,  melted  into 
Pantheism.  The  Conceptualism  of  Abelard,  allowing 
real  existence  to  universals,  but  making  those  univer- 
sal only  cognizable  as  mental  conceptions  to  the  indi- 
vidual, micrht  be  in  danger  of  fallino;  into  Sabellianism. 
The  three  persons  would  be  but  three  manifestations  of 
the  Deity  ;  a  distinction  only  perceptible  to  the  mind 
might  seem  to  be  made  to  the  mind  alone.  Yet,  on  the 
other  hand,  as  the  perception  of  a  spiritual  Deity  can 
only  be  through  the  mind  or  the  spirit,  the  mystery 
might  seem  more  profound  according  to  this  view, 
which,  while  it  repudiated  the  materializing  tendencies 
of  the  former  system,  by  its  more  clear  and  logical 
Ideahsm  kept  up  the  strong  distinction  between  God 
and  created  things,  between  the  human  and  divine 
mind,  the  all-pervading  soul  —  and  the  soul  of  man.^ 

1  The  real  place  which  Ab^lard's  Conceptualism  (if,  as  I  think,  it  has  its 
place)  holds  between  the  crude  Nominalism  of  Eoscelin,  and  the  mysticism, 
if  not  mystic  Realism,  of  William  of  Champeaux,  belongs  to  the  histoiy  of 
philosophy  rather  than  of  Christianity.  M.  Cousin  denies  to  Abelard  any 
intermediate  ground.  On  the  other  hand,  a  writer,  who  in  my  judgment 
sometimes  writes  rather  loosely,  at  others  with  much  sagacity,  M.  Xavier 
Rousselot,  finds  a  separate  and  independent  position  in  philosophy  and  in 


224  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

There  is  one  treatise,  indeed,  the  famous  "  Sic  et 
Non,"  which  has  been  recovered  in  the  present  day, 
and  if  of  itself  taken  as  the  exposition  of  Abelard's 
philosophical  theology,  might,  though  written  under 
the  semblance  of  profound  reverence  for  antiquity, 
even  from  its  form  and  title,  have  startled  an  age  less 
devotional,  less  under  the  bondage  of  authority.  In 
this  treatise  Abelard  propounds  all  the  great  problems 
of  religion,  with  the  opinions,  the  conflicting  opinions, 
of  the  Fathers ;  at  times  he  may  seem  disposed  to 
establish  a  friendly  harmony,  at  others  they  are  com- 
mitted in  irreconcilable  strife.  It  is  a  history  of  the 
antagonism  and  inward  discord,  of  the  disunity  of  the 
Church.  Descartes  himself  did  not  establish  the  prin- 
ciple of  doubt  as  the  only  source  of  true  knowledge 
more  coldly  and  nakedly,  or  more  offensively  to  his 
own  age  from  its  cautious  justification  in  the  words 
of  him  who  is  all  truth.^  If  Bernard  knew  this  trea- 
tise, it  explains  at  once  all  Bernard's  implacable  hos- 
tility ;  to  himself,  no  doubt,  the  suppression  of  such 
principles  would  justify  any  means  of  coercion,  almost 
any  departure  fi'om  ordinary  rules  of  fairness  and  jus- 
tice.    It  is  nothing  that  to  the  calmer  judgment  the 

theology  for  the  system  of  Abelard.  Abelard  certainly  must  have  deceived 
himself  if  he  was  no  more  than  a  concealed  Nominalist.  See  the  summary 
of  Ab^lard's  opinions  in  Haureau,  de  la  Philosophic  Scolastique.  M.  Hau- 
reau  defines  Ab^lard's  Conceptuali«m  as  a  "  Nominalisme  raisonnable.  La 
philosophic  d' Abelard  est  la  philosophic  de  la  prudence,  la  philosophic  du 
Bens  commun."  I.''  I  may  presume  to  say  so,  Abelard  was  less  led  to  this 
intermediate  popition  by  his  own  prudence,  than  by  his  keen  sagacity  in 
tracing  the  consequences  of  Nominalism  and  extreme  Realism.  See  also  C 
de  Remusat,  Abelard. 

1  "  Dubitare  enim  de  singulis  non  erit  inutile.  Dubitando  enim  ad  in- 
qxiisitionem  venimus;  inquirendo  veritatem  percipimus,  juxta  quos  et  Ve- 
ritas ipsa  '  qujerite  et  invenietis,  pulsate  et  aperietur  vobis.'  "  —  Prolog,  ad 
Sic  et  Non. 


Chap.V.  "SIC  ET  XON."  225 

"  Sic  et  liTon  "  by  no  means  fulfils  its  own  promise, 
that  it  is  far  more  harmless  to  the  devout  than  it 
threatens  to  be;  far  less  satisfactory  to  the  curious 
and  speculative  :  it  must  be  taken  in  its  spirit,  to 
estimate  the  rude  shock  which  it  must  have  given  to 
the  yet  unawakened,  or  but  half-awakened  mind  of 
Christendom :  so  only  can  a  judgment  be  formed  on 
the  real  controversy  between  the  Founder  of  the  Para- 
clete and  the  Abbot  of  Clairvaux.^ 

1  M.  Cousin  has  only  printed  parts  of  the  Sic  et  Non.  But  he  has  given 
the  heads  of  the  chapters  omitted,  many  of  which  more  provoke  the  curi- 
osity than  those  which  he  has  chosen.  The  whole  Sic  et  Xon  has  now  been 
printed  at  Marburg  from  another  manuscript  (at  Munich),  by  Henke  and 
Lindenkohl,  Marburg,  1851.  Father  Tosti,  a  monk  of  Monte  Casino,  author 
of  a  life  or  apolog}'  for  Boniface  VIH.  (hereafter  to  be  quoted),  has  published 
a  life  of  Ab^lard,  written  with  more  candor  than  might  be  expected  from 
such  a  quarter.  He  was  urged  to  this  work  by  finding  in  the  archives  of 
Monte  Casino  MSS.  containing  impublished  fragments  of  Abelard's  Theo- 
logia  Christiana,  and  of  the  Sic  et  Non,  of  which  he  had  only  seen  concise 
extracts. 

In  fact,  the  Sic  et  Non  is  nothmg  but  a  sort  of  manaal  for  scholastic  dis- 
putation, of  which  it  was  the  rule  that  each  combatant  must  fight,  right  or 
•wrong.  It  was  an  armory  from  which  disputants  i»-oild  ^nd  weapons  to 
their  hands  on  any  disputable  point;  and  all  points  b.  tL'e  iv^le  of  this  war- 
fare were  disputable. 


U 


226  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

ARNOLD  OF  BRESCIA. 

Bernard  had  triumphed  over  the  mtellectual  insur- 
rection against  the  authority  of  the  Church ;  but  there 
was  a  rebelKon  infinitely  more  dangerous,  at  least  in  its 
immediate  consequences,  brooding  in  the  minds  of  men : 
the  more  formidable  because  more  popular,  the  more 
imminent  because  it  appealed  at  once  to  the  passions 
and  the  plain  vulgar  sense  of  man.  To  judge  from  the 
number  of  his  disciples,  Abelard's  was  a  popular  move- 
ment ;  that  of  Arnold  was  absolutely,  avowedly  demo- 
cratic; it  raised* a  new  class  of  men,  and  to  them  trans- 
ferred at  once  power,  authority,  wealth.  There  was 
an  ostensible  connection  between  these  two  outbursts 
of  freedom,  which  at  first  sight  might  appear  inde- 
pendent of,  almost  incongruous  with,  each  other,  except 
in  their  common  hostility  to  the  hierarchical  system. 
Arnold  of  Brescia  was  a  hearer  of  Abelard,  a  pupil  in 
his  revolutionary  theology  or  revolutionary  philosophy, 
and  aspired  himself  to  a  complete  revolution  in  civil 
afiairs  ;  he  was  called,  as  has  been  seen,  the  armor- 
bearer  of  the  giant  Abelard.  The  two  were  even  more 
nearly  allied  in  their  kindred  origin.  Monasticism  was 
the  common  parent  of  both.  The  theory  of  monasti- 
cism, which  was  acknowledged  even  by  most  of  the 
clergy  themselves  to  be  the  absolute  perfection  of  Chris- 


Chap.  VI.  THEORY   OF  MONASTICISM.  227 

tianity,  its  true  philosophy,  was  in  perpetual  and  glar- 
ino;  contradiction  with  the  actual  visible  state  of  the 
clergy  and  of  the  older  and  wealthier  monasteries. 
This  theory  was  the  total  renunciation  of  the  world, 
of  property,  even  of  volition ;  it  was  the  extreme  of 
indigence,  the  scantiest  fare,  the  coarsest  dress,  the 
lowliest  demeanor,  the  hardest  toil,  both  in  the  pur- 
suits of  industry  and  in  the  offices  of  religion  ;  the 
short  and  interrupted  sleep,  the  incessant  devotional 
exercise,  usually  the  most  severe  self-inflicted  pain. 
The  poorer,  the  more  mortified,  the  more  seclud- 
ed, the  more  absolutely  cut  off  from  all  indulgence, 
the  nearer  to  sanctity.  •  Nor  was  this  a  remote, 
obsolete,  traditionary  theory.  Every  new  aspirant 
after  monastic  perfection,  every  founder  of  an  order, 
and  of  every  recent  monastery,  exemplified,  or  he 
would  never  have  founded  an  order  or  built  a  mon- 
astery, this  poor,  self-abasing,  self-excruciating  holi- 
ness. Stephen  Harding,  Bernard  and  his  followers, 
and  all  who  lived  up  to  their  principles  in  their  own 
persons,  to  those  around  them  and  by  their  wide-spread 
fame,  stood  before  the  world  not  merely  as  beacon- 
lights  of  true  Christianity,  but  as  uttering  a  perpetual 
protest,  a  rebuke  against  the  lordly,  rich,  and  luxurious 
prelates  and  abbots.  Their  vital  principles,  their  prin- 
ciples of  action,  were  condemnatory  of  ecclesiastical 
riches.  "  It  is  just,"  writes  St.  Bernard,  "  that  he  who 
serves  the  altar  should  live  of  the  altar ;  but  it  is  not 
to  live  of  the  altar  to  indulge  luxury  and  pride  at  the 
expense  of  the  altar :  this  is  robbery,  this  is  sacrilege."  ^ 

1  "  Concedatur  ergo  tibi  ut  si  bene  deservis  de  altario  vivas,  non  autem 
at  de  altario  luxurieris,  ut  de  altario  superbias,  ut  inde  compares  tibi  frena 
aurea,  sellas  depictas,  calcearia  deargentata,  varia  grisiaque  pellicia  a  cello 


228  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

The  subtle,  by  no  means  obvious,  distinction,  that  the 
wealth  of  the  Church  was  the  wealth  of  God ;  ^  that 
the  patrimony  of  the  Papacy  was  not  in  the  Pope,  but 
in  St.  Peter,  and  of  every  other  church  in  its  patron 
saint ;  that  not  merely  the  churches,  but  the  conventual 
edifices,  with  all  their  offices,  stables,  granaries,  and 
gardens  (wanting,  perhaps,  to  the  noblest  castle),  were 
solely  for  the  glory  of  God,  not  for  the  use  and  pride 
of  man  ;  that  the  clergy  on  their  palfreys  with  golden 
bits,  and  embroidered  housings,  and  silver  spurs,  and 
furred  mantles  of  scarlet  or  purple,  were  not  men,  but 
ministers  of  God ;  this  convenient  merging  of  the  indi- 
vidual in  the  official  character,  while  the  individual 
enjoyed  personally  all  the  admiration,  envy,  respect, 
comfort,  luxury,  influence  of  his  station,  might  satisfy 
the  conscience  of  those  whose  conscience  desired  to  be 
satisfied,  but  was  altogether  unintelligible  to  the  com- 
mon sense  of  mankind.  The  more  devout  abbots  and 
prelates,  some  doubtless  of  the  Popes,  might  wear  the 
haircloth  under  the  robe  of  purple  and  of  fur ;  they 
might  sit  at  the  gorgeous  banquet  tasting  only  the  dry 
bread  or  simple  vegetable ;  after  the  pomp  and  ceremo- 
ny of  some  great  day  of  temporal  or  ecclesiastical  busi- 
ness, might  pass  the  night  on  the  rough  board  or  the 
cold  stone,  or  on  their  knees  in  the  silent  church,  unob- 
served by  men  :  the  outward  show  of  pride  or  luxury 
might  be  secretly  repressed  or  chastened  by  the  most 
austere  fast,  by  the  bloody  penitential  scourge.  But 
mankind  judges,  if  unjustly  towards  individuals,  justly 

et  manibus  ornatu  purpureo  diversifacta.  Denique  quicquid  praeter  neces- 
sarium  victiim  ac  simplicem  vestitum  de  altario  retineas  tuum  non  est,  im- 
pium  est,  sacrilegum  est."  —  Bernard,  Epist.  ad  Fulcon. 

1  "  Saltern  quae  Dei  sunt  ijjsim  violenter  auferre  nolite."  —  Epist.  Nicol. 
1.  ad  /\quitan.  apud  Bouquet,  p.  416. 


Chap.  Yl.  LUXURY   OF  THE  CLERGY.  229 

perhaps  of  systems  and  institutions,  from  the  outward 
and  manifest  effects.  A  clergy  with  an  ostentatious  dis- 
play of  luxury  and  wealth  was  to  them  a  wealthy  and 
luxurious  clergy  —  a  clergy  which  was  always  grasping 
after  power,  an  ambitious  clergy.  Who  could  question,* 
Avho  refuse  to  see  the  broad  irresistible  fact  of  this  discrep- 
ancy between  the  monastic  theory,  constantly  preached 
and  lauded  in  their  ears,  to  which  they  were  to  pay,  to 
which  they  were  not  disinclined  to  pay,  respect  border- 
ing on  adoration,  and  the  ordinary  actual  Christianity 
of  the  great  ecclesiastical  body  ?  If  poverty  was  ap- 
ostolic, if  poverty  was  of  Christ  himself,  if  the  only 
real  living  likenesses  of  the  Apostles  and  of  Christ 
were  the  fasting,  toiling,  barely-clad,  self-scourging 
monks,  with  their  cheeks  sunk  by  famine,  their  eyes 
on  the  ground,  how  far  from  the  Apostles,  how  far 
from  Christ,  were  those  princely  bishops,  those  abbots, 
holding  their  courts  like  sovereigns  !  The  cowering 
awe  of  the  clergy,  the  influence  of  the  envied  wealth 
and  state  itself,  might  repress,  but  it  would  not  subdue, 
if  once  awakened,  the  sense  of  this  discrepancy.  But 
once  boldly  stirred  by  a  popular  teacher,  by  a  man  of 
vehement  eloquence,  unsuspected  sincerity,  restless  ac- 
tivity, unimpeachable  religious  orthodoxy,  how  fearful 
to  the  hierarchy,  to  the  whole  sacerdotal  system  !  — 
and  such  a  man  was  Arnold  of  Brescia.^ 

Arnold  was  a  native  of  the  Lombard  city  of  Bres- 
cia.    Of   his   youth  and    education   nothing  Amoid  a 
is  known.     His  adolescence  ripened  amid  the  Abeiard. 
advancing  political  republicanism  of  the  Lombard  cities. 

1  The  birth  of  Arnold  is  vaguely  assigned  to  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century.  Guadagnani  conjectures  with  some  probability  that  he  was  bora 
about  1105.  There  is  a  life  of  Arnold  by  H.  Francke,  "Arnold  von  Brescia," 
Zurich,  1825. 


230  LATIX  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIH. 

With  the  inquisitive  and  aspiring  youth  from  all  parts 
of  Europe,  he  travelled  to  France,  to  attend  the  great 
instructor  of  the  times,  Peter  Abelard,  probably  at 
that  period  when  Abelard  was  first  settled  in  the  wil- 
derness of  the  Paraclete,  and  when  his  high-born  and 
wealthy  scholars  submitted  to  such  severe  privations  in 
pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  became  monks  in  all  but 
religious  submissiveness.  Arnold  throughout  his  life 
passed  as  a  disciple,  as  a  faithful  follower  of  Abelard. 
But  while  others  wrought  out  the  daring  speculative 
views  of  Abelard,  delighted  in  his  logical  subtilties, 
and  with  him  endeavored  to  tear  away  the  veil  which 
hung  over  the  sacred  mysteries  of  the  faith,  Arnold 
seized  on  the  practical,  the  political,  the  social  conse- 
quences. On  all  the  high  mysterious  doctrines  of  the 
Church,  the  orthodoxy  of  Arnold  was  unimpeachable  ; 
his  personal  life  w^as  that  of  the  sternest  monk  ;  he  had 
the  most  earnest  sympathy  with  the  popular  religion. 
On  the  Sacraments  alone  his  opinions  were  questioned ; 
and  as  to  them,  rather  on  account  of  their  connection 
with  the  great  object  of  his  hostility,  the  sacerdotal 
power.  The  old  edifice  of  the  hierarchy,  which  had 
been  rising  for  centuries  till  it  governed  the  world,  pos- 
sessed in  all  the  kingdoms  a  very  large  proportion  of 
the  land  ;  had  assumed  the  judicial,  in  some  cases  the 
military  functions  of  the  state ;  had  raised  the  Pope  to 
a  sovereign  prince,  who,  besides  his  own  dominions, 
held  foreicrn  kinodoms  in  feudal  subordination  to  him- 
self:  all  tliis  Arnold  aspired  to  sweep  away  from  the 
face  of  the  earth.  He  would  reduce  the  clergy  to  their 
primitive  and  apostolic  poverty ;  ^  confiscate  all  their 

1  "  Primitias  et  qua?  devotio  plebis 

Offerat,  et  decimas  castos  in  corporis  usus, 


d 


Chap.  VI.  ARNOLD'S  REPUBLICANISM.  231 

wealth,  escheat  all  their  temporal  power.  Their  estates 
he  secularized  at  once ;  he  would  make  them  ministers 
of  rehgion  and  no  more,  modestly  maintained  by  the 
first  fruits  and  tithes  of  the  people.  And  that  only  as 
a  holy  clergy,  on  a  voluntary  system,  but  in  eveiy  re- 
spect subject  to  the  supreme  civil  power.  On  that 
power,  too,  Arnold  would  boldly  lay  his  reforming 
hand.  His  Utopia  was  a  great  Christian  republic,  ex- 
actly the  reverse  of  that  of  Gregory  VII.  As  religious 
and  as  ambitious  as  Hildebrand,  Arnold  employed  the 
terrors  of  the  other  world,  with  as  little  scruple  to  de- 
pose, as  the  pontiff  to  exalt  the  authority  of  the  clergy. 
Salvation  was  impossible  to  a  priest  holding  property, 
a  bishop  exercising  temporal  power,  a  monk  retaining 
any  possession  whatever.  This  he  grounded  not  on 
the  questionable  authority  of  the  Church,  but  on  the 
plain  Gospel  of  Christ:  to  that  Gospel  he  appealed 
with  intrepid  confidence.  It  was  the  whole  feudal  sys 
tem,  imperial  as  well  as  pontifical,  which  was  to  vanish 
away :  the  temporal  sovereign  was  to  be  the  fountain 
of  honor,  of  wealth,  of  power.  To  the  sovereign  were 
to  revert  all  the  possessions  of  the  Church,  the  estates 
of  the  monasteries,  the  royalties  of  the  Pope  and  the 
bishops.^  But  that  sovereign  was  a  popular  assembly. 
Like  other  fond  republicans,  Arnold  hoped  to  find  in  a 

Non  ad  luxuriam,  neve  oblectamina  carnis 
Concedens,  mollesque  cibos,  cultusque  nitorem, 
Illicitosque  jocos,  lascivaque  gaudia  cleri, 
Pontificum  fastus,  abbatum  denique  laxos 
Dainnabat  penitus  mores,  monachosque  superbos." 

Gunther,  iii.  273,  &c. 
1  "Dicebat  nee  clericos  proprietatem,  nee  episcopos  regalia,  nee  monachos 
oossessiones  habentes  aliqua  ratione  salvari  posse.     Cuncta  hsec  principis 
esse,  ab  ejusque  beneficentia  in  usum  tantum  laicorum  cedere  oportere."  — 
Otho  Freisingen. 


232  LATIN    CHEISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

democratic  senate,  chosen  out  of,  and  cliosen  by,  the 
unchristian  as  well  as  the  Christian  part  of  the  commu- 
nity, that  Christianity  for  which  he  looked  in  vain  in 
the  regal  and  pontifical  autocracies,  in  the  episcopal 
and  feudal  oligarchies  of  the  time.^  This,  which  the 
most  sanguine  in  the  nineteenth  century  look  upon  as 
visionary,  or,  after  a  long  discipline  of  religious  and  so- 
cial education,  but  remotely  possible,  Arnold  hoped  to 
raise  as  if  by  enchantment,  among  the  rude,  ignorant, 
oppressed  lower  classes  of  the  twelfth.  So  the  alliance 
of  the  imperial  and  pontifical  power,  which  in  the  end 
was  so  fatal  to  Arnold,  was  grounded  on  no  idle  fear  or 
wanton  tyranny,  it  was  an  alliance  to  crush  a  common 
enemy. 

The  Church  of  Rome  has  indeed  boasted  her  natural 
sympathy  and  willing  league  with  freedom.  Her  con- 
federacy with  the  young  republics  of  Lombardy  is  con- 
sidered the  undeniable  manifestation  of  this  spirit.  But 
there  at  least  her  love  of  freedom  was  rather  hatred  of 
the  imperial  power  ;  it  was  a  struggle  at  their  cost  for 
her  own  aggrandizement.  In  Brescia,  as  in  many  other 
cities  in  the  north  of  Italy,  the  Bishop  Arimanno  had 
taken  the  lead  in  shaking  off  all  subjection  to  the  Em- 
pire. Brescia  declared  herself  a  republic,  and  estab- 
lished a  municipal  government ;  but  the  bishop  usurped 
the  sovereignty  wrested  from  the  Empire.  He  assumed 
the  state,  the  power  of  a  feudal  lord  ;  the  estates  of  the 
Church  were  granted  as  fiefs,  on  the  condition  of  mili- 
tary service  to  defend  his  authority.    Brescia  complained 


1  "  Omnia  principiis  terrenis  subdita,  tantum 

Committenda  viris  popularibus  atque  regenda." 

Gunther,  iii.  277. 
Compare  tlie  whole  passage. 


Chap.  VI.  PREACHES  IN  BRESCIA.  233 

with  justice  that  the  Church  and  the  poor  were  robbed 
to  maintain  the  secular  pomp  of  the  baron.  The  repub- 
lican spirit,  kindled  by  the  bishop,  would  not  endure  his 
tyranny.  He  w^as  worsted  in  a  bloody  and  desolating 
war ;  he  was  banished  for  three  years  to  the  distance  of 
fifty  miles  from  the  city.  Arimanno,  the  bishop,  was 
deposed  by  Pope  Paschal  in  the  Lateran  Council  at 
Rome,  A.D.  1116  ;  his  coadjutor  Conrad  promoted  to 
the  see.  Conrad  sought  to  raise  again  the  fallen  power 
of  the  bishopric,  and  Conrad  in  his  turn  was  dispos- 
sessed by  his  coadjutor  Manfred.  Innocent  II.  ap- 
peared in  Brescia.  There  is  little  doubt  that  Conrad 
had  embraced  the  faction  of  the  Antipope  j^^^  26-29, 
Anacletus,  Manfred  therefore  was  confirmed  ^^^' 
in  the  see.  The  new  bishop  attempted,  in  a  synod  at 
Brescia,  to  repress  the  concubinage  and  likewise  the 
A^ces  of  the  clergy  ;  but  in  the  assertion  of  his  tem- 
poral power  he  was  no  less  ambitious  and  overbearing 
than  his  predecessors.  To  execute  his  decree  he  entered 
into  a  league  with  the  consuls  of  the  city.  But  the 
married  clergy  and  their  adherents  were  too  strong  for 
the  bishop  and  the  adherents  of  the  rigorists.  The 
consuls  and  the  bishop  were  expelled  from  the  city. 
Manfred  was  afterwards  replaced  by  the  legate  of  the 
Pope,  and  now  appears  to  have  thrown  himself  into 
the  party  of  the  nobles. 

It  was  in  this  state  of  afPairs  that  the  severe  and 
blameless  Arnold  began  to  preach  his  captivating  but 
alarmino;  doctrines.  Prelates  like  Manfred  and  his 
predecessors  were  not  likely  to  awe  those  who  esteemed 
apostolic  poverty  and  apostolic  lowliness  the  only  true 
perfection  of  the  Christian.  Secular  pomp  and  luxury 
were   almost   inseparable   from   secular   power.      The 


234  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  TlJl. 

clergy  of  a  secular  bishop  would  hardly  be  otherwise 
than  secular.  Arnold,  on  his  return  to  Brescia,  had 
received  the  two  lower  orders  of  the  Church  as  a 
reader ;  he  then  took  the  religious  vow  and  became  a 
monk  :  a  monk  of  primitive  austerity.^  He  was  a  man 
of  stern  republican  virtue,  and  of  stern  republican  sen- 
timents ;  his  enemies  do  justice  to  his  rigid  and  blame- 
less character.  The  monk  in  truth  and  the  republican 
had  met  in  him,  the  admirer  of  the  old  Roman  liberty 
and  of  the  lowly  religion  of  Christ.  He  was  seemingly 
orthodox  in  all  his  higher  creed,  though  doubts  were 
intimated  of  his  soundness  on  image-worship,  on  relics, 
on  infant  baptism,  and  the  Eucharist  —  those  strong 
foundations  of  the  sacerdotal  power.^  From  his  aus- 
terity, and  the  silence  of  his  adversaries  as  to  such 
obnoxious  opinions,  it  is  probable  that  he  was  severe  on 
the  question  of  the  marriage  of  the  clergy ;  he  appears 
standing  alone,  disconnected  with  that  faction.  His 
eloquence  was  singularly  sweet,  copious,  and  flowing, 
but  at  the  same  time  vigorous  and  awakening,  sharp 
as  a  sword  and  soft  as  oil.^  He  called  upon  the  people 
to  compel  the  clergy,  and  especially  the  bishop,  to  retire 
altogether  into  their  proper  functions  ;  to  abandon  all 
temporal  power,  all  property.  The  populace  listened 
to  his  doctrines  with  fanatic  ardor  ;  he  preached  in  the 

1  "  Arnoldum  loquor  de  Brixia  qui  utinam  tam  sanse  esset  doctrinse  quam 
districtse  est  vitae ;  et  si  vultis  scire,  homo  est  neque  manducans  neque  bibens, 
Bolo  cum  diabolo  esuriens  et  sitiens  sanguinem  animarum."  —  Bernard, 
Epist.  195. 

2  "  Prteter  haec  de  sacramento  altaris  et  baptism o  parvulorum  non  san6 
dicitur  sensisse."  —  Otho  Freisingen.  Did  he  attach  the  validity  of  the  rite 
to  the  holiness  of  the  priest  ? 

3  "  Lingua  ejus  gladius  acutus  —  molliti  sunt  sermones  ejus  sicut  oleum, 
et  ipsa  sunt  jacula  —  allicit  blandis  sermonibus."  —  Bernard,  Epist.  195; 
see  also  196.  "  Pulcram  fallendi  noverat  artem  .  .  .  mellifluis  admiscens 
toxica  verbis."  —  Gunther. 


Chap.  YI.        EFFECT  OF  ARNOLD'S  PEEACHING.  235 

pulpits  and  the  market-places,  incessantly,  boldly,  and 
fearless  whom  he  might  assail,  the  Pope  himself,  or  the 
lowliest  priest,  in  the  deep  inward  conviction  of  the 
truth  of  his  own  doctrines.  He  unfolded  the  dark 
pages  of  ecclesiastical  history  to  a  willing  auditory.^ 
The  whole  city  was  in  the  highest  state  of  excite- 
ment ;  and  not  Brescia  alone,  the  doctrines  spread  like 
wildfire  through  Lombardy;  many  other  cities  were 
moved  if  not  to  tumult,  to  w^ild  expectation.^  Some 
of  the  nobles  as  laymen  had  been  attracted  by  the 
doctrines  of  Arnold ;  but  most  of  them  made  common 
cause  with  the  bishop,  who  was  already  of  their  faction. 
The  bishopric  was  a  great  benefice,  which  each  might 
hope  to  fill  with  some  one  of  his  own  family.  The 
bishop  therefore,  the  whole  clergy,  the  wealthier  monas- 
teries, the  higher  nobles,  were  bound  together  by  their 
common  fears,  by  their  common  danger.  Yet  even 
then  a  popular  revolution  was  averted  only  by  an  ap- 
peal to  Rome  —  to  Rome  where  Innocent,  his  rival 
overthrown,  was  presiding  in  the  great  Council  of  the 
Lateran  ;  Innocent  replaced  on  his  throne  by  all  the 
great  monarchs  of  Christendom,  and  environed  by  a 
greater  number  of  prelates  than  had  ever  assembled  in 
any  Council. 

Before  that  supreme  tribunal  Arnold  was  accused, 

1  Even  Gunther  is  betrayed  into  some  praise. 

'*  Veraque  multa  quidem  nisi  tempora  nostra  fideles 
Respuerant  monitus,  falsis  admixta  monebat." 

"  Dam  Brixiensem  ecclesiam  perturbaret,  laicisque  terrae  illius,  prurientes 
erga  clerum  aures  habentibus,  ecclesiasticas  malitiose  exponeret  paginas." 
—  Otho  Freisingen,  ii.  20. 

2  "  Ille  suum  vecors  in  clerum  pontificemque, 
.  .  .  atque  alias  plures  commoverat  urbes." 

Guniher. 


236  LATIN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

not  It  should  seem  of  heresy,  but  of  the  worst  kmd  of 
Arnold  con-  schisiu  ;  ^  his  accusers  were  the  bishop  and  all 
the  Council  the  higher  clergy  of  Brescia.  Rome,  it  is  said, 
April,  1139.  shuddered,  as  she  might  with  prophetic  dread, 
at  the  doctrine  and  its  author  ;  yet  the  Council  was 
content  with  imposing  silence  on  Arnold,  and  banish- 
ment from  Italy.  With  this  decree  the  bishops  and 
the  clergy  returned  to  Brescia  ;  the  fickle  people  were 
too  much  under  the  terror  of  their  religion  to  defend 
their  teacher.^  The  nobles  seized  the  opportunity  of 
expelling  the  two  popular  consuls,  who  were  branded 
as  hypocrites  and  heretics.  Arnold  fled  beyond  the 
Arnold  in  Alps,  aiid  took  refugc  in  Zurich.  It  is  singu- 
zurich.  j^^,  ^Q  observe  this  more  than  Protestant,  sow- 
ing as  it  were  the  seeds  of  that  total  abrogation  of  the 
whole  hierarchical  system,  completed  in  Zurich  by 
Zuingle,  the  most  extreme  of  the  reformers  in  the  age 
of  Luther. 

Beyond  the  Alps  Arnold  is  again  the  scholar,  the 
faithful  and  devoted  scholar  of  Ab^lard.  Neither  their 
admirers  nor  their  enemies  seem  to  discern  the  vital 
difference  between  the  two  ;  they  are  identified  by 
their  common  hostility  to  the  authority  of  the  Church. 
Ab^lard  addressed  the  abstract  reason,  Arnold  the  pop- 
ular passions  ;  Abelard  undermined  the  great  dogmatic 
system,  Arnold  boldly  assailed  the  vast  temporal  power 
of  the  Church  ;  Abelard  treated  the  hierarchy  with 
respect,  but  brought  into  question  the  doctrines  of  the 
Church  ;  Arnold,  with  deep  reverence  for  the  doctrines, 


1  "  Accusatus  est  apud  dominum  Papam  schismate  pessime.^^  —  St.  Bernard. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  involved  in  the  condemnation  of  Peter  of 
Brueys  and  the  Cathari  in  the  23d  canon. 

2  Malvezzi  apud  Muratori,  vol.  xiv. 


Chap.  VI.      ARNOLD  WITH  GUIDO  DI  CASTELLO.  237 

shook  sacerdotal  Christianity  to  its  base  ;  x^belard  was 
a  philosopher,  Arnold  a  demagogue.  Bernard  was 
watching  both  with  the  persevering  sagacity  of  jeal- 
ousy, and  of  fear  for  his  own  imperilled  faith,  his  im- 
perilled Church.  His  fiery  zeal  was  not  content  with 
the  condemnation  of  Abelard  by  the  Council  of  Sens,^ 
and  the  Pope's  rescript  condemnatory  of  Arnold  in  the 
Lateran  Council.  He  urged  the  Pope  to  take  farther 
measures  for  their  condemnation,  for  the  burning  of 
their  books,  and  secure  custody  of  their  persons.  The 
obsequious  Pope,  in  a  brief  but  violent  letter  addressed 
to  the  Archbishops  of  Rheims  and  Sens  and  to  the 
Abbot  of  Clairvaux,  commanded  that  the  books  con- 
taining such  damnable  doctrines  should  be  publicly  cast 
into  the  fire,  the  two  heresiarchs  separately  imprisoned 
in  some  religious  house.  The  papal  letter  was  dissem- 
inated throughout  France  by  the  restless  activity  of 
Bernard,^  but  men  were  weary  or  ashamed  of  the  per- 
secution ;  he  was  heard  with  indifference.  Abelard,  as 
has  been  seen,  found  a  retreat  in  the  abbey  of  Clugny ; 
what  was  more  extraordinary,  Arnold  found  a  AmoWwith 

■,    -i  .  p  -Tk  Guido  di 

protector  m  a  papal  legate,  m  a  luture  rope,  casteiio. 
the  Cardinal  Guido  di  Casteiio.     Like  Arnold,  Guido 
had  been  a  scholar  of  Abelard,  he  had  betrayed  so  much 
sympathy  with  his  master  as  to  receive  the  rebuke, 

1  It  is  not  clear  at  what  time  or  in  what  manner  Arnold  undertook  the 
defence  of  Abelard's  dangerous  propositions.  Abelard  and  his  disciples 
had  maintained  silence  before  the  Council  of  Sens ;  and  there  Arnold  was 
not  present. 

2  See  Nicolini's  preface  to  his  tragedy  of  Arnold  of  Brescia:  —  "  Ut 
Petrum  Abeilardum  et  Arnoldum  de  Brixia,  perversi  dogmatis  fabricatores 
et  catholicse  fidei  impugnatores,  in  religiosis  locis,  ut  iis  melius  fuerint, 
separatim  faciant  includi,  et  libros  eorum,  ubicunque  reperti  fuerint,  igne 
comburi."  — 1140,  July  16.  Mansi,  xxi.  St.  Bernard  Oper.,  Appendix, 
^76. 


238  LATDs    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIH 

above  alluded  to,  from  Bernard,  softened  only  by  the 
dignity  of  his  position  and  cliaracter.  His  protection  of 
Arnold  was  more  open  and  therefore  more  offensive  to 
the  Abbot  of  Clairvaux.  He  wrote  in  a  mingled  tone  of 
earnest  admonition  and  angry  expostulation.  "  Arnold 
of  Brescia,  whose  words  are  as  honey  but  whose  doc- 
trines are  poison,  wdiom  Brescia  cast  forth,  at  whom 
Rome  shuddered,  whom  France  has  banished,  whom 
Germany  will  soon  hold  in  abomination,  whom  Italy 
will  not  endure,  is  reported  to  be  with  you.  Either 
you  know  not  the  man,  or  hope  to  convert  him.  May 
this  be  so  ;  but  beware  of  the  fatal  infection  of  heresy ; 
he  who  consorts  with  the  suspected  becomes  hable  to 
suspicion  ;  he  who  favors  one  under  the  papal  excom- 
munication, contravenes  the  Pope,  and  even  the  Lord 
God  himself"  i 

The  indefatigable  Bernard  traced  the  fugitive  Arnold 
into  the  diocese  of  Constance.  He  wrote  in  the  most 
vehement  language  to  the  bishop  denouncing  Arnold  as 
the  author  of  tumult  and  sedition,  of  insurrection  against 
the  clergy,  even  against  bishops,  of  arraying  the  laity 
against  the  spiritual  power.  No  terms  are  too  harsh ; 
besides  the  maledictory  language  of  the  Psalms,  "  His 
mouth  is  full  of  cursing  and  bitterness,  and  his  feet  swift 
to  shed  blood,"  he  calls  him  the  enemy  of  the  Cross  of 
Christ,  the  fomenter  of  discord,  the  fabricator  of  schism. 
He  urges  the  bishop  to  seize  and  imprison  this  wander- 
ing disturber  of  the  peace ;  such  had  been  the  Pope's 
command,  but  men  had  shrank  from  that  good  deed. 
The  Bishop  of  Constance  was  at  least  not  active  in  the 

1  Bemardi  Epist.  The  expression  "  quem  Germania  abominabitur " 
favors  the  notion  that  Guido  was  Legate  in  Germany.  So  hints  Gua- 
dagnani. 


Chap.  VI.  ARNOLD  m  R0:ME.  239 

pm'suit  of  Arnold.  Zurich  was  again  for  some  time 
his  place  of  refuge,  or  rather  the  Alpine  valleys,  where, 
at  least  from  the  days  of  Claudius  Bishop  of  Turin, 
tenets  kindred  to  his  own,  and  hostile,  if  not  Zurich, 
to  the  doctrines,  to  some  of  the  usages  of  the  Church, 
to  the  power  and  wealth  of  the  clergy,  had  lurked  in 
the  hearts  of  men.  The  Waldenses  look  up  to  Arnold 
as  to  one  of  the  spiritual  founders  of  their  churches  ; 
and  his  religious  and  political  opinions  probably  fostered 
the  spirit  of  republican  independence  which  throughout 
Switzerland  and  the  whole  Alpine  district  was  awaiting 
its  time.^ 

For  five  years  all  traces  of  Arnold  are  lost ;  on  a 
sudden  he  appears  in  Rome  under  the  protec-  ^moi^  j^ 
tion  of  the  intrepid  champion  of  the  new  ^°™®' 
republic  which  had  wrested  the  sovereignty  of  the  city 
from  the  Pope,  and  had  abrogated  his  right  to  all  tem- 
poral possessions.  In  the  foundation  of  this  republic 
Arnold  had  personally  no  concern,  but  the  influence  of 
his  doctrines  doubtless  much.  The  Popes,  who  had 
beheld  with  satisfaction  the  nse  of  the  Lombard  com- 
monwealths, or  openly  approved  their  revolt,  were 
startled  to  find  a  republic  springing  up  in  Rome  itself. 
Many  Romans  had  crossed  the  Alps  to  the  school  of 
Abelard;  but  the  practical  doctrines  of  Abelard's 
scholar  were  more  congenial  to  their  turbulent  minds 
than  the  abstract   lore  of  the  master.     Innocent  II. 


1 "  Nobile  Torregium,  ductoris  nomine  falso 
Insedit,  totamque  brevi  sub  tempore  terram, 
Perfidus,  impuri  foedavit  dogmatis  aura. 
Unde  venenato  dudum  corrupta  sapore, 
Et  nimium  falsi  doctrinse  vatis  inherens, 
Servat  adhuc  uvse  gustum  gens  ilia  patemae." 

Gnnther,  iii. 


240  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII 

seemed  doomed  to  behold  the  whole  sovereignty,  feudal 
as  well  as  temporal,  dissolve  m  his  hands.  The  wara 
with  Naples  to  assert  his  feudal  title  had  ended  in  the 
establishment  of  Roger  of  Sicily  in  the  independent 
kingdom  of  Naples.  The  Roman  passion  for  liberty 
was  closely  alhed,  as  in  all  the  Italian  republics,  with 
less  generous  sentiments  —  an  implacable  hatred  of 
liberty  in  others.  There  had  been  a  long  jealousy  b«.- 
tween  Tivoli  and  Rome.  Tivoli  proclaimed  its  inde- 
pendence of  Rome  and  of  the  Pope.  It  had  despised 
the  excommunication  of  the  Pope  and  inflicted  a  dis- 
graceful defeat  on  the  Romans,  as  yet  the  Pope's  loyal 
subjects,  under  the  Pope  himself.  After  a  war  of  at 
least  a  year  Tivoli  was  reduced  to  capitulate  ;  but  In- 
nocent, who  perhaps  might  look  hereafter  to  the  strength 
of  Tivoli  as  a  check  upon  unruly  Rome,  refused  to 
gratify  the  revenge  of  the  Romans  by  dismantling  and 
razing  the  city  walls  and  dispersing  the  inhabitants. 
The  Romans  turned  their  baffled  vengeance  on  Inno- 
cent  himself.  Rome  assembled  in  the  Capitol,  declared 
itself  a  republic,  restored  the  senate,  proposed  to  elect 
a  patrician,  and  either  actually  withdrew  or  threatened 
to  withdraw  all  temporal  allegiance  from  the  Pope. 
But  as  yet  they  were  but  half  scholars  of  Arnold  ; 
they  only  shook  off  the  yoke  of  the  Pope  to  place  them- 
selves under  the  yoke  of  the  Emperor.  The  republicans 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  Emperor  Conrad,  declaring 
that  it  was  their  object  to  restore  the  times  of  Justinian 
and  of  Constantine.  The  Emperor  might  now  rule  in 
the  capital  of  the  world,  over  Germany  and  Italy,  with 
more  full  authority  than  any  of  his  predecessors  :  all 
obstacles  from  the  ecclesiastical  power  were  removed  ; 
they  concluded  with  five  verses.     Let  the  Emperor  do 


Chap.  VI.  POPE  CCELESTIXE  H.  241 

his  will  on  all  his  enemies,  establish  his  throne  in  Rome, 
and  govern  the  world  like  another  Justinian,  and  let 
Peter,  according  to  the  commandment  of  Christ,  pay 
tribute  to  Csesar.^  But  they  warned  him  at  the  same 
time  that  his  aid  must  be  speedy  and  strong.  "  The 
Pope  had  made  a  league  with  the  King  of  Sicily,  whom, 
in  return  for  large  succors  to  enable  him  to  defy  the 
Emperor,  he  had  invested  in  all  the  insignia  of  royalty. 
Even  in  Rome  the  Pope,  the  Frangipani,  the  Sicilians, 
all  the  nobles,  even  the  family  of  Peter  Leonis,  except 
their  leader  Giordano,  had  conspired  to  prevent  them, 
the  Roman  people,  from  bestowing  on  Conrad  the  im- 
perial crown.  In  order  that  this  army  might  reach 
Rome  in  safety,  they  had  restored  the  Mil-  jje^th  of 
vian  bridge  ;  but  without  instant  haste  all  |epr23.*  ^' 
might  be  lost."  In  the  midst  of  these  tu-  ^^^^' 
mults  Innocent  died,  closing  a  Pontificate  of  fourteen 
years. 

The  successor  of  Innocent  was  Guido  di  Castello, 
the  cardinal  of  St.  Mario,  the  scholar  of  Abelard,  the 
protec4or  of  Arnold.  He  was  elected,  from  what  mo- 
tive or  through  what  interest  does  not  appear,  yet  by 
the  unanimous  suffrage  of  the  cardinals  and  amidst  the 
acclamations  of  the  people.^  He  took  the  g^pt  26. 
name   of  Coelestine   II.      The  only  act   of  ^^''^^^^' 


1  '*  Rex  valeat,  quicquid  cupit,  obtineat,  super  hostes 
Imperium  teneat,  Romae  sedeat,  regat  orbem: 
Princeps  terrarum,  ceu  fecit  Justinianus; 
Caesaris  accipiat  Caesar,  quae  sunt  sua  Praesul, 
Ut  Cliristus  jussit,  Petro  solvente  tributum." 

Otho  Freisingen,  i.  28. 
2  The  Life  of  Coelestine  is  at  issue  with  his  own  letters.    The  Life  asserts 
that  the  people  were  absolutely  excluded  from  all  share  in  the  election. 
Coelestine  writes :  "  Clero  et  populo  acclamante,  partim  et  expetente."  — 
Epist.  ad  Petr.  Yenerab. 
VOL.  ir.  16 


242  LATIN   CHKISTUNITY.  Book  Vm. 

Coelestine  was  one  of  gentleness  and  peace  ;  he  received 
the  ambassadors  of  Louis  VII.,  King  of  France,  pro- 
nounced his  benediction  on  the  kingdom,  and  so  re- 
pealed the  Interdict  with  which  Innocent  had  rewarded 
the  faithful  services  of  his  early  patron  and  almost 
humble  vassal.^  Even  the  turbulence  of  the  people 
was  overawed ;  they  might  seem  to  await  in  anxious 
expectation  how  far  the  protector  of  Arnold  might 
favor  their  resumption  of  the  Roman  liberties. 

These  hopes  were  disappointed  by  the  death  of  Coeles- 
tine after  a  pontificate  of  less  than  six  months.  On  the 
March  8,        acccssiou  of  Lucius  II.,  a  Bolooinese  by  birth, 

1144.  .  '  o         ^      J  ' 

Lucius  n.  the  republic  boldly  assumed  the  ideal  form 
imagined  by  Arnold  of  Brescia.  .  The  senate  and  the 
March  12.  pcoplc  assembled  in  the  Capitol,  and  elected 
a  Patrician,^  Giordano,  the  descendant  of  Peter  Leonis. 
They  announced  to  the  Pope  their  submission  to  his 
spiritual  authority,  but  to  his  spiritual  authority  alone. 
They  declared  that  the  Pope  and  the  clergy  must  con- 
tent themselves  from  that  time  with  the  tithes  and  ob- 
lations of  the  people;  that   all  the  temporalities,  the 

1  The  interdict  related  to  the  election  to  the  archbishopric  of  Bourges. 
The  king,  according  to  usage,  named  a  candidate  to  the  chapter.  The 
Pope  commanded  the  obsequious  chapter  to  elect  Peter  de  la  Chatre, 
nephew  to  the  Chancellor  of  the  Roman  Church.  Even  Louis  was  provoked 
to  wrath ;  he  swore  that  Peter  de  la  Chatre  should  never  sit  as  Archbishop 
of  Bourges.  "  TVe  must  teach  this  young  man,"  said  the  haughty  Pope, 
"  not  thus  to  meddle  with  the  affairs  of  the  Church."  He  gave  the  pall  to 
the  archbishop,  who  had  fled  to  Rome.  The  interdict  followed :  wherever 
the  King  of  France  appeared,  ceased  all  the  divine  oflices.  The  interdict 
was  raised  by  Coelestine ;  but  Peter  de  la  Chatre  was  Archbishop  of  Bourges. 
—  Compare  Martin,  Hist,  de  France,  iii.  434. 

2  This  appears  from  the  words  of  Otho  Freisingen:  "  Senatoribus,  quos 
ante  instituerant,  pati'icium  adjiciunt."  —  Otho  Freisingen,  vii.  31.  What 
place  did  this  leave  for  the  Emperor?  I  conceive,  therefore,  that  the  letter 
to  the  Emperor  belongs  to  the  pontificate  of  Innocent,  where  I  have 
placed  it. 


I 


Chap.  VI.  POPE  LUCIUS  H.  243 

royalties,  and  rights  of  sovereignty  fell  to  the  temporal 
power,  and  that  power  was  the  Patrician.^  They  pro- 
ceeded to  make  themselves  masters  of  the  city,  attacked 
and  levelled  t6  the  ground  many  of  the  fortress  palaces 
of  the  cardinals  and  the  nobles.  The  Pope,  r>ec.  28 
after  some  months,  wrote  an  urgent  letter  to  the  Em- 
peror Conrad  to  claim  his  protection  against  his  rebel- 
lious subjects.  To  the  appeal  of  the  Romans,  calling 
him  to  the  sovereignty,  Conrad,  spell-bound  perhaps  by 
the  authority  of  Bernard,  however  tempting  the  occa- 
sion might  be,  paid  no  attention  ;  even  if  more  inclined 
to  the  cause  of  the  Pope,  he  had  no  time  for  interfer- 
ence. Pope  Lucius  had  recourse  to  more  immediate 
means  of  defence.  He  armed  the  pontifical  party,  and 
that  party  comprehended  all  the  nobles ;  it  had  become 
a  contest  of  the  oligarchy  and  the  democracy.  He 
placed  himself  at  their  head,  obtained,  it  should  seem, 
some  success,^  but  in  an  attempt  to  storm  the  Capitol 
in  the  front  of  his  soldiers  he  was  mortally  Feb.  25,  niu. 
wounded  with  a  stone.  To  have  slain  a  Pope  Ludus  n. 
afflicted  the  Romans  with  no  remorse.  The  papal 
party  felt  no  shame  at  the  unseemly  death  of  a  Pope 
who  had  fallen  in  actual  war  for  the  defence  of  his  tem- 
poral power  ;  republican  Rome  felt  no  compunction  at 
the  fall  of  her  enemy.  Yet  the  death  of  Lucius  seems  to 
have  extinguished  for  a  time  the  ambition  of  the  cardi- 
nals. Instead  of  rival  Popes  contending  for  advance- 
ment. Pope  and  Antipope  in  eager  haste  to  array 
themselves  in  the  tiara,  all  seemed  to  shrink  from  the 
perilous  dignity.     They  drew  forth  from  the  cloister  of 

1  "Ad  jus  patricii  sui  reposcunt."  —  Otho  Freisingen,  loc.  cit.    This  was 
pure  Arnoldism. 

2  "  Senatum  abrogare  coegit."  —  Cardin.  Arragou.  in  Vita  Lucii. 


244  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

the  Cistercian  monks  the  Abbot,  Bernard  of  Pisa,  a 
Eugenius  HI.  dcvout  man,  but  obscure  and  of  simphcity,  it 
was  supposed,  bordering  on  imbecility.  His  sole  rec- 
ommendation was  that  lie  was  a  Cistercian,  a  friend  of 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  of  Bernard  the  tried  foe  of 
Abelard  and  of  Arnold  of  Brescia,  Bernard  through 
whom  alone  they  could  hope  for  the  speedy  succor  of 
the  Transalpine  sovereigns.  "  In  electing  you,"  says 
Bernard  himself,  "  they  made  me  Pope,  not  you."  ^ 
The  saint's  letter  of  congratulation  is  in  a  tone  of 
mingled  superiority  and  deference,  in  which  the  defer- 
ence is  formal,  the  superiority  manifest.  To  the  con- 
clave Bernard  remonstrated  against  the  cruelty,  almost 
the  impiety,  of  dragging  a  man  dead  to  the  world  back 
into  the  peril  and  turmoil  of  worldly  affairs.  He  spoke 
almost  with  contempt  of  the  rude  character  of  Euge- 
nius III.  "  Is  this  a  man  to  gird  on  the  sword  and 
to  execute  vengeance  on  the  people,  to  bind  their  kings 
with  chains  and  their  nobles  with  links  of  iron  ? " 
(Such  at  present  appeared  to  Bernard  the  office  of 
Christ's  representative  on  earth  !)  "  How  will  a  man 
with  the  innocence  and  simplicity  of  a  child  cope  with 
affairs  which  require  the  strength  of  a  giant  ?  "  ^  Ber- 
nard was  for  once  mistaken  in  his  estimate  of  human 
character.  Eugenius  IH.  belied  all  expectations  by 
the  unsuspected  vigor  of  his  conduct.  He  was  com- 
pelled, indeed,  at  first  to  bow  before  the  storm  :  on  the 
third  day  after  his  election  he  left  Rome  to  receive  his 
consecration  in  the  monastery  of  Farfa. 

Arnold  of  Brescia  at  the  head  of  a  laro-e  force  of 
Swiss  mountaineers  who  had  imbibed  his  doctrines,  was 

1  "  Aiunt  non  vos  esse  papam,  sed  me."  — Epist.  237,  8. 

2  Epist.  236.    He  calls  him  "  pannosum  homuncionem." 


Chap.  VI.  EUGENIUS  III.  245 

now  in  Rome.^  His  eloquence  brought  over  ^j^^i^  i^ 
the  larger  part  of  the  nobles  to  the  popular  ^°°^^' 
side ;  even  some  of  the  clergy  were  infected  by  his 
doctrines.  The  republic,  under  his  influence,  affected 
to  resume  the  constitution  of  elder  Rome.  The  office 
of  prefect  was  abolished,  the  Patrician  Giordano  estab- 
lished in  full  authority.  They  pretended  to  create 
anew  patrician  families,  an  equestrian  order ;  the  name 
and  rights  of  tribunes  of  the  people  were  to  balance  the 
power  of  the  Senate;  the  laws  of  the  commonwealth 
were  reenacted.^  Nor  were  they  forgetful  of  more 
substantial  provisions  for  their  power.  The  Capitol 
was  rebuilt  and  fortified ;  even  the  church  of  St.  Peter 
was  sacrilegiously  turned  into  a  castle.  The  Patrician 
took  possession  of  the  Vatican,  imposed  taxes,  and  ex- 
acted tribute  by  violence  from  the  pilgrims.  Rome 
began  again  to  speak  of  her  sovereignty  over  the  world. 
On  the  expulsion  of  Eugenius,  the  indefatigable  Ber- 
nard addressed  a  letter  to  the  Roman  people  in  his 
usual  tone  of  haughty  apology  for  his  interference ;  a 
protest  of  his  own  insignificance  while  he  was  dictating 
to  nations  and  kings.  He  mingles  what  he  means  for 
gentle  persuasion  with  the  language  of  awful  menace. 
"  Not  only  will  the  powers  of  earth,  but  the  martyrs 
of  heaven  fight  against  a  rebellious  people."     In  one 

1  "  Amoldus  Alpinorum  turbam  ad  se  traxit  et  Eomam  cum  multitudine 
venit."  —  Fasti  Corbeienses.  See  Muller,  Schweitzer's  Geschicbte,  i.  409, 
tt.  277.    Eugen.,  Epist.  4. 

2  "  Quin  etiam  titulos  urbis  renovate  vetustos, 
Patricios  recreate  viros,  priscosque  Quirites, 
Nomine  plebeio  secernere  nomen  equestre ; 
Jura  tribunorum,  sanctum  reparare  senatum ; 
Et  senio  fessas,  mutasque  reponere  leges ; 
Reddere  primevo  Capitolia  prisca  nitori." 

Gunther, 


246  LATm    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIIL 

part,  he  dexterously  inquires  how  far  they  themselves 
had  become  richer  by  the  plunder  of  the  churches.  It 
was  as  the  religious  capital  of  the  world  that  Rome  was 
great  and  wealthy ;  they  were  cutting  off  all  their  real 
glory  and  riches  by  ceasing  to  be  the  city  of  St.  Peter.^ 
In  another  letter,  he  called  on  the  Emperor  Conrad  to 
punish  this  accursed  and  tumultuous  people. 

But  Eugenius  owed  to  his  own  intrepid  energy  and 
Eugeniusre-  couduct  at  Icast  a  temporary  success.  He 
covers  Rome.  Jaunclied  liis  senteucc  of  excommunication 
against  the  rebel  Patrician  :  Rome  was  too  much  accus- 
tomed to  such  thunders  to  regard  them.  He  appealed 
to  more  effective  arms,  the  implacable  hatred  and  jeal- 
ousy of  the  neighboring  cities.  Tivoll  was  always 
ready  to  take  arms  against  Rome,  (Innocent  II.  had 
foreseen  the  danger  of  dismantling  this  check  on  Rome,) 
other  cities  sent  their  troops  ;  Eugenius  was  in  person 
at  Civita  Castellana,  Narni,  Vlterbo,  where  he  took  up 
his  residence.  The  proud  republic  was  compelled  to 
capitulate.  The  Patrician  abdicated  his  short-lived 
dignity  ;  the  Prefect  resumed  his  functions  ;  the  Senate 
was  permitted  to  exist,  but  shorn  of  its  power.^  A 
general  amnesty  was  granted  to  all  concerned  in  the 
late  commotions.  Some  of  the  Roman  nobles,  the 
great  family  of  the  Franglpani,  out  of  rivalry  perhaps 
to  the  Peter  Leonis,  had  remained  faithful  to  the  Pope. 
A.D.1145-  Eugenius  returned  to  Rome,  and  celebrated 
1146.  Christmas  with  pomp  at  least  sufficient  to  give 

an  appearance  of  popularity  to  his  resumption  of  author- 


1  Epist.  242,  243. 

2  In  the  few  fragments  of  the  historians  we  trace  the  influence,  but  little 
of  the  personal  history  of  Arnold.  We  know  not  whether  he  remained  in 
Eome  during  the  short  triumph  of  Eugenius. 


Chap.  VI.        BERNARD   AXD  WILLIAM  OF  YORK.  247 

ity :  he  was  attended  by  some  of  the  nobles,  and  all  the 
clergy. 

But  without  the  walls  of  Rome,  at  the  head  of  a  hos- 
tile army,  the  Pope  was  an  object  of  awe ;  within  the 
city  with  only  his  Roman  partisans,  he  was  powerless. 
He  might  compel  Rome  to  abandon  her  republican  con- 
stitution, he  could  not  her  hatred  of  Tivoli.     Under 
this  black  standard  rallied  all  her  adversaries :  only  on 
the   condition   of  his  treachery  to   Tivoli,  which  had 
befriended  him  in  his  hour  of  necessity,  would  Rome 
contmue  to  obey  him.     Eugenius  left  the  city  Eugenius 
in  disgust ;  he  retired  first  to  Viterbo,  then  to  ^j^Jch  23 
Sienna ;  eventually,  after  the  delay  of  a  year,  ^^^^' 
beyond  the  Alps.^     Arnold  and  Arnold's  republic  re- 
sumed uncontested  possession  of  the  capital  of  Christen- 
dom. 

Beyond  the  Alps  the  Cistercian  Pontiff  sank  into  the 
satellite  of  the  great  Cistercian  ruler  of  Chris-  in  France, 
tendom.  The  Pope  maintained  the  state,  the  authority 
was  with  St.  Bernard.  Three  subjects,  before  the  arri- 
val of  Eugenius  in  France,  had  occupied  the  indefat- 
igable thoughts  of  Bernard.  The  two  first  display  his 
all-gi'asping  command  of  the  mind  of  Christendom  ; 
but  it  was  the  last  which  so  completely  absorbed  liis 
soul,  that  succors  to  the  Pope  struggling  against  his  re- 
belHous  subjects,  the  sovereignty  of  Rome,  might  seem 
beneath  his  regard. 

The  Abbot  of  Clairvaux  was  involved  in  a  disputed 
election  to  the  Archbishopric  of  York.     The  Bernard  and 
narrow  corporate  spirit  of  his  order  betrayed  York. 
him  into  great  and  crying   injustice  to  William,  the 
elected  prelate  of  that  See.     The  rival  of  the  English- 

1  He  was  at  Vercelli,  March  3, 1147;  at  Clugny,  26;  at  Dijon,  30. 


248  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

man,  another  William,  once  a  Clmiiac,  was  a  Cister- 
cian ;  and  Bernard  scruples  not  to  heap  on  one  of  the 
most  pious  of  men  accusations  of  ambition,  of  worse 
than  ambition  :  to  condemn  him  to  everlasting  perdi- 
tion.^ The  obsequious  Pope,  no  doubt  under  the  same 
party  influence,  or  quailing  under  the  admonitions  of 
Bernard,  which  rise  into  menace,  issued  his  sentence 
of  deposition  against  William.  England,  true  to  that 
independence  which  she  had  still  asserted  under  her 
Norman  sovereigns,  refused  obedience.  King  Stephen 
even  prohibited'  his  bishops  from  attending  the  Pope's 
summons  to  a  Council  at  Rheims ;  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  was  obliged  to  cross  the  sea  clandestinely 
in  a  small  boat.^  William  eventually  triumphed  over 
all  opposition,  obtamed  peaceable  possession  of  the  see, 
died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity,  and  has  his  place  in  the 
sacred  calendar. 

Bernard  had  detected  new  heresies  in  the  church  of 
GUbert  de  la  France.  Gilbert  de  la  Porde,  the  aged  Bishop 
Poree.  ^^  Poiticrs,  was  charged  with  heterodox  con- 

ceptions of  the  divine  nature.^  This  controversy  wearied 
out  two  Councils  ;  bewildered  by  the  metaphysical  sub- 

1  "  Epist.  241.  "  S£Evit  frustrata  ambitio :  imo  desperata  furit.  .  .  . 
Clamat  contra  eorum  capita  sanguis  sanctorum  de  terra."  "  St.  "William 
showed  no  enmity,  sought  no  revenge  against  his  most  inveterate  enemies, 
who  had  prepossessed  Eugenius  III.  against  him  by  the  blackest  calumnies." 
—  Butler,  Lives  of  Saints. 

2  June  8th.  St.  William.  Was  Bernard  imposed  upon,  or  the  author 
of  these  calumnies  ?     It  is  a  dark  page  in  his  life. 

3  Otho  of  Freisingen,  however,  ascribes  two  other  tenets  to  Gilbert,  one 
denying  all  human  merit;  the  other,  a  peculiar  opinion  on  baptism. 
"  Quod  meritum  humanum  attenuando,  niillum  mereri  diceret  praeter 
Christum."  He  appeared  too  to  deny  that  any  one  was  really  baptized, 
except  those  who  were  to  be  saved.  —  Otho  Freisingen,  i.  50.  M.  Haureau 
(Philosophic  Scolastique)  has  a  much  higher  opinion  of  Gilbert  de  la 
Por^e  as  an  original  thinker  than  the  historians  of  philosophy  previous  to 
him.  —  vol.  i.  c.  xviii. 


Chap.  VI.  GILBERT  DE  LA  POR£e.  249 

tilties  the  J  came  to  no  conclusion.  It  was,  in  fact,  in 
its  main  article,  a  mere  dialectic  dispute,  bearing  on  the 
point  whether  the  divine  nature  was  God.  It  was 
Nominalism  and  Realism  in  another  form.  But  the 
close  of  this  contest  demands  attention.  The  Bishop 
of  Poitiers,  instead  of  shrinking  from  his  own  words, 
in  a  discussion  before  the  Pope,  who  was  now  at  Paris, 
exclaimed:  —  "Write  them  down  with  a  pen  of  ad- 
amant !  "  Notwithstanding  this,  under  the  influence 
and  direction  of  Bernard  four  articles  were  drawn  and 
ratified  by  the  Synod.  The  Pope  himself,  worn  out, 
acknowledged  that  the  controversy  was  beyond  his  un^ 
derstanding.  These  articles  were  the  direct  converse 
to  those  of  Gilbert  of  Poitiers.  They  declared  the 
divine  nature  to  be  God,  and  God  the  divine  nature. 
But  Rome  heard  with  indignation  that  the  Church  of 
France  had  presumed  to  enact  articles  of  faith.  The 
Cardinals  published  a  strong  remonstrance  impeaching 
the  Pope  of  presumption  ;  of  abandoning  the  advice  of 
his  legitimate  counsellors,  who  had  promoted  him  to  the 
Papacy ;  and  yielding  to  the  sway  of  private,  of  more 
recent  friendship.^  "  It  is  not  for  thee  alone,  but  for  us 
with  thee  to  frame  articles  of  faith.  Is  this  good  Abbot 
to  presume  to  dictate  to  Christendom?  The  Eastern 
churches  would  not  have  dared  to  do  tliis."  The  Pope 
endeavored  to  soothe  them  by  language  almost  apol- 
ogetic ;  they  allowed  themselves  at  length  to  be  ap- 
peased by  his  modest  w^ords,  but  on  condition  that  no 

1  The  Bishop  Otho  of  Freisingen  ■writes  thus  of  Bernard :  "  Erat  autem 
prredictus  Abbas,  tarn  ex  Christianas  religionis  fers'ore  zelotypus,  quam  ex 
habituali  mansuetudine  quodammodo  credulus,  ut  et  magistros,  qui  hu- 
manis  rationibus,  saeculari  sapientiae  confisi,  nimium  inhaerebant,  abhorreret, 
et  si  quidquam  ei  Christianae  fidei  absonum  de  talibus  dlceretur  facile  aurem 
praeberet."'  —  De  Rebus  Freder.  L,  i.  47. 


250  LATIX  CHKISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

symbol  of  faith  should  be  promulgated  without  the 
authority  of  the  Roman  court,  the  College  of  Cardi- 
nals. 

These,  however,  were  trivial  and  unimportant  con- 
Crusade.  sideratious.  Before  and  during  the  agitation 
of  these  contests,  the  whole  soul  of  Bernard  was  ab- 
sorbed in  a  greater  object :  he  aspired  to  be  a  second 
Peter  the  Hermit,  the  preacher  of  a  new  crusade.  The 
fall  of  Edessa,  and  other  tidings  of  defeat  and  disaster, 
had  awakened  the  slumbering  ardor  of  Europe.  The 
kingdom  of  Jerusalem  trembled  for  its  secui'ity.  Peter 
himself  was  not  more  active  or  more  successful  in  trav- 
ersing Europe,  and  wakening  the  passionate  valor  of  all 
orders,  than  Bernard.  In  the  cities  of  Germany,  of 
Burgundy,  of  Flanders,  of  France,  the  pulpits  were 
open  to  him  ;  he  preached  in  the  market-places  and 
highways.  Nor  did  he  depend  upon  human  eloquence 
alone :  according  to  his  wandering  followers,  eye-wit- 
nesses as  they  declared  themselves,  the  mission  of  Ber- 
nard was  attested  by  miracles,  at  least  as  frequent  and 
sm'prising  as  all  those  of  the  Saviour,  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament.  They,  no  doubt,  imagined  that  they 
believed  them,  and  no  one  hesitated  to  believe  their 
report.  In  sermons,  in  speeches,  in  letters,  by  public 
addresses,  and  by  his  private  influence,  Bernard  wrought 
up  Latin  Christendom  to  a  second  access  of  frenzy  equal 
to  the  first.^  The  Pope,  Eugenius  III.,  probably  at  his 
instigation,  addressed  an  animated  epistle  to  Western 
Christendom.  He  promised  the  same  privileges  offered 
by  his  predecessor  Urban,  the  remission  of  all  sins,  the 
protection  of  the  crusaders'  estates  and  families  during 
then'  absence  in  the  Holy  Land  under  the  tutelage  of 
1  Epist.  to  the  Pope  Eugenius,  256 ;  to  the  Bishop  of  Spires,  322. 


Chap.  VI.  ST.   BERNARD'S   CRtSADE.  251 

the  Church ;  and  he  warned  them  against  profane  lux- 
uiy  in  their  arms  and  accoutrements  ;  against  hawks 
and  hounds,  while  engaged  in  that  hallowed  warfare. 
Bernard  preached  a  sermon  to  the  Knights  Templars, 
now  in  the  dawn  of  their  valor  and  glory.  The  Koran 
is  tame  to  this  fierce  hymn  of  battle.  "  The  Christian 
who  slays  the  unbeliever  in  the  Holy  War  is  sure  of 
his  reward,  more  sure  if  he  is  slain.  The  Christian 
glories  in  the  death  of  the  Pagan,  because  Christ  is  glo- 
rified ;  by  his  own  death  both  he  himself  and  Christ 
are  still  more  glorified."  Bernard  at  the  faster,  U46. 
Council  of  Yezelay  wrought  no  less  wonder-  ^^^^y- 
ful  effects  than  Pope  Urban  at  Clermont.  Eugenius 
alone,  who  had  not  yet  crossed,  or  had  hardly  crossed 
the  Alps,  was  wanting  at  that  august  assembly,  but  in 
a  letter  he  had  declared  that  nothing  but  the  disturb- 
ances at  Rome  prevented  him  from  following  the  exam- 
ple of  his  predecessor  Urban.  A  greater  than  the  Pope 
was  there.  The  Castle  of  Vezelay  could  not  contain  the 
multitudes  who  thronged  to  hear  the  fervid  eloquence 
of  Bernard.  The  preacher,  with  the  King  of  France 
Louis  VII.  by  his  side,  who  wore  the  cross  conspic- 
uously on  his  dress,  ascended  a  platform  of  wood.  At 
the  close  of  his  harangue  the  whole  assembly  broke  out 
in  tumultuous  cries,  "  The  Cross,  the  Cross  !  "  They 
crowded  to  the  stage  to  receive  the  holy  badge ;  the 
preacher  was  obhged  to  scatter  it  among  them,  rather 
than  deliver  it  to  each.  The  stock  at  hand  was  soon 
exhausted.  Bernard  tore  up  his  own  dress  to  satisfy 
the  eager  claimants.  For  the  first  time,  the  two  great- 
est sovereigns  in  Christendom,  the  Emperor  and  the 
King  of  France,  embarked  in  the  cause.  Louis  had 
appeared  at  Vezelay ;  he  was  taking  measures  for  the 


252  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  BookVIH. 

campaign.  But  Conrad  shrank  from  the  perilous  enter- 
prise ;  the  affairs  of  Germany  demanded  the  uninter- 
mitting  care  of  her  sovereign.  Bernard  watched  his 
Spires.  opportunity.     At  a  great  Diet  at  Spires,  at 

Christmas,  after  the  reconcihation  of  some  of  the  rebel- 
lious princes  with  the  Empire,  he  urged  both  the  Em- 
peror and  the  princes,  in  a  long  and  ardent  sermon,  to 
testify  to  their  Christian  concord  by  taking  the  Cross 
together.  Three  days  after,  at  Ratisbon,  he  had  a  pri- 
vate interview  with  the  Emperor.  Conrad  still  wa- 
vered, promised  to  consult  his  nobles,  and  to  give  an 
answer  on  the  following  day.  On  that  day,  after  the 
mass,  Bernard  ascended  the  pulpit.  At  the  close  of 
his  sermon,  he  turned  to  the  Emperor,  and  after  a  ter- 
rific description  of  the  terrors  of  the  Last  Day,  he  sum- 
moned him  to  think  of  the  .great  gifts,  for  which  he 
would  have  to  give  account  at  that  awful  advent  of  the 
Lord.  The  Emperor  and  the  whole  audience  melted 
into  tears  ;  he  declared  himself  ready  to  take  the  Cross  : 
he  was  at  once  invested  with  the  irrevocable  sign  of 
dedication  to  the  holy  warfare ;  many  of  his  nobles  fol- 
lowed his  example.  Bernard,  for  all  was  prepared, 
took  the  consecrated  banner  from  the  altar,  and  deliv- 
ered it  into  the  hands  of  Conrad.  Three  bishops,  Henry 
of  Ratisbon,  Otho  of  Freisingen,  Reginbert  of  Padua, 
took  the  Cross.  Such  a  multitude  of  thieves  and  rob- 
bers crowded  to  the  sacred  standard,  that  no  one  could 
refuse  to  see  the  hand  of  God.^  Nowhere  would  even 
kings  proceed  without  the  special  benediction  of  Ber- 
nard. At  Etampes,  and  at  St.  Denys  in  the  next  year, 
he  appeared  among  the  assembled  crusaders  of  France. 
The  Pope  Eugenius  was  now  in  France  ;  the  King  at 

1  Otho  Freisingen,  i.  40. 


Chap.  VI.  ST.  BERNARD'S   CRUSADE.  25«^ 

St.  Denys  prostrated  himself  before  the  feet  of  liis  Holi- 
ness and  of  Bernard  ;  they  opened  a  box  of  pgutecost, 
golden  crucifixes  ;  they  led  him  to  the  altar  ^^^  ^^'  ^^*^ 
and  bestowed  on  him  the  consecrated  banner,  the  pil- 
grim's wallet  and  staff.  At  another  meeting  at  Char- 
tres,  Bernard,  so  great  was  the  confidence  in  his  more 
than  human  powers,  was  entreated  himself  to  take  the 
command  of  the  crusade.  But  he  wisely  remembered 
the  fate  of  Peter's  followers,  and  exhorted  the  w^arriors 
to  place  themselves  under  the  command  of  some  expe- 
rienced general. 

But  there  was  a  miracle  of  Christian  love,  as  far  sur- 
passing in  its  undoubted  veracity  as  in  its  evangelic 
beauty  all  which  legend  gathered  around  the  preaching 
pilgrimage  of  Bernard.  The  crusade  began  ;  a  wild 
monk  named  Rodolph  raised  the  terrible  cry  against 
the  Jews,  which  was  even  more  greedily  The  Jews, 
than  before  heard  by  the  populace  of  the  great  cities, 
and  by  the  armed  soldiers.  In  Cologne,  Mentz,  Spires, 
Worms,  Strasburg,  a  massacre  the  most  fi'ightful  and 
remorseless  broke  out.  Bernard  arose  in  all  his  power 
and  authority.  He  condemned  the  unchristian  act  in 
his  strongest  language.  "  God  had  punished  the  Jews 
by  their  dispersion,  it  was  not  for  man  to  punish  them 
by  murder."  Bernard  himself  confronted  the  furious 
Rodolph  at  Mentz,  and  commanded  him  to  retire  to 
his  convent ;  but  it  required  all  the  sanctity  and  all 
the  eloquence  of  Bernard  to  control  the  furious  popu- 
lace, now  drunk  with  blood  and  glutted  with  pillage.^ 
Among  the  most  melancholy  reflections,  it  is  not  the 
• 

1  Otho  Freisingen,  i.  37,  8.  It  is  curious  that  the  two  modern  biographers 
01  St.  Bernard,  Neander  and  M.  de  Ratisbonne,  were  once  Jews.  Their 
works  are  labors  of  gratitude  as  well  as  of  love. 


254  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII 

least  sad  that  the  gentle  Abbot  of  Clugny,  Peter  the 
Venerable,  still  to  be  opposed  to  Bernard,  took  the  side 
of  blind  fanaticism. 

Of  all  these  holy  wars,  none  had  been  announced 
Disasters  of  ^^^^  greater  ostentation,  of  none  had  it  been 
the  Crusade,  ^-^q^q  \)o\S\j  averred  that  it  was  of  divine  in- 
spiration, the  work  of  God ;  of  none  had  the  hopes, 
the  prophecies  of  success  been  more  confident ;  none 
had  been  conducted  with  so  much  preparation  and 
pomp  ;  none  had  as  yet  been  headed  by  kings  —  none 
ended  in  such  total  and  deplorable  disaster.  So  vast 
had  been  the  movement,  so  completely  had  the  West 
been  drained  to  form  the  army  of  the  Cross,  that  not 
merely  had  all  war  come  to  an  end,  but  it  was  almost 
a  crime,  writes  the  warlike  Bishop  of  Freisingen,  to  be 
seen  in  arms.  "  The  cities  and  the  castles  are  empty," 
writes  Bernard,  "  there  is  hardly  one  man  to  seven 
women."  What  was  the  close  ?  At  least  thirty  thou- 
sand lives  were  sacrificed  and  there  was  not  even  the 
consolation  of  one  glorious  deed  achieved.  The  Em- 
peror,  the  King  of  France,  returned  to  their  dominions, 
the  ignominious  survivors  of  their  gallant  hosts  !  But 
would  the  general  and  bitter  disappointment  of  Chris- 
tendom, the  widowed  and  orphaned  houses,  the  families, 
scarcely  one  of  which  had  not  to  deplore  their  head, 
their  pride,  their  hope,  or  their  stay,  still  respect  the 
author  of  all  these  calamities  ?  Was  this  the  event 
of  which  Bernard  had  been  the  preacher,  the  prophet  ? 
Were  all  his  miracles  wrought  only  to  plunge  Christen- 
dom in  shame  and  misery  ?  There  was  a  deep  and 
sullen  murmur  against  Bernard,  and  Bernard  himself 
was  prostrated  for  a  time  in  profound  depression.  But 
this  disappointment  found  its  usual  consolation.     Ber- 


Chap.  VI.  DISASTEKS   OF  THE  CRUSADE.  255 

nard  still  declared  that  he  had  spoken  with  the  author- 
ity of  the  Pope,  with  the  authority  of  God.^  The  first 
cause  of  failure  was  the  perfidy  of  the  Greeks.  The 
Bishop  of  Langres  had  boldly  advised  the  measure 
which  was  accomplished  by  a  later  crusade,  the  seizure 
of  Constantinople ;  and  with  still  more  fervent  hatred 
and  contempt  for  the  Greeks,  whom  they  overwhelmed, 
starved,  insulted  on  the  passage  through  their  domin- 
ions, the  crusaders  complained  of  their  inhospitality, 
of  the  unchristian  lukewarmness  of  their  fi'iendship. 
But  the  chief  blame  of  their  disasters  was  thrown  back 
on  the  crusaders  themselves  ;  on  the  license  and  un- 
chastity  of  their  camp,  God  would  not  be  served  by 
soldiers  guilty  of  such  sins  ;  sins  which  human  pru- 
dence might  have  anticipated  as  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence of  discharging  upon  a  distant  land  undisciplined 
and  uncontrolled  hordes,  all  the  ruffians  and  robbers  of 
Europe,  wdiose  only  penance  was  to  be  the  slaughter  of 
unbelievers.^  The  Pope  wrote  a  letter  of  consolation, 
cold  consolation,  to  the  Emperor  Conrad ;  the  admir- 
ers of  Bernard  excuse  him  by  condemning  themselves. 
But  the  boldest  tone  of  consolation  was  taken  by  a 
monk  named  John.  Not  only  did  he  assure  Bernard 
that  he  knew  from  Heaven  that  many  who  had  died  in 
the  Holy  Land  died  with  joy  because  they  were  pre- 
vented from  returning  to  the  wicked  world,  but  in  pri- 
vate confession  he  averi'ed  that  the  patron  saints  of  his 
monastery,  St.  Peter  and  St.  John,  had  appeared  and 

1  "  Diximus  pax  et  non  est  pax :  promisimus  bona  ct  ecce  turbatio  .... 
Cucurrimus  plan6  in  eo  non  quasi  in  incertum,  sed  te  jubente  et  imo  per  te 
Deo." —  See  the  whole  passage,  De  Consider,  ii.  1. 

2  "  Quamvis  si  dicamus  sanctum  ilium  Abbatem  spiritu  Dei  ad  excitandos 
nos  afflatum  fuisse,  sed  nos  ob  superbiam,  lasciviamque  nostram  .  .  .  merito 
rerum  personarumque  dispendium  deportasse,"  &c.  — Otho  Freising.  i.  60t 


256  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIIL 

submitted  to  be  interrogated  on  this  mournful  subject. 
The  Apostles  declared  that  the  places  of  many  of  the 
fallen  angels  had  been  filled  up  by  the  Christian  war- 
riors who  had  died  for  the  Cross  in  the  Holy  Land. 
The  Apostles  had  likewise  a  fervent  desire  for  the  pres- 
ence of  the  holy  Bernard  among  them.^ 

Only  a  few  years  elapsed  before  Bernard,  according 
A.D.1153.  to  the  general  judgment  of  Christendom,  fill- 
filled  the  vision  of  the  monk,  and  departed  to  the  soci- 
ety of  Saints,  Apostles,  and  Angels. 

The  Saint,  the  Philosopher,  the  Demagogue  of  the 
century  have  .passed  before  us  (the  end  of  the  last  is  to 
come  ) :  it  may  be  well  to  contemplate  also  the  high 
ecclesiastical  statesman.  Suger,  Abbot  of  St.  Denys, 
has  been  sometimes  represented  as  the  unambitious 
Suger  of  St.  Richclieu,  the  more  honest  Mazarin  of  his 
^^^^^'  age.     But  Suger  was  the  Minister  of  Kings 

of  France,  whose  realm  in  his  youth  hardly  reached 
beyond  four  or  five  modern  departments  ;  whose  power 
was  so  limited  that  the  road  between  Paris  and  Orleans, 
their  two  great  cities,  was  commanded  by  the  castle  of 
a  rebellious  noble.^  But  though  the  fame  of  Suger  be 
unwisely  elevated  by  such  comparisons,  the  historic  facts 
remain,  that  during  the  reigns  of  the  two  Kings,  Louis 
the  Fat,  and  Louis  the  Young,  of  whom  Suger  was  the 
chief  counsellor,  order  was  restored,  royal  authority  be- 
came more  than  a  name,  the  great  vassals  of  the  crown 
were  brought  into  something  more  nearly  approaching, 
to  subordination.  If  France  became  France,  and  from 
the  Meuse  to  the  Pyrenees  some  respect  and  homage 
belonged  to  the  King ;   if  some  cities  obtained  charters 

1  Bernardi  Opera,  Epist.  333. 

2  Sismohdi,  Hist,  des  Fran9ais,  v.  pp.  7-20. 


Chap.  VI.  SUGER,  ABBOT  OF  ST.  DEXYS.  257 

of  freedom  ;  however  the  characters  of  the  Kings  and 
the  ch'curastances  of  the  times  may  have  had  greater 
actual  influence  than  the  administration  of  Suger,  yet 
much  must  have  been  due  to  his  wisdom  and  firmness. 

Suger  was  born  of  obscure  parentage  at  St.  Omer, 
in  1081.  He  was  received  at  fifteen  in  the  ms  wrth. 
Abbey  of  St.  Denys.  He  became  the  companion  of 
the  King's  son,  educated  at  that  abbey.  In  1098  he 
went  to  finish  his  studies  at  St.  Florent,  in  Saumur. 
He  returned  to  St.  Denys  about  the  age  of  twenty- 
two. 

In  the  wars  of  Louis,  first  named  the  Watchful,^ 
an  appellation  ill-exchanged  for  that  of  the  Education 
Fat,  the  young  monk  of  St.  Denys  scrupled  ^°^  ^''^^  "^"■ 
not  to  wield  a  lance  and  to  head  the  soldiers  of  the  Ab- 
bey ;  for  the  King's  domains  and  those  of  the  Abbey 
of  St.  Denys,  as  annoyed  by  common  enemies,  were 
bound  in  close  alliance,  and  were  nearly  of  the  same 
extent ;  the  soldiers  of  St.  Denys  formed  a  large  con- 
tingent in  the  royal  army.  The  Abbot  relates,  not 
without  some  proud  reminiscences,  how,  while  yet  a 
monk,  he  broke  gallantly  through  the  marauding  hosts 
of  Hugh  de  Poinset,  and  threw  himself  into  Theury ; 
he  describes  the  joy  "of  our  men"  at  his  unexpected 
appearance,  which  encouraged  them  to  a  des-  a.d.  m2. 
perate  rally,  and  saved  Theury,  a  post  of  the  utmost 
importance,  for  the  King.  Suger  became  the  ambassa- 
dor of  the  two  great  powers,  the  King  and  the  Abbot 
of  St.  Denys,  to  the  Court  of  Rome.  He  was  sent  to 
welcome  Pope  Gelasius,  when,  after  the  death  of  Pas- 
chal, he  fled  to  France.  Yet  he  could  not  lament  the 
death  of  Gelasius :  the  prudent  Suger  did  not  wish  to 

1  L'Eveill^. 
VOL.  IV.  17 


258  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

commit  France  in  a  quarrel  with  tlie  Romans  J  Suger 
hailed  the  elevation  of  the  half-French  Pope,  Calixtus 
II.  He  went  on  the  King's  affairs  to  Rome ;  and  fol- 
lowed Calixtus  into  Apulia.  On  his  return  he  had  a 
remarkable  and  prophetic  vision,  and  woke  to  the  re- 
Suger  abbot,  alitj.  On  the  death  of  Abbot  Adam  he  had 
been  chosen  to  the  high  place  of  Abbot  of  St.  Denys. 
But  the  churchman  and  the  courtier  were  committed 
in  dire  perplexity  within  him.  The  election  had  taken 
place  without  the  King's  permission.  Louis,  in  fury, 
had  committed  the  monks  and  knights  of  the  Abbey  to 
prison  at  Orleans.  Should  he  brave  the  King's  wrath, 
throw  himself  on  the  power  of  the  Pope,  and  compel 
A.D.  1123.  the  King  to  submission  ?  or  was  he  tamely  to 
surrender  the  rights  of  the  Church  ?  Louis,  however, 
he  found  to  his  delight,  had,  after  some  thought,  ap- 
proved his  election. 

From  that  time  Suger  became  the  first  counsellor,  if 
not  the  minister  of  the  king.  The  Abbey  of  St.  Denys 
was  the  centre  of  the  affairs  of  France.  The  restless, 
all- watchful  piety  of  St.  Bernard  took  alarm  at  this 
secularization  of  the  holy  foundation  of  St.  Denys.  He 
wrote  a  long,  lofty  rebuke  to  the  abbot ;  he  reproved 
St.  Bernard,  his  temporal  pomp,  his  temporal  business. 
"  The  abbey  was  thronged,  not  with  holy  recluses  in 
continual  prayer  within  the  chapel,  or  on  their  knees 
within  their  narrow  cells,  but  with  mailed  knights ; 
even  arms  were  seen  within  the  hallowed  walls.  If 
that  which  was  of  Csesar  was  given  to  Caesar,  that  of 
God  was  not  given  to  God."     Suger  himself  had  never 

1  Les  Notres.  Suger,  Vie  de  Louis  le  Gros,  in  Guizot's  M^moires.  Siege 
of  Theury.  "  II  avait  ainsi,  en  quittant  la  vie,  ^pargn^  une  querelle  aux 
FraiKjais  et  aux  Remains."  —  Ibid. 


Chap.  VI.  SUGER  REGEXT.  259 

thrown  off  the  severe  monk  ;  the  king's  minister  lodged 
in  a  close  cell,  ten  feet  by  fifteen ;  he  performed  with 
punctilious  austerity  all  the  outward  duties,  he  indulged 
in  all  the  minute  self-tortures  of  his  cloister.  Through- 
out the  rest  of  the  reign  of  Louis  the  Fat,  and  the 
commencement  of  that  of  Louis  the  Young,  during 
w^hich  the  kingly  power  was  gradually  growing  up  in 
strength  and  authority,  Suger  ruled  in  the  king's  coun- 
cils. When  the  irresistible  eloquence  of  St.  Bernard  ^ 
swept  Louis  the  Young,  with  the  rest  of  Europe,  to  the 
Holy  Land,  Suger  alone  had  the  courage  to  oppose  the 
abandonment  of  the  royal  duties  in  this  wild  enterprise  : 
he  opposed  in  vain.  Yet  by  the  unanimous  voice  Su- 
ger remained  for  two  years  chief  of  the  re-  -p^^^  -^■^^-  ^^ 
gency  ;  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen  and  the  ■^^*^- 
Count  of  Vermandois  held  but  a  secondary  authority. 
On  the  return  of  the  king,  the  regent  abbot  could  ap- 
peal in  honest  pride  to  his  master,  whether  he  had  not 
maintained  the  realm  in  unwonted  peace  (the  more 
turbulent  barons  had  no  doubt  accompanied  the  king 
to  the  Holy  Land),  supplied  him  with  ample  means  in 
money,  in  warlike  stores,  in  men  ;  his  palaces  and  do- 
mains were  in  admirable  state.  The  Regent  yielded 
up  his  trust,  the  kingdom  of  France,  in  a  better  state 
than  it  had  been  during  the  reign  of  the  Capets.  Su- 
ger the  statesman  had  endeavored  to  dissuade  the  king 
from  the  crusade,  but  from  no  want  of  profound  re- 
ligious zeal.  In  his  old  age,  at  seventy  years,  the  Ab- 
bot of  St.  Denys  himself  proposed  to  embark  on  a 
crusade :  he  would  consecrate  all  his  own  wealth  ;  he 
would  persuade  the  bishops  to  devote  their  ample  reve- 
nues to  this  holv  cause  ;  and  thus  the  Church  might 
1  Read  the  whole  of  the  78th  epistle.  —  Bernardi  Opera. 


260  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

conquer  Jerusalem  without  loss  or  damage  to  the  realm 
Jan.  13, 1152.  of  France.  Death  cut  short  his  holy  design ; 
he  died  the  year  before  St.  Bernard,  who,  notwithstand- 
hig  his  rebuke,  and  the  opposition  to  his  views  on  the 
Holy  Land,  admired  and  loved  the  Abbot  of  St.  Denys. 
It  may  be  some  further  homage  to  the  high  qualities  of 
Abbot  Suger  (without  exalting  him  beyond  the  naiTow 
sphere  in  which  he  moved),  that  after  his  death  begins 
the  feeble  and  inglorious  part  of  the  reign  of  Louis 
VII.  —  Louis  himself  sinks  into  a  slave  of  superstition. 
Suger  was  an  historian  as  well  as  a  statesman ;  but  he 
administered  better  than  he  wrote ;  though  not  without 
some  graphic  powers,  his  history  is  somewhat  pompous, 
but  without  dignity ;  it  has  many  of  the  monkish  fail- 
ings without  their  occasional  beauty  and  simplicity.^ 

1  See  throughout  Sugeri,  Vit.  Louis  Gr.,  and  the  Life  of  Suger,  in  Latin 
in  Bouquet,  in  French  in  Guizot's  Collection  des  M^moires. 


CHAP.Vn.  DEATH  OF  EUGEXIUS  m.  261 


CHAPTER    VII. 

HADRIAN  IV.  — FREDERICK  BARBAROSSA. 

In  the  same  year  with  Bernard  died  the  friend  of 
Bernard,  the  Cistercian  Pope,  Eugenius  III.     He  had 
returned  to  Italy  after  the  departure  of  the  crusade. 
He  took  up  his  abode,  not  at  Rome,  but  at  ^^^^  ^ 
first    at   Viterbo,    afterwards   at   Tusculum.  ^p*^;  g 
There  was  a  period  of  hostiHty,  probably  of  ■^^^^• 
open  war,  with  the  republic  at  Rome.     But  the  temper 
or  the  policy  of  Eugenius  led  him  to  milder  measures. 
The  republic  disclaimed  not  the  spiritual  su-  ^^^^  28 
premacy  of  the  Pope,  and  Eugenius  scrupled  -^^^^' 
not  to  enter  the  city  only  as  its  bishop,  not  as  its  Lord. 
The  first  time  he  remained  not  long,  and  retired  into 
Campania  ;  ^  the  second  time,  the  year  before  j,^^  9 
his  death,  the  skilful  and  well-timed  use  of  ^^^^' 
means  more  becoming  the  Head  of  Christendom  than 
arms  and  excommunications,  wrought  wonders  in  his 
favor ;  by  his  gentleness,  his  lavish  generosity,  his  mag- 
nificence (he  built  a  palace  near  St.  Peter's,  another  at 
Segni),  and  his  charity,  he  was  slowly  supplanting  the 
senate  in  the  popular  attachment ;  the  fierce  and  in- 


1  He  -was  at  Alba,  June;  at  Segni,  October?;  Ferentino,  November,  De- 
cember, part  of  1152.  Then  again  at  Segni.  —  Cardin.  Arragon.  in  Vit. 
He  is  also  said  to  have  recovered  some  parts  of  the  papal  domains.  From 
whom? 


262  LATIX  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Vm. 

tractable  people  were  yielding  to  this  gentler  influence. 
gppt^ ,.  Arnold  of  Brescia  found  his  power  gradually 

^^^--  wasting  away  from  the  silent  counter-work- 

ino"  of  the  clergy,  from  the  fickleness,  perhaps  the  rea- 
sonable disappointment  of  the  people,  who  yeanied 
again  for  the  glory  and  the  advantage  of  being  the 
religious  capital  of  the  world  —  the  centre  of  pilgrim- 
age, of  curiosity,  of  traflic,  of  business,  from  all  parts 
of  the  world.  The  Archbishops  of  Cologne  and  Mentz 
came  in  all  their  pomp  and  extravagance  of  expendi- 
ture to  Rome ;  for  the  first  time  they  were  sent  back 
wath  their  treasures.^  Eugenius,  in  the  spirit  of  an 
ancient  Roman,  or  a  true  Cistercian,  refused  their 
magnificent  offerings,  or  rather  their  bribes.  It  may 
be  questioned  whether  the  republicans  of  Rome  were 
the  most  sincere  admirers  of  this  unwonted  contempt 
of  riches  shown  by  the  Pope.  The  death  of  Eugenius 
alone  preserved  the  republic  from  an  earlier  but  less 
violent  fate  than  it  suffered  at  last.^  He  died  at  Tiv- 
juiy  7, 1153.   oli,  but  liis  rcmaiiis  were  received  in   Rome 

Death  of  •  i         i  i     i         •     i     •  i 

Eugeiiius.  with  the  utmost  respect,  and  buried  m  the 
Vatican.  The  fame  of  miraculous  cures  around  his 
tomb  showed  how  strong  the  Pope  still  remained  in  the 
affections  and  reverence  of  the  common  people. 

The  Republic,  true  to  its  principles,  did  not,  like  the 
turbulent  Roman  nobles,  or  the  heads  of  factions  in  the 
former  century,  interfere,  either  by  force  or  intrigue, 
in  the  election  of  the  Popes.  The  cardinals  quietly 
raiised  Conrad,  Bishop  of  Sabina,  a  Roman  by  birth,  to 

1  "  Nova  res.  Quando  hactenus  aurum  Roma  refudit?  "  —  Bernard,  de 
Consid.  iii.  3. 

2  "  Et  nisi  esset  mors  :tmula,  quae  ilium  cito  de  medio  rapuit,  senatores 
noviter  procreates  populi  adminiculo  usurpata  diguitate  privasset."  —  Ro- 
niuald.  Salern.  in  Chron. 


CHAP.Vn.  HADRIAN  IV.  263 

the  pontifical  chair  with  the  name  of  Anastasius  IV, 
On  the  death  of  Anastasius,  after,  it  should  j,^^^  2, 1154. 
seem  a  peaceful  rule  of  one  year  and  five  Hadrian  iv. 
months,  the  only  Englishman  who  ever  filled  ^®^'  *" 
the  papal  chair  was  raised  to  the  supremacy  over  Chris- 
tendom. 

Nicolas  Breakspeare,  born,  according  to  one  account, 
at  St.  Alban's,^  wandered  forth  from  his  country  in 
search  of  learning ;  he  was  received  into  a  monastery 
at  Aries  ;  became  a  brother,  prior,  abbot.  He  went  to 
Rome  on  the  affairs  of  his  community,  and  so  won  the 
favor  of  the  Pope  Eugenius  that  he  was  detained  in 
his  court,  was  raised  to  the  cardinalate,  undertook  a 
mission  as  legate  to  Norway ,2  and,  something  in  the 
character  of  the  old  English  apostles  of  Germany,  con- 
firmed that  hard  won  kingdom  in  its  allegiance  to  the 
see  of  Rome.  Nicolas  Breakspeare  was  a  man  of  ex- 
emplary morals,  high  fame  for  learning,  and  great  elo- 
quence :  and  now  the  poor  English  scholar,  homeless, 
except  in  the  home  which  he  found  in  the  hospitable 
convent ;  friendless,  except  among  the  friends  which 
he  has  made  by  his  abilities,  his  virtues,  and  his  piety ; 
with  no  birth  or  connections  to  advance  his  claims ;  is 
become  the  Head  of  Christendom  —  the  Lord  of  Rome, 
Avhich  surrenders  her  liberties  before  his  feet  —  the 
Pontiff  from  whose  hands  the  mightiest  and  proudest 

1  Cardinal  Arragon  in  Vita.  He  was  Bishop  of  Alba.  Perhaps  the  no- 
tion of  his  birth  at  St.  Alban's  arose  from  his  being  called  Albanus. 

2  Norway  was  slowly  converted,  not  by  preachers  or  bishops,  but  by  her 
kings;  by  Harold  the  Fair-haired,  Hacon  Athelstan,  Olaf  Trigvesen  — 
{iaint  Olaf — not  with  apostolic  persuasion,  but  with  the  Mohammedan 
proselytism  of  the  sword.  And  a  strange,  wild  Christianity  it  was,  worthy 
cf  its  origin;  but  it  softened  down  by  degrees  into  Christianity.  —  See 
Bishop  Munter,  Einfuhrung  des  Christenthums  in  Danemark  und  Norwe- 
gen,  latter  part  of  vol.  i. 


264  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  BookFOI. 

Emperor  Is  glad  to  receive  his  crown !  What  pride, 
what  hopes,  might  such  si  promotion  awaken  in  the 
lowest  of  the  sacerdotal  order  throughout  Christendom ! 
In  remote  England  not  a  youthful  scholar  but  may- 
have  had  visions  of  pontifical  grandeur !  This  had 
been  at  all  times  wondei-ful,  how  much  more  so  in  the 
age  of  feudalism,  in  which  the  pride  of  birth  was  para- 
mount ! 

Nor  did  Hadrian  IV.  yield  to  any  of  his  loftiest 
predecessors  in  his  assertion  of  the  papal  dignity ;  he 
was  surpassed  by  few  in  the  boldness  and  courage  with 
which  he  maintained  it.  The  views  of  unlimited 
power  which  opened  before  the  new  pontiff  appear 
Grant  of  most  manifestly  in  his  grant  of  Ireland  to 
A.D.  1155.  Henry  II.  of  England.  English  pride  might 
mingle  with  sacerdotal  ambition  in  this  boon  of  a  new 
kingdom  to  his  native  sovereign.  The  language  of  the 
grant  developed  principles  as  yet  unheard  in  Christen- 
dom. The  Popes  had  assumed  the  feudal  sovereignty 
of  .Naples  and  Sicily,  as  in  some  vague  way  the  succes- 
sors to  the  power  of  Imperial  Rome.  But  Hadrian 
declared  that  Ireland  and  all  islands  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity belonged  to  the  special  jurisdiction  of  St.  Peter.^ 
He  assumed  the  right  of  sanctioning  the  invasion,  on 
the  ground  of  its  advancing  civilization  and  propagat- 
ing a  purer  faith  among  the  barbarous  and  ignorant 
people.  The  tribute  of  Peter's  pence  from  the  con- 
quered island  was  to  be  the  reward  of  the  Pope's  mu- 
nificence in  granting  the  island  to  the  English,  and  his 

1  "  Sane  Hiberniam  et  omnes  insulas,  quibus  Sol  justitise  Christus  il- 
luxit,  et  quae  documenta  fidei  Christianae  receperunt,  ad  jus  B.  Patri  et 
Bacrosanctae  Romanae  ecclesiae,  quod  tua  etiam  nobilitas  recognoscit,  noa 
est  dubium  pertinere." — Rymer,  Foedera,  i.  19;  Wilken,  Concil.  i.  426; 
Radiilf  de  Diceto. 


Chap.  VII.       FALL  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.  265 

recognition  of  Henry's  sovereignty.  The  prophetic 
ambition  of  Hadrian  might  seem  to  have  anticipated 
the  time,  when  on  such  principles  the  Popes  should  as- 
sume the  power  of  granting  away  new  worlds. 

But  Hadrian  had  first  to  bring  rebellious  Rome 
under  his  sway.  The  mild  measures  of  Pope  Eugenius 
had  undermined  the  power  of  Arnold  of  Brescia.  Ha- 
drian had  the  courage  to  confront  him  with  open  hos- 
tiUty.  He  vouchsafed  no  answer  to  the  haughty 
demands  of  the  republic  to  recognize  its  authority  ;  he 
pronounced  sentence  of  banishment  from  the  city 
against  Arnold  himself.  Arnold  denied  the  power  of 
the  Pope  to  issue  such  sentence.  But  an  opportunity 
soon  occurred  in  which  Hadrian,  without  exceeding  his 
spiritual  power,  bowed  the  whole  rebellious  people 
under  his  feet.  The  Cardinal  of  San  Pudenziana,  on 
his  way  to  the  Pope,  who  was  in  the  palace  raised  on 
the  Vatican  by  Eugenius  III.,  encountered  a  tumult 
of  the  populace,  and  received  a  mortal  wound.  Ha- 
drian instantly  placed  the  whole  city  under  ^^^^  ^^^ej. 
an  interdict.  Rome  for  the  first  time  was  ^°*"'^'^^*- 
deprived  of  all  its  religious  ceremonies.  No  procession 
moved  through  the  silent  streets ;  the  people  thronged 
around  the  closed  doors  of  the  churches  ;  the  clergy, 
their  functions  entirely  suspended,  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  inflame  the  minds   of  the   populace.  Easter 

^    ^  March  27, 

Easter  was  drawing  on ;  no  mass  could  atone  ii55. 
for,  no  absolution  release  them  from  their  sins.     Relig- 
ion triumphed  over  liberty.    The  clergy  and  the  people 
compelled  the  senate  to  yield.     Hadrian  would  admit 
of  no  lower  terms  than  the  abrogation  of  the  ^^11  of  the 
republican   institutions  ;    the   banishment  of  ^^p"'^^^^- 
Arnold  and  his  adherents.     The  republic  was  at  an 


2Q6  LATIN  CHRISTLiXITY.  Book  VIIL 

end,    Arnold    an   exile;    the   Pope   again    master    in 
Rome. 

But  all  this  time  great , events  were  passing  in  the 
north  of  Italy ;  events  which,  however  in  some  re- 
spects menacing  to  Pope  Hadrian,  might  encourage 
him  in  his  inflexible  hostility  to  the  republicans  of 
Rome.^  On  the  death  of  Conrad,  Germany  with  one 
consent  had  placed  the  crown  on  the  head  of  the  great 
Frederick  Holienstaufeu  priucc,  his  nephew,  Frederick 
Barbarossa.  Barbarossa.  If  the  Papacy  under  Hadrian 
had  resumed  all  its  haughty  authority,  the  Empire  was 
wielded  with  a  terrible  force,  which  it  had  hardly  ever 
displayed  before.  Frederick  was  a  prince  of  intrepid 
valor,  consummate  prudence,  unmeasm^ed  ambition,  jus- 
tice which  hardened  into  severity,  the  ferocity  of  a 
barbarian  somewhat  tempered  with  a  high  chivalrous 
gallantry ;  above  all  with  a  strength  of  character  which 
subjugated  alike  the  great  temporal  and  ecclesiastical 
princes  of  Germany ;  and  was  prepared  to  assert  the 
imperial  rights  in  Italy  to  the  utmost.  Of  the  consti- 
tutional rights  of  the  Emperor,  of  his  unlimited  suprem- 
acy, his  absolute  independence  of,  his  temporal  supe- 
riority over,  all  other  powers,  even  that  of  the  Pope, 
Frederick  proclaimed  the  loftiest  notions.  He  was  to 
the  Empire  what  Hildebrand  and  Innocent  were  to  the 
popedom.     His  power  was  of  God  alone ;  to  assert  that 

1  Compare  the  curious  account  given  by  John  of  Salisbury  of  conversa- 
tions with  Pope  Hadrian,  with  whom,  on  account  probably  of  his  English 
connections,  he  may  have  been  on  intimate  terms.  The  condition  of  the 
Pope  is  most  laborious,  is  most  miserable.  "  Si  enim  avaritia  servit,  mors 
ei  est.  Sin  autem,  non  efifugiat  manus  et  linguas  Romanorum.  Nisi  enim 
noscat  unde  obstruat  eorum  ora  manusque  cohibeat,  ad  flagitia  et  sacrile- 
gia  perferenda  omnes  oculos  duret  et  animam  .  .  .  nisi  servirent,  aut  ex- 
Pontificem,  aut  ex-Romanum  esse  necesse  est." — Polycratic.  L.  viii.  p. 
334  and  366,  edit.  Giles. 


Chap.  YII.  FEEDEEICK  BAEBAEOSSA.  267 

it  is  bestowed  by  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  was  a  lie, 
and  directly  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  St.  Peter.^ 

In  the  autumn  of  the  year  of  Hadrian's  accession 
Frederick  descended  the  Alps  by  the  valley  of  Trent. 
Never  had  a  more  imposing  might  assembled  around 
any  of  his  predecessors  than  around  Frederick  on  the 
plains  of  Roncaglia.  He  came  to  receive  the  jjnd  of  No- 
iron  crown  of  Italy  from  the  Lombards,  the  ^^°^^^^' i^^- 
imperial  crown  from  the  Pope  at  Rome.  He  had  sum- 
moned all  the  feudatories  of  the  Empire,  all  the  feu- 
datories of  Italy,  to  his  banner,  declaring  himself 
determined  to  enforce  the  forfeiture  of  their  fiefs  if  they 
refused  to  obey.  The  Bishops  of  Crema  and  of  Halber- 
stadt  were  deprived,  as  contumacious,  for  their  lives,  of 
their  temporahties.^  The  great  prelates  of  Germany, 
instead  of  fomenting  disturbances  in  the  Empire,  were 
in  the  army  of  Frederick.  The  Archbishops  of 
Cologne  and  Mentz  were  at  the  head  of  their  vassals. 
The  Lombard  cities,  most  of  which  had  now  become 
republics,  hastened  to  send  their  deputies  to  acknv)wl- 
edge  their  fealty.  The  Marquis  of  Montferrat  ap- 
peared, it  is  said,  the  only  ruling  prince  in  the  north  of 
Italy.  Pavia,  Genoa,  Lodi,  Crema,  vied  in  their  loy- 
alty ;  even  haughty  Milan,  w^hich  had  trampled  under 
foot  Frederick's  mandate  commanding  peace  with  Lodi, 

1  "  Quum  per  electionem  principum  a  solo  Deo  regnum  et  imperiura  nos- 
trum sit,  qui  in  passione  Christi  filii  sui  duobus  gladiis  necessariis  regendum 
orbem  subjecit,  quumque  Petrus  Apostolus  hac  doctrina  mundum  informa- 
verit:  Deum  timete,  regem  honorificate;  quicunque  nos  imperialem  coro- 
nam  pro  beneficio  a  domino  Papa  suscepisse  dixerit,  divinse  institutioni  et 
doctrinae  Petri  contrarius  est  et  mendacii  reus  est." — Otho  Freisingen, 
apud  Muratori,  vi.  709.  Compare  Eichhorn  on  the  Constitution  of  the  Em- 
pire, from  the  Swabische  Spiegel  and  the  Sachsische  Spiegel,  11.  pp.  364, 
it  seq. 

-  Muratori,  Ann.  d' Italia  sub  ann. 


268  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

sent  her  consuls.^  The  Duke  Guelf  of  Bavaria,  under 
the  protection  of  the  Emperor,  took  quiet  possession 
of  the  domains  of  the  Countess  Matilda ;  ^  it  was  no 
time  for  the  Pope  even  to  enter  a  protest.  Frederick 
appeared  with  the  iron  cro\\Ti  in  the  Church  of  St. 
Michael  at  Pavia.^  There  was  just  resistance  enough 
to  show  the  terrible  power,  the  inflexible  determination 
of  Frederick.  At  the  persuasion  of  faithful  Pavia, 
Frederick  laid  siege  to  Tortona  :  notwithstanding  the 
bravest  resistance,  the  city  fell  through  famine  and 
thirst.*  Frederick  now  directed  his  march  to  the 
south. 

Hadrian  had  watched  all  the  movements  of  Frederick 
with  jealous  apprehension.  The  haughty  King  had 
not  yet  declared  his  disposition  towards  the  Church  ; 
nor  was  it  known  with  certamty  whether  he  would 
take  part  with  the  people  of  Rome,  or  with  their  Pon- 
june  1.  tiff.  Hadrian  was  at  Viterbo  with  the  leaders 
of  his  party,  the  Frangipani,  and  Peter  the  prefect  of 
the  city.  He  sent  forward  an  embassy  of  three  cardi- 
nals, St.  John  and  St.  Paul,  St.  Pudenziana,  St.  Maria 
in  Portico,  who  met  Frederick  at  San  Quirico.  Among 
the  first  articles  which  the  Pope  enforced  on  the  Em- 
peror as  the  price  of  his  coronation  was  the  surrender 
of  Arnold  of  Brescia  into  his  hands.  The  Emperor 
and  the  Pope  were  united  by  the  bonds  of  common 
interest  and  common  dread  and  hatred  of  republican- 
ism. Hadrian  wanted  the  aid  of  Frederick  to  suppress 
the  still  powerful  and  now  rallying  faction  in  Rome. 

1  Von  Eaumer,  p.  18 ;  Geschichte  der  Hohenstaufen,  viii.  8. 

2  Frederick's  first  descent  into  Italy  is  fully  and  clearly  related  by  Von 
Raumer. 

3  April  17,  1155.    Muratori,  sub  ann. 

4  Gunther,  iii. ;  Otho  Freisingen,  ii.  20. 


Chap.  VII.       EXECUTION  OF  AEXOLD.  269 

Frederick  received  the  Imperial  crown  from  the  hands 
of  the  Pope  to  ratify  his  unlimited  sovereignty  over  the 
contumacious  cities  of  Lombardy.  Arnold  of  Brescia 
had  struck  boldly  at  both  powers  ;  he  utterly  annulled 
the  temporal  supremacy  of  the  Pope ;  and  if  he  ac- 
knowledged, reduced  the  sovereignty  of  the  Emperor 
to  a  barren  title.-^     To  a  man  so  merciless  seizure  and 

1  r*    1  T  p  -r.       \  execution  Of 

and  contemptuous  oi  human  lite  as  iiarba-  Arnold. 
rossa,  the  sacrifice  of  a  tm'bulent  demagogue,  guilty  of 
treason  alike  to  the  temporal  and  spiritual  power,  was 
a  light  thing  indeed.  Arnold  had  fled  from  Rome, 
doubtful  and  irresolute  as  to  his  future  course  ;  his 
splendid  dreams  had  vanished,  the  faithless  soil  had 
crumbled  under  his  feet.  In  Otricoli  he  had  met  Ger- 
hard, Cardinal  of  St.  Nicolas,  who  took  him  prisoner. 
He  had  been  rescued  by  some  one  of  the  viscounts  of 
Campania,  his  partisans,  perhaps  nobles,  who  held  papal 
estates  by  grants  from  the  republic.  By  them  he  was 
honored  as  a  prophet.^  Frederick  sent  his  officers,  who 
seized  one  of  these  Campanian  nobles  and  compelled 
the  surrender  of  Arnold  :  he  was  carried  to  Rome, 
committed  to  the  custody  of  Peter,  prefect  of  the  city, 
who  held  for  the  Pope  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo.  No 
time  was  to  be  lost.  He  had  been,  even  till  within  a 
short  time,  an  object  of  passionate  attachment  to  the 
people  ;  there  might  be  an  insurrection  of  the  people 
for  his  rescue.     If  he  were  reserved  for  the  arrival  of 


1  "  Nil  juris  in  hac  re 
Pontifici  summo,  modicum  concedere  regi 
Suadebat  populo :  sic  laesa  stultus  utraque. 
Majestate,  reum  geminse  se  praebuit  aulge." 

Gunther,  iii.  383. 
2  "  Tanquam  prophetam  in  terra  sua  cum  omni  honore  habebant."  — 
AiCta  Hadriani  in  Cod.  Vaticano  apud  Baronium. 


270     •  LATm    CHRISTL4.NITY.  Book  VIII. 

Frederick  at  Rome,  what  change  might  be  wrought  by 
his  eloquence  before  the  Imperial  tribunal,  by  the  offers 
of  his  republican  friends,  by  the  uncertain  policy  of 
Frederick,  who  might  then  consider  the  demao-oo^ue  an 
useful  control  upon  the  Pope  !  The  Church  took  upon 
itself  the  summary  condemnation,  the  execution,  of  the 
excommunicated  rebel.  The  execution  was  despatched 
with  such  haste,  perhaps  secrecy,  that  even  at  the  time 
various  rumors  as  to  the  mode  and  place  of  punishment 
were  spread  abroad.  In  one  point  alone  all  are  agreed, 
that  Arnold's  ashes,  lest  the  foolish  people  should  wor- 
ship the  martyr  of  their  liberties,  were  cast  into  the 
Tiber.^     The  Church  had  been  wont  to  call  in  the  tem- 


1  Sismondi,  whom  Yon  Raumer  has  servilely  followed,  gives  a  dramatic 
description  of  the  execution  before  the  Porta  del  Popolo;  of  Arnold  look- 
ing down  all  the  three  streets  which  converge  from  that  gate ;  of  the  sleep- 
ing people  awakened  by  the  tumult  of  the  execution,  and  the  glare  of  the 
flames  from  the  pile  on  which  his  remains  were  burned,  rising  too  late  to 
the  rescue,  and  gathering  the  ashes  as  relics.  All  this  is  pure  fiction: 
neither  the  Cardinal  of  Arragon,  nor  Otho  of  Freisingen,  nor  Gunther,  nor 
the  wretched  verses  of  Godfrey  of  Viterbo,  have  one  word  of  it.  Gunther 
and  Otho  of  Freisingen  affix  him  to  a  cross,  and  bum  him. 

"  Judicio  cleri  nostro  sub  principe  victus, 
Adpensusque  cruci,  flammaque  cremante  solutus 
In  cilieres,  Tiberiae,  tuas  est  spar-us  in  undas. 
Ne  stolidae  plebis,  quern  fecerat,  improbus  error, 
Martyris  ossa  novo  cineresve  foveret  honore." 

Gunther. 

Anselm  of  Gemblours  and  Godfrey  of  Viterbo  say  that  he  was  hanged. 
Gunther  may  mean  by  his  crux  a  simple  gallows :  "  Strangulat  hunc 
laqueus,  ignis  et  unda  vehunt."  But  the  most  remarkable  account  is  that 
of  Gerohus  de  Investigatione  Autichristi  (on  Gerohus  see  Fabricius,  Biblio- 
theca  Lat.  Med.  JEtat.  iii.  p.  47):  "Amoldus  pro  doctrina  sua  non  solum 
ab  ecclesia,  Dei  anathematis  mucrone  separatus  insuper  etiam  suspendio 
neci  traditus  atque  in  Tyberim  projectus  est,  ne  videlicet  Romanus  popuius, 
quem  sua  doctrina  illexerat,  sibi  eum  martyrem  dedicaret.  Quern  ego 
vellem  pro  tali  doctrina  sua,  quamvis  prava,  vel  exilio,  vel  carcere,  aut 
alia  poena  praeter  mortem  pimitum  esse,  vel  saltem  taliter  occisum,  ut  Ro- 
mana  Ecclesia  seu  curia  ejus  necis  quaestione  careret."   The  whole  remark- 


Chai-.  yn.      ROilAN  EMBASSY  TO  BARBAROSSA.  271 

poral  sword  to  slied  tlie  blood  of  man ;  the  capital  pun- 
ishment of  Arnold  was,  bj  the  judgment  of  the  clergy, 
executed  by  the  officer  of  the  Pope ;  even  some  devout 
churchmen  shuddered  when  they  could  not  deny  that 
the  blood  of  Arnold  of  Brescia  was  on  the  Church. 

The  sacrifice  of  human  life  had  been  offered  ;  but 
the  treaty  which  it  was  to  seal  between  the  Emperor 
and  the  Pope  was  delayed  by  mutual  suspicion.  Their 
embassies  had  led  to  misunderstanding  and  jealousy. 
Hadrian  was  alarmed  at  the  haughty  tone,  the  hasty 
movements  of  Frederick  ;  he  could  not  be  ignorant 
that  at  the  news  of  his  advance  to  Rome  the  republi- 
cans had  rallied  and  sent  proposals  to  the  Emperor ;  he 
could  not  but  conjecture  the  daring  nature  of  those 
propositions.  He  would  not  trust  himself  in  the  power 
of  Frederick ;  as  the  German  advanced  towards  Rome 
Hadrian  continued  to  retire.  The  deputation  from  the 
Roman  republic  encountered  Barbarossa  on  the  Roman 
side  of  Sutri.  Their  lofty  language  showed  p^,^^^^  ^^^^ 
how  deeply  and  completely  they  were  intox-  ^^^^^nck. 
icated  with  the  doctrines  of  Arnold  of  Brescia :  they 
seemed  fondly  to  hope  that  they  should  find  in  Fred- 
erick a  more  powerful  Arnold ;  that  by  some  scanty 
concessions  of  title  and  honor  they  should  hardly  yield 
up  their  independence  upon  the  Empire  and  secure  en- 
tirely their  independence  of  the  Pope.^  They  congrat- 
ulated Frederick  on  his  arrival  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Rome,  if  he  came  in  peace,  and  with  the  intent  to 
deliver  them  forever  from  the  degrading  yoke  of  the 
clergy.     They  ascribed  all  the  old  Roman  glory,  the 

able  passage  in  Franke  Arnold  von  Brescia,  p.  193,  and  Nicolini's  Notes 
p.  375. 
1  Otho  Freisingen,  ii.  22.     Gunther,  iii.  450. 


272  LATIN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

conquest  of  the  world,  to  the  senate  of  Rome,  of  whom 
they  were  the  representatives  ;  they  intimated  that  it 
was  condescension  on  their  part  to  bestow  the  imperial 
crown  on  a  Transalpine  stranger  —  "  that  wliich  is  ours 
of  right  we  grant  to  thee ; "  they  commanded  him  to 
respect  their  ancient  institutions  and  laws,  to  protect 
them  against  barbarian  violence,  to  pay  five  thousand 
pounds  of  silver  to  their  officers  as  a  largess  for  their 
acclamations  in  the  Capitol,  to  maintain  the  republic 
even  by  bloodshed,  to  confirm  their  privileges  by  a  sol- 
emn oath  and  by  the  Imperial  signature.  Frederick 
suppressed  for  a  time  his  kingly,  contemptuous  indigna- 
tion. He  condescended  in  a  long  harangue  to  relate 
the  transferrence  of  the  Roman  Empire  to  Charlemagne 
and  his  descendants.  At  its  close  he  turned  fiercely 
round.  "  Look  at  my  Teutonic  nobles,  my  banded 
chivalry.  These  are  the  patricians,  these  are  the  true 
Romans  :  this  is  the  senate  invested  in  perpetual  author- 
ity. To  what  laws  do  you  presume  to  appeal  but  those 
which  I  shall  be  pleased  to  enact  ?  Your  only  liberty 
is  to  render  allegiance  to  your  sovereign." 

The  crest-fallen  republicans  withdrew  in  brooding 
indignation  and  wounded  pride  to  the  city.  It  was 
now  the  turn  of  Hadrian  to  ascertain  what  reception 
June  9.  he  would  meet  with  from  the  Emperor.  From 
Nepi  Hadrian  rode  to  the  camp  of  Frederick  in  the 
territory  of  Sutri.  He  was  met  with  courteous  respect 
by  some  of  the  German  nobles,  and  escorted  towards 
the  royal  tent.  But  he  waited  in  vain  for  the  Emperor 
to  come  forth  and  hold  his  stirrup  as  he  alighted  from 
his  horse. ^  The  affrighted  cardinals  turned  back,  and 
did  not  rest  till  they  reached  Civita  Castellana.     The 

1  Otho  Freisingen,  ii.  21.    Helmold,  i.  80. 


Chap.  YII.         CORONATION  OF  THE  EMPEROR.  273 

Pope  remained  with  a  few  attendants  and  dismounted  : 
then  came  forth  Frederick,  bowed  to  kiss  his  feet,  and 
offered  himself  to  receive  the  kiss  of  peace.  The  in- 
trepid Pope  refused  to  comply  till  the  king  should  have 
shown  every  mark  of  respect  usual  from  former  em- 
perors to  his  predecessors  :  he  withdrew  from  before 
the  tent.  The  dispute  lasted  the  whole  following  day. 
Frederick  at  last  allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  by 
the  precedents  alleged,  and  went  to  Nepi,  where  the 
Pope  had  pitched  his  camp.  The  Emperor  dismounted, 
held  the  stirrup  of  Hadrian,  and  assisted  him  to  alight.^ 
Their  common  interests  soon  led  at  least  to  outward 
amity.  The  coronation  of  Frederick  as  Em-  j^^^^  ^-^ 
peror  by  the  Pope  could  not  but  give  great  ■^^^^■ 
weight  to  his  title  in  the  estimation  of  Christendom, 
and  Hadrian's  unruly  subjects  could  only  be  controlled 
by  the  strong  hand  of  the  Emperor.  By  the  advice 
of  Hadrian  Frederick  made  a  rapid  march,  June  is. 
took  possession  of  the  Leonine  city  and  the  church  of 
St.  Peter.  The  next  day  he  was  met  on  the  steps  of 
the  church  by  the  Pope,  and  received  the  coronation  of 
crown  from  his  hands  amid  the  acclamations  *^^  Emperor, 
of  the  army.  The  Romans  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Tiber  were  enraged  beyond  measure  at  their  total  ex- 
clusion from  all  assent  or  concern  in  the  coronation. 
They  had  expected  and  demanded  a  great  largess  ;  they 
had  not  even  been  admitted  as  spectators  of  the  pom- 
pous ceremony.  They  met  in  the  Capitol,  crossed  the 
bridge,  endeavored  to  force  their  passage  to  St.  Peter's, 
and  slew  a  few  of  the  miserable  attendants  whom  they 

1 "  Imperator  —  descendit  eo  viso  de  equo,  et  officium  stratoris  implevit 
et  streugam  ipsius  tenuit,  et  tunc  primo  eum  ad  osculum  dominus  Papa 
recepit."  —  Cod.  Ceneii.  Cam.  apud  Muratori,  Antiquit.,  M.  A.  i.  117. 
VOL.  IV.  18 


274  LATm  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VKI. 

found  on  their  way.  But  Frederick  was  too  watchful 
a  soldier  to  be  surprised  :  the  Germans  met  them,  slew 
1000,  took  200  prisoners,  whom  he  released  on  the 
interposition  of  the  Pope.^ 

But  want  of  provisions  compelled  the  Emperor  to 
retire  with  the  Pope  to  Tivoli ;  there,  each  in  their  ap- 
parel of  state,  the  Pope  celebrated  mass  and  gave  the 
Holy  Eucharist  to  the  Emperor  on  St.  Peter's  day. 
The  inhospitable  climate  began  to  make  its  usual  rav- 
ages in  the  German  army  :  Frederick,  having  achieved 
his  object,  after  the  capture  and  sacking  of  Spoleto, 
and  some  negotiations  with  the  Byzantine  ambassadors, 
retired  beyond  the  Alps.^ 

Hadrian  was  thus,  if  abandoned  by  the  protecting 
Hadrian's  ai-  powcr,  relieved  from  the  importunate  pres- 
uancejith  ^^^^^  q£  ^^^  Empcror.  The  rebellious  spirit 
Sicily.  q£  Pome  seemed  to  have  been  crushed  ;  the 

temporal  sovereignty  restored  to  the  Pope.  He  began 
again  to  bestow  kingdoms,  and  by  such  gifts  to  bind  to 
his  interests  the  old  allies  of  the  pontificate  more  imme- 
diately at  hand  ^  —  allies,  if  his  Roman  subjects  should 
break  out  into  insurrection,  if  less  powerful,  more  sub- 
missive than  the  Imperialists.  Hadrian  had  at  first 
maintained,  he  now  abandoned,  the  cause  of  the  barons 
of  Apulia,  who  were  in  arms  against  the  King  of  Sicily. 
His  first  act  had  been  to  excommunicate  that  king: 

1  The  Bishop  is  seized  with  a  fit  of  martial  enthusiasm,  and  expresses 
vividly  the  German  contempt  for  the  Romans.  *'  Cerneres  nostros  tarn 
immaniter  quam  audacter  Romanos  csedendo  stemere,  sternendo  csedere, 
ac  si  dicerent,  accipe  nunc  Roma  pro  auro  Arabico  Teutonicum  ferrum. 
Haec  est  pecunia  quam  tibi  princeps  tuus  pro  tua  offert  corona.  Sic  emitur 
a  Francis  Imperium."  — Otho  Freisingen,  ii.  22. 

2  He  was  in  Verona  early  in  Sept.  — Von  Raumer,  Reg.,  p.  531. 

3  At  St.  Germano  (Oct.  1155)  he  had  received  the  homago  of  Robert 
Prince  of  Capua,  and  the  other  princes.  —  Cardin.  Arragon.  W .  cit 


Chap.  YII.       ALLIA^TCE  WITH  KING  OF  SICILY.  275 

now,  at  Benevento,  William  received  from  the  hands  of 
the  Pope  the  investiture  of  the  kingdom  of  june9 
Sicily,  of  the  dukedom  of  Apulia,  of  the  prin-  -^^^^^ 
cipalities  of  Capua,  Naples,  Salerno  and  Amalfi,  and 
some  other  territories.  William  bound  himself  to  fealty 
to  the  Pope,  to  protect  him  against  all  his  enemies,  to 
pay  a  certain  tribute  annually  for  Apulia  and  Calabria, 
and  for  the  March. 

The  Emperor  Frederick  had  aspired  to  be  as  abso- 
lute over  the  whole  of  Italy  as  of  Germany.  Hadrian 
had  even  entered  into  an  alliance  with  him  ao'ainst 
Sicily ;  the  invasion  of  that  kingdom  had  only  been 
postponed  on  account  of  the  state  of  the  Imperial  army 
and  the  necessary  retirement  of  the  Emperor  beyond 
the  Alps.  In  this  Sicilian  alliance  Frederick  saw  at 
once  treachery,  ingratitude,  hostility.^  It  betrayed  a 
leaning  to  Italian  independence,  the  growth  and  con- 
federation with  Rome  of  a  power  inimical  to  his  own. 
William  of  Sicily  had  overrun  the  whole  kingdom  of 
Apulia ;  it  was  again  Italian  :  yet  fully  occupied  by 
the  affairs  of  Germany,  the  Emperor's  only  revenge 
was  an  absolute  prohibition  to  all  German  Ecclesiastics 
to  journey  to  Rome,  to  receive  the  confirmation  of  their 
ecclesiastical  dignities,  or  on  any  other  affairs.  This 
measure  wounded  the  pride  of  Rome  ;  it  did  more,  it 
impoverished  her.  It  cut  off  a  large  part  of  that  reve- 
nue which  she  drew  from  the  whole  of  Christendom. 
The  haughty  jealousy  betrayed  by  this  arbitrary  act 
was  aggravated  by  a  singular  incident.  Fred-  Diet  at 
erick  was  holdino;  a  Diet  of  more  than  usual  Oct.  2I 1157. 
magnificence  at  Besan9on  ;  he  was  there  asserting  his 
sovereignty  over  another  of  the  kingdoms  of  Charle- 

1  Marangoni  Chronic.  Pisan.  (Archivio  Storico,  vol.  vi.  p.  2),  p.  16. 


276  LATIX  CHRISTIAXITY.  Book  YIII. 

magne,  that  of  Burgundy.  From  all  parts  of  the 
world,  from  Rome,  Apulia,  Venice,  Lombardy,  France, 
England,  and  Spain^  persons  were  assembled,  either  for 
curiosity  or  for  traffic,  to  behold  the  pomp  of  the  new 
Charlemagne,  or  to  profit  by  the  sumptuous  expendi- 
ture of  the  Emperor  and  his  superb  magnates.  The 
legates  of  the  Pope,  Roland  the  Chancellor  Cardinal  of 
St.  Mark,  and  Bernard  Cardinal  of  St.  Clement,  pre- 
sented themselves  ;  they  were  received  with  courtesy. 
The  letters  which  they  produced  were  read  and  in- 
terpreted by  the  Chancellor  of  the  Empire.  Even  the 
Conduct  of  opening  address  to  the  Emperor  was  heard 
Papal  legates,  ^^-^j^  somc  astonishmeut.  "The  Pope  and 
the  cardinals  of  the  Roman  Church  salute  you  ;  he  as 
a  father,  they  as  brothers."  The  imperious  tone  of  the 
letter  agreed  with  this  beginning.  It  reproved  the  Em- 
peror for  his  culpable  negligence  in  not  immediately 
punishing  some  of  his  subjects  who  had  waylaid  and 
imprisoned  the  Swedish  Bishop  of  Lunden  on  his  jour- 
ney to  Rome ;  it  reminded  Frederick  of  his  favorable 
reception  by  the  Pope  in  Italy,  and  that  the  Pope  had 
bestowed  on  him  the  Imperial  crown.  "  The  Pope  had 
not  repented  of  his  munificence  nor  would  repent,  even 
if  he  had  bestowed  greater  favors."  The  ambiguous 
word  used  for  favors,  "  beneficia,"  Avas  taken  in  its  feu- 
dal sense  by  the  fierce  and  ignorant  nobles.  They  sup- 
posed it  meant  that  the  Empire  was  held  as  a  fief  from 
the  Pope.  Those  who  had  been  at  Rome  remembered 
the  arrogant  lines  which  had  been  placed  under  the 
picture  of  the  Emperor  Lothair  at  the  feet  of  the  Pope, 
doing  homage  to  him  as  his  vassal.^     Indignant  mur- 

1  "  Rex  venit  ante  fores,  jurans  prius  urbis  honores, 
Post  homo  fit  PaptE,  sumit  quo  dante  coronam." 


Chap.  VII.  COXDUCT   OF  PAPAL   LEGATES.  277 

murs  broke  from  the  assembly  ;  the  strife  was  exasper- 
ated by  the  words  of  the  dauntless  Cardinal  Roland, 
"  Of  whom,  then,  does  he  hold  the  Empire  but  of  our 
Lord  the  Pope  ?  "  The  Count  Palatine,  Otho  of  Wit- 
tlesbach,  drew  his  sword  to  cut  down  the  audacious  ec- 
clesiastic. The  authority  of  Frederick  with  difficulty 
appeased  the  tumult  and  saved  the  lives  of  the  legates. 
Frederick,  in  a  public  manifesto,  appealed  to  the  Em- 
pire against  the  insolent  pretensions  of  the  Pope.^  He 
accused  Hadrian  of  wantonly  stirring  up  hostility  be- 
tween the  Church  and  the  Empire.  His  address  assert- 
ed (no  doubt  to  bind  the  Transalpine  clergy  to  his 
cause)  that  blank  billets  had  been  found  on  the  legates 
empowering  them  to  despoil  the  churches  of  the  Em- 
pire and  to  carry  away  their  treasures,  even  their  sacred 
vessels  and  crosses,  to  Rome.^  He  issued  an  edict  pro- 
hibiting the  clergy  from  all  access  to  the  apostolic  see, 
and  o;ave  instructions  that  the  frontiers  should  be  care- 
fully  watched  lest  any  of  them  should  find  their  way 
to  Rome.  Hadrian  published  an  address  to  the  bishops 
of  the  Empire,  bitterly  complaining  of  the  blasphemies 
uttered  by  the  Chancellor  Rainald  and  the  Count  Pala- 

1  Radevic.  i.  8, 19.     Gunther,  vi.  800.     ConciL  sub  ann.  1157. 

"  Jam  non  ferre  crucem  domini,  sed  tradere  regna 
Gaudet,  et  Augustus  mavult  quam  praesul  haberi." 

Gunther. 
So  taunted  Frederick  the  ambition  of  the  Pope. 

2  "  Porro  quia  multa  paria  litterarum  apud  eos  reperta  sunt,  et  schedulas 
sigillatfe  ad  arbitriuin  eorum  adhuc  scribendae  (sicut  hactenus  consuetudinis 
eorum  fuit)  per  singulas  ecclesias  Teutonici  regni  conceptum  iniquitatis 
suae  virus  respergere,  altaria  denvdare,  vasa  domus  Dei  asportare,  cruces 
excoriare  nitebantur."  This  charge  appears  in  the  Rescript  of  Frederick 
m  Radevicus.  .If  untrue,  it  boldly  calculated  on  as  much  ignorance  in  his 
clergy,  as  had  been  shown  by  the  laity.  But  what  was  the  ground  of  the 
charge?  Some  taxation,  ordinary  or  extraordinary,  of  the  clergy?  — 
Eadevic.  Chron.  apud  Pistorium,  i.  10. 


278  LATIX  CHEISTL\NITY.  Book  VIII. 

tine  against  the  legates,  of  the  harsh  proceedings  of  the 
Emperor,  but  without  disclaiming  the  ambiguous  sense 
of  the  offensive  word ;  he  claimed  their  loyal  support 
for  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  and  the  holy  Roman 
Church.  But  the  bishops  had  now  for  the  most  part 
become  German  princes  rather  than  papal  churchmen. 
They  boldly  declared,  or  at  least  assented  to  the  Em- 
peror's declaration  of  the  supremacy  of  the  Empire  over 
the  Church,  demanded  that  the  offensive  picture  of  Lo- 
thair  doing  homage  to  the  Pope  should  be  effaced,  the 
insulting  verses  obliterated.^  They  even  hinted  their 
disapprobation  of  Hadrian's  treaty  with  the  King  of 
Sicily,  and  in  respectful  but  firm  language  entreated 
the  Pope  to  assume  a  more  gentle  and  becoming  tone. 
The  triumphant  progress  of  Frederick's  ambassadors, 
Rainald  the  Chancellor  of  the  Empire  and  Otho  Pala- 
tine of  Bavaria,  through  Northern  Italy,  with  the  for- 
midable preparations  for  the  Emperor's  own  descent 
durino'  the  next  vear,  had  no  doubt  more  effect  in 
bringing  back  the  Pope  to  less  unseemly  conduct.  In 
the  camp  at  Augsburg  appeared  the  new  legates,  the 
Cardinal  of  St.  Nireus  and  Achillas,  and  the  Cardinal 
Hyacinth  (who  had  been  seized,  plundered,  and  im- 
prisoned by  some  petty  chieftains  in  the  Tyrol).  They 
Explanations  had  autlioritv  to  explain   awav  the  doubtful 

of  Hadrian.  i-      ,    •  ii  .  i 

Jan.  29, 1158.  teriiis,  to  Qisclaim  all  pretensions  on  the  part 
of  the  Pope  to  consider  the  Empire  a  benefice  of  the 
Church,  or  to  make  a  grant  of  the  Empire.  Frederick 
accepted  the  overtures,  and  an  outward  reconciliation 
took  place. 

The  next  year  Frederick  descended  for  the  second 
time  into  Italy.     Never  had  so  powerful  a  Teutonic 

1  Radevic.  ii.  31. 


Chap.  TII.      JEALOUSY  OF  I3IPER0R  AXD  POPE.  279 

army,  not  even  in  his  first  campaign,  crossed  the  Alps. 
The  several  roads  were  choked  by  the  contingents  from 
every  part  of  the  Empire  ;  all  Germany  seemed  to  be 
discharging  itself  upon  the  plains  of  Italy.  The  Dukes 
of  Austria  and  Carinthia  descended  the  pass  of  Friuli ; 
Duke  Frederick  of  Swabia,  the  Emperor's  nephew,  by 
Chiavenna  and  the  Lake  of  Como  ;  Duke  Bernard  of 
Zahringen  by  the  Great  St.  Bernard ;  the  Emperor 
himself  marched  down  the  valley  of  Trent.  July,  U58. 
At  first  his  successes  and  his  cruelties  carried  all  before 
him.  He  compelled  the  submission  of  Milan ;  the 
haughty  manner  in  which  he  asserted  the  Imperial 
rights,  the  vast  army  with  which  he  enforced  those 
rights,  the  merciless  severity  with  which  he  visited  all 
treasonable  resistance,  seemed  to  threaten  the  ruin  of 
all  which  remained  either  of  the  temporal  or  spiritual 
independence  of  Italy.^  He  seemed  determined,  he 
avowed  his  determination,  to  rule  the  clergy  like  all  the 
rest  of  his  subjects  ;  to  compel  their  homage  for  all 
their  temporal  possessions  ;  to  exact  all  the  Imperial 
dues,  to  be,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  theory,  their  feudal 
sovereign.  He  enforced  the  award  already  made  of  the 
inheritance  of  the  Countess  Matilda  to  his  uncle  Guelf 
VI.  of  Bavaria. 

Slight  indications  betrayed  the  growing  jealousy  and 
alienation   of  the   Emperor   and   the   Pope.  Jealousy  of 

mi  •  11       Emperor  and 

ihese  two  august  sovereigns  seemed  to  take  Pope, 
delight  in  galling  each  other  by  petty  insults,  but  each 
of  these  insults  had  a  deeper  significance. ^     Guido,  of 
a  noble  German  house,  the  Counts  of  Blandrada,  was 
elected,  if  through  the  imperial  interest  yet  according 

1  Ptadevic.  i.  26.    Gunther,  vii.  220.     Almost  all  the  German  chronicles. 

2  Eadevic.  ii.  15,  20.    Gunther,  ix.  115. 


280  LATIX  CHKISTIAXITY.  Book  YIII. 

Nov.  24         *^  canonical  forms,  to  the  Archiepiscopate  of 
^^^-  Ravenna,  once  the  rival,  now  next  to  Rome  in 

wealth  and  state.  Guido  was  subdeacon  of  the  Roman 
Church,  and  Hadrian  refused  to  permit  the  translation, 
under  the  courteous  pretext  that  he  could  not  part  with 
so  beloved  a  friend,  whose  promotion  in  the  Church  of 
Rome  was  his  dearest  object.  Hadrian  soon  after  sent 
a  letter  to  the  Emperor,  couched  in  moderate  language, 
but  complaining  with  bland  bitterness  of  disrespect 
shown  to  his  legates  ;  of  the  insolence  of  the  imperial 
troops,  who  gathered  forage  in  the  Papal  territories  and 
insulted  the  "castles  of  the  Pope  ;  of  the  exaction  of  the 
same  homage  from  bishops  and  abbots  as  from  the  cities 
and  nobles  of  Italy.  This  letter  was  sent  by  a  com- 
mon, it  was  said  a  ragged  messenger,  who  disappeared 
without  waiting  for  an  answer.  The  Emperor  revenged 
himself  by  placing  his  own  name  in  his  reply  before 
Letter  of  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^®  Pope,  and  by  addressing  him  in 
Hadrian.  ^^^  familiar  singular  instead  of  the  respectful 
plural,  a  style  which  the  Popes  had  assumed  when  ad- 
dressing the  Emperor,  and  which  Frederick  declared  to 
be  an  usurpation  on  their  part.^  Hadrian's  next  let- 
June24.  tcr  showcd  how  deep  the  wound  had  sunk. 
"  The  law  of  God  promises  long  life  to  those  who 
honor,  threatens  death  to  those  who  speak  evil  of  then' 
father  and  their  mother.  He  that  exalteth  himself 
shall  be  abased.  My  son  in  the  Lord  (such  is  the 
endearing  name  which  Hadrian  uses  to  convict  the 
Emperor  of  a  breach  of  the  divine  commandment), 
we  wonder  at  your  irreverence.  This  mode  of  address 
incurs  the  guilt  of  insolence,  if  not  of  arrogance. 
What  shall  I  say  of  the  fealty  sworn  to  St.  Peter  and 

1  Appendix  ad  Kadev.  562. 


Chap.  Vn.  LETTER  OF  HADRIAN.  281 

to  US  ?  How  dost  thou  show  it  ?  By  demandmg  hom- 
age of  bishops,  who  are  Gods,  and  the  Saints  of  the 
Most  High  ;  thou  that  makest  them  place  their  conse- 
crated hands  in  yours  !  Thou  that  closest  not  merely 
the  churches,  but  the  cities  of  thy  empire  against  our 
legates  !  We  warn  thee  to  be  prudent.  If  thou  hast 
deserved  to  be  consecrated  and  crowned  by  our  hands, 
by  seeking  more  than  we  have  granted,  thou  mayest 
forfeit  that  which  we  have  condescended  to  grant." 
This  was  not  language  to  soften  a  temper  like  Fred- 
erick's :  his  rejoinder  rises  to  scorn  and  defiance.  He 
reminds  the  Pope  of  the  humble  relation  df  Answer  of 
Silvester  to  Constantine ;  all  that  the  Popes  a.d.  1159.' 
possess  is  of  the  gracious  liberality  of  the  Emperors. 
He  reverts  to  higher  authority,  and  significantly  alludes 
to  the  tribute  paid  by  our  Lord  himself,  through  St. 
Peter,  to  Csesar.  "  The  churches  are  closed,  the  city 
gates  will  not  open  to  the  Cardinals,  because  they  are 
not  preachers,  but  robbers  ;  not  peacemakers,  but  plun- 
derers ;  not  the  restorers  of  the  world,  but  greedy 
rakers  up  of  gold.^  When  we  shall  see  them,  as  the 
Church  enjoins,  bringing  peace,  enlightening  the  land, 
maintaining  the  cause  of  the  lowly  in  justice,  we  shall 
not  hesitate  to  provide  them  with  fitting  entertain- 
ment and  allowances.''  —  "  We  cannot  but  return  such 
answer  when  we  find  that  detestable  monster  '  pride ' 
to  have  crept  up  to  the  very  chair  of  St.  Peter.  As  ye 
are  for  peace,  so  may  ye  prosper."  ^ 

1  "  Quod  non  videmus  eos  praedicatores  sed  prtedatores,  non  pacis  corro- 
boratores  sed  pecuniae  raptores,  non  orbis  reparatores  sed  auri  insatiabiles 
corrasores."  —  Append.  Radevic. 

2  "  Non  enim  non  possumus  respondere  auditis,  cum  superbiae  detesta- 
bilem  bestiara  usque  ad  sedem  Petri  reptasse  videmus.  Paci  bene  consu- 
lentes  bene  semper  valete."  —  Apud  Baronium,  sub  ann.  1159. 


282  LATIN  CHRISTIAXITY.  Book  YIII. 

Some  of  the  German  bishops,  especially  Eberhard  of 
Bamberg,  endeavored  to  mediate  and  avert  the  threat- 
ened conflict.  The  Emperor  consented  to  receive  four 
Cardinals.  They  brought  a  pacific  proposition,  but 
accompanied  with  demands  which  amounted  to  hardly 
Terms  pro-  Icss  than  tlic  Unqualified  surrender  of  the  Im- 
pope.  ^  ^  perial  rights.  I.  The  first  involved  the  abso- 
lute dominion  of  the  city  of  Rome.  The  Emperor  was 
to  send  no  officer  to  act  in  his  name  within  the  city 
without  permission  of  the  Pope  ;  the  whole  magistracy 
of  the  city  and  all  the  royalties  being  the  property  of 
the  Apostolic  See.  II.  No  forage  was  to  be  levied  in 
the  Papal  territories,  excepting  on  occasion  of  the  Em- 
peror's coronation.  His  armies  were  thus  prohibited 
from  crossing  the  Papal  frontier.  III.  The  Bishops  of 
Italy  were  to  swear  allegiance,  but  not  do  homage  to 
the  Emperor.  IV.  The  ambassadors  of  the  Emperor 
were  not  to  be  lodged  of  right  in  the  episcopal  palaces. 
V.  The  possessions  of  the  Church  of  Rome  to  be  re- 
stored, the  whole  domains  of  the  Countess  Matilda,  the 
territory  from  Acquapendente  to  Rome,  the  Duchy  of 
Spoleto,  and  the  islands  of  Corsica  and  Sardinia  ;  the 
Emperor  to  pay  tribute  for  Ferrara,  Massa,  Fico- 
loro. 

Frederick  commanded  his  temper  :  such  grave  mat- 
ters, he  said,  required  the  advice  of  his  wisest  counsel- 
lors ;  but  on  some  points  he  would  answer  at  once. 
He  would  require  no  homage  of  the  bishops  if  they 
would  give  up  the  fiefs  which  they  held  of  the  Empire. 
If  they  chose  to  listen  to  the  Pope  when  he  demanded 
wdiat  they  had  to  do  with  the  Emperor,  they  must  sub- 
mit to  the  commands  of  the  Emperor,  or  what  had  they 
to  do  with  the  estates  of  the  Empire  ?     He  would  not 


CHAP.Vn.        TEEMS  PROPOSED  BY  THE  POPE.  283 

require  that  his  ambassadors  should  be  lodged  in  the 
episcopal  palaces  when  those  palaces  stood  on  their  own 
lands ;  if  they  stood  on  the  lands  of  the  Empire,  they 
were  imperial,  not  episcopal  palaces.  "  For  the  city  of 
Rome,  by  the  grace  of  God  I  am  Emperor  of  Rome  : 
if  Rome  be  entirely  withdrawn  from  my  authority,  the 
Empire  is  an  idle  name,  the  mockery  of  a  title."  Nor 
were  these  the  only  subjects  of  altercation.  The  Em- 
peror complained,  of  the  intrusion  of  the  Papal  Legates 
into  the  Empire  without  his  permission,  the  abuse  of 
aj)peals,  the  treaties  of  the  Pope  with  the  Greek  Em- 
pire and  with  the  King  of  Sicily  ;  above  all,  his  clan- 
destine dealina;s  with  the  insurgents,  now  in  arms  in 
Lombardy.  He  significantly  intimated  that  if  he  could 
not  make  terms  with  the  Pope,  he  might  with  the  Sen- 
ate and  people  of  Rome. 

Peace  became  more  hopeless.  As  a  last  resource, 
six  Cardinals  on  the  part  of  the  Pope,  and  six  German 
Bishops  on  that  of  the  Emperor,  were  appointed  to 
frame  a  treaty.  But  the  Pope  demanded  the  reestab- 
lishment  of  the  compact  made  with  his  predecessor 
Eugenius.  The  Imperial  Bishops  reproached  the  Pojte 
with  his  own  violation  of  that  treaty  by  his  allian(;e 
with  the  King  of  Sicily ;  the  Germans  unanimously 
rejected  the  demands  of  the  Pope  :  and  now  Firmness  of 
the  Emperor  received  with  favor  a  deputation  H^<i"^°- 
from  the  Senate  and  people  of  Rome.  These  ambassa- 
dors of  the  Republican  party  had  watched,  had  been 
present  at  the  rupture  of  the  negotiations.^  The  Pope, 
with   the   embers   of   Arnold's   rebellion   smouldering 

1  "  Prsesentes  ibidem  fuere  Romanorum  civium  legati,  qui  cum  indigna- 
tione  mirabantur  super  his  quae  audierant." — Epist.  Eberhard  Bamberg, 
ap.  Radevicum,  ii.  31. 


284  LATIX  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

under  his  feet ;  with  the  Emperor  at  the  head  of  all 
Germany,  the  prelates  as  well  as  the  princes ;  with  no 
ally  but  the  doubtful,  often  perfidious  Norman  ;  stood 
unshaken,  betrayed  no  misgivings.  To  the  Emperor 
no  reply  from  the  Pope  appears  ;  but  to  the  Arch- 
bishops of  Treves,  Mentz,  and  Cologne,  was  sent,  or 
had  before  been  sent,  an  invective  against  the  Emperor, 
almost  unequalled  in  scorn,  defiance,  and  unmeasured 
assertion  of  superiority.  There  is  no  odious  name  in 
the  Old  Testament  —  Rabshakeh,  Achitophel  —  which 
is  not  applied  to  Frederick.  "  Glory  be  to  God  in  the 
highest,  that  ye  are  found  tried  and  faithful  (he  seems 
to  reckon  on  their  disloyalty  to  Frederick),  while  these 
flies  of  Pharaoh,  which  swarmed  up  from  the  bottom 
of  the  abyss,  and,  driven  about  by  the  whirling  w^nds 
while  they  strive  to  darken  the  sun,  are  turned  to  the 
dust  of  the  earth."  He  threatens  the  Emperor  with 
a  public  excommunication  :  "  And  take  ye  heed  that 
ye  be  not  involved  in  the  sins  of  Jeroboam,  who  made 
Israel  to  sin ;  and  behold  a  worse  than  Jeroboam  is 
here.  Was  not  the  Empire  transferred  by  the  Popes 
from  the  Greeks  to  the  Teutons  ?  The  Kino;  of  the 
Teutons  is  not  Emperor  before  he  is  consecrated  by  the 
Pope.  Before  his  consecration  he  is  but  King ;  after 
it  Emperor  and  Augustus.  From  whence,  then,  the 
Empire  but  from  us  ?  Remember  what  were  these 
Teutonic  Kings  before  Zacharias  gave  his  benediction 
to  Charles,  the  second  of  that  name,  who  were  drawn 
in  a  wagon  by  oxen,  like  philosophers  !  ^  Glorious 
kings,  who  dwelt,  like  the  chiefs  of  synagogues,  in 
these  wagons,  while  the  Mayor  of  the  Palace  admin- 
istered the  affairs  of  the  Empire.  Zacharias  I.  pro- 
1  "  Qui  in  carpento  bourn,  sicut^Az7osqpAicircumferebantur." 


Chap.  Vn.  DEATH  OF  HADRIAX.  285 

moted  Charles  to  the  Emph'e,  and  gave  him  a  name 
great  above  all  names.  .  .  .  That  which  we  have 
bestowed  on  the  faithful  German  we  may  take  away 
from  the  disloyal  German.  Behold  it  is  in  our  power 
to  2:rant  to  whom  we  will.  For  this  reason  are  we 
placed  above  nations  and  kingdoms,  that  we  may  de- 
stroy and  pluck  up,  build  and  plant.  So  great  is  the 
power  of  Peter,  that  whatsoever  is  done  by  us  wor- 
thily and  rightfully  must  be  believed  to  be  done  by 
God  ! "  1 

Did  the  bold  sagacity  of  Hadrian  foresee  the  heroic 
resolution  with  which  Milan  and  her  confederate  Lom- 
bard cities  would  many  years  afterwards,  and  after 
some  dire  reverses  and  long  oppression,  resist  the  power 
of  Barbarossa  ?  Did  he  calculate  with  prophetic  fore- 
sight the  strength  of  Lombard  republican  freedom? 
Did  he  anticipate  the  field  of  Legnano,  when  the  whole 
force  of  the  Teutonic  Empire  Avas  broken  before  the 
carroccio  of  Milan?  Already  was  the  secret  treaty 
framed  with  Milan,  Brescia,  and  Crema.  These  cities 
bound  themselves  not  to  make  peace  with  the  Emperor 
without  the  consent  of  the  Pope  and  his  Catholic  suc- 
cessor. Hadrian  was  preparing  for  the  last  act  of 
defiance,  the  open  declaration  of  war,  the  excommuni- 
cation of  the  Emperor,  wliich  he  was  pledged  to  pro- 

1  Hahn.  Monumenta,  i.  p.  122.  The  date  is  March  19,  1159,  from  the 
Lateral!  palace.  The  date  may  be  wrong,  yet  the  bull  authentic.  JafF^,  I 
must  observe,  rejects  it  as  spurious.  This  invective  is  reprinted  in  Pertz 
from  a  MS.  formerly  belonging  to  the  Abbey  of  Malmedy.  It  appears 
there  as  an  answer  to  a  letter  of  Archbishop  Hillin  of  Treves  (published 
before  in  Hontheim,  Hist.  Trev.  i.  581).  Possibly  I  may  have  misplaced 
it.  —  Pertz,  Archiv.  iv.  pp.  •428-434:.  Boehmer  seems  to  receive  it  as  au- 
thentic, but  as  belonging  to  a  period  in  which  Frederick  Barbarossa  actu- 
ally contemplated  throwing  off  the  Roman  supremacy. — Preface  to  Regesta, 
p.  vii. 


286  LATIN    CHEISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

nounce  after  the  signature  of  the  treaty  witli  the 
Repubhcs,  when  his  death  put  an  end  to  this  strange 
conflict,  where  each  antagonist  was  allied  with  a  repub- 
lican party  in  the  heart  of  his  adversary's  dominions. 
Sept.  1, 1159.  Hadrian  TV.  died  at  Anagni :  his  remains 
were  brought  to  Rome,  and  interred  with  the  highest 
honors,  and  with  the  general  respect  if  not  the  grief 
of  the  city,  in  the  Church  of  St.  Peter.  Even  the 
ambassadors  of  Frederick  were  present  at  the  funeral. 
So  ended  the  poor  English  scholar,  at  open  w^ar  with 
perhaps  the  mightiest  sovereign  who  had  reigned  in 
Transalpine  Europe  since  Charlemagne.^ 

1  Radev.  apud  Muratori,  Pars  ii.  p.  83.  John  of  Salisburj'  reports  an- 
other very  curious  conversation  which  he  held  with  Hadrian  IV.  during  a 
visit  of  three  months  at  Benevento.  John  spoke  strongly  on  the  venality 
of  Rome,  and  urged  the  popular  saying,  that  Rome  was  not  the  mother  but 
the  stepmother  of  the  churches;  the  sale  of  justice,  purchase  of  preferments, 
and  other  abuses.  "  Ipse  Romanus  Pontifex  omnibus  gravis  et  paene  in- 
tolerabilis  est?"  The  Pope  smiled:  "  And  what  do  you  think?"  John 
spoke  handsomely  of  soma  of  the  Roman  clergy  as  inaccessible  to  bribery, 
acknowledged  the  di^cAty  of  the  Pope  in  dealing  with  his  Roman  sub- 
jects, "  dum  freu^s  rVd^,  *t  tu  gravius  opprimeris."  The  Pope  concluded 
with  the  old  M>'q  oi  ih<«  ielly  and  members.  —  Polycraticus,  vi.  24. 


Chap.  Vm.  DOUBLE  ELECTION.  287 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ALEXANDER  m.— VICTOR  IV.  — THOl^lAS  A  BECKET 

The  whole  conclave  must  have  had  the  determined 
courage  of  Hadrian  to  concur  in  the  election  double 
of  a  Pope :  a  schism  was  inevitable ;  a  schism  ®^®^*^°°- 
now  the  natural  defence  of  the  Empire  against  the 
Papacy,  as  a  rebellion  in  Germany  or  Italy  was  that 
of  the  Papacy  against  the  Empire.  On  one  side  were 
the  zealous  churchmen,  who  would  hazard  all  for  the 
supremacy  of  the  spiritual  power,  those  who  thought 
the  Sicilian  alliance  the  safer  and  more  legitimate  policy 
of  the  See  of  Rome  :  and  in  Rome  itself  a  faction  of 
nobles,  headed  by  the  Frangipani,  who  maintained  the 
papal  authority  in  the  city.  On  the  other  side  were 
those  who  were  attached  to,  or  who  dreaded  the  power 
of  Barbarossa  ;  the  republican,  or  Arnoldine  party  in 
Rome  ;  a  few  perhaps  who  loved  peace,  and  thought  it 
the  best  wisdom  of  the  church  to  conciliate  the  Em- 
peror. The  conflicting  accounts  of  the  proceedings  in 
the  conclave  were  made  public,  on  one  side  by  the 
Pope,  on  the  other  by  the  Cardinals  of  the  opposite 
faction,^  and  compel  the  inevitable  conclusion  that  the 
passions  of  each  party  had  effaced  either  all  perception, 
or  all  respect  for  truth.  Alexander  III.  is  more  minute 
and  particular  in  his  appeal  to  universal  Christendom 
1  Both  of  these  documents  are  in  Radevicus. 


288  LATIN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  YIH. 

on  the  justice  of  his  election.  On  the  third  day  of 
debate  fourteen  of  the  Cardinals  agreed  in  the  choice 
of  himself  Roland,  the  Cardinal  of  St.  Mark,  the 
chancellor  of  the  Apostolic  See,  one  of  those  legates 
who  had  shown  so  much  audacity,  and  confronted  so 
much  peril  at  the  Diet  at  Besan^on.  The  cope  was 
brought  forth  in  w^hich  he  was  to  be  invested.  Con- 
scious of  his  insufficiency  for  this  great  post,  he  strug- 
gled against  it  with  the  usual  modest  reluctance.-^ 
Three  only  of  the  Cardinals,  Octavian  of  St.  Ceciha, 
John  of  St.  Martin,  and  Guido  of  Crema,  Cardinal  of 
St.  Callisto,  were  of  the  adverse  faction,  in  close  league 
with  the  imperial  ambassadors,  Otho  Count  Palatine,^ 
and  Guido  Count  of  Blandrada.  Octavian,  prompted 
it  is  said  by  that  ambassador,  cried  aloud  he  must  not 
be  compelled,  and  jjucked  the  cope  from  his  shouldei's. 
The  two  others,  the  Cardinals  Guido  and  of  St.  Mar- 
tin, declared  Octavian  Pope  ;  but  a  Koman  senator 
who  was  present  (the  conclave  then  was  an  open 
court),  indignant  at  his  violence,  seized  the  cope,  and 
snatched  it  from  the  hand  of  Octavian.  But  Octa- 
vian's  party  were  prepared  for  such  an  accident.  His 
chaplain  had  another  cope  ready,  in  which  he  was 
mvested  with  such  indecent  haste  that,  as  it  was  de- 
clared, by  a  manifest  divine  judgment,  the  front  part 
appeared  behind,  the  hinder  part  before.     Upon   this 

1  Qui  propter  religionem  suam  cepit  se  excusare  secundum  quod  canones 
prsecipiunt.  The  author  of  this  B.  Museum  Chronicle  adds  that  the  parti- 
sans of  Octavian  had  ready  venustissimum  pallium,  p.  46.  See  on  this 
Chronicle  book  x.  ch.  4. 

2  This  must  have  been  the  Otho  who  threatened  to  cut  down  the  insolent 
Cardinal  Eoland  at  Besan9on;  Guido  of  Blandrada,  the  Emperor's  favorite, 
whom  Hadrian  had  refused  to  elevate  to  the  archiepiscopate  of  Ravenna.  — 
Epistola  Canonic,  apud  Radevic,  Otho  Morena,  Raoul  de  Reb.  Ges.  Frederic, 
Tristan  Calchi. 


Chap.  Vm.  DOUBLE  ELECTION.  289 

the  assembly  burst  into  derisive  laughter.  At  that  in- 
stant, the  gates,  which  had  been  closed,  were  forcibly 
broken  open,  a  hired  soldiery  rushed  in  with  drawn 
swords,  and  surrounding  Octavian  carried  him  forth  in 
state.  Roland  (Alexander  III.)  and  the  cardinals  of 
his  faction  were  glad  to  escape  with  their  lives,  but 
reached  a  stroncrhold  fortified  and  o-arrisoned  for  their 
reception  near  St.  Peter's,^  and  for  nine  days  they  lay 
concealed  and  in  security  from  their  enemies.  Octa- 
vian, in  the  mean  time,  assumed  the  name  of  Victor 
IV. :  he  was  acknowledged  as  law^ful  Pope  by  a  great 
part  of  the  senators  and  people.  The  Frangipani  then 
rallied  the  adverse  party ;  Alexander  was  rescued  from 
his  imprisonment  or  blockade. 

On  the  other  side,  Victor,  and  the  Cardinals  of  his 
faction,  thus  relate  the  proceedings  of  the  election. 
The  Cardinals,  when  they  entered  the  conclave,  sol- 
emnly pledged  themselves  to  proceed  with  calm  delib- 
eration, to  ascertain  the  opinion  of  each  with  grave 
impartiality,  not  to  proceed  to  the  election  without 
the  general  assent  of  all.  But  in  a  secret  synod  held 
at  Anagni,  during  the  lifetime  of  Hadrian,  the  anti- 
imperialist  Cardinals,  who  had  urged  the  Pope  to 
excommunicate  Frederick,  had  taken  an  oath  to  elect 
one  of  their  own  party.  This  conspiracy  w^as  organized 
and  maintained  by  the  gold  of  William  of  Sicily.  In 
direct  infringement  of  the  solemn  compact,  made  be- 
fore the  commencement  of  the  proceedings,  they  had 
suddenly  by  acclamation  attempted  to  force  the  elec- 
tion of  the  Cardinal  Roland.  The  division  was  of 
nine  to  fourteen  ;  they  acknowledge  themselves  to 
have  been  the  minority  in  numbers,  but  of  course  a 

1  It  was  called  the  "  munitio  ecclesiae  Sancti  Petri." 

VOL.   IV.  19 


290  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Vni 

minority  of  the  wisest  and  best.  While  thus  the  nine 
protested  against  the  violation  of  the  agreement  that 
the  election  was  to  be  by  general  assent,  the  fourteen 
proceeded  to  invest  Roland  of  Sienna.  The  nine  then, 
at  the  petition  of  the  Roman  people,  by  the  election  of 
the  whole  clergy,  the  assent  of  almost  all  the  senators, 
and  of  all  the  captains,  barons,  and  nobles,  both  within 
and  without  the  city,  invested  Victor  IV.  with  the 
insignia  of  the  popedom. 

Rome  was  no  safe  place  for  either  Pope ;  each  fac- 
tion had  its  armed  force,  its  wild  and  furious  rabble. 
As  Victor  advanced  to  storm  the  stronghold  near  St. 
Peter's,  occupied  by  his  rival,  he  was  hooted  by  the 
adverse  mob  :  boys  and  women  shouted  and  shrieked, 
called  him  by  opprobrious  names,  "  heretic,  blasphem- 
er !  "  sung  opprobrious  verses,  taunted  him  with  the 
name  of  Octavian,  so  infamous  in  the  history  of  the 
Popes  ;  a  pasquinade  was  devised  for  the  occasion  in 
Latin  verse.^  On  the  eleventh  day  appeared  Otho 
Frangipani  and  a  party  of  the  nobles,  dispersed  the 
forces  of  Victor,  opened  the  gates  of  the  stronghold, 
and  led  forth  Alexander  amid  the  acclamations  of  his 
partisans,  but  hurried  him  hastily  away  through  the 
gates  of  the  city. 

1  "  Clamabant  pueri  contra  ipsum  ecclesise  invasorem,  dicentes,  Maledicte, 
fili  maledicti !  dismanta,  non  eris  Papa,  non  eris  Papa !  Alexandrmn  volu- 
mus,  quern  Deus  elegit.  Mulieres  quoque  blaspheqiantes  ipsum  hsereticum 
et  eadem  verba  ingeminabant,  et  alia  derisoria  verba  decantabant.  Accedena 
autem  Brito  quidam  audacter  dixit  haec  metrice : 

Quid  facis  insane,  patriae  mors,  Octaviane 
Cur  praesumpsisti  tunicani  dividere  Christi  ? 
Jam  jam  pulvis  eris,  modo  vivis.  eras  morieris." 

—  Vit.  ii.  apud  Muratori:  S.  R.  I.  iii.  i.  p.  419.  Compare  the  Acta  Vaticana 
apud  Baroniiwn.  Victor  is  there  called  Smanta  compagnum  —  I  presume 
from  the  plucking  the  stole  from  the  shoulders  of  Alexander. 


Chap.  VIE.  SCmSM.  '  291 

Neither  indeed  of  the  rival  Popes  could  venture  on 
his  consecration  in  Rome.  Alexander  was  Sept.  24. 
clad  in  the  papal  mantle  at  a  place  called  the  Cistern 
of  jSTero ;  ^  consecrated  by  the  Bishop  of  Ostia  at  Nim- 
fa,  towards  the  Apulian  frontier ;  Victor  by  the  Car- 
dinal Bishop  of  Tusculum  and  the  Bishops  Oct.  4. 
of  Nimfa  and  Ferentino,  who  had  deserted  the  opposite 
party,  in  the  monastery  of  Farsa. 

The  Emperor  was  besieging  the  city  of  Crema,  when 
he  received  the  intimation  of  this  election  schism. 
from  each  of  the  rival  Popes.  He  assumed  the  lan- 
guage of  an  impartial  arbitrator :  he  summoned  a 
council  of  all  Christendom  to  meet  at  Pavia,  and  cited 
both  the  Popes  to  submit  their  claims  to  its  decision. 
The  summons  to  Alexander  was  addressed  to  the  Car- 
dinal Roland,  the  chancellor  of  the  see  of  Rome.^ 
Alexander  refused  to  receive  a  mandate  thus  addressed, 
he  protested  against  the  right  of  the  Emperor  to  sum- 
mon a  council  without  the  permission  of  the  Pope,  nor 
would  the  Pope  condescend  to  appear  in  the  court  of 
the  Emperor  to  hear  the  sentence  of  an  usurping  tribu- 
nal.    Victor,  already  sure  of  the  favorable  judgment, 


1  This  was  not  lost  on  the  Victorians;  the  Cistern  of  Xero  was  the  place 
to  which  Xero  had  fled  from  the  pursuing  Eomans;  a  fit  place  for  people  to 
hew  themselves  "  cisterns  which  could  not  hold  water."  "  Undecimo  (die) 
exierunt  (a  Roma)  et  pervenerunt  ad  Cistemam  Xeronis  in  qua  latuit  Xero 
fugiens  Romanes  insequentes.  Juste  Cisternam  adierunt,  quia  deliquerunt 
fontem  aquae  vivge,  et  foderunt  sihi  cisternas,  cistemas  dissipatas,  quse  con- 
tinere  non  valent  aquas.  Et  ibi  die  altero  qui  duodecimus  erat  ab  electioue 
domini  Yictoris  induerunt  cancellariam  stolam  et  pallium  erroris,  in  de- 
structionem  et  confusionem  ecclesis?,  ibique  primum  cantaverunt ;  Te  Deum 
laudamus."  —  Epist.  Canon.  St.  Petri,  apud  Radevic.  ii.  31.  Each  party 
avers  of  the  other  that  he  was  execratus,  not  consecratus. 

2  According  to  the  somewhat  doubtful  authority  of  John  of  Salisbury 
'Epist.  69),  the  Emperor's  letter  was  addressed  to  Alexander  as  to  Cardinal 
Roland.  Chancellor  of  the  Roman  See,  to  Victor  as  Pontiff. 


292  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Vm 

appeared  with  attestations  of  his  lawful  election  from 
the  Canons  of  St.  Peter,  and  a  great  body  of  the  clergy 
of  Rome.  The  points  which  the  party  of  Victor  urged 
were,  that  Cardinal  Roland  had  never  been  invested, 
according  to  his  own  admission,  with  the  papal  cope  ; 
the  consent  or  rather  the  initiative  of  the  whole  clergy 
and  people  of  Rome  in  the  election  of  Octavian  ;  the 
appearance  of  Roland  after  the  election  without  the  in- 
signia of  the  Pope.  The  argument  afterwards  urged 
by  the  Emperor,  was  the  disqualification  of  the  Cardi- 
nals on  account  of  their  conspiracy,  their  premature 
election  at  Anao;ni  durino;  the  lifetime  of  Hadrian. 
Neither  Alexander,  nor  any  one  with  authority  to  de- 
fend the  cause  of  Alexander,  appeared  in  the  court. 
William  of  Pavia  was  silent.^  The  Council,  after  a 
grave  debate  and  hearing  of  many  witnesses  (the  Em- 
octave  of  the  peror  had  withdrawn  to  leave  at  least  seeming 
A.D.  1160.'  freedom  to  the  ecclesiastics),  with  one  accord 
declared  Victor  Pope,  condemned  and  excommunicated 
the  contumacious  Cardinal  of  Sienna.  To  Victor  the 
Feb.  10.  Emperor  paid  the  customary  honors,  held  his 
Feb.  11.  stirrup  and  kissed  his  feet.^  Victor  of  course 
issued  his  excommunication  of  the  Cardinal  Roland. 
There  was  a  secret  cause  behind,  which  no  doubt 
strongly  worked  on  the  Emperor,  through  the  Em- 
peror on  the  council :  letters  of  Alexander  to  the  m- 
surgent  Lombard  cities  had  been  seized,  and  were  in 
the  hands  of  the  Emperor. 

1  "William  of  Pavia,  Cardinal  of  St.  Peter  ad  Yincula,  was  afterwards 
accused  by  the  wi-athful  Becket  of  betraying  his  master  at  Pavia.  —  Thom. 
Epist.  ii.  21. 

2  Muratori  is  provoked  by  this  schism  from  his  usual  calmness.  "  Rend6 
poscia  Federigo  a  questo  idolo  tutti  gli  onori,  con  tenergli  la  stafFa,  e  baciarli 
i/ttenti  piedi  "  —  Sub  ann. 


Chap.  Vm.  CONTEST  OF  THE  POPEDOM.  293 

The  Archbishop  of  Cologne  set  out  for  France,  the 
Bishop  of  Mantua  to  England,  the  Bishop  of  Prague 
to  Hungary,  to  announce  the  decision  of  the  Council 
to  Christendom,  and  to  demand  or  persuade  allegiance 
to  Pope  Victor. 

Alexander  did  not  shrink  from  the  contest.  At  An- 
ao^ni  he  issued  his  excommunication  against  March  24. 
the  Emperor  Frederick,  the  Antipope,  and  all  his 
adherents.^  He  despatched  his  legates  to  all  the  king- 
doms of  Europe.  His  title  was  sooner  or  later  ac- 
knowledged by  France,  Spain,  England,  Constantinople, 
Sicily,  and  Jerusalem,  by  the  Cistercian  and  Carthu- 
sian monks.  He  struck  a  formidable  blow  against 
Frederick,  now  deeply  involved  in  his  mortal  strife 
with  the  Lombard  republic.  His  legate,  the  Cardinal 
John,  found  his  w^ay  into  Milan,  and  there  in  the  pres- 
ence and  with  the  sanction  of  the  martial  Archbishop 
Uberto  (the  Archbishop  had  commanded  on  more  than 
one  occasion  the  cavalry  of  Milan),  he  published  the 
excommunication  of  Octavian  the  Antipope,  and  Fred- 
erick the  Emperor.  A  few  days  after,  the  same  ban 
was  pronounced  against  the  Bishops  of  Mantua  and 
Lodi  and  the  consuls  of  all  the  cities  in  league  with  the 
Emperor.^ 

Thus  the  two  Popes  divided  the  allegiance  of  Chris- 
tendom. France,  Spain,  England  asserted  Alexander. 
A  council  at  Toulouse,  representing  France  and  Eng- 
land, had  rejected  the  decision  of  the  council  of  Pavia.^ 
The  Empire,  Hungary,  Bohemia,  Norway,  Sweden, 
submitted  to  Victor.     Italy  was  divided ;  wherever  the 

1  Radevic.  ii.  22. 

'^  Epist.  Eberhardo  Archep.  Saltzburg,  April  1. 

3  Pope  Alexander,  knowing  his  ground,  condescended  to  appear  by  his 
representatives  at  this  Council,  though  summoned  by  the  kings  of  France 
and  England. 


294  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

authority  of  the  Emperor  prevailed,  Victor  was  recog- 
nized as  the  successor  of  St.  Peter ;  wherever  it  was 
opposed,  Alexander.  Sicily  and  Southern  Italy  were 
of  Alexander's  party.  Each,  Alexander  at  Anagni, 
Victor  in  Northern  Italy,  had  uttered  the  last  sentence 
of  spiritual  condemnation  against  his  antagonist.  From 
June  16-26.  Auagui,  kuowiug  that  Frederick  dared  not 
withdraw  any  strong  force  from  the  North  of  Italy,  Al- 
exander made  a  descent  upon  Rome,  in  order  to  add  to 
the  dignity  of  his  cause  by  his  possession  of  the  capital 
city.  He  celebrated  mass  in  the  Lateran  Church,  and 
at  Santa  Maria  Maggiore.  But  Rome,  which  would 
hardly  endure  the  power  of  a  Pope  with  undisputed 
authority,  was  no  safe  residence  for  one  with  a  con- 
tested title.  The  turbulence  of  the  people,  the  in- 
trigues of  the  Antipope,  the  neighborliood  of  some  of 
the  Germans  in  the  fortresses  around  (all  the  patri- 
mony of  St.  Peter  but  Civita  Vecchia,  Anagni,  and 
Terracina  was  in  their  power)  ,^  the  uncertaint}^  of  sup- 
port from  Sicily,  which  was  now  threatened  with  civil 
war,  the  humiliation  of  Milan,  induced  him  to  seek 
refuge  in  France.  Leaving  a  representative  of  his  au- 
thority, Julius,  the  Cardinal  of  St.  John,  he  embarked 
on  board  a  Sicilian  fleet :  Villani,  Archbishop  of  Impe- 
rialist Pisa,  had  met  him  at  Terracina  in  his  galley .^ 
After  some  danger,  touching  at  Leghorn,  and  Porto 
Venere,  the  Archbishop  conveyed  him  to  Piombino, 
and  rendered  him  the  highest  honors  :  from  thence  he 
reached  Genoa  ;  and  having  remained  there  a  short 
time,  landed  on  the  coast  of  France,  near  Montpellier.^ 

1  Vit.  Alexand.  III. 

2  Marangoni,  Chronica  Pisana,  p.  26. 

3  He  disembarked  near  Montpellier,  April,  1162;  reembarked  at  the  same 
place,  September,  1165. 


CHAp.vm.  POPE  ALEXANDER  IN  FRANCE.  295 

He  was  received  everywhere  with  demonstrations  of 
the  utmost  respect.     There  were  some  threatening  ap- 
pearances, a  suspicious  agi^eement,  into  which  Louis 
had  been  betrayed,  or  had  weakly  consented  to,  that  he 
would  meet  the  Emperor  Frederick  at  Lannes  in  Bur- 
gundy, each  with  his  Pope,  to  decide  the  great  contro- 
versy, or  with  the  design  of  raising  a  third  Pope  ;  and 
there  was  an  agreement  which,  neither  being  in  ear- 
nest, each  eluded  with  no  great  respect  for  soon  after 
veracity.^     Yet,  notwithstanding  all  this,  the  iiei.       ' 
rival  kings  of  France  and  England  seemed  to  forget 
their  differences  to  pay  him  honor.     He  was  met  by 
both  at  Courcy  on  the  Loire  ;  the  two  kings  Feb.  9, 1162. 
walked  on  either  side  of  his  horse,  holding  his  bridle, 
and  so  conducted  him  into  the  town.     There  April  8. 
for  above  three  years  he  dwelt,  maintaining  the  state, 
and  performing  all  the  functions  of  a  Pope  in  every 
part  of  Europe  which  acknowledged  his  sway.    During 
his  absence  Frederick  and  Frederick's  Pope  seemed  at 
first  to  be  establishing  their  power  beyond  all  chance 
of  resistance  throughout  Italy.     Milan  fell,^  and  suf- 
fered the  terrible  vengeance  of  the  Emperor  ;  March  26. 
her  walls   were  razed,   her   citizens   dispersed.     Sicily 

1  The  whole  account  of  this  affair,  in  which  appears  the  consummate 
weakness  of  Louis  of  France,  at  his  first  interview  the  slave  of  Alexander, 
and  the  adroit  pliancy  mingled  with  firmness  of  Pope  Alexander,  is  in  the 
Hist.  Veziliensis  (apud  Duchesne,  and  in  Guizot's  Collection  des  M^moires, 
vol.  vii.)  compared  with  Vit.  Alexandri,  apud  Muratori.  See  Renter, 
Geschichti)  Alexander  IIL,  Berlin.  The  Protestant  biographer  is  a 
thorough-going  partisan  of  the  subject  of  his  biography  —  almost  as  much 
overawed  as  the  convert  Hurter  by  Innocent  IIL  —  and  almost  as  high  a 
Hildebrandine.  He  seems  to  me  to  estimate  the  character  of  Alexander, 
•jven  from  that  point  of  view,  much  too  highly. 

2  In  the  plunder  of  Milan  the  relics  of  the  three  kings  fell  to  the  share  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Cologne :  that  city  has  ever  since  boasted  of  the  holy 
«poil.  —  Otto  de  Sanct.  Bias.  cxvi. 


296  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

was  a  prey  to  civil  factions,  and  it  might  seem  to  de- 
pend on  the  leisure  or  the  caprice  of  Frederick,  how 
soon  he  would  subjugate  the  rest  of  Italy  to  his  iron 
and  absolute  tyranny.  But  dark  reverses  were  to  come. 
Death  of  Two  ycars  after  the  departure  of  Alexander 
April  20. '  to  France,  the  Antipope  Victor  died  at  Lucca. 
Guido  of  Crema  was  chosen,  it  was  said  by 
April  22.  '  one  Cardinal  only,  but  by  a  large  body  of 
Lombard  clergy,  and  took  the  name  of  Paschal 
III. 

At  this  period  the  whole  mind  of  Christendom  was 
Thomas  k  drawu  away  and  absorbed  by  a  contest  in  a 
Becket.  remoter  province  of  the  Christian  world, 
which  for  a  time  obscured,  at  least  among  the  more 
religious,  and  all  who  were  enthralled  to  the  popular 
and  dominant  religion  (in  truth,  the  larger  part  of  Eu- 
rope), both  the  wars  of  monarchy  and  republicanism 
in  Northern  Italy,  and  the  strife  of  Pope  and  Anti- 
pope.  Neither  Alexander  III.  nor  Paschal  III.  in 
their  own  day  occupied  to  such  an  extent  the  thoughts 
of  the  clergy  and  the  laity  throughout  Christendom  ; 
the  church  has  scarcely  a  saint  so  speedily  canonized 
after  his  death,  so  widely  or  so  fervently  worshipped, 
as  Thomas  Becket,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Nor 
was  it  only  the  personal  character  of  the  antagonists, 
or  the  circumstances  of  the  strife,  it  was  the  great  prin- 
ciple involved,  comprehending  as  it  did  the  whole  au- 
thority and  sanctity  of  the  sacerdotal  order,  which 
gave  this  commanding  interest  to  the  new  war  between 
the  spiritual  and  temporal  powers.  It  was  in  England 
that  this  war  was  waged  ;  on  its  event  depended  to  a 
great  degree  the  maintenance  of  the  hierarchy,  as  a 
separate  and  privileged   caste   of  mankind,  subject  to 


CHAP.ym.  THOMAS  A  BECKET.  297 

its  own  jurisdiction,  and  irresponsible  but  to  its  own 
superiors. 

Our  history,  therefore,  enters  at  length  into  this  con- 
test, not  from  pardonable  nationality  over-estimating  its 
importance,  but  in  the  conviction  that  it  is  a  chapter  in 
the  annals  of  Christianity  indispensable  to  its  complete- 
ness, general  in  its  interest,  and  beyond  almost  all  others 
characteristic  of  its  age.  Nor  is  it  insulated  from  the 
common  affairs  of  Latin  Christendom.  Throughout, 
the  history  of  Becket  is  in  the  closest  connection  with 
that  of  Pope  Alexander,  and  that  of  the  Emperor 
Frederick  and  his  Antipope.  If  not  the  fate  of  Becket, 
his  support  by  Alexander  III.  depends  on  the  variable 
fortunes  of  the  Pope.  While  Alexander  is  in  France 
(in  which  Henry  of  England  had  a  w^ider  dominion 
than  the  King  of  France),  Becket  is  somewhat  coldly 
urged  to  prudence  and  moderation.  Still  more  when 
Alexander  is  returned  to  Italy.  Then  Becket's  cause 
rises  and  falls  with  the  Pope's  prosperous  or  adverse 
fortunes  :  it  depends  on  the  predominance  or  the  weak- 
ness of  tlie  Imperial  power.  The  gold  of  England  is 
the  strength  of  Alexander.  When  Frederick  is  in  the 
ascendant,  and  Henry  threatens  to  withhold  those  sup- 
plies which  maintain  the  Papal  armies  in  the  South,  or 
the  Papal  interests  in  Milan  and  the  Lombard  cities ; 
or  when  Henry  threatens  to  fall  off  to  the  Antipcpe  ; 
Becket  is  wellnigh  abandoned.  Becket  himself  cannot 
disguise  his  indignation  at  the  tergiversation  of  the 
Pope,  the  venality  of  the  College  of  Cardinals.  No 
sooner  is  Frederick's  power  on  the  wane  ;  no  sooner 
has  he  suffered  some  of  those  fatal  disasters  which 
smote  his  authority,  than  Becket  raises  the  song  of 


298  LATIX  CHRISTIA^sITY.  Book  VIII. 

triumph.     He  knows  that  Pope  Alexander  will  now 
dare  to  support  him  to  the  utmost. 

The  Norman  conquest  of  England  was  as  total  a 
revolution  in  the  Church  of  the  island  as  in  the  civil 
government  and  social  condition.  The  Anglo-Saxon 
clergy,  since  the  davs  of  Dunstan,  had  produced  no 
remarkable  man.  The  triumph  of  monasticism  had 
enfeebled  without  sanctifying  the  secular  clergy  ;  it  had 
spread  over  the  island  all  its  superstition,  its  thraldom 
of  the  mind,  its  reckless  prodigality  of  lands  and  riches 
to  pious  uses,  without  its  vigor,  its  learning,  its  indus- 
trial civilization.  Like  its  faithful  disciple,  its  humble 
acolyte,  its  munificent  patron,  Edward  the  Confessor, 
it  might  conceal  much  gentle  and  amiable  goodness ; 
but  its  outward  character  was  that  of  timid  and  un- 
worldly ignorance,  unfit  to  rule,  and  exercising  but 
feeble  and  unbeneficial  influence  over  a  population  be- 
come at  once  more  rude  and  fierce,  and  more  oppressed 
and  servile,  by  the  Danish  conquest.  Its  ignorance 
may  have  been  exaggerated.  Though  it  may  have 
been  true  that  hardly  a  priest  from  Trent  to  Thames 
understood  Latin,  that  the  services  of  the  church,  per- 
formed by  men  utterly  unacquainted  with  the  ecclesi- 
astical language,  must  have  lost  all  solemnity  ;  yet  the 
Anglo-Saxons  possessed  a  large  store  of  vernacular 
Christian  literature  —  poems,  homilies,  legends.  They 
had  begun  to  form  an  independent  Teutonic  Christi- 
anity. Equally  wonderful  was  the  multitude  of  their 
kings  who  had  taken  the  cowl,  or  on  their  thrones  lived 
a  monastic  life  and  remained  masters  of  wealth  only 
to  bestow  it  on  the  poor  and  on  monasteries.  The 
multitude  of  saints  (no  town  was  without  its  saint) 


Chap.  YIH.  LAXFRAXC  —  AXSELM.  299 

was  so  numerous  as  to  surpass  all  power  of  memory  to 
retain  them,  and  wanted  writers  to  record  them.^ 

The  Normans  were  not  only  the  foremost  nation  in 
arms,  in  personal  strength,  valor,  enterprise,  persever- 
ance, and  all  the  greater  qualities  of  a  military  aristoc- 
racy :  by  a  singular  accident,  it  might  be  called,  they 
possessed  a  seminary  of  the  most  learned  and  able 
churchmen.  The  martial,  ambitious,  unlearned  Odo 
of  Bayeux  was  no  doubt  the  type  of  many  of  the  Noi> 
man  prelates;  of  some  of  those  on  whom  the  Con-' 
queror,  when  he  built  up  his  great  system  of  ecclesi- 
astical feudalism  in  the  conquered  land,  bestowed  some 
of  the  great  sees  in  England,  of  which  he  had  dispos- 
sessed the  defeated  Saxons.  But  from  the  same  mon- 
astery of  Bee  came  in  succession  two  Primates  of  the 
Korman  Church  in  England,  in  learning,  sanctity,  and 
general  ability  not  inferior  to  any  bishops  of  their  time 
in  Christendom  —  Lanfranc  and  Anselm.  Lanfranc, 
to  whom  the  Church  had  looked  up  as  the  most  power- 
ful antagonist  of  Berengar ;  Anselm  as  the  profound 
metaphysician,  who  was  to  retain  as  willing  prisoners, 
within  the  pale  of  orthodoxy,  those  strong  speculative 
minds  which  before,  and  afterwards  during  the  days 
of  Abelard,  should  venture  into  those  dangerous  re- 
gions. 

The  Abbey  of  Bee,  as   has   been   said,  had   been 

1  "  De  regibus  dico  qui  pro  amplitudine  potestatis  licenter  indulgere 
voluptatibus  possent;  quorum  quidam  in  patria,  quidam  Romae,  mutato 
habitu,  coeleste  lucrati  sunt  regnum,  beatum  nacti  comraercium:  multi 
specie  tenus,  tota  vita  mundum  amplexi ;  ut  thesauros  egenis  effunderent, 
monaster] is  dividerent.  Quid  dicam  de  tot  episcopis,  heremitis,  abbatibus. 
Nonne  tota  insula  tantis  reliquiis  indigenarum  fulgurat  ut  vix  vicum  ali- 
quem  prtetereas,  ubi  novi  sancti  nomen  non  audias !  quam  multorum  etiam 
periit  memoria,  pro  scriptorum  inopia." — WiD.  Malmes.  p.  417,  edit.  Hist. 
Soc. 


300  LATIX    CHRISTIAXITY.  Book  VIII. 

founded  bj  a  rude  Xorman  kniglit,  Herluin,  in  one  of 
Abbey  of  tliose  straugG  accesses  of  devotion  which  sud- 
^^*'-  denly  changed  men  of  the  most  uncongenial 

minds  and  most  adverse  habits  into  models  of  the  most 
austere  and  almost  furious  piety.  Herluin  was  as  igno- 
rant as  he  was  rude  ;  his  followers,  who  soon  gathered 
around  him,  scarcely  less  so.  But  the  Monastery  of 
Bee,  before  half  a  century  had  elapsed,  was  a  seat  of 
learning.  Strangers  who  were  wandering  over  Eu- 
rope found  that  which  was  tco  often  wanting  in  the 
richer  and  settled  convents,  seclusion  and  austerity. 
Such  was  the  case  with  Lanfranc  :  in  the  Abbey  of 
Bee  there  was  rigor  enough  to  satisfy  the  most  intense 
craving  after  self-torture.  But  the  courtly  Italian 
scholar  was  not  lost  in  the  Norman  monk.  Lanfranc 
became  at  once  a  model  of  the  severest  austerity  and 
the  accomplished  theologian,  to  whom  Latin  Christen- 
dom looked  up  as  the  champion  of  her  v^tal  doctrine. 
Lanfranc  became  Abbot  of  St.  Stephen's  at  Caen. 

The  Norman  conqueror  found  that,  although  he  had 
subjugated  the  Anglo-Saxon  thanes  and  Anglo-Saxon 
people,  he  had  not  subjugated  the  Anglo-Saxon  clergy. 
Notwithstanding  the  Papal  benediction  of  the  conquest 
of  England,  the  manner  in  which  Alexander  II.  openly 
espoused  the  cause,  and  the  greater  Hildebrand  treated 
the  kindred  mind  of  the  Conqueror  with  respect  shown 
to  no  other  monarch  in  Christendom,  there  was  lono^ 
a  stubborn  inert  resistance,  which  with  so  superstitious 
a  people  might  anywhere  burst  out  into  insurrection. 
As  he  had  seized  and  confiscated  the  estates  of  the 
thanes,  so  the  Conqueror  put  into  safer,  into  worthier 
hands,  the  great  benefices  of  the  Church.  Lanfi'anc 
(there  could  be  no  wiser  measure  than  to  advance  a 


Ch.\j>.  ym.  LAXFRA2sC  PKDLITE.  301 

man  so  famous  for  piety  and  learning  tlirougliout  Chris- 
tendom) was  summoned  to  assume  the  primacy,  from 
which  the  Conqueror,  of  his  own  will,  though  not  with- 
out Papal  sanction,  had  degraded  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Stigand.  Lanfranc  resisted,  not  only  from  monastic 
aversion  to  state  and  secular  pursuits,  but  from  unwill- 
ingness to  rule  a  barbarous  people,  of  whose  language 
he  was  ignorant.  Lanfranc  yielded  :  he  came  as  a  Nor- 
man ;  his  first  act  was  to  impose  penance  on  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  soldiers  who  had  dared  to  oppose  William  at 
Hastings  ;  even  on  the  archers  whose  bolts  had  flown 
at  random,  and  did  slay  or  might  have  slain  Norman 
knights. 

The  Primate  consummated  the  work  of  William  in 
ejecting  the  Anglo-Saxon  bishops  and  clergy.  William 
would  even  proscribe  their  Saints  :  names  unknown, 
barbarous,  which  refused  to  harmonize  with  Latin, 
were  ignominiously  struck  out  of  the  calendar  as  un- 
authorized and  intrusive.  The  Primate  proceeded  to 
the  degradation  of  the  holy  Wulstan  of  Worcester. 
His  crime  was  want  of  learning,  ignorance  of  French, 
perhaps  rather  of  Latin.  Wulstan,  the  pride,  the  holy 
example  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  episcopate,  appeared  be- 
fore the  Synod  :  "  From  the  first  I  knew  my  unworthi- 
ness.  I  was  compelled  to  be  a  bishop  :  the  clergy,  the 
prelates,  my  master,  by  the  authority  of  the  Apostolic 
See,  laid  this  burden  on  my  shoulder."  He  advanced 
to  the  tomb  of  the  Confessor  ;  he  laid  down  his  crosier 
on  the  stone  :  "  Master,  to  thee  only  I  yield  up  my 
staff."  He  took  his  seat  among  the  monks.  The 
crosier  remained  imbedded  in  the  stone  ;  and  this  won- 
der, which  might  seem  as  if  the  Confessor  approved 
the  resignation,  was  interpreted  the  other  way.     Wul- 


302  LATIX  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

Stan  alone  retained  his  see.  The  Anglo-Saxon  secular 
clergy,  notwithstanding  the  triumph  of  monasticism, 
the  severe  laws  of  Edgar,  even  of  Canute,  still  clung 
to  their  right  or  usage  of  marriage.  Lanfranc  could 
disguise  even  to  himself,  as  zeal  against  the  married 
priests,  his  persecution  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  clergy. 

A  king  so  imperious  as  William,  and  a  churchman 
so  firm  as  Lanfranc,  could  hardly  avoid  collision. 
Though  they  scrupled  not  to  despoil  the  Saxon  prelates, 
the  Church  must  suffer  no  spoliation.  The  estates  of 
the  See  of  Canterbury  must  pass  whole  and  inviolable. 
Q^o  of  The  uterine  brother  of  the  King  (his  mother's 

Bayeux.  g^^^  -^^  ^  secoud  marriage),  Odo  the  magnif- 
icent and  able  Bishop  of  Bayeux,  his  counsellor  in  peace, 
ever  by  his  side  in  war,  though  he  neither  wore  arms 
nor  engaged  in  battle,  had  seized,  as  Count  of  Kent, 
twenty-five  manors  belonging  to  the  Archiepiscopal  See.^ 
The  Primate  summoned  the  Bishop  of  Bayeux  to  public 
judgment  on  Penenden  Heath  ;  the  award  was  in  the 
Archbishop's  favor.  Still  William  honored  Lanfranc ; 
Lanfi'anc,  in  the  King's  absence  in  Normandy,  was 
chief  justiciary,  vicegerent  within  the  realm.  Lan- 
franc respected  William.  When  the  Conqueror  haugh- 
tily rejected  the  demand  of  Hildebrand  himself  for 
allegiance  and  subsidy,  we  hear  no  remonstrance  from 
the  Primate.  The  Primate  refused  to  go  to  Rome  at 
the  summons  of  the  Pope.  WiUiam  Rufus,  while 
Lanfranc  lived,  in  some  degree  restrained  his  covetous 
encroachments  on  the  wealth  of  the  Church.     Lanfranc 

1  Odo  of  Bayeux,  according  to  Malmesbury,  had  even  higher  aspirations; 
his  wealth,  like  Wolsey's,  was  designed  to  buy  the  Papacy  itself.  "  In 
aggerendis  thesauris  mirus,  tergiversari  mirse  astutife;  pene  Papatum  Ro- 
manum  absens  a  civibus  mercatus  fuerit :  peras  peregrinorum  epistolis  et 
nummis  infarciens."  —  p.  457. 


Chap.YIII.  ANSELiI  PRIMATE.  303 

had   the   pinidence  not  to  provoke   the   ungovernable 
King.     But  for  five  years  after  the  death  of  Lanfranc 
Rufus    would    have    no    Primate,  whose   importunate 
control  he  thus  escaped,  while  at  the  same  time  he  con- 
verted to  his  own  uses,  without  remonstrance,  or  at 
least  without  resistance,  the  splendid  revenue  of  the 
see.     Nothing  but  the  wrath  of  God,  as  he  supposed, 
during  an  illness  which  threatened  his  life,  compelled 
him  to  place  the  crosier  in  the  hands  of  the  Anseim, 
meek  and,  as  he  hoped,  unworldly  Anseim.  of  canter- 
It  required  as  much  violence  in  the  whole  a.d.  io93. 
nation,  to  whom  Anselm's  fame  and  virtues  were  so 
well  known,  to  compel  Anseim  to  accept  the  primacy, 
as  to  induce  the  King  to  bestow  it. 

But  when  Primate,  Anseim,  the  monk,  the  philos- 
opher, was  as  high,  as  impracticable  a  churchman  as 
the  boldest  or  the  haughtiest.  Anselm's  was  passive 
courage,  Anselm's  was  gentle  endurance ;  but  as  un- 
yielding, as  impregnable,  as  that  of  Lanfranc,  even  of 
Hildebrand  himself  No  one  concession  could  be  wrung 
from  him  of  property,  of  right,  or  of  immunity  belong- 
ino;  to  his  Church.  He  was  a  man  whom  no  humilia- 
tion  could  humble  :  privation,  even  pain,  he  bore  not 
only  with  the  patience  but  with  the  joy  of  a  monk. 
He  was  exiled  :  he  returned  the  same  meek,  unoffend- 
ing, unimpassioned  man.  His  chief  or  first  quaiTel 
with  Rufus  was  as  to  which  of  the  Popes  England 
should  acknowledoje.  The  Norman  Anseim  had  before 
his  advancement  acknowledged  Urban.  It  ended  in 
Urban  being  the  Pope  of  England.  Nor  was  it  with 
the  violent,  rapacious  Rufus  alone  that  Anseim  stood  in 
this  quiet,  unconquerable  oppugnancy ;  the  more  pru- 
dent and  politic  Henry  I.  is  committed  in  the  same 


304  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

strife.  It  was  now  the  question  of  Investitures.  ,At 
Rome,  during  his  first  exile,  Anselm  was  deeply  im- 
pregnated with  the  Italian  notions  of  Investiture,  that 
"  venomous  source  of  all  simony."  But  the  Norman 
kino-s  were  as  determined  to  assert  their  feudal  suprem- 
acy as  the  Franconian  or  Hohenstaufen  Emperors. 

Anselm  is  again  in  Rome  :  the  Pope  Urban  threat 
ens  to  excommunicate  the  King  of  England  ;  Anselm 
interferes ;  the  King  is  not  actually  excommunicate, 
but  the  ban  is  on  all  his  faithful  counsellors.  At  length, 
after  almost  a  life,  at  least  almost  an  archiepiscopate, 
passed  in  this  strife  with  the  King,  to  whom  in  all  other 
respects  except  as  regards  the  property  of  the  see  and 
the  rights  of  the  Church,  Anselm  is  the  most  loyal  of 
subjects,  the  great  dispute  about  Investitures  comes  to 
an  end.  The  wise  Henry  I.  has  discovered  that,  by 
surrendering  a  barren  ceremony,  he  may  retain  the 
substantial  power.  He  consents  to  abandon  the  form 
of  granting  the  ring  and  pastoral  staff;  he  retains  the 
homage,  and  that  which  was  the  real  object  of  the 
strife,  the  power  of  appointing  to  the  wealthy  sees  and 
abbacies  of  the  realm.  The  Church  has  the  honor  of 
the  triumph  ;  has  wrung  away  the  seeming  concession  ; 
and  Anselm,  who  in  his  unworldly  views  had  hardly 
perhaps  comprehended  the  real  point  at  issue,  has  the 
glory  and  the  conscious  pride  of  success. 

But  the  splendid  and  opulent  benefices  of  the  Anglo- 
ciiaracter  Nomiau  Cliurcli  wcrc  too  rich  prizes  to  be 
Anglo-  bestowed  on  accomplished  scholars,  profound 

hSrchy.  theologians,  holy  monks  :  the  bishops  at  the 
close  of  Henry's  reign  are  barons  rather  than  prelates, 
their  palaces  are  castles,  their  retainers  vassals  in  arms. 
The  wars  between  Stephen  and  the  Empress  Matilda 


Chap.  Yin.  PRELATES  OF  ENGLAXD.  805 

are  episcopal  at  least  as  mncli  as  baronial  wars.  It  is 
tlie  brother  of  Stephen,  Henry  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
the  legate  of  the  Pope,  who  is  the  author  of  Stephen's 
advancement.  The  citizens  of  London  proclaim  him  : 
the  coronation  is  at  Winchester.  The  feeble  Arch- 
bishop Theobald,  the  one  less  worldly  prelate,  yields 
to  the  more  commanding  mind  of  the  royal  bishop.  In 
the  Council  of  Oxford  it  was  openly  declared  that  the 
right  to  elect  the  king  was  in  the  bishops.^  The  Bishop 
of  Salisbuiy  had  two  nephews,  the  Bishops  of  Lincoln 
and  of  Ely ;  one  of  his  sons  (his  sons  by  his  concubine, 
i\Iaud  of  Ramsbury)  was  Chancellor,^  one  Treasurer. 
Until  the  allegiance  of  the  Bishops  to  Stephen  wavered, 
the  title  of  Matilda  was  hardly  dangerous  to  the  King. 
Stephen  arrested  the  Bishops  of  Salisbury  and  Lincoln 
at  Oxford,  compelled  them  to  surrender  their  strong 
castles  of  IN'ewark,  Salisbury,  Sherborne,  and  Malmes- 
bury.  The  Bishop  of  Ely  flew  to  arms,  threw  himself 
into  Devizes  ;  it  was  only  the  threat  to  hang  up  his 
nephew,  which  compelled  him  to  capitulate.^  It  was 
a  strange  confusion.  The  whole  of  the  bishops'  castles, 
treasures,  munitions  of  war,  were  seized  into  the  King's 
hands  :  he  held  them  in  the  most  rio;id  and  inexorable 
grasp  ;  *  yet  at  the  same  time  Stephen  did  public  pen- 
ance for  having  dared  to  lay  his  impious  hands  on  the 
"  Christs  of  the  Lord."  The  revolt  of  the  Bishop  of 
Ely  was  only  the  signal  for  the  general  war  :  Stephen 
was  taken  in  the  battle  of  Lincoln,  his  defeated  army 
was  under  the  walls  of  that  city  to  chastise  the  Bishop. 

1  "Eorum  majori  parti  cleri  Anglige,  ad  cujus  jus  potissimum  spectat 
principem  eligere,  simulque  ordinare."  —  p.  746. 

2  "  Qui  nepos  esse  et  plusquam  nepos  ferebatur." 

3  Gesta  Stephani,  p.  50. 

4  lb.  p.  51. 

VOL.  IV.  20 


306  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIIL 

If  Matilda's  pride  had  not  alienated  Henry  of  Win- 
chester, as  her  exactions  did  the  citizens  of  London, 
she  might  have  obtained  at  once  full  possession  of  the 
throne.  It  was  in  besieging  the  castle  of  the  Bishop 
of  Winchester  in  that  citj  that  Robert  of  Gloucester, 
the  leader  of  her  party,  was  attacked  by  the  Londoners 
under  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  in  person,  and  was 
taken  in  his  retreat  to  Bristol.  The  Archbishop  Theo- 
bald, who  had  now  espoused  Matilda's  cause,  hardly  es- 
caped. 

Such  were  the  prelates  of  England  just  before  the 
commencement  of  Henry  II. 's  reign :  all,  says  a  con- 
temporary writer,  or  almost  all,  wearing  arms,  min- 
gling in  war,  indulging  in  all  the  cruelties  and  exactions 
of  war.^  The  lower  clergy  could  hardly,  with  such 
examples,  be  otherwise  than,  too  many  of  them,  lawless 
and  violent  men.  Yet  the  Church  demanded  for  the 
property  and  persons  of  sucli  prelates  and  such  clargy 
an  absolute,  inviolable  sanctity.  The  seizure  of  their 
palaces,  though  fortified  and  garrisoned,  was  an  inva- 
sion of  the  property  of  the  Church.  The  seizure, 
maltreatment,  imprisonment,  far  more  any  sentence  of 
the  law  in  the  King's  Courts  upon  their  persons  was 
impiety,  sacrilege. '"^ 

Such  had  been,  not  many  years  before,  the  state  of 
the  clergy  in  England,  when  broke  out  in  England, 

1  "  Ipsi  nihilominus,  ipsi  episcopi,  quod  pudet  quidem  dicere,  non  tamen 
omnes,  sed  plurimi  ex  omnibus,  ferro  accincti,  armis  instruct!,  cum  patrife 
perversoribus  superbissimis  invecti  equis,  praedae  participes  in  milites  bellica 
sorte  interceptos  vel  pecuniosos  quibuscunque  occurrunt  vinculis  et  cruciat- 
ibus  exponere,"  &c.  —  Gesta  Steph.  p.  99. 

2  "  Si  episcopi  tramitem  justitine  in  aliquo  transgrederentur  non  esse  regis 
sed  canonum  judicium:  sine  publico  et  ecclesiastico  concilio  illos  nulla  pos- 
sessione  privari  posse."  —  Malmesb.  p.  719.  The  grant  of  these  castleS; 
when  surrendered  to  laymen,  was  an  invasion  on  Church  property. 


Chap.yiii.  henry  II.  — becket.  cot 

and  was  waged  for  so  many  years,  the  great  strife  for 
tlie  maintenance  of  the  sacerdotal  order  as  a  pecuHar 
caste  of  mankind,  for  its  sole  jurisdiction  and  its  uTe- 
sponsibility.  Every  individual  in  that  caste,  to  its 
lowest  door-keeper,  claimed  an  absolute  immunity  from 
capital  punishment.  The  executioner  in  those  ages 
sacrificed  hundreds  of  common  human  lives  to  the 
terror  of  the  law.  The  churchman  alone,  to  the  most 
menial  of  the  clerical  body,  stood  above  such  law. 
The  churchman  too  was  judge  without  appeal  in  all 
causes  of  privilege  or  of  property,  which  he  possessed 
or  in  which  he  claimed  the  right  of  possession. 

This  strife  was  to  be  carried  on  with  all  the  anima- 
tion and  interest  of  a  single  combat,  instead  of  the  long 
and  confused  conflict  of  order  against  order.  Nor  was 
it  complicated  wdth  any  of  those  intricate  relations  of 
the  imperial  and  the  papal  power  (the  Emperor  claim- 
ing to  be  the  representative  of  the  Caesars  of  Rome, 
the  Popes  not  only  to  be  successors  of  the  chief  of  the 
apostles,  but  also  temporal  sovereigns  of  Rome),  which 
had  drawn  out  to  such  interminable  length  the  contest 
between  the  pontiffs  and  the  houses  of  Franconia  and 
Hohenstaufen.  The  champion  of  the  civil  power  was 
Henry  II.  of  England,  a  sovereign,  at  his  Henry  ii. 
accession,  w^ith  the  most  extensive  territories  and  least 
limited  power,  with  vast  command  of  wealth,  above 
any  monarch  of  his  time  ;  a  man  of  great  ability,  de- 
cision, and  activity ;  of  ungovernable  passions  and  in- 
tense pride,  which  did  not  prevent  him  fr'om  stooping 
to  dissimulation,  intrigue  and  subtle  policy.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Churchman,  a  subject  of  that  Becket. 
sovereign,  not  of  noble  birth,  but  advanced  by  the 
grace  of  the  king  to  the  highest  secular  power ;   yet 


308  LATCn   CHPJSTTAXITY.  book  Yin. 

when  raised  by  his  own  transcendent  capacity  and  by 
the  same  misjudging  favor  to  the  height  of  ecclesias- 
tical dignity,  sternly  and  at  once  rending  asunder  all 
ties  of  attachment  and  gratitude,  sacrificing  the  un- 
bounded power  and  influence  which  he  might  have 
retained  if  he  had  still  condescended  to  be  the  favorite 
of  the  king  ;  an  exile,  yet  so  formidable  as  to  be  re- 
ceived not  as  a  fugitive,  but  at  once  as  a  most  valuable 
ally  and  an  object  of  profound  reverence  by  the  King 
of  France,  and  by  other  foreign  princes.  For  seven 
years  Becket  inflexibly  maintains  his  ground  against 
the  king,  and  almost  all  the  more  powerful  prelates  of 
England,  and  some  of  Normandy.  At  times  seemingly 
abandoned  by  the  Pope  himself,  yet  disdaining  to  yield, 
and  rebuking  even  the  Pope  for  his  dastardly  and  tem- 
porizing policy,  he  at  length  extorts  his  restoration  to 
his  see  from  the  reluctant  monarch.  His  barbarous 
assassination  gave  a  temporary,  perhaps,  but  complete 
triumph  to  his  cause.  The  king,  though  not  actually 
implicated  in  the  murder,  cannot  avert  the  universal 
indignation  but  by  the  most  humiliating  submission, 
absolute  prostration  before  the  sacerdotal  power,  and 
by  public  and  ignominious  penance.  Becket  was  the 
martyr  for  the  Church,  and  this  not  only  in  the  first 
paroxysm  of  devotion,  and  not  only  with  the  clergy, 
whom  the  murder  of  a  holy  prelate  threw  entirely  on 
his  side,  but  with  the  whole  people,  to  whom  his  bound- 
less charities,  his  splendor,  his  sufferings,  his  exile,  and 
the  imposing  austerity  of  his  life,  had  rendered  him  an 
object  of  awe  and  of  love.  He  was  the  Saint  whom 
the  Church  hastened  to  canonize,  was  compared  in  lan- 
guage, to  us  awfully  profane,  in  his  own  time  that  of 
natural  veneration,  to  the  Saviour  himself.      The  wor- 


Chap.  Till.         YOUTH   OF  BECKET  —  LEGEXD.  309 

ship  of  Becket  —  and  in  those  days  it  would  be  difficult 
to  discriminate  between  popular  worship  and  absolute 
adoration  —  superseded,  not  in  Canterbury  alone,  nor 
in  England  alone,  that  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  even  of 
his  Virgin  Mother. 

Popular  poetry,  after  the  sanctification  of  Becket, 
delighted  in  throwing  the  rich  colors  of  mar-  Legend, 
vel  over  his  birth  and  jDarentage.  It  invented,  or 
rather  interwove  with  the  pedigree  of  the  martj^r,  one 
of  those  romantic  traditions  which  grew  out  of  the 
wild  adventures  of  the  crusades,  and  which  occur  in 
various  forms  in  the  ballads  of  all  nations.  That  so 
great  a  saint  should  be  the  son  of  a  gallant  champion 
of  the  cross,  and  of  a  Saracen  princess,  was  a  fiction 
too  attractive  not  to  win  general  acceptance.^  The 
father  of  Becket,  so  runs  the  legend,  a  gallant  soldier, 
was  a  captive  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  inspired  the 
daughter  of  his  master  with  an  ardent  attachment. 
Through  her  means  he  made  his  escape ;  but  the 
enamored  princess  could  not  endure  life  without  him. 
She  too  fled  and  made  her  way  to  Europe.  She  had 
learned  but  two  words  of  the  Christian  language,  Lon- 
don and  Gilbert.  With  these  two  magic  sounds  upon 
her  lips  she  reached  London ;  and  as  she  wandered 
through  the  streets,  constantly  repeating  the  name  of 
Gilbert,  she  was  met  by  Becket's  faithful  servant. 
Becket,  as  a  good  Christian,  seems  to  have  entertained 
religious  scruples  as  to  the  propriety  of  wedding  the 

1  The  early  life  of  Becket  has  been  mystified  both  by  the  imaginative 
tendencies  of  the  age  immediately  following  his  own,  and  by  the  theorizing 
tendencies  of  modern  history.  I  shall  shock  some  readers  by  unscrupu- 
lously rejecting  the  tale  of  the  Saracen  princess;  if  ever  there  was  an  his- 
toric ballad,  an  unquestionable  ballad;  as  well  as  the  Saxon  descent  of 
Becket,  as  undeniably  an  historic  fable. 


310  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Till. 

faithful,  but  misbelieving,  or,  it  might  be,  not  sincerely 
believinoj  maiden.  The  case  was  submitted  to  the 
highest  authority,  and  argued  before  the  Bishop  of 
London.  The  issue  was  the  baptism  of  the  princess, 
by  the  name  of  Matilda  (that  of  the  empress  queen), 
and  their  marriage  in  St.  Paul's  with  the  utmost  pub- 
licity and  splendor. 

But  of  this  wondrous  tale,  not  one  word  had  reached 
the  ears  of  any  of  the  seven  or  eight  contemporary 
biographers  of  Becket,  most  of  them  his  most  intimate 
friends  or  his  most  faithful  attendants.^  It  was  neither 
known  to  John  of  Salisbury,  his  confidental  adviser 
and  correspondent,  nor  to  Fitz-Stephen,  an  officer  of 
his  court  in  chancery,  and  dean  of  his  chapel  when 
archbishop,  who  was  with  him  at  Northampton,  and  at 
his  death ;  nor  to  Herbert  de  Bosham,  likewise  one  of 
his  officers  when  chancellor,  and  his  faithful  attendant 
throughout  his  exile  ;   nor  to  the  monk  of  Pontigny, 

1  There  are  no  less  than  seven  full  contemporary,  or  nearly  contempo- 
raiy,  Lives  of  Becket,  besides  fragments,  legends,  and  "  Passions."  Dr. 
Giles  has  reprinted,  and  in  some  respects  enlarged,  those  works  from  the 
authority  of  MSS.  I  give  them  in  the  order  of  his  volumes.  I.  Vita 
Sancti  Thomae.  Auctore  Edward  Grim.  II.  Auctore  Roger  de  Pontiniaco. 
III.  Auctore  Willelmo  Filio  Stephani.  IV.  Auctoribus  Joanne  Decano 
Salisburiensi,  et  Alano  Abbate  Teuksburiensi.  V.  Auctore  Willelmo  Can- 
terburiensi.  VI.  Auctore  Anonymo  Lambethiensi.  VII.  Auctore  Her- 
berto  de  Bosham.  Of  these.  Grim,  Fitz-Stephen,  and  Herbert  de  Bosham 
were  throughout  his  life  in  more  or  less  close  attendance  on  Becket.  The 
learned  John  of  Salisbury  was  his  bosom  friend  and  counsellor.  Roger  of 
Pontigny  was  his  intimate  associate  and  friend  in  that  monasteiy.  William 
was  probably  pi'ior  of  Canterbury  at  the  time  of  Becket's  death.  The 
sixth  professes  also  to  have  been  witness  to  the  death  of  Becket.  (He  is 
called  Lambethiensis  by  Dr.  Giles,  merely  because  the  MS.  is  in  the  Lam- 
beth Librar3^)  Add  to  these  the  curious  French  poem,  written  five  years 
after  the  murder  of  Becket,  by  Garnier  of  Pont  S.  Maxence,  partly  pub- 
lished in  the  Berlin  Transactions,  by  the  learned  Immanuel  Bekker.  All 
these,  it  must  be  remembered,  write  of  the  man;  the  later  monkish  writers 
(though  near  the  time,  Iloveden,  Gervase,  Diceto,  Brompton)  of  the  Saint. 


Chap.  Vm.  YOUTH  OF  BECKET.  oil 

who  waited  upon  him  and  enjoyed  his  most  intimate 
confidence  during  his  retreat  in  that  convent ;  nor  to 
Edward  Grim,  his  standard-bearer,  who,  on  his  way 
from  Clarendon,  reproached  him  with  his  weakness, 
and  having  been  constantly  attached  to  his  person, 
finally  interposed  his  arm  between  his  master  and  the 
first  blow  of  the  assassin.  Nor  were  these  ardent  ad- 
mirers of  Becket  silent  from  any  severe  aversion  to 
the  marvellous ;  they  relate,  with  unsuspecting  faith, 
dreams  and  prognostics  which  revealed  to  the  mother 
the  future  greatness  of  her  son,  even  his  elevation  to 
the  see  of  Canterbmy.^ 

To  the  Saxon  descent  of  Becket,  a  theory  in  which, 
on  the  authority  of  an  eloquent  French  writer,^  modern 
history  has  seemed  disposed  to  acquiesce,  these  biogra- 
phers not  merely  give  no  support,  but  furnish  direct 
contradiction.  The  lower  people  no  doubt  admired 
during  his  life,  and  worshipped  after  death,  the  blessed 
Thomas  of  Canterbury,  and  the  people  were  mostly 
Saxon.  But  it  was  not  as  a  Saxon,  but  as  a  Saint, 
that  Becket  was  the  object  of  unbounded  popularity 
during  his  life,  of  idolatry  after  his  death. 

The  father  of  Becket,  according  to  the  distinct  words 
of  one  contemporary  biographer,  was  a  native  Parentage 
of  Rouen,  his  mother  of  Caen.^     Gilbert  was  tioa. 

1  Brompton  is  not  the  earliest  -writer  who  recorded  this  tale ;  he  took  it 
from  the  Quadrilogus  I.,  but  of  this  the  date  is  quite  uncertain.  The  ex 
act  date  of  Brompton  is  unknown.  See  preface  in  Twj'sden.  He  goes 
down  to  the  end  of  Richard  11. 

2  ;Mcns.  Thierry,  Hist,  des  Xormands.  Lord  Lyttelton  (Life  of  Henry 
II.)  had  before  asserted  the  Saxon  descent  of  Becket:  perhaps  he  misled 
M.  Thierry. 

3  The  anonymous  Lambethiensis,  after  stating  that  many  Norman  mer- 
chants were  allured  to  London  by  the  greater  mercantile  prosperity',  pro- 
ceeds: "Ex  horum  numero  fuit  Gilbertus  quidam  cognomento  Becket, 
patria  Rotomagensis  .  .  .  habuit  autem  uxorem,  nomine  Roseam  natione 


312  LATIN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

no  kniglit-errant,  but  a  sober  merchant,  tempted  by 
commercial  advantages  to  settle  in  London :  his  mother 
neither  boasted  of  royal  Saracenic  blood,  nor  bore  the 
royal  name  of  Matilda  ;  she  was  the  daughter  of  an 
honest  burgher  of  Caen.  His  Norman  descent  is  still 
further  confirmed  by  his  claim  of  relationship,  or  con- 
nection at  least,  as  of  common  Norman  descent,  with 
Archbishop  Theobald.^  The  parents  of  Becket,  he 
asserts  himself,  were  merchants  of  unimpeached  char- 
acter, not  of  the  lowest  class.  Gilbert  Becket  is  said 
to  have  served  the  honorable  office  of  sheriff,  but  his 
Born  fortune  was  injured  by  fires  and  other  casual- 

A.D.  U18.  ^-gg  2  'pjjg  young  Becket  received  his  earliest 
education  among  the  monl^:s  of  Merton  in  Surrey, 
towards  whom  he  cherished  a  fond  attachment,  and 
delighted  to  visit  them  in  the  days  of  his  splendor. 
The  dwelling  of  a  respectable  London  merchant  seems 
to  have  been  a  place  where  strangers  of  very  different 
pursuits,  who  resorted  to  the  metropolis  of  England, 
took  up  their  lodging ;  and  to  Gilbert  Becket's  house 
came  persons  both  disposed  and  qualified  to  cultivate  in 
various  ways  the  extraordinary  talents  displayed  by  the 
youth,  who  was  singularly  handsome,  and  of  engaging 
manners.^  A  knight,  whose  name,  Richard  de  Aquila, 
occurs  with  distinction  in  the  annals  of  the  time,  one 
of  his  father's  guests,  delighted  in  initiating  the  gay 
and  spirited  boy  in  chivalrous  exercises,  and  in  the 
chase  with  hawk  and  hound.     On  a  hawking  adventure 

Cadomensem,  genere  burgensium  quoque  non  disparem." — Apud  Giles, 
ii.  p.  73. 

1  See  below. 

2  "  Quod  si  ad  generis  mei  radicem  et  progenitores  meos  intenderis, 
eives  quidem  fuerunt  Londonienses,  in  medio  concivium  suorum  habitantes 
sine  querela,  nee  omnino  infimi."  —  Epist.  130. 

8  Grim,  p.  9.    Pontiniac,  p.  96. 


Cjiap.  Yin.  ADVAXCEMEXT  OF  BECKET.  313 

the  young  Becket  narrowly  escaped  being  drowned 
in  the  Thames.  At  the  same  time,  or  soon  after, 
he  was  inured  to  business  by  acting  as  clerk  to  a 
wealthy  relative,  Osborn  Octuomini,  and  in  the  office 
of  the  Sheriff  of  London.^  His  accomplishments  were 
completed  by  a  short  residence  in  Paris,  the  best 
school  for  the  language  spoken  by  the  Norman  nobility. 
To  his  father's  house  came  likewise  two  learned  civil- 
ians from  Bologna,  no  doubt  on  some  mission  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  They  were  so  captivated 
by  young  Becket,  that  they  strongly  recommended  him 
to  Archbishop  Theobald,  whom  the  father  of  Becket 
reminded  of  their  common  honorable  descent  from  a 
knightly  family  near  the  town  of  Thiersy.^  Becket 
was  at  once  on  the  high  road  of  advancement,  j^  ^^^ 
His  extraordinary  abilities  were  cultivated  by  of  "S^lSh- 
the  wise  patronage,  and  employed  in  the  ser-  ^^^^^p- 
vice  of  the  primate.  Once  he  accompanied  that  prel- 
ate to  Rome;^  and  on  more  than  one  other  occasion 
visited  that  great  centre  of  Christian  affairs.  He  was 
permitted  to  reside  for  a  certain  time  at  each  of  the 
great  schools  for  the  study  of  the  canon  law,  Bologna 
and  Auxerre.^  He  was  not,  however,  without  enemies. 
Even  in  the  court  of  Theobald  began  the  jealous  ri- 
valry with  Roger,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  York,  then 
Archdeacon  of  Canterbury.^     Twice  the  superior  in- 

1  Grim,  p.  8. 

2  "  Eo  familiarius,  quod  prsefatus  Gilbertus  cum  domino  archipraesule  de 
propinquitate  et  genere  loquebatur :  ut  ille  ortu  Normannus  et  circa  Thierici 
villam  de  equestri  ordiue  natu  vicinus."  —  Fitz-Stephen,  ISi.  Thiersv  oi 
Thiercliville. 

3  Roger  de  Pontigny,  p.  100. 

4  Fitz-Stephen,  p.  185. 

5  According  to  Fitz-Stephen,  Thomas  was  less  learned  (minus  literatus) 
than  his  rival,  but  of  loftier  character  and  morals.  —  P.  184. 


S14  LATIN  CHRISTIAXITY.  Book  VIII. 

fluence  of  the  archdeacon  obtamed  his  dismissal  from 
the  service  of  Theobald ;  twice  he  was  reinstated  by 
the  good  offices  of  Walter,  Bishop  of  Rochester.  At 
length  the  elevation  of  Roger  to  the  see  of  York  left 
the  field  open  to  Becket.  He  was  appointed  to  the 
vacant  archdeaconry,  the  richest  benefice,  after  the 
bishoprics,  in  England.  From '  that  time  he  ruled 
without  rival  in  the  favor  of  the  ao-ed  Theobald.  Pre- 
ferments  were  heaped  upon  him  by  the  lavish  bounty 
of  his  patron.^  During  his  exile  he  was  reproached 
with  his  ingratitude  to  the  king,  who  had  raised  him 
from  poverty.  "  Poverty  ! "  he  rejoined  ;  "  even  then  I 
held  the  archdeaconry  of  Canterbury,  the  provostship 
of  Beverley,  a  great  many  churches,  and  several  pre- 
bends."»2  The  trial  and  the  triumph  of  Becket's 
precocious  abilities  was  a  negotiation  of  the  utmost 
difficulty  with  the  court  of  Rome.  The  first  object 
was  to  obtain  the  legatine  power  for  Archbishop  Theo- 
bald ;  the  second  tended,  more  than  almost  all  meas- 
ures, to  secure  the  throne  of  England  to  the  house  of 
Plantagenet.  Archbishop  Theobald,  with  his  clergy, 
had  inclined  to  the  cause  of  Matilda  and  her  son ;  they 
had  refused  to  officiate  at  the  coronation  of  Eustace,  son 
of  King  Stephen.  Becket  not  merely  obtained  from 
Eugenius  III.  the  full  papal  approbation  of  this  refusal, 
but  a  condemnation  of  Stephen  (whose  title  had  before 
been  sanctioned  by  Eugenius  himself)  as  a  peijured 
usurper.^ 

1  "Plurima3  ecclesiae,  praebendae  nonnullse."  Among  the  livings  were  one 
in  Kent,  and  St.  Mary  le  Strand;  among  the  prebends,  two  at  London  and 
Lincoln.  The  archdeaconry  of  Canterbury  was  worth  100  pounds  of  silver 
a-year. 

2  Epist.  130. 

s  Lord  liVttelton  gives  a  full  account  of  this  transaction.  —  Book  i. 
p.  213. 


Chap.  VIII.  ACCESSION  OF  HEXRY  II.  315 

But  on  the  accession  of  Henry  II.,  tlie  aged  Arch- 
blsliop  beo-an  to  tremble  at  his  own  work ;  se-  Accession  of 

T  .  IT..         Henry  II. 

nous  apprehensions  arose  as  to  the  disposition  Dec.  i9, 1154. 
of  the  young  king  towards  the  Church.  His  connection 
was  but  remote  with  the  imperial  family  (though  his 
mother  had  worn  the  imperial  crown,  and  some  impe- 
rial blood  might  flow  in  his  veins)  ;  but  the  Empire 
was  still  the  implacable  adversary  of  the  papal  power. 
Even  from  his  father  he  might  have  received  an  he- 
reditary taint  of  hatred  to  the  Church,  for  the  Count 
of  Anjou  had  on  many  occasions  shown  the  utmost  hos- 
tility to  the  Hierarchy,  and  had  not  scrupled  to  treat 
churchmen  of  the  highest  rank  with  unexampled  cru- 
elty. In  proportion  as  it  was  important  to  retain  a 
young  sovereign  of  such  vast  dominions  in  allegiance  to 
the  Church,  so  was  it  alarming  to  look  forward  to  his 
disobedience.  The  Archbishop  was  anxious  to  place 
near  his  person  some  one  who  might  counteract  this 
suspected  perversity,  and  to  prevent  his  young  mind 
from  being  alienated  from  the  clergy  by  fierce  and  law- 
less counsellors.  He  had  discerned  not  merely  unri- 
valled abilities,  but  with  prophetic  sagacity,  his  Arch- 
deacon's lofty  and  devoted  churchmanship.  Through 
the  recommendation  of  the  primate,  Becket  was  raised 
to  the  dignity  of  chancellor,^  an  office  which  made  him 

1  This  remarkable  fact  in  Becket's  history  rests  on  the  authority  of  his 
friend,  John  of  Salisbury:  "Erat  enim  in  suspectu  adolescentia  regis  et 
juvenum  et  pravorum  hominum,  quorum  conciliis  agi  videbatur  .  .  .  in- 
sipientiam  et  malitiam  formidabat  .  .  .  cancellarium  procurabat  in  curia 
ordinari,  cujus  ope  et  opera  novi  regis  ne  steviret  in  ecclesiam,  impetum 
cohiberet  et  consilii  sui  temperaret  malitiam."  — Apud  Giles,  p.  321.  This 
is  repeated  in  almost  the  same  words  by  William  of  Canterbury,  vol.  ii.  p. 
2.  Compare  what  may  be  read  almost  as  the  dying  admonitions  of  Theo- 
bald to  the  king:  "  Suggerunt  vobis  filii  saeculi  hujus,  ut  ecclesiaj  minuatis 
fluctoritatem,  ut  vobis  regni  dignitas  augeatur."    He  had  before  said,  "  Cui 


816  LATIN"  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII 

the  second  civil  power  in  tlie  realm,  inasmucli  as  his 
seal  was  necessary  to  countersign  all  royal  mandates. 
Nor  was  it  without  great  ecclesiastical  influence,  as  in 
the  chancellor  was  the  appointment  of  all  the  royal 
chaplains,  and  the  custody  of  vacant  bishoprics,  abba- 
cies, and  benefices.^ 

But  the  Chancellor,  who  was  yet,  with  all  his  great 
Becket  preferments,  only  in   deacon's  orders,  might 

Chancellor,  g^^^^  disdainfully  to  throw  aside  the  habits, 
feelings,  restraints  of  the  churchman,  and  to  aspire  as 
to  the  plenitude  of  secular  power,  so  to  unprecedented 
secular  magnificence.^  Becket  shone  out  in  all  the 
graces  of  an  accomplished  courtier,  in  the  bearing  and 
valor  of  a  sfallant  knicrht ;  thouo;h  at  the  same  time  he 
displayed  the  most  consummate  abilities  for  business, 
the  promptitude,  diligence,  and  prudence  of  a  practised 
statesman.  The  beauty  of  his  person,  the  affability  of 
his  manners,  the  extraordinary  acuteness  of  his  senses,^ 
his  activity  in  all  chivalrous  exercises,  made  him  the 
chosen  companion  of  the  king  in  his  constant  diver- 
sions, in  the  chase  and  in  the  mimic  war,  in  all  but  his 
debaucheries.  The  king  would  willingly  have  lured 
the  Chancellor  into  this  companionship  likewise ;  but 
the  silence  of  his  bitterest'  enemies,  in  confirmation  of 
his  own  solemn  protestations,  may  be  admitted  as  con- 
clusive testimonies  to  his  unimpeached   morals.*^     The 

deest  gratia  Ecclesife,  tota  creatrix  Trinitas  adversatur."  — Apud  Bouquet, 
xvi.  p.  504.     Also  Roger  de  Poutigiiy,  p.  101. 

1  Fitz-Stephen,  p.  186.  Compare  on  the  office  of  chancellor  Lord  Camp- 
bell's Life  of  Becket. 

^  De  Bosham,  p.  17. 

3  See  a  curious  passage  on  the  singular  sensitiveness  of  his  hearing,  and 
even  of  his  smell.  —  Roger  de  Pontigny,  p.  96. 

4  Roger  de  Pontigny,  p.  104.  His  character  by  John  of  Salisbury  is  re- 
markable :  "  Erat  supra  modum  captator  aurse  popularis  .  .  .  etsi  Buperbus 


Chap.  Vm.  BECKET  CHANCELLOR.  317 

power  of  Becket  throughout  the  king's  dominions 
equalled  that  of  the  king  himself — he  was  king  in  all 
but  name  :  the  world,  it  was  said,  had  never  seen  two 
friends  so  entirely  of  one  mind.^  The  well-known  an- 
ecdote best  illustrates  their  intimate  familiarity.  As 
they  rode  through  the  streets  of  London  on  a  bleak 
winter  day  they  met  a  beggar  in  rags.  "  Would  it  not 
be  charity,"  said  the  king,  "  to  give  that  fellow  a  cloak, 
and  cover  him  from  the  cold  ?  "  Becket  assented  ; 
on  which  the  king  plucked  the  rich  furred  mantle 
from  the  shoulders  of  the  struggling  Chancellor  and 
threw  it,  to  the  amazement  and  admiration  of  the  by- 
standers, no  doubt  to  the  secret  envy  of  the  courtiers 
at  this  proof  of  Becket's  favor,  to  the  shivering 
beggar.2 

But  it  was  in  the  graver  affairs  of  the  realm  that 
Henry  derived  still  greater  advantage  from  the  wisdom 
and  the  conduct  of  the  Chancellor.^  To  Becket's 
counsels  his  admiring  biographers  attribute  the  pacifica- 
tion of  the  kingdom,  the  expulsion  of  the  foreign  mer- 
cenaries who  during  the  civil  wars  of  Stephen's  reign 
had  devastated  the  land  and  had  settled  down  as  con- 
querors, especially  in  Kent,  the  humiliation  of  the  re- 
fractory barons  and  the  demolition  of  their  castles. 
The  peace  was  so  profound  that  merchants  could  travel 
everywhere  in  safety,  and  even  the  Jews  collect  their 

esset  et  vanus  et  interdum  faciem  prsetendebat  insipienter  amantium  et 
verba  proferret,  admirandus  tameu  et  iiuitandus  erat  ia  corporis  castitate." 
—  P.  320.     See  an  adventure  related  by  William  of  Cauterburv'-,  p.  3. 

1  Grim,  p.  12.    Roger  de  Pontigny,  p.  102.     Fitz-Stephen,  p.  192. 

2  Fitz-Stephen,  p.  191.  Fitz-Stephen  is  most  full  and  particular  on  the 
chancellorship  of  Becket. 

3  It  is  not  quite  clear  how  soon  after  the  accession  of  Henry  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  chancellor  took  place.  I  should  incline  to  the  earlier  date, 
-i.D.  1155. 


gl8  LATIN    CHEISTIANITY.  Book  Vm 

debts.^  The  mac^nificence  of  Becket  redounded  to  tlie 
glory  of  his  sovereign.  In  his  ordinary  life  he  waa 
sumptuous  beyond  precedent;  he  kept  an  open  table, 
where  those  who  were  not  so  fortunate  as  to  secure  a 
seat  at  the  board  had  clean  rushes  strewn  on  the  floor, 
on  which  they  might  repose,  eat,  and  carouse  at  the 
Chancellor's  expense.  His  household  was  on  a  scale 
vast  even  for  that  age  of  unbounded  retainership,  and 
the  haughtiest  Norman  nobles  were  proud  to  see  their 
sons  brought  up  in  the  family  of  the  merchant's  son. 
In  his  embassy  to  Paris  to  demand  the  hand  of  the 
Ambassador  Priucess  Margaret  for  the  king's  infant  son, 
A.».  1160.  described  with  such  minute  accuracy  by  Fitz- 
Stephen,^  he  outshone  himself,  yet  might  seem  to  have 
a  loyal  rather  than  a  personal  aim  in  this  unrivalled 
pomp.  The  French  crowded  from  all  quarters  to  see 
the  splendid  procession  pass,  and  exclaimed,  "  What 
must  be  the  king,  whose  Chancellor  can  indulge  in 
such  enormous  expenditure  ?  " 

Even  in  war  the  Chancellor  had  displayed  not  only 
the  abilities  of  a  general,  but  a  personal  prowess,  which, 
though  it  found  many  precedents  in  those  times,  might 
appear  somewhat  incongruous  in  an  ecclesiastic,  who 
War  in  J®^  ^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  clcrical  benefices.     In  the  ex- 

Touiouse.  pedition  made  by  King  Henry  to  assert  his 
right  to  the  dominions  of  the  Counts  of  Toulouse, 
Becket  appeared  at  the  head  of  seven  hundred  knights 
who  did  him  service,  and  foremost  in  every  adventu- 
rous exploit  was  the  valiant  Chancellor.  Becket's  bold 
counsel  urged  the  immediate  storming  of  the  city, 
which  would  have  been  followed  by  the  captivity  p/ 

1  Fitz-Stephen,  p.  187. 

2  P.  196. 


Chap.  ym.  WEALTH  OF  BECKET.  319 

the  King  of  France.  Henry,  in  whose  character  im- 
petuosity was  strangely  moulded  up  with  irresolution, 
dared  not  risk  this  violation  of  feudal  allegiance,  the 
captivity  of  his  suzerain.  The  event  of  the  war  showed 
the  policy  as  well  as  the  superior  military  judgment  of 
the  warlike  Chancellor.  At  a  period  somewhat  later, 
Becket,  who  was  left  to  reduce  certain  castles  which 
held  out  against  his  master,  unhorsed  in  single  combat 
and  took  prisoner  a  knight  of  great  distinction,  Engel- 
ran  de  Trie.  He  returned  to  Henry  in  Normandy  at 
the  head  of  1200  knights  and  4000  stipendiary  horse- 
men, raised  and  maintained  at  his  own  charge.  If  indeed 
there  were  grave  churchmen  even  in  those  days  who 
were  revolted  by  these  achievements  in  an  ecclesiastic 
(he  was  still  only  in  deacon's  orders),  the  sentiment 
was  by  no  means  universal,  nor  even  dominant.  With 
some  his  valor  and  military  skill  only  excited  more 
ardent  admiration.  One  of  his  biographers  bursts  out 
into  this  extraordinary  panegyric  on  the  Archdeacon 
of  Canterbury :  "  Who  can  recount  the  carnage,  the 
desolation,  which  he  made  at  the  head  of  a  strong  body 
of  soldiers  ?  He  attacked  castles,  razed  towns  and  cities 
to  the  ground,  burned  down  houses  and  farms  without 
a  touch  of  pity,  and  never  showed  the  slightest  mercy 
to  any  one  who  rose  in  insurrection  against  his  master's 
authority."^ 

The  services  of  Becket  were  not  unrewarded ;  the 
love  and  o-ratitude  of  his  sovereio-n  showered  honors 
and  emoluments  upon  him.  Among  his  grants  were 
the  wardenship  of  the  Tower  of  London,  the  lordship 
of  the  castle  of  Berkhampstead  and  the  honor  of  Eye, 
with  the  service  of  a  hundred  and  forty  knights.     Yet 

1  Edward  Grim,  p.  12. 


320  LATIN  CHEISTIAXITY.  Book  YIII. 

there  must  have  been  other  and  more  jjrohfic  sources  of 
Wealth  of  l^is  wealth,  so  lavishly  displayed.  Through 
Becket.  ^us  hands  as  Chancellor  passed  almost  all 
grants  and  royal  favors.  He  was  the  guardian  of  all 
escheated  baronies  and  of  all  vacant  benefices.  It  is 
said  in  his  praise  that  he  did  not  permit  the  king,  as 
w^as  common,  to  prolong  those  vacancies  for  his  own 
advantage,  that  they  w^ere  filled  up  with  as  much  speed 
as  possible  ;  but  it  should  seem,  by  subsequent  occur- 
rences, that  no  very  strict  account  was  kept  of  the 
king's  moneys  spent  by  the  Chancellor  in  the  king's 
service  and  those  expended  by  the  Chancellor  himself. 
This  seems  intimated  by  the  care  which  he  took  to 
secure  a  general  quittance  from  the  chief  justiciary  of 
the  realm  before  his  elevation  to  the  archbishopric. 

But  if  in  his  personal  habits  and  occupations  Becket 
lost  in  some  degree  the  churchman  in  the  secular  dig- 
nitary, was  he  mindful  of  the  solemn  trust  imposed 
upon  him  by  his  patron  the  archbishop,  and  true  to  the 
interests  of  his  order  ?  Did  he  connive  at,  or  at  least 
did  he  not  resist,  any  invasion  on  ecclesiastical  immu- 
nities, or,  as  they  were  called,  the  liberties  of  the  clergy? 
did  he  hold  their  property  absolutely  sacred?.  It  is 
clear  that  he  consented  to  levy  the  scutage,  raised  on 
the  whole  realm,  on  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  secular 
property.  All  that  his  friend  John  of  Salisbury  can 
allege  in  his  defence  is,  that  he  bitterly  repented  of 
having  been  the  minister  of  this  iniquity.^     "  If  with 

1  Jolm  of  Salisbury  denies  that  he  sanctioned  the  rapacity  of  the  king, 
and  urges  that  he  only  yielded  to  necessity.  Yet  his  exile  was  the  just 
punishment  of  his  guilt.  "  Tanien  quia  eum  ministrum  fuisse  iniquitatis  non 
ambigo,  jure  optinio  taliter  arbitror  puniendum  ut  eo  potissimum  puniatur 

auctore,  quern  in  talibus  Deo  bonorum  omnium  auctori  prjeferebat 

Sed  esto:  nunc  po-nitentiani  agit,  agnos.cit  et  confitetur  culpam  pro  ea,  et 


Chai>.  VIII.  DEATH   OF   THEOBALD.  821 

Saul  he  persecuted  the  Church,  with  Paul  he  is  pre- 
pared to  die  for  the  Church."  But  prohably  the  worst 
eiFect  of  this  conduct  as  regards  King  Henry  was  the 
encouragement  of  his  fatal  delusion  that,  as  archbishop, 
Becket  would  be,  as  submissive  to  his  wishes  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Church  as  had  been  the  pliant  Chancellor. 
It  was  the  last  and  crowning  mark  of  the  royal  confi- 
dence that  Becket  was  intrusted  with  the  education  of 
the  young  Prince  Henry,  the  heir  to  all  the  dominions 
of  the  king. 

Six  years  after  the  accession  of  Henry  II.  died  Theo- 
bald Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  On  the  char-  April,  iiei. 
acter  of  his  successor  depended  the  peace  of  the  realm, 
especially  if  Henry,  as  no  doubt  he  did,  already  enter- 
tained designs  of  limiting  the  exorbitant  power  of  the 
Church.  Becket,  ever  at  his  right  hand,  could  not  but 
occur  to  the  mind  of  the  kino;.  Nothino;  in  his  habits 
of  life  or  conduct  could  impair  the  hope  that  in  him  the 
loyal,  the  devoted,  it  might  seem  unscrupulous  subject, 
would  predominate  over  the  rigid  churchman.  With 
such  a  prime  minister,  attached  by  former  benefits,  it 
might  seem  by  the  warmest  personal  love,  still  more  by 
this  last  proof  of  boundless  confidence,  to  his  person, 
and  as  holding  the  united  offices  of  Chancellor  and 
Primate,  ruling  supreme  both  in  Church  and  State,  the 
king  could  dread  no  resistance,  or  if  there  were  resist- 
ance, could  subdue  it  without  difficulty. 

Rumor  had  already  designated  Becket  as  the  future 
primate.  A  churchman,  the  Prior  of  Leicester,  on  a 
visit  to  Becket,  who  Avas  ill  at  Rouen,  pointing  to  his 
apparel,  said,  "  Is  this  a  dress  for  an  Archbishop  of 

si  cum  Saulo  quandoque  ecclesiam  impugnavit,  nunc,  cum  Paulo  ponere 
paratus  est  animam  suam."  —  Bouquet,  p.  518. 
VOL.  IV.  21 


322  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

Canterbury?"  Becket  himself  had  not  disguised  his 
hopes  and  fears.  "  There  are  three  poor  priests  in 
Eno-land,  any  one  of  whose  elevation  to  the  see  of 
Canterbury  I  should  wish  rather  than  my  own.  I 
know  the  very  heart  of  the  king ;  if  I  should  be  pro- 
moted, I  must  forfeit  his  favor  or  that  of  God."  ^ 

The  king  did  not  suddenly  declare  his  intentions. 
The  see  was  vacant  for  above  a  year,^  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  revenues  must  have  been  in  the  depart- 
ment of  the  Chancellor.  At  length  as  Becket,  who 
had  received  a  commission  to  return  to  England  on 
other  affairs  of  moment,  took  leave  of  his  sovereign  at 
Falaise,  Henry  hastily  informed  him  that  those  affairs 
were  not  the  main  object  of  his  mission  to  England  — 
it  was  for  his  election  to  the  vacant  archbishopric. 
Becket  remonstrated,  but  in  vain  ;  he  openly  warned, 
it  is  said,  his  royal  master  that  as  Primate  he  must 
choose  between  the  favor  of  God  and  that  of  the  king 
—  he  must  prefer  that  of  God.^  In  those  days  the 
interests  of  the  clergy  and  of  God  were  held  insep- 
arable. Henry  no  doubt  thought  this  but  the  decent 
resistance  of  an  ambitious  prelate.  The  advice  of 
Henry  of  Pisa,  the  Papal  Legate,  overcame  the  faint 

1  Fitz-Stephen,  p.  193. 

2  Theobald  died  April  18, 1161.    Becket  was  ordained  priest  and  conse- 
crated on  Whitsunday,  1162. 

3  Yet  Theobald,  according  to  John  of  Salisbury,  designed  Becket  for  his 
successor,  — 

"  hunc  {i.  e.  Becket  Cancellarium)  successurum  sibi  sperat  et  orat, 
Hie  est  carnificum  qui  jus  cancellat  iniquum, 

Quos  habuit  reges  Anglia  capta  diu, 
Esse  putans  reges,  quos  est  perpessa,  tyrannos  , 

Plus  veneratur  eos,  qui  nocuere  magis." 

Entheticus,  i.  1295. 

Did  Becket  decide  against  the  Norman  laws  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  ?  Has 
any  one  guessed  the  meaning  of  the  rest  of  John's  verses  on  the  Chancellor 
and  his  Court?    I  confess  myself  baffled. 


Chap.  Vm.        BECKET  PRDLITE  OF  ENGLAND.  323 

and  lingering  scniples  of  Becket :  he  passed  to  England 
with  the  king's  recommendation,  mandate  it  might  be 
called,  for  his  election. 

All  which  to  the  king  would  designate  Becket  as  the 
future  primate  could  not  but  excite  the  apprehensions 
of  the  more  rigorous  churchmen.  The  monks  of  Can- 
terbury, with  whom  rested  the  formal  election,  alleged 
as  an  insuperable  difficulty  that  Becket  had  never  worn 
the  monastic  habit,  as  almost  all  his  predecessors  had 
done.^  The  suffragan  bishops  would  no  doubt  secretly 
resist  the  advancement,  over  all  their  heads,  of  a  man 
who,  latterly  at  least,  had  been  more  of  a  soldier,  a 
courtier,  and  a  lay  statesman.  Nor  could  the  prophetic 
sagacity  of  any  but  the  wisest  discern  the  latent  church- 
manship  in  the  ambitious  and  inflexible  heart  of  Becket. 
It  is  recorded  on  authority,  which  I  do  not  believe 
doubtful  as  to  its  authenticity,  but  which  is  the  impas 
sioned  statement  of  a  declared  enemy,  that  nothing  but 
the  arrival  of  the  great  justiciary,  Richard  de  Luci, 
with  the  king's  peremptory  commands,  and  with  per 
sonal  menaces  of  proscription  and  exile  against  the 
more  forward  opponents,  awed  the  refractoiy  monks 
and  prelates  to  submission. 

At  Whitsuntide,  Thomas  Becket  received  priest's 
orders,  and  was  then  consecrated  Primate  of  England 
with  great  magnificence  in  the  Abbey  of  Westminster. 
The  see  of  London  being  vacant,  the  ceremony  was 
performed  by  the  once  turbulent,  now  aged  and  peace- 
ful, Heniy  of  Winchester,  the  brother  of  King  Stephen. 
One  voice  alone,  that  of  Gilbert  Foliot,  Bishop  of 
Hereford,^  broke  the  apparent  harmony  by  a  bitter  sar- 

1  Roger  de  Pontigny,  p.  100. 

2  In  the  memorable  letter  of  Gilbert  Foliot.    Dr.  Lingard  observes  that 


324  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIH 

casm  —  "The  king  has  wrought  a  miracle;  he  has 
turned  a  soldier  and  a  layman  into  an  archbishop." 
Gilbert  Gilbert  Foliot,  from  first  to  last  the  firm  and 

Foiiot.  unawed  antagonist  of  Becket,  is  too  important 

a  personage  to  be  passed  lightly  by.^  This  sally  was 
attributed  no  doubt  by  some  at  the  time,  as  it  was  the 
subject  afterwards  of  many  fierce  taunts  from  Becket 
himself,  and  of  lofty  vindication  by  Foliot,  to  disap- 
pointed ambition,  as  though  he  liimself  aspired  to  the 
primacy.  Nor  was  there  an  ecclesiastic  in  England 
who  might  entertain  more  just  hopes  of  advancement. 
He  was  admitted  to  be  a  man  of  unimpeachable  life,  of 
austere  habits,  and  great  learning.  He  had  been  Abbot 
of  Gloucester  and  then  Bishop  of  Hereford.  He  was 
in  correspondence  with  four  successive  Popes,  Coeles- 
tine  II.,  Lucius  II.,  Eugenius  III.,  Alexander,  and 
with  a  familiarity  which  implies  a  high  estimation  for 
ability  and  experience.  He  is  interfering  in  matters 
remote  from  his  diocese,  and  commending  other  bishops, 
Lincoln  and  Salisbury,  to  the  favorable  consideration 
of  tlie  Pontiff".     All  his  letters  reveal  as  imperious  and 

IMr.  Berington  has  proved  this  letter  to  be  spurious.  I  cannot  see  any 
force  in  Mr.  Bering-ton's  arguments,  and  should  certainly  have  paid  more 
deference  to  Dr.  Lingard  himself  if  he  had  examined  the  question.  It 
seems,  moreover  (if  I  rightly  understand  Dr.  Giles,  and  I  am  not  certain 
that  I  do),  that  it  exists  in  more  than  one  MS.  of  Foliot's  letters.  He  has 
printed  it  as  unquestioned;  no  very  satisfactory  proceeding  in  an  editor. 
The  conclusive  argument  for  its  authenticity  vrith  me  is  this:  "Who,  after 
Becket' s  death  and  canonization,  would  have  ventured  or  thought  it  worth 
while  to  forge  such  a  letter?  To  whom  was  Foliot's  memory  so  dear,  or 
Becket's  so  hateful,  as  to  reopen  the  whole  strife  about  his  election  and  his 
conduct?  Besides,  it  seems  clear  that  it  is  either  a  rejoinder  to  the  long 
letter  addressed  by  Becket  to  the  clergy  of  England  (Giles,  iii.  170),  or 
that  letter  is  a  rejoinder  to  Foliot's.  Each  is  a  violent  party  pamphlet 
against  the  other,  and  of  great  ability  and  labor. 

1  Fohot's  nearest  relatives,  if  not  himself,  were  Scotch;  one  of  them  had 
forfeited  his  estate  for  fidelity  to  the  King  of  Scotland.  —  Epist.  ii.  cclxxviii. 


Chap.  YIII.  CHAXGE  IX  DRESS   AXD  LIFE.  325 

conscientious  a  cliurcliman  as  Becket  himself,  and  in 
Becket's  position  Foliot  might  have  resisted  the  king  as 
inflexibly.^  He  was,  in  short,  a  bold  and  stirring  eccle- 
siastic, who  did  not  scruple  to  Avleld,  as  he  had  done  in 
several  instances,  that  last  terrible  weapon  of  the  clergy 
which  burst  on  his  own  head,  excommunication.^  It 
may  be  added  that,  notwithstanding  his  sarcasm,  there 
was  no  open  breach  between  him  and  Becket.  The 
primate  acquiesced  in,  if  he  did  not  promote,  the  ad- 
vancement of  Foliot  to  the  see  of  London ;  ^  and  dur- 
ing that  period  letters  of  courtesy  which  borders  on 
adulation  were  interchanged  at  least  with  apparent  sin- 
cerity.^ 

The  kino;  had  Indeed  wrouo-ht  a  greater  miracle 
than  himself  intended,  or  than'  Foliot  thought  possible. 
Becket  became  at  once  not  merely  a  decent  prelate, 
but  an  austere  and  mortified  monk :  he  seemed  deter- 
mined to  make  up  for  his  want  of  ascetic  qualifications  ; 
to  crowd  a  whole  life  of  monkhood  into  a  few  years. '^ 
Under  his  canonical  dress  he  wore  a  monk's  frock,  hair- 
cloth next  his  skin ;    his  studies,  his  devotions,  were 

1  Read  his  letters  before  his  elevation  to  the  see  of  London. 

2  See,  e.g.,  Epist.  cxxxi.,  in  which  he  informs  Archbishop  Theobald  that 
the  Earl  of  Hereford  held  intercourse  Avith  William  Beauchamp,  excommu- 
nicated by  the  Primate.  "  Vilescit  anatheraatis  authoritas,  nisi  et  com- 
municantes  excommunicatis  corripiat  digna  severitas.''  The  Earl  of 
Hereford  must  be  placed  under  anathema. 

3  Lambeth,  p.  91.  The  election  of  the  Bishop  of  Hereford  to  London  is 
confirmed  by  the  Pope's  permission  to  elect  him  (March  19)  rogatu  H.  regis 
et  Archep.  Cantuarensis.  A  letter  from  Pope  Alexander  on  his  promotion 
rebukes  him  {or  fasting  too  severely.  —  Epist.  ccclix. 

4  Foliot,  in  a  letter  to  Pope  Alexander,  maintains  the  superiority  of  Can- 
terbury over  York.  — cxlix. 

5  See  on  the  change  in  his  habits,  Lambeth,  p.  84;  also  the  strange  stoiy, 
In  Grim,  of  a  monk  who  declared  himself  commissioned  by  a  preterhuman 
person  of  terrible  countenance  to  warn  the  Chancellor  not  to  dare  to  appear 
in  the  choir,  as  he  had  done,  in  a  secular  dress.  —  p.  16. 


826  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Yltl. 

long,  regular,  rigid.  At  the  mass  he  was  frequently 
melted  mto  passionate  tears.  In  his  outward  demean- 
or, indeed,  though  he  submitted  to  private  flagellation, 
and  the  most  severe  macerations,  Becket  was  still  the 
stately  prelate  ;  his  food,  though  scanty  to  abstemious- 
ness, was,  as  his  constitution  required,  more  delicate ; 
his  charities  were  boundless.  Archbishop  Theobald 
had  doubled  the  usual  amount  of  the  primate's  alms, 
Becket  again  doubled  that;  and  every  night  In  pri- 
vacy,  no  doubt  more  ostentatious  than  the  most  public 
exhibition,  with  his  own  hands  he  washed  the  feet  of 
thirteen  beggars.  His  table  was  still  hospitable  and 
sumptuous,  but  Instead  of  knights  and  nobles,  he  ad- 
mitted only  learned  clerks,  and  especially  the  regulars, 
whom  he  courted  with  the  most  obsequious  deference. 
For  the  sprightly  conversation  of  former  times  were 
read  grave  books  In  the  Latin  of  the  church. 

But  the  chanoe  was  not  alone  in  his  habits  and  mode 
of  life.  The  King  could  not  have  reproved,  he  might 
have  admired,  the  most  punctilious  regard  for  the  de- 
cency and  the  dignity  of  the  highest  ecclesiastic  in  the 
realm.  But  the  inflexible  churchman  began  to  betray 
himself  In  more  unexpected  acts.  While  still  In  France 
Henry  was  startled  at  receiving  a  peremptory  resigna- 
tion of  the  chancellorship,  as  inconsistent  with  the  re- 
ligious functions  of  the  primate.  This  act  was  as  it 
were  a  bill  of  divorce  from  all  personal  intimacy  with 
the  king,  a  dissolution  of  their  old  familiar  and  friendly 
intercourse.  It  was  not  merely  that  the  holy  and  aus- 
tere prelate  withdrew  from  the  unbecoming  pleasures 
of  the  court,  the  chase,  the  banquet,  the  tournament, 
even  the  war ;  they  were  no  more  to  meet  at  the  coun- 
cil board,  and  the  seat  of  judicature.     It  had  been  said 


Chap.  ym.  BECKET  AT  TOURS.  327 

that  Becket  was  co-sovereign  with  the  king,  he  now  ap- 
peared (alid  there  were  not  wanting  secret  and  invidi- 
ous enemies  to  suggest,  and  to  inflame  the  suspicion)  a 
rival  sovereign.^  The  king,  when  Becket  met  him  on 
his  landing  at  Southampton,  did  not  attempt  to  conceal 
his  dissatisfaction ;  his  reception  of  his  old  friend  was 
cold. 

It  were  unjust  to  human  nature  to  suppose  that  it 
did  not  cost  Becket  a  violent  struggle,  a  painful  sacri- 
fice, thus  as  it  were  to  rend  himself  from  the  familiari- 
ty and  friendship  of  his  munificent  benefactor.  It  was 
no  doubt  a  severe  sense  of  duty  which  crushed  his 
natural  affections,  especially  as  vulgar  ambition  must 
have  pointed  out  a  more  sure  and  safe  way  to  power 
and  fame.  Such  ambition  would  hardly  have  hesitated 
between  the  ruling  all  orders  through  the  king,  and  the 
solitary  and  dangerous  position  of  opposing  so  power- 
ftd  a  monarch  to  maintain  the  interests  and  secure  the 
favor  of  one  order  alone. 

Henry  was  now  fully  occupied  with  the  affairs  of 
Wales.  Becket,  with  the  royal  sanction,  obeyed  the 
summons  of  Pope  Alexander  to  the  Council  of  Tours. 
Becket  had  passed  through  part  of  France  at  the  head 
of  an  army  of  his  own  raising,  and  under  his  com- 
mand ;  he  had  passed  a  second  time  as  representing  the 
king,  he  was  yet  to  pass  as  an  exile.  At  Tours,  where 
Pope  Alexander  now  held  his  court,  and  pre-  Becket  at 
sided  over  his  Council,  Becket  appeared  at  May  19,  ii63. 
the  head  of  all  the  Bishops  of  England,  except  those 

1  Compare  the  letter  of  the  politic  Arnulf,  Bishop  of  Lisieux:  "  Si  enim 
favori  divino  favorem  prseferretis  humanum,  poteratis  non  solum  cum 
gumma  tranquillitate  degere,  sed  ipso  etiam  magis  quam  olim,  Principe 
conregnare."  —  Apud  Bouquet,  xvi.  p.  229. 


328  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

excused  on  account  of  age  or  infirmity.  So  great  was 
his  reputation,  that  the  Pope  sent  out  all  the'  cardinals 
except  those  in  attendance  on  his  own  person  to  escort 
the  primate  of  England  into  the  city.  In  the  council 
at  Tours  not  merely  was  the  title  of  Alexander  to  the 
popedom  avouched  with  perfect  unanimity,  but  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  clergy  asserted  with  more 
than  usual  rigor  and  distinctness.  Some  canons,  one 
especially  which  severely  condemned  all  encroachments 
on  the  property  of  the  Church,  might  seem  framed 
almost  with  a  view  to  the  impending  strife  with  Eng- 
land. 

That  strife,  so  impetuous  might  seem  the  combatants 
Beginning  to  joiu  issuc,  brokc  out,  duriug  the  next  year, 
of  strife.  -j^  ^Yi  its  violence.  Both  parties,  if  they  did 
not  commence,  were  prepared  for  aggression.  The 
first  occasion  of  public  collision  was  a  dispute  concern- 
ing the  customary  payment  of  the  ancient  Danegelt, 
of  two  shillings  on  every  hide  of  land,  to  the  sheriffs 
of  the  several  counties.  The  king:  determined  to 
transfer  this  payment  to  his  own  exchequer :  he  sum- 
moned an  assembly  at  Woodstock,  and  declared  his 
intentions.  All  were  mute  but  Becket ;  the  archbishop 
opposed  the  enrolment  of  the  decree,  on  the  ground 
that  the  tax  was  voluntary,  not  of  right.  "  By  the 
eyes  of  God,"  said  Henry,  his  usual  oath,  "  it  shall  be 
enrolled !  "  "  By  the  same  eyes,  by  which  you  swear," 
replied  the  prelate,  "it  shall  never  be  levied  on  my 
lands  while  I  live!"^  On  Becket's  part,  almost  the 
first  act  of  his  primacy  was  to  vindicate  all  the  rights, 

1  This  strange  scene  is  recorded  by  Roger  de  Pontigny,  who  received  his 
information  on  all  those  circumstances  from  Becket  himself,  or  from  his  fol- 
lowers.   See  also  Grim,  p.  22. 


Chap.  VIII.  BEGINNING  OF  STRIFE.  329 

and  to  resume  all  the  property  which  had  been  usurped, 
or  which  he  asserted  to  have  been  usurped,  from  his 
see.^  It  was  not  likely  that,  in  the  turbulent  times 
just  gone  by,  there  would  have  been  rigid  respect  for 
the  inviolability  of  sacred  property.  The  title  of  the 
Church  was  held  to  be  indefeasible.  Whatever  had 
once  belonged  to  the  Church  might  be  recovered  at 
any  time  ;  and  the  ecclesiastical  courts  claimed  the  sole 
right  of  adjudication  in  such  causes.  The  primate  was 
thus  at  once  plaintiff,  judge,  and  carried  into  execution 
his  own  judgments.  The  lord  of  the  manor  of  Eyns- 
ford  in  Kent,  who  held  of  the  king,  claimed  the  right 
of  presentation  to  that  benefice.  Becket  asserted  the 
prerogative  of  the  see  of  Canterbury.  On  the  forcible 
ejectment  of  his  nominee  by  the  lord,  William  of 
Eynsford,  Becket  proceeded  at  once  to  a  sentence  of 
excommunication,  without  regard  to  Eynsford's  feudal 
superior  the  king.  The  primate  next  demanded  the 
castle  of  Tunbridge  from  the  head  of  the  Claims  of 
powerful  family  of  De  Clare  ;  though  it  had  ^^^^^*- 
been  held  by  De  Clare,  and  it  w^as  asserted,  received  in 
exchange  for  a  Norman  castle,  since  the  time  of  Wil- 
liam the  Conqueror.  The  attack  on  De  Clare  might 
seem  a  defiance  of  the  whole  feudal  nobility ;  a  deter- 
mination to  despoil  them  of  their  conquests,  or  grants 
from  the  sovereign. 

The  king,  on  his  side,  wisely  chose  the  strongest  and 
more  popular  ground  of  the  immunities  of  the  clergy 
from  all  temporal  jurisdiction.     He  appeared  as  guar- 

1  Becket  had  been  compelled  to  give  up  the  rich  archdeaconry  of  Canter- 
bury, which  he  seemed  disposed  to  hold  with  the  archbishopric.  Geoffrey 
Ridel,  who  became  archdeacon,  was  afterwards  one  of  his  most  active  ene- 
mies. 


330  LATIN    CHEISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

dian  of  the  public  morals,  as  administrator  of  equal 
Immunities  justice  to  all  liis  subjccts,  Rs  protector  of  the 
clergy.  pcacc  of  the  realm.     Crimes  of  great  atroci- 

ty, it  is  said,  of  great  frequency,  crimes  such  as  rob- 
bery and  homicide,  crimes  for  which  secular  persons 
were  hanged  by  scores  and  without  mercy,  were  com- 
mitted almost  with  impunity,  or  with  punishment  al- 
together inadequate  to  the  offence  by  the  clergy ;  and 
the  sacred  name  of  clerk,  exempted  not  only  bishops, 
abbots,  and  priests,  but  those  of  the  lowest  ecclesiastical 
rank  from  the  civil  j)ower.  It  was  the  inalienable  right 
of  the  clerk  to  be  tried  only  in  the  court  of  his  bishop ; 
and  as  that  court  could  not  award  capital  punishment, 
the  utmost  penalties  were  flagellation,  imprisonment, 
and  degradation.  It  was  only  after  degradation,  and 
for  a  second  offence  (for  the  clergy  strenuously  insisted 
on  the  injustice  of  a  second  trial  for  the  same  act),^ 
that  the  meanest  of  the  clerical  body  could  be  brought 
to  the  level  of  the  most  highborn  layman.  But  to  cede 
one  tittle  of  these  immunities,  to  surrender  the  sacred 
person  of  a  clergyman,  whatever  his  guilt,  to  the  secu- 
lar power,  was  treason  to  the  sacerdotal  order :  it  was 
giving  up  Christ  (for  the  Redeemer  was  supposed  ac- 
tually to  dwell  in  the  clerk,  though  his  hands  might  be 
stained  with  innocent  blood)  to  be  crucified  by  the 
heathen.2  To  mutilate  the  person  of  one  in  holy  or- 
ders was  directly  contrary  to  the  Scripture  (for  with 

1  The  king  Avas  willing  that  the  clerk  guilty  of  murder  or  robbery  should 
be  degraded  before  he  was  hanged,  but  hanged  he  should  be.  The  arch- 
bishop insisted  that  he  should  be  safe  "  a  Isesione  membrorum."  Degrada- 
tion was  in  itself  so  dreadful  a  punishment,  that  to  hang  also  for  the  same 
crime  was  a  double  penalty.  "  If  he  returned  to  his  vomit,"  after  degra- 
dation, "  he  might  be  hanged."  —  Compare  Grim,  p.  30. 

2  "  De  novo  judicatur  Christus  ante  Pilatum  praesidem."  — De  Boshara, 
p.  117. 


Chap.  Yin.  IMMUNITIES   OF  THE  CLERGY.  331 

convenient  logic,  while  tlie  clergy  rejected  tlie  example 
of  the  Old  Testament  as  to  the  equal  liability  of  priest 
and  Levite  with  the  ordinaiy  Jew  to  the  sentence  of 
the  law,  they  alleged  it  on  their  own  part  as  unanswer- 
able). It  was  inconceivable,  that  hands  which  had  but 
now  made  God  should  be  tied  behind  the  back,  like 
those  of  a  common  malefactor,  or  that  his  neck  should 
be  wrung  on  a  gibbet,  before  whom  kings  had  but  now 
bowed  in  reverential  homage.^ 

The  enormity  of  the  evil  is  acknowledged  by  Beck- 
et's  most  ardent  partisans.^  The  king  had  credible  in- 
formation laid  before  him  that  some  of  the  clergy  were 
absolute  devils  in  guilt,  that  their  wickedness  could  not 
be  repressed  by  the  ordinary  means  of  justice,  and 
were  daily  growing  worse. 

Becket  himself  had  protected  some  notorious  and 
heinous  offenders.  A  clerk  of  the  diocese  of  Worces- 
ter had  debauched  a  maiden  and  murdered  her  father. 
Becket  ordered  the  man  to  be  kept  in  prison,  and  re- 
fused to  surrender  him  to  the  king's  justice.^  Anoth- 
er in  London,  guilty  of  stealing  a  silver  goblet,  was 

1  De  Bosham,  p.  100. 

2  The  fairness  with  which  the  question  is  stated  by  Herbert  de  Bosham, 
the  follower,  almost  the  worshipper  of  Becket,  is  remarkable.  "  Arctabatur 
itaque  rex,  arctabatur  et  pontifex.  Rex  etenim  populi  sui  pacem,  sicut 
archipriesul  cleri  sui  zelans  libertatim,  audiens  sic  et  videns  et  ad  multorum 
relationes  et  querimonias  accipiens,  per  hujuscemodi  castigationes,  talium 
clericorum  immo  verius  caracterizatorum,  daemonum  flagitia  non  reprimi 
vel  potius  indies  per  regnum  deterius  fieri."  He  proceeds  to  state  at  length 
the  argument  on  both  sides.  Another  biographer  of  Becket  makes  strong 
admissions  of  the  crimes  of  the  clergy:  "  Sed  et  ordinatorum  inordinati 
mores,  inter  regem  et  archepiscopum  auxere  malitiam,  qui  solito  abundan- 
tius  per  idem  tempus  apparebant  publicis  irretiti  criminibus."  —  Edw. 
Grim.  It  was  said  that  no  less  than  100  of  the  clergy  were  charged  with 
homicide. 

3  This,  according  to  Fitz-Stephen,  was  the  first  cause  of  quarrel  with  the 
king.  p.  215. 


332  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII 

claimed  as  only  amenable  to  the  ecclesiastical  court. 
Philip  de  Brois,  a  canon  of  Bedford,  had  been  guilty 
of  homicide.  The  cause  was  tried  in  the  bishop's 
court ;  he  was  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  to  the  kindred 
of  the  slain  man.  Some  time  after,  Fitz-Peter,  the 
king's  justiciary,  whether  from  private  enmity  or  of- 
fence, or  dissatisfied  with  the  ecclesiastical  verdict,  in 
the  open  court  at  Dunstable,  called  De  Brois  a  murder- 
er. De  Brois  broke  out  into  angry  and  contumelious 
language  against  the  judge.  The  insult  to  the  justici- 
ary was  held  to  be  insult  to  the  king,  who  sought 
justice,  where  alone  he  could  obtain  it,  in  the  bishop's 
court.  Philip  de  Brois  this  time  incurred  a  sentence, 
to  our  notions  almost  as  disproportionate  as  that  for  his 
former  offence.  He  was  condemned  to  be  publicly 
whij^ped,  and  degraded  for  two  years  from  the  honors 
and  emoluments  of  his  canonry.  But  to  the  king  the 
verdict  appeared  far  too  lenient ;  the  spiritual  jurisdic- 
tion was  accused  as  shielding  the  criminal  from  his  due 
penalty. 

Such  were  the  questions  on  which  Becket  was  pre- 
characterof  P^rcd  to  coufrout  and  to  Wage  war  to  the 
the  King.  ^^^^^  ^^-^^Yi  the  king  ;  and  all  this  with  a  de- 
liberate knowledge  both  of  the  power  and  the  character 
of  Henry,  his  power  as  undisputed  sovereign  of  Eng- 
land and  of  Continental  territories  more  extensive  and 
flourishino;  than  those  of  the  kino;  of  France.  These 
dominions  included  those  of  the  Conqueror  and  his  de- 
scendants, of  the  Counts  of  Anjou,  and  the  great  in- 
heritance of  his  wife,  Queen  Eleanor,  the  old  kingdom 
of  Aquitaine  ;  they  reached  from  the  borders  of  Flan- 
ders round  to  the  foot  of  the  Pyrenees.  This  almost 
unrivalled  power  could  not  but  have  worked  with  the 


Chap.  Vm.  CHAEACTER  OF  THE  KIXG.  333 

strong  natural  passions  of  Henry  to  form  the  character 
drawn  by  a  churchman  of  great  ability,  who  would 
warn  Becket  as  to  the  formidable  adversary  whom  he 
had  undertaken  to  oppose,  —  "  You  have  to  deal  with 
one  on  whose  policy  the  most  distant  sovereigns  of  Eu- 
rope, on  whose  power  his  neighbors,  on  whose  severity 
his  subjects  look  with  awe ;  whom  constant  successes 
and  prosperous  fortune  have  rendered  so  sensitive,  that 
every  act  of  disobedience  is  a  personal  outrage ;  whom 
it  is  as  easy  to  provoke  as  difficult  to  appease ;  who  en- 
courages no  rash  offence  by  impunity,  but  whose  ven- 
geance is  instant  and  summary.  He  will  sometimes  be 
softened  by  humility  and  patience,  but  will  never  sub- 
mit to  compulsion  ;  everything  must  seem  to  be  con- 
ceded by  his  own  free  will,  nothing  wrested  from  his 
weakness.  He  is  more  covetous  of  glory  than  of  gain, 
a  commendable  quality  in  a  prince,  if  virtue  and  truth, 
not  the  vanity  and  soft  flattery  of  courtiers,  awarded 
that  glory.  He  is  a  great,  indeed  the  greatest  of  kings, 
for  he  has  no  superior  of  whom  he  may  stand  in  dread, 
no  subject  who  dares  to  resist  him.  His  natural  ferocity 
has  been  subdued  by  no  calamity  from  without ;  all 
who  have  been  involved  in  any  contest  with  him,  have 
preferred  the  most  precarious  treaty  to  a  trial  of  strength 
with  one  so  preeminent  in  wealth,  in  the  number  of 
his  forces,  and  the  greatness  of  his  puissance."  ^ 

A  king  of  this  character  would  eagerly  listen  to  sug 
gestions  of  interested  or  flattering  courtiers,  that  unless 

1  See  throughout  this  epistle  of  Amulf  of  Lisieux,  Bouquet,  p.  230.  This 
same  Arnulf  -was  a  crafty  and  double-dealing  prelate.  Grim  and  Roger  de 
Pontigny  say  that  he  suggested  to  Henry  the  policy  of  making  a  party 
against  Becket  among  the  English  bishops,  while  to  Becket  he  plays  the 
part  of  confidential  counsellor.  — Grim,  p.  29.  R.  P.,  p.  119.  Will.  Can- 
terb.,  p.  6.     Compare  on  Arnulf,  Epist.  346,  v.  11,  p.  189. 


334  LATIN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  VIII 

the  Primate's  power  were  limited,  the  authority  of  the 
king  would  be  reduced  to  nothing.  The  succession  to 
the  throne  would  depend  entirely  on  the  clergy,  and  he 
himself  would  reign  only  so  long  as  might  seem  good 
to  the  Archbishop.  Nor  were  they  the  baser  courtiers 
alone  who  feared  and  hated  Becket.  The  nobles  might 
tremble  from  the  example  of  De  Clare,  with  whose 
powerful  house  almost  all  the  Norman  baronage  was 
allied,  lest  every  royal  grant  should  be  called  in  ques- 
tion.^ Even  among  the  clergy  Becket  had  bitter  ene- 
mies ;  and  though  at  first  they  appeared  almost  as  jeal- 
ous as  the  Primate  for  the  privileges  of  their  order,  the 
most  able  soon  espoused  the  cause  of  the  King ;  those 
who  secretly  favored  him  were  obliged  to  submit  in 
silence. 

The  King,  determined  to  bring  these  great  questions 
Parliament  to  issue,  suuimoued  a  Parliament  at  Westmin- 
minster.  stcr.  He  Commenced  the  proceedings  by  en- 
larging on  the  abuses  of  the  archidiaconal  courts.  The 
archdeacons  kept  the  most  watchful  and  inquisitorial 
superintendence  over  the  laity,  but  every  offence  was 
easily  commuted  for  a  pecuniary  fine,  which  fell  to 
them.  The  King  complained  that  they  levied  a  revenue 
from  the  sins  of  the  people  equal  to  his  own,  yet  that 
the  public  morals  were  only  more  deeply  and  irretriev- 
ably depraved.  He  then  demanded  that  all  clerks  ac- 
cused of  heinous  crimes  should  be  Immediately  degraded 
and  handed  over  to  the  officers  of' his  justice,  to  be 
dealt  with  according  to  law ;  for  their  guilt,  Instead  of 
deserving  a  lighter  punishment,  was  doubly  guilty :  he 
demanded  this  in  the  name  of  equal  justice  and  the 

1  These  are  the  words  which  Fitz-Stephen  places  in  the  mouths  of  the 
kinaj's  courtiers. 


Chap.  YIU.        PAELIAIMENT  OF  WESTMINSTEE.  2Lo 

peace  of  the  realm.  Becket  insisted  on  delay  till  the 
next  morning,  in  order  that  he  might  consult  his  suf- 
fragan bishops.  This  the  King  refused:  the  bishops 
withdrew  to  confer  upon  their  answer.  The  bishops 
were  disposed  to  yield,  some  doubtless  impressed  with 
the  justice  of  the  demand,  some  fi'om  fear  of  the  King, 
some  from  a  prudent  conviction  of  the  danger  of  pro- 
voking so  powerful  a  monarch,  and  of  involving  the 
Church  in  a  quarrel  with  Henry  at  the  perilous  time 
of  a  contest  for  the  Papacy  which  distracted  Eu- 
rope. Becket  inflexibly  maintained  the  inviolability  of 
the  holy  persons  of  the  clergy.^  The  King  then  de- 
manded whether  they  would  observe  the  "  customs  of 
the  realm."  "  Saving  my  order,"  replied  the  Arch- 
bishop. That  order  was  still  to  be  exempt  from  all  ju- 
risdiction but  its  own.  So  answered  all  the  bishops 
except  Hilary  of  Chichester,  who  made  the  declaration 
without  reserve.^  The  King  hastily  broke  up  the  as- 
sembly, and  left  London  in  a  state  of  consternation, 
the  people  and  the  clergy  agitated  by  conflicting  anxie- 
ties. He  immediately  deprived  Becket  of  the  custody 
of  the  Royal  Castles,  which  he  still  retained,  and  of  the 
momentous  charge,  the  education  of  his  son.  The 
bishops  entreated  Becket  either  to  withdraw  or  to 
change  the  oflensive  word.  At  first  he  declared  that 
if  an  angel  from  Heaven  should  counsel  such  weak- 
ness, he  would  hold  him  accursed.  At  length,  however, 
he  yielded,  as  Herbert  de  Bosham  asserts,  out  of  love 
for  the  king,^  by  another  account  at  the  persuasion  of 
the  Pope's  Almoner,  said  to  have  been  bribed  by  Eng- 

1  Herbert  de  Bosham,  p.  109.    Fitz-Stephen,  p.  209,  et  seq. 

2  "Dicens  se  observaturos  regias  consuetudines  bona  fide." 
8  Compare  W.  Canterb.,  p.  6. 


336  LATIN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

lish  gold.^     He  went  to  Oxford  and  made  the  conces- 
sion. 

The  King,  in  order  to  ratify  with  the  utmost  so- 
jan.  1164.  leiimity  the  concession  extorted  from  the  bish- 
ops, and  even  from  Becket  himself,  summoned  a  great 
Council  of  council  of  the  realm  to  Clarendon,  a  royal 
Clarendon,  palace  betwceu  three  and  four  miles  from 
Salisbury.  The  two  archbishops  and  eleven  bishops, 
between  thirty  and  forty  of  the  highest  nobles,  with 
numbers  of  inferior  barons,  were  present.  It  was  the 
King's  object  to  settle  beyond  dispute  the  main  points 
in  contest  between  the  Crown  and  the  Church ;  to 
establish  thus,  with  the  consent  of  the  whole  nation, 
an  English  Constitution  in  Church  and  State.  Becket, 
it  is  said,  had  been  assured  by  some  about  the  King 
that  a  mere  assent  would  be  demanded  to  vague  and 
ambigTious,  and  therefore  on  occasion  disputable  cus- 
toms. But  when  these  customs,  which  had  been  col- 
lected and  put  in  writing  by  the  King's  order,  appeared 
in  the  form  of  precise  and  binding  laws,  drawn  up  with 
legal  technicality  by  the  Chief  Justiciary,  he  saw  his 
error,  wavered,  and  endeavored  to  recede.^  The  King 
broke  out  into  one  of  his  ungovernable  fits  of  passion. 
One  or  two  of  the  bishops  who  were  out  of  favor  with 
the  King  and  two  knights  Templars  on  their  knees  im- 
plored Becket  to  abandon  his  dangerous,  fruitless,  and 
ill-timed  resistance.      The  Archbishop  took  the  oath, 

1  Grim,  p.  29. 

2  Dr.  Lingard  supposes  that  Becket  demanded  that  the  customs  should 
be  reduced  to  writing.  This  seems  quite  contraiy  to  his  policy ;  and  Ed- 
ward Grim  -writes  thus:  "  Nam  domestici  regis,  dato  consentiente  consilio, 
securum  fecerant  archepiscopum,  quod  nunquam  scriberentur  leges,  nun- 
quam  illarum  fieret  recordatio,  si  eum  verbo  tantum  in  audientia  procerum 
honorasset,"  &c.  — P.  31. 


Chap.  YIII.       CONSTITUTIOXS   OF  CLAREXDOX.  337 

which  had  been  already  sworn  to  by  all  the  lay  barons. 
He  was  followed  by  the  rest  of  the  bishops,  reluctantly 
according  to  one  account,  and  compelled  on  one  side 
by  their  dread  of  the  lay  barons,  on  the  other  by  the 
example  and*  authority  of  the  Primate,  according  to 
Becket's  biographers,  eagerly  and  of  their  own  accord.^ 
These  famous  constitutions  were  of  course  feudal  in 
their  form  and  spirit.  But  they  aimed  at  the  constitutions 
subjection  of  all  the  great  prelates  of  the  realm  "^ Clarendon, 
to  the  Crown  to  the  same  extent  as  the  great  barons. 
The  new  constitution  of  England  made  the  bishops' 
fiefs  to  be  granted  according  to  the  royal  will,  and  sub- 
jected the  whole  of  the  clergy  equally  with  the  laity 
to  the  common  laws  of  the  land.^  I.  On  the  vacancy 
of  every  archbishopric,  bishopric,  abbey,  or  priory,  the 
revenues  came  into  the  King's  hands.  He  was  to  sum- 
mon those  who  had  the  right  of  election,  which  was  to 
take  place  in  the  King's  Chapel,  with  his  consent,  and 
the  counsel  of  nobles  chosen  by  the  King  for  this  office. 
The  prelate  elect  was  immediately  to  do  homage  to  the 
King  as  his  liege  lord,  for  life,  limb,  and  worldly  hon- 
ors, excepting  his  order.  The  archbishops,  bishops, 
and  all  beneficiaries,  held  their  estates  on  the  tenure  of 
baronies,  amenable  to  the  King's  justice,  and  bound  to 
sit  with  the  other  barons  in  all  pleas  of  the  Crown,  ex- 
cept in  capital  cases.  No  archbishop,  bishop,  or  any 
other  person  could  quit  the  realm  without  royal  permis- 
sion, or  without  taking  an  oath  at  the  King's  requisi- 
tion, not  to  do  any  damage,  either  going,  staying,  or 
returning,  to  the  King  or  the  kingdom. 

1  See  the  letter  of  Gilbert  Foliot,  of  which  I  do  not  doubt  the  authen- 
ticit}'. 

2  According  to  the  Cottonian  copy,  published  by  Lord  Lyttelton,  Consti- 
tutions xii.  XV.  iv. 

VOL.  IV.  22 


338  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

II.  All  clerks  accused  of  any  crime  were  to  be  sum- 
moned before  the  King's  Courts.  The  King's  justicia- 
ries were  to  decide  whether  it  was  a  case  for  civil  or 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction.  Those  which  belonged  to 
the  latter  were  to  be  removed  to  the  Bishops'  Court. 
If  the  clerk  was  found  guilty  or  confessed  his  guilt,  the 
Church  could  protect  him  no  longer.^ 

III.  All  disputes  concerning  advowsons  and  presen- 
tations to  benefices  were  to  be  decided  in  the  King's 
Courts ;  and  the  King's  consent  was  necessary  for  the 
appointment  to  any  benefice  within  the  King's  doniain.^ 

IV.  No  tenant  in  chief  of  the  King,  none  of  the 
officers  of  the  King's  household,  could  be  excommuni- 
cated, nor  his  lands  placed  under  interdict,  until  due 
information  had  been  laid  before  the  King ;  or,  in  his 
absence  from  the  realm,  before  the  great  Justiciary,  in 
order  that  he  might  determine  in  each  case  the  respec- 
tive rights  of  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  courts.^ 

V.  Appeals  lay  from  the  archdeacon  to  the  bishop, 
from  the  bishop  to  the  Archbishop.  On  failure  of  jus- 
tice by  the  Archbishop,  in  the  last  resort  to  the  King, 
who  was  to  take  care  that  justice  was  done  in  the 
Archbishop's  Court ;  and  no  further  appeal  was  to  be 
made  without  the  King's  consent.  This  was  mani- 
festly  and  avowedly  intended  to  limit  appeals  to  Rome. 

All  these  statutes,  in  number  sixteen,  were  restric- 
tions on  the  distinctive  immunities  of  the  clergy :  one, 
and  that  unnoticed,  was  really  an  invasion  of  j^opular 
freedom  ;  no  son  of  a  villein  could  be  ordained  with- 
out the  consent  of  his  lord. 

1  Constitution  iii. 

2  Constitutions  i.  and  ii. 

8  Constitution  vii.,  somewhat  limited  and  explained  by  x. 


Chap.  VIII.  PROCEEDINGS  OF  BECKET.  339 

Some  of  these  customs  were  of  douJbtful  authenti- 
city. On  the  main  question,  the  exorbitant  powers 
of  the  ecclesiastical  courts  and  the  immunity  of  the 
clergy  from  all  other  jurisdiction,  there  was  an  unre- 
pealed statute  of  William  the  Conqueror.  Before  the 
Conquest  the  bishop  sat  with  the  alderman  in  the 
same  court.  The  statute  of  William  created  a  sepa- 
rate jurisdiction  of  great  extent  in  the  spiritual  court. 
This  was  not  done  to  a^Rrandize  the  Church,  of  which 
in  spme  respects  the  Conqueror  was  jealous,  but  to 
elevate  the  importance  of  the  great  Norman  prelates 
whom  he  had  thrust  into  the  English  sees.  It  raised 
another  class  of  powerful  feudatories  to  support  the 
foreign  throne,  bound  to  it  by  common  interest  as  well 
as  by  the  attachment  of  race.  But  at  this  time  neither 
party  took  any  notice  of  the  ancient  statute.  The 
King's  advisers  of  course  avoided  the  dangerous  ques- 
tion ;  Becket  and  the  Churchmen  (Becket  himself  de- 
clared that  he  was  unlearned  in  the  customs),  standing 
on  the  divine  and  indefeasible  right  of  the  clergy,  could 
hardly  rest  on  a  recent  statute  granted  by  the  royal 
will,  and  therefore  liable  to  be  annulled  by  the  same 
authority.  The  Customs,  they  averred,  were  of  them- 
selves illegal,  as  clashing  with  higher  irrepealable  laws. 

To  these  Customs  Becket  had  now  sworn  without 
reserve.  Three  copies  were  ordered  to  be  made  —  one 
for  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  one  for  York,  one 
to  be  laid  up  in  the  royal  archives.  To  these  the  King 
demanded  the  further  guarantee  of  the  seal  of  the  dif- 
ferent parties.  The  Primate,  whether  already  repent- 
ing of  his  assent,  or  under  the  vague  impression  that 
this  was  committing  himself  still  further  (for  oaths 
might  be  absolved,  seals  could  not  be  torn  from  public 


840  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  7IIL 

documents),  now  obstinately  refused  to  make  any  fiir- 
ther  concession.  The  refusal  threw  suspicion  on  the 
sincerity  of  his  former  act.  The  King,  the  other  prel- 
ates, the  nobles,  all  but  Becket,^  subscribed  and  sealed 
the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon  as  the  laws  of  Eno^- 
land. 

As  the  Primate  rode  from  Winchester  in  profound 
silence,  meditating  on  the  acts  of  the  council  and  on 
his  own  conduct,  one  of  his  attendants,  who  has  him- 
self related  the  conversation,  endeavored  to  raise  his 
spirits.  "  It  is  a  fit  punishment,"  said  Becket,  "  for 
one  who,  not  trained  in  the  school  of  the  Saviour,  but  in 
the  King's  court,  a  man  of  pride  and  vanity,  from  a 
follower  of  hawks  and  hounds,  a  patron  of  players, 
has  dared  to  assume  the  care  of  so  many  souls."  ^  De 
Boshara  significantly  reminded  his  master  of  St.  Peter, 
his  denial  of  the  Lord,  his  subsequent  repentance.  On 
his  return  to  Canterbury  Becket  imposed  upon  himself 
the  severest  mortification,  and  suspended  himself  from 
his  function  of  offerino;  the  sacrifice  on  the  altar.  He 
April  1.  wrote  almost  immediately  to  the  Pope  to  seek 
counsel  and  absolution  from  his  oath.  He  received 
both.     The  absolution  restored  all  his  vivacity. 

But  the  King  had  likewise  his  emissaries  with  the 
Pope  at  Sens.  He  endeavored  to  obtain  a  legatine 
commission  over  the  whole  realm  of  England  for  Beck- 
et's  enemy,  Roger  Archbishop  of  York,  and  a  recom- 
mendation fi'om  the  Pope  to  Becket  to  observe  the 
"  customs  "  of  the  realm.     Two  embassies  were  sent 

1  Herbert  de  Bosham.  "  Caute  quidam  non  de  piano  negat,  sed  diffe- 
rendum  dicebat  adhuc." 

2  "  Superbus  et  vanus,  de  pastore  avium  factus  sum  pastor  ovium ;  dudum 
fautor  histrionum  et  eorum  sectator  tot  animarum  pastor."  — De  Bosham, 
p.  126. 


Chap.  VIII.  PROCEEDINGS   OF  BECKET.  341 

by  the  King  for  this  end  :  first  the  Bishops  of  Lisieux 
and  Poitiers  ;  then  Geoffrey  Ridel,  Archdeacon  of 
Canterbury  (who  afterwards  appears  so  hostile  to  the 
Primate  as  to  be  called  by  him  that  archdevil,  not 
archdeacon),  and  the  subtle  John  of  Oxford.  The 
embarrassed  Pope  (throughout  it  must  be  remembered 
that  there  was  a  formidable  Antipope),  afraid  at  once 
of  estranging  Henry,  and  unwilling  to  abandon  Becket, 
granted  the  legation  to  the  Archbishop  of  York.  To 
the  Primate's  great  indignation,  Roger  had  his  cross 
borne  before  him  in  the  Province  of  Canterbury.  On 
Becket's  angry  remonstrance,  the  Pope,  while  on  the 
one  hand  he  enjoined  on  Becket  the  greatest  caution 
and  forbearance  in  the  inevitable  contest,  assured  him 
that  he  would  never  permit  the  see  of  Canterbury  to 
be  subject  to  any  authority  but  his  own.^ 

Becket  secretly  went  down  to  his  estate  at  Romney, 
near  the  sea-coast,  in  the  hope  of  crossing  the  straits, 
and  so  finding  refuge  and  maintaining  his  cause  by  his 
personal  presence  with  the  Pope.  Stormy  weather 
forced  him  to  abandon  his  design.  He  then  betook 
himself  to  the  King  at  Woodstock.     He  was   coldly 


1  Read  the  Epistles,  apud  Giles,  v.  iv.  1,  3,  Bouquet,  xvi.  210,  to  judge 
of  the  skilful  steering  and  difficulties  of  the  Pope.  There  is  a  very  curious 
letter  of  an  emissary  of  Becket,  describing  the  death  of  the  Antipope  (he 
died  at  Lucca,  April  21).  The  canons  of  San  Frediano,  in  Lucca,  refused 
to  buiy  him,  because  he  was  already  "  buried  in  hell."  The  writer  an- 
nounces that  the  Emperor  also  was  ill,  that  the  Empress  had  miscarried, 
and  that  therefore  all  France  adhered  with  greater  devotion  to  Alexander; 
and  the  Legatme  commission  to  the  Archbishop  of  York  had  expired  without 
hope  of  recovery.  The  writer  ventures,  however,  to  sugget-t  to  Becket  to 
conduct  himself  with  modesty:  to  seek  rather  than  avoid  intercourse  with 
the  king.  — Apud  Giles,  iv.  240;  Bouquet,  p.  210.  See  also  the  letter  of 
John,  Bishop  of  Poitiers,  who  says  of  the  Pope,  "  Gravi  redimit  pceuitentia, 
illam  qualem  qualem  quara  Eboracensi  (fecerit),  concessionem."  —  Bou- 
quet, p.  214. 


3J:2  LATIX  CHRISTLiNITY.  Book  YIII. 

received.  The  King  at  first  dissembled  liis  knowledge 
of  the  Primate's  attempt  to  cross  the  sea,  a  direct  vio- 
lation of  one  of  the  constitutions ;  but  on  his  departure 
he  asked  with  bitter  jocularity  whether  Becket  had 
sought  to  leave  the  realm  because  England  could  not 
contain  himself  and  the  Kino'.^ 

o 

The  tergiversation  of  Becket,  and  his  attempt  thus 
to  violate  one  of  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  to 
which  he  had  sworn,  showed  that  he  was  not  to  be 
bound  by  oaths.  No  treaty  could  be  made  where  one 
party  claimed  the  power  of  retracting,  and  might  at 
any  time  be  released  from  his  covenant.  In  the  mind 
of  Henry,  whose  will  had  never  yet  met  resistance,  the 
determination  was  confirmed,  if  he  could  not  subdue 
the  Prelate,  to  crush  the  refractory  subject.  Becket's 
enemies  possessed  the  King's  ear.  Some  of  those  ene- 
mies no  doubt  hated  him  for  his  former  favor  with  the 
King,  some  dreaded  lest  the  severity  of  so  inflexible  a 
prelate  should  curb  their  license,  some  held  property 
belonging  to  or  claimed  by  the  Church,  some  to  flatter 
the  King,  some  in  honest  indignation  at  the  duplicity 
of  Becket,  and  in  love  of  peace,  but  all  concurred  to 
inflame  the  resentment  of  Henry,  and  to  attribute  to 
Becket  words  and  designs  insulting  to  the  King  and 
disparaging  to  the  royal  authority.  Becket,  holding 
such  notions  as  he  did  of  Church  power,  would  not  be 
cautious  in  asserting  it ;  and  whatever  he  mio-ht  utter 
in  his  pride  would  be  imbittered  rather  than  softened 
when  repeated  to  the  King. 

Since  the  Council  of  Clarendon,  Becket  stood  alone. 

1  I  follow  De  Bosham.  Fitz-Stepben  says  that  he  was  repelled  from  the 
gates  of  the  king's  palace  at  TToodstock;  and  that  he  afterwards  went  to 
Romuey  to  attempt  to  cross  the  sea. 


Chap.  VIII.  COUXCIL  AT  N0RTHA3IPT0N.  343 

All  the  higher  clergy,  the  great  prelates  of  the  king- 
dom, were  now  either  his  open  adversaries  or  were  com- 
pelled to  dissemble  their  favor  towards  him.  Whether 
alienated,  as  some  declared,  by  his  pusillanimity  at 
Clarendon,  bribed  by  the  gifts,  or  overawed  by  the 
power  of  the  King,  whether  conscientiously  convinced 
that  in  such  times  of  schism  and  division  it  might  be 
fatal  to  the  interests  of  the  Church  to  advance  her  lof- 
tiest pretensions,  all,  especially  the  Archbishop  of  York, 
the  Bishops  of  London,  Salisbury,  and  Chichester, 
were  arrayed  on  the  King's  side.  Becket  himself 
attributed  the  chief  guilt  of  his  persecution  to  the 
bishops.  "  The  King  would  have  been  quiet  if  they 
had  not  been  so  tamely  subservient  to  his  wishes."^ 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  Becket  was  cited  to  ap- 
pear before  a  great  council  of  the  realm  at  Parliament  at 
Northampton.  All  England  crowded  to  wit-  Oct.  e',  1164.  " 
ness  this  final  strife,  it  might  be,  between  the  royal 
and  the  ecclesiastical  power.  The  Primate  entered 
Northampton  with  only  his  own  retinue ;  the  King  had 
passed  the  afternoon  amusing  himself  with  hawking  in 
the  pleasant  meadows  around.  The  Archbishop,  on 
the  following  morning  after  mass,  appeared  in  the 
Kino-'s  chamber  with  a  cheerful  countenance.  The 
King  gave  not,  according  to  English  custom,  the  kiss 
of  peace. 

The  citation  of  the  Primate  before  the  King  in  coun- 
cil at  Northampton  was  to  answer  a  charge  of  with- 
holding justice  from  John  the  Marshall  employed  in 
the  king's  exchequer,  who  claimed  the  estate  of  Paga- 
ham  from  the  see  of  Canterbury.     Twice  had  Becket 

i"Quievisset  ille,  si  non  acquievissent  illi." — Becket,  Epist.  ii.  p.  5. 
Compare  the  whole  letter. 


34-i  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

been  summoned  to  appear  in  tlie  king's  court  to  answer 
for  this  denial  of  justice :  once  he  had  refused  to  ap- 
pear, the  second  time  he  did  not  appear  in  person. 
Becket  in  vain  alleged  an  informality  in  the  original 
proceedings  of  John  the  Marshall.^  The  court,  the 
bishops,  as  well  as  the  barons,  declared  him  guilty  of 
contumacy ;  all  his  goods  and  chattels  became,  accord- 
ing to  the  legal  phrase,  at  the  king's  mercy .^  The  fine 
was  assessed  at  500  pounds.  Becket  submitted,  not 
without  bitter  h'ony  :  "  This,  then,  is  one  of  the  new 
customs  of  Clarendon."  But  he  protested  against  the 
unheard-of  audacity  that  the  bishops  should  presume 
to  sit  in  judgment  on  their  spiritual  parent ;  it  was  a 
greater  crime  than  to  uncover  their  father's  nakedness.^ 
Sarcasms  and  protests  passed  alike  without  notice.  But 
the  bishops,  all  except  Foliot,  consented  to  become 
Demands  on  surctics  for  this  exorbitant  fine.  Demands 
Becket.  risino;  one  above  another  seemed  framed  for 
the  purpose  of  reducing  the  Archbishop  to  the  humil- 
iating condition  of  a  debtor  to  the  King,  entirely  at  his 
disposal.  First  300  pounds  were  demanded  as  due 
from  the  castles  of  Eye  and  Berkhampstead.  Becket 
pleaded  that  he  had  expended  a  much  larger  sum  on 
the  repairs  of  the  castles  :  he  found  sureties  likewise 
for  this  payment,  the  Earl  of  Gloucester,  William  of 
Eynsford,  and  another  of  "  his  men."  The  next  day 
the  demand  was  for  500  pounds  lent  by  the  King  dur- 
ing the  siege  of  Toulouse.     Becket  declared  that  this 

1  He  had  been  sworn  not  on  the  Gospels,  but  on  a  tropologium,  a  book 
of  church  music. 

2  Goods  and  chattels  at  the  king's  mercy  "were  redeemable  at  a  custom- 
ary fine :  this  fine,  according  to  the  customs  of  Kent,  would  have  been 
larger  than  according  to  those  of  London.  —  Fitz-Stephen. 

3  "Minus  fore  malum  verenda  patris  detecta  deridere,  quam  patris  ipsius 
personam  judicare."  — De  Bosham,  p.  135. 


Chap.  VIII.       TAKES  COUXSEL  WITH  BISHOPS.  345 

was  a  gift,  not  a  loan  ;  ^  but  the  King  denying  the  plea, 
judgment  was  again  entered  against  Becket.  At  last 
came  the  overwhelming  charge,  an  account  of  all  the 
moneys  received  during  his  chancellorship  from  the 
vacant  archbishopric  and  from  other  bishoprics  and  ab- 
beys. The  debt  was  calculated  at  the  enormous  sum 
of  44,000  marks.  Becket  was  astounded  at  this  unex- 
pected claim.  As  chancellor,  in  all  likelihood,  he  had 
kept  no  very  strict  account  of  what  was  expended  in 
his  own  and  in  the  royal  service ;  and  the  King  seemed 
blind  to  this  abuse  of  the  royal  right,  by  which  so  large 
a  sum  had  accumulated  by  keeping  open  those  benefices 
whichc  ought  to  have  been  instantly  filled.  Becket,  re- 
covered from  his  first  amazement,  replied  that  he  had 
not  been  cited  to  answer  on  such  charge  ;  at  another 
time  he  should  be  prepared  to  answer  all  just  demands 
of  the  Crown.  He  now  requested  delay,  in  order  to 
advise  with  his  suffragans  and  the  clergy.  He  with- 
drew ;  but  from  that  time  no  single  baron  visited  the 
object  of  the  royal  disfavor.  Becket  assembled  all  the 
poor,  even  the  beggars,  who  could  be  found,  to  fill  hits 
vacant  board. 

In  his  extreme  exigency  the  Primate  consulted  sep- 
arately first  the  bishops,  then  the  abbots.  Takes  coun- 
Their  advice  was  different  according  to  their  bishops. 
characters  and  their  sentiments  towards  him.  He  had 
what  might  seem  an  unanswerable  plea,  a  foimal  ac- 
quittance from  the  chief  Justiciary  De  Luci,  the  King's 
representative,  for  all  obligations  incurred  in  his  civil 
capacity  before  his  consecration  as  archbishop.^     The 

1  Fitz-Stephen  states  this  demand  at  500  marks,  and  a  second  500  for 
»vhich  a  bond  had  been  given  to  a  Jew. 

2  Neither  party  denied  this  actiuittance  given  in  the  King's  name  by  the 


346  LATIN  CHEISTIAOTTY.  Book  YIII. 

King,  however,  it  was  known,  declared  tliat  he  had 
given  no  such  authority.  Becket  had  the  further  ex- 
cuse that  all  which  he  now  possessed  was  the  property 
of  the  Church,  and  could  not  be  made  liable  for  respon- 
sibilities incurred  in  a  secular  capacity.  The  bishops, 
however,  were  either  convinced  of  the  insufficiency  or 
the  inadmissibility  of  that  plea.  Henry  of  Winches 
ter  recommended  an  endeavor  to  purchase  the  King' 
pardon ;  he  offered  2000  marks  as  his  contribution. 
Others  urged  Becket  to  stand  on  his  dignity,  to  defy 
the  worst,  ander  the  shelter  of  his  priesthood  ;  no  one 
would  venture  to  lay  hands  on  a  holy  prelate.  Foliot 
and  his  party  betrayed  their  object.^  They  exported 
him  as  the  only  way  of  averting  the  implacable  wrath 
of  the  Kincr  at  once  to  resign  his  see.  "  Would,"  said 
Hilary  of  Chichester,  "  you  were  no  longer  archbishop, 
but  plain  Thomas.  Thou  knowest  the  King  better 
than  we  do  ;  he  has  declared  that  thou  and  he  cannot 
remain  together  in  England,  he  as  King,  thou  as 
Primate.  Who  will  be  bound  for  such  an  amount  ? 
Throw  thyself  on  the  King's-  mercy,  or  to  the  eternal 
diso-race  of  the  Church  thou  wilt  be  aiTested  and  im- 
prisoned  as  a  debtor  to  the  Crown."  The  next  day 
was  Sunday ;  the  Archbishop  did  not  leave  his  lodg- 


justiciary  Richard  de  Luci.  This,  it  should  seem,  imusual  precaution,  or 
at  least  this  precaution  taken  with  such  unusual  care,  seems  to  imply  some 
suspicion  that,  without  it,  the  archbishop  was  liable  to  be  called  to  account ; 
an  account  which  probably,  from  the  splendid  prodigality  Avith  which 
Becket  had  lavished  the  King's  money  and  his  own,  it  might  be  difficult 
or  iilconvenient  to  produce. 

1  In  an  account  of  this  affair,  written  later,  Becket  accuses  Foliot  of  as- 
piring to  the  primacy  —  "et  qui  adspirabant  ad  fastigium  ecclesiae  Cantua- 
rensis,  ut  vulgo  dicitur  et  creditur,  in  nostram  pemiciem,  utinam  minus 
ambitiose,  quam  avide."  This  could  be  none  but  Foliot.  — Epist.  Ixxv.  p, 
154 


Chap.  Till.         BECKET  IN  THE  KING'S  HALL.  347 

ings.  On  Monday  the  agitation  of  his  spiiits  had 
brought  on  an  attack  of  a  disorder  to  which  he  was 
subject :  he  was  permitted  to  repose.  On  the  morrow 
he  had  determined  on  his  conduct.  At  one  time  he 
had  seriously  meditated  on  a  more  humiliating  course : 
he  proposed  to  seek  the  royal  presence  barefooted  with 
the  cross  in  his  hands,  to  throw  himself  at  the  King's 
feet,  appealing  to  his  old  affection,  and  imploring  him 
to  restore  peace  to  the  Church.  What  had  been  the 
effect  of  such  a  step  on  the  violent  but  not  ungenerous 
heart  of  Henry?  But  Becket  yielded  to  haughtier 
counsels  more  congenial  to  his  own  intrepid  character. 
He  began  by  the  significant  act  of  celebrating,  out  of 
its  due  order,  the  service  of  St.  Stephen,  the  first  mar- 
tyr. It  contained  passages  of  holy  writ  (as  no  doubt 
Henry  was  instantly  informed)  concerning  "  kings  tak- 
ing counsel  against  the  godly."  The  mass  concluded; 
in  all  the  majesty  of  his  holy  character,  in  his  full  pon- 
tifical habits,  himself  bearing  the  archiepiscopal  cross, 
the  primate  rode  to  the  King's  residence,  and  dis- 
mounting entered  the  royal  hall.  The  cross  Becket  in 
seemed,  as  it  were,  an  uplifting  of  the  banner  hau. 
of  the  Church,  in  defiance  of  that  of  the  King,  in  the 
royal  presence  ;^  or  it  might  be  in  that  awfal  imitation 
of  the  Saviour,  at  which  no  scruple  was  ever  made  by 
the  bolder  churchmen  —  it  was  the  servant  of  Christ 
who  himself  bore  his  own  cross.  "  What  means  this 
new  fashion  of  the  Archbishop  bearing  his  own  cross  ?" 
said  the  Archdeacon  of  Lisieux.    "  A  fool,"  said  Foliot, 

1  "  Tanquam  in  proelio  Domini,  signifer  Domini,  vexillum  Domini  eri- 

gens:  illud  etiam  Domini  non  solum  spiritualiter,  sed  et  figuraliter  implens. 

Si  quis,'  inquit,  'vult  mens  esse  discipulus,  abneget  semet  ipsum,  tollat 

crucem  suara  et  sequatur  me.'  "  -De  Boshajn,  p.  143.     Compare  the  letter 

»f  the  Bishops  to  the  Pope.  —Giles,  iv.  256 ;  Bouquet,  224. 


848  LATIN  CHRIS TIAInITY.  Book  VIII. 

"  he  always  was  and  always  will  be."  They  made 
room  for  him  ;  he  took  his  accustomed  seat  in  the 
centre  of  the  bishops.  Foliot  endeavored  to  persuade 
him  to  lay  down  the  cross.  "  If  the  sword  of  the  king 
and  the  cross  of  the  archbishop  were  to  come  into  con- 
flict, which  were  the  more  fearful  weapon  ?  "  Becket 
held  the  cross  firmly,  -which  Foliot  and  the  Bishop 
of  Hereford  strove,  but  in  vain,  to  wrest  fi'om  his 
gi-asp. 

The  bishops  were  summoned  into  the  King's  pres- 
ence :  Becket  sat  alone  in  the  outer  hall.  The  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  who,  as  Becket's  partisans  asserted, 
designedly  came  later  that  he  might  appear  to  be  of 
the  King's  intimate  council,  swept  through  the  hall 
with  his  cross  borne  before  him.  Like  hostile  spears 
cross  confronted  cross. ^ 

During  this  interval  De  Bosham,  the  archbishop's 
reader,  who  had  reminded  his  master  that  he  had  been 
standard-bearer  of  the  Kino-  of  Eno-land,  and  was  now 
the  standard-bearer  of  the  King  of  the  Angels,  put  this 
question,  "  If  they  should  lay  theii'  impious  hands  upon 
thee,  art  thou  prepared  to  fulminate  excommunication 
against  them  ?  "  Fitz-Stephen,  who  sat  at  his  feet,  said 
in  a  loud  clear  voice,  "  That  be  far  from  thee  ;  so  did 
not  the  Apostles  and  Martyrs  of  God :  they  prayed  for 
their  persecutors  and  forgave  them."  Some  of  his  more 
attached  followers  burst  into  tears.  "  A  little  later," 
says  the  faithful  Fitz-Stephen  of  himself,  "  when  one 
of  the  King's  ushers  would  not  allow  me  to  speak  to 

1" Quasi  pila  minantia  pilis,"  quotes  Fitz-Stephen;  "Memento,"  said 
De  Bosham,  "  quondam  te  extitisse  regis  Anglorum  signiferum  inexpugna- 
bilem,  nunc  vero  si  signifer  regis  Angelorum  expugnaris,  turpissimum."  — 
p.  UQ. 


Chap.  Yin.  C0XDE:MXATI0X  OF  BECKET.  349 

the  Archbishop,  I  made  a  sign  to  him  and  drew  his 
attention  to  the  Saviour  on  the  cross." 

The  bishops  admitted  to  the  King's  presence  an- 
nounced the  appeal  of  the  Archbishop  to  the  Pope, 
and  his  inhibition  to  his  suffragans  to  sit  in  judgment 
in  a  secular  council  on  their  metropolitan.^  These 
were  ao;ain  direct  infrino-ements  on  two  of  the  con- 
stitutions  of  Clarendon,  sworn  to  bj  Becket  in  an  oath 
still  held  valid  bj  the  King  and  his  barons.  The  King 
appealed  to  the  council.  Some  seized  the  occasion  of 
boldlj  declaring  to  the  King  that  he  had  brought  this 
difficulty  on  himself  by  advancing  a  low-born  Condemna- 
man  to  such  favor  and  dignity.  All  agreed  Becket. 
that  Becket  was  guilty  of  perjury  and  treason.^  A 
kind  of  low  acclamation  followed  which  was  heard  in 
the  outer  room  and  made  Becket's  followers  tremble. 
The  King  sent  certain  counts  and  barons  to  demand  of 
Becket  whether  he,  a  liegeman  of  the  King,  and  sworn 
to  observe  the  constitutions  of  Clarendon,  had  lodged 
this  appeal  and  pronounced  this  mhibition  ?  The  Arch- 
bishop replied  with  quiet  intrepidity.  In  his  long  speech 
he  did  not  hesitate  for  a  word  :  he  pleaded  that  he  had 
not  been  cited  to  answer  these  charo-es ;  he  alleo-ed  asain 
the  Justiciary's  acquittance  ;  he  ended  by  solemnly  re- 
newing his  inhibition  and  his  appeal :  "  My  person  and 
my  churcli  I  place  under  the  protection  of  the  sov- 
ereign Pontiff." 

The  barons  of  Normandy  and  England  heard  with 
wonder  this  defiance  of  the  Kino;.      Some  seemed  awe- 

1  Dicebant  enim  episcopi,  quod  adhuc,  ipsa  die,  intra  decern  dies  dataa 
eententiae,  eos  ad  dominum  Papam  appellaverat.  et  ne  de  cetero  eum  judi- 
carent  pro  seculari  querela,  quje  de  tempore  ante  archiprsesulatum  ei  mo- 
reretur,  auctoritate  domini  Papae  prohibuit."  —  Fitz-Stephen,  p.  230. 

2  Herbert  de  Bosham,  p.  146. 


350  LATIX  CHRISTIAXITY.  Book  VIII. 

struck  and  were  mute  ;  the  more  fierce  and  laAvless 
could  not  restrain  their  indignation.  "  The  Con- 
queror knew  best  how  to  deal  with  these  turbulent 
churchmen.  He  seized  his  own  brother,  Odo  Bishop 
of  Bayeux,  and  chastised  him  for  his  rebellion ;  he 
threw  Stigand,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  into  a  fetid 
dungeon.  The  Count  of  Anjou,  the  King's  father, 
treated  still  worse  the  bishop  elect  of  Seez  and  many 
of  his  clergy :  he  ordered  them  to  be  shamefully  muti- 
lated and  derided  their  sufferings." 

The  King  summoned  the  bishops,  on  their  allegiance 
as  barons,  to  join  in  the  sentence  against  Becket.  But 
the  inhibition  of  their  metropolitan  had  thrown  them 
into  embarrassment,  and  perhaps  they  felt  that  the  of- 
fence of  Becket,  if  not  capital  treason,  bordered  upon  it. 
It  might  be  a  sentence  of  blood,  in  which  no  church- 
man might  concur  by  his  suffrage  —  they  dreaded  the 
breach  of  canonical  obedience.  They  entered  the  hall 
where  Becket  sat  alone.  The  gentler  prelates,  Robert 
of  Lincoln  and  others,  were  moved  to  tears ;  even 
Henry  of  Winchester  advised  the  archbishop  to  make 
an  unconditional  surrender  of  his  see.  The  more  ve- 
hement Hilary  of  Chichester  addressed  him  thus : 
"  Lord  Primate,  we  have  just  cause  of  complaint 
against  you.  Your  inhibition  has  placed  us  between 
the  hammer  and  the  anvil :  if  we  disobey  it,  we  violate 
our  canonical  obedience  ;  if  we  obey,  we  infringe  the 
constitutions  of  the  realm  and  offend  the  King's  maj- 
esty. Yourself  were  the  first  to  subscribe  the  customs 
at  Clarendon,  you  now  compel  us  to  break  them.  We 
appeal,  by  the  King's  grace,  to  our  lord  the  Pope." 
Becket  answered  "  I  hear." 

They  returned  to  the  King,  and  with  difficulty  ob- 


Chap.  yni.  HE  APPEALS  TO  THE  POPE.  351 

tained  an  exemption  from  concurrence  in  the  sentence  ; 
tliej  promised  to  join  in  a  supplication  to  the  Pope  to 
depose  Becket.  The  King  permitted  their  appeal. 
Robert  Earl  of  Leicester,  a  grave  and  aged  nobleman, 
was  commissioned  to  pronounce  the  sentence.  Leices- 
ter had  hardly  begun  when  Becket  sternly  interrupted 
him.  "  Thy  sentence  !  son  and  Earl,  hear  me  first ! 
The  King  was  pleased  to  promote  me  against  my  will 
to  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury.  I  was  then  de- 
clared free  from  all  secular  obligations.  Ye  are  my 
children  ;  presume  ye  against  law  and  reason  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  your  spiritual  father  ?  I  am  to  be  judged 
only,  under  God,  by  the  Pope.  To  him  I  appeal, 
before  him  I  cite  you,  barons  and  my  suflragans,  to 
appear.  LTnder  the  protection  of  the  Catholic  Church 
and  the  Apostolic  See  I  depart ! "  ^  He  rose  and 
walked  slowly  down  the  hall.  A  deep  murmur  ran 
through  the  crowd.  Some  took  up  straws  and  threw 
them  at  him.  One  uttered  the  word  "  Traitor ! " 
The  old  chivalrous  spirit  woke  in  the  soul  of  Becket. 
"  Were  it  not  for  my  order,  you  should  rue  that  word." 
But  by  other  accounts  he  restrained  not  his  language 
to  this  pardonable  impropriety  —  he  met  scorn  with 
scorn.  One  officer  of  the  King's  household  he  up- 
braided for  having  had  a  kinsman  hanged.  Anselm, 
the  King's  brother,  he  called  "  bastard  and  catamite." 
The  door  was  locked,  but  fortunately  the  key  was 
found.  He  passed  out  into  the  street,  where  he  was 
received  by  the  populace,  to  whom  he  had  endeared 
himself  by  his  charities,  his  austerities,  perhaps  by  his 

1  De  Bosham's  account  is,  that  notwithstanding  the  first  interruption, 
Leicester  reluctantly  proceeded  till  he  came  to  the  "word  "perjured,"  on 
rhich  Becket  rose  and  spoke. 


352  LATIN  CHPJSTLIXITY.  Book  YIII. 

courageous  opposition  to  the  king  and  the  nobles,  amid 
loud  acclamations.  They  pressed  so  closely  around 
him  for  his  blessing  that  he  could  scarcely  guide  his 
horse.  He  returned  to  the  church  of  St.  Andrew, 
placed  his  cross  by  the  altar  of  the  Virgin.  "  This 
was  a  fearful  day,"  said  Fitz-Stephen.  ''  The  day  of 
judgment,"  he  replied,  "  will  be  more  fearful."  Aftei 
supper  he  sent  the  Bishops  of  Hereford,  Worcester,  and 
Rochester  to  the  King  to  request  permission  to  leave 
the  kingdom :  the  King  coldly  deferred  his  answer  till 
the  morrow. 

Becket  and  his  friends  no  doubt  thought  his  life  in 
danger :  he  is  said  to  have  received  some  alarmino; 
warnings.^  It  is  reported,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the 
King,  apprehensive  of  the  fierce  zeal  of  his  followers, 
issued  a  proclamation  that  no  one  should  do  harm  to 
the  archbishop  or  his  people.  It  is  more  likely  that  the 
King,  who  must  have  known  the  peril  of  attempting 
the  life  of  an  archbishop,  would  have  apprehended  and 
committed  him  to  prison.  Becket  expressed  his  inten- 
tion to  pass  the  night  in  the  church  :  his  bed  was 
Flight  of  stre^^7l  before  the  altar.  At  midnight  he 
Oct.  13".  rose,  and  with  only  two  monks  and  a  ser- 
vant stole  out  of  the  northern  gate,  the  only  one  which 
was  not  o-iiarded.  He  carried  with  him  onlv  his  archi- 
episcopal  pall  and  his  seal.  The  weather  was  wet  and 
stormy,  but  the  next  morning  they  reached  Lincoln, 
and  lodged  with  a  pious  citizen  —  piety  and  admiration 
of  Becket  were  the  same  thing.  At  Lincoln  he  took 
the  disguise  of  a  monk,  dropped  down  the  Witham  to 
a  hermitage  in  the  fens  belonging  to  the  Cistercians  of 
Sempringham  ;  thence  by  cross-roads,  and  chiefly  by 

1  De  Bosham,  p.  150. 


Chap.  Yin.  FLIGHT   OF  BECKET.  353 

night,  he  found  his  way  to  Estrey,  about  five  miles 
from  Deal,  a  manor  belonging  to  Christ  Church  in 
Canterbury.  He  remained  there  a  week.  On  All 
Souls  Day  he  went  on  board  a  boat,  just  before  morn- 
ing, and  by  the  evening  reached  the  coast  of  Flanders. 
To  avoid  observation  he  landed  on  the  open  shore  near 
Gravelines.  His  large,  loose  shoes  made  it  difficult  to 
wade  throucrh  the  sand  without  fallino;.  He  sat  down 
in  despair.  After  some  delay  was  obtained  for  a  prel- 
ate, accustomed  to  the  prancing  war-horse  or  stately 
cavalcade,  a  sorry  nag  without  a  saddle,  and  with  a 
wisp  of  hay  for  a  bridle.  But  he  soon  got  weary  and 
was  fain  to  walk.  He  had  many  adventures  by  the 
way.  He  was  once  nearly  betrayed  by  gazing  with 
delight  on  a  falcon  upon  a  young  squire's  wrist :  his 
friglit  punished  him  for  this  relapse  into  his  secular 
vanities.  The  host  of  a  small  inn  recognized  him  by 
his  lofty  look  and  the  whiteness  of  his  hands.  At 
length  he  arrived  at  the  monastery  of  Clair  ]Marais, 
near  St.  Omer :  he  was  there  joined  by  Herbert  de 
Bosham,  who  had  been  left  behind  to  collect  what 
money  he  could  at  Canterbury  :  he  brought  but  100 
marks  and  some  plate.  While  he  was  in  this  part 
of  Flanders  the  Justiciary,  Richard  de  Luci,  passed 
through  the  town  on  his  way  to  England.  He  tried 
in  vain  to  persuade  the  archbishop  to  return  with  him : 
Becket  suspected  his  friendly  overtures,  or  had  reso- 
lutely determined  not  to  put  himself  again  in  the 
King's  power. 

In  the  first  access  of  indio-nation  at  Becket's  flio;ht 
the  King  had  sent  orders  for  strict  watch  to  be  kept  in 
the  ports  of  the  kingdom,  especially  Dover.  The  next 
measure  was  to  preoccupy  the  minds  of  the  Count  of 

VOL.  IV.  23 


354  LATm  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VHI. 

Flanders,  the  King  of  France,  and  the  Pope  against 
his  fugitive  suhject.  Heniy  could  not  but  foresee  how 
formidable  an  ally  the  exile  might  become  to  his  rivals 
and  enemies,  how  dangerous  to  his  extensive  but  ill- 
consolidated  foreio;n  dominions.  He  mio-ht  know  that 
Becket  would  act  and  be  received  as  an  independent 
potentate.  The  rank  of  his  ambassadors  implied  the 
importance  of  their  mission  to  France.  They  wei'e 
the  Archbishop  of  York,  the  Bishops  of  London,  Exe- 
ter, Chichester,  and  Worcester,  the  Earl  of  Arundel, 
and  three  other  distinguished  nobles.  The  same  day 
that  Becket  passed  to  Gravelines,  they  crossed  from 
Dover  to  Calais. ^ 

The  Earl  of  Flanders,  though  with  some  cause  of 
Becket  in  hostility  to  Bcckct,  had  offered  him  a  refuge  ; 
exile.  jQ^   perhaps  was  not   distinctly  informed  or 

would  not  know  that  the  exile  was  in  his  dominions.^ 
He  received  the  King's  envoys  with  civility.  The  King 
of  France  was  at  Compiegne.  The  strongest  passions 
in  the  feeble  mind  of  Louis  YH.  were  jealousy  of 
Heniy  of  England,  and  a  servile  bigotry  to  the  Church, 
to  which  he  seemed  determined  to  compensate  for  the 
hostility  and  disobedience  of  his  youth.  Against  Hen- 
ry, personally,  there  were  old  causes  of  hatred  rankling 
in  his  heart,  not  the  less  deep  because  they  could  not 

1  Foliot  and  the  King's  envoys  crossed  the  same  day.  It  is  rather 
amusing  that,  though  Becket  crossed  the  same  day  in  an  open  boat,  and, 
as  is  incautiously  betrayed  by  his  friends,  suffered  much  from  the  rough 
sea,  the  weather  is  described  as  in  his  case  almost  miraculously  favorable, 
in  the  other  as  miraculously  tempestuous.  So  that  while  Becket  calmly 
glided  over,  Foliot  in  despair  of  his  life  threw  off  his  cowl  and  cope. 

2  Compare,  however,  Roger  of  Pontigny.  By  his  account,  the  Count  of 
Flanders,  a  relative  and  partisan  of  Henry  ("  consanguineus  et  qui  partes 
ejus  fovebat  "),  would  have  arrested  him.  He  escaped  over  the  border  by 
a  trick.  —  Roger  de  Pontigny,  p.  148. 


Chap.  VHI.  LOUIS  OF  FRANCE.  355 

be  avowed.  Henry  of  England  was  now  tlie  husband 
of  Eleanor,  who,  after  some  years  of  marriage,  had 
contemptuously  divorced  the  King  of  France  as  a  monk 
rather  than  a  husband,  had  thrown  herself  in-  j-rom  1152 
to  the  arms  of  Henry  and  carried  with  her  a  *°  ^^^' 
dowry  as  large  as  half  the  kingdom  of  France.  There 
had  since  been  years  either  of  fierce  war,  treacherous 
negotiations,  or  jealous  and  armed  peace,  between  the 
rival  sovereigns. 

Louis  had  watched,  and  received  regular  accounts 
of  the  proceedings  in  England ;  his  admiration  of  Beck- 
et  for  his  lofty  churchmanship  and  daring  opposition  to 
Henry  was  at  its  height,  scarcely  disguised.  He  had 
already  in  secret  offered  to  receive  Becket,  not  as  a  fu- 
gitive, but  as  the  sharer  in  his  kingdom.  The  ambas- 
sadors appeared  before  Louis  and  presented  a  letter 
urging  the  King  of  France  not  to  admit  within  his  do- 
minions the  traitor  Thomas,  late  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury. "  Late  Archbishop  !  and  who  has  presumed 
to  depose  him  ?  I  am  a  king,  like  my  brother  j^^^.^  ^^ 
of  England  ;  I  should  not  dare  to  depose  the  ^''*°^®- 
meanest  of  my  clergy.  Is  this  the  King's  gratitude  for 
the  services  of  his  Chancellor,  to  banish  him  from 
France,  as  he  has  done  from  England  ? "  ^  Louis 
wrote  a  strong  letter  to  the  Pope,  recommending  to  his 
favor  the  cause  of  Becket  as  his  own. 

The  ambassadors  passed  onward  to  Sens,  where  re- 
sided   the    Pope  Alexander  HI.,  himself  an  Ambassadors 
exile,  and  opposing  his  spiritual  power  to  the  **  ^^°®- 
highest  temporal  authority,  that  of  the  Emperor  and 
his  subservient  Antipope.     Alexander  was  in  a  position 
of  extraordinary  difficulty  :  on  the  one  side  were  grati- 

1  Giles,  iv.  253 ;  Bouquet,  p.  217. 


356  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

tude  to  King  Henry  for  liis  firm  support,  and  the  fear 
of  estranging  so  powerful  a  sovereign,  on  whose  unri- 
valled wealth  he  reckoned  as  the  main  strength  of  his 
cause ;  on  the  other,  the  dread  of  offending  the  King 
of  France,  also  his  faithful  partisan,  in  whose  dominions 
he  was  a  refugee,  and  the  duty,  the  interest,  the  strong 
inclination  to  maintain  every  privilege  of  the  hierarchy. 
To  Henry  Alexander  almost  owed  his  pontificate.  His 
first  and  most  faithful  adherents  had  been  Theobald 
the  primate,  the  English  Church,  and  Henry  King  of 
England ;  and  when  the  weak  Louis  had  entered  into 
dangerous  negotiations  at  Lannes  wdth  the  Emperor ; 
when  at  Dijon  he  had  almost  placed  himself  in  the 
power  of  Frederick,  and  his  voluntary  or  enforced  de- 
fection had  filled  Alexander  with  dread,  the  advance 
of  Henry  of  England  with  a  powerful  force  to  the 
neighborhood  rescued  the  French  king  firom  his  peril- 
ous position.^  And  now,  though  Victor  the  Antipope 
was  dead,  a  successor,  Guido  of  Crema,  had  been  set 
up  by  the  imperial  party,  and  Frederick  would  lose  no 
opportunity  of  gaining,  if  any  serious  quarrel  should 
alienate  him  from  Alexander,  a  monarch  of  such  sur- 
passing power.  An  envoy  from  England,  John  Cum- 
min, was  even  now  at  the  imperial  court.^ 

Becket's  messengers,  before  the  reception  of  Hen- 
ry's ambassadors  by  Pope  Alexander,  had  been  admit- 
ted to  a  private  interview.  The  account  of  Becket's 
'^  fight  with  beasts  "  at  Northampton,  and  a  skilful  paral- 
lel wdth  St.  Paul,  had  melted  the  heart  of  the  Pontiff, 
as  he  no  doubt  thought  himself  suffering  like  persecu- 
tions, to  a  flood  of  tears.     How  in  truth  could  a  Pope 

1  See  back,  page  281. 

-  Epist.  Nuntii ;  Giles,  iv.  254 ;  Bouquet,  p.  217. 


Chap.  YIII.      HENRY'S  AMBASSADORS  AT  SENS.  357 

venture  to  abandon  sucli  a  champion  of  what  were 
called  the  hberties  of  the  church  ?  He  had,  in  fact, 
throughout  been  in  secret  correspondence  with  Becket. 
Whenever  letters  could  escape  the  jealous  watchfulness 
of  the  King,  they  had  passed  between  England  and 
Sens.^ 

The  ambassadors  of  Henry  were  received  in  state  in 
the  open  consistory.    Fohot  of  London  began  The  King's 

•••  "^  111    ambassadors 

with  his  usual  ability  ;  his  warmth  at  length  at  sens. 
betrayed  him  into  the  Scriptural  citation,  —  "The 
wicked  fleeth  when  no  man  pursueth."  "  Forbear," 
said  the  Pope.  "  I  will  forbear  him,"  answered  Fohot. 
"  It  is  for  thine  own  sake,  not  for  his,  that  I  bid  thee 
forbear."  The  Pope's  severe  manner  silenced  the 
Bishop  of  London.  Hilary,  Bishop  of  Chichester, 
who  had  overweening  confidence  in  his  own  eloquence, 
began  a  long  harangue ;  but  at  a  fatal  blunder  in  his 
Latin,  the  whole  Italian  court  burst  into  laughter.^ 
The  discomfited  orator  tried  in  vain  to  proceed.  The 
Archbishop  of  York  spoke  with  prudent  brevity.  The 
Count  of  Arundel,  more  cautious  or  less  learned,  used 
his  native  Norman.  His  speech  was  mild,  grave,  and 
concihatory,  and  therefore  the  most  embarrassing  to 
the  Pontiff.     Alexander  consented  to  send  his  cardinal 


1  Becket  writes  from  Eogland  to  the  Pope :  "  Quod  petimus,  summo 
silsntio  petimus  occultari.  Nihil  enim  nobis  tutum  est,  quum  omnia  fer6 
refsruntur  ad  regem,  quae  nobis  in  conclavi  vel  in  aurem  dicuntur." 
There  is  a  significant  clause  at  the  end  of  this  letter,  which  implies  that 
the  emissaries  of  the  Church  did  not  confine  themselves  to  Church  aflfairs : 
"  De  Wallensibus  et  Oweno,  qui  se  principem  nominat,  provideatis,  quia 
Dominus  Rex  super  hoc  maxime  motus  est  et  indignatus."  The  Welsh 
vTere  in  arms  against  the  King:  this  borders  on  high  treason.— Apud  Giles, 
iii.  1,  Bouquet,  221. 

2  The  word  "oportuebat"  was  too  bad  for  monkish,  or  rather  for  Roman, 


358  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII 

legates  to  England ;  but  neither  the  arguments  of  Fo- 
liot,  nor  those  of  Arundel,  who  now  rose  to  something 
like  a  menace  of  recourse  to  the  Antipope,  would  in- 
duce him  to  invest  them  with  full  power.  The  Pope 
would  intrust  to  none  but  to  himself  the  prerogative 
of  final  judgment.  Alexander  mistrusted  the  venality 
of  his  cardinals,  and  Henry's  subsequent  dealing  with 
some  of  them  justified  his  mistrust.^  He  was  himself 
inflexible  to  tempting  offers.  The  envoys  privately 
proposed  to  extend  the  payment  of  Peter's  Pence  to 
almost  all  classes,  and  to  secure  the  tax  in  perpetuity  to 
the  see  of  Rome.  The  ambassadors  retreated  in  haste  ; 
their  commission  had  been  limited  to  a  few  days.  The 
bishops,  so  strong  was  the  popular  feeling  in  France  for 
Becket,  had  entered  Sens  as  retainers  of  the  Earl  of 
Arundel :  they  received  intimation  that  certain  lawless 
knights  in  the  neighborhood  had  determined  to  waylay 
and  plunder  these  enemies  of  the  Church,  and  of  the 
saintly  Becket. 

Far  different  was  the  progress  of  the  exiled  primate. 
From  St.  Bertin  he  was  escorted  by  the  ab.bot,  and  by 
the  Bishop  of  Terouenne.  He  entered  France ;  he 
was  met,  as  he  approached  Soissons,  by  the  King's 
brothers,  the  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  and  a  long  train 
of  bishops,  abbots,  and  dignitaries  of  the  church  ;  he 
Becket  at  entered  Soissons  at  the  head  of  300  horsemen. 
Sens.  rj^YiQ  interview  of  Louis  with  Becket   raised 

his  admiration  into  passion.  As  the  envoys  of  Henry 
passed  on  one  side  of  the  river,  they  saw  the  pomp  in 
which  the  ally  of  the  King  of  France,  rather  than  the 

1  According  to  Roger  of  Pontigiiy,  there  were  some  of  them  "qui  ac- 
cepta  a  rege  pecimia  partes  ejus  fovebant,"  particularly  William  of  Pavia. 
-p.  153. 


Chap.  YIII. 


BECKET  AT  SEXS.  359 


exile  from  England,  was  approaching  Sens.      The  car- 
dinals, whether  from  prudence,  jealousy,  or  other  mo- 
tives, were  cool  in  their  reception  of  Becket.      The 
Pope  at  once  granted  the  honor  of  a  public  audience ; 
he  placed  Becket  on  his  right  hand,  and  would  not 
allow  him  to  rise  to  speak.     Becket,  after  a  skilful  ac- 
count of  his  hard   usage,   spread  out  the  parchment 
which  contained  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon.    They 
were  read  ;  the  whole  Consistory  exclaimed  against  the 
violation  of  ecclesiastical  privileges.      On  ftirther  ex- 
amination the  Pope  acknowledged  that  six    of  them 
were  less  evil  than  the  rest ;  on  the  remaining  ten  he 
pronounced  his  unqualified  condemnation.   He  rebuked 
the  weakness  of  Becket  in  swearing  to  these  articles,  it 
is  said,  with  the  severity  of  a  father,  the  tenderness  of 
a  mother.i     jje  consoled  him  with  the  assurance  that 
he  had  atoned  by  his  sufferings  and  his  patience  for  his 
brief  infirmity.     Becket  pursued  his  advantage.     The 
next  day,  by  what  might  seem  to  some  trustful  magna- 
nimity, to  others,  a  skilful  mode  of  getting  rid  of  cer- 
tain  objections  which  had  been  raised  concerning  his 
election,  he  tendered  the  resignation  of  his  archiepisco- 
pate  to  the  Pope.     Some  of  the   more   politic,  it  was 
said,  more  venal  cardinals,  entreated  the  Pontiff  to  put 
an  end  at  once  to  this  dangerous  quarrel  by  accepting 
the  surrender.2     g^t  the  Pontiff  (his  own  judgment 
being  supported  among  others  by  the  Cardinal  Hya- 
cinth)  restored   to  him   the  archiepiscopal  ring,  thus 
ratifying  his  primacy.     He  assured  Becket  of  his  pro- 
tection, and  committed  him  to  the  hospitable  care  of 

1  Hert)ert  de  Bosham. 

2  Alani  Vita  (p.  362) ;  and  Alans  Life  rests  mainly  on  the  authority  of 
lohn  of  Salisbury.    Herbert  de  Bosham  suppresses  this. 


360  LATIN-  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

the  Abbot  of  Pontigny,  a  monastery  about  twelve 
leagues  from  Sens.  "  So  long  have  you  lived  in  ease 
and  opulence,  now  learn  the  lessons  of  poverty  from 
the  poor."  ^  Yet  Alexander  thought  it  prudent  to  in- 
hibit any  proceedings  of  Becket  against  the  King  till 
the  following  Easter. 

Becket's  emissaries  had  been  present  during  the  in- 
terview of  Henry's  ambassadors  with  the  Pope.  Hen- 
ry, no^doubt,  received  speedy  intelligence  of  these  pro- 
ceedings with  Becket.  He  was  at  Marlborough  after 
Effect  on  ^  dlsastrous  campaign  in  Wales.^  He  issued 
King  Henry,  jixiniedlate  orders  to  seize  the  revenues  of  the 
Archbishop,  and  promulgated  a  mandate  to  the  bishops 
Wrath  of  to  sequester  the  estates  of  all  the  clergy  who 
^^"'•^-  had  followed  him  to  France.      He  forbade 

public  prayers  for  the  Primate.  In  the  exasperated 
state,  especially  of  the  monkish  mind,  prayers  for  Beck- 
et would  easily  slide  into  anathemas  against  the  king. 
The  payment  of  Peter's  Pence  ^  to  the  Pope  was  sus- 
pended.    All  correspondence  with  Becket  was  forbid- 

1  The  Abbot  of  Pontigny  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Becket.  See  letter 
of  the  Bishop  of  Poitiers,  Bouquet,  p.  214.  Prayers  were  oflFered  up 
throughout  the  struggle  with  Henry  for  Becket's  success  at  Pontigny, 
Citeaux,  and  Clairvaux.  —  Giles,  iv.  255. 

2  Compare  Lingard.  Becket  on  this  news  exclaimed,  as  is  said,  "  His 
wise  men  are  become  fools ;  the  Lord  hath  sent  among  them  a  spirit  of  gid- 
diness; they  have  made  England  to  reel  to  and  fro  like  a  drunken  man." 
—  Vol.  iii.  p.  227.  No  doubt,  he  would  have  it  supposed  God's  vengeance 
for  his  own  wrongs. 

3  There  are  in  Foliot's  letters  many  curious  circumstances  about  the  col- 
lection and  transmission  of  Peter's  Pence.  In  Alexander's  present  state, 
notwithstanding  the  amity  of  the  King  of  France,  this  source  of  revenue 
was  no  doubt  important.  —  Epist.  149,  172,  &c.  Alexander  wrote  from 
Clermont  to  Foliot  (June  8,  1165)  to  collect  the  tax,  to  do  all  in  his  power 
for  the  recall  of  Becket:  to  Henry,  reprobating  the  Constitutions;  to 
Becket,  urging  prudence  and  circumspection.  This  was  later.  The  Pope 
was  then  on  his  way  to  Italy,  where  he  might  need  Henry's  gold. 


Chap.  ym.  WEATH  OF  HENRY.  361 

den.  But  the  resentment  of  Henry  was  not  satisfied. 
He  passed  a  sentence  of  banishment,  and  ordered  at 
once  to  be  driven  from  the  kingdom  all  the  primate's 
kinsmen,  dependents,  and  friends.  Four  hundred  per- 
sons, it  is  said,  of  both  sexes,  of  every  age,  even  infants 
at  the  breast  were  included  (and  it  was  the  depth  of 
winter)  in  this  relentless  edict.  Every  adult  was  to 
take  an  oath  to  proceed  immediately  to  Becket,  in  or- 
der that  his  eyes  might  be  shocked,  and  his  heart 
wrung  by  the  miseries  which  he  had  brought  on  his 
family  and  his  friends.  This  order  was  as  inhumanly 
executed,  as  inhumanly  enacted.^  It  was  intrusted 
to  Randulph  de  Broc,  a  fierce  soldier,  the  bitterest  of 
Becket's  personal  enemies.  It  was  as  impolitic  as 
cruel.  The  monasteries  and  convents  of  Flanders  and 
of  France  were  thrown  open  to  the  exiles  with  gener- 
ous hospitality.  Throughout  both  these  countries  was 
spread  a  multitude  of  persons  appealing  to  the  pity,  to 
the  indignation  of  all  orders  of  the  people,  and  so  deep- 
ening the  universal  hatred  of  Henry.  The  enemy  of 
the  Church  was  self-convicted  of  equal  enmity  to  all 
Christianity  of  heart. 

In  his  seclusion  at  Pontigny  Becket  seemed  deter- 
mined to  compensate  by  the  sternest  monastic  ^^^^^^.  ^^ 
discipline  for  that  deficiency  which  had  been  Po^^^g^y- 
alleged  on  his  election  to  the  archbishopric.     He  put 
on  the  coarse  Cistercian  dress.     He  lived  on  the  hard 
and  scanty  Cistercian  diet.     Outwardly  he  still  main- 
tained something  of  his  old  magnificence  and  the  splen- 
dor of  his  station.     His   establishment  of  horses  and 
retainers  was  so  costly,  that  his  sober  friend,  John  of 
Salisbury,  remonstrated  against  the  profuse  expendi 
1  Becket,  Epist.  4,  p.  7. 


362  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Till. 

ture.  Richer  viands  were  indeed  served  on  a  table 
apart,  ostensibly  for  Becket ;  but  wLile  lie  himself  was 
content  with  the  pnlse  and  giniel  of  the  monks,  those 
meats  and  game  were  given  away  to  the  beggars.  His 
devotions  were  long  and  secret,  broken  with  perpetual 
groans.  At  night  he  rose  from  the  bed  strewn  with 
rich  coverings,  as  beseeming  an  archbishop,  and  sum- 
moned his  chaplain  to  the  work  of  flagellation.  Not 
satisfied  with  this,  he  tore  his  flesh  with  his  nails,  and 
lay  on  the  cold  floor,  with  a  stone  for  his  pillow.  His 
health  suffered ;  wild  dreams,  so  reports  one  of  his  at- 
tendants, haunted  his  broken  slumbers,  of  cardinals 
plucking  out  his  eyes,  fierce  assassins  cleaving  his  ton- 
sured crown.^  His  studies  were  neither  suited  to  calm 
his  mind,  nor  to  abase  his  hierarchical  haughtiness. 
He  devoted  his  time  to  the  canon  law,  of  which  the 
False  Decretals  now  formed  an  integral  part :  sacer- 
dotal fraud  justifying  the  loftiest  sacerdotal  presump- 
tion. John  of  Salisbury  again  interposed  with  friendly 
remonstrance.  He  urged  him  to  withdraw  fi'om  these 
undevotional  inquiries;  he  recommended  to  him  the 
works  of  a  Pope  of  a  different  character,  the  Morals 
of  Gregory  the  Great.  He  exhorted  him  to  confer 
with  holy  men  on  books  of  spiritual  improvement. 

King  Henry  in  the  mean  time  took  a  loftier  and  more 
Negotiations  menacing  tone  towards  the  Pope.  "  It  is 
Emperor.  au  uulicard-of  thing  that  the  court  of  Rome 
should  support  traitors  against  my  sovereign  authority  ; 
I  have  not  deserved  such  treatment.^  I  am  still  more 
indignant  that  the  justice  is  denied  to  me  which  is 
granted  to  the  meanest  clerk."     In  his  wrath  he  made 

1  EdAV.  Grim. 

2  Bouquet,  xvi.  256. 


CHAP.Vm.  DIET  AT  THJETZBURG.  363 

overtures  to  Reginald,  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  the 
maker,  he  might  be  called,  of  two  Antipopes,  and  the 
minister  of  the  Emperor,  declaring  that  he  had  long 
sought  an  opportunity  of  falling  off  from  Alexander, 
and  his  perfidious  cardinals,  who  presumed  to  support 
against  him  the  traitor  Thomas,  late  Archbishop  of 
Canterbmy. 

The  Emperor  met  the  advances  of  Henry  with 
promptitude,  which  showed  the  importance  he  attached 
to  the  alliance.  Reginald  of  Cologne  was  sent  to  Eng- 
land to  propose  a  double  alliance  with  the  house  of 
Swabia,  of  Frederick's  son,  and  of  Henry  the  Lion, 
with  the  two  daughters  of  Henry  Plantagenet.  The 
Pope  trembled  at  this  threatened  union  between  the 
houses  of  Swabia  and  England.  At  the  Diktat 
great  diet  held  at  Wurtzburg,  Frederick  as-  r^D.'iie"'^' 
serted  the  canonical  election  of  Paschal  III.,  ^^it«"^«<i«- 
the  new  Antipope,  and  declared  in  the  face  of  the 
empire  and  of  all  Christendom,  that  the  powerful  king- 
dom of  England  had  now  embraced  his  cause,  and  that 
the  King  of  France  stood  alone  in  his  support  of  Alex- 
ander.^ In  his  public  edict  he  declared  to  all  Christen- 
dom that  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  Paschal,  of  denial  of 
all  future  allegiance  to  Alexander,  administered  to  all 
the  great  princes  and  prelates  of  the  empire,  had  been 
taken  by  the  ambassadors  of  King  Henry,  Richard  of 
Ilchester,  and  John  of  Oxford.^     Nor  was  this  all.     A 

1  The  letters  of  John  of  Salisbury  are  full  of  allusions  to  the  proceedings 
at  "Wurtzburg.  —  Bouquet,  p.  524.  John  of  Oxford  is  said  to  have  denied 
the  oath  (p.  533);  also  Giles,  iv.  264.  He  is  from  that  time  branded  by 
John  of  Salisbury  as  an  arch  liar. 

2  John  of  Oxford  was  rewarded  for  this  service  by  the  deanery  of  Salis- 
bury, vacant  by  the  promotion  of  the  dean  to  the  bishopric  of  Bayeux. 
Toscelin,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  notwithstanding  the  papal  prohibition  that 


364  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

solemn  oath  of  abjuration  of  Pope  Alexander  was  en- 
acted, and  to  some  extent  enforced ;  it  was  to  be  taken 
by  every  male  over  twelve  years  old  throughout  the 
realm.^  The  King's  officers  compelled  this  act  of  obe- 
dience to  the  King,  in  villages,  in  castles,  in  cities. 

If  the  ambassadors  of  Henry  at  Wurtzburg  had  full 
powers  to  transfer  the  allegiance  of  the  King  to  the 
Antipope ;  if  they  took  the  oath  unconditionally,  and 
with  no  reserve  in  case  Alexander  should  abandon  the 
cause  of  Becket ;  if  this  oath  of  abjuration  in  England 
was  generally  administered  ;  it  is  clear  that  Henry  soon 
changed,  or  wavered  at  least  in  his  policy.  The  alli- 
ance between  the  two  houses  came  to  nothing.  Yet 
even  after  this  he  addressed  another  letter  to  Reginald, 
Archbishop  of  Cologne,  declaring  again  his  long  cher- 
ished determination  to  abandon  the  cause  of  Alexander, 
the  supporter  of  his  enemy,  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. He  demanded  safe-conduct  for  an  embassy  to 
Rome,  the  Archbishop  of  York,  the  Bishop  of  London, 

no  election  should  take  place  in  the  absence  of  some  of  the  canons,  chose 
the  safer  course  of  obedience  to  the  King's  mandate.  This  act  of  Joscelin 
was  deeply  resented  by  Becket.  John  of  Oxford's  usurpation  of  the  dean- 
ery was  one  of  the  causes  assigned  for  his  excommunication  at  Vezelay. 
See  also,  on  the  loyal  but  somewhat  unscrupulous  proceedings  of  John  of 
Oxford,  the  letter  (hereafter  referred  to)  of  Nicolas  de  Monte  Rotomagensi. 
It  describes  the  attempt  of  John  of  Oxford  to  prepossess  the  Empress  Ma- 
tilda against  Becket.  It  likewise  betrays  again  the  double-dealing  of  the 
Bishop  of  Lisieux,  outwardly  for  the  King,  secretly  a  partisan  and  adviser 
of  Becket.  On  the  whole,  it  shows  the  moderation  and  good  sense  of  the 
empress,  who  disapproved  of  some  of  the  Constitutions,  and  especially  of 
their  being  written,  but  speaks  strongly  of  the  abuses  in  the  Church. 
Nicolas  admires  her  skilfulness  in  defending  her  son.  —  Giles,  iv.  187. 
Bouquet,  226. 

1  "  Praecepit  enim  publice  et  compuUt  per  vicos,  per  castella,  per  civitates 
ab  homine  sene  usque  ad  puerum  duodenum  beati  Petri  successorem  Alex- 
andrum  abjm-are."  William  of  Canterbury  alone  of  Becket's  biographers 
(Giles,  ii.  p.  19)  asserts  this,  but  it  is  unanswerably  confirmed  by  Becket's 
Letter  78,  iii.  p.  192. 


Chap.  VIII.  BECKET  CITES  THE  KING.  365 

John  of  Oxford,  De  Luci,  the  Justiciary,  peremptorily 
to  require  the  Pope  to  annul  all  the  acts  of  Thomas, 
and  to  command  the  observance  of  the  Customs.^  The 
success  of  Alexander  in  Italy,  aversion  in  England  to 
the  abjuration  of  Alexander,  some  unaccounted  jeal- 
ousy with  the  Emperor,  irresolution  in  Henry,  which 
was  part  of  his  impetuous  character,  may  have  wrought 
this  change. 

The  monk  and  severe  student  of  Pontigny  found  rest 
neither  in  his  austerities  nor  his  studies.^  The  ca,uses 
of  this  enforced  repose  are  manifest  —  the  negotiations 
between  Henry  and  the  Emperor,  the  uncertainty  of 
the  success  of  the  Pope  on  his  return  to  Italy.  It 
would  have  been  perilous  policy,  either  for  him  to  risk, 
or  for  the  Pope  not  to  inhibit  any  rash  measure. 

In  the  second  year  of  his  seclusion,  when  he  found 
that  the  King's  heart  was  still  hardened,  the  fire,  not, 
we  are  assured  by  his  followers,  of  resentment,  but  of 
parental  love,  not  zeal  for  vengeance  but  for  justice, 
burned  within  his  soul.  Henry  was  at  this  time  in 
France.  Three  times  the  exile  cited  his  sov-  ggcket  cites 
ereign  with  the  tone  of  a  superior  to  submit  *'^®  ^^°^" 
to  his  censure.  Becket  had  communicated  his  design 
to  his  followers  :  —  "  Let  us  act  as  the  Lord  commanded 
his  steward :  ^  '  See,  I  have  set  thee  over,  the  nations, 

1  The  letter  in  Giles  (vi.  279)  is  rather  perplexing.  It  is  placed  by  Bou- 
quet, agreeing  with  Baronius,  in  1166;  by  Von  Raumer  (Geschichte  der 
Hohenstauffen,  ii.  p.  192)  in  1165,  before  the  Diet  of  Wurtzburg.  This 
cannot  be  right,  as  the  letter  implies  that  Alexander  was  in  Rome,  where 
he  arrived  not  before  Nov.  1165.  The  embassy,  though  it  seems  that  the 
Emperor  granted  the  safe-conduct,  did  not  take  place,  at  least  as  regards 
some  of  the  ambassadors. 

2  "  Itaque  per  biennium  ferme  stetit."  So  -syrites  Roger  of  Pontigny.  It 
is  difficult  to  make  out  so  long  a  time.  —  p.  154. 

8  Herbert  de  Bosham.  —p.  226. 


368  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

and  over  the  kingdoms,  to  root  ont  and  to  pull  down, 
and  to  destroy,  and  to  hew  down,  to  build  and  to 
plant.'  "  ^  All  his  hearers  applauded  his  righteous  res- 
olution. In  the  first  message  the  haughty  meaning 
was  veiled  in  the  blandest  words,^  and  sent  by  a  Cister- 
cian of  gentle  demeanor,  named  Urban.^  The  King 
returned  a  short  and  bitter  answer.  The  second  time 
Becket  wrote  in  severer  language,  but  yet  in  the  spirit, 
'tis  said,  of  compassion  and  leniency.*  The  King 
deigned  no  reply.  His  third  messenger  was  a  tattered, 
barefoot  friar.  To  him  Becket,  it  might  seem,  with 
studied  insult,  not  only  intrusted  his  letter  to  the  King, 
but  authorized  the  friar  to  speak  in  his  name.  With 
such  a  messenger  the  message  was  not  likely  to  lose  in 
asperity.  The  King  returned  an  answer  even  more 
contemptuous  than  the  address.^ 

But  this  secret  arraignment  of  the  King  did  not  con- 
Nov.  11, 1165.  tent  the  unquiet  prelate.  He  could  now  dare 
more,  unrestrained,  unrebuked.  Pope  Alexander  had 
been  received  at  Rome  with  open  arras :  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  present  year  all  seemed  to  favor  his 
cause.  The  Emperor,  detained  by  wars  in  Germany, 
was  not  prepared  to  cross  the  Alps.  In  the  free  cities 
of  Italy,  the  anti-imperialist  feeling,  and  the  growing 
republicanisi^a,  gladly  entered  into  close  confederacy 
with  a  Pope  at  war  with  the  Emperor.  The  Pontiff 
(secretly  it  should  seem,  it  might  be  in  defiance  or  in 

1  Jer.  i.  10. 

2  "  Suavissimas  literas,  supplicationem  solam,  correptionem  vero  nullam 
vel  modicam  continentes."  —  De  Bosham. 

3  Urbane  by  disposition  as  by  name.  —  Ibid. 

4  Giles,  iii.  365.     Bouquet,  p.  243. 

6  "  Quin  potius  dura  propinantes,  dura  pro  duris,  immo  multo  plus  duri- 
ora  prioribus,  reportaverunt."  — De  Bosham. 


Chap.  Vm.  BECKET'S  LEGATIXE  POWER.  367 

revenge  for  Henry's  threatened  revolt  and  for  the  acts 
of  his  ambassadors  at  Wurtzburg  ^ )  ventured  to  grant 
to  Becket  a  legatine  power  over  the  King's  English 
dominions,  except  the  province  of  York.  Though  it 
was  not  in  the  power  of  Becket  to  enter  those  domin- 
ions, it  armed  him,  as  it  was  thought,  with  unquestion- 
able authority  over  Henry  and  his  subjects.  At  all 
events  it  annulled  whatever  restraint  the  Pope,  by 
counsel  or  by  mandate,  had.  placed  on  the  proceedings 
of  Becket.2  The  Archbishop  took  his  determination 
alone.^  As  though  to  throw  an  awful  mystery  about 
his  plan,  he  called  his  wise  friends  together,  and  con- 
sulted them  on  the  propriety  of  resigning  his  see.  With 
one  voice  they  rejected  the  timid  counsel.  Yet  though 
his  most  intimate  followers  were  in  ignorance  of  his 
desio-ns,  some  intellio:ence  of  a  meditated  blow  was  be- 
trayed  to  Henry.  The  King  summoned  an  assembly 
of  prelates  at  Chinon.  The  Bishops  of  Lisieux  and 
Seez,  whom  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen,  Rotran,  con- 

1  The  Pope  had  written  (Jan.  28)  to  the  bishops  of  England  not  to  pre- 
sume to  act  without  the  consent  of  Thomas,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
April  5,  he  forbade  Roger  of  York  and  the  other  prelates  to  crown  the 
King's  sou.  May  3,  he  "SYTites  to  Foliot  and  the  bishops  who  had  received 
benefices  of  the  King  to  surrender  them  under  pain  of  anathema;  to  Becket 
in  favor  of  Joscelin,  Bishop  of  Salisbury:  he  had  annulled  the  grant  of  the 
deaner}^  of  Salisbury  to  John  of  Oxford.  May  10,  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Rouen,  denouncing  the  dealings  of  Henry  with  the  Emperor  and  the  Anti- 
pope.  —  Giles,  iv.  10  a  80.     Bouquet,  246. 

2  The  inhibition  given  at  Sens  to  proceed  against  the  King,  before  the 
Easter  of  the  following  year  (a.d.  1166),  had  now  expired.  Moreover  he 
had  a  direct  commission  to  proceed  by  Commination  against  those  who  for- 
cibly withheld  the  property  of  the  see  of  Canterbury.  — Apud  Giles,  iv.  8. 
Bouquet,  xvi.  844.  At  the  same  time  the  Pope  urged  great  discretion  as 
to  the  King's  person.  —  Giles,  iv.  12.     Bouquet,  244. 

3  At  the  same  time  Becket  wrote  to  Foliot  of  London,  commanding  him 
under  penalty  of  excommunication  to  transmit  to  him  the  sequestered  rev- 
enues of  Canterbury  in  his  hands.  —  Foliot  appealed  to  the  Pope.  —  Foliot's 
Letter.    Giles,  vi.  5.    Bouquet,  215. 


368  LATIN    CHKISTIANITY.  Book  YIU. 

sented  to  accompany  as  a  mediator,  were  despatched  to 
Pontigny,  to  anticipate  by  an  appeal  to  the  Pope,  any 
sentence  which  might  be  pronounced  by  Becket.  They 
did  not  find  him  there :  he  had  ah'eady  gone  to  Soissons, 
on  the  pretext  of  a  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  of  St. 
Drausus,  a  saint  whose  intercession  rendered  the  war- 
rior invincible  in  battle.  Did  Becket  hope  thus  to 
secure  victory  in  the  great  spiritual  combat  ?  One 
whole  night  he  passed  before  the  shrine  of  St.  Drausus : 
another  before  that  of  Gregory  the  Great,  the  founder 
of  the  English  Church,  and  of  the  see  of  Canterbury ; 
a  third  before  that  of  the  Virgin,  his  especial  pa- 
troness. 

From  thence  he  proceeded  to  the  ancient  and  famous 
Becket  at  monastery  of  Vezelay  .^  The  church  of  Veze- 
vezeiay.  "j^^.^  •£  ^j-^^  disuial  dccoratious  of  the  architect- 
ure are  (which  is  doubtful)  of  that  period,  might  seem 
designated  for  that  fearful  ceremony .'-^     There,  on  the 

1  The  curious  History  of  the  Monastery  of  Vezelay,  by  Hugh  of  Poitiers, 
(translated  in  Guizot,  Collection  des  Memoires),  though  it  twice  mentions 
Becket,  stops  just  short  of  this  excommunication,  1186.  Yezelay  boasted 
to  be  subject  only  to  the  See  of  Eome,  to  have  been  made  by  its  founder 
part  of  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter.  This  Avas  one  great  distinction :  the 
other  was  the  unquestioned  possession  of  the  body  of  St.  Mary  Magdalene, 
"  I'amie  de  Dieu."  Vezelay  had  been  in  constant  strife  with  the  Bishop 
of  Autun  for  its  ecclesiastical,  with  the  Count  of  Nevers  for  its  territorial, 
independence;  with  the  monastery  of  Clugny,  as  its  rival.  This  is  a  doc- 
ument very  instructive  as  to  the  life  of  the  age. 

2  A  modern  traveller  thus  writes  of  the  church  of  Vezelay:  "  On  voit 
par  le  choix  des  sujets  qui  ont  un  sens,  quel  etait  I'esprit  du  temps  et  la 
maniere  d'interpr^ter  la  religion.  Ce  n'dtait  pas  par  la  douceur  ou  la  per- 
suasion qu'on  voulait  convertir,  mais  bien  par  la  terreur.  Les  discours  des 
pretres  pourraient  se  r^sumer  en  ce  peu  de  mots :  '  Croyez,  ou  sinon  vous 
pdrissez  miserablement,  et  vous  serez  ^teniellement  tourmentes  dans  I'autre 
nionde!'  De  leur  c6te,  les  artistes,  gens  religieux,  eccl^siastiques  m§me 
pour  la  plupart,  donnaient  une  forme  r^elle  aux  sombres  images  que  leur 
inspirait  un  zele  farouche.  Je  ne  trouve  a  Vezelay  aucun  de  ces  sujets 
que  les  ames  tendres  aimeraient  a  retracer,  tels  que  le  pardon  accord^  au 


Chap.  vin.  \t:zelay.  369 

feast  of  tlie  Ascension,^  when  tlie  church  was  crowded 
with  worshippers  from  all  quarters,  he  ascended  the 
pulpit,  and,  with  the  utmost  solemnity,  condemned  and 
annulled  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  declared  ex- 
communicate all  who  observed  or  enforced  their  observ- 
ance, all  who  had  counselled,  and  all  who  had  defended 
them ;  absolved  all  the  bishops  from  the  oaths  which 
thej  had  taken  to  maintain  them.  This  sweeping 
anathema  involved  the  whole  kingdom.  But  he  pro- 
ceeded to  excommunicate  by  name  the  most  active  and 
powerful  adversaries :  John  of  Oxford,  for  his  dealings 
with  the  schismatic  partisans  of  the  Emperor  and  of 
the  Antipope,  and  for  his  usurpation  of  the  deanery  of 
Salisbury ;  Richard  of  Ilchester  x4rchdeacon  of  Poit- 
iers, the  colleague  of  John  in  his  negotiations  at  Wurtz- 
burg  (thus  the  cause  of  Becket  and  Pope  Alexander 
were  indissolubly  welded  together)  ;  the  great  Justici- 
ary, Richard  de  Luci,  and  John  of  Baliol,  the  authors 
of  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon  ;  Randulph  de  Broc, 
Hugo  de  Clare,  and  others,  for  their  forcible  usur- 
pation of  the  estates  of  the  see  of  Canterbury.  He 
yet  in  his  mercy  spared  the  king  (he  had  received  in- 


repentir  la  recompense  du  juste,  etc.;  mais,  au  contraire,  je  vois  Samuel 
^gorgeant  Agag ;  des  diables  ecartelant  des  damn^s,  ou  les  entrainant  dans 
I'abime;  puis  des  animaux  horribles,  des  monstres  hideux,  des  tetes  gri- 
macantes  exprimantou  les  soufFrances  des  reprouves,  ou  la  joie  des  habitans 
de  I'enfer.  Qu'on  se  repr^sente  la  devotion  des  hommes  ^lev^s  au  milieu 
de  ces  images,  et  Ton  s'^tonnera  moins  des  massacres  des  Albigeois."  — 
Notes  d'uu  Voyage  dans  le  Midi  de  la  France,  par  Prosper  Merim^e,  p.  43. 
1  Diceto  gives  the  date  Ascension  Day,  Herbert  de  Bosham  St.  Mary 
Magdalene's  Day  (July  22d).  It  should  seem  that  De  Bosham's  memory 
tailed  him.  See  the  letter  of  Nicolas  de  M.  Rotomageusi,  who  speaks  of 
the  excommunication  as  past,  and  that  Becket  was  expected  to  excommuni- 
cate the  King  on  St.  Mary  Magdalene's  day.  This,  if  done  at  Vezelay  (as 
it  were,  over  the  body  of  the  Saint,  on  her  sacred  day),  had  been  tenfold 
more  a^vful. 

VOL.  IV.  24 


370  LATIN   CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

telligence  that  Henry  was  dangerously  ill),  and  in  a 
lower  tone,  his  voice,  as  it  seemed,  half  choked  with 
tears,  he  uttered  his  commination.  The  whole  congre- 
gation, even  his  own  intimate  followers,  were  silent 
with  amazement. 

This  sentence  of  excommunication  Becket  announced 
to  the  Pope,  and  to  all  the  clergy  of  England.  To  the 
latter  he  said,  "  Who  presumes  to  doubt  that  the 
priests  of  God  are  the  fathers  and  masters  of  kings, 
princes,  and  all  the  faithful  ? "  He  commanded  Gil- 
bert, Bishop  of  London,  and  his  other  suffragans,  to 
publish  this  edict  throughout  their  dioceses.  He  did 
not  confine  himself  to  the  bishops  of  England  ;  the 
Norman  prelates,  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen,  were  ex- 
pressly warned  to  withdraw  from  all  communion  with 
the  excommunicate.^ 

The  wrath  of  Henry  drove  him  almost  to  madness. 
Anger  of  the  ^^  ^'^^  dared  to  name  Becket  in  his  pres- 
^°^"  ence.2     Soon  after,  on  the  occasion  of  some 

discussion  about  the  King  of  Scotland,  he  burst  into  a 
fit  of  passion,  threw  away  his  cap,  ungirt  his  belt, 
stripped  off  his  clothes,  tore  the  silken  coverlid  from 
his  bed,  and  crouched  down  on  the  straw,  gnawing 
bits  of  it  with  his  teeth. ^  Proclamation  was  issued 
to  guard  the  ports  of  England  against  the  threatened 
interdict.  Any  one  who  should  be  apprehended  as 
the  bearer  of  such  an  instrument,  if  a  regular,  was 
to  lose  his  feet ;  if  a  clerk,  his  eyes,  and  suffer  more 

1  See  the  curious  letter  of  Nicolas  de  Monte  Rotomagensi,  Giles,  iv.,  Bou- 
quet, 250.  This  measure  of  Becket  was  imputed  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Rheims  to  pride  or  anger  ("  extollentijB  aut  irae"):  it  made  an  unfavorable 
impression  on  the  Empress  Matilda.  —  Ibid. 

2  Epist.  Giles,  iv.  185 ;  Bouquet,  258. 
8  Epist.  Giles,  iv.  260  ;  Bouquet,  256. 


Chap.  VIII.  WRATH  OF  THE  KING.  871 

shameful  mutilation ;  a  layman  was  to  be  hanged ;  a 
leper  to  be  burned.  A  bishop  who  left  the  kingdom, 
for  fear  of  the  interdict,  was  to  carry  nothing  with  him 
but  his  staff.  All  exiles  were  to  return  on  pain  of 
losing  their  benefices.  Priests  who  refused  to  chant 
the  service  were  to  be  mutilated,  and  all  rebels  to  for- 
feit their  lands.  An  oath  was  to  be  administered  by 
the  sheriffs  to  all  adults,  that  they  would  respect  no 
ecclesiastical  censure  from  the  Archbishop. 

A  second  time  Henry's  ungovernable  passion  be- 
trayed him  into  a  step  which,  instead  of  lowering,  only 
placed  his  antagonist  in  a  more  formidable  position. 
He  determined  to  drive  him  from  his  retreat  Becket 

.  ^  -  IP  driven  from 

at  Pontigny.  He  sent  word  to  the  general  ol  Pontigny. 
the  Cistercian  order,  that  it  was  at  their  peril,  if  they 
harbored  a  traitor  to  his  throne.  The  Cistercians  pos- 
sessed many  rich  abbeys  in  England  ;  they  dared  not 
defy  at  once  the  King's  resentment  and  rapacity.  It 
was  intimated  to  the  xlbbot  of  Pontigny,  that  he  must 
dismiss  his  guest.  The  Abbot  courteously  communi- 
cated to  Becket  the  danger  incurred  by  the  Order.  He 
could  not  but  withdraw ;  but  instead  now  of  lurking  in 
a  remote  monastery,  in  some  degree  secluded  from  the 
public  gaze,  he  was  received  in  the  archiepiscopal  city 
of  Sens  ;  his  honorable  residence  was  prepared  in  a 
monastery  close  to  the  city ;  he  lived  in  ostentatious 
communication  with  the  Archbishop  William,  one  of 
his  most  zealous'  partisans.^ 

But  the  fury  of  haughtiness  in  Becket  equalled  the 
fury  of  resentment  in  the  King :  yet  it  was  not  Avithout 
subtlety.  Just  before  the  scene  at  Yezelay,  it  has  been 
said,  the  King  had  sent  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen  and 

1  Herbert  de  Bosham,  p.  232. 


372  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

the  Bishop  of  Lisieux  to  Pontigny,  to  lodge  his  appeal 
to  the  Pope.  Becket,  duly  informed  by  his  emissaries 
at  the  court,  had  taken  care  to  be  absent.  He  eluded 
likewise  the  personal  service  of  the  appeal  of  the  Eng- 
lish clergy.  An  active  and  violent  correspondence 
Controversy    eusucd.     Tlic  rcmoustrancc,  purporting  to  be 

with  Euglish     „  i-r*-  5  no  iiii 

clergy.  irom  the  rrimate  s  suiiragans  and  the  whole 

clergy  of  England,  was  not  without  dignified  calmness. 
With  covert  irony,  indeed,  they  said  that  they  had 
derived  great  consolation  from  the  hope  that,  when 
abroad,  he  ^vould  cease  to  rebel  ao;ainst  the  Kino-  and 
the  peace  of  the  realm  ;  that  he  would  devote  his  days 
to  study  and  prayer,  and  redeem  his  lost  time  by  fast- 
ing, watching,  and  weeping  ;  they  reproached  him  with 
the  former  favors  of  the  King,  with  the  design  of 
estranging  the  King  from  Pope  Alexander  ;  they  as- 
serted the  readiness  of  the  King  to  do  full  justice,  and 
concluded  by  lodging  an  appeal  until  the  Ascension-day 
of  the  following  year.^  Foliot  was  no  doubt  the  author 
of  this  remonstrance,  and  between  the  Primate  and  the 
Bishop  of  London  broke  out  a  fierce  warfare  of  letters. 
With  Foliot  Becket  kept  no  terms.  "  You  complain 
that  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury  has  been  excommunicated, 
without  citation,  without  hearing,  without  judgment. 
Remember  the  fate  of  Ucalegon.  He  trembled  wdien 
his  neighbor's  house  was  on  fire."  To  Foliot  he  as- 
serted the  preeminence,  the  supremacy,  the  divinity  of 
the  spiritual  power  without  reserve.  "  Let  not  your 
liege  lord  be  ashamed  to  defer  to  those  to  whom  God 
himself  defers,  and  calls  them  '  Gods.'  "  ^    Foliot  replied 

1  Epist.  Giles,  vi.  158;  Bouquet,  259. 

2  "  Non  indignetur  itaque  Dominus  noster  defen-e  illis,  quibus  summus 
omnium  deferre  non  dedignatur,  Deos  appellans  eos  sfepius  in  sacris  literis. 


Chap.  Ylir.  JOHX  OF  OXFO'lD  IX  ROSEE.  373 

with  what  may  be  received  as  the  manifesto  of  his 
party,  and  as  the  manifesto  of  a  party  to  be  received 
with  some  mistrust,  yet  singularly  curious,  as  showing 
the  tone  of  defence  taken  by  the  opponents  of  the  Pri- 
mate among  the  English  clergy.^ 

The  address  of  the  English  prelates  to  Pope  Alex- 
ander was  more  moderate,  and  drawn  with  great  ability. 
It  asserted  the  justice,  the  obedience  to  the  Church, 
the  great  virtue  and  (a  bold  assertion  !)  the  conjugal 
fidelity  of  the  King.  The  King  had  at  once  obeyed 
the  citation  of  the  Bishops  of  London  and  Salisbury, 
concerning  some  encroachments  on  the  Church  con- 
demned by  the  Pope.  The  sole  design  of  Henry  had 
been  to  promote  good  morals,  and  to  maintain  the 
peace  of  the  realm.  That  peace  had  been  restored. 
All  resentments  had  died  away,  when  Becket  fiercely 
recommenced  the  strife  ;  in  sad  and  terrible  letters  had 
threatened  the  King  with  excommunication,  the  realm 
with  interdict.  He  had  suspended  the  Bishop  of  Salis- 
bury without  trial.  "  This  was  the  whole  of  the  cru- 
elty, perversity,  malignity  of  the  King  against  the 
Church,  declaimed  on  and  bruited  abroad  throuohout 
the  world."  2 

The  indefaticrable  John  of  Oxford  was  in  Rome, 
perhaps  the  bearer  of  this  address.     Becket  John  of 

,         T^  ...  n       1  Oxford  at 

wrote  to  the  rope,  msistmg  on  all  the  cru-  Rome, 
elties  of  the  King  :  he  calls  him  a  malignant  tyrant, 

Sic  enim  dixit,  '  Ego  dixit,  Dii  estis,'  et '  Constitui  te  Deum  Pharaonis,' 
et  'Deis  non  detrahere.'  "  —  Epist.  Giles,  iii.  p.  287;  Bouquet,  261. 

1  Foliot  took  the  precaution  of  paving  into  the  exchequer  all  that  he  had 
received  from  the  sequestered  propertj^  of  the  see  of  Canterbury.  —  Giles, 
V.  p.  265.    Lyttelton  in  Appendice. 

2  "  Hfec  est  Domini  regis  toto  orbe  declamata  crudelitas,  bfec  ab  eo  perse- 
cutio,  hsec  operum  ejus  perversorum  rumusculis  undique  divulgata  malig- 
nitas."  —  Giles,  vi.  190;  Bouquet,  265. 


374  lA^riN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

one  full  of  all  malice.  He  dwelt  especially  on  tlie  im- 
prisonment of  one  of  his  chaplains,  for  which  violation 
of  the  sacred  person  of  a  clerk,  the  King  was  ipso 
facto  excommmiicate.  "  Christ  was  crucified  ane\y 
in  Becket."^  He  complained  of  the  presumption  of 
Foliot,  who  had  usurped  the  power  of  primate  ;^  warned 
the  Pope  against  the  wiles  of  John  of  Oxford ;  depre- 
cated the  legatine  mission,  of  which  he  had  already 
heard  a  rumor,  of  William  of  Pavia.  And  all  these 
letters,  so  unsparing  to  the  King,  or  copies  of  them, 
probably  bought  out  of  the.  Roman  chancery,  were  reg- 
ularly transmitted  to  the  King. 

John  of  Oxford  began  his  mission  at  Rome  by 
swearing  undauntedly,  that  nothing  had  been  done  at 
Wurtzburg  against  the  power  of  the  Church  or  the 
interests  of  Pope  Alexander.^  He  surrendered  his 
deanery  of  Salisbury  into  the  hands  of  the  Pope,  and 
received  it  back  again.^     John  of  Oxford  was  armed 

1  Giles,  iii.  6 ;  Bouquet,  266.  Compare  letter  of  Bishop  Elect  of  Char- 
tres.  —  Giles,  vi.  211;  Bouquet,  269. 

2  Foliot  obtained  letters  either  at  this  time  or  somewhat  later  from  his 
own  Chapter  of  St.  Paul,  from  many  of  the  greatest  dignitaries  of  the 
English  Church,  the  abbots  of  Westminster  and  Reading,  and  from  some 
distinguished  foreign  ecclesiastics,  in  favor  of  himself,  his  piety,  church- 
manship,  and  impartiality. 

3  The  German  accounts  are  unanimous  about  the  proceedings  at  "Wurtz- 
burg and  the  oath  of  the  English  ambassadors.  See  the  account  in  Voa 
Raumer  (foe.  c«/.),  especially  of  the  conduct  of  Reginald  of  Cologne,  and 
the  authorities.  John  of  Oxford  is  henceforth  called,  in  John  of  Salisbury's 
letters,  jurator.  Becket  repeatedly  charges  him  with  perjury,  —  Giles,  iii. 
p.  129  and  351 ;  Bouquet,  280.  Becket  there  says  that  John  of  Oxford  had 
given  up  part  of  the  "  customs."  He  begs  John  of  Poitiers  to  let  the  King 
know  this.  See  the  very  curious  answer  of  John  of  Poitiers.  —  Giles,  vi. 
251 ;  Bouquet,  280.  It  appears  that  as  all  Becket's  letters  to  the  Pope  were 
copied  and  transmitted  from  Rome  to  Henry,  so  John  of  Poitiers,  outwardly 
the  King's  loyal  subject,  is  the  secret  spy  of  Becket.  He  speaks  of  those 
in  England  who  thirst  after  Becket's  blood. 

4  The  Pope  acknowledges  that  this  was  extorted  from  him  by  fear  of 


Chap.  Vm.    WILLIAM  OF  PA  VIA  AXD  CARDDsAL  OTHO.     375 

with  more  powerful  weapons  than  peijury  or  submis- 
sion, and  the  times  now  favored  the  use  of  these  more 
irresistible  arms.  The  Emperor  Frederick  was  levy- 
ing, if  he  had  not  already  set  in  motion,  that  mighty 
army  which  swept,  during  the  next  year,  through  Italy, 
made  him  master  of  Rome,  and  witnessed  his  corona- 
tion and  the  enthronement  of  the  Antipope.^  Henry 
had  now,  notwithstanding  his  suspicious  —  more  than 
suspicious  —  dealings  with  the  Emperor,  retm^ned  to 
his  allegiance  to  Alexander.  Vast  sums  of  English 
money  were  from  this  time  expended  in  strengthening 
the  cause  of  the  Pope.  The  Guelfic  cities  of  Italy  re- 
ceived them  with  greedy  hands.  By  the  gold  of  the 
King  of  England,  and  of  the  King  of  Sicily,  the  Fran- 
gipani  and  the  family  of  Peter  Leonis  were  retained  in 
their  fidelity  to  the  Pope.  Becket,  on  the  other  hand, 
had  powerful  friends  in  Rome,  especially  the  Cardinal 
Hyacinth,  to  whom  he  writes,  that  Henry  had  boasted 
that  in  Rome  everything  was  venal.  It  was,  however, 
not  till  a  second  embassy  arrived,  consisting  Dec.  nee. 
of  John  Cummin  and  Ralph  of  Tamworth,  that  Alex- 
ander made  his  great  concession,  the  sign  that  he  was 
not  yet  extricated  fi-om  his  distress.  He  appointed 
William  of  Pavia,  and  Otho,  Cardinal  of  St.  Nicolas, 
his  legates  in  France,  to  decide  the  cause.^  Meantime 
all  Becket's  acts  were  suspended  by  the  papal  author- 
ity.    At  the  same  time  the  Pope   wrote   to   Becket, 


Henry,  and  makes  an  awkward  apology  to  Becket.  —  Giles,  iv.  18;  Bou- 
quet, 309. 

1  He  was  crowned  in  Rome  August  1.  Compare  next  chapter  —  Sis- 
mondi,  Republiques  Italiennes,  ii.  ch.  x. ;  Yon  Raumer,  ii.  p.  209,  &c. 

2  Giles,  iii.  128;  Bouquet,  272.  Compare  letters  to  Cardinals  Boso  and 
Henry.  —  Giles,  iii.  103,  113;  Bouquet,  174.  Letter  to  Heniy  announc- 
ing the  appointment,  December  20. 


376  LATIN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  VIH. 

entreating  Mm  at  this  perilous  time  of  the  Church 
to  make  all  possible  concessions,  and  to  dissemble,  if 
necessary,  for  the  present.^ 

If  John  of  Oxford  boasted  prematurely  of  his  tri- 
umph (on  his  retm-n  to  England  he  took  ostentatious 
possession  of  his  deanery  of  Salisbury  ),2  and  predicted 
the  utter  ruin  of  Becket,  his  friends,  especially  the 
King  of  France,^  were  in  utter  dismay  at  this  change 
in  the  papal  policy.  John,  as  Becket  had  heard  (and 
his  emissaries  were  everywhere),  on  his  landing  in 
England,  had  met  the  Bishop  of  Hereford  (one  of  the 
wavering  bishops),  prepared  to  cross  the  sea  in  obe- 
dience to  Becket's  citation.  To  him,  after  some  delay, 
John  had  exhibited  letters  of  the  Pope,  which  sent  him 
back  to  his  diocese.  On  the  sight  of  these  same  letters, 
the  Bishop  of  London  had  exclaimed  in  the  fulness  of 
his  joy,  "  Then  our  Thomas  is  no  longer  archbishop  !  " 
"  If  this  be  true,"  adds  Becket,  "  the  Pope  has  given  a 
death-blow  to  the  Church."*  To  the  Archbishop  of 
Mentz,  for  in  the  empire  he  had  his  ardent  admirers, 
he  poured  forth  aU  the  bitterness  of  his  soul.^  Of 
the  two  cardinals  he  writes,  "  The  one  is  weak  and  ver- 
satile, the  other  treacherous  and  crafty."  He  looked 
to  their  arrival  with  indignant  apprehension.     They 


-  '  Si  non  omnia  secundum  beneplacitum  succedant,  ad  praesens  dissimu- 
let."  —  Giles,  vi.  15;  Bouquet,  277. 

2  See  the  curious  letter  of  Master  Lombard,  Becket's  instructor  in.the 
canon  law,  Avho  boldly  remonstrates  with  the  Pope.  He  asserts  that  Henry- 
was  so  frightened  at  the  menace  of  excommunication,  his  subjects,  even 
the  bishops,  at  that  of  his  interdict,  that  they  were  in  despair.  Their  only 
hope  was  in  the  death  or  some  great  disaster  of  the  Pope.  —  Giles,  iv.  208 ; 
Bouquet,  282. 

8  See  Letters  of  Louis;  Giles,  iv.  308;  Bouquet,  287. 

4  "  Strangulavit,"  a  favorite  word.  —  Giles,  iii,  214;  Bouquet,  284. 

5  Giles,  iii.  235 ;  Bouquet,  285. 


Chap.  Vm.  FLIGHT   OF   FREDEEICK.  377 

are  open  to  bribes,  and  may  be  perverted  to  any  injus- 
tice.^ 

John  of  Oxford  bad  proclaimed  that  the  cardinals, 
"William  of  Pavia,  and  Otho,  were  invested  in  full  pow- 
ers to  pass  judgment  between  the  King  and  the  Pri- 
mate.2  But  whether  John  of  Oxford  had  mistaken  or 
exaggerated  their  powers,  or  the  Pope  (no  improbable 
case,  considering  the  change  of  affairs  in  Italy)  had 
thought  fit  af:erwards  to  modify  or  retract  them,  they 
came  rather  as  mediators  than  judges,  with  orders  to 
reconcile  the  contending  parties,  rather  than  to  decide 
on  their  cause.  The  cardinals  did  not  arrive  in  France 
till  the  autumn  of  the  year.'^  Even  before  their  arri- 
val, first  rumors,  then  more  certain  intelligence  had  been 
propagated  throughout  Christendom  of  the  terrible  dis- 
aster which  had  befallen  the  Emperor.  Barbarossa's 
career  of  vengeance  and  conquest  had  been  a.d.  ii67. 

m?       -r.  •  P      •   •  Flight  of 

cut  short,      ine  rope  a  prisoner,  a  fugitive,  Frederick. 
was  unexpectedly  released,  restored  to  power,  if  not  to 

1  Compare  John  of  Salisbury,  p.  539.  "  Scripsit  autem  rex  Domino 
Coloniensi,  Henricum  Pisanum  et  Willelmum  Papiensem  in  Franciam  ven- 
turos  ad  novas  exactiones  faciendas,  ut  undique  conradant  et  contrahant, 
unde  Papa  Alexander  in  urbe  sustentetur:  alter,  ut  nostis,  levis  est  et  mu- 
tabilis,  alter  dolosus  et  fraudulentus,  uterque  cupidus  et  avarus :  et  ideo  de 
facili  munera  coenabunt  eos  et  ad  omnem  injustitiam  incurvabunt.  Audito 
eorum  detestando  adventu  formidare  csepi  prgesentiam  eorum  causae  vestrae 
niultum  nocituram;  et  ne  vestro  et  vestrorum  sanguine  gratiam  Regis 
Anglic  redimere  non  ernbescant."  He  refers  with  great  joy  to  the  insur- 
rection of  the  Saxons  against  the  Emperor.  He  says  elsewhere  of  Henry 
of  Pisa,  "Yir  bonae  opinionis  est,  sed  Romanus  et  Cardinalis." — Epist. 
cc.  ii. 

2  The  English  bishops  declare  to  the  Pope  himself  that  they  had  received 
this  concession,  scripto  formntum,  from  the  Pope,  and  that  the  King  was  fu- 
rious at  what  he  thought  a  deception.  —  Giles,  vi.  194;  Bouquet,  304. 

3  The  Pope  wrote  to  the  legates  to  soothe  Becket  and  the  King  of  France ; 
he  accuses  John  of  Oxford  of  spreading  false  reports  about  the  extent  of 
their  commission;  John  Cummin  of  betraying  his  letters  to  the  Antipope. 
—  Giles,  vi.  54. 


378  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VUI. 

the  possession  of  Rome.^  The  cHmate  of  Rome,  as 
usual,  but  in  a  far  more  fearful  manner,  had  resented 
the  invasion  of  the  city  by  the  German  army.  A  pes- 
tilence had  broken  out,  which  in  less  than  a  month 
made  such  havoc  among  the  soldiers,  that  they  could 
scarcely  find  room  to  bury  the  dead.  The  fever  seemed 
to  choose  its  victims  among  the  higher  clergy,  the  par- 
tisans of  the  Antipope ;  of  the  princes  and  nobles,  the 
chief  victims  were  the  younger  Duke  Guelf,  Duke 
Frederick  of  Swabia,  and  some  others ;  of  the  bishops, 
those  of  Prague,  Ratisbon,  Augsburg,  Spires,  Verdun, 
Liege,  Zeitz ;  and  the  arch-rebel  himself,  the  antipope- 
maker,  Reginald  of  Cologne.^  Throughout  Europe 
the  clergy  on  the  side  of  Alexander  raised  a  cry  of 
awful  exultation  ;  it  was  God  manifestly  avenging  him- 
self on  the  enemies  of  the  Church  ;  the  new  Senna- 
cherib (so  he  is  called  by  Becket)  had  been  smitten  in 
his  pride  ;  and  the  example  of  this  chastisement  of 
Frederick  was  a  command  to  the  Church  to  resist  to 
the  last  all  rebels  against  her  power,  to  put  forth  her 
spiritual  arms,  which  God  would  as  assuredly  support 
by  the  same  or  more  signal  wonders.  The  defeat  of 
Frederick  was  an  admonition  to  the  Pope  to  lay  bare 
the  sword  of  Peter,  and  smite  on  all  sides.^ 


1  So  completely  does  Becket's  fortune  follow  that  of  the  Pope,  that  on 
June  17  Alexander  writes  to  permit  Roger  of  York  to  crown  the  King's 
son;  no  sooner  is  he  safe  in  Benevento,  August  22  (perhaps  the  fever  had 
■begun),  than  lie  writes  to  his  legates  to  confirm  the  excommunications  of 
Becket,  which  he  had  suspended. 

2  Muratori,  sub  ann.  1167;  Von  Raumer,  ii.  210.  On  the  1st  of  August 
Frederick  was  crowned;  September  4,  he  is  at  the  Pass  of  Pontremoli,  in 
full  retreat,  or  rather  flight. 

3  In  a  curious  passage  in  a  letter  written  bj^  Herbert  de  Bosham  in  the 
name  of  Becket,  Frederick's  defeat  is  compared  to  Henrv's  disgraceful 
campaign  in  Wales.     "  My  enemy,'*  says  Becket,  "in  the  abundance  of  his 


CHAP.ym.      THE  LEGATES  IX  FRAXCE.  379 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Becket  so  Interpreted 
what  he  deemed  a  sign  from  heaven.  But  Becket 
even  before  the  disaster  was  certainly  known  Agates. 
he  had  determined  to  show  no  submission  to  a  judge 
so  partial  and  so  corrupt  as  William  of  Pavia.-^  That 
cardinal  had  urged  the  Pope  at  Sens  to  accept  Becket's 
resignation  of  his  see.  Becket  would  not  deign  to 
disguise  his  contempt.  He  wrote  a  letter  so  full  of 
violence  that  John  of  Salisbury ,2  to  whom  it  was  sub- 
mitted, persuaded  him  to  destroy  it.  A  second  was 
little  milder;  at  length  he  was  persuaded  to  take  a 
more  moderate  tone.  Yet  even  then  he  speaks  of  the 
"insolence  of  princes  lifting  up  their  horn."  To  Car- 
dinal Otho,  on  the  other  hand,  his  language  borders  on 
adulation. 

The  cardinal  Legates  travelled  in  slow  state.  They 
visited  first  Becket  at  Sens,  afterwards  King  Meeting 
Henry  at  Eouen.  At  length  a  meeting  was  Gisors. 
aoreed  on  to  be  held  on  the  borders  of  the  French  and 
English  territory,  between  Gisors  and  Trie.  The  proud 
Becket  was  disturbed  at  being  hastily  summoned,  when 
he  was  unable  to  muster  a  sufficient  retinue  of  horse- 
men to  meet  the  Italian  cardinals.  The  two  kings 
were  there.  Of  Henry's  prelates  the  Archbishop  of 
Rouen  alone  was  present  at  the  first  interview.  Becket 
was  charged  with  urging  the  King  of  France  to  war 

valor,  could  not  prevail  against  a  breechless  and  ragged  people  ('  exbrac- 
catum  et  pannosum  ')."  —  Giles,  viii.  p.  268. 

1  "  Credimus  non  esse  juri  consentaneum,  nos  ejus  subire  judicium  vel 
examen  qui  quaerit  sibi  facere  commercium  de  sanguine  nostro,  de  pretio 
utinam  non  iniquitatis,  quserit  sibi  nomen  et  gloriam."  — D.  Thorn.  Epist. 
Giles,  iii.  p.  15.  The  two  legates  are  described  as  "  plus  avaritiaB  quam 
justitiae  studiosi."  —  "W.  Cant.  p.  21. 

2  Giles,  iii.  157,  and  John  of  Salisbury's  remarkable  expostulatory  letter 
npon  BeckeVs  violence.  —  Bouquet,  p.  566. 


880  LATIX  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

against  his  master.  On  the  following  day  the  King  of 
France  said  in  the  presence  of  the  cardinals,  that  this 
Octareof       impeachment  on  Becket's  loyalty  was  false. 

St.  Martin.        rr.        n   ,i  .  */        ./  .  « 

Nov.  23.  10  ali  the  persuasions,  menaces,  entreaties  or 
the  cardinals^  Becket  declared  that  he  would  submit, 
"  sa\'ing  the  honor  of  God,  and  of  the  Apostolic  See, 
the  liberty  of  the  Church,  the  dignity  of  his  person, 
and  the  property  of  the  churches.  As  to  the  Customs 
he  declared  that  he  would  rather  bow  his  neck  to  the 
executioner  than  swear  to  observe  them.  He  peremp- 
torily demanded  his  own  restoration  at  once  to  all  the 
honors  and  possessions  of  the  see."  The  third  question 
was  on  the  appeal  of  the  bishops.  Becket  inveighed 
with  bitterness  on  their  treachery  towards  him,  their 
servility  to  the  King.  "  When  the  shepherds  fled  all 
Egypt  returned  to  idolatry."  Becket  interpreted  these 
"shepherds"  as  the  clergy .^  He  compares  them  to 
the  slaves  in  the  old  comedy ;  he  declared  that  he 
would  submit  to  no  judgment  on  that  point  but  that 
of  the  Pope  himself. 

The  Cardinals  proceeded  to  the  King.     They  were 
The  cardi-     rcceivcd  but  coldly  at  Aro^ences,  not  far  from 

nals  before  -^  .*=..'  ^^ 

the  King.  L/aeii,  at  a  great  meeting  with  the  JNorman 
and  English  prelates.  The  Bishop  of  London  entered 
at  length  into  the  King's  grievances  and  his  own  ; 
Becket's  debt  to  the  King,^  his  usurpations  on  the 
see  of  London.  At  the  close  Henry,  in  tears,  en- 
treated the  cardinals  to  rid  him  of  the  troublesome 
churchman.      William   of  Pavia  wept,  or  seemed   to 

1  Herbert  de  Bosham,  p.  248;  Epist.  Giles,  iii.  16;  Bouquet,  296. 

2  Giles,  iii.  p.  21.     Compare  the  whole  letter. 

8  Foliot  rather  profanely  said,  the  primate  seems  to  think  that  as  sin  is 
washed  away  in  baptism,  so  debts  are  cancelled  by  promotion. 


Chap.  YIIL  BECKET'S  INDIGNATION  AGAINST  THE  POPE.  381 

weep  from  sympathy.  Otlio,  writes  Becket's  emissary, 
could  hardly  suppress  his  laughter.  The  Enghsh  prel- 
ates afterwards  at  Le  ]\Ians  solemnly  renewed  their 
appeal.  Their  appeal  was  accompanied  with  a  letter, 
in  which  they  complain  that  Becket  would  leave  them 
exposed  to  the  wrath  of  the  King,  from  which  wrath 
'he  himself  had  fled;^  of  false  representations  of  the 
Customs,  and  disregard  of  all  justice  and  of  the  sacred 
canons  in  suspending  and  anathematizing  the  clergy 
without  hearing  and  without  trial.  William  of  Pavia 
gave  notice  of  the  appeal  for  the  next  St.  Martin's  Day 
(so  a  year  was  to  elapse),  with  command  to  abstain 
from  all  excommunication  and  interdict  of  the  kingdom 
till  that  day .2  Both  cardinals  wrote  strongly  to  the 
Pope  in  favor  of  the  Bishop  of  London.^ 

At  this  suspension  Becket  wrote  to  the  Pope  in  a 
tone  of  mingled  grief  and  indignation.*  He  described 
himself  as  the  most  wretched  of  men :  aj^plied  the  pro- 
phetic description  of  the  Saviour's  unequalled  sorrow 
to  himself.  He  inveighed  against  William  of  Pavia  ;  ^ 
he  threw  himself  on  the  justice  and  compassion  of  the 
Pope.  But  this  inhibition  was  confirmed  by  Dec.  29. 
the  Pope  himself,  in  answer  to  another  embassage  of 

1  "  Ad  mortem  nos  invitat  et  sanguinis  effusionem,  cum  ipse  mortem, 
quam  nemo  sibi  dignabatur  aut  minabatur  inferre,  summo  studio  declina- 
verit  et  suum  sanguinem  illibatum  conservando,  ejus  nee  guttam  eflfundi 
voluerit."  —  Giles,  vi.  196.    Bouquet.  304. 

2  Giles,  vi.  148.    Bouquet,  304. 

3  Giles,  vi.  135,  141.  Bouquet,  306.  William  of  Pavia  recommended 
the  translation  of  Becket  to  some  other  see. 

4  Giles,  iii.  28.    Bouquet,  306. 

5  One  of  his  letters  to  William  of  Pavia  begins  with  this  fierce  denuncia- 
tion :  "  Non  credebam  me  tibi  venalem  proponendum  emptoribus,  ut  de  san- 

,  guine  meo  compareres  tibi  compendium  de  pretio  iniquitatis,  faciens  tibi 
nomen  et  gloriam."  —  Giles,  iii.  153.  Becket  always  represents  his  enemies 
4S  thirsting  after  his  blood. 


382  LATIN  CHRISTL4NITY.  Book  VIIL 

Henry,  consisting  of  Clarembold,  Prior  Elect  of  St. 
Augustine's,  the  Archdeacon  of  Salisbury,  and  others.^ 
This  important  favor  was  obtained  through  the  interest 
of  Cardinal  John  of  Naples,  who  expresses  his  hope 
that  the  insolent  Archbishop  must  at  length  see  that 
he  had  no  resource  but  in  submission. 

Becket  wrote  again  and  again  to  the  Pope,  bitterly' 
May  19.         coiuplainiug  that  the  successive  ambassadors 
Pope.  of  the  King,   John  of  Oxford,  John  Cum- 

min, the  Prior  of  St.  Augustine's,  returned  from  Rome 
each  with  larger  concessions.^  The  Pope  acknowledged 
that  the  concessions  had  been  extorted  from  him.  The 
ambassadors  of  Henry  had  threatened  to  leave  the 
Papal  Court,  if  their  demands  were  not  complied  with, 
in  open  hostility.  The  Pope  was  still  an  exile  in  Bene- 
vento,^  and  did  not  dare  to  reoccupy  Rome.  The  Em- 
peror, even  after  his  discomfiture,  was  still  formidable ; 
he  might  collect  another  overwhelming  Transalpine 
force.  The  subsidies  of  Henry  to  the  Italian  cities 
and  to  the  Roman  partisans  of  the  Pope  could  not  be 
spared.  The  Pontiff  therefore  wrote  soothing  letters 
to  the  King  of  France  and  to  Becket.  He  insinuated 
that  these  concessions  were  but  for  a  time.  "  For  a 
time  !  "  replied  Becket  in  an  answer  full  of  fire  and 
passion :  "  and  in  that  time  the  Church  of  England 
falls  utterly  to  ruin  ;  the  property  of  the  Church  and 
the  poor  is  wrested  from  her.  In  that  time  prelacies 
and  abbacies  are  confiscated  to  the  King's  use  :  in  that 
time  who  will  guard  the  flock  when  the  wolf  is  in  the 

1  Giles,  iv.  128;  vi.  133.    Bouquet,  312,  318. 

2  Epist.  Giles,  ii.  24. 

8  He  -was  at  Benevento,  though  with  different  degrees  of  power,  from 
Aug.  22, 1167,  to  Feb.  24, 1170. 


Chap.  Vm.         BECKET  AND  THE  CARDINALS.  883 

fold  ?  This  fatal  dispensation  will  be  a  precedent  for 
all  ages.  But  for  me  and  mj  fellow-exiles  all  authority 
of  Rome  had  ceased  forever  in  Eno-land.  There  had 
been  no  one  who  had  maintained  the  Pope  against  kings 
and  princes."  His  significant  language  involves  the 
Pope  himself  in  the  general  and  unsparing  charge  of 
rapacity  and  venality  with  which  he  brands  the  court 
of  Rome.  "  I  shall  have  to  give  an  account  at  the  last 
day,  where  gold  and  silver  are  of  no  avail,  nor  gifts 
which  blind  the  eyes  even  of  the  wise."  ^  The  same 
contemptuous  allusions  to  that  notorious  venality  trans- 
pire in  a  vehement  letter  addressed  to  the  r^o  ^he 
College  of  Cardinals,  in  which  he  urges  that  Cardinals, 
his  cause  is  their  own ;  that  they  are  sanctioning  a 
fatal  and  irretrievable  example  to  temporal  princes ; 
that  they  are  abrogating  all  obedience  to  the  Church. 
"  Your  gold  and  silver  will  not  deliver  you  in  the  day 
of  the  wrath  of  the  Lord."^  On  the  other  hand,  the 
King  and  the  Queen  of  France  wrote  in  a  tone  of  in- 
dignant remonstrance  that  the  Pope  had  abandoned  the 
cause  of  the  enemy  of  their  enemy.  More  than  one 
of  the  French  prelates  who  wrote  in  the  same  strain 
declared  that  their  King,  in  his  resentment,  had  se- 
riously thought  of  defection  to  the  Antipope,  and  of  a 
close  connection  with  the  Imperial  family.^  Alexander 
determined  to  make  another  attempt  at  reconciliation  ; 
at  least  he  should  gain  time,  that  precious  source  of 
hope  to  the  embarrassed  and  irresolute.  His  mediators 
were  the  Prior  of  Montdieu  and  Bernard  do  Corilo,  a 


1  Giles,  iii.  p.  55.     Bouquet,  317.     Read  the  whole  letter  beginning 
"  Anima  mea." 

2  Bouquet,  324. 

»  Epist.  Giles,  iv.    Bouquet,  320. 


384  LATIN    CHRISTL\XITY.  Book  Till. 

monk  of  Grammont.^  It  was  a  fortunate  time,  for  just 
at  this  junctm'e,  peace  and  even  amity  seemed  to  be 
established  between  the  Kings  of  France  and  England. 
Many  of  the  great  Norman  and  French  prelates  and 
nobles  offered  themselves  as  joint  mediators  with  the 
commissioners  of  the  Pope. 

A  vast  assembly  was  convened   on  the  day  of  the 
Meeting         Epiphany  in    the    plains    near    Montmirail, 

at  Mont-  T  .  "      1  PI  1  .  1 

mixau.  wlicrc  m  the  presence  ot  the  two  kmgs  and 

the  barons  of  each  realm  the  reconciliation  was  to  take 
place.  Becket  held  a  long  conference  with  the  media- 
tors. He  proposed,  instead  of  the  obnoxious  phrase 
"  saving  my  order,"  to  substitute  "  saving  the  honor  of 
God ;  "  2  the  mediators .  of  the  treaty  insisted  on  his 
throwing  himself  on  the  king's  mercy  absolutely  and 
without  reservation.  With  great  reluctance  Becket 
appeared  at  least  to  yield :  his  counsellors  acquiesced  in 
silence.  With  this  distinct  understandino;  the  Kino;s 
of  France  and  England  met  at  Montmirail,  and  every- 
thing seemed  prepared  for  the  final  settlement  of  this 
Jan.  6, 1169.  loiig  and  obstiuatc  quarrel.  The  Kings  await- 
ed the  approach  of  the  Primate.  But  as  he  was  on  his 
way,  De  Bosham  (who  always  assumes  to  himself  the 
credit  of  suggesting  Becket's  most  haughty  proceed- 
ings) whispered  in  his  ear  (De  Bosham  himself  asserts 
this)  a  solemn  caution,  lest  he  should  act  over  again 
the  fatal  scene  of  weakness  at  Clarendon.     Becket  had 


1  Tlieir  instructions  are  dated  May  25, 1168.  See  also  the  wavering  let- 
ters to  Becket  and  the  King  of  France.  —  Giles,  iv.  p.  25,  p.  111. 

2  "  Sed  quid?  Nobis  ita  consilium  suspendentibus  et  haesitantibus  quid 
agendum  a  pacis  mediatoribus,  multis  et  magnis  viris,  et  praesertim  qui  inter 
ipsos  a  viris  religiosis  et  aliis  archiprsesuli  amicissimis  et  familiarissimis, 
adeo  sicut  et  supra  dixiraus,  suasus,  tractus  et  impulsus  est,  ut  haberetur 
persuasus."  — De  Bosham,  p.  268. 


Chap.  VIII.  TREATY  BROKEN  OFF.  385 

not  time  to  answer  De  Bosliam :  he  advanced  to  the 
King  and  threw  himself  at  his  feet.  Henry  raised  him 
instantly  from  the  ground.  Becket,  standing  upright, 
began  to  solicit  the  clemency  of  the  King.  He  de- 
clared his  readiness  to  submit  his  whole  cause  to  the 
judgment  of  the  two  Kings  and  of  the  assembled  prel- 
ates and  nobles.  After  a  pause  he  added,  "  Saving  the 
honor  of  God."  ^ 

At  this  unexpected  breach  of  liis  agreement  the  me- 
diators, even  the  most  ardent  admirers  of  Becket,  stood 
aghast.  Henry,  thinking  himself  duped,  as  T^g^ty 
Avell  he  might,  broke  out  into  one  of  his  un- ^"•'''"'' °^- 
governable  fits  of  anger.  He  reproached  the  Arch- 
bishop with  arrogance,  obstinacy,  and  ingratitude.  He 
so  far  forgot  himself  as  to  declare  that  Becket  had  dis- 
played all  his  magnificence  and  prodigality  as  chancel- 
lor only  to  court  popularity  and  to  supplant  his  king  in 
the  affections  of  his  people.  Becket  listened  with  pa- 
tience, and  appealed  to  the  King  of  France  as  witness 
to  his  loyalty.  Henry  fiercely  interrupted  him.  "  Mark, 
Sire  (he  addressed  the  King  of  France),  the  infatua- 
tion and  pride  of  the  man :  he  pretends  to  have  been 
banished,  though  he  fled  from  his  see.  He  would  per- 
suade you  that  he  is  maintaining  the  cause  of  the 
Church,  and  suffering  for  the  sake  of  justice.  I  have 
always  been  willing,  and  am  still  willing,  to  grant  that 
he  should  rule  his  Church  with  the  same  liberty  as  his 
predecessors,  men  .not  less  holy  than  himself."  Even 
the  King  of  France  seemed  shocked  at  the  conduct  of 

1  "  Sed  mox  adjecit,  quod  nee  rex  nee  paeis  mediatores,  vel  alii,  vel 
etiam  sui  propria  sestimaverunt,  ut  adjiceret  videlicet '  Salvo  honore  Dei.'" 
—  De  Bosham,  p.  ^62.  In  his  account  to  the  Pope  of  this  meeting,  Becket 
suppresses  his  own  tergiversation  on  this  point.  —  Epist.  Giles,  iii.  p.  43 
Compare  John  of  Salisbury  (who  was  not  present).  Bouquet,  395. 
VOL.  IV.  25 


386  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VHI. 

Becket.  The  prelates  and  nobles,  having  in  vain  la- 
bored to  bend  the  inflexible  spirit  of  the  Primate,  re- 
tired in  sullen  dissatisfaction.  He  stood  alone.  Even 
John  of  Poitiers,  his  most  ardent  admirer,  followed  him 
to  Etampes,  and  entreated  him  to  yield.  "  And  you, 
too,"  returned  Becket,  "  will  you  strangle  us,  and  give 
triumph  to  the  malignity  of  our  enemies  ?"-^ 

The  King  of  England  retired,  followed  by  the  Papal 
Legates,  who,  though  they  held  letters  of  Commination 
from  the  Pope,^  delayed  to  serve  them  on  the  King. 
Becket  followed  the  Kino;  of  France  to  Montmirail.  He 
was  received  by  Louis ;  and  Becket  put  on  so  cheerfal 
a  countenance  as  to  surprise  all  present.  On  his  return 
to  Sens,  he  explained  to  his  followers  that  his  cause  was 
not  only  that  of  the  Church,  but  of  God.^  He  passed 
among  the  acclamations  of  the  populace,  ignorant  of 
his  duplicity.  "  Behold  the  prelate  who  stood  up  even 
before  two  kings  for  the  honor  of  God." 

Becket  may  have  had  foresight,  or  even  secret  in- 
formation of  the  hollowness  of  the  peace  between  the 
two  kings.     Before  many  days,  some  acts  of  barbarous 

War  of  crueltv  by  Henry  against  his  rebellious  sub- 

France  and      .  Ill  .  .., 

England.  jccts  pluugcd  the  two  uatious  again  m  hos- 
tility. The  King  of  France  and  his  prelates,  feeling 
how  nearly  they  had  lost  their  powerful  ally,  began  to 
admire  what  they  called  Becket's  magnanimity  as  loud- 
ly as  they  had  censured  his  obstinacy.       The    King 

1  "  Ut  quid  nos  et  vos  strangulatis  ?  "  —  Epist.  Giles,  iii.  312. 

2  Throughout  the  Pope  kept  up  his  false  game.  He  privately  assured 
the  King  of  France  that  he  need  not  be  alarmed  if  himself  (Alexander) 
seemed  to  take  part  against  the  archbishop.  The  cause  was  safe  in  his 
bosom.  See  the  curious  letter  of  Matthew  of  Sens.  —  Epist.  Giles,  iv.  p. 
166. 

8  "Nunc  praeter  ecclesiae  causam,  expressam  ipsius  etiam  Dei  causam 
agebamus."  ~  De  Bosham,  272. 


Chap.  VIII.  EXCOMMUXICATIOX.  387 

visited  him  at  Sens :  one  of  the  Papal  commissioners, 
the  Monk  of  Grammont,  said  privately  to  Herbert  de 
Bosham,  that  he  had  rather  his  foot  had  been  cut  off 
than  that  Becket  should  have  listened  to  his  advice.^ 

Becket  now  at  once  drew  the  sword  and  cast  away 
the  scabbard.  "  Cursed  is  he  that  refraineth  his  sword 
from  blood."  This  Becket  applied  to  the  ^^^.0^,0^^- 
spiritual  weapon.  On  Ascension  Day  he  ^J^^^ti^"- 
again  solemnly  excommunicated  Gilbert  Foliot  Bishop 
of  London,  Joscelin  of  Salisbury,  the  Archdeacon  of 
Salisbury,  Richard  de  Luci,  Randulph  de  Broc,  and 
many  other  of  Henry's  most  faithful  counsellors.  He 
announced  this  excommunication  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Ilouen,^  and  reminded  him  that  whosoever  presumed 
to  communicate  with  any  one  of  these  outlaws  of  the 
Church  by  word,  in  meat  or  drink,  or  even  by  saluta- 
tion, subjected  himself  thereby  to  the  same  excommu- 
nication. The  appeal  to  the  Pope  he  treated  with 
sovereign  contempt.  He  sternly  inhibited  Roger  of 
Worcester,  who  had  entreated  permission  to  communi- 
cate with  his  brethren.^  "  AVhat  fellowship  is  there 
between  Christ  and  Belial  ?  "  He  announced  this  act 
to  the  Pope,  entreating,  but  with  the  tone  of  command, 
his  approbation  of  the  proceeding.  An  emissary  of 
Becket  had  the  boldness  to  enter  St.  Paul's  Cathedral 
in  London,  to  thrust  the  sentence  into  the  hands  of  the 
officiating  priest,  and  then  to  proclaim  with  a  loud 
voice,  "  Know  all  men,  that  Gilbert  Bishop  of  London 
is  excommunicate  by  Thomas  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury and  Legate  of  the  Pope."     He  escaped  with  some 

1  De  Bosham,  278. 

2  Giles,  iii.  2!J0;  vi.  293.    Bouquet,  346. 

3  Giles,  iii.  322.     Bouquet,  348. 


388  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Boots.  Via 

difficulty  from  ill-usage  by  the  people.  Foliot  mir^ieJi- 
ately  summoned  his  clergy  ;  explained  the  illegality, 
injustice,  nullity  of  an  excommunication  withoat  cita- 
tion, hearing,  or  trial,  and  renewed  his  appeal  to  the 
Pope.  The  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  and  all  the  clergy,  ex- 
cepting the  priests  of  certain  monasteries,  jomed  in  the 
appeal.  The  Bishop  of  Exeter  declined,  nevertheless 
he  gave  to  Foliot  the  kiss  of  peace.  ^ 

King  Henry  was  not  without  fear  at  this  last  desper- 
Henry's         ate  blow.      He  had  not  a  single  chaplain  who 

intrigues  .       ,  -  .  , 

in  Italy.  had  not  been  excommunicated,  or  was  not 
virtually  under  ban  for  holding  intercourse  with  persons 
under  excommunication.^  He  continued  his  active  in- 
trigues, his  subsidies  in  Italy.  He  bought  the  support 
of  Milan,  Pavia,  Cremona,  Parma,  Bologna.  The 
Frangipani,  the  family  of  Leo,  the  people  of  Rome, 
were  still  kept  in  allegiance  to  the  Pope  chiefly  by  his 
lavish  payments.^  He  made  overtures  to  the  King  of 
Sicily,  the  Pope's  ally,  for  a  matrimonial  alliance  with 
his  family :  and  finally,  he  urged  the  tempting  offer  to 
mediate  a  peace  between  the  Emperor  and  the  Pope. 
Reginald  of  Salisbury  boasted  that,  if  the  Pope  should 
die,  Henry  had  the  whole  College  of  Cardinals  in  his 
pay,  and  could  name  his  Pope.* 

But  no  longer  dependent  on  Henry's  largesses  to  his 
partisans,  Alexander's  affairs  wore  a  more  prosperous 
aspect.    He  began,  yet  cautiously,  to  show  his  real  bias. 

1  Epist.  Giles,  iv.  225. 

2  Fragm.  Vit.  Giles,  i.  p.  371. 

3  "  Et  quod  omnes  Eomanos  data  pecunia  inducant  ut  faciant  fidelitatem 
domino  Papae,  dummodo  in  nostra  dejectione  regis  Anglioe  satisfaciat  vo- 
luntati."  — Epist.  ad  Humbold.  Card.  Giles,  iii.  123.  Bouquet,  350.  Com- 
pare Lambeth,  on  the  effect  of  Italian  affairs  on  the  conduct  of  the  Pope, 
^p.  106. 

4  Epist.  188,  p.  266. 


Chap.  Till.       TEREORS   01"   THE  EXCOiBlUNICATION.        389 

He  determined  to  appoint  a  new  legatine  commission, 
not  now  rapacious  cardinals  and  avowed  par-  New  Legatine 
tisans  of  Henry.  The  Nuncios  were  Gra-  Mar.  lo,  ii69. 
tian,  a  liard  and  severe  canon  lawyer,  not  likely  to 
swerve  from  the  loftiest  claims  of  the  Decretals ;  and 
Vivian,  a  man  of  more  pliant  character,  but  as  far  as 
he  was  firm  in  any  principle,  disposed  to  high  ecclesias- 
tical views.  At  the  same  time  he  urged  Becket  to 
issue  no  sentences  against  the  King  or  the  King's  fol- 
lowers ;  or  if,  as  he  hardly  believed,  he  had  already 
done  so,  to  suspend  their  powers. 

The  terrors  of  the  excommunication  were  not  with- 
out their  effect  in  England.  Some  of  the  English  prei- 
Bishops  began  gradually  to  recede  from  the  ^^^^  ^^^^'^^ 
King's  party,  and  to  incline  to  that  of  the  Primate. 
Hereford  had  already  attempted  to  cross  the  sea.  Hen- 
ry of  Winchester  was  in  private  correspondence  with 
Becket :  he  had  throughout  secretly  supplied  him  with 
money. ^  Becket  skilfully  labored  to  awaken  his  old 
spirit  of  opposition  to  the  Crown.  He  reminded  Win- 
chester of  his  royal  descent,  that  he  was  secure  in  his 
powerful  connections  ;  "  the  impious  one  would  not 
dare  to  strike  him,  for  fear  lest  his  kindred  should 
avenge  his  cause."  ^  Norwich,  Worcester,  Chester, 
Chichester,  more  than  wavered.  This  movement  was 
strengthened  by  a  false  step  of  Foliot,  which  exposed 
all  his  former  proceedings  to  the  charge  of  irregular 
ambition.  He  began  to  declare  publicly  not  only  that 
he  never  swore  canonical  obedience  to  Becket,  but  to 


1  Fitz-Steplien,  p.  271. 

2  "  Domo  vestra  flagellum  suspendit  impius,  ne  quod  promereret,  propin- 
^uorum  vestrorum  ministerio  veniat  super  eum."  —  Giles,  iii.  338.  Bou- 
quet, 358. 


390  LATIX    CHRISTIANITY.        '  Book  YUL 

assert  the  independence  of  the  see  of  London  and  the 
right  of  the  see  of  London  to  the  primacy  of  England. 
Becket  speaks  of  this  as  an  act  of  spiritual  parricide ; 
Foliot  was  another  Absalom.^  He  appealed  to  the 
pride  and  the  fears  of  the  Chapter  of  Canterbury :  he 
exposed,  and  called  on  them  to  resist,  these  machina- 
tions of  Foliot  to  degrade  the  archiepiscopal  see.  At 
the  same  tim.e  he  warned  all  persons  to  abstain  ft^om 
communion  with  those  who  were  under  his  ban  ;  "  for 
he  had  accurate  information  as  to  all  who  were  guilty 
of  that  offence."  Even  in  France  this  proceeding 
strengthened  the  sympathy  with  Becket.  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Sens,  the  Bishops  of  Troyes,  Paris,  Noyon, 
Auxerre,  Boulogne,  wrote  to  the  Pope  to  denounce 
this  audacious  impiety  of  the  Bishop  of  London. 

The  first  interview  of  the  new  Papal  legates,  Gra- 
interview  tiau  and  Vivian,  with  the  King,  is  described 
Legates  with  witli  siugular  minuteness  by  a  friend  of  Beck- 
Aug.  23.'  et.2  On  the  eve  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Day 
they  arrived  at  Damport.  On  their  approach,  Geoffiy 
Ridel  and  Nigel  Sackville  stole  out  of  the  town.  The 
King,  as  he  came  in  from  hunting,  courteously  stopped 
at  the  lodging  of  the  Legates :  as  they  were  conversing 
the  Prince  rode  up  with  a  great  blowing  of  horns  from 
the  chase,  and  presented  a  whole  stag  to  the  Legates. 
The  next  morning  the  King  visited  them,  accompanied 
by  the  Bishops  of  Seez  and  of  Rennes.  Presently  John 
of  Oxford,  Reginald  of  Salisbury,  and  the  Archdeacon 
of  LlandaflP  were  admitted.  The  conference  lasted  the 
whole  day,  sometimes  in  amity,  sometimes  in  strife. 
Just  before  sunset  the  King  rushed  out  in  wrath,  swear- 

1  Giles,  iii.  201.    Bouquet,  361. 

-  "  Amici  ad  Thomam."  —  Giles,  iv.  277.    Bouquet,  370. 


Chap.  YIII.         INTERVIEW   OF   THE  LEGATES.  -391 

ing  by  the  eyes  of  God  that  he  would  not  submit  to 
their  terms.  Gratian  firmly  replied,  "  Think  not  to 
threaten  us  ;  we  come  from  a  court  which  is  accus- 
tomed to  command  Emperors  and  Kings."  The  King 
then  summoned  his  barons  to  witness,  together  with  his 
chaplains,  what  fair  offers  he  had  made.  He  departed 
somewhat  pacified.  The  eighth  day  was  appointed  for 
the  convention,  at  which  the  King  and  the  Archbishop 
were  again  to  meet  in  the  presence  of  the  Legates. 

It  was  held  at  Bayeux.  With  the  King  appeared 
the  Archbishops  of  Rouen  and  Bordeaux,  the  Aug.  31. 
Bishop  of  Le  Mans,  and  all  the  Norman  prelates.  The 
second  day  arrived  one  English  bishop  —  Worcester. 
John  of  Poitiers  kept  prudently  away.  The  Legates 
presented  the  Pope's  preceding  letters  in  favor  of 
Becket.  The  King,  after  stating  his  grievances,^  said, 
"  If  for  this  man  I  do  anything,  on  account  of  the 
Pope's  entreaties,  he  ought  to  be  very  grateful."  The 
next  day  at  a  place  called  Le  Bar,  the  King  requested 
the  Legates  to  absolve  his  chajDlains  without  any  oath : 
on  their  refusal,  the  King  mounted  his  horse,  and  swore 
that  he  would  never  listen  to  the  Pope  or  any  one  else 
concerning  the  restoration  of  Becket.  The  prelates 
interceded ;  the  Legates  partially  gave  way.  The 
Kino;  dismounted  and  renewed  the  conference.  At 
length  he  consented  to  the  return  of  Becket  and  all 
the  exiles.  He  seemed  delighted  at  this,  and  treated 
of  other  affairs.  He  returned  again  to  the  Legates, 
and  demanded  that  they,  or  one  of  them,  or  at  least 
some  one  commissioned  by  them,  should  cross  over  to  * 

1  Henry,  it  should  be  observed,  waived  all  the  demands  which  he  had 
aitherto  urged  against  Becket,  for  debts  incurred  during  his  chancellor- 
ship. 


y92  LATIN    CHR1STL4NITY.  Book  VIII. 

England  to  absolve  all  who  had  been  excommunicated 
by  the  Primate.  Gratian  refused  this  with  inflexible 
obstinacy.  The  King  was  again  furious :  "  I  care  not 
an  egg  for  you  and  your  excommunications."  He 
again  mounted  his  horse,  but  at  the  earnest  suppli- 
cation of  the  prelates  he  returned  once  more.  He 
demanded  that  they  should  write  to  the  Pope  to 
announce  his  pacific  offers.  The  bishops  explained  to 
the  King  that  the  Legates  had  at  last  produced  a  posi- 
tive mandate  of  the  Pope,  enjoining  their  absolute  obe- 
dience to  his  Legates.  The  King  replied,  "  I  know 
that  they  will  lay  my  realm  under  an  interdict,  but 
cannot  I,  who  can  take  the  strongest  castle  in  a  day, 
seize  any  ecclesiastic  who  shall  presume  to  utter  sucli 
an  interdict?"  Some  concessions  allayed  his  wrath, 
and  he  returned  to  his  offers  of  reconciliation.  GeoflPiy 
Ridel  and  Nigel  Sackville  were  absolved  on  the  condi- 
tion of  declaring,  with  their  hands  on  the  Gospels,  that 
they  would  obey  the  commands  of  the  Legates.  The 
King  still  pressing  the  visit  of  one  of  the  Legates  to 
England,  Yivian  consented  to  take  the  journey.  The 
bishops  were  ordered  to  draw  up  the  treaty ;  but  the 
King  insisted  on  a  clause  "  Saving  the  honor  of  his 
Crown."  They  adjourned  to  a  future  day  at  Caen. 
The  Bishop  of  Lisieux,  adds  the  writer,  flattered  the 
King ;  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen  was  for  God  and  the 
Pope. 

Two  conferences  at  Caen  and  at  Rouen  were  equally 
inconclusive ;  the  King  insisted  on  the  words,  "  saving 
the  dignity  of  my  Crown."  Becket  inquired  if  he 
might  add,  "  saving  the  liberty  of  the  Church."  ^ 

The  King  threw  all  the  blame  of  the  final  rupture 
1  Epist.  Giles,  iv.  216.    Bouquet,  373. 


Chap.  Vra.  BECKET'S  MENACES.  393 

on  the  Legates,  who  had  agreed,  he  said,  to  this  clause,^ 
but  throno-h  Becket's  influence  withdrew  from  their 
word.2  He  reminded  the  Pope  that  he  had  in  liis  pos- 
session letters  of  his  Hohness  exempting  him  and  his 
realm  from  all  authority  of  the  Primate  till  he  should 
be  received  into  the  royal  favor.^  "If,"  he  adds,  "the 
Pope  refuses  my  demands,  he  must  henceforth  despair 
of  my  good-will,  and  look  to  other  quarters  to  protect 
his  realm  and  his  honor."  Both  parties  renewed  their 
appeals,  their  intrigues  in  Rome  :  Becket's  complaints 
of  Rome's  venality  became  louder.* 

Becket  beoran  ao^ain  to  fulminate  his  excommunica- 
tions.  Before  his  departure  Gratian  signified  to  Geof- 
fry  Ridel  and  Nigel  Sackville  that  their  absolution  was 
conditional ;  if  peace  was  not  ratified  by  Michaelmas, 
they  were  still  under  the  ban.  Becket  menaced  some 
old,  some  new  victims,  the  Dean  of  Salisbury,  John 
Cummin,  the  Archdeacon  of  Llandafi*,  and  others.^ 
But  he  now  took  a  more  decisive  and  terrible  step.  He 
wrote  to  the  bishops  of  England,^  commanding  them  to 
lay  the  whole  kingdom  under  interdict ;  all  divine  of- 

1  "  Revocato  consensu,"  wi-ites  the  Bishop  of  Xevers,  a  moderate  prelate, 
who  regrets  the  obstinacy  of  the  nuncios.  —  Giles,  vi.  266.  Bouquet,  377. 
Compare  the  letter  of  the  clergy  of  ISTormandy  to  the  Pope.  —  Giles,  vi. 
177.    Bouquet,  377. 

2  Becket  thought,  or  pretended  to  think,  that  under  the  "  dignitatibus  " 
lurked  the  "  consuetudinibus."  —  Giles,  iii.  299.    Bouquet,  379. 

3  "  Ceteras  vestras  recepimus,  et  ipsas  adhue  penes  nos  habemus,  in  qui- 
bus  terram  nostram  et  personas  regni  a  preefata  Cantuarensis  potestate 
eximebatis,  donee  ipse  in  gratiam  nostram  rediisset." — Epist.  Giles,  vi. 
291.     Bouquet,  374. 

4  "  Nam  quod  mundus   sentit,  dolet,  ingemiscit,  nullus  adeo  iniquam 
causam  ad  ecclesiam  Romanam  defert,  quin  ibi  spe  lucri  concepta  ne  dix- 
erim  odore  sordium,  adjutorem  inveniat  et  patronum." — Epist.  iii.  133 
Bouquet,  382. 

5  Giles,  iii.  250;  Bouquet,  387. 

6  Giles,  iii.  334;  Bouquet,  388. 


894  LATDs    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

fices  were  to  cease  except  baptism,  penance,  and  the 
viaticum,  unless  before  the  Feast  of  the  Purification 
KoT.2, 1170.  the  King  should  have  given  full  satisfaction 
for  his  contumacy  to  the  Church.  This  was  to  be  done 
Avith  closed  doors,  the  laity  expelled  from  the  ceremo- 
ny, with  no  bell  tolling,  no  dirge  walling ;  all  church 
music  was  to  cease.  The  act  was  speedily  announced 
to  the  chapters  of  Chichester,  Lincoln,  and  Bath.  Of 
the  Pope  he  demanded  that  he  would  treat  the  King's 
ambassadors,  Reginald  of  Salisbury  and  Richard  Barre, 
one  as  actually  excommunicate,  the  other  as  contami- 
nated by  intercourse  With  the  excommunicate.^ 

The  menace  of  the  Interdict,  with  the  fear  that 
the  Bishops  of  England,  all  but  London  and  Salis- 
bury, might  be  overawed  into  publishing  it  in  their 
dioceses,  threw  Henry  back  into  his  usual  irresolution. 
There  were  other  alarming  signs.  Gratian  had  re- 
turned to  Rome,  accompanied  by  William,  Archbishop 
of  Sens,  Becket's  most  faithful  admirer.  Rumors  spread 
that  William  was  to  return  invested  in  full  leo;atine 
powers  —  Wilham,  not  only  Becket's  friend,  but  the 
head  of  the  French  hierarchy.  If  the  Interdict  should 
be  extended  to  his  French  dominions,  and  the  Excom- 
munication launched  against  his  person,  could  he  de- 
pend on  the  precarious  fidelity  of  the  Norman  prelates? 
Differences  had  a2;ain  arisen  with  the  Kino;  of  France.^ 

1  Giles,  iii.  42 ;  Bouquet,  390.  Eegin^ld  of  Salisbury  was  an  especial 
object  of  Becket's  hate.  He  calls  him  one  born  in  fornication  ("forni- 
carium  "),  son  of  a  priest.  Eeginald  hated  Becket  with  equal  cordiality. 
Becket  had  betrayed  him  by  a  false  promise  of  not  injuring  his  father. 
"  Quod  utique  ipsi  non  plus  quam  caui  faceremus."  —  This  letter  contains 
Reginald's  speech  about  Henry  having  the  College  of  Cardinals  in  his  pay. 
—  Giles,  iii.  225;  Bouquet,  391. 

2  Becket  writes  to  the  Pope,  January,  1170.  "  Nee  vos  oportet  de  caetero 
rereri,  ne  transeat  ad  schismaticos,  quod  sic  eum  Christus  in  manu  famuli 


CriAP.  Vm.  HENRY  AT  PARIS.  395 

Henry  was  seized  with  an  access  of  devotion.  He  asked 
permission  to  ofiPer  his  prayers  at  the  shrines  Henry  at 
and  at  the  Martyrs'  Mount  (Montmartre)  at  ^^^• 
Paris.  The  pilgrimage  would  lead  to  an  interview 
with  the  King  of  France,  and  offer  an  occasion  of 
renewino;  the  neo-otiations  with  Becket.  Vivian  was 
hastily  summoned  to  turn  back.  His  vanity  Nov.  ii69. 
was  flattered  by  the  hope  of  achieving  that  reconcil- 
iation which  had  failed  with  Gratian.  He  wrote  to 
Becket  requesting  his  presence.  Becket,  though  he 
suspected  Vivian,  yet  out  of  respect  to  the  King  of 
France,  consented  to  approach  as  near  as  Chateau  Cor- 
beil.  After  the  conference  with  the  King  of  France, 
two  petitions  from  Becket,  in  his  usual  tone  of  imperi- 
ous humility,  were  presented  to  the  King  of  England. 
The  Primate  condescended  to  entreat  the  favor  of 
Henry,  and  the  restoration  of  the  church  of  Canter- 
bury, in  as  ample  a  form  as  it  was  held  before  his  exile. 
The  second  was  more  brief,  but  raised  a  new  question 
of  compensation  for  loss  and  damage  during  the  arch- 
bishop's absence  from  his  see.^  Both  parties  Negotiations 
mistrusted  each  other  ;  each  watched  the  ^^•^«^^<^- 
other's  words  with  captious  jealousy.  Vivian,  weary 
of  those  verbal  chicaneries  of  the  King,  declared  that 
he  had  never  met  with  so  mendacious  a  man  in  his  life.^ 
Vivian  might  have  remembered  his  own  retractations, 

sui,  regis  Francorum  subegit,  ut  ab  obsequio  ejus  non  possit  amplius  sepa- 
rari."  —  p.  48. 

1  Many  difficult  points  arose.  Did  Becket  demand  not  merely  the  actual 
possessions  of  the  see,  but  all  to  which  he  laid  claim?  There  -were  three 
estates  held  by  William  de  Eos,  Henry  of  Essex,  and  John  the  Marshall 
(the  original  object  of  dispute  at  Northampton?),  which  Becket  specifically 
required  and  declared  that  he  would  not  give  up  if  exiled  forever. — Epist 
Giles,  iii.  220;  Bouquet,  400. 

2  Epist.  Giles,  iii.  262;  Bouquet,  199. 


396  LATIX  CHFJSTIAXITY.  Book  Till. 

still  more  those  of  Becket  on  former  occasions.  He 
withdrew  from  the  negotiation  ;  and  this  conduct,  w^ith 
the  refusal  of  a  gift  from  Henry  (a  rare  act  of  virtue), 
won  him  the  approbation  of  Becket.  But  Becket 
himself  was  not  yet  without  mistrust ;  he  had  doubts 
whether  Vivian's  report  to  the  Pope  would  be  in  the 
same  spirit,  "If  it  be  not,  he  deserves  the  doom  of 
the  traitor  Judas." 

Henry  at  length  agreed  that  on  the  question  of  com- 
pensation he  would  abide  by  the  sentence  of  the  court 
of  the  French  King,  the  judgment  of  the  Gallican 
Church,  and  of  the  University  of  Paris.^  This  made 
so  favorable  an  impression  that  Becket  could  only  evade 
it  by  declaring  that  he-  had  rather  come  to  an  amicable 
agi'eement  w^ith  the  King  than  mvolve  the  affair  in  lit- 
igation. 

At  length  all  difficulties  seemed  yielding  away,  when 
Kiss  of  Becket  demanded  the  customary  kiss  of  peace, 

^^^^'  as  the  pledge  of  reconciliation.     Henry  per- 

emptorily refused ;  he  had  sworn  in  his  wrath  never  to 
grant  this  favor  to  Becket.  He  was  inexorable  ;  and 
without  this  guarantee  Becket  would  not  trust  the  faith 
of  the  King.  He  was  reminded,  he  said,  by  the  case 
of  the  Count  of  Flanders,  that  even  the  kiss  of  peace 
did  not  secure  a  revolted  subject,  Robert  de  Silian, 
who,  even  after  this  sign  of  amity,  had  been  seized  and 
cast  into  a  dungeon.  Henry's  conduct,  if  not  the  effect 
of  sudden  passion  or  ungovernable  aversion,  is  inexpli- 
cable. Why  did  he  seek  this  interview,  which,  if  he 
was  insincere  in  his  desire  for  reconciliation,  could 
afford  but  short  delay  ?  and  from  such  oaths  he  would 
hardly  have  refused,  for  any  great  purpose  of  his  own, 

1  Epist.  ibid. ;  Radulph  de  Diceto. 


Chap.  Till.  KIXG'S  PE0CLA:NUTI0N.  397 

to  receive  absolution.^  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  quite 
clear  that  Becket  reckoned  on  the  legatine  power  of 
William  of  Sens  and  the  terror  of  the  English  prelates, 
who  had  refused  to  attend  a  council  in  London  to  reject 
the  Interdict.  He  had  now  full  confidence  that  he 
could  exact  his  own  terms  and  humble  the  King  under 
his  feet.2 

But  the  Kino;  was  resolved  to  wage  war  to  the  ut- 
most.  GeofFry  Ridel,  Archdeacon  of  Can-  ^.^^,^  ^^^^^ 
terbury,  was  sent  to  England  with  a  royal  ^^'^^tion. 
proclamation  containing  the  following  articles :  —  I. 
Whosoever  shall  bring  into  the  realm  any  letter  from 
the  Pope  or  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbur}^  is  guilty  of 
high  treason.  II.  Whosoever,  whether  bishop,  clerk, 
or  layman,  shall  observe  the  Interdict,  shall  be  ejected 
from  all  his  chattels,  which  are  confiscate  to  the  Crown. 
III.  All  clerks  absent  from  Encrland  shall  return  before 
the  feast  of  St.  Hilary,  on  pain  of  forfeiture  of  all  their 
revenues.  IV.  No  appeal  is  to  be  made  to  the  Pope 
or  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  under  pain  of  imprison- 
ment and  forfeiture  of  all  chattels.  V.  All  laymen 
from  beyond  seas  are  to  be  searched,  and  if  anything 
be  found  upon  them  contrary  to  the  King's  honor,  they 
are  to  be  imprisoned  ;  the  same  with  those  who  cross  to 
the  Continent.  VI.  If  any  clerk  or  monk  shall  land 
in  England  without  passport  from  the  King,  or  with 
anything  contrary  to  his  honor,  he  shall  be  thro^vn  into 
prison.  VII.  No  clerk  or  monk  may  cross  the  seas 
without  the  King's  passport.  The  same  rule  applied 
to  the  clergy  of  Wales,  who  were  to  be  expelled  from 

1  According  to  Pope  Alexander,  Henry  offered  that  Ms  son  should  give 
',he  kiss  of  peace  in  his  stead.  —  Giles,  iv.  55. 

2  See  his  letter  to  his  emissaries  at  Eome.  —  Giles,  iii.  219;  Bouquet,  401. 


398  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIH. 

all  schools  in  England.  Lastly,  VIII.  The  sheriffs 
were  to  administer  an  oath  to  all  freemen  through- 
out England,  in  open  court,  that  they  would  obey  these 
royal  mandates,  thus  abjuring,  it  is  said,  all  obedience 
to  Thomas,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.^  The  bishops, 
however,  declined  the  oath ;  some  concealed  themselves 
in  their  dioceses.  Becket  addressed  a  triumphant  or 
gratulatory  letter  to  his  suffragans  on  their  firmness. 
"  We  are  now  one,  except  that  most  hapless  Judas,  that 
rotten  limb  (Foliot  of  London),  which  is  severed  from 
us."  2  Another  letter  is  addressed  to  the  people  of 
England,  remonstrating  on  their  impious  abjuration  of 
their  pastor,  and  offering  absolution  to  all  who  had 
sworn  through  compulsion  and  repented  of  their  oath.^ 
The  King  and  the  Primate  thus  contested  the  realm  of 
England. 

But  the  Pope  was  not  yet  to  be  inflamed  by  Becket's 
The  Pope  passious,  uor  quite  disposed  to  depart  from  his 
8tm  dubious,  temporizing  policy.  John  of  Oxford  was  at 
the  court  in  Benevento  with  the  Archdeacons  of  Rouen 
and  Seez.  From  that  court  returned  the  Archdeacon 
of  Llandaff  and  Robert  de  Barre  with  a  commission  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Rouen  and  the  Bishop  of  Nevers  to 
make  one  more  effort  for  the  termination  of  the  diffi- 
culties. On  the  one  hand  they  were  armed  'v\nth 
powers,  if  the  King  did  not  accede  to  his  own  terms 
within  forty  days  after  his  citation  (he  had  offered  a 
thousand  marks  as  compensation  for  all  losses),  to  pro- 
nounce an  interdict  against  his  continental  dominions  ; 

1  Ricardus  Dorubernensis  apud  Twysden.  Lord  Lyttelton  has  another 
copy,  in  his  appendix ;  in  that  a  ninth  article  forbade  the  payment  of  Pe- 
ter's Pence  to  Rome;  it  was  to  be  collected  and  brjught  into  the  exchequer. 

2  Epist.  Giles,  iii.  195;  Bouquet,  404. 

3  Giles,  iii.  192;  Bouquet,  405. 


Chap.  YIII.  THE  POPE  STILL  DUBIOUS.  399 

on  the  other,  Becket  was  exhorted  to  humble  himself 
before  the  King ;  if  Henry  was  inflexible  and  declined 
the  Pope's  offered  absolution  from  his  oath,  to  accept 
the  kiss  of  peace  from  the  King's  son.  The  King  was 
urged  to  abolish  in  due  time  the  impious  and  obnoxious 
Customs.  And  to  these  prelates  was  likewise  intrusted 
authority  to  absolve  the  refractory  Bishops  of  London 
and  Salisbury.^  This,  however,  was  not  the  only  ob- 
ject of  Henry's  new  embassy  to  the  Pope.  He  had 
long  determined  on  the  coronation  of  his  eldest  son  ;  it 
had  been  delayed  for  various  reasons.  He  seized  this 
opportunity  of  reviving  a  design  which  would  be  as 
well  humiliatino;  to  Becket  as  also  of  o-reat  moment  in 
case  the  person  of  the  King  should  be  struck  by  the 
thunder  of  excommunication.  The  coronation  of  the 
King  of  England  was  the  undoubted  prerogative  of  the 
Archbishops  of  Canterbury,  which  had  never  been  in- 
vaded without  sufficient  cause,  and  Becket  was  the  last 
man  tamely  to  surrender  so  important  a  right  of  his 
see.  John  of  Oxford  was  to  exert  every  means  (what 
those  means  were  may  be  conjectured  rather  than 
proved)  to  obtain  the  papal  permission  for  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York  to  officiate  at  that  august  ceremony. 

The  absolution  of  the  Bishops  of  London  and  Salis- 
bury was  an  astounding  blow  to  Becket.  He  tried  to 
impede  it  by  calling  in  question  the  power  of  the  arch- 
bishop to  pronounce  it  without  the  presence  of  his  col- 
league. The  archbishop  disregarded  his  remonstrance, 
and  Becket's  sentence  was  thus  annulled  by  the  author- 
ity of  the  Pope.  Rumors  at  the  same  time  began  to 
spread  that  the  Pope  had  granted  to  the  Archbishop  of 
York  power  to  proceed  to  the  coronation.      Becket's 

1  Dated  Februarv  12. 1170. 


400  LATIN  CHRISTIAXITY.  Book  VHI. 

fuiy  burst  all  bounds.  He  wrote  to  the  Cardinal 
Albert  and  to  Gratian :  "  In  the  court  of  Rome,  now 
as  ever,  Christ  is  crucified  and  Barabbas  released.  The 
miserable  and  blameless  exiles  are  condemned,  the  sacri- 
legious, the  homicides,  the  impenitent  thieves  are  ab- 
solved, those  whom  Peter  himself  declares  that  in  his 
own  chair  (the  world  protesting  against  it)  he  would 
have  no  power  to  absolve.^  Henceforth  I  commit  my 
cause  to  God  —  God  alone  can  find  a  remedy.  Let 
those  appeal  to  Rome  who  triumph  over  the  innocent 
and  the  godly,  and  return  glorying  in  the  ruin  of  the 
Church.  For  me  I  am  ready  to  die."  Becket's  fellow- 
exiles  addressed  the  Cardinal  Albert,  denouncino;  in  ve- 
hement  language  the  avarice  of  the  court  of  Rome,  by 
which  they  were  brought  to  support  the  robbers  of  the 
Church.  It  is  no  longer  King  Henry  alone  who  is 
guilty  of  this  six  years'  persecution,  but  the  Church  of 
Rome.^ 

The  coronation  of  the  Prince  by  the  Archbishop  of 
York  took  place  in  the  Abbey  of  Westminster  on  the 
15th  of  June.2     The  assent  of  the  clergy  was  given 


1  Epist.  Giles,  iii.  96;  Bouquet,  416;  Giles,  iii.  108;  Bouquet,  419.  "  Sed 
pro  ea  mori  parati  sumus."  He  adds:  "  Insurgant  qui  voluerint  cardi- 
nales,  arment  non  modo  regem  AngliiE,  sed  totum,  si  possent  orbem  in  per- 
niciem  nostram  .  .  .  Utinam  via  Romana  non  gratis  peremisset  tot  niisero3 
innocentes.  Quis  de  cetero  audebit  illi  regi  resistere  quern  ecclesia  Romana 
tot  triumphis  animavit,  et  armavit  exemplo  pernitioso  manante  ad  pos- 
teros." 

2  "Nee  persuadebitur  mundo,  quod  suasores  isti  Deum  saperent;  sed 
potius  pecuniam,  quam  immoderato  avaritioe  ardore  sitiunt,  olfecerunt."  — 
Giles,  iv.  291 ;  Bouquet,  417. 

3  Becket's  depression  at  this  event  is  dwelt  upon  in  a  letter  of  Peter  of 
Blois  to  John  of  Salisbuiy.  Peter  travelled  from  Rome  to  Bologna  with 
the  Papal  legates.  From  them  he  gathered  that  either  Becket  would  soon 
be  reconciled  to  the  King  or  be  removed  to  another  patriarchate.  —  Epist. 
xxii.  apud  Giles,  i.  p.  84. 


Chap.  Vni.      COEONATIOX  OF   THE  KING'S   SON.  401 

with  that  of  the  laity.  The  Archbishop  of  York  pro- 
duced a  papal  brief,  authorizing  him  to  perform  the 
ceremony.^  An  inhibitor}^  letter,  if  it  reached  Eng- 
land, only  came  into  the  King's  hand,  and  was  sup- 
pressed ;  no  one,  in  fact  (as  the  production  of  such 
papal  letter,  as  well  as  Becket's  protest  to  the  arch- 
bishop and  to  the  bishops  collectively  and  severally, 
was  by  the  royal  proclamation  high  treason  or  at  least 
a  misdemeanor)  would  dare  to  produce  them. 

The  estrangement  seemed  now  complete,  the  recon- 
ciliation more  remote  than  ever.  The  Archbishop  of 
Rouen  and  the  Bishop  of  Nevers,  though  urged  to 
immediate  action  by  Becket  and  even  by  the  Pope, 
admitted  delay  after  delay,  first  for  the  voyage  of  the 
King  to  England,  and  secondly  for  his  return  to  Nor- 
mandy. Becket  seemed  more  and  more  desperate,  the 
Kino;  more  and  more  resolute.  Even  after  the  Corona- 
tion,  it  should  seem,  Becket  wrote  to  Roger  of  York,^ 
to  Henry  of  Worcester,  and  even  to  Foliot  of  London, 
to  publish  the  Interdict  in  their  dioceses.     The  latter 

1  Dr.  Lingard  holds  this  letter,  printed  bv  Lord  Lyttelton,  and  which  he 
admits  vras  produced,  to  have  been  a  forgery.  If  it  was,  it  was  a  most 
audacious  one;  and  a  most  flagrant  insult  to  the  Pope,  whom  Henry  was 
even  now  endeavoring  to  propitiate  through  the  Lombard  Republics  and 
the  Emperor  of  the  East  (see  Giles,  iv.  10).  It  is  remarkable,  too,  that 
though  the  Pope  declares  that  this  coronation,  contrary  to  his  prohibition 
(Giles,  iv.  30),  is  not  to  be  taken  as  a  precedent,  he  has  no  word  of  the  for- 
gery. N"or  do  I  find  any  contemporary  assertion  of  its  spurionsness. 
Becket,  indeed,  in  his  account  of  the  last  inters^iew  with  the  King,  only 
mentions  the  general  permission  granted  by  the  Pope  at  an  early  period  of 
the  reign ;  and  argues  as  if  this  were  the  only  permission.  Is  it  possible 
that  a  special  permission  to  York  to  act  was  craftily  interpolated  into  the 
general  permission?  But  the  trick  may  have  been  on  the  side  of  the  Pope, 
now  granting,  now  nullifying  his  own  grants  by  inhibition.  Bouquet  is 
strong  against  Baronius  (as  on  other  points)  upon  Alexander's  duplicity.  — 
p.  434. 

2  Giles,  iii.  229. 

VOL.  IV.  26 


402  LATIN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

was  a  virtual  acknowledgment  of  the  legality  of  his 
absolution,  which  in  a  long  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Ne- 
vers  he  had  contested ;  ^  but  the  Interdict  still  hung  over 
the  King  and  the  realm  ;  the  fidelity  of  the  clergy  was 
precarious. 

The  reconciliation  at  last  was  so  sudden  as  to  take 
the  world  by  surprise.  The  clue  to  this  is  found  in 
Fitz-Stephen.  Some  one  had  suggested  by  word  or 
by  writing  to  the  King  that  the  Primate  would  be  less 
dangerous  within  than  without  the  realm.^  The  hint 
flashed  conviction  on  the  King's  mind.  The  two 
Kings  had  appointed  an  interview  at  Fretteville,  be- 
Treatyof  twccu  Cliartrcs  and  Tours.  The  Archbishop 
Fretteviue.  q£  g^^^g  prevailed  on  Becket  to  be,  unsum- 
moned,  in  the  neighborhood.  Some  days  after  the 
King  seemed  persuaded  by  the  Archbishops  of  Sens  and 
Rouen  and  the  Bishop  of  Nevers  to  hold  a  conference 
with  Becket.^  As  soon  as  they  drew  near  the  King 
rode  up,  uncovered  his  head,  and  saluted  the  Prelate 
with  frank  courtesy,  and  after  a  short  conversation  be- 
tween the  two  and  the  Archbishop  of  Sens,  the  King 
withdrew  apart  with  Becket.  Their  conference  was 
so  long  as  to  try  the  patience  of  the  spectators,  so  fa- 
miliar that  it  might  seem  there  had  never  been  discord 
between  them.  Becket  took  a  moderate  tone ;  by  his 
own  account  he  laid  the  faults  of  the  King  entirely  on 
his  evil  counsellors.  After  a  gentle  admonition  to  the 
King  on  his  sins,  he  urged  him  to  make  restitution  to 
the  see  of  Canterbury.     He  dwelt  strongly  on  the  late 

1  Giles,  iii.  302. 

2  "  Dictum  fuit  aliquem  dixisse  vel  scripsisse  regi  Anglorum  de  Arche- 
piscopo  ut  quid  tenetur  exclusus  ?  melius  tenebitur  inclusus  quam  exclusus. 
Satisque  dictum  fuit  intelligenti."  —  p.  272. 

8  Giles,  iv.  30;  Bouquet,  436. 


Chap.  Vm.  TREATY  OF  FRETTEVILLE.  403 

usurpation  on  the  rights  of  the  primacy,  on  the  coro- 
nation of  the  King's  son.  Henry  alleged  the  state  of 
the  kingdom  and  the  necessity  of  the  measure;  he 
promised  that  as  his  son's  queen,  the  daughter  of  the 
King  of  France,  was  also  to  be  crowned,  that  ceremony 
should  be  performed  by  Becket,  and  that  his  son  should 
again  receive  his  crown  from  the  hands  of  the  Primate. 

At  the  close  of  the  interview  Becket  sprung  from 
his  horse  and  threw  himself  at  the  King's  feet.  The 
King  leaped  down,  and  holding  his  stirrup  compelled 
the  Primate  to  mount  his  horse  again.  In  the  most 
friendly  terms  he  expressed  his  full  reconciliation  not 
only  to  Becket  himself,  but  to  the  wondering  and  de- 
lighted multitude.  There  seemed  an  understanding  on 
both  sides  to  suppress  all  points  which  might  lead  to 
disagreement.  The  King  did  not  dare  (so  Becket 
writes  triumphantly  to  the  Pope)  to  mutter  one  word 
about  the  Customs.^  Becket  was  equally  prudent, 
thouo-h  he  took  care  that  his  submission  should  be  so 
vaguely  worded  as  to  be  drawn  into  no  dangerous  con- 
cession on  his  part.  He  abstained,  too,  from  all  other 
perilous  topics  ;  he  left  undecided  the  amount  of  satis- 
faction to  the  church  of  Canterbury ;  and  on  July, 
these  general  terms  he  and  the  partners  of  his  exile 
were  formally  received  into  the  King's  grace. 

If  the  King  was  humiliated  by  this  quiet  and  sud- 
den reconcilement  with  the  imperious  prelate,  to  out- 
ward appearance  at  least  he  concealed  his  humiliation 
by  his  noble  and  kingly  manner.     If  he  submitted  to 


1  "  Nam  de  consuetudinibus  quas  tanta  pervicacia  vindicare  consueverat 
nee  mutire  prnesumpsit."  Becket  was  as  mute.  The  issue  of  the  quarrel 
seems  entirely  changed.  The  Constitutions  of  Clarendon  recede,  the  right 
of  coronation  occupies  the  chief  place.  —  See  the  long  letter,  Giles,  65. 


404  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII 

the  spiritual  reproof  of  the  prelate,  he  condescended  to 
receive  into  his  favor  his  refractory  subject.  Each 
maintained  prudent  silence  on  all  points  in  dispute. 
Henry  received,  but  he  also  granted  pardon.  If  his 
concession  was  really  extorted  by  fear,  not  from  policy, 
compassion  for  Becket's  six  years'  exile  might  seem  not 
without  influence.  If  Henry  did  not  allude  to  the 
Customs,  he  did  not  annul  them  ;  they  were  still  the 
law  of  the  land.  The  kiss  of  peace  was  eluded  by  a 
vague  promise.  Becket  made  a  merit  of  not  driving 
the  King  to  perjury,  but  he  skilfully  avoided  this  trying 
test  of  the  King's  sincerity. 

But  Becket's  revenge  must  be  satisfied  with  other 
Becket's        victims.     If  the  worldly  Kino;  could    forget 

schemes  of  n     i  •      ^  ... 

vengeance  the  rancor  OT  this  long  animosity,  it  was  not 
so  easily  appeased  in  the  breast  of  the  Christian  Prel- 
ate. No  doubt  vengeance  disguised  itself  to  Becket's 
mind  as  the  lofty  and  rightful  assertion  of  spiritual  au- 
thority. The  opposing  prelates  must  be  at  his  feet, 
even  under  his  feet.  The  first  thought  of  his  partisans 
was  not  his  retiu'n  to  England  with  a  generous  amnesty 
of  all  wrongs,  or  a  gentle  reconciliation  of  the  whole 
clergy,  but  the  condign  punishment  of  those  who  had 
so  long  been  the  counsellors  of  the  King,  and  had  so 
recently  officiated  in  the  coronation  of  his  son. 

The  court  of  Rome  did  not  refuse  to  enter  into  these 
views,  to  visit  the  offence  of  those  disloyal  bishops  who 
had  betrayed  the  interests  and  compromised  the  high 
principles  of  churchmen.^  It  was  presumed  that  the 
King  would  not  risk  a  peace  so  hardly  gained  for  his 

1  Humbold  Bishop  of  Ostia  advised  the  confining  the  triumph  to  the  de- 
oression  of  the  Archbishop  of  York  and  the  excommunication  of  the  Bish- 
ops. —  Gile'«.  vi.  129 ;  Bouquet,  443. 


Chap.  Ym.  DsTEKYIEW   AT   TOURS.  405 

obsequious  prelates.  The  lay  adherents  of  the  King, 
even  the  plunderers  of  Church  property  were  spared, 
some  ecclesiastics  about  his  person,  John  of  Oxford 
himself,  escaped  censure  :  but  Pope  Alexander  sent  the 
decree  of  suspension  against  the  Archbish- Dated  Sept.  lo. 
op  of  York,  and  renewed  the  excommunication  of 
London  and  Salisbury,  with  whom  were  joined  the 
Archdeacon  of  Canterbury  and  the  Bishop  of  Roch- 
ester, as  guilty  of  special  violation  of  their  allegiance 
to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbuiy,  the  Bishop  of  St. 
Asaph,  and  some  others.  Becket  himself  saw  the 
poKcy  of  altogether  separating  the  cause  of  the  bishops 
from  that  of  the  King.  He  requested  that  some  ex- 
pressions relating  to  the  King's  excesses,  and  con- 
demnatory of  -the  bishops  for  swearing  to  the  Cus- 
toms, should  be  suppressed  ;  and  the  excommunication 
grounded  entirely  on  their  usurpation  of  the  right  of 
crowninor  the  Kino; J 

About  four  months  elapsed  between  the  treaty  of 
Fretteville  and  the  return  of  Becket  to  England.  They 
were  occupied  by  these  negotiations  at  Rome,  Veroli, 
and  Ferentino  ;  by  discussions  with  the  King,  who  was 
attacked  during  this  peiiod  with  a  dangerous  illness ; 
and  by  the  mission  of  some  of  Becket's  officers  to  re- 
sume the  estates  of  the  see.  Becket  had  two 
personal  interviews  with  the  King :  the  first 
was  at  Tours,  where,  as  he  was  now  in  the  King's  do- 
minions, he  endeavored  to  obtain  the  kiss  of  peace. 
The  Archbishop  hoped  to  betray  Henry  into  this  favor 
during  the  celebration  of  the  mass,  in  which  it  might 

1"  Licet  ei  (regi  sc.)  peperceritis,  dissimulare  non  audetis  excessus  et 
crimina  sacerdotum."  This  letter  is  a  curious  revelation  of  the  arrogance 
and  subtlety  of  Becket.  —  Giles,  iii.  77. 


Interview 
,,x  at  Tours. 


/ 

406  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

seem  only  a  part  of  the  service.^  Henry  was  on  his 
guard,  and  ordered  the  mass  for  the  dead,  in  which  the 
benediction  is  not  pronounced.  The  King  had  received 
Becket  fairly  ;  they  parted  not  without  ill-concealed 
estrangement.  At  the  second  meeting  the  King  seemed 
more  fi'iendly  ;  he  went  so  far  as  to  say,  "  Why  resist 
my  wishes  ?  I  would  place  everything  in  your  hands." 
Becket,  in  his  o^vn  words,  bethought  him  of  the  tempter, 
"  All  these  things  will  I  give  unto  thee,  if  thou  wilt  fall 
down  and  worship  me." 

The  King  had  written  to  his  son  in  England  that  the 
see  of  Canterbury  should  be  restored  to  Becket,  as  it 
was  three  months  before  his  exile.  But  there  were  two 
strong  parties  hostile  to  Becket :  the  King's  officers 
who  held  in  sequestration  the  estates  of  the  see,  and 
seem  to  have  especially  coveted  the  receipt  of  the  Mich- 
aelmas rents  ;  and  with  these  some  of  the  fierce  warrior 
nobles,  who  held  lands  or  castles  which  were  claimed 
as  possessions  of  the  Church  of  Canterbury.  Randulph 
de  Broc,  his  old  inveterate  enemy,  was  determined  not 
to  surrender  his  castle  of  Saltwood.  It  was  reported 
to  Becket,  by  Becket  represented  to  the  King,  that  De 
Broc  had  sworn  that  he  would  have  Becket's  life  before 
he  had  eaten  a  loaf  of  bread  in  England.  The  castle 
of  Rochester  was  held  on  the  same  doubtful  title  by 
one  of  his  enemies.  The  second  party  was  that  of  the 
bishops,  which  was  powerful,  with  a  considerable  body 
both  of  the  clergy  and  laity.  They  had  sufficient  influ- 
ence to  uro;e  the  Kincr's  officers  to  take  the  strono-est 
measures,  lest  the  Papal  letters  of  excommunication 
Bhould  be  introduced  into  the  kingdom. 

It  is  perhaps  vain  to  conjecture,  how  far,  if  Becket 

1  It  is  called  the  Pax. 


Chap.YIII.  PREPAEES  TO  RETURN.  407 

had  returned  to  England  in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  for- 
giveness, and  forbearance,  not  wielding  the  thunders  of 
excommunication,  nor  determined  to  trample  on  his 
adversaries,  and  to  exact  the  utmost  even  of  his  most 
doubtful  rights,  he  might  have  resumed  his  see,  and 
gradually  won  back  the  favor  of  the  King,  the  respect 
and  love  of  the  whole  hierarchy,  and  all  the  legitimate 
possessions  of  his  church.  But  he  came  not  in  peace, 
nor  was  he  received  in  peace.^  It  was  not  Becket  pre- 
the  Archbishop  of  Rouen,  as  he  had  hoped,  retmu. 
but  his  old  enemy  John  of  Oxford,  who  was  com- 
manded by  the  King  to  accompany  him,  and  reinstate 
him  in  his  see.  The  King  might  allege  that  one  so 
much  in  the  royal  confidence  was  the  best  protector  of 
the  Archbishop.  The  money  which  had  been  promised 
for  his  voyage  was-  not  paid  ;  he  was  forced  to  borrow 
300/.  of  the  Archbishop  of  Kouen.  He  went,  as  he 
felt,  or  affected  to  feel,  with  death  before  his  eyes,  yet 
nothing  should  now  separate  him  from  his  long-divided 
flock.  Before  his  embarkation  at  Whitsand  in  Flan- 
ders, he  received  intelligence  that  the  shores  were 
watched  by  his  enemies,  it  was  said  with  designs  on  his 
life,^  but  assuredly  with  the  determination  of  making  a 
rigid  search  for  the  letters  of  excommunication.^  To 
secure  the  safe  carriage  of  one  of  these  peril-  betters  of 
ous  documents,  the  suspension  of  the  Arch-  catk.™ sen?" 
bishop   of  York,  it  was  intrusted  to  a  nun  ^^^^"^^  ^^°'- 

1  Becket  disclaims  vengeance :  "  ISTeque  hoc  die  mus,  Deo  teste,  vindic- 
tam  expetentes,  quiim  scriptum  esse  noverimus,  non  quaeres  ultionem  .  . 
sed  ut  ecclesia  correctionis  exemplo  possit  per  Dei  gratiam  in  posterum 
voborarc,  et  poena  paucorum  multos  sedificare."  —  Giles,  iii.  76. 

2  See  Becket's  account.  —  Giles,  iii.  p.  81. 

3  Lambeth  says :  "  Visum  est  autem  nonnullis,  quod  incircumspecte  lite- 
rarum  vindicta  post  pacem  usus  est,  quae  tantum  pads  desperatiane  fuerint 
datce:'  —p.  116.    Compare  pp.  119  and  152, 


408  LATIN  CHEISTUNITY.  Book  VIII. 

named  Idonea,  whom  lie  exhorts,  like  another  Judith, 
to  this  holy  act,  and  promises  her  as  her  reward  the 
remission  of  her  sins.^  Other  contraband  letters  were 
conveyed  across  the  channel  by  unknown  hands,  and 
were  delivered  to  the  bishops  before  Becket's  landing. 

The  Prelates  of  York  and  London  were  at  Canter- 
bury when  they  received  these  Papal  letters.  When 
the  fulminating  instruments  were  read  before  them,  in 
which  was  this  passage,  "  we  will  fill  your  faces  with 
ignominy,"  their  countenances  fell.  They  sent  messen- 
gers to  complain  to  Becket,  that  he  came  not  in  peace, 
but  in  fire  and  flame,  trampling  his  brother  bishops 
under  his  feet,  and  making  their  necks  his  footstool ; 
that  he  had  condemned  them  uncited,  unheard,  un- 
judged.  "  There  is  no  peace,"  Becket  sternly  replied, 
"  but  to  men  of  good-will."  ^  It  was  said  that  London 
was  disposed  to  humble  himself  before  Becket ;  but 
York,^  trusting  in  his  wealth,  boasted  that  he  had  in 
his  power  the  Pope,  the  King,  and  all  their  courts. 

Instead  of  the  port  of  Dover,  where  he  was  expected, 
Lands  at  Bcckct's  vcsscl,  with  the  archiepiscopal  ban- 
Dec.  1.  ner  displayed,  cast  anchor  at  Sandwich.  Soon 
after  his  landing,  appeared  in  arms  the  Sheriff  of  Kent, 
Randulph  de  Broc,  and  others  of  his  enemies.  They 
searched  his  baggage,  fiercely  demanded  that  he  should 
absolve  the  bishops,  and  endeavored  to  force  the  Arch- 
deacon of  Sens,  a  foreign  ecclesiastic,  to  take  an  oath 

1  Lord  Lyttelton  has  drawn  an  inference  from  these  words  unfavorable  to 
the  purity  of  Idonea's  former  life;  and  certainly  the  examples  of  the  Mag- 
dalene and  the  woman  of  Egypt,  if  this  be  not  the  case,  were  unhappily 
chosen. 

2  Fitz-Stephen,  pp.  281,  284. 

3  Becket  calls  York  his  ancient  enemy:  "  Lucifer  ponens  sedem  suam  in 
aquilone." 


Chap.  VIII.        AT  CANTEKBURY  AND  LONDON.  409 

to  keep  the  peace  of  tlie  realm.  John  of  Oxford  was 
shocked,  and  repressed  their  violence.  On  his  way  to 
Canterbury  the  country  clergy  came  forth  with  their 
flocks  to  meet  him  ;  they  strewed  their  garments  in  his 
way,  chanting,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  cometli  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord."  Arrived  at  Canterbury,  he  ^^  canter- 
rode  at  once  to  the  church  ^^'ith  a  vast  pro-  ^^^^' 
cession  of  clergy,  amid  the  ringing  of  the  bells,  and 
the  chanting  of  music.  He  took  his  archiepiscopal 
throne,  and  afterwards  preached  on  the  text,  "  Here 
we  have  no  abiding  city."  The  next  morning  came 
again  the  Sheriff  of  Kent,  with  Randulph  de  Broc, 
and  the  messengers  of  the  bishops,  demanding  their  ab- 
solution.^ Becket  evaded  the  question  by  asserting 
that  the  Excommunication  was  not  pronounced  by  him, 
but  by  his  superior  the  Pope ;  that  he  had  no  power  to 
abrogate  the  sentence.  This  declaration  was  directly 
at  issue  with  the  bull  of  excommunication:  if  the 
bishops  gave  satisfaction  to  the  Archbishop,  he  had 
power  to  act  on  behalf  of  the  Pope.''^  But  to  the  satis- 
faction which,  according  to  one  account,  he  did  de- 
mand, that  they  should  stand  a  public  trial,  in  other 
words  place  themselves  at  his  mercy,  they  would  not, 
and  hardly  could  submit.  They  set  out  immediately 
to  the  King  in  Normandy. 

The  restless  Primate  was  determined  to  keep  alive 
the   popular   fervor,   enthusiastically,  almost  g^^g  ^^ 
fanatically,  on  his  side.     On  a  pretext  of  a  ^^"lo^- 

1  Becket  accuses  the  bishops  of  thirsting  for  his  blood !  "  Let  them 
drink  it."  But  this  was  a  phrase  which  he  uses  on  all  occasions,  even  to 
William  of  Pavia. 

2  "  Si  vero  ita  eidem  Archepiscopo  et  Cantuarensi  Ecclesise  satisfacere 
Inveniretis,  ut  poenam  istam  ipse  videat  relaxaudam,  vice  nostra  per  ilium 
rolumus  adimpleri."  —  Apud  Bouquet,  p.  461. 


410  LATIX  CHRISTIA^'1T^.  Book  VIH. 

'sdsit  to  the  young  King  at  Woodstock,  to  offer  him  the 
present  of  three  beautiful  horses,  he  set  forth  on  a  state- 
ly progress.  Wherever  he  went  he  was  received  with 
acclamations  and  prayers  for  his  blessings  by  the  clergy 
and  the  people.  In  Rochester  he  was  entertained  by 
the  Bishop  with  great  ceremony.  In  London  there 
was  the  same  excitement :  he  was  received  in  the 
palace  of  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  in  Southwark. 
Even  there  he  scattered  some  excommunications.^ 
The  Court  took  alarm,  and  sent  orders  to  the  prelate 
to  return  to  his  diocese.  Becket  obeyed,  but  alleged  as 
the  cause  of  his  obedience,  not  the  royal  command,  but 
his  own  desire  to  celebrate  the  festival  of  Christmas  in 
his  metropolitan  church.  The  week  passed  in  holding 
sittings  in  his  court,  where  he  acted  with  his  usual 
promptitude,  vigor,  and  resolution  against  the  intruders 
into  livings,  and  upon  the  encroacliments  on  his  estates ; 
and  in  devotions  most  fervent,  mortifications  most  aus- 
tere.^ 

His  rude  enemies  committed  in  the  mean  time  all 
kinds  of  petty  annoyances,  which  he  had  not  the  lofti- 
ness to  disdain.  Randulph  de  Broc  seized  a  vessel 
laden  with  rich  wine  for  his  use,  and  imprisoned  the 
sailors  in  Pevensey  Castle.  An  order  from  the  court 
compelled  him  to  release  ship  and  crew.  They  robbed 
the  people  who  carried  his  provisions,  broke  into  his 
park,  hunted  his  deer,  beat  his  retainers  ;  and,  at  the 

1 "  Ipse  tamen  Londonias  adiens,  et  ibi  missarum  solenniis  celebratis, 
quosdam  excommunicavit."  —  Passio.  iii.  p.  154. 

2  Since  this  passage  was  written  an  excellent  and  elaborate  paper  has 
appeared  in  the  Quarterly  Review,  full  of  local  knowledge.  I  recognize 
the  hand  of  a  friend  from  whom  great  things  may  be  expected.  I  find,  I 
think,  nothing  in  which  we  disagree,  though  that  account,  having  more 
ample  space,  is  more  particular  than  mine.  (Reprinted  in  Memorials  of 
Canterbury  by  Rev.  A.  P.  Stanley.) 


CHAP.Vm.        THE  BISHOPS  WITH  THE  KING.  411 

instigation  of  Randulph's  brother,  Robert  de  Broc,  a 
ruffian,  a  renegade  monk,  cut  off  the  tail  of  one  of  his 
state  horses. 

On  Christmas  day  Becket  preached  on  the  appropri- 
ate text,  "  Peace  on  earth,  good-will  towards  men." 
The  sermon  agreed  ill  with  the  text.  He  spoke  of  one 
of  his  predecessors,  St.  Alphege,  who  had  suffered 
martyrdom.  "  There  may  soon  be  a  second."  He 
then  burst  out  into  a  fierce,  impetuous,  terrible  tone, 
arraigned  the  courtiers,  and  closed  with  a  fulminating 
excommunication  against  Nigel  de  Sackville,  who  had 
reftised  to  give  up  a  benefice  into  which,  in  Becket's 
judgment,  he  had  intruded,  and  against  Randulph  and 
Robert  de  Broc.  The  maimed  horse  was  not  forgotten. 
He  renewed  in  the  most  vehement  language  the  censure 
on  the  bishops,  dashed  the  candle  on  the  pavement  in 
token  of  their  utter  extinction,  and  then  proceeded  to 
the  mass  at  the  altar.^ 

In  the  mean  time  the  excommunicated  prelates  had 
sought  the  Kino;  in  the  neio;hborhood  of  Ba-  TheWshops 

,  .1  11.  .         p         1  with  the 

yeux ;  they  implored  his  protection  tor  them-  King, 
selves  and  the  clergy  of  the  realm.  "  If  all  are  to  be 
visited  by  spiritual  censures,"  said  the  King,  "  who  of- 
ficiated at  the  coronation  of  my  son,  by  the  ey£S  of 
God,  I  am  equally  guilty."  The  whole  conduct  of 
Becket  since  his  return  was  detailed,  and  no  doubt 
deeply  darkened  by  the  hostility  of  his  adversaries. 
All  had  been  done  with  an  insolent  and  seditious  design 
of  alienating  the  affections  of  the  people  from  the  King. 
Henry  demanded  counsel  of  the  prelates ;  they  de- 
clared themselves  unable  to  give  it.  But  one  incau- 
tiously said,  "  So  long  as  Thomas  lives,  you  will  never 

1  Fitz-Stephen,  De  Bosham,  Grim,  in  he. 


412  LATIX    CHIDSTIAXITY  Book  VUI. 

be  at  peace."  The  King  broke  out  into  one  of  liis 
terrible  constitutional  fits  of  passion  ;  and  at  length  let 
fall  the  fatal  words,  "  Have  I  none  of  mj  thankless 
and  cowardly  courtiers  who  will  relieve  me  from  the 
insults  of  one  low-born  and  turbulent  priest  ?  " 

These  words  were  not  likely  to  fall  unheard  on  the 
The  King's  ^^^^  ^^  fierce  and  warlike  men,  reckless  of 
fatal  words,  "bloodshed,  possessed  with  a  strong  sense  of 
their  feudal  allegiance,  and  eager  to  secure  to  them- 
selves the  reward  of  desperate  service.  Four  knights, 
chamberlains  of  the  King,  Reginald  Fitz-Urse,  Wil- 
liam de  Tracy,  Hugh  de  Moreville,  and  Reginald  Bri- 
to,  disappeared  from  the  court. ^  On  the  morrow, 
when  a  grave  council  was  held,  some  barons  are  said, 
even  there,  to  have  advised  the  death  of  Becket. 
Milder  measures  were  adopted :  the  Earl  of  Mande- 
ville  was  sent  off  with  orders  to  arrest  the  primate; 
and  as  the  disappearance  of  these  four  knights  could 
not  be  unmarked,  to  stop  them  in  the  course  of  any 
unauthorized  enterprise. 

But  murder  travels  faster  than  justice  or  mercy. 
They  were  almost  already  on  the  shores  of  England. 
It  is  said  that  they  met  in  Saltwood  Castle.  On  the 
28th  .of  December,  having,  by  the  aid  of  Randulph  de 
Broc,  collected  some  troops  in  the  streets  of  Canter- 
bury, they  took  up  their  quarters  with  Clarembold, 
Abbot  of  St.  Augustine's. 

The  assassination  of  Becket  has  something  appalling, 
with  all  its  terrible  circumstances  seen  in  the  remote 
past.     What  was  it  in  its  own  age?     The  most  dis- 

1  See,  on  the  former  history  of  these  knights,  Quarterly  Review,  vol. 
xciii.  p.  355.  The  writer  has  industriously  traced  out  all  that  can  be  known 
much  which  was  rumored  about  these  men. 


Chap.  Vm.  THE  ALTERCATIOX.  413 

tinguished  churchman  in  Christendom,  the  champion 
of  the  great  sacerdotal  order,  almost  in  the  hour  of  his 
triumph  over  the  most  powerful  king  in  Europe  ;  a 
man,  besides  the  awful  sanctity  inherent  in  the  person 
of  every  ecclesiastic,  of  most  saintly  holiness  ;  soon 
after  the  most  solemn  festival  of  the  Church,  in  his 
own  cathedral,  not  only  sacrilegiously,  but  cruelly 
murdered,  with  every  mark  of  hatred  and  insult. 
Becket  had  all  the  dauntlessness,  none  of  the  meek- 
ness of  the  martyr ;  but  while  his  dauntlessness  would 
command  boundless  admiration,  few,  if  any,  would 
seek  the  more  genuine  sign  of  Christian  martyrdom. 
The  four  knights  do  not  seem  to  have  deliberately 
determined  on  their  proceedino-s,  or  to  have  The  knights 

before 

resolved,  except  in  extremity,  on  the  murder.  Becket. 
They  entered,  but  unarmed,  the  outer  chamber.^  The 
Archbishop  had  just  dined,  and  withdrawn  from  the 
hall.  They  were  offered  food,  as  was  the  usage ;  they 
declined,  thirsting,  says  one  of  the  biographers,  for 
blood.  The  Archbishop  obeyed  the  summons  to  hear 
a  message  from  the  King ;  they  were  admitted  to  his 
presence.  As  they  entered,  there  was  no  salutation  on 
either  side,  till  the  Primate  having  surveyed,  perhaps 
recognized  them,  moved  to  them  with  cold  courtesy. 
Fitz-Urse  was  the  spokesman  in  the  fierce  altercation 
which  ensued.  Becket  replied  with  haughty  firmness. 
Fitz-Urse  began  by  reproaching  him  with  his  ingrati- 
tude and  seditious  disloyalty  in  opposing  the  coronation 
f)f  the  King's  son,  and  commanded  him,  in  instant  obe- 
dience to  the  King,  to  absolve  the  prelates.  Becket 
protested   that   so   far   from   wishing   to  diminish  the 

1  Tuesday,  Dec.  29.    See,  on  the  fatality  of  Tuesday  in  Becket's  life,  Q 
R.  p.  357. 


414  LATIX    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Vm. 

power  of  the  King's  son,  lie  would  lia\e  given  him 
three  crowns  and  the  most  splendid  realm.  For  the 
excommunicated  bishops  he  persisted  in  his  usual  eva- 
sion that  they  had  been  suspended  by  the  Pope,  by  the 
Pope  alone  could  they  be  absolved ;  nor  had  they  yet 
offered  proper  satisfaction.  ''It  is  the  King's  com- 
mand," spake  Fitz-Urse,  "that  you  and  the  rest  of 
your  disloyal  followers  leave  the  kingdom."  ^  "It  be- 
comes not  the  King  to  utter  such  command :  hence- 
forth no  power  on  earth  shall  separate  me  fi'om  my 
flock."  "  You  have  presumed  to  excommunicate, 
w^ithout  consulting  the  King,  the  King's  servants  and 
officers."  "  Nor  will  I  ever  spare  the  man  who  vio- 
lates the  canons  of  Rome,  or  the  rights  of  the  Church." 
"  From  whom  do  you  hold  jour  archbishopric  ?  "  "My 
spirituals  from  God  and  the  Pope,  my  temporals  from 
the  King."  "Do  you  not  hold  all  from  the  King?" 
"  Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and 
unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's."  "  You  speak  in 
peril  of  your  life  !  "  "  Come  ye  to  murder  me  ?  I  de- 
fy you,  and  will  meet  you  front  to  front  in  the  battle 
of  the  Lord."  He  added,  that  some  among  them  had 
sworn  fealty  to  him.  At  this,  it  is  said,  they  grew^  furi- 
ous, and  gnashed  with  their  teeth.  The  prudent  John 
of  Salisbury  heard  with  regret  this  intemperate  lan- 
guage :  "  Would  it  may  end  well !  "  Fitz-Urse  shout- 
ed aloud,  "  In  the  King's  name  I  enjoin  you  all,  clerks 
and  monks,  to  arrest  this  man,  till  the  King  shall  have 
done  justice  on  his  body."  They  rushed  out,  calling 
for  their  arms. 

His  friends  had  more  fear  for  Becket  than  Becket  for 
himself.     The  gates  were  closed  and  barred,  but  pres- 

1  Grim,  p.  71.    Fitz-Stephen. 


Chap.  VIH.  THE  MURDER.  415 

ently  sounds  were  heard  of  those  without,  striving  to 
break  in.  The  lawless  Randulph  de  Broc  was  hewing 
at  the  door  with  an  axe.  All  around  Becket  was  the 
confusion  of  terror  :  he  only  was  calm.  Again  spoke 
John  of  Salisbury  with  his  cold  prudence  —  "Thou 
wilt  never  take  counsel:  they  seek  thy  life."  "lam 
prepared  to  die."  "  We  who  are  sinners  are  not  so 
weary  of  life."  "  God's  will  be  done."  The  sounds 
without  grew  wilder.  All  around  him  entreated  Becket 
to  seek  sanctuary  in  the  church.  He  refused,  whether 
from  religious  reluctance  that  the  holy  place  should  be 
stained  with  his  blood,  or  from  the  nobler  motive  of 
sparing  his  assassins  this  deep  aggravation  of  their 
crime.  They  urged  that  the  bell  was  already  tolling 
for  vespers.  He  seemed  to  give  a  reluctant  consent ; 
but  he  would  not  move  without  the  dignity  of  his  cro- 
sier carried  before  him.  With  gentle  compulsion  they 
half  drew,  half  carried  him  through  a  private  Becket 
chamber,  they  in  all  the  hasty  agony  of  ter-  church. 
ror,  he  striving  to  maintain  his  solemn  state,  into  the 
church.  The  din  of  the  armed  men  was  ringing  in 
the  cloister.  The  affrighted  monks  broke  off  the  ser- 
vice ;  some  hastened  to  close  the  doors  ;  Becket  com- 
manded them  to  desist  —  "  No  one  should  be  debarred 
from  entering  the  house  of  God."  John  of  Salisbury 
and  the  rest  fled  and  hid  themselves  behind  the  altars 
and  in  other  dark  places.  The  Archbishop  might  have 
escaped  into  the  dark  and  intricate  crypt,  or  into  a 
chapel  in  the  roof.  There  remained  only  the  Canon 
Robert  (of  Merton),  Fitz-Stephen,  and  the  faithful 
Edward  Grim.  Becket  stood  between  the  altar  of  St. 
Benedict  and  that  of  the  Virgin.^  It  was  thouo;ht  that 
1  For  the  accurate  local  description,  see  Quarterly  Review,  p.  367. 


416  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Yin 

Becket  contemplated  taking  his  seat  on  his  archiepisco- 
pal  throne  near  the  high  altar. 

Through  the  open  door  of  the  cloister  came  rushing  in 
The  murder,  the  four,  fullj  armed,  some  with  axes  in  their 
hands,  with  two  or  three  wild  followers,  through  the 
dim  and  bewildering  twilight.  The  knights  shouted 
aloud,  "  Where  is  the  traitor  ?  "  No  answer  came 
back.  "  Where  is  the  Archbishop  ?  "  "  Behold  me, 
no  traitor,  but  a  priest  of  God  ! "  Another  fierce  and 
rapid  altercation  followed  :  they  demanded  the  absolu- 
tion of  the  bishops,  his  own  surrender  to  the  King's 
justice.  They  strove  to  seize  him  and  to  drag  him 
forth  from  the  Church  (even  they  had  awe  of  the  holy 
place),  either  to  kill  him  without,  or  to  carry  him  in 
bonds  to  the  King.  He  clung  to  the  pillar.  In  the 
struggle  he  grappled  with  De  Tracy,  and  with  desper- 
ate strength  dashed  him  on  the  pavement.  His  pas- 
sion rose  ;  he  called  Fitz-Urse  by  a  foul  name,  a  pandfer. 
These  were  almost  his  last  words  (how  unlike  those  of 
Stephen  and  the  greater  than  Stephen  !)  He  taunted 
Fitz-Urse  with  his  fealty  sworn  to  himself.  "  I  owe  no 
fealty  but  to  my  King  ! "  returned  the  maddened  soldier, 
and  struck  the  first  blow.  Edward  Grim  interposed 
his  arm,  which  was  almost  severed  oif.  The  sword 
struck  Becket,  but  slightly,  on  the  head.  Becket  re- 
ceived it  in  an  attitude  of  prayer  —  "  Lord,  receive  my 
spirit,"  with  an  ejaculation  to  the  Saints  of  the  Church. 
Blow  followed  blow  (Tracy  seems  to  have  dealt  the 
first  mortal  wound),  till  all,  unless  perhaps  De  More- 
ville,  had  wreaked  their  vengeance.  The  last,  that  of 
Richard  de  Brito,  smote  off  a  piece  of  his  skull.  Hugh 
of  Horsea,  their  follower,  a  renegade  priest  surnamed 
Mauclerk,  set  his  heel  upon  his  neck,  and  crushed  out 


Chap.  Till.  EFFECTS   OF   THE  MUKDER.  417 

the  blood  and  brains.  "Away!"  said  the  brutal  ruf- 
fian, "  it  is  time  that  we  were  gone."  They  rushed 
out  to  plunder  the  archiepiscopal  palace. 

The  mangled  body  was  left  on  the  pavement ;  and 
when  his  affi'ighted  followers  ventured  to  ap-  The  body. 
proach  to  perform  their  last  offices,  an  incident  occurred 
which,  however  incongruous,  is  too  characteristic  to  be 
suppressed.  Amid  their  adoring  awe  at  his  courage 
and  constancy,  their  profound  sorrow  for  his  loss,  they 
broke  out  into  a  rapture  of  wonder  and  delight  on  dis- 
covering not  merely  that  his  whole  body  was  swathed 
in  the  coarsest  sackcloth,  but  that  his  lower  garments 
were  swarming  with  vermin.  From  that  moment 
miracles  began.  Even  the  populace  had  before  been 
divided ;  voices  had  been  heard  among  the  crowd 
denying  him  to  be  a  martyr  ;  he  was  but  the  victim 
of  his  own  obstinacy.^  The  Archbishop  of  York  even 
after  this  dared  to  preach  that  it  was  a  judgment  of 
God  against  Becket — that  "  he  perished,  like  Pharaoh, 
in  his  pride."  ^  But  the  torrent  swept  away  at  once 
all  this  resistance.  The  Government  inhibited  the 
miracles,  but  faith  in  miracles  scorns  obedience  to 
human  laws.  The  Passion  of  the  Martyr  Thomas 
was  saddened  and  glorified  every  day  with  new  inci- 
dents of  its  atrocity,  of  his  holy  firmness,  of  wonders 
wrought  by  his  remains. 

The    horror   of    Becket's    murder   ran   throughout 
Christendom.     At  first,  of  course,  it  was  at-  j,g.^^  ^^ 
tributed  to  Henry's  direct  orders.      Univer- *^®  °''''''^^''- 
sal  hatred  branded  the  King  of  England  with  a  kind 
of  outlawry,  a  spontaneous  excommunication.    William 

1  Grim,  70. 

2  John  of  Salisbury.    Bouquet,  619,  620. 
VOL.  IV.  27 


418  LATIN  CHRISllANITY.  Book  VI 11. 

of  Sens,  though  the  attached  friend  of  Becket,  prob- 
ably does  not  exaggerate  the  pubKc  sentiment  when 
he  describes  this  deed  as  surpassing  the  cruelty  of 
Herod,  the  perfidy  of  Julian,  the  sacrilege  of  the  traitor 
Judas.  1 

It  were  injustice  to  King  Henry  not  to  suppose  that 
with  the  dread  as  to  the  consequences  of  this  act  must 
have  mingled  some  reminiscences  of  the  gallant  friend 
and  companion  of  his  youth  and  of  the  faithful  minis- 
ter, as  well  as  religious  horror  at  a  cruel  murder,  so 
savagely  and  impiously  executed.^  He  shut  himself 
for  three  days  in  his  chamber,  obstinately  refused  all 
food  and  comfort,  till  his  attendants  began  to  fear  for 
his  life.  He  issued  orders  for  the  apprehension  of  the 
murderers,^  and  despatched  envoys  to  the  Pope  to  ex- 
culpate himself  from  all  participation  or  cognizance  of 
the  crime.  His  ambassadors  found  the  Pope  at  Tuscu- 
lum:  they  were  at  first  sternly  refused  an  audience. 
The  afflicted  and  indignant  Pope  was  hardly  prevailed 
on  to  permit  the  execrated  name  of  the  King  of  Eng- 
land to  be  uttered  before  him.  The  cardinals  still 
fi'iendly  to  the  King  with  difficulty  obtained  knowledge 
of  Alexander's  determination.  It  was,  on  a  fixed  day, 
to  pronounce  with  the  utmost  solemnity,  excommunica- 
tion against  the  King  by  name,  and  an  interdict  on  all 

1  Giles,  iv.  162.  Bouquet,  467.  It  was  fitting  that  the  day  after  that  of 
the  Hoh'  Innocents  should  be  that  on  which  should  rise  up  this  new  Herod. 

2  See  the  letter  of  Arnulf  of  Lisieux.  —  Bouquet,  469. 

8  The  Quarterly  reviewer  has  the  merit  of  tracing  out  the  extraordinary 
fate  of  the  murderers.  "  By  a  singular  reciprocity,  the  principle  for  whicli 
Becket  had  contended,  that  priests  should  not  be  subjected  to  the  secular 
courts,  prevented  the  trial  of  a  layman  for  the  murder  of  a  priest  by  any 
other  than  a  clerical  tribunal."  Legend  imposes  upon  them  dark  and  ro- 
mantic acts  of  penance ;  history  finds  them  in  high  places  of  trust  and 
honor.  —  pp.  377,  et  seq.  I  may  add  that  John  of  Oxford  five  years  after 
was  Bishop  of  Norwich.    Ridel  too  became  Bishop  of  Ely. 


Chap.  YIU.  PENANCE  OF  HEISTIY.  419 

his  dominions,  on  the  Continent  as  well  as  in  England. 
The  ambassadors  hardly  obtained  the  abandonment  of 
this  fearful  purpose,  by  swearing  that  the  King  would 
submit  in  all  things  to  the  judgment  of  his  Holiness. 
With  difficulty  the  terms  of  reconciliation  were  ar- 
ranged. 

In  the  Cathedral  of  Avranches  in  Normandy,  in  the 
presence  of  the  Cardinals  Theodin  of  Porto,  Reconcuia- 

tiOQ  at 

and  Albert  the  Chancellor,  Legates  for  that  Avranches. 
especial  purpose,  Henry  swore  on  the  Gospels  that  he 
had  neither  commanded  nor  desired  the  death  of 
Becket ;  that  it  had  caused  him  sorrow,  not  joy  ;  he 
had  not  grieved  so  deeply  for  the  death  of  his  father  or 
his  mother.^  He  stipulated  —  I.  To  maintain  two  hun- 
dred knights  at  his  own  cost  in  the  Holy  Land.  II. 
To  abrogate  the  Statutes  of  Clarendon,  and  all  bad 
customs  introduced  during  his  reign. ^  III.  That  he 
would  reinvest  the  Church  of  Canterbury  in  all  its 
rights  and  possessions,  and  pardon  and  restore  to  their 
estates  all  who  had  incurred  his  wrath  in  the  cause  of 
the  Primate.  IV.  If  the  Pope  should  require  it,  he 
would   himself  make  a  crusade    against  the  Asoension 

Day. 

Saracens  in  Spain.  In  the  porch  of  the  May* 22, 1172. 
church  he  was  reconciled,  but  with  no  ignominious 
ceremony. 

Throughout  the  later  and  the  darker  part  of  Henry's 
reign  the  clergy  took  care  to  inculcate,  and  the  people 
were  prone  enough  to  believe,  that  all  his  disasters  and 
calamities,  the  rebellion  of  his  wife  and  of  his  sons, 
were  judgments  of  God  for  the  persecution  if  not  the 

1  Diceto,  p.  557. 

2  This  stipulation,  in  Henry's  view,  cancelled  hardly  any;  as  few,  and 
these  but  trifling  customs,  had  been  admitted  during  his  reign. 


420  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

murder  of  the  Martyr  Thomas.  The  strong  mind  of 
Henry  himself,  depressed  by  misfortune  and  by  the  es- 
trangement of  his  children,  acknowledged  with  super- 
stitious awe  the  justice  of  their  conclusions.  Heaven, 
the  Martyr  in  Heaven,  must  be  appeased  by  a  public 
humiliating  penance.  The  deeper  the  degradation  the 
more  valuable  the  atonement.  In  less  than  three  years 
after  his  death  the  King  visited  the  tomb  of  Becket,  by 
this  time  a  canonized  saint,  renowned  not  only  through- 
out England  for  his  wonder-working  powers,  but  to 
the  limits  of  Christendom.  As  soon  as  he  came  near 
Penance  at  euough  to  866  the  tow6rs  of  Canterbury,  the 
Friday.  "  King  dismouutcd  from  his  horse,  and  for 
1174.  '  three  miles  walked  with  bare  and  bleeding 
feet  along  the  flinty  road.  The  tomb  of  the  Saint  was 
then  in  the  crypt  beneath  the  church.  The  King 
threw  himself  prostrate  before  it.  The  Bishop  of 
London  (Foliot)  preached  ;  he  declared  to  the  wonder- 
ing multitude  that  on  his  solemn  oath  the  King  was 
entirely  guiltless  of  the  murder  of  the  Saint :  but  as 
his  hasty  words  had  been  the  innocent  cause  of  the 
crime,  he  submitted  in  lowly  obedience  to  the  penance 
of  the  Church.  The  haughty  monarch  then  prayed  to 
be  scourged  by  the  willing  monks.  From  the  one  end 
of  the  church  to  the  other  each  ecclesiastic  present  grati- 
fied his  pride,  and  thought  that  he  performed  his  duty,  by 
giving  a  few  stripes.^  The  King  passed  calmly  through 
this  rude  discipline,  and  then  spent  a  night  and  a  day 
in  prayers  and  tears,  imploring  the  intercession  in 
Hearen  of  him  whom,  he  thought  not  now  on  how 

1  The  scene  is  related  by  all  the  monkish  chroniclers.  —  Gervaise,  Diceto, 
Brompton,  Hoveden. 


CHAP.yni.     BECKET  aiAETYE  OF  THE  CLERGY.  421 

just  grounds,  he  had  pursued  with  relentless  animosity 
on  earth.^ 

Thus  Becket  obtained  by  his  death  that  triumph  for 
which  he  would  perhaps  have  struggled  in  vain  through 
a  long  life.  He  was  now  a  Saint,  and  for  some  cen- 
tuiies  the  most  popular  Saint  in  England :  among  the 
people,  from  a  generous  indignation  at  his  barbarous 
murder,  from  the  fame  of  his  austerities  and  his  chari- 
ties, no  doubt  from  admiration  of  his  bold  resistance  to 
the  kingly  power ;  among  the  clergy  as  the  champion, 
the  martyr  of  their  order.  Even  if  the  clergy  had  had 
no  interest  in  the  miracles  at  the  tomb  of  Becket,  the 
high-strung  faith  of  the  people  would  have  wrought 
them  almost  without  suggestion  or  assistance.  Cures 
would  have  been  made  or  imagined ;  the  latent  powers 
of  diseased  or  paralyzed  bodies  would  have  been  quick- 
ened into  action.  Belief,  and  the  fear  of  disbelieving, 
would  have  multiplied  one  extraordinary  event  into  a 
hundred ;  fraud  would  be  outbid  by  zeal ;  the  inven- 
tion of  the  crafty,  even  if  what  may  seem  invention 
was  not  more  often  ignorance  and  credulity,  would  be 
outrun  by  the  demands  of  superstition.  There  is  no 
calculating  the  extent  and  effects  of  these  epidemic  out- 
bursts of  passionate  religion." 

Becket  was  indeed  the  martyr  of  the  clergy,  not  of 
the  Church ;  of  sacerdotal  power,  not  of  Chris-  Becket 

J-       •  n  n  1  •      1  o        T-i  martyr  of 

nanity ;  ot  a  caste,  not  of  mankmd.^     From  the  clergy. 

1  Peter  of  Blois  was  assured  by  the  two  cardinal  legates  of  Henry's  in- 
nocence of  Becket's  death.  See  this  letter,  which  contains  a  most  high- 
flown  eulogy  on  the  transcendent  virtues  of  Henry.  —  Epist.  66, 

2  On  the  effect  of  the  death,  and  the  immediate  concourse  of  the  people 
V)  Canterburi^,  Lambeth,  p.  1.33. 

3  Herbert  de  Bosham,  writing  fourteen  years  after  Becket's  death,  de- 
jlares  him  among  the  most  undisputed  martyrs.  "  Quod  alicujus  martyrum 


422  LATIX  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII 

beginning  to  end  it  was  a  strife  for  the  authority, 
the  immunities,  the  possessions  of  the  clergy.^  The 
liberty  of  the  Church  was  the  exemption  of  the  clergy 
from  law ;  the  vindication  of  their  separate,  exclusive, 
distinctive  existence  from  the  rest  of  mankind.  It  was 
a  sacrifice  to  the  deified  self;  not  the  individual  self, 
but  self  as  the  centre  and  representative  of  a  great 
corporation.  Here  and  there  in  the  long  fall  corre- 
spondence there  is  some  slight  allusion  to  the  miseries 
of  the  people  in  being  deprived  of  the  services  of  the 
exiled  bishops  and  clergy :  2  "  there  is  no  one  to  ordain 
clergy,  to  consecrate  virgins  :  "  the  confiscated  proper- 
ty is  said  to  be  a  robbery  of  the  poor  :  yet  in  general 
the  sole  object  in  dispute  was  the  absolute  immunity  of 
the  clergy  from  civil  jurisdiction,^  the  right  of  appeal 
from  the  temporal  sovereign  to  Rome,  and  the  asserted 
superiority  of  the  spiritual  rulers  in  every  respect  over 
the  temporal  power.  There  might,  indeed,  be  latent 
advantages  to  mankind,  social,  moral,  and  religious,  in 
this  secluded  sanctity  of  one  class  of  men  ;  it  might  be 

causa  justior  fuit  aut  apertior  ego  nee  audivi,  nee  legi."  So  completely 
were  clerical  immunities  part  and  parcel  of  Christianity. 

1  The  enemies  of  Becket  assigned  base  reasons  for  his  opposition  to  the 
King.  "  Ecclesiasticam  etiam  libertatem,  quam  defensatis,  uon  ad  anima- 
rum  lucrum  sed  ad  augraentum  pecuniarum,  episcopos  vestros  intorquere." 
See  the  charges  urged  by  John  of  Oxford.  —  Giles,  iv.  p.  188. 

2  Especially  in  Epist.  19.     "  Interim." 

3  It  is  not  just  to  judge  the  clergj'  by  the  crimes  of  individual  men,  but 
there  is  one  case,  mentioned  by  no  less  an  authority  than  John  of  Salis- 
bury, too  flagrant  to  pass  over:  it  was  in  Becket's  ovrn  cathedral  city. 
Immediately  after  Becket's  death  the  Bishops  of  Exeter  and  Worcester 
were  commissioned  by  Pope  Alexander  to  visit  St.  Augustine's.  Canter- 
burj".  They  report  the  total  dilapidation  of  the  buildings  and  estates. 
The  prior  elect  "  Jugi,  quod  hereticus  damnat,  fluit  libidine,  et  hinnit  in 
fseminas,  adeo  impudens  ut  libidinem,  nisi  quam  publicaverit,  voluptuosam 
esse  non  reputat."  He  debauched  mothers  and  daughters:  "  Fornicationis 
abusum  comparat  necessitate"  In  one  village  he  had  seventeen  bastards. 
—  Epist.  310. 


Chap.  Vm.  VERDICT  OF  POSTERITY.  423 

well  that  there  should  be  a  barrier  against  the  fierce 
and  ruffian  violence  of  kings  and  barons ;  that  some- 
where freedom  should  find  a  voice,  and  some  protest  be 
made  against  the  despotism  of  arms,  especially  in  a 
newly-conquered  country  like  England,  where  the 
kingly  and  aristocratic  power  was  still  foreign :  above 
all,  that  there  should  be  a  caste,  not  an  hereditary  one, 
into  which  ability  might  force  its  way  up,  from  the 
most  low-born,  even  from  the  servile  rank;  but  the 
liberties  of  the  Church,  as  they  were  called,  were  but 
the  establishment  of  one  tyranny  —  a  milder,  perhaps, 
but  not  less  rapacious  tyranny  —  instead  of  another ;  a 
tyranny  which  aspired  to  uncontrolled,  irresponsible 
rule,  nor  was  above  the  inevitable  evil  produced  on 
rulers  as  well  as  on  subjects,  from  the  consciousness  of 
arbitrary  and  autocratic  power. 

Reflective  posterity  may  perhaps  consider  as  not  the 
least  remarkable  point  in  this  lofty  and  tragic  verdict  of 
strife  that  it  was  but  a  strife  for  power,  p^^*^"*^' 
Henry  II.  was  a  sovereign  who,  with  many  noble  and 
kingly  qualities,  lived,  more  than  even  most  monarchs 
of  his  age,  in  direct  violation  of  every  Christian  precept 
of  justice,  humanity,  conjugal  fidelity.  He  was  lust- 
ful, cruel,  treacherous,  arbitrary.  But  throughout  this 
contest  there  is  no  remonstrance  whatever  from  Primate 
or  Pope  against  his  disobedience  to  the  laws  of  God, 
only  to  those  of  the  Church.  Becket  mighty  indeed, 
if  he  had  retained  his  full  and  acknowledged  religious 
power,  have  rebuked  the  vices,  protected  the  subjects, 
interceded  for  the  victims  of  the  King's  unbridled  pas- 
sions. It  must  be  acknowledged  by  all  that  he  did  not 
take  the  wisest  course  to  secure  this  which  might  have 
been  beneficent  influence.     But  as  to  what  appears,  if 


424  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YHI. 

the  Kincr  would  have  consented  to  allow  the  church- 
men  to  despise  all  law  —  if  he  had  not  insisted  on 
hanging  priests  guilty  of  homicide  as  freely  as  laymen 
—  he  might  have  gone  on  unreproved  in  his  career  of 
ambition  ;  he  might  unrebuked  have  seduced  or  rav- 
ished the  wives  and  daughters  of  his  nobles ;  extorted 
without  remonstrance  of  the  Clergy  any  revenue  from 
his  subjects,  if  he  had  kept  his  hands  from  the  treasures 
of  the  Church.  Henry's  real  tyranny  was  not  (would 
it  in  any  case  have  been?)  the  object  of  the  church- 
man's censure,  oppugnancy,  or  resistance.  The  cruel 
and  ambitious  and  rapacious  King  would  doubtless 
have  lived  unexcommunicated  and  died  with  plenary 
absolution. 


Chap.  IX.  ALEXANDER  HI.  425 


CHAPTER   IX. 

ALEXANDER  m.  AND   THE   POPES   TO  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE 
TWELFTH    CENTURY. 

The  history  of  Becket  has  been  throughout  almost 
its  whole  course  that  of  Pope  Alexander  III.  :  it  has 
shown  the  Pontiff  as  an  exile  in  France,  and  after  his 
return  to  Rome.  The  support  of  the  English  Primate, 
more  or  less  courageous  and  resolute,  or  wavering  and 
lukewarm,  has  been  in  exact  measure  to  his  own  pros- 
perity and  danger.  When  Alexander  seems  to  aban- 
don the  cause  of  the  English  Primate,  he  is  trembling 
before  his  o^^ti  adversaries,  or  embarrassed  with  in- 
creasing difficulties ;  when  he  boldly,  either  through 
himself  or  his  legates,  takes  part  against  the  King  of 
Eno-land,  it  is  because  he  feels  stroncr  enough  to  stand 
without  the  countenance  or  without  the  large  pecuniary 
aids  lavished  by  Henry. 

Alexander  remained  in  France  above  three  years. 
During  that  time  the  kingdom  of  Sicily  was  April,  ii62, 

1  1  ^  1         x^  to  Sept. 

restored  to  peace  and  order ;  the  Emperor  ii65. 
had  returned  to  Germany,  where  he  seemed  likely  to 
be  fully  occupied  with  domestic  wars ;  the  Itahan  re- 
publics were  groaning  under  the  oppressive  yoke  of 
their  conqueror,  which  they  were  watching  the  oppor- 
tunity to  throw  oflP:  Milan,  given  up  to  ruin,  fire,  and, 
most  destructive  of  all,  to  the  fury  of   her  enemies, 


426  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

razed  to  the  earth,  if  not  sown  with  salt.  Lodi,  Cre- 
mona, Pavia,  had  risen  from  her  ashes  ;  but  walls  had 
grown  up,  trenches  sunk  around  the  condemned  city. 
Her  old  alhes  had  rivalled  in  zeal,  activity,  and  devo- 
tion her  revengeful  foes.  Her  scattered  citizens  had 
returned.  The  Archbishop's  palace  towered  in  its 
majesty,  the  churches  lifted  up  their  pinnacles  and 
spires,  the  republic  had  resumed  its  haughtiness,  its 
turbulence.^  The  Antipope  Victor  was  dead,^  but  a 
new  Antipope  was  not  wanting.  The  Emperor  might, 
without  loss  of  honor,  have  made  peace  with  i^lexan- 
der  ;  but  the  Imperialist  churchmen  dared  not  trust  a 
Pope  whom  they  had  denied  to  be  Pope.  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Cologne  and  the  German  and  Lombard  prel- 
ates proclaimed  Guido  of  Crema  by  the  title  of  Paschal 
in. ;  he  was  consecrated  by  the  Bishop  of  Liege.  But 
the  Antipope  had  not  dared  to  contest  Rome  ;  he  was, 
in  fact,  a  German  Antipope  overawed  by  German  prel- 
ates. In  Rome  the  vicegerent  of  Pope  Alexander 
ruled  with  almost  undisturbed  sway  ;  but  in  that  vice- 
gerent had  taken  place  an  important  change.  Julius, 
the  Cardinal  of  Palestrina,  died ;  the  Cardinal  of  St. 
John  and  St.  Paul  was  appointed  in  his  place.  This 
Cardinal  was  a  man  of  gi'eat  address  and  activity. 
By  artful  language  and  well-directed  bribery,  notwith- 
standing all  the  opposition  of  Christian,  the  Chancellor 
of  the  Empire,  he  won  over  the  versatile  people :  the 
senate  were  entirely  at  his  disposal. 

The  Pope,  at  the  summons  of  his  Vicar,  and  lavishly 

1  Ann.  1162.  On  the  extent  of  the  destruction  of  Milan,  and  its  resto- 
ration, compare  Verri,  Storia  di  Milano,  c.  vii.  He  gives  the  authorities  in 
full. 

2  April  1164.    In  Lucca. 


Chap.  IX.  ALEXANDER  IN  RO^IE.  427 

supplied  with  money  by  tlie  Kings  of  France  and  Eng- 
land, embarked,  on  the  octave  of  the  Assump-  g^p^  ^^q^^ 
tion    of   the   Virgin,    at    Marseilles,  himself  ^^^^^^^^J,, 
in  one  vessel,  the  cardinals  of  his  party  and  ^*^^y- 
Oberto,   the  anti-Imperialist  Archbishop  of  Milan,  in 
another.     They  were  watched  by  the  fleet  of  Pisa,  in 
the  interests  of  the  Emperor.     The  vessel  which  con- 
veyed the  cardinals  was  taken,  searched  in  vain  for  the 
person  of  the  Pope,  and  then  released  ;  that  with  the 
Pope  on  board  put  back  into  the  port.  Shortly  ^ariy  in 
after  in  a  smaller  and  swift-saihng  bark  he  ^°^^'^^^''- 
reached  Messina :  there  he  received  a  splendid  embassy 
from   the  King  of  Sicily ;    several  large  vessels  were 
placed  at  his  command.     The  Archbishop  of  Reggio 
(in    Calabria)    and   many   barons    of   Southern  Italy 
joined  themselves  to  the  cardinals  around  him.      The 
fleet  landed  at  Ostia :  the  clergy  and  sena-  Nov.  22. 
tors  of  Rome  crowded  to  pay  their  homage  to  tne  Pope. 
He  was  escorted  to  the  city  by  numbers  bearing  olive- 
branches.      At  the  Lateran   gate   the  clergy  in  their 
sacred  vestments,  the  authorities  of  the  city  and  the 
militia  under  their  banners,  the   Jews  with  Nov.  24. 
their  Bible  in  their  hands,  presented  themselves ;  and 
in  the  midst  of  this  festive  procession  he  took  possession 
of  the  Lateran  palace. 

But  it  was  not  the  policy  of  the  Hohenstaufen  Em- 
peror to  desert  the  cause  of  his  Antipope,  and  to  leave 
Alexander  in  secure  possession  of  Rome.  After  the 
Pope  had  occupied  Rome  for  a  year,  in  the  following 
year  Frederick  crossed  the  Alps  with  a  great  force. 
Rainald,  Archbishop  of  Cologne  and  Archchancellor 
of  Italy,  preceded  his  march  towards  the  a.d.  ner. 
south.  Pisa  received  him ;  the  Alexandrine  archbishop, 


428  LATIjS"    CHKISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

Villani,  was  degraded,  Benencasa  installed  as  arch- 
bishop.^ Rome  Avas  notoriously  the  prize  of  the  highest 
bidder  ;  it  had  been  bought  by  Alexander  with  the  gold 
of  France,  England,  and  Sicily ;  ^  many  were  disposed 
to  be  bought  again  by  the  Emperor.  Rainald  of  Co- 
logne, an  active,  daring,  and  unscrupulous  partisan, 
made  great  progress  in  the  neighborhood  of  Rome  and 
in  Rome  itself  in  favor  of  the  Antipope.  The  Em- 
peror, at  the  head  of  his  army,  moved  slowly  south- 
wards. Instead,  however,  of  marching  direct  to  Rome, 
he  sat  down  before  Ancona,  which  had  returned  or 
been  resubdued  to  its  allegiance  to  the  Byzantine  Em- 
pire ;  for  the  Byzantine  Manuel  Comnenus  had  found 
leisure  to  mingle  himself  again  in  the  affairs  of  Italy ; 
he  even  aspired  to  reunite  Rome  to  what  the  Byzan- 
tines still  called  the  Roman  Empire.^  Ancona  made  a 
brave  resistance,  and  the  Imperial  forces  were  thus  di- 
verted from  the  capital. 

The  feeble  Romans  were  constant  to  one  passion 
alone,  the  hatred  of  their  neighbors ;  that  hatred  was 
now  centred  on  Tusculum.  Notwithstanding  all  the 
remonstrances  of  the  more  prudent  Pope,  the  whole 
militia  of  Rome,  on  whom  depended  the  power  of  re- 

1  "  Quern  venerabilis  Pasqualis  cum  cancellario,  et  cardinalibus  gloriose 
recepit."  — Marangoni,  p.  47. 

2  "  Roma  si  invenerit  emptorem,  venalem  se  praeberet."  — Vit.  Alex.  III. 

3  Cinnamus,  vi.  4,  p.  261,  ed.  Bonn.  According  to  the  Byzantine,  the 
Pope  had  agreed  to  this.  'Eg  to  TTa?iat  edog  uvaK£XO)pT]K£vat  tov  ev  Pw/z?? 
dpxt£p£(JC  ovvo[ioloyTjaavTog.  Alexander  was  well  content  to  accept  Greek 
gold,  not  Greek  rule.  Did  Manuel  fondly  believe  his  sincerity?  In  1171 
(Feb.  28),  Alexander,  alarmed  at  a  proposition  of  marriage  between  the 
son  of  the  Emperor  Frederick  and  the  daughter  of  the  King  of  France, 
offers  to  the  King  of  France  to  procure  for  his  daughter  the  hand  of  the 
son  of  the  Byzantine  emperor,  "  Avhose  treasury  is  inexhaustible."  "  San6 
apud  imperatorem  (Constantinopolitanum)  regnum  et  consanguinei  puell» 
serarium  indeficiens  semper  invenient."  — Apud  Bouquet,  xv.  901. 


Chap.  IX.  FREDERICK  ATTACKS  ROIilE.  429 

sistance  to  the  Emperor,  marclied  out  to  attack  the 
detested  neighbor.  They  suffered  a  disgraceful  defeat 
by  a  few  German  troops,  headed  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Mentz,  their  general,  and  the  garrison  of  Tusculum 
under  the  command  of  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne. 
Their  loss  was  great  and  irreparable,  1000  ^nd  of  May 
slain,  2000  prisoners  :  the  prowess  of  these  •'••^^^• 
warlike  churchmen  afflicted  even  to  tears  but  did  not 
subdue  the  courage  of  the  resolute  Pontiff.^  He 
strengthened  as  far  as  he  could  the  fortifications  of 
Rome  ;  a  few  troops  were  obtained  from  the  Queen 
Regent  of  Sicily  (William  II.  was  now  dead)  and  the 
youthful  king.  Frederick  had  broken  up  the  siege  of 
Ancona ;  he  reached  Rome,  and  easily  got  possession 
of  the  Leonine  city  :  the  Vatican  alone  maintained  an 
obstinate  defence,  till  some  of  the  buildino^s  cauo-ht  fire 
and  compelled  the  gamson  to  capitulate.  The  Anti- 
pope  took  possession  of  St.  Peter's,  reeking  with  blood 
up  to  the  high  altar,^  and  performed  the  papal  July  so. 
functions.  The  Emperor  attended  ;  the  Empress  Bea- 
trice received  the  imperial  diadem,  and  the  crown  of 
Frederick  was  blessed  again  by  the  Pontiff. 

Alexander  seemed  at  first  determined  to  defend  to 
the  utmost  the  city  on  the  other  side  of  the  Tiber. 
Some  Sicilian  vessels  had  sailed  up  "the  river  to  bring 
supplies  of  money  and  to  convey  him  away.  Alex- 
ander refused  to  embark.  The  Frangipanis  and  the 
house  of  Peter  Leonis  were  firm  and  united  in  his 

1  "  Paucissimi  evaserunt,  qui  non  occisi,  aut  captivati  fuerint."  —  Chroni- 
con  Reichsperg.  The  best  account  of  the  victory  of  these  martial  prelates 
is  in  Otto  de  Saint  Blaise,  c.  xx. 

2  Otto  de  Saint  Blaise.  He  sajs  that  the  imperial  troops  heaved  down 
the  gates  of  Saint  Peter's  with  axes  and  hatchets,  and  fought  their  way  to 
the  high  altar,  slaying  as  they  went.  —  Compare  Marangoni,  p.  48. 


430  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

cause.  Before  long  lie  thought  it  more  prudent  to 
Alexander  escape  in  disguise  to  Gaeta ;  there  he  re- 
vento.  sumed  the  pontifical  attire  and  withdrew' to 

Benevento. 

Rome  consoled  herself  for  her  enforced  submission 
Aug.  22.  by  the  reestablishment  of  her  senate  in  su- 
preme authority.  The  Emperor  endeavored,  by  the 
grant  of  various  immunities,  to  secure '  the  fidelity  of 
the  people ;  but  the  Frangipanis,  the  Peter  Leonis,  and 
many  of  the  nobles,  remained  aloof  in  sullen  silence, 
and  kept  within  their  impregnable  fortress  palaces. 
But  the  Pope  had  a  more  powerful  ally.  Never  did 
the  climate  of  Rome  so  fearfully  humiliate  the  pride  of 
the  Emperor,  or  work  with  such  awful  force  for  the 
liberation  of  Italy.^  No  wonder  that  the  visible  hand 
Pestuence.  of  God  was  sccu  in  the  epidemic  which  broke 
out  in  the  German  army.  It  seemed,  as  has  been  said, 
commissioned  with  especial  violence  against  those  re- 
bellious churchmen  who  had  taken  part  and  stood  in 
arms  against  the  lawful  Pope.  The  Archbishop  elect 
of  Cologne,  the  Bishops  of  Prague,  Liege,  Spires,  Rat- 
isbon,  Verdun,  Augsburg,  Zeitz,  were  among  its  first 
victims.  With  them  perished  Duke  Frederick  of  Swa- 
bia,  the  young  Duke  Guelf,  in  whom  expired  the  line 
of  the  Estensian  Guelfs.  The  pestilence  was  no  less 
terrific  from  its  rapidity  than  from  its  intensity.  Men 
were,  in  perfect  health  in  the  morning,  dead  before  the 
evening  :  it  was  hardly  possible  to  perform  the  rites  of 
decent  burial.     The  Emperor  broke  up  his  camp  in  the 

1  Here  perhaps  may  once  more  be  cited  Peter  Damiani's  lines,  almost 
equally  appropriate  on  every  German  invasion : 

"  Roma  vorax  hominum,  domat  ardua  coUa  virorum, 
Roma  ferax  febrium,  necis  est  uberrima  frugum, 
Romanse  febres  stabili  sunt  jure  fideles."  —  c.  Ixiii. 


Chap.  IX.  FLIGHT  OF  THE  EilPEROR.  431 

utmost  haste,  retreated,  not  without  hostile  resistance 
in  the  pass  of  Pontremoh,  by  Lucca  and  Pisa  Retreat  of 
to  Pavia.  Of  nobles,  bishops,  knights,  and  Sept.  4,  iieV. 
squires,  not  reckoning  the  common  soldiers,  he  had  lost 
2000  by  the  plague  and  during  his  retreat.  Nor  was 
this  the  worst :  all  Lombardy  was  in  arms.  A  league 
had  been  formed  to  throw  off  his  tyrannical  yoke  by 
Venice,  Verona  and  all  her  dependencies,  Vicenza, 
Padua,  Treviso,  Ferrara,  Brescia,  Bergamo,  Cremona, 
Milan,  Lodi,  Piacenza,  Parma,  Mantua,  Modena,  and 
Bologna.  The  Emperor  was  not  safe  in  Pavia  :  early 
in  the  spring  of  the  next  year  the  haughty  Barbarossa 
hardly  found  his  way  to  Germany  in  disguise  ;  a.d.  lies. 
with  greater  difficulty  the  wreck  of  his  army  stole 
through  the  passes  of  the  Alps.^ 

With  the  flight  of  the  Emperor  fell  the  cause  of  the 
Antipope.      City  after  city  declared  its  allegiance   to 
Alexander.     The  Antipope  maintained  himself  in  St. 
Peter's,  but  his  death  in  the  autumn  of  the  g^p,.  20 
year  might  have  been  expected  to  terminate  ^^^' 
the  schism.     No  single  cardinal  of  his  faction  remained ; 
but  the  obstinate  few  who  adhered  to  him  persuaded 
John,  formerly  Abbot  of  Struma,  now  Bishop  of  Tus- 
culum,  to  assume  the  papacy  under  the  name  of  Calix- 
tus  III.     His  legates  were  received  by  Fred-  j^^^  23  ii69. 
erick  at  a  great  Diet  at  Bamberg ;   yet  the  -^^'*^- 
Emperor  did  not  scruple  during  the  following  year  to 
send  Eberhard,  the  Bishop  of  Bamberg,  to  negotiate 
with  Alexander,  now  avowedly  the  head  of  the  Lom- 
bard  League.      The   great   fortress   which   had   been 

1  "  Sicque  evadens  Imperator,  transcursis  Alpibus,  exercitum,  morte, 
morbo,  omnique  miseria  confectum,  in  patriam  rednxit."  —  Otto  de  Saint 
Blaise,  c.  xx. 


432  LATIN  CHRISTIAKITY.  Book  VIII. 

erected  in  the  plains  of  Piedmont,  as  the  impregnable 
place  of  arms  for  the  League,  was  named  after  the 
Pope,  Alexandria.  The  Pontiff  was  too  sagacious  not 
to  perceive  that  the  object  of  these  peaceful  offers  was 
to  alienate  him  from  his  allies,  the  King  of  Sicily,  the 
Emperor  of  Constantinople,  and  the  Lombard  cities. 
The  Pope  received  Eberhard  of  Bamberg  at  Veroli ; 
as  the  Bishop  had  no  authority  to  acknowledge  him 
unreservedly  as  Pope,  he  was  dismissed  with  haughty 
courtesy.  Yet  Alexander  dared  not  to  take  up  his  abode 
in  Rome.  The  Prefect  still  commanded  there  in  the 
name  of  the  Emperor ;  and  Tusculum,  hard  pressed  by 
the  Romans,  whom  the  Prefect  could  not  but  indulge 
in  their  hope  of  vengeance  for  their  late  defeat,  surren- 
dered first  to  the  Prefect,  afterwards  to  the  Pope  as  the 
mightier  protector.  To  increase  the  confusion,  Manuel 
the  Eastern  Emperor  pressed  more  vigorously  his  in- 
trigues to  regain  a  footing  in  Italy.  He  condescended 
to  court  the  Frangipani  by  granting  his  daughter  in 
marriage  to  a  prince  of  that  powerful  house.  The 
Pope,  still  at  Veroli,  gave  his  blessing  to  the  nuptials. 
A.D.  1172.  Rome  now  offered  her  unqualified  allegiance 
to  the  Pope  at  the  price  of  the  sacrifice  of  Tusculum,^ 
which  had  yielded  herself  into  his  hands,  and  where  he 
had  held  his  papal  state  more  than  two  years.  Alex- 
ander consented  to  raze  her  impregnable  walls ;  his 
treachery  to  Tusculum  was  punished  by  the  treachery 
of  the  Romans.  When  the  walls  of  her  hated  rival 
were  levelled  they  laughed  to  scorn  their  own  agree- 
ment.    Alexander  retired  to  Anagni,  revenging  him- 

1  Alexander  was  at  Veroli  from  March  to  September. 

2  His  bulls  bear  date  at  Tua^nlum,  from  Oct.  17, 1170,  to  Jan.  1173.  — 
JaflF^,  Kegesta. 


Chap.  IX.  PACIFICATION  OF  VENICE.  433 

self  by  fortifying  again  the  denuded  city  of  Tuscu- 
lum.^ 

It  was  not  till  above  three  years  after,  when  the 
pride  of  Barbarossa  had  been  humbled  by  his  Mav  29,  iiiQ. 

Defeat  of 

total  defeat  at  Legnano,  the  battle-field  in  Legnauo. 
which  the  Lombard  republics  won  their  independence, 
that  Alexander  could  trust  the  earnest  wishes  of  the 
Emperor  for  peace.  The  Emperor  could  no  longer 
refuse  to  recognize  a  pontiff  at  the  head  of  the  League 
of  his  conquerors  ;  it  was  of  awful  omen  that  the  for- 
tress named  after  the  Pope  had  borne  before  the  fatal 
battle  all  the  brunt  of  the  war,  and  defied  his  mightiest 
armament.  A  secret  treaty,  now  that  a  treaty  was 
necessary  for  both  parties,  arranged  the  chief  xov.  12. 
points  in  dispute  between  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor ; 
the  general  pacification  was  not  publicly  proclaimed  tiL 
the  following  year. 

Then  the  Fo-pe,  under  the  safe-conduct  of  the  Em- 
peror, embarked  with  his  retinue  in  elcA'^en  stately  gal- 
leys, for  Venice.     He  was  received  with   the  highest 
honors  by  the  Doge,  Sebastiano  Ziani,^  and  the  sen- 
ators.    Some  dispute  took  place  as  to  the  city  ^he  pope 
in  which  was  to  be  holden  the  general  con-  jJaTchll" 
gress  ;  the  Lombards  proposed  Bologna  ;  the  ■^^'^' 
Emperor  Venice  ;   and  Venice  was   at  length  agreed 
upon  by  all  parties.     But  though  the  terms  of  recon- 
ciliation between  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor  might  be 
arranged  with  no  great  difficulty,  and  on  their  main 
points  had  been  settled  before  at  Anagni  (the  fiill  rec- 
ognition of  Alexander  —  the  abandonment  of  the  Anti- 
pope,  was  the  one  important  article),  more  embarrassing 

1  He  was  at  Segni,  Jan,  27, 1173;  at  Anagni,  March  28. 

2  He  embarked  at  Viesti,  March  9, 1177. 
VOL.  IV.  28 


434  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  Vltl. 

questions  arose  on  the  terms  insisted  on  by  the  Pope's 
allies,  especially  the  Lombard  republics.  The  Emperor 
demanded  the  full  acknowledgment  of  all  the  imperial 
rights  recognized  at  the  diet  of  Roncaglia,  and  claimed 
or  enjoyed  by  his  predecessors.  The  republics  insisted 
on  the  confirmation  of  their  customs  as  recognized  by 
the  late  emperors,  Henry  V.,  Conrad,  and  Lothair. 
Truce  of  ^^  pcacc  sccmcd  impracticable,  the  Pope  at 
Venice.  length  Suggested  a  truce.     The  Emperor  at 

first  indignantly  rejected  this  proposition,  but  was  pre- 
vailed on  to  yield  to  a  truce  of  six  years  with  the  Lom- 
bard League ;  of  fifteen  with  the  King  of  Sicily.  In 
the  mean  time  the  Emperor  was  to  retain  possession  of 
the  domains  of  the  Countess  Matilda ;  after  that  they 
were  to  revert  to  the  Pope.  The  Lombards  bitterly 
complained  of  this  abandonment  of  their  cause ;  they 
had  borne  the  brunt  and  expenditure  of  the  war ;  the 
Pope  only  consulted  his  own  advantage.  But  Alex- 
ander judged  more  wisely  of  their  real  interests.  The 
cities  during  the  truce  were  more  likely  to  increase  in 
w^ealth  and  power,  might  quietly  strengthen  their  forti- 
fications, and  gather  the  resources  of  war ;  the  Em- 
peror, in  that  time,  might  be  involved  in  new  hostilities 
in  Germany.  At  all  events  the  Christian  prelate  might 
fully  determine  to  obtain  a  suspension  of  arms,  if  he 
could  not  a  permanent  peace  :  the  chances  of  peace 
were  better  for  all  parties  than  those  of  war. 

The  Emperor  then  advanced  towards  Venice.  When 
he  arrived  at  Chioggia,  the  eager  and  tumultuous  pop- 
ulace were  disposed  to  transport  him  into  the  city, 
without  precaution  or  exchange  of  hostages.  The  dis- 
trustful Pope  was  so  alarmed,  that  he  kept  his  galleys 
prepared  for  flight.     The  Lombard  deputies  actually 


Chap.  IX.    INTERVIEW  OF  THE  EMPEROR  AND  POPE.     435 

set.  out  towards  Treviso.  But  tlie  grave  wisdom  of 
the  Doge  Ziani,  and  of  the  senate,  appeased  the  popu- 
lar movement,  arranged  and  guaranteed  the  ceremonial 
for  the  proclamation  of  the  peace  on  the  meeting  of 
the  Pope  and  of  the  Emperor. 

On  Tuesday  the  24th  of  July,  the  Pope  went  in 
great  state  to  the  Church  of  St.  Mark :  the  Doge,  with 
the  Bucentaur,  and  other  splendid  galleys,  to  meet 
the  Emperor  at  S.  Niccolo  del  Lido.^  The  bishops  of 
Ostia,  Porto,  and  Palestrina,  with  other  cardinals,  were 
sent  forward  to  absolve  the  Emperor  and  his  adherents 
from  the  ban  of  excommunication.  The  warlike  Arch- 
bishop of  Mentz,  and  the  other  German  prelates,  ab- 
jured the  Antipopes,  Octavian,  Guido  of  Crema,  and 
John  of  Struma.  The  Emperor,  with  the  Doge  and 
senators,  and  with  his  own  Teutonic  nobles,  advanced 
to  the  portal  of  St.  Mark's,  where  stood  the  Pope  in 

1  Daru  alone,  of  modern  historians,  adheres  to  the  old  fables,  as  old  as 
the  fourteenth  century,  of  the  march  of  Frederick  towards  Anagni ;  the 
flight  of  the  Pope  in  disguise  to  Venice,  where  he  was  recognized ;  Fred- 
erick's pursuit  to  Tarento;  the  defeat  of  his  great  fleet  of  seventeen  large 
galleys  by  the  Venetians,  and  the  capture  of  his  son  Otho;  finally,  the 
Pope's  insolent  behavior  to  the  Emperor,  his  placing  his  feet  upon  his  neck, 
with  the  words,  "  Super  aspida  et  basiliscum  ponam  pedes  nostros;"  Fred- 
erick's indignant  reply,  "  Non  tibi,  sed  Petro."  The  accoimt  appears  in  a 
passage  of  Dandolo  (in  Chron.)  of  questioned  authenticity,  which  appeals 
to,  but  does  not  cite,  earlier  Venetian  histories.  But  the  total  silence  and 
the  irreconcilable  accounts  of  the  contemporary  historians  and  of  the  Papal 
letters  must  outAveigh  these  dubious  authorities.  A  more  powerful,  but, 
from  his  Venetian  patriotism,  less  impartial,  advocate  than  Daru,  Paolo 
Sarpi,  had  before  maintained  the  same  views.  Yet  such  a  fiction  is  ex- 
traordinary. Venetian  pride  might  invent  the  part  which  redounds  to  the 
glory  of  Venice:  but  who  invented  the  striking  inten-iew  between  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Pope?  It  is  not  an  improbable  suggestion,  that  it  originated 
in  paintings,  representing  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor  in  such  attitudes. 
The  paintings  are  by  Spinello,  a  Siennese,  of  which  city  Alexander  III. 
was  a  native.  Compare  the  vivid  description  of  these  frescoes,  Lord  Lind- 
say, Hist,  of  Christian  Art,  ii.  315.  Spinello  painted  in  the  latter  half  of 
*he  fourteenth  centuiy.  As  Poetrj'  has  so  often  become,  here  Painting  for 
©nee  became  Histor}\ 


436  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIIl. 

his  pontifical  attire.  Frederick  no  sooner  beheld  the 
successor  of  St.  Peter,  than  he  threw  off  his  imperial 
mantle,  prostrated  himself,  and  kissed  the  feet  of  the 
Pontiff.  Alexander,  not  without  tears,  raised  him  up, 
and  gave  him  the  kiss  of  peace.  Then  swelled  out  the 
Te  Deum  ;  and  the  Emperor,  holding  the  hand  of  the 
Pope,  was  led  into  the  choir,  and  received  the  papal 
benediction.  From  thence  they  proceeded  together  to 
the  Ducal  Palace.^  The  next  day,  the  feast  of  St. 
James  the  Apostle,  the  Pope  celebrated  mass,  and 
preached  to  the  people.  The  Emperor  held  his  stirrup 
when  he  departed  from  the  church ;  but  the  courtesy 
of  the  Pope  prevented  him  from  holding  the  bridle 
along  the  Place  of  St.  Mark.  At  a  great  council  held 
in  the  church,  the  Pope  excommunicated  all  who 
should  infringe  the  treaty. 

Thus  Venice  might  seem  to  have  the  glory  of  medi- 
ating a  peace,  which  at  least  suspended  for  some  years 
all  the  horrors  of  war  —  the  war  which,  throughout 
Italy,  had  arrayed  city  against  city,  on  the  Papal  or 
Imperialist  factions.^  They  had  assisted  in  terminat- 
ing a  disastrous  schism  which  had  distracted  Christen- 
dom for  so  many  years. 

1  A  curious  passage  from  a  newly-recovered  poem,  if  poem  it  may  be 
called,  by  Godfrey  of  Viterbo,  an  attendant  on  the  Emperor,  gives  an  inci- 
dent worth  notice.  So  great  was  the  press  in  the  market  that  the  aged 
Pope  was  thrown  down :  — 

"  Jam  Papa  perisset  in  arto, 
Caesar  ibi  vetulum  ni  relevasset  eum." 

This  is  an  odd  contrast  of  real  life  with  romance.  —  Apud  Pertz,  Archiv.  iv. 
p.  363. 

2  Muratori  has  given  the  list.    On  the  Emperor's  side  were  Cremona 
Pisa?),  Pavia,  Genoa,  Tortona,  Asti,  Albi,  Acqua,  Turin,  Ventimiglia, 

Savona,  Albengo,  Casale,  Montevro,  Castel  Bolognese,  Imola,  Faenza,  Ra- 
venna, Forli,  Forlimpopoli,  Cesena,  Rimini,  the  Marquises  of  Montferrat, 
Gua.-^to.  and  Bosco,  the  Counts  of  Blandrate  and  Lomello.  In  the  League, 
Venice,  Treviso,  Padua,  Vicenza,  Verona,  Brescia,  Ferrara,  Mantua,  Ber- 


Chap.  IX.  ABDICATIOX  OF  THE  AXTIPOPE.  4o< 

Even  Rome  was  overawed  by  the  unity  between  the 
Emperor  and  the  Pope.  The  city  sent  seven  of  her 
nobles  to  entreat  Alexander  to  honor  Rome  with  his 
presence.  After  some  negotiation  a  treaty  was  agreed 
on.  The  senate  continued  to  subsist,  but  swore  fealty 
and  rendered  homage  to  the  Pope ;  the  Church  of  St. 
Peter,  and  the  royalties  seized  by  the  people,  were  re- 
stored. Alexander  took  possession  of  the  Lateran  pal- 
ace, and  celebrated  Easter  with  great  pomp.  Aprii9,U78. 
In  the  August  of  the  same  year  the  Antipope,  Calixtus 
III.,  abdicated  his  vain  title.  He  had  fled  to  Viterbo, 
determined  to  maintain  a  vigorous  resistance  ;  he  re- 
ceived a  message  from  the  Emperor,  threatening  him, 
if  he  reftised  to  submit,  with  the  ban  of  the  Empire. 
He  fled  on  to  Montalbano  ;  he  was  received  by  John, 
the  lord  of  that  castle,  whose  design,  it  is  said,  was  to 
sell  him  at  a  high  price  to  Alexander.  In  Montalbano 
he  was  besieged  by  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  who 
wasted  all  the  territory  around.^  Calixtus,  in  despair, 
threw  himself  on  the  mercy  of  his  enemy ;  he  went  to 
Tusculum,  fell  at  the  feet  of  Alexander,  confessed  his 
sin  of  schism,  and  implored  forgiveness.  Alexander 
received  him  with  Christian  gentleness,  and  Aug.  29,1178. 
even  advanced  him  afterwards  to  a  post  of  tlignity  — 
the  government  of  the  city  of  Benevento. 

gamo,  Lodi,  ililan,  Como,  Xovara,  Yercelli,  Alexandria,  Carsino  and  Bel- 
monte,  Piacenza,  Bobbio,  the  Marquis  Malespina,  Parma,  Keggio,  Modena, 
Bologna,  Doccia.  San  Cassiano,  &c. 

1  This  fierce  prelate,  whom  in  the  Treaty  of  Venice  Pope  Alexander  had 
recognized  as  rightful  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  was  afterwards  involved  in  a 
quarrel  with  the  Marquis  of  Montferrat  concerning  the  possession  of 
Viterbo.  The  people  were  for  the  archbishop,  and  the  Pope,  Lucius  III., 
now  his  ally;  the  nobles  for  Conrad,  son  of  the  Marquis.  The  archbishop 
was  taken  and  kept  for  some  time  in  iron  chains.  He  ransomed  himself  at 
a  great  price,  fought  many  more  battles,  and  died  at  length  of  a  fever.  — 
Muratori,  1179. 


438  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

A  great  council  in  the  Lateran  was  the  last  impor- 
Aug  29  1178.  *^^^  ^^*  ^^  *^®  ^^^^S  ^^^  eventful  pontificate 
Mar.  1?;  1179.  ^^  Alexander.^    He  died  in  Civita  Castellana. 

Thus  closed  the  first  act  of  the  great  tragedy,  the 
strife  of  the  Popes  with  the  imperial  house  of  Hohen- 
staufen.  The  Pope  had  gained  a  signal  victory  ;  he 
had  won  back  the  now  uncontested  papacy,  and  the 
city  of  Rome.  He  was  at  the  head  of  a  mighty  Italian 
interest,  both  in  the  South  and  in  the  North,  Sicily  and 
the  Lombard  League.  Yet  though  humbled,  Barba- 
rossa  was  still  of  formidable  power;  he  had  subdued, 
driven  into  exile  his  one  dangerous  German  subject, 
the  rebel  Henry  the  Lion.  Many  cities,  and  some  of 
the  most  powerful,  were  firmly  attached  to  the  imperial 
cause,  the  more  firmly  from  their  internecine  hatred 
each  to  some  other  of  the  cities  of  the  League  ;  the 
proverbial  animosity  of  Guelf  and  Ghibelline  had  be- 
gun to  rage.  Till  towards  the  close  of  this  century 
the  Papacy  might  seem  to  be  in  quiet  repose,  gathering 
its  strength  for  the  great  cuhninating  manifestation  of 
its  power  in  Innocent  III. 

Five  Popes,2  neither  distinguished  by  their  personal 

1  This  Council,  among  other  acts,  regulated  the  election  of  the  Pope 
(Ronniald-Salernit) ;  he  must  have  two  thirds  of  the  suffrages.  It  enacted 
sumptuary  laws  as  to  the  horses  of  prehites  on  their  visitation;  hawks  and 
hounds  and  costly  banquets  were  prohibited;  the  Knights-Templars  and 
Hospitallers  were  to  be  under  episcopal  authority:  clerks  to  have  no  women 
in  their  houses.  There  Avere  Canons  on  the  house  of  God ;  in  favor  of 
lepers;  against  Christians  furnishing  arms  to  Saracens;  against  wreckers; 
against  Jews  and  Saracens  having  Christian  slaves.  Cathari,  Paterines, 
Publicans  were  anathematized. 

2  Lucius  III.,  inaugurated  Nov.  1181   .   .   1185 
Urban  III.  "  ...    1185   .   .  1187 

Gregory  VIII.     "  ...    1187   .   .  1187 

Clement  III.         "  ...    1187   .   .   1190 

Ccelestine  III.      "  ...    1190  Jan.  1198 


Chap.  IX.  POPES  AFTEK  ALEXANDER  HI.  439 

character,  nor  by  the  events  of  their  pontificate,  passed 
in  succession,  during  less  than  twenty  years,  over  the 
scene.  Of  these  Popes  two  alone  honored  Rome  by 
their  residence.  The  three  first  can  hardly  be  called 
Bishops  of  Rome. 

On  the  death  of  Alexander  he  was  succeeded  by  a 
native  of  Lucca,  Ubaldo,  Bishop  of  Ostia  and  Sept.  i,  nsi. 
Velletri.  Lucius  III.  (this  was  his  pontifical  name) 
retained  his  residence,  probably  his  bishopric  of  Vel- 
letri. Rome,  rarely  visited  by  Alexander,  for  six 
months  endured  the  presence  of  her  new  pontifi:^ 
Then  Rome  was  again  in  rebellion :  the  Pope  at  Vel- 
letrij  afterwards  at  Anagni.  The  cruelty  and  inso- 
lencs  of  the  Romans  was  at  its  height.  They  blinded 
six-and-twenty  Tusculan  prisoners,  and  set  cardinals' 
hats  on  their  heads ;  a  wretch  with  one  eye  left  was 
crowned  with  the  papal  tiara,  inscribed  "  Lucius  III., 
the  worthless,  the  deceiver."  In  this  plight  they 
were  ordered  to  present  themselves  to  the  Pope  in 
Anagni.2 

The  Pope  and  the  Emperor,  and  the  north  of  Italy, 
were  still  at  peace.  Even  Alexandria  had  opened  her 
gates,  and  for  a  short  time  took  the  name  of  Cesarea. 
The  famous  treaty  of  Constance  seemed  to  fix  the  rela- 
tions of  the  Emperor  and  the  Lombard  republics  on  a 
lasting  ground.  At  Verona  met  the  Emperor  and 
the  Pope  in  apparent  amity.  Frederick  had  a.d.  ii83. 
hopes  that  the  Pope  would  consent  to  permit  him  to 
devolve  the  imperial  crown  upon  his  son.  Lucius 
had  the  address  to  suggest  that  a  second  emperor 
could  not  be  crowned  till  the   reigning   emperor  had 

1  September,  1181,  March,  1182. 

2  Ghron.  Foss  nov. 


440  LATIK  CHRISTIA2snTY.  Book  VIII. 

actually  abdicated  the  empire.  They  parted  in  mutual 
mistrust ;  but  the  Pope  remained  at  Verona.^  Lucius 
III.  had  fulminated  an  anathema  against  the  sects 
which  were  now  spreading  in  the  north  of  Italy,  and 
were  all  included  under  the  hated  name  of  Manicheans, 
the  Cathari,  the  Paterines,  the  Umillati,  the  poor  men 
of  Lyons,  the  Passagini,  the  Giuseppini ;  he  had  visited 
with  the  like  censures  the  Arnoldists  and  rebels  of 
Rome.  The  Emperor  left  the  papal  thunders  to  their 
own  unaided  effects  ;  he  moved  no  troops  ;  he  would 
not  break  the  peace  of  Italy,  either  to  persecute  the 
heretics,  or  to  subdue  Rome. 

The  cardinals,  like  the  Pope,  had  abandoned  the 
Death  of  south  for  the  north  of  Italy.  On  the  death 
Nov.  25, 1185.  of  Lucius,  Ubcrto,  or  Humbert  Crivelli,  his 
Urban  in.  succcssor,  Urban  III.,  elected  by  twenty- 
seven  cardinals,^  retained  the  archbishopric  of  Milan 
(thus  holding  at  once  the  two  great  sees  of  Italy)  ;  he 
chiefly  resided  at  Verona.  The  peace  of  Venice  had 
seemed  but  precarious  during  the  pontificate  of  Lucius. 
Uberto  Crivelli,  the  Archbishop  of  Milan,  and  full  of 
Milanese  as  well  as  papal  jealousy  of  the  Emperor,  was 
not  likely  to  smooth  away  the  causes  of  animosity. 
Urban  the  Turbulent  (Turbanus),  such  was  the  ill- 
omened  name  which  he  received  from  his  enemies,  was 
more  the  republican  Archbishop  (In  that  character  he 
had  already,  even  in  war,  been  among  the  most  danger- 
ous enemies  of  Barbarossa)  than  the  supreme  Pontiff. 
There  were  three  fatal  points  in  dispute,  each  sufficient 
to  break  up  so  hasty  a  treaty  ;  to  estrange  powers  who 
had  such  little  sympathy  with  each  other.    In  Germany 

1  He  was  at  Verona  from  July  25  to  his  death  in  1185. 

2  Ciacconius  gives  their  names.  —  Vit.  Pontif. 


Chap.  IX.  CAUSES   OF  EX^UTY.  441 

Frederick  was  accused  of  seiziiio;  the  estates  of  vacant 
sees,  confiscating  all  the  movable  property,  causes  of 
and  even  compelling  the  alienation  of  farms,  ®^^^*y- 
lands,  towns,  and  other  rights ;  of  suppressing  monas- 
teries, especially  of  nuns,  under  the  pretext  that  they 
had  sunk  into  license  and  irregularity.  In"  Italy  the 
great  question  of  succession  to  the  territories  of  the 
Countess  Matilda  had  been  only  adjourned ;  the  longer 
the  Emperor  maintained  the  possession,  the  less  disposed 
was  he  to  fulfil  his  covenant  for  the  restoration  of  these 
wealthy  domains  to  the  Roman  see.  The  third  and 
most  dangerous  controversy  concerned  the  coronation  of 
his  son,  if  not  as  Emperor,  as  King  of  Italy.  The  Em- 
peror had  made  with  success  a  master-stroke  of  policy ; 
he  had  obtained  the  hand  of  Constantia,  the  heiress 
of  the  kingdom  of  Sicily,  for  his  son  and  heir  Henry. 
The  kingdom  of  Sicily  was  thus,  instead  of  a  place  of 
refuge  for  the  Pope  against  the  Emperor,  now  an  impe- 
rial territory  ;  the  King,  instead  of  a  vassal  holding  his 
realm  as  an  acknowledged  fief  of  the  papacy,  the  Pope's 
implacable  antagonist.  The  Pope  was  placed,  at  Rome, 
between  two  fires.  Urban  III.  strove  in  vain  against 
the  perilous  marriage ;  he  resolutely  refused  the  cor- 
onation of  Henry  with  the  iron  crown  of  Italy  :  this 
was  his  function  as  Archbishop  of  Milan.  The  office 
was  assumed  by  the  Bishop  of  Aquileia.  The  conduct 
of  the  ferocious  Henry,  the  son  and  heir  of  Barbarossa, 
the  husband  of  the  Sicilian  Constantia,  aggravated  the 
terrors  of  beholding  the  crown  of  Sicily  on  the  brows 
of  a  Hohenstaufen.  While  yet  in  Lombardy,  he  de- 
manded of  a  bishop  of  whom  he  held  the  investiture  of 
his  see.  "  Of  the  Pope  alone,"  three  times  replied  the 
resolute  ecclesiastic.     Henry  ordered  his  attendants  to 


442  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

seize,  to  beat,  and  to  roll  in  the  mire  the  obstinate  prel- 
ate. In  the  south  he  entered  into  an  alliance  with  the 
rebel  senate  of  Rome.  A  servant  of  the  Pope,  on  the 
way  from  Rome  with  a  large  sum  of  money,  was  seized 
by  his  command,  stripped  of  his  treasures,  and  sent 
empty-handed,  and  with  his  nose  cut  off,  to  the  Pope. 
The  Emperor  took  measures,  if  not  of  equal  ferocity, 
of  more  menacing  hostility.  He  commanded  the  passes 
of  the  Alps  to  be  occupied,  to  prevent  all  communica- 
tion of  the  German  ecclesiastics  with  the  Pope  ;  who 
was  all  this  time  holding  his  court,  it  might  be  sup- 
posed, in  the  midst  of  the  Emperor's  Italian  territory 
in  Verona.  He  commanded  the  Archbishop  of  Co- 
logne, the  Pope's  legate,  to  assume  complete  ecclesias- 
tical supremacy,  and  to  decide  all  causes  without  the 
cognizance  of  the  Pope.^  At  a  full  diet  at  Gelnhausen, 
Barbarossa  arraigned  the  Pope,  as  having  refused  to 
crown  his  son ;  as  having  excommunicated  the  bishops 
who  at  the  Emperor's  command  had  officiated  at  that 
ceremony;  of  consecrating  Fulmar  Archbishop  of 
Treves,  without  the  approbation  of  the  Emperor. 
Fulmar  was  finally  expelled  ;  Rudolf,  the  Emperor's 
partisan,  consecrated  Archbishop  of  Treves.  Fred- 
erick disposed  at  his  will  of  the  German  sees.  The 
German  bishops  were  called  upon  to  aid  their  Em- 
peror  in   his   resistance   to    this    contumacious    Pope. 

1  Urban  III.  writes  to  Wickman,  Archbishop  of  Magdeburg,  to  use  hia 
good  offices  to  soothe  the  Emperor.  "  Commonitam  frequenter  a  sese  im- 
perialis  cnhninis  altitudinem  ut  ecclesise  Romanse  restitueret  possessiones, 
quas  detineret  occupatas,  non  ea  qua  debuerat  serenitate  respondisse,  nee 
videri  velle  perficere,  per  quod  inter  ecclesiam  et  imperium  firma  possit 
pax  et  Concordia  evenire." — Feb.  24, 1187.  This  from  almost  the  imme- 
diate successor  of  Alexander  III.,  the  antecessor  only  by  ten  years  of  In- 
nocent III.,  and  from  such  a  man  as  the  turbulent  Urban.  It  was  a  g:*eat 
stroke  of  policy  to  make  Lombard  Popes. 


Chap.  IX.  DEATH  OF  UEBAX.  44S 

Thej  offered  their  mediation  ;  they  signed  and  sealed 
a  document,  imploring  the  Pope  in  these  perilous  times 
not  to  renew  the  old  fatal  wars  ;  they  urged  him  at 
least  to  politic  dissimulation  ;  at  the  same  time  they 
represented  the  exactions  of  his  legates,  and  complained 
of  the  contributions  levied  by  his  officers  on  the  monas- 
teries in  Germany,  some  of  which  had  been  reduced  to 
penury.  Urban  III.  at  length  determined  on  the  ex- 
communication of  Frederick  ;  but  the  citizens  of  Ve- 
rona declared  that  no  such  act  of  hostility  should  take 
place  within  their  walls. 

Urban  departed  to  Ferrara  ;  for  this  act  of  resistance 
on  the  part  of  Verona  was  of  evil  augury,  as  Sept.,  Oct. 
to  the  indisposition  of  his  only  remaining  allies,  the 
Lombard  republics,  to  risk  their  growing  opulence  in 
liis  cause.  At  Ferrara  he  died.  Of  his  death  there 
is  an  account  by  one  who  solemnly  protests  to  the 
truth  of  his  statement  —  he  was  an  eye-witness.  Peter 
of  Blois  rode  with  the  Pope  from  Verona  towards 
Ferrara.  Peter  endeavored  to  appease  the  deadly  ha- 
tred which  had  been  instilled  into  the  soul  of  Urban 
against  Baldwin,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  The 
Pope,  red  with  anger,  broke  out,  "  May  I  never  dis- 
mount this  horse  and  mount  another,  if  I  do  not  depose 
him  !  "  He  had  hardly  spoken,  when  the  cross  borne 
before  him  was  dashed  in  pieces.  It  was  hastily  tied 
together.  At  the  next  town  Urban  fell  ill :  he  never 
again  mounted  a  horse.^  He  was  conveyed  slowly  by 
water  to  Ferrara.     Through   Christendom  it  was  re- 

1  See  the  very  curious  letter  of  Peter  of  Blois.  Peter  says  that  he  had 
been  at  school  with  Urban  at  Marlborough  (Maldebyrig)  and  was  a'lso 
Baldwin's  commensalis. -^Eipist.  216.  Giles,  ii.  p.  165.  On  Baldwin's  quar 
rel  with  the  monks,  see  Collier,  i,  p.  393. 


444  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIIL 

ported  that  the  cause  of  his  hatred  against  the  English 
Prelate  was  this  :  Baldwin  of  Canterbury  had  set  up  a 
chapter  of  secular  canons  against  the  unruly  monks  of 
Canterbury  ;  the  monks  appealed  to  Rome,  and  had  in- 
flamed the  Pope  with  implacable  resentment  against 
Baldwin. 

The  peace  of  European  Christendom  was  owing  less 
to  the  respect  for  recent  treaties,  to  either  satiety  of 
ambition  in  the  contending  parties,  or  the  seeming  iso- 
lation of  the  Pope,  than  to  the  calamities  in  the  East. 
The  rise  of  the  great  Saladin  had  appalled,  it  had  even 
extorted  generous  admiration  from  the  chivalrous  kings 
of  the  West.  But  when  Jerusalem  fell  before  the 
Saracen,  the  loss  afflicted  all  Christendom  with  grief 
and  shame ;  at  one  blow  all  the  glories  of  the  Crusades 
were  levelled  to  the  dust.  The  war  was  to  begin 
anew,  and  if  with  a  nobler  enemy,  and  one  more 
worthy  to  conflict  with  European  kings  —  with  an  ene- 
my more  formidable  —  one  unconquered,  it  might  seem 
unconquerable.  Urban  hardly  retired  to  Ferrara,  and 
died  of  grief,  it  was  said  (though  the  news  could  not 
possibly  have  reached  Italy),  for  this  disaster.^ 

But  Urban  knew  not  that  this  disaster  would  save 
the  papacy  from  its  imminent  peril ;  it  diverted  at  once 
even  Barbarossa  himself  from  his  hostile  plans ;  it  awed 
the  most  implacable  enemies  in  Christendom  to  peace 
and  amity.  The  first  act  of  Gregory  VIII.^  (Albert, 
Cardinal  of  St.  Lorenzo  in  Lucina)  was  to  issue  lam- 
entable letters  to  the  whole  of  Christendom.  They 
described  in  harrowing  terms   the  fall  of   Jerusalem, 

1  Urban  left  Verona  in  September;  Jerusalem  fell  on  the  2d  October 
Crban  died  on  the  20th. 

2  Gregory,  consecrated  Oct.  25, 1187.    The  letters  are  dated  Oct.  29. 


Chap.  IX.  CLEMENT  IH.  445 

Saladin  (for  the  cross  of  Christ  had  ceased  to  be  the 
unconquerable  defence  of  the  Christians)  had  over- 
thrown the  whole  Christian  host ;  had  broken  into  the 
holy  city  ;  the  cross  itself  was  taken,  the  Bishop  slain, 
the  King  a  prisoner,  many  knights  of  the  Temple  and 
of  St.  John  beheaded.  This  was  the  Divine  visitation 
for  the  sins,  not  of  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem,  but  of 
Christendom  :  it  might  melt  the  hearts,  not  only  of  all 
believers,  but  of  mankind.  The  Pope  exhorted  all 
men  to  take  arms,  or  at  least  to  offer  the  amplest  con- 
tributions for  the  relief  of  their  imperilled  brethren, 
and  the  recovery  of  the  city,  the  sepulchre,  the  cross 
of  the  Lord.  He  appointed  a  fast  for  five  years,  to 
appease  the  wrath  of  God.  Every  Friday  in  the  year 
was  to  be  observed  as  Lent ;  on  Wednesdays  and  Satur- 
days meat  was  forbidden.  To  these  days  of  abstinence 
the  Pope  and  the  cardinals  were  to  add  Monday.  The 
cardinals  imposed  on  themselves  even  more  exemplary 
duties :  to  take  the  cross,  to  go  to  the  Holy  Land  as 
mendicant  pilgrims,  to  receive  no  presents  from  those 
who  came  on  business  to  the  papal  court ;  not  to  mount 
on  horseback,  but  to  go  on  foot  so  long  as  the  ground 
on  which  the  Saviour  walked  was  trodden  by  the  feet 
of  the  unbeliever.^  Gregory  set  off  for  Pisa  to  recon- 
cile the  hostile  republics  of  Pisa  and  Genoa,  in  order 
that  their  mighty  armaments  might  combine  Dec.  17,  ii87. 
for  the  reconquest  of  Palestine.  But  Gregory  died 
before  he  had  completed  the  second  month  of  his  pon- 
tificate. 

His  successor,  elected  two  days  after  his  decease, 
was  by  birth  a  Roman,  Paul  Cardinal  of  Pal-  element  in. 
estrina  :  he  took  the  Roman  name  of  Clem-  ^®*''  ^^' 

1  Hoveden. 


446  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

ent  III.  The  pontificate  was  rescued  from  the  imme- 
diate influence  of  the  northern  republics,  and,  as  a  Ro- 
man, Clement  had  the  natural  ambition  to  restore  the 
Papacy  to  Rome.  Rome  herself  had  now  again  grown 
weary  of  that  republican  freedom  which  was  bought  at 
the  cost  of  her  wealth,  her  importance,  her  magnifi- 
cence. Rome  inhabited  by  the  Pope  was  the  centre 
of  the  civilized  world ;  as  an  independent  republic, 
only  an  inheritor  of  a  barren  name  and  of  unproductive 
glory.  Yet  must  the  Pope  purchase  his  restoration  by 
the  sacrifice  of  Tusculum  and  of  Tivoli ;  to  a  Roman 
perhaps  no  heartfelt  sacrifice.  Tivoli  had  become  an 
object  of  jealousy,  as  Tusculum  formerly  of  implacable 
hatred.  On  these  terms  Clement  III.  obtained  not 
A.D.  n88.  merely  his  safe  return  to  Rome,  but  the  resto- 
ration of  the  Papal  royalties  from  the  Roman  people. 
The  republic  by  this  treaty  recognized  the  sovereignty 
of  the  Pope ;  the  patriciate  was  abolished,  a  prefect 
named  with  more  limited  powers.  The  senators  were 
to  be  annually  elected,  to  receive  the  approbation  and 
swear  allegiance  to  the  Pope.  St.  Peter's  Church  and 
all  its  domains  were  restored  to  the  Pope ;  of  the  tolls 
March,  1191.  wliicli  wcrc  Icvicd  one  third  was  to  be  ex- 
pended for  the  use  of  the  Roman  people.  The  senate 
and  people  were  to  respect  the  majesty  and  maintain 
the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  Roman  Pontiff;  the  Ro- 
man Pontiff  to  bestow  the  accustomed  largesses  on  the 
senators,  their  judges,  and  officers.^  Clement  III. 
ruled   in  peace  for  two  years  ;  he  died  in  Rome. 

Hyacinth,  Cardinal  of  St.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  was 
April  15.  elected  to  the  Papacy ;  he  took  the  name  of 
cceiestinein.  Q^lgg^jj^g   III.       His  fii'st  act  must  be  the 

1  The  treaty  in  Baronius  and  Muratori.    Antiq.  Ital.  Dissert.  32. 


Chap.  IX.  DEOTVXDsG  Of  BAEBAEOSSA.  447 

coronation  of  the  Emperor  Henry.  Since  the  loss  of 
Jerusalem  the  new  Cnisade  had  absorbed  the  mind  of 
Europe.  Of  all  these  expeditions  none  had  commenced 
with  greater  pomp,  and  it  might  seem  securitv  of  vic- 
tory. Notwithstanding  the  prowess  of  Saladin,  could 
he  resist  the  combined  forces,  the  personal  ability  and 
valor  of  the  three  greatest  monarchs  of  Europe  ?  Bar- 
barossa  himself  had  yielded  to  the  irresistible  enthusi- 
asm ;  at  the  head  of  such  an  army  as  might  become 
the  great  Caesar  of  the  West,  he  had  set  forth  by  land 
to  Palestine.  The  Kings  of  France  and  of  England, 
Philip  Augustus,  Richard  the  Lion-hearted,  proceeded 
by  sea.  But,  if  possible,  this  Crusade  was  even  more 
disastrous,  achieved  less  and  suffered  more,  than  all  be- 
fore. The  Emperor  Frederick  was  drowned  in  a  small 
river  of  Pisidia  ;  his  vast  host  wasted  away.  Drowning  of 
and  part  only,  and  that  in  miserable  plight,  ^"barossa. 
reached  Antioch.  The  jealousies  of  Philip  Augustus 
of  France  and  Richard  of  England  made  the  success 
of  their  great  army  impossible.  Phihp  Augustus  left 
the  fame  of  an  accomplished  traitor,  Richard  that  of 
ungovernable  pride  and  cnielty,  as  well  as  of  unrivalled 
valor.  His  chivalrous  courage  had  won  the  respect  of 
Saladin,  his  ruthless  massacres  made  his  name  the  ter- 
ror, for  a  long  time,  of  Saracen  mothers;  but  no  per- 
manent conquest  was  made  ;  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem 
was  left  to  sink  into  a  barren  title.  Richard's  short 
career  of  glory  ended  in  his  long  imprisonment  in 
Austria. 

The  news  of  Frederick's  death  had  reached  Italy  be- 
fore the  decease  of  Clement  HI.     His  successor  dared 
not   refuse   the   coronation    of    Henry,   now  a.d.  us9. 
Lord  of  Germany  and  of  Sicily.     Fiction  at  times  be- 


448'  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  YIII. 

comes  history.  It  is  as  important  to  know  what  men 
were  beheved  to  do,  as  what  they  actually  did.  The 
account  of  Henry's  coronation,  in  an  ancient  chroni- 
cler, cannot  but  be  false  in  many  of  its  most  striking 
particulars,  as  being  utterly  inconsistent,  at  least  with 
Coronation  of  tlic  situatiou  if  uot  with  the  character  of  the 
Henry.  Popc,  uo  Icss  than  with  the  haughty  and  un- 

scrupulous demeanor  of  Henry.  The  Pope  may  have 
beheld  with  secret  satisfaction  the  seizure  of  the  Si- 
cilian kingdom  by  Tancred  the  Norman,  the  progress 
made  by  his  arms  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  the  ill- 
concealed  aversion  of  the  whole  realm  to  the  Germans ; 
he  may  have  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  a  new 
Norman  kingdom,  detached  from  the  imperial  alliance, 
might  afford  security  to  the  Roman  Pontiff.  But 
Henry  was  still  with  his  unbroken  forces ;  the  husband 
of  the  Queen  of  Naples ;  there  was  no  power  at  hand 
to  protect  the  Pope.  Coelestlne  could  as  yet  reckon  on 
no  more  than  the  precarious  support  of  the  Romans. 
Henry,  when  he  appeared  with  his  Empress  and  his 
army  in  the  neighborhood  of  Rome,  might,  in  his 
eager  desire  to  secure  his  coronation,  quietly  smile  at 
the  presumptuous  bearing  of  the  Romans,  who  manned 
their  walls,  and  though  they  would  admit  the  Emperor, 
refused  to  open  their  gates  to  his  German  troops  ; 
he  might  condescend  to  enter  alone,  and  to  meet  the 
Pope  on  the  steps  of  St.  Peter's.  But  the  haughty 
and  insulting  conduct  attributed  to  Pope  Coelestlne 
only  shows  what  Europe,  to  a  great  extent,  believed  to 
be  the  relation  in  which  the  Popes  supposed  themselves 
to  stand  towards  the  Emperor ;  the  wide-spread  opin- 
ion of  the  supremacy  which  they  claimed,  and  which 
they  exercised  on  all  practicable  occasions.     "  Coeles- 


Chap.  IX.  SUKRENDER  OF  TUSCULmi.  449 

tine  sat  on  his  pontifical  throne,  holding  the  imperial 
crown  between  his  feet ;  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
bowed  their  heads,  and  from  between  the  feet  of  the 
Pope  received  each  the  crown.  But  the  Lord  Pope 
immediately  struck  the  crow^n  of  the  Emperor  with  his 
foot  and  cast  it  to  the  ground,  signifying  that  if  he 
should  deserve  it,  it  was  in  the  Pope's  power  to  degrade 
him  from  the  empire.  The  cardinals  caught  up  the 
fallen  crown  and  replaced  it  on  the  brow  of  the  Em- 
peror." Such  was  the  notion  of  an  English  historian,^ 
such  in  England  was  proclaimed  to  be  the  treatment  of 
the  Emperor  by  the  Pope  at  this  solemn  time  ;  it  was 
received  perhaps  more  readily,  and  repeated  more  em- 
phatically on  account  of  the  deep  hatred  felt  by  the 
English  nation  to  the  ruling  Emperor  for  his  treachery 
to  their  captive  sovereign  King  Richard. 

Yet  for  his  coronation  Henry  scrupled  not  to  pay  a 
price  even  more  humiliating,  but  of  which  he  felt  not 
the  humiliation,  an  act  of  his  characteristic  perfidy  and 
cruelty.  The  Pope  had  not  been  able  to  fulfil  that 
one  of  the  terms  of  his  treaty  with  the  Roman  people, 
which  was  to  them  of  the  deepest  interest,  the  demoli- 
tion of  Tusculum.  The  city  had  admitted  an  imperial 
garrison  to  protect  it  from  the  Pope,  and  from  Rome. 
The  Pope  demanded  its  surrender;  without  this  con- 
cession he  would  not  proceed  to  the  corona-  surrender  of 

rr\i  •  -11  •   1  Tusculum. 

tion.      ine  garrison  received  orders,  without  a.d.  n9i. 
consulting  the  citizens,  to  open  the  gates  to  the  Romans. 
The  Romans  hastened  to  glut  the  vengeance  of  years, 
unchecked  by  Emperor  or  by  Pope.     They  massacred 
many  of  the  principal  citizens,  and  mutilated  the  rest ; 

1  Roger  Hoveden.    The  passage  is  quoted  with  manifest  satisfaction,  as 
of  undoubted  authority,  by  Cardinal  Baronius. 
VOL.  IV.  29 


450  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII. 

hardly  one  escaped  without  the  loss  of  his  eyes,  his 
feet,  his  hands,  or  some  other  limb.^  The  walls  were 
levelled  to  the  ground,  the  citadel  razed.  Tusculum, 
the  rival,  at  times  the  master,  the  tyrant  of  Rome,  has 
at  length  disappeared.  The  Pope  has  abandoned  the 
city,  which  at  times  enabled  him  to  bridle  the  unruly 
populace  of  Rome;  the  Emperor  one  of  his  strong- 
holds against  the  Pope  himself. 

Coelestine  III.  during  the  rest  of  his  pontificate 
maintained  the  high  Christian  ground,  not  indeed  of 
mediator  between  the  rivals  for  the  kingdom  of  Apulia, 
but  as  protector  of  the  distressed,  the  deliverer  of  the 
captive.  Tancred,  Count  of  Lecce,  had  been  raised 
by  the  influence  of  the  chancellor,  Matthew  of  Saler- 
no, to  the  throne  of  Sicily ;  the  whole  island  had  trem- 
bled at  the  chancellor's  admonitions  on  the  dangers  of 
submission  to  a  foreign  yoke.  Tancred,  undisputed 
sovereign  of  Sicily,  made  rapid  progress  in  the  con- 
quest of  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  The  Emperor,  Hen- 
ry, after  some  successes,  had  been  baffled  by  the  obsti- 
nate resistance  of  Naples ;  sickness  had  weakened  his 
forces  ;  he  was  obliged  to  retire  to  Germany.  He  had 
intrusted  his  Queen  Constantia  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Salerno,  who  had  won  his  confidence  by  loud  protes- 
tations of  loyalty.  But  there  was  a  strong  Norman 
party  in  Salerno ;  Constantia  was  delivered  as  a  pris- 
oner into  the  hands  of  Tancred.  Coelestine  interposed. 
The  influence  of  the  Pope,  the  generous  chivalry  of 
his  own  disposition,  or  perhaps  the  fear  that  the  pres- 

1  "  Hi  accepts,  legatione  Imperatoris  incautam  civitatem  Romanis  tradi- 
derunt  qui  multos  peremerunt  de  civibus,  et  fere  omnes  sive  pedibus,  sive 
manibus,  seu  aliis  membris  mutilavermit.  Pro  qua  re  Imperatori  impro- 
peralum  est  multis."  —  Urspergen.  in  Chvon.  Sicardus  Cremonen.  in 
Chron.  apud  Murator.    Script.  Ital.  vol.  vii. 


Chap.ek.      dipeisoxmext  of  king  eichaed.  451 

ence  and  misfortunes  of  Constantia  might  awaken  the 
sympathy  of  his  o^^ti  subjects,  induced  Tancred  to 
send  her  to  the  Emperor,  not  merely  without  ransom 
but  loaded  with  magnificent  presents. 

For  another  prisoner  was  implored  the  interposition 
of  the  Pope.  King  Richard  of  England  had  imprison- 
been  seized,  on  his  return  from  the  Holy  Land,  Richard. 
by  his  deadly  enemy  Duke  Leopold  of  Austria.  The 
Emperor  had  compelled  or  bribed  his  surrender :  he 
was  now  in  a  dungeon  of  the  castle  of  Trefels.  No 
sooner  had  the  news  of  his  capture  reached  his  own 
dominions  than  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen  wrote  to  com- 
plain of  this  outrage  against  a  King  and  a  crusader, 
who  as  a  crusader  was  under  the  special  protection  of 
the  Holy  See  — "  Unsheathe  at  once,  most  merciful 
father,  the  sword  of  St.  Peter ;  show  at  once  your  debt 
of  gratitude  to  such  a  son  of  the  Church,  that  even 
those  of  lower  rank  may  know  what  succor  they  may 
expect  from  you  in  their  hour  of  necessity."  Peter  of 
Blois,  the  Archdeacon  of  Bath,  whose  high  reputation 
for  letters  justified  the  step,  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Mentz,  requiring  his  good  offices  and 
those  of  the  whole  German  clergy  for  the  deliverance 
of  the  King.  He  scrupled  not,  in  his  zeal,  to  compare 
the  Duke  of  Austria  and  the  Emperor  himself  to  Judas 
Iscariot,  who  sold  the  Lord,  and  as  deserving  the  fate 
of  Judas.^  Eleanor  the  Queen  Mother  ad-  Letters  of 
dressed  the  Pope,  letter  after  letter,  in  the  most  Eleanor, 
vehement  and  impassioned  language  ^  —  "  On  thee  will 

1  Petri  Blesensis,  Epist.  64. 

2  Petri  Blesensis,  Epist.  143, 144, 145, 146.    These  letters  were  written,  it 
'should  seem,  by  Peter  of  Blois,  with  his  usual  force,  his  occasional  felicity, 

occasional  pedantn'  of  scriptural  illustration,  his  play  upon  words.  "  Nobis 
In  germana  Germania  hsec  mala  germinant  universis.    Legati  nobis  jam 


452  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIH. 

fall  all  the  guilt  of  this  tragedy :  thou  who  art  the 
father  of  orphans,  the  judge  of  widows,  the  comforter 
of  those  that  mourn  and  weep,  the  city  of  refuge  to  all. 
If  the  Church  of  Kome  sits  silent  with  folded  hands  a1 
such  an  outrage  against  Christ,  let  God  arise  and  judge 

our  cause Where  is  the  zeal  of  Elijah  against 

Ahab  ?  the  zeal  of  John  ao-ainst  Herod  ?  the  zeal  of 
Ambrose  against  Valens  ?  the  zeal  of  Alexander  III., 
whom  we  have  heard  and  seen  awfully  cutting  off 
Frederick  the  father  of  this  Prince  from  the  commun- 
ion of  the  faithful?"  The  supplication,  the  expostu- 
lations, became  more  and  more  bitter.  "  For  trifling 
causes  your  cardinals  are  sent  in  all  their  power  even 
to  the  most  barbarous  regions  ;  in  this  arduous,  in  this 
lamentable,  in  this  common  cause,  you  have  not  ap- 
pointed even  a  subdeacon  or  an  acolyth.  It  is  lucre 
which  in  our  day  commissions  legates,  not  respect  for 
Christ,  not  the  honor  of  the  Church,  not  the  peace  of 

kingdoms,  not  the  salvation  of  the  people You 

would  not  much  have  debased  the  dignity  of  the  Ro- 
man See,  if  in  your  own  person  you  had  set  out  to 
Germany  for  the  deliverance  of  so  great  a  King.  Re- 
store me  my  son ;  O  man  of  God,  if  thou  art  indeed 
a  man  of  God,  not  a  man  of  blood  !  if  thou  art  so 
lukewarm  in  his  deliverance,  the  Most  High  may  re- 
quire his  blood  at  thy  hands."  She  dwells  on  the  great 
services  of  the  Kings  of  England,  of  Henry  II.  to  the 
See  of  Rome  :  his  influence  had  retained  the  King  of 
France  in  fidelity  to  Alexander ;  his  wealth  had  bought 
the  obedience  of  the  Romans.  In  a  second,  in  a  third 
letter,  she  is  more  pressing,  more  pathetic  —  "  Can  your 

testes  promissi  sunt,  nee  sunt  missi :  utque  verum  fatear,  ligati  potius  quam 
legati."  % 


Chap.  IX.  RELEASE  OF  KING  RICHARD.  452 

soul  be  safe  while  you  do  not  earnestly  endeavor  the 
deliverance  of  your  son,  the  sheep  of  your  fold,  by 
frequent  legations,  by  wholesome  admonitions,  by  the 
thunders  of  commination,  by  general  interdicts,  by 
awful  excommunications  ?  You  ought  to  lay  down 
your  life  for  him  in  whose  behalf  you  are  unwilling  to 
speak  or  to  write  a  single  word."  Coelestine  was  un- 
moved by  entreaties,  remonstrances,  rebukes.  The 
promised  legates  never  presented  themselves  so  long  as 
Richard  was  in  prison.^  It  appears  not  whether  from 
prudence  or  fear,  but  no  sooner  was  the  King  released, 
than  Coelestine  embraced  his  cause  with  ardor :  he  de- 
manded the  restitution  of  the  ransom,  the  deliverance 
of  the  hostages.  He  excommunicated  Duke  Leopold 
of  Austria  and  all  who  had  been  concerned  in  the 
imprisonment  of  Richard.  The  Duke  of  Austria,  at 
length,  being  in  danger  of  his  life  by  a  fall  from  his 
horse,  was  glad  to  purchase  his  release  from  the  excom- 
munication by  obedience  to  the  Pope's  demands. 

By  the  death  of  Tancred  King  of  Sicily,  and  of 
Roger  the  heir  of  Tancred  (he  died,  it  was  said,  of 
grief  for  the  loss  of  his  son),  and  the  rapid  recon- 
quest  of  Apulia,  and  even  of  Sicily  itself,  by  the  Em- 
peror Henry,  the  Empire  had  again  consolidated  its 
strength.  The  realm  of  the  Hohenstaufens  extended 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Baltic.  It  might  seem 
that  the  coming  century,  instead  of  beholding  the  Pope, 
after  years  of  obstinate  strife  with  the  house  of  Swabia, 
at  the  culminating  point  of  his  power,  and  seeing  the 
last  blood  of  the  Hohenstaufens  flow  upon  the  scaf- 
fold, might  behold  him  sunk  into  a  vassal  of  the  Em- 
peror.    It  might  seem  that,  enclosed  and  cooped  in  on 

1  Ricliard  imprisoned,  Dec.  20, 1192;  released,  Feb.  1194. 


454  LATIN    CHRISTIAMTY.  Book  VIII. 

every  side,  holding  even  spiritual  communications  with 
Christendom  only  by  the  permission  of  the  German, 
the  Pontiff  might  perhaps  be  compelled  to  yield  up  all 
the  haughty  pretensions  of  the  Church  under  long, 
weary,  irremediable,  degrading  oppression.  Powers 
which  he  dared  not  wield,  or  wielded  in  vain,  would 
fall  into  contempt ;  the  Emperor  would  create  Popes 
according  to  his  own  will,  and  Popes  so  created,  having 
lost  their  independence,  would  lose  their  self-respect 
and  the  respect  of  mankind. 

But  Henry  himself,  by  the  curse  which,  without  pen- 
etrating into  the  divine  counsels,  he  may  be  supposed 
to  have  entailed  on  his  race  by  his  atrocious  cruelties  in 
Italy,  by  the  universal  execration  which  he  brought  on 
the  German  name  and  the  Ghibelline  cause,  by  tyranny 
which,  after  much  allowance  for  the  exaggeration  of 
hate,  is  too  strongly,  too  generally  attested,  contributed 
more,  perhaps,  th^n  has  been  generally  supposed,  to 
the  sudden  growth  of  the  Papal  power. 

Henry  appeared  in  Italy  :  Pisa  and  Genoa  forgot 
The  Em-  their  hostilities  to  join  their  fleets  in  his 
Fn  Italy r"'^^  support.  Popc  Coelestinc  bowed  before  the 
storm.  Though  Henry  had  neither  restored  the  Eng- 
lish gold  nor  the  hostages,  though  he  still  retained 
possession  of  the  lands  of  the  Countess  Matilda,  and 
was  virtually  under  excommunication  as  participant  in 
the  guilt  of  Richard's  captivity,  the  Pope  ventured  on 
no  measure  of  resistance,  and  Henry  passed  contempt- 
uously by  Rome  to  his  southern  prey.  The  Apulian 
cities  opened  their  gates ;  Salerno  only,  in  the  desper- 
ation of  fear  for  her  treachery  to  the  Empress,  made 
some   resistance,    and   suffered    accordingly.^      Henry 

1  The  eloquent  Hugo  Falcandus  saw  the  coming  ruin.    "  Intueri  mihi 


Chap.  IX.  CRUELTIES  OF  HENRY.  455 

marclied  without  further  opposition  from  the  Garig- 
liano  to  the  Straits  of  Messina,  from  Messina  to  Pa 
lermo.  Palermo  received  him  with  open  gates,  with 
clouds  of  incense  and  joyous  processions.  The  youth- 
ful William,  the  second  son  of  Tancred,  laid  his  crown 
at  the  feet  of  the  Emperor,  and  received  the  hereditaiy 
Countship  of  Lecce. 

The  campaign  began  in  August ;  the  Emperor  cel- 
ebrated Christmas  in  Palermo  a.d.  1194.  There  had 
been  no  sound  of  arms,  no  disturbance,  except  from 
the  jealousy  of  the  Pisans  and  Genoese  :  not  a  drop 
of  blood  had  been  shed.  At  Christmas,  the  period  of 
peace  and  festivity,  Henry  laid  before  a  great  assembly 
of  the  realm  letters  (it  was  said  forged)  ^  but  letters 
which  even  if  they  did  not  reveal,  were  declared  to 
reveal,  an  extensive  conspiracy  against  his  power. 
Bishops,  nobles,  the  royal  family,  were  implicated  in 
the  charges.  No  further  evidence  was  offered  or  re- 
quired. Peter  de  Celano  sat  as  supreme  justiciary,  a 
man  dear  to  the  hard  and  ruthless  heart  of  cruelties  of 
Henry.  A  judicial  massacre  began.  Arch-  '^^^^y- 
bishops  and  bishops,  counts  and  nobles  —  among  them 
three  sons  of  the  Chancellor  Matthew,  Margantone  the 
great  naval  captain,  the  Archbishop  of  Salerno  —  were 
apprehended,  condemned,  executed,  or  mutilated  with 

jam  videor  turbulentas  barbarorum  acies,  et  quo  feruntur  impetu  irruentes, 
civitates  opulentas,  et  loca  diuturna  pace  florentia  metu  concutere,  Cfede 

vastare,  rapinis  atterere  et  foedare  luxuria Nee  enim  aut  rationis 

ordine  regi,  aut  miseratione  deflecti,  aut  religione  terreri  Teutonica  novit 
insania,  quam  et  innatus  furor  exagitat  et  rapacitas  stiniulat  et  libido  prae- 
cipitat.  .  .  .  Vse  tibi  fons  Celebris  et  prreclari  nominis  Arethusa,  qufe  ad 
banc  devoluta  es  miseriam,  ut  quae  poetarura  solebas  carmina  modulari, 
nunc  Teutonicorum  ebrietatem  mitiges,  et  eorum  servias  fceditati."  — Apud 
Murator.  vii.  p.  251. 

1  "  Literas  fictitias  et  mendosas.*'  —  Anon.  Casin.    Such  were  the  Ger- 
mans in  Sicily.    The  French  were  to  come ! 


456  LATIN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  VIIL 

barbarous  variety  of  torture.  Some  were  banged,  some 
buried  alive,  some  burned ;  blinding  and  castration 
were  the  mildest  punishments.  The  bodies  of  Tan- 
cred  and  his  son  were  torn  from  their  graves,  the 
crowns  plucked  from  their  usurping  brows.  The 
Queen  Sybilla,  with  her  three  daughters  Aleria,  Con- 
stantia,  and  Mardonia,  were  thrown  into  prison  ;  the 
Dec.26,  n94.  jouug  William  blinded  and  mutilated.^  On 
the  very  day  when  these  fatal  disclosures  were  made, 
and  the  work  of  blood  began,  the  Empress  Constantia 
gave  birth  at  Jesi  to  Frederick  Roger,  afterwards  the 
Emperor  Frederick  II.  The  Nemesis  of  Grecian  trag- 
edy might  be  imagined  as  presiding  over  the  birth. 

The  Pope,  in  righteous  indignation  at  these  inhu- 
conductof  inanities,  took  courage,  and  issued  the  edict 
the  Pope.  q£  excommunication  against  the  Emperor. 
Excommunication,  if  reserved  for  such  crimes,  might 
have  wrought  more  powerfully  on  the  minds  of  men. 
But  Henry  was  strong  enough  to  treat  such  censures 
with  disdain :  he  passed  through  Italy  without  conde- 
scending to  notice  Rome.  As  he  passed  he  distributed 
to  his  faithful  Gennan  followers  territories,  provinces, 
princedoms.  Markwald  obtained  Ancona,  Ravenna, 
and  Romagna.  Diephold  had  large  lands  in  Apulia ; 
at  a  later  period  he  became  Count  of  Ancona.  Rich- 
ard the  Count  of  that  city,  the  brother-in-law  of  Tan- 
cred,  having  been  seized  as  a  traitor,  bound  to  the  tail 
of  a  horse,  dragged  through  the  streets  of  Capua,  was 
hung  up  by  the  leg,  till  the  Emperor's  fool,  after  two 


1  The  cruelties  of  Henry  are  darkly  told,  but  not  overcharged,  in  a  re- 
cent work,  Cherrier,  Lutte  des  Papes  et  des  Empereurs  de  la  Maison  de 
Suabe,  Paris,  1846.  See,  too.  Von  Raumer,  Geschichte  der  Hohenstaufen, 
b.  vi.  c.  iii. 


Chap.  IX.  QUEEN  CONSTANCE.  457 

days'  misery,  put  an  end  to  Ms  pain  by  tying  a  great 
stone  to  his  neck.  Philip,  the  Emperor's  brother,  had 
the  domains  of  the  Countess  Matilda  and  all  Tuscany. 
Philip  mariied  Irene,  daughter  of  the  Byzantine  Em- 
peror and  widow  of  King  Roger  of  Sicily.  Not  yet 
thirty  years  old,  Henry  VI.,  the  Hohenstaufen,  abso- 
lute master  of  Germany  and  of  Italy,  was  at  a  greater 
height  of  power  than  had  been  attained  by  his  father 
Barbarossa,  or  was  subsequently  reached  by  Frederick 
II.  He  could  defy  another  Lombard  League  which 
was  forming  to  control  him  ;  the  feuds  in  Germany 
broke  not  out  into  open  war.  His  proposition  to  make 
the  Empire  hereditary  in  his  family,  on  the  attractive 
condition  that  he  should  guarantee  the  hereditary  de- 
scent of  the  great  fiefs,  and  abandon  all  claims  on  the 
estates  of  the  Church,  was  heard  with  favor,  a.d.  1195. 
and  accepted  by  fifty-two  princes  of  the  empire.  The 
great  ecclesiastics  were  not  indisposed  to  the  measure ; 
even  the  Pope  hesitated,  and  only  on  mature  delibera- 
tion declared  himself  opposed  to  the  plan.  But  the 
election  of  his  son  Frederick  as  King  of  the  a.d.  ii96. 
Romans  was  acceded  to  by  his  brothers,  by  all  the 
princes,  and  won  the  reluctant  consent  of  Albert  Arch- 
bishop of  Mentz.  His  popularity  in  Germany  was  in- 
creased by  his  earnest  support  of  a  new  crusade,  to 
which  the  death  of  Saladin  and  the  feuds  among  his 
sons  might  give  some  reasonable  hopes  of  success. 
Henry  did  not  venture  to  withdraw  his  own  personal 
presence  from  his  European  dominions  ;  but  he  was 
liberal  in  his  influence,  in  his  levies,  and  in  his  contri- 
butions to  the  holy  cause.  The  only  op-  Queen  con- 
position  to  Henry's  despotism  was  that  of  the  ^^°''^" 
gentler  Empress,  who  tempered  by   every   means   in 


458  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  VIII 

her  power  the  inhuman  tyranny  which  still  crushed  her 
Sicilian  subjects  to  the  earth.  So  distasteful  was  her 
mildness,  it  was  rumored  abroad,  that  it  gave  rise  to 
serious  dissensions  between  the  husband  and  the  wife, 
that  she  had  even  meditated  an  insurrection  in  favor  of 
her  depressed  people,  and  the  transfer  of  her  kingdom 
and  of  her  hand  to  some  less,  tyrannic  sovereign.  But 
these  were  doubtless  the  fictions  of  those  who  hoped 
they  might  be  true :  there  was  no  outward  breach ; 
nothing  seemed  to  disturb  the  conjugal  harmony. 

Henry  returned  to  his  Italian  dominions,  to  suppress 
in  his  own  person  all  that  threatened  insurrection,  or 
which  might  by  its  strength  be  tempted  to  insurrection. 
He  levelled  the  walls  of  Capua  and  Naples.  He  crossed 
to  Sicily,  and  sat  down  before  the  insignificant  castle 
of  St.  John,  the  chieftain  of  which  had  been  driven 
into  rebellion  by  the  fear  of  being  treated  as  a  rebel. 
On  a  hot  autumn  day  he  went  out  to  hunt  in  the 
neighboring  forest,  drank  copiously  of  cold  water,  and 
Death  of  exposcd  himsclf  to  the  chill  dews  of  the  even- 
Henry,  -j-jg^  j^  fever  came  on ;  he  was  with  diffi- 
culty removed  to  Messina,  and  died  in  the  arms  of  his 
wife.  His  son  Frederick  had  not  yet  completed  his 
second  year.  As  soon  as  the  Pope  could  be  prevailed 
on  to  remove  the  excommunication,  Henry  VI.  was 
buried  in  great  state  at  Palermo.^  Three  months  after 
Coelestine  III.  followed  him  to  the  grave.^  An  infant 
was  the  heir  of  the  Empire;  Innocent  III.,  in  the 
prime  of  life,  was  Pope. 

1  Henry  died  Sept.  28, 1197. 

2  CcBlestine  died  Jan.  8, 1198. 


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460  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 


BOOK    IX. 

INNOCENT  m. 
CHAPTER  L 

EOME   AND   ITALY. 

Under  Innocent  III.,  the  Papal  power  rose  to  its 
The  Papal  utmost  height.  Later  Pontiffs,  more  espe- 
autocracy.  ^,j^||^  Boniface  VIII.,  Were  more  exorbitant 
in  their  pretensions,  more  violent  in  their  measures  ;  but 
the  full  sovereignty  of  the  Popedom  had  already  taken 
possession  of  the  minds  of  the  Popes  themselves,  and 
had  been  submitted  to  by  great  part  of  Christendom. 
The  thirteenth  century  is  nearly  commensurate  with 
this  supremacy  of  the  Pope.  Innocent  III.  at  its  com- 
mencement calmly  exercised  as  his  right,  and  handed 
down  strengthened  and  almost  irresistible  to  his  suc- 
cessors, that  which,  at  its  close,  Boniface  asserted  with 
repulsive  and  ill-timed  arrogance,  endangered,  under- 
mined, and  shook  to  its  base.  At  least  from  the  days 
of  Hildebrand,  the  mind  of  Europe  had  become  fa- 
miliarized with  the  assertion  of  those  claims,  which  in 
their  latent  significance  amounted  to  an  absolute  irre- 
sponsible autocracy.  The  essential  inherent  supremacy 
of  the  spiritual  over  the  temporal  power,  as  of  the  soul 
over  the  body,  as  of  eternity  over  time,  as  of  Christ 


Chap.  I.         THE  PAPAL  AUTOCRACY.  461 

over  Caesar,  as  of  God  over  man,  was  now  an  integral 
part  of  Christianity.  There  was  a  shuddering  sense 
of  impiety  in  all  resistance  to  this  ever-present  rule ;  it 
required  either  the  utmost  strength  of  mind,  desperate 
courage,  or  desperate  recklessness,  to  confront  the  fatal 
and  undefined  consequences  of  such  resistance.  The 
assertion  of  these  powers  by  the  Church  had  been, 
however  intermittingly,  yet  constantly  growing,  and 
had  now  frilly  grown  into  determinate  acts.  The  Popes 
had  not  merely  claimed,  they  had  established  many 
precedents  of  their  right  to  excommunicate  sovereigns, 
and  so  of  virtually  releasing  subjects  from  their  alle- 
giance to  a  king  under  sentence  of  outlawry ;  to  call 
sovereigns  to  account  not  merelv  for  flaorant  outrages 
on  the  Church,  but  for  moral  delinquencies,^  especially 
those  connected  with  marriage  and  concubinage;  to 
receive  kingdoms  by  the  cession  of  their  sovereigns  as 
feudal  fiefs ;  to  grant  kingdoms  which  had  no  legitimate 
lord,  or  of  which  the  lordship  was  doubtftil  and  con- 
tested, or  such  as  were  conquered  fi'om  infidels,  barba- 
rians, or  heretics  :  as  to  the  Empire,  to  interfere  in  the 
election  as  judge  both  in  the  first  and  last  resort. 
Ideas  obtain  authority  and  dominion,  not  altogether 
from  their  intrinsic  truth,  but  rather  from  their  constant 
asseveration,  especially  when  they  fall  in  with  the  com- 
mon hopes  and  fears,  the  wants  and  necessities  of  hu- 

1  Innocent  III.  lays  this  down  broadly  and  distinctly:  "  Cum  enim  non 
humanoe  constitutioni  sed  divinae  potius  innitamur:  quia  potestas  nostra 
non  ex  homine  sed  ex  Deo ;  nullus  qui  sit  sange  mentis  ignorat,  quin  ad 
officium  nostrum  spectet  de  quocunque  mortali  peccato  corrigere  quemlibet 
Christianum,  et  si  correctionem  contenipserit,  ipsum  per  districtionem  ec- 
clesiasticam  coercere."  —  Decret.  Innocent  III.,  sub  ann.  1200,  cap.  13,  de 
•Judiciis.  Eicbhom  observes  on  this :  "  "Womit  denn  natiirlich  der  Grundsatz 
selbst,  das  die  Kirche  wegen  Siindlichkeit  der  Handlung  iiber  jede  Civil- 
Bache  erkennen  moge,  anerkannt  wurde."  —  Rechts  Geschichte,  ii.  517. 


462  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX 

man  nature.  The  mass  of  mankind  have  neither  leisure 
nor  ability  to  examine  them ;  they  fatigue,  and  so  com- 
pel the  world  into  their  acceptance  ;  more  particularly 
if  it  is  the  duty,  the  passion,  and  the  interest  of  one 
great  associated  body  to  perpetuate  them,  while  it  is 
neither  the  peculiar  function,  nor  the  manifest  advan- 
tage of  any  large  class  or  order  to  refute  them.  The 
Pope  had,  throughout  the  strife,  an  organized  body  of 
allies  in  the  camp  of  the  enemy ;  the  King  or  Emperor 
none,  at  least  none  below  the  nobles,  who  would  not 
have  preferred  the  triumph  of  the  spiritual  power.  If 
these  ideas  are  favored  by  ambiguity  of  language,  their 
progress  is  more  sure,  their  extirpation  from  the  mind 
of  man  infinitely  more  difficult.  The  Latin  clergy 
had  been  busy  for  many  centuries  in  asserting,  under 
the  specious  name  of  their  liberty,  the  supremacy  of 
the  Church  which  was  their  own  supremacy  ;  for  sev- 
eral centuries  in  asserting  the  autocracy  of  the  Pope  as 
Head  of  the  Church.  This,  which  was  true,  at  least 
on  the  acknowledged  principles  of  the  time,  in  a  certain 
degree,  was  easily  extended  to  its  utmost  limits ;  and 
when  it  had  become  part  of  the  habitual  belief,  it  re- 
quired some  palpable  abuse,  some  startling  oppugnancy 
to  the  common  sense  of  mankind,  to  awaken  suspicion, 
to  rouse  the  mind  to  the  consideration  of  its  ground- 
work, and  to  decompose  the  splendid  fallacy. 

Splendid  indeed  it  was,  as  harmonizing  with  man's 
natural  sentiment  of  order.  The  unity  of  the  vast 
Christian  republic  was  an  imposing  conception,  which, 
even  now  that  history  has  shown  its  hopeless  impossi- 
bihty,  still  infatuates  lofty  minds  ;  its  impossibility, 
since  it  demands  for  its  Head  not  merely  that  infalli- 
bility in  doctrine  so  boldly  claimed  in  later  times,  but 


Chap.  I.  IDEA.  OF  THE  PAPACY.  463 

absolute  impeccability  in  every  one  of  its  possessors ; 
more  than  impeccability,  an  all-commanding,  indefeas- 
ible, unquestionable  majesty  of  virtue,  holiness,  and 
wisdom.  Without  this  it  is  a  baseless  tyranny,  a  sense- 
less usurpation.  In  those  days  it  struck  in  with  the 
whole  feudal  system,  which  was  one  of  strict  gradation 
and  subordination  ;  to  the  hierarchy  of  Church  and 
State  was  equally  wanting  the  Crown,  the  Sovereign 
Liege  Lord.^ 

When  this  idea  was  first  promulgated  in  all  its  naked 
sternness  by  Gregory  VII.,  it  had  come  into  collision 
with  other  ideas  rooted  with  almost  equal  depth  in  the 
mind  of  man,  that  especially  of  the  illimitable  Caesa- 
rean  power,  which  though  transferred  to  a  German 
Emperor,  was  still  a  powerful  tradition,  and  derived 
great  weight  fi'om  its  descent  from  Charlemagne.  But 
the  imperial  power,  from  its  elective  character ;  from 
the  strife  and  intrigue  at  each  successive  election ;  from 
constant  contests  for  the  imperial  crown  ;  from  the  op- 
position of  mighty  houses,  one  or  two  of  which  were 
almost  always  nearly  equal  in  wealth  and  influence  to 
the  Emperor ;  fi'om  the  weaknesses,  vices,  tyrannies  of 
the  Emperors  themselves,  had  been  more  and  more 
impaired ;  that  of  the  Pope,  notwithstanding  transient 
obscurations,  had  been  silently  ascending  to  still  higher 
estimation.  The  humiliation  of  the  Emperor  was  deg- 
radation ;  it  brought  contempt  on  the  office,  scarcely 

1  A  letter  of  Innocent  to  the  Consuls  of  Milan  declares  that  it  is  sacri- 
lege to  doubt  the  decrees  of  a  Pope ;  that  though  he  is  born  of  sinners,  of  a 
sinful  race,  yet,  since  he  fills  the  place  of  him  that  was  Avithout  sin,  he  who 
despises  him  despises  Christ.  The  cause  of  dispute  was  the  excommunica- 
tion of  Passaguerra,  against  which  the  Milanese  protested  as  unjust.  Com- 
pare the  Decretalia,  ii.  and  iii.,  on  the  superiority  of  the  priesthood  to  tha 
temporal  power. 


464  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX 

redeemed  by  the  abilities,  successes,  or  even  virtues 
of  new  Sovereigns ;  the  humiliation  of  the  Pope  was  a 
noble  suffering  in  the  cause  of  God  and  truth,  the  de- 
pression of  patient  holiness  under  worldly  violence.  In 
every  schism  the  Pope  who  maintained  the  loftiest 
Churchmanship  had  eventually  gained  the  superiority, 
the  Imperializing  Popes  had  sunk  into  impotence,  ob- 
scurity, ignominy. 

The  Crusades  had  made  the  Pope  not  merely  the 
spiritual,  but  in  some  sort  the  military  suzerain  of  Eu- 
rope ;  he  had  the  power  of  summoning  all  Christendom 
to  his  banner ;  the  raising  the  cross,  the  standard  of 
the  Pope,  was  throughout  Europe  a  general  and  com- 
pulsory levy,  the  herr-ban  of  all  who  bore  arms,  of  all 
who  could  follow  an  army.  That  which  was  a  noble 
act  of  devotion  had  become  a  duty :  not  to  assume  the 
cross  was  sin  and  impiety.  The  Crusades  thus  became 
a  kind  of  forlorn-hope  upon  which  all  the  more  dan- 
gerous and  refractory  of  the  temporal  sovereigns  might 
be  employed,  so  as  to  waste  their  strength,  if  not  lose 
their  lives,  by  the  accidents  of  the  journey  or  by  the 
sword  of  the  Mohammedan.  If  they  resisted,  the  fear- 
ful excommunication  hung  over  them,  and  was  ratified 
by  the  fears  and  by  the  wavering  allegiance  of  their 
subjects.  If  they  obeyed  and  returned,  as  most  of 
them  did,  with  shame  and  defeat,  they  returned  shorn 
of  their  power,  lowered  in  the  public  estimation,  and 
perhaps  still  pursued,  on  account  of  their  ill  success, 
with  the  inexorable  interdict.  It  was  thus  by  trammel- 
ling their  adversaries  with  vows  which  they  could  not 
decline,  and  from  which  they  could  not  extricate  them- 
selves ;  by  thus  consuming  their  wealth  and  resources 
on  this  wild  and  remote  warfare,  that  the  Popes,  who 


Chap.  I.  mEA  OF  THE  PAPACr.  465 

themselves  decently  eluded,  or  were  prevented  by  age 
or  alleged  occupations  from  embarkation  in  these  adven- 
turous expeditions,  broke  and  wasted  away  the  power 
and  influence  of  the  Emperors.  Conrad  the  first  Ho- 
henstaufen  had  betrayed  prudent  reluctance  to  march 
away  from  distracted  Germany  to  the  Holy  Land.  St. 
Bernard  sternly  demanded  how  he  would  answer  at  the 
great  day  of  Judgment,  the  dereliction  of  this  more  man- 
ifest duty.  The  trembling  Emperor  acknowledged  the 
voice  of  God,  girt  on  the  cross,  collected  the  strength 
of  the  Empire,  to  leave  their  whitening  bones  on  the 
plains  and  in  the  defiles  of  Asia  Minor  ;  he  returned 
to  Europe  discomfited  and  fallen  in  the  estimation  of  all 
Christendom.  Frederick  Barbarossa,  the  greatest  of 
the  Svv^abian  house,  had  perished  in  the  zenith  of  his 
power,  in  a  small  remote  river  in  Asia  Minor.  During 
this  century  will  appear  Frederick  II.,  probably  in  his 
heart,  at  least  during  his  riper  years,  disdaining  the 
enthusiasm  with  which  the  -dominant  feeling  of  the 
time  forced  him  to  comply,  excommunicated  for  not 
taking;  the  cross,  excommunicated  for  not  settino;  out  to 
the  Holy  Land,  excommunicated  for  setting  out,  ex- 
communicated in  the  Holy  Land,  excommunicated  for 
returning  after  having  made  an  advantageous  peace 
with  the  Mohammedans.  During  his  whole  reign  he 
is  vainly  struggling  to  burst  the  fetters  thus  wound 
around  him,  and  riveted  not  merely  by  the  remorseless 
hostility  of  his  spiritual  antagonists,  but  by  the  irresist- 
ible sentiment  of  the  age.  On  this  subject  there  was 
no  assumption,  no  abuse  of  Papal  authority,  which  was 
not  ratified  by  the  trembling  assent  of  Christendom. 
The  Crusades,  too,  had  now  made  the  Western  world 
tributary  to  the  Popedom  :  the  vast  subventions  raised 


466  LA,TIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

for  the  Holy  Land  were  to  a  certain  extent  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Pope.  The  taxation  of  the  clergy  on  his 
authority  could  not  be  refused  for  such  an  object ;  a 
tenth  of  all  the  exorbitant  wealth  of  the  hierarchy 
passed  through  his  hands.  An  immense  financial  sys- 
tem grew  up ;  Papal  collectors  were  in  every  land, 
Papal  bankers  in  eveiy  capital,  to  transmit  these  sub- 
sidies. The  enormous  increase  of  his  powder  from  this 
source  may  be  conjectured ;  the  abuses  of  that  power, 
the  emoluments  for  dispensation  from  vows,  and  other 
evils,  will  appear  in  the  course  of  our  history. 

But  after  all,  none  of  these  accessory  and,  in  some 
degree,  fortuitous  aids  could  have  raised  the  Papal 
authority  to  its  commanding  height,^  had  it  not  pos- 
sessed more  sublime  and  more  lawful  claims  to  the 
reverence  of  mankind.  It  was  still  an  assertion  of 
eternal  principles  of  justice,  righteousness,  and  human- 
ity. However  it  might  trample  on  all  justice,  sacrifice 
righteousness  to  its  own  interests,  plunge  Euroj)e  in 
desolating  wars,  perpetuate  strife  hi  states,  set  sons  in 
arms  against  their  fathers,  fathers  against  sons  ;  it  was 
still  proclaiming  a  higher  ultimate  end.     It  was  some- 

1  It  may  be  well  to  state  the  chief  pomts  which  the  Pope  claimed  as  his 
exclusive  prerogative :  — 

I.  General  supremacy  of  jurisdiction ;  a  claim,  it  is  obvious,  absolutely 
illimitable. 

II.  Right  of  legislation,  including  the  summoning  and  presiding  in 
Councils. 

III.  Judgment  in  all  ecclesiastic  causes  arduous  and  difficult.  This  in. 
eluded  the  power  of  judging  on  contested  elections,  and  degrading  bishops, 
a  super-metropolitan  power. 

IV.  Right  of  confirmation  of  bishops  and  metropolitans,  the  gift  of  the 
pallium.  Hence,  by  degrees,  rights  of  appointment  to  devolved  sees,  res- 
ervations, &c. 

V.  Dispensations. 

VI.  The  foundation  of  new  orders. 
.    Vll.  Canonization. 

Compare  Eichhom,  ii.  p.  500. 


Chap.  I.  INNOCENT  III.  467 

thing  that  there  was  a  tribunal  of  appeal,  before  which 
the  lawless  kings,  the  lawless  feudal  aristocracy  trem- 
bled, however  that  tribunal  might  be  proverbial  for  its 
venality  and  corruption,  and  constantly  warped  in  its 
judgments  by  worldly  interests.  There  was  a  perpet- 
ual provocation,  as  it  were,  to  the  Gospel,  which  gave 
hope  where  it  did  not  give  succor ;  which  might,  and 
frequently  did,  offer  a  refuge  against  overwhelming 
tyranny;  something,  which  in  itself  rebuked  rugged 
force,  and  inspired  some  restraint  on  heinous  immo- 
rality. 

The  Papal  language,  the  language  of  the  clergy, 
was  still  ostentatiously,  profoundly  religious  ;  it  pro- 
fessed, even  if  itself  did  not  always  respect,  even 
though  it  tampered  with,  the  awful  sense  of  retribution 
before  an  all-knowing,  all-righteous  God.  In  his  high- 
est pride,  the  Pope  was  still  the  servant  of  the  servants 
of  God ;  in  all  his  cruelty  he  boasted  of  his  kindness  to 
the  transgressor ;  every  contumacious  Emperor  was  a 
disobedient  son  ;  the  excommunication  was  the  voice  of 
a  parent,  who  affected  at  least  reluctance  to  chastise. 
Every  Pope  declared,  no  doubt  he  imagined,  himself 
the  vicar  and  representative  of  Christ,  and  it  was  im- 
possible that  all  the  darkness  which  had  gathered 
around  the  perfect  humanity,  the  God  in  man  as  re- 
vealed in  the  Gospel,  could  entirely  obscure  all  its  ex- 
quisite truth,  holiness,  and  love. 

If  this  great  Idea  was  ever  to  be  realized  of  a  Chris- 
tian republic  with  a  Pope  at  its  head  —  and  innocent  m. 
that  a  Pope  of  a  high  Christian  character  (in  some  re- 
spects, in  all  perhaps  but  one,  in  tolerance  and  gentle- 
ness almost  impossible  in  his  days,  and  the  want  of 
which,  far  from  impairing,  confirmed  his  strength)  — 


468  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

none  could  bring  more  lofty,  more  various  qualifications 
for  its  accomplishment,  none  cou.d  fall  on  more  favora- 
ble times  than  Innocent  III.  Innocent  was  an  Italian 
of  noble  birth,  but  not  of  a  family  inextricably  in- 
volved in  the  petty  quarrels  and  interests  of  the  Prince- 
doms of  Romagna.  He  was  of  the  Conti/  who  derived 
their  name  in  some  remote  time  from  their  dignity. 
His  father.  Count  Trasimondo  of  Segna  (the  name 
Trasimondo  was  traced  to  the  Lombard  Dukes  of 
Spoleto,  if  truly,  it  implied  Teutonic  blood),  married 
Claricia,  of  the  senatorial  house  of  Scotti.  He  was  a 
Roman,  therefore,  by  the  mother's  side,  probably  of  a 
kindred  attached  to  the  liberties  of  the  city.  Lothair 
was  the  youngest  of  four  brothers,  born  at  Anagni. 
He  had  high  ecclesiastical  connections,  both  on  his 
father's  and  his  mother's  side.  John,  the  famous  Car- 
dinal of  St.  Mark,  was  his  paternal  uncle.  Paul,  the 
Cardinal  Bishop  of  Palestrina,  by  the  title  of  St.  Ser- 
gius  and  St.  Bacchus,  afterwards  Pope  Clement  III., 
probably  his  uncle  on  his  mother's  side.  The  Cardinal 
Octavian,  the  firmest,  ablest,  and  most  intrepid  sup- 
porter of  Alexander  III.,  was  of  his  kindred.  All 
these  were  of  the  high  anti-Imperialist  faction.  The 
Education,  early  education  of  Lothair,  at  Rome,  was 
completed  by  some  years  of  study  at  Paris,  the  great 
school  of  theology;  and  at  Bologna,  that  of  law.  He 
returned  to  Rome  with  the  highest  character  for  erudi- 
tion and  for  irreproachable  manners ;  he  became  a 
Canon  of  St.  Peter's.  The  elevation  of  his  uncle,  the 
Cardinal  of  St.  Sergius  and  St.  Bacchus,  to  the  Pontif- 

1  The  Conti  family  boasted  of  nine  Popes,  —  among  them  Innocent  III., 
Gregory  IX.,  Alexander  IV.,  Innocent  XIII. ;  of  thirteen  cardinals,  accord- 
ing to  Ciacconius. 


Chap.  I.  ELEVATION  TO  CARDINALATE.  469 

icate  as  Clement  III.,  paved  the  way  to  his  rapid  rise. 
He  was  elevated  in  his  twenty-ninth  year  to  cardinaiate. 
the  Cardinaiate  under  the  title  vacated  by  his  uncle. 
Already  he  was  esteemed  among  the  ablest  and  most 
judicious  counsellors  of  the  supreme  pontiff.  The  suc- 
cessor of  Clement  III.,  Coelestine  III.,  was  of  the 
house  of  Orsini,  between  whom  and  the  maternal  an- 
cestors of  Lothair,  the  Scotti,  to  whom  Clement  III. 
his  patron  belonged,  was  an  ancient,  unreconciled  feud. 
Coelestine  III.,^  veiy  much  advanced  in  years,  might 
suspect  the  nepotism  of  his  predecessor,  which  had 
raised  his  kinsman  to  such  almost  unprecedented  rank, 
and  had  intrusted  him  with  affairs  so  far  beyond  his 
years.  During  Coelestine's  Popedom,  the  Cardinal 
Lothair  either  withdrew  or  was  silently  repelled  from 
the  prominent  place  which  he  had  filled  under  the 
Pontificate  of  Clement.  In  his  retirement  he  began 
to  despise  the  ungrateful  world,  and  wrote  his  treatise 
on  "  Contempt  of  the  world  and  the  miseiy  of  human 
life."  The  stem  monastic  energy  of  language  through- 
out this  treatise  displays  in  another  form  the  strength 
of  Innocent's  character :  had  he  remained  in  seclusion 
he  might  have  founded  an  order  more  severe  than 
that  of  Benedict,  as  active  as  those  which  he  was  des- 
tined to  sanction,  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans. 
But  he  was  to  show  his  contempt  of  the  world  not  by 
renouncing  but  by  iniling  it.^ 

1  Coelestine  was  of  the  house  of  Bobo,  a  branch  of  the  Orsini. 

2  This  work,  written  in  not  inelegant  Latin,  is  monastic  to  its  core.  It 
asserts  the  Augustinian  notion  of  the  transmission  of  original  sin  with  re- 
pulsive nakedness.  Nothing  can  be  baser  or  more  miserable  than  human 
nature  thus  propagated.  I  cannot  help  quoting  a  strange  passage:  "  Omnes 
nascimur  ejulantes  ut  nostram  miseriam  exprimamus.  Masculus  enim  re- 
center  natus  dicit  A,  faemina  '  E,  quotquot  nascuntur  ab  Eva.'  Quid  est 
igitur'Eva  nisi  heu  ha!    Utrumque  dolentis  est  inter] ectio,  doloris  expri- 


470  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

Coelestine  on  Ills  death-bed  had  endeavored  to  nomi- 
nate his  successor  :  he  had  offered  to  resign  the  Papacy 
if  the  Cardinals  would  elect  John  of  Colonna.  But, 
even  if  consistent  with  right  and  with  usage,  the  words 
of  dying  sovereigns  rarely  take  effect.  Of  twenty-eight 
Cardinals,^  five  only  were  absent ;  of  the  rest  the  unan- 
imous vote  fell  on  the  youngest  of  their  body,  on  the 
Cardinal  Lothair.  No  irregularity  impaired  the  au- 
thority of  his  election ;  there  was  no  murmur  of  oppo- 
sition or  schism  :  the  general  suffrage  of  the  clergy  and 
the  people  of  Rome  was  confirmed  by  the  unhesitating 
assent  of  Christendom.  The  death  of  the  Emperor, 
the  infancy  of  his  son,  the  state  of  affairs  in  Germany, 
made  all  secure  on  the  side  of  the  Empire.  Lothair 
was  only  thirty-seven  years  old,  almost  an  unprece- 
dented age  for  a  Pope  ;  ^  even  a  mind  like  his  might 
tremble  at  this  sudden  elevation.  He  was  as  yet  but 
in  deacon's  orders ;  he  had  to  accumulate  those  of 
priest,  bishop,  and  so  become  Pope.  It  may  be  diffi- 
cult in  some  cases  to  dismiss  all  suspicion  of  hypoc- 
risy, when  men  who  have  steadily  held   the   Papacy 

mens  magnitudinem."  —  i.  3.  This  puerility  does  not  contrast  more 
strongly  with  the  practical  wisdom  of  Innocent,  than  sentences  like  this 
with  his  haughtiness:  "  0  superba  praesumptio,  et  prsesumptuosa  superbia! 
quaj  non  tantum  Angelos  Deo  voluisti  adaequare,  sed  etiam  homines  prae- 
sumpsisti  deificare."  — ii.  c.  92. 

1  The  list  in  Ciacconius,  vol.  ii.  p.  2.  Hurter,  Leben  Innocent  III.,  i.  73, 
gives  the  names  of  the  absentees. 

2  Walter  der  Vogelweide,  who  attributes  all  the  misery  of  the  civil  war 
in  Germany  to  Innocent,  closes  his  poem  with  these  words  (modernized  by 
K.  Simrock):  — 

"  Ich  hbrte  fern  in  einer  Klaus 
Ein  jammern  ohne  Ende  : 
Ein  Klausner  rang  die  Ulnde  ; 
Er  klagte  Gott  sein  bittres  Leid; 
O  wehs  der  Fapst  ist  allzujicng,  Hen  Gott,  hilf  deiner  Christenheit.'^ 

Simrock,  p.  175. 


Chap.  I.  INNOCENT'S   INAUGUEATION.  471 

before  them  as  the  object  of  their  ambition,  have 
affected  to  decline  the  tiara,  and  played  off  a  grace- 
ful and  yielding  resistance.  Bat  the  strength,  as  well 
as  the  deep  religious  seriousness  of  Lothair's  character, 
might  make  him  naturally  shrink  from  the  assumption 
of  such  a  dignity  at  an  age  almost  without  example  ] 
and  in  times  if  favorable  to  the  ao;o;randizement  of  the 
Papacy,  therefore  of  more  awful  responsibility.  The 
Cardinals  who  proclaimed  him  saluted  him  by  the  name 
of  Innocent,  in  testimony  of  his  blameless  life.  In  his 
inaucruration  sermon  broke  forth  the  character  of  the 
man  ;  the  unmeasured  assertion  of  his  dignity,  protes- 
tations of  humility  which  have  a  sound  of  pride.  "  Ye 
see  what  manner  pf  servant  that  is  whom  the  Lord 
hath  set  over  his  people  ;  no  other  than  the  vicegerent 
of  Christ;  the  successor  of  Peter.  He  stands  in  the 
midst  between  God  and  man  ;  below  God,  above  man  ; 
less  than  God,  more  than  man.  He  judges  all,  is 
judged  by  none,  for  it  is  written  — '  I  will  judge.'  But 
he  whom  the  preeminence  of  dignity  exalts,  is  lowered 
by  his  office  of  a  servant,  that  so  humility  may  be  ex- 
alted, and  pride  abased  ;  for  God  is  against  tlie  high- 
minded,  and  to  the  lowly  he  shows  mercy  ;  and  he  who 
exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased.  Every  valley  shall 
be  lifted  up,  eveiy  hill  and  mountain  laid  low  !  "  The 
letters  in  which  he  announced  his  election  to  the  kino; 
of  France,  and  to  the  other  realms  of  Christendom, 
blend  a  decent  but  exaggerated  humility  with  the  con- 
sciousness of  power  :  Innocent's  confidence  in  himself 
transpires  through  his  confidence  in  the  divine  protec- 
tion.^ 

The  state  of  Christendom  might  have  tempted  a  less 

1  Epist.  i.  et  seq. 


472  LATDT  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

ambitious  prelate  to  extend  and  consolidate  his  suprem- 
state  of  ^^J'  -^^  ^^  period  in  the  history  of  the  Pa- 
christendom.  pacy  could  the  boldest  assertion  of  the  spirit- 
ual power,  or  even  the  most  daring  usurpation,  so  easily 
have  disojuised  itself  to  the  loftiest  mind  under  the  sense 
of  duty  to  God  and  to  mankind  ;  never  was  season  so 
favorable  for  the  aggrandizement  of  the  Pope,  never 
could  his  aggrandizement  appear  a  greater  blessing  to 
the  world.  Wherever  Innocent  cast  his  eyes  over 
Christendom  and  beyond  the  limits  of  Christendom, 
appeared  disorder,  contested  thrones,  sovereigns  op- 
pressing their  subjects,  subjects  in  arms  against  their 
sovereigns,  the  ruin  of  the  Christian  cause.  In  Italy 
the  crown  of  Naples  on  the  brows  of  an  infant ;  the 
fairest  provinces  under  the  galling  yoke  of  fierce  Ger- 
man adventurers  ;  the  Lombard  republics,  Guelf  or 
Ghibelline,  at  war  within  their  walls,  at  war  or  in  im- 
placable animosity  against  each  other ;  the  Empire  dis- 
tracted by  rival  claimants  for  the  throne,  one  vast  scene 
of  battle,  intrigue,  almost  of  anarchy  ;  the  tyrannical 
and  dissolute  Philip  Augustus  King  of  France,  before 
long  the  tyrannical  and  feeble  John  of  England.  The 
Byzantine  empire  is  tottering  to  its  fall ;  the  kingdom 
of  Jerusalem  confined  almost  to  the  city  of  Acre. 
Every  realm  seemed  to  demand,  or  at  least  to  invite, 
the  interposition,  the  mediation,  of  the  head  of  Chris- 
tendom ;  in  every  land  one  party  at  least,  or  one  por- 
tion of  society,  would  welcome  his  interference  in  the 
last  resort  for  refuge  or  for  protection.  Nor  did  Inno- 
cent shrink  from  that  which  might  have  crushed  a  less 
energetic  spirit  to  despair  ;  from  the  Jordan  to  the  At- 
lantic, fi:om  the  Mediterranean  to  beyond  the  Baltic  his 
influence  is  felt  and  confessed  ;  his  vast  correspondence 


Chap.  I.  INNOCENT  AND  ROSIE.  473 

shows  at  once  tlie  inexhaustible  activity  of  his  mind ; 
he  is  involved  simultaneously  or  successively  in  the  vital 
interests  of  every  kingdom  in  tliB  western  world.  The 
history  of  Innocent's  Papacy  will  be  more  full  and  in- 
telligible by  tracing  his  acts  in  succession  rather  than 
in  strict  chronological  order,  in  every  part  of  Christen- 
dom. I.  In  Rome,  and  II.  In  Italy.  III.  In  the 
Empire.  IV.  In  France.  V.  In  England.  VI.  In 
Spain.  VII.  In  the  Northern  kingdoms.  VIII.  In 
Bulgaria  and  Hungary.  IX.  In  the  Byzantine  Empire 
and  the  East,  in  Constantinople,  Armenia,  and  the 
Holy  Land.  Finally,  X.  In  the  wars  of  Languedoc 
with  the  Albigensian  and  other  schismatics ;  and  XL 
XII.  In  the  establishment  of  the  two  new  monastic 
orders,  that  of  St.  Dominic  and  that  of  St.  Francis. 

The  affairs  of  Rome  and  of  Italy  are  so  intimately 
blended  that  it  may  not  be  convenient  to  keep  them 
entirely  disconnected. 

I.  The  city  of  Rome  was  the  first  to  acknowledge 
the  ascendancy  of  the  new  Pontiff.  Since  Rome. 
the  treaty  with  Clement  III.  the  turbulence  of  the 
Roman  people  seemed  sunk  to  rest.  As  well  the  stir- 
ring reminiscences  of  their  ancient  grandeur  as  the 
democratic  Christianity  of  Arnold  of  Brescia  were  for- 
gotten. The  mutinous  spirit  which  had  twice  risen  in 
insurrection  against  Lucius  III.,  and  had  driven  that 
Pontiff  into  the  north  of  Italy,  had  been  allayed.^ 
Clement  had  appeased  them  for  a  time  by  the  promise 
of  sacrificing  Tusculum  to  their  implacable  hostility; 
his  successor  Coelestine  III.  had  consummated  or  ex- 
torted fi-om  the  Emperor  that  sacrifice.^     A  judicious 

1  See  vol.  iv.  p.  439. 

2  See  vol.  iv.  p.  449. 


474  LATIN  CHRISTL4NITT.  Book  IX. 

payment  distributed  by  Clement  among  the  senators 
had  reconciled  them  to  the  papal  supremacy.  The 
great  Roman  families,  though  their  private  feuds  were 
not  even  suspended,  were  allied  to  the  church  by  the 
promotion  of  their  ecclesiastical  members  to  the  Cardi- 
nalate.^  The  Roman  aristocracy  had  furnished  many 
names  among  the  twenty-seven  who  concurred  in  the 
elevation  of  the  Roman  Lothair.  Innocent  pursued 
the  policy  of  Clement  III.  The  usual  largess  on  the 
accession  of  the  new  Pope  was  silently  and  skilfully 
distributed  through  the  thirteen  quarters  of  the  city. 
The  prefect  of  the  city,  now  the  representative  of  the 
imperial  authority  (the  empire  was  in  abeyance),  was 
either  overawed  or  won  to  take  a  strong  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  the  Pope,^  by  which  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Emperor  was  silently  abrogated.  Innocent  substituted 
his  own  Justiciaries  for  those  appointed  by  the  senate  : 
the  whole  authority  emanated  from  the  Pope,  and  was 
held  during  his  pleasure ;  to  the  Pope  alone  the  judges 
were  responsible ;  they  were  bound  to  resign  when 
called  upon  by  him.  In  his  own  spiritual  courts  Inno- 
cent endeavored  to  set  the  example  of  strict  and  un- 
bought  justice  ;  to  remove  the  inveterate  reproach  of 
venality,  which  withheld  the  concourse  of  appellants  to 
Rome,  and  was  so  far  injurious  to  the  people.  He 
severely  limited  the  fees  and  emoluments  of  his  officers  ; 
three  times  a  week  he  held  a  public  consistory  for 
smaller  causes  ;  the  gravest  he  meditated  in  private, 
and  the  most  accomplished  canon  lawyer  might  acquire 

1  In  Innocent's  earlier  promotions  I  observe  a  Brancaleone,  a  Pierleoni 
(qu.  Peter  Leonis),  a  Bisontio  from  Orvieto,  a  Crescentius,  besides  several 
connected  with  the  Conti.  —  Addition?  to  Ciacconius. 

2  Gesta,  viii.  Epist.  1,  23,  577,  578.  The  oath  of  Peter  the  Prefect,  i. 
577. 


Chap.  I.  WAR  OF  VITERBO.  475 

knowledge  from  tlie  decrees  drawn  up  by  Innocent 
himself.  Even  the  commencement  of  Innocent's  reign 
shows  how  the  whole  Christian  world  paid  its  tribute 
of  appeal  to  Rome.^  There  was  one  cause  concerning 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  sees  of  Braga  and  Compostella 
over  great  part  of  Spain  and  Portugal ;  a  cause  for  the 
metropolitan  ate  of  Brittany  between  the  Bishops  of 
Tours  and  Dole ;  a  cause  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury concerning  the  parish  of  Lambeth. 

Yet  neither  could  the  awe,  nor  the  dexterous  man- 
agement of  Innocent,  nor  the  wealth  of  the  tributary 
world,  subdue  or  bribe  refi-actory  Rome  to  peace. 
There  were  still  factious  nobles,  John  Rainer,  one  of 
the  Peter  Leonis,  and  John  Capocio,  a  man  of  stirring 
popular  eloquence,  who  endeavored  to  excite  the  people 
to  reclaim  their  rights.  Still  the  versatile  people  li's- 
tened  with  greedy  ears  to  these  republican  tenets.  Still 
the  Orsini  were  in  deadly  feud  with  the  Scotti,  the 
maternal  house  of  the  Pope.  Still  were  there  out- 
bursts of  insurrection  in  the  turbulent  city ;  still  out- 
bursts of  war  in  the  no  less  turbulent  territory ;  Rome 
was  at  war  with  her  neighbors,  her  neighbors  a.d.  1200. 
with  each  other.  Ere  three  years  of  Innocent's  reign 
had  passed,  Rome,  in  defence  of  Viterclano,  besieged 
by  the  Viterbans,  takes  up  arms  against  Viterbo. 

The  Romans  cared  not  for  the  liberty  of  Viterclano, 
but  they  had  old  arrears  of  hatred  against  Viterbo  ; 
and  once  the  waters  troubled,  their  gain  was  sure.^     If 

1  Under  the  Lateran  palace,  near  the  kitchen,  was  a  change  of  money, 
in  which  the  coin  of  various  countries,  vessels  of  gold  and  silver  were 
heaped  up,  exchanged,  or  sold,  by  the  praetors,  for  the  expenses  of  the  Cu- 
ria. These  "  tables  of  the  money-changers  "  Innocent  abolished  at  once. 
—  Gesta,  xli. 

2  "  Quod  non  poterant  in  aqua  clara  piscari,  cceperunt  aquam  tiirbare." 
^  Gesta,  c.  133.    October,  1200. 


476  LATIN  CHRISTIAOTTY.  Book  IX. 

the  Pope  was  against  them,  Rome  was  against  the 
Pope ;  if  the  Pope  was  on  their  side,  Vlterbo  revoked 
from  the  Pope.  The  Tuscans  moved  to  the  aid  of  Vl- 
terbo ;  but  the  shrewd  Pope,  unexpectedly,  on  the 
pretext  that  the  Viterbans  had  despised  his  commina- 
tion,  and  even  his  excommunication,  took  the  part  of 
the  Romans  ;  a  victory  which  they  obtained  over  supe- 
rior forces  under  the  walls  of  Vlterbo  was  attributed  to 
his  intercession ;  many  of  them  renounced  their  hos- 
tility to  the  Pope.^  A  second  time  they  marched  out ; 
they  were  supplied  with  money  by  the  Pope's  brother, 
Richard  Count  of  Sora.  While  the  Pope  was  cel- 
A.D.  1201.  ebrating  mass  on  the  holy  Epiphany,  they 
won  a  great  victory,^  doubtless  through  the  irresistible 
prayers  of  the  Pope ;  it  was  reported  that  they  brought 
home  as  trophies  the  great  bell  and  the  chains  of  one 
of  the  gates  of  Vlterbo,  which  were  long  shown  in 
Rome.  The  captive  Viterbans,  men  of  rank,  were 
sent  to  Canaparia,  where  some  of  them  died  In  misery. 
The  most  distinguished,  Napoleon,  Count  of  Campilia, 
and  Burgudi'O,  prothonotary  of  Vlterbo,  the  Pope  after- 
wards, in  compassion,  kept  In  honorable  custody  in  his 
own  palace.  Napoleon,  to  the  indignation  of  the  Ro- 
mans, made  his  escape.  The  Pope  even  mediated  a 
peace  between  Rome  and  Viterbo.  Vlterbo  was  hum- 
bled to  the  restoration  of  the  brazen  gates  of  the  church 
of  St.  Peter,  and  set  up  again  some  brazen  vessels  in 
the  porch,  which  she  had  borne  away  or  broken  in  the 
days  of  Frederick  Barbarossa. 

1  "  Quidam  qui  consueverant  in  contradictionem  Domini  Papae  ora  laxare, 
publice  dicerent,  quod  ita  jam  erant  ipsorum  linguae,  quod  nunquam  de 
cetero  contra  summum  pontificem  loquerentur."  — Gesta,  133. 

2  This  latter  point  rests  on  the  authority  of  Ciacconius,  who  does  not  give 
nis  authority.  —  Vit.  Innocent.  III.  p.  8.  The  Gesta  makes  out  clearly 
two  battles. 


Chap.  I.  STRIFE  OF  FACTIONS.  477 

The  Pope  had  the  strength  to  decide  another  quarrel 
bj  sterner  measures.  Two  brothers,  lords  of  Narni 
and  Gabriano,  were  arraigned  by  Lando  lord  of  Col- 
mezzo  and  his  brothers,  for  seizing  some  of  their  lands. 
The  Pope  commanded  restitution.  The  lords  of  Narni 
and  Gabriano  pledged  the  lands  to  the  Pope's  turbulent 
adversaries  in  Rome,  John  Rainer,  Peter  Leoni,  and 
John  Capocio.  The  Pope  instantly  ordered  the  teni- 
tories  of  Narni  and  Gabriano  to  be  laid  waste  with  fire 
and  sword,  suspended  the  common  laws  of  war,  sanc- 
tioned the  ravaging  their  harvests,  felling  their  fruit- 
trees,  destroying  mills,  driving  away  cattle.  Innocent 
condescended  or  ventured  to  confront  the  popular  lead- 
ers in  the  face  of  the  people.  He  summoned  a  great 
congregation  of  the  Romans,  spoke  with  such  com- 
manding eloquence,  that  the  menacing  but  abashed 
nobles  were  obliged  to  renounce  the  land  which  they 
had  received  in  pawn,  and  to  swear  full  obedience.^ 

Another  year,  and  now  the  Orsini,  the  kindred  of 
the  late  Pope  Coelestine,  and  the  Scotti,  the  a.d.  1202. 
kindred  of  Pope  Innocent,  are  in  fierce  strife.  The 
Pope  had  retired  for  the  summer  to  Velletri.  He  sum- 
moned both  parties,  and  extorted  an  oath  to  keep  the 
peace.  The  senator  Pandulph  de  Suburra  seized  and 
destroyed  a  stronghold  of  the  Orsini.  Not  many 
months  elapsed,  a  murder  was  committed  on  the  person 
of  Tebaldo,  a  man  connected  with  both  families,  by 
the  sons  of  John  Oddo,  the  Pope's  cousin.  The  Or- 
sini rose ;  they  destroyed  two  towers  belonging  to  the 
senator  of  Rome.     They  were  hardly  prevented  from 

1  Gesta,  c.  134.  "  Adhuc  eis  minantibus  et  resistentibus  coegit  nobiles 
antedictos,  ut  pignoris  contractu  rescisso,  mandatis  ipsius  se  per  omnia 
parituros  juramentis  et  fide  jussionibus  promiserunt." 


478  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

exposing  the  body  under  the  windows  of  the  palace  of 
the  Pope's  brother,  under  those  of  the  Pope  himself. 
^.D.  1203.  In  the  next  year  arises  new  strife  on  an  affair 
of  disputed  property.  The  Pope  is  insulted  during 
a  solemn  ceremonial.  The  Pope's  adversaries  make 
over  the  contested  land  to  the  senate  and  the  people 
of  Rome.  The  Pope  protests,  threatens  in  vain  ;  the 
senator  is  besieged  in  the  Capitol.  The  Pope  finds  it 
expedient  to  leave  the  rebellious  city,  he  flies  to  Pales- 
trina,  to  Ferentino,  and  passes  the  whole  winter  at 
Anagni.     There  he  fell  dangerously  ill. 

Rome,  impatient  of  his  presence,  grew  weary  of  his 
absence.  In  the  interval  had  broken  out  a  new,  a 
fiercer  strife  for  a  change  in  the  constitution.  It  was 
proposed  to  abrogate  the  office  of  a  single  senator,  and 
to  elect  by  means  of  twelve  middle  men,  a  senate  of 
fifty-six.  The  Pontiff  returned  amid  universal  accla- 
mations. Yet  Innocent  so  far  yielded  as  to  permit  one 
of  the  Peter  Leoni  house  to  name  the  senator.  He 
named  Gregory,  one  of  his  kindred,  a  man  well  disposed 
to  the  Pope,  but  wanting  in  energy.  Still  the  contest 
continued  to  rage,  the  eloquent  Capocio  to  harangue 
the  multitude.  Above  this  anarchy  is  seen  the  calm 
and  majestic  Pope,  who,  as  though  weary  of  such  petty 
tumults,  and  intent  on  the  greater  affairs  of  the  Pontif- 
icate, the  humiliation  of  sovereigns,  the  reducing  king- 
doms to  fiefs  of  the  holy  see,  might  seem,  having  quiet- 
ly acquiesced  in  the  senate  of  fifty-six,  deliberately  to 
have  left  the  turbulent  nobles,  on  one  side  the  Orsinis, 
the  Peter  Leonis,  the  Capocios,  the  BaroncelHs ;  on  the 
other,  the  former  senator  Pandulph  de  Suburra,  his 
own  brother  Count  Richard,  his  kindred  the  Scotti,  to 
vie  with  each  other  in  building  and  strengthening  their 


Chap.  I.  ANARCHY  IN  ROME.  479 

fortress  palaces,  and  demolishing,  whenever  thej  were 
strong  enough,  those  of  their  adversaries.  To  grant 
the  wishes  of  the  people  of  Rome  was  the  certain  way 
to  disappoint  them.  Erelong  they  began  to  execrate 
the  feeble  rule  of  the  fifty-six,  and  implored  a  single 
senator.^  But  throughout  at  least  all  the  earlier  years 
of  his  Pontificate,  Innocent  was  content  with  less  real 
power  in  Rome  than  in  any  other  region  of  Christen- 
dom. 

II.  But  on  the  accession  of  Innocent,  beyond  the 
city  walls  and  the  immediate  territory,  all  which  be- 
longed to  or  was  claimed  by  the  Roman  see  was  in  the 
hands  of  ferocious  German  adventurers,  at  the  head 
each  of  his  predatory  foreign  troops.  Markwald  of 
Anweiler,  a  knight  of  Alsace,  the  Seneschal  of  the 
Emperor  Henry,  called  himself  Duke  of  Ravenna,  and 
was  invested  with  the  March  of  Ancona  and  all  its 
cities.  Diephold,  Count  of  Acerra,  had  large  territo- 
ries in  Apulia.  Conrad  of  Lutzenberg,^  a  Swabian 
knight,  as  Duke  of  Spoleto,  possessed  that  city,  its  do- 
main, and  Assisi.  The  estates  of  the  Countess  ]\Iatil- 
da  were  held  by  Germans  in  the  name  of  Philip,  the 
brother  of  the  Emperor  Henry,  who  had  hastened  to 
Germany  to  push  his  claims  on  the  Empire.  Some 
few  cities  had  asserted  their  independence  ;  the  sea- 
coast  and  Salerno  were  occupied  by  Benedetto  Cari- 
somi.  Of  these  Markwald  was  the  most  formidable; 
his  congenial  valor  and  cruelty  had  recommended  him 

^  "  Unde  populus  adeo  coepit  execrari,  ut  oportuerit  Dominum  Papam  ad 
communem  populi  petitionem  unum  eis  senatorem  concedere."  The  last 
chapters  of  the  Gesta  are  full  of  this  wild  and  confused  anarchy. 

2  Conrad  was  called  by  the  strange  name  Miick-in-hirn,  "  fly  in  his 
brain,"  (like  our  "bee  in  his  bonnet"):  he  was  the  wildest  of  these  wild 
BoMiers. 


480  LATIN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

to  the  especial  favor  of  Henry.     He  had  been  named 
by  the  Emperor  on  his  death-bed  Regent  of  Sicily. 

Italy  only  awaited  a  deliverer  from  the  German 
yoke.  The  annals  of  tyranny  contain  nothing  more 
revolting  than  the  cruelties  of  the  Emperor  Henry  to 
his  Italian  subjects.  "While  there  was  the  profoundest 
sorrow  in  Germany  at  the  loss  of  a  monarch,  if  of 
severe  justice,  yet  who,  from  his  wisdom  and  valor,  was 
compared  with  Solomon  and  David,^  at  his  death  the 
cry  of  rejoicing  broke  forth  from  Calabria  to  Lombar- 
dy.  In  asserting  the  Papal  claims  to  the  dominion  of 
Romagna,  and  all  to  which  the  See  of  Rome  advanced 
its  pretensions.  Innocent  fell  in  with  all  the  more  gen- 
erous aspirations  of  Italy,  with  the  common  sympathies 
of  mankind.  The  cause  of  the  Guelfs  (these  names 
are  now  growing  into  common  use)  was  more  than  that 
of  the  Church,  it  was  the  cause  of  freedom  and  hu- 
manity. The  adherents  of  the  Ghibellines,  at  least 
the  open  adherents  (for  in  most  cities  there  was  a  secret 
if  small  Gliibelline  faction),  were  only  the  lords  of  the 
German  fortresses,  the  cities  they  occupied,  and  a  few  of 
the  republics  which  dreaded  the  hostility  of  their  neigh- 
bors more  than  a  foreign  yoke,  Pisa,  Cremona,  Pavia, 
Markwaid.  Gcnoa.  The  hour  of  deliverance,  if  not  of 
revenge,  was  come.     Innocent  summoned  Markwaid  to 

1  "  Omnia  cum  Papa  gaudent  de  morte  tyranni  .  .  . 
Mors  necat  et  cuncti  gaudent  de  morte  sepulti, 
Apulus  et  Calaber,  Siculus,  Tuscusque,  Ligurque." 

J.  de  Ceceano,  Chronic.  Foss.  Nov.  Muraioi-i,  viii. 
"  Cujus  mors  Teutonicorum  omnium  omnibusque  Germanite  populis  lamen- 
tabilis  est  in  seternum,  quod  aliorum  divitiis  eos  claros  reddidit,  terroremque 
eorum  omnibus  in  circuitu  nationibus  per  virtutem  bellicam  incussit,  eosque 
praestantiores  aliis  gentibus  nimium  ostendit  futuros,  ni  morte  praeventus 
foret.  Per  sapientiam  Solomonis  et  per  fortitudinem  David  regis  scivit 
parcere  subjectis  et  debellare  superbos."  —  Theodoric  von  Esternach.  Mar- 
tens, Coll.  Amp.  iv.  462. 


Chap.  I.  CONRAD  OF  LUTZEXBERG.  481 

sun-ender  the  territories  of  the  Church.  Markwald 
was  conscious  of  his  danger,  and  endeavored  to  lure  the 
Pontiff  into  an  alhance.  He  offered  to  make  him 
greater  than  Pope  had  ever  been  since  the  days  of  Con- 
stantine.^  But  Innocent  knew  his  streno-th  in  the  uni- 
versal,  irresistible,  indelible  hatred  of  the  foreign,  the 
German,  the  barbarian  yoke :  he  rejected  the  treacher- 
ous overtures.^  City  after  city,  Ancona,  Fermo,  Osimo, 
Fano,  Sinigaglia,  Pesaro,  lesi,  dashed  down  the  German 
banner ;  Camerina  and  Ascoli  alone  remained  faithful 
to  Markwald.  Markwald  revenged  himself  by  sallying 
from  the  gates  of  Ravenna,  ravaging  the  whole  region, 
burning,  plundering,  destroying  homesteads  and  har- 
vests, castles  and  churches.  Innocent  opened  the  Pa- 
pal treasures,  borrowed  large  sums  of  money,  raised  an 
army;  hurled  an  excommunication  against  the  rebel- 
lious vassal  of  the  Church,  in  which  he  absolved  all  who 
had  sworn  allegiance  to  Markwald  from  their  oaths. 
Markwald  withdrew  into  the  south  of  Italy. 

Conrad    of  Lutzenberg,^    Duke   of  Spoleto,    beheld 
the  fall  of  Markwald  with  consternation  ;  he  conrad  of 
made  the  humblest  offers  of  subjection,  the  i^^^zenberg. 
most  liberal  offers  of  tribute.     But  Innocent  knew  that 
any  compromise  with  the  Germans  would  be  odious  to 
his  Italian  subjects :    he   demanded   instant,   uncondi- 


1  "  Se  ecclesiam  magis  quam  ulli  imperatores  auxissent,  amplificaturum." 
—  Otto  de  S.  Blaise,  c.  45 ;  Rainald,  sub  ann.  1298. 

2  Epist.  i.  38.  ''Licet  autem  dominus  Papa  conditionem  istam  utilem 
reputaret,  qui  tamen  multi  scandalisabantur  ex  ea  tanquam  vellet  Teutoni- 
cos  in  Italia  confovere,  qui  crndeli  tyrarinide  redegerant  eos  in  gravissimara 
sen-itutem,  in  favorem  libertatis  declinans,  non  acceptavit  oblata."  — 
Gesta,  Innocent,  c.  9.  Boehmer  (Regesta,  p.  vii.)  quotes  this,  among  other 
passages,  to  show  the  barbarity  of  the  Germans,  the  hatred  of  the  Italians 

3  According  to  M,  Abel  (Philip  der  Hohenstaufer),  properly  Conrad  of 
Urslingen. 

VOL.  IV.  31 


482  LATIN    CHEISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

tional  submission.  Conrad  surrendered  all  the  patri- 
monial domains  of  the  Pope  in  his  possession  without 
reserve ;  the  other  cities  resumed  their  freedom.  On 
these  terms  Innocent  permitted  the  Cardinal  Legate  to 
receive  at  Narni  Conrad's  oath  of  unqualified  fidelity 
on  the  Gospels,  on  the  Cross,  and  on  the  Holy  Relics. 
He  appointed  the  Cardinal  San  Gregorio  the  Governor 
of  the  Dukedom  of  Spoleto,  and  of  the  County  of 
Assisi  and  its  domains.  Conrad  retired  to  Germany. 
In  person  Innocent  visited  Reate,  Spoleto,  Perugia, 
Todi ;  everywhere  he  was  received  as  the  Sovereign, 
as  the  deliverer.  The  Archbishop  of  Ravenna  alone 
resisted  the  encroachments  of  Innocent,  displayed  the 
Imperial  investiture,  and  preserved  the  territories  of 
his  church.^  Throughout  Italy,  the  precarious  state 
of  the  Imperial  power,  the  sudden  rise  of  a  vigorous 
Pontifical  administration,  gave  new  life  to  the  popular 
and  Italian  cause.  The  Tuscan  League,  the  Lombard 
League,  renewed  their  approaches  to  more  intimate  re- 
lations with  the  Pope ;  but  to  the  Tuscans  the' language 
of  Innocent  was  that  of  a  master.  Their  demands  to 
choose  their  own  rectors  w^ith  a  sovereign  Prior  to  pre- 
side over  their  League,  he  answered  by  a  summons  to 
unqualified  submission  to  him,  as  heir  to  the  Countess 
Matilda,  and  sovereign  of  the  whole  Duchy  of  Tus- 
cany. "  I  have  seen,"  he  said,  "  with  my  own  eyes, 
that  the  Duchy  of  Tuscany  belongs  of  right  to  the 
Pope."  Without  the  Papal  protection  the  League 
could  not  subsist :  he  warned  the  cities  lest,  rejecting 
it,  they  should  fall  by  the  sword  of  the  stranger.^  But 
the  most  remarkable  document  is  an  address  to  all  the 

1  Mutator,  sub  ann.  1198. 

2  Epist.  i.  15,  35. 


Chap.  I.  SICILY  A  FIEF  OF  THE  PAPACY.  483 

cities,  in  whicli  the  similitude,  now  growing  into  favor, 
of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  power  to  the  sun  and 
moon,  the  temporal  only  deriving  a  reflected  light  from 
the  spiritual,  is  wrought  out  with  careful  study.^  But 
as  regarded  Italy,  both  powers  met  in  the  supreme 
PontiflP.  The  Ghibelline  city  of  Pisa  was  placed  under 
an  interdict  for  presuming  to  assert  its  daring  indepen- 
dence of  the  League  :  a  temporary  suspension  of  the 
interdict  was  haughtily  and  ungraciously  granted. 

The  German  dominion  was  driven  into  the  South  : 
there  it  was  still  strong  from  the  occupation  of  the 
chief  fortresses.^  Constantia,  the  widow  of  Henry,  now 
Queen,  or  at  least  left  natural  guardian  of  the  realm, 
deemed  it  prudent,  or  was  actuated  by  her  own  incli- 
nations, to  separate  herself  from  the  German  cause,  and 
to  throw  herself  and  her  son  upon  the  native  interest. 
She  sent  three  Neapolitan  nobles  to  demand  q^^^^^^ 
her  infant  son  Frederick  from  lesi,  where  he  Constantia. 
had  been  brought  up  by  the  wife  of  Conrad  of  Lutzen- 
berg ;  she  caused  him  to  be  crowned  in  Palermo  as 
joint  sovereign  of  Sicily.  She  disclaimed  Markwald 
the  Duke  of  Ravenna,  and  declared  him  an  enemy  to 
the  king  and  to  the  kingdom.  She  commanded  the 
foreign  troops  to  leave  Sicily ;  they  retired,  reluctant 
and  brooding  over  revenge,  to  the  castles  on  the  main- 
land. She  submitted  to  request  the  investiture  of  the 
realm  for  her  son  as  a  fief  from  the  Papal  See.  Inno- 
cent saw  his  own  strength,  and  her  weakness.  He 
condescended  to  her  petition  on  the  condition  of  her 
paying  due  allegiance  to  him  as  her  lord  for  the  king- 

1  Epist.  i.  401,  and  in  the  Gesta. 

2  Epist.  i.  35.    "  Marcualdum  imperii  seneschalcum  cum  Teutonicis  om- 
aibus  de  regno  exclusit."  —  Rich.  San.  Germ. 


484  LATIN    CHRISTIAJ^ITY.  Book  IX. 

dom  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  the  patrimony  of  tlie  Holy 
See.^  He.  seized  the  opportunity  of  enforcing  hard 
terms,  the  revocation  of  certain  privileges  which  had 
been  granted  by  his  predecessors  to  the  faithful  Nor- 
man j)rinces  as  the  price  of  their  fidelity.  Constantia 
silently  yielded ;  she  received  a  bull,  which  in  the 
strongest  terms  proclaimed  the  absolute  feudal  superi- 
ority of  the  Pope  over  the  whole  kingdom  of  Naples 
and  Sicily :  that  extraordinary  pretension,  grounded  on 
no  right  but  on  the  assertion  of  right,  had  now,  by  its 
repeated  assertion  on  one  part,  its  feeble  denial  or  ac- 
ceptance on  the  other,  grown  into  an  established  usage. 
The  bull  pronounced  that  the  kingdom  of  Sicily  be- 
longed to  the  jurisdiction  and  to  the  property  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  The  Queen  was  to  swear  allegiance, 
her  son  to  do  so  directly  he  came  of  age.  A  tribute 
was  to  be  paid.  The  bishops,  under  all  circumstances, 
had  the  right  of  appeal  to  Rome  ;  all  offences  of  the 
clergy,  except  high  treason,  were  to  be  judged  by  the 
ecclesiastical  courts.  Sicily  became  a  subject-kingdom, 
a  province  of  the  Papacy,  under  the  constant  super- 
intendence of  a  Legate. 

Before  the  bull  had  been  prepared,  Constantia  fell 
ill.  Either  in  an  access  of  devotion,  or  of  maternal 
solicitude  for  her  infant  son,  for  whom  she  would  se- 
cure the  most  powerful  protection,  she  bequeathed  him 
to  the  guardianship  of  his  liege  lord  the  Pope.^  Inno- 
cent accepted  the  charge ;  in  his  consolatory  letter  to 
the  child,  he  assured  Frederick,  that  though  God  had 
visited  him  by  the  death  of  his  father  and  mother, 
he  had  provided  him  with  a  more  worthy  father  — 

1  Epist.  i.  410,  413. 

2  Innocent,  Epist.  i.  322. 


Chap.  I.  DEATH  OF  COXSTANTIA.  485 

his    own    vicar    on    earth ;    a    better    mother  —  the 
Church.i 

Constantia  died  on  the  27th  of  November.^  Inno- 
cent was  thus,  if  he  could  expel  the  Germans,  a.d.  ii98. 

n        XT'  n   ci'    -1  P  T  •  Death  of 

Virtually  Kmg  oi  oicily,  master  or  nis  own  constantia. 
large  territories,  and  as  the  ally  and  protector  of  the 
great  Republican  Leagues  the  dominant  power  in  Italy  ; 
and  all  this  in  less  than  one  year  after  his  accession  to 
the  Papal  throne.^ 

But  the  elements  of  discord  were  not  so  easily  awed 
into  peace.  The  last  will  of  Constantia,  besides  the 
guardianship  of  the  Pope,  had  appointed  a  Council  of 
Regency:  the  Chancellor,  the  subtle  and  ambitious 
Walter  of  Palear  Bishop  of  Troja  (whose  brothers,  and 
perhaps  himself,  were  in  dangerous  correspondence  with 
Markwald),  the  Archbishops  of  Palermo,  Monreale, 
and  Capua.  She  trusted  not  to  the  unrewarded  piety 
or  charity  of  the  Pontiff:  for  the  protection  of  her  son 
Sicily  was  to  pay  yearly  thirty  thousand  pieces  of  gold ;  * 
all  his  other  expenses  were  to  be  charged  on  the  reve- 
nue of  the  kingdom.  But  her  death  opened  a  new 
scene  of  intrigue  and  daring  to  Markwald.  He  re- 
sumed the  title  of  Seneschal  of  the  Empire,  laid  claim 
to  the  administration  of  Sicily  and  the  guardianship  of 

1  Epist.  i.  565. 

2  Aged  45;  a  year  and  19  days  after  her  husband. 

3  He  interfered  soon  after  in  the  affairs  of  the  Lombard  League.  Parma 
and  Piacenza  had  quarrelled  about  the  possession  of  Borgo  San  Domino. 
He  commanded  his  legate  to  take  counsel  with  the  bishops  to  keep  the 
peace;  threatened  excommunication,  and  ordered  the  castle  to  be  placed  in 
his  own  hands. — Epist.  ii.  39. 

4  The  tarini  varied  in  value.  The  ounce  of  gold,  about  21  grammes,  10 
cent.  (French  weight),  was  divided  into  24  tarini.  Its  value  would  be 
about  2  francs,  63  c,  75  m.  The  30,000  wiuld  amount  to  about  79,125 
francs.  M.  Cherrier  estimates  that  it  wo  ild  represent  five  limes  the 
amount  in  present  money.  —  Lutte  des  Papes,  ii.  40,  note. 


486  LATm  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

the  infant  sovereign,  alleging  a  testament  of  the  Em- 
peror, which  invested  him  in  that  charge.  The  nobles 
of  Sicily,  however  they  might  dread  or  detest  the 
Germans,  were  not  more  disposed  to  be  the  mere  min- 
isters of  the  Pope.  They  received  the  Legate  who 
came  to  administer  the  oath  of  allegiance  with  cold- 
ness ;  he  returned  to  Rome.  Markwald,  in  the  mean 
time,  had  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a  powerful  band 
of  adventurers :  he  fell  on  the  town  of  St.  Germano, 
and  had  almost  become  master  of  the  great  monastery 
of  Monte  Casino,  which  was  defended  for- eight  days 
by  a  garrison  of  the  Pope,  and  in  which  several  car- 
dinals had  taken  refuge.  On  the  day  of  St.  Maur, 
A.D.  1198.  the  beloved  companion  of  St.  Benedict,  the 
serene  sky  was  suddenly  clouded;  a  terrific  storm 
broke  out,  overthrew  the  tents  of  Markwald's  army, 
and  caused  such  a  panic  dread  of  the  avenging  saint, 
that  they  fled  on  all  sides. ^  Innocent  issued  a  proc- 
lamation summoning  the  whole  realm  of  Naples  and 
Sicily  to  arms.  He  reminded  them  of  their  suflPerings 
under  Markwald  and  Markwald's  master;  how  their 
princes,  and  even  the  clergy,  had  been  tortured,  muti- 
lated, blinded,  roasted  (as  he  says)  before  slow  fires.^ 
The  Pope  had  not  spared  the  Papal  treasures :  he  had 
assembled  troops  for  their  aid  from  Lombardy,  Tusca- 
ny, Romagna,  Campania.  In  his  warlike  address  to 
the  clergy,  they  were  commanded  on  every  Sunday, 

1  *' Csepit  more  Teutonico  in  terrain  monasterii  desaevire." — Rich  San 
Germ,  ad  1198.  It  is  remarkable  that  Innocent  says  not  a  word  in  his  let- 
ters of  the  miracle;  he  ascribes  the  discomfiture  of  Markwald  to  the  valor 
of  the  barons  and  knights  who  had  taken  arms  on  his  side. 

2  "  Vix  est  aliquis  in  toto  regno,  qui  in  se  vel  suis,  persona  vel  rebus, 
consanguineis  vel  amicis,  grave  non  incurrerit  per  Teutonicos  detrimen. 
turn."  —  Reg.  Innocent.  No.  ii. 


Chap.  I.  MARKWALD.  487 

and  on  every  festival,  to  renew  the  solemn  excommuni- 
cation, with  quenched  candles  and  tolling  bells,  against 
Markwald  and  all  his  accomplices.^  Markwald  had 
again  recourse  to  craft  and  dissimulation.  Through 
the  Ai'chbishop  of  Mentz  (who  was  in  Rome  on  his 
return  from  the  Holy  Land)  he  made  offers  to  the 
Pope  which  showed  that  he  thought  Innocent  as  un- 
scrupulous as  himself.  He  asserted  the  bastardy  of 
Frederick ;  proposed  that  Innocent  should  invest  him, 
Markwald,  with  the  kingdom  of  Sicily.  He  would 
pay  the  Pope  at  once  the  enormous  sum  of  20,000 
ounces  of  gold ;  ^  the  like  sum  on  being  put  in  posses- 
sion of  Palermo.  He  would  double  the  annual  tribute, 
and  rule  the  island  under  the  absolute  control  of  the 
Pope.  These  offers  being  rejected,  he  was  seized  with 
a  sudden  and  passionate  desire  of  spiritual  reconcilia- 
tion with  the  Church.  It  was  a  strange  contest ;  Mark- 
wald endeavoring  by  humble  civilities,  by  menaces,  by 
lavish  offers,  to  extort  absolution  on  the  easiest  terms 
from  the  Cardinals.  He  declared  himself  ready  to 
swear  uni'eserved  obedience  in  spiritual  matters,  in 
temporal  more  cautiously,  to  all  just  mandates  of  the 
Pope.  Legates  were  sent  to  Veroli  to  receive  his  oath 
—  Octavian  the  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Ostia,  Guido  Car- 
dinal Presbyter  of  S.  Maria  in  Transtevere,  Ugolino 
Cardinal  Deacon  of  S.  Eustachio.  He  in^^ted  them  to 
a  banquet  in  a  neighboring  convent,  and  Markwald 
himself  served  them  with  the  utmost  humility ;  but 
audible  murmurs  were  heard  at  the  close  that  they 
were  to  be  taken  prisoners,  and  compelled  to  grant  the 
unconditional  absolution.     Octavian  and   Guido  were 

1  Epist.  i.  557  to  566. 

2  Gesta,  ch.  xxii. 


488  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

frightened ;  Ugolino  took  courage,  and  produced  a  bull 
of  tlie  Pope,  with  which  the  wary  Innocent  had  pro- 
vided tliem,  prescribing  the  form  of  the  oath,  which 
implied  the  absolute  abandonment  of  the  bailiwick  of 
Sicily,  restoration  of  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter,  com- 
pensation for  plunder,  especially  of  the  monastery  of 
Monte  Casino  ;  and,  above  all,  Markwald  was  to  swear 
to  respect  the  persons  of  all  ecclesiastics,  especially  of 
the  Cardinals  of  the  Church.  There  was  a  wild  and 
threatening  tumult  among  the  German  soldiery  and 
the  populace  against  the  Cardinals.  But  Markwald 
had  not  the  courage  to  proceed  to  violence.  The  Leg- 
ates were  permitted  to  return  to  Veroli :  Markwald 
took  the  prescribed  oath,  and  received  absolution. 

But  the  absolution  thus  obtained  at  Yeroli  by  a 
May,  1199.  fcigucd  submissiou  was  soon  forfeited.  Mark- 
wald would  not  renounce,  he  still  affected  the  title  of 
guardian  of  Sicily  :  he  called  himself  Seneschal.  In 
this  name  the  jealous  sagacity  of  Innocent  detected 
latent  pretensions  to  the  protectorate.  An  excom- 
munication more  full,  if  possible,  more  express,  more 
maledictory,  was  hurled  against  the  recreant  German. 
Every  one  who  supplied  provisions,  clothing,  ships,  or 
troops  to  Markwald  fell  under  the  same  anathema.^ 
Any  clerk  who  officiated  in  his  presence  incurred  dep- 
rivation. Markwald  retired  to  Salerno  ;  a  fleet  from 
Ghibelline  Pisa  was  ready  to  convey  him  to  Sicily. 
He  crossed  the  straits ;  received  the  submission  of 
many  cities,  was  welcomed  by  many  noble  families,  by 
the  whole  Saracen  population.  Innocent  pursued  him 
with  the  strongest  manifestoes.  He  addressed  a  letter 
to  the  counts,  barons,  citizens,  and  the  whole  people  of 

lEpist.  ii.  179;  and  iii.  280. 


Chap.  I.  MARKWALD  IN  SICILY.  489 

Sicily.  He  reminded  tbem  of  the  atrocious  cruelties 
perpetrated  by  the  Emperor  Henry  and  his  German 
followers  ;  announced  the  excommunication  of  Mark- 
wald,  the  absolution  of  all  his  adherents  fi'om  their 
oaths  of  fidelity.  "  He  is  come  to  Sicily  with  the 
pirate  William  the  Fat  to  usurp  the  throne ;  to  say  of 
the  infant  Frederick,  '  This  is  the  heir,  let  us  slay  him, 
and  take  possession  of  his  inheritance.'  He  is  leagued 
with  the  Saracens  ;  he  is  prepared  to  glut  their  throats 
with  Christian  blood,  to  abandon  Christian  wives  to 
their  lusts."  Towards  the  Saracens,  nevertheless.  In- 
nocent expresses  himself  with  mildness ;  "  if  they  re- 
main faithful  to  the  King,  he  will  not  merely  maintain, 
he  will  augment  their  privileges."  The  Pope  went 
further :  he  addressed  a  solemn  admonition  to  the 
Saracens.  "  They  knew  by  experience  the  gentleness 
of  the  Apostolic  See,  the  barbarity  of  Markwald. 
They  had  been  eye-witnesses  of  his  cruelties,  the 
drowning  in  the  sea,  the  roasting  of  priests  over  slow 
fires,  the  flagellation  of  multitudes.  He  who  was  so 
cruel  to  his  fellow  Christians  would  be  even  more  ruth- 
less to  strangers,  to  those  of  other  rites  and  other 
creeds.  He  who  could  ungratefully  and  rebelllously 
rise  against  the  son  of  his  liege  lord  would  little  respect 
the  rights  of  foreigners  ;  all  oaths  to  them  would  be 
despised  by  one  who  had  broken  all  his  oaths  to  the 
Roman  See."^  With  still  more  singular  incongruity, 
he  assures  the  Saracens  that  he  has  sent  as  their  pro- 
tectors the  Cardinal  of  St.  Laurence  in  Luclna,  the 
Archbishops  of  Naples  and  Tarentum,  as  well  as  his 
own  relatives  John  the  Marshal  and  Otho  of  Falum- 
bria.2      Markwald,    notwithstanding    these    denuncia- 

1  Epist.  ii.  226.  2  Epist.  i.  489.    Nov.  24,  1199. 


490  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

tions  and  addi'esses,  pursued '  his  way  and  appeared  be- 
fore Palermo. 

In  Apulia,  warlike  cardinals,  and  even  James  the 
Marshal,  the  cousin  of  the  Pope,  though  he  showed 
considerable  military  skill  as  well  as  valor,  were  no 
antagonists  against  the  disciplined  and  experienced 
Germans,  Diephold,  and  Frederick  Malati,  who  held 
Calabria.  Innocent  wanted  a  warrior  of  fame  and 
generalship  to  lead  his  forces.  France  was  the  land 
to  supply  bold  and  chivalrous  adventurers.  Sybilla,  the 
widow  of  Tancred  of  Sicily,  dethroned  by  Henry,  had 
made  her  escape  from  her  prison  in  the  Tyrol.  She 
married  her  eldest  daughter  to  Walter  de  Brienne,  of 
a  noble  but  impoverished  house.  Walter  de  Brienne 
came  to  Rome  to  demand  the  inheritance  of  his  wife, 
the  principality  of  Tarentum  and  the  county  of  Lecce, 
which  Henry  had  settled  on  the  descendants  of  Tan- 
cred. Walter  was  the  man  whom  Innocent  needed. 
He  was  at  once  invested  in  the  possession  of  Tarentum 
and  Lecce ;  at  the  same  time  he  was  sworn  to  assert  no 
claim  to  the  kingdom,  but  to  protect  the  rights  of  the 
infant  Sovereign.  Piety,  justice  and  policy,  equally 
demanded  this  security  for  the  Pontiff,  as  guardian  of 
Frederick  ;  a  security  precarious  enough  from  a  power- 
ful, probably  an  ambitious  stranger,  Walter  returned 
to  France  to  levy  troops.  Markwald,  in  the  mean 
time,  with  his  own  forces  and  with  the  Saracens,  be- 
sieged Palermo ;  the  Papal  troops,  headed  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Naples,  the  Marshal  and  the  Legate, 
came,  the  former  directly  by  sea,  to  the  aid  of  Walter 
the  Chancellor,  who  had  refused  all  the  advances  of 
Markwald.  A  battle  took  place,  in  which  Markwald 
suffered  a  total  defeat.     Magded,  the  Emir  of  the  Sar- 


Chap.  I.  WILL  OF  THE  EMPEROR  HENRY.  491 

acens,  was  slain.  In  the  baggage  of  Markwald  was 
found,  or  said  to  be  found,  a  will  with  a  golden  seal, 
purporting  to  be  that  of  the  Emperor  Henry.  It  com- 
manded his  wife  and  son  to  recognize  all  the  Papal 
rights  over  Sicily  ;  it  bequeathed  Sicily,  in  case  of  the 
death  of  his  son,  in  the  fullest  terms  to  the  Pope.  It 
commanded  the  immediate  restitution  of  the  estates  of 
the  Countess  Matilda  by  the  Empire  to  the  Pope.  If 
this  will  was  made  during  the  last  illness  of  the  Em- 
peror (yet  it  contemplates  the  contingency  of  his  wife 
dying  before  him),  he  might  have  been  disposed  either 
as  leaving  a  helpless  wife  and  an  infant  heir,  to  secure 
the  protection  of  the  Pope,  and  so  the  surrender  of  the 
Matildine  territories  may  have  been  designed  as  a  direct 
reward  for  the  confirmation  of  his  son  in  the  Empire ; 
or  the  whole  may  have  been  framed  in  a  fit  of  death- 
bed penitence.  The  suspicious  part  was  another  clause, 
bequeathing  the  duchy  of  Ravenna,  with  Bertinoro, 
and  the  march  of  Ancona,  to  Markwald  ;  ^  but  even 
this,  if  the  Duke  died  without  heirs,  was  to  revert  to 
the  Roman  See. 

The  appearance  of  Walter  de  Brienne  at  the  head  of 
a  small  but  chosen  band  of  knights  ;  his  com-  June,  1201. 
mission  by  the  Pope  as  the  leader  of  the  faithful,^  his 
rapid  successes,  his  defeat  of  Diephold  before  Capua, 
the  retreat  of  the  Germans  into  their  fortresses,  his 
peaceful  occupation  of  Tarentum,  Lecce,  and  great 
part  of  Apuha,  alarmed,  or  gave  pretence  for  alarm, 
to  the  great  nobles  of  Sicily.     The  ambitious  church- 


1  The  will  is  in  the  Gesta,  xxvii.  It  is  of  very  doubtful  authenticity. 
Could  it  have  been  forged  by  Markwald,  to  be  produced  if  occasion  re- 
quired ?  or  was  it  from  other  hands  ? 

2  "Domino  protegente  fideles  ab  infidelibus."  —  Gesta,  c.  xxx. 


492  LATIN  CHRISTLiNITY.  Book  JX. 

man  Walter  of  Troja,  the  Chancellor,  aspired  to  the 
vacant  archbishopric  of  Palermo.  Innocent  had  been 
oblio-ed  to  consent  to  his  taking  possession  of  the  tem- 
poralities of  the  See,  though  he  withheld  the  pallium.^ 
The  Chancellor  had  the  strongest  apprehensions  of  the 
progress  of  Walter  de  Brienne.  A  gradual  approxi- 
mation took  place  between  the  Chancellor  Archbishop 
and  Markwald.  The  Chancellor  was  to  leave  Mark- 
wald  in  undisputed  possession  of  Apulia,  Markwald  the 
Chancellor  in  that  of  Sicily.  The  friendship  was  hol- 
low and  mistrustful.  Each  suspected  and  accused  the 
other  of  designs  on  the  Crown  —  Markwald  for  him- 
self, Walter  for  his  brother,  Gentile  Count  of  Manu- 
pelles.  Both,  however,  were  equally  jealous  of  Walter 
de  Brienne :  Markw^ald  as  already  more  than  his  equal 
in  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  The  Chancellor  assumed 
loyal  apprehension  for  the  endangered  rights  of  the  in- 
fant Frederick,  whom  the  Pope,  as  he  suspected,  would 
betray.  Innocent  was  compelled  to  justify  himself  in  a 
long  letter  addressed  to  the  young  Frederick,  whom  he 
warned  to  mistrust  all  around  him,  and  to  place  his  sole 
reliance  on  the  parental  guardianship  of  the  Pope. 
The  Chancellor  Walter  of  Troja  was  now  in  the  king- 
dom of  Naples,  levying  money  for  the  service  of  the 
realm,  which  he  is  accused  of  having  done  in  the  most 
rapacious  manner,  not  sparing  the  treasures,  nor  even 
the  holy  vessel  of  the  churches.  He  might  plead,  per- 
haps, the  tribute  paid  by  the  realm  to  the  Pope.  To 
the  Papal  legate,  the  Bishop  of  Porto,  he  professed  un- 
bounded submission,  took  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and 
received  absolution.  When,  however,  he  w^as  com- 
manded  not   to   oppose  Walter   de   Brienne,    against 

1  May  3, 1203. 


Chap.  I.  DEATH  OF  MARKWALD.  493 

whom  he  was  in  almost  armed  confedwacy  with  the 
Germans,  he  broke  fiercely  out,  as  if  in  indignant  pa- 
triotism: "If  St.  Peter  himself  uttered  such  command, 
he  would  not  obey ;  the  fear  of  hell  should  not  tempt 
him  to  be  guilty  of  such  treason ; "  and  he  is  said  to 
have  blasphemed  (such  is  the  term)  against  the  Pope 
himself.^  From  the  presence  of  the  Legate  he  set  out 
openly  to  join  Diephold.  A  battle  took  place  near 
Bari.  Walter  de  Brienne,  though  embarrassed  by  the 
presence  and  the  fears  of  the  Legate,  gained  a  complete 
victory :  many  important  prisoners,  among  them  a 
brother  of  Diephold,  were  taken. 

But  in  Sicily  as  well  as  Naples  the  partisans  of  Wal- 
ter of  Troja,  comprehending  the  greater  part  of  the 
Norman  and  native  nobles,  were  now  in  alliance  with 
the  Germans.  Markwald  entered  Palermo,  and  be- 
came master  of  the  person  of  the  King.  Sept.  1202. 
He  died  shortly  after  of  an  unsuccessful  or  Markwaid. 
unskilful  operation  for  the  stone.  The  palace  and  the 
person  of  the  King  were  seized  by  a  powerful  Norman 
noble,  William  of  Capperone.  From  him  Walter  the 
Chancellor,  who  still  claimed  to  be  Bishop  of  Troja, 
and,  despite  of  the  Pope,  Archbishop  of  Palermo,  en- 
deavored by  a  long  course  of  intrigue  to  wrest  away 
the  precious  charge.  In  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  the 
death  of  Walter  de  Brienne,  who  was  surprised,  taken, 
and  who  died  of  his  wounds  ^  as  a  prisoner  of  Diephold, 
gave  back  the  ascendency  to  the  German  party.  The 
Pope  was  constrained  to  accept  their  precarious  and 
doubtful  submission  ;  to  admit  them  to  reconciliation 
with  the  Church.     Diephold  became  the  most  power- 

1  Gesta,  xxxiv. 

2  The  battle,  the  11th  of  June,  1205. 


494  LATIN   CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

ful  subject,  and  more  than  a  subject  in  the  kingdom  of 
Naples. 

Thus  grew  up  the  young  Frederick,  the  ward  of  the 
Pope,  without  that  pious,  or  at  least  careful  education  ^ 
which  might  have  taught  him  respect  and  gratitude 
to  the  Holy  See  ;  among  Churchmen  who  conspired 
against  or  openly  defied  the  head  of  the  Church ; 
taught  from  his  earliest  years  by  every  party  to  mis- 
trust the  other ;  taught  by  the  Sicilians  to  hate  the 
Germans,  by  the  Germans  to  despise  the  Sicilians  ; 
taught  that  in  the  Pope  himself,  his  guardian,  there 
was  no  faith  or  loyalty ;  that  his  guardian  would  have 
sacrificed  him,  had  it  been  his  interest,  to  the  house  of 
Tancred.  All  around  him  was  intrigue,  violence,  con- 
flict. Government  was  almost  suspended  throughout 
Sicily.  The  Saracens  hardly  acknowledging  any  alle- 
giance to  the  throne,  warred  with  impartiality  against 
the  Christians  of  both  parties  ;  yet  neither  had  any 
repugnance  to  an  alliance  with  the  gallant  Infidels 
against  the  opposing  party.  Such  was  the  training 
of  him  who  was  in  a  short  time  to  wear  the  Imperial 
crown,  to  wage  the  last  strife  of  the  house  of  Ho- 
henstaufen  with  his  mother,  rather  perhaps  his  step- 
mother, the  Church. 

1  The  Cardinal  Cencio  Savelli,  afterwards  the  mild  Honorius  III.,  had  at 
first  the  nominal  charge  of  his  education. 


Chap.  U.  VACANCY  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  495 


CHAPTER  11. 

INNOCENT  AND  THE  EMPIRE. 

The  Empire,  now  vacant,  might  seem  to  invite  the 
commanding  interposition  of  Innocent.  It  vacancy  of 
opened  almost  a  wider  field  for  the  ambition  ti^«  Empire. 
of  the  Pope,  and  for  those  exorbitant  pretensions  to 
power  which  disguised  themselves  as  tending  to  pro- 
mote peace  and  order  by  expanding  the  authority  of 
the  Church,  than  Italy  itself.  But  it  was  not  so  easy 
to  reconcile  these  vast  demands  for  what  was  called 
spiritual  freedom,  but  which  was  in  fact  spiritual  do- 
minion, with  the  real  interests  of  Germany.  The 
prosperity,  the  peace  of  the  Empire  depended  on  the 
strength,  the  influence,  the  unity  of  the  temporal  pow- 
er ;  the  security,  the  advancement  of  the  Papacy  on 
its  weakness  and  its  anarchy.  A  vigorous  and  uncon- 
tested Sovereignty  could  alone  restrain  the  conflicting 
states,  and  wisely  and  temperately  administered,  might 
advance  the  social  condition  of  Germany.  At  all 
events,  such  sovereignty  was  necessary  to  spare  the 
realm  from  years  of  civil  war,  during  which  armed 
adventurers  grew  up,  fi'om  their  impregnable  castles 
warring  against  each  other,  defying  all  government, 
wasting  the  land  with  fire  and  sword,  preventing  cul- 
ture, inhibiting  commerce,  retarding  civilization.  But 
a  powerful  Emperor  had  always  been  found  formidable 
to  the  Church,  at  least  to  the  temporal  rule  of  the 


496  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

Papacy ;  his  claims  to  Italian  dominion  were  only 
suspended  by  his  Inability  to  enforce  them  ;  and  the 
greater  his  strength,  the  less  the  independence  of  the 
German  prelacy.  The  Emperor  either  domineered 
over  them,  or  filled  the  important  sees  with  his  own 
favorites.  The  Pope  could  not  but  remember  the  long 
strife  of  his  predecessors  with  the  house  of  Hohen- 
staufen  ;  in  them  was  centred  all  the  hostility,  all  the 
danger  of  Ghlbelllnism  ;  they  seemed  born  to  be  im- 
placable foes  of  the  Papacy :  he  might  naturally  shrink 
in  execration  at  the  recent  cruelties  of  Henry,  though 
he  could  hardly  augur  in  the  infant  King  of  Sicily 
so  obstinate  an  antagonist  to  his  successors  as  Fred- 
erick II. 

The  perpetuation  of  the  Empire  in  this  haughty 
house  was  in  itself  a  cause  of  serious  apprehension  ; 
it  added  immeasurably  to  the  Imperial  power,  and 
every  subordinate  consideration  must  be  sacrificed  to 
the  limitation  of  that  power. 

Immediately  after  the  death  of  Henry,  his  brother 
Philip  retires  PblUp^^  abandoning  his  first  intention  of  de- 
to  Germany,  gcendlng  to  the  south,  and  of  taking  with 
him  the  young  Frederick,  hastened  to  the  Alps,  which 
he  reached  not  without  difficulty,  pursued,  even  men- 
aced, by  the  murmurs  and  imprecations  of  the  Italians. 
Already  had  Henry  in  his  lifetime  obtained  the  oath 
of  many  of  the  German  princes  to  his  infant  son,  as 
King  of  the  Eomans  and  heir  of  the  Empire.  Philip 
at  first  asserted,  and  seemed  honestly  disposed  to  assert 


1  Philip  had  been  intended  for  holy  orders,  was  provost  of  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle,  had  been  chosen  Bishop  of  Wurtzburg  in  1191.  In  1194  he  accom- 
panied the  Emperor  to  Apulia;  was  named  Duke  of  Tuscany,  1195;  married 
to  the  Princes?  Irene ;  Duke  of  Swabia,  1196. 


Chap.  II.  OTHO.  497 

the  claims  of  his  nephew  ;  but  an  infant  Emperor  was 
too  contrary  to  German  usage,  manifestly  so  unsuited 
to  the  difficult  times,  that  Philip  consented  to  be 
chosen  King  by  a  large  body  of  princes  and  March  6. 
of  prelates  assembled  at  Mulhausen.^  But  the  adverse 
party  had  not  been  inactive.  The  soul  of  this  party 
was  Adolph  of  Altena,  the  powerful,  opulent,  and 
crafty  Archbishop  of  Cologne.  The  great  prelates  of 
the  Rhine  and  the  neighboring  princes  seemed  to  claim 
a  kind  of  initiative.  The  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  Con- 
rad of  Wittlesbach,  was  absent  in  the  Holy  Land;^ 
the  Archbishop  of  Treves  appeared  at  first  on  the  side 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne.  They  met  at  Ander- 
nach,  and  professed  surprise  that  the  rest  of  the  princes 
were  so  slow  in  joining  the  legitimate  Diet.  They  de- 
termined, of  themselves,  to  raise  up  an  antagonist  to 
the  house  of  Hohenstaufen.  Three  princes  for  differ- 
ent reasons  refused  to  embark  in  the  perilous  contest. 
Richard  of  Cornwall  was  at  leno-th  conscious  of  his 
folly  in  aspiring,  as  he  had  too  often  done,  to  the  Em- 
pire. Berthold  of  Zahringen,  who  had  once  yielded, 
withdrew  from  prudence,  or  rather  avarice.^  Bernard 
of  Saxony,  as  feeling  himself  unequal  to  the  burden 
of  Empire,  and  already  pledged  to  the  cause  of  Philip. 
The  prelates  turned  their  thoughts  at  length  to  the 
house  of  Henry  the  Lion,  the  irreconcilable  adversary 
of  the  house  of  Swabia.  Henry,  the  eldest  otho. 
son,  was  engaged  in  the  Crusades  ;  the  second,  Otho, 

1  At  Amstadt,  in  Thuringia,  according  to  Boehmer,  Pref.  p.  ix.  Com- 
pare the  passage  as  to  the  spontaneous  offer  of  the  princes. 

2  Conrad  of  Radensburg,  Bishop  of  Hildesheim,  later  of  Wurtzburg,  once 
a  fellow-student  of  Thomas  a  Becket,  -was  also  in  the  Holy  Land;  as  also 
the  eldest  son  of  Henry  the  Lion. 

3  Annal.  Argentin. 


498  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

since  the  house  had  fallen  under  the  ban  of  the  Em- 
pire, had  resided  at  the  court  of  England,  under  the 
protection  of  Richard  of  Cornwall.  By  his  valor  he 
had  attracted  the  notice  of  his  uncle,  King  Richard 
Coeur  de  Lion  :  he  had  been  created  first  Count  of 
York,  afterwards  Count  of  Poitou.  Otho  could  not 
have  lived  under  a  better  training  for  the  fostering  his 
hereditary  hatred  and  thirst  of  revenge  against  the 
house  of  Hohenstaufen,  or  for  the  love  of  chivalrous 
adventure.  He  had  nothing  to  lose,  an  imperial  crown 
to  win.  His  uncle,  Richard  of  England,  could  never 
A.D.  n98.  forget  his  imprisonment  in  Germany,  and  the 
part  taken  by  the  Emperor  in  that  galling  and  dis- 
graceful transaction.  The  perfidy  and  avarice  of 
Henry  were  to  be  visited  in  due  retribution  on  his 
race.^  Otho  set  forth  on  his  expedition,  to  gain  the 
Imperial  crown,  well  furnished  with  English  gold,^ 
with  some  followers,  and  with  provisions  of  war.  In 
May  he  was  proclaimed  Emperor  at  Cologne ;  he  was 
declared  the  champion  of  the  Church  :  he  owed  his 
election  to  a  few  Churchmen.  The  Archbishop  of  Co- 
logne either  represented,  or  pretended  to  represent,  be- 
sides his  own  vote,  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz.  Eng- 
lish gold  bought  the  avaricious  Archbishop  of  Treves. 
The  Flemish  nobles,  allied  with  England,  were  almost 
unanimous  in  favor  of  Otho  ;  many  other  princes,  who 

1  By  the  English  account  King  Richard  by  his  money  initiated  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Archbishop  Adolph;  he  bought  the  crown  for  Otho:  "Rex 
Richardus  divitiis  et  consiliis  pollens,  tantum  egit  muneribus  et  xeniis  suis 
erga  Archepiscopum  Colonije  et  erga  proceres  imperii,  quod  omnibus  aliis 
omissis,  Othonem  nepotem  suum,  miriB  strenuitatis  et  elegantis  corporis 
adolescentem  elegerint."  —  Radulph.  Coggeshal,  ap.  Martene,  v.  851. 
Philip  asserts  this  in  his  letter  to  the  Pope.  —  Apud  Innocent,  Epist.  i.  747. 

2  According  to  Arnold  of  Lubeck,  50,000  marks.  "  Qu£e  in  summariis 
ferebant  quinquaginta  dextrarii."  —  c.  vii.  17. 


CHAP.n.  PAPAL  POWEPv  DESCRIBED.  499 

had  returned  fi:om  the  Crusades  on  the  news  of  the 
Emperor's  death,  jomed  either  from  love  of  war,  re- 
spect for  the  Church,  or  hatred  of  the  Hohenstaufen, 
the  growuig  party. 

Nothing  can  be  more  subhme  than  the  notion  of  a 
great  supreme  rehgious  power,  the  representative  of 
God's  eternal  and  immutable  justice  upon  earth,  ab- 
solutely above  all  passion  or  interest,  interposing  with 
the  commanding  voice  of  authority  in  the  quarrels  of 
kings  and  nations,  persuading  peace  by  the  unimpeach- 
able impartiality  of  its  judgments,  and  even  invested  in 
power  to  enforce  its  unerring  decrees.  But  the  sub- 
limity of  the  notion  depends  on  the  arbiter's  absolute 
exemption  from  the  unextinguishable  weaknesses  of 
human  nature.  If  the  tribunal  commands  not  unques- 
tioning respect ;  if  there  be  the  slightest  just  suspicion 
of  partiality  ;  if  it  goes  beyond  its  lawful  province  ;  if 
it  has  no  power  of  compelling  obedience  ;  it  adds  but 
another  element  to  the  general  confusion  ;  it  is  a  parti- 
san enlisted  on  one  side  or  the  other,  not  a  mediator 
conciliating  conflicting  interests,  or  overawing  the  col- 
lision of  factions.  Yet  such  was  the  Papal  power  in 
these  times  :  often,  no  doubt,  on  the  side  of  justice  and 
humanity,  too  often  on  the  other ;  looking  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Church  alone,  assumed,  but  assumed  with- 
out sTound  to  be  the  same  as  those  of  Christendom  and 
mankind  ;  the  representative  of  fallible  man  rather  than 
of  the  infallible  God.  Ten  years  of  strife  and  civil  war 
in  Germany  are  to  be  traced,  if  not  to  the  direct  insti- 
gation, to  the  inflexible  obstinacy  of  Pope  Innocent 
III. 

It  was  too  much  the  interest  of  both  parties  to  obtain 
the  influence  of  the  Pope  in  their  favor,  not  to  incline 


500  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

them  outwardly  at  least  to  submit  their  claims  to  his 
investio-ation.  But  it  was  almost  as  certain  that  one 
party  at  least  would  not  abide  by  his  unfavorable  de- 
cree :  and  however  awful  the  power  of  excommunica- 
tion with  which  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  Pope 
would  endeavor  to  compel  obedience,  in  no  instance 
had  the  spiritual  power,  at  least  in  later  days,  obtained 
eventual  success. 

Innocent  assumed  a  lofty  equity  ;  but  the  house  of 
Conduct  of  Henry  the  Lion  had  ever  been  devoted  to  the 
Innocent.       p^^^  .  ^^^  j^^^g^  ^f  Swabia  uugovemable,  if 

not  inimical.  His  first  measure  against  Philip  was  one 
of  cautious  hostility.  Philip  was  already  under  the  ban 
of  the  Church  —  I.  As  implicated  with  his  brother  in 
the  cruelties  exercised  against  the  family  of  the  unfor- 
tunate Tancred,  the  rival  favored  by  the  Pope  for  the 
throne  of  Sicily.  II.  As  having  held  by  Imperial  grant 
the  domains  of  the  Countess  Matilda,  to  which  the 
Feb.  1198.  Popes  maintained  their  right  by  anathema 
ao:ainst  all  who  should  withhold  them  from  the  See. 
The  Bishop  of  Sutri  was  sent  as  Legate  to  demand  of 
Philip  the  immediate  release  of  Sybilla,  the  widow  of 
Tancred,  and  of  her  daughters,  who  were  imprisoned 
in  Germany^  as  well  as  of  the  Archbishop  of  Salerno 
their  partisan.  The  German  prelates  of  the  Rhine 
were  commanded  to  support  this  demand,  to  sequester 
the  goods  of  all  who  had  presumed  to  assist  in  the  in- 
carceration of  an  Archbishop,  in  itself  an  act  of  sacri- 
lege.^ The  Chapter  of  Mentz,  in  the  absence  of  the 
Primate,  was  to  pronounce  an  interdict  not  only  on 
those  concerned  in  the  imprisonment,  and  the  whole 
city  in  which  it  had  taken  place ;  but  also  to   bring 

1  Epist.  i.  24,  25. 


CHAP.n.  ABSOLUTION  OF  PHILIP.  501 

under  the  ban  of  the  Church  all  German  princes  who 
did  not  heartily  strive  for  their  release  :  if  satisfaction 
was  not  instantly  made,  the  ban  spread  over  the  whole 
of  Germany .1  Philip  himself  was  to  be  reminded  of 
his  state  of  excommunication,  as  usurper  of  the  terri- 
tories of  the  Church.  Only  on  his  giving  full  satis- 
faction on  both  points,  the  instantaneous  release  of  the 
prisoners,  especially  the  Archbishop  of  Salerno,  and  his 
surrender  of  all  the  lands  of  the  Roman  See,  was  the 
Bishop  of  Sutri  empowered  to  grant  absolution ;  other- 
wise Philip  could  only  receive  it  as  a  suppliant  from  the 
Pope  himself.  Thus  the  first  act  of  the  aspirant  to  the 
Empire  was  to  be  an  acknowledgment  of  almost  the 
highest  pretensions  of  the  Papal  supremacy,  a  condem- 
nation of  his  brother's  policy,  the  cession  of  the  lands 
of  the  Countess  Matilda.  Innocent  had  chosen  a  Ger- 
man by  birth,  perhaps  from  his  knowledge  of  the  lan- 
guage, for  this  important  Legation,  in  frill  confidence, 
no  doubt,  that  the  interests  of  the  Church  would 
quench  all  feelings  of  nationality.  But  either  from 
this  nationality,  fr'om  weakness,  or  love  of  peace,  the 
Bishop  of  Sutri  allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  by 
Philip  to  stretch  to  the  utmost,  if  not  to  go  beyond, 
his  instructions.  Philip  consented  in  vague  words  to 
the  amplest  satisfaction  ;  and  on  this  general  promise, 
obtained  a  secret  absolution  from  the  Legate.  Inno- 
cent disclaimed  his  weak  envoy ;  afterwards  degraded 
him  from  his  See,  and  banished  him  to  a  remote  monas- 
tery, where  he  died  in  shame  and  grief.^ 

1  It  is  remarkable  that  Innocent  dwells  on  the  sins  of  the  luxurious  and 
effeminate  Sicilians,  who  had  been  visited  on  that  account  by  the  cruelties 
of  the  Germans,  rather  than  on  the  tyranny  and  inhumanity  of  the  Ger- 
mans. —  Epist.  26. 

2  Ughelli,  Italia  Sacra,  i.  1275.    Worms,  June  29, 1198. 


602  LATIN   CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

Yet  Philip  stood  absolved  by  one  representing  the 
Papal  authority.  This  objection  to  the  validity  of  his 
election  was  removed ;  and  in  most  other  respects  his 
superiority  was  manifest.  The  largest  and  most  pow- 
erful part  of  the  Empire  acknowledged  him  ;  his  army 
was  the  strongest ;  the  treasures  which  his  brother  had 
brought  from  Sicily  were  lavished  with  successful  prod- 
igality ;  his  garrison  as  yet  occupied  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
the  city  in  which  the  Emperors  were  crowned ;  all  the 
sacred  regalia  were  in  his  hands.  The  Rhenish  prel- 
ates and  the  nobles  of  Flanders  stood  almost  alone  on 
the  side  of  Otho ;  but  Richard  of  England  had  sup- 
plied him  with  large  sums  of  money  ;  and  with  the  aid 
July  10,  n98.  of  the  Flemish  princes  he  made  himself  mas- 
twrEm-°°  °^  ter  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  was  crowned  in 
J^™^^2  1198  ^^^^  ^^^7  ^y  *^®  Archbishop  of  Cologne. 
Aug.i5, 1198.  Philip  celebrated  his  coronation  at  Mentz, 
but  the  highest  Prelate  who  would  perform  this  rite 
was  a  foreigner,  at  least  not  a  German,  Aimo,  Arch- 
bishop of  the  Tarentaise. 

If  Richard  of  England  was  on  one  side  in  this  con- 
PMiip  test,  Philip  Augustus  of  France  was  sure  to 

of  trance,  bc  ou  the  Other  ;  and  besides  his  rivalry  with 
England,  the  King  of  France  had  personal  and  heredi- 
tary cause  for  hostility  to  Otho ;  and  with  the  house 
of  Hohenstaufen  he  had  ever  maintained  friendly  al- 
liance.^ 

Innocent  seemed  to  await  the  submission  of  the  cause 

1  Godef.  Mon.  Arnold  Lubeck.  See  Von  Rauraer,  iii.  p.  107.  Gerv. 
Tilb.  The  King  of  France,  writing  to  the  Pope:  "Ad  hoec  cum  rex  Angliae 
per  fas  et  nefas  pecunia  sua  niediante  ncpotem  suum  ad  imperialem  apicem 
conatur  intrudere,  vos  nullatenus  intrusionem  illam,  si  placet,  debetis  ad- 
mittere,  quoniam  in  opprobrium  coronas  nostra  cognoscitur  rendundare." 
—  Innocent,  Epist.  i.  690. 


Chap.  n.  POPE  INNOCENT.  503 

to  his  arbitration ;  as  yet,  indeed,  lie  was  folly  occupied 
with  the  affairs  of  Rome  and  Italy.  The  p^p^ 
friends  of  Otho,  who  could  well  anticipate  his  i°^«<'e'^*- 
favorable  judgment,  were  the  first  to  make  their  appeal. 
Addresses  were  sent  to  Rome  in  the  name  of  Richard 
•King  of  England,  Count  Baldwin  of  Flanders,  the 
city  of  Milan,  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  his  suffra- 
gans the  Bishops  of  Munster,  Minden,  Paderborn, 
Cambray  and  Utrecht,  the  Bishop  of  Strasburg,  the 
Abbots  of  Verden  and  Corvey,  Duke  Henry  of  Bra- 
bant, with  many  Abbots  and  Counts.  Most  of  these 
documents  promised  the  most  profound  submission  on 
the  part  of  Otho  to  the  Church  ;  specifically  abandoned 
the  detestable  practice'  of  seizing  the  goods  of  bish- 
ops and  abbots  on  their  decease,  and  pledged  all  the 
undersigned  to  the  same  loyal  protection  of  the  Church 
and  all  her  rights.  The  answer  of  Innocent  was  cour- 
teous, but  abstained  from  recomiizino;  the  title  of  Otho. 

The  civil  war  began  its  desolations.  Philip  at  first 
gained  great  advantages ;  he  advanced  almost  a.d.  n98. 
to  the  gates  of  Cologne  ;  and  retreated  only  on  the 
tidings  of  the  approach  of  a  powerful  army  from  Flan- 
ders. It  was  civil  war  in  its  most  barbarous  lawless- 
ness. Bonn,  Andernach,  and  other  towns  were  burned; 
it  is  said  that  a  nun  was  stripped  naked,  anointed  with 
honey,  rolled  in  feathers,  and  then  set  on  a  horse  with 
her  face  to  the  tail,  and  paraded  through  the  streets. 
Philip,  on  his  side,  wrought  by  indignation  from  his 
constitutional  mildness,  commanded  the  guilty  soldiers 
to  be  boiled  in  hot  water.  The  winter  suspended  the 
hostile  operations. 

Philip  himself   maintained  a  lofty  silence  towards 

1 "  Consuetudinem  illam  detestabilem." 


504  LATIN  CHKISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

Rome  ;  he  would  not,  it  miglit  seem,  compromise  the 
right  of  election  in  the  princes  and  prelates  of  the 
realm,  by  what  might  be  construed  into  the  acknowl- 
edged arbitration  of  a  superior  authority.  A  year  had 
now  passed ;  the  war,  on  the  whole,  had  been  to  his 
advantage ;  the  death  of  Richard  of  England  had  de- 
prived Otho  of  his  most  formidable  ally.  Innocent 
could  no  longer  brook  delay ;  without  his  aid  there  was 
danger  lest  the  cause  of.  Otho  should  utterly  fail.  His 
expectations  that  both  parties  would  lay  the  cause  at 
his  feet  were  disappointed ;  he  was  compelled  to  take 
the  initiative.  Unsummoned  therefore  by  general  con- 
sent, appealed  to  by  but  one  party,  he  ascended  as  it 
were  his  tribunal ;  in  a  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Cologne,  though  by  no  means  committing  himself,  he 
allowed  his  favorable  disposition  to  transpire  somewhat 
more  clearly.  In  an  address  to  the  Princes  and  Prel- 
ates, he  declared  his  surprise  that  a  cause  on  which 
depended  the  dignity  or  disgrace  of  the  Church,  the 
peace  and  unity  or  the  desolation  of  the  Empire,  had 
not  been  at  once  submitted  to  him,  in  whom  was  vested 
the  sole  and  absolute  right  of  determining  the  dispute 
in  the  first  and  last  resort.  It  was  his  duty  to  admon- 
ish them  to  put  an  end  to  this  fatal  anarchy.  He 
would  adjudge  the  crown  to  him  who  should  unite  the 
greater  number  of  suffrages,  and  was  the  best  deserv- 
ing.^ The  merits  of  the  case  were  thus  left  to  no  rigid 
rule  of  right,  but  vaguely  yielded  up  to  his  arbitrary 
judgment.  Philip,  at  the  same  time,  found  it  expe- 
dient to  announce  his  election,  not  to  submit  his  claim, 
to  the  Court  of  the  Pontiff.^     He  wrote  from  the  city 

1  Epist.  i.  690 ;  date  probably  May  20. 

2  Spires,  May  28. 


CHAp.n.      ADDRESS   OF  PRINCES  AND  PRELATES.  505 

of  Spires,  that  he  had  received  with  due  honor  the 
Bishop  of  Sutri  and  the  Abbot  of  St.  Anastasia,  the 
envoys  of  the  Pope.  He  had  only  kept  them  in  his 
court  to  witness  the  course  of  affairs.  He  sent  them 
now  to  announce  that  by  God's  merciful  guidance  all 
had  turned  out  in  his  favor,  the  obstacles  to  his  eleva- 
tion were  rapidly  disappearing ;  he  entreated  his  Holi- 
ness to  turn  an  attentive  ear  to  their  report.  At  the 
same  time  came  an  address  from  the  princes  and  prel- 
ates ;  the  list,  both  of  ecclesiastics  and  laymen,  con- 
trasted strongly  with  the  few  names  which  had  sup- 
ported the  address  of  Otho. 

Philip  Augustus  of  France  supported  the  demands 
of  Philip's  partisans.  Among  the  princes  Avere  the 
kings  of  Bohemia,  the  dukes  of  Saxony,  Bavaria, 
Austria,  Meran,  and  Lorraine,  the  margraves  of  Meis- 
sen, Brandenburg,  and  Moravia.  The  host  of  prelates 
was  even  more  imposing.  The  archbishops  of  Magde- 
burg, of  Treves  (who  had  perhaps  been  brought  back), 
and  Besangon ;  the  Bishops  of  Ratisbon,  Freisingen, 
Augsburg,  Constance,  Eichstadt,  Worms,  Spires,  Brix- 
en,  and  Hildesheim,  with  a  large  number  of  abbots, 
Herzfeld,  Tegernsee,  Elwangen.  These  had  signed, 
but  there  were  besides  assenting  to  the  address,  Otho 
the  palatine  of  Burgundy  (Philip's  brother),  the  dukes 
of  Zahringen  and  Carinthia,  the  margraves  of  Lands- 
berg  and  Bohberg ;  the  palgraves  of  Thuringia,  Wit- 
tlesbach,  and  numberless  other  counts  and  nobles  :  the 
Patriarch  of  Aquileia,  the  Archbishop  of  Bremen,  the 
Bishops  of  Verden,  Halberstadt,  Merseburg,  Naum- 
burg,  Osnaburg,  Bamberg,  Passau,  Coire,  Trent,  Metz, 
Toul,  Verdun,  Liege.  There  was  submission,  at  the 
same  time  something  of  defiance  and  menace,  in  their 


606  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

language.  They  declared  that  they  had  no  design  to 
straiten  the  rights  of  the  holy  see ;  but  they  urged 
upon  the  Pope  that  he  should  not  encroach  on  the 
rights  of  the  Empire  ;  they  warned  him  against  hostil- 
ity towards  Markwald  the  seneschal  of  the  Empire,  and 
declared  themselves  ready  after  a  short  repose,  with  the 
Emperor  at  their  head,  to  undertake  an  expedition  to 
Rome  in  great  force.^  The  Pope  replied  to  the  prince 
and  prelates  that  he  had  heard  with  sorrow  of  the  con- 
tested election ;  he  should  be  prepared  to  join  the 
Emperor  who  had  been  elected  lawfully ;  he  should 
remember  rather  the  good  than  the  evil  deeds  of  the 
Emperor  ;  it  was  by  no  means  his  desire  to  trench  on 
his  temporal  rights,  but  to  act  for  the  good  of  the  em- 
pire as  of  the  church.  They  would  judge  better  of 
his  proceedings  against  Markwald,  when  better  in- 
formed, and  when  they  had  closed  their  ears  against 
the  calumniators  of  the  Roman  see. 

Conrad  Archbishop  of  Mentz,^  the  Primate  of  Ger- 
many, of  noble  family,  venerable  for  his  age,  his  learn- 
ing, and  his  character,  had  been  absent  in  the  Holy 
Land  throughout  all  these  proceedings.  To  him,  sup- 
posing him  to  be  yet  in  Palestine,  Innocent  addressed 
May  3, 1199.  au  cpistlc  ^  wliich  explained  the  state  of  the 
contest,  inanifestl}'  with  a  strong  bearing  towards  Otho  ; 
he  declared  that  all  his  measures  were  for  the  greatness, 
not,  as  turbulent  men  asserted,  for  the  destruction  of 

1  The  date  of  this  address  of  the  German  princes  and  prelates  is  of  some 
importance.  Hurter  places  it  in  1199.  It  is  dated  at  Spires,  v.  Kal.  Jim. 
May  28.  Georgish  in  his  Regesta  assigns  it  to  1198;  but  if  so,  it  preceded 
the  coronation  both  of  Otho  and  Philip.  Von  Rauraer  places  it  in  his  text 
in  1199,  in  his  note  in  1198.    Boehmer  in  1200. 

2  Conrad  held  the  cardinal  bishopric  of  St.  Sabina,  -with  the  primacy  of 
Mentz.  —  Epist.  ii.  293. 

8  Epist.  ii. 


CHAP.n.  ENVOYS  TO  ROME.  507 

the  Empire.     He  enjoined  him  to  send  orders  to  his 
diocese,  that  all  the  officers,  the  ecclesiastics,  and  the 
barons  dependent  on  the  church  of  Mentz,  should  sup- 
port the  Emperor  approved  by  the  Holj  See.     Conrad 
had  already  set  out  for  Europe,  he  passed  Nov.  6, 1199. 
through  Rome  ;  and  Innocent,  after  a  long  conference, 
invested  him  in  fall  authority  to  reestablish  peace  in 
Germany.     The   Primate,   on    his   part,    promised   to 
come  to  no  final  determination  without  sending  previ- 
ous information  to  the  Pope.     On  the  arrival  st.  James's 
of  Conrad  in  Germany  both  parties  consented  ^^y^'^^^y^' 
to  a  suspension  of  arms  until  St.  Martin's  Day. 

Both  contending  parties  sent  ambassadors  to  Inno- 
cent. Those  of  Otho  were  urgent,  implor-  Embassies 
ing,  submissive.  In  every  respect  would  the  *°  ^°™®' 
religious  Otho  submit  himself  to  the  wishes  *^^y^^'^^^- 
of  the  Pope.  The  envoys  of  Philip  were  the  provost 
of  St.  Thomas  at  Strasburg,  and  a  subdeacon  of  the 
Roman  Church.  Perhaps  none  of  the  great  prelates 
would  trust  themselves  or  could  be  trusted  on  such  a 
mission.  To  them  Innocent  seized  the  occasion  of 
proclaiming  in  a  full  consistory  of  Cardinals  the  su- 
premacy of  the  spiritual  over  the  temporal  power.  The 
whole  of  the  Old  Testament  was  cited  to  his  purpose. 
The  subordination  of  the  kingship  to  the  priesthood 
in  Melchisedec  and  Abraham  ;  the  inferiority  of  the 
anointed  to  him  who  anoints  ;  even  Christ  the  anointed, 
is  inferior  as  to  his  manhood,  to  the  Father  by  whom 
he  is  anointed.  Priests  are  called  gods,  kings  princes ; 
the  one  have  power  on  earth,  the  other  in  heaven  ;  one 
over  the  soul,  the  other  over  the  body ;  the  priesthood 
is  as  much  more  worthy  than  the  kingship  as  the  soul 
than  the  body.     The  priesthood  is  older  than  the  king- 


508  LATm  CHRISriANITY.  Book  IX. 

ship  :  God  gave  Israel,  who  had  long  had  priests,  kings 
in  his  wrath.  Only  among  the  heathen  was  the  king- 
dom the  older ;  yet  even  Baal,  who  ruled  over  Assyria 
after  the  building  of  the  tower  of  Babel,  was  younger 
than  Shem.  Then  came  allusions  to  the  fate  of  Korah, 
Dathan,  and  Abiram,  to  the  disunion  of  the  priesthood 
by  the  wicked  schismatic  Jeroboam.  From  thence  to 
modern  times  the  transition  was  bold  but  easy.  The 
happy  times  of  Innocent  II.  and  the  Saxon  Lothair 
and  their  triumph  over  Conrad  and  Anacletus  were 
significantly  adduced  :  "So  truth  ever  subdues  false- 
hood." The  allusion  to  Frederick  Barbarossa  was 
even  more  fine  and  subtle.  In  him  the  Empire  was 
united  while  the  Church  was  divided ;  but  the  schism 
and  he  who  fostered  the  schism  were  stricken  to  the 
earth.  Now  the  Church  is  one,  the  Empire  divided. 
It  concluded  with  the  assertion  that  the  Pope  had  trans- 
ferred the  Empire  from  the  East  to  the  West,  that  the 
Empire  is  granted  as  an  investiture  by  the  Pope.  "  We 
will  read  the  letter  of  your  lord,  we  will  consult  with 
our  brethren,  and  then  give  our  answer ;  may  God  en- 
able us  to  act  wisely  for  His  honor,  the  advantage  of 
the  Church,  and  the  welfare  of  the  Empire."  In  his 
reply  to  the  princes  of  Germany,  the  leaning  of  Inno- 
cent against  Philip,  though  yet  slightly  disguised,  was 
more  clearly  betrayed.  If  he  had  the  majority  of 
voices  and  the  possession  of  the  regalia,  on  the  other 
hand  must  be  taken  into  account  the  illegality  of  his 
coronation,  his  excommunication  by  the  Church  from 
which  he  had  but  fraudulently  obtained  absolution  ;  the 
design  to  make  the  Empire  hereditary  in  his  house. 
The  Archbishop  of  Cologne  was  arraigned  in  no  mod- 
erate terms  for  presuming  to  submit  the  question  to  tho 


Chap.  n.  THE  WAR.  509 

diet  of  the  Empire  without  the  Pope's  previous  con- 
sent.^ 

The  assembly  at  Boppart  in  the  pre^^ous  year  had 
come  to  nothing.  Otho  only  appeared,  neither  Philip 
nor  his  supporters  condescended  to  notice  the  summon/?. 
Again  the  war  broke  out,  and  raged  with  all  June,  1199. 
its  ferocity.  Phihp  fell  on  the  hereditary  territories  of 
the  house  of  Guelf.  The  Archbishop  of  Magdeburg 
bm'ned  Helmstadt ;  Henry,  the  brother  of  Otho,  rav- 
aged the  bishopric  of  Hildesheim,  and  threw  himself 
into  Brunswick,  now  besieged  by  Philip.  Philip  was 
obliged  to  withdraw  with  great  loss  and  dishonor ;  he 
returned  to  the  Rhine,  where  his  ally  the  Bishop  of 
Worms  was  wasting  the  country  round  his  Oct.  27. 
own  city ;  he  obtained  a  powerful  ally  in  Conrad  of 
Scharfenech,  the  coadjutor  of  the  Bishop  of  Spires. 
The  death  of  the  peaceful  Primate,  Conrad  of  Mentz, 
destroyed  all  hopes,  if  hopes  there  were,  of  composing 
the  strife  by  amicable  negotiation.  A  double  election 
for  the  primacy  was  the  inevitable  consequence  of  the 
all-pervading  conflict.  Hardly  were  the  last  obsequies 
paid  to  the  remains  of  Conrad  when  the  Chapter  met. 
Both  the  elected  prelates  were  men  of  noble  German 
race.  The  partisans  of  Philip  chose  Leopold  of  the 
house  of  Schonfield,  who  had  succeeded  his  uncle  in 
the  See  of  Worms.  Leopold  was  a  churchman,  strong 
in  mind,  strong  in  body,  vigorous  and  violent ;  no  less 
distinguished  for  the  qualities  of  a  warlike  leader  than 
an  able  prelate;  he  had  been  engaged  in  the  Italian 
wars,  and  at  least  had  not  restrained  his  soldiers  in  the 
plunder  of  churches :  his  enemies  described  him  as  a 
tyrant  rather  than  a  bishop ;  and  such  was  his  daring 

1  Epist.  vol.  i.  p.  691. 


610  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

that  he  is  said,  somewhat  later,  with  all  the  pomp  of 
burning  torches,  to  have  excommunicated  the  Pope 
himself.^  The  opposite  party  elected  Siegfried,  of  the 
house  of  Eppstein,  but  Mentz  being  in  possession  of 
their  adversaries,  they  withdrew  to  Bingen  to  confirm 
their  election. 

Innocent  now  determined  to  assume  openly  the  func- 
Pope  inno-  tiou  of  supremc  arbiter  in  this  great  quarrel. 
eratioQ.  The  Cardinal  Guido  Pierleoni,  Bishop  of 
Palestrina,  appeared  in  Germany  with  a  Bull  contain- 
ing the  full  and  elaborate  judgment.  This  was  the 
tenor  of  the  Bull :  —  "  It  belongs  to  the  Apostolic  See 
to  pass  judgment  on  the  election  of  the  Emperor,  both 
in  the  first  and  last  resort ;  ^  in  the  first,  because  by  her 
aid  and  on  her  account  the  Empire  was  transplanted 
fi'om  Constantinople ;  by  her  as  the  sole  authority  for 
this  transplanting,  on  her  behalf  and  for  her  better  pro- 
tection :  in  the  last  resort,  because  the  Emperor  re- 
ceives the  final  confirmation  of  his  dignity  from  the 
Pope  ;  is  consecrated,  crowned,  invested  in  the  impe- 
rial dignity  by  him.  That  which  must  be  sought  is  the 
lawful,  the  right,  the  expedient."  Innocent  proceeds  to 
discuss  at  length  the  claims  of  the  three  kings,^  the 
child  (Frederick  of  Sicily),  Philip,  and  Otho.  He 
admits  the  lawful  election,  the  oath  twice  taken,  and 
once  at  least  freely,  by  the  Princes  of  the  Empire  to 

1  Caesar,  Heisterb.  Dialog.  Mirac.  ii.  9. 

2  It  was  the  Emperor,  not  the  King  of  the  Germans.  Innocent,  in  the- 
ory, held  to  this  distinction.  The  Germans  had  full  right  to  choose  their 
king,  but  their  king,  being  also  by  established  usage  Emperor,  came  under 
the  direct  cognizance  of  the  Pope.  —  Epist.  i.  697. 

8  According  to  M.  Abel  (Philip  der  Hohenstaufer),  the  Deliberatio  was 
not  a  published  document;  at  all  events  it  contains  the  views  and  reason- 
ings of  Innocent.  The  results  were  to  be  communicated  to  the  Princes  of 
the  Empire  by  his  Legates. 


Chap.  II.  THE  DELIBERATION.  511 

the  young  Frederick.  "  His  cause  it  might  seem  in- 
cumbent on  the  Apostohc  See,  as  the  protector  of  the 
orphan,  to  maintain  ;  and  lest,  when  come  to  riper 
years,  in  his  wrath  at  having  been  deprived  of  the  Em- 
pire by  the  Papal  decree,  he  should  become  hostile  to 
the  Pope  and  withdraw  the  kingdom  of  Naples  from 
her  allegiance  to  the  Holy  See.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  on  whom  did  this  election  fall  ?  to  whom  was 
this  oath  sworn  ?  To  one  not  merely  incapable  of  rul- 
ing the  Empire,  but  of  doing  anything  ;  a  child  of  two 
years  old,  a  child  not  yet  baptized."  The  Deliberation 
enlarges  on  the  utter  unfitness  of  a  child  for  such  a 
high  office  in  such  perilous  times.  "  Woe  unto  the 
realm,  saith  the  Scripture,  whose  king  is  a  child.  Dan- 
gerous, too,  were  it  to  the  Church  to  unite  the  Empire 
with  the  kingdom  of  Sicily.  Yet  never  will  Frederick 
in  riper  years  be  able  justly  to  reproach  the  See  of 
Rome  with  having  robbed  him  of  his  Empire ;  it  is  his 
own  uncle  who  will  have  deprived  him  of  that  crown, 
of  his  paternal  inheritance,  and  who  is  even  endeavor- 
ing by  his  myrmidons  to  despoil  him  of  his  mother's 
kingdom,  did  not  the  holy  Church  keep  watch  and 
ward  over  his  rights.^ 

"  Neither  can  any  objection  be  raised  against  the 
legality  of  the  election  of  Philip.  It  rests  upon  the 
gravity,  the  dignity,  the  number  of  those  who  chose 
him.  It  may  appear  vindictive,  and  therefore  unbe- 
coming in  us,  because  his  father  and  his  brother  have 
been  persecutors  of  the  church,  to  visit  their  sins  on 
him.  He  is  mighty  too  in  territory,  in  wealth,  in  peo- 
ple ;  is  it  not  to  swim  against  the  stream  to  provoke  the 

1  Remark  this  provident  anticipation  of  Frederick's  future  cause  of  quar- 
W  y  ith  the  See  of  Rome,  and  the  blame  cast  on  his  relative. 


512  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

enmity  of  the  powerful  against  the  Church,  we  who, 
if  we  favored  Philip,  might  enjoy  that  peace  which  it 
is  our  duty  to  ensue  ? 

"  Yet  is  it  right  that  we  should  declare  against  him. 
Our  predecessors  have  excommunicated  him,  justly, 
solemnly,  and  canonically :  justly,  because  he  has  vio- 
lently seized  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter ;  solemnly,  in 
St.  Peter's  church  on  a  high  festivity  during  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  mass.  He  has  obtained  absolution,  it  is 
true,  from  our  Legate,  the  Bishop  of  Sutri,  but  in 
direct  contradiction  to  our  express  commands.  Besides 
he  is  under  the  ban  pronounced  against  Markwald  and 
all,  Germans  as  well  as  Italians,  who  are  his  partisans. 
It  is  moreover  notorious  that  he  swore  fealty  to  the 
child ;  he  is  guilty  therefore  of  perjury  :  he  may  allege 
that  we  have  declared  that  oath  null ;  but  the  Israelites, 
when  they  would  be  released  from  their  oath  concern- 
ing Gibeon,  first  consulted  the  Lord  ;  so  should  he  first 
have  consulted  us,  who  can  alone  absolve  from  oaths. 
But  if  father  shall  succeed  to  son,  brother  to  brother, 
the  Empire  ceases  to  be  elective,  it  becomes  hereditary ; 
and  in  what  house  would  the  Empire  be  perpetuated  ? 
—  a  house  in  which  one  persecutor  of  the  church  suc- 
ceeds to  another.  The  first  Henry  who  rose  to  the 
Empire  (the  Pope  goes  back  to  king  Henry  V.,  with 
whom  the  Hohenstaufen  had  but  remote  connection), 
violently  and  perfidiously  laid  hands  on  Pope  Paschal, 
of  holy  memory,  who  had  crowned  him ;  imprisoned 
him  with  his  cardinals,  whom  he  threatened  to  murder, 
until  Paschal,  in  fear  for  Henry  not  for  himself,  ap- 
peased the  madman  by  concession.  The  said  Henry 
chose  an  heresiarch  as  an  Antipope,  set  up  an  idol 
against  the  Church  of  Rome,  so  that  the  schism  lasted 


Chap.  II  THE  DELIBERATIOX.  513 

till  the  time  of  Pope  Calixtus.  From  this  house  came 
Frederick,  who  promised  to  subdue  the  rebellious  Ti- 
burtines  to  the  See  of  Rome,  but  retained  them  as 
liegemen  of  the  Empire,  and  threatened  our  ancestor 
the  Chancellor  Alexander,  who  asserted  the  rights  of 
St.  Peter,  that  if  it  were  in  the  church  of  St.  Peter  he 
should  feel  how  sharp-edged  were  the  swords  of  the 
Germans ;  who  plotted  to  dethrone  Pope  Hadrian,  al- 
leging that  he  was  the  son  of  a  priest ;  who  fomented 
a  lono'  schism  against  Alexander ;  deceived  and  be- 
sieged  Pope  Lucius  in  Verona.  His  son  and  succes- 
sor Henry  was  accursed  even  on  his  accession,  for  he 
invaded  and  wasted  the  lands  of  St.  Peter,  and  in  con- 
tempt of  the  Church  cut  off  the  noses  of  some  of  the 
servants  of  our  brother.  He  took  the  murderers  of 
Bishop  Albert  among  his  followers,  and  bestowed  large 
fiefs  upon  them.  He  caused  the  Bishop  of  Osimo,  be- 
cause he  declared  that  he  held  his  see  of  the  apostolic 
throne,  to  be  struck  on  the  mouth,  to  have  his  beard 
j)lucked  out,  with  other  shameless  indignities.  By  his 
commands  Conrad  put  our  honored  brother  the  Bishop 
of  Ostia  in  chains,  and  rewarded  his  sacrilege  with 
lands  and  honors  ;  he  prohibited  all  appeals  from  the 
clergy  to  Rome  throughout  the  kingdom  of  Sicily.  As 
to  Philip  himself,  he  has  ever  been  an  obstinate  perse- 
cutor of  the  church  ;  he  called  himself  Duke  of  Tus- 
cany and  Campania,  and  claimed  all  the  lands  up  to 
the  gates  of  the  city ;  he  is  endeavoring  even  now  by 
the  support  of  Markwald  and  of  Diephold  to  deprive 
us  of  our  kingdom  of  Sicily.  If,  while  his  power  was 
yet  unripe,  he  so  persecuted  the  holy  church,  what 
would  he  do  if  Emperor  ?  It  behooves  us  to  oppose  him 
before  he  has  reached  his  full  strength.  That  the  sins 
VOL.  IV.  33 


514  LATIN  CHEISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

of  the  father  are  visited  on  the  sons,  we  know  from 
holj  writ,  we  know  from  many  examples,  Saul,  Jero- 
boam, Baasha."  The  Pope  exhausts  the  Old  Testa- 
ment in   his  precedents. 

"  Now,  as  to  Otho.  It  may  seem  not  just  to  favor 
his  cause  because  he  was  chosen  but  by  a  minority  ; 
not  becoming,  because  it  may  seem  that  the  Apostolic 
chair  acts  not  so  much  from  good-will  towards  him,  as 
from  hatred  of  the  others ;  not  expedient  because  he  is 
less  powerful.  But  as  the  Lord  abases  the  proud,  and 
hfts  up  the  humble,  as  he  raised  David  to  the  throne, 
so  it  is  just,  befitting,  expedient,  that  we  bestow  our  fa- 
vor upon  Otho.  Long  enough  have  we  delayed,  and 
labored  for  unity  by  our  letters  and  our  envoys ;  it  be- 
seems us  no  longer  to  appear  as  if  we  were  waiting  the 
issue  of  events,  as  if  like  Peter  we  were  denying  the 
truth  which  is  Christ ;  we  must  therefore  publidly  de- 
clare ourselves  for  Otho,  himself  devoted  to  the  Church, 
of  a  race  devoted  to  the  church,  by  his  mother's  side 
from  the  royal  house  of  England,  by  his  father  from 
the  Duke  of  Saxony,  all,  especially  his  ancestor  the 
Emperor  Lothair,  the  loyal  sons  of  the  Church ;  him, 
therefore,  we  proclaim,  acknowledge  as  king ;  him  then 
we  summon  to  take  on  himself  the  imperial  crown." 

Innocent,  now  committed  in  the  strife,  plunged  into 
it  with  all  the  energy  and  activity  of  his  character.  To 
every  order,  to  the  archbishops,  bishops  and  clergy,  to 
the  princes  and  nobles,  to  every  distinguished  individ- 
ual, the  Archbishops  of  Cologne  and  Magdeburg,  the 
Archbishop  of  Aqaileia,  the  Palgrave  of  the  Rhine, 
the  Landgrave  of  Thuringia,  the  King  of  Bohemia, 
the  Counts  of  Flanders  and  of  Brabant,  were  addressed 
letters  from  the  See  of  Rome,  admonitory,  persuasive, 


Chap.  n.  OTHO  DECLARED  E^IPEROR.  '  515 

or  encouraging,  according  to  their  attachment  or  aver- 
sion to  the  cause  of  Otho.  The  Legate  in  France  had 
directions  to  break  off,  if  possible,  the  alliance  of  Philip 
Auo;ustus  with  the  Duke  of  Swabia :  ^  John  of  Eno-- 
land  was  urged  to  take  more  active  measures  in  favor 
of  Otho ;  the  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Palestrina  crossed 
the  Alps  with  his  co-legate  the  Brother  Phil-  January 
ip  ;  he  had  an  interview  in  Champagne  with  ^^''*'*^- 
the  legate  in  France,  the  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Ostia. 
They  proceeded  to  Liege,  from  thence  to  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle.  At  Neuss  Otho  appeared  before  the  three  Papal 
legates,  and  took  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Pope  couched 
in  the  strono^est  terms.  He  swore  to  maintain  all  the 
territories,  fiefs,  and  rights  of  the  See  of  Rome,  grant- 
ed by  all  the  Emperors  downwards,  from  Louis  the 
Pious ;  to  maintain  the  Pope  in  the  possessions  which 
he  now  holds,  to  assist  him  in  obtaining  those  which  he 
does  not  now  occupy ;  to  render  the  Pope  that  honor 
and  obedience  which  has  ever  been  rendered  by  the 
pious  Catholic  Emperors.  He  swore  to  conduct  him- 
self as  to  the  affairs  of  the  Roman  people,  the  Lombard 
and  Tuscan  leagues,  according  to  the  Pope's  counsel, 
as  also  in  any  treaty  of  peace  with  the  King  of  France. 
"  If  on  my  account  the  Church  of  Rome  is  involved 
in  war,  I  will  aid  it  with  money.  This  oath  shall  be 
renewed  both  by  word  of  mouth  and  in  writ-  r^he  Legate 
ing  when  I  shall  receive  the  imperial  crown."  g'ttTo^™^ 
The  Cardinal  Guido  departed  to  Cologne ;  J^°«"8. 1201. 
in  the  name   of  Innocent    he    proclaimed  Otho  Em- 

1  Rather  later  the  Pope  endeavors  to  alarm  Philip  Augustus.  Philip 
(the  Emperor),  he  sa\'s,  had  claimed  the  guardianship  of  Frederick  II.  and 
the  possession  of  Sicily.  If  he  had  gained  this  "  in  superbiam  elatus  aliud 
cogitaret,  et  regnum  Francorum  sibi  disponeret  subjugare,  sicut  olim  dis- 
posuerat  frater  ejus  Henricus."  — Epist.  i.  717.    Did  Innocent  believe  this? 


516  •  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX 

peror,  amid  the  applause  of  Otho's  partisans.   He  await 
June  29.        ed  the  concourse  of  prelates  and  nobles  which 

Otho's  Diet       -i        i       ^  ^     .        r^    ^  n 

at  Cologne,  hc  had  summoned  to  Cologne :  tew  came ; 
some  even  of  the  bishops  closed  their  doors  against  the 
messengers  of  the  Legate.  Again  he  summoned  them 
to  Corvey,  and  began  to  threaten  the  interdict.  From 
thence  he  went  to  Bingen,  where  he  spoke  more  openly 
of  the  interdict.  From  Bingen  letters  were  writ- 
Sept.8,1201.  ten  to  the  Pope,  describing  the  progress  of 
Otho's  affairs  as  triumphant.  "  Nothing  now  is  heard 
of  Philip  and  his  few  partisans  ;  with  him  as  under 
God's  displeasure  everything  fails,  he  can  gather  no 
army  ;  while  Otho  will  soon  appear  at  the  head  of 
100,000  men."  The  Cardinal  could  hardly  intend  to 
deceive  the  Pope,  he  was  no  doubt  himself  deceived. 
Philip's  At  that  very  time  were  assembled  at  Bam- 
Bamberg.  berg,  the  Archbishops  of  Magdeburg  and 
Bremen,  the  Bishops  of  Worms,  Passau,  Ratisbon, 
Constance,  Augsburg,  Eichstadt,  Havelberg,  Branden- 
burg, Meissen,  Naumburg,  and  Bamberg ;  the  Abbots 
of  Fulda,  Herzfeld,  and  Kempten ;  the  King  of  Bo- 
hemia, the  Dukes  of  Saxony,  Austria,  Steyermark, 
Meran,  Zahringen,  the  "  Stadtholder  of  Burgundy," 
and  a  number  of  other  princes.  They  expressed 
themselves  in  terms  of  which  the  contemptuousness 
was  but  lightly  veiled.  They  refused  to  believe  (rea- 
son would  not  admit,  loyal  simplicity  would  not  be- 
lieve) that  the  unseemly  language  which  the  Bishop 
of  Palestrina,  who  gave  himself  out  as  the  Legate  of 
the  Pope,  presumed  to  hold  regarding  the  Empire, 
had  been  authorized  by  the  admirable  wisdom  of  the 
Pope,  or  the  honored  conclave  of  the  Cardinals. 
"  Who  has  ever  heard  of  such  presumption  ?     What 


Chap.  II.  RIVALS  FOR  THE  PRIMACY.  517 

proof  can  be  adduced  for  pretensions,  of  wliicli  historv, 
authentic  documents,  and  even  fable  itself  is  silent? 
Where  have  ye  read,  ye  Popes !  where  have  ye  heard, 
ye  Cardinals !  that  your  predecessors  or  your  legates 
have  dared  to  mingle  themselves  up  with  the  election 
of  a  king  of  the  Romans,  either  as  electors,  or  as  judges  ? 
The  election  of  the  Pope  indeed  required  the  assent  of 
the  Emperor,  till  Henry  I.  in  his  generosity  removed 
that  limitation.  How  dares  his  holiness  the  Pope  to 
stretch  forth  his  hand  to  seize  that  which  belongs  not 
to  him  ?  There  is  no  higher  council  in  a  contested 
election  for  the  Empire,  than  the  Princes  of  the  Em- 
pire. Jesus  Christ  had  separated  spiritual  from  tempo- 
ral affairs.  He  who  serves  God  should  not  mingle  in 
worldly  maCtters  ;  he  who  aims  at  worldly  power  is  un- 
worthy of  spiritual  supremacy.  Punish,  therefore, 
most  holy  Father,  the  Bishop  of  Palestrina  for  his  pre- 
sumption, acknowledge  Philip  whom  we  have  chosen, 
and,  as  it  is  your  duty^  prepare  to  crown  him." 

Innocent  replied  in  somewhat  less  dictatorial  and  im- 
perious language  ;  "it  was  not  his  intention  Nov.  2. 
to  interfere  with  the  rights  of  the  electors,  but  it  was 
his  right,  his  duty,  to  examine  and  to  prove  the  fitness 
of  him  whom  he  had  solemnly  to  consecrate  and  to 
crown." -^  His  Legates  had  instructions  to  proceed 
with  the  greatest  caution,  to  pause  before  they  pro- 
claimed the  direct  excommunication  of  the  great  prel- 
ates of  the  realm.  These  prelates  were  already  under 
the  ban,  which  comprehended  the  partisans  of  Philip. 

1  Non  enim  elegimus  nos  personam,  sed  electo  ab  eorum  parte  majori 
^Innocent  had  up  to  this  time  acknowledged  the  election  of  Otho  to  have 
been  by  a  minority)  qui  vocem  habere  in  imperatoris  electione  noscuntur, 
et  ubi  debuit,  et  a  quo  debuit  coronato,  favorem  prsestitimus  et  pr^stamus. 
—  Epist.  i.  7U. 


518  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Boor  IX. 

But  of  the  virtual  or  direct  excommunication  they 
were  equally  contemptuous :  not  a  prelate  was  es- 
tranged from  Philip  or  attached  to  Otho,  by  the  terror 
of  the  Papal  censures.  This  array  of  almost  all  the 
great  ecclesiastics  of  Germany  against  the  Pope  dur- 
ing this  whole  contest  is  remarkable,  but  intelligible 
enough.  Almost  all  the  richer  and  more  powerful 
Bishoprics  were  held  by  sons  or  kinsmen  of  the  noble 
houses  ;  they  were  German  princes  as  well  as  German 
prelates.  The  survey  of  the  order  shows  at  once  the 
ecclesiastical  state  of  the  realm,  and  unfolds  the  nature 
of  the  strife.  The  rivals  for  the  Primacy,  the  Arch- 
bishopric of  Mentz,  were  both  of  noble  houses  —  Leo- 
pold of  the  house  of  Schonfeld,  Siegfried  of  that  of 
Eppstein.  Leopold's  ambition  was  to  retain  the  Bish- 
opric of  Worms  with  that  of  Mentz.  The  Pope  at 
once  repudiated  this  monstrous  demand,  irrespective  of 
the  ulterior  claims  to  the  Primacy,  which  he  adjudged 
to  Siegfried.  But  the  Chapter  of  Mentz,  with  three  ex- 
ceptions, were  for  Leopold  and  Philip  (it  was  the  same 
cause  to  them).  Mentz  long  refused  to  open  her  gates 
to  the  Pope's  Primate.  Leopold,  warlike,  enterpris- 
ing, restless,  seems  to  have  nourished  a  mortal  hatred 
to  Lmocent ;  he  threw  back,  as  has  been  said,  the  ban 
of  the  Pope,  and  solemnly  excommunicated  the  succes- 
sor of  St.  Peter ;  and  at  length,  leaving  both  the  See  to 
which  he  aspired  and  that  which  he  actually  possessed, 
he  descended  into  Italy,  in  order  to  instigate  the  cities 
of  Romagna  to  throw  off  the  Papal  yoke.  The  ban- 
ner of  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz  floated  in  the  van  of 
the  anti-Papal  army.  In  many  of  these  cities  the 
Bishop  of  Worms  met  with  success  ;  and  hence,  when 
after  the  death  of  Philip  a  general  amnesty  was  granted 


Chap.  H.  RIVALS  FOR  THE  PRIMACY.  519 

to  liis  civil  and  ecclesiastical  partisans,  Leopold  only 
was  excluded,  and  abandoned  to  the  vengeance  of  the 
Pope.  Such  was  the  state  of  the  Primacy ;  like  the 
Empire,  an  object  of  fierce  and  irreconcilable  strife. 
The  Archbishop  of  Treves,  timid,  avaricious,  and  time- 
serving, was  on  the  side  which  paid  him  best.  He  had 
been  inclined  to  Otho,  then  fell  ofP  to  Philip.  At  one 
tim3  he  offered  to  resign  his  See,  and  then,  being 
supported  by  the  inhabitants  of  Treves,  declared  for 
Philip. ,  He  was  excommunicated  by  the  Legate ;  the 
Archbishop  of  Cologne  empowered  to  seize  his  do- 
mains ;  yet  even  when  he  was  bought  to  the  party 
of  Phihp,  he  made  excuses  to  elude  a  public  meeting 
and  acknowledgment  of  the  Emperor.  Adolph,  Arch- 
bishop of  Cologne,  had  raised  Otho  to  the  Empire, 
crowned  him  in  A'ix-la-Chapelle  ;  he  had  been  the  soul 
of  the  confederacy ;  but  already  there  were  dark  ru- 
mors of  his  treachery  and  meditated  revolt.  That 
revolt  took  place  at  length  ;  but  wealthy  Cologne  re- 
pudiated her  perfidious  Prelate,  maintained  her  fidelity 
to  Otho,  declared  Adolph  deposed,  and  elected  a  new 
Prelate,  the  Bishop  of  Bonn.  The  Archbishop  of 
Salzburg  was  for  Philip  ;  he  was  held  in  such  high 
respect  that  to  him  was  intnisted  the  protestation  of 
the  Diet  of  Bamberg ;  he  alone,  at  a  later  period, 
Beemed  worked  upon  by  the  Papal  influence  to  incline 
somewhat  more  to  the  cause  of  Otho.  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Bremen  in  his  remote  diocese  contented 
himself  with  a  more  quiet  support  of  Phihp ;  the 
Archbishop  of  Magdeburg  was  unmoved  alike  by  the 
friendly  overtures  of  Innocent,  and  by  the  excommu- 
nication of  the  Legate.  The  Archbishop  of  Besan^on 
received  Philip  with  the  utmost  pomp,  led  him  to  his 


520  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

cathedral,  and  gave  him  all  the  honors  of  an  Emperor. 
The  Archbishop  of  Tarantaise  had  officiated  at  the 
coronation  of  Philip.  The  Bishops  of  Bamberg,  Hal- 
berstadt.  Spires,  Passau,  Eichstadt,  Freisingen  openly 
showed  their  contempt  for  the  Papal  mandates  ;  the 
three  latter,  in  defiance  of  the  Pope,  maintained  the 
right  of  the  Bishop  of  Worms  to  the  Primacy.  The 
Bishop  of  Spires  seized  two  servants  of  the  Pope,  im- 
prisoned one  and  threatened  to  hang  the  other.  The 
Archbishops  of  Besangon  and  Tarantaise,  the  Bishops 
of  Spires  and  Passau  were  cited  to  Rome  to  answer  for 
their  conduct ;  they  paid  not  the  least  regard  to  the 
summons.  The  murder  of  the  Bishop  of  Wurtzburg 
is  a  more  frightful  illustration  of  the  state  of  things. 
Conrad  of  Rabensberg  was  related  by  his  mother  to 
the  house  of  Hohenstaufen  ;  he  had  been  appointed 
Chancellor  of  the  Empire  by  Henry.  He  was  on  his 
way  to  the  Crusade,  when  he  heard  that  the  Chapter 
of  Hildesheim  had  chosen  him  their  Bishop.  He 
fulfilled  his  vow.  On  his  return  he  found  that  he 
had  been  elected  Bishop  of  Wurtzburg.  Conrad  was 
tempted  by  the  wealthier  see,  which  was  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  house  of  his  race.  He  would  willingly 
have  retained  both.  So  important  was  his  support  to 
Philip,  that  he  was  confirmed  in  the  office  of  Chan- 
cellor, and  received  the  gift  of  the  castle  of  Sternberg. 
Innocent  ordered  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  estates  of  Wurtzburg ;  issued  injunctions 
to  the  Archbishop  of  Magdeburg  to  interdict  Conrad 
in  the  diocese  of  Hildesheim,  and  to  command  the 
Chapter  to  proceed  to  a  new  election.  Yet  there  were 
secret  intimations,  that  a  man  of  his  high  character 
and  position  might  find  favor  in  Rome.     To  Rome  he 


Chap.H.     MUEDER  of  the  BISHOP  OF  WURTZBURG.     521 

went ;  he  returned  Bishop  of  Wurtzburg ;  and  if  not 
now  an  opponent,  but  a  lukewarm  partisan  of  Philip; 
He  was  threatened  with  the  loss  of  his  dignity  as 
Chancellor,^  perhaps  became  the  object  of  persecution. 
His  murder  was  an  act  of  private  revenge.  He  had 
determined  to  put  down  the  robbers  and  disturbers 
of  the  peace  round  Wm-tzburg.  One  of  the  house  of 
Rabensberg  presumed  on  his  relationship  to  claim  an 
exception  from  this  decree :  he  was  beheaded  by  the 
inflexible  Conrad.  The  kinsman  of  the  exe-  Dec.  3, 1202. 
cuted  robber,  Bodo  of  Rabensberg,  and  Henry  Hund 
of  Falkenberg,  resented  this  act  of  unusual  severity. 
Two  of  their  followers  stole  into  Wurtzburg,  murdered 
the  Bishop  on  his  way  to  church,  and  mutilated  his 
body.  When  Philip  came  to  Wurtzburg,  the  clergy 
and  people  showed  him  the  hand  of  the  murdered 
Bishop  and  demanded  vengeance.^  PhiHp  gave  no 
redress :  he  was  charged  with  more  than  indifference 
to  the  fate  of  a  Bishop  who  had  fallen  off  to  Otho. 
The  citizens  broke  out,  took  and  razed  the  castles 
of  the  suborners  of  the  murder.  These  men  fled  to 
Rome,  confessed  their  sin,  and  submitted  to  penance.^ 
The  penance  is  characteristic  of  the  age ;  it  was  a  just 
but  hfe-long  martyrdom.  They  were  to  show  them- 
selves naked,  as  far  as  decency  would  permit,  and  with 
a  halter  round  their  necks,  in  the  cathedral  of  every 
city  in  Germany,  through  which  lay  their  way  from 
Rome,  till  they  reached  Wurtzburg.  There,  on  the 
four  great  feasts,  and  on  the  day  of  St.  Kilian  the  tute- 


1  Compare  Innocent's  letters.  —  Reg.  i.  201;  i.  223.    He  is  called  Chan- 
teller  at  the  time  of  his  murder. 

2  Arnold  Lubec.  —  Leibnitz,  ii.  726. 

3  Raynald.  sub  ann.  1203. 


522  LATDT  CHRISTLiXITY.  Book  IX. 

lar  saint  of  the  city,  tliey  must  appear  and  undergo  the 
discipline  of  flagellation.  They  might  not  bear  arms, 
but  ao-ainst  the  enemies  of  the  faith,  nor  wear  rich 
attire.  Four  years  they  were  to  serve,  but  in  the  garb 
of  penitence,  in  the  Holy  Land.  All  their  life  they 
were  to  fast  and  pray,  to  receive  the  Eucharist  only  on 
their  death-bed.^ 

For  ten  dreary  years,  with  but  short  intervals  of 
Ten  years'  •  trucc,  Germany  was  abandoned  to  all  the 
A."  1198-  horrors  of  civil  war.^  The  repeated  prot- 
■^^'  estations   of  Innocent,  that  he  was  not  the 

cause  of  these  fatal  discords,  betray  the  fact  that  he 
was  accused  of  the  guilt ;  and  that  he  had  to  wres- 
tle with  his  own  conscience  to  acquit  himself  of  the 
charge.  It  was  a  war  not  of  decisive  battles,  but  of 
marauding,  desolation,  havoc,  plunder,  wasting  of  har- 
vests, ravaging  open  and  defenceless  countries ;  war 
waged  by  Prelate  against  Prelate,  by  Prince  against 

1  The  inscription  on  the  place  of  the  murder  — 

Hie  procumbo  solo,  sceleri  quia  parcere  nolo, 
Vulnera  lacta  dolo  dant  habitare  polo. 

Bdhmer,  Fontes.  i.  36. 

2  Thus  says  Walther  der  Vogelweide  — 

Zu  Rom  hort  ich  liigen, 
Zwei  kbnige  betrligen ; 
Das  gab  den  aller-grosten  Streit, 
Der  jemals  ward  in  aller  Zeit, 
Da  sah  man  sicb  entzweieu 
Die  Pfafifen  und  die  Laien. 
Die  Noth  war  liber  alle  Noth : 
Da  lagen  Leib  und  Seele  todt. 
Die  Pfaffen  wurden  Krieger, 
Die  Laien  blieben  Sieger, 
Das  Schwert  sie  legten  aus  der  Hand, 
Und  griffen  zu  der  Stola  Band, 
Sie  bannten  wen  sie  woilten, 
Nicht  den  sie  bannen  sollten. 
Zerstbrt  war  manches  Gbttes  haus. 

Simrock,  p.  174 ;  Lachmann,  9;  Hvrter,  ii.  98. 


Chap.  H.  TEN  YEARS'  WAR.  623 

Prince  ;  wild  Bohemians  and  bandit  soldiers  of  every 
race  were  roving  through  every  province.  Through- 
out the  land  there  was  no  law  :  the  high  roads  were 
impassable  on  account  of  robbers  ;  traffic  cut  off,  ex- 
cept on  the  great  rivers  from  Cologne  down  the  Rhire, 
from  Ratisbon  down  the  Danube ;  nothing  was  spared, 
nothino;  sacred,  church  or  cloister.  Some  monasteries 
were  utterly  impoverished,  some  destroyed.  The  fe- 
rocities of  war  grew  into  brutalities  ;  the  clergy,  and 
sacred  persons,  were  the  victims  and  perpetrators. 
The  wretched  nun,  whose  ill-usage  has  been  related, 
was  no  doubt  only  recorded  because  her  fate  was  some- 
what more  horrible  than  that  of  many  of  her  sisters. 
The  Abbot  of  St.  Gall  seized  six  of  the  principal 
burghers  of  Arbon,  and  cut  off  their  feet,  in  revenge 
for  one  of  his  servants,  who  had  suffered  the  like  muti- 
lation for  lopping  wood  in  their  forests. 

Innocent  seemed  threatened  with  the  deep  humilia- 
tion of  having  provoked,  inflamed,  kept  up  innocent 
this  disastrous  strife  only  for  his  own  and  his  acknowledge 
Emperor's   discomfiture   and    defeat.      Year  ^^^^' 
after  year  the  cause  of  Otho  became  more  doubtful ; 
the  exertions,  the  intrigues,  the  promises,  the  excom- 
munications of  Rome  became  more  unavailing.     The 
revolt  of  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne  gave  a  no^.u^ 
fatal  turn :  ^  the  example  of  Adolph's  perfidy  -^^^ 
and  tergiversation  wrought  widely  among  Otho's  most 
powerful  partisans.     There  were  few,  on  Otho's  side 
at   least,  who  had  not  changed  their  party ;    Otho's 
losses  were  feebly  compensated  by  the  defections  from 
the  ranks  of  Philip.     At  the  close  of  the  ten  years  the 

1  Two  grants  (  Bohmer's  Regesta  sub  ann.  1205)  show  the  price  paid  for 
the  archbishop's  perfidy. 


524  LATIN    CHRISTLLNITY.  Book  IX. 

contest  had  become  almost  hopeless ;  even  the  mflexible 
Innocent  was  compelled  to  betray  signs  of  remorse,  of 
reconciliation,  of  accepting  Philip  as  Emperor,  of 
abandoning  Otho,^  of  recanting  all  his  promises,  and 
struggling  out  of  his  vows  of  implacable  enmity  and  of 
perpetual  alliance.  Negotiations  had  begun,  Philip's 
June,  1206.  ambassadors  were  received  in  Rome :  two 
Legates,  Leo,  the  Cardinal  Priest  of  Santa  Croce, 
Cardinal  Ugolino  Bishop  of  Ostia  and  Velletri,  were 
in  Worms :  Philip  swore  to  subject  himself  in  all 
Aug.  1207.  things  to  the  Pope.  Philip  was  solemnly  ab- 
i2oT  °^*^'  solved  from  his  excommunication.  At  Metz 
the  Papal  Legates  beheld  the  victorious  Emperor  cele- 
brate his  Christmas  with  kingly  splendor.^  From  this 
Murder  of  abasiiig  positiou  Innocent  was  relieved  by  the 
Philip.  crime    of    one   man.      The    assassination    of 

Philip  by  Otho  of  Wittlesbach  placed  Otho  at  once  on 
the  throne. 

The  crime  of  Otho  of  Wittlesbach  sprang  from  pri- 
vate revenge.  Otho  was  one  of  the  fiercest  and  most 
lawless  chieftains  of  those  lawless  times  ;  brave  beyond 
most  men,  and  so  far  true  and  loyal  to  the  house  of 
Swabia.  Philip  had  at  least  closed  his  eyes  at  one 
murder  committed  by  Otho  of  Wittlesbach.     He  had 

1  Compare  Otho's  desperate  letter  of  covert  reproach  to  Innocent,  Epist. 
i.  754.  Innocent's  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Saltzburg  betrays  something 
like  shame,  i.  748.  In  1205  Innocent  reproached  the  bishops  and  prelates 
of  Otho's  party  —  ex  eo  quod  nobilis  vir  Dux  Sueciae  visus  est  aliquantulum 
prosperare,  contra  honestatem  propriam  et  fidem  praestitam  venientes,  re- 
licto  eo  cui  prius  adhoeserant,  ejus  adversario  adhcerent. — Epist.  i.  742. 
The  Guelfic  author  of  the  Chronicon  Placentinum  (edited  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Duke  de  Luynes,  Paris,  1856)  boldly  accuses  Innocent  of  corruption: 
audiens  ilium  potentem  esse  sine  timore  ipsius,  auro  et  argento  corruptus, 
&c.,  p.  30. 

2  Reg.  Imp.  Chron.  Ursberg.  —  Epist.  i.  750,  of  Nov.  1.  Compare  Abel. 
Philip,  der  Hohenstaufer,  p.  211. 


Chap.  n.  MURDER  OF  PHILIP.  625 

promised  him  his  daughter  in  marriage  ;  but  the  father's 
gentle  heart  was  moved ;  he  alleged  some  impediment 
of  affinity  to  release  her  from  the  union  with  this  wild 
man.  Otho  then  aspired  to  the  daughter  of  the  Duke 
of  Poland.  He  demanded  letters  of  recommendation 
from  the  King  Philip.  He  set  forth  with  them,  but 
some  mistrust  induced  him  to  have  them  opened  and 
read  ;  he  found  that  Philip  had,  generously  to  the 
Duke  of  Poland,  perfidiously  as  he  thought  to  himself, 
warned  the  Duke  as  to  the  ungovernable  character  of 
Otho.  He  vowed  vengeance.  On  St.  Alban's  day 
Philip  at  Bamberg  had  been  celebrating  the  nuptials 
of  his  niece  with  the  Duke  of  Meran.  He  was  repos- 
ing, having  been  bled,  in  the  heat  of  the  day,  on  a 
couch  in  the  palace  of  the  Bishop.  Otho  appeared 
with  sixteen  followers  at  the  door,  and  demanded  audi- 
ence as  on  some  affair  of  importance  ;  he  entered  the 
chamber  brandishing  his  sword.  "  Lay  down  that 
sword,"  said  Philip,  with  the  scornful  reproach  of  per- 
fidy :  Wittlesbach  struck  Philip  on  the  neck.  Three 
persons  were  present,  the  Chancellor,  the  Truchsess  of 
"VValdburg,  and  an  officer  of  the  royal  chamber.  The 
Chancellor  ran  to  hide  himself,  the  other  two  endeav- 
ored to  seize  Otho  ;  the  Truchsess  bore  an  honorable 
scar  for  life,  which  he  received  in  his  attempt  to  bolt 
the  door.  Otho  passed  out,  leaped  on  his  horse,  and 
fled.  So  died  the  gentlest,  the  most  popular  of  the 
house  of  Swabia.^     The  execration  of  all  mankind,  the 

1  Philip  had  been  compelled  during  the  long  war  grievously  to  weaken 
the  power  of  his  house  by  alienating  the  domains  which  his  predecessors 
had  accumulated.  Hie  cum  non  haberet  pecunias  quibus  salaria  sive  solda 
prgeberet  militibus,  primus  coepit  distrahere  prsedia,  quae  pater  suus  Frede- 
ricus  imperator  late  acquisierat  in  Alemannia;  sicque  factum  est  ut  nihil 
Bibi  remaneret  praeter  inane  nomen  dominii  terras,  et  curtales  seu  villas  in 


526  LATm  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

ban  of  the.  Empire  pursued  the  murderer.  The  castle 
of  Wittlesbach  was  levelled  with  the  ground,  not  one 
stone  left  on  another :  on  its  site  was  built  a  church, 
dedicated  to  the  Virgin.  The  assassin  was  at  length 
discovered  in  a  stable,  after  many  wanderings  and  it  is 
said  after  deep  remorse  of  mind,  and  put  to  death  with 
many  wounds. 

quibus  fora  habentur  et  pauca  castella  terrae.  —  Chron.  Ursberg.  311.  The 
poems  of  Walther  der  Vogelweide  are  the  best  testimony  to  the  gentleness 
and  popularity  of  Philip.  See  der  Pfaffen  Wahl,  p.  180;  especially  Die 
Milde,  184.    Simrock. 


Chap.  III.  OTHO  EMPEROR.  527 


CHAPTER    III. 

INNOCENT  AND  THE  E^IPEROR  OTHO  IV. 

Otho  was  now  undisputed  Emperor  ;  a  diet  at 
Frankfort,  more  numerous  than  had  met  otho 
for  many  years,  acknowledged  him  with  ^^"^^^^^ 
almost  unprecedented  unanimity.  He  held  great 
diets  at  Nuremberg,  Bnmswick,  Wurtzbm-g,  Spires. 
He  descended  the  next  year  over  the  Brenner  into 
Italy  to  receive  the  Imperial  crown.  Throughout 
Italy  the  Guelfic  cities  opened  their  gates  to  welcome 
the  Champion  of  the  Church,  the  Emperor  chosen 
by  the  Pope,  with  universal  acclamation  :  old  enemies 
seemed  to  forget  their  feuds  in  his  presence,  tributary 
gifts  were  poured  la\dshly  at  his  feet. 

The  Pope  and  his  Emperor  met  at  Viterbo  ;  they 
embraced,  they  wept  tears  of  joy,  in  remembrance  of 
their  common  trials,  in  transport  at  their  common  tri- 
umph. Innocent's  compulsoiy  abandonment  of  Otho's 
cause  was  forgotten  :  the  Pope  demanded  security 
that  Otho  would  surrender,  immediately  after  his  cor- 
onation, the  lands  of  the  Church,  now  occupied  by 
his  troops.  Otho  almost  resented  the  suspicion  of 
his  loyalty  ;  and  Innocent  in  his  blind  confidence 
abandoned  his  demand. 

The  coronation  took  place  in  St.  Peter's  church 
with  more  than  usual  magnificence  and  so-  Oct.  24. 


528  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

lemnity ;  magnificence  which  became  this  unwonted 
friendship  between  the  temporal  and  spiritual  powers ; 
solemnity  which  was  enhanced  by  the  lofty  charac- 
ter and  imposing  demeanor  of  Innocent.  The  Im- 
perial crown  was  on  the  head  of  Otho  ;  and  —  almost 
from  that  moment  the  Emperor  and  the  Pope  were 
implacable  enemies.  Otho  has  at  once  forgotten  his 
own  prodigal  acknowledgment :  "  All  I  have  been, 
all  I  am,  all  I  ever  shall  be,  after  God,  I  owe  to  you 
and  the  Church."  ^  Already  the  evening  before  the 
coronation,  an  ill-omened  strife  had  arisen  between 
the  populace  of  Rome  and  the  German  soldiery :  the 
Bishop  of  Augsburg  had  been  mishandled  by  the  rabble. 
That  night  broke  out  a  fiercer  fray  ;  much  blood  was 
shed;  so  furious  was  the  attack  of  the  Romans  even 
on  the  German  knights,  that  1100  horses  are  set  down 
as  the  loss  of  Otho's  army  :  the  number  of  men 
killed  does  not  appear.  Otho  withdrew  in  wrath 
fr'om  the  city  ;  he  demanded  redress  of  the  Pope, 
which  Innocent  was  probably  less  able  than  willing 
to  afford.  After  some  altercation  by  messengers  on 
each  side,  they  had  one  more  friendly  interview,  the 
last,  in  the  camp  of  Otho. 

The  Emperor  marched  towards  Tuscany  ;  took 
possession  of  the  cities  on  the  frontier  of  tlie  terri- 
tory of  the  Countess  Matilda,  Montefiascone,  Acqua- 
pendente,  Radicofani.^  He  summoned  the  magistrates 
and  the  learned  in  the  law,  and  demanded  their  judg- 

1  Quod  hactenus  fuimus,  quod  sumus  et  quod  erimus  .  .  .  totum  vobis  et 
Komanae  ecclesise  post  Deum  debere  ....  gratantissime  recognoscimus 
—  Regest.  Ep.  161. 

2  Chronic.  Ursberg.  Ric.  de  S.  Germ,  spreto  juramento.  At  Spires 
(March  22)  Otho  had  solemnly  guaranteed  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter.  — 
Epist.  Innocent,  i.  762. 


Chap.  m.  RISING  IN  GERilANY.  529 

merit  as  to  the  rights  of  the  Emperor  to  the  inheri- 
tance of  the  Countess  Matilda.  They  declared  that 
the  Emperor  had  abandoned  those  rights  in  ignorance, 
that  the  Emperor  might  resume  them  at  any  time. 
He  entered  Tuscany :  Sienna,  San  Miniato,  Florence, 
Lucca,  before  all,  Ghibelline  Pisa,  opened  their  gates. ^ 
He  conferred  privileges  or  established  ancient  rights. 
He  proceeded  to  the  Dukedom  of  Spoleto,  Dec.  24. 
in  wliich  he  invested  Berthold,  one  of  his  followers. 
Diephold  came  from  the  south  of  Italy  to  offer  his 
allegiance  ;  he  received  as  a  reward  the  principality 
of  Salerno.  Otho  attempted  Viterbo.  He  had  his 
emissaries  to  stir  up  again  the  imperial  faction  in 
Rome.  He  cut  off  all  communication  with  Rome ; 
even  ecclesiastics  proceeding  on  their  business  to  the 
Pope  were  robbed.  Vain  were  the  most  earnest  ap- 
peals to  his  gratitude,  even  the  most  earnest  expostula- 
tions, the  most  awful  admonitions,  excommunication 
itself.  Otho  had  learned  that,  when  on  his  own  side, 
Papal  censures.  Papal  interdicts  might  be  defied  with 
impunity. 

After  all  his  labors,  after  all  his  hazards,  after  all 
his  sacrifices,  after  all  his  perils,  even  his  humihations, 
Innocent  had  raised  up  to  himself  a  more  formidable 
antagonist,  a  more  bitter  foe  than  even  the  proudest 
and  most  ambitious  of  the  Hohenstaufen.  Otho  open- 
ly laid  claim  to  the  kingdom  of  Apulia  ;  master  of 
Tuscany  and  Romagna,  at  peace  with  the  Lombard 
League,  he  seized  Orvieto,  Perugia.     He  prepared,  he 

1  Otho's  acts  are  dated  in  almost  every  great  city  in  Italy  —  Florence, 
Lucca,  Pisa,  Terni,  Ravenna,  FeiTara,  Parma,  Milan,  Pavia,  Lodi,  Brescia, 
Vercelli,  Piacenza,  Modena,  Todi,  Reate,  Sora,  Capua,  Aversa,  Veroli, 
Bologua. 

VOL.  IV.  34 


530  LATDT  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX 

actually  commenced  a  war  for  the  subjugation  of  Na- 
ples. The  galleys  of  Pisa  and  Genoa  were  at  his 
command;  Diephold  and  others  of  the  old  German 
warriors,  settled  in  the  kingdom  of  Apulia,  entered 
into  his  alliance. 

His  successes  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples  but  inflamed 
his  ambition ;  he  would  now  add  Sicily  to  his  domin- 
ions, and  expel  the  young  Frederick,  the  last  of  the 
house  of  Hohenstaufen.  It  mio;ht  seem  almost  in 
A.D.  1211.  despair  that  Innocent  at  length,  on  Holy 
Thursday,^  uttered  the  solemn  excommunication  :  he 
commanded  the  Patriarchs  of  Grado  and  Aquileia, 
the  Archbishops  of  Ravenna,  Milan,  and  Genoa,  and 
all  the  Bishops  of  Italy  to  publish  the  ban.  Otho 
treated  this  last  act  of  sovereign  spiritual  authority 
with  utter  indifference.  Everything  seemed  to  menace 
Innocent,  and  even  the  Papal  power  itself.  In  Rome 
insurrection  seemed  brooding  for  an  outbreak  ;  while 
Innocent  himself  was  preaching  on  a  high  festival, 
John  Capocio,  one  of  his  old  adversaries,  broke  the 
respectful  silence:  —  "Thy  words  are  God's  words, 
thy  acts  the  acts  of  the  devil !  " 

But  Otho  knew  not  how  far  reached  the  power 
of  Innocent  and  of  the  Church.  While  Italy  seemed 
to  submit  to  his  sway,  his  throne  in  Germany  was 
Aug.  1209.  crumbling  into  dust.  For  nearly  three  years, 
March,  1212.  i\^yQQ  years  of  unwonted  peace,  he  had  been 
absent  from  Germany.  But  he  left  in  Germany  an 
unfavorable  impression  of  his  pride,  and  of  his  insatia- 
ble thirst  for  wealth  and  power.     Siegfried  Archbishop 

1  According  to  some  accounts  it  was  uttered,  perhaps  threatened,  on  the 
octave  of  St.  Martin  (Nov.  18,  1210.)  —  Chronic.  Ursberg."  Ric.  de  San 
Germ. 


CHAP.m.  OPPOSITION  TO  OTHO.  531 

of  jNIentz,  more  grateful  to  the  Pope  than  Otho,  for 
his  firm  protection  in  his  days  of  weakness  and  disas- 
ter, accepted  the  legatine  commission,  and  with  the 
legatine  commission,  orders  to  publish  the  excommuni- 
cation throughout  Germany.  The  kindred,  the  friends 
of  the  Hohenstaufen,  heard  with  joy  that  the  Pope 
had  been  roused  out  of  his  infatuated  attachment  to 
their  enemy ;  rumors  were  industriously  spread  abroad 
that  Otho  meditated  a  heavy  taxation  of  the  Empire, 
not  excepting  the  lands  of  the  monasteries  ;  that  as  he 
had  expressed  himself  contemptuously  of  the  clergy, 
refusing  them  their  haughty  titles,  he  now  proposed  to 
enact  sumptuary  laws  to  limit  their  pomp.  The  arch- 
bishop was  to  travel  but  with  twelve  horses,  the  bishop 
with  six,  the  abbot  with  three.  By  rapid  degrees  grew 
up  a  formidable  confederacy,  of  which  Innocent  no 
doubt  had  instant  intelHgence,  of  which  his  influence 
was  the  secret  moving  power.  Even  in  Italy  there 
were  some  cities  already  in  open  hostility,  in  declared 
alliance  with  Innocent  and  Frederick.  At  Lodi  Otho 
declared  Genoa,  Cremona,  Ferrara,  the  Margrave  Azzo 
under  the  ban  of  the  Empire.^  At  Nurem-  Ascension 
berg  met  the  Primate  and  the  Archbishop  of  ^'^^' 
Treves  venturing  for  once  on  a  bold  measure,  the 
Archbishop  of  Magdeburg,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Em- 
pire, the  Bishop  of  Spires,  the  Bishop  of  Basle,  the 
Landgrave  of  Thuringia,  the  King  of  Bohemia,  and 
all  the  other  nobles  attached  to  the  house  of  Swabia. 
They  inveighed  against  the  pride  of  Otho,  his  ingrati- 
tude and  hostility  to  the  Pope  ;  on  the  internal  wars 
which  again  threatened  the  peace  of  Germany.     The 

1  Francisc.  Pepin,  Murat.  ix.  640.     Galvan.  Flamma,  xi.  664.     Sicard. 
Crem.  vii.  p.  813. 


532  LATm    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

only  remedy  was  his  deposal,  and  the  choice  of  another 
Emperor.  That  Emperor  must  be  the  young  Fred- 
erick of  Sicily,  the  heir  of  the  great  house,  whom  in 
evil  hour  they  had  dispossessed  of  the  succession :  to 
him  they  had  sworn  allegiance  in  his  cradle,  to  the 
violation  of  that  oath  might  be  attributed  much  of  the 
afflictions  and  disasters  of  the  realm.  Two  brave  and 
A.D.  1211.  loval  Swabian  knio;hts,  Anselm  of  Justingen 
and  Henry  of  NifFen,  were  deputed  and  amply  fur- 
nished with  funds,  to  invite  the  young  Frederick  to 
resume  his  ancestral  throne. 

Anselm  and  his  companions  arrived  at  Rome.  Inno- 
cent dissembled  his  joy ;  ^  he  hesitated  indeed  to  become 
a  Ghibelline  Pope ;  he  could  not  but  remember  the 
ancient,  rooted,  inveterate  oppugnancy  of  the  house  of 
Hohenstaufen  to  the  See  of  Rome.  But  fear  and 
resentment  for  the  ingratitude  of  Otho  prevailed;  he 
Oct.  1211.  might  hope  that  Frederick  would  respect  the 
guardianship  of  the  Pope,  guardianship  which  had 
exercised  but  questionable  care  over  its  ward.  The 
Swabians  passed  on  to  Palermo  ;  they  communicated 
the  message  of  the  diet  at  Nuremberg ;  they  laid  the 
Empire  before  the  feet  of  Frederick,  now  but  seven- 
teen years  old.  Frederick  even  at  that  age  seemed  to 
unite  the  romantic  vivacity  of  the  Italian,  and  the  gal- 
lantry of  his  Norman  race,  with  something  of  German 
intrepidity;  he  had  all  the  accomplishments,  and  all 
the  knowledge  of  the  day ;  he  spoke  Latin,  Italian, 
German,  French,  Greek,  Arabic ;  he  was  a  poet : 
how  could  he  resist  such  an  offer  ?  There  was  the 
imperial  crown  to  be  won  by  bold  adventure ;  revenge 
on  Otho,  who  had  threatened  to  invade  his  kingdom  of 
1  Qui  licet  hoc  bene  vellet,  taraen  dissimulavit.  —  Rigord 


Chap.  III.  OTHO  IN  GERMANY.  535 

Sicily ;  the  restoration  of  his  ancestral  house  to  all  its 
ancestral  grandeur.  The  tender  remonstrances  of  his 
wife/  who  bore  at  this  time  his  first-born  son  ;  the 
grave  counsels  of  the  Sicilian  nobles,  reluctant  that 
Sicily  should  become  a  province  of  the  Empire,  who 
warned  him  against  the  perfidy  of  the  Germans,  the 
insecure  fidelity  of  the  Pope,  were  alike  without 
effect.^  He  hastened  to  desert  his  sunny  Palermo 
for  cold  Germany ;  to  .leave  his  gay  court  for  a  life 
of  wild  enterprise ;  all  which  was  so  congenial  to  the 
natural  impulses  of  his  character,  to  war  with  his  age, 
which  he  was  already  beyond.  Ever  after  Frederick 
looked  back  upon  his  beloved  Sicily  with  fond  regret ; 
there,  whenever  he  could,  he  established  his  residence, 
it  was  his  own  native  realm,  the  home  of  his  affections, 
of  his  enjoyments. 

The  Emperor  Otho  heard  of  the  proceedings  in  Ger- 
many ;  he  hurried  with  all  speed  to  repress  the  threat- 
ening revolt.^  As  he  passed  through  Italy,  he  could 
not  but  remark  the  general  estrangement ;  almost  ev- 
erywhere his  reception  was  sullen,  cold,  compulsorily 
hospitable.*  The  whole  land  was  prepared  to  fall  off. 
Appalling  contrast  to  his  triumphant  journey  but  two 
or  three  years  before !    In  Germany  it  was  still  more 

1  Frederick  had  been  married  at  fifteen  to  Constantia,  widow  of  K.  Eme- 
ric  of  Hungaiy,  daughter  of  Alfonso  King  of  Arragon,  in  Aug.  1209. 
Henry  VII.  was  bom  early  in  1212. 

2  Chronic.  Ursberg.  Chron.  Foss.  Nov.  Murat.  vii.  887. 

3  Otho  cum  totam  fere  sibi  Apuliam  subjugasset,  audito  quod  quidam 
Italise  principes  ibi  rebellaveraut  mandato  apostolico,  regnum  festinus 
egreditur  mense  Novembris.  — Ric.  S.  Germ.  Chron.  Foss.  Nov.  Francisc. 
Pepin. 

4  Gravis  Italicis,  Alemannis  gravior,  fines  attigit  Alemanniae;  a  nullo  uti 
nrincipi  occurritur,  nulli  gratus  excipitur.  —  Conrad  de  Fabaria,  Canon.  S. 
Galli,  Pertz,  xi.  p.  170.  The  author,  a  monk  of  S.  Gall,  describes  Fred' 
erick's  reception  at  his  monastery. 


534  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX 

gloomy  and  threatening.  He  summoned  a  diet  at 
March  4  Frankfort ;  eighty  nobles  of  all  orders  assem- 
1212.  bled,  one  bishop,  the  Bishop  of  Halberstadt.^ 

Siegfried  of  Mentz,  now  Papal  Legate,  with  Albert  of 
Magdeburg,  declared  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  Die- 
trich of  Heinsberg,  deposed  from  his  see  under  the  pre- 
text of  his  oppression  of  the  clergy  and  the  monks. 
Feb.  27, 1211.  Adolph,  the  former  archbishop,  the  most  pow- 
erful friend,  the  most  traitorous  enemy  of  Otho,  ap- 
peared in  the  city,  was  welcomed  with  open  arms  by 
the  clergy,  and  resumed  the  see,  as  he  declared,  with 
the  sanctioii  of  the  Pope.  War,  desolating  lawless 
war,  broke  out  again  throughout  Germany.  The 
Duke  of  Brabant,  on  Otho's  retreat,  surprised  Liege; 
plundered,  massacred,  respected  not  the  churches ;  their 
May  3.  altars  were   stripped  ;    their   pavements   ran 

with  blood:  a  knight  dressed  himself  in  the  bishop's 
robes  and  went  through  a  profane  mockery  of  ordina- 
tion to  some  of  his  freebooting  comrades.  The  bishop 
was  compelled  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance.  He  soon 
fled  and  pronounced  an  interdict  against  the  Duke  and 
his  lands.     The  Pope  absolved  him  from  his  oath. 

Otho  made  a  desperate  attempt  to  propitiate  the  ad- 
herents of  the  house  of  Swabia.  Li  Nordhausen  he 
Aug.  7, 1212.  celebrated  with  great  pomp  his  nuptials  with 
Beatrice  the  daughter  of  the  Emperor  Philip,  to  whom 
he  had  been  long  betrothed.  This  produced  only  more 
bitter  hatred.  Four  days  after  the  marriage  Beatrice 
died.  The  darkest  rumors  spread  abroad :  she  had 
been  poisoned  by  the  Italian  mistresses  of  Otho. 

1  Ubi  octaginta  principes  ei  occurrerunt  multum  Jlenti  et  de  rege  Francice 
conquerenti  ...  Ubi  curiaB  archepiscopi  et  episcopi  pauci  interfuerunt,  eo 
quod  de  mandato  domini  Papoe  eum  excomraunicatum  denunciaverant.  -— 
Rem.  Leod.  apud  Martene,  v. 


Chap.  m.      FREDERICK  SETS   OFF  FOR  GERilANY.  53o 

Frederick  in  the  mean  time,  almost  without  attend- 
ants, with  nothing  which  could  call  itself  an  army,  set 
off  to  win  the  imperial  crown  in  Germany.  At  Rome 
he  was  welcomed  by  the  Pope,  the  Cardinals,  March,  1212. 
and  the  senate.  He  received  from  Pope  Innocent 
counsel,  sanction,  and  some  pecuniary  aid  for  his  enter- 
])rise.  Four  galleys  of  Genoa  conveyed  him  with  his 
i.-etinue  from  Ostia  to  that  city,  placed  under  jj^v  ^  j^, 
the  ban  of  the  Empire  by  Otho.  Milan  was  -^""^^  ^• 
faithful  to  her  hatred  of  the  Hohenstaufen  ;  ^  he  dared 
not  venture  into  her  territory  ;  the  passes  of  Savoy 
were  closed  against  him ;  he  stole  from  friendly  Pavia 
to  friendly  Cremona.  He  arrived  safe  at  the  foot  of 
the  pass  of  Trent,  but  the  descent  into  the  Tyrol  was 
guarded  by  Otho's  partisans.  He  turned  obliquely,  by 
difficult,  almost  untrodden  passes,  and  dropped  down 
upon  Coire.  Throughout  his  wanderings  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Bari  was  his  faithful  companion.  Arnold, 
Bishop  of  Coire,  in  defiance  of  the  hostile  power  of 
Como,  which  belonged  to  the  league  of  Milan,  wel- 
comed him  with  loyal  hospitality.  The  warlike  Abbot 
of  St.  Gall  had  sworn,  on  private  grounds,  deep  hatred 
to  Otho :  he  received  Frederick  with  open  arms.  At  St. 
Gall  he  heard  that  Otho  was  hastening  with  his  troops 
to  occupy  Constance.  At  the  head  of  the  knights, 
the  liegemen  of  the  Abbot  of  St.  Gall,  Fred-  August. 
erick  made  a  rapid  descent,  and  reached  Constance 
three  hours  before  the  forces  of  Otho.  The  wavering 
Bishop,  Conrad  of  Tegernfeld,  declared  against  the  ex- 

1  Compare  letter  of  Innocent  rebuking  Milan  for  her  attachment  to  Otho 
—  reprobo  et  ingrato,  immo  Deo  et  hominibus  odioso,  qui  nunquam  nisi 
mala  pro  bonis  retribuit.  —  Epist.  ii.  692.  Oct.  21,  1212.  There  is  a  very 
curious  account  of  the  Lombard  politics  on  this  occasion  in  the  Chronicon 
?lacentinum,  p.  37.    Piacenza  ever  sided  with  Milan. 


636  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

communicated  Otho ;  Constance  closed  its  gates  against 
him.  That  rapid  movement  won  Frederick  the  Em- 
pire. At  Basle  he  was  welcomed  by  the  Bishop  of 
Strasbm'g  at  the  head  of  1500  knights.  All  along  the 
Rhine  Germany  declared  for  him ;  he  had  but  to  wait 
the  dissolution  of  Otho's  power ;  it  crumbled  away  of 
itself.  The  primate  Siegfried  of  Mentz,  secured  Mentz 
and  Frankfort ;  even  Leopold  the  deposed  Bishop  of 
Worms,  the  rival  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  the  turbulent 
and  faithful  partisan  of  the  house  of  Hohenstaufen, 
was  permitted  to  resume  his  See  of  Worms. ^  Frederick 
Dec.  2.  was  chosen  Emperor  at  Frankfort,  and  held 

Feb.  2.  i^is  court  at  Ratisbon.      Otho  retired   to  his 

patrimonial  domains  in  Saxony ;  he  was  still  strong  in 
the  north  of  Germany;  the  south  acknowledged  Fred- 
erick. On  the  Lower  Rhine  were  some  hostilities,  but 
between  the  rivals  for  the  Empire  there  was  no  great 
battle.  The  cause  of  Frederick  was  won  by  Philip 
Augustus  of  France.  Philip  had  welcomed,  and  had 
entered  into  a  close  alliance  with  Frederick.^  The 
King  of  England,  the  Count  of  Flanders,  and  the 
other  Princes  of  the  Lower  Rhine  arrayed  themselves 
May  27, 1214.  in  Icaguc  witli  Otho.  The  fatal  battle  of 
Bou vines  broke  almost  the  last  hopes  of  Otho  ;  he 
retired  again  to  Brunswick ;  made  one  bold  incursion, 
and  with  the  aid  of  the  Bishop  Waldemar  seized  on 
A.D.  1215.  Hamburgh.  But  to  his  enemies  was  now 
added  the  King  of  Denmark.  Again  he  retreated  to 
the  home  of  his  fathers,  passed  the  last  three  years  of 


1  Leopold  had  been  absolved  before  Philip's  death,  Nov.  1207.    Epist. 
Innocent  i.  731. 

2  Frederick  had  an  interview  with  Louis,  elder  son  of  Philip,  between 
Vaucouleurs  and  Tours,  Nov.  1212. 


Chap.  m.  KING  FREDERICK.  537 

life  in  works  of  piety  and  tlie  foundation  of  religious 
houses.  Long  before  his  death  Frederick  had  juiy  25. 
received  the  royal  crown  from  the  hands  of  ^*y  i^,  1217. 
Siegfried  of  Mentz  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  He  was  now 
undisputed  King  and  Emperor,  in  amity  with  the 
Church  ;  amity  hereafter  to  give  place  to  the  most 
ohstinj.te,  most  fatal  strife,  which  had  yet  raged  be- 
tween the  successor  of  St.  Peter  and  the  successor  of 
the  Csesars. 


538  LATIN    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

INNOCENT   AND  PHILIP  AUGUSTUS  OF  FRANCE. 

The  kingdom  of  France  under  Philip  Augustus 
almost  began  to  be  a  monarchy.  The  crown  had  risen 
in  strength  and  independence  above  the  great  vassals 
who  had  till  now  rivalled  and  controlled  its  authority. 
The  Anglo-Norman  dukedom,  which,  under  Henry  II,, 
in  the  extent  of  its  territory  and  revenues,  its  forces, 
its  wealth,  with  his  other  vast  French  territories,  had 
been  at  least  equal  to  that  of  France,  had  gradually 
declined ;  and  Philip  Augustus,  the  most  ambitious, 
unscrupulous,  and  able  man  who  had  wielded  the 
sceptre  of  France,  was  continually  watching  the  feuds 
in  the  royal  family  of  England,  of  the  sons  of  Henry 
against  their  father,  in  order  to  take  every  advantage, 
and  extend  his  own  dominions.  With  Philip  Augustus 
Innocent  was  committed  in  strife  on  different  grounds 
than  in  the  conflict  for  the  German  empire.  The  Em- 
perors and  the  Popes  were  involved  in  almost  inevitable 
wars  on  account  of  temporal  rights  claimed  and  adhered 
to  with  obstinate  perseverance,  and  on  account  of  the 
authority  and  influence  to  be  exercised  by  the  Emperor 
over  the  hierarchy  of  the  realm.  The  Kings  of  France 
were  constantly  laying  themselves  open  to  the  aggres- 
sions of  the  Supreme  Pontifl"  by  tlie  irregularity  of 
their  lives.     The  Pope  with  them  assumed  the  high 


VJHAP.  IV.       FRANCE  UNDER  PHILIP  AUGUSTUS.  539 

function  of  assertor  of  Christian  morals  and  of  the 
sanctity  of  the  marriage  tie,  as  the  champion  of  injured 
and  pitiable  women.  To  him  all  questions  relating  to 
matrimony  belonged  as  arbiter  in  the  last  resort ;  he 
only  could  dissolve  the  holy  sacrament  of  marriage  ; 
the  Pope  by  declaring  it  indissoluble,  claimed  a  right 
of  enforcing  its  due  observance.  Pope  Ccelestine  had 
bequeathed  to  his  successor  the  difficult  affair  of  the 
marriage  of  Philip  Augustus ;  an  affair  which  gave 
to  Innocent  the  power  of  dictating  to  that  haughty 
sovereign. 

Isabella  of  Hainault,  the  first  wife  of  Philip  Augus- 
tus, the  mother  of  Louis  VIII.,  had  diedA.n.ngo. 
before  the  king's  departure  for  the  Holy  Dec.  27,1191. 
Land.  Three  years  after  his  return  he  de-  a.d.  1194. 
termined  on  a  second  marriage.  Some  connection  had 
sprung  up  between  the  kingdoms  of  Denmark  and  of 
France.  Denmark  was  supposed  to  inherit  from  Ca- 
nute the  Great  claims  on  the  crown  of  England ; 
claims  which,  however  vague  and  obsolete,  might  be 
made  use  of  on  occasion  to  disturb  the  realm  of  his 
hated  rival ;  his  rival  as  possesshig  so  large  a  part  of 
France,  his  personal  rival  throughout  the  Crusades, 
Richard  of  England.  Richard  was  now  a  prisoner  in 
Germany ;  if  Philip  had  no  actual  concern  in  his  im- 
prisonment, he  was  not  inactive  in  impeding  his  libera- 
tion. Rumor  spoke  loudly  of  the  gentle  manners,  the 
exquisite  beauty,  especially  the  long  bright  hair,  of 
Ingeburga,  the  sister  of  the  Danish  king.  Philip  sent 
to  demand  her  in  marriao;e  :  it  was  said  that  he  asked 
as  her  dowry  the  rights  of  Denmark  to  the  throne  of 
England,  a  fleet  and  an  army  to  be  at  his  disposal  for  a 
year.     The  prudent  Canute  of  Denmark  shrunk  from 


540  LATIN  CHRISTLINITY.  Book  IX, 

a  war  with  England,  but  proud  of  the  royal  connection, 
consented  to  give  the  sum  of  10,000  marks  with  his 
sister.  Ingeburga  arrived  in  France,  Philip  Augustus 
hastened  to  meet  her  at  Amiens ;  that  night,  it  was  as- 
Marriage  of  scrtcd  by  the  quecu  but  strenuously  denied  by 
Ingeburga.  PluHp,  hc  cousummatcd  the  marriage.  The 
next  morning,  during  the  coronation,  the  king  was  seen 
to  shudder  and  turn  pale.  It  was  soon  known  that  he 
had  conceived  an  unconquerable  disgust  towards  his 
new  queen.  Every  kind  of  rumor  spread  abroad. 
He  was  supposed  to  have  found  some  loathsome  per- 
sonal defect,  or  to  have  suspected  her  purity ;  some 
spoke  of  witchcraft,  others  of  diabolic  influence.^  Ha 
proposed  to  send  her  back  at  once  to  Denmark ; 
her  attendants  refused  the  disgraceful  office  of  accom- 
panying her  shamed  and  repudiated  to  her  brother. 
Ingeburga  remained  in  France,  or  in  the  neighboring 
Flanders  ;  while  the  king  sought  means  for  the  disso- 
lution of  this  inauspicious  marriage.  Some  of  his 
courtiers,  as  might  be  expected,  urged  him  to  indulge 
his  will  at  all  hazards  ;  others,  the  more  sober,  to  strug- 
gle against  his  aversion.  He  is  said  a  second  time  to 
have  entered  her  chamber ;  ^  by  her  account  to  have 
exercised  the  rights  of  a  husband,  but  this  he  again 
denied.  Her  ignorance  of  the  language,  and  her  awk- 
ward manners,  strengthened  his  repugnance.  The  only 
means  of  dissolving  the  sacrament  of  marriage  was  to 
prove  its  invalidity.  The  Church  had  so  extended  the 
prohibited  degrees  of  wedlock  that  it  was  not  difficult 

1  Gesta,  ch.  xlviii.  suggerente  diabolo.  Such  is  the  cause  assigned  by 
the  ecclesiastical  writers. 

2  Asserebat  autem  Regina  quod  Rex  earn  camaliter  cognoverat;  Rex 
vero  a  continue  affirmabat  quod  ei  non  potuerat  caraaliter  commiscere.  — 
Gesta,  ibid. 


Chap.  IV.         INGEBURGA  —  AGNES   OF  LIEKAN.  541 

hy  ascending  and  descending  the  different  lines  to  bring 
any  two  persons  of  the  royal  houses  within  some  rela- 
tionship. A  genealogy  was  soon  framed  by  which 
Philip  and  his  queen  were  brought  within  these  de- 
grees.^ The  obsequious  clergy  of  France,  with  the 
Archbishop  of  Rheims  at  their  head,  pronounced  at 
once  the  avoidance  of  the  marriage.  The  humili- 
ating tidings  were  brought  to  Ingeburga  ;  she  under- 
stood but  imperfectly,  and  could  scarcely  a.d.  U96. 
speak  a  word  of  French.  She  cried  out  —  "  wicked, 
wicked  France  !  Rome,  Rome  !  "  She  refused  to 
return  to  Denmark  :  she  was  shut  up  in  the  convent 
of  Beaurepaire,  where  her  profound  piety  still  further 
awoke  compassion,  especially  among  the  clergy.^  Philip 
Augustus  affected  to  disdain,  but  used  every  violent 
measure  to  impede,  her  appeal  to  Rome. 

Phihp's  violent  passions  did  not  rest  in  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  marriage  with  Ingeburga  ;  he  sought  to 
fill  her  place.  Yet  three  nobly  born  maidens  refused 
the  hand  of  the  King  of  France,  either  doubting  the 
legality  of  any  marriage  with  him,  or  disdaining  to 
expose  themselves  to  his  capricious  rejection  ;  among 
them  was  the  daughter  of  Herman  of  Thuringia, 
Otho's  most  powerful  adherent  in  his  conflict  for  the 
empire.      At   length,  Agnes,    the   beautiful   daughter 

1  Gesta,  ibid. 

2  Stephen  of  Toumay  wrote  in  her  behalf  to  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of 
Rheims.  His  scriptural  and  classical  knowledge  is  exhausted  in  finding 
examples  for  her  wisdom  and  beauty.  "  Piilcra  facie,  sed  pulcrior  fide, 
annis  juvencula  sed  animo  cana;  pcRne  dixerim  Sarra  maturior,  Eachele 
gratior,  Anna  devotior,  Susanna  castior."  He  adds,  •'  non  deformior 
Helena,  non  abjectior  Poljocena."  She  never  sat,  but  always  stood  or 
knelt  in  her  oratory.  "  If  the  Ahasuerus  of  France  would  but  rightly  ac- 
quaint himself  with  her,  she  would  be  his  Esther."  —  Apud  Baluz.  Miscell 
lib.  i.  p.  420. 


542  LATEST    CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

of  Bertlioldt,  Duke  of  Meran,  a  partisan  of  Philip, 
Agnes  of  hazai'ded  the  dangerous  step.  The  passion  of 
Meran.  PhUip  for  Agues  was  as  intense  as  his  hatred 
of  Ingeburga  ;  towards  her  his  settled  aversion  became 
cruel  persecution.  She  was  dragged  about  from  con- 
vent to  convent,  from  castle  to  castle,  to  compel  her  to 
abandon  her  pertinacious  appeal  to  Rome.  Agnes  of 
Meran,  by  her  fascinating  manners,  no  less  than  by 
her  exquisite  beauty,  won  the  hearts  of  the  gallant 
chivalry  of  France,  as  well  as  of  their  impetuous 
King.  She  rode  gracefully,  she  mingled  in  all  the 
sports  and  amusements  of  the  court,  even  in  the  chase  ; 
the  severe  clergy  were  almost  softened  by  her  prevail- 
ing charms.  The  King  of  Denmark  pressed  the  cause 
of  his  injured  sister  before  Pope  Coelestine.  The  Pon- 
tiff sent  a  Legate  to  France.^  The  King  haughtily 
declared  that  it  was  no  business  of  the  Pope's.  The 
clergy  of  France  were  cold  and  silent,  not  inclined 
to  oifend  their  violent  sovereio-n.  Coelestine  himself 
wanted  courage  to  provoke  the  resentment  of  a  mon- 
arch so  powerful  and  so  unscrupulous.  So  stood  aflPairs 
at  the  death  of  Coelestine.  Almost  the  first  act  of  In- 
nocent after  his  accession,  was  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of 
Paris,  in  which,  after  enlarging  on  the  sanctity  of  mar- 
riage, he  expresses  his  profound  sorrow  that  his  beloved 
son  Philip,  whom  he  intended  to  honor  with  the  high- 
est privileges,  had  put  away  and  confined  in  a  cloister 

1  To  the  same  year,  probably  before  the  marriage  to  Agnes,  belongs  the 
letter  of  Ingeburga  (apud  Baluzium,  Miscall,  iii.  21).  In  this  she  asserts 
that  three  years  before  the  date  she  had  been  married  to  Philip  Augustus; 
that  he  had  exercised  the  rights  of  a  husband;  that  she  was  now  a  prisoner 
in  a  lonely  castle ;  that  the  king  despised  the  letters  of  his  holiness,  refused 
to  hear  the  cardinals,  and  disregarded  the  admonitions  of  his  prelates  and 
religious  men. 


Chap.  IV.  THE  POPE'S  C05OIANDS.  643 

his  lawful  wife,  endangering  thereby  his  fame  and  sal- 
vation. The  King  is  to  be  warned,  that  if  his  only 
son  should  die,  as  he  cannot  have  legitimate  offspring 
by  her  whom  he  has  superinduced,  his  kingdom  would 
pass  to  strangers.  Innocent  attributes  to  this  crime 
of  the  King  a  famine  which  was  affecting  Sept.  ii98. 
France ;  he  expresses  his  reluctance,  at  the  same  time 
his  determination,  to  take  stronger  measures  in  case  of 
the  contumacy  of  the  King.^  How  far  the  Bishop  of 
Paris  fulfilled  the  Pope's  commands  is  unknown.  Be- 
fore the  close  of  the  year  the  Pope  sent  as  his  Legate 
to  France,  Peter  of  Capua,  Cardinal  of  St.  Maria  in 
Via  Lata,  afterwards  known  as  the  Cardinal  of  St. 
Marcellus.  The  legate's  commission  contained  three 
special  charges,  each  of  which  might  seem  highly  be- 
coming the  head  of  Christendom.^  I.  To  establish 
peace  between  the  Kings  of  France  and  England.  II. 
To  preach  a  new  cinisade.  III.  To  compel  the  King 
to  receive  his  unjustly  discarded  wife.  Innocent,  in 
his  letter  to  the  King,  is  silent  as  to  the  marriage ;  his 
tone  is  peremptory,  commanding  not  persuading  peace. 
If  Philip  Augustus  does  not  liumhly  submit  to  the  moni- 
tion of  the  legate  within  a  prescribed  time,  the  realm 
is  to  be  placed  under  an  interdict  —  an  interdict  which 
will  suspend  all  sacred  offices,  except  the  baptism  of 
infants,  and  the  absolution  of  the  dying.  Any  clerk  who 
shall  presume  to  violate  the  interdict  is  to  be  amerced  by 
the  loss  of  his  benefices  and  his  order.  The  hatred  of 
Philip  Augustus  and  of  Richard  was  deep,  inveterate, 

1  Epist.  1,  cccxlv.,  to  the  archbishops,  &c.,  of  France  to  receive  the  Leg- 
ate; ccclv.  to  the  King  of  France.  As  Christ's  Vicegerent  the  Pope  ia 
bound  to  enforce  peace:  his  argument  for  peace  in  Europe  is,  that  war  may 
De  more  actively  carried  on  in  the  Holy  Land. 

2  Epist  i.  4. 


644  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

and  aggravated  bj  the  suspicion,  if  not  the  certainty  on 
the  part  of  Richard,  that  his  rival  of  France  was  not  un- 
concerned in  his  long  imprisonment.  But  at  this  junct- 
ure peace  was  convenient  to  Philip  ;  he  accepted  the 
Papa]  mediation.  Richard  was  more  refractory ;  but 
even  Richard,  embarrassed  with  the  payment  of  his 
ransom,  involved  in  the  doubtful  affairs  of  Flanders, 
eager  for  the  cause  of  Otho  in  Germany,  was  disposed 
to  bow  before  the  menace  of  a  Papal  interdict,  or  to 
conciliate  the  favor  of  Innocent.^  A  truce  was  agreed 
Peace  upou   for   fivc    ycars ;    the    Legate   was    to 

En^S  watch,  and  visit  with  spiritual  penalties  the 
and  France,  yjoktiou  of  the  trucc.  The  Crusade  was 
preached  with  some  success.  The  Counts  Theobald 
of  Troyes,  Louis  of  Blois,  Baldwin  of  Hainault,  the 
Count  of  St.  Pol,  the  Bishops  of  Troyes  and  of  Sois- 
sons,  and  one  or  two  Cistercian  abbots  obeyed  the  sum- 
mons, and  took  up  the  Cross. 

But  to  the  command  to  receive  again  the  hated  Inge- 
burga,  and  to  dismiss  the  beloved  Agnes  of  Meran, 
Philip  Augustus  turned  a  deaf  and  contemptuous  ear. 
The  Cardinal  dared  not  any  longer  delay  to  execute 
the  peremptory  mandate  of  the  Pope.  This  mandate, 
brief  and  imperious,  allowed .  some  discretion  as  to  the 
time,  none  as  to  the  manner  of  enforcing  obedience. 
"  If  within  one  month  after  your  communication  the 
King  of  France  does  not  receive  his  queen  with  con- 
jugal affection,  and  does  not  treat  her  with  due  honor, 
Interdict.  you  shall  subjcct  his  whole  realm  to  an  inter- 
dict :  an  interdict  with  all  its  awful  consequences." 
Twice  before,  for  causes  relating  to  marriage.  Kings  of 
France  had  been  under  the  Papal  censure  ;  but  excom- 

1  Epist.  ii.  xxiii.  ei  seq. 


Chap.  IV.  THE  INTERDICT.  545 

munication  smote  only  the  persons  of  Robert  I.  and  his 
Queen  Bertha  ;  that  against  Phihp  I.  and  Beltrada 
laid  under  interdict  any  city  or  place  inhabited  by  the 
guilty  couple.^  Papal  thunders  had  gi'own  in  terror 
and  in  power ;  they  now  struck  kingdoms.  The  Leg- 
ate summoned  a  council  at  Dijon.  There  Dec.  6, 1199. 
appeared  the  Archbishops  of  Rheims,  of  Lyons,  of 
Besangon,  of  Vienne,  eighteen  bishops,  with  many 
abbots,  and  high  dignitaries  of  the  Church.  Two  pre- 
sumptuous ecclesiastics,  who  had  been  sent  to  cite  the 
King,  were  turned  ignominiously  out  of  doors  ;  mes- 
sengers however  appeared  from  the  King,  protesting  in 
his  name  against  all  further  proceedings,  and  appealing 
to  the  Pope.  The  orders  to  the  Legate  were  express  to 
admit  no  appeal.  On  the  seventh  night  of  the  council 
was  pronounced  the  interdict  with  all  its  appalling  cir- 
cumstances. At  midnight,  each  priest  holding  a  torch, 
were  chanted  the  Miserere  and  the  prayers  for  the  dead, 
the  last  prayers  which  were  to  be  uttered  by  the  clergy 
of  France  during  the  interdict.  The  cross  on  which 
the  Saviour  hung  was  veiled  with  black  crape ;  the 
relics  replaced  within  the  tombs ;  the  host  was  con- 
sumed. The  Cardinal  in  his  mourning  stole  of  violet 
pronounced  the  territories  of  the  King  of  France  under 
the  ban.  All  rehgious  offices  from  that  time  ceased ; 
there  was  no  access  to  heaven  by  prayer  or  offering. 
The  sobs  of  the  aged,  of  the  women  and  children,  alone 
broke  the  silence.  The  interdict  was  pronounced  at 
Dijon  ;  some  short  delay  was  allowed  before  it  was 
publicly  promulgated  in  the  presence  of  the  clergy  at 
Vienne.  So  for  the  injustice  of  the  king  towards  his 
queen  the  whole  kingdom  of  France,  thousands  of  im- 

1  Sismondi,  iv.  121.     See  vol.  iii.  p.  524. 
VOL.  IV.  35 


646  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

mortal  souls  were  cut  off  from  those  means  of  grace, 
which  if  not  absolutely  necessary  (the  scanty  mercy 
of  the  Church  allowed  the  baptism  of  infants,  the  ex- 
treme unction  to  the  dying),  were  so  powerftilly  con- 
ducive to  eternal  salvation.  An  interdict  was  not  like 
a  war,  in  which  the  subjects  suffer  for  the  iniquities, 
perhaps  the  crimes  of  their  kings.  These  are  his  acts 
as  a  monarch,  representing  at  least  in  theory  the  na- 
tional will.  The  interdict  was  for  the  sin  of  the  man, 
the  private  individual  sin.  For  that  sin  a  whole  na- 
tion at  least  thought  itself  in  danger  of  eternal  dam- 
nation. 

"  O  how  horrible,  how  pitiable  a  spectacle  it  w^s  (so 
writes  one  who  had  seen  and  shuddered  at  the  work- 
ings of  an  interdict)  in  all  our  cities  !  To  see  the  doors 
of  the  churches  watched,  and  Christians  driven  away 
from  them  like  dogs ;  all  divine  offices  ceased ;  the 
sacrament  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord  was  not 
offered ;  no  gathering  together  of  the  people  as  wont 
at  the  festivals  of  the  saints :  the  bodies  of  the  dead  not 
admitted  to  Christian  burial,  but  their  stench  infected 
the  air,  and  the  loathsome  sight  of,  them  appalled  the 
living ;  only  extreme  unction  and  baptism  were  allowed. 
There  was  a  deep  sadness  over  the  whole  realm,  while 
the  organs  and  the  voices  of  those  who  chanted  God's 
praises  were  everywhere  mute."  ^ 

Of  the  clergy  of  France,  some  in  servile,  or  in  awe- 
struck obedience,  at  once  suspended  all  the  offices  of 
the  church.  The  Bishops  of  Paris  (the  Archiepisco- 
pate  of  Sens  was  vacant),  of  Senlis,  Soissons,  Amiens, 
Arras,  the  Canons  of  Sens,  being  more  immediately 
under  royal  jurisdiction,  ventured  on  timorous  repre- 
1  Radulph.  Coggeshal.  Chron.  Anglic,  apud  Martene,  v. 


Chap.  IV.  WKATH  OF  PHILIP  AUGUSTUS.  547 

sentations.  "  The  people  were  in  a  state  of  piou? 
insurrection.  They  had  assembled  round  the  churches, 
iand  forced  the  doors  ;  it  was  impossible  to  repress  their 
determination  not  to  be  deprived  of  their  services, 
their  tutelarj  saints,  their  festivals.  The  King  threat- 
ened the  clergy  with  the  last  extremities."  Innocent 
rejected  their  frivolous  excuses,  which  betrayed  their 
weak  faith ;  the  Church  must  no  longer  labor  under 
this  grievous  scandal ;  all  who  had  not  fulfilled  the 
Papal  mandate  before  Holy  Thui-sday  were  to  answer 
for  it  at  Rome.  But  some  sense  of  national  indepen- 
dence, some  compassion  for  their  people,  some  fear  of 
the  King,  induced  others  to  delay  at  least  the  full  obe- 
dience, the  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  the  Bishops  of 
Laon,  Noyon,  Auxerre,  Beauvais,  Boulogne,  Chartres, 
Orleans.  The  Bishop  of  Auxerre  was  the  boldest,  he 
aspired  through  the  King  to  the  vacant  archbishopric 
of  Sens !  i 

Philip  Augustus  was  not  of  a  spirit  to  brook  these 
encroachments  ;  and  his  haughty  temper  was  inflamed 
by  his  passion  for  Agnes  of  Meran.  He  broke  out  into 
paroxysms  of  ftiry.  "  By  the  sword  joyeuse  of  Charle- 
magne "  (we  recognize  the  language  of  the  Romances 
of  the  Trouveres),  "  Bishop,"  so  he  addressed  the 
Bishop  of  Paris,  "  provoke  not  my  wrath,  j^^g^  ^^ 
You  prelates,  provided  you  eat  up  your  vast  ^^^^p* 
revenues,  and  drink  the  wines  of  your  vineyards,  trouble 
yourselves  little  about  the  poor  people.  Take  care  that 
I  do  not  mar  your  feasting,  and  seize  your  estates."  ^ 

1  Gesta,  56. 

2  Gesta,  Chronique  de  St.  Denis.  Among  the  most  curious  illustrations 
of  the  age  is  a  poem,  written  by  GUes  Corbeil,  physician  of  Philip  Augustus, 
of  5925  hexameter  lines.  Corbeil  was  before  known  by  poems  on  subjects 
relating  to  his  profession.    This  new  poem  has  but  recently  come  to  light; 


548  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

He  swore  that  he  had  rather  lose  half  his  dominions 
than  part  from  Agnes  of  Meran,  who  was  flesh  of  his 
flesh.  He  expelled  many  of  the  ecclesiastics,  who  dared 
to  obey  the  Pope,  from  their  benefices,  and  escheated 
all  their  property.  The  King's  officers  broke  into  the 
palace  of  the  Bishop  of  Senlis,  carried  off*  his  horses, 
habiliments,  and  plate.  Ingeburga  was  seized,  dragged 
from  her  cloister,  and  imprisoned  in  the  strong  castle 
of  Etampes.^  But  the  people,  oppressed  by  the  heavy 
exactions  of  Philip  Augustus,  loved  him  not ;  their 
affections,  as  well  as  their  religious  feelings,  were  with 
the  clergy.     The  barons  and  high  vassals  threatened  ; 

it  was  written  probably  under  Honorius  III.  about  1219,  but  refers  to  the 
times  of  Innocent.  It  is  a  furious  satire  against  the  pride,  luxury,  and  ir- 
religiousness  of  the  French  hierarchy.  The  Legate  under  Innocent,  Car- 
dinal Gualo  of  Vercelli,  is  not  spared:  — 

"  Gutture  pomposo  tumido  Galone  relicto, 
Qui  Gallicanum,  Crasso  felicior,  aurum 
Sorbuit,  argento  mensas  spoliayit,  et  omnes 
Divitias  rapuit,  harpye  more  rapacis ; 
Qui  culicem  colando  volens  glutire  camelum, 
Imposuit  coUis  onus  importabile  nostris, 
Tollere  cum  non  posset  idem,  digitoque  moTere; 
Qui  tantis  iterum  laqueis  moderamine  nullo 
Strinxit  et  arctaTit,  caetus  prohibendo  solutes, 
Quod  sacra  conjugii  plerique  refragula  frangunt 
Per  fas  atque  nefas,  sine  lege  vel  ordine  currunt, 
Atque  vias  veteres  recolunt,  dudumque  sepultos 
Enormes  renovant  antiqui  temporis  actus: 
Et  pejus  faciunt,  pravusque  repullulat  error. 
Qu£E  quamvis  prohibenda  forent,  quia  talia  prorsus 
Mactat  et  elidit  divini  regula  juris. 
Ipsa  tamen,  posito  cunctis  moderamine  rebus, 
Simplicibus  verbis,  hortatibus  atque  modestis 
Extirpari  debuerant,  anathemate  dempto." 

In  the  account  of  this  poem,  by  M.  V.  Le  Clerc,  in  the  xx.  tome  of  the 
Hist.  Litt^raire  de  la  France,  will  be  found  ample  illustrations  of  this  speech 
of  Philip  Augustus;  on  the  dress,  the  table,  the  habit  and  manners  of  the 
hierarchy.  The  poem  is  called  " Gera  Pigra,  "lepa  mKpa"  p.  337,  et 
$eq. 
1  Addition  a  Chronique  de  St.  Denis. 


Chap.  IV  INNOCENT  INFLEXIBLE.  549 

they  actually  began  to  rise  up  in  arms.  Innocent  might 
seem  to  have  acted  with  sagacious  policy,  and  to  have 
taken  the  wise  course  to  humiliate  the  King  of  France. 
With  strange  mercy,  while  he  smote  the  innocent  sub- 
jects of  Phihp,  the  more  awful  sentence  of  personal 
excommunication  was  still  suspended  over  the  King's 
head  and  that  of  Agnes  of  Meran  ;  it  was  reserved  for 
a  last,  a  more  crushing  blow,  but  one  perhaps  which 
might  have  led  to  perilous  consequences.  He  had  even 
(he  boasts  of  his  lenity)  spared  the  uncle  of  the  King, 
the  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  who  had  dared  to  pronounce 
the  dissolution  of  the  marriage.^ 

Philip,  alarmed  at  the  mutinous  movements  among 
the  people,  at  length  sent  certain  ecclesiastics  and 
knights  to  Rome,  to  complain  of  the  harsh  proceedings 
of  the  Legate ;  to  declare  himself  ready  to  give  sure- 
ties that  he  would  abide  by  the  sentence  of  the  Pope. 
"  What  sentence  ?  "  sternly  exclaimed  the  Pope,  "  that 
which  has  been  already  delivered,  or  that  which  is  to 
be  delivered  ?  He  knows  our  decree :  let  him  put 
away  his  concubine,  receive  his  lawful  wife,  reinstate 
the  bishops  whom  he  has  expelled,  and  give  them  satis- 
faction for  their  losses ;  then  we  will  raise  the  interdict, 
receive  his  sureties,  examine  into  the  alleged  relation- 
ship, and  pronounce  our  decree."  The  answer  went 
to  the  heart  of  Agnes  of  Meran  ;  it  drove  the  king  to 
fiiry.  "I  will  turn  Mohammedan!  Happy  Saladin, 
he  has  no  Pope  above  him !  "  But  without  the  support 
of  the  princes  and  prelates  of  the  realm  even  the 
haughty  Philip  Augustus  must  bow.     He  summoned  a 

1  Nee  in  personam  subintroductae,  vel  tuam  sententiam  aliquam  proferen- 
dam  duxerimus,  sed  terram  tantum  post  frequentes  commonitiones  subjeci- 
mus  interdicto.  — -  Epist.  v.  50. 


550  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

parliament  at  Paris ;  it  was  attended  by  all  the  great 
vassals  of  the  crown.  Agnes  appeared  in  her  beauty, 
as  when  she  had  distributed  the  prizes  of  valor  at 
Compiegne ;  in  her  sadness  (says  a  chronicler  of  the 
day),-^  like  the  widow  of  Hector  before  the  Greeks 
(she  was  far  gone  with  child).  The  barons  sat  mute^ 
not  a  sword  flashed  from  its  scabbard.  "  What  is  to 
be  done?"  demanded  the  King.  "Obey  the  Pope,  dis- 
miss Agnes,  receive  back  Ingeburga."  So  appalled 
were  the  nobles  of  France  by  the  Papal  interdict. 
The  King  turned  bitterly  to  the  Archbishop  of  Rheims, 
and  demanded  whether  the  Pope  had  declared  his  dis- 
solution of  the  marriage  a  mockery.  The  prelate  de- 
nied it  not.  "  What  a  fool  wert  thou,  then,  to  utter 
such  a  sentence  ! "  The  King  sent  a  new  embassy  to 
Rome.  Agnes  of  Meran  addressed  a  touching  epistle 
to  the  Pope.  "She,  a  stranger,  the  daughter  of  a 
Christian  prince,  had  been  married,  young  ^nd  igno- 
rant of  the  world,  to  the  King,  in  the  face  of  God  and 
of  the  Church ;  she  had  borne  him  two  children.  She 
cared  not  for  the  crown,  it  was  on  her  husband  that  she 
had  set  her  love.  Sever  me  not  from  him."  The  in- 
flexible Pope  deigned  no  reply.  Innocent  sent  the 
Cardinal  of  Ostia,  a  kinsman  of  the  King  of  France^ 
one  of  his  most  trusted  counsellors,  in  compliance  with 
the  King's  suppliant  request,  as  the  Legate  to  France. 
His  instructions  were  full  and  explicit :  he  was  to  de- 
mand complete  satisfaction  for  the  dispossessed  clergy, 
the  banishment  of  the  concubine  ("the  German  adul- 


1  Gul.  Brito.  I  have  consulted  Capefigue's  Philippe  Auguste,  but  with 
the  care  with  which  it  is  necessary  to  read  that  rapid  but  inexact  writer. 
This,  however,  was  his  first  and  best  work.  There  are  some  important  let- 
ters on  the  subject  in  Langebek.  Rerum  Danicarum  Scriptores^ 


Chap.  IV.  COUNCIL  OF  SENS.  551 

teress"  she  is  called  by  some  of  the  coarser  winters), 
not  only  from  the  palace  but  from  the  realm  ;  the  pub- 
lic reception  of  Ingeburga ;  an  oath  and  sureties  to 
abide  by  the  sentence  of  the  Church.  The  Cardinals 
(Octavian  of  Ostia  was  accompanied  by  John  of  Co- 
lonna)  were  received  in  France  in  a  kind  of  trembling 
yet  undisguised  triumph ;  they  came  to  deliver  the  land 
from  its  curse.  At  Vezelay  they  were  met  by  the  great 
prelates  and  clergy  of  tlie  realm ;  the  King  received 
them  at  Sens  with  the  utmost  respect ;  he  promised 
satisfaction  to  the  Churchmen,  w^as  reconciled  to  the 
Bishops  of  Paris  and  Soissons.  To  the  King's  castle 
of  St.  Leger  came  the  cardinals,  the  prelates  ;  and  in 
their  train  Ingeburga.  The  people  thronged  round  the 
gates :  but  the  near  approach  of  Ingeburga  seemed  to 
rouse  again  all  the  King's  insuperable  aversion.^  The 
Cardinals  demanded  that  the  scene  of  reconciliation 
should  be  public  ;  the  negotiation  was  almost  broken 
off;  the  people  were  in  wild  despair.  At  last  the  King 
seemed  to  master  himself  for  a  strong  effort.  With 
the  Legates  and  some  of  the  churchmen  he  visited  her 
in  her  chamber.  The  workings  of  his  countenance  be- 
trayed tlie  struggle  within  :  "  The  Pope  does  me  vio- 
lence," he  said.  "  His  Holiness  requires  but  justice," 
answered  Ingeburga.  She  was  led  forth,  presented  to 
the  Council  in  royal  apparel ;  a  faithful  knight  councu  at 

n      1  xr.  n  i  i  f        Sens, 

or  the  King  came  forward,  and  swore  that  Sept.  7, 1200. 
the  King  would  receive  and  honor  her  as  Queen  of 
France.  At  that  instant  the  clanging  of  the  bells  pro- 
claimed the  raising  of  the  interdict.  The  curtains  were 
withdrawn  from  the  images,  from  the  crucifixes ;  the 
doors  of  the  churches  flew  open,  the  multitudes  streamed 
I'Epist.  iii.  140.    Apud  du  Theil. 


552  LATIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX 

in  to  satiate  their  pious  desires,  which  had  been  sup- 
pressed for  seven  months.  The  news  spread  throughout 
France ;  it  reached  Dijon  in  six  days,  where  the  edict 
first  proclaimed  was  abrogated  in  form.  Nothing, 
however,  could  induce  Philip  Augustus  to  live  with 
Ingeburga  as  his  wife.  He  severed  himself  from  Ag- 
nes of  Meran,  now  a  third  time  about  to  become  a 
mother.  It  is  said  that  at  their  parting  interview  their 
passionate  kisses,  sobs,  and  mutual  protestations  were 
heard.  Her  pregnancy  was  so  far  advanced  that  she 
could  not  leave  the  kingdom  ;  she  retired  to  a  castle  in 
Normandy;  the  serfs  were  said  to  see  her  pale  form 
wandering,  with  wild  gestures  and  dishevelled  hair, 
upon  the  battlements.  She  brought  forth  a  son  in  sor- 
row ;  he  received  the  fitting  name  of  Tristan. 

The  Legates  appointed  a  Council  for  the  solemn  ad- 
judication of  the  cause.  It  was  to  meet  at  Soissons 
at  a  time  fancifully  fixed  at  six  months,  six  days,  and 
six  hours  from  the  date  of  the  summons.  The  King 
of  Denmark  and  the  Archbishop  of  Lund  were  cited 
to  the  support  of  the  cause  of  the  Danish  princess. 
But  in  the  mean  time,  with  all  outward  show  of  honor, 
Ingeburga  was  but  a  more  stately  prisoner.  She  com- 
plained to  the  Pope  of  the  favor  shown  by  the  Legate 
to  the  King  :  Octavian  had  been  flattered  and  softened 
by  the  recognition  of  his  relationship  to  Philip.  Inno- 
cent himself  addressed  the  cardinals  in  language,  which 
delicately  suggested  his  dissatisfaction.  If  the  Pope 
was  not  yet  content  with  his  victory  over  the  King, 
the  prelates,  and  clergy,  who  had  refused  instantane- 
ous and  complete  obedience  to  the  interdict,  must  be 
punished  with  the  most  abject  humiliation.  The 
Archbishop  of  Rheims,  the  Bishops  of  Chartres,  of 


Ch.vp.iv.  council  of  soissons.  553 

Orleans,  Melun,  Noyon,  Beauvais,  and  Auxerre  were 
compelled  to  appear  at  Rome  (the  aged  and  the  in- 
firm were  alone  permitted  to  appear  by  their  proc- 
tors) to  express  their  contrition  and  obtain  absolution 
at  the  feet  of  the  Pontiff.  The  Pope  prohibited  the 
promotion  of  Hugo,  the  refractory  Bishop  of  Auxerre, 
to  the  Archbishopric  of  Sens.^ 

The  Council  of  Soissons  met  at  the  appointed  time 
in  great  pomp.  The  Cardinal  Octavian  pre-  council  of 
sided  at  first,  without  awaiting  the  arrival  sSr!  2^1201. 
of  the  Cardinal  of  St.  Paul.  The  King  entered  the 
city  on  one  side  ;  Ingeburga  took  up  her  dwelling  in 
the  convent  of  Notre  Dame.  She  was  received  with 
the  honors  of  a  Queen.  On  the  side  of  the  King 
appeared  a  great  number  of  learned  lawyers,  who 
pleaded  at  considerable  length  the  nullity  of  the  mar- 
riage ;  the  Archbishop  of  Lund  and  the  Danish  am- 
bassadors declared  that  they  were  present  when  the 
messengers  of  Philip  demanded  Ingeburga  in  mar- 
riage ;  having  sworn  in  his  name  that  he  would 
marry  her  and  crown  her  as  soon  as  she  entered  his 
realm.  They  produced  the  oath.  "  We  arraign  you, 
King  of  France  !  therefore,  of  perjury,  of  breach  of 
faith;  we  appeal  from  the  Lord  Octavian,  your  kins- 
man, in  whom  we  have  no  trust,  to  the  Pope."  Oc- 
tavian requested  them  to  await  the  arrival  of  the 
Cardinal  of  St.  Paul.  "  We  have  appealed  to  the 
Pope,"  they  said,  and  departed.  But  on  the  arrival 
of  the  Cardinal  John  the  cause  went  on.  Ten  bishops 
and  several  abbots  pleaded  for  Ingeburga.  But  an 
unknown  champion  appeared  in  the  lists,^  and  bore 

1  Gesta,  Ivii. 

2  Roger  Hoveden. 


554  LA.TIN  CHRISTIANITY.  Book  IX. 

away  tlie  prize  in  defence  of  the  injured  beauty,  Ag- 
nes of  Meran.  He  was  an  ecclesiastic  of  unpretend- 
ing demeanor^  but  such  was  the  perspicuity,  the  learn- 
ing, and  the  fervor  of  his  speech,  that  the  assembly 
sat  in  wonder.  He  disappeared  at  the  end.  So 
ran  the  legend  of  this  unknown  priest,  who  came  to 
the  rescue  of  the  Queen  of  France.  But  there  seemed 
no  end  to  the  inexhaustible  arguments  —  they  had  sat 
fourteen  days;  the  cardinals,  the  audience  showed  signs 
of  impatience :  they  were  strangely  and  suddenly  re- 
leased. One  morning  the  Eang  rode  up  to  the  Coun- 
cil ;  he  declared  that  he  would  receive  and  Hve  with 
Ingeburga  as  his  wife.  At  once  she  was  mounted 
behind  him ;  and  the  King  rode  off  with  his  hated, 
spouse  through  the  wondering  streets,  without  bidding 
farewell  to  the  perplexed  cardinals.  The  Council  Avas 
at  an  end.  The  Cardinal  John  returned  to  Kome. 
The  Cardinal  Octavian  remained  in  France. 

The  motive  of  this  extraordinary  act  of  Philip  Au- 
gustus was  unknown  in  his  own  days.  But  in  all 
probability  he  was  informed  that  his  beloved  Agnes 
of  Meran  was,  if  not  actually  dying,  not  likely  to 
live.  Some  superstitious  fears  arising  from  her  deaths 
some  remorse  which  might  awaken  in  the  hour  of 
affliction,  some  desire  to  propitiate  the  Church  towards 
the  object  of  his  love,  and  to  procure  availing  prayers 
for  her  salvation ;  above  all,  that,  which  lay  nearest 
to  his  heart,  and  was  the  object  which  he  pressed 
most  earnestly  soon  after  her  death,  the  legitimation 
by  the  Pope  of  the  children  which  she  had  borne 
him,  may  have  determined  the  impetuous  monarch  to 
this  sudden  change,  if  not  of  feeling,  of  conduct.  To 
the  legitimation  of  his  sons  the  Pope  consented.     But 


Chap.  IV.  INGEBURGA  NEGLECTED.  555 

whatever  his  motive,  Philip  could  not,  or  would  not 
conquer  his  inconceivable  aversion  to  the  person  of 
Ingeburga.  To  the  Pope  he  declared  repeatedly  that 
notliing  but  witchcraft  could  be  the  cause.^  The  Pope, 
in  language  somewhat  remarkable,  urged  the  King  to 
prepare  himself  by  prayer,  by  alms,  and  by  the  sacra- 
ment, in  order  to  dissolve  the  spell.^  But  in  a  more 
dignified  letter,  he  enjoins  him  at  least  to  treat  her 
with  the  respect  due  to  the  descendant  of  kings,  to 
the  sister  of  a  king,  the  wife  of  a  king,  the  daughter 
of  a  king.  Philip  Augustus  obeyed  not ;  he  eluded 
even  this  command.  Ingeburga  was  led  from  castle 
to  castle,  from  cloister  to  cloister ; '  she  was  even  de- 
prived of  the  offices  of  religion,  her  only  consolation ; 
her  bitter  complaints  still  reached  Rome  ;  still  new 
remonstrances  were  made  by  Innocent ;  till  her  voice 
seems  to  have  been  drowned  in  the  wars  of  France 
and  England,  of  Philip  Augustus  and  John ;  and  In- 
nocent in  his  new  function  of  mediator  between  or 
rather  dictator  to  these  rival  monarchs,  seemed  to 
forget  the  neglected  and  persecuted  Queen.  Many 
years  after  PhiKp  is  said  to  have  made  her  his  Queen 
in  all  outward  honors,  but  even  then  she  was  not 
his  wife.^ 

1  See  in  the  Grande  Chronique  what  the  monks  made  of  this.  "  Un 
vieux  clerc"  (how  came  he  there?)  "avait  vn  le  diable  tout  rouge  .  .  • 
folatrant  sur  les  genoux  de  la  reyne,  faisant  postures  et  mines  horribles." 

2  Epist.  X.  176. 

8  Grandes  Chroniques,  sub  ann.  1213. 


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domestic  memorial  of  the  genial  churchman.  The  editor  has  done  his  work  with  rare 
skill  and  judgment,  and  the  result  is  one  of  the  most  charming  volumes.  It  is  just 
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Milman's  History  of  the  Jews. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS.  From  the  Earli- 
est  Period  down  to  Modern  Times.  By  Henry  Hart 
MiLMAN,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's.  A  New  Edition,  thoroughly 
revised  and  extended.  In  3  Volumes,  crown  8vo.  Cloth, 
$5.25;  half  calf,  $10.50. 

"  .  .  .  .  Though  the  Jewish  people  are  especially  called  the  people  of  God, 
though  their  polity  is  grounded  on  their  religion,  though  God  be  held  the  author  of 
their  theocracy,  as  well  as  its  conservator  and  administrator,  yet  the  Jewish  nation  is 
one  of  the  families  of  mankind  ;  their  history  is  part  of  the  world's  history.  The  func- 
tions which  they  have  performed  in  the  progress  of  human  development  and  civilization 
are  so  important,  so  enduring ;  the  veracity  of  their  history  has  been  made  so  entirely 
to  depend  on  the  rank  which  they  are  entitled  to  hold  in  the  social  scale  of  mankind ; 
their  barbarism  has  been  so  fiercely  and  contemptuously  exaggerated,  their  premature 
wisdom  and  humanity  so  contemptuously  depreciated  or  denied ;  above  all,  the  bar- 
riers which  kept  them  in  their  holy  seclusion  have  long  been  so  utterly  prostrate ; 
friends  as  well  as  foes,  the  most  pious  Christians  as  well  as  the  most  avowed  enemies 
of  Christian  faith,  have  so  long  expatiated  on  this  open  field,  that  it  is  as  impossible,  in 
my  judgment,  as  it  would  be  unwise  to  limit  the  full  freedom  of  inquiry. 

"  Such  investigations,  then,  being  inevitable,  and,  as  I  believe,  not  only  inevita- 
ble, but  the  only  safe  way  of  attaining  to  the  highest  religious  truth,  what  is  the  right, 
what  is  the  duty  of  a  Christian  historian  of  the  Jews  (and  the  Jewish  history  has,  I 
think,  been  shown  to  be  a  legitimate  province  for  the  historian)  in  such  investigations? 
The  views  adopted  by  the  author  in  early  days  he  still  conscientiously  maintains. 
These  views,  more  free,  it  was  then  thought,  and  bolder  than  common,  he  dares  to  say 
not  irreverent,  have  been  his  safeguard  during  a  long  and  not  unreflective  life  against 
the  difficulties  arising  out  of  the  philosophical  and  historical  researches  of  our  times  ; 
and  from  such  views  many,  very  many,  of  the  best  and  wisest  men  whom  it  has  been 
his  blessing  to  know  with  greater  or  less  intimacy,  have  felt  relief  fi-om  pressing  doubts, 
and  found  that  peace  which  is  attainabL  only  through  perfect  freedom  of  mind." — 
Extract  from  Author'' 5  Preface. 

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Date  Due                        1 

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